[JPRT 112-30, Volume I]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



 
   112th Congress 1st 
         Session         JOINT COMMITTEE PRINT         S. Prt.
                                                        112-30
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     


                    COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS
                           PRACTICES FOR 2010

                                VOLUME I

                               ----------                              

                              R E P O R T

                            SUBMITTED TO THE

                     COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
                               US SENATE

                                AND THE

                      COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
                      US 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

                                     


           COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES FOR 2010
                                VOLUME I




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112th Congress 
 1st Session             JOINT COMMITTEE PRINT                  S. Prt.
                                                                 112-30
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     


                    COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS
                           PRACTICES FOR 2010

                                VOLUME I

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                            SUBMITTED TO THE

                     COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS

                               US SENATE

                                AND THE

                      COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS

                      US 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

                                     


                                     


                                     


                                     


                                     


?

                 COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS        

            JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts, Chairman          
BARBARA BOXER, California            RICHARD G. LUGAR, Indiana
ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey          BOB CORKER, Tennessee
BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland         JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho
ROBERT P. CASEY, Jr., Pennsylvania   MARCO RUBIO, Florida
JIM WEBB, Virginia                   JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma
JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire        JIM DeMINT, South Carolina
CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware       JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia
RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois          JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming
TOM UDALL, New Mexico                MIKE LEE, Utah
             Frank G. Lowenstein, Staff Director          
       Kenneth A. Myers, Jr., Republican Staff Director          


                                     
                  COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS        

             ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida, Chairman        
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey     HOWARD L. BERMAN, California
DAN BURTON, Indiana                  GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York
ELTON GALLEGLY, California           ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American 
DANA ROHRABACHER, California             Samoa
DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois         DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California          BRAD SHERMAN, California
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio                   ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
RON PAUL, Texas                      GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
MIKE PENCE, Indiana                  RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri
JOE WILSON, South Carolina           ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
CONNIE MACK, Florida                 GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska           THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida
MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas             DENNIS CARDOZA, California
TED POE, Texas                       BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky
GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida            BRIAN HIGGINS, New York
JEAN SCHMIDT, Ohio                   ALLYSON SCHWARTZ, Pennsylvania
BILL JOHNSON, Ohio                   CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY, Connecticut
DAVID RIVERA, Florida                FREDERICA WILSON, Florida
MIKE KELLY, Pennsylvania             KAREN BASS, California
TIM GRIFFIN, Arkansas                WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts
TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania             DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina
ANN MARIE BUERKLE, New York
RENEE ELLMERS, North Carolina
               Yleem D.S. Poblete, Staff Director        
         Richard J. Kessler, Democratic Staff Director        

                              (ii)        

  

 
                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page

Letter of Transmittal............................................    ix

Preface..........................................................    xi

Overview and Acknowledgments.....................................  xiii

Introduction.....................................................  xvii

                                Volume I

Africa
    Angola.......................................................     1

    Benin........................................................    20

    Botswana.....................................................    30

    Burkina Faso.................................................    41

    Burundi......................................................    51

    Cameroon.....................................................    72

    Cape Verde...................................................    92

    Central African Republic, The................................    98

    Chad.........................................................   122

    Comoros......................................................   137

    Congo, Democratic Republic of the............................   143

    Congo, Republic of the.......................................   186

    Cote d'Ivoire................................................   196

    Djibouti.....................................................   218

    Equatorial Guinea............................................   227

    Eritrea......................................................   240

    Ethiopia.....................................................   257

    Gabon........................................................   284

    Gambia, The..................................................   292

    Ghana........................................................   305

    Guinea.......................................................   320

    Guinea-Bissau................................................   335

    Kenya........................................................   344

    Lesotho......................................................   368

    Liberia......................................................   384

    Madagascar...................................................   395

    Malawi.......................................................   408

    Mali.........................................................   419

    Mauritania...................................................   429

    Mauritius....................................................   444

    Mozambique...................................................   452

    Namibia......................................................   465

    Niger........................................................   479

    Nigeria......................................................   493

    Rwanda.......................................................   525

    Sao Tome and Principe........................................   544

    Senegal......................................................   549

    Seychelles...................................................   565

    Sierra Leone.................................................   571

    Somalia......................................................   589

    South Africa.................................................   610

    Sudan........................................................   628

    Swaziland....................................................   655

    Tanzania.....................................................   670

    Togo.........................................................   692

    Uganda.......................................................   702

    Zambia.......................................................   728

    Zimbabwe.....................................................   744


East Asia and the Pacific

    Australia....................................................   783

    Brunei Darussalam............................................   794

    Burma........................................................   801

    Cambodia.....................................................   823

    China (includes Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau).................   843

        Tibet....................................................   882

        Hong Kong................................................   891

        Macau....................................................   906

    Fiji.........................................................   914

    Indonesia....................................................   928

    Japan........................................................   949

    Kiribati.....................................................   961

    Korea, Democratic People's Republic of.......................   966

    Korea, Republic of...........................................   979

    Laos.........................................................   989

    Malaysia.....................................................   999

    Marshall Islands.............................................  1026

    Micronesia, Federated States of..............................  1032

    Mongolia.....................................................  1038

    Nauru........................................................  1050

    New Zealand..................................................  1054

    Palau........................................................  1061

    Papua New Guinea.............................................  1066

    Philippines..................................................  1076

    Samoa........................................................  1093

    Singapore....................................................  1101

    Solomon Islands..............................................  1116

    Taiwan.......................................................  1123

    Thailand.....................................................  1132

    Timor-Leste..................................................  1160

    Tonga........................................................  1169

    Tuvalu.......................................................  1175

    Vanuatu......................................................  1180

    Vietnam......................................................  1187


Europe and Eurasia

    Albania......................................................  1213

    Andorra......................................................  1224

    Armenia......................................................  1229

    Austria......................................................  1261

    Azerbaijan...................................................  1270

    Belarus......................................................  1295

    Belgium......................................................  1332

    Bosnia and Herzegovina.......................................  1340

    Bulgaria.....................................................  1358

    Croatia......................................................  1371

    Cyprus.......................................................  1389

    Czech Republic...............................................  1415

    Denmark......................................................  1433

    Estonia......................................................  1441

    Finland......................................................  1449

    France.......................................................  1460

    Georgia......................................................  1472

    Germany......................................................  1515

    Greece.......................................................  1530

    Hungary......................................................  1547

    Iceland......................................................  1565

    Ireland......................................................  1573

    Italy........................................................  1581

    Kosovo.......................................................  1594

    Latvia.......................................................  1615

    Liechtenstein................................................  1626

    Lithuania....................................................  1631

    Luxembourg...................................................  1643

    Macedonia....................................................  1648

    Malta........................................................  1663

    Moldova......................................................  1673

    Monaco.......................................................  1699

    Montenegro...................................................  1703

    Netherlands..................................................  1730

    Norway.......................................................  1741

    Poland.......................................................  1750

    Portugal.....................................................  1766

    Romania......................................................  1773

    Russia.......................................................  1796

    San Marino...................................................  1840

    Serbia.......................................................  1844

    Slovakia.....................................................  1861

    Slovenia.....................................................  1877

    Spain........................................................  1885

    Sweden.......................................................  1896

    Switzerland..................................................  1907

    Turkey.......................................................  1917

    Ukraine......................................................  1939

    United Kingdom...............................................  1965


                   START HERE deg.Volume II

Near East and North Africa

    Algeria......................................................  1979

    Bahrain......................................................  1996

    Egypt........................................................  2009

    Iran.........................................................  2027

    Iraq.........................................................  2061

    Israel and the occupied territories..........................  2089

    Jordan.......................................................  2139

    Kuwait.......................................................  2157

    Lebanon......................................................  2169

    Libya........................................................  2188

    Morocco......................................................  2203

    Oman.........................................................  2222

    Qatar........................................................  2230

    Saudi Arabia.................................................  2243

    Syria........................................................  2266

    Tunisia......................................................  2288

    United Arab Emirates.........................................  2305

    Western Sahara...............................................  2317

    Yemen........................................................  2324


South and Central Asia

    Afghanistan..................................................  2347

    Bangladesh...................................................  2372

    Bhutan.......................................................  2395

    India........................................................  2403

    Kazakhstan...................................................  2437

    Kyrgyz Republic..............................................  2457

    Maldives.....................................................  2472

    Nepal........................................................  2485

    Pakistan.....................................................  2505

    Sri Lanka....................................................  2541

    Tajikistan...................................................  2560

    Turkmenistan.................................................  2573

    Uzbekistan...................................................  2586


Western Hemisphere

    Antigua and Barbuda..........................................  2609

    Argentina....................................................  2614

    Bahamas, The.................................................  2630

    Barbados.....................................................  2640

    Belize.......................................................  2646

    Bolivia......................................................  2655

    Brazil.......................................................  2668

    Canada.......................................................  2688

    Chile........................................................  2702

    Colombia.....................................................  2713

    Costa Rica...................................................  2742

    Cuba.........................................................  2754

    Dominica.....................................................  2768

    Dominican Republic...........................................  2775

    Ecuador......................................................  2794

    El Salvador..................................................  2812

    Grenada......................................................  2827

    Guatemala....................................................  2833

    Guyana.......................................................  2850

    Haiti........................................................  2859

    Honduras.....................................................  2873

    Jamaica......................................................  2892

    Mexico.......................................................  2904

    Nicaragua....................................................  2923

    Panama.......................................................  2940

    Paraguay.....................................................  2957

    Peru.........................................................  2970

    Saint Kitts and Nevis........................................  2987

    Saint Lucia..................................................  2991

    Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.............................  2997

    Suriname.....................................................  3003

    Trinidad and Tobago..........................................  3011

    Uruguay......................................................  3020

    Venezuela....................................................  3028


Appendixes

    Appendix A: Notes on preparation of Report...................  3061

    Appendix B: Reporting on Worker Rights.......................  3069

    Appendix C: Selected International Human Rights Conventions..  3071

    Appendix D: Description of International Human Rights 
      Conventions in Appendix C..................................  3079

    Appendix E: FY 2010 Foreign Assistance Actuals...............  3081

    Appendix F: United Nations General Assembly's Third Committee 
      Country Resolution Votes 2010..............................  3107

    Appendix G: United Nations Universal Declaration of Human 
      Rights.....................................................  3115
?

                         LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

                              ----------                              

                                       Department of State,
                                     Washington, DC, April 8, 2011.
Hon. John F. Kerry,
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 2010, 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,
                                 Michael H. Posner,
                         Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, 
                                           Human Rights, and Labor.
    Enclosure.

                                  (ix)

                                     
                                PREFACE

                              ----------                              

    Today, the eyes of the world are focused on the Middle East 
and North Africa, where people are demanding that their 
governments live up to the guiding principle of the Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights, that all people are ``born free 
and equal in dignity and rights.'' The promise of this 
principle is the driving power behind every movement for 
freedom, every campaign for democracy, every effort to foster 
development, and every struggle against oppression. We are 
inspired by the courage and determination of these activists, 
and we see in their struggles the true manifestation of a 
universal yearning for dignity and respect. We stand with them 
and with all citizens, activists, and governments around the 
world who peacefully work to advance the causes of democracy 
and human rights.
    As President Obama has said, we are guided by a simple 
idea, `` . . . freedom, justice and peace for the world must 
begin with freedom, justice, and peace in the lives of 
individual human beings.'' This idea represents values we 
cherish in the United States, but they are not ours alone. Our 
belief in the universal principles of freedom, justice, and 
peace guides us on a daily basis as we work to make human 
rights a human reality. The world has witnessed that without 
meaningful steps toward representative, accountable, and 
transparent governance, the gap between people and their 
leaders will only grow. We will continue to promote, support, 
and defend democracy, in its many forms, knowing that it is the 
best political system for allowing individuals to enjoy their 
human rights.
    The 2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices provide 
a record of the state of human rights in the world and raise 
awareness of the progress made in 2010, the ground lost, and 
the work that remains. This year marks the thirty-fifth year we 
have reported to Congress on human rights around the world. 
These reports were initially envisioned as a tool to help guide 
the United States in its foreign policy, but they have grown to 
be something much greater. Other governments, individuals, and 
organizations now use the human rights reports as essential 
sources of information about conditions in countries around the 
world. For activists, many of whom confront a shrinking space 
in which to operate and do so at great personal risk, these 
reports also provide evidence that the world is being made 
aware of their struggle.
    As I travel the world, I make a point of meeting with those 
people working to advance the cause of human rights within 
their own countries. I am consistently impressed by the power 
of the human spirit, and the unwavering commitment of these 
brave individuals. Their work inspires us and confirms the 
importance of holding governments, including our own, 
accountable for the treatment of their citizens.
    Once each year we submit the Country Reports on Human 
Rights Practices to Congress, but advancing freedom and human 
rights is a daily priority for the men and women of the 
Department of State, both in Washington and in our embassies 
overseas. Through these reports, through our diplomacy, and 
through our example, we will continue to press for the 
universal human rights of all individuals. Now is the 
opportunity for us to support all who are willing to stand up 
on behalf of the rights we cherish.
    In that spirit I hereby transmit the Department of State's 
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2010 to the 
United States Congress.
                            Hillary Rodham Clinton,
                                                Secretary of State.
                      OVERVIEW AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

                              ----------                              


                      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 thus are not covered by the 
congressional requirement.
    In the early 1970s the United States formalized its 
responsibility to speak out on behalf of international human 
rights standards. In 1976 Congress enacted legislation creating 
a Coordinator of Human Rights in the Department of State, a 
position later upgraded to Assistant Secretary. Legislation 
also requires 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.

                      HOW THE REPORTS ARE PREPARED

    The Department of State prepared this report using 
information from U.S. embassies and consulates abroad, foreign 
government officials, nongovernmental and international 
organizations, and published reports. The initial drafts of the 
individual country reports were prepared by U.S. diplomatic 
missions abroad, drawing on information they gathered 
throughout the year from a variety of sources, including 
government officials, jurists, the armed forces, journalists, 
human rights monitors, academics, and labor activists. This 
information gathering can be hazardous, and U.S. Foreign 
Service personnel 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.
    Once the initial drafts of the individual country reports 
were completed, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and 
Labor, in cooperation with other Department of State offices, 
worked to corroborate, analyze, and edit the reports, drawing 
on their own sources of information. These sources 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. Bureau 
officers also consulted experts on worker rights, refugee 
issues, military and police topics, women's issues, and legal 
matters, among may others. The guiding principle was to ensure 
that all information was assessed objectively, thoroughly, and 
fairly.
    As has proven the case in the past, we anticipate that the 
reports will be used as a resource for shaping policy, 
conducting diplomacy, and making assistance, training, and 
other resource allocations. They will serve also 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 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 right to nationality, 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, the prohibition of forced or 
compulsory labor, the status of child labor practices, the 
minimum age for employment of children, and acceptable work 
conditions.
    With this 2010 edition of the country reports, DRL expanded 
the use of hyperlinks from these reports to other key human 
rights documents produced by the Department of State. 
Specifically, readers are asked to follow hyperlinks for 
complete information on religious freedom issues by consulting 
the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report, the 2010 
Trafficking in Persons Report, if applicable, and the several 
current publications produced by the Department's Consular 
Affairs Bureau on international child abductions, if applicable 
to the country in question.
    Within the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, the 
editorial staff of the Country Reports Team consists of: Editor 
in Chief Stephen Eisenbraun; Office Directors: Eric Falls, 
Robert Boehme, Jeffrey Hawkins, Douglas Kramer, Jessica 
Lieberman, Mark Mittelhauser, Susan O'Sullivan; Senior Editors: 
Jonathan Bemis, Douglas B. Dearborn, Daniel Dolan, Jerome L. 
Hoganson, Patricia Meeks Schnell, Marc J. Susser, and Julie 
Turner; Editors: Naim Ahmed, Cory Andrews, Sarah Buckley-Moore, 
Laura Carey, Elise Carlson-Rainer, Della Cavey, Eric Concha, 
Sharon Cooke, Susan Corke, Stuart Crampton, Kathleen Crowley, 
Frank Crump, Bonnie Daley, Tu Dang, Mollie Davis, Mort Dworken, 
Sindbad Fennimore, Karen Gilbride, Joan Garner, Carrie George, 
Safiya Ghori-Ahmad, Patrick Harvey, Caitlin Helfrich, Matthew 
Hicks, Alexandra Hoey, Kimberly Holbrook, Victor Huser, Jill 
Hutchings, Stan Ifshin, Dianna James, Sarah Johnston-Gardner, 
David T. Jones, Simone Joseph, Malac Kabir, Yelda Kazimi, 
Mancharee Junk, Min Kang, Katharine Kendrick, Orly Keiner, 
Stephen Kopanos, Alyson Kozma, Douglas Kramer, Sarah Labowitz, 
Gregory Maggio, Stacey May, Stephen Moody, Sarah Morgan, 
Perlita Muiruri, Sandra Murphy, Daniel L. Nadel, Genevieve 
Parente, Blake Peterson, Meredith Ryder-Rude, Peter Sawchyn, 
Robert Schlicht, Monica Sendor, Wendy Silverman, Marissa Smith, 
Rachel Spring, Jason Starr, Leslie Taylor, Jennifer Terry, 
James C.Todd, David Wagner, Micah Watson, Chanan Weissman, 
Mareham Youssef, Sarah Yun, Rachel Waldstein, Bernadette 
Zielinski; Editorial Assistants: Carol Finerty, Stephanie 
Martone, James McDonald, and Regina Waugh.
                              INTRODUCTION

                              ----------                              

    This report provides encyclopedic detail on human rights 
conditions in over 190 countries for 2010. Because we are 
publishing this report three months into the new year, however, 
our perspectives on many issues are now framed by the dramatic 
changes sweeping across countries in the Middle East in 2011. 
At this moment we cannot predict the outcome of these changes, 
and we will not know the lasting impacts for years to come. The 
internal dynamics in each of these countries are different, so 
sweeping analysis of the entire region is not appropriate. In 
places like Tunisia and Egypt, we are witnessing popular 
demands for meaningful political participation, fundamental 
freedoms, and greater economic opportunity. These demands are 
profound, they are homegrown, and they are being driven by new 
activists, many of them young people. These citizens seek to 
build sustainable democracies in their countries with 
governments that respect the universal human rights of their 
own people. If they succeed, the Middle East region, and with 
it the whole world, will be improved.
    The United States will continue to monitor the situations 
in these countries closely, knowing that the transition to 
democracy is not automatic and will take time and careful 
attention. In Egypt, we await the lifting of the state of 
emergency, which the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has 
promised to do prior to parliamentary elections. In Tunisia, we 
are encouraged by the creation of a fact-finding committee to 
investigate human rights abuses that took place during the 
uprising.
    While we address these and other short-term repercussions, 
historians will have the benefit of time and perspective to 
help us understand what triggered these popular movements. But 
three trends clearly contributed to their development and to 
other changes that occurred throughout the world in 2010. The 
first is the explosive growth of nongovernmental advocacy 
organizations focused on a wide range of democracy and human 
rights issues and causes. Fifty years ago, when Amnesty 
International was created, few countries outside of North 
America or Western Europe had any locally based human rights 
organizations. Today, local nongovernmental organizations 
(NGOs) exist in almost every country in the world. The growth 
of these organizations has been dramatic, and in many countries 
such citizens' organizations have been created against great 
odds and only because individual human rights activists were 
willing to face great personal risk. Secretary Clinton 
highlighted the importance of these organizations in a speech 
she gave in July 2010 in Krakow, Poland, to the Community of 
Democracies. As she said, ``societies move forward when the 
citizens that make up these groups are empowered to transform 
common interests into common actions that serve the common 
good.''
    In closed societies, where repressive governments seek to 
control and stifle the debate on sensitive political and social 
issues, governments view these independent local citizens' 
organizations as a threat rather than a resource, and democracy 
and human rights defenders are singled out for particularly 
harsh treatment. For example, in Belarus, over 700 prodemocracy 
activists, including seven presidential candidates, were 
arrested during public demonstrations following the flawed 
December 2010 presidential elections. In the weeks that 
followed, the offices and homes of civil society 
representatives, independent journalists, and political 
activists were raided as part of an effort to stifle 
independent political activity and free expression.
    In the last several years, more than 90 governments have 
sought to pass restrictive laws and regulations, hampering the 
ability of organizations to register, operate freely, or 
receive foreign funding. A proposed NGO law in Cambodia, 
introduced in December, is emblematic of these efforts. The law 
would impose burdensome reporting requirements on NGOs, erect 
significant barriers to the registration of foreign NGOs, 
require foreign NGOs to collaborate with the government, and 
outlaw unregistered NGOs. In Ethiopia, a new civil society 
organization law entered into force in February, following a 
one-year grace period. The law prohibits charities, societies, 
and associations that receive more than 10 percent of their 
funding from foreign sources from engaging in activities that 
promote human rights and democracy; the rights of children and 
persons with disabilities; equality among nations, 
nationalities, people, genders, and religions; conflict 
resolution or reconciliation; and the promotion of justice. 
During the grace period, Ethiopia's leading human rights 
defender organizations adjusted by re-registering either as 
local charities, meaning that they could not raise more than 10 
percent of their funds from foreign donors, or as ``Resident 
Charities,'' which allowed donations but prohibited activities 
in the enumerated areas. There were 3,522 registered 
organizations before the civil society organization law was 
adopted; after the law only 1,655 remained.
    Secretary Clinton acknowledged these troubling restrictions 
on civil society in her speech in Krakow, when she identified a 
``group of countries where the walls are closing in on civic 
organizations'' and cautioned that when ``governments crack 
down on the right of citizens to work together, as they have 
throughout history, societies fall into stagnation and decay.'' 
As we have seen in the Middle East and elsewhere, governments 
cannot suppress civil society indefinitely, and they can never 
suppress it legitimately.
    A second important trend is the dramatic growth of the 
Internet, mobile phones, and other connective technologies that 
allow instantaneous communications to billions of people across 
the globe. As Secretary Clinton observed in a recent speech on 
Internet freedom, the Internet has become the town square of 
the 21st century. Much has been said and written about the 
effects of these connective technologies in allowing Egyptians 
and Tunisians to mobilize in the weeks and months before 
demonstrations actually began. While it is the courage of the 
people themselves that led the way and was the driving force, 
the amplifying impact of these new technologies, coupled with 
the power of television stations and the Internet to broadcast 
videos obtained by citizens using these mobile phones, cannot 
be denied.
    Today there are more than two billion people with Internet 
access spread across most countries of the world, and around 
five billion mobile phone subscriptions. These numbers are 
projected to grow dramatically in the next 15 years. And as 
more people gain access to these remarkable technologies, and 
use them both to gather and impart information on human rights 
and to communicate with other activists, an increasing number 
of governments are spending more time, money, and attention in 
efforts to curtail access to these new communications outlets. 
More than 40 governments are now using a combination of 
regulatory restrictions, technical controls on access to the 
Internet, and technologies designed to repress speech and 
infringe on the personal privacy of those who use these rapidly 
evolving technologies.
    In Saudi Arabia in 2010, the government restricted access 
to the Internet and interfered with citizens' privacy while 
online. The official Communications and Information Technology 
Commission (CITC) improperly monitored e-mail and Internet chat 
rooms and blocked sites, including pages about Hinduism, 
Judaism, Christianity, and certain forms of Islam deemed 
incompatible with Sharia law and national regulations. In 
Sudan, the government monitored Internet communications and, 
during the elections, blocked access to the Sudan Vote Monitor 
Web site. The Government of China tightly controlled content on 
and access to the Internet and detained those expressing views 
critical of the government or its policies. In Vietnam, the 
government orchestrated attacks against critical Web sites and 
spied on dissident bloggers. Police arrested 25 dissidents over 
the course of the year and forcibly entered the homes of a 
number of others to remove personal computers, cell phones, and 
other material.
    A third trend, and one that points in a negative direction, 
was the continuing escalation of violence, persecution, and 
official and societal discrimination of members of vulnerable 
groups, often racial, religious, or ethnic minorities or 
disempowered majorities. In many countries this pattern of 
discrimination extended to women; children; persons with 
disabilities; indigenous; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 
transgender (LGBT) persons; and members of other vulnerable 
groups who lacked the political power to defend their own 
interests. Often members of these groups were denied economic 
opportunity or the ability to abide by their social or cultural 
traditions or practices or were restricted in their ability to 
speak freely, to assemble peacefully, or to form associations 
or organizations.
    In Pakistan, religious freedom violations and violence and 
discrimination against religious minorities continued. The 
blasphemy laws were used to harass religious minorities as well 
as vulnerable Muslims or Muslims with minority views. (In the 
first two months of 2011, two senior government officials who 
publicly challenged these laws were brutally killed.) In Saudi 
Arabia, there were severe restrictions on religious freedom and 
discrimination on the basis of religion was common. In China, 
the government continued to demonize the Dalai Lama and harshly 
repress Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang and Tibetan Buddhists. There 
were reports of increases in anti-Semitic acts around the 
world, including the desecration of cemeteries, graffiti, and 
blood-libel rhetoric, as well as Holocaust denial, revisionism, 
and glorification. There have also been spikes in expressions 
of anti-Semitism during events in the Middle East.
    Persons around the world continue to experience 
discrimination and intimidation based on their sexual 
orientation or gender identity. Honduras saw an upsurge in 
killings of members of the LGBT community by unknown 
perpetrators. Meanwhile, in many African, Middle Eastern, and 
Caribbean nations, same-sex relations remain a criminal 
offense, and through such laws and other measures the state 
reinforces and encourages societal discrimination and 
intolerance. In Uganda, for example, intimidation and 
harassment of LGBT individuals worsened during the year, and 
some government and religious leaders threatened LGBT 
individuals.
    Exploitation of laborers was also a problem in many 
countries, often compounded by threats against workers for 
attempting to unionize. Again in 2010, the government of 
Uzbekistan mobilized thousands of adults and children as forced 
laborers during the annual cotton harvest. In Bangladesh, poor 
working conditions caused needless deaths, notably in the 
garment industry. Bangladesh was also the site of frequent and 
at times deadly labor unrest during the year, particularly in 
the Ready-Made Garment Sector and Export Processing Zones.
    These trends are further illustrated below by the thumbnail 
sketches of 27 countries (listed alphabetically by region). The 
section on country highlights provides illustrative examples of 
the human rights trends in 2010. In some of these countries 
there have been negative developments or the human rights 
record has been a mix of positive and negative developments. In 
other countries highlighted below, we reflect on positive 
trends in 2010. The body of this report is a much more detailed 
examination of these and an additional 167 countries.
    2010 marks the 35th year that the State Department has 
produced the annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. 
This year's report covers human rights conditions in 194 
countries. What began as the response to a Congressional 
mandate to report on the human rights situation in those 
countries that were receiving U.S. assistance in the mid 1970s 
has blossomed into a detailed analysis of human rights 
conditions in all countries that are members of the United 
Nations. The country reports provide an overview of the human 
rights situation around the world as a means to raise awareness 
of human rights conditions, in particular as these conditions 
affect the well-being of women, children, racial and religious 
minorities, trafficking victims, members of indigenous groups 
and ethnic communities, persons with disabilities, sexual 
minorities, refugees, and members of other vulnerable groups.
    As the scope of the State Department's reporting has 
increased, so has the use of these reports around the world. In 
addition to providing data to Congress to inform their funding 
and policy decisions, these reports are used throughout the 
U.S. government and by many foreign governments. And, 
importantly, they are increasingly being used by individual 
citizens and NGOs as critical sources of information on what is 
happening in the world. To facilitate the sharing of this 
information, reports are translated into over 50 languages and 
made available online.
    The U.S. government compiles the human rights report 
because we believe it is imperative for countries, including 
our own, to ensure that respect for human rights is an integral 
component of foreign policy. We provide these reports as a form 
of comprehensive review and analysis.
    The reports do not cover human rights in the United States, 
although this Administration has made a commitment to take a 
close and critical look at our own performance on these issues 
even as we cast a spotlight on the practices of other 
countries. In November, the United States presented its first 
report on human rights in the United States to the UN Human 
Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva through the Universal Periodic 
Review. In preparation for that report we conducted extensive 
consultations in the United States with a wide range of civil 
society organizations and Native American leaders. Last month 
we appeared again at the UNHRC meeting in Geneva to report our 
response to the recommendations made to us by other 
governments.
    We also continually report on our human rights record 
pursuant to our treaty obligations. In January 2010, we 
submitted periodic reports on our implementation of the 
Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the 
Child. In 2011 we will be submitting periodic reports regarding 
implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and 
Political Rights, the Convention Against Torture, and the 
Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. In 
2010, for the first time, a section on the United States was 
included in the State Department's Trafficking in Persons 
Report, and the United States was ranked based on the same 
standards to which we hold other countries.
    A final word about the production of these reports. These 
194 country reports are comprehensive, if not exhaustive. Their 
production is a Herculean endeavor requiring extra-ordinary 
efforts by a team of talented and committed human rights 
officers at U.S. Embassies around the world, and by their 
counterparts in Washington, D.C., including the dedicated staff 
in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. Each 
country team collects, analyzes, and synthesizes information 
from a variety of sources, including domestic and international 
human rights organizations, other governments, multilateral 
organizations, and members of civil society. Once the reports 
are drafted, they are rigorously edited, reviewed, and fact-
checked, to ensure accuracy and objectivity.

                           COUNTRY HIGHLIGHTS

    In 2010, governments around the world continued to commit 
severe human rights violations and abuses. The paragraphs below 
describe the human rights situation and key trends in specific 
countries where abuses were especially serious. We also 
highlight Ukraine, where in 2010 there was backsliding after 
positive developments in previous years. The section begins 
with a discussion of several countries--Colombia, Guinea, 
Indonesia--that are highlighted for notable positive human 
rights developments in 2010.
    Colombia is a country where there were notable improvements 
in the human rights situation in 2010. Soon after taking office 
in August, President Santos and his administration strengthened 
the government's relationship with civil society and human 
rights defenders, holding high-level consultative sessions, 
publicly expressing support for human rights defenders and 
engaging them in dialogue, and supporting efforts to increase 
penalties for threats and violence against human rights 
defenders. The government advanced a Land and Victims' Law to 
provide for land restitution and victims' reparations. 
Extrajudicial executions decreased substantially from 2008 and 
2009, and several senior military officers were convicted of 
human rights abuses. Some human rights abuses continued, such 
as some threats against human rights defenders and trade 
unionists. The Ministry of Defense began implementing an 
agreement with the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human 
Rights to monitor ministry measures to improve adherence to 
human rights.
    In December 2010, Guinea inaugurated its first 
democratically elected president since independence from France 
in 1958. The people selected longtime opposition leader Alpha 
Conde, the candidate of the Rally of the Guinean People Party, 
as their president following two rounds of elections. Although 
there was some violence following the second round, the 
elections generally were regarded as free and fair.
    Respect for human rights in Indonesia continued to improve 
in 2010, 12 years after the country's transition to democracy. 
While weaknesses in the justice system persisted, President 
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, democratically reelected in July 
2009, remained a strong proponent of the rule of law and 
accountability and civil society, and the media remained among 
the most vibrant in Asia. Professionalization of the military 
continued, although some serious human rights abuses by 
military personnel occurred, particularly in Papua, and 
punishments, when imposed, were often not commensurate with the 
crimes committed.
Africa
    Cote d'Ivoire ended 2010 in a standoff over the presidency, 
following October elections in which incumbent President 
Laurent Gbagbo, candidate of the Ivoirian People's Front, and 
opposition party leader Alassane Ouattara, candidate of the 
Rally for Republicans, advanced to the November 28 presidential 
run-off. On December 2, the Independent Electoral Commission 
declared Ouattara the winner with 54.1 percent of the vote as 
compared with 45.9 percent for Gbagbo. The election was 
declared fair and democratic by the UN and international and 
domestic observer missions. Gbagbo refused to accept the 
results, alleging voter fraud and intimidation in several 
regions, and both Ouattara and Gbagbo took oaths of office on 
December 3. At year's end, President Ouattara operated his 
government from the Golf Hotel in Abidjan under a blockade from 
pro-Gbgabo forces. Gbagbo retained control of state resources 
including the national television station, the security forces, 
and the treasury. There were credible reports of human rights 
abuses during this time. On December 16, security forces fired 
on supporters of President Ouattara during a demonstration 
march. At least 20 persons were killed, many more wounded, and 
hundreds arrested. In the one week period from December 15-22, 
the UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire human rights division 
reported 173 persons killed, 90 subjected to torture and ill-
treatment, 471 others arbitrarily arrested and detained, and 24 
persons missing. The overwhelming majority of these cases of 
extrajudicial killings, torture, detention, and disappearance, 
were committed by security forces loyal to Gbagbo. Human rights 
violations which took place after December 31 are not 
documented in the 2010 report.
    Serious human rights abuses continued throughout the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), particularly in the 
mineral rich, conflict-affected eastern and northeastern 
regions, where state authority remained non-existent or 
extremely weak. Human rights defenders have been intimidated, 
beaten, and, as in the case of prominent activist Floribert 
Chebeya, even killed. Armed entities--including elements of 
state security forces--perpetrated abuses with impunity and 
engaged in the illegal exploitation and trade of natural 
resources, particularly minerals. Revenues derived from the 
illicit trade in minerals, some of which supported armed 
conflict, fueled the continued insecurity in eastern DRC, 
aggravating an already precarious human rights situation. Rebel 
and militia groups in eastern DRC continued to engage in rape 
and looting campaigns in efforts to control communities 
residing near lucrative mining areas, and to reap mining-
related profits that sustained the conflict and attendant 
abuses. Credible sources such as the UN Group of Experts on the 
DRC presented information indicating that some Congolese and 
international corporations' supply chains originated with 
suppliers who traded with armed entities-including elements of 
the state security forces-that committed serious human rights 
abuses.
    Nigeria continued to be plagued by serious human rights 
abuses during the year. Security services personnel, including 
police, military, and State Security Service officers, 
committed extrajudicial killings and tortured, beat, and abused 
demonstrators, criminal suspects, detainees, and convicted 
prisoners. The Joint Task Force, formed in 2003 to address the 
instability in the Niger Delta and consisting of military, 
police, and security services, conducted raids on militant 
groups and criminal suspects, resulting in numerous deaths and 
injuries to both alleged criminals and civilians. Corruption 
was pervasive at all levels of government and throughout the 
security forces. Ethno-religious violence also resulted in 
deaths and displacement during the year. Jos and the 
surrounding farmlands were the site of two major attacks in 
January and March. Up to 1,000 individuals, mostly women, 
children, and the elderly, were murdered, hacked to death, or 
burned alive.
    Violence continued in Sudan throughout 2010. Nationwide 
elections held in April were not deemed fair and free by the 
international community, and observers noted numerous problems 
throughout the process. In Darfur, fighting involving 
government, government-aligned militias, rebel groups, and 
ethnic groups continued to kill, injure, and displace 
civilians. This violence killed 2,321 persons during the year, 
according to the UN, an increase compared with the 875 persons 
killed in 2009. The government continued to conduct aerial 
bombardment. Gender-based violence, the use of child soldiers, 
and the obstruction of humanitarian organizations and the 
United Nations-African Union Hybrid Mission in Darfur continued 
to be problems. The government harassed, arrested, and beat 
civil society members in the north. In Southern Sudan, 
interethnic fighting and Lord's Resistance Army attacks 
continued to kill and displace civilians. According to UN 
estimates, violence in the south resulted in an estimated 986 
deaths and the displacement of 223,708 persons during the year. 
Registration for the 2011 Southern Sudan self-determination 
referendum occurred in November and December. Lack of progress 
on preparations for a separate referendum on whether the border 
region of Abyei should be part of the north or the south led to 
sporadic violence and rising tensions in the area.
    In Zimbabwe, security forces, police, and Zimbabwe African 
National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF)-dominated elements of 
the government continued to commit numerous, serious human 
rights violations with impunity, including torture, against 
non-ZANU-PF political activists and party members, student 
leaders, and civil society activists. ZANU-PF's dominant 
control and manipulation of the political process through 
trumped-up charges and arbitrary arrest, intimidation, and 
corruption effectively negated the right of citizens to change 
their government. Although there were fewer incidents in the 
first half of 2010, expectations that elections would be held 
in 2011 led to an increase in the number of cases of harassment 
and intimidation of civil society organizations and members of 
the media toward the end of the reporting period. The 
government continued to use repressive laws to suppress freedom 
of speech, including for members of the press, assembly, 
association, and movement. Military forces and other government 
agents also continued abuses in the Marange diamond fields.
East Asia and the Pacific
    Despite the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, over 2,100 
political prisoners remained in custody in Burma at the end of 
2010. Many civil society activists were detained indefinitely 
and without charges, and regime-sponsored organizations engaged 
in harassment and abuse of human rights and prodemocracy 
activists. The government routinely infringed on individual 
privacy and restricted the freedoms of speech, press, assembly, 
association, religion, and movement. The government did not 
allow domestic human rights NGOs to function independently, and 
international NGOs encountered a difficult environment. The 
fall 2010 elections were neither free nor fair. The government 
continued its tight control of the activities of Buddhist 
clergy. Military forces in Burma continued to commit egregious 
abuses and violations against civilians in ethnic minority 
regions. These abuses included rape, torture, forced 
relocation, and forced labor. Violence and societal 
discrimination against women and minority religious communities 
continued, as did unlawful recruitment of child soldiers and 
trafficking in persons, particularly of women and girls. 
Workers' rights remained restricted and forced labor, including 
that of children, also persisted.
    In Cambodia, members of security forces, acting with 
impunity, committed arbitrary killings. Human rights monitors 
reported arbitrary arrests and prolonged pretrial detention, 
underscoring a weak judiciary and denial of the right to a fair 
trial. Restrictions continued on freedom of assembly and 
expression, including for members of the press, and there was a 
growing abuse of defamation and disinformation lawsuits 
targeting opposition voices. Civil society expressed 
significant concern that the draft Law on Associations and NGOs 
could, if adopted, seriously constrain the ability of NGOs to 
operate. The draft law released in December included provisions 
that would impose burdensome reporting requirements on NGOs, 
prevent associations with fewer than 21(later reduced to a 
still-onerous 11) members from attaining legal status, erect 
burdensome barriers to the registration of foreign NGOs, 
require foreign NGOs to collaborate with the government, and 
outlaw unregistered NGOs. Anti-union activity by employers and 
weak enforcement of labor laws continued, and exploitative 
child labor in the informal sector remained a problem.
    In China, the negative trend in key areas of human rights 
continued. The government stepped up restrictions on lawyers, 
activists, bloggers, and journalists; tightened controls on 
civil society; and increased attempts to limit freedom of 
speech and control the press, the Internet, and Internet access 
in 2010. Authorities also increased the use of extralegal 
measures, including forced disappearances, strict house arrest, 
arbitrary detention in ``black jails,'' and other forms of 
``soft detention'' to silence independent voices and punish 
activists and their families. Legal activist Chen Guangcheng, 
along with his wife and child, remained under house arrest, as 
did other released political prisoners. Public interest 
lawyers, who operated within China's legal framework, were 
disbarred, beaten, or ``disappeared'' for taking on the defense 
of clients and issues deemed sensitive by the government. 
Bloggers and Web masters have been arrested and charged with 
``subverting state power'' for re-tweeting a post or operating 
a Web site where others posted comments. The government also 
continued its severe cultural and religious repression of 
ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and 
Tibetan areas.
    In North Korea, the human rights situation remained grim. 
During the year, the government maintained tight control over 
the flow of information into and out of the country. The 
government denied its citizens the right to due process and 
arbitrarily arrested and detained individuals, including for 
political crimes. Defectors and NGOs indicated that severe and 
systematic human rights abuses occurred throughout the 
country's extensive network of prisons and detention centers. 
In addition, the government continued to enforce rigid controls 
over the freedoms of speech, press, assembly, association, 
religion, and movement and worker rights. There were no 
independent domestic human rights monitoring organizations, and 
the government denied international organizations and foreign 
NGOs access, making it impossible to assess accurately the true 
scope of the abuses occurring in the country or the validity of 
these reports.
    The government of Vietnam continued to suppress dissent, 
tightened controls over the press, and limited the freedoms of 
expression, assembly, movement, and association. Individuals 
were arbitrarily detained for political activities and denied 
the right to fair and expeditious trials. The government 
arrested at least 25 political activists, convicted 14 
dissidents arrested in 2008, 2009, and 2010, and denied the 
appeals of another 10 dissidents convicted at the end of 2009. 
The judicial system was strongly distorted by political 
influence, endemic corruption, and inefficiency. Freedom of 
religion continued to be subject to uneven interpretation and 
protection, particularly at the provincial and village levels. 
Internet freedom was further restricted as the government 
orchestrated attacks against critical Web sites and spied on 
dissident bloggers. The government limited workers' rights to 
form and join independent unions.
Europe
    Authorities in Belarus arbitrarily arrested, detained, and 
imprisoned prodemocracy activists, journalists, and civil 
society representatives. In the wake of December 2010's flawed 
presidential election, authorities initiated a broad crackdown 
against demonstrators, detaining close to 700 persons and 
raiding offices and apartments belonging to members of 
independent media, NGOs, and the political opposition. Over 40 
individuals, including several presidential candidates, now 
face up to 15 years in jail. Through its detentions and trials, 
the government of Belarus continually is creating new political 
prisoners. The judiciary lacked independence and suffered from 
corruption, inefficiency, and political interference; trial 
outcomes were often predetermined, and many trials were 
conducted behind closed doors. Official corruption throughout 
the government continued to be a problem.
    In Russia, the government infringed on freedom of 
expression, assembly, and association, detaining certain 
demonstrators and continuing to pressure select NGOs, 
independent media, some religious minorities, independent labor 
unions, and political opposition. Attacks on and the murder of 
journalists and activists continued. There were reports of 
physical abuse by law enforcement, military hazing deaths, and 
harsh prison conditions. Rule of law and due process violations 
remained a problem, and government corruption was widespread. 
Xenophobic, racial, and ethnic attacks and hate crimes 
continued to be a significant problem. The conflict between the 
government and insurgents, Islamist militants, and criminal 
forces in the North Caucasus led to numerous human rights 
violations by all parties, which reportedly engaged in killing, 
torture, abuse, violence, and politically motivated abductions.
    In Ukraine, despite beginning with free and fair 
presidential elections, the overall trend for 2010 was negative 
due to problematic local elections, intimidation of the media, 
and perceived selective prosecution of opposition figures. 
International and domestic observers found the October local 
elections did not reach the same standards of the presidential 
election, citing the registration of fraudulent opposition 
candidate lists, government pressure against election monitors 
and candidates, and election officials selectively barring or 
removing candidates from ballots- all prompting concern about 
the government's planned next steps for election reform. In 
addition, there were numerous reports that authorities 
attempted to direct media content and intimidate journalists. 
Although the government took steps in 2009 to better combat 
corruption, the international community expressed concern that 
politics motivated the new government's 2010 criminal 
investigation of 30 members of the previous government for 
alleged corruption; several of these people were detained and 
subsequently charged.
Near East
    Political tensions flared in the weeks preceding the 
October elections in Bahrain. The government arrested more than 
200 Shia men it accused of inciting or involvement in street 
violence. Those arrested included some, but not all, of the 
leaders of two groups, Haq and Wafa', which reject the monarchy 
and had called for a boycott of the elections. The government 
charged 23 of those arrested with involvement in a ``terror 
network'' pursuant to the 2006 counterterrorism law. The 
electoral process also was marred by the government's banning 
of the two main legal opposition parties' Web sites and 
newsletters. The government did not allow international 
observers to monitor the elections. The government also 
continued to restrict freedom of assembly and association. 
Security forces intervened in demonstrations and limited and 
controlled political gatherings during the year. NGOs and civil 
society groups were required to register with the government 
and provide membership lists. In September, the Ministry of 
Social Development effectively shuttered a local human rights 
organization, Bahrain Human Rights Society, when a ministerial 
decree ordered the dissolution of the society's board of 
directors and appointed a ministry employee to be the group's 
interim head.
    According to multiple sources, the Government of Iran 
executed approximately 312 persons in summary executions during 
the year, many after trials that were conducted in secret and/
or did not provide due process. In many cases, persons executed 
supposedly for criminal offenses such as narcotics trafficking 
were actually political dissidents. Authorities held political 
prisoners and continued to crack down on women's rights 
reformers, ethnic minority rights activists, student activists, 
and religious minorities. There was little judicial 
independence and few fair public trials. The government 
severely restricted the right to privacy and civil liberties, 
including freedoms of expression, including for members of the 
press, assembly, association, and movement, and it placed 
severe restrictions on freedom of religion. Vigilantes 
continued to attack young persons considered ``un-Islamic'' in 
their dress or activities, invade private homes, abuse 
unmarried couples, and disrupt concerts. Violence and legal and 
societal discrimination against women, children, ethnic and 
religious minorities, and LGBT persons persisted.
    While the credible and legitimate national parliamentary 
elections in all 18 provinces on March 7 reflected a 
significant achievement in advancing the exercise of human 
rights, extremist violence, coupled with weak government 
performance in upholding the rule of law, resulted in 
widespread and severe human rights abuses in Iraq. There were 
reports that the government or its agents committed numerous 
arbitrary or unlawful killings, arbitrary detentions, and acts 
of torture connected to its security operations, often with 
impunity. Attacks by al-Qaida in Iraq and other extremists 
continued against Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), government 
officials, and civilians, often targeting urban areas, 
Christian churches, Shia markets, and mosques. On May 10, 
coordinated bombings and shootings resulted in at least 119 
fatalities, including ISF and law enforcement personnel. On 
August 17, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd of army 
recruits in Baghdad, killing 61 persons. During the year, 962 
Ministry of Interior personnel were killed and 1,347 were 
injured. Police officers, in particular, were targeted.
    In Libya, Colonel al-Qadhafi and his close associates 
monopolized every aspect of decision-making in the government. 
Continuing human rights problems included torture, arbitrary 
arrest, official impunity, and poor prison conditions. A large 
but unknown number of persons remained in detention or prison 
for engaging in peaceful political activity or for belonging to 
an illegal political organization. The government significantly 
restricted media freedom and continued to restrict freedom of 
expression, and routinely monitored telephone calls and 
Internet usage, including e-mail communication with foreign 
countries. There also was physical surveillance of political 
activists and foreign organizations. The government owned and 
controlled virtually all print and broadcast media, and 
government-controlled media neither published nor broadcast 
opinions inconsistent with official policy. The Internal 
Security Organization routinely harassed journalists, and 
overly broad provisions of the penal code served as the basis 
for frequent charges of criminal defamation. The government 
severely restricted freedom of assembly and permitted public 
assembly only with advance approval. The government restricted 
the right of association and generally only allowed 
institutions affiliated with the government to operate; no NGOs 
functioned in the country. In the early months of 2011, 
protests erupted across Libya. Because they occurred outside of 
the reporting period, they are not documented in the 2010 
report.
    In Syria, security forces committed unlawful killings, 
detained political and human rights activists, and tortured and 
physically abused prisoners and detainees with impunity. The 
government also imprisoned several high-profile members of the 
human rights and civil society communities, in addition to the 
estimated 2,500-3,000 political prisoners previously detained. 
Lengthy pretrial and incommunicado detention remained a serious 
problem, and the courts systematically used ``confessions'' 
extracted under duress as evidence. Defendants' claims of 
torture were almost never investigated. The government severely 
restricted universal freedoms of expression, assembly and 
association, religion, and movement.
South and Central Asia
    An increasingly difficult security situation in Afghanistan 
resulted in a number of serious human rights abuses. Civilians 
continued to suffer from intensified armed conflict as 
conflict-related deaths increased by 15 percent during the year 
compared to 2009. Government and progovernment international 
forces were responsible for civilian deaths, specifically 16 
percent of total civilian deaths. Human Rights Watch reported 
that timely and transparent inquiries or accountability of 
forces in the event of wrong-doing were often lacking when 
civilians were hurt or killed. Taliban and insurgent attacks, 
including politically targeted killings, escalated in both 
number and intensity. At least 30 individuals were killed on 
September 18, the day of parliamentary elections, and the 
Taliban claimed responsibility for killing three candidates 
during the campaign period between July and August. In August, 
five campaign workers supporting Fauwzia Gilani in Herat were 
abducted and killed. There were also attacks on election 
officials. The elections themselves were marred by electoral 
fraud and widespread irregularities, including the 
establishment of a special tribunal to investigate the election 
results and complaints; low voter turnout; and insufficient 
conditions for participation by women. The government was 
plagued by official impunity and corruption and often failed to 
conduct effective investigations of human rights abuses 
committed by local security forces. Arbitrary arrest and 
detention remained a problem, and the judiciary lacked 
independence. Freedom of religion, including the right to 
change one's religion, was severely restricted. Women continued 
to face pervasive human rights abuses, including violence, 
insurgent attacks on girls' education, limited access to 
justice, and other limitations on their rights.
    In Pakistan, allegations of extrajudicial killings and 
detention of civilians by the security forces were reported by 
several media outlets and NGOs. During the year, there was a 
significant increase in the total number of reported torture 
and rape cases of individuals in custody, almost double as 
compared to 2009. The Society for Human Rights and Prisoners' 
Aid reported 72 civilian deaths after encounters with police 
and 168 deaths in jails, an increase from the previous year. 
Militant and terrorist bombings in all four provinces and in 
Federally Administered Tribal Areas continued to result in 
deaths and injuries. According to the report, terrorist and 
extremist attacks and operations to combat terrorism and 
extremism resulted in 7,400 deaths, of which nearly 1,800 were 
civilians, over 450 were security forces, and over 5,100 were 
terrorists or insurgents. There were numerous reports of 
politically motivated killings in Karachi and Balochistan. 
According to a report by Dawn, 1,981 persons were killed in 
political violence in Karachi, of which 748 were targeted 
killings. According to Human Rights Watch, the targeted killing 
and disappearance of Baloch leaders, activists, and civilians 
increased in 2010. Religious freedom violations and violence 
and discrimination against religious minorities continued. Some 
people accused of blasphemy against Islam were sentenced to 
life imprisonment or capital punishment. One of them was Aasia 
Bibi, a Christian woman, who was sentenced to death in 
November, becoming the first woman to receive such a harsh 
sentence for blasphemy.
    Uzbekistan continued to incarcerate individuals on 
political grounds. While one political prisoner, human rights 
activist Farhad Mukhtarov, was released during the year, 13 to 
25 political prisoners remained in custody, and family members 
reported that many prisoners were tortured. Human rights 
activists, their family members, and members of certain 
religious groups reported harassment and arrest by police and 
other members of the security forces. Freedom of expression was 
severely limited and harassment of journalists increased during 
the year. Police and security services subjected print and 
broadcast journalists to arrest, intimidation, and violence, as 
well as to bureaucratic restrictions on their activity. The 
criminal and administrative codes imposed significant fines for 
libel and defamation and the government used charges of libel, 
slander, and defamation to punish journalists, human rights 
activists, and others who criticized the president or the 
government. Freedom of association also was restricted. The 
government tightly controlled NGO activity and regulated 
Islamic and minority religious groups with strict legal 
restrictions on the types of groups that could be formed and 
registered. Forced adult and child labor was used during the 
cotton harvest.
Western Hemisphere
    The government of Cuba released more than 40 political 
prisoners during the reporting period, including many notable 
human rights activists arrested in 2003, although most were 
released on the condition that they leave the country. Cuba 
continued to hold dozens of other political prisoners. The 
government suppressed human rights and fundamental freedoms, 
including freedom of speech, the press, assembly and 
association, movement, and religion. Human rights groups noted 
a marked increase in the use of short-term detentions designed 
to disrupt the work of civil society and harass activists. In 
addition, the government continued to stage public protests to 
harass and abuse activists and their families, particularly the 
Damas de Blanco (``Ladies in White''). Although the government 
characterized the mobs as spontaneous, participants frequently 
arrived in government-owned vehicles or were recruited by local 
Communist Party leaders from nearby workplaces or schools. In 
extreme cases, government-orchestrated mobs assaulted these 
individuals or damaged their homes or property. Members of the 
security forces monitored, harassed, and sometimes physically 
assaulted human rights and prodemocracy advocates, dissidents, 
independent journalists, detainees, and prisoners, and did so 
with impunity. The government did not recognize independent 
journalism, and subjected some independent journalists to 
travel bans, detentions, harassment, equipment seizures, and 
threats of imprisonment. Unauthorized assemblies of more than 
three persons can be punished by up to three months in prison 
and a fine, although these meetings were more likely to be 
broken up than prosecuted.
    Respect for human rights and democratic institutions 
deteriorated over the past year in Nicaragua. Protesting 
opposition party members were denied freedom of assembly. March 
2010 regional elections on the Caribbean coast were marred by 
allegations of widespread irregularities, and credible domestic 
NGOs were denied permission to monitor the election. Other 
issues include politicization of the judiciary and other 
government organs, substantial government interference with 
media freedom, and harassment of NGOs and journalists. Police 
did not protect demonstrators who protested government policies 
and allowed progovernment groups to engage in violent 
activities. The government continued to criticize religious 
leaders who expressed concerns about government practices and 
policies that affected public participation and democratic 
freedoms. Government officials publicly excoriated Catholic 
Church officials who denounced the manipulation of the 
electoral process.
    In Venezuela, the government used the judiciary to 
intimidate and persecute individuals and organizations that 
criticized government policies or actions, including peaceful 
protesters, journalists, a judge, members of opposition 
political parties, NGOs, union and business leaders, and 
ordinary citizens. Government officials also restricted freedom 
of expression, harassing and intimidating privately owned 
television stations, media outlets, and journalists through 
threats, property seizures, targeted regulations, and criminal 
investigations and prosecutions. In late December the National 
Assembly adopted a package of laws that further undermined 
democratic principles and practices in Venezuela, including a 
law delegating legislative authority to the executive that 
extended beyond the term of office of the outgoing National 
Assembly, in violation of the shared values of the Inter-
American Democratic Charter, and laws imposing new restrictions 
on the independent media, the Internet, political parties, and 
NGOs.

 
                                 AFRICA

                              ----------                              


                                 ANGOLA

    Angola is a constitutional republic with an estimated population of 
17.3 million. The ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola 
(MPLA), led by President Jose Eduardo dos Santos since 1979, has been 
in power since independence in 1975 and exercised tight, centralized 
control over government planning, policymaking, and media outlets. In 
2008 the Government held the first legislative elections since 1992. 
Domestic and international observers reported that polling throughout 
the country was peaceful and generally credible, despite a ruling party 
advantage due to state control of major media and other resources and 
serious logistical failures that marred polling in the capital of 
Luanda. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    Human rights abuses included: the abridgement of citizens' right to 
elect officials at all levels; unlawful killings by police and military 
forces; torture, beatings, and rape by security forces; harsh and life-
threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; lengthy 
pretrial detention; impunity for human rights abusers; judicial 
inefficiency, lack of judicial independence, and lack of due process; 
infringements on citizens' privacy rights and forced evictions without 
compensation; restrictions on freedom of speech, press, assembly, 
association, and movement; official corruption; restrictions on 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); discrimination and violence 
against women; abuse of children; trafficking in persons; 
discrimination against persons with disabilities, indigenous people, 
and persons with HIV/AIDS; limits on workers' rights; 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.--There were no 
reports that the Government or its agents committed politically 
motivated killings. However, human rights activists and domestic media 
sources reported that security forces arbitrarily killed an unknown 
number of persons during the year. In 2009 security forces arbitrarily 
killed 61 persons.
    The Government made some progress prosecuting police officers 
responsible for human rights violations. However, impunity remained a 
problem, and the results of investigations into security force abuses 
were seldom released.
    Domestic media and local human rights activists reported that 
police use of excessive force resulted in killings.
    For example, on January 19, police in Luanda were accused of 
killing three male youths. Witnesses reported that a group of masked 
men entered the victims' homes without a warrant and abducted the 
individuals. According to the families' testimony, the three victims 
were shot and killed in a field adjacent to the Special Transit Police 
Station. Subsequently, police delivered the bodies to the local morgue.
    On May 9, police allegedly killed three persons in custody for 
their involvement in crimes, including armed robbery. The National 
Police commander promised to follow leads and arrest the perpetrators, 
but there were no developments by year's end.
    In January 2009 police shot and killed Joaquim Manuel Machado 
during a confrontation with a group of youths in Sambizanga, Luanda. 
Jose Inacio Rene, the police officer identified as Machado's killer, 
had not been tried by year's end.
    In August 2009 police officer Sebastiao Andre killed his son, 
Jeronimo Sebastiao, in Sambizanga, Luanda. No investigation had taken 
place by year's end.
    In September 2009 members of the Armed Forces of Angola (FAA) 
buried alive 45 persons in a tunnel in Lunda Norte after determining 
they were illegal diamond miners. No investigation had taken place at 
year's end.
    There were no developments in September 2009 cases: the case of 
Luandan police who tortured a citizen accused of selling drugs, while 
he was under arrest; he later died when police denied him medical 
assistance; and the arrest and torture by police of a man in Porto 
Amboim who died from serious contusions and cuts.
    In 2008 there were multiple media reports in Luanda that police 
deliberately targeted and killed persons suspected of gang-related 
violence and other criminal activity.
    On March 22, seven officers were sentenced to 24 years in prison 
and fined approximately 72,000 kwanzas ($800) each for shooting and 
killing eight teenagers in 2008. The judge also ordered each family of 
the victims to receive approximately 705,600 kwanzas ($7,840). The 
officers claimed to be part of a special gang task force tasked with 
ridding neighborhoods of gang members, but the National Police denied 
the existence of the task force and relieved the police officers of 
duty.
    On April 27, three National Police officers were sentenced to eight 
years in prison for the 2006 killing of Manuel Domingos in Talatona, 
Luanda.
    The FAA carried out counterinsurgency operations against the 
Military Position (MP) faction of the Front for the Liberation of the 
Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC), which reportedly resulted in at least three 
deaths. The FAA responded to at least three attacks against civilian 
targets for which FLEC-MP claimed responsibility.
    On January 4, FLEC claimed responsibility for an attack on a 
Togolese national soccer team, which had been en route to Cabinda to 
participate in the African Cup of Nations. Three persons were killed 
and nine were injured in the attack. Six persons were arrested for 
tangential involvement, and another two were arrested for direct 
involvement. Of the latter two, one person had been sentenced by year's 
end. The six arrested for tangential involvement were released, and the 
remaining one person was still being tried at year's end.
    In May FLEC claimed responsibility for an attack on Chinese workers 
in Cabinda; one worker was killed and another was wounded.
    Land mines placed during the long civil war remained a threat. 
According to the National Commission for Demining and Humanitarian 
Assistance, land mine and other explosive remnants of war (ERW) 
accidents killed 12 and injured at least three individuals during the 
year. The Government continued to strengthen and expand national 
demining capacity during the year, and it partnered extensively with 
international NGOs on demining operations and mine-risk education.
    On October 3, four children were killed in Malange Province after 
finding a rocket propelled grenade, which exploded when they played 
with it. The accident occurred in an area that was not suspected to 
contain explosive remnants of war.
    On October 8, a 42-year-old woman was severely injured in Malange 
Province when she detonated an unexploded object.
    On October 19, two deminers were killed and two others injured when 
a land mine detonated. The four individuals were clearing ERW from a 
known hazard area.

    b. Disappearance.--Unlike in the previous year, there were no 
reports of politically motivated disappearances. Also unlike in the 
previous year, there were no media reports that persons taken into 
police or military custody disappeared.
    In May 2009 the president of a local movement for autonomy and 
independence, Jota Malakito, was taken into police custody and held 
incommunicado. On October 8, he was transferred from Viana Penitentiary 
Center to Dundo, Lunda Norte, where he was tried with 33 other persons 
accused of crimes against state security and instigating a rebellion. 
As of year's end, Malakito remained in prison.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
government security forces tortured, beat, and otherwise abused 
persons. Reports of beatings and other abuses in police stations during 
interrogations were common.
    According to Novo Jornal, on May 28, the Association for Justice, 
Peace, and Democracy (AJPD), a local NGO, reported that police 
intimidated citizens, used excessive force and guns against them, and 
used torture and cruel and degrading treatment against detainees. 
AJPD's publication documented examples of prisoners and detainees 
tortured while in police custody between 2006-09. The same NGO reported 
that cases of torture continued during the year.
    Police and other security forces rarely were held accountable for 
torture. Although the Government punished some violators 
administratively, few prosecutions occurred during the year.
    On March 24, a lawyer reported that several civilians awaiting 
trial for alleged participation in a FLEC attack in Cabinda showed 
visible signs of torture.
    The Government continued to conduct operations throughout the 
country to identify, detain, and expel illegal immigrants, particularly 
in the diamond-rich provinces of Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul. Between 
September and December, police expelled approximately 12,000 illegal 
immigrants, most of them diamond workers in Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul. 
NGOs and the media reported acts of violence and degrading treatment, 
including rape and sexual abuse, associated with these operations. 
Based on an assessment mission among those returned to the Democratic 
Republic of Congo (DRC), a UN report cited 117 victims of sexual 
violence in October. The victims, illegal immigrants from the DRC, 
reported being detained and raped by military or police officers before 
being forcibly expelled into the DRC. The Government claimed that the 
allegations were unfounded and that its border police respected 
procedures to return illegal immigrants. The Government reported 
uncovering one case of rape, and was working to prosecute the alleged 
perpetrator at year's end (see section 1.d.).
    Police and immigration officials at border checkpoints and 
provincial airports extorted money from travelers and harassed 
returnees and refugees.
    In April three police officers were sentenced to eight years in 
prison for severely beating a citizen, leaving him partially blind.
    In October 2009 the media reported that seven former agents from 
the National Police claimed that they were tortured while undergoing 
interrogation in prison.
    Abuses by the army continued. In Cabinda FAA troops tortured, beat, 
and illegally detained citizens suspected of FLEC collaboration during 
anti-insurgency operations, according to human rights NGOs.
    In January 2009 a local NGO reported that security forces arrested 
three citizens in Cabinda for crimes against the state and 
collaboration with FLEC. Security forces beat and tortured them with 
cigarette burns, prolonged sun exposure, heavy weights tied to their 
testicles, and flogging until they bled from their ears, noses, eyes, 
and mouths. There were no updates on the case by year's end.
    In November 2009, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), 
approximately 60 soldiers arrived in the village of Sassa Zau Velho and 
severely beat two elderly men. The soldiers pillaged the men's houses 
and stole money. Villagers reported that the military commander of the 
northern region in Cabinda later apologized. He also reportedly stated 
that if victims could identify the perpetrators, the soldiers would be 
punished. However, the victims were unable to identify the soldiers, 
and the FAA neither restored the stolen goods nor paid damages to cover 
the medical and hospital bills.
    Reports of abuses by private security companies continued, 
especially in Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul. According to reports from 
human rights activists, private security contractors hired by diamond 
companies to protect their concessions from illegal exploitation were 
responsible for most of the violence.
    Land mine and other ERW-related injuries continued during the year, 
as infrastructure improvements made possible increased movement of 
persons and goods in rural, war-affected areas. At least 12 persons 
were killed by unexploded ordnance (see section 1.a.) and at least 
three were injured.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
harsh and life threatening. NGOs reported that prison officials 
routinely beat and tortured detainees.
    Overcrowding and lack of medical care, sanitation, potable water, 
and food caused some prison deaths. It was customary for families to 
bring food to prisoners, but guards demanded bribes as a precondition 
for food delivery. Some prisoners died of disease, especially in 
provincial prisons. Prison conditions varied widely between urban and 
rural areas. As of September 2009 there were 16,183 inmates in prison.
    During the year foreign government officials visited a model prison 
in Bengo that had sanitation, ventilation, lighting, medical care, 
potable water, and sufficient food for the number of prisoners.
    On August 14, Amnesty International (AI) reported that 34 prisoners 
in Lunda Norte suffered from a lack of sanitation, drinking water, and 
food. The same prisoners also suffered from vomiting, diarrhea, blood 
loss, malaria, and pneumonia, for which they received no medical 
treatment. No information was available at year's end on whether the 
prisoners eventually received medical treatment.
    Most prisoners were allowed visitors, and the law provides for 
prisoners to practice freedom of religion. The Government allowed 
prisoners to submit complaints to judicial authorities and to request 
investigation of conditions. The Government investigated and monitored 
prison and detention center conditions.
    The Government opened one new prison in Bengo Province during the 
year. Two facilities were under construction in Lunda Norte and Zaire 
provinces to alleviate the overcrowding that sparked riots in 2007 in 
which at least two persons were killed.
    According to a March 24 article in the Jornal de Angola, the 
N'dalatando prison in Kwanza Norte held 378 prisoners, 305 of whom had 
been sentenced; 73 were in pretrial detention.
    On May 1, the weekly independent newspaper Folho 8 reported that 
more than 2,000 prisoners either were being held nationwide in 
prolonged pretrial detention or were not being released after having 
completed their sentences.
    On June 1, the Kuando prison director reported that the prison, 
which originally was built for 36 prisoners, currently held 565 
inmates, of whom 350 prisoners were in pretrial detention. The prison 
reportedly lacked running water, electricity, a health clinic, and 
educational facilities. Female and male prisoners were housed together.
    Kwanza Sul's jail in Sumbe held 1,144 prisoners, 428 of whom were 
in pretrial detention.
    Chronically underpaid prison officials supported themselves by 
stealing from prisoners and extorting money from inmates' family 
members. Prison guards continued to demand that prisoners pay for 
weekend passes to which they were entitled. There were continued 
reports of prison officials operating an informal bail system, 
releasing prisoners until their trial dates for a fee.
    Female inmates informed the UN Working Group on Arbitrary 
Detentions that prison guards regularly raped them.
    On March 20, the progovernment newspaper Jornal de Angola reported 
that Jean Pierre Kindudi and another inmate, both residents of the DRC, 
had been imprisoned since 2007 in Kwanza Norte Province without contact 
with representatives of their home country.
    On April 17, Folho 8 reported that inmate Beatriz Antonia became 
pregnant while in prison and prison officials encouraged her to have an 
abortion. When she refused, she was placed in solitary confinement.
    Authorities at provincial prisons regularly housed juveniles, often 
incarcerated for petty theft, together with adults, and subjected the 
children to abuse by guards and inmates; however, authorities in urban 
prisons often separated juveniles from the main prison population. 
Juvenile detention centers existed in Luanda but were severely 
overcrowded.
    Authorities frequently held pretrial detainees with sentenced 
inmates and held short-term detainees with those serving long-term 
sentences for violent crimes, especially in provincial prisons. On 
April 30, prison officials released 41 prisoners who were held in 
pretrial detention.
    The Government permitted visits by independent human rights 
observers. The Government permitted foreign diplomatic personnel and 
local and international human rights observers to visit prisons during 
the year. In April a foreign diplomatic delegation visited the prison 
in Bengo Province. Diplomats reported that they were allowed to speak 
to the prisoners, who reported difficulty accessing justice. Some had 
completed their sentences but remained incarcerated because a 
magistrate had not reviewed their cases.
    An ombudsman existed to help ensure cases reached the justice 
system. The office addressed some human rights issues.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention; however, police legally can detain an individual 
under reasonable suspicion for six hours without evidence of a crime. 
Security forces often did not respect these prohibitions in practice.
    According to a local NGO, police arbitrarily arrested individuals 
without due process. For example, on September 11, five heavily armed 
police officers entered Mateus Manuel da Cunha's residence in Rangel, 
Luanda, without an arrest warrant. They accused the suspect of being a 
``dangerous antisocial element'' and detained him. No further 
information was available at year's end.
    An investigation continued at year's end into the February 2009 
case in which police arbitrarily detained two youths at police 
headquarters when they delivered an obituary notice about the youths' 
cousin, a victim of a gang killing in Luanda.
    Local human rights NGOs reported that authorities detained family 
members of individuals wanted by the police.
    During the year 24 Cabindans were detained for supposed crimes 
against the state, compared with 30 detained in 2009. HRW reported that 
40 individuals have been arbitrarily arrested in Cabinda since 2007.
    On August 21, the Cabinda Supreme Court freed four citizens, Joao 
Paulo Mombo, Joao Baptista Maiele, Zacarias Joao Zau, and Marcos Lubuca 
Malila Tovo, who were sentenced to 24 months in prison in 2008 for 
crimes against state security. The four were detained in 2008 by FAA 
soldiers, who accused them of involvement in a FLEC attack.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The National Police, 
controlled by the Interior Ministry, are responsible for internal 
security and law enforcement. The Internal Intelligence Service reports 
to the presidency and investigates sensitive state security matters. 
The FAA is responsible for external security but also has domestic 
security responsibilities, including border security, expulsion of 
illegal immigrants, and small-scale actions against FLEC separatists in 
Cabinda.
    Other than personnel assigned to elite units, police were poorly 
paid, and the practice of supplementing income through extortion of 
civilians was widespread. Corruption and impunity remained serious 
problems. Most complaints were handled within the National Police by 
internal disciplinary procedures, which sometimes led to formal 
punishment, including dismissal. However, the Government did not 
establish mechanisms to expedite investigations and punish alleged 
offenders, and it rarely disclosed publicly the results of internal 
investigations.
    The Government's closure of the UN Human Rights Office (UNHRO) in 
2008 hampered the Ministry of Interior's efforts to train police and 
army recruits. However, police participated in professional training 
with foreign law enforcement officials from several countries in the 
region.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Prior to an 
arrest, the law requires a judge or magistrate to issue a warrant, 
although a person caught committing a crime may be arrested immediately 
without a warrant. However, security forces did not always procure 
arrest warrants before detaining persons. Police did not obtain 
warrants before conducting searches for illegal vendors and making 
sweeps of public markets. A local NGO estimated that as many as 75 
percent of searches were conducted without a warrant.
    The constitution provides the right to prompt judicial 
determination of the detention's legality, but authorities often did 
not respect this right in practice.
    The law mandates that detainees be informed of charges against them 
within five days, or the prosecutor may permit the suspect to return 
home and provide a warrant of surveillance to local police. This 
generally occurred in practice.
    If the crime is a misdemeanor, the suspect may be detained for 30 
days before trial. If the crime is a felony, the prosecutor may prolong 
pretrial detention up to 45 days. Pretrial detention may be prolonged 
by court order while officials build their case. The requests are not 
in the public domain, which made it difficult to determine whether 
authorities exceeded the limits.
    A functioning but ineffective bail system, widely used for minor 
crimes, existed. Prisoners and their families reported that prison 
officials demanded bribes to release prisoners. Prisoners are allowed 
access to a lawyer.
    Unlawful arrest and detention continued to be serious problems. 
NGOs continued efforts to secure the release of persons detained 
illegally. Detainees should not be held longer than 24 hours, but many 
are held for days. In 2009 NGOs reported more than 500 cases of illegal 
detentions.
    On August 11, AI reported that the 34 persons held in Dundo Prison 
for crimes against state security had been waiting nine months for a 
trial. The individuals participated in an NGO active in Lunda Norte to 
promote administrative and financial federalism for the province.
    In mining provinces such as Lunda Norte, Lunda Sul, and Bie, 
international organizations reported that government security forces 
detained illegal immigrants and their families in transit centers, 
where the security forces subjected them to systematic rape and body 
cavity searches, as well as depriving them of food and water.
    For example, between September and December, police expelled 
approximately 12,000 illegal immigrants, most of them diamond workers 
in Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul. NGOs and the media reported acts of 
violence and degrading treatment, including rape and sexual abuse, 
associated with these operations.
    Security officials arbitrarily arrested members of the opposition. 
On September 23, the online independent news source Club-K reported 
that police in Bie Province detained one person for attending a UNITA 
meeting. However, UNITA member Alcildes Sakala reported that the police 
detained 11 persons over two days for belonging to UNITA.
    Cabinda residents continued to report that security forces detained 
persons suspected of FLEC activity or collaboration.
    Between January 8 and 17, police arrested six individuals, 
Francisco Luemba, Belchior Lanso Tati, Raul Tati, Jose Benjamin Fuca, 
Andre Zeferino Puati, and Barnabe Paca Peso in Cabinda for ``Crimes 
against state security `` for collaborating with FLEC. The six 
individuals were formally charged in March. Andre Zeferino Puati was 
convicted for armed rebellion and homicide allegedly committed on 
January 8 and sentenced in early June to three years in prison for 
possessing documents calling for protest against the Government. On 
August 23, four of the detainees were convicted of ``other acts'' under 
the state security law, sentenced to between three and six years' 
imprisonment, and required to pay $600 to $1,200 fines. They were 
arrested for possessing documents about FLEC and for allegedly 
intellectually supporting the FLEC movement. Barnabe Paca Peso was 
acquitted in September. Luemba, Lanso Tati, Tati, Fuca, and Puati were 
released in late December.
    In early April, Felix Sumbo was detained for possessing T-shirts 
with the names of six detainees and the phrase, ``The truth will set 
them free'' printed on them. Sumbo was held for three days before being 
released.
    Also in early April, police raided Antonio Paca Pemba Panzo's 
residence to search for the same T-shirts. Although police did not find 
the T-shirts, they arrested and detained him for seven months. Panzo 
reported that police mistreated him while in prison. He was released in 
November after charges against him were dropped.
    The law mandates access to legal counsel for detainees and states 
that indigent detainees should be provided a lawyer by the state. These 
rights often were not respected, in part due to the shortage of legal 
professionals. The law also allows family members prompt access to 
detainees; however, this occasionally was ignored or made conditional 
upon payment of a bribe.
    Excessively long pretrial detention continued to be a serious 
problem. An inadequate number of judges and poor communication among 
authorities contributed to it. Police beat and then released detainees 
rather than prepare a formal court case. In some cases, authorities 
held inmates in the prison system for up to two years before their 
trials began. NGOs reported that more than 50 percent of inmates were 
pretrial detainees, most of whom had not been formally charged. The 
Government did not release detainees who had been held beyond the legal 
time limit, claiming that previous releases of pretrial detainees had 
resulted in an increase in crime.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary; however, the judiciary remained understaffed, 
inefficient, corrupt, and subject to executive and political influence 
(see section 4).
    The president appoints Supreme Court justices for life terms 
without confirmation by the National Assembly. The Supreme Court 
generally heard cases concerning alleged political and security crimes. 
The Ministry of Defense also tried civilians in military courts.
    There were long trial delays at the Supreme Court level. Criminal 
courts also had a large backlog of cases, which resulted in major 
delays in hearings.
    Informal courts remained the principal institutions through which 
citizens resolved conflicts in rural areas. Traditional leaders also 
heard and decided local cases. These informal systems did not provide 
citizens with the same rights to a fair trial as the formal legal 
system. Instead, each community in which they were located established 
local rules.
    Most municipalities did not have prosecutors or judges. Local 
police often served as investigator, prosecutor, and judge. Both the 
National Police and the FAA have internal court systems that generally 
remained closed to outside scrutiny. Although members of these 
organizations can be tried under their internal regulations, cases that 
include violations of criminal or civil laws can also fall under the 
jurisdiction of provincial courts.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the right to a fair trial; 
however, the Government did not always respect this right. Suspects 
must be in the presence of a judge and defense attorney when charged. 
Defendants are presumed innocent until convicted. By law trials are 
usually public, although each court has the right to close proceedings. 
Juries are not used. Defendants have the right to be present and to 
consult with an attorney in a timely manner. The law requires that an 
attorney be provided at public expense if an indigent defendant faces 
serious criminal charges. Outside of Luanda, the public defender was 
generally not a trained attorney due to shortages in qualified 
personnel. Defendants do not have the right to confront their accusers. 
They may question witnesses against them and present witnesses and 
evidence on their own behalf. The Government did not always respect 
these rights in practice.
    Defendants and their attorneys have the right to access government-
held evidence relevant to their cases. In addition defendants have the 
right to appeal. Lawyers and prosecutors can appeal if the sentence is 
unsatisfactory, but only a higher court can modify the sentence. 
However, the Government did not always respect these rights in 
practice.
    The law extends to all citizens. A separate court under the 
Ministry of Justice is designated for children's affairs. It functions 
as part of Luanda's provincial court system. The Luanda juvenile court 
hears cases of youth under the age of 18 who are victims of a crime. 
The juvenile court also hears cases of minors between the ages of 12 
and 16 who are accused of committing a criminal offense. Minors over 
the age of 16 accused of committing a criminal offense are tried in the 
regular court system. In many rural provinces, there is no provision 
for juvenile courts, so offenders are tried as adults.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were reports of political 
prisoners. On September 23, an independent, online news outlet Club-K 
reported that police in Bie Province detained one person for attending 
a UNITA meeting. UNITA member Alcildes Sakala additionally reported 
that police detained 11 persons over two days for belonging to UNITA.
    In May 2009 the president of a local movement for autonomy and 
independence, Jota Malakito, was taken into police custody and held 
incommunicado. On October 8, he was transferred from Viana Penitentiary 
Center to Dundo, Lunda Norte, where he was tried with 33 other persons 
accused of crimes against state security and instigating a rebellion. 
As of year's end Malakito remained in prison.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--On May 12, the African 
Commission on Human Rights found the country in violation of several 
articles in the African charter in relation to a 2004 case in which 14 
Gambians were deported along with approximately 126,250 other 
foreigners, under a government program called Operacao Brilhante, a 
campaign whose aim was to rid the mining areas of foreigners. The 
commission recommended that the Government establish a commission of 
inquiry to investigate. Foreign Minister Assuncao dos Anjos responded 
that the country was being unjustly criticized, likely due to a 
misunderstanding of its law.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Although the law provides 
for an independent and impartial judiciary in civil matters, the 
judiciary was subject to political interference. Civil courts 
functioned in some provinces but faced severe backlogs. In 2009 
Luanda's civil courts had more than 2,000 pending civil suits. The 
Ministry of Justice continued work with national and international 
partners to improve court clerk training and technical capacity in 
provincial and municipal civil courts. Damages for human rights 
violations could be sought in court, but no cases were tried during the 
year.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions, but 
the Government did not always respect these prohibitions in practice. 
For example, citizens widely believed that the Government maintained 
surveillance of certain groups, including government critics, 
opposition parties, and journalists.
    During the year the National Assembly approved a law dictating that 
citizens could not be relocated without being provided a fair 
indemnification. In practice, more than 6,000 persons were relocated 
during the year; most did not receive a fair indemnification. Under the 
new constitution, all land belonged to the state. The state claimed 
many of the former residents did not have clear title to the dwellings, 
which were constructed illegally.
    During the year there were numerous instances in which the 
Government exercised the right of eminent domain to destroy private 
homes. The former homeowners were not compensated at fair market value 
for the loss of their residences or land. The Government demolished 
housing in Cabinda, Benguela, Lubando, Malange, and Huila provinces and 
sometimes forcibly relocated residents to vacant sites.
    For example, on January 25, 12 houses in Benguela were destroyed 
and the residents were relocated to a nearby vacant area.
    On March 6, the Huila provincial government destroyed the homes of 
more than 3,000 persons. Seven persons were killed during the 
destruction, including one child. The individuals were relocated to a 
field in Tchavola approximately six miles outside of Huila. Initially, 
they were provided with tents in a muddy field although eventually the 
Government gave them food, water, medical services, and transportation. 
However, the individuals were not provided fair compensation for their 
homes.
    In August the Huila provincial government also destroyed the homes 
of more than 1,800 persons in Matala and Quipungo municipalities. Huila 
Governor Isaac dos Anjos told the weekly independent newspaper Novo 
Jornal on October 22 that he was following instructions when he ordered 
homes destroyed to make way for the Mocamides railway.
    On September 29, the Benguela provincial government destroyed 1,557 
houses in Lubango. The Government had originally earmarked 320 houses 
for demolition, but it had not warned residents about when the 
demolitions would begin. Residents also were not given land in 
compensation nor materials to construct another house. The new site was 
located four miles from Lubango, making it difficult for residents to 
work.
    During the year officials from the Jardims de Eden housing project 
threatened residents of Luanda's Baghdad and Iraq neighborhoods 
attempting to displace them from profitable building land. Residents 
successfully organized a campaign to resist attempts at intimidation 
and insist on receiving fair indemnification.
    In April 2009 the Government relocated approximately 1,500 families 
(9,000 persons) from downtown Luanda to Zango, 10 miles away. At year's 
end, according to the families' resident's association, only 24 
families had received land. Some individuals were given basic but 
insufficient construction material, resulting in poor quality 
dwellings. Most residents continued to live in tents with no running 
water, health clinics, sanitation services, education, transportation, 
or electricity.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press; however, government regulations 
and minimal independent media outside of Luanda limited these rights in 
practice. Human rights activists and journalists practiced self-
censorship.
    For example, journalist Antonio Freitas stated in a May 15 
interview with the BBC that a culture of self-censorship exists among 
journalists.
    Individual citizens reported practicing self-censorship but were 
generally able to criticize the Government without fear of direct 
reprisals. The Government engaged in subtle repression and economic 
coercion, often in the form of withdrawing business or job 
opportunities, to discourage criticism. For example, an NGO reported 
that citizens often curtailed their support of an opposition political 
party because they would suffer reprisal from MPLA supporters.
    There were 12 privately owned weekly newspapers and four Luanda-
based commercial radio stations. All but three of these publications--
Folha 8, Angolense, and Agora--were rumored to be owned by groups or 
individuals tied to the Government. The Government permitted state-
owned Radio Nacional to broadcast nationally, but all other stations 
could only broadcast in provinces where they opened radio stations. 
Authorities did not allow independent stations to use repeaters to 
expand their signal reach. As a result, most private radio stations 
only broadcasted in Luanda. Radio Mais, whose ownership included 
individuals associated with the ruling party, also broadcasted in 
Huambo and Benguela.
    On June 5, the firm Media Investments bought two major privately 
owned newspapers, Semanario Angolense and Semanario A Capital. 
According to a former owner of Semanario Angolense, he was forced to 
sell because the newspaper was no longer profitable, and advertising 
revenues had suddenly and suspiciously ceased. He suspected that 
government-linked officials objected to the newspapers' critical 
editorial line and forced or encouraged advertisers to end contracts 
with the newspaper.
    In August government officials reportedly confiscated and burned 
all 3,500 copies of Seminario Angolense due to an article criticizing 
the president as well as the recent increase in the price of gasoline 
and diesel fuel. The following week the newspaper printed an 
explanation stating that there had been ``technical issues'' with the 
printing of the newspaper.
    In October the new owner of the weekly newspaper A Capital, an 
alleged subsidiary of Media Investments, ordered copies to be burned at 
the press. According to some of the newspaper's editors, that week's 
edition criticized the president's project to build one million houses. 
The paper did not circulate for two weeks.
    Independent radio and print media criticized the Government openly 
and at times harshly, but at their peril. Local journalists were not 
able to criticize government officials, particularly the president, 
without fear of arrest or harassment.
    The Government also restricted nationwide independent broadcasting 
through licensing laws. However, despite such restrictive laws, Radio 
Mais broadcasted to three provinces outside Luanda. During the year 
Radio Ecclesia negotiated with the Ministry of Social Communication to 
expand its broadcast range to five provinces. Multiple community-based 
radio stations opened during the year, including the popular Radio 
Cazenga.
    During the year authorities arrested, harassed, and intimidated 
journalists.
    In January Jose Gimbi received death threats because of his 
reporting, specifically for VOA.
    On September 5, Alberto Graves Chakussanga, a journalist for Radio 
Despertar, was shot and killed in his home in Luanda. It was unclear if 
his death was related to his role as a journalist. An investigation was 
ongoing at year's end.
    In mid-September, there was a burglary at the home of Irene Mujoco, 
a reporter for the weekly newspaper O Pais. All his work-related 
equipment was stolen. A few days later the car of another O Pais 
reporter, Eugenio Mateus, was vandalized. All his belongings in the car 
were stolen.
    On September 23, Norberto Sateco, a reporter for the independently 
owned TV Zimbo, was shot in the legs by unknown assailants in Luanda. 
Sateco had worked for the VOA in Luanda until its multipress office 
closed in 2007.
    On September 30, three Luandan-based journalists travelling to 
Lubando, Huila Province, had their equipment confiscated by local 
police after reporting on the housing demolitions. A heavy police 
presence contributed to a climate of intimidation and hampered the 
media's normal activities at the demolition site.
    On October 22, Antonio Manuel Da Silva, journalist for Radio 
Despertar, a station critical of the Government and linked to the 
opposition party UNITA, was attacked and stabbed on his way home from 
work. An investigation was pending at year's end.
    There were reports that security forces interfered with 
journalists' attempts to take pictures or video during the year. In the 
period prior to the African Cup of Nations soccer tournament in 
Cabinda, journalists were detained for photographing the stadiums. 
Visitors were warned during the year not to take photographs of any 
government-affiliated buildings or persons because security forces 
might seize their cameras or detain them.
    For example, in December 2009 reporters Jose Gimbi and Benoit 
Falcao were detained for photographing a stadium in Cabinda.
    Defamation is a crime punishable by imprisonment or fine. Accuracy 
is not an acceptable defense against defamation charges; the accused 
must provide evidence proving the validity of the allegedly damaging 
material.
    In 2009 journalist Armando Chicoca was accused of defamation. The 
president of the provincial court of Namibe Province, Antonio 
Vissandule, accused Chicoca of four accounts of defamation. Chicoca was 
tried and awaiting sentencing at year's end. Chicoca also reported 
receiving death threats in January, which he felt were linked to two 
legal cases pending against him.
    The minister of social communications, the spokesperson of the 
presidency, and the national director of information, maintained 
significant decision-making authority over the media.
    Official news outlets, including Angolan Public Television (TPA), 
favored the ruling party and largely ignored the opposition in their 
reporting. Opposition parties were given limited access to state-owned 
media and were requested to pay in exchange for coverage of their 
events and statements.

    Internet Freedom.--Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that the Government 
monitored Internet chat rooms, Web sites, or pressed for the removal of 
defamatory material. Availability of Internet service and Internet 
cafes increased during the year, but the high cost of Internet service 
put it beyond the reach of most citizens.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for the right of assembly; 
however, the Government at times restricted this right. The police 
impeded peaceful demonstrations at least three times during the year.
    The law requires written notification to the local administrator 
and police three days before public assemblies are to be held, but it 
does not require government permission for such events. However, the 
Government at times prohibited events based on perceived or claimed 
security considerations. Participants potentially were liable for 
``offenses against the honor and consideration due to persons and to 
organs of sovereignty.'' Police and administrators did not interfere 
with progovernment gatherings. However, groups intending to criticize 
the Government often met a heavy police presence and government excuses 
preventing them from carrying out the event. Usually the Government 
claimed that the timing or venue requested was problematic or that the 
proper authorities had not received notification.
    On March 25, the NGO Omunga attempted to stage a peaceful 
demonstration in Benguela to protest housing demolitions. Authorities 
prevented the demonstration from taking place, citing various legal 
arguments. The demonstration eventually took place on April 10 but on a 
much smaller scale.
    On May 22, activists in Cabinda attempted to stage a protest about 
the prolonged pretrial detention of six individuals in prison since 
January. Authorities used a strong police presence to intimidate the 
protesters and prevent the demonstration.
    On November 3, two NGOs, ``Plataforma Mulheres em Accao'' and Open 
Society Institute, walked to the National Assembly to encourage the 
legislature to vote on a law against domestic and family violence. Five 
of the demonstrators were detained for five hours and later released. 
Police claimed that the public demonstration was not authorized. 
Organizers claimed they had notified authorities.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for the 
right of association, and the Government generally respected this right 
in practice. Extensive and unexplained delays in the NGO registration 
process continued to be a problem. For example, four civil society 
associations (AJPD, the Human Rights Coordination Council, Maos Livres, 
and Omunga) constituted between 200006 remained without certificates to 
operate from the Ministry of Justice at year's end. According to the 
Government, there were 329 national and 133 international NGOs active 
in the country.
    The Government sometimes arbitrarily restricted the activities of 
associations it considered subversive by refusing to grant permits for 
organized activities. During the year opposition parties generally were 
permitted to organize and hold meetings; however, opposition officials 
continued to report minor obstructions to the free exercise of their 
parties' right to meet. For example, during the year local authorities 
in multiple provinces threatened to close UNITA's headquarters building 
as well as threatened members who attended meetings.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation; however, the Government at times restricted these rights 
in practice. During the year the Government improved the road network 
and decreased checkpoints between provinces. The Government cooperated 
with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International 
Organization for Migration, and other humanitarian organizations in 
providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons 
(IDPs), returning refugees, asylum seekers, and other persons of 
concern.
    Extortion and harassment at government checkpoints in rural areas 
and at provincial and international border checkpoints interfered with 
the right to travel. Extortion by police was routine in cities on major 
commercial routes. The Government and private security companies 
restricted access to designated diamond concessions. Citizens living 
near concession areas regularly were denied access for any purpose, 
including obtaining water.
    For example, in November well-known journalist Rafael Marques 
reported that police detained him in Lunda Norte for no reason. After 
extricating himself from the situation, he later encountered another 
threatening road block.
    In May the National Criminal Investigation Department (DNIC) 
investigated William Tonet, the publisher of the weekly newspaper Folha 
8, for supposed crimes against the state; no trial had taken place by 
year's end. On May 9, authorities seized Tonet's passport when he 
attempted to visit Namibia. Police notified Tonet that he was on a list 
of persons forbidden to leave the country.
    NGOs reported that security forces often used excessive force in 
expelling illegal artisanal miners and their families. In late October, 
NGOs in the DRC reported that Angolan officials had subjected more than 
300 persons to lengthy detention in inhumane conditions in Angola, 
deprived them of food and water, and subjected them to sexual violence. 
Authorities then deported the refugees to the DRC and left them at the 
border naked. Angola expelled approximately 12,000 persons in the last 
three months of the year.
    Land mines and other ERW remaining from the civil war continued to 
impede freedom of movement in rural areas.
    The constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not 
employ it.

    Internally Displaced Persons.--Officially there were no IDPs. The 
majority of persons previously considered IDPs did not intend to return 
to their area of origin, as many considered their new locations to be 
home. Some of those yet to return to their homes stated that a lack of 
physical infrastructure and government services, such as medical care, 
and the presence of land mines, were major deterrents to their return.
    The Ministry of Assistance and Social Reinsertion (MINARS) has 
primary responsibility for returnees and any remaining IDPs, as well as 
housing and resettlement programs; however, its efforts remained 
inadequate. MINARS delegated primary responsibility to provincial 
governments to ensure safe, voluntary resettlement in areas cleared of 
mines and with access to water, arable land, markets, and adequate 
state administration.
    From January to November 2009, the Government forcibly expelled 
85,000 illegal Congolese immigrants to Bas-Congo, and the DRC 
retaliated by forcibly returning approximately 52,000 recognized 
Angolan refugees. However, smaller expulsions along the entire border 
between the two countries continued throughout the year. The United 
Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo 
verified that DRC authorities had conducted most of their expulsions in 
2009 peacefully. Nonetheless, expelled Congolese entering the DRC 
reported that Angolan security forces committed abuses against them. 
According to the UNHRO, between January and February 2009, 9,205 
Congolese allegedly were expelled from the country, including 1,943 
women of whom 304 allegedly were raped.
    By February all Angolan returnees who left the DRC in late 2009 had 
been settled in communities, mostly in Uige and Zaire provinces. 
Government officials and returnees reported in both February and 
September that they still needed legal assistance to regularize their 
status, supplies to restart their careers, education and language 
training, agricultural supplies, and housing materials.
    The Government did not usually restrict aid efforts by 
international humanitarian groups. However, the International 
Organization for Migration and other international organizations 
reported that the Government sometimes denied them access to camps for 
returnees in Zaire and Uige provinces before the returnees were settled 
in communities.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's law provides for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. There were 
14 refugee settlement areas, 10,537 refugees, and 3,936 asylum seekers 
during the year.
    The Government provided some protection against the expulsion or 
return of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be 
threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership 
in a particular social group, or political opinion. In October 2009 the 
Government and the UNHCR resumed joint efforts to repatriate thousands 
of refugees remaining outside the country since the civil war. These 
efforts continued during the year.
    During the year Angolan refugees returned from Namibia, Zambia, the 
Republic of Congo, and the DRC. According to UNHCR statistics, 
approximately 85,000 Angolan refugees remained in neighboring countries 
at year's end.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens with the right to change 
their government peacefully. Citizens were able to exercise the right 
to elect legislative representatives in 2008. The new constitution, 
adopted in February, designates the president as head of state, renamed 
the parliament the ``National Assembly,'' and replaced the prime 
minister with a vice president. However, the right to elect local 
leaders remained restricted and elections did not occur at the 
provincial or municipal levels.

    Elections and Political Participation.--After having postponed 
parliamentary elections for two years, the Government held the first 
postwar elections in 2008. The ruling MPLA won 81.6 percent of the 
vote. Domestic and international observers reported that polling 
throughout the country was peaceful and generally credible, although 
the ruling party enjoyed advantages due to state control of major media 
and other resources. Serious logistical failures marred polling in the 
capital, Luanda. Opposition parties criticized many aspects of the 
electoral process, including state control of the major media, late 
disbursement of public campaign funds, the National Electoral 
Commission's (CNE) failure to accredit some opposition and civil 
society electoral observers, and the CNE's last-minute decision to 
discard the legal requirement that a voter registry be used to verify a 
voter's identity and residence at polling stations. Despite these and 
other irregularities, election day was peaceful, and more than 87 
percent of registered voters participated. Opposition parties generally 
accepted the electoral results.
    Observers had expected a presidential election in 2009. However, 
elections did not occur due to a delay to accommodate constitutional 
reform. The new constitution calls for elections within five years of 
the previous elections. Voters will elect candidates from a party list, 
with the presidential candidate at the head of the list.
    The new constitution calls for a ``gradual'' dissemination of power 
to the provincial and municipal level.
    The ruling MPLA party dominated all political institutions. 
Political power was concentrated in the presidency and the Council of 
Ministers, through which the president exercised executive power. The 
council can enact laws, decrees, and resolutions, assuming most 
functions normally associated with the legislative branch. The National 
Assembly consists of 220 deputies elected under a party list 
proportional representation system. This body has the authority to 
draft, debate, and pass legislation, but in practice laws generally 
were drafted and proposed by the executive branch for the assembly's 
approval. After the 2008 legislative elections, opposition deputies 
held fewer than 20 percent of the parliamentary seats.
    In August the president of the National Assembly issued a decree 
that curtailed the National Assembly's ability to question certain acts 
of the executive branch. The power to hold the executive branch 
accountable had not been restored by year's end.
    There were five political parties represented in the National 
Assembly: the MPLA, UNITA, the National Liberation Front for Angola , 
the Social Renovation Party , and Novo Democracia. After the 2008 
elections, any of the 96 parties that failed to obtain a legislative 
seat or 0.5 percent of the vote ceased to exist. Under the new 
constitution, at least two new parties could seek legalization to run 
in the next elections, scheduled for 2012.
    Opposition parties stated that their members were subject to 
harassment, intimidation, and assault by supporters of the MPLA. UNITA 
continued to argue that the MPLA had not lived up to the terms of the 
2002 peace accord, and former combatants lacked the social services and 
assistance needed to reintegrate into society. Former combatants also 
reported difficulties obtaining pensions due to bureaucratic delays or 
discrimination. UNITA headquarters buildings in at least three 
provinces were denied access to public utilities, including electricity 
and water. During the year UNITA reported that its flags were defaced 
and its buildings vandalized.
    In July UNITA reported that a member was attacked and killed on the 
street while leaving a party meeting. The victim was wearing a UNITA T-
shirt. Party representatives believed the attack was politically 
motivated.
    On July 28, Jornal de Angola ran a full-page article titled, ``The 
Coup-ist Thesis of UNITA's Youth Movement (JURA).'' The article 
extracted statements from JURA's platform to portray the movement as 
trying to overthrow the Government. UNITA interpreted this article and 
two others highlighting the JURA youth conference as instances of 
intimidation and slander.
    On August 2, a woman wearing clothes that identified her as a UNITA 
member was beaten and killed as she was leaving a UNITA meeting. UNITA 
members believe she was killed because of her party affiliation.
    In September UNITA reported that one of its members, Soba Bernardo 
Samangomba, was detained by the Bie police for four days for attending 
a UNITA meeting.
    Opposition party members and civil society leaders cited examples 
of political intolerance during the 2008 election process.
    Of the 220 deputies in the National Assembly, 82 were women (38 
percent), exceeding the UN-recommended quota of 30 percent . Women also 
held three of the 18 governorships (16 percent) and led nine of the 31 
ministries (29 percent).
    The country has three dominant linguistic groups: the Ovimbundu, 
the Mbundu, and the Bakongo, which together constitute approximately 77 
percent of the population. All are represented in government. Other 
groups are also taking part in governing at the national level. There 
were six members of smaller ethnic groups in the National Assembly and 
one minority member in the cabinet who was Chokwe. Political parties 
must be represented in all 18 provinces; however, the majority of 
political parties had limited national constituencies. By law no 
political party could limit party membership based on ethnicity, race, 
or gender.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement these laws effectively, and 
local and international NGOs and media sources reported that officials 
engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. The Financial Court was the 
Government agency responsible for combating government corruption; 
however, the DNIC also investigated some cases.
    The World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators reflected that 
corruption was a severe problem.
    Government corruption was widespread, and accountability was 
limited due to a lack of checks and balances, lack of institutional 
capacity, and a culture of impunity. Despite the widespread perception 
that government corruption at all levels was endemic, public 
prosecutions were rare.
    In October the president fired both the minister of the interior 
and the vice minister for immigration for authorizing the illegal 
extradition of a Portuguese citizen from Sao Tome and Principe. The 
media reported that the Portuguese man was accused of embezzling funds 
from a local businessman, who also was a business partner of the 
interior minister. Despite a presidential statement declaring the 
extradition illegal, no charges were brought against any government 
officials involved in the case.
    In March the National Assembly approved a new law on public 
probity, which required most government officials to declare their 
assets to the attorney general. However, the information was not made 
available to the general public during the year, and the president, 
vice president, and president of the National Assembly were exempt from 
the law's requirements.
    The judiciary is corrupt and subject to political influence and 
conflict of interest.
    In April five high-level immigration officials were convicted of 
embezzlement of public funds and accepting bribes. They were sentenced 
to prison terms of eight years. In September the Constitutional Court 
overturned the convictions. The court stated that the accused 
officials' right to due process and a fair trial had been violated. 
However, the press reported several conflicts of interest in the 
ruling; in particular, the president of court and one of its judges 
were both owners of the law firm that defended the accused and the lead 
defense lawyer had also worked as a consultant to the court.
    The Government made progress in improving transparency in its 
economic operations, in large part due to the measures implemented 
under a loan agreement reached with the International Monetary Fund 
(IMF) in November 2009.
    As a condition of the loan, the IMF required that the 2008 audit of 
the state-owned oil company, Sonangol, be completed by an audit firm of 
international reputation. The Government agreed to publish Sonangol's 
audited financial statements for 2007 and 2008 and to adopt this new 
transparency as part of normal standard practice for the future. In 
addition the Government committed gradually to phase out the quasi-
fiscal activities of Sonangol to concentrate better such operations in 
the central government. The Government continued to publish online a 
detailed block-by-block accounting of the monthly revenues it received 
from Sonangol's oil production. The Government also published its 
proposed budget online, prior to adoption by the National Assembly. 
However, there continued to be a significant lack of transparency in 
the overall process of the Government's procurement and use of loans, 
taken from both private banks and foreign governments.
    To monitor and control expenditures more effectively, the Ministry 
of Finance continued implementation of the Integrated Financial System, 
a system designed to record all central government expenditures.
    Parastatals, most notably Sonangol, were required to report 
revenues to the central bank and the Ministry of Finance, but 
inconsistent accounting practices hampered transparency.
    Audits of Endiama, the state diamond parastatal, were not made 
public. Serious transparency problems remained in the diamond industry, 
particularly regarding allocation of exploration, production, and 
purchasing rights.
    The business climate continued to favor those connected to the 
Government. Government ministers and other high-level officials 
commonly and openly owned interests in companies regulated by or doing 
business with their respective ministries. There are laws and 
regulations regarding conflict of interest, but they were not widely 
enforced. Petty corruption among police, teachers, and other government 
employees was widespread. Police extorted money from citizens and 
refugees, and prison officials extorted money from family members of 
inmates (see sections 1.c., 1.d., and 2.d.).
    There were credible reports of high-level officials receiving 
substantial bribes from private companies awarded government contracts.
    The law provides for public access to government information; 
however, the information posted on most government Web sites remained 
limited. The Government's limited technical capabilities restricted its 
ability to provide information. Laws are made public by being published 
in the official gazette; this publication can be purchased for a small 
fee but is not available online.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A variety of domestic and international human rights groups 
operated throughout the country. Some of those investigating government 
corruption and human rights abuses alleged government interference in 
their activities throughout the year.
    More than 320 domestic NGOs and 133 international NGOs operated in 
the country. An estimated 100 NGOs worked on human rights issues, 
although only a few were considered effective. Local NGOs actively 
promoted and defended human rights during the year by documenting 
prison conditions, protesting forced evictions, providing free legal 
counsel, lobbying government officials, and publishing investigative 
reports.
    The Law of Association requires NGOs to specify their mandate and 
areas of activity. The Government used this provision to prevent or 
discourage established NGOs from engaging in certain activities, 
especially those that were politically sensitive or related to election 
issues. Six NGOs did not have a registry certificate. Government 
officials threatened to ban those NGOs it determined to be operating 
outside their mandate or not effectively working on the specific issues 
they were created to address; however, NGO leaders suspected the motive 
was to silence their criticism. No new NGOs were banned during the 
year.
    Problems with governmental delays in processing registration 
applications for NGOs continued. At least four NGOs remained 
unregistered. One local NGO, AJPD, having not received the registration 
certificate,filed a case against the Ministry of Justice to court. The 
case had been pending since 2002, and there was no resolution by year's 
end.Despite the lack of certification, all four organizations continued 
to operate under a clause in the registration law that automatically 
granted legal operating status if authorities did not reject a group's 
application within 150 days, and the group continued to work closely 
with some ministries.
    The Government allowed local NGOs to exist and to carry out human 
rights-related work. However, many NGOs were forced to limit the scope 
of their work because they faced problems registering, were subject to 
subtle forms of intimidation, and risked more serious forms of 
harassment and closure.
    The Government arrested and harassed NGO workers. On April 20, 
Omunga Director Jose Patrocinio was detained in Luanda's airport. 
Officials stated they had to verify the authenticity of his passport. 
Others believe his detention was in retaliation for protesting the 
destruction of houses.
    Unlike in the previous year, the Government also criticized 
domestic and international NGOs.
    There were reports of police or military presence at community 
meetings with international NGOs, especially in Cabinda.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of foreign human 
rights workers or researchers being detained.
    Mpalabanda, a civil society organization formerly based in Cabinda, 
remained banned. Its registration was rescinded in 2006 when it joined 
the Cabindan Forum for Dialogue, an umbrella organization that 
negotiated peace with the Government. The Government determined that 
Mpalabanda was acting as a political entity outside of its legal 
mandate as a civil society organization. Mpalabanda supporters 
continued to distribute statements through the Internet and to attend 
public forums throughout the year. Former leaders experienced low-level 
harassment and intimidation throughout the year. For example, four of 
the seven individuals detained in Cabinda for links with the attack on 
the Togolese team were previous members of Mpalabanda.
    The Government did not refuse visas to international NGO observers 
or otherwise restrict their access to the country. However, some 
international NGOs reported long delays in obtaining visas, although 
the delays were not significantly longer than those experienced by 
other foreigners.
    The Government cooperated with international governmental 
organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives; however, in 
2008 the UNHRO closed its office following a government decision not to 
grant a full mandate to the office. The decision to close the office 
directly contradicted government commitments to work more closely with 
the UNHRO, which were made when Angola won a three-year term on the UN 
Human Rights Council in 2007.
    The African Commission on Human Rights criticized the Government 
for the deportation of Gambian citizens (see section 1.e.).
    The National Assembly committee on human rights ostensibly focused 
on human rights in the legislature; however, it did not issue any 
reports.
    State Secretary for Human Rights Bento Bembe spoke frequently about 
human rights during the year. The position--a cabinet level minister 
dedicated to human rights--has helped focus attention on human rights 
in the country.
    The Government denied allegations that the FAA perpetrated human 
rights abuses in the DRC from 1993-2003 as reported in a UN Mapping 
Report released during the year.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit discrimination based on race, 
gender, religion, disability, language, or social status; however, the 
Government did not effectively enforce these prohibitions. Violence and 
discrimination against women, child abuse, child prostitution, 
trafficking in persons, and discrimination against persons with 
disabilities and indigenous persons were problems.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is illegal and punishable by 
up to eight years' imprisonment; however, limited investigative 
resources, poor forensic capabilities, and an ineffective judicial 
system prevented prosecution of most cases. The Organization of Angolan 
Women operated a shelter in Luanda that offered special services for 
rape victims. In 2009 the police commissioner in Luanda estimated that 
10 cases of rape occurred daily nationwide, 40 percent in Luanda. The 
Ministry of Justice worked with the Ministry of Interior to increase 
the number of female police officers and to improve police response to 
rape allegations. Police in Benguela were concerned with an increase in 
rape, especially rape of children, as reported in a November 7 article 
in the Jornal de Angola.
    On May 1, the newspaper Folho 8 reported that a police officer 
raped a 22-year- old woman.
    Domestic violence against women, including spousal abuse, was 
common and pervasive, particularly in urban areas. Domestic violence is 
not illegal; however, the Government occasionally prosecuted it under 
the law as rape or assault and battery. A 2007 preliminary study on 
domestic violence in Luanda indicated that 78 percent of women had 
experienced some form of violence since the age of 15. Twenty-seven 
percent of women reported abuse in the 12 months preceding the study; 
among women living in the poor outskirts of Luanda, 62 percent reported 
abuse in the same time period. During the year police recorded 831 
cases of domestic violence. The Ministry of Family and Promotion of 
Women (MINFAMU) registered 283 cases of domestic violence for 2008. 
Common-law husbands or boyfriends perpetrated the majority of violence. 
The MINFAMU maintained a program with the Angolan Bar Association to 
give free legal assistance to abused women; the ministry maintained 
counseling centers to help families cope with domestic abuse. 
Statistics on prosecutions for violence against women under these laws 
during the year were not available.
    Religious leaders in Lunda Norte and Uige reported that societal 
violence against elderly persons and rural and impoverished women and 
children occurred occasionally, with most cases stemming from 
accusations of witchcraft. Some women were killed, beaten, or expelled 
from their families, or died from mistreatment and malnourishment. The 
religious leaders, who offered church-run shelters to the victims, 
reported that police did not take action due to fears that the women 
might practice witchcraft against them. According to an April 2009 
article, priests killed more than 400 persons in ``faith-based'' cures 
that involve violent rituals, beatings, and poison.
    Sexual harassment was common and is not illegal. However, such 
cases may be prosecuted under assault and battery and defamation 
statutes.
    Information on government provisions for reproductive health 
services or diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, 
including HIV, was not available. Couples and individuals may decide 
freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their 
children, and have access to the information and means to do so free 
from discrimination, coercion, and violence. Women have access to 
contraception. According to a 2009 study published during the year, 
17.7 percent of women have used contraception. According to the same 
study, 47 percent of women who gave birth had four or more prenatal 
consultations. Approximately 67 percent of women saw a qualified person 
at least once, 49 percent of births were attended by a qualified 
person, and 42 percent gave birth in a medical center. There were no 
reports of coercive family planning practices, nor coercive 
sterilization. There were no legal, social, cultural, or other barriers 
that limit access to these services.
    Under the constitution and law, women enjoy the same rights as men; 
however, societal discrimination against women remained a serious 
problem, particularly in rural areas. There were no effective 
mechanisms to enforce child support laws, and women generally bore the 
major responsibility for raising children. In addition the Ministries 
of Labor and Health published an executive decree that listed the types 
of jobs prohibited to women.
    The law provides for equal pay for equal work; however, women 
generally held low-level positions in state-run industries and in the 
private sector or worked in the informal sector. In an interministerial 
effort spearheaded by the MINFAMU, the Government undertook multiple 
information campaigns on women's rights and domestic abuse and hosted 
national, provincial, and municipal workshops and training sessions 
during the year.

    Children.--The Government was committed to protect children's 
rights and welfare but lacked the human and logistical resources 
required to provide necessary programs. The National Institute for 
Children (INAC) had primary responsibility for coordinating government 
action concerning children's affairs.
    Citizenship is derived by birth within the country's territory or 
from one's parents. However, the Government does not register all 
births immediately, and activists reported that many urban and rural 
children remained undocumented. As many as 30 percent of children under 
five years old were undocumented, according to a 2009 study released 
during the year. The Government did not permit undocumented children 
access to the educational system, and fees for birth certificates and 
identification cards remained prohibitive for impoverished families. 
Although the official registration drive ended in 2004, the Government 
continued to partner with UN Children's Fund to identify and assist 
undocumented children and provided limited subsidies to cover fees for 
families with proven financial need. The Government implemented a 
previous plan to provide birth certificates in health clinics and 
maternity wards during the year.
    Education is free and compulsory for documented children until the 
sixth grade, but students often had significant additional expenses. 
The Ministry of Education had insufficient resources, and educational 
infrastructure remained in disrepair. There were insufficient schools 
and teachers to provide universal primary education. According to a 
study conducted during the year, 77 percent of children between the 
ages of six and 11 attended primary school. The same study reported 
that 21 percent of students between the ages of 12 and 17 attended 
secondary school. An independent study late in the year reported 18 
percent of boys and 13 percent of girls enrolled in secondary or higher 
education. The same study reported that 25 percent of the school-age 
population did not attend school, and the drop out rate was 30 percent.
    Children of any age in an urban area were more likely to attend 
school than children in a rural area. Children in rural areas generally 
lacked access to secondary education. Even in provincial capitals, 
there were not enough classroom spaces for all the children who needed 
school access. There were reports of families paying bribes to 
education officials to ensure their child got a place in a classroom. 
According to the UN Educational, Social, and Cultural Organization, 
enrollment rates were higher for boys than for girls, especially at the 
secondary level.
    The Government provided free medical care for children with 
identity documents at pediatric hospitals and health posts throughout 
the country; however, in many areas, health care was limited or 
nonexistent. Where medical care was available, boys and girls had equal 
access.
    Child abuse was widespread. Reports of physical abuse within the 
family were commonplace, and local officials largely tolerated abuse. 
Religion and superstitions played a role in child abuse. During the 
year abuse of children accused of witchcraft continued to be a problem. 
Children accused of witchcraft were subject to abuses such as isolation 
from their families, denial of food and water, ritualistic cuttings, 
and the placing of various caustic oils or peppers on their eyes or 
ears. Children were sometimes killed during ``exorcism'' rituals. Most 
cases of abuse relating to traditional beliefs occurred in Luanda, 
Uige, and Zaire provinces. Vulnerable children, such as orphans or 
those without access to health care or education, were more likely to 
be victims of practices involving witchcraft. Government and religious 
leaders called for an end to these practices, but the influence of 
these traditional beliefs remained strong.
    In September 55 children in Sanza-Pombo, Uige Province, were 
accused of being witches. A Congolese priest chained and tortured 12 
children for being witches and therefore dangerous to their families. 
Churches, many based in the DRC, convinced impoverished families living 
in rural areas and the outskirts towns that their children had 
supernatural powers--leading to allegations that these children were 
practicing witchcraft. According to the National Institute for Religion 
Affairs, some religious sects were closed last year because they 
endangered the health and welfare of citizens. Despite the lockout of 
these religious sects, sporadic information on children accused of 
practicing witchcraft continued especially in the northern provinces. 
However, INAC reports that incidents involving witchcraft have gone 
down 70 percent from 2003 through the end of the year. The INAC also 
reported that an unknown number of individuals had gone to jail for 
alleging children committed witchcraft.
    In 2007 the Government created the National Children's Council, an 
interministerial commission designed to define priorities and 
coordinate the Government's policies to combat all forms of violence 
against children, including unlawful child labor, trafficking, and 
sexual exploitation.
    The legal age for marriage, with parental consent, is 15 years old. 
The Government did not enforce this restriction effectively, and the 
traditional age of marriage in lower income groups coincided with the 
onset of puberty. Common-law marriage was regularly practiced.
    Child prostitution is illegal; however, local NGOs expressed 
concern over child prostitution, especially in Luanda and Cunene 
provinces. In February 2009 media sources reported on child 
prostitution cases in Luanda. In March 2009 NGO leaders appealed to the 
Government for a response; however, they did not receive one by year's 
end.
    Sexual relations between an adult and a child under the age of 12 
are considered rape. Sexual relations with a child between the ages of 
12 and 15 may be considered sexual abuse, with convicted offenders 
liable for sentences of up to eight years in prison; however, limited 
investigative resources and an inadequate judicial system prevented 
prosecution of most cases. There were no known prosecutions during the 
year.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental abduction, please see the Department of State's 
annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html as well as country-
specific information at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/country/
country--3781.html.)

    Anti-Semitism.--There is a Jewish community of approximately 350 
persons, primarily Israelis. There were no reports of anti-Semitic 
acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with disabilities in employment, education, and access 
to health care or other state services, but the Government did not 
effectively enforce these prohibitions. The constitution mentions 
persons with disabilities in articles 23 (principle of equality), 77 
(health and social protection), 80 (childhood), 83 (disabled citizens), 
and 84 (ex-combatants and veterans). Article 83 of the constitution 
grants persons with disabilities full rights without restrictions. The 
constitution permits the state to adopt a national policy to prevent, 
treat, rehabilitate, and integrate persons with disabilities, provide 
support for their families, remove obstacles to mobility, raise 
awareness in society, and foster special education and training 
opportunities. A law to address specific issues for persons with 
disabilities was drafted in 2004, but never passed. The law would have 
included access to essential services, social protection, and physical 
access to buildings.
    Persons with disabilities included more than 80,000 land mine 
victims. Persons with albinism were common victims of discrimination, 
although church groups worked to eliminate the abuse. The NGO Handicap 
International estimated that persons with disabilities constituted 10 
percent of the population. However, an August study estimated that 2.6 
percent of the population had a physical or mental disability. 
According to government statistics in 2005, there were 170,000 persons 
with disabilities, most of them between the ages of 25 to 44, and 56 
percent were male. Only 30 percent of persons with disabilities were 
able to take advantage of state-provided services such as physical 
rehabilitation, schooling, training, or counseling.
    There is no legislation mandating accessibility for persons with 
disabilities to public or private facilities, and it was difficult for 
such persons to find employment or participate in the education system. 
MINARS maintained an office to address problems facing persons with 
disabilities, including veterans with disabilities, and several 
government entities supported programs to assist individuals disabled 
by land mine incidents. During the 2008 election, the Government 
provided voting assistance to persons with disabilities. The country 
had not signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons 
with Disabilities by year's end.

    Indigenous People.--An estimated 3,500 San people lived in small 
dispersed communities in Huila, Cunene, and Kuando Kubango provinces. 
The San are traditional hunter-gatherers who are linguistically and 
ethnically distinct from their Bantu fellow citizens. Their very 
limited participation in political life has increased, and Ocadec, a 
local NGO advocate for the San people, worked with provincial 
governments to increase services to San communities and to improve 
communication between these communities and the Government.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law does not criminalize 
homosexuality or sodomy, although discussing homosexuality in society 
was highly taboo. The constitution defines marriage as between a man 
and a woman, but the law does not differentiate between male to male or 
female to female sex. NGOs have reported a small but underground 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in Luanda. On June 
25, the television station TPA broadcasted a program where a member of 
the gay community discussed discrimination and intimidation based on 
sexual orientation.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Discrimination against 
those with HIV/AIDS is illegal, but lack of enforcement allowed 
employers to discriminate against persons with the disease. Local NGOs 
reported cases of discrimination against professionals with HIV/AIDS. 
There were no reports of violence against persons with HIV/AIDS. The 
Government's National Institute for the Fight Against HIV/AIDS 
conducted HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention campaigns. Local NGOs 
worked to combat stigmatization and discrimination against persons 
living with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
the right of workers to form and join independent unions, and workers 
exercised this right in practice; however, government approval is 
required. The law provides for rights for trade unions. However, the 
Government admitted that unions were hampered by membership and 
legalization issues.
    The law allows unions to conduct their activities without 
government interference, although the Government did not protect this 
right. Labor unions independent of the Government-run unions worked to 
increase their influence, but the ruling MPLA continued to dominate the 
labor movement due to historical connections between the party and 
labor. There were unions for journalists, teachers, and taxi drivers, 
among others.
    Workers have the right to strike, although strict bureaucratic 
procedures must be followed for a strike to be considered legal, and 
the Government can deny the right to strike or obligate workers to 
return to work. According to the law all workers could strike, except 
government workers.
    Construction workers reportedly went on strike in Luanda because 
they were not paid for many months.
    In October taxi drivers marched to the Benguela government palace 
to protest an increase in fuel prices. The taxi drivers' association 
and government officials met on October 20 and reached an agreement. 
Subsequently, taxi drivers in Huambo, Huila, and Luanda provinces 
raised fares due to the increase in the price of fuel.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The 
constitution and law provide for the right of unions to conduct their 
activities without interference, but the Government did not always 
protect this right. The law protects the right to establish a union for 
the purpose of collective bargaining. The Government routinely thwarted 
union efforts at collective bargaining with long delays in processing.
    There are no legal restrictions on collective bargaining, but 
bargaining was restricted in practice. The Government is the country's 
largest employer, and the Ministry of Public Administration, 
Employment, and Social Security (MAPESS) centrally mandated wages.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination and stipulates that 
worker complaints be adjudicated in labor court. Under the law, 
employers are required to reinstate workers who have been dismissed for 
union activities; however, the judicial system did not enforce these 
provisions.
    The constitution grants workers the right to engage in union 
activities, but the Government may intervene in labor disputes that 
affect national security, particularly strikes in the oil sector. The 
Ministry of Labor has a hotline for workers who believe their rights 
have been violated. The law does not effectively prohibit employer 
retribution against strikers, and it permits the Government to force 
workers back to work for ``breaches of worker discipline'' or 
participation in unauthorized strikes.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including by children, but international 
NGOs reported that such practices occurred. The Ministry of Justice has 
effective enforcement mechanisms for the formal economic sector; 
however, most labor law violations occurred outside the formal economy 
and were not subject to legal sanctions. Men and boys were trafficked 
into the country for forced labor, especially in the construction 
sector. Forced labor occurred in the artisanal diamond mining sector. 
Migrant workers were employed in forced labor conditions in diamond 
mining areas, particularly in Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul. The Government 
took steps to eliminate illegal immigration and illegal diamond mining 
activities during the year.
    See also the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Child labor in the formal sector was restricted under the law; however, 
child labor, especially in the informal sector, remained a problem. The 
law clearly prohibits children under 14 years old from working. 
However, children could work from age 14 to 16 with parental 
permission. Children could not work if it interfered with schooling. 
MAPESS had oversight of formal work sites and determined the age of the 
workers in all 18 provinces. If they determined a business was using 
child labor, they transferred the case to the Ministry of Interior to 
investigate and possibly press charges. An unknown number of businesses 
have been warned or fined for using child labor. However, MAPESS cannot 
regulate the informal sector.
    In 2007 in Kwanza Sul Province, independent newspaper journalists 
found children as young as 10 years old working full time on a 
plantation; they did not attend school and stated that they were often 
paid with food. The local manager was fired, but no charges were filed 
against the local or general managers.
    On October 30, the newspaper Agora published a study conducted in 
Benguela that found more than 70,000 children worked in the country. A 
living standards survey published during the year by Inquerito 
Integrado Sobre o Bem Estar da Populacao reported that 20.4 percent of 
children between the ages of five to14 worked; however, more children 
worked in rural than in urban areas. The study also reported that boys 
and girls were equally likely to work.
    Most work done by children was in the informal sector. Children 
engaged in wage-earning activities, such as agricultural labor on 
family farms and commercial plantations, fishing, charcoal production, 
domestic labor, and street vending. Exploitive labor practices included 
forced prostitution, involvement in the sale or transport of illegal 
drugs, and the offloading and transport of goods in ports and across 
border posts. Children reportedly were used as couriers in the cross-
border trade with Namibia.
    Street children were common, especially in the provinces of Luanda, 
Benguela, Huambo, and Kwanza Sul. Investigators found children working 
in the streets of Luanda, but many returned to some form of dwelling 
during the evening. Most of these children shined shoes, washed cars, 
carried water, or engaged in other informal labor, but some resorted to 
petty crime, begging, and prostitution.
    The MAPESS inspector general is responsible for enforcing all labor 
laws, including complaints of child labor. The Ministry of Family and 
Women's Promotion and the National Children Institute (INAC) play a 
significant role in coordinating the response to a case of child labor 
and protecting possible victims. Ultimately, the Ministries of Interior 
and Justice investigated and prosecuted a case of child labor.
    A separate court under the Ministry of Justice is designated for 
children's affairs. The Luanda juvenile court hears cases of youth 
under the age of 18 who are victims of a crime. The juvenile court also 
hears cases of minors between the ages of 12 and 16 accused of having 
committed criminal offenses. Regular courts hear the cases of minors 
between the ages of 16 and 18 who are accused of criminal offenses. 
There were no courts to hear cases involving children under the age of 
12. In many rural provinces, there was no separate structure to work 
with children's crimes. In these cases, minors could be either tried as 
adults or the case was dismissed.
    The Government, through INAC, worked to create, train, and 
strengthen child protection networks at the provincial and municipal 
levels in all 18 provinces. The networks reported cases in which they 
successfully identified and removed children from exploitative work 
situations, but no mechanism existed to track cases or provide 
statistics. The Government also dedicated resources to the expansion of 
educational opportunities for children.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage was 9,604 
Kwanza ($106) per month, which did not provide a decent standard of 
living for a worker and family. Most wage earners held second jobs or 
depended on the agricultural or other informal sectors to augment their 
incomes. The majority of citizens derived their income from the 
informal sector or subsistence agriculture and therefore fell outside 
of government protection of working conditions.
    By law the standard workweek is 40 hours with at least one unbroken 
period of 24 hours of rest per week. There is a limit on work of 54 
hours per week. Required premium pay for overtime is time and a half 
for up to 30 hours of overtime and time and three-quarters from 30 to 
40 hours. In the formal sector, there is a prohibition on excessive 
compulsory overtime, defined as more than two hours a day, 40 hours a 
month, or 200 hours a year. These standards were not enforced 
effectively unless employees lodged a formal complaint with MAPESS.
    In September the MPLA-linked labor union, Uniao Nacional dos 
Trabalhadores Angolana, published a report on working conditions that 
highlighted high unemployment, poor living conditions, and inequality 
as continuing problems despite various economic measures and new laws. 
Workers found they did not have job stability, employers violated 
workers' rights, and workers unable to find employment in the formal 
sector had to work in the informal labor market.
    The Government has set occupational health and safety standards; 
however, the Ministry of Labor's inspector general did not enforce 
these standards effectively. Inspections occurred, although rulings 
against labor violations found by inspectors were not effectively 
enforced. Workers have the right to remove themselves from situations 
that endanger health or safety without jeopardy to their employment, 
but the right was not exercised in practice.

                               __________

                                 BENIN

    Benin is a constitutional democracy with a population of 7.9 
million. In 2006 President Boni Yayi was elected to a five-year term in 
multiparty elections. In the 2007 legislative elections, President 
Yayi's supporting coalition, Cowry Force for an Emerging Benin (FCBE), 
won 35 of 83 seats in the National Assembly and formed a majority with 
a group of 13 National Assembly members from minor political parties 
(G-13). Eventually President Yayi lost his parliamentary majority when 
the G-13 joined the opposition parliamentary group in reaction to 
unfulfilled political promises. International observers viewed both the 
presidential and legislative elections as generally free and fair. 
However, municipal and local elections held in April and May 2008 were 
marred by numerous irregularities, protests, and credible allegations 
of fraud. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    Human rights problems in some areas continued. There were reports 
that police occasionally used excessive force. Vigilante violence 
resulted in deaths and injuries. Harsh prison conditions and arbitrary 
arrest and detention with prolonged pretrial detention continued. 
Violations of press freedom occurred. Impunity and corruption were 
problems. Women were victims of violence and societal discrimination, 
and female genital mutilation (FGM) was practiced. Trafficking and 
abuse of children, including infanticide 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.--The Government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings. Elements 
of security forces occasionally shot and killed armed robbers and 
claimed self-defense to justify the shootings. The police generally 
ignored vigilante attacks, and incidents of mob violence continued to 
occur, in part due to the perceived failure of local courts to punish 
criminals adequately. Such cases generally involved mobs killing or 
severely injuring suspected criminals, particularly thieves caught 
stealing. For example, on April 20, residents of Assanlin in the 
commune of Za-Kpota in central Benin killed two individuals who were 
said to be trying to ``steal two school boys.'' The head of the 
arrondissement was interrogating the two suspects in his office when a 
crowd broke in, brought out the two suspects, and burned them alive. 
The police did not investigate the killing or arrest those involved.
    On May 8, individuals stabbed to death and burned two young men in 
Dilly, a village in the Commune of Abomey, central Benin. The two 
victims were well-known artists in the area. They were suspected of 
belonging to a ring that kidnapped children. The police investigated 
the murder and arrested nine suspects.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
the Government did not always respect these prohibitions. Beatings in 
custody reportedly were commonplace.
    The Constitutional Court received complaints from citizens who were 
brutalized by the police. For example, on March 8, the Constitutional 
Court ruled that five elements of an Anticrime Brigade (BAC) violated 
provisions of the constitution prohibiting degrading treatment or 
punishment and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights when 
five policemen severely beat, arrested, and detained a truck driver who 
refused to give them a bribe during a routine road security check in 
February 2009 in Adjarra, a suburb of Porto-Novo.
    The Government completed payments to victims of torture under the 
previous military regime; however, a large group of citizens who had 
been detained and tortured under the previous military regime 
complained that the payments they received were discriminatorily 
insignificant compared with the payments that former political exiles 
received from the Government.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions 
continued to be extremely harsh. Overcrowding and lack of proper 
sanitation and medical facilities posed risks to prisoners' health. A 
Mediator of the Republic's (Ombudsman) July 6 report on the condition 
in the nine civil prisons indicated that prisons were overcrowded, and 
malnutrition and disease were common. Some prisoners suffered from 
mental illness. There were deaths due to lack of medical care and 
neglect. Prisoners at times died from lack of ventilation in cramped 
and overcrowded cells. Eight of the nine civil prisons were filled far 
beyond their capacity. The ombudsman published statistics in June 
indicating the total prison population (including pretrial detainees 
and remand prisoners) was 6,908; of that number, pretrial detainees and 
remand prisoners totaled 5,174. No breakdown of the number of juvenile 
and women prisoners in all nine prisons was available.
    In 2009 the Government increased prisoners' diet from one meal a 
day to two.
    Juveniles at times were housed with adults. Pretrial detainees were 
held with convicted prisoners, although not with the most violent 
convicts or those convicted of crimes subject to the death penalty. 
According to the ombudsman's report, pretrial detainees outnumbered 
convicts three or four to one during the reporting period.
    The Government permitted prison visits by human rights monitors. 
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and religious groups continued to 
visit prisons. Organizations that visited prisons during the year 
included the International Committee of the Red Cross, Amnesty 
International, the local chapter of Prison Fellowship, Caritas, and 
Prisoners Without Borders.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, at times the 
authorities did not respect these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The police, under the 
Ministry of Interior, have primary responsibility for enforcing law and 
maintaining order in urban areas; the gendarmerie, under the Ministry 
of Defense, performs the same function in rural areas. The police were 
inadequately equipped, poorly trained, and ineffective in investigating 
gender-based crimes and preventing or responding to mob violence. The 
Government continued to respond to these problems by recruiting more 
officers, building more stations, and modernizing equipment during the 
year; however, serious problems remained, including widespread 
impunity.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The 
constitution requires arrest warrants based on sufficient evidence and 
issued by a duly authorized official and requires a hearing before a 
magistrate within 48 hours, but this was not always observed in 
practice; under exceptional circumstances the magistrate may authorize 
continued detention not to exceed eight days. Detainees have the right 
to prompt judicial determination; this was generally observed in 
practice. They have the right to prompt lawyer access after being 
brought before a judge, also generally observed. They are allowed to 
receive family visits, which were generally observed in practice. After 
examining a detainee, the judge has 24 hours to decide whether to 
continue to detain or release the individual. Defendants awaiting 
judicial decisionsmay request release on bail; however, the attorney 
general must agree to the request. Warrants authorizing pretrial 
detention were effective for six months and could be renewed every six 
months until the suspect was brought to trial. The Government provided 
counsel to indigents in criminal cases.
    There were credible reports that gendarmes and the police exceeded 
the legal limit of 48 hours of detention in many cases, sometimes by as 
much as a week. Authorities often used the practice of holding a person 
indefinitely ``at the disposal of'' the public prosecutor's office 
before presenting the case to a magistrate. Approximately 75 percent of 
persons in prison were pretrial detainees. Inadequate facilities, 
poorly trained staff, and overcrowded dockets delayed the 
administration of justice.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary, but the Government did not always respect 
this provision. The judiciary remained inefficient in some respects.
    Military disciplinary councils deal with minor offenses by members 
of the military services; they have no jurisdiction over civilians. 
Civilian courts deal with crimes involving the military. The country 
has no military tribunal.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair trial; however, judicial inefficiency and corruption impeded 
exercise of this right.
    The legal system is based on French civil law and local customary 
law. A defendant is presumed innocent. Jury trials are used in criminal 
cases. A defendant has the right to be present at trial and to 
representation by an attorney; the court provides indigent defendants 
with counsel upon request. A defendant has the right to confront 
witnesses and to have access to government-held evidence. Defendants 
are allowed to present witnesses and evidence on their own behalf. 
Defendants can appeal criminal convictions to the court of appeals and 
the Supreme Court, after which they may appeal to the president for a 
pardon. Trials are 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. The Government extends the 
above rights to all citizens without discrimination.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent, 
but not always impartial, judiciary in civil matters. If administrative 
or informal remedies are unsuccessful, any citizen may file a complaint 
concerning an alleged human rights violation with the Constitutional 
Court.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions, and 
the Government generally respected these prohibitions. The law requires 
police to obtain a judicial warrant before entering a private home, and 
they generally observed this requirement.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government did not 
always respect these rights. There were radio and television broadcasts 
in which citizens openly criticized the president's policy without 
reprisal; however, the Government occasionally inhibited freedom of the 
press.
    For example, on October 13, the staff of the Governmental Office of 
Radio and Television (ORTB) sent a letter to the executive director of 
ORTB detailing numerous instances in which he had restricted broadcast 
of programs involving the opposition and/or which were counter to the 
Government's guidelines. ORTB's executive director denied those 
allegations.
    On August 3 and 4, the Government blocked the FM signal of the 
French state-owned broadcaster Radio France Internationale for 14 hours 
after it reported that deputies in the National Assembly attempted to 
impeach President Yayi for his alleged involvement in the ICC Ponzi 
scheme that had defrauded investors of billions of CFA and announced 
the broadcast of an interactive program on the case. The High Authority 
of Audiovisual and Communication (HAAC) denied any involvement in the 
interruption.
    On August 15, unidentified individuals bought thousands of copies 
of newspapers that published a former minister of finance's declaration 
on a high-profile corruption case (the CEN-SAD affair), disrupting the 
supply of those newspapers in Cotonou. Journalists alleged that the 
Government had ordered this maneuver.
    The law criminalizes libel, and numerous journalists faced pending 
libel charges. The law prohibits private citizens and the press from 
declaring or predicting election results. Journalists practiced self-
censorship.
    A 2008 report published by the NGO Human Rights, Peace, and 
Development (DHPD-ONG) stated that the Government awarded communication 
contracts to private media for propaganda purposes, adversely 
influencing the exercise of freedom of the press.
    The constitution provides for prison sentences involving compulsory 
labor for certain actions related to abuse of the right of free 
expression; penalties are for threats to public order or calls to 
violence, but the law is vaguely worded and susceptible to abuse. There 
were no reports that the law was invoked during the year.
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views without restriction. Publications criticized the Government 
freely and frequently, but their effect on public opinion was limited 
due to restricted circulation and widespread illiteracy. A 
nongovernmental media ethics commission continued to censure some 
journalists during the year for unethical conduct, such as reporting 
falsehoods or inaccuracies or releasing information that was under 
embargo by the Government.
    The Government continued to own and operate the most influential 
media organizations by controlling broadcast range and infrastructure. 
The majority of citizens are illiterate, live in rural areas, and 
generally receive their news via radio. The ORTB broadcast in French 
and local languages. There were an estimated 75 private, community, and 
commercial radio stations, and one government-owned and five private 
television stations. Rural community radio stations received support 
from the ORTB and broadcast several hours a day exclusively in local 
languages. Radio France International and the BBC broadcast in Cotonou. 
The Government granted 350 million CFA ($78,000) in financial 
assistance to the private media during the year.
    The 2007 ``National Report on Press Freedom,'' released by DHPD-
ONG, stated that judges were often lax in prosecuting libel cases. A 
judiciary source indicated that the court continued to receive libel 
cases against journalists during the year, but judges generally 
refrained from prosecuting them. Journalists continued to fight for the 
decriminalization of press-related offenses.
    There were no reports that the Government penalized journalists who 
published items counter to government guidelines.
    The HAAC oversaw media operations and required broadcasters to 
submit weekly lists of planned programs and publishers to submit copies 
of all publications; however, the media did not comply with these 
requirements in practice. The HAAC claimed that the information was 
used for administrative purposes; however, some journalists 
complainedthat it was a form of harassment.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail.
    Internet access was widely available in cities, primarily in 
Internet cafes, but for many the cost of using the Internet was 
prohibitive. Due to a lack of infrastructure, Internet access was not 
available in most rural areas. According to the most recent 
International Telecommunication Union statistics, 1.66 percent of 
residents used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly, 
and the Government generally respected these rights.
    The Government requires permits for use of public places for 
demonstrations and generally granted such permits; however, the 
authorities sometimes cited ``public order'' to deny requests for 
permits from opposition groups, civil society organizations, and labor 
unions.
    On September 30, security forces disrupted a demonstration of 
teachers at a training school in Abomey, Central Benin, and beat some 
of them while they were complaining about the delay in government 
payment of their allowances. On October 5, the Ministry of Secondary 
Education and Technical and Vocational Training declared that the 
Government would identify those responsible for the beatings and punish 
them, although there were no reports it had done so.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of association, and the Government generally respected this 
right. The Government requires associations to register and routinely 
granted registration.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the Department of State's 2010 International Religious 
Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights; 
however, the presence of police, gendarmes, and illegal roadblocks 
impeded domestic movement. Although ostensibly meant to enforce vehicle 
safety and customs regulations, many checkpoints served as a means for 
police and gendarmes to exact bribes from travelers. The Government 
maintained previously implemented measures to combat such corruption at 
roadblocks, but they were not always effective, and extortion commonly 
occurred.
    The Government maintained documentary requirements for minors 
traveling abroad as part of its continuing campaign against trafficking 
in persons. However, this was not always enforced, and trafficking of 
minors across borders continued.
    The Government's policy toward the seasonal movement of livestock 
allowed migratory Fulani (Peul) herdsmen from other countries to enter 
and depart freely; the Government did not enforce designated entry 
points. Disputes sometimes arose between herdsmen and local landowners 
over grazing rights.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The Government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees. At year's end there were 
approximately 7,300 refugees, with an estimated 6,000 coming from Togo. 
In practice the Government provided protection against the expulsion or 
return of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be 
threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership 
in a particular social group, or political opinion. The Government 
cooperated with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees 
(UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and 
asylum seekers. The Government did not provide temporary protection 
during the year. If individuals do not qualify as refugees under the 
1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or its protocol, 
authorities direct them to the Immigration Office to apply for a 
residence permit.
    The Government continued to permit Togolese refugees residing in 
local communities and refugee camps to participate in most economic 
activities and to enroll their children in local schools. In 2007 the 
UNHCR and the Governments of Benin and Togo signed a tripartite 
agreement to organize the voluntary repatriation of Togolese refugees. 
In 2009 83 Togolese refugees returned to Togo through the program. 
There were no reported stateless populations in the country.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens the right to change their 
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right through 
periodic, free, and generally fair elections held on the basis of 
universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In 2006 President Boni Yayi 
was elected to a five-year term in multiparty elections. In the 2007 
legislative elections, President Yayi's FCBE won 35 of the 83 seats in 
the National Assembly. A group of 13 National Assembly deputies from 
minor political parties (the G-13) joined the FCBE to form a majority 
of 48 seats in the assembly. In 2008 the G-13 dissolved the coalition 
amid political tension, and the FCBE was left with its initial 35 
seats. The G-13sided with opposition parties and formed a blocking 
majority. Opposition groups declined President Yayi's invitation to 
join his government.
    International observers viewed both the presidential and 
legislative elections as generally free and fair. However, fraud 
allegations and irregularities marred the April and May 2008 local and 
municipal elections. Voters filed hundreds of appeals with the Supreme 
Court, which annulled results in a number of communes and ordered new 
elections and recounting of votes in constituencies where results were 
disputed.
    Individuals and parties could freely declare their candidacy and 
run for election. There were no government restrictions on the 
political opposition. No single party or group has recently dominated 
politics.
    There were nine women out of 83 members in the National Assembly 
and four female ministers in the 30-member cabinet. The Constitutional 
Court had two women among its seven justices.
    The country has no majority ethnic group. Diverse ethnic groups 
were well represented in government agencies, the civil service, and 
the armed forces. In the National Assembly, 11 members were from the 
Nago and Yoruba ethnic groups; 24 from the Bariba, Somba, and Dendi 
ethnic groups; and 34 from the Fon, Goun, Adja, and other smaller 
groups. Nine cabinet ministers were from the Bariba, Somba, and Dendi 
ethnic groups; 15 were from the Fon, Goun, and Adja ethnic groups; and 
three were from the Yoruba and Nago ethnic groups.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    Official corruption remained widespread. President Yayi continued 
his 2006 anticorruption initiative.
    On January 7, the president of the NGO Front for National Anti-
Corruption Organizations (FONAC) listed 32 corruption cases involving 
civil servants from 2006 to 2009 that remained unresolved. The FONAC 
investigation at the Ministry of Civil Service in September 2009 found 
that no disciplinary committee had been established to handle these 
corruption cases and no sanctions had been applied.
    On July 20, President Yayi reported to the president of the 
National Assembly, asking him to submit to parliamentarians for 
approval a request regarding the indictment of four former ministers 
involved in corruption cases. The opposition majority in the National 
Assembly rejected President Yayi's request.
    In July 2009 the Government released a State Audit Office's report; 
it detailed alleged corrupt practices including illegal awarding of 
public contracts, overbilling, mismanagement, and misappropriation of 
public funds for the renovation of two conference centers in 
preparation for the June 2008 CEN-SAD summit. The Government confirmed 
the involvement of high-ranking officials, including the former 
minister of finance and economy and officials in charge of public 
procurement. The Government dismissed the officials and requested 
disciplinary action against them pending legal action.
    Police corruption was widespread. Police continued to extort money 
from travelers at roadblocks.
    The Watchdog to Combat Corruption (OLC), a governmental 
anticorruption agency, launched a nationwide effort to publicize the 
National Strategic Plan to Combat Corruption and conducted a survey to 
gauge the magnitude of petty corruption and bribery in the public 
administration. To build its capacity to fight corruption, the OLC held 
training sessions to familiarize its staff with the new public 
procurement law, which went into effect in September 2009, and to train 
them on the observation of voter registration to prevent electoral 
fraud. On April 12, the OLC released its 2008 White Paper on Corruption 
to show the prevalence of corruption in the public administration.
    It was commonly believed, and acknowledged by some judicial 
personnel, that the judicial system at all levels was susceptible to 
corruption.
    On July 6, President Yayi fired Chief Prosecutor George Constant 
Amoussou and placed him in custody because he allegedly blocked a court 
complaint filed by the Government against the ICC, a microcredit 
institution that swindled citizens out of their deposits.
    The World Bank's most recent Worldwide Governance Indicators 
reflected that corruption continued to be a serious problem.
    Public officials were not subject to financial disclosure laws.
    There are no laws providing for public access to government 
information, and it was unclear whether requests for such access were 
granted.
Section 5. 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. The Government 
met with domestic NGO monitors through the Advisory National Human 
Rights Council and the Ministry of Justice, Legislation, and Human 
Rights' Department of Human Rights. The Ministry of Justice, 
Legislation, and Human Rights coordinated awareness campaigns to 
educate the populace on human rights.
    The Government cooperated with international organizations. In 2009 
representatives of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) 
and of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against 
Women visited the country. Following its visit, the CPT made wide-
ranging recommendations. In November 2009 the World Committee Against 
Torture and the International Federation of Action by Christians for 
the Abolition of Torture, in conjunction with the Ministry of Justice, 
Legislation, and Human Rights and local NGOs, held a follow-up seminar 
to consider the recommendations made by the CPT and to map out 
strategies for the implementation of these recommendations by the 
Government.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and laws prohibit discrimination based on race, 
gender, disability, language, and social status; however, societal 
discrimination against women continued. Persons with disabilities were 
disadvantaged. The Government did not take concrete measures to address 
those abuses.

    Women.--The law prohibits rape, but enforcement was weak due to 
police ineffectiveness, victims' unwillingness to take cases to the 
police for fear of social stigma, and corruption. The penal code does 
not make a distinction between rape in general and spousal rape. 
Sentences for rape convictions range from one to five years' 
imprisonment. From January to October, civil society organizations 
reported 636 gender-based violence cases reported to courts and 1,316 
cases to police stations and brigades in the framework of an 
international NGO's project to combat gender-based violence in the 
country. These statistics, however, did not cover gender violence in 
the whole country. Statistics were not available on prosecutions or 
convictions. Because of police lack of training in collecting evidence 
associated with sexual assaults and victims' ignorance of their rights 
and inability to present evidence in court, judges reduced most sexual 
offenses to misdemeanors.
    Domestic violence against women was common. The penal code 
prohibits domestic violence, and penalties range from six to 36 months' 
imprisonment. However, NGO observers believed that women remained 
reluctant to report cases. Judges and police were reluctant to 
intervene in domestic disputes; society generally considered such cases 
to be internal family matters. The local chapter of a regional NGO, 
Women in Law and Development-Benin, the Female Jurists Association of 
Benin (AFJB), and the Women's Justice and Empowerment Initiative 
through Care International's Empower Project offered social, legal, 
medical, and psychological assistance to victims of domestic violence. 
The Office of Women's Promotion under the jurisdiction of the Ministry 
of Family and Solidarity is responsible for protecting and advancing 
women's rights and welfare.
    Female genital mutilation (FGM) was practiced on girls and women 
from infancy up to 30 years of age (although the majority of cases 
occurred before the age of 13, with half occurring before the age of 
five), and generally took the form of excision. Approximately 13 
percent of women and girls have been subjected to FGM; the figure was 
higher in some regions, especially the northern departments, including 
Alibori and Donga (48 percent) and Borgou (59 percent), and among 
certain ethnic groups; more than 70 percent of Bariba and Peul (Fulani) 
and 53 percent of Yoa-Lokpa women and girls had undergone FGM. Younger 
women were less likely to be excised than their older counterparts. 
Those who performed the procedure, usually older women, profited from 
it. The law prohibits FGM and provides for penalties for performing the 
procedure, including prison sentences of up to 10 years and fines of up 
to six million CFA ($13,000); however, the Government generally was 
unsuccessful in preventing the practice. Individuals who were aware of 
an incident of FGM but did not report it potentially faced fines 
ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 CFA ($110 to $220). Enforcement was 
rare, however, due to the code of silence associated with this crime.
    In one example, in September 2009 police arrested a woman on the 
strength of a denunciation by a local NGO that accused her of excising 
seven girls in the area of Kouande in the North. The police referred 
the case to the court in Natitingou. In October 2009 the court 
sentenced the woman to one-and-one-half year's imprisonment.
    NGOs continued to educate rural communities about the dangers of 
FGM and to retrain FGM practitioners in other activities. A prominent 
NGO, the local chapter of the Inter-African Committee, made progress in 
raising public awareness of the dangers of the practice, and the 
Government cooperated with these efforts. The Ministry of Family 
continued an education campaign that included conferences in schools 
and villages, discussions with religious and traditional authorities, 
and displaying banners. NGOs also addressed this problem in local 
languages on local radio stations.
    Prostitution, especially child prostitution, was a problem. There 
were credible reports that tourists visiting the Pendjari National Park 
in the far Northwest used the services of prostitutes, many of them 
minors. There is no specific law addressing sex tourism. It was not 
clear whether these tourists operated through a local or an 
international network, or whether they came to the region primarily for 
sex tourism. There was no evidence of government involvement or 
complicity. In March 2009 the Government, in conjunction with the UN 
Children's Fund (UNICEF) and a local bank, launched a seven-day 
campaign against sex tourism involving children ages eight to 17 to 
spread awareness of the dangers of sex tourism.
    Sexual harassment was common, especially of female students by 
their male teachers. The law prohibits sexual harassment and offers 
protection for victims. Under the law persons convicted of sexual 
harassment face sentences of one to two years in prison and fines 
ranging from 100,000 to one million CFA ($220 to $2,200). The law also 
provides penalties for persons who are aware of sexual harassment and 
do not report it. Enforcement of these laws was lax due to law 
enforcement agents' and prosecutors' lack of legal knowledge and 
necessary skills to pursue such cases and victims' fear of social 
stigma. Although this specific law was not enforced, judges used other 
provisions in the penal code to deal with sexual abuses involving 
minors.
    Article 26 of the constitution provides that the Government shall 
protect the family, particularly the mother and the child. The 
country's May 2006 Declaration on Population Policy promotes 
responsible fertility to reduce early and/or late childbearing and to 
promote family planning through the distribution of contraceptives. Act 
No. 2003-04 of March 2003 on Sexual and Reproductive Health guarantees 
couples and individuals reproductive rights, including access to health 
care, freedom to give birth, freedom of marriage, rights to 
nondiscrimination, access to contraception, and equal access to health 
care for people living with sexually transmitted infections including 
HIV. Article 19 of Act No. 2003-04 provides penalties for the 
commission of all acts prejudicial to the enjoyment of sexual and 
reproductive health. The Government in general respected these rights. 
An estimated 30 percent of women had an unmet need for family planning. 
The 2006 Benin Demographic and Health Survey (EDS) reported the 
maternal mortality ratio to be 397 per 100,000 live births. According 
to the 2006 Benin Demographic and Health Survey, 88 percent of women 
benefitted from prenatal care given by health personnel (80 percent by 
nurses and midwives, 4 percent other, and 4 percent by physicians). The 
proportion of women who had access to prenatal care provided by 
physicians was higher in Cotonou (18 percent) and in other cities (5 
percent), whereas the rate was lower in rural areas (3 percent).
    Although the constitution provides for equality for women in the 
political, economic, and social spheres, women experienced extensive 
discrimination because of societal attitudes and resistance to 
behavioral change.
    Women are no longer subject to customary law (Coutumier du 
Dahomey). The code of persons and the family abrogated customary law 
and other legislation unfavorable to women. The code of persons and the 
family bans all discrimination against women regarding marriage and 
provides for the right to equal inheritance.
    In response to a complaint filed by a woman being prosecuted for 
adultery in July 2009, the Constitutional Court ruled that adultery-
related provisions contained in the penal code are unconstitutional on 
the grounds that these provisions discriminate against women.
    In rural areas women traditionally occupy a subordinate role and 
are responsible for much of the hard labor on subsistence farms. In 
urban areas women dominated the informal trading sector in the open air 
markets. During the year the Government and NGOs continued to educate 
the public on the 2004 family code, which provides women with 
inheritance and property rights and significantly increases their 
rights in marriage, including prohibitions on forced marriage, child 
marriage, and polygamy.
    In practice women experienced discrimination in obtaining 
employment, credit, and equal pay, and in owning or managing 
businesses. Women do not face legal restrictions with respect to the 
code of persons and the family but may face societal restrictions and 
discrimination. During the year the Government granted microcredit to 
the poor, especially to women in rural areas, to help them develop 
income-generating activities. An estimated 675,000 women have benefited 
from these microcredit projects since they began in 2007.

    Children.--The Government has stated publicly its commitment to 
children's rights and welfare, but it lacked the resources to carry out 
that commitment. The Ministry of Family is 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 have oversight roles in the promotion of human 
rights issues with regard to child welfare.
    Citizenship is derived by birth within the country's territory and/
or from one's parents. Particularly in rural areas, parents often did 
not declare the birth of their children, either out of ignorance or 
because they could not afford the fees for birth certificates. A 2001 
survey indicated that a quarter of children under 18 were not 
registered at birth. This could result in denial of public services 
such as education and health care. Several donors have taken action to 
increase the number of registered children. Over the last two years, 
the NGO PLAN International has supported the free registration of 
children who need to take the primary school leaving exam. (Without a 
birth certificate, children may attend primary school but cannot take 
the exam.) UNICEF and the NGOs Catholic Relief Services and World 
Education also supported the Government's campaign to register every 
birth.
    Primary education was compulsory for all children between six and 
11 years of age. It became tuition free for all children starting with 
the 2007-08 school year; however, in some parts of the country girls 
received no formal education. Parents often voluntarily paid tuition 
for their children because many schools had insufficient funds. 
According to UNICEF the net primary school enrollment rate in 2007 was 
approximately 93 percent for boys and 83 percent for girls. The 
enrollment rate for secondary education was much lower for girls. Girls 
did not have the same educational opportunities as boys, and female 
literacy was approximately 18 percent, compared to 50 percent male 
literacy.
    FGM was commonly practiced on girls (see section 6, Women.)
    Child marriage or precocious marriage existed. The practice 
included forced marriage, barter marriage, and marriage by abduction. A 
2008 gender-based violence survey conducted in 13 communes indicated 
that 23 percent of the 594 children interviewed were subjected to 
forced and precocious marriage.
    Although the family code prohibits marriage under 18 years of age, 
the practice continued in rural areas. Underage (14 to 17 years of age) 
marriage was permitted with parental consent. As part of forced 
marriage, there is a tradition in which a groom abducts and rapes his 
prospective child bride. The practice was widespread in rural areas, 
despite government and NGO efforts to end it through information 
sessions on the rights of women and children. Local NGOs reported that 
communities concealed the practice.
    Despite widespread NGO campaigns, the traditional practices of 
killing deformed babies, breech babies, babies whose mothers died in 
childbirth, and one of two newborn twins (because they were considered 
sorcerers) continued in some rural areas, and perpetrators acted with 
impunity.
    Through the traditional practice of vidomegon, which literally 
means ``placed child,'' poor, generally rural, families place a child 
in the home of a wealthier family. The child receives living 
accommodations but often faces long hours of work, inadequate food, and 
sexual exploitation. Sometimes the income generated by the child's 
activities is split between the child's parents and the urban family 
that raises the child. Vidomegon traditionally was intended to provide 
better educational opportunities and a higher standard of living for 
children of poor families; however, this practice has made children 
more vulnerable to labor exploitation and to trafficking. Up to 95 
percent of the children in vidomegon were young girls.
    Criminal courts meted out stiff sentences to criminals convicted of 
crimes against children, but many such cases never reached the courts 
due to lack of awareness about the law and children's rights, lack of 
access to the courts, or fear of police involvement.
    Child prostitution was a problem. Some children, including street 
children, engaged in prostitution to support themselves without third-
party involvement. The penal code prohibits child prostitution; 
however, enforcement was limited, and the commercial sexual 
exploitation of children was a problem. A 2009 report on the commercial 
exploitation of children in 11 communes indicated that 43.2 percent of 
surveyed children (ages 12-17) who engaged in prostitution were also 
subjected to commercial sexual exploitation.
    The penal code provides penalties for rape, sexual exploitation, 
corruption of minors, procuring, and prostitution, and increases 
penalties for cases involving women and children under 15 years old. 
Under the penal code, individuals involved in child prostitution, 
including those who facilitate and solicit it, face imprisonment of two 
to five years and fines of 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 CFA ($2,000 to 
$20,000). The law does not specifically prohibit child pornography. The 
family code sets the age of marriage at18 years. The de facto minimum 
age for consensual sex is 18 years.
    Child labor, although illegal, remained a problem.
    There were many street children, most of whom did not attend school 
and lacked access to basic education and health services.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international child abduction, please see the Department of State's 
annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no reports of societal abuses or 
discrimination against members of religious groups. There was no known 
Jewish community, and no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--Discrimination against persons with 
physical and mental disabilities is not prohibited by law; however, the 
law provides that the Government should care for persons with 
disabilities. 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 Office for the Rehabilitation and the Insertion of 
Persons with Disabilities under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of 
Family coordinated assistance to disabled people through the Aid Fund 
for the Rehabilitation and Insertion of Persons with Disabilities 
(Fonds Ariph).
    The labor code includes provisions to protect the rights of workers 
with disabilities, which were enforced with limited effectiveness 
during the year. The Office of Labor under the Ministry of Labor and 
Civil Service and the Ministry of Family are responsible for protecting 
the rights of persons with disabilities.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There were no reports of overt 
societal discrimination or violence based on a person's sexual 
orientation.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of overt discrimination or violence based on HIV/AIDS status. Since 
2006 it has been illegal to discriminate against a person, at any stage 
of hiring or employment, based on his or her HIV status.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The labor code allows workers to form 
and join independent unions of their choice without previous 
authorization or excessive requirements, and the Government generally 
respected these rights. Workers have the right to strike, and they 
exercised it during the year. New unions must register with the 
Ministry of Interior, a three-month process, or risk a fine.
    The labor force of approximately 3.2 million was engaged primarily 
in subsistence agriculture, with only a small percentage working in the 
formal wage sector. Although an estimated 75 percent of government 
workers belonged to labor unions, a much smaller percentage of workers 
in the private sector were union members.
    Workers must provide three day's notice before striking; however, 
authorities can declare strikes illegal for reasons such as threatening 
social peace and order and can requisition striking workers to maintain 
minimum services. The Government may prohibit any strike on the grounds 
that it threatens the economy or the national interest. Laws prohibit 
employer retaliation against strikers, except that a company may 
withhold part of a worker's pay following a strike. The Government 
enforced these laws effectively.
    The merchant marine code grants seafarers the right to organize, 
but they do not have the right to strike.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The labor code 
allows unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the 
Government generally protected this right. There are no restrictions on 
collective bargaining. The labor code provides for collective 
bargaining, and workers freely exercised this right with the exception 
of merchant shipping employees. The Government sets wages in the public 
sector by law and regulation.
    In December 2009 the Government created a National Consultation and 
Collective Bargaining Commission to facilitate collective bargaining 
and enhance social dialogue. The commission held sessions during the 
year to discuss workers' claims and propose solutions.
    The labor code prohibits antiunion discrimination. Employers may 
not take union membership or activity into account in hiring, work 
distribution, professional or vocational training, or dismissal; 
however, the Government did not always enforce these provisions, and 
there were reports that employers threatened individuals with dismissal 
for union activity.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The labor code 
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, 
such practices occurred in the agricultural, fishing, commercial, and 
construction sectors, and trafficking in persons was a problem.
    The law provides for imprisonment with compulsory labor, and during 
the year judges sentenced convicts to forced labor for various crimes.

    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, children between 12 and 14 
years may perform domestic work and temporary or seasonal light work if 
it does not interfere with their compulsory schooling. Child labor 
remained a problem due in part to limited government enforcement of the 
law. To help support their families, children of both sexes--including 
those as young as seven--continued to work on 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. A majority of children working as apprentices were under the 
legal age for apprenticeship of 14. Children worked as laborers with 
adults in quarries in many areas. Forced child labor and prostitution 
by street children were problems. Children under 14 worked in either 
the formal or informal sectors in the following activities: 
agriculture, hunting and fishing, industry, construction and public 
works, trade/vending and food/beverage, transportation, and 
communication and other services, including employment as household 
staff.
    Some parents indentured their children to ``agents'' recruiting 
farm hands or domestic workers, often on the understanding that the 
children's wages would be sent to the parents. In some cases these 
agents took the children to neighboring countries for labor. Many rural 
parents sent their children to cities to live with relatives or family 
friends to perform domestic chores in return for receiving an 
education. Host families did not always honor their part of the 
bargain, and abuse of child domestic servants was a problem. The 
Government drafted a list of hazardous occupations forbidden for 
employment of minors according to ILO Convention 182, but by year's end 
the Government had not approved it. An interministerial decree of 2000 
provides that children under 18 are not allowed to work in the 
following fields: public and private slaughtering facilities, except 
for apprentices in their last year of apprenticeship; processing, 
handling, and transportation of toxic substances; processing and 
handling of engines or explosive devices; and work related to 
maintenance and surveillance of wild or venomous animals. The decree 
also prohibits employment of workers under 16 for the control and use 
of unprotected machinery powered by pedals, for digging wells, gas pipe 
works, and sewage-related works.
    For information on child trafficking, please see the Department of 
State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.
    The Labor Office under the Ministry of Labor and Civil Service 
enforced the labor code ineffectivelyand only in the formal sector due 
to the lack of inspectors. The Government took steps to educate parents 
on the labor code and to prevent compulsory labor by children, 
including through media campaigns, regional workshops, and public 
pronouncements on child labor problems. These initiatives were part of 
the Labor Office's traditional sensitization program. The Government 
also worked with a network of NGOs and journalists to educate the 
population about child labor and child trafficking. The Government 
began drafting a National Plan to Eliminate Child labor. A workshop was 
held in Porto-Novo from August 10 to 13 to discuss preparations. The 
Government undertook a nationwide awareness campaign as a key activity 
for the 2010 World Day of Action against Child Labor.
    In November 2009 the Government issued the International Labor 
Organization's International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor-
sponsored National Survey on Child Labor. The survey provided 
comprehensive data and was expected to help the Government complete its 
National Policy for the Elimination of Child Labor.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Government set minimum wage 
scales for a number of occupations. The minimum wage was 30,000 CFA 
($66) 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; many 
domestics and other laborers in the informal sector earned less. The 
Office of Labor enforced the minimum wage; however, its efforts were 
impeded by the small number of labor inspectors. Significant parts of 
the work force and foreign workers were not covered by minimum wage 
scales.
    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, above the maximum provided for under 
the labor code of 12 hours per day or 60 hours per week. The labor code 
also mandates premium pay for overtime and prohibits excessive 
compulsory overtime. The authorities generally enforced legal limits on 
workweeks in the formal sector.
    The code establishes health and safety standards, but the Ministry 
of Labor and Civil Service 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 effectively do so. The Government did not 
effectively monitor or control foreign or migrant workers' conditions 
of work.

                               __________

                                BOTSWANA

    Botswana, with a population of 1.84 million, has been a multiparty 
democracy since independence in 1966. Its constitution provides for 
indirect election of a president and popular election of a National 
Assembly. In October 2009 the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) 
won the majority of parliamentary seats in an election deemed generally 
free and fair. President Ian Khama, who has held the presidency since 
the resignation of President Festus Mogae in 2008, retained his 
position. The BDP has held a majority of National Assembly seats since 
independence. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    Some human rights problems remained, including abuse of detainees 
by security forces, poor prison conditions, and lengthy delays in the 
judicial process. There were reports of restrictions on press freedom. 
Societal problems included discrimination and violence against women; 
child abuse; trafficking in persons; and discrimination against persons 
with disabilities, gays and lesbians, persons with HIV/AIDS, and 
persons with albinism. There was societal discrimination against the 
San people, and the Government's continued narrow interpretation of a 
2006 high court ruling resulted in the majority of San who originally 
relocated from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) being 
prohibited from returning to or hunting in the CKGR. The right to 
strike was restricted, and 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.--The Government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings, and no 
unlawful killings by police or other security forces were reported 
during the year.
    During 2009 eight incidents of shootings by police forces were 
reported, in which 11 civilians were killed, allegedly while being 
apprehended. Four persons were investigated for possible murder 
charges, and seven coroner's investigations were opened. The four 
murder cases were submitted to the Directorate of Public Prosecution 
(DPP) for further action. Six of the seven coroner's investigations 
were also forwarded to the DPP; two were subsequently closed due to 
lack of evidence.
    In January 2009 a police officer mistakenly shot and killed 
Mothusinyana Moag, a 27-year-old man who fit the description of a man 
police were chasing. The victim ran from police when confronted and was 
shot during the chase. The inquest determined that the police officer 
involved was negligent. He was charged with manslaughter and was 
expected to appear before the High Court in early 2011.
    In March 2009 police fired shots while in pursuit of robbery 
suspects. One of the suspects, Edson Mark Gumbo, was killed. The 
inquiry into this case determined that the officers acted lawfully and 
the case was closed.
    In May 2009 Tshepo Molefe was shot by police during a robbery. The 
victim, or other suspects in his group, allegedly fired shots at 
police, and the victim ran toward the police officers, who shot him. He 
was pronounced dead at the hospital. After investigations into the 
shooting, police determined that the officers acted lawfully and closed 
the case.
    Also in May 2009, John Kalafitas was shot and killed by government 
security officers. Attorneys for the Kalafitas family alleged that he 
was killed by government agents while he sat in a parked car. The 
Government contended that Kalafitas was a wanted criminal who was 
killed during a lawful arrest. Four members of the Botswana Defense 
Force, Corporals Dzikamani Mothobi, Goitsemang Sechele, Ronny Matako, 
and Boitshoko Maifela, were charged with murdering Kalafitas, and the 
case was expected to be heard at the High Court in early 2011.
    In August 2009 two men were shot and killed in Kasane. Police 
investigations established that offenders were of Zambian origin and 
elephant poachers; investigations were ongoing with the help of Zambian 
police.
    During 2009 there were two reports of deaths of persons in police 
custody. In March 2009 a suspect, David Monggae, collapsed during 
interrogation related to accusations of cattle theft and subsequently 
died. Four police officers present during the interrogation were 
charged with murder and were awaiting trial at the High Court.
    In July 2009 Italy Setlampoloka was arrested as a suspect in a 
series of robberies and break-ins. He was detained at the Mogoditshane 
Police Station and subsequently found dead by a passerby in an 
uninhabited area near Mogoditshane. Police officers present during the 
investigation were charged with murder; the case 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 and law prohibit such practices; however, 
there were reports that security forces occasionally beat and abused 
suspects to obtain evidence or elicit confessions. Investigations 
continued into the 2008 case in which Directorate on Intelligence and 
Security (DIS) personnel allegedly tortured four men, including two 
police officers and two soldiers, after a weapon in their possession 
went missing. The Directorate of Public Prosecutions was assessing 
evidence on the case at year's end.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Conditions in the 
country's 22 prisons and two detention centers for illegal immigrants 
remained poor due to overcrowding. The prison system held approximately 
5,063 prisoners as of December, exceeding the authorized capacity of 
4,219. Overcrowding, which was worse in men's prisons, constituted a 
serious health threat due to the high incidence of HIV/AIDS and 
tuberculosis. Rape of inmates by inmates occurred. Mistreatment of 
prisoners is illegal; there were no reports of abuse during the year.
    Mothers were allowed to bring their nursing babies under the age of 
two with them into the prison system, which lacked maternity 
facilities. In instances where a child is above two years in age, and 
no family is available to take care of the child, arrangements are made 
with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to care for the child until 
the mother is released. Juveniles were sometimes held with adults due 
to overcrowding in the two main juvenile prison facilities. In December 
2009, 63 juveniles were incarcerated in adult prisons. Pretrial 
detainees and convicts were held together.
    During 2009 officers of the courts, including magistrates and 
judges, conducted 13 visits to prisons to check on prison conditions. 
Government-appointed welfare and oversight committees visited prisons 
30 times during the year. Reports on such visits were not made public. 
In previous years the Government permitted the International Committee 
of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit prison facilities; however, the ICRC 
did not seek access to any prisoners during the year. Representatives 
of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and a 
foreign embassy visited the Center for Illegal Immigrants during the 
year.
    Voluntary and free HIV testing and peer counseling were available 
to prisoners. In December the HIV infection rate was 5.5 percent for 
males and 10.4 percent for females. As of December, 106 prisoners were 
receiving antiretroviral (ARV) drug treatment. The Government did not 
provide ARV treatment to noncitizens in detention; however, those in 
long-term detention could receive such treatment without cost from a 
domestic NGO.
    The prison commissioner had the authority to release terminally ill 
prisoners in the last 12 months of their sentences and to allow citizen 
prisoners with sentences of 12 months or less to complete their 
sentences outside the prison by completing an ``extramural'' work 
release program at government facilities. Eligible prisoners must have 
served short-term sentences with at least half of their sentence 
completed and must not have been previously incarcerated. Prisoners 
convicted of violent and other serious felonies were ineligible. By 
December, to ease overcrowding, 580 male and 73 female prisoners had 
been released to complete their sentences in the program. The president 
pardoned an additional nine prisoners during the year.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Botswana Police 
Service (BPS), under the Ministry for Presidential Affairs and Public 
Administration, has primary responsibility for internal security. The 
merging of the Local Police Service and the BPS was completed in August 
2009. Previously customary or local police, under the Ministry of Local 
Government, had law enforcement responsibility in specified tribal 
areas. The army is responsible for external security and has some 
domestic security responsibilities.
    During the year 72 BPS officers received human rights training at 
the International Law Enforcement Academy located in the country.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Police 
officers must produce an arrest warrant issued by a duly authorized 
magistrate upon the presentation of compelling evidence, except in 
certain cases, such as when an officer witnesses a crime being 
committed or discovers that a suspect is in possession of a controlled 
substance. In 2008 the Government established the Directorate on 
Intelligence and Security (DIS), a new intelligence agency with the 
power to enter premises and make arrests without warrants if the agency 
suspects a person has committed or is about to commit a crime. Elements 
of civil society continued to criticize the DIS, claiming that it was 
not subject to sufficient independent oversight and posed a potential 
threat to civil liberties.
    Suspects must be informed of their rights upon arrest, including 
the right to remain silent, and must be charged before a magistrate 
within 48 hours. Authorities generally respected these rights in 
practice; however, there were allegations in the media and by defense 
attorneys that the right to an attorney was often denied during the 
first 48 hours after arrest, prior to the suspect being brought before 
a magistrate. A magistrate may order a suspect held for 14 days through 
a writ of detention, which he may renew every 14 days. The law provides 
for a prompt judicial determination of the legality of a person's 
detention. However, this determination was occasionally delayed in 
practice. Authorities generally informed detainees of the reason for 
their detention, although there were some complaints that this did not 
always occur. There is a functioning bail system, and detention without 
bail was unusual except in murder cases, where it is mandatory. 
Detainees have the right to contact a family member and to hire 
attorneys of their choice; however, in practice most could not afford 
legal counsel. The Government provides counsel for the indigent only in 
capital cases, although attorneys are required to accept pro bono 
clients.
    Pretrial detainees waited from several weeks to several months 
between the filing of charges and the start of their trials. As of 
December, 900 of the 5,063 persons in custody were pretrial detainees. 
Pretrial detention in murder cases sometimes lasted beyond one year. 
Such delays were largely due to judicial staffing shortages.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected 
judicial independence in practice. The civil courts remained unable to 
provide timely trials due to severe staffing shortages and a backlog of 
pending cases.
    In addition to the civil court system, a customary or traditional 
court system also exists. Small claims courts were established in 2009 
in Gaborone and some surrounding areas; there were some reports of 
heavy case loads and new procedures impacting the courts' 
effectiveness.

    Trial Procedures.--Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence. 
Trials in the civil courts are public, although trials under the 
National Security Act may be held in secret. There is no jury system. 
Defendants have the right to be present and consult with an attorney in 
a timely manner, but the state provides an attorney only in capital 
cases. Those charged with noncapital crimes are tried without legal 
representation if they cannot afford an attorney. As a result many 
defendants were not informed of their rights in pretrial or trial 
proceedings. Defendants can question witnesses against them and have 
access to government-held evidence relevant to their cases. Defendants 
can present witnesses and evidence on their own behalf. Defendants have 
the right to appeal. The constitution asserts these rights extend to 
all citizens.
    Several organizations, such as the Botswana Law Society and The 
Botswana Network on Ethics, Law, and HIV/AIDS, provided free legal 
services but had limited capacity. The University of Botswana Legal 
Assistance Center provided free legal services for some civil, but not 
criminal, matters.
    While customary or traditional courts enjoy widespread support and 
respect on the part of citizens, they often did not afford the same due 
process protections as the formal court system. Defendants do not have 
legal counsel, and there are no standardized rules of evidence. 
Defendants can confront, question, and present witnesses in customary 
court proceedings. Customary trials are open to the public and 
defendants can present evidence on their own behalf. Tribal judges, 
appointed by the tribal leader or elected by the community, determine 
sentences, which may be appealed through the civil court system. Many 
judges were poorly trained and ill equipped to make legal decisions. 
The quality of decisions reached in the customary courts varied 
considerably and often lacked a presumption of innocence. In some cases 
tribal judges may issue sentences that include corporal punishment such 
as lashings on the buttocks.
    There is a separate military court system; military courts do not 
try civilians. Military courts have separate procedures from civil 
courts. Defendants in military courts are able to retain attorneys and 
see evidence that will be used against them.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--In the formal judicial 
system, there is an independent and impartial judiciary in civil 
matters, including for human rights cases, which includes a separate 
industrial court for most labor-related cases. Administrative remedies 
were not widely available.
    Most civil cases were tried in customary courts. These courts 
handled land, marital, and property disputes and often did not afford 
due process.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions, and 
the Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice. 
However, the Government's continued narrow interpretation of a 2006 
High Court ruling resulted in the majority of San being prohibited from 
living or hunting in the CKGR. In 2002 the Government forcibly 
resettled the remaining indigenous San and other minority members 
living in the CKGR who had not voluntarily left to resettlement sites 
outside the reserve. Government officials maintained the resettlement 
program was voluntary and necessary to facilitate the delivery of 
public services, to provide socioeconomic development opportunities to 
the San, and to minimize human impact on wildlife (see section 6, 
Indigenous People).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally 
respected freedom of speech in practice. The Media Institute of 
Southern Africa (MISA) and other NGOs reported that the Government 
attempted to limit press freedom and continued to dominate domestic 
broadcasting. Individuals could generally criticize the Government 
publicly or privately without reprisal.
    In 2008 Parliament passed the Media Practitioners Act, establishing 
a new Media Council to register and accredit journalists, promote 
ethical standards amongst the media, and receive public complaints. 
Some NGOs, including MISA, the independent media, and opposition 
members of parliament (MPs) continued to criticize the law, stating 
that it restricted press freedom and was passed without debate after 
consultations between the Government and stakeholders collapsed.
    The Government owned and operated the Botswana Press Agency, which 
dominated the media through its free, nationally distributed newspaper, 
Daily News, and through two FM radio stations. State-owned media 
generally featured uncritical reporting on the Government and were 
susceptible to political interference. Opposition political parties 
claimed that state media coverage heavily favored the ruling party.
    The independent media were active and generally expressed a wide 
variety of views, which frequently included strong criticism of the 
Government; however, members of the media stated they were sometimes 
subject to government pressure to portray the Government and the 
country in a positive light. It was sometimes more difficult for 
private media organizations than for government-owned ones to obtain 
access to government-held information.
    Radio continued to be the most broadly accessible medium. 
Government-owned Radio Botswana and Radio Botswana 2 covered most of 
the country. Privately owned Yarona FM, Gabz FM, and Duma FM expanded 
their broadcasts from Gaborone to cover most of the major towns. They 
produced news and current affairs programs without government 
interference.
    State-owned Botswana Television was the primary source of televised 
news and current affairs programs. The privately owned Gaborone 
Broadcasting Corporation broadcast mostly foreign programs. 
International television channels were available through cable 
subscription and satellite.
    Some members of civil society organizations alleged the Government 
occasionally censored stories it deemed undesirable, and government 
journalists sometimes practiced self-censorship.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chatrooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the peaceful 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. Internet 
access was most common in urban areas, but has begun to expand to 
smaller cities and some rural areas. According to International 
Telecommunication Union statistics for 2009, approximately 6.15 percent 
of the country's inhabitants used the Internet. However, there were 
some reports during the year that the actual figure was significantly 
higher as citizens increasingly accessed the Internet through both 
mobile telephones and home and office Internet connections.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
and law provide for freedom of assembly and association, and the 
Government generally respected these rights in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice.
    The Government continued to restrict the freedom of indigenous San 
to return to the CKGR, despite a 2006 High Court ruling in a suit 
brought by 189 San declaring that the forced relocation of many San in 
2002 had wrongfully deprived them of their property and that government 
prohibitions against their returning to the reserve and hunting there 
were unconstitutional. The Government interpreted the High Court ruling 
to apply only to the 189 plaintiffs in the case and their families, and 
permitted only them to hunt or live in the CKGR. A few San had never 
left the reserve, and some moved back to the CKGR after the High 
Court's decision. Many of the 189 did not return to live in the CKGR, 
as lack of water made the CKGR an extremely inhospitable environment, 
and some who initially returned left again. The Government was not 
required to provide water in the CKGR per the 2006 ruling (see sections 
1.f. and 6). Visitors to the reserve, including relocated former 
residents not named in the 2006 case, must obtain a permit to enter the 
CKGR. During the year the San took the Government to the High Court, 
pleading for permission to use the borehole the Government disabled in 
2002. The High Court dismissed their case. The Government continued to 
hold discussions with groups of San to reach an amicable solution 
regarding terms of CKGR residency.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The Government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees. The Government granted refugee 
status or asylum. The Government's system for granting refugee status 
was accessible but slow. In practice the Government provided protection 
against the expulsion or return of persons to countries where their 
lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, 
religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or 
political opinion. The Government also provided temporary protection to 
individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 UN refugee 
convention or the 1967 protocol. During the year fewer than 100 persons 
were granted refugee status. The Government cooperated with the UNHCR 
and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and asylum 
seekers.
    The Government held newly arrived refugees and asylum seekers, 
primarily from Zimbabwe, in the Center for Illegal Immigrants in 
Francistown until the Refugee Advisory Committee (RAC), a governmental 
body whose chairperson is the district commissioner of Francistown, 
made a status recommendation; the UNHCR was present at RAC meetings in 
the status of observer and technical advisor. 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 were nonetheless 
allowed to remain at Dukwe if they wished while the Government referred 
their cases to the UNHCR for possible resettlement. Refugees in Dukwe 
had access to education and health care. Although asylum seekers were 
housed separately from illegal immigrants, the UNHCR criticized the 
detention of asylum seekers at the Center for Illegal Immigrants on the 
grounds that asylum seekers should not be held in detention facilities. 
Conditions at the center were generally adequate, but children in the 
center did not have sufficient access to education during their 
detention, which in a few cases lasted many months.
    In June 2009 the Government changed its 1997 policy that allowed 
some registered refugees to obtain special residency permits allowing 
them to live and work outside the camp for one year with the 
possibility of renewal. As of December only 19 of the country's 3,185 
registered refugees were living and working outside Dukwe. The 
Government has stated that as a general policy all registered refugees 
must reside in the Dukwe camp, although it may permit residence outside 
the camp in a few exceptional cases, such as refugees enrolled at a 
university or with unique skills.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens the right to change their 
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right through 
periodic, free, and fair elections based on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In October 2009 the ruling 
BDP won the majority of National Assembly seats in a general election 
deemed by international and domestic observers to be generally free and 
fair. President Ian Khama, who has held the presidency since 2008, when 
former President Festus Mogae resigned, retained his position. However, 
the BDP received preferential access to state-owned television during 
much of the campaign. The BDP won 45 of 57 competitive National 
Assembly seats, the Botswana National Front (BNF) won six seats, the 
Botswana Congress Party (BCP) won five seats, and an independent 
candidate won one seat. The BDP has won a majority of seats in the 
National Assembly in every election since independence. There are also 
four additional MPs who are nominated and elected by parliament.
    In May the BDP split, with five of its MPs forming a new opposition 
party, the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD). Other MPs switched 
parties during the year, including among opposition parties, from the 
ruling party to opposition, and from the opposition to the ruling 
party. At year's end, the BDP held 45 seats in parliament, the new BMD 
party led the opposition with six seats, the BNF controlled five seats, 
and the BCP had five seats.
    The House of Chiefs acts as an advisory upper chamber to the 
National Assembly on any legislation affecting tribal organization and 
property, customary law, and administration of the customary courts. It 
consists of eight paramount chiefs, five chiefs chosen by the 
president, and 22 elected chiefs from designated regions. The paramount 
chiefs are members of the House of Chiefs for life, while the chosen 
and elected chiefs serve five-year terms. The first election based on 
amendments made to the constitution in 2006 to expand the House of 
Chiefs was held later that year.
    Political parties operated without restriction or outside 
interference.
    There were four women in the 61-seat National Assembly, one of whom 
was the speaker; four in the 24-member cabinet; and four in the 
expanded 35-seat House of Chiefs.
    While the constitution formally recognizes eight principal ethnic 
groups of the Tswana nation, amendments to the constitution also allow 
minority tribes to be represented in the expanded House of Chiefs. 
Under the law members from all groups enjoy equal rights, and minority 
tribes have representation that is at least equal to that of the eight 
principal tribes. There are members of minority tribes in the assembly, 
in the cabinet, and on the High Court.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government generally implemented these laws effectively. There were 
isolated reports of government corruption during the year. The minister 
of defense, justice and security resigned his cabinet position in 
August immediately preceding an official charge of corruption.
    There are no formal financial disclosure laws; however, in October 
2009 a presidential directive required all cabinet ministers to declare 
their interests, assets, and liabilities to the president. Critics 
contended the policy did not go far enough to promote transparency and 
that financial declarations by senior government officials should be 
available to the public.
    In 2009 the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) 
initiated investigations into 39 suspicious transactions. Of these, 18 
remained under investigation and 21 were concluded by year's end. Of 
the 21 cases, the directorate dismissed 18 after allegations of illegal 
conduct were disproved and found insufficient in three.
    During the year police initiated investigations into 20 cases of 
police corruption.
    Police officials acknowledged that corruption was a problem in the 
lower ranks; some officers took advantage of illegal immigrants and 
traffic violators. During the year 29 police officers were arrested for 
criminal offenses, with 12 brought before the courts by year's end. Of 
the 24 officers who were charged in 2009 and remained under 
investigation during the year, 18 were dismissed, two were acquitted, 
two resigned, and two cases remained under investigation.
    The security forces reported to civilian authorities, and the 
Government had effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse and 
corruption, including investigation by police and referral to the 
criminal court system.
    In April portions of an anti-money-laundering law enacted in March 
2009 came into effect. The act created a new Financial Intelligence 
Agency (FIA), but the agency was still being formed during the year. 
Until the FIA is fully functioning, the DCEC retains responsibility for 
investigating suspected instances of money laundering, including the 
authority to demand access to bank records during the course of an 
investigation.
    The law does not provide public access to government information, 
and the Government generally restricted such access. Information that 
is made public is available for a fee from the Government Printing 
Office.
Section 5. 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 domestic NGO views on most 
subjects but were considerably less open to the involvement of some 
international NGOs on the issue of the CKGR relocations. The Government 
interacted with, and provided financial support to, some domestic 
organizations. Independent local human rights groups included 
Childline, a child welfare NGO; Emang Basadi, a women's rights group; 
the Botswana Network on Ethics, Law, and HIV/AIDS; and DITSHWANELO.
    Beginning in 2007 the Government required that certain foreign NGO 
workers obtain visas, a practice which continued during the year.
    The Government worked cooperatively with international 
organizations, including the ICRC and UN, during the year. The 
Government allowed visits from UN representatives and representatives 
from human rights and humanitarian organizations such as the ICRC.
    The UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Persons visited the country 
in March 2009, and the UN issued a report on his visit in February. The 
UN noted that although the Government had undertaken many initiatives 
to address the conditions of disadvantaged and marginalized peoples and 
to celebrate their cultures, it needed to increase its efforts to 
tackle the challenges faced by indigenous groups, such as land rights. 
According to the UN report, ``Certain indigenous groups continue to 
suffer from a lack of secure land tenure, including access to and use 
of their ancestral lands and resources, in part due to the 
nonrecognition of these groups' customary land use practices.''
    An independent, autonomous ombudsman handled complaints of 
administrative wrongdoing in the public sector, and the Government 
generally cooperated with the ombudsman. The office suffered from a 
shortage of staff, and public awareness of the office and its services 
was low.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit governmental discrimination on 
the basis of ethnicity, race, nationality, creed, sex, or social 
status, and the Government generally respected these provisions in 
practice. As long as a job applicant is able to perform the duties of 
the position, he or she may not be discriminated against due to 
disability or language. However, the law does not prohibit 
discrimination by private persons or entities, and there was societal 
discrimination against women; persons with disabilities; minority 
ethnic groups, particularly the San; persons with HIV/AIDS; persons 
with albinism; and gays and lesbians.

    Women.--The law prohibits rape but does not recognize spousal rape 
as a crime. Laws against rape were effectively enforced when victims 
pressed charges; however, police noted victims often declined to press 
charges against the perpetrators. In some cases victims were afraid of 
losing financial support if perpetrators were found guilty and 
imprisoned. The number of reported rape cases decreased during the year 
from 1,539 as of December 2009 to 1,332 as of November 2010. The NGOs 
continued efforts to improve awareness of the crime. By law the minimum 
sentence for rape is 10 years in prison, increasing to 15 years with 
corporal punishment if the offender is HIV-positive, and 20 years with 
corporal punishment if the offender was aware of having HIV-positive 
status. Corporal punishment was used more often in the customary than 
in the formal courts and typically consisted of strokes to the buttocks 
with a stick. A person convicted of rape is required to undergo an HIV 
test before sentencing. However, police lacked basic investigative 
techniques in rape cases.
    The law prohibits domestic and other violence, whether against 
women or men, and it remained a serious problem. The police reported 
the following statistics related to domestic violence: defilement, 389 
cases; incest, 5 cases; indecent assault on females, 129 cases; common 
assault, 12, 367 cases; and assault occasioning bodily harm, 2,069 
cases. There were 90 reported cases of passion killings and 834 of 
death threats. Greater public awareness resulted in increased reporting 
of domestic violence and sexual assault.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment in both the private and public 
sectors. Sexual harassment committed by a public officer is considered 
misconduct and punishable by termination, with or without forfeiture of 
all retirement benefits, suspension with loss of pay and benefits for 
up to three months, reduction in rank or pay, deferment or stoppage of 
a pay raise, or a reprimand. However, sexual harassment continued to be 
a widespread problem, particularly by men in positions of authority, 
including teachers, supervisors, and older male relatives.
    Couples and individuals have the right, and were able in practice, 
to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of 
their children, and to have the information and means to do so free 
from discrimination, coercion, and violence. Contraception is widely 
available. According to the Population Reference Bureau, skilled 
attendance during childbirth averaged 94 percent across the country--
with higher rates in urban areas. Obstetric and postpartum care was 
generally available, and women had equal access to testing and 
treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. The 
Government's program, Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of 
HIV, has effectively curtailed mother-to-child transmission. According 
to the Ministry of Health, the maternal mortality rate was 198 deaths 
per 100,000 births.
    By law women have the same civil rights as men, but 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, particularly in rural 
areas. Marriages can occur under one of three systems, each with its 
own implications for women's property rights. A woman married under 
traditional law or in ``common property'' is held to be a legal minor 
and required to have her husband's consent to buy or sell property, 
apply for credit, and enter into legally binding contracts. Under an 
intermediate system referred to as ``in community of property,'' 
married women may own real estate in their own names, and the law 
stipulates that neither spouse can dispose of joint property without 
the written consent of the other. Women increasingly exercised the 
right to marriage ``out of common property,'' in which they retained 
their full legal rights as adults. Polygamy is legal under traditional 
law with the consent of the first wife, but it was not common.
    Skilled urban women had increasing access to entry- and mid-level 
white collar jobs. According to a 2007 Grant Thornton International 
Business Report, 74 percent of businesses employed women in senior 
management positions, and women occupied 31 percent of such positions. 
Women occupied many senior-level positions in government agencies, such 
as speaker of the General Assembly, governor of the Bank of Botswana, 
attorney general, minister in the Office of the President, minister of 
education and skills development, and numerous permanent secretary 
positions. However, a 2007 UN report found that women's political 
participation was not equal to that of men. In 2008 the Botswana 
Defense Force (BDF) began to allow women to serve in the military. In 
2008 the first class of Batswana female officer candidates completed 
their training in Tanzania and joined the BDF. During 2009 women were 
included as officer candidates in the first integrated training class 
to be conducted in the country and they continued to be inducted as 
officer candidates during the year.
    The Women's Affairs Department in the Ministry of Labor and Home 
Affairs has responsibility for promoting and protecting women's rights 
and welfare. The department provided grants to NGOs working on women's 
issues. A local NGO reported that women were increasingly able to 
access credit markets and be paid as much as their male counterparts 
for similar work.

    Children.--The law provides for the rights and welfare of children, 
and the Government respected these rights in practice. In general, 
citizenship is derived from one's parents, although there are very 
limited circumstances in which citizenship can be derived from birth 
within the country's territory. The Government generally registers 
births immediately; however, there were some delays in the most remote 
locations. Unregistered children may be denied some government 
services.
    The Government continued to allocate the largest portion of its 
budget to the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Local Government 
distributed books, food, and materials for primary education. Education 
was not compulsory. The Government reintroduced school fees in 2006. 
The fees could be waived for children whose family income fell below a 
certain amount. The Government also provided uniforms, books, and other 
fees for students whose parents were destitute. Students in remote 
areas received two free meals a day at school. Girls and boys attended 
school at similar rates.
    No law specifically prohibits child abuse. Sex with a child younger 
than 16 is known as defilement and is prohibited and punishable by a 
minimum of 10 years' incarceration. Police reported that through the 
end of November there were 1,332 cases of rape, 389 cases of 
defilement, 129 cases of indecent assault on girls and five cases of 
incest. There were defilement investigations and convictions during the 
year. Sexual abuse of students by teachers was reported to be a 
problem. Children were sometimes sexually abused by extended family 
members with whom they lived. The law considers incest a punishable act 
only if it occurs between blood relatives.
    Child marriage occurred infrequently and was largely limited to 
certain ethnic groups. Marriages that occur when either party is under 
the minimum legal age of 18 are not recognized by the Government.
    Child prostitution and pornography are criminal offenses. Media and 
NGO reports claimed that prostituted children had been made available 
to truck drivers along the main road linking the country with South 
Africa and that many of the girls and boys were thought to be orphans.
    There were reports of child labor. Of the children employed, 
approximately half were below the legal working age of 14. Two-thirds 
of employed children were working in rural villages, and more than 60 
percent worked in the agricultural sector, mostly on a subsistence 
level on family cattle posts or farms.
    In 2005 the UN Children's Fund estimated there were 150,000 orphans 
in the country, of whom approximately 120,000 had lost one or both 
parents due to HIV/AIDS. As of December the Government had registered 
37,233 children as orphans. The discrepancy between the two estimates 
is due to the fact that the Government has a more restrictive 
definition of when a child is orphaned than the UN. The Government 
requires both parents of a child to have died before considering the 
child an orphan, except in cases where the child is raised by only one 
parent. Once registered, the children received clothes, shelter, a 
monthly food basket worth between 216 pula (approximately $33) and 350 
pula ($54) depending upon location, and counseling as needed. Some 
relatives continued to deny inheritance rights to orphans.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was no known Jewish community in the country, 
and no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical and mental disabilities in education, 
employment, access to health care, or the provision of other state 
services. The Government has an effective national policy that provides 
for integrating the needs of persons with disabilities into all aspects 
of government policymaking. The Government mandated access to public 
buildings or transportation for persons with disabilities. There was 
some discrimination against persons with disabilities, and employment 
opportunities remained limited. The Government did not restrict persons 
with disabilities from voting or participating in civil affairs, and 
some accommodations were made during elections to allow for persons 
with disabilities to vote. Although new government buildings were being 
constructed to assure access by persons with disabilities, most older 
government office buildings remained inaccessible. There is a 
Department of Disability Coordination in the Office of the President to 
care for persons with disabilities.
    The Department of Labor is responsible for protecting the rights of 
persons with disabilities and investigating claims of discrimination. 
Individuals can also bring cases directly to the Industrial Court. The 
Government funded NGOs that provided rehabilitation services and 
supported small-scale projects for workers with disabilities.

    Indigenous People.--An estimated 50,000-60,000 persons belong to 
one of the many scattered, diverse tribal groups known as San or 
Basarwa. The San represented approximately 3 percent of the population 
and were culturally and linguistically distinct from most other 
residents. The law prohibits discrimination against the San with 
respect to employment, housing, health services, and cultural 
practices; however, the San remained economically and politically 
marginalized and generally did not have access to their traditional 
land. The San continued to be geographically isolated, had limited 
access to education, lacked adequate political representation, and were 
not fully aware of their civil rights. In 2002 the Government forcibly 
resettled San who were living in the CKGR to the settlement areas of 
Kaudwane, New Xade, and Xere. The Government continued to maintain that 
the move was to enable the resettled San to have better access to 
education and health facilities.
    While the Government respected the December 2006 High Court ruling 
on a suit filed by 189 San regarding their forced relocation, it 
continued to interpret the ruling to allow only the 189 actual 
applicants and their spouses and minor children, rather than all San 
affected by the relocations, to return to the CKGR. The court ruled 
that the applicants were entitled to return to the CKGR without entry 
permits and to be issued permits to hunt in designated wildlife 
management areas, which are not located in the CKGR. The court also 
ruled that the Government was not obligated to resume providing 
services within the CKGR, and the Government did not reopen water wells 
in the CKGR during the year. Many of the San and their supporters 
continued to object to the Government's narrow interpretation of this 
ruling. Government sources confirmed that negotiations between San 
representatives and government regarding residency, water, and hunting 
rights were ongoing at year's end. However, a small group of San also 
filed suit in November 2009 seeking to force the Government to open a 
water well at a specific location inside the CKGR. San contend that 
this location had previously been a well, while the Government argued 
that it had never been a well and had been used for geological 
exploration. In July the High Court ruled against the plaintiffs. 
Attorneys for the San filed an appeal, which remained under 
consideration by the court at year's end.
    During the year there were no reports of the arrest of San for 
illegal hunting in the CKGR. In 2009 the Government made several 
arrests of San for illegally hunting in the CKGR. Although the law 
allows a fine or prison term for those found guilty of illegal hunting, 
none of the San arrested in 2009 were sanctioned.
    During the year there were no government programs directly 
addressing discrimination against the San. With the exception of the 
2006 court ruling, there were no demarcated cultural lands.
    A number of NGOs made efforts to promote the rights of the San or 
to help provide economic opportunities. However, the programs had 
limited impact. The NGO Survival International, along with other 
independent organizations, continued to criticize the decision by the 
Government to allow mining exploration in the CKGR. The NGOs argued 
that diamond exploration in the CKGR would have a devastating impact on 
the life and environment of the San.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The country has no law 
criminalizing sexual orientation. However, what the law describes as 
``unnatural acts'' are criminalized, and there is widespread belief 
this is directed toward gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender 
persons. The police do not target homosexual activity, and there were 
no reports of violence against persons based on their sexual 
orientation or gender identity during the year. However, there were 
reports of societal discrimination and harassment of gay, lesbian, 
bisexual, and transgender persons. An independent organization LEGABIBO 
(Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals of Botswana) attempted to register as an 
NGO to advocate for the rights of gay, lesbian, transgender, and 
bisexual persons, but the Government refused to allow it to do so.

    Other Societal Discrimination.--Discrimination against persons with 
HIV/AIDS continued to be a problem, including in the workplace. The 
Government funded community organizations that ran antidiscrimination 
and public awareness programs. The Botswana Network on Ethics, Law, and 
HIV/AIDS continued to advocate for an HIV employment law to curb 
discrimination in the workplace.
    While persons with albinism were subject to some social 
discrimination, individuals were generally able to exercise their 
rights in practice.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers to form and 
join unions of their choice without excessive requirements, and workers 
exercised this right in practice. Only police, military, and prison 
personnel are prevented from forming or joining labor unions. However, 
members of those professions are represented by employee associations, 
which serve as a means to communicate collective needs and concerns to 
their government employer. In March 357,919 persons were employed in 
the formal sector, of whom 51 percent worked in the private sector, 28 
percent worked for the national government, 17 percent for local 
governments, and 4 percent for parastatal enterprises. Only 1.7 percent 
of formal sector employees worked in agriculture, 3 percent in mining, 
13 percent in retail sales, and 10 percent in manufacturing. Exact 
statistics regarding union membership were not available, but analysts 
estimated that trade unions had approximately 70,000 members, which 
would represent 20 percent of the formal sector workforce. Unions were 
concentrated largely in the public sector, mineral extraction, and to a 
lesser extent in the railway and banking sectors. The law requires that 
an organization have more than 30 employees to form a trade union.
    The law severely restricts the right to strike, and virtually all 
strikes are ruled illegal, leaving striking workers at risk of 
dismissal. Legal strikes theoretically are possible only after an 
exhaustive arbitration process. Sympathy strikes are prohibited.
    The 2006 case regarding a copper mine's dismissal of 178 workers 
for striking concluded with a lower court dismissal of the case, which 
was based on procedural errors by the plaintiffs' attorney. The case 
was appealed and had not been heard by the Industrial Court by year's 
end.
    In 2008 the Industrial Court dismissed a 2005 case in which 461 
workers were fired in 2004 after a strike against their employer, 
Debswana, the joint government-DeBeers diamond mine venture. The court 
found the case was not tried in a timely fashion. The 461 former 
employees appealed the dismissal; the appeal was dismissed by the 
Industrial Court early in 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. The law provides for 
collective bargaining for unions that have enrolled 25 percent of an 
organization's labor force.
    Civil service disputes were referred to an ombudsman for 
resolution. Private labor disputes were mediated by labor commissioners 
and, if not resolved, sent to the Labour Court. The average time to 
resolve a labor dispute dropped from 20 months to 11 months by year's 
end.
    Workers may not be fired for legal union-related activities. 
Dismissals on other grounds may be appealed to civil courts or labor 
officers, which rarely ordered more than two months' severance pay.
    The country's export processing zone (EPZ) exists on paper only. 
There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in the 
EPZ.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The constitution and 
law prohibit forced and compulsory labor, including by children; 
however, there were reports of child labor in cattle-herding.
    Some Zimbabwean women reported being exploited by employers for 
forced labor. Children were trafficked internally for domestic 
servitude and cattle herding.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law sets the minimum age for basic employment at 14 years. 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. Children 14 years old who 
are not attending school may be employed by family members in light 
work that is not considered hazardous or as approved by the labor 
commissioner, but for no more than six hours per day or 30 hours per 
week. In industrial settings those under age 15 may only work up to 
three consecutive hours without the labor commissioner's approval, and 
those between ages 15 and 18 may work only up to four consecutive hours 
without such approval. Those under 18 may not be employed in work 
underground, at night, in work that is harmful to health and 
development, or that is dangerous or immoral. The law provides that 
adopted children may not be exploited for labor and protects orphans 
from exploitation or coercion into prostitution.
    According to the 2005-06 labor survey, slightly fewer than 38,000 
children between the ages of seven and 17 were employed in the formal 
sector in 2006. Approximately half of those were under 14. More than 60 
percent of employed children worked in agriculture, 20 percent in 
retail trade, and 4 percent in private homes. Children also worked as 
domestic laborers and in informal bars. Outside of supermarkets they 
sometimes assisted truck drivers with unloading goods and carried bags 
for customers. Many orphans also left school to work as caregivers for 
sick relatives. Most employed children worked up to 28 hours per week.
    The Ministry of Labor and Home Affairs was responsible for 
enforcing child labor laws and policies in all sectors, and it was 
generally effective, despite limited resources for oversight in remote 
areas of the country. District and municipal councils have child 
welfare divisions, which are also responsible for enforcing child labor 
laws. Other involved government entities included offices with the 
Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Local Government. Oversight 
of child labor issues was facilitated through the Advisory Committee on 
Child Labor, which included representatives of various NGOs, government 
agencies, workers' federations, and employers' organizations. One child 
was found to be working illegally in the agricultural sector during the 
year. The employer was charged and fined and the child was assisted by 
the Department of Social Services.
    The Government supported and worked with partners to conduct 
workshops to raise awareness of child labor. The Department of Labor 
partnered with the Department of Social Services to advocate against 
and raise awareness of exploitative child labor.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum hourly wage for most 
full-time labor in the private sector was 3.80 pula ($0.58), which did 
not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. The 
cabinet determined wage policy based on recommendations from the 
National Economic, Manpower, and Incomes Committee, which consists of 
representatives of the Government, the private sector, and the Botswana 
Federation of Trade Unions. The Ministry of Labor and Home Affairs was 
responsible for enforcing the minimum wage, and each of the country's 
districts had at least one labor inspector.
    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 provided, 
frequently paid below the minimum wage. The minimum wage for domestic 
workers was two pula ($0.30) per hour. The minimum for workers in the 
agricultural sector was 408 pula ($62) per month; however, the cost of 
feeding a worker who lived on the employer's premises could be deducted 
from the wages.
    The law permits a maximum 48-hour workweek, exclusive of overtime, 
which is payable at time-and-a-half. The law does not specifically 
outline rest periods or prohibit excessive compulsory overtime. Most 
modern private sector jobs had a 40-hour workweek; the public sector, 
however, had a 48-hour workweek. The labor law applies to farm and 
migrant workers. The Department of Labor had inspectors to oversee and 
enforce labor regulations; however, the number was insufficient to 
allow for inspection of all relevant workplaces.
    The Government's ability to enforce its workplace safety 
legislation remained limited by inadequate staffing and unclear 
jurisdictions among different ministries. Nevertheless, there are 
limited requirements for occupational safety contained in the 
Employment Act, and employers in the formal sector generally provided 
for worker safety.
    The law provides that workers who complain about hazardous 
conditions may not be fired, and authorities in the Ministry of Labor 
and Home Affairs effectively enforced this right.

                               __________

                              BURKINA FASO

    Burkina Faso is a parliamentary republic with a population of 
approximately 15.7 million. In November President Blaise Compaore was 
reelected to a fourth term with more than 80 percent of the vote. 
Observers considered the election free and transparent, despite minor 
irregularities, but not entirely fair due to the ruling party's control 
of official resources. The president, assisted by members of his party, 
the Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP), continued to dominate 
the Government. The CDP won a majority in the 2007 legislative 
elections, which observers declared generally free and orderly despite 
irregularities, including fraud involving voter identification cards. 
There were instances in which elements of the security forces acted 
independently of civilian control.
    Human rights problems included security force use of excessive 
force against civilians, criminal suspects, and detainees; arbitrary 
arrest and detention; abuse of prisoners and harsh prison conditions; 
official impunity; judicial inefficiency and lack of independence; 
occasional restrictions on freedom of assembly; official corruption; 
societal violence and discrimination against women and children, 
including female genital mutilation; trafficking in persons; 
discrimination against persons with disabilities; 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.--The Government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings; however, 
on June 30, Da Arnaud Some died in police custody several hours after 
being arrested for alleged drug possession. Some died under unclear 
circumstances in Gaoua hospital after police arrested him on drug 
possession charges in Danyoro. Some tried to escape and sustained 
injuries falling down a steep ravine. He died a few hours later while 
in the hospital receiving treatment. Human rights organizations, 
including the Burkina Faso Movement for Human and Peoples' Rights 
(MBDHP), investigated the death and concluded that Some died as a 
result of a severe police beating and not because of an alleged fall. 
The MBDHP called for an independent investigation and the arrest of 
those responsible for Some's death. The Government took rapid 
disciplinary action, arresting the three policemen involved in Some's 
death and reassigning the entire police staff, including the chiefs of 
police in Danyoro and Gaoua, to other police stations. Although the 
Government promised legal action against the perpetrators, by year's 
end there had been no trial. This death triggered violent 
demonstrations on July 1 in Gaoua (see section 2.b.).
    On July 1, security forces killed two young men in Gaoua after 
demonstrations organized to protest the June 30 killing turned violent. 
According to official reports, security forces used shotguns to restore 
order. Human rights associations collected empty cartridges after the 
incidents, and injuries were consistent with the use of live fire. 
Official post-incident reports referred to the causes of death as 
``accidental'' (see section 1.c.).
    In September 2009 prison guards shot and killed six prisoners and 
severely injured eight more while trying to quell prisoners protesting 
preferential treatment of wealthier prisoners. The Burkinabe Movement 
for the Emergence of Social Justice (MBEJUS) demanded an investigation; 
however, no action had been taken 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.--Although the constitution and law prohibit such treatment, 
members of the security forces continued to abuse persons with 
impunity. Suspects reportedly were frequently subjected to beatings, 
threats, and occasionally torture to extract confessions. Government 
actions to prevent such treatment were weak, with only a few known 
cases when this behavior was punished.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
harsh and could be life threatening. Prisons were overcrowded, and 
medical care and sanitation were poor. Diet was inadequate, and inmates 
often relied on supplemental food from relatives. Pretrial detainees 
were usually held with convicted prisoners.
    Deaths from prison conditions or neglect occurred, according to 
human rights organizations. The MBEJUS stated that approximately 150 
prisoners died during the year. Human rights activists believed that 
the majority of those deaths were the result of harsh prison 
conditions.
    There were 5,238 persons incarcerated countrywide, including 112 
women and 127 minors, of whom 2,519, including 73 women and 82 minors, 
were in pretrial detention. Generally juveniles and adults were not 
held together in Ouagadougou; however, in provincial prisons they were 
held together because no separate facilities existed there for 
juveniles.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. Authorities permitted prisoners and 
detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities without 
censorship and to request investigation of credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions. The Government investigated and monitored prison 
and detention center conditions. Prison authorities granted permission 
to visit prisons without requiring advance notice for representatives 
of local and international human rights groups, the media, foreign 
embassies, and the International Committee of the Red Cross. The 
International Red Cross visited prisons as did members of local 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), foreign embassies, and the press.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, security forces did 
not consistently observe these prohibitions. The Government did not 
take steps to prevent such treatment and did not investigate and punish 
those responsible.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The National Police, 
under the Ministry of Security, and the municipal police, under the 
Ministry of Territorial Administration, are responsible for public 
security. Gendarmes, under the Ministry of Security, are responsible 
for restoring law and order during a disturbance, enforcing the penal 
code, and taking preventive action, such as checking if individuals are 
carrying required official documents.
    Human rights organizations cite the climate of impunity created by 
the Government's inaction as the largest obstacle to reducing abuse.
    Observers stated security forces were not very effective in 
preventing and responding to societal violence. The Human Rights 
Ministry did not conduct any seminars during the year to educate 
security forces on human rights because of a lack of funding. In 
addition, human rights organizations pointed to complicated government 
procedures for authorizing security forces to take action as hampering 
security forces from preventing and responding to societal violence.
    For example, authorities were not effective in addressing incidents 
between Fulani herders and Mossi, Gourounchi, and Gourmanche farmers, 
or cases in which elderly women were expelled from their homes or 
villages following accusations of witchcraft.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--By law, police 
must possess a warrant to search or arrest, arrests must be made 
openly, and warrants must be based on sufficient evidence and issued by 
a duly authorized official. However, authorities did not always respect 
this process. Detainees were not consistently informed of charges 
against them. The law provides the right to expeditious arraignment, 
bail, access to legal counsel after a detainee has been charged before 
a judge or, if indigent, access to a lawyer provided by the state after 
being charged; however, these rights were seldom respected. The law 
does not provide for detainees to have access to family members, 
although detainees generally were allowed such access.
    The law limits detention without charge for investigative purposes 
to a maximum of 72 hours, renewable for a single 48-hour period; 
however, police rarely observed these restrictions. The law permits 
judges to impose an unlimited number of six-month preventive detention 
periods. The average time of detention without charge (preventive 
detention) was one week. However, defendants without access to legal 
counsel often were detained for weeks or months before appearing before 
a magistrate. Ombudsmen are permitted to serve on behalf of prisoners 
and detainees to consider such matters as alternatives to incarceration 
for nonviolent offenders to alleviate inhumane overcrowding.
    Government officials estimated that 48 percent of prisoners 
nationwide were in pretrial status. In some cases detainees were held 
without charge or trial for longer periods than the maximum sentence 
they would have received if convicted of the alleged offense. A 
pretrial release (release on bail) system exists; however, the extent 
of its use was unknown. Human rights advocates stated that the justice 
system, including prisons, had unreliable mechanisms to track detainees 
and occasionally ``lost'' some of them.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary; however, NGOs reported that the judiciary 
was corrupt, inefficient, and subject to executive influence. The 
president has extensive appointment powers and used them to influence 
the judiciary. Constitutionally, the head of state also serves as 
president of the Superior Council of the Magistrature, which nominates 
and removes senior magistrates and examines their performance. Other 
systemic weaknesses in the justice system included the removability of 
judges, corruption of magistrates, outdated legal codes, an 
insufficient number of courts, and excessive legal costs.
    Military courts try cases only involving military personnel and 
provide rights equivalent to those in civil criminal courts. They hold 
public trials and publish verdicts in the local press. Traditional 
courts in rural areas were abolished in 1984 and no longer have legal 
standing.

    Trial Procedures.--Trials are public, but juries are not used. 
Defendants are presumed innocent and have the right to legal 
representation and consultation. Defendants have the right to be 
present at their trials, to be informed promptly of charges against 
them, to provide their own evidence, and to have access to government-
held evidence. Defendants can challenge and present witnesses and have 
the right of appeal. If indigent, they have the right to a lawyer 
provided by the state. However, these rights were not generally 
respected, due in part to popular ignorance of the law and a continuing 
shortage of magistrates. There were serious court backlogs.
    Formal law provides women with equal property and inheritance 
rights. In practice, however, many Burkinabe held widespread 
traditional views that do not recognize women's inheritance rights and 
regard women as property. In general in rural areas, for example, a 
wife's land is viewed as belonging to the family of her deceased 
husband.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
judiciary in civil matters; however, due to the corruption and 
inefficiency of the judiciary, citizens sometimes preferred to rely on 
the ombudsman (see section 5) to settle disputes with the Government. 
The law provides for access to a court to bring lawsuits seeking 
damages for, or cessation of, a human rights violation, and both 
administrative and judicial remedies were available for alleged wrongs. 
Several such court orders were issued during the year. There were 
problems enforcing court orders in sensitive cases involving national 
security, wealthy or influential persons, and government officials.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions, and 
the Government generally respects these prohibitions. In cases of 
national security, the law permits surveillance, searches, and 
monitoring of telephones and private correspondence without a warrant. 
However, under normal circumstances, the law requires that the justice 
minister issue a warrant before homes may be searched.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally 
respected these rights in practice.
    Individuals could criticize the Government publicly or privately 
without reprisal. During the year the Government did not attempt to 
impede criticism.
    The official media, including the daily newspaper Sidwaya and the 
Government-controlled radio and television stations, displayed a 
progovernment bias, but allowed significant participation in their 
programming from those representing opposition views. There were 
numerous independent newspapers, satirical weeklies, and radio and 
television stations, some of which were highly critical of the 
Government. Foreign radio stations broadcasted without government 
interference.
    All media are under the administrative and technical supervision of 
the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Communications, and the spokesman 
of the Government, which is responsible for developing and implementing 
government policy and projects concerning information and 
communication. The Superior Council of Communication (SCC), a 
semiautonomous body under the Office of the President, also regulates 
the media by overseeing the content of radio and television programs 
and newspapers to ensure they adhere to professional ethics standards 
and government policy on information and communication. The SCC ensured 
equal access to the media for all November presidential candidates. The 
SCC may summon a journalist to attend a hearing about his work, 
followed by a warning that it would not tolerate a repeat of 
``noncompliant behavior.'' Hearings may concern alleged libel, 
disturbing the peace, or violations of state security. Approximately 
five journalists received such summonses during the year.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
However, poverty and the high rate of illiteracy limited public access 
to the Internet. According to International Telecommunication Union 
statistics for 2008, less than 1 percent of the country's inhabitants 
used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly; 
however, the Government did not always respect this right.
    The Government did not make public information on any action taken 
against security forces responsible for injuring and killing 
demonstrators during demonstrations organized by the political 
opposition in 2008 against high fuel and food prices.
    Political parties and labor unions may hold meetings and rallies 
without government permission; however, advance notification is 
required for demonstrations on the streets that might impact traffic or 
threaten public peace. Penalties for violation of the advance-
notification requirement include two to five years' imprisonment. 
Denials or imposed modifications of a proposed march route or schedule 
may be appealed to the courts. Government agents sometimes infiltrated 
political meetings and rallies.
    On July 1, violent demonstrations erupted in the city of Gaoua to 
protest the June 30 death of Da Arnaud Some (see section 1.c.). Angry 
demonstrators burned a police station and looted property. The MBDHP 
reported that in response, security forces, including police, 
gendarmerie, and army personnel, were deployed across the city. They 
used teargas and shotguns to disperse the mob. According to the MBDHP, 
security forces accidentally shot and killed 17-year-old Boureima Sie 
Kambou as they were trying to restore order. They also shot Etienne Da 
in the stomach. He later succumbed to his injuries in a Bobo-Dioulasso 
hospital. The Government responded by reassigning implicated police 
officers, but there had been no trial by year's end (see section 1.a.).

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of association, and the Government generally respected this 
right. Political parties and labor unions could organize without 
government permission.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
to provide protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    The Government, in accordance with Economic Community of West 
Africa guidelines, required travel documents, such as identification 
cards, for regional travel.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and there were no reports that the 
Government used it during the year.

    Protection of Refugees.--In practice the Government provided 
protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries 
where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their 
race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, 
or political opinion. The Government granted refugee or asylum status 
and also provided temporary protection to individuals who may not 
qualify as refugees under the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 
Protocol. Under law, refugees have equal access to employment, basic 
services, education, police, and court services. There were no reports 
that refugees were denied these rights 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 through multiparty elections; however, the ruling 
party's control of official resources and dominance in government 
severely disadvantaged the opposition from mounting a credible 
challenge.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In November President 
Blaise Compaore won reelection with more than 80 percent of the vote. 
Opposition candidate Hama Arba Diallo, the runner-up, received 7.96 
percent. Despite some irregularities, international observers 
considered the election to have been free and transparent despite the 
resource advantage held by the president.
    Political parties operated freely. Individuals and parties may 
freely declare their candidacies and stand for election in presidential 
elections; however, individuals must be members of a political party to 
run in legislative or municipal elections.
    In the 2007 legislative elections, the ruling CDP won 73 seats in 
the 111-seat National Assembly. Of the 38 non-CDP deputies, 25 belonged 
to parties allied with the Government. Election observers declared the 
elections free and orderly, except in four cities where they noted 
irregularities, including several cases of fraud involving voter 
identification cards. Opposition leaders denounced the elections.
    CDP membership conferred advantages, particularly for businessmen 
and traders seeking ostensibly open government contracts.
    There were 13 women in the National Assembly and seven women in the 
34-member cabinet. One of the four higher courts was led by a woman, 
the national ombudsman was a woman, 18 elected mayors were women, and 
an estimated 40 to 45 percent of new communal councilors were women.
    There were 17 minority members in the cabinet and 61 in the 
National Assembly.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. Local NGOs 
denounced what they called the overwhelming corruption of senior civil 
servants. They reported that corruption was especially acute in the 
customs service, gendarmerie, taxing agencies, national police, 
municipal police, public health service, municipalities, the education 
sector, government procurement, and the Justice Ministry. In recent 
years, despite numerous instances of high-level corruption, no senior 
government officials were prosecuted for corruption.
    Corruption was widespread, particularly among lower levels of the 
police and gendarmerie. The 2008 report by the NGO National Network to 
Fight against Corruption stated that the police and gendarmerie were 
among the most corrupt institutions in the country. Corruption and 
official impunity were also a problem in the military. The gendarmerie 
is responsible for investigating abuse by police and gendarmes, but the 
results of their investigations were not always made public. The 
military court held a number of trials in which civilians pressed 
charges against military personnel. These trials were public, and 
verdicts were reported in the press. The Government took no known 
judicial action against representatives of security forces accused by 
human rights groups of being responsible for abuses and took 
disciplinary action in only a handful of cases.
    Some public officials are subject to financial disclosure laws, but 
those laws were not effectively enforced.
    No laws provide for public access to government information. While 
government ministries released some nonsensitive documents, local 
journalists complained that ministries generally were unresponsive to 
requests for information, ostensibly for reasons of national security 
and confidentiality. They also criticized government spokespersons for 
strictly limiting the scope of questions that can be raised during 
official press conferences. There is no procedure to appeal denials of 
requests for information.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A variety of domestic and international human rights groups 
operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing 
their findings on human rights cases. Government officials were mostly 
cooperative and responsive to their views.
    The Government permitted international human rights groups to visit 
and operate in the country; the International Red Cross visited during 
the year.
    The Ministry of Human Rights is responsible for the protection and 
promotion of human rights and coordinates relevant efforts of other 
ministries. The minister of human rights reports to the prime minister. 
During the year the ministry conducted education campaigns and produced 
human rights pamphlets for security forces.
    The ombudsman is appointed by the president for a nonrenewable 
five-year term and cannot be removed during the term. The public 
generally trusted the ombudsman's impartiality. In accordance with the 
law, the ombudsman presented its 2009 report to the president on 
November 25. During its 15 years of existence (1994-2010), the 
institution investigated 3,698 complaints related to conflicts between 
Burkinabe and non-Burkinabe nationals living in Burkina Faso and 
complaints involving government services. Approximately 3,500 cases, 
including 936 in 2009, were resolved.
    The Governmental National Commission on Human Rights serves as a 
permanent framework for dialogue on human rights concerns and included 
representatives of human rights NGOs, unions, professional 
associations, and the Government. The MBDHP did not participate on the 
commission and continued to charge that the commission was subject to 
government influence. The commission, which has never issued any 
reports, was inadequately funded.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit discrimination based on race, 
gender, disability, language, or social status; however, the Government 
did not effectively enforce these prohibitions. Discrimination against 
women and persons with disabilities remained problems.

    Women.--Rape is a crime. Although there were prosecutions during 
the reporting period; no official statistics were available on the 
number of rapes during the year. Article 417 of the Penal Code punishes 
rape with five to 10 years' imprisonment. Human rights associations 
reported that rape occurs frequently. There is no explicit mention of 
spousal rape in the law, and there have been no recent court cases. A 
number of organizations counseled rape victims, including Roman 
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). Once 
rape is reported, the police investigate the accusation and bring the 
case to court if the evidence warrants.
    Domestic violence against women, especially wife beating, occurs 
frequently, primarily in rural areas. No law specifically protects 
women from domestic violence, and cases of wife beating usually were 
handled out of court. There were no available statistics on how many 
persons were prosecuted, convicted, or punished for domestic violence 
during the year. It is believed that such legal actions were 
infrequent, because women were ashamed, afraid, or otherwise reluctant 
to take their spouses to court. Cases that involve severe injury were 
usually handled through the legal system.
    The Ministry for Promotion of Women, the Ministry for Social Action 
and National Solidarity, and several NGOs cooperated to protect women's 
rights. The legal section in the Ministry for the Promotion of Women 
has a legal affairs section that informs women of their rights and 
encourages them to defend those rights. It organized a number of 
workshops and led several sensitization campaigns to inform women of 
their rights. Although the fight to achieve effective rights for women 
is a longstanding process, increasing numbers of women, primarily in 
urban areas, voiced their demand for equal rights. The numbers of women 
occupying decision-making positions has increased, with many active in 
politics. There were no hotlines; however, NGOs operated shelters in 
Ouagadougou during the year. The Government provided counseling 
representatives at each of the 13 regional ``Maison de la Femme'' 
structures.
    On occasion, childless elderly women with no support, primarily in 
rural areas and often widowed, were accused of witchcraft, banned from 
their villages, and often accused of eating the soul of a relative or a 
child who had died. These women sought refuge at centers run by 
governmental or charitable organizations in larger cities.
    The Ministry of Social Action and National Solidarity has recorded 
a total of 718 women accused of being witches and who had fled their 
villages. During the year 18 women fled their villages and were rescued 
by NGOs.
    The Roman Catholic-operated center Delwende housed approximately 
350 persons (including six men) during the year, including the 18 women 
accused of witchcraft. The Government and traditional authorities 
worked together to help citizens understand the error of both 
witchcraft claims, and the abuse of those accused of being witches. In 
particular the Ministry of Social Action and National Solidarity 
initiated specific sensitization programs with villages and assisted 
with mediation efforts between suspected witches and village notables.
    The labor code explicitly prohibits sexual harassment in the 
workplace, but such harassment was common and considered by many as 
culturally acceptable. The law prescribes fines of 50,000 to 600,000 
CFA francs ($101 to $1,213) and prison terms varying from one month to 
five years for persons convicted of workplace harassment. There were no 
available statistics on how many persons were prosecuted, convicted, or 
punished for the offense during the year.
    Couples and individuals are legally entitled to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children. They 
have the right to access reproductive and family planning information 
and may do so without facing discrimination, coercion, or violence. In 
practice, however, a lack of access to information and medical care 
constrained these rights, especially in remote areas. Cultural norms, 
especially in rural areas that tend to have a less educated population, 
also limited the availability and use of these resources. Reproductive 
rights were usually respected and available in urban areas and among 
more educated populations. According to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), 
contraceptive use among married women ages 15-49 for modern methods was 
approximately 17 percent. However, women often were subject to their 
husbands' decision regarding birth control. In 2008 the UNFPA estimated 
that the maternal mortality rate was 580 deaths per 100,000 live 
births. A woman's lifetime risk of maternal death was one in 28, and 
only 31 percent of births were attended by skilled personnel, according 
to the Population Reference Bureau.
    Both government and private health centers were open to all women 
for reproductive health services, including contraception, skilled 
medical assistance during childbirth (essential obstetric and 
postpartum care), and diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted 
diseases, including HIV. However, remote villages often lacked these 
facilities or did not have adequate road infrastructure to permit easy 
access. To obtain specific treatment or deliver under medical 
supervision, women in rural areas sometimes had to travel to the 
closest large city for access to adequate health centers.
    Women continued to occupy a subordinate position in society and 
often experienced discrimination in education, jobs, property 
ownership, access to credit, management or ownership of a business, and 
family rights. Polygyny is permitted, but both parties have to agree to 
it prior to a marriage. A wife may oppose further marriages by her 
husband if she provides evidence that he has abandoned her and her 
children. Both spouses may petition for divorce, and the law provides 
that custody of a child may be granted to either parent, based on the 
child's best interests. In practice, however, the mother retained 
custody until the child reached the age of seven, at which time custody 
reverted to the father.
    Since 2007 women have been permitted to serve in the military as 
officers and noncommissioned officers, and have deployed on foreign 
peacekeeping missions. Women represented approximately 45 percent of 
the general workforce and were primarily concentrated in lower-paying 
positions. Although the law provides equal property rights for women 
and, depending on other family relationships, inheritance benefits, 
traditional law often denied women the right to own property, 
particularly real estate. For example, in rural areas, land owned by a 
woman becomes the property of the family of her husband after marriage. 
Many citizens, particularly in rural areas, clung to traditional 
beliefs that did not recognize inheritance rights for women and 
regarded a woman as property that could be inherited upon her husband's 
death.
    The Government continued media campaigns to change attitudes toward 
women, but progress was slow. The Ministry for Women's Promotion is 
responsible for promoting women's rights, and the minister was a woman. 
During the year the Government established community banks to promote 
economic development of grassroots organizations, including women's 
groups. The banks provided micro loans to fund cereal mills, shea 
butter production, market gardening, animal fattening, and other small 
businesses. The Government sponsored a number of community outreach 
efforts and sensitization campaigns to promote women's rights.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived either by birth within the 
country's territory or by blood. Not all births are registered 
immediately, particularly in rural areas where administrative 
structures are insufficient and rural parents do not know they are 
required. Such lack of registration sometimes resulted in denial of 
public services. To address the problem, the Government periodically 
organized registration drives and issued belated birth certificates.
    The law calls for compulsory, free, and universal education until 
the age of 16. The Government paid tuition, books, and supplies for all 
students under 16 years of age, although uniforms were the 
responsibility of the student's family. Children over 16 years of age 
were responsible for paying all education costs, unless they qualified 
for tuition assistance from merit- and need-based programs. The overall 
school enrollment was approximately 78 percent for boys and 71 percent 
for girls.
    The law prohibits the abuse of children under 15 and provides for 
the punishment of abusers. The penal code mandates a one- to three-year 
prison sentence and fines ranging from 300,000 to 900,000 CFA francs 
($606 to $1,820) for inhumane treatment or mistreatment of children; 
however, light corporal punishment was tolerated and widely practiced 
in society, although the Government conducted seminars and education 
campaigns against child abuse.
    Female genital mutilation (FGM) was practiced, especially in rural 
areas, despite being illegal, and usually was performed at an early 
age. According to a 2006 report by the National Committee for the Fight 
Against Excision (CNLPE), up to 81 percent of women age 25 and older, 
and approximately 34 percent of girls and women under 25, had undergone 
FGM. Although there has been no recent study on FGM, the CNLPE believed 
that the practice has decreased significantly. Perpetrators are subject 
to a significant fine and imprisonment of six months to three years, or 
up to 10 years, if the victim dies. During the year, security forces 
and social workers from the Ministry of Social Action arrested several 
FGM practitioners and their accomplices. In accordance with the law, 
they were sentenced to prison terms.
    As part of the Government's campaign against FGM in West Africa, 
the first ladies of Burkina Faso and Niger presided over a 2008 meeting 
on FGM in Ouagadougou. Noting that girls were sometimes taken across 
national borders to countries where excision is legal or law 
enforcement was weak, participants called on governments to coordinate 
and enforce national laws against FGM. There were no reports of 
increased enforcement efforts resulting from this meeting. The 
Government, through the Regional Committees to Combat Excision, 
continued to work with local populations to address FGM. These regional 
committees (presided over by government-appointed high commissioners) 
brought together representatives of the Ministries of Social Action, 
Basic Education, Secondary and Superior Education, Women's Rights, 
Justice, Health, the police and gendarmerie, and local and religious 
leaders; they actively campaigned against the practice.
    Several NGOs stated that child marriage was a problem, primarily in 
rural areas. A 2008 study conducted by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) 
and the Government concluded that 23.5 percent of girls and women 15-19 
years old were already married or living with a partner, with 30.9 
percent residing in rural areas and 9.5 percent in urban areas. On the 
other hand, 59.6 percent of girls and women were married at the legal 
age for marriage of 17 or older. The law prohibits forced marriage and 
prescribes penalties of six months to two years in prison for 
violation. The prison term may be increased to three years, if the 
victim is less than 13 years of age; however, there were no reports 
during the year of prosecutions of violators. The Government 
collaborated with the Government of Cote d'Ivoire to search for and 
repatriate a child taken across the border to be married forcibly. In 
addition the Government worked with the UNICEF and the UNFPA to carry 
out a project called, ``Putting a stop to early marriages in Burkina 
Faso.'' Five regions with high early-marriage rates were targeted for 
the pilot phase of the project.
    There were no statistics on child prostitution; however, government 
services and human rights associations believed it was a problem. 
Children from poor families relied on prostitution to meet their daily 
needs and, at times, to help their needy parents. Trafficked children, 
primarily Nigerian nationals, were also subject to sexual abuse and 
forced prostitution.
    The law prohibits the worst forms of child labor, including the 
commercial sexual exploitation of children, child pornography, and jobs 
that harm their health. The 2008 antitrafficking legislation provides 
for penalties of up to 10 years for violators and increases maximum 
prison terms from five to 10 years. The law also allows terms as high 
as 20 years to life imprisonment under certain conditions. The 
Government worked with local NGOs to monitor the opening of new gold 
mines to ensure no children were illegally employed there.There were 
numerous street children, primarily in Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso. 
Many children ended up on the streets after traveling from rural areas 
to find employment in the city or after their parents sent them to the 
city to study with a unregistered Qur'anic teacher or to live with 
relatives and go to school. Several NGOs assisted street children. Two 
directorates within the Ministry of Social Action also ran educational 
programs, including vocational training, for street children; funded 
income-generating activities; and assisted in the reintegration and 
rehabilitation of street children. Nevertheless, the number of street 
children far outstripped the capacity of these institutions.
    The law prohibits female infanticide, and there were no reports of 
such cases. Newspapers reported cases of abandonment of newborn babies 
following unwanted pregnancies.The country is a party to the 1980 Hague 
Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For 
information on international child abduction, please see the Department 
of State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.htm as well as 
country-specific information at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts. There 
was no known Jewish community in the country.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical or mental disabilities in employment, 
education, access to health care, the provision of other state 
services, or other areas; however, the Government did not effectively 
enforce these provisions. There was no government mandate or 
legislation concerning access to buildings, information, or 
communication for persons with disabilities. Advocates reported that 
persons with disabilities often faced societal and economic 
discrimination. Such persons who were able to work 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 families and not in the workforce.
    Programs to aid persons with disabilities were limited. In 2009 and 
during the year, the National Committee for the Reintegration of 
Persons with Disabilities conducted sensitizing campaigns and 
implemented reintegration programs and capacity-building programs to 
manage income-generating activities better. High commissioners, 
teachers and NGOs worked together to inform citizens about the rights 
of persons with disabilities, specifically the rights of children with 
disabilities. A number of NGOs schooled and provided vocational 
training to children with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--In past years there have been 
incidents of conflict over trampled fields involving cattle farmers of 
the Fulani ethnic group and farmers of other ethnic groups. Such 
incidents were fueled by the scarcity of grazing lands and Fulani 
herders allowing their cattle to graze on farming lands of the other 
groups, making them territorial disputes more than ethnic conflicts 
(see section 1.d., Role of the Police and Security Apparatus).

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law does not discriminate 
on the basis of sexual orientation in employment and occupation, 
housing, statelessness, or access to education or health care. However, 
societal discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity 
remained a problem. Religious and traditional beliefs do not tolerate 
homosexual conduct, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) 
persons were reportedly occasional victims of verbal and physical 
abuse. There were no reports that the Government responded to societal 
violence and discrimination against such persons.
    LGBT organizations had no legal presence in the country but existed 
unofficially. There were no reports of government or societal violence 
against such organizations.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Societal discrimination 
against persons with HIV/AIDS was a problem. During the year 
approximately 130,000 persons tested HIV-positive in the country, 1.8 
percent of the population. Persons who tested positive were sometimes 
shunned by their families, and HIV-positive wives were sometimes 
evicted from their homes. Some landlords refused to rent lodgings to 
persons with HIV/AIDS. However, persons with HIV/AIDS were generally 
not discriminated against in employment practices or the workplace.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers to form and 
join independent unions of their choice without previous authorization 
or excessive requirements; however, ``essential'' workers such as 
police, army, and other security personnel may not join unions. 
Approximately 86 percent of the workforce was engaged in subsistence 
agriculture and did not belong to unions. Of the remainder, an 
estimated 25 percent of private sector employees and 60 percent of 
public sector workers were union members. The law provides unions the 
right to conduct their activities without interference, and the 
Government respected this right.
    The law provides for the right to strike; however, the law provides 
a very narrow definition of this right. For strikes that call on 
workers to stay home and that do not entail participation in a rally, 
the union is required to send an advance notice (eight to 15 days) to 
the Government. If unions call for a march, then the Government 
requires the same request and that a notice also is submitted to the 
city mayor. March organizers are held accountable for any damage or 
property destruction that occurs during the demonstration. Magistrates, 
police, military personnel, and gendarmes do not have the right to 
strike.
    There were no reports of strikebreaking during the year.

    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. There was extensive collective bargaining in 
the formal wage sector; however, this sector included only a small 
percentage of workers.
    There were no reports of government restrictions on collective 
bargaining during the year.
    The 2008 collective bargaining agreement included private sector 
and civil service workers who participated in negotiations with 
employers; the agreement that was reached addressed their concerns, 
including better working conditions and higher salaries.
    There were no reports of antiunion discrimination 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. Forced child labor is found in 
the country's agricultural (particularly cotton), informal trade, 
domestic servitude, and animal husbandry sectors as well as in gold 
panning sites and stone quarries.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law sets the minimum age for employment at 16 and prohibits children 
under 18 years of age from working at night except in times of 
emergency; however, child labor was a problem, and children worked in 
the informal, agricultural (particularly cotton), and mining sectors 
outside their own families for little or no pay.
    The minimum age for employment was consistent with the age for 
completing educational requirements, which generally was 16 years. In 
the domestic and agricultural sectors, the law permits children under 
the age of 15 to perform limited activities for up to four and one-half 
hours per day; however, many children under the age of 15 worked longer 
hours. A 2006 study conducted by the country's National Institute of 
Demography and Statistics and the International Labor Organization-
funded Program for the Elimination of Child Labor estimated that 41 
percent of children worked, largely as domestic servants or under harsh 
conditions in the agricultural or mining sectors. Children commonly 
worked with their parents in rural areas or in family-owned small 
businesses in villages and cities. There were no reports of children 
under age 15 employed in either state-owned or large private companies.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Security, which oversees labor 
standards, lacked the financial and transportation means as well as a 
sufficient number of inspectors to enforce worker safety and minimum 
age legislation adequately.
    Punishment for violating child labor laws included prison terms of 
up to five years and fines of up to 600,000 CFA francs ($1,213); 
however, the Government did not adequately enforce this law, and there 
were no confirmed statistics regarding the number of convictions during 
the year.
    The Government organized workshops during the year, and in 
cooperation with donors, undertook sensitization programs to inform 
children, parents, and employers of the dangers of exploitative child 
labor and sending children away from home to work.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The law mandates a minimum 
monthly wage of 30,684 CFA francs ($62) in the formal sector; the 
minimum wage does not apply to subsistence agriculture or other 
informal occupations. The minimum wage did not provide a decent 
standard of living for a worker and family. Employers often paid less 
than the minimum wage. Wage earners usually supplemented their income 
through reliance on the extended family, subsistence agriculture, or 
trading in the informal sector. The Ministry of Labor and Social 
Security was responsible for enforcing the minimum wage.
    The law mandates a standard workweek of 40 hours for nondomestic 
workers and a 60-hour workweek for household workers, and it provides 
for overtime pay. There are also regulations pertaining to rest 
periods, limits on hours worked, and prohibition of excessive 
compulsory overtime, but these standards were not effectively enforced.
    Government inspectors under the Ministry of Labor and Social 
Security and the labor tribunals are responsible for overseeing 
occupational health and safety standards in the small industrial and 
commercial sectors, but these standards do not apply in subsistence 
agriculture and other informal sectors. The Government's Labor 
Inspector Corps did not have sufficient resources, including sufficient 
numbers of inspectors and offices and financial and transportation 
means, to fulfill its duties adequately. There were no reports of 
effective enforcement of inspection findings during the year. Every 
company with 10 or more employees is required to have a work safety 
committee. If the Government's Labor Inspection Office declares a 
workplace unsafe for any reason, workers have the right to remove 
themselves without jeopardizing continued employment. There were 
indications that this right was respected, although such declarations 
by the Labor Inspection Office were rare.

                               __________

                                BURUNDI

    Burundi is a constitutional republic with an elected government and 
a population of 8.6 million. From May to September, the country held 
elections for all public offices, including the first direct 
presidential elections since 1993. Following the May 25 Communal 
Council elections, which the international community characterized as 
generally free and fair, a coalition of 12 opposition parties alleged 
massive fraud and called for the annulment of the results and new 
elections. When the parties' demands were not met, they withdrew their 
candidates from the subsequent presidential, legislative, and 
``colline'' elections. President Pierre Nkurunziza, of the ruling 
National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of 
Democracy (CNDD-FDD) party, ran unopposed in the June presidential 
election and was reelected to a second term. International observers 
characterized the elections as generally free and fair, although there 
were reports of political violence leading up to and throughout the 
five-month election season. Security forces reported to civilian 
authorities. There were instances in which elements of the security 
forces acted independently of civilian control.
    Human rights abuses during the year included security force 
killings, torture, and mistreatment of civilians and detainees; 
official impunity; societal killings and vigilante justice; harsh, 
life-threatening prison and detention center conditions; prolonged 
pretrial detention and arbitrary arrest and detention; detention and 
imprisonment of political prisoners and political detainees; lack of 
judicial independence and efficiency; official corruption; restrictions 
on privacy and freedom of speech, assembly, and association; sexual 
violence and discrimination against women and children; discrimination 
against gays and lesbians and persons with albinism; and restrictions 
on labor rights.
                        respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        From:

    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--Human rights 
organizations and the media reported numerous cases in which the 
Government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings, 
including extrajudicial killings, some of which appeared to be 
politically motivated. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human 
Rights (OHCHR) in the country reported 35 killings by security forces 
during the year, including 25 perpetrated by police, nine by the 
military (FDN), and one by the national intelligence agency (SNR). Of 
these, the OHCHR reported 11 cases of extrajudicial killings.
    Police officer Jackson Ndikuriyo was killed on August 26 while in 
the custody of Bubanza Province Police Commissioner Remegie Nzeyimana 
and four police officers. In December 2009 Ndikuriyo and seven police 
colleagues complained in a letter to Minister of Public Security Alain 
Guillaume Bunyoni that police were not receiving their housing 
allowances. On January 11, Ndikuriyo and Severin Misago, another of the 
complainants, were fired without explanation. When Ndikuriyo and Misago 
indicated that they planned to file a lawsuit, Ndikuriyo began 
receiving threats, including from Deputy Director General of Police 
Gervais Ndirakobuca. On August 26, police detained Ndikuriyo and Misago 
in Musigati Commune, Bubanza Province. Later that day Police 
Commissioner Nzeyimana picked up Ndikuriyo from Musigati police 
custody. En route between Musigati and Bubanza city, Ndikuriyo was 
killed. The police claimed that Ndikuriyo was shot by bandits during an 
ambush. The police acknowledged, however, that no bullets hit the 
vehicle or any of the police officers during the alleged attack. No 
arrests occurred by year's end. On September 27, Ndikuriyo's lawyer, 
Francois Nyamoya, was jailed (see section 2.a.).
    On September 7, while executing a search warrant for presumed 
bandits in Buganda Commune, Cibitoke Province, police arrested and 
summarily executed Japhet Bigirimana (alias Kadura), Boniface Mahungu, 
Nsabiyaremye (alias Zairois), and Niyonkuru. Members of the police, 
including local Police Chief Eugene Bizindavyi, took the four men in a 
pick-up truck ostensibly to find their arms caches and accomplices. 
Instead, at approximately 5:30 p.m. the four men were taken to a manioc 
field and killed. By year's end no suspects had been arrested.
    Also on September 7, soldiers shot and killed Fabien Mpfubusa, a 
member of the National Liberation Forces (FNL) party. Mpfubusa 
attempted to flee when the military encircled his home in the Kanyosha 
quarter, Bujumbura. Following the shooting the soldiers searched the 
house without providing a search warrant. They seized only medication. 
No investigation occurred by year's end.
    Although not numbered among the extrajudicial killings, the 
following murders appeared politically motivated:
    On January 10, a man armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle shot 
and killed Sylvestre Niyonzima, a critic of the ruling CNDD-FDD party 
and the Bubanza Province financial manager for the Union for Peace and 
Development (UPD-Zigamibanga). Niyonzima, who had defected from the 
CNDD-FDD party and had just returned from opening a new UPD office, was 
shot eight times at close range. The killer departed without attempting 
to steal anything. Witnesses alleged that the killer was an ex-
combatant from the CNDD-FDD's former armed wing. The killing occurred 
within five yards of a police station, but police did not respond to 
the shooting, and no arrests occurred by year's end.
    On July 14, the first court hearing took place in the April 2009 
political killing of Ernest Manirumva, vice president of the local 
nongovernmental organization (NGO) Observatory for the Struggle against 
Economic Corruption and Embezzlement (OLUCOME). During the preliminary 
hearing, the 11 men arrested in 2009 requested release on their own 
recognizance; the judges subsequently declared themselves unable to 
rule on the request because five other suspects, who remained at large, 
had not been properly summoned to appear before the court. At year's 
end the 11 remained in jail, and the five remained at large. Local and 
international human rights organizations and the international 
community called on General Prosecutor of the Republic Elysee Ndaye to 
expand the case to include all suspects and to pursue all possible 
leads, including high-level officials in the security forces who 
allegedly arranged and carried out Manirumva's killing.
    Beyond the political killings, security forces were responsible for 
other arbitrary killings during the year.
    On June 10, a policeman killed six persons in the Kirundo Province 
police camp. The following week the High Court sentenced him to life 
imprisonment. He remained in prison at year's end.
    During the year there were developments in the following 2009 
killings by security forces:
   On August 10, five policemen, including local police commander 
        Nestor Niyukuri, were sentenced to life imprisonment for the 
        May 2009 shooting of boy scouts in Kayagoro, Makamba Province, 
        which resulted in the death of one scout and the injuring of 
        three. The policemen remained in prison at year's end. The 
        court acquitted the Kayagoro communal administrator on the 
        grounds that he did not have the authority to order police to 
        shoot. The prosecutor appealed the administrator's acquittal; 
        the appeal was pending at year's end.
    The three policemen accused of beating to death a man in Kayanza 
        Province in October 2009 were acquitted on August 9. According 
        to witnesses and police, Kayanza Governor Senel Nduwimana 
        ordered the beating because the victim would not give him land 
        for free. Nduwimana remained the governor of Kayanza after the 
        killing and in July assumed a seat in the National Assembly.
    During the year a soldier was found guilty and sentenced to life 
        imprisonment for the 2008 killing of two persons with a grenade 
        in Ruyigi Province.
    There were no developments in the 2008 killing of a civilian by a 
policeman in a bar in Ngozi Province; the policeman remained in prison, 
awaiting trial.
    There were no further developments in the 2008 killing by FNL 
rebels of the head of a family in Muhuta, Bujumbura Rural Province.
    Large quantities of arms circulated among the population, and 
general lawlessness prevailed in many areas, resulting in numerous 
deaths and injuries.
    Election-related violence resulted in numerous deaths (see section 
3).
    Numerous persons involved in personal disputes died as a result of 
grenade attacks. For example, on January 3, in Itaba, Gitega Province, 
a grenade attack resulted in the death of Come Matama and his one-year-
old child; Matama's wife was seriously injured. According to the Itaba 
communal administrator, the killing resulted from a land dispute with 
the victim's brother. Three persons were detained by local police but 
later released for lack of evidence. No further arrests occurred.
    There were no developments in the following 2009 grenade attacks: 
the February grenade attack, reportedly due to a land dispute, that 
killed a man in Itaba, Gitega Province; and the September death of one 
person and serious injury of six others when a grenade was thrown into 
a cafe in Gihanga, Bubanza Province. No arrests were made in either 
case.
    The two suspects arrested for the December 2009 grenade attack in 
Bujumbura's central market, which killed two and seriously wounded 10, 
were released after they provided alibis. No other suspects were 
arrested.
    There were reports of killings usually perpetrated by unknown 
persons, of individuals accused of sorcery. For example:
    On May 3, a mob killed a man in Ruyigi Province; three suspects 
        were arrested but later released for lack of evidence.
    On June 6, a mob with machetes killed a man in Cibitoke Province. 
        By year's end no suspects had been arrested.
    On July 26, in Nyanza-Lac, Makamba Province, a mob beat to death 
        Appollinaire Ngendabanka. By year's end no suspects had been 
        arrested.
    There were no arrests in the following 2009 killings of individuals 
accused of sorcery: the March killing of a woman from Gisuru and a man 
from Butaganzwa, Ruyigi Province; the May killing of three elderly 
women in Gishingano, Bujumbura Rural Province; and the May death of a 
man burned by a mob in Rumonge, Bururi Province.
    There were no further developments in the 2008 sorcery-related 
death by mutilation of a 14-year-old girl in Muyinga Province.
    There was no further development in the 2008 burning and killing of 
four persons in Ruyigi Province; those arrested were still awaiting 
trial at year's end.
    Sporadic killings of persons with albinism, in which the victims' 
body parts were removed for use in witchcraft, continued.
    On May 2, in Cendajuru, Cankuzo Province, approximately 10 persons 
armed with guns, grenades, and machetes attacked the household of a 
Mr.Vyegura, who lived with his daughter and grandson, both of whom were 
persons with albinism. The attackers went directly to the daughter and 
grandson's room, shooting Vyegura when he tried to protect his family. 
The attackers then killed the daughter and grandson, dismembered their 
bodies, and took the body parts. On May 3, nine suspects--eight 
Burundians and one Tanzanian--were arrested in connection with the 
killings. Following their trial two of the nine received life 
sentences; the others received sentences of 12, 10, and three years' 
imprisonment. All nine appealed. They remained in prison at year's end.
    On September 30, five attackers raided the home of a widow in 
Nyamurenza, Ngozi Province, killed her eight-year-old son, and severed 
his hands and legs. At year's end one Burundian suspect was detained in 
the Ngozi prison and the investigation continued. Four Rwandan 
nationals remained at large; the country's authorities were working 
with their Rwandan counterparts on the case.
    During the night of December 30, four unidentified assailants armed 
with rifles and machetes attacked a family with three children with 
albinism in Gahweza colline in Kiganda, Muramvya Province. According to 
the local official, the bandits cut off the left arm of the family's 
12-year-old son, Ephraim Havyarimana, before they were forced to flee 
by the family's screams. Ephraim died before he could reach a hospital. 
No arrests were made by the end of the year.
    During the night of December 31, a five-month-old girl with 
albinism was kidnapped from her family in Vumwe colline in Kinyinya, 
Ruyigi Province. Police arrested the girl's father and two other 
individuals; they remained in detention at year's end. According to the 
authorities, the father had never accepted his paternity of the girl 
with albinism.
    Widespread public dissatisfaction with the security force's 
inability to control crime, or complicity in it, resulted in vigilante 
killings.
    For example, on April 30, when three thieves armed with rifles 
attempted to rob a house in Mwiruzi, Cankuzo Province, the local 
population intervened. They pursued the thieves, caught one, and beat 
him to death. No one was arrested for the killing.
    No arrests were made in the following 2009 cases of mob killings: 
the September stoning to death of two police officers suspected of 
theft by a mob in Muhindo, Ruyigi Province; and the September killing 
by a mob of a man caught stealing in the Cibitoke neighborhood of 
Bujumbura.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no confirmed reports of politically 
motivated disappearances.
    As of the end of the year, more than eight families requested that 
the domestic NGO Association for the Protection of Human Rights and 
Detained Persons (APRODH) help them locate relatives arrested by 
security forces during the year.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
UN human rights monitors, Amnesty International, and the APRODH 
reported that members of the police and the SNR tortured detainees 
during the year, the first reported cases of torture in two years. The 
UN Integrated Office in Burundi (BINUB) Human Rights and Justice 
Division (HR&J) reported that members of the police, SNR, and local 
administrations tortured 30 detainees during the year. Although the 
perpetrators were known in many cases, no action was taken against them 
by year's end.
    According to BINUB HR&J, police tortured 14 detainees, the SNR 13, 
and local administration officials two; police and local officials 
together tortured one individual. All 30 cases occurred between June 
and November. Methods included forcing a gun into victims' ears and 
noses; whipping, beating their heads, feet, and buttocks; digging mock 
graves; and threatening the victims with machetes. While this occurred, 
the perpetrators demanded that victims confess to planning to 
``destabilize institutions'' or ``threaten state security.'' The OHCHR 
and international human rights organizations named the following 
individuals as perpetrators in some cases: SNR Internal Intelligence 
Director General Leonard Ngendakumana, Chief of Internal Security Jean 
Claude Sindayigaya, SNR Cabinet Chief Agricole Mwumba Ntirampeba, 
Western Region Police Commissioner David Nikiza, and Deputy Director 
General of the Police Gervais Ndirakobuca.
    A police commissioner accused of torturing a detainee in the 
Bubanza provincial jail in 2008 remained in his position without any 
administrative sanctions.
    In May the Muramvya Province High Court sentenced three policemen 
for the 2007 torture of more than 20 detainees in Rutegama. Desire 
Uwamahoro, Apollinaire Sindikubwayo, and Nestor Niyukuri received 
sentences of five, four, and three years of imprisonment, respectively, 
and fines of 10, six, and three million francs ($8,045, $4,827, and 
$2,413), respectively. Despite the sentences Uwamahoro and Sindikubwayo 
remained free and in the police force at year's end. Uwamahoro 
commanded the Second Quick Reaction Police Unit, an elite unit in 
Bujumbura that responds to urgent situations nationwide. Niyukuri was 
in prison, serving a life sentence for the May 2009 boy scout shooting 
(see section 1.a.). All three appealed their convictions in the 
Rutegama torture case.
    BINUB HR&J and domestic NGOs also reported that members of the 
security forces and local administration officials often manhandled and 
beat civilians and detainees. The HR&J Division documented 105 cases of 
mistreatment during the year.
    During the May to September election season, incidents of 
mistreatment increased particularly of detainees affiliated with 
political parties. The OHCHR reported 32 cases of such treatment 
between May and July, committed primarily by the SNR and police as well 
as one case perpetrated by FDN members. As of December there had been 
no arrests of perpetrators.
    No disciplinary action occurred in the following 2009 incidents: 
the January beating of an 80-year-old woman by the local police 
commander in Kamenge, Bujumbura; and the June beating of a female 
police officer by a male police officer in Kibenga, Bujumbura.
    The two policemen arrested in connection with knocking a pregnant 
woman off a bicycle taxi in Bujumbura in August 2009 were released and 
returned to duty.
    During the year it was reported that in September 2009 the Bururi 
High Court sentenced a policeman to 20 years' imprisonment for firing 
live ammunition into an unruly crowd in Bururi Province in 2007. He 
remained in prison at year's end.
    There were reports that security force members raped women and 
girls during the year. For example, according to the APRODH's 
statistics for June and September, police committed six cases of rape 
in June and four cases in September, and military personnel committed 
one case of rape in September.
    There were no further developments in the August 2009 rapes of two 
15-year-old girls in Mutimbuzi, Muramvya Province by two armed men in 
military uniforms.
    There were no further developments in the following rape cases 
involving security forces from 2008: the 36 victims recorded by the UN; 
a 16-year-old girl at a cantonment camp in Randa; a nine-year-old girl 
at a camp for displaced persons in Buhiga; and a woman in Busoni.
    Widespread public dissatisfaction with the security force's 
inability to control crime, or complicity in it, resulted in vigilante 
violence.
    For example, 41-year-old Albert Muyeberi was caught in the act of 
raping an eigthth-grade girl in Songa, Bururi Province in January. When 
local residents confronted Muyeberi, he admitted she was his fifth 
victim. Local elders prevented residents from lynching the man and 
burning him alive. After spending time in the hospital, Muyeberi was 
sent to pretrial detention in the Bururi prison. He remained in 
detention and awaiting trial at year's end.
    On February 18, residents of Kikuza, in Rumonge Commune, Bururi 
Province, severely beat a man suspected of raping a young local girl. 
According to media reports, when a local APRODH representative 
condemned the act, local residents responded that incidents of rape 
were increasing and that the perpetrators were never punished.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prisons were overcrowded, 
and prison conditions remained harsh and sometimes life threatening. 
Physical abuse and prolonged stays in solitary confinement were 
problems. The director of prison administration in the Office of 
Penitentiary Affairs reported that as of December, 9,844 persons were 
held in 11 prisons built to accommodate a total of 4,050 inmates. 
According to government officials and human rights observers, prisoners 
suffered from digestive illnesses and malaria; some died as a result of 
disease. Families often had to supplement meager prisoner rations.
    Each prison had at least one qualified nurse and at least a weekly 
visit by a doctor; however, prisoners did not always receive prompt 
access to medical care. Serious cases were sent to local hospitals. The 
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was the sole provider 
of medicines.
    Conditions in detention centers and communal lockups were generally 
worse than in prisons. Torture and abuse occurred, the Government did 
not feed detainees in detention centers or communal lockups, and severe 
overcrowding was common. Proper sanitation and medical care were 
limited or nonexistent.
    As of December there were 345 women in prisons and 77 children 
under three-years-old, some of whom were born there. There were 257 
juveniles between 16 and 18 years old in pretrial detention and 115 
convicted juveniles. Most women detainees and prisoners were held in 
the same facilities as men; however, as of September a separate area 
for female inmates had been established in each prison. A small prison 
in Ngozi Province was reserved for women only. Juvenile prisoners were 
held in the same prisons as adults. Ten of the 11 prisons were 
rehabilitated during the year to accommodate juvenile prisoners in 
separate areas; however, adult prisoners were often allowed in those 
areas as well due to overcrowding. Juveniles were generally held 
together with adults in detention centers and communal lockups. 
Pretrial detainees were often held together with convicted prisoners, 
and political prisoners were often held with convicted criminals.
    There were unconfirmed allegations that the SNR maintained illegal 
detention centers across the country.
    Prisoners were permitted religious observance without 
discrimination toward any religions or practices. Prisoners were 
permitted to submit complaints to judicial authorities without 
censorship; however, authorities rarely investigated prisoner 
complaints. No ombudsmen served on behalf of prisoners and detainees.
    The Government monitored prison and detention center conditions.
    During the year the Government permitted all visits requested by 
international and local human rights monitors, including the ICRC; 
visits took place in accordance with the ICRC's standard modalities.
    In an effort to reduce prolonged pretrial detentions, on January 
25, the then minister of justice Ndikumana granted release on their own 
recognizance (``provisional liberty'') to certain categories of 
pretrial detainees: those who had spent 12 months or more in 
``preventive detention'' for crimes with penalties no greater than five 
years in prison, pregnant or breastfeeding women, minors (less than 18 
years old), those diagnosed with advanced incurable diseases, and those 
whose cases were before the court but had not been heard for three or 
more years. Persons detained for crimes such as murder, armed robbery, 
attacking state security, and similar crimes were ineligible for 
provisional liberty.
    In an effort to reduce overcrowding in prisons, a March 24 
presidential decree commuted life sentences to 20 years and all others 
to half the sentence given by the court with some exceptions (see below 
section 1.d., Amnesty).
    To improve prison conditions, Penitentiary Affairs requested a 
budget increase from 3.068 billion francs ($2.47 million) to 3.884 
billion francs ($3.12 million). In December parliament approved 
3,436,734,950 francs ($2.76 million) for Penitentiary Affairs.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, but security forces arrested 
and detained persons arbitrarily.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The national police are 
responsible for internal security, but the FDN may assume such 
responsibilities in time of war. The police deal with criminal matters, 
and the FDN fulfills external security and counterinsurgency roles. In 
practice the FDN also detains suspects. The Ministry of National 
Defense and War Veterans oversees the FDN; the Ministry of Public 
Security oversees the national police. The SNR, which gathers 
intelligence on domestic and international issues and has the authority 
to arrest and interrogate suspects, reports directly to the president.
    Members of the security forces were poorly trained. Corruption, 
disregard for limits on detention, and mistreatment of prisoners and 
detainees remained problems. An internal affairs unit within the police 
force investigated only administrative violations committed by police 
and had no authority to discipline violators; punishment was rare. 
BINUB and NGOs provided human rights training to police. Impunity and 
lack of accountability for members of the security forces who committed 
human rights abuses remained problems.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--In most cases 
the law requires arrest warrants issued by presiding magistrates. 
Police can make arrests without a warrant but are required to notify 
their supervisor before doing so. The police have seven days to finish 
their investigation and to transfer the suspect to the magistrate. The 
police can request seven more days if additional investigation time is 
required. However, police rarely respected these provisions in practice 
and routinely violated the requirement that detainees be charged and 
appear before a magistrate within seven days of arrest. A magistrate 
can order the release of suspects or confirm the charges and continue 
detention, initially for 14 days, then for seven more days as necessary 
to prepare the case for trial. Magistrates ignored this requirement and 
often detained suspects for longer. Police are authorized to release 
suspects on bail, but this provision was rarely exercised. Suspects are 
permitted lawyers at their own expense in criminal cases, but the law 
does not require, and the Government did not provide, attorneys for 
indigents at government expense. The law prohibits incommunicado 
detention, but reportedly it sometimes occurred. Authorities on 
occasion denied family members prompt access to prisoners.
    Unlike in the previous year, security forces arbitrarily detained 
journalists (see section 2.a.) and political party members (see section 
3), sometimes for prolonged periods of time.
    Juvenal Rududura, the vice president of the Justice Ministry's 
administrative workers union, who was detained from September 2008 to 
July 2009, remained on ``provisional liberty'' (see section 7.b.).
    Prolonged pretrial detention remained a problem; detainees were 
often held beyond the statutory limit. According to the director of 
Prison Administration, 56.4 percent of inmates were pretrial detainees 
held without charge. Lengthy legal procedures, large case backlogs, 
judicial inefficiency, corruption, and financial constraints often 
caused trial delays.
    For example, the former director general of the state-owned tea 
company, Elysee Ntiranyibagira, was jailed in 2006 for embezzling 
public funds and fraudulent management. In 2007 the general prosecutor 
of the republic requested the Supreme Court schedule Ntiranyibagira's 
hearing. In December 2008 the case was heard and the judges entered 
into deliberation. Deliberation, which should last no more than 60 days 
according to the law, continued for 21 months until he was acquitted in 
October.
    The law provides that detainees in the country's 400 communal 
lockups be held no longer than two weeks; however, many such detainees 
were held for months, particularly in provinces without prisons, such 
as Cankuzo, Cibitoke, Karuzi, Kayanza, Kirundo, Makamba, and Mwaro.

    Amnesty.--On March 24, President Nkurunziza granted amnesty to 
prisoners sentenced for less than or equal to five years who also met 
one of the following conditions: pregnant or breastfeeding, diagnosed 
with an advanced stage incurable disease, 60 years or older at the date 
of the amnesty decree, or a minor (under 18 years old). The 
presidential decree excluded persons convicted for crimes such as rape, 
assassination, armed robbery, misappropriation of public funds, 
attacking state security, drug trafficking, and arson. It also excluded 
convictions for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, 
voluntary homicide, sexual assault, and torture. By the end of July 
1,350 prisoners were released due to the amnesty.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Although the constitution and law 
provide for an independent judiciary, the judiciary was not independent 
in practice and was inefficient and corrupt. Political interference 
compromised judicial impartiality, and there were problems with 
enforcement of court orders.
    For example, in July a court in Kinama, Bujumbura, ruled that eight 
members of the UPD and FNL opposition parties detained during election 
disputes on June 28 and 29 should be released. However, the prosecutor 
and the Mpimba Prison director refused to follow the court's ruling, 
and the eight remained in jail until December, when they were released 
among a group of 20 political prisoners. The charges against them were 
dropped.
    The law provides for an independent military judicial system, which 
in practice was influenced by the executive and higher-ranking military 
officers. Military courts have jurisdiction over military offenders and 
over civilians accused of offenses implicating members of the military. 
Military courts provide the same rights as criminal courts.
    The Government officially recognizes the traditional system of 
community arbitration known as ``abashingantahe,'' which functions 
under the guidance of community members recognized for their conflict 
resolution skills. A ``mushingantahe,'' or community mediator, presides 
over deliberations, and no lawyers are involved. The abashingantahe 
system was limited to civil and minor criminal matters.

    Trial Procedures.--All trials are publicly conducted by panels of 
judges. In theory defendants are presumed innocent and have a right to 
counsel, but not at the Government's expense, even in cases involving 
serious criminal charges. Defendants have a right to defend themselves, 
including to question the prosecution's witnesses, call their own 
witnesses, and examine evidence against them. Defendants can also 
present evidence on their own behalf and did so in the majority of 
cases. Few defendants had legal representation because few could afford 
the services of one of the 131 registered lawyers in the country. Some 
local and international NGOs provided juridical assistance but could 
not assist in all cases. The law extends the above rights to all 
citizens.
    All defendants, except those in military courts, have the right to 
appeal their cases to the Supreme Court. In practice the inefficiency 
of the court system extended the appeals process for long periods, in 
many cases for more than a year. This effectively limited the 
possibility of appeals, even by defendants accused of the most serious 
crimes.
    Procedures for civilian and military courts are similar, but 
military courts typically reached decisions more quickly. Military 
trials, like civilian trials, generally failed to meet internationally 
accepted standards of fairness. The Government does not provide 
military defendants with attorneys to assist in their defense, although 
NGOs provided some defendants with attorneys in cases involving serious 
charges. Military trials generally are open to the public but can be 
closed for compelling reasons, including for national security or when 
publicity can harm the victim or a third party, such as in cases 
involving rape or child abuse. Defendants in military courts are 
allowed only one appeal.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--The incarceration of political 
prisoners and detainees remained a problem. According to human rights 
observers, the number of political prisoners and detainees increased 
compared with the previous year, but specific numbers varied. BINUB 
HR&J reported 375 politically motivated arrests during the year, of 
which 202 individuals remained in detention at year's end. On December 
30, the spokesperson of the political opposition coalition Alliance des 
Democrates pour le Changement-Ikibiri (ADC-Ikibiri) welcomed the 
release near the end of the year of 20 opposition party members but 
deplored the continued detention of an estimated 200 others. As of 
December 31, the APRODH reported 156 political prisoners and detainees.
    The Government generally afforded international organizations and 
local human rights NGOs access to political prisoners.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The judiciary was neither 
independent nor impartial. Media reports alleged that the judiciary 
included many individuals beholden to the Government. The execution of 
court decisions, including payment of damages, was slow, sometimes 
taking years.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law provide for the right to 
privacy, but the Government did not always respect this right in 
practice. Authorities did not always respect the law requiring search 
warrants.
    Warrants for searches of opposition figures' homes and opposition 
parties' offices appeared politically motivated (see section 3). Human 
rights observers were concerned that the Bujumbura prosecutor general 
issued politically motivated warrants during the year.
    Sources in the media and civil society believed that security 
forces monitored telephone calls.
    CNDD-FDD party membership was needed in some cases to obtain or 
retain employment, housing, education, and access to health services 
(see sections 2.b. and 3).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government 
generally did not respect these rights in practice.
    The Government did not tolerate public criticism in the media or at 
public gatherings, particularly perceived insults to the president, 
security forces, and other high-level public officials. Individuals who 
criticized the Government publicly or privately sometimes faced 
reprisal.
    In a radio talk show on September 19, attorney and Movement for 
Solidarity and Democracy (MSD) party spokesperson Francois Nyamoya 
claimed that SNR Chief Adolphe Nshimirimana and the deputy director of 
police should be removed from office for poor performance and not 
serving national interests. Nshimirimana filed a lawsuit for 
defamation, and on September 23 Nyamoya was served with a warrant to 
appear in the prosecutor's office. On September 27, the prosecutor 
questioned Nyamoya and then sent him directly to Mpimba Central Prison; 
he was released on his own recognizance on October 14 and was awaiting 
trial at year's end. The Burundi Bar Association questioned the use of 
preventive detention in this case since defamation is a misdemeanor 
that does not warrant pretrial detention.
    The media consisted of print, broadcast, and Internet-based 
organizations. The Government controlled several of the major media 
outlets, including Le Renouveau, the only daily newspaper, and the 
National Radio and Television of Burundi. There were seven private 
weekly publications and 23 private Internet- and fax-based newsletters. 
Radio remained the most important medium of public information. The 
Government-owned radio station broadcast in Kirundi, French, and 
Kiswahili and offered limited English programming. There were 13 
privately owned radio stations. There were two private television 
stations, including a station with primarily Muslim programming and 
strong ties to the ruling CNDD-FDD party.
    Journalists were arrested during the year, and prominent members of 
the media reported being threatened and harassed by the SNR, police, 
and members of the ruling party. Journalists practiced self-censorship. 
The Government pressured media outlets for perceived association with 
opposition parties.
    On November 5, two journalists of the investigative newspaper 
Iwacu, Elyse Ngabire and Dieudonne Hakizimana, were detained after 
visiting a prominent FNL party member in Mpimba Central Prison and 
allegedly accepting unauthorized items. Prisoners are prohibited from 
giving visitors documents, letters, or other items that are not 
authorized by prison administrators. The two journalists were 
reportedly interrogated for several hours without access to an attorney 
and then detained without formal charges by Bujumbura's municipal 
police chief until November 7. Ngabire, a breastfeeding mother, was not 
permitted access to her baby during her detention. The journalists were 
required to return on November 9 for further questioning by the police 
chief and released after two hours of interrogation.
    On April 10, violence erupted between FNL and CNDD-FDD youth in 
Kinama, Bujumbura, after the FNL opened several local offices. CNDD-FDD 
supporters attacked Radio and Television Renaissance journalists 
covering the violence and the arrest of the FNL party members. The 
CNDD-FDD supporters chased the journalists, throwing stones and 
damaging the windshield of their vehicle. The media and NGOs expressed 
concern that police on the scene did not act quickly to protect the 
journalists from political violence perpetrated by ruling party's 
supporters.
    On April 27, local police officers and CNDD-FDD supporters in 
Nyanza-Lac, Makamba Province, allegedly threatened Bonesha FM 
correspondent Eric Nzigamasabo for reporting that the CNDD-FDD was 
distributing arms to residents of Nyanza-Lac. Nzigamasabo, who remained 
in hiding for several weeks for fear of arrest, returned to work for 
the radio at the end of May.
    The Government restricted media content during the year by 
preventing the broadcast of political debates. On March 18, Minister of 
the Interior Edouard Nduwimana sent a letter to the National 
Communications Council (CNC) president stating that the media synergy 
of independent and government news outlets formed for the elections 
could not broadcast political debates because it would allow parties to 
advertise their platforms outside campaign periods. Nduwimana's letter 
added that each synergy member would be fined from 40,000 to 200,000 
francs ($32 to $161) if the broadcasts were aired on their stations. In 
a meeting on April 12, the CNC and political party leaders told the 
minister that prohibiting the broadcasts inhibited the freedom of 
expression; however, the minister reaffirmed the Government's position, 
and the debates were cancelled.
    The law criminalizes certain media activities, such as defining 
criticism of political figures as defamation, and provides fines and 
criminal penalties of six months' to five years' imprisonment for 
insults directed at the president, as well as writings that are deemed 
defamatory, injurious, or offensive to public or private individuals. 
The crime of treason, which includes knowingly demoralizing the 
military or the nation in a manner that endangers national defense 
during a time of war, carries a criminal penalty of life imprisonment.
    During the year the Government arrested journalists for defamation 
of public figures and treason. On August 10, police arrested Thierry 
Ndayishimiye, chief editor of the private weekly Arc-en-Ciel newspaper, 
on defamation charges related to an article on July 30 alleging 
embezzlement and the use of substandard materials at the state energy 
authority. The state prosecutor summoned Ndayishimiye to court in 
Bujumbura and then sent him to Mpimba Central Prison. Ndayishimiye was 
released after two days of detention when the charges were dropped.
    The Government cited national or public security as grounds to 
arrest journalists who expressed views that were politically 
embarrassing. For example, on July 17, journalist Jean Claude Kavumbagu 
was arrested for treason and abuse of freedom of expression by the 
press after he published an article in his online newsletter Net Press 
that claimed security forces would be unable to prevent an attack by al 
Shabaab. On September 6, a panel of judges denied Kavumbagu's request 
for release on his own recognizance, claiming that detention assured 
Kavumbagu would remain available to the court; in Kavumbagu's previous 
court cases, however, he was not detained and appeared in court when 
required. Kavumbagu was previously jailed in 2008 on charges of 
insulting the president; he was cleared of those charges in March 2009. 
Kavumbagu remained in pretrial detention at year's end.
    During the year the CNC dropped the 2009 defamation case against 
editing director of African Public Radio (RPA) Eric Manirakiza for 
defamation of the minister of planning and the case against RPA for 
allegedly endangering national security with a report on a border 
conflict with Rwanda. Manirakiza also agreed to drop countersuits 
against the CNC.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no reports of government restrictions 
on access to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by email. Jean 
Claude Kavumbagu was the only case during the year of government 
prosecution based on information distributed via the Internet or by 
email (see section 2.a., Freedom of Speech and Press). According to 
International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2009, less than 1 
percent of the country's inhabitants used the Internet. Lack of 
infrastructure limited public access to the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no governmental 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly; 
however, the Government at times restricted this right. The Government 
requires political parties to notify local authorities before 
assembling. Failure to provide advance notice of political meetings to 
local officials can result in a fine but does not provide grounds for 
arrest. However, security forces arrested opposition members for 
holding meetings, and provincial governors and communal administrators 
disallowed and disrupted numerous meetings of opposition political 
parties.
    Local NGOs reported that the police, SNR, Ministry of the Interior, 
and ruling party's youth league (the Imbonerakure) prevented and 
disrupted opposition party meetings. The OHCHR and international and 
local human rights organizations repeatedly expressed concern that the 
Government suppressed opposition parties and civil society during the 
election period, including by restricting their right to public 
assembly and peaceful demonstration.
    On January 31, four MSD party members were arrested in the Mugoboka 
neighborhood of Bujumbura for holding ``an illegal meeting.'' The MSD 
supporters were held in the Rohero commune jail overnight.
    On May 26, Mayor of Bujumbura Evrard Giswaswa refused to permit a 
march organized by the Association for the Defense of Women's Rights 
(ADDF) to commemorate the death of Revocate Manishantse, a recent 
victim of domestic violence; the mayor claimed the demonstration would 
be inappropriate during the election period.
    On June 6, the Ngozi provincial governor prevented 12 opposition 
parties from meeting in Gashikanwa to explain their motives for 
withdrawing from the presidential election. Government authorities 
argued that the new coalition ADC-Ikibiri was not registered with the 
Government and could not hold meetings. The member parties of the 
coalition were registered, and coalitions are not required to register. 
Two days later the interior minister claimed that only the CNDD-FDD had 
the right to hold meetings during the June 12 to 25 presidential 
elections since the CNDD-FDD was the only party with a presidential 
candidate. Local and international NGOs objected that it was 
undemocratic for the minister of the interior to forbid opposition 
parties from holding meetings.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
association; however, the Government sometimes restricted this right in 
practice.
    Private organizations were required to present their articles of 
association to the Ministry of the Interior for approval. There were no 
reports that the Government failed to complete the approval process for 
private organizations whose purposes the Government opposed. During the 
year, however, the Ministry of the Interior investigated the articles 
of association of existing civil society associations and media outlets 
in an apparent attempt to harass or threaten those organizations with a 
perceived association with opposition parties or who advanced causes 
unpopular with the Government.
    There were reports that some government officials denied national 
identity cards, employment, and access to social programs to members of 
opposition parties. For example, there were reports of fraud or abuse 
of power in the distribution of the identity cards that were required 
for citizens to participate in the 2010 elections. Opposition parties 
claimed that local administrators used their authority to deny the 
identity cards to members of opposition parties, but the Government 
denied there had been fraud or abuse of power in the distribution of 
the cards.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
see the Department of State's 2010 International Religious Freedom 
Report at www.state.gov/g/drl/irf.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation; however, the Government sometimes restricted these rights 
in practice. Government checkpoints, the threat of violence by armed 
criminals, and possible regional terrorist threats restricted citizens' 
movements.
    The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    The Government continued to restrict movement into and out of 
Bujumbura and other cities at night. Restrictions heightened after al 
Shabaab claimed responsibility for the July 11 bombings in Kampala, 
Uganda, following Uganda's participation in the African Union Mission 
to Somalia.
    According to local and international NGOs and opposition parties, 
the Government restricted the movement of prominent opposition party 
leaders after the ADC-Ikibiri coalition decided to boycott the June 
presidential elections. On June 27, Democratic Alliance for Renewal 
(ADR) leader Alice Nzomukunda was stopped at Bujumbura International 
Airport when boarding a flight to Nairobi; her travel documents and 
ticket were confiscated. Border police also stopped UPD leader 
Pascaline Kampayano and Charles Niyungeko, leader of the National 
Council for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD), a separate political party 
from CNDD-FDD, at land borders between the Democratic Republic of Congo 
(DRC) and the country and confiscated their passports.
    The law does not provide for forced exile, and the Government did 
not practice it; however, many persons remained in self-imposed exile. 
Opposition political leaders including Agathon Rwasa of the FNL, 
Leonard Nyangoma of the CNDD, Pascaline Kampayano of the UPD, Alice 
Nzomukunda of the ADR, and Alexis Sinduhije of the MSD fled the 
country, alleging they felt threatened after their boycott of the 
presidential elections. They remained in self-imposed exile at year's 
end.
    During the year the UNHCR facilitated the voluntary repatriation of 
approximately 3,400 refugees who had previously fled to neighboring 
countries. Among the returnees were 689 repatriated from Tanzania, 
2,647 from the DRC, and 80 from Rwanda, South Africa, Lesotho, Zambia, 
and Europe. This brought the total number of returned refugees to 
509,061since 2002. The UNHCR and the Government Project for the 
Reintegration of War-Affected Persons (PARESI) assisted in the 
repatriation and reintegration of these returnees and internally 
displaced persons (IDPs). PARESI did not register any expelled persons 
during the year.
    The UNHCR has returnee transfer centers in Muyinga, Ngozi, 
Bujumbura City, and Ruyigi, as well as two in Makamba Province. The 
UNHCR, the Government, and NGO partners provided repatriated 
individuals and families a six-month food ration and nonfood items that 
included domestic and hygiene goods, agricultural tools, and cash 
grants. Returnees also received school assistance in the form of school 
kits and language acquisition classes. In an attempt to increase 
voluntary repatriation from the Mtabila Camp in Tanzania, the UNHCR 
increased the cash grant from $40 to $150 for those who returned 
voluntarily between September 15 and December 31.
    The repatriates, who returned mostly to the southern and eastern 
provinces, often found their land occupied. During the year there were 
still reports of disputes over land holdings between returnees, local 
residents, and the Government, particularly in Rutana and Bururi 
provinces. The Department for Territory and Land Management, along with 
the UNHCR, was responsible for the preparation of integrated village 
sites for refugees, IDPs, and other vulnerable groups. Seven integrated 
villages for more than 5,500 persons had been established in the 
provinces of Ruyigi, Makamba, and Rutana since 2008. Poor living 
conditions and a lack of food and shelter remained problems for some 
returnees.

    Internally Displaced Persons.--According to a 2009 Ministry of 
National Solidarity, Human Rights and Gender (Ministry of Solidarity) 
provisional report, there were approximately 157,000 IDPs in the 
country. Despite improved security these IDPs remained in what appeared 
to be increasingly permanent settlements throughout the country. Most 
were Tutsi who fled their homes during internal conflict in 1993. Some 
attempted to return to their places of origin, but the majority 
relocated to urban centers. According to the UN Office for the 
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, most were living at 160 sites, 
the majority in Kayanza, Ngozi, Kirundo, Muyinga, and Gitega provinces.
    During the year the Government took no action on behalf of the 
approximately 600 IDP families who were violently beaten and forcibly 
evicted from their land in 2008. The families attempted to integrate 
themselves into other IDP camps and local communities with little 
success.
    The Government generally permitted IDPs to be included in the 
UNHCR's and other humanitarian groups' activities benefiting returning 
refugees, such as shelter and legal assistance programs.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. According to 
the UNHCR, by year's end the Government had granted refugee status and 
asylum to more than 40,000 persons. In practice the Government provided 
some protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to 
countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account 
of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social 
group, or political opinion. The UNHCR reported that the Government 
fulfilled its obligations to provide asylum and refugee protections and 
cooperated with international organizations involved in refugee issues.
    As of December 1, according to the UNHCR, there were approximately 
40, 940 Congolese refugees and 800 Rwandan refugees in the country. The 
majority of the Congolese were sheltered in three UNHCR-run refugee 
camps: Bwagiriza in Ruyigi Province, Gasorwe in Muyinga Province, and 
Musasa in Ngozi Province. Approximately 250 Rwandans were sheltered in 
Butare camp in Rutana Province. The remaining 21,000 refugees and 
asylum seekers, who are overwhelmingly Congolese, were integrated into 
urban centers. During the year the UNHCR and the Government assisted in 
the voluntary return of 653 refugees to their country of origin, 
including 642 Congolese refugees. The National Office for the 
Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons in the Ministry of the 
Interior formally took over all asylum-related tasks in March 2009; the 
office moved to the Ministry of Public Security during the year.
    While the UNHCR and the Government reported no attacks on refugees 
or restriction of refugees' movement during the year, there was 
evidence of gender-based violence in camps, including rape or 
exploitation of refugee women and girls. The UNHCR reported that, 
despite some Congolese refugees' fears about moving to Bwagiriza camp 
in October 2009 due to security concerns related to the camp's 
proximity to the Tanzania border, no security incidents occurred during 
the year. Some school-age urban Congolese refugees reportedly changed 
their names to avoid discrimination and harassment in local schools.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that national 
police organized raids to round up illegal immigrants from the DRC, 
Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.
    During the year a number of cases of vandalism, assault, and 
killings were associated with land conflicts, primarily in the 
provinces of Ruyigi, Muyinga, and Bururi. The National Commission for 
Land and Other Goods (CNTB) is responsible for resolving land and 
property disputes, including those resulting from the repatriation of 
more than 500,000 refugees since 2002, some of whom had been in 
Tanzania since 1972. According to the UNHCR, 9,976 of the 19, 541 land 
disputes registered between January 2007 and August were resolved by 
year's end. However, some returnees were unable to reclaim their land 
or to find alternative farmland to support their families due to lack 
of cooperation from local judicial and administrative authorities. In 
February the Government suspended the CNTB's mediation of a conflict 
between residents with ties to the National Office of Palm Oil and 
returnees in Rumonge Commune, Bururi Province, and changed the 
commission's composition.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The law and constitution provide citizens the right to change their 
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice 
through elections based on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Between May and September 
the Government held presidential, parliamentary, Communal Council, and 
local elections. Presidential elections in June resulted in the 
reelection of President Nkurunziza, the candidate of the ruling CNDD-
FDD party. While the elections were generally described as free and 
fair by international observers and the election days themselves were 
peaceful, political parties engaged in intimidation and violence 
leading up to the elections. The ruling CNDD-FDD party and their 
affiliates were particularly active. In the run-up to the elections, 
there were widespread reports that the CNDD-FDD's Imbonerakure youth 
wing committed abuses, such as threatening and assaulting opposition 
party members, with impunity. A coalition of parties alleged massive 
fraud in the May 24 Communal Council elections; all six of the 
opposition parties that had registered for the June presidential 
election withdrew their candidates. Only a few parties participated in 
the July parliamentary elections, in which the president's CNDD-FDD 
increased its majority, winning 81 of the 106 seats in the National 
Assembly. The Union for National Progress (UPRONA) won 17 seats, the 
Front for Democracy ``Genuine'' (FRODEBU Nyakuri) won five seats, and 
the Twa ethnic group received three seats. In the Senate the CNDD-FDD 
won 32 of the 41 seats and UPRONA two. The Twa ethnic group received 
three seats; the four living former presidents of the country received 
the remaining seats. International and domestic observers released 
statements that noted instances of electoral irregularities in these 
parliamentary elections but did not substantiate claims of massive, 
systemic fraud.
    Police searches of opposition parties' headquarters and homes, 
particularly those targeting the FNL, MSD, and UPD parties, increased 
significantly during the elections and their aftermath. Major 
opposition party leaders left the country and went into hiding (see 
section 2.d.). On August 9, police allegedly found a grenade, a pair of 
army boots, and a set of military binoculars during a raid on the MSD's 
national headquarters. On September 16, after MSD President Alexis 
Sinduhije fled the country, police searched his residence and allegedly 
found a box of 20 military uniforms. Human rights organizations and 
opposition parties suggested that the items found in the two raids were 
likely planted by police or the SNR to entrap MSD members and to 
discredit the party and its president.
    Election violence resulted in numerous deaths.
    For example, on May 13, an MSD member was shot and killed in front 
of his house in Nyakabiga, Bujumbura. By year's end no suspects had 
been arrested.
    On June 19, a CNDD-FDD member was shot and killed in Kanyosha, 
Bujumbura. No further information was available by year's end.
    On July 9, two members of the CNDD-FDD were killed by machetes and 
a grenade in Ruziba, Kanyosha Commune, Bujumbura Rural. Fifteen 
persons, all FNL members, were arrested in connection with the 
killings. Seven remained in detention at year's end.
    From June 11 to July 14, 123 grenade attacks resulted in 10 deaths 
and 65 injuries. These attacks targeted high-profile hotels and 
restaurants, political party headquarters, and the homes of political 
party members.
    Members of various political party youth movements engaged in group 
exercises to intimidate other parties and the local populations; such 
exercises led to violent clashes prior to and during the year's 
electoral period.
    On January 7, in Rugombo Commune, Cibitoke Province, an FNL youth 
member was beaten by members of the CNDD-FDD Imbonerakure, who were 
heard yelling anti-FNL slurs during the beating. Three suspects were 
arrested but fled after being released on bail. One was subsequently 
rearrested and again released.
    On February 1, the minister of the interior officially banned 
political party youth exercises in Kirundo province after an incident 
in which CNDD-FDD youth injured FNL youth supporters.
    On June 26, SNR agents accompanied by 40 policemen arrested five 
MSD party members, including the secretary general, the treasurer, and 
the administrative advisor. Police Deputy Director General Gervais 
Ndirakabuca assisted with the arrest of the administrative advisor, 
whose house was searched without a search warrant. In order to extract 
confessions, members of the Municipal Police of Bujumbura abused the 
arrestees. According to Ligue Iteka, a local human rights NGO, an MSD 
driver, who was among those arrested, was kicked and hit with rifle 
butts. All five were released without charges within a week.
    On December 11, Haruna Sibomana, a member of the UPD opposition 
party and head of Buyenzi quarter in Bujumbura, was held responsible 
for a mob lynching of a thief on December 10. Although Sibomana had 
immediately involved the communal administrator and the local police 
chief when the crowd became a mob, they were unable to prevent the 
lynching. On December 11, police arrested Sibomana for failing to 
assist a person in danger. He informed Ligue Iteka that the police 
officer in charge of his case pressured him to implicate well-known UPD 
members as instigators of the killing. He was detained for 19 days and 
released after the public prosecutor dismissed the case.
    There were no developments in the following 2009 cases of political 
violence: the January beating of an FNL supporter by police in Kinama, 
Bujumbura; the February killing of Frederick Misago after he left the 
CNDD-FDD for the FRODEBU party in Kamenge, Bujumbura; or the August 
arson of the UPD leader's property in Kayogoro Commune, Makamba 
Province.
    As of October no one had been charged in the 2008 grenade attacks 
on four politicians' homes; the investigation stalled.
    Some local administrators made CNDD-FDD membership a prerequisite 
to obtain public benefits such as education, employment, health-care 
benefits, or civil documents. On August 23, an elementary school 
director in Mubimbi, Bujumbura Rural Province, refused to register 
students unless their parents presented voter cards showing they had 
voted in the presidential election. As the CNDD-FDD had the only 
candidate in the election, a parent who voted was presumed to be a 
ruling party member; the school director would register his or her 
children. Those parents who refused to show their voter cards or did 
not vote in the presidential election were assumed to belong to an 
opposition political party and were not allowed to register their 
children.
    In Gashikanwa, Ngozi Province, a woman requested a certificate from 
the local administrator declaring her destitute in order to qualify for 
public assistance. Her request was denied because she was not a CNDD-
FDD party member.
    The constitution reserves 30 percent of the positions in the 
National Assembly, the Senate, and the cabinet for women. There were 34 
women in the 106-seat National Assembly and 19 women in the 41-seat 
Senate. Women held nine of 21 ministerial seats, including the new 
minister of justice who was the Supreme Court president in the former 
government. There were eight women on the 17-seat Supreme Court and 
three women on the seven-seat Constitutional Court, including the chief 
justice.
    The law imposes ethnic quotas, requiring that 60 percent of the 
seats in both houses of parliament be filled by Hutus, the majority 
ethnic group, and 40 percent by Tutsis, who constitute an estimated 15 
percent of the citizenry. The Batwa ethnic group, which makes up less 
than 1 percent of the population, is entitled to three seats in each 
house. By law military and police positions should be divided equally 
between Hutus and Tutsis. The Government fulfilled this mandate with 
respect to the military; however, inequalities continued to exist 
within the police force. While Hutus make up 51percent of the police 
force and Tutsis make up 49 percent, disparities existed at the higher 
ranks. Eighty percent of police commissioners at the national level 
were Tutsi, while Hutus made up 66 percent at the provincial district 
level.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for corruption; however, the 
Government did not implement the law effectively. Widespread corruption 
in the public and private sectors and a culture of impunity remained 
problems. Several respected private-sector representatives and trade 
association officials reported that corruption remained a major 
impediment to commercial and economic development. The World Bank's 
2009 Worldwide Governance Indicators indicated that corruption was a 
severe problem.
    By the end of 2009 OLUCOME estimated the state had lost more than 
306 billion francs ($246 million) since 2003 due to embezzlement. 
Losses for the first six months of the year were estimated at 20 
billion francs ($16.1 million).
    The Ministry of Good Governance and the State Inspector General are 
responsible for combating governmental corruption. The Ministry of Good 
Governance includes the Anti-Corruption General Prosecutor's Office and 
the Anti-Corruption Brigade. The brigade has the authority to act on 
its own initiative to investigate, arrest, and refer offenders to the 
general prosecutor.
    According to the latest figures available, between September 2009 
and August, the Anti-Corruption General Prosecutor's Office 
investigated and closed 181 files, 106 cases were scheduled for trial 
at the Anti-Corruption Court, 95 cases were tried, and 74 cases 
sentenced with possibility of appeal.
    Certain government entities cracked down on corruption, while 
others protected the guilty. For example, early in the year customs 
agents at the Gatumba border with the DRC were illegally charging 3,000 
francs ($2.41) per driver and 8,000 francs ($6.44) per vehicle to enter 
or leave the country. The Burundian Income Authority halted this 
practice after OLUCOME publicized it.
    On September 28, the Anti-Corruption Brigade arrested Alexis 
Ntaconzoba, director general of SOSUMO, the state-owned sugar company, 
for fraudulent misuse of public funds. At year's end Ntaconzoba 
remained in detention in Mpimba Central Prison and had not had a 
hearing.
    On September 30, the director general and the director of 
administration at the state-owned Public Transportation Company were 
jailed. Both Director General Jean Pierre Manirakiza and Director of 
Administration Ferdinand Bacanamwo were accused of misappropriation of 
the company's funds. Media reports cited losses of 150 million francs 
($120,675). At year's end Manirakiza and Bacanamwo remained in 
detention in Mpimba Central Prison.
    In 2009 the Anti-Corruption Court sentenced Jean de Dieu 
Hatungimana, director of the state-owned real estate company, to 15 
years in prison for intentionally wrongly approving payments to a road 
construction company, and ministry of finance spokesperson Donatien 
Bwabo to 10 years in prison for authorizing payment to a fictitious 
garage. Both men remained free and in high-level government positions 
while they appealed their cases at year's end.
    Former central bank governor Isaac Bizimana, who had been in jail 
since August 2007 for illegal transfer of government funds to the 
private company, Interpetrol, was released during the year. Earlier in 
the year his case and the cases of his alleged accomplices, two former 
finance ministers in exile, were dismissed for lack of evidence. The 
new minister of justice stated in December that she disagreed with the 
general prosecutor's dismissal of the case, and the case was reopened.
    The law requires financial disclosure by government officials, but 
it was not consistently enforced. Some top officials, including 
President Nkurunziza, voluntarily released copies of their finances 
after the August 26 presidential inauguration. However, anticorruption 
watchdogs reported that many government officials transferred 
questionable assets and financial accounts to immediate family members 
whose financial records were not disclosed.
    In August the then minister of the environment Deogratias Nduwimana 
granted more than 180 acres of public land to the wife and child of the 
then second vice president of the republic, Gabriel Ntisezerana, who 
became president of the Senate on August 20. When the transfers became 
public knowledge, Ntisezerana stated that a mistake had been made, and 
the transfer to his child was rescinded. However, Ntisezerana's wife 
retained possession of the land.
    The law does not provide for access to government information, and 
information was difficult to obtain. The law does not allow the media 
to broadcast or publish information in certain cases relating to 
national defense, state security, or secret judicial inquiries. Human 
rights observers criticized the law for its poorly defined restrictions 
on the right to access and disseminate information.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    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.
    Human rights observers generally were allowed to visit government 
facilities such as military bases, prisons, and detention centers, 
including those run by the SNR. Human rights groups continued to 
operate and publish newsletters documenting human rights abuses. While 
well-established groups with international linkages and a presence in 
Bujumbura had a measure of protection from governmental harassment, 
indigenous NGOs were more susceptible to pressure from authorities and 
often subject to intimidation and threats from the SNR. Some government 
officials and members of the ruling CNDD-FDD party indicated that they 
considered domestic civil society organizations, including human rights 
groups, to be part of the political opposition.
    The following major local independent human rights NGOs operated 
during the year: Ligue Iteka, the APRODH, the ADDF, Centre Seruka, the 
Association of Women Jurists, Action by Christians for the Abolition of 
Torture, and the Observatory of Government Action. No major local human 
rights NGOs were closely aligned with the Government or political 
parties.
    Although several international NGOs expressed frustration at the 
formidable bureaucratic hurdles they faced when registering with 
government offices, governmental attitudes toward international 
humanitarian NGOs remained generally favorable; however, the Government 
expelled the representative of Human Rights Watch (HRW) during the 
year.
    On May 18, Minister of Foreign Affairs Augustin Nsanze informed HRW 
that the Government had canceled agrement for HRW representative Neela 
Ghoshal due to HRW's report on preelection period political violence 
(We'll Tie You Up and Shoot You). Nsanze claimed the report was biased 
against the Government and the ruling party. The Government demanded 
that Ghoshal cease her work immediately and depart the country by June 
5; Ghoshal departed on June 2.
    The Government cooperated with international governmental 
organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives and other 
organizations, such as the ICRC.
    In 2008 the UN Human Rights Council renewed the mandate of the UN 
Independent Expert (IE) on the Situation of Human Rights in Burundi 
with the provision that the IE's mandate would continue until the 
Government established a National Independent Human Rights Commission 
(CNIDH). Since 2008 the Government has taken the position that the IE 
has no mandate to report to the Human Rights Council until the CNIDH is 
established. In December parliament passed legislation authorizing 
creation of the CNIDH, but President Nkurunziza did not promulgate the 
law by year's end.
    In a June press statement, the then IE Akich Okola noted increasing 
reports of election-related human rights violations and security 
concerns since his previous visit in May, including arbitrary arrests, 
detention and harassment of opposition politicians and their 
supporters, and grenade attacks by unknown perpetrators during the 
presidential campaign. In a press conference on November 17, new IE 
Fatsah Ouguergouz encouraged the Government to investigate and 
prosecute those responsible for torture and extrajudicial killings. He 
also pressed the Government to conduct credible, swift, fair trials in 
the cases of murdered OLUCOME vice president Ernest Manirumva and 
imprisoned journalist Jean Claude Kavumbagu (see sections 1.a. and 
2.a., respectively).
    On January 25, the Government created the Office of the Ombudsman, 
as required by the 2000 Arusha Accords. On November 12, in a 
noncompetitive process parliament selected Mohamed Rukara as the 
country's first ombudsman. Civil society members, human rights 
observers, and political opposition leaders expressed concern that 
influential CNDD-FDD member Rukara could not be the neutral, 
independent ombudsman envisioned in the law. As of year's end, the 
Office of the Ombudsman lacked support staff, a workplace, and office 
equipment.
    Parliament established human rights committees in 2005 in both 
houses: a Committee for Justice and Human Rights in the National 
Assembly and a Committee for Judicial and Institutional Issues and 
Fundamental Rights and Liberties in the Senate. The National Assembly 
committee was dominated by the CNDD-FDD party and the Senate committee, 
which, while well intentioned and well informed, lacked influence. At 
the end of the year, both committees reviewed and made recommendations 
on the draft legislation to create a CNIDH, which passed both houses of 
parliament in December. The committees do not issue reports or 
recommendations on human rights.
    From July 2009 to March, ``Popular Consultations on Transitional 
Justice'' took place in country and with diaspora communities. A 
tripartite government-UN-civil society steering committee managed the 
consultations to gauge the population's perspective on how a Truth and 
Reconciliation Commission and Special Tribunal should function. The 
committee forwarded the report of the consultation results to the 
Office of the President of the Republic on April 20. On December 7, the 
report was released to the public. The Government did not establish a 
commission, tribunal, or other national transitional justice mechanisms 
by year's end.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution provides equal status and protection for all 
citizens, without distinction based on sex, origin, ethnicity, 
disability, language, or social status; however, the Government failed 
to implement these provisions effectively, and discrimination and 
societal abuses continued.

    Women.--The law prohibits rape, which is punishable by up to 30 
years' imprisonment; however, the Government did not enforce the law 
effectively, and rape and other sexual violence against women and girls 
were problems. The rape of minors, or rape committed by persons who 
infect their victim with an incurable sexually transmitted disease, is 
punishable by life imprisonment. Spousal rape is punishable by fines of 
10,000 to 50,000 francs ($8 to $40) and eight days' imprisonment.
    Many women were reluctant to report rape for cultural reasons, fear 
of reprisal, and the unavailability of medical care. Men often 
abandoned their wives following acts of rape, and rape victims were 
ostracized. Police and magistrates regularly required that victims 
provide food for and pay the costs of incarceration of those they 
accused of rape. According to a March 2009 report by Medecins Sans 
Frontieres de Belgique (MSF-Belgium), many victims who sought judicial 
redress faced an unresponsive judicial system, and courts often refused 
to act on cases without witnesses. Some victims were reportedly 
required to pay 15,000 francs ($12.07), a large sum for most victims, 
to obtain a certified medical report. Other problems included judges 
who did not regard rape as a serious crime and a lack of medical 
facilities to gather medical evidence. According to women's rights 
organizations, at times families or communities forced victims to 
withdraw their complaints and negotiate settlements with the 
perpetrator or his family outside of the formal judicial system. In 
other cases the victims were forced by their families and local 
arbiters to marry their attackers. According to the local NGO Centre 
Seruka, 60 percent of persons responsible for rape were arrested, and 
of these 30 percent were prosecuted. As of September the APRODH 
recorded 61 rapists arrested. Of the limited number of cases that were 
investigated, successful prosecutions of rapists were rare.
    During the year the Ministry of Solidarity began compiling rape 
statistics through decentralized family development centers (CDF) 
throughout the country. According to CDF reports, there were 1,556 
reported cases of gender-based violence as of July. The ADDF received 
reports of 3,701 cases of rape and domestic violence as of September, 
most of which occurred in Bujumbura and its outlying areas. Centre 
Seruka, equipped in part by MSF-Belgium and funded by the UN, received 
742 victims during the year at its center for rape victims in 
Bujumbura. Of the victims they assisted, 60 percent were raped by 
persons they knew, including members of their families, cooks, and 
neighbors. Local and international NGOs, the Government, and the UN 
claimed the number of rape victims was likely much higher.
    Civil society and religious communities worked to overcome the 
cultural stigma of rape to help victims reintegrate into families that 
had rejected them. Ligue Iteka, the APRODH, the ADDF, and BINUB 
continued to encourage rape victims to press charges and to seek 
medical care, and international NGOs provided free medical care, mostly 
in urban areas. The Government also raised awareness of the problem 
through seminars and local initiatives describing the kinds of medical 
care available.
    The law prohibits domestic abuse of a spouse or child, with 
punishment ranging from fines to three- to five-years' imprisonment; 
however, domestic violence against women was common. As of December the 
ADDF had received 1,650 cases of domestic violence. Many victims did 
not report crimes of domestic violence, fearing retaliation, loss or 
economic support for their children, or a lack of support from the 
justice system. Police occasionally arrested persons accused of 
domestic violence but usually released suspects within a few days 
without further investigation. During the year the Government, with 
financial supported from international NGOs and the UN, continued to 
sponsor civic awareness training on domestic and gender-based violence 
as well as the role of police assistance in 12 of the country's 17 
provinces.
    The media reported many instances of domestic violence, including 
severe beating, mutilation, and murder. For example, on May 17, Fabien 
Barutwanayo assaulted and killed his pregnant wife with a hoe due to a 
land dispute. The local women's association was banned from holding a 
funeral procession to highlight the problem of domestic violence (see 
section 2.b.). Barutwanayo fled his home and at year's end had not been 
located by police.
    The suspects who allegedly severely burned his wife with hot water 
in January 2009 in Cibitoke Province, who allegedly killed his wife 
with a machete in September 2009 in Makamba Province, and who allegedly 
burned his wife's genitals in 2008 in Cankuzo Province remained in 
detention awaiting trial at year's end.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment, including the use of orders, 
severe pressure, or threats of physical or psychological violence, to 
obtain sexual favors. The sentence for sexual harassment ranges from 
fines to penalties of one month to two years in prison. The sentence 
for sexual harassment doubles if the victim is less than 18 years old. 
There were no known prosecutions during the year.
    The Government recognized the right of couples and individuals to 
decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their 
children, although for cultural reasons, husbands often made the final 
decisions about family planning. Local NGOs reported that women who 
attempted to assert their right to decide such matters independently 
sometimes became victims of domestic abuse. Cultural and religious 
norms made limiting the number of childbirths per family generally 
unpopular, although family planning and birth spacing were more openly 
discussed than in previous years. Health clinics and local health NGOs 
were permitted to operate freely in disseminating information on family 
planning under the guidance of the Ministry of Public Health. There 
were no restrictions on access to contraceptives, but, according to the 
local NGO Burundian Association for Family Wellbeing, only 11.4 percent 
of citizens used these measures.
    The Government provided free childbirth services, but the lack of 
sufficient doctors meant most women used nurses or midwives during 
childbirth as well as for prenatal and postnatal care, unless the 
mother or child suffered serious health complications. According to the 
United Nations Population Fund, less than 34 percent of all births took 
place with skilled attendants. The maternal mortality rate remained 
high at 620 deaths per 100,000 live births.
    Men and women received equal access to diagnosis and treatment for 
sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, but local health NGOs 
and clinics reported that women were more likely than men to seek 
treatment and refer their partners. Only 16 percent of health 
facilities provided services to prevent mother-to-child HIV/AIDS 
transmission.
    Despite constitutional protections, women continued to face legal, 
economic, and societal discrimination and were often victims of 
discriminatory practices with regard to credit and marital property 
laws. By law women must receive the same pay as men for the same work, 
but in practice they did not. Some enterprises suspended the salaries 
of women while they were on paid maternity leave, and others refused 
medical coverage to married female employees. Women were less likely to 
hold mid- or high-level positions in the workforce. However, there were 
many women-owned businesses, particularly in Bujumbura. While 
representation of women in decision-making roles remained low, women 
constituted approximately 20 percent of public administration roles in 
the country.
    The Government had a department dedicated to the empowerment of 
women and promotion of women's rights within the Ministry of 
Solidarity. Several local groups also worked to support women's rights, 
including the Collective of Women's Organizations and NGOs of Burundi, 
and Women United for Development.

    Children.--Although the constitution states that citizenship can be 
derived from the mother or father, in practice and according to the law 
on nationality, citizenship is derived from the nationality of the 
father only. The failure of the Government to record all births 
resulted in denial of some public services for unregistered children, 
as the Government requires a birth certificate for access to free 
public schooling and free medical care for children under five. 
Approximately half of all children were not registered at birth. 
According to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), approximately 40 percent 
of births of children currently under five years old were not 
registered. The Government registered without charge the births of all 
children up to the age of five. The urban and rural poor and citizens 
of western provinces traditionally were less likely to register the 
birth of a child.
    Schooling is compulsory up to the age of 12; primary school was the 
highest level of education attained by most children. The Government's 
declaration of free and universal primary education in 2005 
substantially increased net enrollment rates; however female illiteracy 
remained a particular problem.
    The law prohibits child abuse, and the problem was not reportedly 
widespread. Corporal punishment in public schools is prohibited; 
however, the Government acknowledged that corporal punishment existed 
in many homes and schools.
    The law prohibits child prostitution, and penalties for those who 
use child prostitutes ranged from fines from five to 10 years' 
imprisonment; however, the number of children engaged in prostitution 
for survival reportedly increased compared with the previous year.
    The minimum marriage age for women is 18 and 21 for men, although 
recently men were allowed to begin marrying at 18. Child marriage 
reportedly was not widespread, although informal marriages of young 
girls sometimes occurred when victims were forced by their families to 
marry after rape or other forms of sexual exploitation. For example, 
the brother of a 13-year-old girl in Butihinda, Muyinga Province, 
reportedly arranged her marriage after she was raped by a local 
businessman during the year. If there was no such agreement, victims 
and their families were sometimes intimidated by perpetrators living in 
their community.
    The penalty for rape of a minor is 10 to 30 years' imprisonment, 
and the minimum age for consensual sex is 18. The law prohibits child 
pornography, which is punishable by fines and three to five years' 
imprisonment. While child pornography was not prevalent, the rape of 
minors was a widespread problem. Local hospitals, NGOs, and human 
rights associations highlighted a particularly high number of rape and 
sexual abuse cases against children in Rumonge, Burambi and Buyengero 
communes of Bururi Province during the year; there were also several 
reported cases from Ngozi, Muyinga, Bujumbura, and Bujumbura Rural 
provinces, although exact statistics were unavailable. According to 
UNICEF, approximately 60 percent of reported rapes were of children 
under 18 years old, 20 percent of whom were children under 12 years 
old.
    During the year Centre Seruka reported that 15 percent of the 
sexual violence cases it handled were of children less than five years 
old. The UN Development Fund for Women reported that many rapes of 
minors were motivated by the rapist's belief that they would prevent or 
cure sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Centre Seruka 
reported that 95 percent of the rape victims who visited its facility 
during the year were female; the average victim assisted by Seruka was 
11.5 years old. Local NGOs reported providing services to secondary 
school students who were coerced into performing sexual acts or raped 
by schoolteachers, community leaders, or other authority figures.
    Rape cases of very young girls were more likely to be investigated 
than rape of women, often due to community pressure. For example, on 
March 25, after a one-and-a-half-year-old girl was raped by a teenage 
boy in Mutimbuzi Commune, Bujumbura Rural Province, her neighbors held 
demonstrations condemning the rape. The community challenged the local 
administration and judiciary to punish the perpetrator. Neighbors also 
claimed the perpetrator's parents attacked the victim's family.
    Children with albinism sometimes faced discrimination in school and 
within their families. For example, three students with albinism 
reportedly abandoned their schooling in Makamba Province after their 
teacher discriminated against them. Officials of Albinos Without 
Borders (ASF) mediated the conflict between the teacher and students, 
convincing the students to reenroll. Fathers sometimes sent away women 
who gave birth to children with albinism.
    According to a January report by the Ministry of Solidarity and the 
Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies of Burundi in conjunction 
with local and international NGOs and UNICEF, more than 3,250 street 
children lived in the country's three largest cities of Bujumbura, 
Gitega, and Ngozi. The Ministry of Solidarity stated that many of these 
children are HIV/AIDS orphans. The number of street children nationwide 
was higher, according to UNICEF. The Government provided street 
children with minimal educational support and relied on NGOs to provide 
basic services such as medical services or economic support.
    According to UNICEF, 626 child soldiers were demobilized in 2008 
and 2009; most were already adults, and only 22 were under 18 years of 
age at the time of their demobilization. Local NGOs continued to work 
with these demobilized children during the year to ensure their 
reintegration. According to the UN and the Government, there were no 
known cases of children associated with armed groups at year's end.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish population was very small, and there 
were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution prohibits 
discrimination against persons with physical or mental disabilities; 
however, the Government does not have the resources to protect the 
rights of persons with disabilities with regard to employment, 
education, or access to healthcare. Although persons with disabilities 
were eligible for free healthcare services through social programs 
targeting vulnerable groups, the benefits were not widely publicized or 
provided. The employment practice of requiring health certification 
from the ministry of public health sometimes led to discrimination 
against persons with disabilities.
    The Ministry of Solidarity is the Government agency in charge of 
coordinating assistance and protecting the rights of persons with 
disabilities. The ministry reported an increase from 500 million francs 
to one billion francs ($402,252 to $804,505) in its budget for 
disability programs for the year after President Nkurunziza proposed 
the increase in his December 2009 remarks on the International Day for 
the Disabled. Despite increased funding for assistance, the Government 
did not enact legislation or otherwise mandate access to buildings, 
information, or government services for persons with disabilities.
    The Government supported a center for physical therapy in Gitega 
and a center for social and professional reinsertion in Ngozi to assist 
individuals with physical disabilities. Handicap International reported 
14 other institutions for persons with disabilities sponsored by 
religious institutions and NGOs, including four schools for children 
with sensory disabilities and two for children with mental 
disabilities. Many schools for children with sensory or mental 
disabilities were not recognized by the Ministry of Education, making 
it impossible for students to progress in the educational system. Local 
and international NGOs expressed concern that persons with disabilities 
were more vulnerable to rape, assault, and other forms of exploitation 
than other groups within their communities.
    While there were no government restrictions on voting by persons 
with disabilities, most such individuals could not participate in 
elections during the year due to issues of access. In February the 
National Independent Electoral Commission denied a request to make 
polling stations more accessible, claiming limitations in funding and 
time.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The constitution requires 
ethnic quotas for representation within the Government and in the 
security forces. Hutus, who constitute an estimated 85 percent of the 
population, significantly increased their presence and power in the 
Government following the 2005 and 2010 elections; however, the minority 
Tutsis have historically held political and economic advantages.

    Indigenous People.--The Batwa, believed to be the country's 
earliest inhabitants, represent less than 1 percent of the population. 
They generally remained economically, socially, and politically 
marginalized and were victims of violence during the year. However, the 
Government instituted several measures to address the Batwa's 
traditional isolation. Local administrations must provide free 
schoolbooks and health care for all Batwa children. The Government also 
provided small acreages, when possible, for Batwa who wished to become 
farmers and allocated approximately two acres of land per family, the 
average size of farmstead of the country's rural poor.
    The Union for the Promotion of Batwa reported that on October 23, 
three Batwa were killed and 32 houses of Batwa families were 
systematically burned in Gahombo Commune, Kayanza Province. The 
families fled the area to avoid further attack from the local 
population. Despite widespread media coverage of the attack, no 
suspects were arrested in the case at year's end.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law criminalizes 
homosexual acts, and anyone who has sexual relations with a person of 
the same sex can be fined or sentenced to between three months' and two 
years' imprisonment. At year's end no one was prosecuted under this 
provision.
    Although discrimination existed, it was not always overt or 
widespread. Families sometimes disowned children who refused to deny 
their homosexual identity, and gays and lesbians often entered 
opposite-sex marriages due to social pressure. The lesbian, gay, 
bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights organization Humure reported 
that 90 percent of the men they surveyed who engaged in male-to-male 
sex were married. Representatives of the LGBT community stated that 
after the 2009 passage of the revised penal code criminalizing same sex 
relations, they were subjected to more discrimination, but the number 
of cases remained small. The Government took no steps to counter 
discrimination against gays and lesbians.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The constitution 
specifically outlaws discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS or 
other ``incurable'' illnesses. There were no reports of government-
sponsored discrimination against such individuals, although some 
observers suggested the Government was not actively involved in 
preventing societal discrimination.
    Sporadic killings of persons with albinism occurred during the year 
(see section 1.a.). In January the ASF reported that persons with 
albinism were still seeking protection near communal administrative 
centers because they were afraid to return to their homes after a 
series of attacks and killings in 2009 and during the year. One woman 
fled her home for a safer location after her child with albinism was 
threatened in Makamba Province (see section 6, Children). Health issues 
involving eyesight or prolonged sun exposure often affected the ability 
of persons with albinism to participate fully in school or the 
workforce. The ASF reported that efforts to educate the population 
about the issues affecting persons with albinism helped to improve the 
situation.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The constitution and the labor code 
protect the right of workers to form and join unions without previous 
authorization or excessive requirements. According to the Confederation 
of Burundian Labor Unions (COSYBU), less than 10 percent of the formal 
private sector workforce was unionized, while an estimated 50 percent 
of the public sector was unionized. Although most civil servants 
exercised their right to unionize, the armed forces and foreigners 
working in the public sector are prohibited from participation in 
unions. The law also prevents workers under the age of 18 from joining 
unions without the consent of their parents or guardians. According to 
COSYBU, many private sector employers systematically worked to prevent 
the creation of trade unions, and the Government failed to protect 
private sector workers' rights in practice. Relations between COSYBU 
and the Government remained poor.
    Local human rights NGOs continued to report widespread 
discriminatory hiring practices for government jobs based on 
applicants' political affiliations, despite a law prohibiting such 
practices.
    Most citizens worked in the unregulated informal economy, which is 
not protected by the labor law. COSYBU stated that virtually no 
informal sector workers had written employment contracts; according to 
government statistics, only 5 percent had them.
    The law provides workers with a conditional right to strike but 
bans solidarity strikes and sets strict conditions under which a 
general strike may occur. All peaceful means of resolution must be 
exhausted prior to the strike; negotiations must continue during the 
action, mediated by a mutually agreed-upon party or by the Government; 
and six days' notice must be given to the employer and the Ministry of 
Civil Service, Labor, and Social Security. Before a strike is allowed, 
the ministry must determine whether strike conditions have been met. 
The ministry has a de facto veto power over all strikes.
    The labor code prohibits retribution against workers participating 
in a legal strike, but labor leaders continued to suffer abuse.
    In February a committee member of the SOSUMO trade union was 
demoted after publicizing illicit practices by the company's 
management. Prior to civil society intervention and ensuing media 
coverage in the case, he was threatened with termination.
    The leaders of teacher's trade unions recorded widespread 
harassment throughout the country during and after their strike in 
March to April.
    For example, on March 17, in both Mutambu Commune and Kabezi 
Commune in Bujumbura Rural, communal administrators using megaphones 
urged the population to attack striking teachers. On April 19, at 
numerous schools throughout the country, when teachers withheld final 
exam results as a means of protesting the Government's failure to pay 
salary arrears, school principals encouraged students to retaliate with 
violence.
    Ligue Iteka stated that a teacher named Athanase Mashandali was 
fired because he refused to join the CNDD-FDD party and, as teachers' 
trade union president in Bubanza Province, had encouraged teachers to 
strike. In 2008 Mashandali, provincial representative of the Bubanza 
teachers' trade union, was approached by the CNDD-FDD to join the 
party, but he declined. In April 2009 the school director (a CNDD-FDD 
member) accused Mashandali of stealing two dictionaries. Mashandali was 
subsequently indicted by the Bubanza High Court. He appeared before the 
court three times, most recently on April 1. On May 27, the school 
director suspended Mashandali from all teaching activities. On July 27, 
the court acquitted him. At year's end Mashandali was seeking a meeting 
with the new minister of basic and secondary education to seek 
reinstatement. Mashandali stated that the school director fabricated 
the charges against him and that he was fired because of his political 
affiliation and his trade union activities.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows 
unions to conduct their activities without interference, but the 
Government frequently interfered with unions and intimidated or 
harassed their leaders. The law also recognizes the right to collective 
bargaining, and it was freely practiced. Wages, however, are excluded 
from the scope of collective bargaining in the public sector; instead, 
wages were set according to fixed scales, following consultation with 
unions.
    Since most salaried workers were civil servants, government 
entities were involved in almost every phase of labor negotiations. 
Both COSYBU and the Confederation of Free Unions represented labor 
interests in collective bargaining negotiations, in cooperation with 
individual labor unions. Civil servant unions must be registered with 
the Ministry of Labor. There were no reliable statistics on the 
percentage of workers covered by collective agreements.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination; however, the Government 
often failed to respect this right in the public sector. The Government 
often retaliated against union members through the use of transfers, 
demotions, and reduced responsibility under false pretenses.
    According to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), 
the Government often failed to protect workers in the private sector 
from discrimination by employers.
    In 2008 the vice president of the Justice Ministry's Administrative 
Workers Union, Juvenal Rududura, was arrested for allegedly lying 
during a television interview in which he criticized government 
policies. Following prolonged detention without trial, he was released 
on his own recognizance in July 2009. However, his movements were 
restricted, he was not permitted to leave the city, and his activities 
were closely monitored by the Government. In September 2009 his trial 
entered the deliberation phase. Under the law deliberations cannot last 
longer than 60 days. At year's end the case continued under 
deliberation. Rududura was not able to move about freely and had to 
appear before a judge every three months.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, reports 
continued that it occurred. Most reports involving adults concerned 
cases of domestic servitude. Forced labor by children involved domestic 
servitude and agriculture. There were no reported cases of forced child 
labor in the production of goods as defined in the Trafficking Victims 
Protection Reauthorization Act.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
labor code states that enterprises may not employ children under the 
age of 16, barring the exceptions permitted by the Ministry of Labor. 
These exceptions include light work or apprenticeships that do not 
damage children's health, interfere with their normal development, or 
prejudice their schooling. In accordance with the labor code, the 
minister of labor may permit children ages 12 and up to be employed in 
``light labor,'' such as selling newspapers, herding cattle, or 
preparing food. Under the penal code the legal age for most types of 
``nondangerous'' labor is 18. The Government did not effectively 
enforce these laws, and child labor remained a problem. Children less 
than age 16 in rural areas regularly performed heavy manual labor in 
the daytime during the school year, primarily in the agriculture 
sector. According to the ITUC, 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 sectors noted below. Most of the population 
lived by subsistence agriculture, and children were obliged by custom 
and economic necessity to participate in the farming of crops, 
primarily bananas, cassava, maize, and beans; family businesses; and 
other informal sector activity such as street vending. Children also 
worked in small, local brick-making enterprises.
    There continued to be reports of children performing household 
domestic labor. As in previous years, there was no indication that 
children were trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation or labor on 
an organized or widespread basis.
    The Ministry of Labor was charged with enforcing child labor laws 
and had multiple enforcement tools, including criminal penalties, civil 
fines, and court orders. However, in practice the laws were seldom 
enforced. Due to a lack of inspectors, the ministry enforced the law 
only when a complaint was filed. The Government acknowledged no cases 
of child labor in the formal sector of the economy during the year and 
had conducted no child labor investigations.
    During the year the Government supported international 
organizations, several NGOs, and labor unions engaged in efforts to 
combat child labor; these efforts included care and training of 
demobilized child soldiers.
    For information on trafficking in persons, please see the 
Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Although the cost of living rose 
significantly during the year, the legal minimum wage for unskilled 
workers remained 160 francs ($0.13) per day. While some employers 
voluntarily paid their unskilled laborers a minimum of 1,500 francs 
($1.20) a day, this was far from standard practice. In general 
unskilled workers' incomes did not provide a decent standard of living 
for a worker and family. Most families relied on second incomes and 
subsistence agriculture to supplement their earnings. The Department of 
Inspection within the Ministry of Labor is charged with enforcing 
minimum wage laws, but there were no reports of enforcement in recent 
years. The legal minimum wage had not been revised in many years, and 
there were no known examples of employer violations. These regulations 
apply to the entire workforce and make no distinction between domestic 
and foreign workers or between the informal and formal sectors.
    The labor code stipulates an eight-hour workday and a 40-hour 
workweek, except for workers involved in national security activities; 
however, this stipulation was not always enforced in practice. 
Supplements must be paid for overtime work. There is no statute 
concerning compulsory overtime; opportunities for compulsory overtime 
were all but nonexistent. Rest periods include 30 minutes for lunch. 
There are no differences for foreign or migrant workers.
    The labor code establishes health and safety standards that require 
safe workplaces. Enforcement responsibility rests with the Ministry of 
Labor, which was responsible for acting upon complaints; however, there 
were no reports of complaints filed with the ministry during the year. 
Workers did not have the right to remove themselves from situations 
that endangered health and safety without jeopardizing their 
employment.
    Small numbers of persons from the neighboring DRC, Tanzania, and 
Rwanda worked in the country but did not constitute a significant 
presence. They were typically undocumented and worked in the informal 
sector.

                               __________

                                CAMEROON

    Cameroon, with a population of approximately 19 million, is a 
republic dominated by a strong presidency. The country has a multiparty 
system of government, but the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement 
(CPDM) has remained in power since it was created in 1985. The 
president retains the power to control legislation and rules by decree. 
In 2004 CPDM leader Paul Biya won reelection as president, a position 
he has held since 1982. The election was flawed by irregularities, 
particularly in the voter registration process, but observers concluded 
that the irregularities did not significantly affect election results. 
The 2007 legislative and municipal elections had significant 
deficiencies, including barriers to registration and inadequate 
safeguards against fraudulent voting, according to international and 
domestic observers. There were instances in which elements of the 
security forces acted independently of civilian control.
    Human rights abuses included security force killings; security 
force torture, beatings, and other abuses, particularly of detainees 
and prisoners; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; and 
arbitrary arrest and detention of citizens advocating secession, local 
human rights monitors and activists, persons not carrying government-
issued identity cards, and others. There were incidents of prolonged 
and sometimes incommunicado pretrial detention and of infringement on 
privacy rights. The Government harassed and imprisoned journalists, 
restricted freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and association, and 
impeded freedom of movement. Official corruption was pervasive at all 
levels. Societal violence and discrimination against women, female 
genital mutilation (FGM), trafficking in persons (primarily children), 
and discrimination against pygmies and gays and lesbians occurred. The 
Government restricted worker rights and the activities of independent 
labor organizations. Child labor, hereditary servitude, and forced 
labor, including forced child labor, 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.--The Government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings; however, 
security forces killed persons during the year. The Government 
sometimes investigated and disciplined those responsible for such 
killings.
    On February 11, in Bandjoun, West Region, two gendarmes shot and 
killed Francine Laure Kamdem Kamga, a student from the bilingual high 
school. On April 15, the secretary of state in charge of the 
gendarmerie issued a press release noting the arrest and detention of 
the two gendarmes. The military tribunal subsequently charged the two, 
who remained in Bafoussam Central Prison awaiting trial at year's end.
    In early March an assistant superintendent of the Garoua Central 
Police Station shot and killed his wife after she returned home late at 
night; neighbors held the superintendent and handed him over to police. 
An investigation was ongoing at year's end.
    According to the Report by the Ministry of Justice on Human Rights 
in Cameroon in 2009, released during the year, the Government 
prosecuted at least four security force members for arbitrary killings 
in 2009; it was unclear when the killings occurred or the identity of 
victims since the report provides neither. In January 2009 the Military 
Tribunal of Yaounde sentenced Private Emmanuel Ahidjo to death for 
capital murder. In May 2009 Major Emile Bankou was sentenced to 18 
months in prison for an unintentional murder. Also in 2009 Police 
Inspector Ernest Ngomsia was sentenced to three years in prison for an 
unintentional killing, and a fourth security force member was acquitted 
of murder; no further details were available.
    There were no developments in the investigation of the October 2009 
killing of Jean Baptiste Kamgaing by a gendarme.
    Former police officer Olivier Villot Ehongo, wanted for the 
November 2009 killing of his wife Martine Virginie Ehongo, remained at 
large.
    The Government took no action regarding killings by security forces 
during the 2008 riots, which resulted in more than 200 deaths, 
according to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
    On August 10, the Yaounde High Court resumed hearings on the 2006 
killing of Gregoire Diboule, allegedly by Ni John Fru Ndi, chairman of 
the Social Democratic Front (SDF), and 21 other SDF officials who 
belonged to a competing party faction. However, the trial was postponed 
because none of the 21 accused were present, although their lawyers 
appeared for them. The case was postponed four times in 2009.
    Vigilante violence against persons suspected of theft resulted in 
four deaths; 18 persons died from such violence in 2009. Public 
frustration over police ineffectiveness and the release without charge 
of many individuals arrested for serious crimes contributed to 
vigilante violence.
    On March 8, inhabitants of the Bonapriso neighborhood of Douala, 
Wouri Division, Littoral Region, beat to death a bandit who tried to 
strangle a motorbike taxi rider. An investigation was ongoing at year's 
end.
    On July 2, residents of Wone Bakundu, a village in Meme Division, 
South West Region, buried to death Martin Njumbe Ikose, whom residents 
accused of using witchcraft to kill his nephew. Gendarmes arrested the 
perpetrators. An investigation was ongoing at year's end.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances during the year.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
there were credible reports that security forces tortured, beat, 
harassed, and otherwise abused citizens, prisoners, and detainees, 
although there were fewer such cases than in previous years. Security 
forces also reportedly subjected women, children, and elderly persons 
to abuse.
    Security forces reportedly detained and tortured persons at 
specific sites, including temporary holding cells within police or 
gendarme facilities and cells located at the Directorate General of 
External Security (DGRE).
    On February 20, a fight between fishermen and three officers of the 
elite Delta Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) occurred at Down Beach, 
Limbe, a major station of the BIR; the fishermen had allegedly molested 
one of the soldiers, according to military officials. On February 21, 
BIR troops raided the Church Street neighborhood where the fishermen 
lived and confiscated several cell phones belonging to fishermen. On 
February 23, BIR troops returned to the fishermen's neighborhood and 
indiscriminately beat residents and smashed cars; 24 persons were 
injured, including three who were transferred to an intensive care 
unit. On March 15, Minister of Defense Mebe Ngo'o dismissed 19 BIR 
members for indiscipline and violence against civilians: three of the 
19 also were sentenced to 60 days in prison for their role as 
instigators of acts of brutality against civilians. The minister also 
announced that 13 other soldiers were sentenced to 45 days in jail and 
that their three commanding officers were sentenced to 20 days in jail.
    According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), security 
agents in February used torture to force a journalist to reveal his 
sources (see section 2.a.).
    On May 3, police beat several journalists on their way to a sit-in 
(see section 2.b.).
    On May 9, soldiers Eric Bago and Sadiou (citizens often have only 
one name) of the Fifth BIR, based in Ngaoundere, Vina Division, 
Adamaoua Region, severely beat a motorbike taxi driver who asked to be 
paid after transporting the soldiers. Police arrested the two soldiers, 
who were subsequently detained and transferred to the Garoua Military 
Tribunal, North Region, where they remained in detention at year's end, 
pending an investigation.
    On July 23, six soldiers of the BIR in Yaounde, Mfoundi Division, 
Center Region, severely beat a vendor, who was on a street where an 
altercation occurred between a soldier and residents. A mob intervened 
and subdued two of the soldiers, who police subsequently transferred to 
the neighborhood gendarmerie brigade. The case was forwarded to the 
department of military justice for further investigation, and the two 
soldiers were released pending the results of the ongoing 
investigation.
    There were no developments in the following 2009 security force 
beatings: the January beatings by newly recruited soldiers of 
approximately two dozen residents of Nsoh (Bafut), North West Region; 
and the police beating of Freddy Nkoue, a cameraman working for a 
Douala-based private television station.
    NGO efforts to compile information for a formal complaint against 
security forces involved in use of excessive force during the 2008 
riots were stalled due to inability to obtain the identities of 
perpetrators.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions remained 
harsh and life threatening. Numerous international human rights 
organizations and some prison personnel reported that torture was 
widespread. In Douala's New Bell Prison and other minimum security 
detention centers, prison guards inflicted beatings, and prisoners were 
reportedly chained or at times flogged in their cells. During a May 
2009 visit, foreign government officials found that prison guards 
chained disobedient and violent prisoners in a tiny disciplinary cell, 
where they were reportedly beaten and denied access to food. Security 
forces reportedly stripped prisoners and detainees, confined them in 
severely overcrowded cells, denied them access to toilets or other 
sanitation facilities, and beat them to extract confessions or 
information about alleged criminals.
    Guards and local NGOs reported rapes among inmates. Individuals 
incarcerated in the New Bell Prison for homosexual acts suffered 
discrimination and violence from other inmates.
    Prisoners were kept in dilapidated, colonial-era prisons, where the 
number of inmates was as much as four to five times intended capacity. 
Overcrowding was exacerbated by the large number of pretrial detainees. 
At the end of 2009, the country's 72 prisons, with a capacity of 
15,250, housed 23,368 detainees. Government statistics released in May 
indicated that 12,510 prisoners were held in the 10 central prisons, 
which were intended to hold 4,242. The Yaounde Kondengui Prison, 
originally built for approximately 1,000 inmates, held 3,964 in May, 
according to penitentiary administration statistics.
    Deficiencies in health care and sanitation, which were common in 
all prisons, remained a significant problem. Health and medical care 
were almost nonexistent in detention cells located in gendarmeries and 
police stations. In 2008 the National Commission on Human Rights and 
Freedoms (NCHRF) reported that the daily food allocation per prisoner 
was less than 100 CFA francs (approximately 20 cents). Prisoners' 
families were expected to provide food for them in prison. New Bell 
Prison contained seven water taps for approximately 2,813 prisoners, 
contributing to poor hygiene, illness, and death.
    Corruption among prison personnel was widespread. Pretrial 
detainees reported that prison guards sometimes required them, under 
threat of abuse, to pay ``cell fees,'' money paid to prevent further 
abuse. Prisoners bribed wardens for special favors or treatment, 
including temporary freedom.
    On June 29, the penitentiary administration confirmed harsh prison 
conditions in a document presented to diplomatic missions. The document 
noted overcrowding, poorly maintained and unsound facilities with 
leaking roofs, insufficient toilets and beds, lack of water and 
electricity, scarcity of pharmaceuticals, lack of appropriate kitchens, 
absence of drainage for grey water, and lack of disinfectants.
    Some prisoners were kept in prison after completing their sentences 
or receiving court orders of release due to inability to pay their 
fines. In 2009 for example, more than 100 prisoners remained in New 
Bell Prison despite completing their sentences. Prisons in Buea and 
Kumba also held inmates who had completed their sentences.
    As of May, 480 minors were detained in the country's 10 central 
prisons, 406 of them in pretrial detention; 234 women also were 
detained, 163 of them in pretrial detention.
    There were two separate prisons for women and a few pretrial 
detention centers for women; however, women routinely were held in 
police and gendarmerie complexes with men, occasionally in the same 
cells. Mothers sometimes chose to be incarcerated with their children 
if the children were very young or if they had no other child care 
option. Juvenile prisoners were often 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, including officials imprisoned for corruption, 
were separated from other prisoners and enjoyed relatively lenient 
treatment.
    In temporary holding cells within police or gendarme facilities, 
adult men, juveniles, and women were held together. Detainees usually 
received no food, water, or medical care; detainees whose families had 
been informed of their incarceration relied on their relatives for food 
and medicine. Overcrowding was common. Detention center guards accepted 
bribes from detainees in return for access to better conditions, 
including permission to stay in an office instead of a cell.
    Many citizens in the North and Far North regions turned to 
traditional chiefs, or lamibe, for dispute resolution, and the 
Government continued to permit lamibe to temporarily detain persons 
until they transferred them to the police or gendarmerie and the 
judicial system. Such detentions could last several weeks or months, 
depending on the availability of lamibe, the gravity of the offense, 
the distance to the nearest security office, and the availability of 
security officers, complainants, and transportation. Within the palaces 
of the traditional chiefdoms of Rey Bouba, Gashiga, Bibemi, and 
Tcheboa, there were private prisons that had reputations for serious 
abuse. For example, those incarcerated were often tied to a post with 
chains attached to their wrists and ankles. During an April visit in 
the North and Far North regions, lamibe claimed to foreign diplomats 
that such detention facilities no longer existed, although incriminated 
subjects were often held under the veranda of a hut and could be seen 
by passersby.
    Prisoners were permitted religious observance. Authorities 
permitted prisoners and detainees to submit complaints to judicial 
authorities without censorship. During a May 2009 visit to the Buea 
Prison, diplomatic mission employees observed prisoners talking to the 
prosecutor and complaining about their conditions. The secretary of 
state for penitentiary administration and the inspector general in 
charge of penitentiary administration investigated credible allegations 
of inhumane conditions and acknowledged the existence of such 
conditions publicly; however, no action was taken during the year. The 
NCHRF also conducted investigations during the year and publicly 
denounced poor detention conditions. The NCHRF also acted on behalf of 
prisoners or detainees to alleviate overcrowding, address the status of 
juvenile offenders, improve pretrial detention conditions, and other 
matters.
    The Government permitted 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. ICRC visits were conducted during the year in 
accordance with standard modalities.
    The Government took steps to improve prison conditions. Phase two 
of the Improvement of Detention Conditions and Respect for Human Rights 
initiative resulted in 22 new wells, 732 new mattresses, and medical 
equipment for the country's prisons. In addition, the 10 medical 
doctors, 30 nurses, and 40 nurse aides that the Government recruited in 
late 2009 to work full-time in prisons became fully operational during 
the year. The Government also increased prison nutrition allowances 
during the year, which resulted in the provision of two daily meals 
instead of one in some prisons. In May the secretary of state in charge 
of penitentiary administration organized a workshop for 100 
penitentiary officials and prison superintendants on respect for 
prisoner rights.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, security forces 
continued to arrest and detain citizens arbitrarily.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The national police, 
DGRE, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Territorial Administration, and, 
to a lesser extent, Presidential Guard are responsible for internal 
security. The Ministry of Defense, which includes the gendarmerie, the 
army, the army's military security unit, and the DGRE, reports to an 
office of the presidency, resulting in strong presidential control of 
security forces. The national police include the public security force, 
judicial police, territorial security forces, and frontier police. The 
national police and the gendarmerie have primary responsibility for law 
enforcement, although the gendarmerie alone has responsibility in rural 
areas.
    Police were ineffective, poorly trained, and corrupt (see section 
4). Citizens viewed police as ineffective and often resorted to 
vigilante violence rather than calling police (see section 1.a.).
    Impunity was a problem; however, some abusers were sanctioned.
    According to media reports, during the year authorities sanctioned 
at least 41 security officers, including 21 soldiers and gendarmes and 
20 police officers; offenses included harassment of citizens, 
corruption, extortion of funds, disregard of orders, forgery, and 
dangerous use of firearms.
    According to the Report by the Ministry of Justice on Human Rights 
in Cameroon in 2009, a total of 599 police officers and 18 gendarmes 
were sanctioned in 2009 for acts ranging from failure to follow orders 
to corruption, falsification of official documents, abuse of authority, 
use of excessive force, extortion of money, arbitrary arrest, 
blackmail, aggravated theft, and dangerous use of arms; sanctioned acts 
included those committed in 2009 and in previous years. Preliminary 
administrative punishments--actions taken immediately after the 
perpetration of the offense--ranged from written warnings to 
suspensions of up to six months and imprisonment for 10 to 12 days. 
More serious cases were transferred to the judiciary for prosecution 
and sentencing, which could take months or even years.
    According to the Report by the Ministry of Justice on Human Rights 
in Cameroon in 2009, at least 10 security officers were prosecuted in 
2009 for torture; however, no details were provided. Twenty others were 
prosecuted in 2009 for physically harming citizens, including the 
following: Senior Warrant Officer Jean Abanda Abanda, who was sentenced 
in December to two years' imprisonment for ``slight harm;'' Police 
Superintendant Afana Akomezoa, who was sentenced in December to one 
year in prison for ``simple threats and slight harm;'' and Warrant 
Officer Bertin Ateba, who was fined 25,000 CFA francs ($50) in December 
for assault on a superior and others. While not providing the date of 
sentencing in the following cases, the report also noted that Police 
Constable Theophile Ouaboube Zengoba was sentenced to five years in 
prison for ``dangerous carriage of arms and simple harm,'' and Police 
Constable Michel Mbock Mbock was fined 50,000 CFA francs ($100) and 
court costs for unspecified charges.
    In 2009 the Military Tribunal of Yaounde tried 15 soldiers and 
gendarmes for crimes ranging from corruption to murder; 13 of the 15 
were sentenced to at least one year in prison, and one was sentenced to 
death (see section 1.a.). Another 55 soldiers and gendarmes were being 
detained and awaiting trial for crimes, including false arrest, 
assault, torture, and murder.
    In May the penitentiary administration of the Ministry of Justice 
organized a four-day workshop for penitentiary officials and prison 
superintendents on respecting prisoner rights.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires that police obtain a warrant for an arrest, except when a 
person is caught in the act of committing a crime; however, police 
often did not respect this requirement. The law provides that detainees 
be brought promptly before a magistrate; however, this frequently did 
not occur. Police legally may detain a person in connection with a 
common crime for up to 48 hours, renewable once. This period may, with 
the written approval of the State Counsel, be exceptionally extended 
twice before bringing charges; however, police occasionally exceeded 
these detention periods. The law permits detention without charge--or 
renewable periods of 15 days--by administrative authorities such as 
governors and civilian government officials serving in territorial 
command. The law also provides for access to legal counsel and family 
members; however, detainees were frequently denied access to both. The 
law permits bail, allows citizens the right to appeal, and provides the 
right to sue for unlawful arrest, but these rights were seldom 
exercised.
    Police and gendarmes frequently arrested persons on Friday 
afternoons, although the number of such cases decreased during the 
year, according to NGOs and legal practitioners. Although the law 
provides for judicial review of an arrest within 24 hours, the courts 
did not convene on weekends, so individuals arrested on a Friday 
typically remained in detention until Monday at the earliest. According 
to some reports, police and gendarmes occasionally made such ``Friday 
arrests'' on spurious charges after accepting bribes from persons who 
had private grievances. Security forces and government authorities 
reportedly continued to arbitrarily arrest and detain persons, often 
holding them for prolonged periods without charges or trial and, at 
times, incommunicado.
    Police arbitrarily arrested persons without warrant during 
neighborhood sweeps for criminals and stolen goods. Citizens were 
required to carry identification with them at all times, and police 
frequently arrested persons without identification during sweeps. On 
September 8, October 8, October 23, and October 26, police conducted 
such sweeps in the Yaounde neighborhoods of Obobogo, Mimboman, Nsam, 
Elig Edzoa, and Manguier; hundreds of persons were arrested. While 
security forces subsequently released some detainees, others were kept 
and transferred to the Prosecutor's Office on various charges, 
including theft, aggression, and evasion.
    The Delegate General for National Security (DGSN) claimed a policy 
of zero tolerance for police harassment; however, police and gendarmes 
subjected undocumented immigrants from Nigeria and Chad to harassment 
and imprisonment. During raids members of the security forces extorted 
money from those who did not have regular residence permits or who did 
not have valid receipts for store merchandise. Some members of the 
country's large community of Nigerian immigrants complained of 
discrimination and abuse by government officials.
    During the year the Government arrested Southern Cameroons National 
Council (SCNC) activists for participating in SCNC activities (see 
section 3).
    Security forces arrested a human rights activist during the year 
(see section 5).
    Security forces arbitrarily arrested leaders of the Cameroonian 
Union of Journalists during a demonstration during the year (see 
section 2.b.).
    Unlike in the previous year, police did not arbitrarily arrest 
women on the street suspected of prostitution.
    Approximately 220 persons arrested during the 2008 riots remained 
imprisoned at year's end; all had been tried and convicted. An 
estimated 500 prisoners with lesser sentences were released during the 
year and in 2009 as a result of presidential amnesties; 951 detainees 
were released several days after their 2008 arrest.
    In 2008 the Government claimed it arrested 1,671 persons during the 
riots, although NGOs claimed the number was higher and that security 
forces arrested scores of onlookers not directly involved in 
demonstrations or rioting.
    In the North and Far North regions, the Government continued to 
permit traditional chiefs, or lamibe, to detain temporarily persons 
outside the Government penitentiary system, in effect creating private 
prisons, until they transferred them to the police or gendarmerie and 
the judicial system (see section 1.c.). During the year the Government 
sentenced traditional ruler Jean Claude Enyegue Atanga to 20 years' 
imprisonment for false arrest.
    The law provides for a maximum of 18 months' detention before 
trial; however, lengthy pretrial detention was a serious problem. 
According to government statistics released in May, pretrial detainees 
represented 68 percent of the approximately 12,510 inmates in the 
country's 10 central prisons; 2009 statistics indicated that 62 percent 
of inmates in the country's main and secondary prisons were pretrial 
detainees. Many pretrial detainees had been awaiting trial for five to 
10 years, according to a 2008 statement by the Cameroon Bar 
Association. The law precludes holding juvenile detainees more than 
three months after the conclusion of an investigation; however, 
juveniles were sometimes held for more than a year. The high number of 
pretrial detainees was due to judicial inefficiency, staff shortages, 
and corruption. The bar association attributed lengthy pretrial 
detention to a shortage of lawyers and lost files due to an inadequate 
tracking system.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary; however, the judiciary remained corrupt, 
inefficient, and subject to political influence. The court system is 
subordinate to the Ministry of Justice. The constitution names the 
president as ``first magistrate,'' thus ``chief'' of the judiciary and 
the theoretical arbiter of any sanctions against the judiciary, 
although the president has not publicly played this role. 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 Higher Judicial Council.
    On at least one occasion during the year, however, the judiciary 
demonstrated independence. On November 4, the Military Chamber of the 
Yaounde Court of Appeal overruled a decision of the military tribunal, 
which in March 2009 had sentenced journalists Jacques Blaise Mvie and 
Charles New and soldier Jeremie Doko to five years in jail following a 
complaint filed by former minister of defense Remy Ze Meka. The charges 
included calumny, offense to a government member, and the divulging of 
defense secrets. According to the Court of Appeal, the facts 
incriminating the three accused had not been established.
    The legal system includes both national and customary law, and many 
criminal and civil cases can be tried using either one. Criminal cases 
were generally tried in statutory courts.
    Customary courts served as a primary means for settling domestic 
cases, such as succession, inheritance, and child custody. Customary 
courts may exercise jurisdiction in a civil case only with the consent 
of both parties. Either party has the right to have a case heard by a 
statutory court and to appeal an adverse decision by a customary court 
to the statutory courts. Customary court convictions involving 
witchcraft are automatically transferred to the statutory courts, which 
act as the court of first instance.
    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 rights regarding inheritance and employment, and some 
traditional legal systems treat wives as the legal property of their 
husbands. Customary law practiced in rural areas is based upon the 
traditions of the ethnic group predominant in the region and 
adjudicated by traditional authorities of that group.
    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 group members who used firearms.
    In May the Ministry of Justice organized a refresher course for all 
magistrates on ways of effectively applying international norms 
relating to human rights.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for a fair public hearing in 
which the defendant is presumed innocent. There is no jury system. 
Defendants have the right to be present and to consult with an attorney 
in a timely manner, and the Government generally respected this right. 
Defendants generally were allowed to question witnesses and to present 
witnesses and evidence on their own behalf. Defendants had access to 
government-held evidence relevant to their cases and could appeal their 
cases. 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 European Union-funded program for the improvement of 
the condition of detainees and human rights (PACDET II) also allowed 
lawyers to continue to offer free assistance to 3,000 detainees.The 
April 2009 legal aid bill to facilitate judicial access for all 
citizens was not implemented during the year. In April 2009 the 
president signed into law a legal aid bill to facilitate judicial 
access for all citizens. The new law establishes legal aid commissions 
at the courts of first instance, high courts, military tribunals, 
courts of appeal, and the Supreme Court. The law also specifies the 
conditions for legal aid applications, explains the effects of legal 
aid, and identifies the conditions for withdrawal of such aid. In 2009 
lawyers and human rights organizations observed several violations of 
the criminal procedure code in the Government's response to the 
February 2008 unrest. Some detainees in police or gendarmerie cells did 
not receive medical assistance or access to an attorney. Jean de Dieu 
Momo, a human rights lawyer, and Madeleine Afite, a representative of 
Action of Christians for the Abolition of Torture, publically denounced 
these violations. Afite stated that arrested minors received no 
assistance from their parents, attorneys, or human rights 
organizations, as the code mandates.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were reports of political 
detainees, which included citizens purportedly advocating secession 
through an illegal organization (see section 3).
    During the year the Yaounde High Court repeatedly postponed the 
trial of two detainees widely considered by human rights NGOs to be 
political prisoners. Titus Edzoa, former minister of health and long-
time aide to President Biya, and Michel Thierry Atangana, Edzoa's 1997 
campaign manager, were arrested in 1997, three months after Edzoa 
resigned from the Government and launched his candidacy for president. 
They were convicted on charges of embezzling public funds and sentenced 
to 15 years in prison. Both Edzoa and Atangana complained of 
irregularities in their trials and restricted access to counsel. At the 
end of 2009, the prosecutor filed new charges against both men for 
embezzlement, and hearings started a few weeks later.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The constitution and law 
provide for an independent civil judiciary; however, the judiciary 
remained subject to executive influence, and corruption and 
inefficiency remained serious problems. Citizens have the right to seek 
redress for alleged wrongs through administrative procedures or through 
the legal system, although both options involved lengthy delays. There 
were problems enforcing civil court orders due to bureaucratic 
inefficiency and delay.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions; 
however, these rights were subject to restriction by the ``higher 
interests of the state,'' and there were credible reports that police 
and gendarmes harassed citizens, conducted searches without warrants, 
and opened or seized mail with impunity. The Government continued to 
keep some opposition activists and dissidents under surveillance. 
Police sometimes detained 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 a criminal suspect. 
A police officer may enter a private home at any time in pursuit of a 
person observed committing a crime.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that police put 
the houses of SCNC officials and activists under surveillance, searched 
the houses of SCNC leaders, or disrupted SCNC meetings in private 
residences. The SCNC is an anglophone group the Government considers 
illegal because it advocates secession. The group does not have legal 
status as it has never filed an application to become either a 
political party or other legally recognized organization.
    An administrative authority, including a governor or prefect, may 
authorize police to conduct neighborhood sweeps without warrants. Such 
sweeps at times involved forced entry into homes in search of suspected 
criminals or stolen or illegal goods. Security forces sometimes sealed 
off a neighborhood, systematically searched homes, arrested persons, 
sometimes arbitrarily, and seized suspicious or illegal articles (see 
section 1.d.). Citizens without identification cards were detained 
until their identity could be established and then released. There were 
several complaints that police arbitrarily confiscated electronic 
devices and cell phones.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that traditional 
chiefs arbitrarily evicted persons from their land.
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 
these rights in practice. Security forces allegedly tortured and 
arrested, detained, harassed, and intimidated journalists during the 
year, particularly those that covered official corruption. One such 
journalist died in prison during the year as a result of inadequate 
medical care. The Government enforced media regulations irregularly, 
often implementing arduous requirements selectively for regime critics. 
Government officials used expansive libel laws to arraign journalists 
who criticized them. Attacks on journalists dramatically increased 
during the year, according to members of the African Federation of 
Journalists, the Union of Communication Professionals in Africa, and 
the National Syndicate of Cameroon Journalists. Journalists and media 
outlets practiced self-censorship.
    Government officials threatened, harassed, and denied equal 
treatment to individuals or organizations that criticized government 
policies or expressed views at odds with government policy.
    For example, information surfaced during the year that in January 
2009 a security officer arrested Roland Fube Fonwi Tita, a chemistry 
teacher at the English High School in Yaounde, for plotting to 
assassinate the president and some ministers; the security official had 
overheard Fube criticize the president during a taxi ride with other 
passengers. Fube was taken to a gendarmerie and later released. On 
February 4, Fube was detained and charged with making disparaging 
remarks about the president. On March 3, he was released on bail, and 
the case remained pending at year's end.
    On March 8, gendarmes arrested and detained Bertrand Teyou for 
talking about the president in ``insidious terms'' during the 
dedication ceremony on the same day of his book The Antecode Biya. 
Teyou was subsequently charged with conspiracy, incitement to 
rebellion, attempt to disturb public order, and perilous activity. 
Teyou, who was detained for eight days, was again arrested and detained 
on November 9 in connection with the release of another book, The 
Beauty of the Banana Republic: Chantal Biya, From the Street to the 
Palace. On November 19, the Douala Court of First Instance found Teyou 
guilty of defamation, insult, and illegal protest, and sentenced him to 
pay a fine of two million CFA francs ($4,000). Teyou, who could not pay 
the fine, remained in jail at year's end.
    During the year approximately 200 privately owned newspapers were 
published; however, only an estimated 25 had sufficient funds to 
publish regularly. Independent newspapers continued to criticize the 
Government and report on controversial issues, including corruption, 
human rights abuses, homosexual practices, and economic policies. The 
Government continued to disburse official funds to support private 
press outlets, although it dispersed funds selectively to outlets that 
were less critical of the Government and with instructions to provide 
reporting favorable to the regime.
    Security forces arrested numerous journalists during the year.
    On February 5, DGRE officers arrested without charge and detained 
incommunicado Serges Sabouang, editor of the bi-monthly La Nation, and 
Simon Herve Nko'o, a reporter with the weekly Bebela, for one week for 
illegally possessing a document that could tarnish the image of 
government officials. The document allegedly implicated Laurent Esso, 
the secretary general of the presidency and board chairman of the 
state-run National Hydrocarbons Company, in secret payouts totaling 1.3 
billion CFA francs ($2.6 million) to three government officials 
involved in the 2008 purchase of an offshore vessel, reportedly 
purchased to entertain potential investors. According to the CPJ, which 
obtained a copy of a February 22 medical certificate detailing the 
condition of Nko'o upon release, security agents used torture to force 
Nko'o to reveal his sources. The certificate revealed that Nko'o had 
bruises on the soles of his feet, and the journalist told the doctor 
that he had been subjected to water boarding, sleep deprivation, and 
exposure to cold. Sabouang was interrogated, but not tortured.
    Also on February 5, DGRE agents briefly detained and interrogated 
for 12 hours Robert Mintya, editor of the weekly Le Devoir, and Germain 
Ngota (Bibi) Ngota, editor and founder of the independent bimonthly 
Cameroon Express, in connection with the same document. Ngota 
subsequently went into hiding.
    On February 26, police in Yaounde rearrested Mintya, Ngota (who had 
resurfaced), and Sabouang for forging the signature of a government 
official on the same document; the charge constitutes a criminal 
offense and is punishable by up to 15 years' imprisonment. Police 
released the three journalists a few days later; however, on March 10, 
they were rearrested and detained at Kondengui Prison in Yaounde. On 
April 22, Ngota, who suffered from gout, joint pain, high blood 
pressure, and a hernia, died from lack of medical attention. According 
to local media, Ngota's mother tried unsuccessfully to get relevant 
authorities to pay attention to Ngota's medical situation. A subsequent 
government investigation claimed Ngota died of AIDS-related 
complications. Following strong international pressure, the Government 
on November 25 released Mintya and Sabouang on their own recognizance, 
although both journalists still faced sentences of up to 20 years' 
imprisonment.
    According to information made public during the year and released 
by the CPJ, the Government in 2009 lodged criminal charges against four 
leading journalists and an academic for commenting during a 2008 
television program on the case of Yves Michel Fotso, a former executive 
at the national airline charged with corruption. Among those named was 
Spectrum TV Editor-in-Chief Thierry Ngogang, freelance journalist Alex 
Gustave Azebaze, Canal 2 International reporter Anani Rabier Bindze, 
and Jean-Marc Soboth, a prominent journalist and leading press freedom 
activist charged with ``biased commentary'' and ``unauthorized 
disclosure of a confidential document.'' In January Soboth went into 
hiding after receiving anonymous death threats, according to local 
journalists.
    Security forces obstructed journalists from reporting on the cases 
of former officials indicted in Operation Sparrowhawk, an official 
investigation of former officials accused of mismanaging public funds. 
According to the CPJ, for example, on January 17, officers at the State 
Secretariat for Defense in Yaounde briefly detained Nadege Christelle 
Bowa and confiscated her notes from an interview with Thierry Michel 
Atangana, a former presidential adviser, on corruption charges. On 
February 24, police detained reporter Justin Blaise Akono and forced 
him to delete courtroom photos taken during a hearing in the trial of 
Titus Edzoa, a former presidential adviser accused of embezzlement.
    According to the CPJ, the trial continued of Editor-in-Chief Charly 
Ndi Chia and Yaounde Bureau Chief Yerima Kini Nsom of the English-
language biweekly The Post over an October 2009 story referencing the 
criminal case of Doh Gah Gwanyin III, a former local official convicted 
of involvement in the murder of an opposition politician in 2006. 
Following the first hearing in November 2009, the trial was repeatedly 
delayed due to the plaintiff's health.
    Press freedom is constrained by strict libel laws that suppress 
criticism. These laws authorize 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. The libel law places the 
burden of proof on the defendant. Government officials abused this law 
to keep local journalists from reporting on corruption and abusive 
behavior.
    There were developments in several 2009 libel cases.
    On January 13, Jean Bosco Talla, editor of the independent weekly 
Germinal, was released from Kondengui Prison after he paid a three 
million CFA francs ($6,000) fine. In December 2009 Talla was sentenced 
to the fine and a suspended one-year prison term for alleged libel 
against President Biya, who Talla claimed had betrayed a ``secret 
homosexual pact'' with former president Ahidjo.
    On January 30, the Yaounde Court of Appeals confirmed the October 
2009 sentence imposed by a lower court of 14 months in prison and a 
fine of one million CFA francs ($2,000), damages of five million CFA 
francs ($10,000), and costs of 265,000 CFA francs ($530) against Michel 
Mombio, editor of the independent newspaper L'Ouest Republicain; Mombio 
was charged with fraud, attempted blackmail, and libel after he wrote 
an article criticizing cabinet officials. On February 15, the court 
released Mombio on bail after he paid the fines.
    Also on January 30, the Douala Court of Appeals confirmed the 
three-year prison sentence imposed by a lower court in January 2009 on 
Lewis Medjo, publisher of La Detente Libre, who was arrested in 2008. 
Medjo was released on May 26, following a meeting between President 
Biya and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
    On September 25, the Union of Press Editors of Central Africa 
issued a press release on behalf of Guy Constantin Moussi, publisher of 
the Indices newspaper; Moussi was tried during the year for publishing 
an article in March that accused Elajeli Musbah of trafficking in 
foreign currency. According to the union's press release, Elajeli 
Musbah, the local representative of Libyan airline Afriqiyah, had 
exerted strong pressure on magistrates to condemn the publisher. The 
December 16 hearing on the case in the Douala first instance court was 
postponed to January 2011.
    Radio remained the most important medium and reached most citizens. 
There were approximately 70 privately owned radio stations operating in 
the country, three-fourths of them in Yaounde and Douala. Television 
had lower levels of penetration than print media but was more 
influential in shaping public opinion in urban areas. There was one 
private cable television network. The five independent television 
stations skirted criticism of the Government, although their news 
broadcasts sometimes focused on poverty, unemployment, and poor 
education, pointing to the role of government neglect and corruption. 
The state-owned Cameroon Radio and Television (CRTV) broadcast on both 
television and radio. The Government levied taxes to finance CRTV 
programming, which gave CRTV a distinct advantage over independent 
broadcasters.
    The Government required nonprofit rural radio stations to submit 
applications to broadcast, but they were exempt from licensing fees. 
Potential commercial radio and television broadcasters must submit a 
licensing application and pay an application fee with the application. 
After a license is issued, stations must pay an annual licensing fee, 
which was expensive for some stations. Although the Government did not 
issue new broadcast licenses during the year, companies operated 
without them under a government policy of administrative tolerance.
    On January 3, the minister of communication authorized the 
reopening of the Sky One FM Radio station, which he closed in August 
2009 after the station refused to stop broadcasting the program Le 
Tribunal, which allowed listeners to air grievances and seek 
assistance. The radio station complied with the minister's demands, 
which included cancelling Le Tribunal.
    Several rural community radio stations functioned with funding from 
the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization and foreign 
countries. The Government prohibited these stations from discussing 
politics.
    The law permits broadcasting by foreign news services that partner 
with national stations. The BBC, Radio France International, and 
Africa1 broadcast in partnership with CRTV.
    The Government was the largest advertiser in the country. Some 
private media enterprises reported that government officials used the 
promise of advertising (or the threat of withholding it) to influence 
reporting of the Government's activities.
    On March 9, the CPJ wrote a letter to President Biya expressing 
concern about ongoing abuses against press freedom. The CPJ called on 
the president to hold members of his administration accountable for 
using security forces and criminal laws to settle scores with the media 
and urged the president to initiate reforms that would refer matters of 
defamation to civil courts.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2009, 
Internet penetration in the country was approximately 2.2 percent.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--Although there were no legal 
restrictions on academic freedom, state security informants reportedly 
operated on university campuses. Professors said that participation in 
opposition political parties or public criticism of the Government 
could affect their professional opportunities.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The law provides for freedom of assembly; however, the 
Government restricted this right in practice. The law requires 
organizers of public meetings, demonstrations, and 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 asserted that the law implicitly 
authorizes the Government to grant or deny permission for public 
assembly. Consequently, the Government often refused to grant permits 
for assemblies organized by persons or groups critical of the 
Government and used force to suppress public assemblies for which it 
had not issued permits.
    Authorities refused to grant the SCNC permission to hold rallies 
and meetings, and security forces arrested and detained SCNC activists 
(see section 3). Security forces forcibly disrupted demonstrations, 
meetings, and rallies of citizens, trade unions, and political 
activists throughout the year. The use of excessive force by security 
forces resulted in numerous injuries.
    The Government banned some union activities during the year (see 
section 7.a.).
    On May 3, security forces prevented approximately 200 members of 
the Union of Cameroonian journalists (UCJ) from holding a sit-in near 
the Office of the Prime Minister; the journalists were assembling to 
protest the harassment, arrest, and detention of their colleagues and 
the death in prison of Bibi Ngota (see section 2.a.). Police used 
batons on the journalists, several of whom sustained minor injuries 
along with damage to their clothes and loss of personal property. In 
justifying the ban, police claimed the UCJ had not provided ample 
notice of the event to the appropriate authority.
    On August 25, security officers disrupted a press conference that 
the Republican Forum, a newly created opposition party, organized at 
the Djeuga Palace in Yaounde. The officers harassed the organizers, 
while claiming that the conference was illegal. Party Chairman Roland 
Romain Kouotou denied the allegations and brandished an authorization 
letter issued by the sous-prefet of Yaounde I.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association, but the Government limited this right in practice. The law 
prohibits organizations that advocate any type of secession, resulting 
in the disruption of SCNC meetings on the grounds that the purpose of 
the organization rendered any meetings illegal.
    On October 1, which the SCNC commemorates as independence day for 
``Southern Cameroons,'' security forces disrupted SCNC meetings and 
rallies in Tiko, Buea, Bamenda, and Kumbo.
    The conditions for government recognition of political parties, 
NGOs, or associations were arduous, interminable, and unevenly 
enforced. The process forced most associations to operate in 
uncertainty, in which their activities were tolerated but not formally 
approved.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--Although the constitution and law 
provide for freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, 
emigration, and repatriation, security forces routinely impeded 
domestic and international travel during the year. The Government 
cooperated with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other 
humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
    Security forces at roadblocks and checkpoints in cities and on most 
highways extorted bribes and harassed travelers. Police frequently 
stopped travelers to check identification documents, vehicle 
registrations, and tax receipts as security and immigration control 
measures. There were credible reports that police arrested and beat 
individuals who failed to carry their identification cards as required 
by law (see section 1.d.).
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it; 
however, some human rights monitors and political opponents remained in 
self-imposed exile because they felt threatened by the Government.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--In 2005 between 10,000 and 
15,000 persons in and around the Adamaoua Region villages of Djohong 
and Ngaoui were displaced following attacks and looting by unidentified 
armed groups from the Central African Republic (CAR). Officials in the 
Adamaoua Region administration reported that hundreds of IDPs remained.
    During the year the Government worked with UNHCR to protect and 
assist IDPs.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system of providing protection to refugees. The 
Government granted refugee status or asylum. In practice the Government 
provided protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to 
countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account 
of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular group, 
or political opinion.
    The Government provided temporary protection under the 1951 UN 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol and 
provided it to more than 101,000 persons, including 80,000 from CAR, 
3,000 from Chad, and 4,000 from Nigeria.
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, President Biya and the CPDM party controlled the 
political process, including the judiciary and agencies responsible for 
the conduct and oversight of elections.
    In 2008 the National Assembly passed a constitutional amendment 
that removed presidential term limits and added provisions for 
presidential immunity. Although considerable national discussion of the 
proposal ensued, the National Assembly ultimately passed the revisions 
in a manner that allowed no debate and underscored the CPDM's 
unfettered control of all government branches. Neither the electorate 
nor its elected representatives had an opportunity to affect the 
outcome of the constitutional exercise.

    Elections and Political Participation.--During the 2007 legislative 
elections, observers witnessed poor supervision at the polling stations 
and lax application of the electoral law. An unnecessarily complex 
registration process effectively disenfranchised numerous voters. The 
Government failed to implement promised electoral improvements, such as 
the provision of indelible ink--an internationally recognized safeguard 
against multiple voting--to many polling stations. In addition, despite 
efforts to computerize voter registration, the lists still included 
numerous errors.
    The Supreme Court received more than 130 complaints from political 
parties after the elections, but dismissed the majority of them on 
technical grounds. However, the court ordered new elections in five 
constituencies for 17 parliamentary seats, which were held in 2007; the 
CPDM won 13 seats and opposition parties four. Observers noted some 
irregularities and low voter turnout.
    In 2008 the Government's National Elections Observatory, which was 
responsible for ensuring electoral fairness, published its assessment 
of the 2007 legislative and municipal elections. The report cited 
shortcomings due to lack of coordination between the various electoral 
commissions and a lack of clear, uniform procedures for the various 
stages of the electoral process, particularly the registration process.
    In 2004 President Biya, who has controlled the Government since 
1982, was reelected with approximately 70 percent of the vote in an 
election that was poorly managed and marred by irregularities, in 
particular in the voter registration process, although widely viewed as 
more free and fair than previous elections. Although most international 
observers agreed that it reflected the will of the voters, the 
Commonwealth Observer Group maintained that the election lacked 
credibility.
    All members of Elections Cameroon (ELECAM), the electoral body 
responsible for the preparation and organization of elections, were 
appointed by the president. Most board members were active CPDM 
members. Many in the international community publicly questioned the 
independence and credibility of ELECAM, given the partisan nature of 
its council membership.
    The right of citizens to choose their local governments remained 
circumscribed. The Government greatly increased the number of 
municipalities run by presidentially appointed delegates, who have 
authority over elected mayors, effectively disenfranchising the 
residents of those localities. Delegate-run cities included most of the 
provincial capitals and some division capitals in pro-opposition 
regions; however, this practice was almost nonexistent in the southern 
regions, which tended to support the ruling CPDM party. 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.
    There were more than 253 registered political parties. Fewer than 
10, however, had significant levels of support, and only five had seats 
in the National Assembly. The CPDM held an absolute majority in the 
National Assembly. Opposition parties included the SDF, based in the 
anglophone regions and some major cities, the National Union for 
Democracy and Progress, the Cameroon Democratic Union, and the Union of 
the Peoples of Cameroon.
    Membership in the ruling political party conferred significant 
advantages, including in the allocation of key jobs in parastatals and 
the civil service. The president appoints all ministers, including the 
prime minister, and also directly appoints the governors of each of the 
10 regions. The president has the power to appoint important lower 
level members of the 58 regional administrative structures as well. 
Onerous requirements for registration of parties and candidates 
restricted political activity.
    Natives of the North West and South West regions tended to support 
the opposition SDF party and consequently suffered disproportionately 
from human rights abuses committed by the Government and its security 
forces. The anglophone community complained of being underrepresented 
in the public sector. Although citizens in certain francophone areas--
the East, Far North, North, and Adamaoua Regions--voiced similar 
complaints about under-representation and government neglect, 
anglophones claimed they had not received a fair share of public sector 
goods and services within their two regions. Many residents of the 
anglophone regions sought greater freedom, equality of opportunity, and 
better government by regaining regional autonomy rather than through 
national political reform, and have formed several quasipolitical 
organizations in pursuit of their goals.
    Authorities sometimes refused to grant opposition parties 
permission to hold rallies and meetings.
    During the year the Government arrested SCNC activists for 
participating in SCNC activities. The Government considered the SCNC 
illegal because it advocates secession and has never registered as a 
political party or organization.
    On September 29, security forces in Kumbo, North West Region, 
arrested and briefly detained five SCNC activists who were gathering 
material to commemorate the 49th anniversary on October 1 of the 
independence of West Cameroon, an anniversary not recognized by the 
Government.
    On October 1, police in Tiko, South West Region, arrested and 
briefly detained an SCNC activist for hoisting the SCNC flag in 
commemoration of October 1. Police later released him.
    Women held 23 of 180 seats in the National Assembly, six of 61 
cabinet posts, and a few of the higher offices within the major 
political parties, including the ruling CPDM.
    Pygmies were not represented in the National Assembly or in the 
higher offices of government.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. The 
World Bank's 2009 Worldwide Governance Indicators reflected that 
corruption was a severe problem. The public perception was that 
judicial and administrative officials were open to bribes in almost all 
situations. Corruption was pervasive at all levels of government. 
During the year the Government sanctioned dozens of government 
employees, particularly those from previous administrations, for 
corruption and mismanagement.
    The National Anticorruption Commission (CONAC) is the country's 
principal independent anticorruption agency; however, it was 
subservient to the president. In 2009 CONAC received 312 petitions 
concerning corruption and related offenses, of which 238 resulted in 
prosecution. The National Financial Investigations Unit (ANIF), a 
separate financial intelligence unit that tracks money laundering, has 
referred to judicial authorities 104 of 450 reports received of 
suspicious transactions since ANIF's creation in May 2005; the ANIF has 
been informed of no trials or hearings addressing any of the 104 
reports referred.
    Police were corrupt. Individuals reportedly paid bribes to police 
and the judiciary to secure their freedom. Police demanded bribes at 
checkpoints, and influential citizens reportedly paid police to make 
arrests or abuse individuals involved in personal disputes.
    Police were sanctioned for corruption during the year.
    For example, on January 18, DGSN Director Emmanuel Edou suspended 
Police Inspector Eric Brice Essama, who served at the public security 
office in Nkoteng, Center Region, for three months without pay for 
extortion and indiscipline; legal action was pending at year's end.
    On May 5, Edou suspended Second Grade Police Officer Zaza Mahamat 
for three months without pay for embezzlement of public funds and 
breach of trust; the case was pending prosecution at year's end.
    Judicial corruption was a problem. According to several press 
reports, judicial authorities accepted illegal payments from detainees' 
families in exchange for a reduction in sentence or the outright 
release of their relatives. Political bias by judges (often instructed 
by the Government) frequently stopped or delayed judicial proceedings. 
Many powerful political or business interests enjoyed virtual immunity 
from prosecution, and politically sensitive cases sometimes were 
settled through bribes.
    During the year security forces arrested for corruption several 
former government officials, who generally were held in separate 
quarters and received preferential treatment.
    On January 6, police arrested and detained Haman Adama, former 
minister of basic education, and Roger Ntongo Onguene, former general 
manager of Cameroon Airports, on corruption charges. Both former 
officials, who were accused of embezzling public funds worth hundreds 
of millions of CFA francs, were in pretrial detention at year's end.
    On January 12, police arrested and detained Catherine Abena, former 
secretary of state for secondary education, on embezzlement charges. At 
year's end Abena was being detained in Kondengui Prison awaiting trial.
    On August 12, CONAC informed the public that the corruption 
investigations of 47 officials in the Ministry of Agriculture had been 
completed and that the cases had been transferred to the judiciary for 
prosecution; the 47 were allegedly involved in the embezzlement of 
public funds intended to boost corn production.
    On October 6, the Wouri High Court opened hearings in the trial of 
Paul Ngamo Hamani, former general manager of Cameroon Airlines, who was 
arrested in March 2009 for embezzlement. The trial was ongoing at 
year's end.
    According to the Report by the Ministry of Justice on Human Rights 
in Cameroon in 2009, dozens of judicial proceedings were instituted 
against persons for alleged misappropriation of public funds in public 
and semi-public enterprises in 2009. For example, in the Yaounde High 
Court, preliminary inquiries were opened into 49 cases of 
misappropriation of public funds; 64 cases were pending hearing and 
determination; and 31 judgments were delivered, of which 16 were 
appealed.
    According to the Report by the Ministry of Justice on Human Rights 
in Cameroon in 2009, in June 2009 the Douala Court of Appeals sentenced 
Alphonse Siyam Siwe and two other defendants to life imprisonment for 
embezzlement; the lower court had issued 30-year sentences. Among 
others accused in the case, one was sentenced to 25 years in prison, 
eight to 15 years, and another to one year. In addition, the court 
reversed the Wouri Higher Court's acquittal of seven defendants and 
sentenced six to 15 years' imprisonment and the seventh to one year in 
prison.
    Jerome Mendouga, a former ambassador who was arrested in April 2009 
for embezzlement in connection with the purchase of a presidential 
plane, remained in pretrial detention at year's end.
    There were no developments in the 2009 corruption case of Dieudonne 
Ambassa Zang, a CPDM deputy whose parliamentary immunity was lifted in 
August 2009. Ambassa Zang had not been arrested by year's end and was 
believed to have fled the country.
    There were no developments in the August 2009 arrest and detention 
of Jean-Baptiste Nguini Effa, former general manager of the Government-
owned National Petroleum Distribution Company, along with six of his 
close collaborators, for embezzlement. Nguini and the other six 
remained in pretrial detention at year's end.
    The following developments occurred in 2008 corruption cases.
    On February 16, the Yaounde High Court began the trial of Urbain 
Olanguena Awono, former minister of public health, who was arrested in 
2008 on embezzlement charges. The trial was ongoing at year's end.
    On March 17, the Yaounde High Court began the trial of Polycarpe 
Abah Abah, a former minister of finance who was arrested in 2008 for 
allegedly embezzling more than two billion CFA francs ($4 million) 
while in charge of collecting taxes. The ongoing trial has been 
postponed numerous times due to the defendant's health and a pending 
government appeal of a judge's decision to dismiss some of the charges 
against him.
    On July 29, the Yaounde High Court began the trial of Jean Marie 
Atangana Mebara, a former secretary general of the presidency, who was 
arrested in 2008 for embezzlement in connection with the purchase of an 
airplane for President Biya that resulted in the loss of more than 15 
billion CFA francs ($30 million) to the treasury. Mebara's trial has 
been postponed several times because only one out of the required three 
judges was present.
    On October 28, the Douala High Court sentenced Zacchaeus Mungwe 
Forjindam, former general manager of the Cameroon Shipyard and 
Engineering Company, to 12 years in jail and confiscation of personal 
property for embezzling public funds. Forjindam, who was arrested in 
2008, had appealed a lower court's decision. The court also imposed an 
850 million CFA francs ($1.7 million) fine in damages on Forjindam and 
his co-accused.
    There were no developments in the 2008 corruption case of Paulin 
Abono Moampamb, a former secretary of state and mayor of Yokadouma, who 
was arrested and detained for embezzlement.
    The constitution and law require senior government officials, 
including members of the cabinet, to declare their assets; however, the 
president had not issued the requisite decree to implement the law by 
year's end.
    There are no laws providing citizens with access to government 
information, and such access was difficult to obtain. Most government 
documents, such as statistics, letters exchanged between various 
administrations, draft legislation, and investigation reports, were not 
available to the public or the media.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A number of domestic and international human rights groups 
investigated and published findings on human rights cases; however, 
government officials repeatedly impeded the effectiveness of local 
human rights NGOs during the year by harassing their members, limiting 
access to prisoners, refusing to share information, threatening 
violence, and using violence against NGO personnel.
    Despite these restrictions, numerous independent domestic human 
rights NGOs operated, including the National League for Human Rights, 
the Organization for Human Rights and Freedoms, the Association of 
Women against Violence, the Movement for the Defense of Human Rights 
and Freedoms, and the Cameroonian Association of Female Jurists. The 
Government collaborated with domestic NGOs to address child labor, 
women's rights, and trafficking in persons.
    Although the NCHRF remained hampered by a shortage of funds, during 
the year it conducted a number of investigations into human rights 
abuses, visited prisons, and organized several human rights seminars 
for judicial officials, security personnel, and other government 
officials. Although the commission rarely criticized the Government's 
human rights abuses publicly, its staff intervened with government 
officials in specific cases of human rights abuses by security forces. 
During the year the NCHRF continued its efforts to stop ``Friday 
arrests'' (the practice of detaining individuals on Friday to prolong 
the time before court appearance) and sought to obtain medical 
attention for jailed suspects. Government officials also attended 
several seminars organized by the commission.
    On June 24, in Douala, gendarmes in the Ndogbong neighborhood 
arrested and detained Mboua Massock, a political and human rights 
activist who was distributing tracts in the street; Massock was 
released after two hours. According to the gendarmes, the message in 
the tracts was likely to disturb public order. Massock had been 
arrested twice in 2009 for defacing public property (disfiguring a 
monument), a charge he did not contest.
    There were no developments in the case of Aicha Ngo Eheg, a human 
rights activist who was arrested, beaten, and stripped naked by Douala 
antiriot police in February 2008; Ngo Eheg, along with other 
demonstrators, had gathered in the Douala neighborhood of Bepanda to 
march against constitutional changes to expand presidential power.
    The Government cooperated with international governmental 
organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives and other 
organizations, including the ICRC.
    Unlike in the previous year, when the Government denied visas to an 
Amnesty International (AI) team following the release of the annual AI 
report, the Government issued visas to two AI officials who visited the 
country in August. During their 10-day visit, the two officials met 
with senior government officials, including the prime minister and the 
minister of justice. They also held meetings with the NCHRF and local 
human rights NGOs.
    The National Assembly's Constitutional Laws, Human Rights and 
Freedoms, Justice, Legislation, Regulations, and Administration 
Committee is charged with reviewing any human rights legislation the 
Government submits for consideration.
    On November 2, the Government published the Report by the Ministry 
of Justice on Human Rights in Cameroon in 2009, which focused primarily 
on enumerating government actions to address human rights issues, such 
as judicial and disciplinary action taken against officials accused of 
corruption or other inappropriate conduct. The report documented 
hundreds of investigations, disciplinary actions, and prosecutions in 
2009 (see sections 1.c., 1.d., and 4).
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law does not explicitly forbid discrimination based on race, 
language, or social status, but does prohibit discrimination based on 
gender and mandates that ``everyone has equal rights and obligations.'' 
The Government, however, did not enforce these provisions effectively. 
Violence and discrimination against women, trafficked persons, ethnic 
minorities, and gays and lesbians were problems.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape and provides penalties of between 
five and ten years' imprisonment for convicted rapists; however, police 
and the courts rarely investigated or prosecuted rape cases. The law 
does not address spousal rape. A study conducted in 2009 reported the 
rapes of hundreds of thousands of young girls and women between 1970 
and 2008 (see also section 6, Children.). Due to social taboos 
associated with sexual violence, most rapes went unreported, and the 
media reported only four rape cases during the year. It was unknown 
whether any of the four cases resulted in prosecution. In June 2009 the 
German Agency for International Cooperation, in collaboration with 
local NGOs, launched a national campaign against rape, which continued 
during the year.
    The law does not specifically prohibit domestic violence, although 
assault is prohibited and punishable by imprisonment and fines. In 2008 
a study from La Maison des Droits de l'Homme, a Douala-based NGO, 
reported that approximately 39 percent of women suffered from physical 
violence. A 2005 survey cited by the Cameroon Tribune newspaper also 
indicated that 39 percent of women living with a man (married or 
unmarried) were victims of physical violence, and 28 percent were 
victims of psychological violence. Women's rights advocates asserted 
that penalties for domestic violence were insufficient. Spousal abuse 
is not a legal ground for divorce.
    The law does not prohibit sexual harassment. The Government did not 
conduct any public education campaigns on the subject, and there were 
no statistics available on its occurrence.
    In rural northern areas, societal pressures continued to reinforce 
taboos on discussing contraception and all other sex-related issues. 
However, the Government, in cooperation with NGOs, conducted programs 
designed to educate couples, especially men, to better understand the 
positive aspects of responsible spacing between childbirths. In May, 
during the launch of a campaign against maternal mortality, the 
minister of public health revealed that 12 women a day in the country 
lost their lives in childbirth and that the maternal mortality rate was 
669 per 100,000 births. Prenatal care, skilled attendance during 
childbirth, and postpartum care were not available to all women, 
particularly to those living in rural areas. For several years the 
Ministry of Public Health has produced radio and televised information 
programs on responsible parenthood, including encouraging couples to 
use contraception to space the timing of their children. Couples were 
also encouraged to get HIV/AIDS testing prior to conception, and 
efforts continued to increase HIV/AIDS testing for all pregnant women 
at health clinics. Women were equally diagnosed and treated for 
sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, and all government 
and civil society campaigns against the disease targeted men and women.
    Despite constitutional provisions recognizing women's rights, women 
did not enjoy the same rights and privileges as men, and some 
provisions of civil law were prejudicial to women. For example, the law 
allows a husband to deny his wife's right to work, and a husband may 
also end his wife's right to engage in commercial activity by notifying 
the clerk of the commerce tribunal. Customary law imposes further 
strictures on women since in many regions a woman was regarded as the 
property of her husband. Because of the importance of custom and 
tradition, civil laws protecting women often were not respected. For 
example, in some ethnic groups women were precluded from inheriting 
from their husbands. The Ministry of Women's Empowerment and the Family 
worked with other government agencies to promote the legal rights of 
women.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from the parents, and it is the 
parents' responsibility to register births. Parents must obtain a birth 
declaration from the hospital or health facility in which the child was 
born and complete the application. The mayor's office subsequently 
issues the birth certificate once the file is completed and approved. 
Because many children were not born in formal health facilities, and 
many parents were unable to reach local government offices, many births 
were unregistered; statistics on unregistered births were unavailable. 
In recent years the Government created special civil status centers in 
remote areas to enable rural residents to register their children. 
Citizens unable to avail themselves of these resources often turned to 
a thriving fabrication industry for birth certificates, which were 
required to register children for school or obtain a national 
identification card. The Government continued its program begun in 2005 
to issue birth certificates to Baka, most of whom did not have birth 
certificates (see section 6, Indigenous People.) The program also 
assisted Baka in registering for school.
    Schooling is mandatory through the age of 14; however, parents had 
to pay uniform and book fees for primary school students and tuition 
and other fees for secondary school students, rendering education 
largely unaffordable for many children. The Government continued its 
efforts under a three-year program to improve access to schools, such 
as the construction of new classrooms, recruitment of new teachers, and 
provision of water fountains.
    According to 2008 UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) statistics, 77 
percent of girls between the ages of six and 14 were enrolled in 
primary school, compared with 88 percent of boys in the same age group. 
According to a 2006 report from the presidency, the secondary school 
enrollment ratio was 38 percent for boys and 37 percent for girls. The 
low school enrollment rate was attributed to cost, with girls' 
participation further reduced by early marriage, sexual harassment, 
unwanted pregnancy, prejudice, and domestic responsibilities.
    Child abuse was a problem, although no statistics were available. 
Newspaper reports often cited children as victims of kidnapping, 
mutilation, and even infanticide. There were credible stories of 
mothers (usually young, unemployed, and unmarried) abandoning their 
newborns in streets, garbage cans, and pit toilets.
    The law does not prohibit FGM, which was practiced in isolated 
areas of the Far North, East, and Southwest regions; statistics on its 
prevalence were unavailable. Internal migration contributed to the 
spread of FGM to different parts of the country. The majority of FGM 
procedures were clitorectomies. The severest form of FGM, infibulation, 
was performed in the Kajifu area of the Southwest Region. FGM usually 
was practiced on infants and preadolescent girls. Public health centers 
in areas where FGM was frequently practiced counseled women about the 
harmful consequences of FGM; however, few perpetrators were caught in 
the act, and the Government did not prosecute any persons charged with 
perpetrating FGM. According to the Association to Fight Violence 
against Women, FGM practitioners frequently conducted secret, rather 
than open, ceremonies following the subjection of a girl to FGM.
    Breast ironing, a procedure to flatten a young girl's growing 
breasts with hot stones, victimized numerous girls in the country, 
according to press reports. The procedure was considered a way to delay 
a girl's physical development, thus limiting the risk of sexual assault 
and teenage pregnancy. Girls as young as nine were subjected to the 
practice, which resulted in burns, deformities, and psychological 
problems.
    While the minimum legal age for a woman to marry is 15, many 
families facilitated the marriage of young girls by the age of 12. 
Early marriage was prevalent in the northern regions of Adamaoua, 
North, and particularly the remote Far North, where many girls as young 
as nine faced severe health risks from pregnancies. There were no 
statistics on the prevalence of child marriage.
    Children under the age of 18 were engaged in prostitution, and the 
problem was believed to be pervasive, although no statistics were 
available.
    A 2009 study conducted by the German development organization GTZ 
reported that an estimated 432,000 women and girls have been raped in 
the past 20 years: 20 percent of rapes were perpetrated by family 
members, and the average age of victims was 15 years. According to 
Flavien Ndonko, the head of GTZ's HIV/AIDS program, rape has steadily 
increased, and only about one in 20 rapists was convicted. A campaign 
led by GTZ in 2009 encouraged victims to speak publicly about rape. In 
September the Ministry of Social affairs, UNICEF, and the Ecole 
Instrument de Paix, a local NGO, organized a workshop in Douala to 
address the growing problem of the sexual abuse of children.
    Approximately 2,000 children lived on the streets of the major 
urban centers. The Project to Fight the Phenomenon of Street Children, 
a governmental project in partnership with NGOs, gathered information 
on street children and offered healthcare, education, and psychosocial 
care; the project also bolstered the intake capacities of specialized 
centers.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community was very small, and there were 
no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--In April the president promulgated a 
new law to protect and promote the rights of persons with disabilities 
due in part to the scarcity of facilities for persons with disabilities 
and lack of public assistance. The new law provides that both new and 
existing government and private buildings be designed to facilitate 
access by persons with disabilities. While all children were entitled 
to tuition-free primary school, the new law also provides for free 
secondary public education for persons with disabilities and children 
born of parents with disabilities. The law also provides for initial 
vocational training, medical treatment, employment ``when possible,'' 
and public assistance ``when needed.''
    On February 1, the Ministry of Social Affairs released a guide to 
educate persons with disabilities on their legal rights and the 
services available to them. The UN provided some of the financing for a 
new guide that was released in November.
    Society largely treated those with disabilities as outcasts, and 
many felt that providing assistance was the responsibility of churches 
or foreign NGOs.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The population consists of more 
than 250 ethnic groups, among which there were frequent and credible 
allegations of discrimination. Ethnic groups commonly gave preferential 
treatment to fellow ethnic group members in business and social 
practices. Members of the president's Beti/Bulu ethnic group from 
southern areas held key positions and were disproportionately 
represented in the Government, state-owned businesses, security forces, 
and the ruling CPDM party.
    Northern areas continued to suffer from ethnic tensions between the 
Fulani (or Peuhl) and the Kirdi, who remained socially, educationally, 
and economically disadvantaged relative to the Fulani in the three 
northern regions.
    Traditional Fulani rulers, called lamibe, continued to wield great 
power over their subjects, who often included Kirdi, and sometimes 
subjected them to tithing and forced labor. Isolated cases of slavery 
were reported, largely Fulani enslavement of Kirdi. Many Fulani hired 
Kirdi at exploitive wage levels to perform tasks that the Fulani 
considered menial and beneath them.
    The 40 persons detained in connection with 2008 ethnic violence 
following a soccer game between Bamileke and Yebekolo members remained 
in detention.
    Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that Alhadji Baba 
Ahmadou Danpullo, a wealthy businessman with ties to the Government, 
deceived M'Bororo women into sexual situations, forcibly displaced 
M'Bororo and seized their land and cattle, or used his money and 
influence with the Government to order the beating and false 
imprisonment of M'Bororo.

    Indigenous People.--An estimated 50,000 to 100,000 Baka, including 
Bakola, and Bagyeli (Pygmies), primarily resided (and were the earliest 
known inhabitants) in the forested areas of the South and East regions. 
While no legal discrimination exists, other groups often treated the 
Baka as inferior and sometimes subjected them to unfair and 
exploitative labor practices. The Government did not effectively 
protect their civil and political rights, but has made an effort to 
assist Baka with national registration, which is a critical first step 
to participation and representation in institutions that can better 
advance Baka rights. Baka reportedly continued to complain that the 
forests they inhabit were being logged without fair compensation. Some 
observers believed 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 and 
had been cheated 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 2005 the Ministry of Social Affairs 
launched the Project to Support the Economic and Social Development of 
Baka in South Region. The project goal was to facilitate the issuance 
of birth certificates and national identity cards to 2,300 Baka, as 
well as help register hundreds of students in school. In August 2009 
the regional coordinator of the National Program for Participative 
Development, the implementing agency, indicated that they were able to 
assist with approximately 2,000 birth certificates and 1,000 national 
identity cards. The program continued during the year.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Homosexual activity is illegal 
and punishable by a prison sentence of six months to five years and a 
fine ranging from 20,000 to 200,000 CFA francs ($40 to $400). During 
the year three persons in Douala and two in Yaounde were arrested for 
suspected homosexual activity. Authorities prosecuted at least four 
persons under this law during the year. Homosexual persons generally 
kept a low profile because of the pervasive societal stigma, 
discrimination, and harassment as well as the possibility of 
imprisonment. Gays and lesbians suffered from harassment and extortion 
by law enforcement officials. False allegations of homosexuality were 
used to harass enemies or to extort money.On December 28, the Douala 
first instance court released from pretrial detention Alain Nje Penda, 
who was arrested for alleged homosexual acts in November 2009.
    Several lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender organizations 
operated. There was a pattern of discrimination against members of such 
groups; however, no official cases were available for citation.

    Other Societal Discrimination.--1Persons infected with HIV/AIDS 
were often discriminated against and isolated from their families and 
society due to the societal stigma and lack of education about the 
disease.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers to form and 
join trade unions; however, the Government imposed numerous 
restrictions in law and in practice. The labor code does not apply to 
the agricultural or informal sectors, and thus to the majority of the 
workforce. The country had an estimated ten million workers, although 
less than 700,000 were in the formal sector. Seventy percent of the 
country's workforce was in the agricultural sector, 13 percent in the 
industrial sector, and 17 percent in the service sector. 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 or even closely related sectors.
    The law requires that unions register with the Government, 
permitting only groups of no fewer than 20 workers to organize a union 
by submitting a constitution, bylaws, and nonconviction certifications 
for each founding member. Although registered trade unions may no 
longer be dissolved by administrative authorities, and may only be 
dissolved through the judicial process, the law provides for prison 
sentences and heavy fines for workers who form a union and carry out 
union activities without registration. Such penalties are in breach of 
International Labor Organization (ILO) conventions. Trade unions or 
associations of public servants may not join a foreign occupational or 
labor organization without prior authorization from the minister 
responsible for ``supervising public freedoms.''
    Government interference reportedly took various forms, including 
selectively recognizing certain trade unions and inconsistently 
applying the laws. Government officials stated that the Government 
provided union certification within one month of application; however, 
independent unions, especially in the public sector, found it difficult 
to register. For example, the Syndicat National des Enseignants du 
Superieur was not officially registered but operated without government 
interference.
    Registered unions were also subject to government interference. The 
Government chose the unions with which it would bargain; some 
independent unions accused the Government of creating small 
nonrepresentative unions amenable to government positions and with 
which it could negotiate more easily. Some sections of labor law had no 
force or effect because the presidency had not issued implementing 
decrees.
    The labor code explicitly recognizes workers' right to strike, but 
only after mandatory arbitration, and workers generally exercised this 
right during the year. During the year strikes occurred at some 
universities, hospitals, the national water company, the Cameroon Bar 
Association, the Civil Engineering Equipment company, the national 
railroad company, and among motorcycle taxi drivers.
    Security forces used excessive force to disperse a demonstration by 
members of the Cameroonian Union of Journalists (see section 2.b.).
    Arbitration decisions are legally binding but often unenforceable 
when the parties refuse to cooperate. It was not uncommon for such 
decisions to 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 and social insurance.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The 
constitution and law provide for collective bargaining between workers 
and management as well as between labor federations and business 
associations in each sector of the economy.
    On January 27, the minister of labor and social insurance presided 
over the signing of a collective bargaining agreement in the port 
sector. On November 24, he presided over the signing of a collective 
bargaining agreement for the banking sector. In 2009 the minister 
presided over collective bargaining agreements in the graphic arts and 
agricultural sectors.
    Once agreements were negotiated, there was no mechanism to enforce 
implementation; some agreements between the Government and labor unions 
were ignored by the Government.
    The constitution and law prohibit antiunion discrimination, and 
employers guilty of such discrimination were subject to fines of up to 
approximately one million CFA francs ($2,000). However, employers found 
guilty were not required to compensate workers for discrimination or to 
reinstate fired workers. The Ministry of Labor and Social Insurance 
(MINLESI) did not report any complaints of antiunion discrimination by 
private employers during the year, although there were credible press 
reports of harassment of union leaders.
    Industrial free zones are subject to labor law except for the 
following provisions: the right to determine salaries according to 
productivity, the free negotiation of work contracts, and the automatic 
issuance of work permits for expatriate workers.

    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.
    Slavery is illegal in the country, and the law provides punishment 
of 10 to 20 years' imprisonment for persons accused of slavery or 
trafficking in persons for the purposes of forced labor; however, there 
were credible reports of slavery and hereditary servitude by former 
slaves in some chiefdoms in the North Region. For example, there were 
reports that the Lamido (traditional chief) of Rey Bouba in the North 
Region had hereditary servants inside his compound. Although the Lamido 
was replaced by his son in 2004, the hereditary servants remained. It 
was unclear whether hereditary servants stayed out of fear, a paucity 
of options, or because they knew no other life than the lamibe system, 
which is traditionally hierarchical and authoritarian.
    Prison authorities arranged for prison inmates to be contracted out 
to private employers or used as communal labor for municipal public 
works. Money generated from these activities was usually pocketed by 
prison administrators and not given to detainees.
    In the South and East regions, some Baka, including children, 
continued to be subjected to unfair and exploitative labor practices by 
landowners, including forced work without payment on the landowners' 
farms during harvest seasons.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law generally protects children from exploitation in the workplace and 
specifies penalties ranging from fines to imprisonment for 
infringement; however, child labor, particularly in informal sectors, 
remained a problem. The Government specifically prohibits forced and 
compulsory labor by children, but there were reports that it occurred 
in practice.
    The law sets a minimum age of 14 for child employment, prohibits 
children from working at night or longer than eight hours a day, and 
enumerates tasks that children under the age of 18 cannot legally 
perform, including moving heavy objects, dangerous and unhealthy tasks, 
working in confined areas, and prostitution. Employers were required to 
train children between the ages of 14 and 18, and work contracts must 
contain a training provision for minors. These provisions of the law 
were not adequately enforced.
    According to 2008 government statistics on child labor, 85.2 
percent of working children were employed in the agriculture sector, 
either on family subsistence plots or on tea, banana, and palm oil 
plantations. In the urban informal sector, children worked as street 
vendors, car washers, and domestic workers. Some children also worked 
in mines and quarries. Many urban street vendors were less than 14 
years of age. 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, which normally went to the child's family.
    There were reports that some parents gave their children to 
``marabouts'' (traditional religious figures) in Maroua in the Extreme 
North, to learn the Qur'an and to prepare them to become marabouts 
themselves. However, there were reports that some of these children 
were kept in leg chains and subjected to forced labor.
    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. 
These children originated, for the most part, from the three northern 
and the North West regions.
    The Ministry of Social Affairs and MINLESI were responsible for 
enforcing existing child labor laws through site inspections of 
registered businesses; although sporadic inspections occurred during 
the year, 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. The Government employed 58 general labor 
inspectors, whose responsibilities included investigating child labor.
    The ILO continued to work with various ministries and agencies 
involved in ant-trafficking activities; it also conducted nationwide 
investigations and cooperated with local organizations.
    During the year the Prime Minister's Office established an 
interagency working group to coordinate and enhance the Government's 
efforts to curb trafficking in persons.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--In 2008 the Government increased 
the minimum wage in all sectors to 28,246 CFA francs ($56) per month. 
However, the minimum wage did not provide for a decent standard of 
living for a worker and family. MINLESI was responsible for enforcing 
the minimum wage nationally.
    The law establishes a standard workweek of 40 hours in public and 
private nonagricultural firms and 48 hours in agricultural and related 
activities. There are exceptions for guards and firemen (56 hours a 
week), service sector staff (45 hours), and household and restaurant 
staff (54 hours). The law mandates at least 24 consecutive hours of 
weekly rest. Premium pay for overtime ranges from 120 to 150 percent of 
the hourly pay depending on amount and whether it is for weekend or 
late-night overtime. There is a prohibition on excessive compulsory 
service. MINLESI inspectors were responsible for monitoring these 
standards; however, they lacked the resources for a comprehensive 
inspection program.
    The Government sets health and safety standards. MINLESI inspectors 
and occupational health physicians were responsible for monitoring 
these standards; however, they lacked the resources for a comprehensive 
inspection program. In September 2009 the National Commission on Health 
and Safety in the Workplace expanded the list of occupational diseases 
from 44 to 99. The law does not provide workers with the right to 
remove themselves from situations that endanger health or safety 
without jeopardizing their continued employment.

                               __________

                               CAPE VERDE

    Cape Verde, with a population of approximately 492,000, is a 
multiparty parliamentary democracy in which constitutional powers are 
shared between the elected head of state, President Pedro Verona 
Rodrigues Pires, and Prime Minister Jose Maria Neves. Pires was 
reelected for a second five-year term in 2006 in generally free and 
fair elections. The Supreme Court of Justice and the National Electoral 
Commission also declared the 2006 nationwide legislative elections 
generally free and fair. There were instances in which elements of the 
security forces acted independently of civilian control.
    Problems were reported in the following areas: police abuse of 
detainees, police impunity, poor prison conditions, lengthy pretrial 
detention, excessive trial delays, violence and discrimination against 
women, child abuse, and some instances of 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
there were credible reports that in some instances police beat persons 
in custody and detention. In most cases, authorities took action 
against the abusers. However, there were credible reports that police 
failed to report to their superiors some of the abuses that occurred in 
police stations.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Sao Martinho is the 
largest prison in the country, housing more than 55 percent of the 
national prison population. During the year there were no known deaths 
in prison from adverse conditions. There were approximately 1,300 
prisoners and detainees in the country's eight prisons.
    In prisons other than Sao Martinho, juveniles were sometimes held 
together with adults, but pretrial detainees generally were held 
separately from convicted prisoners.
    In 2008 a prisoner alleged to be a professional killer, hired by 
drug traffickers, murdered a convicted drug trafficker who was 
collaborating with authorities. The case remained under investigation.
    The 2005 prisoner riot case at Sao Martinho Prison, in which one 
prisoner was killed and three persons (including a guard) injured, was 
pending final resolution at year's end. The prison director, a military 
officer, who left for another country after being formally accused of 
allowing the mistreatment of prisoners under his supervision, 
subsequently was sentenced in that country to three years' imprisonment 
for perjury related to his immigration status. He returned to Cape 
Verde in October and was facing a court martial, which had not been 
scheduled by the end of the reporting period. He is detained in a 
military jail, awaiting trial.
    Each municipality has police stations capable of holding detainees 
until they are transferred to prison. There were no deaths as a result 
of adverse conditions in jails and detention centers, but separation of 
prisoners based on trial status, gender, and age was not always 
possible due to space limitations.
    Authorities did not permit prisoners and detainees to submit 
complaints to judicial authorities without censorship or to request 
investigation of allegations of inhumane conditions. The Government did 
not investigate and monitor prison and detention center conditions.
    The Government permitted formal visits by international human 
rights monitors to prisons and visits to individual prisoners. Local 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and media representatives 
frequently visited the prisons and reported on prison conditions. There 
is no ombudsman to serve on behalf of prisoners and detainees.
    In January the Government concluded a project improving conditions 
in the main prison center on Sao Martinho by inaugurating additional 
facilities and extending the prison's capacity from 800 to 830 
prisoners. In the new unit, prisoners are divided by gender, age, and 
nature of crime (with separation between convicted prisoners and those 
awaiting trial); there are 18 disciplinary cells and two rooms for 
spouses' visits. The facility has spaces for guards, lawyers, and 
educational and social reinsertion trainers. There is a classroom 
equipped with television, DVD player, and computers; a space for adult 
education; medical facilities; canteens for guards and prisoners; a 
library; and a space for professional training, within the scope of a 
social reinsertion program. In addition the prison in Sao Vicente saw 
minor improvements, including a new security camera system, funded by 
the Portuguese government. Other prisons throughout the country, 
however, still awaited funding for proposed improvements, and 
conditions there remained poor.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Public Order Police 
are under the Ministry of Internal Administration and are responsible 
for law enforcement. The Judicial Police are under the Ministry of 
Justice and are responsible for major investigations. Logistical 
constraints--including lack of vehicles, limited communications 
equipment, and poor forensic capacity--limited police effectiveness. 
Police abuses were investigated internally, and these investigations 
resulted occasionally in legal action against the perpetrators. The 
Government provided training to increase police effectiveness. Police 
impunity, however, remained a problem.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Police may not 
make arrests without a warrant issued by an authorized official unless 
a person is caught in the act of committing a felony. The law 
stipulates that a suspect must be brought before a judge within 48 
hours of arrest. The law provides a detainee with the right to prompt 
judicial determination of the legality of the detention, and the 
authorities respected this right in practice. Attorneys inform 
detainees of the charges against them. There was a functioning bail 
system. Detainees were allowed prompt access to family members and to a 
lawyer of their choice and, if indigent, to one provided by the 
Government.
    Nonetheless, the length of pretrial detention was a serious 
problem. One concern arose from differing interpretations of the law 
authorizing extended pretrial detention in certain circumstances. Some 
courts have read this provision broadly, while others have opted for a 
narrower interpretation. This interpretative difference resulted in 
situations where detainees facing identical charges were held for 
different lengths of time based on the prosecutor's and the judge's 
interpretation of the law. At year's end, no standard timelines had 
been set for pretrial detentions. The judicial system also was 
overburdened and understaffed, and criminal cases frequently ended when 
charges were dropped by the citizen before a determination of guilt or 
innocence was made.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this 
provision in practice. However, the judicial system lacked sufficient 
staffing and was inefficient.
    In addition to civil courts, there is also a military court; it 
cannot try civilians. The military court provides the same protections 
as civil criminal courts.

    Trial Procedures.--Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence. The 
law provides for the right to a fair and public nonjury trial. 
Defendants have the right to be present and to consult with an attorney 
in a timely manner; free counsel is provided for the indigent. 
Defendants have the right to confront or question witnesses against 
them and have the right to present witnesses in their defense. 
Defendants also can present evidence on their own behalf. Defendants 
and their attorneys have access to government-held evidence relevant to 
their cases and can appeal regional court decisions to the Supreme 
Court of Justice (SCJ). The law extends the above rights to all 
citizens.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The ordinary courts are 
impartial and independent and handle civil matters including lawsuits 
seeking damages for, or an injunction ordering the cessation of, a 
human rights violation. Both administrative and judicial remedies are 
available for alleged wrongs.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and 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 and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally 
respected these rights. The independent press was active and expressed 
a variety of views without direct restriction.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in peaceful 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. According to 
International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2008, 
approximately 21 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet. Citizens in the cities had access to the Internet at 
cybercafes.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
and law provide for freedoms of assembly and association, and the 
Government generally respected these rights in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl//irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and laws provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in 
assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
    The constitution and law prohibit forced exile, and the Government 
did not employ it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees. The Government grants refugee 
status and asylum when petitioned under the established system. In 
practice the Government provided protection against the expulsion or 
return of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be 
threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership 
in a particular social group, or political opinion.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide the right for 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.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In the 2006 legislative 
elections, individuals and parties were free to declare their 
candidacies. The ruling African Party for the Independence of Cape 
Verde won 41 seats in the National Assembly with 52 percent of the 
vote; the main opposition party, Movement for Democracy (MPD), won 29 
seats; and the Union for a Democratic and Independent Cape Verde won 
the remaining two seats. International observers characterized the 
elections as generally free and fair, despite some irregularities. 
Alleging fraud the MPD unsuccessfully contested the results by filing 
suit with the SCJ to annul the elections.
    Presidential elections were also held in 2006, and individuals and 
parties were free to declare their candidacies. International observers 
characterized the conduct of the election as free and fair. The 
incumbent, President Pires, won a second term with 51 percent of the 
vote; MPD candidate Carlos Veiga obtained 49 percent of the vote. Veiga 
then petitioned the SCJ to annul the presidential election results, 
stating that the elections were not free or transparent. The SCJ ruled 
there were no legal grounds for annulment and confirmed President Pires 
as the winner.
    Although the National Electoral Commission (CNE) and the SCJ 
declared the legislative and presidential elections generally free and 
fair, they also recognized some irregularities in both elections. The 
CNE noted that the electoral code needed to be amended to provide 
greater security and transparency. It also cited needs for stricter, 
more consistent voter identification and registration processes and the 
adoption of indelible ink on ballots.
    Political parties could operate without restriction or outside 
interference.
    There were 11 women in the 72-seat National Assembly, eight women 
in the 20-member cabinet, and three women on the SCJ.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides a penalty of up to 15 years' imprisonment for 
official corruption. There were no new reports of government corruption 
during the year. The World Bank's 2009 Worldwide Governance Indicators 
reflected that government corruption was a problem. There were also 
unofficial reports of instances of corruption among state prosecutors, 
judges, and justice officials. Police corruption was not a significant 
problem.
    The law provides for freedom of access to governmental information 
without restriction, provided that privacy rights are respected. The 
Government in practice frequently granted access.
Section 5. 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.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, religion, 
disability, language, or social status; however, the Government did not 
enforce these provisions effectively, and violence and discrimination 
against women and abuse of children were serious problems.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is a criminal offense, but 
the Government generally did not enforce the law effectively. The 
penalty for rape is eight to 16 years' imprisonment. Penalties are 
higher if the victim is under the age of 16 or if the offender took 
advantage of job responsibilities in a prison, hospital, school, or 
rehabilitation center, or with persons under his or her authority.
    Domestic violence against women, including wife beating, was 
widespread. The Government and civil society encouraged women to report 
criminal offenses such as spousal abuse, which is punishable by two to 
13 years' imprisonment; however, longstanding social and cultural norms 
as well as lack of shelter housing inhibited victims from doing so.
    While there were mechanisms such as legal counseling, psychological 
care, specific police attention, and family courts to deal with spousal 
abuse, these mechanisms neither effectively prevented violence nor 
provided for the punishment of those responsible. Women claimed that 
police often ignored the legal complaints they filed against their 
husbands. Nevertheless, reports to police of domestic violence 
continued to increase during the year. Police and judicial system 
sometimes delayed acting on abuse cases. Violence against women was the 
subject of extensive public service media coverage.
    The Government-run Cape Verdean Institute of Equity and Gender, the 
Women Parliamentarians Network, and local women's organizations with 
foreign diplomatic support promoted legislation to address gender-based 
violence. As a result of this action, in July the parliament approved a 
bill that, for the first time in the country's history, addressed 
gender-based violence. The new law focuses on three main objectives: 
improving protections afforded to victims, strengthening sanctions 
against offenders, and raising awareness of the problem. The law was 
designed to protect both male and female victims, but was expected to 
protect mostly women. According to a 2005 study by the Ministry of 
Health and National Institute of Statistics, approximately 22 percent 
of women and girls have been victims of gender-based violence.
    Sex tourism was a growing problem, and there are no laws to address 
it. There were no indications of governmental involvement or 
complicity.
    Sexual harassment was common but not culturally perceived as a 
crime. It is prohibited by law with a penalty of one year in prison, 
but the Government did not effectively enforce this law.
    The civil code grants all citizens the freedom to make decisions 
regarding the number, spacing, and timing of their children without 
discrimination, coercion, or violence. All citizens have access to 
contraception. Family planning centers throughout the country 
distribute some contraceptives free of charge to the public. These 
centers provide skilled assistance and counseling both before and after 
childbirth and for cases of sexually transmitted infections, including 
HIV. Prenatal counseling and care is available, including ultrasound 
screening and tetanus vaccines. Prenatal blood tests are conducted, 
including HIV screening, and treatment for sexually transmitted 
diseases (including HIV) is made available if warranted. Postnatal 
services include family planning and free oral/injection 
contraceptives. The reported incidence of maternal mortality was 53.7 
per 100,000 live births, according to the 2009 Ministry of Health 
Statistical Report. Women are equally diagnosed and treated for 
sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.
    Women enjoy the same legal rights as men, including rights under 
family law, property law, and in the judicial system. Despite legal 
prohibitions against sex discrimination and provisions for full 
equality, including equal pay for equal work, discrimination against 
women continued. The Cape Verdean Institute of Equity and Gender worked 
for the protection of legal rights of women. The Women Jurists' 
Association provided free legal assistance to women throughout the 
country suffering from discrimination, violence, and spousal abuse.

    Children.--Citizenship can be derived either by birth within the 
country or from one's parents. The Government registered all births 
immediately after they were reported. Failure to register did not 
result in denial of public services.
    The Government provided free and universal education for all 
children between the ages of six and 12. Education was compulsory until 
the age of 11; however, secondary education was free only for children 
whose families had an annual income below 147,000 escudos 
(approximately $1,950).
    Child abuse and sexual violence against children were serious 
problems, and the media regularly reported on those issues. Child labor 
was also a problem (see section 7.d.). Government efforts to address 
these problems were inadequate. In 2007 the Institute of Children and 
Adolescents (ICCA), a government organization, carried out a study on 
the child labor situation and concluded that the practice of using 
children to collect sand for use in construction should be considered 
as one of the worst forms of child labor.
    The ICCA also found that children tended to work at the behest of 
their families, and that child labor was intimately linked to the need 
to supplement family income. It was believed, however, that the vast 
majority of these children performed work outside of school hours and 
attended school.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html .

    Anti-Semitism.--There was no known Jewish community and no reports 
of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--In 2009 there were no confirmed reports 
that persons were trafficked to, from, or within Cape Verde.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or in the 
provision of other state services, and the Government effectively 
enforced these provisions. There are no laws or programs to provide for 
access to buildings, information, and communications for persons with 
disabilities. Several NGOs, including an association for the blind, 
actively advocated for the rights of persons with disabilities. The 
Government did not restrict the right of persons with disabilities to 
vote or participate in civic affairs.
    The Ministry of Labor, Family, and Social Solidarity (MTSS) is the 
Government agency responsible for protecting the rights of persons with 
disabilities. The National Council for Persons with Disabilities works 
under the MTSS as a consulting body and has the role of proposing and 
overseeing the implementation of the Government's policies.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Legal provisions helped 
provide protection for homosexual conduct; however, societal 
discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity continued 
to be a problem. There were no lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender 
persons' organizations active in the country.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of societal violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. 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 exercised this right in practice. There are 
no restrictions except for employees of diplomatic missions. The 
country's workforce was estimated at 194,358, 22 percent of whom were 
unionized. Updated data on the percentage of workers in the 
agricultural, nonagricultural, public, and private sectors were not 
available. The laws allow unions to conduct their activities without 
government interference. The law provides union members with the right 
to strike. Nonetheless, the Government may invoke a ``civil request'' 
through which it may require the striking union to continue providing 
specified minimum services in an emergency or if provision of basic 
services is threatened.

    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 workers to bargain collectively; however, there was very 
little collective bargaining. There were no collective bargaining 
agreements and no collective labor contracts completed during the year.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination, and the Government 
effectively enforced this provision. There were no reports of such 
discrimination by employers during the year.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws 
within the export processing zone that encompasses the entire country.

    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 laws and policies to protect children from exploitation in 
the workplace, but the Government did not implement them effectively. A 
revised labor code was approved in 2008, which lowered the legal 
minimum age for employment from 16 to 15 years. The code also states 
that children under 15 years old may be allowed to work as apprentices 
under specific conditions that do not jeopardize the child's health and 
development; however, the Government rarely enforced either provision. 
For children under the age of 15, only apprentice contracts are 
allowed.
    The most recent statistics available (2000 census) indicated that 
an estimated 8,000 children were working as street vendors and car 
washers in urban centers and in agriculture, animal husbandry, and 
fishing in the countryside. It is believed, however, that the vast 
majority performed work outside of school hours and attended school.
    In 2007 the ICCA concluded a study analyzing the child labor 
situation in the country. The goals of the study were to raise public 
awareness, create an action plan to prevent children from entering 
exploitive work situations, and encourage children engaged in such 
labor to stop. The study concluded that child labor was a limited 
reality in the country and, in most cases, it was a result of poverty 
and closely tied to the activities of the entire family.
    The Ministries of Justice and Labor were responsible for enforcing 
child labor laws. In practice, however, they seldom did so. There were 
no government programs to address child labor.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--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. For a typical entry-level worker, this wage was 
approximately 12,000 escudos ($163) per month. The majority of jobs 
paid wages that did not provide a worker and family with a decent 
standard of living; most workers also relied on second jobs and support 
from their extended family for income.
    The law sets the maximum workweek for adults at 44 hours, prohibits 
excessive compulsory overtime, and requires that a premium be paid for 
whatever overtime is worked. The law also mandates required rest 
periods, which vary according to sector; the minimum period of rest is 
12 hours. While large employers generally respected these regulations, 
many domestic servants and agricultural laborers worked longer hours. 
The labor code applicable to seamen and merchant marines was updated in 
May. By legislative decree, the rest period for maritime workers was 
increased from 2.5 days per 30 working days to 10 consecutive days per 
30 working days.
    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. Nonetheless, the Government did 
not enforce labor laws systematically, and much of the labor force did 
not enjoy legal 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. The law provides 
workers the right to remove themselves from situations that endanger 
health or safety without jeopardizing their continued employment. There 
were no exceptions in the law for foreign or migrant workers.

                               __________

                      THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

    The Central African Republic (CAR) is a constitutional republic of 
approximately 4.5 million that is governed by a strong executive 
branch; the legislative and judicial branches are weak. Former armed 
forces Chief of Staff General Francois Bozize seized power in a 
military coup in 2003 and was elected president in 2005 elections. 
National and international observers judged the elections to be 
generally free and fair despite some irregularities. Bozize's term as 
president was stipulated under the constitution to expire on June 11. 
However, on May 10, the National Assembly passed a constitutional 
amendment that extended the terms of the office of the president and 
the National Assembly until elections. Poor preparations and a lack of 
funding led the Government to delay the constitutionally mandated 
presidential and legislative elections scheduled during the year; as of 
year's end, the elections were scheduled for early 2011. Fighting 
between nonstate armed entities, as well as between nonstate armed 
entities and government security forces, increased, and much of the 
northwestern, northeastern, and extreme southeastern regions remained 
outside of government control. The illegal trade in diamonds 
contributed to conflict and human rights abuses in some parts of the 
country. Banditry remained a serious threat to civilians throughout the 
northern provinces. There were instances in which elements of the 
security forces acted independently of civilian control.
    Principal human rights abuses included security forces continuing 
to commit extrajudicial executions in the North, torture, beatings, 
detention, and rape of suspects and prisoners; impunity, particularly 
among the armed forces ; harsh and life-threatening conditions in 
prisons and detention centers; arbitrary arrest and detention, 
prolonged pretrial detention, and denial of fair trial; occasional 
intimidation and restrictions on the press; restrictions on freedom of 
movement; official corruption; and restrictions on workers' rights. Mob 
violence resulted in deaths and injuries. Societal abuses included 
female genital mutilation (FGM), discrimination against women and 
Pygmies; trafficking in persons; forced labor; and child labor, 
including forced child labor. Freedom of movement remained limited in 
the North because of actions by state security forces, armed bandits, 
and other nonstate armed entities. Sporadic fighting between government 
forces and nonstate armed entities continued to displace persons 
internally and increase the number of refugees.
    Nonstate armed entities, some of which were unidentified, continued 
to kill, beat, and rape civilians and loot and burn villages in the 
North. Nonstate armed entities kidnapped, beat, raped, and extorted 
money from local populations. There were reports of children as young 
as 12 years old serving as fighters in nonstate armed entities.
                        respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        From:

    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--Unlike the previous 
year, there was one allegation that the Government or its agents killed 
a member of opposing political groups. Soldiers, particularly the 
presidential security forces (presidential guard), killed civilians 
they suspected of being road bandits or supporting nonstate armed 
entities. Both government security forces and nonstate armed entities 
killed civilians in the course of conflict in the North (see section 
1.g.).
    During the year there were numerous credible reports that elements 
of the security forces, including the Central African Armed Forces 
(FACA), and particularly the presidential guard, committed unlawful 
killings while apprehending suspects and, allegedly, in connection with 
personal disputes or rivalries. Authorities appeared unwilling to 
prosecute personnel of the presidential guard for extrajudicial 
killings (see sections 1.d. and 1.g.).
    There were no further developments in the following 2009 killings: 
the February beating death of Police Commissioner Daniel Sama by a 
senior member of the presidential guard; the April killing of suspected 
thieves Maxime Banga and Adam Demori, allegedly by members of the 
Central Office for the Repression of Banditry (OCRB); and the June 
killing of a butcher in Bangui by a gendarme and a member of the 
Research and Investigation Services (SRI).
    Security forces continued to commit extrajudicial killings (see 
section 1.g.).
    Unlike the previous year, the Permanent Military Tribunal (PMT) did 
not adjudicate crimes committed by armed forces personnel (see section 
1.d.). The PMT did not meet during the year as President Bozize 
declined to fill vacancies on the tribunal.
    There were no reports of the Government prosecuting any OCRB 
personnel for killings committed in 2008.
    There were no developments in the case of presidential guard member 
Boris Namsene, who shot and killed five persons in 2008 in Bangui 
before his apparent murder three days later.
    In May villagers in Dissikou, located in Kaga Bandoro Province, 
killed two Mbororo men after the Mbororo accused the villagers of 
stealing their cattle. No intervention by the gendarmes based in the 
village took place, and there were no further developments by year's 
end.
    In mid October residents of Bozoum, Ouham Pende Province, killed a 
suspected thief. According to a humanitarian worker, local gendarmes 
took part in the killing. Gendarmes claimed that they had no way of 
knowing who was responsible for the killing and did not plan on 
prosecuting anyone.
    In November a member of the presidential guard, Elian Ngouyombo, 
shot and killed a 13-year-old boy in the eighth district of Bangui 
after a night guard who was watching a neighbor's house claimed the boy 
was trying to break into a bar owned by a member of the presidential 
guard. The soldier was arrested but was released a week later. No 
further information was available at year's end.
    Armed bandits have contributed to instability for many years and 
continued to kill civilians. In the central part of the country, 
nonstate armed entities known as ``zaraguinas'' engaged in kidnappings, 
at times killing family members of individuals who could not or would 
not pay ransom. Although information about these armed entities was 
difficult to obtain, aid workers and UN officials described them as a 
combination of common criminals and remnants of insurgent groups from 
the recurring conflicts in the region.
    There was no investigation into the 2008 death of Nganatouwa 
Goungaye Wanfiyo, a leading human rights activist near Sibut.
    Civilians reportedly continued to kill persons suspected of being 
sorcerers or witches.
    There was no additional information regarding the killing of two 
individuals suspected of witchcraft by members of a nonstate armed 
entity, Popular Army for the Restoration of the Republic (APRD), in 
June near Kaga Bandoro.

    b. Disappearance.--Hassan Ousman, leader of the National Movement 
for the Salvation of the People, and member of the Follow-up Committee 
of the 2008 Inclusive Political Dialogue--which brought together the 
Government, rebel groups, civil society, and the democratic opposition 
in an effort to negotiate a power-sharing agreement and end a number of 
insurgencies underway since 2005--disappeared in December 2009. 
According to family members, the last time Ousman communicated with 
them was the day prior to his disappearance. Two family members who 
travelled to Bossembele to collect information about his possible 
detention were arrested and detained without charge for several weeks 
before being released. As of year's end, no further information about 
his disappearance was available.
    During the year several nonstate armed entities kidnapped Mbororo 
children and young adults and held them for ransom.
    The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) continued to abduct men, women, 
and children in the southeastern part of the country (see section 
1.g.).
    The two foreign resident nongovernmental organization (NGO) workers 
taken hostage in November 2009 in Birao were released in March.
    No further information was available on the December 2009 
disappearance of Charles Massi, a member of the nonstate armed entity 
Convention of Patriots for Justice and Peace (CPJP) and a former 
minister (see section 1.g.).

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--Although the law and the constitution prohibit torture and 
specify punishment for those found guilty of physical abuse, police and 
security services continued to torture, beat, and otherwise abuse 
criminal suspects, detainees, and prisoners, according to local human 
rights groups such as the Central African Association Against Torture 
(ACAT) and the Central African Human Rights League (LCDH).
    The Government did not punish police who tortured suspects, and 
impunity remained a serious problem (see section 1.d.). Family members 
of victims and human rights groups, including the Central African Human 
Rights Monitoring Group (OCDH), filed complaints with the courts, but 
authorities took no action. Members of the armed forces raped, robbed, 
and abused civilians in conflict and nonconflict areas. Human rights 
lawyers reported that victims of abuse by authorities were often 
pressured by relatives not to pursue their cases out of fear of 
reprisal.
    According to ACAT, torture and beating of detainees occurred 
frequently in detention centers run by the SRI and the OCRB. Police 
employed several forms of torture, including ``le cafe,'' which 
entailed the repeated beating of the soles of an individual's feet with 
a baton or stick. Immediately after administering the beating, police 
would sometimes force the victim to walk on badly bruised feet and, if 
the individual was unable to do so, they continued the beating (see 
section 1.g.).
    For example, on April 9, authorities arrested Abdelsalem Doungouss, 
a lieutenant in the Water and Forest Ranger Service in Ndele, on 
accusations of complicity with the CPJP militia. During his initial 
arrest, members of the armed forces tortured him before transferring 
him to the SRI prison in Bangui, where he spent two months before being 
released on June 10 for lack of evidence. There were no reports of 
authorities taking action against those responsible.
    Authorities tortured an individual suspected of being a member of 
the CPJP (see section 1.d.).
    Authorities took no action in the following 2009 cases: the 
severing of three fingers of a man accused of stealing electrical cable 
by a presidential guard member in Bossangoa, and the June beating and 
burning of 15-year-old Angele Ndarata, accused of witchcraft by the 
parents of a boy who drowned in the Oubangui river and a court clerk 
who authorized the torture.
    Authorities took no action in any of the following cases of abuse 
by members of security forces in Bangui in 2008: the severe beating of 
a man in Bangui by Corporal Zilo and five of his FACA colleagues in 
July; the beating of a man and his sister by Lieutenant Olivier 
Koudemon, a member of the presidential guard, in August; the severe 
beating of a suspect at OCRB and SRI police headquarters in October; or 
the beating of several individuals by Koudemon in December.
    Civilians continued to suffer mistreatment in territories 
controlled by nonstate armed entities (see section 1.g.).
    Members of security forces, particularly the armed forces, 
reportedly raped civilians, although throughout the country sexual 
assaults were rarely reported. Security personnel rarely were punished.
    There were no further developments in the ongoing International 
Criminal Court investigation into the 2005 charges against former 
president Ange-Felix Patasse and others for crimes against humanity, 
including rape, committed prior to and during the 2003 coup.
    Civilians continued to take vigilante action against suspected 
thieves, poachers, and ``witches.''
    Civilians reportedly continued to injure and torture persons 
suspected of being sorcerers or witches. Mob violence was widespread 
and cases were underreported.
    In April villagers in the town of Pende burned to death a women 
accused of witchcraft. There were no further developments by year's 
end.
    In July a prison official in Mobaye, Basse-Kotto Province, accused 
Angele Ndarata, a 15-year-old girl, of using witchcraft to cause the 
death of his wife. He subsequently ordered detainees to pour kerosene 
on her arms and set them on fire. The girl suffered severe burns. This 
was the second time the girl had been accused and tortured due to 
witchcraft claims. There were no further developments by year's end.
    In early September, villagers in Bocaranga murdered a man accused 
of bewitching and causing the death of another man. There were no 
further developments by year's end.
    In September the High Court in Bangui found four persons, including 
two children, respectively 10 and 13 years old, guilty of witchcraft 
and charlatanism. No further information about their fate was known at 
year's end.
    In October the APRD arrested and detained four persons in 
Mbereguili village after being accused of witchcraft. All four were 
tortured before being released.
    Authorities took no action in the following 2009 sorcery-related 
cases: the June beating of a woman in the village of Ngoumourou and the 
June beating of a woman and her child in Kaga Bandoro.
    No action was taken against the mob that beat 13-year-old Vivian 
Ngoupande in August 2009. At year's end, Vivian was living with her 
aunt in another town.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
extremely harsh and, in some cases, life threatening. Prison conditions 
outside Bangui generally were even worse than those in the capital. 
Police, gendarme investigators, and presidential guards assigned as 
prison wardens continued to subject prison inmates to torture and other 
forms of inhuman, cruel, and degrading treatment. Many prisons in the 
country lacked basic sanitation and ventilation, electric lighting, 
basic and emergency medical care, and access to potable water.
    Prison cells were overcrowded, and basic necessities, including 
food, clothing, and medicine, were inadequate and often confiscated by 
prison officials. Prisoners depended on family members to supplement 
inadequate prison meals and sometimes were allowed to forage for food 
near the prison. According to a number of international observers and 
prison officials, prison detainees outside Bangui received no food from 
prison authorities and sometimes had to pay bribes to prison guards to 
secure food brought to them by their relatives. As in previous years, 
there continued to be reports of deaths in prison due to adverse 
conditions and negligence, including lack of medical treatment and 
inadequate food. According to the director of prisons at the Ministry 
of Justice, two deaths attributed to adverse conditions were reported 
in Bangui's Ngaragba prison during the year.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. The Attorney General's Office granted 
visitation privileges, but in practice those wishing to visit prisoners 
often had to bribe prison guards and officials.
    According to several human rights lawyers, prison detainees have 
the right to submit complaints in the case of ill treatment during 
their detention; for the minority of detainees who had lawyers, it was 
generally their lawyers who apprised judicial authorities about ill 
treatment of their clients. Victims hesitated to lodge formal 
complaints out of fear of reprisal from prison officials. Authorities 
rarely initiated investigations of abuses in the prison system.
    Prison administrators submitted reports describing the poor 
detention conditions, but these reports did not result in any action.
    A census conducted by the UN Development Program (UNDP) in Bozoum 
Prison in January and February 2009 indicated 80 percent of prisoners 
complained of food shortages.
    Prisoners frequently were forced to perform uncompensated labor 
(see section 7.c.).
    Male and female prisoners were held in separate facilities in 
Bangui. Elsewhere, male and female prisoners were housed together, but 
in separate cells. Juveniles were sometimes held with adult prisoners.
    Pretrial detainees were not held separately from convicted 
prisoners. As of December, there were 1,320 prisoners in the country. 
The country's prison population decreased by 38.46 percent from 2009 
levels, largely as result of a decree signed by President Bozize on the 
anniversary of the country's independence on December 1. President 
Bozize granted amnesty to prisoners with sentences that ranged from a 
few months to no more than five years.
    There were two prisons in Bangui, Ngaragba for men and Bimbo 
Central Prison for women. Inmates with infectious diseases were not 
segregated from other inmates. A nurse was available at the two prisons 
for inmates needing medical care. Detainees and inmates at both prisons 
received one meal per day. Food was insufficient, and prisoners 
complained of inferior ingredients. Inmates slept on the floor or on 
thin matting provided by families or charities. Authorities at the 
Bangui prison permitted detainees' families to make weekly visits.
    As of December, there were 152 inmates in Ngaragba Prison; 102 of 
them were pretrial detainees. Several detainees had been held for seven 
months without appearing before a judge. Five prisoners were detained 
on accusations of sorcery. The more crowded cells each held 
approximately 30 to 40 inmates. Prisoners usually slept on bare 
concrete and complained that water supplies were inadequate. In the 
section reserved primarily for educated prisoners and former government 
officials suspected or convicted of financial crimes, cells held four 
to eight persons.
    On January 23, Ngaragba prison closed for three weeks as a result 
of damages caused to the building by detainees rioting against the new 
prison director's disciplinary rules. For three days, prisoners tore 
apart their cells and threw rocks and chunks of concrete at riot police 
standing outside the prison walls. Authorities emptied the prison 
during the period of repairs and housed prisoners at various Bangui 
police stations, gendarmerie centers, and the OCRB's and SRI's 
detention centers. Reports suggested that the perceived ring leaders of 
the riot received ``special treatment,'' indicating rougher than usual 
punishment, while in detention at the OCRB. After the rehabilitation, 
all the detainees were returned to Ngaragba.
    As of December, Bimbo Central Prison held 33 female inmates, 21 of 
whom were pretrial detainees. Several had been detained for months and 
had not appeared before a judge; few had lawyers. Prison officials 
allowed sick detainees to be treated by a nurse who visited regularly. 
Overcrowding was reportedly not a problem, and children younger than 
five years old were allowed to stay with their mothers at the prison. 
In December a prison guard at Bimbo Central Prison, Andre Mangai, 
attempted to rape prisoner Ivonne Paki and left her with several 
injuries. Ivonne Paki's lawyer filed a complaint with the general 
prosecutor, and the case is currently followed by OCDH. The guard was 
immediately assigned to another prison, and the case was still under 
review by the court at the end of the year.
    On September 11, a military guard at the prison in the town of 
Boda, Corporal Armand Ngagouni, sexually assaulted Ivonne Kokombe, who 
was being detained for sorcery. The sexual assault resulted in serious 
injuries. The case was reported by OCDH and taken to court, although no 
decision had been made by year's end.
    Conditions in detention centers were worse than those in prisons 
and, in some cases, were life threatening. Bangui's police detention 
centers consisted of overcrowded cells with very little light and leaky 
buckets for toilets. Poor sanitation and negligence by authorities 
posed a serious health risk to detainees. According to local human 
rights groups, lack of training and poor supervision at detention 
centers were serious problems and continued to result in torture and 
beatings. Suspects in police and gendarmerie cells had to depend on 
family, friends, religious groups, and NGOs for food. Detainees with 
infectious diseases were not segregated from other detainees, and 
medicine was not available. Suspects generally slept on bare cement or 
dirt floors. Corruption among guards was pervasive. Guards often 
demanded between 200-300 CFA francs ($0.40--$0.60) to permit showers, 
delivery of food and water, or family visits.
    International observers noted that the detention center in the 
gendarmerie in Bouar had neither windows nor a toilet, only a bucket 
that was emptied every other day. Detainees at the police facility in 
Bouar slept chained to each other, a measure the police justified by 
alleging the detainees were recidivists and undisciplined.
    In Bangui male and female detainees were separated; however, this 
was reportedly not the case in jails and temporary detention facilities 
in the countryside. There were no separate detention facilities for 
juvenile detainees, who routinely were housed with adults and often 
subjected to physical abuse.
    According to a June report by the UN Secretary-General to the UN 
Security Council, escapes by detainees, including incarcerated members 
of the armed forces, have become prevalent, critically affecting the 
fight against impunity.
    The Government restricted prison visits by human rights observers. 
Although international observers were not entirely denied visits, the 
Government delayed responses to visit requests, often for weeks or 
months. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and 
religious groups routinely provided supplies, food, and clothes to 
prisoners. The ICRC had unrestricted access to prisoners; however, 
access for some other observers was at times limited to certain areas 
of a given facility. There was no ombudsman system in the country.
    Adopted by the National Assembly during the year, the Government 
budget included an increase of 1.7 percent for the Ministry of Justice. 
However, this action did not translate into a significant increase of 
resources devoted to prisons or detention centers.
    In its national report submitted in February 2009 to the UN Office 
of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (UNOHCHR's) Universal Periodic 
Review Working Group (UPRWG), the Government claimed the following 
improvements: construction or renovation of prisons in Sibut, Kaga-
Bandoro, Bossangoa, Batangafo, Berberati, Bossembele, and Bozoum; 
training for prison wardens and directors; demilitarization of prison 
facilities; and separation of the sexes in Bangui prisons. By year's 
end, rehabilitation work was completed at all of the locations 
according to the Ministry of Justice. The prisons constructed in Bria 
and Bouca hold 120 and 100 persons respectively.
    In April approximately 15 domestic NGOs, with assistance from the 
UNDP, created the coordinated prison action (CAP), an awareness-
building mechanism designed to increase monitoring of prison and 
detention center conditions. The Ministry of Justice said it supported 
the body in principle but demanded that representatives from the 
Government be included, causing some NGOs to express concern about the 
CAP's independence. At year's end, the Ministry of Justice had not yet 
agreed to the proposed monitoring framework through which prisons could 
be accessed.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law provides protection 
against arbitrary arrest and detention and accords detainees the right 
to a judicial determination of the legality of their detention; 
however, security forces frequently ignored such provisions, and 
arbitrary arrest and detention remained problems.
    On April 23, a FACA detachment arbitrarily arrested Balala Fotour 
in Zoukoutouniala, near Ndele, on allegations of being a member of 
CPJP. After severely torturing and making death threats against Fotour, 
the FACA transferred him to the SRI in Bangui, where he spent three 
months before being transferred to Ngaragba prison where he remained in 
detention at year's end. According to Fotour, he travelled to a CPJP 
controlled area to visit a sick family member and had nothing to do 
with CPJP.
    On June 9, the burning of Rayan Supermarket in Bangui resulted in 
the arrests of 11 persons, including Bienvenu Ngaro, Prosper Gbanga, 
Michelle Bengba, Lin Maximin, Crozin Cazin, Austin Moudjikem, Michael 
Boda Makpevode, Mathurin Ngozoua Mamadou, Ngere Koundangba, and 
Mathurin Francisco Willibona without due process. The two main 
suspects, Symphorien Balemby, president of the Central African Bar 
Association and Jean Daniel Ndengou, first vice president of the 
Economic and Social Council attached to the National Assembly, remained 
at large at year's end. On June 10, authorities arrested Albertine 
Kalayen Balemby, wife and secretary of Symphorien Balemby, and Gabin 
Ndengou, brother of Jean Daniel Ndengou and driver for the World Health 
Organization. The prisoners were transferred without due process to 
Bossembele Presidential Guard Detention Center located 91 miles from 
Bangui. According to Amnesty International, the detainees were reported 
to have been charged with arson, inciting hatred, and criminal 
association. In an act described as illegal by the Central African Bar 
Association, security forces searched Balemby's office without the 
presence of a lawyer. To protest against these practices, the Central 
African Bar Association went on strike on June 12 but resumed 
activities on August 7 after the attorney general agreed to conduct an 
investigation. At year's end, 11 persons remained in custody, and the 
investigation was ongoing.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Ministry of the 
Interior and Public Security, through the director general of police, 
oversees the activities of the national police, including the OCRB. The 
Ministry of Defense oversees armed forces, including the presidential 
guard, the national gendarmerie, and the SRI. The police and the armed 
forces share responsibility for internal security.
    Police were ineffective; they severely lacked financial resources, 
and their salaries were often in arrears. Citizens' lack of faith in 
police led at times to mob violence against persons suspected of theft 
and other offenses.
    During a visit to the country in February, UN High Commissioner for 
Human Rights Navi Pillay identified impunity for human rights abuses as 
one of the most daunting challenges facing the country. ``Summary 
executions, enforced disappearances, illegal arrests, and detention are 
all issues that have surfaced in connection with state security and 
defense institutions,'' she said, ``and strenuous efforts need to be 
made to put an end to these extremely serious abuses of power.''
    Mechanisms existed for redress of abuses by members of the police 
and armed forces. Citizens filed complaints with the public prosecutor. 
The most common complaints involved theft, rape, brutality, and 
embezzlement. Impunity remained a severe problem. Although the 
prosecutor had the ability to exercise authority and order the arrest 
of police officers suspected of committing abuses, the prosecutor's 
staff was small and severely underfunded. There was at least one 
prosecution of a police officer during the year, according to the 
deputy prosecutor.
    In October a police officer was caught stealing money from a person 
under arrest at a police station in Bangui. The incarcerated person's 
lawyer took the case to court, but no further action was taken by 
year's end.
    The PMT did not meet during the year, although it normally holds 
two yearly sessions. According to an official from the Ministry of 
Justice, the PMT did not hold any sessions because the positions of the 
president, prosecutor, and deputy prosecutor of the tribunal remained 
unfilled.
    In June the country's delegation at the UNOHCHR told the UPRWG the 
country faced challenges implementing military justice, particularly 
because prison guards who belonged to the armed forces allowed or 
facilitated escapes for detained armed forces personnel (see section 
1.c.).
    During the year, in cooperation with the Government, the Human 
Rights Section of the UN's Integrated Office in the Central African 
Republic (BINUCA) continued to collect complaints of human rights 
abuses committed by members of the security forces, including FACA 
soldiers, and by nonstate actors. It continued to investigate abuses 
and share information with the public prosecutor to facilitate the 
fight against impunity. In addition BINUCA provided more than 120 
members of the security forces, including police officers and 
gendarmes, with international humanitarian law and human rights 
training; it also provided similar training for 100 armed forces 
personnel of the multinational Mission for the Consolidation of Peace 
(MICOPAX).
    BINUCA maintained UN human rights observers in three regional UN 
offices in the northwestern and central regions. While BINUCA reported 
on human rights and worked with the local human rights community, local 
and international observers have criticized its human rights section in 
recent years for its inability or refusal to bring such abuses to light 
or demand redress.
    As part of its efforts to protect citizens and safeguard property, 
the Government continued to conduct joint security operations with 
several hundred regional armed forces peacekeepers in the capital and 
selected cities in the Northwest. The Government also conducted joint 
operations with the UN Mission in the CAR and Chad in the northeastern 
Vakaga Province.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Judicial 
warrants are not required for arrest. The law stipulates that persons 
detained in cases other than those involving national security must be 
informed of the charges against them, and brought before a magistrate 
within 48 hours. This period is renewable once, for a total of 96 
hours. In practice authorities often did not respect these deadlines, 
in part due to inefficient judicial procedures and a lack of judges. In 
several police detention centers, including the SRI, detainees were 
held for more than two days and often for weeks before authorities 
brought their cases before a magistrate. The head of the SRI stated 
that the SRI lacked the human resources and basic equipment such as 
computers to process cases in a timely manner.
    The law allows all detainees, including those held on national 
security grounds, to have access to their families and to legal 
counsel. Indigent detainees may request a lawyer provided by the 
Government, although it was not known if this right was often invoked. 
Detainees are allowed to post bail or have family members post bail for 
them. In most cases, lawyers and families had free access to detainees, 
but incommunicado detention occasionally occurred.
    There were different standards for treatment of detainees held for 
crimes against the security of the state. National security detainees 
may be held without charge for up to eight days, and this period can be 
renewed once, for a total of 16 days. However, in practice such persons 
were held without charge for longer periods.
    In September 2009 the National Assembly adopted revised penal and 
criminal procedure codes. Under these reforms, detainees gained the 
right to have access to attorneys immediately after arrest. However, 
many detainees were not able to exercise this right because of the 
costs of hiring a lawyer and a lack of understanding of their rights 
under the law.
    According to BINUCA's human rights section, arbitrary arrest was a 
serious problem and was the most common human rights abuse committed by 
security forces during the year.
    During the year authorities continued to arrest individuals, 
particularly women, and charge them with witchcraft, an offense 
punishable by execution, although no one received the death penalty 
during the year. Prison officials at Bimbo Central Prison for women 
stated that accused witches were detained for their own safety, since 
village mobs sometimes killed suspected witches. Near the end of the 
year, Bangui prison officials estimated that 18 percent of female 
detainees had been arrested for purported witchcraft.
    During a visit in February, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights 
Pillay voiced deep concern over the targeting of women accused of being 
witches, ``a gender-based calumny that has no place in any society in 
the 21st century.''
    Prolonged pretrial detention was a serious problem. At year's end, 
pretrial detainees constituted approximately 67 percent of Ngaragba 
Central Prison's population and an estimated 63 percent of Bimbo 
Central Prison's population. Detainees usually were informed of the 
charges against them; however, many waited in prison for several months 
before seeing a judge. Judicial inefficiency and corruption, as well as 
a shortage of judges and severe financial constraints on the judicial 
system, contributed to pretrial delays. Some detainees remained in 
prison for years because of lost files and bureaucratic obstacles.
    In December President Bozize granted amnesty to prisoners with 
sentences that ranged from a few months to no more than five years (see 
section 1.c.).

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary; however, the judiciary remained subject to 
executive branch influence and, despite government efforts to improve 
its capacity, the judiciary was inadequate to meet its tasks.
    During a visit in February, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights 
Pillay expressed concerns about the judiciary's lack of independence. 
However, she praised the National Assembly's revision during the year 
of penal and criminal procedure codes, which she said would help 
bolster the independence of the judiciary and bolster the fight against 
impunity for human rights abuses.
    The courts continued to suffer from inefficient administration, a 
shortage of trained personnel, growing salary arrears, and a lack of 
material resources. Less than 1 percent of the annual national budget 
was devoted to the Ministry of Justice. According to a Ministry of 
Justice source, during the year there were 124 magistrates working in 
the entire country. Many citizens effectively lacked access to the 
judicial system. Citizens often had to travel more than 30 miles to 
reach one of the 38 courthouses. Consequently, traditional justice at 
the family and village level retained a major role in settling 
conflicts and administering punishment.
    There were numerous reports that, in reaction to judicial 
inefficiency, citizens in a number of cities organized to deal with 
cases through parallel justice and persecution, such as mob violence, 
or resorted to neighborhood tribunals and appeals to local chiefs. 
Citizens also sought such resort in cases of alleged witchcraft.

    Trial Procedures.--According to the penal code, defendants are 
presumed innocent until proven guilty. Trials are public, and 
defendants have the right to be present and to consult a public 
defender. Criminal trials use juries. If an individual is accused of a 
serious crime and cannot afford a lawyer, the Government has an 
obligation to provide one. In practice the Government provided counsel 
for indigent defendants, although this process was often slow and 
delayed trial proceedings due to the state's limited resources. 
Defendants have the right to question witnesses, to present witnesses 
and evidence on their own behalf, and to have access to government-held 
evidence. Defendants have the right to appeal. The law extends these 
rights to any citizen, including women. The Government generally 
complied with these legal requirements. The judiciary, however, did not 
enforce consistently the right to a fair trial, and there were many 
credible reports of corruption within the court system. One indigenous 
ethnic group in particular, the Ba'Aka (Pygmies), reportedly was 
subject to legal discrimination and unfair trials.
    Authorities occasionally tried cases of purported witchcraft in the 
regular courts. Witchcraft is punishable by execution although the 
state imposed no death sentences during the year. Most individuals 
convicted of witchcraft received sentences of one to five years in 
prison; they could also be fined up to 817,800 CFA francs ($1,636). 
Police and gendarmes conducted investigations into alleged witchcraft. 
During a typical witchcraft trial, authorities called practitioners of 
traditional medicine to give their opinion of a suspect's ties to 
sorcery, and neighbors occasionally served as witnesses. The law does 
not define the elements of witchcraft, and the determination lies 
solely with the magistrate.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.
    Authorities granted BINUCA's human rights unit and human rights and 
humanitarian NGOs limited access to prisoners and detainees, although 
bureaucratic requirements for visits and delays significantly 
restricted their frequency during the year.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The constitution provides 
for an independent judiciary in civil matters, and citizens had access 
to a court to bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, a 
human rights violation; however, there was a widespread perception that 
judges were bribed easily and that litigants could not rely on courts 
to render impartial judgments. Many courts were understaffed, and 
personnel were paid poorly.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law prohibits searches of homes without a warrant 
in civil and criminal cases; however, police sometimes used provisions 
of the penal code governing certain political and security cases to 
search private property without a warrant.
    Further developments in the June 2009 attack on the house of 
Minister of Regional Development Marie Reine Hassen were hindered by 
the PMT's inability to meet before year's end. The PMT has not met 
since April 2009.
    Local journalists claimed that the Government tapped their 
telephones and harassed them regularly by telephone.

    g. Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts.--
Internal conflict continued in seven northern provinces and the 
Southeast. Despite the signing of the comprehensive peace accord in 
2008 between the Government and four nonstate armed entities--the APRD, 
the Democratic Front of the Central African People (FDPC), the Movement 
of Justice for Central African Liberators, and the Union of Democratic 
Forces for Unity (UFDR)--and a 2008 inclusive political dialogue 
between the Government, nonstate armed entities, the political 
opposition, and civil society, which resulted in the formation of a 
government of national unity in January 2009, violence continued to 
increase during the year. Government and opposition forces engaged in 
numerous serious human rights abuses in the course of their struggle 
for control of the North, where soldiers, nonstate armed entities, and 
bands of unidentified armed men attacked civilians. Observers estimated 
that the Government controlled little more than half of the country 
during the year.
    Although government forces and nonstate armed entities maintained a 
ceasefire for much of the year, one notable nonstate armed entity, the 
CPJP, remained outside the peace process at year's end and continued to 
fight government forces in the provinces of Bamingui Bangoran, Vakaga, 
Ouaka, and Haute Kotto, causing many civilians to flee. Civilians were 
caught in the crossfire during fighting between the CPJP and the armed 
forces, which often accused them of supporting the nonstate armed 
entities. The CPJP has reportedly employed rape and murder as 
intimidation tactics.
    During the year there was deliberate restriction of the free and 
safe passage of humanitarian organizations' assistance. During the 
first seven months of the year, the Government denied humanitarian 
access north of the town of Ndele. In addition on October 2, 
humanitarian missions, led by the UN Educational, Scientific and 
Cultural Organization (UNESCO)-UNDP and MICOPAX, were blocked at an 
unofficial check point near Bozoum and threatened by APRD elements. 
These missions were ultimately allowed to continue after payment of 
money.
    According to Dangerous Little Stones: Diamonds in the Central 
African Republic, a December report by the International Crisis Group, 
``rampant smuggling [of diamonds] fosters illicit trading networks that 
deprive the state of much needed revenue, while the Government's 
refusal to distribute national wealth fairly has led jealous factions 
to launch rebellions. Profits from mining and selling diamonds 
illegally enable armed groups to collect new recruits and create a 
strong incentive not to disarm.'' During the year the CPJP, which was 
active around the northeastern town of Ndele, frequently targeted 
diamond producing zones, killing those who worked in the diamond pits 
and trading the rough stones.
    In addition attacks on civilians by the LRA in the Southeast 
contributed to the humanitarian crisis, increasing the number of 
internally displaced persons in LRA-affected areas.
    The UN-led Security Sector Reform process continued to outline the 
restructuring and redeployment of the armed forces. The disarmament, 
demobilization, and reintegration of nonstate armed entities began in 
2008 and continued in some provinces after suffering numerous delays.
    The Ugandan Peoples Defense Force, in the eastern sector of the 
country, cooperated with the FACA in operations against LRA guerillas.
    Armed entities, including unidentified ones, took advantage of 
weakened security and continued to attack, kill, rob, beat, and rape 
civilians and loot and burn villages in the North. Kidnappings by such 
groups continued at an alarming rate during the year, contributing 
significantly to the massive population displacement. However, 
according to the ICRC, improved security in the Northwest encouraged 
some of the thousands displaced by conflict in recent years to return 
home.

    Killings.--Extrajudicial killings continued. During operations 
conducted by state armed forces against nonstate armed entities 
(including highway bandits), government forces did not distinguish 
between nonstate armed entities and civilians in the villages. 
Government forces often burned houses and sometimes killed villagers 
accused of being accomplices of nonstate armed entities.
    UN, press, and NGO observers noted several extrajudicial killings 
by security forces and the use of disproportionate force against 
suspected bandits and other members of nonstate armed entities.
    In December 2009 the family of Charles Massi, a member of the CPJP 
and a former minister, reported him missing. His wife and members of 
his party told international media that Chadian officials arrested 
Massi and transferred him to CAR authorities; his wife and members of 
his party also claimed that CAR authorities tortured and murdered him 
in Bossembele prison. Early in the year, the press widely reported the 
same thing, but the Ministry of Defense denied the claims. In August 
the attorney general found no evidence of wrongdoing by the Government, 
but strong suspicions remained about the extrajudicial murder of 
Charles Massi.
    Authorities took no action in any of the following four killings by 
members of the FACA.
    On January 10, the FACA detachment in Noufou arrested, tied up, and 
then killed three suspected cattle thieves from Cameroon.
    In April an international NGO reported that the FACA summarily 
executed a Chadian migrant farmer they claimed to be a member of the 
FDPC militia north of Kabo.
    On May 2, the FACA tortured and killed a suspected CPJP combatant 
found on the road between Ndele and Kaga Bandoro. The FACA allegedly 
displayed his body in Ndele shortly thereafter.
    On August 18, according to Le Democrate newspaper, a group of FACA 
based in Bang killed a local butcher who refused to serve them meat 
free of charge. The newspaper reported that on August 25, the local 
population killed three members of the FACA and one police commissioner 
in reprisal for the killing of the butcher.
    There were no further developments in the following 2009 cases: the 
February attack by the FACA on the village of Sokoumba that resulted in 
the death of at least 18 male civilians, including the village chief, 
or the March execution of four men suspected of banditry outside the 
northwestern town of Bozoum by government forces.
    There were no further developments in the June 2009 death of two 
civilians as a result of fighting between the FACA and the FDPC on the 
Kabo-Moyenne Sido road in Ouham Province.
    UN, press, and NGO observers noted numerous killings by nonstate 
actors and the use of disproportionate force against civilians.
    From January to the end of November, the total number of attacks 
the LRA launched over the year was at least 54, in which at least 128 
civilians were killed, more than 300 persons were abducted, and 20 were 
wounded. Approximately 80 persons detained by the LRA were released and 
another 39 escaped. As of November, the UN High Commissioner for 
Refugees (UNHCR) estimated 5,724 Congolese refugees and approximately 
21,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) were in the southeast.
    On March 27, the CPJP attacked Yangoungale village. During this 
attack, insurgents took the village chief and the primary school 
director hostage. They reportedly shot and killed the school director's 
wife as she tried to escape the attack.
    On April 6, gunmen killed a pastor from Sido who was working for 
the local Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) office. Members of the 
FDPC were suspected in the slaying.
    On April 16, attackers identified only as ``armed bandits'' killed 
a member of the FACA who was escorting a convoy of IEC vehicles on the 
road between Birao and the border with Sudan.
    In mid-April, CPJP members reportedly burned the village chief of 
Mbollo alive.
    On May 3, the CPJP attacked Gadaye and Haoussa villages. In Gadaye 
the CPJP beat to death Abba Abdoulaye Hissen, the village patriarch, 
allegedly because he ordered villagers to leave the area and to settle 
in Ndele. In Haoussa the CPJP kidnapped and tortured Adamou Aroun, the 
village chief, for the same reason.
    On May 4, the CPJP murdered the deputy village chief of a village 
12 miles north of Ndele.
    On May 13, CPJP rebels invaded Diki in search of food. The village 
self-defense group killed one member of the CPJP. The next day, a group 
returned to the village, and looted and burned many houses. They also 
killed the chief of the village and wounded many villagers.
    On October 15, the CPJP attacked the town of Ippy in Ouaka 
Province. After looting several stores and destroying official 
buildings, CPJP attackers killed one secondary school student. No 
further developments were available at year's end.
    There were also killings resulting from tensions over land use 
during the year. On March 16, local residents of Batangafo fought with 
migrant Chadian cattle herders, leaving at least 17 persons dead. The 
UN reported 13 villages were burned and at least 1,500 persons 
displaced by the fighting. Gendarme and FACA in the town failed to 
intervene in the fighting; there were no further developments by year's 
end.
    There were no further developments in the following 2009 conflict-
related killings: the March killing by APRD members of the chief of 
Tchoulao village in the Ouham Pende; the April killing by an APRD 
officer in the northwestern town of Paoua of the local national herders 
organization representative; and the April deaths of 25 persons, 
following street battles between Mbororo cattle raisers and beef 
wholesalers in Bangui.
    There were no further developments in the June 2009 torture and 
killing of two persons, relating to alleged witchcraft, by APRD members 
near Kaga Bandoro.

    Abductions.--The Popular Front for Redressing of Grievances, an 
exiled armed entity of Chadian origin, reportedly took civilians 
hostage during the year near Kaga Bandoro to extort money from their 
families.
    Human Rights Watch reported that between July 2009 and July 2010, 
the LRA abducted more than 300 persons, many of them children, in 
southeastern CAR.
    There was little or no response by local authorities to multiple 
kidnappings of civilians by armed entities considered to be bandits or 
zaraguinas (see section 1.a.).
    On October 28, a group of CPJP rebels operating in Sam Ouandja in 
Haute Kotto Province took 21 electoral workers hostage. The electoral 
workers were released a few days later after the CPJP rebels took all 
of their belongings.
    In November 2009 unidentified bandits in Birao abducted two foreign 
resident NGO employees. Kidnappers released the two in Darfur, Sudan, 
on March 14 (see section 1.b.).

    Physical Abuse, Punishment, and Torture.--Government forces and 
nonstate armed entities mistreated civilians, including through 
torture, beatings, and rape, in the course of the conflicts. During 
operations conducted by armed forces against nonstate armed entities 
(including highway bandits), the armed forces often burned homes and 
did not distinguish between nonstate armed entities and local civilian 
populations they regarded as accomplices, although less often than in 
the previous year.
    During the week of March 8, the mayor of Ndim reportedly authorized 
the public torture of a woman accused of adultery. No action was taken 
against those responsible by year's end.
    On April 26, Jojo Bozize, one of President Bozize's sons, ordered 
the arrest of two of his domestic employees, Betty Kibembe and Serge 
Tkpoba, on suspicion of stealing clothes from his residence. Gendarmes 
imprisoned the two for two days at the SRI detention center where they 
were severely tortured. Bozize later learned that his partner had taken 
the clothes to the cleaners and, as a result, he took Kibembe and 
Tkpoba to a private clinic for medical treatment. Kebembe suffered 
serious leg wounds. Authorities took no action against Bozize, and 
human rights lawyers stated the two victims refused to press charges.
    On June 6, Abdoulaye Amat, a member of the presidential guard, 
threatened Price Telo with a rifle and then cut off Telo's ear after he 
complained about a merchant and friend of Amat not paying full price 
for a motorcycle. Telo's parents informed senior figures of the 
presidential guard who told them they would arrest Amat, but at year's 
end, Amat remained free.
    Civilians continued to suffer mistreatment in armed territories 
controlled by nonstate armed entities.
    In April a member of the APRD killed a 12-year-old boy in 
Kounmbame. The APRD's local commander offered to execute the killer if 
the boy's family desired but, in the end, senior figures in the APRD 
paid the boy's family 100,000 CFA francs ($200).
    In April near Kaga Bandoro, the APRD arrested and tortured a man 
for allegedly practicing witchcraft. Members of the APRD tied the man 
to a tree, beat him, and cut off two of his toes to force a confession. 
After confessing, the man escaped, and the APRD responded by arresting 
his mother and torturing her. No further information was available at 
year's end.
    In May near Kaga Bandoro the APRD arrested a man for alleged shape 
shifting, a form of witchcraft. When he managed to flee, the APRD 
arrested his mother, stripped her naked, beat her, and forced her to 
pay of fine of 100,000 CFA francs ($200) before releasing her.
    No action was taken against APRD members who in March 2009 tortured 
a village chief in Bocaranga and the evangelical pastor who tried to 
help the chief.
    International and domestic observers reported that, during the 
year, state security forces and members of nonstate armed entities, 
including Chadian soldiers and bandits, continued to attack cattle 
herders, primarily members of the Mbororo ethnic group. Many observers 
believed Mbororo were targeted primarily because of their perceived 
relative wealth and the vulnerability of cattle to theft. One UN agency 
reported that, according to its NGO partners in the affected region, 
attackers often were themselves Mbororo.
    Mbororo cattle herders were also disproportionately subjected to 
kidnapping for ransom. A UN agency working in the area indicated the 
perpetrators often kidnapped women and children and held them for 
ransoms of between one million and two million CFA francs ($2,000--
$4,000). Victims whose families did not pay were sometimes killed. 
Nonstate armed entities in the country continued to conduct frequent 
attacks on the Mbororo population on the Cameroonian side of the 
border, despite the Cameroonian government's deployment of security 
forces.
    Some observers noted the use of rape by both government forces and 
nonstate armed entities to terrorize the population in the northern 
provinces, especially in the CPJP's zones of operation. Given the 
social stigma attached to rape, any report would likely underestimate 
the incidence of rape in the conflict zones. Several NGOs and UN 
agencies conducted gender-based violence awareness and treatment 
campaigns in northern provinces and Bangui.
    On February 8, a member of the APRD allegedly raped a pregnant 
woman near the village of Goddo 2. Her husband made an official 
complaint to the APRD but by year's end, there was no evidence that the 
APRD took action against a perpetrator.
    In July after an attack upon the village of Zokotonyala, members of 
the CPJP reportedly raped between 20 and 25 Houssa women. There was no 
additional information about the women as rebels prevented travelers 
from gaining access to the region.
    On October 26, a group of CPJP combatants invaded the village of 
Kpata, in Bamingi Bangouran Province. After looting the village's 168 
houses, they burned the village. Reportedly, the village was attacked 
because its inhabitants participated in the electoral census. No 
further information was available at year's end.

    Child Soldiers.--According to multiple human rights observers, 
numerous APRD groups included soldiers as young as 12 years old. In 
addition the UFDR admitted that many children served as soldiers in its 
ranks. According to an international observer, although the UFDR and 
APRD stopped recruiting child soldiers during the year as a result of 
disarmament, demobilization, and reinsertion activities, in some remote 
areas, children were still used as lookouts and porters. According to 
one international NGO involved in disarmament, demobilization, and 
reintegration (DDR), in some cases, children have been ``recruited'' 
not for actual combat, but to go through the DDR process and get paid. 
The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and other observers noted that, while 
the child soldiers were willing to demobilize and were anxious to 
attend school, their communities lacked the most basic infrastructure.
    UNICEF announced in July that it helped demobilize 180 child 
members of the APRD between the ages of 10 and 17 years old in Ouham-
Pende since November 2008. An additional 15 children were demobilized 
in Nana Gribizi Province during the same time frame.
    In December UNICEF held a 10-day training session in Boali, with 20 
soldiers and six police officials, on the theme of protecting children 
before, during, and after a conflict. The objective of the training was 
to instruct the officials to become trainers themselves.
    Several NGO observers have reported that self-defense committees, 
which were established by towns to combat nonstate armed entities 
(including bandits) in areas where the FACA or gendarmes were not 
present, used children as combatants, lookouts, and porters. UNICEF 
estimated that children comprised one third of the self-defense 
committees.
    NGOs reported that the LRA continued to kidnap children and forced 
them to fight, act as porters, or to function as sex slaves. During the 
year 138 children were abducted by the LRA. Of those 138 children, 43 
were released by the LRA, 45 escaped, and 13 were being supported in 
transit centers.
    Displaced children have been forced to work as porters, carrying 
stolen goods for groups of bandits.

    Other Conflict-Related Abuses.--In the Northwest, government 
security forces, including the FACA and presidential guard, continued 
to project a presence from larger towns and occasionally engaged in 
combat with armed entities. While the ceasefire between government 
forces and nonstate armed entities allowed some displaced persons to 
return home, approximately 330,000 persons remained displaced in the 
bush or in refugee camps along the Chadian or Cameroonian borders.
    On multiple occasions during the year, government forces burned 
houses and other buildings along the Ndele-Garaba road. The area was 
considered sympathetic to the CPJP insurrection.
    Internal movement was severely impeded, particularly in northern 
and northwestern areas the Government did not control, by bandits and 
other nonstate armed entities, including former combatants who helped 
President Bozize come to power in 2003.
    On April 16, the subprefect of Kabo called all the village chiefs 
north of the town to Kabo and explained that for the indefinite future, 
anyone who remained on the road would be considered an insurgent or in 
collusion with them, and thus subject to reprisals by the FACA. The 
subprefect's ultimatum apparently caused an estimated 5,000 new 
refugees to move to Chad.
    Sporadic fighting between government security forces and nonstate 
armed entities, attacks on civilians by nonstate armed entities, armed 
banditry, and occasional abuse by government soldiers kept many IDPs 
from their homes. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian 
Affairs (OCHA) estimated that the number of IDPs increased during the 
year from 162,000 to 192,029 at year's end.
    The overwhelming majority of IDPs were in the northwestern 
provinces of Ouham and Ouham Pende, where civilians remained displaced 
from their villages out of fear and lived in the bush for much of the 
year, returning occasionally to their fields to plant or scavenge. NGOs 
and UN agencies observed anecdotal evidence that some civilians were 
returning in the northwest provinces, but this was not a widespread 
phenomenon. Thousands of individuals remained homeless due to fighting 
in the north-central provinces of Haute Kotto and Bamingui-Bangoran, 
and due to instability in the northeastern province of Vakaga, where 
there was renewed fighting within the UFDR, as well as an ethnic 
conflict between the Goula, Kara, and Rounga communities.
    Hygiene-related illnesses and chronic malnutrition continued. 
Attacks or fear of attacks prevented many subsistence farmers from 
planting crops, and attackers either stole most of the livestock or the 
farmers fled with their livestock to safety in Cameroon. Chronic 
insecurity also rendered the North occasionally inaccessible to 
commercial, humanitarian, and developmental organizations, contributing 
to the lack of medical care, food security, and school facilities, 
although less so than in the previous year. Humanitarian organizations 
continued to supply some emergency relief and assistance to displaced 
populations, although long-term development projects remained suspended 
due to the frequently changing security situations and sporadic 
fighting.
    The Government did not attack or target IDPs, although some IDPs 
were caught in the fighting between government forces and nonstate 
armed entities. The Government provided little humanitarian assistance, 
but it allowed UN agencies and NGOs access to these groups to provide 
relief.
    MICOPAX peacekeepers and government forces conducted joint security 
operations in an effort to secure the northern region and control small 
arms proliferation. Despite these operations, the Government was not 
able to provide sufficient security or protection for IDPs in the 
north.
    On September 5, in Ouanda Djalle, 62 miles south of Birao, LRA 
combatants burned at least 80 houses and looted the marketplace and 
health center.
    Refugees continued to flee the country during the year (see section 
2.d.).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press; however, in practice 
authorities continued to employ threats and intimidation to limit media 
criticism of the Government. Authorities did not arrest any journalists 
during the year; however, the Government briefly detained one 
journalist.
    Throughout the year, a number of newspapers criticized the 
president, the Government's economic policies, and official corruption. 
There were more than 30 newspapers, many privately owned, which 
circulated daily or at less frequent intervals. Independent dailies 
were available in Bangui, but they were not widely distributed outside 
of the capital area. The absence of a functioning postal service 
continued to hinder newspaper distribution. Financial problems 
prevented many private newspapers from publishing regularly, and the 
average price of a newspaper, approximately 300 CFA francs ($0.60), was 
higher than most citizens could afford.
    Radio was the most important medium of mass communication, in part 
because the literacy rate was low. There were alternatives to the 
state-owned radio station, Radio Centrafrique. For example, privately 
owned Radio Ndeke Luka continued to provide independent broadcasts, 
including national and international news and political commentary. Its 
signal was strengthened to reach beyond Bangui, and new direct 
transmitters were set up in Bouar and Berberati. Ndeke Luka was also 
regularly rebroadcast by community radio for an hour or two each day. 
With the exception of Radio Ndeke Luka, which organized debates on 
current events, government-run and privately owned broadcast outlets 
based in the country tended to avoid covering topics that could draw 
negative attention from the Government. International broadcasters, 
including Radio France Internationale, continued to operate during the 
year.
    The Government continued to monopolize domestic television 
broadcasting, and television news coverage generally supported 
government positions.
    The High Council for Communications (HCC), which is charged with 
granting publication and broadcast licenses and protecting and 
promoting press freedom, is nominally independent. However, some of its 
members were appointed by government institutions and, according to 
several independent journalists, as well as the international NGO 
Committee to Protect Journalists, the HCC was controlled by the 
Government.
    The media continued to face many difficulties, including chronic 
financial problems, a serious deficiency of professional skills, the 
absence of an independent printing press, and a severe lack of access 
to government information. Journalists in the privately owned media 
were not allowed to cover certain official events, and, in the absence 
of information, the majority of news reporting continued to rely 
heavily on official or protocol-related information, such as government 
press releases.
    During the year security forces often harassed and threatened 
journalists. For example, on August 17, unidentified armed men in 
military uniforms attacked Television Centrafrique camerawoman Virginie 
Mokonzi. The assailants reportedly beat, robbed, and raped her in front 
of her children and husband. The Journalist's Union organized a march 
to protest the attack and delivered a memorandum to the prime minister. 
By year's end, there were no reports of arrests.
    On September 3, police arrested Alexi Remangai, a journalist at the 
daily newspaper Le Confident, and detained him for three days at SRI 
before releasing him as result of a protest by the Journalists' 
Association. Gendarmes arrested him following a complaint of defamation 
by the Ministry of Mines' chief of staff. Remangai had written an 
article in the newspaper about corruption and mismanagement by high-
ranking ministry officials at the ministry. At year's end, the case was 
pending before a court.
    There were also reports of government ministers and other senior 
officials threatening journalists who were critical of the Government. 
However, according to the Central African Journalists' Union, the 
Government did not arrest any other journalists during the year.
    Unlike the previous year, the HCC did not suspend publication of 
any newspaper during the year.
    Journalists continued to practice self-censorship due to fear of 
government reprisals.
    Imprisonment for defamation and censorship was abolished in 2005; 
however, journalists found guilty of libel or slander faced fines of 
100,000 to eight million CFA francs ($200 to $16,000).
    The law provides for imprisonment and fines of as much as one 
million CFA francs ($2,000) for journalists who use the media to incite 
disobedience among security forces or incite persons to violence, 
hatred, or discrimination. Similar fines and imprisonment of six months 
to two years may be imposed for the publication or broadcast of false 
or fabricated information that ``would disturb the peace.''
    The Ministry of Communications maintained a ban on the diffusion by 
media of songs, programs, or articles deemed to have a ``misogynist 
character'' or to disrespect women.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no reports that the Government 
restricted access to the Internet, monitored e-mail or Internet chat 
rooms, or attempted to collect personally identifiable information. The 
relatively few individuals who had access could engage in the peaceful 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. According to 
International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2008 approximately 
0.44 percent the country's inhabitants used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution provides for the right of assembly; 
however, the Government restricted this right on a few occasions. 
Organizers of demonstrations and public meetings were required to 
register with the minister of the interior 48 hours in advance; 
political meetings in schools or churches were prohibited. Any 
association intending to hold a political meeting was required to 
obtain the Ministry of Interior's approval.
    There were no discriminatory government restrictions that targeted 
women or minorities.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
association, and the Government generally respected this right. All 
associations, including political parties, must apply to the Ministry 
of Interior for registration, and the Government usually granted 
registration expeditiously. The Government normally allowed 
associations and political parties to hold congresses, elect officials, 
and publicly debate policy issues without interference, except when 
they advocated sectarianism or tribalism.
    A law prohibiting nonpolitical organizations from uniting for 
political purposes remained in place.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation; however, the Government restricted freedom of movement 
within the country and foreign travel during the year. Security forces, 
customs officers, and other officials harassed travelers unwilling or 
unable to pay bribes or ``taxes'' at checkpoints along intercity roads 
and at major intersections in Bangui, although these roadblocks had 
decreased significantly by year's end.
    On multiple occasions during the year, police, gendarmes, and the 
FACA impeded the travel of members of the opposition Movement for the 
Liberation of Central African People party, delaying their travel for 
up to two days.
    On May 9, authorities prevented Martin Ziguele, a presidential 
candidate in 2005, from traveling abroad. Airport police briefly 
confiscated his passport and barred him from boarding an aircraft. The 
Government's spokesman later said the incident was the result of an 
unspecified misunderstanding.
    On May 27, airport authorities stopped former minister of 
communications Cyriaque Gonda from traveling to France. The 
Government's spokesman said that Gonda failed to present a permission 
to depart document normally required for official travel by members of 
the Government. Gonda was neither a current minister nor going abroad 
in an official capacity, and observers widely viewed the incident as 
stemming from a political dispute between him and the president.
    On June 13, airport authorities confiscated the diplomatic passport 
of opposition figure Nicolas Tiangaye upon his return from France where 
he held meetings with Central Africans opposed to the Government. 
Authorities claimed he had no right to a diplomatic passport, although 
in practice, many prominent figures held and used diplomatic passports 
for nonofficial travel.
    In April 2009 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested that all 
diplomatic missions inform the ministry before travel to any area 
deemed ``under tension,'' although these locations were unspecified. In 
practice the Government hindered travel by diplomats outside of the 
capital on multiple occasions.
    During the year police continued to stop and search vehicles, 
particularly in Bangui, in what amounted to petty harassment to extort 
payments. Local human rights organizations and UN officials said the 
problem of illegal road barriers and petty extortion by soldiers was 
widespread. Merchants and traders traveling the more than 350-mile main 
route from Bangui to Bangassou encountered an average of 25 military 
barriers. While the fees extorted varied for private passengers, 
commercial vehicles reported paying up to 9,000 to 10,000 CFA francs 
($18 to $20) to continue their journeys.
    This extortion greatly discouraged trade and road travel and 
severely crippled the country's economy.
    Freedom of movement, including of traders and delivery trucks, was 
also severely impeded in conflict zones.
    In May the UN reported that North of Kabo, in a zone of continuing 
conflict between the Government and the FDPC, the FACA charged truckers 
100,000 CFA francs ($200) to protect convoys of two or more trucks 
between the town and the border with Chad.
    With the exception of diplomats, the Government required that all 
foreigners obtain an exit visa. 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 constitution does not permit the use of exile, and the 
Government did not employ it in practice.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--Sporadic fighting between 
government forces and nonstate armed entities, attacks on civilians by 
nonstate armed entities, and armed banditry prevented the country's 
IDPs, most of whom were displaced in 2006, from returning to their 
homes. At year's end, the number of IDPs totaled 192,029, including 
almost 100,000 in the northwestern provinces of Ouham and Ouham Pende. 
The number of individuals who had fled the country was estimated at 
138,000, including 74,000 refugees in Chad and 64,000 in Cameroon. In 
the southeastern province of Haut-Mbomou, attacks by the LRA caused the 
internal displacement of approximately 15,000 individuals by year's 
end.
    In July the Government reopened roads north of Ndele to 
humanitarian access after a prolonged closure due to government efforts 
to fight the CPJP.
    In 2009 the UNHCR helped created the National Committee for 
Dialogue and Coordination for the Protection of the Rights of IDPs in 
the country. The objectives of the committee were to provide for the 
coordination and monitoring of activities related to the protection of 
IDPs, to formulate a new IDP protection law, and to establish a 
framework for increased assistance for IDPs. The committee participated 
in all meetings of the country's protection cluster, the main forum for 
the coordination of civilian protection activities in the context of 
humanitarian efforts, and focused on human right abuses, but, according 
to OCHA, the committee had not officially met or carried out any of its 
assigned responsibilities by year's end.
    On October 29, the UNHCR and the Office of the Prime Minister 
organized a workshop for 60 members of parliament on the African Union 
Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced 
Persons in Africa. The objective of the workshop was to speed progress 
toward the ratification of the convention.
    The Government did not provide protection or assistance to IDPs, 
citing a lack of means.
    There were no reports of the Government attacking or specifically 
targeting IDPs. The Government occasionally blocked humanitarian access 
in areas frequented by nonstate armed entities. There were no reports 
of the Government inhibiting the free movement of IDPs.
    In June 2009 several members of the UNOHCHR's UPRWG recommended 
that the Government immediately take measures to safeguard the rights 
of IDPs, including by enacting a law with provisions for the protection 
of displaced children; provide for the free circulation of humanitarian 
workers so they can access IDPs; and follow up on past recommendations 
of the UN secretary-general's representative on the human rights of 
IDPs. At year's end, it was unclear if the Government had taken 
significant steps to implement these recommendations.
    Displaced children worked in fields for long hours and as porters 
for bandits or other nonstate armed entities (see sections 1.g. and 
7.d.).

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for granting 
asylum and refugee status, and the Government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees. In practice the Government 
provided protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to 
countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account 
of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social 
group, or political opinion. The Government accepted refugees without 
subjecting them to individual screening.
    The Government continued to cooperate with the UNHCR and other 
humanitarian organizations in assisting approximately 24,690 refugees 
in the country of which 5,466 remain in Bangui.
    During the year security forces subjected refugees, as they did 
citizens, to arbitrary arrest and detention. Refugees were especially 
vulnerable to such human rights abuses. The Government allowed refugees 
freedom of movement, but like citizens, they were subject to roadside 
stops and harassment by security forces and nonstate armed entities. 
Refugees' access to courts, public education, and basic public health 
care was limited by the same factors that limited citizens' access to 
these services.
    While refugees in Mongoumba and Batalimo did not report any 
violations, refugees in Sam Ouandja reported restriction of movement by 
authorities and UFDR rebels allied to the Government. Refugees in 
Bangui reported harassment and arbitrary arrest by police.
    According to the UNHCR, there were no reports of refugee abuse 
during the year.
    A significant number of members of the Mbororo ethnic group 
continued to live as refugees in Cameroon and southern Chad after 
violence in 2006 and 2007. However, according to Radio Centrafrique, 
many Mbororo herders started returning to CAR during the year.
    Several international organizations worked with the Government and 
UNHCR to assist refugees during the year. They included Doctors without 
Borders, Caritas, International Medical Corps, and the NGO Cooperazione 
Internazionale (COOPI).
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 
presidential and legislative elections in 2005, which election 
observers considered to be generally free and fair, despite some 
irregularities.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In 2005 the country held 
two rounds of multiparty presidential and legislative elections that 
resulted in the election of General Bozize as president; Bozize had 
seized power in a 2003 military coup, declared himself president, and 
headed a transitional government until the 2005 elections. Domestic and 
international election observers judged the elections to be generally 
free and fair, despite irregularities and accusations of fraud made by 
candidates running against Bozize.
    Bozize's term as president was stipulated under the constitution to 
expire on June 11. However, on May 10, the National Assembly passed a 
constitutional amendment that extended the terms of the office of the 
president and the National Assembly until elections, allowing Bozize to 
remain in office through the year.
    The Government twice postponed constitutionally mandated 
presidential and legislative elections set for March due to a lack of 
funds and preparation. Controversially, the National Assembly altered 
the 2005 constitution to allow the president to ask the Constitutional 
Court for a delay in elections if elections preparations commence in a 
``lawful manner,'' but due to ``unforeseeable and unavoidable'' events 
must be postponed. The president used this provision to extend his 
mandate until such a time as elections were organized. On July 30, the 
president decreed the first round of presidential and legislative 
elections would occur in January 2011.
    Despite a constitutional requirement that he do so by 2007, as well 
as a recommendation stemming from the 2008 inclusive political 
dialogue, for the fourth consecutive year, the president did not call 
for municipal elections, citing lack of government resources.
    During the year the LCDH continued to criticize President Bozize 
for concurrently serving as president and defense minister, on the 
grounds that the constitution prohibits the president from holding 
``any other political function or electoral mandate''; however, 
officials said this criticism was based on a misinterpretation of the 
constitution. After political activist Zarambaud Assingambi filed a 
complaint with the constitutional court in 2008, the court ruled later 
that year that it was not competent to try the case.
    Political parties continued to be subject to close scrutiny and 
restrictions by the Government. Members of political parties were not 
able to move about the country without restriction; many had to obtain 
authorization from the Government before traveling.
    According to recommendations from a 2003 government-sponsored 
national dialogue, women should occupy 35 percent of posts in 
government ministries and political parties; however, this provision 
was not respected during the year. There were 10 women in the 105-seat 
National Assembly and four in the 32-person cabinet. There were no laws 
prohibiting women from participating in political life, but most women 
lacked the financial means to compete in political races.
    There were 17 Muslims, including two members of the Mbororo ethnic 
group, in the National Assembly.
    The Ba'Aka (Pygmies), the indigenous inhabitants of the south, made 
up between 1 and 2 percent of the population; they were not represented 
in the Government and continued to have no political power or 
influence.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement these laws effectively, and 
officials often engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. 
Misappropriation of public funds and corruption in the Government 
remained widespread. The World Bank's 2009 Worldwide Governance 
Indicators reflected that government corruption was a severe problem.
    The Government continued its campaign against embezzlement, money 
laundering, and other forms of financial fraud. Since May 2009 salary 
payments to government employees have been made through bank accounts 
instead of in cash. Computerization of financial information to 
increase transparency continued during the year. However, the effect of 
these actions was not particularly evident to the public, and 
skepticism remained over whether these actions would serve to deter 
corruption. Extortion at road checkpoints and corruption among customs 
service officials remained major sources of complaints by importers and 
exporters.
    The president continued to chair weekly committee meetings to 
combat fraud in the treasury. In 2008 Prime Minister Touadera created a 
national committee to fight corruption that included representatives 
from the Government, trade unions, NGOs, private sector, religious 
organizations, and the media. The committee's investigations resulted 
in the arrest of 19 senior civil servants in the tax division of the 
Ministry of Finance on charges of embezzling up to five million CFA 
francs ($10,000) each. Six of those arrested were tried in 2008 and 
received jail sentences. Six voluntarily reimbursed the amount they 
were alleged to have stolen; 13 civil servants accused of embezzlement 
were condemned by the court, but a few were later released, although 
the exact number is unknown.
    Police corruption, including the use of illegal roadblocks to 
commit extortion, remained a problem; however, removal of some illegal 
roadblocks enabled more freedom of movement and easier transportation 
by year's end.
    Judicial corruption remained a serious impediment to citizens' 
right to receive a fair trial. According to the UNDP, during the year 
the average monthly salary of a judge working in one of the highest 
courts (the final court of appeals) was approximately 600,000 CFA 
francs ($1,200); that of a junior judge was approximately 220,000 CFA 
francs ($440).
    According to the LCDH, corruption extended from the judges to the 
bailiffs. Many lawyers paid judges for verdicts favorable to their 
clients. There were, however, some efforts to combat judicial 
corruption, including by several UN agencies and the EU.
    According to the constitution, senior members of the executive, 
legislative, and judicial branches are required to declare publicly 
their personal assets at the beginning of their terms. The members of 
the new government declared their assets upon entry into the 
Government. The law does not require ministers to declare their assets 
upon departing government.
    The law provides for access by journalists to ``all sources of 
information, within the limits of the law''; however, it does not 
specifically mention government documents or government information, 
and no mention is made of access by the general public. The Government 
often was unable or unwilling to provide information, and lack of 
access to information continued to be a problem for journalists and the 
general public. Furthermore, years of instability and conflict made 
information difficult for the Government to collect, particularly in 
the countryside. Information on the humanitarian situation, for 
example, was difficult to obtain and sometimes contradictory.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    Domestic and international human rights groups generally operated 
with few government restrictions. A few NGOs investigated abuses and 
published their findings. However, due to ongoing lack of funds, 
insecurity, and economic dislocation, domestic human rights NGOs, whose 
area of work was almost totally limited to Bangui, continued to lack 
the means to disseminate human rights information outside the capital 
or support their rural branches. These limitations contributed to 
widespread ignorance about human rights and the means of redress for 
abuses. Officials in Bangui met with local NGOs during the year, but 
many local NGOs reported the Government was not responsive. Government 
officials continued to criticize local NGOs publicly for their reports 
of human rights violations that security forces committed.
    There were domestic human rights NGOs that demonstrated significant 
independence; however, several domestic civil society groups were led 
by individuals belonging to or closely associated with the ruling 
political party, which may have limited their independence. Citing the 
appearance of a conflict of interest, some international and domestic 
NGOs expressed concern over the neutrality and independence of the 
country's only legally recognized NGO platform or umbrella group, the 
Inter-NGO Council in CAR (CIONGCA), which was led by the brother of a 
former minister of state and ethnic kinsman of the president. In recent 
years, CIONGCA often represented domestic civil society groups in 
decision-making forums, including the follow-up committee of the 2008 
inclusive political dialogue.
    A few NGOs were active and had a sizable effect on the promotion of 
human rights. Some local NGOs, including the LCDH, the OCDH, the anti-
torture NGO ACAT, and the Association of Women Jurists (AWJ), actively 
monitored human rights problems; worked with journalists to draw 
attention to human rights violations, including those committed by the 
army; pleaded individual cases of human rights abuses before the 
courts; and engaged in efforts to raise the public's awareness of 
citizens' legal rights.
    Domestic human rights NGOs reported that some officials continued 
to view them as spokespersons for opposition political parties. 
President Bozize mentioned his suspicion of their ties to the 
opposition during numerous speeches over the year. They also reported 
several cases of harassment by officials during their fact-finding 
visits around the country. Domestic human rights NGOs reported during 
the year that its members located outside the capital remained afraid 
to investigate alleged abuses because security force members have 
threatened NGO activists suspected of passing information about abuses 
by security forces to international NGOs for publication. Several human 
rights lawyers reported that the families of victims of abuse by 
officials, or those close to officials, often urged the victims not to 
pursue their attackers due to fear of reprisal.
    International human rights NGOs and international organizations 
operated in the country without interference from the Government. 
However, nonstate armed entities sporadically targeted the small number 
of humanitarian workers operating in the northwest, northeast, and 
southeast, stopping their vehicles and robbing them. The entire North 
was occasionally inaccessible to NGOs due to increased violence.
    Due in part to the Government's inability to address persistent 
insecurity in parts of the country effectively, some international 
human rights and humanitarian groups working in conflict zones have 
either closed suboffices or left the country. For example, 
international NGOs working in the Vakaga and Haute Kotto Provinces did 
not send international staff to the region and maintained only limited 
nationally staffed programs.
    Some international NGOs continued to raise human right awareness 
among authorities and security forces. For example, throughout the 
year, the International Rescue Committee and the Danish Refugee Council 
organized a training session for security force instructors focusing on 
fundamental human rights principles, international humanitarian law, 
the rights of children, and women's rights, among other issues.
    During the year the Government continued to cooperate with 
international governmental organizations in the promotion and 
protection of human rights. The national prosecutor's office continued 
to work with BINUCA to investigate human rights abuses by security 
forces, and the Government continued to cooperate with it and other UN 
agencies in their efforts to train security forces in human rights (see 
section 1.d.). The Government also continued to allow BINUCA to conduct 
visits to prisons and detention centers and to conduct human rights 
training for government security agents. International observers 
witnessed small improvements after prison visits but did not observe a 
significant change in policy toward prisons and prisoners rights during 
the year.
    The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Good 
Governance, attached to the presidency, investigated citizen complaints 
of human rights violations by members of the Government. While the 
commission was operational, it remained ineffective and, after working 
briefly on three cases of violations, did not take any substantive 
follow-up steps. With a reported budget of five million CFA francs 
($10,000), the High Commissioner's Office did not have adequate 
staffing or financial resources, and lacked the means to train its 
investigators properly. The limited funding for the commission also 
meant that it only functioned in Bangui, limiting the scope of its 
operations. Some human rights observers noted that it acted more as a 
spokesperson for the Government than an office promoting human rights.
    In December a validation seminar was held to establish in law a 
National Human Rights Commission that was intended to promote 
international human rights standards at the national level. The 
commission was to be independent from the Office of the High 
Commissioner for Human Rights and Good Governance. At year's end, it 
remained undecided whether the commission would be led by a 
commissioner or by a panel.
    A human rights commission in the National Assembly sought to 
strengthen the capacity of the legislature and other government 
institutions to advance human rights, but it had few financial 
resources. Credible human rights NGOs questioned the autonomy and 
desire of this commission to affect real measures, as the National 
Assembly was not generally considered sufficiently independent from the 
executive branch.
    The Government continued to cooperate with the International 
Criminal Court, which continued its investigation into crimes committed 
in the country in 2002-03 by the previous government and by soldiers 
under the command of Jean Pierre Bemba, then a Congolese rebel leader. 
In 2008 Bemba was arrested in Brussels. On November 22, the trial of 
Bemba opened in The Hague at the International Criminal Court. By the 
end of the year, 134 victims had been officially recognized by the 
court with more than 1,000 others awaiting a judicial decision.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution stipulates that all persons are equal before the 
law without regard to wealth, race, disability, language, or gender. 
However, the Government did not enforce these provisions effectively, 
and significant discrimination existed.

    Women.--The law prohibits rape, although it does not specifically 
prohibit spousal rape. Rape is punishable by imprisonment with hard 
labor, but the law does not specify a minimum sentence. The Government 
did not enforce the law effectively. Police sometimes arrested men on 
charges of rape, although statistics on the number of individuals 
prosecuted and convicted for rape during the year were not available. 
The fear of social stigma inhibited many families from bringing suits. 
Released in June 2009, the report of the UNOHCHR's UPRWG commended the 
Government's 2007-11 national action plan to combat gender-based 
violence; however, the report featured several recommendations from 
working group members urging the Government to adopt measures to 
enhance the fight against sexual violence.
    During a visit to the country in February, UN High Commissioner for 
Human Rights Pillay voiced deep concern over--and called for urgent 
action on--the widespread sexual violence that women faced, noting that 
crimes were being committed by both state and nonstate actors.
    Few assessments have been conducted on the prevalence of rape. 
However, according to a baseline study conducted in June and July 2009 
by Mercy Corps in four nonconflict areas (Bangui, Bouar, Bambari, and 
Bangassou), sexual violence against women was pervasive. One in seven 
women reported having been raped in the past year, and the study 
concluded that the true prevalence of rape may be even higher. In 
addition, from February through November, an international NGO reported 
128 total cases of gender-based violence brought to its attention in 
the Nana Gribizi and Ouham Pende Provinces. The reports included male 
and female rape, as well as gang rape. In 27 cases, the victim knew the 
perpetrator and, in 18 cases, the perpetrator was armed. Of these 128 
cases, two victims identified a member of the APRD as the perpetrator, 
one assailant was a member of the FACA, and one was from an unspecified 
armed entity. According to the NGO, in only three of the 128 cases were 
attempts made to hold the perpetrators accountable. In one of these 
three cases, the village leader reported the incident to the gendarmes, 
and the case was still under investigation at year's end. In the other 
two cases, the family members of the victims brought the two 
perpetrators to the APRD who whipped each perpetrator 150 lashes each 
and one was fined 250,000 CFA ($500). Victims were reluctant to report 
the assaults out of fear of stigmatization.
    Although the law does not specifically mention spousal abuse, it 
prohibits violence against any person and provides for penalties of up 
to 10 years in prison. Domestic violence against women, including wife 
beating, was common; 25 percent of women surveyed in the Mercy Corps 
study had experienced violence committed by their partner in 2009. Of 
them 33 percent of men and 71 percent of women said it was acceptable 
to use violence against women when women had not properly performed 
their domestic tasks. Mercy Corps did not witness a significant change 
during the year, although it did not carry out a new study. Spousal 
abuse was considered a civil matter unless the injury was severe. 
According to the AWJ, a Bangui-based NGO specializing in the defense of 
women's and children's rights, victims of domestic abuse seldom 
reported incidents to authorities. When incidents were addressed, it 
was done within the family or local community. The deputy prosecutor 
said he did not remember trying any cases of spousal abuse during the 
year, although litigants cited spousal abuse during divorce trials and 
civil suits.
    Some women reportedly tolerated abuse to retain financial security 
for themselves and their children.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment; however, the Government did 
not effectively enforce the law, and sexual harassment was a common 
problem. The law describes no specific penalties for the crime.
    The Government respected couples' rights to decide freely and 
responsibly the number of children they had, as well as when they had 
them. Most couples lacked access to contraception and skilled 
attendance during childbirth. According to UNICEF data collected 
between 2000 and 2006, 19 percent of women between the ages of 15 and 
49 who were married or in union were using contraception, and only 44 
percent of births were attended by skilled personnel. According to the 
UN Population Funds, the maternal mortality rate remained extremely 
high--850 out of every 100,000 live births and infant mortality was 106 
deaths per 1,000 live births in 2008. UN sources estimated that a 
woman's lifetime risk of maternal death was one in 27. There was little 
information available regarding whether women received the same level 
of care as men for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. The 
Government continued working with UN agencies to increase the use of 
contraception, including by women, and to assist in other prevention 
activities targeting sexually transmitted infections.
    The law does not discriminate against women in inheritance and 
property rights, but a number of discriminatory customary laws often 
prevailed, and women's statutory inheritance rights often were not 
respected, particularly in rural areas.
    Women were treated as inferior to men both economically and 
socially. Single, divorced, or widowed women, including those with 
children, were not considered heads of households. One of every three 
women surveyed by Mercy Corps stated they were excluded from financial 
decisions in their households. By law men and women were entitled to 
family subsidies from the Government, but several women groups 
complained about lack of access to these payments for women. 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, 
remained limited. Some women reported economic discrimination in access 
to credit due to lack of collateral. However, there were no reports of 
discrimination in pay equity or owning or managing a business. Divorce 
is legal and can be initiated by either partner.
    Women, especially the very old and those without family, continued 
to be the target of witchcraft accusations.
    The AWJ advised women of their legal rights and how best to defend 
them; it filed complaints with the Government regarding human rights 
violations. During the year several women's groups organized workshops 
to promote women's and children's rights and encourage women to 
participate fully in the political process.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived by birth in the national 
territory or from one or both parents. The registration of births was 
spotty, and Muslims reported consistent problems in establishing their 
citizenship. Unregistered children faced limitations in access to 
education and other social services. According to a 2006 UNICEF study 
(the most recent available), total birth registration was 49 percent, 
with 36 percent of children registered in rural areas. Registration of 
births in conflict zones was likely lower than in other areas.
    Education is compulsory for six years until the age of 15; tuition 
is free, but students had to pay for their books, supplies, 
transportation, and insurance. Girls did not have equal access to 
primary education; 65 percent of girls were enrolled in the first year 
of school, but only 23 percent of girls finished the six years of 
primary school, according to a 2007 UNESCO study. At the secondary 
level, a majority of girls dropped out at the age of 14 or 15 due to 
societal pressure to marry and bear children.
    Few Ba'aka (Pygmies) attended primary school. Some local and 
international NGOs, including COOPI, made efforts (with little success) 
to increase Ba'aka enrollment in schools; there was no significant 
government assistance to these efforts.
    The law criminalizes parental abuse of children under the age of 
15. Nevertheless, child abuse and neglect were widespread, although 
rarely acknowledged. A juvenile court tried cases involving children 
and provided counseling services to parents and juveniles during the 
year.
    The law prohibits FGM, which is punishable by two to five years' 
imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 to one million CFA francs ($200 to 
$2,000) depending on the severity of the case; nevertheless, girls were 
subjected to this traditional practice in certain rural areas, 
especially in the Northeast and, to a lesser degree, in Bangui. 
According to the AWJ, anecdotal evidence suggested FGM rates declined 
in recent years as a result of efforts by UNICEF, AWJ, and the 
Ministries of Social Affairs and Public Health to familiarize women and 
girls with the dangers of the practice.
    According to UNICEF data collected between 2002 and 2007, the 
percentage of girls and women between the ages of 15 and 49 who had 
undergone FGM was approximately 27 percent.
    The law establishes 18 as the minimum age for civil marriage; 
however, an estimated 61 percent of women between the ages of 20 and 24 
were married before the age of 18, according to UNICEF data collected 
between 1998 and 2007, and the 2006 Multiple Indicators Country Survey 
reported that nearly 20 percent of women married before reaching the 
age of 15. The Ministry of Family and Social Affairs had limited means 
to address this problem. Early marriage was usually reported in less 
educated and rural environments where the Government lacked authority. 
The phenomenon of early marriage was more common in the Muslim 
community.
    There were no statutory rape or child pornography laws protecting 
adolescent minors or children.
    Child labor was widespread; forced child labor, including the use 
of children as soldiers, occurred (see sections 1.g., 7.c., and 7.d.).
    There were more than 6,000 street children between the ages of five 
and 18, including 3,000 in Bangui, according to updated data collected 
by the Ministry of Family and Social Affairs. Many experts believed 
that HIV/AIDS and a belief in sorcery, particularly in rural areas, 
contributed to the large number of street children. An estimated 
300,000 children had lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS, and children 
accused of sorcery (often reportedly in connection to HIV/AIDS-related 
deaths in their neighborhoods) often were expelled from their 
households and were sometimes subjected to societal violence.
    There were NGOs specifically promoting children's rights, including 
some, such as Voices of the Heart, which assisted street children.
    The country's instability had a disproportionate effect on 
children, who accounted for almost 50 percent of IDPs during the year. 
Access to government services was limited for all children, but 
displacement reduced it further.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was no significant Jewish community, and 
there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with both mental and physical disabilities. It also 
requires that for any company employing at least 25 persons, at least 5 
percent of its staff must consist of sufficiently qualified persons 
with disabilities, if they are available.
    In addition the law states that each time the Government recruits 
new personnel into the civil service, at least 10 percent of the total 
number of newly recruited personnel should be persons with 
disabilities. According to the Ministry of Family and Social Affairs, 
the provision was not automatic and depended on the availability of 
applications from persons with disabilities at the time of the 
recruitment decision by the interested ministry.
    There was no societal discrimination against persons with 
disabilities. However, there were no legislated or mandated 
accessibility provisions for persons with disabilities, and such access 
was not provided in practice. Approximately 10 percent of the country's 
population had disabilities, mostly due to polio, according to the 2003 
census. The Government had no national policy or strategy for providing 
assistance to persons with disabilities, but there were several one-of-
a-kind government and NGO-initiated programs designed to assist persons 
with disabilities, including handicraft training for persons with 
visual disabilities and the distribution of wheelchairs and carts by 
the Ministry of Family and Social Affairs.
    The Ministry of Family and Social Affairs continued to work with 
the NGO Handicap International during the year to provide treatment, 
surgeons, and prostheses to persons with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Violence by unidentified 
persons, bandits, and other nonstate armed entities against the Mbororo 
continued to be a problem, as they continued to suffer 
disproportionately from the civil disorder in the North. Their cattle 
wealth makes them attractive targets to the bandits and other nonstate 
armed entities that controlled the North. Additionally, since many 
citizens viewed the Mbororo as inherently foreign due to their 
transnational migratory patterns, they faced occasional discrimination 
with regard to government services and protections.

    Indigenous People.--Despite constitutional protections, there was 
societal discrimination against Ba'Aka (Pygmies), the earliest known 
inhabitants of the rain forest in the South. Ba'Aka constitute 
approximately 1 to 2 percent of the population. They continued to have 
little say in decisions affecting their lands, culture, traditions, and 
the exploitation of natural resources. Forest-dwelling Ba'Aka, in 
particular, were subject to social and economic discrimination and 
exploitation, which the Government has done little to prevent. Despite 
repeated promises, the Government took no steps to issue and deliver 
identity cards to Ba'Aka, lack of which, according to many human rights 
groups, effectively denied them access to greater civil rights.
    The Ba'Aka, including children, were often coerced into 
agricultural, domestic, and other types of labor. They often were 
considered to be the slaves of other local ethnic groups, and even when 
they were remunerated for labor, their wages were far below those 
prescribed by the labor code and lower than wages paid to members of 
other groups.
    Refugees International reported in recent years that Ba'Aka were 
effectively ``second-class citizens,'' and the popular perception of 
them as barbaric, savage, and subhuman seemingly had legitimized their 
exclusion from mainstream society.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The penal code criminalizes 
homosexual behavior. The penalty for ``public expression of love'' 
between persons of the same sex is imprisonment for six months to two 
years or a fine of between 150,000 and 600,000 CFA francs ($300 and 
$1,200). When the relationships involve a child, the sentence is two to 
five years' imprisonment or a fine of 100,000 to 800,000 CFA francs 
($200 and $1,600); however, there were no reports that police arrested 
or detained persons they believed to be involved in homosexual 
activity.
    While there is official discrimination based on sexual orientation, 
there were no reports of the Government targeting gays and lesbians. 
However, societal discrimination against homosexual conduct persisted 
during the year, and many citizens attributed the existence of 
homosexual conduct to undue Western influence.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Persons with HIV/AIDS 
were subject to discrimination and stigma, although less so as NGOs and 
UN agencies raised awareness about the disease and available 
treatments. Nonetheless, many individuals with HIV/AIDS did not 
disclose their status for fear of social stigma.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows all workers, except 
for senior-level state employees and security forces, including the 
armed forces and gendarmes, to form or join unions without prior 
authorization; however, only a relatively small part of the workforce, 
primarily civil servants, exercised this right. The percentage of 
Central Africans in the workforce during the year was estimated to be 
as high as 82.6 percent or roughly 3.7 million. The percentage of 
workers in agriculture was 66.8 percent, in the public sector 2.9 
percent, and in the private sector 15.8 percent.
    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. The 
Government generally respected these rights in practice.
    There continued to be substantial restrictions that made it 
difficult for citizens to hold a leadership position within a union, 
despite some amendments to the labor code. Although the labor code no 
longer bars a person who loses the status of worker from belonging to a 
trade union or participating in its administration, the law still 
requires that union officials be full-time, wage-earning employees in 
their occupation, and only allows them to conduct union business during 
working hours as long as the employer is informed 48 hours in advance 
and provides authorization. In addition the law requires that foreign 
workers must meet the residency requirements of at least two years 
before they may organize. In June the International Labor Organization 
(ILO) requested the Government to amend these provisions to ensure they 
are in conformity with ILO principles and standards.
    Workers have the right to strike in both the public and private 
sectors, and they exercised this right during the year; however, 
security forces, including the armed forces and gendarmes, are 
prohibited from striking. Requirements for conducting a legal strike 
were excessively lengthy and cumbersome. To be legal, strikes must 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 must 
provide eight days' advance written notification of a planned strike. 
The law 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. The Ministry of Labor has the authority to 
determine a list of enterprises that are required by law to maintain a 
``compulsory minimum service'' in the event of a strike. The Government 
has the power of requisition or the authority to end strikes by 
invoking the public interest. The code makes no other provisions 
regarding sanctions on employers for acting against strikers. In June, 
as on numerous other occasions, the ILO requested the Government to 
amend the relevant provisions to ensure the scope of the ``minimum 
service'' and the Government's power to end strikes would conform with 
ILO principles and standards to provide that the workers' right to 
strike would not be unfairly undermined.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The labor code 
provides that unions may bargain collectively in the public and private 
sectors, and provides workers protection from employer interference in 
the administration of a union.
    Collective bargaining occurred in the private sector during the 
year, although the total number of collective agreements concluded 
during the year was unknown. The Government generally was not involved 
if the two parties were able to reach an agreement.
    In the civil service, the Government, which was the country's 
largest employer, set wages after consultation, but not negotiation, 
with government employee trade unions. Salary arrears continued to be a 
severe problem for armed forces personnel and the 24,000 civil 
servants. In June the ILO recommended that the Government amend a 
provision of the labor code, which in effect hinders the public sector 
workers' right to bargain collectively by providing for the negotiation 
of collective agreements in the public sector by professional groupings 
even when trade unions exist.
    The law expressly forbids antiunion discrimination. The president 
of the labor court said the court did not hear any cases involving 
antiunion discrimination during the year. Labor unions did not report 
any underlying patterns of discrimination or abuse.
    Employees can have their cases heard in the labor court. The law 
does not state whether employers found guilty of antiunion 
discrimination are required to reinstate workers fired for union 
activities, although employers found guilty of such discrimination were 
required by law to pay damages, including back pay and lost wages.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--Although the labor 
code specifically prohibits forced or compulsory labor and prescribes a 
penalty of five to 10 years' imprisonment, the Government did not 
enforce the prohibition effectively, and there were reports that such 
practices occurred. Women and children were trafficked for forced 
domestic labor, agricultural labor, mining, sales, restaurant labor, 
and sexual exploitation. Prisoners often worked on public projects 
without compensation. In rural areas, there were reported cases of the 
use of prisoners for domestic labor at some government officials' 
residences. However, in Bangui and other large urban areas, the 
practice was rare, partly because of the presence of human rights NGOs 
or lawyers. Prisoners often received shortened sentences for performing 
such work. Ba'Aka, including children, often were coerced into labor as 
day laborers, farm hands, or other unskilled labor, and often treated 
as slaves.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
labor code's prohibition of forced or compulsory labor applies to 
children, although they are not mentioned specifically. Other 
provisions of the labor code forbid the employment of children younger 
than 14 years of age without specific authorization from the Ministry 
of Labor; however, the Ministry of Labor and Civil Service did not 
enforce these provisions. Child labor was common in many sectors of the 
economy, especially in rural areas, and forced labor also occurred. 
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that children were 
employed on public works projects or at the residences of government 
officials. The labor code provides that the minimum age for employment 
could be as young as 12 years of age for some types of light work in 
traditional agricultural activities or home services. The law prohibits 
children younger than 18 years old from performing hazardous work or 
working at night. The law defines hazardous work as any employment that 
endangers children's physical and mental health. However, children 
continued to perform hazardous work during the year. The labor code 
does not define the worst forms of child labor.
    According to data collected by UNICEF in surveys between 1999 and 
2007, approximately 47 percent of children between the ages of five and 
14 years were involved in child labor. UNICEF considered a child to be 
involved in labor if, during the week preceding the survey, a child 
between five and 11 years old performed at least one hour of economic 
activity or at least 28 hours of domestic work or a child between 12 
and 14 years old performed at least 14 hours of economic activity or at 
least 28 hours of domestic work.
    Throughout the country, children as young as seven years old 
frequently performed agricultural work. Children often worked as 
domestic workers, fishermen, and in mines (often in dangerous 
conditions). International observers noted that children worked in the 
diamond fields alongside adult relatives, transporting and washing 
gravel, as well as in gold mining, digging holes, and carrying heavy 
loads. The mining code specifically prohibits child or underage labor; 
however, this requirement was not enforced during the year, and many 
children were seen working in and around diamond mining fields.
    In Bangui many of the city's estimated 3,000 street children worked 
as street vendors.
    During the year nonstate armed entities recruited and used child 
soldiers (see section 1.g.).
    Displaced children continued to work in fields for long hours in 
conditions of extreme heat, harvesting peanuts and cassava, and helping 
gather items that were sold at markets, such as mushrooms, hay, 
firewood, and caterpillars.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The labor code states that the 
minister of labor must set minimum wages in the public sector by 
decree. The minimum wages in the private sector are established on the 
basis of sector-specific collective conventions resulting from 
negotiations between the employer and workers' representatives in each 
sector.
    The minimum wage in the private sphere varies by sector and by kind 
of work. For example, the monthly minimum wage was 8,500 CFA francs 
($17) for agricultural workers and 26,000 CFA francs ($52) for 
government workers.
    The minimum wage only applies to the formal sector, leaving much of 
the economy unregulated in terms of wages. The annual minimum wage 
increased 12 percent during the year from 25,000 CFA ($50) to 28,000 
CFA ($56). However, the minimum wage does not provide a decent standard 
of living for a worker and family. The law applies to foreign and 
migrant workers as well. Most labor was performed outside the wage and 
social security system (in the extensive informal sector), 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 52 hours per week. The law also requires a minimum rest 
period of 48 hours per week for both citizens and foreign and migrant 
workers. Overtime policy varied according to the workplace; violations 
of overtime policy were taken to the Ministry of Labor, although it is 
unknown whether this occurred in practice during the year. The 
Government does not enforce labor standards.
    There are general laws on health and safety standards in the 
workplace, but the Ministry of Labor and Civil Service neither 
precisely defined nor enforced them. 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. 
There are no exceptions for foreign and migrant workers.

                               __________

                                  CHAD

    Chad is a centralized republic with a population of approximately 
11 million. In 2006 President Idriss Deby Itno, leader of the Patriotic 
Salvation Movement (MPS), was elected to a third term in what 
unofficial observers characterized as an orderly but seriously flawed 
election boycotted by the opposition. Deby has ruled the country since 
taking power in a 1990 coup. The executive branch dominated the 
legislature and judiciary.
    On January 15, the Governments of Chad and Sudan signed an 
agreement to normalize relations. Both parties agreed to end the 
presence of and support for the other's armed opposition groups in 
their respective territories. The Governments also agreed to establish 
a joint force to patrol and monitor the shared border; the joint force 
was established in February. Hundreds of Chadian rebels who had been 
living in Sudan returned to the country during the year. The Government 
withdrew support for the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and 
expelled JEM personnel, including leader Khalil Ibrahim. Fighting 
between government forces and rebels occurred once during the year, and 
there were no reports of cross-border raids by militias based in 
Darfur, Sudan.
    In January President Deby announced that he would not support the 
renewal of MINURCAT, the UN Mission in the Central African Republic 
(CAR) and Chad. On May 25, following subsequent discussions between the 
Government and the United Nations, UN Security Council Resolution 1923 
extended MINURCAT's mandate until December 31, with a reduction in its 
military personnel and complete withdrawal of military and civilian 
elements, other than those required for the mission's liquidation, by 
that date. MINURCAT concluded operations and withdrew from the country 
by December 31. There were instances in which elements of the security 
forces acted independently of civilian control.
    Human rights abuses included limitations on citizens' right to 
change their government; extrajudicial killings, including politically 
motivated killings; criminal kidnappings of children for ransom; 
torture, beatings, and rape by security forces; security force 
impunity; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary 
arrest and detention; incommunicado detention; lengthy pretrial 
detention; denial of fair public trial; executive interference in the 
judiciary; arbitrary interference with privacy, family, and 
correspondence; limitations on freedom of speech, press, and movement; 
abuse of refugees; widespread official corruption; kidnappings of 
nongovernmental organization (NGO) personnel by armed groups and 
bandits; societal discrimination and violence against women, including 
female genital mutilation (FGM); child abuse, abduction, and 
trafficking; and child marriage. Use of child soldiers occurred, 
although reports of such activity greatly decreased during the year. 
Ethnic-based discrimination; repression of union activity; forced 
labor, including by children; and exploitive child labor were problems.
    Ethnic-based rebel groups and bandits committed human rights 
abuses, including killings; abductions, rape, and injury of civilians; 
use of child soldiers; and attacks against humanitarian workers. The 
Government's defeat of rebel groups and expulsion of JEM personnel, 
however, impeded their ability to operate within the country, resulting 
in a dramatic decrease in human rights abuses committed by such groups.
                        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 
that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful 
killings, including politically motivated killings, generally of those 
suspected of rebel affiliations. Killings were sometimes committed by 
``men in uniform,'' and it was often not possible to determine whether 
perpetrators were members of the armed forces or police, or whether 
they were acting on official orders. The Government generally did not 
prosecute or punish security force members who committed killings.
    On January 11, in Doba, security forces reportedly kidnapped and 
killed Madjingar Kemhodjim due to his alleged membership in a southern-
based rebel group. Kemhodjim's body was found in a local cemetery.
    On March 23, in Haraze-Mangaine, members of the Chadian National 
Army (ANT) killed Fadoul Barcham, a district chief. According to a 
local human rights organization, Barcham was killed because he did not 
support local representatives of the ruling MPS party.
    On October 19, in Guereda, ANT soldiers detained and reportedly 
beat a minor for allegedly possessing weapons; the minor subsequently 
died in ANT custody. In retaliation, on October 21, ANT troops of the 
boy's ethnic Tama tribe confronted the ethnic Zaghawa ANT troops 
accused of the beating death. A subsequent exchange of fire killed an 
ANT officer from each tribe.
    Following the January accord between the Governments of Chad and 
Sudan, fighting between government and rebel forces occurred on one 
occasion; however, there were no reports of civilian killings.
    The Government conducted no investigations of the following 2009 
security force killings in connection with the conflict in the East: 
the May summary executions by soldiers of at least nine rebels in Am 
Dam; the May killings of civilians in Am Dam as a result of government 
tanks crushing suspected rebel homes; the July killings by soldiers of 
five unidentified persons, whose bodies were found buried outside of 
Pala; and the December killing of Regine Doumro by a uniformed 
perpetrator.
    Attacks on travelers by armed bandits, some of whom wore uniforms, 
resulted in deaths, although there were fewer such attacks than in the 
previous year. Some of the perpetrators were identified as active duty 
soldiers or deserters. It was often unclear whether the killings were 
politically or criminally motivated.
    For example, on June 2, in N'Djamena armed bandits suspected of 
being ANT members killed Ali Karachi Abderamane, an aviation 
technician. Local media reported that Abderamane was killed due to his 
relationship with an exiled regime opponent.
    No investigation was conducted in the January 2009 killing by 
unknown assailants of Gani Nassour Betchi, sister of rebel leader Tom 
Erdimi.
    No action was taken to identify the perpetrators of numerous cases 
of human rights abuse reported by the Commission of Inquiry, which was 
established to investigate disappearances and other abuses that 
occurred during the 2008 rebel attack and government counterattack in 
N'Djamena. However, on November 18, the Council of Ministers authorized 
the defense minister and former interior minister to provide witness 
testimony to judicial investigators. The commission's 2008 report 
charged that 977 persons--including civilians, ANT personnel, and 
rebels--were killed, 1,758 injured, 34 raped, and 380 detained in 
N'Djamena and the provinces during that period. In 2009 the Government 
established an additional subcommittee under the minister of justice to 
reexamine cases discussed in the commission's report.
    There were no developments in the following 2008 security force 
killings: the civilian killings resulting from the ANT's destruction of 
several villages in Maitoukoulou, CAR and the killing of supporters of 
Sheikh Ahmet Ismael Bichara in response to their alleged attack on 
security forces.
    The two persons detained in Sarh for the 2008 high-profile killing 
of college professor Tenebaye Oringar remained in detention awaiting 
trial at year's end.
    Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of civilian deaths 
resulting from unexploded ordnance, including landmines, laid by 
government, rebel, and foreign units.
    Interethnic fighting resulted in deaths.
    For example, in June, in continuation of a decades-long ethnic 
feud, armed Zaghawa entered the court in Abeche and killed several 
ethnic Tama who had completed prison terms for an offense committed 
against the Zaghawa, but who had refused to leave prison for fear of 
their personal safety.
    The alleged perpetrators of the killings of nine persons during the 
November 2009 interethnic conflict between herders and farmers in Kana 
District remained in detention without charge at year's end.
    Children kidnapped for ransom were sometimes killed (see section 
1.b.).

    b. Disappearance.--Unlike in the previous year, there were no 
reports of politically motivated disappearances; however, the 
whereabouts of persons arrested for political reasons in previous years 
remained unknown. Persons were held incommunicado during the year.
    On June 6, armed bandits kidnapped Hubert Blama, an employee of the 
British NGO Oxfam; Blama was subsequently released (see section 5).
    The whereabouts of Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh, one of three prominent 
opposition leaders arrested in 2008, remained unknown. Despite pressure 
from foreign governments, local human rights groups, and members of 
Ibni's political party, who during the year held an assembly calling 
for government action on the case, no arrests were made. In January an 
interministerial committee, established to investigate unresolved cases 
connected to the 2008 rebel attacks, requested a six-month extension to 
complete its work; however, no information about Ibni's case had been 
released by year's end.
    The whereabouts of at least 135 rebels captured during the 2008 
rebel attack on N'Djamena remained unknown at year's end.
    The kidnapping of children for ransom in the Mayo-Kebbi Ouest 
Region remained a problem, although there were fewer such incidents 
than in the previous year. Armed persons, both local and from 
neighboring countries, reportedly kidnapped children, especially Peuhl 
children, due to perceptions that Peuhl families were wealthier than 
those of other ethnic groups. According to a local NGO, 148 children 
were kidnapped from 2007-09, and the total ransom money paid was 
approximately 157 million CFA ($314,000). During the same period, 114 
children held by bandits were killed, some by kidnappers when ransom 
payments were not forthcoming and others during police attempts to free 
them.
    On July 16, local human rights representatives in Pala reported the 
kidnapping of a four-year-old child near Fianga. During the same month, 
another local human rights group reported the kidnapping of two 
children in Bongor. On September 23, five children were kidnapped for 
ransom; on October 28, one kidnapped child was found dead after the 
parents were unable to pay the ransom in time. According to the human 
rights organization, no investigation of the death was conducted.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
the Government did not respect these provisions in practice. Security 
force members tortured, beat, raped, and abused persons, particularly 
those suspected of rebel activity or collaboration with rebels. The 
Government took no known action against security force members 
responsible for such abuse.
    On January 24, in N'Djamena security forces arrested Mbailassem 
Berangoto, who allegedly was tortured during detention. No information 
was available on the reasons for Berangoto's arrest, and no action had 
been taken against security force members reportedly involved in his 
torture by year's end.
    On February 7, in Salamat gendarmes arrested Djibrine Noh, who was 
subsequently tortured during detention. As a result of injuries 
inflicted during the torture, doctors amputated Noh's right hand after 
he was released.
    On May 12, in Sarh government intelligence agents arrested 
Madjadoumbe Ngom Halle, who they subsequently tortured during 
detention. Halle was released on June 16.
    No action was taken against security forces involved in the 
following 2009 cases of torture: the March 19 detention and torture by 
military personnel of Malioum Ousamane; the March 26 arrest and torture 
by police of 15-year-old Mahamat Nour Abrass; and the May 29 torture by 
security agents of Yaya Erdimi.
    Police, gendarmes, and ANT personnel raped women and girls.
    No action was taken in the following 2009 cases of security force 
rape: the May 7 rape by ANT soldiers of a girl and a woman near Am Dam; 
the July 1 rape of an 11-year-old girl by men in uniform; and the 
kidnap and rape by ANT soldiers of 10 girls.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that unexploded 
ordnance, including landmines laid by government, rebel, or foreign 
forces, resulted in injuries.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions remained 
harsh and life threatening. Prisons were seriously overcrowded; had 
poor sanitation; and provided inadequate food, shelter, and medical 
facilities. Regional detention centers, which were crumbling, 
overcrowded, and without adequate protection for women and youth, had 
no budgets to provide meals for inmates. Prison guards were not 
regularly paid, and sometimes ``released'' prisoners who offered 
compensation for the service. Provisions for ventilation, temperature, 
lighting, and access to potable water were inadequate or nonexistent. 
The law provides that a doctor must visit each prison three times a 
week, but this provision was not respected. Forced labor in prisons 
occurred.
    As a result of inadequate record-keeping and management, many 
individuals remained in prison after completing their sentences or 
after courts had ordered their release. During the year Justice 
Minister Mbailao Naimbaye Lossimian and other government officials 
visited various prisons throughout the country to evaluate conditions. 
In May the justice minister ordered a survey of all prisoners to assess 
the disposition of cases and whether prisoners knew their rights. The 
survey revealed there were prisoners without case files, who had been 
detained more than three years with no follow-up by judges or lawyers.
    Local human rights organizations continued to report on the 
existence of military prisons to which access was prohibited; they also 
reported on the existence of secret prisons run by the National 
Security Agency and the General Directorate of Security Services for 
National Institutions (DGSSIE). According to local human rights 
organizations, persons were detained in secret detention facilities 
under the authority of the Ministry of the Environment; other 
international organizations disputed this claim.
    There were continued reports that rebel suspects were being held in 
the Koro Toro detention facility, which was operated by the Public 
Security and Immigration Ministry. (During the year the president 
divided the former ministry of interior into two entities: the Ministry 
of Public Security and Immigration and the Ministry of Territorial 
Administration.) On August 11, an opposition Web site released a list 
of 750 prisoners allegedly detained there. No information on prison 
conditions was available. In December the Government formally 
transferred control of the prison to the Ministry of Justice in an 
effort to improve conditions, encourage due process, and provide 
humanitarian access.
    Estimates of deaths due to poor prison conditions varied. A local 
human rights group reported 10 prisoners died during the year; however, 
an opposition Web site claimed that 20 prisoners had died in Koro Toro 
Prison alone.
    The Government did not keep statistics on the number of prisoners 
and detainees in the country, and no information was available. 
Juvenile males were not always separated from adult male prisoners, and 
children were sometimes held with their inmate mothers. During a July 2 
to 5 Justice Ministry visit to five eastern towns, officials found 
children as young as eight years old incarcerated for petty thievery. 
Pretrial detainees were held with convicted prisoners.
    Prisoners generally had access to visitors and were permitted 
religious observance. There was no regular mechanism by which prisoners 
could submit complaints about prison conditions, and there were no 
judicial authorities to receive such complaints.
    The Government honored a permanent authorization notice of the 
Chadian Association for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights 
(ATPDH), allowing the organization to visit civilian prisons at any 
time without advance notice. Other local NGOs, including human rights 
groups, were required to obtain authorization from a court or from the 
director of prisons; granting of such authorizations depended largely 
on the personal inclinations of those with authority to grant 
permission. Local NGOs were not allowed access to military prisons.
    The Government permitted the International Committee of the Red 
Cross (ICRC) to visit civilian prisons under the control of the 
Ministry of Justice and, during the year, the ICRC conducted such 
visits. Despite repeated ICRC requests, the Government denied access to 
the Koro Toro detention facility, which was run by the Ministry of 
Public Security and Immigration. However, the Ministry of Justice, 
which assumed authority for the Koro Toro facility in December, assured 
the ICRC that access would be forthcoming. The Government also 
restricted ICRC access to detention centers operated by other 
ministries.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, security forces often 
violated these provisions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The ANT, gendarmerie, 
national police, nomadic guard (GNNT), DGSSIE, and counterintelligence 
service (ANS) are responsible for internal security. The Integrated 
Security Detachment (DIS), which reports to the National Coordination 
of Support to Humanitarian Activities and the Integrated Security 
Detachment, is responsible for reducing insecurity in refugee camps and 
for protecting refugees and IDPs. 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 DGSSIE and ANS report to 
the president. Officers from President Deby's ethnic group, the 
Zaghawa, and closely allied ethnic groups dominated the ANS. The 
DGSSIE's ethnic composition was mixed, but Zaghawas were 
overrepresented. The police force was centrally controlled, but 
exercising oversight, particularly outside N'Djamena, was difficult.
    Police were corrupt and involved in banditry, arms proliferation, 
and extortion. Security force impunity was widespread (see section 5).
    As a result of the January 15 peace accord with Sudan, a mixed 
Chadian-Sudanese border force to patrol between the two countries was 
established in February. The Government and outside observers 
considered the border force effective. Command authority alternated 
every six months between Chad and Sudan.
    In 2009 the Government initiated an extensive military 
modernization program to professionalize and reduce the size of the 
armed forces. Part of the effort included ascertaining who still 
collected military salaries and wore uniforms, since many former 
military personnel continued to do so, and former soldiers sometimes 
posed as active duty military and committed crimes with government-
issued weapons. However, weapons were pervasive in the country, there 
was no standardized military uniform (except for the beret), and 
camouflage uniforms were readily available in the marketplace. Reports 
of violence were often accompanied by witnesses claiming the 
perpetrator was ``someone in uniform.''
    In January President Deby announced that he would not support the 
renewal of MINURCAT, which the UN authorized in 2007 to protect 
civilians, support regional peace, and promote human rights and the 
rule of law in eastern Chad and northeastern CAR. Deby claimed the 
Government could perform MINURCAT's protection functions as well as UN 
peacekeepers. On May 25, following subsequent discussions between the 
Government and the UN, UN Security Council Resolution 1923 extended 
MINURCAT's mandate until December 31, with a reduction in its military 
personnel and complete withdrawal of military and civilian elements, 
other than those required for the mission's liquidation, by that date. 
MINURCAT ended all military operations on October 15. On December 31, 
MINUCAT transferred its remaining functions to the Government.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Although the 
constitution and law require a judicial official to sign arrest 
warrants, secret detentions occurred. Detainees were not promptly 
informed of charges, and judicial determinations were not made 
promptly. The law requires access to bail and counsel, but neither was 
regularly provided. Incommunicado detention was a problem, and there 
were reports that persons held incommunicado were tortured. The 
constitution and law state that legal counsel should be provided for 
indigent defendants and that defendants should be allowed prompt access 
to family members; however, in practice this usually did not occur.
    Security forces arbitrarily arrested and reportedly tortured 
detainees, particularly those suspected of collaborating with rebels; 
however, unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that 
political leaders, civil society representatives, or human rights 
activists were arrested.
    On March 31, gendarmes in N'Djamena arbitrarily arrested without 
charge Abakar Hassane, a driver. Hassane was later released after the 
Chadian League for Human Rights (LTDH), a local human rights 
organization, lodged a complaint.
    During the same month, in N'Djamena intelligence agents arrested 
without charge Mahamat Abrass Moussa, who remained in ANS detention at 
year's end. The Government denied access to the ICRC and a local human 
rights organization, both of which had requested permission to visit 
Moussa.
    In April in Guidari, the LTDH reported that gendarmes arrested, 
detained, and fined 20 farmers a total of 232,000 CFA ($464) for 
allegedly felling trees on their farms; the law prohibits the mass 
destruction of trees, although security forces sometimes used the law 
to extort money from persons who cut a single tree. The farmers were 
released after the LTDH filed a complaint with the court in Moundou.
    Lengthy pretrial detention remained a problem. Persons accused of 
crimes could be imprisoned for several years before being charged or 
tried, particularly those who were arrested in the provinces for 
felonies and transferred to prison in N'Djamena. Lengthy pretrial 
detention resulted from a weak judiciary, which functioned poorly in 
urban areas and was generally ignored outside of the capital.

    Amnesty.--On January 14, 175 prisoners were pardoned following a 
New Year's amnesty declared by the president.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary; however, the judiciary was ineffective, 
underfunded, overburdened, and subject to executive interference. 
Intimidation and violence against judicial members were also problems, 
and members of the judiciary sometimes received death threats or were 
demoted or removed from their positions for not acquiescing to pressure 
from officials. Courts were generally weak and in some areas 
nonexistent or nonfunctional. For example, there were only 150 judges 
in the country and all had to hand-write court documents. The 
constitution mandates that the Superior Council of Magistrates 
recommend judicial nominees and sanction judges who commit 
improprieties; however, the Government prevented any sanctions from 
being considered or carried out. A judicial oversight commission has 
the power to conduct investigations of judicial decisions and address 
suspected miscarriages of justice; however, the president appointed 
commission members, which increased executive control over the 
judiciary and diminished the authority of the superior council. Some 
members of the Supreme Court, Constitutional Court, and Court of 
Appeals were appointed by the Government rather than popularly elected 
as required by law, which further weakened judicial independence.
    During the year the justice minister organized a variety of trips 
around the country to evaluate the judicial system personally; most 
results of those visits were not made public.
    Government officials, particularly members of the military, had 
impunity (see section 4). During the year there were reports that the 
mayor of Abeche prevented the enforcement of sentences delivered by the 
court. According to one report, persons detained on criminal charges in 
the East and sent to N'Djamena for prosecution later reappeared in 
military uniform in Abeche.
    Applicable law was sometimes confusing, as courts tended to blend 
the formal French-derived legal code with traditional practices, and 
customary law often superseded Napoleonic law in practice. Residents of 
rural areas often lacked access to formal judicial institutions, and 
legal reference texts were not available outside the capital or in 
Arabic. In most minor civil cases, the population relied on traditional 
courts, over which village chiefs, canton chiefs, or sultans presided. 
Penalties in traditional courts varied and sometimes depended on the 
clan affiliation of the victim and perpetrator. Decisions of 
traditional courts can be appealed to a formal court. During the year 
the UN conducted a program to train local chiefs and officials on 
mediation techniques and practices.
    The law provides that crimes committed by military members be tried 
by a military court; however, no such courts existed.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for a presumption of innocence; 
however, in practice many judges assumed a suspect's guilt, sometimes 
as a means to extort money from the defendant. For example, in the few 
cases of rape that reached the courts, defendants were fined rather 
than tried as a means to extort money. Trials are public and use 
juries, except in politically sensitive cases. Defendants have the 
right to be present in court. They also have the right to consult an 
attorney in a timely manner; however, in practice detained persons were 
not always given access to counsel. The law states that indigents 
should be provided promptly with legal counsel, but this seldom 
occurred in practice. Human rights groups sometimes provided free 
counsel to indigent clients. Defendants, their lawyers, and judges are 
permitted by law to question witnesses. Defendants have the right to 
present witnesses and evidence on their own behalf. Defendants and 
their attorneys have access to government-held evidence relevant to 
their cases, except in politically sensitive cases. Defendants have the 
right to appeal decisions. The law extends these rights to all 
citizens.
    Local leaders decide in a particular case whether to apply the 
Islamic concept of dia, which involves a payment to the family of a 
crime victim. The practice was common in Muslim areas. Non-Muslim 
groups, which supported implementation of a civil code, continued to 
challenge the use of the dia concept, arguing that it was 
unconstitutional.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--The Government held political 
detainees and prisoners during the year; however, the absence of 
statistics and records made it difficult to ascertain how many were 
held.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The judiciary reportedly 
was not always independent or impartial in civil matters. There are 
administrative and judicial remedies available such as mediation for 
alleged wrongs. Suits for human rights violations may be brought before 
the penal tribunal or the penal court; compensation is addressed in the 
civil court.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution provides for the right to privacy and 
inviolability of the home; however, the Government conducted illegal 
searches and wiretaps, monitored private mail and e-mail, and continued 
home demolitions in N'Djamena. Security forces regularly stopped 
citizens and extorted money or confiscated belongings.
    In June the Government demolished homes, businesses, NGO 
headquarters, and government facilities as part of its ongoing urban 
renewal efforts in N'Djamena. The demolitions, which began in 2008, 
have left tens of thousands of persons without shelter or means of 
earning income. Citizens charged that the Government had not given 
proper advance notification of the home demolitions, although the 
Government claimed that citizens had not heeded notifications to move. 
The Government provided compensation to those with deeds; however, 
critics charged that the compensation was inadequate and not available 
to all. New construction to replace demolished housing began during the 
year, but many newly homeless persons were living in vacant lots at 
year's end.
    The Ministry of Public Security and Immigration maintained an 
emergency-era ban on both the possession and use of satellite 
telephones. Military and police personnel searched for and confiscated 
satellite telephones.
    Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that police 
arrested family members of suspects.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution provides for 
freedom of opinion, expression, and of the press, with restrictions if 
public order, good morals, or the rights of others are affected; 
however, the Government did not always respect these rights, although 
press freedom improved during the year. The constitution also prohibits 
propaganda of an ethnic, regionalist, or religious nature that affects 
national unity or the secular nature of the state. Journalists and 
publishers practiced self-censorship.
    Individuals who publicly criticized the Government said they risked 
reprisals, and the Government reportedly attempted to control criticism 
by intimidating critics and monitoring opposition meetings.
    On August 18, the National Assembly adopted a new law on press 
freedom, Law No. 17, and rescinded Ordinance 5, the 2008 presidential 
decree that placed state-of-emergency restrictions on speech and press. 
Most observers welcomed the new law, which decriminalizes many press 
offenses as well as the specific crime of offending the head of state. 
However, others criticized provisions that prohibit journalists or 
newspapers from inciting racial or ethnic hatred or condoning violence, 
for which penalties include jail sentences of up to one year, fines of 
up to one million CFA ($2,000 dollars), or a six-month suspension of 
publication.
    Some journalists in rural areas reported that government officials 
warned them not to engage in political reporting on contentious 
subjects. In addition some domestic journalists claimed the Government 
restricted their ability to cover events or visit certain locations and 
limited their access to high-ranking officials, restrictions the 
Government did not impose on foreign journalists.
    On January 6, an N'Djamena court ordered the suspension of the 
opposition publication La Voix du Tchad following the High Council for 
Communications (HCC) order that it cease publication in December 2009 
because it was not licensed. The newspaper was permitted to resume 
publishing in mid-January.
    In the October 14 to 17 edition of the local newspaper N'Djamena 
Bi-Hebdo, the publishers included an article comparing southern Sudan 
with southern Chad. The prime minister called the article ``dangerous'' 
and asked the HCC to act on the matter. On October 19, the HCC met with 
journalists and warned N'Djamena Bi-Hebdo in particular and all media 
houses in general to ``observe ethics rules'' by not printing articles 
that risked inciting hatred, violence, or separatist sentiment.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of foreign 
journalists being deported.
    Radio remained the most important medium of mass communication. 
Government-owned Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne had several 
branches. There were numerous private radio stations that broadcast 
throughout the country; many of them were owned by religious 
organizations, including four stations affiliated with the Catholic NGO 
BELACD.
    The licensing fee set by the HCC for a commercial radio station 
remained prohibitively high at approximately five million CFA 
(approximately $10,000) per year, 10 times the fee for radio stations 
owned by nonprofit NGOs. The HCC monitored and censored the content of 
radio station programming.
    The Government owned and operated the only domestic television 
station but did not interfere with reception of channels originating 
outside the country.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet; however, the Government reportedly monitored e-mail. 
Although increasingly available to the public at Internet cafes, most 
persons could not afford Internet access. Lack of infrastructure 
limited public access elsewhere. According to International 
Telecommunication Union statistics for the year, approximately 1.19 
percent of the country's inhabitants used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution provides for freedom of assembly, with 
restrictions if the rights of others, public order, and morals are 
affected; unlike in the previous year, the Government generally 
respected this right. The law requires organizers of demonstrations to 
notify the Government five days in advance.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of association, with restrictions if the rights of others, 
public order, and morals are affected, and the Government respected 
this right in practice.
    An ordinance requires prior authorization from the Ministry of 
Territorial Administration before an association, including a labor 
union, may be formed; however, there were no reports that the ordinance 
was enforced. The ordinance also allows for the immediate 
administrative dissolution of an association and permits authorities to 
monitor association funds.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--Although the constitution and law 
provide for freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, 
emigration, and repatriation, the Government imposed limits on these 
rights.
    The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, and other persons of concern.
    The Ministry of Territorial Administration required foreigners, 
including humanitarian agency personnel, to obtain authorization to 
travel to the eastern part of the country.
    Security forces, bandits, and, to a lesser extent than in previous 
years, rebel groups continued to maintain roadblocks, extorting money 
from travelers, often beating and in some cases killing them.
    Armed bandits, herders involved in cross-border conflict over 
resources, and rebel groups along the border with CAR continued to 
hinder free movement in the region.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.
    The Government continued active negotiations with rebel groups to 
convince them to renounce their rebel associations and integrate into 
the ANT or civilian life. Returning rebels who gave up former 
affiliations were not arrested or threatened with arrest, although 
rebels captured without surrendering were detained. During the year 
hundreds of rebel fighters returned voluntarily from Sudan; in 2009 
between 2,000 and 3,000 rebels returned to the country. However, rebel 
fighters remained in Sudan at year's end.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--Approximately 170,000 IDPs, 
most of whom were displaced in 2005 as a result of interethnic fighting 
over scarce water and land resources during drought, resided in 38 
camps in the country. Many IDPs were reluctant to return to their 
original homes, which often had been resettled by other groups and 
frequently provided less access to potable water and primary health 
care. The Government continued to allow IDPs access to humanitarian 
organizations and permitted them to accept assistance provided by these 
groups. Although UN and humanitarian organizations operated in the 
country during the year, lack of security lessened their ability to 
provide services to IDPs and refugees.
    Sexual violence against displaced women and girls in the eastern 
part of the country was a problem. Four ANT soldiers reportedly raped 
an IDP during the year, and there were reports that organized groups 
and bandits raped IDPs. While in the past such violence was primarily 
perpetrated by soldiers, rebels, and bandits, during the year such 
attacks were perpetrated primarily by unemployed male IDPs. Observers 
commented that male IDP inability to obtain livelihoods contributed to 
domestic violence.
    As in the rest of the country, perpetrators of sexual violence 
rarely were prosecuted, and government efforts to protect vulnerable 
women were inadequate. However, the Government conducted extensive 
sensitization campaigns against sexual violence and urged women to come 
forward without fear of reprisal.
    Although there were more than 70 international humanitarian 
organizations in the eastern part of the country, there were gaps in 
their protection mechanisms as well. For example, victims of sexual 
violence may need a medical certificate to proceed with a legal case, 
but they struggled to get these certificates from NGO doctors wary of 
engaging in court processes. The mobile courts organized by the UN only 
made occasional visits to each area and rarely addressed sexual 
violence cases.
    Tension between IDPs and local communities existed. IDPs generally 
were located near internationally provided potable water and health 
services, which sometimes created resentment in host communities that 
did not receive such services.
    Tens of thousands of persons lost their homes and means of 
livelihood as a result of the Government's ongoing urban renewal 
program in N'Djamena (see section 1.f.).

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws do not provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status; however, the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice 
the Government provided protection against the expulsion or return of 
refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened 
on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a 
particular social group, or political opinion.
    By September approximately 270,000 Sudanese refugees from Darfur 
remained in the country, most located in 12 camps along the eastern 
border with Sudan. Approximately 80,000 refugees from CAR lived 
primarily in five camps in the south, and approximately 5,000 refugees 
of various nationalities lived in urban areas.
    Insecurity in the East, including rebel and bandit attacks, 
hindered the ability of humanitarian organizations to provide services 
to refugees. NGO workers traveling between camps frequently were 
victims of carjackings and armed robberies.
    The UNHCR and its partner organizations continued to express 
concern regarding the potential for militarization of refugee camps by 
Sudanese and Chadian rebels, particularly camps located close to the 
border. The recruitment of some refugees, including children, into 
rebel armed groups continued (see section 6).
    Anti-refugee sentiment among citizens living in refugee-affected 
areas was high. Children who were refugees or IDPs often had better 
access to education and health services than those in surrounding local 
populations due to extensive humanitarian interventions on their 
behalf. Resentment between citizens and refugees also occurred due to 
competition for local resources such as wood, water, and grazing land, 
and because Sudanese refugees received goods and services that were not 
available to the local population.
    Reports of refugees being raped continued. According to the UNHCR, 
there were 32 rapes of refugee women or girls between January and 
October. In the majority of the cases, the perpetrators were either 
fellow refugees or unknown individuals just outside the camps. In 2009 
the NGO Physicians for Human Rights documented cases of refugee rape 
inside and outside of refugee camps. There were reports that organized 
groups, bandits, and other refugee groups committed the rapes. Unlike 
in the previous year, however, there were no reports that NGO staff 
members were responsible for raping refugees.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    Although the constitution and law provide citizens with the right 
to change their government, the Government continued to limit this 
right in practice. The executive branch dominated the other branches of 
government.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In 2006 President Idriss 
Deby Itno, leader of the ruling MPS, was elected to a third term in 
what unofficial observers characterized as an orderly but seriously 
flawed election boycotted by the opposition. Deby has ruled the country 
since taking power in a 1990 coup.
    Due to technical problems in meeting the electoral deadline, the 
Independent National Electoral Commission postponed legislative 
elections scheduled for November 28 and municipal elections scheduled 
for December 5 until 2011. The commission oversaw a voter registration 
drive and worked with the permanent election bureau to develop voter 
lists and voter cards.
    There were approximately 120 registered political parties. The main 
opposition coalition was well treated, in part to provide proof that 
the country had a multiparty system; however, smaller opposition 
parties were subjected to government interference. Northerners, 
particularly members of the Zaghawa ethnic group, including the Bideyat 
subclan to which the president belongs, were overrepresented in key 
institutions of state power, including the military officer corps, 
elite military units, and the presidential staff. Opposition leaders 
accused the Government of denying funds and equal broadcast time on 
state-run media.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that opposition 
leaders were harassed, co-opted to run as MPS members in local 
elections, or pressured to cross the aisle in the National Assembly. 
There also were no reports that the military intimidated party members 
who refused to cooperate.
    There were 10 women in the 155-seat National Assembly. Nine of the 
41 ministers in the cabinet were women. Both the cabinet and the 
National Assembly had diverse ethnic representation.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for corruption; however, the 
Government did not implement the law effectively, and corruption was 
pervasive at all levels of government. The World Bank's most recent 
Worldwide Governance Indicators reflected that corruption was a severe 
problem.
    Police were unable to address internal security problems 
effectively, including widespread banditry and arms proliferation. 
Police and gendarmes extorted payments from motorists with impunity. In 
November, in an effort to curb such extortion and combat the high cost 
of living, President Deby ordered the dismantling of all military 
checkpoints in the country, and many had been dismantled by year's end.
    Official impunity, particularly for the military and other 
influential persons, was common. For example, members of the Judiciary 
Police did not enforce domestic court orders against the armed forces 
or members of their own ethnic groups. Judicial lack of independence 
and corruption also were problems.
    The Ministry of Moralization is responsible for fighting 
corruption.
    During the year the Government investigated several officials 
connected to various 2009 corruption scandals, including a school 
textbook scandal involving 1.5 billion CFA ($3 million) in false 
contracts. During the year all 141 government officials investigated in 
connection with this and 34 other 2009 cases of embezzlement and 
misappropriation were released; in most cases, charges were dropped.
    In January the High Court formally investigated seven ministers in 
connection with the textbook scandal. By early February, former 
minister of education Abdramane Koko, former deputy minister of finance 
Oumar Boukar Gana, and former minister and secretary-general of the 
Government Limane Mahamat had been dismissed for corruption. By year's 
end, charges had been dropped against ministers Gana, Mahamat, and 
Koko. The National Assembly elected not to call for cases against four 
other ministers arrested in connection with the scandal--former deputy 
education minister Khadidja Hassaballah, former health minister 
Ngombaye Djaibe, and former deputy agriculture minister Fatime Ramadan. 
Former secretary-general of the presidency Haroun Kabadi, also 
implicated in the textbook scandal, was released on February 16 and 
appointed special advisor to President Deby on July 7. Sixteen other 
government officials from the Ministries of Finance and Education 
arrested in connection with the case also were freed for lack of 
evidence.
    In a separate corruption case, Mahamat Zen Bada, a former mayor of 
N'Djamena, and his 10 associates, who were arrested and removed from 
office in 2009, also were released with all charges dropped.
    In 2009 the College for the Control and Monitoring of Oil 
Resources, a committee established to involve civil society in the 
management of oil revenues, identified deficiencies that included 
insufficient coordination between ministries and local officials, lack 
of qualified personnel to implement and oversee poverty reduction 
projects, and the inability of the Government to complete fully or to 
provide sufficient resources for ongoing projects. The Government had 
taken no clear action on findings in the college's previous reports by 
year's end.
    The Government took no action regarding an August 2009 report by 
the International Crisis Group charging that the Government did not 
award contracts transparently for public works built with oil revenues, 
which increased corruption and cronyism. The report also stated that 
the Government had gradually reduced the role of the College for the 
Control and Monitoring of Oil Resources.
    On July 16, the Government held training sessions for local 
officials on ethics and good governance; governors from the 22 regions 
attended the sessions.
    Public officials were subject to financial disclosure laws; 
however, the law was not enforced, and officials did not disclose their 
financial status.
    The law does not provide for public access to government 
information, although the Government provided such access to 
government-employed journalists. The Government makes its budget 
partially available to the public; however, it did not disclose a large 
portion of expenditures in the published budget. Independent media 
journalists stated that they were not given sufficient access to 
government information.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    Government officials generally were accessible to human rights 
advocates but occasionally were unresponsive or hostile to their 
findings; however, unlike in the previous year, there were no reports 
that the Government actively obstructed the work of domestic human 
rights organizations. Despite pressure from the Government, such groups 
were able to investigate and publish their findings on human rights 
cases.
    There were two principal local human rights organizations, ATPDH 
and the LTDH. These and smaller human rights organizations worked 
together through an umbrella organization, the Association for Human 
Rights. Human rights groups were outspoken in publicizing abuses 
through reports, press releases, and the print media; however, they 
rarely were able to intervene successfully with authorities.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that the 
Government arrested or harassed NGO employees.
    On March 9 to 11, the Government held its first forum on human 
rights to address problems and develop a government action plan. Led by 
Minister of Human Rights Abdraman Djasnabille, government ministers, 
national and local government officials, military leaders, traditional 
chiefs, local civil society representatives, and members of domestic 
and international human rights organizations attended the forum. 
Violence against women, arbitrary arrest, police brutality, prisoner 
abuse, continued recruitment of child soldiers, and official impunity 
were among the problems addressed.
    Violent attacks by armed groups and bandits against humanitarian 
and human rights NGO workers increased during the year. Such workers 
were kidnapped, their vehicles hijacked, their convoys looted, and 
their offices plundered. Humanitarian organizations were forced to 
suspend or limit their activities temporarily--including food 
distribution to refugees and IDPs.
    On June 6, in Abeche, armed bandits kidnapped Hubert Blama, an 
employee of the British NGO Oxfam; Blama was released on June 16. The 
kidnapping reportedly was perpetrated to embarrass the president.
    On February 6, ICRC international staff member Laurent Maurice was 
released in Darfur, Sudan after being held for 89 days; Maurice was 
kidnapped in Kawa in November 2009 by armed members of a Sudan-based 
group.
    There were no developments regarding the 2008 killing of NGO Save 
the Children director Pascal Marlinge.
    The Government cooperated with international governmental 
organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives. A delegation 
from the Geneva-based UN Commission on Human Rights visited and 
evaluated the possibility of opening an office in the country. In 
contrast to previous years, there were no reports that the Government 
obstructed the work of international human rights organizations, such 
as Human Rights Watch.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    Although the constitution and law prohibit discrimination based on 
origin, race, gender, religion, political opinion, or social status, 
the Government did not effectively enforce these provisions.

    Women.--Rape is prohibited and punishable by hard labor; however, 
rape, including of female refugees, was a problem (see section 2.d.); 
no reliable data on the extent of the problem was available. The law 
does not specifically address spousal rape. Although police often 
arrested and detained perpetrators, rape cases usually were not tried, 
and most suspects were released. Cultural norms often forced women and 
unmarried girls to marry their attackers to preserve their honor.
    Although the law prohibits violence against women, domestic 
violence, including spousal abuse, was common. Wives traditionally were 
subject to the authority of their husbands and they had limited legal 
recourse in case of abuse. Although family or traditional authorities 
could provide assistance in such cases, police rarely intervened, 
although traditional leaders often did. During the year some women 
began reporting cases of violence and abuse to local human rights 
organizations. Information on the number of abusers who were 
prosecuted, convicted, or punished was unavailable.
    In some areas girls and women may not visit the site where an 
initiation ceremony is to take place. If a woman or girl violates this 
prohibition, she may be killed by village leaders under traditional 
custom, although there were no reports of this occurring during the 
year.
    During the year the Government, with assistance from the UN, 
launched an awareness campaign to combat gender-based violence. This 
included raising awareness regarding rape, sexual harassment, FGM, 
discrimination against women, and early marriage.
    The law does not prohibit sexual harassment, and such harassment 
was a problem.
    The law provides for the right of couples and individuals to decide 
freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children, as 
well as to have access to information regarding birth control methods. 
However, many persons lacked access to medical care, particularly those 
in rural areas. Couples lacked access to contraception, and only 14 
percent of childbirths were assisted professionally. Based on 2008 
statistics, the ratio of midwives to women of childbearing age was one 
to 14,800. The incidence of maternal mortality was 1,500 per 100,000 
live births. Approximately 10 percent of married women in N'Djamena 
used contraceptives during the year; 5 percent of women in towns and 
0.4 percent of women in the countryside used contraception. Women were 
equally diagnosed and treated for sexual transmitted infections, 
including HIV; treatment was free.
    Discrimination against women and exploitation of women were 
widespread. Although property and inheritance laws do not discriminate 
against women, local leaders adjudicated most inheritance cases in 
favor of men, according to traditional practice. The Ministry of Social 
Action and Women is responsible for addressing gender-related issues. 
Women did not have equal opportunities for education and training, 
making it difficult for them to compete for formal sector jobs. Women 
experienced economic discrimination in access to employment, credit, 
and pay equity for substantially similar work, and in owning or 
managing businesses due to cultural norms that favored men.
    The law states that persons of the required legal age have the 
right, in accordance with the law, customs, and mores, to decide 
whether to be married. The law does not address polygyny, but husbands 
may opt at any time to declare a marriage polygynous. If a husband 
takes a second wife, the first wife has the right to request that her 
marriage be dissolved, but she must repay her bride price and other 
marriage-related expenses.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived by birth within the country's 
territory and from ones' parents; however, children born to refugees 
from Sudan were not always considered citizens. Children born to 
refugees from CAR generally were granted Chadian citizenship. The 
Government did not register all births immediately, and it was unclear 
whether a birth certificate was required to attend school. By law 
education is universal and free, and primary education is compulsory 
between the ages of six and 11; however, parents were often required to 
pay tuition to public schools beyond the primary level. Parents also 
were required to pay for textbooks, except in some rural areas. Parent-
teacher associations hired and paid approximately half of teachers, 
without government reimbursement. Schools did not exist in many 
locations. Only 37 percent of children completed primary education. 
According to the World Bank Development Indicators Database, only six 
girls for every 10 boys attended primary school. Most children did not 
attend secondary school, where enrollment of girls was also lower than 
that of boys.
    Several human rights organizations reported on the problem of the 
mouhadjirin, children who attended certain Islamic schools and were 
forced by their teachers to beg for food and money. Children with 
discipline problems were often sent to these schools by their parents, 
who hoped the harsh conditions would ameliorate behavioral problems. 
There was no reliable estimate of the number of mouhadjirin.
    Child abuse remained a problem.
    The law prohibits FGM; however, the practice was widespread, 
particularly in rural areas. According to a 2004 report by the 
Governmental National Institute of Statistics, Economic, and 
Demographic Studies, 45 percent of females had undergone excision. 
According to the survey, 70 percent of Muslim females and 30 percent of 
Christian females were subjected to FGM. The practice was especially 
prevalent among ethnic groups in the East and South. All three types of 
FGM were practiced. The least common but most dangerous and severe 
type, 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.
    FGM could be prosecuted as a form of assault, and charges could be 
brought against the parents of FGM victims, medical practitioners, or 
others involved in the action. However, prosecution was hindered by the 
lack of specific penalty provisions in the penal code. There were no 
reports that any such suits were brought during the year. The Ministry 
of Social Action and Family was responsible for coordinating activities 
to combat FGM. The Government, with assistance from the UN, continued 
to conduct public awareness campaigns to discourage the practice of FGM 
and highlight its dangers as part of its efforts to combat gender-based 
violence. The campaign encouraged persons to speak out against FGM and 
other forms of abuse against women and girls. The president's wife 
played a major role during the year in raising awareness of violence 
and other human rights abuses faced by women and children.
    Although the law prohibits sexual relations with a girl younger 
than 14 years old, even if she is married, the ban rarely was enforced. 
Families arranged marriages for girls as young as 12 or 13 years old; 
the minimum legal age for engagements is 11 years old. The law 
prohibits forced marriages of anyone younger than the age of 18 and 
provides for imprisonment of six months to two years and a fine of 
50,000 to 500,000 CFA ($100 to $1,000). However, forced marriage of 
girls was a serious problem, including among refugees. The custom of 
buying and selling child brides was widespread. Girls that objected to 
being forcibly married often suffered physical assaults by their family 
members and their husband. Many young wives were forced to work long 
hours for their husbands in the fields or home.
    The law prohibits the use of child soldiers, and the Government 
discontinued all conscription of child soldiers and continued efforts 
to demobilize all remaining children from security forces and rebel 
groups. However, armed groups, both Chadian and from Sudan, continued 
to recruit children from refugee camps along the eastern border, 
although such incidents had sharply decreased by year's end. MINURCAT 
reported that in April, JEM recruits from refugee camps in the East 
included children.
    From June 7 to 9, the country hosted a regional conference to end 
recruitment and use of children in armed conflict. The conference was 
organized with support from UNICEF and included official delegations 
from Cameroon, CAR, Niger, Nigeria, and Sudan. UNICEF publicly stated 
that Chad's progress on addressing child soldiers had made it a 
regional leader on the issue. All conference participants signed the 
N'Djamena Declaration, pledging to eliminate the recruitment and 
involvement of children in armed forces, armed groups, and in all forms 
of hostilities. A follow-up committee to implement the declaration met 
and continued to work through year's end.
    The Government continued to transfer children associated with 
returning rebel groups to UNICEF for reintegration and rehabilitation 
during the year. On the eve of the conference, for example, the 
Government facilitated the release of 45 new child soldiers from rebel 
groups into UNICEF's care. The Government cooperated with international 
efforts to provide rehabilitation services.
    Armed bandits kidnapped children to obtain ransom in the Mayo-Kebbi 
Ouest Region (see section 1.b.).
    In October members of the NGO Zoe's Ark, who had been charged with 
abduction of Chadian children in 2007, appeared before a court in 
France; in 2008 the president of Chad had pardoned those involved.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was no known Jewish community, nor were there 
any reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with disabilities, and while the Government made 
efforts to enforce this prohibition in N'Djamena, it was unable to do 
so throughout the country. There were no laws or programs to assure 
access to buildings for persons with disabilities; however, the 
Government operated a few education, employment, or therapy programs 
for such persons.
    The country had numerous persons with disabilities related to 
polio, and many such persons held ranking positions in the Government.
    The Government, in conjunction with NGOs, continued to sponsor an 
annual day of activities to raise awareness of the rights of persons 
with disabilities. The Ministry of Social Action and Family is 
responsible for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--There are approximately 200 
ethnic groups, many of which were concentrated regionally. They speak 
128 distinct primary languages. Most ethnic groups were affiliated with 
one of two regional and cultural traditions--Arabs and Muslims in the 
north, center, and east, and Christian or animist groups in the south; 
however, internal migrations in response to urbanization and 
desertification resulted in the integration of these groups in some 
areas.
    Interethnic violence continued, particularly in the east and south. 
Clashes between herders and sedentary populations and other interethnic 
violence continued, often related to competition for increasingly 
scarce arable lands due to desertification.
    Societal discrimination was practiced routinely by members of 
virtually all ethnic groups and was evident in patterns of employment. 
The law prohibits government discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, 
although in practice ethnicity continued to influence government 
appointments and political alliances. Political parties and groups 
generally had readily identifiable regional or ethnic bases.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There were no known lesbian, 
gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) organizations. There were few 
reports of violence or discrimination against LGBT persons, in large 
part because most such persons were discreet about sexual orientation 
due to social and cultural strictures against homosexuality. The law 
prohibits but does not define ``unnatural acts,'' and there was no 
evidence that the law was used against LGBT persons during the year.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The law provides for 
persons with HIV/AIDS to have the same rights as those without HIV/AIDS 
and obligates the Government to provide information, education, and 
access to tests and treatment for persons with HIV/AIDS; however, 
societal discrimination against persons living with HIV/AIDS continued. 
Government officials were not always well informed on educating such 
persons on their rights and treatment options. Women were accused 
occasionally of passing HIV to their husbands and were threatened by 
family members with judicial action or banishment.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows all employees except 
members of the armed forces to form or join unions of their choice 
without excessive requirements, but the authorization of the Ministry 
of Territorial Administration is required; there were no reports that 
the authorization requirement was enforced during the year. The 
Ministry of Territorial Administration can also order the immediate 
administrative dissolution of a union.
    In the formal sector, more than 90 percent of employees belonged to 
unions; however, the great majority of workers were self-employed, 
nonunionized, unpaid, subsistence cultivators or herders. The 
Government, which owned enterprises that dominated many sectors of the 
formal economy, remained the largest employer.
    The law recognizes the right to strike but restricts the right of 
civil servants and employees of state enterprises to do so. Civil 
servants and employees of state enterprises, including civil servants 
and teachers, must complete a mediation process and notify the 
Government before striking. Employees of several public entities deemed 
essential must continue to provide a certain level of services. 
According to an International Trade Union Confederation report 
published during the year, the definition of essential services is 
overly broad. The law permits imprisonment with forced labor as 
punishment for participation in illegal strikes, but no such punishment 
was imposed during the year.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows 
unions to organize and bargain collectively, and the Government 
protected these rights. Although there are no restrictions on 
collective bargaining, the law authorizes the Government to intervene 
under certain circumstances. There were no reports of restrictions on 
collective bargaining during the year.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The constitution 
states that persons cannot be held as slaves or in servitude, and the 
law prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; 
however, forced labor, particularly by children, occurred in the 
informal sector. There were no reports of forced labor practices in the 
formal economy, but children and adults in the rural sector were 
involved in forced agricultural work and domestic servitude.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
labor code stipulates that the minimum age for employment is 14 years, 
except that children may work as apprentices beginning at the age of 
13. However, the Government did not enforce the law, and child labor, 
including forced child labor, was a serious problem. The low legal 
minimum age for employment, lack of mandatory schooling past the age of 
11, lack of any schooling opportunities in some areas, and tribal 
initiation rites rendering children informally adults by the age of 14 
contributed to a general perception that child labor did not constitute 
exploitation unless the victims were less than age 13 or 14 years old.
    The majority of forced child laborers were subjected to domestic 
servitude; forced begging; forced labor in cattle herding and fishing; 
and street vending. Children were trafficked to Cameroon, the Central 
African Republic, and Nigeria for forced cattle herding. Girls sold or 
forced into child marriages were forced by their husbands into domestic 
servitude and agricultural labor.
    The law prohibits the use of child soldiers, and the Government 
discontinued all conscription of child soldiers and continued efforts 
to demobilize all remaining children from security forces and rebel 
groups. UNICEF stated that it could not rule out the occasional use of 
children in the ANT in noncombat roles; but it maintained that, during 
the year, the ANT had ceased using children in combat and that it did 
not recruit children. However, armed groups, both from Chad and Sudan, 
continued to recruit children from refugee camps along the eastern 
border, although such incidents had decreased sharply by year's end. 
MINURCAT reported that in April, JEM recruits from refugee camps in the 
East included children (see section 6).
    The country's numerous child herders working outside of traditional 
herding clans often lived in substandard conditions without access to 
school or proper nutrition. These herders customarily were given one 
cow as payment for a year's work, but herd managers often refused to 
pay this salary, or the child's parents collected the payment for 
themselves. Children from the south occasionally were kidnapped and 
transferred to the northeast, near the border with Sudan, to be used as 
herders.
    An estimated 20 percent of children between the ages of six and 18 
worked in exploitive labor in the urban informal sector, according to a 
study published in 2005 by the NGO Human Rights Without Borders. 
Children regularly were employed as herders, domestics, crop-pickers, 
and panners for gold. They also were employed in the commercial sector, 
particularly in the capital, as street vendors, manual laborers, and 
helpers in small shops. Children worked as domestic servants, mainly in 
the capital.
    A 2005 UNICEF-government survey of child domestics in N'Djamena 
noted that 62 percent were boys, 24 percent were between eight and 14 
years of age, 68 percent were between the ages of 15 and 17, and 86 
percent were illiterate. Local human rights organizations reported an 
increase in the number of child domestic workers during the year.
    Children who attended certain Islamic schools were sometimes forced 
by their teachers to beg for food and money.
    Some young girls were forced into marriages by their families and 
then compelled to work in their husbands' fields or homes while they 
were still too young to do so safely.
    The Office of Labor Inspection is responsible for enforcement of 
child labor laws and policies; however, no prosecutions were conducted 
during the year. As in previous years, the office reportedly had no 
funding to carry out field work and investigations. Police reportedly 
used extrajudicial actions against traffickers and child labor 
offenders, including beatings and imposing unofficial fines. 
Traditional leaders also sometimes meted out traditional punishments, 
such as ostracism.
    The Government did not have a comprehensive plan to eliminate the 
worst forms of child labor; however, the Government continued to work 
with UNICEF and NGOs to increase public awareness of child labor. In 
addition the campaign continued to educate parents and civil society on 
the dangers of child labor, particularly for child herders, who often 
were sent to distant locations where they were abused.
    On December 1, in a speech commemorating Freedom and Democracy Day, 
President Deby admonished parents who forced their children to herd 
instead of sending them to schools.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The labor code requires the 
Government to set minimum wages, and the minimum wage at year's end was 
28,000 CFA ($56) per month; however, this standard was generally 
ignored. The minimum wage did not provide a decent standard of living 
for a worker and family, although wage levels were raised during the 
year. Nearly all private sector and state-owned firms paid at least the 
minimum wage, but it was largely ignored in the vast informal sector. 
Salary arrears remained a problem, although less so than in previous 
years. 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, an average of 46 hours per week. All workers were 
entitled to unbroken rest periods of between 24 and 48 hours; however, 
workers did not always avail themselves of these rights, largely 
because they preferred the additional pay.
    The labor code mandates occupational health and safety standards 
and gives inspectors the authority to enforce them; however, these 
standards were generally ignored in the private sector and in the civil 
service.
    Workers had the right to remove themselves from dangerous working 
conditions; however, in practice, with so few jobs available in the 
formal sector, doing so for any reason often meant 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 the Comoros is a constitutional, multiparty republic 
of 770,000 citizens. The country consists of three islands--Grande 
Comore, Anjouan, and Moheli--and claims a fourth, Mayotte, which France 
governs. In 2006 citizens elected Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi as Union 
of the Comoros president in polling international observers described 
as generally free and fair. This was the first peaceful and democratic 
transfer of power in the country's history. In 2008 the Union Army of 
National Development, with African Union support, launched a successful 
and bloodless military action resulting in the removal of former 
Anjouan president Mohamed Bacar, who fled the country. Bacar had ruled 
Anjouan by force since declaring himself the winner of an illegal 
election in 2007. Moussa Toybou was elected president of Anjouan in a 
generally free and fair process in 2008. In November and December 2010, 
elections were held to choose a new Union president as well as 
governors for each of the three islands. Although some observers noted 
some serious irregularities on the island of Anjouan, these were not 
sufficient to change the outcome, and the results of the elections were 
upheld by the Comoran Constitutional Court. Security forces reported to 
civilian authorities.
    Human rights problems on all three islands included poor prison 
conditions; restrictions on freedom of movement, press, and religion; 
official corruption; discrimination against women; child abuse; 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 the Government or its agents committed any 
politically motivated killings. However, on June 12, Colonel Combo 
Ayouba, a senior officer in the Comoran army, was killed at his home in 
Moroni. At year's end, an investigation was ongoing, and the chief of 
staff of the Comoran Defense Forces was under house arrest for his 
possible role in the killing (see section 1.d.).
    There were no further developments in the 2008 death from injuries 
inflicted during torture of Nadiati Soimaddine.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and laws prohibit such practices, and 
there were no reports government officials employed them.
    In 2009 the Comoros Human Rights Foundation interviewed victims of 
the Bacar regime and was preparing evidence to prosecute those 
responsible for the 2008 abuses. Most cases involved the torture of 
detainees. However, there were no further developments in any of these 
2008 cases, including the arrest of Mohamed Attoumane, the arrest and 
torture of Soulaimana Bacar and several friends, the detention and 
beating of Attoumane Houmadi, and the arrest and torture of Abdallah 
Ahmed Ben Ali.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions remained 
poor. Common problems included inadequate sanitation, overcrowding, 
inadequate medical facilities, and poor diet.
    There were approximately 130 prisoners incarcerated in the 
country's only prison in Moroni, which can accommodate a maximum of 150 
under crowded conditions. At year's end two female prisoners were being 
held; two juveniles were also being held.
    During the year there were no recorded deaths of prison inmates.
    Authorities held pretrial detainees with convicted prisoners.
    Prisoners and detainees were permitted reasonable access to 
visitors and permitted religious observance, but only if they were 
Muslim. The prisoners could also bring complaints to the attention of 
authorities; however, investigations or follow-up actions almost never 
occurred.
    The Government permitted visits by independent human rights 
observers. Representatives from the Red Crescent visited the prison in 
Moroni in June. As a result of the visit, the Red Crescent is working 
on a project to provide a cistern and to repair the latrines.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Six separate security 
forces report to four different authorities. Union forces include the 
Army of National Development, the Gendarmerie, and the National 
Directorate of Territorial Safety (immigration and customs). Each of 
the three islands also has a police force under the authority of its 
Ministry of Interior.
    Impunity was a problem, and there was no mechanism to investigate 
police abuses. Police and security forces participated in training on 
civil-military relations, public health, and peacekeeping operations.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires warrants for arrests and provides for detainees to be held for 
24 hours, although these provisions were not always respected in 
practice. The prosecutor must approve continued detention. A tribunal 
informs detainees of their rights, including the right to legal 
representation. The law provides for the prompt judicial determination 
of the legality of detention, and detainees must be promptly informed 
of the charges against them. In practice these rights were 
inconsistently respected. There is a bail system under which the 
individual is not permitted to leave the country. Some detainees did 
not get prompt access to attorneys or families. The law also requires 
the state to provide an attorney for indigent defendants, but this 
rarely occurred.
    By year's end all but one of the 50 officials of the Bacar regime 
arrested in 2008 had been released.
    Pretrial detention was a problem, with approximately 20 percent of 
the prison population awaiting trial for extended periods for reasons 
including administrative delays, case backlogs, and time-consuming 
collection of evidence. By law pretrial detainees can be held for only 
four months, but this period could be extended. Some extensions lasted 
several months.
    On August 31, the Government put General Mohamed Amiri Salimou, 
chief of staff of the Comoran Defense Forces, under house arrest for 
his possible role in the killing of Colonel Combo Ayouba (see section 
1.a.). Salimou's lawyers insisted that the penal code does not give 
authorities the right to forbid the general from moving about freely or 
communicating with the outside world. They claimed that the general's 
detention was a pretext to allow the president to remove him from his 
position. In addition to General Salimou, approximately 30 military 
personnel were arrested and held in military prisons. Of these all but 
four have since been released. At year's end, the four were being held 
in Moroni's prison, three of them in solitary confinement, and the 
investigation was ongoing.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected 
judicial independence in practice; however, judicial corruption was a 
problem.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the right to a fair trial 
for all citizens. Under the legal system, which incorporates French 
legal codes and Sharia (Islamic law), trials are open to the public and 
defendants are presumed innocent. Juries deliberate criminal cases, and 
there is an appeal process. Defendants have the right to be present, to 
access government-held evidence, and to consult with an attorney in a 
timely manner. The law allows defendants to question witnesses and 
present their own witnesses. Defendants can also present evidence on 
their own behalf. In practice these rights were inconsistently 
respected.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
but not impartial judiciary for civil matters; formal courts had 
insufficient resources and were also corrupt, frequently asking for 
bribes in return for favorable rulings. Administrative remedies were 
rarely available, although citizens with influence had access to such 
alternatives. Court orders were inconsistently enforced.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and 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 and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Union government 
partially limited press freedom by public criticism of journalists who 
wrote controversial articles, and journalists on all three islands 
practiced self-censorship.
    Individuals could generally criticize the Union government publicly 
or privately without reprisal.
    There is one government-supported newspaper and six independent 
newspapers.
    One government radio station operated on a regular schedule. Small 
community radio stations operated on all three islands without 
government interference. Residents also received Mayotte Radio and 
French television.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. According to 
International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2009, 
approximately 3.59 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly; 
however, the Government did not always respect this right.
    On February 8, security forces used tear gas and rubber bullets to 
disperse a march in Moroni by students and teachers protesting the 
country's educational policy. The students were marching to support 
teachers in a compensation dispute.
    On March 16 and 17, and April 23, security forces used batons, tear 
gas, and rubber bullets to disperse demonstrations on Moheli protesting 
the Government's election policy. Nafissa Abdoulhafar lost her unborn 
child after being assaulted by security forces during the 
confrontations, and several other persons were injured. There was no 
investigation by year's end.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of association, and the Union government and the three island 
governments generally respected this right.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country and foreign travel, and the 
Government generally respected these rights in practice. No specific 
constitutional or legal provisions deal with emigration and 
repatriation.
    On June 6, political activist Said Larifou (a dual French-Comoran 
national) was detained at the Moroni airport and refused permission to 
leave the country. The refusal continued for several months before it 
was rescinded, although he was allowed to move freely within the 
country during that time. The authorities did not publicly state a 
reason for their refusal to allow Larifou to leave the country.
    The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in 
providing protection to internally displaced persons, refugees, asylum 
seekers, and stateless persons.
    The law does not prohibit forced exile, but the Government did not 
use it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is not party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, its 1967 Protocol 
relating to the Status of Refugees, or the 1969 African Union 
Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problem in 
Africa. The law does not provide for the granting of asylum or refugee 
status in accordance with these conventions, and the Government has not 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice 
although very few refugees sought asylum, the Government provided 
protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries 
where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their 
race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, 
or political opinion.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens 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 and Political Participation.--The constitution provides 
for a ``rotating'' Union presidency in which each island takes a turn 
at holding a primary for presidential candidates every four years. In 
2006 the turn passed to Anjouan; all 12 presidential candidates had to 
be natives of Anjouan to run in the primary. From the 12 candidates, 
Anjouan voters selected three to run in the national election, which 
Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi won. This year the turn passed to Moheli. 
From the original 10 candidates (all natives of Moheli), Mohelian 
voters selected three to run in the national election, which was won by 
Ikililou Dhoinine. The constitution thus restricts, by island, those 
eligible to run for the presidency. But aside from the rotation 
principle, anyone is free to stand for election.
    Grande Comore and Moheli held first- and second-round island 
president (governor) elections in 2007; both elections were considered 
generally free and fair. Anjouan held its island president (governor) 
elections in 2008; these were also considered generally free and fair.
    In May 2009 voters approved a national referendum on modifications 
to the constitutional system. The changes affected the titles, powers, 
and terms of various office holders, including President Sambi, whose 
term of office was extended. The referendum took place without 
incident, but it was boycotted by opposition political parties who 
objected to the proposed changes. The referendum was approved by 94 
percent of voters, but turnout was only 52 percent.
    In December 2009 legislative elections were held for both the Union 
national assembly (parliament) and the three island assemblies. These 
elections were also considered generally free and fair.
    In November and December, elections were held to choose a new Union 
president as well as governors for each of the three islands. Although 
some observers noted serious irregularities on the island of Anjouan, 
these were not sufficient to change the outcome, and the final results 
of the elections were upheld by the Comoran Constitutional Court. 
Former vice president Ikililou Dhoinine will become the next president 
of the Union of the Comoros early in 2011.
    More than 20 political parties operated without restriction and 
openly criticized the Union government.
    There was one woman in the 33-member national assembly, but none in 
the cabinet. No minorities held national assembly seats or Union or 
island ministerial posts.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials often engaged in corrupt practices such as taking money for 
performing routine administrative services or doing favors with 
impunity. Resident diplomatic, UN, and humanitarian agency workers 
reported petty corruption was commonplace at all levels of the civil 
service, despite the Government's anticorruption campaign. Private 
sector operators reported corruption and a lack of transparency, and 
the World Bank's 2009 Worldwide Governance Indicators reflected that 
corruption was a serious issue.
    There was continued corruption in the police force. Citizens paid 
bribes to evade customs regulations, avoid arrest, and to have police 
reports falsified. Police personnel paid bribes to receive promotions.
    The Union Ministry of Justice is responsible for combating 
corruption; however, the Government did not prosecute or discipline 
officials charged with corruption.
    Officials were not subject to financial disclosure laws.
    There are no laws providing for public access to government 
information. Those who have personal or working relationships with 
government officials can generally access government information, but 
members of the general public cannot.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    One domestic and some international nongovernmental organizations 
(NGOs) 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 Government cooperated with international governmental 
organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives and other 
organizations. No outside visits were made during the year, but 
domestic human rights organizations met regularly with locally based UN 
personnel. No reports or criticisms were issued.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability, 
language, or social status; however, there was discrimination against 
women.

    Women.--Rape is illegal, punishable by imprisonment of five to 10 
years or up to 15 years if the victim is younger than 15 years of age. 
However the Government did not enforce the laws on rape effectively. 
The law does not specifically address spousal rape, which does occur. 
Statistics are scarce since many of these situations are settled within 
families or by village elders without recourse to the formal court 
system. Although reliable statistics were not available, authorities 
believe the problem is widespread and overall sexual violence is a 
problem. For example, more than half of the inmates in Moroni's prison 
are held for crimes of sexual aggression.
    The law prohibits domestic violence. Although there was no reliable 
data available on the extent of the problem, the Government did not 
take any concrete action to combat violence against women. While women 
can seek protection through the courts in such cases, extended family 
or village elders customarily addressed such problems. Domestic 
violence cases rarely, if ever, enter the formal court system.
    Sexual harassment is illegal and punishable by up to 10 years' 
imprisonment. Although rarely reported due to societal pressure, such 
harassment was nevertheless a common problem, and the Government did 
not effectively enforce penalties against it.
    Couples and individuals are generally free to choose the number and 
spacing of their children. Contraceptive use for modern methods of 
contraception among married women between the ages of 15 and 49 was 
approximately 19 percent, according to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). 
Existing health resources (including personnel, facilities, equipment, 
and drugs) are inadequate, making it difficult for the Government to 
respond to the health needs of the population. According to the 
Population Reference Bureau, approximately 62 percent of births were 
attended by skilled personnel. UNFPA estimated the maternal mortality 
ratio (the ratio of the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live 
births) to be 340 for 2008. There is a general lack of adolescent 
reproductive health information and services, leading to unwanted 
pregnancies and increased morbidity and mortality among adolescent 
girls. There are no legal barriers preventing women from receiving 
treatment for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, but many 
hesitate to do so for social and cultural reasons. The country recently 
developed a national strategy for reproductive health but requires 
additional funding to implement it.
    The law provides for equality of persons, and in general 
inheritance and property rights practices do not discriminate against 
women. Men retained the dominant role in society, although the 
matriarchal tradition afforded women some rights, especially in 
landholding. Land and homes are usually awarded to women in case of 
divorce or separation. Societal discrimination against women was most 
apparent in rural areas where women were mostly limited to farming and 
child-rearing duties, with fewer opportunities for education and wage 
employment. In urban areas, growing numbers of women were employed and 
generally earned wages comparable to those of men engaged in similar 
work; however, few women held positions of responsibility in business. 
The law does not require women to wear head coverings, but many women 
face societal pressure to do so. The Ministry of Health, Solidarity, 
and Gender Promotion is responsible for promoting women's rights.

    Children.--Any child having at least one Comoran parent is 
considered a citizen, regardless of where the birth takes place. Any 
child born in the country is considered a citizen unless both parents 
are foreigners, although these children can apply for citizenship if 
they have lived in the country for at least five years at the time of 
their application. It is estimated approximately 15 percent of children 
are not officially registered at birth, although many of these 
situations are regularized subsequently. No public services are 
withheld from children who are not officially registered.
    The Government did not take specific action to protect or promote 
children's welfare and did not enforce legal provisions that address 
the rights and welfare of children.
    Education is compulsory until the age of 12, but it is not free. 
Teacher strikes over nonpayment of salaries interrupted school several 
times during the year. Due to social and cultural factors, boys 
generally were more likely to attend schools than girls.
    Although there are no official statistics on child abuse, it was 
common and often occurred when impoverished families sent their 
children to work for wealthier families. There were also scattered 
reports that teachers raped students; these were generally handled 
through traditional societal networks rather than formal enforcement 
investigations.
    Child prostitution and child pornography are illegal. The law 
considers unmarried children under the age of 18 to be minors, and they 
are protected legally from sexual exploitation, prostitution, and 
pornography. There were no statistics regarding these matters, but the 
Government did not consider them serious problems. The age of consent 
is 13-years-old. Child prostitution is punishable by a prison term of 
from two to five years and a fine of between 150,000 and 2,000,000 
Comoran francs ($417 and $5,556) for anyone convicted of luring a child 
into prostitution.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was no known Jewish population, and there 
were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--In 2009 there were no confirmed reports 
that persons were trafficked to, from, or within Comoros.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution and laws do not 
prohibit discrimination in employment and public services or mandate 
access to buildings, information, and communication for persons with 
disabilities.
    Handicap Comoros, the country's center for persons with 
disabilities on Grande Comore, was run by a local NGO called Chiwe, or 
``pillar.'' The center imported wheelchairs and prostheses.
    There is no restriction on the right of persons with disabilities 
to participate in civic affairs.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Homosexual acts are illegal. 
They can be punished by up to five years' imprisonment and a fine of 
50,000 to 1,000,000 Comoran francs ($139 to $2,778). However, no case 
of this nature has come before the courts. No public debate on the 
issue has been held, and persons engaging in homosexual activity did 
not publicly discuss their sexual orientation due to societal pressure. 
There are no lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender organizations in 
the country.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of societal violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers to form and 
join independent unions of their choice without previous authorization 
or excessive requirements, and many of those in the wage labor force 
did so in practice. Teachers and other civil servants, taxi drivers, 
and dockworkers were unionized. The law allows unions to conduct their 
activities without government interference and provides for the right 
to strike, and workers exercised this right in practice.
    There are no laws protecting strikers from retribution, but there 
were no reported instances of retribution.
    The labor code, which was rarely enforced, does not include a 
system for resolving labor disputes. Common problems included failure 
to pay salaries regularly or on time, mostly in the Government sector, 
and unfair and abusive dismissal practices such as firing employees 
without giving proper notice or paying the required severance pay.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Unions have the 
right to bargain collectively, although 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. There are no 
legal restrictions on collective bargaining such as exclusion of issues 
or minimum participation requirements.
    The law does not prohibit antiunion discrimination by employers in 
hiring practices or other employment functions; however, there were no 
examples of antiunion discrimination during the year. No workers 
suffered retribution because of union activity.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor by adults with certain exceptions for 
obligatory military service, community service, and during accidents, 
fires, and disasters. The Union's civil protection unit may oblige 
persons to respond to disasters if it is unable to obtain sufficient 
voluntary assistance; however, this has never occurred. There are no 
specific prohibitions against forced or compulsory child labor, and it 
occurred in agriculture (planting, weeding, harvesting); fishing; 
informal retail (selling goods on the street); and domestic service.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--Laws 
exist to protect children from exploitation in the workplace, but the 
Government did not enforce such laws. There were no laws to prohibit 
forced or compulsory child labor, and there were reports that such 
practices occurred. The law establishes 15-years of age as the minimum 
age for employment. Children worked in subsistence farming, fishing, in 
the informal sector selling goods along roadsides, and extracting and 
selling marine sand. Children also worked on food crops such as manioc 
and beans, but also on cash crops such as vanilla, cloves, and ylang-
ylang (a flower used to make perfume). Some children worked under 
forced labor conditions, particularly in domestic service, roadside and 
market selling, and agriculture. In addition some Qur'anic schools 
arranged for poor students to receive lessons in exchange for labor, 
which sometimes was forced. Some families placed their children in the 
homes of wealthier families where they worked in exchange for food, 
shelter, or educational opportunities. Many children were not paid for 
their work. The Ministry of Labor is responsible for enforcing child 
labor laws, but it did not actively or effectively do so. There was 
only one labor inspector for each of the three islands for a total of 
three labor inspectors. These inspectors were responsible for all 
potential violations of labor law and did not focus just on child labor 
cases. The Government took no action to prevent exploitative child 
labor or to remove children from such labor.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--A 2003 ministerial decree set 
the minimum wage at 30,000 Comoran francs per month ($83). The national 
minimum wage did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker 
and family. Although the Union government and local governments did not 
enforce a minimum wage, unions had adequate influence to negotiate 
effective minimum wage rates for different skill levels for unionized 
jobs. These provisions applied to all workers, regardless of sector or 
country of origin. In practice unions promoted this minimum wage via 
their ability to strike against employers. Despite strikes and other 
protests, the Union government was unable to pay government employees, 
including low-level officials, teachers, and medical workers, for 
several months due to budgetary difficulties.
    The law specifies a workweek of 37.5 hours, one day off per week, 
and one month of paid vacation per year. According to the law, workers 
receive time and a half for overtime. These laws, like many others, 
were not effectively enforced by the Government. There was no 
prohibition on excessive compulsory overtime; however, electricity 
shortages prevented overtime work in most businesses. Employers, 
particularly the Government, often were remiss in paying salaries.
    No safety or health standards had been established for work sites. 
Workers generally could not remove themselves from an unsafe or 
unhealthful situation without risking loss of employment.

                               __________

                    DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

    The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a nominally 
centralized republic with a population of approximately 68 million. The 
president and the lower house of parliament (National Assembly) are 
popularly elected; the members of the upper house (the Senate) are 
chosen by provincial assemblies. Multiparty presidential and National 
Assembly elections in 2006 were judged to be credible, despite some 
irregularities, while indirect elections for senators in 2007 were 
marred by allegations of vote buying. There were many instances in 
which state security forces acted independently of civilian control and 
of military command.
    In all areas of the country, state security forces continued to act 
with impunity throughout the year, committing many serious abuses, 
including unlawful killings, disappearances, torture, rape and engaging 
in arbitrary arrests and detention. Severe and life-threatening 
conditions in prison and detention facilities, prolonged pretrial 
detention, lack of an independent and effective judiciary, and 
arbitrary interference with privacy, family, and home also remained 
serious problems. Members of the state security forces continued to 
abuse and threaten journalists, contributing to a decline in press 
freedom. Internally displaced persons remained a major problem, and the 
integration of ex-combatants and members of rebel and militia groups 
(RMGs) into state security forces and governance institutions was slow 
and uneven. Government corruption remained pervasive, and some 
corporations purchased minerals from suppliers who financed mining 
activities by armed entities that committed serious human rights 
abuses. Elements of the state security forces were charged in the death 
of one of the country's leading human rights defenders and at times 
beat or threatened local human rights advocates and obstructed or 
threatened UN human rights investigators. State security forces 
retained and recruited child soldiers and compelled forced labor by 
civilians. Societal discrimination against women and ethnic minorities, 
trafficking in persons, child labor, and lack of protection of workers' 
rights continued to be widespread throughout the country. Enslavement 
of and discrimination against Pygmies occurred.
    Internal conflicts, mainly in the east, continued to significantly 
affect the human rights situation and challenged the Government's 
limited ability to effectively control its territory, which was 
particularly the case in North and South Kivu provinces. The conflicts 
permitted armed entities to commit violent abuses against civilians, 
with little chancethat the Government would be able to hold the 
perpetrators accountable. These entities included RMGs, such as the 
Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and the Mai-Mai 
(community-based self-defense groups), as well as dissident elements of 
the state armed forces, including former members of the National 
Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP) and some ``regular'' 
units of the Armed Forces of the DRC(FARDC). During the year RMGs 
continued to commit numerous, serious abuses--some of which may have 
constituted war crimes--including unlawful killings, disappearances, 
and torture. RMGs also recruited and retained child soldiers, compelled 
forced labor, and committed widespread crimes of sexual violence. The 
situation was complicated the incomplete implementation of the March 
2009 peace agreements involving the Government and several RMGs that 
operated in North and South Kivu. In October the UN Office of the High 
Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR) detailed allegations of serious 
abuses, including potential war crimes and crimes against humanity, 
committed in the country by foreign militaries and other armed entities 
between 1993 and 2003 (see sections 1.e. and 5). In the eastern 
provinces of North and South Kivu, the illegal exploitation of natural 
resources continued to contribute to conflict. Many armed entities in 
the east, including some FARDC units, engaged in the illegal 
exploitation and trade of natural resources. Some RMGs, have cooperated 
with criminal networks within the FARDC that have militarized the 
mineral trade and continued to compete for control over mineral-rich 
areas. In September, President Joseph Kabila imposed an indefinite 
suspension of all mining activity in North and South Kivu and Maniema 
provinces, which remained in effect at year's end. A separate conflict 
involving the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in the Haut Uele and Bas 
Uele districts of Orientale Province in the northeast continued to have 
an extremely negative effect on human rights during the year, resulting 
in deaths, injuries, abductions, forced labor, looting, and general 
insecurity. Interethnic conflict in Equateur Province resulted in 
numerous refugees and internally-displaced persons (IDPs). While the 
security situation in Equateur stabilized during the year, the IDPs did 
not return.
                        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 
that the Government or its agents committed politically motivated 
killings. For example, during the year members of police allegedly 
killed a leading human rights activist and disappeared his colleague 
(see section 5).
    In addition, during the year dissident elements of the FARDC, which 
were comprised of ex-CNDP members poorly integrated into the FARDC and 
led by General Bosco Ntaganda, were allegedly implicated in at least 
eight politically motivated killings, as well as the arbitrary arrest 
and temporary detention of seven other individuals, and the abduction 
and disappearance of another. The killings and other acts targeted 
members loyal to the previous CNDP commander, Laurent Nkunda, whom 
Ntaganda had replaced as the leader of the CNDP in January 2009, when 
the Rwandan government arrested and detained Nkunda in Rwanda. The 
ouster of Nkunda divided the CNDP movement to some extent between 
Nkunda and Ntaganda supporters. The killings allegedly were an attempt 
by Ntaganda to assert his authority over the group and quell any 
division.
    According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), one of the targeted killings 
occurred on September 14, and it resulted in the shooting death of 
Lieutenant Colonel Antoine Balibuno, an Nkunda supporter, immediately 
following a nighttime meeting at a bar in Goma with Lieutenant Colonel 
Kabakule Kennedy and Lieutenant Colonel John Asiki, both of whom were 
known supporters of Ntaganda. Balibuno had reportedly told HRW and 
others in the preceding months that Ntaganda had repeatedly threatened 
him for refusing to support Ntaganda's leadership of the CNDP. Another 
killing documented by HRW allegedly took place in Gisenyi, Rwanda on 
June 20. A group of men including one of Ntaganda's body guards and, 
according to witnesses, Rwandan security agents entered the home of 
Denis Ntare Semadwinga, an Nkunda supporter. Semadwinga was stabbed 
repeatedly and his throat was slit. According to reports received by 
HRW, Semadwinga may have been in contact with General Kayumba Nyamwasa, 
an opponent of the Rwandan president who reportedly escaped a murder 
attempt in South Africa during the year. HRW, which called on the 
Government to arrest Ntaganda, also reported that in the cases of 
arbitrary arrest and detention, Ntaganda had dictated what the charges 
should be and instructed judicial officials not to follow due process. 
Ntaganda, Kennedy, and Asiki remained free at year's end.
    There were reports of state security forces engaged in summary 
executions, extrajudicial killings, rape and other abuses of civilians 
in the east and in other parts of the country during clashes with RMGs 
(see section 1.g.).
    There were several occasions during the year when members of state 
security forces arbitrarily and summarily killed civilians, sometimes 
during apprehension or while holding them in custody, sometimes during 
protests, and often for failing to surrender their possessions, submit 
to rape, or perform personal services. In the cases below, which are 
not an exhaustive list of such killings during the year, authorities 
did not investigate or prosecute any of the perpetrators.
    In April soldiers allegedly killed a journalist (see section 2.a.).
    On May 5, agents of the military intelligence agency DEMIAP fired 
into a crowd of demonstrators in Kinshasa, killing one and injuring 
several. A day prior to the shooting, state security forces had 
arrested several members of the Church of Jesus Christ our Lord in 
Kinshasa at Kinshasa's airport for ``security reasons.'' Those arrested 
were released after three and a half months in prison with no charges 
and no trial. No action was taken against the DEMIAP agents responsible 
for the shootings.
    On June 2, two FARDC soldiers robbed and shot two civilians in 
Kabaye, North Kivu, which resulted in the death of one of the victims. 
An intelligence officer of the First Operational Area refused to 
transfer suspects to a judge investigating the killing. No additional 
information was available at year's end.
    On September 29, the Republican Guard (GR) arrested and severely 
beat Armand Tungulu, a Congolese national for throwing a rock at the 
presidential motorcade in Kinshasa, according to witnesses. On October 
2, the prosecutor general reported that the detainee had apparently 
committed suicide while in the GR's custody at Tshatshi military camp 
during the night. He added that a medical examiner had been assigned to 
the case. According to media reports, despite requests from Tungulu's 
wife, officials had not given Tungulu's body to his family, despite the 
family's requests. There was no additional information by year's end.
    There were no reports of authorities taking action in the following 
cases of unlawful killings committed by state security forces in 2009:
    The fatal shooting of a man by a Congolese National Police (PNC) 
officer during a protest in January in Kolwezi, Katanga;
    The fatal beating of a Tanzanian man in January by two Directorate 
General of Migration (DGM) agents and two PNC officers in Lubumbashi, 
Katanga, following his arrest for alleged document fraud;
    The death of a woman in Njingala, North Kivu, from injuries she 
sustained in April during a gang rape by 10 FARDC soldiers who invaded 
her home;
    The death by torture of a man by FARDC intelligence officers in 
April in Kamandi Lac, North Kivu; orthe fatal beating of a detained 
woman in her prison cell by PNC officers in June in Bena Mpiana, Kasai 
Oriental.
    Authorities took no further action on the 2008 killing of a 
civilian in Bulukutu, Equateur, by a PNC officer, or the 2008 killing 
of an artisanal miner in Katanga by a police officer attached to the 
Provincial Mining Office in Kalukalanga. There was also no additional 
information regarding the arbitrary arrest and illegal three-month 
detention of a man, who later died from mistreatment, by the commander 
of the Karawa Police Station in Equateur in 2008.
    Authorities in Bas-Congo Province, in the west, took no action 
regarding the deaths of at least 205 members of the Bundu Dia Kongo 
(BDK), a political-religious group seeking greater provincial autonomy, 
during demonstrations in 2008 and 2007. Investigative reports by the UN 
Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) in 2008 concluded that police used 
excessive force in both incidents and that in 2008 police committed 
arbitrary executions and raped local residents. Although the 
Government, rejecting these conclusions, committed in 2008 to conduct 
its own investigation, Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on 
extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions (UNSRESAE), found that 
authorities--including then head of the PNC John Numbi--had not held to 
account any of the PNC members responsible for the killings. During 
UNSRESAE Alston's visit, the governor ordered the mayor of Kisantu to 
prevent him from interviewing witnesses or holding any meetings.
    There were no developments in the 2008 case of a FARDC soldier who 
shot and killed a civilian in Mahagi Port, Orientale.
    Authorities took no action against those responsible for summarily 
executing and otherwise killing approximately 300 persons in 2007 
during armed confrontations in Kinshasa between forces loyal to 
President Kabila and rival forces loyal to former vice president Jean-
Pierre Bemba.
    Attempts to investigate a 2004 massacre in Kilwa, Katanga Province, 
which was allegedly committed by FARDC soldiers with logistical help 
from a mining company, continued to meet with problems following 
Katanga government officials' decision in 2008 to prevent a local 
nongovernmental organization (NGO), as well as the victims' foreign 
attorneys, from visiting Kilwa. As a result, during the year survivors 
and relatives of the 73 victims of the massacre filed a class action 
lawsuit in Quebec against the Canadian company Anvil Mining, which 
responded to the lawsuit by saying there had been numerous 
investigations and court proceedings but ``no findings adverse to Anvil 
or any of its employees have arisen.'' There were no further legal 
developments regarding the 2007 acquittal by a military court of 
several FARDC soldiers and three Anvil Mining employees accused of 
involvement in the Kilwa massacre. In 2008 the Lubumbashi Military 
Court of Appeal rejected legal motions by victims' relatives 
challenging the acquittals.
    There were no reported developments regarding any of the other 
alleged killings by authorities in 2007 that were previously reported.
    During the year a UN human rights mapping report detailed killings 
by foreign militaries between 1993 and 2003 (see section 1.g.).
    RMGs in conflict zones committed unlawful killings during the year, 
and there were reports that some corporations facilitated such killings 
and other abuses by sourcing minerals from areas controlled by armed 
entities, including FARDC units (see section 1.g.).

    b. Disappearance.--There were reports of disappearances caused by 
government forces. Authorities often refused to acknowledge the 
detention of suspects, and in some cases they detained suspects in 
secret detention facilities.
    For example, in August FARDC soldiers kidnapped a civil society 
leader and did not disclose his whereabouts while illegally detaining 
him in an underground jail (see section 1.c.).
    According to a report released in April 2009 by the African 
Association for the Defense of Human Rights (ASADHO), state security 
forces continued to use forced disappearances to repress individuals. 
ASADHO noted the disappearance of 16 persons, including students, 
police officers, and soldiers, following their initial arrest earlier 
in 2009. Their whereabouts remained unknown at year's end.
    In February 2009 the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary 
Disappearances (UNWGEID) reported to the UN Human Rights Council 
(UNHRC) that, as of 2008, there were 43 unsettled cases of forced or 
involuntary disappearance that had been reported to the UNWGEID, 
although none of them originated during the year. Underlining that an 
enforced disappearance was ``a continuing offense for as long as the 
fate or whereabouts of the victim remains unclarified,'' the UNWGEID 
stated that, as in 2008, the Government did not respond to UN inquiries 
about the cases. There were no reports of government efforts to 
investigate disappearances and abductions, including those in which 
security force members were accused of involvement.
    There was no information about the whereabouts of three lawyers in 
Kinshasa, who were abducted by three armed men in 2007 and allegedly 
detained by the National Intelligence Agency (ANR).
    RMGs and FARDC units kidnapped numerous persons, generally for 
forced labor, military service, or sexual services, and there were 
reports that some corporations facilitated such killings and other 
abuses by sourcing minerals from areas controlled by these armed 
entities. Many of the victims disappeared (see section 1.g.).

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--At the beginning of the year, the law did not specifically 
criminalize torture; however, during the parliamentary session between 
March and June lawmakers adopted a law criminalizing torture. Despite 
this reform, the Government did not effectively enforce the law, and 
during the year there were many credible reports by informed sources 
that security services tortured civilians, particularly detainees and 
prisoners, and employed other types of cruel, inhuman, and degrading 
punishment. Most cases of torture were perpetrated by members of the 
police, the ANR, and the FARDC, according to credible sources. There 
were very few reports of government authorities taking action against 
members of state security forces responsible for these acts.
    For example, on August 24, FARDC units comprised of ex-CNDP members 
kidnapped Sylvestre Bwira, president of the civil society in Masisi, 
North Kivu, and held and severely beat him in an underground prison for 
six days. The abuses occurred after he had sent an open letter to 
President Kabila on August 2, denouncing abuses committed with impunity 
by General Ntaganda's troops and the parallel CNDP administration in 
Masisi Territory. Authorities had taken no action by year's end.
    The UNJHRO reported several cases of torture and cruel, inhuman, 
and degrading treatment. For example, on August 21, FARDC soldiers 
arrested five persons, including two minors, suspected of involvement 
in an attack on a MONUSCO peacekeeping base in Kirumba, in the Lubero 
Territory in North Kivu, which killed three peacekeepers. During their 
detention at the headquarters of the 12th FARDC Sector in Kasando, 
Lubero Territory, soldier's allegedly tortured them, giving them 
between 40 and 120 lashes each and burning and mutilating their feet 
and hands to obtain confessions. The five were transferred on August 22 
to the Goma military court. There were no reports that authorities had 
investigated or disciplined the accused FARDC soldiers, and no 
additional information was available.
    There were no reports of authorities taking action in the following 
cases of severe beatings of suspects by state security forces in 2009 
and 2008:
    The severe beating of a suspected thief who was subsequently denied 
food and water for two days by ANR agents in January 2009, in Kabimba, 
Katanga;
    The severe beating and stabbing of two women in February 2009 by 
several FARDC soldiers from the Second Integrated Brigade in Butembo, 
North Kivu, during a break-in at the women's home;
    The severe beating, extortion, and other forms of mistreatment of a 
man in February 2009 by five PNC officers in Kaleba, Katanga, under a 
PNC commander who allegedly routinely ordered the torture of civilians 
to extort money;
    The all-night beating of two civilians suspended from a tree by 
three GR soldiers named Vandome, Jean-Paul, and Mapendo in May 2009 in 
Kahungula, Bandundu;
    The beating and robbery of a civilian by two FARDC soldiers in 
Kalemie, Katanga, in 2008;the severe beating of a man by five FARDC 
soldiers in Mbuji-Mayi, Kasai Oriental in 2008 for resisting their 
efforts to steal his motorbike;
    The cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of a civilian in 2008 
by seven PNC officers in Bena-Leka, Kasai Occidental, under the command 
of Tshipamba Nzolo; or
    The torture of a police officer by offers of the police's Mobile 
Intervention Group (GMI) in Mbuji-Mayi, Kasai Oriental, in 2008.
    Authorities took no action against members of state security forces 
who tortured a judicial investigator in Orientale Province (see section 
1.d.) in 2007.
    On several occasions during the year, police beat and arrested 
journalists who wrote or broadcast material they did not like (see 
section 2.a.).
    There were continuing reports, including many from the UNJHRO, of 
rape of civilians by members of the state security forces, both in the 
context of the conflict in the east (see section 1.g.) and elsewhere. 
For example, in Kasai Occidental, on March 13, four policemen from 
Kampungu police station in Mweka Territory allegedly arrested the 
daughter of a man they sought and then raped her throughout the night 
while she was detained. No additional information was available.
    During the year a police commander raped a 15-year-old girl (see 
prison and detention center conditions in section 1.c.).
    No additional information was available regarding the investigation 
that a public prosecutor ordered in 2009 into the rape of a 13-year-old 
girl in March 2009 by the head of the office of the Ministry of Urban 
Planning and Housing in Bulungu, Bandundu.
    At year's end no additional information was available on a FARDC 
soldier in Rwindi, North Kivu, whom military authorities arrested and 
detained after he allegedly raped a three-year-old girl in 2008.
    There were no reports of authorities taking further action 
regarding the abduction and repeated rape over a four-day period of a 
14-year-old girl by a FARDC lieutenant in Gemena, Equateur, who had 
been arrested and then released; or the rape of 13 women and six girls 
in Ngele, Equateur, and the cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment of 
the village's male residents by police officers.
    RMGs committed sexual violence and other types of abuses against 
civilians during the year, and some corporations facilitated sexual 
violence against civilians by supporting--through the illicit trade in 
mineral resources--armed entities, including some FARDC units (see 
section 1.g.).
    Some church leaders beat, whipped, and starved children accused of 
witchcraft (see section 6).

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Conditions in most prisons 
remained severe and life-threatening. During the year UN Secretary-
General Ban Ki-moon reported to the UN Security Council that the prison 
system merited urgent reform, as it continued to be characterized by 
``catastrophic conditions of detention,'' including severe overcrowding 
and lack of medical facilities, and that in several instances, 
detainees died from starvation, as no budget had been allocated to 
cover operational costs, including food and other basic needs. The 
penal system was underfunded, and most prisons were overcrowded, poorly 
maintained, and lacked sanitation facilities. In all prisons except the 
Kinshasa Penitentiary and Reeducation Center (CPRK), the Government had 
not provided food for years. Prisoners' friends and families provided 
the only available food and necessities. Malnutrition was widespread, 
and some prisoners starved to death. Prison staff often forced family 
members of prisoners to pay bribes for the right to bring food to 
prisoners.
    The country's justice minister called the prisons ``death houses'' 
in a plea to the international community for immediate assistance. 
According to ASADHO's April 2009 report Rule of Law Put to the Test, 
medical equipment and medicines were absent in virtually all the 
prisons and detention centers. In 2009 the UN secretary-general 
reported that prison populations exceeded capacity by 600 percent and 
expressed concern about lack of food and health care, outdated prison 
laws and regulations, and severe shortcomings in infrastructure and 
training for prison guards.
    While evaluating the country's prison system in July 2009, Dimitri 
Titov, the UN assistant secretary for the rule of law and security 
institutions in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, visited the 
prison in Goma, North Kivu, where he found a prison facility built for 
150 prisoners housing 850, 650 of whom had not been tried yet. There 
was no separation of men, women, and children or of civilian and 
military detainees, which Titov called unacceptable. Titov said 
overcrowding was so great in the dilapidated prison that inmates slept 
in hallways and next to septic tanks, facilitating the spread of 
disease in what he called inhumane conditions. Noting that he had 
toured numerous prisons in post-conflict African countries, he deemed 
the prison in Goma ``the most terrible I've ever seen.'' Titov also 
visited the prison in Bunia, Orientale, where he found the prison 
population exceeded the facility's capacity by 250 percent. While 
underlining efforts by donor countries to improve prison conditions in 
the country, he urged the Government to match those efforts.
    Temporary holding cells in some prisons were extremely small. Many 
had no windows, lights, electricity, running water, or toilet 
facilities; access to potable water or temperature-regulated cells was 
nonexistent.
    Violence, particularly sexual violence, continued to be a serious 
problem in prisons, along with life-threatening diseases such as HIV/
AIDS. Male prisoners raped other prisoners, including men, women, and 
children. Citing the prison rape cases that it had registered during 
the year, ASADHO reported in June 2009 that ``women are frequently 
raped'' and that prison rapes ``are sometimes organized in cahoots with 
prison authorities.'' ASADHO also noted that men, especially new 
inmates, were sodomized by prison gangs. In June 2009, during an 
attempted prison escape and subsequent riot at the Central Prison in 
Goma, North Kivu, 24 military detainees raped 23 female prisoners. PNC 
officers shot and killed one perpetrator.
    Deaths of detainees were common due to deplorable living 
conditions, malnutrition, and lack of medical care. For example, on 
February 12, 191 persons were detained in a 36-by-23-foot cell in 
Tshikapa's prison, Kasai Occidental Province, without ventilation 
resulting in the death of three detainees due to suffocation. Also in 
February the UNJHRO documented seven cases of death in detention 
throughout the country, mainly due to bad detention conditions. Over a 
two-week period in July, three inmates died from starvation in Bulungu 
Prison, in Bandundu Province. On June 26, a detainee died in Idiofa 
prison in Bandundu, after failing to pay for the medical care he 
needed, even though health care is a state obligation in the country. 
On June 8 and 11, two detainees of Kalemie central prison in Maniema 
Province died from diseases a few days after their admission to the 
General Hospital of Kalemie.
    In July 2009 the UNJHRO reported that prisoners were dying in Bunia 
prison, including from malnutrition and tuberculosis. Local NGO Me 
Lonjiringa reported in July 2009 that the physical and hygienic 
conditions of Bunia prison were so bad that being detained there was 
``a death sentence.'' UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay 
reported that between March 2008 and March 2009, at least 65 prisoners 
died in prisons. Pillay concluded that confinement in a Congolese 
prison in itself often amounted to cruel, inhumane, or degrading 
treatment.
    Health care and medical attention remained inadequate, and 
infectious diseases rampant. In rare cases prison doctors provided 
care; however, they often lacked medicines and supplies. According to a 
nurse at the Bunia Central prison, in 2009 many prisoners were in 
desperate need of a transfer to the hospital for medical care but were 
often denied.
    Numerous prisoners attempted to escape, sometimes to avoid what 
they viewed as certain death from starvation, according to the UNJHRO. 
In June 140 inmates escaped various prisons across the country, and 
only 23 of them were recaptured, according to the UNJHRO. According to 
media reports, in Gemena prison, in Equateur, where a growing backlog 
of pretrial detention cases continued to outgrow the capacity of the 
prison and the lone prosecutor who served the area, almost 200 pretrial 
inmates rioted and escaped on November 16 due to lack of food; only a 
handful were reportedly recaptured.
    Guards were few and often unpaid, and some lived in the prisons for 
lack of homes. According to the UN secretary-general, approximately 95 
per cent of the personnel working in the correctional facilities were 
not civil servants but rather self-appointed and lacked formal training 
for the responsibilities of their positions. There was no training 
institution for prison personnel, including wardens. Lack of authority 
and surveillance resulted in detainee death and abuse. For example, the 
UNJHRO reported that on January 31, an inmate in Bukavu's central 
prison was tied up and beaten to death by six co-detainees.
    Installations remained rudimentary, contributing to high rates of 
escape across the prison system. According to a March 2009 report by 
seven UN special rapporteurs and representatives, ``The disastrous 
state of the prison system, perhaps the weakest link in the justice 
chain, facilitates escapes of suspects and convicts, including high 
profile offenders who sometimes 'escape' with the connivance of the 
authorities. For this reason, but also in light of the generally 
appalling prison conditions.penitentiary reform is an absolute 
necessity.'' The group recommended that the Government and its 
technical assistance partners make it a priority to implement the new 
Strategic Plan on Prison Reform and Training, developed by the Ministry 
of Justice and the UN peacekeeping mission MONUC, whose name was 
changed to MONUSCO in May.
    Larger prisons sometimes had separate facilities for women and 
juveniles, but others generally did not. Prison officials held pretrial 
detainees together with convicted prisoners and treated both groups the 
same. They generally held individuals detained on state security 
grounds in special sections. Government security services often 
clandestinely transferred such prisoners to secret prisons. Civilian 
and military prisons and detention facilities held both soldiers and 
civilians, since none of the military's prisons were operational, 
according to a March report by the UN secretary-general.
    According to ASADHO, sleeping arrangements in prisons and detention 
centers were hierarchical and corrupt. Due to overcrowding, the best 
sleeping spots went to those who were able to pay. Those at the bottom 
of the hierarchy had to sleep on cement floors or outside in the 
courtyards.
    According to MONUSCO, in 2009 fewer than 90 of the country's 230 
prisons actually held prisoners; while there were no reports of the 
Government officially closing prisons during the year, dozens of 
prisons that had not functioned for years remained closed. Most prisons 
were dilapidated or seriously neglected.
    Prisoners routinely escaped from prisons in all provinces. In some 
cases, security personnel who were detained or convicted of serious 
crimes were released from prison by military associates or by bribing 
unpaid guards.
    Even harsher conditions prevailed in small detention centers, which 
were extremely overcrowded; had no toilets, mattresses, or medical 
care; and provided detainees with insufficient amounts of light, air, 
and water. Originally intended to house short-term detainees, they were 
often used for lengthy incarceration. They generally operated without 
dedicated funding and with minimal regulation or oversight. Informed 
sources stated that detention center authorities often arbitrarily beat 
or tortured detainees. Guards frequently extorted bribes from family 
members and NGOs for permission to visit detainees or provide food and 
other necessities.
    Despite President Kabila's 2006 decision to close illegal jails 
operated by the military or other state security forces, there were no 
reports of such closures during the year. According to MONUSCO, the 
security services, particularly the intelligence services and the GR, 
continued to operate numerous illegal detention facilities 
characterized by harsh and life-threatening conditions. Authorities 
routinely denied family members, friends, and lawyers access to these 
illegal facilities.
    Authorities took no action against ANR agents who tortured six 
inmates in 2008 in Musenze Central Prison in Goma, North Kivu.
    The law provides that minors may be detained only as a last resort; 
however, in part due to the absence of juvenile justice or education 
centers, authorities commonly detained minors. Many children endured 
pretrial detention without seeing a judge, lawyer, or social worker; 
for orphaned children, pretrial detention often continued for months or 
years. In February 2009 the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child 
(UNCRC) noted that the child protection code, promulgated in January 
2009, provides for juvenile courts to become operational by 2011. 
However, the UNCRC expressed concern over the way in which the justice 
system continued to handle juveniles and the lack of a juvenile justice 
system. According to the UNJHRO, during the night of May 8, a 15-year-
old girl who had been raped was illegally detained in a PNC cell with 
the alleged perpetrator and subsequently raped by the police commander 
in charge of the investigation. There were no reports of authorities 
taking any action against the commander.
    Authorities denied some prisoners and detainees access to visitors 
and did not permit them to have contact with or submit complaints to 
judicial authorities (see section 1.d.). The Government had not 
established an effective or reliable system to monitor detention 
facilities, and authorities very rarely investigated allegations of 
inhumane prison or detention center conditions. There were no 
government ombudsmen serving to protect the rights of prisoners and 
detainees. There were no reports of authorities preventing prisoners or 
detainees from practicing their religion.
    In general the Government allowed the International Committee of 
the Red Cross, MONUSCO, and some NGOs access to all official detention 
facilities; however, it did not allow these organizations access to 
illegal government-run detention facilities, including those run by the 
ANR, the GR, and units of the FARDC, including ex-CNDP FARDC units in 
Masisi territory, North Kivu.
    RMGs sometimes detained civilians, often for ransom, but little 
information was available concerning the conditions of detention (see 
section 1.g.).
    With MONUSCO's support, the reconstruction of the Ndolo military 
prison in Kinshasa was completed during the year, and plans to make the 
prison operational had been finalized by October. At the Goma Central 
Prison, construction of a structure designed to separate juveniles and 
women neared completion. However, according to the UN Secretary-
General's report to the UN Security Council in October, despite those 
efforts, prison conditions throughout the country, particularly in 
conflict-affected areas, remained dire. Calling prison conditions one 
of the major human rights crises in the country, the UNJHRO opened a 
special office during the year to better address the problem and 
recommended that the Government create prison farms to ensure food 
supply for inmates and generate revenue to procure basic medicines.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest or detention; however, state security forces routinely 
arbitrarily arrested and detained persons.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Among other elements, 
the state security forces consist of the PNC, which operates under the 
Ministry of Interior and has primary responsibility for law enforcement 
and public order. The PNC includes the Rapid Intervention Police and 
the Integrated Police Unit. The ANR, overseen by the president's 
national security advisor, is responsible for internal and external 
security. Other agencies include the military intelligence service of 
the Ministry of Defense; the DGM, responsible for border control; the 
GR, which reports directly to the presidency; and the FARDC, which is 
part of the Ministry of Defense and generally responsible for external 
security, but which also carries out an internal security role.
    State security forces generally remained undisciplined, corrupt, 
lacked training, were grossly underfunded, and received little pay (see 
section 4).
    There were mechanisms available to investigate abuses by state 
security forces and address internal discipline problems, although the 
mechanisms remained weak and ineffective, particularly for addressing 
misconduct by mid- and high-ranking officials. However, some progress 
was made during the year related to internal discipline of the PNC, as 
authorities charged eight PNC officers following the disappearance of 
human rights defender Fidele Bazana Edadi and the killing of his 
colleague, long-time activist Floribert Chebeya, who was last heard 
from just before entering PNC headquarters in Kinshasa after being 
summoned by the head of the national police, John Numbi. Nevertheless, 
several rule of law experts in the country and almost 80 local and 
international human rights NGOs have expressed serious concerns about 
the credibility and independence of the investigation and the trial 
(see section 5). Numbi, who was implicated by several reports in 
serious human rights abuses in recent years, was suspended from his 
position in June pending an investigation, but authorities did not 
charge him or put him on trial, and dozens of civil society members 
alleged that Numbi continued to perform official duties despite the 
official suspension.
    Created in 2007, the Inspection General d'Audit (IGA) is the 
internal discipline system within the PNC. As an internal oversight 
mechanism, it aims, among other things, to address police corruption 
and other types of police misconduct and human rights violations 
perpetrated by the police force. While the existence of the IGA was 
considered a positive legal step, at year's end it was not fully 
functioning, suffering from a lack of infrastructure, training, and 
awareness regarding its role and existence, especially at the 
provincial level.
    Members of the FARDC, police, and intelligence sectors continued to 
commit the majority of the country's human rights abuses. For example, 
on February 16, the deputy police commander of Sankuru, Kasai Oriental 
Province, and 20 PNC agents burned 89 homes and pillaged 47 others in 
retaliation for the killing of a policeman by the population. On 
February 16 and 18, they also pillaged two schools and broke 19 windows 
in the local hospital. Authorities arrested six policemen, including 
the deputy commander, and placed them under a temporary arrest warrant. 
On April 14, the trial began at the Lodja military tribunal, but one of 
the policemen escaped before the trial began. No additional information 
was available at year's end.
    The FARDC consisted of between 130,000 and 155,000 soldiers, 
including 60,000 who have reached or are close to retirement age. 
Approximately half of the force was deployed during the year in the 
conflict-affected east. The FARDC was ineffective, due in part to weak 
command and control, poor operational planning, low administrative and 
logistical capacity, and questionable loyalty on the part of some of 
its soldiers. Other serious obstacles to the formation of a coherent 
national army included lack of equipment and barracks.
    In addition, in October 2009 UN Special Representative of the 
Secretary-General Alan Doss reported to the UN Security Council that 
``the fast-track integration of up to 20,000 elements of former armed 
groups, some with very bad human rights records, into the FARDC has 
aggravated existing problems of indiscipline and crimes committed 
against the population.''
    For example, in August a FARDC general ordered his soldiers to 
kidnap a FARDC colonel to force a military prosecutor to release 
another FARDC colonel, who had been arrested on charges of 
insubordination (see section 1.g.).
    During the year there were increases in crimes committed against 
civilians in areas of the east where the FARDC was present, 
particularly regarding Operation Amani Leo (see section 1.g.). 
MONUSCO--as mandated by the UN Security Council--continued to condition 
its logistical military support to FARDC units on accountability for 
human rights abuses. For example, after MONUSCO suspended its support 
in June to the FARDC 911th, or ``Bear,'' Battalion in Orientale, owing 
to the serious and persistent human rights violations committed by some 
of its elements, authorities arrested six officers of the battalion and 
transferred them to the relevant judicial authorities, according to a 
report submitted to the UN Security Council in October.
    According to UNSRESAE Alston, ``regular failures'' by the 
Government to provide soldiers their rations and pay, together with 
embezzlement by commanders, contributed to indiscipline as soldiers 
continued ``to literally prey on the population.'' FARDC units 
throughout the country regularly engaged in illegal taxation and 
harassment of civilians. They set up checkpoints to collect ``taxes,'' 
often arresting individuals who could not pay the demanded bribes and 
stealing whatever food and money they could. According to the UNJHRO, 
there was a direct correlation between salaries siphoned off by corrupt 
officers and the level of human rights abuses committed by the FARDC, 
the GR, the PNC, the DGM and the ANR. Abuses by FARDC soldiers were 
dramatically reduced in areas where they were paid and fed.
    Impunity in the state security forces remained a severe, widespread 
problem, and the weaknesses of the justice system continued to play a 
large role in the problem (see section 1.e.). The Government prosecuted 
and disciplined few security force personnel for abusing civilians. 
According to the UN secretary-general's report to the UN Security 
Council in March, military justice institutions continued to face 
challenges, including a severe shortage of military judges and 
prosecutors, with only 350 of a required 818 military magistrates being 
deployed. Magistrates, prosecutors, and investigators were poorly 
trained, had little or no resources for investigations, and limited, if 
any, access to legal codes. In addition, the military justice system 
was often subjected to political and command interference, and security 
arrangements for magistrates in conflict-affected areas remained 
inadequate. Magistrates who attempted to investigate politically 
connected high-level FARDC officers were threatened (see section 1.a.), 
as were witnesses providing information to judicial officers.
    According to a HRW July 2009 report, Soldiers Who Rape, Commanders 
Who Condone, the military justice system remained a weak institution. 
HRW underscored that ``only a small fraction'' of the total number of 
acts of sexual violence committed by FARDC soldiers had been 
prosecuted. As an example, HRW reported that, during 2008, 27 soldiers 
were convicted of crimes of sexual violence in North and South Kivu. 
During the same year, the UN registered 7,703 new cases of sexual 
violence (by FARDC soldiers and other perpetrators) in North and South 
Kivu.
    The Operational Military Court, which the Government established 
during the year to address abuses committed by FARDC officers during 
military operations, made some progress in prosecuting a small number 
of low-ranking perpetrators. However, it lacked adequate staff, the 
ability to conduct its own independent investigations, and the power to 
undertake high-level prosecutions, and there remained concerns about 
the court's respect for due process (see section 1.e.).
    Most of the prosecutions undertaken by the military justice system 
continued to be lower-ranking officers or soldiers; rarely were mid-
level or senior-level officers investigated for having committed acts 
of sexual violence. Although no general had yet been convicted, either 
for his own actions or for failing to control his troops, a general 
(General Jerome Kakwavu) was arrested for rape and other crimes in 
April. When they were convicted, sentences were rarely carried out. For 
example, in July 2009 a military court found Lieutenant Colonel 
Ndayambaje Kipanga guilty of raping four girls in Rutshuru, North Kivu. 
Prior to the arrest of General Kakwavu, he was the highest-ranking 
FARDC officer convicted. However, he was convicted in absentia after 
escaping custody two days after his arrest in May 2009, due to lax 
detention procedures, and he remained at large at year's end..
    In its November 2009 report to the UN Security Council, the UNGOE 
cited meetings it held with military justice prosecutors in North and 
South Kivu, who ``reiterated the limitations...in effectively 
prosecuting sexual violence and underscored the lack of willingness at 
the highest level of the FARDC military command to ensure that 
perpetrators are held accountable.'' Examples provided by the UNGOE of 
FARDC commanders who had failed to take any action after being notified 
of rape cases committed by their men included Colonel Alphonse Mpanzu 
of the 8th Integrated Brigade, deployed in Uvira (South Kivu) in the 
context of Kimia II (at least two cases of rape), and Lieutenant 
Colonel Salumu Mulenda, commander of the 33rd Brigade deployed in Uvira 
and Walungu territories (13 cases of rape). In addition, more than 50 
cases of abuse by the 33rd Brigade (lootings, arbitrary detention, and 
burning of civilian properties) had been reported since the beginning 
of Kimia II operations, according to the group.
    Several individuals accused of numerous serious abuses held senior 
positions in the FARDC. Of the ``FARDC five,'' the five senior FARDC 
commanders whose impunity for alleged crimes of sexual violence was 
raised again with President Kabila by the UN Security Council in May 
2009, three were in detention by year's end, their investigations had 
been completed, and their cases were ready for trial. General Kakwavu 
had been arrested and was awaiting trial, as well as colonels Safari 
and Mobuli. Major Pitchen, also known as Joseph Papy Ilunga, was 
located in Equateur. The Ministry of Defense sent a letter to his 
commander requesting he be transferred to the military prosecutor, but 
the commander refused. At year's end, Major Pitchen, who already had a 
warrant for his arrest due to a conviction of rape in Bukavu, continued 
commanding a battalion of troops. Colonel Mosala was requested to 
remain under house arrest but was not legally required to do so; he 
fled and his whereabouts were unknown. He was presumed to have fled the 
country.
    Following his assessment visit in October 2009, UNSRESAE Alston 
characterized impunity within the state security forces as ``chronic,'' 
noting that ``endemic corruption and political interference ensure that 
anyone with money or connections can escape investigation, prosecution, 
and judgment.'' For example, in June FARDC forces attacked an 
integration center in Nyaleke, North Kivu. The commander of the 1113th 
Battalion, based in Oicha, North Kivu, first arrested, and then 
released eight of the defendants in exchange for a large amount of 
money. A captain of the 1113th Battalion also released suspects in the 
same case and refused to respond to a summons to appear in court. In 
addition, on August 12, ex-CNDP FARDC elements forcibly freed a former 
commander from the Goma Military Prosecutor's office after authorities 
had arrested the former commander for refusing to be redeployed from 
Walikale Territory following accusations of human rights abuses by 
FARDC elements under his command.
    On October 5, General Bosco Ntaganda, an ex-CNDP chief of staff who 
was loosely integrated into the FARDC during 2009 (but who has not 
followed or been subjected to the same command chain as the 
``regular,'' non-integrated FARDC forces) told Reuters that he 
continued to command FARDC troops in the east as ``the number two'' 
commander in Operation Amani Leo. (The International Criminal Court 
(ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Ntaganda in 2006 relating to the 
recruitment and use of child soldiers.) His comments contradicted 
official FARDC statements that he had no role in Amani Leo; however, 
the UN GOE reported in December that General Ntaganda ``remained deputy 
commander of Amani Leo operations.'' At year's end General Ntaganda 
continued to live and openly circulate in Goma, North Kivu. In his 2009 
report, UNSRESAE Alston expressed concern that both government and UN 
officials had indicated they would not take steps to arrest General 
Ntaganda.
    During the year the Government took few significant steps to reform 
the state security forces, and three important draft pieces of 
legislation to reform the armed forces had yet to be adopted by 
parliament. According to the UN secretary-general's October report to 
the UN Security Council, ``Progress on reform of FARDC was largely 
stalled.Several bilateral training programs supporting the 
implementation of the army reform plan were stalled or completed, while 
the continuation of others was in question.'' The FARDC continued to 
cooperate with the EU Mission to Provide Advice on and Assistance with 
Security Sector Reform in its chain of payments project, which aimed to 
improve the FARDC's salary distribution system, prevent fraud and 
embezzlement, and ensure payments reached soldiers.
    There were a few convictions of state security forces members, 
usually low ranking, during the year. For example, on July 22, the 
military tribunal in Goma sentenced Lieutenant Bahati, Warrant Officer 
Kambere, Sergeant -Major Bandoa and Balume to 20 years in prison for 
rape and armed robbery.
    In addition, some Congolese military prosecutors participated in 
joint investigation teams (JITs) a UN initiative launched during the 
year that focused on investigating crimes of sexual violence in the 
east. JITs, which consisted of UNJHRO officers and Congolese military 
prosecutors and investigators, received allegations of rape and other 
abuses from human rights groups and deployed to remote areas to 
investigate and collect evidence for judicial cases. The UNJHRO 
officers provided the military prosecutors and investigators with 
transportation, normally a debilitating deficiency in the investigation 
process. As the military prosecutors and investigators collected and 
processed information, they received in-the-field coaching and training 
in technical areas, such as forensics, witness protection and 
interviewing, and child protection. Although the JITs were ad hoc in 
nature and lacked adequate funding and personnel resources, 
participating military prosecutors and investigators and NGOs viewed 
JITs as a small but effective component in the fight against impunity.
    In July 2009 announced that the Government had adopted a policy of 
``zero tolerance'' for human rights violations by the state security 
forces following intense criticism by donor countries and international 
human rights groups. The FARDC disseminated instructions to all 
soldiers that protecting the population was their duty and warned that 
rape and other crimes against civilians would be punished. In December 
2009 several members of the Universal Periodic Review Working Group 
(UPRWG) commended the Government for adopting this policy but expressed 
concern over severe deficiencies in its implementation. Several members 
of the UPRWG urged the Government to implement by June 2010 the short-
term anti-impunity reforms that were recommended by UNSRESAE Alston, 
who said in October 2009 that FARDC soldiers faced ``no risk of 
punishment'' for abuses, partly due to their anonymity. Alston urged 
the Government to require all FARDC soldiers to wear uniforms showing 
their names and unit affiliation and recommended that the UN Security 
Council make this step a precondition for any further UN assistance. He 
also urged the Government to immediately indict key members of the 
military alleged to have committed war crimes, crimes against humanity, 
and other serious offenses, particularly General Ntaganda, Innocent 
Zimurinda, Sultani Makenga, Bernard Byamungu, and Salumu Mulenda. At 
year's end, the Government had not taken these steps.
    During the Amani Leo Operation, and at the request of the FARDC, 
MONUSCO conducted human rights screening--designed to identify and 
remove human rights abusers from the operation--on a small number of 
battalions in North Kivu that MONUSCO would support (depending upon the 
results of the screening process), approximately 1,500 soldiers in 
total; however, those in battalions not receiving support from MONUSCO 
were not vetted (see section 1.g.).
    However, during the year the Government continued to maintain joint 
military oversight committees with MONUSCO in several provinces. They 
were composed of military officers, military magistrates, MONUSCO human 
rights officers, and MONUC child protection officers. They met monthly 
to monitor, investigate, and develop strategies to combat sexual 
violence and other human rights abuses. Their effectiveness remained 
mixed at year's end.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--By law arrests 
for offenses punishable by more than six months' imprisonment require 
warrants. Detainees must appear before a magistrate within 48 hours. 
Authorities must inform those arrested of their rights and the reason 
for their arrest, and may not arrest a family member instead of the 
individual being sought. They may not arrest individuals for non-felony 
offenses, such as debt and civil offenses. Authorities must allow 
arrested individuals to contact their families and consult with 
attorneys. In practice, security officials routinely violated all of 
these requirements. No functioning bail system existed, and detainees 
had little access to legal counsel if unable to pay. Authorities often 
held suspects in incommunicado detention, including in illegal 
facilities run by the ANR and the GR, and refused to acknowledge their 
detention.
    Security personnel arrested and detained without charge perceived 
opponents and critics of the Government during the year, sometimes 
under the pretext of state security, often denying due process, such as 
access to an attorney (see sections 1.a., 2.a. and 5).
    Police often arbitrarily arrested and detained persons without 
filing charges, often to extort money from family members.
    The military intelligence agency, DEMIAP, arbitrarily arrested 
persons and subjected them to prolonged arbitrary detention (see 
section 1.a.).
    On July 21, in Kinshasa, PNC officers arrested without warrant the 
coordinator of the NGO Solidarity for Social Promotion and Peace 
(SOPROP) and a nurse, also a member of the organization, and held them 
in custody at the Mont-Amba police station. Police also detained three 
other SOPROP members when they visited the police station to support 
the victims; police allegedly beat one of the three. The five SOPROP 
members were released the same day. Authorities took no action against 
those responsible.
    On September 29, members of the PNC arrested two women who 
witnessed and allegedly filmed the beating of a man by GR members after 
he threw a rock at the presidential motorcade. The two women were held 
in detention for several days until being released. The man was 
arrested and died in a GR detention cell, allegedly after committing 
suicide (see section 1.a.).
    Of the 174 inmates determined in 2008 by the vice-minister of human 
rights to be illegally detained in the CPRK, seven remained in prison 
at the end of 2009, but it was unclear how many remained in prison at 
the end of the year.
    Prolonged pretrial detention, often ranging from months to years, 
remained a problem, as pretrial detainees constituted at least 70 
percent of the prison population, according to the UN. In March UN 
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reported that of approximately 18,000 
inmates throughout the country, at least 70 percent were pretrial 
detainees. In July Bandundu civil society leaders reported that inmates 
at Bulungu prison spent two to three years on average in detention 
before being tried. Trial delays were due to factors such as judicial 
inefficiency, corruption, financial constraints, and staff shortages. 
Prison officials often held individuals after their sentences had 
expired due to disorganization, judicial inefficiency, or corruption. 
Prison records remained grossly inadequate, and authorities kept 
individuals in prison even after their sentences had been served.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary; however, the judiciary was inefficient, corrupt, 
and subject to influence. Judges, who were poorly compensated, remained 
subject to influence and coercion by officials and other influential 
individuals.
    Following his October 2009 assessment of the country, UNSRESAE 
Alston concluded that ``across the country, endemic corruption and 
political interference ensure that anyone with money or connections can 
escape investigation, prosecution, and judgment. Judges' appointments, 
removals, and promotions are subjected to frequent political 
interference.''
    On January 21, Front for Patriotic Resistance in Ituri (FRPI) 
leader Bernard Kakado, 86, appeared for the first time at the Bunia 
military court after a length of two years and five months in custody. 
Kakado was being prosecuted by 23 victims for killings, rapes and 
lootings perpetrated from 2006 through 2007.
    In a March 2009 report to the UNHRC, the UN special rapporteur on 
the independence of judges and lawyers and six other UN special 
rapporteurs and representatives collectively underscored that 
``political interference at all stages of the criminal process is very 
common.'' The report cited ``numerous incidents, especially in the 
east,'' in which military and civilian judges and prosecutors were 
threatened and attacked by FARDC soldiers or members of nongovernmental 
armed entities ``to intimidate them, disrupt criminal proceedings, and 
ensure impunity.'' It also noted that ``extremely low salaries'' in the 
justice, law enforcement, and penitentiary sectors facilitated 
corruption at all levels.
    Judicial corruption remained pervasive, particularly among 
magistrates. The judicial system was funded with less than 1 percent of 
the national budget and was poorly staffed, with a very limited 
presence outside of Kinshasa. A study by an international NGO concerned 
with justice reform identified a variety of challenges that continued 
to hinder the planning and execution of the judicial branch budget, 
including declining annual budgets allocated to the judicial branch; 
failure to pay salaries of court personnel on a regular basis; failure 
to allocate costs for court operations; and the lack of transparency in 
the use of funds allocated to the judiciary.
    There were fewer than 1,500 magistrates (judges who serve in the 
lowest level courts) serving the entire population (one magistrate for 
every 45,000 citizens), and two-thirds of them were located in 
Kinshasa, Matadi (Bas-Congo), and Lubumbashi (Katanga). There were 
fewer than 200 courts, of which approximately 50 were functioning 
during the year.
    According to the UNJHRO, despite some convictions of members of the 
FARDC during the year, law enforcement personnel and magistrates 
continued to treat rape and sexual violence in general with a marked 
lack of seriousness. Consequently, men accused of rape were often 
granted bail or given relatively light sentences, and out-of-court 
settlements of sexual violence cases remained widespread. However, 
during the year the Government cooperated with the UN and donor nations 
to train civil and military judges in methods to effectively adjudicate 
rape cases.
    The civilian judicial system failed to dispense justice 
consistently and was widely disparaged by the international community 
and citizens as ineffective and corrupt.
    The constitution provided for new judicial institutions and laid 
the foundation for an independent judiciary by removing previous 
presidential powers to appoint and remove magistrates. The constitution 
divided the Supreme Court's functions into a Constitutional Court, 
Appeals Court, the Administrative Oversight Agency and the High Council 
of Magistrates (CSM), the country's supreme judicial oversight body, 
which is charged with disciplining judges and prosecutors and 
protecting the judiciary from executive intimidation and manipulation. 
However, by the end of 2009, the CSM was not fully operational, and no 
legislation had been promulgated to establish the Constitutional Court, 
the Appeals Court, or the Administrative Oversight Agency. In the 
absence of the judicial institutions provided for by the 2006 
constitution, the existing structures--including the Supreme Court, 
Appeals Court, Superior Court (Tribunal de Grande Instance), and the 
misdemeanor courts known as Tribunaux de Paix--continued operating.
    While the new structures provided for in the constitution were 
designed in part to increase access to justice, the Government still 
had not implemented structures that were introduced by laws promulgated 
decades ago. For example, the 1982 law establishing the Tribunaux de 
Paix, which handle cases involving crimes punishable by less than five 
years' imprisonment, provides for one tribunal in each town and rural 
zone. According to an August 2009 report by the International Bar 
Association's Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) and International Legal 
Assistance Consortium (ILAC), if this law were carried out, there 
should be 180 of these tribunals; however, only 58 were in place, and 
only 45 were functioning.
    During the year the Government continued a process begun in October 
2009 to recruit and hire 1,000 new magistrates, including approximately 
100 female judges, to help address the problems of unfair trials and 
lack of access to justice. By year's end, the deployment of the 
magistrates to the provincial courts had not been undertaken, and the 
Government had not budgeted to deploy the judges.
    Military courts, which had broad discretion in sentencing and 
provided no appeal to civilian courts, continued to try military as 
well as civilian defendants during the year. Some areas of the country, 
particularly the east, continued to be served only by military justice, 
due to the absence of any operational civilian justice component. 
Although the constitution limits jurisdiction of military courts to 
members of the FARDC and PNC, at year's end, the military judicial code 
and the military penal code of 2002 had not been harmonized with the 
constitution. In August 2009, the minister of justice initiated a 
reform process that aimed in part to harmonize military justice with 
the constitution; however, the military code of justice, in place prior 
to the adoption of the present constitution, continued in force during 
the year. It prescribed trial by military courts of all cases involving 
state security, including offenses related to military personnel, and 
``weapons of war'' (firearms), whether the defendants were members of 
the military or civilians.
    In 2007 the UN's resident expert on human rights recommended that 
the Government establish a clearer separation between civilian and 
military jurisdictions; however, no action was taken by parliament 
during the year to address this recommendation.
    In December 2009 the UN secretary-general reported to the UN 
Security Council about ``extraordinary'' military justice mechanisms 
established in the Kivus, including the Operational Military Court (see 
section 1.d.). He expressed concern that, ``while contributing to 
discipline within the FARDC, there continued to be serious doubts 
regarding the legal basis of the mechanisms and their respect of fair 
trial standards, particularly since they do not contemplate a right of 
appeal.'' In addition, in its report to the UPRWG, a coalition of 
international NGOs criticized the newly created Operational Military 
Court for disrespecting basic due process rules. Of particular concern 
was the lack of an appeals process. However, on February 13, the 
Operational Military Court in North Kivu sentenced five FARDC soldiers 
to death for murder, one soldier to 20 years of imprisonment for rape, 
and two soldiers to five years of imprisonment for arbitrary arrest.
    The law requires that a defendant can be tried only by a judge in 
the military justice system who is of equal or higher rank than the 
accused. In practice, this provision continued to provide senior 
military suspects with protection from prosecution.
    According to the August 2009 report by the IBAHRI and ILAC, there 
were two main reasons why the executive branch and military command 
``continue to violate the independence of military judges'' and 
prosecutors:
    First, alliances between government forces and various rebel groups 
continued to foster loyalties that have prompted government officials 
to try to prevent the prosecution of some of the leaders and members of 
these armed entities. For example, according to IBAHRI and ILAC, in a 
letter from the minister of justice obtained by NGOs, the minister 
``ordered that no action be taken against members of [the CNDP], and 
that ongoing proceedings were to be discontinued.'' The date of the 
letter, February 9, 2009, was shortly before the March 2009 peace 
agreement in which the CNDP formally agreed to cease hostilities 
against--and integrate into--the FARDC and assist in operations against 
the FDLR.Second, military police and military prosecutors remained 
dependent on the military chain of command for logistical and 
administrative requirements, and military judges and prosecutors were 
sometimes beaten or even tortured for having acted against members of 
the FARDC without prior authorization from the commander.According to 
the UNJHRO, high-ranking military officers continued to adjudicate 
cases in which their own soldiers were implicated. Their alleged 
interference resulted in several out-of-court settlements regarding 
rape cases. However, there were some encouraging prosecutions during 
the year. For example, on July 22, the military tribunal in Goma 
condemned Lieutenant Bahati, Warrant Officer Kambere, Sergeant-Major 
Bandoa, and Balume to 20 years in prison for rape and armed robbery.
    In their March 2009 report to the UNHRC, seven UN special 
rapporteurs and representatives underscored the need for the Government 
to increase the justice portion of the national budget ``to an 
acceptable level comparable with other countries (2-6 percent).'' 
During the year the Government increased the justice portion of the 
national budget to 0.1 percent. Emphasizing the importance of expanding 
the justice system in rural territories, the report underscored the 
lack of mobile courts and the need for increased or ``hardship'' pay to 
induce qualified judicial personnel to serve in conflict posts.
    None of the courts or offices surveyed by an international NGO in 
four provinces (Katanga, Maniema, Bandundu, and South Kivu) had 
received operational or capital improvement funding from the central 
government in at least 10 years, forcing courts to rely on extralegal 
fees to pay for basic supplies and remuneration of ``volunteer 
clerks,'' who were used by court offices to fill gaps when civil 
service employees retired and were not replaced. A significant source 
of case management delay was the inability of courts to cover the costs 
of serving documents and other costs of litigation, including, for 
example, costs of transport for witnesses and victims in initial stages 
of prosecution. While there was some limited donor support for capital 
improvement and more limited support for operational costs, it was not 
enough to have an appreciable effect on courts' ability to function as 
viable institutions.
    In their March 2009 report to the UNHRC, seven UN special 
rapporteurs and representatives highlighted the need for transitional 
justice and truth-seeking initiatives, and recommended establishing 
mixed courts comprising national and international judges and sitting 
in national courts. While no mixed courts were established during the 
year, on October 1 the UNOHCHR published a human rights mapping report, 
which was endorsed by the Government and catalogued the most serious 
violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed 
in the country between March 1993 and June 2003. The Government called 
the UNOHCHR Human Rights Mapping report ``credible'' and, while not 
supportive of the recommendation to re-establish the country's 
dilapidated National Truth and Reconciliation Commission, expressed 
support for the concept of establishing a mixed domestic chambers to 
address the most serious crimes highlighted by the UNOHCHR's mapping 
report. The Ministry of Justice sponsored a two-day workshop to draft 
legislation related to the mixed chambers on November 29 and 30.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for a presumption of 
innocence; however, in practice most detainees were treated as already 
having been convicted. Although the Government permitted, and in some 
cases provided, legal counsel, lawyers often did not have free access 
to defendants. The public could attend trials only at the discretion of 
the presiding judge. Juries are not used. During trials defendants have 
the right to be present and to be provided a defense attorney. However, 
in practice these rights were not always respected. Defendants have the 
right to appeal in most cases except those involving national security, 
armed robbery, and smuggling, which the Court of State Security 
generally adjudicated. Defendants have the right to confront and 
question witnesses against them and can present evidence and witnesses 
in their own defense. The law requires that defendants have access to 
government-held evidence, but this right was not always observed in 
practice. There were no reports of women or specific ethnic groups 
being systematically denied these rights.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were reports of political 
prisoners and detainees. In 2009 the UNJHRO estimated that there were 
at least 200 political prisoners in detention at the end of the year. 
The Government permitted access to some political prisoners by 
international human rights organizations and MONUC; however, 
authorities consistently denied access to detention facilities run by 
the GR and the ANR (see section 1.c.).

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Civil courts exist for 
lawsuits and other disputes, but the public widely viewed them as 
corrupt. The party willing to pay the higher bribe was generally 
believed to receive decisions in its favor. Most individuals could not 
afford the often prohibitive fees associated with filing a civil case. 
While the law stipulates access to free legal counsel for citizens in 
civil trials, in practice magistrates remained overburdened by large 
caseloads in areas outside of Kinshasa. It was difficult to retain the 
continued services of lawyers, who often spent minimal time outside of 
the capital. No civil court exists specifically to address human rights 
violations.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law prohibits arbitrary interference with privacy, 
family, home, or correspondence; however, state security forces 
routinely ignored these provisions. Soldiers, demobilized soldiers, 
deserters, and police continued to harass and rob civilians. State 
security forces routinely ignored legal requirements and entered and 
searched homes or vehicles without warrants. In general those 
responsible for such acts remained unidentified and unpunished. State 
security forces sometimes looted homes, businesses, and schools.
    Authorities took no action in the cases detailed in this subsection 
in 2009 or 2008.
    Authorities at times arrested or beat a relative or associate of a 
person they sought to arrest (see section 1.c.).
    Armed entities operating outside government control in the east 
routinely subjected civilians to arbitrary interference with privacy, 
family, home, and correspondence, and some corporations facilitated 
such abuses by supporting--through the illicit trade in mineral 
resources--armed entities, including FARDC units (see section 1.g.).

    g. Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts.--
Internal conflict continued in rural and mineral-rich parts of the 
east, particularly in North Kivu and South Kivu, Bas Uele and Haut Uele 
Districts of Orientale, and to a lesser degree, the Ituri District of 
Orientale. According to a countrywide International Rescue Committee 
mortality survey released in 2008, conflict and related humanitarian 
crises, including the destruction and deterioration of essential 
infrastructure such as health centers, resulted in the deaths of an 
estimated 5.4 million Congolese between 1998 and 2007, or the 
equivalent of 45,000 per month throughout the survey period.
    Despite the integration of former CNDP rebels into the FARDC in 
2009, the FDLR, LRA, and some Mai-Mai groups increasingly formed 
coalitions during the year and continued to battle government forces 
and attack civilian populations. Military preparations during the year, 
and the fighting itself, led to further depredations against civilians 
by members of state security forces and armed entities. This 
continuation of fighting in the east, which impeded humanitarian aid in 
some areas kept the figure of internally displaced persons at 
approximately 1.7 million by the end of the year, exacerbating an 
already severe humanitarian crisis.
    The UN peacekeeping mission, MONUC, continued to maintain several 
thousand soldiers and civilian personnel in the country to assist the 
Government in establishing and maintaining peace and security, 
particularly in the east. In May the UN Security Council extended 
MONUC's mandate for 12 months, changing the name from MONUC to MONUSCO 
(UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Congo), with an emphasis 
on the eastern part of the DRC and retaining protection of civilians as 
the Mission's top priority, and authorizing a drawdown of 2,000 
peacekeeping soldiers troops by June 30 from areas where the security 
situation permits. At the end of the year, approximately 19,000 MONUSCO 
peacekeepers, military observers, and police continued efforts to 
effectively implement the mission's mandate, most notably with regard 
to its top priority of protecting civilians.
    Despite the presence of MONUSCO, armed entities, including ex-CNDP 
FARDC units in the east, continued to kill, abduct, torture, and rape 
civilians and burn and destroy villages.
    All parties continued to use mass rape and sexual violence with 
impunity, often as weapons of conflict, and to humiliate and punish 
individuals, victims, families, and communities. The UN Population Fund 
(UNFPA) reported 12,838 cases of sexual violence for both adults and 
children in North and South Kivu and Province Orientale in 2009. 
According to HRW, between January 2009 and September 2009, the total 
number of sexual violence cases registered at health centers in North 
and South Kivu exceeded 7,500, a near doubling of the total for the 
same period in 2008. In 2009 the International Rescue Committee, which 
registered approximately 1,200 cases of rape in South Kivu, found that 
up to 80 percent of survivors identified their assailants as members of 
either the FARDC or RMGs. While the actual number of cases was likely 
much higher, lack of data, social stigma, lack of confidence in the 
judiciary, and fear of reprisals prevented many rape survivors from 
coming forward.
    According to MONUSCO, between July 30 and August 2, 303 women, 
children, and men were raped in 13 villages in Walikale, North Kivu by 
a coalition of the FDLR, Mai Mai Cheka, and combatants lead by Colonel 
Emmanuel Nsengiyumva, a former member of the CNDP and the FARDC. The 
perpetrators also looted more than 1,000 homes and abducted 116 
civilians, whom they subjected to forced labor. The UN reported that 
from late July to early August, rebel groups raped an additional 260 
individuals in several isolated incidents in South Kivu. According to 
the UN, one of the villages attacked, Luvungi, where more than 100 
persons were raped, was a lucrative target for looting because it was a 
mining hub located only four miles from gold mines. A UN investigation 
in August found that the perpetrators ``sought to block off the 
transport of minerals to Goma and Bukavu, as well as force the return 
of FARDC troops from the mining areas.''
    In addition, the UNGOE's November report underscored another link 
between the rapes and exploitation of minerals. In the weeks prior to 
the rapes, criminal elements of the FARDC, including the 212th FARDC 
Brigade, were competing for control of lucrative deployments near 
mines, including Bisie mine. The competition for minerals within the 
FARDC and a false belief that the FDLR posed no threat in the area led 
the commander of the 212th Brigade, ex-CNDP FARDC Lieutenant Colonel 
Yusef Mboneza, to disobey orders to move to the area where the armed 
entities were located and where the rapes later took place. The 
insubordination and competing parallel chains of command occurred at 
the expense of civilian protection and underscored the need for more 
effective integration of the ex-CNDP FARDC elements and other former 
RMGs into the FARDC.
    According to the UNGOE, on August 12, authorities arrested Colonel 
Mboneza for insubordination related to his failure to follow orders to 
combat Mai-Mai Sheka, an armed entity active in Walikale Territory, 
North Kivu, and the FDLR. According to the UNGOE's report of November, 
FARDC General Ntaganda, a former CNDP rebel, subsequently sent more 
than 100 soldiers to kidnap Mboneza's rival commanding officer, and 
then overran the Military Prosecutor's Office and forced the release of 
Colonel Mboneza. By year's end, authorities had not taken any 
disciplinary action against Colonel Mboneza.
    Between September 1 and 18, MONUSCO conducted Operation Shop Window 
to improve the protection of local populations in Walikale and support 
government efforts to capture the perpetrators of the attacks from late 
July to early August. The operation resulted in the surrender of 27 
Mai-Mai elements and the arrest of three Mai-Mai elements and one FDLR 
element. On October 5, following a joint MONUSCO-FARDC operation, 
authorities incarcerated ``Lieutenant Colonel'' Mayele, the ``chief of 
staff'' of the Mai-Mai Cheka group, who was alleged to have coordinated 
the attacks in Walikale Territory from July 30 to August 2, along with 
FDLR elements led by ``Colonel'' Serafim.
    In October, while discussing the rapes committed in July and August 
in Walikale Territory, UN Special Represenative on Sexual Violence 
Margot Wallstrom told the UN Security Council that the rapes 
``demonstrate a nexus between the illicit exploitation of natural 
resources by armed elements and patterns of sexual violence.'' She 
underscored the competition over mining interests in the east ``as one 
of the root causes of conflict and sexual violence.''
    Rapes committed against a single woman by large numbers of armed 
men sometimes resulted in vaginal fistulas, a rupture of vaginal tissue 
that left survivors unable to control bodily functions and likely to be 
ostracized.
    During the year the incidents of men being raped continued as a 
result of the violence between nongovernmental armed entities and the 
FARDC. The number of male rape cases may have numbered in the hundreds 
during the year, but statistics for male rape were even more difficult 
to compile than those for female rape, as social stigma prevented many 
male survivors from coming forward. According to the American Bar 
Association, which ran a legal aid clinic in North Kivu for survivors 
of sexual violence, 10 percent of its cases during June 2009 were men. 
NGOs and medical workers reported that the humiliation was often so 
severe that male rape survivors came forward only if they had urgent 
health problems, and according to HRW, two men whose penises were 
cinched with rope died a few days later because they were too 
embarrassed to seek help.
    The recruitment and use of children by all armed entities active in 
North and South Kivu and Orientale, including the FARDC (particularly 
ex-CNDP elements), continued. HRW reported that of approximately 1,000 
documented males recruited between September and December in the east, 
at least 261 were under the age of 18. In July the UN secretary-general 
reported that joint military operations against the FDLR and the LRA 
had put children at high risk and made them more vulnerable to 
recruitment and use as soldiers, sexual slaves, porters or other 
domestic workers. According to the UNGOE report released in November, 
during 2009 a significant number of children who had previously been 
recruited into RMGs were brought into the new FARDC structures during 
the integration process.
    According to a UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimate in late March 
2009, 8,000 children had yet to be demobilized from the ranks of RMGs 
and several units of government security forces in the east, where they 
served as combatants, porters, spies, and sex slaves. The estimate 
represented an increase of 4,500 children, compared with the UNICEF 
estimate for 2008; however, it was very difficult to verify actual 
numbers, as estimates were provided based on the numbers of children 
who had been demobilized, not counted within the ranks.
    From January to September, MONUC/MONUSCO facilitated the release of 
1,559 children from the FARDC and RMGs. Between October 2008 and 
December 2009, the Resolution 1612 Joint Action Committee reported that 
3,180 children, overwhelmingly male, were released from RMGs and the 
FARDC.
    The Resolution 1612 Country Task Force is pursuing advocacy with 
the Government to commit to, negotiate, and implement an action plan to 
end the recruitment and use of children by the FARDC, as requested by 
UN Security Council resolutions 1539, 1612, and 1882. The action plan 
would facilitate, among other things, the commitment of the Government 
and the FARDC to release all children remaining within the FARDC's 
ranks and put an end to the recruitment and use of children, mainly 
through military orders and measures to clearly prohibit the practice, 
as well as through systematic investigation of perpetrators of child 
rights violations.
    Fighting between the FARDC and nongovernmental armed entities 
continued to displace populations and limit humanitarian access to 
conflict areas. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of 
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), between January and June there were 105 
attacks on humanitarian agencies working in the country, which 
represented a significant increase, compared with the 84 attacks 
between January and October of 2009, and the 36 attacks during the 
first 10 months of 2008.
    In North and South Kivu, the illegal exploitation and trade of 
natural resources by armed actors, including criminal elements of the 
FARDC, continued to prolong the conflict, facilitate the purchase of 
small arms to commit abuses, and reduce government revenues needed for 
increasing security and rebuilding the country. Generating direct and 
indirect financing for armed actors and conflict, the exploitation of 
natural resources continued to include minerals such as cassiterite (a 
tin oxide), the rare mineral tantalum, and wolframite, all of which are 
key components in electronic products, as well as gold, timber, 
charcoal, fishing, and land.
    The illegal trade in minerals continued to be both a symptom and a 
cause of the conflict in the Kivu provinces. While FARDC military 
operations during the year and in 2009 drove many RMGs, such as the 
FDLR, out of the principal mining areas in the Kivus, the RMGs 
continued to control hundreds of more remote mining deposits, 
increasingly pillaged mineral traders and transporters, and employed 
intermediaries to purchase minerals in mines they could no longer 
access. Ex-CNDP FARDC elements remained loyal to and in some cases 
shared mining profits with General Ntaganda--who remained the subject 
of an outstanding ICC arrest warrant--as they continued to gain control 
over large areas rich in natural resources in North and South Kivu 
provinces, including Walikale Territory, the part of North Kivu that is 
richest in cassiterite.
    The law specifically prohibits the involvement of the FARDC in 
mining and the mineral trade; the law also prohibits nonstate armed 
actors from engaging in mining. However, the Government did not 
effectively enforce the law. According to the UNGOE, ``in the Kivu 
provinces, it appears, almost every mining deposit is controlled by an 
armed group. The armed groups include regular FARDC units.''
    Criminal involvement by some FARDC units--as well as by RMGs--
ranged from protection rackets (including protection fees paid by 
mining pit managers to avoid pillage or to facilitate smuggling) to 
indirect commercial control (including the use of illegal tax revenues 
to buy and sell minerals near mining sites), and direct coercive 
control (including pillage). In addition, FARDC units and RMGs 
routinely forced civilians to work for them or relinquish their mineral 
production and extorted illegal ``taxes.''
    Some observers expressed concern over the Government's decision in 
September to suspend indefinitely all mining activities in three 
eastern provinces. There were reports that, following the suspension, 
the military's control of the mines intensified and that some FARDC 
elements increased their use of forced labor in the mines since mine 
activity had dropped following the suspension.
    In a December report, Global Witness drew on data it had collected 
earlier in the year to estimate that military units and officials were 
receiving between $1.1 and $2.2 million a month from the Bisie mine in 
North Kivu, or $14.4 million and $28.8 million a year. Global Witness 
also estimated that illegal taxes on diggers outside the mineshafts in 
Bisie earned the FARDC officials and soldiers between $45,600 and 
$90,000 per month, and that they earned between $3,300 and $16,800 a 
month in illegal taxes on porters traveling to Bisie.
    On November 29, UN Security Council Resolution 1952 endorsed the 
UNGOE's recommendations for supply chain due diligence developed for 
importers, processing industries, and consumers of Congolese mineral 
products to ensure that companies do not exacerbate the conflict by 
``providing direct or indirect support to illegal armed groups. those 
found to violate the asset freeze and travel ban on sanctioned 
individuals and entities.or criminal networks and perpetrators of 
serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights 
abuses, including those within the national armed forces.''
    The UNGOE's reporting in 2010 presented information indicating that 
Etablissement Namukaya, a gold exporting company based in the Kivu 
provinces, purchased gold from traders who were linked to armed 
entities in eastern DRC, bought gold from a mine that provided visiting 
FARDC officers gold, and worked with members of the FDLR in an attempt 
to sell material that they claimed was uranium. The report also 
presented information indicating that Geminaco, a mining company with 
offices in Goma, North Kivu, gained control of the gold mine at Omate 
in Walikale with the support of FARDC General Amisi Kumba (the 
commander of FARDC land forces), General Mayala, and Colonel Mboneza. 
According to UNGOE reporting, Geminaco sought agreements with elements 
of the FARDC and the Mai-Mai Sheka to ensure that Geminaco could 
continue its operations at Omate.
    The November 2009 UNGOE report presented information indicating 
that the following Kivus-based exporters regularly purchased minerals 
from FDLR-controlled mines in eastern DRC: MDM, Etablissement Muyeye, 
Panju; Huaying Trading Company (HTC), and Clepad.
    The November 2009 UNGOE report also presented information 
indicating that World Mining Company (WMC), based in the Kivu 
provinces, received shipments of cassiterite from a mining zone where 
production was controlled by DRC Armed Forces soldiers under the 
command of Lieutenant Colonel Zimurinda. The same report also indicated 
that the DRC-based company Hill Side's cassiterite supply chains 
originated from conflict-affected areas of North Kivu, including near 
the Bisie mine of Walikale Territory. Dissident elements of the DRC's 
state security forces controlled significant mining interests in this 
area. According to information presented by the UNGOE in 2009 and 2010, 
the dissident state security elements that controlled the Bisie mine 
and other mines in Walikale unlawfully used and recruited child 
soldiers, deliberately and regularly prevented UN peacekeepers from 
repatriating foreign combatants, regularly engaged in the extortion of 
miners and other local residents and were loyal to and engaged in 
mining activities, some of which were financed by General Bosco 
Ntaganda.
    In addition, the same report presented information indicating that 
the supply chains of the following corporations, all based outside of 
the DRC, included one or more of the nine DRC-based companies mentioned 
above, and originated from areas in which mines were controlled by 
armed entities, such as the FDLR, which perpetrated serious human 
rights abuses in the eastern DRC during the year: Malaysian Smelting 
Corporation (based in Malaysia), African Ventures Ltd. (based in Hong 
Kong); Refractory Metals and Mining Company Ltd. (based in Hong Kong); 
Thailand Smelting and Refining Company (based in Thailand); Amalgamated 
Metals Corporation (based in the United Kingdom) Afrimex (based in the 
United Kingdom); Minerals Supply Africa (based in Rwanda); Cronimet 
Central Africa AG (based in Switzerland); Cronimet Mining GmbH (based 
in Germany); Trademet (based in Belgium); and Traxys (based in 
Belgium).
    In addition, according to the UNGOE interim report of May 2010, 
``in the Kivu provinces, it appears, almost every mining deposit is 
controlled by an armed group.'' In December 2010, an international NGO, 
Global Witness, published a report examining measures it deemed 
necessary to ``end the conflict minerals trade'' in eastern DRC. 
According to the report, the export records of the DRC government's 
Division of Mines showed that two Chinese companies and one Hong Kong 
company purchased 100 percent of the 41.4 tons of columbite-tantalite 
(or ``coltan''), a metallic ore which--when refined--yields tantalum, 
exported from conflict-affected North Kivu Province in May 2010. 
According to Global Witness, the three companies were Fogang Jiata 
Metals, which was the top importer of coltan from the Kivu provinces in 
2009 according to DRC government statistics, Star 2000 Services, and 
Hong Kong-based Unilink Trading Hong Kong. In addition, Global Witness 
identified Chinese state-owned company CNMC Ningxia Orient Nonferrous 
Metal Group as one of the top three tantalum smelting and producing 
companies in the world and reported that the company declined to 
identify for Global Witness the origin of the tantalum ore that it 
used.
    At times verification of reported abuses in the east was difficult 
due to geographical remoteness and hazardous security conditions; 
however, MONUSCO's presence allowed observers to gather more 
information than would have otherwise been possible.

    Abuses by State Security Forces.--State security forces arrested, 
illegally detained, raped, tortured, and summarily executed or 
otherwise killed civilians and looted villages during military actions 
against nongovernmental armed entities during the year, according to 
reports by UN agencies and NGOs. Impunity remained a severe problem, 
and several individuals in the state security forces continued to hold 
high positions despite credible evidence of their involvement in 
serious human rights abuses or despite failing to hold their 
subordinates accountable for committing serious abuses (see section 
1.d.).
    Taking advantage of parallel command structures, ex-CNDP FARDC 
units in the east controlled their own stockpile of weapons and 
resisted central government orders to deploy outside of the mineral-
rich east. In addition, some ex-CNDP elements collaborated with RMGs 
who were officially their enemies, according to the UNGOE.
    Of 3,723 ``incidents'' reported in the first six months of the year 
by UNHCR in North Kivu, 1,302 (35 percent) were caused by the FARDC, 
compared with 698 (19 percent) by the FDLR.
    During the Amani Leo Operation, and at the request of the FARDC, 
MONUSCO conducted human rights screening to remove human rights abusers 
from the operation, on a small number of battalions in North Kivu 
(approximately 1,500 soldiers), who were tasked with holding areas from 
which the FDLR and residual RMGs had been dislodged in the context of 
Operation Amani Leo. However, nonvetted battalions did not receive 
MONUSCO support. The majority of operations conducted in Amani Leo 
throughout the year were undertaken by the FARDC without support from 
MONUSCO. As FARDC soldiers spread throughout the Kivus for operations 
that did not receive MONUSCO support, reports of violations increased.
    For example, on February 2, members of the 3221st Battalion killed 
the head of an elementary school and his son in Mwenga, South Kivu, 
because of suspicions of collaboration with the FDLR. By year's end 
there were no reports of an investigation or judicial proceedings.
    According to the UNJHRO, on February 21, FARDC soldiers of the 
512th Brigade attacked a truck rented by an international NGO killing 
one civilian in Shabunda, South Kivu. By year's end there were no 
reports of an investigation or judicial proceedings.
    In April FARDC troops engaged in operations against Enyele 
insurgents who attacked Mbandaka, Equateur Province, and temporarily 
took control of the airport. Refugees and IDPs who fled violence that 
began in 2009 have been reluctant to return due to the presence of 
FARDC troops. According to the UNJHRO, during operations to restore 
order in Equateur FARDC soldiers detained at least 20 persons suspected 
of involvement in the Enyele insurgency at the 3rd Military Region and 
subsequently executed them. In addition, FARDC and/or PNC agents were 
involved in 12 cases of rape during the same time period. Four of these 
cases were being investigated by authorities. No other details were 
available at year's end.
    On September 17, the FARDC launched operations in the Walikale area 
of North Kivu, without MONUSCO support, to clear the area of FDLR and 
other armed entities and to enforce the mining ban enacted by President 
Kabila. The UNJHRO reported that on September 21 and 22, the 221st 
Brigade engaged in looting, beating and raping of civilians near Kibua 
for their alleged collaboration with FDLR and APCLS forces.
    By the beginning of the year, UN and FARDC officials stated that 
the newly integrated FARDC units in Orientale, composed of 
approximately 6,000 soldiers, had become a major security threat during 
Rudi II military operations against the LRA in Haut and Bas Uele, 
Orientale. According to the UNGOE report of November, ``most troops 
have not been rotated in over a year and allegations of human right 
abuses continued to be reported.''
    Neither Congolese nor Rwandan authorities took any steps to 
investigate or prosecute any members of the FARDC or the Rwandan 
Defense Forces allegedly involved in the killing of 201 civilians and 
other abuses in North Kivu during the joint DRC-Rwanda military 
operations (Umoja Wetu) against the FDLR in January and February 2009.
    Congolese authorities took no steps to investigate the killing of 
more than 500 civilians and other abuses, such as the sexual 
enslavement of refugees, in North Kivu during FARDC-only operations 
against the FDLR during 2009, including the killing of at least 50 Hutu 
Rwandan refugees in April 2009 by predominantly ex-CNDP FARDC soldiers 
under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Innocent Zimurinda in Shalio, 
North Kivu.
    There were no known reports that authorities were taking steps to 
investigate or prosecute the commander or members of the FARDC's 213th 
Brigade implicated in the killing of at least 62 civilians between May 
and September 2009, during its participation in Kimia II, in the 
Lukweti area near Nyabiondo, North Kivu. Investigations by human rights 
organizations indicated as many as 270 may have been killed during this 
period. MONUC ceased all support for this brigade in late 2009.
    Authorities took no steps to investigate or prosecute those 
responsible for killing an employee of Secours Catholique-Caritas, an 
international human rights and humanitarian organization, in Musezero, 
North Kivu, in July 2009. According to the NGO, villagers reported 
seeing two men in FARDC uniforms stop the employee before shooting him.
    Congolese authorities also took no steps to investigate the killing 
of at least 19 civilians in December 2009 in Masisi Territory, North 
Kivu, during fighting between FARDC soldiers.
    Military authorities took no action against any of the following 
FARDC elements accused of killings: members of the FARDC 13th 
Integrated Brigade reportedly responsible for the disappearance of at 
least six civilians and the arbitrary execution of at least one 
civilian during 2008 in Kamatsi, Orientale; or members of the FARDC 2nd 
Integrated Brigade who allegedly killed eight civilians in 2008 in 
Musezero, North Kivu.
    No further information was available regarding the 2008 arrest of 
24 FARDC soldiers accused of allegedly committing serious abuses 
against the local populations, including the killing of nine civilians, 
the rape of three girls, and the pillaging of numerous homes, stores, 
and restaurants.
    The FARDC also continued to physically abuse and arbitrarily arrest 
civilians in the east.
    FARDC soldiers engaged in anti-FDLR operations often arbitrarily 
arrested civilians whom they suspected of being collaborators or 
sympathizers of the FDLR and detained them without charge for days or 
weeks, often beating them and demanding payment for their release. HRW 
documented more than 160 such cases between January and September 2009 
in the Kivus; however, there were no reports of authorities taking 
disciplinary action against those soldiers responsible for the 
arbitrary arrests.
    There were no reports of authorities investigating FARDC soldiers 
deployed to Kanyola, South Kivu, who allegedly forced civilians from 
Walungu village, South Kivu, to carry their belongings on the road from 
Nkokwe to Hombo. The soldiers beat the men each time they tried to 
rest, and two civilians died of exhaustion and mistreatment.
    Authorities took no action against FARDC elements accused of gang-
raping nine women and committing other abuses in 2008 after reportedly 
deserting their units in Orientale.
    Rape by members of state security forces remained a serious 
problem, and perpetrators enjoyed almost total impunity. According to a 
December 2009 report by HRW, in North Kivu, in 349 of the 639 sexual 
violence cases documented by HRW, the victim or other witnesses clearly 
identified the perpetrators as government soldiers.
    On or around June 6, four FARDC soldiers allegedly raped 10 girls 
at Mahagi market. Two of the girls were hospitalized and a doctor 
confirmed the rapes, according to MONUSCO.
    On June 16, a FARDC lieutenant in Kisangani attempted to kidnap and 
rape a four-year-old girl. Authorities arrested him on June 17 and held 
him in the 9th Region's headquarters until his eventual court martial 
and incarceration.
    Authorities took no action to bring to justice ex-CNDP FARDC 
soldiers who violently raped and beat a rape counselor in January 2009 
in South Kivu after accusing her of denouncing them and reporting on 
the rapes.
    No additional information was available regarding a FARDC soldier 
from the 17th Integrated Brigade who raped a 10-year-old boy in 
Walungu, South Kivu, in March 2009. The soldier's commander 
subsequently arrested him and transferred him to the military 
prosecutor's office in Bukavu, where he remained in detention pending 
the outcome of an investigation.
    Authorities took no action against FARDC soldiers in Nyamilima, 
North Kivu, who allegedly raped eight women and five minors in June 
2009 during a riot protesting a delay in the payment of their salary.
    There were no reports of authorities taking action against soldiers 
of the FARDC 7th and 15th integrated brigades, who raped at least 10 
women while retreating amid combat operations in the Rutshuru Territory 
villages of Kibirizi and Nyanzale in North Kivu between September and 
December 2009.
    There were no reports of authorities taking action against FARDC 
soldiers from the 131st Battalion of the 13th Integrated Brigade who 
raped seven women in the village of Lubero Territory, North Kivu, in 
2009.
    Authorities took no action against a FARDC soldier of the 14th 
Integrated Brigade, who in 2008 arrested and raped a woman suspected of 
collaborating with the FDLR.
    The use and treatment of child soldiers by FARDC elements--
particularly fast-track integrated brigades composed mainly of ex-CNDP 
members--remained a problem. In December the UNGOE reported to the UN 
Security Council that during 2009 the MONUC Child Protection Section 
documented 686 cases of child recruitment attributable to the FARDC, 
compared with 631 children released by the FARDC during the same time. 
The FARDC showed what the UN secretary-general called ``a dramatic 
increase'' in the number of children within its ranks in 2009. 
According to the UN secretary-general's report of July, following the 
fast-track integration of former rebels and militia members in 2009, 
which brought many child soldiers from RMGs into the ranks of the 
FARDC, ``the FARDC not only accounted for the highest number of 
children recruited during October 2008 through December 2009 but was 
also the only armed entity for which an increase in child recruitment 
was documented. By contrast, all the other groups showed a downward 
trend in child recruitment, with the transfer of their children to the 
FARDC.''
    In December the UNGOE underscored concerns that UN child protection 
officers had been denied access to physically screen nearly two thirds 
of the FARDC combatants in military operations supported by the UN to 
ensure children were not involved. The UNGOE reported that ``since the 
outset of the Amani Leo operations, only one FARDC battalion has been 
fully screened by the MONUSCO Child Protection Section.'' The UNGOE 
added that, while some FARDC commanders have cooperated in efforts to 
separate children from FARDC units, others have hidden children or 
continued to recruit children, including some of those who had 
previously been separated. In 2009 the UNGOE expressed concern that ex-
CNDP officers in FARDC units in the east ``repeatedly and deliberately 
obstructed MONUC from repatriating foreign fighters from their ranks.'' 
Sometimes the obstruction involved death threats. During the year and 
in 2009, the UNGOE reported that the acts of obstruction occurred often 
under the command of certain colonels and lieutenant colonels, 
including Colonel Gwigwi Busogi, Colonel Baudouin Ngaruye, Lieutenant 
Colonel Antoine Manzi, Lieutenant Colonel Bisamaza, Salumu Mulenda, and 
Colonel Innocent Zimurinda, who was sanctioned by the UN Security 
Council in December for recruitment and use of child soldiers and other 
grave abuses against children. Gwigwi, along with his commanders, 
systematically hid children from child protection officers and 
otherwise obstructed their efforts, according to witnesses. Between May 
and August, MONUSCO documented a further 15 cases of children who had 
been used as soldiers by senior officers under Gwigwi's command. Gwigwi 
commanded the 24th Sector of the FARDC in Kalehe, South Kivu, for most 
of the year but was redeployed as deputy commander of the 4th 
operational zone in Uvira.
    UNICEF expressed concern about frequent reports of the prolonged 
detention of children at detention centers following their separation 
from armed entities. The group noted that children were often subjected 
to interrogation and inhumane treatment.
    Government security forces in the east continued to force men, 
women, and children, including IDPs, to serve as porters, mine workers, 
and domestic laborers. For example, the UNJHRO reported that on May 21, 
a FARDC soldier in South Kivu allegedly shot a woman who refused to 
transport military goods.
    During the year mining operations at Bisie mine in North Kivu 
reportedly supported arms transfers by FARDC elements that benefited 
nongovernmental armed actors; there were also reports that the FARDC 
mining operations benefited an ICC-indicted FARDC general. According to 
the UNGOE's November report, ex-CNDP FARDC elements of the 212th 
Brigade, who were led by Lieutenant Colonel Yusef Mboneza and his 
deputy Colonel Hassani continued to maintain a presence at the Bisie 
mine and maintain their own illegal tax regime, which they used to 
extort one kilo of cassiterite from all diggers each time they exited a 
mining pit and $20 every time a digger worked at night. The UNGOE 
reported that Colonel Hassani continued to share his mineral profits 
from Bisie with General Ntaganda, who remained subject to an 
outstanding arrest warrant issued by the ICC. Furthermore, the UNGOE 
presented evidence indicating that Colonel Hassani's brother Faustin 
Ndahiriwe handled Colonel Hassani's mineral investments, and that 
Ndahiriwe had commandeered his own mining pit in Bisie. In 2009 the 
UNGOE had established that Ndahiriwe ``has directly supplied a number 
of businesses in Goma with cassiterite. particularly Hill Side,'' a 
mineral exporting business that the UNGOE reported was prefinanced by 
MSA. Previously, the UNGOE had reported in November 2009 that MSA 
``prefinanced'' Hill Side, a mineral exporting business ``that has 
purchased large quantities of minerals from Ndahiriwe.'' Finally, 
according to the UNGOE report of November, a Walikale military 
prosecutor issued an arrest warrant accusing Captain Zidane, who 
oversaw Colonel Mboneza's mining interests and investments at Bisie, of 
providing weapons to bandits to attack a mineral trader carrying over 
$10,000. However, on April 7 Lieutenant Colonel Mboneza destroyed the 
warrant and detained the officers carrying it.
    According to the UNGOE, during the year FARDC units were 
increasingly involved in land disputes and land grabs, which often 
resulted in violence. FARDC units composed of mainly ex-CNDP members 
forcibly displaced large numbers of civilians from land in the Mushake 
zone of Masisi Territory, North Kivu, in order to find grazing areas 
for cattle being brought in from Rwanda. The UNGOE reported that ex-
CNDP FARDC soldiers under Colonel Baudouin forced more than 180 
families from their land at Tchaninga. Throughout the year stories of 
unknown persons, either refugees from camps in Rwanda, economic 
migrants from Rwanda, or IDPs from other areas in the DRC, trickled 
back to reoccupy contested land in the Kivus, exacerbating ethnic and 
land-based tensions among local communities.
    Abuses by Armed Entities Outside Central Government Control
    Illegal armed entities committed numerous serious abuses, 
especially in rural areas of North and South Kivu and Orientale during 
the year. Such groups killed, raped, and tortured civilians, often as 
retribution for alleged collaboration with government forces.
    Armed entities maintained and recruited child soldiers, including 
by force, sometimes from schools and churches, and sometimes killed, 
threatened, and harassed humanitarian workers.
    Many armed entities abducted men, women, and children and compelled 
them to transport looted goods for long distances without pay. On 
occasion, armed entities also forced civilians to mine. Armed entities 
forced men, women and children to provide household labor or sexual 
services for periods ranging from several days to several months. Armed 
entities in conflict-affected areas in the east used children, 
including child soldiers, for forced labor in mines.
    Armed entities in parts of the east sometimes detained civilians, 
often for ransom. They continued to loot, extort, and illegally tax 
civilians in areas they occupied.
    There were no credible attempts by nonstate armed entities to 
investigate abuses allegedly committed by their fighters.

    National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP).--In January 
2009 Rwandan officials arrested General Laurent Nkunda, who remained in 
Rwandan custody at year's end, and CNDP chief of staff General Bosco 
Ntaganda became the leader of the CNDP. In January 2009 the Government 
and the CNDP announced an alliance, and Ntaganda agreed to rapidly 
integrate the CNDP into the FARDC. In addition the CNDP agreed to 
transform itself into a political movement. Integration of the CNDP 
into the FARDC was uneven, with large numbers of the CNDP continuing to 
operate within their old command and control structures. This ambiguous 
and incomplete integration contributed to impunity within the CNDP. 
After a public statement by the president noting their redeployment to 
other areas in the DRC, FARDC members who had belonged to the CNDP 
refused to leave North Kivu and began actively recruiting new members. 
In November, ex-CNDP FARDC members were actively recruiting children to 
serve in their ranks by visiting schools in North Kivu and demanding 
lists of recently demobilized children. They were also targeting young 
adult men to serve in their ranks.
    No action was taken against CNDP combatants for any of the 
following alleged human rights abuses, all of which were committed 
prior to the CNDP's integration into the FARDC in 2009: arbitrary 
execution in 2008 by CNDP elements of at least 30 civilians in the 
vicinity of Kalonge, North Kivu; abduction of 15 civilians from 
Kitchanga, North Kivu, and related abuses by 15 CNDP combatants in 
2008; the arbitrary arrest, illegal detention, and beating of four 
civilians in Karuba, North Kivu, by CNDP elements in 2008; the summary 
execution of three children by CNDP colonel Sultani Makenga during 
2008; the killing of an Italian aid worker in 2008 by an unidentified 
armed entity in CNDP-held territory in Rutshuru, North Kivu; or the 
2008 cases of aggressive and forcible recruitment of children by the 
CNDP for use as combatants, bodyguards, and porters.
    In September 2009 the UNJHRO released an investigation report on 
the deaths of civilians during and following the 2008 fighting in the 
North Kivu town of Kiwanja between CNDP and local Mai Mai combatants. 
The UNJHRO concluded that, after the intense fighting between Mai Mai 
combatants and the CNDP had ended and the Mai Mai had retreated from 
Kiwanja, CNDP elements conducted targeted reprisal killings of the 
villagers, mainly young men whom they suspected of belonging to or 
supporting the Mai Mai. The UNJHRO confirmed 67 arbitrary executions 
perpetrated by the CNDP. However, unconfirmed allegations received by 
UNJHRO human rights officers suggested that the number of victims could 
be much higher. (Other human rights groups reported in 2008 that as 
many as 200 civilians may have been killed during and after the 
fighting between CNDP and Mai Mai combatants.) In addition the UNJHRO 
received testimonies alleging that the CNDP burned homes and a police 
station, raped a woman, arbitrarily arrested and detained civilians, 
abducted 23 men and boys to forcibly recruit them as combatants, and 
dismantled camps for IDPs in and around Kiwanja after the CNDP took 
over local administration. The UNJHRO also received allegations of 
abuses by other armed entities in Kiwanja (see subsections below on 
abuses by the Mai-Mai and FDLR) and offered conclusions and 
recommendations regarding MONUC military personnel stationed in Kiwanja 
during the events (see section 5).
    The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR)
    The FDLR, which was led by individuals responsible for fomenting 
and implementing the Rwandan genocide, committed several killings 
during the year. between 3,500 and 8,000 FDLR fighters remained in the 
provinces of North and South Kivu. According to the UNJHRO, on February 
8, FDLR elements attacked Punia, Maniema Province, killing two FARDC 
soldiers. They also allegedly killed an unknown number of civilians, 
kidnapped 50 others, burned approximately 200 houses, and stole one ton 
of cassiterite. The abductees were forced to carry the looted items. 
During the night of February 3, civilians in Walikale, North Kivu, were 
forced to hide in the forest for fear of further attacks after the FDLR 
attacked, killing six inhabitants, injuring five others, and looting 
and burning many houses. During the night of February 11, in Mwenga 
Territory, South Kivu, FDLR combatants allegedly kidnapped 
approximately 15 women, five of whom they killed.
    Following the launch of operation Umoja Wetu in January 2009, FDLR 
forces began to attack dozens of villages and towns across North and 
South Kivu. According to HRW, between late January and September 2009, 
the FDLR deliberately killed at least 701 civilians in North and South 
Kivu; more than half of the victims were women and children. Between 
January and October 2009, the FDLR committed an average of 50 to 60 
killings per month, compared with fewer than 10 killings per month in 
2008, according to UNSRESAE Alston.
    While being pursued by the RDF and FARDC in January 2009, FDLR 
forces in Masisi Territory (North Kivu) blocked village roads and 
killed those who tried to flee. FDLR combatants also abducted scores of 
civilians as hostages, seemingly for use as ``human shields'' against 
the impending attack; however, when the hostages tried to escape as 
Umoja Wetu forces began attacking the FDLR's Kibua headquarters in 
January 2009, FDLR combatants shot and hacked to death many of them.
    In April 2009 the FDLR attacked the Mianga village in the 
Waloaluanda area. According to HRW, FDLR attackers decapitated the 
local chief and killed three other local authorities whom they accused 
of collaborating with the FARDC. Over the days that followed, the FDLR 
deliberately killed a further 41 civilians, injured many others, and 
then burned the village to the ground.
    In May 2009, machete-wielding FDLR combatants shot, hacked, and 
burned to death at least 96 civilians, including 25 children, in 
Busurungi, Waloaluanda (North Kivu), largely in retaliation for the 
killing of Rwandan Hutu refugees by FARDC soldiers at Shalio two weeks 
before. The FDLR attackers then destroyed Busurungi, burning to the 
ground 702 houses, three health centers, and several schools and 
churches, according to HRW.
    Between January and September 2009, the FDLR destroyed at least 
7,051 homes and other structures and perpetrated 290 cases of sexual 
violence in North and South Kivu in areas affected by military 
operations. According to HRW, in March 2009, in the Ziralo area of 
Kalehe Territory, seven FDLR combatants gang-raped a 60-year-old woman. 
When her daughter resisted being raped, the attackers shot and killed 
her.
    According to MONUSCO, from July 30 to August 2, 303 women, 
children, and men were raped in a systematic assault by the FDLR, in 
cooperation with other armed elements in Walikale territory, North 
Kivu.
    In 2009, scores of women were abducted and forced to serve as sex 
slaves in FDLR camps, where they were raped repeatedly for weeks or 
months at a time.
    According to the November report by the UNGOE, the FDLR seemed to 
have increased abductions and hostage-taking during the year and ransom 
demands were becoming more frequent.
    The FDLR took no credible action to investigate or address human 
rights abuses allegedly committed by its members, including FDLR 
members responsible for the following reported abuses: the 2008 killing 
of the village chief of Kilali, North Kivu; arbitrary execution of 
three civilians in Tchanishasha, South Kivu, in 2008; or the killing of 
three residents of Kabunga, North Kivu, in 2008.
    In its September 2009 report about abuses committed in Kiwanja, 
North Kivu, during and after clashes involving CNDP and Mai-Mai 
combatants in 2008, the UNJHRO highlighted testimonies it collected 
alleging that FDLR combatants executed seven individuals and raped four 
women in Kiwanja.
    Ituri District Militia Groups
    Despite the signing of a 2006 ceasefire agreement between militias 
in the Ituri District of Orientale, including the Front for National 
Integration (FNI), the Congolese Revolutionary Movement, the FRPI, and 
the Government, the FRPI refused to participate in the peace process 
and was implicated in abuses committed against civilians in Ituri 
District during the year.
    As the FARDC's Iron Stone operation in Ituri, Orientale, continued, 
Ugandan authorities arrested the leader of the FPJC, Sharif Manda on 
September 1.
    Abuses by militias in Ituri were more often acts of banditry, 
rather than politically or ethnically motivated violence.
    On August 9, the military tribunal in Bunia sentenced Kakado Banaba 
Yonga, spiritual leader for FRPI militia leader Colonel Cobra Matata, 
to life in prison for war crimes, including attacks against civilians, 
rape, and sexual slavery that he had committed.
    There were no credible reports of action taken by rebel leaders in 
Ituri District against those responsible for the following abuses: the 
2008 attack on villages in and around Lalo and Djurukidogo in Ituri 
District by FNI combatants, who burned children to death and kidnapped 
individuals; and attacks by FPRI members on local populations in Tchey 
and other villages of Orientale in 2008.
    No additional information was available regarding the case of Yves 
Kawa Panga Mandro, alias Chief Kawa, a former Ituri militia leader 
convicted in 2006 for crimes against humanity in 2003. In 2008, the 
Kisangani Court of Appeal, citing the 2005 amnesty law, acquitted Kawa. 
According to the UNJHRO, the appeals judge ruled that the prosecution 
had made a number of errors in the case. However, Kawa remained in 
detention in the CPRK prison in Kinshasa while the prosecutor appealed 
the decision of the appeals court to the High Military Court in 
Kinshasa.
    Mai-Mai
    Various Mai-Mai community-based militia groups in the provinces of 
South Kivu, North Kivu, and Katanga continued to commit abuses against 
civilians, including killings, abductions, and rapes. According to the 
UNGOE, the use of children as soldiers by Coalition of Patriots in the 
Congolese Resistance (PARECO) and other Mai-Mai groups in North Kivu 
Province was endemic.
    During the year various Mai-Mai groups continued to commit abuses 
against civilians, including the recruitment and use of children for 
use as soldiers. For example, according to MONUSCO, from July 30 to 
August 2, 303 women, children, and men were raped in a systematic 
assault by FDLR, Mai Mai Cheka, and ex-CNDP ex-FARDC Colonel Emmanuel 
in 13 villages around the Kibua area in Walikale territory, North Kivu 
(see above in section 1.g.). According to the UNGOE report of November, 
Mai Mai Cheka ``is a creation of a criminal network within the FARDC,'' 
and in August a FARDC officer was arrested for his failure to combat 
the militia (see section 1.d.).
    On October 5, Mai Mai Cheka deputy commander Lieutenant Colonel 
Mayele, one of the suspected perpetrator of the rapes, was surrendered 
by his commander and taken into custody by MONUSCO.
    Fighting between some Mai-Mai groups and the FARDC continued during 
the year, displacing persons and causing insecurity.
    Authorities took no action against PARECO combatants, who allegedly 
raped a woman, stabbed a 17-year-old girl, and arbitrarily executed six 
other civilians during an attack on Luwuzi, North Kivu, in 2008.
    In its September 2009 report about abuses committed in Kiwanja, 
North Kivu, during and after clashes involving CNDP and Mai-Mai 
combatants in 2008, the UNJHRO highlighted evidence of two civilian 
deaths and 50 persons injured during the combat. In addition, the 
report included testimonies alleging that, outside the context of 
combat, Mai-Mai combatants killed at least one civilian and abducted 
several persons in Kiwanja. The UNJHRO also concluded that the CNDP 
committed targeted executions of civilians (see preceding subsection on 
CNDP abuses).
    There were no further developments in the trial of Katanga Mai-Mai 
leader Gideon for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
    Allied Democratic Forces/National Army for the Liberation of Uganda 
(ADF/NALU)
    In June the FARDC launched Operation Ruwenzori against the ADF, an 
Islamist Ugandan-led group that has been operating in the eastern part 
of the country since the late 1990s.
    MONUSCO officials reported that members of ADF/NALU engaged in 
petty theft and extortion.

    Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).--The LRA moved away from the DRC's 
Garamba National Park (Orientale Province) to eastern Central African 
Republic (CAR); however, several elements remained in northeastern DRC. 
The LRA was responsible for killing, raping, and kidnapping hundreds of 
persons in the DRC, CAR, and Sudan as it continued to seek the 
overthrow of the Ugandan government. The LRA continued to hold children 
it had forcibly abducted.
    Between February 2009 and August 2010, the LRA abducted an 
estimated 650 persons, including children and women, and continued to 
cause displacement in Orientale.
    Rudia II, the FARDC-led operation against the LRA, continued in 
cooperation with the Ugandan People's Defense Forces and with 
logistical support from MONUSCO. LRA attacks continued throughout the 
year, resulting in executions, abductions, and sexual violence, 
although the level and intensity of the attacks decreased as the group 
fragmented into smaller units.
    Between February 1 and 13, LRA combatants killed 76 persons in 
fishing villages throughout Niangara Territory in Orientale, according 
to HRW. On February 26, LRA elements killed at least 80 persons in 
Kpanga, Niangara Territory.
    During a four-day period in December 2009, the LRA killed 321 
civilians and abducted at least 250, including at least 80 children, in 
the Makombo area of Haut Uele.
    There were no credible attempts by LRA leaders to prevent abuses or 
punish combatants for past abuses.
    The LRA continued to attack local villages and forced citizens to 
flee in Ango, Dungu, Niangara, and Faradje Territories, Orientale. The 
UNHCR estimated that there were more than 390,000 internally displaced 
persons in the territory as ofAugust 31.

    Abuses by Foreign Powers.--On October 1, the UNOHCHR issued the 
report of a mapping exercise documenting alleged atrocities committed 
in the country in the decade between March 1993 and June 2003. The 
report described more than 600 incidents that allegedly took place in 
the country over the 10-year period, raising serious allegations of 
brutal and horrific mass killings, rape and other abuses during the 
period in question believed to have been committed by armed forces and 
other non-state groups from Angola, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and 
Zimbabwe. The report also described allegations of human rights abuses 
by Congolese armed entities. The DRC government responded in writing to 
the UNOHCHR report and also began considering the creation of mixed 
chambers to prosecute these alleged crimes (see sections 1.e. and 5).

    Abuses by UN Peacekeepers.--A number of sexual exploitation and 
abuse (SEA) cases by MONUSCO peacekeepers were under investigation. 
MONUSCO reported that the number of the most serious SEA allegations 
decreased from 37 in 2009 to 33 during the year. MONUSCO repatriated 11 
contingent members during the year on disciplinary grounds, a 
significant drop from the 33 sent home in 2009.
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 restricted these 
rights in practice, and freedom of the press declined during the year. 
The Government intimidated journalists and publishers into practicing 
self-censorship. In September, 29 members of a worldwide coalition of 
press freedom groups expressed concern about the ``constant decline in 
the climate for journalists and steadily shrinking space for free 
expression'' in the country in advance of the 2011 presidential 
election. In an open letter, the 31 members of the International 
Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), including the Media Institute of 
Southern Africa and Congolese NGO Journalist in Danger, called on 
President Kabila to declare a moratorium on imprisoning journalists on 
charges of defamation or insulting the authorities. IFEX also called 
for the rapid creation of the proposed Higher Council for Broadcasting 
and Communication (CSAC) to ensure candidates would have equitable 
access to state-owned media in 2011.
    Following an assessment visit to the country in June 2009, Margaret 
Sekaggya, the UN special rapporteur on human rights defenders, said 
journalists and other human rights defenders ``face illegitimate 
restrictions of their right to freedoms of opinion and expression'' and 
underscored that the country's ``defenders, in particular journalists, 
who report on human rights abuses committed by state and nonstate 
actors, are killed, threatened, tortured, or arbitrarily arrested and 
their offices raided.''
    Generally individuals could privately criticize the Government, its 
officials, and private citizens without being subject to official 
reprisals. However, public criticism of government officials and 
government conduct or decisions regarding issues such as conflict and 
insurgencies, management of natural resources, or corruption sometimes 
resulted in harsh responses, often from the ANR, the intelligence 
service under the president's control. For example, on April 11, ANR 
officials arrested Antenne A-TV journalists Jean-Denis Bankonga and 
Jean-Louis Miasuekama at their office and held them in detention for 
three hours. Officials had wanted to arrest the station's information 
director for announcing that the Government had set up a commission to 
negotiate with the Enyele insurgents on April 8.
    Authorities took no action against the responsible ANR agents in 
Goma who, in 2008, arbitrarily arrested, detained, and mistreated for 
several days a member of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress/
Goma for discussing politics with local citizens.
    A large and active private press functioned throughout the country, 
and the Government licensed a large number of daily newspapers to 
publish. The Government required every newspaper to pay a license fee 
of 250,000 Congolese francs (approximately $280) and complete several 
administrative requirements before publishing. Many journalists lacked 
professional training, received little, if any, salary, and were 
vulnerable to manipulation by wealthy individuals, government 
officials, and politicians who provided cash or other benefits to 
encourage certain types of articles. Many newspapers remained critical 
of the Government, and many others showed bias toward it or supported 
particular political parties. The Government press agency published the 
Daily Bulletin that included news reports, decrees, and official 
statements.
    Radio remained the most important medium of public information due 
to limited literacy and the relatively high cost of newspapers and 
television. More than 350 privately owned radio and television stations 
operated independently, according to the transitional state media 
regulatory body. The state owned three radio stations and three 
television stations, Congolese National Radio-Television (RTNC) 1, RTNC 
2, and a channel that broadcast parliament sessions live. The UN 
operated Radio Okapi, which was the only nationwide radio network. The 
president's family also owned and operated television station Digital 
Congo. Political parties represented in the Government could generally 
gain access to RTNC.
    State security forces did not generally arrest or harass foreign 
journalists; however, in 2009 government authorities imposed an 
indefinite suspension on broadcasts by Radio France Internationale 
(RFI). RFI's broadcasting signal was restored across the country on 
October 12 and was allowed to open a local office and appointed an 
foreign journalist. Government authorities informed foreign journalists 
that the military code of justice (criminal penalties, including 
imprisonment) would be applied to any foreign journalists who committed 
press offenses, causing international journalists to express concern 
over their ability to report on sensitive subjects such as the conflict 
in the east and corruption.
    During the year security force members killed a journalist. In 
North Kivu, on April 5, armed men in military uniform killed Patient 
Chebeya, a journalist-cameraman for the RTNC, at the entrance of his 
home in the eastern city of Beni. According to Chebeya's wife, the 
gunmen told Chebeya they had come to kill him and seized videotapes, 
mobile phones, and money. On April 17, the Military Garrison Tribunal 
of Beni convicted a sub-lieutenant and an adjutant of the 1113th FARDC 
Battalion for his murder, sentencing them to the death penalty and 
financial payments of $75,000 and restitution of the stolen property.
    In 2008 unknown assailants in Bukavu shot and killed Didace 
Namujimbo, a journalist for Radio Okapi. On May 4, the Military 
Tribunal in Bukavu sentenced two soldiers and a civilian to death for 
the journalist's murder, and condemned seven others to prison terms 
ranging from seven months to five years.
    State security forces beat, arbitrarily arrested, harassed, and 
intimidated local journalists because of their reporting. For example, 
in April Jullson Eninga, publishing director of Le Journal, was 
arrested in Kinshasa for publishing an FDLR newsletter, but was 
acquitted of all charges on September 6.
    On July 27, PNC officers in Kinshasa arbitrarily arrested Pascale 
Mulunda, editor of Le Monitor, a weekly newspaper, for allegedly 
committing libel when reporting on June 23 the alleged corruption by an 
official within the Ministry of Mines. The arrest was made following a 
complaint filed by the official. In addition, the editor of Le 
Barometer, Jeff Saile, reportedly went into hiding after receiving 
anonymous telephone threats following his reporting on the alleged 
corruption. Mulunda was released three weeks after his arrest. By 
year's end, no additional information was available regarding Saile.
    On July 28, soldiers broke into Radio Moto-Oicha in Beni, North 
Kivu, and apprehended and beat a radio technician. There were no 
reports of authorities disciplining those responsible for the break-in 
and beating.
    On December 17, ANR agents arrested Robert Shemahamba, director of 
Radio-Television Communautaire Mitumba, which broadcast in Uvira, South 
Kivu. ANR agents arrested him after he refused to be questioned without 
a lawyer, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). ANR 
agents held him without charge for 11 days. The agents arrested 
Shemahamba following the broadcast of a December 12 program in which 
three opposition politicians criticized Ulvira municipal officials for 
alleged mismanagement. The country's communications minister told CPJ 
he had protested the arrest and called for the Ministry of Interior to 
resolve it. After protesting his confinement in a cell with no light, 
Shemahamba was eventually transferred on December 24 from Uvira to a 
detention center with slightly better conditions in Bukavu, where he 
was later released.
    Also in late December, ANR agents sought journalist Dominique 
Kalonzo, who had participated in the same December 12 program. Kalonzo, 
a correspondent in Uvira for the privately owned Radio Maendeleo, based 
in Bukavu, went into hiding for a week, according to CPJ. On December 
26, in Uvira, Kalonzo was reportedly injured in an altercation with ANR 
agents sent to arrest him; he was subsequently taken to a health centre 
in Uvira. According to domestic press freedom watchdog Journalist in 
Danger (JED), Kalonzo left the hospital in the company of two 
unidentified individuals who visited him. At year's end, his 
whereabouts were unknown, and no additional information was available.
    In its annual report on press freedom, JED documented seven cases 
of assault against journalists during the year, which represented a 
decrease in the number of attacks on journalists compared with 2009. 
However, the number of cases of incarcerations of journalists rose from 
three in 2009 to 17 during the year.
    There were no reports of authorities taking action in the following 
cases of press freedom abuse from 2009: the March arrest of journalist 
Coco Tanda (and representatives of local NGOs) in relation to a 
political protest; the March beating of Radio Okapi reporter Kathy 
Katayi by PNC officers in Kananga, Kasai Occidental; and the August 
assault of Radio Okapi reporter Paulin Munanga in Lubumbashi.
    Authorities took no action against Kinshasa police officers who in 
2008 arrested reporter Maurice Kayombo from Big Stakes magazine and 
detained him for 34 days for reporting ``damaging allegations'' against 
Christophe Kanionio, secretary-general of the Mining Ministry.
    No action was taken against the ANR agents who arrested and 
questioned five journalists from the privately owned television station 
Raga TV in Kinshasa in 2008.
    No action was taken against the ANR agents who in 2008 raided the 
privately owned television station Tele Kindu Maniema and arrested 
program host Mila Dipenge and a cameraman, both of whom were released 
the following day.
    Authorities took no action against Mai-Mai militiamen who in 2008 
kidnapped and robbed Belgian journalist Thomas Scheen, his interpreter 
Charles Ntiricya, and his driver Roger Bangue in Kiwanja, North Kivu, 
before eventually releasing them.
    In November 2009 the UNJHRO released a report on a 2008 appeals 
trial that upheld a death sentence for three civilians convicted of the 
2007 murder of Radio Okapi journalist Serge Maheshe in Bukavu, South 
Kivu. The report noted ``numerous breaches of the fundamental guarantee 
of the right to a fair trial.'' The report also highlighted the court's 
refusal to investigate other credible leads and motives for the 
killing, its refusal to order further investigation, and its refusal to 
order an autopsy or a ballistics test. The appeals trial acquitted two 
of Maheshe's friends who were found guilty at the original trial; in 
2007 the alleged gunmen recanted their accusations against Maheshe's 
friends, claiming the military court had bribed them to make the 
accusation.
    The National Media Regulatory Commission, a quasi-governmental 
organization mandated by the earlier transitional constitution, 
continued to operate in the absence of a successor body.
    President Kabila signed a law establishing the CSAC in December 
2009; however, the Supreme Court ruled the law unconstitutional because 
it offered blanket protection from criminal prosecution to CSAC board 
members. At year's end parliament was revising the law.
    During the year national and provincial governments continued to 
use criminal defamation and insult laws to intimidate and punish those 
critical of the Government.
    For example, during coverage of the controversy in March 2009 over 
National Assembly president Kamerhe, there was a temporary interruption 
of broadcasts by multiple channels as well as harassment of newspaper 
street vendors by police.
    In August 2009 Bruno Koko Chirambiza, a journalist with Radio Star 
in Bukavu, was killed by bandits while on his way home from a wedding. 
His friend, who was present during the attack and escaped unharmed, was 
arrested. The trial began in December 2009. No additional information 
was available.
    According to JED's annual report on press freedom, released in May, 
there was a 16 percent increase in press freedom abuses, such as 
murder, assault, arbitrary arrest and detention, threats, and illegal 
sanctions or censorship, during the year compared with 2009. JED 
underscored that following a series of killings of journalists since 
2005, journalists have become afraid to address sensitive topics, such 
as the war in the east and corruption. JED emphasized that economic and 
political pressure restricted press freedom and expressed concern about 
the continuing trend of politicians and government officials hiring 
journalists as advisors.
    During the year radio journalists, particularly those in Bukavu, 
South Kivu, continued to fear for their safety. Journalists often 
received anonymous death threats from callers, and many journalists 
continued to be concerned by the lack of serious investigation and 
judicial action by authorities against the perpetrators responsible for 
multiple journalist killings in the country since 2005.

    Internet Freedom.--The Government did not restrict access to the 
Internet or monitor e-mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and 
groups could engage in the peaceful expression of views via the 
Internet, including by e-mail. There were no known government attempts 
to collect, request, obtain, or disclose the personally identifiable 
information of a person in connection with that person's peaceful 
expression of political, religious, or ideological opinion or belief. 
Private entrepreneurs made Internet access available at moderate prices 
through Internet cafes in large cities throughout the country. 
According to the 2009 report of the International Telecommunication 
Union, 0.55 percent of the population used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution provides for freedom of peaceful assembly; 
however, the Government sometimes restricted this right.
    The Government required organizers of public events to register 
with local authorities in advance; to deny authorization, authorities 
must do so in writing within five days of being notified of the planned 
event. State security forces often acted against unregistered protests, 
marches, or meetings.
    On occasion, permission to hold demonstrations was denied; for 
example, in June, domestic NGOs that had intended to hold a 
demonstration related to the killing of leading activist Floribert 
Chebeya were not allowed to do so.
    State security forces occasionally arrested demonstrators. For 
example, on April 12, police arrested five members of the opposition 
party Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) who were 
protesting the anticipated constitutional revision. In addition, on 
April 24, police beat UDPS members who were gathered to celebrate the 
20th anniversary of the Government's decision to abolish the one-party 
system. Also, on September 26, in Kinshasa, police arrested 27 members 
and supporters of the UDPS, citing public disorder during an 
unauthorized political gathering. On September 30, all 27 were 
released.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
association; however, in practice the Government sometimes restricted 
this right. During the year several domestic NGOs were denied 
authorization to operate (see section 5).

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation; however, the Government sometimes restricted these 
rights.
    State security forces established barriers and checkpoints on 
roads, at ports, airports, and markets, ostensibly for security 
reasons, and routinely harassed and extorted money from civilians for 
supposed violations, sometimes detaining them until they or a relative 
paid. The Government forced travelers to pass through immigration 
procedures during domestic travel at airports, ports, and when entering 
and leaving towns and implemented a $36 fee for passengers traveling 
internally on MONUSCO flights.
    Local authorities continued to extort taxes and fees from boats 
traveling on many parts of the Congo River. There were also widespread 
reports of FARDC soldiers extorting fees from persons taking goods to 
market or traveling between towns.
    During the year there were reports of attempts by DGM officials to 
fine foreigners not carrying passports , although the law does not 
require foreigners to do so.
    Security services sometimes required travelers to present official 
travel orders from an employer or government official.
    The significant risk of rape by soldiers and nongovernmental armed 
entities, coupled with government inability to secure eastern 
territories, effectively restricted freedom of movement by women in 
many rural areas, particularly in the east (see section 1.g.).
    Passport issuance was irregular and often required payment of 
substantial bribes. The law requires a married woman to have her 
husband's permission to travel outside the country.
    The law prohibits forced exile, but the Government generally did 
not employ it.
    Beginning in June, PAREC, a government-sponsored NGO, began a 
series of voluntary deportations of demilitarized Rwandan FDLR 
combatants from North Kivu to Kisenge, Katanga Province, where the 
eventual 400 to 600 individuals were housed in an unused refugee camp. 
As a result of this relocation, the deportees were denied their freedom 
of movement to return to the east or indeed to leave the Kisenge camp 
at all. In July and August, several deportees fled to the nearby town 
of Kasaji, where PAREC and government authorities arrested them and 
deported them to Rwanda. By year's end the experiment in voluntary 
relocation proved a failure, and the Kisenge camp was closed with its 
internees transferred to UN-sponsored reintegration centers in North 
and South Kivu.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--As of November 30, there were 
1.7 million IDPs in the country, including 589,000 in North Kivu, 
676,000 in South Kivu, and 389,000 in Orientale (see section 1.g.). The 
remainder of the IDPs were in Equateur and Katanga provinces.
    The Government did not provide adequate protection or assistance to 
IDPs, who were forced to rely heavily on humanitarian organizations. 
The Government generally allowed domestic and international 
humanitarian organizations to provide assistance to IDPs; however, lack 
of security and roads impeded their efforts. While the majority of IDPs 
in North Kivu stayed with relatives and friends, tens of thousands 
stayed in 31 ``spontaneous'' sites and camps managed by international 
NGOs and coordinated by the UNHCR. As of August 31, an estimated 
120,000 IDPs lived in churches and schools. Displaced women and 
children were extremely vulnerable to abuses by armed entities, 
including rape and forced recruitment.
    Operation Ruwenzori, which the FARDC launched in June without 
support from MONUSCO, continued to address the threat of the ADF/NALU 
in North Kivu. In July fighting between the FARDC and ADF/NALU created 
instability in the Beni territory of North Kivu. Humanitarian 
organizations estimated that between 20,000 and 70,000 persons were 
displaced during several weeks. In addition, the unstable security 
situation made providing humanitarian relief difficult, and on July 26, 
IDPs marched to protest the lack of food.
    IDPs in North Kivu were victims of abuses by all factions engaged 
in fighting, including the FARDC, and by other civilians. Abuses in 
camps around Goma included killings and death threats, particularly by 
demobilized fighters, as well as abduction and rape. According to 
UNICEF, in 2009 one third of the more than 1,100 women and girls raped 
per month in the east were in North Kivu, the majority of them IDPs. 
Some IDPs were also reportedly subjected to forced labor (see section 
1.g.).

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a rudimentary system for providing protection to refugees. 
In practice it granted refugee and asylum status to individuals and 
provided protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to 
countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account 
of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social 
group, or political opinion.
    The Government provided temporary protection to an undetermined 
number of individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol.
    The Government cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian 
organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers with welfare and 
safety needs. The Government provided assistance in enabling the safe, 
voluntary return of refugees to their homes by allowing their entry 
into the country and facilitating their passage through the immigration 
system. However, government authorities did not provide adequate 
security to refugees.
    From January to November 2009, Angola forcibly expelled 85,000 
illegal Congolese immigrants to Bas-Congo, and the DRC retaliated by 
forcibly expelling 30,000 Angolans, including those with refugee 
status. However, during the year smaller expulsions along the entire 
border between the two countries continued. While most expulsions were 
conducted peacefully in 2009, abuses during expulsions by state 
security forces of both countries occurred during the year. According 
to the UNJHRO, between January 1 and February 23, 9,205 Congolese were 
allegedly expelled from Angola, including 1,943 women, of whom 304 were 
allegedly raped by Angolan security forces. Congolese security forces 
committed 23 documented and verified rapes of expelled Congolese women 
on Congolese soil. Authorities had arrested one lower-level FARDC 
officer for the rapes by year's end.
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 credible presidential, parliamentary, and provincial elections 
based on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Presidential and 
parliamentary elections in June 2006 and a presidential runoff in 
October 2006 were judged to be credible by the Carter Center and the EU 
Observer Mission. According to the UN secretary-general's December 2009 
report to the UN Security Council, the Senate nominated two members to 
participate in an ad hoc committee to develop recommendations on 
constitutional reforms, including a review of presidential term limits, 
the decentralization process, and the judiciary. As of year's end, 
there was no further action.
    During the year the voter registration process for planned 
elections resumed, starting in Bas Congo; however, the national voter 
registration process was slow and hampered by security problems and 
lack of resources.
    In July President Kabila promulgated the law on the National 
Independent Electoral Commission (CENI), adopted under the National 
Assembly. Under the law, the National Assembly was to nominate seven 
members of the commission, four from the ruling party coalition, AMP, 
and three from the opposition. The legislation needed to finalize 
nominations had not been adopted by year's end.
    In August the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) published a 
new electoral calendar. According to the calendar local elections that 
had been repeatedly postponed were scheduled to take place in 2012-13; 
the next presidential and legislative elections were scheduled for 
November 2011.
    As envisioned under the constitution, parliament passed the 
decentralization law in 2008, but other crucial pieces of legislation 
to support the decentralization process were pending, resulting in the 
constitutional deadline for decentralization passing without government 
action to institute it.
    Uncertainty remained over the decentralization process. The 
constitution provides for the establishment of 26 provinces to replace 
the 11-province structure. Administrative powers and financial 
resources are to be transferred to the new provinces to allow them to 
assume their new responsibilities. The constitution, which defines a 
timetable for these steps, specifies that the new territorial 
boundaries were to come into force 36 months after the Senate took 
office, in May. However, the boundaries had not come into force, and 
only four of the 13 decentralization laws, had been adopted and 
promulgated by year's end.
    In July President Kabila promulgated the law on the CENI, the 
permanent electoral body that replaced the CEI. Civil society expressed 
disappointment with the law because it does not provide for civil 
society participation in the CENI.
    Beginning in 2009 and continuing throughout the year, press reports 
indicated that the Government exerted pressure on MONUC and the UN 
Security Council to begin withdrawing the peacekeeping force from the 
country. According to the UN secretary-general's December 2009 report 
to the UN Security Council, President Kabila requested the UN to submit 
a proposal, including a calendar, for the progressive drawdown of 
MONUC, based on the evolution of the security situation. The calendar 
and the modalities of the drawdown were to be agreed by the Government 
and the UN. UN officials, foreign diplomats, and NGOs expressed 
numerous concerns over the prospect of a premature MONUC withdraw. Some 
of the concerns related to whether, during an ongoing and fragile peace 
process, peaceful and credible national elections could be held without 
the kind of logistical and security assistance that MONUC provided for 
the national elections of 2006, the country's first democratic 
elections in more than 40 years.
    The law on the status and rights of the political opposition 
recognizes opposition parties represented in parliament as well as 
those outside it and provides for their right to participate in 
political activities without fear of retribution. During the year 
political parties were able to operate most of the time without 
restriction or outside interference; however, there were notable 
exceptions. Opposition members were sometimes harassed (see section 
2.a.)
    In 2008 police killed numerous BDK supporters during violent 
clashes in Bas-Congo and systematically destroyed BDK meeting places 
(see section 1.a.). The 2008 HRW report, We Will Crush You: The 
Restriction of Political Space in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 
concluded that since the 2006 national elections, the Government has 
used violence and intimidation to eliminate its political opponents and 
restrict democratic activity. The report drew from hundreds of 
interviews with government officials, diplomats, political detainees, 
and members of civil society.
    Between 2005 and 2008 the proportion of seats held by women in 
parliament decreased from 12 percent to 8 percent. Women held 50 of 500 
seats in the National Assembly and 43 of 690 seats in the provincial 
assemblies. Four of the 108 senators were women. Among the 45 
government ministers and vice ministers, five were women.
    Many ethnic groups, including Pygmies, were not represented in the 
Senate, the National Assembly, or provincial assemblies. The lack of 
political participation of some ethnic groups may have been a result of 
continuing societal discrimination. The enslavement and discrimination 
of Pygmies continued in some areas of the country (see section 5).
    In March 2009 seven UN special rapporteurs and representatives 
reported to the UNHRC that Kinyarwandan-speaking Congolese living in 
the eastern part of the country or as refugees in neighboring countries 
continued to experience difficulty in acquiring Congolese nationality, 
despite a 2004 nationality law that nominally granted nationality to 
members of this group. This situation, which made it difficult for them 
to obtain electoral cards, along with majority-voting systems and the 
particular tailoring of voting districts, continued to contribute to a 
disproportionately low number of minority candidates elected to office. 
In their March 2009 report to the UNHRC, the seven UN special 
rapporteurs and representatives recommended that the Government launch 
a campaign in the east to provide national identification and electoral 
cards to anyone qualifying for nationality under the 2004 nationality 
law and that implementation be guided by a presumption that ``those who 
currently live [in the DRC], or have lived in the DRC prior to the 
armed conflict are considered nationals of the DRC.''
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption. 
However, the authorities did not implement the law, and corruption 
remained endemic throughout the Government and state security forces. 
The public perceived the Government to be widely corrupt at all levels. 
According to the World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators, official 
corruption was a severe problem.
    Corruption in the judicial and penal systems continued to be severe 
(see sections 1.c. and 4).
    In rural areas, where there were often no courts within a 300-mile 
radius, justice was administered on an ad hoc basis by any available 
authority, creating extraordinary opportunities for corruption and 
abuse of power. During the year some observers asserted that members of 
both the executive and legislative branches were content to keep the 
judiciary weak and ineffective because it protected their power and 
allowed them to engage in corruption and abuse of power without 
consequence.
    Weak financial controls and lack of a functioning judicial system 
encouraged officials to engage in corruption with impunity. Many civil 
servants, police, and soldiers had not been paid in years, received 
irregular salaries, or did not earn enough to support their families, 
all of which fostered corruption. Embezzlement of soldiers' salaries by 
FARDC commanders was common and appeared to contribute to extortion, 
looting, and other abuses by soldiers against citizens (see section 
1.d.).
    Reports indicated that the mining sector continued to lose millions 
of dollars as a result of official corruption at all levels, including 
illegal exploitation of minerals by the FARDC and nongovernmental armed 
entities in the east (see section 1.g.).
    In September 2009 the Senate estimated that more than $1.2 billion 
dollars of gold--approximately 40 tons--was exported fraudulently from 
the country every year and that, in the east, 80 percent of the 
minerals extracted were being traded illegally. The UNGOE established 
that ``the level of fraudulent mineral exports to neighboring states 
has escalated significantly since 2008 and particularly since the 
rapprochement between Kinshasa and Kigali [Rwanda] since January 
2009.''
    In its November 2009 report to the UN Security Council, the UNGOE 
documented ``fundamental irregularities'' in the international gold 
trade between the DRC, Uganda, Burundi, and the United Arab Emirates, 
and gathered evidence of ``inconsistent and incomplete customs 
declarations and procedures, as well as a lack of adequate control 
procedures by government customs and mining authorities.'' The UNGOE 
``received strong indications of high-level protection and in some 
cases complicity in the illicit gold trade by government officials.'' 
It made several recommendations concerning the Government, 
international corporations, and the UN Security Council (see section 
1.g.).
    During 2009, the Government continued its review of 61 mining 
contracts negotiated from 1997 to 2002. The review had been marred by 
numerous delays and a lack of transparency. In 2008 the Government 
reached new agreements with all but six of the companies under review, 
and in November 2009 it formally announced the completion of the 
process. The Government reached agreement on the one outstanding 
contract late in the year.
    There continued to be an Ethics and Anticorruption Commission, but 
it had little effect during the year and lacked resources, 
independence, and credibility. It last convened in 2007 without any 
significant results or findings.
    Government authorities and wealthy individuals at times used 
antidefamation laws that carry criminal punishments to discourage media 
investigation of government corruption (see section 2.a.).
    The law requires the president and ministers to disclose their 
assets to a government committee. President Kabila and all ministers 
and vice-ministers did so during the year.
    The law does not provide for public access to government-held 
information. In practice the Government did not grant access to 
government documents for citizens or noncitizens, including foreign 
media.
    In 2008 the country was accepted as a candidate in the Extractive 
Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), an international voluntary 
initiative designed to increase transparency in transactions between 
governments and companies in the extractive industries. Although the 
Government took some positive steps under EITI, including the 
establishment of a National EITI Committee, publication of the first 
report on EITI in the country, and the hiring of an independent auditor 
to carry out validation of the EITI process, the country did not meet 
its March 9 validation deadline. In December the EITI secretariat 
granted the country a six-month extension to complete validation.
    In his press statement in October 2009 UNSRESAE Alston highlighted 
one of the factors he found to be contributing to corruption and the 
lack of financial accountability in the country, as well as other, 
broader human rights problems. According to Alston, ``one of the most 
troubling overall issues in the DRC is the radical privatization of the 
state. The military is poorly paid and often not paid at all, but it is 
understood that soldiers will extract their own rewards from the 
community, through extortion and theft...Healthcare and education are 
outsourced to international agencies...The privatization phenomenon 
relieves most of the pressure for fiscal reform and accountability. The 
Government needs only to find resources for itself. Until the problem 
is confronted robustly, the ability of the state to provide security, 
ensure justice, and respect human rights will continue to erode 
dramatically. And the billions of dollars provided by the international 
community will have yielded no sustainable institutional framework.''
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A wide variety of domestic and international human rights 
organizations investigated and published findings on human rights 
cases. However, state security forces continued to harass, beat, 
intimidate, and arbitrarily arrest and detain local human rights 
advocates and NGO workers, and government intimidation of domestic 
human rights defenders worsened. In addition prison officials 
consistently denied access by NGOs and UN officials to detainees in 
certain types of facilities. The Government continued to allow 
international humanitarian agencies access to conflict zones, permit 
many UN human rights officers to investigate abuses, and invite UN 
special rapporteurs and representatives to visit the country during the 
year to assess the human rights situation and provide technical 
assistance. However, the Government took no significant steps to 
implement their recommendations. In addition there was an increase in 
instances in which authorities, particularly state security forces, 
obstructed the work of UN human rights monitors and special 
rapporteurs, and--in some instances--FARDC units in North Kivu made 
death threats against UN personnel.
    The main independent Kinshasa-based domestic human rights 
organizations included ASADHO, Voice of the Voiceless, Committee of 
Human Rights Observers, JED, and the Christian Network of Human Rights 
and Civic Education Organizations. Prominent independent organizations 
operating in areas outside Kinshasa included Heirs of Justice in 
Bukavu, Lotus Group in Kisangani, and Plus in Bunia, Ituri District.
    Officials from the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights met with 
domestic NGOs and sometimes responded to their inquiries. On March 29, 
the minister announced the creation of a liaison organization for 
consultation between the Government and human rights NGOs to monitor 
human rights and devise strategies to improve the situation. Scheduled 
to meet every two weeks, the first session was convened in September.
    There were reports that local officials required domestic NGOs 
seeking to register to pay bribes. During the year several domestic 
NGOs were denied authorization to operate, and NGOs needed 
authorization to hold demonstrations, despite constitutional provisions 
providing for freedom of peaceful assembly (see section 2.b.).
    Domestic human rights NGOs were particularly vulnerable to 
harassment, arbitrary arrest and detention, and other abuses by state 
security forces when reporting on--or supporting victims of--abuses by 
the FARDC, ANR, or other state security forces and when spotlighting 
the illegal exploitation of natural resources in the east.
    Between the evening of June 1 and the morning of June 2, one of the 
country's most prominent human rights activists, Floribert Chebeya 
Bahizire, was killed, after having been summoned on June 1 by Police 
Inspector General John Numbi, the head of the national police at police 
headquarters in Kinshasa. Chebeya's colleague Fidele Bazana Edadi, who 
reportedly drove Chebeya to the meeting with Numbi, went missing the 
same day and remained missing at year's end. Occurring just a few weeks 
before the country's 50th anniversary celebration, the killing, which 
some foreign diplomats deemed ``an assassination,'' prompted widespread 
public condemnation by the UN Secretary-General, the country's foreign 
assistance donors, and international and Congolese civil society, 
accompanied by calls for a joint commission of inquiry. The UN special 
rapporteur for extrajudicial killings judged that Chebeya was ``killed 
in circumstances that strongly suggest official responsibility.'' In 
early June a PNC member reportedly told the media that the death 
appeared to be a sex-induced heart attack linked to erectile 
dysfunction pills and used condoms found alongside Chebeya's body, 
inside his car. The Economist magazine judged that ``it could be a 
cover-up,'' particularly since Chebeya, long a critic of arbitrary 
arrests and political repression, had received death threats and feared 
for his life shortly before his death. By June 6, the Government had 
announced the suspension of Inspector General Numbi pending an 
investigation, although no charges were brought against him by year's 
end. In addition, authorities detained several policemen, including the 
deputy head of the intelligence services, Major Daniel Mukalay, at a 
Kinshasa prison in connection with the case. At least one policeman 
reportedly confessed to taking part in the killing; however, UN human 
rights monitors were not allowed access to the detainees, and the 
investigation was criticized for being flawed and a ``political 
response.''
    In June the Government accepted a Dutch government offer to conduct 
an autopsy of Chebeya's body. On July 8, a joint Dutch-Congolese 
forensic team reported that the autopsy was inconclusive and it could 
not determine the cause of death. The autopsy report mentioned that a 
pre-existing heart condition may have contributed to his demise. While 
the results did not show conclusive evidence of murder, there were 
minor signs of violence and superficial cuts and some bleeding around 
the wrists, forearms, and legs caused by an external source, and 
indications that he could have been handcuffed shortly prior to his 
death. Observers, including UN officials in the country and foreign 
diplomats, expressed concern over an investigation, run by the military 
prosecutor general, that appeared to lack independence and credibility. 
Aside from the Dutch autopsy assistance, the international community's 
offers to provide assistance to the investigation were declined.
    In August almost 80 local and international NGOs called on the 
minister of justice to establish an independent international 
commission of inquiry into the killing, although no such commission had 
been formed by the end of the year. The NGOs also reported that despite 
Numbi's suspension, he continued to attend some official meetings and 
conduct work from his residence. On October 2, Minister of Justice 
Luzolo Bambi announced that the trial would commence shortly, with an 
arraignment hearing open to the public on November 23 and several 
hearings throughout the month of December. Numbi was not among those on 
trial, and while the proceedings were considered to be transparent, 
local and international NGOs continued to call for an international 
commission of inquiry at year's end due in part to what they viewed as 
the justice system's inability to try the main suspect. The trial 
proceedings were ongoing at year's end.
    On June 8, in Kisengo, Katanga Province, a human rights defender 
was subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment by PNC agents 
after having denounced the mistreatment of persons that were detained 
at PNC facilities.
    Also on June 8, in Maniema Province, police arbitrarily arrested a 
human rights defender and subjected the defender to cruel, inhuman or 
degrading treatment after the defender had denounced the unlawful 
arrest of civilians.
    In July 2009 ANR agents in Katanga arbitrarily arrested and 
detained Golden Misabiko, president of the Katanga Province chapter of 
ASADHO, after ASADHO published a report implicating the provincial 
government in the illegal trade of uranium from the province's 
Shinkolobwe mine. Provincial authorities accused Misabiko of serious 
crimes, including defamation and threats against national security. 
Authorities detained Misabiko for two months in poor detention 
conditions despite appeals for release because of a preexisting heart 
condition. In September 2009 a criminal court in the Katangan capital 
of Lubumbashi found Misabiko guilty, based on limited evidence, of 
deliberately publishing false information and sentenced him to an 
eight-month suspended prison sentence followed by four months' 
confinement in the Kasapa central prison. Some observers expressed 
concerns about the fairness of the trial. Prior to the time of his 
sentencing, Misabiko fled and remained outside the country at year's 
end. An appeal was filed on his behalf but its status was not clear at 
year's end.
    During the night of June 29, unknown gunmen in military uniforms 
killed human rights activists Salvator Muhindo in Beni. Authorities had 
taken no action by year's end (see section 1.a.).
    In August FARDC soldiers kidnapped and badly beat a civil society 
leader after he sent a letter to the president asking for justice (see 
section 1.c.).
    No additional information was available regarding the trial of 
members of domestic NGO Friends of Nelson Mandela for the Defense of 
Human Rights, including its president, Robert Ilunga Numbi, on charges 
of rebellion, civil disobedience, and defamation. Authorities granted 
him provisional release in October 2009. Human rights organizations 
believed authorities arrested him because he criticized working 
conditions in a company owned by individuals with strong connections to 
the Government.
    Authorities took no known action against FARDC soldiers who in 2008 
arbitrarily arrested, beat, and temporarily detained the president of 
the local human rights association in Mambassa, Orientale.
    Authorities took no known action against the territorial 
administrator in Punia, Maniema, who, according to the UNJHRO, issued 
death threats in 2008 against human rights activists who had accused 
local authorities of complicity in the 2002 massacre by RCD combatants 
of 13 civilians.
    Authorities took no known action against ANR agents, who in 2008 
threatened a human rights activist in Tshimbulu, Kasai Occidental, when 
she sought information about a case of arbitrary arrest and detention.
    In March gangs of young men issued threats against an international 
human rights organization in North Kivu, causing the organization to 
suspend their activities in the region.
    In 2009 domestic human rights NGOs, including one that identified 
and liberated child soldiers from FARDC units and nonstate armed 
entities, received death threats from unidentified individuals. For 
example, in December 2009 seven members of local human rights NGOs and 
three members of the UNJHRO in Kalemie, Katanga, received anonymous 
telephoned death threats. MONUC offered to help investigate and urged 
the Government to take all necessary action to ensure the security of 
human rights NGOs and MONUC staff.
    The Government generally cooperated with international NGOs that 
published reports on human rights and humanitarian issues and permitted 
their investigators access to conflict areas; however, the Government 
did not take adequate steps to protect international human rights NGOs 
from violence or harassment in the east. In January FARDC soldiers 
attacked a UN vehicle; however, no additional information was 
available.
    On March 15, FARDC soldiers fired upon a missionary vehicle in 
Ituri District, Orientale injuring one person. No further details were 
known.
    On April 9, Mai Mai Yakatumba members kidnapped eight members of an 
international human rights NGO before releasing them a week later.
    In several reports submitted in September 2009 to the UPRWG, 
international human rights NGOs underscored concerns for the treatment 
of human rights NGOs in the country. The International Foundation for 
the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (Front Line) criticized the 
Government for rarely conducting serious investigations of attacks 
against human rights defenders. Front Line also noted that a national 
plan for the protection and security of human rights defenders did not 
exist. Front Line and Amnesty International recommended that the 
Government protect the right of human rights defenders and lawyers to 
conduct their work without hindrance, intimidation, or harassment; 
ensure that abuses of activists or journalists were fully and promptly 
investigated; and prosecute those found responsible.
    The Government cooperated with multilateral organizations in many 
instances. However, there were some notable problems. While authorities 
continued to permit international humanitarian agencies access to 
conflict areas, authorities denied the agencies access to certain 
prisons located in these areas (see section 1.g.). They also continued 
to consistently deny UNJHRO officers access to detainees in facilities 
run by the ANR and the GR in numerous areas.
    In addition, there was an increase in cases of members of state 
security forces obstructing human rights work by MONUSCO and the UN 
human rights country team. During the year FARDC units in the east, 
comprised mainly of ex-CNDP members, consistently denied UNICEF child 
protection officers access to children in their ranks and sometimes 
threatened them (see section 1.g.).
    Several senior UN officials visited the country during the year, 
including a technical assessment team sent by UN secretary-general Ban 
Ki-moon and led by Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Alain Le 
Roy during part of its trip, the special representative of the UN 
secretary-General on sexual violence in armed conflict, Margot 
Wallstrom, and others.
    Released in October, the UNOHCHR's human rights mapping report 
identified options for addressing impunity in the country, including 
judicial mechanisms, truth-seeking, institutional reform and vetting, 
and reparations for victims. Deeming the report ``detailed and 
credible,'' the Government was mostly in favor of the report and 
initiated draft legislation in November on the creation of mixed 
chambers to prosecute these crimes.
    UN officials freely criticized actions by the Government during the 
year. In its March 2009 report to the UNHRC, a group of seven UN 
special rapporteurs and representatives made recommendations to the 
Government regarding impunity, security sector reform, child soldiers, 
women's rights, illegal exploitation of natural resources, the rights 
of displaced persons in relation to land disputes and elections, health 
care for marginalized groups, and the protection of human rights 
defenders.
    In June 2009, following an assessment visit at the invitation of 
the Government, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human 
rights defenders, Margaret Sekaggya, issued a press statement 
underlining that government authorities continued to subject human 
rights activists to intimidation and harassment, mistreatment, 
arbitrary arrest and detention, and ``illegitimate restrictions of 
their right to core freedoms,'' including freedoms of movement, speech, 
and association. Sekaggya noted that government authorities and 
nonstate actors stigmatized human rights defenders as ``enemies'' or 
``opponents.'' She stated that defenders were particularly endangered 
when supporting victims of serious abuses, most notably sexual 
violence; fighting impunity, particularly by supporting the work of the 
ICC; and denouncing the illegal exploitation of natural resources. 
Sekaggya expressed specific concern over ``the plight of women human 
rights defenders whose activities are often hindered by authorities and 
who may face discrimination from their male colleagues.''
    Sekaggya urged the Government to investigate and prosecute all 
abuses against human rights defenders and adopt national and provincial 
laws, in consultation with human rights NGOs, to protect human rights 
defenders. She added that the Government should openly ``give 
legitimacy to the work of human rights defenders, including women 
defenders, and acknowledge it as human rights work.'' Other 
recommendations for the Government included sensitization training for 
police and public condemnations of all attacks on rights workers. 
Sekaggya also recommended that MONUC increase the staffing and 
financial capacity of its human rights offices, and said the 
international community should help the Human Rights Ministry's 
programs and assist it in reestablishing offices in the provinces.
    On September 24, the UNJHRO released a preliminary report on the 
303 Walikale rapes that took place between July 30 and August 2 (see 
section 1.g.). The UNJHRO found that, although MONUSCO maintained a 
company operating base in the Kibua region during the incident, there 
was no Congolese interpreter, and in spite of receiving reports of some 
attacks, peacekeepers on patrols were unable to confirm the reports. 
According to the report, 80 new troops had arrived on July 27 and 28 
and had not yet received any training on civilian protection. The 
UNJHRO recommended that the Government deploy its forces against the 
rebel groups in these insecure zones, and that MONUSCO implement a 
permanent training on the mandate of civilian protection and clarify 
the tasks of the company and temporary operating bases providing the 
necessary resources.
    A November report by the UNGOE presented information on abuses 
committed by government security forces and RMGs in the east. The UNGOE 
highlighted that ``the involvement of criminal networks within the 
FARDC in the illegal exploitation of natural resources has created a 
conflict of interest with the army's constitutional security mandate. 
This involvement has led to pervasive insubordination, competing chains 
of command, failure to actively pursue armed groups, amounting in 
certain cases to collusion, and neglect of civilian protection.''
    The Government had not responded to several requests for 
information from various UN human rights monitoring bodies in the past. 
In addition, during the year the Government replied to a small 
percentage of communications, including urgent appeals, from UN special 
procedures (rapporteurs and representatives), according to the UNOHCHR. 
However, several members of the UPRWG commended the Government for its 
cooperation with the UNHRC in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) 
process, including its submission of a report in September 2009 to the 
UNHRC following consultations with domestic NGOs.
    On September 3 a coalition of 220 Congolese human rights 
organizations issued a news release endorsing the UNOHCHR mapping 
report and requesting that appropriate judicial mechanisms be put in 
place to hold the perpetrators to account and bring justice for the 
victims. According to one human rights activist, ``[the report] 
responds to the lobbying we have done for a long time to re-establish 
moral equilibrium in Congolese society based on the noble ideas of 
justice, equality, peace, fraternity and national solidarity as defined 
by our constitution.''
    During the UNHRC's UPR process, numerous domestic human rights NGOs 
and the Government underscored the need to establish a national human 
rights commission, founded in law, distinct and separate from the 
legislature and judiciary, with a broad mandate to protect and promote 
human rights.
    In January 2009 parliament created a human rights body, composed of 
members from both legislative chambers, to investigate abuses by state 
security forces. It was not clear how active, effective, or independent 
the body was.
    During the year the Government cooperated in some aspects with the 
ICC, which continued investigations into war crimes and crimes against 
humanity committed in the country since 2003. However, despite the ICC 
indictment of General Ntaganda, the Government did not arrest and 
transfer Ntaganda to the ICC during the year.
    The UNJHRO reported that in 2008 authorities arrested Mathieu 
Ngudjolo, a former senior FNI commander, and transferred him to the ICC 
in The Hague. His war crimes and crimes against humanity charges 
included murder, sexual slavery, and using child soldiers in 
hostilities. During an ICC trial that opened in November 2009, Mathieu 
Ngudjolo and Germain Katanga both pleaded not guilty to charges that 
they directed an attack in 2003 on a village where 200 civilians were 
killed. The trial continued at year's end.
    Former Ituri militia leader Thomas Lubanga, whom the Government 
surrendered to the ICC in 2006, pleaded not guilty to various charges 
when the ICC began his trial in January 2009 for enlisting and 
conscripting child soldiers. The prosecution ended its case in 2009, 
and the trial was ongoing at year's end.
    The Government continued to cooperate with the International 
Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), which operated freely in areas 
under government control, seeking several individuals indicted for 
involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, who they believed might be in 
the DRC. In September 2009 the Government transferred Gregoire 
Ndahimana, who had surrendered to authorities in August 2009, to the 
ICTR in Arusha, Tanzania.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution prohibits discrimination based on ethnicity, 
gender, or religion; however, the Government did not enforce these 
prohibitions effectively, in part because it lacked appropriate 
institutions.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape, but the Government did not 
effectively enforce this law, and rape was common throughout the 
country and especially pervasive in conflict areas in the east. Between 
January and December 2009, the UNFPA reported 12,838 cases of sexual 
violence against both adults and minors in North and South Kivu and 
Province Orientale, with a total of 17,507 cases across the entire 
country. Acccording to the UN secretary-general's 27th report to the UN 
Security Council, more than 1,100 women and girls were raped each month 
in the east alone (see section 1.g.). The law on sexual violence, 
enacted in 2006, broadened the definition of rape to include male 
victims, sexual slavery, sexual harassment, forced pregnancy, and other 
sexual crimes not previously covered by law. It also increased 
penalties for sexual violence, prohibits compromise fines and forced 
marriage, allows victims of sexual violence to waive appearance in 
court, and permits closed hearings to protect confidentiality. It 
raised the age of sexual consent to 18 years old, although the family 
code establishes that girls can marry at the age of 14. The minimum 
penalty prescribed for rape is a prison sentence of five years.
    Government security forces, nongovernmental armed entities, and 
civilians perpetrated widespread and sometimes mass rape against women 
and girls (see section 1.g.). In March 2009 the UN secretary-general 
reported to the UN Security Council that members of nonstate armed 
entities, the FARDC, and the police were responsible for 81 percent of 
all reported cases of sexual violence in conflict zones and 24 percent 
in nonconflict areas. The majority of cases were reported in North and 
South Kivu. The report cited a ``disturbing increase of police 
personnel involved as perpetrators, especially against women in 
detention.'' The UNFPA, the agency coordinating efforts against sexual 
violence in the country, estimated that 200,000 Congolese women and 
girls had become victims of sexual violence since 1998. The number of 
rapes committed during the year increased, according to UN officials, 
foreign diplomats, and NGOs (see section 1.g.).
    Statistical information on rape, often based on information from 
the judiciary and agencies providing services to victims, remained 
fragmented and incomplete. According to UN officials and NGOs such as 
HRW, most statistics on sexual violence represented a small percentage 
of the actual number and excluded victims who were unable, afraid, or 
ashamed to seek assistance. On August 4, the Journal of the American 
Medical Association published a study on sexual violence in Eastern 
Congo covering the last 15 years of conflict in North and South Kivu 
and Ituri, Orientale. According to the study, nearly 75 percent of 
individuals in these regions experienced sexual violence, and 35 
percent of these cases were conflict-related, with nearly 40 percent of 
women in the conflict-related cases being the perpetrators, and more 
than 20 percent of victims being men. The study found that only 2 
percent of the perpetrators of gender-based violence in the last 15 
years were FARDC members and that overwhelming numbers of civilians in 
the conflict zone were suffering from symptoms associated with mental 
illness, ranging from post-traumatic stress disorder to depression.
    Prosecutions for rape and other types of sexual violence remained 
rare. According to HRW, between January and August 2009 the military 
justice system convicted 17 FARDC soldiers of crimes of sexual violence 
in North Kivu Province. HRW and several other human rights groups 
continued to criticize the Government for failing to investigate and 
prosecute members of the state security forces, particularly high-
ranking officers, who were responsible for rape (see section 1.d.). Of 
the 14,200 rape cases that were registered in South Kivu between 2005 
and 2007, only 287, or 2 percent of the cases, were taken to court. 
Both victims and the UNHRC's special rapporteur on violence against 
women cited widespread impunity as the main reason for sexual violence. 
Most victims did not have sufficient confidence in the justice system 
to pursue formal legal action or feared subjecting themselves to 
further humiliation and possible reprisal.
    In December 2009 several members of the UPRWG commended the 
Government for adopting the 2006 law on sexual violence but expressed 
concern over the failure to implement the law and recommended increased 
efforts to train judicial and law enforcement officials in its 
application. Several members urged authorities to make greater efforts 
to investigate and prosecute individuals, including high-ranking 
members of the state security forces, who were responsible for rape.
    In a report submitted in April 2009 to the UPRWG, the Women's 
Synergy for Victims of Sexual Violence (SFVS) and nine other North 
Kivu-based NGOs urged the Government to modify an existing law that 
continued to make it extremely difficult for them to seek reparations 
for sexual violence. The law requires victims of sexual violence to pay 
the public treasury 15 percent of the amount of damages sought in 
advance of any judgment. According to SFVS, in the rare instances in 
which reparations were awarded, defendants bribed judges, resulting in 
``lost'' case files, effectively preventing the payment of reparations 
to victims. A group of special rapporteurs and representatives, 
including the UN special rapporteur on violence against women reported 
in March 2009 that the Government had been ordered by multiple courts 
in the country to pay compensation to a number of women raped by state 
security agents; however, none of the rape survivors had received 
compensation.
    In 2009 the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and the 
special representative of the UN secretary-general on children and 
armed conflict concluded that, while many perpetrators of sexual 
violence were armed actors (including members of the FARDC, police, and 
nonstate armed entities), a significant and increasing number were 
civilians, not only in conflict zones but also in other regions. High-
level UN officials deemed this development a consequence of the climate 
of impunity, absence of rule of law, and the normalization of violence 
against women.
    It was common for family members to pressure a rape victim to 
remain silent, even to health care professionals, to safeguard the 
reputations of the victim and her family.
    Victims of gender-based violence faced an enormous social stigma. 
After a sexual assault, many young women and girls were often labeled 
as unsuitable for marriage, and married women were frequently abandoned 
by their husbands.
    Some families forced rape victims to marry the men who raped them 
or to forego prosecution in exchange for money or goods from the 
rapist.
    Domestic violence against women occurred throughout the country. 
For example, credible sources found that 86 percent of women in 
Equateur Province were victims of domestic abuse; however, there were 
few if any additional statistics available regarding the extent of 
domestic abuse. Although the law considers assault a crime, it does not 
specifically address spousal abuse, and police rarely intervened in 
domestic disputes. There were no reports of judicial authorities taking 
action in cases of domestic or spousal abuse.
    Sexual harassment occurred throughout the country; however, no 
statistics existed regarding its prevalence. The 2006 sexual violence 
law prohibits sexual harassment, and the minimum penalty prescribed by 
law is a prison sentence of one to 20 years; however, there was no 
effective enforcement.
    The Government respected the right of couples to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children and to 
have the information and means to do so free from discrimination, 
coercion, and violence. However, women's access to contraception 
remained extremely low, with only 6.7 percent of women using modern 
contraceptive methods. According to the World Health Organization, the 
maternal mortality rate for 2008 was 670 deaths per 100,000 live 
births.
    Women's access to treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, such 
as HIV, was not known. Recent studies did not disaggregate by gender, 
and the data was highly variable across geographic regions, reflecting 
variations in cultural norms and access to health-care services. The 
percentage of women seeking skilled medical assistance during 
childbirth was 74 percent.
    According to a demographic and health survey issued by the 
Government in 2007, the average rate of pregnant women who received 
prenatal care, predominantly from nurses and midwives, rose from 68 
percent in 2001 to 85 percent in 2007. Medical assistance during 
childbirth was not as prevalent as prenatal care, but access did 
increase between 2001 and 2007. Education, socioeconomic status, place 
of delivery (hospital or home), and geographic location had a 
significant impact on who received postpartum care. Cultural barriers 
were nonexistent except for the minority of women who belonged to Bunda 
dia Mayala (formerly known as Bunda Dia Congo), a political and 
religious movement in which adherents were sometimes prevented from 
receiving vaccinations.
    Women did not possess the same rights as men under the law or in 
practice. The law requires a married woman to obtain her husband's 
consent before engaging in legal transactions, including selling or 
renting real estate, opening a bank account, or applying for a 
passport. According to UNICEF, 69 percent of widows had been 
dispossessed of their property. Under the law, women found guilty of 
adultery may be sentenced to up to one year in prison; adultery by men 
is subject to legal penalty only if judged to have ``an injurious 
quality.''
    In their March 2009 report to the UNHRC, seven UN special 
rapporteurs and representatives expressed concern that, while the 
family code recognizes equality between spouses, it ``effectively 
renders a married woman a minor under the guardianship of her 
husband,'' by stating that the wife must obey her husband; women 
remained underrepresented in the democratic institutions.
    Women experienced economic discrimination. The law forbids a woman 
from working at night or accepting employment without her husband's 
consent. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), women 
often received less pay in the private sector than men doing the same 
job and rarely occupied positions of authority or high responsibility.

    Children.--According to 2007 UNICEF data, 31 percent of children 
were registered at birth. However, following the Government's adoption 
of a National Plan of Action on Birth Registration in March 2009, child 
birth registration increased in Kinshasa from 37 percent to 50 percent 
by June 2009. Birth registration was lowest among ethnic minorities 
such as Pygmies. The lack of registration did not affect access to 
government services.
    In practice primary school education was not compulsory, free, or 
universal, and few functioning government-funded schools existed. 
Fighting that resumed in 2008 in North Kivu between government and 
rebel forces resulted in the closure of approximately 85 percent of all 
schools in the area, according to UNICEF. Public and private schools 
generally expected parents to contribute to teachers' salaries, and 
parents typically funded 80 to 90 percent of school expenses. These 
expenses, plus the potential loss of income or labor while their 
children attended class, left many parents unable to enroll their 
children. In September President Kabila ordered that fees required by 
the Government for primary school children would no longer be required; 
however, at year's end, parents were still paying fees.
    Primary and secondary school attendance rates for girls were lower 
because many parents preferred to send their sons to school, either for 
financial or cultural reasons.
    The majority of schools in conflict zones were dilapidated and had 
been closed due to insecurity. Parents in such areas often prevented 
their children from attending the few functioning schools due to fear 
that armed entities would forcibly recruit their children, according to 
reports received by the UN during the year.
    In a report released in February 2009, the UNCRC welcomed the 
Government's adoption in January 2009 of the child protection code, 
which provides for the establishment of 180 juvenile tribunals. 
However, the UNCRC expressed concern over the capacity of the 
Government to implement the code's provisions, particularly in the 
absence of an awareness raising campaign. The UNCRC urged the 
Government to expedite implementation of child protection laws, 
increase investment in law enforcement training on child protection, 
adopt a comprehensive child protection action plan, establish a 24-hour 
child helpline as a tool for children to seek assistance and lodge 
complaints, establish a data base and coherent national programs for 
refugee and internally displaced children, and swiftly improve juvenile 
justice standards.
    The law prohibits all forms of child abuse, but it was common. 
There was no information about authorities arresting individuals for 
child abandonment and abuse during the year.
    The constitution prohibits parental abandonment of children for 
alleged sorcery; however, such allegations resulted in abandonment and 
abuse. The 2009 Child Protection Law provides for a sentence of 
imprisonment for parents and other adults who accuse children of 
witchcraft; however, authorities did not implement the law effectively.
    Child abuse was an especially serious problem in the eastern 
conflict regions. A 2008 report of the UN secretary-general on children 
and armed conflict in the country concluded that children continued to 
be the primary victims of the continuing conflict in the east.
    In March 2009 a group of seven UN special rapporteurs and 
representatives mandated by the UNHRC to assess human rights in the 
country deemed it ``alarming'' that a significant percentage of the 
victims of sexual violence committed throughout the country were girls, 
and in some cases also boys. According to the UNFPA, of 17,507 new 
cases of sexual violence registered in 2009 throughout the country, 48 
percent of survivors were children. The report also underscored the 
role of civilians in child rape, including in conflict zones where a 
climate of near total impunity persisted. For example, of the 2,893 
cases of child rape reported in conflict-affected Ituri District, 
Orientale, between June 2007 and June 2008, UNICEF found that 42 
percent of perpetrators were members of the state security forces or 
nonstate armed entities and 58 percent were civilians. During the same 
period, of the almost 2,000 cases of child rape reported in North Kivu, 
70 percent of the perpetrators were members of the state security 
forces or nonstate armed entities and 30 percent were civilians.
    All parties to the conflict in the east were involved in the use of 
child soldiers (see section 1.g.). During the year the UNCRC expressed 
concern that children continued to be tried in military courts for 
crimes allegedly committed while they were enrolled as child soldiers 
in nongovernmental armed entities.
    The law does not prohibit female genital mutilation (FGM). 
According to the World Health Organization, isolated groups in the 
north practiced FGM, and approximately 5 percent of women and girls 
were victims.
    The law prohibits marriage of girls under the age of 14 and boys 
under the age of 18; however, marriages of girls as young as 13 years 
old took place. Dowry payments greatly contributed to underage 
marriage. In some cases parents married off a daughter against her will 
to collect a dowry or to finance a dowry for a son. The sexual violence 
law criminalizes forced marriage. It subjects parents to up to 12 
years' hard labor and a fine of 92,500 Congolese francs (approximately 
$103) for forcing a child to marry. The penalty doubles when the child 
is under the age of 15. There were no reports of prosecutions for 
forced marriage; no additional information was available.
    The minimum age of consensual sex is 14 years old for women and 18 
years old for men, and the 2006 law on sexual violence prohibits and 
defines penalties for prostitution of minors; however, child 
prostitution occurred throughout the country. There were no statistics 
available regarding its prevalence. Many children engaged in 
prostitution without third-party involvement, although some were forced 
to do so. In the mining areas of Katanga, UNICEF reported that madams 
forced girls between the ages of eight and 10 years old, known as 
canetons (ducklings in French), into prostitution. According to HRW and 
a local NGO, police in Kinshasa extorted sexual services from child 
prostitutes.
    In 2009, there were an estimated 8.4 million orphans and vulnerable 
children in the country; 91 percent received no external support of any 
kind, and only 3 percent received medical support. The country's 
estimated 50,000 street children included many accused of witchcraft, 
child refugees, and war orphans, as well as children with homes and 
families. During the year, according to UNICEF, there were more than 
20,000 street children in Kinshasa, of whom 26 percent were girls. Many 
churches in Kinshasa conducted exorcisms of children accused of 
witchcraft involving isolation, beating and whipping, starvation, and 
forced ingestion of purgatives. According to UNICEF, there was a 
practice of branding as witches children with disabilities or even 
speech impediments and learning disabilities; this practice sometimes 
resulted in parents abandoning their children. According to UNICEF, as 
many as 70 percent of the street children they assisted claimed to have 
been accused of witchcraft.
    The Government was ill equipped to deal with large numbers of 
homeless children. Citizens generally regarded street children as 
delinquents engaged in petty crime, begging, and prostitution and 
approved of actions taken against them. State security forces abused 
and arbitrarily arrested street children (see sections 1.c. and 1.d.).
    There were numerous reports that street children had to pay police 
officers to be allowed to sleep in vacant buildings and had to share 
with police a percentage of goods stolen from markets.
    In February 2009 the UNCRC underscored its concern over the 
frequency of sexual assaults committed against street children, as well 
as state security forces' regular harassment, beating, and arrest of 
street children. In addition the UNCRC expressed concern that 
``violence against children accused of witchcraft is increasing, and 
that children are being kept as prisoners in religious buildings where 
they were exposed to torture and mistreatment, or even killed under the 
pretext of exorcism.'' The UNCRC recommended that the Government take 
effective measures to prevent children from being accused of 
witchcraft, including by continuing and strengthening public awareness-
raising activities, particularly directed at parents and religious 
leaders and by addressing root causes such as poverty. The UNCRC 
further urged the Government to criminalize accusing children of 
witchcraft, bring to justice persons responsible for violence against 
children accused of sorcery, and take steps to recover and reintegrate 
children accused of witchcraft.
    Several NGOs worked effectively with MONUSCO and UNICEF to promote 
children's rights throughout the country.
    At year's end the country was not a party to the 1980 Hague 
Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For 
information on international parental child abduction, please see the 
Department of State's annual report on compliance at http://
travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--
4308.html.)

    Anti-Semitism.--The country has a very small Jewish population, and 
there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with disabilities; however, the Government did not 
effectively enforce this provision, and persons with disabilities often 
found it difficult to obtain employment, education, or government 
services.
    The law does not mandate access to buildings or government services 
for persons with disabilities. Some schools for persons with 
disabilities, including persons with visual disabilities, received 
private funds and limited public funds to provide education and 
vocational training.
    During the year children with disabilities were accused of 
witchcraft and subjected to abuse and abandonment (see section 6).

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Members of the country's more 
than 400 ethnic groups practiced ethnic discrimination, and 
discrimination was evident in hiring patterns in some cities. The 
Government took no reported actions to address this problem.
    State security forces in Kinshasa sometimes harassed, arbitrarily 
arrested, or threatened members of ethnic groups from Equateur, 
according to the UNJHRO. State security forces in North and South Kivu 
sometimes harassed, arbitrarily arrested, or threatened members of many 
different ethnic groups.
    Discrimination against persons with albinism was widespread and 
limited their ability to obtain employment, health care, and education, 
or to marry. Persons with albinism were frequently ostracized by their 
families and communities. According to a 2007 survey conducted in 
Kisangani by the UN Development Program, 83 percent of parents of 
albinos stated that their children were successful in school, but 47 
percent said they felt humiliated by having albino children.
    Between October and November 2009, in the South Ubangi District of 
Equateur, ethnic violence between the Banzaya and Enyele clans (both of 
the Lobala ethnic group) erupted over farming and fishing rights, 
triggering a humanitarian crisis. After the district government 
recognized a member of the Banzaya clan as interim tribal chief in the 
village of Dongo in June 2009, members of the Enyele clan forced the 
Government-recognized tribal chief to flee. When the chief returned 
several months later with an armed police escort, Enyele clan members 
reportedly killed approximately 45 police officers, which led to a 
deployment of FARDC soldiers to address the Enyele insurgency and 
stabilize the area. By year's end the clashes had resulted in several 
civilian deaths, numerous internally displaced persons, and more than 
140,000refugees, many of whom fled to the neighboring Republic of the 
Congo and to the CAR.

    Indigenous People.--The country had a population of between 200,000 
and 500,000 Pygmies (Twa, Mbuti, Aka, and others), believed to be the 
country's original inhabitants; the Government did not effectively 
protect their civil and political rights, and societal discrimination 
against them continued. Most Pygmies took no part in the political 
process and continued to live in remote areas. During the year fighting 
in the east between nonstate armed entities and government security 
forces caused displacement of some Pygmy populations. Since 2003 many 
Pygmies who had lived in IDP camps in the east were forced outside the 
camps by other IDPs, removing their access to humanitarian relief 
provided to camp residents.
    In some areas traditional leaders (mwami) and wealthy persons 
captured Pygmies and forced them into slavery. For 2009-2010, the World 
Peasants/Indigenous Organization reported 644 new cases of enslavement 
of Pygmies. Those captured were known as ``badja'' and were considered 
the property of their masters. During 2008 the World Peasants/
Indigenous Organization conducted a three-month campaign to free such 
individuals. In 2008, 96 Pygmy slaves were released; 46 of the group 
belonged to families that had been enslaved for generations.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There are no known laws 
specifically prohibiting homosexuality or homosexual acts; however, 
individuals engaging in public displays of homosexuality were subject 
to prosecution under public decency provisions in the penal code and 
articles in the 2006 law on sexual violence. On October 22, a law was 
proposed in the national assembly that would impose significant fines 
and jail terms on individuals engaging in homosexuality or groups 
promoting or protecting homosexual behavior. No action had been taken 
on the draft legislation by the end of the year. Homosexuality remained 
a cultural taboo, and while harassment by state security forces 
continued, there were no reports during the year of police harassing 
gays and lesbians or perpetrating or condoning violence against them.
    On September 6, in Kabare, South Kivu, authorities prevented a mob 
from lynching a 21-year old woman accused of homosexual relations with 
another villager.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of societal violence or discrimination based on HIV/AIDS status.
    In 2008 President Kabila promulgated a law passed by parliament 
that prohibits discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The constitution provides all 
workers, except government officials and members of the state security 
forces, the right to form and join trade unions without prior 
authorization or excessive requirements. The extent to which the 
Government protected this right in practice was limited. According to 
NGO reporting, of an estimated 24 million adults of working age, 
128,000 employees in the private sector (0.5 percent) belonged to 
unions. No information was available regarding the number of union 
members in the public sector. The informal sector, including 
subsistence agriculture, constituted at least 90 percent of the 
economy. The law provides for the right of unions to conduct activities 
without interference and to bargain collectively; however, the 
Government did not always protect these rights.
    In August an assessment of the country's trade union and worker 
freedoms by international NGO Freedom House found significant 
restrictions on labor rights and that the labor rights environment was 
``repressive.''
    Private companies often registered bogus unions to create confusion 
among workers and discourage real ones from organizing. According to 
NGO reporting, many of the nearly 400 unions in the private sector had 
no membership and had been established by management, particularly in 
the natural resources sector.
    The constitution provides for the right to strike, and workers 
sometimes exercised it. In small and medium-sized businesses, workers 
could not exercise this right effectively in practice. With an enormous 
unemployed labor pool, companies and shops could immediately replace 
any workers attempting to unionize, collectively bargain, or strike. 
The law requires unions to have prior consent from the Ministry of 
Labor and to adhere to lengthy mandatory arbitration and appeal 
procedures before striking. The law prohibits employers and the 
Government from retaliating against strikers; however, the Government 
did not enforce this law in practice.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--While a 2002 
law provides for the right to organize and for collective bargaining, 
collective bargaining was ineffective in practice. The Government set 
public sector wages by decree, and unions were permitted to act only in 
an advisory capacity. Most unions in the private sector collected dues 
from workers but did not succeed in engaging in collective bargaining 
on their behalf.
    The law prohibits discrimination against union employees, although 
authorities did not enforce this regulation effectively, and antiunion 
discrimination occurred in practice. The law also requires employers to 
reinstate workers fired for union activities.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The constitution 
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, 
although no statistics were available, both were practiced throughout 
the country. The Government did not effectively enforce laws 
prohibiting forced or compulsory labor.
    Men, women, and children were coerced into forced labor and sexual 
exploitation. Children were prostituted in brothels or by loosely 
organized networks. An estimated tens of thousands of children worked 
in the mining sector, most often in extremely dangerous conditions as 
artisanal miners. In the east, FARDC elements and RMGs continued to 
abduct and forcibly recruit men, women, and children to serve as 
laborers (including in mines), porters, domestics, combatants, and sex 
slaves (see section 1.g.).
    Some police officers in the east reportedly arrested individuals 
arbitrarily in order to extort money from them; those who could not pay 
were forced to work until they had ``earned'' their freedom.
    Government security forces continued to force men, women, and 
children, including IDPs and prisoners, to serve as porters, mine 
workers, and domestic laborers (see sections 1.c., 1.g., 6, and 7.d.). 
In addition, according to the UNGOE report of November, in Mushake, 
Masisi, ex-CNDP FARDC soldiers ``enforce salongo, whereby civilians are 
required to build houses, clean camps, and transport merchandise for 
the military.''
    The military took no action against FARDC soldiers who used forced 
labor and abducted civilians for forced labor during the year, in 2009 
or in 2008.
    In the mining sector, middlemen and dealers acquired raw ore from 
unlicensed miners in exchange for tools, food, and other products. 
Miners who failed to provide sufficient ore became debt slaves, forced 
to continue working to pay off arrears. The Government did not attempt 
to regulate this practice.
    Armed entities operating outside central government control 
subjected civilians, including children, to forced labor, including 
sexual slavery (see section 1.g.). Also see the Department of State's 
annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There were laws to protect children from exploitation in the workplace; 
however, government agencies did not effectively enforce child labor 
laws. Child labor remained a problem throughout the country, including 
forced child labor. Although there was at least one report of a large 
enterprise using child labor during the year, it was much more common 
in the informal sector, particularly in mining and subsistence 
agriculture. For economic survival, families often encouraged children 
to work in order to earn money. According to the Ministry of Labor, 
children continued to work in mines and stone quarries, and as child 
soldiers, water sellers, domestic servants, and entertainers in bars 
and restaurants.
    Although the minimum age for full-time employment without parental 
consent is 18 years old, employers may legally hire minors between the 
ages of 15 and 18 with the consent of a parent or guardian. Those under 
the age of 16 may work a maximum of four hours per day. All minors are 
restricted from transporting heavy items.
    According to data collected by UNICEF in surveys between 1999 and 
2007, approximately 32 percent of children between the ages of five and 
14 were involved in child labor. UNICEF considered children to be 
involved in labor if, during the week preceding the survey, a child who 
was five to 11 years old performed at least one hour of economic 
activity or at least 28 hours of domestic work or a child who was 12 to 
14 years old performed at least 14 hours of economic activity or at 
least 28 hours of domestic work.
    Criminal courts continued to hear child labor complaints. State 
security forces and nonstate armed entities in conflict-affected areas 
in the east used children, including child soldiers, for forced labor 
in mines (see section 1.g.). However, the use of forced child labor by 
state security forces was not limited to conflict zones. For example, 
in October 2009 UNICEF reported that soldiers in Katanga forced 
children and adults to mine and transport heavy loads for them.
    Children made up as much as 30 percent of the work force in the 
informal (``artisanal'') mining sector. In mining regions of the 
provinces of Katanga, Kasai Occidental, Orientale, and North and South 
Kivu, children performed dangerous mine work, often underground. In 
many areas of the country, children who were five to 12 years old broke 
rocks to make gravel for a small wage. In October 2009 a foreign 
diplomat observed children breaking stones and carrying heavy loads in 
a stone quarry on the compound of the Government-owned Gecamines mining 
company in Kipushi, Katanga. According to the Solidarity Center, during 
the year there was an increase in the number of children working in the 
Kolwezi mines in southern Katanga. Catholic Relief Services in Katanga 
reported that the local population, including children, were drawn to 
mining work, largely due to the lack of alternative sources of income 
and the higher salaries offered in the mining sector.
    Child prostitution, including forced prostitution, was practiced 
throughout the country (see section 6). Also see the Department of 
State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.
    In addition children were used to extract copper, cobalt, and gold. 
In the east, armed entities forced children to mine coltan, tungsten 
ore, and cassiterite.
    Parents often used children for dangerous and difficult 
agricultural labor. Children sent to relatives by parents who could not 
support them sometimes effectively became the property of those 
families, who subjected them to physical and sexual abuse.
    The Ministry of Labor has responsibility for investigating child 
labor abuses but had no dedicated child labor inspection service. The 
Ministry of Labor had yet to develop a national action plan to 
comprehensively address child labor. Other government agencies 
responsible for combating child labor included the Ministry of Gender, 
Family and Children, the Ministry of Social Affairs, and the National 
Committee to Combat Worst Forms of Child Labor. These agencies had no 
budgets for inspections and conducted no investigations during the 
year.
    In 2009, government officials participated in a tripartite dialogue 
on child labor in Katanga with unions, enterprises, and the ILO. The 
effort was part of an ILO program, conducted in cooperation with 
government officials, designed to withdraw children from industrial and 
artisanal mining, improve working conditions for diggers, and eradicate 
child labor. Due to a lack of funding, the ILO closed its office in 
Lubumbashi shortly after the tripartite talks.
    In November 2009 the ILO recommended that the Government focus on 
creating employment opportunities, strengthening the skills of women, 
enrolling children in school, and reducing the country's reliance on 
imports in order to bolster the fight against child labor. There was no 
further progress on these recommendations; some children who had been 
removed from the mines through an anti-child labor project returned to 
the mines due to lack of support.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Employers in the informal sector 
often did not respect the legally required minimum wage of 1,680 
Congolese francs (approximately $1.86) per day. The average monthly 
wage did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and 
family. Government salaries remained low, ranging from 45,000 to 75,000 
Congolese francs (approximately $50 to $82) per month, and salary 
arrears were common in both the civil service and public enterprises 
(parastatals). More than 90 percent of laborers worked in subsistence 
agriculture, informal commerce or mining, or other informal pursuits.
    The law defines different standard workweeks, ranging from 45 to 72 
hours, for various jobs. The law also prescribes rest periods and 
premium pay for overtime, but employers often did not respect these 
provisions in practice. The law establishes no monitoring or 
enforcement mechanism, and businesses often ignored these standards in 
practice.
    The law specifies health and safety standards; however, government 
agencies did not effectively enforce them. The law does not provide 
workers the right to remove themselves from dangerous work situations 
without jeopardizing their employment.
    According to the NGO Pact, an estimated 10 million miners worked in 
the informal sector nationwide and up to 16 percent of the population 
may have indirectly relied on so-called artisanal, or small-scale, 
mining. Many suffered violence from guards and state security forces 
for illegally entering mining concessions.

                               __________

                         REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

    The Republic of the Congo, with a population of 3.7 million, is a 
parliamentary republic in which most of the decision-making authority 
and political power is vested in the president and his administration. 
Denis Sassou Nguesso was reelected president in a July 2009 election 
with 78 percent of the vote. The country has a multiparty political 
system although members of the president's Congolese Labor Party (PCT) 
occupy most senior government positions. The 2009 election was peaceful 
and the African Union declared the elections to have been free and 
fair; however, opposition candidates and nongovernmental organizations 
(NGOs) cited irregularities. There were instances in which elements of 
the security forces acted independently of civilian control.
    Principal human rights problems included suspected killings of 
detainees by security forces; mob violence; beatings and other physical 
abuse of detainees; rapes; theft; solicitation of bribes; harassment 
and extortion of civilians by unidentified armed elements; poor prison 
conditions; official impunity; arbitrary arrest; lengthy pretrial 
detention; an ineffective and under-resourced judiciary; infringement 
of citizens' privacy rights; restrictions on freedom of speech, press, 
association, and movement; official corruption and lack of 
transparency; domestic violence, including rape; societal 
discrimination against women; trafficking in persons; discrimination on 
the basis of ethnicity, particularly against Pygmies; 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.--The Government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings. Prison 
security personnel allegedly tortured an inmate to death (see section 
1.c).
    There were no further developments in the January 2009 death in a 
suspicious house fire of journalist and activist Bruno Jacquet Ossebi, 
known for his outspoken coverage of government corruption. The death 
was officially declared an accident and there was no investigation.
    Local inhabitants frequently took the law into their own hands to 
punish persons presumed or known to be police or military personnel who 
looted civilian residences. The results were death or serious injury. 
Such incidents were most common in remote areas.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.
    By year's end no investigation had been conducted into the 
disappearance of two prisoners, Beni Alex Yandi and Bien Godja, who 
were assumed to have been victims of extrajudicial execution. The two 
were detained at the central police station in Brazzaville in October 
and December 2009 respectively.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
on September 8, army Lieutenant Ferdinand Bourangon died of torture-
induced injuries allegedly perpetrated in Brazzaville's prison. Other 
unnamed prisoners were also allegedly tortured. No disciplinary action 
was taken against prison personnel. On December 23, three Congolese 
human rights NGOs announced their intention to file a lawsuit against 
the prison's warden, a prison driver, and a police captain for crimes 
including torture, assault, and murder. The three NGOs were: 
Association pour les Droits de l'Homme et l'Univers Caceral, Forum pour 
le Gouvernance et les Droits de Homme, and Obsevatoire Congolaise des 
Droits de l'Homme.
    Several additional cases of alleged torture were reported by local 
NGOs. Bradi Oboromalekou was arrested in June for selling cannabis and 
possessing a weapon. While incarcerated, he reportedly was handcuffed 
behind his back and was continually tortured for two weeks in the Jean 
Francois Ndengue Commissariat.
    In December 2009 Jomael Batantou was arrested and accused of theft 
after refusing to continue paying a local sergeant a daily ransom. 
According to local NGOs, he was handcuffed behind his back for two 
weeks and tortured in the Ouenze Mampassi Commissariat. His release 
from detention was secured after paying 50,000 CFA ($101) to the 
Commissariat in May.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions were harsh and life-threatening. Most inmates slept 
on the floor on cardboard or thin mattresses in small overcrowded 
cells, exposing them to disease. The prisons lacked any significant 
ventilation, had poorly maintained lighting, had wiring protruding from 
the walls, and had regular occurrences of plumbing backing up into 
prisoners' cells. Basic and emergency medical care was limited, and 
meaningful access to social services personnel was severely limited due 
to understaffed personnel and the overcrowded prison population.
    Out of six prisons, two, one in Brazzaville and one in Pointe 
Noire, were fully operational during the past two years. Other 
facilities stopped operating at full capacity in 2008 due to physical 
deterioration of their premises. By year's end the prison population 
was approximately 1,000, the majority of whom were awaiting trial for 
assault and robbery. At year's end the Brazzaville prison, which was 
built in 1943 to hold up to 150 prisoners, held approximately 600, 
including 14 women and 11 minors. The Pointe Noire prison, built in 
1940, held 300 prisoners. In the Dolisie prison there were 40 to 50 
prisoners. The prisons in Mouyondzi and Sibiti held approximately 30 
prisoners each. There were approximately 30 more prisoners being held 
temporarily in the police station in Owando in anticipation of the 
completion of renovations to the local prison. All of the prisons were 
remnants of the country's colonial era.
    Inmates in Brazzaville's prison were supposed to receive two meals 
per day. Due to lack of funds, however, inmates in other prisons 
received one meal per day.
    Separate facilities were maintained for women and men. Juveniles 
were held in a separate wing in Brazzaville's prison, but security 
measures were insufficient to maintain their isolation from the general 
prison population. Pretrial detainees were held with convicted 
prisoners. Prisoners with infectious diseases were kept in one cell, 
but allowed to interact with other inmates. Most of the cells had a 
functioning television with cable.
    Access to prisoners was conditional on obtaining a communication 
permit from a judge. The permit allows visitors to spend 10-15 minutes 
with a prisoner. The visits took place in a small room that held one 
extended table at which approximately 10 detainees at a time might sit 
and converse with their visitors. A new permit is required for each 
subsequent visit with a prisoner. The families of many prisoners were 
located outside of the cities in which the prisons were located and 
visits were often infrequent because of the financial hardship involved 
in traveling to the prison.
    The Government continued to grant access to prisons and detention 
centers to domestic and international human rights groups. During the 
year local human rights groups and NGOs regularly visited prisons and 
detention centers.
    Prisoners and detainees were permitted religious observance. 
Religious-based charitable organizations visited prisons and detention 
centers for charitable actions and religious support. Prisoners and 
detainees are supposed to be allowed to submit complaints to judicial 
authorities, but in practice this right was not respected. There was no 
provision for an ombudsman, but defendants with sufficient personal 
wealth were able to hire private attorneys to serve on their behalf to 
consider alternatives to incarceration or to alleviate inhumane 
conditions.
    Prior to a trial the Government is obligated to provide legal 
assistance to detainees who lack the financial resources to hire a 
private attorney, but this was not done in practice. The Government 
neglected to pay its public defenders, and consequently there was a 
dearth of legal representation for detainees with limited means. The 
Government investigated and monitored prison conditions at the request 
of local NGOs following complaints from prisoners' and detainees' 
families. However, little was done to address the penal system's 
failure to ensure due process for its detainees.
    Three minors in the Brazzaville prison were detained for eight 
months without access to a lawyer and without their cases being heard 
by a judge. Another detainee was reportedly held for 24 months without 
being called before a judge.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention. However, members of the 
security forces unreasonably and arbitrarily detained persons for minor 
and often imaginary offenses, mostly traffic related, and required them 
to pay bribes on the spot as a condition for release.
    In 2009 a number of politically motivated arrests occurred in 
Brazzaville related to the July 2009 presidential elections (see 
section 1.e.).
    In December 2009 Bienvenu Woko was arrested and kept in prison for 
six months without access to a lawyer or to a member of his family 
despite the Penal Code's stipulation that detainees cannot be detained 
for more than 72 hours without being granted access to a lawyer or to a 
family member.
    The representative of a local NGO, the Association Nationale des 
Gardiens de la Paix, was unlawfully arrested on October 26 by the Chief 
of the Central Police Station Colonel Jacques Antoine Bouity, after 
questioning the prison situation and the application of the Penal Code 
within the various detention centers and prisons.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The security forces 
include the police, a paramilitary unit known as the gendarmerie, and 
the military. The police and the gendarmerie are responsible for 
maintaining internal order, with police primarily in cities and the 
gendarmerie mainly in other areas. Military forces are responsible for 
territorial security, but some units also have domestic security 
responsibilities, such as the specialized Republican Guard battalion 
charged with the protection of the president, government buildings and 
diplomatic missions. The minister of defense oversees the military 
forces and the gendarmerie, and the minister of the interior and 
decentralization oversees the police.
    A police unit under the Ministry of Interior and Decentralization 
is responsible for patrolling frontiers. Another military unit, the 
military police, is under the minister of defense and composed of 
military and police officers responsible for investigating professional 
misconduct by members of any of the security forces. Overall, 
professionalism of the security forces continued to improve, in large 
part due to training by the international law enforcement community. 
The Government generally maintained effective control over the security 
forces; however, there were members of the security forces who acted 
independently of government authority, committed abuses, and engaged in 
malfeasance.
    Traffic police extorted bribes from drivers under threat of 
impoundment of their vehicles. Although the Human Rights Commission 
(HRC) was established for the public to report security force abuses, 
impunity for members of the security forces remained widespread.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The 
constitution and law require that warrants be issued by a duly 
authorized official before arrests are made, that a person be 
apprehended openly, that a lawyer be present during initial 
questioning, and that detainees be brought before a judge within three 
days and either charged or released within four months. However, the 
Government habitually violated these provisions. There is a system of 
bail, but, with 70 percent of the population earning an income below 
the poverty level, most detainees could not afford to post bail. 
Detainees generally were informed of charges against them at the time 
of arrest, but formal charges often took at least one week to be filed. 
Police at times held persons for six months or longer prior to the 
filing of charges due to administrative errors or delays in processing 
detainees. Most delays were attributed to lack of staff in the Ministry 
of Justice and court system. Family members usually were given prompt 
access to detainees, and indigent detainees were provided lawyers at 
government expense.
    Arbitrary arrest continued to be a problem. These were perpetrated 
most often against vehicle operators (mainly taxi drivers) by police, 
gendarmes, or soldiers. Immigration officials also routinely stopped 
persons and threatened them with arrest, claiming they lacked some 
required document, were committing espionage, or on some other pretext 
to extort funds. Most often these incidents resulted in the bribe being 
paid; if not, the person was detained at a police station (or the 
airport) until either a bribe was paid or pressure was placed on 
authorities to release the individual.
    In late 2009 a high-profile arrest of international employees of 
the petroleum company Chevron highlighted the danger of politically 
motivated arrests. Members of an auditing team were arrested and 
detained for several months without being formally charged. High level 
negotiations between Chevron and the Government eventually led to the 
release of the employees, but the problem of intimidation existed at 
all levels.
    Following the July 2009 elections, the arrests of opposition 
members Malgala Sabin, Douniama-Etou Jean Ferenzi, and Ernest Ngalou 
were widely perceived to be politically motivated. Their cases were not 
brought to court and all three individuals were released. However, the 
opposition believes that legal procedure was inappropriately 
implemented and these individuals could be arrested at a future date 
for the same crimes.
    General Ferdinand Mbaou, a loyalist of self-exiled former 
opposition leader Pascal Lissouba, was released from custody in January 
after being arrested in July 2009 upon his return to Brazzaville from 
exile in France.
    Lengthy pretrial detention due to judicial backlogs was a problem. 
Pretrial detainees continued to constitute the majority of the prison 
population. On average detainees waited six months or longer before 
going to trial.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Although the constitution and law 
provide for an independent judiciary, the judiciary continued to be 
overburdened, underfunded, and subject to political influence and 
corruption.
    In rural areas traditional courts continued to handle many local 
disputes, particularly property and inheritance cases, and domestic 
conflicts that could not be resolved within the family.
    The Martial Court, a military tribunal system, established to try 
criminal cases involving military members, gendarmerie, or police, does 
not try civilians. The court was believed to be subject to influence 
and corruption. As part of an investigation into corrupt military 
payroll practices, the Martial Court continued to garnish the salaries 
of more than 500 current and former military personnel to recover 
misappropriated funds.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair trial presided over by an independent judiciary, and the 
Government generally respected judicial independence in practice. The 
legal caseload, however, far exceeded the capacity of the judiciary to 
ensure fair and timely trials, and most complaints never reached the 
court system. The Court of Justice has held 111 criminal trials since 
2008, when the court ceased to function at normal capacity due to 
funding and resource constraints. The court resumed its former caseload 
and processed 84 criminal cases during the year, including cases of 
misappropriation of public money, murder, rape, armed robbery, 
infanticide, indecent assault, and arson. In general when trials 
occurred prior to 2008, and in 2010 when the Court resumed its normal 
functional state, defendants were tried in a public court of law 
presided over by a state-appointed magistrate. Juries were used. 
Defendants had the right to be present at their trial and to consult 
with an attorney in a timely manner. An indigent defendant facing 
serious criminal charges was entitled to an attorney at public expense, 
although this did not always occur in practice. Defendants could 
confront or question accusers and witnesses against them and present 
witnesses and evidence on their own behalf. The defense had access to 
prosecution evidence. Defendants were presumed innocent and had the 
right of appeal. In principle the law extended the above rights to all 
citizens and the Government generally abided by these provisions.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees. Political prisoners may be detained 
for up to two months, and this period may be extended to three months 
by a judge. In practice these laws were not always observed, and the 
few known political prisoners were sometimes detained for up to six 
months or longer.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--In contrast to the 
criminal courts, the civil court system operates more effectively. 
Individuals can file a lawsuit in court on civil matters related to 
human rights, including seeking damages or cessation of a human rights 
violation; however, no such cases were known to exist. The public 
generally lacked confidence in the judicial system as a means to 
address human rights issues.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions and the 
Government generally respected these prohibitions.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press, but also criminalize certain 
types of speech, such as incitement of ethnic hatred, violence, or 
civil war. The Government at times limited freedom of speech and press. 
These freedoms continued to decline during the year, according to 
international NGO Freedom House. Broadcast journalists and government 
print media journalists practiced self-censorship. The nongovernment 
print media experienced few constraints, as long as their reporting 
stayed only in print form and was not broadcast.
    Individuals could criticize the Government publicly or privately 
without reprisal on relatively minor issues. However, persons feared 
reprisal if they named high-level officials while criticizing 
government policies. The Government generally did not proactively 
attempt to impede criticism by, for example, monitoring political 
meetings, but sometimes punished critics after the fact. Two private 
newspapers, Le Choc and Le Trottoir, were both ordered to close in May 
for publishing ``illicit'' photographs of French President Nicolas 
Sarkozy and reporting without checking facts. Both newspapers were 
allowed to resume circulation after two and three month suspensions, 
respectively.
    There was one state-owned newspaper, La Nouvelle Republique, and 
several publications which were closely allied with the Government. 
There were 40 private weekly newspapers in Brazzaville that criticized 
the Government. Newspapers occasionally published open letters written 
by government opponents. The print media did not circulate widely 
beyond Brazzaville and Pointe Noire.
    Most citizens obtained their news from radio or television, and in 
rural areas primarily from government-controlled radio. There were 
three privately owned radio stations, all progovernment, three 
government-owned radio stations, and one government-owned television 
station. There were four privately owned television stations; two of 
the four stations were sometimes critical of the Government. Several 
satellite television services were available for the few who could 
afford to watch them.
    Government journalists were not independent and were expected to 
report positively on government activities. However, unlike the 
previous year, there was no evidence that there were adverse 
consequences when government journalists deviated from this guidance.
    A number of journalists based in Brazzaville represented 
international media. There were no confirmed reports of the Government 
revoking journalists' accreditations if their reporting reflected 
adversely on the Government's image; however, the Government did not 
repeal the policy that allowed for such revocation. This policy 
affected journalists employed by both international and government-
controlled media. Local private journalists were not affected.
    The press law provides for monetary penalties for defamation and 
incitement to violence.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2008, 
approximately 4 percent of the country's inhabitants used the Internet. 
A greater proportion of the public, especially youth, was accessing the 
Internet more frequently. However, only the most affluent could afford 
to access the Internet in their own homes, and the rest of the 
population used cyber cafes. There were no known documented attempts by 
the Government to collect personally identifiable information via the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly, 
and the Government generally respected this right in practice.
    Groups that wished to hold public assemblies were required to seek 
authorization from the Ministry of Interior and Decentralization and 
appropriate local officials, who could withhold authorization for 
meetings that they claimed might threaten public order. Unlike the 
previous year, the Government respected this right in practice.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of association, and the Government generally respected the 
right of most groups to associate. Groups or associations--political, 
social, or economic--were generally required to register with the 
Ministry of Territorial Administration. Registration could sometimes be 
subject to political influence. There were no reports of discriminatory 
practices that targeted any particular group.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation; however, in practice the Government at times imposed 
limitations.
    The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    Although the 2003 disarmament agreement effectively ended the 
organized rebellion in the Pool region, unidentified armed elements 
believed to be ex-Ninja rebels continued to harass and intimidate 
citizens. The country's major road and railway connecting the capital 
Brazzaville to the port of Point Noire traverse the Pool region. As 
such, banditry in the Pool necessarily limited freedom of movement of 
persons and goods through much of the country. However, unlike in the 
previous years, there were no reports of deaths attributed to banditry 
in the Pool region during the year, and reports of banditry declined.
    The Armed Forces and the National Police partnered with the newly 
created government entity named ``Delegation Generale Chargee de la 
Promotion des Valeurs de Paix et de la Reparation des Sequelles de 
Guerre'' and led by former rebel leader and current high commissioner 
Frederic Ntumi Bintsamou, to promote peace and repair war aftermath 
effects. The two operations, namely ``Kimia'' and ``Kidzounou,'' 
meaning peace in local languages and launched in September and October, 
were being reported as successful by various international 
organizations and NGOs. By year's end the situation in the Pool region 
had greatly improved. The National Police deployed several units to 
further secure the area, restore peace, and protect the population and 
their belongings.
    The Government imposed an international travel ban on several 
opposition leaders following a July 2009 protest to contest the 
announced results of the presidential election. Ange Eduard Poungui, 
vice president of the Panafrican Union for Social Democracy, opposition 
leader Matias Dzon, and Emmanuel Ngouelondele, president of the Party 
for Democratic Alliance, were not able to travel outside the country 
for more than one year. In July the minister of justice announced that 
the travel ban was no longer in effect. However, the opposition 
continued to claim that the travel ban was de facto in effect and that 
the Government would file charges against them on undisclosed grounds 
if they attempt to leave the country.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not practice 
it.
    The Government did not generally prevent the return of citizens, 
including political opponents of the president. In May former first 
lady Jocelyne Lissouba returned to the country for the first time since 
she fled with her husband, former president Pascal Lissouba, in 1997. 
Jocelyn Lissouba enjoyed a warm reception from President Sassou-
Nguesso. Former president Lissouba received a pardon in December 2009, 
but remained in France for health reasons.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice 
the Government provided protection against the expulsion or return of 
refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened 
on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a 
particular social group, or political opinion.
    The country, especially in areas that border the Democratic 
Republic of Congo (DRC), received numerous waves of displaced persons 
in recent years. Between October 2009 and May 2010, nearly 124,000 
refugees fled ethnic violence and rebellion in Equateur Province of the 
DRC to seek shelter in the country's Likouala region.
    In June the Government signed a tripartite agreement with the 
Government of the DRC and UNHCR that outlined the conditions and means 
for an eventual voluntary repatriation. The tripartite agreement 
parties met again in November and agreed on a repatriation roadmap that 
would begin to repatriate the first group of refugees in April 2011.
    Applications for refugee status are handled by the National Refugee 
Assistance Center (CNAR). The CNAR received 80-90 percent of its 
operating budget from UNHCR. In 2007 and 2008 the CNAR and UNHCR 
processed a backlog of around 4,800 asylum seekers that covered the 
period beginning in 2003. In 2008 there were 993 asylum applications, 
in 2009 there were 397 applications, and an additional 128 asylum 
applications were received during the year. At year's end 5,754 
individuals were seeking asylum. According to UNHCR, as of December, 
the country hosted 137,789 refugees and asylum seekers. Refugees and 
asylum seekers came from the DRC (128,334); Rwanda (7,586); Angola 
(863); and others (1,006).
    Employment opportunities and rights for refugees are not enumerated 
in law. Anecdotal evidence suggests that quotas and excessive work 
permit fees limit refugee employment opportunities. A healthcare 
organization stated that the law requires it to hire the country's 
nationals for at least 90 percent of its positions. The same 
organization stated that two-year work permits that cost around 150,000 
CFA ($303), roughly equivalent to three months salary, are required.
    Gender-based violence was frequent in refugee camps, although a 
vast majority of the cases went unreported. UNHCR protection officers 
and medical personnel provided medical, psychosocial, and legal 
assistance to victims of gender-based violence, including rape. 
Refugees had equal access to community health centers and hospitals and 
legal recourse.
    Access to secondary education for refugees was severely limited, 
resulting in many children not attending school. Primary school was 
funded by UNHCR and made accessible to all refugees during the past 
year.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens with the right to change 
their government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right during 
the July 2009 presidential election.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Denis Sassou Nguesso was 
reelected president in the July 2009 election with 78 percent of the 
vote. Officially, 66 percent of eligible voters participated in the 
election, although the opposition estimated the turnout to be much 
lower. While the election was peaceful, opposition candidates and NGOs 
criticized the election for irregularities, such as discrepancies 
between the officially reported rates of voter participation and those 
observed by independent election observers. The African Union declared 
the elections to have been free and fair. Prior to the election the EU 
representative questioned the method of updating the voter registry.
    On October 16, a well known opposition group held a meeting to 
denounce the voter registration process. According to the group's 
leader, the voter registration list then being drafted was severely 
blemished by ``monstrous manipulations'' that included fictitious 
voters from villages that no longer existed.
    Major political parties included the ruling PCT, the Pan-African 
Union for Social Development, the Congolese Movement for Democracy and 
Integrated Development, the Union for Democracy and the Republic, the 
Rally for Democracy and Social Progress, and the Union for Progress. 
Opposition parties encountered government restrictions, particularly 
with regard to the right to organize. Opposition parties were 
restricted from organizing before, during, and after the July 2009 
presidential elections.
    Following the July 2009 election, the newly appointed government 
included high-ranking politicians from northern ethnic tribes as well 
as representatives from other regions and ethnicities.
    There were nine women in the 72-seat Senate and nine women in the 
137-seat National Assembly. There were five women in the 37-member 
cabinet.
    Some Pygmies were excluded from the political process due to their 
isolation in remote areas, lack of registration, culture, and 
stigmatization by the majority Bantu population (see section 6). 
However, Pygmy rights were strengthened following the parliament's 
passage of a Pygmy rights protection law on December 27.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides for criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. According to the 
World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators, government corruption was 
a severe problem, although the Bank and the International Monetary Fund 
noted that the Government undertook significant reform measures to 
combat corruption. For example, in February the Government undertook an 
effort to identify and remove payroll salaries of nonexistent civil 
servants known as ghost workers. It identified 2,700 ghost workers, 
many of whom were receiving one or more fraudulent salaries in addition 
to their legitimate one.
    There was a widespread perception of corruption throughout 
government, including misuse of revenues from the oil and forestry 
sectors. Some local and international organizations claimed that 
government officials, through bribes or other fraud, regularly diverted 
revenues from these industries into private overseas accounts before 
the revenues were declared officially. Pervasive lower-level corruption 
included security personnel, and customs and immigration officials 
demanding bribes. During the year there were reports of arrested 
individuals whose families bribed police to secure their release.
    Senior officials were subject to financial disclosure laws. It was 
unclear if they complied in practice.
    The law provides for public access to government information for 
citizens, noncitizens, and the foreign media; however, in practice 
there were lengthy delays before the Government released information, 
if it did so at all.
Section 5. 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 some exceptions, without government 
restriction during their investigations and publishing their findings 
on human rights cases. Government officials generally were more 
cooperative with and responsive to international groups than domestic 
human rights groups. Some domestic human rights groups tended not to 
report specific incidents for fear the Government would impose 
obstacles to their work.
    The Government-sponsored HRC is charged with acting as a government 
watchdog and addressing public concerns on human rights issues. Some 
observers claimed that the commission was completely ineffective, 
lacked independence, and was primarily represented by persons who have 
no expertise in human rights. The president appointed most, if not all, 
of its members.
    On April 30, the designated officers of the HRC met to examine and 
adopt a 2010-2012 action plan, a detailed program for the commission's 
activities, and a review of the various representative structures in 
the country side (other departments, cities and villages); and to 
create the HRC's documentation center.
    On November 18, the HRC visited Brazzaville's prison, but the 
results of its visit were not published by year's end.
    Representatives from the International Court of Justice visited 
Brazzaville in November 2009 but did not issue any report. Local NGOs 
had poor access to government officials and detainees.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law and constitution prohibit discrimination on the basis of 
race, gender, language, religion, social status, or handicap; however, 
the Government did not effectively enforce these prohibitions. There 
were documented instances of societal discrimination and violence 
against women. In addition, regional ethnic discrimination and 
discrimination against indigenous persons occurred.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is illegal; however, the 
Government did not effectively enforce the law. The law prescribes five 
to 10 years in prison for violators. However, according to local 
women's groups, the penalties for rape could be as little as several 
months and rarely more than three years' imprisonment, despite what the 
law says. Rape was common, although the extent of the problem was 
unknown because the crime was seldom reported. As of July 2009, the 
latest period for which such data was available, a total of 182 cases 
of rape were reported to local police. Fewer than 25 percent of 
reported rape cases were prosecuted, according to local and 
international NGO estimates. In August a suspected serial killer who 
allegedly raped and killed nine women was arrested and detained in the 
Brazzaville prison, and was awaiting trial for rape and murder at 
year's end.
    Domestic violence against women, including rape and beatings, was 
widespread but rarely reported. There were no specific provisions under 
the law outlawing spousal battery other than general statutes 
prohibiting assault. Domestic violence traditionally was handled within 
the extended family or village, and only more extreme incidents were 
reported to the police, a result of victims' fear of social stigma. 
Local NGOs sponsored domestic violence awareness campaigns and 
workshops.
    Female genital mutilation (FGM) was not practiced indigenously and 
is against the law. It may have occurred in some immigrant communities 
from West African countries where it is common. There were no known 
governmental or other efforts to investigate or combat FGM.
    Sexual harassment is illegal. Generally the penalty is two to five 
years in prison. In particularly egregious cases the penalty can equal 
the maximum for rape, i.e., five to 10 years in prison. However, the 
Government did not effectively enforce the law. According to local 
NGOs, sexual harassment was very common but rarely reported. As in 
previous years there were no available official statistics on its 
incidence.
    There are no laws restricting reproductive rights, childbirth, or 
timing of pregnancies. There were no restrictions on the right to 
access contraceptives; however, they were not widely used by the 
population due to cost. According to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) in 
2008, only about 13 percent of married women ages 15-49 used some form 
of a modern contraceptive method. Health clinics and public hospitals 
were generally in poor condition and lacked experienced health staff. 
The UNFPA estimated the maternal mortality ratio (the ratio of the 
number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births) to be 781 and a 
woman's lifetime risk of maternal death to be one in 39. According to 
the Population Reference Bureau, approximately 83 percent of births 
were attended by skilled personnel.
    Men and women received equal access to diagnosis and treatment for 
sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. However, HIV-positive 
persons continued to experience social stigmatization and 
discrimination that limited their access to these services. The 
National Committee to Fight AIDS coordinated national policy to counter 
the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus.
    Customary marriage and family laws discriminate against women. 
Adultery is illegal for both women and men. Polygyny is legal while 
polyandry is not. The law provides that a legal wife shall inherit 30 
percent of her husband's estate. The law limits dowries to symbolic 
amounts; however, this often was not respected, and men were obliged to 
pay excessive bride prices to the woman's family. The Ministry of 
Promotion of Women's Rights was in charge of protecting and promoting 
the rights of women.
    The law prohibits discrimination based on gender and stipulates 
that women have the right to equal pay for equal work. However, women 
were underrepresented in the formal sector of the economy. Women 
experienced economic discrimination with respect to employment, credit, 
equal pay, and owning or managing businesses. Most women worked in the 
informal sector and thus had little or no access to employment 
benefits. Women in rural areas were especially disadvantaged in terms 
of education and wage employment, and were confined largely to family 
farming, small-scale commerce, and child-rearing responsibilities. Many 
local and international NGOs have developed microcredit programs to 
address this problem, and government ministries, including those of 
social affairs and agriculture, were also active in helping women set 
up small income-producing businesses.

    Children.--Citizenship is acquired by birth in the country as well 
as from one's parents.
    The Government does not provide automatic recording of births; it 
is up to parents to record the birth of a child. Recording is not 
required, but it must be done to obtain a birth certificate, which is 
necessary for school enrollment and other services. Pygmies, in 
particular, were denied social services as a result of not being 
registered. Those living in remote villages have a difficult time 
registering, as offices for registration are located only in provincial 
capitals. The Government continued a system of providing free birth 
registration in Brazzaville, but, as in previous years, the program did 
not cover other areas.
    Education is compulsory, tuition-free, and universal until the age 
of 16, but families are required to pay for books, uniforms, and school 
fees. School enrollment was generally higher in urban areas. Although 
there was no specific data available, Pygmy children were at a 
disadvantage in school attendance because their parents usually failed 
to register births and obtain the necessary records. Schools were 
overcrowded and facilities extremely poor. Girls and boys attended 
primary school in roughly equal numbers; however, boys were five times 
more likely than girls to go on to high school and four times more 
likely to go on to a university. In addition there were reports that 
teenage girls were pressured to exchange sex for better grades, which 
contributed to both the spread of HIV/AIDS and unwanted and unplanned 
pregnancies.
    Child abuse was not commonly reported, but was thought to be 
prevalent. Most reports in previous years involved the West African 
immigrant communities in the country.
    There were cases of children, particularly those who lived on the 
streets, engaging in prostitution without third-party involvement. The 
prevalence of the problem remained unclear, although the UN Children's 
Fund (UNICEF) estimated in a 2007 report that approximately 25 percent 
of the 1,800 estimated trafficked children were sexually exploited.
    A Child Protection Code promulgated in April provides penalties for 
crimes against children such as trafficking, pornography, neglect, and 
abuse. Penalties for these crimes range from forced labor, to fines of 
up to 10,000,000 CFA ($20,200), to prison sentences of several years. 
The penalty for child pornography includes a prison sentence up to one 
year and a fine up to 500,000 CFA ($1,010).
    The law prohibits child marriage, and the legal age for marriage is 
18 years for women and 21 for men. However, marriage at an earlier age 
is permissible if both sets of parents give their permission; the law 
does not specify the age in this special circumstance.
    International organizations assisted with programs to feed and 
shelter street children, the majority of whom lived in Brazzaville and 
Pointe Noire and were believed to be from the DRC, according to UNICEF. 
Children who lived on the streets were vulnerable to sexual 
exploitation and often fell prey to criminal elements such as drug 
smugglers. Many begged, while others sold cheap or stolen goods to 
support themselves.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international child abduction, please see the Department of State's 
annual report on compliance at http://www.travel.state.gov/abduction/
resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was no substantial Jewish community in the 
country. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, or mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or in the 
provision of other state services, although the Government generally 
did not enforce the law.
    There were no laws mandating access for persons with disabilities. 
The Ministry of Social Affairs is the lead ministry responsible for 
these issues.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The law prohibits 
discrimination based on ethnicity; however, the Government did not 
effectively enforce this prohibition.
    Regional ethnic discrimination existed among all ethnic groups and 
was evident in government and private sector hiring and buying 
patterns. The relationships among ethnic, regional, and political 
cleavages can be difficult to discern. Many of the supporters of the 
Government included persons from northern ethnic groups, such as the 
president's Mbochi group and related clans.

    Indigenous People.--According to local NGOs, Pygmies were severely 
marginalized in regard to employment, health services, and education, 
in part due to their isolation in remote areas of the country and their 
different cultural norms. Pygmies were often considered socially 
inferior and had little political voice; however, in recent years 
several Pygmy rights groups have developed programs to overcome this. 
Many Pygmies were not aware of the concept of voting and had minimal 
ability to influence government decisions affecting their interests.
    Some NGOs asserted that many Pygmy groups, who lived primarily in 
forest regions, did not enjoy equal treatment in the predominantly 
Bantu society. Indigenous persons were estimated to constitute 10 
percent of the population, or an estimated 370,000 persons.
    The Government disbanded several business operations in northern 
Congo in which Bantu groups were misusing and abusing the labor of the 
Pygmy persons. Pygmies were notably more prevalent in the hunting and 
natural healing professions.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The constitution prohibits 
discrimination based on political, sexual, or religious orientation. 
There was not a large openly gay or lesbian community due to the social 
stigma associated with homosexuality. A law that was promulgated during 
the country's colonial era and still in force prohibits homosexual 
conduct as punishable by up to two years' imprisonment; however, the 
law was rarely enforced. The most recent arrest under this law was in 
1996, when several individuals were arrested in Pointe Noire and 
briefly detained for homosexual behavior.
    There were no known cases of violence or discrimination against 
gays, lesbians, or transgendered individuals during the year. While 
discrimination may exist due to the social stigma surrounding 
homosexuality, no such cases were reported to the NGOs or covered by 
the media.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Public opinion polls 
show that societal discrimination against individuals with HIV/AIDS is 
significant. Unlawful divulgence of medical records by practitioners, 
negligence in treatment by health professionals, family abandonment, 
and unwarranted termination of employment are all offenses subject to 
sanctions. Civil society, including persons living with HIV/AIDS, was 
fairly well organized and sought fair treatment, especially regarding 
employment. NGOs and the Government worked widely on HIV/AIDS issues, 
including raising public awareness of the fact that those living with 
HIV/AIDS were still able to contribute to society.
Section 7. 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. Workers exercised this right in practice. However, 
members of the security forces and other essential services do not have 
this right. Nearly all the workers in the public sector and 
approximately 25 percent of workers in the formal private sector were 
union members. The law allows unions to conduct their activities 
without interference, and the Government protected this right in 
practice.
    Workers have the right to strike, provided all conciliation and 
nonbinding arbitration procedures have been exhausted, and due notice 
has been given.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law also 
provides for the right to bargain collectively, and workers exercised 
this right freely, although collective bargaining was not widespread 
due to the severe economic conditions.
    There were no reports that antiunion discrimination occurred. Most 
trade unions were reportedly weak and subject to government influence; 
as a result, workers' demonstrations were frequently prohibited, often 
by the unions themselves. There were no reports during the year of 
employers firing workers for union activity.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including by children. There were 
unconfirmed reports that such practices occurred, but, unlike in 
previous years, no such cases were documented either by the NGOs or the 
Government.
    The Government has not repealed a 1960 law which allows persons to 
be requisitioned for work of public interest and provides for their 
possible imprisonment if they refuse. However, there were no reports of 
the law ever being applied or enforced.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Although there are laws and policies designed to protect children from 
exploitation in the workplace, child labor was a problem. The minimum 
age for employment or internships was 16 years; however, this law 
generally was not enforced, particularly in rural areas and in the 
informal sector. Children worked with their families on farms or in 
small businesses in the informal sector without government monitoring.
    The most common forms of child labor were in markets or in the 
fishing industry, where children were subject to harsh conditions, long 
hours, and little or no pay. There were no official government 
statistics on general child labor. However, a 2005 International Labor 
Organization survey showed that 85 percent of the 47,000 working 
children resided in rural areas, and just over half (53 percent) were 
girls who performed household chores or worked in exchange for pay.
    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. As in previous 
years limited resources prevented the ministry from carrying out 
regular child labor inspection trips. Labor inspections occurred during 
the year, but there were no official data available at year's end. 
International aid groups reported little change during the year in 
child labor conditions.
    For information on child trafficking see the Department of State's 
annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum wage, which 
was 54,000 CFA ($109) per month in the formal sector, did not provide a 
decent standard of living for a worker and family. There was no 
official minimum wage for the agricultural and other informal sectors. 
High urban prices and dependent extended families obliged many workers, 
including teachers and health workers, to seek secondary employment, 
mainly in the informal sector.
    The law provides for a standard workweek of seven hours per day, 
five days a week, with a one-hour lunch break. There was no legal limit 
on the number of hours worked per week. The law stipulates that 
overtime must be paid for all work in excess of 42 hours per week; 
however, there is no legal prohibition against excessive compulsory 
overtime. Overtime was subject to agreement between employer and 
employee. These standards were generally observed, and workers were 
usually paid in cash for overtime work beyond 42 hours per week.
    Although health and safety regulations require biannual visits to 
businesses by inspectors from the Ministry of Labor, such visits 
occurred much less frequently, and enforcement of findings was uneven. 
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 
situations that endanger their health or safety without jeopardizing 
their continued employment. There were no exceptions for foreign or 
migrant workers.

                               __________

                             COTE D'IVOIRE

    Cote d'Ivoire is a democratic republic with an estimated population 
of 21 million. On October 31, the country held its first presidential 
election in 10 years. Incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo, candidate of 
the Ivoirian People's Front (FPI), and opposition party leader Alassane 
Ouattara, candidate of the Rally for Republicans (RDR), advanced to the 
November 28 presidential runoff.
    On December 2, the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) declared 
Ouattara the winner of the runoff with 54.1 percent of the vote as 
compared with 45.9 percent for Gbagbo. The UN and international and 
domestic observer missions declared the vote fair and democratic and 
recognized Ouattara as the country's duly elected president. Gbagbo 
refused to accept the results, alleging voter fraud and intimidation in 
several regions. On December 3, the Constitutional Council, which was 
made up entirely of Gbagbo appointees, overturned the CEI ruling, 
citing voter ``irregularities.'' More than 500,000 votes for Ouattara 
were annulled, and Gbagbo was declared the winner.
    Ouattara and Gbagbo took separate oaths of office December 3 and 
announced separate cabinets. At year's end President Ouattara and 
former president Gbagbo remained in a standoff over the presidency. 
President Ouattara operated his government from the Golf Hotel in 
Abidjan under a blockade of pro-Gbagbo forces. Access to President 
Ouattara and his government, including replenishment of food and 
medical supplies, was extremely limited and occurred primarily via UN 
helicopter. At year's end former president Gbagbo retained control of 
state resources including the national television station, the security 
forces, and the treasury.
    Efforts to reunite the country following the 2002 rebellion that 
split control of the country between the rebel group Forces Nouvelles 
(FN) in the north and the Government in the south, and as stipulated in 
the 2007 Ouagadougou Political Agreement signed by then-president 
Gbagbo and FN rebel leader Guillaume Soro, remained incomplete at 
year's end. Approximately 7,750 UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI) 
and 900 Operation Licorne French armed forces peacekeepers remained in 
the country to support the continuing peace process. Due to the 
standoff over the presidency and Gbagbo's control of state resources, 
civilian authorities failed to maintain effective control of the 
security forces in Gbagbo-controlled zones, and authorities of the FN's 
military wing, the Forces Armees des Forces Nouvelles (FAFN), generally 
failed to maintain effective control of the security forces in FN-
controlled zones.
    The following human rights abuses were reported in areas under 
then-president Gbagbo's government control prior to the November 28 
presidential runoff: restriction of citizens' right to change their 
government; arbitrary and unlawful killings, including summary 
executions; torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment 
and punishment; rape and sexual assault of civilians; life-threatening 
prison and detention center conditions; official impunity; arbitrary 
arrest and detention; denial of fair public trial; arbitrary 
interference with privacy, family, home, and correspondence; police 
harassment and abuse of noncitizen Africans; use of excessive force and 
other abuses in internal conflicts; restrictions on freedoms of speech, 
press, peaceful assembly, association, and movement; official 
corruption; discrimination and violence against women, including female 
genital mutilation (FGM); child abuse and exploitation, including 
forced and hazardous labor; forced labor; and trafficking in persons.
    There were credible reports that forces and authorities that 
remained loyal to Gbagbo after his defeat in the presidential runoff 
committed the following human rights abuses with impunity: arbitrary 
and unlawful killings, including summary executions; enforced 
disappearances; torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading 
treatment and punishment; rape of civilians; arbitrary arrest and 
detention; denial of fair public trial; arbitrary interference with 
privacy, family, home, and correspondence; and restrictions on freedoms 
of speech, press, peaceful assembly, association, and movement.
    There were credible reports that supporters of President Ouattara 
committed the following human rights abuses with impunity: torture and 
other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment and punishment; rape and 
sexual assault of civilians; arbitrary arrest and detention; denial of 
fair public trial; arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, 
and correspondence; and restrictions on freedoms of speech, press, 
peaceful assembly, association, and movement.
    In areas under the effective control of the FN, there were reports 
of extrajudicial killings; torture and other cruel, inhuman, or 
degrading treatment and punishment; rape and sexual assault of 
civilians; life-threatening prison and detention center conditions; 
impunity; arbitrary arrest and detention; denial of fair public trial; 
arbitrary interference with privacy, family, and home; use of excessive 
force and other abuses in internal conflicts; restrictions on freedom 
of movement; corruption and extortion; discrimination and violence 
against women, including FGM; and child abuse and exploitation.
                        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 extrajudicial killings with impunity, and 
progovernment militia groups were responsible for killings and 
harassment. Crimes often went unreported or underreported due to fear 
of reprisals.
    Security forces killed demonstrators. Demonstrations broke out 
throughout the country after then-president Gbagbo dissolved the 
Government on February 12. The National Security Forces (FDS-CI) killed 
13 civilians, including three children, in four cities: the capital 
Abidjan, Daloa, Divo, and Gagnoa. Eleven died from gunshot wounds, and 
two others from mistreatment while in custody. Seventy-six civilians 
were injured, including three women and 14 minors. Eighteen members of 
the FDS-CI were wounded. Authorities arrested 95 persons during the 
events and charged 20 with disturbing the peace; they remained in jail 
at year's end. The UN concluded that several of these killings took 
place as persons fled the demonstration areas and inside private 
residences.
    On February 22, FDS-CI members killed Kouyate Lacine, Kone Lacine, 
and Sanogo Zakaria, in the Orly II and Sissoko neighborhoods of Daloa 
during a demonstration. Twenty-four persons were injured and 20 persons 
were arrested.
    On February 23, a 75 year-old Mauritanian man in Daloa died from 
internal bleeding resulting from injuries inflicted on him by FDS-CI 
personnel who entered his home in pursuit of demonstrators hiding in 
his courtyard.
    On July 6, two gendarmes, Marechal-des-logis (MDL) Koffi Bi and 
Ekra, of the Compagnie de Gendarmerie and Escadron 1/3 of Yamoussoukro, 
beat a Malian driver to death with truncheons and belts in the Kokronou 
II quarter. The incident followed accusations by gendarme MDL Koffi Bi 
that the man, whom he saw buying cigarettes near his home, was a drug 
addict. Bi and Ekra were not arrested and continued to perform their 
duties with impunity at year's end. The victim's family filed a 
complaint at the gendarmerie with the legal assistance of the Mouvement 
Ivoirien des Droits de l'Homme (MIDH).
    Security forces frequently resorted to lethal force to combat 
widespread crime and often committed crimes with impunity. Such cases 
often occurred when security forces apprehended suspects or tried to 
extort money from taxi drivers and merchants at checkpoints and 
roadblocks.
    There were continued reports of killings attributed to members of 
the security operations command center (CECOS), a government anticrime 
organization whose personnel were accused of human rights violations, 
racketeering, extortion, and harassment. Members of CECOS reportedly 
executed suspected thieves in Abidjan. The Ministry of Interior 
maintained that all victims were criminals killed in the course of 
police anticrime activities.
    There were no developments in other CECOS-related killings from 
previous years.
    On September 18, police officer Youssouf Sidibe of the Brigade de 
la Surveillance des Personnalites, shot and killed a 22 year-old man in 
the Abobo-Anador neighborhood of Abidjan following a traffic dispute. 
Soldiers of the Compagnie Republicaine de Securite 2 rescued the police 
officer from an angry mob and took him to the hospital in critical 
condition. The victim's family filed a complaint with authorities, but 
no formal investigation into the case had been opened by the 
gendarmerie or police by year's end.
    Following the November 28 presidential runoff, security forces 
loyal to former president Gbagbo committed extrajudicial killings. Pro-
Gbagbo militia groups also committed killings.
    On the night of December 1, members of CECOS allegedly attacked the 
RDR party campaign office in the Youpougon district of Abidjan, killing 
six persons, injuring 14, and arresting seven others. Those detained 
were held at the MACA prison in Abidjan. No investigation was reported 
at year's end.
    On December 16, security forces loyal to Gbagbo fired on supporters 
of President Ouattara during a demonstration march. Credible reports 
indicate at least 20 persons were killed, numerous others wounded, and 
hundreds arrested.
    During the week of December 15-22, the UNOCI human rights division 
reported that 173 persons were killed, 90 tortured and mistreated, 471 
arbitrarily arrested and detained, and 24 were missing. The 
overwhelming majority of these cases of extrajudicial killings, 
torture, detention, and disappearance, were committed by security 
forces loyal to Gbagbo.
    There were numerous credible reports of CECOS involvement in 
extrajudicial killings, torture, and arbitrary detentions during the 
period following the presidential runoff. CECOS forces, in addition to 
elements of the Compagnie Republicaine de Securite, the Garde 
Republicaine, the Brigade Anti-Emeute, the gendarmerie, and the 
Ivoirian Marines, were implicated in abuses targeting pro-Ouattara 
supporters. The majority of these incidents occurred in the Abidjan 
neighborhoods of Abobo, Anyama, and Yopougon.
    During the year several extrajudicial killings attributed to the FN 
were reported in FN-controlled zones and in the former zone of 
confidence.
    On March 4, two FAFN soldiers, Bakayoko Tiekuma and Kone Moussa 
Junior, beat and killed a 35 year-old man of Gouro ethnic origin in 
Bazra Natis. The soldiers severely beat the victim for four hours with 
rifles and truncheons over accusations of stealing a sum of 85,000 FCFA 
($170) from a Burkinabe farmer who filed a complaint with the FN. FN 
authorities arrested the two soldiers and transferred them to Seguela.
    From March 4 to 5, FAFN soldiers led by Kone Abdoulaye, alias 
Massa, severely beat a man at the FAFN headquarters in Odienne. The 
victim, who sustained a swollen eye, also complained of pain in the 
neck, the abdomen and both sides of the stomach. He died on March 6 
from his injuries. FN authorities took no action by year's end.
    On October 2, the UNOCI Human Rights Division reported that FAFN 
soldiers in Touba summarily executed 11 persons accused of highway 
robbery.
    There were credible reports that members of the Congres Panafricain 
des Jeunes et des Patriotes (COJEP), commonly known as the Young 
Patriots (a youth movement supporting Gbagbo and the FPI party) 
committed extra-judicial killings.
    The Young Patriots were responsible for summary executions in 
previous years and continued to operate with impunity.
    In Abidjan and the western part of the country, there were reports 
of atrocities, including killings by progovernment militia groups and 
armed bandits thought to be FN members.

    b. Disappearance.--Following the November 28 presidential runoff 
there were numerous reports of politically motivated disappearances 
committed by security forces and militia groups loyal to former 
president Gbagbo.
    The international nongovernmental organization (NGO) Human Rights 
Watch (HRW) issued the report Cote d'Ivoire: Pro-Gbagbo Forces 
Abducting Opponents, which documented a pattern of nightly raids on 
pro-Ouattara neighborhoods beginning December 16. The raids, reportedly 
conducted by security forces loyal to Gbagbo and militia groups, 
resulted in the disappearances of numerous persons.
    On December 23, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kyung-
Wha Kang reported that UN human rights monitors had documented 24 
enforced disappearances.
    The Government made little effort to assist the continuing French 
investigation into the 2004 disappearance of Franco-Canadian journalist 
Guy Andre Kieffer, who was working on a story about money laundering 
and illegal currency transfers allegedly involving then-president 
Gbagbo's government when he disappeared.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
security forces, police, and FN soldiers beat and abused detainees and 
prisoners to punish them, extract confessions, or extort payments with 
impunity. Police officers forced detainees to perform degrading tasks 
under threat of physical harm and continued to harass and extort bribes 
from persons of northern origin or with northern names.
    On January 6, authorities released without charge Seydou Kone, a 
teacher and RDR activist, after a three-month detention in the MACA 
correctional facility and penitentiary in Abidjan. According to 
Soungalo Coulibaly, RDR's secretary for human rights who visited Kone 
in October 2009, Kone's body was scarred from the beatings he received 
while in detention.
    There continued to be reports that noncitizen Africans, mostly from 
neighboring countries, were subject to harassment and abuse by security 
forces and ``self-defense'' groups, including repeated document checks, 
security force extortion, and racketeering.
    Following the declaration by the Economic Community of West African 
States (ECOWAS) that Ouattara was the duly elected president of the 
country and statements by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan in 
support of Ouattara, there were numerous report s of harassment by 
Nigerians residing in the country. There were reports of targeting and 
destruction of Nigerian shops and businesses by security forces and 
pro-Gbagbo supporters and militias.
    On January 15, five armed FAFN soldiers stormed the house of a 33
    year-old former FAFN soldier in Bouake and arrested him for 
allegedly receiving stolen goods from another former FAFN soldier. They 
took the man to an illegal FAFN detention center located at the 
southern entrance to the city, the ``Corridor sud,'' where they beat 
him with a rifle butt. The FAFN soldiers poured melted rubber over his 
body and then detained him in a seven-foot-deep hole without food for 
one week. He was released on January 22. At year's end there were no 
reports that authorities had investigated the incident.
    On February 2, a group of FAFN soldiers arrested a 29 year-old man 
in Odienne and took him to the home of one of the soldiers, Kone Massa, 
where they tortured him for allegedly stealing a radio. Marks of 
mistreatment were visible on his body. They detained the victim at the 
Odienne police station until March 11, when he was released following 
the intervention of UNOCI human rights officers, UN Police, and the 
state prosecutor.
    On March 16 to 17 in Korhogo, the gendarmerie summoned a man 
accused of helping his 18 year-old girlfriend to escape from a forced 
marriage situation, after the girl's parents filed a complaint against 
him. An FAFN soldier stripped him half-naked and beat him with a stick.
    On March 30, 12 armed FDS-CI members seriously beat a Young 
Patriots regional leader in San Pedro after they claimed he attacked a 
different FDS-CI member. The Young Patriots leader sustained several 
injuries and received medical treatment in a private clinic. No 
investigation was undertaken at year's end, according to UNOCI human 
rights officers in San Pedro.
    Following the November 28th runoff, Ouattara supporters attempted 
to assault physically the principal of the Odienne ``College 
Municipal,'' a midwife, and two teachers. In Kani, north of Seguela, a 
local CEI commissioner was threatened with death by Ouattara 
supporters.
    There were credible reports that security forces, CECOS members, 
and FAFN soldiers continued to rape women and girls throughout the 
country, particularly in the central, northern, and western zones; 
however, there were few specific cases available to cite. The UNOCI 
Human Rights Division documented 23 cases of rape related to the 
electoral violence. For example, on December 24, a 44 year-old woman 
married to a high-ranking state official was raped in Benongossou, near 
the airport in Abidjan. The woman was abducted outside her home by two 
groups of individuals, one in civilian clothes armed with knives and 
another group in military uniforms and armed with rifles. She was taken 
into the nearby bush where she was sexually assaulted. Prior to this 
assault, she had received numerous death threats related to her refusal 
publicly to denounce Ouattara. The victim was referred to a specialized 
organization for psychological and medical assistance, and no further 
action was reported at year's end.
    There were no further developments from cases of torture and 
inhuman treatment in 2009.
    On October 22, HRW published Afraid and Forgotten: Lawlessness, 
Rape, and Impunity in Western Cote d'Ivoire, which documented numerous 
cases of violence, torture, and rape committed in the western 
administrative regions of Moyen Cavally and Dix-Huit Montagnes. The 
report highlighted the threat posed by militia groups and demobilized 
former soldiers to the general population, but specifically women and 
children. The report documented 109 specific cases of rape in the west 
(23 reported by victims, 86 by witnesses), between January 2009 and 
August 2010.
    The Ministry of Family, Women, and Social Affairs, in partnership 
with the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN Development Fund for Women, 
UN Development Program, and the UN Children's Fund issued a report on 
gender-base violence in 2008. The report corroborated that the highest 
number of women who reported being the victims of sexual violence were 
in the western and northern regions, in Man (41percent), Duekoue (35 
percent), and Korhogo (26 percent).
    UNOCI established a commission of inquiry in December 2009 to probe 
allegations of sexual abuse involving UN peacekeepers in the country. 
UNOCI personnel involved in the 2007 sexual exploitation and abuse case 
of minors were returned to their home countries, where they stood 
trial. There were no significant cases involving peacekeepers during 
the year.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Conditions were poor and 
in some cases life-threatening in the country's 33 prisons. In the 22 
prisons that also served as detention centers, located in the area 
under government control in the south, overcrowding was a serious 
problem. For example, MACA, the country's main prison located in 
Abidjan, was built for 1,500 persons but held approximately 5,400 at 
year's end. Conditions in MACA were notoriously bad, especially for the 
poor; however, wealthier prisoners reportedly could ``buy'' extra cell 
space, food, and even staff to wash and iron their clothes. The 
Government provided inadequate daily food rations, which resulted in 
cases of severe malnutrition if families of prisoners did not bring 
additional food. As of November 12, 180 prisoners had died in 
government-controlled prisons during the year, mostly due to 
malnutrition and disease resulting from overcrowding. There were 
credible reports that prisoners frequently brutalized other prisoners 
for sleeping space and rations.
    Male minors were held separately from adult men, but the physical 
barriers at MACA were inadequate to enforce complete separation. Some 
minors were detained with their adult accomplices. Pretrial detainees 
were held with convicted prisoners.
    Prison conditions for women were particularly difficult, and 
health-care facilities were inadequate. There were continued reports 
that female prisoners engaged in sexual relations with wardens in 
exchange for food and privileges. Pregnant prisoners went to hospitals 
to give birth, and their children often lived with them in prison. The 
prisons accepted no responsibility for the care or feeding of the 
infants, although inmate mothers received help from local NGOs.
    The Government generally permitted access to prisons by the 
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and other local and 
international NGOs, including World Doctors, International Prisons' 
Friendship, Love Amour, Prisoners Without Borders, and the Ivoirian 
Islamic Medical Rescue Association. However, there were isolated 
incidents where the Government did not allow access. For example, on 
January 11, UNOCI human rights officers in San Pedro were denied access 
to the Sassandra central prison by its director, who claimed that all 
visits to detainees must be authorized in advance by the local 
prosecutor. The officers took up the matter with the local prosecutor.
    Detention and prison conditions in FN zones were worse than in 
MACA, with detainees sometimes held in converted schools, movie 
theaters, or other buildings with poor air circulation and sanitary 
facilities. Since at least 2008, the FN have used a seven-foot-deep 
hole covered with iron bars as an illegal detention area. Nutrition and 
medical care were inadequate. Many detainees became ill, and some died 
from respiratory disease, tuberculosis, or malaria due to lack of 
medical care and unhygienic conditions.
    The FN sometimes denied prison access to the ICRC and the UNOCI 
human rights division local teams; the FN also sometimes denied 
visitation rights to domestic human rights groups.
    With financial assistance from a foreign government, the NGO 
Prisoners Without Borders completed renovations on all 11 prisons 
located in FN-controlled zones in 2008. The FN officially transferred 
control of the prisons over to the Government in January; however, in 
practice the FN still retained operational control of the prisons in 
the north.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, both occurred 
frequently.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Security forces under 
the Ministries of Defense and Interior included 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. Police forces, which are under the 
jurisdiction of the Ministry of Interior, include paramilitary rapid 
intervention units such as the antiriot brigade, the republican 
security company, and the Directorate for Territorial Surveillance 
(DST), a plainclothes investigating unit. In 2005 the Ministry of 
Interior formed CECOS to combat rising crime in Abidjan. A central 
security staff collected and distributed information regarding crime 
and coordinated the activities of the security forces.
    Poor training and supervision of security forces, corruption, 
impunity, and investigations conducted by security forces that were 
abusers resulted in general lawlessness and public fear of pressing 
charges. Racketeering at roadblocks remained a serious problem. 
Security forces harassed, intimidated, abused, and confiscated the 
official documents of persons who refused to pay bribes. Security 
forces also frequently resorted to excessive and sometimes lethal force 
while conducting security operations and dispersing demonstrations. 
Police reportedly solicited sexual favors from prostitutes in exchange 
for not arresting them. There were credible reports that security 
forces in Abidjan rented their uniforms and weapons to persons wanting 
to engage in criminal activity. Security forces also occasionally 
failed to prevent violence.
    The Government sometimes took action against police officers who 
committed abuses; however, it generally did not investigate or punish 
effectively the perpetrators, nor did it consistently prosecute persons 
responsible for unlawful killings and disappearances in previous years.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Detainees were 
not always informed promptly of charges against them, especially in 
cases concerning state security. Defendants do not have the right to a 
judicial determination of the legality of their detention. A bail 
system existed solely at the discretion of the judge trying the case. 
Detainees were generally allowed access to lawyers; however, in cases 
involving possible complicity with rebels or other matters of national 
security, detainees were frequently denied access to lawyers and family 
members. For more serious crimes, those who could not afford to pay for 
lawyers were provided lawyers by the state, but alleged offenders 
charged with less serious offenses were often without representation. 
Incommunicado detention was a problem, and a few persons held in this 
manner were tortured during the year (see section 1.c.).
    A public prosecutor may order the detention of a suspect for 48 
hours without bringing charges, and in special cases such as suspected 
actions against state security, the law permits an additional 48-hour 
period. According to local human rights groups, 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 can order pretrial detention for up 
to four months by submitting a written justification each month to the 
minister of justice.
    The DST was charged with collecting and analyzing information 
relating to national security. It had the authority to hold persons for 
up to four days without charges; however, human rights groups stated 
there were numerous cases of detentions exceeding the statutory limit.
    On July 12, authorities released, after a detention of more than 
two years, five former FAFN soldiers arrested and detained in 2007 in 
Bouake, Korhogo, and Ferkessedougou for their alleged involvement in an 
assassination attempt on Prime Minister Guillaume Soro. The five 
appeared in Bouake before an FAFN military committee; they were 
released on the condition that they sign a document confessing their 
involvement in the assassination attempt.
    On July 20, the UN Human Rights Regional Office in Bouake reported 
that six corporals serving in the FN Zone 9 in Boundiali were arrested, 
tortured, and detained on July 7 at the Bouake civilian prison. They 
were accused of being involved in the May 19 killing of Coulibaly 
Tabakaly, chief of security of FN Zone 9, and Kona Stephan, chief of 
the Boundiali-Korhogo sub-zone. At year's end the six corporals 
remained in jail, and local officials reported that no case could be 
undertaken in the absence of a functioning court system. UNOCI human 
rights officers continued to investigate the case at year's end.
    There were numerous reports that security forces arbitrarily 
arrested merchants and transporters, often in conjunction with 
harassment and requests for bribes.
    Police and gendarmes detained persons in various military camps in 
Abidjan; however, there were fewer such reports prior to November 28 
than in the previous year. Following the presidential runoff, there 
were numerous credible reports that security forces loyal to Gbagbo 
detained Ouattara supporters in the Ecole de la Gendarmarie and Ecole 
de Police bases in Abidjan.
    On December 18 in Bouake, FAFN soldiers arbitrarily arrested and 
detained two Ivoirians accused of being mercenaries. On December 21 in 
Bouna, the FN arrested nine foreigners, including three Cameroonians, 
four Ghanaians, a Nigerian, and a Togolese, suspected of being 
mercenaries.
    Prolonged pretrial detention was a problem. Despite the legal limit 
of 10 months of pretrial detention in civil cases and 22 months in 
criminal cases, some pretrial detainees were held in detention for 
years. As of November 12, the national prison administration reported 
that 24 percent of the 12,256 persons held in the 22 government-
controlled prisons were pretrial detainees.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary; however, in practice the judiciary was 
subject to influence from the executive branch, the military, and other 
outside forces. Although the judiciary was independent in ordinary 
criminal cases, it followed the lead of the executive in national 
security or politically sensitive cases. There also were credible 
reports that judges were corrupt. It was common for judges receptive to 
bribery to distort the merits of a case. Judges also reportedly 
accepted bribes in the form of money and sexual favors (see section 4). 
The judiciary was slow and inefficient.

    Trial Procedures.--The Government did not always respect the 
presumption of innocence. The law provides for the right to public 
trial, although key evidence sometimes is given secretly. Juries are 
used only in trials at the court of assizes, which convenes as required 
to try criminal cases.
    Defendants had the right to be present at their trial, but they may 
not present witnesses or evidence on their behalf or question any 
witnesses brought to testify against them. Defendants accused of 
felonies or capital crimes had the right to legal counsel. Other 
defendants may also seek legal counsel, but it is not obligatory. The 
judicial system provides for court-appointed attorneys; however, no 
free legal assistance was available, aside from infrequent instances in 
which members of the bar provided free advice to defendants for limited 
periods. Defendants may not access government-held evidence, although 
their attorneys have the legal right to do so. Courts may try 
defendants in their absence. Those convicted had the right of appeal, 
although higher courts rarely overturned verdicts.
    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 physical punishment. The 
formal court system increasingly superseded these traditional 
mechanisms. The law specifically provides for a grand mediator, 
appointed by the president, to bridge traditional and modern methods of 
dispute resolution. Grand mediators did not operate during the year.
    Military courts did not try civilians and provided the same rights 
as civil criminal courts. 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.
    Little information was available on the judicial system used by the 
FN in the northern and western regions.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The constitution and law 
provide for an independent judiciary in civil matters; however, the 
judiciary was subject to corruption, outside influence, and favoritism 
based on family and ethnic ties (see section 4). Citizens can bring 
lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, a human rights 
violation; however, they did so infrequently. The judiciary was slow 
and inefficient, and there were problems enforcing domestic court 
orders.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law provide for these rights; 
however, the Government did not respect these rights in practice. 
Officials must have warrants to conduct searches, must have the 
prosecutor's agreement to retain any evidence seized in a search, and 
are required to have witnesses to a search, which may take place at any 
time; however, in practice police sometimes used a general search 
warrant without a name or address.
    Following the November 28 presidential runoff, security forces and 
militias loyal to former president Gbagbo conducted nightly raids on 
houses in pro-Ouattara neighborhoods. Credible reports indicated that 
CECOS, Republican Guard, and paid Liberian mercenaries were responsible 
for these nightly raids, which involved invading private residences, 
extrajudicial killings, and forced disappearances.
    Security forces 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 have monitored private 
correspondence, although there was no evidence of this activity. 
Members of the Government reportedly continued to use students as 
informants.
    The FN continued to use confiscated property and vehicles of civil 
servants and those believed to be loyal to then-president Gbagbo; 
however, the FN vacated some of the property confiscated in previous 
years.
    In the period following the November 28 runoff, there were credible 
reports of abuse and arbitrary interference with home and privacy by 
members of the FAFN against suspected Gbagbo supporters. For example, 
on December 3, in Ben Koussaikro, five FAFN soldiers broke into the 
home of the parent of aGbagbo supporter and stole 13,000 FCFA ($26). 
Seven other FAFN approached the same home two hours later and 
confiscated four bags containing around 1,000 T-shirts and threatened 
to return if the victim did not cease campaigning for Gbagbo.
    Ouattara loyalists also participated in a small number attacks 
against Gbagbo supporters. For example, the FPI headquarters in Bouake 
was attacked and vandalized in the aftermath of the November 28 
presidential runoff. The residences of Siki Blon Blaise, president of 
the Conseil General; Lancine Gon Coulibaly, former Mayor of Korhogo, 
and Issa Malick Coulibaly, national campaign director of Gbagbo, were 
also looted and burned down in Man and Korhogo, respectively, by 
suspected Ouattara supporters.
    Similar attacks against the property of FPI officials took place in 
Bocanda, M'Bahiakro, and Toumodi. In Odienne, minor incidents were 
reported including attacks against private homes and destruction of 
property following the proclamation of the provisional by the CEI. The 
Odienne FPI headquarters and the FPI campaign director's residence in 
Minignan were looted by armed FAFN elements. In Bouna two vehicles 
belonging to FPI supporters were forcibly confiscated by pro-Ouattara 
youth.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press, but the Government restricted 
these rights in practice. Journalists continued to practice self-
censorship for fear of retribution. Government officials aggressively 
used the court system to punish critics. Following the November 28 
presidential runoff, media freedoms were drastically curtailed and 
journalists were harassed for reporting on the political standoff, in 
particular by the Gbagbo regime. On December 2, the National 
Audiovisual Communication Council (CNCA) banned all foreign television 
and radio stations; foreign broadcasting remained suspended at year's 
end.
    Individuals who criticized the Government risked reprisal. For 
example, on July 16, the public prosecutor ordered the arrest of 
Theophile Kouamouo, Stephane Boilly, and Saint-Claver Oula, three 
journalists with Le Nouveau Courrier, a privately owned daily 
newspaper, after it published a series of investigative articles on 
corruption by officials in the coffee and cocoa sector. Authorities 
jailed the three journalists at MACA prison and charged them with theft 
of administrative documents and refusal to disclose sources after 
publishing a section of a ``confidential'' government investigation 
into the mismanagement of the coffee and cocoa sector. They were 
released on July 27 after 14 days in detention.
    In 2008 then-president Gbagbo nominated an independent board of 
directors for the organization that publishes Fraternite Matin, the 
Government's daily newspaper. Although Fraternite Matin had the largest 
circulation of any daily, it rarely criticized government policy. 
However, a number of private newspapers frequently criticized 
government policy, the president, and the ruling party. Most newspapers 
were politicized and sometimes resorted to fabricated stories to defame 
political opponents.
    On December 17, the Republican Guard, reportedly under orders from 
Gbagbo supporter Brigadier General Dogbo Ble Brunot, shut down all 
opposition newspapers. Elements of the Republican Guard approached the 
printing companies and stated that the following pro-Ouattara daily 
newspapers were forbidden to be published: Le Patriote, Le Nouveau 
Reveil, L'Expression, Le Mandat, Nord Sud Quotidien, Le Jour Plus, and 
L'Intelligent d'Abidjan. This ban on opposition newspapers, believed to 
be an independent move by the Republican Guard, was relaxed the 
following day, and the newspapers resumed publication on December 18.
    Security forces continued to harass journalists. Outspoken members 
of the press, particularly those working for opposition party 
newspapers, continued to suffer physical intimidation from groups 
aligned with the ruling FPI party.
    On May 10, Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), an Accra-based 
media watchdog, reported that journalists at Le Nouveau Reveil, a daily 
close to the opposition Democratic Party of Cote d'Ivoire (PDCI), 
received threats via short message service (SMS) messages as the party 
was preparing for a May 15 demonstration.
    During the year no action was taken against progovernment youth 
groups who attacked, threatened, or harassed journalists.
    The CNCA suspended French television station France 24 from 
February 22 to March 2 for ``unbalanced and unprofessional treatment of 
information.'' The CNCA accused France 24 of displaying a news ticker 
reporting that several persons were killed in an opposition 
demonstration in Gagnoa without providing further details.
    On May 25, officials of the DST detained and questioned journalists 
at L'Expression, a privately owned daily, for several hours, according 
to French media watchdog, Reporters Without Borders. Police authorities 
accused L'Expression of reporting on an opposition demonstration in 
Gagnoa in February and of supplying France 24 with pictures of the 
demonstration.
    On October 14, Reporters Without Borders reported that 
approximately 50 armed members of the FDS-CI prevented a debate from 
taking place at the headquarters of the L'Intelligent d'Abidjan 
newspaper.
    The Government also harassed and imprisoned foreign journalists. On 
October 14, Reporters Without Borders reported that DST members 
arrested journalists from the Qatar-based satellite television station 
Al Jazeera, who had arrived in Abidjan to cover the election. They were 
reportedly taken to the DST headquarters where they were questioned by 
Deputy Director Dje Bi, who demanded to inspect their equipment and 
search their hotel room. They were released two hours later.
    The crews of television stations France 2 and France 3 were 
attacked while reporting on the political standoff. On December 16, 
CECOS forces threatened the crew of France 2 with AK-47 assault rifles, 
and allegedly fired their weapons to force the crew of France 3 to 
cease reporting, according to MFWA. No one was injured in the attacks, 
but the forces seized the journalists' equipment. France 24 cameraman 
Alhassane Kanate was also arrested and detained overnight at the 
Plateau Central Police Station.
    Private radio stations did not have complete control over their 
editorial content. National broadcast regulations prohibit the 
transmission of any political commentary. The Government used the CNCA, 
controlled by the ruling party, to closely monitor Radio Nostalgie, 
reportedly because the major shareholders of the company were close to 
Ouattara.
    The CNCA suspended privately owned radio Abidjan 1 from October 16 
to 31 for covering the activities of presidential candidates, in line 
with CNCA Decision No. 2010-08 of October 13 prohibiting private radio 
stations from covering political activities during the presidential 
campaign.
    Prior to November 28 presidential runoff, the Government did not 
interfere with UNOCI's radio station, UNOCI-FM. However, UNOCI 
denounced efforts by forces loyal to Gbagbo to jam the station after 
the runoff.
    The Government and the ruling FPI continued to exercise 
considerable influence over the official media's television program 
content and news coverage. During the year opposition leaders 
frequently complained that they were not granted equal television 
airtime on official media. A report published by Reporters Without 
Borders in October found that, during the first round of the 
presidential elections, Gbagbo enjoyed more than three times more media 
coverage than his next closest rival.
    The media played a role in inflaming tensions, and newspapers 
backed by political parties occasionally published inflammatory 
editorials. The Ivoirian Observatory on Press Freedom and Ethics and 
the National Press Commission, which enforced regulations regarding 
creation, ownership, and freedom of the press, regularly urged 
journalists to practice moderation. In the aftermath of the November 28 
runoff election, the UN and international organizations criticized 
Gbagbo for using the state-controlled media to incite political 
violence and to exploit ethnic tensions. The state-run television 
channel RTI and newspaper Fraternite Matin were singled out for leading 
a calculated campaign of ``disinformation'' against President Ouattara 
and the UNOCI peacekeeping force, according to the UN (see section 6).
    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 three months to two years in prison.
    The FN broadcasted its own programming from Bouake, which included 
radio and television 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, the FN broadcasted on 
a local radio station from Man. The FN continued to allow broadcasts of 
government television or radio programs in its zones. The FN also 
allowed distribution of all progovernment newspapers and most 
independent newspapers in its territory.
    On October 1, Prime Minister Soro met with various media 
stakeholders and called for the closure of ``unauthorized'' FN radio 
and television stations. The CNCA had previously stated that some 
stations were not legally authorized to broadcast messages, yet some FN 
stations chose to ignore the order and were operating at year's end.
    No action was taken against FN members who beat, harassed, and 
killed journalists in previous years.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
Citizens had access to the Internet at Internet cafes, but home access 
was prohibitively expensive for most persons. According to the Internet 
World Stats data for June, approximately 4.6 percent of inhabitants 
used the Internet.
    The Government suspended all SMS messaging services on October 31, 
and by year's end the Gbagbo regime had not restored the services.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The Government restricted 
academic freedom. The Student Federation of Cote d'Ivoire (FESCI), the 
progovernment militant student group created in the early 1990s, 
generated a climate of fear and intimidation at universities and 
secondary schools and regularly stopped classes, forced students to 
attend meetings, and threatened professors who interfered in their 
activities. The Government controlled most educational facilities, and 
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 had been transferred, or feared that 
they could 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.
    Violent attacks by FESCI members against students and teachers 
continued during the year. FESCI members killed and tortured other 
students, teachers, and civilians with impunity. While FESCI members 
were occasionally arrested or detained for their actions, they were 
rarely if ever prosecuted.
    On February 10, in Danane, FESCI members physically assaulted 
several volunteer teachers who had staged a strike demanding to be 
granted tenure and better pay. The FESCI members took several of the 
teachers and school administrators hostage. FDS-Forces Nouvelles (FDS-
FN) elements stormed the school and freed the hostages.
    On February 17, several FESCI members armed with clubs disrupted a 
sensitization campaign organized by UNOCI at the Lycee Moderne in Divo. 
One UNOCI staff member and the deputy prefect, Zeze Tetiali, were 
injured in the incident.
    On March 8, two rival groups of FESCI, one from Yamoussoukro and 
the other from Toumodi, clashed violently at the College Moderne 
Esperance of Toumodi. The two groups attacked each other with metal 
bars, truncheons, and stones, injuring 19 students. Two other students 
were taken hostage by their peers from Yamoussoukro. UNOCI human rights 
officers in Yamoussoukro took up the case with the prefet of Toumodi. 
FESCI members were instructed to return the stolen goods and free the 
hostages.
    On March 26, FESCI and the Union Nationale des Eleves de Cote 
d'Ivoire of the Dimbokro modern high school violently clashed in 
Dimbokro. Armed with truncheons and machetes, a group of eight FESCI 
members marched into the city center, and attacked and killed one 
student. Police subsequently arrested four FESCI members. School 
authorities suspended classes in order to defuse tension.
    On April 27, approximately 40 FESCI members, aided by the chief and 
youth of the village, tortured and killed a widow in Zagueita whom they 
accused of causing the death of a 20 year-old FESCI member on April 25 
by witchcraft. The alleged perpetrators, including the village chief 
and the president of the youth, were summoned to the local gendarmerie 
in Bonon where they were detained briefly before being released without 
charge.
    On April 28, 15 FESCI members armed with knives, daggers, and clubs 
interrupted mock examinations at the Lycee Moderne and the College 
Moderne in Dimbokro and threatened teachers with death over the 
detention of one of their members on murder charges. Local gendarmes 
arrested six, but the public prosecutor released them on April 29 at 
the request of the regional director of education in Dimbokro. FESCI 
leaders had threatened to block all schools in the country if their 
comrades were not released.
    FESCI actively cooperated with pro-Gbagbo militias and security 
forces during and after the electoral period. For example, on November 
30, FESCI members attacked and expelled pro-Ouattara students from the 
University of Cocody campus in Abidjan. Approximately 50 students were 
forcibly removed from their dorm rooms and expelled from the campus, 
according to press reports. Security forces did not intervene.
    On December 25, members of FESCI, aided by the FDS-CI and pro-
Gbagbo militia members, attacked and ransacked the PDCI headquarters in 
Cocody. Eleven civilians were injured, three seriously with gunshot 
wounds, and one of the injured required amputation of several fingers. 
Security forces posted in the area did not intervene to stop FESCI 
members, and no investigation was conducted by year's end.
    In 2008 HRW published The Best School: Student Violence, Impunity, 
and the Crisis in Cote d'Ivoire, which documented numerous cases of 
violence, extortion, racketeering, torture, summary execution, and rape 
committed with total impunity by FESCI members. No action was taken 
against FESCI members responsible for violent incidents reported in 
previous years.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The law allows for freedom of assembly; however, the 
Government sometimes restricted this right in practice. Groups that 
wished to hold demonstrations or rallies in stadiums or other enclosed 
spaces were required by law to submit a written notice to the Ministry 
of Security or the Ministry of Interior three 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, but the Government prohibited specific events it 
deemed prejudicial to public order. Even if authorization for an event 
was granted, the Government could later revoke it. In 2006 then-
president Gbagbo renewed a ban on all forms of outdoor public 
demonstrations in Abidjan. The ban was not lifted at year's end.
    Police dispersed antigovernment demonstrations several times 
throughout the year. On February 12, then-president Gbagbo dissolved 
the Government and the CEI, which was charged with organizing elections 
and voter registration. As a result demonstrations broke out throughout 
the country, but the most significant ones took place in Abidjan, 
Abouakoussikro, Bondoukou, Bouake, Daloa, Divo, Duekoue, Gagnoa, 
Katiola, Korhogo, Man, and Tiebissou. Security forces used deadly force 
in four of these towns: they killed two persons in Abidjan, four in 
Daloa, two in Divo, and five in Gagnoa. Three minors, including one 
infant, were among the 13 killed during these demonstrations. At least 
76 persons, including 14 minors, were injured. Eighteen members of the 
security forces, including eight with the Integrated Command Center, 
were also injured.
    A UNOCI report found that not all of those killed and injured in 
the February demonstrations were in the same area as the 
demonstrations. There were credible reports that security forces 
killed, beat, and arrested civilians attempting to flee, even in 
private buildings and homes. Security forces arrested 95 persons, and 
20 were charged with ``disturbing public order.'' No members of the 
security forces were arrested or charged for their involvement in the 
death or injury of persons during the demonstrations. The Government 
actively sought to discredit the UNOCI report implicating security 
forces in these events.
    On December 16, President Ouattara called for a demonstration and 
march to seize the RTI headquarters, and the Gbagbo-controlled 
government offices in Plateau. Members of the FDS-CI loyal to Gbagbo 
violently suppressed the march. At least 20 demonstrators were killed, 
and hundreds were arrested and arbitrarily detained in makeshift 
detention centers.
    There were no developments in cases from previous years in which 
police used force to disperse demonstrations.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association, and the Government generally respected this right; 
however, the law prohibits the formation of political parties along 
ethnic or religious lines, although both were key factors in some 
parties' membership.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a discussion of religious freedom, 
please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law do not 
provide specifically for freedom of movement, foreign travel, 
emigration, or repatriation, and the Government restricted freedom of 
movement during the year.
    The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    There were frequent restrictions on internal travel. Security 
forces, local civilian ``self-defense'' committees, and water, 
forestry, and customs officials frequently erected and operated 
roadblocks on major roads where they regularly extorted money from 
travelers.
    Persons living under FN authority continued to face harassment and 
extortion when trying to travel between towns and to and from the 
Government-controlled south. Villagers complained that these fees 
prevented pregnant women and other vulnerable persons from traveling to 
receive medical care.
    On May 15, the president of the Burkinabe youth in Ketro-Bassam was 
severely beaten and molested by FAFN elements under Sergeant Fofana's 
command for refusing to pay a ``crossing fee'' of 200 FCFA ($0.40). The 
FAFN elements detained him until his family paid 50,000 FCFA ($100) for 
his release. On May 17, FN authorities replaced those soldiers deployed 
in the area with a new team, but took no further action against the 
alleged perpetrators.
    On August 25, FAFN soldiers from Bouna erected roadblocks in Bania, 
and demanded 200,000 FCFA ($400) from each passing vehicle.
    Gaps in financial services in the FN zone made some citizens 
targets of harassment. Although banking services were at near 100 
percent of precrisis levels in the northern part of the country, such 
services in the western part of the country remained quite limited. 
Security forces reportedly required payment of significant bribes by 
residents of the west who had to travel or to send money-runners 
inordinate distances, perhaps crossing into the Government-controlled 
zone, to obtain or disburse funds.
    The law specifically prohibits forced exile, and no persons were 
forcibly exiled during the year.
    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--At year's end, the UN's 
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported 
that 18,000 IDPs had fled their homes or villages as a result of post-
November 28 political violence, namely from violence in the town of 
Duekoue in the western part of the country. Approximately 7,000 IDPs 
took refuge in a Catholic mission outside the town, and the ICRC 
provided tents, medical supplies, water, and latrines.
    As of November the UNHCR reported that the number of IDPs displaced 
by the 2002 crisis who had returned to their villages in the west 
remained unchanged from the previous year at 88,986; however, it 
estimated that 31,000 of these IDPs continued to live with host 
families and to require assistance.
    During the 2002 crisis progovernment and rebel forces did not 
generally target civilians, but ethnic conflict and fighting forced 
many persons to flee the zones of conflict, and others simply felt 
uncomfortable living on the side of the divided country where they 
initially found themselves. Roadblocks and toll-collection points made 
it difficult for civilians to move throughout the country. IDPs 
continued to place heavy burdens on host communities, in part due to 
the prolonged nature of the crisis.
    Government assistance, especially in the north and west where civil 
servants and infrastructure were only partially in place, did not meet 
the needs of these IDPs. International and local NGOs worked to fill 
the gap.
    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Solidarity and 
War Victims, working in concert with UN agencies, took the lead on IDP 
matters prior to Gbagbo's decision to dissolve the Government in 
February. Following the formation of the new government in March, the 
Ministry of Solidarity and War Victims was downgraded to a national 
secretariat, under the Prime Minister's office. In addition, the 
Ministry of Reconstruction and Reinsertion, which had supported IDP 
return movements, was also downgraded to a national secretariat. This 
cabinet reshuffle significantly hampered government efforts to assist 
IDPs. At year's end there was no publicly available national strategy 
for IDP return movements, and the problem was a low priority for the 
Government in the run-up to the presidential elections.
    During the year UN agencies and local authorities continued to 
facilitate the small-scale return of IDPs to several locations in the 
west of the country.

    Protection of Refugees.--The constitution and law provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. The country 
is a signatory to the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention 
Governing Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problem in Africa, and the 
law provides for asylum status to be granted in accordance with this 
convention.
    In practice the Government provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion. The Government granted refugee status and asylum.
    The Government also provided temporary protection for individuals 
who may not qualify as refugees under the relevant UN conventions.
    Defense and security officers occasionally did not honor identity 
documents issued to refugees by the Government or by the UNHCR. There 
were fewer reports than in previous years that security forces 
destroyed refugees' identity documents or arbitrarily detained, 
verbally harassed, and beat refugees at checkpoints.
    Liberians made up the majority of the country's refugees. Those who 
arrived in the country before the 2003 peace agreement in Liberia 
benefited from group eligibility and received temporary refugee cards. 
Liberians who arrived in the country after the peace agreement did not 
receive temporary cards. Under certain circumstances some asylum 
seekers who were not granted refugee status by the Government were 
provided refugee certificates by the UNHCR. The identity card law 
includes a provision for identity cards to be issued to non-Liberian 
individuals older than 14 whose refugee status has been granted by the 
National Eligibility Commission.
    The Government facilitated local integration for refugees in the 
most extreme situations by issuing resident permits to all refugees 
over the age of 14 to allow them to move freely in the country. The 
national office of identification, together with the UNHCR and the 
Ivoirian refugee and the stateless persons aid and assistance office, 
continued to provide refugee identity cards to undocumented Liberian 
refugees, which allowed them to reside and work in the country legally 
for the duration of their refugee status. Refugees also had access to 
naturalization.
    The UNHCR continued to assist the safe, voluntary return of 
refugees to their homes. As of June 30, the UNHCR found that 23,808 
Liberian refugees and 602 refugees from other countries remained in the 
country.

    Stateless Persons.--The scale of statelessness in the country was 
unclear and UNHCR reporting suggested the number of stateless persons 
could range from a few thousand to as many as 900,000.
    Citizenship is derived from one's parents rather than by birth 
within the country's territory, and birth registration was not 
universal. The country had habitual residents who were either legally 
stateless or effectively stateless, and the Government did not 
effectively implement laws and policies to provide such persons the 
opportunity to gain nationality on a nondiscriminatory basis. During 
the year the UNHCR continued to work with the Ministries of Justice and 
Interior to raise awareness of statelessness.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide for the right of citizens to 
change their government peacefully through democratic means; however, 
the Government did not respect these rights in practice. Former 
president Gbagbo refused to cede power to democratically elected 
opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara following the CEI's announcement 
that Ouattara had prevailed with 54.1 percent of vote in the November 
28 presidential runoff. The UN and multiple international and domestic 
observer teams declared Ouattara the winner of the runoff. The 
Constitutional Council reversed the results and declared Gbagbo the 
winner. At year's end, the country operated with two governments. 
National assembly representatives remained in office at year's end 
despite the expiration of their terms in 2005.

    Elections and Political Participation.--The country held two rounds 
of presidential elections during the year.
    On October 31, the country held its first presidential election 
since 2000. An estimated 83 percent of the registered 5.7 million 
voters cast ballots for one of 14 presidential candidates. Voting 
generally was peaceful and orderly, and the UN and other international 
and domestic observers noted no major irregularities. Presidential 
incumbent Gbagbo received 38 percent of the vote, Ouattara 32 percent, 
and Henri Konan Bedie 25 percent; the other 11 candidates split the 
remaining 4 percent. A presidential runoff between Gbagbo and Ouattara 
was held on November 28. Third-place finisher Bedie called for a 
recount of the first round results on November 4, alleging 
irregularities in the voting and tallying processes and inconsistencies 
in the results. The Constitutional Council ruled that Bedie had not 
filed the complaint in the requisite amount of time and certified the 
first round results on November 10.
    Incidents of violence, intimidation, and heightened negative 
political messaging by both candidates and their supporters 
characterized the lead up to the second round. Gbagbo's campaign 
created and promoted an incendiary film Ouattara: Father of the 
Rebellion, which graphically depicted atrocities committed during the 
civil war. The screening of the film sparked a violent confrontation 
between Gbagbo and Ouattara supporters outside one of the showings on 
November 16.
    On November 19, youth supporters of FESCI and the Rassemblement des 
Houphouetistes pour la Democratie et la Paix (RHDP), the opposition 
coalition composed primarily of Ouattara's RDR and former president 
Bedie's party, clashed violently outside an RHDP campaign office in 
Abidjan.
    On November 25, Ouattara supporters reportedly attacked and killed 
a Gbagbo supporter in the town of Bayota after the Gbagbo supporter 
allegedly ripped down an Ouattara campaign poster.
    The country's first televised presidential debate was held on 
November 26. During the debate both candidates urged their supporters 
to refrain from violence. Gbagbo also announced a curfew from 10 p.m. 
to 6 a.m. November 27 through December 1.
    The presidential runoff proceeded in orderly fashion but was marred 
by several incidents of violence, including the killing of two persons, 
and allegations of small-scale clashes between supporters of the rival 
candidates. Voter turnout was recorded at 81 percent, and the UN 
characterized the second round as having occurred in a democratic 
atmosphere. The African Union, ECOWAS, and numerous international 
observer teams characterized the overall conduct of second round as 
free and fair. Following the voting, Gbagbo submitted an official 
complaint to the Constitutional Council alleging irregularities and 
violence in five departments, all located in Ouattara strongholds.
    On November 30, as CEI Spokesman Bamba Yacouba prepared to announce 
election results from three of the country's regions during a press 
conference at CEI headquarters, CEI member and Gbagbo supporter Damania 
Adia Pickass grabbed the results from Yacouba's hands and tore them up. 
Yacouba then entered the CEI building to print off another copy of the 
results, but never emerged and security forces then told journalists to 
leave the premises.
    On December 2, Youssouf Bakayoko, the president of the CEI, 
declared Ouattara the winner of the runoff with 54.1 percent of the 
vote as compared with 45.9 percent for Gbagbo. State-controlled media 
did not broadcast the CEI announcement and several hours later Paul Yao 
N'Dre, the president of the Constitutional Council and a Gbagbo 
appointee, went on television to announce that the CEI was unable to 
deliver a result and that the Constitutional Council was thus taking 
over the responsibility of announcing the election results. In response 
to widespread international coverage of the CEI's results, the CNCA 
announced that all foreign television and radio broadcasts were 
suspended, effective immediately.
    On December 3, N'Dre announced that due to ``irregularities and 
violence'' the Constitutional Council had annulled the results in seven 
regions, canceling more than 500,000 votes in Ouattara strongholds. 
N'Dre subsequently announced Gbagbo the winner of the elections with 51 
percent of the vote. Special Representative of the Secretary General Y. 
J. Choi then certified the election results of the CEI, as required in 
the 2007 Ouagadougou Political Agreement, declaring Ouattara the 
president.
    The UN and numerous international and domestic observer missions 
declared the vote fair and democratic and recognized Ouattara as the 
country's duly elected president.
    Following the Constitutional Council's ruling, Prime Minister 
Guillaume Soro, who had served as prime minister since 2007, resigned 
from former president Gbagbo's government.
    On December 3, Ouattara and Gbagbo took separate oaths of office 
and announced separate cabinets. President Ouattara reappointed Soro as 
prime minister of his government. At year's end President Ouattara and 
former president Gbagbo remained in a standoff over the presidency. 
President Ouattara operated his government from the Golf Hotel under a 
state of siege from pro-Gbagbo forces that continued to surround the 
hotel. Access to President Ouattara and his government, including 
replenishment of food and medical supplies, was extremely limited and 
occurred primarily via UN helicopter. Gbagbo continued to control state 
resources such as the state television station, the security forces, 
and the treasury.
    The country took several steps toward reconciliation during the 
year. The identification and voter registration process, which began in 
2008 and was initially scheduled to last 45 days, ended in June 2009. 
More than 6.5 million persons participated in the process. With data 
collected during this process, the CEI prepared a provisional electoral 
list and posted it for nationwide consultation in November of that 
year, and local CEIs began processing challenges to this list. Although 
the dispute period was scheduled to end in December 2009, it was not 
finally completed until August.
    In September, various political actors agreed upon a final voters' 
list of 5.7 million, an event that marked the culmination of the 
identification and voter registration process which had begun in 2008.
    The most recent national assembly elections took place in 2000 and 
were marred by violence, irregularities, and a very low participation 
rate. 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 legislative by-elections in 2001, 223 of the 225 seats of the 
national assembly were filled.
    Women held 19 of 225 seats in the last elected national assembly, 
whose mandate expired at the end of 2005. The first vice president of 
the national assembly was a woman. Of the 41 Supreme Court justices, 
four were women. Henriette Dagri Diabate served as secretary general of 
the RDR, the party's second-ranking position.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. 
Corruption had the greatest impact on judicial proceedings; contract 
awards, customs and tax matters, and accountability of the security 
forces (see also section 1.e.).
    The 23 cocoa and coffee industry officials arrested in 2008 for 
allegedly embezzling 100 billion FCFA ($200 million), remained in MACA 
prison awaiting trial. In September 2009 four of the officials filed a 
formal complaint against the Government with the ECOWAS Court of 
Justice in Nigeria, claiming infringement of their right to a fair 
trial and violation of their civil liberties. The 23 officials appeared 
before court on September 8, but at the request of the defense lawyers 
the trial was postponed to November 16, and had not resumed at year's 
end.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A number of international and domestic human rights groups, 
including the Ivoirian League for Human Rights (LIDHO) and the MIDH, 
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and 
publishing their findings on human rights cases, prior to the November 
28 runoff. Following the runoff, security forces obstructed UNOCI human 
rights investigators in their efforts to investigate abuses, including 
reports of alleged mass graves found in three separate locations.
    For example, in December forces loyal to Gbagbo repeatedly blocked 
attempts by UN investigators to examine the sites of an alleged mass 
grave in Abidjan.
    During the year UNOCI, LIDHO, MIDH, Action for the Defense of Human 
Rights, and other independent human rights groups gathered evidence and 
testimony on human rights cases, published information in reports and 
in independent local daily newspapers, and criticized government 
security forces.
    FAFN security forces occasionally harassed and abused human rights 
groups. For example, on June 29 FAFN elements arrested a representative 
of a local children's rights NGO, National Association for Children in 
Danger (ANAED), for assisting a 14 year-old girl to file a complaint 
for attempted rape against an FAFN soldier known as ``IB'' in Korhogo. 
Keita Vassisri, the Korhogo police commissioner, accused the ANAED 
representative of false accusation as the medical certificate produced 
did not confirm rape. He also threatened to arrest the girl and her 
parents if they did not pay him 50,000 FCFA ($100) in damages. 
Following the intervention of human rights officers with officials in 
Korhogo, the ANAED representative was released.
    FESCI continued to threaten and harass human rights groups.
    No cases were opened against perpetrators who threatened and 
harassed members of human rights organizations in previous years.
    During the year the Government regularly permitted the World Food 
Program, the ICRC, and other international organizations to conduct 
humanitarian operations. Eleven UN agencies, including the 
International Labor Organization and the World Health Organization, 
were resident and active throughout the year. There were no reports 
that the Government restricted their access to certain areas deemed 
sensitive or denigrated their work.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, ethnicity, national 
origin, gender, or religion; however, the Government did not 
effectively enforce the law.

    Women.--The law prohibits rape and provides for prison terms of 
five to 20 years; however, the Government did not enforce this law in 
practice, and rape was a widespread problem. The law does not 
specifically penalize spousal rape. Claims were most frequently brought 
against child rapists. A life sentence can be imposed in cases of gang 
rape if the rapists are related to or hold positions of authority over 
the victim, or if the victim is under 15 years of age. The court in 
Abidjan received approximately five cases of child rape per month.
    Women's advocacy groups continued to protest the indifference of 
authorities to female victims of violence, including rape. Women who 
reported rape or domestic violence to the police were often ignored. 
Many female victims were convinced by their relatives and police to 
seek an amicable resolution with the rapist rather than pursue a legal 
case. The Ministry of Family and Social Affairs sought justice on 
behalf of rape victims; however, families often preferred to settle out 
of court. As of April 25, 21 persons were officially convicted and 
sentenced for rape, although the lesser charge of indecent assault was 
often used to speed up conviction. While small, the number of 
convictions steadily increased as more victims came forward and courts 
treated the problem more seriously.
    There were continued reports of unidentified highway bandits raping 
and sexually assaulting women in the western part of the country, 
especially along the roads from Duekoue to Bangolo, Man to Biankouma, 
and Man to Toulepleu.
    On January 7, 12 unidentified armed individuals attacked a farmer 
and a woman on the Tahably Glode-Beleouin road. They beat the farmer, 
gang-raped the woman, and took a cell phone and 120,000 FCFA ($240 
dollars). The Duekoue gendarmes opened an investigation into the 
incident.
    On July 30, human rights officers in Duekoue reported that four men 
of the Guere ethnic group gang-raped a 47 year-old Burkinabe woman in 
her house in Guiglo on July 29. The rapists started to remove her 
belongings when she screamed for help. A UN contingent nearby 
intervened, apprehending three of the four assailants, whom they handed 
over to the Guiglo police.
    The law does not specifically outlaw domestic violence, which 
continued to be a serious and widespread problem throughout the 
country. Penalties for assault provide for prison terms of one to 20 
years, depending on the extent of the offense. Government enforcement 
of domestic violence complaints remained minimal, however, partially 
because the courts and police viewed domestic violence as a problem to 
be addressed within the family. The exception was if serious bodily 
harm was inflicted or the victim lodged a complaint, in which case 
criminal proceedings could be initiated. Many victims' parents often 
urged withdrawal of a complaint because of the fear of social stigma.
    During the year the Ministry of Family and Social Affairs continued 
to provide limited assistance to victims of domestic violence and rape. 
The ministry's support included providing government-operated 
counseling centers with computers, printers, and other equipment for 
record keeping. Ministry officials visited a few victims in their homes 
to attempt to reconcile troubled couples and to remove domestic 
servants from homes in which they had been sexually abused.
    The Committee to Fight Violence Against Women and Children (CNLV) 
did not operate a shelter or a hotline for abused women. Instead, 
committee members gave out their personal cell phone numbers on weekly 
radio programs. The committee also monitored abusive situations through 
frequent home visits. Young girls who feared becoming victims of abuse, 
FGM, or forced marriage could appeal to the committee. The committee 
often stopped abuse by threatening legal action against offending 
parents or husbands.
    The Government continued to hold awareness-raising seminars on 
sexual violence for judicial and security personnel. As a result of the 
seminars, some security forces reportedly modified their behavior to 
provide victims with greater privacy, and courts began recording in 
private the testimony of rape victims who were minors. Judges also 
increased the provision of statistics and information on cases to 
enable the CNLV to follow up with victims.
    Other cases of societal violence against women included FGM, dowry 
deaths, levirat (forcing a widow to marry her dead husband's brother), 
and sororat (forcing a woman to marry her dead sister's husband).
    The law prohibits sexual harassment and prescribes penalties of 
between one and three years' imprisonment and a fine ranging between 
360,000 and one million FCFA ($720 to $2,000 dollars). However, the 
Government rarely enforced the law, and such harassment was widespread 
and routinely accepted as a cultural norm.
    Couples and individuals had the right to decide the number, 
spacing, and timing of their children, and to have the information and 
means to do so free from discrimination, coercion, and violence. In 
urban areas access to contraception, skilled attendance during 
childbirth, including essential obstetric and postpartum care, was 
available to those women who could afford it. According to the UNFPA 
approximately 13 percent of women ages 15-49 used some form of 
contraception. The UNFPA also estimated the maternal mortality ratio to 
be 470 per 100,000 live births in 2008. Pregnant women diagnosed with 
sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, were treated.
    According to the poverty reduction strategy report issued by the 
Ministry of Planning in May 2009, 12 percent of the poor had no access 
to a health center, and 26 percent had no access to a general hospital 
where information and skilled health care were provided. For some women 
transportation and costs of services were significant barriers to 
access to health centers and hospitals. The report also stated that 54 
percent of the poor had to walk to a health center, 14 percent to a 
general hospital. Furthermore, threats or perceived threats of violence 
from husbands or family members were also an inhibiting factor for some 
women's access to family planning services located in the health 
centers.
    A joint report by LIDHO and the International Rescue Committee 
(IRC) published in March 2009 noted that police roadblocks sometimes 
prevented pregnant women from giving birth in health centers, resulting 
in women giving birth at home without professional assistance. The 
report also mentioned that some health center professionals defrauded 
pregnant women under the guise of providing services that were never 
rendered. According to the Population Reference Bureau and UNFPA, 
approximately 47 percent of births were attended by skilled personnel 
and a woman had a one in 44 lifetime risk of maternal death.
    The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender; however, 
women experienced economic discrimination in access to employment, 
credit, and owning or managing businesses. Women occupied a subordinate 
role in society. Government policy encouraged full participation by 
women in social and economic life; however, there was considerable 
resistance among employers in the formal sector to hiring women, who 
were considered less dependable because of their potential for becoming 
pregnant. 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.
    NGOs supervised efforts to create economic cooperatives to provide 
poor women access to small loans from the Government or private 
microfinance banks. Women in the formal sector usually were paid at the 
same rate as men; however, because the tax code did not recognize women 
as heads of households, female workers were required to pay income tax 
at a higher rate than their male counterparts. Women's organizations 
continued to campaign for tax reform to enable single mothers whose 
children were recognized by their fathers to receive deductions for 
their children. Inheritance law also discriminated against women.
    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. For example, polygyny is illegal, although it remained a 
common cultural practice. Women's organizations also campaigned against 
legal provisions that discriminated against women. The coalition of 
women leaders and the Ministry of Family and Social Affairs continued 
their efforts to promote greater participation of women in political 
decision making and in presenting themselves as candidates in 
legislative and municipal elections.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents: at least one 
parent must be a citizen for a child to be considered Ivoirian at 
birth. The law provides parents a three-month period to register their 
child's birth for a fee of 500 FCFA ($1). The Government registered all 
births when parents submitted documentation from a health clinic or 
hospital attesting that a birth had occurred. However, persons without 
proper identification documents could not register births. The 
Government did not deny public services such as education or health 
care to children without documents; however, some schools required 
parents to present children's identity documents before they could be 
enrolled.
    Primary education was not compulsory and usually ended when 
children reached 13 years of age; however, it was tuition-free. In 
principle students did not have to pay for books or fees; however, some 
still did so or rented books from street stalls because the Government 
did not cover school fees and books for every student. Students who 
failed secondary school entrance exams did not qualify for free 
secondary education, and many families could not afford to pay for 
schooling.
    Parental preference for educating boys rather than girls persisted, 
particularly in rural areas.
    Teachers sometimes demanded sexual favors from students in exchange 
for money or good grades. The penalty for statutory rape or attempted 
rape of a child under the age of 16 is a prison sentence of one to 
three years and a fine of 100,000 to one million FCFA ($200 to $2,000).
    Children were victims of physical and sexual violence and abuse. 
Children accused of practicing witchcraft were placed in the care of 
pastors, who sometimes used violence to exorcize them. Although the 
Ministries of Family, Labor, and Justice worked to fight child abuse, a 
lack of coordination among ministries and inadequate resources hindered 
government efforts.
    On January 23, three men in Daloa raped a 15 year-old girl, after a 
man lured her, into an unlit place where two accomplices were waiting. 
The three men also stole her cell phone. The next day, the girl was 
approached by another man who volunteered to help her recover her 
stolen cell phone. The girl followed him and was again raped by the 
three men. The victim received medical care through the assistance of 
the ICRC. The girl and her mother attempted to file a complaint however 
they gave up once they were unable to secure an appointment with the 
police commissioner on the day, according to the ICRC. No investigation 
was undertaken.
    On March 29, the Duekoue police arrested and transferred two rape 
suspects to the Daloa tribunal for trial. The first, a private school 
teacher, was accused of repeatedly raping a 9 year-old pupil to whom he 
had been giving private lessons. The second was suspected of raping a 
15 year-old student in Duekoue.
    On April 9, the Daloa trial court sentenced a man to five years' 
imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 FCFA ($200) for raping a four year-
old girl in February 2009 in Vavoua.
    On August 24, human rights officers in Daloa reported that a 27 
year-old man who raped a 13 year-old girl on July 31 in Duekoue was 
sentenced by the Daloa tribunal to five years' imprisonment and a fine 
of 100,000 FCFA ($200) for ``violent indecent assault.''
    FGM was a serious problem. The law specifically forbids FGM and 
provides penalties for practitioners of up to five years' imprisonment 
and fines of 360,000 to two million FCFA ($720 to $4,000). Double 
penalties apply to medical practitioners. FGM was practiced most 
frequently among rural populations in the north and west and to a 
lesser extent in the center and south. FGM usually was performed on 
girls before or at puberty as a rite of passage. Local NGOs continued 
public awareness programs to prevent FGM and worked to persuade FGM 
practitioners to stop the practice. Unlike previous years, authorities 
did make some arrests related to FGM during the year; however, 
practitioners were rarely charged.
    For example, on June 13, the Duekoue police and IRC representatives 
interrupted an FGM ceremony in the Kokoman neighborhood in Duekoue. A 
six year-old girl who had just been mutilated was rushed to the Duekoue 
hospital where she received medical treatment. Police arrested the 
girl's mother and three other women involved. No further action was 
taken against those responsible at year's end.
    The law prohibits the marriage of men under the age of 20 and women 
under the age of 18without the consent of their parents. The law 
specifically penalizes anyone who forces a minor under 18 years of age 
to enter a religious or customary matrimonial union. However, in 
conservative communities--particularly those in the north--traditional 
marriages were commonly performed with girls as young as 14 years of 
age.
    Children engaged in prostitution for survival without third-party 
involvement, although the extent of the problem was unknown. Under the 
law, using, recruiting, or offering children for prostitution, or for 
pornographic films, pictures, or events is illegal, and violators can 
receive sentences ranging from one month to two years' imprisonment as 
well as fines of 30,000 to 300,000 FCFA ($60 to $600). Statutory rape 
of a minor carries a punishment of one to three years in prison and a 
fine of 360,000 to one million FCFA ($720 to $2,000).
    There were thousands of children living on the streets. NGOs 
dedicated to helping street children found it difficult to estimate the 
extent of the problem or to determine whether these children had access 
to government services.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The country's Jewish community numbered fewer than 
100 persons. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law requires the Government to 
educate and train persons with physical, mental, visual, auditory, and 
cerebral motor disabilities, hire them or help them find jobs, design 
houses and public facilities for wheelchair access, and 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. The law also prohibits acts of 
violence against persons with disabilities and the abandonment of such 
persons; however, there were no reports that the Government enforced 
these laws during the year.
    There were no reports during the year that persons with 
disabilities were specific targets of abuse, but they encountered 
serious discrimination in employment and education. The Government 
created an additional 300 civil service jobs for persons with 
disabilities in 2009, bringing the total of civil service jobs for 
persons with disabilities to 800. No new positions were added during 
the year. However, in practice government employees sometimes refused 
to employ persons with disabilities.
    The Government financially 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 for lack of other economic opportunities. Persons with 
mental disabilities often lived on the street.
    The Ministry of Family and Social Affairs and the Federation of the 
Handicapped were responsible for protecting the rights of persons with 
disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The country's population was 
ethnically diverse, and ethnic groups sometimes practiced societal 
discrimination against others on the basis of ethnicity. At least 25 
percent of the population was foreign. Outdated or inadequate land 
ownership laws resulted in conflicts with ethnic and xenophobic 
overtones. There were reported clashes, usually over land tenure, 
between the native populations and other groups.
    Police routinely abused and harassed noncitizen Africans residing 
in the country and occasionally harassed Lebanese merchants. Harassment 
by officials reflected the common belief that foreigners were 
responsible for high crime rates and instances of identity card fraud. 
Harassment of northerners, which increased markedly after the 2002 
rebellion, generally continued to decline from the previous year. 
However, when local independent electoral commissions began examining 
challenges to the provisional electoral list in December 2009, 
harassment of northerners suddenly increased. Following denunciations 
from progovernment members, CECOS arrested hundreds of northerners and 
suspected immigrants living in the south and west, claiming suspects 
were using forged government documents to be included on the 
provisional voters' list.
    In the period leading up to the November 28 runoff, security forces 
systematically harassed and targeted persons with northern names. For 
example, on November 13, gendarmes arrested a trader at the northern 
entrance to the city of Yamoussoukro and threatened him with 
imprisonment unless he produced his father's original identification 
documents. He was released later that day after he paid the gendarmes a 
sum of FCFA 50, 000 ($100). The Toumodi public prosecutor, when 
questioned about this practice by UNOCI human rights officers, claimed 
that the procedure was legal and refused to open an investigation into 
the case.
    Security forces loyal to former president Gbagbo continued this 
practice of targeting persons with northern names following the runoff.
    Ethnic tensions in the west and southwest continued to lead to 
violence. In the west, and in Duekoue and Bangolo in particular, there 
continued to be violent clashes between the native population and 
members of the foreign community, particularly Burkinabe farmers.
    Several incidents of ethnic violence resulted in deaths and 
injuries.
    On February 5-6, native Abbeys and Burkinabe Lobis clashed in 
M'berie village. The incident was triggered by the killing of a young 
Abbey allegedly committed by a Lobi who remained at large. In reaction 
Abbey youth killed four Lobis and destroyed several homes and 
properties. The clash led to the displacement of 350 Lobis in 
Agboville, Seguie, Boguie, and Rubino, and many returned to Burkina 
Faso. At the end of February, only 27 IDPs, including 17 children, 
remained at the Rubino site. They received humanitarian assistance from 
the UN agencies and the ICRC, following the intervention of UNOCI human 
rights officers in Abidjan.
    On April 6, villagers of Oulai Taibly and Doke violently clashed 
over a parcel of land that was previously claimed by the village of 
Doke. Two persons were seriously injured with gunshot wounds. Law 
enforcement officers eventually restored law and order.
    On June 8, five men armed with machetes raped an 18 year-old girl 
as she returned home from her farm in Tahiraguhe. The assailants then 
fled with five chickens stolen from the victim. The rape of the young 
woman, who was an ethnic Baoule, was allegedly motivated by a land 
dispute between the Baoule and Bete ethnic groups. The victim's father 
referred the case to the sous-prefet of Daloa who brokered an out-of-
court settlement whereby the Bete community leader apologized to the 
victim's father for the conduct of the rapists. The sous-prefet 
subsequently asked the girl's father to withdraw the complaint that she 
had filed at the gendarmerie in Daloa. Human rights officers took up 
the case with the Daloa sous-prefet and the local gendarmerie. In 
August the girl filed a new complaint with the Daloa state prosecutor, 
following the advice of a local NGO organization, however, the sous-
prefet and the state prosecutor delayed investigation of the case until 
after the elections, to ``preserve social cohesion.'' No investigation 
had been undertaken at year's end.
    On June 21, three unidentified armed individuals raided the village 
of Goenie Taouake. The assailants opened fire at the village's mainly 
Malian population before shooting two men at point blank range. One 
victim was killed, and the other sustained serious injuries to his 
legs. This attack was in retaliation to a previous attack staged on May 
18 against the mainly Burkinabe inhabitants of Kouassigno and was 
related to the continuing land dispute between the Burkinabe and Malian 
communities in the Mount Peko forest. By year's end, no one was charged 
in the shooting.
    In 2008 the Government adopted a new law on xenophobia, racism, and 
tribalism, making these forms of intolerance punishable by five to 10 
years' imprisonment. No one was prosecuted under this law during the 
year.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Societal stigmatization of the 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community was 
widespread, and the Government did not act to counter it during the 
year. There were few LGBT organizations in the country. Arc en Ciel, 
the primary NGO representing the LGBT community, operated freely; 
however, the Government required the organization to amend its by-laws 
to include non-LGBT members before the organization's status was 
officially approved.
    There was no official discrimination based on sexual orientation in 
employment, housing, statelessness, or access to education or health 
care. However, gay men were subjected to beatings, imprisonment, verbal 
abuse, humiliation, and extortion by police, gendarmes, and members of 
the armed forces.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The law does not 
provide for the protection of persons living with HIV/AIDS from 
societal and other forms of discrimination. Societal stigmatization of 
persons living with HIV/AIDS was widespread.

    Incitement to Acts of Discrimination.--In the aftermath of the 
November 28 presidential runoff, Gbagbo was criticized by the UN and 
international organizations for using the state-controlled media to 
incite political violence and promote ethnic tensions. Pro-Gbagbo 
dailies, such as Notre Voie and Le Temps, were also cited as promoting 
and inciting ethnic and racist violence, particularly against Burkinabe 
and other foreign nationals living in the country.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows all citizens, except 
members of the police and military services, to form or join unions of 
their choice, and workers exercised these rights in practice, although 
with some restrictions.
    The total workforce numbered 6,006,190 persons, of whom 61.3 
percent were in the agricultural sector. Public sector employees 
accounted for 10.1 percent of the workforce, while 28.6 percent worked 
in the public sector. Only a small percentage of the workforce was 
organized, and most laborers worked in the informal sector, which 
included small farms, small roadside and street shops, and urban 
workshops. However, large industrial farms and some trades were 
organized, and there was an agricultural workers union. Of the 15 
percent of workers in the formal sector, approximately 60 percent were 
unionized.
    The law allows unions in the formal sector, which comprised 
approximately 1.7 million workers or 28.6 percent of the workforce, to 
conduct their activities without interference, and the Government 
protected this right in practice, with some exceptions.
    The law provides for the right to strike, and workers in both 
private and public sectors generally exercised this right. However, the 
law requires a protracted series of negotiations and a six-day 
notification period before a strike may take place, making legal 
strikes difficult to organize and maintain. In addition, the president 
has broad powers to decree the requisition of the strikers, and to 
submit strikes in essential services to arbitration, but the labor code 
does not provide for a list of such services.
    On April 12, a major transportation strike was called due to an 
increase in the cost of fuel. After four days, the Government agreed to 
lower the price of diesel, thus eliminating the increase implemented on 
April 1.
    On August 10 customs officers from the ``Syndicat pour la Defense 
des Droits des Douaniers-SYDD'' protested against the delay in the 
payment of quarterly bonuses. Following negotiations, the union's 
demands were met.
    In November and December 2009 the National Union of Secondary 
School Teachers went on strike, demanding a pay increase. Following 
talks with the first lady, the secondary school teachers agreed to 
suspend the strike, and the union's claims were partially met with the 
payment of half of the pay increase demanded.
    In December 2009, a strike by the Local Government Unions 
Collective led to the arrest of 47 civil servants, 41 of whom were 
later given two-month suspended sentences. The Local Government Unions 
Collective called off the two-week strike after it reached an agreement 
with government. The Government agreed to pay partial arrears owed to 
the local governments and promised to speed up the review of legal 
texts regarding the transfer of charges from the Government to the 
local government. The union set up a follow up committee on the pending 
matters. No developments were reported at year's end.
    Absent reciprocal union agreements, foreigners are required to 
obtain residency status, which takes three years, before they may hold 
union office.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for collective bargaining and 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. The number 
of collective bargaining agreements reached during the year was 
unknown.
    The law does not prohibit antiunion discrimination by employers or 
others against union members or organizers, and the Ministry of Labor 
did not report any complaints of antiunion discrimination and employer 
interference in union functions during the year. There were also no 
reports of workers fired for union activities who were not reinstated. 
Under the labor law workers could not be fired for union activities, 
and this law was enforced.
    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 Government 
made efforts to enforce the law during the year. However, such 
practices occurred.
    Instances of forced labor occurred in the informal labor sectors, 
which were not regulated under existing labor laws. Thus, domestics, 
most nonindustrial farm laborers, and those who worked in street shops 
and restaurants remained outside formal government protection. Forced 
adult labor occurred in small-scale and commercial production of 
agricultural products. There were reports of forced adult labor 
practices in rubber production, primarily in the form of long hours and 
low-pay for workers who lived in conditions of effective indenture.
    Forced child labor occurred (see section 7.d.).
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There were laws against forced labor and the exploitation of children 
in the workplace; however, child labor remained a widespread problem, 
particularly in cocoa and coffee plantations, and gold mines. In most 
instances the legal minimum working age is 14; however, the Ministry of 
Civil Service, Employment, and Administrative Reform enforced this 
provision effectively only in the civil service and in large 
multinational companies. Children were not allowed to work between 7 
p.m. and 6 a.m. They routinely worked on family farms or as vendors, 
shoe shiners, errand boys, domestic helpers, street restaurant vendors, 
and car watchers and washers in the informal sector in cities. Some 
girls as young as age nine worked as domestic servants, often within 
their extended family networks.
    Children continued to work under hazardous conditions on cocoa 
farms. A Tulane University survey published in September 2009 found 
that 24.1 percent of children between the ages of 5and 17 within the 
cocoa-growing regions had worked on a cocoa farm in the previous 12 
months. The survey showed that a number of these children were involved 
in or exposed to hazardous conditions, including operating tools (93.9 
percent) and carrying heavy loads (79.8 percent). Of the children 
working on cocoa farms, 50.6 percent reported that they had been 
injured while working in agriculture. A small percentage of the 
children working on cocoa farms had no family ties to the farmers; 
however, most worked on family farms or with their parents.
    On June 3, the Government created an Independent Office for the 
Fight against Child Labor, and it met for the first time on August 10. 
In July 2009 the Government launched a new program addressing child 
labor in cocoa-growing areas. The program focused on decreasing poverty 
and thereby decreasing child labor by ensuring that each village has a 
primary school, health clinic, and income-generating activities to 
supplement cocoa income. The program included sensitization of parents 
to the importance of children attending school. It also raised parents' 
awareness of the dangers associated with child labor and the need to 
end the involvement of children in dangerous chores. In 2009 the 
Government began to implement the program in 10 villages, and selected 
21 more villages for participation. By year's end the Government had 
not begun to implement the program in any of the additional villages 
selected for participation.
    The Ministry of Labor was responsible for enforcing child labor 
laws and made progress during the year in addressing the worst forms of 
child labor. While enforcement of child labor laws continued to be 
hindered by financial constraints and other factors, there were 
indications that government efforts, along with those of its 
international partners, had a positive effect towards decreasing the 
worst forms of child labor.
    The Ministry of Labor and the prime minister's Child Labor Task 
Force supported and collaborated with NGOs and international partners 
to combat the worst forms of child labor. The task force continued to 
implement a national action plan to combat child labor and trafficking. 
Nine government ministries were involved in the effort. The Ministry of 
Family and Social Affairs conducted awareness campaigns targeting 
children at risk and agricultural regions that employ child labor, 
working in coordination with several international NGOs.
    During the year NGOs conducted ongoing campaigns to sensitize farm 
families about child labor based on the list developed by the 
Government of prohibited worst forms of child labor. The association of 
domestic worker placement in the country worked to prevent the 
exploitation of children in domestic work. Other NGOs campaigned 
against child trafficking, child labor, and the sexual abuse of 
children.
    For child trafficking, also see the Department of State's annual 
Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Minimum wages varied according 
to occupation, with the lowest set at 36,607 FCFA ($73) 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 work. 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 among classes of workers, such as local 
and foreign workers.
    No government action was taken to rectify the large salary 
discrepancies between expatriate non-African employees and their 
African colleagues who were employed by the same company.
    The standard legal workweek was 40 hours. The law requires overtime 
pay for additional hours and provides for at least one 24-hour rest 
period per week. The Government did not enforce the law actively. The 
law does not prohibit compulsory overtime.
    The law provides for occupational safety and health standards in 
the formal sector; however, in the large informal sector of the 
economy, the Government enforced occupational health and safety 
regulations erratically, if at all. Labor inspectors frequently 
accepted bribes. Workers in the formal sector had the right to remove 
themselves from dangerous work without jeopardy to continued employment 
by utilizing the Ministry of Labor's inspection system to document 
dangerous working conditions. However, in practice workers in both the 
formal and informal sectors 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 were 
not enforced. Neither foreign migrant workers nor citizen workers 
working in the informal labor sector were covered under labor laws.

                               __________

                                DJIBOUTI

    Djibouti is a republic with a strong elected president and a weak 
legislature. It has an estimated population of 818,000. In 2008 
legislative elections, President Ismail Omar Guelleh's five-party 
coalition won all 65 national assembly seats. A three-party opposition 
coalition boycotted the race, which international observers from the 
African Union (AU) and the Arab League considered generally free and 
fair. Eritrean troops, who have occupied a portion of Djiboutian 
territory since a 2008 clash over the disputed border, completed their 
withdrawal in June following the deployment of approximately 70 Qatari 
peacekeepers in accordance with an agreement between Djibouti and 
Eritrea signed in Doha. Security forces reported to civilian 
authorities within the ministries of Interior and Defense, as well as 
to the director of national security.
    Significant human rights abuses in the country included difficult 
prison conditions; prolonged pretrial detention; denial of fair public 
trial; interference with privacy rights; restrictions on freedoms of 
the press, assembly, and association; lack of protection for refugees; 
corruption; discrimination against women; female genital mutilation 
(FGM); discrimination against persons with disabilities; and 
restrictions on 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 
reports that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and the law prohibit such practices; 
however, occasional unverified allegations that police and gendarmes 
beat detainees continued.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions remained 
difficult but continued to improve. The country has one central prison 
and a number of small jails supervised by local police or gendarmes. 
The jails are not well equipped as they are only meant to hold 
detainees until their summary release or transfer to the central 
prison.
    The Gabode Prison in Djibouti City usually held an estimated 600 
prisoners, including approximately two dozen female prisoners. There 
were normally fewer than six juvenile prisoners, although their numbers 
occasionally spiked after incidents of youth violence in Djibouti City. 
In December a small outbreak of minor vandalism following a political 
rally led to the arrest of three juveniles who were released within the 
week.
    Several prison nurses and a doctor who visited four times a week 
provided medical care, while prisoners with serious health problems 
received treatment at the main Djibouti City public hospital. Seriously 
ill prisoners were held separately, and prisoners with communicable 
diseases were segregated from prisoners with other health problems. 
Adequate medication was provided. During the prisoner intake process, 
prison officials attempted to test for and document serious health 
conditions. Prisoners with serious mental illness did not receive 
adequate care.
    Men and women were held separately. Juvenile prisoners were 
generally held separately from adult prisoners when space allowed. 
Construction was underway within the existing compound to provide a 
separate facility for children.
    Authorities allowed young children of female prisoners to stay with 
their mothers.
    Although prison officials sought to hold convicted prisoners 
separately from those awaiting trial, space constraints in the filled-
to-capacity prison often prevented full separation of the two groups.
    Prisoners and detainees were permitted religious observance, 
visitors each Friday afternoon, and delivery of food or medicine from 
family members.
    Although there was no formal system in place for prisoners and 
detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities to request 
investigation of inhumane conditions, there were no restrictions placed 
on prisoners who sought to contact such officials.
    The Government granted prison access to the International Committee 
of the Red Cross (ICRC) for inspections, and prison visits occurred up 
to six times a year.
    A small group of Eritrean prisoners of war captured during the 2008 
border skirmish with Eritrea received regular visits from ICRC staff, 
and government authorities accepted ICRC recommendations with regard to 
medical concerns for one of the prisoners.
    At Nagad Detention Center, where authorities held foreigners prior 
to deportation, detainees had access to water, food, and medical 
treatment. Authorities deported most detainees within 24 hours of 
arrest.
    Prison conditions continued to improve, especially with the 
complete transfer of prison security responsibilities to the 
specialized prison guard force created in 2008; that force provided 
some initial training for new members and more effectively enforced 
prison rules and maintained prison security.
    At Gabode Prison prisoners had adequate access to water for 
drinking and washing and to sanitary facilities. The prison kitchen 
remained adequate but rudimentary. Prisoners were provided three meals 
a day, with meat served on alternate days. Prisoners' families were 
allowed to bring food to the prison. Prison improvements during the 
year included human rights training for guards, a permanent doctor 
assigned to the prison, and sewing skills training for some of the 
female detainees.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention; however, the Government did not uniformly respect 
these prohibitions. The Government arrested groups of juveniles 
following reports of rock throwing or minor vandalism. In these cases 
they were not charged but were released after a few days.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Security forces include 
the National Police under the Ministry of Interior, the army and 
National Gendarmerie under the Ministry of Defense, and an elite 
Republican Guard that protects the president. The National Police is 
responsible for internal security and border control. The National 
Gendarmerie is responsible for external security but also has some 
domestic responsibilities. A separate prison guard service is 
responsible for security at the national prison.
    Police were generally effective; however, there were isolated 
reports of corruption, particularly in the lower ranks, whose wages 
were low. There was a Human Rights Office within the police, and human 
rights education was integrated into the police academy curriculum. The 
local police academy coordinated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to host a human rights workshop to 
train Djiboutian security forces as well as Somali police that were 
visiting for other police training.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires arrest warrants and stipulates that the Government may not 
detain a person beyond 48 hours without an examining magistrate's 
formal charge; however, the law was not always enforced in practice, 
especially in rural areas. Detainees may be held another 48 hours with 
the prior approval of the public prosecutor. There were unconfirmed 
reports that detentions exceeding the allowed time limit became more 
frequent during the year, which was attributed to the Government's 
response to minor reports of vandalism and stone throwing between 
juvenile gangs. The law provides that detainees be promptly notified of 
the charges against them, although in practice there were occasional 
delays.
    The law provides for bail and expeditious trial; however, police 
occasionally disregarded these rights. Detainees have the right to 
prompt access to an attorney of their choice; in criminal cases the 
state provides attorneys for detainees who cannot afford legal 
representation. Detainees generally were allowed access to family 
members and legal counsel. The law requires that all persons, including 
those charged with political or national security offenses, be tried 
within eight months of arraignment. Lengthy pretrial detention due to 
inefficiency and judicial staff shortages remained a problem. However, 
no statistics were available.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary; however, in practice the judiciary was 
not always independent of the executive. Constitutional provisions for 
a fair trial were not universally respected. In the two prominent cases 
of Jean-Paul Noel and Abdourahman Boreh, the defendants' foreign 
attorney was not granted an entry visa to represent the clients. The 
judiciary was inefficient but was perceived as rendering verdicts in a 
fair manner.
    The legal system is based on legislation and executive decrees, 
French codified law adopted at independence, Islamic law (Shari'a), and 
nomadic traditions.

    Trial Procedures.--The law states the accused is innocent until 
proven guilty. Trials generally are public. A presiding judge and two 
associate judges hear cases. The judge receives assistance from three 
lay assessors who are not members of the bench but who are considered 
to possess sufficient legal knowledge to comprehend court proceedings. 
The Government chooses lay assessors from the public. Defendants have 
the right to be present, consult with an attorney in a timely manner, 
confront witnesses, and present witnesses and evidence on their own 
behalf. The indigent have a right to legal counsel in criminal and 
civil matters but in practice sometimes did not have legal 
representation. Defendants have the right of appeal.
    Traditional law often applied in conflict resolution and victim 
compensation. For example, traditional law often stipulated that a 
price be paid to the victim's clan for crimes such as murder and rape. 
Most parties preferred traditional court rulings for sensitive issues 
such as rape, as the result is most often a consensus with a goal 
toward maintaining peace between those involved. As a result, often 
more attention is paid to maintaining peace than to the rights of the 
victim, who must abide by the traditional court's ruling.
    Formal law generally provides for equal application to all 
citizens. However, in accordance with Shari'a, male children inherit 
larger portions of estates than did female children.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--A presidentially appointed 
and impartial civil court deals with all matters related to the civil 
code. Citizens have access to the courts in cases of civil rights 
violations. Civil disputes are arbitrated if the parties agree. In 
rural areas traditional courts resolve many civil disputes. An 
administrative law chamber mediates disputes between citizens and 
government authorities. Court decisions were not always enforced.
    In cases of human rights violations, citizens have the right to 
address correspondence to the National Human Rights Commission. On a 
variety of matters, citizens could also seek assistance from the 
Ombudsman's Office, which often helped resolve administrative disputes 
between government branches.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and the law prohibit such actions; 
however, the Government did not uniformly respect these prohibitions in 
practice. The law requires that authorities obtain a warrant before 
conducting searches on private property, but the Government did not 
always respect the law in practice. Government opponents claimed the 
Government monitored their communications.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law allow for 
freedom of speech and of the press provided it complies with the law 
and ``respect for the honor of others.'' The Government did not respect 
these rights in practice.
    While individuals often expressed themselves freely in society, 
opposition leaders continued to state the Government attempted to 
impede public criticism.
    There were few media outlets. The Government owned the principal 
newspaper, La Nation. Each registered political party is permitted to 
publish a public journal or newspaper. During the year the opposition 
National Democratic Party (PND) regularly published the newspaper La 
Republique. Other parties published papers sporadically. Opposition 
political groups and civil society activists circulated newsletters and 
other materials critical of the Government.
    The 2007 ban on the opposition political party newsletter Le 
Renouveau remained in effect throughout the year.
    The Government also owned the only radio and television stations, 
which were operated by Radio-Television de Djibouti (RTD). The official 
media generally did not criticize government leaders or policy, and 
opposition access to radio and television time remained limited. 
Foreign media broadcast throughout the country, and cable news and 
other programming were available.
    Journalists practiced self-censorship due to media and slander 
laws.
    The law regulates the publication of newspapers. Circulation of a 
new newspaper requires authorization from the communication commission, 
which requires agreement from the Djiboutian National Security Service 
following an investigation. The only publishing houses equipped for 
broad distribution are government owned, obliging antigovernment 
sources to print privately.
    There were two local journalists' associations. The Eastern African 
Journalists Association, a group dedicated to fostering press freedom, 
protecting journalists' safety, and promoting regional conflict 
resolution, also had its headquarters in the country.

    Internet Freedom.--There were few government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
However, the Government reportedly continued to block access to the Web 
site of the Association for Respect of Human Rights in Djibouti 
(ARDHD), which was often critical of the Government. ARDHD claimed 
access to its Web site was blocked by the local Internet provider, 
although those with satellite connections were able to access the site.
    According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 
2008, approximately 1.5 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events, and teachers could 
speak and conduct research without restriction provided they did not 
violate sedition laws.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The law provides for freedom of assembly with specific 
requirements such as prior approval from the Ministry of the Interior. 
The Government generally permitted political parties to assemble 
freely. The Ministry of Interior requires permits for assembly in 
outdoor areas or publicly operated venues.
    Several opposition parties held gatherings, including public 
rallies at which they criticized the Government. These events occurred 
with a security presence but without any government interference.
    The Government permitted opposition parties to assemble peacefully, 
but those parties criticized undue delays issuing permits to host 
rallies. The Government administers many of the large meeting venues, 
and some observers charged that the Government occasionally denied use 
to opposition parties.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law allow for freedom 
of association provided legal requirements are met; however, the 
Government restricted this right in practice, particularly for labor 
unions (see section 7.a.).

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the Department of State's 2010 International Religious 
Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law generally provides for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice.
    Due to the continuing border dispute with Eritrea, certain areas in 
the North remained under military control.
    The Government generally cooperated with the UNHCR and other 
humanitarian organizations in providing protection and assistance to 
internally displaced persons, refugees, asylum seekers, stateless 
persons, and other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.
    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--In June 2008 the border 
dispute with Eritrea intensified and reportedly resulted in the 
displacement of at least 207 families living in the North near the 
border. In July 2008 the ICRC provided humanitarian assistance to 140 
displaced families. These families remained displaced, residing 
primarily in the Khor Angar area to the south of their original 
villages.
    The Government utilized the National Assistance Office for Refugees 
and Disaster Stricken People (ONARS) to screen, assess, and aid refugee 
applicants. The Government allowed IDPs access to ONARS and to 
international humanitarian organizations and welcomed assistance from 
outside organizations. The Government deported large groups of 
foreigners who were determined to be economic migrants and not IDPs.

    Protection of Refugees.--The laws provide for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status. The Government has established a system for 
providing protection to refugees under the National Eligibility 
Commission. In 2008 the Government reactivated the commission and began 
interviewing urban refugees who had been in the country for several 
years.
    In practice the Government provided some protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion. However, the Government did not routinely grant refugee or 
asylum status, and delays in the system for granting refugee status 
left persons at risk of expulsion to countries where they might be 
threatened. The Government, working with the International Organization 
for Migration (IOM) and the ICRC, continued its efforts to properly 
differentiate refugees from illegal immigrants; however, a lack of 
manpower and other resources limited the success of the vetting effort, 
particularly in light of the large number of migrants transiting the 
country en route to Yemen.
    Large numbers of illegal migrants were detained occasionally in a 
government effort to reduce the number of illegal immigrants in the 
city. These migrants were given the opportunity to claim refugee 
status, but their applications were usually denied.
    In 2009 ONARS and the UNHCR completed a census of refugees at Ali 
Addeh refugee camp and distributed identification cards to adult 
refugees. However, organizational difficulties and resource constraints 
prevented both entities from providing adequate service to refugees, 
including the prompt processing of refugee claims. While the Government 
grants prima facie status to refugees from southern Somalia, all other 
nationalities, including Eritreans, must register with ONARS. As of 
September 2009, the Government ceased, indefinitely, the registration 
of non-Somalis due to a public disturbance that occurred outside the 
ONARS office, thus denying individuals that UNHCR deemed to be in need 
of protection services access to the services of ONARS. The screening 
unit is now in place at the Loyada Center, a primary checkpoint on the 
Djibouti/Somalia border to accommodate the flow of refugees from 
Somalia.
    Ali Addeh camp was overcrowded, and basic services were inadequate. 
Government studies to determine a possible site for a new refugee camp 
continued at year's end.
    Refugees continued to report that although they could not obtain 
work permits, many, especially women, worked. Refugees that sought work 
without permits typically performed low level tasks in the areas of 
construction, house cleaning, or babysitting. Due to the lack of 
permits, they were unable to challenge poor working conditions or 
ensure fair payment for their labor. Refugees at the Ali Addeh camp had 
access to a local primary school but not to a secondary school.
    During the year the Government provided temporary protection to a 
limited number of individuals who may not qualify as refugees. However, 
illegal migrants identified as economic migrants attempting to transit 
Djibouti en route to Yemen were temporarily jailed and returned to 
their countries of origin. The Government worked with IOM to provide 
adequate health services to these migrants while they awaited 
deportation. There also was a trend toward denying refugee status to 
Ethiopian applicants due to the Government's position that most were 
economic migrants.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens the right to change their 
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice 
through periodic, free, and generally fair elections based on universal 
suffrage. A multiparty system exists, and citizens are free to align 
themselves with the party of their choice.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In 2008 President Ismail 
Omar Guelleh's five-party coalition, the Union for a Presidential 
Majority (UMP), won all 65 seats in the winner-take-all National 
Assembly election. The UMP included former opposition parties and 
leaders. International observers from the AU and the Arab League 
considered the election generally free and fair.
    A three-party opposition coalition, the Union for Democratic 
Alternance (UAD), boycotted the election after its list of demands 
regarding the electoral process was not met. In 2008 the Government 
banned the opposition political party Movement for Democratic Revival 
(MRD), a member of the UAD, alleging one of its leaders had invited 
Eritrea to invade the country. The MRD appealed the decision, and the 
case was pending before the Supreme Court at year's end.
    On April 19, the parliament approved amendments to the constitution 
which included removing the two-term limit for the president, 
specifying that presidential candidates must be between 40 and 75 years 
of age, and reducing the presidential term from six to five years. They 
also included plans for a senate whose organization and function were 
to be determined by the law.
    Opposition political parties claimed the Government restricted and 
interfered with their operations.
    The 2008 legislative elections brought two more women into the 
National Assembly, raising the number of female parliamentarians in the 
65-seat body to nine. There were two women in the 21-member cabinet, 
and the president of the Supreme Court, who by law acts in the 
president's stead in case of death or incapacitation, was a woman.
    The legislature included members of all clans; membership was 
approximately 41 percent Issa, 43 percent Afar, and 15 percent 
representatives of smaller minority groups. Elected as a single list, 
the legislature's composition reflected the governing coalition's 
intent to ensure balance. The cabinet was similarly balanced; there 
were seven Afars, including the prime minister, the defense minister, 
and the foreign minister. However, some Afars continued to claim they 
were not as well represented at lower government levels. There were 
three representatives from Somali clans other than the Issa in the 
cabinet, and one of Yemeni origin.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement such laws effectively, and 
officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.
    According to the World Bank's most recent Worldwide Governance 
Indicators, government corruption was a serious problem.
    The Chamber of Public Accounts and Fiscal Discipline (CAFD) and the 
State Inspectorate General (IG) were responsible for combating 
corruption and conducted public expenditure audits in an effort to 
promote transparency. The law mandates the CAFD and IG to report 
regularly, although in practice their reports lagged behind an annual 
schedule. In 2009 RTD began to broadcast anticorruption public service 
announcements developed with the IG. The public service announcements 
were broadcast twice a week in four languages.
    Public officials were not subject to financial disclosure laws.
    There were no laws providing for public access to government 
information, although legislative texts were publicly available through 
the online official journal, and citizens could address requests for 
information or mediation to the Ombudsman's Office.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A few domestic human rights groups generally operated without 
government restriction, conducting limited investigations and sometimes 
publishing findings on human rights cases. Government officials were 
occasionally responsive to their views. However, government officials 
regularly cooperated with local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) 
offering training and education to citizens on human rights issues, 
especially women's rights. There were no reported government abuses of 
domestic NGOs. Due to the country's small political and NGO community, 
many domestic NGOs included members who were also key officials of the 
Government.
    There were no developments in the 2009 or 2007 cases involving 
Jean-Paul Abdi Noel, the leader of the Djiboutian League for Human 
Rights. A verdict regarding Abdi Noel's dismissal request for the 2009 
case involving his arrest on charges of distributing materials that 
insulted judicial authority remained pending at year's end.
    In 2007 a court tried Abdi Noel for libel and fined and briefly 
imprisoned him. He appealed his sentence, and at year's end he was 
still awaiting a Supreme Court hearing that had been rescheduled 
multiple times.
    The Government routinely allowed visits from international NGOs, 
including those dealing with human rights issues, and regularly 
received visitors from UN bodies. In February 2009 officials from the 
Addis Ababa-based UN Human Rights East Africa Regional Office visited 
to participate in a UN-sponsored human rights seminar.
    The ICRC maintained a small office staffed with locally hired 
personnel. ICRC regional representatives based in Nairobi visited 
monthly.
    The Government's Human Rights Commission, established in 2008, 
includes technical experts, representatives of civil society and labor, 
religious groups, the legal community, the Ombudsman's Office, and the 
National Assembly. The commission met regularly and occasionally 
commented on cases of concern. State-run media featured prominent 
coverage of the commission's activities throughout the year. The 
commission succeeded in having human rights subjects added to police 
and gendarmerie training.
    There is a government ombudsman, who also served in the parliament, 
whose specific responsibilities included mediation between the 
Government and citizens.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit discrimination on the basis of 
race, gender, or language; however, government enforcement of such laws 
was ineffective. The constitution and law do not directly address 
discrimination based on disability or social status. The Government 
took steps during the year to increase protection of women, including 
campaigns against FGM, but societal discrimination against women and 
ethnic minorities persisted.

    Women.--The law includes sentences of up to 20 years' imprisonment 
for rape. The Government did not enforce the law effectively. There is 
no law against spousal rape. Rape cases, which often were not reported 
to the police, were usually settled informally between the families of 
the victim and the perpetrator. Reliable statistics on the prevalence 
of rape were not available.
    Domestic violence against women was a common occurrence, but few 
cases were reported. While the law does not specifically prohibit 
domestic violence, it prohibits ``torture and barbaric acts'' against a 
spouse and specifies penalties up to 20 years' imprisonment. Families 
or clans rather than courts generally addressed cases of violence 
against women. Police rarely intervened in domestic violence incidents, 
and the media reported only the most extreme cases, such as murder. The 
Union of Djiboutian Women's counseling center helped women with a 
variety of problems, including domestic violence. Twenty-eight percent 
of the 344 women assisted by the counseling center reported physical 
violence, 30 percent reported psychological abuse, and more than 50 
percent sought assistance in obtaining alimony or child support 
payments. During the year the counseling center opened a new station in 
the Ali Addeh refugee camp.
    The law does not prohibit sexual harassment, and it was a problem. 
Statistics on the prevalence of sexual harassment were not available.
    The Government recognized the right of citizens to decide freely 
and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children. 
Health clinics operate freely in disseminating information on family 
planning under the guidance of the Ministry of Health. There are no 
restrictions on the right to access contraceptives; in 2009 the 
Government estimated the contraceptive coverage rate at 33.5 percent, 
up from 22.5 percent in 2008. The Government provided childbirth 
services, and increasing numbers of women delivered babies in a 
hospital or health clinic. A 2009 Ministry of Health report stated 78 
percent of the population had access to prenatal care, 15 percent to 
obstetric care, and 36 percent to post-partum care. The UN Population 
Fund estimated the maternal mortality rate in 2008 at 300 deaths per 
100,000 live births. Men and women received equal access to diagnosis 
and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS.
    Women legally possess the same rights as men, with the exception of 
inheritance practices that, in accordance with Shari'a law, provide 
males a larger proportion of estates than females; custom and 
traditional societal discrimination, including in education, resulted 
in a secondary role for women in public life and fewer employment 
opportunities in the formal sector. Many women owned and ran small 
businesses, although mostly in the informal sector, where they did not 
receive the same benefits or access to credit available in the formal 
sector. The Government promoted female leadership in the small business 
sector, including through expanded access to microcredit.
    The increased presence of women in the Government, the legislature, 
and business had a positive effect. A 2008 presidential decree requires 
women to be represented in at least 20 percent of all high-level public 
service positions. The family code governs the majority of family and 
personal matters, but inequities existed. The Ministry for the 
Promotion of Women, Family, Welfare, and Social Affairs was responsible 
for promoting the rights of women.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from a child's parents. The 
Government did not register all births immediately. There were 
difficulties in registering births of children in remote areas, 
although most births in Djibouti City were registered quickly, and the 
Government continued to encourage immediate registration. There is a 
fee to register a child's birth, and this can sometimes result in 
unregistered births.
    Primary education was compulsory and available to all. However, 
enrollment, although increasing, was not universal. The Government 
provided tuition-free primary and middle-school level public education, 
but other expenses could be prohibitive for poor families. Although the 
educational system did not discriminate against girls, societal 
attitudes resulted in lower school enrollment rates for girls than 
boys.
    Child abuse existed but was not frequently reported or prosecuted.
    Female genital mutilation (FGM) was widely performed on young 
girls. An estimated 93 percent of females in the country have undergone 
FGM. Infibulation, the most extreme form of FGM, continued to be widely 
practiced, especially in rural areas. Some studies indicated that 
recent NGO and government efforts to stop the practice reduced the 
number of young girls subjected to FGM in Djibouti City. The law 
prohibits FGM, punishable by five years' imprisonment and a fine of one 
million DJF ($5,570), and allows NGOs to file charges on behalf of 
victims; however, the Government has not convicted anyone under this 
statute. The law provides for up to one year's imprisonment and a fine 
of up to 100,000 DJF ($557) for anyone convicted of failing to report a 
completed or planned FGM to the proper authorities.
    During the year the Government maintained efforts to end FGM with 
continued high-profile national publicity campaigns, ongoing public 
support from the first lady and other prominent women, and outreach to 
Muslim religious leaders. The Government-run press featured frequent 
and prominent coverage of events organized to educate the public on the 
negative consequences of FGM. Efforts of the Union of Djiboutian Women 
and other groups to educate women were reportedly effective in 
lessening the incidence of FGM in the capital.
    Child marriage occasionally occurred in rural areas; local society 
considered it a traditional practice rather than a problem. The 
Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Family, Welfare, and Social 
Affairs worked with women's groups throughout the country to protect 
the rights of girls, including the right to decide when and whom to 
marry.
    Despite government efforts to keep at-risk children off the streets 
and warn businesses against permitting children to enter bars and 
clubs, there were credible reports of child prostitution on the streets 
and in brothels. Children fell victim to commercial sexual exploitation 
after reaching Djibouti City or the Ethiopia-Djibouti trucking 
corridor. Occasionally child prostitution occurred with the involvement 
of a third party, most frequently an older child or group of older 
children. Of 2,430 prostituted persons apprehended by the police in 
2009, 408 were between the ages of 10 and 17.
    There was no specific law prohibiting statutory rape; the age of 
majority was fixed by law at 18 for both men and women. The sale, 
manufacture, or distribution of all pornography, including child 
pornography, is covered under laws prohibiting attacks on ``good 
morals,'' and violations are punishable with a year in prison and a 
fine of up to DJF 200,000 ($1,113).
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was no known Jewish community, and there were 
no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution does not prohibit 
discrimination against persons with disabilities. The labor code 
prohibits discrimination in employment against such persons. The 
Government did not mandate accessibility to buildings or government 
services for persons with disabilities. Such persons had access to 
education and public health services. There was societal discrimination 
against persons with disabilities. No government agency was charged 
specifically with protecting the rights of such persons. NGOs continued 
to organize seminars and other events that drew attention to the need 
for enhanced legal protections and better workplace conditions for 
persons with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The governing coalition 
included all of the country's major clan and ethnic groups, with 
minority groups also represented in senior positions. Nonetheless, 
there continued to be discrimination on the basis of ethnicity in 
employment and job advancement. Somali Issas, the majority ethnic 
group, controlled the ruling party and dominated the civil service and 
security services. Although discrimination in government practices 
based on ethnicity and clan affiliation declined, it remained a factor 
in business and politics.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There were no known reports of 
societal violence or discrimination based on sexual orientation. 
Societal norms did not allow for the public discussion of 
homosexuality, and persons did not openly acknowledge having a 
homosexual orientation.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There was no known 
societal violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
the right to form and join unions; however, the Government 
substantially restricted these rights in law and in practice. Reliable 
statistics on the percentage of the total workforce that belonged to a 
trade union continued to be unavailable. The two civil organized labor 
unions each have a government-appointed counterpart. The civil 
organized labor unions are not recognized by the Government. Only 
members of the Government-approved labor unions attend international 
and regional labor meetings.
    Forty percent of the population is employed; those in rural areas 
work in agriculture. Most agriculture is subsistence farming, and there 
are no agricultural unions. The president has broad legal powers to 
requisition public servants who are considered indispensable to the 
operation of essential public services. Under the labor code, to be 
registered, a union must have the approval of the Ministries of Labor 
and Interior as well as the Labor Inspectorate and the public 
prosecutor. The Act on Associations also prescribes that a trade union 
cannot be established without prior authorization. Some union leaders 
continued to allege the Government suppressed independent 
representative unions by tacitly discouraging labor meetings and 
accused the Government of encouraging what they called government-
sponsored ``shadow unions.'' In June the International Labor 
Organization (ILO) expressed its concern over several points of 
divergence between the country's labor laws and ILO Convention 87, 
including convention provisions that (a) provide for a more or less 
automatic suspension of the employment contract when a worker holds 
trade union office; (b) in an overly broadly-formulated form prohibit 
access to any trade union because of any conviction (whether or not the 
conviction is prejudicial to the integrity required to exercise union 
office); (c) prescribe a lengthy and complicated trade union 
registration procedure; (d) require organizations to obtain 
authorization prior to their establishments as trade unions; and (e) 
confer upon the president broad powers to requisition public servants 
considered indispensable to the life of the nation and the proper 
operation of essential public services. The ILO also recommended that, 
where the representativeness of a workers' organization has not yet 
been established, no representation from the trade unions should be 
barred from the tripartite work of the National Council on Work, 
Employment, and Professional Training.
    In June the ILO also expressed its concern over the postal sector, 
where the postal union reportedly had been faced with authorities' 
antiunion interference, including unfair dismissals. The ILO also noted 
with concern the Government's continued lack of response to the 
International Trade Union Confederation's comments made in 2009 
regarding the Government's lack of genuine commitment to encourage the 
reinstatement of workers and trade unionists, particularly those in the 
postal sector, reportedly unfairly dismissed.
    The law provides the right to strike and requires employees who 
plan to strike to provide 15 days' advance notification to the Labor 
Inspectorate, which uses this period to attempt to mediate an alternate 
resolution of the dispute. In practice unions occasionally disregarded 
the requirement for advance notification. Workers exercised the right 
to strike in practice, and the Labor Inspectorate recorded four strikes 
during the reporting period.
    The Labor Union of Djibouti (UDT) continued to operate; however, as 
a civil-organized union it did not have government recognition, and the 
Government continued to recognize members of the approved counterpart 
to the UDT as delegates to international labor meetings. Neither the 
UDT nor the Government-backed unions have full validity in the view of 
local workers or the international community.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The labor code 
allows for collective bargaining and fixes the basic conditions for 
adherence to collective agreements. During the year government 
officials and labor union leaders reported collective bargaining was 
underway, although progress in reaching agreements was slow. Statistics 
were not available on the number of collective agreements. All parties 
agreed workers needed better technical assistance and legal counseling 
to be able to negotiate effectively with employers. The National 
Council on Work, Employment, and Professional Training, established in 
2008, was charged with examining all collective bargaining agreements 
and playing an advisory role in their negotiation and application. The 
council included representatives from labor, employers, and the 
Government.
    Relations between employers and workers were informal and 
paternalistic. Employers generally established wage rates based on 
Labor Ministry guidelines. In disputes over wages or health and safety 
problems, the Ministry of Labor encouraged direct resolution by labor 
representatives chosen by the Government and employers. Workers or 
employers could request formal administrative hearings before the Labor 
Inspectorate. However, in practice the inspectorate did not have 
sufficient resources to conduct regular preventive inspections or to 
follow up on the enforcement of previous cases.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination and requires employers 
found guilty of discrimination to reinstate workers fired for union 
activities; however, the Government neither enforced nor complied with 
the law.
    The 2004 Djibouti Free Zone Code establishes more flexible hiring 
regulations for workers in the duty free zone, an export processing 
area. However, on other work issues, the national labor code applies to 
workers in the duty free zone.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, a small 
number of women and children transiting the country from Somalia or 
Ethiopia and impoverished local girls fell victim to domestic servitude 
after reaching Djibouti City or the Ethiopia-Djibouti trucking 
corridor.
    For further information, please see the Department of State's 
annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits all labor by children under the age of 16, but the 
Government did not always enforce this prohibition effectively, and 
child labor existed. Children engaged in the sale of the mild narcotic 
khat, legal under local law. Family-owned businesses such as 
restaurants and small shops employed children at all hours. Children 
were involved in a range of activities such as shining shoes, washing 
and guarding cars, selling items, working as domestic servants, working 
in subsistence farming and with livestock, and other activities in the 
informal sector.
    The Ministry of Labor is responsible for monitoring work places and 
preventing child labor, but a shortage of labor inspectors and other 
resources such as vehicles reduced the likelihood that reports of child 
labor would be investigated, and no inspections were conducted during 
the year. There was no government program to enforce the work of 
inspectors.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Only a small minority of the 
population was employed formally and earned a wage salary. The 2006 
labor code canceled minimum wage rates for occupational categories and 
provides that wages be set after common agreement between employers and 
employees. The former national minimum wage did not provide a decent 
standard of living for a worker and family, and it was unlikely that 
such common agreements would provide a decent standard of living. In 
June the ILO recommended the Government reestablish minimum wage rates, 
and ensure that collectively agreed minimum wage rates be binding and 
effectively enforced.
    The legal workweek is 48 hours, normally spread over six days. This 
limit applies to workers regardless of gender or nationality. The law 
mandates a weekly rest period of 24 consecutive hours and the provision 
of overtime pay, and limits compulsory overtime to a maximum of five 
hours per week.
    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 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. Although more flexible hiring 
regulations applied in the Free Zone, other labor code provisions 
applied to all workers, including foreign workers and workers in the 
Free Zone.

                               __________

                           EQUATORIAL GUINEA

    Equatorial Guinea, with an estimated population of approximately 
one million, is nominally a multiparty constitutional republic. All 
branches of government were dominated by President Obiang Nguema 
Mbasogo, who has ruled since seizing power in a military coup in 1979, 
along with his clan from the majority Fang ethnic group and his 
political party, the Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE). In 
November 2009 President Obiang was reelected with 95.37 percent of 
votes cast. There were instances in which elements of the security 
forces acted independently of civilian control.
    The following human rights problems were reported: limited ability 
of citizens to change their government; unlawful killings, including 
summary executions; abductions by security forces; torture of detainees 
and prisoners by security forces; life-threatening conditions in 
prisons and detention facilities; official impunity; arbitrary arrest, 
detention, and incommunicado detention; harassment and deportation of 
foreign residents with limited due process; constraints on judicial 
independence; official corruption at all levels of government; 
restrictions on the right to privacy; restrictions on freedoms of 
speech, press, assembly, association, and movement; official corruption 
and impunity; violence and discrimination against women; suspected 
trafficking in persons; discrimination against ethnic minorities; and 
restrictions on labor rights.
                        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 
killed several persons, including by summary execution, during the 
year.
    On December 28, a Malian emigrant, Bakary Konate, was killed by 
uniformed men at a checkpoint in Bata after he failed to pay a bribe.
    On June 30, a civilian court convicted and sentenced three persons, 
including an army officer sentenced in absentia, to long prison 
sentences and hefty fines for manslaughter and trafficking. The three 
were involved in trafficking seven presumed African illegal aliens, who 
were believed to have died from asphyxiation while being transported in 
the back of a truck in February.
    On August 21, the Government summarily executed four former 
military officers-Jose Abeso Nsue, Manuel Ndong Azeme, Jacinto Micha 
Obiang, and Alipio Ndong Asumu-one hour after a military tribunal 
convicted them of terrorism for seeking to overthrow the Government and 
the attempted assassination of the head of state in February 2009. 
According to Amnesty International (AI), the Government facilitated 
their forced return to Equatorial Guinea in late January from a 
neighboring country, where they had been living for several years as 
refugees; they were held incommunicado in Black Beach Prison, where 
they reportedly were tortured. In a statement released on August 23, AI 
criticized the country for ``abductions, torture, and executions it 
currently carries out under the pretense of justice.'' The Government 
stated that the four had been captured in international waters when 
they were duped into preparing an attack similar to the February 2009 
attack on the Malabo presidential palace that they were accused of 
carrying out.
    There were no further developments in the September 2009 death of a 
Nigerian, Akee Jimoh, who was beaten to death by four off-duty police 
officers after refusing to pay a bribe. At year's end, the four 
officers remained suspended from the police force and an investigation 
continued.
    There were no further developments in the following 2008 security 
force killings: the January police killing of an alleged illegal 
immigrant; the March death in detention of Ncogo Mbomio, a member of a 
banned political party, which AI claimed was a result of torture; the 
May police killing of a Malian citizen; and the December killing of a 
Cameroonian fisherman.

    b. Disappearance.--In January security forces secretly detained 
former military men Jose Abeso Nsue, Manuel Ndong Azeme, Jacinto Micha 
Obiang, and Alipio Ndong Asumu and summarily executed them in August 
(see section 1.a.).
    Former army colonel Cipriano Nguema Mba, who was abducted from 
Cameroon in 2008, reportedly escaped from Evinayong Prison on October 
15 (see section 1.e.).

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices; however, security 
officials abused and tortured persons during the year.
    Following his 2008 mission to the country to assess the use of 
torture in the penal system, UN special rapporteur on torture and other 
cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment Manfred Nowak, 
stated that police employed the ``systematic use of torture'' on 
detainees, including political prisoners and suspects of common crimes. 
Nowak, who observed a fully equipped torture room in the basement of 
the Bata Central Police Station, documented police abuse, corroborated 
by a medical expert, including beatings to the soles of the feet and 
buttocks with batons, solid rubberized cables, and wooden bars; 
electric shocks with starter cables attached to different parts of the 
body with alligator clips; and various forms of suspension with hands 
and feet tied together for prolonged periods while security officials 
beat victims as they swung back and forth.
    Nowak underlined the inhuman treatment of political prisoners in 
Black Beach Prison where they had been held in solitary confinement for 
up to four years without being allowed the one hour of exercise per day 
required by international minimum standards. Political prisoners 
generally were held in leg irons for almost the entire duration of 
their imprisonment. Nowak also found that immigrants ran an increased 
risk of physical abuse in police cells. The Government categorically 
rejected Nowak's report but then said it would take steps to improve 
conditions.
    According to an August 23 AI report, security forces tortured four 
former military officers in Black Beach Prison until they confessed to 
the attack on the presidential palace in February 2009; the four were 
subsequently executed (see section 1.a.).
    Information surfaced during the year that in February 2009 police 
arrested without warrant Epifanio Pascual Nguema, who they detained at 
the Bata police station. Approximately four days later, police officers 
took Nguema from his cell and tortured him for four hours, according to 
an AI report released on May 28. Police reportedly beat Nguema around 
the kidneys, belly, and genitals. For several days he passed blood in 
his urine and was unable to walk or stand straight. Nguema, who 
reportedly was arrested for procuring travel documents for his wife and 
for criticizing President Obiang, was released uncharged in May 2009.
    Following a February 2009 armed attack on the presidential palace, 
the Government rounded up, arbitrarily arrested without warrant, and 
held without charge 10 Popular Union (UP) members, at least two of whom 
were reportedly tortured.
    Foreigners, primarily irregular immigrants from other African 
countries, were harassed, intimidated, and arbitrarily arrested and 
detained. Foreign diplomats, primarily those from African countries, 
also complained that police harassed, abused, and assaulted them and 
their family members, even after the victims displayed their diplomatic 
documents.
    No action was taken during the year against officials at the Malabo 
Central Police Station who in 2008 reportedly beat at least two former 
members of the banned opposition Progress Party of Equatorial Guinea 
(PPGE) to force confessions.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prisons did not meet 
international standards. Following his 2008 visit to assess the use of 
torture in the penal system, UN special rapporteur Manfred Nowak noted 
the use of prolonged solitary confinement, insufficient food, and poor 
sanitary conditions in prisons.
    With the exception of the newly renovated principal jails in Bata, 
Evinayong, and Malabo, conditions in police station jails and other 
local detention centers were harsh and sometimes life threatening. 
Holding cells were overcrowded and dirty, and detainees very rarely had 
access to medical care, exercise, or mattresses. Provision for 
sanitation, ventilation, and lighting and access to potable water were 
inadequate. Diseases, including malaria and HIV/AIDS, were serious 
problems. Access to medical care was inadequate. However, prison 
authorities reportedly provided emergency medical care to prisoners 
they had tortured to keep them alive for other torture sessions. The 
Government has begun providing basic meals in the three main prisons, 
but food was often provided by detainees' families or fellow detainees, 
and access to potable water was severely restricted. Most detainees had 
no access to toilets and resorted instead to plastic bottles or bags.
    Detained irregular immigrants pending deportation were held in 
police cells without food or water for lengthy periods, since most had 
no relatives nearby. In 2008 the UN Working Group on Arbitrary 
Detention, which visited the country in 2007, expressed concern over 
the lengthy arbitrary detentions of irregular immigrants and 
recommended that the Government make significant efforts to ensure 
foreigners received access to consular officials and establish 
reasonable periods of maximum detention; however, foreign embassies 
reported conditions for irregular immigrant detainees remained the same 
during the year.
    There were no reliable statistics on the total number of prisoners 
(including juveniles and women) in detention. Local observers believed 
that there were several hundred overall, but no breakdown was available 
for juveniles or women.
    Female prisoners were generally separated from male prisoners; 
however, juveniles were not separated from adults. Juveniles were 
generally imprisoned for the most serious crimes; otherwise they were 
given ``provisional liberty'' in some cases and monitored. Pretrial 
detainees were held together with convicted prisoners.
    In most cases, prisoners had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observances. Authorities did not permit prisoners 
and detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities and to 
request investigation of allegations of inhumane conditions. During the 
year the director general for penitentiaries twice visited prisons, and 
his visit led to some cosmetic improvements.
    Neither the judicial system nor police had a fully effective system 
to register cases or track prisoners. Prisons provided the Ministry of 
Justice with a monthly printout of prison inmate numbers, including 
releases with full names, sentences completed, and release dates. 
However, the list was not always reliable, and authorities generally 
kept better track of political prisoners than common criminals.
    The Government sometimes permitted independent monitoring of 
conditions in the country's three prisons, 12 jails, and numerous 
holding cells in smaller localities. According to government officials, 
meetings were held during the year with representatives of the 
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to discuss reopening an 
ICRC office in the country. Government officials confirmed two ICRC 
officials were allowed to visit Malabo's Black Beach Prison and other 
prisons on several occasions throughout the year, but access to 
detainees was intermittent and not uniform for most of the year, and 
standard modalities for these visits were seldom followed. However, 
full, unlimited access was granted to the ICRC in November.
    There was no provision for an ombudsman to serve on behalf of 
prisoners to consider matters such as alternatives to incarceration for 
nonviolent offenders and to prevent overcrowding in prisons.
    During the year the Government continued to make some efforts to 
improve prison conditions by allocating increased budgetary resources 
and improving diet. As a result of renovations completed in 2009, 
prisoner cells and the exercise yard at the Malabo City Prison--which 
was singled out for criticism by Nowak--were larger and better 
ventilated. Physical renovations at the three main civilian prisons 
improved living conditions as did the requirement to feed prisoners for 
the first time instead of relying on relatives. The Government also 
hung antitorture posters at airports and border crossings. Minister of 
National Security Nicolas Obama also met with all police commissioners 
to underscore the illegality of mistreating prisoners. The director of 
human rights held four workshops during the year; security and police 
officials stressed that torture was against the law.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention; however, security forces arrested or detained 
persons arbitrarily, secretly, and without due legal process. A 2008 
report by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention expressed concern 
that both police and gendarmes frequently ordered arrests and 
detentions without legal authorization. Secret detentions reportedly 
occurred (see section 1.a.).

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The police are 
generally responsible for security in the cities, while gendarmes are 
responsible for security outside the cities and for special events; 
both report to the minister of national security. Military personnel, 
who report to the minister of defense, also fulfilled police functions 
in border areas, sensitive sites, and high-traffic areas. In addition 
there were police elements within the Ministries of Interior (border 
and traffic police), Finance (customs police), and Justice 
(investigative/prosecuting police). Presidential security officials 
also exercised police functions in the vicinity of the president and 
presidential facilities. Foreign contractors continued to work with the 
Government to consolidate and organize security structures within the 
country.
    Police remained underfunded and poorly trained, and corruption and 
impunity were problems, although less so than in previous years. 
Security forces continued to extort money from citizens and immigrants, 
although the number of such incidents significantly decreased during 
the year. There was no internal investigation unit within the police, 
and mechanisms to investigate allegations of abuse were poorly 
developed.
    The Government recognized the need for professional improvement of 
police and continued to support a broad training program. A foreign 
contractor continued to train police officers and their leaders on 
human rights, prevention of trafficking in persons, rule of law, 
appropriate use of force, and a code of ethics. Evidence and feedback 
from expatriates, citizens, and community leaders indicated improvement 
in performance in human rights and professional conduct, particularly 
among younger officers who received training.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The 
constitution requires arrest warrants, except in cases in which a 
suspect is caught committing a crime; however, the Government 
frequently arrested persons without a warrant. A detainee has the right 
to a judicial determination of the legality of the detention within 72 
hours of arrest, excluding weekends and holidays; however, such 
detentions were often longer, occasionally several months. For example, 
on October 8, police detained Marcos Manuel Ndong, a party secretary of 
the opposition Convergence for Social Democracy (CPDS) in a police jail 
and in Black Beach Prison before allowing him to see a judge on October 
18; the judge released Ndong on December 8 and all charges were 
dropped.
    There were several reports of international businessmen being 
arbitrarily detained in conjunction with business disputes.
    The law provides for detainees to be promptly informed of the 
charges against them; however, authorities did not respect this right 
in practice. Some foreign detainees complained they were detained and 
subsequently deported without knowledge of the charges against them. 
Although a bail system and public defenders--supplied by the bar 
association, which received funding from the Government--were available 
upon request, the public was largely unaware of either, and neither 
system operated effectively.
    The law provides for family visits and prohibits incommunicado 
detention; however, use of such detention and denial of family visits 
were serious problems. According to the 2008 report by the UN Working 
Group on Arbitrary Detention, lawyers did not have access to police 
stations and could not contact detainees while they were held there; 
police superintendents interviewed by the working group stated they did 
not see the need for or advisability of such access.
    Police periodically raided immigrant ghettoes, local stores, and 
restaurants to apprehend irregular immigrants; however, reliable 
sources reported that many legal, as well as irregular, immigrants were 
abused, extorted, or detained during such raids. Police often used 
excessive force to detain and deport detainees, and almost all foreign 
embassies in the country criticized the Government during the year for 
its harassment, abuse, extortion, and detention without representation 
of foreign nationals. Many detainees complained about the bribes 
required for release from detention.
    In January security forces forcibly returned from overseas four 
citizens for suspected involvement in the February 2009 presidential 
palace attack, detained them in Black Beach Prison, and summarily 
executed them in August (see section 1.a).
    The Government arbitrarily arrested a journalist during the year 
(see section 2.a.).
    Unconfirmed information surfaced during the year that at least 20 
minors between ages of 10 and 17 were arrested in February 2009 for 
receiving money from one of President Obiang's grandchildren, who 
apparently had stolen the money. They were detained for nearly two 
months before being released.
    Lengthy pretrial detention remained a problem, and a significant 
number of those incarcerated were pretrial detainees; however, the 
number of pretrial detainees, especially of common criminals as opposed 
to political prisoners, was generally unavailable. Prison authorities 
started to provide monthly printouts on prisoners and detainees to the 
Ministry of Justice. Inefficient judicial procedures, corruption, lack 
of monitoring, and inadequate staffing contributed to the problem.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary; however, the Government did not respect 
this provision in practice, and the judiciary was not independent, 
according to UN officials and local and international human rights 
advocates. Judges served at the pleasure of the president and were 
appointed, transferred, and dismissed for political as well as 
competency reasons. Judicial corruption was widely reported, and cases 
were sometimes decided on political grounds.
    The military justice system did not provide defendants with the 
same rights as the civil criminal court system. The code of military 
justice states that persons who disobey a military authority, or are 
alleged to have committed an offense considered to be a ``crime against 
the state,'' should be judged by a military tribunal, with limited due 
process and procedural safeguards, regardless of whether the defendant 
is civilian or military. A defendant may be tried without being 
present, and the defense does not have a guaranteed right to cross-
examine an accuser. Such proceedings are not public, and the defendants 
do not have a right of appeal to a higher court. According to the UN 
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, ``judges and defenders in 
military courts were not lawyers or jurists, but military officials 
with no legal training.''
    Tribal elders adjudicated civil claims and minor criminal matters 
in traditional courts in the countryside. These adjudications were 
conducted according to tradition and did not afford the same rights and 
privileges as the formal system. Those dissatisfied with traditional 
judgments could appeal to the civil court system.

    Trial Procedures.--By law a defendant enjoys the presumption of 
innocence until proven guilty; however, the Government suspended due 
process and the presumption of innocence for several detainees during 
the year (see section 1.a). Most trials for ordinary crimes were 
public, but juries were seldom used. Defendants have the right to be 
present at their trials but rarely were able to consult promptly with 
attorneys unless they could afford private counsel. An accused person 
who cannot afford a lawyer is entitled to ask the Government to provide 
one, but only if the accused is summoned to appear in court, and 
defendants were not routinely advised of this right. The country's bar 
association was available to defend indigent defendants; however, there 
remained a shortage of lawyers, and there continued to be no effective 
system of court-appointed representation. The law provides for 
defendants to confront and question witnesses and present their own 
witnesses and evidence; however, this right was seldom enforced in 
practice. By law the accused has the right to appeal; however, legal 
appeals were not common due to lack of adequate legal representation 
and ignorance of constitutional rights. The law extends these rights to 
all citizens.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--It was difficult to estimate 
the number of persons detained or imprisoned for exercising their 
political rights, in part because authorities did not maintain reliable 
prisoner lists or allow comprehensive independent monitoring of 
detention facilities. However, approximately 20 political prisoners 
were believed to remain incarcerated at year's end.
    Political prisoners were incarcerated for offenses relating to the 
exercise of political rights; all were members of opposition parties, 
mainly banned parties, or persons the Government accused of involvement 
in various coup attempts. Of those convicted, most were charged with 
``crimes against the state.'' Some were convicted by military courts 
without respect for due process, and some were tried summarily without 
the right to appeal their sentences, according to the UN Working Group 
on Arbitrary Detention.
    Some political prisoners were released during the year.
    On October 7, seven Nigerians (one died earlier in captivity) and 
UP opposition activists Marcelino Nguema and Santiago Asumu were 
pardoned and released; all had been accused of involvement in the 
February 2009 presidential palace attack. The pardon of the Nigerians 
followed their April conviction and sentencing to 12 years in prison by 
a civilian court. The two UP opposition activists were acquitted by the 
same civilian court but subsequently tried by a military tribunal, 
which sentenced them to 20 years in prison. According to AI, Marcelino 
Nguema and Santiago Asumu were tried twice on the same charges.
    During the year all charges were dropped against eight UP activists 
who were arrested in connection with the presidential palace attack and 
subsequently released on bail in 2009.
    The Government also pardoned five political prisoners being held in 
Bata Prison: Jesus Micha Micha, Carmelo Ncogo Mitogo, Juan Bestue 
Santander, Antonio Mba Ndong, and Juan Maria Itutu Mendez. The five had 
been extradited from Gabon in 2004 and given long jail sentences in 
2007 in connection with disturbances on Corisco Island.
    On October 15, former army colonel Cipriano Nguema Mba, who in 2008 
was abducted from Cameroon where he was recognized as a refugee, 
escaped from Evinayong Prison. In a 2004 military trial, Nguema was 
convicted of treason in absentia and sentenced to 30 years' 
imprisonment for allegedly plotting a coup and leaving the country with 
government funds.
    The Government continued to detain other political prisoners whom 
government agents had kidnapped from neighboring countries in recent 
years, according to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
    The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention recommended in 2008 the 
adoption by the Government of necessary measures to put an immediate 
end to secret detentions. The group cited the (at that time) secret 
detentions of Florencio Ela Bibang, Felipe Esono Ntumu, and Antimo Edu 
Nchama, all of whom were kidnapped in foreign countries where they had 
refugee status, tortured, and convicted of treason in a military 
tribunal. Bibang and Nchama were believed to remain in Black Beach 
Prison. On October 15, Felipe Esono Ntumu reportedly escaped from 
Evinayong Prison, along with Cipriano Nguema Mba.
    In 2008 a court convicted and sentenced to six years' imprisonment 
five former members of the banned PPGE political party--Cruz Obiang 
Ebele, Emiliano Esono Micha, Gerardo Angue Mangue, Gumersindo Ramirez 
Faustino, and Juan Ecomo Ndong--on charges of belonging to a banned 
party, holding illegal meetings, attempting to overthrow the 
Government, and arms smuggling. At year's end the five remained in 
prison.
    The Government took little action on 2008 recommendations by the UN 
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention that the Government draft a new 
criminal code; establish an independent judiciary; prompt judges and 
law officers to make periodic visits to prisons and police detention 
centers; limit the jurisdiction of military courts to military offenses 
committed by armed forces personnel; and extend human rights training 
to judges, law officers of all grades, security force members, and the 
Office of the Attorney General. The Government stated it lacked the 
internal capacity to fully institute such changes but that it would 
welcome the efforts of outside organizations and governments to provide 
this capacity training.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Civil matters can be 
settled out of court, and in some cases tribal elders adjudicated local 
disputes. Courts were increasingly engaged in ruling on civil cases 
brought before them, some of which involved human rights complaints. 
Many international companies doing business in the country operated 
with mediation clauses, which were occasionally activated. Resulting 
resolutions were generally respected.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions, but 
the Government often did not respect these prohibitions in practice. 
Security forces entered homes without authorization and arrested 
suspected dissidents, criminals, foreign nationals, and others--often 
without judicial orders, which are not required for certain officials 
to enter and search homes--and confiscated their property with 
impunity.
    Government informers reportedly monitored opposition members, 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and journalists. Most residents 
and journalists believed the Government monitored telephone calls.
    Individuals may hold property title to pieces of land, but the 
state has full power of eminent domain, which it often exercised in the 
interests of development. In past years, scores of families were 
forcibly evicted from their homes to make room for roads and housing 
developments, especially in Malabo and Bata. The local Red Cross, 
Catholic Church, human rights lawyers, and opposition members expressed 
concerns about the displacement of poor communities.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press; however, the law grants 
extensive powers to authorities to restrict the activities of the 
media, and the Government continued to limit these rights in practice. 
The country's media remained weak and under government influence or 
control. Journalists were subject to surveillance and practiced self-
censorship.
    While criticism of government policies was allowed, individuals 
generally could not criticize the president, his family, other high-
ranking officials, or the security forces without fear of reprisal, and 
the Government reportedly attempted to impede criticism by continuing 
to monitor the activities of the political opposition, journalists, and 
others. Libel is a criminal offense.
    Starting a new periodical required a complicated process governed 
by an ambiguous law and was often inhibited by government bureaucracy. 
In addition, accreditation was cumbersome for both local and foreign 
journalists, who had to register with the Ministry of Information.
    Only one international news agency had a regular stringer present 
in the country, and government agents reportedly followed and observed 
stringers for foreign media. Some international media were not able to 
operate freely in the country during the year, and the Government 
refused to issue visas to some Spanish journalists from major media 
organizations prior to the November 2009 presidential election. 
International newspapers or news magazines were generally not available 
in rural markets due, at least in part, to their high price and the low 
rate of literacy in rural areas; however, international magazines and 
newspapers increasingly were being sold in a number of grocery stores 
and hotels in Malabo and Bata.
    On April 14, police in Malabo detained Agence France-Presse and 
Africa One radio correspondent Samuel Obiang Mbana for five hours while 
he attempted to cover a regional summit.
    The law allows the Government considerable authority to restrict 
press activities through official prepublication censorship. The law 
also establishes criminal, civil, and administrative penalties for 
violation of its provisions, in particular when it comes to violations 
of the 19 ``publishing principles'' in article 2 of the Law on the 
Press, Publishing, and Audiovisual Media.
    Many of the legal and administrative obstacles criticized by 
international press freedom advocacy groups continued to pose 
significant problems for the country's media.
    The Government owned the only national radio and television 
broadcast system, RTVGE. The president's eldest son owned the only 
private broadcast media. Satellite broadcasts were widely available, 
including the French language Africa24 television channel that carried 
opposition criticism.
    Foreign channels were not censored, were broadcast throughout the 
country, and included Radio France International, the BBC, and Radio 
Exterior, the international shortwave service from Spain.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports the Government monitored e-mail or Internet 
chat rooms or collected personally identifiable information. 
Individuals and groups could engage in the peaceful expression of views 
via the Internet, including by e-mail. Most overt criticism of the 
Government came from the country's community in exile, and the Internet 
replaced broadcast media as the primary way opposition views were 
expressed and disseminated. Exiled citizens' sites were not blocked and 
some Internet-based criticism of the Government and its leaders was 
openly sourced to individuals living inside the country without 
negative repercussions. According to International Telecommunication 
Union statistics for 2009, approximately 2.2 percent of the country's 
inhabitants used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no official 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events; however, in past 
years some professionals lost their teaching positions because of their 
political affiliation or critical statements reported to government 
officials by students in their classes. Most professors reportedly 
practiced self-censorship to avoid problems. Cultural events required 
coordination with the Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism.
    Members of opposition political parties and faculty members 
complained of government interference in the hiring of teachers, 
continued employment of unqualified teachers, and pressure to give 
passing grades to failing students with connections. Teachers with 
political connections but no experience or accreditation were hired, 
even though they seldom appeared at the classes they purportedly 
taught. No teacher's union existed to defend the rights of teachers, 
and teaching positions were available only to PDGE members.
    On May 26, university professor Alfredo Okenve Ndo was fired from 
the National University's School of Engineering Technology as both a 
board member and professor after speaking about official corruption at 
a civil society event abroad on May 21.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for the right of assembly; 
however, the Government restricted this right, largely through limits 
on freedom of association, which made it difficult for organizations 
that had not gained legal authorization to operate and hold meetings 
legally. Although the Government formally abolished permit requirements 
for political party meetings within party buildings, opposition parties 
were expected to inform authorities if they wished to hold gatherings 
outside of their headquarters. The Government required notification for 
public events such as meetings or marches. According to foreign donors 
and members of local civil society groups, in light of coup attempts in 
recent years, the Government continued to view some informal meetings 
by associations as security threats.
    On September 1, the provincial governor in Bata refused to 
authorize a public demonstration against the death penalty by the 
legally recognized UP party on the grounds that the party ``is not 
represented in parliament where it could actually introduce a bill 
against it.''
    During the 2009 election campaign, local officials impeded 
opposition attempts to campaign in regions loyal to the president (see 
section 3).

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of association, but the Government significantly restricted 
this right in practice. All political parties, labor unions, and other 
associations must register with the Government. As of year's end, only 
one labor organization had been registered. The law prohibits the 
formation of political parties along ethnic lines, and several 
political parties remained banned (see section 3). The registration 
process for NGOs was costly, burdensome, opaque, and sometimes took 
years to complete. However, there were no government restrictions that 
targeted specific groups. During the year foreign donors continued to 
urge the Government to review and reform the legal regime governing the 
establishment of NGOs.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/
drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation. However, the Government sometimes restricted these rights 
in practice.
    During the year there were no cases in which the Government 
cooperated with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which had no 
local office, or other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees 
and asylum seekers.
    Police at roadblocks routinely checked passing travelers and 
occasionally engaged in petty extortion, although reports of such 
practices declined during the year. Frequent roundups of irregular 
immigrants also occurred at roadblocks. The Government claimed 
roadblocks impeded illegal immigration, mercenary activities, and 
attempted coups.
    The law prohibits forced internal or external exile; however, the 
Government did not respect this in practice. Following the granting of 
pardons to political prisoners in 2008, the Government required several 
of them to return to and remain in their villages of origin. Several 
members of banned political parties remained in self-imposed exile.
    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--Unlike in the previous year, 
there were no reports that the Government continued to forcibly evict 
scores of families from their homes to make room for roads and luxury 
housing developments (see section 1.f.).

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has not 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. The 
Government provided temporary humanitarian protection to individuals 
who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention and its 1967 
Protocol.
    In practice the Government provided some protection against the 
expulsion or return of persons to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion.
    Although reliable data on the number of persons involved was not 
available, the Government provided temporary humanitarian protection to 
individuals who may not qualify as refugees during the year.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens the right to change their 
government peacefully; however, despite continued improvements in the 
electoral process during the year, this right was extremely limited, 
partly as a result of the dominance of the ruling PDGE party.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In November 2009 President 
Obiang was reelected, winning 95.37 percent of votes cast; opposition 
candidate Placido Mico of the CPDS won 3.55 percent of the vote. The 
lopsided results and weak independent monitoring of the electoral 
process raised the suspicion of systematic voting fraud. Few 
international election observers monitored the country's 1,289 polling 
stations as a result of the Government's insistence on coordinating 
their movement, prohibition of criticism, and control of media access. 
Procedural irregularities at some polling stations included multiple 
voting, failure to respect secrecy of the vote, and the absence of a 
posted list of registered candidates. At some stations, family voting 
was allowed, unregistered voters were allowed to vote, and ballot boxes 
were unsealed. Soldiers were deployed to all polling stations.
    In October 2009 President Obiang announced the election would be on 
November 29, with campaigning to begin officially on November 5. 
According to Human Rights Watch, the tight election timetable and the 
Government's refusal to make the voter rolls public severely limited 
the opposition's ability to campaign and win support. The voter 
registration process, an important part of the preparations for 
elections in the country, was seriously flawed. The registration 
committee was composed primarily of PDGE members and routinely decided 
issues in favor of the PDGE. When registering a PDGE member, the 
committee registered all members of the family as PDGE voters, 
including children. Persons who were dead, underage, or living abroad 
were included as PDGE registrants.
    No independent and impartial body existed to oversee the electoral 
process or consider election-related complaints. The National Electoral 
Commission, which was separate from the voter registration committee 
and charged with ensuring the fairness of the elections and handling 
formal postelection complaints, was controlled by the ruling party and 
headed by the interior minister, a prominent member of the party. While 
its membership included a representative of each political party that 
fielded candidates, it also included representatives from the 
Government, lacked civil society representation, and a majority of its 
members were ruling party officials. The opposition CPDS party claimed 
that one of its electoral officials was forced with a pistol held to 
his head to sign off on a vote count.
    Opposition party members and candidates operated at a significant 
disadvantage when attempting to gain voter support. On the whole, 
opposition parties and their candidates were poorly organized, poorly 
financed, and lacked public support. Because of quasi-mandatory 
collection of dues and other contributions, the ruling party had 
greatly disproportionate funding available, including for gifts to 
potential voters. Several peaceful political parties banned in recent 
years were not allowed to participate in the elections. The Government 
denied the opposition equal access to the media. Opposition members and 
leaders also claimed the Government monitored their activities.
    Unlike in previous elections, no opposition members were 
arbitrarily arrested, detained, or tortured; however, opposition 
candidates were harassed and intimidated during the presidential 
campaign.
    No action was taken against a priest in Ayene who stopped a CPDS 
candidate from holding a rally in the town square in November 2009 or 
against the security forces and PDGE members who assaulted supporters 
of the UP party in Aconibe the same month.
    The ruling PDGE party ruled through a complex arrangement built 
around family, clan, and ethnic loyalties. Indirect pressure for public 
employees to join the PDGE continued. Opposition party members 
continued to report they had been discriminated against in hiring, job 
retention, scholarships, and obtaining business licenses. During the 
year individuals contended government pressure precluded opposition 
members from obtaining jobs with foreign companies. Opposition party 
members claimed businesses found to have hired employees with direct 
links to families, individuals, parties, or groups out of favor with 
the Government were often forced to dismiss employees or face 
recrimination.
    The three legal opposition parties faced restrictions on freedoms 
of speech, association, and assembly (see sections 2.a. and 2.b.). Some 
political parties that existed before the 1992 law establishing 
procedures to legalize political parties remained banned, generally for 
``supporting terrorism.''
    The president, who may serve an unlimited number of six-year terms, 
exercised strong powers as head of state, commander of the armed 
forces, head of the judiciary, and founder and head of the ruling 
party. In general, leadership positions within government were 
restricted to the president's party or the coalition of ``loyal 
opposition'' parties. Because the ruling party overwhelmingly dominated 
the commissions established to review electoral practices and recommend 
reforms, few changes were made. The minister of the interior was 
appointed to act as president of the national electoral commission.
    The Government did not overtly limit participation of minorities in 
politics; however, the predominant Fang ethnic group, estimated to 
constitute more than 85 percent of the population, continued to 
exercise strong political and economic power. Women comprised more than 
10 percent of the 100-member parliament, including its vice president. 
There was one woman in the cabinet and four of the vice ministers (for 
the Ministries of Health, Economy, Finance, and Planning) were women.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    Laws provide severe criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement these laws effectively, and 
officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. 
Corruption continued to be a severe problem. The presidency and prime 
minister's office were the lead agencies for anticorruption efforts. 
The president and members of his inner circle continued to amass 
personal profits from the oil windfall.
    At least two high-profile corruption cases involving officials 
stealing government funds were successfully prosecuted during the year. 
Both involved well-connected government officials in the Ministry of 
Finance and in the state-run telephone company, GETESA. Lengthy jail 
sentences and heavy fines were handed down to senior officials, 
including a parliamentarian from the ruling party and a relative of a 
vice prime minister.
    In August, in the finance ministry case, treasury official and 
ringleader Ernesto Abeso was sentenced to 21 years in prison and fined 
3 million CFA ($6,072). Another finance ministry official, Adolfo Mba 
Ela, was sentenced to 21 years. A 19-year sentence was imposed on three 
other finance ministry officials, Martin Nseng Monsuy (also a PDGE 
parliamentarian), Angel Salvador Elo Micue, and Astrina Micue Ndong. 
Seven others received lesser sentences, and 11 others were acquitted.
    In September, in the GETESA case, a court convicted six persons of 
stealing government funds (three were French citizens who were tried in 
absentia).
    In July some national security officials were removed because of 
corruption and posted abroad as diplomats in African embassies. The 
vice minister of national security and the secretary of state for 
national security were both removed from their positions. The vice 
minister refused to go to his posting and was briefly imprisoned and 
reportedly remained under house arrest.
    In November a French appeals court reinstated the lawsuit filed in 
2008 against President Obiang and two other African heads of state 
accused of acquiring luxury homes in France with embezzled public 
funds. The lawsuit, which was dismissed by a French court earlier in 
the year, was filed by anticorruption activist groups, including the 
French chapter of AI.
    A lawsuit filed by a Spanish human rights group in 2008 alleging 
that members of President Obiang's family and high-ranking political 
officials close to the president had laundered money and bought homes 
in Spain from embezzled funds continued at year's end.
    Officials by law must declare their assets, although no 
declarations were published publicly. There was no requirement for 
officials to divest themselves of business interests in potential 
conflict with official responsibilities and no law prohibiting conflict 
of interest. Most ministers continued to moonlight and conduct 
businesses they conflated with their government responsibilities.
    During the year the Government made progress toward meeting 
objectives required to join the Extractive Industries Transparency 
Initiative (EITI), a multinational civil society initiative to 
encourage transparency and accountability in extractive industries, 
developing an approved work plan and achieving candidate status. As a 
result of its participation in the EITI, the Government for the first 
time released oil revenue figures for 2007 ($4 billion) and 2008 ($5.9 
billion). However, in April EITI delisted Equatorial Guinea as a 
candidate country because of lack of consensus among board members on 
whether or not there were extenuating circumstances that would give the 
country an extension to complete all EITI requirements.
    The law does not provide for public access to government 
information, and citizens and noncitizens, including foreign media, 
were generally unable to access government information. A lack of 
organized record keeping, archiving, and public libraries also limited 
access.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    The law restricts NGO activity, and the few existing domestic human 
rights NGOs focused on development issues involving social and economic 
rights, such as health and elder care. Although the law includes human 
rights among the areas in which NGOs may operate, no NGO reported 
publicly on the abuse of civil or political rights by the Government or 
on official corruption. Thus, there were no local groups dedicated to 
human rights, rather there were groups that worked on human rights as 
part of their overall brief. The Government was suspicious of human 
rights activity, claiming that much of it was prompted by antiregime 
exile groups and critical foreign NGOs.
    On September 28, the Government, working with the World Bank and 
Revenue Watch Institute, allowed a rare NGO training workshop to take 
place in Bata, according to a foreign diplomat charged with evaluating 
the status of civil society in the country. Government restrictions, 
including burdensome registration requirements and lack of capacity to 
manage and provide the public with information, continued to impede the 
activities and development of domestic civil society. There were few 
international human rights NGOs resident in the country, and they 
generally focused on social and economic rather than civil and 
political rights.
    The Government cooperated to varying degrees with international 
organizations such as the ICRC and the UN. According to government 
officials, meetings were held during the year with representatives of 
the ICRC to discuss reopening an ICRC office in the country. In 
February the ICRC, which suspended prison visits in 2008 after the 
Government refused to grant access to some prisoners, resumed visits 
(see section 1.c.).
    In 2009 the Government categorically rejected the 2008 report on 
detention facilities by UN special rapporteur on torture Manfred Novak, 
who reported that torture appeared to reflect a state-endorsed method 
of obtaining evidence and confessions and that a culture of total 
impunity allowed torture to continue unabated (see section 1.c.).
    The primary official in charge of human rights, the third vice 
prime minister for human rights, functioned more to defend the 
Government from accusations than to investigate human rights complaints 
or keep statistics on them.
    The parliamentary committee for complaints and petitions provided a 
forum for the public to register concerns and was increasingly active 
during the year. The committee accepted complaints and petitions 
whenever the parliament was in session. The sole opposition member in 
parliament vociferously and publicly denounced abuses.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit discrimination based on race, 
gender, religion, disability, language, or social status; however, the 
Government did not enforce these provisions effectively. Nonetheless, 
numerous public outreach efforts were undertaken to improve public 
awareness of the issues associated with violence and discrimination 
against women and children, discrimination against ethnic minorities, 
and discrimination against those with HIV/AIDS.

    Women.--Rape is illegal and penalties date back to the Spanish 
colonial era penal code in existence as of 1968, but spousal rape is 
not specified in the law. Penalties include a minimum punishment of 12 
years in prison to a maximum of 20 years. An additional fine may be 
levied, but the law does not specify the amount. The Government did not 
enforce the law effectively. Reporting rape was considered shameful to 
the families involved. Several cases were prosecuted in court during 
the year, but the exact number was not known.
    Domestic violence was a widespread problem. Violence against women, 
including spousal abuse, is illegal, but the Government did not enforce 
the law effectively. Depending on severity and circumstances, the 
penalty for assault can range from one to 20 years' imprisonment. 
Police and the judiciary were reluctant to prosecute domestic violence 
cases. In conjunction with international organizations, the Government 
conducted public awareness campaigns on women's rights and domestic 
violence. In accordance with a law passed in May 2009, family courts 
were created to deal with cases of violence against women. On occasion, 
the police organized workshops on family violence.
    Sexual harassment is illegal; its extent was unknown. There were no 
known cases brought before the courts.
    The Government did not interfere with the basic right of couples 
and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, 
and timing of their children and to have the information and means to 
do so free from discrimination, coercion, and violence. According to 
the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), less than 10 percent of the population 
used any contraceptives. Statistics on maternal health, prenatal care, 
essential obstetric care, and postpartum care were dated and 
unreliable. However, the UNFPA estimated the maternal mortality ratio 
to be 280 deaths per 100,000 live births. The Population Reference 
Bureau estimated that in 2008 approximately 65 percent of births were 
attended by skilled health personnel. However, many local observers 
believed that such data was unreliable. Some prenatal and obstetric 
care was free in government clinics but availability and quality was 
highly variable, and access was limited mostly to the two main cities. 
Women were equally diagnosed and treated for sexually transmitted 
infections, including HIV.
    The law provides for equal rights for women and men, including 
rights under family law, property law, and in the judicial system; 
however, the rights of women were limited in practice. According to the 
UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the 
prevalence of negative stereotypes and the ``deep-rooted adverse 
cultural norms, customs, and traditions, including forced and early 
marriage, and levirate marriage (the practice by which a man may be 
required to marry his brother's widow)'' discriminated against women. 
Lack of legislation regulating customary marriages and other aspects of 
family law also discriminated against women, particularly with respect 
to polygyny, inheritance, and child custody.
    Women in rural areas largely were confined by custom to traditional 
roles. In urban settings women with equal qualifications rarely 
suffered overt discrimination. However, the country maintained a 
conservative culture in which societal bias against women persisted. 
Women sometimes experienced discrimination in access to employment, 
credit, and equal pay for substantially similar work.
    The Government continued to provide courses, seminars, conferences, 
and media programs to sensitize the population and government agencies 
to the needs and rights of women. The Ministry of Social Affairs and 
the Promotion of Women held several events during the year to publicize 
these rights and held public rallies for women's rights and against 
domestic violence.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents. Registration 
of births is the responsibility of the parents, and failure to register 
a child so can result in the denial of public services.
    Education was free and compulsory until 13 years of age. The 
overwhelming majority of children attended school at least through 
primary grades. Boys were generally expected by their families either 
to complete an additional seven years of secondary school or to finish 
a program of vocational study after primary education. For many girls 
in rural settings, however, early pregnancy or the need to assist at 
home limited educational opportunities, and women generally attained 
lower educational levels than men. During the year the Government 
continued to partner with a foreign oil company to undertake a 
multimillion dollar school renovation program and work with a foreign 
country to reform outdated curriculum materials.
    Abuse of minors is illegal; however, the Government did not enforce 
the law effectively, and child abuse occurred. Physical punishment was 
the culturally accepted method of discipline. During the year a small 
number of cases in which child abuse was alleged came before the 
courts.
    The law does not address child prostitution or child pornography. 
There was little evidence children engaged in prostitution for survival 
without third party involvement. The minimum age for sexual consent is 
18.
    While teenage pregnancies are not uncommon, the Ministry of Social 
Affairs and the Promotion of Women operated several successful programs 
to deter child marriage.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international child abduction, please see the Department of State's 
annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community was extremely small; there 
were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law does not provide persons with 
disabilities with protection from discrimination in employment, 
education, or the provision of other state services, nor does it 
mandate access to buildings for persons with disabilities.
    Educational services for persons with mental or physical 
disabilities were limited. The local Red Cross, with financial support 
from the Government, managed the country's school for deaf children. 
The Government, through the Ministry of Social Affairs, and the 
Catholic Church worked together to provide care for the mentally 
handicapped in the Virgin Madre Maria Africa facility. The country's 
first lady gave several highly publicized donations to help the 
handicapped.
    The Ministries of Education and Health have primary responsibility 
for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. Public service 
announcements regarding rights of persons with disabilities continued 
to be broadcast.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Discrimination against ethnic 
or racial minorities was illegal; however, societal discrimination, 
security force harassment, and political marginalization of minorities 
were problems. Foreigners were often victimized. Irregular residents 
from Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Mali, Togo, Gabon, and other African 
countries represented a significant portion of the labor force and 
continued to grow, despite police attempts to enforce immigration laws.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There are no laws 
criminalizing sexual orientation; however, societal stigmatization and 
traditional discrimination against gay men and lesbians was strong, and 
the Government made little effort to combat it.

    Other Societal Violence and Discrimination.--Despite frequent 
public statements and radio campaigns advocating nondiscrimination, 
persons with HIV/AIDS continued to be victims of societal 
stigmatization, which led them to keep their illness hidden. The 
Government provided free HIV/AIDS testing and treatment and supported 
public information campaigns to increase awareness.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides workers the right to 
establish unions and affiliate with unions of their choice; however, 
the Government placed practical obstacles before groups wishing to 
organize. Most often, those seeking to organize were co-opted into 
existing party structures by means of pressure and incentives. The 
Union Organization of Small Farmers continued to be the only legal 
operational labor union. According to the International Trade Union 
Confederation, authorities continued to refuse to register the 
Equatorial Guinea Trade Union or recognize other existing unions. The 
law stipulates a union must have at least 50 members from a specific 
workplace to register; this rule effectively blocked union formation. 
Authorities refused to legalize the Independent Syndicated Services, a 
public sector union, despite its having met the requirements of the 
law.
    Workers have the right to strike; however, they rarely did so, in 
part because they feared losing their jobs and possible harm to 
themselves or their families. On several occasions during the year, 
both local and foreign workers engaged in temporary protests or ``go 
slows'' (work slowdowns and planned absences) which were resolved 
peacefully by labor ministry officials through negotiations and fines 
on employers.
    Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that security 
forces killed strikers. No action was taken against police responsible 
for the 2008 killing of two Chinese strikers.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows 
unions to conduct activities without interference, but the Government 
did not protect this right in practice.
    The law provides for representatives of government, employers, and 
workers to meet biannually to review and set minimum wages; however, 
worker representation was limited. There were few reports of organized, 
collective bargaining by any group; however, the Ministry of Labor 
sometimes mediated labor disputes. Dismissed workers, for example, 
could appeal to the ministry, first through their regional delegate; 
however, there was little trust in the fairness of the system. Citizens 
had a right to appeal labor ministry decisions to a special standing 
committee of the parliament established to hear citizen complaints 
regarding decisions by any government agency.
    There is no law prohibiting antiunion discrimination, but there 
were no reports it occurred.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, children 
were subjected to forced labor. According to UN and other sources, 
there was no evidence of forced labor by adults. See also the 
Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits children under the age of 14 from working and provides 
that persons found guilty of illegally forcing a minor to work may be 
punished with a fine of approximately 50,000 to 250,000 CFA francs 
($101 to $505); however, child labor occurred. The law prohibits 
children from working as street vendors or car washers; however, 
children performed such activities. Children also worked as street 
vendors, in local markets, and in car washing and were involved in 
domestic servitude.
    Law enforcement officials were often stationed in market places, 
where they enforced laws prohibiting minors from working there. Vendors 
who violated these laws could be forced to close down their stalls, 
heavily fined, or deported; however, no vendors were prosecuted during 
the year. The Government did not provide social services to children 
found working in markets. In general there was greater protection for 
local children focusing on concern that they be in school; foreign 
children, mostly street vendors, were treated like foreign adults.
    The Ministry of Labor is responsible for enforcing child labor 
laws. Authorities were relatively effective in enforcing child labor 
laws, at least as far as Equatoguinean children were concerned.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Enforcement of labor laws and 
ratified international labor agreements was not effective, resulting in 
poor working conditions. While the Government paid more attention to 
such issues during the year, safety codes, for example, were not 
generally enforced. Most petroleum companies, on the other hand, 
exceeded minimum international safety standards.
    In April 2009 the Government issued Public Decree 60/2009, which 
establishes a monthly minimum wage of 95,400 CFA francs ($193) for all 
workers in the country, including farmers; however, the minimum wage 
did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family in 
Malabo or Bata. In the rest of the country, the minimum wage provided a 
minimally adequate income. Many formal-sector companies paid more than 
this, but many workers (e.g., farmers) were not covered under the 
minimum wage law. By law hydrocarbon industry workers received salaries 
many times higher than those in other sectors, creating disparities 
within society and fueling inflation for some goods and services. The 
Ministry of Labor is responsible for enforcing minimum wage rules.
    The law prescribes a standard 35-hour workweek and a 48-hour weekly 
rest period; these requirements were generally observed in the formal 
economy. Exceptions were made for some jobs, such as those in offshore 
oil industry work. Premium pay for overtime was required, but the 
requirement was not always effectively enforced.
    The law provides for protection of workers from occupational 
hazards, but the Government did not effectively enforce this provision. 
In 2009 the Government hired an additional 100 labor inspectors to 
oversee the industry. The law does not provide workers with the right 
to remove themselves from situations that endangered health or safety 
without jeopardizing their continued employment. The law does not 
provide for any exception for foreign or migrant workers.

                               __________

                                ERITREA

    Eritrea is a one-party state that became independent in 1993 after 
its citizens voted for independence from Ethiopia, following 30 years 
of civil war. The People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), 
previously known as the Eritrean People's Liberation Front, is the sole 
political party and has controlled the country since 1991. The 
country's president, Isaias Afwerki, who heads the PFDJ and the armed 
forces, dominated the country. The Government continued to postpone 
general elections which have not taken place since independence in 
1993. The Government continued to use border disputes with Ethiopia and 
Djibouti as a pretext for curbing human right and civil liberties. 
Although civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of 
the security forces, consistent and systemic gross human rights 
violations persisted unabated at the Government's behest.
    Human rights abuses included abridgement of citizens' right to 
change their government through a democratic process; unlawful killings 
by security forces; torture and beating of prisoners, sometimes 
resulting in death; abuse and torture of national service evaders; 
harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and 
detention, including of national service evaders and their family 
members; executive interference in the judiciary and the use of a 
special court system to limit due process; and infringement of privacy 
rights. National service obligations are effectively open-ended 
although the Government does not acknowledge this circumstance. There 
is no due process and persons remain in jail for years. The Government 
severely restricted freedoms of speech, press, assembly, association, 
and religion. The Government also limited freedom of movement and 
travel for all citizens, foreign residents, the UN, humanitarian and 
development agencies; it harassed and tightly controlled the movements 
of foreign diplomats. Foreign diplomats are required to apply for 
travel permits in writing 10 days in advance, even for consular 
emergencies, and travel permit applications were often not answered or 
refused. Restrictions continued on the activities of national and 
international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs). Female genital 
mutilation (FGM), although prevalent in rural areas, declined 
significantly in urban areas, according to trusted sources. Societal 
abuse and discrimination against women, members of the Kunama ethnic 
group, gays and lesbians, members of certain religious groups, persons 
with disabilities, and persons with HIV/AIDS remained areas of concern. 
There were limitations on worker rights, and the Government was party 
to forced labor on its citizenry. Children were engaged in 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.--The Government 
continued to subject detainees to harsh and life threatening prison 
conditions, including torture, that resulted in deaths during the year. 
Additional deaths resulted from the Government's continued 
authorization of the use of lethal force against individuals resisting 
or attempting to flee military service or found in prohibited regions 
near the border or near mining camps.
    Several persons detained for evading national service reportedly 
died after receiving harsh treatment by security forces. There were 
reports that individuals were severely beaten and killed during 
roundups of young men and women for national service. There was a 
pattern of mistreating and hazing conscripts, a practice that sometimes 
resulted in deaths. However, no official cases were available for 
citation. The Government continued the practice of summary executions 
and shooting of individuals on sight near mining camps and border 
regions for allegedly attempting to flee military service, interfering 
with mining activities, or attempting to leave the country without an 
exit visa.
    During the year the UN Development Program (UNDP) sought, but did 
not receive, additional funding to continue its explosive ordinance 
disposal programs and mine risk education for school children and 
families in mine-impacted communities. The UNDP drew on its own funding 
to continue minimal programming in education and victims' assistance.
    In June an opposition Web site reported that Eritrean military 
forces executed12 persons as they were trying to cross the border to 
Sudan. The 12 individuals executed were from the village of Mai Temenay 
near Asmara.
    In its May report, INGO Reporters Without Borders, reported that 
approximately 30 journalists are currently held in the Government's 314 
prison camps and detention centers. At least four journalists died 
during the year as a result of medical neglect, food deprivation, and 
excessive heat; an unknown number of others have disappeared.
    In April, according to an opposition Web site, 24 persons were 
executed in the gold mining areas of Hademdem and Fankon in the Gash-
Barka region. The executions were in retaliation for resistance to an 
unwarranted round up conducted by the Government to forcefully 
conscript workers into the army.
    In April, Eyob Bahta Habtemariam, a team leader at the Era-Ero 
prison, and formerly the Embatkala prison, fled the country. 
Habtemariam stated the Era-Ero prison housed 35 high-ranking government 
officials, journalists, and staff of international organizations 
including the G-15, a group of high-ranking political activists who 
regularly pushed President Isaias for democratic reform during the 
country's formative years. Of this group of 35, 15 have died due to 
torture and medical neglect, food deprivation, and excessive heat in 
the Era-Ero or Embatkala prisons. Of the remaining 20 prison inmates of 
the group still alive at the Era-Ero prison, nine have reportedly 
become disabled physically or mentally. There were only 11 remaining 
inmates of this group of 35 considered still to be ``aware of their 
situation'' and thus kept in handcuffs and leg chains 24 hours a day. 
The 20 prison inmates still alive only received one meal a day, 
consisting of bread, lentils, and tea, and Habtemariam reported they 
were all emaciated. Among the dead were the one-time Eritrean vice-
president, Mahmoud Sherifo; General Ogbe Abraha; and five journalists. 
Haile Woldetensae, the former foreign minister, was still alive but 
alleged to have been blinded.
    Habtemariam reported the following deaths of political prisoners 
among the group of 35 high-ranking government officials and 
journalists.
    In June 2009 Germano Nati, former administrator of Southern Red Sea 
Region, died of unknown causes.
    In 2004 the former administrator of Sorona Subzone Tesfagiorgish 
and journalist Sied Abdelkadir committed suicide. Journalist Medhanie 
Haile died due to lack of medical treatment the same year.
    In 2003 journalist Yosuf Mohamed Ali, Aster Fessehasion, and former 
minister Salih Kekiya, all died during a three day period as a 
consequence of excessive heat in prison.
    In 2003 journalist Fessehaye Yohannes (Joshua) was found hanged in 
his cell after making several unsuccessful attempts to commit suicide. 
Minister Mahmoud Sherifo died due to lack of urgent medical treatment 
the same year.
    In 2002 General Okbe Abraha attempted suicide. However, the attempt 
failed, and he received medical treatment for three months in Glass, a 
military hospital, west of Keren. However, his health condition further 
deteriorated, worsened by asthma, and he died after his return to 
Embatkala prison.
    According to an August 2009 report from an opposition Web site, 
Berhanes Gebregzabhier, one of 11 members of the PFDJ National 
Assembly, who had been held in solitary confinement since 2001, was 
executed in 2002 based on the recommendation of Naizghi Kiflu, a former 
presidential advisor.
    During the year there were credible reports that at least five 
prisoners detained because of their religious affiliation died due to 
lack of medical treatment. The Government did not investigate or 
prosecute any reports of security force abuse.

    b. Disappearance.--Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers repatriated 
from other countries during the year reportedly disappeared and an 
unknown number of persons assumed to be in government detention have 
also disappeared. The Government does not provide information on 
disappearances, and does not regularly notify family members or respond 
to information requests regarding the status of persons in detention.
    In February, according to an opposition Web site, 12 of 67 
Eritreans deported from Libya disappeared. There were unconfirmed 
reports that nine of the deportees were detained incommunicado in 
Embatkala prison before its closure. Their names are: Zigta Tewelde, 
Asmelash Kidane, Captain Zeraburuk Tsehaye, Second Lieutenant Zewde 
Teferi, Yohannes Tekle, Ghebrekidan Tesema, Tilinte Estifanos Halefom, 
Nebyat Tesfay, and Tilinte Tesfagabre Mengstu. Additional unconfirmed 
reports state that Habte Semere and Yonas Ghebremichael, who worked for 
the President's Office before they left Eritrea, are being detained 
incommunicado in Ghedem prison near Massawa.
    During the year a number of imprisoned journalists disappeared, 
according to NGO Reporters Without Borders.
    In January 2009 the Government of Egypt refouled several hundred 
Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers, all of whom were returned to 
their families, according to the Government. Nevertheless, there were 
numerous reports from family members of missing individuals, mostly 
young men and women who had not completed national service.
    In 2008 approximately 1,200 Eritreans were repatriated from Egypt, 
many of whom remained missing at year's end. Similarly in 2008 German 
immigration authorities returned two Eritrean nationals, neither of 
whom had been seen since their arrival in Asmara.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The law and unimplemented constitution prohibit torture. 
However, torture and beatings are institutionalized within prison and 
detention centers. There were credible reports that several military 
conscripts died following torture and beatings. Security forces 
tortured and beat army deserters, draft evaders, persons living near 
mining camps, persons attempting to flee the country without travel 
documents, and members of certain religious groups. Examples of torture 
and mistreatment include: prolonged sun exposure in temperatures of up 
to 120 degrees Fahrenheit; the binding of hands, elbows, and feet for 
extended periods of time; forcing inmates to walk barefoot on sharp 
objects; overcrowded conditions; extreme temperature fluctuations 
caused by confinement in crowded and unventilated metal shipping 
containers in the desert; extreme temperatures and lack of sanitation 
resulting from detention in crowded cement-lined underground pits 
without ventilation or sanitation; suspension from trees with arms tied 
behind back, a technique known as ``almaz'' (diamond); and being placed 
face down with hands tied to feet outside in the desert, a technique 
known as the ``helicopter,'' while pouring sugar on detainees to 
attract biting insects.
    The Government sanctioned these torture methods, and no known 
action was taken during the year to punish perpetrators of torture and 
abuse.
    According to international NGO Human Rights Watch, Eritrean female 
refugees reported in 2009 that female conscripts in national service 
were often raped by their supervisors, and there is no information to 
indicate increased protection of female conscripts during the year. 
There were also reports that military officials tortured foreign 
fishermen captured in Eritrean waters.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions remained 
harsh and in some cases life threatening. Severe overcrowding was 
common. Some prisoners were shackled in unventilated holding cells for 
long periods of time in extreme heat, with outside temperatures 
reaching 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and died due to heat exhaustion in 
combination with other medical conditions. There were reports that 
prisoners were held in underground cells or in shipping containers with 
little or no ventilation in extreme temperatures. The shipping 
containers were reportedly not large enough to allow all of those 
incarcerated to lie down at the same time. Other prisoners were held in 
cement-lined underground bunkers with no ventilation. Up to 200 
prisoners were held in each bunker, and there are reports that 
prisoners lost consciousness from the extreme heat while in detention.
    The Government does not provide adequate provisions for basic and 
emergency medical care in prisons and detention centers, and detainees 
were known to have died due to lack of medical treatment during the 
year. Food provided was not adequate. Potable water was generally not 
available, and one detainee reported going without water for several 
days until providing money to purchase bottled water. In June and July 
2009, a meningitis outbreak created by unsanitary conditions in Wi'a 
prison caused the death of approximately 50 Christian prisoners from 
unregistered denominations who were detained for practicing their 
religion. The Wi'a prison closed during the year and surviving 
prisoners were relocated to the Metier prison; others were taken to the 
May Idaga prison outside of Dekemhare.
    There were numerous unofficial detention centers, most located in 
military camps and used as overflow detention centers following mass 
arrests and roundups. There were reports that detention center 
conditions for persons temporarily held for evading military service 
were also harsh and life threatening. During the year there were 
hundreds of such detainees. Draft evaders were reportedly sent to the 
Wi'a military camp where, typically, they were beaten. Some were held 
as long as two years before being reassigned to their units. At one 
detention facility outside Asmara, authorities continued to hold 
detainees in an underground hall with no access to light or ventilation 
and sometimes in very crowded conditions.
    Use of psychological torture was common, according to former 
inmates. One common technique was for the interrogator to open and 
close the door of the cell constantly, as if the prisoner were going to 
be taken for interrogation where beatings are administered. Denial of 
food, medical treatment, and family access were also used to punish 
prisoners. Some prisoners were released after close friends or 
relatives offered their homes or other property as bond.
    Deaths occurred in prisons and detention centers as a result of 
inadequate nutrition, disease, extreme temperature fluctuations, and 
denial of medical care. In August 2009 a meningitis outbreak at a 
prison in Massawa reportedly killed dozens of inmates.
    The Government did not provide current number of prisoners. The 
Government did not investigate and monitor prison and detention center 
conditions. It was known that there are more than 300 prisons and 
detention centers, which were filled to capacity. Prisoners and 
detainees did not have reasonable access to visitors and were not 
always permitted religious observance. Authorities did not permit 
prisoners and detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities 
without censorship and to request investigation of credible allegations 
of inhumane conditions. Authorities did not investigate credible 
allegations of inhumane conditions and document the results of such 
investigations in a publicly accessible manner.
    Those imprisoned were often interrogated about religious 
affiliation and were asked to identify members of nonapproved religious 
groups, such as Jehovah's Witnesses.
    During the year the largest prison in Asmara, called Track B, was 
closed, and its prisoners were transferred to Adi Abieto prison and 
other detention centers outside Asmara, making even indirect monitoring 
by the international community impossible. During the year the 
Government did not permit the International Committee of the Red Cross 
(ICRC) or any local human rights organizations to monitor prison 
conditions. Since the shutdown of the repatriation program during 2009, 
the Government also denied the ICRC access to Ethiopian prisoners of 
war detained in the country.
    Ombudsmen cannot serve on behalf of prisoners to alleviate inhumane 
overcrowding. There are no provisions for addressing the status and 
circumstances of confinement of juvenile offenders, pretrial detention, 
or bail. Record keeping procedures are not transparent making it 
impossible to assure that prisoners do not serve beyond the maximum 
sentence for the charged offense, even if a specific charge is brought.
    Although there was a juvenile detention center in Asmara, juveniles 
frequently were held with adults in prisons and detention centers. 
Juveniles as young as 15 years old were tried as adults. Juveniles were 
sometimes imprisoned with their mothers and other detainees and not in 
juvenile detention centers. Pretrial detainees were not always 
separated from convicted prisoners.
    Authorities commonly moved prisoners to locations away from their 
families to make family visits impossible. In some circumstances, 
authorities permitted convicted criminals in prisons up to three visits 
per week by family members; however, this was only common for those who 
had relatives working within the Government. Persons detained, 
arrested, or convicted for reasons of national security or for evading 
national service were denied family visits.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law and unimplemented 
constitution prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, 
arbitrary arrest and detention remained chronic problems.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Police were officially 
responsible for maintaining internal security, and the army was 
responsible for external security; however, the Government called on 
the armed forces, the reserves, and demobilized soldiers to meet either 
domestic or external security requirements. Agents of the National 
Security Office, which reports to the Office of the President, were 
responsible for detaining persons suspected of threatening national 
security. The armed forces have the authority to arrest and detain 
civilians. Generally police did not have a role in cases involving 
national security, but they were heavily involved in rounding up 
individuals evading national service.
    During the year the police, armed forces, and internal security 
arrested and detained persons without due process and often used 
violence. Police forcibly arrested individuals on the street who were 
unable to present identification documents. Those in the Government 
national service were required to present ``movement papers'' issued by 
their offices or departments authorizing their presence in a particular 
location. Those persons who did not present ``movement papers'' were 
arrested.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
stipulates that detainees must be brought before a judge within 48 
hours of arrest and may not be held more than 28 days without being 
charged with a crime. In practice authorities detained suspects for 
much longer periods without being brought before a judge, charged with 
a crime, or in some cases even understanding the reason for their 
detention. Some detainees, who were not given a right to due process, 
were still in prison after a decade, and others have died while in 
detention. The Government has argued that those detained without charge 
can be assumed to be charged under national security grounds.
    There were credible repeated reports of the following detention 
practices and outcomes: release after providing proof of completion of 
national service requirements, release after being threatened with 
death for continued religious activity, release after being threatened 
with death for continued homosexuality activity, release after 
recanting of religious faith or declaring allegiance to the Eritrean 
Orthodox Church, release after paying a fine equivalent of hundreds or 
thousands of dollars or having another Eritrean put up their house as 
collateral, release after unpaid forced labor such as picking 
vegetables for several months, release just before imminent death 
caused by torture during detention, unconditional release, indefinite 
detention, inadequate provision of food, torture and confinement in 
crowded unsanitary conditions subject to extreme temperatures (see 
section 1.c.).
    The law stipulates that unless there is a ``crime in progress,'' 
police must conduct an investigation and obtain a warrant prior to 
making an arrest. In cases involving national security, this process 
may be waived. In practice very few individuals were arrested with a 
warrant. Authorities did not promptly inform detainees of charges 
against them and often changed the charges during detention. Detainees 
in prisons often did not have access to counsel or appear before a 
judge.
    Incommunicado detention was widespread, although detainees in 
police stations occasionally had access to legal representation and 
family members. Authorities provided indigent detainees with counsel on 
an irregular basis. There was a functioning bail system, except for 
persons charged with national security crimes or crimes that could 
carry the death penalty.
    Security force personnel detained individuals for evading national 
service and for other unspecified national security charges. Numerous 
detainees were arrested, even if they had valid papers showing that 
they had completed or were exempt from national service. In practice 
most detainees were informally charged with issues relating to national 
service, effectively allowing authorities to incarcerate citizens 
indefinitely.
    Security forces also continued to detain and arrest the parents and 
spouses of individuals who evaded national service or fled the country 
(see section 1.f.).
    There were reports of mass arrests known as ``round-ups,'' in which 
citizens were held without charge indefinitely while authorities sorted 
out their military service paperwork in search of deserters and 
questioned them about their religious affiliation. These round-ups 
tended to coincide with Liberation Day (May 24) ceremonies, and harvest 
season when many of those detained were used as free manual labor and 
are forced to pick vegetables for several months on government 
controlled farms.
    The Government does not recognize dual nationality and, during the 
year, security forces arbitrarily arrested citizens holding other 
nationalities on national security charges. There were reports that 
plainclothes agents of the National Security Office entered homes 
without warrants and arrested occupants.
    Numerous reports also indicated that persons with connections to 
high-level officials instigated the arrest of individuals with whom 
they had personal vendettas. In many instances, these individuals were 
never formally charged.
    The Government continued to arbitrarily arrest members of 
nonregistered religious groups and persons who criticized the 
Government (see sections 2.a. and 2.c.). There were reports that the 
Government continued to hold without charge and sometimes torture 2,000 
to 3,000 members of unregistered religious groups and numerous members 
of the Eritrean Liberation Front, an armed opposition group that fought 
against Ethiopia during the struggle for independence.
    At least four Eritrean diplomats arrested in previous years, 
including former ambassador to China Ermias Debassai Papayo, remained 
in detention, as did Aster Yohannes, wife of former foreign minister 
Petros Solomon. Hundreds of staff of embassies and international 
organizations have been temporarily detained and interrogated since 
2001, and several remained in detention at year's end.
    The Government held numerous other detainees without charge or due 
process, including an unknown number of NGO employees detained in a 
2008 round-up (see section 5). The detainees included an unknown number 
of persons suspected of antigovernment speech or of association with 
the 11 former PFDJ members arrested in 2001. Suspected Islamic radicals 
or suspected terrorists also remained in detention without charge. Some 
had been detained for more than 10 years. These detainees reportedly 
did not have access to legal counsel and were not brought before a 
judge. During the year the deposed Orthodox patriarch remained under 
house arrest (see section 2.c.). There were also widespread reports 
that many detainees were released without going to trial.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law and unimplemented 
constitution provide for an independent judiciary; however, in practice 
the judiciary was impotent. Judicial corruption remained a problem. The 
judicial process was influenced by patronage of former fighters who 
later became judges. Executive control of the judiciary continued; the 
Office of the President served as a clearinghouse for citizens' 
petitions to the courts or acted for the courts as arbitrators or 
facilitators in civil matters. The judiciary suffered from a lack of 
trained personnel, inadequate funding, and poor infrastructure that 
limited the ability of the accused persons to a speedy and fair trial. 
Public trials were held for some detainees facing criminal charges. 
However, no cases involving individuals detained for national security 
or political reasons were brought to trial, and the fate of these 
detainees remains unknown. The drafting into national service of many 
civilian court administrators, defendants, judges, lawyers, and others 
involved in the legal system continued to have a significant negative 
effect on the judiciary. While not prohibited, the Government has in 
practice not issued licenses to lawyers seeking to enter private 
practice for the past four years.
    The text of the constitution was completed and ratified by the 
National Assembly in 1997. It contains provisions intended to promote 
fair trials; however, the constitution remains unimplemented.
    The judicial system consists of civil courts and ``special 
courts.'' The civil court system includes community courts, regional 
courts, and the High Court, which also serves as an appellate court. 
Minor infractions involving sums of less than approximately 110,000 
nakfa ($7,300) are brought to community courts. The regional court is 
generally the court of the first instance and has civil, criminal, and 
Sharia (Islamic law) benches. The Sharia bench adjudicates family law 
for Muslims only. Decisions rendered by any of the benches at the 
regional court can be appealed to the High Court. The High Court is 
primarily an appellate court but also serves as the court of first 
instance for cases involving murder, rape, and other serious felonies. 
The High Court has civil, criminal, and Sharia benches. There also is a 
five-judge bench that hears final appeals in lieu of a Supreme Court.
    The executive-controlled special courts issue directives to other 
courts regarding administrative matters, although their domain was 
supposed to be restricted to criminal cases involving capital offenses, 
theft, embezzlement, and corruption. The Office of the Attorney General 
decides which cases are to be tried by a special court. No lawyers 
practice in the special courts. The judges serve as the prosecutors and 
may request that individuals involved in the cases present their 
positions. The special courts, which do not permit defense counsel or 
the right of appeal, allowed the executive branch to mete out 
punishment without regard for due process. Most trials in special 
courts were not open to the public.
    Many civilian and special court judges are former senior military 
officers with no formal legal training. They generally based their 
decisions on ``conscience'' without reference to the law. There was no 
limitation on punishment, although the special courts were not known to 
have issued capital punishment sentences during the year. The attorney 
general allowed special courts to retry civilian court cases, including 
those decided by the High Court, thereby subjecting defendants to 
double jeopardy. In rare instances, appeals made to the Office of the 
President reportedly resulted in special courts rehearing certain 
cases.
    Most citizens' only contact with the legal system was with the 
traditional community courts. In these courts, judges heard civil 
cases, while magistrates versed in criminal law heard criminal cases. 
Customary tribunals were sometimes used to adjudicate local civil and 
criminal cases. The Ministry of Justice offered training in alternative 
dispute resolution to handle some civil and criminal cases.
    The military court has jurisdiction over penal cases brought 
against members of the armed forces in addition to crimes committed by 
and against members of the armed forces. Presiding judges are senior 
military officers, and the court has higher and lower levels, depending 
on the seriousness of the offense. With approximately 200,000 enlisted 
personnel in the armed forces, the military courts have a significant 
and unregulated importance in the country.
    Sharia for family and succession cases may be applied when both 
litigants in civil cases are Muslims. The Government allowed Muslim 
courts to apply Sharia law, but not in any cases where physical 
punishment was envisioned.

    Trial Procedures.--The law and unimplemented constitution provide 
specific rights to defendants in the regular court system. Defendants 
have the right to be present and to consult with an attorney; however, 
many defendants lacked the resources to retain a lawyer, and government 
legal aid was limited to defendants accused of serious crimes 
punishable by more than 10 years in prison. Only in the High Court did 
defendants have the right to confront and question witnesses, present 
their own witnesses, present evidence, gain access to government-held 
evidence, appeal a decision, and enjoy the presumption of innocence; 
these rights were upheld in practice. However, the High Court 
adjudicated very few cases, trials were generally closed to the public, 
and the attorney general allowed High Court cases to be retried in 
special courts where defendants have none of the above rights in 
practice.
    Rural courts followed customary law rather than constitutional law 
and were headed by rural elders or elected officials. Smaller cases in 
rural areas were encouraged to be reconciled outside the court system, 
while more substantial cases were reserved for the courts. These 
procedures did not apply in the special courts. Trials in rural courts 
were open to the public but were not heard by a jury; they were heard 
by a panel of judges.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--Persons are routinely arrested 
on political grounds, and there was lack of due process and lack of 
transparency surrounding the penal system. The most famous politically 
motivated mass arrest occurred when several hundred individuals were 
detained in 2001. Many were perceived to have ties to political 
dissidents or were believed to have spoken against government actions. 
These detainees have not been tried and did not have access to legal 
counsel. Several have been tortured to death and others are still in 
Era-Ero prison. The ICRC was not authorized to visit these detainees 
(see section 1.a.).

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There are no civil 
judicial procedures for individuals claiming human rights violations by 
the Government. For the majority of citizens, there were few remedies 
available for enforcing domestic court orders; however, persons 
affiliated with the executive branch, former fighters, and persons with 
wealth could use their influence with the court to secure civil 
remedies before the law.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law and unimplemented constitution prohibit 
arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence; 
however, the Government did not respect these rights in practice.
    The Government deployed military and police personnel throughout 
the country, using roadblocks, street sweeps, and house-to-house 
searches to find deserters and draft evaders. Security forces continued 
to detain and arrest parents and other family members of individuals 
who evaded national service duties or fled the country. There were 
reports that such parents were either fined 50,000 nakfa ($3,333) or 
forced to surrender their children to the Government. Government 
officials entered households and confiscated property and livestock of 
draft evaders. There is a sophisticated network of security officials 
who accept bribes to aid draft evaders in crossing the border.
    There were reports of security forces arresting persons whose 
foreign family members did not pay their extraterritorial income tax of 
2 percent of foreign earned income.
    There were reports that security forces targeted gatherings of 
unregistered religious groups, regularly searched their homes, and 
detained their members. There were also reports that the Government 
sometimes seized the property of registered and unregistered religious 
groups (see section 2.c.).
    The Government monitored mail, e-mail, text messages, and telephone 
calls without obtaining warrants as required by law. Government 
informers were believed to be present throughout the country. Many 
citizens believed the Government particularly monitored cell phones; 
the Government requires a permit for the use of SIM cards, necessary 
for operating and storing information in mobile phones. The Government 
allowed only one SIM card per person, although this rule is unevenly 
applied, and there is a black market for the sharing of SIM cards. The 
Government did not allow citizens in military service to have SIM 
cards. There were reports of the Government arresting those who rented 
their cell phones to others or used a cell phone while in military 
service.
    There were multiple reports that military and government officials 
seized residences and businesses belonging to private citizens and 
religious organizations and subsequently housed the families of senior 
military officers or government officials in the properties, used them 
for government or military functions, or reassigned ownership to 
government and military officials. There were also reports that 
military officials used soldiers in national service to perform free 
labor such as construction of houses and crop harvesting.
    In 2008 the Government demanded that departing NGOs transfer 
financial and reporting documents to government officials. While 
membership in the PFDJ, the only sanctioned political party, was not 
mandatory for all citizens, the Government coerced membership for 
certain categories of individuals, particularly those occupying 
government positions or assigned through national service to serve in 
government institutions. All citizens were forced to attend PFDJ 
indoctrination meetings irrespective of membership, and there were 
reports of threats to withhold the ration cards of those who did not 
attend. There were reports that similar meetings were mandatory for 
Eritrean communities abroad, and the names of those not attending were 
reported to government officials. Reportedly citizens who did not 
attend were harassed. Officials also collected biographical and contact 
information on Eritrean residents living abroad.
    It is reported that Eritrean military officials or proxies use 
access to persons in refugee communities to threaten them against 
becoming politically active in Eritrean politics in neighboring 
countries such as Kenya and Sudan, without permission of the respective 
governments.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The law and unimplemented 
constitution provide for freedom of speech and of the press; however, 
the Government severely restricted these rights in practice. Citizens 
did not have the right to criticize their government in public or in 
private, and some who did were arrested or detained. The private press 
remained banned, and most independent journalists remained in detention 
or had fled the country during the year, which effectively prevented 
any public and media criticism of the Government. All journalists 
practiced self-censorship due to fear of government reprisal. The 
Government actively monitored the Eritrean Diaspora within the country 
and abroad via agents.
    The Government attempted to impede criticism and took reprisals 
against persons who criticized government officials or policies. Public 
criticism about the Government's inability to combat poverty and 
starvation was prohibited. Gatherings were considered illegal without 
prior approval, and the Government routinely monitored religious 
gatherings. Most other gatherings took place through government-run 
organizations and, thereby, were implicitly monitored by government 
officials present.
    The Government also continued to forbid free speech. In a February 
2009 interview with news agency Al Jazeera, President Isaias stated 
that he would not allow independent media to operate in Eritrea. In an 
interview in October with a Qatari reporter for Al Watan newspaper, the 
president did not indicate any change in stance with regard to issues 
related to press freedom.
    The Government controlled all media, which included three 
newspapers, three radio stations, and two television stations. The law 
does not allow private ownership of broadcast or other media. The 
Government banned the import of foreign publications without prior 
approval; however, satellite dishes were widespread and allowed by the 
Government, and subscriptions to international media were allowed. 
Those who could afford to purchase satellite dishes have access to 
uncensored international news including the BBC, CNN, and Al Jazeera. 
The Government mandated approval of publications distributed by 
religious or international organizations before their release, and the 
Government continued to restrict the right of religious media to 
comment on politics or government policies. The press law forbids 
reprinting of articles from banned publications.
    The only foreign news organization operating, the VOA, has only one 
heavily censored stringer who does not permanently reside in the 
country. The last Reuters correspondent left the country in 2009. In 
2008 the Government created administrative obstacles for the Agence-
France Presse (AFP) international journalist resulting in his forced 
departure. AFP has not been allowed to return to the country. President 
Isaias occasionally conducted interviews with foreign news agencies 
invited specifically for the interview.
    Dawit Isaak, a Swedish-Eritrean reporter, has been held by the 
Government for nearly nine years without charge. He was released for 
medical treatment in 2005, detained again a few days later, and 
remained in detention at year's end. The Swedish Embassy has not been 
granted consular access. In a May 29 televised interview, the president 
stated he had no intention of releasing the journalist or providing him 
with a trial. At year's end, the Government had not responded to the 
Swedish government's calls for the journalist's release. In August 
Yemane Ghebreab, head of Political Affairs for the PFDJ, traveled to 
Sweden and was questioned about the imprisonment of Dawit Isaak. Yemane 
replied only that Dawit was being held for ``very serious crimes 
regarding Eritrea's national security and survival as an independent 
state,'' without providing any evidence or allowing for the possibility 
for due process. Dawit was believed to be in poor health.
    After they fled the country during the 2001 crackdown, the 
journalists founded several radio stations from exile. For example, 
Radio Assenna and Radio Erena were founded in Europe by former 
journalists in Eritrea including Amanuel Ghirmai, Biniam Simon, and 
Emanuel Iyassu.
    In March an opposition Web site reported that Said Abdulhai, a 
well-known Eritrean journalist and official, was arrested for unknown 
reasons. Said Abdulhai was formerly head of the press department of the 
Ministry of Information and responsible for the state newspaper. The 
Eritrean news agency, which is the main source for local news in the 
country, was also run by him.
    According to a February report by Reporters Without Borders, 
Amanuel Asrat, the former editor of Zemen (a private newspaper no 
longer in existence), was arrested in 2001 and held in Era-Ero prison 
camp (cell No. 25) along with freelance journalist Seyoum Tsehaye (cell 
No. 10) and Dawit Habtemichael, deputy editor and cofounder of Meqaleh 
(cell No. 12). Although libel or national security laws were not used 
to suppress criticism directly, citizens remained fearful of speaking 
out against the Government or its policies. The Government repeatedly 
asserted that national security concerns were at the root of 
suppressing free speech and criticism.
    In February 2009 the Government detained the entire staff of 
Asmara-based Radio Bana according to a February report by Reporters 
Without Borders. The group of detained journalists included Yirgalem 
Fisseha Mebrahtu, who was one of the few women working as a journalist 
in Eritrea; Bereket Misghina; and Meles Negusse Kifu. The whereabouts 
of these prisoners was unknown; at year's end, they were assumed to 
remain in detention.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no official restrictions on the use 
of the Internet; however, the Government monitored Internet 
communications.
    The Government monitored e-mail without obtaining warrants as 
required by law (see section 2.a.). All Internet service users were 
required to use one of the three Internet service providers owned by 
the Government either directly or through high-ranking PFDJ party 
members. Those who want a larger bandwidth, such as some international 
mining corporations, pay exorbitant prices far beyond the reach of the 
local population for DSL speed Internet connections. In rural areas of 
the country, there was no access to the Internet.
    The Government also discouraged citizens from viewing Web sites 
known to be antigovernment by continuously labeling the sites and their 
developers as saboteurs of the Government. Many citizens expressed fear 
of arrest if the Government caught them viewing such sites. Despite the 
requirement for journalists to receive written permission to take 
photographs, gatherings are regularly photographed by government 
officials for intimidation and as possible grounds for future 
detention.
    According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 
2009, approximately 4 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet. While monitored Internet cafes with extremely limited 
bandwidth are available in Asmara and other major cities, the vast 
majority of Eritreans do not have access to the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The Government restricted 
academic freedom, including restricting or censoring course content and 
curriculum and censuring or sanctioning academic personnel for their 
teachings, writing and research. Academic travel and contact with other 
academics at home and abroad was restricted, intimidating academics 
into practicing self-censorship, and influencing academic appointments 
based on political affiliation.
    The Government practices widespread and systematic discrimination 
in the education system. In order to enroll students in more selective 
elementary and primary schools, parents often paid bribes or provided 
favors to local authorities or staff at the school.
    During the year there have been reports that schools have separated 
students whose families include liberation ``fighters'' and students 
whose families do not include ``fighters.'' Students whose families 
include liberation fighters are sometimes only required to serve five 
months or less in the military and are often assigned to prized places 
in technical colleges, freeing them of indefinite military service. 
Students whose families do not include a liberation fighter often serve 
indefinite military service with no opportunity for higher education.
    In 2002 the Government reorganized the University of Asmara, which 
effectively shut the traditional undergraduate level programs 
nationwide. As a result, prospective students were not allowed to 
enroll in the university and were directed instead by the Government to 
attend technical institutes. With few exceptions, students must finish 
their last high school year at the Sawa military and educational camp 
and were not permitted to choose their next course of study, instead 
being assigned to specific vocational programs based on their 
performance on the matriculation exam. Only those students who 
completed military training at Sawa or received a medical waiver were 
allowed to take the exam.
    The Government denied exit visas to many students who wanted to 
study abroad. University academics who wished to travel abroad for 
further study or training were required to seek permission in advance 
from the university president and the Government. Many students choose 
to risk their lives by illegally crossing the border into Sudan or 
Ethiopia to attend university abroad eventually.
    During the year the Government censored, canceled, or closed films, 
art exhibits, and other cultural activities. For example, the 
Government routinely monitored libraries and cultural centers 
maintained by foreign embassies, threatening censure of material and, 
in some instances, intimidating and harassing employees and attendees.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Peaceful Assembly.--The law and unimplemented constitution provide for 
freedom of assembly and association; however, the Government did not 
permit either. For public gatherings, the Government required those 
assembling to obtain a permit, although this requirement was enforced 
sporadically.
    During the year security forces disrupted public meetings, 
religious gatherings, and cultural gatherings. Security forces 
typically took photographs and recorded the names of participants and 
interrogated participants upon arrival and departure.

    Freedom of Association.--The law and unimplemented constitution 
provide for freedom of association; however, the Government did not 
respect these rights.
    The Government did not allow the formation of any political parties 
other than the PFDJ. It also prohibited the formation of any 
associations or private organizations (see section 3).

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of the 
religious freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom 
Report at www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law and unimplemented 
constitution provide for freedom of movement, foreign travel, 
emigration, and repatriation; however, the Government restricted all of 
these rights in practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of 
the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in assisting refugees who 
were not from Ethiopia. The Government also cooperated in part with the 
UNHCR to provide protection and assistance to some refugees. The 
Government's Office of Refugee Affairs managed the refugee camps, 
providing hospitals, schools, and other resources. The Government did 
not recognize Ethiopians as refugees and did not cooperate with the 
UNHCR on their behalf.
    Citizens required government permission for most travel within the 
country and to change their places of residence. The Government 
severely restricts travel to the border regions and does not even offer 
bus services to towns near the border. The Government continually 
modified its requirements to obtain passports and exit visas, sometimes 
suspending passport or exit visa services without prior warning. During 
the year the Government introduced a new, machine-readable passport at 
a cost of 4,000 nakfa ($267) valid for two years. It costs a citizen in 
national service approximately 40 percent of his gross yearly salary 
just to maintain a valid passport. The prohibitive cost of the passport 
deters many citizens from foreign travel.
    Citizens participating in national service were often denied 
internal travel permits, passports, and exit visas. Many persons who 
previously were issued passports were not allowed to renew them, nor 
were they granted exit visas. Military police periodically set up 
surprise checkpoints in Asmara and on roads between cities to find 
draft evaders and deserters. Police also stopped persons on the street 
and detained those who were unable to present identification documents 
or movement papers showing they had permission to be in that area.
    Citizens and some foreign nationals were required to obtain exit 
visas to depart the country. Persons routinely denied exit visas 
included men under the age of 54, regardless of whether they had 
completed national service; women under the age of 47; members of 
Jehovah's Witnesses and unregistered religious groups; persons who had 
not completed national service; and other persons out of favor with, or 
seen as critical of, the Government. In 2006 the Government began 
refusing to issue exit visas to children 11 years old and older. During 
the year some children as young as five years of age were denied exit 
visas either on the grounds that they were approaching the age of 
eligibility for national service or because their foreign-based parents 
had not paid the 2 percent income tax required of all citizens residing 
abroad. The Government did not in general grant exit visas to entire 
families or the male and female parents of children simultaneously in 
order to prevent families from fleeing the country. Some citizens were 
given exit visas only after posting bonds of approximately 150,000 
nakfa ($10,000). Exit visa policies are frequently adjusted in 
nontransparent ways to specifically benefit the relatives of high-
ranking government officials, such as the unannounced posting of public 
notices in locations that the public cannot access.
    Travel restrictions imposed in 2006 on noncitizens remained in 
effect. All diplomats, humanitarian organizations, UN staff, and 
foreign tourists were required to obtain advance permission from the 
Government to leave Asmara. Travel restrictions were enforced at 
military checkpoints. Securing travel permission was not a transparent 
process. While some foreign nationals obtained permission to travel to 
certain locations, the Government refused to issue travel permits to 
others traveling to the same place. The Government often failed to 
respond to requests for travel authorization.
    The Government prevented NGO travel by restricting fuel supplies 
and failing to respond to requests for travel permits (see section 5).
    The law has no provisions concerning exile, and there is no 
confirmed report of the Government employing exile during the year.
    The Government does not recognize dual citizenship; therefore, all 
persons of Eritrean descent are considered citizens. In general 
citizens had the right to return. However, citizens residing abroad had 
to show proof that they paid the 2 percent tax on foreign earned income 
to be eligible for some government services, including exit visas upon 
their departure from the country. Applications to return to the country 
filed by citizens living abroad were considered on a case-by-case basis 
if the applicant had broken the law, contracted a serious contagious 
disease, or was declared ineligible for political asylum by other 
governments. Citizens of foreign countries were regularly detained and 
harassed by government officials.
    In August 2009 the Government halted its repatriation program with 
the ICRC, preventing the repatriation of thousands of Ethiopians.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--During 2008 almost all of the 
internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the conflict with Ethiopia 
were permanently resettled, although hundreds of IDP families remained 
in the Gash Baraka region. The Government allowed UN organizations and 
the ICRC to provide assistance to former IDPs.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is not a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, 
and is not a party to the 1969 African Union Convention Governing the 
Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problem in Africa. As a result, the 
Government cannot provide legal refugee or asylum status. However, in 
practice the Government provided protection against the expulsion or 
return of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be 
threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership 
in a particular social group, or political opinion. During the year the 
Government provided temporary protection to approximately 95 persons 
from Sudan, 4,500 persons from Somalia, and 73 persons from Ethiopia on 
a prima facie basis. Reports indicated that the Government provided 
resources to Ethiopian refugees only if the refugees joined Ethiopian 
opposition groups. Ethiopian refugees who did not join opposition 
groups were harassed by government officials.
    The Government required noncitizens to pay an annual fee for a 
residency card; there was no discrimination regarding nationality in 
terms of protection of refugees, with the exception of Ethiopians. The 
fee was 500 nakfa ($34); the card was used to demonstrate that a 
foreigner was not indigent. If the foreigner could not pay the fee, he 
was first referred to the ICRC for repatriation. If he refused 
repatriation, he was incarcerated for 60 days, at which point the cycle 
began again.
    The Government systematically rounded up Ethiopians each year 
around the country's Liberation Day (May 24). The Ethiopians were held 
in a camp until authorities verified that they were not indigent, or 
paid a fine.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The law and unimplemented constitution provide citizens with the 
right to change their government peacefully; however, citizens were not 
allowed to exercise this right in practice.

    Elections and Political Participation.--The Government came to 
power in a 1993 popular referendum in which voters chose to have an 
independent country managed by a transitional government; however, the 
transitional government did not permit the formation of a democratic 
system. The Government twice scheduled elections in accordance with the 
constitution but cancelled them without explanation. An official 
declaration in 2003 claimed that, ``in accordance with the prevailing 
wish of the people, it is not the time to establish political parties, 
and discussion of the establishment has been postponed.'' Government 
officials also stated that implementation of the constitution was not 
possible until the border demarcation with Ethiopia was finalized. In 
2008 the president claimed in an al-Jazeera interview that elections 
might not take place for another 30 or 40 years. The country is a one-
party state. Power rested with the PFDJ and its institutions. At times 
the Government coerced membership in the PFDJ.
    Although no political parties operated in the country, citizens 
living abroad established several political parties and even a shadow 
government in Ethiopia. During the year the Government continued to 
label individuals as traitors, rapists, pedophiles, and traffickers if 
they created or participated in the political parties other than the 
PFDJ.
    Women held four nominal ministerial positions in the Government: 
justice, labor and human welfare, tourism, and health. Women also 
served in other government positions, such as mayors and regional 
administrators.
    A few members of ethnic minorities were on the PFDJ's Executive 
Council or served on the Central Council. Some senior government and 
party officials were members of minority groups such as the Tigre.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    During the year there have been reports that citizens seeking 
executive, legislative, and or judicial services must pay a ``gift'' or 
bribe through a system of patronage and cronyism to access services. 
The law does not provide criminal penalties for official corruption. 
However, the Government arrested individuals it unofficially charged 
with corruption based on political motivations. Those arrested under 
these charges were never tried in court.
    There were reports of petty corruption within the executive branch, 
largely based on family connections. Judicial corruption was also a 
problem, and illegal acts such as property theft were not prosecuted 
when carried out by certain armed forces officials or former fighters 
from the independence struggle who are in favor with the Government. 
There were allegations of corruption among armed forces leaders 
involving illicit trade, the appropriation of houses, and the black 
market sale of goods such as diesel fuel and cement. Corruption was 
extensive in the passport office, and individuals requesting exit visas 
or passports often had to pay bribes.
    Police, who often were conscripted, were paid 15 nakfa 
(approximately one dollar per day) and corruption was a problem. During 
the year there were reports of police and other security forces 
committing crimes to supplement their income, including breaking into 
homes to confiscate jewelry, money, and food. Police typically used 
their influence as government officials to assist friends and family, 
such as in facilitating family members' release from prison. There were 
reports that police demanded bribes to release detainees and that 
military forces accepted money to smuggle citizens from the country. 
There were no mechanisms to address allegations of official abuse, and 
impunity was a problem.
    Public officials were not subject to financial disclosure laws, and 
there was no government agency responsible for combating government 
corruption. Corruption was extensive for government services involving 
identification and travel documents.
    During the year the Government seized successful private companies 
and transferred them to the PFDJ or to the Government. Individuals were 
not compensated for these seizures. Unlike the previous year, the 
Government did not seize crops and other foodstuffs from individuals 
and transfer them to the ruling party. The Government provided 
privileges to former liberation ``fighters'' and their relatives by 
granting them access to business opportunities, trade imports, 
education privileges, and property expropriated from ``nonfighters.''
    Although the law and unimplemented constitution provide for public 
access to government information, the Government did not provide 
information to either citizens or noncitizens.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    No domestic human rights groups and only six international 
humanitarian NGOs (Oxfam, Lutheran World Federation, Irish Self-Help, 
Gruppo Missione Asmara of Italy, Refugee Trust International, and 
Norwegian Church Aid) operated in the country; the Government 
interfered with and restricted their work. Catholic Relief Services 
closed during the year due to government restrictions on international 
staff obtaining visas and other restrictions on travel and activities.
    The Government allowed two ruling party-aligned domestic rights 
NGOs, Toker International and Vision Eritrea, to operate. All NGOs were 
required to register with the Ministry of Labor and Human Welfare, but 
international NGOs were required to maintain 30 million nakfa (two 
million dollars) in a government controlled bank.
    In previous years, the Government permitted only the ICRC to 
operate effectively, although it limited ICRC operations to 
repatriation, providing shelter to families displaced by the conflict 
with Ethiopia, visiting prisons and detention centers where Ethiopians 
were held, and providing assistance to IDPs.
    There were no developments on the dozens of NGO employees seized 
and detained by the Government during 2008 raids on NGO compounds; they 
remained in detention during the year.
    During the year regular fuel shortages caused by government 
rationing of fuel, coupled with limitations on freedom of movement, 
prevented travel by NGOs. In 2008 the Government restricted diesel fuel 
supplies for international NGOs, UN agencies, and the ICRC. These 
organizations were able to purchase unrationed gasoline at the market 
price. However, these restrictions made it increasingly difficult for 
NGOs, the UN, and the ICRC to visit project sites, implement new 
projects, or carry out resettlements. At year's end, the NGOs continued 
to be denied rationed fuel.
    The Government did not permit humanitarian food distribution by 
NGOs or by the World Food Program (WFP), although it allowed UNICEF to 
continue its supplemental feeding programs under the supervision of the 
Ministry of Health. By requiring NGOs and UN organizations to obtain 
permission to travel outside the capital, the Government effectively 
controlled access by relief organizations to the rural areas. UNICEF 
continued to support school feeding programs under the supervision of 
the Ministry of Health. The WFP maintained an office but did not have 
any programs operating in country. Several UN organizations and NGOs 
cited high levels of malnutrition as a concern which could not be 
adequately addressed with the current limited feeding programs.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law and unimplemented constitution prohibit discrimination 
against women, persons with disabilities, and discrimination based on 
race, language, and social status, but the Government did not enforce 
these provisions.

    Women.--Rape is a crime punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment. 
Gang rape, rape of a minor, or an invalid is punishable by up to 15 
years in prison. Sexual assault is punishable by six months to eight 
years in prison. Spousal rape is not categorically outlawed. No 
information was available on the prevalence of rape. Authorities often 
responded to reports of rape by encouraging the perpetrator to marry 
the victim. Allegations of women being raped while attending mandatory 
military and educational training at the Sawa camp were common.
    Violence against women occurred and was pervasive in rural areas. 
Domestic violence is a crime; however, domestic violence cases were 
rarely brought to trial, and there were no legal penalties enshrined 
into law. Women seldom openly discussed domestic violence because of 
societal pressures. Such incidents were more commonly addressed, if at 
all, within families or by clergy. The authorities' response to 
domestic violence was hindered by a lack of trained personnel, 
inadequate funding, and unsupportive societal attitudes.
    Sexual harassment is illegal; however, cultural norms prevented 
women from reporting such incidents, and no one was charged or 
prosecuted for sexual harassment.
    Couples and individuals maintained the basic right to decide freely 
and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children, and 
to have the information and means to do so free from discrimination, 
coercion, and violence.
    Women have a legal right to equal educational opportunities, equal 
pay for equal work, and equal property rights; however, in practice men 
retained privileged access to education, employment, and control of 
economic resources, particularly in rural areas. Women generally did 
not enjoy a social status equal to men.
    The law requires that all Eritreans participate in national service 
beginning at the age of 18. In practice, however, some Eritreans are 
only 17 years old when they go to Sawa where they have six months of 
military training in addition to their normal grade 12 academic year. 
The law requires that women, starting from grade 12, participate in 
national service. During the year the Government continued efforts to 
detain female draft evaders and deserters. According to reports, some 
women drafted for national service were subjected to sexual harassment 
and abuse.
    The Ministry of Labor and Human Welfare and Ministry of Health were 
the primary government offices responsible for ensuring legal rights of 
women along with the quasi-governmental National Union of Eritrean 
Women (NUEW). Economic discrimination against women was not a problem, 
despite the social discrepancies.

    Children.--Citizenship was derived from at least one parent being 
an Eritrean citizen. Persons born abroad to at least one Eritrean 
parent are considered citizens. There were instances of persons being 
born to Eritrean parents in country but not being able to obtain 
national identity cards and government services due to government 
discrimination. For example, members of certain religious groups were 
unable to obtain Eritrean identity cards for government services and as 
evidence of their citizenship due to their religious beliefs.
    Education through grade seven is compulsory and tuition is free; 
however, students were responsible for uniforms, supplies, and 
transportation, which were prohibitively expensive for many families. 
Education above grade seven required a nominal fee and was not 
compulsory. There was a shortage of schools and teachers at all levels, 
remedied in part by holding morning and afternoon shifts at schools. In 
rural areas, young girls usually left school early to work at home.
    The Government required all students who reached the final year of 
secondary school to attend grade 12 at the Sawa military and 
educational camp in the western section of the country. Students who 
did not attend this final year did not graduate and could not take 
examinations that determined eligibility for advanced education. The 
remote location of this military boarding school, security concerns, 
fear of abuse, and societal attitudes reportedly resulted in many 
female students not enrolling for their final year and attempting to 
leave the country. However, women could earn an alternative secondary 
school certificate by attending night school after completing national 
service. Many students elected to repeat grades or dropped out of high 
school after the 11th grade to avoid forced conscription into the Sawa 
military education. There were reports of discrimination between 
students whose parents were liberation fighters and students whose 
parents were not fighters in the form of better living accommodations, 
shorter terms of national service, more frequent approvals for 
temporary leave from military training, and greater opportunities for 
study.
    There are no laws against child abuse and no government programs to 
combat the problem. Physical punishment was widespread and socially 
accepted.
    According to reliable sources, the practice of FGM has been largely 
eliminated in urban areas through the efforts of government educational 
campaigns to discourage its practice, but FGM continued in remote 
villages and among nomadic populations. The Government did not release 
official figures estimating the current rate of FGM, but before recent 
campaigns largely eliminated FGM in urban areas, international 
organizations reported that 95 percent of girls had undergone FGM, and 
these figures are likely still accurate in rural regions with limited 
government interaction. In the lowlands, infibulation--the most severe 
form of FGM--was practiced. In 2007 the Government issued a 
proclamation declaring FGM a crime and prohibited its practice. The 
Government and other organizations, including the NUEW and the National 
Union of Eritrean Youth and Students, sponsored a variety of education 
programs during the year that discouraged the practice.
    The legal minimum age for marriage for both men and women is 18 
years old, although religious entities may bless marriages at younger 
ages. UNICEF reported in 2009 that 46 percent of girls were married 
before 18 years of age in 2009.
    There were no confirmed instances of children engaged in 
prostitution for survival with or without third party involvement, but 
there are several known locations in the capital of Asmara where 
prostitution takes place. The law criminalizes child prostitution, 
pornography, and sexual exploitation; however, there were reports that 
it increasingly occurred during the year as economic conditions 
worsened.
    All students spend their final year of high school at the Sawa 
military and educational camp in Sawa. Attendance at Sawa was 
compulsory, and those who did not attend remain at risk of arrest. 
Students at Sawa were typically 18 years old or older, although a fair 
percentage were as young as 16 years old. The initial three months of 
school were spent undergoing military training. Students who received 
poor grades in high school had, in the past, been sent to the Wi'a 
Military Camp in lieu of being allowed to complete the academic year.
    The law prohibits the recruitment of children under the age of 18 
years into the armed forces; however, in practice children under the 
age of 18 were conscripted by their forced attendance at Sawa. It was 
not known if rebel groups within the country recruited soldiers under 
the age of 18.
    During the year humanitarian groups and interlocutors anecdotally 
noted an increase from previous years in the number of street children 
due in part to an increase in economic hardship. UNICEF funded programs 
for street children; however, the increase in the number of street 
children outstripped program's ability to provide services.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html

    Anti-Semitism.--There are fewer than 10 Jews in the country, and 
the Government allows for the maintenance of a synagogue in Asmara. 
There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law and unimplemented constitution 
prohibit discrimination against persons with disabilities in 
employment, education, or in the provision of other state services. 
Unlike previous years, there were some reports of discrimination 
against persons with disabilities, especially in rural areas. Schools 
involved with the education of persons with disabilities reported that 
job discrimination was common. The Government dedicated substantial 
resources to support and train the thousands of men and women with 
physical disabilities that resulted from the war for independence and 
the conflict with Ethiopia. There are no laws mandating access for 
persons with disabilities to public thoroughfares or public or private 
buildings, but many newly constructed buildings provided such access. 
The Ministry of Labor and Human Welfare was responsible for the rights 
of 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 western sector of the country. 
Societal abuse of Ethiopians occurred and was noticeable during the 
yearly roundups that occur just before Liberation Day (May 24). 
Ethiopians were arbitrarily arrested and asked to pay fines to be 
released. Requests from citizens in rural areas (where ethnic 
minorities are concentrated) for basic services, such as an adequate 
number of schools, were routinely ignored by the Government.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Homosexuality is illegal, and 
individuals continue to be prosecuted under article 600 of the penal 
code. During the year there were unconfirmed reports that the 
Government carried out periodic roundups of individuals considered gay 
and lesbian, and gays and lesbian faced severe societal discrimination. 
The Government accused foreign governments of promoting the practice to 
undermine the Government. There were uncorroborated reports that known 
gays and lesbians in the armed forces were subjected to severe abuse. 
There were no known lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender 
organizations in the country.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There was no societal 
violence or discrimination based on persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides workers with the 
legal right to form and join unions to protect their interests; 
however, some government policies restricted free association or 
prevented the formation of some unions, including within the civil 
service, armed forces, police, and other organizations providing 
essential services. The Government ran all unions, including the 
Teacher's Union, Women's Union, Youth's Union, and Worker's Union. 
Membership in these unions was required as a precondition to working is 
their respective fields. The Government did not encourage the formation 
of independent unions by employees or private businesses. Union leaders 
were typically government employees, and union activities were 
generally government sanctioned. 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; however, 
the Government did not approve the formation of any unions.
    The law allows strikes; however, all unions were closely aligned 
with the Government and thus did not exercise or promote the right to 
strike. The ability of government-backed industries to use national 
service conscripts as free or cheap sources of labor on nonmilitary 
projects prevents labor market competition.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows 
unions to conduct their activities without interference, and collective 
bargaining is allowed, but in practice all unions were subservient to 
the Government. The Government sets wages for union workers, employees 
of PFDJ-owned enterprises, and government employees. For most 
professions, wages have not been increased for more than a decade 
despite rampant inflation. Wages were set independently in the small 
private sector, although workers were not allowed to organize 
independently.
    Since most businesses were government-owned, unions did not 
experience antiunion discrimination.
    The Eritrean Free Zone in Massawa, authorized in 2006 to attract 
foreign and local investors, was not operational by year's end.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including by children. However, forced 
labor occurred. Specifically, Eritrea's mandatory national service 
program of indefinite duration requires conscripts to perform a wide 
variety of nonmilitary activities, including harvesting and work in the 
service sector. Conscription into mandatory, open-ended service begins 
at the senior year of high school for all students; they are required 
to spend their senior year at the Sawa military and education camp. 
Some students enter Sawa as early as the age of 16 or 17 and, 
therefore, begin national conscripted labor immediately following Sawa 
under the age of 18.
    With few exceptions, the Government required all men and women upon 
graduation from high school to participate in the national service 
program until demobilization, which included military training and 
civilian work programs. However, the criteria for demobilization were 
unclear, and many were required to work indefinitely in any location or 
capacity chosen by the Government. Reports indicated citizens were 
enlisted in the national service for many years at below minimum wage 
rates with no prospective end date, no promotion or salary increases, 
and restricted freedom of movement, since those employed under national 
service were often denied passports or exit visas. The Government 
justified its open-ended draft on the basis of Ethiopia's occupation of 
Eritrean territory. Some national service members were assigned to 
return to their civilian jobs while nominally kept 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. The Government required them to forfeit 
to the Government any money they earned above that salary. Government 
employees generally were unable to leave their jobs or take new 
employment. Draft evaders often were used as laborers on government 
development projects.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Although the Government has a national plan of action to protect 
children from exploitation in the workplace, it was not enforced 
effectively, and child labor occurred. The legal minimum age of 
employment is 14 years old. The law prohibits minors from working in 
transport industries or working underground, such as in mines and 
sewers. It was common for rural children who did not attend school to 
work on family farms, fetch firewood and water, and herd livestock, 
among other activities. In urban areas, children could be seen in auto 
mechanic uniforms working in car repair shops. Some children worked as 
street vendors of cigarettes, newspapers, or chewing gum to supplement 
household income, or at the behest of older children. Persons who have 
fled Eritrea report that police have arrested children and forced them 
into military service and other forms of national service regardless of 
their being younger than the minimum working age.
    There were no known reports of children engaged in the worst forms 
of child labor; however, in urban areas children were engaged in auto 
and bicycle repair or transport of grain and goods via donkey carts. 
Increasingly dire economic conditions have led to an increase in 
begging and prostitution among children in Asmara. In rural areas, 
children assisted with farming corn, wheat, sorghum, and other grains.
    Labor inspectors from the Ministry of Labor and Human Welfare were 
responsible for enforcing child labor laws, but inspections were 
infrequent, and enforcement of child labor laws was ineffective.
    Some of the major programs implemented to prevent child labor 
include government preschool services in rural and urban areas and 
academic and vocational training.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum monthly wage in the 
civil service sector is 360 nakfa (eight dollars) per month. The 
official government conversion rate is 15 nakfa to one dollar, but the 
black market values nakfa at 45 nakfa to one dollar. The country is not 
self-sustaining in terms of food and basic goods. They are often 
smuggled into the country and purchased at the less favorable black 
market rate. Therefore a salary of 360 nakfa which has an official 
value of $24 has an effective purchasing power of only eight dollars. 
This wage does not provide a decent standard of living for workers and 
support for their families. As an example, a large 1,600 gram can of 
powdered milk costs more than 1,000 nakfa or three months salary at 
minimum wage. Many persons in the service industry made less than the 
minimum wage. For instance, police officers earn between 50 and 400 
nakfa per month (between $3.33 and $26.67). The Government did not 
enforce the minimum wage law.
    The standard workweek was 44.5 hours, but many persons worked fewer 
hours. Workers were entitled to one rest day per week; most workers 
were allowed from one to one-and-one-half days off per week. There are 
no prohibitions against excessive overtime. Citizens are legally 
entitled to overtime, except for those employed under national service; 
however, citizens were rarely forced to work more than the 44.5-hour 
workweek.
    The Government instituted occupational health and safety standards, 
but inspection and enforcement varied widely among factories. In 
practice some workers were permitted to remove themselves from 
dangerous work sites without retaliation.
    During the year there was discrimination against foreign or migrant 
workers, especially Ethiopians, who could not receive food coupons and 
were periodically arrested without cause and not released until paying 
a fine.
    *United States personnel were rarely permitted to travel outside of 
the capital Asmara, and had very limited access to citizens and 
government officials in the country. This report draws in large part on 
non-U.S. government sources.

                               __________

                                ETHIOPIA

    Ethiopia is a federal republic led by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi 
and the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). The 
population is estimated at 82 million. In the May national 
parliamentary elections, the EPRDF and affiliated parties won 545 of 
547 seats to remain in power for a fourth consecutive five-year term. 
In simultaneous elections for regional parliaments, the EPRDF and its 
affiliates won 1,903 of 1,904 seats. In local and by-elections held in 
2008, the EPRDF and its affiliates won all but four of 3.4 million 
contested seats after the opposition parties, citing electoral 
mismanagement, removed themselves from the balloting. Although there 
are more than 90 ostensibly opposition parties, which carried 21 
percent of the vote nationwide in May, the EPRDF and its affiliates, in 
a first-past-the-post electoral system, won more than 99 percent of all 
seats at all levels. Although the relatively few international 
officials that were allowed to observe the elections concluded that 
technical aspects of the vote were handled competently, some also noted 
that an environment conducive to free and fair elections was not in 
place prior to election day. Several laws, regulations, and procedures 
implemented since the 2005 national elections created a clear advantage 
for the EPRDF throughout the electoral process. Political parties were 
predominantly ethnically based, and opposition parties remained 
splintered. During the year fighting between government forces, 
including local militias, and the Ogaden National Liberation Front 
(ONLF), an ethnically based, violent insurgent movement operating in 
the Somali region, resulted in continued allegations of human rights 
abuses by all parties to the conflict. Security forces generally 
reported to civilian authorities; however, there were instances in 
which security forces, specifically special police and local militias, 
acted independently of civilian control.
    Human rights abuses reported during the year included unlawful 
killings, torture, beating, and abuse and mistreatment of detainees and 
opposition supporters by security forces, especially special police and 
local militias, which took aggressive or violent action with evident 
impunity in numerous instances; poor prison conditions; arbitrary 
arrest and detention, particularly of suspected sympathizers or members 
of opposition or insurgent groups; detention without charge and lengthy 
pretrial detention; infringement on citizens' privacy rights, including 
illegal searches; use of excessive force by security services in 
counterinsurgency operations; restrictions on freedom of speech and of 
the press; arrest, detention, and harassment of journalists; 
restrictions on freedom of assembly and association; restrictions on 
freedom of movement; ruling party intimidation, threats, and violence 
during the elections; police, administrative, and judicial corruption; 
harassment of those who worked for human rights organizations; violence 
and societal discrimination against women and abuse of children; female 
genital mutilation (FGM); exploitation of children for economic and 
sexual purposes; trafficking in persons; societal discrimination 
against persons with disabilities and religious and ethnic minorities; 
forced labor and child labor; and government interference in union 
activities.
                        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 no proof 
that the Government and its agents committed any politically motivated 
killings during the year; however, there were credible reports of 
involvement of security forces in the killings and other abuses of 
civilians in connection with the conflict in the Somali region (see 
section 1.g.) and in the deaths of opposition party activists (see 
section 3).
    In January Oromia police shot two unarmed students, one of them 
fatally, during a college riot at Ardayta College in the Western Arsi 
zone of the Oromia Regional State. The Government acknowledged a 
disturbance at the college, evidently related to longstanding disputes 
between students and the administration, that led the college dean to 
call the police for assistance. After the shooting incident, the police 
suspended two senior officers for giving inappropriate orders, and one 
policeman was charged and found guilty of murder by use of excessive 
force. He was sentenced to prison.
    In June the press reported that police in Addis Ababa beat 17-year-
old Besufekad Tamene to death. The Government confirmed that police 
officers Girma Makonnen and Birhanu Jula were on duty when they were 
approached for assistance by Yewebnesh Hailemariam because her grandson 
was causing a disturbance at home. They reportedly hit him repeatedly 
with a stick on the head, neck, and chest. Besafekad died on June 4 as 
a result of his injuries. The officers were arrested on June 5 and 
charged with murder. The case was pending at year's end.
    According to a May 2009 government report, the security chief of 
Gue, Tamene Tadesse, was charged with the use of excessive force and 
sentenced to 15 years in prison for the 2007 fatal shootings of two 
students in Gue, in the Oromia region.
    There was no official action taken against police officers involved 
in the January 2009 shooting and killing of Debasu Yengusie Mengesha 
and Gobeze Wudu as they left a bar.
    There were no developments in the February 2009 incident in which 
police shot and killed a 19-year-old student protester, Wendimu Damena, 
or in the police shooting that injured a 20-year-old student, Belay 
Motuma, during the same demonstration.
    There were no developments in the following 2008 incidents: the 
killing of three brothers--Yayeh Yirad Assefa, Negusu Assefa, and 
Temesgen Assefa--by local police and militia in Zeba kebele (Dejen 
woreda, East Gojam zone, Amhara region); the killing of Aschalew Taye, 
a supporter of the opposition All Ethiopia Unity Party (AEUP); and 
several bombings (the Humera bus and school incidents in Amhara; two 
hotels in Negele Borena, in the Oromia region; and a bombing at a 
Jijiga hotel).
    There were no developments in the April 2009 land mine explosion in 
the Danakil Depression area of the Afar region, which killed two 
persons and wounded two others. The Government claimed that the South 
Red Sea Rebel Liberation Front was responsible.
    There were no developments in the December 2009 incident in which 
two hand grenades thrown into a crowded cafe in Kebri Dehar, in the 
Somali region, killed one woman and wounded nine other persons. The 
Government claimed that the perpetrators were four Eritreans supporting 
the rebel ONLF.
    On May 6, in the Oromia region, a hand grenade was thrown into a 
political meeting of the Oromo Peoples' Democratic Organization (OPDO) 
killing two persons and injuring 14. A government spokesman, Shimeles 
Kemal, stated that the incident was an attempt to assassinate the 
region's deputy president, Abdulaziz Mohammed, who escaped unhurt. 
Police officials arrested suspects, one of whom, Tadesse Haile, was 
sentenced to death after a trial within a week of the incident.
    Clashes between ethnic clans during 2008 and 2009 resulted in 
hundreds of deaths (see section 6).

    Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances; however, there were innumerable reports of local 
police, militia members, and the National Intelligence and Security 
Service (NISS) seizing individuals, especially opposition political 
activists, for brief periods of incommunicado detention. Neither 
diplomatic missions nor nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) were 
allowed access by the Government to the Somali region and therefore had 
very limited ability to comment on the procedures of security forces 
operating there.
    There were no developments in the 2008 disappearances in Addis 
Ababa of Ethiopian Teachers' Association members Tilahun Ayalew and 
Anteneh Getnet, or of Alexander Gebre Meskel, a resident of Addis 
Ababa.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--Although the constitution and law prohibit the use of 
torture and mistreatment, there were credible reports that security 
officials physically mistreated detainees.
    Opposition political party leaders reported frequent, systematic 
abuse and intimidation of their members and supporters by police and 
local militias. Those leaders stated that victims of such abuse did not 
seek redress from police and other criminal justice authorities for 
fear of provoking retaliation. When opposition parties packaged 
hundreds of such reports of abuse for consideration by officials at the 
National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE), the board--possessing the 
legal discretion to investigate but lacking an investigative staff--
generally dismissed the complaints for lack of evidence or procedural 
defects, in both 2008 and 2010.
    The UN Committee Against Torture noted in a November 19 report that 
it was ``deeply concerned'' about ``numerous, ongoing, and consistent 
allegations'' concerning ``the routine use of torture'' by the police, 
prison officers and other members of the security forces--as well as 
the military, in particular--against political dissidents and 
opposition party members, students, alleged terrorists, and alleged 
supporters of insurgent groups, such as the ONLF and the Oromo 
Liberation Front (OLF). The committee reported that such acts 
frequently occurred with the participation of, at the instigation of, 
or with the consent of commanding officers in police stations, 
detention centers, federal prisons, military bases, and unofficial or 
secret places of detention.
    Numerous reliable sources confirmed in April 2009 that in 
Maekelawi, the central police investigation headquarters in Addis 
Ababa, police investigators often used physical abuse to extract 
confessions. Several prisoners who were held at Maekelawi and other 
nontraditional detention facilities independently claimed with credible 
detail that they and other detainees were tortured in police station 
jails in attempts by security officials to elicit confessions before 
their cases went to trial. No indication came during the year that 
these abusive practices were eliminated. NGO and diplomatic access to 
Maekelawi was curtailed during the year.
    Several of the persons arrested in Apri1 2009 for alleged 
affiliation with Ginbot 7, a largely diaspora opposition group some of 
whose members publicly advocated violent overthrow of the Government, 
reported harsh physical abuse and torture during pretrial 
interrogations. In November 2009 these defendants reiterated these 
accusations to their trial court. A government spokesman denied the 
allegations. In December 2010 the Global Alliance Against Torture in 
Ethiopia, an antigovernment diaspora group, released reports, 
purportedly originating with cooperative prison personnel, summarizing 
the accusations of mistreatment given by individual Ginbot 7 inmates.
    In those reports Amerar Bayabel, Second Sergeant Gobena Belay 
Ayele, and Lieutenant Colonel Abere Assefa Aberra described similar, 
consistently horrific experiences at Maekelawi. They included lengthy 
nights of physical mistreatment, including: being made to lie on the 
ground, handcuffed, blindfolded, and in some cases naked, while 
interrogators wearing military boots stood on their chests; being 
whipped with wire and beaten on the head and the insides of their feet; 
being gagged, hung upside down, and beaten with electrical cords; being 
threatened with injection of HIV-infected blood; and being subjected to 
ethnic slurs.
    In July 2009 Nimona Tuffa, a student at Hayuma Medical College in 
Ambo and a member of the Oromo People's Congress (OPC), an opposition 
party, was detained in Guder by Oromia regional security officials 
dressed in civilian clothes. Nimona reported that security officials, 
including the head of security of West Shoa zone, Tesfaye Sime, beat 
him, first in a nearby forest and later at the OPDO Ambo offices, part 
of the EPRDF, where they pressured him to sign a statement admitting he 
was a member of the OLF. He eventually signed. When released Nimona was 
hospitalized for severe nerve-ending damage, hearing damage, and back 
injuries. When the case was brought to court, the prosecutor suggested 
that the case was not politically motivated but was a personal 
conflict. However, Nimona testified that he had no knowledge of his 
attackers before the incident and that he believed it was politically 
motivated. The judge sentenced the perpetrators to a fine of 500 birr 
($30.53). With the involvement of a diplomatic mission, the case was 
reopened and the primary police officer involved was eventually 
sentenced to three years in prison, for use of excessive force. 
However, at year's end the officer apparently had not begun to serve 
the sentence. Nimona fled the country.
    There were no developments in the 2008 beating of Gelaye Tadele 
while in local police custody in Arba Minch, in the Southern Nations, 
Nationalities, and Peoples Region (SNNPR).

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--The country has three 
federal and 120 regional prisons. There also are many unofficial 
detention centers throughout the country, including in Dedessa, Bir 
Sheleko, Tolay, Hormat, Blate, Tatek, Jijiga, Holeta, and Senkele. Most 
are located at military camps.
    Prison and pretrial detention center conditions remained harsh and 
in some cases life threatening. Severe overcrowding was common, 
especially in sleeping quarters. The Government provided approximately 
eight birr ($0.50) per prisoner per day for food, water, and health 
care. Many prisoners supplemented this with daily food deliveries from 
family members or by purchasing food from local vendors. Medical care 
was unreliable in federal prisons and almost nonexistent in regional 
prisons. Water shortages caused unhygienic conditions, and most prisons 
lacked appropriate sanitary facilities.
    Many prisoners had serious health problems in detention but 
received little treatment. In April an Italian citizen died after 
receiving allegedly substandard medical treatment in Kality prison. At 
year's end there were an estimated 86,000 persons in prison, of whom 
2,474 were women and 546 were children incarcerated with their mothers. 
Juveniles were sometimes incarcerated with adults who were awaiting 
execution. Male and female prisoners generally were separated. 
Authorities generally permitted visitors. In some cases family visits 
to prisoners were restricted to a few per year.
    Following a 2008 investigation on prison conditions, the Ethiopian 
Human Rights Commission (EHRC) reported that the overwhelming majority 
of detainees in prisons were held on pending charges. Some prisoners 
reported being detained for several years without being charged and 
without trial. Pretrial detention during the year, while still high, 
showed a rapid decline. Approximately 80 percent of those incarcerated 
in Amhara, Benishangul-Gumuz, Oromia, SNNPR, and Tigray had been 
sentenced.
    Prisoners were generally permitted religious observance, but this 
varied by prison, and even by section of prison, at the discretion of 
prison management. Prisoners can, during trial, make complaints about 
prison conditions or treatment to the presiding judge.
    During the year the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) 
visited regional prisons but, like all international organizations and 
NGOs, remained barred from visiting federal prisons, which held persons 
accused or convicted of crimes against national security, and all 
prisons in the Somali region. Regional authorities allowed NGO 
representatives to meet regularly with prisoners without third parties 
being present.
    The Ethiopian NGO Justice for All-Prison Fellowship Ethiopia (JFA-
PFE) was granted access to various prison and detention facilities, 
including federal prisons. JFA-PFE ran a ``model'' prison in Adama with 
significantly better conditions compared with other prisons.
    The Government and prison authorities were generally cooperative in 
dealing with NGO efforts to effect improvements in prison conditions.
    The Government routinely failed to meet its obligation to notify 
diplomatic missions of the arrest of foreign nationals, so foreign 
representatives had only rare access to prisons and other detention 
facilities.
    In 2009 the Government established regional ``justice forums'' 
throughout the country to improve coordination among the Ministry of 
Justice (MOJ) as well as regional security and prison administration 
officials.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--Although the constitution and 
law prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, the Government frequently 
ignored these provisions in practice. During the year the phenomenon 
increased significantly in the preelection environment (see section 3).

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Federal Police 
Commission reports to the Ministry of Federal Affairs, which is 
subordinate to the parliament; however, this subordination was loose in 
practice. Each of the country's nine regions has a state or special 
police force that reports to the regional civilian authorities. Local 
militias also operated as local security forces in loose coordination 
with regional police and military, with the degree of coordination 
varying by region. NISS officers were involved in all matters deemed to 
have implications for national security.
    Impunity remained a serious problem. According to sources at 
government agencies, the Government rarely publicly disclosed the 
results of investigations into abuses by local security forces, such as 
arbitrary detention and beatings of civilians. In its November report, 
the UN Committee Against Torture noted that there were ``numerous and 
consistent reports'' about the Government's ``persistent failure'' to 
investigate allegations of torture and prosecute perpetrators, 
including Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) or police commanders. 
The committee further noted the absence of information on cases in 
which soldiers and police or prison officers were prosecuted, 
sentenced, or subjected to disciplinary sanctions for acts of torture 
or mistreatment.
    There were no further developments in the July 2009 case of the 444 
staff members, including high-ranking officials, fired by the Addis 
Ababa Police Commission for involvement in serious crimes, including 
armed robbery, rape, and theft.
    The Government continued its efforts to provide human rights 
training for police and army recruits. During the year the Government 
continued to seek assistance from the JFA-PFE and the EHRC to improve 
and professionalize its human-rights training and curriculum, by 
including more material on the constitution and international human 
rights treaties and conventions. The JFA-PFE conducted human rights 
training for police commissioners, prosecutors, judges, prison 
administration, and militia in Amhara, Oromia, SNNPR, Benishangul-
Gumuz, and Gambella.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Authorities 
regularly detained persons without warrants and denied access to 
counsel and family members, particularly in outlying regions. Although 
the constitution and the penal code require that detainees be brought 
to court and charged within 48 hours, this requirement generally was 
not respected in practice. A functioning bail system was in place but 
not available in murder, treason, and corruption cases. In most cases 
authorities set bail between 500 and 10,000 birr ($30 and $610), which 
was too costly for most citizens. Police officials did not always 
respect court orders to release suspects on bail. With court approval 
persons suspected of serious offenses can be detained for 14 days 
without being charged and for additional 14-day periods if an 
investigation continues. The law prohibits detention in any facilities 
other than an official detention center; however, there were dozens of 
unofficial local detention centers used by local government militia and 
other formal and informal law enforcement entities. The Government 
provided public defenders for detainees unable to afford private legal 
counsel, but only when their cases went to court. While in detainees 
were in pretrial detention, authorities allowed them little or no 
contact with legal counsel. Police continued to arrest individuals 
without warrants (see section 1.f.). Opposition party members 
consistently and credibly reported that authorities frequently detained 
persons in police stations for long periods without charge or access to 
a judge. Authorities apparently targeted certain individuals for 
arrest, with charges and other terms of detention determined only after 
detention commenced.
    In January NISS officers detained a foreign citizen and held him 
incommunicado in Tigray without warrant at various locations for 48 
hours (see section 2.a.). When he complained to a senior NISS official, 
he was told: ``This is Ethiopia. We can do what we want. You are lucky 
the worst hasn't already happened to you.'' He was released soon after 
without charges being filed.
    Persons arrested in April 2009 in connection with the Ginbot 7 case 
were held for more than a month at Maekelawi without charges while 
police gathered evidence, during which time family members were not 
informed of their whereabouts. They were then charged with conspiracy 
to destroy government institutions, the attempted assassination of 
government officials, and an attempt to incite rebellion in the army. 
The detainees were denied pretrial access to legal counsel, and several 
alleged mistreatment while in detention. Ultimately, their property was 
confiscated, five received death sentences, 33 received life 
imprisonment in Kality prison, and two received sentences of 10 years.
    In May 2009 customs authorities detained Abebe Worke, the chairman 
of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO) and a prominent human 
rights lawyer, and Meleskachew Amha, a Voice of America (VOA) reporter, 
for allegedly attempting to illegally sell imported duty-free 
publishing equipment that belonged to Addis Broadcasting Company, of 
which both were shareholders (see section 2.a.). Meleskachew and Abebe 
were detained at the Customs Authority compound, not a formal detention 
facility, for 12 days before being released on bail. Abebe fled the 
country. On July 15, the Federal First Instance Court dropped all 
charges against Meleskachew due to lack of evidence. Abebe was 
sentenced in absentia to one year's imprisonment and fined 1.4 million 
birr ($85,370).
    In June 2009 town officials in Bistima, Werebaba woreda (South 
Wollo zone, Amhara region), arrested an EHRCO investigator, Mulugeta 
Fentaw. Mulugeta was returning home after investigating alleged cases 
of harassment in Bistima of Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) 
members. The woreda Security Chief, Makonnen Hussein, confiscated 
Mulugeta's notebook containing sensitive summaries of his interviews. 
Immediately thereafter the police accused Mulugeta of stealing 2,000 
birr ($122.10) and arrested him. At the police station he was searched, 
and when the police found only 200 birr ($12.21) in his possession, 
they modified the charge to claim that he stole only 200 birr ($12.21). 
Mulugeta was arrested and jailed for three days. He was brought to the 
woreda court on June 3, convicted, and sentenced to eight months' 
imprisonment. He appealed to the zonal high court. On July 17, the high 
court dismissed the case, stating that such acts by the woreda court 
eroded public confidence in the judiciary. The woreda administration 
appealed and brought another charge of ``tarnishing the reputation of 
woreda officials by bringing false witnesses.'' Mulugeta again appealed 
to the high court, which dismissed the case. Fearing further harassment 
by government officials, he went into exile abroad.
    One of Mulugeta's defense witnesses, Alemu Abaineh, was arrested 
after he gave testimony in court. He was accused of stealing and 
possessing antitank grenades and plotting to attack the militia. He was 
sentenced to four years' imprisonment. He appealed to the high court 
and was released on bail. The trial continued at year's end.
    There were no developments in the cases of the opposition AEUP 
members Mekuanent Seneshaw, Alehegne Mekuanent, Kifle Tadege, and 
Endale Tadege, who were arrested at a Chendiba wedding in 2008 and 
charged with holding an illegal political gathering in the form of a 
wedding.

    Amnesty.--On September 10, the federal government and Amhara and 
Oromia regional governments granted pardons to more than 9,000 
prisoners, in keeping with a longstanding tradition for celebration of 
the new year on September 11.
    The president of the opposition party UDJ, Birtukan Mideksa, was 
pardoned and released from prison on October 6 (see Political Prisoners 
and Detainees).

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary. Although the civil courts operated with a large 
degree of independence, the criminal courts remained weak, 
overburdened, and subject to significant political intervention and 
influence. The upper house of parliament has sole responsibility for 
judging the constitutionality of new laws, handling judicial 
appointments, and reviewing judicial conduct. In theory and in 
practice, courts have the ability to convict defendants on charges not 
raised by the prosecution.
    Regional offices of the federal MOJ monitored local judicial 
developments. Some regional courts had jurisdiction over both local and 
federal matters, as the federal courts in those jurisdictions that had 
not begun operation; overall, the federal judicial presence in the 
regions was limited. Consequently many citizens residing in rural areas 
generally had little access to formal judicial systems, at any level, 
and effectively had no choice but to rely on traditional mechanisms of 
resolving conflict.
    The law provides legal standing to some preexisting religious and 
traditional courts and allows federal and regional legislatures to 
recognize decisions of such courts. By law all parties to a dispute 
must agree to use a traditional or religious court before such a court 
may hear a case, and either party can appeal to a regular court at any 
time. Sharia (Islamic) courts may hear religious and family cases 
involving Muslims. In addition other traditional systems of justice, 
such as the Council of Elders, continued to function. These customary 
courts resolved disputes for the majority of citizens who lived in 
rural areas. Some women complained of lack of access to free and fair 
hearings in the traditional justice system because they were excluded 
by custom from participation in the Council of Elders and because there 
was strong gender discrimination in rural areas.
    The judicial system severely lacked experienced staff, sometimes 
making the application of the law unpredictable. The Government 
continued to train lower court judges and prosecutors and made 
effective judicial administration the primary focus of the training. To 
address backlogs in case processing, in October 2009 the Government 
allocated 147 million birr ($8.97 million) to construct five new 
courthouses in Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa. During the year the federal 
Supreme Court, high courts, and courts of first instance remained open 
for over two-and-one-half months during their regular recess period in 
June, July, and August to try to reduce the backlog of cases.
    The seventh criminal branch of the federal court of first instance, 
headed by three judges, handled cases involving juvenile offenses and 
cases of sexual abuse of women and children. There was a large backlog 
of juvenile cases, and accused children often remained in detention 
with adults until officials heard their cases. There were also credible 
reports that domestic violence and rape cases were often significantly 
delayed and given low priority.
    In October the EHRC, a government entity, signed a memorandum of 
understanding with four public universities to encourage students to 
participate in legal aid for indigent clients.
    In July 2009 the parliament passed the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation 
to address growing terrorist threats. Several human rights 
organizations raised concerns over the law's broad definition of 
terrorism, severe penalties, broad rules of evidence, and discretionary 
powers afforded police and security forces. Although a full prosecution 
under this law had not yet been conducted by year's end, several 
defendants were charged under it, including elderly citizens and 
students who staged public demonstrations in January in Oromia against 
gold mining interests they claimed were polluting their community's air 
and water.
    Criminal matters related to the military are handled by military 
tribunals. Military tribunals may not try civilians except in certain 
cases involving allegations of threats to national security. The total 
caseload of the military justice system grew, reflecting an effort to 
hold military officers and troops more accountable, but the military 
lacked adequately trained staff to handle the increased demands on the 
system.
    In November 2009 the Federal Supreme Court sentenced Judge Girma 
Tiku, former president of the Court of First Instance for Urban Affairs 
of Lideta subcity, Addis Ababa, to seven years' imprisonment and a fine 
of 1,000 birr ($61) on corruption charges.
    There were no developments in two 2008 MOJ corruption cases against 
judges.

    Trial Procedures.--According to the law, accused persons have the 
right to a fair public trial by a court of law within a ``reasonable 
time,'' a presumption of innocence, the right to be represented by 
legal counsel of their choice, and the right to appeal. In some 
sensitive cases deemed to involve matters of national security, notably 
the Ginbot 7 and OLF trials, closed proceedings took place, and at 
times authorities allowed detainees little or no contact with legal 
counsel. The court system does not use trial by juries.
    Judicial inefficiency, lengthy trial delays, and lack of qualified 
staff often resulted in serious delays in trial proceedings The Public 
Defender's Office provided legal counsel to indigent defendants, 
although its scope and quality of service remained limited due to the 
shortage of attorneys. Although the law explicitly stipulates that 
persons charged with corruption are to be shown the evidence against 
them prior to their trials, several credible sources reported that 
authorities routinely denied defense counsel pretrial access to such 
evidence. As in previous years, the Government did not establish an 
execution date for the 19 former Derg officials sentenced to death in 
2006 for crimes of genocide, treason, and murder. All remained on death 
row at year's end except Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam, who was in 
exile in Zimbabwe. According to a May 2009 government report, religious 
leaders requested that the Government reduce the sentences of former 
Derg officials. The Government had not responded by year's end, 
although religious officials increased the volume of their pleas in 
December.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--Domestic and international NGOs 
estimated that there were 200 to 300 political prisoners and detainees 
at year's end.
    In August several opposition party leaders reported an 
intensification in the arrest and detention of opposition supporters, 
especially in Oromia, Amhara, and Tigray. Approximately 1,200 
opposition Oromo Federalists' Congress (OFC) Party supporters, for 
example, were reportedly arrested and detained in association with the 
May elections. (The OFC was formed by the merger of the OPC and the 
Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM)). Many were released during 
the year after serving four- to five-month sentences, but many remained 
in jail.
    In October the president of the UDJ, Birtukan Mideksa, whose pardon 
was revoked and life sentence reinstated in 2008, was released. Prior 
to her release she was held in solitary confinement until June, despite 
a court ruling that indicated it was a violation of her constitutional 
rights.
    Chaka Robi, a supporter of the opposition Coalition for Unity and 
Democracy (CUD) arrested in 2008, was released during the year.
    There were several developments in the 2008 case in which police, 
local authorities, and ruling party cadres arrested 16 second-tier 
leaders from various opposition parties engaged in community outreach 
or opening new offices throughout the country. On August 12, 15 
arrestees were ordered to present their defenses against charges of 
recruiting and organizing OLF members, promoting OLF terrorist 
activities, and financially supporting the OLF. The case against one 
defendant was dismissed. Among the 15 tried, OFDM secretary general 
Bekele Jirata was charged and released on bail in February 2009. He 
later fled the country. He was found guilty in absentia on March 31 and 
sentenced to 12 years in jail. The other men were also found guilty. 
One man was sentenced to death, one was sentenced to life in prison, 
and the rest were given jail terms ranging from 10 to 13 years.
    In February the Government pardoned 182 members of the AEUP 
previously convicted of threatening the ``constitutional order'' during 
the violent aftermath of the 2005 national elections. The pardons 
reportedly were part of a negotiated agreement for the AEUP leadership 
to participate in EPRDF-led talks on the enactment of an electoral code 
of conduct for political parties.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Civil courts were 
generally viewed as independent and impartial. The law provides 
citizens the right to appeal human rights violations in civil court; 
however, no such cases were filed during the year.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law requires authorities to obtain judicial 
warrants to search private property; however, in practice police often 
ignored this law, and there were no records of courts excluding 
evidence found without warrants.
    The Ethiopian government and regional governments began to put in 
place ``villagization'' plans in the Gambella and Benishangul-Gumuz 
regions, an effort to speed up agricultural development. The plan 
involves the resettlement of 45,000 households in each of the two 
regions. The Governments describe the resettlement plans as strictly 
voluntary, but there were reports of local skepticism and resentment 
and isolated reports of violence, in part because much of the land was 
or was to be leased to foreign companies.
    There were reports of police forcibly entering civilian homes in 
2008 and 2009. During the year there were innumerable reports of ruling 
party operatives making unwelcome visits to the homes of opposition 
operatives, although forced entry was not part of the usual pattern 
alleged (see section 1.c.).
    In April 2009 witnesses reported that Tirch kebele (Dejen woreda, 
Amahara region) and woreda police and officials searched the house of 
Waltenegus Abate, the woreda vice chairman of the AEUP, without a 
warrant. Although officials accused him of hiding armaments, none were 
found. In 2008 kebele officials had previously searched Waltenegus' 
home without a warrant. He accused police of beating him and his family 
members during the searches.
    By year's end there had not been any action taken by officials 
against the police officers and militia of Tirch kebele (Dejen woreda, 
Amhara region) for the 2008 assault and illegal search of the home of 
Tiringo Mengist.
    All but three electronic communications facilities are state owned. 
Opposition political party leaders reported suspicions of telephone 
tapping and other electronic eavesdropping. In May 2009 a former 
employee of Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC), the state-
run monopoly telecommunications and Internet provider reported from 
self-imposed exile that the Government had ordered ETC employees to 
unlawfully record citizens' private telephone conversations.
    The Government used a widespread system of paid informants to 
report on the activities of particular individuals.
    The Government tampered with the mail of an independent media 
organization, according to a report from the Committee to Protect 
Journalists (see section 2.a.).
    Security forces continued to detain family members of persons 
sought for questioning by the Government. Officials in some kebeles 
reportedly went from house to house demanding that residents attend 
ruling coalition meetings. Residents were not arrested or harassed if 
they did not attend party meetings; however, there were reports that 
some persons who did not attend party meetings had difficulty obtaining 
basic public services from their kebeles. Reliable reports establish 
that unemployed youth who were not affiliated with the ruling coalition 
sometimes had trouble receiving the ``support letters'' from their 
kebeles necessary to get jobs.
    Human Rights Watch, opposition parties, and elements of the media 
alleged a general politicization of foreign donor assistance. These 
reports suggested that, in the period prior to the May elections, the 
EPRDF and its regional affiliated parties used humanitarian assistance 
as incentives to secure support for the ruling coalition. The donor 
community, collectively known as the Development Assistance Group, 
conducted an assessment of the four largest donor-supported development 
programs. The assessment evaluated the systems and safeguards that 
various programs had in place to prevent, detect, and address political 
and financial distortion. The final report, issued in July, concluded 
that all four programs had accountability systems in place that 
provided checks on distortion in the distribution of assistance. In 
addition the two programs related to the provision of food aid were 
deemed to have the strongest safeguards and thus were the least likely 
to have been subject to distortion for political purposes.

    g. Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts.--
During the year fighting continued between government forces, primarily 
regional government-backed militia, and the ONLF, a violent ethnic 
insurgent movement operating in the Ogaden area of the Somali region, 
with continuing allegations of human rights abuses by all parties to 
the conflict. Deliveries of food and medicine were restricted as a 
result of insecurity, lack of capacity, and military restrictions.
    Since it was outlawed in 1994, the ONLF has engaged in armed 
conflict with the Government. In October another insurgent group, the 
United Western Somali Liberation Front, as well as the ``Salahdin Ma'ow 
faction'' of the ONLF, signed a peace agreement with the Government and 
ceased hostilities. The ``Admiral Osman faction'' of the ONLF, 
consisting of hard-core fighters and supported by the Eritrean 
government, denounced the peace talks and staged attacks against 
government forces.
    Since the military began significant counterinsurgency operations 
in the Ogaden region in response to the April 2007 slaying of 65 
citizens and nine Chinese oil workers living outside an oil exploration 
camp, the Government has continued to limit the access of diplomats, 
NGOs, and journalists to the Somali region. The Government allowed some 
humanitarian access but restricted the ability to investigate reports 
of human rights abuses. Reports of human rights violations largely have 
come from interviews with second-hand sources or alleged victims who 
fled the Somali region. Credible reports of human rights abuses 
continued, although these diminished dramatically after the signing of 
the two peace agreements. NGO personnel have been compelled by ENDF and 
regular police officials to report ONLF activity. Some villagers 
reported that local authorities threatened to retaliate against anyone 
who reported abuses by the ENDF, special police, or local militias.
    Civilians, international NGOs, and other aid organizations 
operating in the region reported that both government security forces 
and the ONLF were responsible for abuses and harsh techniques used to 
intimidate the civilian population. Reliable reports indicated that 
special police and local militias, both accountable to the Somali 
regional government, forcibly relocated whole villages believed to be 
supportive of the ONLF.
    Reliable sources reported increasingly violent ONLF attacks on 
police and military elements during the year. Development workers 
reported being frequently stopped for questioning by the ONLF.

    Killings.--There were several instances of killings in internal 
conflicts. These included the killing of five persons and wounding of 
20 others in a bomb attack in the northern town of Adi Aro, and a bus 
bombing near the Eritrean border that wounded 13 persons. The 
Government blamed Eritrean-sponsored elements for both incidents but 
produced no evidence.
    In 2008 police forces reportedly attempted to force villagers from 
Laare and Puldeng, in Gambella, to move to a new area. When villagers 
refused, violence ensued, and police reportedly killed nine civilians 
and wounded 23. Two police officers were killed and six others were 
wounded. Police also reportedly set fire to homes and killed numerous 
livestock. Gambella Deputy Police Commissioner Mulugeta Ruot Kuon gave 
a different account. According to him, police responded to a clash 
between two Nuer groups and tried to facilitate a negotiation. One 
group started beating the police with sticks and shot one officer, 
triggering a gunfight that killed one police officer and four civilians 
and wounded 27. The conflict spread to eight kebeles, and federal 
police and the ENDF came to the region to calm the fighting. 
Traditional methods of conflict resolution, facilitated by elders, were 
used to resolve the conflict.
    The Government has not responded to ONLF accusations that the ENDF 
killed 48 civilians in Mooyaha village and six civilians in Galashe in 
the Ogaden region in 2008.
    There were no developments in the February, June, and July 2009 
attacks by the ONLF against military and civilian targets that resulted 
in civilian casualties. Similarly there were no development in the 2008 
arrests of eight men suspected of involvement in the 2007 ONLF attack 
on a Chinese-run oil facility in the Somali region; the ONLF killed 65 
civilians and nine Chinese nationals.

    Abductions.--In April nine NGO employees were abducted and held for 
five days by a group purporting to represent the ONLF. They were 
released unharmed but told to warn their principals that cooperation 
with security forces in delivering humanitarian supplies would provoke 
ONLF violence.

    Physical Abuse, Punishment, and Torture.--Special police were 
accused of rape and other abuses of women in early 2009 in the 
Degehabur and Kebredehar zones, in the Ogaden.

    Child Soldiers.--Although there were no reports that ENDF or 
regional police recruited children, there were credible reports that 
some local militias in Somali region did so. In recent years, the 
Somali Regional Security and Administration Office had increased 
recruitment of special police forces and local militias in conflict 
zones. Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Other Conflict-Related Abuses.--The Government continued to 
restrict access by NGO workers and journalists to affected Somali 
region areas. International journalists who entered the Somali region 
without permission of the Government were arrested or obliged to leave 
the country. The Government continued to ban the ICRC from the region, 
having previously alleged that it cooperated with the ONLF. During the 
year some humanitarian groups reported roadblocks manned by insurgent 
groups, which occasionally briefly detained them. These same 
humanitarian groups reportedly were interrogated by the ENDF on their 
encounters at the roadblocks with the insurgents.
    In 2008 the ENDF placed Medicins Sans Frontieres-Holland (MSF-NL) 
staff members under house arrest in Warder for allegedly providing 
medical support to the ONLF and confiscated MSF-Switzerland property 
and vehicle keys in Kebri Dehar, limiting its staff members' movement 
to the town for three weeks. There was no judicial process and no 
charges filed in either case. MSF-NL continued to work in Warder zone, 
while MSF-Spain, which was working in Deghabur, withdrew after a hand-
grenade attack on its offices in August; the attack was believed to be 
the work of a disgruntled former employee.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--While the constitution and law 
provide for freedom of speech and of the press, the Government did not 
respect these rights in practice. The Government continued to arrest, 
harass, and prosecute journalists, publishers, and editors. The 
Government continued to control all broadcast media, including the sole 
television station, except three private FM radio stations. Private-
sector and government journalists routinely practiced self-censorship. 
The broadcasting law prohibits political and religious organizations or 
foreigners from owning broadcast stations.
    Government-controlled media mostly reflected the views of the 
Government and the ruling EPRDF coalition. However, live radio and 
television broadcasts occasionally included televised parliamentary 
debates and broadcast the views of opposition parliamentarians, as did 
government newspapers. During the election campaign, state media 
broadcast debates between the parties; because broadcast time was 
allocated on the basis of parliamentary seats, spokesmen for the ruling 
party received the most time.
    Although some new, small-circulation newspapers were published 
during the year, the number of private newspapers remained low. 
Approximately 20 private Amharic-language and English-language 
newspapers with political and business focuses were published, with a 
combined weekly circulation of more than 150,000.
    The Government owned the only newspaper printing press and used its 
monopoly position, inter alia, to regularly increase costs to 
publishers. Reports indicated that this practice influenced the 
circulation numbers of the private newspapers, forcing them to adjust 
their printing runs according to what they could afford.
    Foreign journalists and local stringers employed by foreign 
publications at times published articles critical of the Government but 
were subjected to government pressure to practice self-censorship. Few 
foreign journalists were based in the country. During the year some 
reporters for foreign media were subjected to intimidation and 
harassment or threatened with expulsion from the country for publishing 
articles critical of the Government.
    For example, in January in Tigray, NISS officials detained a 
foreign journalist with a valid residence permit, who was accredited by 
the Government, when he attempted to investigate allegations of food 
aid politicization in the area. His credentials and cell phone were 
taken from him, and he was transported by authorities to Addis Ababa, 
where he was questioned by immigration officials and held overnight at 
the airport. He was not permitted to call consular officials or his 
family. After almost 48 hours in custody, he was released and told by 
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as immigration officials that 
he would have to leave the country within two days. No specific charges 
were brought against him. His credentials were eventually returned to 
him, and he was told that he could continue to live and work as a 
journalist in Ethiopia.
    In May the editor in chief of the Amharic weekly Awramba Times, 
Wubshet Taye, was asked to appear at the Ethiopian Broadcasting 
Authority (EBA) two days before the national elections. He was accused 
of unbalanced reporting favoring Forum, a major opposition coalition. 
The EBA referred to a feature article that compared two photographs of 
Meskal Square: one taken in 2005 with more than one million pro-
opposition demonstrators, and one of an empty square during the year 
with only an EPRDF campaign poster. The article was called ``Where Did 
These People Go?'' Wubshet was told that this sort of article was not 
allowed and that he would be held responsible if any violence resulted. 
Shortly after this incident, Wubshet resigned as editor in chief of the 
Awramba Times.
    On June 29, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported 
that the new editor in chief of the Awramba Times, Dawit Kebede, 
complained to the Ethiopian Postal Service (EPS) at least three times 
earlier that month, after the newspaper received opened letters and 
destroyed envelopes in its postal box. The EPS asserted that the 
``quality of the paper'' might have been responsible for the tearing of 
the mail.
    On July 19, the Oromia region special zonal administration ordered 
the Media and Communications Center (MCC), owned by Amare Aregawi (also 
the publisher and owner of The Reporter), to stop construction on its 
future printing house site in Dukem, 21 miles from Addis Ababa, which 
the MCC had leased from the regional administration. On July 24, the 
Government Housing Agency, alleging unlawful occupancy, commandeered 
the MCC's office compound in Addis Ababa, also owned by Amare.
    On August 26, EBA Director General Desta Tesfaw sent a letter to 
the Awramba Times requesting that sources for its news stories be 
provided. The constitution states that journalists do not have to 
reveal their sources, even in court procedures.
    On September 11, the al-Quds editor in chief, Ezeddin Mohammed, was 
released from prison after serving eight months on charges of violating 
article 10 of the Press Proclamation, including counts of defamation 
and attempts to incite conflict between persons. The charges followed 
the newspaper's publication of articles criticizing a Ministry of 
Education directive on religious worship in schools. Although Ezedin 
was released, his 17-year-old son, Ahmed Ezedin, was arrested in the 
Afar region that same day. Ahmed was serving as the acting editor of 
al-Quds during his father's imprisonment. The arrest was purportedly 
the result of articles Ahmed had written criticizing the Islamic 
Council of Afar.
    There were no new developments in the April 2009 case in which the 
Government Communications Affairs Office summoned three VOA reporters--
Peter Heinlein, Meleskachew Amha, and Eskinder Firew--and suspended the 
licenses of Meleskachew and Eskinder for three days for reasons that 
were never disclosed.
    There were no new developments in the July 2009 case in which 
unidentified individuals beat a journalist for Addis Neger, Abraham 
Begizew, who was attempting to report on a disagreement within the 
leadership of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
    In September 2009 Kassahun Addis, an Ethiopian citizen based in 
Addis Ababa who was a reporter for a foreign newspaper, fled the 
country due to a credible fear of unreasonable prosecution. There were 
no new developments in the case.
    In December 2009 Addis Neger, an Addis Ababa-based weekly newspaper 
often critical of government policies, ceased publication after months 
of reported government harassment. Three staff members--Abiy Tekle 
Mariam, Mesfin Negash, and Tamirat Negera--fled the country.
    In 2008 Dawit Kebede, then editor in chief of the weekly newspaper 
Awramba Times, was accused by the NEBE of violating electoral 
regulations by posting an advertisement for his newspaper on a poster 
promoting EPRDF candidates for local elections. Charges in the case 
were dropped in February.
    There were no developments in the 2008 case of Alemayehu 
Mahtemework and three staff members of the private Amharic monthly 
entertainment magazine Enku. The Government accused them of publishing 
``stirring articles that could incite people'' and held them for five 
days before release. Alemayehu also was charged with threatening public 
order. The magazine continued operating during the year.
    Dawit Kebede and Wosseneged Gebrekidan, who were charged in 2008 
with inciting the public through false rumors by publishing articles 
about the Ginbot 7, were released on bail in December 2009.
    In 2008 two police officers, one from Addis Ababa and the other 
from Gonder, arrested Amare Aregawi, editor in chief of The Reporter, 
at his office. The arrest was in connection with a private libel suit 
brought by the Gonder-based, EPRDF-owned Dashen Brewery following a 
2008 story on a labor dispute at the brewery. Amare appeared in court 
in 2008 but learned there were no charges against him, and his bail 
money was returned to him. The article's author, Teshome Niku, appeared 
in court in 2008 and was released on bail of 300 birr ($18.32). 
Following his release Teshome reportedly received anonymous, 
threatening telephone calls and was beaten and intimidated by 
unidentified persons. In January 2009 a private newspaper reported that 
Teshome fled to Kenya. The Dashen Brewery manager filed defamation 
charges against Amare in August 2009. The Federal High Court 10th 
Criminal Bench ordered Amare to defend his case. Amare won, and the 
case was dropped in March.
    In 2008 Amare Aregawi was attacked by civilian assailants in front 
of his son's school. Three individuals, who admitted they had attacked 
Amare, appeared at the federal high court and testified that they were 
hired to attack him. Amare reported that he suspected he was attacked 
by government supporters threatened by his newspaper's reporting on 
corruption. There were no developments by year's end, although Amare 
continued to press for further investigation of the clique that hired 
the assailants to attack him.
    Several journalists remained in self-imposed exile, including 
journalists detained following the 2005 elections but released in 2007.
    Prime Minister Meles publicly announced on March 18 that he would 
authorize the jamming of VOA Amharic service broadcasts and compared 
the VOA to Radio Milles Collines, the Rwandan radio station that helped 
incite genocidal violence in 1994. VOA's Amharic services experienced 
jamming throughout the country from March until October.
    Ethiopian Satellite Television, based in Amsterdam and supported by 
the Ginbot 7 group, which espouses violent overthrow of the Government, 
reported periodic jamming of its service in Ethiopia, beginning in May, 
at the start of broadcasting.
    In June 2009 the EBA ordered the private radio station Sheger-FM 
(102.1) to cease all rebroadcasts of VOA programming. Sheger had been 
broadcasting some VOA programs daily, mostly music, through a 
contractual agreement. Sheger management resolved the issue with the 
EBA, which stated that the station needed preapproval from the 
Government to rebroadcast programs. After going through the proper 
procedure, Sheger resumed rebroadcasting of all VOA programs with the 
exception of a brief news show.
    In 2008 the parliament passed the Mass Media and Freedom of 
Information Proclamation. The law prohibits pretrial detention of 
journalists and censorship of private media, and it recognizes the 
right of journalists to form professional associations. However, the 
law allows only incorporated entities to publish print media, requires 
all previously licensed press to reregister, bars foreign and cross 
media (involving more than one form of media, i.e. print and radio) 
ownership, grants the Government the unlimited right to prosecute the 
media, criminalizes defamation of public officials, increases 
defamation fines to 100,000 birr ($6,105), establishes ``national 
security'' as grounds for impounding materials prior to publication, 
provides government information officials exclusive discretion to 
withhold ``sensitive'' information without judicial review, and 
maintains the Communication Affairs Office's authority to regulate the 
media.
    The Ministry of Information was dissolved in 2008. The new 
Communication Affairs Office reports directly to the prime minister. 
The EBA took over responsibility for press registration and oversight 
from the dissolved ministry. All existing newspapers and magazines were 
required to reregister with the EBA in 2009.
    In February 2009 the EBA issued a regulation barring newspaper and 
magazine publishers and those owning more than a 2 percent stake in a 
media house from holding the position of editor or deputy editor in 
their media houses.
    The Government used its licensing authority to censor the media 
indirectly. In June 2009 the Federal High Court denied an appeal and 
ruled that Sisay Agena, Serkalem Fasil, and Eskinder Nega could not be 
granted press licenses due to a 2005 court ruling that called for the 
dissolution of their former publishing companies. While the defendants 
had been acquitted of all charges and their former companies remained 
defunct, the court found that granting licenses to these individuals 
would be tantamount to circumventing the 2005 court ruling ordering the 
dissolution of the former companies.
    In February 2009 the Federal High Court dropped the fines levied 
against the same three publishers in 2008 for a combined amount of 
300,000 birr ($18,315), in connection with their newspapers' coverage 
of the 2005 elections. They appeared in court in 2008 and delivered a 
written petition citing the pardon law, which stipulates that pardons 
granted to persons automatically pertain to monetary penalties against 
them.
    In 2008 Ayele Chamisso, chairman of the CUD, filed charges against 
three private newspapers: Addis Neger, the Awramba Times, and the now-
defunct Soressa. Ayele claimed that the newspapers used his party's 
name for other groups. The editor of the Awramba Times, Dawit Kebede, 
appeared in court in 2008 on defamation charges and was released on 
bail of 2,000 birr ($122.10). In December 2009 Ayele Chamisso asked the 
court to drop the charges against the three newspapers.

    Internet Freedom.--The Government restricted access to the Internet 
and blocked opposition Web sites, including the sites of insurgent 
groups advocating violent overthrow of the Government (OLF, ONLF, 
Ginbot 7) and several news blogs and Web sites run by opposition 
diaspora groups, such as Addis Neger, Nazret, Ethiopian Review, 
CyberEthiopia, Quatero Amharic Magazine, Tensae Ethiopia, and the 
Ethiopian Media Forum. The news Web site for VOA was inaccessible from 
March to October.
    In early March 2009, the Government lifted Internet restrictions on 
all domestic news Web sites and opposition Web sites for a short time. 
However, some Web sites, including Nazret.com, reported being blocked 
again soon after.
    In 2008 a press release by the CPJ stated that, according to 
reliable sources, its servers were inaccessible to users in the country 
and that e-mails from the country were not coming through to the CPJ. 
These reports emerged at the same time that the CPJ was investigating 
the detention of The Reporter editor in chief Amare Aregawi. The 
Reporter also alleged that its Web site was blocked for four days 
during this time. The CPJ's Web site was also inaccessible at other 
times during the year. The CPJ continued to report matters with e-mails 
and domestic access to its Web site.
    As of March 2009, the ETC reported 42,707 Internet subscribers. 
Citizens in urban areas had ready access to Internet cafes; however, 
rural access remained extremely limited. According to International 
Telecommunication Union statistics for 2008, approximately 0.45 percent 
of the country's inhabitants used the Internet. Mobile telephone text 
messaging was available countrywide. The number of mobile telephone 
subscribers was 6.1 million, according to the Ministry of Communication 
and Information.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The Government restricted 
academic freedom during the year. Authorities did not permit teachers 
at any level to deviate from official lesson plans and actively 
prohibited partisan political activity and association of any kind on 
university campuses. Innumerable anecdotal reports suggest that non-
EPRDF members were reportedly more likely to be transferred to 
undesirable posts and to be bypassed for promotions. There was a lack 
of transparency in academic staffing decisions, with numerous 
complaints from individuals in the academic community of bias based on 
party membership, ethnicity, or religion. Speech, expression, and 
assembly were frequently restricted on university and high school 
campuses. Several teachers who were members of, or were perceived to 
support, opposition parties--particularly in Oromia, Tigray, Amhara, 
and the SNNPR--reported being harassed by local officials and 
threatened with the loss of their jobs or transfers to distant 
locations.
    Some college students reportedly were pressured to pledge 
allegiance to the EPRDF to secure enrollment in universities or 
postgraduation government jobs. According to multiple credible sources, 
teachers and high school students in grade 10 and above were required 
to attend training at their schools on the subject of revolutionary 
democracy and EPRDF policies on economic development, land, and 
education. After the training attendees reportedly were routinely 
provided with EPRDF membership forms; as a result, some students were 
under the impression that they needed EPRDF membership to gain 
admission to university in the future.
    In August the Ministry of Education (MOE) disseminated a directive 
banning distance learning programs offered by both public and private 
universities and prohibiting private universities from offering degree 
programs in law and teacher education. The directive also required 
private universities to align their curriculum offerings with the 
previously announced MOE policy of a 70-to-30 ratio between science and 
social science academic programs. The directive permitted universities 
to complete ongoing courses, but no new enrollments were permitted. The 
directive disproportionately affected private universities, which were 
the primary purveyors of distance learning programs. Private university 
curricula also were heavily focused in the social sciences. MOE 
officials cited a need to maintain quality standards as the reason for 
the directive. In October the Government lifted the ban.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly; 
however, the Government restricted this right. Organizers of large 
public meetings or demonstrations must notify the Government 48 hours 
in advance and obtain a permit. Local government officials, invariably 
associated with the EPRDF, controlled access to municipal halls, and 
there were many complaints from opposition parties that local officials 
would deny or otherwise obstruct the scheduling of opposition parties 
to use halls for lawful political rallies.
    Regional governments, including the Addis Ababa regional 
administration, were reluctant to grant permits or provide security for 
large meetings.
    Multiple opposition political parties reported EPRDF partisans with 
cameras at the entryway of campaign rallies who would film opposition 
activists while they were entering, leaving, or participating in 
meetings. After a meeting the individuals pictured reportedly were 
harassed and intimidated to discontinue their support for the 
opposition party; sometimes they were detained.
    Opposition parties also often reported difficulty in obtaining use 
of local municipal halls, controlled by local officials who invariably 
were affiliated with the EPRDF, to hold public campaign events.
    In August 2009 the UDJ attempted to hold a town hall meeting in 
Adama after receiving permission from local authorities. Prior to the 
meeting, local authorities prevented the UDJ from displaying posters 
and announcing the meeting to the public. The meeting was disrupted by 
the shouts of several participants. Security guards did not attempt to 
stop the disruption. The meeting adjourned 15 minutes after it began. 
The Minister of Communications announced that the disruptions were 
illegal and that the Government would launch an investigation; however, 
at year's end there was no information reported on the conclusions.
    There were credible reports from Shakiso woreda of mass arrests and 
rough treatment of students and elderly citizens while they were 
attempting to protest the practices of the Laga Dembi mine in December 
2009. Residents claimed that the mine was releasing toxic waste into a 
nearby river. The Ministry of Mines and Energy and regional 
administration officials carried out a study to attempt to dispel 
rumors of environmental damage leading to miscarriages and still 
births, finding that such damages had never occurred. In December 2009 
police arrested more than 100 persons at a demonstration in 
anticipation of a response from local officials to their petition. 
Among those arrested were two political figures, Assefa Arure and 
Dulecha Robe. According to press reports, as well as a former member of 
parliament, Demboba Boku, on January 5-6, police arrested three 
students at Awassa University in connection with the riots.
    There were no developments in the 2008 beatings of Dejen town 
residents who were protesting the stalling by local officials of the 
residents' application for use of nearby farmland.

    Freedom of Association.--Although the law provides for freedom of 
association and the right to engage in unrestricted peaceful political 
activity, the Government limited this right in practice.
    In accordance with the Charities and Societies Proclamation (CSO 
law), adopted in February 2009, which entered into force in February, 
charities and civil society organizations (CSOs) were required to 
reregister by February with the recently established Charities and 
Societies Agency (CSA). The CSA was originally under the authority of 
the MOJ but was moved to the Ministry of Federal Affairs before the end 
of the year. According to the MOJ, there were 3,522 organizations 
registered before the CSO law was adopted, and, after the law, 1,655 
organizations reregistered.
    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs screens applications for 
international NGOs and submits a recommendation on whether to approve 
or deny registration.
    The Ethiopian Teachers' Association (ETA) has operated since 1967, 
but after the EPRDF took power in 1993, an alternate, pro-EPRDF ETA was 
established. In 1993 the original ETA and the Government-supported ETA 
began a prolonged legal battle over the organization's name and 
property rights. In 2008 the Court of Cassation ruled against the 
original ETA and awarded its name and property to the pro-EPRDF ETA 
(see section 7.a.). In 2008 the original ETA applied to the MOJ for 
registration as the National Teachers' Association but was denied 
registration.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--Although the law provides for freedom 
of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, the Government restricted some of these rights in 
practice.
    The Government severely restricted the movement of persons into and 
within the Ogaden area of the Somali region, arguing that the ONLF 
armed insurgency posed a security threat (see section 1.g.).
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it. Several citizens sought political asylum or remained abroad in 
self-imposed exile, including prominent human rights advocates.
    In October the Government announced a new policy that allows exiled 
Eritreans living in Ethiopia to become permanent legal residents of 
Ethiopia with full entitlement to public services.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--The Federal Disaster Risk 
Management and Food Security Sector (DRMFSS), under the authority of 
the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, is the main 
government actor responsible for the emergency needs of IDPs, in 
collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Agriculture, and Water 
Resources. However, there was no coordination mechanism and no 
government policy dedicated particularly to IDPs and related matters. 
The DRMFSS mandate includes only assistance and not protection, return, 
resettlement, or finding durable solutions, and IDP matters are dealt 
with mostly on an ad hoc basis.
    The relationship between conflict and natural disaster-induced 
displacement in Ethiopia was complex. In some cases conflict has 
arguably exacerbated displacements caused by drought conditions (e.g., 
those in the Somali region), resulting in mixed causes of displacement. 
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated 
there were between 300,000 and 350,000 natural disaster and conflict-
induced IDPs, including an estimated 62,259 from Gambella and 184,239 
from the Somali region and Oromia.
    In Gambella intercommunal conflict and cross-border conflict with 
residents of Sudan over resources continued to exacerbate 
vulnerabilities and lead to displacement. The regional government 
stated that the number of persons affected by conflict between clans 
was not available but acknowledged it was a concern. In addition the 
impact of raids by Murle and Lou Nuer Sudanese led to the displacement 
of residents from the woredas of Akobo, Jor, Jikawa, and Wantawa. A 
joint government and humanitarian partners' assessment, completed in 
March, indicated that approximately 11,460 households--57,300 persons--
were displaced from the woredas of Mathar, Lare Itang, and Jor.
    In July 2009 Menit Goldia and Menit Shasha (Amhara region) woreda 
officials forced an estimated 5,500 Bench Maji persons from their homes 
for unknown reasons. Many fled to Addis and appealed to several 
government officials. Some also filed a complaint with the Office of 
the Ombudsman. Following a joint investigation by regional and zonal 
government authorities, a decision was made to allow those who settled 
in Menit Goldia and Menit Shasha woredas prior to August 1997 to 
resettle in their respective woredas. At the end of 2009, woreda 
officials continued discussions as to the process of resettlement. 
Those who arrived after August 1997 were sent back to the Amhara 
region. Vehicles were provided by the Amhara regional government, but 
most of the victims chose not to go because they considered themselves 
to be from the Welkite and Gojeb areas in the SNNPR.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status in accordance with the 1951 Convention 
relating to the Status of Refugees, its 1967 Protocol, and the 1969 
Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects 
of the Refugee Problem in Africa. The Government has established a 
system for providing protection to refugees. In practice the Government 
provided protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to 
countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account 
of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social 
group, or political opinion, and it granted refugee status and asylum. 
The Government generally cooperated with the UN Office for the High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in assisting refugees and returning citizens. There were continued 
anecdotal reports that Ethiopian asylum seekers deported from Yemen 
were detained upon return to the country.
    In February, in cooperation with the UNHCR, the Government opened a 
new refugee camp, Melkadida, northwest of the town of Dolo Odo, near 
the border with Kenya and Somalia, to accommodate new Somali refugees, 
since Bokolmayo camp, which opened in April 2009, had reached its 
20,000-person capacity. The capacity of the new camp was 30,000 
refugees, and it held more than 22,659 refugees as of year's end. The 
UNHCR and the Government also planned to increase the population 
capacity of Bokolmayo to 30,000 to deal with the continued influx of 
Somali asylum seekers. Registration of new arrivals in the transit 
center in Dolo Odo averaged 1,700 per month.
    The number of Eritrean asylum seekers increased, with approximately 
1,000 to 1,500 new arrivals per month, according to the International 
Organization for Migration (IOM), compared with 800 to 1,000 in 2009. 
As in the previous year, approximately half, an estimated 500 to 750 
Eritrean refugees a month, departed monthly on secondary migration 
through Egypt and Sudan to go to Europe and other final destinations.
    In April the Government opened a new refugee camp for Eritreans, 
Adi Harush, located less than nine miles from My Ayni camp. The UNHCR 
continued to assist in the reception and transportation back to My Ayni 
or Adi Harushof more than 150 Eritrean refugees who had been detained 
in Egypt and deported by the Egyptian authorities. Overall, the UNHCR 
reported 44,823 Eritrean refugees living in Ethiopia at year's end. The 
UNHCR and the Government also reported a significant increase in the 
number of unaccompanied minors fleeing Eritrea. The population of such 
minors grew from 336, in December 2009, to 1,100 as of year's end. 
Unaccompanied minors in the 15- to17-year age group represented more 
than 75 percent of the total population of such minors, consisting of 
those individuals who stated that they fled Eritrea to avoid military 
conscription.
    In August the Government announced an out-of-camp policy for 
Eritrean refugees, a change to its previous requirement that all 
refugees remain in designated camps, most of which were located near 
the borders with Eritrea, Somalia, and Sudan, unless granted permission 
to live elsewhere in the country. Prior to this new policy, such 
permission was given primarily to attend higher education institutions, 
undergo medical treatment, or avoid security threats at the camps. The 
policy permitted Eritrean refugees to live outside the three camps 
located in the north of the country. The policy provided more freedom 
of movement to Eritrean refugees and eased the burden of providing 
services within the camps. There were more than 1,700 urban refugees 
registered with the UNHCR and the Government, most of them from 
Somalia, Eritrea, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
    The Government, in cooperation with the UNHCR, continued to provide 
temporary protection to individuals from Sudan, Eritrea, and Somalia 
who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 convention and the 1967 
protocol.
    During the year the IOM processed 4,606 refugees who departed for 
resettlement abroad. While still ongoing, interest in Sudanese 
repatriation waned, and the UNHCR and the Government did not assist the 
return of any Sudanese refugees to their homes during the year.
    On January 18, police outside of My Ayni camp fired upon a car that 
failed to stop at a police checkpoint, killing one female refugee and 
seriously wounding two others. On June 12, police shot three Eritrean 
refugees, one fatally, at a police checkpoint outside My Ayni. In both 
instances the refugees were seeking to leave My Ayni for secondary 
migration to Sudan and Egypt. In response the UNHCR officially wrote to 
the Government to request an investigation.
    On April 28, nine Somali refugees from Kebrebeyah refugee camp were 
arrested on suspicion of affiliation with the ONLF. All were released 
later without charge. On June 30, one refugee from Kebrebeyah was 
sentenced to eight years in prison for having links to the ONLF.
    At years' end four of the refugees arrested in December 2009 
remained in prison without charge. The Administration of Refugee and 
Returnee Affairs, an Ethiopian government agency, but not the UNHCR, 
had access to the prisoners.
    As in 2009 there were no allegations of government cooperation with 
the Government of Sudan in the forcible repatriation of Ethiopian 
refugees. In 2009 there were instances of refoulement, in which 
Ethiopian refugees from Somaliland and Puntland were turned over to 
government security forces.
    There were no developments in the ongoing investigation of the 
December 2009 arrest of eight Kebrebeya camp refugees by police and the 
subsequent killing of three of them by the military. The Government 
asserted that the individuals were IDPs, not refugees. When shown proof 
from the UNHCR database that the individuals were indeed registered 
refugees, authorities alleged the individuals were Ethiopians posing as 
refugees. The UNHCR transferred two of the families of the refugees 
involved in the incident away from Kebrebeyah due to continued 
harassment by security forces. At year's end the Government continued 
to investigate the incident.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens the right to change their 
government peacefully. In practice the country has never had a peaceful 
change of government, and the ruling EPRDF and its allies dominated the 
Government. In simultaneous national and regional parliamentary 
elections in May, the EPRDF received approximately 79 percent of the 
total votes cast but won more than 99 percent of all legislative seats. 
Election day was peaceful, as 93 percent of registered voters cast 
ballots, but independent observation of the vote was severely limited. 
Accredited diplomats were restricted to the capital and barred from 
proximity to polling places. Although those few independent observers 
allowed access to the process did not question the EPRDF victory, there 
was ample evidence that unfair government tactics--including 
intimidation of opposition candidates and supporters--influenced the 
extent of that victory. International observation was limited to 60 
observers from the African Union (AU), who arrived on May 16 for the 
May 23 vote, and 120 observers from the EU, some of whom arrived as 
early as February. In preliminary comments following the elections, the 
AU pronounced them free and fair. The EU concluded that the elections 
fell short of international standards for transparency and failed to 
provide a level playing field for opposition parties. Overall the EU 
observed a ``climate of apprehension and insecurity,'' noting that the 
volume and consistency of complaints of harassment and intimidation by 
opposition parties was ``a matter of concern'' and had to be taken into 
consideration ``in the overall assessment of the electoral process.''

    Elections and Political Participation.--The constitution provides 
citizens the right to freely join political organizations of their 
choice; however, in practice these rights were restricted through 
bureaucratic obstacles and government and ruling party intimidation, 
harassment, and arrests, with physical threats and violence used by 
local officials and EPRDF operatives, local police, and shadowy local 
militias under the control of local EPRDF operatives.
    In the May national and regional parliamentary elections, the EPRDF 
and its affiliates won 2,450 of 2,453 seats. Coupled with the 2008 
local elections, in which the EPRDF and its affiliates took all but 
four of 3.4 million seats after a boycott by most of the opposition, 
the May electoral cycle solidified the EPRDF's political domination at 
every level of government.
    An environment conducive to free and fair elections was not in 
place in the two years prior to the May elections. The EPRDF employed 
advantages of incumbency to restrict political space for opposition 
candidates and activists. On the federal level, a series of reforms 
passed by the EPRDF-dominated parliament allowed the EPRDF to 
progressively narrow the freedom of opposition parties and civil 
society organizations to participate in the elections process. The 
parliament enacted a code of conduct that created a system of ``joint 
councils'' through which political parties could present all manner of 
complaints for peer review and arbitration. In practice only 16 of the 
637 joint councils envisioned for the country were in fact formed, and 
only the Addis Ababa Joint Council took up cases in earnest. In an 
April speech, Prime Minister Meles threatened opposition leaders with 
postelection criminal prosecution for unspecified violations of the 
electoral code of conduct; however, there were no prosecutions by 
year's end. At the local level, thousands of opposition activists 
complained of EPRDF-sponsored mistreatment, ranging from harassment in 
submitting candidacy forms to beatings by local militia members, and 
complained further that there was no non-EPRDF dominated forum to which 
to present those complaints. Although the law provides for partial 
public funding of campaigns, in practice opposition parties received 
very little public funding, since funding was allocated on the basis of 
the number of seats held by each party in the parliament. The law also 
permits private citizens and companies to contribute to campaigns, but 
recently enacted disclosure rules likely limited contributions to 
opposition parties. The EPRDF entered the election season with millions 
of dollars, whereas major opposition parties were virtually bankrupt.
    The parliament also enacted the CSO law, which prohibited NGOs with 
greater than 10 percent foreign funding from participating in the 
elections process. This essentially eliminated independent civil 
society participation in the elections.
    Voter education efforts, previously undertaken by civil society, 
were taken over exclusively by the NEBE, which launched its voter 
education campaign only days before the election and limited it to 
instruction on finding polling stations and completing ballots. The 
major educational effort that would have been required to explain to 
voters, the majority of whom were illiterate, that they were free to 
vote for whomever and whichever party they chose was not undertaken.
    The EPRDF controlled all 112 seats in the House of Federation, the 
upper house of parliament, whose members were appointed by regional 
governments and by the federal government. The primary role of the 
Upper House is to judge, as necessary, the constitutionality of the 
laws passed by the lower house and to allocate financial resources from 
the federal government to the regions.
    An opposition candidate for the federal parliament, Aregawi 
Gebreyohannes, was killed on March 2, in western Tigray. He was a 
member of the Arena Tigray Party, which belonged to the Forum 
opposition coalition. The party chief, Gebru Asrat, said that the 
killing came after weeks of harassment and multiple politically 
motivated arrests of Aregawi. The Government stated that the death 
stemmed from a personal dispute and confrontation between Aregawi and 
Tsige Berhane, a customer in Aregawi's restaurant. Tsige was convicted 
of murder on March 10 and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
    On April 16, Biyansa Daba died in an Addis Ababa hospital. Members 
of Biyansa's family and Forum coalition leaders claimed that Biyansa 
was a Forum activist who had been repeatedly harassed and physically 
abused by local officials, police, and militia in his home village of 
Balemi, in Oromia. Biyansa's family and neighbors said that he had been 
severely beaten by local police and militia outside his home 
approximately two weeks before his death and had sought medical 
treatment in Balemi and Ambo before being transferred to an Addis Ababa 
hospital. Local officials and police insisted that Biyansa was an EPRDF 
supporter, denied that any beating took place, and did not investigate 
the allegations. EPRDF leaders in Addis Ababa insisted that Biyansa 
died of natural causes and produced an autopsy report to that effect. 
Dergis Merera, a close friend of Biyansa's who said he witnessed the 
beating and saw the medical records, stated that Biyansa's death was 
the result of trauma from the beatings. Dergis was arrested in May and 
convicted of ``organizing an uprising to disrupt the constitutional 
order.'' He was released from Ambo prison in September.
    The Government policy of ethnic federalism led to the creation of 
individual constituencies to provide for representation of all major 
ethnic groups in the House of People's Representatives. There were more 
than 80 ethnic groups, and small groups lacked representation in the 
legislature. There were 24 nationality groups in six regional states 
(Tigray, Amhara, Beneshangul, SNNPR, Gambella, and Harar) that did not 
have a sufficient population to qualify for constituency seats based on 
the 2007 census result; however, in the May elections, individuals from 
these nationality groups competed for 24 special seats in the House of 
People's Representatives. Additionally these 24 nationality groups have 
one seat each in the unelected, largely ceremonial House of Federation.
    During the year the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces, UDJ, OFDM, 
Arena Tigray for Democracy and Sovereignty, and OPC reported arrests of 
members and the forced closure of political party offices throughout 
the country, as well as intimidation of landlords to force them to 
evict the political groups (see section 1.d.).
    During the year some opposition political leaders, including 
federal and regional members of parliament (MPs), were discouraged or 
physically blocked from traveling to their constituencies to meet with 
supporters, although others visited constituents without incident. In 
January police and militia in the Oromia region, as well as civilians, 
allegedly physically harassed two senior leaders of OPC when they tried 
to register candidates.
    Reporting from Human Rights Watch further documented preelection 
intimidation and harassment of opposition candidates and activists by 
the Government and the EPRDF. In the period prior to the election, the 
Government jammed both VOA and Deutsche Welle Ethiopian-language 
broadcasts and blocked their Web sites, a state of affairs that lasted 
until October.
    There were 152 women in the House of People's Representatives, two 
female judges on the 11-seat Supreme Court, and three women among the 
39 state ministers.
    Membership in the EPRDF conferred advantages upon its members; the 
party directly owned many businesses and was broadly perceived to award 
jobs and business contracts to loyal supporters. There were frequent 
reports that local authorities told opposition members to renounce 
their party membership and become EPRDF members if they wanted access 
to subsidized seeds and fertilizer; food relief; civil service job 
assignment, promotion, or retention; student university assignment and 
postgraduate employment; and other benefits controlled by the 
Government.
    During the year there were credible reports that teachers and other 
government workers had their employment terminated if they belonged to 
opposition political parties. According to opposition groups such as 
the OFDM and the OPC, the Oromia regional government continued to 
threaten to dismiss opposition party members--particularly teachers--
from their jobs.
    Registered political parties must receive permission from regional 
governments to open and occupy local offices. There were, however, 
reports of opposition parties closing offices due to coercion by local 
officials. A common tactic reported was to intimidate landlords into 
evicting their political party tenants. Another factor that influenced 
the closing of offices was a decrease in the availability of funding. 
For example, the OPC had no more than seven offices, down from more 
than 100 in 2005.
    The political leaders of the OPC, Major Mekonnen Geleta and Colonel 
Asrat Tekalegne, alleged that supporters of the ruling party, including 
EPRDF woreda officials, beat and intimidated them as they tried to 
register their party's candidates for the May election. They did not 
pursue legal action, stating that appeal to the EPRDF-dominated local 
institutions would be pointless and potentially dangerous.
    Merera Gudina, the chairman of the OPC, stated that he was unable 
to register candidates in five woredas; that security forces attacked 
and damaged an OPC vehicle, stole party documents, and beat 
representatives traveling to East Wallega to register candidates; that 
the police in the Somali region prevented him from holding a rally by 
dispersing the crowd; and that of 38 events planned at the woreda 
level, he was able to hold only six.
    There were no developments in the 2008 beating of federal MP Gutu 
Mulisa and suspected CUD supporter Bilisuma Shuge.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption. 
Corruption remained a problem, particularly among traffic police who 
routinely solicited bribes. The World Bank's 2009 Worldwide Governance 
Indicators made it clear that corruption remained a serious problem.
    The MOJ has primary responsibility for combating corruption, 
largely through the Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission 
(Ethics Commission). A combination of social pressure, cultural norms, 
and legal restrictions limited corruption. However, some government 
officials appeared to manipulate the privatization process, and state- 
and party-owned businesses received preferential access to land leases 
and credit.
    In March parliament passed the Disclosure and Registration of 
Assets Proclamation, requiring that all government officials and 
employees officially register their wealth and personal property. The 
registration of assets of government officials began in December. At 
year's end the president, prime minister, and all the cabinet-level 
ministers registered their assets.
    On April 22, the Federal High Court handed down sentences of two to 
15 years, in addition to fines, for seven defendants accused of 
corruption in connection with a scheme to sell land in Addis Ababa 
illegally. Behailu Lemma Dinku, a former technician in the Land and 
Housing Department, created two front companies to appropriate 205 
million birr ($12.5 million) worth of city land illegally; two 
employees of the land-leasing company acted as his chief accomplices, 
formalizing the fake associations.
    The Federal Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission released a 
statement claiming that from March through May, 110 persons convicted 
of corruption were sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to 21 
years and fined amounts ranging from 3,000 to 5,000 birr ($183 to 
$305). The statement said that the individuals were found guilty of 
abusing power, embezzling public property, receiving bribes, and 
administrative mismanagement. Among the individuals sentenced to 21 
years was the previous finance section head of the Federal Courts Law 
Enforcement Division, Goshu Andualem, and the former manager of the 
land development office of the Kolfe subcity in Addis Ababa, Wondwosen 
Alemu. Nineteen of the 110 individuals convicted were reported to be 
women.
    Government tenders were occasionally discontinued after bids were 
received, rereleased several times without being filled, or awarded to 
bidders with strong links to the Government and ruling party with 
little to no transparency in these processes or reviews.
    In February 2009 the Ethics Commission reported that it conducted 
investigations on and arrested 203 corruption suspects from August 2008 
to January 2009. The Ethics Commission also reported it held a training 
session for 553 persons on the concept of ethics, the anticorruption 
law, and corruption-prevention strategies.
    In October 2009 federal MP Belete Etana Disassa published 
allegations of several instances of serious corruption within the 
federal government, including illegal procurement, unlawful payments, 
and unaccounted spending amounting to more than 2.5 billion birr ($152 
million).
    In December 2009 the Federal High Court sentenced nine army 
officers and Kolfe-Keranyo subcity officials of Addis Ababa to from 
seven to 10 years' imprisonment and fines of 5,000 to 10,000 birr ($305 
to $620) for illegally possessing land worth more than 6.7 million birr 
($409,000) for personal gain.
    In 2008 the Ethics Commission arrested Tesfaye Birru, former ETC 
managing director, and 12 other senior management staff and accused 
them of approving an equipment and technology contract that violated 
government bid regulations and cost 1.52 billion birr ($92.7 million). 
In August the ETC found that the evidence against Tesfaye and the 
others presented a prima facie case of corruption and ordered the 12 
defendants to present their cases, which were pending at year's end.
    In 2008 the Ethics Commission accused eight high-ranking National 
Bank officials of involvement in a gold scandal worth 158 million birr 
($9.7 million). The Federal High Court ordered the defendants to 
present their cases. The cases were pending at year's end.
    Police and judicial corruption continued to be problems.
    The law provides for public access to government information, but 
access was largely restricted in practice. The Press Law, passed in 
2008, included freedom of information provisions.
    The Government publishes its laws and regulations in the national 
gazette prior to their taking effect. The Communication Affairs Office 
managed contacts between the Government, the press, and the public; 
however, the private press reported that the Government routinely 
refused to respond to queries from the private press.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A few domestic human rights groups generally operated, although 
with significant government restriction. The Government was generally 
distrustful and wary of domestic human rights groups and international 
observers. Particularly in the period prior to the May national 
elections, continuing through the immediate postelection environment, 
the national media were critical of international human rights groups 
such as Human Rights Watch (HRW), which they accused of promoting 
subversive ``neoliberal'' and ``rent-seeking'' agendas, and the 
Government restricted diplomatic movements in the country around the 
time of the election.
    Both before and after the May national elections, small 
demonstrations were instigated against HRW. HRW was strongly criticized 
for interference in internal country affairs. On November 8, the EU 
Election Observer Mission issued its final report on the elections, 
criticizing what it described as an electoral process that ``fell short 
of international commitments for elections, notably regarding the 
transparency of the process and the lack of a level playing field for 
all contesting parties.'' It described ``the blurring of the 
distinction between the ruling party and the local administration'' at 
the kebele level, and it found discrepancies between the final results 
from polling stations and the previously recorded vote counts in 27 
percent of observed cases.
    On February 13, the CSO law entered into force following a one-year 
grace period. During the grace period, NGOs and CSOs had to complete 
new registration processes. The law prohibits charities, societies, and 
associations (NGOs or CSOs) that receive more than 10 percent of their 
funding from foreign sources from engaging in activities that promote 
human rights and democracy; the rights of children and persons with 
disabilities; equality among nations, nationalities, people, genders, 
and religions; conflict resolution or reconciliation; and the promotion 
of justice. During the grace period, leading human rights defender 
organizations adjusted by registering either as local charities, 
meaning that they could not raise more than 10 percent of their funds 
from foreign donors, or as ``Resident Charities,'' which allowed 
donations but prohibited activities in the enumerated areas.
    Two prominent human rights defender organizations--EHRCO and the 
Ethiopian Women Lawyers' Association (EWLA)--registered as local 
charities to preserve their mission and adjust to the law. For EHRCO 
the only organization in the country doing actual investigation and 
reporting on alleged human rights abuses, the readjustment also 
included dropping its ``Ethiopian'' designation, since it could not 
afford to retain offices in at least five regions, as required by the 
CSO law. Therefore, it eliminated ``Ethiopian'' from its name and 
registered as HRCO. The CSA set up by the Government to oversee NGOs 
froze the accounts of these two and four other organizations, claiming 
that funds raised in 2009 would have to be cross-checked against the 
annual work plan for the year. Donors demanded that the seized assets 
be returned to the organizations, or at least to donors, but the matter 
remained unresolved at year's end.
    EWLA was the prominent women's rights advocacy NGO providing 
support services to disadvantaged women in three major areas: research 
and advocacy to find gender gaps and suggest amendments to the national 
laws, legal aid to support victims of violence and resolve civil 
problems in marriage relations as well as employment, and public 
education to influence aspects of the traditional outlook that are 
harmful to women and girls. Due to financial cutbacks, EWLA 
significantly reduced its public education program, decreased its staff 
by 70 percent, and closed its hotline.
    Other prominent organizations, such as the Ethiopian Bar 
Association were compelled to seek reregistration under new names, 
since their names were appropriated by new, identical associations 
organized by the EPRDF.
    There were 3,522 organizations registered before the CSO law was 
adopted, and, after the law 1,655 organizations reregistered. The 
Government maintained that the majority of the organizations that did 
not reregister had not functioned organizations prior to the 
reregistration process.
    The Government harassed individuals who worked for domestic human 
rights organizations. For example, in June 2009 Werebabo woreda 
officials in South Wollo zone arrested EHRCO investigator Mulugeta 
Fentaw in Bistima town. He was charged with stealing 200 birr ($12.21) 
and sentenced to eight months in prison. In July 2009 the zonal high 
court dismissed the case (see section 1.d.).
    The Government generally cooperated with international 
organizations such as the UN. In 2009 with the assistance of the Office 
of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, East Africa Regional Office, 
the Government undertook a project to prepare all of its overdue 
initial, combined, and periodic reports required under various 
international and regional human rights instruments, and by year's end 
all reports were completed, with the process of review in various 
committees underway.
    The Government continued to restrict Somali region access to the 
MSF and other NGOs (see section 1.g.).
    The Government denied NGOs access to federal prisons, police 
stations, and political prisoners. There were credible reports that 
security officials continued to intimidate or detain local individuals 
to prevent them from meeting with NGOs and foreign government officials 
investigating allegations of abuse.
    In May 2009 state-owned Ethiopian Television broadcast a three-part 
documentary claiming to refute cases of human rights abuses documented 
by foreign observers. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs initiated an 
ostensible ``investigation'' conducted by the Ethiopian News Agency 
(ENA), a part of the Government Communication Affairs Office. Human 
rights abuse victims and their families, neighbors, and friends were 
questioned by ENA officials, sometimes while being recorded on video 
and escorted by armed security officers. The testimony by individuals 
confirming their stories of abuse to these investigators was excised 
from the final documentary report. The Government-established Ethiopian 
Human Rights Commission, which is funded by the parliament and subject 
to parliamentary review, investigates human rights complaints and 
produces both annual and thematic reports, although it did not release 
any reports during the year. The Office of the Ombudsman has the 
authority to receive and investigate complaints with respect to 
administrative mismanagement by executive branch offices. The office 
received hundreds of complaints during the year, mainly focused on 
delays or denials in services, improper institutional decisions, 
promotions or demotions, and pension matters. It was not known which 
complaints were investigated or acted upon.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution provides all persons equal protection without 
discrimination based on race, nation, nationality, or other social 
origin, color, gender, language, religion, political or other opinion, 
property, birth, or status; however, in practice the Government did not 
fully promote and protect these rights.

    Women.--The constitution provides women the same rights and 
protections as men. Harmful Traditional Practices (HTPs) such as FGM, 
abduction, and rape are explicitly criminalized; however, enforcement 
of these laws was inconsistent. To address this, the Government 
established a National Commission for Children's and Women's Affairs in 
2005, as part of the EHRC, to investigate alleged human rights 
violations against women and children.
    Women and girls experienced gender-based violence daily, but it was 
underreported due to cultural acceptance, shame, fear, or a victim's 
ignorance of legal protections. The National Committee for Traditional 
Practices in Ethiopia identified 120 HTPs. One of the most prevalent 
HTPs, FGM, was still widespread but declining. In 2000 the Ethiopian 
Demographic and Health Survey found that FGM was practiced on 80 
percent of all women surveyed, while the total dropped to 74 percent of 
all women surveyed in 2005. Furthermore, the number of younger women 
subjected to FGM was declining more rapidly; in 2005, 81 percent of 
women ages 35-39 had been subjected to FGM, compared with 62.1 percent 
of women ages 15-19. The same survey found that four in five women who 
had been subjected to FGM in the Somali region, and three in five in 
the Afar region, underwent infibulation, the most severe form of FGM. 
In the context of gender-based violence, significant gender gaps in the 
justice system remained, due to poor documentation, inadequate 
investigation, and lack of special handling of cases involving women 
and children.
    The law criminalizes rape and provides penalties of five to 20 
years' imprisonment, depending on the severity of the case; however, 
the law does not expressly address spousal rape. The Government did not 
fully enforce the law, partially due to widespread underreporting. The 
Addis Ababa 2006 annual police report listed 736 rape cases in an 
estimated population of 3.5 million persons; the true incidence may 
have been much higher. More recent statistics on the number of abusers 
prosecuted, convicted, or punished were not available. However, EWLA 
reported that in 2006, 558 rape cases were reported and 281 offenders 
were punished. Additionally, in 2005, 938 incidents of rape were 
reported; however, only 103 offenders were punished. The length of 
imprisonment for offenders in both years was unknown.
    Domestic violence, including spousal abuse, was a pervasive social 
problem. The 2005 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) found that 81 
percent of women believed a husband had a right to beat his wife. A 
2005 World Health Organization study found that in two rural districts 
in SNNPR, Meskan and Mareko, 71 percent of women were subject to 
physical or sexual violence, or both, by an intimate partner during 
their lifetime. Although 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. The Government 
prosecuted offenders on a limited scale. Domestic violence is illegal 
under the criminal code. Depending on the severity of damage inflicted, 
punishment varies from small fines to imprisonment for up to 10 to 15 
years. During the year the Government expanded its efforts to combat 
domestic violence by setting up a hotline run by the Federal Police, 
under the Ministry of Federal Affairs; another domestic violence 
hotline established by EWLA was closed due to budget constraints. In 
addition police officers were required to receive domestic violence 
training from domestic NGOs and the Ministry of the Women's Affairs. 
There is a deputy commissioner of women's and children's rights in the 
EHRC.
    Sexual harassment was widespread. The penal code prescribes 18 to 
24 months' imprisonment; however, harassment-related laws were not 
enforced.
    The law sets the legal marriage age for girls and boys at 18; 
however, this law was not uniformly enforced. The 2005 DHS found that 
among women ages 25-49, 66 percent were married by age 18 and 79 
percent were married by age 20. The median age at first marriage among 
women ages 25-49 was 16.1 years of age, with a range of 14.2 years in 
Amhara to 21.9 years in Addis Ababa. There was little change in these 
numbers between the 2000 and 2005 studies, although it appeared that 
there was a small decline in marriages at the earliest ages.
    In 2004 the Ministry of Health launched an ambitious Health Sector 
Development Program that significantly increased access to health care, 
especially in rural areas. The Health Extension Program (HEP) supports 
a paid health extension worker at a health post in every area with a 
population of at least 5,000; health posts feed into a health center 
that provides limited services. The HEP contributed significantly to 
increases in access to improved water and sanitation, family planning, 
and immunization, which in turn have drastically improved health 
indicators. For example, according to the 2000 DHS, the contraceptive 
prevalence rate among married women was 8 percent, of which 6.3 percent 
used modern methods. This increased to 14.7 percent in 2005, with 13.9 
percent of that due to modern methods. The DHS's 2009 Last Ten 
Kilometers Project baseline survey reported a contraceptive prevalence 
of 32 percent in the four most populous agrarian regions (accounting 
for 80 percent of the country's population). Similarly, under-five 
mortality declined from 166 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000 to 123 
deaths per 1,000 live births in 2005 (DHS). Infant mortality declined 
from 97 to 77 per 1,000 live births. Maternal mortality rates declined 
from 871 in 2000 to 673 in 2005.
    Discrimination against women was most acute in rural areas, where 
85 percent of the population was located. The law contains 
discriminatory regulations, such as the recognition of the husband as 
the legal head of the family and the sole guardian of children over 
five years old. Courts generally did not consider domestic violence a 
justification for granting a divorce. There was limited legal 
recognition of common law marriage. Irrespective of the number of years 
the marriage existed, the number of children raised, and joint 
property, the law entitled women to only three months' financial 
support if a relationship ended. A common-law husband had no obligation 
to provide financial assistance to his family, and as a result, women 
and children sometimes faced abandonment. Notwithstanding progressive 
provisions in the formal law, such as the family law passed in 2000, 
traditional courts continued to apply customary law in economic and 
social relationships.
    According to the constitution, all land belongs to the Government. 
However, both men and women have land-use rights, which they can pass 
on as an inheritance as long as their offspring are also engaged in 
farming. Those who use the land may rent all or a portion of their land 
according to regional land laws, which vary from region to region. In 
Amhara one may rent up to 100 percent of one's land for a maximum of 25 
years; in Tigray and SNNPR, up to 50 percent of land may be rented for 
a maximum of 20 years; in Oromia the maximum duration of the lease is 
15 years. All recently passed federal and regional land laws empower 
women to access government land. Inheritance laws also enable widowed 
women to inherit joint property they acquire during marriage. At year's 
end Gambella and Benishangul-Gumuz had not passed regional land 
policies.
    In urban areas women had fewer employment opportunities than men, 
and the jobs available did not provide equal pay for equal work. 
Women's access to gainful employment, credit, and the opportunity to 
own and/or manage a business was further limited by their low level of 
education and training, traditional attitudes, and limited access to 
information.
    The MOE reported that female participation in undergraduate and 
postgraduate programs had increased to 90,938 in 2008-09 from 33,146 in 
2004-05, due to the expansion of higher-learning institutions, 
awareness training, and the establishment of gender offices in 
universities.

    Children.--The constitution provides a comprehensive list of rights 
for children. Citizenship is derived from one's parents.
    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, basic education, 
or child protection. As a policy primary education was universal, 
tuition-free, and compulsory; however, there were not enough schools to 
accommodate the country's youth, particularly in rural areas. The cost 
of school supplies was prohibitive for many families, and there was no 
legislation to enforce compulsory primary education.
    Child abuse was widespread. Unlike in previous years there was no 
training of police officers on procedures for handling cases of child 
abuse. One NGO that assisted in the training lost foreign funding 
because of the CSO law and had ceased its operations.
    A 2009 study conducted by the African Child Policy Forum revealed 
that prosecuting offenders for sexual violence against children was 
difficult due to inconsistent interpretation of laws among legal bodies 
and the offender's right to bail, which often resulted in the offender 
fleeing or coercing the victim or the victim's family to drop the 
charges.
    Societal abuse of young girls continued to be a problem. HTPs 
included FGM, early marriage, marriage by abduction, and food and work 
prohibitions. A 2006 African Child Policy Forum retrospective survey 
indicated that 68.5 percent of girls surveyed had been sexually abused 
and 84 percent had been physically abused.
    The majority of girls and women in the country had undergone some 
form of FGM. Girls typically experienced clitoridectomies seven days 
after birth (consisting of an excision of the clitoris, often with 
partial labial excision) and faced infibulation (the most extreme and 
dangerous form of FGM) at the onset of puberty. A 2008 study funded by 
Save the Children Norway reported a 24 percent national reduction in 
FGM cases over the past 10 years, due in part to a strong anti-FGM 
campaign. The penal code criminalizes practitioners of clitoridectomy, 
with imprisonment of at least three months or a fine of at least 500 
birr ($30.53). Likewise, infibulation of the genitals is punishable 
with imprisonment of five to 10 years. However, no criminal charges 
have ever been brought for FGM. The Government discouraged the practice 
of FGM through education in public schools and broader mass media 
campaigns.
    In the Afar region older men continued to marry young girls, but 
this traditional practice continued to face greater scrutiny and 
criticism. Local NGOs, such as the Kembatta Women's Self-Help Center 
and the Tigray Women's Association, also influenced societal attitudes 
toward HTPs and early marriage in their areas. Child marriage was a 
problem particularly in Amhara and Tigray, where girls were routinely 
married as early as age seven, despite the legal minimum age of 18 for 
marriage. Regional governments in Amhara and Tigray ran programs to 
educate young women on issues associated with early marriage. There 
were some signs of growing public awareness in communities of the 
problem of abuse of women and girls, including early marriage.
    Marriage by abduction is officially illegal, although it continued 
in some regions, including the Amhara, Oromia, and SNNPR, despite the 
Government's attempts to combat the practice. Forced sexual 
relationships accompanied most marriages by abduction, and women often 
experienced physical abuse during the abduction. Abductions led to 
conflicts among families, communities, and ethnic groups. In cases of 
marriage by abduction, the perpetrator did not face punishment if the 
victim agreed to marry the perpetrator. EGLDAM (Ethiopia Goji Limadawi 
Dirgitoch Aswogaj Mahibar), the former National Committee for 
Traditional Practices in Ethiopia, reported in June that there were 
significant decreases in this practice in all regions over the past 
decade. Overall, 25 percent of women ages 60 and above reported 
marriage by abduction, but only 8 percent of women under age 30 
reported this practice.
    The commercial sexual exploitation of children continued during the 
year, particularly in urban areas. Girls as young as age 11 reportedly 
were recruited to work in brothels, often sought by customers who 
believed them to be free of sexually transmitted diseases. Girls were 
also exploited as prostitutes in hotels, bars, resort towns, and rural 
truck stops. Reports indicated that some young girls were forced into 
prostitution by their family members. Within the country children were 
trafficked from rural to urban areas for domestic service, commercial 
sexual exploitation, and forced labor in street vending and other 
activities. Reports indicated that children were trafficked from Oromia 
and SNNPR to other regions of the country for forced or bonded labor in 
domestic service.
    According to a Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MOLSA) report, 
approximately 150,000 children lived on the streets, and 60,000 of 
these children lived in the capital. The MOLSA report stated that the 
problem was exacerbated because of families' inability to support 
children, due to parental illness and insufficient household income. 
These children begged, sometimes as part of a gang, or worked in the 
informal sector. Government and privately run orphanages were unable to 
handle the number of street children, and older children often abused 
younger ones. ``Handlers'' sometimes maimed or blinded children to 
raise their earnings from begging.
    There were reports during the year of recruitment of child soldiers 
in connection with the Somali region conflict (see section 1.g.).
    There were an estimated 5.4 million orphans in the country, 
according to the report of Central Statistics Authority. Government-run 
orphanages were overcrowded, and conditions were often unsanitary. Due 
to severe resource constraints, hospitals and orphanages often 
overlooked or neglected abandoned infants. Children did not receive 
adequate health care, and several infants died due to lack of adequate 
medical attention. There were multiple international press reports that 
parents received payment from some adoption agencies to relinquish 
their children for international adoption, and that some agencies 
concealed the age or health history of children from their adoptive 
parents. The Government was slow to investigate these allegations.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community numbered approximately 2,000; 
there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution does not mandate equal 
rights for persons with disabilities. However, two laws prohibit 
discrimination against persons with physical and mental disabilities in 
employment and mandate access to buildings.
    The Right to Employment of Persons with Disabilities Proclamation, 
gazetted in 2008, prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of 
disability. It also states that employers are responsible for providing 
appropriate working or training conditions and materials to persons 
with disabilities. The law specifically recognizes the additional 
burden on women with disabilities. The Government took limited measures 
to enforce the law. For example, the Government assigned interpreters 
for hearing-impaired civil service employees.
    The Ethiopian Building Proclamation, gazetted in May 2009, contains 
an article that mandates building accessibility and accessible toilet 
facilities for persons with physical disabilities. In addition 
landlords are required to give persons with disabilities preference for 
ground-floor apartments, and this was respected in practice.
    Women with disabilities were more disadvantaged than men in 
education and employment. An Addis Ababa University study showed that 
female students with disabilities were subjected to a heavier burden of 
domestic work than their male peers. The enrollment rate for girls with 
disabilities was lower than for boys at the primary school level, and 
this gap increased at higher levels of education. Girls with 
disabilities also were much more likely to suffer physical and sexual 
abuse than able-bodied girls.
    There were approximately seven million persons with disabilities, 
according to the Ethiopian Federation of Persons with Disabilities. 
There was one mental hospital and an estimated 10 psychiatrists in the 
country. There were several schools for hearing and visually impaired 
persons and several training centers for children and young persons 
with intellectual disabilities. There was a network of prosthetic and 
orthopedic centers in five of the nine regional states.
    The CSO law that went into effect in February prohibits 
organizations receiving more than 10 percent of their funding from 
foreign sources from promoting the rights of persons with disabilities. 
Several domestic associations, such as the Ethiopian National 
Association of the Blind, Ethiopian National Association of the Deaf, 
and Ethiopian National Association of the Physically Handicapped, were 
negatively affected by the legislation.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--There are more than 80 ethnic 
groups, of which the Oromo, at 40 percent of the population, is the 
largest. The federal system drew boundaries roughly along major ethnic 
group lines, and regional states had much greater control over their 
affairs than previously. Most political parties remained primarily 
ethnically based.
    In late January and early February, press reports alleged and 
credible sources confirmed that some students in Addis Ababa who 
originated from the Ogaden province of the Somali regional state were 
being arrested. In a criminal trial, the Government charged Mohamed 
Muse, Ahmed Nure Abdi Ali, Meryamo Moalin Abdu, Faysel Abdiquadir, and 
Siyad Sheekh with undermining the political and territorial integrity 
of the country, including membership in the ONLF, and raising finances 
for the ONLF. Codefendants Mohammed Muse, Ahmed Nure, and Meryamo 
Moalin Abdu were found guilty and sentenced to 11 years in prison. The 
other three defendants were acquitted and released.
    In March press reports alleged that ethnic Oromos fled to Yemen due 
to fear of political persecution and systematic abuse. However, the IOM 
reported that a significant portion of the migrants returning from 
Yemen were from Oromia.
    In June 2009 several minority ethnic groups in SNNPR (composed of 
more than 50 minority ethnic groups) complained the Government took 
measures to silence indigenous persons who protested the exploitation 
of natural resources. The regional State Justice Bureau of SNNPR 
revoked the licenses and suspended the activities of 42 community-based 
organizations (CBOs) for engaging in activities outside their mandate. 
Alleged infractions included mobilizing communities against the use of 
fertilizers, setting up a parallel government, promoting harmful 
traditional practices, nontransparent remuneration and accounting 
practices, producing no visible development projects for the perceived 
amount of money the associations were receiving, and practicing 
traditional rites that offended Christians. All of the CBOs were 
cultural and environmental preservation associations. The associations 
denied some or all of the allegations and lodged appeals with the 
Office of the Prime Minister, the ombudsman, the House of People's 
Representatives, and the House of Federation. The case continued at 
year's end.
    Government and ONLF forces were responsible for human rights abuses 
in the Somali region (see section 1.g.).
    There were no developments in the following 2008 ethnic conflict 
incidents: the Holte-Keyama kebele conflict that resulted in the 
killing of 18 persons and the injury of 26; the Borena and Gheri ethnic 
conflict that resulted in the death of 600 persons and the displacement 
of thousands; the Oromo, Afar, and Argoba conflict that resulted in the 
killing of 14 persons and severe injury to 18; and the killing of Zewdu 
Abate.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Homosexuality is illegal and 
punishable by imprisonment under the criminal code. Instances of 
homosexual activity involving coercion or involving a minor (ages 13 to 
16) are punishable by imprisonment prison term of anywhere from three 
months to five years. Where children under 13 years of age are 
involved, the law provides for imprisonment of five to 25 years. There 
were some reports of violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 
transgender individuals; however, reporting was limited due to fears of 
retribution, discrimination, or stigmatization.
    The AIDS Resource Center in Addis Ababa reported that the majority 
of self-identified gay and lesbian callers, 75 percent of whom were 
male, requested assistance in changing their behavior to avoid 
discrimination. Many gay men reported anxiety, confusion, identity 
crises, depression, self-ostracizing, religious conflict, and suicide 
attempts.
    In 2008 nearly a dozen religious figures adopted a resolution 
against homosexuality, urging lawmakers to endorse a ban on homosexual 
activity in the constitution. The group also encouraged the Government 
to place strict controls on the distribution of pornographic materials. 
At year's end no action had been taken on the resolution.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Societal stigma and 
discrimination against persons living with or affected by HIV/AIDS 
continued in the areas of education, employment, and community 
integration. Despite the abundance of anecdotal information, there were 
no statistics on the scale of this problem.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides most workers with 
the right to form and join unions, and the Government permits unions in 
practice. However, the law specifically excludes managerial employees, 
teachers, and civil servants (including judges, prosecutors, and 
security service workers) from organizing unions. Approximately two-
thirds of union members belong to organizations affiliated with the 
Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions, which is under the influence 
of the Government. There was no reported government interference in 
trade union activities during the year, because the major trade unions 
were government-established entities.
    A minimum of 10 workers is required to form a union. While the law 
provides all unions with the right to register, the Government may 
refuse to register trade unions that do not meet its registration 
requirements. 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 400,000 
workers were union members.
    Seasonal and part-time agricultural workers cannot organize into 
labor unions. Compensation, benefits, and working conditions of 
seasonal agricultural workers were far below those of unionized 
permanent agricultural employees.
    Under a regulation passed in 2008, the Ethiopian Revenue and 
Customs Authority's director general has the sole power to dismiss 
government workers suspected of corruption. Courts have no authority to 
reinstate workers cleared of such charges.
    Based on a 2008 Council of Ministers' regulation, the Government 
sued the Workers' Association of the National Bank of Ethiopia (central 
bank) in the Federal High Court, claiming that the bank was a nonprofit 
government agency and that the labor union should be dissolved. In 
February 2009 the High Court ruled that the association could not be 
dissolved by a regulation while the rights of workers of the bank were 
protected by law. The Government appealed to the Supreme Court, and at 
year's end the case was pending.
    In 2008 the Supreme Court ruled that the independent ETA be shut 
down and forfeit its name, property, and bank assets to the Government-
controlled ETA. The decision capped 15 years of lengthy legal 
proceedings and appeals. Subsequently, the original ETA applied for 
registration with the MOJ as the National Teachers' Association but was 
denied registration. Leaders of the organization sued the MOJ for 
refusing to register their association but lost in the Federal First 
Instance Court. They appealed to the Federal High Court in June 2009 
and reapplied for registration with the CSA. On April 19, the High 
Court ruled that the case could be referred to the CSA. The agency 
refused to register the National Teachers' Association, explaining to 
its leaders that their organization was superfluous given the existence 
of the Government-controlled ETA. The original ETA leaders planned to 
appeal the decision to the CSA board, a body that began operations in 
August.
    Although the constitution and law provide workers with the right to 
strike to protect their interests, it contains detailed provisions that 
make legal strike actions difficult to carry out, such as a minimum of 
30 days' advance notice before striking when the case is referred to a 
court or labor relations board. The law requires aggrieved workers to 
attempt reconciliation with employers before striking and includes a 
lengthy dispute settlement process. These provisions applied equally to 
an employer's right to lock workers out. Two-thirds of the workers 
involved must support a strike for it to occur.
    If a case has not already been referred to a court or labor 
relations board, workers 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 of Labor and Social Affairs and 
make efforts at reconciliation.
    The law also prohibits strikes by workers who provide essential 
services, including air transport and urban bus service workers, 
electric power suppliers, gas station personnel, hospital and pharmacy 
personnel, firefighters, telecommunications personnel, and urban 
sanitary workers.
    The law prohibits retribution against strikers, but labor leaders 
stated that most workers were not convinced that the Government would 
enforce this protection. Labor officials reported 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.
    Fourteen employees of Roto PLC were fired for arriving late on July 
9. Another 20 employees went on strike in support of their 14 
colleagues on July 30, claiming that the company had failed to respect 
the agreement it had signed with the employees' labor union. These 20 
employees were also dismissed by Roto PLC. The Addis Ababa city 
administration Social and Labour Issues Office and the National 
Federation of Energy, Chemical, and Mine Trade Unions (NFECMTU) 
attempted to reconcile both sides, but the company refused to reinstate 
the 14 it had dismissed, as well as the 20 employees who went on strike 
as a result of the action taken against the 14. The company instead 
hired and trained 20 new employees and decided not to bring back the 34 
employees. On August 4, the company stated that it was willing to pay 
compensation, but the employees wanted to negotiate for a return to 
work, not compensation. At year's end the NFECMTU was trying to 
intervene and reconcile both sides, but the dismissed employees stated 
that their intent was to take the matter to court if Roto PLC refused 
to negotiate a return to work.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
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 collective bargaining agreements covered 
more than 90 percent of unionized workers. Representatives negotiated 
wages at the plant level. Unions in the formal industrial sector made 
some efforts to enforce labor regulations.
    Although the law prohibits antiunion discrimination by employers 
against union members and organizers, unions reported that employers 
frequently fired union activists. Lawsuits alleging unlawful dismissal 
often take years to resolve because of case backlogs in the courts. 
Employers found guilty of antiunion discrimination were required to 
reinstate workers fired for union activities and generally did so 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, such 
practices occurred (see sections 6 and 7.d.).
    Courts could order forced labor as a punitive measure. 
Additionally, both adults and children were forced to engage in street 
vending, begging, traditional weaving, or agriculture work. Situations 
of debt bondage also occurred in traditional weaving, pottery, cattle 
herding, and other agricultural activities, mostly in rural areas.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There were laws against child labor; however, the Government did not 
effectively implement these laws in practice, and child labor remained 
a serious problem, both in urban and rural areas. By law the minimum 
age for wage or salary employment is 14 years; however, the minimum age 
for employment was not effectively enforced. 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 
are not permitted to work more than seven hours per day, between 10 
p.m. and 6 a.m., on public holidays or rest days, or overtime. The law 
defines hazardous work as work in factories or involving machinery with 
moving parts or any work that could jeopardize a child's health. 
Prohibited work sectors include transporting passengers, electric 
generation plants, underground work, street cleaning, and many other 
sectors.
    A 2001 survey conducted by the Central Statistics Agency found that 
approximately 58 percent of boys and 42 percent of girls ages five to 
14 were working. These figures were supported by a 2006 UNHCR study on 
the worst forms of child labor. The great majority of working children 
were found in the agricultural sector (95 percent), followed by 
services, manufacturing, and other sectors. The number of working 
children was higher in Amhara, Oromia, SNNPR, and Tigray than in other 
regions. During the year the Government increased investments in 
modernizing agricultural practices as well as in the construction of 
schools in efforts to combat the problem of children in agricultural 
sectors. The Government claimed a 94 percent rate of initial school 
enrollment for children of primary school age.
    According to the MOLSA, many children worked for their families 
without pay. In both rural and urban areas, children often began 
working at young ages. The MOLSA reported that two of five working 
children were below the age of six. In rural areas children worked in 
agriculture on commercial and family farms and in domestic service. 
Children in rural areas, especially boys, also engaged in activities 
such as cattle herding, petty trading, plowing, harvesting, and 
weeding, while other children, mostly girls, collected firewood and 
fetched water. In urban areas many children, including orphans, worked 
in domestic services, often working long hours, which may prevent them 
from attending school regularly. Anecdotal evidence suggests that some 
children in urban areas also worked in construction, manufacturing, 
shining shoes, making clothes, portering, directing customers to taxis, 
petty trading, and herding animals. According to social welfare 
activists and civic organizers, who cited anecdotal evidence, forced 
child labor was poorly documented, and child laborers often faced 
physical, sexual, and emotional abuse at the hands of their employers. 
Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report 
at www.state.gov/g/tip.
    Estimates of the population of street children varied, with 
government estimates of approximately 100,000. In Addis Ababa alone, 
there were an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 street children, according to 
the MOLSA. Some of these children worked in the informal sector to 
survive.
    Child labor issues are covered by the MOLSA, with limited support 
from the Ministry of Women's Affairs and the Ministry of Youth and 
Sports. Cooperation, information sharing, and coordination between and 
among the ministries were poor. Courts are responsible for enforcing 
children's rights, and criminal and civil penalties may be levied in 
child rights violation cases. In the absence of a national strategy, 
investigation and disposition in cases of the violation of children's 
rights was minimal.
    To prevent children from being exploited for labor purposes, a 
joint police-NGO child victim identification and referral mechanism 
operated in the capital. Child Protection Units (CPUs) operated out of 
each Addis Ababa police station but were sponsored by an NGO, Forum for 
Street Children; the CPUs rescued and collected information on 
trafficked children that facilitated their return to their families. 
The CPUs referred 240 trafficked children to the IOM and local NGOs for 
care in 2006, 843 in 2007, 761 in 2008, and 723 in 2009. The CPUs also 
collected data on rescued children to facilitate their reunification 
with their families. At year's end the CPUs stopped child protection 
activities because the new CSO law prevents Forum for Street Children 
from conducting advocacy work in the area of children's rights. 
Previously, internationally funded centers in Addis Ababa provided 
shelter, medical care, counseling, and reintegration assistance to 
girls victimized by trafficking. Other international NGOs provided 
assistance to child victims of commercial sexual exploitation, 
including such services as a drop-in center, shelter, educational 
services, skills training, guidance, assistance with income-generating 
and employment activities, and family reunification services.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There is no national minimum 
wage. Some government institutions and public enterprises, however, set 
their own minimum wages. Public sector employees, the largest group of 
wage earners, earned a monthly minimum wage of approximately 320 birr 
($20); employees in the banking and insurance sector had a minimum 
monthly wage of 336 birr ($21). According to the Office for 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 
in the wage sector required at least two wage earners to survive, which 
forced many children to leave school early. Only a small percentage of 
the population was involved in wage labor employment, which is 
concentrated in urban areas. Young girls continued to migrate, often 
illegally, to the Gulf States in search of housekeeping work in order 
to assist families back home and often fell victim to exploitation or 
were trafficked. Many of these girls were subjected to inhumane living 
and working conditions, and some lost their lives. In an effort to 
prevent these situations, the MOLSA continued to encourage illegal 
employment agencies to register as legal organizations.
    The labor law provides for a 48-hour maximum legal workweek with a 
24-hour rest period, premium pay for overtime, and prohibition of 
excessive compulsory overtime. Although the Government did little to 
enforce the law, in practice most employees in the formal sector worked 
a 39-hour workweek. However, many foreign, migrant, and informal sector 
workers worked more than 48 hours per week.
    The Government, industries, and unions negotiated occupational 
health and safety standards; however, the MOLSA inspection department 
did not effectively enforce these standards, due to lack of resources. 
Lack of detailed, sector-specific health and safety guidelines also 
precluded enforcement. 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.

                               __________

                                 GABON

    Gabon, population approximately 1.4 million, is a republic 
dominated by a strong presidency and the Democratic Party of Gabon 
(PDG), which has held power since 1968. In August 2009 President Ali 
Bongo Ondimba was elected in a poll characterized by international 
observers as generally free and fair, although irregularities and post-
election violence occurred. Security forces reported to civilian 
authorities.
    The following human rights problems were reported: ritualistic 
killings; use of excessive force by police; harsh prison conditions and 
lengthy pretrial detention; an inefficient judiciary subject to 
government influence; restrictions on privacy and press; harassment and 
extortion of African immigrants and refugees; widespread government 
corruption; violence against women; societal discrimination against 
women, noncitizen Africans, Pygmies, and persons with HIV/AIDS; and 
trafficking in persons, particularly children.
                        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 the Government or its agents 
committed arbitrary or unlawful killings.
    An inquiry into civilian deaths perpetrated by security force 
members following the August 2009 presidential election had not been 
released by year's end. The Government claimed four persons were killed 
during post-election riots, while l'Union newspaper claimed there were 
at least six deaths. Opposition reports claimed security forces were 
responsible for a much higher number of civilian deaths.
    Ritualistic killings occurred and generally went unpunished. 
Authorities condemned the killings; however, no investigations or 
arrests were made during the year. The local nongovernmental 
organization (NGO) Association to Fight Ritual Crimes (ALCR) reported 
that 34 persons were identified as victims of ritual crimes during the 
year. The ALCR estimated that at least double that number of ritual 
crimes occurred but either were not reported or incorrectly identified.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--Although the constitution and law prohibit such practices, 
credible reports persisted that security forces beat prisoners and 
detainees to extract confessions.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that security 
forces were responsible for injuring civilians while dispersing crowds.
    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. Refugees 
continued to complain of harassment and extortion by security forces.
    Children were injured and killed by practitioners of ritual crimes 
(see section 1.a.).

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prisons were overcrowded, 
and conditions were harsh. Food, sanitation, and ventilation were poor, 
although basic medical care was provided. Prisons had adequate lighting 
and access to potable water; however, there were no air conditioners in 
prisons or jails, and temperatures often exceeded 95 degrees 
Fahrenheit. On-site nurses provided medical care, and prisoners needing 
emergency medical care were transported to hospitals. NGOs, family 
members, and private citizens occasionally made contributions to 
augment prisoners' poor food rations.
    Ten or more prisoners died during the year due to poor hygiene or 
malnourishment.
    Prison authorities did not keep records, and it was unknown how 
many prisoners were being held in the country. Pretrial detainees were 
held with convicted prisoners.
    Prisoners and detainees were allowed to worship without hindrance, 
and Catholic, Protestant, and Muslim services were regularly held in 
the prisons. Family visits were permitted in both prisons and jails.
    Authorities permitted prisoners and detainees to submit written 
complaints to judicial authorities without censorship and to request 
investigation of credible allegations of inhumane conditions; however, 
no reports were submitted during the year.
    The Government investigated and monitored prison and detention 
center conditions through an office in the Ministry of Justice. After 
visiting Libreville's central prison in November, First Lady Sylvia 
Bongo and the minister of justice reported that conditions were harsh; 
their findings resulted in the signing of a contract to build a new 
modern prison facility.
    The Government permitted independent monitoring of prison 
conditions by human rights organizations and NGOs. The International 
Committee of the Red Cross and the NGO Cri de Femmes visited prisons 
during the year.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, the Government did 
not always observe these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The national police, 
under the Ministry of Interior, and the gendarmerie, under the Ministry 
of Defense, were responsible for domestic law enforcement and public 
security. Elements of the armed forces and the Republican Guard, an 
elite unit that protects the president, sometimes performed internal 
security functions. The Inspector General's Office was responsible for 
investigating police abuse. Police were inefficient and corrupt, and 
impunity was a problem. Security forces often sought bribes to 
supplement their salaries. During the year the Government conducted a 
comprehensive review of the police and security forces; however, 
results of the review had not been released by year's end.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires arrest warrants based on sufficient evidence and issued by a 
duly authorized official; however, security forces frequently 
disregarded this provision. The law allows authorities up to 48 hours 
to initially detain a suspect without charge, but police often failed 
to respect this time limit. Detainees were usually promptly informed of 
charges against them; however, authorities often did not file charges 
expeditiously. Conditional release was possible after charges had been 
announced if further investigation was required. Detainees were allowed 
prompt access to family members and a lawyer or, if indigent, to one 
provided by the state. There was a functioning bail system.
    Members of the security forces continued to stop individuals at 
roadblocks under the guise of checking vehicle registration and 
identity papers. Security forces frequently used such operations to 
extort money.
    All persons arbitrarily detained by security forces in Port Gentil 
following the 2009 presidential election had been released by year's 
end.
    The law limits pretrial detention to six months for a misdemeanor 
and one year for a felony charge, with six-month extensions if 
authorized by the examining magistrate; however, prolonged pretrial 
detention was common as a result of overburdened dockets. Approximately 
one-third of detainees were held in pretrial detention, which sometimes 
lasted up to three years.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Although the law provides for an 
independent judiciary, the judiciary was inefficient and remained 
susceptible to government influence. The president appoints and can 
dismiss judges through the Ministry of Justice, to which the judiciary 
is accountable. Corruption was a problem.
    The military court is appointed each year by the Office of the 
Presidency and is composed of selected magistrates and military 
personnel. The court provides the same basic legal rights as a civilian 
court.
    Minor disputes may be taken to a local chief, particularly in rural 
areas, but the Government did not always recognize such decisions.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides the right to a public 
trial and to legal counsel, and the Government generally respected 
these rights. Nevertheless, a judge may deliver an immediate verdict of 
guilt at the initial hearing in a state security trial if the 
Government presents sufficient evidence. Defendants are presumed 
innocent and have the right to be present. Indigent defendants were 
provided an attorney at state expense. Defendants have the right to 
confront witnesses against them, present witnesses or evidence on their 
behalf, have access to government-held evidence against them through 
their lawyer, and appeal. The Government generally respected these 
rights, which were extended to all citizens.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--During the year President Ali 
Bongo Ondimba announced the release of 500 nonviolent prisoners 
arrested and detained under the previous government, some of whom may 
have been arrested for political reasons. With their release, there 
were no political prisoners or detainees in the country.
    International NGOs have not requested formal visits or reviews of 
political prisoners in the last four years, but they were, in 
principle, allowed access.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
civil judiciary, but it was susceptible to government influence and 
corruption. Persons seeking damages for, or cessation of, a human 
rights violation could seek relief in the civil court system. 
Corruption was also a problem in the enforcement of domestic court 
orders. Administrative remedies were not generally available.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions; 
however, the Government did not respect these prohibitions in practice. 
As part of criminal investigations, police requested and easily 
obtained search warrants from judges, sometimes after the fact.
    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 movement of citizens.
    Unlike in the previous year, the Telecommunications Regulation 
Agency (ARTEL) did not impede cell phone texting. In September 2009 
ARTEL suspended texting after prominent persons and journalists 
reported receiving text messages containing death threats. Texting was 
again suspended with no explanation in October 2009 in advance of the 
presidential inauguration; the suspension was lifted in November 2009.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press, and unlike in the previous 
year, the Government generally respected these rights. After the June 
2009 death of former president Omar Bongo Ondimba, the media engaged in 
a more open debate on the country's leaders and its future; however, 
some journalists continued to practice occasional self-censorship.
    Unlike in the past, when citizens risked losing their jobs if they 
criticized the former president, individuals could criticize the 
Government, including the president, publicly or privately, without 
reprisal.
    The only major daily newspapers were the Government-affiliated 
l'Union and Gabon Matin. Approximately nine privately owned weekly or 
monthly newspapers represented independent views and those of various 
political parties, but 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. Following the death of 
Omar Bongo, privately owned newspapers appeared more regularly.
    The Government owned and operated two radio stations that broadcast 
throughout the country. Much of their news coverage concerned the 
activities of government officials, and editorials sometimes criticized 
specific government policies or ministers. Seven privately owned radio 
stations were operating at year's end. International radio stations 
broadcast locally.
    Unlike in the previous year, no journalists were assaulted.
    No action was taken in the following 2009 assaults on media 
employees: the September assault by opposition supporters on Patrick 
Bibang, a reporter at Radio Africa No.1; or the September attacks by 
opposition supporters on employees of Radio-Television Nazareth.
    The Government owned and operated two television stations. Four 
privately owned television stations transmitted 24 hours a day. 
Satellite television reception was available.
    Unlike in the previous year, the Government did not close media 
outlets. On election day in August 2009, authorities cut broadcasts by 
TVPlus, a television station owned by opposition presidential candidate 
Andre Mba Obame. The following day, masked gunmen opened fire on the 
transmitter of the satellite television station Go Africa, which had 
been carrying TVPlus content.
    Libel can be either a criminal offense or a civil matter. Editors 
and authors of libelous articles can be jailed for two to six months 
and fined 500,000 to five million CFA francs ($1,040 to $10,400). 
Penalties for libel and other offenses also include a one- to three-
month publishing suspension for a first offense and a three- to six-
month suspension for repeat offenses.
    On June 7, a court in Libreville convicted Jonas Moulenda, a 
reporter with the state-owned daily l'Union, on charges of criminal 
defamation and ordered a suspended three-month prison sentence and a 
fine of 500,000 CFA francs ($900), according to the Committee to 
Protect Journalists (CPJ). The charges were connected with a November 
2009 article in which Moulenda accused Alfred Nguia Banda, the former 
director of the Gabonese Import/Export Council, of having orchestrated 
the killing of Rene Ziza, who was credited with fighting corruption 
while in charge of the country's maritime transport agency. According 
to the CPJ, Moulenda was being punished for raising questions about 
official corruption. The Government claimed that the issue was a 
private court case that did not involve governmental influence or 
official organs. In September 2009 Moulenda went into hiding after his 
house was raided by unknown assailants.
    On October 29, CPJ called on the Government to free Jean-Yves 
Ntoutoume, editor of the independent bimonthly Le Temps, who was 
arrested and detained on October 26 after his newspaper failed to pay 
10 million CFA francs ($20,800) in damages to Albert Meye, a former PDG 
treasurer. Meye sued the newspaper after it published an article about 
Meye's possible involvement in a 2004 armed robbery at PDG 
headquarters, which resulted in the death of a courier and the theft of 
more than 80 million CFA francs ($166,000). CPJ charged that the heavy 
civil damages imposed on Ntoutoume did not appear to be based on any 
actual losses suffered by Meye.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2008, 
approximately 6 percent of the population used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
and the law provide for freedom of assembly and association, and unlike 
in the previous year, there were no reports that the Government denied 
opposition groups permits to demonstrate or forcibly dispersed 
demonstrators.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the Department of State's 2010 International Religious 
Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and unlike in the previous year, the Government generally 
respected these rights in practice.
    The Government cooperated with the UN High Commissioner for 
Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations in assisting 
refugees and asylum seekers.
    There were no legally mandated restrictions on internal movement; 
however, the military, police, and gendarmes continued to stop 
travelers at random checkpoints to check identity, residence, or 
registration documents and to solicit bribes.
    Security force members harassed expatriate Africans working legally 
as merchants, service sector employees, and manual laborers. Some 
members of the security forces extorted bribes by threatening 
imprisonment or the confiscation of residency documents. Residency 
permits cost 150,000 CFA francs ($312) per year, and first-time 
applicants were required to provide the cost of a one-way air ticket to 
their country of origin. In principle but usually not in practice, the 
Government refunded the cost of the air ticket when the individual 
departed the country permanently.
    Unlike in the previous year, the Government imposed no restrictions 
on the foreign travel of opposition members. In September 2009 after 
the riots in Port-Gentil, the minister of interior prevented all 
opposition candidates from leaving the country pending an investigation 
into post-election violence. The restriction was lifted in October 
2009.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it 
during the year.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice 
the Government provided protection against the expulsion or return of 
refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened 
on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a 
particular social group, or political opinion.
    Refugees complained about widespread harassment, extortion, and 
detentions by security forces. To reduce such mistreatment, the 
Government initiated a program to replace UNHCR-issued identity cards 
with government-issued ones. By year's end approximately 90 percent of 
refugees in the country who qualified had been issued new cards. Card 
holders enjoyed the same rights as citizens, including the right to 
work, travel, and access public services. Although the cards--along 
with a UNHCR-led information campaign--helped reduce discrimination 
against refugees, approximately 3,000 refugees remained without cards 
at year's end, either because they could not be reached by government 
or UNHCR officials or because they chose not to regularize their status 
in the country. During the year a trilateral agreement between the UN 
and the Governments of Gabon and the Republic of the Congo to ensure 
that refugees can either return home or regularize their status in 
Gabon was signed and implemented.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens the right to change their 
government peacefully, and citizens partially exercised this right in 
practice through periodic and generally fair elections.

    Elections and Political Participation.--President Ali Bongo Ondimba 
was elected in August 2009 with 41 percent of the vote; the president 
succeeded his father, former president Omar Bongo, who died in June 
2009 after a 41-year rule. The two leading opposition candidates each 
received approximately 25 percent of the vote. International observers 
characterized the election as largely free and fair; however, the 
election was marred by post-election violence, significant restrictions 
on human rights, and accusations of political tampering with the 
electoral process. Authorities censored news coverage and harassed the 
press. Irregularities included problems with voter lists and 
registration, polls that opened late, improperly secured ballot boxes, 
and armed security personnel in or near voting sites. Numerous 
opposition candidates contested the election results, but the 
Constitutional Court in October 2009 validated President Bongo 
Ondimba's victory.
    The Government is dominated by a strong presidency. When 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 by the president, who appoints ministers of 
government and heads of parastatal companies.
    A single party, the PDG, has remained in power since its creation 
by former president Omar Bongo in 1968. Opposition parties routinely 
complained of restricted access to the media.
    Women held governmental positions from the ministerial level on 
down and in all branches. In a 30-member cabinet, there were six women. 
The president of the Senate and the head of the Constitutional Court 
also were women.
    Members of the president's Bateke ethnic group and other 
southerners held a disproportionately large number of key positions in 
the security forces, although members of all major ethnic groups 
continued to occupy prominent government positions. Indigenous Pygmies 
rarely participated in the political process.
Section 4. Official Corruption and GovernmentTransparency
    The law provides criminal penalties, including fines and 
imprisonment, for official corruption; however, officials often engaged 
in corrupt practices with impunity. During the year the Government 
initiated major reforms to curb corruption. The most recent World Bank 
Worldwide Governance Indicators reflected that corruption was a severe 
problem.
    Among the major anticorruption measures taken by the Government was 
an audit, completed in January, of all civil service positions, 
including those of the president and cabinet ministers. The audit 
resulted in the elimination of 5,600 ``ghost workers,'' government 
officials who collected illegal second or third incomes. The audit also 
uncovered the use of fake educational credentials to obtain higher pay.
    The Commission Against Illegal Enrichment is the primary body 
responsible for combating official corruption. During the year the 
commission conducted 50 investigations, including 12 cases that started 
in 2009; the investigations were ongoing at year's end. During the year 
the commission fined a local bank 960,000 CFA francs ($2,000) after an 
investigation revealed corrupt practices.
    In October 2009 the president recalled and ordered the arrest of 
Philibert Andzembe, the governor of the Bank of Central African States, 
on corruption charges. The Government arrested two other officials on 
the same charges, one of whom remained under house arrest at year's 
end; the other official was released with all charges dropped. 
Andzembe, who was removed from his position, was awaiting trial at 
year's end. The president's chief of staff resigned amid corruption 
charges associated with the scandal, although he was eventually cleared 
of all charges after a French court, which had jurisdiction, dismissed 
the case.
    The law provides that civil servants disclose their financial 
assets within three months of assuming office to the Commission Against 
Illegal Enrichment; however, this requirement was not always followed 
due to loopholes in the law. The Government has since eliminated the 
loopholes.
    The law does not provide for public access to government 
information, and the Government generally did not allow such access.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    Local human rights NGOs and activists generally operated without 
government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings. 
Government officials took no known actions on their recommendations. 
Local human rights NGOs and their missions included ALCR (ritual 
crime), Cri de Femmes (women's rights), EBANDO (pygmy rights), AVOGAB 
(women's and orphan's rights), Groupe Consience (victims of sexual 
exploitation), and Reseau de Defense des Droits Humains du Gabon (an 
association of human rights NGOs).
    The Government worked closely and effectively with representatives 
from the UN, including the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and UNHCR.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    Although the constitution and law prohibit discrimination based on 
national origin, race, gender, disability, language, or social status, 
the Government did not enforce these provisions consistently.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape and provides penalties of between 
five and 10 years' imprisonment for convicted rapists; however, rape 
cases were seldom prosecuted. The law does not address spousal rape. In 
recent years rape was believed to be widespread. During the year, 
however, there continued to be a lack of information on the prevalence 
of rape. According to the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms 
of Discrimination against Women, it was difficult to obtain information 
on domestic violence against women, including marital rape, in the 
country. Discussing rape remained taboo and women often opted not to 
report rape out of fear, shame, or submission. Only limited medical and 
legal assistance for rape victims was available.
    The law prohibits domestic violence; however, it was believed to be 
common, especially in rural areas. Penalties for domestic violence 
range from two months to 15 years in prison. Police rarely intervened 
in such incidents, and women virtually never filed complaints with 
civil authorities, although the Government operated a counseling group 
to provide support for abuse victims.
    There is no law that prohibits sexual harassment, but it was not a 
widespread problem. The Government and NGOs reported cases of female 
domestic workers (often victims of child trafficking) who were sexually 
molested by employers.
    The Government recognizes the basic right of couples and 
individuals to decide freely the number and spacing of their children 
and the nature of the family. In 2009 authorities repealed a 
parliamentary decree prohibiting the use of contraceptives; however, 
women continued to have difficulty acquiring reliable contraceptives. 
Health clinics and local health NGOs operated freely in disseminating 
information on the use of contraceptives and family planning.
    The Government provided free childbirth services, including 
prenatal care and obstetric care. According to local NGOs, such as the 
Mouvement Gabonais Pour le Bien Etre Familial, the infant mortality 
rate was approximately 99 out of 1,000 births. The maternal mortality 
rate was 260 deaths for every 100,000 live births. Men and women 
received equal access to diagnosis and treatment for sexually 
transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS.
    The law provides that women have rights to equal access in 
education, business, investment, employment, credit, and pay for 
similar work; 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 in the private sector. The law requires 
that a woman obtain her husband's permission to travel abroad, although 
this was rarely enforced.

    Children.--Citizenship is conferred through one's parents and not 
by birth in the country. At least one parent must be a citizen to 
transmit citizenship. Registration of all births is mandatory, and 
children without birth certificates cannot attend school or participate 
in most government-sponsored programs. Many mothers could not obtain 
birth certificates for their children due to isolation, poverty, or 
lack of understanding of the law.
    Education is compulsory and free until age 16, although students 
were required to pay for their supplies, including school uniforms. The 
country had a shortage of classrooms and teachers, and education was 
often unavailable after sixth grade. Unlike in the previous year, there 
were no teacher strikes that reduced educational access.
    Child abuse occurred. When reports of abuse surfaced, the accused 
abusers were generally arrested and tried; however, many such cases 
went unreported.
    Although illegal, female genital mutilation was believed to occur 
among the resident population of noncitizen Africans.
    Ritual killings of children, in which limbs and/or genitals were 
amputated, occurred. No prosecutions of such cases were conducted 
during the year.
    The minimum age for consensual sex and marriage is 15 for girls and 
18 for boys. Child marriage was rare.
    Children under the age of 18 were engaged in prostitution, although 
no statistics were available.
    The law prohibits lewd pictures and photographs ``against the 
morals of society.'' The penalty for possession of pornography includes 
possible jail time from six months to one year and/or fines up to 
222,000 CFA francs ($462).
    Gabon is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was no significant Jewish community in the 
country, and there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    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. Societal 
discrimination against persons with disabilities occurred, and 
employment opportunities and treatment facilities for persons with 
disabilities were limited.

    Indigenous People.--Pygmies are the earliest known inhabitants of 
the country. Small numbers of Pygmies continued to live in large tracts 
of rainforest in the northeast. Most Pygmies, however, were relocated 
to communities along the major roads during the late colonial and early 
post-independence period. The law grants them the same civil rights as 
other citizens, but Pygmies remained largely outside of formal 
authority, keeping their own traditions, independent communities, and 
local decision-making structures. Pygmies suffered societal 
discrimination, often lived in extreme poverty, and did not have easy 
access to public services. Their Bantu neighbors often exploited their 
labor by paying them much less than the minimum wage. Despite their 
equal status under the law, Pygmies generally believed they had little 
recourse if mistreated by Bantu. There were no specific government 
programs or policies to assist Pygmies.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Discrimination and violence 
against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons was a 
problem, and LGBT individuals often kept their status secret from the 
community for fear of being harassed or discriminated against.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There was considerable 
discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS. Local NGOs worked closely 
with the Ministry of Health to combat both the associated stigma and 
the spread of the disease.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law places no restrictions on the 
right of association and recognizes the right of citizens to form and 
join trade and labor unions; workers exercised these rights in 
practice. The small private sector industrial workforce was generally 
unionized. Unions must register with the Government to be recognized 
officially, and registration was granted routinely.
    According to the Ministry of Labor, there were more than 136 
unions. The Ministry of Labor estimated there were 40,000 union members 
in total, 10,000 in the public sector and 30,000 in the private sector.
    The law provides workers the right to strike; however, they may do 
so only after eight days' advance notification and only after 
arbitration fails. The right of public sector employees to strike was 
limited if a strike could jeopardize public safety. The law prohibits 
government action against individual strikers who abide by the 
notification and arbitration provisions.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows 
unions to conduct their activities without government interference, and 
the Government protected this right. The law provides for collective 
bargaining by industry, not by firm. Collectively bargained agreements 
set wages for whole industries. Labor and management met to negotiate 
differences, with observers from the Ministry of Labor. Agreements 
negotiated by unions also applied to nonunion workers. Unions are 
politically active and influential in Gabonese politics.
    Discrimination on the basis of union membership is illegal. 
Employers who are found guilty by civil courts of having engaged in 
such discrimination may be required to compensate employees. Trade 
unions in both the public and private sectors often faced 
discrimination. Their demands or requests for negotiations were 
sometimes ignored or denied. Workers did not face termination due to 
trade union activity.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
the country's two export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--Although the law 
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children, there 
continued to be media reports that farm workers, including some 
children on communal farms, and domestic workers, including some 
children in private households, were subjected to forced labor, 
including conditions of inadequate compensation for their labor and 
mandated long hours by employers. Boys were forced to work in local 
handicraft workshops while girls were primarily trafficked for forced 
domestic servitude, market vending, restaurant labor, and commercial 
sexual exploitation. The Ministry of Labor's lack of sufficient 
vehicles, budget, and personnel, as well as difficulty in gaining 
access to some large communal and family-owned commercial farms and 
private households, impeded the ability of labor inspectors to 
investigate possible labor code violations, including allegations of 
forced labor.
    See also the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Although children below the age of 16 may not work without the 
expressed consent of the ministries of labor, education, and public 
health, child labor was a serious problem. The law provides for fines 
between 290,000 and 480,000 CFA francs ($604 to $1,000) and prison 
sentences of up to two years 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. Noncitizen children 
were more likely to work in informal or illegal sectors of the economy, 
where laws against child labor were less rigorously enforced.
    In December the Government undertook a joint operation with 
INTERPOL, which resulted in the rescue of 165 children and the arrest 
of 38 traffickers from 10 African countries. The children were placed 
in reception centers while the Government, UNICEF, and countries of 
origin worked on repatriation and prosecution of the traffickers.
    An unknown number of children, primarily noncitizens, worked in 
marketplaces or performed domestic work; many of these children were 
reportedly the victims of child trafficking. Such children generally 
did not attend school, received only limited medical attention, and 
were often exploited by employers or foster families. In an effort to 
curb the problem, the police often fined the parents of children who 
were not in school. Laws forbidding child labor covered these children, 
but abuses often were not reported.
    The constitution and labor code protect children against 
exploitation. 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, violations were not 
systematically addressed because the inspection force was inadequate, 
and complaints were routinely not investigated. The Government viewed 
child labor and child trafficking as closely linked.
    During the year the Government worked closely with a foreign 
embassy on a media campaign to educate the populace about trafficking 
in persons and child labor. In conjunction with the media outreach, the 
Government also initiated a door-to-door program to educate citizens in 
isolated communities about trafficking and child labor.
    See also the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national monthly minimum 
wage is 80,000 CFA francs ($166); government workers received an 
additional monthly allowance of 20,000 CFA francs ($41) 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 Ministry of Labor was 
responsible for enforcing the minimum wage standards and, in general, 
it did so effectively.
    The labor code governs working conditions and benefits for all 
formal sectors and provides a broad range of protection to workers; 
however, the Government sometimes did not respect these protections. 
There are various minimum wage rates depending on occupation or 
industry, but they have not been changed since 1994. There is no 
minimum wage applied to the informal sector.
    The labor code stipulates a 40-hour workweek with a minimum rest 
period of 48 consecutive hours. Employers must compensate workers for 
overtime work. According to the labor code and related decrees, the 
daily limit can be extended to perform specified preparatory or 
complementary work, including work necessary to start machines in a 
factory and by supervisors whose presence at the workplace is 
indispensable. The additional hours range from 30 minutes to two hours, 
depending on the type of work.
    The daily limit does not apply to establishments in which work is 
performed on a continuous basis and those providing services that 
cannot be subject to a daily limit, including in retail, transport, 
dock work, hotels and catering, housekeeping, guarding, security, 
medical establishments, domestic work, and the press. The daily limit 
can be extended for urgent work to prevent or repair accidents.
    Overtime compensation varies, as it is determined by collective 
agreements or government regulations.
    Companies in the formal sector generally paid competitive wages and 
granted the fringe benefits required by law, including maternity leave 
and six weeks of annual paid vacation.
    The Ministry of Health established occupational health and safety 
standards but 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, were obliged to work under 
substandard conditions, were dismissed without notice or recourse, and 
were often physically mistreated. Employers frequently paid noncitizens 
less and required them to work longer hours, often hiring them on a 
short-term, casual basis to avoid paying taxes, social security 
contributions, and other benefits.

                               __________

                              GAMBIA, THE

    The Gambia is a multiparty democratic republic with an estimated 
population of 1.7 million. In 2006 President Alhaji Yahya Jammeh was 
reelected for a third five-year term in an election considered 
partially free and fair. President Jammeh's party, the Alliance for 
Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC), continued to dominate 
the National Assembly after its 2007 elections, which were also 
considered partially free and fair. There were instances in which 
elements of the security forces acted independently of civilian 
control.
    Human rights problems included government complicity in the 
abduction of citizens; torture and abuse of detainees and prisoners, 
including political prisoners; poor prison conditions; arbitrary arrest 
and detention of citizens, including incommunicado detention; denial of 
due process and prolonged pretrial detention; restrictions on freedom 
of speech and press; violence against women and girls, including female 
genital mutilation (FGM); forced child marriage; trafficking in 
persons; child prostitution; discrimination against homosexual 
activity; 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings during the year.
    In March 2009 Dodou Janneh, a police volunteer attached to the 
national drug enforcement agency, appealed the 2008 death sentence he 
received for the 2007 killing of Sheriff Minteh during a police raid in 
Serrekunda; the appeal was before the courts at year's end.
    In April 2009 the joint fact-finding team created by the UN and the 
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to investigate the 
2005 deaths of more than 50 Ghanaians and other West African nationals 
in the country submitted a report of its findings. The report stated 
that ``rogue elements'' in the security services were responsible for 
the deaths and disappearance of the Ghanaians and recommended that the 
Government pay compensation to the Government of Ghana for the killings 
and exhume and return the bodies of six Ghanaians found buried in the 
Tanji forest. In October 2009 the six bodies were returned to Ghana, 
according to Ghanaian media reports. While the Government did not 
provide compensation, it paid for exhumation of the bodies and provided 
some funds to families of the victims.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances; however, the Government was complicit in the abduction 
of citizens suspected of witchcraft.
    Between January and June 2009, the BBC and newspaper Foroyaa 
carried a series of reports about so-called ``witchdoctors'' from 
Guinea, who abducted up to 1,000 villagers in the country during the 
same period, held them for several days, and forced them to drink an 
herbal concoction that resulted in illness and two deaths. There were 
unconfirmed reports that some villagers were subsequently forced to 
confess to being witches. According to Amnesty International (AI), the 
Guineans were invited into the country after the death of the 
president's aunt, which was attributed to witchcraft. Officials in the 
police, army, and the president's personal protection guard reportedly 
accompanied the Guineans. The Guineans, who were driven around in 
government vehicles, also conducted ``cleansing rituals'' in several 
government offices in Banjul as well as in several other towns and 
villages. In May 2009 in Brefet, President Jammeh said he had to 
``bring in witchdoctors to identify and eradicate witches,'' who, he 
said, were responsible for underdevelopment in the districts of Foni, 
according to the Government newspaper The Gambia Daily.
    During an address to the National Assembly in April 2009, the 
former attorney general and justice minister denied that journalist 
``Chief'' Ebrima Manneh, who was arrested by security forces in 2006 
and subsequently disappeared, was in state custody. This was the 
Government's first statement regarding the June 2008 ruling by the 
ECOWAS Community Court of Justice that Manneh's detention had been 
illegal and that the Government should release him and pay compensation 
of 2.7 million dalasi ($100,000) to Manneh's family. The ruling 
followed a lawsuit filed in 2007 by the Media Foundation for West 
Africa (MFWA), based in Ghana. In 2007 Manneh was reportedly sighted 
seeking medical treatment under police supervision at a hospital in 
Banjul, but his whereabouts remained unknown at year's end. c. Torture 
and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
    The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, there 
were reports that security forces tortured, beat, and mistreated 
persons in custody.
    On August 5, former inspector general of police Ensa Badjie and 
former commander of the military police unit of the army Lieutenant-
Colonel Mam Matarr Secka, who were on trial for corruption, abuse of 
office, and drug-related offenses, told their lawyer state security 
agents severely tortured them.
    There were no developments in the following 2008 cases of torture 
and abuse by security forces: the March stabbing of Amadou Sanyang by 
members of the police intervention unit; the June torture and beating 
of five residents of Lamin Daranka during their arrest and transfer to 
Yundum Police Station; and the torture of Abdoulie Faye over an 18-day 
period in September by members of the police criminal investigation 
division.
    In April 2009 former National Assembly member Musa Suso, while 
being tried on charges of giving false information to a public officer, 
alleged that while serving an earlier prison sentence (from 2000 to 
2007) he was denied food and was tied and beaten for three days after a 
telephone calling card was discovered in his cell. In December 2009 
Suso was acquitted of some of the charges against him, but he was 
convicted of others and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
    On June 3, former editor in chief of the Independent newspaper, 
Musa Saidykhan, testified before the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice 
in Abuja in his case against the Government of the Gambia for his 
illegal detention and torture in 2006. The case was filed on 
Saidykhan's behalf by the MFWA in 2007. Saidykhan, who lives abroad in 
self-imposed exile, claimed that security forces applied electric 
shocks to his naked body during his 22-day detention; Saidykhan 
subsequently was released without charge. In June 2009 the court's 
three-member panel rejected the Government's claim that plaintiffs 
first had to exhaust legal remedies at the national level before 
appealing to ECOWAS. On December 16, the court ruled that Saidykhan was 
indeed tortured by state security agents while in detention in 2006. 
The three-member panel awarded him damages of 5.4 million dalasi 
($200,000).
    The indemnity act continued to prevent victims from seeking redress 
in torture cases related to official actions taken by military 
personnel during military rule from 1994-96. The army requires victims 
to file formal complaints with the courts regarding alleged torture 
that occurred at other times. However, during the year there were no 
known prosecutions in civil or military courts of security force 
members accused of mistreating individuals.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
poor, and cells were overcrowded, damp, and poorly ventilated. Inmates 
complained of poor sanitation and food. Unlike in previous years, there 
were no reports that guards were reluctant to intervene in fights 
between prisoners. Local prisons were overcrowded, and inmates 
occasionally slept on the floor. Prior to conviction, detainees were 
allowed to receive food from outside, but not after conviction. Medical 
facilities in prisons were poor; inmates who fell ill often were taken 
to the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital in Banjul or nearby health 
centers for examination and treatment. Water supply was adequate but 
lighting in some cells was poor. During the summer months temperatures 
are extremely high and there were no ceiling fans to reduce the heat.
    Unlike during the prior year, no prisoners at the Mile 2 Central 
Prison died during the year as a result of poor food or inadequate 
medical care. In March 2009 Benedict Jammeh, former police inspector 
general and current director at the National Drug Enforcement Agency 
(NDEA), testified at Musa Suso's trial that inmates at Mile 2 Central 
Prison were fed tainted meat that resulted in the deaths of several 
prisoners; a committee of senior police officers subsequently confirmed 
the report. In May 2009 David Colley, the director general of prison 
services, testified in the same trial that 23 inmates in 2006 and 40 in 
2007 died in prison, primarily as a result of chronic anemia, abdominal 
infection, and food poisoning.
    Pretrial detainees occasionally were held with convicted prisoners. 
At year's end, there were more than 800 inmates in the country's 
prisons. Women and men were held in separate wings, as were juveniles 
and adults.
    There were occasional reports of lawyers' and family members being 
denied access to detainees at Mile 2 Central Prison, but generally all 
prisoners had access to visitors. Prisoners were free to observe any 
religion. Prisoners and detainees who had complaints could transmit 
them through their lawyers or relatives, who could take up the 
complaints with judicial authorities.
    Authorities sometimes investigated credible allegations of inhumane 
conditions, as was the case in the reports of prisoners in Mile 2 being 
fed tainted beef in 2006. A Prisons Visiting Committee, which comprises 
several government agencies, is empowered to monitor detention center 
conditions, but it was thought to be inactive during the year.
    The Office of the Ombudsman can investigate all reports brought 
before it, including bail conditions, pretrial detention, and 
confinement of juvenile offenders. However, it is not involved in 
negotiating alternatives for suspects facing the law. The Office of the 
Ombudsman did not publish findings of any investigations it conducted 
during the year.
    The Government permitted limited independent monitoring of prison 
conditions by some local and international human rights groups and 
diplomatic missions; however, neither the media nor the International 
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was granted access to detainees or 
prisoners during the year.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, there were numerous 
instances of police and other security forces arbitrarily arresting and 
detaining citizens.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The armed forces are 
responsible for external defense and report to the minister of defense, 
a position held by the president. The police, under the interior 
minister, are responsible for public security. The National 
Intelligence Agency (NIA) is responsible for protecting state security, 
collecting intelligence, and conducting covert investigations; it 
reports directly to the president. The NIA is not authorized to 
investigate police abuses, but during the year, the NIA often assumed 
police functions such as detaining and questioning criminal suspects. 
Security forces frequently were corrupt and ineffective. On occasion 
security forces acted with impunity and defied court orders.
    The police human rights and complaints unit receives and addresses 
complaints of human rights abuses committed by police officers from 
both civilians and other police officers. During the year, the unit 
received several complaints, and some police officers faced 
disciplinary action as a result.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires that authorities obtain a warrant before arresting a person; 
however, in practice individuals often were arrested without a warrant. 
Periods of detention generally ranged from a few to 72 hours, the legal 
limit after which detainees must be charged or released; however, there 
were numerous instances of detention surpassing the 72-hour limit. 
Detainees generally were not informed promptly of charges against them. 
There was a functioning bail system; however, the courts occasionally 
released accused offenders on bail only to have police or other law 
enforcement personnel rearrest them as they were leaving the court. 
Detainees were not allowed prompt access to a lawyer or family members; 
convicted prisoners were generally permitted to meet privately with 
their attorneys. Indigent persons accused of murder or manslaughter 
were provided a lawyer at public expense.
    Military decrees enacted prior to the adoption of the constitution 
give the NIA and the interior minister broad powers to detain 
individuals indefinitely without charge ``in the interest of national 
security.'' These detention decrees were inconsistent with the 
constitution, but have not been subject to judicial challenge. The 
Government claimed it no longer enforced the decrees; however, there 
were numerous detentions during the year that exceeded the 72-hour 
limit.
    Security forces arbitrarily arrested journalists during the year 
(see section 2.a.).
    Security forces arbitrarily arrested and detained civilians and 
members of the military during the year. For example, on March 5, the 
former minister of fisheries and water resources, retired Major 
Antouman Saho, was arrested and detained at Mile 2 Central Prison for 
several weeks without charge. He was released and rearrested several 
times, spending a total of more than four months in detention without 
charge, well beyond the 72-hour legal limit. He was finally pardoned by 
the president and released without charge in July.
    On July 15, eight men accused of plotting to overthrow the 
Government were convicted of treason and conspiracy and sentenced to 
death. The eight men are former chief of defense staff (CDS) of the 
Gambia Armed Forces (GAF) Lieutenant General Lang Tombong Tamba; former 
director of operations and training of the GAF Brigadier General Omar 
Bun Mbye; the commander of the army unit in the president's home 
village, Lieutenant Colonel Kawsu Camara; the head of military 
intelligence in the GAF, Major Momodou Lamin Bo Badjie; former deputy 
inspector general of police Momodou Gaye; former diplomat Ngorr Secka; 
real estate dealer Abdoulie Joof; and businessman Yusuf Ezziden. The 
men were arrested in November 2009 but were not charged until March 
2010--well beyond the 72-hour legal limit. They were accused of 
plotting to overthrow the Government, procuring weapons, and recruiting 
and training mercenaries in Guinea-Bissau to help them stage a coup. 
They vehemently denied all the charges and filed an appeal, which was 
before the Court of Appeal at year's end.
    On June 18, former CDS General Tamba and former chief of naval 
staff Rear Admiral Sarjo Fofana were charged with concealment of 
treason in relation to the foiled coup plot in 2006 masterminded by 
former CDS Colonel Ndure Cham. Tamba, who was deputy CDS at the time, 
was credited with foiling the plot when he telephoned President Jammeh 
in Mauritania to inform him of the plan and mobilized loyal forces to 
arrest officers said to be involved.
    In December 2009 NIA director Ousman Sowe was dismissed, arrested, 
and held incommunicado for several days. There were reports that he was 
accused of ``delaying a document of national security interest.'' Sowe 
was being held without access to his family or lawyers at year's end.
    On May 13, Bakary Gassama, former financial director of the NIA, 
was released after more than a year in detention on charges of abuse of 
office. He was later appointed as Financial Director at the National 
Drug Enforcement Agency (NDEA).
    In June 2009 information surfaced on the lengthy incommunicado 
detention of four citizens. Kemo Conteh, army Staff Sergeant Sam 
Kambai, NIA officer Kebba Seckan, and Samsudeen Jammeh were brought 
before a magistrate in Brikama, along with 12 Senegalese nationals from 
the southern Casamance region; the four citizens had been held for two 
to three years incommunicado on terrorism charges in an unknown 
location. Their trial, which began on August 27, continued at year's 
end.
    Two of the detainees held after the disclosure of the 2006 abortive 
coup plot--Alieu Lowe, nephew of the fugitive coup leader, and Abdoulie 
Njie--were still being held at Mile 2 Central Prison without charge, 
but their families were allowed access to them during the year. The 
trial of a third detainee, Hamadi Sowe, who was charged with 
concealment of treason, continued at year's end.
    Backlogs and inefficiency in the justice system resulted in lengthy 
pretrial detention. Approximately 40 inmates in the prison system were 
in pretrial detention, and some had been incarcerated for several years 
awaiting trial. Several long-term detainees were released without 
charge or pardoned during the year.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary; however, the courts, particularly at the 
lower levels, were corrupt and subject to executive pressure. AI noted 
that the presidential power to remove a judge, nominally in 
consultation with the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), impeded 
judicial independence. During the year the president removed two high 
court judges without consulting the JSC.
    Judges presiding over ``sensitive'' cases who made decisions not 
considered favorable to the Government risked being fired. For example, 
on June 8, the president dismissed Chief Justice Abdoukarim Savage 
without explanation. In June 2009 the president also terminated the 
appointment of Justice Haddy Roche, regarded as an independent thinker 
in legal circles; Roche had been dismissed from the bench twice 
previously. Several judges were dismissed under similar circumstances 
in 2008.
    Government and security forces often disregarded court orders to 
release suspects and rearrested them to provide the prosecution more 
time to prepare its case.
    Islamic, or Cadi, courts have jurisdiction over Islamic matters of 
marriage, divorce, and inheritance when Muslim parties are involved. 
District chiefs preside over local tribunals that administer customary 
law at the district level. Cadi courts and district tribunals do not 
offer standard legal representation to the parties involved, since 
lawyers are not trained in Islamic or customary law. Military tribunals 
cannot try civilians.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution and law provide for a fair and 
public trial, and the judiciary generally enforced this right, although 
frequent delays and missing or unavailable witnesses, judges, and 
lawyers often impeded the process. Many cases also were delayed because 
of adjournments designed to allow the police or NIA time to continue 
their investigations.
    Defendants are presumed innocent. Both civilian trials and courts-
martial are held in public, but occasionally closed-court sessions are 
held to protect the identity of a witness. No juries are used in the 
civilian courts, but court-martial proceedings are presided over by a 
judge advocate assisted by a panel of senior military officers. 
Defendants can consult with an attorney and have the right to confront 
witnesses and evidence against them, present witnesses and evidence on 
their own behalf, and appeal judgment to a higher court. Indigent 
defendants charged with murder or manslaughter have the right to 
attorneys provided at public expense. The law extends the above rights 
to all citizens, and no groups were denied these rights during the 
year; however, detainees were rarely informed of their rights or the 
reasons for their arrest or detention, according to AI.
    The judicial system suffered from inefficiency at all levels. Cases 
continued to be delayed because the court system was overburdened. To 
alleviate the backlog, the Government continued to recruit judges and 
magistrates from other commonwealth countries that have similar legal 
systems. The attorney general oversees the hiring of foreign judges on 
contract. The Government reserves the right not to renew a judge's 
contract.
    The judicial system recognizes customary, Sharia (Islamic), 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. Customary law recognizes the rights 
of all citizens regardless of age, gender, and religion. It does not 
call for discrimination, but women are expected to show respect for 
their husbands and children for their parents.
    Sharia was employed primarily in Muslim marriage and divorce 
matters; it favored men in its provisions. General Law, following the 
British model, applied to felonies and misdemeanors and to the formal 
business sector.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--During the year there were 
credible reports that the Government held civilians based on their 
political views or associations, and some were held incommunicado for 
prolonged periods. There were about 20 political prisoners in detention 
at year's end.
    For example, United Democratic Party (UDP) supporter Kanyiba Kanyi, 
who was arrested by men believed to be state security agents and held 
without charge shortly before the 2006 presidential elections, remained 
in prison at year's end. The Government has not permitted access to 
Kanyi by international humanitarian organizations or his lawyer. In 
2008 Kanyi's lawyer, who maintained Kanyi was being held by the NIA, 
filed an application to force the state to comply with the 2006 high 
court rulings to free him. In July 2009 the judge presiding over the 
case returned the case file to the Office of the Chief Justice in an 
apparent attempt to recuse himself from the trial; the judge provided 
no explanation for the return of the case file. Kanyi reportedly was 
sighted by a relative in March 2008 at the Royal Victoria Hospital, 
where he was being escorted by wardens from Mile 2 Central Prison.
    The whereabouts of Chief Ebrima Manneh, who also was arrested 
without charge in 2006, remained unknown at year's end. The Government 
denied Manneh was in its custody (see section 1.b.).

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The high court has 
jurisdiction to hear cases for civil and human rights violations, 
although it may decline to exercise its powers if it is satisfied that 
adequate means of redress are available under other laws. The Indemnity 
Act continued to prevent victims from seeking redress in some cases.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions, but 
the Government did not always respect these prohibitions in practice. 
The Government did generally enforce Decree 45, which applies 
constitutional safeguards against arbitrary searches and the seizure of 
property without due process.
    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 and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government limited 
these rights by intimidation, detention, and restrictive legislation. 
In a July 2009 television interview, President Jammeh warned that 
journalists who tarnished the country's image would be ``severely dealt 
with.'' Although the independent press practiced self-censorship, 
opposition views regularly appeared in the independent press, and there 
was frequent criticism of the Government in the private media.
    The Government published one newspaper, The Gambia Info. The 
privately owned Daily Observer favored the Government in its coverage. 
There were seven other independent newspapers, including one published 
by an opposition political party that remained highly critical of the 
Government. There was one independent biweekly magazine.
    One government-owned and nine private radio stations broadcast 
throughout the country. During most of the year, the Government-owned 
Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS) gave limited coverage to 
opposition activities. GRTS television rebroadcast CNN, while local 
radio stations rebroadcast the BBC, Radio France Internationale, Voice 
of America, and other foreign news sources, all of which were also 
available via shortwave radio. GRTS television, foreign cable, and 
satellite television channels broadcasting independent news coverage 
were available in many parts of the country, and the Government allowed 
unrestricted access to such networks.
    The deterioration of the country's media environment continued 
during the year. The Government harassed journalists who wrote articles 
it considered inaccurate and investigated cases it considered 
sensitive. Several journalists reportedly went into hiding from fear of 
government retaliation.
    Security forces arbitrarily arrested and detained numerous 
journalists during the year. For example, on August 9, The Point 
newspaper deputy editor in chief Abba Gibba and reporter Sainey Marenah 
were summoned by a high court judge presiding over the trial of former 
inspector general of police Ensa Badjie following publication in The 
Point of a report headlined ``My Client Was Tortured to Obtain 
Statement.'' The article quoted defense lawyer Borry Touray as saying 
in court that his client had told him he was tortured severely by his 
interrogators before they took his ``voluntary'' statement. Justice 
Emmanuel Amadi questioned the journalists over the source of the 
article, saying no such statement was made in court. However, Touray 
immediately came to their defense, saying he indeed made the statement 
in court. They were released immediately.
    In February 2009 Pap Saine, coproprietor and managing editor of The 
Point, was arrested and subsequently charged with publishing false 
information; Saine reported on the transfer of diplomat Lamin Sabi 
Sanyang from NIA headquarters to Mile 2 Central Prison and on the 
appointment of former minister Neneh Macdouall-Gaye to an 
ambassadorship. The high court withdrew the charge in July.
    In March 2009 police arrested Halifa Sallah, a former presidential 
candidate and the publisher of the newspaper Foroyaa, for allegedly 
trying to incite citizens to challenge ``a lawful order of the 
president to screen witches''; Sallah had criticized the Government-
backed abduction of alleged witches during the year (see section 1.b.). 
In March 2009 the director of public prosecution announced that all 
charges were dropped ``in the interest of peace and justice.''
    In June 2009 seven journalists were arrested for their role in the 
publication of a statement by the Gambia Press Union (GPU) responding 
to remarks by President Jammeh on the 2004 killing of newspaper 
publisher Deyda Hydara; the GPU characterized the president's remarks 
as un-Islamic, inappropriate, and provocative. They added that such 
statements would not exonerate the Government from involvement in the 
killing. In June 2009 the court charged the journalists with three 
counts of sedition and seditious publication. In July 2009 the court 
discharged one of the journalists for lack of evidence. On August 5, 
the remaining six journalists were convicted on all six counts and 
sentenced to two years in prison plus a fine of one million dalasi 
($35,714); failure to pay the fine would result in an additional two 
years' imprisonment. On September 3, the six journalists were released 
following a pardon by President Jammeh, who said the gesture was in 
honor of the Muslim month of Ramadan.
    In June 2009 reporter Augustine Kanjia of The Point was arrested at 
Kanifing court for allegedly taking pictures of the six journalists 
charged with sedition and defamation. He was released on bail after 
spending two days in detention and thereafter left the country.
    In August 2009 authorities arrested Abdoulie John, the deputy 
editor in chief and French language columnist of the progovernment 
Daily Observer, on charges of refusing to recognize the appointment of 
a new managing director of the paper. John was cautioned and released 
without charge on the same day.
    The trial of Today proprietor and editor Abdul Hamid Adiamoh, 
arrested in 2008 following the publication of a story about 
schoolchildren who skipped classes to salvage scrap metal, continued at 
year's end; he was charged with publication with seditious intent.
    Political activist Fatou Jaw Manneh, a foreign-based Gambian 
journalist who was convicted in 2008 of sedition, departed the country 
after her family paid the 250,000 dalasi ($9,260) fine.
    Foreign missionaries David and Rachel Fulton, who in 2008 pled 
guilty in a magistrate court in Banjul to advocating the violent 
overthrow of the Government, were released from prison during the 
course of the year after serving a year's sentence in Mile 2 Central 
Prison. They also paid a fine of 250,000 dalasi ($9,260) each. Both 
returned to the United Kingdom. The Fultons were arrested in 2008 for 
publishing ``negative articles'' and sending ``negative letters'' about 
the country and its government to individuals and organizations.
    In some cases journalists from certain independent newspapers were 
denied access to state-sponsored events and press conferences due to 
official disapproval of their editorial stances.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could generally engage in 
the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
However, Internet users reported they could not access the Web sites of 
two U.S.-based online newspapers, Freedom and The Gambia Echo, which 
were critical of the Government and most of its actions. Although many 
citizens were illiterate and most did not have computers or Internet 
connections at home, Internet cafes were popular in urban areas. 
According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2008, 
approximately 6.8 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
and law provide for freedom of assembly and association, and the 
Government generally respected these rights in practice. However, 
police sometimes refused to issue permits to opposition parties wishing 
to hold political rallies.
    The opposition UDP reported that police did not issue permits for a 
July 2009 meeting in Serrekunda or an August 2009 meeting in Bakau; the 
August meeting, however, proceeded without police permission.
    For example, on April 1, leading opposition activist Femi Peters 
was sentenced to one year in prison and fined 10,000 dalasi ($360) for 
organizing a political rally and using a loudspeaker without a police 
permit as required under the Public Order Act. Peters, who was the 
campaign manager of the UDP, was arrested in October 2009 after the UDP 
held a rally in Serrekunda without prior police authorization. The 
opposition said the police were using the issue of a permit to stifle 
their legitimate right to hold meetings. Peters appealed his 
conviction; it was dismissed by the court of appeal on August 5.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a discussion of religious freedom, see 
the Department of State's 2010 International Religious Freedom Report 
at http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2010/index.htm.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, but allow for ``reasonable restrictions.'' Restrictions 
were imposed on foreign travel for many persons released from 
detention, often because their travel documents were temporarily 
confiscated at the time of their arrest or soon afterwards. As a rule, 
all government employees were required to obtain permission from the 
office of the president before traveling abroad.
    The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
to assist internally displaced persons, refugees, asylum seekers, 
stateless persons, and other persons of concern. The UNHCR coordinated 
government efforts with the International Organization for Migration, 
the Gambia Red Cross Society, and other agencies to provide this 
protection and assistance.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.

    Protection of Refugees.--Neither the constitution nor the law 
provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status, but the 
Government has established a system for providing such protection to 
refugees and granted refugee status during the year. In practice the 
Government provided protection against the expulsion or return of 
refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened.
    In 2008, consistent with international agreements, the UNHCR 
terminated the refugee status of Sierra Leoneans who fled during that 
country's civil war. During the year, the Government and UNHCR provided 
local integration opportunities to the remaining 130 Sierra Leoneans in 
the country. In 2009 the Government also facilitated the voluntary 
repatriation of 27 Liberian refugees, and another 15 refugees in 2010, 
leaving an estimated 585 others in the country at year's end.
    UNHCR reported 9,100 refugees in the country, of whom approximately 
8,300 are Senegalese who fled the Casamance conflict in Senegal. UNHCR 
provided assistance with basic needs and services and implemented 
livelihood programs. The country also hosted smaller numbers of 
refugees from Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Togo, and the Democratic Republic 
of Congo.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens the right to change their 
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice 
through periodic elections held on the basis of universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In 2006 Alhaji Yahya Jammeh 
was reelected to a third term as president, winning approximately 67 
percent of the vote. The main opposition political party, the UDP, 
challenged the election results; however, the courts upheld the 
results. In the 2007 National Assembly elections, the ruling APRC won 
42 of the 48 elected seats, and President Jammeh appointed five 
nominated members, including the speaker. The presidential and National 
Assembly elections were declared partially free and fair; 
irregularities included underage voting, voting by noncitizens, and 
biased media coverage.
    Individuals representing political parties or running as 
independents could freely declare their candidacy, if their nominations 
were approved according to the rules of the independent electoral 
commission.
    Political parties generally operated without restriction; however, 
police sometimes refused to issue permits for opposition parties to 
hold public meetings (see section 2.b.).
    There were four women in the 53-seat National Assembly; two were 
elected and two were nominated by the president. At year's end, there 
were three women in the 16-member cabinet, including the vice 
president.
    No statistics were available on the percentage of minorities 
included in the legislature or the cabinet. However, President Jammeh 
and many members of his administration are from the previously 
marginalized minority Jola ethnic group.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively. The 
World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators reflected that corruption 
was a serious problem.
    The president spoke against corruption on numerous occasions during 
the year, and on July 22 formally enunciated a policy of ``zero 
tolerance for drugs and corruption.'' The financial intelligence unit, 
which was established in 2009, is responsible for combating corruption.
    During the year the Government prosecuted several senior police, 
military, and civilian officials for corruption. For example, on March 
2, former inspector general of police Ensa Badjie, former commander of 
the military police unit of the army Lieutenant-Colonel Mam Matarr 
Secka, and Major Kuluteh Manneh were dismissed from their positions; 
they had been detained on numerous criminal charges including 
corruption, abuse of office, involvement in drug related crimes and 
armed robbery. Their trial continued at year's end.
    On March 5, another group of four senior officers from the NDEA, 
including Director General Ebrahim Bun Sanneh; his deputy, Karamo 
Bojang; and former director of operations Ousman Sanneh, were dismissed 
and charged with drug-related offenses, corruption, and abuse of 
office. Their trial continued at year's end.
    In November 2009 Lieutenant Colonel Gibril Bojang, former commander 
of the presidential guard, was convicted on charges of theft and 
sentenced to two years' imprisonment and a fine of 1,110,086 dalasis 
($41,100). Bojang, who pled as charged, said the money was not used for 
personal gain but for the welfare of his unit.
    In November 2009 six judiciary officials, including judicial 
secretary Haruna Jaiteh and high court judges Nguie Mboob-Janneh, Amie 
Saho-Ceesay, and Saffie Njie, were suspended without pay due to 
allegations of embezzlement of court fines, forfeitures, and auctions. 
The officials, who also included junior clerks Pa Modou Njie and 
Momodou L. Sonko, were charged with embezzlement totaling 4,232,000 
dalasis ($157,000). The trial continued at year's end.
    Public officials were subject to financial disclosure laws.
    The constitution and law do not provide for public access to 
government information. Under the official secrets act, civil servants 
are not allowed to divulge information about their departments or to 
speak to the press without prior clearance from their department heads.
Section 5. 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. Some members 
of domestic human rights groups reportedly practiced self-censorship in 
matters related to the Government. Several groups expressed concern 
over detainees held incommunicado, but the Government did not respond.
    The Government allowed visits during the year by the UN and other 
international governmental organizations, such as ECOWAS and the 
Commonwealth Secretariat; however, the Government offered no response 
to reports issued after the visits. The Government denied prison access 
to the ICRC during the year.
    The Office of the Ombudsman operated a national human rights unit 
(NHRU) to promote and protect human rights and to support vulnerable 
groups. The office was established by the Government and receives 
government funding. During the year the unit received complaints 
regarding unlawful dismissals, termination of employment, unfair 
treatment, and illegal arrest and detention.
    On October 3, two prominent gender activists and anti-FGM 
campaigners were arrested and charged with stealing 30,000 euros 
($40,200) granted by the Spanish nongovernmental organization (NGO) 
Yolocamba Solidaridad. Dr. Isatou Touray, Executive Director of the NGO 
Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Lives and 
Circumstances of Women and Children (GAMCOTRAP), and the agency's 
Program Coordinator, Mrs. Amie Bojang Sissoho, were denied bail and 
spent eight days in prison custody before their trial could proceed. 
The charges of theft were reportedly based on the findings of an 
investigation panel that looked into GAMCOTRAP's management of the 
Yolocamba grant. A previous panel set up by the Office of the President 
in May concluded that the allegations of mismanagement were unfounded. 
A number of women circumcisers who worked with GAMCOTRAP in its 
campaign to end FGM were brought in by the authorities to testify. The 
case was still before the courts at year's end.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, religion, 
gender, disability, language, or social status, and the Government 
generally enforced these prohibitions.

    Women.--The law prohibits rape, but the problem remained despite 
the stiff penalties imposed by the Government. The penalty for rape of 
an adult is life in prison, and the maximum penalty for attempted rape 
is seven years' imprisonment.
    No statistics are available on the number of rape cases but all 
incidents reported to the police were diligently prosecuted and in the 
majority of cases the culprits were convicted. About 10 rape cases were 
brought to the courts during the year. The law against spousal rape was 
difficult to enforce effectively, as many did not consider spousal rape 
a crime and failed to report it.
    Domestic violence, including spousal abuse, was a widespread 
problem; however, it was underreported due to the stigma surrounding 
such violence. There was no law prohibiting domestic violence; however, 
cases of domestic violence could be prosecuted under laws prohibiting 
rape, spousal rape, and assault. There have been no prosecutions 
because cases of domestic violence are often settled through counseling 
and dialogue with family elders. There are no shelters or hotlines for 
victims. One of the leading women's rights NGOs in the country, 
GAMCOTRAP, has included gender-based violence in its training modules 
for combating FGM. Police generally considered reports of spousal rape 
to be domestic issues outside of their jurisdiction.
    Prostitution is illegal; however, it was a major problem, 
particularly in tourist areas. Women were forcibly trafficked for 
commercial sexual exploitation. The tourism offenses act prohibits sex 
tourism, which reportedly increased significantly during the year.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment and provides for a one-year 
mandatory prison sentence for offenders; however, sexual harassment 
remained a problem, although no cases were reported during the year.
    The Government did not interfere with the basic right of couples 
and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, 
and timing of their children, and to have the information and means to 
do so free from discrimination, coercion, and violence. Couples and 
individuals had access to contraception and skilled attendance during 
childbirth, including essential obstetric and postpartum care. Women 
were equally diagnosed and treated for sexually transmitted infections, 
including HIV. The maternal mortality rate in 2008 was 281 per 100,000 
live births.
    During the year the national reproductive and child health unit of 
the department of health and social welfare continued to implement a 
reproductive health campaign launched in 2007. The campaign, which was 
funded by the World Health Organization, was designed to encourage men 
to become involved with sexual and reproductive health issues. All 
maternal health care services were provided free of charge in 
government-run hospitals.
    Traditional views of women's roles resulted in limited societal 
discrimination in education; however, 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, access to credit, 
or owning and managing a business; however, limited societal 
discrimination still lingers, and women generally were employed in such 
pursuits as food vending or subsistence farming. Women's ability to own 
land was hampered by their low earning power rather than any 
traditional or cultural practices that prohibit such ownership. Women 
who own land have the same opportunities to access loans or credit as 
long as they are willing to offer such property as collateral.
    Sharia is applied in marriage, divorce, and inheritance cases for 
Muslims, who make up more than 90 percent of the population. Women 
normally received a lower proportion of assets distributed through 
inheritance than males. The churches concerned and the office of the 
attorney general settled Christian and civil marriage and divorce 
issues.
    Marriages often were arranged and, depending on the ethnic group, 
polygyny was practiced. Women in polygynous unions had problems with 
property and other rights arising from the marriage. They also had the 
option to divorce, but no legal right to disapprove or be notified in 
advance of subsequent marriages by their husbands. The women's bureau 
under the Office of the Vice President oversees programs to ensure the 
legal rights of women. Active women's rights groups existed.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived by birth within the country's 
territory and from one's parents; however, not all births were 
registered. To access health care and treatment at public health 
centers, children were required to have a clinic card, which was 
available without birth registration. Birth certificates are often 
required at enrollment in schools, but they could easily be obtained.
    The constitution and law mandate free, compulsory primary education 
from ages six to 12, but the inadequate infrastructure prevented 
effective compulsory education, and children paid fees to attend 
school. During the year the Government estimated that 75 percent of 
children were enrolled in primary schools. Another 15 percent were 
enrolled in Islamic schools, called madrassas. Girls constituted 
approximately 51 percent of primary school students and an estimated 
one-third of high school students. The enrollment of girls was low in 
rural areas, where poverty and cultural factors often led parents to 
decide against sending their daughters to school. As part of the 
Government's ongoing initiative to increase the numbers of girls in 
school, the Government continued a countrywide program to pay basic 
school fees for all girls; however, in many regions, both girls and 
boys were still required to pay for books, lunch, school fund 
contributions, and exam fees.
    The penalty for raping a minor, as with adults, is life 
imprisonment. However, because of the difficulty of proving rape of 
minors, particularly very young children, the charge is mostly 
defilement or having carnal knowledge, both of which carry a prison 
sentence of 14 years. There were two convictions for rape of a minor 
during the year: Nfamara Saidykhan and Omar Kittan were both sentenced 
to life imprisonment. There were several other convictions for 
defilement or having carnal knowledge of a minor: Samba Baldeh, 
sentenced to 25 years; Abdoulie Bahoum, sentenced to 14 years and 
ordered to pay compensation of one million dalasi ($35,714) to the 
victim; Musa Ceesay, sentenced to 14 years and ordered to pay 100,000 
dalasi ($3,571) compensation; and Davidson Jones and Landing Mboob, 
both sentenced to 14 years. In Mboob's case, his accomplice, Mansour 
Manneh, was also sent to prison for 14 years for aiding and abetting a 
rapist. In August 2009 Musa Sarr was sentenced to life imprisonment for 
raping a girl.
    Authorities generally enforced laws when cases of child abuse or 
mistreatment were brought to their attention. Carnal knowledge of a 
girl under the age of 16 is a felony except in the case of marriage, 
which can be as early as 12 years of age. Incest also is illegal. 
Serious cases of abuse and violence against children were subject to 
criminal penalties.
    In March 2009 Anthony Michael Dobson, a 61-year-old New Zealand 
national, was convicted of child pornography and sentenced to one year 
in prison. Dobson was arrested in 2008 and charged with child 
pornography and defilement of a girl under the age of 16; he was 
acquitted of the defilement charge. His Gambian accomplice, who was 
standing trial for procurement, was also acquitted.
    Peter Paul Hornberger, a German national who was arrested in 2008 
for ``indecent assault'' on an 11-year-old boy, remained in prison 
awaiting sentencing at year's end.
    The law does not prohibit female genital mutilation (FGM), and the 
practice remained widespread. A survey by the United Nations Children's 
Fund conducted in 2005/06 found that approximately 78 percent of girls 
and women have undergone FGM, and seven of the nine major ethnic groups 
reportedly practiced it at ages varying from shortly after birth until 
age 16. FGM was less frequent among educated and urban groups. Some 
religious leaders publicly defended the practice. There were reports of 
health complications, including deaths, associated with FGM; however, 
no accurate statistics were available. Several NGOs conducted public 
education programs to discourage the practice and spoke out against FGM 
in the media.
    In 2009 more than 30 National Assembly members attended a seminar 
organized by GAMCOTRAP on the harmful effects of FGM. GAMCOTRAP was 
campaigning for a law banning FGM.
    In May 2009 Vice President Isatou Njie-Saidy chaired an 
international conference calling for an end to FGM.
    There are no laws against forced marriage, and in many villages, 
especially Bajakunda, young girls were forced to marry at a young age.
    Children in prostitution worked in some brothels, often to support 
their families or because they were orphans. The tourist industry 
stimulated a high level of child prostitution without third party 
involvement. Children were also trafficked for forced commercial sexual 
exploitation. Some NGOs also believed that tourists living in remote 
guesthouses and motels were involved in the sexual exploitation of 
children. Security forces in the tourism development area were 
instructed to turn away all minors who approached the main resort areas 
without an acceptable reason, although they seldom turned away such 
children.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international child abduction, please see the Department of State's 
annual Report on Compliance with the Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was no known Jewish community, and there were 
no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution protects persons with 
disabilities--specifically stating ``disabled or handicapped'' 
persons--against exploitation and discrimination, in particular as 
regards access to health services, education, and employment. The law 
also provides that in any judicial proceedings in which a disabled 
person is a party, the procedure shall take into account his or her 
condition. The Department of Social Welfare is responsible for ensuring 
that persons with disabilities are not denied these rights. There were 
no reports of persons with disabilities being involved in any judicial 
proceedings. The department also worked with international donors to 
supply wheelchairs to some persons with disabilities. However, there 
was some societal discrimination. 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 were physically 
capable. There were no laws to ensure access to buildings for persons 
with disabilities, and very few buildings in the country were 
accessible to them. The Department of Social Welfare worked with the 
Gambia Organization for the Visually Impaired and the School for the 
Deaf and Blind to help educate handicapped children and to promote 
relevant skills. There are no laws or specific programs to ensure that 
persons with disabilities have access to information and 
communications.
    On June 18, police arrested an unknown number of beggars and 
mentally disabled persons loitering the streets of Banjul. They were 
loaded onto a police truck and driven away. The Government issued no 
statement; the action is assumed to be a continuation of the 
Government's efforts to end street begging, which it views as a public 
nuisance. Leaders of the Gambia Federation of the Disabled urged 
authorities to review their policy regarding persons with disabilities. 
They were instrumental in obtaining the release of several detained 
beggars with disabilities.
    The media continued to report on the rights of persons with 
disabilities, and several NGOs sought to improve awareness of these 
rights, including by encouraging the participation of persons with 
disabilities in sports and physical activities. The NHRU specifically 
sought to promote the rights of women with disabilities. Persons with 
disabilities were given priority access to polling booths on election 
days.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law establishes prison 
terms ranging from five to 14 years for any male that commits in public 
or private any act of gross indecency, procures another male, or has 
actual sexual contact with another male; however, to date, no one has 
been prosecuted. There is no similar law targeting women. Many citizens 
shunned lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals.
    In a March 2009 speech before the National Assembly, President 
Jammeh called homosexual conduct ``strange behavior that even God will 
not tolerate.'' The president previously described homosexual conduct 
as a criminal practice and told police to arrest persons practicing 
homosexual activity and to close motels and hotels that accommodated 
them. In 2008 the president ordered all LGBT persons to leave the 
country within 24 hours and threatened to cut off their heads. Despite 
this statement, there were no reported incidents of physical violence 
against LGBT individuals. There were no LGBT organizations in the 
country.
    There is strong societal discrimination against LGBT individuals, 
but officially there are no laws that deny such individuals access to 
citizenship, employment, housing, education, or healthcare.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Societal discrimination 
against persons infected with HIV/AIDS hindered disclosure and resulted 
in rejection by partners and relatives. The Government took a 
multisectoral approach to fighting HIV/AIDS through its national 
strategic plan, which provided for care, treatment, and support to 
persons living with or affected by HIV/AIDS. The plan also protected 
the rights of those at risk of infection. In 2007 the national AIDS 
secretariat collaborated with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry to 
develop a business coalition response to HIV/AIDS, using workplace 
policies to destigmatize it and allow workers to feel comfortable 
seeking information. Public discourse about HIV/AIDS continued during 
the year as President Jammeh continued his controversial herbal 
treatment program for the disease. Throughout the year the Ministry of 
Health urged persons to undergo voluntary HIV/AIDS counseling and 
testing.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides that workers are 
free to form associations, including trade unions, without previous 
authorization or excessive requirements, and workers exercised this 
right in practice. Military personnel, police officers, and other civil 
service employees are prohibited from forming unions. Unions must 
register to be recognized, but there were no cases in which 
registration was denied to a union that applied. Approximately 20 
percent of the work force was employed in the formal wage sector, where 
unions were most active.
    The law allows the right to strike; however, the Government 
interfered with unions' right to strike. The Government places 
restrictions on the right by requiring unions to give the commissioner 
of labor written notice 14 days before beginning an industrial action 
(28 days for essential services). The law specifically prohibits 
military personnel, police officers, and other civil service employees 
from striking. Police and military personnel had access to a complaints 
unit, and civil servants could take their complaints to the public 
service commission or the personnel management office.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law permits 
unions to conduct their activities without interference. Unions were 
able to negotiate without government interference; however, in practice 
they lacked experience, organization, and professionalism and often 
turned to the Government for assistance in negotiations. The law allows 
workers to organize and bargain collectively, and although trade unions 
were small and fragmented, collective bargaining took place. Union 
members' wages, which generally exceeded legal minimums, were 
determined by collective bargaining, arbitration, or agreements reached 
between unions and management. Most collective agreements are 
registered with the Department of Labor and remain valid for a period 
of three years before being renewed. The law also sets minimum contract 
standards for hiring, training, and terms of employment and provides 
that contracts may not prohibit union membership.
    An employer may apply to a court for an injunction to prohibit 
industrial action that is deemed 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. 
The law prohibits retribution against strikers who comply with the law 
regulating strikes.
    Employers may not fire or discriminate against members of 
registered unions for engaging in legal union activities, and the 
Government intervened to assist workers whose employers fired them or 
discriminated against them.
    There is a government-established export processing zone (EPZ) at 
the port of Banjul and the adjacent bonded warehouses. There are no 
special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in the EPZ.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The constitution and 
law prohibit forced or compulsory labor, including by children; 
however, there were reports that forced labor occurred (see section 6). 
See also the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report 
at http://www.state.gov/g/tip

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Child labor was a problem, although the constitution prohibits economic 
exploitation of children under 16 years of age, and the law prohibits 
exploitative labor or hazardous employment of children under the age of 
18. The Children's Act also sets the minimum age for light work at 16 
years and for apprenticeship in the informal sector at 12 years. Most 
children completed their formal education by the age of 14 and then 
began work. Child labor protection does not extend to the performance 
of customary chores on family farms or petty trading. Child labor in 
informal sectors is difficult to regulate, and laws implicitly apply 
only to the formal sector. Rising school fees prohibited many families 
from sending their children to school, resulting in an increase in 
child labor. In urban areas some children worked as street vendors, or 
taxi and bus assistants. There were a few instances of children begging 
on the street. Other sectors where children between the ages of 14 and 
17 were known to work include carpentry, masonry, plumbing, tailoring, 
and auto repair. Children in rural areas worked on family farms. Unlike 
in previous years, there were almost no reports of Koranic students, 
known as ``almudus,'' being forced to beg in the streets; teachers who 
demanded this type of behavior were usually summoned by police and 
ordered to stop. Children between these ages were also involved in 
street vending and served as housemaids.
    The Department of Labor is responsible for enforcing child labor 
laws and conventions on the worst forms of child labor. 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 law incorporates 
International Labor Organization provisions outlawing child 
prostitution and pornography. There were no specific actions by the 
Government to prevent or combat child labor during the year.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The lowest national minimum wage 
according to law was 19.55 dalasi ($0.72) per day for unskilled labor, 
but in practice the minimum wage was 50 dalasi ($1.85) per day. The 
national minimum wage did not provide a decent standard of living for a 
worker and family. The minimum wage law covered only 20 percent of the 
labor force, essentially those in the formal economic sector, although 
most such laborers were paid above the minimum wage. Minimum wage laws 
also covered foreign and migrant workers. 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 Department of Labor is 
responsible for enforcing the minimum wage, and it did so when cases of 
underpayment were brought to its attention.
    The basic legal workweek is 48 hours within a period not to exceed 
six consecutive days. Nationwide, the workweek included four eight-hour 
workdays and two four-hour workdays (Friday and Saturday). There are no 
limits on hours worked per week and no prohibition of excessive 
compulsory overtime. A 30-minute lunch break is mandated. Government 
employees are entitled to one month of paid annual leave after one year 
of service. Most government employees were not paid overtime. However, 
government workers holding temporary positions and private sector 
workers received overtime pay calculated per hour. Private sector 
employees received between 14 and 30 days of paid annual leave, 
depending on length of service. There was no exception for foreign or 
migrant workers.
    The law specifies the safety equipment that an employer must 
provide to employees working in designated occupations. The law also 
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 authorities did not 
effectively enforce this right.
    The law protects foreign workers employed by the Government; 
however, it only provides protection for privately employed foreigners 
if they have a currently valid work permit. On April 3, the National 
Assembly passed an amendment to the payroll tax act which requires that 
employers not hire noncitizens in excess of 20 percent of their 
workforce except in the specialized professional category. The move was 
designed to encourage employers to train and employ more local 
citizens.

                               __________

                                 GHANA

    Ghana, with a population of 24 million, is a constitutional 
democracy with a strong presidency and a unicameral 230-seat 
parliament. In 2008 the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) 
won both the presidency and a small majority in parliament in an 
election deemed generally free and fair by domestic and international 
observers; John Evans Atta Mills was inaugurated president in January 
2009. There were instances in which elements of the security forces 
acted independently of government authorities.
    Human rights problems included the following: use of excessive 
force by police, which resulted in deaths and injuries; ethnic killings 
and vigilante violence; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; 
police impunity; prolonged pretrial detention; arbitrary arrest of 
journalists; corruption in all branches of government; violence against 
women and children, including female genital mutilation (FGM); societal 
discrimination against women, persons with disabilities, gays and 
lesbians, and persons with HIV/AIDS; trafficking in women and children; 
ethnic discrimination and politically motivated violence; and child 
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 no 
reports that the Government or its agents committed politically 
motivated killings; however, use of excessive force by security forces 
resulted in the deaths of several armed criminal suspects and other 
persons during the year.
    On April 28, an inmate in Koforidua Prison, Eastern Region, died en 
route to the hospital. According to the Criminal Records Office at the 
Ghana Prisons Service, the inmate died of illness; however, one local 
newspaper charged that the prisoner died from injuries inflicted during 
torture. No postmortem exam was conducted because the Ghana Police 
Service (GPS) denied requests by hospital staff to conduct one, 
alleging that the staff had not followed proper procedures to request a 
postmortem.
    Ethnic violence resulted in deaths. For example, on January 23, 
three persons were killed in clashes between Fulani herdsmen and 
residents in Aboboa, a farming community in the Atebubu Amantin 
district of Brong-Ahafo Region. Authorities arrested six suspects in 
the neighboring village of Duabone. The suspects remained in prison, 
and an investigation continued at year's end.
    Chieftaincy disputes, which frequently resulted from a lack of 
clear succession, competing claims over lands and other natural 
resources, and internal rivalries and feuds continued to result in 
deaths, injuries, and destruction of property.
    On January 31, one person was killed, and 36 houses and a medical 
facility were burned following the installation of a rival chief in 
Tema, a village in the Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo district of the Northern 
Region. On March 7, in the same region, three persons were killed and 
101 houses were burned during a renewed dispute between sympathizers of 
the newly appointed chief and community leaders. Police and military 
personnel were called to restore order. In April two persons were 
killed in renewed ethnic clashes in the region.
    On March 5, in Tuobodom, Brong-Ahafo Region, three persons were 
killed and more than 500 persons displaced because of fighting between 
ethnic factions after the kidnapping of a rival chief. Eight persons 
were arrested in connection with the incident. An investigation 
conducted by the Criminal Investigations Division (CID) continued at 
year's end.
    On March 22, a newly appointed chief in Garihegu, Northern Region, 
was attacked and killed by unidentified assailants while riding his 
motorbike to a nearby village. The assailants allegedly tortured the 
chief to death, ignited his motorbike, and placed the burning motorbike 
on top of him. Five persons were arrested and awaiting trial at year's 
end.
    On March 22, in Dankyira, Greater Accra Region, a clash between 
supporters of two rival chiefs resulted in three deaths. Police 
arrested 10 suspects, and the trial continued at year's end.
    Throughout the year an ongoing chieftaincy and ethnic dispute in 
Bawku, Upper East Region, resulted in an estimated five deaths; a 
polling station chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) 
was among the dead. Military and police personnel were deployed to the 
region, and the municipality remained under a curfew that was imposed 
several years ago. The violence occurred despite the establishment in 
February of a military barracks in the Binduri constituency of Bawku to 
assist with peacekeeping efforts.
    There were no developments in the following 2009 societal or ethnic 
killings: the February killings of two persons in the Northern Region 
as a result of a land dispute between rival clans; the February killing 
of one person over ownership of a parcel of land; the July death of one 
arsonist in a chieftaincy dispute in the Volta Region; and the August 
deaths of two men and the September deaths of three other persons as a 
result of clashes between rival ethnic groups in the Agbogbloshie 
section of Accra.
    Vigilante and societal violence continued to result in deaths 
during the year. Police took action in cases in which perpetrators were 
identified; however, witnesses were often reluctant to come forward, 
and many cases remained unsolved.
    On January 19, a mob lynched a suspected thief in Ashaiman, Greater 
Accra Region.
    In February a 21-year-old student was lynched in Birim central 
municipality, Eastern Region, by a mob that suspected his involvement 
in two alleged ritual killings in the area.
    On April 11, two suspected armed robbers were lynched by a mob in 
Sakaman, Greater Accra Region.
    On June 11, a man was lynched by a group of unidentified students 
at the University of Cape Coast, Central Region, for alleged theft. An 
investigation conducted by the Cape Coast Metropolitan Police continued 
at year's end.
    At year's end there was no new information in the following 2009 
cases of vigilante violence: the March beating death in Accra of a man 
who allegedly stole a mobile phone; the May beating death in the Volta 
Region of a woman who was accused of stealing a piece of cloth; the 
July lynching of two suspected armed robbers in an Accra suburb, and 
the July lynching of a man in Adisadel Estate, Cape Coast area.
    Persons suspected of witchcraft were killed during the year. For 
example, on November 20, in Tema, Greater Accra Region, persons 
including an evangelist pastor allegedly set fire to a 72-year-old 
woman after accusing her of being a witch. The woman died the following 
day from her injuries. Police arrested six persons; two were charged 
with murder, and four were released on bail. At year's end the trial 
continued.
    Ritual killings occurred during the year. For example, on December 
4, in Assin Gangan, Central Region, a man allegedly beheaded his three-
year-old son for ritual purposes. A buyer in Kumasi reportedly offered 
the man 35,000 cedis ($24,000) to produce a human head that he could 
use for ritual purposes. The father was arrested, and an investigation 
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 and law prohibit such practices; however, 
there were credible reports that police beat and abused suspects, 
prisoners, and other citizens. Severe beatings of suspects in police 
custody reportedly occurred throughout the country but generally were 
unreported in official channels. Police generally denied allegations or 
claimed that force was justified. Military officials also reportedly 
mistreated persons during the year. During the year several 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), lawyers, and civil society 
organizations publicly criticized police use of excessive force. A 2009 
call by such organizations for the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to 
take action against security force members involved in abuse resulted 
in campaigns to raise awareness and in disciplinary actions against 
such officials during the year.
    In August a police officer in Juaso, Ashanti Region, shot and 
injured a man who made a derogatory comment. Police were investigating 
the incident at year's end.
    On October 21, in Aflao, Volta Region, an immigration official 
allegedly shot and injured a taxi driver when he refused to stop at the 
border crossing. A mob subsequently burned tires and vandalized the 
offices of the Ghana Immigration Service. The border was temporarily 
closed, and the military was called to restore order. Two immigration 
officers were arrested pending further investigation, which continued 
at year's end.
    On October 27, police and security personnel in Nakpanduri, 
Northern Region, allegedly ransacked and burned homes, injured 
civilians, and repeatedly fired their guns during an operation to 
arrest an escaped convict; the interior minister subsequently issued an 
apology on behalf of the Government. The Commission on Human Rights and 
Justice (CHRAJ) noted that investigations to determine the culpability 
of individual police personnel continued at year's end.
    Violence between soldiers and police, often due to internal 
rivalries, resulted in injuries during the year. For example, on June 
4, in Kumasi, soldiers from the Fourth Garrison attacked and beat 12 
police officers stationed at various duty posts throughout the city. 
One officer was hit in the head with a hammer and was hospitalized. 
Soldiers also vandalized property at police stations and forced 
officers to flee their duty posts. In July a committee composed of 
three top-ranking military officers and three senior police officers, 
and chaired by a retired appeals court judge opened an investigation 
into the incidents.
    At year's end there was no new information in the following 2009 
cases of security force abuse: the January shooting and injuring by 
military police of a man on a motorcycle; the August police shooting 
and injuring of an 18-year-old man; the filmed abuse of two suspects 
being interrogated by military personnel in Bawku.
    Chieftaincy disputes during the year resulted in injuries.
    For example, on March 28, in the Ashanti Region, an unknown 
assailant shot and injured the village chief of the Ofoase traditional 
area.
    On April 11, youth from the Abudu faction of the Dagbon ethnic 
group attacked 11 traders at a market in Yendi, Northern Region. The 
attack was in response to the arrest of some of their leaders as a 
result of an ongoing chieftaincy dispute.
    On May 21, two persons were injured in Kaneshie, Greater Accra 
Region, when approximately 25 persons armed with machetes, axes, and 
locally manufactured pistols invaded the Ga Mantse palace in an attempt 
to remove the king. Four persons were arrested. At year's end the trial 
continued.
    On August 9, in Salaga, Northern Region, two persons were shot and 
injured in a chieftaincy dispute.
    In August in Achiaman, Greater Accra Region, nine persons were 
injured when fighting erupted between two factions in a chieftaincy 
dispute.
    On September 28, in Akuapem Mampong, Eastern Region, seven persons 
including a 10-year-old child were injured after fighting erupted 
between two factions in a chieftaincy dispute.
    There were no developments in the following violence stemming from 
chieftaincy disputes in 2009: the March incident in which police 
refused to intervene after the paramount chief of the Goaso traditional 
area, Brong-Ahafo Region, ordered his men to beat a woman for not 
kneeling before him; and the May incident in which nine persons were 
injured in the Central Region.
    Vigilante violence against suspected criminals and persons accused 
of witchcraft resulted in deaths and injuries (see sections 1.a., 1.d., 
and 6).
    Mob violence during the year resulted in injuries and property 
damage.
    On August 31, residents of Navrongo, Upper East Region, attacked 
construction workers who were building a school in the community; the 
attack reportedly was due to the hiring of workers from outside the 
community.
    On September 16, in Tema, Greater Accra Region, approximately 200 
fishermen and fishmongers attacked construction workers who attempted 
to clear land that was slated for a construction project. The fishermen 
used the land to dry and smoke fish. The mob burned vehicles and 
buildings, threw stones, and fired at police officers. Police and 
military were called in to restore order, and 32 persons were arrested, 
of whom 28 were granted bail. An investigation continued at year's end.
    On November 8, in Gowrie, Upper East Region, students at the Gowrie 
Senior High and Technical School allegedly attacked two police officers 
during a protest against the temporary closure of the school. School 
officials closed the school after students boycotted classes and 
refused meals to protest the suspension of 18 classmates earlier in the 
year.
    There were no developments in the February 2009 attack in Greater 
Accra Region by youths who robbed and beat workers at a building site 
before burning the building because it was on their playing field.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions 
generally were harsh and sometimes life threatening. Police beat 
suspects in custody. Much of the prison population was held in 
buildings that were originally colonial forts or abandoned public or 
military buildings with poor ventilation and sanitation, substandard 
construction, and limited space and light. Many prisoners slept on bare 
floors or took turns using beds. As many as 55 inmates commonly shared 
a cell intended for 12. According to the 2009 Prisons Service Annual 
Report, 13,778 prisoners (average daily lockup) were held in prisons 
designed to hold approximately one-third that number. The CHRAJ noted 
that the most common ailments affecting prisoners stemmed from 
overcrowding, poor nutrition, and a lack of ventilation. Medical 
facilities were inadequate, and the prisons supplied only the most 
basic medicines. Prisoners relied on families or outside organizations 
for additional food, medicine, and other necessities. According to the 
CHRAJ, the daily food stipend for prisoners was 60 pesewas ($.40), 
which the CHRAJ deemed too low. Shortages of food, bedding, clean 
water, and clothing for prisoners persisted.
    In 2009, 84 prisoners died in custody. The most common causes of 
death were tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and cardiovascular distress, 
although severe overcrowding sometimes also resulted in death.
    For example, in February two inmates in a police cell in Ashaiman, 
Greater Accra Region, allegedly suffocated to death. The cell in which 
the two were incarcerated was built to accommodate 10 persons, but held 
43 at the time of their deaths.
    No investigation was conducted in the May 2009 death of a detainee 
during a police raid on a police holding facility in Tesano District, 
Accra. In May 2009 the IGP suspended two officers in connection with 
the death and promised an investigation.
    There were 189 female and 121 juvenile inmates in the country's 42 
prisons. Juvenile detainees were not housed separately from adults, and 
pretrial detainees were held with convicted prisoners.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. Authorities permitted prisoners and 
detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities without 
censorship and to request investigation of credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions and treatment; however, submission of complaints by 
prisoners was not common practice. Authorities investigated credible 
allegations of inhumane conditions and treatment and documented the 
results. Whenever allegations of inhumane treatment are made, the 
accused officer is asked to respond. If prison authorities are 
unsatisfied with the response of the officer, an internal inquiry is 
launched and recommendations for disciplinary action are submitted to 
the director general of the Prisons Service.
    The Government permitted independent monitoring of prison 
conditions by the CHRAJ, which served as the official ombudsman, and 
the Welfare Unit of the Prisons Service. During the year the CHRAJ 
monitored 28 of the total 42 prisons and prison camps in the country. 
The CHRAJ and other NGOs worked on behalf of prisoners and detainees to 
help alleviate inhumane overcrowding; to address the status and 
circumstances of confinement of juvenile offenders; and to improve 
pretrial detention, bail, and recordkeeping procedures to ensure 
prisoners did not serve beyond the maximum sentence for charged 
offenses.
    The Government also permitted independent monitoring of prison 
conditions by international human rights groups, including the 
International Committee of the Red Cross; however, no such visits were 
conducted during the year.
    During the year 204 inmates in Nsawam Medium Security Prison, 
Eastern Region, were discharged under the ``Justice for All'' program, 
which began in 2008 to ease prison overcrowding and to accelerate 
judicial processes; another 251 inmates in the country were released on 
bail.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law provide 
for protection against arbitrary arrest and detention; however, the 
Government frequently violated these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The GPS, under the 
Ministry of Interior, was responsible for maintaining law and order. 
The military continued to participate in law enforcement activities 
during the year. A separate entity, the Bureau of National 
Investigations, handled cases considered critical to state security and 
answered directly to the Ministry of National Security. Police 
maintained specialized units in Accra for homicide, forensics, domestic 
violence, trafficking in persons, visa fraud, narcotics, and 
cybercrimes. Such services were unavailable nationwide, however, due to 
a lack of office space, vehicles, and other equipment outside of the 
capital. In May the GPS unveiled a five-year strategic plan to increase 
police personnel, housing, vehicles, and equipment, as well as to 
establish new training academies.
    Police brutality, corruption, negligence, and impunity were 
problems. Delays in prosecuting suspects, rumors of police 
collaboration with criminals, and a widespread perception of police 
ineptitude contributed to vigilante violence during the year. There 
were also credible reports that police extorted money by acting as 
private debt collectors, setting up illegal checkpoints, and arresting 
citizens in exchange for bribes from disgruntled business associates of 
those detained (see section 4). Low salaries, which were sometimes not 
paid on time, contributed to police corruption. On July 1, the 
Government implemented the Single Spine Salary Structure, which 
increased the salaries of all police officers.
    The 33-person Police Intelligence and Professional Standards Unit 
(PIPS) investigated human rights abuses and police misconduct. During 
the year PIPS received 1034 new cases; of those, 430 cases were closed, 
and 604 remained under investigation at year's end. Among the 604 cases 
being investigated at year's end, 100 involved complaints of 
harassment, 37 involved unlawful arrest, and 46 involved alleged police 
brutality with human rights violations.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires judicial warrants for arrest and provides for arraignment 
within 48 hours; however, persons were frequently arrested without 
warrants, and detention without charge for periods longer than 48 hours 
occurred. Police detained some prisoners for indefinite periods by 
renewing warrants or by simply allowing them to lapse while an 
investigation was conducted. The constitution provides that a detained 
individual be informed immediately, in a language that the person 
understands, of the reasons for the detention and of his or her right 
to a lawyer at state expense if unemployed or indigent. The Government 
did not always observe these rights. With some exceptions, lawyers were 
generally assigned promptly. Authorities routinely failed to notify 
prisoners' families of their incarceration. The law requires that a 
detainee who has not been tried within a ``reasonable time'' as 
determined by the court be released either unconditionally or subject 
to conditions necessary to ensure that the person will appear in court 
at a later date; however, in practice, this provision was rarely 
observed.
    The law provides for bail, and the court has unlimited discretion 
to set bail, which was often prohibitively high. The court may refuse 
to release prisoners on bail and instead detain them without charge for 
an indefinite period, subject to weekly review by judicial authorities. 
In September a man was granted bail after spending 10 years in 
detention. On occasion, police also demanded money from suspects as a 
precondition for their release on bail.
    Lengthy pretrial detention remained a serious problem. According to 
the Prisons Service's 2009 Annual Report, 28 percent of the prison 
population was in pretrial status, a decrease from 30.5 percent in 
2008. Detainees sometimes served more time in detention awaiting trial 
than the sentence for the crime required. In 2009 the CHRAJ reported 
that one inmate at Nsawam Prison had been in pretrial detention for 17 
years.
    During the year prison officials, courts, and police continued 
efforts to reconstruct the files of at least 300 pretrial inmates; the 
files had been missing since at least 2007. Once files are 
reconstructed, trials of the detainees may begin. At year's end, 136 
inmates had been released.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary; however, the judiciary was inefficient 
and subject to influence and corruption (see section 4).
    Members of the military were tried separately under the criminal 
code in a military court. Military courts, which provide the same 
rights as civil courts, were not permitted to try civilians. Despite 
alternate dispute resolution (ADR) procedures to decongest the courts 
and to address judicial inefficiency, court delays persisted. Mediators 
have been trained throughout the country to implement ADR, mediation 
desks have been established in some district courts, and an ADR 
secretariat was established within the Judicial Service. Nevertheless, 
even in fast-track courts, which were established to hear cases to 
conclusion within six months, trials could last for years.
    The Chieftaincy Act gives village and other traditional chiefs the 
power to mediate local matters and to enforce customary tribal laws 
dealing with such matters as divorce, child custody, and property 
disputes. However, the authority of traditional rulers has steadily 
eroded because of a commensurate increase in the power of civil 
institutions, such as courts and district assemblies.
    A judicial complaints unit, headed by a retired Supreme Court 
justice, addressed public complaints, such as unfair treatment by a 
court or judge, unlawful arrest or detention, missing dockets, delayed 
trials and delivery of judgments, and alleged bribery of judges. During 
2009 the unit received 345 complaints, of which 294 were resolved and 
51 remained under investigation at year's end.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution and law provide for the right 
to a fair trial, and the judiciary generally enforced this right; 
however, the judiciary was sometimes inefficient and subject to 
influence and corruption. 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. Defendants and their attorneys have access to government-
held evidence relevant to their cases and have a right to appeal. 
Defendants have the right also to present witnesses and evidence. 
Juries are used in murder trials. The law extends the above rights to 
all citizens. In practice, authorities generally respected these 
safeguards.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters, and citizens had access to a 
court to bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, a human 
rights violation.
    Fast-track courts and automated commercial courts continued efforts 
to streamline resolution of disputes, although delays were common. A 
growing number of automated courts, whose proceedings were expedited 
through electronic data management, were established across the 
country.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions; 
however, the Government sometimes infringed on privacy rights. Although 
the law requires judicial search warrants, police seldom obtained them 
in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government 
sometimes restricted those rights during the year. Journalists were 
arbitrarily arrested and detained during the year, and some practiced 
self-censorship.
    Individuals generally could criticize the Government publicly or 
privately without reprisal; however, local authorities sometimes 
arrested or harassed its critics.
    For example, on May 24, in Kumasi, Ashanti Region, opposition NPP 
activist Adu Gyamfi was arrested for referring to President Mills as a 
chimpanzee during a radio program on Fox FM. Gyamfi was released after 
48 hours when President Mills said he was not interested in pressing 
charges against the radio commentator.
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views without restriction. There were reports that the Government paid 
journalists ``time and transportation'' costs to facilitate coverage.
    There were an estimated 1,200 newspapers and magazines registered 
with the National Media Commission, approximately 200 FM radio 
stations, and 17 television stations across the country. The most wide-
reaching print outlets were owned by the state; the majority of 
television and radio stations were privately owned.
    On January 26, a photographer with the Daily Guide, an Accra-based 
privately owned newspaper, was arrested and detained on orders of the 
Accra High Court. Police claimed that the photographer, who was 
covering the trial of four criminals convicted of murder, did not have 
permission to photograph the convicts.
    Opposition NPP activist and radio commentator Nana Darkwa Baafi, 
who alleged during a February 18 radio discussion that former president 
Rawlings deliberately set a fire at his residence, was arrested and 
charged with publication of false news with the intent to cause fear 
and alarm to the public. Baafi was initially refused bail by an Accra 
Circuit Court; however, his case was dismissed, and he was released.
    On September 16, police in Tamale, Northern Region, forced the 
temporary closure of privately owned North Star Radio for airing an 
inflammatory press conference during which a chief voiced his 
displeasure about the behavior of some of his fellow chiefs. Observers 
believed, however, that the temporary closure resulted from broadcasts 
that allegedly inflamed local tensions over a longstanding conflict 
between two ethnic groups in the Upper East Region.
    On March 24, a former national security operative forced a reporter 
of the independent JOY FM radio station to delete a recording of an 
interview with national security officials after the interview was 
played for the officials; the interview focused on grievances of former 
employees of the security services.
    On July 19, police charged Ato Kwamena Dadzie, acting news editor 
of JOY FM radio, with ``publishing false news with intent to cause fear 
or harm to the public or to disturb the public peace'' in violation of 
Section 208 of the criminal code. Police subsequently forwarded 
Dadzie's case to the Attorney General's Department for advice.
    On July 21, the CID summoned Enimil Ashon, the editor of the state-
owned Ghanaian Times newspaper, after the newspaper published an 
article alleging that police were susceptible to bribery and government 
influence.
    Following the two incidents in July, the National Executive 
Committee of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) called on the GPS 
to refer grievances to the National Media Commission (NMC), which is 
responsible for ensuring press freedom and accountability. The NMC 
subsequently intervened with police on Ashon's behalf, and no charges 
were filed.
    On September 16, prison officers in Kumasi reportedly stormed the 
premises of privately owned OTEC FM and attacked two staff members, 
including the program manager; the prison officers reportedly objected 
to the radio station's coverage of a prison guard strike. An 
investigation continued.
    According to information that surfaced during the year from the 
GJA's Upper West Regional Branch, in October 2009 a journalist was 
physically assaulted, subjected to a rigorous body search, handcuffed, 
and detained in a police cell for two and one-half hours. The 
journalist, who worked with the community station Radio Progress, was 
accused of ``disrespecting'' police when he photographed a man they had 
allegedly tied to a power pole.
    No action was taken against police officers who in February 2009 
assaulted two female sports journalists who were trying to gain access 
to the players' dressing room following a football match.
    No action was taken against supporters of the ruling NDC party who 
assaulted an Upper East Regional correspondent for The Chronicle 
newspaper after the newspaper photographed an NDC party activity. 
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that NDC supporters 
attacked independent journalists and vandalized their radio stations.
    In previous years journalists received threatening cell phone 
messages; however, there were no known reports of such calls during the 
year.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. The 
Internet was accessible in Accra and other large cities, but there was 
limited access in other parts of the country. According to 
International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2009, 
approximately 5.3 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of peaceful 
assembly, and, unlike in the previous year, the Government generally 
respected this right. The Government does not require permits for 
demonstrations, but police can deny use of a particular route.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that police 
denied demonstration permits to antigovernment groups.
    The ban on campus demonstrations at Takoradi Polytechnic Institute, 
where 64 students were arrested in 2007, remained in effect.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of association, and the Government generally respected this 
right in practice. Security force members were prohibited from joining 
political assemblies or groups within the security services, but they 
were allowed to participate in political activities outside police or 
military compounds.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the Department of State's 2010 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.
    In May approximately 1,000 persons left the Bunkpurugu/Yungoo 
District in the Northern Region for Togo to escape violence stemming 
from an ongoing chieftaincy dispute; however, most returned to their 
homes by year's end, according to the UNHCR.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice 
the Government provided protection against the expulsion or return of 
refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened 
on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a 
particular social group, or political opinion.
    The Government established the Ghana Refugee Board (GRB) to 
adjudicate claims for refugee status and to ensure that refugees 
received all appropriate protections; the UNHCR participated as an 
observer on the board. Following the January 2009 presidential 
election, the incoming administration appointed new board members. 
However, because the Government had not appointed a GRB board chairman 
by year's end, the board was unable to function. While the GRB 
secretariat continued some functions such as conducting refugee 
interviews, there were no board meetings to adjudicate claims or to 
confer refugee status during the year.
    The law allows rejected asylum seekers to appeal and to remain in 
the country until an appeal is adjudicated. There were delays in the 
appeal process, however. The law also accords the right of protection 
to refugees who entered the country illegally without documentation.
    Refugee status for Sierra Leoneans who fled during that country's 
civil war was terminated as of the end of 2008 in accordance with 
international agreements. In December 2008 the GRB and UNHCR conducted 
interviews to determine if any of the Sierra Leoneans remaining in the 
country qualified as refugees based on an individual need for 
international protection. Of the 135 individuals who went through the 
process, 65 were rejected; of these rejections, 51 subsequently filed 
appeals with the interior minister. During the year 15 of the appeal 
cases had been granted exemption, qualifying the 15 as refugees.
    The UNHCR estimated that approximately 14,800 refugees resided in 
the country during the year: 81 percent were Liberians in the Buduburam 
Camp near Accra; 12 percent were Togolese in various communities in the 
Volta Region; 3.5 percent were refugees of various nationalities in 
Krisan Camp in the Western Region; and 3.5 percent were urban refugees 
and asylum seekers in the Greater Accra Region. Since 2008 the UNHCR 
has assisted the voluntary return of nearly 10,000 Liberians and 4,383 
Togolese refugees. Sexual and gender-based violence remained a problem 
among refugee populations. In the Buduburam settlement, three cases of 
defilement, one case of child abduction, and one case of child abuse 
were reported to the UNHCR and police during the year. With the support 
of the UNHCR, police opened a police post in the settlement in July 
2009.
    Refugees had freedom of movement within the country and were not 
required to carry identification at all times. Refugees were allowed to 
apply for work permits through the same process applicable to other 
foreigners. However, work permits generally were issued only for 
employment in the formal sector, and the majority of refugees worked in 
the informal sector. Refugee children had access to public primary 
schools. Refugees in Krisan Camp, the Buduburam Settlement, and the 
Volta Region were enrolled in the national health insurance system with 
funding from the UNHCR. Urban refugees had access to health care on a 
fee-for-service basis.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens 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.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Following a narrow victory 
in 2008 over opposition NPP candidate Nana Akufo-Addo, ruling NDC 
candidate John Evans Atta Mills was inaugurated as president in January 
2009. There were reports in some areas of voter intimidation and 
election irregularities; however, the consensus of observers and the 
independent Electoral Commission was that these irregularities were 
insufficient to have altered the outcome of the election.
    During an August by-election in Atiwa, Eastern Region, members of 
opposing parties blocked roads limiting access to polling stations, and 
fighting sometimes broke out near polling stations between opposing 
party members. On August 31, NDC and the NPP party leaders complained 
about voter intimidation and the use of violence, noting that police 
response to the violence was inadequate.
    Political parties could operate without restriction or outside 
interference. The NDC held 116 seats in the parliament, the NPP 107, 
minor parties three, and independents four.
    There are no laws preventing women from voting or participating in 
political life on the same basis as men, but women traditionally had 
less access to leadership positions than men. There were 19 women in 
the 230-seat parliament, four women in the cabinet, and five women on 
the Supreme Court. Eight of 38 ministers were women.
    No laws or practices prevent minorities from equal participation in 
political life. According to the 2000 census, the country had more than 
80 ethnic groups, none of which constituted a majority. For example, 
the Ashanti were the largest ethnic group with 14.8 percent of the 
total population.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    Corruption was present in all branches of government. The law 
provides criminal penalties for official corruption; however, the 
Government did not implement the law effectively, and some officials 
frequently engaged in corrupt practices. Police set up barriers to 
extort money from motorists, and judicial officials accepted bribes to 
expedite or postpone cases or to ``lose'' records. The World Bank's 
most recent Worldwide Governance Indicators (2008) reflected that 
corruption was a problem.
    On September 7, the Serious Fraud Office was replaced by the 
Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO), which was granted expanded 
powers to investigate and prosecute corruption in economic crimes such 
as money laundering, human trafficking, and cyber crime. The EOCO hired 
new employees during the year, the majority of which were slated to be 
investigators.
    The CHRAJ investigates human rights abuses, public corruption, and 
abuse of power and is empowered to recommend punitive actions against 
proven violators. The attorney general, the minister of justice, the 
EOCO, and the Public Prosecutor's Office are responsible for combating 
corruption. Parliament's Public Accounts Committee is also responsible 
for auditing government spending. An auditor general reviews public-
sector accounts.
    In hearings in May and August, the Public Accounts Committee 
uncovered numerous cases of embezzlement and misuse of funds by 
government ministries, departments, agencies, and district assemblies. 
The committee ruled that failure to refund funds or to reconcile 
accounts would result in prosecution. The committee forwarded all cases 
to the attorney general; however, no prosecutions had been reported at 
year's end.
    In January an undercover reporter filmed members of the Customs, 
Excise and Preventive Service and the Ghana Immigration Service 
allegedly extorting money and harassing travelers at the Ghana-Togo 
border crossing in Aflao, Volta Region. The officers were removed from 
the post, and an investigation continued at year's end.
    Security force members were arrested for corruption during the 
year.
    In March, in Accra, three soldiers and two policemen were arrested 
for extorting two men they had falsely accused of drug charges. Also in 
March, in Accra, a policeman and a former policeman were charged with 
extorting money from a man they framed on drug charges.
    On March 19 in Accra four policemen were accused of attacking and 
robbing a foreign national of more than 7,207 cedis ($5,000). Two 
officers were arrested and in December were each sentenced to 10 years' 
imprisonment. Two officers remained at large in connection with the 
case.
    In May three police officers in the Greater Accra Region were 
arrested for stealing 500,000 CFA francs ($970) from a deceased 
accident victim. The police officers were indicted, and an 
investigation continued at year's end.
    Officials were subject to a financial-disclosure process, but their 
responses were not available for public review.
    In July 2009 a presidential commission was established to 
investigate allegations of corruption and financial mismanagement by 
the former government's Ghana@50 Secretariat. The attorney general 
subsequently charged Kwadwo Mpiani, chairman of the National Planning 
Committee, and Charles Wereko-Brobby, CEO of the Ghana@50 Secretariat, 
with four counts of willfully causing financial loss to the state. On 
May 24, the defendants filed pretrial motions to dismiss the case for 
lack of jurisdiction, pending appeal of the commission's adverse 
findings. The High Court agreed and dismissed the case for lack of 
jurisdiction.
    The constitution provides for public access to government 
information; however, obtaining such access was difficult in practice.
Section 5. 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 generally cooperative and responsive to their views.
    The CHRAJ, which mediated and settled cases brought by individuals 
against government agencies and private companies, operated with no 
overt interference from the Government; however, some critics 
questioned its ability to investigate high-level corruption 
independently. Its biggest obstacle was a lack of adequate resources, 
which resulted in low salaries, poor working conditions, and the loss 
of many of its staff to other government and nongovernmental agencies. 
However, public confidence in the CHRAJ was high, resulting in an 
increased workload for its staff, whose salaries were often delayed due 
to a chronic lack of resources and administrative issues.
    Human rights issues were addressed in parliament by the Committee 
on the Constitution, Legal Issues, and Parliamentary Affairs.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, 
gender, disability, language, or social status; however, enforcement 
was generally inadequate. Limited financial resources and a generally 
permissive societal attitude toward such discrimination contributed to 
its perpetuation. Courts were empowered specifically to order 
enforcement of these prohibitions.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape but not marital rape. Rape was 
underreported and remained a significant problem. When cases of rape 
were reported, perpetrators were often arrested and prosecuted. During 
the year the police service's Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit 
(DOVVSU) worked closely with the Department of Social Welfare, the 
national chapter of the International Federation of Women Lawyers, the 
Legal Aid Board, and several other human rights NGOs to combat domestic 
violence. During the year DOVVSU received 318 reports of rape and 
reported 158 arrests, 101 prosecutions, and three convictions; 224 
cases remained uninvestigated at year's end. Convicted rapists may be 
punished with prison sentences ranging from five to 25 years.
    Although the law prohibits domestic violence, it continued to be a 
problem. The law stipulates that a person in a domestic relationship 
who engages in misdemeanor domestic violence is liable on summary 
conviction to a fine, a term of imprisonment of not more than two 
years, or both. The court also may order the offender to pay 
compensation directly to the victim. However, inadequate resources and 
logistical capacity in DOVVSU and other agencies, as well as only 
partial implementation of the Domestic Violence Act, hindered the full 
application of the law during the year. Unless specifically called upon 
by DOVVSU, police seldom intervened in cases of domestic violence, in 
part due to a lack of counseling skills, shelters, and other resources 
to assist victims. In many cases, victims were discouraged from 
reporting abuse and from cooperating with prosecutors because of long 
delays in bringing such cases to trial. Victims frequently did not 
complete their formal complaints because they could not afford the fees 
that doctors charged to document the abuse in police medical forms. 
Although the law waived these medical fees, doctors continued to 
require them in exchange for signing medical reports. There were 
credible reports that doctors sometimes charged more than the rate set 
by the hospital administration to sign medical forms. Statistics were 
not available on prosecutions of domestic violence cases during the 
year.
    In the Northern, Upper East, and Upper West regions of the country, 
where belief in witchcraft remained strong, rural women and men 
suspected of witchcraft were banished by their families or traditional 
village authorities to ``witch camps.'' Such camps were separate from 
the ``prayer camps'' to which persons with mental illness were 
sometimes sent by their families. Most accused witches were older 
women, often widows, whom fellow villagers identified as the cause of 
illness, crop failure, or financial misfortune. Some suspected witches 
in the camps were accompanied by their families. NGOs provided food, 
medical care, and other support to residents of the camps. During the 
year the CHRAJ monitored three camps in the Northern Region and 
reported that the camps contained 175 females and eight males; media 
sources reported far higher numbers of men, women, and children in the 
camps.
    There were no laws specifically to 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 remained a widespread problem.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely on the 
number, spacing, and timing of pregnancies. According to the 2008 
Demographic and Health Survey, 98 percent of all women surveyed were 
able to cite at least one birth control method. According to a foreign 
aid agency, 17 percent of married women of reproductive age used a 
modern contraceptive method. More than 75 percent of pregnant women had 
four or more prenatal visits. Approximately 60 percent of women 
delivered with a skilled attendant. Maternal mortality was estimated in 
a recent study at 451 per 100,000 live births, with the most common 
causes of death being hemorrhage and infection. More than two-thirds of 
women reported receiving medical care within two days of delivery. 
Women were more likely than men to accept HIV testing, particularly 
since it was offered as a standard component of prenatal care. An 
estimated 10 percent of the population knew their HIV status; 
approximately 30 percent of HIV-positive pregnant mothers received 
antiretroviral medications to prevent mother-to-child transmission.
    The constitution provides for all persons to be treated equally 
under the law; however, women continued to experience discrimination in 
access to employment. Women in urban centers and those with skills and 
training encountered little overt bias, but resistance to women's 
entering nontraditional fields persisted. Women, especially in rural 
areas, remained subject to burdensome labor conditions, performing 
physically difficult manual labor such as farming, transporting goods, 
and manual household chores, while often carrying a child on their 
backs. Women also were subjected to traditional male dominance. 
Traditional practices and social norms often denied women their 
statutory entitlements to inheritance and property, a legally 
registered marriage with the associated legal rights, and the 
maintenance and custody of children. There were female entrepreneurs, 
but poor access to credit remained a serious barrier for women who 
wanted to start or expand a business.
    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 involved in educational programs, and many 
officials were advocates of women's rights.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived by birth within the country or 
parentage, but not all births were registered with the Government. Some 
children were reportedly denied education because their births were not 
registered, although a birth certificate is not a legal precondition to 
attend school.
    The constitution provides for free, compulsory, and universal basic 
education for all children from kindergarten through junior high 
school; however, parents were required to purchase uniforms and writing 
materials. During the year the Government launched a program to provide 
uniforms to 1.6 million children in deprived areas, although 
contracting delays prevented most of the targeted children from 
receiving their uniforms. The Government also operated a school feeding 
program for more than 670,000 children, which covered incidental costs 
as well as meals, and a nationwide capitation grant program, which 
covered other school fees for all children attending public schools. 
According to the Ministry of Education, girls attending primary school 
during the 2009-10 school year constituted 48 percent of all students; 
at the junior high school level, the proportion was 47 percent. During 
the year the Ghana Education Service (GES) actively campaigned to 
expand education for girls by providing scholarships at the junior and 
senior high school levels and by offering financial incentives and free 
housing to female teachers to work in the ``deprived'' areas. The GES 
placed girls' education officers at regional and district levels, and 
there were community participation coordinators in every district 
office to mobilize communities to increase school enrollment of girls.
    The law prohibits defilement, incest, and sexual abuse of minors, 
but such abuses remained serious problems. During the year DOVVSU 
received 1,080 cases of suspected child defilement and 11 cases of 
attempted defilement. There were frequent press reports that male 
teachers sexually assaulted and harassed female students. Girls often 
were reluctant to report these incidents to their parents, and social 
pressure often prevented parents from going to authorities. Press 
reports of teachers, coaches, and headmasters/headmistresses either 
being arrested for sexual harassment of female students or dismissed 
for ignoring reported problems continued during the year.
    The law prohibits FGM, but it remained a serious problem in the 
Upper West Region of the country, and to a lesser extent in Upper East 
and Northern regions. Type II FGM--defined by the World Health 
Organization as the excision of the clitoris with partial or total 
excision of the labia minora--was more commonly performed than any 
other type. A girl was typically excised between 4 and 14 years of age. 
According to a 2008 study conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service 
with support from the UN Children's Fund, approximately 49 percent of 
girls and women between 15 and 49 years old in Upper West Region--where 
the practice was most common--had experienced some form of FGM, 20 
percent in Upper East Region, and 5 percent in Northern Region.
    Intervention programs were somewhat successful in reducing the 
prevalence of FGM, particularly in the northern regions. Officials at 
all levels, including traditional chiefs, continued to speak out 
against the practice, and local NGOs continued educational campaigns to 
encourage abandonment of FGM and to train practitioners in new skills 
so they could seek alternate sources of income.
    In a 2009 survey of girls and women between 15 and 49 years old in 
Upper West Region, 85 percent stated that the practice should be 
discontinued, 10 percent were unsure, and only 5 percent supported its 
continuation. Lower prevalence of FGM among women in Upper East Region 
was highly correlated with increased education. There were no 
prosecutions of practitioners during the year.
    Forced child marriage, which was illegal, remained a problem with 
no improvement during the year, according to the CHRAJ and NGOs.
    The migration of children to urban areas increased due to economic 
hardship in rural areas. Children were often forced to support 
themselves to survive, increasing both the occurrence of child labor 
and the school dropout rate. Girls under 18 were among the most 
vulnerable child laborers, as many also engaged in prostitution or were 
sexually exploited in exchange for protection while living on the 
streets.
    The minimum age of consensual sex is 16 years. Defilement of a 
child younger than 16 years, with or without the child's consent, 
constitutes an offense and is punishable by imprisonment for between 
seven and 25 years. There is no specific legislation against child 
pornography; however, it can be prosecuted as an ``offence against 
public morals'' and is punishable by a fine ranging from 120 to 600 
cedis ($80-$400) and/or imprisonment for a period not to exceed three 
years.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that children 
participated in the ongoing ethnic and chieftaincy conflict in Bawku. 
In 2009 there were media reports that children participated in the 
ongoing ethnic and chieftaincy conflict in Bawku in the Upper West 
Region. Children were reported to have burned houses, and a group of 
Mamprusi children were alleged to have ambushed a Kusasi woman near 
Bawku hospital.
    Local and international NGOs worked with the Government to promote 
children's rights and were somewhat successful in sensitizing 
communities about protecting the welfare of children.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international child abduction, please see the Department of State's 
annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community had a few hundred members. 
There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law provides for the rights of 
persons with disabilities, including protection against exploitation 
and discrimination in employment, health care, and other domains. The 
National Council on Disability, mandated by law, was inaugurated in 
April 2009. While the Government did not systematically or overtly 
discriminate against persons with disabilities, such persons often 
experienced societal discrimination. The law provides persons with 
disabilities access to public buildings ``as far as is practical.'' 
Activists supporting the rights of persons with disabilities complained 
of the slow implementation of the Persons with Disability Act, 
especially the lack of legislative instruments to implement the new 
law. Despite the legal protection provided in the law, discrimination 
against disabled persons in employment and the inaccessibility of 
public buildings continued to be problems.
    Persons with mental and physical disabilities were frequently 
subjected to abuse and intolerance; however, unlike in the previous 
year, there were no reports of persons with disabilities being killed 
for ritual purposes.
    In March 2009 four persons appeared in court on murder charges in 
connection with the July 2008 killing of Yakubu Busanga, a hunchback. 
The attack may have been motivated by a desire to obtain body parts for 
use in ritual practices. At year's end there was no new information on 
this case.
    In July 2009 a two-year-old albino boy was stolen from his mother 
for ritual purposes. An 18-year-old woman was arrested for the 
kidnapping and detained in prison custody. She claimed that she was 
hired to steal the child. At year's end there was no new information on 
the case.
    Some religious groups believed that persons with mental 
disabilities were afflicted by demons that should be exorcised. The 
abuse of children with disabilities was common. In previous years there 
were reports that children with disabilities were tied to trees or 
under market stalls and caned regularly and of family members killing 
children with disabilities.
    Human rights activists expressed concerns about ``prayer camps'' in 
which individuals believed to be possessed by evil spirits were chained 
for weeks, physically assaulted, and denied food and water. The camps 
targeted persons with mental illnesses. Camp supervisors diagnosed 
mental illness as a ``demonic affliction'' and prevented patients from 
consuming food or water, often for seven consecutive days, to cleanse 
victims of their evil spirits. Some victims were estimated to be as 
young as six years old. Families sent these victims to be exorcised of 
evil spirits or cured of their physical or mental illnesses. Victims 
were held at the camps until they were considered healed. Reports 
indicated that these practices occurred in the Greater Accra, Eastern, 
Central, Western, Ashanti, and Brong-Ahafo regions. The Commonwealth 
Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) released a report in May 2009 on prayer 
camps based on interviews with current and former inmates. The report 
found that some families caring for mentally ill members had 
insufficient financial resources and viewed prayer camps as an 
available option. The CHRI urged regulation of prayer camps; however, 
no regulations were implemented by year's end.
    Several government agencies and NGOs were involved in addressing 
discrimination against persons with disabilities, including the 
Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Employment and Social (MESW), the 
Ministry of Education, and the Center for Democratic Development.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law makes consenting 
homosexual acts a misdemeanor, and strong sociocultural beliefs 
discriminated against and stigmatized same-gender sex. There were no 
registered Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) 
organizations. LGBT persons faced widespread discrimination, as well as 
police harassment and extortion attempts. Gay men in prison often were 
subjected to sexual and other physical abuse.
    On June 4, more than one thousand protesters in Takoradi, Western 
Region, participated in a peaceful rally against reports of gay and 
lesbian activities in their city. This was reportedly the first antigay 
protest in the country.
    On December 22, the acting head of the CHRAJ spoke against 
discrimination during a radio interview on Accra-based CITI FM. She 
stressed that gays and lesbians should not be condemned based on 
societal attitudes and that the constitution provides for freedom from 
discrimination.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Discrimination against 
persons with HIV/AIDS was a problem, and the fear of being stigmatized 
continued to discourage persons from being tested for HIV infection.
    The Government and NGOs subsidized many centers that provided free 
HIV testing to citizens, although there were reports that 
confidentiality was not consistently respected.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers, except for 
the armed forces, police, the prison service, and other security and 
intelligence agency personnel, to form and join unions of their choice 
without previous authorization or excessive requirements, and workers 
exercised this right in practice. While unions no longer must seek 
government approval before registering, the law requires that trade 
unions or employers' organizations must register, be authorized by the 
chief labor officer, and obtain a certificate of registration to be 
considered legal. The percentage of workers belonging to unions 
decreased in recent years, in part because of a relative lack of 
employment opportunities in the formal, unionized sectors. Moreover, 
some workers previously employed in the formal sector lost their jobs.
    The law recognizes the right to strike but restricts that right for 
workers who provide essential services, including ``areas in an 
establishment where an action could result in a particular or total 
loss of life or pose a danger to public health and safety and such 
other services as the minister may by legislative instrument 
determine.'' The minister of employment and social welfare designated a 
list of essential services. The list included services carried out by 
utility companies (water, electricity, etc.), ports and harbors, 
medical centers, and the Bank of Ghana. In these essential services the 
parties to any labor disputes are required to resolve their differences 
within 72 hours; the deadline was meant to pressure employers and 
employees to operate efficiently with limited interruptions. The right 
to strike can also be restricted for workers in private enterprise 
whose services a union and an employer deemed essential to the survival 
of the enterprise by. A union may call a legal strike if the 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 ever went through the complete dispute resolution process, and 
there were numerous unsanctioned strikes during the year.
    On September 15, prison officers at both the Kumasi Central Prison 
in the Ashanti region and the Sekondi Central Prison in the Western 
Region demonstrated against perceived inequalities in the 
implementation of the Single Spine Salary Structure. The initiative 
aimed to unify differing salary structures of the national government.

    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. However, the armed forces, 
police, prison service, security, intelligence personnel, and workers 
with policymaking and managerial functions cannot bargain collectively. 
The law provides a framework for collective bargaining, and trade 
unions engaged in collective bargaining for wages and benefits with 
both private and state-owned enterprises without government 
interference. However, only unions that represented the majority of 
workers in a given company can obtain a Collective Bargaining 
Certificate, which was required to engage in collective bargaining.
    The labor law prohibits antiunion discrimination by employers; 
however, some employers continued to fire employees for union activity. 
The Labor Act protects trade union members and their officers against 
discrimination if they organize within the free zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor; however, there were reports that such 
practices occurred. Local NGOs cited the presence of compulsory labor 
affecting both children and adults in the fishing sector and illegal 
mining. Local NGOs claimed victims forced to work on boats as children 
were sometimes unable to leave their employers and continued to work 
without pay as adults. In the illegal mining industry (galamsey), NGOs 
cited debt bondage as a problem. Please see the Department of State's 
annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip for more 
information.
    The law provides for employers found guilty of using forced labor 
to be fined no more than 250 penalty units (each unit was assigned a 
monetary value adjusted for the fluctuating exchange rate); however, 
limited resources inhibited the Government's implementation of the law, 
and no fines were levied during the year. During the year the 
International Labor Organization (ILO) continued to urge the Government 
to revise various legal provisions that permit imprisonment with an 
obligation to perform labor.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law sets the minimum employment age at 15 years and 13 years for light 
work not likely to be harmful to the child or to affect the child's 
attendance at or capacity to benefit from school. The law prohibits 
night work and certain types of hazardous labor for those under 18, and 
provides for fines and imprisonment for violators; however, child labor 
remained a serious problem in the informal sector.
    The law allows children 15 years of age and above to have an 
apprenticeship under which 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 always enforced effectively 
or consistently, and law-enforcement officials, including judges, 
police, and labor officials, were sometimes unfamiliar with the 
provisions of the law that protected children. Local custom and poverty 
also contributed to child labor and eroded societal observance of child 
labor laws.
    Children as young as seven worked in agriculture and as domestic 
laborers, porters, hawkers, miners, quarry workers, and fare 
collectors. Children also engaged in herding livestock, fetching 
firewood, and bricklaying.
    The fishing industry in the Lake Volta region had a particularly 
high number of child laborers engaged in potentially hazardous work, 
such as diving into deep waters to untangle fishing nets caught on 
submerged tree roots. Girls in the region also engaged in work as 
domestic servants, cooks, servers, and porters.
    Child laborers were poorly paid and physically abused, 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 were infrequent in the formal labor 
sector.
    The law prohibits forced and compulsory labor by children; however, 
during the year children were forced to work or were reportedly sold, 
leased, or given away by parents to work in fishing villages, shops, or 
homes. It was difficult to determine the extent to which forced and 
bonded labor by children was practiced.
    There were newspaper reports of children being sold into 
involuntary servitude for either sexual exploitation or labor, such as 
10- to 12-year-old boys working for fishermen in exchange for a yearly 
remittance to their families. The practice often involved the consent 
of their generally impoverished parents. The media run regular stories 
about children in involuntary servitude, particularly as street hawkers 
and porters. Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in 
Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.
    Inspectors from the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare are 
responsible for enforcement of child labor regulations, and district 
labor officers and the social services subcommittees of district 
assemblies are charged with seeing that the relevant provisions of the 
law are observed by annually visiting each workplace and making spot 
checks whenever they receive allegations of violations. Inspectors are 
required to provide employers with information about child labor 
violations and effective means to comply with provisions of the Labor 
Act. However, the Government did not provide sufficient resources to 
law enforcement and judicial authorities to carry out these efforts.
    On September 13, the minister of employment and social welfare 
signed the Joint Declaration and Framework of Action with Senator 
Harkin, Representative Engel, and representatives from the U.S. 
Department of Labor, the Government of Cote d'Ivoire, and the cocoa and 
chocolate industry to reaffirm and further extend implementation of the 
Harkin-Engel Protocol. The protocol requires governments to prohibit 
the worst forms of child labor and to take immediate action towards 
eliminating it.
    In October the cabinet approved the 2009-2015 National Plan of 
Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor. The 
Government worked closely with NGOs, labor unions, and the cocoa 
industry to eliminate the worst forms of child labor in the cocoa 
industry.
    During the year the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs 
conducted seminars on child labor to educate the media, police, civil 
servants, and the general public.
    The ILO's International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, 
government representatives, the Trade Union Congress, the media, 
international organizations, and NGOs continued to build upon the 
National Plan of Action for the Elimination of Child Labor in Ghana by 
increasing institutional capacity to combat child labor. In October the 
MESW relaunched the National Steering Community on Child Labor, 
consisting of over 40 representatives from government, the ILO, labor 
unions, and development partners. In November the MESW unveiled a new, 
integrated child labor monitoring system. Education and sensitization 
workshops were conducted with police, labor inspectors, local 
governments, and communities.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--A National Tripartite Committee 
composed of representatives of the Government, labor, and employers 
sets daily minimum wages. The daily minimum wage of 3.11 cedis ($2.19) 
during the year did not provide a decent standard of living for a 
worker and family. Furthermore, there was widespread violation of the 
minimum wage law in the formal sector, and there was no official 
minimum wage for the growing informal labor force. In most cases 
households had multiple wage earners, and family members often engaged 
in family farming or other family-based commercial activities. The 
Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare was unable to enforce this 
law effectively.
    The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission was charged with ensuring 
fair, transparent, and systematic implementation of the public service 
pay policy; advising the Government on matters related to salaries, 
wages, grading, classification, job analysis, and job evaluation; and 
ensuring that decisions on those issues are implemented.
    The law sets the maximum workweek at 40 hours, with a break of at 
least 48 consecutive hours every seven days. Workers were entitled to 
at least 15 working days' leave with full pay in a calendar year of 
continuous service or after having worked at least 200 days in a 
particular year. However, such provisions apply neither to task workers 
or domestic workers in private homes, nor elsewhere in the informal 
sector.
    Occupational safety and health regulations exist, and the Factories 
Department within the MESW was responsible for imposing sanctions on 
violators. Employers who failed to comply were liable to a fine not 
exceeding 1,000 penalty units, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 
three years, or both. The law requires that employers report, no later 
than seven days from the date of occurrence, occupational accidents, 
and diseases. In practice safety inspectors were few and poorly 
trained, and they lacked the resources to respond effectively to 
violations. Inspectors did not impose sanctions or otherwise respond to 
violations during the year.
    In September 2008 the CHRAJ issued a report entitled The State of 
Human Rights in Mining Communities in Ghana, which provided evidence of 
widespread violations of human rights in mining areas of the country. 
The report documented abuses by the security services in mining areas, 
particularly of galamseys, independent, artisanal miners whose 
operations sometimes conflict with larger, concessionary miners. The 
report also notes that environmental damage from mining, especially to 
water resources, has affected public health and caused loss of 
livelihoods. Blasting at mine sites also caused damage to private 
property.
    The report cited examples of private and government security forces 
abusing small-scale miners. In the Obuasi area in the western region, 
independent miners suspected of stealing equipment from a nearby mine 
were arrested and beaten by security service members.

                               __________

                                 GUINEA

    Guinea is a republic with a population of approximately 10 million. 
In June and November the country held two rounds of presidential 
elections which resulted in the election of longtime opposition leader 
Alpha Conde, the candidate of the Rally of the Guinean People Party 
(RPG). In December, Conde was inaugurated as the country's first 
democratically elected president since independence from France in 
1958. While the elections were generally regarded as free and fair, the 
second round was accompanied by widespread violence. Prior to Conde's 
inauguration, Guinea was headed by a transition government led by 
interim president General Sekouba Konate, the former defense minister 
in military junta that seized control of the country in 2008 after the 
death of former president Lansana Conte. The military junta, under the 
leadership of Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, suspended the constitution 
and dismissed the National Assembly. In December 2009 a failed 
assassination attempt rendered Camara medically unable to lead the 
country. Camara's sudden departure led to the installation of a 
transition government on January 15, pursuant to the Ouagadougou 
Accord, which called for a return to civilian rule by mid-2010. The 
Accord was signed by Burkinabe President Blaise Campaore (mediator from 
the Economic Community of West African States), former interim 
president Konate, and Captain Dadis Camara, who was recuperating in 
Burkina Faso. In late January, Konate appointed opposition leader Jean 
Marie Dore prime minister. On February 16, Dore appointed a National 
Transitional Council (CNT) as the country's legislative body. The CNT, 
which had equal representation from civil society, political parties, 
and the former junta regime, promulgated a new constitution on May 7. 
Security forces did not report to civilian authorities under the rule 
of the transition government.
    Human rights problems included: the use of excessive force by 
security forces resulting in civilian deaths and injuries; vigilante 
killings and ethno-religious violence; torture and abuse of prisoners, 
including rape; inhumane and life-threatening prison conditions; 
arbitrary arrests; prolonged pretrial detention; incommunicado 
detention; lack of judicial independence; official corruption; 
restrictions on freedom of speech, press, assembly, association, and 
movement; attacks on human rights workers; sexual violence against 
women and girls; societal discrimination against women; and female 
genital mutilation (FGM). Ethnically based harassment by civilian 
supporters of opposition political parties was also a problem. 
Trafficking in persons, ethnic discrimination, and forced labor, 
including by 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.--Security forces, 
including the Special Force for a Safe Electoral Process (FOSSEPEL), an 
election security force consisting of police and gendarmes, generally 
acted with restraint in quelling violent demonstrations before and 
after the second round of presidential elections on November 7; 
however, use of excessive force, including live ammunition, resulted in 
deaths and injuries.
    On October 22 and 23, FOSSEPEL's efforts to quell violent clashes 
between supporters of RPG presidential candidate Alpha Conde, and 
Cellou Dalein Diallo, the candidate of the Union of Democratic Forces 
of Guinea (UFDG), resulted in one death and 26 injuries. Doctors told 
Amnesty International that some of the dead bodies examined from the 
October 22 and 23 clashes showed that ``people had been hit in the 
head, the abdomen, the thorax, and the back of the head,'' indicating 
security forces sometimes used lethal force to disperse demonstrators.
    On November 17, a member of FOSSEPEL shot and killed a 20-year-old 
student, Mamadou Abdoulaye Bah, who was visiting friends in a Cosa 
neighborhood, according to the international nongovernmental 
organization (NGO) Human Rights Watch (HRW).
    Deaths in custody also occurred.
    On November 15, the body of Michel Lazare Loua was delivered to a 
hospital morgue in Conakry, according to HRW. Loua had been arrested on 
October 26 by gendarmes from Matoto Gendarmerie for alleged coup-
plotting. In an October 28 letter, judicial authorities reminded the 
commander of the Matoto Gendarmerie of the 48-hour limit for pretrial 
detention, but were warned by the gendarmes to desist from pursuing the 
case, according to HRW. Despite subsequent efforts by judges with 
jurisdiction over the case and Loua's own lawyers to have Loua's 
dossier transferred from the gendarme squadron to the relevant judicial 
authority, Loua remained in custody of the gendarmes until his death. 
HRW stated that Loua's medical report noted signs of severe 
mistreatment, including bruising and swelling of the head, back, and 
wrists.
    While the transition government began an investigation into the 
September 2009 massacre of prodemocracy protestors in Conakry's main 
soccer stadium, no perpetrators were arrested or prosecuted by year's 
end. At least 157 demonstrators were killed when members of the elite 
Presidential Guard surrounded the stadium, blocked entrances, and used 
guns and bayonets on the demonstrators. Nearly 100 women and girls were 
raped during the attack. None of the bodies reportedly buried by 
security forces in mass graves was exhumed during the transition 
government's tenure.
    No investigation was conducted or action taken against military 
personnel responsible for civilian and military killings following the 
December 2009 attempted assassination of former junta leader Dadis 
Camara. Killings resulted from a military crackdown during its search 
for suspected attempted assassin Lieutenant Aboubacar ``Toumba'' 
Diakite, who remained at large at year's end. Eyewitnesses told 
journalists that persons were shot in the streets as they fled from 
patrols; an unconfirmed number of persons died as a result.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that transition 
government officials endorsed or encouraged vigilante killings. In 
February 2009 Dadis Camara issued a proclamation authorizing the use of 
lethal force against anyone engaged in drug trafficking, money 
laundering, armed robbery, or trafficking in children. In June 2009 
Moussa Tiegboro Camara, the former junta minister of high crimes and 
antidrugs, stated that armed robbers should be burned alive to avoid 
overcrowding the prisons.
    From February 6 to 8, ethno-religious conflict in the Forest Region 
city of N'Zerekore resulted in the deaths of three persons: Joseph 
Balamou, who was beaten to death, Yakouba Keita, who was burned to 
death in his home, and Djefadima Kante, who died of unknown causes. At 
least 38 persons were injured. Local NGOs and media sources claimed the 
violence was primarily between Christian Guerze and Muslim Malinke 
youth. Security forces in N'Zerekore were unresponsive during the first 
day of the violence. On February 7, the head of the gendarmerie sent 
reinforcements who arrested an unknown number of civilians, all of whom 
were released within 24 hours, according to local NGOs. Unlike in 
previous years, there were no reports of abuse by security forces 
during the operation.
    Violence between political party members resulted in deaths (see 
section 3).
    Vigilante violence occurred. For example, on November 3, a mob in 
the Hafia-Commandaya neighborhood in Conakry beat to death a suspected 
burglar.
    No action was taken against the perpetrators of vigilante violence 
in previous years.

    b. Disappearance.--Unlike in the previous year, there were no 
reports of politically motivated disappearances under the transition 
government.
    There were no developments in the disappearance of dozens of 
prodemocracy demonstrators following the September 2009 stadium 
massacre in Conakry. HRW reported that bodies from the massacre were 
buried in mass graves. During the year victims' families formed groups 
to demand that the transition government investigate these 
disappearances; however, no action was taken by security forces or the 
transition government by year's end.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The new constitution and law prohibit such practices; 
however, security forces' use of excessive force, including live 
ammunition, to quell demonstrations resulted in deaths and injuries 
(see sections 1.a. and 3). According to Amnesty International, persons 
detained during violent election-related demonstrations faced a high 
risk of torture. The transition government seldom took action against 
alleged torturers; however, it arrested 22 military and police 
personnel for use of excessive force, looting, and inciting violence 
during street clashes on November 16, the day after election results 
were announced.
    Prison guards tortured, beat, raped, and otherwise abused citizens 
and detainees. In 2008 the local NGO Terres des Hommes Minors reported 
that detainees, including children, were tortured before being 
incarcerated.
    No investigation was conducted or action taken against the 
perpetrators of the September 2009 attacks against prodemocracy 
protestors in Conakry's main soccer stadium (see section 1.a.).
    No action was taken against security forces responsible for torture 
at the military prison on Kassa Island, where security forces used 
torture, including possible castration, on inmates. Approximately 100 
military personnel were reportedly detained in inhumane conditions in 
the prison following the September 2009 stadium attack. In January 
former interim president Konate closed the military prison on Kassa 
Island; however, detainees were still being held in the facility at 
year's end, according to HRW.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that soldiers 
ambushed, beat, and kidnapped any foreign ambassadors.
    Prison guards used sexual violence to intimidate and brutalize 
detainees, although reports of such conduct decreased during the year. 
During the September 2009 stadium massacre, members of the Presidential 
Guard publicly raped and sexually assaulted with weapons an estimated 
100 women. According to human rights organizations and survivors, 
approximately 20 women were also kidnapped and raped for several days. 
By year's end no perpetrators were punished for these crimes. The 
Government made no efforts to rehabilitate rape victims, some of whom 
were subsequently shunned by their families and forced to live on the 
streets.
    Vigilante violence was common, in part due to lack of confidence in 
security forces and the judiciary. However, unlike in the previous 
year, there were no reports of citizens in N'Zerekore waiting outside 
the local prison to attack and burn to death released convicts.
    Ethno-religious violence resulted in deaths and injuries, 
particularly in the months leading up to the November 7 presidential 
election (see sections 1.a. and 3).

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Conditions in civilian 
prisons, which were under the Ministry of Justice, remained inhumane 
and life threatening. Poor sanitation, malnutrition, disease, lack of 
medical attention, and poor conditions resulted in dozens of deaths. 
Prisoners, including children, were reportedly routinely tortured to 
extract confessions or to extort money. Prisoners claimed that guards 
routinely threatened, beat, and otherwise harassed them, according to 
NGOs.
    All prisons were overcrowded. Conakry Prison, which was built to 
hold 300, held 1,055 prisoners at the beginning of October. Some 
Conakry prisoners reported sleeping on their knees because their cells 
were so small. During the year a new prison with greater capacity than 
the old one was completed in N'Zerekore. In 2009 approximately 60 
prisoners in the old N'Zerekore Prison were squeezed into two small 
cells with no access to fresh air or daylight.
    Reports from NGOs indicated that prison guards routinely harassed 
and sexually assaulted female inmates. A local NGO reported that half 
of the female prisoners in Conakry Prison had been beaten or abused 
during the year. One NGO reported that prison guards regularly 
subjected girls under the age of 18 to sexual exploitation and 
harassment in exchange for favors, especially provision of additional 
food or water.
    Neglect, mismanagement, and lack of resources were prevalent. 
Toilets did not function, and prisoners slept and ate in the same space 
used for sanitation purposes. Access to drinking and bathing water was 
inadequate. Wells ran dry in the dry season, and electric pumps, such 
as the one in Conakry Prison, did not function. In 2009 a foreign 
observer reported that inmates in Siguiri Prison in the northeast of 
the country lacked access to medical care, adequate food and water, and 
legal representation--a situation that was common in prisons throughout 
the country.
    NGOs reported endemic malnutrition throughout the prison system, 
which did not deliver food or medicine to inmates. Prison directors 
relied on charities, the International Committee of the Red Cross 
(ICRC), and NGOs to provide food for inmates. Due to the efforts of 
such groups, no prisoners in Conakry Prison died of malnutrition during 
the year. Prisoners reported eating one small meal a day consisting 
primarily of rice and sauce. Some inmates relied on assistance from 
families or friends to maintain their health, but relatives often 
abandoned prisoners due to the difficulty and cost of travel to the 
prisons. Guards often demanded bribes in exchange for delivering food 
to inmates and routinely confiscated food.
    Inmates were not tested for HIV/AIDS upon entry into the prisons, 
and no statistics on HIV/AIDS infection rates were kept; however, local 
NGOs estimated that 15 percent of the prison population was infected. 
Lack of medicine in prisons, combined with endemic malnutrition and 
dehydration, made infection or illness life threatening. In several 
regions prisoners with tuberculosis were held together with uninfected 
inmates.
    Although there was no data on prisons in the interior of the 
country, a prisoner advocacy NGO in Conakry estimated that 18 prisoners 
died from poor prison conditions during the year.
    Although the Ministry of Justice administered civilian prisons, 
military officers and guards managed and staffed the facilities. There 
were reports that some prison administrators followed directives from 
their military superiors, even when they were in conflict with orders 
from the Ministry of Justice. Due to limited funds and personnel 
shortages, prisons were largely staffed by untrained and unpaid 
``volunteers'' who hoped for permanent entry into the military. This 
system was difficult to manage and particularly vulnerable to 
corruption and abuse. Some prisoners exercised more power than the 
guards, controlling conditions and cell assignments, giving better 
conditions to prisoners who were able to pay.
    NGOs estimated that 3,800 prisoners (including between 47 and 100 
women) were incarcerated in 32 civilian prison facilities nationwide. 
Statistics on incarcerated minors held nationwide were unavailable, but 
a local NGO reported that 130 minors were incarcerated at Conakry 
Prison, of which 14 had never been formally charged or tried, several 
had been imprisoned for more than six years, and others had grown up in 
the prison. No information was available on the number of children 
incarcerated with their mothers nationwide. The transition government 
did not provide for children's food, clothing, education, or medical 
care in prison.
    In most prisons men and women were held separately, but juveniles 
generally were held with adults in prisons outside the capital. 
Children in Siguiri Prison were housed with adult men and women. Local 
NGOs reported that male juveniles were held separately from male adults 
at Conakry Prison; however, women and girls were confined together and 
not given the same freedoms, including access to fresh air, as their 
male counterparts. Pretrial detainees were not separated from convicted 
prisoners, and the prison system often was unable to track pretrial 
detainees after arrest.
    Conditions in military prisons, which were under the Ministry of 
Defense, could not be verified since the transition government denied 
access to prison advocacy groups and international organizations; 
however, unlike in the previous year, international organizations and 
NGOs were permitted access to prisons run by the gendarmerie. In 2009 
local media reported the use of torture at the military prison on Kassa 
Island. While the majority of prisoners detained in the Kassa Island 
facility were released after its closure in January, there were reports 
that some prisoners still remained, one of whom was reportedly beaten 
during the year.
    Gendarmerie prisons were commonly used to hold civilian detainees 
while they were being processed for transfer to civilian facilities; 
however, such temporary detentions could last anywhere from a few days 
to several months.
    Prisoners and detainees were not permitted reasonable access to 
visitors or granted religious observance. Authorities did not permit 
prisoners and detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities 
without censorship or request investigation of credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions. Prisoners and detainees have the right to submit 
complaints, but seldom exercised that right due to fear of reprisals by 
prison guards and the gendarmerie. Prison authorities did not 
investigate credible allegations of inhumane prison conditions, nor has 
the Government investigated or monitored prison or detention center 
conditions.
    The country has no ombudsman to serve on behalf of prisoners and 
detainees to consider alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent 
offenders, monitor the status and circumstances of confinement of 
juvenile offenders, or improve pretrial detention, bail, and 
recordkeeping procedures to ensure prisoners are not held beyond their 
maximum sentences. However, the Association for the Support of Refugees 
and Displaced Persons in Detention, a local NGO that maintained offices 
in all prison facilities, regularly interceded with the Justice 
Ministry and prison officials to alleviate overcrowding, improve 
pretrial detention, and keep judicial processes moving without the 
commonly used tactic of bribery.
    The transition government permitted prison visits by local 
humanitarian and religious organizations that offered medical care and 
food for those in severe need.
    The ICRC was allowed regular access to all civilian detention 
facilities; however, no international or local organization was 
permitted access to military detention facilities. The ICRC continued 
partnership programs with prison and security authorities to improve 
civilian prison conditions.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The new constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, but the transition government 
did not observe these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The gendarmerie, a part 
of the Ministry of Defense, and the National Police, under the Ministry 
of Security, share responsibility for internal security. The army is 
responsible for external security but also plays a role in domestic 
security. FOSSEPEL, a 16,000-member unit composed of police and 
gendarmes, was created in May to ensure security during the elections 
and was under the Ministry of Security. The code of penal procedures 
permits the military, FOSSEPEL, the gendarmerie, and police forces to 
make arrests; however, only the gendarmerie can arrest members of the 
military and police forces.
    The police force was inadequately staffed and lacked training. In 
addition, some police officers were part of a ``volunteer'' corps that 
did not receive salaries. Administrative controls over the police were 
ineffective, and security forces rarely followed the penal code. 
Corruption was widespread, and security forces generally were not held 
accountable for abuses of power or criminal activities (see section 4). 
Many citizens viewed all the security forces as corrupt, ineffective, 
and dangerous.
    FOSSEPEL was effective in quelling violence during the first round 
of presidential elections in June, and there were no reports of 
excessive use of force; however, before and after the November 7 
presidential runoff, there were reports of lack of discipline, 
excessive force, criminality, and ethnic partisanship by some FOSSEPEL 
members (see section 3).
    According to the African Organization for the Defense of Human 
Rights-Guinea Section (RADDHO-Guinea), 22 military and police personnel 
were arrested for use of excessive force, looting, and inciting 
violence (see section 1.a.).
    During the year the transition government took steps to train and 
reform security forces. In July the chief of the gendarmerie signed a 
use of force policy that complied with international standards and was 
successfully implemented during the electoral period.
    There were instances in which security forces failed to prevent or 
respond to societal violence. Police did not intervene during February 
ethno-religious violence in N'Zerekore. During October 18-19 violent 
demonstrations in Conakry, FOSSEPEL did not intervene initially, due in 
part to being overwhelmed until police and gendarmerie reinforcements 
arrived.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires warrants before an arrest and provides that detainees be 
charged before a magistrate within 72 hours; however, many detainees 
were arrested without warrants and incarcerated for longer periods 
before being charged. The law precludes arrest of persons in their 
homes between 4:30 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.; however, night arrests occurred. 
After being charged, the accused may be held until the conclusion of 
the case, including a period of appeal. Authorities routinely ignored 
the legal provision that provides client access to attorneys. Indigent 
defendants were not provided attorneys at state expense. Although the 
law prohibits incommunicado detention, it occurred in practice. Release 
on bail was at the discretion of the magistrate who had jurisdiction. 
The law allows detainees prompt access to family members, but such 
access was sometimes denied or occurred in the presence of a government 
official.
    Security forces arbitrarily arrested numerous persons during the 
year.
    On March 30, at military barracks in Caleah and Forecariah, 
military personnel arrested approximately 300 soldiers for suspected 
participation in a revolt at the barracks. A majority of the detainees 
were released 48 hours after the incident, but 16 remained in detention 
in Conakry's main prison without formal charge at year's end.
    On June 12, police arrested and detained for 24 hours eight 
military officers closely identified with the Dadis Camara regime. No 
formal charges were brought against the individuals.
    Numerous persons were arrested during violent civilian clashes 
before and after the second round of presidential elections on November 
7; however, it was difficult to ascertain how many of those were 
arbitrarily arrested on the basis their ethnicity and how many were 
detained on the basis of credible allegations of criminal acts.
    On September 11 and 12, during fighting between UFDG and RPG 
supporters in Conakry, numerous persons were arrested and subsequently 
released.
    During violent demonstrations on October 18 and 19, FOSSEPEL 
members arrested 327 protesters, all of whom were released by year's 
end. During electoral violence in November, numerous persons were 
arrested and subsequently released.
    A journalist was arbitrarily arrested during the year (see section 
2.a.).
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that gendarmes 
routinely arrested civilians and detained them at Kassa Island military 
prison until they paid bribes for their release (see section 1.c.).
    How many of the hundreds of persons who disappeared in the 
September 2009 stadium massacre and subsequent government crackdown had 
been arrested and detained was unclear. While some detainees arrested 
in 2009 were released, an undetermined number remained in detention at 
year's end.
    The following persons arrested in 2009 were believed to have been 
released: 11 detainees held with a journalist at Camp Koundara; 12 
military officers arrested in January; three military personnel 
detained in April for alleged coup-plotting; and Kader Doumbouya.
    On February 5, human rights activist Mouctar Diallo was released 
(see section 5).
    On February 23, Sadou Diallo and Toussaint Tichissambou, detained 
in July 2009 by the then-minister of high crimes and antidrugs Tiegboro 
Camara, were released and all charges dropped.
    On March 3, Ahmed Kante, a former minister of mines accused of 
misappropriation of state funds, was released after being detained one 
year without formal charge.
    During the year Ousmane Conte and three associates, all of whom 
were arrested in November 2009, were released.
    On May 15, Prime Minister Dore announced that nearly 200 prisoners 
detained without charge would be released. Among those released were 
women and children as well as several military officials arrested by 
the former military junta. It was unclear how many detainees were 
released as a result of the prime minister's declaration.
    Judicial inefficiency, corruption, and lack of political will 
contributed to prolonged pretrial detention. Local and international 
NGOs estimated that 85 percent of all prisoners were awaiting trial. 
Many detainees remained in prison for more than 10 years without trial.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The new constitution and law 
provide for an independent judiciary; however, the judicial system 
lacked independence and was underfunded, inefficient, and overtly 
corrupt (see section 4). Budget shortfalls, a shortage of qualified 
lawyers and magistrates, and an outdated and restrictive penal code 
limited the judiciary's effectiveness. The Government largely ignored 
the judiciary.
    A military tribunal prepares and adjudicates charges against 
accused military personnel, to whom the penal code does not apply, 
although military courts provide the same rights as civil courts. 
Civilians were not subject to military tribunals.
    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 sometimes referred a case from the formal to the 
traditional system to ensure compliance by all parties. Similarly, if a 
case was not resolved to the satisfaction of all parties in the 
traditional system, it could be referred to the formal system for 
adjudication. In the traditional system evidence given by women carried 
less weight.

    Trial Procedures.--Trials are public, and juries are used for 
criminal cases. Defendants have the right to be present and to consult 
with an attorney in a timely manner. Defendants have the right to 
confront and question prosecution witnesses and to present witnesses 
and evidence on their behalf. The prosecution prepares a case file, 
including testimonies and evidence, and provides a copy for the 
defense. The law 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 the transition government was 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.
    Lack of due process sometimes resulted in unenforceable judgments. 
For example, in September the president of the Dixin Court found two 
members of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) guilty 
of fraud and sentenced them to one year in prison and a fine of two 
million Guinean Francs ($434) (see section 3). Since the proceedings 
did not comply with the law, the judgment was not legally enforceable, 
and neither of the CENI members had been arrested by year's end.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--The transition government 
denied the existence of political prisoners or detainees during the 
year. According to HRW, however, the Kassa Island facility still held 
detainees at year's end, including civilian Souape Kourouma and 
military officers Colonel David Sylla, Colonel Sekou Fadiga, and 
Captain Issa Camara; all were being detained without charge for alleged 
coup-plotting. According to witnesses who saw the men in detention, 
none was granted access to a lawyer or had been brought before a judge, 
and Kourouma claimed to have been beaten.
    Under the junta government in 2009, political prisoners were 
reportedly held either at the Kassa Island military prison or at 
Conakry Prison, where they were separated from the general population. 
Following the September 2009 massacre and subsequent government 
crackdown, there also were reports of an unknown number of political 
detainees being held at Camp Alpha Yaya.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The law provides for a 
judicial procedure in civil matters, including lawsuits seeking damages 
for human rights violations; however, it was neither independent nor 
impartial, and decisions were often influenced by bribes and based on 
political and social status. There were no lawsuits seeking damages for 
human rights violations during the year. In practice domestic court 
orders were often not enforced.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The new constitution and law provide for the 
inviolability of the home and require judicial search warrants; 
however, police reportedly ignored legal procedures in the pursuit of 
criminals or when it served their personal interests. Unlike in the 
previous year, there were no reports that soldiers entered private 
residences and businesses to extort money and rob or threaten 
civilians.
    Following the state of emergency imposed on February 17, the 
transitional government ordered cellular companies to block text 
messaging, which had been used to coordinate demonstrations. In 2009 
the junta government blocked text-messaging capabilities during 
political unrest.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that security 
forces arrested the family members of detainees or persons it sought to 
detain.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The new constitution and law 
provide for freedom of expression and of press; however, the transition 
government sometimes restricted these rights. Some journalists 
continued to practice self-censorship, although less so than in 
previous years.
    During the year the transitional government enacted a new law that 
replaces prison terms for journalists with the following fines: between 
one million and five million Guinea francs ($217 and $1,086) for 
defamation, slander, and seditious talk against government officials; 
between 500,000 to 20 million Guinea francs ($108 to $4,347) for 
defamation relating to the nationality, race, or religion of a person 
or group; and between 500,000 to two million Guinea francs ($108 to 
$434) for incitement, condoning murder, or disseminating material 
against public modesty and morals. According to Boubacar Algassimou 
Diallo, political editor of the private weekly Le Lynx, ``the fines are 
so high that journalists think they prefer prison.''
    Citizens could generally criticize the Government publicly and 
privately without fear of reprisal.
    Despite the limited reach of the print media due to low literacy 
rates and high prices of newspapers, the independent media were active 
and expressed a wide variety of views without official restrictions. 
The National Communications Council (CNC) provided financial subsidies 
to independent media organizations.
    There were 13 private newspapers published weekly in Conakry, and 
approximately 100 other publications appeared sporadically; technical 
difficulties and high operating costs impeded regular publication. Two 
private newspapers were published irregularly in the regions of Labe 
and Kankan. Foreign publications, some of which criticized the 
Government on a regular basis, were available both in print and 
electronic format.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that security 
forces beat and tortured journalists who criticized the Government. 
There also were no reports that the transitional government excluded 
independent media from government meetings or that security forces 
assaulted independent journalists who tried to attend.
    No action was taken against members of the Presidential Guard who 
in March 2009 whipped, kicked, and robbed an independent reporter who 
was covering a clash between soldiers and youth protestors over the 
sale of a soccer field.
    On May 10, a journalist from The Independent newspaper was arrested 
and detained for two days without formal charge. He was released on May 
12.
    On February 5, the transition government released human rights 
activist Mouctar Diallo, whom the military junta had arrested in 
November 2009 for criticizing the junta (see section 5).
    Media sources admitted self-censorship during the country's 
transition period and collectively signed a ``code of good conduct'' 
that highlighted the importance of national unity during the fragile 
transition period. For several months after the assassination attempt 
on junta leader Dadis Camara and the creation of the transition 
government, journalists continued to prefer to publish human-interest 
pieces and other innocuous stories, although the press became far more 
vigorous once presidential campaigning began in earnest.
    Radio remained the most important source of information for the 
public, and numerous private stations broadcast throughout the country.
    Unlike in the previous year, the transitional government permitted 
political parties and religious institutions to own media outlets and 
did not restrict programming on political and religious subjects. The 
CNC did not suspend political discussion on the radio, and state media 
provided equal coverage of all 24 political parties during the 
election.
    During the first round of presidential elections, the media was 
allowed access to all polling stations. However, during both rounds of 
presidential elections, the transition government forbade the private 
media from reporting election results, claiming that reporting voting 
percentages could upset national unity.

    Internet Freedom.--There generally were no government restrictions 
on access to the Internet or reports that the transition government 
monitored e-mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could 
engage in the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including 
by e-mail. The Internet was available in the capital city and in a few 
larger towns, but less than 1 percent of the country's inhabitants used 
it, according to 2009 International Telecommunication Union statistics. 
Cost, illiteracy, and lack of availability remained major constraints 
to Internet use.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The new constitution provides for freedom of assembly and 
association; however, the law imposes restrictions, and the 
transitional government restricted these rights during the year.
    The law restricts freedom of assembly and bans any meeting that has 
an ethnic or racial character or any gathering ``whose nature threatens 
national unity.'' The transition government required 72-working-hour 
advance notification for public gatherings. The law permits local 
authorities to cancel a demonstration or meeting if they believe it 
poses a threat to public order. Authorities may also hold event 
organizers criminally liable if violence or destruction of property 
ensues.
    On six occasions during the year the transition government banned 
public protests in the wake of election violence, claiming that public 
gatherings threatened national security. All political parties agreed 
to the bans, which the population generally respected.
    During the year security forces used tear gas, batons, and live 
ammunition to disperse violent demonstrations, resulting in deaths and 
injuries (see sections 1.a. and 3).

    Freedom of Association.--The new constitution and law provide for 
freedom of association, and, unlike in previous years, the Government 
generally respected this right in practice. Requirements to obtain 
official recognition for public, social, cultural, religious, or 
political associations were not cumbersome, although bureaucratic 
delays sometimes impeded the registration of new associations.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a discussion of religious freedom, see 
the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/drl/
irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement, foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation, and 
the transition government generally respected these rights in practice. 
The transition government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to refugees and asylum seekers.
    The transition government required all citizens to carry national 
identification cards, which they must present on demand at security 
checkpoints.
    According to a credible NGO, a government initiative to remove 
roadblocks during the year resulted in a 75 percent decrease in 
roadblocks compared to 2009. Nevertheless, police and security forces 
continued to detain persons at military roadblocks to extort money, 
impeding the free movement of travelers and threatening their safety.
    The law does not prohibit forced exile, but the transition 
government did not use it.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--Hundreds of persons were 
displaced during the year as a result of election-related violence or 
fear of such violence.
    In early November a suspected poisoning of dozens of RPG supporters 
during a meeting in Conakry spurred ethnically motivated attacks 
against members of the Peuhl ethnicity in at least four towns, 
according to HRW (see section 3). According to the ICRC, the violence 
resulted in the displacement of at least 2,800 persons. In response the 
Government dispatched additional security forces to protect those who 
had been displaced and their property; the transitional government also 
allowed those who were displaced to vote away from their assigned 
polling station during the second round of presidential elections. None 
of the IDPs returned to their homes by year's end.
    Following the November 15 announcement of provisional election 
results by CENI, hundreds of Malinke in Middle Guinea left their homes, 
although most returned by year's end.

    Protection of Refugees.--There is a government-established system 
providing protection to refugees through an advisor on territorial 
issues within the Ministry of Territorial Administration. In practice 
the transition government generally provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened.
    The country was a place of refuge for asylum seekers from 
neighboring countries, including Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cote d'Ivoire, 
and Guinea Bissau. At year's end the UNHCR and the National Bureau for 
Refugee Coordination estimated that the total refugee population was 
15,325, the majority of whom were Liberians. At year's end the UNHCR 
reported that only two refugee camps remained operational.
    The transition government, in coordination with the UNHCR, assisted 
the safe, voluntary return of Liberian refugees to Liberia and 
facilitated local integration for Liberian refugees unwilling or unable 
to return to their homes. Most of the aid for local integration 
consisted of a small plot of land in the Forest Guinea Region near 
N'Zerekore, as well as a written letter of introduction from the 
national government soliciting local businesses to hire integrated 
former refugees. However, many refugees viewed the assistance as 
inadequate.
    During the year the transition government, with the UNHCR, 
continued to facilitate the local integration of approximately 1,500 
Sierra Leonean refugees whose refugee status had been revoked by a 
panel chaired by the UNHCR.
    During the year the transition government continued to provide 
temporary protection to approximately 66 individuals of various African 
nationalities who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention 
relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol.
    Tension continued between host communities and refugee populations 
because of disparities in living standards and tribal conflicts, 
although these tensions were less apparent than in previous years. 
Economic decline in the country continued to exacerbate situations 
where refugees received basic services and opportunities unavailable to 
citizens. The UNHCR continued to offer financial support for the 
rehabilitation of communities severely affected after 18 years of 
hosting refugees.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The new constitution provides citizens the right to change their 
government peacefully, and citizens partially exercised this right 
during the year in two rounds of presidential elections, from which 
UFDG candidate Alpha Conde emerged as the victor; however, 
irregularities, political and ethnic violence, and incidents of 
excessive force by security forces responding to the violence marred 
the election's credibility.
    In accordance with the Ouagadougou Accord, the CNT was formed in 
February to act as the legislative body until legislative elections 
were held. Composed of representatives from civil society, political 
parties, security forces, unions, youth groups, and educators, the CNT 
during the year rewrote the constitution, the electoral code, and the 
media code to define a new government with significantly less power for 
the president.

    Elections and Political Participation.--On June 27, UFDG candidate 
Cellou Diallo and RPG candidate Alpha Conde emerged as the front-
runners in the first round of presidential elections, which 
international observers characterized as credible and free. FOSSEPEL 
defused a few clashes between supporters of different political parties 
quickly and with minimum force. Political party candidates could freely 
declare their candidacy and stand for elections, and there were no 
government restrictions focused on any one party. Each of the 24 
candidates was allotted equal access to the media, and several observer 
groups stated that media coverage leading up to the first round of 
elections was neutral. The 24 candidates represented all of the 
country's major ethnic groups and many of its smaller ethnic groups as 
well.
    The second round of presidential elections, originally scheduled 
for September 19, was repeatedly postponed until November 7, due to a 
dispute over alleged bias in CENI leadership, inadequate preparation 
for the elections, and the theft of laptops provided by the European 
Union to tabulate results from polling stations. International donors 
quickly replaced the laptops.
    On November 7, the second round of presidential elections, 
originally scheduled for September 19 and postponed to October 10 and 
October 24, was held. On November 14, before election results were 
announced, Diallo declared that he would not accept the outcome of the 
vote. This was largely because the CENI refused to disqualify ballots 
from two contested prefectures where minority Peuhls were unable to 
vote due to ethnically motivated attacks against them in October; one 
Peuhl was killed, and Peuhl residents fled (see section 2.d.). On 
November 15, CENI announced the provisional results of the election, 
which gave Alpha Conde the victory with 52.52 percent of the vote. 
International observers characterized the election as generally free 
and fair. Diallo subsequently challenged the results in the Supreme 
Court, and two days of violence between UFDG and RPG supporters ensued. 
On November 17, the transitional government declared a state of 
emergency and a dusk-to-dawn curfew; the curfew was withdrawn on 
December 3, when the Supreme Court validated the election results.
    Election-related violence, which occurred sporadically during the 
year, was largely drawn along ethnic lines between Diallo's Peuhl 
supporters and Conde's supporters--mostly Malinke, Soussou, and 
residents of the Forestier Region. Deaths and injuries resulted from 
the violence.
    On June 25, in Coyah, fighting between UFDG and RPG resulted in two 
deaths. On September 11 and 12, in Conakry, two youths were killed 
during fighting between UFDG and RPG supporters. One youth was killed 
by a rock and the other by a bullet shot by an unidentified 
perpetrator.
    Beginning in October some members of FOSSEPEL, which was dominated 
by ethnic groups that supported the RPG and Alpha Conde, were drawn 
into the violence.
    On October 18 and 19, gendarmerie and FOSSEPEL personnel used tear 
gas and batons to disperse thousands of predominantly UFDG youth who 
were protesting CENI leadership. The demonstrators, who numbered in the 
thousands, blocked traffic with burning tires and threw stones at 
passing vehicles. Numerous persons were injured, and approximately 100 
of the 327 persons arrested during the two-day clash remained in prison 
without formal charge at year's end.
    In late October violence again erupted between UFDG and RPG 
supporters. According to HRW, some FOSSEPEL members beat and assaulted 
party supporters, chased some into their homes and workplaces, and used 
the unrest as a pretext to loot shops and commit criminal acts, 
including theft of mobile phones, money, and other goods. Approximately 
30 persons detained by security forces described being slapped, kicked, 
whipped, burned, and beaten with batons and rifle butts as they were 
being detained by security force members on the street, at their home 
or jobs, or in one of several gendarme and police facilities. HRW also 
documented the rape of six women by soldiers in the town of Labe; the 
transition government did not take action against these soldiers by 
year's end.
    Witnesses described how some FOSSEPEL officers targeted individuals 
for abuse and theft on the basis of their ethnicity, using racial 
threats and warning them not to vote for a particular party.
    On November 16 and 17, following the November 15 announcement of 
Conde's victory, violence again erupted between supporters of Diallo 
and Conde. Mobs of youths and men armed with rocks, sticks, iron bars, 
knives, machetes, and, in a few cases, small swords and hammers 
attacked supporters on both sides of the ethnic-political divide. 
However, in Conaky, HRW documented considerably more attacks by Peuhl 
youths on members of communities they believed supported Conde than the 
reverse. Conakry residents described being attacked in their homes, 
dragged out of their cars and beaten, singled out for abuse due to 
their ethnicity at informal checkpoints, and, in at least three cases, 
raped. Witnesses described how mobs vandalized and sometimes burned 
houses, cars, or furniture. Those who suffered the most serious 
violence were from ethnic groups that were a clear minority in a given 
neighborhood. Many families fled their homes.
    While security forces sought to quell the violence in the cities of 
Conakry, Dalaba, and Labe, they failed to provide equal protection to 
all citizens, according to HRW. In some cases FOSSEPEL used lethal 
force to suppress violence by members of the Peuhl ethnic group. There 
were reports that security force members used ethnic slurs against 
members of the Peuhl ethnic group, collaborated with civilian mobs from 
ethnic groups that largely supported Conde, and in several cases looted 
and stole property from persons who were perceived to have supported 
Diallo.
    In November, HRW took in-depth statements from 16 victims of 
gunshot wounds, 12 of whom described seeing security force members 
either shooting directly at them, or near them; the other four were 
injured by stray bullets fired by security forces. The local hospital 
where the vast majority of victims were taken informed HRW that it 
treated 84 individuals for gunshot wounds. Some of the injured admitted 
that they had engaged in violence and thrown rocks at the security 
forces, but the majority denied involvement in violence and said they 
had been shot in or near their homes by security forces members who 
stormed houses and compounds looking for youths who had fled after 
being dispersed by tear gas. Some of the youths also described being 
shot by security forces conducting foot or vehicular patrols after the 
violence had calmed down. Several men were shot, including two who 
died, during periods of relative calm when the men had ventured out to 
buy water or supplies or to visit family members.
    There were also unconfirmed reports that military personnel 
attempted to impersonate FOSSEPEL officers and disrupt political 
rallies. There were also unconfirmed reports that ethnic partisans 
masqueraded as FOSSEPEL officers to inflict harm on members of opposing 
groups.
    There were 36 women in the 155-seat CNT, including the CNT 
president. Six of 13 cabinet ministers were women, and there were two 
female justices on the Supreme Court. Minority ethnic groups were 
represented in CENI, the CNT, and the cabinet.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the transition government did not implement the law 
effectively, and officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices with 
impunity. Corruption remained widespread throughout all branches of 
government. The World Bank's most recent Worldwide Governance 
Indicators reflected that corruption was a severe problem. Public funds 
were diverted for private use or for illegitimate public uses, such as 
buying expensive vehicles for government workers. Land sales and 
business contracts generally lacked transparency.
    Security force corruption was endemic. Members of the military 
targeted and robbed business owners and coerced others into paying 
bribes. Police ignored legal procedures and extorted money from 
citizens at roadblocks.
    The judicial system was endemically corrupt. Magistrates were civil 
servants with no assurance of tenure, and judicial authorities 
routinely accepted bribes in exchange for favorable rulings.
    During the year no high-profile corruption cases were prosecuted, 
and officials arrested in 2009 and charged with corruption were 
released.
    On March 24, seven persons arrested in May 2009 for allegedly 
trafficking narcotics were released without formal charge, including a 
former chief of the armed forces staff, former director general of the 
National Committee of Antidrugs, the former secretary general of the 
committee, and two other high-ranking military officials. Court 
proceedings against the individuals started in February, but all 
charges were eventually dropped when the court proceedings turned into 
a public spectacle against the junta regime and Tiegboro Camara, who 
arrested the individuals in May 2009.
    Public officials were not subject to public disclosure laws.
    There is no law providing free access to government information. 
Unlike in the previous year; however, the transition government 
routinely publicized the deliberations of cabinet meetings and 
presidential activities.
Section 5. 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. During the year the 
transition government created an Independent National Institution for 
Human Rights, which was charged with promoting human rights throughout 
the country. The transition government met with domestic NGO monitors, 
but seldom responded to their inquiries, reports, or recommendations 
during the year. Security forces attacked a prominent human rights 
worker during the year.
    Independent human rights NGOs included RADDHO-Guinea and the 
Association for the Support for Refugees and Displaced Persons in 
Detention.
    On October 23, human rights defender Mamadou Aliou Barry was 
attacked and beaten while trying to stop members of the security forces 
from attacking a group of youths in Hamdalaye, a suburb of Conakry. 
Barry had traveled to the area after hearing reports that gendarmes and 
members of the presidential guard were beating residents and ransacking 
homes and stores. Barry, who was detained with approximately 15 men, 
suffered a broken arm and numerous contusions. According to Barry, 
security force members told him, ``You, the Peuhl, will not be allowed 
to vote. We will detain you and keep you here.you will not be in power, 
we will crush you.''
    On February 5, Mouctar Diallo, the president of a local human 
rights organization, was released and all charges dropped. Diallo, who 
was arrested in November 2009, was reportedly being held for 
criticizing the junta.
    The transition government facilitated visits by a number of 
international human rights NGOs and generally cooperated with such 
organizations; however, none were permitted access to military prisons.
    The transition government generally cooperated with international 
governmental organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives. 
Authorities permitted and facilitated visits by members of the 
International Criminal Court, who were investigating human rights 
abuses committed by government officials in 2009. The transition 
government also cooperated in the creation of a UN office for human 
rights in Conakry, as suggested by the UN Commission of Inquiry Report 
on the September 2009 violence.
    Despite promises, however, the transition government did not allow 
an independent investigation into the September 2009 stadium massacre.
    Due to lack of funds and political will, an independent commission 
of inquiry, established in 2007 to investigate human rights abuses 
committed by security forces during the 2007 general strike, had not 
begun its investigation by year's end.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law states that all persons are equal before the law regardless 
of gender, race, ethnicity, language, beliefs, political opinions, 
philosophy, or creed; however, the transition government did not 
enforce these provisions uniformly.

    Women.--Rape is a criminal offense but was rarely prosecuted. 
Authorities were reluctant to pursue criminal investigations of alleged 
sexual crimes, and there were no reports of prosecutions of rapists, 
although police records indicated 50 persons were arrested for rape 
during the year. Spousal rape is neither punished nor regarded as a 
criminal offense. Social beliefs and fear of being ostracized prevented 
most victims from reporting incidents of rape. According to a 2003 
study, victims of sexual assault constituted more than 20 percent of 
women treated in a local hospital. Experts reported that the situation 
had not changed significantly. Many of these assaults were perpetrated 
by a person the victim knew, and often took place at school; more than 
half the victims were young girls. Several local NGOs worked to 
increase public awareness and the reporting of such crimes.
    Domestic violence against women was common, although estimates of 
its prevalence were unavailable. Due to fear of stigmatization and 
reprisal, women rarely reported abuse. Wife beating is not addressed 
specifically within the law, although charges can be filed under 
general assault, which carries penalties ranging from two to five years 
in prison and fines ranging from 50,000 to 300,000 Guinea francs ($11 
to $65). Assault constitutes grounds for divorce under civil law; 
however, police rarely intervened in domestic disputes, and there were 
no reports of perpetrators being punished. Local NGOs assisted victims 
of domestic violence.
    Sexual harassment is not against the law. Women working in the 
formal sector in urban areas complained of frequent sexual harassment, 
and it was not penalized by employers.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely on the 
number, spacing, and timing of their children and generally had access 
to information on how to do so without fear of discrimination, 
coercion, or violence. In 2008 the maternal mortality ratio was 680 
deaths per 100,000 live births. Nine percent of women of reproductive 
age used a modern method of contraception. Women generally had equal 
access to diagnoses and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, 
including HIV. However, cultural norms and taboos reportedly dissuaded 
individuals from taking advantage of opportunities to learn about 
reproductive health or seeking health services for sexually transmitted 
infections.
    The law generally provides for equal treatment of men and women; 
however, traditional law discriminates against women and sometimes took 
precedence over formal law, particularly in rural areas. Formal law 
regarding inheritance also discriminates against women. The Ministry of 
Social Affairs and Women's and Children's Issues worked to advance 
legal equality for women; however, women faced discrimination 
throughout society, particularly in rural areas, where opportunities 
were limited. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation 
and Development (OECD), women under traditional law are entitled to 
hold land only on a usufruct basis, which authorizes them to work 
family-owned land and draw a wage, but not to own the land. Women also 
had difficulty obtaining loans, according to the OECD.
    Government officials acknowledged that polygyny was a common 
practice. Divorce laws generally tend to favor men in awarding custody 
and dividing communal assets. Legal evidence given by women carried 
less weight than testimony by men, in accordance with Islamic precepts 
and customary law. Although the principle of equal pay for equal work 
exists, in practice women received lower pay than men. No steps were 
taken to implement the 2007-2011 action plan on women's empowerment.

    Children.--Citizenship can be derived by birth, marriage, 
naturalization, or parental heritage. The transition government did not 
systematically register births and issue birth certificates, leaving a 
significant number of children without official documentation and 
thereby impeding their access to school and health care.
    Government policy provides for tuition-free, compulsory primary 
school education for six years; however, enrollment rates were 
generally low by international standards. While girls had equal access 
to all levels of primary and secondary education, social norms and 
practices resulted in significantly lower attendance rates at the 
secondary level.
    Child abuse was a problem. Ritual murders occurred, although the 
extent of the practice was unknown due to cultural taboos and a general 
unwillingness to speak on the subject. Unlike in previous years, there 
were no arrests in connection with ritual killings.
    On March 16, a three-year-old child was abducted from his Conakry 
home and killed. His throat was cut, his eyes removed, and his abdomen 
slit open in a manner reportedly consistent with ritualistic ceremonies 
involving human sacrifice. The alleged killer and accomplice were being 
held in Conakry Prison and were awaiting trial at year's end.
    FGM was practiced widely in all regions among all religious and 
ethnic groups, primarily on girls between the ages of four and 17; 
infibulation, the most dangerous form of FGM, was rarely performed. The 
Coordinating Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting Women's and 
Children's Health (CPTAFE), a local NGO dedicated to eradicating FGM 
and ritual scarring, reported high rates of infant mortality and 
maternal mortality due to FGM. According to a 2005 Demographic and 
Health Survey, 96 percent of women in the country had undergone the 
procedure. FGM is illegal, and practitioners faced a penalty of three 
months in prison and a fine of approximately 100,000 Guinea francs 
($21); however, there were no prosecutions during the year.
    The transition government cooperated with NGOs in their efforts to 
eradicate FGM and educate health workers on the dangers of the 
practice. A study conducted by a local NGO during the year reported 
that 33 percent of women and 45 percent of men were opposed to FGM, 
compared to 19 percent of women and 41 percent of men in 2005. The NGO 
TOSTAN was successful in bringing together many communities to declare 
their intention to abandon FGM and early or forced marriage. 
Recognizing traditional practices that encouraged FGM, TOSTAN helped 
establish binding social contracts in which families agreed to accept a 
woman who had not undergone FGM to marry one of their sons. Continued 
efforts by NGOs to persuade communities to abandon FGM resulted in 
thousands of families ending the practice. Urban, educated families 
increasingly opted to perform only a slight, symbolic incision on a 
girl's genitals rather than the complete procedure.
    The legal age for marriage is 21 years for men and 17 years for 
women. Although there were no official reports of underage marriage, it 
was a problem. Parents contracted marriages for girls as young as 11 
years of age in Middle Guinea and the Forest Region. The CPTAFE, in 
conjunction with the transition government, local journalists, and 
international NGOs, continued to run an education campaign to 
discourage underage marriage and reported lower rates than in previous 
years. According to the CPTAFE, some families that sanctioned early 
marriages nevertheless kept their married daughters in the family home 
until they had at least completed secondary school.
    Sexual assault of children, including rape, was a serious problem. 
Girls between the ages of 11 and 15 years were most vulnerable and 
represented more than half of all rape victims. The law prohibits child 
pornography, and the country has a statutory rape law.
    Street children were pervasive in urban areas, although there were 
no official statistics. Many were forced to beg in mosques and markets.
    Guinea is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community is very small, and there were 
no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law does not prohibit 
discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, 
education, access to health care, or in the provision of other state 
services. There were no official reports of societal or governmental 
discrimination against persons with disabilities. The transition 
government had not mandated accessibility for persons with 
disabilities, and buildings and vehicles remained inaccessible. Few 
persons with disabilities worked in the formal sector; some worked in 
the informal sector in small family businesses, and many lived by 
begging on the streets. The Ministry of Social Affairs is responsible 
for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities, but it was 
ineffective.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The country's population was 
ethnically diverse, with three main ethnic groups and several smaller 
ethnic groups identifying with specific regions. Three major 
ethnicities form the majority of the population: the Soussou in Lower 
Guinea, the Peuhl in Middle Guinea, and the Malinke in Upper Guinea. 
There were smaller ethnic groups throughout the country. Conakry, other 
large urban areas such as Kankan, and the Forest Region were ethnically 
heterogeneous.
    While the law prohibits racial or ethnic discrimination, ethnic 
identification was strong. Mutual suspicion, both inside and outside 
the transitional 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. Political campaigns capitalized on 
ethnic divisions, and divisive ethnic rhetoric spurred civilian clashes 
in N'Zerekore, Coyah, and Conakry that resulted in the deaths of at 
least seven persons during the year. The transition government and the 
CNT implemented several sensitization programs throughout the year to 
highlight the importance of peace and unity among ethnic groups. It 
also held conferences and purchased radio and television programming to 
combat ethnic tensions and to encourage political leaders to avoid 
using divisive ethnic rhetoric.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There were no laws 
criminalizing sexual orientation, although there were deep social, 
religious, and cultural taboos against homosexual conduct. There were 
no official or NGO reports of discrimination against individuals based 
on their sexual orientation. However, during the opening of the UN 
Human Rights office in Conakry, the prime minister announced his belief 
that homosexuality is wrong and should be forbidden by law. He also 
said that sexual orientation should not be regarded as a basic human 
right. There were no lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender 
organizations active during the year, but there were no legal 
impediments to the operation of such groups.

    Other Societal Discrimination.--National organizations worked to 
end the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS. Most victims of stigmatization 
were women, who were frequently abandoned by their families after their 
husbands died of AIDS.
    Doctors and health workers routinely disregarded medical 
confidentiality standards resulting in widespread distrust of testing.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law and constitution provide for 
the right of employees, except for military and paramilitary personnel, 
to form and join independent labor unions, and the transitional 
government enforced this right. The labor code requires elected worker 
representatives for any enterprise employing 25 or more salaried 
workers. Although labor statistics were inadequate, at least 167,000 
workers were reportedly unionized.
    The law grants salaried workers, including public sector civilian 
employees, the right to strike 10 days after their representative union 
makes known its intention to strike, and workers exercised this right a 
few times over the year. By law arbitration is by consensus and 
executed through the Office of the Inspector General of Work within the 
Ministry of Labor. In practice, however, employers could impose binding 
arbitration. The law prohibits strikes in essential services, including 
hospitals, police, the military, transport, radio and television, and 
communications.
    Unlike in the previous year, the transitional government did not 
break up strikes during the year. No investigation was made into the 
violent dispersal of a June 2008 police strike, which resulted in the 
deaths of 14 police officers.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides that 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 for wages and salaries 
without government interference. Employers established rules and hours 
of work in consultation with union delegates, and this law was 
generally respected in practice.
    There were no reports of antiunion discrimination during the year. 
Employers generally did not interfere in or prohibit labor union 
activities. There were no reports of workers being fired because of 
labor activity. During a strike in March at a mining company's alumina 
refinery in Fria, the transition government sent protective forces to 
the area to ensure workers' ability to strike and also to protect the 
refinery workers who chose to report to work despite the strike.
    There were no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law specifically 
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, 
there were reports that such practices occurred.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits child labor and the exploitation of vulnerable persons 
for unpaid or underpaid labor; however, child labor was a serious 
problem. Violators of child labor laws face penalties between six 
months to five years in prison and fines between 50,000 to 382,500 
Guinea francs ($11 to $82); however, the Government did not enforce the 
law.
    The minimum age for employment is 16 years, although apprentices 
may start to work at 14 years of age. Workers and apprentices under the 
age of 18 are not permitted to work at night, for more than 10 
consecutive hours, for more than 12 consecutive days, or on Sundays. 
The Ministry of Labor maintained a list of occupations in which women 
and youth under the age of 18 cannot be employed; however, enforcement 
was limited to large firms in the modern sector of the economy.
    Child labor occurred most frequently in the informal sectors of 
subsistence farming, small-scale commerce, and mining. Many children 
were exploited as domestics in the urban sector, as miners, or as farm 
or plantation workers. A 2007 HRW report stated that tens of thousands 
of girls worked as domestics, many of them for up to 18 hours a day 
with little or no compensation. Some girls allegedly suffered beatings, 
sexual harassment, and rape. Family members or employers allegedly 
forced some to prostitute themselves to earn enough money to survive. 
The transition government did not take action when prostitution of 
minors was brought to its attention, and it did not monitor child or 
adult prostitution.
    According to both official and NGO sources, many children between 
the ages of five and 16 worked 10 to 15 hours a day in the diamond and 
gold mines for minimal compensation and little food. Child laborers 
extracted, transported, and cleaned the minerals. Children were 
described as living in extreme conditions without access to water or 
electricity and exposed to constant threat of disease and sickness. 
According to NGOs, the children did not attend school and reportedly 
were prevented from contacting their parents. A 2006 study by the NGO 
AGRAAD reported that 45 percent of workers at the Dandano gold mine 
were children ranging in age from seven to 16, approximately 30 percent 
of whom were working with an adult relative in the mine.
    Many young Muslim children sent to live with a Koranic teacher 
(marabout) for instruction in Arabic and the Qur'an worked for the 
teacher as payment. Rural families often sent children to Conakry to 
live with family members while they attended school. 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.
    Although statistical data was unavailable, there were reports that 
children were sold into exploitative labor through child trafficking.
    The Ministry of Labor is responsible for enforcing child labor 
laws, but it conducted no child labor inspections or investigations and 
prosecuted no court cases during the year.
    The Government continued a public ad campaign against child labor 
throughout the country.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The labor code allows the 
transitional government to set a minimum hourly wage enforced by the 
Ministry of Labor; however, the Government neither exercised this 
provision nor promoted a standard wage. Prevailing wages routinely did 
not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family.
    The law mandates that regular work should not exceed 10-hour days 
or 48-hour weeks, and it 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 two workdays per month of work. There also are provisions in 
the law for overtime and night wages, which are fixed percentages of 
the regular wage. In practice authorities rarely monitored work 
practices or enforced these rules.
    Teachers' wages were extremely low, and teachers sometimes went six 
months or more without pay. Salary arrears were not paid, and some 
teachers lived in abject poverty.
    The law contains general provisions regarding occupational safety 
and health, but the Government did not establish a set of practical 
workplace health and safety standards. Moreover, it did not issue any 
orders laying out the specific safety requirements for certain 
occupations or for certain methods of work that are called for in the 
labor code. The Ministry of Labor 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.
    All workers, including foreign and migrant ones, have the right to 
refuse to work in unsafe conditions without penalty; however, many 
workers feared retaliation and did not exercise this right.

                               __________

                             GUINEA-BISSAU

    Guinea-Bissau* is a multiparty republic with a population of 
approximately 1.7 million. In July 2009 Malam Bacai Sanha of the 
African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) was 
elected president in elections following the assassination of former 
president Joao Bernardo Vieira by the military. International observers 
declared the holding of the 2009 presidential elections to be free and 
fair despite election-related violence preceding the polls. As in the 
previous year, there were multiple instances in which elements of the 
security forces acted independently of civilian control.
    Human rights abuses included beatings and torture; poor conditions 
of detention; arbitrary arrest and detention; lack of judicial 
independence and due process; interference with privacy; intimidation 
of journalists; widespread official corruption, exacerbated by 
government officials' impunity and suspected involvement in drug 
trafficking; violence and discrimination against women; female genital 
mutilation (FGM); child trafficking; and child labor, including some 
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 the previous 
year, there were no reports that the Government or its agents committed 
arbitrary or unlawful killings, including killings that were 
politically motivated.
    There were no developments in the cases of the 2009 killings of 
former president Vieira and former armed forces chief of staff General 
Jose Batista Tagme Na Waie. In March 2009, Na Waie was killed by a bomb 
outside his office in military headquarters. Following Na Waie's 
assassination, soldiers under the command of Colonel Antonio Indjai 
tortured and then hacked Vieira to death with machetes in what was 
widely considered retaliation for the killing of Na Waie. Observers 
noted that the longstanding tension between Vieira and Na Waie had 
increased due to Na Waie's 2008 accusation that Vieira was involved in 
the drug trade. It was unclear whether the killings were linked to the 
growing cocaine trade through West Africa, but Vieira and senior 
military officers had been accused of profiting from it. The national 
commission of inquiry, established in 2009 to investigate the killings, 
did not identify or charge anyone during the year.
    There were no developments in the case of former national assembly 
deputy Helder Proenca, whom military personnel beat, shot, and killed, 
along with his bodyguard and driver, in June 2009 on the outskirts of 
Bissau. Proenca, who had been accused of plotting to overthrow the 
Government on June 5 by Colonel Samba Djalo, chief of the Military 
Information and Security Service, reportedly was killed while resisting 
arrest. In November 2009 the state attorney general filed a criminal 
complaint against Djalo; however, the case remained pending at year's 
end.
    No perpetrators had been identified or punished by year's end for 
the June 2009 death of former presidential candidate and assemblyman 
Baciro Dabo. Soldiers shot and killed Dabo after accusing him of 
plotting with Proenca to overthrow the Government.
    There were no developments in the 2008 killing of a judicial police 
officer by security forces.
    During the year Alexandre Tchama Yala, the suspected leader of a 
2008 coup attempt in which two presidential guards were killed, 
remained at large following his 2009 escape from detention.
    Unlike in 2009, there were no reported injuries or deaths as a 
result of unexploded ordinance 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 and law prohibit such practices; however, 
armed forces and police did not always respect this prohibition. The 
Government did not punish members of the security forces who committed 
such abuses.
    During his brief detention on April 1 (see section 1.d.), Prime 
Minister Carlos Gomes was robbed, beaten, and reportedly pistol-whipped 
by soldiers loyal to then deputy armed forces chief of staff Antonio 
Indjai. Gomes was released after several hours.
    In July a civilian named Fernando Te was reportedly tortured to 
death while in custody at the 5th Esquadra police station. At year's 
end, an investigation was ongoing with no individuals identified or 
charged with his death.
    During the year no military personnel were identified or charged 
for the reported torture of former president Vieira before his death 
(see section 1.a.).
    No action was taken during the year against those responsible for 
the torture and abuse of lawyer Pedro Infanda, whom military personnel 
reportedly beat and tortured for four days and then denied medical 
treatment prior to his release. Infanda had stated in a March 2009 
press conference that the appointment of Jose Zamora Induta as armed 
forces chief of staff following Na Waie's death was not in accordance 
with the proper order of succession.
    No action was taken during the year against soldiers who beat 
former prime minister Francisco Jose Fadul during his June 2009 
detention at armed forces headquarters.
    There were no developments in the case of journalist Mario de 
Oliveira, who was verbally abused and beaten in October 2009 during his 
detention following a Donos da Bola newspaper publication of an 
interview with the minister of the interior, Major Samba Djalo.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--In December the Ministry 
of Justice, with the assistance of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, 
completed construction of the country's first secure prison facilities 
in the towns of Bafata and Mansoa. The prisons have a total capacity 
for 90 prisoners, including cells for up to six women in Mansoa and 
eight in Bafata. The prisons have electricity and potable water. No 
inmates were transferred to the new prisons by the end of the year due 
to a lack of equipment.
    The Government continued to detain most prisoners in makeshift 
detention facilities at the Judicial Police headquarters, on military 
bases, in Bissau, and neighboring towns. Conditions of confinement were 
poor. Detention facilities generally lacked secure cells, running 
water, and adequate sanitation. Detainees' diets were poor and medical 
care was virtually nonexistent. Pretrial detainees were held together 
with convicted prisoners, and juveniles were held with adults.
    The Government permitted some independent monitoring of detention 
conditions by local and international human rights groups. During the 
year representatives from the UN Peacebuilding Support Office in 
Guinea-Bissau (UNOGBIS) and the International Committee of the Red 
Cross (ICRC) conducted visits. The Government also permitted visits to 
detention locations by the Human Rights League of Guinea-Bissau (LGDH). 
The Government required advance scheduling of visits and did not permit 
regular repeat visits.
    Following his April 1 detention (see section 1.d.), former armed 
forces chief of staff Jose Zamora Induta was reportedly in poor health 
and was denied access to medical treatment at the military barracks in 
Mansoa. Induta was allowed to receive visitors, including diplomatic 
representatives and UNOGBIS and ICRC representatives, but not without 
third parties present.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions; however, security forces arbitrarily 
arrested persons and were involved in settling personal disputes, 
sometimes detaining persons upon request without full due process.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The country is divided 
into 37 police districts, and there were an estimated 3,500 police 
personnel in nine different police forces reporting to seven different 
ministries. The approximately 100 officers of the Judicial Police, 
under the Ministry of Justice, have primary responsibility for 
investigating drug trafficking, terrorism, and other transnational 
crime, while the 1,300 members of the Public Order Police, under the 
Ministry of Interior, are responsible for preventive patrols, crowd 
control, and conventional maintenance of law and order. Other police 
forces include the State Information Service, the Border Service, the 
Rapid Intervention Force, and the Maritime Police.
    Police were generally ineffective, poorly and irregularly paid, and 
corrupt. They could not afford fuel for the few vehicles they had, and 
there was a severe lack of training.
    During the year the Director General of the Judicial Police 
received formal police training in Ghana facilitated by the Economic 
Community of West African States. Also, in preparation for the opening 
of the new prisons in Mansoa and Bafata, a group of 78 prison guards 
and five directors completed a ten-week basic training course led by 
the Portuguese Ministry of Justice and UNODC. The training included 
instruction in prison management and contained a human rights module.
    Transit police were particularly corrupt and demanded bribes from 
vehicle drivers, whether their documents and vehicles were in order or 
not. Impunity was a problem. Corruption and a lack of police detention 
facilities and vehicles frequently resulted in prisoners simply walking 
out of custody in the middle of investigations. The attorney general 
was responsible for investigating police abuses; however, employees of 
the attorney general were also poorly paid and susceptible to threats, 
corruption and coercion.
    According to the constitution, the armed forces are responsible for 
external security and can be called upon to assist the police in 
internal emergencies.
    During a military mutiny on April 1, the former navy chief of 
staff, Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto and soldiers loyal to then deputy 
armed forces chief Antonio Indjai beat, robbed, and detained Prime 
Minister Carlos Gomes, armed forces chief of staff Jose Zamora Induta, 
and other military personnel. Gomes was released several hours later 
and departed the country on April 23 to receive medical treatment 
abroad. He returned in June. Induta remained in detention without 
charge until December 23.
    During the mutiny, soldiers also released several officials being 
held on charges of embezzling government funds; however, the officials 
were suspended from their jobs, and charges against them were pending 
at year's end.
    On July 6, a group of soldiers assaulted several police officers, 
including at least two women, near the parliament building. According 
to media reports, the incident occurred following a dispute between a 
relative of recently appointed armed forces chief of staff Indjai and a 
traffic police officer. No soldiers were charged or punished for the 
assault by year's end.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires arrest warrants, although warrantless arrests often occurred. 
The law requires that detainees be brought before a magistrate within 
48 hours after arrest and that prisoners be released if no timely 
indictment is filed; however, authorities did not always respect these 
rights in practice. In general, detainees were informed promptly of 
charges against them, but some military detentions involved no 
notification of charges. The law provides for the right to counsel and 
to counsel at state expense for indigent clients; however, lawyers did 
not receive compensation for their part-time public defense work and 
often ignored state directives to represent indigent clients. There was 
a functioning bail system, and pretrial detainees were allowed prompt 
access to family members.
    At times authorities arrested criminal suspects, particularly 
immigrants, without warrants.
    No actions were taken against military personnel who illegally 
arrested and beat Pedro Infanda in March 2009 (see section 1.c.).
    No actions were taken against soldiers who illegally arrested and 
beat Francisco Jose Fadul, the former president prime minister and 
former chief justice of the Audit Court (see section 1.c.).
    The vast majority of the prison population consisted of detainees 
awaiting the conclusion of their trials; however, few detainees 
remained in custody for longer than one year. Most left detention 
before the conclusion of their trials as a result of inadequate 
detention facilities, lack of security, and rampant corruption. The few 
prisoners who were convicted seldom remained in custody for more than 
two years. Prisoners remanded to their homes due to space constraints 
in detention facilities often failed to return to prison.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary; however, the largely nonfunctional 
judicial branch had little independence. Judges were poorly trained, 
inadequately and irregularly paid, and subject to corruption. Courts 
and judicial authorities were also frequently accused of bias and 
passivity, according to a 2008 report published by the International 
Federation for Human Rights. The attorney general had little protection 
from political pressure since the president can independently replace 
the incumbent. Trials were often delayed by lack of materials or 
infrastructure, and convictions were extremely rare.
    In addition to the civil judicial structure, there is a military 
court. The Supreme Military Court is the final court of appeal for 
military cases. In theory, military courts do not try civilians; 
however, civilian courts try all cases involving state security, even 
if the accused are members of the military.
    Traditional systems of justice 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. Police also often resolved disputes.

    Trial Procedures.--There is no trial by jury. For all citizens, the 
law provides for a presumption of innocence, the right to have timely 
access to an attorney, to question witnesses, to have access to 
evidence held by the Government, and to appeal. Trials in civilian 
courts are open to the public. Defendants have the right to be present 
and to present witnesses and evidence on their behalf. For those few 
defendants whose cases went to trial, these rights were respected in a 
majority of cases and despite the otherwise dysfunctional judiciary. 
Citizens who cannot afford an attorney have the right to a court-
appointed lawyer; however, court-appointed attorneys received no 
compensation from the state for representing indigent clients, were not 
punished for failing to do so, and generally ignored such 
responsibilities.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no other reports of 
political prisoners or detainees during the year.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The judicial system 
handles civil as well as criminal matters, but it was neither 
independent nor impartial. There was no administrative mechanism to 
address human rights violations. Domestic court orders often were not 
enforced.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions, and 
the Government partially respected these prohibitions in practice. 
Police routinely ignored privacy rights and protections against 
unreasonable search and seizure.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government did not 
always respect these rights in practice. During the year security 
forces detained persons for exercising their right to free speech, 
particularly when they spoke out against military officials or 
arbitrary killings. Journalists practiced self-censorship.
    On May 14, the private daily newspaper Diary Bissau published an 
editorial entitled ``Guinea-Bissau is a Narco-state'' with photographs 
of former armed forces chief of staff Na Waie, former president Vieira, 
former deputy assembly leader Proenca, and former presidential 
candidate Dabo captioned ``victims of drug trafficking in Guinea-
Bissau.'' Unknown assailants subsequently beat Joao de Barros, the 
director of the paper and former minister of media affairs under 
Vieira. In addition the paper's headquarters was ransacked and all 
publishing equipment destroyed. One man, Armando Correia Dias, was 
briefly detained but later released without charge. The investigation 
remained open at the end of the year.
    There were no developments in the case of Francisco Jose Fadul, 
former prime minister and chief justice of the Audit Court. Soldiers 
beat and stole possessions from Fadul following a March 2009 press 
conference in which he called on the Government to hold the armed 
forces responsible for corruption and other criminal activities.
    In addition to the Government-owned newspaper No Pintcha, several 
private newspapers published without restriction. All newspapers were 
published through the state-owned printing house. The national printing 
press often lacked raw materials, and salaries were not always paid, 
resulting in publication delays.
    There were several independent radio stations, a national radio 
station, and a national television station. International radio 
broadcasts could be received.
    Journalists reported receiving telephone threats and summons to 
government premises to explain their activities or statements, while 
others reported prolonged court proceedings that impeded their work.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups engaged in the peaceful 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. Lack of 
infrastructure, equipment, and education severely limited access to the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly, 
and the Government usually respected this right in practice. Permits 
were required for all assemblies and demonstrations.
    Following the April 1 military mutiny, numerous citizens protested 
in Bissau against the detention of Prime Minister Gomes and Armed 
Forces Chief of Staff Induta in the streets of Bissau. Deputy Armed 
Forces Chief of Staff Antonio Indjai and former navy chief of staff Na 
Tchuto threatened to kill civilians and Gomes if the crowds did not 
disperse, but the threats were not carried out prior to Gomes' release.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for the 
right of association, and the Government generally respected this right 
in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in 
providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons 
(IDPs), refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other persons 
of concern.
    The law did not specifically prohibit forced exile; however, the 
Government did not use it.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--IDPs moved back and forth 
over the border with Senegal, depending on the status of the ongoing 
armed conflict in Senegal's Casamance region. With ethnic and family 
ties on both sides of the poorly marked border, the nationality of IDPs 
was not always clear.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status and the Government has established 
a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the 
Government provided protection against the expulsion or return of 
refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened. 
The Government did not grant refugee status or asylum during the year.
    There were no restrictions on refugees' ability to work provided 
they had a valid refugee card. Persons holding official refugee status 
were allowed access to public services, including education, health 
care, and land. The UNHCR opened an office in Bissau in February and 
facilitated the issuance of refugee cards. As in previous years, local 
communities in northern Guinea-Bissau lent land to long-term refugees 
from the Casamance region of southern Senegal, thus allowing the 
refugees to cultivate the land. Rather than utilizing local schools, 
most refugees sent children to nearby Senegalese schools in the 
Casamance, which were perceived as being higher quality.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens with the right to 
peacefully change their government.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Following the March 2009 
military assassination of President Vieira, interim president Raimundo 
Pereira postponed the first round of the presidential election until 
June 2009, citing lack of resources, although the constitution provides 
that an election be held within 60 days of a president's death. The 
PAIGC candidate, Malam Bacai Sanha, won the June 2009 first round with 
39 percent of the vote, and the July 2009 second round with 63 percent.
    International observers characterized the polling process as free 
and fair.
    Formal membership in the dominant party conferred some informal 
advantages. The Balanta ethnic group, mainly through its predominance 
in the armed forces, controlled the political system.
    During the year the ruling PAIGC party attempted to restrict 
opposition political activity. Unlike previous years, the political 
opposition was not subjected to overt violence such as torture or 
killings.
    The 98-member National Assembly had 10 female members. The Supreme 
Court president, three of the 19 government ministers, and one of nine 
state secretaries were also women.
    All ethnic groups were represented in the Government. The minority 
Balanta group dominated the army.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties of one month to 10 years in 
prison for official corruption. However the Government did not 
implement the law effectively, and officials frequently engaged in 
corrupt practices with impunity.
    Official corruption and lack of transparency were endemic at all 
levels of government. The World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators 
reflected that corruption was a severe problem. Members of the military 
and civilian administration reportedly trafficked in drugs and assisted 
international drug cartels by providing access to the country and its 
transportation infrastructure. Customs officers frequently accepted 
bribes not to collect import duties, which greatly reduced government 
revenues. The largely nonfunctional and corrupt judiciary was unable 
and unwilling to enforce the law and investigate corruption cases. 
Unlike the previous year, there were no new investigations of 
corruption by the attorney general.
    During the year the Government imprisoned and charged officials 
with collecting salary payments of former and deceased government 
employees, but soldiers released the officials during the April 1 
mutiny. The officials remained free at the end of the year, although 
the charges against them were pending in court.
    On June 25, deputy armed forces chief of staff Antonio Indjai was 
promoted to armed forces chief of staff, despite having led the April 1 
mutiny in which Prime Minister Gomes and former armed forces chief of 
staff Induta were illegally detained (see Section 1.d.).
    On October 15, former treasury secretary Maria Paula Costa was 
found guilty of fraud and negligence. He was sentenced to three years 
in prison and fined 3.5 million CFA ($7,000). The charges stemmed from 
a 2006 case in which forged signatures were used to steal 75 million 
CFA ($150,000) from the treasury.
    According to media reports, the head of the country's football 
federation remained free at year's end despite receiving a three-year 
prison sentence in 2009 for stealing millions of CFA from the 
federation that had been intended to build the organization's local 
headquarters.
    Unlike the previous year, no officials were arrested or charged for 
embezzlement.
    According to a 2008 UN report on the country and the activities of 
the UN Peacebuilding Support Office, the country was rapidly moving 
from being a transit hub to a major market place in the drug trade. 
According to the UNODC, the volume of drugs transiting the country 
increased during the year. The failure to interdict or investigate 
suspected narcotics traffickers contributed to the perception of 
government and military involvement in narcotics trafficking.
    Systemic failure to act throughout the police, military, and 
judiciary resulted in the absence of prosecutions of drug traffickers. 
Drug traffickers usually had official protection at some level. The 
Judicial Police had no resources to conduct investigations, limited 
ability to detain suspects, and no means of transporting detainees to 
court. Judges and guards were highly susceptible to corruption and 
often released suspected traffickers who subsequently disappeared. 
Judicial officials who displayed independence, resisted corruption, or 
attempted to investigate or prosecute narcotics traffickers were 
threatened.
    On October 8, former navy chief of staff Na Tchuto was reappointed 
to his old position, despite being involved in the April 1 mutiny (see 
section 1.d.) and his known involvement in narcotics trafficking.
    There were no developments in the 2008 case of the military's 
protection of the crew of an airplane impounded at Bissau airport and 
the off-loading of a suspected shipment of cocaine.
    Public officials are legally required to disclose their personal 
finances before the Court of Audits, but the court's authority was 
weak. No public officials disclosed their personal finances during the 
year.
    As in the previous year, the National Assembly's anticorruption 
committee was inactive.
    The law provides that ``everyone has the right to information and 
judicial protection''; however, such access was seldom provided.
Section 5. 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 reports that NGO workers were harassed during the year. 
For example, in June the president of the Bissau Civil Society Movement 
reported receiving death threats following a press conference in which 
the organization noted problems between the president and prime 
minister and the ``insubordination'' of the military to civilian 
authorities and expressed uncertainty about the future of the 
Government.
    There were no developments in the case of Luis Vas Martins, 
president of the LGDH, who reported in April 2009 that an armed man 
came to his office and threatened to kill him due to an LGDH statement 
condemning the beating of Francisco Jose Fadul (see section 1.c.).
    The Government permitted visits by UN representatives, including 
UNOGBIS personnel and the ICRC.
    There was no government response by year's end to the October 2009 
UN Report of the Secretary-General on Developments in Guinea-Bissau and 
on the Activities of the United Nations, which was critical of the 
country's human rights record.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination but does not designate the bases 
of discrimination; the Government did not enforce prohibitions against 
discrimination.

    Women.--The law prohibits rape, including spousal rape, but 
government enforcement was limited. Based on anecdotal evidence, rape 
was not a frequent problem. The law only permits prosecution of rape 
when the victim has reported it, which observers noted was rare due to 
the cultural stigmatization of rape victims. This problem was 
exacerbated in the Muslim eastern regions of Gabu and Bafata, where a 
cultural practice known as ``djokorenda'' dictated that the issue be 
resolved at home within a family. There were no statistics available on 
the number of abusers who were prosecuted, convicted, or punished for 
rape.
    Domestic violence, including wife beating, was an accepted means of 
settling domestic disputes and was reportedly widespread. There is no 
law that prohibits domestic violence, and politicians reportedly were 
reluctant to address the subject for fear of alienating more 
traditional voters or particular ethnic groups. Although police 
intervened in domestic disputes if requested, the Government did not 
undertake specific measures to counter social pressure against 
reporting domestic violence, rape, incest, and other mistreatment of 
women.
    There is no law prohibiting sexual harassment and it was a problem.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children and to 
have the information and means to do so free from discrimination, 
coercion, and violence. There is access to birth control and limited 
access to HIV testing. Women and men were equally diagnosed and treated 
for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. The UN Population 
Fund reported that 98 of 114 health centers offered family planning 
services and that approximately 10 percent of women used contraception. 
The Catholic Church and other religious groups discouraged condom use, 
which also was not widespread due to lack of education. According to 
the most recent data available from the UN Population Fund, 78 percent 
of women were attended to by a skilled health provider during 
pregnancy; however, only 39 percent of live births were attended by a 
skilled health worker. Estimates for the maternal mortality rate ranged 
from 800 to 1,100 per 100,000 live births.
    The law treats men and women equally and prohibits discrimination; 
however, discrimination against women was a problem, particularly in 
rural areas where traditional and Islamic laws were dominant. Women 
were responsible for most work on subsistence farms and had limited 
access to education like the majority of citizens, especially in rural 
areas. Women did not have equal access to employment. Among certain 
ethnic groups, women cannot manage land or inherit property. Although 
no data was available, women reportedly experienced discrimination in 
employment, pay for similar work, and owning a business.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived by birth within the country and 
from one's parents. Child registration does not occur automatically at 
hospitals. Parents must register their child's birth with a notary. The 
Government conducts yearly campaigns to register children in the 
countryside. Lack of registration resulted in the denial of education, 
since school registration requires a birth certificate. Lack of 
registration did not result in the denial of health services.
    Public schooling was free and universal through high school. In 
March the national assembly passed a law increasing compulsory 
attendance from the sixth grade to the ninth grade and lowering the 
enrollment age from seven years to six. The gap of enrollment rates 
between girls and boys was fairly small: 65.4 percent for girls and 
69.3 percent for boys. Teachers were poorly trained and paid. Schools 
closed twice during the year due to strikes by teachers protesting 
nonpayment of salaries.
    Children often were required to help their families in the fields, 
which conflicted with schooling. In general there was no difference in 
the treatment and attendance of boys and girls, but Islamic schools 
banned girls from attending.
    Violence against children was widespread, but was seldom reported 
to the authorities.
    During the year an 85-year-old man in Gabu was charged with 
sexually abusing two of his granddaughters, aged 15 and 16, which 
resulted in their pregnancies. His trial had not begun by year's end.
    There is no law prohibiting FGM, and certain ethnic groups, 
especially the Fulas and the Mandinkas, practiced it, not only on 
adolescent girls but also on babies as young as four months. There was 
no government effort to combat FGM during the year, but NGOs worked to 
limit the practice. In June there was one reported death of a baby girl 
in Bissau due to the practice.
    Child marriage occurred among all ethnic groups, but no reliable 
data existed to quantify the problem. Girls who fled arranged marriages 
often were forced into prostitution to support themselves. The practice 
of buying and selling child brides also reportedly occurred on 
occasion. Local NGOs worked to protect the rights of women and children 
and operated programs to fight child marriage and protect the victims 
of child marriage. Observers noted during the year that NGO efforts to 
enroll more girls in school had a negative side effect on child 
marriages: more girls were forced to marry at a younger age because 
parents feared the social opportunities of school would increase the 
risk of their daughters losing their virginity before marriage.
    There are no explicit penalties for child prostitution, but there 
is a statutory rape law against having sex with a person less than 16 
years old. The rape law carries a penalty of two to six years in 
prison. There is no law against child pornography.
    The Child Protection Office of the Bissau Police Department 
estimated that approximately 1,000 children were living on the streets 
of Bissau, with a growing number of boys engaged in gangs and petty 
crime. The Government provided no services to street children.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no reports of anti-Semitism.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law does not specifically prohibit 
discrimination against persons with disabilities, mandate building 
access for them, or provide for equal access to employment and 
education. There were no government efforts to mitigate discrimination 
against persons with disabilities or ensure their access to buildings 
or streets. However, there were no reports of overt societal 
discrimination. The Government made some efforts to assist military 
veterans with disabilities through pension programs, but these programs 
did not adequately address health, housing, or food needs.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There are no laws that 
criminalize sexual orientation; however, social taboos against 
homosexuality restricted freedom of sexual orientation. There were no 
reported violent incidents or human rights abuses targeting individuals 
based on their sexual orientation or identity. There was no official 
discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in 
employment or access to education and health care. However, the law 
only recognized heterosexual married couples as entitled to larger 
government housing.

    Other Societal Violence and Discrimination.--There was open 
discussion of HIV/AIDS and no societal violence or discrimination 
against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides all workers with the 
freedom to form and join independent trade unions without previous 
authorization or excessive requirements, and workers exercised this 
right in practice.
    Most of the population, 90 percent, worked in the agricultural 
sector. Other employment sectors included fisheries and extractive 
industries. A significant majority of the population worked in 
subsistence agriculture, and only a small percentage of workers were in 
the wage sector and organized. Approximately 85 percent of union 
members were government or parastatal employees who belonged primarily 
to independent unions. Further statistics pertaining to the country's 
workforce were unavailable.
    The law allows unions to conduct their activities without 
government interference; trade union delegates are protected under 
union laws, while laborers' rights to free speech and assembly are 
protected by the constitution. However, only trade union delegates are 
protected against antiunion discrimination, with limited sanctions.
    The law provides for the right to strike, but the Government did 
not always protect this right. The only legal restriction on strike 
activity was a prior notice requirement. The law also prohibits 
retaliation against strikers.
    Unlike the previous year, there were no reports that security 
personnel forcibly dispersed legal strike participants.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 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. Most wages were established 
in bilateral negotiations between workers and employers.
    The law does not prohibit employer antiunion discrimination against 
workers; however, no workers alleged antiunion discrimination during 
the year, and the practice was not believed to be widespread.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including by children, but there were 
reports that such practices occurred. Boys were routinely sent abroad 
(often to Senegal) to receive religious education, but then often were 
forced by their marabouts (Koranic teachers) to beg in the streets and 
were subjected to harsh treatment. Some observers believed girls were 
also subjected to forced domestic labor within country or in Senegal.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There are no specific laws that protect children from exploitation in 
the workplace, and child labor occurred. The legal minimum age is 14 
for general factory labor and 18 for heavy or dangerous labor, 
including labor in mines. Minors are prohibited from working overtime. 
The small formal sector generally adhered to these minimum age 
requirements; however, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of 
Civil Service and Labor did not enforce these requirements in informal 
work settings.
    Most child labor occurred in the informal sector. As in previous 
years, types of forced child labor included domestic servitude, shoe 
shining, and selling food in urban streets. Children in rural 
communities performed domestic and fieldwork without pay to help 
support their families or because of a lack of educational 
opportunities. Some children were partially or completely withdrawn 
from school to work in the fields during the annual cashew harvest. The 
Government had not taken action to combat such practices by year's end.
    The Institute of Women and Children and the ministries of labor and 
justice are responsible for protecting children from labor 
exploitation; however, there was no effective enforcement. The 
Government took little action to prevent child labor during the year. 
The local NGO Association of the Friends of Children (AMIC), in 
collaboration with the NGO International Cooperation and Development, 
succeeded in rescuing approximately 48 child workers. AMIC estimated 
that approximately 50 children per month returned home of their own 
volition. The NGO Network of Youth was also involved in removing child 
workers.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Council of Ministers 
annually establishes minimum wage rates for all categories of work, but 
it did not enforce them. The lowest monthly wage was approximately 
19,030 CFA ($38) 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.
    Unlike in the previous year, the Government paid back wages and 
kept current on civil servant salaries.
    The law provides for a maximum 45-hour workweek; however, many 
employees were forced to work longer hours. The law also provides for 
overtime pay, as long as overtime does not exceed 200 hours per year, 
and a mandatory 12-hour rest period between workdays; however, these 
provisions were not enforced.
    With the cooperation of the unions, the Ministries of Justice and 
Labor establish legal health and safety standards for workers, which 
the national assembly then adopts into law; however, these standards 
were not enforced, and many persons worked under conditions that 
endangered their health and safety. Workers, including foreign workers, 
do not have the right to remove themselves from unsafe working 
conditions without losing their jobs.
    *In 1998 the U.S. Embassy suspended operations in the midst of 
heavy fighting during a civil war in Guinea-Bissau, and all official 
personnel in the country were evacuated. This report is based on 
information obtained from U.S. embassies in neighboring countries, 
especially Senegal, from other independent sources, and from regular 
visits by diplomatic personnel to Guinea-Bissau.

                               __________

                                 KENYA

    Kenya is a republic with a population of approximately 40 million. 
It currently has a strong president and a prime minister with unclearly 
defined executive powers. There is a unicameral national assembly. In 
2007 the Government held local, parliamentary, and presidential 
elections. Observers judged the parliamentary and local elections to be 
generally free and fair. In the presidential election, the incumbent, 
President Mwai Kibaki, was proclaimed the winner by a narrow margin 
under controversial circumstances. Serious irregularities undermined 
the integrity of the presidential election results. Raila Odinga, the 
main opposition candidate, disputed the results, and violence erupted 
in sections of Nairobi and opposition strongholds in Nyanza, Rift 
Valley, and Coast provinces; approximately 1,133 persons were killed 
and more than 350,000 displaced between December 2007 and February 
2008. The violence ended in February 2008 when, as the result of an 
international mediation process, the two sides agreed to form a 
coalition government. Under the terms of the agreement, incumbent 
Kibaki retained his office, and Odinga was appointed to a newly created 
prime ministerial position. The parties also agreed to undertake a 
series of constitutional, electoral, and land reforms to address 
underlying causes of the crisis. On August 4, citizens approved a new 
constitution in a national referendum, widely considered to be free and 
fair. Some of its elements entered into force immediately, but full 
implementation was expected to take several years. It was expected that 
if fully implemented, it would result in significant changes to the 
Government's structure, including greater checks on executive power, 
the elimination of a prime minister, greater devolution of power to the 
counties, and creation of a second legislative chamber. There were 
instances in which elements of the security forces acted independently 
of civilian control.
    The following human rights problems were reported: abridgement of 
citizens' right to change their government in the last national 
election; unlawful killings, torture, rape, and use of excessive force 
by security forces; mob violence; police corruption and impunity; harsh 
and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; 
arbitrary interference with the home and infringement on citizens' 
privacy; prolonged pretrial detention; executive influence on the 
judiciary and judicial corruption; restrictions on freedom of speech, 
press, and assembly; forced return and abuse of refugees, including 
killing and rape; official corruption; violence and discrimination 
against women; violence against children, including female genital 
mutilation (FGM); child prostitution; trafficking in persons; 
interethnic violence; discrimination based on ethnicity, sexual 
orientation, and HIV/AIDS status; lack of enforcement of workers' 
rights; forced and bonded labor; and child 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 several 
reports that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary and 
unlawful killings, included politically motivated killings, during the 
year. The Government took only limited action in enforcing the law 
against security forces suspected of unlawfully killing citizens.
    On March 11, seven administration police executed seven taxi 
drivers in the Kawangware slums west of Nairobi. The seven men were 
arrested, appeared in court on March 31, and were charged on December 
11. A trial had not begun by year's end.
    In July, according to Amnesty International, a 74-year-old unarmed 
man was shot and killed by police after verbally protesting the beating 
of a woman during a forced evacuation of a Nairobi settlement. There 
were no developments in the case by year's end.
    In September administration police killed 14 persons and dumped 
their bodies in Kinale Forest. Police made no statement about the 
killings although there were reports that three of the victims were 
known criminals. Members of Parliament (MP) tasked the Minister of 
Security with issuing a report on the murders although no report had 
been produced by year's end.
    On November 6, a police officer shot and killed 10 persons, 
including two fellow officers, while allegedly looking for a woman who 
infected him with HIV. There were no developments in this case by 
year's end.
    In February 2009 Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on 
extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions, released a report that 
found ``that police in Kenya frequently execute individuals and that a 
climate of impunity prevails.'' The rapporteur also reported ``the 
existence of police death squads operating on the orders of senior 
police officials and charged with eliminating suspected leaders and 
members of criminal organizations.'' The Government rejected the 
findings of the Alston report and filed a protest with the UN. 
According to media reports, however, the Ministry of Internal Security 
acknowledged in a February 2009 letter to the Kenya National Commission 
on Human Rights (KNCHR) that police had killed 308 youths in 2008.
    In 2008 the Government formed the Commission of Inquiry into 
Postelection Violence (CIPEV) as part of the internationally mediated 
political settlement. The CIPEV documented 405 gunshot deaths during 
the postelection period; it attributed the vast majority of these to 
police. The final CIPEV report recommended that the Government 
establish a special tribunal to investigate individuals suspected of 
such violence; however, no local tribunal was established, and the 
Government still had not systematically investigated or prosecuted 
individuals suspected of postelection violence through other means by 
year's end. However, on December 15, the chief prosecutor of the 
International Criminal Court (ICC) announced that he had asked a 
pretrial chamber to issue summonses for six Kenyan nationals on charges 
of crimes against humanity for their alleged role in the 2007-08 
postelection violence.
    In March 2009 unidentified gunmen, reportedly acting on orders from 
the former commissioner of police, shot and killed Oscar Kamau 
King'ara, the executive director of the local nongovernmental 
organization (NGO) Oscar Foundation Free Legal Aid Clinic Kenya 
(OFFLACK), and Paul Oulu, OFFLACK's program coordinator. In 2008 
OFFLACK reported that police were linked with the continued 
disappearance and deaths of suspected members of the banned Mungiki 
criminal organization. Police threatened and intimidated witnesses to 
the killings, and four witnesses went into exile. The prime minister 
requested international assistance to investigate the murders, but the 
minister for foreign affairs subsequently rejected such assistance. No 
credible investigation had been conducted by year's end, and none was 
expected.
    Security forces continued to claim that police must shoot to kill 
to defend themselves when confronted by armed suspects. For example, in 
September 2009, the media reported that the district commissioner for 
Murang'a East District issued a ``shoot to kill'' order against 
suspected Mungiki members, and in October 2009 a district commissioner 
in Marakwet announced a ``shoot to kill'' policy against suspected 
armed bandits. The policy first was enunciated in 2005 and later 
reiterated in 2007, after armed criminals killed 43 police officers in 
the line of duty.
    On March 10, police reportedly killed seven suspected members of 
the Mungiki in a police operation in Nairobi. Police claimed that a gun 
battle had started after police shot at a mob that was attacking 
motorcyclists to extort motorcycle taxi drivers.
    During the year there were reports that persons died while in 
police custody or shortly thereafter, some as a result of torture.
    For example, the Daily Nation reported in January that a 24-year-
old man was tortured to death while undergoing police interrogation 
regarding a livestock theft at the Ngomeni Police Station. No further 
information was available at year's end.
    In November the Standard newspaper reported that a man, arrested at 
a bar for an altercation with a police officer, was dragged to a police 
station by the officer and chained and beaten to death. No further 
information was available at year's end.
    In 2008 the Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU), a leading and 
credible human rights NGO, reported one death in police custody but 
noted that the actual number was likely higher; police often did not 
enter suspects into police custody records, impeding the ability to 
track such cases.
    Police killed numerous criminal suspects during the year, often 
claiming that the suspects violently resisted arrest or were armed. 
During the year security forces killed 16 suspected Mungiki members as 
compared to killing 25 in 2009.
    In 2009 the IMLU documented 33 alleged extrajudicial killings by 
police officers from January to October: the majority were criminal 
suspects whom police killed during apprehension.
    No action was taken during the year against police who killed five 
persons traveling in a ``matatu'' minibus in the Githurai area of 
Nairobi in October 2009; police claimed that the five were armed 
members of Mungiki. Residents of the area stated that the five were 
matatu operators fleeing police harassment and that police planted the 
gun after the killing.
    No action was taken against security force members in the following 
2008 killings of criminal suspects: the killing of six suspected car 
thieves in Nairobi; the police shooting deaths of 21 robbery suspects 
in and around Nairobi, and the shooting deaths of three suspects and 
two workers in a Nairobi casino.
    There also were no reported developments in the October 2009 
killing of the police officer who provided evidence to the KNCHR on 
extrajudicial killings of Mungiki members.
    A journalist was abducted and killed in 2009, reportedly at police 
instigation.
    No action was taken against security force members responsible for 
the 2008 extrajudicial killings of Mungiki members or the 2008 killing 
of a police officer who had cooperated with the KNCHR investigation of 
Mungiki killings.
    Unlike in 2008, police use of excessive force to disperse 
demonstrators did not result in deaths.
    There were no developments in the following 2008 cases of deaths of 
demonstrators, and none were expected: the arrest of a police officer 
in Kisumu for the shooting death of two unarmed protesters, and the 
killing of at least 83 persons during postelection violence in Kisumu.
    Mob violence and vigilante action resulted in numerous deaths. The 
great majority of victims killed by mobs were suspected of criminal 
activities, including theft, robbery, killings, cattle rustling, and 
membership in criminal or terrorist gangs. In April 2009 villagers near 
the town of Karatina clashed with suspected members of the Mungiki 
criminal organization, killing 29 persons. Police arrested 48 suspects 
in connection with the clashes. The case continued at year's end.
    There were no developments in the August 2009 case in which an 
armed gang killed internationally renowned gemologist Campbell Bridges 
when he confronted the group for trespassing on a mine near Voi. Police 
arrested and quickly released six suspects in the case, but Bridges' 
family alleged that senior government officials involved in the killing 
were not investigated.
    There were no developments in the following 2008 cases of death by 
mob violence: the death by burning of two men in Meru who allegedly 
robbed a matatu driver, the stoning of one man in Imenti South, or the 
lynching of a village chief in Mikumbune in Imenti South.
    Human rights observers attributed vigilante violence to a lack of 
public confidence in police and the criminal justice system; allegedly, 
assailants often bribed their way out of jail or were not arrested. The 
social acceptability of mob violence also provided cover for acts of 
personal vengeance, including settling land disputes.
    Mobs committed violence against persons suspected of witchcraft, 
particularly in Kisii District and Nyanza and Western provinces. 
Although local officials spoke out against witch burning and increased 
police patrols to discourage the practice, human rights NGOs noted 
public reluctance to report such cases due to fear of retribution.
    In February 2009 five persons were burned to death in Kitutu 
Chache, Kisii, after being accused of abducting and placing a spell on 
a young boy. In March 2009 six suspected witches were burned to death 
in Pokot District, and six others were killed in Kisii. No action was 
taken by year's end.

    b. Disappearance.--Unlike in the previous year, there were no 
reports of disappearances or politically motivated abductions.
    There were no developments in the January 2009 case in which a 
journalist was abducted and killed.
    There were no developments in the September 2009 case in which the 
Muslim Human Rights Forum alleged that five Muslims suspected by the 
Government of involvement in terrorist activity were abducted by the 
Antiterrorism Police Unit (ATPU) and subsequently disappeared. The ATPU 
denied the allegations.
    The KNCHR, the IMLU, and Western Kenya Human Rights Watch (WKHRW) 
reported that the Government failed to investigate disappearances in 
connection with the 2008 security force operation in Mount Elgon and 
the crackdown on the Mungiki criminal organization in 2008.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
the legal code does not define torture and provides no sentencing 
guidelines, which functionally bars prosecution for torture. Police 
frequently used violence and torture during interrogations and as 
punishment of pretrial detainees and convicted prisoners. According to 
the IMLU, physical battery was the most common method of torture used 
by the police.
    Human rights organizations, churches, and the press reported 
numerous cases of torture and indiscriminate police beatings.
    In 2008 the IMLU received 772 cases alleging torture by security 
officers, compared with 397 in 2005, although it noted that the number 
of torture cases was likely higher.
    There were allegations of rape by security forces, including the 
rape of women in prisons, as well as in camps for internally displaced 
persons (IDPs) and refugees and among asylum seekers crossing into the 
country from Somalia.
    For example, in March Human Rights Watch (HRW) conducted 102 
interviews regarding sexual violence in the Dadaab refugee camps. In 46 
of the cases, police were accused of gang-raping women in the camps or 
on their way to the camps. The Center for Rights Education Awareness 
alleged in 2008 that policemen raped women in the Kibera slum in 
Nairobi and those seeking refuge in police stations.
    Police use of excessive force to disperse demonstrators resulted in 
injuries (see section 2.b.).
    Due to a shortage of civilian state prosecutors in the legal system 
(72 civilian prosecutors nationwide compared to 315 police 
prosecutors), police were responsible for investigating and prosecuting 
all crimes at the magistrate court level; civilian prosecutors handled 
cases at the high court level. Police routinely ignored evidence of 
security force torture provided by the IMLU and other human rights 
organizations. In most cases allegations of torture were not fully 
investigated and the perpetrators not charged.
    As part of reforms agreed to in the National Accord in July 2009 
the Government established the Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation 
Commission (TJRC), whose mandate included the investigation of alleged 
cases of torture since independence. The TJRC had collected statements 
but had not conducted any hearings by year's end.
    The Government did not investigate alleged cases of torture by 
security forces that were documented by the IMLU and HRW from the Mount 
Elgon and El Wake security operations in 2008. The Government denied 
that security forces engaged in torture and refused to prosecute 
individuals alleged to have participated in torture during the two 
operations.
    There were numerous instances of mob violence and vigilante action 
resulting in serious injury. On February 12, near Mombasa, an armed mob 
of between 200 and 300 persons surrounded the Kenya Medical Research 
Institute (KEMRI), a government health center that provides HIV/AIDS 
services. Police arrived, took two KEMRI employees into custody for 
their protection but did not arrest members of the mob. On the same day 
the mob beat a man who had come to the health care center and were 
about to set fire to him when the police took the beaten man into 
custody. The mob then gathered outside the police station. The 
following day, a mob severely beat a KEMRI volunteer, who was also 
taken into protective custody. Over the next week, mobs in the same 
area attacked and beat other persons suspected of being gay (see 
section 1.d. and 6).

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions continued to be harsh and life threatening. A KNCHR 
prison assessment during 2009 concluded that torture, degrading and 
inhuman treatment, unsanitary conditions, and extreme overcrowding were 
endemic in prisons. The commissioner of prisons reported that prisons 
were filled to 200 percent capacity during the year. According to the 
Legal Resources Foundation Trust (LRF), there were 49,757 prisoners on 
the last day of the year, held in prisons with a recommended capacity 
of 22,000. Approximately 36 percent of the prisoners were in remand, 
awaiting trial due to the judicial backlog. The Daily Nation reported 
that in February the Kakamega Remand Prison held 900 inmates awaiting 
trial in an institution built to accommodate 500.
    Civil society organizations began visiting prisons in 2003, and 
these visits continued to reveal harsh conditions, as well as 
allegations by prisoners of inhumane treatment, including torture. For 
example, in February 2009 the KNCHR documented beatings and assault by 
prison staff of prisoners at Nairobi Remand and Meru Women's Prisons, 
and in April 2009 at Kisumu Women's Prison.
    In 2008 wardens in Kamiti Prison scalded prisoners with hot water 
and beat them during an operation to interdict contraband items. One 
person died, and 20 were hospitalized. Three wardens were suspended. At 
year's end a police investigation of the incident continued.
    Prisoners generally received three meals per day, but portions were 
inadequate, and sometimes they were given half rations as punishment. 
During the year LRF reported that prison conditions were poor due to 
lack of funding, overcrowding, and poor management. Water shortages, an 
issue outside prisons as well, continued to be a problem, although the 
Government built one well and improved two water treatment plants. 
Medical care for those with tuberculosis was poor, and patients with 
tuberculosis or HIV/AIDS were not given supplemental food to assist in 
the digestion of their medication. Medical care in prisons for the 
general population was poor, although courts generally granted requests 
for referral to hospitals in serious cases. However, administrative 
delays, such as transport, often delayed court-ordered hospital 
attention. Shikusa Prison gained electricity during the year, but in 
general many prisoners spend most of their time indoors in poorly lit, 
poorly ventilated cell blocks. This was especially true for the one 
third of prisoners who were awaiting trial, as they were not engaged in 
any work programs that would allow them to leave their cell. Sanitary 
facilities had not been built to match the rise in prison populations.
    In 2009 prison personnel stated that the rape of male and female 
inmates, primarily by fellow inmates, continued. Media reports 
indicated that it was also common for prison officials to rape female 
inmates. In September 2009 a transgender person alleged abuse by male 
prisoners and wardens in Nairobi's Kamiti Prison. In December the High 
Court awarded him 511,252 shillings ($6,250) for the inhumane 
treatment, and he remained in solitary confinement at year's end.
    Hundreds of prisoners died annually from infectious diseases spread 
by overcrowding, unhygienic conditions, and inadequate medical 
treatment. During the year, according to the commissioner of prisons, 
218 prisoners died from diseases while incarcerated. In August 2009 18 
prisoners died of suspected tuberculosis and pneumonia in Kodiaga 
Prison in Kisumu.
    Prisoners were sometimes kept in solitary confinement far longer 
than the legal maximum of 90 days. Prisoners and detainees sometimes 
were denied the right to contact relatives or lawyers. Family members 
who wanted to visit prisoners faced numerous bureaucratic and physical 
obstacles, each often requiring a bribe to overcome. According to LRF 
during the year, prisoners had reasonable access to visitors including 
lawyers, although privacy space was lacking. However, on May 25, the 
Daily Nation reported that the Kitale branch of the Kenya Law Society 
stated that 35 lawyers were denied access to prisoners by court order 
as punishment for a lawyers' strike.
    LRF also reported during the year that prisoners were able to make 
complaints to the courts and had the ability to send paralegal-written 
letters to the court without appearing personally. Some prisons had 
paralegal clinics. Some magistrates and judges also made prison visits 
during the year, providing another avenue for prisoners to raise 
grievances. KNHRC had a mandate to visit prisons and investigate 
allegations of inhumane conditions. According to the commissioner of 
prisons, human rights trainings took place in prisons during the year. 
The department of prisons had imbedded intelligence officers in the 
prisons to report on conditions and any abuse.
    There were no separate facilities for minors in pretrial detention. 
Civil society activists witnessed young children, women, and men 
sharing the same cells. In 2008 IMLU reported that underage boys were 
detained in Bungoma Prison. Additionally a 2008 government report on 
prison conditions noted that underage female offenders, who were 
ineligible for diversion to a lesser security training school, were 
housed with adult female prisoners. According to the commissioner of 
prisons, there were 338 children, all under the age of four, living 
with their mothers in prisons. LRF reported the prisons did not have 
facilities, lessons, beds, or special food for the children nor did 
they have access to medical care.
    The Government permitted visits to prisons by local human rights 
groups during the year.
    Following the 2009 release of the Madoka Committee report on prison 
conditions, the Government increased investment in the prison system. 
New prison facilities and housing for prison staff were built, and 
bedding and meals for inmates improved, although they were still 
considered inadequate by rights groups.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arrest or 
detention without a court order unless there are reasonable grounds for 
believing a suspect has committed or is about to commit a criminal 
offense; however, police frequently arrested and detained citizens 
arbitrarily.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--There was a large 
internal security apparatus that included the Kenyan National Police 
Service (KNPS) and its Criminal Investigation Department, responsible 
for criminal investigations, and the ATPU; the Kenya Administration 
Police (KAP), which has a strong rural presence throughout the country, 
constitutes the security arm of the civilian provincial administration 
structure, and has the mandate for border security; the Kenya Wildlife 
Service, responsible for security and counterpoaching operations within 
the national parks; the paramilitary General Services Unit (GSU), 
responsible for countering uprisings and guarding high-security 
facilities; and the National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS), 
which collects intelligence. The KNPS, KAP, and GSU are under the 
authority of the Ministry of State for Provincial Administration and 
Internal Security. The NSIS is under the direct authority of the 
president. There was a public perception that police often were 
complicit in criminal activity.
    Police were ineffective and corrupt, and impunity was a problem. In 
2008 OFFLACK noted that bribery in police recruitment was a problem. 
The police often recruited unqualified candidates who had political 
connections or who paid bribes, which contributed to poorly conducted 
investigations.
    Press and civil society reported that police continued to resort to 
illegal confinement, extortion, physical abuse, and fabrication of 
charges to accomplish law enforcement objectives, as well as to 
facilitate illegal activities.
    Impunity was a major problem. Police officers rarely were arrested 
and prosecuted for criminal activities, corruption, or for using 
excessive force. In March 2009 police reportedly brutalized citizens 
during disarmament campaigns in Turkana and Samburu after promising 
amnesty. Authorities sometimes attributed the absence of an 
investigation into corruption or 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 regarding a process that assigned the investigation 
of police abuse to the police themselves.
    Police also often did not enter suspects into police custody 
records, making it difficult to locate detainees. For example, in 2009 
the civil society organization Bunge la Mwananchi reported that when 
members were arrested following political forums, they often were not 
booked at police stations.
    According to NGOs, the police practice of requiring an examination 
and testimony by a single police physician in the case of victims of 
sexual assault resulted in substantial barriers to the investigation 
and prosecution of sexual violence cases (see section 6). In 2009 the 
Government established a witness protection unit pursuant to the 2007 
witness protection law; however, the unit was not operational by year's 
end. Witness insecurity and harassment of witnesses continued to 
inhibit severely the investigation and prosecution of major crimes.
    The Government took some steps to curb police abuse during the 
year. For example, in January President Kibaki established the Police 
Reforms Implementation Committee to monitor progress of reforms 
required by the new constitution, including an independent police 
oversight board. The media also reported that several dozen police 
officers were arrested for petty corruption in the last quarter of the 
year.
    In September 2009 in response to an interim report by the National 
Task Force on Police Reforms, the president replaced police 
commissioner Hussein Ali and the senior police leadership. The final 
task force report was released in November 2009; a Police Reform 
Implementation Commission charged with overseeing the implementation of 
the recommended reforms began its work during the year. A 15-member 
committee headed by the CEO of Kenya Airways was established to 
undertake police reforms. It was given a one year mandate (which was 
extended) and tasked with undertaking 200 recommendations proposed by 
Justice Ransley's taskforce on police reforms, with minimal success at 
year's end.
    There were no developments, and none were expected, in the 
following 2008 cases: the trial of a police officer allegedly 
responsible for the shooting deaths of two unarmed, peaceful 
demonstrators in Kisumu; and the trial of a police officer for the 
shooting death of an MP in Kericho.
    There were numerous instances in which police failed to prevent 
societal violence. In February near Mombasa, an armed mob of between 
200 and 300 persons surrounded the KEMRI (see section 1.c.). Police did 
not arrest any members of the mob.
    In February and March 2009, police failed to prevent the burning 
deaths of suspected witches in Pokot and Kisii. In April 2009, police 
failed to prevent a mob from beating to death suspected Mungiki members 
in Karatina. Police attempted to investigate these incidents of 
societal violence but were hampered by the communities' unwillingness 
to provide information about the cases.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Under the 
criminal procedure code, police have broad powers of arrest. Police may 
make arrests without a warrant if they suspect a crime has occurred, is 
happening, or is imminent. Detainees in noncapital cases must be 
brought before a judge within 24 hours. Detainees in capital cases must 
be brought before a judge within 14 days; however, the Government did 
not respect this law in practice. The courts dealt with this 
shortcoming by considering whether the constitutional rights of the 
accused had been breached. In many cases accused persons, including 
some charged with murder, were released because they had been held 
longer than the prescribed period.
    The right to prompt judicial determination of the legality of 
detention frequently was not respected in practice. The law provides 
pretrial detainees the right of access to family members and attorneys. 
When detainees could afford counsel, police generally permitted access; 
however, there were cases in which police refused access to lawyers. 
Family members of detainees frequently complained that access was only 
permitted on payment of bribes. There is a functioning bail system; 
however, many suspects remained in jail for months pending trial 
because of their inability to post bail. Individuals charged with 
offenses that were deemed serious and capital offenses are not eligible 
for bail pending trial.
    Police often stopped and arrested citizens to extort bribes. For 
example, during the year police in Eastleigh routinely targeted Somali 
youths, threatening to send them to refugee camps if they did not pay a 
bribe. Since few could afford even a modest bribe, many languished in 
jail unless family or friends raised the bribe money demanded by 
police.
    Muslim leaders claimed that police indiscriminately arrested 
Muslims on suspicion of terrorism and that some suspects subsequently 
disappeared, but the police denied this.
    Muslim MPs and clerics also continued to claim that Muslims were 
being unfairly targeted during the year. For example, the arrest and 
renditions of suspects of the July 7 Kampala bombings were thought to 
be religiously based. The Ugandan government arrested several dozen 
individuals in connection with the bombings including, on September 15, 
including Kenyan human rights activist al-Amin Kimathi and Kenyan 
attorney Mbuga Mureithi. On September 18, authorities released Mureithi 
without charge and deported him back to Kenya. On December 1, 
authorities charged 17 persons, including Kimathi, with terrorism, 
murder and attempted murder in relation to the bombings and released 18 
others. Hearing of the cases was pending at year's end.
    There were no reports during the year that police arbitrarily 
arrested persons demonstrating against the Government.
    In August authorities arrested 13 civil society demonstrators for 
demanding a reason for the invitation to Sudanese President Omar al-
Bashir to attend the promulgation ceremony.
    Lengthy pretrial detention continued to be a serious problem that 
contributed to overcrowding in prisons. The Government claimed the 
average time spent in pretrial detention on capital charges was 16 
months; however, there were reports that many detainees spent more than 
three years in prison before their trials were completed. Police from 
the arresting location are responsible for serving court summonses and 
picking up detainees from the prison each time a court schedules a 
hearing on a case. A shortage of manpower and resources meant that 
police often failed to appear or lacked the means to transport 
detainees, who then were forced to await the next hearing of their 
cases. According to the judiciary, the backlog numbered approximately 
800,000 cases, including both civil and criminal. During the year there 
were more than 17,000 persons incarcerated awaiting trials.

    Amnesty.--The president releases petty offenders periodically, with 
the largest amnesty occurring on December 12, Independence Day; 
however, the release is not automatic. During the year the president 
pardoned approximately 4,000 persons. In August 2009 the president 
commuted all death row sentences to life imprisonment.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary; however, the executive branch sometimes 
exercised political influence over the judiciary. The judiciary was 
corrupt at all levels. In 2008 after the controversial announcement of 
the presidential results, the opposition leader refused to file a court 
challenge to the announcement because he did not expect a fair hearing.
    The president has extensive powers over appointments, including of 
the attorney general, chief justice, and appellate and high court 
judges; however, this will be reduced some under the new constitution. 
Key judicial appointments, including Chief Justice and Attorney 
General, now require the approval of parliament. A Judicial Services 
Commission is responsible for making recommendations for appointment of 
judges.
    The constitution provides for Kadhi's courts and states that the 
``jurisdiction of a Kadhi's court shall be limited to. questions of 
Muslim law relating to personal status, marriage, divorce, or 
inheritance in proceedings in which all the parties profess the Muslim 
religion and submit to the jurisdiction of the Kadhi's court.'' There 
are no other traditional courts. The national courts used the 
traditional law of an ethnic group as a guide in personal matters, as 
long as it did not conflict with statutory law. Use of traditional law 
occurred most often in cases of marriage, death, and inheritance in 
which there was an original contract based on traditional law. Citizens 
may choose between national and traditional law when they enter into 
marriage or other contracts; however, the courts determine which kind 
of law governs the enforcement of the contract. Some women's 
organizations sought to eliminate traditional law, through a number of 
proposed marriage laws, because in practice the current laws were 
interpreted and applied in favor of men.
    The Government occasionally used the legal system to harass 
critics. Local authorities continued to prosecute a 2008 case against a 
physician who helped document allegations of human rights abuses in the 
Mount Elgon region but dropped a case against a second witness.
    In May 2009 prosecutors dropped charges from a 2008 case against 
the director of the seafarer's welfare organization for issuing a 
statement that military cargo on a hijacked ship was bound for South 
Sudan and not Kenya, as the Government claimed.
    There were no developments and none were expected in the 2008 case 
of the former MPs charged with incitement for statements about human 
rights abuses in El Wak.

    Trial Procedures.--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 
trials, confront witnesses, and present witnesses and evidence in their 
defense. A defendant's right to consult with an attorney in a timely 
manner was generally respected. However, the vast majority of 
defendants could not afford representation and were tried without legal 
counsel. Indigent defendants do not have the right to government-
provided legal counsel except in capital cases. The lack of a formal 
legal aid system seriously hampered the ability of many poor defendants 
to mount an adequate defense. Legal aid was available only in major 
cities where some human rights organizations, notably the Federation of 
Women Lawyers (FIDA), provided it.
    Discovery laws are not defined clearly, further handicapping 
defense lawyers. Implementation of the High Court ruling that written 
statements be provided to the defense before trial was slow. Often 
defense lawyers did not have access to government-held evidence before 
a trial. The Government sometimes invoked the Official Secrets Act as a 
basis for withholding evidence. Defendants can appeal a verdict to the 
High Court and ultimately to the Court of Appeals. The legal system 
does not provide for trial by jury; judges try all cases.
    In treason and murder cases, the deputy registrar of the High Court 
can appoint three assessors, who are lay citizens, to sit with a high 
court judge. Although assessors render verdicts, their judgments are 
not binding, and the practice was being phased out, starting in 2009. 
Defendants' lawyers can object to the appointment of individual 
assessors. A shortage of appropriate assessors frequently led to long 
delays in hearing cases.
    According to NGOs the police practice of requiring an exam and 
testimony by a single police physician in cases of victims of sexual 
assault resulted in substantial barriers to the investigation and 
prosecution of sexual violence cases (see section 6).

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees during the year.

    Civil Procedures and Remedies.--The KNCHR has some powers of a 
court, including the issuance of summonses and ordering the release of 
a prisoner or detainee, payment of compensation, or other lawful 
remedy; however, the Government continued to ignore such summonses and 
orders. The police routinely refused to release suspects when ordered 
to do so by the KNCHR.
    In 2009 the attorney general filed a brief with the High Court 
arguing that the KNCHR should be stripped of judicial powers; the court 
had not issued a final ruling but did issue an injunction barring the 
KNCHR from convening investigatory panels. As a result, the KNCHR was 
barred from intervening in cases of police and judicial misconduct.
    The civil court system can be used to seek damages for victims of 
human rights violations. However, corruption, political influence over 
the civil court system, and chronic backlogs of cases limited access by 
victims to this remedy.
    Widespread corruption existed at all levels of the civil legal 
system. Bribes, extortion, and political considerations influenced the 
outcomes in large numbers of civil cases.
    Court fees for filing and hearing cases--a daily rate of at least 
2,040 shillings ($28) for arguing a civil case before a judge--
effectively barred many citizens from gaining access to the courts.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions, except 
``to promote public benefit''; however, authorities sometimes infringed 
on citizens' privacy rights. The law permits police to enter a home 
without a search warrant if the time required to obtain a warrant would 
prejudice an investigation. Although security officers generally 
obtained search warrants, they occasionally conducted searches without 
warrants to apprehend suspected criminals or to seize property believed 
stolen.
    During the year police raided dozens of homes in the Nairobi slums 
in search of suspected Mungiki members.
    City council officers and police officers also frequently raided, 
evicted, or destroyed the homes and businesses of citizens in slums or 
other areas who did not hold proper legal title. Residents complained 
that these actions were often intended to extort bribes from residents 
and small business owners.
    In September 2009 parliament accepted an amended version of the Mau 
Forest Task Force report, authorizing the eviction of all 2,000 
residents in the Mau Forest; evictions were carried out in November and 
December 2009. Evictees alleged that security forces destroyed property 
and that the Government failed to provide adequate emergency shelter or 
promised compensation. Residents holding title deeds are entitled to 
compensation.
    By year's end Mau Forest evictees had not been resettled and still 
were living in extremely poor conditions.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution provides for 
freedom of speech and of the press, but the Government sometimes 
restricted these rights. Unlike the previous year, there were no 
reports that security forces killed members of the media. However, 
during the year security forces harassed members of the media, and 
journalists practiced self-censorship.
    The Government occasionally interpreted laws in such a way as to 
restrict freedom of expression. The prohibition on discussion of issues 
under court consideration limited deliberation on a number of political 
issues, although this restriction was relaxed in September 2009. The 
Government monitored many types of civil society meetings, and 
individuals were not always allowed to criticize the Government 
publicly without reprisal. In September 2009, the speaker of parliament 
issued a ruling that the long-standing ``sub judice'' practice that 
prohibited parliamentary discussion of issues under judicial 
consideration could not be used to bar parliament from debating matters 
of public interest as it had in the past.
    The Government cited national or public security as grounds to 
suppress views that were politically embarrassing. The Kenya National 
Dialogue and Reconciliation Monitoring Project (KNDR) reported that two 
journalists for the Star newspaper were charged in court in 2009 for 
threatening national security. In October 2009, the KNDR reported that 
journalists reporting on the security sector often were intimidated by 
government officials and requested to reveal sources.
    The Government occasionally interpreted laws to restrict press 
freedom, and officials regularly accused the media of being 
irresponsible and disseminating misinformation. There were also reports 
of politicians paying journalists to avoid negative coverage or to 
plant negative coverage of a political opponent.
    Officials used libel laws to suppress criticism.
    In 2009 Minister of Finance Uhuru Kenyatta sued the Nation Media 
Group over its coverage of discrepancies in the national budget. Aaron 
Ringera, the former chairman of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission 
(KACC), initiated a libel case against the Standard Daily newspaper. No 
new details were available on these cases by year's end.
    In 2009 journalist Francis Kainda Nyaruri was abducted and killed 
near Nyamira, Kisii. NGOs reported that a credible investigation did 
not take place. There were no further developments in this case by 
year's end.
    In September 2009 the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), the 
media licensing body, circulated new regulations related to the 
controversial 2008 amendments to the Communications Act, which 
President Kibaki signed in January 2009.
    According to the new CCK regulations, ``all licensees, except the 
public broadcaster shall not be assigned more than one broadcast 
frequency for radio or television broadcasting in the same coverage 
area.'' A license will be granted to only those who offer broadcasting 
services for at least eight continuous hours per day. No frequency is 
transferrable to another entity without the CCK's permission.
    Generally the mainstream print media remained independent despite 
attempts at intimidation by officials and security forces. The 
mainstream print media included five daily newspapers, one business-
focused daily, and numerous regional weekly newspapers with national 
distribution. There also were numerous independent tabloid periodicals 
that appeared irregularly and were highly critical of the Government.
    Of the several television stations operating in Nairobi, the 
Government-owned Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) was the only 
station with a national network of broadcast and cable television, AM 
and FM radio, and short-wave transmission. Although KBC coverage was 
generally viewed as balanced, its monopoly on national broadcasting 
limited the ability of critics of the Government to communicate with 
the electorate. The disadvantage to government critics posed by the KBC 
monopoly on national broadcasting was particularly pronounced in the 
period prior to the 2007 general elections.
    The international media operated freely.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet. Individuals and groups could engage in the peaceful 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. Internet 
service was limited in rural areas due to lack of infrastructure. 
According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2008, 
approximately 8.6 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.
    In July 2009 the Government announced that all cell phone users had 
to provide the Government with their name and identification number for 
each line owned; this announcement also affected citizens who accessed 
the Internet through cell phone-based modems, potentially enabling the 
Government to monitor Internet use.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.
    A number of publications remained banned, including the Quotations 
of Chairman Mao Zedong and Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses. The 
Prohibited Publications Review Board reviewed publication bans.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly, 
but the Government frequently restricted this right in practice. 
Organizers must notify local police in advance of public meetings, 
which may proceed unless police notify organizers that the meeting is 
prohibited. According to the law, authorities may prohibit such 
gatherings only if there are simultaneous meetings previously scheduled 
for the same venue or if there is a perceived, specific security 
threat. However, police routinely denied requests for meetings filed by 
human rights activists and dispersed meetings for which no prohibition 
had been issued. Civil society groups noted that when they tried to 
comply with the licensing policy, police often refused to issue permits 
in a timely manner.
    Police forcibly dispersed demonstrators.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of association, and the Government generally respected this 
right. The Societies Act requires that every association be registered 
or exempted from registration by the registrar of societies.
    The 2002 ban on membership in the Mungiki criminal organization 
remained in effect. The Mungiki espoused political views and cultural 
practices that were controversial in mainstream society. Also in 2002 
the Government declared the group a criminal organization because it 
ran protection rackets, particularly in the public transportation 
sector, and harassed and intimidated residents. The Mungiki had a 
significant following among the poor and unemployed. Other prohibited 
criminal organizations with political or cultural trappings included 
the Kamjesh, Chinkororo, Baghdad Boys, Jeshi la Embakasi, Jeshi la 
Mzee, Amachuma, Sungu Sungu, and a local group called ``the Taliban.''

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights. The 
Government largely cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    Police routinely stopped vehicles throughout the country and often 
engaged in solicitation of bribes at such checkpoints. Ethnic Somalis 
are frequently required to provide additional identification. HRW 
stated during the year that the Government continued to illegally 
deport hundreds of Somali asylum seekers back to Somalia. HRW also 
stated that the Government detained and deported ethnic Somalis and 
Ethiopians on the assumption they were economic migrants or potential 
security risks; the NGO believed that some of these deportees were 
Kenyan citizens and legal residents.
    Refugee freedom of movement was severely restricted, and the 
Government tightened its restriction on travel outside of refugee camps 
unless approved by the Government and the UNHCR. There were instances 
in which refugees outside of the camps were detained despite holding 
valid travel passes.
    Civil servants and MPs must obtain government permission for 
international travel, which generally was granted.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it. 
However, in 2009 four witnesses to the OFFLACK killings went into self-
imposed exile after being intimidated by the police (see section 1.a.).

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--In September 2009 President 
Kibaki stated that approximately 7,000 of the 350,000 persons who fled 
their homes in Rift Valley Province, Central Province, Nairobi, and 
other sections of the country as a result of 2008 postelection 
interethnic violence, still had not been resettled in their home 
regions. In 2008 the Government announced ``Operation Rudi Nyumbani'' 
(Operation Return Home) to return IDPs in camps to their homes; 
however, the majority of IDPs chose to relocate to transit sites near 
to their homes. By the end of 2008 the Government had closed or ceased 
providing services to IDP camps; however, in 2009 the Kenya Red Cross 
Society reported that 99,198 IDPs resided in transit sites. IDP camp 
residents complained that police used force and did not offer adequate 
compensation during the resettlement.
    Rapes allegedly perpetrated by residents of camps, local residents, 
and sometimes by police personnel occurred in IDP camps. In 2008 the 
representative of the UN secretary general on the human rights of IDPs 
visited the country and concluded that the returns of some IDPs were 
not voluntary and based on informed choices. In a 2008 report the KNCHR 
found that the Government had used intimidation and force to remove 
IDPs from camps and had failed to provide housing, food, and clean 
water to resettled camp residents. The KNCHR also found that resettled 
residents were exposed to sexual violence and harassment.
    In 2009 government eviction and destruction of homes in low income 
areas resulted in IDPs. For example, in July of that year police 
bulldozed homes in Githogoro Village, Nairobi, displacing 3,000 
residents.
    There were also many other causes of displacement in 2009, 
including land disputes and flash floods. NGOs reported that hundreds 
of pastoralists were displaced in conflicts over pasture and watering 
holes in semiarid regions of North Eastern, Eastern, and Rift Valley 
Provinces. Karamojong from Uganda engaged in cross-border cattle raids 
in Western Rift Valley Province, resulting in death and displacement 
among the Pokot and Turkana tribes.
    An unknown proportion of the several thousand persons displaced by 
ethnic clashes from the 1990s had not returned to their homes due to 
fear of renewed violence.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status for those claiming asylum, and the Government 
coordinates with UNHCR to provide refugees protection. During the year 
the Department of Refugee Affairs (DRA) hired a consultant to develop a 
refugee policy to provide implementing guidelines for the 2006 Refugee 
Act. By year's end, however, the Government fired the consultant and 
was in the process of searching for a replacement consultant. 
Additionally the commissioner of refugee affairs stepped aside due to 
corruption allegations and was replaced by an acting commissioner until 
the allegations were investigated.
    The Government and UNHCR registered more than 90,000 new refugees 
during the year, with some 65,000 new arrivals registered in Dadaab 
refugee camp. The Dadaab refugee camps were severely overcrowded. UNHCR 
had received county authorization to transfer 20,000 refugees to land 
adjacent to an existing refugee camp but was blocked from implementing 
the transfer by local government officials. The Government provided 
some protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to 
countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account 
of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social 
group, or political opinion. However, there were credible reports of 
the forcible return of Somali asylum seekers throughout the year; the 
Kenya-Somalia border remained officially closed, limiting asylum 
seekers from legally entering the country. A planned reopening of the 
Liboi Registration Center for Somali asylum seekers had yet to be 
formally authorized by the Government. Somali asylum seekers reportedly 
paid approximately 7,500-15,000 shillings ($100-$200) per family in 
bribes and transportation costs to travel from the Kenya-Somalia border 
to the Dadaab refugee camps. HRW reported a ``systematic extortion 
network'' of police officers along the Kenya-Somalia border who 
committed serious human rights violations of Somali asylum seekers.
    In 2009 international donors initiated a program to transfer the 
responsibility of registering asylum seekers and completing refugee 
status determinations from the UNHCR to the Government. However, the 
plan had stalled and UNHCR still performed asylee registration and 
refugee status determination. The Government also registered refugees 
in Dadaab camps, located in the northeastern part of the country; 
however, many refugees report they had not received their 
identification documents by year's end.
    The Government permitted the UNHCR to register and assist new 
arrivals who successfully made their way to one of the three Dadaab 
refugee camps. The UNHCR registered 65, 207 new arrivals in the Dadaab 
camps during the year, increasing the camp size to more than 300,000 
refugees (the three camps were designed to accommodate 90,000 
refugees). In January the Garissa County Council approved the UNHCR's 
request to extend the Ifo refugee camp in Dadaab to accommodate an 
additional 90,000 refugees. However, due to disagreements with local 
officials and UNHCR, the Ifo extension had not been opened. The UNHCR 
began improvements to the land, as well as relocated 40,000 refugees to 
the site. New arrivals to Kakuma refugee camp in the northwest also 
continued to increase during the year, with 11, 387 new arrivals 
documented during the year bringing the camp population to 81,000. 
UNHCR reported that the host community had agreed to provide land for 
the Kakuma Camp expansion, which would accommodate 5,000 additional 
refugees. UNHCR was also in the process of negotiating the acquisition 
of land at Kalobeyei for an additional camp during the year.
    The UNHCR remained unable to provide newly arrived refugees with 
plots in the Dadaab camps, restricting assistance to limited nonfood 
items (sometimes only soap) and instructions to find their own 
accommodations either with their clan members or outside the Dadaab 
refugee camp complex. Cholera, meningitis, H1N1, and measles outbreaks 
were all reported in Dadaab. Many new refugees reportedly bypassed 
Dadaab camps because of the conditions and continued directly to Kakuma 
camp or Nairobi.
    Despite the policy that all refugees must reside in camps (the 
Government has a de facto encampment policy), 11,387 newly arriving 
refugees were registered in Nairobi during the year, bringing the 
officially registered Nairobi refugee population to slightly more than 
46,000 refugees. Unofficially, the UNHCR and NGOs estimated that more 
than 100,000 refugees resided in Nairobi. In June the DRA began a 100-
day Rapid Results Initiative (RRI) to register urban refugees in 
Nairobi and provide them with government refugee identity cards. The 
DRA only targeted refugees previously registered with the UNHCR. 
Despite a goal of registering and issuing government refugee identity 
cards to 17,000 refugees, the DRA reportedly issued only 6,273 cards. 
Following the RRI in August, the DRA stated that registration of new 
asylum seekers would only take place in Dadaab and Kakuma refugee 
camps, and that any refugee detained in Nairobi without a government-
issued refugee card would be subject to relocation to Dadaab or 
possible deportation. The UNHCR continued to register refugees in 
Nairobi at year's end. By year's end 11,813 asylum seekers were 
registered with UNHCR in Nairobi pending refugee status determinations.
    Security concerns, including rape, banditry, and shooting, remained 
problems at both Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps. Health and social 
workers at the camps reported that due to strong rape awareness 
programs, victims increasingly reported such incidents, resulting in 
improved access to counseling, particularly in Kakuma refugee camp. 
Capital FM, a local radio station, reported that during the year 
approximately 300 crimes in Dadaab were reported to UNHCR authorities, 
of which almost two-thirds were gender-based crimes, including 107 
cases of reported sexual violence (rape, attempted rape, sodomy, and 
defilement). Fifteen relief agencies followed a code of conduct for 
humanitarian workers to further reduce incidents of sexual abuse by 
agency staff in refugee camps.
    Other security and human rights problems affecting refugees 
included persecution of Muslim converts to Christianity; community 
pressure against opponents of FGM; forced marriage, particularly of 
young Sudanese and Somali girls; and family objections to out-of-clan 
marriage. At times these resulted in the kidnapping of spouses and 
children and domestic abuse. The UNHCR, Ministry of Internal Security, 
and the Ministry of Immigration reached an agreement to increase the 
police presence at all refugee camps, but the agreement remained 
unsigned at year's end.
    There were isolated incidents of ethnic-based violence at the 
Dadaab refugee camps. In August a 13-year-old Somali youth was found 
murdered in Dagahaley camp. In response to the gruesomeness of the 
murder, a group of Somali refugees attacked and seriously injured 
several Sudanese refugees. NGO staff and property was also attacked 
with some damage to property and minor injuries reported. The UNCHR 
removed all the Sudanese from Dagahaley to Ifo camp while tensions 
cooled. According to the UNHCR, the violence against international 
humanitarian agencies in Dadaab frequently revolved around staff 
management disputes.
    The Government required all refugees to remain at UNHCR camps, 
which were located near the country's borders with Somalia and Sudan, 
unless refugees had been granted permission to attend higher education 
institutions, receive specialized medical care outside the camp, or 
leave to avoid security threats. During the year the Garissa provincial 
commissioner began implementing a strict adherence to the rules that 
resulted in several delays in transporting refugees needing urgent 
medical attention to Nairobi for treatment.
    In 2009 the Government introduced mobile courts to serve the camp 
populations, which were fully fledged judicial courts and instrumental 
in curbing crime and violence.
    In October 2009 HRW reported the recruitment of citizens as well as 
refugees in Dadaab refugee camps by militias participating in the 
Somalia conflict. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) confirmed the 
reports, and the UNHCR launched an investigation. In response to its 
findings, the UNHCR distributed bulletins in the camp warning refugees 
who joined armed groups that they would be at risk of losing their 
refugee status if they left the camp to join a militia. Additionally 
the UNHCR initiated discussions with the Government to stop recruitment 
in the camps. No incidents were reported during the year.

    Stateless Persons.--In 2009 the UNHCR estimated that 100,000 
stateless Sudanese Nubians, reportedly the descendants of Sudanese 
forcibly conscripted by the British in the early 1900s, lived in the 
country. The Sudanese Nubians were not granted citizenship or 
identification documents, despite the UNHCR's conclusion that the 
Nubians qualified for citizenship under prevailing nationality law. In 
2003 the Nubians sought judicial relief from the Constitutional Court 
to be declared citizens by birth. Citizenship is determined by 
parentage, but the law also provides citizenship for Africans brought 
to the country by colonial authorities. In 2005 the Nubians filed a 
memorandum of admissibility with the African Commission on Human and 
Peoples' Rights under the African Charter on Human Rights. In 2007 the 
commission heard arguments on the admissibility of the case. The 
Government presented its arguments and filed a brief on the merits of 
the case. No further information on the case was available at year's 
end.
    According to the UNHCR, an unknown number of descendants of mixed 
Eritrean-Ethiopian marriages also were stateless. They were unable to 
obtain citizenship in either of those countries due to strong 
nationalist prejudices. Their lack of proper documentation resulted in 
difficulties in finding employment.
    In March the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the Humanitarian 
Policy Group (HPG) at the Overseas Development Institute, and the 
Refugee Consortium of Kenya released their study, Hidden and Exposed: 
Urban Refugees in Nairobi, Kenya, highlighting the vulnerability of 
urban refugees in Nairobi. The report provided a critical assessment of 
the Government's implementation of the 2006 Refugee Act, the 
ineffective roles of the DRA and the UNHCR in protecting urban 
refugees, the scarcity of assistance programs to urban refugees, and 
the lack of possibility for local integration. In recognition of the 
challenges faced by refugees in Nairobi, the UNHCR chose Nairobi as one 
of five pilot cities to implement its Global Policy on Refugees in 
Urban Areas.
    In August the Government and two foreign governments released the 
study, In Search of Protection and Livelihoods: Socio-economic and 
Environmental Impacts of Dadaab Refugee Camps on Host Communities. The 
study found that the impacts of the camps on the host communities were 
significant. They were mainly positive from an economic standpoint 
(although illicit), and resulted in a marked increase in the host 
community population from 15,000 in 1989 to 148,000 in 2010. However, 
host and refugee communities were found to overlap so closely that an 
estimated 40,500 host community members within 30 miles of the camp 
were thought to hold refugee ration cards.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens the right to change their 
government through free and fair multiparty elections, and citizens 
exercised this right through generally free and fair local and 
legislative elections held on the basis of universal suffrage. However, 
the manner in which the 2007 presidential election results were tallied 
raised serious doubts as to whether this right was respected in 
practice on the presidential level.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In 2007 the country held 
local, parliamentary, and presidential elections. A total of 117 
parties contested local elections, presenting 15,332 candidates, and 
138 parties contested parliamentary elections, putting forth 2,548 
candidates. Nine parties nominated presidential candidates.
    Voting and counting at polling stations for the 2007 elections 
generally were conducted in accordance with democratic standards, 
although there were irregularities in both opposition and progovernment 
strongholds. International observers concluded that the tallying 
irregularities by the Election Commission of Kenya (ECK) in Nairobi 
undermined the credibility of the ECK. In December 2007 the ECK 
announced that President Kibaki won the election; violent protests 
ensued.
    A mixed Kenyan-international commission appointed in 2008 to 
evaluate the elections found that the election results were 
``irretrievably polluted.'' The commission also reported that the 
election results, and especially the presidential election results, 
lacked integrity.
    International and local monitors reported that the election 
campaign for the 2007 elections was generally free and fair, although 
there were instances of violence between supporters of rival parties, 
especially among progovernment parties. Although the Government 
required parties to register prior to political rallies, the Government 
by and large did not interfere with party campaign activities. Police 
generally reacted professionally to instances of campaign violence. 
Text messages, pamphlets, and Web logs sometimes were used to 
disseminate hate speech that was banned under the election code of 
conduct. The KNCHR and other civil society organizations accused the 
Government of misusing state resources by providing transport and 
funding rallies and election materials for some candidates in the 
election campaign. While nearly 14.3 million citizens registered to 
vote, an independent review commission concluded that voter rolls 
contained the names of approximately 1.3 million deceased persons.
    In accordance with the National Accord, the ECK was abolished in 
2008 and an Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) was 
established in May 2009. In August 2009, the IIEC conducted two 
parliamentary by-elections, in Shinyalu and Bomachoge constituencies. 
The by-elections were deemed free and fair by domestic and 
international observers, although there were problems with the voter 
registry, and several political parties bribed voters in exchange for 
votes.
    Women's participation in electoral politics remained low; however, 
a record number of female candidates ran for parliament and for local 
office in 2007, despite harassment and attacks. Women constituted 10 
percent of all parliamentary candidates and held 21 of the 222 seats in 
parliament. Women also held seven of 40 ministerial portfolios. Six of 
the 12 nominated MPs were women.
    The new constitution provides for the representation in parliament 
of women, youth, persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities, and 
marginalized communities.
    During the year several by-elections were held, all of which were 
peaceful and undisputed.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement these laws effectively, and 
officials often engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. The World 
Bank's 2009 Worldwide Governance Indicators reflected that control of 
corruption and rule of law were severe problems.
    Frequent press reports of government corruption fueled a widespread 
public perception that massive corruption persisted up to the highest 
levels of the Government and in parliament and that the Government took 
little official action against the most corrupt. The media also 
reported that several dozen police officers were arrested for petty 
corruption in the last quarter of the year.
    In September a report by the auditor general revealed that a total 
of 7.6 billion shillings ($95 million) was unaccounted for within the 
Government's ministries. The Mars Group Kenya, a local anticorruption 
NGO, teamed up with the KACC during the year to assist in the 
investigation regarding revenue leakages in government's budget.
    In October the foreign minister and his permanent secretary chose 
to step down (albeit with pay) while an investigation into the 
fraudulent sale of embassy land in Japan worth more than 1.54 billion 
shillings ($19.3 million) moved forward.
    During the year the Ministry of Local Government and City of 
Nairobi conspired to purchase a worthless plot of land, intended to be 
a cemetery, for 283 million shillings ($3.5 million). The scandal 
affected the deputy prime minister, his permanent secretary, and the 
mayor of Nairobi. The mayor was arrested in October, but the deputy 
prime minister was exonerated.
    The Public Officer Ethics Act requires office holders to disclose 
their income, assets, and liabilities, as well as that of their spouses 
and children under the age of 18. The Act, however, does not require 
public disclosure of this information, under the guise of protecting 
the office holder's privacy. The new constitution provides citizens 
with access to information held by the state and further requires that 
the state publish and publicize any important information affecting the 
nation; however, many elements of the new constitution remained 
unimplemented. In practice, important reports regarding major 
corruption scandals from the last decade have never been released to 
the public.
    In 2009 the media reported on three major corruption cases linked 
to the Government: one involving oil; one involving education; and one 
involving maize. A KACC report exonerated all of the alleged 
participants. No one had been prosecuted in any of these cases by 
year's end.
    In 2008 the KACC sued seven current and former MPs for making 
fraudulent reimbursement claims for allowances totaling 20 million 
shillings ($250,000). The case was pending at year's end.
    In 2003 the Government created the KACC and in 2004 appointed a 
director and other staff. The KACC lacks prosecutorial powers and can 
only recommend cases for prosecution to the attorney general. At the 
end of 2009/2010 fiscal year, according to the KACC, it had recommended 
461 cases for prosecution to the attorney general, including cases 
involving nine ministers, four MPs, 12 permanent secretaries, seven 
chairpersons of boards of public institutions, 67 directors and chief 
executive officers of top public institutions, and 96 other senior 
level management officers of public institutions. The attorney general 
accepted the prosecution recommendations in 391of the cases and won 
convictions in 74 of the cases, all involving low- and mid-level 
officials.
    Local anticorruption NGOs claimed that the KACC accomplished 
little, despite significant financial support provided by the 
Government. Some civil society organizations reported that the 
Government also used the commission to harass critics. Since President 
Kibaki assumed office in 2002, despite numerous scandals, no top 
officials have been prosecuted successfully for corruption.
    In August 2009 President Kibaki unilaterally reappointed Aaron 
Ringera as the head of the KACC. This action led to widespread 
criticism from parliament, society in general, the NGO community, and 
international observers, since the appointment bypassed rules that 
require a recommendation by the KACC advisory board and approval from 
parliament. Parliament subsequently passed a motion nullifying 
Ringera's reappointment, which the executive argued was not binding. 
Ringera, who was the head of the KACC since its inception and was 
widely viewed as ineffective, voluntarily resigned in September 2009.
    In July PLO Lumumba took over as head of KACC. The reinvigorated 
agency, which had begun to show signs of life in the months preceding 
his assumption of duties, continued to engage actively on corruption 
issues. In addition to prosecuting new cases of corruption, Lumumba 
promised to reopen the mega-corruption scandals of the last decade, 
including Anglo Leasing and Goldenberg.
    Widespread corruption existed at all levels of the civil legal 
system. Bribes, extortion, and political considerations influenced the 
outcomes in large numbers of civil cases.
    The chief justice dealt with complaints against specific judges and 
magistrates; most complaints were related to court management. The 
August 2009 report of a multidisciplinary task force that examined 
judicial reform recommended introduction of a permanent mechanism to 
handle complaints against the judiciary. No law was passed to establish 
such a mechanism by year's end.
    In 2008 OFFLACK noted endemic bribery in police recruitment. The 
police often recruited unqualified candidates who had political 
connections or who paid bribes, which contributed to poorly conducted 
investigations.
    Impunity was a major problem. Police officers rarely were arrested 
and prosecuted for criminal activities and corruption, or for using 
excessive force. Authorities sometimes attributed the absence of an 
investigation into corruption or an unlawful killing to the failure of 
citizens to file official complaints. However, the required complaint 
form was available only at police stations, and the public was rather 
skeptical regarding a process that assigned the investigation of police 
abuse to the police themselves.
    The Government took some steps in 2009 to curb police abuse. In May 
2009, Internal Security Minister George Saitoti inaugurated the 
National Task Force on Police Reform, an 18-member team. The task force 
was guided by the Waki and Kriegler reports and the Vision 2030 plan. 
The report was completed in October 2009, following five months of 
gathering and analyzing views from the public and security experts.
    In September 2009, President Kibaki removed Hussein Ali as police 
commissioner. Ali was identified in official reports as one of the key 
officials blocking reforms in the police force. His tenure was marred 
by extrajudicial killings of more than 500 Mungiki members in 2007 and 
brutal police killings and human rights violations during the 2008 
postelection violence. His removal was widely hailed as a positive step 
by society, the NGO community, and international observers.
    In 2008 the Ministry of Provincial Administration and Internal 
Security established a police oversight board to hear public complaints 
and recommend disciplinary actions. At year's end, the board still was 
not functional, due to a lack of political will and police concerns 
that they were not represented.
    There is no freedom of information law; however, access to 
government information, particularly through the Internet, continued to 
improve. The Government spokesman's briefings were televised, and 
updates of many government Web sites were prompt. Parliamentary debate 
continued to be televised live and broadcast via radio to the general 
public.
Section 5. 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. With the exception of 
the police, government officials were usually cooperative and 
responsive to the queries of these groups. However, there were reports 
that officials also intimidated NGOs and threatened to disrupt their 
activities, and that provincial administrators and security forces 
interfered with less-established NGOs, particularly in rural areas. For 
example, in 2008 local authorities filed criminal charges against two 
persons who helped document allegations of human rights abuses against 
security forces in the Mount Elgon region. WKHRW officers fled the 
country following intimidation from local officials in 2008; however, 
they returned to the country during 2009. Human rights activists also 
claimed that security agencies conducted surveillance of their 
activities.
    In February 2009 the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, 
summary, or arbitrary executions visited the country to investigate 
extrajudicial killings. He released a report documenting hundreds of 
extrajudicial killings by the security forces and the existence of 
death squads. The Government rejected the report and its 
recommendations and filed a protest with the UN.
    During the year unknown persons threatened to kill the commandant 
for administration at the police training college if he cooperated with 
the ICC investigation into responsibility for the postelection 
violence. The Government initially provided him with adequate security 
but it was later withdrawn. Other potential witnesses for the ICC 
investigations also were harassed, threatened, and beaten during the 
year.
    For example, in Eldoret the spouse of a witness received 3,000 
shillings ($37.50) with a note informing her to keep the money to buy 
her husband a coffin since he was a potential witness. Some witnesses 
were bribed and promised a lavish lifestyle, while two were paid by 
politicians to confess that they were coached by KNHRC to frame William 
Ruto as one of the key organizers of postelection violence.
    In 2009 cabinet ministers, political leaders, and businessmen 
suspected of orchestrating the 2008 postelection violence allegedly 
directed gangs and security agents working on their behalf to 
intimidate and beat witnesses to the postelection violence who 
testified before the CIPEV. Although the minister of justice 
acknowledged that witnesses had been intimidated, beaten, and in some 
instances forced into hiding, neither the Ministry of Justice nor the 
Attorney General's Office took effective steps to protect the 
witnesses.
    Approximately 15 domestic organizations advocated for human rights 
in the country; 14 were independent of the Government. Several NGOs 
maintained comprehensive files on local 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 in 
Nairobi and other large cities. The Government sometimes allowed human 
rights organizations to witness autopsies of persons who died in police 
custody. The Government also permitted NGOs to provide paralegal 
services to prisoners; the KNCHR noted that reports of human rights 
abuses decreased in prisons with resident paralegals.
    NGOs monitored the 2009 and 2010 by-elections and the August 4 
constitutional referendum, in cooperation with the KNCHR and foreign 
diplomatic missions.
    A number of human rights organizations, including the Kenya Human 
Rights Commission, the IMLU, and the KNCHR, produced reports 
cataloguing human rights abuses. The KNCHR has the status of an appeals 
court and can issue summonses, order the release of prisoners, and 
require compensation for human rights abuses. However, the Government 
routinely ignored the KNCHR's summonses and orders (see section 1.e.).
    As required by the National Accord, in July 2009 the Government 
established the TJRC to investigate politically and ethnically 
motivated human rights abuses since independence. The TJRC had not held 
any hearings by year's end.
    During the year Chairman Bethwel Kiplagat was forced to step down 
for investigation for his role in the 1984 Wagalla Massacre when he was 
the permanent secretary of foreign affairs. It was alleged that he 
lacked credibility and needed to be investigated. Vice Chair Betty 
Murungi also resigned. During the year the TJRC carried out visits to 
the Mount Elgon region where members of the Saboat Land Defence Force 
were executed and beaten by the military personnel deployed to 
undertake the exercise. The TJRC also carried out visits in other parts 
of the country to discuss issues on historical injustice.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit discrimination based on race, 
sex, pregnancy, marital status, health status, ethnic or social origin, 
color, age, disability, religion,
    conscience, belief, culture, dress, language or birth. Government 
authorities did not enforce effectively many of these provisions. There 
was also evidence that some government and opposition officials 
tolerated, and in some instances instigated, ethnic violence. The law 
criminalizes homosexual activity.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape, defilement, sex tourism, and 
sexual harassment; however, implementation remained limited, and as 
many as 95 percent of sexual offenses were not reported to the police. 
The law does not specifically prohibit spousal rape.
    The law provides a maximum penalty of life imprisonment for rape, 
although sentences usually were no longer than the minimum of 10 years. 
NGO activists complained that a provision in the law that criminalized 
false claims of sexual assault deterred the reporting of sexual 
offenses.
    In 2008 official police statistics indicated 627 rapes during the 
year, but human rights groups estimated that more than 21,000 rapes 
were perpetrated annually. The rate of reporting and prosecution of 
rape remained low because of the police practice requiring that 
survivors be examined by a police physician; cultural inhibitions 
against publicly discussing sex; survivors' fear of retribution; police 
reluctance to intervene, especially in case cases where family members, 
friends, or acquaintances were accused of committing the rape; poor 
training of prosecutors; and the unavailability of doctors who might 
provide the evidence necessary for conviction.
    According to NGOs police procedures in handling cases of rape and 
sexual assault created substantial barriers to the investigation and 
prosecution of suspected perpetrators of rape and sexual assault. 
Police prosecutors required survivors of sexual assault to be examined 
by a police physician prior to the initiation of an investigation and 
required the same physician to testify during trial. As of the end of 
2009, there was only one police physician in Nairobi, and police 
physicians were generally not present in rural areas. The police 
physician in Nairobi frequently issued examination reports that 
conflicted with the findings of other medical professionals, was often 
not available to conduct exams, and frequently failed to appear in 
court. As a result numerous alleged cases of sexual violence were not 
investigated by the police, and numerous cases were dismissed from 
court due to the absence of the police physician.
    The Government did not investigate or prosecute reported incidents 
of widespread sexual violence following the disputed election in 2008. 
There were national guidelines on the management of sexual violence 
under the Ministry of Public Health, but the implementation mechanisms 
remained weak. The police lacked the capacity to handle most cases 
including handling specimens from victims.
    Domestic violence against women was a serious and widespread 
problem but often was condoned by society and the courts. The penal 
code does not contain specific provisions against domestic violence but 
treats it as assault. Police generally refrained from investigating 
cases of domestic violence, which they considered a private family 
matter. The 2008-09 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey found that 39 
percent of women had been the victims of domestic physical or sexual 
abuse. NGOs, including the Law Society of Kenya and FIDA, provided free 
legal assistance to some victims of domestic violence. FIDA research 
undertaken during the year indicated that 83 percent of women and girls 
in the country reported one or more episodes of physical abuse.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment; however, sexual harassment 
continued to be a problem. It was often not reported and rarely 
resulted in charges being filed.
    Subsidized contraception options, including condoms and birth 
control pills, were widely available to both men and women throughout 
the country, although access was more difficult in rural areas. Skilled 
obstetric and postpartum care was available in major hospitals, but 
many women were unable to access or afford these services. According to 
UN estimates, the maternal mortality ratio in 2008 was 530 deaths per 
100,000 live births.
    The Government and private organizations supported a network of 
more than 8,000 counseling and testing centers providing free HIV/AIDS 
diagnosis. Diagnosis of other sexually transmitted infections was 
available through hospitals and clinics throughout the country. HIV/
AIDS carried social stigma, and many citizens avoided testing due to 
social pressure.
    The law provides equal rights to men and women and specifically 
prohibits discrimination on grounds of gender; however, women 
experienced a wide range of discrimination in matrimonial rights, 
property ownership, and inheritance rights. Women constituted an 
estimated 75 percent of the agricultural work force and were active in 
urban small businesses. The average monthly income of women was 
approximately two-thirds that of men. Women held only 6 percent of land 
titles; under traditional law, women in many ethnic groups could not 
own land. Women had difficulty moving into nontraditional fields, were 
promoted more slowly, and were more likely to be laid off. Societal 
discrimination was most apparent in rural areas. Women also faced 
discrimination in access to employment and to credit. The justice 
system--particularly customary law--often discriminated against women, 
limiting their political and economic rights and relegating them to 
second-class citizenship.
    The Law of Succession, which governs inheritance rights, provides 
for equal consideration of male and female children but terminates the 
inheritance rights of widows if they remarry. Moreover, a widow cannot 
be the sole administrator of her husband's estate unless she has her 
children's consent. The law also allows the Ministry of Justice to 
exempt certain communities from the law in deference to tradition, 
which in some cases, provides for equal distribution of a man's 
property only among his sons. The law allows only males to transmit 
citizenship automatically to their spouses and children.
    Certain communities commonly practiced wife inheritance, in which a 
man inherits the widow of his brother or other close relative, 
regardless of her wishes. Other forced marriages were also common. 
Although poor and uneducated women were more likely to be inherited or 
suffer from property and inheritance discrimination, prominent and 
educated women sometimes were victims.

    Children.--Citizenship is determined by parentage. Lack of official 
birth certificates resulted in discrimination in delivery of public 
services such as education and health care.
    Primary and secondary education was tuition-free (although 
secondary enrollment was limited to students who obtained high scores 
on standardized primary exams); however, classes were overcrowded due 
to insufficient teachers and an inadequate budget. Rural families were 
more reluctant to invest in educating girls than boys, particularly at 
higher levels.
    During the year more than 500 teachers were fired following reports 
of professional misconduct, including sexual acts with students that 
resulted in pregnancy in some cases. However, only approximately 30 
cases appeared before the courts due to bribery.
    A report released in November 2009 by the Teachers Service 
Commission found that 12,660 female students were sexually abused by 
teachers from 2003 to 2007.
    In 2008 the Centre for the Study of Adolescence reported that 
between 10,000 and 13,000 girls dropped out of school annually due to 
pregnancy. While the Education Act gave pregnant girls the right to 
continue their education until and after giving birth, NGOs reported 
that schools often did not respect this right and that schoolmasters 
sometimes expelled pregnant girls.
    In 2008 the Ministry of Education estimated that 80,000 children 
dropped out of school annually due to forced marriages and child labor. 
Cherish Others, a local NGO, reported 30 cases of child marriage in 
TransMara District in 2009 but also noted that local officials had 
managed to prevent many more child marriages. In 2008 UNICEF reported 
that nine out of 10 children from poor households failed to complete 
primary education.
    The Government ordered provincial administrators to arrest parents 
who did not take or send their children to school. However, this law 
was not enforced uniformly.
    The Government banned corporal punishment in schools; however, 
there were reports that corporal punishment occurred throughout the 
year.
    The law prohibits FGM under the age of 18 but it was practiced, 
particularly in rural areas. FGM usually was performed at an early age. 
According to UNICEF, one-third of women between the ages of 15 and 49 
had undergone FGM, and in June 2009 an obstetrician estimated that 32 
percent of women had suffered from the procedure. Of the country's 42 
ethnic groups, only four (the Luo, Luhya, Teso, and Turkana, who 
together constituted approximately 25 percent of the population) did 
not traditionally practice FGM. According to the Ministry of Gender and 
Children Affairs, in 2008 90 percent of girls among Somali, Kisii, 
Kuria, and Maasai communities had undergone the procedure. The rates 
among other communities were: Taita Taveta (62 percent); Kalenjin (48 
percent); Embu (44 percent); Meru (42 percent); Kamba (37 percent); and 
Kikuyu (34 percent). There were public awareness programs to prevent 
the practice, in which government officials often participated.
    Some churches and NGOs provided shelter to girls who fled their 
homes to avoid FGM, but community elders frequently interfered with 
attempts to stop the practice. Various communities and NGOs instituted 
``no cut'' initiation rites for girls as an alternative to FGM.
    In August 2009 two girls were forcibly circumcised against their 
will in Narok, after previously fleeing threats of FGM by their 
families.
    Child rape and molestation continued to be serious problems. Police 
reported that 1,626 children were defiled in 2008. The law establishes 
a minimum sentence for defilement--defined as a sexual act with a child 
involving penetration--of life imprisonment if the child is under 11 
years old, of 20 years if the child is between 11 and 16 years old, and 
of 10 years if the child is between 16 and 18 years old; a child is any 
person under 18 years of age. Newspapers contained frequent reports of 
molestation or rape of children by relatives, neighbors, teachers, 
police, and clergy. NGOs The CRADLE and Care Kenya released a 2006 
report entitled Robbing the Cradle that indicated an increase in child 
sexual abuse and a decrease in the age of the youngest victims. The 
most vulnerable victims were girls under age 18 and boys aged three to 
eight. Most child abusers were neighbors, fathers, and other relatives. 
Teachers were the worst perpetrators in the professional category, with 
pastors and police officers following closely.
    There were no developments in the following 2008 cases: the alleged 
impregnation of four primary school students in Homa Bay by a teacher, 
and a Nairobi teacher arrested for defiling a two-year-old boy.
    Media reported discrimination against uncircumcised boys.
    Newspapers frequently highlighted the problem of child marriages, 
which was commonly practiced among certain ethnic groups. According to 
UNICEF, 25 percent of young women had been married as children. The 
Marriage Act forbids marriage under the age of 16, but the Mohammedan 
Marriage and Divorce Act allows Muslim girls to marry at puberty. If a 
marriage is entered into under the provisions of the act, any court 
hearing matters related to the marriage applies the provisions of that 
act when deciding the case.
    Child prostitution increased in recent years due to both poverty 
and the increase in the number of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Strong 
growth in the tourism industry also led to a large increase in foreign 
and domestic tourists seeking sex with underage girls and boys. 
Political leaders expressed concern that minors in drought-affected 
communities were leaving school and being lured to prostitution to 
address their basic needs.
    There were reports of children joining gangs and militia and of the 
Mungiki gang recruiting young boys from schools. In 2009 armed groups 
operating in Somalia, particularly the Al Shabaab militia and militias 
supporting the Transitional Federal Government, allegedly recruited 
minors from North Eastern Province and refugee camps in the country to 
fight in Somalia.
    Poverty and the spread of HIV/AIDS continued to intensify the 
problem of child homelessness. In 2007 the Government began a pilot 
program to place two million AIDS orphans with families in 20 
districts. In 2007 the program placed 5,000 children in homes. Street 
children faced harassment and physical and sexual abuse from police and 
others, and within the juvenile justice system.
    The Government operated programs to place street children in 
shelters and assisted NGOs in providing education, skills training, 
counseling, legal advice, and medical care to girls abused in, and 
street children exploited in the commercial sex industry.

    International Child Parental Abductions.--Kenya is not a party to 
the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child 
Abduction. For information on international parental child abduction, 
please see the Department of State's annual Report on Compliance with 
the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child 
Abduction at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/
congressreport/congressreport--4308.html as well as country-specific 
information at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/country/country--
3781.html

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community was very small, and there were 
no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report 
at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical or mental disabilities in employment, 
education, access to health care, or the provision of other state 
services; however, the Government did not effectively enforce these 
provisions. The Ministry of Health is the lead ministry responsible for 
implementing the law, but implementation was slow. The Government 
equipped some public buildings with wheelchair ramps, and wheelchair-
accessible elevators and sanitary facilities. The Government assigned 
each region a sign-language interpreter for court proceedings.
    Provisions for persons with disability existed but not in all 
polling stations. During the most recent by-elections the Kenya Society 
for the Mentally Handicapped (KSMH) and the Disabled Voters of Kenya 
Alliance worked closely with the IIEC to ensure that all persons were 
able to cast their votes.
    In 2008 the KNCHR ordered the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) to 
reinstate an employee who had been terminated due to mental illness. 
The KCB filed a suit objecting to the judicial powers held by the 
KNCHR; the Attorney General's Office supported the KCB's claims. The 
court issued an injunction against further intervention which barred 
future action from the KNCHR in employee rights matters.
    NGOs reported that persons with disabilities were affected 
disproportionately by postelection violence, especially in IDP camps. 
However, NGOs reported that camp administrators often failed to 
recognize those with mental disabilities.
    The education ministry permanent secretary stated that only 35,000 
of the 147,000 children with special needs were enrolled in school, 
while the KNCHR commissioner contended that fewer than 10 percent of 
children with special needs were enrolled in school.
    The KNCHR also stated that the Kenya National Examination Council 
(KNEC) failed to provide adequate testing facilities and resources for 
students with disabilities. The KNEC claimed that it provided special 
accommodations, such as exams in Braille and in large print for 
visually impaired candidates, and extra time to complete exams. The 
Government was developing disability-specific curricula, but the 
process was slow because the Government failed to allocate sufficient 
resources and staff.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The population is divided into 
approximately 42 ethnic groups, among which discrimination and 
occasional violence were frequent. The 2009 census released in August 
revealed that the top ethnic communities were: Kikuyu at 6.6 million, 
Luhya at 5.3 million, the Kalenjin at 5 million, Luo at 4 million, 
Kamba, at 3.9 million, Kenyan Somali at 2.3 million, Kisii at 2.2 
million, and Mijikenda at 1.9 million. The Kikuyu and related groups 
dominated much of private commerce and industry and often purchased 
land outside their traditional home areas, which sometimes resulted in 
fierce resentment from other ethnic groups. The numerically small and 
shrinking South Asian community controlled a disproportionate share of 
commerce.
    There was frequent conflict, banditry, and cattle rustling among 
Somali, Turkana, Gabbra, Borana, Samburu, Rendille, and Pokot ethnic 
groups in arid regions located in North Eastern, Eastern, and Rift 
Valley provinces. In 2009 intervention by security forces to reclaim 
stolen cattle resulted in police expropriating cattle that had not been 
stolen, which inflamed ethnic tension.
    The Government did not investigate alleged abuses committed in 2008 
by security forces searching for illegal weapons in El Wak, Garri, and 
Mandera.
    During the year some of the communities, especially the Turkhana 
and the Pokot, felt that the Government applied selective disarmament. 
There were general complaints that the neighboring communities were 
rearming while others were being disarmed. Cattle rustling was rampant, 
and during the year several people were killed in Turkhana and Samburu.
    In 2008 the Government established the CIPEV; it issued a report 
that called for the establishment of a special tribunal to try 
suspected organizers of postelection violence. On December 15, the ICC 
prosecutor announced he was asking a pretrial chamber to issue 
summonses to six persons who allegedly committed crimes against 
humanity during in the postelection violence. The six named were: 
former minister of higher education William Ruto; former minister of 
industrialization Henry Kosgey; Head of Operations KASS FM radio 
station Joshua Sang; Secretary to the Cabinet Francis Muthaura, Deputy 
Prime Minister and Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, and former police 
commissioner Mohamed Ali.
    Through the provincial administrations, the Government held public 
meetings to promote reconciliation in communities affected by the 
postelection violence and to establish a forum for dialogue and 
peaceful resolution of conflicts. NGOs reported that implementation of 
reconciliation efforts was not uniform.
    Many factors contributed to interethnic conflicts: long-standing 
grievances over land tenure policies and competition for scarce 
agricultural land, the proliferation of guns, the commercialization of 
traditional cattle rustling, the growth of a modern warrior/bandit 
culture (distinct from traditional culture), ineffective local 
political leadership, diminished economic prospects for groups affected 
by a severe regional drought, political rivalries, and the inability of 
security forces to adequately quell violence. Conflict between land 
owners and squatters was particularly severe in Rift Valley and Coast 
provinces, while competition for water and pasturage was especially 
serious in the northern districts of Rift Valley and Eastern provinces 
and in North Eastern Province.
    In private business and in the public sector, members of nearly all 
ethnic groups commonly discriminated in favor of other members of the 
same group. Some neighborhoods, particularly in slum areas of the 
capital, tended to be segregated ethnically, although interethnic 
marriage had become fairly common in urban areas.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The penal code criminalizes 
``carnal knowledge against the order of nature,'' which is interpreted 
to prohibit homosexual activity and specifies a maximum penalty of 14 
years' imprisonment. A further statute specifically criminalizes male-
to-male sex and specifies a maximum penalty of 21 years' imprisonment. 
However, there were no reported prosecutions of individuals for sexual 
orientation or homosexual activity during the year.
    Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) advocacy 
organizations, such as the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya (GALCK), 
were permitted to register and conduct activities. There was frequent 
and widespread societal discrimination based on sexual orientation 
during the year.
    For example, during the year persons put up ``not wanted'' posters 
of the GALCK president and other LGBT activists around Nairobi. The 
posters also had bible verses depicting homosexuality as a sin.
    On February 12, near Mombasa, an armed mob of between 200 and 300 
persons surrounded KEMRI. Police arrived, took two KEMRI employees into 
custody for their protection but did not arrest members of the mob (see 
section 1.c.). Over the next week, mobs in the same area attacked and 
beat other persons suspected of being gay.

    Other Societal Discrimination.--There was societal discrimination 
against persons with HIV/AIDS during the year. Stigmatization of HIV/
AIDS made it difficult for many families to acknowledge that a member 
was HIV-positive, and no socially or politically prominent individual 
admitted being HIV-positive. However, there were fewer reports of 
violence against persons with HIV/AIDS.
    The Ministry of Defense arranged for uniformed personnel, their 
families, and some local persons to have access to HIV counseling and 
testing, prevention programs, and antiretroviral treatment during the 
year.
    The Government worked in cooperation with international donors on 
programs for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. This cooperation 
enabled a continued expansion of counseling and testing as well as care 
and treatment. These developments were seen as key to reducing stigma 
and discrimination.
    Organizations representing persons with albinism claimed that they 
suffered widespread discrimination. There were no reported developments 
in the 2008 case in which a child with albinism was killed in Namanga.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides that all workers, 
including those in the export processing zones (EPZs), are free to form 
and join unions of their choice, and workers exercised this right in 
practice. Workers numbering seven or more in an enterprise have the 
right to form a union by registering with the trade union registrar. If 
the registrar denies registration, a union may appeal to the courts. 
The armed forces, police, prisons service, and the administration 
police are explicitly prohibited from forming or joining unions. There 
were 33 unions affiliated with the Central Organization of Trade Unions 
(COTU) and four unions that were not COTU affiliates. These unions 
represented an estimated 1.5 million workers, reflecting a steady 
increase over the past two years. After the postelection violence, 
worker displacement and other barriers that kept workers away from 
their places of employment and union membership declined. The increase 
in membership was a result of concentrated organizing efforts and 
outreach to women, youth, and nontraditional sectors. The law allows 
unions to conduct their activities without government interference, 
including the right to strike, but this right was not always protected.
    The law permits workers to strike, but requires formal conciliation 
procedures to have been exhausted and seven days' notice to both the 
Government and the employer. The law permits the Government to deny 
workers the right to strike under certain conditions. For example, 
members of the military, police, prison guards, and the National Youth 
Service are prohibited from striking. Other civil servants are allowed 
to strike following the seven-day notice period.
    During the year union leaders were arrested and threatened for 
defending the rights of workers on tea plantations. On October 18, 
approximately 80,000 workers went on strike over the use of tea 
plucking machines by six multinational companies which they claimed 
could cost them their jobs. Workers from the Kenya Plantation and 
Agricultural Worker's Union, who initiated industrial actions, were 
arrested and some reported being tortured. Workers ended their two-week 
strike after a court order which urged workers to negotiate with tea 
firms to resolve concerns over the use of tea plucking machines.
    The Ministry of Labor typically referred disputes to mediation, 
fact-finding, or binding arbitration at the Industrial Court; during 
mediation any strike is illegal, thus removing legal prohibitions on 
employer retaliation against strikers. In practice a Ministry of Labor 
referral to dispute resolution nullifies the right to strike.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--While not 
having the force of law, the Industrial Relations Charter (IRC), 
implemented by the Government, the 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. 
Both the Trade Disputes Act and the IRC authorize collective bargaining 
between unions and employers, and unions and management establish 
negotiated wages and conditions of employment.
    Security forces cannot bargain collectively but have an internal 
board that reviews salaries. Other groups that cannot bargain 
collectively, such as health sector workers, have associations, not 
unions, which negotiate wages and conditions that match the 
Government's minimum wage guidelines; however, these agreements were 
not legally enforceable. Workers in the military, prisons, the National 
Youth Service, and teachers under the Teachers' Service Commission do 
not have the right to bargain collectively. The law allows employers in 
some industries to dismiss workers regardless of the provisions of 
their collective bargaining agreements.
    During the year NGOs and trade unionists reported a growing trend 
towards the elimination of permanent positions in favor of casual or 
contract labor, especially in the EPZ, agricultural, and manufacturing 
sectors. In many cases the job was permanent, but an employer staffed 
the position with rotating contract workers. This practice held at the 
management level as well where employers hired individuals as 
management trainees and kept them in this position for the maximum time 
of three years. At the end of this time, instead of converting this 
worker to permanent staff, the person was then replaced by another 
trainee. In the banking sector and other commercial industries, there 
were reports that casual workers were replaced when they expressed 
interest in joining a union. One report stated that casual employment 
grew by 13 percent in 2009, accounting for 32 percent of total wage 
employment.
    Except for the Factories Act, all labor laws apply in the EPZs; 
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. The Tailors and Textiles Workers Union claimed that a number of 
garment producers in the EPZs refused to recognize the union and 
resisted its efforts to organize their workers. The law prohibits 
employers from intimidating workers; however, some antiunion 
discrimination occurred, including in garment plants in the EPZs. The 
Industrial Court, a body of up to five judges appointed by the 
president, can order reinstatement and damages in the form of back pay 
for employees wrongfully dismissed for union activities. Workers have 
been fired for participating in trade union activities, especially in 
export processing zones. COTU reported more than 1,000 cases where 
workers were fired for participating in union activities across various 
sectors. In addition to the EPZ, there were many reports that workers 
in Nairobi's industrial zone were also dismissed. This practice 
appeared to be more common in the urban areas, although there were also 
reports that workers were fired on flower farms where managers insisted 
that workers do not join unions.
    The Government voiced its support for union rights but did not 
protect them fully. Some unions complained that employers resisted 
efforts to establish unions in their factories, even where most workers 
indicated a desire for union membership, and that the Industrial Court 
and Ministry of Labor and Human Resources Development were ineffective 
in compelling employers to comply with the law.
    In 2008 the Government strengthened the labor dispute system by 
giving the Industrial Court the ability to enforce its decisions. 
However, during the year union leaders reported that employers often 
did not comply with reinstatement orders, and workers often accepted 
payment in lieu of reinstatement. Most employers did not comply with 
the reinstatement orders. In several cases, employers took the 
industrial court decision to the High Court which reversed the 
decision. The enforcement mechanisms of the industrial court remain 
weak.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
slavery, indentured servitude, and forced and bonded labor, including 
by children, but such practices reportedly occurred. Women, children, 
and men were trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation and labor. 
During the year there were reports of forced labor and child labor in 
domestic service, street vending, child prostitution, subsistence and 
commercial agriculture, and mining. Children primarily work in the 
informal sector. Commercial sexual exploitation was widespread, 
particularly in the coastal areas.
    Forced child labor occurred. See also the Department of State s 
annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits all forms of child labor that are exploitive, hazardous, 
or would prevent children under age 16 from attending school. However, 
child labor was widespread, particularly in the informal sector, and 
children were trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation and labor. 
An estimated one million children between five and 17 years of age--
most between 13 and 17 years old--worked.
    The 2005 Kenya Integrated Household Budget survey indicated that 
951,273 children below the age of 18 were employed: 79.9 percent worked 
in agriculture and 11.6 percent worked in domestic services. While 
there were no recent official statistics, the Ministry of Gender, 
Children Affairs and Social Development and NGOs focused on child labor 
problems where the number of children engaged in child labor had 
sharply risen to an estimated 2 million children. The increase was 
attributed to increasing economic hardship where families relied more 
on children to earn wages to support the households. The employment of 
children in the formal industrial wage sector in violation of the 
Employment Act was rare. Children worked primarily in the informal 
sector, which was difficult to monitor and control. The Ministry of 
Labor and Human Resources Development nominally enforced the minimum 
age statute. The ministry remained committed to enforcing minimum age 
statutes, but implementation remained problematic due to resource 
constraints.
    Children under age 13 are prohibited from working, and children 
between 13 and 16 years of age may perform only ``light work'' that is 
not harmful to their health or development and does not interfere with 
their schooling. However, the law does not apply minimum age 
restrictions to children serving as apprentices under the terms of the 
Industrial Training Act. Persons under age 18 may not be employed in 
any industrial undertaking at night, employment should not cause 
children to reside away from parents without their approval, and 
permission to work in a bar, hotel, or restaurant requires annually 
renewed consent from the labor commissioner.
    The law prohibits the employment of a child (defined as a person 
under the age of 18) in any activity that constitutes a worst form of 
child labor and provides fines for employing children in such 
activities of up to 200,000 shillings ($25,000) and/or imprisonment for 
up to 12 months. The penal code prohibits procurement of a girl under 
age 21 for unlawful sexual relations and criminalizes child commercial 
sexual exploitation, child labor, and the transport of children for 
sale.
    Many children worked on family plots or in family units on tea, 
coffee, sugar, and rice plantations. Children also worked in mining, 
including abandoned gold mines and small quarries, breaking rocks and 
sifting through tailings. Children often worked long hours as domestic 
servants in private homes for little or no pay, and there were reports 
of physical and sexual abuse of child domestics. The Ministry of 
Gender, Children Affairs and Social Development and the NGO Eradicate 
Child Prostitution in Kenya estimated that 30,000 of these children 
were exploited in the sex industry every day. Forced or compulsory 
labor by children, such as agricultural labor, prostitution, and 
domestic servitude sometimes were initiated by their parents. During 
the year, there were reports that children participated in ethnic-based 
militia activity.
    The Government worked closely with the COTU and the International 
Labor Organization to eliminate child labor. In 2004 the Government 
prepared a practical guide to labor inspection and trained labor 
inspectors and occupational health and safety officers to report on 
child labor. The National Steering Committee on the Elimination of 
Child Labor, which includes the attorney general, eight ministries, 
representatives of child welfare organizations, other NGOs, unions, and 
employers continued to operate and met quarterly. An Interministerial 
Coordination Committee on Child Labor, chaired by the minister for 
gender, children's affairs, and social development, was responsible for 
setting general policy.
    Many NGOs were active on child labor issues and assisted in the 
return to school of child laborers. During the year the Government 
continued to implement a multitude of programs for the elimination of 
child labor with dozens of partner agencies. The partners placed the 
children in schools, vocational training institutions, and 
apprenticeships and supported income-generating activities for 
thousands of parents. Partners also provided support to schools for 
income-generating activities to help keep children from poor families 
in school.
    UNICEF, the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, the World Tourism 
Organization, and NGOs continued to work with the Kenya Association of 
Hotelkeepers and Caterers, a representative body of hotels and tour 
operators, to increase their awareness of child prostitution and sex 
tourism. The association encouraged all hospitality-sector businesses 
to adopt and implement the code of conduct developed by the NGO End 
Child Prostitution and Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children 
for Sexual Purposes. During the year the majority of hotels on the 
coast had signed the NGO's code of conduct and continued to self-
regulate through the Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers. 
The Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife continued to register villas and 
cottages and impose the same requirements as on hotels. During the year 
the cabinet approved a new tourism bill that would establish a 
regulatory authority to oversee all hotels, villas and cottages, 
including their adherence to the code of conduct. At year's end, the 
bill remained in parliament.
    During the year the Child Protection Department employed a total of 
450 children's officers, an increase in the number of officers. Also 
during the year the Government's cash transfer program for orphans and 
vulnerable children expanded to cover 47 districts and to reach an 
estimated 100,000 beneficiaries. It was cofunded by the Government and 
development partners. The beneficiaries each received 3000 shillings ($ 
39) per month, a 50 percent increase in the cash payment received by 
each family since last year. There were an average of three orphans and 
vulnerable children in each beneficiary household who directly 
benefitted from the program.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Regulation of wages is part of 
the Labor Institutions Act, and the Government established basic 
minimum wages by occupation and location, setting a minimum bar for 
monthly, daily, and hourly work in each category. In many industries, 
workers were paid the legal minimum wage; however, in most cases these 
wages were far outpaced by the cost of living. The lowest legal urban 
minimum wage was 6,743 shillings (approximately $85) per month, and the 
lowest agricultural minimum wage for unskilled employees was 2,536 
shillings ($35) per month, excluding housing allowance. During the year 
the Productivity Center of Kenya, a tripartite institution including 
the Ministry of Labor, the Federation of Kenyan Employers, and the 
COTU, continued to set wage guidelines for various sectors based on 
productivity, inflation, and cost of living indices. While the center 
continued to set guidelines, it did not have the personnel with 
sufficient expertise to gain the respect of industry. Many employers 
did not obey the center's recommendations. The minimum wage did not 
provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. Most 
workers relied on second jobs, subsistence farming, other informal 
work, or the extended family for additional support. A large percentage 
of the labor force worked in the informal sector and was not covered by 
these provisions.
    The law limits the normal workweek to 52 hours (60 hours for night 
workers); some categories of workers had lower limits. The law 
specifically excludes agricultural workers. An employee in the 
nonagricultural sector is entitled to one rest day per week, and there 
are provisions for 21 days of combined annual and sick leave. The law 
also requires that total hours worked (regular time plus overtime) in 
any two-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. Violations were reported during the 
year. Workers in some enterprises, particularly in the EPZs and road 
construction, claimed that employers forced them to work extra hours 
without overtime pay to meet production targets. In addition employers 
often did not provide nighttime transport, leaving workers vulnerable 
to assault, robbery, and sexual harassment. During the year trade 
unionists complained that some government labor inspectors were bribed 
by employers to avoid penalties for labor violations. The extremely low 
salaries and the lack of vehicles, fuel, and other resources made it 
very difficult for labor inspectors to do their work and left them 
vulnerable to bribes and other forms of corruption. Employers in all 
sectors routinely bribed labor inspectors to prevent them from 
reporting infractions, especially in the area of child labor.
    Labor laws require two weeks' paternity leave, three months' 
maternity leave with full pay, and compensate both public and private 
employees for work-related injuries and diseases contracted at work. 
However, in 2008 employers challenged the workers' compensation 
provisions in court. At year's end, the case continued.
    The law detailed environmental, health, and safety standards; 
however, the Government did not effectively enforce the law. Fines 
generally were too low to serve as a deterrent to unsafe practices. 
EPZs are excluded from the Factory Act's provisions. The Ministry of 
Labor's Directorate of Occupational Health and Safety Services (DOHSS) 
has the authority to inspect factories and work sites, except in the 
EPZs; it employed 79 inspectors, far short of the 168 reportedly needed 
to inspect factories adequately and enforce its safety and health 
orders. No new inspectors were hired since 2007. During the year the 
DOHSS had a target of 4,840 inspections, carried out 4,000 inspections 
and prosecuted 100 companies for violating occupational health and 
safety regulations. There continued to be widespread hazards, such as 
lack of basic safety equipment and emergency escape routes in many 
companies. During the year labor unions and NGOs continued to criticize 
health and safety conditions in the EPZs and other sectors, such as 
small horticultural producers.
    DOHSS health and safety inspectors can issue notices against 
employers for practices or activities that involve 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 employing 20 or more persons should 
have an internal health and safety committee with representation from 
workers. The DOHSS developed a program to help factories establish the 
committees and trained them to conduct safety audits and submit 
compliance reports to the DOHSS. According to the Government, most of 
the largest factories had instituted health and safety committees by 
year's end.
    Workers, including foreigners and immigrants, theoretically have 
the right to remove themselves from situations that endanger health or 
safety without jeopardy to their employment; however, this right was 
not enforced effectively, and workers were reluctant to do so due to 
risk of losing their jobs.

                               __________

                                LESOTHO

    Lesotho is a constitutional monarchy with a population of 1.88 
million. Under the constitution, the king is head of state but does not 
actively participate in political activities. The prime minister is 
head of government and has executive authority. In the 2007 election, 
the governing Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) party retained a 
majority of seats in the legislature; domestic and international 
observers characterized the election as free and peaceful. Other 
observers, including members of the leading opposition parties and some 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), stated it was not entirely fair. 
Issues from the 2007 election were still contested and remained the 
greatest source of political conflict between the ruling and opposition 
parties. Security forces reported to civilian authorities, but there 
were instances in which elements of the security forces acted 
independently of civilian control.
    The following human rights abuses were reported: killings, torture, 
and abuse by police; mob violence; poor prison conditions; lengthy 
pretrial detention, and long trial delays. Societal abuses included 
abuse of spouses and children; sexual abuse; restrictions on women's 
rights; discrimination against women; stigmatization of persons with 
disabilities and HIV/AIDS; 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.--The Government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings during the 
year; however, security forces killed persons during the year.
    According to the Inspectorate for Complaints and Discipline (ICD), 
which monitors and investigates reports of police abuse, three persons 
died in police custody during the year.
    For example, in July a 25-year-old prisoner was found dead in his 
cell at Leribe police station. According to police spokesperson Masupha 
Masupha, police ``suspect that some police officers could have 
contributed to the man's death through torture.'' Investigation results 
were not disclosed.
    According to the Police Complaints Authority (PCA), an independent 
oversight body that monitors police behavior and addresses grievances 
against police, there were six alleged murder cases during the year 
involving police. Investigations 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.--Although the constitution and law expressly prohibit such 
practices, there were reports of police torture and abuse.
    Between January and September, the PCA received a total of 10 
reports of torture/assault by police. These included allegations that 
police assaulted Ha Tsae villagers, unlawfully arrested and assaulted a 
suspect, tortured a suspect, received a bribe, unlawfully confiscated 
and then damaged two vehicles, delivered services poorly at Morija, and 
damaged property. Two of the 10 cases were sent to court, and eight 
were under investigation at year's end. The process of enforcing police 
accountability was slow, but internal affairs organs prosecuted some 
members of the security forces. More serious offenses, such as murder, 
were sent to the High Court via the Office of the Director of Public 
Prosecutions.
    In February Maseru police reportedly handcuffed and repeatedly 
asphyxiated post office manager Taele Mohale with a plastic bag. Mohale 
was suspected of aiding thieves that stole from the post office. 
Constable Ntepe, Sergeant Masela, and Constable Khotso were accused of 
repeatedly beating Mohale's buttocks with a knobkerrie (club) outside 
the police station in the presence of a crowd. In September Mohale 
filed a 200,000 maloti ($28,571) lawsuit against police for torture, 
unlawful arrest and detention, and humiliation. According to the 
victim, the actual thieves were caught at a later stage, and the case 
was pending in the High Court at year's end.
    On March 19, Tukula Makhakhe stated he was tortured by Maseru 
police and forced to confess to charges of armed robbery. Members of 
the Police Vehicle Theft Detection and Counter-Robbery Crime Unit 
assaulted him with knobkerries, an iron rod, and a tire tube. He later 
retracted his confession to the magistrate, claiming it was made under 
duress. Makhakhe last appeared in court in September and was remanded 
out of custody; however, he failed to attend monthly remands, and there 
was a warrant for his arrest at year's end. The case was pending in the 
Magistrate Court at year's end.
    In the early hours of April 12, police raided the village of Thota-
Peli, Berea District, according to the Sunday Express newspaper. Police 
searched for the illegal firearms used in a clash over grazing land 
that had killed two local residents. Police allegedly whipped, kicked, 
and struck people with the butts of their guns, ordering some of them 
to ``roll in the morning dew naked.'' Although targeted mainly at men, 
the raid also victimized some women, the elderly, and children. One 
victim stated that police choked her husband while pulling his genitals 
when he protested that he did not have a gun. The next morning 
villagers marched to Teyateyaneng Police Station to report the 
incident; police reportedly intercepted the villagers and beat them 
again. Former minister of agriculture Lesole Mokoma subsequently held a 
rally in the village. He warned that any member of the LCD who lodged a 
formal complaint against the police would be viewed as fighting the 
Government. Forty-eight villagers led by their chief, Molomo Mopeli, 
filed a lawsuit demanding compensation of 24 million maloti 
(approximately $3.4 million). Acting on instructions of the 48 
residents and their chief, advocate Zwelakhe Mda issued a civil claim 
against the attorney general, Tsokolo Makhethe, and commissioner of 
police, Malejaka Letooane, on September 4. Receiving no response from 
the state, Mda filed a summons on December 31.
    On May 23, a soldier stationed at the entrance of the residence of 
the minister of public works and transport allegedly shot an 
unidentified person. According to police forensic investigations, 
evidence found at the scene did not match the guard's version of the 
story. He was charged with attempted murder and was waiting to appear 
in court at year's end.
    On June 17, police in Ha-Lekhobanyane arrested and assaulted 
villagers suspected of stoning and burning a woman to death. The woman 
was presumed to have been mentally ill, but villagers suspected her of 
witchcraft. One victim, Nthejane Lelimo, stated that police beat his 
ribs and back with a knobkerrie, while Malefetsane Mokhele alleged that 
police beat the soles of his feet. Mantsoti Khutlang sustained a 
fractured jaw and swollen cheeks after she was repeatedly punched in 
her face.
    A local cab driver claimed that he was assaulted by a police 
officer who demanded to see his license. The magistrate found him 
guilty of reckless driving and failing to obey police instructions. The 
case against the police officer was dropped after the prosecutor 
rejected the cab driver's evidence.
    In August 2009 local newspapers and private radio stations reported 
that several male residents in the village of Nokong, Berea District, 
accused police of torture and unlawful detention. They alleged that 
police conducted a raid on the village searching for illegal guns at 
selected homes. After failing to find any illegal weapons, police 
allegedly took the men from their homes to a plateau overlooking the 
village and beat them. The PCA investigated the case and issued a 
report to the minister of home affairs and public safety. The report 
was not made public. The ICD also investigated the torture allegations 
of the Nokong villagers but did not release a report.
    The media reported several incidents of ``mob justice'' in which 
members of the society took the law into their own hands to punish 
suspects.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
poor, and facilities were overcrowded and in disrepair. The country's 
prisons had a combined capacity of 2,910, but sometimes held twice that 
number. Maseru Central Prison had an estimated capacity of 600 inmates 
but held up to 860 prisoners during the year. Berea and Butha-Buthe 
prisons were constructed in 1886 and 1907. Sanitation and nutrition 
were poor, although potable water was available. Prison facilities 
lacked bedding, ventilation, and proper lighting. Heating and cooling 
systems did not exist.
    Prisoners received free medical care from government hospitals, and 
all prisons had a nurse and a dispensary to attend to minor illnesses. 
Some correctional facilities owned ambulances to transport inmates for 
emergency medical care. The Lesotho Correctional Service (LCS) employed 
a full-time HIV/AIDS coordinator who trained 90 peer educators during 
the year.
    The LCS reported a total prison population of 2,498, including 77 
juveniles, 2,360 men, and 61 women. Pretrial detainees were held with 
convicted prisoners. High-security prisoners and military prisoners 
were held in a separate facility.
    There were reports of prisoners brutalizing and raping other 
prisoners, although statistics were unavailable.
    From April 2009 to September (data is based on the fiscal year, 
which runs from April to March), seven deaths were reported in prisons 
countrywide. Six deaths were due to illness, primarily HIV/AIDS. One 
death resulted from a fight between two inmates, both of whom had 
histories of mental illness.
    Prisoners had reasonable access to visitors and were permitted 
religious observance. Authorities permitted prisoners and detainees to 
submit complaints to judicial authorities without censorship and 
allowed them to request investigations of credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions. Authorities investigated credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions, but reports were not made public. Individuals must 
go through the Public Relations Office to obtain information about a 
particular case. The Pardons Committee and Advising Committee have the 
authority to inspect prisons. The Management Committee for Juveniles 
monitors conditions of juvenile prisons.
    Prison regulations provide for visiting committees made up of 
principal chiefs, church ministers, representatives of the business 
community, advocates of the High Court, and other citizens; however, no 
such visits were conducted during the year. These committees were 
authorized to visit any prison without the prior knowledge of the 
prison director and generally were allowed to do so. The committees 
reported their findings to the prison director as well as to the 
general public.
    International human rights groups were permitted to monitor prison 
conditions, although there were no known visits during the year.
    The Office of the Ombudsman can enter and inspect jails, prisons, 
and military cells to assess conditions and make recommendations to 
protect the rights of prisoners and detainees; however, the last 
inspection was conducted in 2005. The Office of the Ombudsman did not 
monitor the enforcement of pretrial detention restrictions and bail 
provisions. Detailed recordkeeping procedures to ensure that prisoners 
did not serve beyond the maximum sentence for offenses were not 
available.
    The renovation of the Maseru Central and Leribe District prisons 
continued during the year.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The security forces 
consist of the Lesotho Defense Force (LDF), Lesotho Mounted Police 
Service (LMPS), National Security Service (NSS), and the LCS. The LMPS 
is responsible for internal security. The LDF maintains all external 
security and assists the police when requested by the LMPS 
commissioner. The NSS is an intelligence service that provides 
information on possible threats in support of internal and external 
security.
    The prime minister has direct authority over the LDF and NSS as 
minister of defense and national security. The LCS is under the 
Ministry of Justice, Human Rights, Correctional Services, Law, and 
Constitutional Affairs. The LMPS is under the Ministry of Home Affairs 
and Public Safety (MHA).
    The country is divided into three police regions, which are 
subdivided into districts. A shortage of human and financial resources 
limited LMPS effectiveness.
    The internal affairs organs that address corruption and other 
offenses by police are the ICD and the PCA. Commonly imposed forms of 
disciplinary action included fines, suspension, demotion, or dismissal 
from service. Current legislation does not grant the PCA powers of 
search and seizure or the authority to summon police officers. Local 
NGOs complained that the PCA's inability to initiate cases based on 
public complaints limited its effectiveness. Cases were initiated only 
at the request of the minister of home affairs and public safety.
    The LDF continued its 15-year plan for restructuring and reform 
begun in 1998; however, high turnover rates and budget restrictions 
resulted in delays.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires police to obtain a warrant from the magistrate prior to making 
an arrest. Suspects are apprehended openly and informed about their 
rights before they are brought before an independent judiciary. 
Suspects must be informed of charges within 48 hours, and their 
families must be notified of any detention. The law allows family 
members to visit inmates. According to media reports and LMPS 
officials, police did not always comply with these provisions. The law 
provides for bail, which authorities granted regularly and, in general, 
fairly. Defendants have the right to legal counsel. Detainees were 
allowed prompt access to a lawyer, and lawyers were provided for 
indigents. The Legal Aid Division, under the Ministry of Justice and 
Human Rights, offered free legal assistance, but a severe lack of 
resources hampered the division's effectiveness. NGOs maintained a few 
legal aid clinics.
    There were no reported cases of authorities resorting to false 
charges to detain or try persons for criticizing the Government.
    Eighteen percent of inmates were in pretrial detention, which could 
last for months or even years. The backlog was due to lack of 
resources, judicial staffing shortages, delay tactics by defense 
counsel, and unavailability of legal counsel. The average length of 
pretrial detention was 60 days, after which authorities usually 
released pretrial detainees on bail pending trial. The Speedy Trial Act 
of 2002 provides that a suspect cannot be held in custody more than 90 
days before a trial except in exceptional circumstances.
    To address trial delays, the High Court of Lesotho, with the 
assistance of the Commonwealth, engaged an expert to address the 
problem. The High Court established a Commercial Court with two judges 
in February and introduced a new individual docket system to ensure 
that one judge handles cases from start to finish. The new system 
involved the compilation of a database of pending cases beginning in 
2005 and was designed to deter delay tactics often used by defense 
counsels. From February to August, 431 civil cases were completed, more 
than the total number of cases completed in all of 2009. On December 
30, the chief justice swore in Judge Lebohang Molete, the third judge 
of the Commercial Court, bringing the number of Basotho judges to 
three.

    Amnesty.--The Government occasionally granted amnesties and early 
releases on Moshoeshoe's Day, the King's Birthday, Independence Day, or 
Christmas Day. On Moshoeshoe's day, March 11, 71 male inmates were 
released early. On July 17, the King's Birthday, 64 inmates (62 men and 
2 women) were released early. On October 4, Independence Day, 44 
inmates were released early (40 men and four women). On Christmas Day, 
46 male inmates were released early. A total of 225 inmates (219 men 
and six women) were released during the year.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for the right to a fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally 
enforced this right. The country has a dual legal system consisting of 
common law and customary law. Customary law is made up of the norms, 
values, and practices of Basotho codified together under the Laws of 
Lerotholi of 1903. Any norm, value, or practice not contained in that 
book cannot be regarded as law and was not binding on any Mosotho. It 
applied to every Mosotho, but there were instances in which one could 
opt for common law instead of customary law, such as for marriage. 
However, there were instances where one cannot opt for customary law, 
but it may automatically apply depending on the merits of the case. 
Customary law is equivalent to common law, that is, if no law is 
superior to another, they apply equally.
    The constitution and law provide for an independent judiciary, and 
the Government generally respected judicial independence in practice. 
There was a large case backlog, which resulted in delayed trials.

    Trial Procedures.--Defendants are presumed innocent until proven 
guilty. There is no trial by jury. Trials are public, but in civil and 
criminal matters a single judge normally hears cases. It is only in 
high-profile constitutional, commercial, and appeals cases that more 
than one judge is appointed. Defendants have the right to be present at 
their trials and to consult with an attorney in a timely manner; 
however, there were instances in which authorities did not advise 
accused persons of their right to legal representation. Free legal 
counsel was available, either from the state or an NGO. Defendants may 
confront and question witnesses against them and present witnesses on 
their own behalf. A defendant may present evidence on his own behalf at 
the Magistrate Court, but at the High Court legal representation was 
required.
    Defendants have the right to access unclassified government 
evidence. The Government cannot classify evidence and use it against a 
defendant. If evidence is going to be used in court, both the plaintiff 
and the defendant must have access. Defendants have the right to 
appeal. A defendant may either be held or released on bail until 
sentenced. The law extends these rights to all citizens.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary with jurisdiction over civil matters. Citizens 
can freely access the court system to file lawsuits seeking cessation 
of human rights violations or a recovery of damages. Some 
administrative remedies were available from the Labor Court, as 
stipulated by the Public Services Act. Judicial remedies for such 
wrongs are addressed in the constitution. However, in some cases, the 
Government failed to produce evidence in court and sequestered 
witnesses, which damaged the claims of plaintiffs and resulted in 
dismissal of cases.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution provides that ``every person shall be 
entitled to respect for his private and family life and his home.'' 
Although search warrants were required under normal circumstances, the 
law provides police with the power to stop and search persons and 
vehicles and enter homes and other places without a warrant if the 
situation is considered life threatening, if there are security 
concerns, or if it is an emergency. The general public reportedly was 
unaware that police were required to have search warrants.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally 
respected these rights in practice. An independent press, effective 
judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system combined to 
ensure freedom of speech and of the press. However, some journalists 
practiced self-censorship because the Government employed libel suits 
in previous years. Media outlets risked being sued by the Government 
for slander or libel. Further, state-owned media outlets reflected 
positions of the ruling party.
    The constitution and law provide for freedom of speech and press; 
however, the Government did not always respect these rights in 
practice. Some journalists practiced self-censorship.
    Journalists were threatened during the year. For example, Marafaele 
Mohloboli, deputy chairperson of MISA-Lesotho, reported having received 
a death threat. She reported the matter to police, but there were no 
further developments at year's end.
    Unlike in the previous year, no journalists were attacked.
    The Government employed lawsuits against media outlets, editors, 
and journalists for libel and slander. Reports indicated that on 
December 9, the prime minister filed a lawsuit at the High Court 
against a local newspaper claiming two million maloti (approximately 
$286,000) for defamation. The newspaper had alleged that the prime 
minister embezzled eight million maloti (approximately $1.1 million). 
Further, state-owned media outlets reflected positions of the 
Government. During the May celebration of World Media Freedom Day, the 
deputy chairman of the Media Institute of Southern Africa's Lesotho 
chapter (MISA-Lesotho) threatened a media blackout if the Government 
did not revise sanctions against noncompliant media houses. The 
minister of communications, science, and technology stated that the 
journalists practiced sensational reporting and harsh criticism of high 
government officials to raise sales. For the past 13 years, MISA-
Lesotho has advocated for a new media policy.
    On April 23, the Court of Appeal upheld the judgment by the High 
Court that Billy Macaefa, a leader of the Lesotho Workers Party, was 
not guilty of sedition and subversion. It was alleged that Billy gave a 
speech at a political rally following the 2007 elections inciting the 
people to overthrow the Government.
    On May 5, members of the Lesotho National Assembly verbally 
attacked Bongiwe Zihlangu, political editor of a major local newspaper. 
They accused her of ``spreading false information about gratuities'' 
(one-time end-of-service bonuses) for members of parliament (MPs). 
Zihlangu had reported on a proposed bill that gave MPs who had been in 
parliament for two years 25 percent of their gratuity early. According 
to the report by MISA-Lesotho, Zihlangu was sitting in the media 
gallery when Rantelai Shea of the opposition Lesotho Workers Party 
demanded that the journalist be thrown out of the parliament building. 
Shea reportedly stated that ``freedom of the media leads reporters to 
report on things that strip us of our dignity.'' He called for the 
newspaper to be sued for lies about their gratuities. He further urged 
that Zihlangu be sued ``in broad daylight and be ordered by the courts 
to pay us the 307,000 maloti ($44,000) she alleges that we are going to 
get.'' Zihlangu reportedly then left the parliament media gallery. The 
Members of Parliament Salaries (Amendment) Bill 2010 passed on May 27.
    In October the media reported that Thomas Thabane, leader of the 
All Basotho Convention (ABC), the largest opposition party, threatened 
to shoot the chief reporter and editor of a local newspaper when he was 
requested to comment on allegations of a domestic dispute.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. The 
Internet was not widely available and almost nonexistent in rural 
areas, due to lack of communications infrastructure and the high cost 
of access. The Lesotho Communications Authority estimated that 5.1 
percent of inhabitants used the Internet during the year.
    There were no reports of government attempts to collect, request, 
obtain, or disclose personally identifiable information of a person in 
connection with that person's peaceful expression of political, 
religious or ideological opinion or belief.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
and law provide for freedom of assembly and association, and the 
Government generally respected these rights in practice.
    The parliament unanimously passed the Public Meetings and 
Processions Bill in May. The bill stipulates that anyone who wishes to 
hold a public meeting or procession in an urban area should first make 
written application for permission to ``an officer in command of police 
in the area where the public meeting or procession'' is to be held. 
Additionally ``a person wishing to hold a public meeting or procession 
in an area that is not urban shall at least within seven days before 
holding the public meeting or procession, make a written application 
for permission to hold the procession or meeting, either to the headman 
or representative of the headman of the area the meeting or procession 
is intended to be held.''
    Twenty students of Limkokwing University were charged under the 
bill following rioting that took place during their strike on November 
20. The students appeared at the Magistrate Court on November 23, and 
the case was scheduled to be heard in June 2011.
    Local media reported that police denied protesters' request for 
permission to picket during South African President Jacob Zuma's visit 
in August. Media reports indicated that the request was denied due to 
inadequate staffing; the police, however, denied receiving an 
application for the demonstration.
    The High Court's inquest into the student riots at the National 
University of Lesotho and subsequent police shooting and death of a 
student in October 2009 had not begun by year's end.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete discussion of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
free movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation. The Government generally respected these rights in 
practice.
    According to the MHA, the Government cooperated with the Office of 
the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian 
organizations in providing protection and assistance to refugees, 
asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    In June the Government of South Africa announced that Lesotho 
citizens could no longer travel to South Africa using temporary travel 
documents, and six- month border permits would no longer be issued or 
renewed. The change in procedure resulted in long waits at the border. 
The MHA scrambled to print new passports and cope with the rising 
demand. A reported backlog of up to 350,000 passport applications 
dating back to 2002 slowed efforts. A meeting between the ministers of 
home affairs of the two countries failed to resolve the matter. Clashes 
between passport applicants and passport office workers were reported 
in Leribe and Mafeteng districts during public protests against poor 
passport service. Police brought these under control, and no injuries 
were reported.
    The constitution and law prohibit forced exile, and the Government 
did not use it in practice.

    Protection of Refugees.--According to the MHA, the Government 
cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations in 
providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, 
stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    In practice the Government provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion. There is no restriction on the movement of asylees.
    A committee chaired by the MHA's principal secretary interviews 
asylum seekers, then makes a recommendation to the minister of home 
affairs, who has the final say on the matter. The committee consists of 
officials from the MHA Legal Division, MHA Passport Department, Office 
of the Director of Immigration, the UN Development Program, the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and LMPS.
    There were 40 asylum seekers in the country. Most of them were from 
the Democratic Republic of Congo; others were from Sudan, Ethiopia, and 
Zimbabwe. In July the UNHCR donated equipment to produce identity 
documents to enhance their access to local services.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens 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 and Political Participation.--During the most recent 
national elections, in 2007, the LCD party maintained a legislative 
majority, claiming 61 of 80 constituency-based seats in the National 
Assembly. Domestic and international observers characterized the 
election as free and peaceful. Other observers, including members of 
the leading opposition parties and some NGOs, stated it was not 
entirely fair. Their complaints initially centered on the complicated 
manner of allocating proportional parliamentary seats but later 
included the manner of appointment of the leader of opposition in 
parliament and review of the constitution and electoral laws.
    Through a preelection alliance with the National Independent Party, 
the LCD controlled a further 21 of 40 proportional representation 
seats, bringing its majority to 82 out of 120 seats. The largest 
opposition party, the ABC, won 17 constituency-based seats and 10 
proportional seats through its own preelection alliance with the 
Lesotho Workers Party. Although both major political parties created 
alliances in an attempt to gain more seats, the most contested were the 
21 seats gained by the ruling LCD party. Mediation efforts began 
shortly after the election.
    Ketumile Masire, former president of Botswana, led the mediation 
process until July 2009. Masire stated that the alliances entered into 
by the LCD and ABC undermined the mixed-member proportional electoral 
model, making it ineffectual. He added that the LCD's main position--
that the High Court had already decided the question of alliances--was 
not actually true, that the High Court had ``decided not to decide,'' 
and that the court's judgment was unhelpful. His report led civil 
society organizations to resume talks mediated by the Christian Council 
of Lesotho (CCL), but in August 2009 they were postponed. On February 
21-22, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Organ Summit 
Troika--Mozambican President Armando Guebuza, Swazi King Mswati III, 
and Zambian Defense Minister Kalombo Mwanza--visited Lesotho to restart 
the mediation. The troika concluded that the CCL should continue 
mediating and pledged to provide a facilitation team to support it. On 
March 11, political leaders signed the ``Thaba Bosiu'' declaration 
affirming their commitment to work for peaceful resolution of the 2007 
postelectoral disputes, but the matter was not resolved by year's end. 
The August 16-17 SADC Summit urged stakeholders to find a solution to 
the lengthy dispute, including finalizing the proposed electoral law 
amendment bill.
    By-elections to replace deceased members of parliament were held on 
May 25 in three constituencies. The ruling LCD won the contested 
constituencies. Following the by-elections, the leader of the ABC party 
protested the results, citing ``a corrupt relationship between the 
Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and the ruling party''; however, 
no formal complaints were filed. He subsequently withdrew from 
participating in all IEC-related activities. In December the National 
Executive Committee of the ABC decided to redeploy its members to the 
various IEC committees and at year's end planned to fully participate 
in the upcoming local government and national elections.
    There were 29 women in the 120-seat National Assembly and seven 
women in the 33-seat Senate. The speaker of the National Assembly, 
seven of 19 government ministers, two of four assistant ministers, five 
of 10 judges on the High Court, and the commissioner of police were 
women.
    Approximately 98.5 percent of the population is ethnic Basotho. 
There were no members of minorities in the National Assembly, the 
Senate, or the cabinet.
    Local elections were scheduled to take place in May but were 
postponed until 2011. Opposition parties had threatened to boycott the 
election over the continued allotment of 30 percent of the wards to 
female candidates.
    The men accused in the April 2009 events surrounding the 
assassination attempt on the prime minister were still awaiting 
possible extradition from South Africa. Alleged mastermind Jessie 
Ramakatane's extradition case was pending in Magistrate Court. On July 
29, the seven accused gunmen were found eligible for extradition in 
Magistrate Court; they appealed, and their extradition case was pending 
in Bloemfontein, South Africa's High Court.
    The Government established a commission of inquiry to investigate 
the attacks on Makoanyane Barracks, the prime minister's residence, and 
certain residents of Maseru. On January 20, the commission--chaired by 
retired former president of the Court of Appeal Judge Hendrik Jan Stein 
and with members from the country, South Africa, and Botswana--convened 
and heard evidence from 40 witnesses. On April 16, Judge Stein released 
a report acknowledging a few rogue members in the army, but claiming 
that neither the army itself, nor any part thereof, orchestrated the 
April 2009 attacks. Judge Stein blamed the late Makotoko Lerotholi, who 
allegedly was financed by disgruntled businessman Jesse Ramakatane. The 
report revealed pervasive laxity in the LDF and recommended structural 
and other changes to widen the security network.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption. There 
were isolated reports of government corruption during the year.
    The Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offenses (DCEO) is the 
primary anticorruption organ and investigates corruption complaints 
against public sector officials. The DCEO is under the supervision of 
the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. The Amendment of Prevention 
of Corruption and Economic Offences Act of 2006 first subjected public 
officers to financial disclosure laws. However, the disclosure form to 
be used has still not been established. The law may also be applied to 
private citizens if deemed necessary by the DCEO. The DCEO's official 
statistical report stated that from April to September, it received a 
total of 70 reports on subjects including bribery, fraud, abuse of 
power, embezzlement of public funds, and tender manipulation. Of these 
reports, five were closed, 15 were under preliminary investigation, 
seven were referred to the police, 18 were referred elsewhere (to the 
Directorate of Dispute Prevention and Resolution or the Labor Court), 
20 were pending preliminary investigation, and five were referred to 
the DCEO investigatory division.
    According to the DCEO, there is no baseline to measure the level of 
corruption in any sector including the executive, legislative, or 
judicial branches; the media occasionally raised allegations of 
corruption in the branches. Corruption exists in all sectors, but its 
extent was not known.
    Individuals, both Basotho and foreign, who were ineligible to hold 
passports continued to obtain them through forgery and 
misrepresentation. The Passport Department's problem of corrupt 
officers was exacerbated by the passport backlog as people paid bribes 
to quickly obtain travel documents. Some passport officers embezzled 
funds made as payment for passport applications. Five officers were 
dismissed, while three remained under investigation.
    Former clerk of the National Assembly Matlamukele Matete was 
accused of inflating the price of a photocopier purchased by his 
ministry. The High Court sentenced him to 10 years' imprisonment with 
an option to pay a fine of 50,000 maloti ($7,140). He appealed the 
sentence, and in October the Court of Appeal confirmed Matete's 
conviction and imposed a four-year prison sentence, which Matete was 
serving at year's end.
    Former colonel Letsolo Kholoane was forced to retire, and former 
captain Rakolitsoe Mahase was sentenced to six years, for forging 
documents in a travel scandal.
    Police corruption was a problem, as confirmed by LMPS authorities. 
The internal affairs organs that address corruption and other offenses 
by police are the LMPS's ICD and the PCA. Commonly imposed forms of 
disciplinary action included fines, suspension, demotion, or dismissal 
from service.
    On August 2009 the country's first female police commissioner, 
Malejaka Letooane, was sentenced to six months in jail for contempt of 
court for authorizing the release of a vehicle from police custody 
contrary to the order of the Magistrate Court and later failing to 
appear in court when summoned to explain her actions. The chief justice 
granted the commissioner the right to appeal to the High Court. In 
October the chief justice overturned the sentence and reportedly 
dismissed the case altogether. However, the case concerning the vehicle 
release was proceeding in the Magistrate Court at year's end.
    April and December press reports from the Lesotho Times indicated 
that Police Commissioner Malejaka Letooane was under investigation at 
year's end relating to a 24 million maloti (approximately $3.4 million) 
tender awarded in 2008 to Ferrini USA, Inc. to supply police uniforms. 
The firm was initially disqualified from the tender process because it 
had failed to meet the stringent requirements.
    ``Theft of exhibits'' (theft or disappearance of evidence related 
to a trial proceeding) was commonly reported. In addition, private 
transport operators claimed that police solicited bribes from taxi and 
bus drivers who violated traffic laws. However, no formal charges of 
police corruption were filed during the year. According to the ICD, 
from January to September there were 23 cases of corruption. One person 
was convicted, six were sent to the courts, and 16 were pending 
investigation.
    Reports of corruption and fraud in the Government's Block Farming 
Program appeared in February. After investigation, the Office of the 
Ombudsman released a report in September alleging corruption by the 
ministers of finance and forestry and the assistant minister of 
agriculture and food security. Together, the three officials personally 
owed more than 18.5 million maloti ($2.6 million) in loans guaranteed 
by the Government and directly overseen by their ministries, which had 
not been repaid at year's end.
    On April 23, the Court of Appeal convicted former deputy 
commissioner of police Motsotuoa Ntaote of fraud related to per diem 
claims for two official trips to South Africa. Ntaote was acquitted by 
the High Court in June 2009; however, the Court of Appeal reversed the 
judgment and found him guilty on one count of fraud. He was sentenced 
to a fine of 12,000 maloti ($1,715) or six months in prison. The 
sentence, however, was suspended (no time served or fine levied if the 
same or similar crime is not repeated within the suspension period) for 
three years.
    A police constable accused of soliciting a bribe appeared in court 
on September 13. Constable Mokhitlinyane Mokiti allegedly solicited a 
940 maloti ($134) bribe to drop car theft charges against Lebajoa 
Qalabatsane. He was charged with contravention of section 22(1) of the 
Prevention of Corruption and Economic Offence Act No. 5 of 1999. Mokiti 
was granted bail and was awaiting trial at year's end.
    Former police superintendent Ramoeletsi was convicted of extortion 
and sentenced to two years' imprisonment or 2,000 maloti ($285). The 
sentence was suspended.
    The Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS), 
plagued by delays in 2009, was up and running during the year; IFMIS 
was introduced to speed up payments, improve public accounting, and 
impose greater control on government purchasing, accounting, and 
reporting. It was also adopted to halt overexpenditure by government 
departments and enable the Government to trace all transactions, 
including those suspected of embezzling government money. Its 
effectiveness was not yet determined.
    In January the High Court sentenced the principal secretary for the 
Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, Pontso Lebotsa, to five years in 
prison or a fine of 10,000 maloti ($1,430) for contravening government 
procurement regulations in 2007. The defendant appealed, the Court of 
Appeal confirmed the High Court judgment, and Lebotsa paid the fine. 
She was fired from her position.
    There are no laws providing for public access to government 
information, and access was limited; however, Web sites of government 
ministries, parastatal companies, and private organizations provided 
some information on governmental activities. The Government Gazette and 
other publications could be requested from the Government Printers' 
Office. There were also media releases from government ministry 
information officers. Researchers at institutions such as the Institute 
of Southern African Studies, NGOs such as MISA-Lesotho, and the media 
complained about lack of access to government information.
Section 5. 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.
    The independent Office of the Ombudsman (see also section 1.c., 
Prison and Detention Center Conditions) appeared to function without 
undue governmental or political interference. The office is considered 
effective but was constrained by low publicity, high level of 
centralization, shortage of staff, financing, and equipment. The 
ombudsman intervened in response to requests for release of unlawfully 
withheld salaries, reinstatement of employees illegally suspended from 
their jobs, compensation for persons forced to relocate by the Lesotho 
Highland Water Project, and compensation for and repairs to houses in 
communities affected by large-scale development projects.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and the formal legal code prohibit discrimination 
based on race, gender, disability, language, or social status. However, 
the constitution recognizes customary law as a parallel legal system, 
and under it women remained disadvantaged with regard to property 
rights, inheritance, contracts, and succession rights.

    Women.--The law prohibits rape, including spousal rape, and 
mandates a minimum sentence of five years' imprisonment, with no option 
for a fine. When reported, the Government generally enforced the law 
effectively. Rape was reportedly commonplace. Accurate statistics were 
unavailable, but an estimate based on the most recent available police 
national crime statistics indicated that from April to December 2009, 
there were 823 reported cases of sexual offenses against women. Courts 
heard a number of rape and attempted rape cases, several of which 
resulted in convictions. Up-to-date statistics on the number of 
perpetrators prosecuted, convicted, and punished were not available.
    Domestic violence against women was widespread. Although accurate 
statistics were unavailable, an estimate based on the most recent 
police national crime statistics indicated that from April to December 
2009, there were 109 reported cases of assault against women. These 
statistics greatly understated the extent of the problem, as domestic 
violence is less likely to be reported than assault. Domestic violence 
and spousal abuse are criminal offenses defined as assault; however, 
few domestic violence cases were brought to trial. The law does not 
mandate specific penalties, but an offender can be cautioned and 
released, given a suspended sentence, fined, or imprisoned. Punishment 
depends on the severity of the assault, and judges have a wide degree 
of discretion in sentencing. Violence against women and children was 
increasingly considered socially unacceptable due, in part, to the 
Government advocacy and awareness programs by the Child and Gender 
Protection Unit (CGPU) of the police, the Department of Social Welfare, 
and the Ministry of Gender and Youth, Sports, and Recreation. This work 
was bolstered by local and regional organizations, such as the Women 
and Law in Southern Africa Trust, the Federation of Women Lawyers, the 
Lesotho Child Counseling Unit, other NGOs, and broadcast and print 
media campaigns. Activities include teaching young persons and parents 
how to report such offenses and how to access victim services.
    The law does not specifically prohibit sexual harassment, and 
sexual harassment occurred in workplaces and was commonplace elsewhere. 
According to the Law Office, complaints involving sexual harassment, if 
reported at all, were not often reported through official channels and 
tended to be handled internally.
    The Legal Capacity of Married Persons Act gives couples and 
individuals the right to decide freely and responsibly the number, 
spacing, and timing of their children, and to have the information and 
means to do so free from discrimination, coercion, and violence. 
Government hospitals and clinics--in partnership with international and 
local NGOs--provided equitable access for all, regardless of the 
patient's background, to reproductive health services. There were no 
legal, social, or cultural barriers limiting access to these services, 
which include skilled attendance during childbirth, prenatal care, and 
essential obstetric and postpartum care. The incidence of maternal 
mortality was 1,155 per 100,000 live births. There was access to 
contraception at minimal fee for oral pills, injectables, intrauterine 
contraceptive devices, emergency contraception, and implants. Male and 
female condoms were free and available. Women and men were equally 
diagnosed and treated for sexually transmitted infections, including 
HIV.
    Women and men are accorded equal rights in civil and criminal 
courts. The 2006 Legal Capacity of Married Persons Act effectively 
eliminated de jure discrimination against women under formal (but not 
customary) law except in the area of inheritance, which it does not 
cover. The act further extends to traditional law and custom. It grants 
women married under custom equal rights, similar to those married under 
common law. The previous statutory and customary laws limited the 
rights of women in areas such as property rights, inheritance, and 
contracts.Under the dual legal system, women have the legal and 
customary right to make a will and sue for divorce; however, under 
customary (also referred to as traditional) law, a married woman was 
considered a minor during the lifetime of her husband and could not 
enter into legally binding contracts without his consent. Since passage 
of the new law, the rights of women have substantially improved. 
Married women can obtain loans without the consent of their husbands 
and enjoy full economic rights under the law. However, the law does not 
provide for women's inheritance and custody rights. A woman married 
under customary law has no standing in civil court unless she has her 
marriage registered in the civil system. Government officials publicly 
criticized the discrimination of women under customary marriage.
    Women's rights organizations took a leading role in educating women 
about their rights under customary and formal law, highlighting the 
importance of women's participation in the democratic process. The 
Ministry of Gender, Youth, Sports, and Recreation is charged with 
promoting the legal rights of women. It supported efforts by women's 
groups to sensitize society to respect the status and rights of women.
    Although polygamy is not recognized by the formal legal code, it 
was practiced under customary law by a small minority.
    Women were not discriminated against in access to employment or 
credit; however, on average women did not receive equal pay for 
substantially similar work. In some cases, women were encouraged to 
have a sexual relationship with a male boss to get employment or 
promotion. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and 
Development's Gender Institutions and Development Database, women's 
average earnings were approximately 53 percent of the wages that men 
received for equal work. Nevertheless, some of the country's most 
senior positions were held by women, including speaker of parliament, 
cabinet ministers, judges, ambassadors, the commissioner of police, 
government principal secretaries, the auditor general, and chief 
executives of some public enterprises.

    Children.--According to the MHA, citizenship is derived by birth 
within the country's territory. According to the Office of the 
Registrar of Births and Deaths in the District Administrator's Office, 
all births were registered by hospitals and local clinics. Children 
born in private homes were registered at the offices of local chiefs, 
and the information was then transmitted to the District 
Administrator's Office for issuance of birth certificates.
    By law primary education is universal; since March, compulsory; and 
since 2006, tuition-free for grades one through seven. Secondary 
education is not free, but the Government has scholarships for orphans 
and vulnerable children (OVCs). The education bill, making free primary 
education compulsory for children in grades one through seven, was 
passed by both houses of parliament in November 2009 and enacted into 
law in March. The act states that children from age six shall be 
enrolled in a primary school and that they should stay in school until 
they reach the age yet to be determined by the minister of education. A 
fine of not less than 1,000 maloti ($143) or imprisonment can be 
imposed on a parent whose child fails to attend school regularly.
    The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported that a substantial number 
of children did not attend school. The problem was particularly 
prevalent in rural areas, where there were few schools. Attending 
school regularly was most difficult for those involved in supporting 
their families through subsistence activities or those whose families 
could not afford fees for the purchase of uniforms, books, and other 
school materials. According to UNICEF statistics for 2009, 80 percent 
of boys and 88 percent of girls attended primary school. More boys 
failed to attend school than girls due to the tradition of livestock 
herding by young boys.
    Child abuse was a problem, especially for OVCs. Accurate statistics 
on the incidence of child abuse were not available; however, an 
estimate based on the most recent available police national crime 
statistics indicated that from April to December 2009 there were 57 
reported cases of neglect of children and 23 cases of assault against 
children. These cases included child neglect, common assault, abduction 
(forced elopement), and sexual assault. The true number of child abuse 
cases was thought to be much greater.
    The CGPU was active in fighting child abuse, particularly 
challenging the cultural norms that encouraged forced elopement. The 
CGPU has branches in all 10 districts, but a lack of resources 
restricted its effectiveness. The CGPU dealt with sexual and physical 
abuse, neglected and abandoned children, and protection of the property 
rights of orphans.
    During the year the news media frequently published reports of 
violence at traditional initiation schools. These schools use 
traditional rituals to initiate teenage boys into manhood and are 
attended mainly by rural youth. While the activities of these 
initiation schools were kept secret, the media reported violence 
against students, teachers, and members of surrounding communities.
    According to media reports, child prostitution was a problem. Young 
girls and boys, many of whom were orphans, moved to urban areas to 
engage in prostitution and work as sex workers, as noted by Lesotho 
Save the Children. A 2001 UNICEF assessment concluded that child 
prostitution in the country was driven by poverty and undertaken only 
as a last resort. The study also noted that prostituted children most 
often acted on their own and were apparently not controlled by 
organized criminal syndicates or any other third party. However, UNICEF 
and the Government agreed that while the numbers remained small, the 
trend toward the commercial sexual exploitation of children was a 
growing problem. According to the 2000 and 2004 reports produced by the 
Ministry of Labor and Employment in collaboration with UNICEF and other 
partners, the worst forms of child labor included sex work and 
prostitution. There were not enough resources within either the police 
force or the Department of Social Welfare to address the needs of 
children likely to engage in prostitution.
    There is no legislation specifically addressing child prostitution 
or child pornography, but the Child Protection Act of 1980 and the 
Sexual Offenses Act of 2003 can be used to prosecute offenders. This 
legislation also prohibits the employment of children and young persons 
in commercial sex. The Sexual Offenses Act sets the minimum age for 
consensual sex at 18. The Children's Protection and Welfare Bill, 
enacted in March, specifically addresses child prostitution, child 
pornography, child trafficking, and related issues.
    The rapid rise in the number of created by HIV/AIDS contributed to 
child prostitution, child homelessness, child-headed households, and 
children at risk of exploitation for labor or other purposes. According 
to UNICEF, there were an estimated 180,000 OVCs in the country. Street 
children suffered from lack of access to government services, such as 
medical care and schooling, and were not informed about their right to 
receive such services...
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--There are a small number of Jews but no practicing 
Jewish community. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution and law prohibit 
discrimination against persons with sensory and intellectual 
disabilities in employment, education, access to healthcare, or the 
provision of other state services. The Government enforced these laws 
within its limited ability. Although societal discrimination was 
common, the tradition of hiding children with disabilities from the 
public was no longer commonly accepted. The Association of the Disabled 
actively promoted the rights and needs of persons with disabilities.
    Laws and regulations stipulate that persons with disabilities 
should have access to public buildings. Buildings completed after 1995 
generally complied with the law. According to John Motloko, executive 
director of the Lesotho National Federation of Organizations of the 
Disabled, government efforts to modify buildings were hampered by the 
lack of a national disability and rehabilitation policy, which has been 
in draft form since 2000. The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare is 
responsible for the bill.
    Information for the blind in the form of Braille and JAWS (a 
computer software used by visually impaired persons) was not widely 
available. Sign language was not provided by service providers in the 
Government or private sector, so signing individuals could not access 
many services. There were limited facilities for training deaf persons.
    The Government did not effectively implement laws to ensure that 
persons with disabilities had access to information and communications. 
Media reports indicated that persons with disabilities experienced 
societal abuse; however, there were no reports of such abuse in 
prisons, educational facilities, or mental health facilities.
    Election law provides for assisted voting for persons with 
disabilities, which was respected in practice. They are allowed to have 
anyone of their choosing assist them with voting, including the 
presiding officer at a polling station; there should also be a third 
person to verify that the voter's choices are respected.
    The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare is responsible for 
protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. In partnership with 
the NGO Skillshare International, the Government provided leadership-
training workshops for persons with disabilities and community-based 
rehabilitation (training community members to provide services to 
persons with disabilities). The community-based training assisted 
teachers in working with students with disabilities. The Skillshare-
government partnership supported 20 income-generating projects with a 
minimum starting capital of 10,000 maloti ($1,428). There was also 
advocacy and awareness training about the rights of persons with 
disabilities. These events usually centered on international events, 
such as Sign Language Day, White Cane Day, and Braille Day. The 
partnership also provided aids such as prescription eyeglasses, 
wheelchairs, and canes.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law does not address 
sexual orientation. It was unknown whether lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 
transgender (LGBT) persons faced discrimination in employment, housing, 
access to health care, access to education, or other areas. Homosexual 
conduct is taboo in society, and is not openly discussed. There were no 
reports of violence against LGBT persons during the year.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There continued to be 
media reports that children orphaned by HIV/AIDS, persons with HIV/
AIDS, and their immediate families were stigmatized.
    The law prohibits discrimination in the workplace on the basis of 
HIV/AIDS status. In 2006 the parliament amended the labor code to 
include an HIV/AIDS workplace policy. Each government ministry or 
department provided subsidized medicine to its employees with HIV/AIDS, 
and some provided subsidized food. Medicine was available to all HIV-
positive citizens at subsidized prices at all government hospitals.
    LDF policy states that a soldier found to be HIV-positive after 
induction is not retired or separated and is provided counseling and 
testing, and duties were adapted as appropriate.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--Workers have the right to join and 
form trade unions of their own choosing without prior authorization or 
excessive bureaucratic requirements. Workers exercised this right in 
practice, although a very large percentage of the labor force was not 
unionized. Representatives from three major trade unions all 
characterized the trade union movement as fledgling and unorganized. 
Individual trade unions had limited contact with one another despite 
similar goals. Union leaders suggested that political and leadership 
differences and a lack of resources had kept unions small and 
discouraged mergers or expansion.
    The apparel industry was the largest employer in the country and 
accounted for nearly 50 percent of formal employment. There were 45 
factories with a total of 45,000 workers, making up about 80 percent of 
all jobs in the manufacturing sector. The textile sector dominated the 
country, and most unions were focused on organizing textile workers. 
Union management estimated that 15,000 of the country's 36,000 textile 
workers were unionized, and unions alleged that most factory owners in 
the textile industry remained staunchly opposed to unionization. Both 
locally and foreign-owned businesses still lacked a full understanding 
of the labor code's provisions regarding the right to form labor 
unions. The recently launched Better Work Lesotho program specifically 
aims to improve both compliance with labor standards and 
competitiveness in global supply chains. The program, supported by the 
Ministry of Labor and Employment, factory owners, and labor unions, 
also aims to increase understanding of labor rights.
    The law allows unions to conduct their activities without 
interference. Union officials said that the Government did not 
interfere with their ability to organize but complained of an overall 
lack of government support. All trade unions must register with the 
Registrar of Trade Unions. The law prohibits civil servants and police 
from joining or forming unions but allows them to form staff 
associations for the purpose of collective bargaining and promoting 
ethical conduct of their members; both police and civil servants have 
established such associations. According to the Lesotho Public Servants 
Association (LEPSA), approximately 34 percent of the civil service had 
joined the association. This low rate of participation made it 
difficult for them to engage with the Government on worker's rights 
issues as the Government only recognizes staff associations 
representing at least 50 percent of all civil servants. LEPSA reported 
that some civil servants of higher grades intimidated those of lower 
grades into not joining the civil service staff association. 
Reportedly, the intimidation included threats of dismissal or transfer 
for noncompliance.
    The law provides for a limited right to strike, but this right was 
not exercised in practice. In recent years very few strikes were 
carried out. In the private sector, the labor code requires a series of 
procedures workers and employers must follow before a strike is 
authorized. However, civil servants are not allowed to strike, and 
therefore all public sector strikes are unauthorized.
    Under the law, the Public Service Joint Advisory Council ensures 
due process and to protects civil servants' rights. The council 
consists of an equal number of members appointed by the minister of 
public service and members of any association representing at least 50 
percent of civil servants. The council concludes and enforces 
collective bargaining agreements, prevents and resolves disputes, and 
provides machinery for dealing with general grievances. Further, the 
Public Service Tribunal handles appeals instigated by civil servants or 
their associations. No association represented at least 50 percent of 
civil servants; therefore, neither the council nor the tribunal was 
functioning.
    The law does not address retaliation against striking workers but 
the police were generally present during strikes to prevent violent 
conduct by any party.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--There are no 
restrictions on collective bargaining, and unions were allowed to 
bargain for wages above the minimum wage. However, a majority of 
employers bargained only with unions that represented at least 50 
percent of their staff, and the Labor Commissioner's Office reported 
that unions were too weak to bargain effectively. Union leaders alleged 
that the unstable nature of the economy discouraged them from lobbying 
for increased wages and instead focused on organization and worker 
protections. Because collective bargaining agreements were rare, 
achieving job security from factory owners remained difficult. Factory 
owners kept more than half of their workforce on temporary contracts 
even if those contracts were renewed annually. Given the job insecurity 
and reduced benefits of temporary contracts, gaining the 50-plus-one 
majority required for collective bargaining was effectively impossible. 
Government approval was not required for collective agreements to be 
valid.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination and other employer 
interference in union functions; however, the Government did not always 
implement the law. Textile and apparel unions claimed that members were 
sometimes treated unfairly to compel them to leave. Unions complained 
that the Labor Court and Labor Inspectorate were inefficient, onerous, 
and bureaucratic. Workers claimed they were dismissed for union 
involvement, but Ministry of Labor investigations often revealed they 
were dismissed on other grounds. Unions reported that the country's 
labor inspectors were usually intimidated by factory owners and unable 
to enforce union rights. According to the International Trade Union 
Confederation's 2010 Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights 
in Lesotho, many employers stopped union organizers from entering 
factory premises to organize workers or represent them in disputes. In 
some cases employers intimidated union organizers and members, 
threatening the latter with dismissal.
    There are no export processing zones in the country. However, 
certain industries, such as textile and apparel manufacturing, enjoyed 
similar benefits.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
all forms of forced or compulsory labor; however, there were reports 
that such practices occurred. The country was a source and transit 
point for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons, 
specifically conditions of forced labor and forced prostitution, and 
for men in forced labor. Women and children in the country were 
subjected to involuntary domestic servitude and children, to a lesser 
extent, to commercial sexual exploitation. Children who have lost at 
least one parent to HIV/AIDS were more vulnerable to traffickers' 
manipulations; older children trying to feed their siblings were most 
likely to be lured by a trafficker's fraudulent job offer. Forced labor 
for domestic work, crop farming, and herding animals were reported from 
remote private homes, small farms, and herding outposts, respectively. 
Each location was outside the scope of the labor code and all but 
impossible to inspect.
    According to Lesotho Save the Children, children often worked as 
herd boys, street vendors, car washers, and domestic servants. The 
organization reported parents were often the ones forcing children to 
work.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There are laws to protect children from exploitation in the formal 
sector, and the Government generally enforced these laws; however, such 
laws did not apply in the informal sector, where child labor was a 
problem.
    According to the Labor Inspectorate, the labor code contains 
prohibitions against the employment of children and young persons in 
commercial, industrial, or other nonfamily enterprises involving 
hazardous or dangerous working conditions. The legal minimum age for 
employment in commercial or industrial enterprises is 15 years, or 18 
years for hazardous employment. Hazardous work included mining and 
quarrying, carrying of heavy loads, manufacturing where chemicals were 
produced or used, working in places where machines were used, herding, 
producing or distributing tobacco, and working in places such as bars, 
hotels, and places of entertainment where a person could be exposed to 
immoral behavior. The law protects children from night work. Any 
employer who breaches these provisions is liable to a fine not 
exceeding 20,000 maloti ($2,857) or imprisonment for a period not 
exceeding 20 months or both. Employers with second or subsequent 
convictions are liable to imprisonment for a minimum period of two 
years without the option of a fine. The Ministry of Labor reported no 
trials or convictions during the year.
    Although child labor is prohibited, the high unemployment rate, 
increasing levels of poverty, and high prevalence of HIV/AIDS (23 
percent) resulted in children working to support themselves and their 
families. The Bureau of Statistics (BOS) estimated unemployment at 22.7 
percent. The majority of trade unions, however, estimated unemployment 
to be between 40 and 50 percent. They attributed it to jobs lost in the 
textile and garments sector, the largest formal employer after the 
Government.
    The BOS stated that 3 percent of children ages 6-14 years 
participated in economic activities; this statistic did not include 
children aiding their families or others without compensation. UNICEF 
estimated 23 percent of children between 5 and 14 were working. Two of 
every three of these children were engaged in subsistence farming, 
while the rest were engaged mainly in private households. Child labor 
was higher among boys (86.6 percent of child workers) than girls (13.4 
percent). This was true for all economic activities considered. Herd 
boys were sometimes attacked by armed stock thieves, caught in fights 
over ownership of animals, and subjected to harsh weather conditions. 
In traditional rural society, these rigorous and occasionally dangerous 
working conditions were considered a prerequisite to manhood, essential 
to the livelihood of families, and beyond the reach of labor laws.
    According to 2000 and 2004 reports produced by the Ministry of 
Labor in collaboration with UNICEF and other partners, the worst forms 
of child labor included herding, street work and domestic work. Most 
jobs performed by children were often gender specific: boys were 
livestock herders, carried packages for shoppers, washed cars, and 
collected fares for minibus taxis; girls were domestic servants; and 
both boys and girls worked as street vendors.
    The labor survey indicates that children working in the streets 
typically start at the age of 12. The most common work they do is 
selling fruits and vegetables. Children worked more than eight hours a 
day, which is the maximum stipulated in the law for an adult. They also 
worked without breaks six or seven days a week. Domestic workers also 
started as young as 12 years.
    The Ministry of Labor, in collaboration with the police CGPU, is 
responsible for investigating cases of working children. Child labor 
inspections are conducted as part of general labor inspections. 
Approximately 1,000 labor inspections were completed during the year. 
No child labor cases have been reported, and hence no prosecutions, 
convictions, or penalties have been imposed. Scarcity of resources 
hindered labor inspections; the labor commissioner noted the difficulty 
of tracking child labor because the Government had no child-labor-
specific strategy or program.
    The commissioner indicated that the Ministry of Labor, the CGPU, 
and the Ministry of Gender and Youth, Sports, and Recreation generally 
disseminated information on prevention of child labor as part of their 
other programs, but did no child-labor-specific outreach.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There is a sector-specific 
national minimum wage and a general minimum wage. The general minimum 
monthly wage varies from 878 to 958 maloti ($125 to $136). Examples of 
minimum monthly wages for other job categories include textile workers, 
778 maloti ($111); construction workers, 1,040 maloti ($148); security 
guards, 1,181 maloti ($168); food service workers, 1,110 maloti ($158); 
and domestic workers, 339 maloti ($48).
    Minimum wages are updated every October 1 through the amended labor 
code minimum wage schedule. The national minimum wage does not provide 
a decent standard of living for a worker and family. Trade unions 
continue to engage the Government on the matter. Since the Wage 
Advisory Board started negotiations in July, there were deep divisions 
between the Factory Workers Union (FAWU) and Lesotho Congress of 
Apparel Workers Union (LECAWU), the two main textile and garments trade 
unions; both of which are part of the board. FAWU proposed the board 
increase the minimum wage for a textile worker to 1,300 maloti ($185), 
while LECAWU proposed an increase to 816 maloti ($116). FAWU believed 
that LECAWU's proposal does not provide a minimum ``living wage, but 
rather a poor minimum wage,'' and accused the Wage Advisory Board of 
serving the interests of employers and not workers.
    The Ministry of Labor is responsible for enforcing the minimum 
wage. However, budget resources impacted the enforcement of the law; in 
practice, businesses operating in the formal sector, including the 
apparel industry, were subject to more enforcement than businesses 
operating in the informal sector. The Labor Inspectorate reported that 
many locally owned businesses did not keep records of employees' 
salaries to facilitate labor inspections as required by law. Minimum 
wage provisions do not cover significant portions of the workforce. The 
approximately 30,000 Basotho men working in South African mines and 
workers in agriculture or other informal sectors were not covered by 
Lesotho's labor laws.
    The law stipulates standards for hours of work, including a maximum 
45-hour work week, a weekly rest period of at least 24 hours, a daily 
minimum rest period of one hour, at least 12 days of paid leave per 
year, paid sick leave, and public holidays.
    Required overtime is legal as long as overtime wages are paid for 
work in excess of the standard 45-hour workweek. The maximum overtime 
allowed is 11 hours per week; however, there were exemptions under 
special circumstances. The laws require that the premium pay for 
overtime be at a rate not less than one and one quarter times the 
employee's normal wage; any employer who requires excessive compulsory 
overtime shall liable to a fine not exceeding 600 maloti ($85) or to 
imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months or both. Labor laws 
do not cover the agricultural and other informal sectors, where most 
workers were employed. The Labor Inspectorate stated that employers did 
not always observe these standards. According to the labor 
commissioner, employers in the retail sector were the worst violators. 
The most common allegations involved ignoring labor regulations for 
ordinary work hours, overtime, and public holidays.
    The law requires employers to provide adequate light, ventilation, 
and sanitary facilities for employees and to install and maintain 
machinery in a manner to minimize injury. It also requires a registered 
health and safety officer that promotes safe conduct. Employers must 
provide first aid kits, safety equipment, and protective clothing. 
However, the law does not specify the contents of first aid kits. 
According to health and safety inspectors in the Ministry of Labor, 
larger employers generally followed health and safety regulations, but 
smaller employers failed to appoint or train registered health and 
safety officers. With the exception of the mining industry, employers' 
compliance with health and safety regulations was generally low. 
Inspectors stated that employers in the retail sector were not fully 
compliant with standards, as they had no registered health or safety 
officers, complete first aid kits, or protective clothing.
    Trade union representatives described textile-sector working 
conditions as poor or even harsh but not dangerous. Unions said that 
most textile factories were in prefabricated metal buildings with 
improper ventilation and air conditioning. Unions stated, however, that 
conditions were not detrimental to workers' health and could cite few 
examples of serious safety violations. Third party auditors hired by 
U.S. and European textile buyers conducted spot checks on most African 
Growth and Opportunity Act exporting factories, customarily sought 
union input, and briefed the unions on their findings. Unions believed 
the third party auditors kept factory owners in line with health and 
safety regulations.
    The labor code empowers the Ministry of Labor to issue regulations 
on work safety, and the ministry did so. The labor code does not 
explicitly protect the right of workers to remove themselves from 
hazardous situations without prejudice to employment; however, sections 
of the code on safety in the workplace and dismissal imply that such a 
dismissal would be illegal. The law also provides for a compensation 
system for industrial injuries and diseases related to employment.
    The commissioner of labor is charged with investigating allegations 
of labor law violations. Labor inspectors generally conducted 
unannounced inspections of a random sample of workplaces on a weekly 
basis. Inspections in mountain districts, however, were conducted 
quarterly.
    The Labor Code Amendment Act of 2006 provides for the further 
development of HIV/AIDS policies in the workplace. The Ministry of 
Labor's HIV/AIDS Support Group was responsible for the rollout of the 
code countrywide and the translation of the act into Sesotho. The 
support group also provided testing and counseling services to 
employees in the private sector living with HIV/AIDS through funding 
support from the National Aids Commission. The Apparel Lesotho Alliance 
to Fight AIDS (ALAFA) described HIV/AIDS as the primary occupational 
health risk throughout the garment and textile factories. ALAFA 
reported that 43 percent of textile workers were infected with HIV. A 
total of 85 percent of textile workers were women. ALAFA characterized 
its success in combating HIV to a partnership between the ministries of 
health, trade, labor, and industry, donors, international companies, 
employees, and employers. In addition to space for exams, employers 
provided time off to see doctors, receive counseling, and participate 
in educational and antistigma programs. As a result, ALAFA raised HIV 
awareness with 90 percent of textile workers and also provided testing 
and treatment, reduced stigma, and dramatically reduced mother to child 
transmission.
    Working conditions for foreign or migrant workers were similar to 
those of residents.
    The Government supported the implementation of Better Work Lesotho, 
implemented by the International Labor Organization and the 
International Finance Corporation, in cooperation with the factories, 
unions, and Ministry of Labor. The Better Work program is designed to 
help apparel factories in the country compete in global markets, where 
many buyers demand compliance with international core labor standards.

                               __________

                                LIBERIA

    Liberia is a constitutional republic with a population of 
approximately 3.5 million. In 2005 Ellen Johnson Sirleaf won multiparty 
presidential elections, which domestic and international observers 
considered generally free and fair. Since the 2003 signing of the 
Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which ended the 1989-2003 civil war, the 
UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) peacekeepers and the UN international 
police (UNPOL) have had primary responsibility for maintaining 
security. Efforts to train personnel for the Liberia National Police 
(LNP) and Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) continued. While security 
forces reported to civilian authority, there were instances in which 
elements of the security forces acted independently.
    Human rights abuses included one report of mob killing; reports of 
ritualistic killings; reported incidents of trial by ordeal; police 
abuse, harassment, and intimidation of detainees and others; harsh 
prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; judicial 
inefficiency and corruption; lengthy pretrial detention and denial of 
due process; official corruption and impunity; violence against women, 
including rape, and widespread domestic violence; female genital 
mutilation (FGM); child abuse and sexual violence against children; 
human trafficking; continued racial and ethnic discrimination; 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.--The Government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings; however, 
on February 27, an LNP officer shot and killed a man reportedly over a 
personal dispute. The killing led to mob violence in which a crowd 
doused the LNP officer with a flammable liquid and set him on fire. The 
officer died of his injuries. An AFL soldier not involved in the 
dispute but at the scene was also injured and died on March 10. Seven 
persons were charged with murder and were on trial at year's end.
    In April three AFL soldiers were accused of killing two civilians. 
The case was dismissed due to lack of evidence, and the soldiers 
returned to their unit.
    In June eight security officers of the Liberian Agricultural 
Company were acquitted of the July 2009 beating to death of a man in 
Grand Bassa County.
    There were reports of ritualistic killings in which body parts used 
in indigenous rituals were removed from the victim. The total number of 
such killings was difficult to ascertain since police sometimes 
described such deaths as homicides, accidents, or suicides, even when 
body parts were removed. Protests against such killings occurred and 
sometimes resulted in riots, injuries, and deaths.
    In March police arrested 18 suspects in connection with the 
November 2009 suspected ritualistic killing of a pregnant woman 
discovered in Harper. To lead the investigation, local authorities 
hired a ``witch doctor'' who identified the suspects, including 
prominent county citizens. The minister of justice intervened to bring 
the investigation into the formal judicial system; nine of the suspects 
were awaiting trial at year's end.
    There were no developments in the July 2009 case of a high school 
girl in Maryland County found dead with body parts missing.
    There was one reported incidence of mob violence during the year. 
In April a mob beat to death two men allegedly involved in an armed 
robbery in Paynesville.
    On February 26, the body of a missing Christian girl was found at 
or near a mosque in Lofa County, which led to the belief that the 
perpetrator was Muslim. Subsequent riots between members of the 
predominantly Christian Lorma and Muslim Mandingo ethnic groups 
resulted in four deaths and 18 injuries. Eight persons were arrested in 
connection with the riots and were 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, but there were 
reports that police officers and other security officials employed 
them. Police sometimes abused, harassed, and intimidated persons, 
particularly during attempts to extort money on the streets. Cases of 
reported police brutality were referred to the attention of police 
commanders. The Professional Standards Division was responsible for 
investigating allegations of police misconduct and referring cases for 
prosecution. In June the LNP began conducting performance appraisals to 
foster professional development among officers and to identify areas 
for improvement.
    On March 3, LNP officers beat a foreign citizen who was 
photographing police conducting a search. The police also confiscated 
her camera and took her to LNP headquarters where she was beaten again 
but never arrested. The inspector general of police and diplomatic 
representatives intervened, and the LNP returned her camera and 
apologized.
    In May Representative George W. Blamoh allegedly beat an LNP 
officer who attempted to impound his vehicle for improper parking and 
traffic violations. An investigation was completed and submitted to the 
Ministry of Justice, and Blamoh was awaiting trial at year's end.
    On July 10, Deputy Speaker of the House Togbah Mulbah allegedly 
ordered the beating of LNP officer Lexington Beh for impounding a truck 
belonging to the lawmaker. The incident became politicized when 
partisans from the lawmaker's political party, the Congress for 
Democratic Change, surrounded Mulbah's residence the next day as police 
attempted to arrest him. Upon further investigation, an 11-count 
indictment was issued in July, and Mulbah was awaiting trial at year's 
end.
    Despite being illegal, the practice of trial-by-ordeal, which 
involves actions such as the placement of a heated metal object on a 
suspect's body or the insertion of an extremity into hot oil to 
determine whether the defendant is telling the truth, continued in 
rural areas. In April the Government conducted a national conference 
focusing on efforts to harmonize the traditional and formal justice 
systems.
    Mob violence and vigilantism--which resulted in part from the 
public's lack of confidence in the police and judicial system--resulted 
in deaths and injuries.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Inadequate provisions for 
food, sanitation, ventilation, temperature, lighting, basic and 
emergency medical care, and access to potable water contributed to 
harsh and in some cases life-threatening conditions in the country's 15 
prisons and detention centers. While the Government provided some food, 
many prisoners supplemented their daily meals by purchasing additional 
food at the prison or receiving food from visitors. With the support of 
the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Bureau of 
Corrections undertook rehabilitation activities to improve access to 
clean water and sanitation facilities at Monrovia Central Prison, the 
Zwedru Correctional Palace, and the Robertsport and Voinjama 
facilities.
    The UN and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) continued to 
provide medical services and improve basic sanitary conditions. The 
ICRC also conducted an assessment on access to medical care in all 15 
prisons and detention facilities.
    The county prison in Voinjama, Lofa County, remained in a state of 
disrepair following the prison break which occurred during the February 
26 violence.
    According to statistics from the Bureau of Corrections, half the 
country's 1,524 prisoners were held at Monrovia Central Prison, which 
operated at more than twice its capacity due to the large number of 
pretrial detainees. The total prison population included 31 women and 
69 juveniles. Prisons remained understaffed. Men and women were held in 
separate cells in larger facilities, however they were held together in 
some counties or cities that had only one prison cell. In many counties 
juveniles and adults were held together, and pretrial detainees were 
generally held with convicted prisoners. During the year some counties 
without adequate prison facilities transferred their prisoners to 
Monrovia.
    Regular visitation hours and religious observances were generally 
respected. Officials from the Human Rights Division of the Ministry of 
Justice and Bureau of Corrections visited prisons to monitor conditions 
during the year. Internal reports and investigations into inhumane 
conditions were not publicly accessible.
    The Government permitted the independent monitoring of prison 
conditions by local human rights groups, international NGOs, the UN, 
and the media. Some human rights groups, including national and 
international organizations, made regular visits to detainees held in 
police headquarters and to prisoners in Monrovia Central Prison. The 
ICRC visited all of the 15 prisons and detention centers in the country 
and ICRC visits were in accordance with standard modalities.
    No ombudsman system was in place to serve on behalf of prisoners 
and detainees.
    During the year the Government and international partners continued 
renovations at several county prisons. In July UNMIL, in collaboration 
with the Ministry of Justice, completed construction of a modern prison 
in Sanniquellie.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution prohibits 
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, the Government did not always 
observe these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Ministry of Justice 
has responsibility for enforcing laws, maintaining order within the 
country, and overseeing the LNP and the National Bureau of 
Investigation. An estimated 8,100 UNMIL peacekeepers and 1,300 UNPOL 
officers had primary responsibility for maintaining security. 
Approximately 460 UNPOL officers and 845 officers in the UN Formed 
Police Units (armed foreign police detachments assigned to UNMIL) 
assisted with monitoring, advising, and training the LNP. During the 
year 293 LNP officers were recruited, screened, trained, and deployed, 
primarily to Monrovia. As a result, a total of 4,039 LNP officers were 
in country by year's end, with 1,233 deployed outside of Monrovia and 
Montserrado County.
    The LNP operated independently and retained arrest authority; 
however, the Special Security Service, which is responsible for the 
security of the president and other senior government officials, UNPOL, 
and armed UN Formed Police Units, accompanied LNP officers in joint 
patrols around Monrovia. There were 45 LNP Women's and Children's 
Protection Section (WCPS) offices with 21 of them outside of 
Montserrado County.
    Officers of the Police Support Unit received additional training in 
weapons and crowd and riot control. At the end of the year 150 new 
officers were in training to join the 148-member unit.
    Members of the Emergency Response Unit (ERU), which was established 
in 2008, received specialized training and were armed, unlike most LNP 
patrol officers. The ERU was charged with conducting special police 
operations in antiterrorism, hostage rescue, internal security, 
tactical anticrime, and search and rescue situations. The ERU increased 
its membership from 288 officers at the end of 2009 to 331 by year's 
end.
    In October the LNP created an inspectorate responsible for ensuring 
all officers received training in revised standards of procedure, duty 
manuals, and policies.
    The Liberian Coast Guard was commissioned in February and is 
responsible for enforcement of the country's maritime laws. The guard 
consisted of 50 members by year's end.
    LNP officers were poorly equipped, ineffective, and slow to respond 
to criminal activity, although the police foot patrol program showed 
signs of improvement in strategic areas. LNP salaries were generally 
paid on time, but were low, contributing to widespread corruption. 
Police had limited transportation, logistics, communication, and 
forensic capabilities, and did not have the capacity to investigate 
adequately many crimes, including murders. Due to the lack of a crime 
lab and other investigative tools, prosecutors blamed losing cases in 
court on inadequate police investigation and evidence gathering.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The 
constitution requires warrants to make arrests and provides that 
detainees either be charged or released within 48 hours; however, 
arrests were often made without warrants, or warrants were sometimes 
issued without sufficient evidence, and detainees, particularly those 
without the means to hire a lawyer, often were held for more than 48 
hours without charge. Detainees generally were informed of the charges 
against them upon arrest. Detainees have the right to prompt 
determination of the legality of their arrest, but in practice, this 
did not always occur. The law provides for bail for all offenses except 
rape, murder, armed robbery, and treason. Detainees have the right to 
prompt access to counsel, visits from family members, and if indigent, 
to an attorney provided by the state, but the Government did not always 
observe such rights.
    Although the law provides for the right of a defendant to receive 
an expeditious trial, lengthy pretrial and prearraignment detention 
remained serious problems. An estimated 85 percent of prisoners were 
pretrial detainees, 858 of whom were released during the year as a 
result of actions by the Fast Track Court to reduce prison 
overcrowding. Beginning in February the Ministry of Justice's 
notifications to the court of its intention not to prosecute in cases 
lacking sufficient evidence also resulted in the release of detainees.
    However, with the incarceration of new detainees, prisons remained 
overcrowded. In some cases the length of pretrial detention exceeded 
the maximum length of sentence that could be imposed for the alleged 
crime. Judicial inefficiency, corruption, and the lack of transport, 
court facilities, attorneys, and qualified judges caused trial delays.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary; however, the judicial system was corrupt 
and functioned slowly (see section 4). Judges were subject to 
political, social, familial, and financial pressures. Uneven 
application of the law and the unequal distribution of personnel and 
resources remained problems throughout the judicial system. Some judges 
were unable to hold court due to lack of security, supplies, equipment, 
or a courthouse. The Professional Magistrates Training Program began in 
March to train university graduates for entry into magisterial courts 
throughout the country to improve judicial efficiency and access, 
particularly in the counties.

    Trial Procedures.--Trials are public, and juries are used in 
circuit-court trials but not at the magistrate level. Under the 
constitution defendants have the right to be present, to consult with 
an attorney in a timely manner, and to have access to government-held 
evidence relevant to their case; however, these rights were not always 
observed. Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence and have the 
right to an attorney, to confront or question witnesses against them, 
present evidence and witnesses on their behalf, and to appeal adverse 
decisions, but many of these protections were not available to 
defendants who could not pay bribes or afford an attorney. Some local 
NGOs continued to provide legal services to indigents and others who 
had no representation. There continued to be long delays in deciding 
cases.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
civil law court in Monrovia, but circuit courts in each county function 
as both criminal and civil courts. Specialty courts, such as the tax 
court, probate court, and labor court, also address civil matters. NGOs 
and the Government continued to establish mediation centers to reduce 
court caseloads. There is no specialized court to address lawsuits 
seeking damages for human rights violations. As with criminal courts, 
specialized courts were inefficient and corrupt. On September 16, 
legislation was passed to establish a commercial court with 
jurisdiction over debts incurred from commercial transactions.

    Property Restitution.--Violence arising from land disputes 
decreased during the year. The Land Commission, established in August 
2009, worked to resolve disputes and to harmonize traditional and 
formal land ownership laws. On July 26, President Sirleaf declared that 
the Government will exercise the right of eminent domain over disputed 
land in Ganta, Nimba County, after failed efforts to implement a 2007 
ruling that the disputed land occupied by Gio and Mano persons should 
revert to the original Mandingo owners.

    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.
    Individuals could generally criticize the Government publicly or 
privately without reprisal; however, in August the senate summoned the 
leaders of three civil society organizations, the Center for Democratic 
Empowerment, the Liberia Democracy Watch, and the Institute for 
Democracy and Development, for referring to the legislature's decision 
on the electoral threshold bill as ``mentally impoverished'' and 
``mischievous.'' The senate ordered the organizations to issue a letter 
of apology published in at least 10 newspapers and read on local radio 
stations for five consecutive days. The leaders were summoned once 
again to appear on August 26 after the apologies were not issued as 
directed. Although the leaders were once again ordered to issue the 
apologies as mandated within 48 hours or face arrest, the senate 
accepted the organizations' efforts to publish the apology in some of 
the newspapers, and no further action was taken.
    The media could generally criticize the Government publicly or 
privately without reprisal. However, the Government did seek redress 
for alleged libel in the courts.
    The Supreme Court directed Rodney Sieh, editor of the newspaper 
Front Page Africa, to appear before the court on November 1 to explain 
an article the newspaper published that the court contended was 
inaccurate. The case was pending at year's end.
    On December 8, the senate leadership committee ordered Darius 
Dillon, the chief of staff to a senator, to retract derogatory 
statements made earlier against a senior senator from the ruling Unity 
Party within 72 hours or face further disciplinary action. Dillon 
defied the order, and the committee suspended him for 90 days without 
pay.
    The December 2009 case, involving charges against the publisher and 
printer of The Plain Truth newspaper for sedition and libel of the 
president, was dropped since it exceeded the statutory period of two 
terms of court without being resolved.
    In December 2009, the Ministry of Information allowed the New Broom 
newspaper to resume publishing following its August 2009 closure for 
failing to register properly. However, on November 2, the New Broom was 
ordered to pay $5 million for damages in the September 2009 libel case 
filed by President Sirleaf. The newspaper had reported that she had 
accepted a bribe of 143 million Liberian dollars ($2.91 million). The 
New Broom was absent during the proceedings and was ordered closed 
until payment of damages was received; it remained closed at year's 
end.
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views without restriction; however, journalists commonly accepted 
payments to publish articles, and did not always fact check their 
sources.
    In Monrovia there were approximately a dozen newspapers that 
published during the year with varying degrees of regularity; six were 
independent dailies, and five were independent biweekly newspapers. The 
Government published the New Liberian newspaper. Due to the price of 
newspapers and transportation, the 55-75 percent illiteracy rate, and 
road conditions, newspaper distribution was limited to Monrovia.
    Radio remained the primary means of mass communication, and 
stations operated without government restrictions.
    During the year the radio journalist who alleged in May 2009 that 
the senate president pro tempore struck him did not press charges, and 
no action was taken.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. Due 
to high cost, high illiteracy, and lack of infrastructure, less than 1 
percent of the country's inhabitants used the Internet, according to 
International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2009.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution provides for the right of peaceful 
assembly, and the Government generally respected it in practice. 
However, on August 18, LNP officers forcibly dispersed and arrested 
seven residents of the Ducor Hotel area who were marching to the 
Capitol Building to petition lawmakers regarding a government eviction 
order. Those arrested were released, and no further action was taken.
    There were no further developments in the March 2009 destruction of 
property case involving several demonstrators in Gbarnga.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for the right of 
association, and the Government generally respected this right in 
practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the Department of State's 2010 International Religious 
Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. However, LNP and Bureau of Immigration officers occasionally 
subjected travelers to arbitrary searches and petty extortion at 
checkpoints.
    The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government had an 
established system for providing protection to refugees and granted 
refugee status and asylum during the year. In practice, the Government 
provided protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to 
countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened. The 
Government also provided temporary protection to individuals who may 
not qualify as refugees under the 1951 refugee convention or its 1967 
protocol. The Government generally cooperated with the UNHCR and other 
humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
    Due to fears arising from the contested presidential run-off 
elections in Cote d'Ivoire, Ivoirian refugees began entering the 
country on November 29. At year's end, the UNHCR had registered 20,804 
new Ivoirian refugees, many of whom had ethnic or economic ties to 
Liberians and were absorbed by local communities along the border.
    During the year the UNHCR assisted in the voluntary repatriation of 
1,278 Liberian refugees from other West African countries.
    The Land Commission's review of land disputes between returning 
landowners and internally displaced persons who took over their land 
during the civil war and its review of disputes between villages trying 
to accommodate returning refugees resulted in decreased violence during 
the year.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The law provides citizens the right to change their government 
peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice through free 
and fair elections based on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In 2005 Ellen Johnson 
Sirleaf won the national presidential elections with 59.4 percent of 
the vote in a runoff election; voters also selected 30 senators and 64 
representatives.
    The state is highly centralized, and the head of state appoints 
county superintendents. Local governments had no independent revenue 
base and relied entirely on the central government for funds. As a 
result there were very limited government services outside of Monrovia. 
Local officials were provided funds through the County Development 
Fund, but in some cases these funds were allegedly misused by country 
government officials.
    In August the National Elections Commission publicized its schedule 
for the conduct of national elections scheduled for October 2011. 
Registration of political parties and independent candidates took place 
during the year, and by year's end there were approximately 20 
registered parties.
    There were five female ministers and eight female deputy ministers. 
There were five women in the 30-seat Senate and nine women in the 64-
seat House of Representatives. There were two female associate justices 
on the five-seat Supreme Court. Women constituted 33 percent of local 
government officials and 31 percent of senior and junior ministers.
    Muslims occupied senior government positions, including one 
minister, one deputy minister, three senators, six representatives, one 
Supreme Court justice, and one county superintendent.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law does not provide criminal penalties for corruption, which 
remained systemic throughout the Government, although criminal 
penalties do exist for economic sabotage, mismanagement of funds and 
other corruption-related acts. Official corruption and the sense of a 
culture of impunity were exacerbated by low pay levels for the civil 
service, lack of job training, and a lack of court convictions. The 
Government dismissed officials for alleged corruption and recommended 
others for prosecution. The Liberian Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) 
and the Ministry of Justice are responsible for exposing and combating 
official corruption. The LACC is empowered to prosecute any case that 
the Ministry of Justice declines to prosecute; however, the Ministry 
had not declined to prosecute any such cases during the year.
    The LACC, which had a minimal budget and insufficient staff, 
investigated eight cases and recommended four for prosecution. Included 
in the recommendations were former Inspector General of Police Beatrice 
Munah Sieh for irregularities in the appropriation of uniforms and two 
Ministry of Finance officials for their alleged roles in 
misappropriating civil service salary checks. The LACC reported 21 
additional corruption cases were pending investigation by year's end.
    Former Liberia Telecommunications Authority chair Albert Bropleh 
was acquitted on a technicality for alleged misuse of $71,022; however, 
the case was under review by the Supreme Court at year's end.
    Judges were susceptible to bribes from damages that they awarded in 
civil cases. Judges sometimes requested bribes to try cases, release 
detainees from prison, or find defendants not guilty in criminal cases. 
Defense attorneys and prosecutors sometimes suggested that defendants 
pay a gratuity to appease judges, prosecutors, jurors, and police 
officers or to secure favorable rulings from them. Jurors were also 
susceptible to bribes, and the Ministry of Justice increased its calls 
to reform the jury system.
    Despite her strong emphasis on decentralization, President Sirleaf 
froze County Development Funds pending ongoing audits due to evidence 
of frequent misuse; such funding was intended to support local projects 
to reduce poverty. The move to recentralize administration of local 
development projects was widely seen as a result of inadequate local 
management, which often funneled development funds to support political 
interests of legislators rather than to reduce poverty.
    The Government dismissed or suspended a number of officials for 
corruption. For example, in April the comptroller for the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs and a senior financial officer were dismissed for 
allegedly stealing $4,500 intended for the country's embassy in 
Nigeria.
    In May the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization recommended six 
officers for prosecution for collusion in the escape of six Bangladeshi 
detainees. The case was pending investigation at year's end.
    In June the National Security Agency arrested three Ministry of 
Finance officials for soliciting bribes of $10,000 each from the Cocopa 
Rubber Plantation Company. The case was pending investigation at year's 
end.
    On September 24, the Government dropped the 2007 economic sabotage 
case against former National Transitional Government of Liberia chair 
Charles Gyude Bryant due to a lack of evidence.
    On October 12, President Sirleaf recommended senior officials for 
dismissal and referred others for further investigation for their 
involvement in the Carbon Harvesting Corporation deal, a carbon-credit 
agreement containing irregularities that would have resulted in 
significant loss of government revenue.
    The investigation of the former assistant superintendent for 
development in Grand Cape Mount County was pending at year's end 
following his October 2009 dismissal for involvement in the 
disappearance of approximately $90,000 from the Grand Cape Mount County 
Development Fund.
    The March 2009 case against the former minister of information 
Lawrence Bropleh was dismissed with prejudice on December 7. The 
dismissal cited the prosecution's alleged failure to appear in court; 
however, the Ministry of Justice contested the judge's claim. A writ of 
prohibition to undo the judge's decision was before the Supreme Court 
at year's end.
    Police corruption was a problem. During the year the LNP 
investigated reports of police misconduct or corruption, and 
authorities suspended or dismissed several LNP officers. For example, 
in August an LNP officer was charged with property theft and was 
awaiting trial at the end of the year.
    In June a senior LNP official was accused of assaulting an 
individual over a personal misunderstanding. The official was suspended 
and ordered to pay restitution; however, no restitution was made and he 
remained suspended by the end of the year.
    On October 9, the LNP director announced the implementation of 
complaint forms to be submitted by the public to report incidents of 
bribery or unethical practices.
    In November an LNP officer was arrested for allegedly permitting 
his acquaintances to use his police uniform to commit acts of armed 
robbery. He was released and returned to duty due to a lack of 
evidence.
    There were no developments in the September 2009 case of the former 
Monrovia chief of patrol indicted for looting the house of a private 
prosecutor.
    During the year the Government continued to take steps to improve 
transparency.
    The General Audit Commission continued its ministerial audits and 
referred findings to the legislature. However, the legislature did not 
recommend any cases to the Ministry of Justice for prosecution.
    The Ministry of Finance published the national budget and quarterly 
financial results, and state-owned enterprises published financial 
statements. Periodic, short-term advisors continued to support the 
Ministry of Finance and other government entities during the year. 
Advisers helped improve financial management, purchasing, and 
contracting practices, and instituted financial controls that increased 
government revenues and helped to curb corrupt practices. However, 
government ministries and agencies did not always adhere to public 
procurement regulations, particularly with natural resource 
concessions. The Government made strides in adhering to the principles 
of the Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
    The act establishing the LACC empowers it to create laws and 
regulations to combat official corruption. One such law requires public 
officials to disclose publicly their finances. By the end of the year, 
79 officials had complied, bringing the total number since 2008 to 197 
officials.
    On September 2, the legislature passed the Freedom of Information 
Act, which provides that the Government should release government 
information not involving national security or military issues upon 
citizens' requests.
Section 5. 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. Government officials were generally 
cooperative and responsive to their views.
    In September the legislature confirmed the seven commissioners to 
the Government's Independent National Commission on Human Rights 
(INCHR).
    There were no developments in a Ministry of Justice investigation 
into the April 2009 allegation of police abuse of an NGO official.
    The case against former president Charles Taylor, whom the 
Government in 2006 transferred to the Special Court for Sierra Leone in 
The Hague to face war crimes charges, was ongoing at year's end.
    The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) closed its office in 
July.
    President Sirleaf submitted two of four quarterly reports mandated 
by the TRC Act on the Government's progress in implementing TRC 
recommendations. In the first report submitted in March, the president 
explained she was seeking the advice of the Ministry of Justice and the 
Law Reform Commission regarding the report's recommendations for 
prosecution.
    The second report, due in June, was submitted to the legislature on 
August 30. The delay was attributed to the convening of a 
presidentially organized civil society task force charged with 
formulating a road map on how to respond to and implement the TRC's 
recommendations. The task force advised the president that, considering 
the legal, political, and security implications of the TRC's 
recommendations, which included the president for public sanction, 
implementation should not be the exclusive responsibility of the 
executive as the TRC act requires. The legislature delayed discussion 
of the report until it reconvenes in 2011.
    On November 30, Richelieu ``Archie'' Williams, the Director General 
of the Liberia Civil Aviation Authority, filed a petition against the 
minister of justice and the INCHR chair to nullify the TRC report's 
recommended list of individuals to be publicly sanctioned. Williams, 
who appears on the list, argued the imposition of the 30-year ban would 
deny him due process and was therefore unconstitutional. The case was 
pending at year's end.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution prohibits discrimination based on ethnic 
background, sex, creed, place of origin, disability, ethnic origin, or 
political opinion; however, the Government did not enforce these 
provisions effectively.
    The constitution, however, enshrines discrimination on the basis of 
race, and only persons who are ``Negroes'' or of ``Negro descent'' can 
become citizens or own land. Differences stemming from the country's 
civil war continued to contribute to social and political tensions 
among ethnic groups.

    Women.--Rape continued to be a widespread problem. The 2006 rape 
law legally defined rape; however, the Government did not always 
effectively enforce the law. The Government worked during the year to 
sensitize women and men on the prevention, treatment, and prosecution 
of rape. The Government and NGOs attributed increased reporting of rape 
due to an improved understanding of what constitutes rape. The Sexual 
Pathways Referral program, a combined effort of the Government and 
NGOs, improved access to medical, psychosocial, legal, and counseling 
assistance for victims. The maximum sentence for first-degree rape is 
life imprisonment and 10 years for second-degree rape, although 
presiding judges had discretion to sentence less than the maximum. 
Accused first-degree rapists were not eligible for bail. The law does 
not specifically criminalize spousal rape. The WCPS unit of the LNP 
stated that approximately 277 rape cases were reported to the unit, of 
which 114 were prosecuted.
    As mandated by the 2008 Gender and Sexually-Based Violence Bill, 
the special court for rape and other violence has exclusive original 
jurisdiction over cases of sexual assault including abuse of minors in 
Montserrado County, which includes Monrovia. In the six cases 
prosecuted during the year, the Government won two convictions. One 
perpetrator was sentenced to jail for 10 years and the other for 15 
years.
    In August the Liberia Bar Association called for the removal or 
revision of the 2006 rape law based on an argument that the provision 
of making first-degree rape a nonbailable offense was a violation of 
the rights of the accused.
    The Sexual and Gender Based Violence Crimes Unit within the 
Ministry of Justice continued to coordinate with the special court and 
collaborate with NGOs to increase sensitization of sexual and gender 
based violence issues.
    Outside of Montserrado Country, the stigma of rape contributed to 
the pervasiveness of out-of-court settlements and obstructed 
prosecution of cases. Inefficiency in the justice system also 
prohibited timely prosecution of cases, although local NGOs pushed for 
prosecution and sometimes provided lawyers to indigent victims. The 
Government raised awareness of the issue of rape through billboards, 
radio broadcasts, and other publicity campaigns.
    The law prohibits domestic violence; however, it remained a 
widespread problem. The maximum penalty for domestic violence is six 
months' imprisonment, but the Government did not enforce the law 
effectively, and cases, if reported, were generally treated as either 
simple or aggravated assault. The Government and the media made some 
efforts to publicize the problem, and several NGOs continued programs 
to treat abused women and girls, and to increase awareness of their 
rights. LNP officers received training on sexual offenses as part of 
their initial training. In September the Gender Based Violence 
Secretariat began a review of the national action plan for domestic 
violence.
    During the year the Ministry of Gender and Development organized 
workshops and seminars to combat domestic violence.
    The law does not prohibit sexual harassment, and it was a major 
problem, including in schools and places of work. Government billboards 
warned against harassment in the workplace.
    There are no laws restricting couples and individuals from deciding 
freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their 
children; however, information and assistance on family planning topics 
relevant to these issues was difficult to obtain, particularly in rural 
areas, where there were few health clinics. In Bong County, for 
example, women had to walk from one to four hours to reach a clinic, 
while in River Cess and Grand Kru counties, the walk could take one or 
two days. In Bong County 86 percent of women surveyed reported knowing 
about contraception, although only 35 percent reported using it, and 
only 20 percent had requested information or treatment about sexually 
transmitted diseases.
    There was no indication of discrimination between men and women in 
diagnosis or treatment of sexually transmitted infections, including 
HIV. The maternal mortality rate was 994 deaths per 100,000 live 
births.
    Women have not recovered from the setbacks caused by the war, when 
almost all schools were closed, and they were prevented from 
maintaining their traditional roles in the production, allocation, and 
sale of food. Thousands of women remained displaced, preventing them 
from pursuing livelihoods or education.
    Women and men enjoy the same legal status. Women can inherit land 
and property, receive equal pay for equal work, and were allowed to own 
and manage businesses.
    While women experienced some economic discrimination based on 
historic traditions, the Government worked to promote women in the 
economic sector through programs and NGO partnerships to conduct 
workshops and micro-credit lending programs. A number of businesses 
were female-owned or operated.
    The Government prohibits polygyny; however, traditional laws permit 
men to have more than one wife. No specific office exists to ensure the 
legal rights of women, but the Ministry of Gender and Development was 
generally responsible for promoting women's rights.

    Children.--Citizenship can be derived through parentage if at least 
one parent is a Liberian citizen or by birth in the country if the 
child is of ``African'' descent. If a child born in the country is not 
of African descent, the child cannot acquire citizenship. As a result, 
non-African residents, such as members of the large Lebanese community, 
cannot acquire or transmit citizenship. The law requires parents to 
register their infants within 14 days of birth; however, fewer than 5 
percent of births were registered. In July the Government successfully 
launched a new birth registration and certification program focused on 
six counties.
    While primary education is compulsory and tuition-free, many 
schools still charged informal fees to pay unpaid teachers and to cover 
operating costs that prevented many students from attending. Fees 
continued for secondary school, and the Government was unable to 
provide for the needs of the majority of children. In both public and 
private schools, families of children were required to provide their 
own uniforms, books, pencils, paper, and even desks.
    Widespread child abuse continued, and reports of sexual violence 
against children increased during the year. According to an August 11 
UNMIL report, 70 percent of rape victims during the preceding six 
months were under the age of 16. Civil society organizations reported 
increased incidence of rape of girls under 12, and there were 53 
reported cases of child endangerment during the year.
    FGM was common and traditionally performed on young girls in 
northern, western, and central ethnic groups, particularly in rural 
areas. The most extreme form of FGM, infibulation, was not practiced. 
The law does not specifically prohibit FGM. Traditional institutions, 
such as the secret Sande Society, often performed FGM as an initiation 
rite, making it difficult to ascertain the number of cases. To combat 
harmful traditional practices like FGM, the Government trained 
community leaders and women's groups during the year and provided 
training in alternative income generating skills to FGM practitioners.
    Young women and girls engaged in prostitution for money, food, and 
school fees. The minimum age for consensual sex is 18, and 46 out of 95 
reported cases of statutory rape were brought to court in the year. 
Statutory rape is a first-degree rape offense and the maximum sentence 
for perpetrators is life imprisonment. Child pornography is also 
prohibited by law, with a penalty of up to five years imprisonment for 
violators.
    Despite international and government attempts to reunite children 
separated from their families during the civil war, there were still 
children who lived on the streets in Monrovia. It was difficult to tell 
who were street children, former combatants, or internally displaced 
persons. Nearly all children over 10 had witnessed atrocities during 
the 14-year civil war, and some children had committed atrocities.
    Regulation of orphanages continued to be very weak. Many unofficial 
orphanages also served as transit points or informal group homes for 
children, some of whom had living parents who had given up their 
children for possible adoption. Orphanages had difficulty providing 
basic sanitation, adequate medical care, and appropriate diet. They 
relied primarily on private donations and support from international 
organizations, such as the UN Children's Fund and the World Food 
Program, which provided food and care throughout the year. Many orphans 
lived outside these institutions. In September, 19 children were 
reportedly starving due to having only one meal per day in an orphanage 
in Maryland County. The Government closed the facility and it remained 
closed at year's end.
    Liberia is not a party of the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. To address issues of child 
adoption and international child abduction, the moratorium on child 
adoption imposed by the Government in January 2009 continued during the 
year. For information on international parental child abduction, please 
see the Department of State's annual Report on compliance at http://
travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--
4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was no significant Jewish community in the 
country, and there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at http://www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--Although it is illegal to discriminate 
against persons with physical and mental disabilities, such persons did 
not enjoy equal access to government services. No laws mandate access 
to public buildings. Streets, schools, public buildings, and other 
facilities were generally in poor condition and inaccessible to persons 
with disabilities. Many citizens had permanent disabilities as a result 
of the civil war. Persons with disabilities faced societal 
discrimination, particularly in rural areas.
    The National Commission on Disabilities and the Ministry of Health 
and Social Welfare were responsible for protecting the rights of 
persons with disabilities; however, they did not do so effectively. 
During the year the commission and ministry conducted a series of 
sensitization programs about persons with disabilities. NGOs provided 
some services to persons with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Although the law prohibits 
ethnic discrimination, racial discrimination is enshrined in the 
constitution, which 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 lived most of their lives in the 
country were denied citizenship and property rights as a result of this 
discrimination.
    The country has 16 indigenous ethnic groups; each speaks a distinct 
primary language and was concentrated regionally. Differences involving 
ethnic groups continued to contribute to social and political tensions.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law prohibits sodomy, and 
the culture is strongly opposed to homosexuality. ``Voluntary sodomy'' 
is a misdemeanor with a penalty of up to one year's imprisonment; 
however, no convictions under the law occurred in recent years. There 
were no reported instances of violence based on sexual orientation. 
There were no lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender organizations in 
the country.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of societal violence against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers to form or 
join freely independent unions of their choice without prior 
authorization or excessive requirements. The law also provides workers, 
except members of the military, police, and civil service, the right to 
associate in trade unions, and workers exercised this right in 
practice. The law allows unions to conduct their activities without 
interference, and the Government protected this right in practice. The 
law prohibits unions from engaging in partisan political activity. 
Workers, except members of the civil service, have the right to strike. 
Union power increased during the year through increased membership at 
major plantations; however, the country's largely illiterate workforce 
engaged in few economic activities beyond the subsistence level.
    The law does not prohibit retaliation against strikers. However, 
the requirement to notify the Ministry of Labor of the intent to 
strike, and the ministry's resulting involvement, were thought to 
mitigate retaliation and there were no such incidents during the year.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Collective 
bargaining is protected by law, and these laws were effectively 
enforced. With the exception of civil servants, all workers have the 
right to organize and bargain collectively.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination, and there were no 
reports of such discrimination during the year.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor; however, there were reports that such 
practices occurred. Families living in the interior sometimes sent 
young women and children to stay with relatives in Monrovia or other 
larger cities with the promise that the relatives would assist the 
women and children in pursuing educational or other opportunities. 
However, in some instances, these women and children were forced to 
work as street vendors or domestic servants.
    When victims were identified, the WCPS unit of the LNP, along with 
partnering NGOs, worked to reunite victims with their families in the 
interior or referred them to safe homes.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at http://www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits the employment and apprenticeship of children under the 
age of 16 during school hours; however, child labor was widespread in 
almost every economic sector. The Government did not effectively 
enforce child labor law, and there were inconsistencies between the 
minimum employment age and compulsory educational requirements. For 
example, the minimum age for children to work at sea is 15.
    In urban areas children assisted their parents as vendors in 
markets or hawked goods on the streets. During the year there were 
reports that children tapped rubber on smaller plantations and private 
farms. There were also reports that children worked in conditions that 
were likely to harm their health and safety, such as stone cutting or 
work that required carrying heavy loads. Some children were engaged in 
hazardous labor in the alluvial diamond industry and in agriculture.
    The Child Labor Commission is responsible for enforcing child labor 
laws and policies; however, the commission was understaffed and 
underfunded. The Child Labor Commission coordinated efforts to provide 
scholarships for children to enroll in school. The Ministry of Labor's 
Child Labor Secretariat, the Ministry of Justice's Human Rights 
Division, the Ministry of Gender and Development's Human Rights 
Division, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare's Department of 
Social Welfare, and the LNP's Women and Children Protection Section 
were also charged with investigating and referring for prosecution 
allegations of child labor. International NGOs continued to work to 
eliminate the worst forms of child labor by withdrawing children from 
hazardous work and putting at-risk children in school. Other local and 
international NGOs worked to raise awareness of the worst forms of 
child labor.
    In September a special task force began confiscating goods from 
children peddling on the streets in Monrovia to curb child labor during 
school hours. The children received notes informing their parents that 
their goods had been confiscated. The effort included a ``Back to 
School'' rally to raise awareness of the exercise.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national law requires a 
minimum wage of 15 Liberian dollars ($0.30) per hour, not exceeding 
eight hours per day, excluding benefits, for unskilled laborers. The 
minimum wage laws apply only to the formal economic sector.
    The law does not fix a minimum wage for agricultural workers but 
requires that they be paid at the rate agreed to in the collective 
bargaining agreement between workers' unions and their management, 
excluding benefits. Skilled labor has no minimum fixed wage, and the 
minimum wage for civil servants was 5,600 Liberian dollars ($114) per 
month.
    The national minimum wage did not provide a decent standard of 
living for a worker and family. Families dependent on minimum wage 
incomes also engaged in subsistence farming, small scale marketing, and 
begging.
    The law provides for a 48-hour, six-day regular workweek with a 30-
minute rest period for every five hours of work. The six-day workweek 
may be extended to 56 hours for service occupations and to 72 hours for 
miners, with overtime pay beyond 48 hours. The law also provides for 
pay for overtime, and it prohibits excessive compulsory overtime.
    The law provides for paid leave, severance benefits, and safety 
standards.
    The Ministry of Labor's Labor Inspection Department enforced 
government-established health and safety standards. Officials conducted 
unannounced visits of consistent violators to improve standards. 
Enforcement of standards and inspection findings was not always 
consistent. 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 severe economic problems, most 
citizens were forced to accept any work they could find regardless of 
wages or working conditions.

                               __________

                               MADAGASCAR

    Madagascar, with a population of more than 20 million, is ruled by 
an unelected and illegal civilian regime that assumed power in a March 
2009 coup with military support. Andry Nirina Rajoelina adopted the 
title of president of the transition, at the head of a loose coalition 
of former opposition politicians, and intends to remain in this 
position until elections are held. Former president Marc Ravalomanana, 
democratically elected in 2006 is in exile, and the parliament has 
remained suspended since then. In defiance of a negotiated agreement 
with the African Union (AU) and local political leaders, the regime 
failed to establish a legitimate transitional administration that would 
oversee free and open elections for the restoration of a legal 
government. Military leaders continue to assert their autonomy from the 
current political leadership, despite their tacit support of 
Rajoelina's de facto government. On November 17, the de facto regime 
held a unilateral and internationally unrecognized constitutional 
referendum that sparked an attempted coup by a small group of military 
leaders, which was resolved after almost three full days of 
negotiations. There were instances in which elements of the security 
forces acted independently of civilian control.
    The following human rights problems were reported: unlawful 
killings and other security force abuses; harsh prison conditions, 
sometimes resulting in deaths; arbitrary arrest and detention; lengthy 
pretrial detention; censorship; intimidation and arrest of and violence 
against journalists; restrictions on freedoms of speech, press, and 
assembly; curtailment of the right of citizens to choose their 
government; official corruption and impunity; societal discrimination 
and violence against women, and trafficking of women and children; and 
child 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 several 
reports that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings, under both the Ravalomanana government in 2009 and 
Rajoelina's de facto government during the year. Police and gendarmes 
continued to use unwarranted lethal force during pursuit and arrest.
    For example, on May 20, during a Religious Leaders' Movement (HMF) 
protest, an armed confrontation between dissident factions of the 
gendarmerie's Intervention Force (FIGN) and the joint armed forces sent 
with the Special Intervention Force (FIS) by the de facto regime 
resulted in the death of a religious leader, the death of a member of 
the FIS, and about a dozen injured among the armed forces and 
civilians. There were no further developments by year's end.
    On September 22, the Police Intervention Force in Toamasina shot 
and killed two persons accused of armed attacks after they reportedly 
opened fire on police. There were no further developments by year's 
end.
    On August 28, former president Ravalomanana was tried in absentia, 
convicted, and sentenced to forced labor for life for the February 2009 
killings by presidential guards of at least 30 protesters outside 
Ambohitsorohitra Palace. Ravalomanana continued to claim his innocence 
while exiled in South Africa.
    There were no further developments in the following 2009 deaths 
that resulted from actions by security forces: the January deaths of 
150 to 300 persons nationwide during riots; the January death of at 
least 44 persons trapped in a burning department store in Antananarivo; 
the January killing of a boy outside the MBS television station; and 
the April shooting deaths of two protesters by security forces.
    There were no further developments in the series of small 
explosions in the capital between April and August 2009, for which the 
pro-Ravalomanana opposition was blamed.

    b. Disappearance.--On November 11, Fetison Rakoto Adrianairina and 
Zafilahy Stanislas, leaders of the opposition group supported by former 
president Ravalomanana, and Pastor Edouard Tsarahame, a leader of the 
opposition group supported by former president Zafy, were arrested on 
charges of holding an unauthorized demonstration. Subsequently, they 
were moved to different prisons and eventually to an undisclosed 
location. Their lawyers and family were not permitted to see them or 
know of their whereabouts from November 20 to 25. Their trial was 
postponed to January 23, 2011, because the defendants did not appear 
for the original November 23 trial date despite being held under 
custody in an undisclosed location at the time.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law provide for the inviolability of 
the person and prohibit such practices; however, security forces 
subjected prisoners to physical and mental abuse.
    For example, on November 20, proregime forces arrested a group of 
military officers who had led an attempted coup that started on 
November 17. A few days after their arrest, it was reported that most 
of the attempted coup leaders showed signs of physical abuse and two of 
them, General Raeolina and Colonel Coutiti, were in critical condition 
after beatings. A November 21 medical report conducted by the chief 
doctor at Tsiafahy prison on General Raeolina revealed that he had 
severe deep bruising in the face and chest and had been in and out of 
consciousness, likely as a result of physical abuse by the arresting 
officers. Colonels Andriamihoatra and Jadifara, both involved in the 
coup attempt and arrested on November 20, received medical exams on 
November 21 also revealing potential physical abuse by arresting 
officers.
    On April 29, six persons were injured when Antsiranana police 
opened fire on a funeral procession that passed in front of the central 
police station. The funeral procession was protesting the death of 
Ninjaka Olivier, who was allegedly beaten to death two days earlier by 
police. There were no further developments by year's end.
    There were no further developments in the following 2009 cases: the 
March detention and harsh treatment of Pastor Lala Rasendrahasina; the 
2009 arrest and pistol whipping of a member of parliament by Gendarme 
Commanders Charles Andrianatsoavina and Lylison Rene Urbain; and the 
September FIS shooting of a woman in the leg in Antananarivo.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
harsh and life threatening under both the Ravalomanana and Rajoelina 
regimes. Severe overcrowding due to weaknesses in the judicial system 
and inadequate prison infrastructure remained a serious problem; 
pervasive pretrial detention continued.
    On March 11, a presidential pardon released 1,424 prisoners over 
the age of 70.
    As of June the country's 83 prisons and detention centers held 
approximately 18,647 prisoners. This total included approximately 736 
women and girls and 424 juvenile males. Of those detained, 7,964 were 
in pretrial detention.
    Chronic malnutrition, which affected up to two-thirds of detainees 
in some prisons, was the most common cause of death. The Ministry of 
Justice's goal in 2008 to raise prisoners' daily food ration (typically 
dry manioc, rice, or cassava) had not been implemented, and the 
situation worsened due to budget shortfalls as a result of the ongoing 
political crisis and the suspension of some foreign assistance. 
Families and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) supplemented the 
daily rations of some prisoners.
    For example, in June and July there were four reported deaths in 
Taolagnaro prison due primarily to malnutrition. In 2009, 34 deaths 
were recorded in the first 10 months. However, NGOs and media sources 
indicated that there was substantial underreporting of prison deaths. 
The total number of deaths in all prisons during the year was 
unavailable.
    Malnutrition and a lack of hygiene made detainees vulnerable to 
disease, including epidemics. Deteriorating prison infrastructure--
including a lack of sanitary facilities and potable water--resulted in 
skin disease, insect infestation, and other health risks. Access to 
medical care was limited, although NGOs reported limited success in 
targeted sanitation activities at several facilities in the north. 
Ventilation, lighting, and temperature control in facilities were 
inadequate, indeed hardly existed.
    Church leaders and some NGOs reported that rape was commonplace in 
prisons and often used by prison guards and other inmates to humiliate 
prisoners. Other organizations stated that while rape cases were the 
exception, prisoners often prostituted themselves in jail for food.
    Male and female prisoners were separated. The central prison had a 
separate quarter for women, and there was a women's facility in 
Manjakandriana. Juveniles were not always held separately from the 
adult prison population, and some preschool-age children shared cells 
with their incarcerated mothers. There were at least two political 
detainees held under house arrest instead of imprisonment with the 
general prison population, but others were generally held in the same 
facilities. Pretrial detainees were seldom kept separate from the 
general prison population. Prisoners and detainees were authorized to 
receive weekly visits from relatives and permitted religious 
observance, although actual prison conditions were too harsh for 
prisoners to actually receive visitors or engage in worship.
    There was no provision for ombudsmen to serve on behalf of 
prisoners and detainees.
    There were no reports that the Government permitted prisoners and 
detainees to submit complaints on inhumane conditions to judicial 
authorities, or that the Government investigated or monitored prison 
and detention center conditions or acted to improve them.
    The Government generally permitted independent monitoring of prison 
conditions by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), 
several local NGOs, and some diplomatic missions, and such visits 
occurred during the year. The ICRC conducted visits several times 
during the year to each of 30 main penitentiary facilities; the ICRC 
was able to hold private consultations in accordance with its standard 
modalities. ICRC representatives were also permitted to visit detainees 
in pretrial or temporary detention, as need arose.
    Although the EU funded projects focused on improving prison 
conditions, there were no known attempts by the Government itself to do 
so during the year.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, the Government did 
not always respect these provisions in practice. The Government 
permitted arrest on vague charges and detained suspects for long 
periods without trial. There was a sharp increase in politically 
motivated detentions both before and after the March 2009 coup; the 
actual number remained disputed, but several of those arrested since 
then remained imprisoned (see sections 1.e. and 2.a.).
    On November 23, regime forces arrested a former judge on the 
International Court of Justice, Raymond Ranjeva, and his pregnant 
daughter, accusing Ranjeva of being involved in the November 17 coup 
attempt. Ranjeva was released on bail a few hours later, but his 
daughter remained in custody for insulting regime forces and was 
sentenced to a month of probation on November 30.
    During March demonstrations in Analakely, political and religious 
activists Charles and Kathy Hilaire were arrested for ``offense against 
national security'' when brochures on the HMF were found in their car. 
After investigations, they were released; however, approximately 50 
lower-profile protestors were reportedly arrested in the same incident 
and remained in prison awaiting trial at year's end.
    On May 15, opposition politician Ambroise Ravonison was violently 
arrested during a radio interview. Two other interviewees and three 
members of the radio's staff were injured, and the radio station's 
equipment vandalized. Ravonison, a French citizen, obtained a 
provisional release and fled the country. No action had been taken 
regarding the vandalism by year's end.
    Journalists were arrested (see section 2.a.).
    Senator Eliane, who was arrested in September 2009 for attending an 
illegal gathering and damaging public property, left the country. At 
year's end she reportedly remained abroad conducting an information 
campaign on the de facto regime's lack of respect for human rights.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The minister for 
internal security oversees the national police, the gendarmerie, and 
the coast guard, with authority for law and order in both urban and 
rural areas. The gendarmerie had previously been under the authority of 
the Ministry of Defense.
    Lack of training and equipment, low salaries, and rampant 
corruption were problems in the national police and gendarmerie. 
Chronic underfunding and unclear command structures severely diminished 
the security forces' ability to respond effectively to the civil unrest 
that began in January 2009. By April 2009 security forces under the 
control of the de facto government began to assert effective control 
over demonstrations in the capital, with an accompanying reduction in 
violence. The creation in March 2009 of the Joint National 
Investigation Committee (CNME), later renamed the Special Investigation 
Force, (FIS), diluted the authority of the minister for internal 
security, as it began to pursue high-profile targets under Commanders 
Charles Andrianatsoavina and Lylison Rene Urbain and independently 
outside regular judicial processes. Security forces routinely used 
excessive force during arrests and while dispersing demonstrations, 
employing tear gas, flash grenades, and live ammunition.
    There is no systematic mechanism available for investigating 
security force abuses. However, victims may lodge complaints in the 
court of jurisdiction. This rarely, if ever, occurred.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Although the 
law requires that authorities obtain arrest warrants in all cases 
except those involving hot pursuit, often persons were detained and 
jailed based on accusations or political affiliation. Defendants have a 
general right to counsel and those who could not afford a lawyer were 
entitled to one provided by the state; however, many citizens were not 
aware of this right, and even if aware, most were too afraid to request 
one. Defendants have the right to be informed of charges against them, 
but this right was not always respected. A system of bail exists 
depending on the crime; bail was frequently denied for more severe or 
high-profile crimes. Magistrates often resorted to a ``mandat de 
depot'' (retaining writ) under which defendants were held in detention 
for the entire pretrial period. The law limits the duration of pretrial 
detention and regulates the use of the mandat de depot, including 
regulations that limit the duration of detention based on the type of 
crime, with a theoretical maximum of eight months for criminal cases. 
Family members of prisoners generally were allowed access to prisoners; 
however, access was more limited to certain prisoners, such as those in 
solitary confinement or those arrested for political reasons.
    The Ministry of Justice reported that approximately 50 percent of 
the prison population was in pretrial detention.
    The law mandates that a criminal suspect be charged or released 
within 48 hours of arrest; however, the Government often detained 
individuals for significantly longer periods before charging or 
releasing them. Poor record keeping, an outdated judicial system that 
favored keeping the accused in detention until their trial, an 
insufficient number of magistrates, lack of resources, and difficult 
access in remote areas contributed to lengthy pretrial detention, 
ranging from several days to several years. Many detainees spent a 
longer period in investigative detention than they would have spent 
incarcerated following a maximum sentence for the charges faced.

    Amnesty.--On March 11, a presidential pardon released 1,424 
prisoners over the age of 70.
    As part of the August 2009 Charter of the Transition, the country's 
four main political movements agreed to a tentative plan for an amnesty 
covering political activities from 2002-09. However, in December 2009 
Rajoelina formally abrogated the charter, and with it the existing 
agreement on amnesty during the transition administration.
    Shortly after taking power in March 2009, Rajoelina's de facto 
government authorized the release and pardon of 48 individuals it 
deemed ``political prisoners,'' who were imprisoned under the 
Ravalomanana government. Twenty of these prisoners had not yet received 
an official pardon, and remained under poorly enforced house arrest. 
They included a number of nonpolitical criminals, guilty of murder and 
other grave human rights violations during past conflicts. Most 
prominent among them was Lieutenant Colonel Assolant Coutiti, who was 
convicted in 2004 on two counts of torture during the 2002 political 
conflict, in addition to prior convictions for politically motivated 
abductions and murder in the same conflict. Following widespread 
condemnation of the release, Rajoelina's government did not release any 
further prisoners whose incarceration predates the current political 
crisis. Several opposition figures arrested during the year were 
released in August 2009 as a gesture of good faith in advance of 
implementation of the Charter of the Transition. The release was 
criticized, however, for requiring them to sign a letter promising not 
to engage in further political activities.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Although the constitution and law 
provide for an independent judiciary, the judiciary was susceptible to 
executive influence at all levels, and corruption remained a serious 
problem. This worsened under the de facto government, and the use or 
threat of intimidation surrounded every major judicial decision since 
March 2009. The absence of any legislative body permitted the de facto 
government effectively to rule by decree, with no check on executive 
power. The minister of justice routinely expressed an opinion on high-
profile judicial decisions to the media before the court announced 
them.
    Military courts are reserved for the trials of military personnel 
and generally follow 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 and generally 
benefit from the same rights available to civilians, although their 
trials are not public. A civilian magistrate, usually joined by a panel 
of military officers, presides over military trials.
    The law provides traditional village institutions the right to 
protect property and public order. Some rural areas used an informal, 
community-organized judicial system called ``dina'' to resolve civil 
disputes between villagers over such issues as alleged cattle rustling. 
This system was criticized for human rights abuses, particularly for 
lack of due process before imposing harsh sentences well outside the 
scope of formal law.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for a presumption of innocence; 
however, the presumption of innocence was often overlooked. The 
constitution and law provide defendants with the right to a full 
defense at every stage of the proceedings, and trials are public. While 
the law provides that juries can be used in all cases, in practice, 
juries were used only in labor disputes. Defendants have the right to 
be present at their trials, to be informed of the charges against them, 
to call and confront witnesses, and to present evidence. The Government 
is required to provide counsel for all detainees on criminal charges 
who cannot afford their own attorney; however, many citizens were not 
aware of this right in practice. Attorneys have access to government-
held evidence, but this right does not extend to defendants without 
attorneys. Defendants have the right to appeal convictions.
    The law extends these rights to all citizens without exception; 
however, in practice these rights were routinely denied, as the de 
facto government prolonged incarceration of suspects for weeks without 
charge and continually postponed hearings while denying bail. For 
example, in June 2009 former president Ravalomanana was tried and 
convicted in absentia for alleged abuse of power while in office; he 
later asserted that he was unaware that the trial was taking place. In 
August the Antananarivo Criminal Court convicted Ravalomanana in 
absentia for his presumed involvement in the February 2009 presidential 
palace shootings and sentenced him to a life sentence of hard labor. At 
year's end Ravalomanana remained in exile in South Africa.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--No definitive numbers were 
available, but several well-known politicians were imprisoned under 
Ravalomanana's government, most of whom were released in 2009 
regardless of whether their incarceration had a criminal aspect 
alongside their political affiliations. In July a Ministry of Justice 
source stated that the de facto government had placed 102 ``political 
prisoners'' in preventive detention since 2009, many with little or no 
evidence of having committed criminal or civil offenses. Subsequently, 
some were released conditionally or with no charges being filed. 
Opposition leaders alleged that dozens of additional persons were 
detained without due process for their role in political protests, 
although the facts of their individual cases were unavailable.
    In April 18 political detainees in the Tsiafahy top-security prison 
reportedly went on a hunger strike, requesting review of their cases 
and unconditional release. The authorities took no action.
    On June 15, Manoela was arrested after speaking during opposition 
movement protests at Magro. On July 12, the criminal court charged 
Manoela with nine violations including ``insulting a police officer'' 
and sentenced him to three months' imprisonment. He was subsequently 
released.
    There were no further developments in the following 2009 cases of 
political detainees: the April arrest of Ralitera Andrianandraina, 
former head of security at the High Constitutional Court, for his 
alleged role in an attempt on Rajoelina's life, and the August arrest 
of lawyer Lalaharinoro Rabemananjara for alleged complicity in the June 
and July bombings.
    Some prisoners remained difficult to classify due to the effects of 
corruption and intimidation in the judicial process. These prisoners 
generally received equal treatment to that of other prisoners, and 
international humanitarian organizations were permitted access to them.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The judiciary's 
independence and impartiality were compromised by corruption and 
political influence, according to Independent Anticorruption Bureau 
(BIANCO) investigations and public perception. The judiciary deals with 
all civil matters, including human rights cases. However, the courts 
often encountered difficulty in enforcing judgments in civil cases.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, but homes and 
workplaces of opposition groups were subjected to arbitrary searches 
without warrants. On November 23, regime forces arrested Raymond 
Ranjeva's pregnant daughter and searched his house, accusing Ranjeva of 
being involved in the November 17 coup attempt. Ranjeva was allegedly 
told to turn himself in if he wanted his daughter to be released. 
Ranjeva obliged and was released a few hours later, but his daughter 
remained in custody for insulting regime forces and on November 30 was 
sentenced to a month -long probation (see section 1.d.).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press, but both government and 
nongovernment groups actively impeded political criticism with threats 
and violence against reporters, media owners, and media outlets. 
Journalists were sent to jail, and government security forces attacked 
residences of editors or owners. A September report by international 
NGO Freedom House on the status of press freedom categorized the 
country as ``not free,'' diminished from the previous year's rating of 
``partially free.'' The report noted that ``both main parties routinely 
ignored constitutional protections for media freedom while in power, 
using harassment, intimidation, and censorship to restrict media 
operations. As a result, news coverage became extremely partisan and 
polarized, while diversity of views receded.''
    On January 8, two journalists of the FJKM church's radio station 
Radio Fahazavana--Didier Ravoahangison and Lolo Ratsimba--were arrested 
and sent to prison for acts of political destabilization due to their 
alleged complicity in a December 2009 mutiny attempt. They received 
bail on February 15 and were awaiting trial at year's end.
    On March 31, a Radio Feon'Imerina journalist was arrested after the 
de facto regime's prime minister announced that persons who ``caused 
trouble'' in Ambohijatovo on March 29 would be sanctioned. The 
journalist was released the same day.
    On May 20, Radio Fahazavana was closed down and 10 of its staff 
members--six journalists and four technicians--were arrested for an 
alleged attempt to endanger state security and incite a rebellion. They 
were released under bail on September 8 and were awaiting trial at 
year's end.
    On August 8, officials from the Ministry of Communications and 
local police forces ordered the suspension of Radio Mahafaly in 
Antsirabe. The station was managed by a close ally of former president 
Ravalomanana. At year's end the suspension remained in effect.
    On September 30, based on a Ministry of Communication directive, 
ministry officials and armed law enforcement elements closed Radio 
Fototra, owned and operated by the Green Party Hasin'I Madagasikara.
    After the coup attempt on November 17, the regime sent warning 
letters to Ma-TV, TV Plus, and two other stations for airing statements 
by the attempted coup leaders. The letters implied that airing anything 
that could be seen as opposing the regime or calling for an end to it 
and thus an end to the transition could be considered a threat to 
public order and security and could lead to suspension and even 
withdrawal of operating permits.
    There were 13 privately owned major daily newspapers and many other 
privately owned national and local news publications that were 
published less frequently.
    Before March 2009 Le Quotidien, which is owned by former president 
Ravalomanana, was the newspaper most heavily influenced by the state; 
since March 2009 La Verite has been most closely aligned with the de 
facto government. The Government owned nationwide television and radio 
networks. There were approximately 256 other radio stations and 39 
other television stations nationwide, which provided more limited 
geographic coverage.
    The 2009 politically motivated closure of opposition media outlets, 
such as Radio Mada, remained in effect at year's end.
    To maintain access to sources and remain safe, journalists 
practiced extensive self-censorship, and many private radio stations 
shifted to live call-in shows to distance themselves from editorial 
responsibility for content.

    Internet Freedom.--There were generally no government restrictions 
on access to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
Public access to the Internet was limited mainly to urban areas; modern 
technology and the necessary infrastructure were generally absent in 
rural areas. According to International Telecommunication Union 
statistics for 2009, approximately 1.63 percent of the country's 
inhabitants used the Internet.
    Political groups, parties, and activists used the Internet 
extensively to advance their agendas, share news, and criticize other 
parties. Although there were allegations of technical sabotage from 
both sides of some Web sites during the year, the Internet was 
considered among the more reliable sources of information as many of 
the Web sites servers were outside the country and could not be 
regulated by the Government.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly, 
but this right was restricted extensively during the year. Government 
officials and security forces regularly impeded opposition gatherings 
in locations around the country. The de facto regime also forbade 
protests during the holiday season (Christmas to New Year's Day) and 
during election periods (from election day until election results were 
official).
    Opposition groups were repeatedly denied the right to hold 
political rallies in Antananarivo. On October 26, opposition groups 
sent a letter to the presidentially appointed mayor and the prefect of 
Antananarivo requesting an explanation for the refusal to hold a rally 
at three public areas in Antananarivo from October 28 to 30. Opposition 
leaders confirmed these places were available for the requested dates 
but were still not given permits. Opposition groups attempted to hold 
meetings on November 10 and 12 at a public stadium, but the prefecture 
of police denied their request. From December 1 to 3, opposition groups 
tried to hold rallies in various public venues in Antananarivo and 
applied for the proper permits, but all requests were denied.
    On November 20, the Association of Mayors of Madagascar and 
opposition groups held a protest in Analakely. Within five minutes of 
the start of the protest, police forces broke up the group and arrested 
Guy Mazime Ralaiseheno, the leader of the Association. Ralaiseheno 
remained in prison at the end of the year.
    Opposition groups were usually authorized to hold political rallies 
in provincial cities. However, on August 27, a protest in Tulear lead 
by Elimberaza Mandrikake turned into looting of the local affiliate of 
the national radio. Seven opposition leaders were arrested; Mandrikake 
reportedly escaped and went abroad.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for the 
right of association and permit citizens to organize political parties 
and associations. The Government generally respected this right in 
practice, although a law signed in January 2009 governing political 
parties imposes stringent new requirements. Parties are required to 
have representation in 12 regions within the first 30 months of their 
creation, hold regular national meetings, and participate in at least 
three consecutive elections, excluding the presidential election. Only 
legally constituted political parties would be able to present 
candidates. This law was not implemented before the March 2009 coup and 
the de facto government did not present any plans to do so.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a discussion of religious freedom, 
please see the Department of State's 2010 International Religious 
Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The constitution does not explicitly prohibit forced exile, 
and the Government utilized it selectively. Several opposition figures, 
such as former deputy prime minister Pierrot Rajaonarivelo, returned to 
the country during 2009 despite outstanding legal issues arising from 
convictions handed down in their absence; at year's end, the de facto 
government had not moved to arrest them.
    The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian agencies in 
providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is not a party to the 1967 
Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees (although it is party to 
the 1951 Convention) and has not ratified the 1969 African Union 
Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problem in 
Africa. The law does not include provisions for the granting of asylum 
or refugee status, but the Government has established a system for 
providing protection to refugees. In practice the Government provided 
protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries 
where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their 
race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, 
or political opinion. The Government granted refugee status or asylum 
and cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations in 
assisting the small number of refugees in the country.

    Stateless Persons.--An arcane system of citizenship laws and 
procedures resulted in a large number of stateless persons in the 
minority Muslim community, many of whom have lived in the country for 
generations. Reliable figures remained unavailable, but Muslim leaders 
estimated as many as 5 percent of the estimated two million Muslims 
were affected. Citizenship is transmitted through ``blood''; birth in 
the country does not transmit citizenship. Children born to a citizen 
mother and noncitizen father must declare their desire for citizenship 
by age 18 or risk losing eligibility for citizenship. Some members of 
the Karana community of Indo-Pakistani origin, who failed to register 
for Indian, Malagasy, or French citizenship following India's 
independence in 1947 and Madagascar's independence in 1960, were no 
longer eligible for any of the three; this applied to their descendants 
as well. Members of the wider Muslim community suggested that a Muslim-
sounding name alone could delay one's citizenship application 
indefinitely. Lack of citizenship precluded voting rights and 
eligibility for a passport, which limited international travel.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens the right to change their 
government peacefully, and citizens previously exercised this right in 
practice by voting in presidential, legislative, and municipal 
elections between 2006 and 2008. However, this right was effectively 
curtailed when opposition protests led to a coup and the overthrow of 
the elected government in March 2009. Following the December 2008 
closure of his television station, VIVA TV, Andry Rajoelina, the former 
mayor of Antananarivo, led a coup in opposition to President 
Ravalomanana in March 2009. Unable to consolidate his rule in the face 
of domestic and international condemnation, from August to December 
2009 Rajoelina engaged in a negotiating process. In December, after the 
negotiations failed to yield results acceptable to him, Rajoelina 
unilaterally declared his intention to organize elections for as early 
as March 2010. The opposition rejected this plan, pushing for a return 
to dialogue and an inclusive transition government. Throughout the year 
Rajoelina unilaterally announced roadmaps to elections that were 
postponed multiple times. A constitutional referendum was held on 
November 17 and countrywide mayoral elections, scheduled for December 
20, have been postponed indefinitely. Legislative and presidential 
election dates are proposed for the first part of 2011; however, 
opposition groups and the international community have rejected the 
results from the constitutional referendum and the election timeline as 
unilateral and unrealistic.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Indirect elections to the 
33-member senate took place in 2008; then president Ravalomanana's I 
Love Madagascar (TIM) party won all 22 elected seats, and the president 
appointed the remaining 11 members. Allegations of campaign and voting 
irregularities surfaced during and after the election, but no 
conclusive legal action was taken.
    The 2007 municipal elections were initially declared free, fair, 
and peaceful, but local observers noted minor irregularities in some 
elections advantaging ruling party candidates over others. The State 
Council overturned results in several mayoral contests, citing 
localized miscounting and improper involvement of TIM candidates. By 
August 2008 TIM had lost 16 mayoral positions in court and gained six 
others. TIM did not initially interfere when Rajoelina won the mayoral 
race in Antananarivo, but the election marked the beginning of a 
conflict with then president Ravalomanana, which culminated in the 
March 2009 coup.
    Political parties could not operate without restriction or outside 
inference. Parties opposing the party of the regime leader often had 
their individual rights, such as freedom of expression, violated. The 
regime often denied opposition parties the right to organize and 
publicize their opinions. Political parties were also heavily dominated 
by the urban elites from the long-standing Malagasy tribes.
    Until March 2009 there were four women in the cabinet, 10 women in 
the 127-member national assembly, and five women in the 33-member 
senate. Three of the 22 appointed regional administrators were women. 
Under the de facto government, there are five women in the cabinet; 
parliament was suspended after the March 2009 coup and has not been 
reestablished, although a ``transition'' parliament has gradually been 
appointed by Rajoelina after a September 2010 National Conference that 
was seen as unilateral and remained unrecognized by the international 
community at year's end.
    Until March 2009 there were 11 Muslims and seven Chinese-Malagasy 
members in the national assembly and eight Muslims in the senate. 
Chinese-Malagasy and Muslims also held civil service positions. 
Residents of Indo-Pakistani origin were not well represented in the 
Government.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
corruption reportedly increased after the March 2009 coup. Corruption 
was rampant in the national police and gendarmerie. The World Bank's 
most recent Worldwide Governance Indicators reflected that corruption 
was a problem, as was impunity. NGOs and the media reported that 
anticorruption efforts in recent years were more effective in pursuing 
low-level violators than in attacking corruption at the national 
government level.
    The general lack of rule of law created a permissive environment 
for illegal logging and the export of rare endemic hardwoods, primarily 
from the country's northern forests, which were perceived to have been 
facilitated by bribery at several levels of government. Foreign NGOs 
and media reports alleged that high-level corruption, ranging from 
local security forces to the national government, permitted the illegal 
cutting and export of rosewood and ebony trees, despite laws to protect 
them. Chinese businessmen were caught on tape alleging that they paid 
de facto leader Rajoelina directly for illegal logging rights.
    The Independent Anticorruption Bureau (BIANCO) is a nominally 
independent government agency, with a presidentially appointed director 
and oversight from the Committee for the Safeguard of Integrity within 
the presidency. BIANCO did not address the corruption and abuses of 
power perpetrated by security forces and civilian officials and did not 
play a visible role in addressing corruption problems associated with 
the ongoing political crisis.
    In 2008 the Government created an agency to combat money 
laundering, SAMIFIN, and an ethics unit within each ministry. BIANCO 
and the Ministry of Justice signed an agreement in 2008 for increased 
cooperation concerning data collection and case referrals. However, the 
implementation has been weak due to lack of financing and political 
will, especially since the March 2009 coup.
    Public officials at the director-general level and above, excluding 
the president, were subject to financial disclosure laws. In practice 
in 2008 only 33 percent of those required to disclose assets or income 
did so. Disclosure laws have never been effectively enforced.
    There are no laws providing for public access to government 
information. Educational material on corruption, including statistics 
updated every quarter, was available to citizens and noncitizens, 
including foreign media.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    Numerous domestic and international human rights groups generally 
operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing 
their findings on human rights cases. Government officials were 
generally unresponsive to their views, particularly after the March 
2009 coup, but international human rights groups were allowed to enter 
the country, conduct their work, and consult freely with other groups. 
Domestic groups reported intimidation following the coup.
    There were several domestic NGOs in the country that work on human 
rights, but very few have the capacity to work effectively and 
independently. The National Council for Election Observation continued 
to be a leader in the field of civic education, and provided technical 
support and training in several past elections. Other key organizations 
included the Observatory of Public Life, SOS aux Victimes du Non-droit, 
and Actions by Christians for the Abolition of Torture, all of whom 
worked to monitor human rights issues and actively participated in 
public and private forums on the subject. Political movements have on 
occasion attempted to co-opt these organizations, leading to 
accusations of their increasing politicization, but they were not 
routinely suppressed or subjected to harassment.
    Following the March 2009 coup, the UN and other international 
bodies widely criticized both the Ravalomanana government and the de 
facto government for human rights abuses and for their continued 
failure to resolve the ongoing crisis through dialogue and new 
elections. The UN played an active role as part of the international 
mediation team and the International Contact Group on Madagascar, 
alongside the African Union, the International Organization of the 
Francophonie, and the South African Development Community, which has 
taken the lead role in mediation efforts since the middle of the year.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit all forms of discrimination, 
including on the basis of race, gender, disability, language, and 
social status; however, no specific government institutions were 
designated to enforce these provisions.

    Women.--The law prohibits rape in general but does not specifically 
refer to spousal rape. Penalties range from five years to life in 
prison, depending on factors such as the victim's age, the rapist's 
relationship to the victim, and whether the rapist's occupation put the 
individual in contact with children. Rape of a child or a pregnant 
woman was punishable by hard labor. An additional two to five years' 
imprisonment could be added in the case of rape with assault and 
battery, although the Government did not always enforce these 
penalties. In 2008 the Morals and Minors Brigade, a department in the 
Ministry of Interior, reported receiving 10 to 12 rape-related 
complaints a day countrywide. There were 217 cases of rape reported in 
2008 in Antananarivo; 130 were investigated. All of these figures 
probably underestimated the extent of rape nationwide, but there were 
no reliable figures available.
    The law prohibits domestic violence, but it remained a widespread 
problem punishable with two to five years in prison and a fine of four 
million ariary ($2,000), depending on the severity of injuries and 
whether the victim was pregnant. In 2007 the Government's National 
Institute for Public Health estimated that 55 percent of women were 
victims of domestic violence. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) estimated 
in 2006 that one of three women in the southern and southeastern 
section of the country would suffer from violence at some point. A 2007 
Ministry of Health survey on conjugal violence, conducted in 
collaboration with two NGOs, found that of 400 women surveyed in 
Antananarivo, 45 percent were subjected to psychological violence and 
35 percent to physical violence. Police and legal authorities generally 
intervened when physical abuse was reported. The Ministry of Health 
continued working with NGOs in Antananarivo and Fianarantsoa to provide 
victims with legal advice. Statistics on the number of domestic abusers 
prosecuted, convicted, or punished were unavailable. Anecdotal evidence 
from NGO-run welcome centers indicated that the political crisis, and 
its related social and economic impacts, correlated with a rise in the 
incidence of domestic violence, with two- or three-fold increases in 
cases reported.
    Sex tourism was an increasing problem with the growth of the 
tourism industry before the 2009 coup and the economic crisis and lack 
of legitimate employment opportunities since the coup. The Government 
continued its national awareness campaign by posting signs throughout 
airports and hotels, including a full-page warning against engaging in 
sex tourism in the customs booklet given to arriving international 
passengers. In 2007 the Government adopted a law modifying the criminal 
code to define child sexual exploitation, child sex tourism, child 
pornography, and trafficking in persons, and stipulating penalties for 
violations. NGOs reported that the law was used in court on several 
occasions but had not yet resulted in a conviction. Law enforcement 
officials noted that the law was often not uniformly interpreted or 
applied.
    Sexual harassment is against the law. Penalties vary from one to 
three years' imprisonment plus a fine of one to four million ariary 
($500 to $2,000). This penalty increases to two to five years' 
imprisonment plus a fine of two to 10 million ariary ($1,000 to $5,000) 
if the victim was forced or pressured into sexual acts or punished for 
refusing such advances. However, the practice was widespread, 
particularly in export processing zone (EPZ) factories. The UNFPA 
estimated that 50 percent of women working in EPZs were victims of 
sexual harassment. In past years, the Government enforced sexual 
harassment laws when cases were brought to court; however, there were 
no reported court cases during the year.
    Couples and individuals freely exercised their reproductive rights 
with no legal or policy discrimination or coercion. The Government 
provided free access to contraceptives and family planning information 
at public clinics, and services were also available in the private 
sector. According to the UNFPA, the modern contraceptive prevalence 
rate was 28 percent. Skilled attendance during childbirth was 
infrequent, particularly in rural areas, where there were few trained 
health workers. However, the Population Reference Bureau reports that 
54 percent of births were attended by skilled personnel. All delivery 
services, including caesarean sections, were free in government health 
facilities. However, since much of the population lived more than two 
miles away from public clinics over difficult terrain, many in rural 
areas were unable to access reproductive health and maternity services; 
the Government and donors have identified this as a critical 
constraint, and a variety of programs were instituted to expand the 
availability of quality care. However, there was a lack of resources to 
address the issue comprehensively. The latest National Statistics 
Institute (INSTAT) survey conducted between November 2008 and August 
2009, and issued in June concluded that the maternal mortality ratio 
(the ratio of the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births) 
was 498, compared with 269 deaths in the 2004 report. Men and women had 
equal access to diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted 
infections, including HIV. While there were no legal barriers to access 
these services, there were enormous infrastructure inconsistencies and 
some social/cultural barriers and stigma based on ethnicity that 
limited full access.
    Women generally enjoyed the same legal status as men. 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 ended. While widows with children inherit half of joint 
marital property, a husband's surviving kin have priority over widows 
without children--leaving them eighth in line for inheritance if there 
is no prior agreement and potentially leaving them with none of the 
estate or a very small portion of it. 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 no special government office to ensure 
the legal rights of women.
    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 rural areas, where most of the population is engaged in subsistence 
farming, more traditional social structures tended to favor entrenched 
gender roles. While there is little discrimination in access to 
employment and credit, women often did not receive equal pay for 
substantially similar work. Women were not permitted to work in 
positions that might endanger their health, safety, or morals. 
According to the labor and social protection codes, such positions 
include night shifts in the manufacturing sector and certain positions 
in the mining, metallurgy, and chemical industries.
    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, societal intimidation, and a 
lack of knowledge of their rights, few women lodged official complaints 
or sought redress when their legal rights were violated or ignored.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents, although 
children born to a citizen mother and a foreign father must declare 
their desire for citizenship by age 18. The country has no uniformly 
enforced birth registration system, and unregistered children have 
historically not been eligible to attend school or obtain health care 
services. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) worked with the 
Government to provide birth certificates for both newborn children and 
those who did not receive a certificate at birth. According to a UNICEF 
study conducted during the year, 25 percent of children in the country 
under the age of five were not registered.
    The constitution provides for tuition-free public education for all 
citizen children and makes primary education until age 14 compulsory.
    Child abuse was a problem. Since the beginning of the political 
crisis, cases of child rape increasingly appeared in the media.
    In 2007 the Government adopted a 2008-12 national action plan on 
violence against children, including child labor, sexual exploitation, 
and trafficking. The Ministry of Health, in collaboration with UNICEF, 
operated more than 14 multisector networks throughout the country to 
protect children from abuse and exploitation. Several ministries worked 
with UNICEF to develop training manuals on child rights and safeguards 
for officials working in child protection networks. In June 2008 the 
Government completed a one-year program to train and assist security 
forces in the protection of children.
    Government statistics in 2008 indicated that 33 percent of girls 
and young women between the ages of 15 and 19 were married. Child 
marriage was especially prevalent in rural areas, where most couples 
were united in traditional local ceremonies outside the legal system. 
The legal age for marriage without parental consent was 18 years for 
both boys and girls.
    Children engaged in prostitution for survival with or without 
third-party involvement. Child prostitution constituted one of the 
primary forms of child labor. A 2007 UNICEF study in the coastal cities 
of Toamasina and Nosy Be found that between 30 and 50 percent of 
females exploited in the commercial sex field were younger than 18 
years old.
    Although child abandonment is against the law, it was a significant 
problem due to acute poverty and lack of family support. There were few 
safe shelters for street children, and government agencies generally 
tried to place abandoned children with parents or other relatives 
first; orphanages and adoption were a last resort. A traditional 
superstition in the southeast against giving birth to twins led some 
parents in the region to abandon one or both of their twin children, 
who sometimes were left to die. However, no changes to the legal 
framework or enforcement policy had been adopted by year's end.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international child abduction, please see the Department of State's 
annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish Community is very small, and there were 
no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical and mental disabilities, broadly defines 
their rights, and provides for a national commission and regional 
subcommissions to promote the rights of persons with disabilities. In 
practice, however, these rights were rarely enforced, and the legal 
framework for promoting accessibility remained perfunctory. A 2005 
study conducted by the NGO Handicap International found that persons 
with disabilities seldom had access to health care, education, 
employment, or accommodation for communication or other basic services, 
and women and girls with disabilities were often victims of physical 
violence. The Association Sembana Mijoro, advocating for rights of 
persons with disabilities, reported that children with disabilities 
represent only 0.5 percent of children attending school. In general, 
access to education for persons with disabilities was limited due to 
lack of adequate infrastructure, specialized institutions, and 
teachers.
    The Ministry of Health is responsible for protecting the rights of 
persons with disabilities. Isolated projects at the community level had 
some success. In 2008 a public market in the city of Majunga gained 
special handicapped access; a health and transportation benefits 
program with identity cards was developed in the city of Fianarantsoa; 
and persons with disabilities had been successfully integrated into 
public schools in some areas where they previously had no access. With 
international funding in 2008, the city of Antsiranana worked to make 
city hall, health centers, and other administrative buildings 
accessible. However, reports continued that schools often rejected 
students with disabilities, claiming their facilities were not 
adequate. Local NGOs also provided evidence that persons with 
disabilities were routinely refused access and verbally abused by 
teachers throughout the education system, from primary school to 
university. In June 2009 a study on the integration of children with 
disabilities in the educational system found that their attendance rate 
was only 0.26 percent in 631 schools surveyed, due to the lack of 
specialized programs, poor understanding of the children's needs, and 
insufficient resources.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--None of the 18 tribes of the 
country constituted a majority. There were also minorities of Indo-
Pakistani, Comoran, and Chinese heritage. Ethnicity, caste, and 
regional solidarity often were factors in hiring and were exploited in 
election campaigns. A long history of military conquest and political 
dominance by highland ethnic groups of Asian origin, particularly the 
Merina, over coastal groups of African ancestry contributed to tension 
between citizens of highland and coastal descent, particularly in the 
political sphere.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law does not prohibit 
discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) 
activity, and there was general societal discrimination against the 
LGBT community.
    Sexual orientation and gender identity were not widely discussed in 
the country, with public attitudes ranging from tacit acceptance to 
outright physical violence, particularly against transvestite sex 
workers. Local NGOs reported that most organizations that worked with 
the LGBT community did so as health service providers, often in the 
context of their work to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS. LGBT sex 
workers were frequently targets of aggression, including verbal abuse, 
stone throwing, and even murder. In recent years there has been an 
increased awareness of ``gay pride'' through positive media exposure, 
but general attitudes have not changed.
    The penal code provides for a prison sentence of two to five years 
and a fine of two to 10 million ariary ($1,000 to $5,000) for acts that 
are ``indecent or against nature with an individual of the same sex 
under the age of 21.'' There are reports of official abuses occurring 
at the community level, such as administrative officials denying health 
services to transvestite men or breaking confidentiality agreements, 
although no cases have ever been pursued in court.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Although the national 
HIV/AIDS rate was low at approximately 1 percent, there was stigma and 
discrimination attached to having HIV/AIDS. In 2007 the Government 
adopted a law protecting HIV/AIDS patients' rights to free and quality 
health care and specifying sanctions against persons who discriminated 
or marginalized persons with the disease. This has reportedly helped 
reduce discrimination, following public testimony and greater awareness 
of issues affecting those living with HIV/AIDS. The law was enforced by 
the Ministries of Health and Justice and the National Committee for the 
Fight Against AIDS in Madagascar.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides that public and 
private sector workers may establish and join labor unions of their 
choice without prior authorization or excessive requirements. However, 
those classified as essential workers, including police, military, and 
firefighters, may not form unions. Ministry of Civil Services and Labor 
statistics from 2007 indicated that 14 percent of workers in EPZ 
companies and 10 percent of all workers were unionized. The Government 
had no reliable statistics on the number of public employees 
participating in unions, but it was generally believed that few public 
employees were union members, despite the existence of several public 
employees' unions.
    The law provides most workers with the right to strike, including 
in EPZs, and workers exercised this right; however, workers must first 
exhaust the conciliation, mediation, and arbitration procedures, which 
may take eight months to two and one-half years. Civil servants and 
maritime workers have their own labor codes. Workers in other essential 
services, such as magistrates, have a recognized but more restricted 
right to strike and are required by law to give prior notice to their 
employer.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for unions to conduct their activities without interference, 
and the Government generally respected this right. The law also 
provides workers in the private sector the right to bargain 
collectively; however, civil servants were not covered under such 
agreements.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination by employers; however, 
the Ministry of Civil Services and Labor 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.
    Since passage of a new EPZ law in 2008, labor laws in the EPZ vary 
somewhat from the country's standard labor code, notably reducing 
worker rights. EPZ labor contracts may now differ in terms of contract 
duration, restrictions on the employment of women during night shifts, 
and the amount of overtime permitted.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The labor code 
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children, but at 
times the Government did not enforce this prohibition. Many children 
and women were forced into domestic servitude, commercial sexual 
exploitation, and sometimes street vending and mining. While prisoners 
and pretrial detainees can no longer be forcibly hired out to 
government officials for private use, government offices can hire them 
out for public use if the prisoners agree to the terms of employment 
and monetary compensation stipulated in the labor code. In addition 
under the Main d'oeuvre penale (MOP) system, prisoners could work 
voluntarily in prison fields or penal camps or private facilities. 
Except for those condemned to forced labor, they were entitled to 
receive a salary. There were also reports that prisoners were sent, at 
their own request and under state supervision, to perform remunerated 
work for private individuals. The MOP system was suspended on August 
26, as part of the security measures called ``Operation Coup de 
Poing,'' part of an effort to lessen increasing nationwide insecurity.
    Forced labor of children occurred almost exclusively in the 
informal sector, which accounts for a large portion of the country's 
economy. Forced labor also occurred in stone quarries, in the mining 
sector, in the farming and fishing industries, and in domestic 
servitude.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There were laws to protect children from exploitation in the workplace 
and prohibit forced or compulsory labor, but the Government did not 
have sufficient resources or personnel to enforce these laws. Child 
labor was a widespread problem.
    The minimum age for employment was 15 years of age, consistent with 
educational requirements. The law allows children to work a maximum of 
eight hours per day and 40 hours per week with no overtime. The law 
prohibits persons under the age of 18 years from working at night and 
at sites where there is an imminent danger to health, safety, or 
morals. Employers must observe a mandatory 12-hour rest period between 
shifts. Occupational health and safety restrictions include parental 
authorization and a medical visit before hiring.
    The International Labor Organization's (ILO) 2007 National Survey 
on Child Labor in Madagascar indicated that approximately 28 percent of 
children between the ages of five and 17 (1.8 million children) were 
working on a full- or part-time basis, with an estimated 438,000 
children involved in dangerous work. Children in rural areas worked 
mostly in agriculture, fishing, and livestock herding, while those in 
urban areas worked in occupations such as domestic labor, transport of 
goods by rickshaw, petty trading, stone quarrying, work in bars, and 
begging. Children also were engaged in salt production, deep sea 
diving, and the shrimp industry. The Ministry of Civil Services and 
Labor estimated that more than 19,000 children were working in the 
mining towns of Ilakaka in the south, mostly in the informal sector, 
helping their families mine for gemstones or working as domestics. Some 
children were trafficked internally for the purposes of forced labor.
    The Ministry of Civil Services and Labor is responsible for 
enforcing child labor laws and policies in the formal sector and 
conducted general workplace inspections during the year in response to 
a range of complaints. During the year the ministry had only 90 
inspectors to carry out its responsibilities, making it difficult to 
monitor and enforce child labor provisions effectively. There is no 
enforcement in the much larger informal sector.
    In 2007 the Government adopted a decree regulating the working 
conditions of children, defining the worst forms of child labor, 
identifying penalties for employers, and establishing the institutional 
framework for its implementation. NGOs reported improved awareness of 
the issue as a result; however, this had not been matched with more 
effective pursuit of labor law violators. In 2009 there was a proposal 
to amend the 2007 decree aimed at categorizing the types of sanctions 
to apply to violators, but the political crisis ended this project. 
During the year the Ministry of Labor organized a child labor workshop 
for labor inspectors in Ansirabe and established an action plan for 
regional child labor inspectors to use mass media and private sector 
monitoring to combat child labor.
    The Government continued to work with the Malagasy Soccer 
Federation (FMF) to conduct awareness campaigns around the country to 
combat child labor as part of the ``red card campaign,'' which 
continued during the year with support from the FMF and the ILO 
International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor.
    NGO-run welcome centers in Antananarivo, Tamatave, and Tulear 
continued to receive victims of trafficking and forced labor.
    For information on child trafficking, see the Department of State's 
annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Ministry of Civil Services 
and Labor was responsible for enforcing the working conditions and 
minimum wages prescribed in the labor code, but it often encountered 
trouble enforcing these laws due to inadequate resources and 
insufficient personnel.
    The monthly minimum wage was 70,025 ariary ($35) for 
nonagricultural workers and 71,000 ariary ($36) for agricultural 
workers. This 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, 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 42.5 hours in the agricultural sector. Legislation 
limited workers to 20 hours of overtime per week, but employees often 
were required to work until production targets were met. In some cases 
this overtime was unrecorded and unpaid.
    The Government sets occupational health and safety standards for 
workers and workplaces. The National Fund for Social Welfare, the 
country's social security agency, conducted inspections and published 
reports on workplace conditions, occupational health hazards, and 
workplace accident trends. The 90 labor inspectors in the Ministry of 
Civil Services and Labor were sufficient to effectively monitor 
conditions for workers only in the capital. Workers, including foreign 
or migrant workers, have an explicit right to leave a dangerous 
workplace without jeopardizing their employment as long as they inform 
their supervisors. However, this right was not always respected in 
practice.

                               __________

                                 MALAWI

    Malawi is a multiparty democracy with a population of approximately 
15 million. In May 2009 Bingu wa Mutharika of the Democratic 
Progressive Party (DPP) was reelected president in what international 
observers characterized as a generally free and fair election. 
Constitutional power is shared between the president and the 193 
national assembly members. Security forces reported to civilian 
authorities.
    The following human rights problems were reported: police use of 
excessive force, which resulted in deaths and injuries; security force 
impunity, although the Government made some efforts to prosecute 
abusers; occasional mob violence; harsh and life-threatening prison 
conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; lengthy pretrial detention; 
limits on freedom of speech and the press; official corruption; 
societal violence against women; trafficking in persons; 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.--The Government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings; however, 
security forces killed three persons during the year. Perpetrators of 
past abuses were occasionally punished, but investigations often were 
abandoned or remained inconclusive.
    On July 27, while conducting a search for another individual, a 
police officer shot and killed Silence Kapalamula at a video store in 
the Majawira Trading Centre. Police claimed the shooting was in self-
defense. By year's end, no action had been taken against the officer.
    On September 20, police officer Godfrey Salamba struck and killed a 
woman and her child with his vehicle in the village of Balaka. Several 
eyewitnesses stated that the officer was speeding. By year's end, no 
action had been taken against Salamba.
    On December 23, Detective Sergeant Pierson Msiska was convicted of 
murder and sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment with hard labor for the 
August 2009 beating death of Stumai Mwalwanda in Karonga.
    Mobs sometimes beat, stoned, or burned suspected criminals to 
death.
    On September 27, a mob in the Ndirande suburb of Blantyre beat 
Ulemu Sesani and Moses Kachala to death when they were caught breaking 
into a private home. No arrests were made, and the investigation 
continued at year's end.
    No arrests had been made in the February 2009 case in which 
villagers in the Nkhata Bay District beat to death village headman 
Pegson M'nkhwakwata Chirwa and then burned his body.
    There were no new developments in the February 2009 killing of 
Laston Seunda by a mob in Tholo.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
police used excessive force and other unlawful techniques, including 
sexual abuse, during the year. While senior officials publicly 
condemned prisoner mistreatment, their subordinates continued to employ 
unacceptable techniques. The Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) and 
local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) criticized police for human 
rights violations several times throughout the year.
    On March 17, police allegedly beat Harry Mwandama of Limbe, who 
suffered a broken leg as a result. Mwandama was accused of illegal 
peddling. A police spokeswoman denied any knowledge of the beating.
    On May 4, three police officers reportedly beat Mercy Lozani until 
she was unconscious after Lozani refused to reveal the whereabouts of a 
fugitive. The three officers allegedly then sexually molested Lozani's 
teenage daughter (see section 1.f.). The case was under investigation 
at year's end.
    There were no developments in the July 2009 case in which police 
fired into an unarmed crowd in Blantyre, injuring two persons.
    Chrispin Ulemu Kam'mayani, a lawyer for the MHRC that a police 
officer beat and arrested in August 2009, declined to press charges. It 
was unclear why Kam'mayani dropped the case.
    During the year the Limbe Magistrate Court found that Nthethiwa 
Salamba, Charles Sadick, and Alexander Sadick should be charged with 
assaulting a police officer; the three claimed they were beaten by 
police after being arrested in September 2009. The police prosecutor's 
investigation determined no charges needed to be filed against the 
police officers involved. The case remained pending at year's end.
    During the year police officers from the Kabula police station in 
Blantyre were cleared of the alleged 2008 beating of Aubrey Kasten.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions remained 
harsh and potentially life threatening. Overcrowding, inadequate 
nutrition, substandard sanitation, poor health facilities, and 
inadequate infrastructure remained serious problems. Prisons and 
detention centers, while generally well ventilated, had no provisions 
for temperature control other than wood fires. Basic emergency medical 
care was generally available during daytime, but unavailable after 
regular working hours. Referrals were made to district medical clinics 
for more involved cases. Potable water was available.
    The prison system's 30 facilities, built to accommodate 
approximately 5,500 inmates, routinely held at least double that 
number. According to Chief Prison Commissioner MacDonald Chaona, there 
were 11,672 inmates in the prison system at year's end. Prison staffing 
remained inadequate despite efforts to recruit more staff. Daily prison 
rations were meager. Family members were allowed to bring other food 
items and inmates were encouraged to grow vegetables and raise 
livestock; however, malnutrition in the prison population remained a 
problem.
    While the exact number was not known, numerous inmates died in 
prison each month, largely due to HIV/AIDS, diarrhea, pneumonia, 
tuberculosis, and inadequate diet.
    The 156 female prisoners were segregated within 16 prison compounds 
and monitored by female guards. Pretrial detainees often were not held 
separately from convicted prisoners.
    At year's end, according to the Malawi Prison Service, there were 
490 children in prison, either serving sentence or awaiting trial.
    Prisoners were allowed to have visitors, to observe their 
individual religions, and to submit complaints to prison authorities.
    Community service programs were available as alternatives to prison 
terms for first-time offenders with permanent addresses who were 
convicted of less serious crimes.
    During the year the Government permitted domestic and international 
NGOs, such as Amnesty International, and the media to visit and monitor 
prison conditions and to donate basic supplies. The International 
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) did not visit any prisons during the 
year.
    During the year the Government doubled the budget allocation for 
the Malawi Prison Service from 558.7 million Malawi kwacha (MWK) to 1.2 
billion MWK ($3.7 million to $7.9 million). However, the bulk of the 
increase is slated for the construction of a new prison in Lilongwe, 
rather than improving current conditions.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, the Government did 
not always observe these prohibitions in practice.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Malawi Police 
Service (MPS), controlled by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and 
Public Security, has responsibility for law enforcement and maintenance 
of order. Police occasionally called on the army for support to help 
operate roadblocks and to assist in manhunts.
    The police force was inefficient, poorly trained, and corrupt (see 
section 4). Impunity was a problem. Inadequate resources and a lack of 
qualified candidates from which to recruit hampered efforts to improve 
MPS quality. The police service maintained a disciplinary committee 
chaired by the inspector general of police to investigate abuses; 
however, resources were limited, and it met only sporadically. Officers 
were disciplined, but punishments often consisted of reassignment to 
another post or dismissal rather than more stringent sanctions.
    Police continued efforts to improve their investigative skills, 
including training in internal investigations, victims' rights, sexual 
abuse, domestic violence, and trafficking in persons. Police continued 
to receive foreign assistance for training officials and procuring 
equipment.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
provides the accused the right 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 within 48 hours; however, these rights were often 
ignored in practice. Most suspects were apprehended without a warrant 
if police had probable cause. While arrest warrants were normally 
issued by a duly authorized official based on presented evidence in 
cases involving corruption or white-collar crime, poorer citizens were 
often arrested without warrants. The use of temporary remand warrants 
to circumvent the 48-hour rule was widespread. Police frequently 
demanded bribes to authorize police bail, which was frequently granted 
to reduce prison overcrowding rather than on the merits of the case 
(see section 4). The Government provided legal services to indigent 
detainees; however, access was often delayed, since there were only 15 
lawyers and seven paralegals working as public defenders in the 
country. Relatives were regularly denied access to detainees.
    The Government arbitrarily arrested persons, sometimes using 
colonial-era antisedition and treason laws to stifle criticism.
    For example, on August 20, police arrested Levi Nyondo, general 
secretary of the Livingstonia Synod of the Church of Central Africa, on 
charges of sedition. The arrest came after Nyondo made statements 
critical of the Government at a funeral. Nyondo was released on bail, 
and the case was pending at year's end.
    During the year the MHRC received six complaints of arbitrary 
detention related to overstay of remand, denial of bail, and unheard 
appeals.
    The November 2009 convictions of United Democratic Front (UDF) 
Deputy Secretary General Hophmally Makande for ``proposing violence,'' 
and Malawi Democratic Party President Kamlepo Kalua for ``uttering 
seditious words,'' were overturned on appeal on February 19.
    There were no further developments in the 2008 treason cases 
against former president Bakili Muluzi and nine other persons, most of 
whom had close ties to the UDF.
    A total of 1,267 persons, or 11 percent of the total prison 
population of 11,672, were in pretrial detention. Most pretrial 
homicide suspects were held in pretrial detention for two to three 
years, but there is evidence that many detainees remained in prison 
awaiting trial for much longer periods. Reliable data on the exact 
number and situation of these long-term pretrial detainees was 
unavailable.
    The Center for Legal Assistance, an NGO that assists prisoners with 
legal matters, continued to provide free legal assistance to expedite 
the trials of detainees, with priority given to the sick, the young, 
and those subjected to long trial delays.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected 
judicial independence in practice. However, the judicial system was 
inefficient and handicapped by serious weaknesses, including poor 
record keeping, a shortage of attorneys and other trained personnel, 
heavy caseloads, and lack of resources.
    The Malawi Defense Force (MDF) has courts martial but no military 
or security tribunals. Military personnel accused and tried by courts 
martial are afforded the same rights as persons accused in civil 
criminal courts. MDF courts martial can try civilians in cases 
concerning military operations; however, this has not occurred.

    Trial Procedures.--Defendants are presumed innocent and have the 
right to a public trial but not to a trial by jury. The Ministry of 
Justice continued its indefinite suspension of jury trials in murder 
cases, since murder suspects sometimes were incarcerated for years 
awaiting trial by jury. Juries were used in other types of cases. 
Defendants have the right to be present at their trial, are entitled to 
an attorney, and, if indigent, to have an attorney provided at state 
expense. Defendants have the right to present and challenge evidence 
and witnesses and have access to government-held evidence relevant to 
their cases. The law extends the above rights to all persons. All 
persons have the right of appeal; however, in practice appeals were 
often delayed for years and sometimes never addressed by the higher 
court.
    The judiciary's budgetary and administrative problems effectively 
denied expeditious trials for most defendants. The Department of Public 
Prosecutions had 27 prosecuting attorneys and 10 paralegals, who served 
as lay prosecutors for minor cases in magistrate courts. Recruitment 
and retention of government attorneys remained a problem.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters, and citizens have access to a 
court to bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, human 
rights violations. The law provides for administrative and judicial 
remedies for alleged wrongs; however, a lack of resources and legal 
professionals restricted the number of cases pursued and resulted in a 
large backlog. During the year the MHRC received 83 complaints of 
limited access to justice and 20 complaints of unfair administrative 
procedures.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions, but 
the Government did not always respect these prohibitions in practice.
    In 2009 parliament passed a law legalizing warrantless searches. 
The MHRC reported that police regularly entered homes of poorer 
citizens using special police search orders, which were issued by a 
supervisory police officer rather than by a court.
    The Government detained the family members of persons suspected of 
criminal activity. For example, police regularly used ``bait arrests'' 
of relatives when a suspect could not be found to draw the wanted 
individual from hiding. Police also sexually molested the teenage 
daughter of a detainee during the year (see section 1.c.).
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, at times the Government attempted to 
limit these rights. Journalists sometimes practiced self-censorship, 
especially at government-owned media outlets such as the Malawi 
Broadcast Corporation and Television Malawi (TVM).
    The Government sometimes threatened the use of colonial-era 
antisedition and treason laws to stifle criticism.
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views; however, the Government imposed some restrictions, such as the 
use of onerous licensing and registration provisions. A broad spectrum 
of political opinion was available in the country's newspapers. There 
were 10 independent newspapers, including two dailies, one triweekly, 
and four weeklies.
    There were 16 private radio stations that broadcast only in urban 
areas. State-owned TVM was the sole television broadcaster.
    Journalists were harassed, intimidated, and threatened with arrest 
during the year. On August 26, while making a speech in Blantyre, 
President Mutharika threatened to arrest journalists and to close 
newspapers that ``print lies.'' The president was reacting to print 
reports of food insecurity in the southern region of the country.
    There were no developments in the February 2009 ``conduct likely to 
cause a breach of the peace'' case against Mzimba Community Radio 
Station Manager Sam Lwara.
    The May 2009 case against Gilbert Tembo for the possession of 
seditious materials was dropped for lack of evidence.
    The July 2009 case against Gabriel Kamlomo remained pending at 
year's end.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
Lack of infrastructure and the high cost of Internet connections 
continued to limit Internet access. According to International 
Telecommunications Union statistics for 2008, approximately 2 percent 
of the country's inhabitants used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events; however, the 
Government sporadically censored films that were deemed to contain 
culturally sensitive or sexually explicit material.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly, 
and the Government generally respected this right in practice.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of association, and the Government generally respected this 
right. The Government required all organizations, including political 
parties, to register with the Ministry of Justice. Registrations for 
new political parties were routinely delayed.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the Department of State's 2010 International Religious 
Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and laws provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice.
    The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, and 
other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees.
    The Government generally provided protection against the expulsion 
or return of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would 
be threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, 
membership in a particular group, or political opinion. However, in 
2009 the Government deported a recognized refugee from the Democratic 
Republic of the Congo and an Ethiopian national with a pending asylum 
application. UNHCR was unable to verify if the two individuals were 
under threat in their respective countries of origin. No such 
deportations occurred during the year.
    By law the Government does not accept refugees for permanent 
settlement. The Government cooperated with UNHCR in assisting refugees 
and asylum seekers but restricted refugees' ability to move freely and 
work outside of refugee camps.
    The Government also provided temporary protection to individuals 
who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention relating to 
the Status of Refugees or the 1967 Protocol; however, no reliable 
statistics were available.
    While no legal framework existed, the Government allowed refugees 
to seek both employment and educational opportunities, although it 
restricted these activities outside the refugee camps. Refugees with 
professional degrees, especially those with medical training, were 
given work permits to pursue employment outside the camps. UNHCR, NGOs, 
and the Government collaborated to provide basic assistance, including 
education to children, in refugee camps.
    Security forces sometimes intimidated refugees and asylum seekers. 
Police routinely performed detained refugees found illegally outside of 
camps and returned them to camps. Local citizens often accused refugees 
of theft and demanded their deportation.
    There were no developments or arrests in the July 2009 case of a 
mob that reportedly killed an Ethiopian refugee accused of stealing 
maize.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens with the right to change 
their government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in 
practice periodically through largely free and fair elections based on 
universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In May 2009 Bingu wa 
Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was reelected 
president in what international observers characterized as a generally 
free and fair election, although there were shortcomings. Observers 
criticized the inequitable access to the state-owned media granted to 
opposition parties and candidates. Opposition parties accused the 
Government of using public funds for campaign purposes.
    The executive branch exerted considerable influence over the 
unicameral national assembly, which followed a hybrid parliamentary 
system loosely based on both the British model and a presidential-
parliamentary model; all cabinet ministers were also members of the 
national assembly but are not required to be.
    Although the Government did not prevent the activities of 
opposition political parties, the parties alleged that the Government 
encouraged opposition party divisions. Sporadic, minor violence 
occurred between supporters of rival political parties.
    The Government delayed the registration of new political parties, 
which limited their ability to operate legally. Political parties were 
forced to resort to the courts for judicial relief. For example, the 
Peoples Development Movement applied for registration in May, but its 
application was rejected. The party was finally registered November 2, 
but only after a High Court ruling compelled the Government to accept 
the application. The Government appealed the decision, and the case 
remained in the court at year's end. While parties were generally 
allowed to operate without restriction or outside interference, there 
were instances of intimidation by the ruling DPP members.
    There were 43 women in the 193-seat national assembly and 10 women 
in the 42-member cabinet, including the country's first female vice 
president. Women constituted approximately 25 percent of the civil 
service. There were three female justices among the 27 Supreme and High 
Court justices.
    There were six members of minorities in the national assembly.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government had some success prosecuting cases; however, officials 
frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. The World Bank's 
2009 Worldwide Governance Indicators reflected that corruption was a 
serious problem. President Mutharika spoke publicly against corruption 
and cautioned government officials to refrain from questionable 
activities. Efforts to combat corruption and promote transparency 
continued.
    Police corruption continued to be a problem. On February 10, police 
subinspector Charles Ngoleka, officer-in-charge of the Mkanda Police 
Unit in Mchinji, was arrested for allegedly soliciting and receiving a 
bribe to release an individual on police bail. The case was pending at 
year's end.
    Casper Chalera, the head of the Malawi Police Service Fiscal and 
Fraud Section, who was charged for failing to account for 589,436 MWK 
($4,040) in September 2009, was acquitted by the Blantyre Magistrate 
Court on March 31.
    The Malawi Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) investigated, indicted, and 
prosecuted low-level corruption cases during the year; however, critics 
charged that the bureau generally avoided indictments of high-level 
government officials. The ACB was considered generally competent in its 
handling of low-level cases. Indictments of former high-level 
government officials proceeded slowly, often due to legal challenges 
filed in court by the accused. Surveys indicated that while a majority 
of citizens had been exposed to government anticorruption messages, 
only 15 percent knew how to report corruption to the ACB. The ACB 
reported that it completed 634 investigations during the year, which 
resulted in 152 referrals to prosecutors. A total of 25 corruption 
cases were prosecuted during the year, resulting in 10 convictions, 12 
acquittals, and three withdrawals.
    The ACB's appeal of the 2008 magistrate court acquittal of Kandi 
Padambo, former head of the Electricity Supply Commission, was pending 
at year's end.
    There were no further developments in the 2008 case of Information 
Minister Patricia Kaliati, who was accused of accepting vehicles from a 
foreign company in return for a concession at a national park.
    A final verdict in the 2007 corruption case against former 
president Muluzi was pending at year's end.
    The law provides for public access to government information, and 
the Government granted access to citizens and noncitizens, including 
foreign media.
Section 5. 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, training civic 
educators, advocating changes to existing laws and cultural practices, 
and investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases. 
Government officials often were cooperative and responsive to their 
views.
    The MHRC, an independent government agency, is charged with 
monitoring, auditing, promoting, and investigating violations of human 
rights. Continued resource shortfalls resulted in a backlog of cases, 
delayed production of reports, and hindered human rights monitoring. 
The MHRC reported that it received 460 complaints of human rights 
violations during the year.
    UN agencies and international NGOs had offices in the country and 
had access to investigate human rights abuses. The ICRC delegation for 
southern Africa based in Harare, Zimbabwe, also covered the country.
    The Office of the Ombudsman is mandated to investigate and take 
legal action against government officials responsible for human rights 
violations and other abuses. Between August 2009 and October 2010, when 
the ombudsman position was unoccupied, the office continued 
investigations of existing cases, but no new investigations were 
authorized. The office continued to lack adequate resources and had 
difficulty retaining staff. As a result, the office had only six staff 
members to handle the investigations process for the country. Some 
recommendations from the ombudsman were referred to parliament after 
they were ignored or challenged by government departments and agencies.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law specifically provides for equal rights for women, forbids 
discrimination based on language or culture, race, disability, or 
social status, and provides for equality and recognition before the law 
for every citizen. However, the capacity of government institutions to 
ensure equal rights for all citizens was limited.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape with a maximum penalty of life 
imprisonment. Spousal rape is not explicitly mentioned but could be 
prosecuted under the same rape laws. The Government generally enforced 
the law effectively, and convicted rapists routinely received prison 
sentences. Data on the prevalence of rape or spousal rape and 
conviction figures were unavailable; however, press reports of rape 
arrests and convictions were an almost daily occurrence. The judiciary 
continued to impose penalties on persons convicted of rape. Although 
the maximum penalty for rape is death, the courts generally imposed the 
maximum assault penalty of 14 years in prison for child rape and 
assault.
    The 2009 case against law professor Kandako Mhone for allegedly 
raping a minor repeatedly since 2006 was pending at year's end.
    Domestic violence, especially wife beating, was common, although 
women seldom discussed the problem openly, and victims rarely sought 
legal recourse. Legal experts and human rights workers attributed 
victims' reluctance to report their abusers to economic dependence on 
the abuser, lack of awareness of their legal rights, and fear of 
retribution and ostracism. The law provides a maximum penalty of life 
imprisonment for domestic violence. The law also recognizes that both 
men and women can be perpetrators as well as victims of domestic 
violence. Police regularly investigated cases of rape and sexual 
assault but did not normally intervene in domestic disputes. Police 
support units provided shelter to some abuse survivors and dealt with 
human rights and gender-based violence, but officers' capacity to 
assist and document cases was limited.
    Sexual harassment is not specifically prohibited by law, but it can 
be prosecuted under existing sections of the penal code, such as 
indecent assault on a woman or girl, which carries up to a 14-year 
prison sentence, or insulting the modesty of a woman, which is a 
misdemeanor punishable by one year in jail. There was no available data 
on the extent of sexual harassment or effectiveness of government 
enforcement.
    The Government recognized the right of couples and individuals to 
decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their 
children. Health clinics and local NGOs were permitted to operate 
freely in disseminating information on family planning under the 
guidance of the Ministry of Health. There were no restrictions on the 
right to use contraceptives, but relatively few citizens had access to 
them. The Government provided free childbirth services, but these 
services were unevenly distributed due to limited access to hospitals 
and other medical facilities in rural areas. Contraceptive use among 
married women between the ages 15 and 49 years old was approximately 38 
percent, according to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). Due to a shortage 
of doctors, nurses and midwives were a critical component of prenatal 
and postnatal care. According to the Population Reference Bureau, 
approximately 56 percent of births were attended by skilled personnel. 
The UNFPA estimated the maternal mortality ratio to be 510 deaths per 
100,000 live births in 2008. Men and women were entitled to equal 
access to diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, 
including HIV.
    Under the law, women have the right to full and equal protection 
and may not be discriminated against on the basis of gender or marital 
status, including in the workplace; however, 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.
    Women often had less access to legal and financial assistance, and 
widows often were victims of discriminatory and illegal inheritance 
practices in which most of an 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 protest abuse and 
discrimination. Households headed by women were represented 
disproportionately in the lowest quarter of income distribution. A 
total of 52 percent of full-time farmers were women; however, they 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 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 maternity leave; however, only individuals who could use 
the formal legal system benefited from these legal protections. In a 
few isolated areas, widows were sometimes forced to have sex with in-
laws as part of a culturally mandated ``sexual cleansing'' ritual 
following the death of the husband. In some cases, widows were 
``inherited'' by a brother-in-law or other male relative. Although 
there are no laws specifically prohibiting these practices, the 
Government and civil society continued efforts to abolish them by 
raising awareness concerning the inherent dangers of such behavior, 
including the risk of HIV/AIDS transmission.
    The Government addressed women's concerns through the Ministry of 
Gender, Child Development, and Community Development. The Organization 
for Economic Cooperation and Development's Gender, Institutions, and 
Development data reflected the elevated discrimination in social 
institutions and the high inequality to which women were subjected on a 
daily basis.

    Children.--Citizenship can be derived at birth within the country 
or from one's parents. In 2007 the Government launched the pilot phase 
of the national registration and identification system, the first step 
in the creation of a national identification system to provide for 
mandatory registration of births; however, the system had not been 
fully implemented by year's end. There were no reports of 
discrimination or denial of services due to lack of birth registration.
    The Government provided free primary education for all children, 
although education was not compulsory. However, families were 
responsible for paying book fees and purchasing uniforms. Students from 
poor families had access to a public book fund. Girls, especially in 
rural areas, were unable to complete even a primary education due to 
poverty, lack of schools, and cultural factors, and were at a serious 
disadvantage in finding employment.
    Child abuse remained a serious problem. The press regularly 
reported cases of sexual abuse of children, including arrests for rape, 
incest, sodomy, and defilement. A 2008 study by the safe schools 
program in Machinga found that 90 percent of girls and 47 percent of 
boys in primary schools experienced some form of violence, including 
sexual touching by other students, sexual abuse by teachers, corporal 
punishment, and verbal and psychological abuse.
    During the year parliament passed the Child Care, Protection, and 
Justice Act, which prohibits subjecting a child to any social or 
customary practice that is harmful to the health or general development 
of a child. Targeted practices included child trafficking, forced 
labor, forced marriage or betrothal, and use of children as security 
for debts or loans.
    Despite the new law, many abusive practices, including the secret 
initiation of girls into their future adult roles, continued. In a few 
traditional communities, girls averaging 12 years of age were forced to 
have sexual relations with older men as part of such initiation rites. 
``Kupimbira,'' a practice that allows a poor family to receive a loan 
or livestock in exchange for daughters of any age, existed in some 
areas. The MHRC expressed concern over reports of parents forcing their 
daughters into marriages for food.
    The new law does not specifically prohibit female genital 
mutilation (FGM), and it was practiced by a few small ethnic groups. In 
most cases, FGM was performed on girls between 10 and 15 years of age.
    The widespread belief that children were unlikely to be HIV 
positive and that sexual intercourse with virgins can cleanse an 
individual of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, 
contributed to the sexual exploitation of minors.
    The Ministry of Gender, Child Development, and Community 
Development undertook activities to enhance protection and support of 
child victims. The ministry trained and paid small stipends to more 
than 800 community child protection personnel, who worked nationally to 
identify victims of child abuse, underage labor, and trafficking, and 
referred cases to district social welfare offices or the police.
    The trafficking of children for sexual purposes was a problem, and 
child prostitution for survival without third-party involvement also 
occurred. The new Child Care, Protection, and Justice Act stipulates 
punishment up to and including life imprisonment for child traffickers.
    The penal code outlaws carnal knowledge of females under the age of 
16 years old and stipulates penalties up to and including the penalty 
of death for offenders.
    A few charitable organizations attempted to reduce the number of 
child beggars in urban areas; however, the problem of street children 
remained serious, as the number of orphans whose parents died from HIV/
AIDS increased. Extended family members normally cared for such 
children and other orphans.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international child abduction, please see the Department of State's 
annual report on compliance at http://www.travel.state.gov/abduction/
resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community was very small, and there were 
no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The Employment Act prohibits 
discrimination in employment; however, there is no comprehensive law 
governing discrimination against persons with disabilities. The law 
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, extremely limited 
resources prevented the Government from protecting these rights in 
practice. 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 had 
not mandated accessibility to buildings and services for persons with 
disabilities.
    The Ministry of Persons with Disabilities and the Elderly is 
responsible for protecting the rights of 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 Malawi Rural Development Fund provided loans to 
persons with disabilities to support these activities.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Homosexual activity is illegal 
and is punishable by up to 14 years in prison in addition to corporal 
punishment.
    On May 20, Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steve Monjeza were found guilty 
of ``carnal knowledge against the order of nature'' and ``gross 
indecency'' and were sentenced to the maximum penalty of 14 years in 
prison with hard labor. On May 29, President Mutharika unconditionally 
pardoned them. Mutharika stated that he granted the pardon for 
humanitarian reasons only and stressed that homosexuality was still a 
crime in the country.
    Societal violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation 
occurred. The Center for Development of the People (CEDEP) reported 
that several cases of violence resulting in serious injury were 
perpetrated against gay men during the year. These attacks were not 
reported to police.
    A 2008 study by CEDEP found that approximately 34 percent of gay 
men in the country had been blackmailed or denied services such as 
housing or healthcare due to their sexual orientation. Additionally, 8 
percent of those surveyed said they had been beaten by police or other 
security forces due to their sexual orientation.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Societal discrimination 
against persons living with HIV/AIDS remained an issue. Many 
individuals preferred to keep silent about their health rather than 
seek help and risk being ostracized, but campaigns by the Government 
and NGOs to combat the stigma had some success. The national AIDS 
commission maintained that discrimination was a problem in both the 
public and private sectors.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers, except for 
army personnel and police, to form and join trade unions of their 
choice without previous authorization or excessive requirements, 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 resistance on the part of 
many employees to joining unions due to fear of reprisals. Union 
leaders estimated that 12 percent of the formal sector workforce 
belonged to unions. There is no reliable data on employment in the 
formal or informal sector. It is estimated that there are 1.1 million 
persons actively working in the formal sector. An estimated 650,000 are 
employed in the civil service. In 2008 the Malawi Congress of Trade 
Unions (MCTU) calculated that approximately 18 percent of workers in 
the formal sector were union members. Employers, labor unions, and the 
Government lacked sufficient knowledge of their legitimate roles in 
labor relations and disputes, which limited their effectiveness in 
implementation and enforcement of the law. The law provides for unions 
to conduct their activities without government interference; however, 
in reality the law does not apply to the vast majority of workers in 
the informal sectors.
    Unions must register with the Registrar of Trade Unions and 
Employers' Organizations in the Ministry of Labor, and registration was 
granted routinely.
    The law allows members of a registered union to strike or go 
through a formal mediation process overseen by the Ministry of Labor, 
and workers exercised this right. A strike can take place only after 
all complex and time-consuming settlement procedures established in a 
collective agreement and conciliation efforts have failed. Ambiguities 
in the law regarding what services are considered to be ``essential'' 
could lead to unions having difficulties striking legally. There were, 
however, no instances of strikes being declared illegal during the 
year. Laws do not specifically prohibit retaliation against strikers. 
There is no prohibition on actions against unions that are not 
registered. Members of a registered union in ``essential services'' 
have a limited right to strike. Essential services are defined 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). While there is a definition of 
``essential services,'' there is no defined list.
    Arbitration rulings were legally enforceable; however, in practice, 
due to lack of funding and a heavy case backlog, the IRC could not 
monitor cases or adequately enforce the laws.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Workers in the 
formal sector have the right to organize and bargain collectively, and 
the Government protected this right. Informal sector workers organized 
in the Malawi Union for the Informal Sector (MUFIS), which is 
affiliated with the MCTU, were unable to obtain the same standard of 
protection as formal sector workers. This inequity is the result of an 
administrative Ministry of Labor decision that the MUFIS does not have 
sufficient standing to bargain collectively. The law requires that at 
least 20 percent of employees (excluding senior managerial staff) 
belong to a union before it 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. The law was not effectively implemented due 
to lack of human and financial resources.
    The International Trade Union Confederation reported that ``many 
workers are afraid to join unions because of prevalent antiunion 
discrimination by employers.'' There were informal reports of employers 
denying union access to their premises and resisting bargaining with 
unions. There was also anecdotal evidence that union organizers were 
dismissed or had their rights violated, which deterred unionization.
    A total of 10 firms held licenses to operate under export 
processing zone (EPZ) status, and all 10 were operational. There are no 
special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in export processing 
zones; however, many companies in the EPZs resisted union activity, and 
union organizers stated they had little access to workers in the EPZs.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Government 
prohibits forced or compulsory labor. Parliament passed a Child Care, 
Protection, and Justice Bill that specifically outlawed forced child 
labor. However, there were reports that such practices occurred, 
particularly in tobacco farms. Forced labor is punishable by a maximum 
fine of 10,000 MWK ($66) or two years' imprisonment. In practice 
punishments were almost always limited to fines, and the modest fines 
imposed were not effective in discouraging labor violations.
    Although the Ministry of Labor reported no cases of forced labor, 
forced and bonded labor involving entire families occurred under the 
tenancy system. Tobacco plantation tenants had 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 amount of money 
received from tobacco sales, systematically leading to a situation of 
debt bondage to repay the inputs and other costs.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law sets the minimum age for employment at 14 years of age, and 
children between the ages of 14 to 18 years old may not work in jobs 
that are considered hazardous or that interfere with their education; 
nevertheless, child labor remained a serious and widespread problem.
    A June 2008 report from the Ministry of Labor stated that more than 
1.4 million children, or one of every three children, were engaged in 
child labor. A study in Thyolo found 41 percent of children under the 
age of 15 engaged in at least part-time work. Seventy-eight percent of 
children between the ages of 10 and 14 years old living on tenant farms 
worked at least part-time with their parents on the farm.
    Child labor was common on tobacco farms, subsistence farms, and in 
domestic service. Many boys worked as vendors, and young girls in urban 
areas often worked outside of their families as domestic servants, 
receiving low or no wages. Child trafficking for agricultural work took 
place both internally and across borders with Zambia and Mozambique; 
there was also trafficking to Tanzania to work in the small-scale 
fishing communities.
    An August 2009 report issued by Plan International stated that 
children working in the tobacco industry were being exposed to high 
levels of nicotine poisoning, equivalent to smoking 50 cigarettes a 
day. The Government disputed the report, arguing that Plan 
International's claim that 78,000 children worked in the tobacco 
industry was greatly inflated. Debate continued over the true extent of 
the problem.
    Regarding the 2008 case against Lilongwe restaurant owner Mohamed 
Abed Ali and his employee Petro Kandindi for hiring four boys to clean 
a septic tank, Ali and Kandindi were convicted and ordered to pay fines 
and restitution to the victims.
    Police and Ministry of Labor officials were responsible for 
enforcing child labor laws and policies; however, labor inspectors do 
not have law enforcement capabilities and must cooperate with the 
police to pursue violators. The law specifies a maximum fine of 20,000 
MWK ($132) or five years' imprisonment for violations.
    The Labor Ministry continued to conduct child labor law enforcement 
courses for district labor officers, district social welfare officers, 
police, and district magistrate court officers. During the year the 
ministry continued inspections, particularly on agricultural estates. 
There were 29 district labor officers and an estimated 160 labor 
inspectors at year's end. Approximately 1,400 inspections were carried 
out during the year.
    The Labor Ministry's youth committees in rural areas continued to 
monitor and report on child labor. Despite these efforts, enforcement 
by police and ministry inspectors of child labor laws was hindered by 
lack of funding.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Ministry of Labor 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, poor functioning 
of the TWAB resulted in delayed and inadequate wage rate revisions. The 
urban minimum was 142 MWK ($0.94) per day; in all other areas, it was 
105 MWK ($0.70) per day. Minimum wage rates did not provide a decent 
standard of living for a worker and family. Official minimum wages 
apply only to the formal sector. Wage earners often supplemented their 
incomes through farming activities. The Ministry of Labor lacked the 
resources to enforce the minimum wage effectively. However, the minimum 
wage was irrelevant for most citizens, who earned their livelihood 
outside the formal wage sector. There was no exception for foreign or 
migrant workers.
    The maximum legal workweek is 48 hours, with a mandatory weekly 24-
hour rest period. The law requires payment for overtime work and 
prohibits compulsory overtime. In practice these standards were not 
effectively enforced, and employers frequently violated statutory time 
restrictions.
    The law includes extensive occupational health and safety 
standards; however, ministry enforcement of these standards was poor.
    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.
    The law protects foreign workers in correct legal status. Illegal 
foreign workers were subject to deportation.

                               __________

                                  MALI

    Mali, with a population of approximately 14.5 million, is a 
constitutional democracy. International and domestic observers 
characterized the 2007 presidential election, which resulted in the 
reelection of President Amadou Toumani Toure, and the 2007 legislative 
elections as generally free and fair; however, there were some 
administrative irregularities. Northern Mali experienced periodic 
violence involving banditry, drug trafficking, ethnic violence, and the 
terrorist organization al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Security 
forces reported to civilian authorities, although there were instances 
in which elements of the security forces acted independently of 
civilian control.
    Principal human rights problems included arbitrary or unlawful 
deprivation of life, police abuse of civilians, poor prison conditions, 
arbitrary detention, lengthy pretrial detention, prolonged trial 
delays, executive influence over the judiciary, lack of enforcement of 
court orders, restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly, official 
corruption and impunity, domestic violence and discrimination against 
women, female genital mutilation (FGM), trafficking in persons, 
societal discrimination against black Tamasheqs, discrimination based 
on sexual orientation, societal discrimination against persons with 
HIV/AIDS, slavery-like practices and hereditary servitude relationships 
between ethnic groups, 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.--The Government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings; however, 
on February 22, police officers shot and killed Mamadou Coulibaly, a 
minibus driver in Bamako who attempted to flee a police check. In 
reaction to the incident, minibus drivers rioted, formed roadblocks, 
burned tires, threatened police officers, and pillaged the police 
station in the Bamako suburb of Senou. The Government did not pursue 
disciplinary action against the police officers involved, who alleged 
the first shots had been fired from the minibus.
    There were no developments in the July 2009 case of minibus driver 
Sountou Koumba Sissoko, shot and killed by National Guardsman Lassine 
Goita allegedly for failing to stop at a checkpoint near the town of 
Kita. At year's end Goita remained in prison awaiting trial. Of the 45 
persons arrested for their roles in the subsequent rioting, 25 remained 
in prison awaiting trial at year's end.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.
    The terrorist organization AQIM held persons hostage during the 
year (see section 1.g.).

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
there were occasional reports that police abused civilians, including 
using excessive force to disperse a demonstration.
    On August 7, a group of up to 20 gendarmes arbitrarily rounded up 
and physically assaulted residents in a neighborhood of Timbuktu. 
Allegedly angered by an attack on one of their colleagues by a 
neighborhood youth, the gendarmes brought residents to a local school, 
doused them with gasoline, and threatened to set them ablaze if the 
implicated youth was not turned over. Civil authorities intervened to 
restore calm, but by year's end, no disciplinary action had been 
pursued against the gendarmes.
    An August 24 report stated police in Timbuktu had beaten with 
batons a youth who refused to heed a police order to stop his 
motorbike. When news of the incident spread, a large youth group 
marched on police headquarters and pelted it with rocks. Although civil 
authorities intervened to restore calm, no charges were brought against 
the police, who alleged the victim had been injured in a motorbike 
accident.
    On November 12, police belonging to the Mobile Security Group (GMS) 
allegedly used excessive force to disperse young demonstrators who had 
gathered before the Court of Appeals in Bamako to protest the detention 
of Mossa Ag Acharatmane and Aboubacrine Ag Fadil. The two detainees 
were arrested on October 31 in connection with an allegedly treasonous 
text they had written for the founding congress of a Tuareg 
association, the National Movement for the Azawad. According to press 
reports, the GMS police used batons to disperse the demonstrators, 
injuring eight and arresting three, including a journalist.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Overall prison conditions 
remained poor. Prisons continued to be overcrowded. For example, as of 
September 28, the central prison in Bamako housed 1,794 prisoners in a 
facility designed to hold 400. The Sikasso Prison held close to 200 
prisoners in a facility built for 50. In addition food was 
insufficient, and medical facilities and sanitation were inadequate, 
posing serious threats to health.
    In Bamako men and women were placed in separate prisons, although 
both male and female juvenile offenders were held in the women's 
prison. Outside the capital, men, women, and juveniles were held in 
separate cells within the same prison. Arrested individuals may be held 
for up to 72 hours in police stations, where there are no separate 
holding areas for men and women. Pretrial detainees were held with 
convicted prisoners. Detainees had reasonable access to visitors and 
were permitted religious observance. Authorities permitted prisoners 
and detainees to submit complaints by themselves or through ombudsmen 
to judicial authorities without censorship and to request 
investigations of credible allegations of inhumane conditions, although 
it was not known if any prisoner had done so. The Government's National 
Penitentiary Administration investigated and monitored prison and 
detention center conditions.
    The Government permitted prison visits by human rights monitors, 
and various human rights organizations conducted visits during the 
year. However, 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. Approvals, which took up to 
one week, were routinely granted, but the weeklong delay hindered the 
ability of monitors to ascertain if there were human rights violations, 
and some NGOs and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) 
faced temporary resistance from prison authorities. ICRC visits were 
conducted in accordance with its standard modalities. In some cases 
prison officials did not allow NGOs to interview prisoners without 
third parties present. Several NGOs, including the Malian Association 
of Human Rights and the Malian Association of Women Lawyers, visited 
prisoners and worked with female and juvenile prisoners to improve 
their conditions.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
respected these prohibitions; however, there were reports that 
arbitrary arrest and detention occurred.
    There were no new developments in the case of Habitat Bank of Mali 
Chief Executive Officer Mamadou Baba Diawara, whose conviction for 
fraud was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2009 but whose release was 
prevented by an order of the minister of justice. By year's end, 
Diawara remained detained, as did prison warden Sekouba Doumbia, who 
had released Diawara's codefendant Ismaila Haidara on the basis of the 
Supreme Court order.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Security forces include 
the army, air force, gendarmerie, national guard, police, and the 
General Directorate of State Security (DGSE). 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 is 
effectively under the control of the minister of internal security and 
civil protection. Its responsibilities include maintaining order during 
exceptional circumstances, such as disasters or riots. The guard also 
has specialized border security units. The police and gendarmerie are 
under the Ministry of Internal Security and Civil Protection. Police 
have responsibility for law enforcement and maintaining order in urban 
areas, while gendarmes have that responsibility in rural areas. The 
DGSE has authority to investigate any case and temporarily detain 
persons at the discretion of its director general; it usually did so 
only in terrorism and national security cases.
    The national police force is organized into districts. Each 
district has a commissioner, who reports to the regional director at 
national headquarters. The police force was moderately effective but 
lacked resources and training.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Judicial 
warrants are required for arrest. Bailiffs normally deliver warrants, 
which stipulate when a person is scheduled to appear at a police 
station. While persons were usually apprehended openly with warrants 
based on sufficient evidence and issued by a duly authorized official, 
there were occasions when warrants were not based on sufficient 
evidence.
    Detainees are brought before the judiciary and have the right to a 
lawyer of their choice or a state-provided lawyer if they are indigent; 
however, an insufficient number of lawyers--particularly outside the 
cities of Bamako and Mopti--often prevented access to legal 
representation. Detainees were granted prompt access to family members.
    In cases involving a monetary debt, the arrested person frequently 
resolved the case at the police precinct, and the police received a 
portion of the recovered money.
    The law 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 48-hours. Suspects must be 
transferred from a police station to a prison within 72 hours after 
being arrested; however, in practice detainees were sometimes held 
longer than 72 hours. Limited rights of bail and the granting of 
conditional liberty exist, particularly for minor crimes and civil 
matters. On occasion authorities released defendants on their own 
recognizance.
    The law stipulates charged prisoners must be tried within one year, 
but this limit was frequently exceeded, and lengthy pretrial detention 
was a problem. Lengthy trial procedures, large numbers of detainees, 
judicial inefficiency, corruption, and staff shortages contributed to 
lengthy pretrial detention. Individuals sometimes remained in prison 
for several years before their cases came to trial. Many individuals 
lacked the financial resources needed to make bail. Approximately 67 
percent of the prison population consisted of persons awaiting trial. 
For example, on September 28, of the 1,794 prisoners held at the 
central prison of Bamako, a total of 1,218 were awaiting trial.
    In September the judiciary extended its second ordinary session by 
one month to reduce the case backlog and ease prison overcrowding. The 
judiciary had approximately 240 cases on the docket for the session.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary; however, the executive branch continued 
to exert influence over the judicial system. Corruption and limited 
resources affected the fairness of trials. Domestic human rights groups 
alleged bribery and influence peddling were widespread in the courts.
    There were problems enforcing court orders.
    Village chiefs and government-appointed justices of the peace 
decided the majority of disputes in rural areas. Justices of the peace 
had investigative, prosecutorial, and judicial functions. In practice 
these systems did not provide the same rights as civil and criminal 
courts.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair trial, and a mostly independent judiciary generally enforced this 
right. Except in the case of minors, trials generally were public and 
juries were used. Defendants have the right to be present and have an 
attorney of their choice. Court-appointed attorneys are provided for 
the indigent without charge. Defendants have the right to consult with 
their attorney, but administrative backlogs and an insufficient number 
of lawyers, particularly in rural areas, often prevented prompt access. 
Many persons could not afford an attorney. Defendants and attorneys 
have access to government evidence relevant to their cases. Defendants 
are presumed innocent and have the right to confront witnesses, to 
present witnesses and evidence on their behalf, and to appeal decisions 
to the Supreme Court. These rights extend to all citizens and all 
groups.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters, although corruption in the 
judicial branch was widespread and laws are biased against women. There 
is no separate court system for lawsuits seeking damages for, or 
cessation of, a human rights violation. There were reports that civil 
court orders were sometimes difficult to enforce.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions, and 
the Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.

    g. Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts.--
Northern Mali experienced periodic violence involving bandits, 
smugglers, paramilitary forces, ethnic violence, and AQIM.
    There were reports the paramilitary militia of Colonel Elhedji 
Gamou committed abuses against civilians in Kidal Region. Allegations 
concerned armed banditry, drug trafficking, arbitrary violence, and 
reprisal attacks. On April 25, Intalla ag Attaher, the traditional 
leader of Tuaregs in Kidal, wrote to President Amadou Toumani Toure and 
threatened to exile himself if Gamou's militia was not withdrawn or 
reined in. In response, a high-level delegation traveled to Kidal on 
May 2 to speak with ag Attaher about the situation. Reports indicated a 
moderate improvement in the militia's respect for civilians' rights in 
Kidal since that time.
    Sporadic violence between the Ganda-Izo militia, composed of ethnic 
Peulh (nomadic) and Songhai (sedentary pastoralists), against 
neighboring Tuareg (seminomadic) factions in the area of Ansongo (Gao 
Region) continued. On August 2, the Government organized a ``Flame of 
Peace'' disarmament ceremony in Fafa, a small village in the Ansongo 
area. An estimated 400 militants from all three ethnic groups 
participated in the disarmament, and 367 weapons were collected and 
burned. Notwithstanding the new effort at peace, reports continued of 
livestock theft and reprisal attacks between the communities.
    No prosecutions were opened regarding the violent confrontations 
between Peulh/Songhai and Tuaregs in June and July 2009.
    During the year the terrorist organization AQIM killed persons and 
took hostages.
    On April 19, in Niger, bandits abducted French citizen Michel 
Germaneau and later handed him over to AQIM. On July 25, AQIM claimed 
it had executed Germaneau in reprisal for a French-supported 
Mauritanian attack on AQIM camps in Mali on July 22, although 
reportedly Germaneau may already have died by the time of the July 22 
raid.
    On September 17, elements believed to be part of AQIM abducted 
seven employees--five French, one Togolese, and one Malagasy--of the 
French firms Areva and Satom in Arlit, Niger, and transported them to 
AQIM camps in northern Mali.
    On February 23, AQIM released French citizen Pierre Camatte who was 
taken hostage in Menaka in November 2009. The release occurred after 
courts tried and sentenced to ``time served'' four AQIM operatives 
authorities had taken into custody in April 2009.
    There were developments in the case of three Spanish aid workers 
kidnapped in Mauritania in November 2009 and held in northern Mali by 
AQIM. On March 10, AQIM released Alicia Gamez. The remaining two 
Spanish hostages, Albert Vilalta and Roque Pascual, were released on 
August 22. According to media reports, the release was in exchange for 
ransom payments as well as the release by Mauritanian authorities of 
Malian AQIM member Omar Oul Sid Ahmed Ould Mama, also known as Omar the 
Sahroui.
    On April 16, AQIM released two Italian citizens, Sergio Cicala and 
his wife Philomene Kaboure, who had been held hostage in Mali since 
their kidnapping in December 2009 in Mauritania.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press. While the Government generally 
respected these rights in practice, there was a report of a journalist 
arrested.
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views.
    On November 12, Diakaridia Yossi, a journalist for the daily 
newspaper L'Independant, was taken into custody while covering the 
police dispersal of a demonstration in front of the Court of Appeals 
protesting the detention of Mossa Ag Acharatmane and Aboubacrine Ag 
Fadil. Yossi was apparently mistaken for one of the protestors and 
allegedly suffered several blows from police batons. According to press 
reports, Yossi was released from custody, and the director of the 
National Police, Niame Keita, in a meeting with journalist 
associations, expressed regret for the incident and provided 25,000 CFA 
francs ($50) to offset Yossi's medical expenses.
    In December 2009 Noumouke Sidibe, a journalist for Radio Kayira, a 
network of stations critical of the Government, was arrested in Kita 
and charged with inciting the July 2009 Kita riots through his radio 
broadcasts. Sidibe, who had been highly critical of local authorities 
in his reporting, was released on January 6 after an investigative 
judge determined he had not been on the air the day he was alleged to 
have been inciting riots.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
There were numerous Internet cafes in Bamako, although home access in 
the capital was limited by cost. Outside of Bamako there were a few 
sites where the Internet was available for public use. According to 
International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2008, 
approximately 1.6 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly; 
however, at times the Government did not respect this right in 
practice.
    On March 9, police allegedly used excessive force and tear gas to 
disperse a protest march organized by an association representing 
persons dispossessed by land seizures. Local authorities attempted to 
ban the demonstration on March 8, but this was not effectively 
communicated to those involved in the demonstration. When police forces 
attempted to disperse the protestors, a confrontation ensued, in which 
six individuals were injured. Police arrested four demonstrators, who 
were later released.
    There were no developments in the February 2009 incident of police 
using excessive force to disperse protesters in the Bamako neighborhood 
of Banconi Salembougou.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
association, although the law prohibits associations deemed immoral. 
The Government generally respected freedom of association during the 
year.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the Department of State's 2010 International Religious 
Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. Police routinely stopped and checked both citizens and 
foreigners to restrict the movement of contraband and to verify vehicle 
registrations.
    The Government cooperated with the UN High Commissioner for 
Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations in providing 
protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, refugees, 
asylum seekers, and other persons of concern.
    The constitution and law specifically prohibit forced exile; the 
Government did not use it.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--The Government provided some 
assistance to IDPs, allowed the International Committee of the Red 
Cross (ICRC) access to IDPs, and permitted IDPs to accept assistance 
provided by humanitarian organizations. The distances involved, 
difficult terrain, and land mine concerns hampered assistance efforts. 
The Government did not attack or target IDPs or forcibly return or 
resettle them. Most persons internally displaced by the Tuareg 
rebellion in 2008-09 had returned home by the end of 2010, although few 
reported receiving any assistance from authorities.

    Protection of Refugees.--The laws provide for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees. In practice the Government 
provided protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to 
countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account 
of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social 
group, or political opinion. A national committee in charge of refugees 
operated with institutional assistance from UNHCR.
    The Government's Office of International Migration is responsible 
for providing temporary protection to individuals who may not qualify 
as refugees and provided it to two Nepalese women in distress during 
the year.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide 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 and Political Participation.--In 2007 voters elected 
President Amadou Toumani Toure to a second five-year term with 71 
percent of the vote. Legislative elections were also held in 2007. 
Domestic and international observers characterized these elections as 
generally free, fair, and without evident fraud, but there were 
administrative irregularities.
    There were developments with respect to alleged irregularities and 
fraud during the 2009 communal elections. An administrative tribunal 
annulled the results in several communes, including Yelimane, Tessalit, 
Bourem, and Bamako's Commune IV. The Government appointed special 
delegations to govern the affected communes pending new elections.
    Political parties generally operated without restrictions or 
outside interference.
    There were 15 women in the 147-member National Assembly. There were 
six women in the 29-seat cabinet, five women--including the 
chairperson--on the 33-member Supreme Court, and three women on the 
nine-member Constitutional Court.
    The National Assembly had 15 members from historically marginalized 
pastoralist and nomadic ethnic minorities representing the eastern and 
northern regions of Gao, Timbuktu, and Kidal. The cabinet also had two 
members from these minorities.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. 
Officials regularly extorted money. Corruption in the judiciary was 
widespread. Impunity was a problem, and police were often not held 
accountable for corruption. The gendarmerie conducted investigations of 
police officers, although the number of officers disciplined for 
infractions was not available. Police and gendarmes frequently extorted 
bribes. There were reports of uniformed police directing stopped 
motorists to drive to dark and isolated locations, where the officers 
then forcibly robbed the victims.
    The constitution requires the prime minister and other cabinet 
members to annually submit a financial statement and written 
declaration of their earnings to the Supreme Court. These documents 
were not made public.
    The Malian Anticorruption Agency (CASCA) and the independent Office 
of the Auditor General (OAG) are responsible for combating corruption. 
CASCA oversees a number of smaller anticorruption units within various 
government ministries and reports directly to the presidency.
    The OAG's report for 2009 (released in 2010) estimated that 112 
billion CFA francs ($226 million) in revenue had been lost due to fraud 
and mismanagement, including lost revenue in agricultural and health 
programs.
    During the year the OAG examined 10 entities that were discussed in 
its 2007 report. The examination found these entities had implemented 
61 percent of the auditor general's fraud prevention and financial 
management recommendations. In addition there was one criminal 
prosecution based on corruption found in a previous year's report. On 
January 11, six men who had worked in the Government's Office du Niger 
were tried in Bamako's Court of Appeals for embezzling fees paid by 
farmers for irrigation water provided by the state. The court acquitted 
two of the men, sentenced two to time served, and sentenced the 
remaining two to five-year terms of imprisonment.
    The law provides for public access to government information, and 
the Government generally granted such access for citizens and 
noncitizens, including foreign media. The national budget was available 
to the public upon request. If an information request is refused, the 
person who submitted the request can appeal to an administrative court, 
which must address the appeal within three months.
Section 5. 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 National Commission on Human Rights (CNDH) is part of the 
Ministry of Justice. The CNDH is an independent institution under the 
constitution, and was significantly restructured in November 2009. 
During the year the Government provided the commission with a 
headquarters, small staff, and budget increase. The commission began 
work on two human rights reports, including one specifically devoted to 
prison conditions.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit discrimination based on social 
origin and status, color, language, gender, or race, but not 
disability. In spite of relevant legislation, citizens were generally 
reluctant to file complaints or press charges of discrimination, based 
largely on cultural factors. Absent complaints or lawsuits, the 
Government did not aggressively pursue violations of these laws.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape and provides a penalty of five to 
20 years' imprisonment; however, the Government did not enforce the law 
effectively. Only a small percentage of rape cases were prosecuted, 
since most such cases were not reported, and victims felt social 
pressure not to pursue charges against aggressors who were frequently 
close relations. There is no law specifically prohibiting spousal rape, 
but law enforcement officials stated the criminal laws against rape 
apply to spousal rape. Police and judicial authorities were willing to 
pursue rape cases, but stopped if parties reached an agreement prior to 
trial. The Bamako Court of Appeals had 48 cases of rape on its docket 
for the two ordinary sessions of the year; however, information on the 
number of convictions was not available.
    Domestic violence against women, including spousal abuse, was a 
problem. Most cases went unreported. Spousal abuse is a crime, but the 
law does not specifically prohibit domestic violence. 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 feared such allegations would be interpreted as 
grounds for divorce, were unable to support themselves financially, or 
sought to avoid social stigma. The Government's planning and statistics 
unit, established to track prosecutions, was not operational. Assault 
is punishable by prison terms of one to five years and fines of up to 
500,000 CFA francs ($1,011) or, if premeditated, up to 10 years' 
imprisonment.
    The Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Children, and the Family 
distributed a guide regarding violence against women for use by health-
care providers, police, lawyers, and judges.
    The NGOs Action for the Defense and Promotion of Women Rights, 
Action for the Promotion of Household Maids, and the Association for 
Development and Youth operated six shelters, five in Bamako and one in 
Segou, for abused female domestic laborers.
    The law does not prohibit sexual harassment, and it occurred 
frequently, including in educational establishments.
    Women's ability to make decisions regarding reproduction was 
limited. Women faced pressure to defer responsibility to their husbands 
and family on reproductive issues including the number, spacing, and 
timing of their children and often lacked sufficient information. Women 
often did not have access to contraception and skilled attendance 
during childbirth, including essential obstetric and postpartum care. 
According to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the contraceptive 
prevalence rate was 8 percent, with unmet need for family planning 
estimated at 29 percent. Reportedly, 49 percent of births were attended 
by skilled health personnel. Women were equally diagnosed and treated 
for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, but access to 
health care for both men and women was limited. According to UNFPA 
estimates, in 2008 the maternal mortality ratio was 830 deaths per 
100,000 live births, and a woman's lifetime risk of maternal death was 
one in 22.
    Family law and traditional practices favor men. Women are legally 
obligated to obey their husbands and are particularly vulnerable in 
cases of divorce, child custody, and inheritance. Women had very 
limited access to legal services due to their lack of education and 
information as well as the prohibitive cost.
    While the law provides for equal property rights, traditional 
practices and ignorance of the law prevented women from taking full 
advantage of their rights. A community property marriage must be 
specified in the marriage contract. In addition if the type of marriage 
was not specified on the marriage certificate, judges presumed the 
marriage was polygynous. Traditional practice discriminated against 
women in inheritance matters, and men inherited most of the family 
wealth.
    Women's access to employment and to economic and educational 
opportunities was limited. According to the National Center for 
Information on Women and Children, women constituted approximately 15.5 
percent of the formal labor force. The Government, the country's major 
formal sector employer, paid women the same as men for similar work. 
The Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Children, and the Family was 
charged with ensuring the legal rights of women. Women experienced 
economic discrimination due to social norms that favor men.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's father. The Government 
did not register all births immediately, particularly in rural areas. 
However, during the year, the Government conducted an administrative 
census to collect biometric data and assign a unique identifying number 
to every citizen. The process allowed the registration of children who 
had not been registered at birth, although the exact number of new 
birth certificates assigned is unknown. Several local NGOs, including 
Ladilikan and the Malian Association for the Promotion of the Sahel, 
worked with foreign partners during the year to register children at 
birth and to educate parents about the benefits of registration.
    The constitution provides for tuition-free universal education, and 
the law provides for compulsory schooling from ages seven to 16; 
however, many children did not attend school, and parents often had to 
pay for their children's education as well as provide their uniform and 
supplies. Girls' enrollment in school was lower than boys' at all 
levels due to poverty, cultural tendencies to emphasize boys' 
education, and the early marriage of girls. According to government 
statistics, 56.3 percent of girls ages six to 12 and 70.4 percent of 
boys ages six to 12 were enrolled in primary schools in 2009. Other 
factors affecting school enrollment included distance to the nearest 
school, lack of transportation, and shortages of teachers and 
instructional materials.
    Members of the black Tamasheq community reported that some Tamasheq 
children were denied educational opportunities due to slavery-like 
practices.
    Qur'anic masters often require students under age 10, known as 
``garibouts,'' to beg for money on the streets or work as laborers in 
agricultural settings (see section 7.d.).
    There were no comprehensive statistics on child abuse. Most child 
abuse cases went unreported. Sexual exploitation of children occurred. 
The police and the social services department under the Ministry of 
Social Development, Solidarity, and the Elderly investigated and 
intervened in some reported cases of child abuse or neglect; however, 
the Government provided few services for such children. The Court of 
Appeals of Bamako heard 35 pedophilia cases during its second ordinary 
session of the year; NGOs reported pedophilia cases were more likely to 
go to trial than rape cases because charges could be pressed by the 
child's guardian rather than the victim, and the anonymity of the child 
could be preserved, reducing the social stigma.
    Female genital mutilation (FGM) was very common, particularly in 
rural areas, and was performed on girls between the ages of six months 
and six years. Approximately 92 percent of all girls and women had been 
subjected to FGM, although a Ministry of Health demographic study in 
2006 reported that among girls and women ages 15 to 19, the rate was 85 
percent. The practice was widespread in most regions with the exception 
of certain northern areas, occurred among most ethnic groups, was not 
subject to class boundaries, and was not religiously based. There are 
no laws specifically prohibiting FGM; however, a government decree 
prohibits FGM in government-funded health centers. Government 
information campaigns regarding FGM reached citizens throughout the 
country, and human rights organizations reported that FGM decreased 
among children of educated parents. There were reports of Burkinabe 
families crossing into Mali to evade stricter FGM laws in Burkina Faso.
    The marriage code allows girls under the age of 15 to marry if they 
have parental consent and special permission from a judge. The minimum 
age for girls to marry without such consent is 15. Underage marriage 
was a problem throughout the country, with parents in some cases 
arranging marriages for girls as young as nine. According to local 
human rights organizations, judicial officials frequently accepted 
false documents claiming that girls under the age of 15 were old enough 
to marry.
    There were no developments in the case of Amadou Diallo, arrested 
in August 2009 for planning to marry his 12-year-old daughter to her 
50-year-old cousin.
    The law does not specifically address child prostitution. 
Authorities cited child pornography as a form of indecent assault 
prohibited under the criminal code. Penalties for indecent assault 
range from five to 20 years in prison. The country has a statutory rape 
law that defines 18 as the minimum age for consensual sex. The law is 
inconsistent with the legal minimum marriage age of 15 and was not 
enforced.
    The National Police's Division for Protection of Children and 
Morals sometimes arrested child prostitutes. They were usually released 
a few hours after their arrest.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international child abduction, please see the Department of State's 
annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish population was estimated at fewer than 
50, and there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--There is no specific law protecting the 
rights of persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, or mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or in the 
provision of other state services. There is no law mandating 
accessibility to public buildings. The Ministry of Social Development, 
Solidarity, and the Elderly is charged with the protection of the 
rights of persons with disabilities. The ministry sponsored activities 
to promote opportunities for persons with disabilities to generate 
income and also worked with NGOs, such as the Malian Federation of 
Associations for Handicapped Persons, which provided basic services. 
There was a school for the deaf in Bamako that ostensibly falls under 
government responsibility, but support and resources were practically 
nonexistent.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Societal discrimination against 
``black'' Tamasheqs, often referred to by the label Bellah, continued. 
Some black Tamasheqs were deprived of civil liberties by other ethnic 
groups due to traditional slavery-like practices and hereditary 
servitude relationships between certain ethnic groups. Black Tamasheq 
communities in Gao and Menaka also reported systematic discrimination 
by local officials and others that hindered their ability to obtain 
identity documents or voter registration cards, locate adequate 
housing, protect their animals from theft, seek legal protections, 
obtain education, or access development aid.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There were no publicly visible 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) organizations in the 
country. The free association of LGBT organizations was impeded by a 
law prohibiting association ``for an immoral purpose''; in 2005 the 
then governor of the District of Bamako cited this law to refuse 
official recognition to a gay rights association. Although there was no 
official discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, in 
practice, societal discrimination was widespread.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Societal discrimination 
against persons with HIV/AIDS occurred. The Government implemented 
campaigns to increase awareness of HIV/AIDS and reduce discrimination 
against those with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers to form or 
join independent unions of their choice without previous authorization 
or excessive requirements, and workers exercised these rights. Only the 
military, the gendarmerie, and the National Guard were prohibited from 
forming unions. An estimated 95 percent of salaried employees were 
organized, including teachers, magistrates, health workers, and senior 
civil servants.
    The law allows unions to conduct their activities without 
interference, and the Government respected this right in practice.
    Unions have the right to strike, and workers exercised this right. 
However, the law allows the minister of labor to order arbitration for 
disputes that may endanger lives, security or health, normal 
functioning of the economy, or involves a vital professional sector. 
Civil servants and workers in state-owned enterprises are required to 
give two weeks' notice of a planned strike and to 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 enforced 
these laws effectively.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for the right to collective bargaining, and workers exercised 
this right freely. The law does not prohibit antiunion discrimination, 
but there were no reports of antiunion behavior or activities 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, such 
practices occurred.
    Most adult forced labor was found in the agricultural sector, 
especially rice production, domestic services, gold mining, and the 
informal economy. Forced child labor was seen in the same sectors, but 
sometimes with different tasks. In informal surface mining, for 
example, children were used for work in small holes where adults do not 
fit. Some Qur'anic school masters also require children to work longer 
hours than is socially acceptable.
    The law prohibits the contractual use of persons without their 
consent; penalties include a fine and hard labor. Penalties increase to 
20 years' imprisonment if a person under age 15 is involved.
    Many black Tamasheqs continued to be subjected to forced labor 
practices and hereditary servitude relationships, particularly in the 
eastern and northern regions of Gao, Timbuktu, and Kidal. According to 
NGOs, the judiciary was reluctant to act in forced labor cases.
    In January a black Tamasheq woman named Timizwaq fled to Menaka and 
filed a legal complaint alleging she had been held as a hereditary 
slave and subjected to forced labor for 15 years in Inbougaretane by 
Hama Hama ag Adim. With the assistance of a local NGO, she obtained an 
out-of-court settlement whereunder ag Adim agreed to return her two 
children that were under his control and provide her with 20 lambs. At 
year's end ag Adim had returned the two children but had not provided 
any of the livestock.
    There were developments in the cases of Nalewat, a black Tamasheq 
woman in Bambara-Maounde who was held as a hereditary slave and 
subjected to forced labor for 14 years, and Aboubakrine ag Kamotane, 
who filed a legal forced labor-related complaint against a man named 
Afna in Timbuktu. At year's end the man who had subjected Nalewat to 
forced labor had only paid half of the one million CFA francs ($2,022) 
out-of-court settlement agreed to in 2009 and was refusing to complete 
the agreement. Aboubakrine ag Kamotane withdrew his legal complaint 
under pressure from local authorities and the gendarmerie, who had been 
solicited by Afna, the defendant.
    There were no developments in the 2008 forced labor-related 
lawsuits filed by Agiachatou walet Touka against Sagoudene ag Adime, 
Iddar ag Ogazide against Erzaghi ag Bayes, and Tatche walet Ekadaye 
against Ahmed Iknane ag Bakka.
    Debt bondage occurred in the salt mines of Taoudenni, in the North. 
Individuals, primarily of Songhai ethnicity, including some children, 
worked as salt miners to pay off debts owed to businessmen in Timbuktu.
    Please also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in 
Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
labor code has provisions that pertain to child labor; however, these 
were often ignored in practice. Child labor was a problem. Child labor 
was concentrated in the agricultural sector, especially rice 
production, domestic services, gold mining, Qur'anic schools, and the 
informal economy.
    While the labor code sets the minimum age for employment at 14, 
with certain exceptions, an ordinance pertaining to children sets the 
minimum employment age at 15. The labor code permits children between 
the ages of 12 and 14 to engage in domestic or light seasonal work, and 
limits the number of hours they may work. No child is permitted to be 
employed for more than eight hours per day under any circumstances. 
Girls who are 16 to 18 cannot be employed for more than six hours per 
day. However, these regulations were not enforced in practice.
    Approximately half of children between the ages of seven and 14 
were economically active, and more than 40 percent of children in this 
age group were subjected to the worst forms of child labor. Child 
trafficking occurred. Children, especially girls, were used for forced 
domestic labor. Child labor in the mining sector, including salt mining 
in Taoudenni and gold mining, was also a problem. Black Tamasheq 
children were forced to work as domestic and agricultural laborers.
    An unknown number of primary school-aged children throughout the 
country, mostly under age 10, attended part-time Qur'anic schools that 
were funded by students and their parents and taught only the Qur'an. 
As part of their work requirement, Qur'anic masters often required 
students, known as ``garibouts,'' to beg for money on the streets or 
work as laborers in agricultural settings.
    Authorities enforced labor code provisions, including those related 
to child labor, through inspectors from the Ministry of Labor and State 
Reforms, which conducted surprise inspections and complaint-based 
inspections; however, resource limitations restricted the frequency and 
effectiveness of oversight by the Labor Inspection Service, which 
operated only in the formal sector. The Ministry of Labor and State 
Reforms employed approximately 50 labor inspectors, up from eight in 
2007.
    A 43-member national committee for child labor and trafficking 
issues worked to develop a list of the worst forms of child labor. The 
committee was composed of 13 ministries as well as NGOs, and was 
chaired by the Ministry of Labor and State Reforms. In February 2009 
the Government finalized a list of hazardous occupations in which 
children are prohibited from working. In addition the Government 
finished elaborating a National Action Plan to combat child labor, 
although it has not yet been adopted by the Council of Ministers. The 
Government regularly acts in a supporting role for donor projects 
dealing with child labor.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum wage was 
28,465 CFA francs ($58) per month, which 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. Persons working in the informal and 
subsistence sectors did not receive the minimum wage. The labor code 
specifies conditions of employment, including hours, wages, and social 
security; however, many employers either ignored or did not comply 
completely with the regulations. The Ministry of Labor is also 
responsible for enforcing the minimum wage, but it did not do so 
effectively.
    The legal workweek is 40 hours, except for work in the agricultural 
sector. The legal workweek for agricultural employees ranges from 42 to 
48 hours, depending on the season. The law requires a weekly 24-hour 
rest period. Workers have to be paid overtime for additional hours. The 
law limits overtime to eight hours per week. Labor inspectors usually 
visited work sites only after complaints were filed by labor unions. 
Legal standards pertaining to hours of work were not always enforced.
    The law provides a broad range of legal protections against hazards 
in the workplace; however, authorities did not effectively enforce 
these standards. Workers' groups brought pressure on employers to 
respect sections of the regulations. With high unemployment, however, 
workers often were reluctant to report violations of occupational 
safety regulations. The Labor Inspection Service oversees these 
standards but limited enforcement to the 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 to request an 
investigation by the Social Security Department, which is responsible 
for recommending remedial action where deemed necessary; it was not 
known if any worker had done so.

                               __________

                               MAURITANIA

    Mauritania, with an estimated population of 3.2 million, is a 
highly centralized Islamic republic governed by President Mohamed Ould 
Abdel Aziz, whose election in July 2009 ended the 11-month political 
crisis caused by the 2008 coup d'etat against former president Sidi 
Ould Cheikh Abdallahi. The presidential election, declared generally 
free and fair by international observers, followed the June 2009 Dakar 
Accord, a consensual agreement brokered by Senegalese President Wade 
and the international community to end the country's political 
stalemate. Following the election, the political situation stabilized, 
although the new authorities have been slow to respond to opposition 
calls for an inclusive political dialogue agreed under the Dakar 
Accord. The majority party Union for the Republic (UPR) overwhelmingly 
won the November 2009 senatorial elections, which the opposition 
denounced as tainted by political influence and tribal pressures. 
Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    Human rights abuses included mistreatment of detainees and 
prisoners; security force impunity; lengthy pretrial detention; harsh 
prison conditions; arbitrary arrests; limits on freedom of the press 
and assembly; corruption; discrimination against women; female genital 
mutilation (FGM); child marriage; political marginalization of 
southern-based ethnic groups; racial and ethnic discrimination; slavery 
and slavery-related practices; 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit torture; however, 
security forces allegedly tortured detainees to extract confessions. 
Torture methods reportedly included electric shocks, burnings, 
beatings, pulling out of hair, and sexual violence. However, according 
to the Mauritanian Human Rights Association, there were no documented 
cases of torture this year.
    There was no government response to the April 2009 alleged torture 
of and denial of medical treatment for suspected terrorist Cheikhani 
Ould Sidina. The allegation was made by a spokesman for the families of 
imprisoned Islamists following Sidina's death in prison.
    There was no government response to the August 2009 alleged torture 
of Mohamed Ould Zeidane after he was arrested and detained for 
questioning related to his brothers suicide bomb attack near the French 
embassy.
    There were no reports that the Government investigated the 
September 2009 case in which Nouakchott Prison guards tortured 
convicted terrorist suspect Khadim Ould Semane. Al Jazeera Television 
had broadcast images of guards beating and water boarding Semane and 
aired a telephone interview with Semane in which he stated that he was 
subjected to electric shocks and degrading treatment.
    There were no reports that authorities investigated the 2008 case 
in which police tortured suspected terrorists Abdel Kerim Ben Veraz El 
Baraoui, Ahmed El Moctar Ould Semane, and Cheikh Ould Salem. The 
suspects' lawyers had claimed that police tortured their clients by 
hanging them by their feet and using cigarettes to burn their bodies.
    There were no further developments in the 2008 reported torture of 
39 terrorist suspects involved in the 2007 killings of four French 
citizens and the 2008 attack on the Israeli embassy.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
harsh, and the Government's capacity to administer detention facilities 
remained poor. There were credible reports of torture, beatings, and 
abuse in police detention centers, several prisons throughout the 
country, and gendarmerie and military facilities.
    Funds to improve prison conditions remained inadequate. The 
situation of overcrowding, violence among inmates, and poor medical 
care in prisons remained the same. Many prisoners were unable to leave 
their extremely crowded cells or breathe fresh air for months or years 
at a time.
    Serious overcrowding contributed to the spread of diseases, 
prisoners with health conditions received little or no care, and 
medical supplies remained insufficient. For example, the Dar Naim 
Prison held approximately 1,200 prisoners, although it was designed to 
hold 300. Reports of malnutrition, poor health, and deficient hygiene 
conditions at the Dar Naim Prison continued. There were reports of four 
deaths due to illness and unsanitary conditions at the prison. There 
was no reported investigation of the deaths by year's end.
    Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) such as the Association of 
Female Heads of Family (AFCF) continued to denounce overcrowding and 
long preventive detentions. Prison overcrowding was exacerbated by the 
high number of pretrial detainees.
    During the year the Government began construction in Nouadhibou of 
a new prison with capacity for 300 prisoners. The prison was not 
completed by year end.
    Pretrial detainees were frequently held with convicted and 
dangerous prisoners. Pretrial terrorist suspects were held in separate 
areas from the general prison population in Nouakchott Central Prison.
    Due to poor security conditions and the fact that dangerous 
prisoners shared cells with nondangerous ones, prisoners also lived in 
a climate of violence, and some had to pay bribes to other prisoners to 
avoid being brutalized and harassed.
    According to Ministry of Justice statistics, there was a total of 
1,700 prisoners with 955 serving sentences and 700 in preventive 
detention. There were 62 female prisoners with 13 serving sentences and 
49 in preventive detention.
    As in the previous year, there were reports on the poor prison 
conditions of terrorist suspects. On April 5, Salafist prisoners issued 
a press release stating they were giving up family visits for one day 
to protest prison conditions and they also threatened to start a hunger 
strike if their right to a speedy trial was not respected. The hunger 
strike did not occur during the year.
    According to media sources, prisoner Mohamed Ould Elhoudrami was 
transferred from Dar Enaim prison to a hospital after commencing a 
hunger strike on November 8. However, the Web site Tawary reported he 
was transferred to the hospital because he was in critical condition 
with cancer and needed daily treatment. Elhoudrami was arrested on 
October 7 after being accused of fraud by President Aziz, who described 
him as dangerous in a televised interview with the media.
    In August 2009 local press reported that Amar Ould Saleh, a 
terrorist suspect, was dying from tuberculosis and was not receiving 
medical treatment or medication. Ould Saleh was tried and sentenced to 
10 years in prison on October 22; subsequently, he received continuing 
treatment at the prison health unit.
    The Mauritanian Bar Association's (ONA) August 2009 report 
criticized ``the nonrespect of human lives in prisons'' and highlighted 
the April 2009 death of terrorist suspect Chikhani Ould Sidina, 
reportedly due to negligence and denial of medical treatment. The 
report also highlighted the August 2009 death, under mysterious 
circumstances, of Dar Naim Prison inmate Sidi Ould Samba. There was no 
government response to the report's findings or investigations of these 
deaths by year's end.
    The Government responded to the August 2009 denunciation of poor 
prison conditions and long detention periods for Salafist prisoners by 
terrorist suspect Taher Ould Biye, imprisoned in Nouakchott Central 
Prison, by conducting terrorism trials in May. These trials led to the 
conviction of 56 Salafist terrorist suspects, including Taher Ould Biye 
who received an eight-year prison sentence.
    In September 2009 families of Salafist detainees protested poor 
detention conditions in front of the Nouakchott Central Prison. The 
wife of detainee El Mami Ould Othman stated he was in declining health 
with deficient medical attention. El Mami Ould Othman was tried and 
received a sentence of five years on October 22, then received a 
presidential pardon on November 16.
    Women and minors under 18 years of age were held in two separate 
facilities. Sexual violence reportedly occurred in the women's prison, 
which employed both male and female guards. Children of female 
prisoners remained with their mothers, or the Ministry of Justice gave 
temporary custody of the children to another family member. 
International NGOs, such as the Noura Foundation, Caritas, and Terre 
des Hommes provided educational and economic opportunities for current 
and former juvenile and female detainees.
    The Government permitted prison visits by NGOs, diplomats, and 
international human rights observers. The International Committee of 
the Red Cross (ICRC) had access to prisons and conducted multiple 
prison visits in accordance with its standard modalities, including 
visits to terrorism suspects, and distributed hygiene items and books.
    The Center for the Reeducation of Minors in Conflict with the Law, 
whose goal is to provide a space for the social reintegration of 
children and youth, held a total of 29 children during the year.
    In response to widespread criticism and as a follow up to 2009 
visits by the fourth district judge and the Ministry of Justice's 
inspector general, Minister of Justice Abidine Ould El Kheir visited 
all prisons in April and May and met with inmates to discuss their 
grievances. On April 21, the Ministry of Justice issued a statement on 
its commitment to improving prison conditions, particularly nutrition 
and health, as well as assuring speedy trials. The statement included 
the following measures: hiring of 18 health care professionals, 
including a dermatologist, a dentist, and a psychiatrist; signing of an 
agreement with a pharmaceutical distributor to provide medicine to 
prisoners; and hiring of a company to clean septic tanks. During the 
year the Ministry of Justice and the Commission for Human Rights, 
Humanitarian Action, and Relations with Civil Society provided a 
medical unit and ambulance, hired an agency responsible for sanitation, 
and improved the quantity and the quality of food. The Ministry of 
Justice also stated that new food stocks were acquired for prisoners 
and would be renewed quarterly.
    During the year the total number of detainees was reduced through 
conditional release and parole.
    In September 2009 the fourth district judge visited the Dar Naim 
Prison to study the situation of incarcerated minors. No statements or 
reports on the visit were issued during the year. Also in September 
2009, the Ministry of Justice's inspector general and the prison 
director visited the Central Prison and heard demands from Salafist 
detainees in response to continuing protests by their families. The 
Government made no statements or efforts to improve the detention 
conditions during the year.
    As in the previous year, the Commission of Human Rights, 
Humanitarian Action, and Relations with Civil Society distributed food, 
hygiene kits, and recreational items to detention centers in Nouadhibou 
and Nouakchott.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, but the authorities did not 
observe these prohibitions.
    There were cases of arbitrary arrest and detention of journalists 
(see section 2.a.). Under the previous military junta known as the High 
State Council (HSC), the military arrested a number of political 
figures and journalists without charge or hearings. These individuals 
were released by the end of the year with the exception of Ahmed Ould 
Khattri, former director of the Agency for the Promotion of Popular 
Savings and Credit Accounts.
    In response to the 2009 Mauritanian National Bar Association (ONA) 
reports which highlighted multiple cases of arbitrary detentions and 
individuals kept in prison without being charged, tried, or released 
despite court orders for their release, three teams of inspectors from 
the Ministry of Justice clarified the status of the detainees and 
brought their cases to trial during the year. ONA stated that the 
Government also formally responded to its report during the year.
    The Al Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) members 
responsible for the 2007 Aleg murders of French tourists were tried and 
sentenced to death in May.
    Police reportedly held suspects involved in the February 2008 
attack against the Israeli Embassy in incommunicado military detention 
for a period of time. These individuals had not been tried by year's 
end.
    The children's penal code states that a minor's preventive 
detention cannot exceed six months. However, the ONA also reported a 
high number of individuals, including minors, who remained in 
preventive detention for extended periods of time due to judicial 
ineptitude.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The National Police, 
under the Ministry of the Interior, is responsible for law enforcement 
and maintaining order in urban areas. The National Guard, also under 
the Ministry of Interior, performs limited police functions in keeping 
with their peacetime role as security support at government facilities. 
The National Guard may also be called on by regional authorities to 
restore civil order during large-scale disturbances such as rioting. 
The gendarmerie, a specialized paramilitary group under the Ministry of 
Defense, is responsible for maintaining civil order in and outside 
metropolitan areas, as well as providing law enforcement services in 
rural areas.
    The police were poorly paid, trained, and ill-equipped. Corruption 
and impunity were serious problems. Police regularly demanded bribes at 
nightly roadblocks in Nouakchott and at checkpoints between cities. 
While having a notable effect in increasing security, there were 
numerous reports of police arbitrarily detaining individuals for a few 
hours or overnight at roadblocks in Nouakchott or other towns. 
According to these reports, police detained motorists or passengers 
without asking for identity papers, vehicle registration, or without 
searching the vehicles. Police in some regions arrested former 
criminals and demanded bribes for their release, and some indicted 
detainees were released before trial without explanation. The 
Government rarely held security officials accountable or prosecuted 
them for abuses.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The 
application of constitutional safeguards continued to vary widely from 
case to case. The law requires duly authorized arrest warrants, but 
they were not commonly used. The law requires that courts review the 
legality of a person's detention within 48 hours of arrest; however, 
the police can extend the period for an additional 48 hours, and a 
prosecutor or court can detain persons for up to 15 days in national 
security cases. Authorities generally respected the two-week detention 
period for terrorism suspects to be formally arraigned or released in 
national security cases. Only after the prosecutor submits charges does 
a suspect have the right to contact an attorney. By law attorneys for 
the indigent are provided at state expense, but in practice this did 
not occur. Lawyers highlighted the lengthy incarceration of detainees 
and delays in organizing court hearings. There was a bail system, but 
sometimes judges refused lawyers' requests for bail or set inordinately 
high bail amounts.
    Preventive detention continued to be a problem. According to a 
November 2009 ONA report, 60 percent of detainees in the Dar Naim 
Prison were held in preventive detention under judicial order to 
prevent them from fleeing from prosecution or committing crimes. The 
ONA reported that most preventive detentions were in violation of the 
penal code since individual cases have never been tried. The Dar Naim 
Prison director regularly informed court authorities of the number of 
prisoners in preventive detention, but judicial actions were rarely 
taken. The ONA's August 2009 report stated that some detainees had been 
in preventive detention since 2002 and highlighted six detainees in 
preventive detention since 2006, two since 2007, and eight since 2008. 
Some were detained for minor offenses such as stealing cell phones or 
complicity in theft. According to the Ministry of Justice, all these 
cases were sent to trial following the report produced by ministry 
inspection teams. The ONA also reported that the Government did respond 
to their report.
    On July 18, police arrested Arabic daily Al Hayat journalist 
Mohamed Ould Abdel Latif when he was interviewing merchants for an 
article. Latif remained in custody for two weeks without charges and 
was released without explanation.

    Amnesty.--On September 9 and November 16, President Aziz pardoned a 
total of 52 prisoners who were accused of collusion with AQIM.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary; however, it was not independent in 
practice. The executive branch continued to exercise significant 
influence over the judiciary through its ability to appoint and 
pressure judges. In addition poorly educated and trained judges were 
susceptible to social, financial, and tribal pressures, which limited 
judicial fairness. International donors funded training for prosecutors 
and judges during the year to increase judicial efficiency. The ONA 
released reports in February and March criticizing the lack of 
independent judges and the court system. On September 8, the Government 
announced an overhaul of judges and the justice system; however, this 
initiative was not implemented by year's end.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for due process. Defendants 
enjoy a presumption of innocence. They have a right to a public trial, 
but juries are not used. Defendants have the right to consult with an 
attorney and to be present during their trial. However, the ONA's 
February report stated that lawyers had been denied access to their 
clients. By law, all defendants, regardless of the court or their 
ability to pay, have the legal right to representation by counsel 
during proceedings. If defendants lack the ability to pay for counsel, 
the court should appoint an attorney from a list prepared by ONA, which 
provides a defense free of charge. However, this measure was rarely 
enforced during the year. Defendants have the right to appeal. 
Defendants can confront or question witnesses and present witnesses and 
evidence in both civil and criminal cases. In theory defendants have 
access to government-held evidence, but access was difficult in 
practice. These rights were also extended to minorities. The foregoing 
rights generally were observed in practice, but did not extend equally 
to women.
    Sharia provides the legal principles upon which the law and legal 
procedure are based; the courts did not treat women equally in all 
cases. Lawyers also reported that, in some cases, the unequal treatment 
of women was based on considerations such as a woman's caste or 
nationality.
    A special court hears cases involving minors 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. The minimum age for children to be 
tried is 12 years old. Those between the ages of 12 and 18 are tried 
and, if convicted, sentenced to detention centers for minors.
    During the year there was no government response to the ONA's 2009 
findings that denounced violations of the legal code and procedural 
rules for political purposes, particularly in high-profile cases.
    There were no developments in the case of Ahmed Ould Khattri, 
former director of the Agency for the Promotion of Popular Savings and 
Credit Accounts, who was arrested in January 2009 for alleged 
mismanagement before the Mauritanian Central bank launched an 
investigation and before a judge reviewed the case. Ould Khattri was 
not charged or tried by year's end.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The Administrative Court 
has the jurisdiction to hear complaints of human rights violations. NGO 
representatives stated they collaborated with the court, but the court 
was not impartial in practice. There are administrative and judiciary 
remedies through the social chamber of the Court of Appeals and through 
the Supreme Court.

    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. Individuals could criticize the 
Government publicly or privately, and independent media were active and 
generally expressed a wide variety of views with limited restrictions. 
There were no reports of police questioning and detaining journalists 
during the year. However, some journalists practiced self-censorship in 
covering areas deemed sensitive, including the military, corruption, 
and Sharia, and there were reports of intimidation of journalists who 
covered sensitive issues. Government media--including TV Mauritania, 
Radio Mauritania, and daily newspapers Horizons (in French) and Chaab 
(in Arabic)-- mostly focused on official news, but provided limited 
coverage of opposition activities and views through the year. TV 
Mauritania occasionally broadcast programs covering some opposition 
activities.
    On February 25, Ahmed Ould Cheikh, president of the Rally of Press 
Editors and editor of the weekly newspaper Le Calame stated that the 
independent press refused to participate in the TV Mauritania program 
Press Club to protest previous censorship. According to the Mauritanian 
Press Association, which represents the journalists' union, TV 
Mauritania censored statements on national unity, toxic waste generated 
by foreign companies, and other sensitive topics by journalist Kissima 
Diagana, editor of weekly newspaper La Tribune.
    On February 26, Hanevy Ould Dehah, director of the news Web site 
Taqadoumy, received a presidential pardon after being detained since 
December 2009 despite having served his sentence for crimes against 
Islam and paying all imposed fines and legal fees. Dehah, who was 
originally arrested in June 2009 on charges of defamation of 
presidential candidate Ibrahima Sarr for publishing an article stating 
that Sarr bought a house with campaign money from General Aziz. Dehah, 
was sentenced in August 2009 to six months in prison and fined 30,000 
ouguiya ($111) for committing acts contrary to Islam and decency. The 
sentencing judge accused Dehah of creating a space allowing individuals 
to express anti-Islamic and indecent views, based on a female reader's 
comments made on the Taqadoumy site calling for increased sexual 
freedom.
    On April 24, gendarmes confiscated a video filmed by Al Jazeera in 
the Tagant Region. According to Al Jazeera, the video contained images 
of alleged toxic waste landfills. Sources close to the Government 
argued these landfills contained chemicals used as pesticides in the 
1970s by the African Agriculture Organization.
    On July 2, the National Assembly passed a law to liberalize the 
audiovisual sector, which has been traditionally state-owned. The law 
allows for the creation of private radio stations and television 
channels. There were no private stations or channels launched during 
the year.
    On September 15, the Mauritanian Press Rally (RPM) announced there 
would be a press blackout on September 19 to protest ``the deplorable 
situation of the press sector.'' However, the blackout did not occur. 
The RPM was protesting the rise in the cost of printing newspapers, the 
lack of government support, and the press' exclusion from coverage of 
some major events.
    Unlike the previous year, journalists for the Web site Taqadoumy 
were not arrested or detained due to their online articles or comments.
    The 2008 suspension of privately owned Radio Citoyenne's broadcasts 
and other radio and television programs devoted to civic education 
continued during the year.
    The charges against journalists Mohamed Nema Oumar and Mohamed Ould 
Abdellatif were dropped during the year. Oumar and Abdellatif were 
detained and charged with defamation in 2008 following the publication 
of an AL-hurriya newspaper article accusing three judges of corruption.
    There were no developments in the 2008 case of trade union 
activists' assault on Al Jazeera cameraman Mohamed Ould Moustafa due to 
his film coverage of postcoup opposition activities.

    Internet Freedom.--Unlike the previous year, there were no reports 
of government restrictions on Internet access.
    Individuals and groups could generally engage in the peaceful 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail.
    Internet access was available in urban areas throughout the 
country, with home access common among the affluent, and cyber cafes 
serving the remainder of the population. According to International 
Telecommunication Union statistics for 2009, approximately 2.28 percent 
of the country's inhabitants used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--Unlike the previous year, 
there were no government restrictions on academic freedom or cultural 
events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution provides for freedom of assembly. The law 
requires that organizers apply to the local prefect (hakim) for 
permission to hold large meetings or assemblies. Permission was 
generally approved, but on some occasions the authorities denied 
permission to hold demonstrations.
    Unlike the previous year, numerous incidents of security forces 
forcefully dispersing opposition demonstrations did not occur. However, 
on May 5, antiriot police brutally repressed a demonstration by 
employees of the municipality of Ksar. The event was led by the local 
collectivities National Union to demand payment of wage arrears and 
contributions to the national social security system.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association, and the Government generally respected this right.
    All political parties and local NGOs must register with the 
Ministry of the Interior. The Government encouraged local NGOs to join 
the Government-sponsored Civil Society Platform during the year. NGOs 
that are members of the platform do not receive government funding.
    The country has approximately 77 registered political parties and 
numerous NGOs, which generally functioned openly, issued public 
statements, and chose their own leadership. The Government generally 
did not prevent unrecognized political parties or NGOs from 
functioning. However, on July 5, the Ministry of the Interior ordered 
the international NGO National Democratic Institute (NDI) to suspend 
its operations because it lacked formal accreditation, although NDI had 
attempted to obtain accreditation since 2005. The ministry stated NDI 
had been operating illegally for years. There were no developments, and 
NDI remained suspended at year's end.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the Department of State's 2010 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation. The Government generally respected these rights, but 
persons lacking identity cards could not travel freely in some regions. 
Unlike the previous year, authorities did not restrict international 
travel of some opposition members.
    During the year the Government, in response to an increased 
terrorist threat, set up mobile roadblocks where gendarmerie, police, 
or customs officials checked the papers of travelers and often demanded 
bribes.
    The law does not prohibit forced exile, and there were no reports 
that the Government used it.
    The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for 
Migration, and other humanitarian organizations in providing protection 
and assistance to internally displaced persons, refugees, returning 
refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of 
concern; however, the Government lacked resources to support these 
persons effectively. The National Agency for the Welcome and 
Reintegration of Refugees (ANAIR) oversees the reintegration of 
repatriated refugees, provides administration and identification 
support, and contributes to social and economic development of 
resettlement areas. However, reintegration of returnees into 
communities was challenging due to deficient sanitation, health, and 
education infrastructure, as well as land disputes. The majority of 
Afro-Mauritanian returnees were unable to obtain identity cards, and 
birth certificates.
    During the year ANAIR offered reintegration programs such as summer 
camps for refugee children and training sessions for women. President 
Aziz's government also conducted a census of former teachers among 
returnees to reinstate them in their positions with the Ministry of 
Education. However, returnee associations complained that reintegration 
efforts as well as settlement of land disputes were slow.
    There were 19,000 Afro-Mauritanian refugees returned from Senegal 
as part of the official repatriation program that ended in December 
2009. However some 7,000 repatriation requests were stalled at various 
stages of processing and not completed by the program's end. On July 
13, the Government, UNHCR, and Senegal agreed to resume the limited 
repatriation of up to 2,400 individuals whose cases had been approved 
previously, but not acted upon. According to ANAIR, 1,385 refugees were 
repatriated during the year.

    Protection of Refugees.--Decree 2005/022, which sets forth the 
procedures for implementation of International Refugee Conventions, 
adopts the principles set forth in the 1951 Convention relating to the 
Status of Refugees and the 1969 African Union Convention Governing the 
Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problem in Africa. However, according 
to the National Forum of Organizations for Human Rights, legal 
implementation of the conventions did not occur during the year.
    The country's laws provide for the granting of asylum or refugee 
status and the Government has established a system for providing 
protection to refugees. The National Consultative Commission for 
Refugees (CNCR) is the national body for the determination of refugee 
status. UNHCR carries out refugee status determinations under its 
mandate and presents cases to the CNCR for recognition. The Government 
granted refugee status and accepted refugees recognized by UNHCR. In 
practice the Government provided protection against the expulsion or 
return of refugees to countries where their lives or freedoms would be 
threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership 
in a particular social group, or political opinion. The Government 
provided protection to approximately 717 refugees during the year.
    During the year the Government worked with the European Commission 
and the Government of Spain to return migrants to their countries of 
origin after attempts to reach the Canary Islands by sea. The 
Government operated a migrant reception center in the Nouadhibou region 
with the assistance of the Mauritanian Red Crescent and Spanish Red 
Cross to process returned migrants and to provide nutritional and 
medical care. International NGOs criticized overcrowding and poor 
detention conditions at the Nouadhibou migrant reception center. During 
the year there was no government response to a Spanish NGO's 2008 
report that recommended the center's closure based on its alleged 
operations outside of legal frameworks.
    The Government gave UNHCR access to returned migrants to determine 
if they were eligible for refugee status. In view of freedom of 
movement agreements with the Economic Community of West African States, 
the Government allowed West African migrants to remain, deporting only 
those found illegally seeking to reach the Canary Islands.
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 generally free and fair elections based on universal 
suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--The country returned to 
constitutional rule in June 2009 following the voluntary resignation of 
then president Abdallahi and the formation of a Transitional Government 
of National Unity.
    The country enjoyed a peaceful transition from military rule under 
the HSC to a democratically elected government with the July 2009 
presidential election in which former HSC leader General Aziz won 53 
percent of the vote. Although some opposition groups claimed the 
election was fraudulent and requested an investigation, other national 
and international observers judged the election to be generally free 
and fair, and the Constitutional Council certified the election.
    The 95-person National Assembly includes representatives from 12 of 
the 25 parties that contested the 2006 legislative elections as well as 
41 independents. Senate elections held in November 2009 resulted in the 
ruling UPR party winning 13 of 16 seats. The Islamic party Tawassoul 
and independent candidates won the remaining seats. The opposition 
Rally of Democratic Forces party lost a seat. The opposition and 
independent candidates denounced strong pressures from the authorities 
on municipal advisors to vote for majority party candidates and to 
convince independent candidates to step down. No investigations were 
launched by year's end.
    Political parties operated without restrictions, and there were no 
reports of restrictions on opposition opponents.
    There were 15 women in the National Assembly and nine women in the 
56-seat Senate. The 28-member cabinet included five women, three Black 
Moors, and six Afro-Mauritanians.
    The electoral law requires that women make up at least 20 percent 
of candidates on legislative candidate lists.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not enforce the law effectively, and 
officials often engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. Corrupt 
practices were widely believed to exist at all levels of government, 
and the World Bank's most recent Worldwide Governance Indicators 
reflected that corruption was a severe problem. Government officials 
reportedly received frequent favors from authorities, such as 
unauthorized exemption from taxes, special grants of land, and 
preferential treatment during bidding on government projects. 
Corruption was most pervasive in government procurement, bank loans, 
fishing license distribution, land distribution, and tax payments. The 
Ministry of the Interior's Economic Crimes Brigade and the Office of 
the Inspector General were responsible for investigating corruption. 
President Aziz's government placed fighting corruption at the top of 
its agenda and made high-profile arrests during the year. Corruption 
and impunity were also serious problems in the police force, and the 
Government rarely held security officials accountable or prosecuted 
them for abuses. Judicial corruption was also a problem.
    The Government implemented anticorruption measures such as a census 
of government officials that resulted in the identification of 5,000 
``ghost'' employees. Additionally, it enforced laws prohibiting the use 
of government vehicles outside working hours and eliminated benefits 
such as free housing for high-level government officials.
    On April 28, the Accounts Court ordered the former minister of 
finance during the 2009 Transitional Government, Sidi Ould Salem, to 
reimburse 417 million ouguiya ($1.6 million) to the state treasury. The 
court accused Salem of making unjustified expenditures while he was 
general manager of The Society of Construction and Real Estate 
Management.
    On May 13, former prime minister Yahya Ould Ahmed El Waghef was 
summoned to court to answer charges related to the ``tainted rice 
scandal'' for which he was held in jail for a few weeks after the 2008 
coup d'etat. Waghef allegedly approved the purchase of tainted rice 
that was planned for free distribution. His court appearance was later 
postponed, without a new appearance date specified, and there was no 
development in the case by year's end.
    On May 15, the Economic Crimes Brigade arrested three Mauritanian 
Gas Company managers for alleged invoice falsification totaling 35 
million ouguiya ($132,000). The managers were ordered to repay the 
money, which they reportedly did during the year.
    On June 14, Nouakchott Port Tax Inspector Cheikh Ould Maouloud was 
arrested for misappropriating approximately two billion ouguiya (seven 
million dollars). His case remained pending at year's end.
    In June the Internal Revenue Office launched a tax collection 
campaign and ordered the main banks to pay back taxes totaling between 
400 million and 1.8 billion ouguiya each ($1.4 to $6.2 million). The 
banks contested the amounts and contacted the Ministry of Finance to 
resolve the crisis, which threatened the solvency of the national bank 
system. The issue was resolved through an agreement between the Central 
Bank and the primary banks.
    On June 6, former wali (governor) of Nouakchott, Sidi Brahim Ould 
Maouloud, was arrested for illegally transfering 1,700 plots of land in 
Toujounine to Oumar Ould M'Haiham, a former government official. 
Maouloud was released the same day. M'Haiham and 12 other persons 
accused of selling the illegally acquired plots were arrested June 7 
and later convicted. Their sentences were pending at year's end.
    On August 26, Human Rights Commissioner Mohamed Lemine Ould Daddeh 
was fired for mismanagement, following an audit by the Office of the 
Inspector General, and ordered to reimburse 271 million ouguiya 
($934,482) within 15 days or face incarceration. Daddeh requested an 
extension of the payment deadline, but failed to submit reimbursement 
and was arrested on September 20. He was awaiting trial at year's end.
    In September 2009 a Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis, and 
Malaria investigation uncovered widespread corruption in the management 
of the fund's grant to the country. In October 2009 the Economic Crimes 
Brigade arrested the country program coordinator, his executive 
secretary, and two other individuals; however, their trial had not 
begun by year's end.
    The former central bank governor, Sidel Mokhtar Ould Nagi, and his 
deputy, Mahomed Ould Oumarou, were released without trial during the 
year. They were charged in December 2009 with treason, forgery, 
mismanagement, and diversion of approximately 24 billion ouguiya ($88 
million) in 2000-01.
    On January 4, Mohamed Ould Noueiguedh, former chairman and chief 
executive officer of the National Bank of Mauritania; Crif Ould 
Abdallahi, chairman of the board of the Islamic Bank of Mauritania; and 
businessman Abdou Maham were released after a mediation effort led by 
El Hacen Ould Dedew. The public prosecutor had charged them in December 
2009 with conspiracy to defraud the Central Bank of 14 billion ouguiya 
($52 million).
    The Government did not enforce the requirement for senior 
officials, including the president, to file a declaration of their 
personal assets. However, President Aziz publicly declared his assets 
in October due to public pressure.
    The law provides for public access to government information, and 
the Government granted such access to citizens and noncitizens, 
including foreign media during the year.
Section 5. 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 met with local NGO monitors during the year and 
cooperated during visits by the UN, ICRC, and Amnesty International. UN 
Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, Gulnara Shahinian, 
visited the country from October to November 2009 to study actions 
taken by the Government to end slavery. The special rapporteur's report 
was released in August, and the Government provided its response during 
the September Human Rights Council session in Geneva.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law provide for equality for all citizens 
regardless of race, national origin, sex, or social status, and 
prohibits racial or ethnic propaganda; however, the Government often 
favored individuals on the basis of racial and tribal affiliation, 
social status, and political ties. Societal discrimination against 
women, trafficking in persons, and racial and ethnic discrimination 
were problems.

    Women.--According to NGOs, the incidence of both reported and 
unreported rape continued to be high, and rape was considered a serious 
problem. Rape, including spousal rape, is illegal; however, the 
Government did not enforce the law effectively. According to the penal 
code, rapists who are single men faced penalties of forced labor and 
flagellation. Married rapists could be subject to the death penalty. 
However, rape cases rarely went to trial. Several cases were reported 
of wealthy rape suspects avoiding prosecution or, if prosecuted, 
avoiding prison. Families of the victim commonly reached an agreement 
with the rapist for monetary compensation. National statistics on 
arrests, prosecutions, and convictions for rape were unavailable. Human 
rights activists and lawyers reported that rape victims were 
stigmatized, persecuted, and even imprisoned. Since rape was tied to 
the concept of ``Zina'' or sinful sexual relations outside marriage, 
judges may hold the victim responsible for the rape.
    Domestic violence was considered a serious problem. Spousal abuse 
and domestic violence are illegal; however, the Government did not 
enforce the law effectively, and most cases went unreported. There are 
no specific penalties for domestic violence, and convictions were very 
rare. There were no reliable government statistics on prosecutions, 
convictions, and sentences for domestic violence. According to 2009 
statistics, the AFCF provided legal assistance to 1,152 domestic 
violence victims.
    Police and the judiciary occasionally intervened in domestic abuse 
cases, but women rarely sought legal redress, relying instead on 
family, NGOs, and community leaders to resolve domestic disputes. NGOs 
reported that in certain cases they had sought help from the police for 
victims of domestic violence, but the police declined to intervene. 
AFCF and other women's NGOs provided psychologists and shelter to some 
victims.
    Traditional forms of mistreatment of women appeared to decline 
during the year. One form of such mistreatment was the forced feeding 
of adolescent girls (gavage) prior to marriage, which was practiced 
only among White Moor tribal groups. Increased government, media, and 
civil society attention to the problem led to a marked decline in 
traditional views encouraging female obesity despite the health risks. 
Nevertheless, overeating to conform to cultural standards remained an 
issue, mostly in rural areas. Many urban women endangered their health 
by taking pills to gain weight or increase their appetite.
    Women's NGOs reported sexual harassment was a common problem at the 
workplace, but there are no laws or penalties against it.
    Men and women had equal access to diagnosis and treatment for 
sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. The Government 
recognized the right of individuals and couples to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children and to 
have the information and means to do so free from discrimination, 
violence or coercion. However, reproductive issues were a sensitive 
topic. Some women's NGOs, such as the Mauritanian Association for the 
Health of Women and Child (AMSME) and AFCF, focused on reproductive 
rights. The incidence of infant mortality under five years old is 122 
deaths per 1,000 live births.
    AFCF stressed that poor women and women from traditionally lower 
castes such as slaves and former slaves had insufficient access to 
contraception, obstetric and postpartum care, skilled attendance during 
childbirth, and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, 
including HIV. AMSME, which operated a center for rape victims, 
provided emergency contraception to victims.
    Women have legal rights to property and child custody and, among 
the more modern and urbanized population, these rights were recognized. 
Nevertheless, divorced women could potentially lose child custody if 
they remarried. By local tradition, a woman's first marriage requires 
parental consent. In accordance with the personal status code, men can 
marry up to four women but are required to request spousal consent 
before marrying again. Women were encouraged by government awareness 
programs to obtain a contractual agreement at the time of marriage 
stipulating that the marriage ends if the husband marries a second 
wife. This practice was common in Moor society. Nevertheless, women who 
did not establish a solid contract remained unprotected. In addition 
the validity of and right to establish prenuptial agreements was not 
always respected.
    In practice polygamy continued to be rare among Moors but was 
gaining in popularity. It was common among other ethnic groups. 
Arranged marriages were increasingly rare, particularly among the Moor 
population. Also there was cultural resistance to marriages among 
members of different castes, and NGOs reported powerful individuals 
used the judicial system to intimidate and persecute members of their 
families who married below their social rank.
    Women still faced legal discrimination, and they were considered 
minors in the eyes of the law. According to Sharia, the testimony of 
two women was necessary to equal that of one man. The courts granted 
only half as large an indemnity to the family of a woman who was killed 
as was awarded for a man's death. Formulas applied to property 
distribution varied widely from case to case. The personal status code 
provides a framework for the consistent application of secular law and 
Sharia-based family law, but the code had yet to be implemented. Human 
rights lawyers reported that judges treated differently cases 
concerning White Moor women, slave, or lower-caste women, and foreign 
women.
    Women did not face legal discrimination in areas not addressed 
specifically by Sharia. The law provides that men and women should 
receive equal pay for equal work. The two largest employers, the civil 
service and the state mining company, observed this law, although it 
was not universally applied in practice. In the modern wage sector, 
women also received family benefits, including three months of 
maternity leave.
    The Government sought to open new employment opportunities for 
women in areas that were traditionally filled by men, such as 
diplomacy, health care, communications, police, and customs services. 
Women continued to become more involved in the fishing industry and 
established several women's fishing cooperatives.
    The Ministry of Social, Child, and Family Affairs (MASEF) continued 
its two-year program in cooperation with the UN Population Fund to 
promote a sociocultural and legislative environment that favors gender 
equality and reduces gender violence. The Secretariat for Women's 
Affairs worked with many NGOs and cooperatives to improve the status of 
women. Women's groups and national and international NGOs organized 
meetings, seminars, and workshops throughout the year to publicize 
women's rights. The secretariat, in collaboration with the German 
Society for Technical Development (GTZ), publicized women's rights and 
organized workshops regarding their rights.

    Children.--By law citizenship is derived from one's father. 
Citizenship can be derived from one's mother under the following two 
conditions: if the mother is a citizen and the father's nationality is 
unknown and if the child was born in country to a citizen mother and 
repudiates the father's nationality a year before reaching majority. 
Children born abroad to citizen parents can acquire the country's 
citizenship one year before reaching majority. Minor children of 
parents who have become naturalized citizens are also eligible for 
citizenship.
    In general the Government registered births immediately; however, 
in the South, many citizens reported not having birth certificates or 
national identity papers. In addition some slaves did not have birth 
certificates. There was no official data on the number of births that 
went unregistered.
    The law makes special provision for children's welfare, and there 
were government programs to care for abandoned children; however, 
inadequate funding hampered these programs' effectiveness.
    School attendance is mandatory for six years of universal primary 
education. However, the law was not effectively enforced.
    Public education was free through university level. Classes were 
fully integrated, including boys and girls from all social and ethnic 
groups. Children of slave caste families were allowed to attend school, 
but many did not receive an education. There were no legal restrictions 
on the education of girls. Almost all children, regardless of gender or 
ethnic group, attended Koranic school between the ages of five and 
seven years old and gained at least rudimentary skills in reading and 
writing Arabic.
    FGM was practiced by all ethnic groups and performed on young 
girls, often on the seventh day after birth and almost always before 
the age of six months. The child protection penal code states that any 
act or attempt to damage a female child's sexual organs is punishable 
by imprisonment and a 120,000 to 300,000 ouguiya ($460 to $1,153) 
penalty. The most recent statistics on FGM indicated a decrease in 
incidence from 71 percent in 2001 to 65 percent in 2007, mainly due to 
a decrease in the urban sector. Infibulation, the most severe form of 
excision, was not practiced.
    The Government and international NGOs continued to coordinate anti-
FGM efforts focused on eradicating the practice in hospitals, 
discouraging midwives from practicing FGM, and educating the 
population. The Government, the UN Population Fund, the UN Children's 
Fund (UNICEF), and the national Imams' Association joined other civil 
society members to emphasize the serious health risks of FGM and that 
FGM was not a religious requirement. Government hospitals and licensed 
medical practitioners were barred from performing FGM, and several 
government agencies worked to prevent others from perpetrating it. 
According to several women's rights experts, the campaign against FGM 
appeared to be changing attitudes towards the practice. On January 11, 
30 religious leaders declared a fatwa (Islamic ruling) against FGM 
following a two-day round table organized by the Forum of Islamic 
Thought and Dialogue Between Cultures. The Government and civil society 
organized a Zero Tolerance Day on February 6 to raise awareness about 
FGM.
    Events focusing on raising women's awareness of FGM were organized 
in Hodh El Ghabri on February 2 by MASEF and the GTZ. On May 24, 
communities in the Brakna region renounced FGM at events organized by 
UNICEF, the NGO Tostan, and the MASEF.
    In theory the legal marriage age is 18 years old, but the law 
rarely was enforced, and there were widespread reports of child 
marriages. Since consensual sex outside of marriage is illegal, a 
``weli'' (tutor) can present a case to local authorities requesting 
permission be granted to a woman younger than 18 years old to marry. In 
practice this permission is granted frequently.
    There is a law prohibiting adult sexual relations with a child with 
penalties of six months to two years of imprisonment and a 120,000 
to180,000 ouguiya ($414 to $620) fine.
    There is a law prohibiting child pornography with penalties of two 
months to one year imprisonment and a 160,000 to 300,000 ouguiya ($550 
to $1,034) fine.
    Local NGOs estimated that there were 1,000 street children, largely 
as a result of poverty and the urbanization of formerly nomadic 
families. There was limited government assistance to street children.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--A very small number of expatriates practiced 
Judaism.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical disabilities in education, employment, or 
the provision of other state services, and there were no reports of 
governmental or societal discrimination against persons with 
disabilities. Persons with disabilities generally did not have access 
to buildings, and there were no government programs to provide such 
access. The Government did not mandate preference in employment, 
education, or public accessibility for persons with disabilities, 
although it did provide some rehabilitation and other assistance for 
such persons. The MASEF oversees social reinsertion programs for 
persons with disabilities. On June 10, the Council of Ministers 
approved a decree on the organization and function of the National 
Multisectored Commission for the Promotion of Handicapped People. The 
commission was not operational by year's end.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Ethnic minorities faced 
governmental discrimination. The inconsistent issuance of national 
identification cards, which were required for voting, effectively 
disenfranchised many members of southern minority groups. Racial and 
cultural tension and discrimination also arose from the geographic and 
cultural divides between Moors and Afro-Mauritanians. The Moors are 
divided among numerous ethno-linguistic tribal and clan groups and 
further distinguished as either White Moor or Black Moor, although it 
was often difficult to distinguish between the two by skin color. White 
Moor tribes and clans, many of whom are dark-skinned after centuries of 
intermarriage with Berbers and sub-Saharan African groups, dominated 
positions in government and business. The Black Moors (also called 
Haratines or freed slaves) remain politically and economically weaker 
than White Moors. Afro-Mauritanian ethnic groups, which include the 
Halpulaar (the largest non-Moor group), Wolof, and Soninke, are 
concentrated in the south and urban areas. Afro-Mauritanians were 
underrepresented in the Government and military.
    The constitution designates Arabic as the official language and 
Arabic, Pulaar, Soninke, and Wolof as the country's national languages. 
The Government continued to encourage French and Arabic bilingualism 
within the school system, as opposed to previous efforts at 
``Arabization.'' Neither the Afro-Mauritanian national languages nor 
the local Hassaniya Arabic dialect were used as languages of 
instruction. In February university riots between French-speaking Afro-
Mauritanian and Arabic-speaking Moor students broke out after Prime 
Minister Laghdaf and the minister of culture made public comments 
stressing that Arabic is the state's official language. The controversy 
came to an end after government officials met with students to dispel 
fears about the ``Arabization'' of the educational system.
    Ethnic rivalry contributed to political divisions and tensions. 
Some political parties tended to have readily identifiable ethnic 
bases, although political coalitions among parties were increasingly 
important. Black Moors and Afro-Mauritanians continued to be 
underrepresented in mid- to high-level public and private sector jobs.
    There were numerous reports of land disputes between former slaves, 
Afro-Mauritanians, and Moors. According to human rights activists and 
press reports, local authorities allowed Moors to expropriate land 
occupied by former slaves and Afro-Mauritanians or obstruct access to 
water and pastures.
    The perpetrators in Kifa, who physically attacked the former slave 
family Ehel Brahim and wounded Fatimetou Mint Brahim and her children 
following a land dispute in August 2009, remained unpunished by year's 
end.
    Human rights NGOs reported numerous cases of heritage disputes 
between slaves or former slaves and their masters. Traditionally, slave 
masters inherited their slaves' possessions. There were no developments 
in the case of Salma Mint Jiddou, a Nouakchott widow, whose inheritance 
was claimed by her husband's owners in March 2009.
    There were no developments regarding the family of Zeinabou Mint 
Brahim, which was deprived of its inheritance by Cheikh Mohamedou Ould 
Cheikh Hamadoullah, who claimed Mint Brahim was his slave. Despite a 
2009 court ruling establishing Mint Brahim's brothers and sister as the 
rightful heirs, the authorities did not enforce the ruling by year's 
end.
    The Government's 2009 Program to Eradicate the Effects of Slavery 
continued during the year. The program's goals were to reduce poverty 
among 44,750 former slaves in the Assaba, Brakna, Gorgol, and Hodh 
Chargui regions and improve access to water, health, education, and 
income-generating opportunities. The Government also continued its 
collaborative program with the UN and a foreign donor on conflict 
prevention program aimed at promoting democratic values and the rights 
of marginalized populations, including former slaves. According to the 
NGO SOS Esclaves, these programs focused on fighting poverty and the 
effects of slavery rather than the practice of slavery itself.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Under Sharia homosexual acts 
between males are punishable by death if witnessed by four individuals; 
however, there was no evidence of either societal violence or 
systematic government discrimination based on sexual orientation, and 
there were no criminal prosecutions during the year. There were no 
organizations advocating for sexual orientation or gender-identity 
rights, but there were no legal impediments to the operation of such 
groups.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--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 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers to form and 
join unions of their choice without authorization or excessive 
requirements, and workers exercised this right. The law also provides 
for freedom of association, and workers exercised this right in 
practice. All workers except members of the armed forces and police 
were free to associate in and establish unions at the local and 
national levels. 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. 
Nearly 90 percent of industrial and commercial workers, however, were 
unionized.
    To be legally recognized, a union must 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. The Government has the discretion 
to decide whether to recognize a trade union.
    The law provides workers with the right to strike, and workers 
exercised this right during the year. However, long and complex 
procedures must be followed before a legal strike can be called. The 
General Confederation of Mauritanian Workers (CGTM) led a strike of 
government employees for three days in March. According to the CGTM, 
neither the Ministry of Health nor the Ministry of Education referred 
the matter to the Ministry for the Civil Service and Labor for 
negotiation. Therefore, the CGTM grievance remained unresolved at 
year's end.
    According to the CGTM, the Government funded the participation of 
several trade union participants at the International Labor 
Organization (ILO) conference in June, but refused to fund the 
participation of CGTM and did not provide a reason for this action. 
CGTM submitted a complaint to the ILO citing discrimination due to the 
fact that the confederation was against the 2008 August coup.
    The Government can dissolve a union for what it considered an 
illegal or politically motivated strike; however, no unions were 
disbanded during the year. Workers must provide advance notice of at 
least 10 working days for any strike. Workers are not allowed to hold 
sit-ins or to block nonstriking workers from entering work premises.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides that unions may organize workers freely without government or 
employer interference, and workers generally exercised this right in 
practice. However, the head of government decides how negotiations are 
conducted once the Ministry for the Civil Service agrees on 
negotiations.
    Laws provide workers with protection against antiunion 
discrimination; however, national human rights groups reported that 
authorities did not actively investigate alleged antiunion practices in 
some private firms owned by very wealthy citizens.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, men, women, 
and children were trafficked for domestic service, street begging for 
unscrupulous religious teachers, and slave-like relationships as a 
domestic servant or herder. The antislavery law criminalizes the 
practice of slavery and imposes penalties on government officials who 
do not take action on reported cases; however, no cases were prosecuted 
during the year. The Government organized training workshops about the 
law for administrative authorities and judges. Also the Program to 
Eradicate the Consequences of Slavery provides one billion ouguiya 
($3.4 million) in development assistance to communities of former 
slaves. However, this is economically focused development assistance 
rather than social and legal enforcement of the anti-slavery law.
    Government efforts were not sufficient to enforce the antislavery 
law. No cases have been successfully prosecuted under the antislavery 
law despite the fact that de facto slavery exists in Mauritania.
    The labor code also includes criminal penalties for contracting to 
benefit from forced labor and for exploiting forced labor as part of an 
organized criminal network. Slavery-like practices, typically flowing 
from ancestral master-slave relationships and involving adults and 
children, continued in rural areas where education levels were 
generally low and a need existed for herding livestock, tending fields, 
and other manual labor.
    Forced labor also occurred in urban centers where young children, 
often girls, were retained as unpaid household servants. Some 
individuals self-identified as slaves or masters and were unaware that 
slavery had been abolished. Human rights groups reported that persons 
in slave-like relationships were persuaded by their masters to deny the 
relationship to activists.
    Voluntary servitude continued with some former slaves and 
descendants of slaves, who were victims of social discrimination and 
lacked professional skills needed for economic advancement, continued 
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 descendants of 
slaves vulnerable to exploitation by former masters. Adult females with 
children faced greater difficulties and could be compelled to remain in 
a condition of servitude, performing domestic duties, tending fields, 
or herding animals.
    There were reports that some former slaves 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, it 
has been enforced in only a few cases. NGO observers suggest that 
deeply embedded psychological and tribal bonds also made it difficult 
for many individuals, who had generations of forebearers 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 divinely ordained and they feared 
religious sanction if that bond were broken. Former slaves were 
subjected often to social discrimination and were limited 
professionally to performing manual labor in markets, airports, and 
water ports.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law provides that children under the age of 12 cannot be employed for 
light work; cannot be employed in the nonagricultural sector if under 
the age of 14; and cannot be employed if under the age of 13 in the 
agricultural sector unless the minister of labor grants an exception 
due to local circumstances. However, child labor in 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. They should not work over eight hours a day and should have one 
or several one-hour breaks. Children are also prohibited from engaging 
in night work.
    Several reports suggested that young girls from remote regions, and 
possibly from western Mali, were forced to work as unpaid housemaids in 
some wealthy urban homes.
    An unknown number of ``talibes'' (young students), nearly all from 
Halpulaar tribes, begged in the streets as part of an arrangement with 
their ``marabouts'' (religious teachers) for receiving religious 
instruction. There were reliable reports that a small number of 
marabouts forced their talibes to beg for over 12 hours a day and 
provided them with insufficient food and shelter. The Government 
continued a program to reduce the number of talibes and partnered with 
NGOs to provide talibes with basic medical and nutritional care.
    Street gang leaders forced children to steal, beg, and sell drugs. 
There were reports that children were forced to work in agriculture, 
construction, fishing, and cattle herding. NGOs reported that slavery-
related practices and slavery itself persisted in isolated areas of the 
country where a barter economy still prevailed and also in urban 
centers including Nouakchott.
    Young children in the countryside were commonly employed in 
herding; cultivation of subsistence crops, such as rice, millet, and 
sorghum; 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, such as metalworking, carpentry, vehicle repair, masonry, 
and in the informal sector. Reporting by some human rights NGOs, 
including SOS Esclaves, strongly suggested that domestic employment of 
girls as young as the age of seven, often unpaid, continued to be a 
problem. There was no child labor in the modern industrial sector.
    According to the joint report for the year by the Ministry of 
Social Affairs and UNICEF, the greatest obstacle to the national 
strategy and three-year plan of action for the protection of children 
was the absence of coordination mechanisms and the lack of human and 
technical resources in the Ministry of Social Affairs, which is the 
principal agency in charge of the promotion and protection of 
children's rights.
    In addition according to the evaluation report of the National 
Poverty Reduction Strategy, the protection of children was not 
explicitly addressed within the general strategy to fight poverty, and 
a lack of financial resources hampered significant efforts.
    There was a labor inspectorate with the authority to refer 
violations directly to the appropriate judicial authorities, but the 
eight regional inspectors and 30 inspector/controllers lacked the basic 
resources, such as transport and office equipment, needed to enforce 
existing child labor and other labor laws.
    See also the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The nationally mandated minimum 
monthly wage for adults, which was not enforced, was 21,150 ouguiya 
($81), and it did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker 
and family. All workers are covered by the minimum wage law. Many labor 
unions denounced modern slavery conditions in several formal sectors 
such as the food-processing industry. In these sectors, workers do not 
have contracts or pay stubs. Their salaries were below the official 
minimum wage, and they worked in very unfavorable conditions. Sometimes 
they were not paid for several months. The CGTM reported that the 
Government did not give aid or compensation to these workers during the 
year.
    The standard legal nonagricultural workweek could not exceed either 
40 hours or six 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. All employees must be given at least one 24-hour period 
of rest per week. There are no legal provisions regarding compulsory 
overtime.
    The Labor Directorate of the Ministry of Labor was responsible for 
enforcement of the labor laws, but there was a lack of effective 
enforcement due to inadequate funding.
    The Government set health and safety standards. The Ministry of 
Labor was responsible for enforcing these standards, but did so 
inconsistently due to inadequate funding. In principle workers could 
remove themselves from hazardous conditions without risking loss of 
employment, but in practice they could not.

                               __________

                               MAURITIUS

    Mauritius is a constitutional parliamentary democracy of 
approximately 1.3 million citizens governed by a prime minister, a 
council of ministers, and a National Assembly. The Alliance of the 
Future, a coalition led by Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam, won 
the majority of National Assembly seats in the May 5 election, which 
was judged by international and local observers to be generally free 
and fair. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    The following human rights problems were reported: security force 
abuse of suspects and detainees; prison overcrowding; restrictions on 
media freedom; official corruption; violence and societal 
discrimination against women; abuse and sexual exploitation of 
children; some abuse based on sexual orientation; discrimination 
against persons living with HIV/AIDS; restrictions on labor rights, 
antiunion discrimination, 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings during the year.
    There were no further developments regarding the lower court's May 
2009 exoneration for lack of evidence of four police officers involved 
in the 2006 death in custody of Rajesh Ramlugon; the officers were 
initially accused of abuse of authority and concealing evidence. In 
June 2009 the L'Express newspaper reported that the director of public 
prosecutions (DPP) appealed the exoneration to the Supreme Court. The 
officers remained free on bail.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
there continued to be reports of police abuses.
    According to media reports, on December 29, motorcyclist Wesley 
Agathe narrowly avoided hitting a plainclothes police officer, who 
allegedly had been pushed in front of Agathe's bike by five other 
plainclothes officers. Agathe stopped his motorbike to reproach the six 
plainclothes officers for the near collision and reported the incident 
to uniformed police officers who drove towards him. During the incident 
one of the six plainclothes police officers accused him of stealing a 
mobile phone and 7,000 rupees ($229). The six officers then took Agathe 
to the Pamplemousses police station and, in view of two other uniformed 
police officers at the station, beat Agathe so severely that he lost 
consciousness and sustained bruises on his face and neck. Agathe was 
subsequently released without charge. The police officers involved in 
the beating retained their positions pending an investigation.
    According to July 4 media reports, some of the 34 inmates who 
escaped from Grand River North West Prison on June 27 were observed 
with bruises and facial swelling after they were recaptured and 
transferred to the Beau Bassin Central Prison. A detainee's relative 
reported that prison guards had beaten some of the inmates.
    There were no developments in the September 2009 case of a man whom 
the police allegedly beat and sexually assaulted. The police 
investigation of the case continued during the year.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--The media reported cases 
of prisoner abuse, overcrowding, and drug abuse in the country's five 
prisons. Unlike in the previous year, no data was available on the 
number of abuse complaints filed by prisoners.
    As of November 30, the Central Prison, which has a capacity of 
1,064, held 1,476 prisoners, including 138 female prisoners and 1,338 
male prisoners. Three boys and three girls were held in juvenile 
prisons. Pretrial detainees were held together with convicted 
prisoners.
    There were no developments in the February 2009 death of an inmate 
in Central Prison who died after being stabbed by another prisoner. A 
police investigation was still ongoing at year's end.
    Prisoners and detainees had access to visitors and were permitted 
religious observance. Authorities permitted prisoners and detainees to 
submit complaints to judicial authorities without censorship and to 
request investigation of credible allegations of inhumane conditions. 
Authorities investigated credible allegations of inhumane conditions 
and documented the results of such investigations in a publicly 
accessible manner. The Government investigated and monitored prison and 
detention center conditions.
    The Government permitted prison visits by independent observers, 
including the press, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), local 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and the UN. The local NGO 
Association Kinouete also ran programs to rehabilitate prisoners.
    The country had no ombudsman to serve on behalf of prisoners and 
detainees to consider such matters as alternatives to incarceration for 
nonviolent offenders, circumstances of confinement for juvenile 
offenders, or improving pretrial detention, bail, and recordkeeping 
procedures to ensure prisoners did not serve beyond the maximum 
sentence for the charged offense.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The police force is 
headed by a police commissioner who has authority over all police and 
other security forces, including the Coast Guard and Special Mobile 
Forces, a paramilitary unit that shares responsibility with police for 
internal security. The police commissioner reports directly to the 
Prime Minister's Office. Police corruption and abuse of detainees were 
problems. The Office of the Ombudsperson, the NHRC, and the Police 
Complaints Bureau investigated security force abuses.
    By October 31, the NHRC had received 26 complaints of physical or 
verbal abuse by police: nine complaints were withdrawn or dismissed for 
lack of evidence, and 17 cases remained under investigation. The NHRC 
may report cases of police abuse to the Office of the DPP.
    Orientation training for all new police recruits included a segment 
on human rights. Management-level officers were required to take a 
refresher course every five years. More than 200 police officers who 
qualified on the basis of years of experience participated in human 
rights courses during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The 
constitution and law require that arrest warrants be based on 
sufficient evidence and issued by a duly authorized official and that 
the accused be read his or her rights, including the right to remain 
silent and the right to an attorney. The law requires that suspects be 
brought before the local district magistrate within 48 hours. Police 
generally respected these rights, although police sometimes delayed 
suspects' access to defense counsel. Detainees generally had prompt 
access to family members, although minors and those who did not know 
their rights were less likely to be provided such access. Indigent 
detainees facing serious criminal charges were provided an attorney at 
state expense. A suspect can be detained for up to a week, after which 
the suspect may bring the issue of bail before a magistrate. 
Alternatively, a suspect may be released on bail the same day as an 
arrest, if police concur. Individuals charged with drug trafficking may 
be detained for up to 36 hours without access to legal counsel or bail.
    Due to a backlogged court system, approximately 20 percent of the 
prison population was in pretrial detention. Pretrial detainees 
generally remained in remand for one to two years before being tried. 
In practice judges applied time served in remand to subsequent 
sentences.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected 
judicial independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence, and 
trials are public. Juries are only used in murder trials. Defendants 
have the right to be present and to consult an attorney in a timely 
manner. An attorney is provided at public expense when indigent 
defendants face serious criminal charges. Defendants can confront or 
question witnesses against them and present witnesses and evidence on 
their own behalf. Defendants and attorneys have access to government-
held evidence relevant to their cases, and defendants have the right of 
appeal. These rights were respected in practice, although an extensive 
case backlog delayed the process, particularly for obtaining 
government-held evidence. The law extends the above rights to all 
citizens.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary for civil matters. The law provides access to a 
court to bring lawsuits seeking damages for human rights violations. 
The constitution provides for an ombudsman to investigate complaints 
from the public and members of parliament against government 
institutions and to seek redress for injustices committed by a public 
officer or authority in official duties as an alternative to the court 
system. The ombudsman has the authority to make recommendations but 
cannot impose penalties on a government agency.

    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 and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press; however, at times the 
Government did not respect these rights in practice.
    Individuals could criticize the Government publicly or privately 
without reprisal.
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views.
    The Government owned the sole domestic television network, 
Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) TV, and opposition parties and 
media experts regularly criticized the station for its progovernment 
bias and unfair coverage of National Assembly debates. International 
television networks were available by subscription or via a cable box.
    During the year La Sentinelle group, a media conglomerate, noted 
that since 2005 government agencies had gradually stopped buying 
advertising space in its publications after newspapers it owned 
criticized the Government. In May various government agencies cancelled 
their subscriptions to L'Express newspaper, a member of La Sentinelle 
group. At year's end the boycott was still ongoing.
    On May 27, police prevented journalists from L'Express and 5-Plus 
Dimanche newspaper, also operated by La Sentinelle group, from 
attending a news conference given by the finance minister. On May 31, 
La Sentinelle requested a Supreme Court injunction to prevent such 
action. The court heard both parties and on June 14, the attorney 
general and La Sentinelle Group signed before a Supreme Court judge an 
agreement that terminated the boycott of the group's journalists and 
photographers.
    The prime minister regularly warned the press about tougher media 
laws that were being developed.
    The Satanic Verses continued to be banned, as it has been since 
1989; however, authorities did not fine bookstores for carrying the 
book during the year.
    Officials used libel laws to suppress media criticism of political 
leaders.
    For example, on July 1, police arrested chief editor Ananda Rajoo 
of the weekly Le Nouveau Militant for libel for an August 2009 article 
questioning the Government's official statistics on the H1N1 flu 
outbreak; Rajoo was released on bail the same day. On October 7, the 
DPP dropped charges against the chief editor.
    On October 4, police arrested chief editor Dharmanand Dooharika of 
the weekly Samedi Plus for libel for a September 2009 article 
questioning the appointment of a manager in the national aviation 
company. Dooharikao was brought to court and released on bail the same 
day.
    On September 16 and 17, the University of Mauritius and the UN 
Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization sponsored a 
conference on press freedom.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on the 
Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or Internet 
chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the peaceful 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. According to 
International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2009, 
approximately 23 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
and law provide for freedom of assembly and association, and the 
Government generally respected these rights in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the Department of State's 2010 International Religious 
Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.
    The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, 
stateless persons, and other persons of concern.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is not a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, its 1967 Protocol, or 
the 1969 African Union Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the 
Refugee Problem in Africa, nor do its laws provide for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status. The Government has not established a system 
for providing protection to refugees. However, in practice, the 
Government has not expelled or returned refugees to countries where 
their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, 
religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or 
political opinion.
    The six Iraqis who in 2008 were detained for entering the country 
with fraudulent documents, granted refugee status by the UNHCR, and 
released on bail in March 2009 departed the country on January 19 for 
an evacuation transit center in Romania; the six were assisted by 
Amnesty International and the UN Development Program.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide 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 and Political Participation.--International and local 
observers characterized the May 5 national election as generally free 
and fair. The constitution provides for 62 National Assembly seats to 
be filled by election. It also provides for the Electoral Supervisory 
Commission to allocate up to eight additional seats to unsuccessful 
candidates from minority communities through a ``best loser system'' 
(BLS). In the May 5 election, the ruling Alliance of the Future (AF), 
led by the Labor Party, won 41 parliamentary seats; the Alliance of the 
Heart (AH), led by the Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM), won 18; the 
Mouvement Rodriguais (MR) won two; and the Mauritian Solidarity Front 
won one seat. Under the BLS, the AF subsequently obtained four 
additional seats, the AH two, and the Organization for the Rodriguan 
People one seat.
    Problems noted by international observers in the May 5 election 
included unequal representation due to electoral constituencies not 
being redrawn; inability of persons who turned 18 between January 2009 
and May 2010 to vote due to use of the 2009 voters roll; lack of 
accommodation to facilitate voting for persons with disabilities; and 
lack of legal authority to provide domestic election observers. Various 
candidates also claimed that some politicians distributed gifts in 
their constituencies prior to the election and that some polling 
materials were not available in Creole, a language spoken by more than 
90 percent of the population.
    Opposition parties stated that the Government-owned television 
station MBC TV favored the ruling party. Opposition and MMM leader Paul 
Berenger claimed that MBC TV provided more airtime to and better 
picture quality of the prime minister. On April 13, MMM filed a 
complaint with the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), an 
independent regulatory body, regarding airtime provided to the ruling 
party on March 31, when Prime Minister Ramgoolam announced the 
dissolution of the Government and presented the new government 
alliance. On April 15, the IBA ruled in favor of the MBC.
    The constitution requires all candidates to declare themselves as 
belonging to one of the following four ``communities'': Hindu, Muslim, 
Sino-Mauritian, or general population (all persons who do not belong to 
one of the other three categories). The BLS is based on the demographic 
makeup of the country as found in the 1972 census. However, there were 
concerns that the 1972 census results no longer reflected the country's 
demographic composition. Various political observers charged that the 
BLS undermined national unity and promoted discrimination.
    Political parties operated without restriction or outside 
interference.
    There were 13 women in the 70-seat National Assembly. Following the 
May 5 National Assembly elections, there were three female ministers in 
the 25-member cabinet. Of the 17 Supreme Court judges, seven were 
women.
    Although historically the Hindu majority dominated politics, no 
groups were excluded from the political system. In the National 
Assembly there were 37 Hindus, 21 members of the general population, 11 
Muslims, and one Sino-Mauritian. In the cabinet there were 17 Hindus, 
four Muslims, three members of the general population, and one Sino-
Mauritian.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, but 
the Government did not implement these laws effectively. There was a 
widespread public perception of corruption in the legislative and 
executive branches. The World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators 
reflected that corruption was a problem.
    On December 17, police arrested Johnson Roussety, the leader of the 
Rodrigues Regional Assembly and an MR member, for traffic of influence 
in forcing a civil servant to employ 200 workers who were allegedly MR 
partisans.
    During the year the Governmental Independent Commission Against 
Corruption (ICAC) registered 73 complaints of corruption against police 
officers: 35 cases were rejected for irrelevancy, 15 cases remained 
under investigation, one case was referred to the DPP, and 22 were 
discontinued for lack of substantiation.
    The ICAC continued to investigate the following 2009 cases: the 
overpayment by the District Council of Pamplemousses-Riviere du Rempart 
of a cleaning contract and the alleged bribery by the former director 
of the National Art Gallery.
    The case of the former chairman of the Mauritius Ports Authority 
who allegedly accepted a bribe in 2006 from a Dutch dredging company 
was heard before the court on September 9 and December 9. No further 
information was available at year's end.
    Ministers of Mauritius and commissioners of the Rodrigues Island 
Regional Assembly are required to publicly disclose the assets of 
spouses, children, and grandchildren upon taking office and at the 
dissolution of the National Assembly or of the Rodrigues Regional 
Assembly.
    There is no law that provides public access to government 
information; however, members of the public may request information by 
writing to the permanent secretary of the appropriate ministry. The 
Government generally complied with requests from citizens and 
noncitizens, including foreign media.
Section 5. 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 often cooperative and responsive to their views. In contrast to 
the previous year, there were no reports that police harassed any NGO 
staff.
    The Government cooperated with international governmental 
organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives and other 
international organizations.
    The president appoints an ombudsman to investigate complaints 
against public servants, police officers, and prison guards. Individual 
citizens, council ministers, or members of the National Assembly may 
request that the ombudsman initiate an investigation. The ombudsman 
makes recommendations to the appropriate government office for 
injustices committed by a public officer or authority carrying out 
official duties as an alternative to filing charges in the court 
system.
    The NHRC enjoyed the Government's cooperation and operated without 
government or party interference. The NHRC had adequate resources and 
was considered effective. The Commission did not issue a report during 
the year.
    In January, as called for by a February 2009 act of parliament, the 
Truth and Justice Commission (TJC) became operational. The TJC is 
mandated to conduct inquiries into slavery and indentured labor during 
the colonial period, determine appropriate measures to be extended to 
descendants of slaves and indentured laborers, inquire into complaints 
by persons aggrieved by dispossession or prescription of land in which 
they claimed to have an interest, and prepare a comprehensive report of 
its findings. The commission did not issue a report during the year.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law specifically prohibit discrimination on 
the basis of race, caste, place of origin, political opinion, color, 
gender, disability, or language. While the Government generally 
enforced these provisions, some societal discrimination occurred.

    Women.--The law prohibits rape, including spousal rape, and police 
and the judicial system enforced the law; however, rape was widespread. 
The penalty for rape is 20 years' imprisonment with a fine not to 
exceed 200,000 rupees ($6,557). As of November 1, the police Family 
Support Bureau had received six reports of rape cases; no statistics on 
prosecutions were available at year's end. Many victims chose not to 
report or file charges against their attackers due to cultural 
pressures and fear of retaliation.
    The law criminalizes domestic violence; however, it was a major 
problem. Domestic violence activists stated that police did not 
effectively enforce the law. Penalties for domestic violence ranged 
from 10 years' imprisonment to 20 years' imprisonment with a fine not 
to exceed 200,000 rupees ($6,557) if aggravating circumstances were 
involved. Anyone found guilty of violating a protection order may be 
fined up to 25,000 rupees ($819) or imprisoned for up to two years. The 
local NGO SOS Femmes reported that women remained in abusive situations 
for fear of losing financial support and that few filed complaints 
against their abusers. The Ministry of Gender Equality, Child 
Development, and Family Welfare maintained an abuse hotline and a Web 
site on legal protections for victims.
    Sexual harassment was a problem, and the Government was not 
effective at enforcing prohibitions against it. The law prohibits 
sexual harassment, which is punishable by up to two years' 
imprisonment. During the year the Sex Discrimination Division of the 
NHRC received 20 complaints, of which two involved sex discrimination, 
four involved sexual harassment, and 14 involved moral harassment, a 
term used to refer to nonsexual harassment. At year's end four cases 
remained under investigation, authorities dismissed three for lack of 
evidence, plaintiffs withdrew one case, five cases were referred to 
other authorities for appropriate action, and the commission completed 
seven investigations.
    The law provides for the basic right of couples and individuals to 
decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their 
children, and to have the information and means to do so free from 
discrimination, coercion, and violence. Couples and individuals were 
able to access contraception and skilled attendance during childbirth, 
including essential obstetric and postpartum care. The maternal 
mortality ratio was 36 per 100,000 live births. Women were equally 
treated for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
    Men and women enjoy the same rights under the constitution and the 
law, and these rights were upheld in the courts. The Ministry of Gender 
Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare is mandated to promote 
the rights of women. The National Women Entrepreneur Council, a 
semiautonomous government body under the ministry, is responsible for 
promoting the economic empowerment of women.
    Women played subordinate roles in society, and societal 
discrimination continued; however, women had equal access to education, 
employment, and government services. Women had equal access to credit 
and could own or manage businesses; however, in the private sector, 
women were paid less than men for substantially similar work. The law 
criminalizes the abandonment of one's family or pregnant spouse for 
more than two months and the nonpayment of court-ordered food support. 
The law affords women broadly defined wage protections, and authorities 
generally respected the law in practice. The law protects women from 
being forced to carry loads above certain weight limits.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived by birth within the country's 
territory. All births were registered, and the law provides for late 
registration. Failure to register births resulted in denial of some 
public services.
    Child abuse was more widespread than was acknowledged publicly, 
according to NGOs. The law criminalizes certain acts compromising the 
health, security, or morality of a child. The state-funded National 
Children's Council, the Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development, 
and Family Welfare, and the Office of the Ombudsperson for Children 
provided counseling, investigated reports of child abuse, and took 
remedial action to protect affected children. The Police Unit for the 
Protection of Minors conducted public education programs on the sexual 
abuse of minors.
    On September 13, in Richelieu, the body of seven-year-old Patricia 
Martin was found. The postmortem examination revealed that she was 
raped and burned alive. Police arrested her uncle, Marie Jose Tristan 
Casimir, on the same day. He remained in police detention at year's 
end.
    The police completed their investigation into the January 2009 case 
of a 15-year-old boy from Rodrigues Island who filed a complaint of an 
indecent act against a foreign citizen with permanent resident status. 
The case was referred to the DPP.
    There were no updates available in the following 2008 cases of 
child abuse: the January arrest of a foreign resident for sexually 
exploiting a 12-year-old girl with the consent of her aunt and uncle; 
the June arrest of a woman for sexually exploiting a 13-year-old girl; 
and the July arrest of three men for sexually exploiting a 12-year-old 
girl.
    Child prostitution was a problem, and the Government targeted the 
practice as a law enforcement and prevention priority. The law 
prohibits child prostitution and child pornography and provides for a 
maximum penalty of 15 years' imprisonment for child trafficking. The 
minimum age for consensual sex is 16 years. Any person found guilty of 
statutory rape may face a sentence of up to 20 years' imprisonment and 
a fine not exceeding 100,000 rupees ($3,278).
    The Government assisted victims of child abuse by offering 
counseling at a drop-in center in Port Louis and referring victims to 
government-supported NGO shelters. Both medical treatment and 
psychological support were available at public clinics and NGO centers. 
For example, the national Children's Council operated a daycare center 
in Baie du Tombeau to help single mothers and abused children find 
employment.
    Mauritius is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--Approximately 120 Jews resided in the country. 
There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts during the year.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at http://www.state.gov/g/tip

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or the 
provision of other state services. The Training and Employment of 
Disabled Persons Board effectively enforced the law. The law requires 
that buildings be accessible for persons with disabilities; however, 
many older buildings remained inaccessible. The law requires 
organizations employing more than 35 persons to set aside at least 3 
percent of their positions for persons with disabilities, and the 
Government enforced this law. The Government effectively implemented 
programs to ensure that persons with disabilities had access to 
information and communications. The state-run television station aired 
a weekly news program for persons with disabilities. The Government 
does not restrict the right of persons with disabilities to vote or 
participate in civic activities; however, during the May 5 legislative 
elections, private radio stations reported that a few such persons were 
not able to vote because the polling stations were not accessible.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law does not criminalize 
homosexuality; however, it criminalizes the act of sodomy, and this 
prohibition is equally applied to gay, lesbian and heterosexual 
couples.
    Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender victims of verbal abuse or 
violence within the family reported such incidents to local NGO 
Collectif Arc en Ciel; however, victims refused to file complaints with 
police for fear of reprisal.
    On September 14, the daily L'Express reported that a group of young 
men assaulted a gay man by throwing a rock at him. The victim, who 
suffered a leg fracture, filed a complaint against his assailants. A 
police investigation was ongoing at year's end.
    At year's end there were no reports of governmental or societal 
discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment and 
occupation, housing, statelessness, or access to education or heath 
care.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The law provides that 
persons living with HIV/AIDS be free from stigmatization and 
discrimination; however, there were reports of discrimination against 
such persons and their relatives.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that HIV-
positive detainees at the Central Prison were forced to wear yellow 
badges so that they could be easily identified during routine medical 
checkups.
    During the year the local NGO PILS recorded six cases of 
discrimination against HIV/AIDS patients and their relatives. Unlike in 
the previous year, there were no reports of denial of access to public 
health care services; however, PILS reported that breach of 
confidentiality regarding HIV/AIDS patients' medical records in public 
hospitals remained a problem.
    In August 2009 Le Mauricien newspaper reported that four police 
officers verbally and physically abused a Vivre+ social worker 
collecting for charity on the streets. During the incident the officers 
also revealed the NGO worker's HIV status to onlookers. The NGO worker 
filed a complaint with the Police Complaints Investigation Bureau; 
however, no action was taken against the four police officers.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
the right of workers, including foreign workers, to form and join 
unions of their choice without previous authorization or excessive 
requirements, and workers exercised this right in practice. With the 
exception of police, the Special Mobile Force, and persons in 
government services who were not executive officials, workers were free 
to form and join unions and to organize in all sectors, including in 
the Export Oriented Enterprises (EOE), formerly known as the Export 
Processing Zone; however, the law grants authorities the right to 
cancel a union's registration if it fails to comply with certain legal 
obligations. The law provides for a commission to investigate and 
mediate labor disputes and a program to provide unemployment benefits 
and job training.
    The law allows unions to conduct their activities without 
government interference and provides for the right to strike; however, 
it also establishes a required process for declaring a legal strike. 
This process calls for labor disputes to be reported to the Commission 
for Conciliation and Mediation (CCM) only after meaningful negotiations 
have occurred and a deadlock has been reached between the parties 
involved, a process that is not to exceed 90 days unless the parties 
involved agree. Once deadlock has been reported to the CCM, the 
commission has 30 days to resolve the dispute, or longer if both 
parties agree. If the dispute is not resolved at the commission level, 
parties can take the dispute to the Tribunal for Voluntary Arbitration 
(TVA) for settlement or go on strike within 45 days, provided the union 
has given the labor minister 10 days notice of the upcoming strike. The 
prime minister may petition the Supreme Court to prohibit the 
continuation of a strike deemed a danger to the life, health, or 
personal safety of the population. The prime minister may also apply to 
the TVA for the establishment of a minimum service if such service does 
not exist.
    Worker participation in an unlawful strike is sufficient grounds 
for dismissal, but workers may seek remedy in court if they believe 
that their dismissals were unjustified. On January 14, authorities 
reportedly deported 62 foreign workers who participated in illegal 
strikes.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
protects collective bargaining, and workers exercised this right. The 
National Remuneration Board (NRB), whose chairman is appointed by the 
minister of labor, set minimum wages for nonmanagerial workers, 
although most unions collectively negotiated wages higher than those 
set by the NRB.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination; however, the Government 
did not always respect this right.
    On August 25, the Government-owned MBC suspended trade unionist 
Rehana Ameer for allegedly sending an anonymous letter to MBC employees 
criticizing management practices. On December 3, MBC dismissed Ameer 
for allegedly authoring the letter and for speaking to the media about 
her suspension. Ameer claimed that she was suspended as a result of her 
trade union activities. Since 2008 four MBC trade union activists were 
suspended or dismissed.
    The law does not provide for the reinstatement of dismissed 
employees; however, employees can resort to the Industrial Relations 
Court to seek redress.
    National labor laws cover workers in the EOE; however, EOE-specific 
labor laws authorize longer working hours, including 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 EOE workers, effectively blocking union efforts to 
organize at the enterprise level. Approximately 59,000 persons worked 
in the EOE; only 10 percent belonged to unions.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, child labor 
occurred in the informal sector or in shops. There was no report of 
forced child labor during the year.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits the employment of children below 16 years of age and 
prohibits the employment of children between 16 and 18 years old in 
work that is dangerous, unhealthy, or otherwise unsuitable for young 
persons. While the Government generally respected this law, child labor 
occurred. According to the law, the penalties for employing a child are 
a fine of no more than 10,000 rupees ($328) and imprisonment not to 
exceed one year.
    Children worked in the informal sector as street traders, in small 
businesses, in restaurants, in agriculture, and in small apparel 
workshops.
    The Ministry of Labor, Industrial Relations, and Employment (MOL) 
is responsible for the enforcement of child labor laws and employed 45 
inspectors to conduct frequent inspections.
    The MOL developed vocational training programs to prevent 
employment of underage children and conducted programs to identify 
street children.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Government established 
minimum wages, which varied by sector, and mandated that the minimum 
wage rise each year based on the inflation rate. The minimum wage for 
an unskilled domestic worker in the EOE was approximately 607 rupees 
($20) per week, while the minimum wage for an unskilled domestic 
factory worker outside the EOE was approximately 794 rupees ($26) per 
week. Although these wages did not provide a decent standard of living 
for a worker and family, the actual market wage for most workers was 
much higher due to a labor shortage and collective bargaining. The MOL 
effectively enforced the minimum wage law.
    The standard legal workweek in the EOE was 45 hours. According to 
the Mauritius Labor Congress, 10 hours of overtime a week is mandatory 
at certain textile factories in the EOE. By law no worker can be forced 
to work more than eight hours a day, six days a week. Those who work 
more than their stipulated hours must be remunerated at one and a half 
times the normal salary. Those who work during their stipulated hours 
on public holidays are remunerated at double their normal salary. For 
industrial positions, workers are not permitted to work more than 10 
hours a day. If the worker has worked until or past 10 p.m., the 
employer cannot require work to resume until at least 11 hours have 
elapsed. These standards were generally enforced for both foreign and 
domestic workers. Unions have reported cases of underpayment for 
overtime in the textile and apparel industries due to differences in 
existing legislation and remuneration orders for the calculation of 
overtime hours. The law provides that in such cases the MOL is required 
to investigate, and employers are encouraged to take remedial actions, 
failing which a court action is initiated.
    On February 22, police reportedly freed three Bangladeshi workers 
who alleged that their employer had confined them to their dormitories 
for a few hours following an argument regarding unsanitary conditions 
in their dormitory. One of the workers alleged that the employer beat 
him daily.
    The Government set health and safety standards, and MOL officials 
inspected working conditions; however, the inadequate number of 
inspectors limited the Government's enforcement ability. Voluntary 
employer compliance with safety regulations helped reduce the number of 
occupational accidents. There were reports of foreign workers living in 
dormitories with unsanitary conditions. Workers had the right to remove 
themselves from dangerous situations without jeopardizing their 
continued employment, and they did so in practice.

                               __________

                               MOZAMBIQUE

    Mozambique has a democratic constitution and an estimated 
population of 22.4 million. President Armando Guebuza was reelected in 
October 2009 in a contest criticized by several national and 
international observers, including the EU and the Commonwealth, as 
lacking a ``level playing field'' and faulted for lacking transparency, 
integrity, impartiality, and independence. Domestic and foreign 
observer groups and local civil society expressed concern over the 
electoral procedures that preceded the balloting, particularly the 
exclusion of six of nine presidential candidates and disqualification 
of one opposition party's parliamentary candidates from seven of 11 
provinces. Freedom House has since removed the country from its list of 
electoral democracies. There were instances in which elements of the 
security forces acted independently of civilian control.
    Incidents of serious human rights abuses, including vigilante 
killings, occurred during the year. Security forces continued to commit 
unlawful killings. Prison conditions remained harsh and life 
threatening, resulting in several deaths. Arbitrary arrest and 
detention, as well as lengthy pretrial detention, were problems. An 
understaffed and inadequately trained judiciary was inefficient and 
influenced by the ruling party. Political and judicial decisions 
involving independent media outlets constrained press freedom. Societal 
problems including domestic violence, discrimination against women, 
abuse, exploitation, and forced labor of children, trafficking in women 
and children, and discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS remained 
widespread.
                        respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        From:

    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--The Government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings; however, 
human rights activists and domestic media sources reported that 
security forces arbitrarily killed some persons during the year, 
including at least 13 during the violent protests on September 1 and 2.
    According to a 2010 report by international nongovernmental 
organization (NGO) Amnesty International (AI), police were responsible 
for a number of human rights violations, including extrajudicial 
executions, excessive use of force sometimes resulting in death, 
arbitrary arrests and detentions, as well as torture and other cruel, 
inhuman and degrading treatment and deaths in custody. In the majority 
of cases no investigations were carried out, and police officers were 
not disciplined. AI noted that victims and/or their families did not 
receive any information and were left without remedies or justice.
    Examples of arbitrary or unlawful killing by police included:
    On March 29, a Maputo police officer shot and killed a citizen 
after a verbal altercation. There were no further developments by 
year's end.
    On April 9, a police officer in Beira was detained for killing a 
civilian. The investigation was ongoing at year's end.
    On September 7, a Matola police officer shot and killed an unarmed 
person alleged to have stolen a chicken. There were no further 
developments by year's end.
    There were no further developments in the September 2009 killing of 
a man by police for stealing a vehicle's side mirror.
    High levels of crime in and around Maputo City and continued 
violence against police by criminal gangs were likely factors in the 
number of unlawful killings committed by security forces. During the 
year 10 police officers in Maputo City were killed; gangs were 
suspected in each case.
    There was no further information available in the following 2008 
cases: the February killing of five persons in Maputo and at least one 
other person in Chokwe who were protesting increases in the cost of 
living, and the August shooting death of a person in Maputo by a police 
officer during a personal dispute.
    There were a few reports of death resulting from police abuse. For 
example, in May eight prison guards in Gaza Province tied up and beat 
to death a prisoner in Mabalane Prison. The Ministry of Justice 
conducted an investigation, and the guards were suspended. No charges 
had been filed by year's end.
    Killings by vigilante groups continued to be a problem. For 
example, there were 14 reported lynchings in the city of Beira and nine 
lynchings in the city of Manica during the year. While the Government 
strongly condemned the killings, it was unable to identify the 
perpetrators and bring them to justice. The League of Human Rights 
(LDH) and other civil society groups claimed these killings were 
related to the increased cost of living, high unemployment rates, 
sustained high levels of crime, lack of police presence in outlying 
metropolitan neighborhoods, and an ineffective justice system. Most 
targets of such killings were suspected muggers, thieves, sexual 
abusers, and drug dealers.
    There were no developments in the 2009 and 2008 deaths of several 
persons at the hands of vigilante groups in Chimoio, Maputo, Matola, 
and Chokwe districts, including the death of three Mozambican Red Cross 
volunteers in Quinga accused of causing an outbreak of cholera (whose 
teams were using chlorine to purify water; cholera and chlorine are 
similar words in Portuguese) and the burning to death of a 13-year-old 
boy in Beira for stealing ducks.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--While the constitution and law prohibit such practices, 
police frequently used excessive force and harsh physical abuse when 
apprehending, interrogating, and detaining criminal suspects and 
prisoners. During the year human rights advocates and the media 
reported occurrences of torture and other cruel treatment, including 
several cases involving sexual abuse of women, beatings, and prolonged 
detention.
    In March an LDH visit to Maputo's maximum security prison (Machava) 
confirmed numerous incidents of guards physically abusing prisoners. 
The LDH found that guards handcuffed prisoners to trees and then 
flogged them. The prison authorities later confirmed nine prisoners had 
been abused in this manner. Two prison guards were suspended and 
criminally charged for the abuse. In May the minister of justice 
suspended both the management and the guard commander of the prison. As 
a result of LDH's report, the minister of justice ordered a full 
inquiry into the Machava Prison incident and personally made visits to 
several of the region's prisons to assess the conditions. After finding 
abuses, the ministry and the LDH created a joint declaration on prison 
reform and established a Prison Reform Group responsible for making 
changes to the prison system.
    There were also reports of similar severe beatings at several other 
prisons; in May, one death resulted from these beatings at Mabalane 
Prison in Gaza Province. After an investigation by the Ministry of 
Justice, one prison guard was suspended but not criminally charged.
    There were no further developments in the March 2009 suffocation 
deaths of 13 prisoners in an overcrowded cell in Mogincual.
    Unlike the previous year, there were no reports that excessive use 
of force by police resulted in death and injuries to strikers.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions remained 
harsh and potentially life threatening; overcrowding, inadequate 
nutrition, substandard sanitation, poor health facilities, and prisons 
in poor physical condition remained serious problems.
    The Administration for Prison Services, under the Ministry of 
Justice, operated 184 prisons in 10 provinces. The Ministry of Interior 
and the police are responsible for jails at police stations. During the 
year there were 14,936 prisoners, approximately 66 percent of whom had 
been convicted and the rest awaiting trial. The National Prisons 
Service spends approximately 3,600 meticais ($105) per month to house, 
feed, clothe, educate, and provide medical care for each prisoner.
    Overcrowding remained the most serious problem. During the year the 
LDH noted once again that many prisons held more than three times the 
number of prisoners for which they were built and that often prisoners 
slept in bathrooms, standing up, or in shifts.
    For example, as of August Maputo Central Prison held 2,695 
prisoners in a facility designed to hold 800, and the Nampula 
Provincial Jail held 401 prisoners in a facility for 100.
    In August the director general of prisons was replaced due to his 
failure to alleviate the overcrowding problem in the prisons.
    During the year the LDH made numerous visits to prisons and 
detention facilities. Based on those visits, the LDH continued to note 
the following conditions in the prisons: harsh detention, inadequate 
food, poor hygiene, overcrowding, adults and juveniles held together, 
prisoners kept beyond their sentences, and the LDH stated that many 
facilities were ``physically inadequate.''
    Reports continued that most prisoners received only one meal a day. 
In many cases prison officials were not able to provide even basic food 
to the prison population. In the prisons visited, the LDH characterized 
the provision of food as ``poor,'' consisting mainly of corn meal and 
beans. It was customary for families to bring food to prisoners; 
however, there continued to be occasional reports that guards demanded 
bribes in exchange for delivering food to prisoners. In several prisons 
inmates engaged in prostitution in exchange for food, according to the 
LDH. According to the UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research 
Institute (UNICRI), 10 percent of juvenile offenders were women, and 
some juveniles had been held with adult populations in pretrial 
detention for as long as nine months. Juveniles were also intermixed 
with adults in the general prison population.
    The LDH found malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS to be commonplace 
among prisoners in nearly all prisons. The LDH also found other 
illnesses caused by malnutrition, including paralysis and blindness. 
Both healthy and sick prisoners regularly were kept in the same cells. 
Provisions for sanitation, ventilation, temperature, lighting, basic 
and emergency medical care and access to potable water were inadequate.
    In July an inmate gave birth inside the Ndlavela Jail, in the city 
of Matola in Maputo Province, because the prison had no vehicle for the 
transportation of personnel or inmates to health facilities.
    According to the LDH and confirmed by a report issued by the 
UNICRI, pretrial detainees were held with convicted prisoners.
    There continued to be many reported deaths in prison, the vast 
majority due to illness and disease, at rates much higher than the 
general population. During the first four months of the year, at least 
nine prisoners in Nampula's jail had died of tuberculosis.
    International and domestic human rights groups had access to 
prisoners, although at the discretion of Ministries of Justice and 
Interior. The LDH reported no problems obtaining credentials to visit 
prisons. Moreover LDH president and founder Maria Alice Mabota 
announced in 2009 that the LDH had entered into a memorandum of 
understanding with the Ministry of Justice allowing it to visit prisons 
unannounced. The LDH confirmed these visitation rights continued during 
the year. The LDH agreed to provide to the ministry any reports it 
planned to issue but would be free to publish its own independent 
findings.
    Prisoners generally were allowed access to visitors and permitted 
religious observances. On several occasions during the year, prisoners 
and detainees submitted complaints about their treatment to 
authorities; such complaints were also reported in the local press. The 
Ministry of Justice investigated a number of these complaints in 
Machava and Gaza prisons, resulting in changes in procedures and 
disciplining of personnel.
    Following reports of beatings and killings of prisoners at Machava 
Prison in March, Ministry of Justice officials announced investigations 
of conditions, and publicly criticized prison officials and prison 
conditions. The officials acknowledged serious mistreatment of 
prisoners had occurred, and several senior officials in the prison 
service were either administratively disciplined or dismissed.
    The Ministry of Justice and prison service acknowledged during the 
year that pretrial detention, bail, and recordkeeping procedures were 
inadequate and announced efforts to improve their systems and lessen 
the possibility of prisoners serving time in excess of their sentences 
or maximum legal detention periods.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--While the constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, both practices continued to 
occur.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Forces under the 
Ministry of Interior, including the Criminal Investigative Police 
(PIC), the national police (PRM), and the Rapid Intervention Force 
(FIR), are responsible for internal security. An additional security 
body, the State Information and Security Service, reports directly to 
the president. The Casa Militar (Presidential Guard) provides security 
for the president. The armed forces are responsible for external 
security.
    Police routinely removed their identification at checkpoints after 
dark and refused to identify themselves or their police precincts.
    For example, the following incidents involving police occurred: (1) 
on January 15, two police officers in Nampula robbed an armored car; 
(2) on April 11, eight police officers in Zambezia were dismissed after 
being convicted of crimes; (3) on February 3, a total of 16 police 
officers in Sofala were dismissed due to criminal acts; and (4) on 
March 30, three recent police graduates in Manica were arrested for 
breaking and entering a local residence.
    The most common reasons for disciplinary action, according to 
Maputo's police chief, were collaboration with criminals, extortion of 
goods and money, excessive alcohol consumption, and abandonment of 
post. In May 2009 police officials told AI that 356 police officers had 
been disciplined since 2005 for breaching disciplinary regulations. Of 
these, 108 were expelled from the police force, and 37 were convicted 
of criminal offenses. AI stated, however, police discipline was 
inadequate and prosecution rare.
    Implementation of the 2003-12 strategic plan of action and 
modernization for the PRM continued; seven of its nine ``guiding 
principles'' reflected respect for human rights. While the plan 
acknowledged the problem of abuse of police powers, it made no specific 
provision for ensuring greater accountability for such abuses.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Although the 
law provides that persons be arrested with warrants issued by a judge 
or prosecutor (except persons caught in the act of committing a crime), 
police continued to arrest and detain citizens arbitrarily. By law the 
maximum length of investigative detention without a warrant is 48 
hours, during which time a detainee has the right to judicial review of 
the case. The individual may be detained another 90 days while the PIC 
continues its investigation. When a person is accused of a crime 
carrying a sentence of more than eight years, the individual may be 
detained up to an additional 84 days without being charged formally. 
With court approval, such detainees may be held for two more periods of 
84 days each without charge while the police complete their 
investigation. The law provides that when the prescribed period for 
investigation has been completed and no charges have been brought, the 
detainee must be released. In many cases the authorities either were 
unaware of these regulations or ignored them, often also ignoring a 
detainee's constitutional right to counsel and to contact relatives or 
friends. The law provides that citizens have access to the courts as 
well as the right to representation, regardless of ability to pay for 
such services. However, due to a shortage of legal professionals, 
indigent defendants frequently had no legal representation.
    The bail system remained poorly defined. Prisoners, their families, 
and NGOs continued to complain that police and prison officials 
demanded bribes for releasing prisoners.
    Excessively long pretrial detention continued to be a serious 
problem, due in part to an inadequate number of judges and prosecutors 
and poor communication among authorities. Approximately 34 percent of 
the inmates were in pretrial detention. In many cases authorities held 
inmates in the prison system for more than three years before their 
trials began. Media reported a case of one pretrial detainee in a 
Maputo prison who had been waiting for more than five years for his 
trial to begin.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary; however, according to civil society 
groups, the executive branch and the ruling Front for the Liberation of 
Mozambique (Frelimo) heavily influenced an understaffed and 
inadequately trained judiciary, particularly in the lower tiers. The 
judicial system continued to suffer from a lack of transparency and 
often did not comply with the principles of promotion and protection of 
human rights.
    Intermediate appeals court and district court judges may rule on 
criminal cases with penalties ranging between eight and 12 years' 
imprisonment. Alternative measures such as work brigades, conditional 
release for prisoners who have completed half of their sentences, and 
traveling tribunals continued to be employed.

    Trial Procedures.--Persons accused of crimes against the Government 
are tried publicly in regular civilian courts under standard criminal 
judicial procedures. Members of the media may attend trials, although 
space limitations excluded the general public. A judge may order a 
trial closed to the media in the interest of national security or to 
protect the privacy of the plaintiff in a sexual assault case. Article 
12 of the judicial organization law ``prohibits the production and 
public transmission of images and sounds at trials.'' There is no trial 
by jury.
    In regular courts accused persons 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 for the accused, such assistance generally was not 
available in practice, particularly in rural areas. In some instances 
prisoners were required to pay their legal aid attorneys to persuade 
them to provide ``free'' legal assistance.
    The Mozambican Legal Aid Institute, an organization under the 
Ministry of Justice, worked to ensure that accused persons were 
provided with court-appointed legal counsel if requested. However, due 
to a lack of trained lawyers, this was rarely possible. The LDH 
reported that most citizens remained unaware of this right, and many 
had no access to legal counsel. Some NGOs offered limited legal counsel 
at little or no cost to both defendants and prisoners. Only judges or 
lawyers may confront or question witnesses, although all citizens have 
a right to self-defense. As such, they are allowed to present witnesses 
and evidence on their own behalf and have access to government-held 
evidence.
    Outside the formal court system, local customary courts and 
traditional authority figures often adjudicated matters such as estate 
and divorce cases. Local arbiters with no formal training presided at 
customary courts.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--Unlike the previous year, there 
were no reports of political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--While the law provides for 
an independent and impartial judiciary in civil matters, in practice 
the judiciary was subject to political interference. Although in theory 
citizens have access to courts to bring lawsuits seeking damages for, 
or cessation of, human rights violations, in practice this did not 
occur.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions, and 
the Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice. 
However, opposition party members alleged that government intelligence 
services and ruling party activists continued without warrants to 
monitor telephone calls and e-mails, conduct surveillance of their 
offices, follow opposition members, use informants, and disrupt party 
activities in certain areas, including in Gaza and Zambezia provinces.
    By law police are required to be in possession of a warrant to 
enter homes and businesses, but this practice was not always followed.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and statutes 
provide for freedom of speech and of the press and the Government 
generally respected these rights in practice. Individuals can generally 
criticize the Government publicly or privately without reprisal; 
however, some persons expressed fear that the Government monitored 
their private telephone and e-mail communications. Some journalists 
reported receiving anonymous threats. In response to the violent 
protests which occurred on September 1 and 2, the Government disabled 
the local cell phone-texting system, the protesters' primary method of 
communication, and subsequently required that all purchasers and owners 
of prepaid cell phones register with cell service providers.
    On February 10, the Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA) 
reported that despite the press freedom guarantees in the constitution 
and the 1991 Press Law, other legislation inhibits the media. For 
example, a clause in the law on crimes against state security treats 
libel against the president, prime minister, and other senior political 
and judicial figures as a security offense.
    On February 10 and other occasions, the press reported that 
journalists attempting to interview opposition leader Afonso Dhlakama 
were threatened, harassed, and intimidated by members of the national 
police (PRM) stationed outside his residence.
    On March 15, Escorpiao reported the Gondola district police 
commander in Manica Province threatened the local MISA president and 
other journalists for printing unflattering reports about him.
    On May 20, Salomao Moyana, editor of Magazine Independente (MI), 
reported receiving death threats. Also in May a MISA-Mozambique report 
cited frequent anonymous threats to journalists.
    During the civil unrest of September 1-2, some officials accused 
local independent television station STV of giving the demonstrators 
excessive coverage. For several hours, SOICO Televisao (STV) and the 
Government station Televisao de Mocambique (TVM) halted coverage of the 
demonstrations, reportedly at the behest of government officials.
    By some estimates newspapers reached approximately one million of 
the country's 22.4 million citizens. The print media was published 
exclusively in the Portuguese language and was thus not accessible to a 
majority of the population. The Government maintained majority 
ownership of Noticias, the main newspaper and one of three dailies with 
nationwide distribution. Noticias, Diario de Mocambique, and the weekly 
Domingo largely mirrored the views of the ruling party. O Pais and 
Savana, among others, reported news items critical of government 
policies.
    Some journalists reported self-censorship amongst media 
practitioners and were hesitant to report on sensitive topics. Some 
media officials believed a connection existed between critical 
reporting and cancellation of government and ruling party advertising 
contracts. The largest advertising revenue streams for local media come 
from government ministries and state-controlled businesses.
    International media were allowed to operate freely.
    Numerous private community and regional radio stations operated 
throughout the country. Radio Mocambique, which received 60 percent of 
its operating budget from the Government, was the most influential 
media service with the largest audience. Although it broadcast debates 
on important issues, Radio Mocambique tended to invite participants who 
were less critical of the Government.
    The Government supplied more than half of the operating budget of 
TVM, the television station that contends with STV for the largest 
viewership. TVM's news coverage demonstrated a bias favoring the 
incumbent government and ruling party Frelimo.

    Internet Freedom.--Internet access was modest, and online 
communications did not play a significant role. Although there were no 
government restrictions on access to the Internet, opposition party 
members reported that government intelligence agents monitored e-mail. 
There were no confirmed instances of the Government attempting to 
collect personally identifiable information of a person. Individuals 
and groups could engage in the peaceful expression of views via the 
Internet, including by e-mail and through political blogs, as well as 
small-scale use of social media. While public access to the Internet 
continued to expand, particularly in the larger cities, lack of 
infrastructure in rural areas and installation costs limited overall 
use. Cell phones were widely available and frequently used, including 
for text messaging. According to International Telecommunication Union 
statistics for 2008, approximately 1.5 percent of the country's 
inhabitants used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly. 
Although the Government generally respected this right in practice, in 
August police stopped a demonstration called by war veterans demanding 
better living conditions and jailed its leader, whom they subsequently 
released.
    In September demonstrators in several cities protested price 
increases on basic foodstuffs, water, and energy. Some erected 
barricades, burned tires, set cars on fire, threw stones at passing 
motorists, looted stores, and vandalized government offices, including 
power purchase outlets. Police used tear gas, rubber bullets, and live 
ammunition, and shot and killed between 13 and 18 persons in Maputo and 
Matola; several hundred others were also injured. Several dead and 
wounded were also reported in the central provinces of Manica and 
Sofala. AI called upon the Government to cease the use of live 
ammunition, and several local human rights groups criticized the 
Government for improper use of deadly force, as well as poor tactics, 
untrained personnel, and lack of preparation. The Center for Public 
Integrity (CIP) called the police ``unprepared, ill-trained and 
corrupt.'' There were no further developments by year's end. However, 
on October 12, President Guebuza announced the transfer of Interior 
Minister Pacheco to the post of minister of agriculture.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law generally provide 
for freedom of association, and the Government generally respected this 
right in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--While the law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, the Government sometimes infringed upon these rights in 
practice.
    Traffic checkpoints are under the jurisdiction of traffic police. 
Checkpoints occasionally affected freedom of movement, and according to 
press reports, authorities often abused and demanded bribes from 
citizens at them. Police sometimes stopped foreigners and ordered them 
to present original passports or resident papers, refused to accept 
notarized copies, and fined or detained those who failed to show proper 
documents. Police also routinely harassed, detained, and extorted 
bribes from local citizens for failure to carry identity papers.
    The Government respected the law forbidding forced exile.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees. In practice the Government 
provided protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to 
countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account 
of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social 
group, or political opinion. The Government cooperated with the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in assisting several thousand recognized refugees and asylum seekers.
    The Government continued to work closely with the UNHCR to 
implement a local integration program for refugees, primarily from 
Somalia, Ethiopia and the Great Lakes region, at the Maratane camp in 
Nampula Province.
    The Government provided modest assistance to Zimbabwean citizens 
crossing the border into the country. However, it considered 
Zimbabweans as economic migrants and supported a role for the UNHCR in 
providing assistance and protection to this group.
    The Government allows refugee movement within the country. Refugees 
must formally request authorization to move outside the geographic 
region in which they have been registered, but they are free to settle 
elsewhere in the country.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens the right to change their 
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice 
through periodic elections held on the basis of universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In November 2009 the 
National Elections Commission (CNE) announced that Armando Guebuza of 
the ruling Frelimo party had been elected president in the October 
multiparty general elections. While domestic and international 
observers noted that voting day procedures generally followed 
international norms, they also documented irregularities during voter 
registration, the campaign, and in the vote count. Frelimo used 
significant state funds and resources for campaign purposes, in 
violation of electoral law.
    The main opposition parties, Renamo and Democratic Movement of 
Mozambique (MDM), complained of election fraud and noted Frelimo 
agitators and provocateurs routinely disrupted campaign stops, drowning 
out speakers and candidates by revving motors, playing instruments, 
shouting, and occasionally throwing stones. They alleged local 
authorities failed to respond to such provocative acts and that Frelimo 
candidates suffered no such impediments during their campaigns. 
Opposition parties also accused Frelimo of using state funds and 
resources for campaign purposes, in violation of electoral law, as was 
corroborated by independent reporting.
    The Electoral Institute for Southern Africa (EISA) questioned the 
transparency, integrity, impartiality, and independence of the CNE. 
EISA noted that improvements were required to ``level the playing 
field, afford equal opportunity to all, and improve the transparency of 
the electoral process.'' The CNE disqualified several political parties 
and candidates from participating in legislative elections. The MDM, 
for example, was stricken from nine of 13 legislative districts. The 
CNE's action, which included backdating documents and other 
questionable acts, provoked protests from the diplomatic community, 
objections by civil society, and extensive commentary in the media. 
Also the Constitutional Council (CC) disqualified six of nine 
presidential candidates for application irregularities. In 
contravention of law and its own past practice, the CC did not provide 
the rejected candidates with notice or an opportunity to respond.
    In response to these various actions by the CC and the CNE, the CIP 
called for an independent audit of electoral processes and highlighted 
several significant flaws in the electoral process. Under an agreed-
upon set of governance initiatives reached in March, the Government 
granted MDM formal status in the National Assembly, which entitled its 
eight members of parliament to certain financial and logistical 
support, and the Government committed to enacting a new electoral law. 
The Government announced a two-year legislative process to achieve this 
electoral reform.
    Frelimo and the executive branch continue to dominate the political 
process and their influence continued to grow. In the October 2009 
elections, Frelimo secured approximately 75 percent of the presidential 
vote and more than 75 percent of the seats in parliament. Frelimo 
mayors were elected in 42 of 43 municipalities, and it was the largest 
party in municipal assemblies, controlling 79.8 percent of all seats. 
Frelimo gained a sufficient majority in the National Assembly to amend 
the constitution without the support of other parties.
    During the year opposition political parties were permitted to 
operate but were sometimes subject to some restrictions including 
unlawful arrest, and other interference by the ruling party and the 
Government. In September, following violent protests in Maputo, police 
arrested several Renamo members in Nampula, accusing them of making 
further preparations for violent protests. Renamo sources said the 
members had been organizing local party meetings unconnected to the 
protests. All those detained were subsequently released.
    Women, such as the former prime minister and members of many ethnic 
groups, held key positions in both the legislative and executive 
branches. There was no evidence that women or specific ethnic groups 
were excluded from participation in the political process. Eight of the 
29 ministers were women. Women held 91 of 250 seats in the National 
Assembly. The National Assembly also had an office dedicated to raising 
awareness of women's issues, including family law, domestic violence, 
and antitrafficking in persons measures. There were no women on the 
Supreme Court.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    While the law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, 
the Government often did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. Corruption in the 
executive and legislative branches was generally perceived to be 
widespread. The World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators reflected 
that corruption was a serious problem. Petty corruption by low-level 
government officials to supplement low salaries and high-level 
corruption by a small group of politically and economically connected 
elites continued to be the norm. In some cases high-level bribery was 
related to narcotics trafficking.
    On April 23, Noticias reported that in the district of Muanze in 
Sofala Province, a local administrator lamented the losses attributable 
to nonexistent teachers and civil servants.
    On May 4, Ministry of Education spokesperson Manuel Rego, 
acknowledged that ministry functionaries engaged in sexual harassment 
of students and demanded from students illegal payments to matriculate, 
to pass, and to receive better grades, among other matters.
    On May 10, the daily Escorpiao reported that Customs Director 
Orlando Jose, widely regarded as active in combating corruption, was 
murdered by unknown assailants suspected of links to organized crime 
and corrupt officials. There were no further developments by year's 
end.
    On November 30, the Maputo Provincial Court, sitting in nearby 
Matola, sentenced 16 civil servants to prison terms between three and 
21 years for corrupt schemes that resulted in the theft of about 2.8 
million meticais ($82,000).
    On December 7, two senior executives of the national data 
processing center were convicted of embezzling approximately 3.3 
million meticais ($97,000) and sentenced to jail terms of 12 years.
    On December 9, former interior minister Almerino Manhenje and two 
associates were tried for stealing approximately 1.2 million meticais 
($35,000). The verdict was pending at year's end.
    There were no further developments in any of the following cases of 
corruption from 2009: the chairperson and others associated with the 
Mozambican Airports Company charged with diversion of state funds; four 
officials from Tete's Provincial Directorate of Planning and Finance 
charged with embezzlement; five employees of the Manica Provincial 
Department of Finance charged with illegally obtaining state funds; and 
the 2007 and 2008 corruption investigations of the deputy director of 
Maputo Central Prison and six health services administrators in Cabo 
Delgado Province.
    Corruption and extortion by police were widespread, and impunity 
remained a serious problem. Police regularly detained persons for 
arbitrary reasons and demanded identification documents solely to 
extort payments. Many crime victims reportedly declined to seek police 
assistance because of expected demands for bribes and a lack of 
confidence that the police would help. Corruption largely resulted from 
a lack of checks and balances, minimal accountability, and a culture of 
impunity. Local NGOs, such as the CIP, and media groups continued to be 
the main civic forces fighting corruption, reporting on and 
investigating numerous corruption cases.
    The law requires that all members of the Government declare and 
report their assets with the Constitutional Council, but it does not 
require that such information be made available to the general public. 
Consequently, the general public does not know whether the required 
declarations and reports have been submitted.
    The Central Office for the Combat of Corruption functions as an 
autonomous unit under the Attorney General's Office with its own state 
budget. It investigates theft of state funds in the central government 
and in provincial administrations.
    There are no laws providing for public access to government 
information, and in practice the Government failed to respond to 
citizens' requests for or restricted citizens' access to government 
information.
Section 5. 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. Although at times 
slow, government officials often were cooperative and responsive to the 
views of domestic and international human rights groups. The 
registration and activities of foreign NGOs are subject to governmental 
regulation. Some foreign NGOs and religious groups reported that such 
registration regularly required several months.
    In August 2009 the Ministry of Justice agreed to work with the UN 
to draft and issue in 2011 its own human rights report. There were no 
progress reports issued during the year.
    Despite a 2005 constitutional amendment creating an independent 
ombudsman position to investigate allegations of abuses, including 
human rights violations, no person had been named to the position by 
year's end.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit discrimination based on race, 
gender, disability, language, or social status, but in practice 
discrimination persisted against women and persons with HIV/AIDS.

    Women.--The law prohibits rape, including spousal rape, but it was 
not effectively enforced. Penalties range from two to eight years' 
imprisonment if the victim is 12 years of age or older and eight to 12 
years' imprisonment if the victim is under the age of 12. While there 
were no official estimates as to the extent of spousal rape, it was 
regarded as a common problem. According to NGO reports, many families 
preferred to settle such matters privately through financial 
remuneration rather than through the formal judicial system. There were 
no reports of rape cases prosecuted during the year.
    In July 2009 parliament passed a domestic violence law that 
prohibits violence against women and nonconsensual sex, including 
between married individuals. The law also provides penalties of up to 
12 years' imprisonment for engaging in sexual activity while knowingly 
infected with a contagious disease. No cases were brought to trial 
during the year.
    Domestic violence against women, particularly spousal rape and 
beatings, remained widespread, and despite the new domestic violence 
law, NGOs reported that many women believed it was acceptable for their 
husbands to beat them. Cultural pressures discouraged women from taking 
legal action against abusive spouses. On April 20, the Ministry of 
Women and Social Action (MIMAS) acknowledged that a national plan 
approved in 2008 to combat violence against women had been announced 
but not yet implemented in five provinces--Niassa, Tete, Sofala, 
Inhambane, and Gaza, and in Maputo City--and was altogether unknown in 
the rest of the country. MIMAS Minister Yolanda Cintura suggested that 
the plan would be implemented in ``a few years.'' A survey indicated 
that 21 percent of female respondents reported an act of physical or 
sexual violence perpetrated by a man during the past year.
    On June 25, O Pais reported that violence against women and 
children was increasing. During the first quarter of the year, more 
than 1,700 cases were reported.
    The Government and NGOs often worked together to combat domestic 
violence. The PRM operated special women's and children's units in 
police squadrons that received high numbers of cases of domestic 
violence, sexual assault, and violence against children; the units 
provided assistance to victims and their families. All of the 30 police 
squadrons in Maputo had women's and children's centers. In addition, 
all police squadrons in the country are in the process of installing a 
``green line'' (a free telephone line) to receive complaints of 
violence against women and children. The lines were not fully 
operational by year's end.
    Sexual harassment is illegal; however, it was pervasive in 
business, government, and schools. Although no formal data existed, the 
media reported numerous instances of harassment during the year. The 
relevant sexual harassment law is based on the 1920s Portuguese penal 
code; sexual harassment charges are usually regarded as acts of 
``indecency'' with a maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment.
    The Government generally recognized the right of couples and 
individuals to decide the number and timing of their children. Health 
clinics and local NGOs were permitted to operate freely in 
disseminating information on family planning under the guidance of 
MIMAS. There were no restrictions on the right to contraceptives, but 
the continued high rate of HIV/AIDS suggested that they were not 
sufficiently used. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) estimated that 
approximately 17 percent of married women between the ages of 15 and 49 
used some form of contraception. Because there were few doctors and 
nurses in the country, most women gave birth at home and received 
little or no prenatal and postnatal care, unless the mother or child 
suffered health complications.
    A May 5 Ministry of Health study concluded that more than 11 women 
died daily due to pregnancy-related complications, and that three-
fourths of such deaths were preventable. The UNFPA estimated the 
maternal mortality ratio (the ratio of the number of maternal deaths 
per 100,000 live births) to be 550 in 2008. The Population Reference 
Bureau estimated that approximately 44 percent of births were attended 
by skilled personnel.
    Men and women received equal access to diagnosis and treatment for 
sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS.
    ``Purification,'' whereby a widow is obligated to have unprotected 
sex with a member of her deceased husband's family, continued to be 
practiced, particularly in rural areas. A Save the Children report on 
inheritance practices noted that 60 percent of women cited 
discrimination in the inheritance process and highlighted cases in 
which women lost inheritance rights for not being ``purified'' 
following the death of their husbands.
    With the exception of some ethnic and religious groups, the groom's 
family provided a dowry to the bride's family, usually in the form of 
money, livestock, or other goods. Among Muslims, the bride's family 
usually paid for the wedding and provided gifts. Some believed that 
these exchanges contributed to violence against women and other 
inequalities, due to the perception that the women subsequently were 
``owned'' by their husbands.
    The Family Law, which took effect in 2005, sets the minimum age of 
marriage for both genders at 18 for those with parental consent, and 21 
for those without it. The law also eliminates husbands' de facto status 
as heads of family, and legalizes civil, religious, and common-law 
unions. While the law does not recognize new cases of polygamy, it 
grants women already in polygamous marriages full marital and 
inheritance rights. The law more precisely defines women's legal rights 
with regard to property, child custody, and other issues. However, 
nearly five years after taking effect, a survey conducted by the NGO 
MULEIDE found that approximately 63 percent of women remained 
uninformed about the law.
    Customary law was practiced in many areas. In some regions, 
particularly the northern provinces, women had limited access to the 
formal judicial system for enforcement of rights provided under the 
civil code and instead relied on customary law to settle disputes. 
Under customary law women have no rights to inherit an interest in 
land.
    Women continued to experience economic discrimination, and they 
were three times less likely than men to be represented in the public 
and formal private employment sectors. They often received lower pay 
than men for the same work and were less likely to have access to 
credit.

    Children.--Citizenship can be obtained by birth either in the 
country or of a citizen parent. Particularly in rural areas, births 
often were not registered immediately. Children who wish to start 
school at age six must be registered. Failure to register can also 
prevent one from obtaining health care and public documents, such as 
identity cards or passports.
    Education is compulsory through age 12, but enforcement was 
inconsistent. Public education tuition is free, but most families paid 
enrollment fees for each child and purchased books, uniforms, and other 
school supplies. Children who have a certificate that testifies that 
their parents' incomes are below a certain level are exempt from fees, 
but for most families, fees and associated costs remained a significant 
financial burden. Despite joint government-NGO initiatives in some 
localities and districts to improve girls' school attendance, Save the 
Children's May 5 Report on Mothers noted that school attendance for 
girls continues to be significantly lower than for boys, especially at 
the secondary and higher levels.
    The UN Children's Fund noted that child abuse was a growing 
concern. Most child abuse cases involved sexual abuse, physical abuse, 
or negligence. Several cases of fathers sexually abusing their 
daughters were reported. Sexual abuse in schools was a growing problem. 
There were numerous press reports during the year focusing on the large 
numbers of high school-age girls becoming pregnant as a result of being 
coerced into having sex by their teachers.
    Local custom, primarily in the northern provinces and in Muslim and 
South Asian communities, allowed underage marriage. Without specifying 
prison terms or fine amounts, the law prohibits pornography, child 
prostitution, and sexual abuse of children under 16; however, 
exploitation of children below the age of 15 and child prostitution 
remained a problem. No instances of prosecution were reported. Child 
prostitution appeared to be most prevalent in Maputo, Nampula, Beira, 
at border towns, and at overnight stopping points along key 
transportation routes. Child prostitution reportedly was growing in the 
Maputo, Beira, Chimoio, and Nacala areas, which had highly mobile 
populations and a large number of transport workers. Child prostitution 
also was reported in Sofala and Zambezia provinces. Some NGOs provided 
health care, counseling, and training in other vocations to children 
engaged in prostitution.
    Zimbabwean children, many of whom entered the country alone, 
continued to face labor exploitation and discrimination. They lacked 
protection due to inadequate documentation and had limited access to 
schools and other social welfare institutions. Coercion, both physical 
and economic, of Zimbabwean girls into the sex industry was common, 
particularly in Manica Province.
    Child beggars, who appeared to be living on the streets, were 
visible in major urban areas, but no nationwide figures were available.
    Several government agencies, including the Ministry of Health and 
the Ministry of Women and Social Action, implemented programs to 
provide health assistance and vocational education for HIV/AIDS 
orphans, but as parents continued to die, the number of orphans 
increased.
    The Maputo City Office of Women and Social Action continued its 
program to rescue abandoned orphans and assist single mothers who 
headed families of three or more persons. It also offered special 
classes in local schools to children of broken homes. NGOs sponsored 
food, shelter, and education programs in all major cities.
    While the Government continued to stress the importance of 
children's rights and welfare, significant problems remained. In 2008 
the National Assembly passed a law on child protection. The law 
contains sections dealing with protection against physical and sexual 
abuse; removal from parents who are unable to defend, assist, and 
educate them; and the establishment of minors' courts to deal with 
matters of adoption, maintenance, and regulating parental power. By 
year's end no cases had been taken to court.
    The Network against the Abuse of Minors (Rede Came) continued its 
efforts to put into practice the child protection law's provisions. It 
maintained a hotline call center and responded to hundreds of calls but 
lacked the resources to deliver meaningful assistance on a large scale.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was a very small Jewish population, and there 
were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution and law stipulate that 
citizens with disabilities shall fully enjoy the same rights as all 
other citizens. However, the Government provided few resources to 
implement this provision, and persons with disabilities frequently 
could be seen begging at traffic intersections, often accompanied by 
able-bodied persons. Discrimination was common against persons with 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, and the 
provision of other state services. The law does not mandate access to 
buildings for persons with disabilities, but the Ministry of Public 
Works and Habitation worked to ensure that public buildings in Maputo 
city provided access for persons with disabilities. Electoral law 
provides for the needs of voters with disabilities in the polling 
booths.
    Concerns of persons with disabilities included lack of access to 
socioeconomic opportunities and employment, limited access to buildings 
and transportation, and a lack of wheelchairs. Facilities with special 
access were rare. There were few job opportunities for persons with 
disabilities in the formal sector.
    The country's only psychiatric hospital was overwhelmed with 
patients and lacked the means to guarantee basic nutrition, medicine, 
or shelter. Doctors at the hospital also reported that many families 
abandoned members with disabilities.
    Veterans with disabilities continued to complain about not 
receiving pensions.
    The Ministry of Women and Social Action is responsible for 
protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. The four-year 
National Action Plan in the Area of Disabilities announced in 2006 had 
not received any financing for implementation by year's end.
    The city of Maputo offered free bus passes to persons with 
disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--There were reports of tension 
between Chinese guest workers, often employed in construction, and 
citizens in the cities of Maputo and Beira. There were reports also of 
mistreatment by Chinese companies of local employees. For example, on 
May 5, Noticias reported that Minister of Labor Helena Taipo had 
cancelled the work permit of one Ding Zhengming for abusing domestic 
employees at CCM Construction Ltd. in Maputo.
    There were reports of discrimination by police against Zimbabwean 
and Somali immigrants during the year.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There were occasional reports 
of such discrimination, and the LDH reported cases of discrimination 
against gay men and lesbians in the courts. The Workers Law includes an 
article that prevents discrimination in the workplace based on a number 
of factors, including sexual orientation.
    The Government does not track and report discrimination or crimes 
against individuals based on sexual orientation or gender identity, nor 
were such abuses reported in the media.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The law prohibits 
discrimination against workers on the basis of HIV/AIDS status, and the 
Ministry of Labor generally intervened in cases of perceived 
discrimination by employers. The Ministry of Labor reported receiving 
more than 100 cases annually of workers being dismissed by their 
employers for having HIV/AIDS. Often workers were obligated by the 
employer to take HIV/AIDS tests. In response to these violations, the 
ministry registered the complaints and confronted companies responsible 
for dismissals.
    Kukuyana, a national network of women with HIV/AIDS, reported that 
many women were expelled from their homes and/or abandoned by their 
husbands and relatives because they were HIV positive. It also reported 
that some women who were widowed by HIV/AIDS were accused of being 
witches who purposely killed their husbands to acquire belongings, and 
in retribution they were deprived of all possessions.
    Because some traditional healers assert that their body parts 
contained special curative or sexual strength, persons with albinism 
were the subject of violent attacks that resulted in mutilation or 
death. LDH researchers reported that attacks had increased and that 
children were frequent victims of these mutilations.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The constitution and law provide that 
all workers are free to form and join a trade union of their choice 
without previous authorization or excessive requirements, except for 
firefighters, members of the judicial authorities, and prison guards; 
workers exercised these rights in practice. Because the Mozambican 
Workers Association rarely, if ever, takes action to defend workers' 
rights, some unions alleged the Association was under the influence of 
Frelimo and the Government. By law both private and public workers are 
permitted to form unions and to strike. Concerted work actions, such as 
strikes, were infrequent but did occur.
    On June 6, workers went on strike for 24 days against their Chinese 
employer at the site of new national stadium in the Maputo suburb of 
Zimpeto. They did not receive the demanded pay increase of 20 percent, 
but the employer did agree to make available bread and tea for work 
days exceeding eight hours, and to pay wages for the days not worked 
during the strike. Chinese counterparts of the local workers did not 
participate in the strike.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Although the 
law provides for the right of workers to organize and engage in 
collective bargaining, such contracts covered less than 2 percent of 
the work force. Unions were responsible for negotiating wage increases.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination; however, there were 
reports that many companies continued to engage in antiunion 
discrimination by replacing persons at the end of contracts, dismissing 
workers for striking, and not abiding by collective bargaining 
agreements.
    There are no special laws or exemption from regular labor laws in 
the export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including by children. Nonetheless, 
domestic servitude occurred. There were also numerous reports of 
children forced to work as domestic workers and in the agricultural 
sector.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits child labor; however, it remained a problem. In the 
formal economy, the minimum working age without restrictions is 18 
years of age. The law permits children between ages 15 and 18 to work, 
but the employer is required to provide for their education and 
professional training and to ensure that conditions of work 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 children under the age of 18, the maximum workweek is 38 hours, the 
maximum workday is seven hours, and they are not permitted to work in 
occupations that are unhealthy or dangerous or require 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.
    Although the law prohibits forced and bonded labor by children, it 
was considered to be a common problem, especially in rural areas. Often 
out of economic necessity, especially in rural areas, parents often 
forced their children to work, particularly in commercial agriculture, 
as domestic employees, or in prostitution. Children, including those 
under age 15, commonly worked on family farms in seasonal harvests or 
on commercial plantations, where they picked cotton or tea leaves and 
were paid on a piecework basis for work completed rather than an hourly 
minimum wage.
    On June 14, Noticias reported that the International Labor 
Organization, as part of its 98th annual conference in Geneva, pointed 
to the country as ``one of the countries that has the highest rate of 
child labor'' in the world.
    The Ministry of Labor regulates 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. Violations of 
child labor provisions are punishable with fines ranging from one to 40 
months of salary at minimum wage. Enforcement mechanisms generally were 
adequate in the formal sector but remained poor in the informal sector. 
The labor inspectorate and police forces lacked adequate staff, funds, 
and training to investigate child labor cases, especially in areas 
outside the capital where a majority of the abuses occurred. Although 
the Government provided training for police on child prostitution and 
abuse, there was no specialized child labor training for the labor 
inspectorate. The Government disseminated information and provided 
education about the dangers of child labor to the general public.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Trade unions estimated that a 
minimum livable monthly wage to provide for a family of five was 
approximately 6,460 meticais ($189). There are 11 different minimum 
wages averaging approximately 2,300 meticais ($68) across nine 
employment sectors: agriculture; mining; fisheries; manufacturing; 
electricity, gas and water; construction; financial; nonfinancial; and 
state employees. The national minimum wage does not provide an adequate 
standard of living for a worker and family.
    Although the industrial sector frequently paid above minimum wage, 
there were few industrial jobs outside of the Maputo area. In addition 
less than 10 percent of workers held salaried positions, and the 
majority of the labor force worked in subsistence farming. Many workers 
used a variety of strategies to survive, including holding a second 
job, maintaining their own gardens, or depending on the income of other 
family members.
    The Ministry of Labor is responsible for enforcing the minimum wage 
rates in the private sector and the Ministry of Finance in the public 
sector. Violations of minimum wage rates usually were investigated only 
after workers registered a complaint. Workers generally received 
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 the base hourly 
salary. Overtime is limited by law to two hours per day and 100 hours 
per year. The law provides for one hour of rest per day. Foreign 
workers are protected under the law.
    On April 27, Minister of Labor Helena Taipo cancelled the work 
permit of a Zimbabwean citizen, Stewart Goss, for abusing local workers 
in Manica and Tete provinces, and for limiting trade union activity and 
freedom of speech.
    On May 28, the Mozambican News Agency reported that workers at the 
Maputo International Airport accused their employer, Anhui Foreign 
Economic Construction, of beatings, firing without cause, and failing 
to enroll them in the social security system.
    On June 28, the Ministry of Labor announced fines against 44 
companies for requiring their employees to work on the Mozambican 
Independence Day holiday.
    On July 8, Noticias reported 150 workers on the National Highway 1 
near Xai Xai in Gaza Province had gone on strike to protest a lack of 
formal employment contracts, failure to pay overtime, failure to 
provide medical care or medications, firing without cause, and physical 
abuse.
    Frequent worker complaints included failure by employers to deposit 
social security contributions that had been deducted from wages, 
inability to obtain social security benefits, unlawful firings, and 
intimidation of union members.
    In the small formal sector, health and environmental laws were in 
place to protect workers; however, the Ministry of Labor did not 
effectively enforce these laws, and the Government only occasionally 
closed firms for noncompliance. There continued to be significant 
violations of labor laws in many companies and services.
    Foreign experts, including much-needed medical professionals, 
continued to have difficulty obtaining work visas.
    In theory workers have the right to remove themselves from 
situations that endangered their health and safety without jeopardy to 
their employment; in practice, however, threats of dismissal and peer 
pressure restricted this right. There were no special provisions for 
foreign and migrant workers.

                               __________

                                NAMIBIA

    Namibia is a multiparty democracy with a population of 
approximately 2.2 million. The presidential and parliamentary elections 
held in November 2009 resulted in the reelection of President 
Hifikepunye Pohamba and the retention by the ruling South West Africa 
People's Organization (SWAPO) of its parliamentary majority. Despite 
some irregularities, international observers characterized the election 
as generally free and fair. In March the High Court dismissed a 
challenge to the election outcome filed by nine opposition parties; 
however, in September the Supreme Court overturned the decision and 
sent the case back to the High Court, where the case remained pending 
at year's end. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    Human rights problems included police use of excessive force; 
prison overcrowding and poor conditions in detention centers; arbitrary 
arrest, prolonged pretrial detention, and long delays in trials; 
criticism of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); harassment and 
political intimidation of opposition members; and official corruption. 
Societal abuses included violence against women and children, including 
rape and child abuse; discrimination against women, ethnic minorities, 
and indigenous people; child trafficking; discrimination and violence 
based on sexual orientation and gender identity; 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.
    There were no developments in the 2008 case in which a police 
officer shot and killed a demonstrator who stabbed a police constable 
during a political rally.
    On April 22, seven of the nine police officers accused of killing a 
suspect during interrogation in 2006 were found guilty of culpable 
homicide, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, and 
obstructing the course of justice. Five of the officers were fined 
10,000 Namibian dollars ($1,430) each; the other two were each fined 
8,000 Namibian dollars ($1,144).
    The Government took no action during the year to investigate five 
of six mass graves discovered in 2008 along the country's border with 
Angola. In 2008 the Government investigated the sixth grave, which 
contained the remains of five political activists who were killed 
without trial by South African security forces in 1972; government 
officials claimed the site was well known and did not represent a new 
finding. In 2008 the UN requested the Government confirm allegations 
filed by the National Society for Human Rights--renamed Namibian Rights 
and Responsibilities, Inc. (NAMRIGHTS) during the year--that the graves 
could be linked to ``enforced disappearances'' in the Caprivi and 
Kavango regions between 1994 and 2003.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
police sometimes used excessive force when apprehending, interrogating, 
and detaining criminal suspects.
    During the year NAMRIGHTS accused Windhoek City police of 
mistreating suspects, some of whom allegedly had been held in a secret 
cell to allow time for their injuries to heal before they were handed 
over to the Namibian Police Force (NAMPOL). In 2009 local media 
reported the same allegation. Police denied the accusations, and no 
investigation had been conducted by year's end.
    On March 21, NAMPOL officers allegedly attacked and arrested Kamati 
Ndeyanele, a bystander in a vigilante attack. According to NAMRIGHTS, 
the officers were told they had arrested the wrong suspect but they 
warned those concerned not to interfere or else risk serious 
consequences. Kamati was detained and released the next day.
    In May David Shidinifa, a captain in the Namibia Defense Force 
(NDF), filed charges of assault and robbery against Windhoek City 
police officers, who allegedly kicked and robbed him on May 8 of 3,000 
Namibia dollars ($429) and 900 euros ($1,252) when they arrested him 
for driving under the influence of alcohol. The trial had not begun by 
year's end.
    On July 12, two NAMPOL officers shot in the leg Victor Tutangane, 
whom they mistakenly suspected of illegally crossing the border with 
Zambia. According to NAMRIGHTS, police waited several hours before 
taking Tutangane to the Katima Mulilo State Hospital, where he was 
discharged the next day. Even after realizing that Tutangane was 
innocent, police retained Tutangane's identity card and border pass, 
which remained in police possession at year's end.
    According to NAMRIGHTS, on the night of September 10, Windhoek City 
police assaulted and beat John Haufila until he lost consciousness. The 
attack occurred at the Wanaheda Police Station in view of NAMPOL 
officers, who did not intervene, according to Haufila. NAMPOL officers 
subsequently instructed city police to take Haufila to the hospital, 
where police allegedly told doctors his injuries resulted from a fall, 
according to Haufila. Police later opened a case against Haufila, 
claiming he had prevented them from executing their duties. On 
September 13, police released Haufila on bail, and the case was pending 
at year's end.
    In September the Namibian Press Agency and NAMRIGHTS reported that 
a woman from the town of Helao Nafidi suffered a miscarriage as a 
result of a September 4 assault by NAMPOL officers. NAMRIGHTS claimed 
that three police officers assaulted the woman after accusing her 
boyfriend of reckless driving. No charges were filed against the 
officers.
    The trial of four police officers accused of assaulting two 
residents of Kalkrand in 2009 continued at year's end.
    Unlike in 2009 there were no reports that police use of force to 
disperse demonstrators resulted in injuries.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prisons were generally 
overcrowded, and some were poorly maintained and lacked basic 
sanitation; however, the Government continued to make significant 
improvements during the year. Unlike in previous years, all prisoners--
although not pretrial detainees--had access to water, toiletries, 
washing facilities, and three daily meals, according to the Ombudsman's 
Office, which previously criticized prison conditions throughout the 
country. Conditions in detention centers and police holding cells--
sometimes located inside prisons--remained poor, and there were reports 
that guards at detention centers sometimes abused prisoners.
    In December a former inmate at the Ondagwa Prison instituted legal 
action against the Ministry of Health and Social Services after his 
health deteriorated as a result of taking expired medicine prescribed 
by the prison hospital staff. The trial had not begun by year's end.
    On December 1, the country had a total prison population of 4,251 
inmates in its 13 prisons, according to the Windhoek Observer 
newspaper; the country's prisons were built to hold 4,475 inmates. 
Nevertheless, overcrowding remained a problem in some of the country's 
largest prisons. For example, Oluno Prison in the north was designed to 
accommodate 557 inmates, but in December it held 1,013 prisoners.
    Conditions in police holding cells were poor. After a June visit to 
police holding cells in the south, Margaret Mensah-Williams, the vice 
chairperson of the National Council, characterized conditions as 
inhumane. Mensah-Williams cited dirty and cold cells, insufficient 
blankets, poor food, unhygienic kitchen utensils and pots, poor 
lighting in cells, and improperly functioning toilets. In September 
there were 3,152 suspects in holding cells.
    The Government would not comment on the deaths during the year of 
three Caprivi detainees; 18 detainees have died since the majority of 
suspects were arrested in 1999 (see section 1.e.).
    Unlike in past years, there were no reports that detainees were 
held with convicted prisoners, but juveniles in rural facilities were 
sometimes held with adults.
    There were no developments in the investigation of the 2009 sexual 
assault of a 15-year-old boy imprisoned with adult males; the boy had 
been arrested for theft.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted to participate in religious observances. Victims of prison 
abuse were able to pursue legal remedies, although lengthy delays were 
common.
    For example, the trial of five Keetmanshoop police officers and 
their station commander for negligence in connection with the 2007 
death of Noel Thompson continued at year's end.
    The Ombudsman's Office investigated credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions, documented results, and made written 
recommendations; however, it was not authorized to intervene in 
individual cases. The Government investigated and monitored prison and 
detention center conditions.
    The Government continued to grant both local and international NGOs 
regular access to prisons and prisoners. The International Committee of 
the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Southern African Development Community 
(SADC) Lawyers Association visited prisons and detention centers. The 
Government required that media representatives seeking to visit prisons 
apply in writing to the commissioner for prisons; however, the 
Government rarely acceded to such requests.
    Government initiatives to improve prison conditions continued. 
During the year the Office of the Ombudsman reported improved 
conditions in several prisons as a result of renovations; a 2008 
ombudsman's report cited police cells for poor sanitary conditions, 
overcrowding, insufficient food, unsafe infrastructure, and lack of 
access to medical care and potable water. Prisoners in Gobabis, 
Luderitz, Keetmanshoop, Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, and Hardap were 
reportedly less crowded, had access to potable water, and were provided 
toiletries. Prisoners also received three meals a day, although the 
ombudsman received prisoner complaints about insufficient quantity of 
food. A nurse at each prison cared for sick inmates and dispensed basic 
medication. Inmates with serious health problems were referred to state 
hospitals.
    All prisoners, but not pretrial detainees, had the opportunity to 
take adult literacy classes and coursework leading to a high school 
diploma. Some inmates took university-level classes through a distance 
education program during the year and had access to lecturers from the 
country's universities as well as library privileges on some campuses.
    At Windhoek Central Prison and the Elizabeth Nepemba Rehabilitation 
Center, during the year the Government introduced a case management 
system that classifies inmates according to risk (nature of crime and 
length of sentence) and assigns housing, training, and counseling based 
on this model. The pilot project was used an incentive system to 
encourage good behavior.
    At Windhoek Central Prison, the country's second largest 
penitentiary, inmates were transferred during the year to reduce 
overcrowding, and additional staff was hired to provide better 
services. In addition to educational courses, counseling, and cognitive 
skills classes, the prison conducted skills training workshops in car 
mechanics, tailoring, upholstery, welding, and wood working to provide 
inmates with marketable skills and to reduce recidivism. However, 
pretrial detainees were ineligible to participate in any of the 
prison's counseling, skills training, or academic offerings. During the 
year the prison also instituted a substance abuse program for inmates 
battling addition.
    A pilot program to place youths in shelters and foster homes as an 
alternative to incarceration was formalized during the year and became 
an integral part of the prisons and rehabilitation services. During the 
year the Government's community service program, which provides an 
alternative to incarceration for adults and juveniles convicted of 
petty crimes, also became an integral part of the prisons and 
rehabilitation services. The NGO CHANGE, led by a former deputy 
minister for prisons, offered counseling, skills training, and job 
placement to former inmates.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest or detention; however, the Government did not 
always observe these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--NAMPOL, which has 
approximately 12,000 employees, is under the Ministry of Safety and 
Security. The NDF, which has approximately 16,000 members, is under the 
Ministry of Defense. Both NAMPOL and the NDF were responsible for 
internal security. NAMPOL is highly centralized with regional commands 
responsible to the inspector general of police. Approximately half of 
NAMPOL's overall complement is assigned to the Special Field Force 
(SFF), a paramilitary unit composed 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. Police 
corruption and impunity were problems (see section 4). NAMPOL lacked 
the resources, training, and personnel to effectively deter or 
investigate street crime.
    Police continued to receive human rights training designed by the 
Windhoek-based NGO Legal Assistance Center (LAC). Some officers 
attended training programs with human rights components, including 
human trafficking, at the International Law Enforcement Academy in 
Gaborone, Botswana.
    According to NAMRIGHTS, police officers continued to threaten 
prostitutes with arrest if they did not provide free sex.
    In August NAMRIGHTS and the media reported that a 17-year-old girl 
filed criminal and incest charges against her father, a police officer 
in the Very Important Persons Protection Unit, who allegedly raped her 
in June. NAMRIGHTS claimed that the police obstructed investigations 
into the girl's case. The trial had not begun at year's end.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Arrest 
warrants are not required in all cases, such as when a suspect is 
apprehended during the commission of a crime. Persons arrested must be 
informed of the reason for their arrest and brought before a magistrate 
within 48 hours of their detention, but the Government did not always 
respect these provisions in practice. Detainees generally were promptly 
informed of the charges against them. Those accused are entitled to 
defense by the legal counsel of their choice, and those who cannot 
afford a lawyer are entitled to state-provided counsel. However, many 
prisoners could not afford counsel, and indigent persons were not 
always provided counsel primarily due to an insufficient number of 
public defenders. There is a functioning bail system, and detainees 
generally were allowed prompt access to family members. Under a state 
of emergency, however, the constitution permits detention without 
trial, although the names of detainees must be published in the 
Government's gazette within 14 days, and an advisory board appointed by 
the president must review their cases.
    The Government abused and arbitrarily arrested persons during the 
year (see section 1.c.). NAMRIGHTS recorded 10 cases of arbitrary 
arrest during the year.
    No action was taken against Windhoek City police who in February 
2009 allegedly assaulted, arrested, and detained without charge 
Timoteus Amunyela.
    There were no developments in the 2009 incident in which an 
intoxicated police officer allegedly arbitrarily arrested and assaulted 
Lukas Nekongo.
    Lengthy pretrial detention was a problem. Approximately 8 percent 
of the general prison population was awaiting trial. The lack of 
qualified magistrates and other court officials, high cost of legal 
aid, slow or incomplete police investigations, and continued 
postponement of cases resulted in a serious backlog of criminal cases 
and delays of years between arrest and trial. During the year the High 
Court began to implement some proposals to improve the pace of 
administering justice, including granting increased case management 
powers to judges; litigants generally determined the pace of trials.
    In August President Pohamba granted amnesty to prisoners convicted 
of minor criminal offenses who fell into the following categories: 
those serving sentences of two years or less; those who had served more 
than half of their sentences; those who were age 60 and older and had a 
record of good behavior; and those whose conditional release on parole 
was approved on or before August 26. The Government did not release the 
number of prisoners granted amnesty.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and, while the courts continued to act 
independently and at times made judgments and rulings critical of the 
Government, inefficiency and a lack of resources hampered the judicial 
system.
    Military courts try members of the military only and do not provide 
the same rights as civil criminal courts. Customary courts heard most 
civil and petty criminal cases in rural areas. The law delineates which 
offenses may be dealt with under the customary system.
    Most rural citizens first encountered the legal system through the 
customary courts, which deal with infractions of local customs among 
members of the same ethnic group. The law delineates the roles, duties, 
and powers of traditional leaders and provides that customary law is 
invalid if it is inconsistent with the constitution.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution and law provide for the right 
to a fair trial, but this right was limited by long delays in hearing 
cases in the regular courts and the uneven application of 
constitutional protections in the customary system. The law provides 
for public trials but not use of juries. Defendants have the right to 
be present at trial, to consult with an attorney in a timely manner, 
and, with their attorneys, to have access to government-held evidence. 
Indigent defendants are entitled to a lawyer provided by the state; 
however, this often did not occur due to an insufficient number of 
public defenders. Defendants are presumed innocent, can confront 
witnesses, can present witnesses and evidence on their behalf, and have 
the right of appeal. The law extends these rights to all citizens.
    More than a decade after Caprivi separatists attacked government 
facilities in the contested region in 1999, 113 Caprivians accused of 
treason had yet to have their cases resolved. The enormity of the 
state's case, resource constraints, and legal wrangling continued to 
delay the Caprivi trial, which consisted of five trials or hearings:
    The main trial in which 113 detainees alleged to have participated 
in the 1999 attacks were being charged with a total of 278 counts 
related to treasonous activities; 18 of the accused have died in 
prison, including three during the year; the Government did not release 
the cause of those deaths that occurred during the year. The trial of 
two ethnic Mafwe witnesses, who were part of the main trial and 
appeared in court in 2006 on charges of perjury and obstruction of 
justice for denying statements they had made to investigators in the 
Caprivi treason trial, was scheduled to resumed in February 2011; the 
two were released on bail during the year.
    The trial of 10 secessionists, who were convicted of treason in 
2007 and sentenced to more than 30 years. In July 2009 the judge ruled 
that the 10 could appeal to the Supreme Court against the length of the 
sentences they received.
    The ``Trial Within a Trial,'' a hearing that began in April 2009 to 
determine the admissibility of allegedly self-incriminating statements 
made by 26 of the defendants before various magistrates. In September 
the Supreme Court turned down a request by the state to appeal part of 
a judgment in which presiding High Court Judge Elton Hoff ruled that 
alleged confessions made by 26 of the men being prosecuted in the 
treason trial could not be used as evidence against them. The Supreme 
Court justices called for the speedy resolution of the trial, in its 
seventh year.
    The trial of Albius Moto Liseli, whose 2009 arrest made him the 
last man arrested in connection with the Caprivi separatist plot. 
Liseli's High Court trial began in June, was postponed to September, 
and continued at year's end.
    Civil suits by defendants who claimed to have been tortured at the 
time of their arrests. During the year the High Court ruled in favor of 
the ministers of home affairs and defense in three more civil suits. By 
year's end the High Court had dismissed eight civil claims against the 
ministers of home affairs and defense, 24 cases had been settled out of 
court, and 90 cases remained pending. The LAC continued to represent 
detainees.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There exists an 
independent judiciary in civil matters, which is widely perceived as 
impartial. The law provides for access to a court to bring lawsuits 
seeking damages for, or cessation of, human rights violations. The 
constitution provides for administrative justice as well as judicial 
remedies for alleged wrongs. Civil court orders generally were 
enforced.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution prohibits such actions, and the 
Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice. The 
Communications Act, popularly known as the ``Spy Bill,'' which was 
passed in November 2009, was not fully implemented during the year. The 
act allows the intelligence services to monitor e-mails and Internet 
usage with authorization from a magistrate. The legislation also 
permits the interception of telephone calls and cell phone text 
messages. Opponents of the law considered it an invasion of privacy and 
a violation of the right to free expression.
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 preceding year, 
the Government generally respected this right. Some independent and 
government journalists practiced self-censorship.
    Individuals could criticize the Government publicly or privately 
without reprisal.
    The clause of the 2009 Communications Act that provides for 
interception centers to allow the Government to tap telephones, 
intercept e-mails, and monitor Internet traffic had not been 
implemented by year's end. Provisions regarding interconnection fees, 
tariffs and allocation of frequencies, the promotion of competition, 
and the establishment of the Communications Regulatory Authority of 
Namibia were implemented during the year.
    There were four daily national newspapers, three of which were 
independent, and four independent weekly newspapers. The Government ran 
one newspaper and a press agency, whose boards were appointed by the 
minister of information and communication technology. The Government 
shared equal ownership of a regional weekly newspaper with the 
Government of Zimbabwe. The ruling SWAPO party owned one publication.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that the SWAPO 
Party Elders' Council pressured newspapers to stop publishing cell 
phone text messages that criticized the Government. There also were no 
reports that prominent politicians publicly criticized media outlets, 
newspapers, or their staffs.
    Unlike in the previous year, the Electoral Commission of Namibia 
(ECN) provided independent newspaper The Namibian with election 
information; in 2009 the ECN director refused to provide such 
information, citing a cabinet resolution prohibiting the Government and 
its agencies from advertising or buying copies of The Namibian.
    The Government owned and operated the Namibian Broadcasting 
Corporation (NBC) Radio and Television, which were the most widely 
broadcast and influential media in the country. NBC's television and 
nine radio services broadcast in English and indigenous languages. 
There were 12 private radio stations and one private television 
network, One Africa TV. SWAPO owned 51 percent of the country's sole 
cable and satellite television provider.
    Throughout the year NBC continued to exclude political topics from 
its popular radio call-in programs. NBC Director Albertus Aochamub 
required the host of morning radio program Keetute to address only 
themes provided by the NBC central office; the program had previously 
featured stories that sometimes criticized the Government and ruling 
party.
    Unlike in previous years, no foreign journalists were arrested.
    No media alerts against the country were issued during the year by 
the Media Institute of Southern Africa; the institute issued 12 alerts 
between 2008 and 2009, including three in which the Government was 
cited for banning journalists from covering events; two for passage of 
the Communications Bill; and one for the 2008 arrest of journalist 
Bonita Nuttall.
    Unlike in previous years, no officials used libel charges to 
suppress criticism by journalists and civil society activists.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet; however, the Communications Act provides that the 
intelligence services can monitor e-mails and Internet usage with 
authorization from any magistrate.
    According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 
2009, approximately 5 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were reports during 
the year of government restrictions on academic freedom. Some academics 
claimed they were discouraged by their institutions from speaking at 
events hosted by organizations that criticized the Government or the 
SWAPO party. Others claimed they were discouraged from publishing 
materials critical of the Government or the SWAPO party. All 
government-owned institutions of higher learning, including the 
University of Namibia, Polytechnic of Namibia, and the Windhoek College 
of Education, continued to ban holding of political events on their 
campuses.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly, 
and with some exceptions the Government generally respected this right.
    In August police denied permits for protest marches by the 
opposition Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) party and NGOs during 
the week-long SADC Heads of State Summit. Police claimed insufficient 
resources to protect marchers ``due to a heavy schedule.'' The local 
NGO Forum challenged the prohibition, and the High Court overturned the 
police ban as unconstitutional. However, the summit was near completion 
when the judgment was handed down, and protesters could not reorganize 
the marches.
    SWAPO supporters continued to prohibit RDP members from campaigning 
in some towns and villages.
    No action was taken against police who forcibly dispersed 
approximately 500 young members of the ``Children of the Liberation 
Struggle,'' who in May 2009 had taken control of a bridge and demanded 
to see the president; six of the demonstrators were hospitalized as a 
result of their injuries.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of association, and the Government generally respected this 
right in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see Department of State's 2010 International Religious Freedom 
Report at www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement, foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation, and 
the Government generally respected these rights in practice. The 
Government cooperated with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for 
Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations in protecting and 
assisting refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, and other 
persons of concern.
    The Government continued to limit the freedom of travel of Cuban 
doctors working in the country under a Cuban bilateral assistance 
program. These doctors were generally not allowed to travel within or 
from the country without consent from the Cuban embassy, which held 
their passports.
    The constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not 
use it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees.
    In practice the Government provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion.
    According to the UNHCR, approximately 7,480 refugees and asylum 
seekers resided in Osire Settlement, formerly called the Osire Refugee 
Camp, while approximately 1,230 lived outside the settlement. Angolans 
represented 75 percent of the population, with another 20 percent from 
the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi. The Government 
continued to issue identification cards to all refugees to facilitate 
travel outside the settlement. Nevertheless, some refugees complained 
they still were prevented from working outside the settlement.
    The 41 Congolese refugees who in 2009 voluntarily departed Osire 
Settlement and sought asylum in Botswana were deported to the 
Democratic Republic of Congo during the year by the Botswana 
government.
    The Government continued to maintain strict control over civilian 
access to the Osire Settlement; however, the ICRC, UNHCR, and the 
UNHCR's NGO partners had regular and unrestricted access to the camp.
    The Government also provided temporary protection to certain 
individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 refugee 
convention or its 1967 protocol.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens with the right to change 
their government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in 
practice through periodic and free elections held on the basis of 
universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In presidential and 
parliamentary elections held in November 2009, SWAPO candidate 
Hifikepunye Pohamba was reelected president with 76 percent of the 
vote, and SWAPO candidates won 54 of 72 elected National Assembly 
seats. International observers characterized the election as generally 
free and fair, despite an inefficient vote tabulation system and 
unequal access to media coverage and campaign financing. Nine 
opposition parties, however, claimed the election was marred by 
irregularities and petitioned the High Court either to annul the 
results and order new elections or to order a recount. In March the 
High Court dismissed the case on technical grounds, citing the 
opposition's failure to submit the court application on time. The 
opposition appealed the High Court's ruling, and on September 6, the 
Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the opposition parties' court 
application was properly filed. The Supreme Court ordered the High 
Court to hear the merits of the opposition parties' case, and it 
instructed SWAPO and the ECN to pay the legal costs of the appellants, 
which were estimated to exceed one million Namibian dollars ($143,000).
    In November the National Assembly passed an amendment to the 
Special Advisors and Regional Representatives Appointment Act of 1990 
allowing the president to appoint regional governors; in the past 
regional counselors selected governors from among their peers. Critics 
charged that the amendment would tighten SWAPO control over local 
leaders.
    Individuals and political party nominees could declare their 
candidacies freely and stand for election in accordance with the law. 
The Government did not officially restrict the right of political 
opponents to organize, seek votes, or publicize their views, but SWAPO 
supporters sometimes disrupted rallies and campaigns of opposition 
parties, particularly the RDP. The majority Ovambo tribe dominated the 
political system. There continued to be reports that individuals who 
were not members of the majority SWAPO party had difficulty finding 
civil service employment or obtaining government tenders.
    Clashes between SWAPO and opposition members resulted in injuries 
during the November regional and local authority elections.
    For example, on November 20, a fight between supporters of SWAPO 
and the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA) occurred after DTA 
supporters drove a convoy through a largely SWAPO neighborhood in the 
town of Opuwo; two SWAPO members were severely injured after the two 
groups threw stones and bottles at each other. Three persons were 
arrested, and their trial continued at year's end.
    There were no developments in the 2009 incident in which a SWAPO 
supporter armed with a pistol allegedly attacked RDP member Sam 
Hamunyela.
    Investigations into the 2008 incident in which opposition party 
leaders were charged with advocating a boycott of a parliamentary by-
election were still pending at year's end.
    Women held 24 seats in the 78-seat National Assembly, which 
included six appointed seats and 72 elected ones. There were five 
female ministers and four female deputy ministers among the 41 
ministerial and deputy ministerial incumbents. There were three female 
judges among the 11 permanent judges of the High Court.
    Historic economic and educational disadvantages limited the 
participation of the indigenous San ethnic group in politics. Following 
the 2009 elections, the sole San representative in the National 
Assembly, a SWAPO member, lost his seat. 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 deputy prime minister, speaker of the National Assembly, and 
deputy chairperson of the National Council.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    Although the law prohibits corruption and the Government took steps 
to address the problem, officials continued to engage in corrupt 
practices. The World Bank's most recent Worldwide Governance Indicators 
reflected that corruption was a problem. During the year the Anti-
Corruption Commission (ACC) organized awareness campaigns and held 
workshops for government officials, politicians, civil society, church 
leaders, and school children on the dangers of corruption. The ACC also 
created a telephone line for the public to anonymously report suspected 
corruption.
    During the year the ACC conducted several investigations into 
corruption.
    For example, in March the ACC arrested businessman Antoine Mbok and 
an unnamed employee of the Ministry of Finance for allegedly 
intercepting checks worth four million Namibian dollars ($572,000) and 
depositing them into Mbok's private bank account. Both the Finance 
Ministry employee and Mbok were denied bail and remained in police 
custody. The trial had not begun by year's end.
    In June the courts sentenced Sackey Namugongo, a former deputy 
director of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, to eight years in 
prison for accepting 332,500 Namibian dollars ($47,547) in exchange for 
promising to issue illegal gambling licenses to prospective business 
investors in 2006. Namugongo, who was convicted on 19 charges, was the 
most senior government official to date to have been convicted under 
the 2003 Anti-Corruption Act.
    In June authorities arrested Dawid Boois, the governor of Karas 
Region, on 24 counts of corruption. Boois was accused of pocketing a 
monthly housing subsidy of 7,500 Namibian dollars ($1,072) over a 24-
month period while living in a rent-free house owned by the Karas 
Regional Council. Boois' trial continued at year's end.
    In July former NBC director general Gerry Munyama admitted in the 
High Court that he was not authorized to open a bank account to channel 
funds from NBC's overdraft account to cover operational expenditures. 
The state responded that the admission did not constitute a guilty plea 
and proceeded with the trial, which continued at year's end.
    In July media sources reported that former State House deputy 
director Abisai Shaningwa used his new position as Omusati regional 
council director of planning to funnel nearly 1.5 million Namibian 
dollars ($214,500) to build 27 public toilets in his region. The ACC 
conducted an investigation into the possible involvement of Omusati 
public officials in the high-priced toilet scam but had not released 
the results by year's end.
    In December Prime Minister Nahas Angula confirmed that five senior 
managers of the Government Institutions Pension Fund had been asked to 
take voluntary leave to facilitate a probe into the Development Capital 
Portfolio (DCP), which had lent more than 661 million Namibian dollars 
($9.5 million) to 21 Namibian companies through the DCP from the late 
1990s to 2002. Many of the loans were never repaid, and a 2006 audit 
revealed that the loans were fraught with problems.
    There were no developments in the following 2009 corruption cases: 
the investigation of the Bethanie Village Council for alleged 
mismanagement of funds, tender irregularities, and abuse of power; the 
court case against Public Service Commissioner Teckla Lameck, 
businessman Kongo Mokaxwa, and Chinese national Yang Fan, who were 
alleged to have received kickbacks of 42 million Namibian dollars 
($6,006,000); and the investigation of Immanuel Mulunga, the country's 
petroleum commissioner, regarding his role in a shareholding dispute 
over an exclusive exploration license for methane gas.
    Security force corruption and impunity were problems. Although some 
security force members accused of abuse and corruption were arrested 
and tried in military courts or the civilian criminal system, the 
Government took no action against others.
    There were no developments in the following 2009 corruption cases 
involving security force personnel: the bribery case against traffic 
officer Jacobus Coetzee, who resigned from his position and remained 
free on bail at year's end; the case against police constables Chris 
Garoeb and Paul Jarson, who allegedly impersonated immigration 
officials and defrauded a foreign tourist; and the investigation of 
Lieutenant General Martin Shalli, who was suspended from the NDF in 
2009 on unspecified claims of corruption.
    In February Lotti Uusiku, the suspended former commanding officer 
of the special branch, and Joseph Kamati, the former head of the police 
finance division, were found guilt of theft in 2006. Uusiku, who was 
convicted on four counts of theft, was fined 25,800 Namibian dollars 
($3,685), while Kamati was fined $1,800 Namibian dollars ($257).
    In February Andrew Iyambo, the deputy commissioner of police for 
Erongo Region, was found guilty of soliciting a personal donation under 
an official guise in 2006. Iyambo, who was fined 8,000 Namibian dollars 
($1,141), resigned in March. In 2009 Iyambo was acquitted of charges 
related to his involvement in a car accident.
    In March the ACC arrested NDF Lieutenant-Commander Simiran Elia 
Ndiyaamena for allegedly demanding 10,000 Namibian dollars ($1,430) 
from the owner of a lodge at Walvis Bay in exchange for booking 
accommodations for members of the Chinese army during the year.
    In July The Namibian newspaper reported that although former 
assistant commissioner of prisons Nelzin Martin was suspended in 2005 
on corruption charges--which were dropped in 2007 for lack of 
evidence--he remained on the payroll despite not being reinstated due 
to separate internal corruption charges.
    Public officials were subject to financial disclosure laws. 
However, civil society organizations charged that financial disclosure 
laws did not preclude government officials from engaging in private 
business that conflicted with their government duties. Government 
institutions, including the ACC, the Office of the Ombudsman, and the 
Office of the Auditor General, were responsible for combating public 
corruption.
    No laws provide for public access to government information, and 
media outlets generally found the Government unwilling to provide 
information, including salary scales, for public officials.
Section 5. 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, there were no reports that government officials publicly 
disapproved of NGO criticism directed at government policies or SWAPO.
    NAMRIGHTS and the LAC, both independent organizations, were the 
primary human rights NGOs in the country, and the police regularly met 
with both. The LAC often assisted police with human rights training, 
while NAMRIGHTS reported incidents of police brutality and abuse of 
power.
    The suit filed by NAMRIGHTS Director Phil ya Nangoloh against SWAPO 
newspaper Namibia Today continued at year's end; in August 2009 ya 
Nangoloh sued the newspaper for 250,000 Namibian dollars ($35,750) for 
calling him ``a noted twister of facts and pathological liar.''
    The Government generally cooperated with international human rights 
organizations, and the ICRC and other international bodies made visits 
during the year.
    There was an autonomous ombudsman, with whom the Government 
cooperated; he was considered effective in addressing some corruption 
and human rights problems.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit discrimination based on race, 
creed, gender, language, disability, social status, or religion, and 
specifically prohibit ``the practice and ideology of apartheid''; 
however, the Government did not effectively enforce these prohibitions.

    Women.--The law defines rape in broad terms and allows for the 
prosecution of spousal rape. Numerous cases of rape were prosecuted 
during the year, and the Government generally enforced rape penalties, 
which provide for sentences of between five and 45 years' imprisonment. 
According to police statistics for 2009, 11,882 cases of gender-based 
violence were reported, 1,036 of which involved rape. A number of 
factors continued to hamper rape prosecutions, including lack of police 
transport, poor communication between police stations, lack of 
expertise in dealing with child rape complainants, and the withdrawal 
of cases by rape complainants after they filed charges.
    The law prohibits domestic violence; however, the problem was 
widespread. Penalties for domestic violence, which includes physical 
abuse, sexual abuse, economic abuse, intimidation, harassment and 
serious emotional, verbal or psychological abuse, range from a fine of 
300 Namibian dollars ($43) to 10 years' imprisonment and a fine for 
assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. No information was 
available on enforcement of the law. When reported, the Woman and Child 
Protection Unit of the Namibian Police intervened in domestic violence 
cases.
    During the year the LAC produced comic book inserts in major 
publications that addressed major social issues, including unwanted 
pregnancies, corporal punishment, rape, and domestic violence.
    There were 15 women's and children's shelters staffed with police 
officers trained to assist victims of sexual assault. During the year 
the People's Education, Assistance, and Counseling for Empowerment 
Center and other NGOs continued to provide training to these units. In 
some magistrates' 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. During 
the year the Government began renovating and converting houses in all 
13 regions into shelters for victims of gender-based violence.
    The Government does not keep statistics on sex tourism, and there 
were no reliable estimates of its prevalence.
    The law explicitly prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace and 
requires employers to take reasonable steps to protect employees from 
such harassment. Employees who leave their jobs due to sexual 
harassment are entitled to reinstatement or compensation. No sexual 
harassment cases have ever been filed.
    There were no government restrictions on family planning. The 
Government and NGOs provided for equitable access to contraception to 
all citizens, although those who lived in urban areas had better access 
to skilled attendance during childbirth and postpartum care than those 
who lived in rural areas. According to statistics released during the 
year by the Ministry of Health and Social Services, the country's 
maternal mortality ratio in 2006 was 449 per 100,000 live births, a 
near doubling of the rate in 1992; the high rate was attributed to the 
general lack of access to effective health care. The Government and 
NGOs continued to make a strong effort to educate men and women equally 
in the diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, 
including HIV.
    The Government has no policy to forcibly sterilize HIV-positive 
women. However, during the year the 2008 forced sterilization case 
filed by 15 women (now 16) reached the High Court. The case began in 
2008, when 15 women filed suit against the Government after they were 
allegedly sterilized against their will by doctors performing their 
caesarean sections at state hospitals. Each of the 16 plaintiffs was 
suing the Government for 1.2 million Namibian dollars ($171,000) in 
damages for breach of duty by the medical staff employed in state-run 
hospitals and for discrimination due to the women's HIV-positive 
status. Attorneys for the Government claimed the women gave written 
consent to be sterilized before the procedures were carried out. The 
plaintiffs, who admit signing consent forms, charged that they were not 
properly informed of the consequences.
    The law prohibits discrimination, including employment 
discrimination; however, men dominated positions in upper management in 
both the private and the public sectors. The Ministry of Labor and 
Social Welfare and the Employment Equity Commission, which report to 
the minister of labor, were responsible for problems involving 
discrimination in employment; however, neither was effective due to the 
backlog of cases.
    The law prohibits discriminatory practices against women married 
under civil law, but women who married under customary 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 continued. The custom by which a widow 
or widower married the brother or sister of the deceased to ensure that 
the surviving spouse and children were cared for was still practiced in 
some areas of the country. A University of Namibia study based on data 
collected in 2002 found that the practice of widow inheritance 
(levirate) and widower inheritance (sororate) were still common among 
the Owambo, Herero, Lozi, and to a lesser extent the Kavango.
    The Ministry of Gender Equality 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.

    Children.--The constitution provides for citizenship by birth 
within the country's territory or from one's parents. According to a 
2006 survey conducted by the Government, approximately 40 percent of 
children--many of whom were born at home in rural areas--did not 
possess birth certificates, which are necessary to apply for social 
grants. Although prohibited by law, teachers in regions bordering 
Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana reportedly often refused to 
teach children who could not prove their citizenship. Mothers who 
delayed registration often faced a difficult process and long delays, 
particularly if parents had died and death certificates or other needed 
documents had never been obtained.
    Efforts by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration, in 
partnership with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), to provide birth 
certificates for newborns at clinics and hospitals throughout the 
country increased birth registration levels for children under five 
years old from 67.4 percent in 2007 to 75 percent during the year. 
During this period the Government, in conjunction with UNICEF, also 
opened 21 hospital-based birth registration facilities at all large 
hospitals and 22 subregional offices primarily in rural areas. The 
Government also deployed mobile units to towns and villages countrywide 
to facilitate the issuance of birth certificates and identity documents 
and registered an additional 39,000 children between 2008 and 2009. The 
project primarily focused on orphans and vulnerable children; however, 
the mobile units also targeted San children, and NGOs reported a 
decrease in San complaints of being unable to obtain proper 
identification documents.
    Although the constitution provides children until the age of 16 
with the right to compulsory, free, and universal primary and junior 
secondary education (grades one through 10), the numerous fees--
including for uniforms, books, boarding costs, and school improvement--
placed a heavy burden on poor families and precluded some children from 
attending. For example, in September The Namibian reported that school 
principals in the town of Okahandja refused to enroll first grade 
students whose parents had not paid their school fees in full. The 
schools were eventually instructed by the Ministry of Education to 
register the students. In general, more girls than boys were enrolled 
in secondary schools. Many San children and children from destitute 
families did not attend school, but the Government continued to provide 
mobile schools for children who lived in semi-permanent settlements.
    Child abuse was a serious problem, and authorities vigorously 
prosecuted crimes against children, particularly rape and incest. 
According to police records and media reports, at least 800 children 
and juveniles were killed, raped, or assaulted during the year.
    The law protects children less than 18 years of age by 
criminalizing the actions of the client or pimp in cases of sexual 
exploitation, child pornography, and child prostitution. The minimum 
legal age for consensual sex is 16, and the penalty for statutory rape 
is a minimum of five years in prison. No law specifically prohibits 
child pornography. The Government continued to provide training for 
police officials to improve the handling of child sex abuse cases. 
Centers for abused women and children worked to reduce the trauma 
suffered by abused children.
    Some child prostitution occurred without third-party involvement as 
a means of survival among HIV/AIDS orphans and other vulnerable 
children. The growing number of HIV/AIDS orphans increased the 
vulnerability of children to sexual abuse and exploitation.
    Female genital mutilation was rarely practiced. The women's rights 
organizations Sister Namibia and the Women's Leadership Center 
continued to condemn cultural practices of initiation sex for young 
girls, dry sex (the practice of applying astringents to the vagina 
before sexual intercourse to enhance male pleasure), the stretching of 
the labia minora, widow inheritance, and marital rape.
    During the year there were numerous cases in which parents, usually 
young mothers, abandoned and sometimes killed newborns for whom they 
believed they were not able to care.
    The law prohibits marriage before the age of 18; however, child 
marriage occurred.
    During the year the Government continued to take several steps to 
provide medical care, school fees, social grants, and other assistance 
to HIV/AIDS orphans and other vulnerable children.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was a very small Jewish community and no 
reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--While discrimination on the basis of 
disability is not addressed in the constitution, the law prohibits 
discrimination against persons with physical and mental disabilities in 
employment, health care, education, or the provision of any state 
services. Enforcement in this area was ineffective, and societal 
discrimination persisted.
    The Government does not require special access to public buildings, 
and some ministries remained inaccessible. However, during the year the 
Government continued to require that all new government buildings 
include ramps. In addition, some street corners in the capital were 
outfitted with special signal crossings for the visually impaired. In 
September the chief executive officer of the City of Windhoek toured 
the city in a wheelchair to test the city's accessibility for persons 
with disabilities. While he found that most establishments catered 
sufficiently to persons with special needs, he recommended some 
changes, such as lowering the height of customer counters.
    The Office of the Prime Minister's Disability Advisory Unit was 
responsible for assisting persons with disabilities.
    During the year there were reports that two albino persons were 
killed and that their body parts were missing or mutilated, factors 
consistent with ritual killings. No arrests had been made by year's 
end.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Despite constitutional 
prohibitions, societal, racial, and ethnic discrimination persisted. 
Some citizens continued to accuse the Government of providing more 
development assistance and professional opportunities to the majority 
Ovambo ethnic group. The media occasionally carried reports of farm 
workers, mostly black, suffering discrimination in remote areas by 
mostly 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, the San and other indigenous citizens, such as the 
Ovatue, have been unable to exercise these rights fully as a result of 
minimal access to education, limited economic opportunities, and their 
relative isolation. Indigenous lands were effectively demarcated but 
poorly managed. On August 9, the country observed for the first time 
the International Day of the World's Indigenous People, to promote and 
protect the rights of indigenous populations. NGOs such as the Working 
Group of Indigenous Minorities and Southern Africa and the LAC helped 
San communities assert their basic human rights during the year.
    The Government has authority to confer recognition or withhold it 
from traditional leaders even in opposition to local preference. This 
authority was controversial because of local leaders' influence on 
local issues, including local police powers. There were continued 
allegations that the Government withheld recognition from traditional 
leaders for political reasons.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law does not prohibit 
homosexual conduct; however, sodomy between males is illegal, and the 
practice of homosexual activity was discouraged.
    Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that politicians 
made derogatory public comments about the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 
transgender (LGBT) community.
    In May the LGBT community held a march to protest the sentencing of 
a gay couple in Malawi; police provided an escort. However, Out-right 
Namibia, an organization that advocates for LGBT rights, reported that 
police generally did not take complaints of violence against LGBT 
persons seriously. Out-right Namibia claimed police often ridiculed 
LGBT persons when they reported cases of abuse.
    Societal discrimination against the LBGT community continued. In 
July the company Cash Crusaders denied employment to Annanias ``Tingy'' 
Haufiku, a transvestite. The company manager allegedly told Haufiku the 
company did not employ ``mofies'' (gays). The LAC filed a case on 
Haufiku's behalf, and it continued at year's end.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Societal discrimination 
against and stigmatization of persons living with HIV/AIDS remained a 
problem. However, unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of 
employment discrimination based on HIV/AIDS status. The Government 
supported the work of the Namibia Business Coalition against HIV/AIDS 
to eliminate discrimination in the work place.
    In July the state lifted travel restrictions that barred persons 
with HIV from entering, staying, or seeking residence in the country; 
the statute had not been enforced.
    The trial of 16 HIV-positive women who claimed they were sterilized 
against their will by doctors performing their caesarean sections at 
state hospitals continued at year's end (see section 6, Women).
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The constitution provides for the 
right to form and join trade unions without previous authorization or 
excessive requirements, and the Government generally enforced this law; 
however, workers in essential services were prohibited from joining 
unions. Approximately 25 percent of employees in the formal sector 
belonged to some form of union or employers' organization, while almost 
4 percent of unemployed persons belonged to such organizations. Workers 
were not required to join employers' organizations.
    The labor code provides for the protection of all workers, but farm 
workers and domestic servants working on rural and remote farms often 
did not know their rights, and in attempting to organize these workers 
unions experienced obstacles, such as being prohibited from entering 
commercial farms. As a result, some farm workers reportedly suffered 
abuse by employers such as poor access to health care. During the year 
the Government continued efforts to train labor inspectors and educate 
workers on their rights.
    Except for workers in public health, safety, and other essential 
services, workers have the right to strike once conciliation procedures 
are exhausted and 48 hours' notice has been given to the employer and 
labor commissioner. Strike action can be used only in disputes 
involving specific worker interests, such as pay raises. Disputes over 
worker rights, including dismissals, must first be submitted to 
conciliation and are then referred to a labor court for arbitration if 
conciliation is unsuccessful. The law protects workers engaged in legal 
strikes from unfair dismissal. The law also specifically protects both 
union organizers and striking workers from retaliation by employers; 
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 are members of that union; 
workers exercised these rights in practice. Collective bargaining was 
not practiced widely outside the mining, construction, agriculture, and 
public service sectors. Almost all collective bargaining was at the 
workplace and company level. The Ministry of Labor continued to cite 
lack of information and basic negotiation skills as factors hampering 
workers' ability to bargain with employers successfully. The majority 
of trade unions were officially affiliated with SWAPO, which many 
argued limited their independence in promoting worker rights.
    The law provides for arbitration and conciliation to resolve labor 
disputes more quickly. In 2009 the Supreme Court declared 
unconstitutional a provision in the 2007 Labor Act that prohibited 
employers from hiring third-party temporary or contract workers 
(``scabs''). During the year the Government began to make changes to 
the law to regulate private employment agencies.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination, and there were no 
instances of companies failing to reinstate workers who were fired for 
legal union activities.
    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.--Although the law 
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children, it 
occurred. There continued to be media reports that farm workers on 
communal farms and domestic workers often received inadequate 
compensation for their labor and were subject to strict control by 
employers, including physical punishment and prolonged work hours. 
Given the Ministry of Labor's resource constraints in vehicles, budget, 
and personnel, as well as difficulty in gaining access to some large 
communal and family-owned commercial farms and private households, 
labor inspectors sometimes found it difficult to investigate possible 
labor code violations. Also see the Department of State's annual 
Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law provides that persons found guilty of employing children can face a 
maximum fine of 20,000 Namibian dollars ($2,860) and/or up to four 
years' imprisonment; however, child labor continued to be a problem. 
The minimum age for employment is 14, with higher age requirements for 
night work and in certain sectors such as mining and construction. The 
minimum age was inconsistent with the age for completing education 
requirements. Children worked mostly on private and commercial farms, 
herded livestock, worked as child minders or domestic servants, and 
worked in family businesses. Some children assisted parents working in 
the charcoal industry. There continued to be media reports that 
children on communal farms and domestic workers were subject to strict 
control by employers, including physical punishment, excessive work 
hours, and not being allowed to attend school.
    Sectors in which children were involved in the worst forms of child 
labor included agriculture and livestock, domestic service, charcoal 
production, and the commercial sex industry sectors. In 2009 the 
Ministry of Labor carried out investigations around the country of 
suspected incidents of child labor in the agricultural sector. The 
investigations exposed more than 111 child labor cases, and the guilty 
employers were issued compliance orders. Those employers who failed to 
comply within 30 days were expected to face criminal charges and 
prosecution. Smaller-scale labor inspections continued on a regular 
basis. There were no prosecutions by year's end.
    The Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare continued to 
conduct several programs aimed at encouraging parents and guardians to 
allow children to attend school.
    The Government does not have a separate institution to implement 
and enforce child labor laws, but it generally used regular labor 
inspections as well as other monitoring mechanisms for orphans and 
other vulnerable children. Enforcement was limited. There were 36 labor 
inspectors, and all were trained in identifying the worst forms of 
child labor; however, no inspector focused exclusively on children's 
services.
    The Government had several programs aimed at supporting children to 
stay in school and away from the labor market. The Ministry of Gender 
Equality and Child Welfare and the Ministry of Health and Social 
Services coordinated welfare programs for orphans, including those 
affected by HIV/AIDS, by providing grants and scholarships to keep them 
in school. In partnership with the International Labor Organization, 
the Government also participated in a four-year program to withdraw and 
prevent children from exploitive labor in agriculture and adult-coerced 
criminal activity. The Government continued to distribute a 
comprehensive guide on the newly implemented labor law, which included 
a section on child labor. The Government also continued to work with 
NGOs such as Project Hope to assist victims of child labor.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There was no statutory minimum 
wage law, but the mining, construction, security, and agricultural 
sectors set basic levels of pay through collective bargaining. Average 
wages for unskilled workers did not provide a decent standard of living 
for a worker and family, especially since the average wage earner 
supported an extended family. Wage levels for the less educated 
majority remained very low.
    The standard legal workweek is 45 hours with at least one 36-hour 
rest period per week. An employer may require no more than 10 hours per 
week of overtime, and the law requires premium pay for overtime work. 
The law mandates 24 workdays of annual leave per year, at least 36 
workdays of sick leave over a three-year period, and three months of 
maternity leave paid by the employer and the Social Security 
Commission. However, the Ministry of Labor did not always enforce these 
provisions.
    Concerns continued that Chinese firms failed to adhere to the labor 
code, in part by allegedly hiring and firing workers at will, ignoring 
occupational health and safety measures, failing to pay established 
minimum wages and benefits in certain industries, failing to respect 
work-hour regulations for public holidays and Sundays, and requiring 
construction workers to sleep on site. Investigations into such 
allegations continued at year's end.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare mandates occupational 
health and safety standards, and the Labor Act empowers the president 
to enforce these standards through inspections and criminal penalties. 
Inspections occurred proactively, reactively, and at random; however, 
the Government did not always enforce labor laws effectively. The 
Ministry of Labor lacked an adequate number of trained inspectors to 
monitor adherence, especially in 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 could not 
exercise this right in practice. Migrant workers often did not enjoy 
the same rights as citizens.

                               __________

                                 NIGER

    Niger, a republic with a population of approximately 15 million, is 
in transition toward restoring a democratic government following the 
February military seizure of power that deposed former president 
Mamadou Tandja and his government. Tandja's presidential mandate ended 
in December 2009 after serving two consecutive five-year terms; 
however, he attempted during 2009 to manipulate political events to 
prolong his rule. Tandja replaced the 1999 constitution, which he could 
not amend legally, with one that gave more power to the presidency and 
removed term limits. Disregarding the formal ruling of Niger's 
Constitutional Court and prodemocracy complaints from the civil society 
and political parties, Tandja conducted a costly referendum resulting 
in a new constitution without term limits and a new Sixth Republic that 
consolidated presidential powers. The Economic Community of West 
African States (ECOWAS) designated a mediator to try to end the 
political crisis; however, three rounds of discussions failed to break 
the impasse. On February 18, a military junta deposed Tandja and 
announced that a new provisional government would be led by the Supreme 
Council for the Restoration of Democracy (CSRD). The CSRD invalidated 
Tandja's constitution, dismissed his appointees, and stated its 
intention to move promptly to restore democracy, through elections. 
Under CSRD rule, security forces did not report to civilian 
authorities.
    Human rights abuses included extrajudicial killings and use of 
excessive force by security forces, poor jail and prison conditions, 
arbitrary arrest and detention, prolonged pretrial detention, executive 
interference in the judiciary, restrictions on press freedom, forcible 
dispersal of demonstrators, restrictions on freedom of movement, 
official corruption and impunity, societal discrimination and violence 
against women, female genital mutilation (FGM), trafficking in persons, 
slavery, and child labor.
    The armed conflict between the Government and the Tuareg in 
northern Niger ended following a 2009 peace arrangement brokered by 
Libya. The subsequent surrender of arms by Tuareg groups was followed 
by the lifting of the state of alert in the North. During the year 
there were reports of sporadic acts of ``banditry'' on main roads and 
incursions by members of al-Qaida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb 
(AQIM) into Nigerien territory. Between March 9 and 21, various 
delegations from the Tuareg rebel groups including the Movement of 
Nigeriens for Justice, the Nigerien Patriotic Front, and the Front of 
Forces for Rectification met with the CSRD president; they reaffirmed 
their commitment to work on sustaining peace, to follow through on 
commitments made during negotiations, and to help strengthen national 
unity. They urged the CSRD president and the Transition Government of 
Niger (TGON) to complete the 2009 peace process.
                        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 CSRD and the TGON or its agents committed any 
arbitrary or unlawful killings; however, there were reports that three 
security agents died during the February power seizure.
    On November 8, the ECOWAS Court of Justice held hearings on the 
TGON's investigation into the army's 2007 killing of six civilians and 
an off-duty police officer near Tiguidit. At year's end, a verdict was 
pending.
    Disputes between herders and farmers over land rights and grazing 
areas continued and resulted in several deaths. Additionally, armed 
bandits and bands of AQIM militants attacked Nigerien and foreign 
travelers in northern Niger.
    On June 27, a group of armed individuals, reportedly from Mali, 
attacked a herders' camp near Tirzawan. Four of the attackers were 
killed. They returned on July 4, resulting in the death of one herder 
and one attacker, several injuries, and stolen livestock.
    On July 8, another group raided a camp near Tirzawen. They 
slaughtered an estimated 10 cows and bulls and took away several 
others. They also kidnapped three community members (Gordi, Moussa 
Zouli, and Gagou Dali) who were released in August following the 
intervention of Nigerien officials. On July 14, Daoudoua camp herders 
(in the same area) reported that three of their peers (Ali Gueno, 
Djimraou, and Djodi) had been kidnapped along with their animals. 
Kidnappers killed all three hostages, and the bodies of two were found 
near the Malian village of Deloumane.
    On August 5, several armed bandits, reportedly coming from Mali on 
motorcycles, attacked the nomad camp of Tintakaret and stole several 
hundred head of livestock and other valuables.
    There were no developments in the 2009 killings of seven passengers 
near Bani Bangou, Tillabery, 13 herders in the same area, as well as 
the death of one young man and three persons in a nomad camp.
    On September 3, the Government announced that security forces 
arrested a group of 15 bandits who attacked the village of Tafougue and 
stole 12 camels. Security forces seized several weapons and ammunition 
and recovered seven camels.
    On March 8, the Government reported that a group of individuals 
(later identified as AQIM members) attacked the military outpost of 
Tiloa, near the border with Mali, in the Tillabery Region. Assailants 
killed five government soldiers, destroyed one army vehicle, and stole 
another. The army reported that it killed three assailants and 
destroyed one of their vehicles.
    On April 11, armed bandits attacked several trucks transporting 
goods near Agadez, killing two passengers. Nine others suffered minor 
injuries. The criminals stole a large sum of money. Security forces 
were deployed to track the bandits, but there were no reports of 
arrests.
    On May 11, unidentified armed persons opened fire on a vehicle 
transporting four employees of a mining company near the northern town 
of Arlit. They killed one passenger, took a weapon, and stole the 
vehicle.

    b. Disappearance.--Although there were no reports of politically 
motivated disappearances, on April 22, armed men later identified as 
AQIM militants, kidnapped Michel Germaneau, a French national, and 
Ouaghi Abidine, his Algerian aide, near the town of Tiguidan Tessoum, 
near the borders with Algeria and Mali. Despite efforts to track the 
assailants, the kidnappers were able to take the hostages to northern 
Mali. AQIM released Abidine on April 29 but executed Germaneau on July 
25.
    On September 16, AQIM abducted five French, a Togolese, and a 
Malagasy who worked for the French uranium mining company Areva in 
Arlit, Agadez Region. The hostages were taken to northern Mali, where 
they were presumed to be held at year's end.
    Investigations continued into the December 2009 murder of Saudi 
citizens by armed individuals near Tillabery. In addition to those 
detained in Niamey, other individuals found in possession of the 
victims' belongings were arrested and jailed in Agadez. In August the 
investigating judge traveled to Saudi Arabia to record testimony from 
the two Saudis who escaped the attack and from the families of the 
deceased.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
there were reports that security forces beat civilians and that the 
police forcibly dispersed and injured demonstrators.
    On January 19, gendarmerie cadets stormed Koira Tegui village near 
Niamey and beat at least 10 civilians following a brawl between one of 
their colleagues and a villager. While there were reports that 
gendarmerie officials tried to stop the incident, there was no 
indication that villagers filed complaints or that any action had been 
taken against the gendarmes.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--At year's end, there were 
38 penitentiaries with a total of approximately 7,000 detainees with an 
estimated 3.2 percent (224) of them female. Prison conditions were poor 
and life threatening. Prisons were underfunded, understaffed, and 
overcrowded. The Niamey Civil Prison, a facility built for 350, held 
750 inmates, including 460 awaiting trial. Pretrial detainees were held 
with convicted prisoners.
    Although family visits were allowed and prisoners could receive 
supplemental food, medicine, and other items, nutrition, sanitation, 
and health conditions were poor, and deaths occurred from HIV/AIDS, 
tuberculosis, and malaria. Prisoners and detainees had reasonable 
access to visitors and were permitted religious observance; all 
penitentiaries had places of worship. Authorities permitted prisoners 
and detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities without 
censorship. Judicial authorities and the Government Observatory on 
Human Rights and Fundamental Liberties (ONDHLF) investigated and 
monitored prison and detention center conditions and credible 
allegations of inhumane conditions; public and private media covered 
their visits.
    There were reports of corruption among prison staff (see section 
4).
    Human rights observers, including the International Committee of 
the Red Cross (ICRC), the ONDHLF, human rights groups, and media 
representatives were granted unrestricted access to prisons and 
detention centers and conducted visits during the year. ICRC visits 
were conducted in accordance with its standard modalities.
    The ONDHLF and human rights groups make recommendations to the 
Government on alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders. 
The Government established a law on the implementation of ``general 
interest work'' programs in juvenile courts.
    On April 19, the Ministry of Justice, in partnership with the 
Project to Support Justice and the Rule of Law, chaired a training 
session for prison wardens, bailiffs, and other penitentiary staff on 
penitentiary regulations, budget management, human resources 
management, security, and conflict management.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the law prohibits 
detention without charge in excess of 48 hours; however, police 
violated these provisions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The armed forces, under 
the Defense Ministry, are responsible for internal and external 
security. The gendarmerie, also under the Defense Ministry, has primary 
responsibility for rural security. The National Guard, under the 
Interior Ministry, is responsible for domestic security and the 
protection of high-level officials and government buildings. The 
national police, also under the Interior Ministry, are responsible for 
urban law enforcement.
    The police were ineffective, largely due to a lack of basic 
supplies such as vehicle fuel, radios, and other investigatory and law 
enforcement equipment. 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. 
Citizens complained that security forces did not adequately police 
border regions and remote rural areas. Corruption remained an ongoing 
problem. The gendarmerie is responsible for investigation of police 
abuses; however, police impunity was a widespread problem.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The 
constitution and law require a warrant for an arrest, and this 
generally was observed in practice. Judges and prosecutors weigh 
evidence and issue warrants accordingly. Although there is an 
independent judiciary, there were reports of persons being detained 
without clear charges. The law allows individuals to be detained for an 
initial period of 48 hours without charges, and an additional 48 hours 
if police need more time to gather evidence. Detainees have a right to 
prompt judicial determination, and this generally occurred in practice. 
Security forces usually informed detainees of the charges against them 
promptly; however, detainees involved with sensitive cases were 
sometimes held longer than legally permitted. There is a functioning 
bail system for crimes carrying a sentence of less than 10 years. Those 
arrested must be notified of their right to a lawyer within 24 hours, 
and law enforcement officials generally observed this practice. 
Indigents are usually provided a lawyer by the Government. Widespread 
ignorance of the law and lack of financial means prevented many from 
fully exercising their right to an attorney and the bail system.
    Security forces arrested and detained a journalist and political 
leaders during the year.
    On February 18, former president Tandja and key members of his 
cabinet were deposed and arrested following a military seizure of 
power. Tandja was placed under house arrest and continued to be held in 
a government guest house at year's end. The former prime minister and 
the ministers of interior, justice, economy and finance, mining and 
industry, and equipment were detained at military barracks for several 
days, then released and placed under house arrest. The CSRD 
subsequently lifted the house arrest measure for all except the former 
minister of interior, Albade Abouba.
    On March 15, police detained for questioning former minister of 
communication and government spokesman Moctar Kassoum. On March 7, 
Kassoum had stated that Tandja's detention could create ``hatred'' and 
the junta ``could not deny certain citizens their freedoms, leave 
others free, and talk of reconciliation.'' On March 14, a new pro-
Tandja organization led by Kassoum issued a public statement calling 
for release of Tandja and Albade for the sake of ``national 
reconciliation.'' Kassoum was released on March 18.
    At the end of March, police held at least 17 former ministers and 
general managers of state-owned enterprises for questioning. On March 
30, police denied the detainees access to lawyers. On April 2, the 
police released 14 of them, but kept many under house arrest and 
surveillance for an additional five days. The other three were released 
a few days later.
    On March 29, the police jailed Rhissa Ag Boula, former minister and 
rebel Tuareg leader. Reportedly, his arrest was based on a previous 
final court decision (and therefore not related to other detentions 
during the same period) concerning the killing of an Agadez regional 
political leader. In 2008 the Niamey Court of Appeals sentenced Rhissa 
to death in his absence for ordering the killing. Authorities released 
Rhissa on July 5 and allowed him to leave the country. On December 4, 
the Niamey Court of Appeals acquitted Rhissa.
    On October 15, security forces arrested Colonel Abdoulaye Badie, 
former CSRD permanent secretary; Colonel Abdou Sidikou Issa, National 
Guard Commander; Colonel Amadou Diallo, minister of equipment; and 
Colonel Aboubacar Amadou Sanda. On October 20, police arrested former 
director of state intelligence Seyni Chekaraou. According to the CSRD, 
all of those arrested had been involved in activities aimed at 
destabilizing the regime. On November 17, security forces arrested 
Colonel Hassane Mossi, air force chief of staff. On November 26, they 
arrested Lieutenant Issaka Abdou, an aide to the CSRD president. While 
Chekaraou and Abdou were released a few days after their detention, the 
five other officers remained in detention at year's end.
    The three former National Assembly deputies and two administrative 
staff jailed in September 2009 were released following the February 
military seizure of power. However, in October the Niamey Appeals Court 
prosecutor-general annulled all existing proceedings against former 
parliamentarians and referred the case to a lower court to restart 
legal proceedings. The judge was expected to determine whether a new 
prosecution of the former National Assembly deputies would take place. 
A decision was pending at year's end.
    Police occasionally conducted sweeps to detain suspected criminals.
    There were serious backlogs in the judicial system. Although the 
law provides for maximum pretrial confinement of 30 months for serious 
crimes and 12 months for minor offenses (with special extensions in 
certain sensitive cases), some detainees waited as long as six years to 
be tried. During the year 60 percent of the prisoners in Niamey's Civil 
Prison were awaiting trial. Trial delays were caused by lengthy legal 
procedures, inadequate resources, staff shortages, and corruption.

    Amnesty.--The constitution provides for an amnesty to cover the 
``authors, coauthors, and accomplices'' of the February 18 military 
seizure of power. It did not retain the previous constitution's 
provision of amnesty for persons involved in the 1996 and 1999 coups. 
As a consequence, family members of slain president Bare lodged a 
complaint with the Tribunal of First Instance of Niamey in order to 
bring to justice those involved in the murder.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Although the constitution and law 
provide for an independent judiciary, the executive branch sometimes 
interfered with the judicial process. Corruption and inefficiency were 
problems. Judges sometimes feared reassignment to lower positions or to 
remote areas of the country if they rendered a decision unfavorable to 
the Government. In civil matters, there were reports that family and 
business ties influenced lower court decisions. In some instances, 
judges granted provisional release pending trial to high-profile 
defendants, who were seldom called back for trial, had complete freedom 
of movement, and could leave the country.
    Customary courts and traditional mediation do not provide the same 
legal protections as the formal court system. Traditional chiefs can 
act as mediators and counselors. They have authority to arbitrate many 
customary law matters, including marriage, inheritance, land, and 
community disputes, but not all civil issues. Chiefs received 
government stipends but had no police or judicial powers.
    Customary courts, based largely on Islamic law and local tradition, 
are located only in large towns and cities and try civil law cases. A 
legal practitioner with basic legal training, advised by an assessor 
with knowledge of the traditions, heads these courts. The judicial 
actions of chiefs and customary courts are not regulated by formal law, 
and defendants can appeal a verdict in the formal court system.

    Trial Procedures.--The law affirms the presumption of innocence. 
Trials are public, and juries are used. Defendants have the right to 
counsel, which is at public expense for minors and indigent defendants 
charged with crimes carrying a sentence of at least 10 years. Those 
arrested must be notified of their right to a lawyer within 24 hours of 
detention. Defendants also have the right to be present at trial, 
confront witnesses, and present witnesses on their own behalf. The 
Government has a legal obligation to inform defendants of all evidence 
against them, and defendants have access to government-held evidence. 
Defendants may appeal verdicts, first to the Court of Appeals and then 
to the Supreme Court. However, widespread ignorance of the law 
prevented many accused from taking full advantage of these rights.
    On April 19, the minister of justice officially launched a national 
campaign to disseminate information brochures on citizens' rights and 
obligations. The project, with support from the EU, was expected to 
disseminate 222,000 brochures covering 22 topics such as the court 
system, criminal and civil procedure, child protection before the 
court, divorce or repudiation, rape and sexual harassment, 
administrative redress, labor disputes, and commerce and real estate.
    Women do not have equal legal status with men in customary courts 
and traditional mediation and do not enjoy the same access to legal 
redress.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees. However, following the February 18 
military seizure of power, Tandja and Abouba remained in detention. On 
June 29, the CSRD president stated that ``the Nigerien people will 
decide how to handle this case.'' International visitors, human rights 
and humanitarian groups, and the families of the detainees were allowed 
access and reported them to be healthy and well-treated. In November 
the ECOWAS Court of Justice ordered Tandja's release. In December the 
TGON lifted Tandja's legal immunity, paving the way for his prosecution 
on embezzlement charges.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Courts of civil procedure 
exist in each major city. These courts are generally independent and 
impartial, and there is access to seek damages for and cessation of 
human rights violations. These courts hear lawsuits related to civil 
matters and can apply judicial remedies, while a single appellate court 
is responsible for administrative remedies.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law generally prohibit such 
actions, and the Government generally respected these prohibitions; 
however, police may conduct searches without warrants when they have 
strong suspicion that a house shelters criminals or stolen property.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Before the military seizure of 
power, the actual autocratic rule imposed by former president Tandja 
included a tailor-made constitution, established a National Assembly, 
judiciary, and a compliant media-regulation body; he restricted basic 
freedoms and curtailed press freedom. After Tandja was deposed, the 
constitution and law provide for freedom of speech and of the press, 
and the Government generally respected these rights in practice. 
Although individuals generally could criticize the Government publicly 
or privately without reprisal, the Government attempted to impede 
criticism.
    Throughout the year, the Government published a daily newspaper. 
There were approximately 45 private newspapers, some of which were 
affiliated loosely with political parties. The private press criticized 
government actions.
    Radio was the most widely accessible medium. A government-owned 
radio station provided news and other programs in French and local 
languages. There were 15 private radio stations; eight were locally 
owned and featured news in local languages. Private radio stations were 
generally less critical of the Government than private newspapers.
    The two government-owned television stations broadcast in French 
and the major national languages. Three private television stations 
broadcast local and foreign programming and also began a daily 
newscast. A fourth private channel broadcast religious programming. 
International channels were available in Niamey.
    The Government did not allow international media to operate freely, 
especially when covering events in the north. BBC World Service was 
available in Niamey and Zinder. Private radio stations carried Voice of 
America and Deutsche Welle.
    On June17, the governor of Agadez summoned Raliou Hamed Assaleh, 
director of Radio Sahara FM, to reprimand him for reopening his radio 
station and starting broadcasts without the governor's authorization. 
Raliou explained that he had received a notification from the National 
Communication Institute (ONC), with a copy to the governor, but the 
latter told him that he needed to inform authorities before proceeding. 
Radio Sahara continued its programs unimpeded.
    On September 19, police summoned Moussa Aksar, editor of the 
independent newspaper L'Evenement regarding interviews he gave to 
foreign press about the September 16 kidnappings from the Areva mining 
site in Arlit. After being questioned and held several hours without 
charge, he was released.
    After Tandja was deposed, independent media were active and 
expressed a wide variety of views without restriction.
    On June 11, the ONC reopened Sahara FM, a private radio station in 
Agadez, which the High Council on Communication closed in 2008 for 
broadcasting interviews with alleged victims of abuse by government 
troops.
    On October 11, the ONC granted new operating licenses for three 
private television stations, four commercial radio stations, and eight 
community radio stations, in addition to six-month license extensions 
for two private television stations and two community radio stations.
    On March 11, the Tribunal of First Instance of Niamey cleared Ali 
Soumana of Le Courrier on all charges in the August 2009 case regarding 
a report that claimed that the National Human Rights and Fundamental 
Liberties Commission misused 350 million CFA ($708,000) allocated for 
oversight of the August 2009 constitutional referendum.
    From March 29 to 31, the Government hosted a forum to discuss ways 
to improve the media climate, including replacing jail sentences with 
fines for press infractions and improving working conditions for 
journalists. The prime minister announced that the CSRD president had 
decided to reopen the ``Maison de la Presse,'' a media center and venue 
for training and seminars, which Tandja's minister of communications 
shut in 2008. On June 4, the Government adopted a new law on the 
decriminalization of press offenses as recommended by the forum. In 
addition to reopening the media center, this law resulted in the 
emergence of a private radio station, allocation of new operating 
licenses, and creation of a voluntary media ethics watchdog. 
Journalists, in turn, created an independent organization to monitor 
all broadcasts and publications to avoid possible abuses of press 
freedom.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Although individuals and groups could engage in 
the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, few residents have 
access to it. According to International Telecommunication Union 
statistics for 2008, only approximately 0.5 percent of the population 
used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly; 
however, police forcibly dispersed demonstrators. The TGON retained 
authority to prohibit gatherings under tense social conditions or if 
organizers did not provide 48 hour advance notice.
    On April 12, hundreds of middle and high school students clashed 
with police in Niamey during a demonstration denouncing the 
Government's failure to implement an agreement aimed at improving 
conditions in schools. Several persons suffered minor injuries.
    On August 22, police in Agadez clashed with ``mototaxi'' operators 
who were demonstrating against the arrest of one of their peers. 
Motorcycle operators demonstrated in the streets and burned tires. A 
teargas fragment injured one of the demonstrators. The police arrested 
an estimated 40 protesters but released them the following day.

    Freedom of Association.--Although the law provides for freedom of 
association, political parties based on ethnicity, religion, or region 
are not permitted.
    During the year the Government shut three civil society 
associations.
    In April the minister of interior dissolved the ``Refoundation, 
Restoration, and Respectability'' association led by former minister of 
communication Kassoum.
    On May 10, the minister of interior dissolved the ``Magama 
Foundation'' led by Laraba Tandja, the former first lady.
    On November 2, the minister of interior dissolved the Organization 
of Niger's Consumers led by Nouhou Arzika, a Tandja supporter.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/
drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation; however, the TGON restricted freedom of movement for some 
political leaders.
    Security forces at checkpoints throughout the country monitored the 
movement of persons and goods, particularly near major population 
centers, and sometimes demanded bribes. Transportation unions and civil 
society groups continued to criticize such practices. During the year 
gunmen robbed and killed travelers.
    The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in 
providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, and other persons of 
concern.
    Following the February military seizure of power, several former 
officials were placed under house arrest. In March and April, several 
former ministers and state-owned company managers were placed under 
house arrest and surveillance. All were released by mid-April except 
for former president Tandja and former minister of interior Abouba.
    On May 3, police in Konni stopped a delegation of the Rally for 
Democracy and Progress political party that was traveling upcountry. 
Police, who stated that they received orders from ``high up,'' forced 
the delegation to return to Niamey.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and there were no reports that the 
Government used it.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--Famine and floods during the 
year displaced many persons.
    International humanitarian organizations reported that community 
conflict between farmers and herders, and rural communities and 
bandits, especially in northern Tillabery Region, caused displacement. 
In addition there have been reports of sporadic acts of ``banditry'' on 
main roads and incursions by members of AQIM into Nigerien territory. 
Because of the pressures of desertification and population growth on 
subsistence farming and livestock herding, the main activities in this 
region, competition among farmers and herders for limited natural 
resources increased in recent years.
    The Government and humanitarian organizations provided assistance 
for IDPs. On March 5, the TGON appealed to the international community 
for assistance to address the food crisis that affected over half of 
the country's population. On April 2, the TGON announced that, 
especially in the Zinder and Maradi regions, some primary schools were 
totally or partially empty because children had left with their parents 
in search of food.
    In early August, persistent floods caused residents to evacuate 
several districts in Niamey. At least 770 households and 500 hectares 
of farmland were affected, leaving an estimated 6,000 individuals 
without shelter. Local authorities, with the help of humanitarian 
organizations, resettled displaced flood victims in public buildings 
and other shelters. Heavy rains in Goure, Zinder, left approximately 
11,000 residents homeless.

    Protection of Refugees.--The laws do not provide for granting 
asylum or refugee status in accordance with the 1951 Convention 
relating to the Status of Refugees or the 1967 Protocol, and the 
Government has not established a system for providing protection to 
refugees. In practice the Government did not routinely grant refugee 
status or asylum, but provided protection against the expulsion or 
return of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be 
threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership 
in a particular social group, or political opinion. During the year the 
Government also provided temporary protection to approximately 350 
individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention 
or the 1967 Protocol.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens the right to change their 
government peacefully. Following the February 18 military seizure of 
power, the CSRD implemented a constitution under which citizens 
exercised this right in free and fair elections based on universal 
suffrage, beginning with the October 31 constitutional referendum. 
National elections are scheduled for the first quarter of 2011.

    Elections and Political Participation.--The CSRD, which assumed 
executive and legislative powers after deposing Tandja and his cabinet 
in February, established the TGON, which included a largely civilian 
cabinet, a National Consultative Council in lieu of the dismissed 
parliament, a Transition Constitutional Council in place of the 
dissolved Constitutional Court, a State Court in lieu of the dissolved 
Supreme Court, an Audit Court, a National Communication Observatory in 
place of the High Council on Communication, and a Fundamental Texts 
Committee charged with drafting a new constitution, electoral code, 
political parties charter, statutes of the opposition, and other laws.
    The new constitution and other relevant statutes, which were 
drafted through a consultative process involving political parties, 
civil society organizations, traditional and religious leaders, women 
and youth groups, business representatives, academics, and other 
resource persons, was designed to provide the country with new and 
strengthened democratic institutions. Transition authorities also 
revamped the Independent National Electoral Commission, which prepared 
the timeline and budget for a constitutional referendum and a series of 
elections.
    On November 25, the CSRD president enacted the new constitution 
that voters approved on October 31 via a referendum that international 
observers described as generally free and fair, despite minor 
difficulties on polling day. The only irregularities were logistical 
problems delivering materials to polling places on time. Local 
elections were scheduled for January 8, 2011, and first-round 
presidential elections in conjunction with parliamentary elections for 
January 31. Second-round runoff presidential elections (if required) 
are scheduled for March 12, 2011, and inauguration of the new president 
is scheduled to take place on April 6, 2011.
    Political parties operated without restriction or outside 
interference. Individuals and political parties could freely declare 
candidacies and stand for election.
    The law mandates that women fill at least a quarter of senior 
government positions and at least a tenth of elected seats. There were 
five female ministers in the 21-member transition cabinet and five of 
the country's 20 ambassadors were women.
    All major ethnic groups were represented at all levels of 
government. There were eight seats in the dissolved National Assembly 
designated for representatives of ``special constituencies,'' 
specifically ethnic minorities and nomadic populations.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials often engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. The World 
Bank's most recent Worldwide Governance Indicators reflected that 
corruption was a severe problem. The Government publicly acknowledged 
corruption as a problem.
    Civil servants sometimes demanded bribes to provide public 
services. A poorly financed and trained law enforcement system and weak 
administrative controls compounded corruption. Other underlying causes 
were poverty; low salaries; the politicization of the public service; 
the influence of traditional kinship, ethnic, and family ties on 
decision making; a culture of impunity; and a lack of civic education.
    There were reports of corruption among prison staff. Officials 
demanded bribes to let prisoners leave prison for the day and serve 
their sentences in the evenings or serve their sentences in the 
national hospital in Niamey.
    On April 15, the TGON created the State Audit Court to sanitize 
public finances and to provide for transparency in the management of 
public funds. The court oversees the management of all government 
agencies and development projects funded by external resources, as well 
as the implementation of the budget. It also oversees the accounts of 
political parties and government officials' statements of personal 
assets submitted to the Constitutional Court. If requested by the 
National Assembly, the State Audit Court will conduct investigations 
regarding the implementation of public revenues and expenses. The court 
also has authority to sanction any fraud in the management of public 
resources.
    On May 11, the CSRD president signed a decree creating the 
Commission on Economic, Financial, and Fiscal Crime. The commission, 
which includes customs, treasury, and imports inspectors; military 
officers; judges; labor union representatives; managers; and 
accountants, was intended to combat economic, financial, and fiscal 
delinquency and promote good governance through proper management of 
public resources. It is responsible for processing administrative 
investigations, reviewing economic and fiscal reports, processing 
inspection reports from all levels of government, using audits to 
recover money owed to the state and its agencies, and making 
recommendations and proposing measures for ``cleansing'' and improving 
the management of property of the state and its agents. The commission 
was charged with investigating at least 50 high-profile, corrupt, 
mismanaged, and delinquent accounts nationwide. By year's end, the 
commission had determined that 64 billion CFA ($129 million) was owed 
over the 2000-10 period, and had collected approximately five billion 
CFA ($10 million). Of the missing funds, 57 billion CFA ($115 million) 
was due to embezzlement and seven billion CFA ($14 million) was due to 
unpaid taxes. The commission transferred 34 of the 50 cases to the 
courts for further investigation, prosecution, and trial.
    On June 15, police detained former president Mamadou Tandja's son 
Hadia Toulaye Tandja, Manager of Multimedia Communications Ibrahim 
Hamidou, former minister of mines Mohamed Abdoulahi, and former 
Ministry of Mines secretary general Massalabi Oumarou in connection 
with this case. On June 18, the Tribunal of First Instance of Niamey 
arraigned Hadia Toulaye Tandja for influence peddling and money 
laundering and the other three for complicity; the judge ordered their 
transfer to prison. Hadia Toulaye Tandja and Abdoulahi were detained at 
Say prison, Hamidou at Koutoukale, and Oumarou at Niamey. No trial date 
had been set by year's end.
    On July 8, the TGON created a National Committee for the 
Coordination of Actions relating to Money Laundering and Terrorism 
Financing, in compliance with the Intergovernmental Group for Action 
against Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing in West Africa. The 
committee was charged with formulating a national strategy for the 
fight against money laundering and terrorism financing and to make 
recommendations on improving national policy on these issues.
    On September 11, the minister of justice chaired the installation 
of the Center for Legal Assistance and Citizen Action, created by the 
country's section of Transparency International, with support from the 
EU. The center tries to educate the population on the fight against 
corruption and to assist victims and witnesses of corrupt practices in 
preparing legal complaints.
    On July 29, police detained former prime minister and current 
National Movement for a Development Society party leader and 
presidential candidate Seini Oumarou, former minister of commerce Sala 
Habi, and two other officials of the Ministry of Commerce on charges of 
embezzlement of public funds. On August 2, a judge at the Tribunal of 
First Instance of Niamey arraigned them and released them on bail. At 
year's end, no date had been set for their trial.
    On August 3, police detained former national treasury director 
Siddo Elhadj on charges of illegally granting a waiver that allowed a 
foreign businessman to abscond with two billion CFA ($4.1 million) 
intended as a security deposit in the organization of the 2009 Hajj. 
The judge ordered his transfer to Kollo prison pending his trial at a 
date that had not been determined at year's end.
    On November 23, police detained Amadou Dioffo, director general of 
Sonidep (fuel importation and distribution company) for the 
mismanagement of a government special account for the amount of 3.6 
billion CFA ($7.2 million) opened by Sonidep. On November 28, Dioffo 
appeared before the Tribunal of Niamey, where the judge arraigned him 
and ordered his transfer to Tillabery Prison pending a trial at a date 
that had not been determined at year's end.
    There were no further developments in the July 2009 corruption case 
involving a purported memorandum of agreement between Multimedia 
Communications and one of then-president Tandja's sons, Hadia Toulaye 
Tandja, on the one hand, and an Australian mining firm on the other, 
detailing the creation of a company called ``Niger Uranium Ventures 
SA.''
    There were developments in the 2009 ``illicit enrichment'' and 
money laundering case against former prime minister Hama Amadou. On 
December 3, the Tribunal of Niamey discharged the defendant for lack of 
evidence.
    There were developments in the 2008 illicit enrichment and fraud 
case against former justice minister Maty Elhadji Moussa. On December 
2, the State Court discharged the defendant for lack of evidence.
    Articles 51 and 52 of the constitution require the president of the 
republic, presidents of other government institutions, and cabinet 
members to submit written statements of their personal property and 
other assets to the Constitutional Court upon assuming office. These 
statements are to be updated annually and at the end of an individual's 
tenure. Initial statements and updates are published in the National 
Register and the press. Copies of the statements are forwarded to the 
Government's fiscal services. Any discrepancies between the initial and 
the updated statements must be explained. The Constitutional Court has 
authority to assess discrepancies. The designated officials are not 
allowed to purchase or rent, by themselves or through other parties, 
any government-owned property, or to bid for public or private 
government contracts.
    The State Inspectorate and the country's courts are responsible for 
combating government corruption.
    There are no laws that provide for public access to government 
information; however, many documents could be obtained from individual 
ministries and the National Archives. The Commission on Fundamental 
Text was charged with drafting a national policy on access to public 
information, but had not completed the document at year's end. The TGON 
granted access to government information to both citizens and 
noncitizens, including foreign media.
Section 5. 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, but insecurity 
in the North limited the ability of human rights groups to investigate 
human rights violations.
    The TGON created the ONDHLF on May 20, and its members sworn in on 
August 18. It was supposed to operate without government interference 
but lacked resources to implement an action plan.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and statutes prohibit discrimination based on 
race, gender, disability, language, or social status, and the 
Government generally effectively enforced these prohibitions.

    Women.--Rape is punishable by 10 to 30 years in prison, depending 
on the circumstances and age of the victim. The law does not explicitly 
recognize spousal rape, but appears to cover it in practice. 
Authorities made efforts to enforce the law. Although statistics were 
not available, the Court of Appeals tried several criminal rape cases 
during the year. Rape is a widespread problem. Between October 18 and 
22, the Tahoua Court of Assizes tried four rape cases and convicted all 
defendants. On March 2, the Niamey Court of Assizes had 12 rape cases 
on its calendar. On March 15, it sentenced one guilty party to 10 
years' imprisonment and awarded 1.5 million CFA ($3,033) in damages to 
the victim. On March 22, a defendant guilty of the rape of a 13-year-
old girl was sentenced to six years' imprisonment, and one million CFA 
($2,022) in damages was awarded to the survivor. On November 22, the 
Niamey court of Assizes announced 12 new rape cases to be tried during 
its session. Spousal rape was not frequently prosecuted, as survivors 
often sought to resolve the issue within the family or were pressured 
to do so.
    Domestic violence against women was widespread, although reliable 
statistics were not available regarding numbers of occurrences, 
prosecutions, or convictions. Husbands commonly beat their wives. The 
law does not explicitly prohibit domestic violence; however, a woman 
can sue her husband or lodge criminal charges for battery, penalties 
for which ranged from two months in prison and a 10,000 CFA ($21) fine 
to 30 years' imprisonment. The Government tried with limited success to 
enforce these laws; courts prosecuted cases of domestic violence when 
they received complaints. Charges stemming from family disputes were 
often dropped in favor of traditional dispute resolution mechanisms. 
While women have the right to seek redress for violence in the 
customary or modern courts, few did so due to ignorance of the redress 
offered by the legal system and fear of repudiation or being 
stigmatized. The Ministry of Population, Women's Promotion, and 
Children's Protection, international organizations, NGOs, and women's 
organizations conducted public awareness campaigns on violence against 
women through several events that received wide media coverage.
    Sexual harassment is a crime punishable by prison sentences from 
three to six months and fines of 10,000 to 100,000 CFA ($21 to $202). 
If the violator is in a position of authority over the victim, the 
prison sentence is three months to one year and the fine is increased 
to 20,000 to 200,000 CFA ($42 to $404). Sexual harassment was common. 
Courts enforced applicable laws as cases were reported.
    The Government recognized the basic right of couples and 
individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and 
timing of their children. While the law protects reproductive rights, 
information regarding reproductive rights was not readily available. 
There were no restrictions on the right of access to contraceptives. 
Health clinics and local health NGOs were permitted to disseminate 
information on family planning freely under the guidance of the 
Ministry of Public Health. According to the ministry, use of 
contraceptives increased from 8.5 percent in 2006 to 16.5 percent 
during the year.
    Men and women received equal access to diagnosis and treatment for 
sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. Since 2007 the Government 
has provided free health care for children up to five years of age, 
which contributed to increased access to health centers for women's 
general and essential obstetric and postpartum care, including 
prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Due to a shortage of 
skilled health professionals and limited resources, some women used 
traditional midwives (matrones) during childbirth and were referred to 
hospitals only when the mother or child suffered more serious health 
complications. According to the Population Reference Bureau, in 2008 
approximately 16 percent of births were attended by skilled personnel 
and the UN Population Fund estimated the maternal mortality ratio (the 
ratio of the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births) to be 
820, and a woman's lifetime risk of maternal death was one in 16.
    Although the constitution provides for equal rights regardless of 
gender, women do not have the same rights as men under family law in 
customary courts. Legal rights as head of household apply only to men; 
a divorced or widowed woman, even with children, was not considered to 
be a head of household. Traditional and religious beliefs resulted in 
discrimination in education, employment, and property rights. 
Discrimination was worse in rural areas, where women helped with 
subsistence farming and did most of the childrearing, cooking, water- 
and wood-gathering, and other work. Despite constituting 47 percent of 
the formal sector work force, only 26 percent of the civil service and 
22 percent of professionals were women in 2006. In the absence of a 
formal will stating otherwise, women received one-third of a deceased 
parent's property. In the East, there were reports that some husbands 
cloistered their wives and prevented them from leaving their homes 
unless escorted by a male relative and, even with an escort, they were 
usually permitted to leave the house only after dark.
    In the civil service and the formal sector, there was no indication 
that women experienced discrimination in access to employment or pay 
for similar work.
    The country has adopted several laws and regulations for the 
development of women. The law mandates that women fill at least one-
fourth of senior government positions and at least 10 percent of 
elected seats to increase their presence in decision-making positions. 
The Government also had programs to provide microcredit, access to 
clean water, and access to health services for women.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents. Birth 
registration, especially in remote rural areas and in nomadic 
communities, did not take place promptly due to a lack of awareness, 
remoteness of government services, or inadequate resources. With the 
support of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Government worked to 
address this problem. The Government's failure to register births did 
not result in denial of public services, although it has complicated 
the process of qualifying as a candidate for public office.In principle 
the six years of elementary education was compulsory, tuition-free, and 
universal from the age of six; in practice only a fraction of children 
attended school. Boys constituted 56 percent of those who finished 
primary school. In 2008 the Government estimated that 45.6 percent of 
primary-school-age girls and only 12.46 percent of secondary-school-age 
girls were enrolled; even fewer attended regularly. Most parents kept 
young girls at home to work, and girls rarely attended school for more 
than a few years.
    Violence against and abuse of children was common. Each of the 10 
district courts and 36 magistrate courts had at least one judge who 
addressed children's issues, including child labor. All judicial police 
sections at the regional and district levels may handle cases involving 
juveniles and refer them to judges. The Government also collaborated 
with UNICEF and the International Labor Organization (ILO) in programs 
designed to improve enforcement of the law and to sensitize civil 
servants, parents, traditional chiefs, and other key actors on 
children's rights.
    Female genital mutilation (FGM) is against the law and punishable 
by six months to three years in prison. If an FGM victim dies, the 
practitioner can be sentenced to 10 to 20 years' imprisonment. Certain 
ethnic groups practiced FGM, predominantly the Fulani and Djerma in 
western Niger. According to UNICEF, the FGM rate decreased from 5 
percent in 1998 to 2.2 percent in 2006. However, a 2008 UN Office for 
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs report stated that 
circumcisers traveled from Burkina Faso to Niger to carry out FGM on 
nomad Gourmantche girls as part of a rising trend of cross-border FGM. 
FGM was practiced on young girls, with clitoridectomy the most common 
form. The Government actively combated FGM, continuing its close 
collaboration with local NGOs, community leaders, UNICEF, and other 
donors to distribute educational materials at health centers and 
participate in educational events.
    On January 14, following a complaint lodged by the Nigerien 
Committee against Harmful Traditional Practices (CONIPRAT), a women's 
rights NGO, against three women practitioners of FGM, the lower court 
in Kollo, Tillabery Region, sentenced each defendant to an eight-month 
suspended sentence and a 40,000 CFA ($80) fine. On February 6, in 
Tamou, Say District, the minister of population, women's promotion, and 
child protection, chaired the celebration of the International Day of 
``Zero Tolerance'' of FGM, during which the community issued a public 
statement pledging to abandon the practice of FGM. On November 27, 
authorities arrested a woman in a village near Niamey and charged her 
with seven cases of FGM, performed on seven children between the ages 
of two months to three years. They also arrested the children's 
mothers. CONIPRAT called for the woman to be prosecuted to the full 
extent of the law, given her history and the age of the victims. No 
date was determined for hearings. In December the court and mental 
health specialists determined that the FGM performer was mentally 
impaired. Authorities removed her from custody and placed her under 
medical care.
    Child marriage was a problem, especially in rural areas. The law 
allows a girl deemed to be ``sufficiently mature'' to marry at 15. Some 
families entered into marriage agreements under which girls from rural 
areas as young as 12 or even younger were sent to their husband's 
families under the ``supervision'' of their mothers-in-law. The 
Ministry of Population, Women's Promotion, and Child Protection 
cooperated with women's associations to sensitize traditional chiefs 
and religious leaders of rural communities to the problem of underage 
marriage.
    Child prostitution was a problem. The Penal Code criminalizes the 
procurement of a minor for the purpose of prostitution. Although there 
was no precise age of consent, the law prohibits ``indecent'' acts 
toward minors. It was left to judges to determine what constituted an 
indecent act. Such activity and a corollary statute against ``the 
incitement of minors to wrongdoing'' were punishable by three to five 
years in prison. This provision also applies to child pornography. 
There were reports that some child prostitution existed along the main 
East-West highway, particularly between the cities of Birni n'Konni and 
Zinder along the Niger-Nigeria border. There was also evidence of young 
girls working mainly as domestic servants and occasionally as 
prostitutes, sometimes with the complicity of their families.The 
constitution and law require the Government to promote children's 
welfare; however, minimal financial resources were allotted for this 
purpose. The Government continued its multifaceted public education 
campaign on children's rights. This included forced labor issues, 
efforts to improve girls' education, the dangers of child marriage, 
improvements in birth registration, and efforts to withdraw children 
from the labor force and reenroll them in schools and vocational 
training programs.
    Infanticide occurred, and at least half of the female prison 
population was charged with this crime.
    Many displaced boys from rural areas were indentured to Islamic 
schools and begged on the streets of larger cities. Hundreds of 
children were displaced by the famine and floods. Displaced children 
had access to government services (see section 2.d., IDPs).
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was no significant Jewish community, and 
there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution and law prohibit 
discrimination against persons with physical and mental disabilities in 
employment, education, and access to health care and other government 
services, and the Government generally enforced these provisions. The 
law mandates that the state provide for such individuals, but there 
were no specific regulations mandating accessibility to buildings, 
transportation, and education for persons with disabilities. The 
Government provides limited health care to persons with disabilities. 
Societal discrimination existed against persons with disabilities, 
particularly mental disabilities and leprosy. The Ministry of 
Population, Women's Promotion, and Children's Protection is responsible 
for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities, including those 
with sensory or intellectual disabilities.
    There were no reports of abuse of persons with disabilities in 
educational facilities. In May the country adopted a law determining 
regulations for the social protection of persons with disabilities.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There are no laws 
criminalizing sexual orientation. There were no known organizations of 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender persons and no reports of 
violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation or 
gender identity. However, gay persons experienced societal 
discrimination.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Persons with HIV/AIDS 
experienced societal discrimination. There were strong government 
efforts to discourage such discrimination. The Government continued its 
antidiscrimination campaign in conjunction with several other 
organizations working on HIV/AIDS issues.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The constitution and law allow all 
workers to form and join trade unions without previous authorization or 
excessive requirements, and workers exercised this right.
    The country had a total workforce of 4.36 million in 2008. Only 20 
percent of this number, mainly from the public sector (7 percent) and 
the parastatal and formal private sectors (13 percent), belonged to 
trade unions. Approximately 80 percent of the workforce worked in the 
nonunionized subsistence agricultural and small trading sector.
    The constitution and statutes provide for the right to strike, 
except for police and other security forces, and workers exercised this 
right. The labor code does not contain provisions that restrict the 
right to strike. Workers need only give employers at least three days' 
advance notice. On several occasions during the year, the TGON filed 
lawsuits before the Tribunal of Niamey, which ruled some strikes 
proposed by unions to be illegal on the grounds that they involved 
political rather than labor issues. There were several strikes during 
the year, mainly in the education sector. From late September until 
November, the Syndicat National des Enseignants et Chercheurs du 
Superieur (higher education teachers' union--SNECS) observed a series 
of strikes to protest recent reforms proposed by the Government, 
relating to the national university's bylaws including the appointment 
of the university rector by the Government (as opposed to the current 
practice of electing the rector from among faculty members); the 
transformation of the regional University Institutes of Technology into 
full-fledged universities; and the redeployment of teachers nationwide. 
The SNECS demanded that the university's ``autonomy'' be maintained and 
that any reform be discussed with all stakeholders of the higher 
education system. It further demanded the resignation of the minister 
of higher education. On one occasion, the TGON filed a lawsuit and won 
when the court ruled that the strike was illegal. The TGON took no 
further legal action until the resolution of the crisis via negotiation 
in late November.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows 
unions to conduct their activities without interference, and unions 
exercised their right to bargain collectively for wages above the legal 
minimum and for more favorable working conditions. Collective 
bargaining also existed in the public sector. There were several 
collective agreements during the year, although the exact number is not 
available. During Tandja's tenure, the Government often harassed labor 
unions that opposed its actions. There were no reports of antiunion 
activities or employer interference under the TGON.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, except for legally convicted prisoners, and 
prohibits slavery. It does not, however, specifically prohibit forced 
or compulsory labor by children, and such practices occurred. In 
general the Government did not adequately enforce the antislavery laws. 
A traditional form of caste-based servitude was still practiced by the 
Tuareg, Djerma, and Arab ethnic minorities, particularly in remote 
northern and western regions and along the border with Nigeria.
    Persons born into a traditionally subordinate caste sometimes 
worked without pay for those above them in the social order. Estimates 
of numbers vary widely, from a 2004 estimate of 8,800 persons to a 2003 
estimate of 43,000. Such persons are forced to work without pay for 
their masters throughout their lives, primarily herding cattle, working 
on farmland, or working as domestic servants. Children become the 
property of their masters and can be passed from one owner to another 
as gifts or as part of a dowry. Abusers force girls to start work as 
domestic servants at a very young age. Girls may be sexually abused by 
men in the household or forced to marry at a young age.
    Although the Government publicly banned slavery in 2003, slaves 
continued to be liberated and given manumission certificates. 
Individuals had the legal right to change their situation, and it was 
illegal for their masters to retain them; but most victims of slavery 
did not act on their rights. Fear, physical or social coercion, and 
lack of viable economic alternatives for freed slaves were factors in 
maintaining the slave-master relationship.
    On April 27 and 28, the Ministry of Labor, with support from 
International Labor Organization's International Program for the 
Elimination of Child Labor (ILO/IPEC), organized a workshop to educate 
22 musicians, actors, and comedians about the worst forms of child 
labor and how they can fight against it by raising public awareness 
through songs, plays, skits, dances, and other action.
    On June 8, upon a complaint lodged by the country's branch of the 
Coalition of African NGOs Working with Children (CONAFE-Niger), the 
tribunal of Madaoua arrested two suspected traffickers who used five 
girls under the age of 15 in a prostitution ring. CONAFE-Niger retained 
legal counsel for the girls and on June 29, each defendant received a 
six-month suspended sentence and a 50,000 CFA ($100) fine. CONAFE-
Niger, gave the girls counseling, training, and material support to 
start their own businesses.
    On August 9 and 10, the Ministry of Labor, in conjunction with ILO/
IPEC, organized a capacity-building workshop in Niamey for labor 
unions, employers' organizations, government agencies, implementing 
agencies, and the media, based on results of a previous training 
program entitled ``Understanding and Fighting Children's Use in 
Domestic Labor in Francophone Africa,'' held in Morocco.
    On September 2, the Nigerien Association for the Defense of Human 
Rights, in collaboration with the Ministries of Defense and Justice, 
organized a capacity-building workshop for police, gendarmes, and 
national guard on the protection of human rights including gender 
issues, child protection, and trafficking in persons.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits the employment of children under the age of 14, except as 
authorized by decree; however, child labor was a problem, and the 
Government did not effectively enforce the law. A 1967 labor decree 
also regulates child labor. Children under the age of 12 are prohibited 
from working. Twelve- and 13-year-olds may perform nonindustrial light 
work for a maximum of two hours per day outside of school hours with a 
labor inspector's authorization, as long as such work does not impede 
their schooling. Light work is defined as including some domestic work, 
fruit picking and sorting, and other light, nonindustrial labor. Those 
children 14 to 18 years of age may work a maximum of 4.5 hours per day. 
Children may not perform work that requires force greater than their 
strength, may damage their health or development, is risky, or is 
likely to undermine their morality. The law requires employers to 
provide minimum sanitary working conditions for children.
    In 2008 the country's unions and women's associations stated that 
46 percent of school-age children worked under difficult conditions, 
performing work beyond their physical abilities in mines, 
slaughterhouses, and domestic work.
    Children worked in the agricultural, commercial, handicraft, and 
domestic service sectors. The majority of rural children regularly 
worked with their families from an early age helping in the fields, 
pounding grain, tending animals, gathering firewood and water, and 
doing similar tasks. Some boys were kept out of school to work as 
beggars alongside blind relatives. Others were sent to Islamic schools 
where their teachers made them beg and do manual labor. Child labor 
also occurred in largely unregulated artisanal gold mining operations, 
as well as in trona (a source of sodium carbonate compounds), salt, and 
gypsum mines. Children working in gold mines were particularly 
vulnerable to poor ventilation, collapse hazards, insufficient 
lighting, and alcohol and substance abuse. Young boys from neighboring 
countries were trafficked into the country to work in mines, in 
quarries, on farms, as mechanics, or as welders.
    Child trafficking, prostitution, forced labor, and traditional 
caste-based servitude and slavery occurred. There were reports that 
some child prostitution existed along the main East-West highway, 
particularly between the towns of Birni, N'Konni, and Zinder along the 
Niger-Nigeria border. In all regions, some local religious teachers and 
loosely organized clandestine networks induced young boys to work as 
beggars and manual laborers and young girls to work mainly as domestic 
servants and occasionally as prostitutes, sometimes with the complicity 
of their families. Children were also internally trafficked for work in 
mines (see section 7.c.).
    Inspectors of the Ministry of Labor are responsible for enforcing 
child labor laws; however, resource constraints limited their ability 
to do so, and there were no child labor inspections during the year.
    The Ministry of Mining reportedly sought to make artisanal mining 
licenses contingent upon agreements not to use child labor, but this 
proposal was not adopted.
    The Government also worked with international partners to provide 
relevant education as an inducement to parents to keep their children 
in school. The Ministry of Basic Education conducted training sessions 
to help educators meet the special needs of child laborers. The 
Government cooperated with a foreign government-funded project that was 
implemented by ILO/IPEC to eliminate child labor in the mining 
sector.The Government supported a 2006-10 foreign donor program with 
funds of 1.5 billion CFA ($3.3 million) for the prevention and 
elimination of child labor in mining in West Africa, implemented by 
ILO/IPEC. The project was launched in 2006 and targeted approximately 
3,000 children.On July 18 to 23, following an invitation by the 
Ministry of Labor, officials from the ILO Dakar Regional Office visited 
to initiate consultations for developing a ``decent work'' (acceptable 
conditions of work) program for the country.
    In December 2009 the Child Labor division of the Ministry of Labor, 
in conjunction with ILO/IPEC, organized a session for its members and 
local and international partners to approve Niger's report in line with 
the ``Cross-Border Survey on Child Labor in Traditional Gold Mining in 
Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.'' The study was completed during the 
year and was awaiting adoption by the Government.
    On January 21, the Child Labor division of the Ministry of Labor in 
conjunction with ILO/IPEC organized a sensitization session for its 
members and local and international partners in line with its policy of 
``strengthening the institutional capacity of the national child labor 
division and supporting the installation of a pilot system to monitor 
child labor in the regions of Dosso, Maradi, Tillabery, Tahoua, Zinder, 
and Niamey Commune V.'' The session provided participants with 
information and training tools to address problems related to child 
labor.
    On June 7 to 9, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Niger, 
Nigeria, Sudan, and Chad, with support from UNICEF, held a regional 
conference on the enrollment of children in armed groups and conflicts. 
In a joint declaration, the six countries outlined their commitment to 
child protection in line with global standards, including those in the 
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the 
involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. The declaration also seeks 
to enhance education and employment opportunities for children once 
they have left armed groups. A committee has been established to 
monitor implementation of the outcome. The country has neither ratified 
nor signed the optional protocol. The Ministry of Women's Promotion and 
Children's Protection is working with other government agencies, and 
international organization and NGO partners are advocating ratification 
of the protocol.
    By year's end, the Government had not adopted the National Action 
Plan on the Fight against the Worst Forms of Child Labor. With the 
adoption of an antitrafficking law on December 16, the ECOWAS policy 
will be effectively implemented.The Ministry of Labor had approximately 
100 inspectors deployed nationwide.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The labor code establishes a 
minimum wage only for salaried workers in the formal sector with fixed 
(contractual) terms of employment. Minimum wages are set for each class 
and category within the formal sector; however, minimum wages did not 
provide a decent standard of living for workers and their families. As 
of 2006, the lowest minimum wage was 28,000 CFA ($57) per month, with 
an additional 1,000 CFA ($2) added per child per month. The Ministry of 
Labor effectively enforced minimum wages only in the regulated formal 
sector.
    The formal sector legal workweek was 40 hours with a minimum of one 
24-hour rest period; however, the Ministry of Labor authorized longer 
workweeks of up to 72 hours for certain occupations such as private 
security guards, domestic workers, and drivers. Premium pay must be 
paid for overtime, although the rate is not set by law; employees of 
each enterprise or government agency negotiate with their employer to 
set the rate. These formal sector standards were effectively enforced.
    The labor code establishes occupational safety and health 
standards. The Ministry of Labor is responsible for enforcing these 
standards, although staff shortages caused inspectors to focus on 
safety violations only in the most dangerous industries: mining, 
building, and manufacturing. The Government effectively enforced 
standards within these three industries, except that gold mining 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 did not receive information about the risks posed by their jobs. 
Workers have the right to remove themselves from hazardous conditions 
without fear of losing their jobs. In practice, however, especially in 
the nonunionized, informal sector, it was unlikely that they could 
exercise this right without jeopardizing their employment. There are no 
exceptions from such protections for migrant or foreign workers.

                               __________

                                NIGERIA

    Nigeria is a federal republic of 36 states and a federal capital 
territory, with a population of about 150 million. In 2007 Umaru Musa 
Yar'Adua of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) was elected to a 
four-year term as president, along with Vice President Goodluck 
Jonathan, also of the PDP. The election was marred by what 
international and domestic observers characterized as massive fraud and 
serious irregularities, including vote rigging and political violence. 
Vice President Jonathan became acting president on February 9 after the 
National Assembly conferred presidential authority on him during 
President Yar'Adua's prolonged illness. On May 5, Jonathan assumed the 
presidency following Yar'Adua's death. There were numerous instances in 
which elements of the security forces acted independently of civilian 
control.
    Human rights problems during the year included the abridgement of 
citizens' right to change their government; politically motivated and 
extrajudicial killings by security forces, including summary 
executions; torture, rape, and other cruel, inhuman or degrading 
treatment of prisoners, detainees, and criminal suspects; harsh and 
life-threatening prison and detention center conditions; arbitrary 
arrest and detention; prolonged pretrial detention; denial of fair 
public trial; executive influence on the judiciary and judicial 
corruption; infringement on citizens' privacy rights; restrictions on 
freedom of speech, press, assembly, religion, and movement; official 
corruption and impunity; violence and discrimination against women; the 
killing of children suspected of witchcraft; female genital mutilation 
(FGM); child abuse and child sexual exploitation; societal violence; 
ethnic, regional, and religious discrimination and violence; vigilante 
killings; trafficking in persons for the purpose of prostitution and 
forced labor; discrimination against persons with disabilities; 
discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; child 
labor; forced and bonded labor; and abductions by militant groups.
    By October 9, although most militant groups in the Niger Delta had 
accepted then president Yar'Adua's offer of amnesty, by year's end 
killings and kidnappings by militant groups began to increase, although 
not to previous levels.
                        respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        From:

    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--The Government or 
its agents committed numerous extrajudicial killings.
    According to credible eyewitness accounts, uniformed security 
forces participated in killings during ethnic violence in Plateau 
State.
    Security forces were responsible for killings during attempts to 
apprehend religious extremists.
    National police, army, and other security forces committed 
extrajudicial killings and used lethal and excessive force to apprehend 
criminals and suspects, as well as to disperse protesters. According to 
a December 2009 Amnesty International (AI) report, security services 
executed detainees in custody, suspected armed robbers under arrest, 
persons who refused to pay bribes, and persons stopped during road 
checks. While not confirming the report, Parry Osayande, the retired 
police deputy inspector general in Nasarawa State, told reporters in 
2009 that police killed hundreds of detainees annually, which he blamed 
on lack of training and inadequate funding. Authorities generally did 
not hold police accountable for the use of excessive or deadly force or 
for the deaths of persons in custody. Police generally operated with 
impunity in the illegal apprehension, detention, and sometimes 
execution of criminal suspects. The reports of state or federal panels 
of inquiry investigating suspicious deaths were not published.
    During the year the Joint Task Force (JTF), a unit formed in 2003 
to restore stability in the Niger Delta and composed of elements of the 
military, police, and security services, conducted raids on militant 
groups and criminal suspects in the Niger Delta, resulting in numerous 
deaths and injuries to both alleged criminals and civilians alike. 
Credible reports also indicated that other military personnel and 
paramilitary mobile police carried out summary executions, assaults, 
and other abuses across the Niger Delta (see section 1.g.).
    On June 29, the mother of Salisu Ahmadu found his body in a Jos 
mortuary after he was missing for five days. He was arrested earlier 
for driving a motorcycle during a government crackdown on commercial 
motorcycle (``okada'') drivers. His mother stated that she saw injuries 
and two gunshot wounds on his body.
    In April 2009 police in Mowe, Ogun State, indiscriminately fired 
into the home of Patrick Akama, who had called police because his home 
was being burgled. Akama died instantly.
    In April a Maiduguri high court found that in July 2009 police 
detained and subsequently killed Baba Fagu, the father-in-law of then 
Boko Haram leader Muhammad Yusuf. The court ordered the federal and 
state governments to pay 100 million naira ($667,000) as compensation 
to Fagu's family. The police stated that they would appeal the 
judgment. Fagu's death followed violent clashes between police and 
militant members of Boko Haram in four northern states in July 2009 
which resulted in more than 700 deaths; quick burials in mass graves 
precluded an accurate accounting of the dead. Numerous injuries 
resulted, and the Red Cross estimated that about 4,000 persons were 
displaced. The clashes were preceded by Boko Haram attacks on police 
stations and government buildings in Bauchi and Maiduguri. There were 
reports of summary executions, use of excessive force, and widespread 
arrests of suspected extremists, many based on little or no evidence. 
Corpses of militants were found at police stations, and there were 
numerous reports that police pulled persons from cars and summarily 
shot them. According to AI, in July 2009 security forces killed an 
estimated 200 alleged members of the sect trying to flee Maiduguri. 
Religious leaders condemned the philosophy and actions of Boko Haram 
but criticized the Government's use of excessive force and its failure 
to address the social problems, including poverty and lack of 
education, underlying the violence.
    Also in July 2009 soldiers arrested Yusuf. Credible media reports 
claimed that police executed Yusuf, whose bruised body subsequently was 
seen at state police headquarters with multiple bullet wounds. While 
police initially admitted killing Yusuf in custody, they subsequently 
claimed he was killed while trying to escape. Buji Fai, a former state 
government official suspected of funding Boko Haram, also reportedly 
was killed in custody along with Fagu. In August 2009 then president 
Yar'Adua pledged to conduct a full investigation of the Boko Haram 
uprising, including the circumstances surrounding Yusuf's death, but 
authorities had not publicly released the results of the investigation 
by year's end.
    In October 2009 a soldier shot Friday Ojieh at close range in his 
office in Ikeja, Lagos. The soldier claimed self-defense, but the 
victim's aunt questioned this explanation as the young man had some 
money in one hand and his cell phone in the other.
    In December 2009 AI published Killing at Will: Extrajudicial 
Executions and Other Unlawful Killings by the Police in Nigeria, which 
documented 39 cases of security force killings and enforced 
disappearances based on interviews and research conducted between July 
2007 and July 2009. According to the report national police conducted 
hundreds of extrajudicial executions, other unlawful killings, and 
enforced disappearances each year. Victims were not picked at random 
and, in a country where ``bribes guarantee safety,'' those who could 
not afford to pay were at risk of being shot or tortured to death. The 
majority of cases were not investigated, and perpetrators were not 
punished. When investigations did occur, they did not comply with 
international standards, and officers suspected of extrajudicial 
executions generally were sent away on training or transferred to other 
states instead of being prosecuted. Police often claimed that the 
victim was an armed robber killed in an exchange of gunfire or a 
suspect killed while trying to escape police custody. AI charged that 
Police Force Order 237, which permits officers to shoot suspects and 
detainees who attempt to escape or avoid arrest, ``lets the police get 
away with murder.''
    In December 2009 in the northern state of Bauchi, a clash between 
members of the Islamic Kala-Kato sect, town residents, and security 
forces resulted in some 40 deaths, including children, in fighting that 
lasted about three hours. The conflict started when residents 
complained to police about aggressive open-air preaching against other 
Muslim groups. Police arrested 20 persons, including children, for 
allegedly fighting and burning homes. Police claimed that they killed 
sect leader Mallam Badamasi and recovered ``bomb-making tools and 
explosives.''
    No action was taken against the four police officers from Ede, Osun 
State, who in 2008 beat to death Misitura Ademola following her arrest 
for theft; or the police officers in Oshogbo, Osun State, who in 2008 
beat to death Dauda Najeem while attempting to extract a confession of 
theft.
    Authorities charged a police officer with responsibility in the 
2008 death of bank manager Modebayo Awosika, who was shot in the head 
for failing to stop after his car collided with a police vehicle in 
Lagos. In November during the trial of a police officer implicated in 
the case, police admitted that a police officer had killed the victim; 
a second officer remained at large at year's end.
    A panel established by Plateau State to investigate the killings of 
about 700 civilians by security forces in the Jos North local 
government area in 2008 attributed the violence to provocation by 
religious leaders as well as violence by political parties and local 
government officials; however, the panel's full report was not released 
by year's end, and no one was charged or punished for any of the 
killings. A second panel called by the president to investigate the 
incident began public hearings and submitted its recommendations in 
September; however, by year's end none of the recommendations was 
implemented.
    According to the 2009 AI report, police officers from the Ketu 
antirobbery squad arrested persons attending a 2008 community party and 
released only those who could pay a fine. One of the detainees unable 
to pay died after being beaten with an iron bar and rifle butt.
    No investigation was conducted into the 2008 police killings of 
more than 50 persons in Ogaminana, Kogi State; police reportedly 
attacked the village in reprisal for the killing of a colleague by 
local youths.
    In April 2009, after receiving a second petition from the Osun 
State Civil Societies Coalition against Corruption and Rights 
Violations, a team of police investigators visited Oshogbo to examine 
three extrajudicial killings that occurred in 2008 and seven that 
occurred in prior years. The investigators did not release a report on 
their findings by year's end, despite multiple petitions.
    Police use of excessive force, including live ammunition, to 
disperse demonstrators resulted in numerous killings during the year.
    For example, on April 3, Lagos police reportedly fired live 
ammunition into a crowd of young protesters and killed two persons. The 
crowd was protesting the police force's killing of another man two days 
earlier who was suspected of spray-painting graffiti. A Lagos police 
spokesperson later dismissed the accusation, and stated that no one was 
killed.
    In October AI released the report Port Harcourt Demolitions: 
Excessive Use of Force Against Demonstrators, which documented an 
attack in October 2009 in which police and the JTF fired into a crowd 
of citizens peacefully protesting the proposed demolition of their 
homes. The report stated that at least 12 persons were shot and 
seriously injured, and witnesses claimed that they saw six bodies in a 
police vehicle.
    There were no developments in several 2008 police killings of 
demonstrators, including the shooting deaths of three youths in 
Okeagbe, Ondo State, and the killings of four demonstrators in Kaduna 
State.
    Violence and lethal force at unauthorized police and military 
roadblocks and checkpoints continued during the year, despite numerous 
announcements by the police inspector general that independent police 
roadblocks would be eliminated and offenders punished. According to 
AI's December 2009 report, police often stopped commercial drivers and 
asked them to pay a bribe, the amount of which was determined by the 
weight of the vehicle. Police shot drivers who refused to pay and also 
shot them when a disagreement occurred over the price, or when it was 
unclear whether a bribe had been paid.
    Bystanders sometimes were shot by mistake. In April 2009, three-
year-old Kausarat Saliu was killed by a police bullet in Ketu that had 
first penetrated her father's hand after their car had been stopped. 
When the father ran towards the police officer that shot his daughter, 
the police proceeded to assault her parents and detained both of them. 
A federal high court judge ordered the Lagos State Police and the 
officer to pay the family a fine of 32 million naira ($200,000) in 
damages, stating that no one is above the law. By year's end the family 
reported they had received no payment.
    In May 2009 at a checkpoint in Emene, Enugu State, police shot 
Aneke Okorie, who later died on his way to the hospital. An eyewitness 
told AI that a police officer shot Okorie in the stomach and then hung 
his gun around Okorie's neck to suggest that the officer had been 
attacked by an armed robber. When radio reports in Enugu State claimed 
that police had killed an armed robber, the eyewitness and community 
leaders wrote a petition to the inspector general of police stating 
that Okorie was innocent and asking that the perpetrators be brought to 
justice. Authorities arrested the three police officers involved in the 
shooting and dismissed one, who awaited trial at year's end.
    In September 2009 in Festac, Lagos State, five police officers 
stopped the car of Lagos State University student Michael Egwu at a 
checkpoint and demanded documentation, which Egwu produced. According 
to eyewitnesses, the officers subsequently demanded money, and an 
argument ensued, during which one of the police officers shot and 
killed Egwu. News reports claimed an officer was in custody over the 
incident, but there was no confirmation by year's end.
    In November 2009 a 70-year-old man on the way home from the wedding 
of his son died after being shot in the head at a police checkpoint in 
Osogbo, Osun State. The man had refused to pay a 20-naira (13-cent) 
bribe. According to news reports, fellow officers removed the 
intoxicated police officer from the scene.
    In December 2009 at Ado-Awaye, Oyo State, two police officers 
stopped 15 youths traveling by motorcycle, fired into the air to 
frighten them, and then shot and killed one of the youths. One officer 
was arrested; the other officer fled the scene, was dismissed in 
absentia, and remained at large at year's end.
    In December 2009 the district coroner absolved police of any 
involvement in the 2008 killing in Lagos of journalist Abayomi Ogundeji 
and ruled that armed thieves were responsible. Police also claimed that 
Ogundeji had been killed by thieves, but a coroner's inquest in July 
implicated police in the killing after eyewitness accounts described 
the victim's unwillingness to get out of his car at a police roadblock. 
One of the eyewitnesses was shot and killed a few days before the 
inquest. The district coroner, however, accused police of failing to 
conduct a proper investigation.
    Despite police pledges fully to disclose details of the prosecution 
into the 2008 shooting death of Gabriel Mordi at a checkpoint in Agbor, 
Delta State, police officers responsible for the killing were quietly 
redeployed to other locations in 2009.
    Police and military personnel used excessive and sometimes deadly 
force to quell civil unrest, property vandalism, and interethnic 
violence.
    For example, in October 2009, in Biu, Borno State, two of 100 
motorcycle riders protesting the enforcement of a requirement to wear 
crash helmets were killed during a confrontation with police; several 
riders also were injured. A mob retaliated by burning Biu government 
offices.
    Ethno-religious violence, often triggered by disputes between 
farmers and herders, resulted in deaths and displacement during the 
year. The most deadly examples of such conflict were in Jos and the 
farmlands surrounding the city. In two major attacks in January and 
March, and later smaller scale attacks, up to 1,000 persons, mostly 
women, children and the elderly, were killed (see section 6).
    Organized extremist groups such as Boko Haram attacked police and 
security forces during the year. Targeted attacks on police officials, 
their families, and police stations contributed to the increase in 
overall levels of violence. For example, on September 7, Boko Haram 
members attacked the Bauchi State prison to free other members of their 
group, resulting in the deaths of seven guards and police officers. 
Reports indicated that 732 prisoners escaped, most of whom authorities 
recaptured within four days (see section 6).
    There were credible reports that traditional leaders were involved 
in killings.
    For example, in January 2009, the Ovie of Ozoro, a traditional 
ruler, and several of his supporters attacked Eugene Ebiri, an 
individual with mental disabilities who lived in Isoko North Local 
Government Area, Delta State. Ebiri's offense reportedly involved 
sitting on the Ovie's throne. He subsequently died, according to the 
Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN), a network of 46 civil 
society organizations dedicated to police reform and accountability. 
Ebiri's body was taken to a mortuary, where it was located later by the 
family after police authorities refused to provide any information on 
the death. No action was taken against the perpetrators by year's end.
    There continued to be reports of street mobs killing suspected 
criminals during the year. There were no arrests reported from these 
mob actions and no developments in cases from previous years.
    The torturing and killing of children accused of witchcraft 
resulted in numerous deaths during the year (see section 6).
    Killings carried out by organized gangs of armed robbers remained 
common during the year. In many regions groups of street youths, known 
as ``area boys,'' operated illegal highway checkpoints at which they 
demanded money from motorists.

    b. Disappearance.--Continuing abductions of civilians by militant 
and criminal groups occurred in connection with the conflict in the 
Niger Delta, particularly in Port Harcourt (see section 1.g.). On 
August 9, in an effort to address the increasing number of kidnappings, 
the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) reported that 10 police officers were 
dismissed or were being prosecuted for collaborating with kidnappers.
    There was also a significant increase in abductions, some of which 
may have been politically motivated, in other parts of the country. 
Earlier kidnappings involved international oil workers and perceived 
high-value targets. During the year, however, kidnappings occurred 
against the middle class as a means of generating quick cash, and 
against political opponents for political gain. Criminals also 
kidnapped senior religious leaders.
    While kidnappings for ransom commonly occurred in the south, they 
became more widespread as a money-making ``venture.''
    Infants were abducted; an eight-month-old boy was kidnapped in Port 
Harcourt in February.
    On April 8, more than 50 doctors from the main teaching hospital in 
Benin City went on strike after unidentified gunmen abducted the chief 
doctor on his way home from work. The protesting doctors demanded that 
authorities find the captors and increase security. In May doctors 
again went on strike to draw attention to the five doctors who had been 
kidnapped in Benin City within one week, claiming ``doctors had become 
the prime targets of kidnapping.''
    On May 12, captors abducted and later killed Philomena Udoma, the 
69-year-old mother of Akwa Ibom gubernatorial candidate Iniekong 
Udonwa. They abandoned her body at the side of a rural road. Her 
candidate son was captured from the family home at the same time, 
wounded by a gunshot, and then left behind because of the severity of 
his wounds.
    On June 7, individuals kidnapped Halima Adamu, the wife of the 
speaker of the Jigawa State House of Assembly. Police arrived at the 
scene, chased, injured, and arrested four men after a gun battle. Two 
of the suspects died on the way to the hospital, while the remaining 
two died the next day.
    On June 22, kidnappers abducted a British citizen in central Abuja 
and took him to a hideout while demanding a ransom. Police rescued the 
victim and arrested the suspected kidnappers. Reportedly no ransom was 
paid.
    The June 27 kidnapping of Ndubuisi Nwobu, Anambra State chairman of 
the Action Congress Party, ended two days later with his safe release. 
Both the family and police denied payment of a ransom.
    During an Akwa Ibom raid on July 8, police killed three kidnappers 
in their effort to free kidnap victim Akpan Timothy Akpan, the brother 
of Senator Effiong Bob. Police confiscated four AK-47 rifles and 145 
rounds of ammunition.
    On August 27, four armed gunmen abducted Tafawa Balewa, a prominent 
supporter of President Jonathan, from his office in Abuja and took him 
to a forest area, where a gun battle with police ensued. Police 
arrested two suspects. A reported ransom of 100 million naira 
($660,000), later reduced to 7 million naira ($46,000) was demanded; it 
was not known if the ransom was paid.
    On August 30, police rescued the ten-year-old son of Adamu Dahiru, 
a candidate for the House of Representatives, kidnapped by gunmen from 
his home in Bauchi. Neither the family nor police would confirm payment 
of a ransom.
    On September 1, police posted public photos and information about 
two men, one of who was a former police officer, wanted for the kidnap 
and murder of Lotachukwu Ezeudu, a student from Enugu. Authorities 
offered a financial reward for information leading to the arrest of 
either suspect.
    No arrests or prosecutions occurred in the following 2009 cases: 
the March abduction of seven-year-old Etiosa Aghobahi; the April 
abduction of five Canadian citizens on a Rotary exchange program; the 
August abduction of two Kogi State council chairmen; the September 
abduction of Waje Yayok, secretary to the Government of Kaduna State; 
the October abduction of the 78-year-old father of Chukwuma Soludo, a 
former central bank governor and the PDP candidate for governor of 
Anambra State.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--Although the constitution and law prohibit such practices 
and provide for punishment of such abuses, torture is not criminalized, 
and security services personnel, including police, military, and State 
Security Service (SSS) officers, regularly tortured, beat, and abused 
demonstrators, criminal suspects, detainees, and convicted prisoners. 
Police mistreated civilians to extort money. The law prohibits the 
introduction into trials of evidence and confessions obtained through 
torture; however, police often used torture to extract confessions.
    JTF use of excessive force during raids on militant groups and 
criminal suspects in the Niger Delta resulted in deaths, injuries, mass 
rape, displacement of civilians, and other abuses in the Delta region 
(see section 1.g.).
    In May, the Open Society Justice Initiative, together with the 
NOPRIN, released a 138-page report, Criminal Force: Torture, Abuse, and 
Extrajudicial Killings by the Nigeria Police Force, with first-hand 
reports from investigations at over 400 police stations. Describing 
summary executions of suspects, torture as a means of investigation, 
rape, and extortion, the report claimed that the Government had 
acknowledged these problems but had actually allowed the abuse to 
continue with ``a stunning degree of impunity.''
    In August police called 17-year-old radio mechanic Osadebamwen 
Okonigene to a police station in Edo State to repair electronics. When 
he arrived, police allegedly detained and tortured him for three days 
over an allegation of theft. His father went to the police station to 
find his son and discovered that he had been beaten and burned; the boy 
was taken to the local hospital, where he recovered. Police stated that 
any officer found culpable would be disciplined or prosecuted; a court 
case was pending at year's end.
    On September 6, an unnamed government official and his police 
escort encountered a Lagos traffic jam. The police officers jumped into 
the traffic, armed with long rifles and wielding long horsewhips. They 
proceeded to hit the stopped cars with their rifle butts and then, 
angered because the traffic did not move, they began to flog drivers 
with the whips to clear the road. Security forces' use of bullwhips was 
declared illegal by the Lagos State governor in 2009; in this case, the 
federal police ignored state law. Authorities took no action against 
police.
    Police commonly used a technique called ``parading'' of arrestees. 
Parading involved literally walking the persons through public spaces, 
subjecting the arrestee to public ridicule and abuse. Taunts, food, and 
objects are often thrown. Police defended this practice with the 
argument that public humiliation helps deter crime. In November a 15 
year-old girl was paraded through the Lekki area of Lagos along with 
her 50-year-old father who was accused of raping his daughter and 
fathering her child. The father, the girl, and the baby were paraded by 
the deputy Lagos police public relations officer.
    Citing the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Social Justice and 
Advocacy Initiative, the December 2009 AI report noted that 
``intimidation, torture, and extortion of detainees'' remained 
``entrenched practices'' in the criminal justice system. The National 
Human Rights Commission (NHRC) claimed that ``most cases in court are 
prosecuted by the police based on confessions obtained under 
circumstances of torture.''
    In August 2009 the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) 
arrested and detained without charge student leader Abduliahi Ebiloma. 
In July 2009 Ebiloma had asked to meet with the education minister to 
discuss the teachers' strike and the removal of the minister; the 
minister had rejected his request. During his 78-day detention Ebiloma 
was beaten, shocked with electrodes attached to his torso, and not 
allowed to confer with an attorney. In October 2009 he was released 
without explanation, and his case was in the court system at year's 
end. The case was repeatedly continued at the request of prosecutors 
during the year. Ebiloma was suspended from his university and was 
denied access to transcripts while awaiting a court decision.
    Police and military use of excessive force in quelling the July 
2009 uprising in Boko Haram communities resulted in numerous deaths and 
injuries (see section 1.a.).
    Police occasionally beat children. For example, in July 2009, 
police in Iket, Akwa Ibom, entered a shelter that held 150 children 
accused of witchcraft. When the children tried to prevent the arrest of 
staff members, police beat children, rendering two girls unconscious 
(see section 6.).
    Security forces beat journalists during the year (see section 
2.a.).
    According to credible reports, during the year security forces 
committed rape and other forms of sexual violence against women and 
girls with impunity. Police officials acknowledged that rape was a 
problem. In May, the Open Society Justice Initiative reported that rape 
was ``a routine but unspoken aspect of policing'' and was ``one of the 
fringe benefits attached to night patrol.'' In January, a police 
officer allegedly impregnated 24-year-old homicide suspect Halima Abdu 
while she was detained in Maiduguri. Authorities arrested the officer, 
but no public information was available as to his whereabouts.
    AI reported in December 2009 that police frequently raped women in 
detention but that victims did not report the abuse because of the 
social stigma attached to rape and the fact that police officers had 
committed these crimes. In 2008 the NHRC reported a sharp increase in 
reported cases of rape and sexual abuse, particularly of minors and 
women in prisons and detention centers.
    Varying Sharia penal codes existed in 12 northern states, and 
Sharia courts delivered ``hadd'' sentences. For example, such sentences 
included caning for minor offenses such as petty theft, public 
consumption of alcohol, and prostitution; it was unknown if any of the 
sentences were carried out during the year. Numerous Sharia cases from 
previous years awaited appeal or implementation of sentence, including 
pending amputation sentences in Jigawa, Bauchi, Niger, Kano, and 
Zamfara States. To date, the only amputation sentence carried out 
involved a victim who refused to appeal his 1999 conviction.
    Statutory law mandates that state governors either impose a stay or 
implement amputation or death sentences. Authorities often did not 
carry out sentences under Sharia due to the lengthy process for 
appeals. Because no relevant case had been appealed to the federal 
level, federal appellate courts had yet to decide whether such 
punishments violated the constitution. Courts consistently overturned 
stoning and amputation sentences on procedural or evidentiary grounds, 
but the sentences had not been challenged on constitutional grounds. 
Caning is also a punishment under common law in the Northern Region 
penal code and was not challenged in the courts as a violation of 
statutory law. In some cases, convicted persons paid fines or went to 
jail instead of being caned. Sharia courts usually carried out caning 
immediately, while the Sharia criminal procedure code allows defendants 
30 days to appeal sentences involving mutilation or death. Appeals 
often took months or years to decide.
    Ethnic or communal clashes resulted in deaths and injuries during 
the year (see section 1.a.).

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
conditions remained harsh and life-threatening. Most of the country's 
227 prisons were 70 to 80 years old and lacked basic facilities. Lack 
of potable water, inadequate sewage facilities, and severe overcrowding 
resulted in dangerous and unsanitary conditions. The federal government 
operated all the country's prisons, but maintained few pretrial jail 
facilities. Of the total prison population, 73 percent was not yet 
convicted. There were no regular outside monitors of the prisons, no 
statistics on mistreatment of prisoners, or on the availability of food 
or medical care.
    Prison illnesses included HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. 
Inmates with these illnesses lived with the regular population. 
Although authorities made an effort to isolate persons with 
communicable diseases, the facilities often lacked the space to do so. 
No reliable statistics exist on prison deaths.
    The office of the controller general of prisons released statistics 
at the end of August showing that the country's prisons held 48,000 
inmates. Individual prisons held up to 275 percent of their designed 
capacity. For example, the prison in Ikoyi had a capacity of 800 
prisoners but held more than 1,900. Makurdi prison in Benue State, with 
a capacity of 240 prisoners, housed 456, while Port Harcourt prisons, 
with a capacity of 804 prisoners, held 2,924. Of the inmate population, 
about 2 percent were female and 1 percent juveniles.
    Authorities sometimes held female and male prisoners together, 
especially in rural areas, and prisons had no facilities to care for 
pregnant women or nursing mothers. Infants born to inmate mothers 
usually remained with the mother until weaned.
    Although the law precludes the imprisonment of children, in 2008 
more than 300 children lived in the country's prisons, many of whom 
were born there. Despite a government order to identify and release 
such children and their mothers, authorities had not solved the problem 
by year's end.
    Political prisoners were held with the general prison population, 
not separately.
    Prison authorities allowed visitors within a scheduled timeframe. 
Few visitors came due to lack of family resources and travel distance. 
Prisoners could attend religious observances, although prisons often 
did not have equal facilities for both Muslim and Christian worship. In 
some prisons outside clergy constructed chapels or mosques.
    Prisoner complaints centered on access to court proceedings; in 
many cases, there was no transportation to take an inmate to a court 
hearing. No effective system existed for monitoring prisons for 
inhumane conditions. All prisons suffered from poor facilities, 
overcrowding, and lack of resources.
    The Government provided access to prisons for monitoring 
conditions, although few outside visits occurred. The local Red Cross 
made attempts to visit prisons, but could not maintain a regular visit 
schedule. Authorities inconsistently maintained records for individual 
prisoners in paper form, but without making them widely accessible.
    The Government did not make widespread improvements to prisons 
during the year, but individual prison administrations made attempts to 
obtain donations to benefit the inmates. For example, benefactors 
contributed equipment and materials for workshops. In September the 
first lady of Kano State paid the fines of 15 female inmates, allowing 
their release from overcrowded prisons.
    Those awaiting trial suffered more than those already convicted due 
to lack of funding for their care. Inadequate medical treatment caused 
many prisoners to die of treatable illnesses. In October 2009 Jerry 
Manwe, the chair of the House Committee on the Interior, made a 
surprise visit to the Kaduna State Prison, after which he called 
conditions ``deplorable'' and criticized the lack of facilities. The 
deputy controller of prisons responded that the prisons lacked safe 
water, electricity, and basic infrastructure.
    The country also operated 86 satellite prisons, 11 farm centers, 
eight zonal offices, and six directorates, all of which held prisoners 
and detainees. Conditions in these facilities were no better than in 
the other prisons.
    Disease was pervasive in cramped, poorly ventilated prison 
facilities, and chronic shortages of medical supplies were reported. 
Only those with money or whose relatives brought food regularly had 
sufficient food; prison officials routinely stole money provided for 
food for prisoners. Poor inmates often relied on handouts from others 
to survive. Prison officials, police, and other security forces often 
denied inmates food and medical treatment as punishment or to extort 
money.
    During a visit to Niger State's Minna Old Prison on September 2, an 
observer noted that women were housed in a separate cell building and 
slept on bunk beds under mosquito nets which the wife of the governor 
provided. By contrast, the 252 male prisoners slept on bare floors with 
no bedding in a prison built in 1937 to house 149 prisoners.
    Inmates died from harsh conditions and denial of proper medical 
treatment during the year; however, an accurate count was not available 
from prison authorities.
    Prisoners with mental disabilities were incarcerated with the 
general prison population, and no mental health care was provided.
    The country does not provide services of an ombudsman who can serve 
on behalf of prisoners and detainees to consider such matters as 
creating alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders to 
alleviate overcrowding; addressing the status and circumstances of 
confinement of juvenile offenders; or improving pretrial detention, 
bail or recordkeeping procedures to ensure that prisoners do not serve 
beyond the maximum sentence for the charged offense.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, police and security 
forces continued to employ these practices. The JTF arbitrarily 
arrested hundreds of persons during the year during sweeps for 
militants, and security forces made arbitrary arrests in Plateau State 
following ethnic violence.
    The NOPRIN is a group of 46 civil society organizations dedicated 
to promoting police accountability. The organization partnered with the 
NHRC and the National Committee on Torture to hold a series of six 
public tribunals in each geopolitical zone of the country to provide an 
opportunity for victims and their families to put cases before a panel 
of judges in order to seek redress and public exposure of police 
abuses. The public hearings were well attended, received press 
coverage, and brought justice to the small number of complainants 
heard.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The NPF reports to the 
inspector general of police, who is appointed by the president and 
responsible for law-enforcement operations. An assistant inspector 
general commanded each NPF state unit. The constitution prohibits state 
and local governments from organizing their own police forces; however, 
state governors may direct federal police for local emergency actions. 
The SSS is responsible for internal security and reports to the 
president through the national security advisor. Due to the police's 
inability to control societal violence, the Government continued to 
rely on the army in some cases.
    The NPF committed human rights abuses and generally operated with 
impunity in the apprehension, illegal detention, and sometimes 
execution of criminal suspects. The SSS also committed human rights 
abuses, particularly in restricting freedom of speech and press.
    Police officers themselves were not immune to harassment. For 
example, Emcy Munlip, a female police corporal serving in Rivers State, 
refused the advances of her commander, David Obike Eme. He directed 
that she would no longer have government housing privileges and 
immediately evicted her with her belongings.
    According to AI's December 2009 report, only a fraction of the NPF 
annual budget reached state and local police stations, and the lack of 
funding contributed to many police failures. Officers worked without 
basic equipment and sometimes made crime victims pay for the gasoline 
and stationery necessary to conduct an investigation. Such lack of 
resources contributed to corruption (see section 4).

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Police and 
security forces have authority to arrest without warrant, if they have 
a reasonable suspicion that a person committed an offense, a power they 
often abused. By law police may detain persons for 48 hours before 
charging them with an offense. The law requires an arresting officer to 
inform the accused of charges at the time of arrest, to transport the 
accused to a police station for processing within a reasonable time, 
and to allow suspects to engage counsel and post bail. However, police 
routinely detained suspects without informing them of the charges or 
allowing access to counsel and family members. Provision of bail was 
often arbitrary or subject to extrajudicial influence. Conditions of 
bail set by judges often were too stringent to be met. In many areas 
with no functioning bail system, suspects remained incarcerated 
indefinitely in investigative detention within the prison system. 
Detainees were kept incommunicado for long periods. Numerous detainees 
alleged that police demanded bribes to take them to court to have their 
cases heard. If family members wanted to attend a trial, police often 
demanded additional payment.
    Persons who happened to be in the vicinity of a crime reportedly 
were held for interrogation for periods ranging from a few hours to 
several months. After their release, authorities frequently asked them 
to return for further questioning.
    Security forces arbitrarily arrested numerous persons during the 
year. During the January to March fighting between ethnic groups in 
Plateau State, and, after the Jos bombings in December, authorities 
arrested hundreds of persons in Jos, many based on little or no 
evidence of involvement (see sections 1.a. and 6). Some bystanders 
gained release within a few days; however, an unknown number of persons 
were held without bail or charges at year's end.
    Security forces detained journalists and demonstrators during the 
year (see sections 2.a. and 2.b.).
    The EFCC reportedly singled out political opponents of the 
governing party in its arrest and detention of state, local, and 
federal government officials on corruption charges during the year (see 
sections 1.c. and 4).
    The rape of women in detention by police was a problem (see section 
1.c.).
    On September 3, a combined team of police and soldiers in Ebonyi 
State arrested 14 suspected members of the Movement for the 
Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra for treason for holding 
a peaceful meeting and wearing shirts or caps with a Biafran insignia. 
At year's end there was no information on the status of these cases.
    Lengthy pretrial detention remained a serious problem, and human 
rights groups reported that detainees awaiting trial constituted 73 
percent of the prison population, with some awaiting trial more than 10 
years. At year's end 35,000 pretrial detainees resided in the country's 
prisons, out of a total of 48,000 prisoners. Serious trial backlogs, 
endemic corruption, and undue political influence continued to hamper 
the judicial system. Multiple adjournments in some cases resulted in 
serious delays. Many detainees were denied trials because police lacked 
vehicles to transport them to court on their trial dates. In Makurdi 
prison, where 78 percent of prisoners were awaiting trial, pretrial 
detainees held a protest in November 2009 because so many were unable 
to make their court dates due to lack of transportation.
    The NHRC reported that some detainees were held because authorities 
had lost their case files. Some state governments released inmates 
already detained for longer than the potential maximum sentence they 
would have received if they had been convicted. Although detainees had 
the right to submit complaints to the NHRC, the commission had no power 
to respond. Detainees could try to complain to the courts but often 
found this approach impossible. Even detainees with legal 
representation often waited years to gain access to the courts.
    In April the attorney general created a prisons decongestion 
committee in response to controversies over the large number of inmates 
in prisons and the overstretched facilities. The committee did not 
release the results of its work by year's end.
    On June 15, the National Economic Council announced a decision 
directing state governors to sign death warrants immediately for the 
870 death-row inmates in the country's prisons for the purpose of 
reducing overcrowding. Such action led to an immediate and vocal 
reaction by NGOs, the African Union's human rights body, and the 
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which implored the 
Government not to implement such a plan. Public opinion cited the lack 
of fair trials and citizens' rights of appeal. Authorities did not 
carry out the executions by year's end.
    During the week of August 23, the chief judge of Niger State made 
spot visits to state prisons as part of an annual effort to reduce 
overcrowded conditions. He released inmates on several grounds, such as 
humanitarian and medical reasons, the weak legal cases of pretrial 
inmates, remorse, and good behavior while in prison.
    In August 2009 Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola granted 
amnesty to three death-row inmates; the sentences of 29 death-row 
inmates were commuted to life in prison, and eight others were commuted 
to various jail terms. The governor stated he wanted to give the 
prisoners ``hope of changing their behaviors and being rehabilitated 
into society.''

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Although the constitution and law 
provide for an independent judiciary, the judicial branch remained 
susceptible to pressure from the executive, the legislative branch, and 
business. 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. Judges frequently failed to appear for trials, often 
because they were pursuing other sources 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, with lack of motivation primarily due to inadequate 
compensation. During the year supreme court judges called for a more 
independent judiciary.
    The Ministry of Justice implemented strict requirements for the 
education and the length of service for judges at the federal and state 
level; however, there were no requirements or monitoring bodies for 
judges at the local level, which resulted in corruption and 
miscarriages of justice in those courts.
    Military courts tried only military personnel.
    Sharia and customary (traditional) courts of appeal function in 12 
states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The constitution also 
provides that the Government establish a federal Sharia court of appeal 
and a final court of appeal, but these courts were not established by 
year's end.
    The constitution provides that states may establish courts based on 
common-law or customary-law systems. The law also provides that states 
may elect to use the Sharia penal code in the courts. While Sharia 
courts have been in operation throughout the north for centuries, in 
2000 Sharia courts were empowered to also hear criminal cases and pass 
sentences based on the Sharia penal code, which outlines ``hadd'' 
offenses and punishments, including caning, amputation, and death by 
stoning.
    The nature of a case usually determined which court had 
jurisdiction. The return to the Sharia courts stemmed at least in part 
from inefficiency, expense, and corruption in the regular court system.
    Defendants have the right to challenge the constitutionality of 
Sharia criminal statutes through the common-law appellate courts; 
however, no challenges with adequate legal standing reached the common-
law appellate system. The highest appellate court for Sharia remained 
the Supreme Court, staffed by common-law judges not required to have 
any formal training in the Sharia penal code.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for public trials in 
the regular court system and individual rights in criminal and civil 
cases. The law does not provide for juries. A defendant is presumed 
innocent and has the right to be present, confront witnesses, present 
evidence and witnesses, be represented by legal counsel, and have 
access to government-held evidence; however, these rights were not 
always respected. Although an accused person is entitled to counsel of 
his choice, there is no law preventing a trial from going forward 
without counsel, except for certain offenses for which the penalty is 
death. The Legal Aid Act provides for the appointment of counsel in 
such cases and stipulates that a trial should not go forward without 
it. Defendants have the right of appeal.
    In both common-law and customary courts (including Sharia), 
indigent persons without representation were more likely to have their 
sentences carried out immediately, although all convicted persons have 
the right to appeal. The federal government instituted a panel of legal 
scholars in 2003 to draft a uniform Sharia penal code to replace 
divergent Sharia codes adopted by various northern states; however, the 
panel did not produce a report, and states continued to apply their 
individual codes.
    There were no legal provisions in common law barring women or other 
groups from testifying in civil or criminal proceedings or giving their 
testimony less weight, but the testimony of women and non-Muslims 
usually was accorded less weight in Sharia courts. Some ``qadis'' 
(Sharia court judges) allowed separate evidentiary requirements to 
prove adultery or fornication for male and female defendants. For women 
pregnancy was deemed permissible evidence in some Sharia courts. By 
contrast men could only be convicted by confessing to the crime or by 
eyewitness testimony. Sharia courts provided women with certain 
benefits, including increased access to divorce, child custody, and 
alimony, as to get an audience in a Sharia court was significantly 
easier, faster, and cheaper than in a common law court.
    There was a lack of due process in numerous trials. For example, in 
April 2009, the army convicted 27 enlisted soldiers who had served as 
UN peacekeepers of mutiny and sentenced them to life in prison; the 
soldiers had protested after officers had stolen their stipend during 
deployment. After the case garnered international media attention, 
prison guards took reprisals against the jailed soldiers. The army 
reduced the sentences of the 27 to seven years. Meanwhile, the army 
found the officers guilty of theft and reassigned or forced them to 
retire; however, none received a prison sentence. In September the 
defense attorney appealed to the new army chief of staff to review 
these sentences.
    At the end of the year, a Lagos court released Major Hamza al-
Mustapha, who had been held without trial since 1998. Authorities 
arrested him on treason charges for alleged assassination attempts on 
former president Olusegun Obasanjo and other prominent prodemocracy 
activists. Al-Mustapha was an army intelligence officer on the staff of 
the former military leader Sonny Abacha. Saying the prosecution had not 
made its case, the judge discharged al-Mustapha and acquitted him.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees; however, persons arrested in previous 
years for alleged treason remained in detention at year's end.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The constitution and law 
provide for an independent judiciary in civil matters. However, the 
executive, the legislature, and business interests exerted undue 
influence and pressure in civil cases. Official corruption and lack of 
will to implement court decisions also interfered with due process. The 
law provides for access to the courts for redress of grievances, and 
courts can award damages and issue injunctions to stop or prevent a 
human rights violation. However, the decisions of civil courts were 
difficult to enforce.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, but authorities 
infringed on these rights during the year, and police raided homes 
without warrants.
    The Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) continued to 
demolish homes and businesses illegally in the FCT that allegedly did 
not comply with the city's master plan. The FCT government typically 
claimed that demolished homes, businesses, or churches lacked proper 
permits, even if owners were able to produce paperwork indicating the 
structures were built legally. There was no transparent legal process 
for deciding which homes would be demolished, and persons whose homes 
were destroyed had no recourse to appeal and received no compensation. 
According to the Swiss-based Center on Housing Rights and Evictions, 
authorities demolished more than 800,000 homes in the Abuja area since 
2003. There was widespread opinion that the demolitions were primarily 
motivated by corruption and discrimination based on socioeconomic 
class, since mostly lower- and middle-class persons lost their homes 
and property, which, once vacated, were sold to wealthy persons with 
connections to government officials.
    A long effort by the Rivers State governor to demolish slums on 21 
Port Harcourt waterfront sites, which would displace 200,000 residents, 
came to the courts in July when the members of the Ijaw ethnic group 
filed a suit to stop the demolition and resettlement. The Government 
sought to clear out ``poorly built structures'' and to replace them 
with schools and commercial and residential buildings in an urban 
renewal program paid by investors. Residents protested evictions 
without adequate planning made for replacement housing for the poor. 
State payments were made to landlords, but this money did not reach the 
residents in order to facilitate their relocation. On August 29, First 
Lady Patience Jonathan, a native of Rivers State, visited the area and 
joined the debate in a public disagreement with the governor about the 
demolitions (see sections 1.a and 2.d.). In October, AI published a 
report on the demolitions and displacement of residents, and called for 
an investigation by the federal government of police use of excessive 
force, and the adoption of new laws addressing the use of lethal force 
that would bring the country's laws into agreement with those permitted 
under international human rights law and standards. On October 24, a 
lawsuit was filed against the state and federal governments for use of 
excessive force and loss of property. At year's end no action on the 
court case was made public.
    The Government also destroyed the homes of suspected opponents. For 
example, in January 2009 the JTF expanded its operations beyond the 
Niger Delta to raze 10 villages of the Abala community in Abia State. 
Residents were injured, and more than 80 homes were destroyed. The JTF, 
in conjunction with Abia State vigilante services and police forces, 
accused residents of sheltering armed robbers. No action was taken 
against the soldiers and vigilantes.
    In April 2009 authorities expelled 2,000 Fulani nomads from the 
Wase Local Government Council in Plateau State after disputes over 
grazing their cattle on farmlands; in May 2009 another 700 nomads were 
expelled from Borno State (see section 6).
    In July 2009 a Lagos State government special task force demolished 
hundreds of homes and buildings along the route of the Lagos-Badagry 
highway to make way for a major road expansion project. Authorities 
warned that only homeowners able to provide genuine title documents 
would be compensated and, alleging fraud, denied the claims of many 
homeowners.
    After the July 2009 uprising by Boko Haram, the Government of Niger 
State forcibly relocated 1,200 members of the Darul Islam sect (see 
section 2.d.).

    g. Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts.--
The Niger Delta region is home to a large oil industry which produced 
about two million barrels of crude oil per day at year's end. 
Particularly since 2006, militant groups have used violence, including 
kidnapping oil company workers, to demand greater control of the 
region's resources. Kidnapping for ransom, armed robberies, gang wars, 
and fighting connected to the theft of crude oil, known as illegal oil 
bunkering, continued during the year and contributed to the region's 
general insecurity and lack of economic vitality. The Government's 
amnesty program reduced the level of conflict for much of the year; 
however, an increase in violence and kidnappings began in October and 
continued at year's end.
    Criminal gangs, called ``cults'' in some areas, have copied the 
methods of more sophisticated militants to amass wealth and power. In a 
recent trend, kidnappings targeted businessmen, doctors, teachers, 
religious leaders, foreign residents, and others. Gangs extended their 
reach beyond the core Niger Delta states, where they originated as 
politically sponsored thugs to intimidate opponents and to aid election 
rigging. Kidnappings committed primarily for ransom increased 
throughout the country, including in the north. In the previous three 
years power struggles between gangs resulted in extensive property 
damage and hundreds of deaths, including of civilian bystanders.
    In June 2009 the Government announced a general and unconditional 
amnesty for militants in the Niger Delta, and almost all major militant 
leaders accepted the offer by the October 2009 deadline. Authorities 
established a training camp in Obubra, Cross River State, and some of 
an estimated 20,000 former militants had completed training in 
nonviolence by year's end. Many militants expressed interest in 
vocational training as well. They received stipends during 
rehabilitation. The amnesty program resulted in a decline in militant 
violence; however, some observers expressed concern that the militants' 
amnesty payments were being used to purchase more arms.

    Killings.--The JTF was responsible for numerous killings during the 
year, but no investigations were conducted.
    In December the JTF attempted to raid a camp of Niger Delta 
militant leader John Togo. A human rights group reported that the JTF 
killed nine civilians in the Ayakoromo community of Delta State during 
the raid. The observers took video evidence of destroyed homes and 
villagers with bullet wounds including a body with a head wound. 
Hundreds of displaced persons fled to Warri. A military spokesman 
acknowledged the JTF may have killed civilians, but insisted that only 
militants were targeted.
    In February 2009 the JTF reportedly killed 10 persons during an 
attack on a community in Rivers State.
    In June 2009 militants attacked two police officers escorting a 
Scottish oil services worker from Port Harcourt; one of the officers 
died from his injuries. No arrests were made.
    In August 2009 soldiers shot and killed Clement Nwode in Abakaliki, 
Ebonyi State, claiming he was a militant involved in the Ezza-Ezillo 
community clashes in the state.
    In October 2009 in the Bundu waterfront neighborhood of Port 
Harcourt, JTF troops first shot firearms into the air to disperse a 
crowd demonstrating against a planned demolition, and then shot into 
the crowd. At least one death occurred, and at least 12 persons were 
injured (see sections 1. a. and 2.d.).
    No developments occurred in the following 2008 JTF killings in the 
Niger Delta: the March killing of four men near Isaka in the Okrika 
Local Government Area, Rivers State, which was widely reported as an 
overreaction after JTF officials were killed by militants; and the July 
killing of 12 suspected militants in Bayelsa and Rivers States. There 
also were no developments in the following 2008 deaths that resulted 
from clashes between the JTF and armed militants: the August deaths of 
35 persons in Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers States; and the September 
deaths of an estimated 15 to 30 persons in the Elem Tombia and Ogboma 
communities of Rivers State in a reprisal JTF attack after officers 
were killed. The JTF never apologized for the deaths.
    Militants were responsible for numerous killings. For example, in 
July 2009 a gang of unidentified gunmen ambushed a convoy of police 
escorting foreign workers to their offices at a bottling company in the 
city of Aba, Abia State, and killed five police officers. No arrests 
were made.

    Abductions.--Family members did not report most kidnappings, and no 
reliable statistics existed. In the past, kidnappers targeted foreign 
nationals, but an increasing number of middle class citizens, including 
women and children, were abducted. Police reported that most 
kidnappings involved the complicity of persons close to the victim's 
family, including relatives.
    Government authorities responded to kidnappings in the Niger Delta 
by deploying the JTF, which reportedly used excessive force and engaged 
militants and criminals in gun battles.
    In some areas tensions remained high between oil-producing 
communities and oil company employees and contractors. Foreign oil 
company contractors were kidnapped for ransom, such as the capture of 
seven foreign workers from an offshore oil rig on November 8. Nineteen 
workers, both citizen and foreign, were rescued in a military raid 
November 17.
    While kidnappings perpetrated by militant groups were generally for 
ransom, they sometimes publicized the acts as an expression of 
grievances about lack of economic development, local control of oil 
revenues, or prisoner releases. Oil facility guards and JTF soldiers 
were among those killed in these incidents. During the year criminals 
continued to kidnap the relatives (usually children or parents) of 
prominent state politicians for ransom or to force payment for services 
such as protection details and voter intimidation during elections.
    On March 1, South African sound engineer Nick Greyling, two 
Nigerian sports commentators, a cameraman, and 21 other passengers were 
taken hostage after their bus was attacked by gunmen near Lagos. 
Greyling and his associates were released four days later; it was not 
confirmed if a ransom was paid.
    In January 2009 unknown persons abducted Chief Nelson Effiong, the 
house speaker of Akwa Ibom State; he was released unharmed with no 
official report of a ransom paid.
    Also in January 2009 gunmen hijacked a foreign oil supply vessel, 
took nine crewmembers hostage, and demanded a ransom of $25 million. 
Four days later all crewmembers were released safely with no public 
report of a ransom being paid.
    In separate incidents in February 2009, criminals kidnapped the 
wife of a former petroleum minister, an electoral commission member of 
Rivers State, and an AGIP Oil Nigeria employee. The victims were 
released safely, with no public report of ransoms being paid.
    In June 2009 in Enugu State, gunmen abducted Uchenna Ani, a UN 
Development Program (UNDP) employee. On June 10, Ani was released after 
his family reportedly refused to pay a ransom.

    Physical Abuse, Punishment, and Torture.--In January 2009, 
following the razing of 10 villages in Abala, Abia State, the Abia 
State vigilante forces, local security forces hired by the state 
government, arrested five members of the Abala community and placed 
them in jails in Umuahia, Aba, and in Owerri, Imo State. Police 
reportedly beat detainees regularly with the butts of guns and knives. 
One of the detainees, Ikechukwu Nwagbara, was released after two 
months, but the location of the remaining four detainees remained 
unknown at year's end.
    In June 2009, during another JTF attack in the same area of Abia 
State, JTF forces allegedly raped numerous women and girls. Thousands 
of residents were displaced, property was destroyed, and refugees in 
camps were left without adequate food and water. No arrests were made 
in connection with the attack, which triggered extensive media 
criticism.

    Other Conflict-Related Abuses.--In May and June 2009 the JTF 
conducted a military offensive against Tom Polo, an ethnic Ijaw and one 
of the country's most influential and effective militant leaders. Using 
helicopter gunships the JTF destroyed Tom Polo's base in Gbaramatu 
Kingdom, attacked communities suspected of harboring militants, killed 
and injured numerous persons, and scattered survivors into local 
creeks. JTF patrol boats closed waterways while searching for 
militants. Civil society groups and Ijaw leaders reported the 
destruction of Oporoza, Benikrukru, Okenroekoko, and two other 
communities. Tens of thousands of persons were either displaced or lost 
their livelihoods because of the attacks. Critics charged that the 
attacks reduced security in the area because Tom Polo's followers 
escaped with their arsenal intact and moved into surrounding 
communities.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government 
sometimes restricted these rights in practice. Security forces beat, 
detained, and harassed journalists, sometimes for reporting on 
sensitive issues such as the president's health. Journalists practiced 
self-censorship, and local NGOs claimed that newspaper editors and 
owners did not report some killings and other human rights abuses, due 
in part to government intimidation.
    A large and vibrant private domestic press frequently criticized 
the Government. Only one national, government-owned daily newspaper was 
published. State and local governments owned daily or weekly 
newspapers. These state-owned publications tended to be poorly 
produced, had limited circulation, and required large state subsidies. 
There were 15 privately owned major daily newspapers, six weekly 
newsmagazines, and several sensationalist evening newspapers and 
tabloid publications.
    Government authorities attempted to impede public criticism.
    On April 1, a team of more than 50 armed police officers and 100 
armed vigilantes from Imo State allegedly broke into the offices of 
Excelsior Press Limited, destroyed equipment, stole 3.7 million naira 
($24,000), and impounded books and other materials printed for the 
Alliance for Good Governance of Imo State, a political group.
    During the year three journalists were killed.
    On April 24, Muslim rioters killed Nathan S. Dabak and Sunday Gyang 
Bwede, both journalists for The Light Bearer, a publication of the 
Church of Christ in Nigeria, while the two covered sectarian violence 
in Plateau State. No separate police investigation occurred. Also on 
April 24, in a separate incident two unknown assailants shot and killed 
Edo Sule Ugbagwu, a judiciary correspondent with The Nation newspaper 
in a home invasion in which no robbery occurred. Security forces 
investigated the murder, but it remained unsolved at year's end.
    In the January 17 crisis in Jos, Christian journalists lost their 
equipment, and were harassed and wounded by rioters whom witnesses 
suspected of being Fulani herdsmen. On March 7, an angry crowd of 
mourners attending a Christian mass funeral in Jos assaulted state 
radio reporter Murtala Sani, a Muslim reporter who was assigned to 
cover the funeral. Police fired into the air to disperse the attackers. 
Sani was taken to a nearby hospital, treated, and released.
    There were no developments in the September 2009 killing of Bayo 
Ohu, a journalist with The Guardian.
    There were no developments in the separate killings of journalists 
Paul Abayomi Ogundeji and Eiphraim Audu in 2008.
    Journalists received death threats during the year. In April 
following the Government's decision to remove Independent National 
Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Maurice Iwu from his position, 
four journalists covering his removal for different news sources 
received anonymous death threats.
    On July 11, unknown assailants kidnapped four journalists returning 
to Lagos from a meeting of the Nigerian Union of Journalists in Akwa 
Ibom State. The journalists, Wahab Oba, Adolphus Okoronkwo, Sylva 
Okereke, and Sola Oyeyipo, and their driver were held for a week. The 
kidnappers allegedly demanded a ransom of 250 million naira ($1.7 
million), but released the journalists under pressure from the police. 
The governor removed the traditional ruler of the nearby local 
government, Eze Vincent Okezie Uche, from his position and charged him 
in court for allegedly sponsoring the kidnapping. The governor also 
suspended three other traditional rulers for their part in the 
kidnapping plot. The cases remained under investigation at year's end.
    Security forces beat journalists.
    For example, on January 21, Governor Ikedi Ohakim of Imo State sent 
a team of armed police to abduct Internet journalist Ikenna Samuelson 
Iwuoha from his home. They allegedly brought the journalist to the 
governor's office, where he allegedly was beaten by the governor 
himself and then detained by police without access to medical care. 
Iwuoha later was charged with eight counts of libel against the 
governor. Iwuoha later filed a lawsuit against the governor for his 
beating and ill treatment while in custody. His case had not come to 
trial by year's end.
    On March 15, the chief security officer for the Nasarawa state 
governor allegedly beat This Day reporter George Oko and National Life 
reporter Joseph Erunkeat at a political rally as they attempted to 
record the event. The journalists received medical treatment, but lost 
their equipment, including cameras, tape recorders, and cell phones; 
and unspecified amounts of money.
    On June 22, security agents allegedly attacked journalists for 
covering a brawl that erupted inside the House of Representatives. Two 
reporters from the Nigerian Compass, Wole Oladimeji and Julius Toba, 
allegedly were shoved, slapped and detained while trying to prevent 
guards from taking the camera of a Vanguard photographer who had taken 
pictures of the fight.
    There were no arrests in the June 2009 Delta State case in which 
police assaulted six journalists, seized their identification cards, 
and prevented them from covering the demolition of several buildings 
built on government land without official approval. The inspector 
general subsequently apologized to the six journalists, and the 
Ministry of Lands paid to replace a journalist's eyeglasses that were 
broken during the assault.
    No arrests were made in the January 2009 case in which unidentified 
gunmen broke into the apartment of The Scroll editor Janet Mba. Mba had 
called police before the gunmen entered the apartment, and they fled 
when police arrived.
    No developments occurred in the 2008 attack on a Channels TV 
cameraman who attempted to take pictures of a raid on the house of 
Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force leader Asari Dokubo, or the beating 
by police officers in Lagos of three journalists for attempting to 
cover an opposition political rally.
    Security forces detained journalists and seized newspapers. For 
example, in March 2009 police in Bayelsa State arrested and detained 
Akin Orimolade, the Abuja bureau chief of the newspaper National Life, 
and accused him of publishing a report that defamed Governor Timipre 
Sylva. Police held Orimolade for one week until Sylva ordered his 
unconditional release.
    No new developments occurred in the March 2009 case in which police 
detained Olusola Fabiyi, a journalist from the independent newspaper 
The Punch, alleging that he failed to disclose the source of a story 
that a PDP governor in a northern state plotted to kill former Lagos 
governor Ahmed Tinubu. After interrogation, police released Fabiyi on 
bail.
    There were no new developments in the July 2009 case in which 
police arrested and detained for six hours editor Shaka Momodu of a 
Lagos-based private newspaper for publishing allegedly defamatory 
information about a prominent businessman.
    No charges have been filed in the 2008 case in which SSS agents 
raided the offices of the newspaper Leadership, seized several 
computers, and arrested and detained Leadership publisher Sam Nda 
Isaiah; the agents questioned him for two days about a story reporting 
that President Yar'Adua was critically ill.
    There were no developments in the following 2008 cases of arbitrary 
arrest: the arrest without charge of online editor Jonathan Elendu 
after he published several reports speculating about the president's 
health; the arrest of Murtala Muhammad for speculating on the 
president's health in his online magazine Web site; and the arrests of 
Daily editor Abdulrazaque Bello Barkindo, Weekend editor Laura 
Olugbemi, and Weekend's former associate editor Simon Imoboswam for 
``defamation of character'' after the three published articles about 
the president's health.
    There were 19 independently owned, private radio stations. The 
Government owned one radio network with 34 stations.
    In December 2009 Kano station Freedom Radio was removed from state 
government advertising and communication linkages after it broadcast 
reports critical of the state government. After a nine-month suspension 
the linkages were restored with Freedom Radio's management asserting 
the station would remain independent and continue to place the public 
interest first.
    In May 2009 the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) ordered the 
closure of a private radio station in Akure, Ondo State, for failure to 
pay a fine imposed for broadcasting an interview with opposition 
political leaders; the NBC claimed the interview was ``capable of 
inciting people to violence on the eve of an April 24 local election.'' 
Later that month, the Ondo State High Court ordered the NBC to allow 
the station to resume broadcasting, stating that it had not followed 
due process.
    In September 2009 security agents in Owerri, Imo State, detained 
and beat Wale Oluokun, a Radio Nigeria correspondent, after he reported 
on youths with visual disabilities who had marched on state offices to 
protest government neglect. Oluokun stated he was taken to the chief 
security officer, who took off his shoe and beat the reporter, followed 
by more beatings by the security officer's subordinates. Oluokun, who 
was hospitalized, claimed this was the second beating he had received 
from security personnel after a radio report.
    There were 14 independently owned private television stations and 
two privately owned direct-to-home satellite network stations. The 
Government owned one television network, the Nigerian Television 
Authority, with 96 affiliate stations. The law requires local 
television stations to limit programming from other countries to 40 
percent and restricts foreign content of satellite broadcasting to 20 
percent. In 2008 NBC chief executive Yomi Bolarinwa ordered that all 
local prime-time news broadcasts contain no more than 20 percent 
foreign content and that international news be broadcast live. The 2004 
NBC's prohibition of live broadcasts of foreign news and programs 
remained in force but did not apply to international cable or satellite 
services.
    Because newspapers and television were relatively expensive and 
literacy levels low, radio remained the most important medium of mass 
communication and information. The Government controlled much of the 
electronic media through the NBC, which was responsible for monitoring 
and deregulating broadcast media.
    The Government suspended television and radio stations. For 
example, in May 2009 the NBC suspended for two weeks the broadcast 
license of radio station Adaba 88.5 FM, based in Akure, because it had 
not paid a fine for political reporting that constituted ``incitement 
to violence.''
    Hamisu Lamido, a filmmaker who was arbitrarily arrested in 2008 for 
releasing a film before submitting it to the state censorship board, 
was released on bail after three months. In September, Lamido filed a 
lawsuit against the censorship board for defamation of character, which 
he won with an out of court settlement.
    Libel is a civil offense and requires defendants to prove the truth 
of opinion or value judgment contained in news reports or commentaries, 
or pay penalties. This limited the circumstances in which media 
defendants could rely on the defense of ``fair comment on matters of 
public interest'' and restricted the right to freedom of expression. 
Penalties for defamation of character included two years' imprisonment 
and possible fines.
    No actions were taken during the year to promote or improve freedom 
of the press.

    Internet Freedom.--There were few government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups generally engaged in 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail, 
with few exceptions, According to the International Telecommunications 
Union, approximately 29 percent of the population had access to the 
Internet.
    Several Internet news sites critical of the Government experienced 
server problems, which site owners attributed to government 
interference. Such disruptions usually lasted a few hours.
    In March, a Kaduna Sharia court ordered the immediate suspension of 
all debates on blogs and on the online social networking sites Facebook 
and Twitter regarding the 1999 amputation of Bello Buba Jangebe's right 
hand as punishment for stealing a cow. The court issued a restraining 
order to prevent an NGO, the Civil Rights Congress, from discussing the 
decade-old case in its online forums. The presiding judge stated the 
defendants, as Muslims, had no right to question any judgment given by 
a Sharia court. The judge's order represented the first of its kind 
restricting Internet freedom.
    There were no reports of government attempts to collect or disclose 
personally identifiable information in connection with a person's 
peaceful expression of political, religious, or ideological opinion or 
belief.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The federal government 
continued to restrict academic freedom by controlling elementary and 
secondary curriculums, including mandating religious instruction.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly; 
however, police effectively precluded antigovernment rallies by 
prohibiting any rally they deemed could result in violence, which. In 
areas that experienced societal violence, police and security forces 
permitted public meetings and demonstrations on a case-by-case basis.
    The Government occasionally banned gatherings whose political, 
ethnic, or religious nature might lead to unrest. Open-air religious 
services held away from places of worship remained prohibited in many 
states fearing that they might heighten interreligious tensions. Kaduna 
State continued to enforce a ban on processions, rallies, 
demonstrations, and meetings in public places on a case-by-case-basis.
    In February a weeklong annual musical festival in Kano, sponsored 
by the Alliance Francaise and with the patronage of the Emir, was 
canceled with only a few hours' notice because of a conflict with the 
Kano Censorship Board: one of the many local performers had apparently 
not registered in time for performance approval.
    The March 10 rally by the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) in Abuja was 
peaceful, as the crowd clamored for more information from government 
during the illness and absence of then-president Yar'Adua. The group 
was nonviolent and nonconfrontational as police were brought in, 
antiriot vans were stationed in the central area, and fortified 
construction trucks barricaded the entrance of the National Assembly's 
gate.
    On March 16, hundreds of youths chanting antigovernment slogans, 
joined by notable celebrities, forced their way through the gate of the 
National Assembly. They had sent letters prior to the march requesting 
meetings with lawmakers but a police spokesperson stated no request was 
received. Armed police prevented the group from entering the National 
Assembly buildings.
    On July 19, security forces turned a mass rally of youths away from 
the governor's office in Kano, preventing the youths from presenting a 
petition about the upcoming elections. Earlier, after initially being 
stopped by police, a leadership group was granted access to see the 
Emir of Kano, who spoke with the youths about their desire to express 
their ideas peacefully to leaders.
    On July 29, a peaceful rally by the SNG was disrupted in Yenagoa, 
Bayelsa State, when youths reportedly attacked the demonstrators with 
cutlasses and bottles. The SNG had earlier received a government permit 
for the rally; two police officers were injured along with two 
activists. Police arrested three of the attackers.
    Security forces used excessive force to disperse demonstrators 
during the year, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries (see section 
1.a.).

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for the 
right to associate freely with other persons in political parties, 
trade unions, or special interest organizations, and the Government 
generally respected this right in practice. The constitution and law 
allow the free formation of political parties. There were 62 parties 
registered with INEC at year's end.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation; however, security officials restricted freedom of 
movement at times by enforcing curfews in areas experiencing ethno-
religious violence and routinely set up roadblocks and checkpoints to 
extort money from travelers. Security officials continued to use 
excessive force at checkpoints and roadblocks, which were sometimes 
maintained every few miles.
    The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in assisting refugees and asylum seekers through the National 
Commission for Refugees (NCFR), its federal commissioner, and the 
National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). The Eligibility Committee, 
on which the UNHCR has observer status, governed the granting of 
refugee status, asylum, and resettlement, and it also reviewed refugee 
resettlement.
    During the year state officials imposed dusk-to-dawn curfews in 
response to sectarian conflicts. For example, curfews were imposed from 
January through May in Jos, Plateau State, following ethno-religious 
violence.
    There are no legal grounds for forced exile, and there were no 
examples of formal legal proceedings to exile a citizen. However, there 
were citizens who self-exiled for political reasons, such as Nuhu 
Ribadu, former Chairman of the EFCC, who left the country in January 
2009 after threats on his life. Ribadu voluntarily returned in June.
    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPS)
    The NCFR estimated a total of one million IDPs at one time or 
another during the year, There was no national registration of 
internally displaced citizens, and no accurate count. There were many 
causes of displacement, including boundary and border disputes, 
sectarian and communal violence, localized political violence, forced 
evictions, conflict in the Niger Delta and Plateau State, the 
Government's use of force in efforts to eliminate extremist sects, such 
as Boko Haram, altered cattle grazing patterns due to climate change, 
and major flooding in the northwest. Government response to IDPs was 
uneven depending on the state affected. Federal NCFR budgets did not 
cover the need; state and federal emergency management resources were 
inadequate. A national IDP policy was under development but had not 
been signed by year's end.
    In January and March violent ethnic clashes near Jos caused up to 
30,000 persons to flee their homes for relative sanctuary in other 
villages or nearby Bauchi State. NEMA worked with civil society and 
religious groups in an attempt to provide food and shelter to IDPs. 
Bauchi State offered homes to families fleeing the violence, scattered 
them around the state to integrate them into small communities, and 
gave many families land to build a house and to have a plot to farm. At 
year's end most of these IDPs either moved back to their villages, or 
took up residence with family members; 5,000 IDPs permanently relocated 
to Bauchi State.
    Ethnic disputes over land and political power along the borders of 
Benue, Taraba, and Ebonyi States resulted in the displacement of 
hundreds of persons. The governors of Benue, Taraba, and Ebonyi States 
attempted to quell the violence through meetings with local leaders, 
curfews, and development programs. The federal government deployed 
mobile police units to affected areas to prevent further violence.
    The FCDA's continued demolition of illegal homes, businesses, and 
churches in the FCT left hundreds of persons homeless. A 2008 report by 
the Center on Housing Rights and Evictions and the Social and Economic 
Rights Action Center estimated that 800,000 persons were evicted in the 
FCT between 2003 and 2007.
    During the year authorities in Port Harcourt forcibly displaced 
residents on the waterfront in an area slated for redevelopment, an 
action that left thousands of residents homeless (see Section 1.f.). In 
October AI released the report Just Move Them: Forced Evictions in Port 
Harcourt, Nigeria documenting the forced eviction of tens of thousands 
of persons along the waterfront communities of Port Harcourt beginning 
in 2009.
    On February 21, state government authorities dislodged the Islamic 
sect, Islahudeen, from Niger State. Bulldozers razed the sect's central 
mosque and other buildings, dispersing the residents. A government 
spokesman declared the sect was preparing to cause violence.
    In August 2009, following the July uprising by Boko Haram militants 
across four northern states, Niger State police forces raided the 
compound of Darul Islam, an Islamic sect. According to state officials, 
civil society groups, and press reports, police arrested approximately 
4,000 persons, detained them for questioning, and searched the compound 
for weapons. Although no weapons were immediately found, the Government 
forcibly relocated sect members, including children, in an effort to 
disperse the sect's members before any violence could develop in their 
isolated village. The Government provided no notice and minimal 
compensation to residents, evicted approximately 1,250 members from 
their village, and sent them by bus to their states of origin. Another 
300 members were deported to Niger after police determined that they 
lacked proper citizenship documentation. Family members were moved into 
vacant schools and government buildings in their states of origin, 
where the lack of sanitation, food, and sleeping facilities resulted in 
outbreaks of cholera among sequestered groups. Police claimed that the 
arrests and evictions were intended to preempt the violence that had 
occurred the previous month in Boko Haram communities and that police 
had received reports that the community was forcibly holding women and 
children. However, human rights observers stated that the Government 
violated the constitutional and human rights of thousands of innocent 
persons.
    Since early 2009 as many as 1,000 fishermen and their families from 
the Bakassi Peninsula sought refuge near Calabar due to reported 
violence by Cameroonian police forces. This area was part of the lands 
which the International Court of Justice awarded to Cameroon pursuant 
to the 2007 Greentree agreement to settle the disputed land border 
between the two nations. Rivers State emergency services was trying to 
provide permanent housing and services for displaced citizens at year's 
end.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government established a system for 
providing protection to refugees. In practice the Government provided 
protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries 
where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their 
race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, 
or political opinion.
    According to the UNHCR, the country had 8,747 refugees at year's 
end, most of whom were from Liberia, Cameroon, and the Democratic 
Republic of Congo. At year's end 5,316 Liberian refugees remained near 
Lagos, waiting either for repatriation, resettlement, or local 
integration. In addition, the UNHCR provided for 1,120 refugees from 
the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Chad, and other West African 
nations. There were 1,994 Nigerians who had been living on the 
Cameroonian side of the new border and were now settled in Bakassi, 
Cross River State, who are not considered refugees. Also 1,815 persons 
had requested asylum, 66 percent of them from the Democratic Republic 
of Congo.
    The NCFR established a camp in a remote area of Taraba State for 
refugees from Cameroon. An office operated by the NCFR in Maiduguri, 
Borno State, assisted refugees from Chad, but there was no official 
camp in that location.
    Refugee status for persons displaced by the civil war in Sierra 
Leone terminated in January 2009, when the camps were closed. 
Subsequently, 553 persons were repatriated to Sierra Leone. Another 240 
refugees who requested residency were provided two-year residency 
permits and help in obtaining passports from Sierra Leone; the refugees 
also received job training and small grants from the UNHCR to begin 
their lives in the country.
    As a result of repatriation and local integration, overcrowding in 
refugee camps decreased during the year. The camp at Oru, near Lagos, 
was decommissioned, although refugees continued to occupy buildings 
without permission. The UNHCR provided food, education, and job skills 
training, and refugees were able to move and work freely in the 
country. However, refugees, like citizens, had poor access to the 
police and courts and few opportunities for employment.
    The Government also provided temporary protection to a few hundred 
individuals who may not qualify as refugees.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens with the right to change 
their government peacefully through periodic, free, and fair elections 
held on the basis of universal suffrage. The Government, however, 
abridged citizens' right to change their government during the 2007 
national and state elections, which were conducted amid widespread 
fraud and numerous incidents of violence.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In May 2007 Umaru Musa 
Yar'Adua was sworn in as president with his vice president, Goodluck 
Jonathan. The inauguration marked the first transition from one elected 
civilian presidential administration to another since the country 
gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1960. Forty-three 
parties participated in the national assembly elections, and 50 parties 
were listed on the ballot in the presidential election. However, the 
presidential, national assembly, gubernatorial, and state-level 
elections were marred by poor organization, widespread fraud, and 
numerous incidents of violence. Although the INEC claimed a 60-percent 
voter turnout nationwide, most independent observers estimated it was 
less than 20 percent. All major international and domestic independent 
observer groups questioned the fairness of the elections and cited 
problems throughout the country, including ballot stuffing, intentional 
miscounting at both polling stations and the ballot-compilation stages, 
underage voting, multiple voting, intimidation, violence, and at least 
300 deaths, including some politically motivated killings. Although all 
parties participated in the misconduct, observers cited violations by 
the ruling PDP significantly more often than those by other parties.
    In 2007 as part of his pledge to address the shortcomings in the 
electoral system, President Yar'Adua established the Electoral Reforms 
Committee, consisting of governmental and NGO representatives, which 
was charged with bringing the electoral process to international 
standards. The committee submitted its report to President Yar'Adua in 
December 2008, citing lack of independence for the INEC and state 
electoral committees as key deficiencies in the 2007 electoral process. 
The administration rejected crucial reforms outright, and forwarded 
seven of its own reforms to the National Assembly, where they 
languished without action.
    Following the elections, election tribunals received more than 
1,250 legal motions filed across the country to overturn the results of 
individual elections for all levels of government posts, including the 
presidency. Both major rival candidates of Yar'Adua--Atiku Abubakar and 
Muhammadu Buhari--petitioned for the annulment of the presidential 
race. The tribunal upheld the election, but Abubakar and Buhari 
appealed to the Supreme Court. In December 2008 in a 4-to-3 decision, 
the Supreme Court rejected the appeals, thereby upholding the election 
of President Yar'Adua. During the year courts continued to hear and 
adjudicate cases related to the 2007 elections.
    Political violence occurred at federal, state, and local levels, as 
well as within political parties. The Government made little effort to 
investigate or bring charges in any cases of political violence.
    Following the removal of Adamawa State house speaker and his deputy 
on April 5, about 200 PDP loyalist youths invaded the assembly complex, 
overpowered security guards, and threatened to burn the building. The 
youths protested the forced resignations of the speaker and his deputy, 
and the appointment of the new speaker, who had just defected from the 
minority party, Action Congress.
    Violence marred local elections during the year. In the April local 
area elections in the FCT, 41 persons were arrested because of violence 
at the polls. Charges included brandishing machetes and knives in an 
attempt to disrupt ballot counting; blocking the major road in the 
area, stranding several hundred cars; and smashing windshields and 
injuring motorists in protest over election results.
    On May 6, four unidentified gunmen opened fire as they raided the 
campaign office of a senate aspirant in Oyo State, injuring two aides, 
who were hospitalized. No arrests were made by year's end.
    On May 7, a violent clash between two factions of the PDP in Osun 
State killed two persons, and injured 25 others. The violence occurred 
during a political gathering when about 40 thugs allegedly stormed the 
meeting. No arrests were made public.
    On July 21, hoodlums armed with guns, machetes, and sticks attacked 
Oyo State elected officials at a village ceremony to inaugurate a new 
water well system. The attackers reportedly arrived at the scene in two 
18-seat buses, and injured aides of the senate leader and a house 
committee chairman. Eight victims were hospitalized, and six vehicles 
were vandalized in the attack.
    On August 7, hours after his official declaration to run for a 
house seat from Edo State, candidate Oghogho Omorogbe was confronted by 
a group of five gunmen, and shot. No arrests were made by year's end.
    On August 9, clashes between the All Nigeria People Party (ANPP) 
and PDP supporters in Zamfara State killed at least three persons, 
injured many others, and left at least six vehicles burned. The 
violence occurred when supporters of the ruling PDP governor sought to 
prevent the rival ANPP senate candidate from holding a rally.
    On August 28, a PDP rally in Maiduguri, Borno State, to introduce 
the support group for reelection of the president was marred by at 
least one death when armed youths invaded the meeting with knives and 
cutlasses. Police and security services broke up the fight with tear 
gas. No arrests were reported.
    Also on August 28, unknown gunmen killed a personal assistant to 
the Bauchi State governor, the latest of five attacks on politicians in 
Bauchi State.
    On June 24, the Senate confirmed the appointment of Professor 
Attahiru Jega as chairman of the INEC, to replace Maurice Iwu. Iwu had 
supervised the seriously flawed 2007 elections. Chairman Jega proceeded 
to nominate some new electoral commissioners, and promised to conduct 
credible elections in 2011. At year's end Jega continued to enjoy 
popular support for the changes he was making in preparation for the 
2011 elections.
    During the year the INEC registered new political parties, bringing 
the total number of parties to 62. Establishing a political party was 
relatively easy if the required fees were paid. Parties generally 
formed around individuals rather than on ideological grounds. 
Allegations continued that the PDP established new parties to confuse 
voters with large numbers of candidates.
    Membership in the majority party, PDP, conferred advantages, 
primarily in employment. Police arbitrarily arrested opposition 
leaders.
    In June 2009 the Bauchi State house of assembly impeached Deputy 
Governor Muhammad Gaba Gadi, who refused to move to the PDP along with 
the governor in April, for alleged financial wrongdoing. Legislators 
reportedly were offered 10 million naira ($67,000) each for their 
signatures.
    In August citizens in the diaspora petitioned the INEC to be able 
to vote in the 2011 national elections, but the required technology and 
organization were not available. According to the petitioners, of the 
20 million citizens living abroad, approximately five million would be 
eligible to vote.
    Men continued to account for more than 90 percent of the country's 
appointed and elected officials in more than 500 ministerial and 
national assembly positions. There were only eight female ministers out 
of 42, eight female senators out of 109, and 25 female representatives 
out of 360. Although there were no female governors, four of 36 states 
had female deputy governors. President Jonathan appointed a woman as 
the minister of petroleum resources, a key cabinet position.
    To promote national unity and loyalty, the law 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. The current administration demonstrates this 
diversity. President Jonathan is an Ijaw from the southern state of 
Bayelsa, the vice president is a Hausa Fulani from the northern state 
of Kaduna, the senate president is an Idoma from the central state of 
Benue, and the speaker of the house is Yoruba from the southwest state 
of Ogun. The Government attempted to balance other key positions among 
the different regions and ethnic groups. The majority PDP party 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. This practice has become an 
issue as Jonathan's transition from vice president to president after 
the death of former President Yar'Adua, a northerner, upset the prior 
rotational scheme. With more than 250 ethnic groups, it was difficult 
to ensure representation of every group in the Government.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    Corruption was massive, widespread, and pervasive at all levels of 
government and throughout the security forces. The constitution 
provides immunity from civil and criminal prosecution to the president, 
vice president, governors, and deputy governors while in office.
    There was a widespread perception that judges were easily bribed 
and that litigants could not rely on the courts to render impartial 
judgments. Citizens encountered long delays and frequent requests from 
judicial officials for bribes to expedite cases or obtain a favorable 
ruling.
    Police corruption remained rampant, particularly at highway 
checkpoints. Police routinely stopped drivers who had committed no 
traffic infractions, refusing to allow them to continue until they paid 
bribes. The police inspector general attempted to strengthen the Police 
Monitoring Unit, which was charged with visiting police stations to 
search officers for signs of accepting bribes; however, the unit was 
ineffective and made no arrests by year's end. Citizens could report 
incidents of police corruption to the NHRC; however, it had no power to 
act on such complaints, and no other mechanism was available to 
investigate security force abuse.
    On August 17, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released Everyone's in on 
the Game, a report on corruption and human rights abuses by the police. 
HRW compiled information from 145 interviews, and documented pervasive 
police extortion with impunity committed by police officers throughout 
the country. Police demanded bribes, threatened arrest and physical 
harm, and enforced a system of ``returns'' in which officers were 
compelled to pay up the chain of command a share of the money they 
extorted from the public. This system undermined the rule of law and 
created a large disincentive for superior officers to hold their 
subordinates accountable for extortion and other abuses.
    Public officials, including president, vice president, governors, 
deputy governors, and legislators (at both federal and state levels) 
were subject to financial disclosure laws, including the requirement to 
declare their assets before assuming and after leaving office. 
Violators are subject to prosecution, but cases rarely came to 
conclusion.
    The EFCC's anticorruption efforts were largely ineffectual. The 
2008 replacement of its internationally respected chairman, Nuhu 
Ribadu, and transfer of many of its senior personnel raised questions 
about the Government's commitment to fighting corruption.
    Despite the arrest of several high-ranking officials by the EFCC, 
allegations continued that agency investigations targeted individuals 
who were out of favor with the Government, while those who were in 
favor continued their activities with impunity. Since 2007 the EFCC has 
indicted 13 former state governors on corruption charges; only one of 
those governors, Lucky Igbinedion of Edo State, was convicted, in this 
case through a plea bargain. The courts have granted bail to all the 
others: Ayo Fayose, Ekiti; Joshua Dariye, Plateau; Saminu Turaki, 
Jigawa; Orji Uzor Kalu, Abia; James Ibori, Delta; Jolly Nyame, Taraba; 
Chimaroke Nnamani, Enugu; Michael Batmang, Plateau; Boni Haruna, 
Adamawa; Rasheed Ladoja, Oyo; Abdullahi Adamu, Nasarawa; and Attahiru 
Bafarawa, Sokoto.
    Former Delta State governor James Ibori was acquitted on 170 counts 
of corruption charges. He continued to face court charges in the United 
Kingdom for money laundering and other financial crimes stemming from 
embezzlement during his government tenure. At year's end Ibori faced 
extradition from Dubai to London. The EFCC cooperated with London 
police on the case, and EFCC Chairperson Farida Waziri told media 
sources she was under no pressure to drop the case.
    According to the results of an investigation by a foreign 
legislative body released in February, Atiku Abubakar, a former vice 
president and former presidential candidate, and his wife, Jennifer 
Douglas Abubakar, removed more than $40 million in suspect funds from 
the country between 2000 and 2008. The sum reportedly included at least 
$1.7 million in bribe payments from a foreign corporation. By the end 
of the year the EFCC took no action on this published report.
    On February 21, the EFCC authorities arrested former Nasarawa State 
governor Abdullahi Adamu on allegations of the fraudulent awarding of 
contracts and stealing of public funds estimated at 15 billion naira 
($100 million) during his eight years in office which ended in 2007. 
The court immediately granted Adamu bail. Supporters questioned the 
timing of the charges; the announcement came just days after Adamu 
declared his intention to run for governor again. At year's end Adamu's 
motion to dismiss the case was pending in the Federal High Court in 
Lafia, Nasarawa.
    On May 3, authorities arraigned former PDP National Chairman 
Vincent Ogbulafor on 17 criminal counts of corruption and money 
laundering in the amount of 2.3 billion naira ($15 million). Ogbulafor 
filed a petition to dismiss the charges. The case remained active at 
year's end.
    On August 1, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency 
Initiative (NEITI) board fired NEITI's executive director over 
allegations including double payment of salaries, expense account 
payments for trips not taken, and payments of honoraria and other 
allowances not authorized for government staff. The report came from an 
employee who was later dismissed. No charges were filed.
    In November the EFCC detained ten expatriate and Nigerian employees 
of Halliburton and its subsidiaries in connection with the $180-million 
bribery scandal that occurred between 1995 and 2005. The EFCC released 
the employees but held their passports and required that they remain in 
the country, pending subsequent legal action.
    In August, Attorney General Mohammed Adoke announced that the 
Government could not authenticate the Pius Okigbo Panel report on 
former military president and general Ibrahim Babangida which charged 
that Babangida mismanaged 12.4 billion naira ($82 million) during his 
administration. The civil society group Socio-Economic Rights and 
Accountability Project accused the attorney general of a cover-up by 
refusing to accept its copy of the report, which the organization 
forwarded to Adoke in May after he was unable to locate the original.
    In June 2009 the newly appointed Central Bank Governor Lamido 
Sanusi fired the managing directors of eight banks with large 
portfolios of nonperforming loans.
    In August 2009 the central bank governor replaced the heads of four 
banks after the banks failed corporate governance audits. In October 
2009 Sanusi replaced the heads of four additional banks for the same 
reasons. Legal proceedings broadened by year's end to include a total 
of 29 bank executives. Among the bank executives facing charges, one 
faced a 25-count criminal charge for fraud of more than 160 billion 
naira ($1 billion), while another faced a 22-count criminal charge of 
the fraud of 350 billion naira ($2.3 billion).
    In October 2009 the courts convicted former Nigerian Ports 
Authority (NPA) board chairman Bode George and five other commissioners 
of abuse of public office in the improper awarding of contracts. George 
was sentenced to 30 months in prison without the option of paying a 
fine.
    In December 2009 the EFCC arrested former Sokoto State governor 
Attahiru Bafarawa, who was attending an opposition meeting to plan a 
new ``mega'' opposition party. Bafarawa was charged with embezzlement 
of public funds in 2007, which he denied. Observers charged that the 
arrest was an attempt to harass opponents of the ruling party. The 
court granted Bafarawa bail, and his case is pending.
    The corruption trial of former Ekiti State governor Ayodele Fayose 
in March was moved at his request to the Ekiti courts, rather than 
Lagos, where the EFCC originally brought charges. In 2006 he was 
accused of laundering 1.4 billion naira ($9 million) while in office. 
The case continued at year's end.
    Trials also remained pending in the 2008 corruption cases against 
former aviation ministers Femi Fani-Kayode and Babalola Borishade for 
the alleged embezzlement of 19.5 billion naira ($130 million), former 
Adamawa State governor Boni Haruna for misappropriating 93 million 
naira ($620,000), and the former chairman of the NPA board of directors 
and five other NPA members for illegally awarding contracts worth 84 
billion naira ($558 million).
    No laws provide for access to government information, and in 
practice the Government provided limited access. In contrast, the 
Rivers State government for the first time published information on its 
2010 state budget allocations and expenditures.
Section 5. 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 sometimes cooperative and responsive to their views.
    The NHRC, which the Government tasked with monitoring and 
protecting human rights, maintained zonal affiliates in the country's 
six political regions. Since its inception, the NHRC's operations have 
been limited by insufficient funding. The commission also lacked an 
independent budget and judicial authority, and could only make 
nonbinding recommendations to the Government. The commission published 
periodic reports detailing specific human rights abuses, including 
torture and poor prison conditions. The Government removed two prior 
effective and outspoken NHRC executive secretaries without public 
justification. The current leader, a former official of the justice 
ministry, was outspoken and publicly advocated for human rights and an 
independent budget. The president is empowered by law to remove the 
NHRC executive secretary if the public is not being well served.
    During the year the Government arbitrarily arrested NGO members.
    For example, in May two members of the Civil Liberties Organization 
(CLO) were attacked by air force police in Lagos after they tried to 
investigate the case of Ebere Ihiedoha, whom air force officers beat 
almost to death at a base in Ikeja, Lagos, for a minor traffic offense. 
Senior officials made no attempt to investigate the incident by year's 
end. CLO members attempted to press charges at the hospital where they 
received treatment after the attack, but the doctor refused to issue 
them a medical certificate due to fear of retaliation from air force 
officers.
    On November 9, a group of EFCC officers and mobile police visited 
the Child Rights and Rehabilitation Network (CRARN) shelter to arrest 
Sam Itauma, the director of the CRARN, at the request of the state 
governor. When reached by telephone, Itauma was asked to appear at EFCC 
offices to answer charges of fraud. In the director's absence, police 
attempted to arrest other personnel as children and other staff 
obstructed the arrests. Four children were beaten and required medical 
attention.
    In May 2009 members of the Eagle Squad, a special police force 
sponsored by the Government of Osun State, arrested 12 leaders of the 
Osun State Civil Societies Coalition Against Corruption and Rights 
Violations; the arrests occurred immediately after revocation of bail 
for the 12, who were arrested in 2008 for protesting an election 
tribunal decision.
    The Government cooperated with international nongovernmental 
organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives or other 
organizations during the year. The Government did not interfere with 
international human rights organizations which visited the country to 
research human rights violations, police abuses, and ethnic conflicts. 
HRW, AI, and various UN agencies published reports.
    Civil society groups requested both the UN Special Representative 
for the Prevention of Genocide and the International Criminal Court to 
visit Jos and launch investigations into the ethnic violence and 
government's lack of response. No visits had occurred by year's end.
    On August 17, HRW released Everyone's in on the Game, a compilation 
of 145 interviews on corruption and human rights abuses by the police 
force between 2008 and 2010 (see section 4).
    The Open Society Justice Initiative and the NOPRIN published a 129-
page report, Criminal Force: Torture, Abuse, and Extrajudicial Killings 
by the Nigeria Police Force (see sections 1.a and 4).
    In December 2009 AI published Killing at Will: Extrajudicial 
Executions and Other Unlawful Killings by the Police in Nigeria, which 
documented 39 cases of security force killings and enforced 
disappearances and was based on interviews and research conducted 
between July 2007 and July 2009 (see section 1.a.).
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit discrimination based on 
community, place of origin, ethnic group, sex, religion, or political 
opinion; however, the Government did not enforce the law effectively. 
The constitution prohibits discrimination based on the circumstances of 
a person's birth. However, the constitution does not explicitly 
prohibit discrimination based on disability.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape and provides penalties of 10 
years' to life imprisonment, as well as fines of 200,000 naira ($1,330) 
for those convicted of rape, but societal pressure and the stigma 
associated with being a rape victim reduced both the percentage of 
rapes reported and the penalties imposed for conviction. The law 
recognizes spousal rape as a separate offense; however, spousal rape 
was difficult to prove in court, and no such prosecutions were reported 
during the year. Rape continued to be epidemic in universities. In 2006 
AI issued a report criticizing the judicial system for a conviction 
rate of only 10 percent of the total number of rape prosecutions.
    In May the Open Society Justice Initiative released a report on 
corruption within the country's police force that highlighted the 
problem of rape of arrested prostitutes by police. The report described 
police officers raping women who could not pay as little as 1,000 naira 
($6) for their release. Police allegedly raped women who came to report 
crimes at police stations. The report also claimed that officers, both 
male and female, sodomized women with bottles and metal pipes.
    In August, HRW released a report detailing widespread police abuse 
of power, including acts, or threats, of rape or sexual assault, as a 
means to extort bribes from female detainees or women traveling between 
road checkpoints.
    Female students of Delta State University, Asaba, in November 
complained of frequent rape incidents in their dormitories. The school 
authorities claimed the charges were untrue. A reporter documented 
several rapes where there were no arrests and school authorities blamed 
the victims insisting they were ``not careful enough.''
    In October 2009 the Government implemented its Niger Delta amnesty 
program to rehabilitate former militants. In November 2009 a group was 
relocated adjacent to the University of Port Harcourt, where shortly 
afterward the former militants raped dozens of female students. There 
were no arrests reported, but the federal and Rivers State governments 
relocated the former militants to an unknown location. No action 
against perpetrators was taken during the year.
    According to the 2008 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), 
three percent of married women between the ages of 15 and 49 years 
experienced spousal rape.
    The constitution provides for equality and freedom from 
discrimination; however, no laws criminalize gender-based violence, and 
some federal laws condone such violence. For example, 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, speech, facial disfigurement, or life-threatening 
injuries. Penalties for the sexual assault of a man exceed the 
penalties for the same offense against a woman.
    Domestic violence was widespread and often considered socially 
acceptable. In a survey released in November 2009, 28 percent of women 
reported experiencing violence after age 15, the majority of which was 
inflicted by a husband or partner. Police did not intervene in domestic 
disputes. In rural areas courts and police were reluctant to intervene 
to protect women who formally accused their husbands of abuse if the 
level of alleged abuse did not exceed customary norms in the areas. 
According to the 2008 NDHS, 43 percent of women and 30 percent of men 
between the ages of 15 and 49 agreed that a husband was justified in 
hitting or beating his wife for at least one of five specified reasons, 
including burning food and arguing.
    Project Alert on Violence Against Women, a local NGO, continued 
various outreach efforts to combat domestic violence, including 
training programs to sensitize police to domestic violence, support 
groups and programs for male abusers, and assistance to faith-based 
organizations in counseling victims of domestic abuse. Project Alert 
also operated a shelter, Sophia's Place, for victims of domestic 
violence, which offered services such as counseling, legal aid, and 
acquisition of skills. The Women's Rights Advancement and Protection 
Alternative also served as a leading voice in the campaign against 
violence against women and continuously advocated passage of 
legislation to protect women's rights.
    On June 10, the Government deposed the traditional ruler of Akure 
Kingdom in Ondo State after he attacked one of his wives in the street 
in full view of witnesses. Police stated that they would press assault 
charges against the perpetrator, and the actions were widely criticized 
in Ondo State and Abuja. In a countermeasure, the accused filed an 
injunction naming police and the courts and asking the court to drop 
the case. The courts had not begun to hear the case by year's end.
    Sexual harassment remained a common problem. No statutes prohibit 
sexual harassment, but authorities may prosecute violent forms under 
assault statutes. The practice of demanding sexual favors in exchange 
for employment or university grades was common. Women suffered 
harassment for social and religious reasons in some regions. Purdah, 
the cultural practice of secluding women and pubescent girls from 
unrelated men, continued in various parts of the north.
    Couples and individuals generally had the right to decide freely 
and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of children; however, 
effective information and counseling on reproductive health was not 
widely available to women and couples. According to the 2008 NDHS, 70 
percent of women knew about at least one method of family planning; 
however, only 15 percent used any kind of birth control, and only 10 
percent of women used modern methods. Approximately 50 percent of the 
population was adolescents, many of whom were sexually active, but few 
of whom had access to contraceptives. The UN Population Fund reported 
the maternal mortality rate at 840 deaths for every 100,000 live births 
in 2008, a high rate partially due to births to adolescents and women 
at high risk of complications from pregnancy. About 53,000 women and 
250,000 newborns die annually from complications of childbirth. About 
39 percent of live births were assisted by a trained health 
professional. Women married young and averaged a fertility rate of 5.7 
children; 36 percent of mothers did not receive any prenatal care, and 
only 38 percent of new mothers received postnatal examinations within 
two days of delivery. Women and men were given equal access to 
diagnostic services and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.
    Women also experienced considerable economic discrimination. There 
are no laws barring women from particular fields of employment, but 
women often experienced discrimination under traditional and religious 
practices. The country's NGO coalition expressed concern over continued 
discrimination against women in the private sector, particularly in 
access to employment, promotion to higher professional positions, and 
salary equality. According to credible reports, many businesses 
operated with a ``get pregnant, get fired'' policy. Women remained 
underrepresented in the formal sector but played active and vital roles 
in the country's informal economy. The number of women employed in the 
business sector increased every year, but women did not receive equal 
pay for equal work. According to the UNDP's 2007-08 Human Development 
Report, women earned only 40 percent of what men earned and often found 
it difficult to acquire commercial credit or obtain tax deductions or 
rebates as heads of households. Unmarried women, in particular, endured 
many forms of discrimination.
    Some women made considerable progress in both the academic and 
business worlds, but women overall remained marginalized. No laws 
barred women from owning land, but some customary land tenure systems 
allowed only men to own land, and women could gain access to land only 
through marriage or family. Many customary practices also did not 
recognize a woman's right to inherit her husband's property, and many 
widows became destitute when their in-laws took virtually all the 
deceased husband's property.
    In some parts of the country, widows experienced unfavorable 
conditions as a result of discriminatory traditional customs and 
economic deprivation. ``Confinement,'' which occurred predominantly in 
the northeast, was the most common rite of deprivation to which widows 
were subjected. Confined widows were under social restrictions for as 
long as one year and usually were expected to shave their heads and 
dress in black as part of a culturally mandated mourning period. In 
other areas a widow was considered a part of her husband's property to 
be ``inherited'' by his family.
    Polygyny is legal and continued to be practiced widely among many 
ethnic and religious groups.
    Women in the 12 northern states were affected to varying degrees by 
Sharia law. In Zamfara State, local governments enforced laws requiring 
the separation of Muslim men and women in transportation and health 
care. The Kano State prohibition on commercial motorcycle taxis taking 
women as passengers remained in place; however, it was not strictly 
enforced.
    The testimony of women was given less weight than that of men in 
many criminal courts.

    Children.--Citizenship of a child is derived from the parents. The 
Government does not require birth registration, and the majority of 
births were unregistered; however, this did not result in denial of 
education, health care, or other public services.
    Public schools remained substandard, and limited facilities 
precluded access to education for many children. The law calls for the 
Government--when practical--to provide free, compulsory, and universal 
primary education to age 12. However, compulsory primary education 
rarely was provided, and there were numerous mandatory school fees. 
Most educational funding came from the federal government, with state 
governments required to pay a share; however, not all state governments 
released their funding share. It was estimated that up to 10 million 
children were outside the conventional school system. As a result of 
the Government's failure to pay them for months at a time, primary, 
secondary, and university teachers were frequently on strike. 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 children to school, many girls 
were redirected into activities such as domestic work, trading, and 
street vending. Many families favored boys over girls in deciding which 
children to enroll in elementary and secondary schools. According to 
UNICEF, for every 10 girls in school, there were more than 22 boys. For 
young persons between the ages of 17 and 25 years, 25 percent had fewer 
than two years of education.
    Child abuse was common throughout the country. The Government 
criticized child abuse and neglect but did not undertake significant 
measures to stop traditional practices harmful to children, such as 
sales of young girls into marriage. According to credible reports, poor 
families sold their daughters into marriage to supplement their 
incomes. Families sometimes forced young girls into marriage as early 
as puberty, regardless of age, to prevent ``indecency'' associated with 
premarital sex or for other cultural and religious reasons. Human 
rights groups reported sexual assaults and rapes of young girls, 
especially in the north.
    On March 17, Zamfara Senator Sani Ahmed Yerima married a 14-year-
old Egyptian girl at the central mosque in Abuja, in violation of the 
2003 Child Rights Act adopted by the FCT. He maintained that he was not 
subject to civil laws, only Sharia law. The case was brought to the 
attorney general for possible prosecution, but no decision was made by 
year's end.
    On August 22, Abubakar Rabo Abdulkareem, the director of Kano's 
State Censorship Board, allegedly engaged in sexual activity with a 
minor. Police encountered him with the minor in his car and chased him 
at high speeds until he hit a motorcyclist, who was injured. Charges 
had not been filed by year's end.
    The 2008 NDHS reported that 30 percent of women in the country had 
been subjected to FGM. While practiced in all parts of the country, FGM 
was most prevalent in the southern region among the Yoruba and Igbo. 
Infibulation, the most severe form of FGM, was infrequently practiced 
in northern states but was common in the south. The age at which women 
and girls were subjected to the practice varied from the first week of 
life until after a woman delivered her first child; however, most women 
were subjected to FGM before their first birthday.
    The law criminalizes the removal of any part of a sexual organ from 
a woman or girl, except for medical reasons approved by a doctor. 
According to the provisions of the law, an offender is any woman who 
offers herself for FGM; any person who coerces, entices, or induces any 
woman to undergo FGM; or any person who, for other than for medical 
reasons, performs an operation removing part of a woman's or a girl's 
sexual organs. The law provides for a fine of 50,000 naira ($330), one 
year's imprisonment, or both, for a first offense and doubled penalties 
for a second conviction.
    The federal government publicly opposed FGM but took no legal 
action to curb the practice. Twelve states banned FGM. However, once a 
state legislature criminalized FGM, NGOs found that they had to 
convince the local government 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; however, underfunding and 
logistical obstacles limited their contact with health care workers.
    FGM often resulted in obstetrical fistula (a tearing of the vaginal 
area as a result of prolonged, obstructed labor without timely medical 
intervention). Most fistulas resulted in the death of the baby and 
chronic incontinence in the woman. The social consequences of fistula 
included physical and emotional isolation, abandonment or divorce, 
ridicule and shame, infertility, lack of economic support, and the risk 
of violence and abuse. The absence of treatment greatly reduced 
prospects for work and family life, and women affected often were left 
to rely on charity.
    There is no statutory rape law. Child prostitution is prohibited, 
with penalties of up to seven years' imprisonment for the adult 
involved. The minimum age of consensual sex is 18. The Child Rights 
Act, which provides penalties for pornography, was not implemented in 
all states.
    Children accused of witchcraft were kidnapped, tortured, and 
killed. In September media reported that the public outcry and effort 
by the Government, particularly in Akwa Ibom State, had caused a drop 
in new cases of children abused for alleged witchcraft. According to 
two local NGOs, Stepping Stones Nigeria (SSN) and the CRARN, attackers 
drove nails into children's heads, cut off fingers, tied children to 
trees, and abandoned them in the jungle. Self-proclaimed ``bishop'' 
Sunday Williams publicly claimed to have killed 110 child witches and 
asserted that Akwa Ibom had as many as 2.3 million witches and wizards 
among its population of 3.9 million. In 2008 authorities arrested 
Williams and charged him with torture and murder; he was arraigned in 
May 2009, and the case continued at year's end. The Government did not 
acknowledge the wider problem of accusing children of witchcraft. The 
state governor, reacting to international press stories of persecution 
of children accused of witchcraft in Akwa Ibom, issued arrest warrants 
for the leaders of the SSN and the CRARN for alleged misappropriation 
of funds and personal gain. The cases were pending at year's end with 
outstanding warrants for the shelter's directors.
    On September 24, in Akwa Ibom State, a father was arrested after he 
buried his six-year-old twin sons in a shallow grave; the boys were 
rescued when villagers heard their cries. The father believed the boys 
were wizards who were responsible for the death of his wife, their 
mother. The police asserted that they were ready to arrest anyone who 
committed a crime under the guise of witchcraft, but a clan leader 
complained that, rather than celebrating the father who discovered 
witchcraft in his children, the police were called.
    In July 2009 police in Eket, Awka Ibom State, raided the CRARN 
shelter that housed 150 abused and neglected children, some of whom had 
fled their homes after being accused of witchcraft. Police beat 
children who tried to stop the arrest of two staff members. The two 
were released later after the governor's office intervened; two girls, 
aged 11 and 12 years, were left unconscious.
    The Government did not conscript nor recruit persons under the age 
of 18 into the military forces.
    In June, President Jonathan stated that there were 17.5 million 
vulnerable children, including 7.3 million orphans. According to 2009 
UN statistics, 1.2 million children were orphaned due to HIV/AIDS. 
UNICEF added that 25 percent of children in the country, including 
orphans, were vulnerable due to inadequate nutrition, poor access to 
health care, and infrequent school attendance.
    On May 24, an illegal orphanage that allegedly sold babies was 
discovered in Delta State. The proprietor reportedly coerced pregnant, 
unmarried mothers to sign over their babies. The police discovered six 
pregnant girls, among them a 14-year-old. The case had not come to 
court by year's end.
    Many children were homeless and lived on the streets. There were no 
known statistics on their numbers. Major factors causing children to 
turn to the streets included instability in the home, poverty, hunger, 
abuse and violence by parents, and displacement caused by clashes in 
the community.
    In December, the Ministerial Committee on Madrasah Education 
reported 9.5 million children were ``almajirai,'' or children whose 
parents sent them from their rural homes to urban areas with the 
expectation that they would study and live with Islamic teachers. 
Instead of receiving an education, however, many almajirai became child 
beggars who were forced to work manual jobs or beg for money that was 
then turned over to their teacher. The religious leaders often did not 
provide the almajirai with sufficient shelter or food, and many of 
these children were effectively homeless. In 2008 the Government 
distributed 90 million naira ($600,000) to 15 states to introduce 
Koranic education into the mainstream educational system to 
rehabilitate, integrate, and educate almajirai. There were no reports 
that the program resulted in removing almajirai from the streets.

    International Child Parental Abductions.--The country is not a 
party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of 
International Child Abduction. For information on international 
parental child abduction, please see the Department of State's annual 
report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/
congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts during 
the year. An estimated 700 to 900 members of the Jewish community 
resided in Abuja, all foreign employees of international firms, and 
worshipped together in one synagogue.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution does not prohibit 
explicitly discrimination based on disability; however, it does 
prohibit discrimination based on the circumstances of one's birth. No 
laws prohibit discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, 
intellectual, or mental disabilities in employment, education, access 
to health care, or the provision of other state services. There were no 
laws requiring physical accessibility, or access to information or 
communications for persons with disabilities.
    Mental health facilities were almost nonexistent. All disabled 
prisoners were kept with the general inmate population without regard 
to disability, and no additional services were available.
    Persons with disabilities faced social stigma, exploitation, and 
discrimination, and they were often regarded by their families as a 
source of shame. Many families viewed children with disabilities who 
could not contribute to family income as liabilities and sometimes 
severely abused or neglected them. Many indigent persons with 
disabilities begged on the streets.
    The Government ran vocational training centers in Abuja and Lagos 
to train indigent persons with disabilities. Individual states also 
provided facilities to assist blind and other persons with physical 
disabilities to become self-supporting. Persons with disabilities 
established self-help NGOs, such as the Hope for the Blind Foundation 
in Zaria, the Kano Polio Victims Trust Association, the Joint National 
Association of Persons with Disabilities, the Albino Foundation, and 
Comprehensive Empowerment of Nigerians with Disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The country's population was 
ethnically diverse and consisted of more than 250 groups, many of which 
were concentrated geographically and spoke distinct primary languages. 
There was no majority ethnic group; however, the three major groups--
Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba--jointly constituted approximately half the 
population. Ethnic discrimination was widely practiced by members of 
all ethnic groups and was evident in private-sector hiring patterns and 
the effective ethnic segregation of urban neighborhoods. A long history 
of tension existed between some ethnic groups.
    Many groups complained of insufficient representation in 
government.
    The law prohibits ethnic discrimination by the Government, but 
claims of marginalization continued, particularly by members of 
southern groups and Igbos. Ethnic groups of the Niger Delta continued 
their calls for senior representation on petroleum agencies and 
committees and within security forces.
    In September the naming of an Igbo as the commander of the army was 
seen by many citizens to be an effort to address long-standing 
discrimination against Igbos in the military, a practice that has been 
in place since the end of the Biafran War in 1970.
    The constitution requires that the Government have a ``national 
character,'' meaning that cabinet and other high-level positions are 
distributed to persons representing each of the 36 states, or each of 
the six geopolitical regions. Traditional relationships were used to 
pressure government officials to favor particular ethnic groups in the 
distribution of important positions and other patronage.
    All citizens have the right to live in any part of the country, but 
state and local governments frequently discriminated against ethnic 
groups not indigenous to their areas, occasionally compelling 
individuals to return to a region where their ethnic group originated 
but to which they had no personal ties. The Government sometimes 
compelled nonindigenous persons to move by threats, discrimination in 
hiring and employment, or destruction of their homes. Those who chose 
to stay sometimes experienced further discrimination, including denial 
of scholarships and exclusion from employment in the civil service, 
police, and the military.
    For example, in Plateau State, the Hausa and Fulani, most of whom 
were Muslim and considered nonindigenous, claimed to face significant 
discrimination from the local government in land ownership, jobs, 
access to education, scholarships, and government representation.
    Religious differences often mirrored regional, ethnic, and 
occupational differences. For example, in many areas of the Middle 
Belt, Muslim Fulani tended to be pastoralists, while the Muslim Hausa 
and Christian Igbo and other ethnic groups tended to be farmers or work 
in urban areas. Consequently, ethnic, regional, economic, and land use 
competition often correlated with religious differences between the 
competing groups.
    Incidents of extreme sectarian violence between Christians and 
Muslims in the Middle Belt resulted in numerous deaths and injuries, 
the displacement of thousands of persons, and widespread property 
destruction.
    On January 17, violence erupted in the city of Jos in Plateau 
State. Accounts varied as to what sparked the violence. Continuing 
violence in the succeeding days killed an estimated 326 persons, 
primarily Muslim women and children, displaced approximately 15,000 
persons, and resulted in numerous injuries and extensive property 
damage. Security services made some arrests, but most alleged attackers 
were released without charge. Few cases came to the courts, and there 
were no documented convictions.
    On March 7, Muslim Fulani herders attacked Berom villages, leaving 
700 persons dead. As in January, few arrests were made, and most of 
these arrestees were released. There were no documented convictions 
from these attacks.
    Reprisals and counter attacks continued all year, with estimates of 
victims over 3,000 by year's end. For example, on the night of October 
26, unknown assailants attacked villagers while they slept in the Bassa 
local government area in Plateau State. Reports indicate that six 
persons, all women and children, were killed, and several persons were 
injured. No arrests were documented.
    The Presidential Advisory Committee on Jos Crisis delivered its 
report in August. The report contained recommendations regarding land 
ownership, indigeneship, creation of new local government areas, 
establishing a culture of nonviolence, addressing youth unemployment, 
and community sensitization. No commitment was made to implement these 
recommendations by year's end.
    In the city of Jos, multiple bombs exploded near a church and busy 
shopping area on December 24, killing and injuring Christians. In the 
weeks after these attacks, more than 200 persons, both Muslim and 
Christian, were killed in reprisals and counter-reprisals, according to 
HRW.
    Ethnic groups claimed economic exploitation, environmental 
destruction, and government indifference to their problems in the oil-
producing Niger Delta region. Incidents of ethnic conflict and 
confrontation with government officials and forces continued in the 
Niger Delta area (see section 1.g.).
    Numerous ethnic clashes occurred in parts of the Niger Delta, 
including the states of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, and Cross River. On March 
15, two bombs exploded at Government House in Warri during a post-
amnesty dialogue. The explosion damaged buildings in the area and 
caused injuries to passers-by. One of the militant ethnic groups 
claimed responsibility.
    In February 2009 six persons died as a result of ethnic fighting in 
Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, and in March 2009, 20 persons died in an 
intercommunal clash in Cross River State.
    In September 2009 a communal clash in Nkerehi, in Orumba South, 
Anambra State, resulted in five deaths, injuries to 15 persons, and the 
destruction of at least seven houses; a dispute over a proposed name 
change for the community triggered the violence. Attacks by a vigilante 
group forced many Nkerehi community members to hide in a nearby church 
where the Government reportedly failed to provide protection or food.
    Conflicts over land rights continued among members of the Tiv, 
Kwalla, Jukun, and Azara ethnic groups living near the convergence of 
Nassarawa, Benue, and Taraba States.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Homosexual activity is illegal 
under federal law, and homosexual practices are punishable by prison 
sentences of up to 14 years. In the 12 northern states that have 
adopted Sharia law, adults convicted of engaging in homosexual activity 
may be subject to execution by stoning, although no such sentences have 
been imposed.
    Because of widespread taboos against homosexual activity, very few 
persons openly demonstrated such conduct. There were no public gay 
pride marches. The NGOs Global Rights and The Independent Project 
provided lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) groups with 
legal advice and training in advocacy, media responsibility, and HIV/
AIDS awareness. The Government or its agents did not impede the work of 
these groups during the year.
    No action was taken against persons who in 2008 stoned and beat 
members of the House of Rainbow Metropolitan Community Church, an LGBT-
friendly church in Lagos. The attacks occurred after four newspapers 
published photographs, names, and addresses of church members.
    As of year's end the trial of 18 men, originally charged in 2008 
with sodomy and subsequently charged with vagrancy, had been postponed 
multiple times. All defendants were able to post bail, set at 20,000 
naira ($133), and were released. No resolution of the case was 
announced by year's end.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There was widespread 
discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS, which the public 
considered a disease resulting from immoral behavior. Persons with HIV/
AIDS often lost their jobs or were denied health care services. 
Authorities and NGOs implemented public education campaigns to reduce 
the stigma and change perceptions.
    In 2008 the Bauchi State Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS, 
Tuberculosis, Leprosy, and Malaria announced an initiative to pair HIV-
positive couples for marriage in an attempt to reduce the spread of the 
disease. The couples were introduced during counseling sessions and had 
the right to accept or reject a suggested partner. As of March 2009, 94 
HIV positive couples were matched and had married. The Joint UN Program 
on HIV/AIDS voiced concern over the plan due to the increased risk of 
passing the virus on to any children born, and the possibility of 
leaving the children orphaned.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides all citizens with 
the right to form or belong to any trade union or other association for 
the protection of their interests; while workers exercised this right 
in practice, some statutory limitations on the right of association and 
on trade unions restricted this right. Under the Trade Unions Act, 
labor unions must be registered with the Government and must have a 
minimum of 50 members. The law's intent was to prevent a proliferation 
of small unions.
    Workers, except members of the armed forces and employees 
designated under the Trade Union Act as essential public sector 
workers, may join trade unions. Essential workers included government 
employees in the police, prison service, the immigration and customs 
departments, the mint, and the Central Bank.
    According to 2009 figures provided by the Michael Imoudu National 
Institute for Labor Studies, eight million persons, or approximately 60 
percent of formal sector workers, belonged to unions. Officials of the 
Nigeria Labor Congress reported that their 39 affiliated unions had a 
combined membership of between 3.5 and 3.8 million, including both 
private and public sectors. The officials reported that union 
membership had declined in recent years. Many workers in the informal 
sector, where most workers find employment, belonged to thrift and 
cooperative societies, which helped with daily savings and with loans 
to meet business needs.
    Trade union federations, called in the Trade Unions Act ``central 
labor organizations,'' must be registered with the Government. Each 
federation must consist of 12 or more affiliated trade unions, and 
trade union membership in a federation must be exclusive. There were 
two central labor organizations, the Nigeria Labor Congress and the 
Trade Union Congress of Nigeria.
    The law allows unions to conduct their activities without 
interference; however, the law narrowly defines what union activity is 
legal.
    The law limits the right to strike to matters pertaining to breach 
of contract or wage and conditions of work. Strikes were prohibited 
over national economic policy. The International Labor Organization 
(ILO) ruled that this policy was contrary to ILO conventions. In 2009 
the Government chose not to enforce this provision of the law during a 
four-month public university strike over the national minimum wage, 
public education policy, and academic autonomy.
    Workers not defined as ``essential'' had the right to strike, 
although they had to provide advance notice. Workers under collective 
bargaining agreements cannot participate in strikes unless their unions 
complied with legal requirements, including provisions for mandatory 
mediation and referral of disputes to the Government. Workers can bring 
labor grievances to the judicial system for review; however, courts do 
not ensure due process in protecting workers' rights. Laws prohibit 
workers from forcing persons to join strikes, closing airports, or 
obstructing public by-ways, with violations subject to stiff fines and 
possible prison sentences. There were no known arrests during the year.
    No laws prohibit retribution against strikers and strike leaders, 
but strikers who believed they were victims of unfair retribution could 
submit their cases to the Industrial Arbitration Panel with the 
approval of the Ministry of Labor. The panel's decisions were binding 
on the parties but could be appealed to the National Industrial Court. 
Labor representatives described the arbitration process as cumbersome, 
time-consuming, and ineffective in deterring retribution against 
strikers.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for the right of workers to both organize and bargain 
collectively with employers. Collective bargaining occurred throughout 
the public sector and the organized private sector but remained 
restricted in the private sector.
    The Ministry of Labor is responsible for monitoring and addressing 
reported cases of antiunion discrimination. According to labor 
representatives, in many cases workers' fears of negative repercussions 
inhibited their reporting of antiunion activities.
    A local NGO reported that workers were required to sign, as a 
condition of employment, contracts that explicitly prohibited employees 
from attempting to join a union. Some employers dismissed workers 
involved in organizing unions. In September the management of an Abuja 
hotel dismissed workers involved in organization efforts. The fired 
workers initiated a complaint. At year's end the Government did not 
taken action on the complaint. In December a bank withdrew recognition 
of an employees' union.
    Chinese employers reportedly failed to comply with labor laws 
pertaining to the protection of union organizing, especially in the 
construction and textile sectors.
    In December, police broke up groups of unionized electrical workers 
protesting government efforts to privatize the Power Holding Company of 
Nigeria. These protests were held in Lagos, Ondo, and Delta States. 
According to media reports, police arrested up to twenty members of the 
National Union of Electricity Workers in Ondo State.
    Workers and employers in export processing zones (EPZs) were 
subject to provisions of labor laws and the Nigeria Export Processing 
Zones Act. The law allows workers in the EPZs to organize and engage in 
collective bargaining; however, workers are not allowed to strike for 
ten years. In addition, the law allows the Nigerian Export Processing 
Zones Authority, which the federal government created to manage the EPZ 
program, to handle the resolution of disputes between employers and 
employees. Three additional zones were planned, but no new zones were 
designated during the year.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--Although the law 
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children, it was 
widespread, particularly bonded labor and domestic servitude. The law 
provides for fines and imprisonment for individuals convicted of 
engaging in the practice, but enforcement of the law was not effective 
in many parts of the country. The Government did take steps to identify 
or eliminate forced labor, but efforts were under-resourced and 
complicated by jurisdictional issues between state and federal 
governments. Children were involved in agriculture, building stone and 
gravel mining, and domestic labor.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law, which sets a general minimum age for employment of 14 years, did 
not protect children from exploitation in the workplace and was not 
effectively enforced by the Government. Child labor was widespread, and 
the Ministry of Labor and the National Agency for the Prevention of 
Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) estimated that more than 15 million 
children were involved in child labor.
    Young persons under age 15 may only be employed on a daily basis, 
must receive the day's wages at the end of each workday, and must be 
able to return each night to their parents' or guardian's residence; 
however, under the Labor Act these regulations do not apply to domestic 
service. The law also provides exceptions for light work in agriculture 
and horticulture if the employer is a family member. No young person 
under the age of 16 may work underground, in machine work, or on a 
public holiday. No young person may be employed in any job that is 
injurious to health, dangerous, or immoral.
    For industrial work and work on vessels where a family member is 
not employed, 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 states that children may not be 
employed in agricultural or domestic work for more than eight hours per 
day. Apprenticeship of youths above the age of 12 is allowed under 
specific conditions.
    The worst forms of child labor identified in the country included 
commercial agriculture and hazardous farm work; street hawking; 
exploitative cottage industries and hazardous mechanical workshops; 
exploitative and hazardous domestic work; commercial fishing; 
exploitative and hazardous pastoral and herding activities; 
construction; transportation; mining and quarrying; prostitution and 
pornography; forced and compulsory labor and debt bondage; 
participation in ethnic, religious, political conflicts, and violence; 
and involvement in drug peddling.
    Many children worked as beggars, street peddlers, bus conductors, 
and domestic servants in urban areas. Children also worked in the 
agricultural sector and in mines. Boys worked as bondage laborers on 
farms, in restaurants, small businesses, and granite mines, as street 
peddlers, and beggars. Girls were forced to work as domestic servants, 
street peddlers, and commercial sex workers. See further information in 
the Trafficking in Persons Report www.state.gov/g/tip.
    In addition to citizen children, there were reports of thousands of 
trafficked Beninese children forced to work in granite mines in 
Abeokuta, Ogun State. An international NGO worked with state government 
officials to eliminate the number of child workers under age 14, and 
acts as ombudsman to advocate for 14 to 16-year-old workers. In 
Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, children could be seen hammering down large 
pieces of rocks, stacking them into piles, and carrying them on their 
heads, but there were no official statistics on their state or country 
of origin.
    In an effort to withdraw children from the worst forms of child 
labor, the Ministry of Labor has established and upgraded skills 
acquisition and vocational training centers in Kaduna, Ibadan, Enugu, 
and Lagos; four other centers were being developed. New centers in 
Calabar, Bauchi, and Warri were completed. Hundreds of smaller NGO-run 
or state-run vocational training centers also were in operation.
    The Ministry of Labor dealt specifically with child labor problems 
and operated an inspections department to enforce legal provisions on 
conditions of work and protection of workers. From January to November 
the Ministry reported 12,040 labor inspections with 441 officers. 
Although the inspectorate employed nearly 400 inspectors for all 
business sectors, there were fewer than 50 factory inspectors for the 
entire country. Victims or their guardians rarely made complaints due 
to intimidation and fear of losing their jobs. Labor inspections were 
mostly random but occasionally occurred when there was suspicion, 
rather than actual complaints of, illegal activity. The ministry 
conducted inspections mostly in the formal business sector, where the 
incidence of child labor was not reported to be a significant problem. 
The NAPTIP bears some responsibility for enforcing child labor laws, 
although it primarily rehabilitates trafficking and child labor 
victims.
    The Government's child labor policy focused on intervention, 
advocacy, sensitization, legislation, withdrawal of children from 
potentially harmful labor situations, and rehabilitation and education 
of children following withdrawal. The Labor Ministry is responsible for 
enforcing labor laws. The ministry reported that no training programs 
were held in 2010 due to budget constraints.
    The federal government passed the Child Rights Act in 2003, but it 
required state-level ratification for full implementation. A total of 
24 states, plus the FCT, have passed the Act. The remaining states are 
in the north, where Sharia law is in effect. UNICEF continued to 
advocate passage and enforcement in all other states.
    Private and government initiatives to eliminate child labor 
continued but remained mostly ineffective. The Government gradually 
implemented the ILO/International Program for the Elimination of Child 
Labor Sustainable Tree Crop Program in the cocoa and other agricultural 
subsectors, a component of which sensitized farmers to issues relating 
to hazardous child labor and child trafficking for labor exploitation. 
Akwa Ibom, Ondo, Cross River, and Abia states participated in the 
program during the year.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national monthly minimum 
wage is 5,500 naira ($36). The national minimum wage did not provide a 
decent standard of living for a worker and family.
    In August the minimum wage for federal public sector workers 
increased to 17,000 naira ($115) per month. The Government, labor and 
private business negotiated amendments to the National Minimum Wage 
Act, covering private employers, state and local government workers. 
These amendments raise the monthly minimum wage for all but federal 
workers to 18,000 naira ($120). In November labor unions led by the 
Nigeria Labor Congress staged a one-day ``warning strike'' to protest 
the lack of progress by the executive branch in sending the bill to the 
National Assembly for passage. The unions suspended the strike after 
the Minister of Labor made assurances that the Government would forward 
the draft legislation to the National Assembly. However, at year's end 
the National Assembly did not take action on the bill. The Labor 
Ministry has responsibility for monitoring compliance with the minimum 
wage, which it strictly enforced for companies with over 50 employees. 
When a company with fewer than 50 employees was found to pay less than 
the minimum wage, the ministry reviewed the company's records to 
determine whether it could pay the minimum wage and then issued a 
ruling.
    The Labor Act mandates a 40-hour work week, two to four weeks of 
annual leave, and overtime and holiday pay, except for agricultural and 
domestic workers. The law prohibits excessive compulsory overtime for 
civilian government employees.
    The law establishes general health and safety provisions, some of 
which were aimed specifically at young or female workers: however, the 
Ministry of Labor did not properly monitor and enforce health and 
safety conditions due to insufficient inspectors. The inspectorate 
division of the Ministry of Labor inspects factories for compliance 
with health and safety standards. However, this division was 
underfunded, lacked basic resources and training, and consequently did 
not sufficiently enforce safety regulations at most enterprises, 
particularly construction sites and other nonfactory work locations.
    In 2010 the National Assembly passed an Employees Compensation Act 
which raised amounts paid to workers experiencing job-related injuries. 
The act also extended coverage to women involved in work not previously 
covered. The act was ready for the president's signature at year's end.
    The law requires employers to compensate injured workers and 
dependent survivors of those killed in industrial accidents; however, 
it was not strictly enforced. The Factories Act provides for the 
protection of factory employees in hazardous situations, including the 
right of employees to remove themselves from such situations. The law 
did not provide other, nonfactory workers with similar protections.
    The labor laws apply to legal foreign workers, but not all 
companies respected these laws in practice.

                               __________

                                 RWANDA

    Rwanda, with a population of 11 million, is a constitutional 
republic dominated by a strong presidency. In August voters elected 
President Paul Kagame to a second seven-year term with 93.1 percent of 
the vote. International observers noted election day was peaceful with 
minor irregularities, but they registered concerns about the political 
and security environment in the run-up to the elections, including a 
series of grenade attacks in the capital, a lack of critical opposition 
voices in the preelection period, the continued inability of opposition 
political parties to register, and the arrests of two opposition party 
leaders. Two unregistered political parties were unable to field 
presidential candidates due to legal or administrative issues, and 
there were two high-profile killings--the vice president of an 
unregistered opposition party and an independent journalist--that have 
not been fully resolved. The media also faced heightened restrictions 
in the months preceding the election. The ruling Rwanda Patriotic Front 
(RPF) controlled the Government and legislature. The RPF candidate 
dominated the election. Security forces reported to civilian 
authorities.
    There were reports of abuse of suspects by security forces and 
local defense members, and prison and detention center conditions 
remained generally harsh. Security forces arbitrarily arrested and 
detained persons. Prolonged pretrial detention was a problem. There 
were restraints on judicial independence and limits on freedoms of 
speech, press, association, and religion, particularly in the 
preelection period. The Government forcibly returned refugees. Official 
corruption and restrictions on civil society remained problems. 
Societal violence and discrimination against women, trafficking in 
persons, and discrimination against the Twa and the lesbian, gay, 
bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community occurred. There were 
restrictions on labor rights, 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 was no direct 
evidence that the Government or its agents committed any politically 
motivated killings; however, there were two high-profile killings, that 
of a vice president of an unregistered opposition party and an 
independent journalist, that have not been fully resolved. The 
Government generally investigated security force killings and 
prosecuted perpetrators.
    In August authorities prosecuted and sentenced a local defense 
member for killing a university student in 2008 in Kigali's Nyagatare 
Sector. Following the death of the student and three other local 
defense killings in a six-month period in the same district, police 
disarmed all local defense members in the district.
    The Government investigated and prosecuted individuals accused of 
threatening or harming genocide survivors and witnesses or of espousing 
genocide ideology, which the law defines as dehumanizing an individual 
or a group with the same characteristics by threatening, intimidating, 
defaming, inciting hatred, negating the genocide, taking revenge, 
altering testimony or evidence, killing, planning to kill, or 
attempting to kill someone. As of September a special protection bureau 
in the Office of the National Public Prosecution Authority (formerly 
the Office of the Prosecutor General) registered 236 cases of genocide 
ideology and violence against genocide survivors, 96 of which were 
filed in court or suspended (see section 1.e.).
    In January 2009 the Governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo 
(DRC) and Rwanda accelerated efforts to achieve a rapprochement, which 
they had initiated in late 2008, by carrying out a joint operation 
called Umoja Wetu (Swahili for ``Our Unity'') in the eastern DRC 
against Hutu rebel group the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of 
Rwanda (FDLR). The FDLR was responsible for numerous atrocities against 
Congolese civilians in eastern DRC, and its leaders were implicated in 
the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The Umoja Wetu operation disrupted the FDLR 
and precipitated the return of Rwandan FDLR combatants and 
noncombatants. Rwandan forces also arrested General Laurent Nkunda, the 
leader of the Congolese rebel National Congress in Defense of the 
People (CNDP). In December 2009 the international nongovernmental 
organization (NGO) Human Rights Watch (HRW) released the report You 
Will Be Punished, which described 201 killings of civilians attributed 
to military forces during the Umoja Wetu operation. The report also 
described other widespread abuses by soldiers against civilians. 
According to HRW, several of the victims and witnesses it interviewed 
``found it difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish Rwandan army 
soldiers from former CNDP combatants recently integrated into the 
Congolese Armed Forces, who played an important role in the 
operation.'' The HRW report, citing a 2008 UN Group of Experts report, 
noted that soldiers of both armies ``often wore identical camouflage 
uniforms'' and Rwandan soldiers had Rwandan flags on their uniform 
sleeves. In some cases, according to HRW, former CNDP combatants had 
the same army uniforms, although they usually removed the Rwandan flag.
    According to the same HRW report, in late February 2009 soldiers 
gathered residents of Ndorumo, North Kivu, by calling a meeting at a 
local school and subsequently shot and killed approximately 90 
villagers, including women and children, reportedly for collaborating 
with the FDLR. In a similar incident, also in February 2009, soldiers 
killed approximately 40 residents of Byarenga, North Kivu. There were 
smaller numbers of civilians killed in other incidents during January 
and February 2009.
    The Government denied the Rwandan Defense Forces (RDF) had 
participated in any killing of civilians. Neither Congolese nor Rwandan 
authorities had taken any steps to investigate or prosecute soldiers 
allegedly involved in such incidents by year's end.
    On June 19, in Johannesburg, an unknown assailant shot and 
seriously wounded former army chief of staff Lieutenant General Faustin 
Kayumba Nyamwasa, who had fled to South Africa in February and become 
an outspoken critic of President Kagame. According to the Commonwealth 
Observer Group's report of the August Rwandan presidential elections, 
the South African Foreign Ministry stated that foreign ``security 
operatives'' were involved and arrested several suspects. The 
Government repeatedly denied any involvement and said publicly it does 
not condone violence.
    At least one mob attack occurred during the year. In February five 
men attacked the chairperson of the unregistered FDU-Inkingi political 
party, Victoire Ingabire, and her assistant outside a local government 
office in Kigali as they went to pick up forms to register their party. 
Police subsequently arrested the men responsible for the attack.
    In September 2009 residents of Kayonza District killed a suspected 
thief. The suspects fled and authorities suspended the case.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices, but 
instances of abuse of detainees and prisoners by police or prison 
guards sometimes occurred. Authorities dismissed or disciplined some 
police officers for use of excessive force and other abuses during the 
year and transferred criminal cases for prosecution.
    A local NGO that assists torture and abuse victims only operated 
part of the year due to resource constraints, and referred clients to 
other human rights organizations.
    On June 24, authorities arrested several members of the PS-
Imberakuri political party and the unregistered FDU-Inkingi political 
party on charges of holding illegal demonstrations. Authorities also 
charged the founder of PS-Imberakuri, Bernard Ntaganda, with 
threatening national security, genocide ideology, divisionism, and 
creating a criminal organization. On June 25, authorities released some 
detainees, but six PS-Imberakuri and three FDU-Inkingi members remained 
in detention. On June 27, authorities arrested another PS-Imberakuri 
member. Some detainees claimed authorities physically abused them while 
in police custody; Ntaganda claimed authorities denied him access to a 
lawyer. On July 6, the detainees appeared in court, and between July 9 
and 13, authorities released all detainees, except Ntaganda, on bail. 
In October Ntaganda went on a hunger strike to protest his treatment in 
prison, and on October 14, prison authorities transferred Ntaganda to a 
hospital in Kigali. At year's end, Ntaganda remained in prison awaiting 
trial.
    There were reports authorities detained and arrested members of the 
Jehovah's Witnesses who refused to participate in nighttime security 
patrols (see section 2.c.).
    HRW stated it received reports of civilians who alleged that 
security personnel arrested them arbitrarily during the Umoja Wetu 
operation in the DRC, and that some of the security personnel then 
changed into Rwandan army uniforms before taking the civilians across 
the border to Rwanda and beating, detaining, and questioning them over 
alleged ties to the FDLR. All reported being returned to the DRC after 
being held for periods up to 17 days. None reported having been charged 
with any offense. There was no other independent confirmation of these 
reports.
    Neither Congolese nor Rwandan authorities had taken any steps to 
investigate or prosecute soldiers allegedly involved in such incidents 
by year's end.
    Isolated reports of abuse by local defense members continued.
    There were reports that unknown assailants on occasion harassed and 
threatened journalists and other citizens (see section 2.a.).

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Conditions in prisons and 
detention centers were generally harsh, but there were some 
improvements in treatment of the general prison population. According 
to the National Prisons Service, it had fully implemented a 2006 
presidential order governing the construction and organization of 
prisons, which stipulates that each prison must have dormitories, 
toilets, sports facilities, a health center, a guest hall, a kitchen, 
water, and electricity. Prisoners and detainees had weekly access to 
visitors and were permitted religious observance. Prison staff held 
regular meetings with prisoners and detainees to listen to inmates' 
complaints and take action to resolve them when possible. The majority 
of the prison population is comprised of individuals convicted of 
genocide-related offenses since the traditional court system, or 
gacaca, hearings began nationwide in 2006. There were unconfirmed 
reports that police sometimes beat newly arrested suspects to obtain 
confessions. Kigali's Gikondo transit center, where authorities held 
street children, vagrants, suspected prostitutes, and street sellers, 
continued to operate, despite a senate committee's 2008 call for its 
closure due to substandard conditions (see section 1.d.).
    In 2008 the Government stopped allowing food contributions from 
family members of prisoners and instituted a prepaid canteen system 
families and detainees could access. During the year the International 
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) completed a nutritional survey of 
prisoners and found that prisoners received an adequate amount of food, 
but some prisoners suffered from a micronutrient deficiency. Pregnant 
and breastfeeding prisoners, and female prisoners with small children, 
continued to receive food supplements from family members and prison 
authorities. The Government allowed families to provide food to 
prisoners in smaller jails or detainees in police stations awaiting 
hearings or transfers. Prisoners outside of Kigali maintained gardens, 
which supplemented prison diets. The Government established nursery 
schools for children under three years' old living with their mothers 
in five prisons; each nursery school also has a cow to provide fresh 
milk to the children. Some prisoners transferred from police jails to 
national prisons had not been fed for several days.
    There were no reports of prison riots during the year. In August 
2009 prisoners in the Kimironko and Cyangugu prisons rioted over lack 
of food and visitation rights, resulting in several injuries.
    The ICRC provided additional expertise and medical, logistical, and 
material support to improve conditions for inmates, including hygiene 
supplies, education programs for minors, health monitoring, and 
construction programs to improve prison infrastructure. The ICRC also 
had access to all police stations to monitor treatment of detainees and 
conditions. In addition the ICRC in partnership with the Rwanda 
National Police (RNP) identified 17 police stations for structural 
repairs.
    All 14 prisons provided treatment for tuberculosis (TB), and eight 
provided full TB diagnostic and treatment services. Eleven prisons 
provided HIV voluntary counseling and testing services, while 12 
provided antiretroviral treatment for HIV-infected prisoners. According 
to the Ministry of Internal Security, in 2009 the Government provided 
voluntary HIV counseling and testing to approximately 33 percent of 
prisoners and antiretroviral treatment to an estimated 1,500 prisoners.
    In previous years prisoner deaths resulted from anemia, HIV/AIDS, 
respiratory disease, malaria, and other diseases, although the rates of 
such deaths were similar to those found in the general population. The 
National Prisons Service reported there was one prisoner death during 
the year, a decrease that was partly a result of a Global Fund program 
that facilitated the placement of medical personnel in all 14 prisons, 
implemented treatment for diseases including HIV/AIDS, and improved 
hygiene and sanitary conditions.
    In September 2009 in Nyagatare Prison, two prisoners died and 11 
were hospitalized due to a botulism outbreak; 67 of the 188 inmates in 
the prison contracted the disease.
    As of year's end, the prison population was approximately 62,000 in 
a system designed for 43,400. The population consisted of approximately 
57,800 men, 3,860 women, and 430 minors. Additionally, as of August 
there were 314 children living with their parents in prison.
    National prison policy prohibits the hiring of prisoners to perform 
work at private residences and businesses. However, community service, 
a national program, was often part of a prison sentence for those who 
confessed to genocide-related crimes, and prisoners may work 
(uncompensated) on community projects such as building roads and 
bridges. Prisoners charged with criminal offenses unrelated to the 
genocide were not eligible to volunteer for work details. Prisoners 
often volunteered for such details, which provided time away from 
overcrowded prisons and, in some cases, afforded extra privileges.
    Unlike the previous year, there were no reports of abuse of minors. 
During the year the Government converted a prison in Nyagatare, in the 
East, into a rehabilitation detention center for minors between the 
ages of 14 to 16 years and transferred all sentenced minors from other 
prisons to the center.
    Authorities generally separated pretrial detainees from convicted 
prisoners; however, there were numerous exceptions as a result of the 
large number of genocide detainees awaiting trial. Authorities 
separated prisoners convicted of serious crimes and sentenced for many 
years from those convicted of lesser crimes and pretrial detainees.
    The remaining high-profile political prisoner, former transport 
minister Ntakirutinka, remained in a special section of Kigali's 
``1930'' prison.
    The ICRC reported unimpeded access on an unannounced basis to all 
prisons during the year; the Government reported no local human rights 
NGOs had applied for permits to visit prisons. The Government also 
permitted independent monitoring of prison conditions by diplomats. In 
order for journalists to receive access to prisons, they must first 
apply to the Media High Council. The ICRC continued its visits to 
police stations and military facilities.
    The law established an ombudsman, who has the power to carry out 
investigations of actions by government institutions, public 
establishments, or private institutions in which the population finds 
injustice. The ombudsman must also receive and examine complaints from 
individuals and independent associations relating to acts of civil 
servants, state organs, and private institutions and find solutions to 
legitimate complaints.
    In 2009 the Government completed construction of a new block of 
prison cells in the South in compliance with international standards 
for incarceration of prisoners convicted by international criminal 
tribunals. In November 2009 the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) 
transferred eight prisoners to Rwanda to serve their sentences. The 
SCSL agreed with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) 
on the quality of the detention center, which the UN deemed met 
international standards.
    During the year the Government reported it had enrolled all 
prisoners in the national health insurance plan, which prisoners could 
use when referred to district hospitals.
    There was no presidential order governing police detention centers 
and conditions varied.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law provide 
legal safeguards against arbitrary arrest and detention; however, 
security forces arrested and detained persons arbitrarily and without 
due process.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The RDF under the 
Ministry of Defense maintains external security. The RNP, headed by a 
commissioner general and two deputy commissioners, is under the 
Ministry of Internal Security and is responsible for internal security. 
Five assistant commissioners oversee the various units, such as 
training, intelligence, criminal investigations, protection, and the 
provincial areas. The police lacked sufficient basic resources such as 
handcuffs, radios, and patrol cars.
    During the year 315 officers received training in community 
relations, which included proper use of force and human rights; female 
officers participated in several RNP-sponsored workshops on 
professionalism and service provision.
    Members of local communities chose community volunteers to serve in 
the local defense, a statutorily established law enforcement 
organization of approximately 20,000 members under the Ministry of 
Local Government that assisted police. The RNP exercised tactical 
control of local defense, while local officials had responsibility for 
operational oversight. Local defense members performed basic security 
guard duties throughout the country, including maintaining a presence 
at gacaca proceedings. Local defense members were ordinarily unpaid and 
received less training than RNP officers. They did not have powers of 
arrest, but in practice they made arrests on orders from local 
administrative officers and on their own. Among its various duties, the 
local defense chased illegal street vendors, petty criminals, and 
prostitutes away from public areas. There were reports that the local 
defense acted with impunity when dealing with street vendors, street 
children, vagrants, and undocumented residents. During the year the 
Government publicly warned the local defense against involvement in 
criminal activity and prosecuted local defense members who committed 
crimes; however, some human rights groups accused the Government of not 
taking sufficiently strong action against some local defense members 
and considered the organization abusive.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires that authorities investigate and obtain a warrant before 
arresting a suspect. Police may detain persons for up to 72 hours 
without a warrant, and prosecutors must bring formal charges within 
seven days of arrest. Authorities sometimes disregarded these 
provisions during the year. At times police used nonjudicial punishment 
when minor criminals confessed and the victims agreed to the police 
officer's recommended penalty, such as a week of detention or 
restitution. The law permits investigative detention if authorities 
believe public safety is threatened or the accused might flee. There is 
bail for minor crimes (those with a maximum sentence of five years); 
authorities may otherwise release a suspect pending trial if they are 
satisfied there is no risk that the person may flee or become a threat 
to public safety and order. Authorities generally allowed family 
members prompt access to detained relatives. By law detainees are 
allowed access to lawyers, although they are not allowed formal 
representation in the gacaca process. In practice, however, the 
scarcity of lawyers (there were 684 attorneys in the country of which 
469 were trainees, mostly located in Kigali) limited access to legal 
representation. The Government did not provide indigent persons with 
free access to lawyers, but a Legal Aid Forum composed of 36 
organizations, including domestic and international NGOs, the Rwandan 
Bar Association, and university law faculties, provided legal aid 
services to indigent and vulnerable groups. Such resources were 
insufficient to provide lawyers for every indigent person. The Bar 
Association provided 259 lawyers to clients during the year. Lawyers 
Without Borders also provided limited access to defense counsel and 
provided 165 lawyers for 670 clients during the year. The law requires 
the Government to provide minors with legal representation, which 
judicial observers cited as a factor in juvenile trial delays.
    Police arbitrarily arrested opposition members, journalists, and 
members of Jehovah's Witnesses during the year (see sections 2.a., 
2.c., and 3).
    In January 2009 government authorities arrested Laurent Nkunda, 
leader of a Congolese armed entity, while he was in the country. 
According to a 2008 report by the UN Group of Experts (UNGOE) on the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwandan authorities had supplied 
military equipment to and were complicit in recruiting soldiers for the 
armed entity led by Nkunda. At year's end, Nkunda remained under house 
arrest. On several occasions, police and the local defense detained 
street children, vendors, beggars, and undocumented persons in Kigali 
and larger towns and charged them with illegal street vending or 
``vagrancy.'' Authorities released adults who could produce 
identification and transported street children to their home districts, 
to shelters, or for processing into vocational and educational 
programs.
    Early in the year, the Government opened a rehabilitation center on 
Iwawa Island in Lake Kivu to provide vocational and technical training 
to approximately 1,500 men between the ages of 18 to 35, some of whom 
were homeless or petty criminals.
    The Government continued to operate a rehabilitation center, which 
offers psycho-social counseling, education, and reintegration services, 
to more than 200 street boys.
    Despite a 2008 senate committee report that called for the closure 
of Kigali's Gikondo transit center for violations of detainee rights 
and lack of social services, the facility continued to operate as a 
temporary detention facility for street children, vagrants, and street 
vendors. Government officials asserted they held persons for no more 
than one to three weeks; however, detainees sometimes waited several 
months before release. Authorities commonly denied access to the 
relatives of detainees.
    There were serious problems of lengthy pretrial detention, 
including the detention of persons whose unresolved cases dated from 
1994, a consequence of the large number of persons suspected of 
committing genocide who continued to be held in prisons and detention 
centers. The law permits the continued detention of genocide suspects 
long enough to allow them to face trial either in an ordinary court or 
in the gacaca system. Authorities permitted the majority of convicted 
prisoners (those who had confessed their genocide crimes) to return to 
their families, with actual prison time to be served after the 
suspended and community service portions of their sentences expired.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary, and the judiciary operated in most cases 
without government interference; however, there were constraints on 
judicial independence. Government officials sometimes attempted to 
influence individual cases, primarily gacaca cases. There were no 
reports that members of the executive branch communicated with judges 
to discuss ongoing cases privately or to express executive preferences.
    In its July 2008 report Law and Reality: Progress in Judicial 
Reform in Rwanda, HRW cited continuing lack of judicial independence 
and concerns about basic trial rights, including the presumption of 
innocence, the right to present defense witnesses, the right to equal 
access to justice, and the right to protection from double jeopardy.
    In May 2009 the Swedish Supreme Court decided to extradite a 
genocide suspect to Rwanda; however, the European Court of Human Rights 
suspended the transfer to review the case. In 2008 the three panels of 
the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) considering case 
transfers to Rwanda found adequate judicial independence in the 
country. The panels nevertheless denied case transfer, citing fair 
trial concerns, including inadequate witness protection and improper 
sentencing guidelines.
    In 2008 the Military Court in Kigali acquitted two senior RPF 
officers of the 1994 killings of 15 civilians, including high officials 
of the Catholic Church; the case had been referred by the prosecutor 
for the ICTR. Two junior RPF officers who pled guilty to the crimes 
were given reduced sentences of eight years' imprisonment on the ground 
the crimes were not premeditated. The prosecutor appealed the decision 
to a higher court, which confirmed the lower court ruling.
    As of October, there were 19,394 criminal and 19,282 civil cases 
pending in the regular courts; approximately 46, 000 such cases were 
pending at the end of 2009.

    Trial Procedures.--In the ordinary court system, the law provides 
for public trials, although courts closed proceedings in cases 
involving minors to protect witnesses or at the request of defendants. 
The law provides for a presumption of innocence, but government 
officials did not always adhere to this in practice. Juries are not 
used. Defendants have the right to be present, question witnesses 
against them, and to present witnesses and evidence on their own 
behalf. Defendants have the right to consult with an attorney, although 
few defendants could afford counsel. The law provides for the right to 
appeal, and this provision was generally respected. Lawyers Without 
Borders and the Bar Association continued to provide legal assistance 
to some indigent defendants but lacked the resources to provide defense 
counsel to all in need. The law does not provide for an attorney at 
state expense for indigent defendants. Defendants and their attorneys 
have access to government-held evidence relevant to their cases. The 
Government continued to swear in new court officers and assign them to 
courts across the country, but the number of prosecutors, judges, or 
courtrooms to hold trials within a reasonable period of time was 
inadequate.
    The RDF routinely tried military offenders in military courts, 
which handed down sentences of fines, imprisonment, or both. Military 
courts provided defendants with the same rights as civilian courts, 
including an attorney at public expense, the right of appeal, and 
access to government-held evidence relevant to their cases. The law 
stipulates military courts should try civilian accomplices of soldiers 
accused of crimes. During the year through October, military courts had 
tried 62 civilians as coperpetrators or accomplices of military 
personnel during the year.
    Gacaca courts served as the Government's primary judicial process 
for adjudicating hundreds of thousands of genocide cases. Gacaca 
defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and gacaca courts 
normally decide a case on the same day a trial begins. There is no bail 
in the gacaca system. Defendants are informed of the charges against 
them during the trial, not before it. Defendants in gacaca courts can 
present witnesses and evidence on their own behalf, although witnesses 
were sometimes reluctant to testify for fear of reprisals, mainly in 
the form of accusations of complicity in the alleged crimes at issue. 
According to a Penal Reform International (PRI) report released during 
the year, which provided a compilation of their findings on gacaca 
courts from 2001 through September 2009, some defense witnesses were 
also reluctant to testify for fear of being accused of ``genocide 
ideology.'' Defendants can appeal gacaca proceedings at sector-level 
courts. Lawyers are not permitted to participate officially in gacaca 
courts, but they can testify as private citizens.
    Genocide law is designed to encourage confessions in exchange for 
reduced sentences for individuals accused of genocide-related crimes 
other than Category I crimes (the most severe crimes, including rape, 
murder, genocide instigation, or playing a leadership role in the 
planning or commission of genocide). The majority of individuals 
charged with genocide-related crimes are classified as Category II 
(those who committed criminal actions such as murder or injured someone 
with the intent to murder) or Category III (those whose crimes involved 
property); these cases were either tried in gacaca courts (Category II 
cases) or settled through gacaca mediation (Category III cases). In 
2007 the Government passed legislation to lessen overall sentences and 
increase the suspended sentence and community service portions of those 
sentences. The 2007 sentencing guidelines, created to alleviate prison 
overcrowding, allow all persons convicted by gacaca courts to serve 
their community service and suspended portions of their sentences 
first, resulting in the release of thousands of prisoners, some of whom 
had been held since 1994. Category II prisoners who confess can return 
home and serve their jail sentences later, usually no more than one-
sixth of a 15- or 20-year sentence; suspects who do not confess and are 
convicted may face decades in jail.
    In 2008 the law was further amended to move approximately 6,900 
Category I cases--most involving rape--from ordinary courts to the 
gacaca system. The law also provides for the transfer of approximately 
1,200 genocide Category I cases, already begun in the ordinary courts, 
to the gacaca courts. The law provides for the commutation of custodial 
sentences and replaces remaining prison terms with community service 
once the original community service portion of a sentence is completed.
    By year's end, gacaca officials reported having concluded more than 
1.2 million cases. As of December, all gacaca cases were complete; 
however, the National Service of Gacaca Courts continued to process 
requests for review of judgments.
    During the year there were no reports of lawyers fleeing the 
country as a result of threats or harassment by unknown persons 
following their defense of persons accused of genocide or related 
crimes.
    Some gacaca judges denied defendants the right to present witnesses 
and ordered the imprisonment of those who questioned the impartiality 
of gacaca judges. Poorly qualified judges and ill-defined guidelines on 
evidence and hearsay were problems. During the year there were reports 
that local gacaca officials and citizens abused the process to pursue 
personal matters and settle grudges unrelated to the genocide, 
including making false accusations to acquire land.
    According to the PRI report released this year, local authorities 
``at times'' were reported to have unduly influenced gacaca judges 
during the course of hearings.
    Because the Government has not authorized gacaca courts to consider 
human rights abuses allegedly committed by the RPF during the 1994 
genocide, some human rights groups criticized the gacaca courts for 
representing a form of incomplete or one-sided justice, and for being 
biased against those who acted on behalf of the former government. The 
Government claimed that it had prosecuted 46 soldiers, that civil and 
military authorities addressed RPF abuses, and that one could not 
equate such abuses with the genocide. A human rights organization 
claimed that 36 soldiers had faced trial for crimes committed against 
civilians during the genocide and attributed the low number to 
government reluctance to try RPF soldiers for such crimes. No charges 
were brought against RPF soldiers during the year.
    Most gacaca hearings took place without incident, but violence and 
threats of violence--usually perpetrated by persons accused of crimes 
related to genocide--against genocide witnesses were sometimes 
problems. Some citizens were too frightened to testify in gacaca 
courts. Unlike in the previous year, the National Public Prosecution 
Authority and the survivors' organization Ibuka both reported no 
genocide survivors or witnesses were killed during the year. Ordinary 
courts also handled the cases of persons accused of participating in 
the injuring or threatening of witnesses, survivors, and judges.
    During the year police investigated at least six cases of violence 
against genocide survivors and witnesses. The Government asserted the 
genocide ideology law was necessary to prevent a reincitement of 
violence, but NGO and human rights organizations criticized the law as 
overly broad and recommended its repeal. Unlike in the previous year, 
there were no reports organized groups targeted and killed genocide 
witnesses. However, the Government continued to conduct criminal 
investigations of individuals, which resulted in some prosecutions.
    The Government held local communities responsible for protecting 
witnesses and relied on the local defense, local leaders, police, and 
community members to protect witnesses. A task force continued efforts 
to monitor those genocide survivors deemed most at risk and genocide 
suspects considered most likely to commit violent attacks; however, 
according to Ibuka, threats and violence against survivors decreased 
significantly due to increased sensitization. During the year the task 
force conducted joint patrols in rural areas by survivors and security 
personnel; used preventive detention of genocide suspects to prevent 
attacks deemed imminent by security officials; utilized hotlines; and 
expedited gacaca hearings for those cases deemed most likely to involve 
the risk of violence against survivors and witnesses.
    Ibuka continued to call for increased cooperation among gacaca 
courts, police, ordinary courts, and mediators, and for the creation of 
a survivors' compensation fund; however, unlike in previous years, it 
did not criticize the Government for failing to prevent survivor 
killings.
    Some analysts and human rights observers voiced concern that 
witnesses might have given false testimony in a sizable number of 
gacaca cases, despite penalties for such conduct. Observers also 
expressed concern some suspects confessed to avoid lengthy prison 
terms. Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that some 
persons had been tried in both ordinary and gacaca courts for the same 
crimes.
    Although the vast majority of persons facing gacaca charges 
remained in the country, in September 2009 a group of more than 300 
genocide suspects fled to Burundi, claiming persecution in Rwanda. 
Government officials claimed that most persons fled due to pending 
gacaca cases, not persecution. An estimated 115 individuals were able 
to claim asylum in October 2009; authorities deported others who came 
forward later with asylum claims. Burundi's minister for the interior 
told human rights groups that in November 2009 authorities deported 
these latter asylum seekers because they had filed their claims too 
late.
    The ICTR, based in Tanzania, continued to prosecute genocide 
suspects during the year (see section 5).

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were reports that local 
officials briefly detained some individuals who disagreed publicly with 
government decisions or policies.
    Former transport minister Charles Ntakirutinka was sentenced to 10 
years' imprisonment in 2004 in a trial that did not meet international 
standards; he was charged with incitement of civil disobedience, 
formation of a criminal association, and embezzlement of public funds. 
Ntakirutinka and former president Bizimungu, who was released in 2007, 
had sought to establish the Party for Democratic Renewal. The 
Government permitted the ICRC access to Ntakirutinka.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The judiciary was 
generally independent and impartial in civil matters. There are 
mechanisms for citizens to file lawsuits in civil matters, including 
violations of their constitutional rights. The Office of the Ombudsman 
processes claims of judicial wrongdoing on an administrative basis. 
There continued to be problems enforcing domestic court orders.
    Rwanda is subject to the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights 
and the East African Court of Justice and has two judges on the courts. 
As of October, there had been no decisions taken in favor of or against 
Rwanda.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions, and 
the Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice; 
however, there were some reports that the Government monitored homes 
and telephone calls.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution provides for 
freedom of speech and of the press ``in conditions prescribed by the 
law''; however, the Government at times restricted these rights. The 
Government continued to intimidate and arrest independent journalists 
who expressed views that were deemed critical of the Government on 
sensitive topics or who were believed to have violated law or 
journalistic standards. The Government also suspended two private media 
outlets for six months. Numerous journalists practiced self-censorship.
    The law prohibits the propagation of discrimination or sectarianism 
based on ``ethnic, regional, racial, religious, language, or other 
divisive characteristics.'' Public incitement to what is commonly 
termed divisionism is punishable by up to five years in prison, heavy 
fines, or both.
    Individuals could criticize the Government publicly or privately on 
most topics; however, the laws prohibiting divisionism, genocide 
ideology, and genocide denial continued to discourage citizens from 
expressing viewpoints that might be construed as promoting societal 
divisions. Other statutes forbid ``contempt for the Head of State of 
Rwanda.'' During the year the expression of such viewpoints sometimes 
resulted in arrest, harassment, or intimidation.
    In September Amnesty International (AI) published the report Safer 
to Stay Silent: The Chilling Effect of Rwanda's Laws on ``Genocide 
Ideology'' and ``Sectarianism,'' which claimed these laws are broad and 
ill-defined and have created a vague legal framework that is misused to 
criminalize criticism of the Government and legitimate dissent. The 
report claimed these laws deter persons from exercising their right to 
freedom of expression and that some persons refrained from expressing 
opinions that may be legal.
    On July 13, authorities arrested Umurabyo journalist Saidati 
Mukakibibi for defamation, inciting public disorder, and divisionism 
for likening President Paul Kagame to Adolf Hitler. On July 8, 
authorities arrested Umurabyo editor Agnes Uwimana for incitement to 
civil disobedience, contempt of the head of state, spreading rumors to 
cause public disorder, and denying the genocide. At year's end both 
remained in detention awaiting trial.
    Authorities arrested an American lawyer on May 28 on charges of 
genocide denial, genocide ideology, and threatening national security. 
On June 17, Rwandan authorities released him on medical bail; however, 
they said they would continue the investigation.
    On April 21, authorities arrested Victoire Ingabire, the 
chairperson of the unregistered FDU-Inkingi political party, on charges 
of providing material support to the FDLR and promoting genocide 
ideology. On April 22, authorities released her on bail, but confined 
her to Kigali.
    On October 14, police arrested Ingabire again on separate charges, 
after a former high-level FDLR commander, Major Vital Uwumuremyi, 
implicated her in a plot to establish an armed group called the 
Coalition of Defense Forces (CDF) as the military wing of the FDU-
Inkingi. Authorities arrested Uwumuremyi, who had demobilized last year 
and was living in Rwanda, after he attempted to cross into the DRC 
under an assumed name.
    According to local reports, prosecutors were charging Ingabire in 
connection with her alleged support for the CDF and the FDLR. FDU-
Inkingi press releases claimed Ingabire was being treated inhumanely; 
government officials denied these claims. At her pretrial October 23, 
the judge sentenced her to 30 days preventive detention while the 
investigation continued. On November 25, the court approved an 
additional 30 days of detention. On December 13, Ingabire appealed the 
decision and lost. At year's end, Ingabire remained in prison awaiting 
trial.
    In August 2009 the Government passed the Law on Media. Provisions 
in the law grant the Media High Council the power to suspend 
newspapers, increase the amount of capital required to open new media 
outlets, impose criminal penalties on journalists who incite 
discrimination or show contempt for the president, and require 
journalists to reveal their sources when authorities deem it necessary 
to carry out criminal investigations or proceedings. The law also 
requires journalists to have either an associate's degree in journalism 
or communication, a certificate obtained from an institute of 
journalism and communication, or a university degree in another field 
with training in journalism. Journalists without one of these 
qualifications must obtain them within five years to continue in their 
positions.
    There were both private and government-owned newspapers, published 
in English, French, and Kinyarwanda. There were 31 newspapers, 
journals, and other publications registered with the Government, 
although fewer than 10 published regularly. Sporadically published 
independent newspapers maintained positions contrary to and critical of 
the Government during part of the year.
    The Government did not expel members of the press from the country; 
however, on April 14, the Media High Council suspended private 
newspapers Umuseso and Umuvugizi for six months for inciting public 
disorder. Umuvugizi editor John Bosco Gasasira fled the country for 
Uganda in April, and Umuseso editor Charles Kabonero fled in May; both 
claimed threats to their personal security. Umuvugizi continued to 
publish online, but the Web site was not accessible in Rwanda; the 
Government denied blocking the site. At year's end, the Media High 
Council had lifted the suspension, but neither paper had reregistered, 
a requirement to publish.
    In August 2009 the Government charged Umuvugizi editor and 
journalist Jean Bosco Gasasira, one of three journalists expelled from 
a government event in 2008, with slander, abuse, defamation, and 
invasion of privacy after he published two articles that accused a 
government official of having an extramarital affair. The judge found 
Gasasira guilty of defamation and invasion of privacy and fined him; 
Gasasira appealed the decision in December 2009. On September 25, the 
Kigali High Court cleared Gasasira of all charges.
    In 2008 government officials expelled three local journalists--
Charles Kabonero of Umuseso, Jean Bosco Gasasira of Umuvuzigi, and Jean 
Gaubert Burasa of Rushyasha--from a government event celebrating World 
Press Freedom Day. It subsequently excluded Bonaventure Bizumuremyi of 
Umuco and Kabonero's replacement from covering government events. At 
year's end, Bizumuremyi, Gasasira, and Kabonero remained outside the 
country. The Government later began allowing Rushyasha's reporters to 
cover government events.
    The appeal of the one-year suspended sentence of local journalists 
Charles Kabonero and Didas Gasana of Umuseso, who were convicted in 
2008 of libel for critical articles written about a prominent 
businessman, remained pending at year's end.
    Civil society representatives continued to criticize the 
semiautonomous Media High Council for inhibiting rather than promoting 
press freedom.
    Unlike in previous years, government officials did not pressure 
government institutions and local businesses to withhold advertising 
from newspapers critical of the Government.
    The law authorizes private radio and television broadcasting, 
subject to the approval of the Government, although some media 
practitioners complained that the licensing fees were prohibitively 
high. The Government authorizes the licensing of private television 
stations; however, it owned and operated the country's only television 
station.
    Radio stations broadcast criticism of government policies during 
the year, including through the use of popular citizen call-in shows.
    In some cases, unidentified individuals harassed and threatened 
journalists. Some journalists reported receiving text messages and 
phone calls from unidentified persons harassing them because of 
critical stories they had written or calling them enemies of the 
country. Additionally some journalists reported that unidentified 
vehicles followed them.
    On June 24, an unknown assailant shot and killed Umuvugizi 
journalist Jean-Leonard Rugambage outside his home in Kigali. Umuvugizi 
editor Gasasira claimed the murder was related to an article published 
online that morning alleging the Government was involved in the 
assassination attempt on former army chief of staff Lieutenant General 
Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa; however, on June 27, police arrested two 
suspects, one of whom confessed to the murder of Rugambage as a 
genocide-related revenge killing. In October authorities sentenced both 
suspects to life in prison. Both appealed the sentence, and at year's 
end, one remained in prison and the second remained free while the 
investigation continued. Human rights groups have called for an 
independent autopsy and an independent commission of enquiry into the 
killing.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet. There were reports that the Government monitored e-
mail, but no reports related to Internet chat rooms. Individuals and 
groups could engage in the peaceful expression of views via the 
Internet, including by e-mail. Internet cafes were common and used 
regularly in the largest towns; the Internet was generally unavailable 
in rural areas, where the majority of the population lives. According 
to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2008, 
approximately 3 percent of the country's inhabitants used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The Government generally did 
not restrict academic freedom or cultural events; however, in September 
2009 police arrested university lecturer Dieudonne Nyamulinda on 
charges of insulting the president and denying the genocide. 
Authorities sentenced him to five years in prison. Nyamulinda appealed 
the sentence and at a later trial received a sentence of two years in 
prison. There were no confirmed reports that authorities suspended 
secondary or university students for divisionism or engaging in 
genocide ideology.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly, 
and the Government generally respected this right in practice; however, 
there were some exceptions. Authorities legally may require advance 
notice for outdoor rallies, demonstrations, and meetings.
    Authorities prevented political party organizers from meeting.
    In 2009 authorities cancelled three assemblies of the Democratic 
Green Party of Rwanda (or Green Party): two for alleged procedural 
errors and one because of a disruption by an attendee. The Green Party 
also found it difficult to secure a notary for its assemblies, and it 
was still awaiting authorization from police to hold another assembly 
at year's end.
    The Government continued to limit the types of locations where 
religious groups could assemble, at times citing municipal zoning 
regulations as the reason.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
association; however, the Government limited this right in practice. 
Private organizations were required to register, and the Government 
generally granted licenses without undue delay; however, there were 
some exceptions. The Government impeded the formation of new political 
parties and restricted political party activities (see section 3).
    The Government generally imposed difficult and burdensome NGO 
registration and renewal requirements, as well as time-consuming 
requirements to submit annual financial and activity reports.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the Department of State's 2010 International Religious 
Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/drl//irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement, foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation, and 
the Government generally respected these rights in practice.
    The Government generally cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.
    According to the UNHCR, during the year the country accepted 9,886 
citizens returning from other countries; most were settled in their 
districts of origin. According to Rwanda Demobilization and 
Reintegration Commission statistics, approximately 3,000 civilian 
noncombatants, who had been living in FDLR-controlled areas of the DRC, 
returned in 2009 and during the year. The Government worked with the 
UNHCR and other aid organizations to assist the resettled returnees.
    The Government continued to accept former combatants who returned 
to the country from the DRC as part of the ongoing rapprochement 
between the two countries. A total of 9,196 former combatants from 
armed groups in the DRC, including 771 former child soldiers, had been 
demobilized and peacefully resettled in the country since the beginning 
of the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration program in 2001. 
During the year the Government demobilized 610 adult former combatants 
from armed groups and rehabilitated 47 children, reuniting 29 with 
their families. It also demobilized 2,000 RDF soldiers during the year. 
With international support, the Government's Demobilization and 
Reintegration Commission, the lead agency for the reintegration of 
returned former combatants, placed such persons in a three-month 
reeducation program at a demobilization and reintegration center in 
Northern Province. There also was a center solely for former child 
combatants in Eastern Province. After the three-month reeducation 
period, each adult former combatant received approximately 60,000 
Rwandan francs ($108) and permission to return home; several months 
later, each received an additional 120,000 Rwandan francs ($216). 
Returnees accused of committing genocide and who were at least 14 years 
old at the time of the genocide faced gacaca trials.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--The Government demolished 
homes and businesses in Kigali as part of the city's master plan, and 
some residents claimed they received insufficient compensation for 
their property.

    Protection of Refugees.--The Government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees. The constitution recognizes the 
right to asylum ``under conditions determined by law,'' and there was a 
law in place to recognize refugees.
    The UNHCR, with government support, continued to assist refugees 
and asylum seekers. At year's end, it had provided temporary protection 
to 55,688 refugees, 99 percent of whom were refugees from the DRC. 
Other refugees were from Angola, Burundi, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, 
Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda.
    In June the Government began issuing identity cards to refugees. In 
a joint effort by the UNHCR, the Immigration Department, and the 
Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs, 10,840 refugees 
had received identity cards by year's end, and the process was ongoing. 
In June UNHCR hosted a two-day training program for 110 Rwandan members 
of parliament on human rights, UNHCR's international protection 
mandate, and regional, national, and legal instruments.
    In July the Government of Uganda deported approximately 1,300 
Rwandans who had fled to Uganda in March and April, but were denied 
refugee status by Uganda. The Government received these returning 
individuals in Byumba Transit Center, which according to the UNHCR 
lacked water and adequate space. The Government did not allow the UNHCR 
access to the individuals. Reports received later from the UNHCR and 
the Government indicated individuals received a one-month supply of 
food and nonfood items the day after their arrival. Authorities later 
transported some returnees to their districts of origin.
    There were no reports representatives of a DRC-based armed group 
recruited children and adults from Rwandan refugee camps to be 
combatants or laborers. The Government noted it was difficult to 
control camps that had no fences and populations that regularly crossed 
borders. Refugees had access to primary schools and health care, but 
few were able to find jobs, although there were no laws denying them 
employment.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide the right of citizens to change 
their government peacefully; however, the ruling Rwanda Patriotic Front 
(RPF) controlled the Government and legislature, and its candidate for 
president during the year dominated the election.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Presidential elections in 
August were peaceful and orderly, with a heavy turnout; however, 
observers noted irregularities in the electoral process. The election 
was dominated by the ruling party, with the RPF candidate, Paul Kagame, 
receiving approximately 93.1 percent of the vote; the Social Democratic 
Party candidate 5.2 percent; the Liberal Party candidate 1.4 percent; 
and the Party for Peace and Concord candidate 0.4 percent.
    The Report of the Commonwealth Observer Group noted voter turnout 
was large, voters conducted themselves in an orderly manner, and 
polling stations and staff were well-prepared. The report listed some 
irregularities in specific locations. For example, there were confirmed 
reports that Rwandan National Electoral Commission (NEC) officials 
called voters to polling stations as early as 2:00 a.m. although polls 
officially opened at 6:00 a.m.; ballot box seals did not appear to be 
numbered or otherwise uniquely identifiable; there were instances of 
ballot boxes not having been verified as empty prior to the 
commencement of voting; and a lack of familiarity by many voters as to 
proper voting procedures. Regarding the ballot counting and tabulation 
process, the report noted polling officials generally followed 
procedures, but ``there were more inconsistencies at this stage and 
also a looser application of procedures.'' For example, in some cases, 
polling officials did not formally announce the start of the count, did 
not always properly account for and secure unused ballot papers, and 
did not always post results at the polling station.
    Few observers were able to monitor the district consolidation 
process and many reported discrepancies between vote tallies at the 
polling stations and the final tally at the district level. For 
example, most observers reported the RPF candidate winning 97 to 100 
percent of votes cast at the polling stations, while the final national 
tally recorded him winning 93.08 percent. In their report, the Rwandan 
Civil Society Election Observation Mission noted that ``the practice 
with regard to the process of transmission and consolidation of results 
from polling centres to the district level in some districts still 
needs some improvement.'' Some observers noted the process for 
collecting and delivering ballots and results to the district was 
lengthy and unclear, reflecting the country's infrastructure and 
resource challenges. Also, NEC officials did not always give observers 
clear information regarding the district consolidation process, 
resulting in a lack of transparency. Some observers noted the use of a 
thumb print on the ballot could lead to a perception a ballot could be 
traced to an individual.
    According to a preliminary report from the Media High Council, 
media coverage and professionalism generally improved since the 2008 
chamber of deputies elections. The report noted media generally gave 
all parties equal access and balanced coverage; however, problems 
included lopsided coverage by public media organs, inaccurate 
estimations of campaign rally turnouts, and private media's reliance on 
second-hand information during the first half of the campaign period. 
According to a study by the National University of Rwanda School of 
Journalism and Communication and the Deutsche Welle Akademie, media 
coverage during the elections was generally professional and provided 
education to citizens on the laws and the electoral process. However, 
the report noted the public media organs they monitored did not give 
equal space or airtime to all the candidates and parties. Additionally 
media organs underrepresented some parties and sometimes reported 
inaccurately. Finally the report found many media organs did not abide 
by government regulations to avoid political propaganda, refrain from 
wearing political party colors, and provide balanced reporting, thereby 
undermining opposition parties and candidates.
    The constitution provides for a multiparty system but offers few 
rights for parties and their candidates. Parties were not able to 
operate freely, and parties and candidates faced legal sanctions if 
found guilty of engaging in divisive acts, destabilizing national 
unity, threatening territorial integrity, or undermining national 
security. The Government's enforcement of laws against genocide 
ideology or divisionism discouraged debate or criticism of the 
Government and resulted in brief detentions and the holding of one 
political prisoner, former minister Ntakirutinka.
    All political organizations were constitutionally required to join 
the Forum for Political Organizations, which continued to promote 
consensus at the expense of political competition, according to 
observers. Independent political parties must demonstrate membership in 
every district, reserve at least 30 percent of a party's leadership 
positions for women, and provide a written party statute signed by a 
notary to register.
    The Government impeded the registration of the Green Party. In 
September 2009 the Green Party had to cancel a planned assembly because 
a public notary was not available. In October 2009 after an 
unidentified man disrupted a Green Party assembly, police canceled the 
meeting, citing security concerns. In November the Green Party applied 
for but was unable to obtain police clearance to hold another assembly. 
By year's end, the Green Party had not succeeded in registering as a 
political party.
    Police arbitrarily arrested opposition members. For example, in 
September 2009 local authorities arrested a PS-Imberakuri member for 
campaigning at school and breach of public order after he reportedly 
spoke to students about his party. Police released him without charge 
after three days; however, district authorities in Ruhango subsequently 
dismissed him from his teaching position.
    On July 14, the body of unregistered Green Party vice president 
Andre Kagwa Rwisereka was found in the South. Police initially 
suspected robbery, but later they indicated the murder may have been 
over a financial dispute. Some human rights organizations claimed the 
murder could have been politically motivated and called for an 
independent autopsy by foreign experts. Police arrested a suspect on 
July 16 and released him on July 21. The investigation was ongoing at 
year's end.
    During the year authorities prevented political party organizers 
from meeting (see section 2.b.).
    In accordance with the constitution, which states a majority party 
in the chamber of deputies may not fill more than 50 percent of all 
cabinet positions, independents and members of other political parties 
held key positions in government including that of the prime minister.
    The constitution requires at least 30 percent of seats in 
parliament be reserved for women. At year's end, there were nine women 
in the 26-seat senate and 43 women in the 80-seat chamber of deputies. 
There were eight women in ministerial positions, representing 31 
percent of cabinet positions.
    There was one member of the Twa ethnic group in the senate but none 
in the chamber of deputies.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government implemented these laws with increasing effectiveness; 
however, corruption remained a problem.
    For example, in December 2009 the court sentenced Vincent 
Gatwabuyege, former permanent secretary in the Ministry of 
Infrastructure, to three years in prison for embezzlement of state 
funds. Authorities fined him 500,000 Rwandan francs (approximately 
$1,000) and released him from prison in July. In November 2009 the 
court sentenced Theoneste Mutsindashyaka, former state minister for 
primary and secondary education, to one year in prison for violating 
tendering procedures for construction of Eastern Province headquarters. 
On July 16, authorities acquitted him on all charges, released him from 
prison, and fined him 500,000 Rwandan francs ($1,000). In August 2009 
the court charged former parliamentarian Bikoro Munyanganizi with 
corruption and sentenced him to two years in prison. Munyanganizi 
appealed, and in December the court acquitted him on the corruption 
charges but sentenced him to one year in prison for tax evasion.
    During the year there were some reports of police arbitrarily 
arresting and beating individuals, engaging in corrupt activities, and 
demonstrating a lack of discipline.
    The National Public Prosecution Authority (formerly the Prosecutor 
General's Office), under the Ministry of Justice, is responsible for 
prosecuting police abuse cases. The RNP Office of Inspectorate Service, 
which reports directly to the RNP commissioner general, handled 
approximately 413 cases of police misconduct during the year. During 
the year the RNP fired 104 police officers for corruption, abuse of 
power, or misconduct; 309 police officers received administrative 
punishment for indiscipline. Acts that rose to the level of criminal 
offenses were referred to the National Public Prosecution Authority, 
and several prosecutions were underway at year's end. The RNP 
advertised a toll-free number through the local radio and press and 
provided complaint and compliment boxes in many communities to 
encourage citizens to report problems regarding police and local 
defense members.
    The Office of the Auditor General worked to prevent corruption, 
including through investigations of improper tendering practices at 
government ministries. The Office of the Ombudsman had an active good 
governance program and several anticorruption units that worked at the 
local level. During the year the office pursued many corruption cases, 
the majority of which involved misuse of public funds. During the year 
the police and National Public Prosecution Authority used the auditor 
general's annual report to pursue investigations into the conduct of 
government businesses.
    The law provides for annual reporting of assets by public 
officials, but not public disclosure of those assets; most officials 
complied.
    In January 2009 the Government announced the formation of an 
anticorruption council, composed of the ombudsman's office, the 
National Public Prosecution Authority, the national police 
commissioner, and several ministries. In 2009 the council established a 
hotline for reporting cases of corruption, made corruption cases a 
priority in the judicial system, and shared information during 
quarterly meetings. Between June and December, the anticorruption 
council received 184 cases of alleged corruption; authorities 
prosecuted 14 of the cases and delivered administrative penalties in 
some of the other cases.
    The law does not provide for access to government information, and 
it remained difficult for citizens and foreigners, including 
journalists, to obtain access to government information. However, the 
annual budget was available publicly, both in electronic form and in 
hard copy.
    The November 2010 report of the UN Group of Experts (UNGOE) on the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) reported, prior to the DRC's 
suspension of all mining activities in three Congolese provinces, that 
export houses (or ``comptoirs'') ``have in the main begun trading 
legally, apparently at the instigation and with the financing of 
Rwanda-based Minerals Supply Africa (MSA), which is one of the main 
buyers of minerals from the eastern area of the Democratic Republic of 
the Congo.'' In its 2009 report, the UNGOE reported that MSA had 
purchased minerals from a DRC-based supplier, Hill Side, which 
according to the UNGOE is engaged in sales to MSA of tens of thousands 
of kilograms of cassiterite that were exported from the DRC but not 
declared to DRC authorities. According to information presented by the 
UNGOE, Hill Side's cassiterite supply chains originated from conflict-
affected areas of eastern DRC's North Kivu Province.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A variety of international NGOs and several independent domestic 
human rights groups operated in the country, investigating and 
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Some domestic NGOs 
noted relations with the Government were generally positive; however, 
others indicated the Government was intolerant of criticism and 
suspicious of local and international human rights observers, often 
rejecting their criticism as biased and uninformed. During the year 
some NGOs expressed fear of the Government and self-censored their 
activities and comments.
    Domestic NGOs the Rwandan League for the Promotion and Defense of 
Human Rights (LIPRODHOR) and the League for Human Rights in the Great 
Lakes Region (LDGL) focused on human rights abuses. Other local NGOs 
dealt with at least some human rights issues and conducted activities 
such as lobbying the legislature to provide more protection for 
vulnerable groups, observing elections, raising awareness of human 
rights among youth, and providing explanations of legislation, legal 
advice, and advocacy. In 2009 LIPRODHOR employed its 180 members (down 
from 400 in 2008) and 106 district volunteers to conduct field 
investigations of alleged abuses. Both LIPRODHOR and the LDGL published 
their findings and discussed them with government officials--including 
on sensitive cases--and raised concerns about false accusations in 
gacaca trials. Few domestic NGOs produced publications regularly on 
general human rights issues.
    The law on nonprofit associations permits government authorities to 
review budgets and the hiring of personnel. NGOs often found the 
registration process difficult. To obtain a provisional six-month 
approval, domestic NGOs must present their objectives, plan of action, 
and financial information to local authorities of every district in 
which the organizations intend to work. After obtaining provisional 
agreement, domestic NGOs must apply for registration (legal 
recognition) each year with the Ministry of Justice. If a local NGO is 
initially denied registration, the NGO sometimes must correct and 
resubmit its registration documents. The Government also requires 
domestic NGOs to submit financial and activity reports each year. NGOs 
complained these requirements and near-compulsory participation in the 
Joint Action Forum strained their limited resources. While there was no 
legal requirement to contribute financially to the forum, some 
organizations felt pressured to do so.
    The Government also requires international organizations to 
register each year and obtain yearly provisional authorization from the 
local governments of every district in which the organizations work, 
followed by final authorization from the concerned ministry. This 
requirement made registration difficult for some organizations. The 
Government also requires international organizations to submit yearly 
reports to the relevant local governments and national level 
ministries. The paperwork involved was burdensome.
    The Government required civil society groups to submit quarterly 
financial statements and lists of staff and assets in each of the 
districts where projects were implemented.
    A progovernment NGO platform group, the Civil Society Platform, 
continued to manage and direct some NGOs through the use of umbrella 
groups, which theoretically aggregated NGOs working in particular 
thematic sectors; however, many observers believed the Government 
controlled some of these umbrella groups.
    There were reports that authorities pressured some individuals 
affiliated with NGOs to provide information on their activities.
    Government officials sometimes criticized domestic NGOs that sought 
assistance from international NGOs and the diplomatic corps in 
resolving disputes with the Government.
    The Government submitted a report to the UN Office of the High 
Commissioner for Human Rights for the country's first Universal 
Periodic Review, which described its efforts to improve the human 
rights situation in the country. Additionally 35 local civil society 
organizations submitted an alternative report; however, some leaders of 
the participating organizations denounced the report after it was 
submitted, saying it did not reflect their views.
    The Government generally cooperated with international NGOs; 
however, it frequently criticized HRW, and sometimes Amnesty 
International, as being inaccurate and biased. The Government 
reportedly conducted surveillance on some international NGOs.
    The Government did not deny visas to NGO personnel; however, on 
March 3, officials confiscated, and on March 10 cancelled, the work 
permit of HRW's sole international researcher in country on charges of 
forgery. The researcher reapplied, and on April 23, officials denied 
her application. She left the country the next day.
    The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) enjoyed the 
Government's cooperation but did not have adequate resources to 
investigate all reported violations and remained biased in favor of the 
Government, according to some observers.
    The Office of the Ombudsman operated with government cooperation 
and took action on cases of corruption and other abuses, including of 
human rights (see sections 1.e. and 3).
    The ICTR in Tanzania continued to prosecute genocide suspects 
during the year. Since 1994 the ICTR completed 52 cases, with 36 
convictions, eight convictions pending appeal, and eight acquittals. At 
year's end, there were 21 individuals on trial, two persons awaiting 
trial, and 10 fugitives. Despite continued government efforts to 
prepare its facilities and legal system to meet international 
standards, the ICTR has rejected five applications to transfer genocide 
suspects to Rwanda for trial. In November the prosecutor filed three 
new requests; eight other cases remained under appeal at year's end.
    The ICTR had tried no RPF members by year's end. The Government 
continued to claim that calls by human rights groups or opposition 
figures for investigations of alleged RPF war crimes constituted 
attempts to equate the genocide with abuses committed by RPF soldiers 
who stopped the genocide.
Section 6. 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 criminalizes rape and spousal rape, and the 
Government handled rape cases as a priority within its courts and 
tribunals. Penalties for rape ranged from 10 years' to life 
imprisonment; penalties for spousal rape ranged from six months' to two 
years' imprisonment. During the year courts tried 239 cases--159 new 
rape cases were filed in court, and 1,463 cases were pending at year's 
end, compared with 2,020 pending cases at the end of 2009. In recent 
years, those convicted of rape generally received prison sentences of 
between one year and life. Rape and other crimes of sexual violence 
committed during the genocide are classified as Category I genocide 
crimes.
    Domestic violence against women, including wife beating, was 
common. Figures from the National Institute of Statistics indicated 31 
percent of women over the age of 15 were victims of domestic violence, 
and 10.2 percent of women experienced domestic violence during 
pregnancy. A law on the prevention and punishment of gender-based 
violence came into effect in April 2009 and provides for imprisonment 
of six months to two years for threatening, harassing, or beating one's 
spouse. However, cases normally were handled within the context of the 
extended family. Between January and June, police investigated 1,572 
cases of gender-based violence; however, this figure is thought to 
underestimate the problem's extent. Police headquarters in Kigali had a 
hotline for domestic violence, an examination room, and trained 
counselors who provide access to a police hospital for more intensive 
interventions. In 2008 the RDF cooperated with local authorities in 
Northern Province to increase reporting of and support efforts against 
gender-based violence in 41 specific locations. Each of the 62 police 
stations nationwide had its own gender desk, trained officer, and 
public outreach program. The national gender desk in Kigali also 
monitored nationwide investigations and prosecutions into gender-based 
violence. In July 2009 the Government--in partnership with the RNP, UN 
Children's Fund, UN Development Fund for Women, and UN Population 
Fund--opened the Isange Center, which provided medical, psychological, 
and police assistance to victims of domestic violence.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment by employers and provides for 
penalties of two to five years' imprisonment and fines from 100,000 to 
200,000 Rwandan francs ($180 to $360). Sexual harassment was common. 
The effectiveness of government enforcement efforts was unknown.
    The Government respected the basic right of couples and individuals 
to decide freely and responsibly the number, timing, and spacing of 
their children and to have the information and means to do so free from 
discrimination, coercion, and violence. The Government made available 
reproductive health services and contraceptives for all citizens, 
regardless of age, sex, and ethnicity. More than 90 percent of the 
population had some form of health insurance, with free coverage 
provided to the poorest of the population. However, some persons 
remained uninsured because they did not qualify for free insurance, did 
not purchase insurance, or could not afford the fees. Additionally the 
resources generated by the insurance schemes were not sufficient to 
cover more expensive medical care, which resulted in significant out-
of-pocket costs.
    There was a small copayment for obstetric services; this fee was 
waived for women who completed the recommended four antenatal care 
visits. Women and men received equal access to diagnostic services and 
treatment for sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS. 
According to the Population Reference Bureau, the Government provided 
73 percent of available contraceptives. According to a 2005 Demographic 
and Health Survey, the unmet need for family planning was 38 percent, a 
statistic that reflected rural access issues, lack of accurate 
information, and religious reasons. According to the UN Population 
Fund, use of modern contraceptives increased from 10 percent in 2005 to 
17 percent in 2008, and skilled attendance at birth rose from 39 to 52 
percent in the same period. According to the UN, the estimated maternal 
mortality ratio in 2008 was 540 maternal deaths per 100,000 live 
births.
    Women have the same legal status and are entitled to the same 
rights as men. The law allows women to inherit property from their 
fathers and husbands, and couples may make their own legal property 
arrangements; however, women had serious difficulties pursuing property 
claims. Since the 1994 genocide, which left numerous women as heads of 
households, women assumed a larger role in the formal sector, and many 
operated their own businesses. According to the UNDP, nearly one-third 
of households in the country are female-headed, and nearly two-thirds 
of these households lie below the poverty line, compared to 54 percent 
of male-headed households. Despite the election in 2008 of a chamber of 
deputies with a female majority, women continued to have limited 
opportunities for education, employment, and promotion. Women performed 
most of the subsistence farming in the country. According to the 
International Finance Corporation, women headed 42 percent of 
enterprises and made up 58 percent of enterprises in the informal 
sector, which accounts for 30 percent of the country's GDP. For the 
majority of women, particularly those at the lower end of the economic 
spectrum, the key assets of most households are usually owned by men, 
making formal bank credit inaccessible to many women, rendering it 
difficult to start or expand a business. According to a 2005 
Demographic and Health survey, more than 85 percent of working women 
are engaged in agriculture, but 72 percent of these women are self-
employed and 64 percent receive no payment for their work. The 
Government-funded Women's Council served as a forum for women's issues 
and consulted with the Government on land, inheritance, and child 
protection laws. The Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion in the 
Office of the Prime Minister headed government programs to address 
women's issues and coordinated programs with other ministries, police, 
and NGOs. The Government provided scholarships for girls in primary and 
secondary school and loans to rural women. A number of women's groups 
actively promoted women's concerns, particularly those of widows, 
orphaned girls, and households headed by children. In January 2009 the 
Government opened the Rwanda Gender Observatory, a gender-focused 
institution that tracks the mainstreaming of gender equality and 
women's empowerment throughout all sectors of society and collects 
gender-disaggregated data to inform policy processes.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents. Children born 
to two Rwandan parents automatically receive citizenship; children with 
one Rwandan parent must apply for citizenship before turning 18 years 
old. Children born in the country to unknown or stateless parents 
automatically receive citizenship. Births are registered at the sector 
level upon presentation of a medical birth certificate. There were no 
reports of unregistered births leading to denial of public services.
    Primary education is compulsory. Parents of students are not 
required to pay tuition fees through nine years of basic education; 
however, most parents were required to pay unofficial fees to support 
basic school operations.
    Statistics on child abuse were unavailable; however, such abuse was 
common.
    There were no statistics available on child marriage; however, it 
occurred in rural areas.
    Due to the genocide and deaths from HIV/AIDS, there were many 
households headed by children, some of whom resorted to prostitution to 
survive. The law provides that any sexual relations between an adult 
and a child under 18 years old is considered rape and is punishable by 
20 years to life in prison. Between January and July 2009, prosecutors 
filed 2,045 cases in regular courts of rape of minors; judges acquitted 
632 of those accused and sentenced 110 to life in prison.
    During the year the Government conducted a high-profile public 
campaign to discourage intergenerational sex and sexual procurement.
    The law prohibits child pornography with penalties of between five 
and 10 years in prison and a fine of 200,000 to 500,000 Rwandan francs 
($360 to $900).
    The Government continued to support the Muhazi rehabilitation 
center for children in Eastern Province, which provided care and social 
reintegration preparation during the year for approximately 47 children 
who had previously served as soldiers in the DRC. As of December, 29 of 
the former child soldiers were reunited with their families. In June 
UNICEF, with the support of the Government, began a year-long project 
at the center to provide literacy and numeric education, psychosocial 
support, recreational and cultural activities, an improved medical 
unit, and increased nutrition through gardens and fish farming.
    There were numerous street children throughout the country. 
Authorities gathered street children and placed them in foster homes or 
government-run facilities, including Gikondo transit center, where 
street children, vagrants, and street sellers were held in substandard 
conditions (see section 1.d.). The Government also supported 30 child-
care institutions across the country that provided shelter, basic 
needs, and rehabilitation for 1,988 street children. The Government 
worked with international organizations and NGOs to provide vocational 
training and psychosocial support to street children, reintegrate them 
into their communities, and educate parents on how to prevent their 
children from becoming street children.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congresreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was a very small Jewish community, consisting 
entirely of foreigners, and there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts, 
societal discrimination, or abuse.
    In 2009 the Government endorsed the opening of Agahozo Shalom Youth 
Village, a residential community for orphaned teenagers sponsored by an 
American Jewish organization, which teaches tolerance and acceptance of 
all persons.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law specifically prohibits 
discrimination against persons with disabilities in regard to 
employment, education, and access to social services, and the 
Government generally enforced these provisions. The constitution 
prohibits discrimination on the basis of physical or mental disability. 
The law also mandates access to public facilities, accommodations for 
taking national exams, provision of medical care by the Government, and 
monitoring of implementation by the NHRC; the Government generally 
implemented these provisions. The National Federation for People with 
Disabilities (FENAPH) appointed one member of the chamber of deputies. 
The legislature passed an amendment to the constitution on June 17 to 
establish a national council for persons with disabilities to assist in 
coordination of government efforts to provide for the rights of persons 
with disabilities.
    Some persons view disability as a curse or punishment, which can 
result in social exclusion and sometimes abandonment or hiding of 
children from the community. FENAPH has held several conferences to 
sensitize teachers and communities to these abuses.
    There is one government psychiatric referral hospital in Kigali; 
all other mental health facilities are nongovernmental. In general 
facilities are underequipped and understaffed. Individuals can be 
committed to mental health facilities involuntarily with no hearing.
    There have been no claims of employment discrimination against 
persons with disabilities.
    The National University of Rwanda and the Kigali Institute of 
Education admit students with visual disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Long-standing tensions in the 
country culminated in the 1994 state-orchestrated genocide, in which 
Rwandans killed between 750,000 and one million of their fellow 
citizens, including approximately three-quarters of the Tutsi 
population. Following the killing of the president in 1994, an 
extremist interim government directed the Hutu-dominated national army, 
militia groups, and ordinary citizens to kill resident Tutsis and 
moderate Hutus. The genocide ended later the same year when the 
predominantly Tutsi RPF, operating out of Uganda and northern Rwanda, 
defeated the national army and Hutu militias, and established an RPF-
led government of national unity that included members of eight 
political parties. President Kagame was elected in the 2003 elections.
    Since 1994 the Government has called for national reconciliation 
and abolished policies of the former government that created and 
deepened ethnic cleavages. The Government removed all references to 
ethnicity in written and nonwritten official discourse and eliminated 
ethnic quotas for education, training, and government employment. The 
constitution provides for the eradication of ethnic, regional, and 
other divisions in society and the promotion of national unity. In 
practice, some Rwandans know the regional or ethnic origin of their 
fellow Rwandans. Some individuals continued to accuse 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.
    Some French-speaking citizens charged the 2008 government decree to 
replace French with English in 2010 as the language of instruction from 
elementary school grade three onwards favored English-speakers.

    Indigenous People.--Beginning in the 1920s, colonial authorities 
formally assigned ``racial'' categories to all citizens and required 
them to carry identity cards indicating their designated ethnicity--
Hutu, Tutsi, or Twa. Government authorities continued this practice 
until after the 1994 genocide. The postgenocide government banned 
identity card references to ethnicity and prohibited social or 
political organizations based on ethnic affiliation as divisionist or 
contributing to genocide ideology. As a result, the Twa, purported 
descendants of Pygmy tribes of the mountainous forest areas bordering 
the DRC and numbering approximately 34,000, lost their official 
designation as an ethnic group. The Government no longer recognizes 
groups advocating specifically for Twa needs, and some believed these 
government policies denied them their rights as an indigenous ethnic 
group. The Government recognized the Community of Rwandan Potters, an 
organization that focused primarily on Twa community needs, as an 
advocate for the most marginalized, rather than organizations that 
support an indigenous ethnic group. Most Twa continued to live on the 
margins of society with very limited access to health care or 
education. The Twa generally continued to be treated as second-class 
citizens.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Some members of the LGBT 
community reported societal discrimination and abuse during the year. 
According to a 2008-09 study in Kigali, gays claimed to have been 
verbally and physically abused in workplaces, bars, prisons, and 
elsewhere.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Discrimination against 
persons living with HIV/AIDS occurred, although such incidents remained 
rare. The Government actively supported public education campaigns on 
the issue, including the establishment of HIV/AIDS awareness clubs in 
secondary schools and making public pronouncements against 
stigmatization of those with the disease.
    According to RDF policy and in keeping with UN guidelines, members 
of the military with HIV/AIDS are not permitted to participate in 
peacekeeping missions abroad but remain in the military.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides all salaried 
workers, except for civil servants, the right to form and join unions 
of their choice without previous authorization or excessive 
requirements, and workers exercised this right in practice. The law 
allows unions to conduct their activities without interference; 
however, while the Government respected this right in practice, some 
private sector employers did not and often harassed union members. 
Employers often prevented organized workers from meeting by prohibiting 
meetings during work hours. Approximately 30 percent of the total 
workforce, including agricultural workers, belonged to unions.
    All unions must register with the Ministry of Labor for official 
recognition; the application process was cumbersome.
    The law provides some workers the right to strike, but authorities 
severely restricted this right. Civil servants were not allowed to 
strike. Participation in unauthorized demonstrations could result in 
employee dismissal, nonpayment of wages, and civil action against the 
union. A union's executive committee must approve any strike, and the 
union must first try to resolve its differences with management 
following a process prescribed by the Ministry of Labor. During the 
year workers at a tobacco company formed a union and held a strike to 
protest working conditions. According to a union cooperative, some of 
the workers responsible for forming the union were fired; a trial for 
some members is set for June 2011.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for collective bargaining, but the Government severely limited 
this right. The labor law allows for unions to negotiate with employers 
for an industry-level minimum wage, but no unions have done so.
    The Government was heavily involved in the collective bargaining 
process since most union members worked in the public sector. No labor 
unions had an established collective bargaining agreement with the 
Government.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination, but there were no 
functioning labor courts to resolve complaints involving discrimination 
against unions. According to the Central Union of Rwandan Workers, 
employers in small companies frequently intimidated unionists through 
the use of transfers, demotions, and dismissals, although less often 
than in the previous year. The law requires employers to reinstate 
workers fired for union activity; however, the Government seldom 
enforced this law.
    There were no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, and the Government generally enforced this 
right; however, prison authorities assigned prisoners to work details 
that generally involved uncompensated public maintenance duties. Gacaca 
courts sentenced convicts to perform community service, and those 
suspected of committing genocide, who confessed, received sentences 
involving community service. Some prisoners volunteered for community 
service because it allowed them time away from overcrowded prisons and 
sometimes extra privileges. Authorities have sentenced 62,028 persons 
to community service. At year's end, 20,875 persons were serving their 
sentences in one of the 51 community service camps, 24,543 had 
completed their community service, and 14,071 were waiting to begin 
community service.
    There were no reports that children in refugee camps were recruited 
to be used as combatants in eastern DRC or forced laborers.
    Forced child labor and trafficking of children for sexual 
exploitation occurred.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits forced or compulsory labor by children; however, the 
Government did not effectively enforce it. According to a survey 
completed by the International Labor Organization and UNICEF in 
partnership with the Government, approximately 325,000 children (11 
percent of children between the ages of five and 17) engaged in child 
labor.
    During the year the Government increased efforts to stop child 
prostitution through a high-profile public campaign to discourage 
intergenerational sex and sexual procurement.
    Except for subsistence agricultural workers, who accounted for more 
than 85 percent of the workforce, the law prohibits children younger 
than 16 years old from working without their parents' or guardians' 
permission. The law prohibits children younger than 18 years old from 
participating in night work (between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m.) or any work 
deemed hazardous or difficult by the minister of labor. Children also 
must have a rest period of at least 12 hours between work periods. The 
minimum age for full-time employment is 18 years old (16 years old for 
apprenticeships), provided that the child has completed primary school.
    The Government identified five forms of child labor 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, among household domestics, in small companies, and in the 
brick-making industry. Children received low wages, and abuse was 
common. In addition child prostitution and trafficking of children were 
problems.
    A National Advisory Committee on Child Labor composed of various 
government ministries, the NHRC, RNP, trade unions, and NGOs met 
regularly to provide guidance and technical assistance to the 
Government on child labor issues and to develop a national child labor 
policy. The Government supported 30 labor inspectors, one in each 
district; however, the Government was unable to provide them with 
adequate resources effectively to identify and prevent the use of child 
labor. Some districts established bylaws to prevent child labor, and 
child labor reduction benchmarks were integrated into district 
performance contracts.
    The Government worked with NGOs to raise awareness of the problem, 
identify children involved in child labor, and send them to school or 
vocational training. Between 2004 and 2008, in collaboration with 
numerous NGOs, the Government rescued 4,251 children from exploitative 
labor, prevented 3,121 at-risk children from entering exploitative 
labor, and assisted many of them to attend formal or vocational 
education. The Government fined those who illegally employed children 
or sent their children to work instead of to school. During the year 
teachers and local authorities received training on the rights of 
children. The Ministerial Order this year on the worst forms of child 
labor prohibits children from working at industrial institutions and in 
domestic service, mining and quarrying, construction, brick-making, or 
applying fertilizers and pesticides. In November the Ministry of Public 
Service and Labor released a brochure on strategies to eliminate child 
labor in the country.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at http://www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There was no single minimum 
wage, but minimum wages in the formal economy did not provide a decent 
standard of living for a worker and his family. For example, the 
minimum wage in the tea industry ranged from 500 to 1,000 Rwandan 
francs per day (approximately $0.85 to $1.70), while in the 
construction industry it ranged from 1,500 to 5,000 Rwandan francs a 
day ($2.50 to $8.50), depending on skill level. Minimum wages, however, 
provided a higher standard of living than that of the 85 percent of the 
population relying only on subsistence farming. The Ministry of Public 
Service, Skills Development, and Labor set minimum wages in the small 
formal sector. The Government, the main employer, effectively set most 
other wage rates as well. In practice some workers accepted less than 
the minimum wage. Families regularly supplemented their incomes by 
working in small businesses or subsistence agriculture.
    In May the Government passed a law that increases legal working 
hours from 40 to 45 hours per week and reduces maternity leave from 12 
weeks with full salary to six weeks with full salary, with an optional 
additional six weeks at 20 percent of salary. The law provides 
employers with the right to determine daily rest periods; in practice 
most employees received a one-hour lunch break. The law does not 
provide for premium pay for overtime, but there are prohibitions on 
excessive compulsory overtime. 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 effectively. Workers did not have the right to remove 
themselves from dangerous work situations without jeopardizing their 
jobs; however, the Government established a list of dangerous 
professions subject to heightened safety scrutiny. The same standards 
applied to migrant and foreign workers.

                               __________

                         SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE

    The Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe is a multiparty 
constitutional democracy with a population of approximately 200,000. 
The head of state is President Fradique Bandeira Melo De Menezes, who 
was reelected in 2006. The head of government is Prime Minister Patrice 
Emery Trovoada, whose party won the most seats in legislative elections 
held August 1. International observers deemed both the 2006 
presidential and August 1 legislative elections free and fair. Security 
forces reported to civilian authorities.
    Human rights abuses included difficult prison conditions; prolonged 
pretrial detention; official impunity; official corruption; violence 
and discrimination against women; child labor; and harsh forced labor 
conditions.
                        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 arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices, and 
there were no reports that government officials employed them.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
difficult, but not life threatening. Medical care was poor, and food 
was often inadequate. Extreme high temperature often occurred and 
ventilation was often insufficient.
    Pretrial prisoners were held with convicted prisoners, and 
juveniles were held with adults. There is one prison and no jails or 
detention centers. Police stations have a small room or space to 
incarcerate an offender for brief periods.
    There were a total of 218prison inmates and 87 pretrial detainees. 
The number of inmates included 8 women and 25 juveniles. There were no 
reports of prison deaths.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors on a 
weekly basis and were permitted religious observances. Authorities 
permitted prisoners and detainees to submit complaints to judicial 
authorities without censorship and to request investigation of credible 
allegations of inhumane conditions. Legal representatives are available 
to address prisoner grievances.
    The Government investigated and monitored prison and detention 
center conditions through the Ministry of Justice.
    The Government permits human rights monitors to visit the prison; 
however, there were no such visits during the year.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--In August, with the 
formation of the 14th constitutional government in the country's 
history, the national police and immigration service again were put 
under the control of the Ministry of Defense and Public Security. The 
Ministry of Defense and Public Security continues to supervise and 
control the military. Despite increased personnel and trainings offered 
throughout the year, the police remained ineffective and were widely 
viewed as corrupt. Impunity was a problem, and efforts to reform the 
Criminal Investigation Police, a separate agency under the Ministry of 
Justice, were unsuccessful, primarily due to inadequate resources.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires arrest warrants issued by an authorized official to apprehend 
suspects, unless the suspect is caught during the commission of a 
crime. The law requires a determination within 48 hours of the legality 
of a detention, and authorities generally respected this right. 
Detainees are informed promptly of charges against them and are allowed 
prompt access to family members. Detainees are allowed prompt access to 
a lawyer and, if indigent, to one provided by the state. There was a 
functioning bail system.
    However, severe budgetary constraints continued to result in 
lengthy pretrial detention and greatly hindered investigations in 
criminal cases. Inadequate facilities and a shortage of trained judges 
and lawyers were additional factors leading to lengthy pretrial 
detention.
    According to the director of the Sao Tome prison, 30 percent of the 
country's prisoners were awaiting trial during the year, and 
approximately 24 pretrial detainees had been held for more than a year. 
The majority of prisoners were young adults 18 to 30 years old.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary; however, at times the judicial system was 
subject to political influence or manipulation. Judicial salaries 
remained low, and judges reportedly accepted bribes.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair public trial by a judge (juries are not used), the right of 
appeal, the right to legal representation, and, if a person is 
indigent, the right to an attorney provided by the state. Defendants 
are presumed innocent, have the right to confront their accusers, 
confront witnesses, access government evidence, and present evidence 
and witnesses on their own behalf.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The same courts consider 
both criminal and civil cases, but different procedures are used in 
civil cases. Plaintiffs may bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or 
cessation of, a human rights violation; there are also administrative 
and judicial remedies for alleged wrongs.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions, and 
the Government generally respected these prohibitions.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally 
respected these rights; however, journalists practiced self-censorship. 
The law grants all opposition parties access to the state-run media, 
including a minimum of three minutes per month on television.
    Individuals could privately or publicly criticize the Government, 
including specific officials, without fear of reprisal. There were no 
reports of the Government impeding criticism. Two government-run and 
seven independent newspapers and newsletters were published 
sporadically, usually on a monthly or biweekly basis; resource 
constraints determined publishing frequency. The independent media were 
active and expressed a wide variety of views without restriction. 
International media operated freely. The Government operated television 
and radio stations. Several foreign broadcasters also were 
rebroadcasted locally.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
International Telecommunication Union Statistics for 2009 indicate that 
16.4 percent of inhabitants used the Internet. Severe lack of 
infrastructure, including inadequate electricity and communications 
networks, limited public access to the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
and law provide for freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and 
the Government generally respected these rights.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the Department of State's 2010 International Religious 
Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights. The 
law does not prohibit forced exile; however, there were no reports that 
the Government used it practice.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law does not specifically provide for 
the granting of asylum or refugee status in accordance with the 1951 UN 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 protocol. 
The Government has not established a system for providing protection to 
refugees. In practice the Government provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened. During the year there were no known 
requests for refugee or asylum status.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens the right to change their 
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice 
through periodic and generally free and fair elections based on 
universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--The August legislative 
elections gave a plurality of seats in the National Assembly to the 
Independent Democratic Action (ADI) party. The ADI subsequently formed 
a government headed by Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada, who took office 
on August 14. International observers deemed the election generally 
free and fair.
    Local and regional elections were held on July 25. The ADI won 
control of two of six districts in these elections; the principal 
opposition party, the Movement for the Liberation of Sao Tome and 
Principe, won four districts, and a new party, Union for Change and 
Progress of Principe, won the presidency of the regional government in 
Principe.
    Political parties operated without restriction or government 
interference.
    Women held positions throughout the Government, including 11seats 
in the 55-seat National Assembly, one of 13 cabinet positions, one seat 
on the three-member Supreme Court, and two of the 12 judgeships in the 
circuit courts.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. The 
police remained ineffective and were widely viewed as corrupt.
    The World Bank's 2009 Worldwide Governance Indicators reflected 
that corruption was a serious problem. Public officials were not 
subject to financial disclosure laws.
    There are no laws that provide for public access to government 
information; however, there were no reports that the Government 
restricted access to information by citizens or noncitizens, including 
foreign media.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    In the past a small number of domestic human rights groups 
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and 
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Because of the general 
respect for human rights, such groups generally remained inactive. 
Government officials generally were cooperative and responsive to their 
views.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution provides for the equality of all citizens 
regardless of gender, race, social origin or status, political views, 
creed, philosophical convictions, disability, or language; 
nevertheless, women faced discrimination.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is illegal and punishable by 
two to 12 years' imprisonment. Rape occurred occasionally, with 
prosecution most likely in cases where there was evidence of violent 
assault as well as rape or if the victim was a minor. However, no 
statistics on prosecutions were available. Government family planning 
clinics and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) sought to combat rape 
by raising awareness of the problem.
    Widespread reports of domestic violence, including rape, against 
women continued. Although women have the right to legal recourse, 
including against spouses, many were reluctant to bring legal action 
because of the cost and a general lack of faith in the legal system to 
effectively address their concerns. Women were often ignorant of their 
rights under the law. Tradition inhibited women from taking domestic 
disputes outside the family. The law specifically addresses domestic 
violence cases. If the victim misses fewer than 10 days of work, the 
penalty for assault is six months in prison. If the victim misses 10 to 
20 workdays, the penalty is one year, and so forth. The law was 
strictly enforced, but there was no data on the number of prosecutions 
or convictions for domestic violence.
    The Office of Women's Affairs and the UN Children's Fund maintained 
a counseling center with a hotline. While the hotline did not receive 
many calls due to unreliable telephone service, the counseling center 
received numerous walk-ins.
    The law does not prohibit sexual harassment, and it was a problem. 
No data was available on its extent.
    The Government recognized the right of couples and individuals to 
decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their 
children. Health clinics and local NGOs were permitted to operate 
freely in disseminating information on family planning under the 
guidance of the Ministry of Health. There were no restrictions on the 
right to access contraceptives, but they were not widely used. Due to a 
lack of funds, NGOs and the Ministry of Health had insufficient 
supplies of contraceptives, leading to a decrease in availability and 
use. The Government provided free childbirth services, but the lack of 
sufficient doctors obliged many women, especially in rural areas, to 
rely on nurses or midwives during childbirth, unless the mother or 
child suffered more serious health complications. Pre- and post-natal 
care outside of the family is rare. Men and women received equal access 
to diagnosis and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, 
including HIV, but women were more likely than men to seek treatment 
and refer their partners.
    The constitution stipulates that women and men have equal 
political, economic, and social rights. Women did not experience 
economic discrimination. While many women have access to opportunities 
in education, business, and government, women in general continued to 
encounter significant societal discrimination. Traditional beliefs left 
women with most child-rearing responsibilities and with less access to 
education or entry into professions. A high teenage pregnancy rate 
further reduced economic opportunities for women. The Gender Equality 
Institute within the Office of Women's Affairs held numerous seminars 
and workshops to raise awareness of discrimination against women.

    Children.--Citizenship is acquired either through parents or by 
being born within the country. Either parent, if a citizen, can confer 
citizenship to a child born outside the country. The law requires all 
children born in the country to be registered in the hospital where 
they are born. If not born in a hospital, the child must be registered 
at the nearest precinct. Failure to register a birth can lead to a 
fine.
    By law education is universal, compulsory through sixth grade, and 
tuition-free to the age of 15 or sixth grade. In practice many rural 
students stopped attending school after the fourth grade. A number of 
government and donor-funded programs operated to improve conditions for 
children, notably an ongoing malaria control project and a program for 
acquisition of school and medical equipment. Mistreatment of children 
was not widespread; however, there were few protections for orphans and 
abandoned children.
    There were reports of children engaged in prostitution. There is no 
statutory rape law or specific legislation to prohibit child 
pornography. However, the Government uses other laws such as kidnapping 
or unlawful forced labor, as well as its existing rape-related laws, to 
address instances of sexual exploitation of children.
    The Ministry of Labor and Solidarity operated a social services 
program that collected street children in three centers where they 
attended classes and received training. Conditions at the centers were 
good; however, because of overcrowding, some children were returned to 
their families to sleep at night, and a few of these children ran away.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was no known Jewish community and no reports 
of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law does not prohibit 
discrimination against persons with physical or mental disabilities; 
however, there were no reports of discrimination against such persons. 
The law does not mandate access to buildings, transportation, or 
services for persons with disabilities. Local NGOs that criticized the 
Government in the past for not implementing accessibility programs for 
such persons were not active during the year.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There is no law criminalizing 
sexual orientation; however, there was societal discrimination based on 
sexual orientation.

    Other Societal Violence and Discrimination.--Persons with HIV/AIDS 
were often rejected by their communities and shunned by their families. 
However, there were no reports that workers were discriminated against 
due to their HIV/AIDS status. As in the previous year, there were a 
number of government-sponsored workshops and awareness campaigns to 
reduce such discrimination. The Government also provided free AIDS 
testing and distributed antiretroviral drugs to all recognized 
patients.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The constitution and law allow 
workers to form and join unions of their choice without previous 
authorization or excessive requirements, and workers generally 
exercised this right in practice. There were no reliable statistics 
regarding the disposition of the country's workforce.
    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 formal sector wage earners, and members of 
farmers' cooperatives. The law does not prohibit antiunion 
discrimination.
    The constitution provides for the freedom to strike, including by 
government employees and other essential workers; however, the laws do 
not prohibit retaliation against strikers. No strikes occurred during 
the year. The provisions regulating strikes require that a majority is 
needed to call a strike, and replacement workers can be hired without 
consultation with the trade unions to perform essential services in the 
event the enterprise is threatened by a strike. The law also requires 
compulsory arbitration for services, including postal, banking, and 
loan services.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The 
constitution and law state that workers may organize and bargain 
collectively; however, workers' collective bargaining rights remain 
relatively weak due to the Government's role as the principal employer 
in the formal wage sector and key interlocutor for organized labor on 
all matters, including wages.
    There were no laws prohibiting antiunion discrimination; however, 
there were no reports such discrimination occurred.
    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. There is no evidence or 
statistics of such forced labor.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There are laws to protect children from exploitation in the formal 
sector workplace, but they are utilized only rarely and on a case-by-
case basis.
    Employers in the formal wage sector generally respected the legally 
mandated minimum employment age of 18. The law prohibits minors from 
working more than seven hours a day and 35 hours a week. Children 
worked in subsistence agriculture on farms, informal commerce, and 
domestic work. Children in low income families were sometimes sent to 
work on local farms and boarded away from home. No cases of child labor 
abuses were prosecuted, although the law states that employers of 
underage workers can be fined. The Ministry of Health and Social 
Affairs is responsible for enforcing child labor laws.
    Unlike the previous year, there were no government initiatives 
taken to prevent child labor; however, a media campaign against it 
continued. The Ministry of Education mandated compulsory school 
attendance from the fourth to the sixth grade, and the Government 
granted some assistance to several low-income families to keep their 
children in school. The Ministry of Labor utilized teams of labor 
inspectors to increase inspections at work sites.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There is no national minimum 
wage. The legal minimum wage for civil servants of 750,000 dobras ($42) 
per month was not sufficient to provide a decent standard of living for 
a worker and family. Working two or more jobs was common. The labor law 
specifies occupations 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, and education, the Criminal 
Investigation Police, and the military, earned up to 400 percent more 
than other public sector employees.
    Working conditions on many of the cocoa farms--the largest informal 
wage sector--were unregulated and extremely harsh. The average salary 
for agricultural workers did not provide a decent standard of living 
for a worker and family, and the purchasing power of their pay was 
further eroded by inflation.
    The legal workweek is 40 hours, with 48 consecutive hours mandated 
for rest. However, shopkeepers could work 48 hours a week with eight 
hours of overtime or in shifts. The law provides for compensation for 
overtime work.
    The law prescribes basic occupational health and safety standards; 
however, due to resource constraints, the Ministry of Justice and the 
Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, which covers labor issues, did 
not monitor labor conditions sufficiently, and enforcement of these 
standards seldom occurred. Employees have the right to leave unsafe 
working conditions, but none sought to do so, and enforcement of the 
right was very limited.

                               __________

                                SENEGAL

    Senegal, with an estimated population of 12.8 million, is a 
moderately decentralized republic dominated by a strong executive 
branch. In 2007 Abdoulaye Wade was reelected president in an election 
generally viewed as free and fair despite sporadic incidents of 
violence and intimidation. In 2007 the ruling Senegalese Democratic 
Party (PDS) won the majority of seats in National Assembly elections 
that were boycotted by the leading opposition parties. During the March 
2009 local elections (municipal, regional, and rural communities), a 
multiparty opposition coalition scored significant victories, 
especially in the country's major cities. International observers 
characterized the March 2009 elections as generally free and 
transparent. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    Major human rights problems included the following: inhuman and 
degrading treatment of detainees and prisoners, including reports of 
physical abuse and torture; overcrowded prisons; questionable 
investigative detention and long pretrial detention; lack of an 
independent judiciary; limits on freedoms of speech, press, and 
assembly; corruption and impunity; rape, domestic violence, sexual 
harassment of and discrimination against women; female genital 
mutilation (FGM); child abuse; child marriage; infanticide; trafficking 
in persons; and child labor.
    Rebels associated with the Movement of Democratic Forces of the 
Casamance (MFDC) killed civilians and military personnel, committed 
robberies, fought with the army, and harassed local populations while 
fighting each other.
                        respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        From:

    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--The Government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings. However, 
there was one report of an arbitrary killing by a security force 
member.
    On July 5, a park ranger stationed at the marine protected area of 
Madeleine Island, off the coast of Dakar, shot and killed fisherman 
Moustapha Sarr, who had allegedly violated regulations prohibiting 
fishing in the marine reserve. The park ranger, Yaya Sonko, who shot 
Sarr three times, was arrested and put in pretrial detention by a judge 
on August 17. The case was pending at year's end.
    The case against gendarme Gora Diop, who shot and killed Sangone 
Mbaye in August 2009, remained pending at year's end.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.
    The Government did not take any action to resolve older cases of 
disappearances (dating from 2002 and earlier), particularly in the 
Casamance, that were linked to government security forces.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
there were occasional reports that government officials employed them.
    Human rights groups noted examples of physical abuse committed by 
security forces, including cruel and degrading treatment in prisons and 
detention facilities. In particular they criticized strip-search and 
other interrogation methods. Police reportedly forced detainees to 
sleep on bare floors, directed bright lights at their pupils, beat them 
with batons, and kept them in cells with minimal access to air. During 
the year authorities took no action against police involved in these 
abuses.
    Human rights organizations highlighted the lack of supervision and 
impunity with which security forces treated persons in police custody. 
While abuses occurred, the Government claimed that these practices were 
not widespread and that it usually launched formal investigations into 
cases of abuse. However, the investigations were often lengthy and 
rarely resulted in charges or indictments of suspects.
    In a report issued in September, Amnesty International (AI) cited 
several cases from 2009 and earlier of deaths that allegedly involved 
torture while detainees were in police custody. AI noted that no arrest 
or prosecution was made against members of security forces as the 
Government refused to authorize such prosecution. In its response, the 
Government acknowledged the existence of torture but noted that such 
cases were isolated and not systematic and claimed that AI's report was 
exaggerated. Other diplomatic and nongovernmental representatives 
echoed this assessment, noting that while abuses did occur, they were 
not systematic in scope.
    On July 14, police in Yeumbeul, a suburb of Dakar, arrested 
Abdoulaye Wade Yinghou during a demonstration protesting electricity 
outages. Yinghou was not a demonstrator but had gone to purchase 
poultry feed for his employer. He was chased by the police, arrested, 
and taken to the local police station, where he managed to use his cell 
phone to alert his employer. The police first denied having arrested 
him but, on July 15, told his employer that Yinghou died of a seizure 
while in custody. A postmortem indicated that Yinghou suffered a broken 
cervical vertebrae, wounds from sharp instruments, and lung injuries; 
his death resulted from heart failure. By year's end, no investigation 
had been conducted or any arrest made. The African Assembly for Human 
Rights (RADDHO) denounced Yinghou's death and echoed AI's report of at 
least 10 deaths of detainees in police custody as a result of torture 
in the last decade. RADDHO and AI noted that total impunity for 
security forces continued to be the rule.
    There were no further developments in the May 2009 death of 
Julilson Niniken Vaz who died while in custody of gendarmes in Mbour, 
allegedly from torture.
    At year's end there was no new information on the November 2009 
death of Abou Dia, who died in police custody in the city of Matam. 
While police claimed that Dia hanged himself, the Government admitted 
during the year that an autopsy revealed that he died of strangulation; 
the Government claimed that an investigation was ongoing.
    There were no further developments in the alleged cases of torture 
by security forces reported by human rights organizations following a 
2008 riot in the city of Kedougou. The court had dismissed allegations 
of torture made by attorneys.
    There were several cases of mob violence. Due to a weak judiciary 
and widespread perception of impunity in the justice system, civilians 
often administered punishment by beating presumed thieves before 
transferring them to security forces. For example, on July 21, Prospere 
Bassene was hit three times with a machete, tied up, and beaten to 
death by local persons in the neighborhood of Goumel in Ziguinchor. 
Bassene had robbed a local shop that night, and his gang had reportedly 
committed several robberies and sexual abuses. As of year's end, no one 
had been charged.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions were poor, in part because no new prisons have been 
built since the colonial era. The nongovernmental organization (NGO) 
National Organization for Human Rights (ONDH) identified overcrowding 
and lack of adequate sanitation as major problems. There were 37 
prisons with a designed maximum capacity of 3,000 prisoners. However, 
officials noted in December 2009 that there were 7,550 prisoners. Of 
this population, 1,600 were non-Senegalese. A UN study group on 
pretrial detention visited the country in September 2009 and found that 
Dakar's main prison facility, known as ``Rebeuss,'' housed 1,592 
inmates while its designed capacity was 800. The group criticized the 
long pretrial detention, prolonged police custody beyond the legal time 
limit, and detainees' lack of access to attorneys for 48 hours after 
arrest.
    According to ONDH, approximately 2,660 persons were held in prison 
facilities in pretrial detention in 2009. There were an estimated 200 
children being held with their mothers in prison.
    Men and women were held in separate facilities. Authorities did not 
permit prisoners and detainees to submit complaints to judicial 
authorities without censorship or to request investigation of credible 
allegations of inhumane conditions. Prisoners were generally allowed 
reasonable access to visitors and were permitted religious observance.
    Unlike the previous year, there were no reports of any deaths due 
to mistreatment or poor conditions in prisons.
    Local NGOs reported in 2009 that the rape of female prisoners was a 
serious issue not addressed by government authorities. Unlike the 
previous year, however, NGOs made no new reports of rape cases of 
female prisoners.
    In April 2009, A. Kebe, a prisoner serving a two-year sentence at 
the prison of Diourbel, reportedly became pregnant while in custody; 
however, after delivering her newborn in prison, she strangled the 
child. The prosecutor opened an inquiry, but there were no further 
developments by year's end.
    Local NGOs reported that prisoner separation regulations were not 
always enforced. Pretrial detainees were occasionally held with 
convicted prisoners, and juveniles were occasionally held with adults.
    Prisons lacked doctors and medicine. There was one mattress for 
every five detainees. Prisons experienced drainage problems, stifling 
heat, and were infested with insects; food was of low quality. Prisons 
were usually tied into the local water supply, and prisoners had access 
to potable water.
    During the year the Government permitted prison visits by local 
human rights groups. The ONDH visited prisons in Dakar, Sebikotane, 
Koutal, and Louga. Members of the National Assembly and the Senegalese 
League of Human Rights also conducted prison visits.
    The ONDH noted that overcrowding and long pretrial detentions were 
serious problems. In Louga, one prisoner had spent six years in 
pretrial detention and did not have any idea when and where his 
prosecution would be taking place. Prisoners at the Camp Penal in Dakar 
complained about brutality by prison guards. One of them showed his 
back, which was scarred by marks of burning and beating.
    In September Abdoulaye Babou, chair of the Law Committee of the 
National Assembly, and 10 other members of parliament visited the 
prisons of Louga and Fatick. They made statements regretting cases of 
long pretrial detention and stated that some members of the group who 
are attorneys would represent detainees involved in the longest delayed 
cases. They also noted the poor conditions of the prison in Fatick, 
with bad hygiene, crumbling buildings, and overcrowding. They called on 
the Government to increase prison budgets. Currently prisons are 
allocated 500 CFA ($1.01) per prisoner per day; 450 CFA (91 cents) for 
daily meals and 50 CFA (10 cents) for hygiene.
    The parliamentary group also called on the Government to build a 
new prison in Louga to replace the old warehouse used as a prison, 
which they termed inappropriate and overcrowded. Each of the rooms in 
the Louga prison held 20 to 30 prisoners. The Louga prison had 222 
citizen prisoners, including 194 men, 11 women, 12 minors, and five 
foreigners. The prison was officially restricted from receiving persons 
sentenced to more than one year or hard labor, but this rule was not 
respected.
    Members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also 
visited prisons in Dakar and Casamance where 15 MFDC members were held 
on various criminal charges.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention. In contrast with previous 
years, the Government generally observed these prohibitions, although 
NGOs reported that police often forcibly dispersed unauthorized 
marches, arbitrarily arrested individuals, and released them several 
hours later.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Police and gendarmes 
are responsible for maintaining law and order. The army shares that 
responsibility in exceptional cases, such as during a state of 
emergency. The police force includes 10 departments, which constitute 
the Directorate General of National Safety. In each of the country's 14 
regions, there is at least one police station and at least one mobile 
safety brigade. Dakar has 16 police stations. The police force 
effectively maintained law and order.
    The gendarmerie is under the aegis of the Ministry of Defense and 
primarily employed in rural areas where there is no police presence.
    Impunity and corruption were pervasive problems. An amnesty law 
covers police and other security personnel involved in ``political 
crimes'' committed between 1983 and 2004, except those who committed 
assassinations in ``cold blood.''
    The Criminal Investigation Department (DIC) is in charge of 
investigating police abuses. For example, in 2009 the DIC investigated 
the case of journalists Boubacar Kambel Dieng and Karamoko Thioune, who 
were beaten in 2008 by police special forces (BIP) unit personnel 
following a soccer match in Dakar. On March 23, the media reported that 
the Ministry of Interior finally authorized the judge to prosecute the 
three suspected BIP officers. On November 26, the court found one of 
the three officers, El Hadji Lamdou Dione, guilty and issued a 
suspended sentence of one month in prison. He was also ordered to pay 
750,000 CFA ($1,516) in damages to Dieng.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Although the 
law specifies that warrants issued by judges are required for arrests, 
in practice police often lacked warrants when detaining individuals. 
The law grants police broad powers to detain prisoners for long periods 
before filing formal charges. The DIC may hold persons up to 24 hours 
before releasing them. Many detainees were not promptly informed of the 
charges against them. Police officers, including DIC officials, may 
double the detention period from 24 to 48 hours without charges, but 
they must obtain authorization from the prosecutor. Investigators can 
request that a prosecutor double this period to 96 hours. For cases 
involving claimed threats to state security, the detention period can 
be further doubled. Thus, someone accused of plotting to overthrow the 
Government or undermining national defense can be held up to 192 hours.
    The detention period does not formally begin until authorities 
officially declare that an individual is being detained, a practice 
human rights groups criticized for resulting in unjustly long detention 
periods. Bail is rarely available. In the first 48 hours of detention, 
the accused has no access to an attorney but has the right to a medical 
exam and possibly access to family; however, family access was not 
generally allowed. The accused has the right to an attorney, and 
attorneys should be provided at public expense to all criminal 
defendants who cannot afford one, after the initial period of 
detention. A number of NGOs also provided legal assistance or 
counseling to those charged with crimes.
    The Government used security forces, especially the DIC, to harass 
journalists and arrest political opponents and civil society leaders 
(see section 2.a.).
    Judicial backlogs and absenteeism of judges contributed to long 
pretrial detention. The law states that an accused person may not be 
held in pretrial detention for more than six months for minor crimes; 
however, persons were routinely held in custody until a court demanded 
their release. Despite the six-month limit on detention for most 
crimes, the average time between charging and trial was two years. In 
many cases, persons are freed without charges being filed. In such 
circumstances, the state paid no compensation. In 2009 a UN study group 
on pretrial detention criticized the country for its use of long 
pretrial detention.
    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 but with the prosecutor's consent 
may order release pending trial. If a prosecutor opposes release, the 
order is frozen until an appeals court decides whether to grant 
release. By law the prosecutor has total discretion to deny provisional 
release pending trial for cases involving threats to state security, 
murder, and embezzlement of public funds. However, since judges lacked 
sufficient time to review all cases, orders to extend detention were 
often signed without consideration of the facts to avoid releasing 
potentially guilty detainees.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Although the constitution and law 
provide for an independent judiciary, the judiciary was subject to 
corruption and government influence.
    Magistrates continued publicly to criticize their working 
conditions, including overwhelming case loads, lack of adequate space 
and office equipment, and inadequate transportation. Magistrates also 
openly questioned the Government's commitment to judicial independence.
    Besides the formal civil court system, some citizens relied on 
traditional leaders to settle family and community disputes.
    The Regional Court of Dakar includes a military tribunal, which has 
jurisdiction over crimes that are military in nature. The tribunal is 
composed of a civilian judge, a civilian prosecutor, and two military 
assistants to advise the judge, one of whom must be of equal rank to 
the defendant. The tribunal may try civilians only if they were 
involved with military personnel who violated military law. The 
military tribunal provides the same rights as a civilian criminal 
court.

    Trial Procedures.--Defendants are presumed innocent. All defendants 
have the right to a public trial, to be present in court, to confront 
witnesses, to present evidence and witnesses, and to have an attorney, 
at public expense if needed, in felony cases.
    Evidentiary hearings may be closed to the public and the press. 
Although the defendant and counsel may introduce evidence before the 
investigating judge who decides to refer a case for trial, they do not 
always have access to all evidence against a defendant presented prior 
to trial. Access to evidence may be limited by police or prosecutors. A 
panel of judges presides over ordinary courts in civil and criminal 
cases since a law passed in July eliminated trials by jury. The right 
of appeal exists in all courts, except for the High Court of Justice. 
These rights extend to all citizens.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Citizens may seek 
cessation of and reparation for human rights violations in regular 
administrative or judicial courts. Administrative remedies also can be 
sought by filing a complaint with the High Commission for Peace and 
Human Rights in the Office of the President. However, corruption and 
lack of independence hampered judicial and administrative handling of 
these cases. At times prosecutors refused to prosecute security 
officials, and violators often went unpunished. In addition there were 
problems in enforcing court orders, since the Government can ignore 
court orders without legal consequences.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions, and 
the Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice; 
however, human rights organizations stated that illegal telephone 
monitoring by security services was common practice.

    g. Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts.--
The level of violence increased during the year in the Casamance 
region. There were several instances of combat between MFDC and army 
soldiers, as well as between MFDC factions. The army conducted several 
sweeps near the regional capital Ziguinchor and in the area of 
Oulampane in northern Casamance. At least 13 soldiers died in suspected 
MFDC attacks between February and December. The number of casualties on 
the MFDC side was unknown.
    Despite continued armed conflict, there were fewer civilian victims 
of violence in the Casamance during the year. No civilian land mine-
related deaths were noted during the year, indicating that awareness 
campaigns about land mines have been effective. Handicap International 
continued working under the supervision and coordination of the 
National Mine Action Center, a government organization.
    One civilian was killed by alleged members of MFDC. On January 10, 
Ibrahima Correa was shot and killed by alleged MFDC members in the 
village of Bindaba. Correa was reportedly going to his rice field when 
gunmen opened fire. As of year's end, no arrest had been made.
    The land mine office in Casamance reported two land mine accidents 
during the year in which two soldiers were injured.
    In June there were reports that soldiers beat civilians in the town 
of Oulampane to force them to provide information about movements of 
MFDC rebels operating in the area. As of year's end, no action had been 
taken against the soldiers.
    MFDC rebels committed several highway robberies in the Casamance 
but, unlike the previous year, no civilian was killed in MFDC 
robberies.
    On May 7, alleged members of the MFDC shot and killed an unarmed 
soldier in plain clothes near Emaye, in the rural community of 
Santhiaba Manjack. No arrest had been made by year's end.
    On July 18, near Kaguitte in southern Casamance, alleged MFDC 
members committed highway robberies. While being pursued by soldiers in 
the area, they shot and killed one soldier. No arrest had been made by 
year's end.
    On October 31, on National Road 4 between the villages of Badioure 
and Diaran near Bignona, a group of approximately 40 suspected MFDC 
members fired on an army truck. Three soldiers were killed and two 
injured. The soldiers were being deployed to provide security on the 
road, where several car robberies had taken place. No arrests had been 
made by year's end.
    On December 26, suspected MFDC rebels attacked a military convoy in 
the Bignona area, injuring two soldiers who later died from their 
injuries. The following day suspected MFDC rebels ambushed another 
military patrol in Bignona, killing six soldiers.
    On January 18, between Etafoune and Kaguitte, heavily armed gunmen 
(suspected MFDC members) stopped and robbed operators or passengers of 
a vehicle, three motorcycles, one bicycle, and passers-by, stealing 
several cell phones and an unspecified sum of money. As of year's end, 
no one had been charged for the crimes.
    On March 1, between the villages of Mmpalago and Silinkine in 
northern Casamance, armed men (suspected MFDC members) stopped several 
cars, took all valuables from the passengers and later fled with one of 
the vehicles, which belonged to the president of the Region of 
Ziguinchor. As of year's end, the vehicle had not been recovered or 
anyone charged with the crime.
    On September 3, several vehicles were stopped by alleged members of 
MFDC between Sare Tening and Sinthian Tening. Passengers were robbed of 
their cell phones and money. No arrests had been made by year's end.
    There were no further developments in the following 2009 cases: the 
June 7 killing of three persons in an MFDC car hijacking near the 
village of Kawane in northern Casamance; the June 9 killing of Youssouf 
Sambou (``Rambo'') , a former warlord in the MFDC; and the October 2 
MFDC killing of six soldiers trying to free their vehicle from mud in 
the Sedhiou area.
    Of as many as possibly 40,000 persons internally displaced due to 
the Casamance conflict, the ICRC estimated that 10,000 internally 
displaced persons (IDPs) continued to live in Ziguinchor, including 370 
persons from the nearby village of Baraf, which experienced heavy 
fighting between the army and MFDC in September 2009 (see section 
2.d.).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    Freedom of Speech and Press--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government limited 
these rights in practice, and security forces and politicians 
intimidated or harassed journalists during the year. Journalists also 
practiced self-censorship.
    Individuals could generally criticize the Government publicly or 
privately without reprisals.
    There were a large number of independent and three government-
affiliated newspapers. Due to high illiteracy rates, radio was the most 
important medium of mass information and source of news.
    There were approximately 80 community, public, and private 
commercial radio stations. Although an administrative law is in place 
to regulate radio frequency assignments, community radio operators 
claimed there was a lack of transparency in the allocation of 
frequencies. Radio stations were occasionally controlled by a single 
religious, political, or ethnic group.
    Although the Government continued to maintain a firm grip on 
locally televised information and opinion through Radio Television 
Senegal (RTS), four privately owned television channels broadcast 
during the year. By law the Government must hold a majority interest in 
RTS, and the president directly or indirectly controlled selection of 
all members of the 12-person RTS executive staff. Several human rights 
and journalist groups criticized the ability of some religious leaders 
to broadcast on government-controlled television and radio without 
charge, while other groups were obliged to pay.
    Government failure to enforce regulations on establishing media 
outlets and government-provided media assistance resulted in an 
increase of unprofessional and politicized media. Journalists and human 
rights groups maintained that some media outlets, such as the daily 
newspapers Express News and Le Messager, and radio stations Ocean FM, 
Anur, and Radio Municipale de Dakar, were created solely to refute 
antigovernment criticism.
    Journalists continued to criticize government efforts to control 
media content by selectively granting or withholding state subsidies, 
which were routinely given to both government-affiliated and private 
independent media. The Government frequently used subsidies, and in a 
few cases threats and intimidation, to pressure the media not to 
publicize certain issues.
    The international media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views without restriction.
    The Government continued to perceive some media organizations as a 
threat, and during the year journalists were detained for several hours 
by the DIC. The police often pressured journalists who reported 
government scandals, waste, or fraud to reveal their sources. The law 
allows police to arrest and imprison journalists for libel.
    On August 26, a Dakar court declared Abdourakhmane Diallo, director 
of Express News, guilty of defaming Pape Samba Mboup, chief of staff to 
the president. An unsigned article published in Diallo's newspaper had 
called Mboup an alcoholic and political mercenary. Some observers 
speculated that the article resulted from a political rivalry between 
Mboup and another government minister. The court sentenced Diallo to 
six months' imprisonment and fined his publication 20 million CFA 
($40,444). Diallo, who was tried in absentia, had not been detained by 
year's end.
    On September 14, Abdou Latif Coulibaly, an investigative journalist 
and director of publication for weekly magazine La Gazette, was tried 
for libel in a Dakar court for defaming Thierno Ousmane Sy, a special 
adviser on telecommunications licensing to the president. Coulibaly's 
magazine quoted Sy in an article alleging that Sudanese telecom company 
Sudatel paid $40 million to bribe Senegalese and foreign lobbyists in 
2007 to obtain a cell phone license. Sy was not prosecuted for any of 
the alleged bribes, as the Government required that the journalist 
first identify his sources and information, which Coulibaly did not do. 
On November 16, Abdou Latif Coulibaly and two of the journalists who 
worked with him on La Gazette, were fined 20 million CFA ($40,444) and 
given one-month suspended jail sentences.
    The September 2009 libel case against journalists Abdou Dia and 
Pape Samba Sene was dropped because the governor decided not to seek 
reparation. The judge, in consultation with the prosecutor, decided 
therefore to close the case.
    There were no further developments in the September 2009 vandalism 
of the premises of the independent television station Wal Fadjri.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet, or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
There are three principle Internet service providers in the country. 
The number of Internet service subscriptions is growing by 
approximately 28 percent annually, having reached 59,745 accounts by 
December 2009. According to the country's Agency for the Regulation of 
Telecommunications and Mail, this figure represented a market 
penetration rate of 0.49 percent. Cyber cafes were numerous in Dakar 
and often found in provincial centers. According to the International 
Telecommunication Union's statistics for 2008, approximately 8 percent 
of the country's inhabitants used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--Although the constitution and law provide for freedom of 
assembly, the Government interfered with this right in practice. During 
the year the Government repeatedly denied public permits for civil 
society and political opposition demonstrations. Opposition groups 
complained of undue delays when waiting for a government response to 
authorization requests.
    On April 3, the prefect of Dakar banned a demonstration by 
opposition parties protesting the erection of the costly Monument of 
the African Renaissance. Faced with increasing pressure from opposition 
parties, the Government authorized the demonstration at the last moment 
but limited the organizers to an itinerary different than they sought.
    On May 22, gendarmes dispersed demonstrators protesting the 
erection of buildings near a lake in the Hann neighborhood of Dakar. 
Demonstrators found refuge in a mosque. Local authorities had not 
authorized the demonstration.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of association, and the Government generally respected this 
right in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the Department of State's 2010 International Religious 
Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice.
    The Government generally cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, asylum seekers, and stateless persons.
    Some public employees, including teachers, are required by law to 
obtain government approval before departing the country; however, this 
law was not generally enforced.
    The constitution and law prohibit forced exile, and the Government 
did not employ it.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--During the 28-year-old 
Casamance conflict, tens of thousands of persons left villages in the 
region due to fighting, forced removal, and land mines. Many persons 
reportedly became newly displaced during the year. The Government 
estimated that approximately 10,000 IDPs are in the Casamance, although 
this number tended to fluctuate with the progress of the conflict. Some 
international humanitarian assistance agencies estimated the IDP number 
to be as high as 40,000. Some IDPs who attempted to return to their 
villages in rural communities south of Ziguinchor met with hostility 
from MFDC combatants, who survived on the same natural resources as 
returning IDPs.
    The Government supplied food to and enrolled children of IDPs in 
local schools in Ziguinchor. During the year the ICRC and the 
Government provided support to IDPs from the village of Baraf who fled 
to the regional capital, Ziguinchor, after being threatened by MFDC 
rebels.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. Since the 
president must approve each case, delays of one to two years in 
granting refugee status remained a problem. In practice the Government 
provided some protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to 
countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account 
of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social 
group, or political opinion. The Government generally granted refugee 
status or asylum and provided refugees with food and nonfood 
assistance.
    The Government violated the rights of some asylum seekers by not 
offering them due process or security, since appeals filed by denied 
asylum seekers were examined by the same committee that examined their 
original case, and a denied asylum seeker can be arrested for staying 
illegally in the country. Those arrested sometimes remained in 
``administrative detention'' for up to three months before being 
deported. According to the UNHCR, at the end of 2009, there were 2,796 
asylum seekers in the country.
    Since 1989 the country has offered temporary protection to 
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 refugee 
documents from authorities and sometimes encountered administrative 
difficulties when using their expired refugee application receipts. 
Following discussion with UNHCR, the Government agreed to issue 
identification cards, but the process had not started by year's end. In 
2008 UNHCR began a repatriation program of Afro-Mauritanians to 
Mauritania. According to UNHCR, an estimated 34,000 Afro-Mauritanians 
were registered for voluntary repatriation and, by December 2009 
approximately 19,000 had been repatriated. Repatriations were 
temporarily stopped in January due to the internal sociopolitical 
situation in Mauritania but resumed on October 19. Approximately 1,400 
refugees were repatriated between October 19 and the end of December.
    During the year 67 Liberians, 57 Ivoirians, one Ghanaian, one 
Togolese, and 449 nationals from other countries registered with UNHCR. 
Some 15,000 Senegalese from the Casamance have sought refuge in Gambia 
(7,000) and Guinea Bissau (8,000) over the years. The Government 
continued to permit generally unsupervised and largely informal 
repatriation of Casamance refugees.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens with the right to change 
their government peacefully, and citizens generally exercised this 
right in practice through periodic, free, and fair elections based on 
universal suffrage as demonstrated in the 2007 presidential and 
legislative elections. Military and paramilitary forces were allowed to 
vote for the first time in 2009.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In 2007 President Wade was 
reelected to a second term with approximately 55 percent of the vote. 
International observers declared the voting to be generally free and 
fair; however, there was pre-election violence and irregularities, 
especially in the issuance of voter cards, and many opposition parties 
did not accept the election results. The parties petitioned the 
Constitutional Council to void the election; however, the council 
rejected their petition.
    In the 2007 legislative election, President Wade's PDS coalition 
won 131 of 150 National Assembly seats. International observers 
declared the elections to be generally free and fair. Because 
opposition parties, organized under the umbrella coalition ``Front 
Siggil Senegal,'' boycotted the elections, the turnout of 34.7 percent 
was historically low. In the 2007 indirect elections for the Senate, 
local officials and members of parliament chose PDS candidates for 34 
of the 35 contested seats. The remaining 65 Senate seats were filled by 
the president. The main opposition parties boycotted the Senate 
elections, since the president appoints the majority of Senate seats.
    The 150 registered political parties operated without restriction 
or outside interference.
    At year's end, there were 37 women in the 150-seat National 
Assembly and 12 women in the 42-member cabinet. Only 13 percent of 
locally elected leaders were women. The 100-member Senate included 40 
women.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
there were officials who engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. 
Public officials were subject to financial disclosure laws only in 
cases of investigations. The president is the only official required by 
law to disclose assets at the beginning of his or her term.
    The World Bank's 2009 Worldwide Governance Indicators reflected 
that corruption was a serious problem, and there was widespread public 
perception of government corruption. Officials granting themselves, 
members of the National Assembly, and civil servants salary increases, 
vehicles, and land over the previous few years exacerbated the 
perception.
    Impunity and corruption among police were pervasive problems. 
According to human rights groups, attorneys, and victims, security 
forces regularly extorted money from detainees in exchange for release 
and from prostitutes to overlook noncompliance with prostitution 
regulations.
    The National Commission to Fight Nontransparency, Corruption, and 
Government Fraud had no authority to investigate or to prosecute. It 
remained inefficient in fighting corruption and prosecuted no 
government officials for the crime. Despite recurrent allegations of 
corruption in the media, the commission and the judiciary undertook no 
investigations.
    On March 10, Daniel G. Seck, director of the National Agency for 
Telecommunications and Postal Services, was arrested for mismanagement 
of public funds after having made payments to himself and senior 
members of the Agency's Council, which the Government considered 
illegal. On March 16, he was freed on bail but the case remained 
pending at year's end. Several civil society leaders accused the 
Government of using Seck as a scapegoat and denounced the prosecution 
as selective, since colleagues of Seck who also received payments were 
not charged.
    During the year the Government began active implementation of a 
more transparent bidding process through the Agency for the Regulation 
of Public Tendering (ARMP). The ARMP now monitors not only government 
agencies' compliance with bidding laws and procedures, but also 
conducts technical audits that examine the costs and quality of the 
work and services provided through public tendering. For example, the 
ARMP audited the bidding practices of several government entities and 
ruled in favor of several private companies that had filed grievances 
after submitting losing bids. In September the ARMP suspended a 
telecommunications contract, but the president subsequently issued a 
decree that appeared to exempt purchases by the presidency and some 
ministries.
    The constitution and law provide citizens the right to access 
government information freely; however, the Government rarely provided 
access in practice.
Section 5. 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 findings. However, 
some human rights organizations alleged that their telephones were 
regularly tapped during the year.
    Local independent NGOs included Tostan, the Committee to Combat 
Violence against Women and Children (CLVF), ONDH, RADDHO, Terre des 
Hommes International Federation, and Plan International Senegal.
    The Government's National Committee on Human Rights (NCHR) includes 
government representatives, civil society groups, and independent human 
rights organizations. The NCHR has authority to investigate abuses; 
however, it lacked credibility since it was poorly funded, did not meet 
regularly, did not conduct investigations, and last released its annual 
report in 2001.
    According to the NCHR, the Government met regularly with civil 
society and human rights NGOs to discuss topics including 
discrimination (racial, gender, and religious), migration, and domestic 
violence. The Government was somewhat responsive to NGO inquiries and 
held meetings with them to discuss human rights issues such as torture, 
domestic violence, and the case against former Chadian dictator Hissene 
Habre.
    In 2008 the National Assembly and the Senate jointly amended the 
constitution to allow retroactive prosecution of genocide and crimes 
against humanity. These legal provisions lifted the last obstacles to 
the prosecution of Hissene Habre, who has lived in exile in the country 
for 20 years, on charges of torture and crimes against humanity. 
However, the Government continued to argue that Habre's prosecution 
could not take place without international donor funding. Donors worked 
with the Government to formulate a feasible budget and, on November 24, 
pledged approximately$11,350,000 to finance the trial. The African 
Union (AU) agreed to provide one million dollars to begin the trial.
    On June 24, the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West 
African States (ECOWAS) examined charges brought by Habre's lawyers 
against Senegal. The lawyers argued that Senegal made its criminal laws 
retroactive for the sole purpose of prosecuting Habre and thus had 
violated his rights. The AU and the EU urged that the trial should 
proceed despite the ECOWAS' hearings.
    Death threats against leaders of opposition political parties, 
unions, journalists, NGOs, and senior officials were common and 
generally were believed to originate in circles close to the ruling 
party.
    Although the Government did not prevent visits by international 
organizations, no such visits were reported during the year.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution provides that men and women are equal under the 
law and prohibits all forms of discrimination. However, gender 
discrimination was widespread in practice, and antidiscrimination laws, 
in particular laws against violence against women and children, often 
were not enforced.
    On May 14, the National Assembly passed a law on parity that 
provides women equal access to all elected assemblies and management 
boards of totally or partially owned government companies.

    Women.--Rape was a widespread problem. Spousal rape remained 
difficult to quantify since it was a taboo subject and seldom reported. 
The law prohibits rape, but not spousal rape; however, the Government 
rarely enforced the law. Penalties against rape range from five to 10 
years' imprisonment. A women's rights NGO criticized the lack of rape 
shield laws; the law now allows the common practice of using a woman's 
sexual history to defend men accused of rape. Prosecutions for rape 
remained minimal since judges seldom had sufficient evidence that rape 
occurred, especially when rape happened within a family. It was common 
to settle rape cases out of court to avoid the publicity and costs 
associated with prosecution. The Ministry of Justice estimated in 2009 
that 47 percent of accused rapists go unpunished and are released 
without going to trial. According to a journalists' NGO, there were 400 
documented cases of rape and sexual abuse in 2009. However, almost 60 
percent of persons committing incest and rape were never brought to 
justice because of familial ties to the survivor.
    One successful prosecution involved 67-year-old Mody Cissoko, who 
raped his 13-year-old step-granddaughter on August 16 in the village of 
Keur Massar, a suburb of Dakar. He was arrested and, on October 14, was 
sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined one million CFA ($2,022).
    On August 26, journalist Pape Amadou Gaye, editor in chief of 
Courrier du Jour, was sentenced to two years' imprisonment and a fine 
of two million CFA ($4,044) for raping his female employee. The rape 
took place at the newspaper's headquarters in 2006.
    There were no further developments in the following 2009 rape 
cases: the March rape of a hotel employee, allegedly by her French 
manager; and the October rape of a 70-year-old woman by a serial 
rapist.
    Domestic violence, including spousal abuse, was a widespread 
problem. The Ministry of Justice is responsible for combating domestic 
violence. In September the Government created a Ministry of Human 
Rights, a junior ministry within the Ministry of Justice, tasked with 
preventing and monitoring all forms of human rights violations, 
including trafficking and violence against women and children. The 
ministry offered advice to victims on litigation, assisted with out-of-
court settlements, conducted awareness campaigns, and offered an 
alternative means to file grievances for victims choosing not to pursue 
a court case. Several women's groups and the NGO CLVF reported a rise 
in violence against women during the year. The CLVF reported that 
domestic violence cases accounted for 65 percent of all reported cases 
of violence against women in 2009.
    Violence against women is against the law, but the law was not 
enforced. The law criminalizes assaults and provides for a punishment 
of one to five years in prison and a fine. If the victim is 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 imprisonment. The CLVF criticized the failure of some 
judges to apply the law, citing cases where judges claimed lack of 
adequate evidence as a reason to issue lenient sentences. CLVF also 
noted that the Government authorized civil society organizations to 
represent victims of trafficking in civil cases but continued to deny 
them the right to do so in rape cases. The media reported several cases 
of incest. Domestic violence against women is punishable by one to 10 
years in prison and fines ranging from 30,000 CFA ($60) to 500,000 CFA 
($1,011), depending on the degree of maltreatment. When violence leads 
to death, the perpetrators are imprisoned for life with forced labor 
Police usually did not intervene in domestic disputes, and most victims 
were reluctant to go outside the family for redress. There were no 
statistics available on the number of abusers prosecuted under the law. 
Close, older family members often committed rape and pedophilia within 
the household, making it difficult for victims to file lawsuits.
    Organizations combating violence criticized the Government's 
failure to permit associations to bring suit on behalf of victims. The 
Ministry of Women, Family, Social Development, and Women's 
Entrepreneurship was responsible for ensuring the rights of women.
    According to the media, the Government-run Ginddi Center has since 
March 2009 provided shelter to 109 women and girls who were victims of 
rape or early marriage (including a case of incest and a case of an 11-
year-old girl who was raped and became pregnant). In 2009, 10 women in 
the Louga area died from domestic violence according to the CLVF local 
branch in Louga.
    There were instances of sex tourism. For example, there were 
reports of European tourists in the Saly district of Mbour who sought 
these services.
    The law mandates prison terms of five months to three years and 
fines of 50,000 to 500,000 CFA ($101 to $1,011) for sexual harassment; 
however, the practice was common. The Government did not effectively 
enforce the law, and women's rights groups claimed victims of sexual 
harassment found it difficult, if not impossible, to present sufficient 
proof to secure prosecutions.
    The law provides for the right of all individuals to be informed 
about and to choose methods for spacing births. It also provides for 
the right to medical services for all women during pregnancy and to a 
safe delivery. The law considers the right to reproductive health to be 
a ``fundamental and universal right guaranteed to all individuals 
without discrimination.'' The law further provides that ``all couples 
and individuals have the right to freely decide to have children, to 
determine the number of children they wish, and the spacing of these 
children.''
    In practice poor medical facilities constrained these rights, 
particularly in rural areas and in some urban areas where lack of funds 
led to closing maternity wards and operating rooms. According to the 
Population Reference Bureau, approximately 51 percent of births were 
attended by skilled personnel. According to the UN Population Fund 
(UNFPA), the maternal mortality ratio (the ratio of the number of 
maternal deaths per 100,000 live births) was 410 in 2008. Social and 
cultural pressures to have large families reportedly led some husbands 
to ask health workers to terminate the use of contraceptives by their 
spouses. This reportedly led women to be discreet in the use of 
contraception. UNFPA estimated that 12 percent of all girls and women 
between the ages of 15 and 45 used some form of contraception. Men and 
women were diagnosed and treated equally for sexually transmitted 
diseases, including HIV. Women did not have difficulty being diagnosed 
for HIV or receiving antiretroviral treatment where available.
    Under national law, women have the right to choose when and whom 
they marry, but traditional practices restricted a woman's choice. The 
law prohibits marriage for girls younger than 16, although this law was 
not enforced in some communities where marriages were arranged. Under 
certain conditions, a judge may grant a special dispensation for 
marriage to a person below the age of consent. Women typically married 
young, usually by the age of 16 in rural areas.
    Women faced pervasive discrimination, especially in rural areas 
where traditional customs, including polygyny and discriminatory rules 
of inheritance, were strongest. The law requires a woman's approval of 
a polygynous union, but once in such a union, a woman neither needed be 
notified nor to give prior consent if the man took another wife. 
Approximately 50 percent of marriages were polygynous. Although 
protected under the law, marriage rights were not enforced due to 
sociocultural pressures and judicial reluctance to enforce the law.
    The family code's definition of paternal rights remained an 
obstacle to equality between men and women, as men are considered the 
head of household and women cannot take legal responsibility for their 
children. Women can become the legal head of household only when the 
father formally renounces his authority before the administration. This 
makes it particularly difficult for the 20 percent of families that 
women supported and led. However, it was possible for women to take 
charge of their children and husband, if he was medically unable to do 
so. Problems in traditional practices also made it difficult for women 
to purchase property in rural areas.
    Men and women have equal rights to apply for a job. Women 
represented 52 percent of the population, but they performed 90 percent 
of domestic work and 85 percent of agricultural work.

    Children.--Citizenship is acquired by birth or naturalization; only 
the father can transmit nationality. Children are not registered at 
birth unless a parent requests it be done, but failure to do so does 
not result in the denial of public service. In many rural areas, 
parents seldom registered births. The process of registering births 
only required a local judge to make a ruling based on oral testimonies.
    According to the National Agency for Statistics, as of July, 
approximately 20 percent of children were not registered at birth in 
the Dakar region, and the figures were even higher in rural areas. For 
example, in the regions of Diourbel and Tambacounda, 67 percent of 
children were not registered.
    The law provides for tuition-free education through the compulsory 
ages of six to 16; however, many children did not attend school due to 
lack of resources or available facilities. Students must pay for their 
own books, uniforms, and other school supplies. The historical gap in 
enrollment levels between boys and girls has been closed, and during 
the year there were more girls than boys enrolled in elementary 
education.
    Girls encountered greater difficulties in continuing in school, 
however. When families could not afford for all their children to 
attend school, parents tended to remove daughters rather than sons from 
school. As in neighboring countries, sexual harassment by school staff 
and early pregnancy were also likely causes of the departure of girls 
from school. In 2008 only 25 percent of women and girls over 15 years 
of age were literate, compared with 42 percent of boys and men. During 
the year, 44.1 percent of boys were enrolled in secondary education 
compared with 38.5 percent of girls.
    Child abuse was common. Poorly dressed, barefoot young boys, known 
as talibes, begged on street corners for food or money for themselves 
and their Qur'anic teachers, known as marabouts. Many of these children 
were exploited by their teachers and exposed to dangers. Physical abuse 
of talibes was widely reported. A 2008 joint study by the UN Children's 
Fund (UNICEF), the International Labor Organization (ILO), the World 
Bank, and a newly created NGO, the Partnership for the Withdrawal and 
Reinsertion of Street Children, identified an estimated 7,800 child 
beggars in the Dakar area. A report issued by Human Rights Watch in 
April estimated there were 50,000 child beggars in the country. Most 
were approximately 10 years old, although some as young as two years 
old were reported. In general they were undernourished and prone to 
sickness. Since they begged full time, they devoted almost no time to 
Qur'anic studies. They were forced to give the proceeds of their 
begging to their teachers. Each child was expected to collect an 
average of 400 CFA ($0.80) per day.
    During the year the Government began to enforce laws banning 
begging, and several Qur'anic school teachers were prosecuted for abuse 
and exploiting children for begging. For example, on June 29, Qur'anic 
school teacher Souleymane Ndiaye was sentenced to one year's 
imprisonment for mistreating two of his young students. He had severely 
beaten them, causing wounds on their backs, because the children had 
failed to meet his daily begging income quota.
    On September 8, seven Qur'anic teachers were sentenced to six 
months' imprisonment with a suspended sentence and five years 
probation, and each one was fined 100,000 CFA ($202). On September 13, 
two additional marabouts were sentenced to one month of imprisonment 
and five years probation.
    The law punishes sexual abusers of children with five to 10 years' 
imprisonment. If the offender is a family member, however, the 
punishment is 10 years' imprisonment. Any offense against the decency 
of a child is punishable by imprisonment for two to five years and in 
certain aggravated cases up to 10 years. Procuring a minor for 
prostitution is punishable by imprisonment for two to five years and a 
fine of 300,000 to four million CFA ($606 to $8,088). If the crime 
involves a victim younger than 13, the maximum penalty is applied. 
However, the law was not effectively enforced in general.
    Rape of children was a problem. The director charged with 
protection of children's rights reported an estimated 400 cases of rape 
during 2006-07; however, this figure greatly underestimated the 
reality. No recent data was available.
    During the year the Regional Child Protection Service of Sedhiou 
reported that 144 students became pregnant in the last two years, 
allegedly after having sex with their teachers. While details on 
individual cases were unavailable, the unequal power relationship 
between teachers and student suggests that most cases involved at least 
some element of coercion or even force. Local academic authorities 
estimated that teachers were responsible for 40 per cent of students' 
pregnancies in the area.
    On June 15, Imam Serigne Seck Ndiaye from Medina in Rufisque was 
accused of pedophilia and sodomy of S. Dia, a 15-year-old boy. The imam 
was arrested but, on August 6, charges were dropped by a judge for lack 
of sufficient evidence, despite media and investigative reports to the 
contrary.
    On September 8, Mamadou Danfakha was arrested for rape, pedophilia, 
and sodomy of several children between five and 11 in the area of 
Guediawaye. Danfakha confessed that he did not know the exact number of 
his victims but was able to identify five of them. However, only two 
families agreed to press charges while the others refrained for fear of 
humiliation. In October Danfakha was sentenced to 10 years in prison 
for the rapes of an eight-year-old boy and a 10-year-old boy.
    On September 27, a nine-year-old Qur'anic school student was raped 
by a man who escaped without being identified. Four other cases of 
rapes of Qur'anic students were reported in the same area during the 
year. No arrests had been made for any of these rapes by year's end.
    In February Ibrahim Ly was sentenced to seven years in prison for 
the April 2009 rape of his 14-year-old niece, which resulted in her 
pregnancy.
    Due to social pressures and fear of embarrassment, incest remained 
taboo and often went unreported and unpunished. A women's rights NGO 
stated that, of all cases of violence committed against girls, paternal 
incest was increasing the fastest.
    Female genital mutilation (FGM) was practiced widely throughout the 
country, but Tostan and UNICEF stated efforts to curtail the practice 
continued to have a significant effect. Some girls were as young as one 
year old when FGM was performed on them. Almost all women in the 
country's northern Fouta region were FGM victims, as were 60 to 70 
percent of women in the South and Southeast. Sealing, one of the most 
extreme and dangerous forms of FGM, was sometimes practiced by the 
Toucouleur, Mandinka, Soninke, Peul, and Bambara ethnicities, 
particularly in rural and some urban areas. The most recent figures 
from UNICEF estimated that from 1997 to 2007, approximately 28 percent 
of women between the ages of 15 and 49 had been subjected to FGM, and 
20 percent of these women were estimated to have at least one daughter 
who had been subjected to FGM.
    FGM is a criminal offense under the law, carrying a prison sentence 
of six months to five years for those directly practicing it or 
ordering it to be carried out on a third person. However, many persons 
still practiced FGM openly and with impunity. The Government prosecuted 
those caught engaging in the practice and sought to end FGM by 
collaborating with Tostan and other groups to educate persons about its 
inherent dangers.
    Tostan reported that 4,183 out of an estimated 5,000 communities 
had formally abandoned the practice by year's end. According to Tostan, 
the movement to abandon FGM accelerated, with 70 percent of previously 
FGM-practicing communities in the country ending the harmful practice. 
The Government adopted the Tostan model and approach to eradicating 
FGM. Tostan was working with 522 villages and aimed to end FGM 
completely by 2015.
    Officials from the Ministry of Women, Family, Social Development, 
and Women's Entrepreneurship and women's rights groups stated that 
child marriage was a significant problem in parts of the country, 
particularly in rural areas, although child marriage is against the 
law. Girls, sometimes as young as nine, were married to older men due 
to religious, economic, and cultural reasons.
    Women's rights groups highlighted infanticide, usually due to 
poverty or embarrassment, as a continuing problem. Domestic workers or 
women from villages working in cities who became pregnant sometimes 
killed their babies since they could not care for them. Others, who 
were married to men working outside the country, killed their infants 
out of shame. In some cases, the families of the women shamed them into 
killing their own babies. Methods ranged from burying them alive, 
putting them in septic tanks, or simply abandoning them along the road. 
When the identity of the mother was discovered, the police arrested and 
prosecuted her.
    Many children displaced by the Casamance conflict often lived with 
extended family members, neighbors, in children's homes, or on the 
streets. The Government lacked adequate resources to support these 
children effectively. According to NGOs in Casamance, displaced 
children suffered from the psychological effects of conflict, 
malnutrition, and poor health.
    While prostitution is legal, procuring a minor for prostitution is 
punishable by imprisonment for two to five years and a fine of 300,000 
to four million CFA ($606 to $8,088).
    Pornography is prohibited and pornography involving children under 
the age of 16 is considered pedophilia. Sentences for pedophilia range 
from five to 10 years' imprisonment. The maximum penalty is applied if 
the perpetrator is a parent or has authority over the minor.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international child abduction, please see the Department of State's 
annual report on compliance at http://www.travel.state.gov/abduction/
resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were approximately 50 resident Jews in the 
country; there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip

    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, and the 
Government somewhat effectively enforced it. The law also mandates 
accessibility for persons with disabilities; however, there was a lack 
of infrastructure to assist them. The Ministry of National Solidarity 
is responsible for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.
    The law reserves 15 percent of new civil service positions for 
persons with disabilities. However, according to the Senegalese 
National Association of People with Physical Disabilities, as of year's 
end, the Government had not issued an executive decree required to make 
the law operational. The Government operated schools for children with 
disabilities, provided grants for persons with disabilities to receive 
vocational training, and managed regional centers for persons with 
disabilities to receive training and funding for establishing 
businesses.
    Several government programs that appeared to be earmarked for 
persons with disabilities offered services to other vulnerable 
populations, reducing resources for persons with disabilities. Due to a 
lack of special education training for teachers and facilities 
accessible to children with disabilities, only 40 percent of such 
children were enrolled in primary school.
    On May 26, the National Assembly passed a law to protect the rights 
of persons with disabilities. The law offers more possibilities for 
persons with disabilities to seek legal redress in case of 
discrimination. It also grants rights in education, health, access to 
public buildings, and employment. The Government has submitted three 
decrees relating to the establishment of commissions on special 
education, equal opportunity, and financial support; these are 
necessary for the provisions of the law to take effect. A fourth decree 
concerning the establishment of a high commissioner for the rights of 
persons with disabilities was pending at year's end.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--While the country's many ethnic 
groups have coexisted relatively peacefully, interethnic tensions 
between the Wolof and southern ethnic groups played a significant role 
in the long-running Casamance rebellion that was characterized by 
grievous human rights abuses.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Homosexual activity, which is 
indirectly referred to in the law as ``unnatural sexual intercourse,'' 
is a criminal offense. In the recent past, gays, lesbians, bisexual, 
and transgender (LGBT) persons have often faced criminal prosecution 
and widespread discrimination, social intolerance, and acts of 
violence.
    Unlike the previous year, the media did not report acts of hatred 
or violence against LGBT persons. On November 30, Human Rights Watch 
released a report entitled Fear of Life: Violence against Gay Men and 
Men Perceived as Gay in Senegal. The report discussed cases of violence 
against gay men and the legal and cultural milieu that fosters such 
violence. While the cases cited in the report were from 2009 and 
earlier, NGO observers speculated that the drop in cases during the 
year was due to several factors. First, past violence against gays and 
lesbians may have caused many gay men in the country to go underground. 
Second, increased international attention may have caused the 
Government to curtail prosecutions and other official discrimination. 
Finally, successful legal challenges to the law used to prosecute 
homosexuality may have helped curtail its use by prosecutors.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--As a result of both 
government and NGO HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns, persons with HIV or 
AIDS were increasingly accepted in society.
    On February 16, the National Assembly passed a law to protect 
persons with HIV/AIDS against all forms of discrimination. The law also 
allows medical doctors to inform spouses of persons with HIV/AIDS of 
their partners' status if the latter fail to do so after a reasonable 
time.
    While there was no reported discrimination against persons with 
albinism, many suffered and died due to lack of skin care medication. 
The Senegalese National Albino Association provides a forum for persons 
with albinism to discuss their difficulties. It also provides job 
training and therapeutic activities, but lacked the funding to be 
successful.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--By law all workers, except security 
forces, including police and gendarmes, customs officers, and judges, 
are free to form and join unions, and workers exercised this right in 
practice. However, the labor code requires the Ministry of Interior to 
give prior authorization before a trade union can exist legally. The 
Government can also dissolve and disband trade unions by administrative 
order, but did not do so during the year. The labor code does not apply 
to the agricultural or informal sectors, and thus excludes the majority 
of the workforce. According to the International Monetary Fund, the 
overall labor force participation rate was estimated at 43 percent in 
2009. The formal sector employed 214,700 in 2006, approximately 6 
percent of the total number of jobs, versus 3,422,700 persons in the 
informal sector. Approximately 4 percent of the workforce was employed 
in the private industrial sector, of which 40 to 50 percent belonged to 
unions. Within the employed workforce in Dakar, 7 percent worked in the 
public sector, 10 percent worked in the formal private sector, and 83 
percent worked in the private informal sector.
    Antiunion sentiment within the Government is strong. Trade 
unionists were reportedly frequently subjected to harassment. In 
addition the ILO has raised questions regarding the country's full 
adherence to worker rights, particularly, the rights of association.
    The law provides for the right to strike; however, certain 
regulations restricted this right in practice. The constitution 
seriously undermines the right to strike by stipulating that a strike 
must not infringe on the freedom to work or jeopardize an enterprise. 
The law states that workplaces may not be occupied during a strike. 
Unions representing members of the civil service must notify the 
Government of their intent to strike at least one month in advance; 
private sector unions must notify the Government three days in advance. 
This right is further restricted by the authorities' power to 
requisition workers to replace those on strike. Transportation, health, 
labor inspectors, bakers, telecommunication workers, and waste 
collection workers staged several strikes during the year.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--In theory the 
law allows unions to conduct their activities without interference; 
however, in practice the Government did not effectively protect this 
right. The law also provides for the right to collective bargaining, 
although collective bargaining agreements only applied to an estimated 
44 percent of union workers.
    Antiunion discrimination is prohibited by law, and there were no 
confirmed reports of antiunion discrimination activities during the 
year.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
the country's single export processing zone.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, such 
practices occurred (see section 7.d.). Also see the Department of 
State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at https//www.state.gov/g/
tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law bans the exploitation of child labor. Regulations on child labor 
set the minimum working age, working hours, and working conditions and 
prohibited children from performing particularly dangerous jobs. 
However, child labor was a problem, including in the gold mining 
sector, and most instances occurred in the informal economy where labor 
regulations were not enforced. Economic pressures and inadequate 
educational opportunities often pushed rural families to emphasize 
labor over education for their children.
    The minimum age for employment is 15; however, children under the 
age of 15 continued to work in sectors such as agriculture, mining, and 
fishing, particularly in rural areas where there was no enforcement of 
child labor laws. There were also reports of children working on family 
farms or herding cattle. Children also worked as domestics, in 
tailoring shops, as garage mechanics, in metal and wood working shops, 
and in other areas of the informal economy, such as fruit and vegetable 
stands. Labor laws prohibiting child labor were largely unenforced due 
to lack of resources and of political will. For example, the Ministry 
of Labor sends investigators to investigate formal work places. 
However, they are not trained to deal with child labor problems, and 
much of the child labor abuses take place in the informal economy, 
where there are no inspections. While there is a Child Labor Division 
in the Ministry of Labor, the office only has two employees and few 
resources. In addition, in August the Ministry of Justice announced the 
formation of an office to combat the mistreatment of women and 
children. The office is to function as a coordinator of efforts among 
the various governmental agencies, to combat, among other things, 
forced child labor. The office is also charged with producing an annual 
report on child labor issues. However, the office received no funding 
for 2011.
    In August 2008 (the most recent year for which such data was 
available), a national child labor survey published by the National 
Agency of Demography and Statistics measured the economic activities of 
children during the prior 12 months. According to the survey, 1,378,724 
of the country's 3,759,074 children between the ages of five and 17 
worked. Child labor was especially common in the regions of 
Tambacounda, Louga, and Fatick. Child labor was prevalent in many 
informal and family-based sectors such as agriculture (that is, millet, 
corn, and peanuts), fishing, artisanal gold mining, garages, dumpsites, 
slaughter houses, production of salt, and metal and woodworking shops. 
Child labor was not common or reported to be a problem within large 
scale companies.
    Many religious instructors in Qur'anic 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 or to work in the agriculture sector under the 
threat of physical punishment. Talibe occasionally work in small-scale 
agriculture and are used to harvest cashews, mangoes, and oranges. In 
the Casamance region, talibe working in the fields are exposed to 
landmines left from the war.
    One of the worst cases of child labor was in the mining and rock 
quarry sector. Child gold washers, mostly between the ages of 10 and 
14, worked approximately eight hours a day without training or 
protective equipment. Children worked long hours in rock quarries, 
crushing rock, and carrying heavy loads without protection. Both types 
of work resulted in serious accidents and long-term illness. The NGO La 
Lumiere reported an increase in children working in gold mines in the 
Kedougou area during the year due to an increase in the price of gold.
    According to a 2007 government survey, 90 percent of children in 
Kaolack, Fatick, and Ziguinchor carry out tasks detrimental to their 
health and education. The study also found that 75 percent of girls 
were responsible for domestic chores, leading many to leave school.
    Inspectors from the Ministry of Labor are charged with 
investigating and initiating lawsuits in child labor cases. 
Investigators from the Ministry of Labor can visit any institution 
during work hours to verify and investigate compliance with labor laws 
and can act on tips from trade unions or ordinary citizens. In practice 
inspectors did not initiate visits to investigate child labor 
violations because they lack adequate funding and training expertise to 
handle child labor cases. There was no specific system in place to 
report child labor violations largely due to inadequate funding of the 
Child Labor Office and the Ministry of Labor. Instead the ministry 
relies on unions to report violators. In the small formal wage sector, 
which includes state-owned corporations, large private enterprises, and 
cooperatives, child labor is not commonly a problem. There were no 
statistics available on the number of child labor violations for the 
reporting year.
    The Government has raised awareness of the dangers of child labor 
and exploitive begging through seminars with local officials, NGOs, and 
civil society. The Government also participated in an ILO project to 
combat child labor. The Government was implementing the Child Labor 
Plan, which focuses on better management of child labor issues.
    To reduce the incidence of exploitive begging, the Ministry of 
Women, Family, Social Development, and Women's Entrepreneurship 
implemented a program to help support 48 Qur'anic schools whose 
teachers do not force their students to engage in begging. The Ministry 
of Education provided funds to schools operated by religious 
institutions that meet national education standards. During the year 40 
new elementary schools were opened throughout the country; 10 middle 
schools were also established. These schools were bilingual, teaching 
in French and Arabic. This program has removed thousands of children 
from street begging and exploitation. The Ministry of Education also 
worked on a secular curriculum for use in Qur'anic schools.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at https//www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum wage was 
209 CFA ($0.42) per hour, which did not provide a decent standard of 
living for a worker and family. The Ministry of Labor was responsible 
for enforcing the minimum wage. Labor unions also acted as watchdogs 
and contributed to effective implementation of the minimum wage in the 
formal sector. The minimum wage was not respected in the informal 
sector, especially for domestic workers. The minimum wage provisions 
apply to foreign and migrant workers as well.
    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, one month per year of annual leave, enrollment in government 
social security and retirement plans, safety standards, and other 
measures; however, enforcement was irregular. The law does not cover 
the informal sector. Premium pay for overtime was required in the 
formal sector.
    While legal regulations on workplace safety exist, they often were 
not enforced. There is no explicit legal protection for workers who 
file complaints about unsafe working conditions. Workers, including 
foreign or migrant workers, had the nominal right to remove themselves 
from situations that endangered health or safety without jeopardy to 
their employment; however, it was seldom exercised due to high 
unemployment and a slow legal system. The Ministry of Labor, through 
the Labor Inspection Office, enforced labor standards. However, labor 
inspectors had very poor working conditions and lacked transportation 
to conduct their mission effectively.

                               __________

                               SEYCHELLES

    Seychelles is a multiparty republic of approximately 87,000 
citizens. In 2006 voters elected President James Michel, who assumed 
power in 2004 when former president France Albert Rene resigned. 
International observers deemed the process credible, although there 
were complaints of unfair campaign practices. The president and the 
People's Party, formerly the Seychelles People's Progressive Front 
(SPPF), dominated the country through a pervasive system of political 
patronage and control over government jobs, contracts, and resources. 
Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    The following human rights problems were reported: poor prison 
conditions; prolonged pretrial detention; an inefficient and 
politically influenced court system; restrictions on speech and press; 
official corruption; violence against women and children; violations of 
and restrictions on labor rights; and discrimination against foreign 
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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.
    Two police officers were suspended from duty and charged with 
manslaughter in the July 2009 case of a man found dead in a cell while 
in police custody. The case remained before the Supreme Court pending 
judgment.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices, and 
unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of inhumane 
treatment of detainees by police and prison officers.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Montagne Posee Prison, the 
country's only prison, did not meet international standards, and 
conditions were poor, although improvements were made during the year. 
Most prisoners still relied on their relatives for the provision of 
food, drinks, toiletries, and medication, according to a July 22 report 
in the newspaper Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly. Sanitation and hygiene 
were poor. On February 17, the Seychelles Nation newspaper reported 
that prisoners submitted a petition to prison authorities asking for a 
more balanced diet, visits from relatives, daily exercise in the open 
air, proper hygiene and sanitation, and the right to take goods from 
family members at the court. By year's end prisoners were allowed daily 
exercise and access to visitors, and a full-time doctor and nurse were 
on staff to provide medical treatment and oversee dietary needs.
    Approximately 95 percent of prisoners were Catholic, and prison 
authorities allowed religious observance. Prison authorities also 
provided Muslim Somali pirates being held in Montagne Posee Prison 
access to imams and permitted daily prayers and religious celebrations, 
such as Ramadan. Prison authorities allowed prisoners and detainees to 
submit complaints to relevant authorities and request investigation of 
credible allegations of inhumane conditions. The Government 
investigated complaints on a case-by-case basis and monitored prison 
conditions regularly.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that dogs 
brought in by private security guards to assist prison guards bit 
prisoners. An investigation by the National Human Rights Commission 
(NHRC) found that in March 2009 several prisoners were bitten, some of 
whom were hospitalized, by dogs not appropriately muzzled or controlled 
by private security guards hired to support prison guards.
    As of November 17, there were 404 male prisoners, including 294 
convicted prisoners and 110 remand prisoners; 28 female prisoners were 
held in a separate women's wing. Unlike in the previous year, juveniles 
were not held with adult prisoners.
    The Government generally permitted independent monitoring of prison 
conditions by local and international human rights groups. During the 
year the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) did not make 
any requests for prison visits.
    An ombudsman may make recommendations to the National Assembly and 
the president to improve conditions on behalf of prisoners and 
detainees; however, the ombudsman had no power to enforce such 
recommendations. The ombudsman generally makes an annual public report 
of the year's cases and actions, but the report for 2010 had not been 
published by year's end.
    During the year prison authorities implemented the following 2009 
recommendations made by the NHRC: termination of private guard services 
in the prison; removal of dog handlers within the prison; separation of 
remand and convicted inmates; construction of a recreational area for 
inmates; and improvement of sanitation conditions. In partnership with 
the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Government also provided 
training for prison guards in tradecraft, leadership, fire safety, and 
emergency response.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The president has 
complete control over the security apparatus, which includes the 
National Guard, the Seychelles People's Defense Forces (SPDF), the 
Presidential Protection Unit, the Coast Guard, and the police. The 
police commissioner, who reports directly to the minister for Home 
Affairs, Environment and Transport, commands the unarmed police and the 
armed paramilitary Police Mobile Unit, which together have primary 
responsibility for internal security. When necessary, the SPDF assisted 
police on matters of internal security.
    Corruption remained a problem. Although observance of human rights 
was included as a core precept in officer training, such training was 
limited.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Although the 
law requires warrants, police made some arrests and detentions without 
one. The constitution and law also provide for detention without charge 
for up to seven days if authorized by court order. Persons arrested 
must be brought before a magistrate within 24 hours, with allowances 
for boat travel from distant islands; however, police did not always 
respect this requirement. The law provides that detainees be promptly 
notified of charges against them and allowed prompt access to family 
members; however, there were cases in which these rights were not 
respected. Detainees have the right to legal counsel, and free counsel 
was usually provided to indigent persons. Courts provided bail for most 
offenses.
    The constitution provides that remand prisoners be released after 
six months of detention if their case has not been heard within that 
period; however, prolonged pretrial detention was a problem. Prisoners 
often waited more than three years for trial or sentencing due to the 
inefficiency of the judicial system. Approximately 27 percent of the 
prison population consisted of pretrial detainees.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary; however, the judiciary was inefficient 
and subject to executive influence. Both civil and criminal court cases 
generally lasted years. There were no reports of judicial corruption, 
although there was a widespread public perception that some judges were 
corrupt.
    One Supreme Court judge, one appeals court judge, and two 
magistrate court judges were citizens by birth. There were allegations 
that many of the justices were appointed because of their affiliation 
with the People's Party. All other justices were either naturalized 
citizens or citizens of other Commonwealth countries. There were 
reports that the executive branch interfered in the recruitment of 
foreign justices, who sometimes were hesitant to rule against the 
executive branch for fear of losing their jobs.
    An 18-member part-time family tribunal heard and decided all 
matters relating to the care, custody, access to, and maintenance of 
children, except paternity cases, which remained under the courts. Most 
members of the tribunal were not legally trained and were affiliated 
with the People's Party.

    Trial Procedures.--Defendants have the right to a fair public 
trial, are considered innocent until proven guilty, and have the right 
to be present at their trial and to appeal. Cases involving murder or 
treason used juries. The constitution makes provision for defendants to 
present evidence and witnesses and to cross-examine witnesses in court. 
Defendants have the right to access government-held evidence; however, 
in practice such requests were often delayed. The law provides for 
defendants to consult with an attorney in a timely manner. The law 
extends the above rights to all citizens.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The constitution and law 
provide for an independent and impartial judiciary in civil matters; 
however, case backlogs impeded judicial efficiency. UNODC funding was 
used to provide judges with best practices training for case-flow 
management to decrease the backlog. The NHRC recommended cases for 
prosecution as well as out-of-court settlements.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions, and 
the Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice. 
However, there remained widespread suspicion of government monitoring 
of private communication without legal process.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government did not 
respect these rights in practice. Journalists practiced self-
censorship.
    Individuals who criticized the Government publicly or privately 
sometimes suffered reprisals.
    The Government ran a daily newspaper and the national television 
and radio station. There was one privately owned daily newspaper and 
three political party weeklies.
    The Government owned the only television station and all radio 
stations. The law allows for independent radio and television, but the 
licensing fee of 800,000 rupees ($64,000) per year discouraged the 
opening of any independent broadcasters. Political parties and 
religious groups were prohibited from obtaining radio licenses. The law 
allows the minister of information technology to prohibit the broadcast 
of any material believed to be objectionable or against the national 
interest. The law also requires telecommunications companies to submit 
subscriber information to the Government. The law was not invoked 
during the year.
    The law provides restrictions ``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, civil lawsuits could be filed to penalize 
journalists for alleged libel.
    For example, on July 23, a cabinet minister filed a libel suit 
against Regar newspaper for publishing allegations in June regarding a 
conflict of interest in a land sale. On July 24, police searched the 
house of Regar's publishing director. A trial was pending at year's 
end.

    Internet Freedom.--Opposition activists claimed that the Government 
blocked access to their party Web sites. There also were reports that 
the Government monitored e-mail and Internet chat rooms. According to 
International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2009, 
approximately 40 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--Opposition activists claimed 
that the Government limited academic freedom by reportedly preventing 
academic professionals from reaching senior positions in academia 
unless they demonstrated at least nominal loyalty to the People's 
Party. The Government controlled faculty appointments to the 
Polytechnic and the University of Seychelles.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly and 
association, and unlike in the previous year, there were no reports 
that the Government infringed on that right during the year.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of association; however, civil servants allegedly refrained 
from participating in opposition party activities for fear of political 
reprisal. Unlike in previous years, there were no complaints that 
government officials intimidated or dismissed civil servants who 
participated in opposition party activities.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. 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''; however, this law was not invoked during the year.
    The law prohibits the forced exile of citizens, and the Government 
did not use forced exile in practice.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status; however, the Government has not 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice 
the Government provided protection against the expulsion or return of 
refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened 
on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a 
particular group, or political opinion.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens 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 and Political Participation.--International observers 
found credible the 2007 National Assembly elections, which retained the 
balance of power between the ruling People's Party (formerly the SPPF) 
and the opposition Seychelles National Party (SNP). Minor complaints of 
electoral irregularities were filed with the electoral commissioner.
    In 2006 approximately 88 percent of eligible voters elected 
incumbent SPPF presidential candidate James Michel with 54 percent of 
the vote. International observers characterized the electoral process 
as credible and well organized; however, opposition members filed 
complaints with the electoral commissioner's office regarding unfair 
campaign and electoral practices.
    There were reports that opposition parties could not operate 
without restrictions or outside interference; however, unlike in the 
previous year, there were no reports that police denied opposition 
parties permission to hold public meetings.
    The People's Party, which assumed power in a 1977 coup, continued 
to use its political resources and those of the Government to develop 
and maintain a nationwide organization that extended to the village 
level.
    There were reports that People's Party membership conferred 
business and political advantage. For example, some members of 
opposition parties claimed that they lost their government jobs because 
of their political affiliation and were at a disadvantage when applying 
for government licenses and loans.
    There were 10 women in the 34-seat National Assembly, seven elected 
by direct election and three by proportional representation. There were 
two women in the cabinet.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not always implement the law effectively, 
and officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. The 
World Bank's 2009 Worldwide Governance Indicators reflected that 
corruption was a problem.
    Police corruption remained a problem; however, the Enquiry Board, a 
police complaint office, was rarely used. In practice private attorneys 
filed complaints or published them in opposition-party newspapers Regar 
and Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly.
    Public officials were subject to financial disclosure laws upon 
taking office; however, there were no reports that such disclosures 
occurred in practice.
    The ombudsman has legal authority to investigate and report on 
allegations of official fraud and corruption. Unlike in the previous 
year, no information was available on the number or type of 
investigations conducted during the year.
    There are laws allowing public access to government information; 
however, the Government did not enforce them, and citizens generally 
had no access to such information.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A small number of international human rights nongovernmental 
organizations (NGOs) and one domestic human rights group, the Center 
for Rights and Development (CEFRAD), generally operated without 
government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on 
human rights cases. Government officials were generally cooperative and 
responsive to the views of international NGOs; however, cooperation 
with CEFRAD, which was perceived as aligned with the opposition, was 
limited. For example, the Government refused to permit CEFRAD and other 
local groups to observe the 2006 presidential election or the 2007 
legislative elections.
    The Government-run National Humanitarian Affairs Committee (NHAC) 
had members from civil society as well as government. The ICRC acted as 
a technical adviser to the NHAC. The NHRC, which was established in 
March 2009, investigated allegations of human rights abuse, including 
those committed by members of law enforcement agencies. The commission 
operated without government or party interference, had adequate 
resources, and was considered effective.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law affirm the right to be free from all types 
of discrimination but do 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, gender, 
ethnicity, nationality, or disability.

    Women.--Rape, spousal rape, and domestic abuse are criminal 
offenses punishable by a maximum of 20 years' imprisonment. Rape was a 
problem. The police registered 25 rape cases for the year; however, 
many rape cases went unreported for fear of reprisal or social stigma. 
Two rape cases were prosecuted during the year, and one case remained 
under investigation. The Social Affairs Division of the Ministry of 
Health and Social Development and the local NGO Women in Action and 
Solidarity Organization (WASO) provided counseling to eight rape 
victims during the year.
    Domestic violence against women was a problem. Police rarely 
intervened in a domestic dispute unless it involved a weapon or major 
assault. Authorities often dismissed the few cases that reached a 
prosecutor, and the court generally ordered light sentences for 
perpetrators. The Family Tribunal issued 466 protection orders related 
to domestic violence during the year.
    In 2008 the Ministry of Health and Social Development launched the 
2008-12 National Strategy Plan on Domestic Violence. From November 24 
to December 10, the Ministry for Social Development and Culture 
organized 16 days of activism against gender violence and launched the 
local UNiTE campaign against domestic violence. GEM Plus, a local NGO 
that promotes awareness of domestic violence, organized three regional 
workshops and was invited to participate in various media programs for 
the empowerment of women.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment; however, enforcement was rare. 
The penal code provides no penalty for sexual harassment, although the 
court can order a person accused of such conduct to ``keep a bond of 
peace,'' which allows the court to assess a fine if the harasser fails 
to cease the harassment.
    The Government recognized the right of couples and individuals to 
decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their 
children. Health clinics and local health NGOs were permitted to 
operate freely in disseminating information on family planning under 
the guidance of the Ministry of Health and Social Development. There 
were no restrictions on the right to access contraceptives, but few 
couples reportedly used these measures. The Government provided free 
childbirth services; however, women traditionally preferred using 
nurses or midwives during childbirth as well as for prenatal and 
postnatal care, unless the mother or child suffered serious health 
complications. Men and women received equal access to diagnosis and 
treatment for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. There 
were no legal, social, cultural, or other barriers that limited access 
to these services.
    Women enjoyed the same rights as men, and the society was largely 
matriarchal. Unwed mothers were the societal norm, and the law requires 
fathers to support their children. There was no officially sanctioned 
discrimination in employment, and women were well represented in 
business. There was no economic discrimination against women in 
employment, access to credit, equal pay for equal work, or owning or 
managing a business. Inheritance laws do not discriminate against 
women.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived by birth in the country or from 
parents, and births were generally registered immediately. Failure to 
do so, however, did not result in the denial of public service.
    The law prohibits physical abuse of children; however, child abuse 
was a problem. Sexual abuse of children, usually perpetrated by 
stepfathers and older brothers, also occurred. According to WASO, most 
cases of rape of girls under the age of 15 went unreported for fear of 
reprisal or cultural stigma. Authorities prosecuted very few child-
abuse cases in court due to lack of efficient working relations between 
government agencies and departments. The strongest public advocate for 
young victims was a semiautonomous agency, the National Council for 
Children.
    The age of consent for marriage is 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.
    In April 2009 the Seychelles Nation reported that the local NGO 
Young Soldiers for Christ had observed an increase in prostitution and 
suggested that some youth may have resorted to prostitution as a result 
of an economic downturn.
    Seychelles is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community numbered fewer than 10 
persons, and there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--In 2009 there were no confirmed reports 
that persons were trafficked to, from, or within the country.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution and law provide for 
the right of persons with disabilities to special protection, including 
reasonable provisions for improving the quality of life; however, there 
are no laws providing for access to public buildings, transportation, 
or state services, and the Government did not provide such access for 
persons with disabilities. There was no discrimination reported against 
persons with disabilities in housing, employment, education, or in the 
provision of other state services. The National Council for Disabled, a 
government agency under the Ministry of Social Development and Culture, 
developed work placement programs for persons with disabilities.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law does not specifically 
prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, and there were no 
reports that such discrimination occurred.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides workers with the 
right to form and join unions of their choosing; however, police, 
military, prison, and firefighting personnel may not unionize. The law 
is silent regarding the rights of foreign or migrant workers to join a 
union. Unions organized between 15 and 20 percent of the workforce.
    The SNP-associated Seychelles National Trade Union (SNTU) ceased 
operations in 2007; the SNTU claimed that employers did not reinstate 
workers fired for union activity. The Seychelles Federation of Workers' 
Unions, which was associated with the People's Party, was active. The 
Seychelles National Union was formed in 2009 as a result of a 
resolution adopted by the SNP Annual Convention held in 2009; however, 
SNP leaders claimed the union was not affiliated with SNP activities.
    Strikes are illegal unless arbitration procedures are first 
exhausted. There were no reports that unions tried to strike during the 
year.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows 
for unions to organize and conduct their activities without 
interference. The law provides workers with the right to engage in 
collective bargaining, but this seldom occurred. There were no reports 
that this was due to government interference. 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 more than 50 percent of the 
labor force, the Government set mandatory wage rates for employees. 
Private-sector employers generally set wages through individual 
agreements with employees, while the Government set wage rates in the 
few larger businesses.
    The law authorizes the Ministry of Employment and Human Resource 
Development to establish and enforce employment terms, conditions, and 
benefits, and in practice workers frequently obtained recourse against 
their employers through the ministry.
    Unions engaged in collective bargaining in the private sector; 
however, observers noted that private-sector employers were reluctant 
to do so.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination; however, there were 
unofficial reports that such discrimination occurred.
    There was one export processing zone, the Seychelles International 
Trade Zone (SITZ), which had more than 57,000 registered international 
companies and 312 trusts in operation. Only the Seychelles Trade Zone 
Act applied in the SITZ, and the Government did not require SITZ 
businesses to adhere to labor, property, tax, business, or immigration 
laws.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, and there were no reports that such 
practices occurred.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law 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.'' 
In practice the Government followed these requirements. It is otherwise 
a criminal offense punishable by a fine of 6,000 rupees ($480) to 
employ a child under the age of 15. The Ministry of Employment and 
Human Resource Development enforced child labor laws. The ministry 
handled such complaints within its general budget and staffing and did 
not report any case requiring investigation. No children were found 
working in the fishing, tourism, agricultural, boat-building, or 
processing industries. The Ministry of Education carried out regular 
checks to ensure that children were actually attending school.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There is no official private 
sector minimum wage. The Government encouraged but did not require the 
private sector to grant the minimum public-sector wage. Since 2006 the 
minimum public sector wage has remained at 2,325 rupees ($186) per 
month. Even with free public services, primarily health care and 
education, 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 generally paid higher wages than the Government to attract 
qualified workers.
    The legal maximum workweek varied from 45 to 55 hours, depending on 
the economic sector; however, some employees worked up to 60 hours per 
week. Government employees worked fewer hours. Regulations entitled 
each full-time worker to a 30-minute break per day and a minimum of 21 
days of paid annual leave. The Government permitted workers to work 
overtime up to 60 additional hours per month. The Government generally 
enforced these regulations. The law requires premium pay for overtime 
work.
    Foreign workers--mainly employed in the construction and commercial 
fishing sectors--did not enjoy the same legal protections as citizens. 
Companies sometimes paid foreign workers lower wages, forced them to 
work longer hours, and provided them with inadequate housing, resulting 
in insalubrious conditions.
    The Ministry of Health and Social Development has formal 
responsibility for drafting the Government's comprehensive occupational 
health and safety regulations, and the ministry supported these 
standards, although, due to limited resources, safety and health 
inspectors rarely visited job sites. Occupational injuries were most 
common in the construction, marine, and port industries. The law allows 
workers to remove themselves from dangerous or unhealthy work 
situations, report the employer to the Health and Safety Commission, 
and seek compensation without jeopardizing their employment.

                               __________

                              SIERRA LEONE

    Sierra Leone is a constitutional republic with a directly elected 
president, a unicameral legislature, and a population of approximately 
5.7 million. In peaceful multiparty presidential and parliamentary 
elections held in 2007, the opposition All People's Congress (APC) won 
a majority in parliament, and citizens elected party leader Ernest Bai 
Koroma president. Domestic and international observers characterized 
the elections as credible and free but noted irregularities that did 
not affect the outcome.
    In 2002 the devastating 11-year civil conflict officially ended, 
and the Government, backed by a United Nations peacekeeping force 
(UNAMSIL), asserted control over the country. In 2004 UNAMSIL handed 
responsibility for security countrywide to the Republic of Sierra Leone 
Armed Forces (RSLAF) and Sierra Leone Police (SLP). In 2005 UNAMSIL 
withdrew all remaining peacekeepers and transferred nonpeacekeeping 
responsibilities to a follow-on peacebuilding UN mission (UNIOSIL). In 
2008 UNIOSIL's mandate ended, and the UN Integrated Peacebuilding 
Office in Sierra Leone (UNIPSIL) was established to support government 
institutions and monitor and protect human rights and the rule of law. 
Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    Major human rights problems included security force abuse and use 
of excessive force with detainees, including juveniles; harsh 
conditions in prisons and jails; official impunity; arbitrary arrest 
and detention; prolonged detention, excessive bail, and insufficient 
legal representation; interference with freedom of speech and press; 
forcible dispersion of demonstrators; widespread official corruption; 
societal discrimination and violence against women, discrimination 
based on sexual orientation; female genital mutilation (FGM); child 
abuse; trafficking in persons, including children; and forced 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
there were reports that security and police forces used excessive 
force. The law allows up to 36 lashes as punishment. Although 
nongovernmental organization (NGO) sources state that sensitization on 
human rights has led to a reduction in such incidents, prison guards 
reportedly beat prisoners with impunity.
    No action was taken against the prison warden who severely beat an 
inmate in 2008.
    Compared to the previous year, fewer men and women were initiated 
forcibly into tribal secret societies, a process that for women usually 
involved female genital mutilation (FGM). Although data was hard to 
come by due to the secretive nature of these societies, government 
sources extrapolated the decrease in male initiations from observations 
that fewer young men were returning to their home villages, where 
initiation ceremonies are held, from their jobs in the country's main 
cities and towns. Decreases in female initiations were extrapolated 
from UN and NGO data on the decreasing prevalence of FGM, which is an 
integral part of female initiation ceremonies.
    Vigilante violence was common in urban areas, particularly for 
suspected thieves and unsettled debts.
    By year's end no one had been charged for the 2008 killing of a 
thief in eastern Freetown.
    There were continued reports that Guinean troops along Sierra 
Leone's eastern border with Guinea harassed local residents.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions were harsh and sometimes life-threatening. 
Overcrowding was a major problem. The Bureau of Prisons stated that as 
of the end of October there were 2,237 prisoners in the country, 
including 79 women. The Pademba Road Prison, which was designed to 
house 324 prisoners, held 1,263 as of October, according to the local 
NGO Prison Watch. In some cases, cells measuring six feet by nine feet 
housed nine prisoners. According to Prison Watch's 2010 assessment of 
prisons, beatings, solitary confinement, reduction in or total denial 
of food rations, and forcing prisoners to sleep on a wet floor were 
routine disciplinary measures. In addition, many prisoners reported 
being beaten by gangs of other prisoners at the incitement or explicit 
direction of prison officials as a means of inflicting punishment while 
shielding prison officials from culpability.
    Human rights observers reported that detention conditions remained 
below minimum international standards because of overcrowding, lack of 
access to food, unhygienic conditions, and insufficient medical 
attention. One NGO noted an improvement in nutritional standards, but 
prisoners continued to receive inadequate portions of food. The Bureau 
of Prisons received only 2,500 leones ($0.63) per prisoner per day for 
food rations; increased food prices and pilfering by prison officials 
throughout the year posed a significant challenge. Prison cells often 
lacked proper lighting, bedding, ventilation and air-conditioning, and 
protection from mosquitoes. At all prisons, wells were the only sources 
of water. In some prisons, the wells dried up during the dry season and 
inmates were required to purchase water themselves.
    Conditions in holding cells in police stations were poor, 
especially in small stations outside Freetown. Cells were dark with 
little ventilation. However, overcrowding in some police cells somewhat 
improved due to deployment of additional magistrate judges to the 
districts to process cases.
    Few prisoners had access to adequate medical facilities, and 
clinics lacked supplies and medical personnel to provide basic 
services. Authorities allowed only emergency patients to visit the 
clinic outside of the assigned schedule. Women were treated as 
outpatients or referred to the local hospitals for special care. 
However, doctors and nurses in these hospitals often refused to treat 
prisoners or provided inferior care because of the social stigma 
associated with assisting criminals and the Bureau of Prison's 
inability to pay medical bills.
    Prison Watch reported that there was a shortage of prison staff and 
that officers were not paid regularly. Consequently, guards provided 
only minimal security, and abuse of prisoners and prison breaks 
occurred. Prison Watch received reports that prison guards sold 
prisoner food rations to supplement their meager salaries.
    As of the end of October, Prison Watch reported only one prisoner 
death, which occurred allegedly as a result of a respiratory tract 
infection.
    Men and women were held in separate cells. In many of the prisons, 
men and women were held in the same block and shared facilities. 
Several prisons held infants, most of whom were born in prison and 
initially detained there with their mothers. Once weaned, these 
children were released to family members or placed in foster care by 
the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender, and Children's Affairs.
    While the women's section of the prison on Pademba Road was 
significantly less crowded with better facilities than the male 
section, officials detained together persons being tried for petty and 
serious offenses; the section had limited access to water for bathing, 
and no exercise area.
    Although authorities made an effort to avoid detaining juveniles 
with adults, minors regularly were imprisoned with adult offenders. At 
the same time, when questioned by NGO Prison Watch about detaining 
juveniles, officers alleged that in some cases, police officers 
inflated the ages of juveniles to escape blame for detaining them. In 
the three juvenile facilities, detainees did not have adequate access 
to food and education, and sometimes were unable to attend court 
hearings due to lack of transportation. However, during the year 
vocational training and one year of formal education were offered to 
juvenile prisoners under a grant from the Justice Sector Development 
Program (JSDP), a government program funded by the United Kingdom's 
(UK's) Department for International Development. The juvenile 
facilities were deteriorating and in need of better management by the 
Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender, and Children's Affairs, which was 
responsible for all services but security. Violence among juvenile 
detainees was a problem, and small riots occurred in some facilities, 
such as one in a school in Kissy in early October. Juveniles housed 
with adults and then moved to age-appropriate facilities were often 
instigators of violence, JSDP noted.
    In most cases pretrial detainees were held with convicted prisoners 
in prisons. According to Prison Watch, only 584 of the 1,263 prisoners 
in Pademba Road Prison had been convicted.
    The Government permitted family visits to prisoners and detainees 
regularly during the year.
    International monitors, including UNIPSIL, had unrestricted access 
to the prisons, detention centers, and police holding cells. 
Additionally, some NGOs such as Prison Watch, JSDP, and the Lawyers' 
Center for Legal Assistance (LAWCLA) monitored the prisons.
    There were some improvements in prison conditions noted during the 
year. Overcrowding and the need to keep men and women in the same block 
were somewhat alleviated by the completion of a women's prison in 
Kenema. The Pademba Road prison, as well as prisons in Moyamba, Port 
Loko, and Magburaka, began offering literacy and vocational skills 
training during the year.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, government forces 
occasionally arrested and detained persons arbitrarily.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The SLP has primary 
responsibility for maintaining internal order but was poorly equipped 
and lacked investigative, forensic, and riot control capabilities. The 
military is responsible for external security; however, the ``Military 
Assistance to the Civil Power'' program provided additional assistance 
to police in extraordinary circumstances, such as following a police 
shooting of three civilians near Lungi Airport in September 2009.
    There were fewer cases of police brutality reported during the 
year, but police corruption was a serious problem, in part exacerbated 
by low salaries. Some police and guards reportedly stole from 
detainees. There were continued reports that police officers required 
bribes at checkpoints, falsely charged motorists with violations, and 
impounded vehicles to extort money. Police also accepted bribes from 
criminal suspects in exchange for dropping charges or for having their 
rivals arrested and charged with crimes.
    Police frequently were not present or chose not to intervene when 
crowds beat alleged thieves. In numerous instances, police, in exchange 
for kickbacks, refused to make arrests when warranted, or they arrested 
persons without charge for civil causes such as alleged breach of 
contract or failure to satisfy a debt.
    According to the JSDP, impunity was less of a problem than in the 
past. The Police Complaints, Discipline, and Internal Investigations 
Department (CDIID) heard more complaints against police officers during 
the year than in the previous year, largely due to greater public 
awareness of and trust in the organization. There was also a Police 
Council, which included the vice president, minister of internal 
affairs, inspector general, and others who accepted written complaints 
against senior police officers. The CDIID facilitated all hearings and 
trials related to complaints against junior police officers. An appeals 
process was available and used often. After the CDIID issued 
disciplinary measures against an SLP officer, the officer was also 
subject to the civilian court if criminal action was involved. An 
infrequently published SLP newsletter listed disciplinary actions 
against officers.
    During the year the CDIID received 1,623 complaints countrywide, 
resulting in 689 officers being dismissed, demoted, suspended, or 
officially warned. Of the remainder, 408 cases were dismissed for lack 
of evidence or validity, 282 were resolved through dispute resolution, 
and 244 remained at various stages of investigation or review. The most 
common complaints lodged against police were corruption, unfair 
treatment, lack of professionalism, and assault. Cases requiring 
dismissal of an officer most commonly involved criminal cases, such as 
officers fraudulently posing as landowners or businessmen to extort 
money.
    Police continued to receive professional, leadership, and human 
rights training, and new recruits received a six-month introductory 
course before deployment. The SLP retained a full-time UN technical 
advisor and a number of UN Civilian Police advisors. As a result of 
training programs during the year and the introduction of community 
policing conducted by the Department for International Development, the 
Commonwealth, and the JSDP, the professional conduct of the police 
force improved. However, its efficacy continued to be hampered by 
limited financial resources.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires warrants for searches and arrests; in many cases, however, 
arrest without warrant was common. According to UNIOSIL's 2007 
assessment of prison conditions, adjournment dates on some warrants 
were altered and not endorsed by the magistrate, while other warrants 
were signed, but not by the presiding magistrate. Prison Watch and 
LAWCLA reported that most arrests were made without warrants and that 
the SLP rarely followed proper arrest procedures. Only high-profile 
cases that were scrutinized publicly were known to have been properly 
handled.
    Once arrested, a detainee must be told the reason for arrest within 
24 hours and be charged in court within 72 hours, or in the case of 
serious crimes, within 10 days. According to several NGOs, remanded 
prisoners routinely were brought to court on a weekly basis to be 
remanded again in order to bypass the legal restrictions.
    Detainees have the right of access to family and the right to 
consult with an attorney in a timely manner. However, due to a lack of 
financial resources, only an estimated 5 to 10 percent of inmates had 
access to legal representation, which was often delayed. Lawyers 
generally were allowed unrestricted access to detainees. Although the 
law provides for attorneys at public expense if defendants cannot 
afford their own, the Government has instituted legal aid in Freetown 
only, and has been able to serve only a few clients due to problems 
with establishing eligibility for legal aid. Fewer than 10 state 
counsels served the entire country, and they were often overburdened 
and poorly paid and thus available only for more serious criminal 
cases. Many indigent detainees did not receive legal advice prior to 
trial. Only defendants in the military justice system had automatic 
access to attorneys, whose fees were paid by the Ministry of Defense. 
For civilians, three attorneys provided legal aid outside of Freetown. 
Authorities permitted regular family visits, although the frequency and 
duration of the visits varied from prison to prison. According to NGO 
reports, family members often paid bribes to be permitted to visit.
    There were provisions for bail, and there was a functioning bail 
system; however, authorities applied the bail regime inconsistently and 
sometimes demanded excessive bail.
    Lengthy pretrial detention was a problem. Prison Watch reported 
that as of the end of October nine persons were awaiting indictment 
since 2006, six since 2005, and one since 2004. As a result of case 
backlogs, pretrial and remand detainees spent an average of three to 
five years in pretrial detention before courts examined their cases or 
filed formal charges. Approximately 60 percent of detainees in prison 
were in pretrial detention. Inmates at the prison in Bo who engaged in 
a small-scale riot to protest against their lengthy pretrial detentions 
in November 2009 were, according to Prison Watch, brought to Freetown 
and beaten. They were sent back to Bo in the early part of the year; 
since then, some have been released. According to the NGO Open Society 
Initiative for West Africa, remand prisoners frequently changed their 
pleas from ``not guilty'' to ``guilty'' to be removed from the remand 
section to the less substandard areas of a prison.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected 
this provision; however, the judiciary at times was subject to 
government influence and corruption.
    In addition to the formal civil court system, local chieftaincy 
courts administer customary law with lay judges; appeals from these 
lower courts are heard by the superior courts.
    The rotation system between wards in specific districts continued 
to improve magistrate presence. However, with inexperienced new 
magistrates, high court fees, and fewer than 15 lawyers practicing 
outside of Freetown, access to justice remained limited for most 
citizens.
    The RSLAF has its own military justice system, although soldiers 
can be tried in civilian courts depending on the type of crime 
committed. The decision of which system to use was sometimes made on an 
ad hoc basis and was prone to pressure from RSLAF leadership. If a case 
remains in military channels, military police conduct an investigation 
and forward their findings to the Ministry of Defense Law Office. The 
Law Office then decides whether to handle the offense through a 
``summary dealing'' process or a court martial.
    ``Summary dealing'' cases are limited to low-level military 
offenses, such as misappropriation of military property, unlawful 
possession of a firearm, and being absent without leave. The commanding 
officer determines the punishment, the most severe of which is a 28-day 
custodial sentence. The court martial hears all civilian and serious 
military offenses committed by military personnel, as well as cases 
involving senior officers. The case is tried before a judge and board; 
the latter determines guilt or innocence, and the former the sentencing 
recommendation. The court martial hears an average of four cases per 
year.
    The military justice system has an appeals process. For summary 
dealing, the defendant can appeal for the redress of complaint, which 
goes to the next senior ranking officer, while appeals in a court 
martial are heard by the civilian Supreme Court.
    Traditional justice systems supplemented the central government 
judiciary, especially in rural areas. Paramount chiefs maintained their 
own police and courts to enforce uncodified local laws, which acted in 
parallel with the Government's own civil police and court system. 
Chieftaincy police and courts exercised authority to arrest, try, and 
incarcerate individuals, and sometimes abused that power. However, 
traditional justice systems somewhat improved in rural areas during the 
year due to governmental and NGO training of traditional elders and 
provision of additional paralegals.
    Trials were generally fair; however, there was credible evidence 
that corruption influenced many cases. Paramount chiefs acting as 
judges were notorious for accepting bribes and favoring wealthier 
defendants, although they showed a greater willingness to discuss 
issues and refer cases to magistrates than in previous years (see 
section 4).

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for a fair trial; however, in 
practice, the lack of judicial officers and facilities often produced 
long delays. Some cases were reported to be adjourned 40 to 60 times. 
Trials are public, and the accused have a limited right to a trial by 
jury in the magistrate courts. Juries were drawn from a list maintained 
by the master and registrar of active and retired civil servants and 
youth groups; however, the attorney general frequently exercised his 
power to determine that cases be heard by a judge alone. Defendants 
generally enjoyed a presumption of innocence. While defendants have the 
right to be present and to consult with an attorney in a timely manner, 
access to counsel often was delayed. The law provides for attorneys at 
public expense if defendants could not afford their own; however, 
state-appointed attorneys often were overburdened and poorly paid, and 
indigent detainees usually did not receive legal advice prior to trial. 
Defendants can confront or question witnesses against them, present 
witnesses and evidence on their own behalf, and access government-held 
evidence relevant to their cases. Police officers, many of whom had 
little or no formal legal training, prosecuted a majority of cases on 
the magistrate level. Although the law provides defendants with the 
right to appeal, delays in the appeals process were excessive, 
sometimes lasting more than two years.
    Human rights NGOs noted wide disparities in sentencing patterns 
from district to district. There were numerous cases in which sentences 
imposed were disproportional to the offenses. Many prisoners were 
serving excessively long sentences for noncapital offenses, such as 
sacrilege (50 years), larceny (25 years), and larceny and burglary (45 
years). Many attributed the inconsistent sentencing to the defendant's 
ability to pay a fine or bribe.
    Traditional justice systems continued to supplement extensively the 
central government judiciary, especially in rural areas, in cases 
involving family law, inheritance, and land tenure. However, the 
customary law guiding these courts is not codified, and decisions in 
similar cases were inconsistent. Paramount chiefs sometimes referred 
cases to the police in order to give arrests for civil complaints the 
appearance of legitimacy. Local chieftains at times exceeded their 
mandates and administered harsh punishments.
    A number of civil laws and customary laws discriminate against 
women, and many traditional courts continued to ignore the rights of 
women regarding family law and inheritance. Juveniles are afforded few 
rights in the traditional justice system.
    The trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor for crimes 
against humanity, war crimes, and other serious violations of 
international law committed during the civil war continued throughout 
the year before the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) in The Hague.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Both the central 
government judiciary and customary law courts handled civil complaints; 
however, corruption influenced some cases and judgments, and awards 
were inconsistent. Administrative and judicial remedies were available 
for alleged wrongs, but enforcement was difficult. Victims of human 
rights abuses have access to the regular courts to seek redress for 
human rights violations.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and 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 and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government at 
times restricted these rights in practice. Journalists generally 
practiced self-censorship.
    The Government rarely attempted to impede criticism, although 
government officials occasionally interfered with journalists' work.
    During the year there were several complaints that government 
officials sought to manipulate the Sierra Leone Broadcasting 
Corporation (SLBC), which was created in June as an independent, 
nonpartisan television and radio outlet. In August a prominent 
newspaper publisher spoke critically of the Government on a popular 
live daily SLBC radio program. A government representative 
unsuccessfully attempted to interrupt the broadcast to present a 
rebuttal. The program was neither re-aired the following day, as is 
standard, nor were requests for taped copies of the interview honored, 
leading to criticisms that the SLBC and the Government were jointly 
attempting to muzzle the journalist.
    On December 13, four journalists from four independent newspapers 
were arrested by the Sierra Leone Police on the order of the minister 
of lands. The minister accused the journalists of ``possessing 
classified documents'' when they questioned him about a restricted-
access audit report compiled by the Investment Climate Facility (a pan-
African organization based in Tanzania) alleging fraud and embezzlement 
within the ministry. The four men were released later that evening. One 
of them was accused of stealing documents from the ministry and charged 
with larceny, but all charges were subsequently dropped.
    On December 16, the minister of agriculture, forestry, and food 
security asked the Sierra Leone Police to arrest two employees of the 
radio station KISS 104 in Bo for interrupting a live interview with the 
minister to air a block of prerecorded programming sponsored by the 
cell phone company Africell. The minister claimed that he had paid for 
the broadcast time for his interview and that KISS 104 had committed a 
``breach of contract.'' The employees were arrested but released the 
following morning, and no charges were filed.
    The Human Rights Commission-Sierra Leone (HRC-SL) and the Sierra 
Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) condemned both December 
actions. The minister of information and communications pledged to 
investigate the incidents and to ``take necessary actions, [as] the 
Government will not condone impeding freedom of expression and sour the 
relationship between the Government and the media in Sierra Leone.''
    Fifty-eight newspapers were registered with the Independent Media 
Commission (IMC), as well as 72 radio stations and 10 television 
stations covering a wide spectrum of interests and editorial opinion. 
Not all media outlets were in operation during the year, however. 
During the year the IMC registered nine new newspapers and two new 
radio stations, and rejected seven newspaper registration applications 
because the applicants did not provide any justifications of 
``professional and public-interest.'' Most of the IMC-registered 
newspapers were independent, although several were associated with 
political parties. While sometimes subject to official pressure and 
restrictions, newspapers openly and routinely criticized the Government 
and its officials as well as the opposition parties. However, reporting 
was often politicized and inaccurate, in large part because of poor 
journalistic skills, insufficient resources, and the lack of 
professional ethics. In October the Guild of Newspaper Editors Sierra 
Leone was launched to address these problems, as well as unprofessional 
behavior and widespread corruption among its members.
    As part of efforts to curb undue interference by local authorities, 
the IMC reconstituted the management boards of community radio stations 
to include chiefs and representatives from the major political parties. 
It also funded training programs for members of the management boards.
    International media could operate freely but were required to 
register with the Ministry of Information and Communications and the 
IMC to obtain a license. During the year there were no cases of local 
or international media being denied registration.
    The law criminalizes both defamatory and seditious libel; however, 
the law rarely was applied. Punishment for first-time offenders can be 
up to three years' imprisonment, and subsequent seditious libel 
convictions are punishable by prison terms of up to seven years. 
However, society paid little attention to older convictions under the 
law. In December, President Koroma nominated and parliament unanimously 
confirmed a new minister of youth and sport, despite his 2002 
conviction under the libel law while editor-in-chief of the independent 
newspaper Fo Di People. Despite lobbying for decriminalization of libel 
by the IMC and the SLAJ, by year's end the Government had not amended 
Part 5 of the 1965 Public Order Act, which criminalizes libel.
    The IMC regulated independent media organizations and generally 
demonstrated independence from government influence. In August it 
convened a meeting with editors of two local newspapers to chastise 
them for publishing articles that allegedly violated Section 25 of the 
IMC Code of Practice by potentially inflaming tribal/ethnic tensions. 
The IMC warned them not to publish any such material in the future, or 
risk having their newspapers suspended.
    Due to the low level of literacy and the relatively high cost of 
newspapers and televisions, radio remained the most important medium 
for public dissemination of information. During the year more than 80 
government and private radio and television stations provided domestic 
news and political commentary. The APC and the Sierra Leone People's 
Party (SLPP) radio stations that were shut down in the wake of the 
March 2009 riots remained closed.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2009 stated that 
0.26 percent of the country's inhabitants accessed the Internet. There 
were six Internet Service Providers. In Freetown there were many 
Internet cafes but few in rural areas due to infrastructure 
constraints.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly, 
and the Government generally respected this right in practice. There 
were no reports that the Government monitored or prevented opposition 
meetings.
    Both the APC and the SLPP continued to implement the provisions of 
the Joint Communique signed after the March 2009 riots between 
supporters of the two parties. Most significantly, the SLPP rededicated 
its headquarters building, which was damaged during the riot. A 
commission of inquiry on the riots did not recommend prosecutions or 
disciplinary actions against police or others.
    On other occasions police forcibly dispersed demonstrators. Police 
occasionally were unable to control violence, and demonstrators at 
times attacked police stations. For example, motorbike taxi service 
operators (``okadas'') clashed with police officers in various parts of 
the country during the year. In September ``bike riders'' in Kailahun 
District burned down two traffic posts while protesting what they 
perceived as a unilateral decision by police to restrict their business 
hours. In Freetown on several occasions ``bike riders'' engaged in 
impromptu demonstrations against police officers who were, in the 
protesters' eyes, arbitrarily enforcing motorcycle registration and 
safety laws through fines and confiscations. Although the protests were 
violent, there were no reports of deaths or injuries.
    After a CDIID investigation, in the early part of the year the SLP 
compensated families of three persons who were killed in September 2009 
when a crowd attacked a small police station in Lungi because of anger 
over the station's ineffectiveness in handling a crime spree.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of association, and the Government generally respected this 
right in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the Department of State's 2010 International Religious 
Freedom Report at http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice; however, there were reports that police officers who operated 
security roadblocks outside of the capital often extorted money from 
motorists.
    The border shared with Liberia was officially open, and authorities 
generally allowed refugees, returnees, and other persons to move 
regularly between the two countries; however, police, customs, and army 
personnel demanded bribes at border crossing points.
    The law does not provide for forced exile, and the Government did 
not use it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees.
    The law provides for refugee status as defined by international 
convention to be granted to eligible asylum seekers. The UN High 
Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) worked with government authorities to 
develop standard operating procedures for refugee status determination.
    In practice the Government provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion.
    According to the UNHCR, the Government did not provide temporary 
protection to certain individuals who may not qualify as refugees under 
the 1951 convention and the 1967 protocol.
    The Government offered to assist Liberian refugees requesting 
repatriation. However, only 34 refugees were repatriated during the 
year. A ``profiling survey'' completed by the UNHCR in June showed that 
only 1 percent of the approximately 8,900 Liberian refugees in Sierra 
Leone wished to be repatriated, while 75 percent were undecided and 24 
percent opted for local integration. UNHCR acknowledged the 
Government's efforts, through the National Commission for Social Action 
(NaCSA), to integrate refugees who are unwilling or unable to return to 
Liberia in accordance with the Refugees Protection Act of 2007.
    There were no reports of discrimination against refugees with 
regards to employment, access to social services, or to police and 
courts.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens the right to change their 
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice 
through periodic, and generally free and fair elections based on 
universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In peaceful presidential 
and parliamentary elections held in August 2007, the opposition APC won 
a majority in parliament, with party leader Ernest Bai Koroma elected 
president. However, there were multiple reports of harassment and 
intimidation of members of opposition parties. There were also reports 
of voter coercion by party bosses and traditional leaders. Domestic and 
international observers characterized the parliamentary elections as 
generally free and fair. However, the Commissioner of the National 
Election Commission (NEC), who was appointed by the SLPP (the party in 
power at the time of the elections), invalidated the results from 477 
polling stations during the second round of balloting in the 
presidential election on suspicion that ballot boxes were stuffed. The 
SLPP, which lost the presidency, did not contest the results but 
initiated a court case against the Commissioner for her actions. As of 
the end of the year, the case had not been resolved.
    On December 11, a by-election for Chairman of the Kono District 
Council was held, the first election of the 2010-2015 election cycle 
that will include the 2012 presidential election. In November 
supporters of the ruling APC attacked and damaged the district offices 
of the opposition SLPP and disrupted an SLPP rally in Kono. The 
Government belatedly denounced the attacks and harassment but took 
steps to ensure that the by-election was held peacefully and fairly. In 
addition to increasing the number of police in the district from 120 to 
400, the Government also brought together leaders of the various 
political parties, the heads of the quasi-governmental NEC, the 
Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC), and the Sierra Leone 
Police under the auspices of the UNIPSIL to sign a document outlining 
ground rules for all participants and their supporters in the election. 
There were no reports of violence or irregularities at any of the 
polling stations on election day. The Government welcomed observers 
from foreign missions and NGOs such as National Elections Watch. The 
APC candidate won the election, and the results were certified with no 
objections from the other parties.
    The PPRC, which governed the behavior of political parties, does 
not have the authority to sanction any political party for 
inappropriate behavior. It received two inter- and intra-party 
complaints during the year and acted as a mediator to address the 
problems. The PPRC can use only moral persuasion to convince persons 
and parties to act according to agreed-upon guidelines, such as the 
parties' constitutions.
    A parallel unit of local government is the paramount chief, who is 
elected for a life term. Candidates for the position are limited to 
members of local ruling houses. Only tribal authorities (those who 
collected local taxes from at least 20 taxpayers) were allowed to vote 
for paramount chief, and in the north only men could be designated as 
tribal authorities. Although paramount chiefs' authority exists 
independently of the central government and local councils, they 
frequently displayed party affiliations, were influenced by the party 
in power, and allegedly influenced the votes of their constituents. In 
turn, political parties were known to interfere with elections of 
paramount chiefs during the year. The election of paramount chiefs at 
times exacerbated ethnic tensions.
    Women have the right to vote, but husbands or other patriarchal 
figures are known to influence their decisions. Of the 124 
parliamentarians, 16 were women. Women held one of the 20 cabinet 
positions. There were four female judges out of seven judges on the 
High Court, and the chief justice was a woman. Three out of six judges 
on the Court of Appeal were women.
    All citizens have the right to vote; however, citizenship at birth 
is granted only to persons of ``Negro-African descent,'' thus 
disenfranchising the significant number of Lebanese persons who were 
born and continued to reside in the country. Persons of Lebanese 
descent may apply to be naturalized, and once naturalized are eligible 
to vote in all national and local elections. However, the Government 
has not approved new naturalizations since 2002.
    Ethnic affiliations traditionally have been a strong influence in 
political party membership for the country's two dominant ethnic 
groups, the Mende and Temne, each of which accounted for approximately 
30 percent of the population. The Mende traditionally supported the 
SLPP and the Temne the APC. Other than ethnic Limbas, the third-most 
populous ethnic group who traditionally have supported the APC, the 
country's other ethnic groups had no strong political party 
affiliations. During the year opposition parties accused President 
Koroma of filling key government positions only with persons from the 
north. Although the president did not respond directly and specifically 
to these concerns, his early December cabinet shake-up increased the 
number of ministers and from the Eastern and Southern provinces to 30 
percent, up from the previous 20 percent. Ministers from the north now 
occupy 62 percent of the cabinet offices and 8 percent are held by 
ministers from the western peninsula. Meanwhile, in the run up to the 
2012 presidential election, the SLPP began positioning itself as a 
party that truly represented all of the country's ethnic, religious, 
and regional groupings. In early August the PPRC, in response to two 
newspaper editorials that were perceived to be fanning the flames of 
tribal enmity, issued warnings to the two major political parties, the 
APC and the SLPP, not to appeal to ethnicity.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government made some attempts to implement the law. Despite several 
well publicized cases of corruption in the executive, legislative, and 
judicial branches, officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices 
with impunity. Police and prison staff regularly extorted or solicited 
bribes from detainees and prisoners. Low salaries and a lack of 
accountability exacerbated official corruption. The World Bank's most 
recent Worldwide Governance Indicators reflected that corruption was a 
severe problem.
    The head of the Anticorruption Commission (ACC), Abdul Tejan-Cole, 
resigned in July. He was replaced by Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara, the 
former deputy prosecutor in the Special Court of Sierra Leone. The ACC 
made some progress in curbing corruption during the year and improving 
transparency by enforcing the new tougher penalties and implementing 
broader prosecutorial powers in anticorruption laws.
    During the year the Government implemented its five-year national 
action plan to combat corruption, and ministries began including 
anticorruption activities into their strategic plans. The ACC conducted 
sensitization campaigns with the public and government ministries, and 
enforced whistleblower protection measures.
    Corrupt procurement practices were a problem, and several 
ministries were under investigation during the year.
    For example, in March the former director of procurement for the 
Ministry of Defense, Joe Michael Sewoh, and Major Idriss Sonkoi Kamara 
of the RSLAF were convicted on abuse-of-office charges for seeking to 
influence bidding on Ministry of Defense supply orders. Each was 
sentenced to three years' imprisonment and a fine of 90 million leones 
($23,000).
    In April former minister of fisheries and marine resources Haja 
Afsatu Kabba was indicted on seven counts of misappropriation of public 
funds and abuse of office. In October she was found guilty on five 
counts and ordered to pay 450 million leones ($112,500) in restitution 
and fines in order to avoid a three-year prison sentence.
    As of year's end the trial of former minister of health and 
sanitation Sheiku Tejan Koroma on charges of abuse of public office, 
abuse of public position, and failure to comply with government 
procurement laws and policies continued.
    On October 26, the ACC indicted former commissioner general of the 
National Revenue Authority Alieu Sesay, his wife, and four private 
contractors on 57 counts of violation of the 2008 Anti-Corruption Act, 
abuse of office, and influence-peddling. He and his wife were arrested 
on October 27 and posted bail; the case continued at year's end.
    During the year, the ACC recovered approximately 1.3 billion leones 
($325,000) from public officers and private business officials in 
fines, restitutions, and settlements in corruption-related cases. 
Although the ACC does not proactively offer to settle cases out of 
court, suspects may request a settlement, and many cases were resolved 
in this way. Several defendants also chose to pay fines rather than 
face custodial sentences. The ACC initiated 171 investigations during 
the year. Since 2008 the ACC has the authority to prosecute cases 
directly without first having to refer them to the Ministry of Justice 
and in practice prosecuted cases itself. Four prosecutions by the ACC 
were either concluded or still in progress by the end of the year.
    As of the end of September, all government ministers and members of 
parliament had complied with a 2008 law requiring public officers, 
their spouses, and children to declare their assets and liabilities.
    There is no provision in the law for public access to government 
information; however, the Government at times provided such access to 
citizens and noncitizens, including foreign media.
Section 5. 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 independent National Forum for Human Rights (NFHR) served as an 
umbrella organization for human rights NGOs in the country. There were 
41 human rights NGOs registered with the NFHR, and all were reportedly 
active. Most domestic human rights NGOs focused on human rights 
education. A few NGOs, including the Campaign for Good Governance, 
LAWCLA, Tinap for Justice, and Access to Justice, monitored and 
reported on human rights abuses.
    A variety of domestic and international human rights groups 
(including Amnesty International, Freedom House, and Human Rights 
Watch) 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 HRC-SL generally operated without government interference; 
however, government agencies were slow to support the commission. The 
organization was also hampered by lack of funds. In July the commission 
initiated the drafting of the country's national action plan for human 
rights in preparation for its Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human 
Rights Council scheduled for 2011. In March, HRC-SL published its 
annual report on the state of human rights in Sierra Leone in 2009, 
which it presented to the president and the Speaker of Parliament. Both 
the president and the parliament accepted and praised the report 
without reservations. In addition the commission initiated a working 
group with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and 
the international community to coordinate human rights activities in 
the country. HRC-SL continued its efforts at enforcement of the Child 
Rights Bill, and three gender bills. There was increased use of its 
system for reporting human rights violations.
    The Parliamentary Human Rights Committee operated without 
government or party interference. It focused on keeping human rights 
issues on the parliamentary agenda, paving the way for the passage of 
amended laws and ratification of international conventions, and doing 
public outreach.
    The trial before the SCSL in The Hague of former Liberian president 
Charles Taylor for crimes against humanity and war crimes in the 
country continued at year's end.
    Revolutionary United Front leaders Issa Sesay, Morris Kallon, and 
Augustine Gbao, whom the SCSL found guilty in 2009 of war crimes, 
crimes against humanity, and other serious violations of international 
humanitarian law, were incarcerated in Rwanda.
    Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) recommendations continued 
to be implemented, providing a forum for publicly airing the grievances 
of victims and the confessions of perpetrators during the civil war. 
The Government took steps to implement a reparations program for the 
victims of the conflict as recommended by the TRC. Efforts were 
underway to establish a trust fund for war victims. However, many NGOs 
continued to be disappointed by the slow or delayed implementation of 
some of the TRC recommendations, such as the trust fund and separating 
the positions of attorney general and minister of justice, which 
requires a constitutional amendment.
    The UN and numerous domestic and international NGOs continued to 
educate and sensitize the population about the TRC and the SCSL, and 
the Government generally supported these efforts.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    Citizenship is generally limited to persons of ``Negro-African 
descent,'' but the law otherwise prohibits discrimination based on 
race, tribe, sex, place of origin, political opinions, color, or creed. 
However, the Government did not effectively enforce these provisions, 
and a number of legal acts and customary laws contravene these 
constitutional provisions.

    Women.--The law prohibits rape, which is punishable by up to 14 
years' imprisonment; however, rape was common and viewed more as a 
societal norm than a criminal problem. The law does not specifically 
prohibit spousal rape. Cases of rape were underreported and indictments 
were rare, especially in rural areas. A reluctance to pursue justice 
for women, combined with women's lack of income and economic 
independence, helped perpetuate violence and impunity against women. 
However, since the establishment of the Family Support Units (FSUs) and 
the passage of the Gender Acts in 2007, reports of rapes, especially 
involving child victims, steadily increased. Rapes of children as young 
as a few months old were documented. Rape victims, especially when 
pregnancy occurred, were encouraged to marry their attackers, although 
some NGOs reported that this practice appeared to be waning.
    From January to August, the FSU recorded 723 cases of sexual 
assault. In these cases, 345 perpetrators were charged, while 291 were 
still under investigation. The remaining 87 cases were either withdrawn 
or dismissed as lacking merit. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) 
reported that at least 25 cases resulted in convictions, with 
perpetrators receiving sentences of between 18 months and seven years. 
Rape cases frequently were settled out of court or did not make it to 
trial because of inefficiencies and corruption in the judicial system. 
Most legal advisors assigned to prosecute rape cases had only three 
weeks' training and could not compete against well trained defense 
lawyers. Most perpetrators were known to their victims and included 
teachers, family friends, relatives, traditional leaders, and 
neighbors. The JSDP noted an increase in adolescent boys as 
perpetrators.
    Medical and psychological services for rape victims were limited. 
Rape victims were required to obtain a medical report for the filing of 
charges, examinations, reports, and court appearances. Most government 
doctors charged 10,000 to 70,000 leones ($2.50 to $17.80), fees which 
were prohibitively expensive for most victims. The IRC ran Rainbo 
Centers in Freetown, Kenema, and Koidu to perform medical examinations, 
provide counseling for victims of sexual assault, and offer legal 
assistance for victims who wanted to prosecute their cases. However, 
these Rainbo Centers were the only such centers in the country, and 
many victims had no access to medical attention or services.
    Domestic violence is an offense under the 2007 Domestic Violence 
Act, punishable by a fine of up to 5 million leones (approximately 
$1,250) and up to two years in prison. However, violent acts against 
women, especially wife-beating and rape, were common and often 
surrounded by a culture of silence. The police were unlikely to 
intervene in domestic disputes except in cases involving serious injury 
or death. The SLP used mediation as its primary tool for handling 
domestic violence. Between January and August, the FSUs noted that 
1,477 women reported domestic violence. Of these cases 298 perpetrators 
were charged, and 663 were under investigation at year's end. The FSU 
does not maintain statistics on conviction rates, but NGO reports 
indicate few perpetrators were convicted due to poorly trained 
prosecutors and out-of-court settlements. In addition NGOs observed in 
many cases that women withdrew rape or nonrape violence complaints due 
to social stigma, fear of retaliation, or acceptance of payment in lieu 
of pressing charges to alleviate their extreme poverty. The lack of 
convictions resulted in a high degree of impunity for rape and nonrape 
violence. Awareness of the law has resulted in an increase in reported 
cases in urban areas; however, most human rights organizations noted 
that domestic violence continued to be most prevalent and largely 
underreported in the northern provinces.
    According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the 
majority of women felt that wife-beating was justified for actions such 
as going out without telling a husband, neglecting the children, 
refusing sex, or burning food. Women suspected of marital infidelity 
often were subjected to physical abuse. Because husbands could claim 
monetary indemnities from their wives' partners, beatings often 
continued until the women named several men, even if there were no such 
relationships. There were also reports that women suspected of 
infidelity were required to undergo animistic rituals to prove their 
innocence.
    FGM in the country is performed predominantly by women's secret 
societies. The UN and NGOs reported a decline in the practice, likely 
due to increased awareness and intervention; although many in secret 
societies, particularly ``sowies,'' the women who perform genital 
cutting, continued to advocate for the practice. During the year the UN 
reported that 35-40 percent of women and girls in Sierra Leone had been 
subjected to FGM.
    For more details on FGM, see Section 6, ``Children.''
    No NGO or government agency identified sex tourism as a problem 
during the year. The country's tourist industry overall is still in a 
nascent stage. Inappropriate sexual conduct by temporary visitors, such 
as tourists or businessmen, appears to be opportunistic, and not the 
purpose of their visits to the country.
    Sexual harassment in the workplace is not specifically prohibited 
by law, and it was widespread.
    Women and men generally were free to decide responsibly the timing, 
number, and spacing of their children: 70 percent of women and couples 
who practiced family planning made independent decisions, while 30 
percent reported that other influences and pressures, such as family 
and religion, were determinant factors in family-planning decisions. 
The Ministry of Health and Sanitation reported that between January and 
June there were 118,922 clients for family planning services, and long-
term and permanent treatments, such as intrauterine devices (IUDs) and 
tubal ligation, increased in popularity. Statistics showed, however, 
that the contraception prevalence rate ranged from 8 to 20 percent, and 
of the women using family planning methods, 51 percent did not discuss 
it with their partners.
    The Ministry of Health and Sanitation and NGOs made efforts to meet 
the demand for oral contraceptives. However, outreach teams rarely 
served rural women and families. Many parents refused contraceptives 
for their sexually active teenage children because of a 
misunderstanding that contraceptives would prevent pregnancy later in 
life.
    Approximately 44 percent of women gave birth in hospitals between 
January and June, while a further 51.5 percent gave birth at 
``peripheral health units,'' grassroots health posts located primarily 
in rural areas. Health professionals delivered 66 percent of births. 
However, few hospitals offered full obstetric and postpartum services. 
Most women did not have access to transportation to make regular 
doctor's visits or lived in locations where few services were offered. 
Women also rarely had equal access to family finances, and male 
partners did not always see pre- and post-natal care as a priority.
    During the year one in 32 women died in childbirth. In April the 
Government launched an initiative to provide free health care for 
pregnant women, lactating mothers, and children under the age of five, 
which according to a midyear survey, was credited with increasing the 
number of live births and reducing the incidences of death in 
childbirth. Under the aegis of the Office of the First Lady, the 
Government also launched the Women's Initiative for Safer Health, which 
works at the community level in other areas of women's health, such as 
repairing obstetric fistula, sanitation, prevention of infectious 
diseases, and extending micro-credit to budding female entrepreneurs.
    Women were diagnosed more frequently than men with sexually 
transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS because they were tested as part of 
their obstetric care. Men were more likely to wait for testing until 
they exhibited physical symptoms. There was an active government 
campaign to test more women during the prenatal period.
    The 2009 Registration of Customary Marriage and Divorce Act 
empowers either spouse to acquire property and guarantees that gifts, 
payments, or dowries upon marriage are nonrefundable, allowing women in 
unhappy marriages to divorce without being forced to return dowries.
    The 2007 Devolution of Estates Act provides for intestate 
succession including the transmission of property to the deceased's 
spouse and/or children as well as to single persons who cohabited with 
the deceased for 10 or more years. One noticeable problem with the law 
was its definition of ``property'' as mutually owned land; since land 
outside of Freetown is generally communal or family property, it was 
difficult to prove that a couple owned the land together and that the 
wife thus had a right to it.
    Early in the year, the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender, and 
Children's Affairs began implementation of the Sierra Leone National 
Gender Strategic Plan, a four-year (2010 to 2013) strategic framework 
drafted in conjunction with the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the UN 
Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). The ministry indicated its 
intention to work with local and international NGOs and other 
government ministries to implement the two acts mentioned above, as 
well as the 2007 Domestic Violence Act, collectively known colloquially 
as ``the gender acts.'' By year's end, several ``sensitization 
programs'' had been conducted around the country, particularly in the 
areas of fighting sexual and gender-based violence and teaching rural 
women about their rights under the Devolution of Estates Act.
    Women faced widespread legal and societal discrimination, 
particularly in matters of marriage, divorce, property, and 
inheritance, which are guided by customary law in all areas except the 
capital. Formal laws apply in customary as well as formal courts, but 
customary judges had limited or no legal training and often were 
unaware of or could choose to ignore formal laws. Chiefs sometimes 
colluded with men to evict women and children forcibly from their homes 
or to subject them to arbitrary detention. In some cases chiefs imposed 
arbitrary and exorbitant fines, imprisoned women unlawfully in their 
homes or ``chiefdom jails,'' and expelled them from the community. The 
women's rights and status under customary law varied significantly 
depending upon the ethnic group to which they belonged, but such rights 
and status were routinely inferior to that of men. Under customary law 
women's status in society is equal to that of a minor. A woman is 
frequently perceived to be the property of her husband, to be inherited 
on his death with his other property. In rural areas polygyny was 
widespread; UNICEF estimated in 2007 that 43 percent of women were 
involved in polygynous unions. All women in the Western (Freetown) 
Area, which is governed by general law, had a statutory right to own 
property in their own names. However, women in the provinces, which are 
governed by customary laws that vary from chiefdom to chiefdom, did 
not.
    In the Temne ethnic group women could not become paramount chiefs, 
subordinate chiefs, or chiefdom authorities; however, in the Mende 
ethnic group, there were several female leaders. Every local council 
had at least one female representative. In March the High Court 
overturned a ban on women's becoming a paramount chief in the Kissy 
Teng chiefdom in Kailahun District.
    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. According to a 2008 government 
survey, 66 percent of women had never been to school, compared to 50 
percent of men. Women also experienced discrimination in access to 
employment, and it was common for a woman to be dismissed if she became 
pregnant during her first year on the job. Further discrimination 
occurred in access to credit, equal pay for similar work, and the 
ownership and management of a business.
    The Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender, and Children's Affairs has 
a mandate to protect the rights of women; however most international 
and domestic NGOs complained that the ministry lacked the resources, 
infrastructure, and support of other ministries to handle effectively 
its assigned projects. The ministry routinely relied on the assistance 
of international organizations and NGOs to help combat women's rights 
violations.
    Women were active in civic and philanthropic organizations. 
Domestic NGOs such as 50/50, the Forum for African Women 
Educationalists, and the Women's Forum raised awareness of gender 
inequality and other women's issues, and they encouraged women to enter 
politics as candidates for mayoral positions and local councils.

    Children.--Citizenship derived by birth is restricted to children 
of parents of ``Negro-African descent.'' Children not meeting the 
criteria must be registered in their parents' countries of origin.
    The Office of the Chief Registrar in the Birth and Deaths 
Department, which falls under the purview of the Ministry of Health and 
Sanitation, reported that during the year 104,996 live births were 
registered. This represents a 3.3-percent increase over 2009. A total 
of 1,834 stillbirths (an increase of 15 percent over 2009) were 
registered. Birth registration was not universal due to inadequate 
staffing and resources. The Chief Registrar also noted that a lack of 
registration materials (e.g., paper forms) also hindered new 
registrations. However, lack of registration did not affect access to 
public services, nor did it result in statelessness.
    Primary school education is tuition-free countrywide. However, many 
parents were unable to put their children through primary school 
because they could not afford school uniforms, books, and fees charged 
by school authorities. The average educational level for girls was 
markedly below that of boys, and only 25 percent of women were 
literate. At the secondary level, pregnancy forced many girls out of 
school. The law allows girls to return to school after giving birth, 
but many communities did not respect that right.
    Sexual violence against children was a growing problem; however, 
the Government took few steps to address the issue. The FSUs are 
trained in dealing with sexual violence against children, and cases of 
child sexual abuse generally were taken more seriously than adult rape 
cases. However, in many cases of sexual assault against children, 
parents accepted payment instead of taking the perpetrator to court due 
to difficulties dealing with the justice system, fear of public shame, 
and economic hardship. Although the FSUs were seen to be improving 
their ability to prevent and respond to cases, the conviction numbers 
remained very low. From January to August, the FSU reported 66 cases of 
child abuse. Perpetrators in 11 cases were charged, and 29 cases are 
still under investigation, while the remaining cases were withdrawn or 
resolved through informal negotiation.
    The 2007 Child Rights Act does not explicitly address FGM. However, 
the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender, and Children's Affairs 
interprets de facto FGM within the section of the law that prohibits 
subjecting anyone under the age of 18 to harmful treatment, including 
any cultural practice that dehumanizes or is injurious to the physical 
and mental welfare of the child. The Ministry continued to implement 
the Child Rights Act and the International Convention on the Rights of 
the Child, to which the country is a signatory, but there were no 
prosecutions for FGM during the year. Although police occasionally 
detained practitioners on accusations of forced mutilation or 
manslaughter, human rights workers reported that police remained 
hesitant to interfere in cultural practices. The UN agencies (including 
UNFPA, UNIFEM, UNICEF, and World Health Organization) continued to work 
with local NGOs such as the Amazonian Initiative Movement and the 
Advocacy Movement Network to tackle FGM. The UN and the Ministry of 
Health and Sanitation also conducted research on the link between FGM 
and obstetric fistula in order to present a medical argument against 
the practice.
    At the community level the UN and local NGOs worked with 
traditional leaders and local chiefs on a range of interventions, 
including sensitization meetings and efforts to persuade local chiefs 
to impose by-laws outlawing FGM for children. During the year 
traditional leaders in the southern district of Pujehun signed a 
memorandum of understanding with ``sowies'' (FGM practitioners) to 
increase the minimum age of initiations the ``sowies'' performed to 18 
years. The UN also held workshops for local social workers and 
traditional leaders on prevention measures, as well as health care and 
psychosocial support for victims.
    NGOs reported a decline in the practice of FGM, likely due to 
increased awareness and interventions. FGM was practiced on girls as 
young as two years old, and many NGOs reported cases in which toddlers 
underwent FGM because their very young age made it cheaper for parents.
    Although the law prohibits marriage of girls under the age of 18, 
including forced marriage, forced child marriage continued to be a 
problem. UNICEF estimated in 2008 that 56 percent of women had been 
married before age 18.
    Child rights laws also provide for the creation of family courts 
and child committees at the local government level, but NGOs reported 
that significant work remained to be done to establish such entities 
nationwide. There are 70 child welfare committees across the country, 
but they were not fully functioning. As of August the FSU reported 66 
cases of child cruelty, of which nine had been charged in court. There 
were no convictions.
    Child prostitution continued to be a growing problem. A UNICEF 
analysis of Freetown and Bo indicated that over half of the street 
children survived through prostitution. NGOs stated that there appears 
to be little political will to address the problem effectively. 
Statutory rape and child pornography are not addressed specifically in 
the law, but according to the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender, and 
Children's Issues, these crimes would be covered under the Child Rights 
Act of 2007, which prohibits ``cruel, inhuman, and degrading 
treatment'' of any child, defined as persons under the age of 18.
    Besides prostitution, many children were forced to engage in petty 
trading and other economic activities to survive and were vulnerable to 
trafficking and other exploitive practices.
    According to a UNICEF report in 2009, there were 54 residential 
homes for approximately 1,800 orphans. The quality of care at the 
facilities varied, but most of those that failed to meet minimum 
standards were shut down. Each facility provided at least one meal a 
day, some health care, and some type of education. The regulatory 
framework for licensing new orphanages had not been approved by the Law 
Office at year's end.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual Report on Compliance with the Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction at http://
travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--
4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--No data exists on the size of the country's Jewish 
population, and no synagogues or other Jewish religious organizations 
were registered with the Inter-Religious Council (IRC). No acts of 
anti-Semitism were reported during the year.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at http://www.state.gov/g/tip

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law does not prohibit 
discrimination against persons with physical and mental disabilities, 
and offers no specific protections for such persons. The law does not 
mandate accessibility of buildings or assistance to disabled persons. 
There was no government policy or program to assist persons with 
disabilities; public facility access and discrimination against persons 
with disabilities were not considered public policy priorities.
    Although there was no formal discrimination against persons with 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or in the 
provision of other state services, an April survey by a UK-based NGO 
found in practice persons with disabilities had less access to such 
services. In addition given the high rate of general unemployment, work 
opportunities for persons with disabilities were few, and begging by 
persons with disabilities was commonplace. Children with disabilities 
were also less likely to attend school than other children due to the 
lack of an official inclusive education policy.
    There is considerable stigma associated with and discrimination 
against persons with mental health issues. The Sierra Leone Psychiatric 
Hospital in Kissy, the country's only in-patient psychiatric 
institution, had beds for 400 patients but housed only 100 patients due 
to staff and resource constraints, as the hospital was poorly funded by 
the Government and received only small donations from private 
charities. Patients were generally released to their families or 
communities as soon as possible, and received follow-up counseling on a 
regular basis. The hospital estimated that 550,000 citizens needed some 
form of psychiatric care due to post-traumatic stress disorder arising 
from the 1991-2002 civil war, depression due to socio-economic 
problems, and drug abuse. Men and women were housed in separate wards, 
and there was no mingling between the sexes. The hospital lacked 
adequate beds and mattresses which are easily destroyed by the patients 
and could not provide sufficient food to sustain them. Patient 
restraints were primitive due to lack of resources. The hospital did 
not have running water and only sporadic electricity due to lack of 
funds to buy fuel for the facility's generator. Basic medications were 
available, although the hospital suffered from a lack of a variety of 
drugs targeted at specific problems.
    The Ministry of Health and Sanitation is responsible for providing 
free primary health care services to persons with polio and diabetic 
retinopathy as well as those who are blind or deaf. However, these 
services were not provided consistently, and organizations reported 
that many persons with disabilities had limited access to medical and 
rehabilitative care. The National Committee for Social Action provided 
some support through limited programs to vulnerable communities. The 
Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender, and Children's Affairs has a 
mandate to provide policy oversight for issues affecting persons with 
disabilities but had limited capacity to do so.
    Some of the many individuals maimed in the civil war, including 
those who had their limbs amputated, received special assistance from 
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 former 
combatants, who received aid through the demobilization process. In 
response to TRC's recommendations, the Government accepted in principle 
the need to develop an aid program for war wounded, amputees, and 
victims of sexual violence; however, assistance to these groups 
remained limited and mostly funded by outside entities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The ethnically diverse 
population consisted of about 18 ethnic groups of African origin, many 
of whom spoke distinct languages and were concentrated outside urban 
areas. In addition there were significant Lebanese and Indian 
minorities, and small groups of European and Pakistani origin. Little 
ethnic segregation was apparent in urban areas, where interethnic 
marriage was common. The two largest ethnic groups were the Temne in 
the North and the Mende in the South. These groups each constituted an 
estimated 30 percent of the population; however, the Krio, who make up 
7 percent of the population, have historically dominated the civil 
service and judiciary. Strong ethnic loyalties, bias, and stereotypes 
existed among all ethnic groups. The Temne and Mende have vied 
historically for political power, and the violence during the 11-year 
civil war had some ethnic undertones. Ethnic loyalty remained an 
important factor in the Government, the armed forces, and business. 
Complaints of ethnic discrimination in government appointments, 
contract assignment, and military promotions were common under the 
former SLPP and current APC governments.
    Residents of non-African descent faced some institutionalized 
discrimination, particularly in the areas of citizenship and 
nationality. The 1973 Citizenship Act, as amended in 2006, restricts 
citizenship by birth only to persons of ``Negro-African descent,'' 
effectively denying citizenship to many locally born residents, most 
notably the six to seven thousand-strong Lebanese community. Non-
``Negro-African'' persons may apply for naturalization, but all 
applications must be approved personally by the president. In practice, 
however, no president has signed any naturalization certificates since 
the end of the civil war in 2002. (Lebanese law makes provisions for 
citizenship by blood, conferring citizenship on any person born in 
Sierra Leone to citizens of Lebanon upon application to the Lebanese 
embassy in Freetown. Thus, Lebanese born in Sierra Leone are not 
stateless.)
    A small percentage of the Lebanese population was naturalized 
during a previous period of government leniency, and they enjoy the 
full rights of citizenship, such as suffrage, access to health care and 
education, and the right to purchase freehold land. However, 
naturalized citizens of non-``Negro-African'' descent cannot transmit 
citizenship to their children born in the country; these children must 
apply for naturalization if they want to become citizens. While not 
entitled to the rights of citizens, non-naturalized persons born in the 
country are, however, entitled to a Sierra Leonean passport, and many 
Lebanese Sierra Leoneans travel on one with no problems.
    In August a businessman of Lebanese descent who was born and raised 
in the country charged the Government with racism and threatened to go 
on a hunger strike until he was naturalized. In response the Government 
agreed to study amendments to the 1991 constitution regarding 
citizenship rights, and the president expressed a general willingness 
to approve naturalization applications, but at the end of the year the 
Government had taken no actions. The Lebanese community reported no 
cases of overt discrimination based on race or nationality, although 
community leaders stressed that even though many Lebanese families have 
resided in the country since the 1880s, they still feel alienated from 
the indigenous population.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The constitution does not 
offer protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation. A law 
from 1861 still in force prohibits male homosexual acts; however, there 
is no legal prohibition against female-to-female sex. The 1861 law 
carries a penalty of life imprisonment for indecent assault upon a man 
or 10 years for such an attempted assault. However, the law was not 
enforced in practice due to the secrecy surrounding homosexual conduct 
and the tendency for communities to discriminate against individuals 
rather than to enforce legal codes.
    There were a few organizations working to support gay, bisexual, 
lesbian, and transgender persons. Because such individuals were not 
culturally accepted, particularly among men, the groups had to remain 
underground and hidden for fear of discrimination or violence against 
their members. Gay pride parades and other public displays of 
solidarity could not safely take place. There were unofficial reports 
of beatings by police and others, particularly targeting men dressed as 
women, but formal complaints were not filed due to fear of reprisal. 
Lesbian girls and women were also victims of ``planned rapes'' that 
were initiated by family members in an effort to change their sexual 
orientation.
    Social discrimination based on sexual orientation occurs in nearly 
every facet of life for known gays and lesbians, and many choose to 
have heterosexual relationships and family units to shield them. In the 
areas of employment and education, sexual orientation is the basis for 
abusive treatment, which has led individuals to leave their jobs or 
courses of study. It is difficult for gays and lesbians to receive the 
health services they need, due to fear that their confidentiality 
rights would be ignored if they were honest about their ailments; many 
choose not to be tested or treated for sexually transmitted infections. 
Secure housing is also a problem for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and 
transgender persons. Gay children frequently are shunned by their 
families, leading some to turn to prostitution to survive. Adults can 
lose their leases if their sexual orientation becomes public.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The law prohibits 
discrimination based on actual, perceived, or suspected HIV status; 
however, persons with HIV/AIDS were stigmatized in society. There was 
no official discrimination against HIV/AIDS positive persons, but NGOs 
reported children were denied access to education because of their HIV 
status. HIV/AIDS-positive adults lacked employment and promotion 
opportunities. There were also reports that men often divorced their 
HIV/AIDS-positive wives, leaving them without financial support.
    Reports of violence against HIV/AIDS-positive persons were 
uncommon; families were instead more likely to abandon them. NGOs noted 
that, due to discrimination and stigmatization, those living with HIV/
AIDS sometimes chose suicide rather than facing their communities.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers, in both the 
public and private sectors to join unions of their choice without prior 
authorization or excessive requirements; however, it prohibits civil 
service employees, police, and members of the armed services from 
joining unions. The law allows unions to conduct their activities 
without interference, and the Government generally protected this 
right; however, in some private industries employers were known to 
intimidate workers to prevent them from joining a union. By year's end 
the Government had not granted a bargaining certificate to the Civil 
Servants' Union, whose application had been on file since 1986. 
According to the Ministry of Labor, approximately 35 to 40 percent of 
workers in the formal economy were unionized, including mainly 
agricultural workers, mineworkers, and health workers. Unions have the 
right to strike, although the Government could require 21 days' notice, 
and workers exercised this right in practice. The law does not prohibit 
retaliation against strikers, even when the strike is lawful. In March 
doctors and nurses staged a 10-day strike, and as a result, President 
Koroma agreed to significant salary increases.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for collective bargaining, and the Government generally 
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. Collective bargaining was 
widespread in the formal sector, and most enterprises were covered by 
collective bargaining agreements on wages and working conditions. No 
reliable data was available on the percentage of workers covered by 
collective agreements. There was at least one case where an employer 
did not respect the terms of a collective bargaining agreement. In 
October electrical workers staged a protest at the National Power 
Authority for the authority's failure to implement an agreed-upon wage 
increase.
    The law neither prohibits antiunion discrimination against union 
members nor employer interference in the establishment of unions. In 
March, King's Production Industry of Freetown, a soft-drinks 
manufacturer, laid off 29 workers. All of the laid-off workers were 
members of the Hotel, Food, Drinks, Entertainment, and Tobacco Union, 
which had begun to organize the plant in late 2009.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced and compulsory labor, including by children; however, the 
Government did not effectively enforce the law, and the practice of 
forced labor occurred, particularly in diamond mining. Under the law, 
individual chiefs may impose forced labor as punishment and have done 
so in the past; however, there were no reported occurrences during the 
year. Chiefs also may require villagers to contribute to the 
improvement of common areas, a practice that occurred in rural areas. 
There is no penalty for noncompliance.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at https//www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Child labor is widespread. Almost half of children aged 14-15 years 
were engaged in some form of child labor. The rate varied from 27 
percent in urban areas to 57 percent in rural areas. The law limits 
child labor, allowing light work at age 13, full-time work at age 15, 
and hazardous work at age 18. The law states that children under 13 
should not be employed in any capacity; however, enforcement was not 
effective.
    Provided they have finished schooling, children aged 15 may be 
apprenticed and employed full-time in nonhazardous work. The law also 
proscribes work by any child under 18 between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. The law 
sets health and safety standards and requires school attendance through 
the age of 15, but the Government did not enforce this. Many of the 
laws were not enforced because of lack of knowledge, societal 
perception of children's roles, and poverty.
    In many cases children worked alongside parents or relatives and 
abandoned educational or vocational training. There were no reports 
that authorities conducted any child-labor inspections during the year.
    In rural areas children worked seasonally on family subsistence 
farms. Children also routinely assisted in family businesses and worked 
as petty vendors. Adults engaged street children to sell, steal, and 
beg. Because the adult unemployment rate remained high, few children 
were involved in the industrial sector or elsewhere in the formal 
economy.
    There were reports that foreign employers hired local children to 
work as domestic laborers outside the country at extremely low wages 
and in poor conditions. The Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender, and 
Children's Affairs was responsible for reviewing the issuance of 
passports to minors but did not do so effectively, and the prevalence 
of document fraud made effective government oversight difficult.
    There were reports that children whose parents sent them to friends 
or relatives in urban areas for education were forced to work on the 
street. There also were reports that adults asked orphanages for 
children to be used as household help.
    Many girls, particularly those displaced from their homes and with 
few resources, resorted to prostitution as a means of support.
    In remote villages children were forced to carry heavy loads as 
porters, resulting in stunted growth and development. Children were 
also engaged in sand mining, fishing, hawking, diamond mining, granite 
quarrying, and prostitution. While the law prohibits forced and bonded 
labor by children, the Government did not effectively enforce the law, 
and child labor remained a problem. Forced and child labor occurred in 
diamond mining.
    The Ministry of Labor was responsible for enforcing child labor 
laws. The Ministry of Mineral Resources enforced regulatory 
prohibitions against the worst forms of child labor. The ministry also 
was charged with protecting children working in the diamond mining 
areas; however, enforcement was not effective.
    The Freetown City Council contributed nonfinancial support to 
programs that provided free schooling and services to at-risk youth.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at http//www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum wage, 
covering all occupations including in the informal sector, was set at 
25,000 leones ($6.35) per month, which did not provide a decent 
standard of living for a worker and family. The Ministry of Labor is 
responsible for enforcing the minimum wage, but it lacked the resources 
to do so effectively, and compliance was difficult to monitor in the 
informal sector. Most workers supported an extended family. It was 
common to pool incomes and to supplement wages with subsistence farming 
and child labor.
    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 hiring, and overtime was to be paid if an 
employee's work hours exceeded the standard workweek. There was no 
prohibition on excessive compulsory overtime.
    The Ministry of Health and Sanitation was responsible for setting 
and enforcing health and safety standards. Although the Government set 
these standards, it did not provide 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. 
However, no such actions were reported during the year. Workers who 
removed themselves from dangerous work situations without making a 
formal complaint risked being fired.
    The law protects both foreign and domestic workers; however, there 
were fewer protections for illegal foreign workers.

                               __________

                                SOMALIA

    Somalia\1\ has an estimated population of seven million. The 
territory, which was recognized as the Somali state from 1960 to 1991, 
fragmented into regions led in whole or in part by three distinct 
entities: the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Mogadishu, the 
self-declared Republic of Somaliland in the northwest, and the 
semiautonomous region of Puntland in the northeast. The TFG was formed 
in late 2004, with a five-year transitional mandate to establish 
permanent, representative governmental institutions and organize 
national elections. In January 2009an expanded Transitional Federal 
Parliament (TFP), established under the internationally backed Djibouti 
Peace Process (DPP), extended the TFG's mandate until August 2011 and 
elected Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed as TFG president. The DPP stalled in 
2009 as the Government came under pressure from armed extremist groups 
and the TFG's top leadership engaged in political infighting.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The United States does not have diplomatic representation in 
Somalia, and U.S. government personnel were not permitted to travel 
regularly into any of the territory of the former state of Somalia 
during the year. This report draws in large part on non-U.S. government 
sources.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    On June 26, the Somaliland administration conducted its second 
direct presidential election in five years. On July 2, the Somaliland 
independent national elections commission declared Ahmed Mohamed 
Mohamud ``Silanyo'' as the winner in a presidential election that 
domestic and international observers declared as free and fair.
    Islamist extremists increased attacks on Puntland regional 
officials. During the year 50 senior government officials and security 
officers were killed in roadside bombs and gun violence, mostly in 
Puntland's Bari Region. In Somaliland's disputed Sool and Sanaag 
regions, disaffected sub-clans waged sporadic violence against 
government officials.
    Security forces reported to civilian authorities in the Puntland 
and Somaliland administrations. Even though TFG security forces 
reported to civilian authorities, there were instances in which 
elements of the security forces acted independently of civilian 
control.
    There were reports of several isolated incidents where rogue TFG 
troops and allied militia opened fire on public transport vehicles, 
extorted money at checkpoints, and looted private businesses. In most 
of these cases, other TFG security forces intervened. Puntland security 
forces indiscriminately repatriated internally displaced southern 
Somalis, resulting in family separations and the loss of property and 
business. The administration alleged that the southerners were 
responsible for insecurity in Puntland. Fighting by TFG troops, allied 
militias, and African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) forces against 
antigovernment forces, terrorist groups, and extremist elements 
affected thousands of civilians in Mogadishu. Intermittent resource-
related sub-clan disputes escalated into minor armed conflicts. 
Targeted assassinations continued. Terrorist group al-Shabaab claimed 
responsibility for suicide and roadside bombings against TFG troops, 
government officials, and AMISOM peacekeepers. There were four suicide 
bombings that targeted TFG officials and offices and AMISOM 
installations. Security forces in Puntland and Somaliland reported to 
government authorities, such as the Ministry of Defense. While TFG 
forces reported to government authorities, TFG-allied militia/
paramilitary forces reported to clan or factional militia commanders 
and were outside the control of official authorities. There were 
instances when TFG security forces acted independently of civilian 
control. During the year TFG forces, with AMISOM support, increased the 
amount of TFG-controlled territory in Mogadishu to as much as 60 
percent of the city.
    Despite security and capacity problems, the TFG continued to focus 
on human rights. It designated a human rights official in the Ministry 
of Justice and a Focal Point for Human Rights and Child Protection in 
the Office of the Prime Minister and participated in international 
efforts to encourage better human rights practices. The human rights 
situation in al-Shabaab and allied extremist-controlled areas 
deteriorated further during the year. Absence of effective governance 
institutions and rule of law, the widespread availability of small arms 
and other light weapons, and al-Shabaab's increased enforcement of 
extremist societal norms contributed to a worsening human rights 
situation, particularly in Central and South Somalia.
    Human rights abuses included arbitrary killings, kidnappings, 
torture, rape, amputations, and beatings; official impunity; harsh and 
life-threatening prison conditions; and arbitrary arrest, deportation, 
and detention. In part due to the absence of functioning institutions, 
perpetrators of human rights abuses, mostly in al-Shabaab controlled 
areas of Central and South Somalia, were rarely punished. Denial of a 
fair trial and limited privacy rights were problems, and there were 
restrictions on freedoms of speech, press, assembly, association, 
religion, and movement. Discrimination and violence against women, 
including rape and female genital mutilation; child abuse; recruitment 
of child soldiers; trafficking in persons; abuse of and discrimination 
against clan and religious minorities; restrictions on workers' rights; 
forced labor; and child labor were also problems.
    Members of extremist antigovernment groups, and the al-Shabaab 
terrorist organization, some of whose members were affiliated with al-
Qaida, committed an increasing number of egregious human rights 
violations, including killings of TFG officials and civilians; 
kidnappings and disappearances; attacks on journalists, aid workers, 
civil society leaders, and human rights activists; restrictions on 
freedom of movement; and displacement of civilians. In an August 10 
media release, the UN Independent Expert (UNIE) on the Situation of 
Human Rights in Somalia listed as human rights abuses: ``summary 
executions, including beheadings of innocent people, amputations, 
flogging, whipping, forcible marriage of young girls to militiamen, use 
of civilians as human shields, imposition of the strictest dress code 
on women and prohibition of the use of public mass media, and the bans 
imposed on listening to music and public gathering, all with lack of 
due process.''
                        respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        From:

    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--The TFG or its 
agents did not commit any politically motivated killings. However, 
there were several reports that the TFG or its agents committed 
arbitrary or unlawful killings. Security forces reportedly killed 
several drivers of public transport vehicles and passengers at 
Mogadishu checkpoints. There were no reports that Somaliland and 
Puntland administrations or their agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.
    Fighting between TFG forces and allied militias against extremist 
antigovernment groups resulted in at least 2,000 civilian deaths in 
Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab and other extremist groups committed political 
killings and assassinations in Puntland and the South and Central 
Regions of Somalia (see section 1.g.).
    Politically motivated killings by extremist antigovernment elements 
and terrorist organizations resulted in the deaths of approximately 10 
senior TFG officials, including members of parliament and security 
officials (see section 1.g.).
    Prominent peace activists, community leaders, clan elders, and 
their family members became targets and were killed or injured for 
their roles in attempted peace building. There were no reports of 
government involvement in these killings, but the Government neither 
identified nor was capable of punishing the perpetrators. Reports 
indicated that al-Shabaab and its affiliated militias were behind many 
of these killings. On June 27, unknown gunmen killed a father and his 
son in Elasha Biyaha locality near Mogadishu. The victims reportedly 
worked with a local telecommunications company. On June 29, unknown 
assailants shot and killed Abdi Mohamed Kahiye, a well-known 
businessman in the Bakara market. Kahiye reportedly was targeted for 
his critical views of al-Shabaab and insurgent group Hisbul Islam who 
control the market. On August 15, unidentified armed men killed Mohamed 
Tahlil Warsame, chairman of the Council of Somali Peace Seekers, in 
Elasha Biyaha. On several occasions, al-Shabaab leaders issued death 
threats against anyone working for or suspected of having links to the 
TFG.
    There were no reports that the Government summarily executed 
persons during the year and no reports that excessive force by the TFG 
resulted in the death of demonstrators.
    Unlike in 2009, there were no reports of excessive force by 
Somaliland government forces resulting in the deaths of demonstrators.
    There were no reports of government forces deliberately killing 
street children; however, children were caught in crossfire during 
fighting between forces.
    Throughout the year militants periodically fired mortars at Villa 
Somalia, the presidential palace in Mogadishu. On July 1, an improvised 
explosive device detonated inside a meeting hall in the presidency a 
few hours before a planned ceremony for Somalia's 50th Independence Day 
anniversary. On August 30, al-Shabaab mortars hit the presidential 
palace compound, killing four AMISOM peacekeepers. Several other mortar 
attacks on the president's residence landed in surrounding 
neighborhoods, causing civilian deaths, injuries, destruction of 
property, and displacement. In August and September, an al-Shabaab 
offensive in Mogadishu resulted in high civilian casualties and new 
displacements. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated 
230 civilians were killed, 400 injured, and 23,000 displaced from their 
homes during the first two weeks of fighting. In April 2009 a mortar 
attack on the parliament building in Mogadishu killed a police officer 
and three children and wounded several other persons. In May 2009 
mortar attacks on the police academy killed and wounded civilians in 
the vicinity. In September 2009 groups associated with al-Shabaab 
launched mortar attacks on a disabled veterans' home, killing an 
estimated 11 and wounding 20; al-Shabaab claimed responsibility.
    Fighting among armed moderate and extremist religious factions as 
well as between extremists themselves caused hundreds of civilian 
casualties and displacements. On April 27, for example, clashes between 
the TFG-allied Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama'a (ASWJ), a historically 
nonpolitical moderate Islamic organization, and al-Shabaab in Mogadishu 
killed an estimated 15 civilians and injured 50 others. Most of the 
civilian casualties were caused by mortar exchanges between the two 
groups. On June 2, several persons were killed in clashes between ASWJ 
and al-Shabaab in Marergur, Galgaduud Region.
    Senior members of the TFG were killed. For example, on May 9, 
unknown gunman shot and killed Ali Yare, deputy police chief of 
Darkenley police station in Mogadishu. On July 9, Salad Hared Farah, 
spokesman for TFG militia in parts of Hiraan Region, was killed in 
Beledweyne; al-Shabaab in Beledweyne claimed responsibility.
    On August 24, two al-Shabaab gunmen disguised in TFG military 
uniforms killed 31, including four members of parliament (MPs), at the 
Hotel Muna in Mogadishu's Hamarweyne District. On September 9, AMISOM 
peacekeepers disrupted an al-Shabaab attack on a meeting of TFG and 
international officials at Mogadishu airport. Three peacekeepers and 
several civilians were killed in the gunfire and suicide explosions.
    During the year several Puntland officials were also killed. For 
example, on January 5, unknown gunmen shot and killed Abdullahi Ali 
Osman, a Puntland MP, as he left a mosque in Bossaso. Police arrested 
two suspects. On July 10, a roadside bomb killed four Bossaso port 
security police and wounded eight.
    Islamic extremists imposed strict social edicts resulting in the 
deaths of several persons.
    During the year unknown assailants killed two journalist and media 
owners (see section 2.a.).
    Attacks on humanitarian workers, nongovernmental organization (NGO) 
employees, and foreign peacekeepers resulted in deaths during the year 
(see section 5).
    Hundreds of civilians were killed in inter- or intra-clan militia 
clashes throughout the country. The killings resulted from clan 
militias fighting for political power and control of territory and 
resources; revenge attacks; banditry and other criminal activity; 
private disputes over property and marriage; and vendettas after 
incidents such as rape, family disagreements, killings, and abductions. 
Authorities investigated very few of these cases, and there were few 
reports that any of the cases resulted in formal action by the local 
justice system.
    Despite local efforts to mitigate interclan conflicts, Galkayo and 
surrounding nomadic villages experienced the most severe and frequent 
armed clashes in the country. An estimated 100 civilians were killed 
and hundreds others displaced from their homesteads in water and land 
resource-related reprisal attacks during the year. Intermittent 
intraclan armed clashes over resource sharing were also reported in 
other parts of the Mudug Region, as well as in remote villages between 
Burao and Buuhoodle towns, in Bari Region, and in parts of Bay, Lower 
and Middle Shabelle, Hiraan, and Galgaduud regions, resulting in 
several civilian deaths.
    No action was taken against security force or militia members who 
committed killings in 2009 or 2008, and there was little progress in 
the investigations of killings reported in previous years. On January 
17, a Bossaso court found Abdinassir Ahmed Ali guilty of the November 
2009 killing of Judge Mohamed Abdi Warabe and sentenced him to death by 
firing squad. Two accomplices were sentenced to jail terms of three and 
10 years. On August 12, residents of Jurile village, 70 miles south of 
Bossaso, awarded compensation to the victim of an unjustified 1996 
vigilante killing.
    Land mines throughout the country caused numerous civilian deaths 
(see section 1.g.).

    b. Disappearance.--During the year there were no reports of 
politically motivated disappearances, although these types of 
disappearances could have easily been concealed due to overall 
insecurity in the country. Abduction as a tactic in clan disputes, 
however, was reported but less frequently than in previous years. The 
Somali NGO Safety Preparedness and Support Program reported a decreased 
incidence of kidnapping, in part because of fewer international staff 
in the country.
    Clan militia groups and criminal gangs made ransom demands on 
abductees or demanded property or hostage exchanges as preconditions to 
the release of abductees. Unlike the previous years where the majority 
of reported kidnappings were in the southern regions of Somalia, 
especially in areas surrounding Mogadishu, most kidnappings were 
reported in the Sool and Sanaag and Mudug regions. Two NGO workers were 
kidnapped during the year (see section 5).
    There was a general decline in the number of maritime piracy 
attacks and the kidnapping of ship crew in the first quarter of the 
year in the Gulf of Aden as a result of international antipiracy 
efforts and cooperation of the shipping industry. However, the number 
of successful piracy attacks increased in the second half of the year 
and continued to complicate humanitarian efforts to provide essential 
commodities to thousands of people in need (see section 1.g.). Sources 
from international NGOs suggested that pirates were holding 
approximately 20 vessels and 630 persons at year's end.
    Government officials did not undertake investigations into or 
actions against kidnappers. According to the UN Office for the 
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), 10 aid workers, the 
majority kidnapped in previous years, still remained in captivity at 
year's end.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The Transitional Federal Charter (TFC) prohibits torture. 
The Puntland Charter, also referred to as the Puntland interim 
constitution, prohibits torture ``unless sentenced by Islamic Sharia 
courts in accordance with Islamic law.'' There were no reports of the 
use of torture by TFG, Puntland, or Somaliland administrations during 
the year. Various clan militias, al-Shabaab, and Hisbul Islam continued 
to torture their rivals and civilians.
    Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of police raping 
women; however, there continued to be reports of irregular/clan 
militias using rape to punish and intimidate rivals. Rape was commonly 
perpetrated in interclan conflicts.
    There were no reports of TFG, Puntland, or Somaliland authorities 
taking action against persons or groups responsible for torturing, 
beating, raping, or otherwise abusing persons.
    During the year TFG officials were victims of assassination 
attempts. On May 27, the TFG's humanitarian affairs minister Mohamamud 
Abdi Ibrahim survived a roadside explosion. The minister's car was in a 
convoy transporting two other ministers at the time of the explosion. 
Three of the minister's security team and a child and an adult near the 
site of the explosion were injured.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions remained 
harsh and life threatening in all regions. Overcrowding, poor sanitary 
conditions, lack of access to health care, and inadequate food and 
water persisted in prisons throughout the country. Tuberculosis, HIV/
AIDS, and pneumonia were widespread. Abuse by guards was common. 
Detainees' families and clans generally were expected to pay the costs 
of detention. In many areas prisoners depended on food received from 
family members or from relief agencies.
    As a result of the worsening security situation and infiltration of 
violent extremists in TFG-controlled parts of Mogadishu, TFG police 
arrested suspects in security operations. However, there were fewer 
prisoners and detainees held in TFG prisons than in previous years. TFG 
prison officials reported that there were an estimated 400 prisoners 
held at Mogadishu central prison. As part of their efforts to 
strengthen the rule of law and improve security in Somalia, in mid-
September official foreign donors sponsored training for the TFG Police 
Advisory Committee (PAC) held in South Africa. PAC is a civilian 
oversight authority established to ensure prisoners and detainees are 
treated in accordance with international human rights standards.
    There have been no reports of TFG-allied militias operating 
detention centers since the end of Abdullahi Yusuf's regime in 2008. 
Antigovernment extremist elements and clan leaders, however, reportedly 
continued to operate detention centers in which conditions were harsh 
and guards frequently abused detainees. Al-Shabaab and affiliated 
extremist armed groups operated dilapidated detention centers in areas 
under their control in the south and central regions. Although there 
were no official numbers, informal/unpublished sources estimated that 
thousands were incarcerated throughout extremist-controlled areas in 
inhumane conditions for relatively minor offenses such as smoking, 
listening to music, watching or playing soccer, and not wearing the 
hijab. There were no reports by human rights organizations and civil 
society leaders in Mogadishu of the existence of makeshift detention 
centers in Mogadishu where prisoners were held during and after 
episodes of heavy fighting.
    In prisons and detention centers, juveniles frequently were held 
with adults. The incarceration of juveniles at the request of families 
who wanted their children disciplined continued to be a major problem. 
Female prisoners were separated from males. Particularly in the south 
central region, pretrial detainees were often not separated from 
convicted prisoners.
    The Puntland and Somaliland administrations permitted prison visits 
by independent monitors. A September 2009 report by the UNIE described 
conditions at Puntland's Garowe central prison as ``terribly bad'' due 
to lack of capacity. The updated March 23 UNIE report referred to 
``terrible detention conditions of the central prison in Garowe, in 
particular keeping prisoners in shackles.''
    Somaliland authorities and the UN Development Program (UNDP) set up 
an independent prisoner monitoring committee. The UNDP also trained the 
prison custodial corps on human rights. There were no visits by the 
International Committee of the Red Cross to prisons in the country 
during the year; however, a prisons conditions management committee 
organized by UNDP and composed of medical doctors, government 
officials, and civil society representatives continued to visit prisons 
in Somaliland. During the year UNDP managed a program to improve 
Somaliland prisons by building new facilities and assisting in training 
wardens and judicial officials.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--In the absence of enforced 
constitutional or other legal protections, the TFG, its allied 
militias, and various clan militias across the country continued to 
engage in arbitrary arrest and detention without due process. Although 
precise figures were unobtainable, local human rights organizations and 
international organizations reported that, although there were fewer 
arrests than the previous years, the TFG continued to arrest and detain 
persons, most of whom were quickly released. There were no allegations 
that these detainees were subjected to beatings, mistreatment, or 
torture.
    In the wake of increased extremist-instigated insecurity in 
Bossaso, Puntland, security forces reportedly arbitrarily arrested 
people, especially immediately after security incidents. The victims of 
arbitrary arrests in Puntland were mostly journalists and Somalis from 
the South. While arbitrary arrest or detention was a common phenomenon 
in the previous Somaliland government, there was none reported during 
the year.
    Al-Shabaab and Hisbul Islam militias across the south central 
region arbitrarily arrested persons and detained them without charge.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The police were 
generally ineffective, underpaid, and corrupt. With the possible 
exception of a few UN-trained police known as the Somali Police Unit, 
members of the TFG titular police forces in Mogadishu often directly 
participated in politically based conflict and owed their positions 
largely to clan and familial links rather than to government 
authorities. There were no allegations of TFG security officials 
engaging in extrajudicial killings; however, as in previous years, 
there were some media reports of TFG troops engaging in indiscriminate 
firing on civilians, arbitrary arrest and detention, extortion, 
looting, and harassment.
    In all three regions, abuse by police and militia members were 
rarely investigated, and a culture of impunity remained a problem. 
Police generally failed to prevent or respond to societal violence.

    Arrest and Detention.--Judicial systems were not well established, 
were not based upon codified law, did not function, or simply did not 
exist in most areas of the country. The country's previously codified 
law requires warrants based on sufficient evidence issued by authorized 
officials for the apprehension of suspects; prompt notification of 
charges and judicial determinations; prompt access to lawyers and 
family members; and other legal protections for the detained; however, 
adherence to these procedural safeguards was rare. There was no 
functioning bail system or the equivalent.
    Arbitrary arrest was a problem countrywide.
    Authorities in Puntland arbitrarily arrested journalists (see 
section 2.a.). Al-Shabaab and associated militia routinely arrested and 
threatened journalists as well.
    There were no reports of TFG forces arresting journalists, NGO 
workers, or UN employees (see section 4). Similarly, there were no 
reports of TFG-allied militia arresting persons at random and demanding 
``bail'' from their family members as a condition for their release. 
However, media reports indicate that TFG security forces and corrupt 
judicial officers, politicians, and clan elders used their influence 
and monetary inducements to set detainees free from allegations of 
petty and extreme crimes.
    Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of politically 
motivated arrests in Somaliland. Authorities in Somaliland, Puntland, 
and the TFG arrested or detained numerous persons accused of terrorism 
and of supporting al-Shabaab.
    Extremist elements also arrested and detained persons in their 
areas of control. For example, on January 25, Hisbul Islam militia 
arrested three traditional elders for allegedly holding unauthorized 
meetings with residents of Hakow village in the Lower Shabelle Region. 
The elders were moved to and detained at Toratorow town before their 
release on January 27 after the intercession of other elders. On April 
17, armed al-Shabaab militia in Baidoa arrested Alin Hilowle, program 
officer of the Isha Human Rights Organization, and detained him at an 
undisclosed location. It was later confirmed that Hilowle was 
transferred to Mogadishu where he was reportedly tortured into 
confessing that he had been compiling and relaying information 
regarding al-Shabaab human rights abuses in Bay and Bakol regions. 
There were unconfirmed media reports that Hilowle escaped from al-
Shabaab custody in early October after they allowed him to attend the 
burial of one of his sons in Baioda under tight security. Hilowle's 
whereabouts remained unknown.
    On August 11, Hisbul Islam militia arrested Haji Jaylani Moalim, a 
renowned herbalist, and three of his children at their home and 
detained them without charge. The family was released after one week in 
custody.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The TFC provides for an 
independent judiciary, but there was no functioning judicial system for 
the TFG to administer.
    The TFC provides for a high commission of justice, a Supreme Court, 
a court of appeal, and courts of first instance; however, in practice 
no such courts exist. Some regions established local courts that 
depended on the predominant local clan and associated factions for 
their authority. The judiciary in most areas relied on some combination 
of elements from traditional and customary law, Sharia, and the penal 
code of the pre-1991 Said Barre government. In May 2009 President 
Sheikh Sharif ratified a parliamentary bill establishing Sharia 
nationwide; however, at year's end there were no official institutions 
charged with the administration of Sharia. In August 2009 President 
Sharif established a military court for members of the TFG armed 
forces, but this court did not operate in practice. In areas that al-
Shabaab controlled, Sharia was enforced; however, there were no trained 
Sharia judges to preside over cases. Al-Shabaab's interpretation of 
Sharia law resulted in uneven and at times draconian sentencing. For 
example, on July 26, al-Shabaab militia publicly flogged a young man 
and woman in Mogadishu's Livestock Market in the Huriwaa district for 
allegedly having sexual intercourse outside of wedlock. An al-Shabaab 
``judge'' announced that the young woman confessed to the relationship, 
and she was consequently whipped 100 lashes. The young man denied the 
charges and was subsequently whipped 30 lashes.
    The Somaliland constitution provides for an independent judiciary; 
however, the judiciary was not independent in practice. The Somaliland 
constitution is based on democratic principles, but the region 
continued to use laws that predate the constitution, some of which 
contradict democratic principles. Functional courts exist, although 
there was a serious lack of trained judges and a shortage of legal 
documentation to build judicial precedence. Untrained police and other 
unqualified persons reportedly served as judges. International NGOs 
reported that local officials often interfered in legal matters and 
that the Public Order Law in Somaliland was often used to detain and 
incarcerate persons without trial.
    The Puntland interim constitution provides for an independent 
judiciary; however, the judiciary was not independent in practice. The 
charter also provides for a Supreme Court, courts of appeal, and courts 
of first instance. Despite having some functionality, these courts 
lacked the capacity to provide equal protection under the law.
    Traditional clan elders mediated and resolved intra- and inter-clan 
conflicts throughout the country. During the year traditional elders in 
Somaliland intervened in political disputes between the Government and 
opposition political parties. Clans and sub-clans frequently used 
traditional justice, which was swift. Traditional judgments sometimes 
held entire opposing clans or sub-clans responsible for alleged 
violations by individuals.

    Trial Procedures.--Without a functioning judicial system, there 
were no standard trial procedures in the southern and central regions. 
The TFC provides for the right of every person to legal proceedings in 
a competent court. The TFC states every person enjoys the presumption 
of innocence, the right to be present and consult with an attorney at 
any time, and adequate time and facilities to prepare a defense. It 
also provides a guarantee of free legal services for individuals who 
cannot afford them. While not explicitly mentioned in the TFC, there 
was a presumption of the right to a public trial and jury, rights 
pertaining to witnesses and evidence, and the right of appeal. Most of 
these rights were not respected in practice and did not exist in those 
areas that applied traditional and customary practices or Sharia.
    With the support of UNDP programs addressing judicial reform, 
Somaliland registered some improvement, except in cases of a political 
nature. Defendants generally enjoyed a presumption of innocence, the 
right to a public trial, and the right to be present and consult with 
an attorney in all stages of criminal proceedings. Defendants can 
question witnesses and present witnesses and evidence on their behalf 
and have the right of appeal. Somaliland provides free legal 
representation for defendants who face serious criminal charges and are 
unable to hire the services of a private attorney. Authorities in this 
region did not recognize the TFC and continued to apply the Somaliland 
constitution and pre-1991 laws. However, a worrying trend of regional 
and district security committees circumventing due process by ordering 
arrests and issuing sentences continued. Reportedly, hundreds of 
persons were serving varying prisons terms imposed by security 
committees.
    In Puntland, clan elders resolved the majority of cases using 
traditional methods known as Xeer; those with no clan representation in 
Puntland, however, were subject to the administration's more formalized 
judicial system. In this system, as outlined in Puntland's interim 
constitution, defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence, the right to 
a public trial, and the right to be present and consult with an 
attorney at all stages of criminal proceedings. Defendants can question 
witnesses and present witnesses and evidence on their behalf and have 
the right of appeal. There were numerous alleged instances of political 
and executive interference in the determination of high-profile 
political or security cases, especially concerning journalists. As in 
the other regions, the constitution stipulates that free legal 
representation be provided for defendants who cannot afford an 
attorney; in practice, these and other rights were not respected.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no official reports 
of political prisoners or detainees, although some arrests and 
detentions, especially in Somaliland, appeared to be politically 
motivated. In September 2009 there were reports that Somaliland 
authorities arrested and detained more than 100 persons, including 
several opposition leaders, after four persons were killed during 
demonstrations in Hargeisa. In August an estimated 270 prisoners, 
including those arrested in September 2009, were released from 
Somaliland prisons through a presidential amnesty.
    Somaliland's Parliamentary Committee on Justice and Constitution 
reported in March that half of the 765 prisoners and remandees held in 
the Mandheera Prison were detained on the orders of regional or 
district security committees. There was no information available for 
instances of political prisoners in either Puntland or TFG controlled 
areas.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The inability of the 
judiciary to handle civil cases involving such matters as defaulted 
loans or other contract disputes encouraged clans to take matters into 
their own hands and led to increased inter-clan conflict. There were no 
lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of human rights violations 
due to the inadequate, nonexistent, and/or routinely corrupt court 
system. With the breakdown of the rule of law and the lack of a 
coherent legal system or effective government, individuals were not 
afforded adequate protection or recourse.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The TFC provides for the sanctity of private property 
and privacy. Unlike previous years, there was a reduction in reports of 
both TFG and extremist militia involved in looting, land seizure, and 
forced entry into homes in Mogadishu and elsewhere with impunity. The 
Puntland interim constitution and the Somaliland constitution recognize 
the right to private property. There were no reports of authorities in 
those regions infringing on these rights.
    On July 7, TFG-allied militia looted and forcefully extorted money 
from small-scale traders in Mogadishu's Wadjir District. The TFG did 
not take action against the perpetrators. Although there were fewer 
reported cases of TFG militia and allied forces extorting money from 
taxi, bus, and truck drivers, the practice continued during the year, 
at times resulting in civilian deaths. For example, on April 16, a TFG 
militia member at the Mogadishu-Afgooye Road checkpoint killed a 
passenger and wounded a driver following a disagreement.

    g. Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts.--
Killings.--Fighting during the year between TFG and allied forces 
against al-Shabaab and Hisbul Islam resulted in the deaths of more than 
2,000 civilians throughout Somalia. In Mogadishu, al-Shabaab conducted 
almost daily attacks and offensives against the TFG and AMISOM; there 
were numerous media reports of civilian deaths from TFG and AMISOM 
forces responding to these attacks. According to the Mogadishu-based 
Elman Human Rights Organization, violence in Mogadishu killed an 
estimated 918 civilians. According to Lifeline, a Mogadishu-based local 
human rights organization that provides free ambulances to Mogadishu 
residents, 5,814 civilian injuries were reported during the year. On 
January 14, al-Shabaab launched an attack on the presidential palace, 
killing 21 civilians and injuring 30.On January 31, a barrage of TFG/
AMISOM mortar attacks against militant positions in Yaqshiid and 
Huriwaa districts of Mogadishu killed 14 and injured 50 civilians. On 
June 3, clashes between al-Shabaab and the TFG in Mogadishu killed 20 
and injured an estimated 80 civilians. Conflicts in various parts of 
the country displaced thousands of people throughout the year.
    All parties to the conflict reportedly employed indiscriminate 
lethal tactics; generally, no action was taken against those 
responsible for the violence. Antigovernment and extremist groups, 
particularly al-Shabaab, were responsible for launching mortar attacks 
from hidden sites within civilian populated areas and using civilians 
as human shields. For example, on November 17, artillery gunfire 
between AMISOM and extremist groups killed at least 21 civilians in 
Mogadishu. In addition, extremist groups conducted suicide bombings; 
used land mines and remote-controlled roadside bombs; and conducted 
targeted killings of journalists, aid workers, and civil society 
leaders. TFG and AMISOM forces responded to these attacks, which 
sometimes resulted in shelling of civilian-populated areas. 
International human rights observers accused all parties to the 
conflict of indiscriminate attacks, deployment of forces in densely 
populated areas, and a failure to take steps to minimize civilian harm.
    Since the collapse of the Government in 1991, tens of thousands of 
persons, mostly noncombatants, have died in interclan and intraclan 
fighting and factional armed conflict. For example, on April 25, al-
Shabaab launched mortar attacks on TFG troop's positions, and TFG 
counterattacks killed 16 and injured more than 30 civilians.
    Al-Shabaab and other extremist groups summarily executed an unknown 
number of persons whom they accused of spying for the ``enemy''--the 
TFG and AMISOM--and other specious charges in Somalia's South and 
Central regions. On May 26, for example, an al-Shabaab firing squad 
executed Mohamed Gaboobe, whom al-Shabaab had accused of murder. On 
July 1, al-Shabaab militia executed 20-year-old Mohamed Guleid Hosh, 
who was accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad. In January 2009 al-
Shabaab publicly executed by firing squad Abdirahaman Haji Mohamed 
``Waldire'' after an al-Shabaab court convicted him of espionage and 
apostasy; Ahmed was a prominent Juba Region politician and militia 
leader. On September 28, al-Shabaab publicly executed two young men in 
Mogadishu after an al-Shabaab court convicted them of espionage. On 
July 9, al-Shabaab publicly executed 38-year-old former TFG military 
trainer Ibrahim Abdikadir Hasan by firing squad in Baidoa. Hassan was 
arrested in March on charges of being a spy for Ethiopia. Similarly, 
extremist armed groups in the Juba, Bay, and Bakol regions arrested and 
beheaded several persons they accused of spying. For example, on 
November 10, al-Shabaab militia beheaded four people in Waradhumale in 
Galgaduud Region for their association with ASWJ, a group they 
perceived as having strong ties with the TFG. In addition, on October 
27, al-Shabaab executed two teenage girls, Ayan Mohamed Jama, 18, and 
Huriyo Ibrahim, 15, in the al-Shabaab-controlled town of Belet Weyne 
after an al-Shabaab ``judge'' sentenced the girls to death for spying. 
They were executed while blindfolded and handcuffed after a hearing in 
which no evidence was presented nor was legal representation allowed.
    In July 2009 al-Shabaab from Bay and Bakol regions beheaded an 
elderly disabled man after removing his eyes. In a move to frighten and 
intimidate the citizenry, al-Shabaab reportedly fitted the man's 
spectacles on his dismembered head and publicly displayed it. On July 
26, Hisbul Islam militia in Afgoe, Lower Shabelle, executed a man 
accused of defiling a 12-year-old girl. The man was buried waist-deep 
and pelted with stones until he died. As was common in public 
executions, the militia rounded up members of the community to compel 
them to witness the execution.
    Roadside bombings, suicide attacks, and armed raids targeting TFG 
officials and sympathizers as well as civil society groups continued 
throughout the year. Antigovernment extremist groups were responsible 
for numerous killings of government officials and police. Politically 
motivated killings by al-Shabaab and its affiliates resulted in the 
deaths of several TFG officials and members of the Banadir regional 
administration, including district commissioners and their deputies and 
security and court officials.
    Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for several attacks against the 
TFG and its supporters during the year. For example, on May 24, al-
Shabaab claimed responsibility for a landmine explosion at a TFG 
checkpoint in Mogadishu's Buula Hubeey neighborhood that killed three 
TFG soldiers and injured four. The explosion also injured two children. 
On June 9, an explosion of a remote-controlled device killed nine TFG 
police on foot patrol near the police academy, in Mogadishu's Hamar 
Jajab District. Seven civilians were also killed in the attack. On 
August 17, a remote-controlled roadside explosion targeting Guriel 
District Commissioner Osman Isse Nur ``Tar-dhuleed'' injured two of his 
children who were riding in the car with him. ASWJ militia arrested 10 
suspects in the attack.
    The TFG's Waberi police station commander was killed during August 
23 to 25 clashes between the TFG and al-Shabaab. On August 24, an al-
Shabaab armed raid and subsequent suicide attack on a Mogadishu hotel 
killed 31 persons, including four MPs. On September 20, AMISOM 
peacekeepers killed a lone gunman reportedly on a suicide mission as he 
tried to gain access to the presidential palace. The gunman belonged to 
extremist group Hisbul Islam and reportedly intended to kill his uncle, 
the interior minister. Unlike in 2009, there were no reports of al-
Shabaab taking TFG forces hostage or summarily executing any security 
officers.
    There were no reported cases of TFG security forces killing 
civilians whom they suspected of planning attacks or giving information 
to antigovernment forces, as was common in previous years; however, 
civilians were killed or injured during clashes between members of the 
TFG's security forces and affiliated militia in parts of Mogadishu. For 
example, on February 10, armed clashes between TFG police and military 
killed four and wounded several others in Hamar Jajab District. On 
April 28, crossfire among TFG militia in Wadajir District reportedly 
killed three and wounded another seven. Similar clashes in Madena 
District the following day killed two persons and wounded five. On June 
28, fighting between TFG-allied militia along Mogadishu's Afgooye-
Mogadishu road killed two persons. Clashes erupted when the militia 
disagreed over extortion fees collected from vehicles at a check point. 
Such intra-TFG militia clashes reportedly occurred when other security 
forces intervened to stop looting and extortion, when militia disagreed 
on the sharing of the loot, or over unpaid allowances.
    Unlike in previous years, security forces did not kill persons 
waiting for food aid.
    No action was taken against security officials responsible for 
civilian deaths during the year.
    During the year TFG forces and AMISOM peacekeepers disrupted 
several al-Shabaab attempts to topple the TFG from power. For example, 
on April 27, AMISOM peacekeepers destroyed an explosives-laden truck as 
it approached an AMISOM base in Mogadishu. All three suicide bombers in 
the truck were killed, and two peacekeepers were injured. On September 
9, al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for twin suicide truck bomb 
explosions near the Mogadishu international airport. AMISOM reportedly 
shot five bomb-strapped al-Shabaab militia as they tried to sneak into 
the airport during the resulting mayhem. Four civilians and three 
peacekeepers were killed in the attack.
    In 2009 al-Shabaab killed nearly 120 persons and injured 
approximately 200, mostly civilians, in eight suicide attacks against 
TFG and AMISOM targets. Of these, the December 2009 suicide bombing at 
the Benadir University graduation was the deadliest; the attack killed 
22 civilians, including three TFG ministers, and injured as many as 50 
other civilians.
    Few cases of land mines and unexploded ordinance (UXO) were 
reported during the year compared with 2009. However, antipersonnel and 
antitank land mines, most of them remotely controlled, were frequently 
deployed by antigovernment groups against TFG forces, its allied 
militias, and civilians. For example, on September 1, a landmine 
explosion along Mogadishu's industrial road killed an estimated nine 
and injured 25, all of them passengers on three public transport 
vehicles.
    On January 7, a remotely detonated landmine blew up a car in a 
convoy of vehicles transporting General Mohamed Gele Kahiye, TFG 
military chief, killing two of his security guards and injuring six 
soldiers. On July 26, extremist groups targeted TFG Mogadishu 
administrators with two bombs, causing several civilian casualties. Two 
TFG soldiers were killed and four wounded in a roadside explosion which 
went off in the Alqalow neighborhood in Wadajir District. A similar 
attack on TFG troops on patrol killed three and injured two.
    On August 4, a bomb killed eight women and injured many others 
working in an employment program to clean up areas of Mogadishu. This 
was the second time female volunteers were targeted in Mogadishu.
    Armed extremists' destruction of Sufi shrines degenerated into 
attacks on places of worship. In purported intra-extremist violence on 
May 1, twin explosions inside a packed mosque in Mogadishu's Bakara 
market killed 45 worshippers and injured an estimated 100, including 
top leaders of al-Shabaab and its allied militia. Another mosque attack 
on May 2 killed two and injured 13 after prayers in the al-Shabaab-
controlled port town of Kismayo.
    Attacks on and harassment of humanitarian, religious, and NGO 
workers resulted in numerous deaths during the year.
    Unlike previous years when UXO killed several children, there were 
no reported incidents of children killed or injured in UXO-related 
accidents. However, violence in Mogadishu affected many children. 
According to UNOCHA, the World Health Organization estimated 262 
children were among the 1,025 patients treated in the two main 
hospitals in Mogadishu.
    Land mines killed or injured police officers and local 
administrators. For example, on May 12, former Mogadishu governor 
Mohamed Omar Habeeb ``Mohamed Dheere'' escaped a roadside explosion. 
The explosion killed one and injured three of his guards. On May 24, a 
remote-controlled roadside bomb intended for Middle Shabelle Governor 
Mohamud Ali ``Jowhar'' injured one of his assistants. On May 27, a 
roadside explosion targeting a government minister's convoy in the KM4 
area of Mogadishu killed one civilian and wounded two children.
    On November 3, a landmine explosion killed several nomadic people 
and injured others in Ilguule, Guriel District, after it blew up a 
vehicle they were travelling in. On December 5, three people were 
injured in a landmine explosion that destroyed a vehicle in Goldogob, 
Mudug Region.

    Physical Abuse, Punishment, and Torture.--On April 26, in 
Mogadishu's Deyniile District, al-Shabaab chopped off the right hand of 
an alleged thief and executed an accused murderer. An al-Shabaab 
``Sharia'' judge claimed Shiine Abukar Hersi, whose right hand was 
amputated, was charged with stealing used bedding. An al-Shabaab firing 
squad executed Mohamed Ahmed Qasim, whom the al-Shabaab judge accused 
of murder. On July 16, al-Shabaab militia amputated the right hands of 
two young men in Balad. The al-Shabaab court convicted the two, Murshid 
Ahmed Adan and Hassan Omar Mohamed, of robbery. The al-Shabaab judge 
claimed Aden and Mohamed confessed to stealing 45 million Somali 
shillings ($1,400) and two million Somali shillings ($60) respectively. 
As in previous years, al-Shabaab carried out these amputations and 
other violent physical punishment in front of community members whom 
they forced to attend. Al-Shabaab carried out numerous other crude 
punishments on specious grounds in areas under their control in South 
and Central Somalia.
    Al-Shabaab used torture on TFG members and individuals suspected to 
be sympathetic to the Government.
    Unlike previous years, there were no reports of extremist groups 
using crude weapons to cause physical and psychological harm. In 2009 
al-Shabaab militia reportedly molded plastic into sharp tools that they 
used as torture instruments.
    On August 16, a passerby rescued an unconscious man who was dumped 
in Dayniile. The man indicated that al-Shabaab militia members had 
abducted him and two others from their workplace in the Bakara market 
and cut out their tongues; the two other men had already bled to death. 
Al-Shabaab targeted them on suspicion that they were spies. On April 
24, five headless bodies were found in Mogadishu; residents identified 
the victims as construction workers who participated in the renovation 
of Somalia's former parliament building. Observers believed that al-
Shabaab targeted these men for ``aiding the enemy.''

    Child Soldiers.--The recruitment and use of children in militias 
and other fighting forces was a longstanding practice in the country 
and continued during the year. Without established birth registration 
systems, it was often difficult to determine the exact age of persons, 
including recruits to armed groups. The July 2009 report of the UN 
Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict cited the 
TFG, Ahlu Sunna wal Jama'a, al-Shabaab, Hisbul Islam, clans, and the 
Puntland regional administration as continuously recruiting children 
into their militias. In May the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the 
Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) 
for Children and Armed Conflict reported an increase in the recruitment 
of children, some as young as nine, in armed conflict in Somalia. In 
response, TFG Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed committed his 
government to eradicating the practice in a meeting with this SRSG and 
agreed to designate a focal point to work with the UN to pave the way 
towards the signing of an action plan and an official agreement to 
secure and verify the release of child soldiers.
    The TFG did not conscript or condone the recruitment of child 
soldiers for use by its National Security Force or allied fighting 
units. However, there were reports that a small number of under-age 
persons remained associated with TFG forces, and the TFG pledged to 
address this issue comprehensively. Children were most heavily 
recruited and forcibly conscripted by clan militias and antigovernment 
groups.
    Al-Shabaab conscripted children into armed conflict and military 
operations in addition to using them to plant roadside bombs and other 
explosive devices. According to the UN, al-Shabaab recruited children 
as young as eight from schools and madrassas and trained them to plant 
bombs and carry out assassinations for financial reward. In May 2009 
TFG police arrested 11 minors who had been kidnapped in Lower Shabelle 
Region and forced into al-Shabaab militias. All of the children were 
subsequently released to their parents or guardians. In Kismayo, 
Baidoa, and Merka, al-Shabaab forced boys 15 and older to fight as 
``mujahedeen'' or face execution. In 2009 al-Shabaab killed an 
estimated 16 teenagers after they refused to become al-Shabaab 
fighters.
    Because of the risk in intervening directly with militia groups, 
UNICEF protection partners engaged in low-profile condemnation of child 
recruitment while undertaking public education and youth empowerment 
initiatives. UNICEF also assisted the TFG in preparing an action plan 
that would include measures to screen its troops, as well as establish 
mechanisms to prevent further child recruitment.
    The Somaliland constitution contains no minimum age for recruitment 
into the armed forces, but there were no reports of minors in its 
forces.

    Other Conflict-Related Abuses.--Deteriorating security conditions 
complicated the work of local and international organizations, 
especially in the South. During the year attacks on NGOs, seizure of 
NGO premises, and looting hindered humanitarian aid delivery. As a 
result of killings, extortion, threats, and harassment, some 
organizations evacuated their staff or halted food distribution and 
other aid-related activities. In addition, al-Shabaab banned an 
unprecedented number of international NGOs from areas under its 
control, and several other international NGOs were forced to scale down 
their humanitarian operations after refusing to agree to al-Shabaab 
extortion demands.
    During the year piracy off the coast continued; the International 
Maritime Bureau identified the country's territorial waters as the most 
dangerous in the world. Pirates increased hijackings and unsuccessful 
attacks on vessels off the Somali coast, despite increased 
international attention. Fewer incidents occurred in the Gulf of Aden 
because of increased patrols, but there were more attacks further 
offshore. Most of the ships continued to be brought into the waters off 
the coast of Puntland and held near the coastal towns of Eyl, Hobyo, 
and Haradere. Fueled by lucrative ransoms, these towns developed a 
burgeoning industry to support the pirates and their hostages. 
Following ransom payments, which in some cases reached several millions 
of dollars, the hijacked vessels and hostages were often released. In 
each instance, crews were held hostage until a ransom was paid.
    Puntland security forces made little progress against pirates 
operating along the coast, but there were some signs of progress over 
the year. During raids on pirates' hideouts, Puntland security arrested 
several suspected pirates, and some were sentenced to long jail terms 
in subsequent trials. Clan elders and religious groups continued 
sensitization efforts begun in 2009 in Puntland's coastal towns to 
demobilize pirates and discourage youth from joining them. In part due 
to their efforts, several former pirates renounced piracy. On June 16, 
the Puntland administration, with the support of an NGO, enrolled 
several reformed pirates in a vocational training center in Garowe to 
acquire technical skills.
    On May 18, Puntland police arrested 10 pirates, including pirate 
cartel leader Abshir Abdullahi Boyah, and seized ransom money and a 
vehicle in Garowe. On June 3, Puntland police rescued a ship and 24 
crew members from pirates who had hijacked it the day before. Police 
arrested 10 suspected pirates in the rescue operation, which left two 
police officers injured. Puntland contracted a private security firm to 
assist in its counterpiracy efforts. The firm, billed as a ``Public 
Private Partnership'' by the Puntland administration, is reportedly 
providing training to hundreds of antipiracy militia.
    On October 11, armed pirates ambushed the Puntland minister of 
ports' convoy in the Jariban, Mudug Region, where the minister was 
visiting coastal communities to advocate against piracy. The pirates 
reportedly took the minister hostage after brief armed clashes with the 
minister's security. The pirates set him free several days later 
following the intervention of clan elders who negotiated for his 
release.
    Twenty-two vessels and an estimated 600 crew members remained in 
the custody of Somali pirates.
    While the TFG did not hamper humanitarian aid delivery, it was 
unable to prevent attacks on UN and NGO personnel and assets. The 
deteriorating security situation and continued targeting of national 
and international relief organizations presented significant challenges 
to humanitarian operations, particularly in the South and parts of 
Central Regions. The Inter-Agency Standing Committee on Somalia report 
released in October notes that ``between October 2008 and September 
2010, eighteen humanitarian organizations have stopped activities due 
to their direct expulsion by armed groups or as a consequence of 
interference in their programs. This interference ranges from 
'taxation' and extortion to the seizure of compounds, supplies, and 
assets.'' Although humanitarian access constrictions experienced in 
2009 continued, there was a significant reduction in the number of 
violent incidents involving humanitarian workers and assets. UNOCHA 
reported 34 security incidents were directed at humanitarian workers or 
assets between January and August, compared with 68 during the same 
period in the previous year. This decrease could be attributed to the 
more limited presence of international staff, loss of compounds, and 
strict changes in and adherence to security protocols.
    According to the UN secretary general's September 9 report on 
Somalia, ``[insecurity] hampered United Nations operations in Somalia, 
limiting freedom of movement for United Nations staff and 
contractors.'' According to the report, al-Shabaab seized the compound 
of the UN World Food Program (WFP) and the houses of six national staff 
in Wajid and attempted to loot non-food items from the WFP compound in 
Buaale.
    In its August humanitarian overview report, UNOCHA reported that 
Puntland had experienced some access problems, especially in July and 
August, as a result of internal conflicts and looting of relief food 
supplies and assets. Access was generally good in Somaliland. There was 
a reduction in attacks on humanitarian personnel but a marked increase 
in al-Shabaab raids on UN and international NGO compounds, offices, and 
warehouses, in which they looted humanitarian supplies, food, 
equipment, and other assets.
    Two aid workers were killed during the year, down from 10 the 
previous year. At year's end, 10 humanitarian workers who were 
previously abducted still remained unaccounted for. Relief agencies 
continued to operate with significantly reduced or no international 
staff. Aid agencies increasingly relied on local Somali staff, who were 
also under threat, and partnerships with local implementing 
organizations to deliver relief assistance to vulnerable beneficiaries.
    On April 27, unidentified gunmen killed Mohamed Mayow Mohamed, an 
employee of a local NGO that supplies water to camps for internally 
displaced persons (IDPs) around Mogadishu. On June 18, unknown armed 
persons kidnapped Said Moalin Bashir, a Mine-Action employee. On August 
30, a Mogadishu nurse reportedly was abducted as she left work. The 
kidnappers set the nurse free on September 3, reportedly without 
receiving any ransom payment.
    Al-Shabaab banned approximately 10 international NGOs from working 
in areas under its control. Several other NGOs suspended their 
operations, being unable to meet extortion demands. On January 22, al-
Shabaab militia raided World Health Organization and Save the Children 
premises in Beledweyne and looted computers and other equipment after 
briefly holding local staff hostage. On April 8, al-Shabaab stormed and 
took over the WFP compound in Wajid, Bakol Region. Al-Shabaab also took 
control of Wajid's airstrip, which was the largest humanitarian hub in 
south and central Somalia.
    On August 31, al-Shabaab attacked and occupied international NGO 
Adventist Relief and Development Association's offices in Beledweyne 
and Bulaburde towns, Hiran Region. Evacuating the offices the same day, 
al-Shabaab took with them equipment such as computers and furniture. 
The organization had been implementing education and livelihood 
projects, and 180,000 beneficiaries were affected by its closure.
    There were no developments in kidnapping cases from 2008 and 2009. 
The estimated10 aid workers kidnapped in 2008 and 2009 remained in 
captivity at year's end.
    In 2008 simultaneous explosions in Hargeisa targeting the UNDP, the 
Somaliland Elections Commission, and the Ethiopian embassy, as well as 
Puntland administration offices in Bossasso, killed 20 persons and 
injured 37. On May 28, a Hargeisa regional court arraigned 11 suspects 
in the attack. In July the court acquitted nine of the suspects for 
lack of evidence and sentenced two others to a jail term of 18 months 
each for obstruction of justice. The court also delivered in absentia 
death sentences to five suspects who were on the run. On September 16, 
Somaliland security arrested Osman Yusuf Odawa, one of the suspected 
masterminds who had already been sentenced to death by hanging; he 
remained in custody awaiting the implementation of this sentence.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The TFC and the Somaliland 
constitution provide for freedom of speech and of the press. The 
Puntland interim constitution provides for press freedom ``as long as 
journalists respect the law''; however, this right was not respected in 
practice. Instances of violence, including murder, harassment, arrest, 
and detention of journalists in all regions of Somalia continued. 
Journalists engaged in rigorous self-censorship to avoid reprisals.
    The print media throughout Somalia consisted largely of short, 
photocopied dailies published in the larger cities and often affiliated 
with one or another of the factions. Several of these dailies were 
nominally independent and published criticism of political leaders and 
other prominent persons.
    In Somaliland there were seven independent daily newspapers. There 
was also one government daily and two English-language weekly 
newspapers. There were three independent television stations and one 
government-owned station. Although the Somaliland constitution permits 
independent media, the Somaliland government consistently prohibited 
the establishment of independent FM stations. The only FM station in 
Somaliland was government owned.
    Most citizens obtained news from foreign radio broadcasts, 
primarily the BBC's Somali Service and the Voice of America's Somali 
Service, which transmitted Somali-language programs daily. There were 
reportedly eight FM radio stations and one short-wave station operating 
in Mogadishu. A radio station funded by local businessmen operated in 
the south, as did several other small FM stations in various towns in 
the central and southern areas of the country. There were at least six 
independent radio stations in Puntland. Conditions in the country 
precluded a full accounting of all media; there were numerous small, 
relatively unknown local FM radio stations throughout the country. On 
March 28, in Kismayo, al-Shabaab opened an FM radio station.
    Unlike in the previous years, journalists did not receive direct 
threats from the TFG. However, al-Shabaab and other extremists 
continued to harass journalists, and the overall climate for freedom of 
speech and press deteriorated. Journalists reported that al-Shabaab 
threatened to kill them if they did not report on antigovernment 
attacks conducted by al-Shabaab. Reporters also remained under threat 
if they published criticism of the Government. The Kismayo al-Shabaab 
administration continued to enforce rules for journalists, including a 
requirement to refrain from reporting news that undermined Islamic law.
    Journalists and media organizations in Puntland and Southern 
Somalia reported harassment, including killings, kidnappings, detention 
without charge, and assaults on persons and property. As in previous 
years, experienced field reporters and senior editors fled the country 
due to direct threats from antigovernment groups.
    During the year two journalists were killed in targeted or 
collateral incidents, down from nine in 2009. On May 4, al-Shabaab 
claimed responsibility for the murder of Sheikh Nur Mohamed Abkey, a 
journalist with the Somali government's Somalia National News Agency. 
On August 24, journalist Garkhat Awale was killed while working on the 
Hurma Radio transmitter in Mogadishu. It is unclear whether he was 
targeted or hit by a stray bullet.
    There were no arrests in connection with any killings or attempted 
killings of journalists during the year.
    Unlike previous years, there were no reports that the TFG or 
Somaliland ordered the arrest of journalists.
    During the year there continued to be incidents of banning 
journalists and arresting them in the Puntland Region. For example, on 
August 10, Puntland authorities banned Nuh Musse Birjeeb, a contractor 
for Voice of America, from reporting; Birjeeb had conducted an 
interview with an Islamic insurgent leader. Days later, the Puntland 
information minister lifted the ban. On August 13, Abdifatah Jama Mire, 
director of radio station Horseed Media, was arrested for broadcasting 
an interview with an armed Muslim extremist leader active in Puntland. 
Seventeen hours later, Mire was sentenced to six years in prison for 
his actions. At year's end his case was being appealed. On August 15, 
the Puntland information minister banned media from reporting on 
violent extremist leaders active in Puntland.
    Several broadcasting stations were closed or expropriated by 
extremist administrations during the year. For example, on March 24, 
al-Shabaab took over radio stations in Kismayo and Baidoa. On August 
23, al-Shabaab militia expropriated privately owned Radio Holy Qur'an 
and continued to use the station's radio frequency for its propaganda. 
The original owners relocated to TFG-controlled areas of Mogadishu and 
started broadcasting in an attempt to reclaim the station's brand. In 
September al-Shabaab closed and looted Hornafrik. In April 2009 al-
Shabaab closed Radio Mandeeq after it broadcast news about a clan 
dispute. Also in April 2009, the al-Shabaab administration in Baidoa 
closed Radio Jubba and detained three journalists who were freed the 
following day after an agreement that the station would no longer 
broadcast music. In September 2009, al-Shabaab ordered the closure of 
Radio Warsan, a local FM station in Baidoa, and detained the radio's 
director, Hilal Sheikh Shuayb. He was reportedly arrested for failure 
to obey al-Shabaab's order for radio stations to stop broadcasting 
advertisements with music and to broadcast the call for prayer. He was 
released after two days in detention.
    Journalists reported continued pressure from al-Shabaab and 
opposition elements to provide favorable reporting for each side, with 
threats of reprisal if reporting was perceived to be critical of them. 
On March 18, al-Shabaab warned the director of Shabelle Radio not to 
air information about the TFG. The same month al-Shabaab arrested two 
other journalists in Gedo Region for reporting unfavorably about the 
group. The journalists, who worked for Somali Broadcasting Corporation 
and Somaliweyn Radio, were held for three days, during which time they 
were beaten and drenched with mud, according to their statements to the 
media. On April 13, al-Shabaab banned all Somali radio stations from 
playing music. Many complied under the implied threat of violence.
    Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that the TFG 
pressured journalists to produce positive reporting.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet; however, extremists in Mogadishu reportedly closely 
monitored Internet use and were believed to be the authors of anonymous 
e-mail threats to local journalists. Media outlets continued to create 
Web sites associated with their broadcast operations, resulting in a 
proliferation of news-oriented Somali language Web sites. According to 
International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2008, 
approximately 1 percent of the country's inhabitants used the Internet; 
however, independent researchers noted this figure may be higher 
because Internet users frequently accessed the technology in cyber 
cafes and other public centers and Somalia's Internet country domain 
was not in use at the time; the domain was still not in use at year's 
end.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were several 
functioning universities-three each in Mogadishu, Somaliland, and 
Puntland. Dozens of others existed only in name. Authorities imposed 
restrictions on academic freedom, and academics practiced self-
censorship. In Puntland, a government permit was required to conduct 
academic research.
    During the year there were fewer direct attacks on schoolchildren, 
teachers, and schools across the country. Most attacks involved 
indirect or stray fire on children and schools due to fighting or 
mortar shelling in Mogadishu. In one case, university students 
reportedly were among nine killed when a roadside bomb, probably 
intended for AMISOM troops, hit a minibus on August 31. Unlike in 
previous years, TFG forces were not responsible for any of these 
attacks. Al-Shabaab, other antigovernment groups, and ordinary 
criminals were responsible for targeted attacks.
    There were no developments in the 2008 incident in which TFG 
security forces stormed the Somali Youth League Primary and Secondary 
school and the Imam Shafi'i Primary School in Mogadishu.
    Al-Shabaab and armed militia associated with the former Union of 
Islamic Courts attacked schools and killed teachers and other education 
workers. For example, in February 2009, unknown armed militia 
forcefully entered Yusuf Kownayn School in Mogadishu's Wadajir 
District. The militia reportedly robbed, beat up, and harassed teachers 
and students.
    There were no official restrictions on attending cultural events, 
playing music, or going to the cinema outside of al-Shabaab controlled 
areas. However, the security situation effectively restricted access to 
and organization of cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The TFC, Somaliland, and Puntland constitutions provide for 
freedom of assembly; however, the lack of security effectively limited 
this right in many areas. Unlike in previous years, there were no 
reports of security forces in Somaliland, Puntland, and TFG controlled 
areas employing excessive force to disperse demonstrators. However, 
freedom of assembly and/or association was extremely curtailed. Al-
Shabaab did not allow gatherings of any kind without prior consent from 
its militia.
    Somaliland security agents often prevented opposition parties from 
organizing public gatherings and demonstrations until after the 
Somaliland Electoral Commission officially opened campaigns for 
presidential elections in May.
    There were no updates on the 2008 and September 12 killings of 
demonstrators in Somaliland and Mogadishu, respectively, and neither 
the TFG nor the Somaliland administration took action to punish the 
police perpetrators.

    Freedom of Association.--The TFC provides for freedom of 
association, and unlike in previous years, there were no reports that 
the TFG restricted freedom of association.
    The Puntland interim constitution provides for freedom of 
association; however, the Puntland administration continued to ban all 
political parties.
    The Somaliland Constitution provides for freedom of association, 
and this right was generally respected in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the Department of State's 2010 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The TFC, the Puntland interim 
constitution, and the Somaliland constitution provide for freedom of 
movement; however, this right continued to be restricted in some parts 
of the country. There was a general reduction of checkpoints prevalent 
in South and Central regions in Somalia since 2009, and Puntland 
security forces dismantled ad hoc checkpoints run by armed clan 
militias. However, ad hoc checkpoints operated by armed militias, clan 
factions, TFG-allied groups, and al-Shabaab and its affiliates 
inhibited passage and exposed travelers to looting, extortion, and 
harassment, particularly civilians fleeing conflict. Few citizens 
possessed or had the means to obtain documents needed for international 
travel.
    The law does not prohibit forced exile. Somaliland laws prohibit 
Somalilanders from participating in TFG politics. Over the year, 
Somaliland authorities banished several prominent TFG politicians who 
were serving or had served in TFG as MPs or ministers from Somaliland. 
On December 13, Somaliland's president, through a presidential decree, 
pardoned Mohamed Abdullahi Jama ``Sifir,'' a prominent TFG politician 
who once served as an MP, deputy prime minister, and minister in the 
TFG, following Sifir's application expressing his recognition of 
Somaliland's separate status from that of Somalia.
    During the year there were no organized repatriations to any region 
except the aforementioned estimated 1,000 persons that Puntland 
expatriated to South Galkayo.

    Internally Displaced Persons.--UN agencies estimated that since 
January 2007 more than 1.2 million persons had fled their homes in 
Mogadishu and its surroundings as a result of targeted attacks by al-
Shabaab and continued conflicts between TFG forces and antigovernment 
groups. The Somalia office of the UNHCR, based in Kenya, estimated that 
there were 1.46 million IDPs in the country as a result of internal 
conflict, flooding, droughts, and other causes going back to the early 
1990s but with much higher numbers in recent years.
    Many of the newly displaced lived without basic services, primarily 
settling on the Afgooye corridor between Mogadishu and Baidoa. Militia 
groups aligned with both sides of the conflict restricted IDP access 
during food distributions. The deterioration in security severely 
restricted the movement of aid workers and the distribution of urgently 
needed assistance to IDPs. Increased targeting of aid workers, 
``taxes'' and extortion demands on humanitarian aid, and al-Shabaab's 
expulsion of WFP in January made it more difficult to deliver basic 
services.
    Authorities in Puntland forcefully repatriated Somalis from South 
and Central regions allegedly for being behind a spate of insecurity in 
Puntland cities. Puntland's political leadership has over the years 
consistently claimed persons from South and Central Somalia were 
responsible for increased insecurity in the region; IDPs in general 
were regarded with suspicion-as al-Shabaab supporters or criminals by 
locals. At year's end news reports highlighted the ongoing issue of 
sexual and gender-based violence against IDP women living in Somalia, 
primarily around Galkayco. The UNHCR acknowledged that perpetrators 
were primarily young men from the local area who take advantage of 
weakened clan protection among IDPs to act with impunity. Lack of a 
proper judicial system and weak police intervention prevented survivors 
from bringing prosecutions against perpetrators.
    Authorities in Puntland forcefully repatriated Somalis from South 
and Central regions allegedly for being behind a spate of insecurity in 
Puntland cities. Puntland's political leadership has over the years 
consistently claimed persons from South and Central Somalia were 
responsible for increased insecurity in the region.

    Protection of Refugees.--The TFC states that political asylum may 
be granted to persons who flee their or another country because of 
political, religious, and cultural persecution. However, there was no 
official system for providing such protection. The authorities provided 
some protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to 
countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened, and in 
practice the authorities granted refugee status or asylum.
    The UNHCR reported that at year's end there were 1,800 refugees 
residing in Somalia and 24,415 asylum seekers in Somaliland and 
Puntland, a slight increase over 2009. Refugees and asylum seekers were 
mainly from the Oromiya and Ogadeni regions of Ethiopia. With the 
absence of a formal national asylum framework, refugees in Somaliland 
and Puntland face arbitrary detention and discrimination and have 
limited access to justice and protection through local systems.
    Human rights organizations estimated there were as many as 1.46 
million Somalis displaced due to conflict, food shortages, and 
inflation. According to a November UN Somalia humanitarian overview 
report, ``The number of people in need of humanitarian assistance 
reduced by 25 percent to two million people, in part due to the good 
harvest.'' However, insecurity in the south and central regions limited 
the access of UN and international aid workers. UN agencies reported 
that 10 humanitarian workers were killed during the year. Somaliland 
authorities cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian 
organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
    The UNHCR estimated that during the year more than 40,000 citizens 
attempted more than 900 illegal boat crossings from Somaliland, 
Puntland, and neighboring Djibouti to Yemen, resulting in at least 273 
confirmed deaths. By the end of November, there were 44,216 recorded 
new arrivals in Yemen, a 12.4 percent reduction in the number of new 
arrivals during the same period in 2009. The decline was due, in part, 
to the measures taken by the Puntland authorities to discourage human 
smuggling from Bossaso to Yemen. The UNHCR estimated that 165,201 
Somali refugees were in Yemen at the end of 2010.
    In 2007 the Kenyan government closed its border to all traffic to 
and from Somalia, although it later allowed humanitarian relief 
supplies to enter Somalia across its shared border on a case-by-case 
basis. Despite the border closure, 58,561 asylum seekers were at the 
already-overcrowded Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. During the year Kenya 
announced that it would set up a screening center at the Liboi border 
to ensure only genuine refugees were allowed into the camps. In the 
same period, an estimated 23,356 asylum seekers entered Ethiopia, 
bringing the number of Somali refugees there to more than 77,000. By 
the end of the year, the Bolkamayo camp in southeastern Ethiopia had 
already reached its capacity of 20,000 refugees. The UNHCR estimated at 
year's end that it was providing humanitarian assistance and protection 
to more than 623,408 Somalis in Kenya, Yemen, Ethiopia, Djibouti, 
Tanzania, Eritrea, and Uganda.
    During the year there continued to be reports that Somali women, 
girls, and in isolated cases, men were raped in refugee camps in Kenya.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The TFG failed to make progress on prescribed tasks necessary for 
transition to a popularly elected federal government. In January 2009 
the Djibouti Process expanded parliament and extended the TFG mandate 
until August 2011 to provide more time to prepare the country for 
national elections. However, like the administrations that preceded it, 
the TFG administration was wholly unsuccessful in delivering on its 
core transitional tasks.
    Unlike in previous years when clan leaders operated as de facto 
rulers in most regions under the nominal control of the TFG, much of 
the country remained under the rule of armed militias during year, many 
associated with the al-Shabaab terrorist group. Although al-Shabaab 
often collaborated with clan leaders in the areas it controlled, many 
clan leaders continued to face opposition from intraclan groups and 
political factions.
    The Somaliland constitution provides citizens the right to change 
their government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right through 
periodic, free, and fair elections based on universal suffrage. 
Although the constitution of semi-autonomous Puntland provides citizens 
the right to change their government peacefully, only members of 
parliament selected by traditional clan elders exercised this right, 
supposedly acting on the behalf of the people.

    Elections and Political Participation.--The Transitional Federal 
Charter is the legal framework for the transitional federal 
institutions of parliament and government; the mandate for the TFIs 
expires in August 2011.
    In February 2009 President Sharif appointed Omar Abdirashid Ali 
Sharmarke as the TFG prime minister; Sharmarke was forced to resign in 
September 2010. On October 14, president Sharif appointed Mohamed 
Abdullahi Mohamed ``Farmajo'' as prime minister. A rift between the 
president and the speaker of parliament divided parliament into two 
opposing camps and delayed Farmajo's confirmation until October 31. On 
November 12, Farmajo named an 18-member cabinet almost exclusively 
drawn from the Somali diaspora. The prime minister named nine state 
ministers and 18 deputy ministers.
    Somaliland has a constitution and bicameral parliament with 
proportional clan representation and an elected president and vice 
president. Somaliland authorities have established functioning 
administrative institutions in nearly all of the territory they claim, 
which is the same as the Somaliland state that achieved international 
recognition briefly in 1960 before entering into a union with the 
former Italian colony of Somalia. In a 2001 referendum, 97 percent of 
voters supported Somaliland independence.
    Due in part to concerted international pressure to hold elections, 
the ruling UDUB party of Somaliland President Dahir Riyale Kahin 
abandoned repeated efforts to postpone elections. Elections were held 
on June 26. Independent international and domestic observers described 
the elections as generally free and fair. There were reports of 
government restrictions on opposition parties' access to state-owned 
media, and claims of government use of state resources in elections 
campaigns. At least two incidents of violence against election 
officials carried out by separatist clan militia were reported in parts 
of the disputed Sool and Sanaag regions.
    In 1998 Puntland declared itself a semiautonomous regional 
government during a consultative conference of delegates from six 
regions that included traditional community elders, the leadership of 
political organizations, members of local legislative assemblies, 
regional administrators, and civil society representatives. Puntland 
has a single-chamber quasi-legislative branch called the Council of 
Elders, which has played a largely consultative role. Political parties 
were banned. However, provisions of the Puntland constitution that 
parliament endorsed in June 2009, which called for the establishment of 
multiparty democracy in two years, were not enacted. The new 
constitution limits the number of political parties to three. In 
January 2009 the council elected Abdirahman Mohamed Mohamud ``Faroole'' 
as Puntland's president. The former president, General Mohamud Muse 
Hersi ``Adde Muse,'' who was one of several candidates, conceded defeat 
and peacefully handed over power to the new president. Parliamentary 
representatives were seated by their respective clan elders in the six 
administrative regions, and the same 66 representatives announced in 
December 2008 by Puntland's election and ratification commission 
remained in office.
    Somaliland and Puntland continued to contest parts of the Sool and 
Sanaag Regions, as well as the Buhodle District of Togdheer Region 
during the year. Both governments maintained elements of their 
administrations in the Sanaag and Sool Regions, and both governments 
exerted influence in various communities. During the year there were no 
renewed hostilities in Las Anod, Sool Region, between Puntland and 
Somaliland forces. The new Somaliland administration under President 
Mohamed Mohamud ``Silanyo'' called for cooperation between Somaliland 
and Puntland. Claiming a common threat from armed extremist militias, 
the two administrations separately announced readiness to cooperate on 
the security front.
    However, a new separatist clan militia named Sool, Sanaag, and Cayn 
(SSC) emerged. The militia sought to establish an SSC region autonomous 
from both the Somaliland and Puntland administrations within its area. 
The militia clashed with Somaliland forces on several occasions during 
the year. In an effort to find a peaceful solution to the political and 
security situation of the region, President Silanyo formed a 
ministerial commission to produce recommendations on the way forward.
    There were 37 women in the expanded 550-seat TFP; there were only 
seven women selected as MPs out of the additional 275 MPs that were 
appointed when the ARS entered the TFG. The number fell short of the 
TFC requirement that at least 12 percent of parliamentary seats be 
reserved for women.
    Despite low female representation in the Somaliland administration, 
President Silanyo appointed three women to his new 26-member cabinet. 
There were only two women in the 82-member lower house of parliament, 
but for the first time a women sat in the Somaliland lower house after 
taking over the position left vacant by her deceased husband.
    In Puntland there have never been any women on the Council of 
Elders. In December 2008, two women were selected as representatives to 
the 66-member parliament, reduced from five in the previous parliament. 
Only three women were appointed to Puntland's 40-member cabinet and 
only one as a full minister.
    There were 60 members of Somali minority ethnic groups in the TFP 
and four in the TFG cabinet. There were no members of minority groups 
in the Somaliland or Puntland cabinets.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law does not provide criminal penalties for official 
corruption, and officials engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. 
Corruption marked almost every transaction in the country, and there 
was no regulatory or penal framework in place to combat it. This was 
true even in the provision of humanitarian assistance. A number of TFG 
ministers were named in a March 2010 UN monitoring report as engaging 
in visa-related scams. In response the TFG pledged to investigate.
    Government officials in all three regions were not subject to 
financial disclosure laws.
    There were no laws providing for public access to government 
information.
    After the appointment of Prime Minister Farmajo in October and the 
formation of his new cabinet, TFG anticorruption measures and messages 
increased. Anticorruption measures figured prominently in a TFG draft 
``Road Map'' that began to circulate in December; these included the 
establishment of a national anticorruption commission and official 
recognition that corruption hinders the overall functions of the 
Government and security sector. Also in December, the TFG released a 
comprehensive budget, the first in 20 years, which the finance and 
treasury minister stated would ``go a long way in fighting 
corruption.'' The TFG streamlined efficient revenue collection at the 
Mogadishu port, the main source of income for the TFG, which led to a 
boost in customs-related revenue.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A number of domestic and international human rights groups operated 
in some areas of the country, investigating and publishing their 
findings on human rights cases; however, security considerations 
constrained their ability to operate freely. In contrast with previous 
years, government officials were responsive to their views, although 
the TFG had limited capacity to implement human rights programs. There 
was also an increase in al-Shabaab's targeting of civil society groups, 
peace activists, media, and human rights and humanitarian 
organizations. The Mogadishu-based Dr. Ismael Jumale Human Rights 
Center (DIJHRC), Elman Peace and Human Rights Center (EPHRC), Peace and 
Human Rights Network , Isha Baidoa Human Rights Organization in the Bay 
and Bakol regions, KISIMA in Kismayo, Coalition of Grassroots Women's 
Organization (COGWO), and other local human rights groups were active 
during the year, although less than previously because of the increased 
targeting by al-Shabaab. The DIJHRC, EPHRC, and COGWO continued to 
investigate and document human rights violations, study the causes of 
the continuing conflict in the Mogadishu area, and conduct human rights 
monitoring. The Mogadishu-based National Union of Somali Journalists 
(NUSOJ) continued to advocate for media freedom throughout the country. 
The Mogadishu-based Center for Research and Dialogue, Puntland 
Development and Research Centre, and several women's NGOs and civil 
society organizations also played a role in promoting intraclan 
dialogue in Puntland and parts of the south central region.
    During the year attacks and incidents of harassment of 
humanitarian, religious, civil society, and NGO workers resulted in 
numerous deaths. Unlike in previous years, TFG officials did not accuse 
NGOs and civil society organizations of siding with opposition groups 
and exaggerating human rights abuses committed by TFG forces, nor did 
the TFG intimidate and arrest NGO workers. However, on numerous 
occasions, al-Shabaab extorted money from local and international NGOs, 
threatening serious consequences for noncompliance. Al-Shabaab militia 
expelled international NGOs, and raided and looted humanitarian 
supplies and equipment from NGO compounds in regions under its control.
    International and local NGOs generally worked without major 
restrictions in Puntland and Somaliland. The TFG did not interfere with 
NGO operations.
    There were numerous occurrences of looting, hijacking, and attacks 
on convoys of WFP and other humanitarian relief shipments during the 
year.
    There were no developments in cases of attacks on aid workers, 
human rights observers, and international NGOs reported in previous 
years.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The TFC prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender or national 
origin; however, societal discrimination based on clan and ethnic 
origin, violence against women, and widespread abuse of children 
continued to be serious problems. The Somaliland constitution and the 
Puntland interim constitution prohibit discrimination on the basis of 
gender or national origin, but these rights were not respected in 
practice as there was lack of effective government enforcement of these 
laws.

    Women.--Laws prohibiting rape exist in Puntland, Somaliland, and 
TFG-controlled areas; however, they were not enforced. There were no 
laws against spousal rape. While there were prosecutions of rape cases 
in Puntland and Somaliland, there were no reports of the TFG 
prosecuting rape cases during the year. The UNHCR and UNICEF documented 
patterns of rape perpetrated with impunity, particularly of women 
displaced from their homes due to civil conflict or who were members of 
minority clans. Police and militia members engaged in rape, and rape 
was commonly used in interclan conflicts. Traditional approaches to 
dealing with rape tended to ignore the victim's situation and instead 
communalized the resolution or compensation for rape through a 
negotiation between members of the perpetrator's and the victim's 
clans. Victims suffered from subsequent discrimination based on 
attributions of ``impurity.'' Women and girls in IDP camps were 
especially vulnerable to sexual violence, contributing to the spread of 
HIV/AIDS. In 2008 the UNIE reported that in Mogadishu and Kismayo, IDP 
women and girls, particularly those belonging to minority groups, were 
increasingly the targets of sexual violence by youth gangs. In 
Somaliland gang rape continued to be a problem in urban areas, 
primarily perpetrated by youth gangs, members of police forces, and 
male students. Many of these cases occurred in poorer neighborhoods and 
among immigrants, refugee returnees, and displaced rural populations 
living in urban areas. Many cases were not reported.
    In his September 16 report on the situation of human rights in 
Somalia, the UN independent expert recounted widespread sexual and 
gender-based violence in all regions of Somalia. Domestic violence 
against women remained a serious problem. There were no laws 
specifically addressing domestic violence; however, both Sharia and 
customary law address the resolution of family disputes. Sexual 
violence in the home was reportedly a serious problem, linked to 
general gender discrimination. Women suffered disproportionately in the 
country's civil war and interclan fighting.
    In the country's overwhelmingly patriarchal culture, women did not 
have the same rights as men and were systematically subordinated. 
Polygamy was permitted. Under laws promulgated by the former 
government, girls and women could inherit property, but only half the 
amount to which their minor and adult brothers were entitled. 
Similarly, according to Sharia and the local tradition of blood 
compensation, anyone found guilty of the death of a woman must pay half 
the amount that would be payable to the aggrieved family if the victim 
were male.
    Women do not have the right to decide freely the number, spacing, 
and timing of their children and often faced discrimination, coercion, 
and violence when they attempted to exercise these rights. In part 
because of cultural sensitivities, there was limited information about 
and access to contraception. With inadequate health care, women rarely 
had skilled attendance during childbirth or essential obstetric and 
postpartum care. In Somaliland and Puntland, international programs 
ensured that women were equally diagnosed and treated for sexually 
transmitted infections, including HIV. There were limited programs in 
the southern and central regions, largely because of al-Shabaab's 
access restrictions on humanitarian agencies.
    Many Somali women have assumed a greater burden by becoming the 
sole bread winners for their families. Women form a negligible part of 
those employed in both the formal public and private sectors because of 
disparities in education. Women continue to experience economic 
discrimination in areas under al-Shabaab control because of al-
Shabaab's extremist position, which regards women's participation in 
economic activities as anti-Islamic. Despite difficult economic 
conditions generally prevalent in Somalia, women were not discriminated 
against in terms of owning or managing businesses. There are no visible 
government efforts in any region of Somalia to combat economic 
discrimination.
    Women's groups in Mogadishu, Hargeisa, Bossaso, and other major 
towns in South Central Somalia, Somaliland, and Puntland actively 
promoted equal rights for women and advocated the inclusion of women in 
responsible government positions, and observers reported some 
improvement in the profile and political participation of women in the 
country.

    Children.--In the absence of functioning central authority, births 
were not registered in Puntland or southern and central Somalia. The 
failure to register births was not a key factor in the denial of public 
services. Birth registration was taken seriously in Somaliland for 
hospital and home births; however, limited government capacity, 
combined with the nomadic lifestyle of many persons, caused numerous 
births to go unregistered. In Puntland citizenship is derived from 
one's parents and not by birth within the region's territory. By 
extension, any child born in Puntland to a father from non-Puntland 
sub-clans is not entitled to Puntland citizenship.
    Primary education was not compulsory, free, or universal in all 
regions of Somalia. Since the collapse of the state in 1991, education 
services have been partially revived in various forms, including a 
traditional system of Qur'anic schools; public primary and secondary 
school systems financed by communities, foreign donors, and the 
administrations in Somaliland and Puntland; Islamic charity-run 
schools; and a number of privately run primary and secondary schools, 
universities, and vocational training institutes. In al-Shabaab-
controlled areas, ``jihad'' was added to the curriculum of elementary 
schools. There was a continued influx of foreign teachers to teach in 
private Qur'anic schools and madrassas. These schools were inexpensive 
and provided basic education; however, there were reports that they 
required the veiling of small girls and other conservative Islamic 
practices not traditionally found in the local culture. Child abuse and 
rape were serious problems, although no statistics on their prevalence 
were available. UNIE reported that throughout Somalia, ``Rape and other 
grave sexual violence against children continued to be a major 
protection concern.'' There were no known efforts by regional 
governments to combat this practice. Children remained among the chief 
victims of continuing societal violence. UNICEF and other international 
NGO child-protection monitors verified that hundreds of children were 
killed or injured during the year as a direct result of conflict.
    The practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) was widespread 
throughout the country. As many as 98 percent of women and girls had 
undergone FGM; the majority were subjected to infibulation, the most 
severe form of FGM. In Somaliland and Puntland, FGM is illegal, but the 
law was not enforced. UN agencies and NGOs tried to educate the 
population about the dangers of FGM, but there were no reliable 
statistics to measure the success of their programs.
    Child marriage was prevalent throughout Somalia. In rural areas 
parents often married off their daughters as young as age 12.
    Militia members raped children during the conflict and departure of 
civilians from Mogadishu.
    Child prostitution was practiced, and like all other forms of 
prostitution, was legally prohibited in all areas. In al-Shabaab areas, 
the penalty was flogging or even death by stoning. There is no formal 
statutory rape law or minimum age for consensual sex. Child pornography 
is not expressly prohibited.
    Children occasionally were enlisted in the TFG security forces, and 
TFG-allied militias such as ASWJ (see section 1.g.). Antigovernment and 
extremist groups routinely recruited and used child soldiers (see 
section 1.g.).
    The practice of ``asi walid,'' a custom whereby parents placed 
their children in prison for disciplinary purposes and without any 
legal procedure, continued. Many of these juveniles were incarcerated 
with adults.
    UNICEF and the UNDP started a project to provide abandoned children 
and child prisoners with legal and other protection assistance. The 
juvenile justice program also educated justices and lawyers about human 
rights problems for children.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--There is no known Jewish community in the country, 
and there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The TFC, Somaliland constitution, and 
Puntland interim constitution all prohibit discrimination on the basis 
of intellectual or physical disabilities. None of the three 
administrations restrict the right of people with disabilities to vote 
or participate in civic affairs.
    The TFC reads that the state is responsible for the welfare of 
persons with disabilities, along with orphans, widows, heroes who 
contributed to and fought in defense of the country, and the elderly.
    The Somaliland constitution notes that the state is responsible for 
the health, care, development, and education of mothers, children, the 
disabled, persons who have no one to care for them, and mentally 
handicapped persons.
    The Puntland interim constitution safeguards and advocates for the 
rights of orphans, disabled persons, and whoever needs the protection 
of the law. There are no laws in any of the three areas to ensure 
building access.
    In the absence of functioning governing institutions, the needs of 
most persons with disabilities were not addressed. Several local NGOs 
in Somaliland provided services for persons with disabilities. 
Associations of persons with disabilities reported numerous cases of 
discrimination.
    There was widespread abuse of persons with mental illness. Without 
a public health infrastructure, there were no specialized institutions 
to provide care or education for the mentally ill. It was common for 
such persons to be chained to a tree or restrained within their homes.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--More than 85 percent of the 
population shared a common ethnic heritage, religion, and nomad-
influenced culture. UNIE estimated that minority groups constitute 
approximately 22 percent of the population. 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, Faqayaqub, and 
Somaliland's Gabooye. Intermarriage between minority groups and 
mainstream clans was restricted by custom. Minority groups had no armed 
militias and continued to be disproportionately subject to killings, 
torture, rape, kidnapping for ransom, and looting of land and property 
with impunity by faction militias and majority clan members. Many 
minority communities continued to live in deep poverty and suffer from 
numerous forms of discrimination and exclusion.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Sexual orientation was 
considered a taboo topic, and there was no public discussion of this 
issue in any region of the country. There were no reports of societal 
violence or discrimination based on sexual orientation.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Persons with HIV/AIDS 
continued to face discrimination and abuse in their local communities 
and by employers in all parts of the country. UNICEF reported that 
persons with HIV/AIDS were subjected to physical abuse, rejected by 
their families, and subjected to workplace discrimination and 
dismissal. Children with HIV-positive parent(s) also suffered 
discrimination, which hindered prevention efforts and access to 
services.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The 1960 constitution allows workers 
to form and join unions, and the TFG respected this right; however, due 
to the civil war and clan fighting, the only partially functioning 
labor union in the country was the journalist association NUSOJ. Other 
unions existed in name but engaged in no activities during the year. 
The Puntland interim constitution and the Somaliland constitution also 
protect workers' freedom of association; however, labor laws were not 
enforced in the country, resulting in an absence of effective 
protection for workers' rights.
    The Somaliland Trade Union Organization (SOLTUO), formed in 2004, 
claimed to have 26,000 members representing 21 individual unions. 
SOLTUO claimed to be democratic and independent, but it undertook no 
activities during the year.
    The TFC allows unions to conduct their activities without 
interference and grants workers the right to strike. In practice there 
were no reports of workers attempting to strike.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Collective 
bargaining is protected by laws in Somalia, Somaliland, and Puntland, 
but they were generally not enforced.
    Wages and working conditions in the traditional culture were 
established largely on the basis of ad hoc arrangements based on 
supply, demand, and the influence of the worker's clan.
    The TFC allows unions to conduct their activities without 
interference and grants workers the right to strike. There were no 
reports of antiunion discrimination.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The pre-1991 penal 
code and the TFC prohibit forced or compulsory labor, including by 
children. Children and individuals from minority clans were reportedly 
used in the khat trade as porters, as well in farming and animal 
herding.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
pre-1991 labor code and the TFC prohibit child labor; however, child 
labor was widespread.
    Recruitment and use of child soldiers was a problem (see section 
1.g.). Young persons commonly were employed in herding, agriculture, 
and household labor from an early age. Children broke rocks into gravel 
and worked as vendors of cigarettes and khat on the streets. UNICEF 
estimated that from 1999 to 2005, 36 percent of children between the 
ages of five and 14 were in the workforce--31 percent of males and 41 
percent of females. The actual percentage of working children was 
believed to be higher. The lack of educational opportunities and 
severely depressed economic conditions contributed to the prevalence of 
child labor.
    In Somalia the ministries of Labor and Social Affairs and Gender 
and Family Affairs were responsible for enforcing child labor laws. In 
Somaliland it was the Ministry of Family and Social Development, and in 
Puntland it was the Ministry of Labor, Youth, and Sports. In practice 
none of these ministries enforced these laws.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Although the TFC and the 
Somaliland constitution both include provisions for acceptable working 
conditions, there was no organized effort by any of the factions or de 
facto regional administrations to monitor acceptable conditions of work 
during the year. There was no national minimum wage. There was no 
information on the existence or status of foreign of migrant workers in 
the country. With an estimated 43 percent of the population earning 
less than 30,000 Somali shillings (less than $1) per day, there was no 
mechanism to attain a decent standard of living for workers and their 
families. During the year high inflation, continued insecurity, and 
other factors significantly decreased the standard of living in all 
areas of the country. By year's end, 3.5 million Somalis required 
emergency humanitarian assistance.

                               __________

                              SOUTH AFRICA

    South Africa is a multiparty parliamentary democracy in which 
constitutional power is shared between the president and the 
parliament. A progressive constitution, written after the end of 
apartheid and enshrining human rights, is the source of authority for 
the political system. The country has a population of approximately 50 
million. In April 2009 the country held a largely free and fair 
national election in which the ruling African National Congress (ANC) 
won 65.9 percent of the vote and 264 of 400 seats in the National 
Assembly, which then elected ANC President Jacob Zuma as the country's 
president. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    Principal human rights problems included police use of lethal and 
excessive force, including torture, against suspects and detainees, 
which resulted in deaths and injuries; vigilante and mob violence; 
prison overcrowding and abuse of prisoners, including beatings and rape 
by prison guards; arbitrary arrest; lengthy delays in trials and 
prolonged pretrial detention; forcible dispersal of demonstrations; 
pervasive violence against women and children; societal discrimination 
against women, persons with disabilities, and the lesbian, gay, 
bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community; trafficking in persons; 
violence resulting from racial and ethnic tensions and conflicts with 
foreigners; and child labor, including forced child labor and child 
prostitution.
                        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 politically motivated killings 
by the Government or its agents; however, police use of lethal and 
excessive force, including torture, against suspects and detainees 
resulted in numerous deaths and injuries. Investigations into some of 
the killings committed during the year were ongoing, and some 
perpetrators had been punished by year's end.
    The country had a high crime rate, and criminals were often better 
armed than police. In October 2009 Fikile Mbalula, the deputy police 
minister, called for the use of firepower against armed criminals, 
which the media and civil society groups criticized as a police ``shoot 
to kill'' policy; President Zuma denied the charge and attributed the 
use of excessive force to a lack of training and resources.
    On September 1, the trial of Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) member 
Siphamandla Mhlongo, who was being detained for the January 2009 
killing of ANC stalwart Inkosi Mbongeleni Zondi, was remanded to the 
Scottsburg High Court, where a hearing was scheduled for February 2011. 
IFP member Makhosabo Mkhize, who was killed in July 2009 by unknown 
perpetrators, also had been charged in connection with Zondi's killing.
    According to the Governmental Independent Complaints Directorate 
(ICD), there were 294 deaths in police custody and 566 deaths as a 
result of other police action during the year ending March 31, a 6 
percent decrease from the previous year. Of the 860 deaths, 479 
resulted from being shot, 122 from assault, 112 due to suicide, 93 from 
natural causes while in custody, 27 as a result of injuries from being 
struck by a police vehicle, 15 as the result of an auto collision, 
seven as the result of torture, three from suffocation, and two from 
poisoning.
    On April 8, at a tavern in the Free State, Police Constable Elliot 
Khaka shot and killed Sombane Lungile after Lungile allegedly attempted 
to steal a car belonging to another constable who was with Khaka. On 
November 15, the Free State High Court convicted Khaka of murder and 
sentenced him to 12 years' imprisonment.
    On July 12, in Pretoria, police officers shot and killed unarmed 
sound engineer Nkosinathi Ntuli after he allegedly drove headlong into 
oncoming traffic, narrowly avoiding crashing into several police 
officers and other motorists. Ntuli allegedly drove away from where he 
had been stopped and dared police to shoot him, after which police 
fired six shots at his vehicle. Captain Rosina Mabena, Sergeant Lillian 
Tlhapi, Sergeant Jaco Ngobeni, and Warrant Officer Enoch Makgamatha 
were accused of murder and attempted murder and denied bail. After a 
successful appeal to the North Gauteng High Court in November, and 
after agreeing to relinquish their passports, the four were each 
granted bail of 3,000 rand ($420). Their case was postponed to January 
2011.
    On November 25, Riaan Velloen was arrested for driving while 
intoxicated and taken to the Florida police station in Johannesburg. He 
was found dead in his cell the following morning. Friends and family 
accused the police of beating him to death; an ICD investigation was 
ongoing at year's end.
    On November 29, Donnelle Jackson was arrested for armed robbery in 
Sofiatown, Johannesburg. Police claimed that Jackson hung himself in 
his cell with a blanket within three hours of his detention. The ICD 
investigated the incident and recommended that action be taken against 
the police officers involved; no further information was available at 
year's end.
    Information surfaced during the year that in February 2009 members 
of the National Intervention Unit, an elite police unit responsible for 
high-profile cases, shot and killed Bongani Mkhize, chairperson of the 
Maphumulo Taxi Association, allegedly after Mkhize opened fire on them. 
His death, which appeared to be linked to investigations into the 
killing of Police Commissioner Zethembe Chonco, occurred despite a 
ruling three months earlier by the Durban High Court restraining police 
from targeting him. Mkhize was reportedly among a list of suspects in 
the killing, all of whom had been shot and killed by October 2009, 
several after being arrested and interrogated by police, according to 
the Amnesty International Report released in May. Mkhize's family 
employed a private investigator to investigate his death, but had not 
filed charges against the police by year's end. Mkhize's killing was 
investigated by the ICD, which found no evidence of police wrongdoing.
    Amnesty International also reported in May that in October 2009 
police shot an unidentified man suspected of vehicle theft. Witnesses 
heard gunshots and saw the man's body hanging on a security fence near 
an apartment building. Police reportedly attempted to mislead 
independent investigators and also told the media that the man had 
electrocuted himself on the fence. Medical evidence subsequently 
revealed that the man had died from a high velocity gunshot injury to 
his spine.
    The two off-duty police officers who in November 2009 shot and 
killed a street vendor while intoxicated were charged with murder and 
released on bail; their court case was ongoing at year's end.
    The trial of police officer Shadrack Malaka, who was charged with 
killing a three-year-old child in November 2009, was postponed to April 
2011; Malaka was released on bail of 1,000 rand ($140).
    The 14 police officers from the Bellville South Directorate of the 
Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), who allegedly beat 
and whipped to death Sidwell Mkwambi in February 2009, were neither 
suspended nor arrested during the year. The ICD stated an investigation 
produced enough evidence to establish a murder case against the 14 
officers from the specialized unit; however, the director of public 
prosecutions (DPP) had taken no action on the ICD's recommendation by 
year's end.
    Incidents of vigilante violence and mob killings continued, 
particularly in Gauteng, Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal provinces in 
the rural areas and townships. Unlike in previous years, police efforts 
to control vigilante violence did not result in deaths.
    On August 4, a mob in Lenasia South set on fire a small truck with 
three alleged thieves trapped inside the cab; the three were suspected 
of stealing electricity cables in an informal settlement. Police 
launched an investigation, but no arrests had been made by year's end.
    The trial of ANC municipal councilor Vusi Khoza, Sean Thabo Jacobs, 
Patricia Ballantyne, and Mzokuthoba Mngonyama for their roles in a mob 
attack that resulted in the January 2009 deaths of a Zimbabwean citizen 
and a Tanzanian citizen was ongoing at year's end. Khoza was charged 
with public violence and conspiracy to commit assault; the other three 
were charged with murder.
    Xenophobic attacks on foreign African migrants remained a problem; 
however, attacks did not occur on the scale of previous years (see 
section 6).
    Killings and other violent crimes against white farmers and, on 
occasion, their families, continued in rural areas (see section 6).
    There were reports that persons accused of witchcraft were 
attacked, driven from their villages, and in some cases murdered, 
particularly in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, and Eastern Cape 
provinces, where suspected witchcraft sometimes resulted in assault, 
forced exile, and killings, particularly of elderly women. Traditional 
leaders generally cooperated with government educational programs and 
reported threats against persons suspected of witchcraft.
    On February 1, residents attacked and killed Mbongeni Zungu for 
suspected witchcraft; the mob also burned his shack in Umlazi E 
section, KwaZulu-Natal Province. Police charged 11 suspects with 
murder, attempted murder, malicious damage to property, and arson; all 
were subsequently released on bail, and there were no further 
developments by year's end.
    At year's end the 2008 trial continued of two brothers in Eastern 
Cape Province who admitted to killing their younger brother for 
suspected witchcraft.
    Ritual killings (muthi killings), especially of children, to obtain 
body parts believed by some to enhance traditional medicine practices, 
remained a problem; specific muthi killing statistics were unavailable.
    On January 8, the mutilated body of 10-year-old Masego Kgomo was 
found in a clump of bushes near her home in Shoshanguve. Five male 
suspects were arrested and charged with murder and abduction; a sangoma 
(an African practitioner of magic, medicine, and witchcraft) also was 
arrested, but then released for lack of evidence. There were no further 
developments 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 and law prohibit such practices; however, 
police officers reportedly tortured, beat, raped, and otherwise abused 
suspects. According to the May Amnesty International report, 
corroborated cases of torture included the use of electric shock and 
suffocation. Police also assaulted detainees with batons, fists, and 
booted feet. Police torture and physical abuse allegedly occurred 
during interrogation, arrest, detention, and house searches, and 
sometimes resulted in death (see section 1.a.).
    During the year the ICD reported 920 reports of assault with the 
intent to cause grievous bodily harm, seven of which it acknowledged 
involved torture. The report noted the investigation of three cases of 
torture from previous years, but did not indicate the results. Suspects 
in several cases were interrogated and assaulted while held without any 
record of their arrest. Officers convicted of this charge were given 
sentences ranging from verbal and written warnings to fines and 
dismissal from service. The report did not stipulate how many officers 
were convicted.
    The ICD also reported 24 complaints of rape committed by police.
    In May Zipho Richard Ndlovu claimed he was detained by two police 
officers at his workplace and taken to a police station, where he was 
tortured for allegedly participating in a robbery. Ndlovu claimed the 
two officers trussed him with a plank under his knees, put a black bag 
over his head, and attached electrodes to his ear lobes. Ndlovu sued 
the police for torture, and his case was pending at year's end.
    During the year the ICD investigation into the alleged September 
2009 kidnapping and torture of David Ndzumeka by DPCI officers in Cape 
Town determined there was sufficient evidence to establish a case 
against the officers. However, the DPP had not made a decision on the 
ICD's recommendation by year's end. Ndzumeka alleged that the officers 
placed a plastic bag over his head and repeatedly suffocated him until 
he was unconscious. Ndzumeka case was one of 29 completed 
investigations involving DPCI officers in Cape Town awaiting a decision 
by the DPP.
    There were no developments in the following 2008 cases: the alleged 
torture in October of two brothers suspected of theft by 10 police 
officers from the Vosloorus Tracing Unit, the alleged beating and 
torture in November of a 17-year-old by six police officers from the 
Diepkloof Police Station, and the November death of Tefo Kgame after 
police allegedly beat him at the same station.
    Incidents of police harassment of foreigners continued, 
particularly during coordinated police raids in areas where foreign 
nationals resided. In an August report to the Portfolio Committee on 
Police, the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa 
asserted that police confiscated the legal documentation of foreign 
nationals, threatened them with arrest on spurious charges, and forced 
them to pay bribes to be released. Some state hospitals reportedly 
refused emergency treatment on a routine basis to indigent foreigners, 
despite regulations requiring that hospitals provide such treatment.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--The majority of the 249 
operational prisons did not meet international standards, and prison 
conditions did not always meet the country's minimum legal 
requirements. The Judicial Inspectorate of Correctional Services (JICS) 
received 2,189 complaints of assaults against prisoners by correctional 
officers for the reporting period from April 2009 through March 2010. 
There were several reports of physical and sexual abuse by both prison 
officials and prisoners. Some detainees awaiting trial reportedly 
contracted HIV/AIDS through rape. According to the JICS report, there 
were 1,047 prison deaths during the reporting period. Of these, 992 
were from natural causes, including HIV/AIDS; the remaining deaths were 
the result of suicides, assaults, or accidents.
    According to the JICS report released during the year, there were 
163,312 prisoners in facilities designed to hold 118,159. In a report 
to Parliament on October 27, Inspecting Judge Deon van Zyl reported 
that 19 prisons were critically overcrowded, some by as much as 247 
percent, such as King William's Town Prison, while others held less 
than their capacity, such as Barkley West, which held 22 percent of 
capacity. Unlike in previous years, no statistics were provided on the 
number of female and juvenile inmates. Due to severe overcrowding, many 
prisoners had less than 13 square feet in which to eat, sleep, and 
spend 23 hours a day. The nominal allotment of floor space per prisoner 
was approximately 36 square feet for communal space and 60 square feet 
for single cells, although this standard was seldom met.
    The 2009-10 Department of Correctional Services (DCS) annual report 
indicated 22.8 percent of sentenced prisoners who were tested between 
the ages of 15 and 49 were HIV-positive. There were 21 centers 
dispensing antiretroviral (ARV) therapy during the year. Prisons 
without such centers were supposed to utilize outside clinics for ARV 
therapy; however, this seldom occurred. There were no HIV screening 
programs on intake or discharge of prisoners and no HIV prevention 
programs in prison, such as condom distribution.
    All detainees in police cells were provided with felt mattresses 
and grey blankets, and most cells had toilets and basins, but there 
were seldom chairs, and cells often had inadequate light and 
ventilation.
    In its September report Monitoring Immigration Detention in South 
Africa, the local nongovernmental organization (NGO) Lawyers for Human 
Rights (LHR) indicated that the main abuses perpetrated in the Lindela 
Repatriation Centre, the country's largest detention facility for 
undocumented immigrants, included physical and verbal abuse, corruption 
and bribery, insufficient food, lack of reading and writing materials, 
lack of access to recreational facilities or telephones, lack of access 
to and quality of medical care, indefinite detention without judicial 
review, detention of asylum seekers, and lack of procedural safeguards 
such as legal guidelines governing long-term detention.
    Juvenile detainees were held in separate detention facilities; 
however, children up to three years old were sometimes held with their 
mothers. As of March 31, there were 129 infants and young children in 
detention with their mothers. During the year the DCS launched the 
Imbeleko program to provide a home-like environment for children below 
the age of two and to place children above that age in outside 
correctional facilities with sustainable family structures. Pretrial 
detainees generally were held with convicted prisoners.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observances. Authorities permitted prisoners and 
detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities without 
censorship and to request investigation of credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions. Authorities investigated and documented the 
results of such investigations in a publicly accessible manner. The 
Government investigated and monitored prison and detention center 
conditions.
    The DCS did not have an ombudsman to consider such matters as 
alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders to alleviate 
inhumane overcrowding; addressing the status and circumstances of 
confinement of juvenile offenders; or improving pretrial detention, 
bail, and recordkeeping procedures to ensure prisoners did not serve 
beyond maximum sentences for charged offenses.
    The JICS, an independent office under the Inspecting Judge, 
appoints an Independent Visitor for each correctional center to monitor 
prison conditions. In 2009 the Independent Visitors collectively 
recorded 8,346 visits to the 239 prisons, during which time they 
conducted private consultations with 78,883 inmates. Visits were 
recorded in official registers kept at all correctional centers and 
were verified on a monthly basis. Independent Visitors submitted 
monthly reports to the Inspecting Judge, listing the number and 
duration of visits, the number of inmates interviewed, and the number 
and nature of inmate complaints received.
    The Government permitted some independent monitoring of prison 
conditions, including visits by human rights organizations to some 
facilities. Human rights organizations were allowed to visit prisoners 
if they had a registered attorney acting as legal representative for 
the prisoner; organizations could also request permission to visit 
prisons to conduct specific research. The Government permitted ICRC 
visits, but none were conducted during the year.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, security forces 
arbitrarily arrested Zimbabwean migrants and trafficking victims during 
the year.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The South African 
Police Service (SAPS), under the Department of Police, has primary 
responsibility for internal security. The South African National 
Defense Force (SANDF), under the Department of Defense, is responsible 
for external security but also has domestic security responsibilities 
such as patrolling the borders. The DPCI, also known as ``the Hawks,'' 
coordinates efforts against organized crime and official corruption. 
Despite continued efforts to professionalize, SAPS remained 
understaffed, ill equipped, and poorly trained. Law enforcement 
activities remained focused on wealthy residential and business areas.
    During the year the ICD received 6,377 complaints against the 
police, including allegations of killings, assaults, and other 
misconduct, compared to 6,119 complaints in the previous year, 
according to the ICD 2009-10 report. Of the 6,377 complaints, Minister 
of Police Nathi Mthethwa noted 48 convictions of police officers for 
criminal conduct, including 25 convictions for deaths in police custody 
or as a result of police action, and 23 convictions for other criminal 
offenses. Additionally, the ICD made 526 recommendations to the DPP in 
criminal matters and 1,666 recommendations to SAPS management with 
regard to various misconduct offenses, such as abuse of a state 
vehicle, leaking information, or dereliction of duty.
    SAPS provided annual training in corruption prevention, human 
rights, and ethics; it also provided officers with access to social 
workers, psychologists, and chaplains.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires arrest warrants to be based on sufficient evidence and issued 
by a magistrate or judge and provides that all detainees be informed 
promptly of the reasons for their detention, of their right to remain 
silent, and the consequences of waiving that right. Detainees must be 
charged within 48 hours of arrest; held in conditions respecting human 
dignity; allowed to consult with legal counsel of their choice at every 
stage of their detention or provided state funded legal counsel when 
``substantial injustice would otherwise result;'' and permitted to 
communicate with relatives, medical practitioners, and religious 
counselors. The Government often did not respect these rights. 
Detainees must be released (with or without bail) unless the interests 
of justice require otherwise; however, bail for pretrial detainees 
often exceeded what suspects could pay.
    Unlike in the previous year, no statistics were kept on the number 
of detainees who were held because they could not post bail; 8,500 
prisoners in 2009, including some school children, remained in 
detention because they were unable to post bail. During the year the 
Department of Correctional Services signed a bail protocol with the 
ministers of police and of justice and constitutional development to 
allow inmates who committed petty crimes and could not afford bail to 
be diverted through alternative programs.
    Human rights groups, judges, and judicial scholars continued to 
express concern about the Criminal Procedure Second Amendment Act, 
which mandates minimum jail sentences, allows pretrial detention of 
children, and prohibits bail in certain cases.
    There were cases of arbitrary arrest during the year.
    LHR reported that security forces continued to arbitrarily arrest 
Zimbabwean migrants, even those with documentation. LHR and other NGOs 
also reported that victims of human trafficking were arbitrarily 
arrested if not in possession of appropriate documents detailing their 
immigration status.
    In September 2009 40 local tavern owners in Durban ransacked and 
demolished the offices of Abahlali base Mjondolo (AbM), an organization 
that advocates for the rights of those who live in informal 
settlements; the AbM had been fighting the KwaZulu-Natal provincial 
government's attempts at forcibly removing inhabitants and demolishing 
the Kennedy Road informal settlement. Over two days the mob, allegedly 
ANC cronies, also demolished the homes of several AbM members, 
reportedly in the presence of local police; two persons were killed. 
Police subsequently arrested 13 AbM members, 12 of whom were charged 
with a range of crimes, including property destruction, public 
violence, and murder; one of the 13 was released without charge. Seven 
of the 12 were released on bail and awaiting trial, while the other 
five remained in pretrial detention. None of the 40 tavern owners who 
demolished the AbM offices and homes was arrested. Critics charged that 
the Government arrested the AbM members to prevent them from returning 
to the Kennedy Road settlement. During the year the trial of the 
``Kennedy 12'' was repeatedly postponed due to difficulties in getting 
witnesses to court.
    Lengthy pretrial detention was a problem, and pretrial detainees 
constituted 30 percent of the total prison population. According to the 
JICS annual report, detainees waited an average of three months, but 
some as long as two years, before a trial. The report found that 49,030 
prisoners were awaiting trial as of March 31.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected 
judicial independence in practice. However, the judiciary was 
understaffed and underfunded, and there were reports that legal 
documents used in trials were lost. According to the presidentially 
mandated criminal justice system working group, made up of ministers 
and deputy ministers, more than a million of the two million criminal 
cases reported annually were never resolved. According to the group, a 
number of problems contributed to the country's low 10.3 percent 
conviction rate in criminal cases, including inadequate collection of 
evidence at crime scenes, insufficient investigation of crimes, long 
trials, and ineffective court processes. During the year the Government 
operated 58 justice centers that provided legal assistance to the poor 
to speed the administration of justice, reduce the court rolls, and 
alleviate overcrowding in prisons. However, serious delays continued to 
be a problem.

    Trial Procedures.--Criminal defendants enjoy a legal presumption of 
innocence. 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. Judges and 
magistrates hear criminal cases and determine guilt or innocence. In 
lieu of juries, the law requires that a panel of lay assessors and 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 adjudicating bail applications and 
sentences. Detainees and defendants have the right to legal counsel 
provided and funded by the state when ``substantial injustice would 
otherwise result''; however, this right was restricted due to a general 
lack of information regarding rights to legal representation and the 
Government's inability to pay for such services. Defendants have the 
right to be present in court and can question witnesses in court and 
present their own witnesses and evidence. Defendants have access to 
government evidence before going to court. There is no automatic right 
to appeal, but courts may give defendants permission to do so. For 
certain cases, such as when the accused is younger than 16 years of 
age, permission is not required. Additionally, the law provides for an 
automatic review of all prison sentences longer than three months.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--The IFP maintained that 384 of 
its members had been imprisoned since 1994 for political reasons, 
although international human rights organizations did not list such 
persons as political prisoners or detainees. In January 2008 the IFP 
petitioned both the president and the justice minister for their 
release. In February 2008 the IFP took the matter to the High Court, 
where the judge ordered the justice minister to consider all 384 
applications for presidential pardons within three months. In April 
2008 the IFP sent a letter to Amnesty International complaining that 
both former president Mbeki and the justice minister had ignored the 
matter. On September 2009 the Constitutional Court ruled that because 
the petition included the justice minister, the IFP had pursued the 
incorrect party for legal relief and that the president, not the 
justice minister, should be held fully accountable for the delay. The 
same day, the IFP instructed its lawyers to start legal action against 
President Zuma for the delay in processing the applications. On 
February 4, President Zuma announced he had considered and rejected 230 
of the IFP applications for pardon; he also announced that decisions on 
the remaining 154 applications would be announced once the 
Constitutional Court rendered a judgment on another matter pertaining 
to the president's power to grant pardons.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters. There also was access to the 
courts to bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, a human 
rights violation.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions. 
However, there were allegations of police abuse during sweeps and home 
searches and criticisms of police and judicial procedures, including 
complaints that warrants were issued despite inadequate evidence.
    The law authorizes state monitoring of telecommunications systems, 
including cellular telephones, the Internet, and e-mail, for criminal 
investigations. However, opposition parties and many civil society 
groups opposed such laws. In July 2009 the Regulation of Interception 
of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information 
Act came into effect, requiring all mobile operators, service 
providers, and cell-phone vendors to register on secure databases the 
identities, physical addresses, and telephone numbers of new and 
existing customers. All cell phone subscribers were required to show 
proof of identity and proof of residence to be registered.
    The Promotion of Access to Information Act allows any person to 
access information from the Government or any other individual for the 
exercise or protection of any right. Authorities can also use the act 
to obtain personal information in connection with criminal 
investigations. Opposition parties and human rights NGOs objected to 
its broadly defined provision that enabled the Government to access an 
individual's personal information.
    Farm owners continued to evict workers legally and illegally. An 
extensive national eviction survey by the NGO Nkuzi Development 
Association, which provided legal assistance to farm workers, indicated 
farm workers generally were unaware of their right to legal counsel 
during eviction proceedings. In Limpopo, where evictions took place, 
Nkuzi had only two attorneys and at times lacked funds for litigation.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally 
respected these rights. However, several laws remained in effect that 
posed a potential threat to media independence, and some journalists 
expressed concern over government involvement in the media sector.
    Individuals, organizations, journalists, and sectors of civil 
society were generally able to criticize the Government openly without 
fear of reprisal, although many journalists expressed concern in 
reports, columns, editorials, and public fora that the Government 
heavily influenced and increased its efforts during the year to control 
the media. The practice of appointing journalists to key positions as a 
reward for their political allegiance remained a problem with the South 
African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), a government-funded television 
and radio network.
    According to the South African Advertising Research Foundation, 
print media reached 52 percent of the population. Despite the number 
and diversity of publications, the concentration of media ownership in 
the hands of a few large media groups drew criticism from the 
Government and some political parties, who complained that print media 
did not always adequately cover their points of view.
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views without restriction.
    The majority of citizens received news through radio broadcasts 
from the SABC and community radio stations. The SABC was the largest 
and most influential source of news for the majority of the population. 
It broadcast television and radio programs in the country's 11 official 
languages, with its signal received by an estimated 92 percent of 
citizens.
    Low-power, nonprofit community radio stations continued to play an 
important role in informing the mostly rural public, although they 
often had difficulty producing adequate content and maintaining quality 
staff. Government broadcast regulators regularly issued new community 
radio licenses and withdrew others for noncompliance with the terms of 
issuance.
    Government and political officials often criticized the media for 
lack of professionalism and reacted sharply to media criticism, often 
accusing black journalists of disloyalty and white journalists of 
racism. Some journalists believed that the Government's sensitivity to 
criticism resulted in media self-censorship.
    In 2009 the Government enacted several laws that restricted press 
freedom, although none were enforced during the year. The 2009 Films 
and Publications Act requires that publications not regulated by the 
press ombudsman, including online material, be submitted to the Film 
and Publications Board for classification prior to publication if the 
publication contains references to ``degrading sexual content, 
incitement to cause harm, promotion of propaganda for war, incitement 
of violence, or the advocating of hatred based on any identifiable 
group characteristic.'' Media watchdog organizations, as well as 
individual media commentators, criticized the law as a possible vehicle 
for restriction of press freedom.
    The February 2009 amendment to the Broadcasting Act allows the 
president to dismiss members of the SABC Board, a move that was widely 
criticized by opposition parties and the press as undue government 
interference. 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.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet; however, the law authorizes state monitoring of 
telecommunications systems, including the Internet and e-mail, for 
criminal investigation. In July 2009 the Regulation of Interception of 
Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act 
came into effect, requiring all service providers to register on secure 
databases the identities, physical addresses, and telephone numbers of 
new and existing customers. Despite the law, there were no reports that 
the Government monitored e-mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and 
groups could engage in peaceful expression of views via the Internet, 
including by e-mail. According to International Telecommunication Union 
statistics for 2009, approximately 8.8 percent of the country's 
inhabitants used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.
    The Film and Publications Board reviews written and graphic 
materials published in, or imported into, the country. The board has 
the power to edit or ban books, magazines, movies, and videos, and it 
regularly exercised that power, mostly regarding pornographic material. 
Journalists, media houses, and industry associations continued to 
criticize efforts to extend the board's authority to newspapers and 
broadcast media.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly; 
however, police forcibly dispersed several demonstrations during the 
year, which resulted in injuries.
    Several protests over poor delivery of basic services took place 
across the country, including illegal, violent demonstrations in 
Gauteng, North West, Western Cape, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal 
provinces. Police used batons and rubber bullets to control the 
demonstrations and quell the violence; several injuries were reported.
    For example, on February 23, residents of Orange Farm protested 
lack of local service delivery by looting shops, burning tires, and 
pelting police with rocks. Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to 
disperse the demonstrators; 30 persons were arrested and subsequently 
released. There was no information about persons injured.
    On September 21, residents of Hangberg township in Hout Bay 
protested the decision by the City of Cape Town to dismantle homes 
illegally built on a firebreak, and some residents threw stones at 
police. Police fired rubber bullets to quell the protest, resulting in 
serious injuries to several residents and at least one journalist.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association, and the Government generally respected this right.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/
drl/rls/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government partially cooperated with the Office of the UN 
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian 
organizations in providing protection and assistance to internally 
displaced persons, refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, 
stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The law does not prohibit forced exile; however, the Government did 
not use it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum and refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice 
the Government generally provided protection against the expulsion or 
return of those recognized as refugees to countries where their lives 
or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group or political 
opinion.
    Although the law provides for access to basic services, education 
for refugee children, and access to police and courts, NGOs such as 
Human Rights Watch found that asylum seekers, migrants, and refugees 
faced discrimination at health-care facilities and by law enforcement 
representatives.
    The Government's policy prohibited encampment of foreign asylum 
seekers and refugees in favor of free movement and integration of 
documented migrants into local communities, with guarantees for the 
right to work and access to social services. While this generally 
offered greater liberty to foreigners, many NGOs criticized government 
protection of foreigners as inadequate.
    Refugee advocacy organizations charged that police and immigration 
officials abused refugees and asylum seekers and forcefully repatriated 
some asylum seekers, particularly Zimbabweans, although there were no 
such reports during the year. Applicants for asylum and NGOs assisting 
refugees also reported that immigration authorities sought bribes from 
those seeking permits to remain in the country. The Department of Home 
Affairs (DHA) adopted anticorruption programs and punished officials or 
contracted security officers found to be accepting bribes.
    In May 2009, following international and domestic criticism, the 
Government suspended deportations of Zimbabweans; NGOs estimated there 
were between one and three million undocumented Zimbabweans in the 
country. The Government also introduced a 90-day visa-free entry for 
Zimbabwean nationals and an associated right to work, and proposed a 
system of longer-term permits, known as special dispensation permits, 
for Zimbabweans already in the country under the Immigration Act. The 
permit system was never fully implemented; however, on September 20, 
the Government began a three-month documentation and amnesty drive. 
Zimbabweans already in the country on or before March 31, 2009 were 
offered the chance to turn in any fraudulent South African identity 
documents without penalty and then apply for the appropriate study, 
work, or business permits. Requirements to obtain the permits were 
simplified, and the Government worked closely with Zimbabwean 
authorities to try to ensure that all potential applicants would be 
able to obtain a valid passport. Those who did not take advantage of 
the documentation drive faced deportation. Asylum-seekers with pending 
claims had the option of withdrawing their application and reapplying 
under the new initiative or continuing with their original claim. As of 
December 31, 275,762 applications had been received, of which 42,779 
applications had been finalized and approved, with 10,166 awaiting 
review; 222,817 applications were awaiting adjudication. Amnesty was 
granted to 6,243 Zimbabwean nationals, and a total of 49,255 Zimbabwean 
nationals had surrendered their asylum status to obtain valid work and 
business permits.
    Societal attacks on refugees occurred during the year.
    There were no developments in the June 2009 stabbing death of 
Angolan refugee Sebastian Santana, who resisted an attempted robbery 
near the Nyanga Refugee Reception Center. A police investigation was 
ongoing.
    The Government also offered temporary protection to some 
individuals who may not have qualified as refugees under the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or the 1967 Protocol.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens with the right to change 
their government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right through 
periodic, free, and fair elections based on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In April 2009 the country 
held a largely free and fair national election in which the ruling ANC 
won 65.9 percent of the vote and 264 of 400 seats in the National 
Assembly, the dominant lower chamber of parliament. Parliament then 
elected ANC President Jacob Zuma as the country's next president. The 
leading opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), won 67 seats, 
the Congress of the People (COPE) won 30 seats, and the IFP won 18 
seats. The remaining 39 seats in parliament were allocated to 10 other 
political parties based on election results. In the upper house of 
parliament, the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), the ANC held 35 
seats, the DA 10, and COPE seven. The remaining two seats were 
allocated to the IFP and the Independent Democrats. The NCOP is 
primarily a reviewing chamber that has the power to send legislation 
back to the National Assembly for retooling and can vote on legislation 
affecting the rights of the nine provinces.
    Electoral violence occurred. In KwaZulu-Natal Province, for 
example, there were 162 violent incidents in the six weeks prior to the 
elections, including 25 cases of intimidation, four killings, four 
attempted killings, one case of arson, and one case of intimidation 
with a firearm. Other reported cases of election-related violence 
included 62 in the Northern Cape and 30 in Limpopo.
    There also were reports of electoral irregularities, including 
attempted vote rigging.
    In KwaZulu-Natal Province, for example, Ulundi election official 
Sindisiwe Mncube was arrested after being caught with illegally marked 
ballot papers favoring the IFP. In June 2009 Mncube was found guilty on 
five charges of forgery and violations of the electoral code and 
sentenced to five years in prison.
    Women held 14 of 34 ministerial positions, including the 
ministerial portfolios of foreign affairs and defense, and 11 of 28 
deputy ministerial positions. There were 172 women in the 400-seat 
National Assembly and 19 women among the 54 permanent members of the 
NCOP. Women occupied two of four parliamentary presiding officer 
positions, including the deputy speaker of the National Assembly and 
deputy chair of the NCOP.
    There were an estimated 119 members of minorities (nonblack 
citizens) in the National Assembly. There were 18 minority members 
among the 54 permanent members of the NCOP. The cabinet included 19 
members of minority groups.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government continued efforts to curb corruption; however, the World 
Bank's worldwide indicators reflected that corruption remained a 
problem.
    On August 3, former police chief and president of the International 
Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) Jackie Selebi was sentenced to 
15 years in jail for corruption and defeating the ends of justice; 
Selebi, who received bribes of 1.2 million rand ($168,000) from drug 
dealer Glenn Agliotti, also showed Agliotti secret police reports. On 
September 6, Selebi was released on bail. On September 9, the National 
Prosecuting Authority (NPA) confirmed that prosecutor Gerrie Nel and 
chief investigator Andrew Leask were being investigated for 
irregularities.
    On August 12, President Zuma announced the start of an 
investigation by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) of five 
ministries, two provincial departments, and the South African Social 
Security Agency. The investigation was ongoing at year's end.
    On August 18, the minister of Human Settlements Tokyo Sexwale 
announced that his department had recovered 44 million rand 
($6,160,000) and arrested 1,910 government officials who were illegally 
benefitting from housing subsidies.
    In November President Zuma signed a proclamation authorizing an SIU 
investigation into alleged financial irregularities in all 24 
municipalities in North West Province; the investigation was ongoing at 
year's end.
    Corruption remained a problem within prisons, although most 
correctional officials were either suspended or fired following an 
investigation. According to the JICS report released during the year, 
there were 691 complaints of corruption during the annual reporting 
period. The SIU identified irregularities in 23 contracts and 
recommended that 433 officials be penalized. It also charged 26 doctors 
and 10 officials with criminal offenses; an additional 433 officials 
were disciplined. There were no further developments in the 2008 
investigation of malfeasance in prison tendering contracts.
    At least 10 agencies, including the SIU, the Public Service 
Commission, the Office of the Public Prosecutor, and the Office of the 
Auditor General, were involved in anticorruption activities.
    The SIU investigated corruption in government departments and 
identified civil servants alleged to have improperly received state 
housing subsidies. The Government took administrative action to recover 
these subsidies. In November 2009 the Government announced that a 
special SIU team dedicated to investigating housing fraud would 
investigate 800 officials at the national and provincial level and 123 
in local government for corruption.
    The Office of the Public Protector investigated government abuse 
and mismanagement and served as the office of last resort for citizens 
reporting unfair treatment by government entities. The office handled 
an increasing number of complaints but was hampered by severe resource 
constraints.
    Public officials were subject to financial disclosure laws, and 
most officials complied with the law, although not always in a timely 
manner.
    The law provides for access to government information; however, the 
Government did not always comply with the law. If a government 
department refuses to provide information, the requester can launch an 
internal appeal. If this also fails, the requester may appeal a 
decision to the High Court, a lengthy and expensive process. The Open 
Democracy Advice Center continued to report that many requests for 
information went unanswered or were answered outside the period 
provided for in the legislation.
Section 5. 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 South African Human Right Commission (SAHRC), which was created 
by the Government but operates independently, is responsible for 
promoting the observance of fundamental human rights at all levels of 
government and throughout the general population. The SAHRC also has 
the authority to conduct investigations, issue subpoenas, and hear 
testimony under oath. SAHRC enjoyed support from the Government without 
interference, and the Government reacted positively towards SAHRC 
reports. During the year the SAHRC issued reports on xenophobia, 
economic and social rights, and indigenous people's rights.
    The Government cooperated with international governmental 
organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives and other 
organizations. UN Development Program chief Helen Clark visited the 
country in May to highlight progress towards the Millennium Development 
Goals, and a UN working group on the use of mercenaries visited in 
November.
    There were no parliamentary committees that dealt exclusively with 
human rights; however, certain parliamentary committees looked into 
human rights issues for their constituencies.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit 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 often resulted in the 
denial of these rights in practice.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is illegal but remained a 
serious and pervasive problem. Minimum sentencing for rape convictions 
is 10 years in prison for the first offense, 15 years for the second, 
and 20 for the third. Under certain circumstances--such as multiple 
rapes, gang rapes, or the rape of a minor or a person with 
disabilities--conviction results in a minimum sentence of life 
imprisonment (25 years), unless substantial and compelling 
circumstances exist to justify a lesser sentence. Perpetrators with 
previous rape convictions and perpetrators aware of being HIV-positive 
at the time of the rape also face a minimum sentence of life 
imprisonment, unless substantial and compelling circumstances exist to 
justify a lesser sentence. According to the 2009-10 SAPS annual report, 
there were 55,097 cases of rape and indecent assault during the year; 
many of the victims were elderly women. According to a 2008 study by 
SAPS and the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, only 
4.1 percent of reported rape cases resulted in conviction. In most 
cases attackers were friends or family members of the victim, which 
contributed to a reluctance to press charges. A poor security climate 
and societal attitudes condoning sexual violence against women 
contributed to the problem. A 2005 study by the Medical Research 
Council estimated that only one in nine rape victims reported the crime 
to SAPS. A June 2009 report released by the Medical Research Council 
found that more than 25 percent of men interviewed in KwaZulu-Natal and 
Eastern Cape provinces admitted to committing at least one rape, and 
more than half of those persons admitted to raping more than one 
person.
    Allegations of rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment of black 
and foreign female farm workers by farm owners, managers, and other 
farm workers were common.
    In 2007 parliament passed amendments to the law that broadened the 
physical definitions of rape and indecent assault, included males as 
victims, and restricted admission of victims' sexual histories as 
evidence in court to improve the Government's capacity to punish 
perpetrators and protect victims. Victims' rights groups, however, 
criticized the law's conditional provision of post-exposure prophylaxis 
only to victims who filed charges with SAPS or reported the alleged 
offenses to designated health establishments.
    The Government operated 42 sexual-offenses courts throughout the 
country that included designated facilities such as waiting rooms, 
court preparation rooms, and closed caption television rooms for 
victims. Although judges in rape cases generally followed statutory 
sentencing guidelines, women's advocacy groups criticized judges for 
using criteria such as the victim's behavior or relationship to the 
rapist as a basis for imposing lighter sentences. Critics also charged 
that support for dedicated sexual-offenses courts had eroded, and that 
some of the previously dedicated courts were hearing other types of 
cases. As a result, sexual offense cases took longer to resolve, and 
conviction rates--which were previously the highest in the country--had 
decreased. The NPA's Sexual Offenses and Community Affairs Unit (SOCA) 
unit reported a 66.7 percent conviction rate during the year, which was 
a decrease from previous years, but still higher than the rates 
reported for other regional courts where convictions in sexual offenses 
cases averaged less than 54 percent.
    During the year SOCA opened seven and operated 18 Thuthuzela Care 
Centers (TCC) that specialized in rape care management and streamlined 
a network of existing investigative, prosecutorial, medical, and 
psychological services in the hospitals where they were located.
    Domestic violence was pervasive and included physical, sexual, 
emotional, and verbal abuse, as well as harassment and stalking by 
former partners. The law 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 to arrest abusers 
without a warrant. Violating a protection order is punishable by a 
prison sentence of up to five years, or 20 years if additional criminal 
charges are brought. Penalties for domestic violence include fines and 
sentences of between two and five years' imprisonment.
    According to NGOs, about one in four women were in an abusive 
relationship, but few reported it. A June 2009 report released by the 
Medical Research Council found that more than two-fifths of men 
interviewed in KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces had been 
physically violent toward an intimate partner. TCC counselors also 
alleged that doctors, police officers, and judges often treated abused 
women poorly.
    The Government financed 39 shelters for abused women, but more were 
needed, particularly in rural areas. The Government continued to 
conduct domestic violence awareness campaigns. In honor of Women's 
Month, the Government hosted numerous events focused on empowering 
women in business, government, health, sports, and the arts.
    Although the law prohibits sexual harassment, it remained a 
widespread problem. The Government left enforcement primarily to 
employers, with criminal prosecution a rare secondary step at the 
initiative of the complainant. The Department of Labor (DOL) issued 
guidelines to employers on how to handle workplace complaints, which 
allowed for remuneration of the victim's lost compensation plus 
interest, additional damages, legal fees, and dismissal of the 
perpetrator in some circumstances. Tougher punishments could be 
generated for assault, which carries a range of penalties depending on 
the severity of the act, but only if the complainants press charges.
    Couples and individuals have the right, and were able in practice, 
to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of 
their children, and to have the information and means to do so free 
from discrimination, coercion, and violence. Contraception was widely 
available, and women could access it for free at government clinics. 
According to a 2008 Department of Health (DOH) report, 94 percent of 
women had access to prenatal care while 84 percent had access to a 
skilled attendant at birth, except in the poorest communities where the 
rate was 68 percent. According to the UN Development Program, the 
maternal mortality ratio was 625 per 100,000 live births. To improve 
postnatal care, the DOH 2009-10 Annual Report indicated that 164 of the 
549 identified maternity facilities implemented the Basic Antenatal 
Care program. During the year 30 percent of women were examined within 
three postpartum days. Women were equally diagnosed and treated for 
sexually transmitted infections, as well as HIV.
    Discrimination against women remained a serious problem despite 
their equal rights under the law governing inheritance, divorce, and 
child custody. Women experienced economic discrimination in areas such 
as wages, extension of credit, and ownership of land. For example, 
township housing transfer schemes favored existing titleholders, who 
tended to be men.
    Many rural areas were administered through traditional patrilineal 
authorities, such as a chief or a council of elders, who did not grant 
land tenure to women, a precondition for access to housing subsidies.
    Women, particularly black women, typically had lower incomes and 
less job security than men. Most women were engaged in poorly paid 
domestic labor and microenterprises, which did not provide job security 
or benefits. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) provided 
incentive grants to promote the development of small- and medium-size 
businesses and microenterprises for women, young persons, and persons 
with disabilities. DTI also established the Isivande Women's Fund to 
improve women's access to formal finance in the absence of personal 
savings and gender-biased institutions.
    According to the annual census conducted by the Businesswomen's 
Association, the number of women in top leadership positions remained 
constant. Women held only 19.3 percent of executive-level and 16.6 
percent of director-level positions. The Employment Equity Commission 
released statistics showing that 63 percent of top managers in private 
companies were white men, while black women comprised only 3 percent 
and colored and Indian women made up only 1 percent.
    Female farm workers often experienced discrimination, and their 
access to housing often was dependent on their relationship to male 
farm workers. Female farm workers on maternity leave who could not 
obtain timely compensation via the Unemployment Insurance Fund often 
had no choice but to return to work shortly after giving birth, 
according to NGOs working with farm workers in Limpopo Province.
    A number of governmental bodies, particularly the Gender Commission 
and the Ministry for Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities, and 
numerous NGOs monitored and promoted women's rights.

    Children.--The law provides for citizenship by birth, descent, and 
naturalization. However, registration of births was inconsistent, 
especially in remote rural areas or among parents who were foreign 
nationals and themselves unregistered. This resulted in lack of access 
for children to public services such as education, health care, and 
financial grants.
    The law mandates compulsory education from ages seven to 15 and 
ensures that children cannot be refused admission to public schools due 
to a lack of funds. The law provides for access to education for 
disadvantaged children (who traditionally are black children) through a 
uniform system for the organization, governance, and funding of 
schools. However, public education was fee based and the Government did 
not fully subsidize education. Even when children qualified for fee 
exemptions, parents who were poor had difficulty paying for uniforms, 
books, and supplies. Some children who were enrolled did not attend 
school.
    According to the 2008 Education Statistics Report by the Department 
of Education, 92 percent of grade 1 to 12, school age children were 
enrolled in school. Those not enrolled tended to be children with 
special needs. Most children attended school until the age of 16, when 
eligibility for the Child Support Grant ends. There were an equal 
number of boys and girls in grades 1 to 12, with boys slightly 
outnumbering girls in primary school (grades 1-7), but 5 percent more 
girls than boys were in secondary school (grades 8-12).
    There continued to be reports of rape, sexual abuse, sexual 
harassment, and assaults at school of girls 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.
    Although the law prohibits corporal punishment in schools, there 
were reports that teachers used physical violence to discipline 
students. Student-on-student violence, including racially motivated 
violence, continued to be a major concern of educational authorities 
and parents. Teacher organizations, parents, and police worked together 
in the ``Safe Schools Program'' to address these problems. Many schools 
implemented ``Adopt-a-Cop'' programs, inviting SAPS officers into their 
schools for training and security.
    HIV/AIDS remained one of the leading causes of death among women 
and children, accounting for 43.7 percent of maternal deaths and 35 
percent of deaths of children under age five. During the year the 
Government revised its eligibility criteria to extend antiretroviral 
(ARV) treatment to women, infants, and persons also infected with TB 
who were not previously covered. Based on the new guidelines, eligible 
individuals received ARV treatment at all government clinics and 
hospitals. HIV-positive women who had not been eligible for ARVs under 
the previous guidelines received Prevention of Mother to Child 
Transmission regimens at 14 weeks of pregnancy and, among other things, 
an annual pap smear. HIV/AIDS activists, physicians, and opposition 
parties who had criticized the previous administration's denial of the 
causes and existence of HIV/AIDS, lauded President Zuma's commitment to 
lead the fight against the pandemic. To reduce maternal and infant 
mortality rates and HIV transmission from mother to newborn to a stated 
goal of less than 5 percent by 2011, the Government worked with experts 
and the World Health Organization to revise the 2008 Prevention of 
Mother to Child Transmission guidelines to provide enhanced regimens of 
ARV therapy to pregnant women, as well as postnatal prophylaxis and 
early treatment for at-risk or HIV-infected infants.
    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 crime continued to impede the delivery of needed services 
to young victims. According to the 2009-10 SAPS report, 27,417 children 
were victims of sexual offenses between April 2009 and March 2010. Of 
that total, 965 were killed, and 12,062 were assaulted with intention 
to do grievous bodily harm. Observers believed that these figures 
represented a small percentage of the actual incidence of child rape 
since most cases involving family members were not reported. According 
to the NGO Childline, 25 percent of girls and 20 percent of boys were 
at risk of being raped before age 16. According to a June 2009 report 
released by Solidarity, the country's largest independent trade union, 
45 percent of all rapes were perpetrated against children, and more 
than 88 percent of child rapes were never reported to the police.
    The law states that no child under the age of 12 can consent to any 
sexual activity and sets 16 as the lowest age for consensual sex with 
another minor. Statutory rape is defined as sexual intercourse between 
anyone under 18 and an adult more than two years older. The statutory 
sentence for rape of a child is life in prison; however, the law grants 
judicial discretion to issue more lenient sentences. The country had a 
low conviction rate for rape and child abuse.
    The traditional practice of ``ukuthwala,'' the forced marriage of 
girls as young as 12 to adult men, continued in remote villages in the 
Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces. In May 2009 the 
Government and traditional leaders launched a ``Together We Are the 
Solution'' campaign aimed at eliminating the practice with girls 
younger than 18.
    Penalties for the sexual exploitation of a child include fines and 
imprisonment of up to 20 years. Some NGOs claimed the country was a 
destination for child sex tourism, although the Government denied the 
charge. The law prohibits child pornography and provides for penalties 
including fines and imprisonment of up to 10 years. The Film and 
Publication Board ran a Web site and a toll-free hotline during the 
year to enable the public to report incidences of child pornography.
    The high incidence of HIV/AIDS resulted in an increase in the 
number of child-headed households. These children sometimes turned to 
prostitution to support themselves and their siblings. Other children 
were trafficked and forced into prostitution. NGOs provided shelter and 
medical and legal assistance for children in prostitution and a hotline 
for victims of child abuse.
    AIDS activists alleged that children in prostitution were often 
highly sought after because of the widely held belief that sex with a 
virgin provided a cure for HIV/AIDS. SAPS officials, however, stated 
that under questioning perpetrators usually admitted they knew this 
claim was false.
    Despite outreach programs to discourage the practice, ritual 
circumcision of males, including children, usually by medically 
unqualified practitioners, was still a prevalent initiation tradition 
in several provinces, particularly in Eastern Cape Province. The 
practice sometimes resulted in death. Circumcision was considered a 
precondition for adult status, which permits marriage, inheritance, and 
other societal privileges. The House of Traditional Leaders attempted 
to address unsafe initiation practices and designed strategies to 
prevent deaths and the spread of diseases, such as HIV/AIDS. However, 
discussing the practice was taboo in many communities, where it was 
considered a matter for chiefs to decide. Some traditional leaders 
spoke out against government interference in initiation and 
circumcision practices, while others declared moratoriums on 
circumcisions in parts of Eastern Cape Province in response to the 
rising number of deaths resulting from the practice.
    The Department of Health in Eastern Cape Province provided 
surgeons, health officials, and vehicles during the June initiation 
season to monitor initiation practices. The Government also began a 
countrywide voluntary male medical circumcision campaign, offering free 
circumcision by qualified medical personnel as an alternative to 
circumcision by unqualified practitioners. Nevertheless, 41 
circumcision-related deaths, 100 hospitalizations, and several penis 
amputations at the hands of unmonitored practitioners were reported in 
Eastern Cape Province during the June initiation period, according to 
press reports. In December, the first month of the summer initiation 
period, 21 boys died from the procedure in Eastern Cape Province. From 
2001 through 2007, Eastern Cape Province recorded nearly 2,600 hospital 
admissions, 156 genital mutilations or amputations, and 232 deaths due 
to dehydration and infection from unsafe and unsterile procedures. On 
June 5, Mtshiyelwa Mtshayina Ndoda, a 55-year-old unregistered 
traditional surgeon who had been arrested several times for operating 
an illegal initiation school, was again arrested for the offence. 
Neither this case, nor a pending case of operating an illegal 
initiation school, had been concluded by year's end.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community was estimated at 75,000 to 
80,000. During the year Jewish graves in Bloemfontein were defaced with 
anti-Semitic graffiti, and there were reports of verbal abuse, hate 
mail, and distribution of anti-Semitic literature in the country.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination on the 
basis of physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental disability; 
however, government and private-sector discrimination in employment 
existed. The law mandates access to buildings for persons with 
disabilities, but such regulations were rarely enforced, and public 
awareness of them remained minimal.
    There were more than 100,000 students with disabilities in 
mainstream schools, and the Department of Basic Education allocated 
part of its budget for assistive devices, material resources, and 
assistive technology. To date, eight schools had been fully converted 
to full-service, inclusive schools, with 20 more identified for future 
conversion.
    The law provides persons with disabilities 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. 
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. Persons with disabilities constituted 7.9 percent of the 
general population, but only an estimated 0.9 percent of the public 
service workforce and 1 percent of the private-sector workforce. The 
Ministry for Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities launched a 
Web site linking persons with disabilities with civil service 
positions, but the Government did not met its target of 2 percent of 
government positions occupied by persons with disabilities.
    The law does not allow persons with mental disabilities to vote.
    The Ministry for Women, Children, and Persons with Disabilities is 
charged with protecting the rights of persons with disabilities, 
enhancing their development opportunities, and monitoring government 
departments to ensure that disability issues are addressed in policies, 
hiring practices, building plans, and other matters. NGOs also 
advocated for the rights of persons with specific disabilities such as 
blindness.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Random xenophobic attacks on 
foreign African migrants and ethnic minorities occurred and sometimes 
resulted in death, injury, and displacement. Such attacks were 
generally perpetrated by citizens who blamed immigrants for job and 
housing losses and increasing levels of crime. The Government sometimes 
responded quickly and decisively to xenophobic incidents, sending 
police and soldiers into affected communities to quell violence and 
restore order. However, civil society organizations criticized the 
Government for failing to address the root causes of the violence, for 
not facilitating opportunities for conflict resolution in affected 
communities, and for failing to deter such attacks by vigorous 
investigation and prosecution of participants.
    On July 11, citizens attacked foreign-owned spaza shops (small 
retail enterprises) and looted homes in Mbekweni, Paarl East, 
Wellington, and Nyanga in Western Cape Province. Approximately 70 
foreign nationals sought refuge at the Mbekweni police station in 
Paarl; 22 at the Wellington police station; and about 100 foreign 
nationals at a campsite outside Wellington. In response, the Government 
deployed police and SANDF troops to townships in Western Cape Province 
with instructions to take harsh action to stamp out xenophobic threats. 
Police Minister Nathia Mthethwa and Defense Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, 
who flew to the province to survey the situation, determined that the 
attacks had been orchestrated by criminals using xenophobia to 
destabilize communities. All those who had fled their homes had 
returned to their communities or moved elsewhere by year's end. Police 
arrested seven men in the Nyanga area and charged them with public 
violence; there were no further developments.
    On July 19, a robbery in the township of Kya Sands sparked a 
confrontation between locals and foreign nationals. Attackers, some 
armed with axes and pangas (large, heavy knives), kicked down doors 
demanding money and identity documents. Spaza shops owned by foreign 
nationals were looted. Sixteen people, including South Africans, were 
injured. The Government, insisting that the attacks were not related to 
xenophobia, sent in a heavy police and military presence. Ten suspects 
were arrested; the investigation was ongoing at year's end.
    There were no further developments in the following 2009 xenophobic 
attacks: the May burning by a mob in Darling of a shop belonging to 
Somali citizens Omar Josef and Hazim Amad, both of whom were killed in 
the fire; the December attack by residents of the Westernburg Township 
outside Polokwane of Zimbabwean nationals, which resulted in serious 
injuries and the displacement of more than 200 persons; and the 
December stoning by hundreds of Franschhoek residents of Somali-owned 
businesses.
    In November 2009 a mob chased approximately 3,000 Zimbabwean 
migrants out of the town of De Doorns by attacking and destroying the 
migrants' shacks; the attacks were reportedly sparked by competition 
for seasonal farming jobs, with residents accusing the Zimbabweans of 
agreeing to work longer hours for less pay. Police fired rubber bullets 
to disperse the mob and arrested 24 persons for public violence. The 
minister of home affairs subsequently sent a delegation to the town to 
assist those migrants who had lost their identification documents 
during the attack. The migrants set up an informal IDP camp on a local 
rugby field, although most subsequently left. In December 2009 the 
Witwatersrand University's Forced Migration Studies Project (FMSP) 
released a study that indicated that dissatisfied local labor brokers 
had pressured local leaders and residents to chase the Zimbabweans away 
because they were angered by income losses blamed on Zimbabwean labor 
brokers. On May 17, the municipality served notice on 369 IDPs who 
still remained in the informal camp, giving them until September 6 to 
relocate. The municipality promised to pay each person 1,200 rand 
($168) and provide transport, but subsequently claimed it did not have 
sufficient funds, resulting in the IDPs' refusal to move until the 
agreement was honored. During the year the IDPs reported being 
intimidated and pressured by the municipality. Meetings between the 
community, local NGOs, and the municipality continued at year's end 
with little sign of progress.
    In September 2009 the Equality Court in Cape Town postponed until 
later that month a xenophobia compensation claim by 11 foreign-national 
shopkeepers from Zwelethemba township in Worcester. The plaintiffs were 
seeking financial compensation and an apology from the police for 
allegedly failing to protect them during the 2008 attacks. There was no 
further information about the case at year's end. In February the SAHRC 
released its report on the 2008 xenophobic attacks against foreign 
African migrants and ethnic minorities, which resulted in 62 deaths in 
Western Cape, Gauteng, and KwaZulu-Natal provinces; injuries to 670 
persons; and the displacement of 80,000 migrants, most of whom had 
reintegrated into their communities by the end of 2009. The report made 
more than 100 recommendations, including the development of an early 
warning system, better protection of foreign nationals, and the 
successful prosecution of perpetrators. Field studies by the Institute 
for Security Studies and FMSP implicated local ward politicians in 
orchestrating attacks to gain political influence with residents, 
although no related arrests were made. According to the Department of 
Justice and Constitutional Development, more than 1,000 suspects were 
identified, resulting in the referral of 597 cases to court, of which 
109 were charged; the conviction rate was 16 percent. NGOs claimed that 
none of the arrests or prosecutions was for murder, but the FMSP 
reported that one suspect was convicted of murder and sentenced to 15 
years in prison.
    The continued killings of mostly white farm owners by black 
assailants created concern among white farmers that they were being 
targeted for racial and political reasons, although studies showed 
perpetrators were generally common criminals motivated by financial 
gain. There also were reports that white employers abused and killed 
black farm laborers and complaints that white employers received 
preferential treatment from the authorities. The Freedom Front Plus, an 
Afrikaner minority political party, accused Minister of Police Nathi 
Mthethwa of shying away from farm murders by refusing to record them as 
a separate statistic in the SAPS Annual Report. The provincial 
government of KwaZulu-Natal established forums to increase contact 
between farmers and the police and to devise strategies to stop farm 
attacks as part of the national government's ``Building a United Front 
Against Crime'' campaign.
    On April 3, Eugene Terre'Blanche, leader of the extremist white 
right-wing Afrikaner resistance movement, was bludgeoned to death at 
his farm near Ventersdorp, Limpopo Province. Two of Terre'Blanche's 
farm workers, a man and a 15-year-old boy, later contacted police and 
claimed to have committed the crime. On April 6, the two were charged 
with murder and remained in prison awaiting trial, which had been 
postponed to May 2011.
    The law requires employers with 50 or more employees to ensure that 
previously disadvantaged groups, legally defined as ``Blacks'' 
(including ``Africans,'' ``Colored,'' and ``Asians'' and collectively 
constituting more than 90 percent of the country's population) are 
represented adequately at all levels of the workforce. Notwithstanding 
the country's antidiscrimination legislation, however, the DOL's 2009 
Employment Equity Analysis reported that Blacks remained 
underrepresented, particularly at the professional and managerial 
levels. According to the report, Blacks held only 17.9 percent of top 
management positions, 20 percent of senior management positions and 
approximately 32.8 percent of all professional positions. Black women 
remained by far the most disadvantaged group in number and quality of 
management 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.

    Indigenous People.--The NGO Working Group of Indigenous Minorities 
in Southern Africa estimated that there were approximately 6,000 
indigenous San in the country, some of whom worked as farmers or as 
farm laborers. By law the San have the same political and economic 
rights as other citizens; however, the Government did not always 
effectively protect those rights or deliver basic services to the San 
communities. Their participation was limited due to fewer 
opportunities, minimal access to education, and relative isolation.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The post-apartheid 
constitution outlaws discrimination based on sexual orientation, and in 
2006 the country legalized same-sex marriage. There were no reports of 
official mistreatment or discrimination. However, in its annual Social 
Attitudes Survey released in 2008, the Human Sciences Research Council 
found widespread public intolerance of homosexual activity, with 80 
percent of respondents believing sex between two persons of the same 
gender to be ``wrong'' and ``un-African.''
    Rights groups reported that the LGBT community was subject to 
societal abuses including hate crimes, gender violence targeting 
lesbians, and killings. The Triangle Project, the country's largest 
lesbian and gay rights organization, reported it received each week in 
Cape Town 10 new cases of lesbian women being targeted for 
``corrective'' rape, in which men raped lesbians to punish them for 
being lesbian and to change their sexual orientation.
    The trial of seven men accused of the 2006 murder of Zoliswa 
Nkonyana, a lesbian, in Cape Town, was postponed several times during 
the year. On September 15, the trial was again postponed because one of 
the defense attorneys had not arrived in court. While the court was 
waiting, four of the accused escaped their holding cell at the court, 
but were rearrested four days later. A police sergeant at the jail was 
also arrested for allegedly helping the men escape. In December the 
trial was postponed to March 2011.

    Other Societal Discrimination.--With availability of life-saving 
ARV treatments, civil society activities, such as the Treatment Action 
Campaign, and government campaigns to reduce discrimination against 
persons with HIV/AIDS, the social stigma associated with HIV/AIDS 
declined, according to anecdotal reports.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows all workers with the 
exception of members of the National Intelligence Agency and the Secret 
Service to form and join unions of their choice without previous 
authorization or excessive requirements, and these laws were applied. 
The two unions in the military were governed by provisions in the 
National Defense Bill that state that unions cannot affiliate with any 
existing union federation and do not have the right to strike. A labor 
court and labor appeals court enforced the right of association. Trade 
union membership is estimated at three million persons and is largely 
divided between three major union federations: the Congress of South 
African Trade Unions (COSATU), the Federation of Unions of South 
Africa; and the National Coalition of Trade Unions.
    Labor laws extend to farm workers. President Zuma reported at the 
July 30 National Farm Workers Summit that there were 7.5 million 
persons who were farm dwellers and farm workers. Zuma reported that 
they were protected under the South African Constitution and all labor 
laws but that exploitation of farm workers continued. The Government 
and unions enlisted the cooperation of AgriSA, the national farmers' 
organization, to continue to improve the farm environment. COSATU and 
leading agricultural NGOs complained that labor conditions on farms 
remained harsh, including underpayment of wages and poor living 
conditions. The union estimated that 10 percent of the agricultural 
labor force was unionized and that unionization of farm workers 
remained difficult.
    The law provides for the right to strike, and workers exercised 
this right frequently; however, workers considered to be providing 
essential services were prohibited from striking. Nevertheless, strikes 
throughout the year involved essential service staff. Disputes between 
workers in essential services and their employers that were not 
resolved through collective bargaining, independent mediation, or 
conciliation were referred to arbitration or the labor courts.
    Strikes were frequently chaotic and marked by destruction of 
municipal property, alleged acts of worker sabotage, and violence 
perpetrated against non-striking workers. Police occasionally used 
force to disperse demonstrators blocking main roads and blocking 
entrances to hospitals and schools. During the Public Sector Strike on 
August 19, police used rubber bullets, water cannons, and tear gas to 
disperse a strike by public servants who were blocking entrances to 
hospitals and barricading main roads to bring traffic to a standstill.
    Strikes were routine. Approximately 1.2 million public servants, 
including most public school teachers and nurses at public healthcare 
facilities, were on strike between August 18 and September 6. The 
strike crippled services at public hospitals and schools. Workers 
frequently blocked access to those facilities, and the SANDF was called 
to both restore order and assist with medical care. President Zuma 
criticized civil servants for deaths due to limited hospital services.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows 
unions to conduct their activities without interference. The Government 
protected these rights, and workers exercised them. Collective 
bargaining is protected by law. The law prohibits employers from 
discriminating against employees or applicants due to past, present, or 
potential union membership or participation in lawful union activities. 
There were no lawsuits filed for antiunion discrimination.
    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, primarily in domestic labor.
    See also the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Child labor is prohibited by law. However, reports of child labor were 
received in informal and agricultural sectors, particularly in the 
former homeland areas. The law prohibits employment of a child less 
than 15 years of age. Children over 15 but under 18 are also prohibited 
from work that places at risk the child's wellbeing, education, 
physical or mental health, or spiritual, moral, or social development. 
The Government generally enforced child labor laws in the formal 
sectors of the economy. Underage children were allowed to work in the 
performing arts if their employer received DOL permission and agreed to 
follow specific guidelines.
    The HIV/AIDS epidemic contributed to the number of households 
headed by children who supported themselves and often younger siblings. 
However, in its 2007-08 Child Gauge Report, the Children's Institute at 
the University of Cape Town stated that there was little evidence of 
recent rapid growth in the orphan population due to HIV/AIDS. The South 
African Institute of Race Relations, a research and policy 
organization, reported that child-headed households accounted for 0.5 
percent of all households, or approximately 148,000 households in 2007. 
The Children's Institute noted that levels had remained relatively 
stable since the 2002 General Household Survey.
    Child labor was extremely limited in the formal economy, which is 
monitored by strong and well organized unions, and sources could not 
provide information about specific cases of child labor exploitation. 
Despite a lack of statistical information, child labor was reported to 
exist in the informal and extralegal market, particularly in the 
agricultural sector as well as in domestic work. NGOs alleged that many 
children in rural areas carried water for their families for excessive 
hours under physically demanding conditions. Some children were 
exploited by adults and forced to sell drugs and commit robberies, 
including armed robbery.
    The DOL attempted to employ an estimated 1,000 labor inspectors to 
investigate reports of violations of child labor and trafficking and to 
submit any evidence to the SAPS. However, due to a shortage of skilled 
labor in the country, the DOL reported it was not always able to meet 
the goal and exact figures were unavailable. Other reports indicated 
that the actual number of inspectors was closer to 650. Violation of 
laws regulating child employment is punishable by a maximum prison 
sentence of three years or a fine of 15,000 rand ($2,100). In some 
cases DOL inspectors opted to resolve child labor cases by counseling 
of employers, parents, and children, or by enlisting the services of 
professionals in the welfare and education departments. There were 
reports that inspectors had difficulty gaining access to farms where 
child labor was reported.
    The Government's Child Labor Program of Action integrated the 
priorities of government ministries to combat child labor with a 
variety of government financial support mechanisms. The Children's 
Amendment Act No. 41 of 2007, signed into law by President Mbeki in 
2008, was officially implemented on April 1. This Act strengthens the 
Children's Act No. 38 of 2005, which set national regulations outlining 
the care and protection of children, the responsibilities of parents, 
and the prosecution procedures in the case of violations. The original 
act also reduced the majority age from 21 years to 18 years. The 2007 
Amendment Act expands the scope of the Children's Act by delegating 
responsibility over which both the national and provincial governments 
share functions and duties. However, the largest factor in reducing 
child labor remained the Government's 250 rand ($35) per month Child 
Support Grant to primary care givers of children under the age of 16. 
The age was scheduled to be increased to 17 in January 2011 and 18 in 
January 2012.
    See also the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There was no legally mandated 
national minimum wage, although the law gives the DOL authority to set 
wages by sector. Minimum wages were established for multiple economic 
areas including the retail sector, farm laborers, domestic workers, and 
taxi (minibus) drivers. The minimum wage for farm workers was 
approximately 6.31 rand ($.88) per hour. The minimum hourly wages for 
domestic workers employed more than 27 hours per week ranged from 4.85 
rand ($.67) to 7.06 rand ($.98). Depending on the province, compliance 
with the minimum wage rate generally ranged from 65 to 90 percent, 
according to 2007 DOL figures. According to COSATU, sector minimum 
wages did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and 
family.
    Annual negotiations between employers and employee associations or 
unions set wage rates on an industry or plant basis for unionized 
workers in the formal economy. Wage negotiations for civil servants 
resulted in numerous strikes during the year. Most unions demanded 
double-digit wage increases; economists lamented these were not tied to 
productivity or inflation. President Zuma, speaking at the National 
Farm Workers Summit, stated that ``the evictions, human rights abuses, 
and super exploitation of farm workers and farm dwellers remain a 
blight on the conscience of our society and a serious obstacle to the 
creation of a vibrant rural economy. The establishment of the 
Department of Rural Development and Land Reform indicates our 
seriousness in ensuring an intense focus on rural development.''
    The law establishes a 45-hour workweek, standardizes time-and-a-
half pay for overtime, and authorizes four months of maternity leave 
for women. No employer may require or permit an employee to work 
overtime except by agreement, and overtime may not be more than 10 
hours a week. The law stipulates rest periods of 12 consecutive hours 
daily and 36 hours weekly, which must include Sunday. The law allows 
for adjustments to rest periods by mutual agreement. These standards 
were effectively enforced in the formal sector, as labor unions and 
labor courts focused on compliance. A ministerial determination 
exempted businesses employing fewer than 10 persons from certain 
provisions of the law concerning overtime and leave. Farmers and other 
employers could apply for variations from the law by showing good 
cause.
    The law protects both foreigners and immigrant workers. In 2008 the 
Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA) ruled in 
favor of a foreign employee whose employment contract had been 
terminated by Discovery Health Limited when the employee's temporary 
work permit expired. The CCMA's ruling established that foreign workers 
are included and protected by the Labor Reform Act.
    The Government set occupational health and safety standards through 
the Department of Minerals and Energy for the mining industry and 
through the DOL for all other industries. Occupational health and 
safety issues were a top priority of trade unions, especially in the 
mining, construction, and heavy manufacturing industries. The law 
provides for the right of mine employees to remove themselves from work 
deemed dangerous to health or safety. The law prohibits discrimination 
against an employee who asserts a right granted by the law, and 
requires mine owners to file annual reports providing statistics on 
health and safety incidents for each mine. In addition, a tripartite 
mine health and safety council and an inspectorate of mine health and 
safety were responsible for enforcing the law and monitoring compliance 
with its provisions.
    In 2008 parliament passed amendments to the Mine Health and Safety 
Act, making employers subject to heavy fines or imprisonment for the 
serious injury, illness, or death of employees due to unsafe mine 
conditions. The amendments provide for mine inspectors to enter any 
mine at any time to interview employees and audit records.
    Outside the mining industry, there were no laws or regulations that 
permitted workers to remove themselves from work situations deemed 
dangerous to their health or safety without risking loss of employment; 
however, the law provides that employers may not retaliate against 
employees who disclose dangerous workplace conditions.
    While labor conditions improved on large commercial farms, they 
remained harsh, especially for small holdings' workers, most of whom 
were black. Many owners of small farms did not measure working hours 
accurately. Twelve-hour days were common during harvest time, and few 
farmers provided overtime benefits. At the July 30 National Farm 
Workers Summit, President Zuma mentioned that farm workers still lack 
proper housing and access to basic services and amenities. He said 
workers struggle to gain access to education and healthcare and 
generally do not feel safe. Zuma said that workers in the sector ``do 
not feel they are an integral part of the South African society.''

                               __________

                                 SUDAN

    Sudan, a republic with an estimated population of 40 million, is 
governed according to a power-sharing arrangement established by the 
2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended the 22-year civil 
war between the North and South and established an interim Government 
of National Unity (GNU). The GNU is composed of the National Congress 
Party (NCP), dominated by Islamists from the North and ruled by 
authoritarian President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and his inner circle, and 
the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), led predominantly by 
Christians and practitioners of traditional indigenous religions from 
the South. From April 11 to 15, the country held its first nationwide, 
multiparty elections in 24 years. The elections, which several Northern 
opposition parties boycotted, did not meet international standards. 
Observers reported problems including the restriction of civil 
liberties; inadequate logistical preparations; intimidation and threats 
of violence, particularly in the South; that ongoing conflict in Darfur 
did not permit an environment conducive to elections; and that the 
tabulation process was not transparent and did not follow procedural 
safeguards, raising ``questions about the accuracy of the election 
results.'' President Bashir was reelected, and his political party won 
323 out of 450 seats in the National Assembly. The SPLM is the ruling 
party of the semiautonomous Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS), which 
ratified a separate constitution in 2005. A referendum to determine 
whether the South would become an independent entity was scheduled for 
January 2011. A CPA-mandated simultaneous referendum on the status of 
the Abyei area was indefinitely postponed. The country experienced 
several violent conflicts during the year, including continued conflict 
in Darfur and in the South. In the North and South, there were 
instances in which elements of the security forces acted independently 
of civilian control, especially in the Darfur region.
    The following human rights abuses occurred: abridgement of 
citizens' right to change their government; extrajudicial and other 
unlawful killings by government forces and other government-aligned 
groups throughout the country; torture, beatings, rape, and other 
cruel, inhumane treatment or punishment by security forces; harsh 
prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention, incommunicado 
detention of suspected government opponents, and prolonged pretrial 
detention; executive interference with the judiciary and denial of due 
process; obstruction of the delivery of humanitarian assistance and the 
expulsion of individuals working for humanitarian nongovernmental 
organizations (NGOs); restrictions on privacy; restrictions on freedom 
of speech; restrictions on the press, including direct censorship; 
restrictions on freedoms of assembly, association, religion, and 
movement; harassment of internally displaced persons; harassment and 
closure of human rights organizations; violence and discrimination 
against women, including female genital mutilation; child abuse, 
including sexual violence and recruitment of child soldiers; prevention 
of international human rights observers from traveling to and within 
the country; trafficking in persons; discrimination and violence 
against ethnic minorities; denial of workers' rights; and forced and 
child labor.
    Conflict and human rights abuses in Darfur continued. An estimated 
1.9 million civilians have been internally displaced, and approximately 
270,000 refugees have fled to neighboring Chad since the conflict in 
Darfur began in 2003. According to UN estimates, 268,000 persons were 
displaced between January and November in Darfur. The UN estimated in 
2006 that 200,000 persons had died as a result of the conflict and that 
by 2008 an additional 100,000 may have died. Civilians in Darfur 
continued to suffer from the consequences of genocide.
    The Government continued to bomb and burn civilian areas. 
Government forces and government-aligned militia continued to kill 
civilians, rape women and girls, and use child soldiers. Darfur rebel 
factions, bandits, and unidentified assailants also killed and abducted 
civilians, humanitarian workers, and personnel of the UN-African Union 
(AU) Hybrid Mission in Darfur (UNAMID); beat and raped civilians; and 
used child soldiers. Interethnic violence was a severe problem and 
resulted in civilian deaths and displacement.
    In Southern Sudan (the South) interethnic fighting and Lord's 
Resistance Army (LRA) attacks continued to kill and displace civilians. 
According to UN estimates, violence in the South resulted in an 
estimated 986 deaths and the displacement of 223,708 persons during the 
year. Attacks by local militias occurred after the April elections. 
Registration for the 2011 Southern Sudan self-determination referendum 
occurred from November 15 through December 8 in all 25 states. Lack of 
progress on preparations for a separate referendum on whether the 
border region of Abyei should be part of the North or the South led to 
sporadic violence and rising tensions in the area.
                        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 numerous 
reports that the Government and its agents committed arbitrary and 
unlawful killings.
    Government forces, government-aligned militias, rebels, and 
interethnic fighting killed civilians in connection with the conflict 
in Darfur (see section 1.g.).
    Violence involving the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), 
militias, interethnic fighting, and the LRA killed civilians in the 
South (see section 1.g.).
    On January 14, authorities executed six men convicted of killing 
police officers during violence in the Soba Aradi area of Khartoum in 
2005. The men reportedly stated they had not had sufficient access to 
counsel and that their confessions were obtained through the use of 
torture.
    On February 14, the National Intelligence and Security Services 
(NISS) arrested University of Khartoum student Mohamed Moussa Abdallah 
Bahr el Din. He was found dead the next day, with his body showing 
signs of torture.
    Security forces killed demonstrators. On May 2, police opened fire 
on persons protesting against a North Darfur-area Ponzi scam, killing 
17 and injuring 200 others. The protesters had assembled to submit a 
letter of protest to the governor of North Darfur.
    On May 26, at Dalanj University, police fired at student 
demonstrators; three students were killed and others injured during the 
altercation that reportedly occurred during a sit-in at the National 
Students' Support Fund. It was unclear why police fired on the 
demonstrators. Conflicting witness accounts included a report that NCP-
affiliated students at the scene beat the protesters with lengths of 
rebar, in addition to the actions from the police.
    On December 1, at Zalingei University in West Darfur, security 
forces fired upon student demonstrators, killing two and injuring 
others. The demonstrators were protesting during a Doha forum civil 
society consultation and reportedly threw rocks at a departing convoy. 
Minister of Justice Mohamed Bushara Dosa reportedly ordered an 
investigation into the killings.
    There were no reported developments regarding civilians killed by 
fighting between the Government and rebels during the 2008 Justice and 
Equality Movement (JEM) attack on Omdurman or on persons killed by the 
NISS in Khartoum and Omdurman following the attack.
    SPLA soldiers committed extrajudicial killings.
    There were no known developments concerning the May 2009 killing of 
five civilians and injuring of three others in Pibor by SPLA soldiers.
    There were no reported developments in the 2008 case of civilians 
killed and displaced in connection with an SPLA disarmament operation 
in Iloli and Loguruny villages in Eastern Equatoria. According to the 
UN, the SPLA stated that members of its Brigade Nine were arrested in 
connection with the case; no additional information was available.
    During the year land mines in the South killed 13 civilians and 
injured another 25. The Government continued to cooperate with the UN 
Mine Action Group to remove land mines in the South.
    On June 10, the four individuals convicted and sentenced to death 
in 2009 for the 2008 killings of diplomat John Granville and driver 
Abdelrahman Abbas Rahama escaped from Kober Prison. Authorities caught 
one of the killers, Muhanned Abuzaid Mohamed Salih, within a week, but 
the other three remained at large.

    b. Disappearance.--The Government was responsible for politically 
and ethnically motivated disappearances.
    There were no further developments in the cases of up to 2,500 
Darfuris detained by the NISS following the 2008 JEM attack. Most had 
been released by the end of 2008. According to information in a July 
Amnesty International report, there may be approximately 200 persons 
whose whereabouts remained unknown.
    There were developments in the case of Abdelillahi Widaa, cofounder 
of the NGO Darfur Forum for Reconciliation and Peaceful Coexistence, 
who turned himself in to the NISS for questioning in 2008 and was then 
detained and tortured at an undisclosed location. Widaa fled the 
country after authorities released him in late 2009.
    An estimated 15,000 Dinka women and children were abducted from 
villages in Southern Sudan, mainly from 1983 to 1999; thousands of 
these persons remained unaccounted for. The Government's Committee to 
Eradicate the Abduction of Women and Children did not receive 
government funding and did not return any previously abducted persons.
    Gunmen in Darfur abducted humanitarian workers and UNAMID 
personnel; this included criminal kidnapping for ransom (see section 
1.g).
    Intertribal abductions of women and children in the South 
continued. For example, the Murle tribe regularly abducted children 
during raids.
    The LRA abducted persons, including children, in Southern Sudan 
(see section 1.g.).

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The Interim National Constitution prohibits such 
practices; however, government security forces continued to torture, 
beat, and harass suspected political opponents and others. In Darfur 
and other areas of conflict, government forces, rebel groups, and 
tribal factions committed torture and abuse (see section 1.g.). SPLA 
forces sometimes abused persons in the South.
    In accordance with Sharia (Islamic law), the Criminal Act provides 
for physical punishments, including flogging, amputation, stoning, and 
crucifixion--the public display of a body after execution. In practice 
such physical punishment other than flogging was not frequently used. 
Under the Interim National Constitution, the Government exempts the 10 
southern states from Sharia, although it was applied there on an ad hoc 
basis, and traditional customary law was frequently applied against 
convicted defendants. Northern courts routinely imposed flogging, 
especially for production of alcohol.
    Government security forces beat and tortured persons in detention, 
including members of the political opposition, civil society activists, 
and journalists. These persons were often subsequently released without 
charge.
    For example, on October 9, in Khartoum, NISS officials arrested 
Simon Noye Agot and 11 others at an event organized by the Student 
Campaign to Support South Sudan Separation. Security forces tortured 
Agot. He was beaten and threatened with being arrested again, and his 
genitals were squeezed with metal objects. Authorities released him the 
following day but took his shoes, cell phone, and money. A court 
sentenced Agot to 15 days' imprisonment for disturbance of public 
peace.
    On several occasions during the year, authorities arrested, held 
incommunicado, and beat members of the activist group Girifna. 
Authorities forced some of those arrested to sign confessions. In all 
cases authorities charged the individuals but then released them within 
days of their arrests without taking them to trial. Those arrested 
reported that security forces attempted to compel them to act as NISS 
informers from within Girifna as a condition for their release.
    For example, on March 15, authorities reportedly detained and 
tortured Girifna member Abdallah Mahdi Badawi. An individual claiming 
to be a new Girifna member had arranged to meet with him; however, he 
was instead taken to an office where 13 men interrogated and abused 
him.
    On July 5, in Khartoum, police reportedly arrested Girifna members 
Hassan Ishag, Azzi Eldine al-Anssari, and Hassan Mohamed while they 
were distributing the group's magazine. They were released the 
following day after being taken to national security offices, where 
they were questioned, reportedly tortured, and asked to become 
informants.
    Under public order laws, indecent dress is punishable by a maximum 
of 40 lashes, a fine, or both. Authorities in the North applied this 
law more frequently against women than men. It was applied against both 
Muslims and non-Muslims.
    On December 14, security forces arrested more than 44 persons, most 
of whom were women, demonstrating in reaction to a video that showed 
two police officers lashing a woman. Authorities later released the 
demonstrators on bail but charged them with public nuisance and 
disturbing the peace.
    Police and NISS officers forcibly dispersed protesters, which 
resulted in serious deaths and injuries (see sections 1.a. and 2.b.).
    Security forces in the North raped women, including in connection 
with the conflict in Darfur.
    Security forces in the South abused civilians, including political 
party members.
    On April 14, in Yambio in Central Equatoria State, during the 
elections, an SPLA soldier and an intelligence officer reportedly beat 
two persons affiliated with an independent candidate.
    There were cases in which Southern Sudan Police Services (SPSS) 
officers and SPLA officers reportedly raped women, including with 
impunity. For example, there were allegations of rape and forced 
prostitution of female cadets, beatings, and sale of food that should 
have gone to cadets at the John Garang Unified Police Academy at Rajaf.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions 
throughout the country remained harsh and overcrowded. Health care was 
often below standard; prisoners sometimes relied on family or friends 
for food. Officials continued to arbitrarily deny visits to prisoners.
    The Government routinely mistreated persons in custody. Security 
forces held detainees incommunicado; beat them; deprived them of food, 
water, and toilets; and forced them to sleep on cold floors. Prisoners 
died from lack of health care and poor prison conditions. For example, 
in Darfur, prison overcrowding contributed to the spread of meningitis 
and the deaths of at least three prisoners during the year. A South 
Darfur prison with a capacity of 250 persons held 750 individuals as of 
September 7.
    Men and women were not held together in the North. In Khartoum, 
juveniles did not occupy adult prisons or jails but sometimes were held 
with adults elsewhere in the North. Political prisoners were held in 
special sections of prisons. The main prison in Khartoum, Kober Prison, 
contained separate sections for political prisoners, those convicted of 
financial crimes, and an unknown number of JEM detainees.
    Prisoners were allowed to take part in religious observance, 
including attending church, as well as Muslim prayers in the North. 
Authorities permitted prisoners, but not detainees, to submit 
complaints to judicial authorities without censorship and to request 
investigation of credible allegations of inhumane conditions. 
Authorities investigated credible allegations of inhumane conditions in 
prisons and documented the results of such investigations. However, 
these rights were not always granted to pretrial detainees, political 
prisoners, and those in the custody of police or security forces.
    The Government allowed some restricted visits to prisons by human 
rights observers in the North, although unfettered access continued to 
be denied. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had 
limited access to government prisons during the year; however, released 
prisoners reported that officials hid high-profile detainees during 
visits. The Ministry of Justice occasionally granted UN Mission in 
Sudan (UNMIS) and UNAMID access to visit government prisons during the 
year.
    In Darfur, prison officials participated in UN-sponsored capacity-
building trainings.
    Prisons in the South were overcrowded. The UN independent expert on 
the situation of human rights in the Sudan noted that the Juba prison 
held 957 persons, although it was built to hold 500. Prisons in 
Southern Sudan typically provided inmates with two meals a day. 
According to law, in times of ``food shortage'' prisons are only 
required to provide one meal a day. The Prisons Directorate of Southern 
Sudan (SSPD) provided separate quarters for male and female prisoners 
and usually held juveniles in separate cells. In many prison 
facilities, including Bor, Rumbek, and Wau, there was a clear 
separation of adult and juvenile prisoners. In other prisons, such as 
Juba where a partition wall had collapsed, there was no meaningful 
separation of adult and juvenile prisoners because of poor 
infrastructure. There was a special prison section to hold children 
separately from adults.
    Pretrial detainees were generally, but not always, held in jails 
separate from convicted prisoners in the South. Detention centers in 
the South were under the control of local tribal or state authorities 
and were uniformly substandard. Some were holes dug in the ground 
around a tree, with detainees shackled to the tree. Sanitary and 
medical facilities were uniformly inadequate.
    The SSPD permitted monitoring of prison conditions by the ICRC and 
other observers.
    The Minni Minawi faction of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA/MM) 
continued to operate detention centers in North Darfur, including in 
Dar al Salaam, Zam Zam, Um Baru, and Shangil Tobaya. UNAMID reported 
that detainees were held in poor detention conditions. The SLA and 
other rebel groups allowed the ICRC access to some detainees. UNAMID 
visited the SLA/MM detention center in Zam Zam for internally displaced 
persons (IDPs) camp during the year. On August 2 and August 17, 
respectively, UNAMID was denied access to the SLA detention centers in 
Zam Zam and Um Baru. According to the Human Rights and Advocacy Network 
for Democracy (HAND), the SLA/MM summarily executed six civilian 
prisoners in Dar el Salam, Tabit, and Um Gunga.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The Interim National 
Constitution prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention without charge; 
however, the Government continued to arbitrarily arrest and detain 
persons, often under the National Security Act. Throughout the country, 
arbitrary arrests and detention were common. While not legally invested 
with arrest powers, the SPLA arrested and detained persons.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Several government 
entities have responsibility for internal security, including the 
police, the NISS, the Ministry of Interior, and the Ministry of 
Defense; all had active security forces. The NISS maintains security 
officers in major towns and cities throughout the North, including 
Darfur, and has a presence in the South. The NISS also controlled the 
Central Reserve Police (CRP). The Ministry of Defense's Border 
Intelligence Force (border guards), a loosely organized force composed 
largely of former janjaweed fighters, also operated in Darfur.
    Security force impunity was a serious problem. The 2010 National 
Security Act provides NISS officials with impunity for acts involving 
their official duties. Abuses by security forces were not generally 
investigated. Security force corruption was a problem, and security 
force members sometimes supplemented their incomes by extorting bribes.
    The SPSS has responsibility for law enforcement in the South under 
the interim Southern Sudan constitution. The SPSS lacked resources and 
capacity. Police reports were often incomplete; files, if used, were 
frequently misplaced; and suspects were frequently detained based on 
accusations rather than official investigations. Many SSPS members are 
illiterate and lack formal education. Police corruption, impunity, and 
lack of effectiveness were problems. There were reports of retaliation 
against persons who complained about police abuses.
    The SPLA does not have law enforcement authority under the Interim 
Southern Sudan Constitution, except when requested by civil 
authorities; however, the SPLA detained persons, including in SPLA-run 
detention facilities, most notably in Lakes State. The SPLA conduct of 
internal security and civilian disarmament caused tensions with 
communities which claimed that the SPLA was not politically neutral and 
not well disciplined.
    The UNMIS police component trained SSPS personnel on a wide range 
of security-related subjects during the year, but limited GOSS 
resources hampered the effectiveness of the training programs.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Warrants are 
not required for an arrest in the North. The criminal code permits 
authorities to detain individuals for three days without charge, which 
can be extended for 30 days by order of the director of security and 
another 15 days with the approval of the prosecuting attorney. 
Individuals accused of violating national security were frequently 
detained indefinitely without charge, although the National Security 
Act specifies that such individuals may be detained without charge for 
three months, which the director of security may extend for another 
three months. The law provides for the individual to be informed of the 
charges at the time of arrest and for judicial determination without 
undue delay, but these provisions were rarely followed.
    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 the North.
    Although the law provides for access to a lawyer, government 
security forces often held persons incommunicado for long periods in 
unknown locations without access to lawyers or family members.
    Authorities in the North arbitrarily arrested and detained 
individuals. The NISS conducted numerous arbitrary arrests. Authorities 
often detained persons for a few days before releasing them without 
charge, but many persons were held for much longer. In Darfur, UNAMID 
documented more than 140 cases during the year in which the NISS, 
military intelligence, Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), or SLA/MM 
arbitrarily arrested and detained persons.
    On March 4, in Khartoum, security forces broke up a peaceful 
election event held by Girifna, charging members Taj Alsir Jafar Taj 
Alsir, Abdallah Mahadi Badawi, and Hisham Mohamed Alhaj Omer with 
creating a public nuisance.
    On September 21, in El Fashir, the NISS reportedly arrested Awatif 
Ishag Ahmed, an activist and editor of Alrahil magazine. She was 
detained for several hours and questioned regarding the International 
Criminal Court (ICC).
    There were reports that some businessmen were held in detention 
without due process for failure to repay large loans from Sudanese 
financial institutions. Two financial prisoners died in January while 
serving long detentions for failing to pay debts.
    Several Darfuri university students who were arrested in April 2009 
remained detained without charge or legal representation at Kober 
Prison. The students were members of the United People's Front party. 
According to representatives from HAND, one of the students may have 
been released for health reasons.
    Security forces in the North continued to target Southern women in 
IDP camps because they produced and sold traditional home-brewed 
alcohol beverages; some of these women were arrested and imprisoned for 
up to six months under Sharia law. During the year there were 
documented cases of female Southerners in the North, including in IDP 
camps, whom security forces arrested, flogged, or imprisoned for 
alcohol possession. Lawyers who worked with IDPs indicated that there 
were fewer instances of this than in previous years.
    The police arrested unmarried pregnant women who claimed to have 
been raped. Unless a rape victim could provide proof of the crime, she 
could be charged with the capital offense of adultery (see section 6).
    Lengthy pretrial detention was common. Trial delays were caused by 
large numbers of detainees and judicial inefficiency, such as the 
failure of judges to appear for court.
    The Government routinely imposed house arrest without due process.
    In the South, under the GOSS 2008 criminal procedures code, 
warrants should be issued by a duly authorized official; however, 
arbitrary arrests occurred. Persons arrested must be brought before a 
public prosecution attorney, magistrate, or court within 24 hours. 
Police may detain individuals for 24 hours without charge in the South; 
this may be extended up to one week with authorization from the public 
prosecution attorney and by up to two weeks with authorization from a 
magistrate. Detainees in the South were generally informed of charges 
against them. There is a functioning bail system in Southern Sudan. 
Those arrested have the right to access to an attorney and contact with 
their family. Persons in the South were occasionally not informed 
regarding their right to access to a lawyer and were not provided 
prompt access to lawyers. There was an insufficient number of lawyers 
to provide adequate defense counsel. In Southern Sudan trial delays 
also resulted in unreasonably lengthy pretrial detentions.
    On February 18, at the Juba airport, security forces arrested SPLM-
Democratic Change (SPLM-DC) members Denis Aywork Yor, Priyjwok Akol, 
Ajawin, and Amjad Angelo Marino. They were detained, questioned about 
their political activity, and released from custody the following day.
    On February 28, security officials reportedly arrested SPLM-DC 
members who were transporting campaign materials from Khartoum to 
Northern Bahr al-Ghazal and detained them in a military detention 
center in Aweil.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Although the Interim National 
Constitution and the law provide for an independent judiciary, the 
judiciary was largely subservient to the president or the security 
forces, particularly in cases of alleged crimes against the state. On 
occasion courts displayed a degree of independence; however, political 
interference with the courts was commonplace, and some high-ranking 
members of the judiciary also held positions in the Ministry of 
Interior or other ministries in the executive branch.
    Special courts existed in Darfur under the state of emergency to 
try crimes against the state; there were three such courts, one in each 
Darfur state capital.
    The judiciary was inefficient and subject to corruption. On June 3, 
a group of lawyers complained to the chief of the judiciary in Khartoum 
that judges in el-Geneina, West Darfur, were continually absent from 
work, resulting in a backlog of court cases. A number of replacement 
judges were eventually sent from Khartoum.
    Courts in the South were generally very rudimentary, understaffed 
(with judges handling many of the court's administrative tasks), and 
suffering from undertrained personnel. The courts are formally 
independent, but in practice they are dependent upon the GOSS for 
funding and at times subject to pressure from the SPLA on sensitive 
matters. Because the courts are chronically underfunded, there was 
ample room for corruption in the court system, and there were numerous 
reports of bribery involving judges and other court officials. 
Traditional courts have been formalized and integrated into the 
judicial system. The court system did not function in many areas due to 
lack of infrastructure, communications, funding, and an ineffective 
police force.

    Trial Procedures.--The Interim National Constitution and law 
provide for fair and prompt trials as well as a presumption of 
innocence; however, this often was not respected. Trials are open to 
the public at the discretion of the judge. In cases of national 
security and offenses against the state, trials were usually closed. 
Juries are not used. The accused normally has 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. 
Defendants and their attorneys generally have the right to present 
evidence and witnesses, be present in court, confront accusers, and 
have access to government-held evidence relevant to their cases. 
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 did not allow defense witnesses to testify. 
Defendants have a right to appeal, except in military trials, where 
there is no appeal.
    Persons in Darfur did not generally have access to legal counsel. 
The independent expert on human rights in the Sudan noted that, during 
his February visit, he found 13 of the 54 persons on death row at a 
North Darfur prison did not have legal counsel during their trial.
    In January antiterrorism courts tried and convicted two additional 
persons in connection with the 2008 JEM attack on Omdurman, bringing 
the total number of death sentences in the trials to 106. In trials 
involving these cases, authorities did not permit defendants access to 
lawyers before trial, held them incommunicado for up to four months, 
and reportedly tortured defendants. On February 24, following the 
signing of the framework agreement with the JEM, the Government 
released 50 of the prisoners sentenced to death in these trials. 
Reportedly, some persons acquitted by these trials were not released, 
and authorities rearrested other persons who had been released.
    In January 2009 Mohamed Alsary Ibrahim, a former police force 
member, whom authorities convicted of planning to provide information 
to the ICC, was sentenced to 17 years' imprisonment. UNMIS had 
expressed concern that he was not provided full access to counsel, that 
his counsel did not have access to evidence against him, and that his 
confession was allegedly coerced.
    Lawyers wishing to practice were required to maintain membership in 
the Government-controlled Sudanese Bar Association. The Government 
continued to arrest and harass members of the legal profession whom it 
considered to be political opponents.
    Military trials, which sometimes were secret and brief, did not 
provide procedural safeguards. For example, the defendant's attorney 
could advise the defendant but could not address the court.
    The Special Courts Act created special three-person security courts 
to deal with violations of constitutional decrees, emergency 
regulations, and 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. Defendants in these courts 
had limited opportunities to meet with counsel and were not always 
allowed to present witnesses during trial.
    Under the interim national constitution, Sharia is applied in the 
North but not in the South.
    In domestic cases pertaining to Coptic Christians, courts often 
allowed a Coptic priest to make the final ruling, a practice most 
commonly employed for divorces and other family suits involving Copts.
    In some instances tribal courts that were not considered part of 
the official legal system decided cases. Such courts did not provide 
the same protections as regular courts.
    In the South, under the interim Southern Sudan constitution, 
defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence; public trials; the right 
to be present in a criminal trial without undue delay, with the law 
regulating trial in absentia; and legal aid if they are unable to 
defend themselves in serious offense.
    Observers continued to report concerns that persons sentenced to 
death in the South often did not receive fair trials due to lack of 
capacity of the legal system and a lack of adequate legal 
representation.
    Some judges in the South reportedly continued to follow Sharia 
legal procedures.
    In parts of the South and the Nuba Mountains, where civil 
authorities and institutions did not operate, there were no effective 
judicial procedures beyond customary courts. According to credible 
reports, military units in those areas summarily tried and punished 
those accused of crimes, especially of offenses against civil order.
    The GOSS recognized traditional courts or courts of elders, which 
applied customary law to most cases in remote and rural areas of the 
South, including domestic matters and criminal cases. Persons tried in 
traditional courts do not enjoy the same legal protections as those in 
the formal system. For example, they did not have access to counsel or 
the right of appeal, and women were discriminated against.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--The Government held an 
undetermined number of political prisoners and detainees. Security 
forces detained without charge, tortured, and held incommunicado 
political opponents. Detentions of such persons often were prolonged.
    The Government continued to target members and leadership of the 
Popular Congress Party (PCP) and other opposition parties for arrest.
    On May 16, the NISS arrested opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi, 
founder of the PCP. He was held in isolation without charge for 45 
days. That same day authorities arrested journalists with the PCP-
affiliated newspaper Rai al-Shaab (see section 2.a.).
    On May 20, Farouq Abu Eissa, an opposition alliance leader, was 
arrested and briefly detained.
    The Government detained persons who participated in political 
protests.
    The Government did not permit international humanitarian 
organizations to have access to political detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There was access to a 
court for lawsuits seeking damages for human rights violations; 
however, the judiciary was not independent. There were problems 
enforcing domestic court orders.
    The South's legal system also provides for an independent and 
impartial judiciary in civil matters. The courts provide access for 
those seeking to bring lawsuits to address human rights violations and 
damages. There is also a developed system of traditional courts down to 
the local level through the South, and these courts are often presided 
over by village chiefs and elders.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The interim national constitution and law prohibit 
such actions, but the Government routinely violated these rights in 
practice.
    Security forces frequently conducted searches without warrants and 
targeted persons suspected of political crimes.
    Police often entered IDP areas without a warrant in search of 
illegal alcohol brewing and seized property unrelated to brewing. 
Police also extorted money from illegal alcohol brewers by threatening 
them with prison.
    The Government monitored private communication and movement of 
individuals without legal process. A wide network of government 
informants conducted surveillance in schools, universities, markets, 
workplaces, and neighborhoods.
    Under Sharia, a Muslim man may marry a non-Muslim, but a Muslim 
woman cannot marry a non-Muslim unless he converts to Islam; this 
prohibition was not observed or enforced universally in the South or 
among the Nubans. Non-Muslims may adopt only non-Muslim children; no 
such restrictions apply to Muslim parents.
    The interim constitution of Southern Sudan prohibits interference 
with private life, family, home, or correspondence, except in 
accordance with the law. The GOSS generally did not interfere with 
privacy, home, or correspondence in the South; however, there were 
reports that rural detention centers held family members of accused 
persons who had fled before they could be arrested in the South.

    g. Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts.--
Darfur.--In Darfur fighting involving government, government-aligned 
militias, rebel groups, and ethnic groups continued to kill, injure, 
and displace civilians. Violence in Darfur killed 2,321 persons during 
the year, an increase compared with the 875 persons killed the previous 
year. Approximately 45 percent of the violence-related deaths during 
the year were caused by armed conflict, 38 percent by tribal clashes, 
and 17 percent due to crime or accidents. Fighting between government 
forces and rebel groups particularly impacted the areas of Jebel Marra 
and Jebel Moon, beginning early in the year, and near Khor Abeche 
beginning in mid-December. Intercommunal violence increased during the 
year. Tensions in IDP camps also resulted in deaths. Rape as well as 
recruitment of child soldiers continued to occur.
    While estimates varied, approximately 1.9 million persons have been 
internally displaced in Darfur, and approximately 270,000 refugees have 
fled to neighboring Chad since the conflict in Darfur began in 2003. 
According to UN estimates, 268,000 persons were displaced between 
January and November in Darfur. IDPs in Darfur continued to face 
significant humanitarian needs and experience abuse (see section 2.d. 
for more-detailed coverage of IDPs).
    Government forces provided support, weapons, and ammunition to 
government-aligned militias, and the Government seldom took action 
against soldiers or militia members who attacked civilians.
    Fighting, insecurity, bureaucratic obstacles, and government and 
rebel restrictions reduced the ability of peacekeepers and 
humanitarians to access impacted areas. Armed persons attacked, killed, 
injured, and kidnapped peacekeepers and humanitarians. Humanitarian 
organizations were often not able to access and deliver humanitarian 
assistance in conflict areas, particularly in Jebel Marra and Jebel 
Moon. The Government's expulsion of 13 international humanitarian NGOs 
and three local NGOs in 2009 continued to degrade the delivery of 
humanitarian services. The lack of access as well as fear of government 
retribution resulted in reduced reporting on human rights and 
humanitarian information during the year.
    Developments regarding ICC cases pertaining to President Bashir, 
Ahmad Muhammad Haroun, and Ali Muhammad Abd al-Rahman included the 
following:
    On July 12, pretrial chamber I issued a second warrant of arrest 
against President Bashir for three counts of genocide. This warrant was 
in addition to the March 2009 ICC arrest warrant issued for Bashir for 
five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts of war crimes. 
Both arrest warrants remained outstanding at year's end.Ahmad Muhammad 
Haroun, for whom the ICC issued a warrant of arrest in 2007 when he was 
then state minister for humanitarian affairs, remained the appointed 
governor of South Kordofan.Ali Muhammad Abd al-Rahman, also known as 
``Ali Kushayb,'' a janjaweed militia commander, for whom the ICC issued 
a warrant of arrest in 2007, remained at large.In his semi-annual 
report in December, the prosecutor reported to the UN Security Council 
that crimes continue in Darfur, and that the Government of Sudan 
remained uncooperative with UN Security Council Resolution 1593 and 
with execution of the arrest warrants against Haroun and Kushayb.
    Developments with respect to the ICC prosecutor's 2008 request for 
an arrest warrant for three rebel commanders, Bahr Idress Abu Garda, 
Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain, and Saleh Jerbo Jamus, for war crimes 
pertaining to the 2007 attack on African Union (AU) peacekeepers at 
Haskanita included the following:
    On June 17, Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain and Saleh Jerbo Jamus 
voluntarily appeared before the ICC pretrial chamber I in response to 
summonses to appear. In November they waived their rights to be present 
at the confirmation of charges hearing, which took place on December 8. 
The pretrial chamber I's decision is due in 2011.On February 8, ICC 
pretrial chamber I declined to confirm the war crimes charges against 
Abu Garda, finding that the prosecution's allegations that Abu Garda 
participated in the alleged common plan to attack Haskanita were not 
supported by sufficient evidence.There were no developments regarding 
the recommendations of the AU High-Level Panel on Darfur's 2009 report, 
including its recommendation to create a hybrid court of Sudanese and 
international judges to prosecute the most serious crimes committed in 
Darfur and a truth and reconciliation commission. Discussions with the 
Government on implementing the panel's suggestions remained stalled due 
to the Government's objections to perceived interference in the 
country's sovereignty.

    Killings.--Government forces and government-aligned militias 
engaged in the killing of civilians, including continued aerial 
bombardment of civilian areas. The aerial bombardment of villages was 
often followed by ground attacks. Attacks resulted in civilian 
displacement (also see section 2.d.).
    Violence in Jebel Marra--a mountainous area that reaches into each 
of the Darfur states --killed and displaced numerous civilians, 
particularly between January and March. In east Jebel Marra, government 
forces and Arab militias launched offensives against Sudan Liberation 
Army/Abdul Wahid (SLA/AW) factions based in the mountains. In western 
Jebel Marra, fighting occurred between SLA/AW factions.
    Fighting between the SAF and SLA/AW in eastern Jebel Marra 
particularly impacted Leiba, Kidingeer, Gugoli, Feina, and Deribat 
villages in South Darfur and Fanga Suk and Gosdor villages in North 
Darfur. Fighting, including aerial bombardment, continued during the 
year. In September-October, the SAF recaptured the villages of Suni and 
Jawa in an aerial and ground offensive that caused deaths and large-
scale civilian displacement. Humanitarian organizations lacked access 
to Jebel Marra, with the Government permitting only brief day-trips to 
certain areas, making it difficult to gather precise information on the 
fighting's impact on civilians. UNAMID documented cases of gender-based 
violence in connection with the fighting in Jebel Marra. According to 
UNAMID, police arrested perpetrators in two of the cases.
    Among numerous other reports of aerial bombardment:
    On February 17 and 19, respectively, the Government reportedly 
attacked Feina and bombed and attacked the town of Deribat.New IDPs 
reported that on February 24, east of Golo in Jebel Marra, aerial 
bombardment and ground attacks occurred on their village.On September 
1, the SAF carried out ground attacks in Katur village, close to 
Deribat, South Darfur. In the days leading up to the attacks, the SAF 
reportedly carried out aerial bombardment campaigns.In West Darfur's 
Jebel Moon area, government forces carried out aerial bombardment and 
ground attacks against the JEM. Fighting occurred between January and 
March and then resumed in May. The JEM withdrew from Jebel Moon by May 
13; they were pursued by the SAF, and clashes continued. The violence 
displaced civilians. The Government and rebels denied UNAMID access to 
Jebel Moon. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) received information that 
the SAF and other unidentified men committed gender-based violence 
during the fighting.
    On April 29, in Girgigirgi Village near Jebel Moon, government 
aerial bombardment reportedly killed nine civilians.
    In December in South Darfur, fighting between government and SLA/MM 
forces displaced almost 20,000 persons from Khor Abeche and Shaeria. 
Negeha and Jaghara villages, which were near Khor Abeche, were burned. 
Humanitarians lacked access to Khor Abeche. In North Darfur, fighting 
between government and rebel groups in Dar al-Salaam and Shangil Tobaya 
displaced 25,000 persons between December 19 and December 31. There 
were reports of civilian deaths, looting, and destruction of civilian 
property during the fighting in both North and South Darfur.
    Fighting that resulted in killing civilians, also occurred in other 
areas of Darfur.
    For example, on January 16, near Katum, North Darfur, fighting 
between the SAF and SLA/AW reportedly killed 15 civilians and injured 
20.
    Chadian rebels also reportedly committed abuses near the area of Al 
Saiyah in North Darfur, including looting of villages and rape. On 
January 10, two civilians were reportedly killed when the local 
population clashed with Chadian rebels who had looted in Um Kary 
Village.
    Tensions in IDP camps regarding disputes over political 
representation in the Doha peace processes resulted in deaths and 
additional displacements during the year.
    In late July violence erupted in Kalma IDP camp between IDPs who 
supported and those who opposed peace talks in Doha. At least 35 
persons died, and approximately 30,000 IDPs fled the camp. The 
Government sought six individuals for alleged responsibility for the 
violence. They remained under UNAMID protection at year's end. After 
UNAMID began round-the-clock police patrols in the camp, security 
improved; however, sporadic gunfire erupted occasionally at night, and 
houses were set on fire.
    In August similar politically motivated violence in Hamidiya and 
Hassahissa IDP camps in West Darfur between pro- and anti-Doha factions 
resulted in the shooting death of a student.
    On September 3-4, violence again erupted in Hamidiya IDP Camp 
between pro- and anti-Doha factions, leading to the deaths of seven 
IDPs in the camp and injuries to approximately 30. At least three of 
those killed were SLA/AW supporters. Prior to this, on July 27, SLA/AW 
supporters killed three pro-Doha supporters in the camp.
    Inter- and intratribal conflict increased during the year. It was 
fueled by increased competition for resources due to desertification 
and population growth, the weakening of traditional mediation 
mechanisms, and the proliferation of arms. Between March and May, 
intertribal violence killed more than 500 persons. Ethnic conflict 
caused 38 percent of violence-related deaths in Darfur.
    In March in the area between Zalingei in West Darfur and Kass in 
South Darfur, fighting erupted between the Misseriya and the Nawaiba-
Rizeigat tribes. During the year the violence killed hundreds and 
caused displacements. The tribes were fighting over land along the two 
states' border. The fighting limited UNAMID's ability to access some 
areas around Kass.
    On April 20, in Al Ban Jadid, South Darfur, clashes between the 
Rizeigat and al-Saada tribes killed more than 50 persons.
    On September 2, armed men who eyewitnesses identified as Arab 
tribesmen attacked Tabarat Village in North Darfur, killing at least 
37, injuring at least 35, and reportedly displacing 3,000. Presidential 
Advisor Ghazi Sallahudin commenced an official investigation, appointed 
a special prosecutor for Darfur to focus on issues of justice and 
impunity, and promised compensation to victims.

    Physical Abuse, Punishment, and Torture.--All parties to the 
conflict perpetrated acts of torture and abuse. The Government abused 
persons detained after armed conflict as well as IDPs suspected of 
having links to rebel groups. There were continued reports that 
government security forces, Arab militia, and other armed persons raped 
women and children.
    Sexual and gender-based violence continued during the year 
throughout Darfur. IDPs reported that perpetrators of such violence 
were often government forces, members of Arab militia, or unidentified 
men. Assailants assaulted, raped, threatened, shot, beat, and robbed 
women.
    The Government's expulsion of 13 international NGOs and closure of 
three national NGOs in 2009 ended most gender-based violence programs, 
as well as reduced reporting on gender-based violence.
    There were multiple cases reported of IDPs being harassed, 
arrested, and tortured by the NISS (also see section 2.d., IDPs). When 
political tension escalated into violence in Hamidiya and Hassahissa 
camps, the NISS arrested and detained IDPs who were suspected of being 
affiliated with SLA/AW or suspected of providing information to sources 
in the international community. Other reports circulated of SLA/AW 
supporters who went missing.
    Authorities often obstructed access to justice for rape victims.
    UNAMID documented cases of abuse, arbitrary arrest, and torture by 
security forces in Darfur, including the CRP.

    Child Soldiers.--Recruitment of child soldiers remained a serious 
problem in Darfur. The Armed Forces Act prohibits the recruitment of 
children and provides criminal penalties for perpetrators.
    A UN report covering 2009 found that more than 14 Sudanese and 
foreign armed forces and groups in Darfur recruited and used children. 
The majority of such cases occurred in West Darfur. These groups 
included the SAF, police including the CRP and Border Intelligence 
Force, government-aligned militias, Chadian rebels, JEM, JEM (Peace 
Wing), Movement of Popular Force for Rights and Democracy, SLA/AW, SLA/
Abu Gasim/Mother Wing, SLA/Free Will, SLA/MM, SLA/Peace Wing, and SLA/
Unity. Darfur rebel groups also recruited child soldiers in the 
Sudanese refugee camps in Chad in 2009.
    Although UNICEF signed an action plan in 2007 with SLA/MM that 
committed the rebel group to identifying locations of child soldiers, 
SLA/MM continued to use child soldiers.
    On July 21, JEM signed an action plan with UNICEF to end the use of 
child soldiers. From February through April, 574 children were released 
by JEM-Peace Wing, SLA-Peace Wing, and the Movement for Popular Forces 
for Rights and Democracy.
    There were no new developments in the 2008 case of children 
detained in connection with the JEM attack on Omdurman. As of December 
2009, 119 children received pardons and were released, but some 
children were sentenced to death and remained detained at year's end.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Other Conflict-Related Abuses.--All parties to the conflict 
obstructed the work of humanitarian organizations and UNAMID, caused 
the displacement of civilians, and abused IDPs.
    Restrictions, violence, and insecurity reduced the ability of 
humanitarian organizations to provide needed services. For example, 
UNAMID reported that the World Food Program was not able to provide 
food to more than 250,000 intended beneficiaries in Darfur.
    On February 18, the NISS arrested a UNAMID national staff member, 
confiscated his laptop and cell phone, and subjected him to several 
hours of questioning.
    Following the July violence in Kalma Camp, authorities blocked 
humanitarian assistance to Kalma Camp and Bileil Camp from late July 
until mid-August. As of September 6, NGOs resumed health, nutrition, 
water, sanitation, and hygiene activities. However, most basic services 
were provided at reduced levels. IDPs and others stated that the 
Government's blockage of humanitarian assistance was intended to force 
IDPs to relocate, and the Government discussed plans to relocate Kalma 
Camp during the year.
    The 2009 expulsions of 13 international NGOs reduced the access of 
persons to humanitarian services. While some programs were able to 
continue by utilizing local staff and government assistance, the 
expulsions dramatically decreased nonemergency humanitarian services. 
UN organizations and remaining organizations attempted to cover lost 
humanitarian capacity.
    Following the expulsions armed SAF and NISS officers arrived at the 
offices of several NGOs and confiscated office equipment and personal 
possessions of NGO staff. NGOs reported that not all seized assets had 
been returned.
    In July the Government expelled two International Organization for 
Migration staff members from the country.
    On August 17, the NISS arrested a UNAMID national staff member for 
allegedly making comments related to national security. UNAMID 
personnel were denied access to the detainee.
    Despite the 2007 Joint Communique between the Government and the 
UN, government forces frequently harassed NGOs that received 
international assistance, restricted or denied humanitarian 
assessments, did not approve technical agreements, changed procedures, 
copied NGO files, confiscated NGO property, questioned humanitarian 
workers at length, monitored humanitarians' personal correspondence, 
delayed the issuance of visas and travel permits, restricted travel, 
and publicly accused humanitarian workers of being ``spies,'' ``Western 
agents,'' and ``workers for Israel.''
    Policy discrepancies between Darfur state-level and Khartoum-based 
officials in the Government's Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) 
adversely affected humanitarian operations.
    The HAC continued to request that NGOs refrain from interviewing or 
selecting staff unless they used a five-person government selection 
panel and had HAC officials present, significantly delaying the hiring 
of new staff in Darfur. The HAC also continued to impose additional 
requirements on humanitarian organizations during the year on an ad hoc 
basis, often at the state level.
    Rebel forces and bandits obstructed humanitarian assistance, 
regularly attacked the compounds of humanitarian organizations, and 
seized humanitarian aid, assets, and vehicles. Kidnappings increased 
during the year. Attacks against humanitarian convoys continued during 
the year. Instability forced many international aid organizations to 
reduce their operations in Darfur.
    On January 16, in Ain Sairo Village, North Darfur, unidentified 
persons abducted two national staff of Welthungerhilfe, releasing them 
on January 18.
    On May 18, near Nyala, South Darfur, unidentified persons kidnapped 
a Samaritan's Purse foreign aid worker, as well as two national 
Samaritan's Purse staff members. The kidnappers released the two 
national staff members on May 25 and the foreign staff member on August 
30.
    On June 22, in Nyala, South Darfur, unidentified persons kidnapped 
two German humanitarians who worked for Technisches Hilswerk. They were 
released on July 27.
    On March 18, abductors released ICRC staff member Gauthier Lefevre, 
who was abducted in October 2009 near Al Geneina, West Darfur. Four 
days prior, on March 14, two other NGO workers, Olivier Denis and 
Olivier Frappe, were released; they had been abducted in the Central 
African Republic in 2009.
    Unidentified assailants also attacked, killed, and abducted UN 
personnel:
    On May 7, near Katila Village in South Darfur, armed persons 
attacked a UNAMID convoy, killing two and seriously injuring three.On 
June 21, near Nertiti in Jebel Marra, West Darfur, unidentified 
attackers killed three UNAMID peacekeepers and injured one. On December 
15, a court acquitted three persons who had been accused of being 
involved in the attack.On November 5, in Nyala, South Darfur, three 
Latvian World Food Program (WFP) pilots were kidnapped, resulting in a 
negative impact on WFP programs in the area.The Government restricted 
UNAMID's movement, including its access to conflict areas and IDP 
camps; the measures included restricting UNAMID helicopter and rotary-
wing aircraft flights. JEM, SLA factions, and Chadian rebels also 
restricted UNAMID access. Government forces and rebels at times 
threatened to use force against and fired shots toward, UNAMID forces. 
The Government was uncooperative with the UN Panel of Experts.
    On January 9, in Nama Village in Jebel Marra, SLA/AW members 
surrounded a UNAMID patrol, fired shots in the air, confiscated their 
equipment, and warned them not to return to the area.
    On January 17, JEM stopped a UN patrol east of Kulbus, West Darfur, 
and prevented the patrol from proceeding.
    There were numerous reports of abuses committed by security forces, 
rebels, and militias against IDPs. Insecurity was a problem both inside 
and outside of IDP camps (see section 2.d., IDPs).
    In the cases of IDP leaders arrested and detained without access to 
counsel following the 2009 killing of IDP camp leader Omer Adam Ishaq 
and his wife, 14 of the 18 persons detained were released, while four 
remained in jail at year's end.
                             southern sudan
    Interethnic fighting, postelection militia attacks on the SPLA, 
cattle rustling, and LRA attacks resulted in deaths and displacement in 
the South during the year. As of November incidents of reported 
violence included 122 intertribal conflicts, 23 intratribal conflicts, 
22 LRA attacks, 21 SPLA and civilian clashes, and two security force 
clashes. LRA attacks, intertribal conflict, and other forms of 
insecurity killed at least 986 persons and displaced approximately 
223,708 during the year.
    The CPA calls for two referenda to be held simultaneously in 
January 2011: a referendum for southerners to vote either for unity 
with the country or secession and a referendum to determine whether 
Abyei will remain in the North or join the South. Preparations for the 
referendum on the status of the South occurred during the year, 
although at a slow pace. The parties did not make progress on key 
decisions necessary to proceed with the referendum on Abyei, including 
the composition of the Abyei Area Referendum Commission and voter 
eligibility. The North stated that the Misseriya, who migrate through 
Abyei from the North, should be eligible to participate, while the 
South did not favor their inclusion.
    The security situation along the border remained tense. The UN 
noted the presence of 600 SPLA troops in Abyei in November and stated 
that this was a violation of the CPA. A few days later the SPLA began 
withdrawing these troops. On November 12, 24, and 25, the SAF bombed 
locations along the Northern Bahr El Ghazal border with Southern 
Darfur, while reportedly targeting JEM forces. On December 6, 8, and 9, 
the SAF bombed within Western Bahr El Ghazal; there were no casualties, 
and the bombings did not target the SPLA.
    According to the UN, approximately two million IDPs and 350,000 
refugees had returned to the South since 2005. These persons had been 
displaced as a result of conflict, famine, and fighting during the 
North-South conflict. In late October the GOSS began an accelerated 
return program. Returns significantly increased toward the end of the 
year, with an estimated 143,000 persons returning between October and 
December.

    Killings and Abductions.--Fighting between security forces and 
civilians, including clashes with Misseriya, resulted in deaths and 
displacement.
    On February 4, in Abiemnom County in Unity State, a clash between 
SPLA and Misseriya killed eight persons.On February 22, fighting 
between Ngok Dinka and the SPLA killed 17 civilians and seven SPLA 
members in Cueibet County, northwest of Rumbek.
    Clashes between Palal locality community members and the SPLA on 
February 28 and March 2 killed 15 civilians and injured four, displaced 
8,000 persons, and damaged or destroyed 1,440 houses and four 
schools.SPLA civilian disarmament activities resulted in deaths and 
displacement. For example, in July SPLA civilian disarmament activities 
in Fashoda County resulted in four deaths and the detention of 11. The 
disarmament followed a reported attack on SPLA forces that killed 11 
soldiers.
    Postelection violence related to militia attacks on the SPLA killed 
persons.
    Unsuccessful independent Jonglei gubernatorial candidate General 
George Athor Deng started a violent campaign after the April elections. 
On April 30, Athor's forces attacked an SPLA military barracks in 
Doleib Hills, Upper Nile State. A number of clashes occurred following 
the attack. According to the UN, the violence caused ``a significant 
deterioration of the security and human rights situations in the area, 
including killings, arbitrary arrests and detentions, rape, looting, 
and destruction of property, as well as restrictions on critical UN 
staff movement.'' On August 8, the SPLA seized a private charter 
helicopter, claiming that the Government was using it to transport 
supplies to Athor. According to the UN, the case was referred to the 
Ceasefire Political Commission.
    On July 25, near Pibor, militia of the unsuccessful independent 
candidate for the Jonglei assembly, David Yau-Yau, attacked an SPLA 
unit, killing two persons and injuring nine. In the period following 
that attack, Yau-Yau's forces also attacked additional targets, both 
civilian and military.
    On August 8, in Unity State, armed persons under the command of 
Colonel Gatluak Gai, attacked a convoy and killed 17 SPLA members and 
six civilians.
    The LRA attacked, killed, abducted, and displaced civilians in the 
South, particularly in Western Equatoria. Although there were fewer 
reports of LRA-related violence than in the previous year, the LRA 
killed an estimated 16 or more persons, abducted 50, and displaced more 
than 42,000 persons during the year. LRA forces often attacked near 
food distribution locations.
    On May 16, 29 armed persons suspected to be members of LRA attacked 
Nabaaria village in Tambura (about 100 miles northwest of Yambio). The 
attackers ransacked the village, looted a large quantity of medicine 
from a medical clinic, and abducted six villagers.On May 17, suspected 
LRA members attacked Mabia Village in Tambura (approximately 100 miles 
northwest of Yambio), killing three government employees; 10 days 
later, the LRA attacked the same area again, killing one person and 
abducting three others.On July 29, suspected LRA members ambushed two 
UN-contracted vehicles near Yambio in Western Equatoria State, killing 
two persons and injuring four others.On September 4, six LRA members 
attacked a village near Yambio, killing six civilians and abducting a 
boy and a girl. The girl escaped soon after her abduction.Intertribal 
and intercommunal clashes, particularly in Jonglei, Upper Nile, Lakes, 
and Warrab States, continued during the year and resulted in deaths and 
the abduction of children. An SPLA-implemented disarmament campaign and 
foreign-funded conflict mitigation programs helped to reduce cattle 
rustling and child abduction in Jonglei State, although conflict 
persisted. Intratribal fighting was also a problem.
    On February 27 and 28, fighting erupted between Dinka Atout and 
Dinka Ciic clans in Yirol (about 59 miles southeast of Rumbek), 
reportedly killing 30.An August 4, conflict involving cattle raiding 
among communities in the counties of Yirol East and Yirol West in Lakes 
State killed 30.On September 20, in Jonglei State, Lou Nuer surrounded 
Duk Padiet Village and killed at least 70 Dinkas. Security force 
personnel were also killed during the attack.

    Child Soldiers.--UN personnel believed that SPLA did not actively 
recruit child soldiers. According to the SPLA Child Protection Unit 
(which was inaugurated in August), UNICEF, and other international 
NGOs, as of October approximately 800 children continued to work for 
the SPLA in some type of menial and administrative capacities. UNICEF 
indicated that demobilization was occurring rapidly in the last months 
of the year.
    The LRA, which used child soldiers, abducted children from Southern 
Sudan for this purpose.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Other Conflict-Related Abuses.--During the year the UN noted 125 
instances of interference with humanitarian work in the South, 
including interference by GOSS security forces.
    The SAF, the SPLA, and Misseriya groups continued to restrict 
UNMIS's movements during the year. UNMIS reported that during the 
period between January and May 27, the SPLA and SSPS on 36 occasions 
and the SAF on five occasions restricted UNMIS movement. These delays 
constrained UNMIS's ability to monitor the ceasefire agreement and 
access civilian protection and humanitarian needs.
    For example, the UN reported that the SAF continued to block UNMIS 
access to Higlig and Karasana in Southern Kordofan State.
    The SPLA detained UNMIS helicopters. On July 22, near Kodok, SPLA 
members detained a UNMIS patrol at gunpoint and assaulted the UNMIS 
helicopter crew sent to remove them from the area, and on August 4, at 
Tonji, the SPLA detained a UNMIS helicopter on an airstrip for six 
hours.
    The UN also reported that between August 11 and July 22, the SPLA 
prevented UNMIS access to the Kodok area in Upper Nile State.
    Intertribal conflict, insecurity, and LRA attacks limited the 
ability of humanitarian organizations to provide assistance to 
vulnerable populations.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The interim national constitution 
provides for freedom of thought, expression, and of the press ``as 
regulated by law''; however, the Government severely restricted these 
rights in practice. The Government, including through the NISS, 
continued to censor print and broadcast media, arrest and torture 
journalists, and harass vocal critics of the Government. Direct nightly 
prepublication censorship of newspapers occurred from May to August. 
The Government controlled the media through the National Press Council, 
which administered mandatory professional exams for journalists and 
editors. Journalists also practiced self-censorship.
    The interim constitution of Southern Sudan provides for freedom of 
expression ``without prejudice to order, safety, or public morals as 
determined by law'' and states that all levels of government shall 
guarantee from of the press ``as shall be regulated by law in a 
democratic society''; however, there were instances in which security 
forces in the South restricted media freedom during the year.
    Individuals who criticized the Government publicly or privately 
were subject to reprisal, including arrest. The Government attempted to 
impede such criticism and monitored political meetings.
    Journalists were subjected to arrest, harassment, intimidation, and 
violence due to their reporting.
    From May to year's end, 13 cases were filed against the pro-SPLM 
publication Ajrass al-Hurriya on various charges, ranging from 
violations against the sovereignty of the state to defamation and 
erroneous reporting. Seven of the 13 cases were filed against newspaper 
columnist Faiz al-Silaik--four by the NISS, one by SAF (for reporting 
on a military execution in Darfur), one by the Council of Ministers, 
and one by the police. Public order police filed three other cases 
against the newspaper for coverage of the videotaped flogging of a 
woman that appeared on YouTube in December and for its coverage of the 
Lubna Hussein ``trouser case.'' The remaining three cases were settled 
out of court. Al-Silaik was scheduled to appear in court on February 
27, 2011.
    On May 16, the same day that authorities arrested PCP leader Hassan 
al-Turabi, they also arrested four employees of the PCP-affiliated 
newspaper Rai al-Shaab--deputy editor in chief Abuzar Al Amin, editor 
Ashraf Abdelaziz, administrator Nagi Dahab, and news desk head Al Tahir 
Abu Jawhara. The NISS also closed the newspaper's office. On May 27, 
authorities also arrested Rai al-Shaab editor Ramadan Mahjoub. 
Authorities tortured Abuzar Al Amin and reportedly tortured Altahir Abu 
Jawrah and Ashraf Abd-al-Aziz as well. On June 2, Nagi Dahab was 
released. The remaining Rai al-Shaab journalists were tried on charges 
related to crimes against the state. The court reportedly issued a 
decree barring newspapers from reporting on the trial and did not allow 
testimony from defense witnesses. On July 14, the court sentenced 
Abuzar Al Amin to five years' imprisonment, Ashraf Abdelaziz and Al 
Tahir Abu Jawhara to two years' imprisonment, and acquitted Ramadan 
Mahjoub. In July a final order was issued for the office to be closed 
and its assets confiscated.
    Between October 30 and November 1, security forces arrested several 
Darfuri activists and an individual who worked for Radio Dabanga (see 
section 5).
    In early November NISS officers arrested Jaafar al-Sabki, a Darfur 
reporter for the independent daily al-Sahafa on allegations that he 
passed reports on Darfur to an unnamed organization. At year's end al-
Sabki remained detained at Kober Prison in Khartoum.
    The NISS required journalists to provide the Government with 
personal information, such as details on their tribe, political 
affiliation, and family.
    The Government directly controlled some print media outlets and 
exerted a great degree of control over the limited number of 
independent newspapers, including through direct censorship.
    From May to August, NISS prepublication censorship, which had 
occurred from March 2008 to September 2009, resumed. NISS personnel 
went to newspaper offices to directly remove articles, went to printing 
houses to stop publication, and called journalists to tell them which 
topics were not allowed to be covered. In response to the restrictions, 
the newspaper al-Maydan did not publish during most of this time. 
Authorities censored several other newspapers, rendering normal 
printing operations impossible. Other government restrictions, 
including official calls to editors and writers warning of off-limit 
topics and prohibitions on placing ads in newspapers the Government did 
not favor, continued after August.
    During the year authorities warned newspapers not to report on 
certain topics, including the ICC, Darfur, the June doctors' strike, 
the May arrest of PCP leader Hassan al-Turabi (see section 1.e., 
Political Prisoners and Detainees) and journalists from Rai al-Shaab, 
the prevention of journalists from traveling to a conference on the ICC 
in May, and the June escape of persons convicted of killing Granville 
and Abdelrahman Abbas Rahama.
    The Government closed al-Intibaha, an extreme right-wing newspaper, 
from July to October.
    Official censorship prevented the publication of the newspapers al-
Maydan and Ajras al-Hurriya multiple times during the year.
    Authorities similarly harassed English-language newspapers whose 
primary readership was Southerners.
    The Government restricted international media in the North. While 
some foreign journalists were denied visas, others had regular access 
to opposition politicians, rebels, and civil society advocates.
    The Government directly controlled radio and television and 
required that both reflect government policies. Some foreign shortwave 
radio broadcasts were available. A private FM radio station continued 
to operate, and the Government restricted UN radio to operating only in 
the states of the South. In addition to domestic and satellite 
television services, there was a pay cable network, which directly 
rebroadcast uncensored foreign news and other programs.
    On August 8, the Government prohibited BBC broadcasts in the North 
for alleged misuse of the diplomatic pouch on the part of the British 
embassy. Authorities also stated that BBC was broadcasting in Juba 
without proper government authorization.
                             southern sudan
    Freedom of speech was largely protected in the South, and the GOSS 
did not attempt to impede criticism or regularly monitor political 
meetings. The SPLA and certain of its commanders occasionally 
threatened and detained several journalists in the South for 
broadcasting unfavorable reports of the SPLA and at times the GOSS.
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views without restriction.
    On occasions journalists in Southern Sudan were briefly detained 
and intimidated for writing or broadcasting unfavorable reports about 
the SPLA and the GOSS. These actions were usually resolved quickly 
after high-level intervention by the GOSS political leadership.
    In January security forces reportedly arrested, beat, and detained 
Juba Post journalist Cyrocco Mayom.
    In late February SPLA members reportedly detained and beat Lonya 
Banak, a radio station manager for Internews, following a radio debate 
during which a caller was critical of GOSS service delivery. He was 
reportedly taken to Leer Prison and detained for five days, during 
which time he was beaten.
    After covering the violent dispersal by SPLA of a political rally 
that left three civilians dead, a radio journalist was arrested on 
April 23 in Unity State, held for 13 days, and then dismissed from the 
State-owned radio station.
    In June the GOSS, citing national security, threatened to shut down 
Radio Miraya for broadcasting an interview with General Athor, who had 
started a violent campaign against the GOSS after the April elections.

    Internet Freedom.--The Government monitored Internet 
communications, and the NISS read e-mail messages between private 
citizens. Some Web sites deemed offensive to public morality were 
blocked by the National Telecommunications Corporation, as were most 
proxy servers. While there generally were no restrictions on access to 
news and information Web sites, authorities regularly blocked access to 
youtube.com. During the elections the Government blocked access to the 
Sudan Vote Monitor Web site.
    In the South there were no restrictions on access to the Internet 
or reports that the GOSS monitored e-mail or Internet chat rooms. 
Individuals and groups could engage in the expression of views via the 
Internet, including e-mail.
    According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 
2008, approximately 10 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The Government restricted 
academic freedom. In public universities the Government appointed the 
vice chancellors, who were responsible for administering the 
institutions. The Government also determined the curriculum. Some 
universities required students to participate regularly in 
progovernment rallies and other activities. Some professors exercised 
self-censorship. The Government regularly arrested student activists.
    On July 29, at a cultural event in Bahri area of Khartoum, public 
order police arbitrarily arrested all foreigners and women in trousers 
and beat many of those in attendance, including minors. The case 
against the event organizer was dismissed in trial, and the police 
lieutenant who led the raid was dismissed from his job for abuse.
    On September 23, tourist police forced the cancellation of a dance 
presentation of the French Cultural Center. Authorities claimed that 
the organizers, who had a permit for the exhibition issued through the 
public order police, lacked a second necessary permit from the Ministry 
of Tourism.
    There were no restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events 
in Southern Sudan.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--Although the interim national constitution and law provide 
for freedom of assembly, the Government severely restricted this right 
in practice. The Government formally banned all rallies and public 
demonstrations in the country, although this was not always enforced. 
In February the National Elections Commission issued a circular 
requiring a 72-hour prior notice period for political rallies, which it 
reduced to 36 hours in March.
    Islamic orders associated with opposition political parties, 
particularly the Anwar (Umma Party) and Khatmiya (Democratic Unionist 
Party), continued to be denied permission to hold large public 
gatherings, but they held regular opposition rallies on private 
property. Government security agents occasionally attended opposition 
political meetings, disrupted opposition rallies, and summoned 
participants to security headquarters for questioning after political 
meetings.
    Police use of excessive force to disperse demonstrators resulted in 
deaths and injuries.
    On January 20, during a peaceful political rally in support of 
Hamid Mohamed Ali, an independent opposition gubernatorial candidate in 
Red Sea State, authorities arrested 38 persons, seven of whom were 
hospitalized.
    On May 30, in the Omdeda locality of Omdurman, police used tear gas 
to disperse a protest consisting of approximately 100 women and 
children who were demonstrating against the lack of water in their 
municipality. The demonstration closed street traffic for several hours 
and caused a heavy traffic jam before police intervened.
    On October 9, during a UN Security Council visit to the country, 
police arrested at least 75 Southern Sudanese General Student Union 
members. The students had embedded themselves into a prounity public 
rally organized by the NCP, during which they changed into red shirts 
with proseparatist slogans. Police beat some of the rally participants 
and also beat one of the arrested students while he was jailed; that 
student was released on October 11.
    Authorities generally took no action against security forces that 
used excessive force.
    The interim constitution of Southern Sudan provides for freedom of 
peaceful assembly, and the GOSS generally respected this protection.

    Freedom of Association.--The interim national constitution and law 
provide for freedom of association, but the Government severely 
restricted this right in practice. Seventy-two political parties 
officially contested in the April elections. The law effectively 
prohibits political parties linked to armed opposition to the 
Government. The SLM/MM was not permitted to register as a political 
party. The Government continued to harass some opposition leaders who 
spoke with foreign organizations or embassies.
    The interim constitution of Southern Sudan provides for freedom of 
association, and the GOSS generally respected this right in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The interim national constitution and 
law provide for freedom of movement, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, but the Government restricted these rights in practice.
    The interim Southern Sudan constitution provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, and repatriation, and the 
Government generally respected these rights in practice. The interim 
Southern Sudan constitution does not provide for emigration.
    The Government impeded the work of the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and delayed full approval of UNHCR 
activities, particularly in North and South Darfur. While in some cases 
it cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian assistance 
organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers, the Government 
restricted and harassed such organizations. The UNHCR confirmed that 
the Government continued to disregard international agreements and 
targeted refugees and asylum seekers for abuse. The Government's 
encampment policy requires asylum seekers and refugees to stay in 12 
designated camps. The Government permitted refugees from Eritrea and 
Ethiopia to remain in the country.
    In Darfur the Government and rebels restricted the movement of the 
UN, humanitarian organizations, and citizens (see section 1.g.). Rebels 
also restricted freedom of movement.
    In the South the GOSS cooperated with the UNHCR and other 
humanitarian organizations in providing protection and assistance to 
IDPs and returning refugees.
    While movement was generally unhindered for citizens outside 
conflict areas, foreigners needed government permission for domestic 
travel outside of Khartoum, which was often difficult to obtain and was 
sometimes refused. Foreigners must register with the police on entering 
the country, obtain permission to move more than 15.5 miles outside of 
Khartoum and from one city to another, and reregister at each new 
location within three days of arrival. The GOSS did not restrict the 
movement of foreigners in the South and did not require foreigners to 
register upon entry.
    The Government delayed issuing humanitarian and diplomatic visas 
and travel permits for Darfur and the Three Areas to foreign NGO staff.
    The Government required citizens to obtain an exit visa to depart 
the country. While the issuance of exit visas was usually pro forma and 
not used to restrict citizens' travel, the Government denied some 
humanitarian workers exit visas.
    The Government restricted persons from traveling outside of the 
country to attend conferences.
    In late May officials confiscated the passports of human rights 
activists Salih Mahmud Osman, Mariam al-Mahdi, and Albukhari Abdalla 
Aljaali, who were scheduled to travel to Kampala, Uganda, to attend a 
forum on the ICC. The passports were held for the duration of the 
conference.
    On June 15, officials prevented Albaquir al-Afif Mukhtar, director 
of the Alkhatim Adlan Center for Enlightenment and Human Development 
(KACE) from traveling to a conference in Spain.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it. 
Opposition leaders and NGO activists remained in self-imposed exile 
throughout northern Africa and Europe during the year, and additional 
activists fled the country during the year.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--Large-scale displacement 
continued to be a severe problem in the country. There were an 
estimated 1.9 million IDPs in Darfur, 1.5 million displaced Southerners 
in the North, and 68,000 IDPs in the east. In the Three Areas, there 
were approximately 80,000 IDPs.
                             northern sudan
    While in previous years the UN estimated that there were 
approximately 2.7 million IDPs in Darfur, more recent International 
Organization for Migration data indicated the number of IDPs in Darfur 
to be 1.9 million. As of November, the UN reported, the conflict in 
Darfur had caused approximately 268,000 new displacements during the 
year, an increase from the estimated 175,000 persons displaced in 2009. 
Government offensives and rebel fighting in Jebel Marra and Jebel Moon 
displaced civilians. In December fighting between government and rebel 
forces in South Darfur and in Dar al-Salaam and Shangil Tobaya 
displaced tens of thousands. Intercommunal violence significantly 
increased and correspondingly displaced civilians. This violence was 
fueled by increased competition for resources due to desertification 
and population growth, the weakening of traditional mediation 
mechanisms, the proliferation of arms, and long-standing ethnic 
rivalries. In addition violence in Kalma IDP Camp between pro- and 
anti-Doha elements in July caused approximately 30,000 IDPs to flee the 
camp.
    IDPs in Darfur faced significant humanitarian needs. The 
Government's expulsion of 13 international humanitarian NGOs and 
closure of three local NGOs in 2009 continued to negatively impact the 
delivery of humanitarian services.
    Government restrictions, harassment, and the threat of expulsion 
resulted in the continued closure of most gender-based violence 
programming. While gender-based violence programming was mainstreamed 
into other humanitarian efforts, reporting and reach were severely 
curtailed. As of August, 96 percent of IDP households lived below the 
poverty line, compared with 86 percent of non-IDP households; 44 
percent of IDP households had incomes at least 50 percent below the 
poverty line.
    There were numerous reports of abuses committed by security forces, 
rebels, and militias against IDPs, including rapes and beatings. 
Government attempts to resettle IDPs were generally unsuccessful, 
except in the case of former Kalma residents returning to West Darfur 
in December.
    IDPs largely boycotted registration for the April nationwide, 
multiparty elections, and thus few participated in the vote, which 
raised concerns regarding their lack of representation in government.
    Outside of IDP camps, insecurity restricted IDP freedom of 
movement; women and girls who left the town and camps risked sexual 
violence. Darfur IDPs did not return in any significant numbers to 
their place of origin, although small-scale spontaneous returns to 
certain villages occurred.
    Insecurity within IDP camps was also a problem. Tensions regarding 
political representation in the Doha peace processes resulted in deaths 
and additional displacements during the year. This was exacerbated by 
the proliferation of arms in camps. The Government provided little 
assistance or protection to IDPs in Darfur. Most IDP camps had no 
functioning police force. International observers noted that criminal 
gangs aligned with rebel groups operated openly in several IDP camps 
and operated back and forth across the border with Chad.
    In late July violence erupted in Kalma IDP camp between IDPs who 
supported peace talks in Doha and IDPs who condemned the talks (see 
section 1.g., Darfur). The violence killed at least 35 persons. 
Approximately 30,000 IDPs fled the camp. Five IDP leaders and one woman 
sought protection from UNAMID, fearing possible government or opposing 
groups' action against them. Five of the individuals were sought by the 
Government, who stated they were responsible for the violence. 
Authorities blocked humanitarian assistance to Kalma Camp and to Bileil 
Camp until mid-August. On September 6, NGOs resumed health, nutrition, 
water, sanitation, and hygiene activities, but for the most part at 
reduced levels. IDPs and others stated that the Government's blockage 
of humanitarian assistance was part of a process to force IDPs to 
relocate, and during the year the Government discussed plans to 
relocate Kalma Camp. According to the UN, more than 1,500 persons from 
Kalma Camp voluntarily returned to areas of displacement in West Darfur 
in early December as part of a government-led return program.
    Similar politically-motivated violence erupted in Hamidiya and 
Hassahissa IDP camps in West Darfur in August. There were multiple 
cases reported of IDPs being harassed, arrested, and tortured by the 
NISS. The Government harassed IDPs in Darfur who spoke with foreign 
observers.
    When political tension escalated into violence in the Hamidiya and 
Hassahissa camps, the NISS arrested and detained IDPs who were 
suspected of being affiliated with SLA/AW or suspected of providing 
information to sources in the international community.
    Following a UN Security Council visit to Darfur, security officials 
arrested and harassed IDPs. On October 8, the NISS sought to arrest 16 
persons in Abu Shouk and Al Salaam camps; the persons went into hiding. 
On October 10, authorities arrested Mohamed Abdalluh Mohamed al-Haj of 
Abu Shouk and Abdalla Ishag Abdul Raziq of Abu Shouk Camp. On October 
17, authorities arrested approximately 24 more persons, including some 
IDPs who had been arrested and released previously.
    Fourteen of the 18 IDP leaders arrested and detained without access 
to counsel following the 2009 killing of IDP camp leader Omer Adam 
Ishaq and his wife were released, while four remained in jail at year's 
end.
    According to the UN, approximately 1.5 million IDPs lived in 
Khartoum State, many of them in shanty towns rather than in the four 
formal camps. Many Southern IDPs in the North have lived there for 
decades, formed families, and found mainly informal employment in the 
North. As of year's end, the parties had not reached an agreement 
regarding the status of Southerners in the North in the post-CPA 
period. At times during the year, government officials made statements 
regarding the expulsion of Southerners, and at other times government 
officials made statements supporting the protection of IDPs. Displaced 
Southerners in and around Khartoum were subject to arrest, flogging, 
fines, warrantless searches, and/or imprisonment in relation to Sharia-
based prohibitions against alcohol. The Government restricts access to 
formal IDP camps around Khartoum.
    There were no developments regarding the thousands of persons 
displaced by the Merowe dam in previous years.
    In the East, the Government continued to restrict humanitarian 
access. These restrictions significantly limited the ability of 
humanitarian organizations to provide services to vulnerable groups 
such as IDPs and refugees. Approximately 50 percent of IDPs and 
refugees in camps received food rations.
                             southern sudan
    According to the UN, approximately two million IDPs and 350,000 
refugees have returned to the South since 2005.
    In August the autonomous government of Southern Sudan announced an 
initiative to promote the return of Southerners living in the North. 
Spontaneous and organized returns significantly increased towards the 
end of the year, with an estimated 140,000 persons returning between 
October and December. Many returned to areas located near the North-
South border, particularly to Unity State and Northern Bahr el Ghazal 
States. Insufficient preparations for the return of IDPs to the South 
was a problem. IDPs who returned to the South faced problems including 
delayed allocation of land, insecurity, lack of basic services, lack of 
livelihood opportunities, and problems obtaining onward transportation 
from towns to counties of origin. There were reports that Misseriya 
temporarily stopped some busses on their way South. In late November 
nearly 7,800 returning IDPs were reportedly stuck in Bentiu after rains 
made roads impassable; they took temporary shelter in school buildings. 
There were also reports of persons who wished to return to the South 
being stranded in Khartoum.
    Interethnic fighting, postelection violence, LRA attacks, and 
conflict between the SPLA and civilians resulted in the widespread 
displacement of persons during the year. During the year violence 
displaced 223,708 persons in the South, with the largest numbers of 
displacements occurring in Western Equatoria, Jonglei, Lakes, and 
Warrab states. The GOSS had only a very limited capacity to provide 
services to IDPs. Most IDPs in the South integrated into communities 
and did not live in a camp environment.
    There were no reported developments in the January 2009 forcible 
eviction of persons from residential areas and markets, which were 
subsequently demolished; the evictions displaced more than 30,000 
persons, including IDPs.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, but the Government has not 
established a system for providing protection to refugees.
    In practice the Government did not provide protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion.
    The Government granted asylum to a large number of asylum seekers, 
but there was no standard determination procedure or documentation. 
Officially, the Government should grant prima facie refugee status to 
asylum seekers. However, during the year it required Eritreans to 
register as asylum-seekers rather than automatically granting the 
appropriate refugee status, a policy contrary to national law governing 
refugee status. Most Eritreans who entered the country appeared to be 
familiar with the new steps required to register with the Government as 
an asylum seeker. Government officials were reportedly unresponsive to 
applications for refugee status.
    Refugees were vulnerable to arbitrary arrests, harassment, and 
beatings because applicants did not receive identification cards while 
awaiting government determination of refugee status. Refugees could not 
become resident aliens or citizens, regardless of their length of stay. 
Refugees were not entitled to work permits.
    According to Save the Children, government-supervised primary 
education, while not free, was available to IDP children in Khartoum 
and in refugee camps outside of Khartoum at a nominal cost of 10 
Sudanese pounds (approximately $3) per month.
    The Government provided temporary protection to individuals who 
might not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention relating to the 
Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol. The country's laws provide 
for the granting of asylum or refugee status, but the Government has 
not established a system for providing protection to refugees.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The CPA, interim national constitution, and the interim 
constitution of Southern Sudan provide citizens the right to change 
their government peacefully. CPA provisions relating to this right 
include those providing for simultaneous referenda on the status of the 
South and of Abyei, national elections, a census, and popular 
consultations in Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan.
    The CPA calls for a referendum in January 2011 for Southerners to 
vote either for unity with the country or secession and for a 
concurrent referendum for those of Abyei to determine whether Abyei 
will remain in the North or join the South. During the year the parties 
made significant progress in preparing for the referendum on the status 
of Southern Sudan. Voter registration for the referendum on the status 
of Southern Sudan occurred in December. However, preparations for the 
Abyei referendum stalled due to disagreement over voter eligibility.
    National and state level executive and legislative elections, 
originally scheduled for July 2009 per the CPA, occurred in April but 
did not meet international standards (see Elections and Political 
Participation below).
    The CPA established a three-member presidency consisting of a 
president, first vice president, and vice president. It specified that 
prior to elections, the then incumbent president (Omar Hassan al-
Bashir) was to serve as president and the then SPLM chairman (Salva 
Kiir) was to serve as first vice president. Ali Osman Taha (NCP) was 
appointed as vice president.
    The 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement created a fourth ranking member in 
the presidency, a senior assistant to the president, Minni Minawi, 
leader of the Darfur rebel group SLA/MM. President Bashir did not 
reappoint Minawi to the position of senior assistant following the 
elections. The Darfur Peace Agreement-mandated Transitional Darfur 
Regional Authority, charged with implementing the agreement and 
promoting coordination and cooperation among the three Darfur states, 
was established in 2007. Minawi served as head of the transitional 
authority until December 8, when President Bashir issued a decree 
declaring the wali of West Darfur as its head.
    The CPA also provided a formula for allocating seats in the 
bicameral legislature (composed of the 450-member National Assembly and 
52-member Council of States) and cabinet prior to the elections. The 
formula reserved 52 percent of the positions for the NCP, 28 percent 
for the SPLM, 14 percent for northern opposition parties, including 
those from Darfur, and 6 percent for southern opposition parties.
    The CPA also provided for a popular consultation process to obtain 
the views of persons in Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan on the CPA, so 
that their respective legislatures could negotiate any shortcomings in 
the constitutional, political, or administrative arrangements of the 
CPA with the Government. The CPA stated that reports of parliamentary 
committees to assess and evaluate CPA implementation were to be 
provided to their respective state legislatures by January 2009; 
however, this deadline was not met. In September the Blue Nile State 
Assembly appointed its popular consultation commission, although it 
lacked funding. Progress on the popular consultations in Southern 
Kordofan was delayed to an even greater extent due to a dispute over 
the 2008 population census. Between June 15 and June 29, the census was 
reconducted in Southern Kordofan State. The parties agreed to postpone 
state level elections in Southern Kordofan, which were rescheduled for 
May 2011.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Voter registration for the 
Southern Sudan Self-Determination Referendum on the status of Southern 
Sudan occurred from November 15 to December 8. Observers reported that 
the process was generally fair, despite some logistical, procedural, 
and security problems. For example, inconsistencies in the application 
of identification, eligibility, and appeals regulations occurred. 
Approximately 3.9 million persons registered to vote throughout Sudan 
and in eight other countries with large Southern Sudanese populations. 
The number of registrants in the North and in other countries was 
significantly lower than early estimates suggested. Turnout for 
registration in the North was low due to distance to the registration 
centers, insufficient awareness raising, and ambiguity about the future 
of Southerners in the North.
    Preparations for the Abyei referendum remained stalled. The North 
and the South did not reach agreement on voter eligibility criteria for 
the CPA-mandated referendum on whether Abyei remains part of Northern 
Sudan or joins the South. The North stated that the Misseriya, who 
migrate through Abyei from the North, should be eligible to 
participate, while the South rejected their inclusion.
    The country's first multiparty national and state-level executive 
and legislative elections in more than 20 years occurred on April 11-
15. The elections, which several Northern opposition parties boycotted, 
did not meet international standards. The SPLM candidate for president 
of Sudan, Yasir Arman, withdrew from the race just ahead of the 
polling. Basic freedoms were circumscribed throughout the process. 
Despite significant technical and commodities assistance from the 
international community, logistical preparations were inadequate. 
Intimidation and threats of violence occurred, particularly in the 
South. The conflict in Darfur did not permit a conducive electoral 
environment. The counting and tabulation process was disorganized, not 
transparent, and did not follow procedural safeguards put in place by 
the National Elections Commission. According to the Carter Center, 
problems with counting and tabulation process raised ``questions about 
the accuracy of the election results.''
    President Omar Hassan al-Bashir (NCP) was reelected, as was first 
vice president and GOSS president Salva Kiir Mayardit (SPLM). Ali Osman 
Taha was reappointed to his position of second vice president.
    In the National Assembly, the NCP won 323 seats, the SPLM won 99 
seats, other parties and independents won 24 seats, and four 
constituencies were vacant. NCP gubernatorial candidates won all 
elected governor posts in the North (this did not include Southern 
Kordofan) with the exception of Blue Nile State, where the SPLM 
incumbent won.
    As of year's end, there had been no action taken on the February 21 
agreement between the parties that 40 seats would be allocated for the 
South, four for Southern Kordofan, and two for Abyei.
    SPLM candidates won all but one of the southern governorships, with 
an independent candidate winning in Western Equatoria State. The SPLM 
won 159 of 170 seats in the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly, with 
the SPLM-DC winning three, the NCP one, and independents seven.
    Elections were postponed in a number of national and state 
constituencies for reasons such as inaccurate ballots and candidate 
deaths. In at least 30 constituencies the elections were held in June.
    Key Sudanese groups observing the elections included TAMAM, KACE, 
the Sudanese Group for Democratic Elections, the Sudan Domestic 
Election Monitoring and Observation Program, and the Sudanese Network 
for Democratic Elections (SUNDE). International monitoring missions 
included the Carter Center, the Intergovernmental Authority on 
Development, and the European Union Election Observation Mission.
    Observers noted numerous problems with the preelection environment. 
The legislative framework did not protect basic freedoms such as 
assembly, speech, and press. GOS and GOSS security forces restricted 
the actions of opposition parties, including through the arrest of 
opposition members and supporters. There was insufficient voter 
information, and logistical preparations for the vote were not 
adequate.
    During voting, observers found incorrect or incomplete voter 
registries and noted that this resulted in disenfranchisement. The 
locations of polling centers were not sufficiently clear. Many centers 
did not open on time and received polling material late. Mistakes on 
ballots were also a problem. Observers noted problems with safeguards 
at polling centers, such as not following procedures pertaining to 
indelible ink, voter identification, and ballot box seals. Observers 
also reported intimidation and harassment, particularly in the South; 
they noted specifically SPLA intimidation of voters and presence at 
some polling stations. SUNDE reported that 21 of its observers were 
detained, including in Central Equatoria, Unity, and Western Equatoria. 
It also reported that one of its observers was kidnapped and beaten in 
Western Bahr el Ghazal. A video posted to the Internet shortly after 
the elections showed what appeared to be a uniformed elections official 
in the North stuffing a sealed ballot container with paper. In Darfur 
participation of IDPs in the election was low.
    Problems with the counting occurred, and the tabulation process was 
seriously flawed. During the counting process officials did not follow 
administrative procedures or properly reconcile ballots counted with 
the ballots received. Logistical problems delayed the transport of 
materials such as ballot boxes and results forms. Officials did not 
follow the electronic tabulation system process as designed, which 
resulted in an inability to verify the accuracy of results. Observers 
had difficulty accessing tabulation centers and were denied access to 
some centers. Observers noted ``parallel tabulation operations'' in 
Khartoum and South Darfur. In these cases observers were able to access 
official centers, but there were also other places where access was 
limited while tabulation was underway. Incidents of security-force 
intimidation and interference and other serious irregularities occurred 
during counting and tabulation in the South.
    Postelection violence in the South resulted in deaths (see section 
1.g., South Sudan).
    The NCP dominated the Government in the North, and NCP members of 
the Ja'alin tribe held the highest offices in government. Authorities 
impeded and monitored political party meetings and activities, 
restricted political party demonstrations and used excessive force to 
break them up, and arrested opposition party members.
    For example, on January 19, in Red Sea State, police using 
excessive force broke up a peaceful demonstration in support of 
independent gubernatorial candidate Hamad Mohammad Ali, injuring 
participants. Security forces stated that the demonstrators did not 
have a permit and arrested 27 persons. According to the candidate, his 
supporters were denied a permit, while those of the incumbent governor 
were allowed to hold a rally.
    In the South the SPLM dominated the GOSS, and authorities there 
obstructed the activities of the SPLM-DC.
    Women have the right to vote. As required by the 2008 National 
Elections Law, 25 percent of the seats in the national, Southern Sudan, 
and state assemblies were filled from state-level women's lists. Women 
won 114of the 450 seats in the National Assembly. Women held five of 46 
seats in the Council of States. One woman served as a federal minister, 
and five women served as state ministers. Voters elected 53 women to 
the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly, more than required by law. The 
number of female ministers in the 32-member GOSS cabinet increased from 
three to six following postelection appointments.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law does not specifically address official corruption. However, 
officials are subject to the Financial Service Audit law that calls for 
a special anticorruption attorney to investigate and try corruption 
cases. Additionally, criminal law provides punishments for embezzlement 
that can include execution for public service workers. All bankers are 
considered public service workers. Officials frequently engaged in 
corrupt practices.
    There were no laws providing for public access to government 
information, and the Government did not provide such access.
    In Southern Sudan, the law provides for criminal penalties for 
official corruption; however, GOSS officials often engaged in corrupt 
practices with impunity. Corruption was a problem in all branches of 
the GOSS.
    GOSS president Salva Kiir publicly condemned corruption in 
government, and in December 2009 the GOSS formed an anticorruption 
commission. The commission identified some cases of corruption, 
although information on follow-up on these cases was not available.
    The interim constitution of Southern Sudan provides citizens with 
the right to access government information, except in cases where such 
access endangers public security or violates the right to privacy of 
other persons. GOSS officials of the director general rank and higher 
are required to submit financial declaration forms, although there is 
no penalty for failure to comply. The GOSS granted access to government 
information for citizens and noncitizens, including foreign media.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    The Government was uncooperative with and unresponsive to domestic 
human rights groups. Both domestic and international human rights 
organizations were restricted and harassed.
    The Government harassed, arrested, beat, and prosecuted human 
rights activists for their activities.
    On February 22, the NISS reportedly closed the office of the 
Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa in Nyala following 
a training session it held in conjunction with KACE.
    Between October 30 and November 1, security forces arrested several 
Darfuri activists, including HAND members and an individual who worked 
for Radio Dabanga. Persons arrested during this period reportedly 
included Abdelrahman Mohammed Al Gasim, Dirar Adam Dirar, Abdelrahman 
Adam Abdelrahman, Manal Mohammed Adam, Aziza Ali Idriss, Aisha Sardo 
Sherif, Abu Gasim Al Din, and Zakaria Yacoub. They were held 
incommunicado without access to counsel and their families for some 
time.
    On December 22, a court sentenced Mudawi Ibrahim Adam, former 
director of the Sudan Social Development Organization (SUDO), to one 
year in prison and a fine of 3,000 Sudanese pounds ($1,186) for 
embezzlement. He was previously acquitted of these charges in March 
2009, a finding which the Humanitarian Affairs Commission appealed, but 
for which it reportedly did not provide any new evidence. At year's 
end, Mudawi remained incarcerated.
    In the case of the 2009 closure of SUDO, on April 22, SUDO won a 
court case to allow it to reopen, but HAC won on appeal and SUDO 
remained closed at year's end. The Khartoum Center for Human Rights and 
Environmental Development and the Amal Center for Treatment and 
Rehabilitation, also closed in 2009, remained shut.
    Abdel Majeed Saleh Abakr Haroun, a Darfuri human rights activist 
and leading member of the Darfur Democratic Forum, who was arrested by 
the NISS in August 2009, remained in NISS custody without charge until 
mid-January, when he was released. He subsequently left the country.
    The Government restricted, harassed, and arrested NGO-affiliated 
international human rights and humanitarian workers, including in 
Darfur (see section 1.g.).
    The Government refused and delayed the issuance of visas to 
international NGO members and restricted their access to parts of the 
country.
    NGOs must register with the HAC, the Government's entity for 
regulating humanitarian efforts. The HAC obstructed the work of NGOs, 
including in Darfur and the Three Areas (see section 1.g.). During the 
year the HAC often changed its rules and regulations without prior 
notification.
    The Government continued to use bureaucratic impediments to 
restrict the actions of humanitarian organizations, contrary to 
provisions in the 2007 Joint Communique between the Government and the 
UN. This included delaying the issuance of visas and travel permits to 
humanitarian workers.
    The Government's Advisory Council for Human Rights did not respond 
to requests by international organizations for investigations into 
human rights violations, and it did not provide lists of detained 
individuals to the international community.
    The National Commission for Human Rights Act, purportedly created 
by law in April 2009, had not been set up by year's end.
    The Government did not cooperate with the ICC (see section 1.g.).
    In the South, a variety of domestic and international human rights-
related NGOs 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 South Sudan Council for Human Rights operated somewhat 
independently. Its members were appointed by the president of the GOSS. 
The council cooperated with international human rights advocates and 
submitted regular reports and recommendations to the GOSS.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The interim national constitution prohibits discrimination based on 
race and gender, but the Government did not effectively enforce these 
provisions. The law does not address discrimination based on 
disability, language, or social status.
    The interim constitution of Southern Sudan prohibits discrimination 
on race, gender, language, and social status. It does not address 
discrimination based on disability.

    Women.--The punishment for rape under the law varies from 100 
lashes to 10 years' imprisonment to death; however, the Government did 
not effectively enforce these provisions. Spousal rape is not addressed 
in the law. In most rape cases convictions were not publicized; 
however, observers believed that sentences often were less than the 
legal maximum. There was no information available on the total number 
of persons who were prosecuted, convicted, or punished for rape.
    In the South, the law provides for up to 14 years' imprisonment for 
rape and the possibility of a fine, although this provision does not 
apply to ``sexual intercourse by a married couple.''
    Rape of women and girls throughout the country, including in 
Darfur, continued to be a serious problem (see section 1.g.). 
Authorities often obstructed access to justice for rape victims.
    Many victims in the North did not report their cases either to 
family or authorities for fear they would be punished or arrested for 
``illegal pregnancy'' or for adultery (see section 1.d.).
    The law does not specifically prohibit domestic violence. Violence, 
including spousal abuse, against women was common, although there were 
no reliable statistics on its prevalence. Women who filed claims were 
subjected to accusations of lying or spreading false information, 
harassment, or detention, which made many women reluctant to file 
formal complaints, although such abuse constituted grounds for divorce. 
The police normally did not intervene in domestic disputes. Statistics 
on the number of abusers prosecuted, convicted, or punished were not 
available.
    In the North, no law specifically prohibits sexual harassment, 
although the law prohibits gross indecency, which is defined as any act 
contrary to another person's modesty. The penalty for gross indecency 
is imprisonment of up to one year and 40 lashes. Harassment reportedly 
occurred, although reliable statistics were not available. There were 
frequent reports of sexual harassment by police in Darfur and 
elsewhere.
    In the South sexual harassment is punishable by up to three years' 
imprisonment and a fine. Observers noted that sexual harassment was a 
serious problem in the South, including in GOSS ministries in Juba. 
There were also allegations that senior male commanders and trainers at 
the John Garang Unified Police Academy in Rajaf harassed, raped, and 
forced female police trainees to have sex with them in exchange for 
money.
    Couples were able to decide freely on reproductive issues, but 
societal and religious norms pressured married females to have several 
children. Contraception, skilled medical attendance during childbirth, 
and obstetric and postpartum care were not widely accessible. The UN 
Population Fund estimated the maternal mortality ratio at 750 deaths 
per 100,000 live births. Women had equal access to diagnosis and 
treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.
    The law discriminated against women in the North, including many 
traditional legal practices and certain provisions of Sharia as 
interpreted and applied by the Government. In accordance with Islamic 
law, a Muslim 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. Depending on the wording of the marriage contract, it 
was often much easier for men than for women to initiate legal divorce 
proceedings. In certain northern probate trials, under the Sharia 
system, the testimony of women was not considered equivalent to that of 
men; the testimony of two women was considered equivalent to that of 
one man. In other civil trials, the testimony of a woman is considered 
equivalent to that of a man.
    A Muslim woman cannot legally marry a non-Muslim unless he converts 
to Islam. This prohibition usually was neither observed nor enforced in 
areas of the South or among Nubans (most of whom were Muslim).
    There were occasional reports that security officials acting 
without official authorization required a male signature on an exit 
visa.
    To obtain an exit visa, children must receive the permission of 
both mother and father. In the father's absence, a paternal uncle can 
sign in his place. Women can apply for exit visas for their children, 
provided that both parents have signed the application.
    Various governmental bodies have decreed that women must dress 
modestly according to Islamic or cultural standards, including wearing 
a head covering in the North. There were instances in the North in 
which police arrested women for their dress and authorities subjected 
them to flogging. However, women in the North often appeared in public 
wearing trousers or with their heads uncovered. In Khartoum persons 
known as religious police, who were not government officials, 
occasionally demanded that women pay on-the-spot fines for violating 
Islamic standards.
    In the South in December, local press reported that newly trained 
police in Juba were harassing women for wearing jeans and short skirts. 
The GOSS and the Southern Sudan Human Rights Commission intervened, and 
the harassment stopped. Women in the South were routinely held for 
lengthy pretrial detention on allegations of adultery.
    In the North, the Ministry of Social Welfare, Women, and Child 
Affairs was responsible for matters pertaining to women. In the South, 
the Ministry of Gender, Child, and Social Welfare had similar 
responsibilities.
    Women experienced economic discrimination in access to employment, 
credit, pay for substantially similar work, and owning or managing 
businesses. Women were accepted in professional roles; more than half 
the professors at Khartoum University were women.
    In the South, women served in professional roles, including in 
government, both in the executive branch and in the Southern Sudan 
Legislative Assembly. There were several female government ministers.

    Children.--The interim national constitution states that persons 
born to a Sudanese mother or father have the right to citizenship.
    The Government did not register all births immediately.
    The law provides for free basic education up to grade eight; 
however, students often had to pay school, uniform, and exam fees. In 
Darfur few children outside of cities had access to primary education. 
Lack of schools was a serious problem in the South. Girls in the South 
did not have equal access to education.
    Child abuse and abduction were widespread. Criminal kidnapping of 
children for ransom was reported on several occasions during the year.
    Female genital mutilation (FGM) remained widespread, particularly 
in the North, but estimates on its prevalence varied widely. A 2006 
Sudan Household Health Survey, the most recent available, reported FGM 
incidence at 69 percent. In the North, Ministry of Health bylaws 
prohibit the practice of FGM by physicians and medical practitioners; 
however, midwives continued to conduct FGM. In the South, performing or 
causing FGM to be performed is punishable by up to 10 years' 
imprisonment, a fine, or both. While a growing number of urban, 
educated families no longer practiced FGM, there were reports that the 
prevalence of FGM in Darfur had increased as persons moved to cities. 
FGM was also increasing in IDP camps in Darfur. The Government actively 
campaigned against it in partnership with UNICEF, civil society groups, 
and the High Council for Children's Welfare. Several NGOs also worked 
to eradicate FGM.
    The law establishes the legal age of marriage as 10 for girls and 
15 or puberty for boys. There were no reliable statistics on the extent 
of child marriage, but it remained a problem.
    Child prostitution and trafficking of children also remained 
problems, particularly in the South. Penalties for offenses related to 
the child prostitution and trafficking varied and could include 
imprisonment and/or fines.
    In the North, there is no minimum age for consensual sex or a 
statutory rape law. In the South, persons must be 18 years of age to 
consent to sexual intercourse, although rape does not apply to 
intercourse between married persons. Penalties for rape in the South 
are up to 14 years' imprisonment and may also include a fine. 
Pornography, including child pornography, is illegal in the North and 
the South.
    Children were used as soldiers in armed groups (see section 1.g.).
    Internally displaced children often lacked access to government 
services such as education.
    The Government operated reformatory camps for vagrant children. 
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 very basic, and living 
conditions often were primitive. All of the children in the camps, 
including non-Muslims, must study the Qur'an, and there was pressure on 
non-Muslims to convert to Islam. War Child and other international and 
domestic humanitarian NGOs were permitted to monitor the camps and 
sometimes assisted the Government with certain aspects of camp 
operations.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community remained small, and there were 
no reports of anti-Semitic violence during the year; however, 
government officials made anti-Semitic comments, and government-
controlled newspapers featured anti-Semitic caricatures.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--While the law does not specifically 
prohibit discrimination against persons with disabilities, it 
stipulates that ``the state shall guarantee to persons with special 
needs the enjoyment of all the rights and freedoms set out in the 
constitution, access to suitable education, employment, and full 
participation in society.'' The Government has not enacted laws or 
implemented effective programs to ensure access to buildings for 
persons with disabilities. Credible sources noted that prisoners with 
mental disabilities were chained 24 hours a day, and mentally disabled 
prisoners were not exempted from trial. In the South there were no 
mental health hospitals or institutions, and persons with mental 
illnesses were held in prisons.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The population is a multiethnic 
mix of more than 500 Arab and African tribes with numerous languages 
and dialects. Northern Muslims traditionally dominated the Government. 
Interethnic fighting in Darfur was between Muslims who considered 
themselves either Arab or non-Arab and also between different Arab 
tribes (see section 1.g.). Interethnic fighting in the South was a 
serious problem (see section 1.g.).
    The Muslim majority and the Government continued to discriminate 
against ethnic minorities in almost every aspect of society in the 
North. Citizens in Arabic-speaking areas who did not speak Arabic 
experienced discrimination in education, employment, and other areas. 
There also were reports of discrimination against Arabs and Muslims by 
individuals in the Christian-dominated South.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law prohibits sodomy, 
which is punishable by death. There were no reports of antisodomy laws 
being applied. There were no known lesbian, gay, bisexual, or 
transgender organizations.
    Official and societal discrimination against homosexual persons 
occurred.
    On August 4, authorities publicly flogged 19 men who were arrested 
on July 29 at a party in Omdurman for breaking moral codes by wearing 
women's clothes and makeup, reportedly during a wedding between two 
men. The men had no lawyers, and the trial judge stated that police who 
raided the party found the men dancing ``in a womanly fashion.'' Some 
legal-aid lawyers said that they were scared to defend the group. On 
August 2, residents of the Muhandaseen neighborhood in Omdurman held an 
antihomosexual demonstration.
    On June 25, authorities raided a mixed-gender fashion show and 
arrested a number of male models. Officially the arrests were based on 
a public order law preventing amplified noise after 11 p.m., although 
it was widely assumed that the show was targeted because of the 
perceived sexual orientation of its male participants.
    In the South, GOSS president Salva Kiir remarked on an 
internationally broadcast radio interview that homosexuality would not 
be accepted in the South.
    Societal discrimination against homosexual persons was widespread 
both in the North and the South. In the North, vigilantes targeted 
suspected homosexual persons for violent abuse, and there were public 
demonstrations against homosexuality. Key members of parliament 
proposed legislation that would allow ``severe punishment'' for 
homosexuality.

    Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There was occasional 
discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS. In July a private primary 
school in Omdurman reportedly expelled a student with HIV.

    Incitement to Acts of Discrimination.--The Government and 
government-supported militias reportedly promoted hatred and 
discrimination, using standard propaganda techniques to incite tribal 
violence.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--Although the law provides for the 
right of association for economic and trade union purposes, the 
Government denied this right in practice. The Trade Union Act 
established a trade union monopoly under the Government. Only the 
Government-controlled Sudan Workers Trade Union Federation, which 
consists of 25 state unions and 22 industry unions, can function 
legally; all other unions were banned.
    Strikes were considered illegal unless the Government granted 
approval, which has never occurred. In most cases employees who tried 
to strike were subject to employment termination; however, workers went 
on strike during the year and were not terminated.
    In June security forces arrested and beat doctors in relation to a 
strike. On June 1, they arrested, reportedly beat, and then released 
doctors al-Hadi Bakhit and Walla Aldin. Al-Hadi Bakhit was rearrested 
soon after. That same day, security forces also arrested Ahmed Al-
Abwabi. On June 2, police beat protesters outside of Khartoum 
University, injuring 12. Police also prevented doctors from attending 
meetings of the strike committee. On June 2-8, authorities detained 
doctors Ashraf Hammad, Mahmoud Khairallah, Abdelaziz Ali Jamee, and 
Ahmed Abdallah Khalafallah. On June 24, doctors resumed work, and 
authorities released the six detained doctors without charge.
    In March Red Sea State wali (governor) Mohammed Tahir Ella ordered 
the arrest of 250 striking dockworkers in Port Sudan. The strike was 
related to a dispute with the Government of Red Sea State over the use 
of union funds.
    In the South in late May, during the GOSS presidential and Southern 
Sudan Legislative Assembly inauguration, NISS personnel arrested nine 
Southern Sudan Radio and Television staff and detained them for 16 
days. Workers had been on strike in response to a payment issue and 
refused to surrender Southern Sudan Television (SSTV) camera equipment 
in their possession, without which SSTV reportedly would not have been 
able to broadcast the inauguration.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law denies 
trade unions autonomy to exercise the right to organize or to bargain 
collectively. The law defines the objectives, terms of office, scope of 
activities, and organizational structures and alliances for labor 
unions. The Government's auditor general supervised union funds because 
they were considered public money.
    There were credible reports that the Government routinely 
intervened to manipulate professional, trade union, and student union 
elections.
    Specialized labor courts adjudicated standard labor disputes, but 
the Ministry of Labor has the authority to refer a dispute to 
compulsory arbitration.
    The law does not prohibit antiunion discrimination by employers.
    There is one export processing zone, in Port Sudan, and it is 
exempt from regular labor laws.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, such 
practices continued.
    Abduction, forced labor, and sexual slavery of women and children 
continued.
    Although the Government continued to deny that slavery and forced 
labor existed in the country, the Government's Committee to Eradicate 
the Abduction of Women and Children acknowledged that abductions had 
occurred in the 1980s and 1990s and that not all abductees had since 
been freed.
    The forcible recruitment of persons into armed groups continued 
(see section 1.g.).

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Although mandated by the interim national constitution to protect 
children from exploitation, the Government did not effectively do so, 
and child labor was a serious problem. The legal minimum age for 
workers was 18 years, but the law was not enforced in practice. Child 
labor in the agricultural sector was common. Children were engaged in 
shining shoes, washing cars, street vending, begging, herding animals, 
construction, and other menial labor.
    The use of child soldiers, child trafficking, and child 
prostitution were problems.
    The Ministry of Social Welfare, Women, and Child Affairs had 
responsibility for enforcing child labor laws; however, enforcement was 
ineffective.
    In the South, child labor laws were rarely enforced.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage was between 190 
and 250 Sudanese pounds (approximately $80 to $100) per month, which 
did not provide a worker and family a decent standard of living. The 
Ministry of Labor, which maintained field offices in most major cities, 
is responsible for enforcing the minimum wage, which employers 
generally respected. In the South, civil service workers, including 
teachers, often worked for long periods without being paid.
    The law, which was generally respected, limits the workweek to 40 
hours (five eight-hour days), with days of rest on Friday and Saturday. 
Overtime should not exceed 12 hours per week or four hours per day. 
There was no prohibition on excessive compulsory overtime.
    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.
    In the South, the Ministry of Labor and Public Services is 
responsible for monitoring health and safety standards for workers; 
however, it did not do so effectively.

                               __________

                               SWAZILAND

    Swaziland is an absolute monarchy, and King Mswati III has ultimate 
authority over the cabinet, legislature, and judiciary. According to 
the 2007 census, the population was 1.02 million. There is a prime 
minister and a partially elected parliament, but political power 
remained largely with the king and his traditional advisors, the most 
influential of whom remained the queen mother. International observers 
concluded that parliamentary elections held in 2008 did not meet 
international standards. The 2008 Suppression of Terrorism Act, used to 
silence dissent and ban certain political organizations, remained in 
effect. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    Human rights problems included inability of citizens to change 
their government; extrajudicial killings by security forces; mob 
killings; police use of torture, beatings, and excessive force on 
detainees; police impunity; arbitrary arrests and lengthy pretrial 
detention; arbitrary interference with privacy and home; restrictions 
on freedoms of speech and press and harassment of journalists; 
restrictions on freedoms of assembly, association, and movement; 
prohibitions on political activity and harassment of political 
activists; discrimination and violence against women; child abuse; 
trafficking in persons; societal discrimination against members of the 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community; 
discrimination against mixed-race and white citizens; harassment of 
labor leaders; restrictions on worker rights; 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 reports 
that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful 
killings.
    There was an ongoing inquest into the death of Sipho Jele, who died 
on May 4 while in custody at the Sidwashini correctional prison three 
days after police arrested him for wearing a T-shirt from the banned 
political group People's United Democratic Movement.
    On January 5, police shot and killed three suspected robbers at the 
Sidvokodvo Valley Farm as they allegedly fled from police; the robbers 
were reportedly armed with a machete, hammer, and crow bar.
    On March 10, members of the Royal Swaziland Police shot and killed 
an armed South African citizen suspected of robbing a shop in Mlumati; 
he reportedly was fleeing from the scene.
    On April 15, in Manzini, police officers shot and killed suspected 
thief Sipho Kunene as he reportedly ran from them.
    No action was taken in any of the 2009 or 2008 killings by security 
forces. Authorities claimed to have investigated these cases, but 
officers were either cleared of wrongdoing or results were not 
reported. No known action was taken against perpetrators.
    During the year there were reports of killings by community police, 
who are volunteers with arrest authority under the supervision of a 
chief.
    For example, in March community policeman Mandla Mdluli reportedly 
killed Bhutana Simelane, who was apprehended for suspected robbery. 
Mdluli was arrested on March 22 for Simelane's death.
    On April 4, residents and community police of New Village beat to 
death Siphephelo Dlamini, who was suspected of being a neighborhood 
criminal.
    On July 10, in Mlawula rangers shot and killed Lucky Matsenjwa, who 
was suspected of poaching. Matsenjwa reportedly was unarmed.
    Vigilante violence resulted in deaths.
    For example, on June 22, a violent mob lured a man in Nhlangano 
from his house and beat and burned him to death; the man was accused of 
cattle smuggling.
    No action was taken, nor was any expected, against community police 
or civilians who participated in 2009 and 2008 killings.

    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, the 
provision prohibiting law enforcement officials from engaging in 
torture is located in the ``policy'' section of the constitution and is 
not enforceable in any court or tribunal. The law does not specifically 
prohibit such practices. Security officials who engage in such 
practices may be punished, but no punishments were reported during the 
year. Many cases of torture were investigated, but findings were not 
made public. Security officers reportedly used torture during 
interrogation, assaulted citizens, and used excessive force in carrying 
out their duties. Reported practices included beatings and temporary 
suffocation using a rubber tube tied around the face, nose, and mouth, 
or plastic bags around the head.
    For example, on February 9, police beat a woman who was eight 
months pregnant after she attempted to defend another vendor at the 
Mbabane bus rank.
    On February 14, a suspected gun smuggler claimed police tied him to 
a tree, suffocated him with a tube, and shot him twice in the back.
    On April 13, in Malkerns, police intervened at Valley Primary 
School after 10 emalangeni (approximately $1.35) was reported stolen. 
Hoping that the culprit would confess, police required 49 elementary 
students to do up to 200 squats each.
    On June 2, police forcibly apprehended Patricia Dludlu at her 
workplace, claiming that she had stolen a cell phone; at the police 
station, Dludlu was stripped naked and locked in a room. Police later 
released Dludlu and did not bring charges.
    On June 13, in Matsapha, three soldiers severely beat Amado Dos 
Santos after he reportedly attempted to stop them from assaulting a 
woman; he sustained multiple injuries to the head and received 19 
stitches.
    Police forcibly dispersed demonstrators, resulting in injuries (see 
section 2.b.).
    No actions were taken, nor were any expected, against security 
force members responsible for 2009 or 2008 abuse cases.
    There were credible reports of use of excessive force by community 
police during the year.
    On January 10, community police forced a man to eat raw goat meat 
as punishment for allegedly killing a neighbor's goat.
    On January 16, community police kidnapped and beat a man for 
allegedly stealing his employer's laptop computer; the community police 
were arrested following the incident.
    For example, on February 16, Sanele Shongwe was accused of damaging 
the windows of a neighbor's house and was beaten by community police 
until he lost consciousness.
    On March 6, community police in a semirural area punished two girls 
for disrespecting one of their mothers, making the girls hold beer 
bottles full of water for hours.
    Mob violence continued, and persons accused of rape were often 
severely beaten by community members.
    For example, on January 20, in Mathendele an armed mob estimated to 
number 70 persons attacked a woman after she had allegedly issued death 
threats to a 15-year-old boy.
    On March 19, in Magele, a man was hospitalized after a mob attacked 
him because his dogs allegedly bit a child and a neighbor's goat.
    On May 30, a man who was suspected of robbing three Msunduza 
residents was paraded naked through the town, tied to a pole, and 
severely beaten; he was later hospitalized for his injuries.
    No action was taken, nor was any expected, against the perpetrators 
of 2009 and 2008 mob violence.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prisons and detention 
centers remained overcrowded, and conditions generally were poor. 
Prison guards abused prisoners with impunity. The Swaziland Coalition 
of Concerned Civic Organizations (SCCCO) reported that physical 
punishment of prisoners and detainees was an accepted part of the 
culture and not viewed as a human rights problem.
    At Mawelawela, the only female detention facility, detainees were 
not held separately from convicts. Several children lived with their 
mothers in the facility. Female juveniles were also held in the women's 
correctional facility, although they slept in different quarters. 
During a bail application, a High Court judge expressed concern that at 
the Peak Piggs Correctional Services minors awaiting trial were sharing 
the same cells with adults.
    The Government did not permit independent monitoring of prison 
conditions by local human rights groups or the media. The 2009 
Correctional Services annual report indicated that during the 2008-2009 
fiscal year, there was a daily average of 2,700 inmates in 12 prison 
centers, including 550 women and 50 juveniles. In prisons women are 
held separately from men, and juveniles from adults; however, there 
were reports that women and men were detained together in jails after 
arrests, due to space constraints. Juveniles attend Correctional 
Services Schools. A total of 1,173 inmates were referred to government 
hospitals due to illness, and 14 inmates died while in detention due to 
illness.
    Overcrowding in prison cells was a problem, exposing inmates and 
officers to diseases and life-threatening infections such as 
tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and hepatitis. There were allegations that 
sexual activity, including rape, takes place in prisons, and reports 
that detainees suffered from a shortage of food. The type of clothing 
prisoners wore was not well suited for winter, and there was not enough 
bedding, forcing detainees to sleep on floors. Prison structures were 
old, dilapidated, and in need of major rehabilitation and 
refurbishment.
    On May 4, political prisoner Sipho Jele died in police custody (see 
section 1.a.).
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors. Although 
prisoners were allowed to present their grievances or complaints, the 
grievances were censored and sometimes did not reach appropriate 
authorities. Christian inmates were permitted religious observance. 
Chaplains and independent pastors from various denominations were 
allowed to minister, but other religious groups, although not 
explicitly prohibited, experienced challenges in accessing inmates. 
Authorities investigated allegations of inhuman conditions and 
documented results of such investigations, but the reports were never 
made public. The Government, through the minister of justice and 
constitutional affairs and a parliamentary portfolio committee, visited 
prison and detention centers during the year. Convicts had free 
movement in terms of performing outdoor chores and the opportunity to 
play different sports, but detainees were confined to the prison 
centers.
    There were no public reports by independent monitoring groups 
during the year. The International Committee of the Red Cross requested 
to visit and monitor prisons and jails, but did not receive permission. 
International officials and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) 
working on programs to fight HIV were permitted frequent entry to 
prisons and detention centers.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, police arbitrarily 
arrested and detained numerous persons.
    For example, on February 10, a protest planned by University of 
Swaziland students was disrupted by police when they detained five 
leaders of the Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS). After 
several hours, police released students in a remote area. Sicelo 
Vilane, a journalism student at Oxford College, was arrested for taking 
pictures of police detaining the SNUS leaders. After police discovered 
a membership card for the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO), a banned 
political entity, Vilane was charged with terrorism. The charges were 
later dropped.
    On April 12, police detained Motern Koefen, a consultant from 
Denmark working with the Foundation for Socioeconomic Justice, as he 
was on his way to a meeting with the Swaziland Chapter of the Global 
Democracy Campaign. Police subsequently released Koefen, who was not 
charged.
    On May 1, police detained and arrested a number of political 
activists for participating in a May Day celebration, claiming they 
were not allowed to participate in the event hosted by the Swaziland 
Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU) and the Swaziland National 
Association of Teachers because they were not workers.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The king is the 
commander in chief, holds the position of minister of defense, and is 
the commander of the police and the correctional services. He presides 
over a civilian principal secretary of defense and a commanding 
general. Approximately 40 percent of the Government's workforce is 
allocated to security.
    The Royal Swaziland Police Service (RSPS), under the authority of 
the prime minister, is responsible for maintaining internal security. 
The Umbutfo Swaziland Defense Force (USDF), which reports to the 
defense minister, is responsible for external security but also has 
domestic security responsibilities, including protecting members of the 
royal family. The principal secretary of defense and the army commander 
are responsible for day-to-day USDF operations. The RSPS and the USDF 
were generally professional, despite inadequate resources and 
bureaucratic inefficiency; however, members of both forces were 
susceptible to political pressure and corruption. The Government 
generally failed to prosecute or otherwise discipline security officers 
accused of abuses. No independent body had the authority to investigate 
police abuses. An internal RSPS complaints and discipline unit 
investigated reports of police abuse but did not release results of its 
findings to the public. Some officers attended training programs that 
included a human rights component outside the country. Traditional 
chiefs supervise volunteer rural ``community police,'' who have the 
authority to arrest suspects and bring them before an inner council 
within the chiefdom for trial for minor offenses. For serious offenses, 
community police are required to apprehend suspects and transfer them 
to the RSPS for further investigation; however, this did not always 
occur and, in cases when it did, it often happened after suspects were 
subjected to severe beatings.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires warrants for arrests, except when police observe a crime being 
committed, believe that a person is about to commit a crime, or 
conclude that evidence will be lost if arrest is delayed. Detainees may 
consult with a lawyer of their choice, but the Government pays for 
defense counsel only in cases in which the potential penalty is death 
or life imprisonment. Detainees must be charged with the violation of a 
statute within a reasonable time, usually within 48 hours of arrest or, 
in remote areas, as soon as the judicial officer appears; however, 
arresting authorities did not always charge detainees within that 
period. In general detainees were promptly informed of the charges 
against them; their families had access to them and were allowed to 
consult with lawyers of their choice. There is a functioning bail 
system, and suspects can request bail at their first appearance in 
court, except in the most serious cases such as murder and rape.
    Police arbitrarily detained opposition members and demonstrators.
    Lengthy pretrial detention was common. In 2007 the International 
Center for Prison Studies found that 31 percent of the prison 
population consisted of pretrial detainees. Judicial inefficiency and 
staff shortages contributed to the problem, as did the police practice 
of prolonging detention to collect evidence and prevent detainees from 
influencing witnesses. In some cases, persons were exonerated after 
years of repeated remands requested by police.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary; however, the king, on recommendation of 
the Judicial Services Commission, appoints the judiciary, limiting 
judicial independence. Judicial powers are based on two systems: Roman-
Dutch law and a system of traditional courts that follows traditional 
law and custom. Neither the Supreme Court nor the High Court, which 
interprets the constitution, has jurisdiction in matters concerning the 
office of the king or queen mother, the regency, chieftaincies, the 
Swazi National Council, or the traditional regiments system. All of 
these institutions are governed by traditional law and custom (see 
section 2.a.).
    Most citizens who encountered the legal system did so through the 
13 traditional courts. Each has a president appointed by the king. 
Authorities may bring citizens to these courts for minor offenses and 
violations of traditional law and custom.
    The Director of Public Prosecutions has the legal authority to 
determine which court should hear a case, and public prosecutors have 
delegated responsibility; however, police usually made the 
determination. Persons convicted in the traditional courts may appeal 
to the High Court. Prolonged delays during trials in the magistrate 
courts and High Court were common.
    Military courts are not allowed to try civilians and do not provide 
the same rights as civil criminal courts. For example, military courts 
may use confessions obtained under duress as evidence and may convict 
defendants on the basis of hearsay.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair public trial, except when exclusion of the public is necessary in 
the ``interests of defense, public safety, public order, justice, 
public morality, the welfare of persons under the age of 18 years, or 
the protection of the private lives of the persons concerned in the 
proceedings.'' The judiciary generally enforced this right in practice. 
Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence, but juries are not used. 
Court-appointed counsel is provided at government expense in capital 
cases or if the crime is punishable by life imprisonment. Otherwise, 
defendants in superior and magistrate courts may hire counsel at their 
own expense. Defendants can question witnesses against them and present 
witnesses and evidence on their own behalf. Defendants and their 
attorneys have access to relevant government-held evidence, generally 
obtained during pretrial consultations with the Public Prosecutor's 
Office. Defendants and prosecutors have the right of appeal up to the 
Supreme Court.
    The traditional courts serve the chiefs, who are appointed by the 
king, and have limited civil and criminal jurisdiction. They are 
authorized to impose fines of up to 100 emalangeni ($13.50) and prison 
sentences of up to 12 months. Traditional courts are empowered to 
administer customary law only ``insofar as it is not repugnant to 
natural justice or morality'' or inconsistent with the provisions of 
any civil law in force; however, some traditional laws and practices 
violate civil laws and international treaties signed by the country, 
particularly those involving women's and children's rights. Defendants 
in traditional courts are not permitted formal legal counsel but may 
speak on their own behalf, call witnesses, and be assisted by informal 
advisors. Sentences are subject to review by traditional authorities 
and can be appealed to the High Court.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--On May 4, political prisoner 
Sipho Jele died while in police custody (see section 1.a.).
    In September 2009 the High Court dismissed for insufficient 
evidence the terrorism and sedition case against political prisoner 
Mario Masuku, leader of the People's United Democratic Movement of 
Swaziland (PUDEMO). Masuku, who had declined bail to pressure the 
Government to bring his case to trial, had been detained since 2008 on 
terrorism and sedition charges. In 2009 the Government denied Amnesty 
International, the Council of Swaziland Churches, the Swaziland 
Federation of Trade Unions, and a group of Danish students access to 
Masuku. The Government allowed Masuku's family and attorneys to visit; 
however, Mandla Mkwanazi, one of Masuku's legal advisors, claimed he 
was forced to consult with his client over a fence and in a general 
visitation room without attorney-client privacy.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The judiciary, which has 
limited independence, tries civil as well as criminal cases, including 
suits for damages against government agents. Administrative remedies 
are available under civil service rules and regulations.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions except 
``in the interest of defense, public safety, public order, public 
morality, public health, town and country planning, use of mineral 
resources, and development of land in the public benefit;'' however, 
the Government did not always respect these prohibitions and broadly 
construed exceptions to the law. The law requires police to obtain a 
warrant from a magistrate before searching homes or other premises; 
however, police officers with the rank of subinspector or higher have 
the authority to conduct a search without a warrant if they believe 
that delay might cause evidence to be lost.
    During the year the army conducted random checks for illegal 
immigrants, weapons, stolen vehicles, and evidence of other criminal 
activities through roadblocks and searches in homes. Police also 
entered homes and businesses without judicial authorization.
    Police conducted physical surveillance of members of labor unions, 
political groups, religious groups, and others. For example, on 
September 7, police entered the offices of the Foundation for 
Socioeconomic Justice and reportedly insulted and intimidated the 
staff, including Danish nationals who were visiting the foundation, and 
transported them to the police station. The Swazi nationals were kept 
in the van for the entire day, and the visiting nationals were escorted 
to the airport since they were leaving the country that day.
    In 2008 the Government issued an official declaration designating 
PUDEMO, the Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN), SWAYOCO, and the 
Swaziland People's Liberation Army (UMBANE) as ``specified entities'' 
under the 2008 Suppression of Terrorism Act. Persons who abetted, 
aided, sympathized with, sheltered, or provided logistical support to 
these organizations were subject to arrest and prison terms of 25 years 
to life.
    On April 7, Royal Swaziland Police who claimed to be searching for 
stolen cattle and groceries raided the homestead of a traditional 
healer in Nhlangano without the permission of the chief.
    On June 4, police entered the home of Bheki Mbilini Dlamini, the 
regional chairperson of the Swaziland Nurses Association, and 
confiscated medicine, documents, and handcuffs; at the time of the 
raid, the police did not provide a search warrant.
    On June 23, police raided the home of Barnes Dlamini, SFTU 
president. The search warrant in police possession specified the 
removal of any bomb-making materials, but during the raid, the police 
confiscated political literature.
    During the week of June 19, police raided the homesteads of six 
PUDEMO members and two SWAYOCO members. The searches were allegedly 
conducted due to suspicion of the members' involvement in a series of 
bombings that had taken place in several homes and buildings around the 
country. Police confiscated a variety of PUDEMO documents including 
placards and a copy of the group's constitution.
    The Times of Swaziland Sunday newspaper reported on June 27 that 
Norman Xaba, a member of PUDEMO, allegedly received a threat from 
police stating he would die within 20 days for his affiliation with 
that organization.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution provides for 
freedom of speech and of the press, but the king may waive these rights 
at his discretion, and the Government restricted these rights during 
the year. Although no law bans criticism of the monarchy, the prime 
minister and other officials warned journalists that publishing such 
criticism could be construed as an act of sedition or treason, and 
media organizations were threatened with closure for criticizing the 
monarchy. The law empowers the Government to ban publications if they 
are deemed ``prejudicial or potentially prejudicial to the interests of 
defense, public safety, public order, public morality, or public 
health.'' Most journalists practiced self-censorship.
    The king may suspend the constitutional right to free expression at 
his discretion, and the Government severely restricted freedom of 
expression, especially regarding political issues or the royal family. 
For example, Justice Minister Ndumiso resigned in August amidst 
allegations of a romantic relationship between the minister and King 
Mswati III's 12th wife, Queen Nothando Dube. Despite intense local and 
regional interest, no Swazi media outlet reported on why the minister 
resigned. Individuals and their family members who criticized the 
monarchy risked exclusion from the traditional regiments' (chiefdom-
based groupings of Swazi males dedicated to serving the king) patronage 
system that distributed scholarships, land, and other benefits. 
Traditional chiefs were obliged to punish offenders when matters were 
brought to their attention. During the year the prime minister warned 
journalists against making statements that could be interpreted as 
seditious.
    Daily newspapers criticized government corruption and inefficiency, 
but generally avoided criticizing the royal family.
    In December 2009 the attorney general told newspaper editors that 
promoting or giving support to terrorists remained a serious crime. In 
2008 the attorney general warned that journalists who criticized the 
Government could be viewed as supporting terrorists and arrested under 
the Suppression of Terrorism Act (see section 2.b.).
    Journalists continued to be threatened, harassed, and assaulted 
during the year.
    For example, on February 12, during the official opening of 
parliament, photographers from the Times of Swaziland were harassed for 
taking pictures of the traditional marula brew that was kept in some 
offices in parliament. One of the journalists, Walter Dlamini, was 
detained by police and forced to delete the photographs before being 
able to attend the rest of the celebration.
    On March 22, Swazi Observer newspaper editor Sifiso Dhlamini 
resigned after a Mbabane City Council board member advised him not to 
publish an article about former Mbabane City Council CEO Gideon 
Mhlongo; he later withdrew his resignation.
    On September 6, a Times of Swaziland journalist was harassed and 
detained by police while covering a meeting organized by the Swaziland 
Democracy Campaign. Police confiscated his camera and briefly kept it 
at the Manzini police station.
    On September 8, a female journalist from the Swazi Observer was 
harassed by paramilitary police for recording a riot scene during a 
workers' protest march.
    During the year the Swaziland Broadcasting Information Services 
banned trade unions from airing announcements at radio stations unless 
they had permission from the police.
    Defamation laws were used to restrict the press.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
Internet cafes existed in cities, but most citizens lived in rural 
areas. An estimated 4.2 percent of inhabitants used the Internet, 
according to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2008.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--Restrictions on political 
gatherings and the practice of self-censorship affected academic 
freedom by limiting academic meetings, writings, and discussion on 
political topics. There were no government restrictions on cultural 
events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution provides for freedom of assembly; however, 
the Government severely restricted this right during the year. The law 
requires police consent to hold political meetings, marches, or 
demonstrations in a public place. Authorities continued to withhold 
permission for meetings sponsored by groups such as the Congress of 
South African Trade Unions on grounds that they were not in the 
national interest or would ``compromise peace, security, and stability 
of the country.''
    For example, on January 28, police fired teargas canisters to 
disperse a group of students from the University of Swaziland who were 
marching to deliver a petition to the Ministry of Labor and Social 
Security regarding allowances. Four students were injured during the 
incident.
    On February 20, police stopped the Vulamehlo Youth Brigade, a 
youth-led organization, from meeting at the Lutheran Development 
Services building, claiming the organization was illegal.
    On March 20, police broke up a peaceful rally organized by the 
banned political entity SWAYOCO.
    On April 10, police stopped approximately 50 persons from traveling 
to the kaShoba constituency to discuss the problem of violence by game 
park rangers against alleged poachers.
    On April 16, police denied entrance to a meeting organized by the 
Swaziland Democracy Campaign for PUDEMO President Mario Masuku.
    No action was taken against police who used excessive force on 
demonstrators or against security force members who forcibly dispersed 
demonstrations in 2009.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
association, but the Government severely restricted this right during 
the year. The constitution does not address the formation or role of 
political parties, and a 2006 High Court appeal to the 1973 ban on 
political parties had not been heard by year's end. However, in a 2008 
affidavit, the former prime minister reiterated that political parties 
were banned, and in 2008 Prime Minister Dlamini issued an official 
declaration designating PUDEMO, SWAYOCO, the SSN, and UMBANE as 
``specified entities'' under the Suppression of Terrorism Act. The act, 
which was first used following the 2008 detonation of a bomb near one 
of King Mswati's palaces, provides that persons or groups found 
associating with any of the four illegal groups can be sentenced to 
prison terms of 25 years to life. According to the attorney general, 
persons or groups that abet, aid, sympathize with, shelter, or provide 
logistical support to these organizations invite the ``wrath of the 
law.''
    The Government harassed and detained opposition members and 
conducted surveillance on members of labor unions, political groups, 
and groups considered potentially political (see sections 1.f. and 3).

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the Department of State's 2010 International Religious 
Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. It also states that provisions of law and custom, which 
impose restrictions on the freedom of any person to reside in the 
country, shall not contravene the freedom granted by the constitution.
    By traditional law and custom, chiefs have power to decide who 
lives in the chiefdom, and evictions due to internal conflicts, alleged 
criminal activity, or opposition to the chief occurred.
    Nonethnic Swazis sometimes experienced lengthy processing delays 
when seeking passports and citizenship documents, in part due to the 
country's history when mixed race and white persons were not considered 
legitimate citizens.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.

    Protection of Refugees.--Laws provide for the granting of asylum or 
refugee status, and the Government has established a system for 
providing protection to refugees. In practice the Government provided 
protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries 
where their lives or freedom would be threatened. The Government 
cooperated with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and 
other humanitarian organizations in providing protection and minimal 
assistance to refugees and asylum seekers.
    The Government accepted refugees for permanent resettlement, 
allowed them to compete for jobs, and granted them work permits and 
temporary residence permits without discrimination. The Government also 
provided refugees with free transportation twice a week to buy food in 
local markets and to earn a living. Refugees who lived in the country 
more than five years qualified for citizenship; however, most refugees 
waited longer to apply, sometimes more than 10 years, due to lack of 
information regarding their immigration status.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    Citizens could not change their government peacefully, and 
political parties remained banned. In August King Mswati III publicly 
reiterated his stance that the issue of political parties was 
previously discussed and concluded at the cattle byre, a setting like a 
traditional parliament or discussion forum where national issues are 
deliberated, and that the matter was closed. The king retains ultimate 
executive and legislative authority; parliament has limited authority. 
Legislation passed by parliament requires the king's consent to become 
law. Under the constitution, the king selects the prime minister, the 
cabinet, two thirds of the senate, 10 of 65 members of the house, many 
senior civil servants, the chief justice and other justices of the 
superior courts, members of commissions established by the 
constitution, and the heads of government offices. On the advice of the 
prime minister, the king appoints the cabinet from among members of 
parliament. The constitution states that the king is required to 
consult with others (usually a traditional council) before exercising a 
major decision; however, he is not required to accept their advice.
    Following the 2008 detonation of a bomb near the king's residence, 
Prime Minister Dlamini issued a declaration designating PUDEMO, 
SWAYOCO, the SSN, and UMBANE as ``specified entities'' under the 
Suppression of Terrorism Act (see section 2.b.). Persons found 
associating with any of the organizations faced prison terms of 25 
years to life.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In September 2008 
parliamentary elections were held, the first since the constitution 
went into effect in 2006; the king appointed a government in October 
2008. International observers concluded that the elections did not meet 
international standards. Banned political parties were not allowed to 
register or sponsor candidates of their choice. Ballots were cast in 
secrecy but could be traced by registration number to voters; some 
ballot boxes were not properly protected. Accusations of bribery were 
reported. There were widespread reports that citizens were advised if 
they did not register to vote, they would no longer receive government 
services.
    In 2009 the High Court ruled that the SCCCO did not have legal 
standing to sue the Electoral and Boundaries Commission (EBC), which 
draws district boundaries, commissions civic education and voter 
registration programs, and publishes postelection reports. In 2008 the 
SCCCO sued the EBC on the grounds that its five members--all of whom 
were chosen by the king--did not meet the constitutional requirements 
for independence, diversity, and relevant qualifications.
    When the constitution took effect, the 1973 decree that banned 
political parties lapsed; the constitution provides for freedom of 
association but does not address how political parties can operate, 
including how they can contest elections. In 2006 the minister of 
justice and constitutional affairs stated that political organizations 
could hold meetings at ``tinkhundla'' (local government) centers if 
they obtained permission from the regional administrator and allowed a 
police officer to attend the meeting. However, political and civic 
organizations reported problems with traditional authorities when they 
requested permission to meet.
    The constitution also states that candidates for public office must 
compete on their individual merit, thereby blocking competition based 
on political party affiliation.
    The Government harassed and arrested opposition members and raided 
the offices of opposition groups.
    In the early hours of June 17, police, armed with a warrant, 
searched the home of civil rights activist Musa Hlophe, coordinator of 
the SCCCO, in search of bombs.
    On September 6, police dispersed a meeting of political and labor 
activists organized by the Swaziland Democracy Campaign, and Swazi 
unions and opposition leaders reported that police searched their 
offices and harassed members who participated in the demonstration.
    In August Sibusiso Mhlanga, a member of the banned political party 
PUDEMO's youth wing, SWAYOCO, was arrested, interrogated, and his house 
searched after he was apprehended making copies of an article from a 
South African newspaper detailing the arrest and resignation of a 
former justice minister. He was later charged with violating copyright 
law. His case was pending at year's end.
    On May 1, Jan Sithole, former SFTU secretary general, and Musa 
Hlophe were detained for approximately 30 minutes at the South African 
control office at the OR Tambo Airport because South African 
authorities claimed the Swazi government had issued a security alert on 
the passports.
    Participation in the traditional sphere of governance and politics 
is predominantly done through chiefdoms. Chiefs are custodians of 
traditional law and custom, report directly to the king, and are 
responsible for the day-to-day running of their chiefdoms and 
maintaining law and order. Local custom mandates that chieftaincy is 
hereditary. However, the constitution, while recognizing that 
chieftaincy is ``usually hereditary and is regulated by Swazi law and 
custom,'' also states that the king ``can appoint any person to be 
chief over any area.'' As a result, many chieftaincies were 
nonhereditary appointments, which provoked land disputes, especially at 
the time of burials.
    The constitution provides that 55 of the 65 seats in the House of 
Assembly be popularly contested and that the king appoint the remaining 
10 members. Five of the 10 must be women, and the other five must 
represent ``interests, including marginalized groups not already 
adequately represented in the house.'' In 2008 the king appointed two 
women to the House of Assembly, instead of the required five, a 
constitutional violation that was not rectified during the year. The 
constitution also provides for an additional woman from each of the 
four regions if women do not constitute a third of the total members, 
nominated by the elected house members from each region, but the house 
had not nominated these members by year's end. In December 2009 EBC 
Chairman Chief Gija Dlamini stated there was no space in parliament to 
seat female regional members and the constitutional requirement could 
not be fulfilled until parliament was physically expanded.
    The king appoints 20 members of the 30-seat Senate, and the House 
of Assembly elects the other 10. The constitution provides that at 
least eight of the king's nominees and five of the House of Assembly's 
nominees to the Senate be women. While house members elected the 
required five female members, the king appointed only seven female 
senators. The king had not rectified this constitutional violation by 
year's end. Women held 20 percent, rather than the mandatory 30 
percent, of parliamentary seats. The king appointed five women as 
cabinet ministers out of 20 ministerial positions.
    Widows in mourning (for periods that can vary from one to three 
years) were prevented from appearing in certain public places or in 
close proximity to the king. As a result, widows were effectively 
excluded from voting or running for office during those periods.
    There were almost no ethnic minorities in the Government. The 
constitution provides that other appointees should represent 
``interests, including marginalized groups not already adequately 
represented in the House.'' However, most officials were from the royal 
Dlamini family or connected with royalty.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. There 
was a widespread public perception of corruption in the executive and 
legislative branches of government and a general consensus that the 
Government was doing little to combat it. The Coordinating Assembly for 
Nongovernmental Organizations estimated that 45 million emalangeni (six 
million dollars) in potential government revenue is lost each month due 
to corruption. The World Bank's most recent Worldwide Governance 
Indicators reflected that corruption was a serious problem.
    Both RSPF and USDF personnel were susceptible to political pressure 
and corruption. The Anticorruption Commission (ACC), funded by the 
Ministry of Justice, has the power to investigate cases, gather 
evidence, and arrest individuals for failure to respond to ACC 
requests. During the year it recorded 148 complaints of corruption. 
Eighty-nine cases were authorized for investigation, and 27 were 
referred to other law enforcement agencies; five cases are currently in 
court and four are with the Director of Public Prosecutions awaiting 
commencement of prosecution; however, no ACC case had resulted in 
conviction by year's end. ACC commissioner H.M. Mtegha, a retired judge 
from Malawi, attributed the commission's ineffectiveness to lack of 
resources and training, inadequate staff, a shortage of judges, and the 
general backlog of cases in the court system.
    Principals and teachers routinely demanded bribes to admit 
students.
    Credible reports continued that business contracts, government 
appointments, military recruitment, and school admissions were awarded 
on the basis of the owners' relationship with government officials. 
Authorities rarely took action when incidents of nepotism were 
reported.
    For example, on May 25, the general manager and the senior 
mechanical engineer of the Central Transport Administration, Polycarp 
Dlamini and Mpumelelo Mamba, were arrested along with Sandile Dlamini, 
the manager of Protronics Networking Corporation, and Industrial Court 
judge Sifiso Nsibande, on charges of money laundering since 2005. The 
four men were released on a 50,000 emalangeni ($6,760) bail, and the 
cases had not progressed in the courts by year's end.
    On June 2, police arrested Qhawe Mamba, the owner of television 
station Channel Swazi, for his alleged involvement in a pyramid scheme 
in 2008. His case was still pending in court at year's end.
    The constitution prohibits government officials from assuming 
positions in which their personal interest is likely to conflict with 
their official duties. These officials are required to declare their 
assets and liabilities to the Integrity Commission within six months of 
its establishment. In December 2009 the prime minister and members of 
his cabinet declared their assets to the commission, and other high-
ranking officials declared their assets by March 11. The commission has 
not made these reports public, and it is unclear whether it is required 
to do so.
    There is no law permitting public access to government documents, 
and public documents were difficult to access.
Section 5. 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, government 
officials were rarely responsive to their views. Among active groups 
were the Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse, Lawyers for Human Rights 
of Swaziland, Women and Law in Southern Africa, the Council of 
Swaziland Churches, and the Roman Catholic Church. Human rights groups 
spoke out on a number of occasions, criticizing the lack of 
accountability and transparency in the Government.
    The constitution provides for the independence of human rights 
NGOs; however, this provision falls within the ``policy'' section, 
which cannot be enforced in any court or tribunal.
    In June 2009 police arrested on sedition charges Thulani Maseko, 
the coordinator for the local NGO Human Rights Swaziland and one of the 
lawyers for political prisoner Mario Masuku. During 2009 May 1 
celebrations, Maseko reportedly expressed support for the two ``freedom 
fighters'' who died in 2008 when a bomb in their car prematurely 
detonated under the Lozitha Bridge near the royal palace. Authorities 
later released Maseko on bail, and his case remained pending at year's 
end.
    In September 2009 the Government established the Commission on 
Human Rights and Public Administration; the commission is precluded 
from investigating any matter ``relating to the exercise of any royal 
prerogative by the Crown.''
    The Government generally cooperated with international 
organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives. In February 
Michel Sidibe, Executive Director of UNAIDS, visited the country.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, sex, 
disability, age, ethnicity, religion, political opinion, or social 
status; however, the Government did not consistently enforce the law.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape, including spousal rape; however, 
rape was common, and the Government did not always enforce the law 
effectively. According to the 2009 RSPS Annual Report, 624 rape cases 
were reported in 2009. Many men regarded rape as a minor offense, 
despite it being against the law. A sense of shame and helplessness 
often inhibited women from reporting such crimes, particularly when 
incest was involved. The maximum sentence for aggravated rape is 15 
years; however, the acquittal rate for rape was high, and sentences 
were generally lenient.
    Domestic violence against women, particularly wife beating, was 
common and sometimes resulted in death. Domestic violence is illegal; 
however, police efforts to combat the crime were inadequate. According 
to a survey conducted in 2008 by the Government's Central Statistics 
Office, 60 percent of men believed it was acceptable to beat their 
wives, and 18 percent of females between 13 and 44 years old had 
contemplated suicide, primarily as a result of domestic violence. The 
special police units established in 2008 for domestic violence, child 
abuse, and sexual abuse reported an increase in cases received during 
the year, compared with cases reported to the police previously.
    Women have the right to charge their husbands with assault under 
both the Roman-Dutch and traditional legal systems, and urban women 
frequently did so, usually in extreme cases when intervention by 
extended family members failed to end such violence. Penalties for men 
found guilty of assault not involving rape against a woman depended on 
the court's discretion. Rural women often had no relief if family 
intervention did not succeed, because traditional courts were 
unsympathetic to ``unruly'' or ``disobedient'' women and were less 
likely than modern courts to convict men of spousal abuse. The Roman-
Dutch legal system often gave light sentences in cases of abuse against 
women. The NGO Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse has hotlines and 
shelters to assist victims of abuse.
    Legal provisions against sexual harassment were vague, and 
government enforcement was ineffective; no cases have been brought to 
court. There were frequent reports of sexual harassment, most often of 
female students by teachers. Numerous teachers and some principals were 
fired during the year for inappropriate sexual conduct with students, 
who were threatened with poor grades if they did not provide sexual 
favors to teachers. There were 161 such teacher-pupil cases 
investigated during the year; 10 involved principals of schools.
    The Government upheld the basic right of couples and individuals to 
decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their 
children and to have the information and means to do so free from 
discrimination, coercion, and violence. There was wide access to 
contraception, including at public restrooms, clinics, and workplaces 
throughout the country. Women were equally diagnosed and treated for 
sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Skilled attendance 
during childbirth, including essential obstetric and postpartum care, 
was limited in rural areas. The 2009 UNFPA State of the World 
Population Report indicated that the country's maternal mortality ratio 
is 390 per 100,000 live births; the proportion of maternal deaths due 
to HIV is 75 percent.
    Women occupy a subordinate role in society. The dualistic nature of 
the legal system complicates the issue of women's rights. Since 
unwritten law and custom govern traditional marriage and matters of 
inheritance and family law, women's rights often are unclear and change 
according to where and by whom they were interpreted. Couples often 
marry in both civil and traditional ceremonies, creating problems in 
determining which set of rules apply to the marriage and to subsequent 
questions of child custody, property, and inheritance in the event of 
divorce or death.
    The constitution provides that women can open bank accounts, obtain 
passports, and take jobs without the permission of a male relative; 
however, these constitutional rights often conflict with customary law, 
which classifies women as minors. Women routinely executed contracts 
and entered into a variety of transactions in their own names; however, 
banks still refused personal loans to women without a male guarantor. 
The constitution provides for equal access to land; however, customary 
law forbids women from registering property in their own names. The law 
requires equal pay for equal work; however, the average wage rates for 
men by skill category usually exceeded those of women. Several existing 
acts reportedly require amendments to bring them into line with the 
constitution, including the Marriage Act, the Administration of Estates 
Act, and the Deeds Registry Act.
    On February 23, the Swazi High Court overturned section 16(3) of 
the Deeds Registry Act, which prohibited women from registering 
property in their own names. On May 28, the Supreme Court upheld the 
High Court's ruling that the law was unconstitutional and stated that 
parliament needed to enact appropriate legislation within 12 months. 
Pending such legislation, the Supreme Court ruled that women should 
continue to register property jointly with their husbands.
    In traditional marriages, a man may take more than one wife. A man 
who marries a woman under civil law may not legally have more than one 
wife, although in practice this restriction was sometimes ignored. 
Traditional marriages consider children to belong to the father and his 
family if the couple divorces. Children born out of wedlock are viewed 
as belonging to the mother, unless the father claims the children. 
Inheritances are passed to and through male children only. Traditional 
authorities still exercise the right to fine women for wearing pants.
    The constitution states that ``a woman shall not be compelled to 
undergo or uphold any custom to which she is in conscience opposed;'' 
however, adherents of traditional family practices may treat a woman as 
an outcast if she refuses to undergo the mourning rite, and a widow who 
does not participate may lose her home and inheritance. When the 
husband dies, his widow must remain in strict mourning for one month, 
during which time she cannot leave the house, and the husband's family 
can move into the homestead and take control of its operations. In some 
cases, the mourning period can last for years. During the year the 
media reported that widows and children heading households sometimes 
became homeless as a result of the custom and were forced to seek 
public assistance, a development exacerbated by the country's high rate 
of HIV/AIDS. The 2006-07 Demographic and Health Survey found that 6 
percent of girls and women between 15 and 49 years of age were widows, 
half of whom had been dispossessed of property.
    During the 2008 national elections in Nhlangano, election officials 
refused to allow widows in mourning to register to vote.

    Children.--Under the constitution, children derive citizenship from 
the father, unless the birth occurred outside marriage and the father 
does not claim the child, in which case the baby acquires the mother's 
citizenship. A foreign woman who marries a citizen can become a citizen 
by lodging a declaration with the proper authorities. If a Swazi woman 
marries a foreign man, however, even if he has become a naturalized 
citizen, their children are assumed to carry the father's birth 
citizenship. Birth registration is not automatic, and lack of birth 
registration can result in denial of public services.
    Government efforts to protect children's rights and welfare were 
inadequate, due in part to the growing number of orphans and vulnerable 
children (OVC), which made up an estimated 10 percent of the 
population.
    Despite a constitutional mandate that children be provided free 
primary education by 2009, the Government had not completely complied. 
The Government claimed it could not afford to enact free primary 
education immediately; however, after a 2009 lawsuit brought by the Ex-
Miners' Association to obtain free primary education on behalf of the 
country's children, the Government began to implement the mandate 
gradually. During the year the Government provided tuition, fees, and 
books for first and second grade students. The Deputy Prime Minister's 
Office received an annual budget allocation to pay school fees for OVCs 
in primary and secondary school; however, some schools continued to 
complain of delayed payment and expelled OVCs for nonpayment of fees. 
Individual schools sometimes needed to raise supplemental money for 
building maintenance, including of teachers' housing. Rural families 
favored boys over girls if they could not send all their children to 
school. Principals and teachers routinely demanded bribes to admit 
students.
    Child abuse, including rape of children and incest, was a serious 
problem, but the crime was rarely reported, the Government seldom 
punished perpetrators of abuse, and penalties seldom matched the crime. 
Many children became HIV positive as a result of rape. A study released 
by the UN Children's Fund in 2008 that focused on girls between the 
ages of 13 and 24 found that one out of three girls and young women in 
the country suffered some form of sexual abuse as a child, and that one 
in four experienced physical violence; approximately three in10 had 
survived emotional abuse. Most sexual assaults of girls occurred at 
home, and fewer than half of sexual assaults were reported. Children 
with disabilities, children out of school, and orphans were at 
particular risk. Punishment for child abuse was minimal, and even 
perpetrators of abuse that resulted in death were generally fined no 
more than 200 emalangeni ($27).
    Corporal punishment by teachers and principals is legal and 
routinely practiced. School regulations state a teacher can administer 
a maximum of four strokes with a stick on the buttocks to a student 
younger than 16 years old, and six strokes to students older than 16 
years old; however, teachers often exceeded these limits with impunity.
    On February 18, a teacher whipped a primary school student for 
talking in class. Police did not arrest the teacher.
    On April 6, in Ezulwini, a high school teacher whipped five pupils 
on their buttocks and hands for failing a Siswati test. The number of 
lashes was determined by how poorly they did on the exam; one of the 
students received 39 lashes.
    On April 17, police arrested the teacher who beat a girl for not 
spreading her legs fully during physical education exercises last year. 
The teacher was arrested and granted bail, but the Teaching Service 
Commission subsequently suspended him from teaching.
    In March 2009 the Swazi Observer reported that a nine-year-old 
pupil of Kuhlamkeni Primary School died as a result of a severe beating 
administered by a teacher. A commission of inquiry was established to 
investigate the case; however, no action had been taken against the 
teacher by year's end.
    The legal age of marriage is 18 years old for both men and women. 
However, with parental consent and approval from the minister of 
justice, girls can marry at the age of 16. The Government recognizes 
two types of marriage: civil marriage and marriage under traditional 
law and custom. Traditional marriages can be with girls as young as 14 
years old. Critics of the royal family said the king's many wives and 
young fiancees, some of whom were 16 years old, set a poor example in a 
country with an HIV/AIDS prevalence of 26 percent among persons between 
15 and 49 years of age.
    In 2009 there were reports of forced marriages involving underage 
girls. For example, on January 2, a 16-year-old pupil from 
Ekuvinjelweni was taken to a homestead, where she was married by force 
under traditional rites.
    Minors were reportedly victims of prostitution and trafficking. 
Children are victims of commercial sexual exploitation at truck stops, 
bars, and brothels.
    There were reports that girls, particularly OVCs, worked as 
prostitutes. There is no law that specifically prohibits child 
prostitution. Penalties for child pornography are six months' 
imprisonment and a fine of 100 emalangeni ($13.50). The law sets the 
age of sexual consent at 16 years old and prohibits the sexual 
exploitation of children less than 16 years of age, which is considered 
statutory rape. The penalty for statutory rape is six years' 
imprisonment and a fine of 1,000 emalangeni ($135).
    During the year the number of street children in Mbabane and 
Manzini continued to grow. A large and increasing number of HIV/AIDS 
orphans were cared for by relatives or neighbors, or they struggled to 
survive in child-headed households. Some lost their property to adult 
relatives. Various governmental, international, and religious 
organizations, and NGOs provided some assistance to HIV/AIDS orphans.
    With more than 10 percent of households headed by children, UNICEF 
supported school feeding programs, operated a number of neighborhood 
care points, and provided nutritional support to children weakened by 
AIDS.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community constituted less than 1percent 
of the population, and there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution provides protection 
for persons with disabilities, but does not differentiate between 
physical and mental disabilities and requires parliament to enact 
relevant implementing legislation. The deputy prime minister is 
responsible for upholding the law. However, parliament had not passed 
laws to prohibit discrimination against persons with disabilities in 
employment or to provide access to health care or other state services 
by year's end. Persons with disabilities have complained of government 
neglect. There are no laws that mandate accessibility for persons with 
disabilities to buildings, transportation, or government services, 
although government buildings under construction included some 
improvements for those with disabilities, including access ramps. 
Public transport was not user friendly to disabled persons, and the 
Government does not provide any means of alternative accessible 
transport.
    The Deputy Prime Minister's Office and its Social Welfare section 
are responsible for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.
    In 2008 a visually impaired man was appointed as a senator, marking 
the first time a person with disabilities served in parliament. In 
August the Government purchased computer equipment, which included a 
text scanner, Braille printer, control panel unit tower, keyboard, and 
speakers to assist the senator to perform his parliamentary duties.
    There is one school for the deaf and one special education 
alternative school for children with physical or mental disabilities. 
Only 25 percent of adults with disabilities were employed, mostly in 
the private sector, according to a 2006 study conducted by the Ministry 
of Health and Social Welfare. In 2006 the minister for enterprise and 
employment found that of 10,600 visually impaired persons in the 
country, only three were employed. Despite the former minister's 2006 
pledge to introduce a bill compelling employers to create specific jobs 
for the visually impaired, no bill had been introduced by year's end. 
The hospital for persons with mental disabilities, located in Manzini, 
was overcrowded and understaffed.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The constitution forbids 
discrimination on the grounds of race, color, ethnic origin, tribe, or 
birth; however, governmental and societal discrimination was practiced 
against non-ethnic Swazis, generally white persons and persons of mixed 
race. Although there were no official statistics, an estimated 2 
percent of the population was non-ethnic Swazi. Non-ethnic Swazis 
experienced difficulty in obtaining official documents, including 
passports, and 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.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Societal discrimination 
against the LGBT community was prevalent, and LGBT persons generally 
concealed their sexual preferences. Colonial-era legislation against 
sodomy remains on the books; however, it has not been used to arrest 
homosexual persons. Gays and lesbians who were open about their sexual 
orientation and relationships faced censure and exclusion from the 
chiefdom-based patronage system, which could result in eviction from 
one's home. Chiefs, pastors, and members of government criticized 
homosexual conduct as neither Swazi nor Christian. Some gay and lesbian 
Swazis told the UNAIDS executive director they were often turned away 
at HIV testing clinics because of their sexual orientation. Societal 
discrimination exists against gays and lesbians; however, there were no 
reported legal cases during the year. It is difficult to know the 
extent of employment discrimination based on sexual orientation because 
victims are not likely to come forward, and most gays and lesbians are 
not open about their sexual orientation.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There was social stigma 
associated with being HIV positive, which discouraged persons from 
being tested. Nevertheless, there were often long lines of persons, 
especially of young persons, waiting to be tested during prevention 
campaigns. The armed forces encouraged testing and did not discriminate 
against those testing positive.
    Examples of discrimination during the year included the case of a 
cook at Lavumisa Primary School who, on January 26, was fired after 
superiors found she was HIV-positive.
    On February 11, an eight-year-old girl was dismissed from class by 
her teacher, who alleged she was HIV-positive.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The constitution and law provide that 
workers have the right to form and join associations of their choice, 
including trade unions, without previous authorization or excessive 
requirements, and workers exercised this right in practice with some 
exceptions. Employees in essential services, which included police and 
security forces, correctional services, firefighting, health, and many 
civil service positions, may not form unions. Unions must represent at 
least 50 percent of employees in a work place to be automatically 
recognized; otherwise, recognition is left to the discretion of 
employers. Approximately 80 percent of the formal private sector was 
unionized. The law allows unions to conduct their activities without 
government interference.
    The law permits strikes; however, logistical requirements to 
register a legal strike makes striking difficult in practice. Employees 
who are not engaged in essential services are allowed to participate in 
peaceful protest action to promote their socioeconomic interests.
    The procedure for announcing a protest action requires advance 
notice of at least 14 days. The law details the steps to be followed 
when disputes arise and provides penalties for employers who conduct 
unauthorized lockouts. When disputes arose with civil servant unions, 
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. Police restricted protest actions and searched 
union headquarters and personal residences of union members for banned 
materials.
    On September 6, police dispersed a meeting of political and labor 
activists, detaining and later releasing members of civil society, 
banned political groups, labor unions from Swaziland and South Africa, 
and a local journalist. Among those held by police were Secretary 
General of the Swaziland Federation of Labor, Vincent Ncongwane; 
Swaziland Youth Congress President, Wandile Dludlu; Deputy President of 
UDEMO, Sikhumbuzo Phakathi; General Secretary of the Swaziland National 
Association of Nurses, Sibusiso Lushaba; head of the SCCCO, Musa 
Hlophe; and Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa Country Manager 
Muzi Masuku. Police detained five South African trade unionists, 
including Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) Deputy 
International Relations Secretary Zanele Mathebula, and its Head of 
Campaigns, George Mahlangu, and expelled them across the South African 
border.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The 
constitution and law provide for the right to organize and bargain 
collectively, and the Government generally respected this right in 
practice. However, employer interference with representatives of 
workers' councils trying to negotiate rules and conditions of work 
contributed to the failure of some trade unions to negotiate or promote 
collective bargaining agreements.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination; however, such 
discrimination continued to occur. 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 
private sector management in various industries dismissed workers for 
union activity, but no cases were pursued through the courts. Other 
concerns identified by unions were undefined hours of work and pay 
days; assaults on workers by supervisors; surveillance by hired 
security officers of trade union activity, both at the workplace and 
outside; and the use of workers' councils stacked with employer-picked 
representatives to prevent genuine worker representation. Allegations 
of antiunion discrimination were most common in the mostly foreign-
owned garment sector.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The constitution and 
law prohibit forced or compulsory labor; however, there were reports 
that such practices occurred. The Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions 
characterized the 1998 Administrative Order as a form of forced labor, 
noting that it reinforced the tradition of residents performing 
uncompensated tasks for chiefs, who could penalize those who did not 
participate. Victims of forced labor included women and children forced 
into domestic servitude, agricultural labor, and market vending. Also 
see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
constitution and the Employment Act prohibit child labor; however, such 
laws were not always enforced, especially outside the formal work 
sector, and child labor was a problem. The law prohibits hiring a child 
younger than 15 years old in an industrial undertaking, except in cases 
where only family members were employed in the firm, or in technical 
schools where children worked under supervision. However, children 
joined the workforce early to survive or support their families. The 
law limits the number of night hours children may work on school days 
to six and the overall hours per week to 33.
    Employment of children in the formal sector was not common, but 
children were found doing unpaid labor and often exposed to harsh 
conditions of work. In rural areas, children below the minimum age 
frequently worked in the agricultural sector, particularly in the 
eastern cotton-growing region, and as domestic laborers and herder 
boys. Children reportedly worked in towns as traders, hawkers, porters, 
car wash attendants, and bus attendants.
    In agriculture children pick cotton, harvest sugarcane, and herd 
livestock. This work may involve activities that put at risk their 
health and safety, such as using dangerous machinery and tools, 
carrying heavy loads, applying harmful pesticides, and working alone in 
remote areas.
    Child domestic service is also believed to be prevalent. Such work 
can involve long hours of work and may expose children to physical and 
sexual exploitation by their employer.
    Children also work as porters, bus attendants, taxi conductors, and 
street vendors. Children working on the streets risk a variety of 
dangers, such as severe weather and automobile accidents; they also may 
be vulnerable to exploitation by criminals. Other children are reported 
to work 14-hour days in textile factories.
    Children's exploitation in illicit activities is a problem. 
Children serve alcohol in liquor outlets and grow, manufacture, and 
sell drugs. Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in 
Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Security was responsible for 
enforcement, but no officials were specifically designated to deal with 
child labor, and the ministry's effectiveness was limited. The Ministry 
of Enterprise and Employment, the Department of Social Welfare under 
the Deputy Prime Minister's Office, and the police services are the 
federal agencies designated to enforce child labor laws. The Government 
supports programs to promote access to schooling. Free primary 
schooling is offered in grades one and two. Through the Office of the 
Deputy Prime Minister, the Government pays school fees for orphans and 
vulnerable children to provide additional social support and keep these 
children from engaging in child labor.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Ministry of Labor and Social 
Security sets wage scales for each industry. 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 300 emalangeni ($40), for an unskilled worker 420 
emalangeni ($57), and for a skilled worker 600 emalangeni ($81). In 
July the Government agreed to a 4.5 percent civil service pay increase 
across the board, which was backdated to April. These minimum wages did 
not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. 
Migrant workers were not covered under minimum wage laws. Wage arrears, 
particularly in the garment industry, were a problem. The minimum wage 
laws did not apply to the informal sector, where most workers were 
employed.
    There was a standard 48-hour workweek for most workers and a 72-
hour workweek for security guards; however, public transport workers 
complained that they were required to work 12 hours a day or more 
without any overtime compensation. It was not clear whether there were 
specific exceptions for female workers. Although policies exist 
regarding maternity leave, women often believe they are compelled to 
keep working from economic need, which sometimes resulted in giving 
birth in unsafe environments, for example, on the way to work. The law 
permits all workers at least one day of rest per week and provides for 
premium pay for overtime. Most workers received a minimum of 12 days of 
annual leave. Workers receive 14 days of sick leave with full pay and 
14 days with half pay after three months of continuous service; these 
provisions apply only once per calendar year. No sick leave is granted 
if an injury results from an employee's own negligence or misconduct. 
These standards do not apply to foreign and migrant workers. The labor 
commissioner conducted inspections in the formal sector, and the 
ministry filed suits for labor violations against three companies by 
year's end.
    The constitution calls on parliament to enact new laws to protect a 
worker's right to satisfactory, safe, and healthy employment 
conditions; however, parliament had not enacted any such laws by year's 
end. The law provides for some protection of workers' health and 
safety. The Government set safety standards for industrial operations 
and encouraged private companies to develop accident prevention 
programs; however, the Labor Commissioner's Office conducted few safety 
inspections because of staffing shortages and an alleged desire not to 
``scare off foreign investors.'' Workers have no legal right to remove 
themselves from dangerous workplaces without jeopardizing their 
continued employment, and collective bargaining agreements do not 
address the matter.
    There were extensive provisions allowing workers to seek redress 
for alleged wrongful dismissal, and these provisions frequently were 
invoked during the year.

                               __________

                                TANZANIA

    The United Republic of Tanzania, with a population of 41 million, 
is a multiparty republic consisting of the mainland and the 
semiautonomous Zanzibar archipelago, whose main islands are Unguja and 
Pemba. The union is headed by a president who is also the head of 
government; its unicameral legislative body is the National Assembly 
(parliament). Zanzibar, although part of the union government, has its 
own president, court system, and legislature, and exercises 
considerable autonomy. Tanzania held its fourth multiparty general 
elections on October 31, in which voters on both Tanzania mainland and 
Zanzibar elected a union president and their respective representatives 
in the union legislature. President Kikwete, the incumbent Chama cha 
Mapinduzi (CCM) candidate, was reelected union president with 61.7 
percent of the vote. The national elections were generally peaceful, 
but there were several protests in urban areas associated with the slow 
pace of reporting election results.
    In Zanzibar the October elections proceeded peacefully after a 
power-sharing agreement was reached between the ruling CCM party and 
the opposition Civic United Front (CUF). In a July 31 referendum, 
Zanzibaris voted to amend the constitution to allow for a unity 
government. In October the Zanzibar electorate elected Ali Mohamed 
Shein, the immediate past union vice president, as president of 
Zanzibar with 50.1 percent of the vote and also elected members of its 
House of Representatives.
    Union security forces reported to civilian authorities, but there 
were instances in which elements of the security forces acted 
independently of civilian control. In Zanzibar, however, authorities 
maintain ``special units'' that operated independently from union 
security forces and have been used for political coercion. Command and 
control of these units are opaque but influenced by the ruling party in 
Zanzibar. Since the October 31 elections that produced a government of 
national unity, the Government of Zanzibar was reviewing the role of 
these ``special units.''
    Principal human rights problems in both Tanzania and Zanzibar 
included the following: use of excessive force by military personnel, 
police, and prison guards, as well as societal violence, which resulted 
in deaths and injuries; abuses by Sungusungo traditional citizens' 
anticrime units; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; lengthy 
pretrial detention; judicial corruption and inefficiency, particularly 
in the lower courts; restrictions on freedoms of press and assembly; 
restrictions on the movement of refugees; official corruption and 
impunity; societal violence against women and persons with albinism; 
child abuse, including female genital mutilation (FGM); and 
discrimination based on sexual orientation. Trafficking in persons and 
child labor 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.--Neither the 
Government nor its agents committed any politically motivated killings; 
however, on occasion security forces killed civilians during the year.
    In late January regional police arrested several policemen and 
civilians for taking part in an armed robbery on Izinga Island in 
Ukerewe District, Mwanza Region, which resulted in 14 deaths and 
serious injuries to 17 others. No further information was available at 
year's end.
    On January 27, two Tanzania People's Defense Forces (TPDF) 
soldiers, Corporal Ally Ngumbe and Sergeant Roda Robert, were arraigned 
in a Dar es Salaam court for killing Swetu Fundikira after an argument 
involving a defective vehicle. No further information was available at 
year's end.
    In March Musa Juma died in police custody. Relatives of the 
deceased said the body had bullet-like wounds on the lower legs and 
lacerations on the genitals and back. The special zone commander said 
the police would conduct an investigation. No further information was 
available at year's end.
    In April the Legal and Human Rights Center (LHRC) reported that 
Arusha police questioned three police officers and employees of the 
Tanzania National Parks Authority for killing Ndekirwa Palangyo and 
injuring two others, whom they suspected of poaching in the Mkwasenga 
village of King'ori, Arusha Region. No further information was 
available at year's end.
    In June the Shinyanga regional police detained Corporal Gidman 
Kanyinuzi of the Negezi police post in Kishapu District for killing a 
man he mistook for an armed robber. No further information was 
available at year's end.
    In August the Tanga resident magistrate charged two TPDF soldiers, 
Sergeant Masanja Matale and Corporal Yahya Omari, with the assault and 
murder of Hilal Ali and Mzonge Abdallah, who were suspected of fishing 
illegally with dynamite. An investigation continued at year's end.
    There were no further developments in the 2009 death of Rashidi 
Tuga, allegedly tortured and killed by the police.
    Despite efforts by the Government and nongovernmental organizations 
(NGOs) to reduce mob violence through educational outreach and 
community policing, a number of deaths resulted from mobs stoning, 
beating, hacking with machetes, and burning suspected criminals.
    On July 15, according to Lindi Regional Police Commander Sifuel 
Shirima, residents of Ntene, Lindi Region, killed Siajabu Pius Bernard 
for stealing maize from a neighbor. No further information was 
available at year's end.
    On August 24, a mob killed Kastoli Mkamula, a youth, because they 
suspected he broke into a house at Lipangalala village in Morogoro 
Region. No further information was available at year's end.
    There were no further developments in the following 2009 mob 
killings: the January death of Musa Juma in Arusha Region, and the 
April beating death of Robhi Getaraswa in Tarime.
    Alleged witches were killed by persons claiming to be victims of 
witchcraft, relatives of victims, or mobs. Prosecutions were often 
impeded by the reluctance of witnesses to testify.
    Alipipi Makatole, a local government councilor in Buriaga ward, 
Tukuyu District, estimated that between January and April, unidentified 
persons killed six children due to a belief that raping and killing 
children under age five would bring wealth to the perpetrators. Local 
authorities and religious leaders held a meeting with residents to 
condemn the killings and educate the public about witchcraft.
    On April 18, residents of Mafulala village, Rukwa Region, burned 
and killed Maria Jorah Salamba for allegedly using witchcraft to kill 
several children in the village.
    There were no further developments in the following 2009 killings 
of persons allegedly using witchcraft: the March killings of a 70-year-
old man and the beating of nine others in Sumbawanga District and the 
killing of 60 elderly individuals in Mwanza for suspected witchcraft.
    Violence continued against persons with albinism in the belief that 
their body parts could create power and wealth. Frequently the victims 
were children, whose bodies were found with limbs severed (see section 
6, Children). During the year this practice spread from the Lake Zone, 
where the attacks were concentrated, to other regions, although police 
efforts resulted in fewer such attacks than in previous years. Two 
children with albinism were killed and four injured during the year. 
There have been approximately 57 killings of persons with albinism 
since 2007.
    By year's end the courts had sentenced a total of 10 persons to 
death for the killings of persons with albinism.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices. 
Soldiers, police officers, and prison guards abused, threatened, and 
otherwise mistreated civilians, suspected criminals, and prisoners on 
several occasions during the year. The abuse most commonly involved 
beatings.
    Local government officials and courts occasionally used caning as a 
punishment for both juvenile and adult offenders. Caning was also used 
in schools to punish students.
    On March 30, the Kisutu Magistrate's Court in Dar es Salaam 
sentenced Justin Kasusura to 30 years in prison and 12 strokes of the 
cane for armed robbery and theft.
    On April 10, two men attacked Said Abdallah and severed his left 
arm in Merela village, Morogoro Region. Police arrested four persons in 
connection with the incident and placed them in remand prison. At 
year's end a police investigation continued.
    On July 9, a magistrate at the Ilala District Court sentenced a 17-
year-old boy to six strokes of the cane for sodomizing a 15-year-old 
boy.
    On August 18, a magistrate in Mwanza sentenced a Kenyan man, Nathan 
Mutei, to 17 years in prison for trafficking Robinson Mkwama, a Kenyan 
man with albinism, into Tanzania with the intention of selling him.
    In February 2009 a district commissioner in Bukoba ordered police 
to cane 19 school teachers for tardiness and the poor performance of 
the students on the national exams. Seven female and 12 male teachers 
were caned in front of a group of students. On February 14, President 
Kikwete dismissed the district commissioner. The teachers filed a civil 
suit against the district commissioner for 300 million Tanzanian 
shillings (TZS) ($203,000). The case continued at year's end.
    During the year mobs turned on police, whom they accused of failing 
to administer justice effectively. The LHRC reported that between 
January 2009 and June 2010, angry mobs attacked eight police stations. 
Police began an awareness campaign during the year to inform citizens 
about the legal rights of suspects.
    On January 8, approximately 500 residents of Ilangasika village, 
Geita Region, burned the village office as well as the homes of the 
village chairman and his deputy, who prevented a mob from hanging a 
suspected thief. Antiriot police intervened and prevented the mob from 
destroying additional property. No further information was available at 
year's end.
    On May 31, approximately 300 villagers invaded the Hedaru Police 
Station in Same District, Kilimanjaro Region, to punish eight persons 
suspected of kidnapping a child for ritual sacrifice. The villagers set 
the police post on fire and destroyed files, equipment, and three 
vehicles parked nearby. Police protected the suspects from the mob. The 
suspects were released when the child was found. However, five persons 
were arrested for setting the police station on fire. The case was 
pending at year's end.
    During the year police and the TPDF took unspecified disciplinary 
action against the soldiers involved in the May 2009 assault of a 
traffic officer at a crossroad in Dar es Salaam.
    Police arrested 10 TPDF soldiers and three civilians in connection 
with the September 2009 assault on patrons at a bar in Lindi Region who 
refused to change the radio station.
    During the year Feminist Activist Coalition (FEMACT), an umbrella 
organization of NGOs working on women's issues, concluded that local 
security forces had conducted ``ruthless eviction operations'' in 
forcibly evicting farmers and burning their homes and crops in August 
2009, in the Loliondo Game Controlled Area. The Commission on Human 
Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG) found that eviction was conducted 
using reasonable force. The Office of the Prime Minister and parliament 
conducted investigations into this incident, but their findings were 
not released to the public during the year (see section 6 Indigenous 
People).
    For police in basic training, classes on respecting human rights 
and antitrafficking activities continued during the year as part of the 
inspector general's commitment to professionalize the police force and 
reduce corruption. Soldiers in the TPDF were also given training on 
human rights.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Despite improvements, 
prison conditions remained harsh and life threatening. Inadequate food, 
overcrowding, poor sanitation, and inadequate medical care were 
pervasive. In contrast to the previous year, there were no reports of 
torture by prison guards during the year.
    During July-September visits by CHRAGG to 67 prisons, inmates 
indicated that the quality of food, size of cells, availability and 
quality of inmate uniforms, and distribution of mosquito nets had 
improved since 2009. Murder suspects spent less time in remand due to 
the expansion in the judiciary. Despite these improvements, sanitation 
and overcrowding were problems that encouraged the spread of disease. 
Prison staff complained of water shortages and a lack of electricity as 
well as inadequate medical supplies. Limited transportation also 
affected the ability of prison staff to take prisoners to health 
clinics and hospitals. Foreign prisoners complained it was difficult 
for embassy officials to visit them and that they waited long periods 
before being transferred to their home countries.
    Inmates in Ruvuma Region went without food at least three times a 
week. In its semiannual report, the LHRC alleged that the prison 
department spent approximately TZS 650 ($ 0.44) a day for food for 
individual inmates instead of the mandated TZS 2,420 ($1.64).
    In May the Tanganyika Law Society (TLS) published the findings of 
an inspection of 24 prisons it conducted in 2009. The report alleged 
prisoners were subject to abuse and torture while in detention and 
detailed overcrowding in prisons in Dar es Salaam, Tabora, Arusha, 
Mara, Mwanza and Tanga Regions. In the Segerea Prison in Dar es Salaam, 
there were 170 inmates in cells designed for 50, and at the Ilagala 
Prison in Kigoma, inmates had to walk more than four miles to fetch 
water when the prison transportation system broke down. The report 
described the prison system's failure to provide basic sanitary items 
or adequate food to the prisoners. The Ministry of Home Affairs denied 
the allegations of torture and abuse but said it had taken note of the 
other issues identified in the report and would try to address them.
    According to the LHRC, there was one reported death in prisons due 
to HIV/AIDS during the year.
    In 2009 the LHRC visited 24 prisons on the mainland and reported 
that overcrowding remained a serious problem. At one facility LHRC 
representatives reported that 150 inmates were living in a cell 
designed for 30. The Tanzanian Red Cross (TRC), which visited prisons 
in 2009, stated that some prisoners had to sleep on the floor.
    According to the TLS, some inmates were forced to worship in 
denominations chosen for them by prison wardens. Seventh Day Adventists 
complained they had to work on Saturday. Generally, however, prisoners 
and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were allowed to 
worship freely.
    In 2009 one NGO reported that water was often scarce in the 
prisons, leading to poor hygiene. Combined with overcrowding, these 
conditions contributed to the spread of disease. The most common 
diseases were malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and other diseases 
related to poor sanitation. In one women's prison, the LHRC reported 
there were no mosquito nets or screens to prevent malaria. Prison 
dispensaries offered only limited treatment, and friends and family 
members of prisoners generally had to provide medications or the funds 
to purchase them.
    The union Ministry of Home Affairs Public Complaints Department and 
a Prison Services Public Relations Unit responded to public complaints 
and inquiries sent to them directly or through the media about the 
prison conditions.
    On the mainland prisoners were permitted to submit complaints to 
judicial authorities as well, but it was alleged that the letters were 
censored. Prisoners were also able to submit complaints to CHRAGG 
during its prison visits.
    On the mainland the law allows judges and magistrates to grant 
parole or impose alternative sentences such as community service as a 
means of reducing overcrowding; however, these options were rarely 
used. Only 3,057 prisoners on the mainland had been granted parole 
since the parole law was enacted in 1999. According to the LHRC, the 
law authorizes early release for good behavior but has burdensome 
evidentiary requirements.
    During the year the prisons held approximately 38,477 prisoners, of 
whom 18,948 were convicted (49 percent) and the others were pretrial 
detainees (51 percent). An estimated 1,275 convicted prisoners and 
pretrial detainees were women. While a precise figure was not available 
for juveniles in detention on the mainland, officials estimated the 
juvenile population was similar to that of female prisoners, a small 
fraction of the total prison population. There were an estimated 700 
juveniles in remand homes.
    According to CHRAGG, pretrial detainees were held between three and 
four years. Pretrial detainees were not always separated from prisoners 
on the mainland. However, this separation occurred with greater 
regularity in mainland prisons during the year.
    In 2009 on both Zanzibar and the mainland, it was reported that 
prison officers sexually abused individuals in detention. There were 
reports that in Segerea Prison male staff members made sexual advances 
to female inmates. According to the TLS, some inmates complained of 
being sexually harassed by fellow inmates.
    In Zanzibar, the Zanzibar minister of state for regional 
administration and special units, Suleiman Othman Nyanga, told members 
of the House of Representatives on June 16 that the Government would 
investigate allegations that prison officers were sexually abusing 
inmates.
    In Zanzibar juveniles were held with adults and remand prisoners 
were held with convicted prisoners. There were 17 juveniles in jail in 
Zanzibar.
    On the mainland authorities often moved prisoners to different 
prisons without notifying their families.
    Representatives from the International Committee of the Red Cross 
(ICRC) and CHRAGG visited prisons during the year. The Office of the UN 
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) visited prisons holding refugees 
to determine their immigration status and provide help to those wrongly 
arrested and sentenced for illegal immigration.
    Despite improvement in the length of pretrial detention, it 
remained a problem, often because the lack of an efficient case 
management system led to lost files and case delays. Efforts to ensure 
that detainees did not serve longer than the maximum sentence for the 
charged offense were often hampered in rural areas because officials 
lacked transport to take detainees on their court date.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution prohibits 
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed 
these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Under the union 
Ministry of Home Affairs, the mainland police force has the primary 
responsibility for maintaining law and order. The field force unit, a 
special division in the national police force, has responsibility for 
controlling unlawful demonstrations and riots. Mainland Sungusungu 
citizens' patrols, which are traditional neighborhood and village 
anticrime groups, also worked with local government leaders to support 
the police force in refugee camps and other areas. The police force 
remained underfunded and largely inefficient. Police use of excessive 
force, police corruption, and impunity were problems. There continued 
to be newspaper articles, civil complaints, and reports of police 
corruption from the Prevention and Control of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) 
and Ministry of Home Affairs.
    The Ministry of Defense is responsible for external security on the 
mainland and Zanzibar and has some limited domestic security 
responsibilities.
    In March CHRAGG released the results of a survey conducted in 2009 
in seven mainland Districts in Mwanza, Mbeya, and Dar es Salaam to 
determine the extent of brutality committed by law enforcement 
officers. According to the report, 97 percent of the 1,045 respondents 
indicated that law enforcers committed acts of brutality, including 
killing and beating. Respondents identified police as the worst 
offenders, followed by paramilitary groups and Sungusungu.
    Mainland police sometimes acted as prosecutors in lower courts, 
which allowed police to manipulate evidence in criminal cases (see 
section 1.e.).
    There were continuing efforts to improve the performance of police. 
During the year police continued to hold educational seminars for 
officers to combat corruption and took disciplinary action against 
police officers implicated in wrongdoing. More than 350 mainland police 
officers were dismissed for unethical behavior and an additional five 
were demoted.
    The mainland community policing initiative launched in 2009 to 
mediate local disputes and reduce police corruption continued during 
the year. The community police received standardized training, and 
police conducted awareness campaigns for citizens on how to assist 
community policing units.
    In July police officers met with NGO representatives and political 
and religious leaders on the mainland to ask for their help in 
educating citizens about the role of police and citizen 
responsibilities. During the year police also aired a television 
program called ``Our Peace'' on the rights and obligations of the 
public in promoting a stable society.
    During the year the mainland police continued to hold training 
seminars on human rights, antitrafficking in persons, expediting 
investigations, finalizing criminal cases, and treatment of opposition 
political party members. Police sometimes collaborated with 
international experts for training.
    The Government arrested and detained journalists, and in one 
incident, arrested NGO activists during the year (see sections 2.a. and 
5).
    The law grants legal status to the mainland Sungusungu village 
anticrime groups. Local governments appointed its members from 
communities with citizen participation. They have the authority to 
arrest suspects and carry wooden clubs but no firearms. Family units of 
a neighborhood in which Sungusungu operated either contributed money 
for patrols or provided a volunteer to participate in patrols. In 
refugee camps, Sungusungu groups composed of refugees acted as security 
forces supplementing contingents of police.
    During the year there were reports of Sungusungu units using 
excessive force, particularly in the Mwanza, Shinyanga, Tabora, and 
Mara Regions. For example, on April 26, the Tanzania Teachers' Union in 
Shinyanga Region announced it was suing the Government over an incident 
in which a Sungusungu unit caned four teachers in public for being late 
to a parent-teacher meeting. The teachers dropped their suit after 
being compensated TZS 100,000 ($68) and relocated to other districts.
    In advance of the October 31 union and Zanzibar presidential and 
legislative elections, the ICRC and TRC trained police officials on six 
regions of the mainland, Pemba, and Zanzibar on their role in 
controlling election related violence, the work of the TRC, and human 
rights. Additionally, the Zanzibar Legal Services Center held human 
rights training for Zanzibar's ``special units'' and provided them with 
a manual on international standards of conduct.
    In March CHRAGG published a survey in which members of the public 
accused Sungusungu units of taking bribes, fabricating cases against 
citizens, beating, and in certain instances killing suspects.
    In 2009 five cases against Sungusungu units were investigated, of 
which four were brought to court. Three cases continued at year's end, 
while the court ordered the Sungusungu involved in the fourth case to 
pay a fine of TZS 30,000 ($20) to the victim.
    On Zanzibar, the Zanzibar Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) 
replaced police prosecutors with civilian prosecutors in all but four 
districts of the isles. This initiative, together with efforts to 
increase the use of mediation and ensure thorough investigations before 
suspects entered remand, decreased the overall case backlog 
significantly and eliminated it in some courts.
    In February the Zanzibar House of Representatives passed the DPP 
Office Act, which establishes a code of conduct, significantly 
improving accountability and transparency.
    In Zanzibar, ``special units'' are deployed at the district level 
for activities that would fall under police jurisdiction on the 
mainland. Recruitment, training, and command and control of the 
``special units'' are opaque and influenced by the ruling party in 
Zanzibar. There are five different ``special units'' which reported to 
the Zanzibar minister of regional administration before the formation 
of the Government of national unity. These units, including the fire 
brigade and prison guards, were often activated during political 
activities, such as voter registration or voting itself. Following the 
October 31 elections that produced a government of national unity, the 
Government of Zanzibar began a review of the role of Zanzibar's 
``special units'' that continued at year's end.
    During voter registration from June 2009 to May, there were several 
instances in which Zanzibari ``special units'' were involved in 
disturbances. In August 2009 the Zanzibar government militia reportedly 
fired bullets into the air to disperse crowds of CUF supporters 
gathered at registration facilities on Pemba to protest the 
registration process. According to CUF, amidst escalating violence 
throughout the month of August, soldiers arrested and beat several 
party supporters. There were no further incidents during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--On the 
mainland the law requires that persons be apprehended openly with 
warrants based on sufficient evidence, and authorities generally 
complied with the law. The law also requires that a person arrested for 
a crime, other than a national security detainee, be charged before a 
magistrate within 24 hours of arrest; however, at times the police 
failed to comply with this requirement. The law gives accused persons 
the right to contact a lawyer or talk with family members, but at times 
they were denied this right. Prompt access to counsel was often limited 
by the lack of lawyers in rural areas, lack of communication systems 
and infrastructure, and illiteracy and poverty of the accused. 
Authorities promptly informed detainees of the charges against them. 
The Government provided legal representation for some indigent 
defendants and for all suspects charged with murder or treason. The law 
does not allow bail for cases involving murder, treason, drugs, armed 
robberies, or violent offenders posing a public safety risk. When bail 
is granted in some cases, strict conditions on freedom of movement and 
association are imposed. In the primary and district courts, bribes 
sometimes determined whether or not bail was granted.
    By law the president may order the arrest and indefinite detention 
without bail of any person considered dangerous to the public order or 
national security. The Government must release such detainees within 15 
days or inform them of the reason for their continued detention; it 
also allows a detainee to challenge the grounds for detention at 90-day 
intervals. The mainland government has additional broad detention 
powers under the law, which permits regional and district commissioners 
to arrest and detain for 48 hours anyone who may ``disturb public 
tranquility.'' This act was not invoked during the year.
    CHRAGG estimated that more than 51 percent of the prison population 
consisted of pretrial detainees. Detainees charged with criminal 
matters generally waited three years for trial due to the time required 
to complete police investigations, a lack of judges to hear cases, and 
an inadequate judicial budget.
    Prisoners continued to protest the length of time it took to hear 
their cases. For example, on January 26, pretrial detainees from a 
prison in Meatu District, Shinyanga Region, went on a hunger strike to 
protest a lengthy stay in prison without trial. Some of these detainees 
had been in remand prison for seven years and others had been detained 
without bail.
    On August 23, three suspects accused of armed robbery and murder 
stripped naked in a court in Mvomero District, Morogoro Region, to 
protest the delay in their court case. They had been in pretrial 
detention since 2007.
    On April 26, President Kikwete ordered the release of 3,101 
prisoners to ease overcrowding. This group included ill or elderly 
inmates who had served more than one-fourth of their sentence, pregnant 
women, or those with infants.
    On December 9, President Kikwete pardoned more than 3,563 prisoners 
on the occasion of Tanzania's Independence Day.
    On January 12, President Karume pardoned 39 prisoners in Zanzibar 
on Revolutionary Day.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary; however, the judiciary remained underfunded, 
corrupt (see section 4), inefficient, especially in the lower courts, 
and subject to executive influence. Court clerks took bribes to decide 
whether or not to open cases and to hide or misdirect the files of 
those accused of crimes. According to news reports, magistrates of 
lower courts occasionally accepted bribes to determine guilt or 
innocence, pass sentences, or decide appeals of cases coming from the 
primary courts to district courts.
    In December 2009 the Tanzania Women Judges Association (TAWJA) 
together with the International Association of Women Judges, a 
nonprofit organization focused on improving access to justice and 
advancing human rights, held a conference in Dar es Salaam to discuss 
ethics among judges, the police, and prosecutors. A TAWJA official 
stated that some judges and many court officials continued to violate 
work ethics and that corruption remained a problem.
    In Zanzibar there were four high court judges. During the year the 
Zanzibar government eased the backlog of cases by appointing high court 
judges to hear cases in the labor court. In 2009 the Zanzibar 
government hired three new magistrates for the land tribunal. 
Previously the land tribunal only had one magistrate.

    Trial Procedures.--With some exceptions, criminal trials were open 
to the public and the press. Courts that hold secret proceedings--such 
as in drug trafficking cases and sexual offenses involving juveniles--
generally were required to provide reasons for closing the proceedings. 
In cases involving terrorism, the law provides that everyone except the 
interested parties may be excluded and that witnesses may be heard 
under special arrangements for their protection. The law prohibits 
lawyers from appearing or defending clients in primary-level courts, 
whose presiding officers are magistrates without degrees.
    Juries are not used. The law provides for the presumption of 
innocence. Defendants or their lawyers have access to evidence held by 
the Government, the right to question witnesses, and the right to 
present evidence on the defendant's behalf. All defendants charged with 
civil or criminal matters, except parties appearing before kadhi courts 
(which apply Muslim law on civil matters involving the family, 
including registration of marriages, adjudication over inheritance, 
divorce, child custody cases, etc.) on Zanzibar and cases examining the 
constitutionality of Zanzibar laws, could appeal decisions to the 
respective mainland and Zanzibar high courts, respectively. Defendants 
in Zanzibar can appeal decisions to the union Court of Appeal. On the 
mainland the law provides a right to free counsel for defendants 
accused of murder and treason, as well as for indigent defendants in 
other serious cases. There are no public defenders in Zanzibar. Most 
indigent defendants charged with lesser crimes did not have legal 
counsel. On both Zanzibar and the mainland, most defendants could not 
afford legal representation.
    On the mainland and in Zanzibar, in some cases police acted as 
prosecutors in lower courts, but this practice was being phased out. 
The mainland Ministry of Justice began hiring and training state 
prosecutors to handle the entire mainland caseload. Judicial experts 
had criticized the practice of police acting as prosecutors because it 
allowed police to manipulate evidence in criminal cases. The mainland 
government was able to phase out police prosecutors in the regions of 
Tabora, Mwanza, Moshi, and Shinyanga. However, financial constraints 
and staffing issues slowed the process. In Zanzibar, police prosecutors 
have been phased out in all but four districts. The Government took 
steps to speed up the judicial process by opening offices of the DPP in 
the regions of Lindi and Mara. In 2009 the mainland DPP's office 
reviewed cases to identify those that could be dismissed due to weak 
evidence or resolved through plea bargains. Further, it developed a 
general instruction manual for prosecutors and collaborated with police 
on a similar resource for investigators to assist them in processing 
cases.
    There were approximately 1,300 registered lawyers in the country, 
80 percent of whom practiced in Dar es Salaam, Arusha, and Mwanza. 
According to the Zanzibar Legal Services Center, there were only 43 
registered lawyers residing and working in Zanzibar, primarily 
concentrated in and around the city center, and only one resident 
lawyer on Pemba. Most defendants in urban areas who could not afford to 
hire a legal representative or lawyer represented themselves in court, 
but women and the economically needy were provided with free legal 
assistance by the Government and some NGOs, such as the Tanzania Women 
Lawyers Association and the National Organization for Legal Assistance.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters. Civil proceedings are 
administered in the high court or at the magistrate or district level. 
Persons may bring lawsuits seeking damages or the cessation of human 
rights violations; however, civil judicial procedures often were slow, 
inefficient, and corrupt.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law generally prohibits such actions without a 
search warrant; however, the Government did not consistently respect 
these prohibitions. While only courts can issue search warrants, the 
law also authorizes searches of persons and premises without a warrant 
if necessary to prevent the loss or destruction of evidence, or if 
circumstances are serious and urgent.
    CHRAGG received between 100 and 200 complaints regarding civil 
liberties and between five and 20 human rights complaints each month. 
As of June 30, CHRAGG received 772 complaints of which 706 were related 
to good governance and 66 to human rights.
    The law relating to terrorism permits high-ranking police officers 
to conduct searches without a warrant in certain urgent cases; there 
were no reports that this provision of the act has ever been invoked.
    It was widely believed that security forces monitored telephones 
and correspondence of some citizens and foreign residents. The actual 
nature and extent of this practice were not known.
    The LHRC reported several continuing disputes between residents and 
the Government concerning land seizures. The 2001 case of 135 villagers 
who claimed they had been illegally evicted from their land by 
government officials in the Nyamuma villages of Serengeti District in 
Mara Region continued. In 2009 the LHRC filed an application with the 
High Court seeking a court order to compel the Government to compensate 
or resettle the villagers. During the year the Court of Appeal ordered 
the High Court to enforce the judgment but at year's end no date had 
been set by the court for the enforcement order.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution provides for 
freedom of speech but does not explicitly provide for freedom of the 
press.
    The law provides for arrest, prosecution, and punishment for the 
use of ``seditious,'' abusive, or derogatory language to describe the 
country's leadership publicly. The law allows police to raid and seize 
materials from newspaper offices without a warrant if there is cause 
and allows the minister of information to close media outlets for 
reasons of undefined ``public interest'' or ``the interest of peace and 
good order.'' However, the independent media on the mainland were 
active and generally expressed a wide variety of views.
    Individuals could criticize the Government both publicly and 
privately without reprisal, although some Tanzanians expressed 
concerned about doing so in public.
    On the mainland there were an estimated 15 daily newspapers. Of 
these, two were owned by the Government, a third, Uhuru, by the ruling 
CCM party, and a fourth by the chairman of the opposition party, 
Chadema. The remaining newspapers were independent although some were 
owned by close associates of ruling party members. Registering 
newspapers remained difficult and was at the discretion of the 
registrar of newspapers at the Ministry of Information on both the 
mainland and Zanzibar.
    Authorities arbitrarily arrested journalists during the year.
    In February the Arusha regional police questioned journalists Mussa 
Juma, Eliya Mbonea, and Amiri Ibrahimu for six hours and detained them 
for three days allegedly because of their efforts to report on a land 
dispute in the villages of Basutu and Mulbadaw. Mussa Juma said the 
police confiscated their equipment after releasing them from custody.
    On May 11, the LHRC reported that police in Ngara District, Kagera 
Region, arrested journalist Cosmas Makongo for reporting on a meeting 
between district officials and villagers on illegal immigration. 
Makongo and other journalists claimed district officials tried to bribe 
them to prevent them from filing their stories. When the journalists 
refused the bribes, local authorities harassed them.
    Journalists were threatened and assaulted during the year.
    On February 4, an unidentified person threatened to beat journalist 
Heri Shaaban from the Business Times for trying to take a picture of a 
TPDF soldier who was being charged with assault with a deadly weapon at 
the Ilala District Court in Dar es Salaam.
    On September 3, an official with the Ministry of Information 
reported that a mob beat a Tanzania Broadcasting Commission (TBC1) 
journalist after TBC1 stopped broadcasting a speech by a Chadema 
candidate.
    On September 24 and again on October 11, the Ministry of 
Information warned the editor of the Mwananchi newspaper of possible 
legal action if the paper continued to publish articles critical of the 
Government. However, no action was taken against the newspaper and it 
continued to publish articles critical of the Government.
    The chairman of the Tanzania Editor's Forum, Absalom Kibanda, said 
that during the year reporters were harassed on three occasions, 
including the October 26 beating by ruling party supporters of Fred 
Katulanda, a reporter with the Mwananchi newspapers in Geita Region.
    The December 2009 case in which five assailants attacked a 
journalist from Mwananchi Communications in his home in Mwanza was 
pending at year's end. The suspects had demanded the journalist 
surrender documents he had received in connection with an investigation 
into funds allegedly stolen from a government bank account.
    During the year the Government banned one newspaper and 
deregistered another. On January 8, Minister for Information, Culture, 
and Sports George Mkuchika banned the Kulikoni newspaper for 90 days 
for violating the National Security Act by publishing a story on army 
recruits who were cheating on exams. He also deregistered the Leo Tena, 
a tabloid magazine, for publishing pornographic pictures.
    On September 2, police in the Kahama District of the Shinyanga 
Region impounded copies of a book entitled Education Corruptors, in 
which the author accused prominent government ministers of lying about 
their educational background. No one was arrested in connection with 
the incident.
    The mainland government allowed political opponents unrestricted 
access to the media; however, the opposition did not receive equal 
coverage.
    On September 19, the Tanzania Editor's Forum published an article 
condemning the harassment of journalists covering election campaigns by 
political party members, warning such parties that newspapers would not 
report their campaigns if the practice continued.
    Authorities impeded journalists from working during the year.
    In April authorities in Ngorongoro District of the Arusha Region 
tried to stop four journalists--Mwanaidi Mkwizu, Abu Mkongo, Mashaka 
Mgeta and Juma Musa--from reporting the story of a group of women 
protesting their 2009 eviction from a game reserve in Loliondo. The 
four reporters were reprimanded by the district commissioner for not 
obtaining permission to interview the women. Although permission was 
granted later, the women would not provide the reporters with any 
information because they had been warned not to talk to them.
    On August 25, CCM officials allegedly chased a Mwananchi reporter 
away from the State Lodge in Mwanza Region when he tried to join the 
president's entourage for a campaign rally in the districts. Ray 
Naluyaga, bureau chief for the Mwananchi and Citizen newspapers, said 
his reporters had been prevented from covering the presidential rallies 
in the Kagera and Mwanza Regions after the Mwananchi ran a story 
alleging that the president was struggling to heal divisions within the 
ruling party.
    On August 28, at the start of Chadema's national election campaign, 
a senior party member publicly accused the president and senior 
government officials of involvement in an ongoing grand corruption 
case. The Government-owned TBC1 cut off live transmission of the 
program. Some persons at the rally assaulted the TBC1 reporter covering 
the event. On August 31, Chief Justice Augustino Ramadhani warned 
opposition parties not to use political platforms to discuss pending 
cases and told reporters that the judiciary would not hesitate to take 
action against candidates who continued to do so.
    During the year Mwana Halisi newspaper sued the Government over 
provisions in the Newspaper Act that give the president and minister of 
information powers to prohibit the publication of material that 
jeopardizes national security. Mwana Halisi claimed this provision 
limits freedom of speech. The case remained pending at year's end. 
Mwana Halisi was suspended for 90 days in 2008 for reporting that a 
group within the CCM was planning to stop the president from competing 
in the 2010 elections.
    Many radio stations and all but one television station were 
privately owned. There were government restrictions on broadcasting in 
tribal languages. The Government operated newspaper, radio, and 
television outlets, as did private corporations.
    In Zanzibar, the only daily newspaper was owned by the Zanzibari 
government. However, there were four periodic newspapers of which three 
were privately owned. In July the Al-Risaalah, a weekly religious 
newspaper, was reestablished.
    Although the Government refused to register the Nipe Habari 
newspaper in 2009, it was registered and allowed to operate on the 
mainland during the year.
    National newspapers were sold in Zanzibar without restriction. The 
Zanzibar government controlled all content of radio and television 
broadcasts, whether privately or publicly owned. Even for mainland 
broadcast state television, there was a delay in the feed, allowing 
Zanzibari censors to intervene. However, the radio stations operated 
relatively independently, often reading the content of national 
dailies, including articles critical of the Zanzibar government.
    Although the media were primarily government-controlled in 
Zanzibar, the political opposition has enjoyed increased access since 
the reconciliation process between the two political parties began in 
November 2009. However, observers noted that in spite of improved 
coverage of opposition rallies, the CCM continued to get more coverage.
    During the run up to the July 31 referendum in Zanzibar, there was 
unprecedented media coverage of the issue of a unity government, with 
open dialogue about its implications.
    A permit was required for reporting on police or prison activities, 
and journalists needed special permission to attend meetings in the 
Zanzibar House of Representatives. Anyone publishing information 
accusing a Zanzibar member of parliament of involvement in illegal 
activities was liable to a fine of not less than TZS 250,000 ($170), 
three years' imprisonment, or both. Nothing in the law specifies 
whether this penalty stands if the allegations were proven to be true. 
The law also empowers the Government to fine and suspend newspapers 
without warning.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet; however, the Government monitored Web sites that 
criticized the Government. Police also monitored the Internet to 
prevent trafficking in persons and other illegal activities. In 2009 
the Government shut down one blog for posting a doctored photo of the 
president. In general individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
According to the International Telecommunication Union statistics for 
2008, approximately 1 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution provides for freedom of assembly; however, 
the Government did not always respect this right in practice. The 
Government requires organizers of rallies to obtain police permission. 
Police may deny permission on public safety or security grounds or if 
the permit seeker belongs to an unregistered organization or political 
party.
    In February Chadema candidates complained that the police in the 
Rorya District of Mara Region would not allow them to hold rallies 
despite their requests for a permit. Chadema officials were told that 
local authorities feared they would raise the issue of clan fighting in 
their speeches.
    In March the police in the Kibaha urban constituency of Dar es 
Salaam Region refused to give Chadema candidates a permit to hold a 
rally. No explanation was given for the decision. After the October 31 
presidential and parliamentary elections, Chadema faced similar 
difficulties in obtaining permits for planned rallies.
    In April the Arusha police dispersed hundreds of women from 
Loliondo who intended to return their CCM membership cards in protest 
of the July 2009 eviction and burning of their homesteads. District 
authorities also arrested NGO representatives for allegedly inciting 
the women to protest (see sections 1.c. and 5).
    In late December, citing security concerns, police denied CUF 
permission to hold a demonstration and rally in Dar es Salaam. On 
December 28, CUF went ahead with its demonstration. Police dispersed 
the crowd of CUF supporters as they began their march and arrested 
several demonstrators. The cases remained pending at year's end.
    In April authorities dismissed all charges against the seven 
opposition party CUF members who were arrested in September 2009 on 
charges of unlawful assembly.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
association, and the Government generally respected this right in 
practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights. The 
Government generally cooperated with UNHCR and other humanitarian 
organizations in providing protection and assistance to refugees and 
asylum seekers.
    Police at checkpoints sometimes solicited bribes.
    The law does not permit the forced exile of citizens, and the 
Government did not use forced exile in practice.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for asylum or 
refugee status, and the Government has established a system for 
providing protection to refugees. The Government generally provided 
protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries 
where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their 
race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, 
or political opinion. However, in early November 2009, regional 
authorities in Kigoma Region forcibly returned 72 asylum seekers from 
the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) without allowing UNHCR to 
conduct an independent status determination. The Ministry of Home 
Affairs stated it regretted the incident and would not allow it to 
recur.
    In 2008 the minister of home affairs announced that approximately 
200,000 refugees who had arrived from Burundi in 1972 would be offered 
the choice of citizenship or assisted voluntary repatriation. In close 
consultation with UNHCR, the Government continued the process of 
identifying those qualified for citizenship and local integration, and 
more than 162,000 refugees had been granted citizenship by year's end.
    Despite improving conditions, the remaining 1993 Burundi refugees 
did not choose to return home during the year. UNHCR assisted with the 
repatriation of fewer than 1,000 of the 1993 Burundi refugees during 
the year. The tripartite commission composed of UNHCR and the 
Governments of Tanzania and Burundi continued to encourage repatriation 
by offering repatriation incentives and eliminating nonessential 
services.
    Due to deteriorating conditions in the DRC, UNHCR did not assist 
with the repatriation of Congolese refugees during the year.
    By year's end there were only two UNHCR-supported camps in the 
country, one for Congolese and one for 1993 Burundis. It remained 
illegal for refugees to live outside their camps or settlements or to 
travel outside the camps farther than two and one-half miles without 
permits. An exit permit could be obtained from the regional authorities 
for an absence from the camps of less than 11 days. Permits for longer 
absences could be obtained from the Ministry of Home Affairs; however, 
there were several reports that refugees had difficulty obtaining 
permission to leave the camps. Refugees apprehended outside the camps 
without permits often were sentenced to community service rather than 
imprisonment and deportation, as was the case previously. The Ministry 
of Home Affairs acknowledged that some judges in the past had 
misinterpreted the regulation and sentenced refugees to three years in 
jail instead of imposing a six-month sentence or fine as prescribed by 
the law.
    Local government authorities policed the camps with support from 
refugee volunteers. Robbery, assault, and rape were the most common 
crimes. UNHCR reported that there were an estimated 597 incidents of 
gender-based violence, including 84 rapes in the camps during the year.
    UNHCR worked with local authorities as well as individuals working 
in the camps to strengthen coordination and their ability to address 
issues of sexual violence and violence against minorities. During the 
year the Government investigated, prosecuted, and punished perpetrators 
of abuses in the refugee camps; most cases of refugees involved in 
crime and abuse outside the camps were handled by local authorities. 
Residents of refugee camps suffered delays and limited access to 
courts, common problems faced by citizens as well. There were reports 
that some refugees engaged in intimidation and vigilante justice within 
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 peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in elections 
on the mainland and in Zanzibar.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Separate elections are held 
for the union and for Zanzibar, ordinarily on the same day, in which 
citizens of the two parts of the union elect local officials, members 
of the national parliament, and a union (national) president. In 
addition Zanzibaris separately elect a president of Zanzibar and 
members of the Zanzibar House of Representatives. District and regional 
leaders in Zanzibar and on the mainland are appointed by their 
respective presidents.
    During the year the National Electoral Commissioner created seven 
new constituencies, bringing the total to 246 constituent seats.
    Tanzania held its fourth multiparty general elections on October 31 
in which voters elected new presidents (both union and Zanzibari) and 
legislative representatives. President Kikwete, the incumbent ruling 
party candidate, was reelected with 61.7 percent of the vote, a smaller 
margin than the 80 percent he received in 2005. The union and Zanzibar 
elections were judged to be largely free and fair. However, the CCM 
benefited from vastly superior financial and institutional resources.
    The national elections were generally peaceful, but there were 
several protests associated with the slow pace of reporting election 
results, primarily in Arusha, Moshi, Mwanza, Kigoma, and Dar es Salaam. 
The opposition party, Chadema, registered concern about the accuracy of 
the count and made allegations of interference with the tabulation 
process, but failed to present proof of significant malfeasance. 
Despite attending the opening session of parliament, Chadema 
parliamentarians walked out before President Kikwete's inaugural 
address and stated they would not recognize his presidency. However, 
the party subsequently accepted Kikwete as the ``lawful'' president but 
continued to call the election results ``illegitimate.''
    In Zanzibar, where past elections were marked by violence and 
widespread irregularities, the October elections proceeded peacefully 
after the ruling CCM party and the opposition CUF reached a power-
sharing agreement. In a July 31 referendum, Zanzibaris voted to amend 
the constitution to allow for a CCM and CUF unity government. Ali 
Mohamed Shein, the immediate past union vice president, was elected 
president of Zanzibar with 50.1 percent of the vote. Shein selected 
CUF's Seif Sharif Hamad as first vice president and Seif Ali, former 
union deputy foreign minister, as second vice president.
    The passage of the July 31 referendum set the stage for peaceful 
general elections on October 31 in Zanzibar. The power-sharing 
agreement eliminated the winner-take-all system, giving the losing side 
one of two vice-president slots and ministerial positions in proportion 
to the seats it holds in the House of Representatives.
    The Zanzibar government registered eligible voters from late June 
2009 through May. Although in August 2009 the Zanzibar government 
militia reportedly arrested and beat several CUF supporters and 
dispersed crowds around registration centers, the registration process 
proceeded peacefully in 2010.
    On the mainland government harassment of opposition political 
parties diminished after the 2005 elections. However, as parties 
prepared for the October elections, opposition parties alleged that the 
ruling party tried to hamper their campaign initiatives. Chadema 
charged that the Government interfered with its campaign when TBC1, a 
government-owned media outlet, disconnected the live coverage of its 
campaign launch on August 28. Opposition parliamentary candidates 
alleged they were required to stop their campaigns before six p.m. 
daily for security reasons, but officials allowed CCM campaigns to 
continue until eight p.m.
    In 2009 there were three union parliamentary by-elections and one 
for the Zanzibar House of Representatives. Unidentified individuals 
reportedly attacked opposition party members in the mainland 
constituencies of Busanda and Biharamulo during the campaigns preceding 
the by-elections. The ruling CCM party made similar complaints 
regarding attacks by opposition supporters. In addition, opposition 
parties complained of voting irregularities in Biharamulo but did not 
file a legal challenge.
    In April all charges were dismissed due to insufficient evidence 
against the seven CUF officials who were arrested in September 2009 
after a rally and charged with unlawful assembly (see section 2.b.).
    Individuals and parties could freely declare their candidacy and 
stand for election. The law requires that persons running for office 
must represent a registered political party. Following a two-decade 
effort to challenge this provision, on June 17, the Court of Appeal 
ruled that only parliament had the authority to amend the constitution 
to allow independent candidates to run for office.
    In 2009 opposition party members in Zanzibar, particularly on 
Pemba, claimed that the Government, the largest employer, discriminated 
against them in hiring. During the year, however, it was reported that 
discriminatory practices had gradually decreased.
    Political parties are required by law to support the union between 
Tanganyika and Zanzibar; parties based on ethnic, regional, or 
religious affiliation are prohibited. Unregistered parties and 
independent candidates are prohibited from participating in elections. 
In general political parties could operate without restriction or 
outside interference, although there were occasional restrictions on 
the parties' right to call for a demonstration.
    The registrar of political parties has sole authority to approve 
registration of any political party and is responsible for enforcing 
regulations on registered parties. Parties granted provisional 
registration may hold public meetings and recruit members. To secure 
full registration and be eligible to field candidates for election, 
parties must submit lists of at least 200 members in 10 of the 
country's 26 regions, including two of the five regions of Zanzibar, 
within six months.
    During the year three new political parties were granted temporary 
status. However, the registrar of political parties deregistered one of 
them, Chama cha Jamii (CCJ), for failing to meet the requirements for 
full registration.
    In August opposition parties on the mainland complained the 
Government did not give them enough time to return their registration 
forms for parliamentary and local government councilor elections. In 
response the registrar of political parties extended the submission 
deadline by 10 days.
    The election law provides for parliamentarians completing a term to 
receive 40 million TZS ($27,000) as a ``gratuity,'' which incumbents 
can use in reelection campaigns. Several NGOs and opposition parties 
criticized this provision for disadvantaging opposition party 
candidates in mounting an effective challenge.
    On February 11, parliament enacted the Election Expenses Act to 
regulate funding, curb illegal practices, and promote accountability 
among candidates during the nomination campaign and election cycle.
    On July 26, the National Electoral Commission distributed to 
political parties an Electoral Code of Conduct that was drafted in 
consultation with and signed by the political parties. Failure to sign 
the code precludes a party from fielding candidates. The code bars 
public servants from interfering with election procedures and political 
parties and their followers from engaging in violent behavior, carrying 
weapons, and using foul language. Candidates are permitted only to 
criticize opponents on policy issues. Candidates violating any section 
of the code are liable to fines of TZS 50,000 ($34), TZS 100,000 ($68) 
and TZS 200,000 ($136) for civic, parliamentary, and presidential 
aspirants, respectively. Zanzibar CCM and CUF also signed a code of 
conduct, as did the media operating in the isles.
    The unicameral union parliament has up to 357 members, including 
the attorney general, the speaker, five members elected from and by the 
Zanzibar House of Representatives, 102 special women's seats 
apportioned among the political parties based on their election 
results, 239 constituent seats (including 50 from Zanzibar), and up to 
10 members nominated by the president.
    Political parties appoint women to serve in seats set aside for 
them according to the percentage of votes their parties win. After the 
October elections, there were 102 special seats for women, and at 
year's end there were 119 women in the 357-seat parliament. After 
taking office, President Kikwete appointed eight women ministers 
(compared with four in the former administration) and three women 
deputy ministers. There were two members of parliament of Asian origin 
in parliament. There were no ministers of Asian origin.
    In the October 31 elections, the CCM retained its absolute majority 
in parliament, with nearly 80 percent of the seats. With a total of 47 
seats, 24 elected and 23 ``special seats'' for women, Chadema displaced 
CUF as the official opposition and selected its chairman, Freeman 
Mbowe, as opposition leader. The new parliament selected Anne Makinda 
as the country's first female speaker of parliament.
    Twenty five of the 62 high court judges and five of the 16 Court of 
Appeal judges were women.
    The Zanzibar House of Representatives has 50 elected seats, 20 
women's special seats, and eight appointed at-large seats. Two of the 
eight appointed seats were held by women. There are two women ministers 
and four deputy ministers. There were three persons with disabilities 
in the Zanzibar House of Representatives.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and some 
officials engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. The World Bank's 
Governance Indicators in 2008 reflected that corruption was a serious 
problem.
    On February 11, the parliament passed the Election Expenses Bill, 
which came into force on March 17. The new law, which is designed to 
curb the misuse of campaign funds during elections, contains a list of 
prohibited activities that may disqualify a candidate from 
participating in an election. For example, candidates are prohibited 
from bribing individuals with money, employment, or other valuables to 
induce them to vote or refrain from voting in a particular manner. 
During the year the Tanzanian Prevention and Combating of Corruption 
Bureau (PCCB) opened investigations into and began court proceedings 
against a number of ruling party candidates suspected of bribing 
voters. There were 10 cases pending in court at year's end.
    The Government continued to use specialized agencies to fight 
corruption, but their effectiveness was limited. A three-person unit 
within the President's Office, headed by a minister of state for good 
governance, was charged with coordinating anticorruption efforts and 
collecting information from all the ministries for publication in 
quarterly reports. During the year the unit drafted the National Anti-
Corruption Strategy and Action Plan.
    There was little accountability in most government entities; senior 
government officials estimated that 20 percent of the Government's 
budget in each fiscal year was lost to corruption, including theft and 
fraud, fake purchasing transactions, and ``ghost workers.'' During the 
year Director General of the National Identification Authority Dickson 
Mwaimu told parliamentarians that the Government was losing billions of 
shillings annually through fraudulent salary payments. According to 
Mwaimu, the Government lost TZS 26.6 billion ($18 million) in salaries 
to ghost workers in seven institutions in the past three years.
    On April 19, the Controller and Auditor General's office released a 
report stating that, despite general improvement in the management of 
government funds, there were still major weaknesses in internal 
controls and noncompliance with laws and regulations, particularly in 
the area of public procurement.
    The PCCB is responsible for investigating suspected corruption 
cases and prosecuting offenders in coordination with the DPP and 
educating the public about corruption. The PCCB has 24 regional offices 
and an office in every District on the mainland. In the first six 
months of the year, the PCCB received 2,896 allegations of corruption, 
investigated 413 cases, brought 104 new cases to court, and prosecuted 
506 cases in which there were 21 convictions. There were 30 ongoing 
grand corruption cases at year's end. According to the PCCB, most 
corruption investigations concerned government involvement in mining, 
land matters, energy, and investments. NGOs also reported that 
allegations of corruption involved the Tanzania Revenue Authority, 
local government officials, the police, licensing authorities, hospital 
workers, and the media.
    The PCCB's mandate does not extend to Zanzibar, and a special unit 
of the police force in Zanzibar is responsible for corruption cases. 
However, according to police, there were no investigations as no 
complaints were received during the year. The Zanzibar Legal Services 
Center indicated that it received complaints during the year about 
corruption associated with land disputes involving government 
officials.
    Judicial and police corruption were problems.
    During the year the court rejected the appeal of Jamila Nzota, a 
magistrate in the Temeke District Court, who was convicted of 
soliciting a bribe in May 2009.
    On July 30, in Dar es Salaam, the PCCB interrogated three high-
profile government officials after receiving complaints that they were 
involved in acts of corruption. The Government officials included 
Member of Parliament for Kinondoni Idd Azzan, Minister for Natural 
Resources and Tourism Shamsa Mwangunga, and Tanzania Communication 
Regulatory Authority Consumer Consultative Council chairperson Hawa 
Ng'umbi. Investigations continued at year's end.
    On August 11, the PCCB charged Joseph James Mungai, a member of 
parliament and former cabinet minister, with corruption. Mungai was 
alleged to have given gifts valued between TZS 2,000 ($1.35) to TZS 
20,000 ($14) to 15 CCM officials. The case was pending at year's end.
    Although a number of high-profile corruption cases were ongoing and 
one was concluded, the Government continued to be criticized for slow 
progress on these grand corruption cases.
    On May 24, Amatus Liyumba, the former Central Bank director of 
personnel and administration, was sentenced to two years in prison for 
abuse of office in connection with the construction of the Bank of 
Tanzania (BOT) building. Liyumba appealed the decision. The court 
dismissed his appeal and ordered him to serve his sentence.
    In May the resident magistrate of Ilala District Court acquitted 
BOT Legal Secretary Bosco Ndimbo Kimela after the DPP dropped charges 
against him. In September 2009 Kinemela, along with three BOT 
employees, was charged with embezzling TZS 104 billion ($70 million) by 
manipulating contract prices and printing requests for currency 
procurement. The remaining three defendants continued to face charges, 
and the cases were pending at year's end.
    On September 13, the Kisutu Resident Magistrate Court adjourned a 
corruption case facing Costa Rick Mahalu, former ambassador to Italy, 
and Counsellor Grace Martin. The two were charged with causing the 
Government a loss of two million euros ($2.68 million) during the 
purchase of an embassy building in Italy. The case was pending at 
year's end.
    The case against more than 20 individuals accused in 2008 of 
obtaining funds fraudulently from the BOT's external payment account 
continued at year's end.
    In July the 2008 cases against two former ministers of finance and 
the former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Finance came before 
the court and continued at year's end.
    Government ministers and members of parliament, as well as other 
public servants, are required to disclose their assets after being 
sworn into office, at the end of each year, and upon leaving office; 
however, there was no enforcement mechanism or means to determine the 
accuracy of these disclosures. At year's end only 33 percent of 
politicians, 57 percent of public servants, and 27 percent of local 
leaders (councilors) required to make disclosures had met the deadline.
    There is no law providing for public access to government 
information, and such access remained limited. Government officials 
routinely refused to make information available. Civil service 
regulations effectively allow only a handful of high-level government 
representatives to communicate information to the media.
    In September the Policy Forum, a local NGO, introduced a simplified 
version of the Government budget to increase accessibility as well as 
knowledge of government spending among citizens.
Section 5. 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 
generally were cooperative and responsive to their views. On the 
mainland more than 5,000 NGOs were registered and entered into the 
database maintained by a government-appointed NGO coordination unit 
within the vice president's office. The registration process was slow, 
taking two to five years. International NGOs may operate both on the 
mainland and Zanzibar. However, NGOs in Zanzibar must apply through the 
local government for approval, and all religious NGOs must seek 
approval from the Office of the Mufti, the Muslim religious authority.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that the 
Government of Zanzibar fined, suspended, and removed NGOs that 
criticized it.
    CHRAGG, which was financed by the Government, operated without 
government interference on the mainland and in Zanzibar. Due to 
budgetary constraints, CHRAGG conducted less outreach than in previous 
years and consequently received fewer complaints. As of June 30, CHRAGG 
had received 772 complaints, of which 706 involved issues of good 
governance and 66 involved human rights abuses. In Zanzibar it received 
384 complaints, of which 197 were processed to completion between 
January and June.
    On April 12, a representative from Oxfam and two colleagues from 
the Ngorongoro NGO Network were arrested and detained by authorities in 
Loliondo who alleged they were responsible for assisting women from 12 
villages in Loliondo, Ngorongoro District, to demonstrate against their 
2009 eviction from the Loliondo Game Controlled Area (see section 6).
    The union parliamentary committee for constitutional, legal, and 
public administration is responsible for reporting and making 
recommendations regarding human rights. Although the majority of 
committee members were from the ruling CCM party, the committee acted 
independently of government and political party influence, and most 
observers viewed it as an unbiased institution. The committee worked 
closely and cooperated well with CHRAGG.
    The Government continued to host the International Criminal 
Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha and was supportive of, and 
cooperated with, the international court. By year's end there were 21 
detainees on trial, two awaiting trial, and nine cases pending appeal. 
Jean Bosco Uwinkindi, one of 11 remaining fugitives, was arrested in 
Kampala, Uganda, and transferred to the ICTR during the year. He is one 
of the two detainees awaiting trial. During the year the ICRC visited 
prisoners at the ICTR in Arusha.
    In September and October 2009, respectively, Gregoire Ndahimana and 
Idelphonse Nizeyimana were transferred to the ICTR. Ndahimana's trial 
began in September 2010 and continued at year's end. Nizeyimana was 
awaiting trial at year's end. The trial of Augustin Ngirabatware, 
former minister of planning, which began in September 2009, continued 
at year's end.
    On December 22, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1966, 
authorizing the creation of a ``residual mechanism'' for the ICTR to be 
located in Arusha. This mechanism will continue the activities of the 
court on a reduced scale following the closure of the tribunal in June 
2012.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution prohibits discrimination based on nationality, 
ethnicity, political affiliation, race, social status, or religion. 
Discrimination based on gender, age, or disability was not explicitly 
prohibited by law but was discouraged publicly in official statements 
and by government policies. Discrimination against women, refugees, 
minorities, and persons with HIV/AIDS and disabilities persisted, and 
ethnic tensions continued in some parts of the country.

    Women.--The law provides for life imprisonment for persons 
convicted of rape, including spousal rape, but rape continued to be a 
serious problem. In June the senior assistant commissioner of police 
said that gender-based violence had increased and that 123 rape cases 
were reported to police in Dar es Salaam between March and June. 
Countrywide, there were an estimated 3,200 reported rape cases between 
January and June, with 1,549 under investigation. Of those cases sent 
to court, 65 resulted in acquittals and 161 in convictions.
    Police maintained 78 gender and children desks to support victims 
and address relevant crimes.
    During the year in Zanzibar 870 rape cases were treated at the 
Mnazi Mmoja hospital. Mnazi Mmoja in coordination with Save the 
Children United Kingdom's Zanzibar Office, the Zanzibar Female Lawyer's 
Association, police officials, prosecutors, and the Department of 
Social Welfare established a one stop center at the hospital where rape 
victims can receive treatment and counseling as well as report these 
crimes in a safe environment.
    During the year the Zanzibar Female Lawyer's Association received 
108 complaints related to gender-based violence.
    Domestic violence against women remained widespread, and police 
were often reluctant to pursue such cases. The law prohibits assault 
but does not specifically prohibit spousal battery or protect women 
from gender-based violence. There is no unified legal code protecting 
women. Disparate provisions of various statutes offer ineffective 
safeguards against gender-based violence. Cultural, family, and social 
pressures often prevented women from reporting abuses, and authorities 
rarely took action against persons who abused women.
    A survey released in 2008 by the Tanzania Media Women's Association 
indicated that efforts to fight violence against women in Zanzibar were 
undermined by insensitivity to gender-based violence by the police, the 
judicial system, and hospital workers. According to the survey, 
communities considered violence against women a private matter and 
discouraged victims from taking legal action. The handling of such 
cases by police and hospitals discouraged victims from seeking legal 
remedies. Respondents stated that some police officers made humiliating 
comments to women who reported cases of rape and sometimes asked for a 
bribe for their cases to be processed.
    In March the NGO Anti-Female Genital Mutilation Network (AFNET) 
conducted a study in 22 villages in the six wards of Rorya District to 
gauge the prevalence of gender-based violence; 93 percent of 
respondents characterized gender-based violence as a problem.
    The courts recognized domestic violence as grounds for divorce. 
However, women often tolerated prolonged domestic abuse before seeking 
a divorce. Women in urban areas who sought advice from legal aid 
clinics most commonly cited domestic abuse as the reason for seeking a 
divorce.
    In July the Association of Journalists against AIDS in Tanzania and 
the Lindi Women Paralegal Aid Centre conducted a spot survey on gender-
based violence, HIV/AIDS, stigma, and discrimination. The survey cited 
cultural and family pressures as reasons for failure to report 
incidents of gender-based violence. According to Faustin Hokororo, the 
Lindi regional crime officer, light punishments meted out by the courts 
coupled with lack of cooperation from the community when called upon to 
testify in court also hindered efforts to combat the problem.
    During the year NGOs conducted a television campaign to encourage 
women to speak out about gender-based violence. The NGO Tanzania Gender 
Networking Program conducted weekly gender-development seminars during 
the year. Government officials also used public fora to emphasize the 
importance of educating girls.
    The Government generally recognized the right of couples and 
individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and 
timing of their children. There were no restrictions on the right to 
access contraceptives; however, only an estimated 20 percent of women 
used modern contraception, in part due to cultural factors, lack of 
transportation to health clinics, and shortages of contraceptives. The 
Government provided free prenatal, childbirth, and postpartum services 
but lacked sufficient qualified health care professionals as well as 
medical supplies. An estimated 60 percent of approved positions within 
the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare remained unfilled, which 
impeded the work of small, rural clinics. Pregnant women giving birth 
at government health-care facilities throughout the country often had 
to purchase their own medical supplies. Few women took advantage of 
postpartum care. According to the UN Population Fund, the maternal 
mortality ratio was 790 per 100,000 live births, and an estimated 43 
percent of births were attended by skilled personnel in 2008. UN 
sources estimated that a woman's lifetime risk of maternal death was 
one in 23. Men and women received equal access to diagnosis and 
treatment for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment of women in the workplace, but 
no statistics existed on the extent of its occurrence or on 
effectiveness of enforcement. Women in the private sector sometimes 
faced discrimination from employers who believed that household 
obligations were a professional liability. There were reports that 
women were asked for sexual favors in return for promotions.
    Inheritance and marriage laws do not provide for equality for 
women, and women's rights often were not respected. The mainland 
Ministry of Community Development, Women, and Children and the mainland 
Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, as well as their 
counterpart ministries on Zanzibar, are responsible for protecting the 
legal rights of women. Discrimination against women was most acute in 
rural areas. Rural women had little opportunity to attend school or 
obtain wage employment.
    The law gives individuals the right to use, transfer, and occupy 
land without distinction of gender, and recognizes women's occupancy 
rights (all land in Tanzania belongs to the Government), but 
implementation was difficult because most women were unaware of the 
law. Historically, rural women have not acted as primary land occupants 
or managed businesses because of cultural constraints and lack of 
education. Civil society activists reported widespread discrimination 
against women in property matters related to inheritance and divorce. 
This was particularly the case in Zanzibar, but also in some parts of 
the mainland, where activists maintained that judges relied on 
customary and Islamic law in discriminatory fashion. Women were 
particularly vulnerable if they initiated the separation from their 
partners or if their partners died.
    In Zanzibar women between the ages of 18 and 21 who became pregnant 
out of wedlock could be sentenced to perform community service set by 
the Zanzibar director of public prosecution. The provision was not 
applied during the year.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived by birth within the country's 
territory, or if abroad, from one's parents. Only 17 percent of 
children had birth certificates, according to the Registration 
Insolvency and Trusteeship Agency. Registration of births within three 
months is free; however, parents who register their babies after three 
months must pay a fee. To encourage registration, children enrolling in 
preschool must present a registration certificate. However, this 
stipulation was not strictly enforced, and public services were not 
withheld if a child was not registered.
    Primary education was compulsory, free, and universal on both the 
mainland and Zanzibar through the age of 15; however, parents were 
required to pay fees for enrollment beginning in form one, the 
equivalent of the first year of high school. As a result, many children 
did not attend secondary school. Parents were required to pay for 
books, uniforms, and school lunches. There were inadequate numbers of 
teachers, books, and other educational materials to meet the demand, 
which affected the quality and availability of education.
    Girls represented roughly half of all those enrolled in primary 
school but were absent more often due to household duties.
    The law allows head teachers to cane students, and corporal 
punishment in schools remained a problem, although less so than in 
previous years.
    There continued to be reports of teachers raping students during 
the year. For example, on April 28, Omary Muhogo, a Mafuru primary 
school teacher, was arrested and questioned for allegedly raping and 
sexually abusing 13 school children. An investigation continued at 
year's end.
    On June 2, two men appeared before the Ilala Magistrate's Court for 
the rape of two young boys. The accused denied the charges but were 
remanded for failure to meet bail conditions. They remained in prison 
at year's end.
    The law prohibits female genital mutilation (FGM); however, it 
continued to be practiced by some tribes and families. Statutory 
penalties for performing FGM on girls under 18 ranged from five to 15 
years' imprisonment, a fine of TZS 300,000 ($203), or both; however, 
prosecutions were rare, and none were conducted during the year. Many 
police officers and communities were not aware of the law; victims were 
often reluctant to testify; and some witnesses feared reprisals from 
FGM supporters. Some villagers reportedly bribed local leaders not to 
enforce the law in order to carry out FGM on their daughters.
    In March AFNET conducted a study on 22 villages in Rorya District 
in Mara Region on the prevalence of FGM in the region. Girls between 
the ages of 12 and 18 were the primary targets of FGM and were promised 
gifts and money from parents and relatives for undergoing the 
procedure. Some girls believed they would not be married without 
undergoing FGM.
    In 2005 the Ministry of Health estimated that 5 to 15 percent of 
women and girls underwent FGM; their average age was less than 10 years 
old and reportedly included some newborns. FGM was practiced by 
approximately 20 of the country's 130 tribes and was most prevalent in 
the mainland regions of Arusha, Singida, Kilimanjaro, Morogoro, and Dar 
es Salaam.
    In 2009 a local government officer in Singida stated that 254 out 
of 1,046 women who delivered in health clinics in Manyoni District, 
Singida Region, were circumcised. In 2009 AFNET reported that 47 out of 
59 infants and girls up to age five who attended a village clinic in 
Singida Region had undergone FGM. Clitoridectomy, a less severe form of 
FGM, was employed most frequently; however, infibulation, the most 
severe form, was also practiced, mainly in the northern highlands and 
the central zone.
    The Government continued to implement the 2001-15 National Plan of 
Action for the Prevention and Eradication of Violence Against Women and 
Children, which enlisted the support of practitioners and community 
leaders in eradicating FGM. AFNET worked with education officers in the 
Serengeti to increase awareness about the negative effects of FGM. The 
NGO worked specifically with a group of students between the ages of 10 
and 13 to help them gain the confidence to refuse the practice.
    In the Mara Region, where FGM is prevalent, it was reported in 
November that 5,000 girls were at risk of FGM. The Tarime-based 
Termination of Female Genital Mutilation Society, in conjunction with 
the Children's Dignity Fund, launched an educational campaign to 
educate girls on the health risks associated with FGM.
    The law provides that girls as young as 15 can marry with the 
consent of parents or guardians, although no consent is required for 
orphaned girls without guardians. The courts also have discretion to 
allow the marriages of 14-year-old girls in the case of pregnancy. 
Additionally, the law allows Muslim and Hindu girls to marry as young 
as 12 so long as the marriage is not consummated until the girl reaches 
the age of 15. To circumvent these laws, offenders bribed police or 
paid a bride price to the family of the girl to avoid prosecution.
    On Zanzibar, there are multiple laws that define the age of a 
child, including the Penal Code, which defines a child as an individual 
under the age of 18 who is not married or hasn't given birth, and the 
Young Offenders Decree, which defines a child as being under 14 years. 
Under Islamic law, however, the age at which a child reaches puberty 
determines whether she or he is still a child.
    The law provides that sexual intercourse with a child under 18 
years is rape, regardless of consent; however, the law was not 
enforced.
    The law criminalizes child pornography and child prostitution; 
however, sexual exploitation and trafficking in persons, including 
children, were problems. Persons found guilty of such offenses were 
subject to a fine ranging from one million TZS ($678) to TZS 500 
million ($339,000) and/or a prison term of one to 20 years.
    Children with albinism were killed for their body parts. For 
example:
    On February 8, a man armed with a machete attempted to chop off the 
legs of 12-month-old Fatma Mohammed in Ruvu village; five persons were 
arrested and subsequently released on bail. The case remained pending 
at year's end.
    On April 18, in Kitahama village, Kigoma Region, unidentified 
persons abducted and killed four-year-old Naimana Daudi; the girl's 
left leg and left arm had been severed. The police arrested a teacher, 
who remained in prison awaiting trial at year's end.
    On April 26, in Luhaga village, Shinyanga Region, attackers severed 
the arm of 13-year-old Kabula Nkalango; no arrests had been made by 
year's end.
    In October a 10-year-old boy with albinism was killed by attackers 
who were trying to sever one of his lower limbs. At year's end no one 
had been charged for the killing.
    In July the Tabora Court of Appeal upheld an earlier judgment which 
sentenced three men to death for the killing of 13-year-old Matatizo 
Dunia.
    Infanticide continued to be a problem, especially among poor rural 
mothers who believed themselves unable to afford to raise a child.
    According to the National HIV/AIDS and Malaria Indicator Survey of 
2007-08, approximately 11 percent of children on the mainland under the 
age of 18 were orphans (defined as having one or two deceased parents) 
and 9 percent were considered to be vulnerable to exploitation; in 
Zanzibar the figures were 7 and 4 percent, respectively. Most orphans 
were absorbed into other families, but those who were not taken in by 
extended family members received additional support and counseling from 
the Government and several state- and privately sponsored NGOs.
    There were significant numbers of street children in Dar es Salaam, 
Mwanza, and Arusha. Street children had limited access to health and 
education services because they lacked a fixed address or money to 
purchase medicines, school uniforms, and books. They were also 
vulnerable to sexual abuse.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international child abduction, please see the Department of State's 
annual report on compliance at http://www.travel.state.gov/abduction/
resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish population was very small, and there 
were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in person, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution prohibits 
discrimination against persons with disabilities. During the year the 
Government passed the Persons with Disability Act, although 
implementing regulations had not been promulgated by year's end. 
Approximately 10 percent of the total population consisted of persons 
with some disability, and persons with physical disabilities were 
effectively restricted in employment, education, access to health care, 
and other state services by physical barriers and inadequate financial 
resources. Although the Government mandates access to public buildings, 
transportation, and government services for persons with disabilities, 
few buildings were accessible. New public buildings were being built in 
compliance with the law, but funds to retrofit existing structures were 
unavailable.
    There were five members of the mainland parliament with 
disabilities, including one elected member of parliament from Lindi who 
has albinism.
    The Ministries of Education, Justice, and Labor are responsible for 
enforcing the protection of rights of persons with disabilities for 
education, legal claims, and labor rights, respectively. The Department 
of Social Welfare has responsibility for coordinating matters related 
to persons with disabilities.
    In 2009 the Government started an education initiative to integrate 
students with disabilities into mainstream schools; however, the 
program lacked adequate funding. For example, braille paper and tape 
recorders were generally not available for blind students.

    Indigenous People.--On April 12, local authorities dispersed women 
from 12 villages in Loliondo, Ngorongoro District, who had gathered to 
demonstrate against their July 2009 evictions from the Loliondo Game 
Controlled Area (LGCA) and the burning of their homesteads, as well as 
against suspected government plans to redraw village boundaries that 
would exclude them from key Maasai pastures. Authorities also arrested 
and detained NGO activists who police alleged were responsible for 
inciting the protest.
    During the year FEMACT concluded that local security forces had 
conducted ``ruthless eviction operations'' in forcibly evicting farmers 
and burning their homes and crops in August 2009 in the LGCA, where 
foreign corporations own the rights to hunt. In August 2009 
international NGOs reported that local field force units forcibly 
evicted Maasai pastoralists from their homes in the LGCA. In 1992 the 
Government gave a foreign corporation the rights to hunt in the LGCA 
during certain periods of the year. The pastoralists typically moved 
from the LGCA during hunting season, but when they did not do so in 
2007, the field force units allegedly forcibly removed the Maasai and 
burned their homes and crops. Pastoralists who refused to move were 
arrested. The Government claimed that those evicted were Kenyans and 
criticized NGOs for exaggerating the situation. In mid-September 2009 
CHRAGG sent a team to investigate the alleged human rights abuses. In 
its report, released in May, it found that no gross human rights 
violations were committed by field force units in Loliondo and that the 
eviction was conducted using reasonable force. However, CHRAGG 
suggested that the disputed area be surveyed and properly demarcated to 
avoid such disputes in the future.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Homosexuality is illegal on 
the mainland and in Zanzibar. On the mainland the offense is punishable 
by up to five years in prison. The law in Zanzibar establishes a 
penalty of up to 25 years' imprisonment for men who engage in 
homosexual relationships and seven years for women in lesbian 
relationships. Since the burden of proof in such cases is significant, 
the law is rarely applied, and there were no reports that anyone was 
punished under the law during the year. In the past individuals 
suspected of being gay or lesbian were instead charged with loitering 
or prostitution. Gays, lesbians, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) 
persons faced societal discrimination, which restricted their access to 
healthcare, housing, and employment.
    During the year a coalition of NGOs worked together to advocate for 
the rights of LGBT persons, including the repeal of the penal code 
provision criminalizing homosexuality. However, societal discrimination 
forced organizations advocating for these rights to operate discreetly, 
often impeding the efficacy of their outreach and advocacy.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The HIV/AIDS Act of 
2008 prohibits discrimination against any person ``known or perceived'' 
to be HIV positive and establishes medical standards for 
confidentiality to protect persons living with HIV/AIDS. The Act also 
criminalizes the deliberate transmission of HIV. As of October draft 
regulations had been submitted to the attorney general for review and 
recommendations.
    According to a founding member of the Parliamentarians' AIDS 
Coalition, parliamentarians and other persons in general were more open 
to discussing HIV/AIDS than in the past. During the year the coalition 
funded awareness raising campaigns in 10 constituencies focusing on the 
prevention of mother-to-child transmission, feeding and nutrition, 
orphans and vulnerable children, and other HIV/AIDS related issues.
    According to the 2007/08 HIV/AIDS and Malaria Indicator Survey, 
there was little change in attitudes towards persons living with HIV/
AIDS since the previous survey in 2003/04. There were continuing 
reports that discrimination in housing, healthcare, and education 
continued to occur against the estimated 1.3 million persons in the 
country living with HIV/AIDS.
    The Government, working with NGOs, continued to sensitize the 
public about HIV/AIDS-related discrimination and to create safeguards 
for HIV/AIDS patients' human rights. A network of lawyers, 
policymakers, and doctors continued lobbying efforts and other 
activities to deal with legal, ethical, and human rights problems 
associated with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The union and Zanzibar governments 
have separate labor laws. Workers on the mainland had the right to form 
and join independent trade unions. Trade unions must consist of more 
than 20 employees and were required to register with the Government. A 
trade union or employers' association must register within six months 
of its establishment; failure to register is a criminal offense. The 
registrar in the Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Youth Development 
exerted significant power over trade unions, including the right to 
deregister unions if overlap existed within an enterprise. Unions had 
to submit financial records and a membership list to the registrar 
annually. The registrar could suspend a trade union if it determined 
that the union violated the law or endangered public security. 
Association with an international trade union required government 
approval.
    Approximately 33 percent of the formal sector work force (550,000 
workers) belonged to the Trade Union Congress of Tanzania (TUCTA), the 
sole labor federation. In the agricultural sector, the country's 
largest employment sector, an estimated 5 to 8 percent of the work 
force was unionized. Strikes were very infrequent on both the mainland 
and Zanzibar.
    Mainland workers have the legal right to strike, and employers have 
the right to a lockout after complying with certain legal requirements 
and procedures. These rights are qualified according to the law. For 
example, all parties to a dispute may be bound by an agreement to 
arbitrate, and neither party may then engage in a strike or a lockout 
until that process has been completed.
    In April TUCTA announced it would hold a nationwide strike starting 
on May 5, if the Government failed to increase salaries to TZS 315,000 
($214), reduce income taxes, and address pension disparities. Although 
TUCTA and the Government entered into negotiations through the 
Commission for Mediation and Arbitration, TUCTA continued to threaten 
to strike. On May 3, President Kikwete publicly criticized union 
officials and warned workers not to take part in the strike. TUCTA 
called off the strike the day before it was scheduled to start. On May 
8, TUCTA and the Government agreed to continue their negotiations. In 
mid-June the Government reached an agreement with TUCTA to increase 
minimum wages and exempted low wage government workers from income tax.
    In 2008 the Government was granted a court injunction to stop 
hundreds of thousands of teachers from striking over unpaid salaries 
and allowances. A judge ordered the teachers and the Government into 
arbitration before allowing the teachers to go on strike. In September 
2009 the Government stated it was verifying and auditing teacher claims 
for salaries and allowances but planned to make payment in October. The 
audit was completed in late October 2009 and teachers began receiving 
their payments. Although there continued to be some complaints about 
back wages, they were not on a similar scale or which involved the 
court.
    A lawful strike or lockout is protected and does not constitute a 
breach of contract, nor can it be considered a criminal offense. An 
employer may not terminate the employment of an employee for 
participating in a lawful strike or terminate an employee who accedes 
to the demands of an employer during a lockout.
    The law restricts the right to strike when to do so would endanger 
the life and health of the population. Workers in certain sectors 
(water and sanitation, electricity, health services and associated 
laboratory services, firefighting, air traffic control, civil aviation 
telecommunications, and any transport services required for the 
provisions of these services) are restricted from striking. Workers in 
other sectors may also be subject to this limitation.
    The labor law in Zanzibar applies to both public- and to private-
sector workers. Government workers do have the right to strike as long 
as they follow procedures outlined in the Employment Act of 2005. They 
are not allowed to join mainland-based labor unions. The Zanzibar labor 
law requires a union with 50 or more members to be registered and sets 
literacy standards for trade-union officers. There were 14 trade unions 
on Zanzibar, and an estimated 40 percent of the Zanzibar workforce is 
unionized. In collaboration with the International Labor Organization 
(ILO), the Government worked to draft regulations under the Employment 
Act of 2005 to facilitate a smooth implementation of the act. However, 
the regulations were not approved by the Labor Advisory Board and were 
being redrafted at year's end.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for collective bargaining in the private sector, and workers 
and employers practiced it freely during the year. In the public 
sector, the Government set wages administratively, including for 
employees of state-owned organizations.
    On the mainland disputes were regulated and resolved by mediation 
through the Commission for Mediation and Arbitration. If the mediator 
failed to resolve a dispute within 30 days of referral, or any longer 
period agreed upon in writing by both parties, either party to the 
dispute may give notice of its intention to commence a strike or 
lockout. If the mediation fails to resolve the complaint, the 
Commission for Mediation and Arbitration may appoint an arbitrator to 
decide the dispute, or it may be referred to the labor court.
    In practice many private-sector employers adopted antiunion 
policies or tactics. On the mainland the law prohibits discriminatory 
activities by an employer against union members; however, in August 
2009 an ILO consultant told the Daily News that trade union rights were 
affected by antiunion discrimination and limitations on the right to 
strike. In some instances employers did not allow unions to recruit at 
their work sites and threatened employees interested in joining a union 
with termination. These cases were reportedly resolved informally. The 
law required employers found guilty of antiunion activities to 
reinstate workers.
    On the mainland there were five industrial zones operating as 
export processing zones (EPZs). There were also 35 developer licensees 
and 34 operator licensees functioning as single factory zones. In 
Zanzibar there were three free economic zones, which were treated as 
EPZs. There were no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws 
in EPZs.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor; however, there were reports that such 
practices, especially involving children, occurred. In some instances, 
girls from rural areas were forced to do domestic work, while boys were 
sent to work on farms, in mines, and in the informal business sector. 
In 2009 the International Office of Migration reported that men from 
Malawi were forced to work in the fishing industry.
    The law allows prisoners to work without pay on construction and 
agriculture projects within prisons both to develop the skills of the 
prisoners and reduce the costs of operating the prisons. Prisoners were 
also used as labor on projects outside of the prison, such as road 
repair and government construction projects.
    See also the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits the exploitation of children in the workplace. Under the 
law the minimum age for contractual employment is 14. Children over 14 
(but under 18) could be employed only to do light work unlikely to harm 
their health and development or attendance at school. Children under 
the age of 18 may not crew on a ship or be employed in a mine, factory, 
or any other worksite where working conditions could be hazardous.
    The law establishes criminal penalties for employers of child labor 
as well as forced labor; violators could be fined an amount not 
exceeding TZS 4.68 million ($3,172), imprisonment for one year, or 
both. Although the Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Youth Development 
reportedly conducted inspections and issued warnings to violators of 
child labor statutes, there were no reported child labor cases brought 
to court during the year. Likewise, Zanzibar's Ministry of Labor, Youth 
Development, Women, and Children did not take legal action related to 
child labor.
    A shortage of inspectors on the mainland and in Zanzibar resulted 
in limited enforcement of child labor provisions, and child labor 
continued to be a problem. According to the Integrated Labor Force 
Survey of 2006, approximately 19 percent of children ages five to 17 
years were engaged in child labor on the mainland. In Zanzibar an 
estimated 8 percent of children ages five to 17 were engaged in child 
labor.
    Child labor was widespread in Tanzania and Zanzibar. Children work 
as domestic help, street vendors and shop keepers, as well as in small-
scale agriculture (e.g., coffee, sisal, tea, and tobacco), family-based 
businesses, fishing, and artisanal mining. In Zanzibar, children work 
primarily in transportation, fishing, clove picking, domestic labor, 
small businesses, and gravel making.
    During the year the Government worked closely with stakeholders to 
reduce child labor especially at the district, ward, and village level. 
Government leaders were committed to ending child labor in their 
localities and worked in collaboration with international NGOs to 
withdraw children from child labor during the year.
    During the year the Zanzibar Ministry of Employment, Youth, Women, 
and Children withdrew 600 children from child labor in the fishing, 
seaweed farming, and quarrying industries on the islands. In May the 
ministry conducted a seminar for its steering committee on child labor 
to develop an action plan to address child labor and educate 
participants about the dangers of child labor.
    On the mainland the Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Youth 
Development was responsible for enforcement of labor laws, together 
with the Commission for Mediation and Arbitration and the labor court.
    Several government ministries, including the Ministry of Labor, 
Employment, and Youth Development, had special child labor focal 
persons.
    In 2009 the Government instituted a number of policies aimed at 
decreasing child labor. These included the establishment of the Child 
Labor Monitoring System to coordinate all national efforts related to 
child labor as well as the creation of District child labor 
subcommittees. While the Ministry of Labor continued its monitoring 
efforts during the year, it reported that its implementing partners 
failed to provide it with data concerning their efforts to withdraw or 
prevent children from engaging in child labor. The ministry conducted a 
limited number of monitoring visits to regions where child labor is 
prevalent. Child labor issues were integrated into the Complementary 
Basic Education curriculum and the teacher-training college curriculum.
    Other measures to ameliorate the problem included ensuring that 
children of school age attended school, imposing penalties on parents 
who did not enroll their children in school, and sensitizing employers 
in the formal sector against employing children below the age of 18.
    In 2009 the Government revised the Child Development Policy to 
include prohibitions against the worst forms of child labor. During the 
year it continued to conduct outreach to educate citizens about the 
policy, particularly through its promotion of the children's agenda.
    The national intersectoral committee on child labor within the 
Office of the Prime Minister, which includes representatives from 
several ministries and the NGO community, has not met since September 
2009. According to an ILO official, the Government expressed its 
commitment to fight child labor and strengthen local structures for its 
elimination.
    The Government collaborated with NGOs by providing technical 
expertise in agriculture and qualified trainers, as well as the 
necessary allowances and in some cases a budget to support child labor 
related activities. For example, the Igunga District Council set aside 
seven million TZS ($4,745) for child labor related activities in 2009.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The mainland government raised 
the minimum wage in both the public and private sectors in July and 
exempted low wage government workers from income tax. The new minimum 
wage standards were divided into eight employment sectors, the lowest 
minimum wage was TZS 70,000 ($47) per month for workers in the 
agricultural sector and the highest was TZS 350,000 ($237) per month 
for workers in the mineral and aviation sectors. These monthly wages 
were above the poverty line of TZS 13,998 ($10) per month per person 
established by the 2006/07 Household Budget Survey. The labor laws 
cover all workers, including foreign and migrant workers.
    The Government of Zanzibar increased the minimum wage rate from TZS 
80,000 ($54) to TZS 100,000 ($68) per month during the year.
    In 2009 there were reports that some employers offered only short-
term contracts of three to six months to avoid the salary and benefit 
requirements. In 2009 trade unions expressed their discontent over pay 
raises given by the Government to certain high-level government 
officials, including judges, ministers, and their deputies, as well as 
regional and district commissioners.
    There was no standard legal workweek for private-sector workers, 
but most private employers retained a six-day, 44- to 48-hour workweek. 
A five-day, 40-hour workweek was in effect for government workers. 
Under most circumstances, it was illegal to employ women to work 
between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.; however, employers frequently ignored 
this restriction. The ILO reported in 2009 that some workers were 
forced to work overtime under the threat of being fired.
    Several laws regulate safety in the workplace. The Ministry of 
Labor, Employment, and Youth Development managed an inspection system; 
however, its effectiveness was limited due to lack of resources and the 
small number of labor officers available to conduct the inspections. 
Labor standards were not enforced in the informal sector, where most of 
the workforce was employed.
    Workers could sue an employer if their working conditions did not 
comply with the Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Youth Development's 
health and environmental standards. Disputes were generally resolved 
through the Commission for Mediation and Arbitration. There were no 
exceptions for foreign or migrant workers.

                               __________

                                  TOGO

    Togo, with a population of 6.6 million, is a republic governed by 
President Faure Gnassingbe, who was reelected on March 4 in a process 
characterized by international observers as generally free and fair. 
The election presented a stark contrast to the 2005 presidential 
election, which was accompanied by systematic fraud, voter 
intimidation, and widespread violence. Following the announcement of 
the official election results, limited incidents of violence between 
security forces and opposition protesters occurred. The military 
strongly backed the ruling Rally of the Togolese People (RPT), which 
dominated politics and maintained firm control over all levels of the 
highly centralized government. Security forces reported to civilian 
authorities.
    Human rights problems in the country included: security force use 
of excessive force, including torture, which resulted in deaths and 
injuries; official impunity; harsh and life-threatening prison 
conditions; arbitrary arrests and detention; lengthy pretrial 
detention; executive influence over the judiciary; infringement of 
citizens' privacy rights; restrictions on freedoms of press, assembly, 
and movement; official corruption; discrimination and violence against 
women; child abuse, including female genital mutilation (FGM), and 
sexual exploitation of children; regional and ethnic discrimination; 
trafficking in persons, especially women and children; societal 
discrimination against persons with disabilities; official and societal 
discrimination against homosexual persons; societal discrimination 
against persons with HIV; and forced labor, including by 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 several 
reports that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings during the year.
    Security forces killed striking demonstrators during the year (see 
section 2.b.).
    On May 28, Amnesty International (AI) reported that several persons 
died in detention in 2009 ``probably as a result of torture or other 
ill-treatment.''
    According to a June 24 report by Freedom House, three bodyguards of 
Kpatcha Gnassingbe, the president's half brother, were killed during 
the army's April 2009 raid on the home of Gnassingbe, who was suspected 
of coup plotting.
    In May 2009 the Government established a Truth, Justice, and 
Reconciliation Commission in response to public and international 
pressure to account for the complaints lodged by victims of political 
violence between 1958 and 2005. The commission, which has no power to 
prosecute or grant amnesty, held public hearings and began taking 
individual statements during the summer.

    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 
January 2009 a UN special rapporteur found evidence that police and 
gendarmes abused detainees during interrogation, guards beat prisoners, 
and young persons and children were at risk of corporal punishment 
while in detention. The Government did not prosecute officials for such 
abuses, and impunity remained a problem.
    Information surfaced during the year that detainees died from 
torture in March 2009 (see section 1.a.).
    Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of attacks on or 
intimidation of human rights workers.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions remained 
harsh with serious overcrowding, poor sanitation, and unhealthy food. 
At year's end the expanded Central Prison of Lome, which was built for 
666 prisoners, held 1,925 prisoners. In April 2009 the media reported 
that prisoners were dying of hunger and received typically one meal a 
day worth 150 CFA francs ($0.31). During the year the warden of the 
central prison confirmed that adult prisoners received one meal a day, 
and juveniles were provided three. Medical facilities were inadequate, 
and disease and drug abuse were widespread. Sick prisoners reportedly 
had to pay 1,500 CFA francs ($3.12) to guards before being allowed to 
visit the infirmary. There were reports that prison officials sometimes 
withheld medical treatment from prisoners. Lawyers and journalists 
reported that prison guards charged prisoners a small fee to shower, 
use the toilet, or have a place to sleep. Local press reported that 
prison guards sexually harassed female prisoners.
    While there were no official statistics on the number of prison 
deaths, the warden of the central prison confirmed 22 prisoner deaths 
during the year from various causes, including asthma, hypertension, 
and tuberculosis.
    As of October 11, there were 4,116 prisoners in the country's 12 
prisons and jails. There were 28 juveniles held in the Brigade for 
Minors during the summer, 10 of whom were released at the start of the 
school year. Infants of female prisoners and detainees were placed in 
the care of private nurseries, which received government support. 
Pretrial detainees were not held separately from convicted prisoners.
    Prisoners and detainees were granted reasonable access to visitors 
and were permitted religious observance.
    Authorities permitted prisoners and detainees to submit complaints 
to judicial authorities without censorship and request investigation of 
credible allegations of inhumane conditions. However, authorities 
rarely investigated such complaints and did not publicly document such 
investigations. The Government monitored and investigated prison and 
detention center conditions only rarely, and official impunity was a 
problem.
    Ombudsmen did not serve on behalf of prisoners and detainees to 
consider such matters as alternatives to incarceration, the status and 
circumstances of juvenile confinement, improving pretrial detention, or 
recordkeeping procedures. However, the Ministry of Justice continued to 
work on ameliorating these problems through its multi-year reform 
program financed by the European Union.
    Local NGOs accredited by the Ministry of Justice could visit the 
prisons anytime, although the accreditation process could take up to a 
year. International NGOs must negotiate an agreement with the 
Government to gain similar access to prisons. During the year the 
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and other international 
human rights organizations were allowed prison access. Only 
internationally recognized groups such as the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the ICRC were granted access to 
National Intelligence Agency (NIA) detention facilities.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, the Government did 
not always respect these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The security forces 
consist of the army, navy, air force, national security service 
(including the national police and investigation bureau), and the 
gendarmerie. The NIA is responsible for domestic and foreign 
intelligence and security, including criminal investigations. The 
police are under the direction of the Ministry of Security and Civil 
Protection, which reports to the prime minister. The Ministry of 
Defense, which reports directly to the president, oversees the military 
and the gendarmerie. Police and gendarmes are responsible for law 
enforcement and maintenance of order. The army is in charge of external 
security. Approximately 80 percent of the army's officers and soldiers 
were from the Kabye ethnic group, which constituted 23 percent of the 
population and to which the current and previous presidents belonged.
    Police generally were ineffective and corrupt, and impunity was a 
problem. Police often failed to respond to societal violence. The 
Government generally did not investigate or punish effectively those 
who committed abuses, including unlawful killings and disappearances. 
No progress was made in examining complaints from more than 100 victims 
of human rights abuses committed during the 2005 presidential election 
(see section 1.a.). In 2007 the victims were asked to pay 25,000 CFA 
francs ($52) to the court to move their cases forward. Some were unable 
to pay and withdrew their complaints. Others paid the requested fee but 
still saw no progress on their cases during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
authorizes judges, senior police officials, prefects, and mayors to 
issue arrest warrants; however, persons were detained arbitrarily and 
secretly. 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. 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. Family members and attorneys officially had access to a detainee 
after 48 or 96 hours of detention, but authorities often delayed, and 
sometimes denied, access.
    Security forces arbitrarily arrested opposition members during the 
year (see sections 1.e. and 3).
    During the year the Government arrested and detained political 
prisoners, all of whom were released by year's end (see section 1.e.).
    The 33 persons arrested in April 2009 for suspected coup plotting, 
including Kpatcha Gnassingbe, one of the president's half brothers and 
a national assembly member, remained in detention (see section 1.e.).
    The law prohibits arrest for civil debt; however, according to the 
Togolese League of Human Rights, an unknown number of persons were 
arrested for outstanding debts and detained in gendarmeries and police 
stations for more than 48 hours.
    A shortage of judges and other qualified personnel, as well as 
official inaction, resulted in lengthy pretrial detention and 
confinement of prisoners for periods exceeding the time they would have 
served if tried and convicted. Almost 80 percent of inmates were 
pretrial detainees. The Togolese League of Human Rights reported that a 
man suspected of stealing a chicken remained in pretrial detention for 
a year.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Although the constitution provides 
for an independent judiciary, the executive branch continued to exert 
control over the judiciary, and corruption was a problem. Lawyers often 
bribed judges to influence the outcome of cases. The court system 
remained overburdened and understaffed.
    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 the 
ruling RPT and reportedly received the most prestigious assignments, 
while judges who advocated an independent judiciary and belonged to the 
ANM or SMT often were assigned to second-tier positions.
    A military tribunal exists for crimes committed by security forces; 
its proceedings were closed. The military court cannot try civilians 
and does not accord military defendants the same rights as civilians.

    Trial Procedures.--The judicial system employs both traditional law 
and the Napoleonic Code in trying criminal and civil cases. Defendants 
do not enjoy a presumption of innocence. Trials were open to the 
public, juries were used, and judicial procedures generally were 
respected. Defendants have the right to be present at their trials and 
have the right to counsel and to appeal. All defendants have the right 
to an attorney, and the bar association provides attorneys for the 
indigent. Defendants may confront witnesses and present witnesses and 
evidence on their own behalf. The preceding rights were respected in 
practice. Defendants have the right to access government-held evidence 
relevant to their cases, but in practice that right was not respected.
    The law extends these rights to all citizens, but not to persons 
convicted in the military court. Women who were uneducated or came from 
rural areas tended not to be aware of or feared claiming their rights.
    In rural areas the village chief or a council of elders is 
authorized to try minor criminal and civil cases. Those who reject the 
traditional authority may take their cases to the regular court system, 
which is the starting point for cases in urban areas.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--The Government arrested and 
held 16 political detainees in connection with the March 4 presidential 
election; however, the Government denied it held political detainees or 
prisoners. On March 3, five were arrested in Akoumape; on March 6, four 
were arrested in Lome; on May 9, six were arrested in Bassar, the home 
town of opposition candidate Kofi Yamgnane; and on August 11, another 
person was arrested for refusing to obey police directives not to 
attend an unauthorized opposition vigil. The 16 were charged with 
inciting violence. As of September, according to AI and the League of 
Togolese Human Rights, all 16 had been released. Some were held for 
weeks and others for six months, but none had been mistreated, 
according to AI. The Government permitted access to such persons on a 
regular basis by international humanitarian organizations.
    The 33 persons arrested in April 2009 for suspected coup plotting, 
including presidential half brother Kpatcha Gnassingbe, remained in 
detention. Most of the detainees were held by the NIA and charged with 
offences against the security of the state, conspiracy, rebellion, and 
``voluntary violence''; those charged with inciting violence were held 
at Kara civil prison in the north. According to AI, some of the 
detainees were initially held incommunicado, and several had been 
denied family visits. Lawyers were sometimes denied access to their 
clients. The ICRC and other human rights organizations were initially 
denied access to the detainees, but subsequently granted access. On 
September 30, another suspect was arrested in Abidjan in connection 
with the alleged plot and extradited to Togo.
    The six opposition members arrested after the 2005 election were 
released from Kara civil prison during the year. During their 
incarceration the Government permitted regular access to them by 
international humanitarian organizations and the League of Togolese 
Human Rights.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Both the constitution and 
the law provide for civil and administrative remedies for wrongdoing, 
but the judiciary did not respect such provisions, and most citizens 
were unaware of them.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions, and 
the Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice. In 
criminal cases a judge or senior police official may authorize searches 
of private residences; in political and national security cases, 
security forces need no prior authorization.
    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 and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government 
continued to restrict these rights. Numerous journalists were fined or 
sued, usually for defamation, and President Faure personally initiated 
several lawsuits, which he subsequently dropped. Impunity for past 
crimes against journalists encouraged self-censorship.
    Although the Government did not officially censor individual 
expression, persons were reluctant to criticize the Government publicly 
or privately due to past violent reprisals by government agents and the 
possibility of civil liability.
    The High Authority of Audiovisuals and Communications (HAAC) was 
established to provide for 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 the Government's censorship arm.
    For example, following the disruption of the April 2009 alleged 
coup plot led by Kpatcha Gnassingbe (see section 1.a.), the HAAC issued 
an order banning all radio and television programs in which the public 
was allowed to express its opinion; the ban was lifted a few days 
later.
    In October the Government passed a law that provides the HAAC with 
the power to impose severe penalties, including suspending publications 
for up to six months, withdrawing press cards, and seizing equipment 
from journalists responsible for ``serious errors.''
    There was a lively independent press, most of which was heavily 
politicized, with some highly critical of the Government. More than 25 
privately owned newspapers were published with some regularity. The 
official media heavily slanted their content in favor of the 
Government.
    On August 25, a criminal court judge banned indefinitely the 
distribution of Tribune d'Afrique, a newspaper based in Benin but with 
a bureau in Lome. The newspaper had published an investigative series 
on the alleged involvement of Mey Gnassingbe, a half brother of the 
president, in drug trafficking. The judge ordered the newspaper to pay 
60 million CFA francs ($125,000) to President Faure and fined the Togo-
based editor and two reporters two million CFA francs ($4,166) each. On 
August 25, defense lawyer Darius Atsoo filed an appeal, noting the 
newspaper did not have a lawyer during the trial and was not able to 
present a defense. Observers noted that the fines were excessive, and 
that if upheld on appeal, could bankrupt the newspaper.
    Information surfaced during the year that in December 2009 a Lome 
court fined independent periodical Golfe Info 1.5 million CFA francs 
($3,125) and ordered it to pay 82.3 million CFA francs ($17,450) 
directly to the NIA; suspend all publication for two months; and 
retract the offending September story and any subsequent coverage of 
it. The original article had claimed that a celebrity who was allegedly 
involved in drug trafficking had worked as a project officer for the 
presidential administration.
    Radio remained the most important medium of mass communication, and 
there were approximately 100 radio stations, most of which were 
privately owned.
    Information surfaced during the year that military personnel in 
July 2009 assaulted a reporter with the private FM Radio Metropolys; 
the reporter had failed to heed the directions of military forces 
deployed to a construction zone. After the beating, the journalist 
called a demonstration, which was forbidden by authorities and 
dispersed by gendarmes.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports the radio 
journalists were suspended after criticizing authorities.
    The Government-owned Togo Television was the only major television 
station. Eight smaller television stations operated during the year.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no known government restrictions on 
access to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail 
or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2009, 
approximately 5.7 percent of the country's inhabitants subscribed to an 
Internet service provider, and 15 percent used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The Government intimidated 
academics by maintaining a security force presence at the University of 
Lome. According to students and professors, a government informant 
system continued to exist, and undercover gendarmes attended classes.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly; 
however, the Government generally restricted this right. The Government 
prevented opposition supporters from meeting and forcibly dispersed 
demonstrations on several occasions during the year, which resulted in 
deaths.
    On March 24, the gendarmerie fired tear gas into a crowd of 
opposition supporters, who were beating an undercover gendarme 
discovered among them. In the ensuing panic, several persons were 
injured.
    Following the March 24 violence, the minister of security decreed 
that no further demonstrations, marches, or public meetings to protest 
the election results would be tolerated. The Government subsequently 
deployed police and gendarmes, who used tear gas to prevent 
demonstrations. Although the ban remained in effect, the Government 
allowed the opposition UFC party to conduct weekly Saturday marches and 
Wednesday prayer vigils until August, when the Government again 
enforced the ban.
    On June 22, the gendarmerie used live ammunition, batons, and tear 
gas to disperse protests over a 20 percent increase in fuel prices, 
resulting in several deaths and numerous injuries.
    On August 10, gendarmes used tear gas to disperse UFC supporters 
who gathered at a church for their annual congress. Police equipped 
with batons, tear gas, and live ammunition formed a line to block 
access to the road leading to UFC headquarters. After the UFC held its 
two congresses in early August, the Government denied permission for 
the weekly Wednesday noon prayer vigil and an August 14 march and rally 
at the beach.
    No action was taken against security forces who in January 2009 
severely beat students at the African School for Architecture and Urban 
Planning, who were protesting school management and poor campus 
security following numerous muggings of students.

    Freedom of Association.--Under the constitution and law, citizens 
have the right to organize associations and political parties, and the 
Government generally respected this right in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the Department of State's 2010 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation; however, the Government restricted some of these rights 
in practice. The Government cooperated with the UNHCR and other 
humanitarian organizations in providing protection and assistance to 
internally displaced persons, refugees, returning refugees, asylum 
seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    Checkpoints with armed security personnel and arbitrary searches of 
vehicles and individuals were common. There were four official 
checkpoints in the country as well as numerous unofficial checkpoints 
where security forces solicited bribes and impeded movement.
    The constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not 
employ it. Several opposition and human rights workers remained in 
self-imposed exile, claiming they feared arrest. However, many who fled 
in the early 1990s returned, including the current foreign minister.
    According to the UNHCR, approximately 3,000 Togolese refugees 
remained in Benin; the number in Ghana was unknown. They received 
assistance from the UNHCR, which facilitated repatriation for those 
wishing to return to the country and local integration for refugees who 
would not or could not return.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws do not provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, but the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice 
the Government provided protection against the expulsion or return of 
refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened 
on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a 
particular social group, or political opinion.
    In March and again in April approximately 300 Ghanaian refugees 
fled a violent land dispute in northeast Ghana and crossed the border 
into Togo, according to the UNHCR. Refugees reportedly outnumbered the 
host community, and many of the refugees were living in schools and 
other public buildings or staying in tents provided by the Government.
    The Government facilitated local integration for longstanding 
Ghanaian refugee populations that remained in the country. Most were 
well integrated in host communities and required no humanitarian 
assistance. A voluntary repatriation program for 508 Ghanaian refugees 
remained unimplemented due to lack of resources.
    The Government continued to provide temporary protection to 
approximately 521 individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the 
1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 
protocol.
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 the March 4 
presidential election.

    Elections and Political Participation.--On March 4, president and 
ruling RPT candidate Faure Gnassingbe was reelected with 61 percent of 
votes cast. The Constitutional Court rejected opposition claims of 
fraud and vote buying, citing lack of evidence. International and 
national observers monitoring the election declared it generally free, 
fair, transparent, and peaceful. Unlike the 2005 presidential election, 
which resulted in approximately 400 deaths and the flight from the 
country of an estimated 40,000 persons, the March election occurred 
with minimal violence.
    Political parties are required to provide 48-hour advance 
notification to the Government for any public activity. They are also 
subject to restrictions in calling for demonstrations or strikes, which 
may be monitored by security forces.
    The Government arrested opposition members during the year and 
banned political demonstrations (see section 1.e.).
    The UFC, the largest opposition party, split into two factions 
following the March election, one led by presidential runner-up Jean 
Pierre Fabre and the other led by UFC president Gilchrist Olympio, who 
agreed to join the ruling RPT. As a result of a May 26 accord between 
Olympio and the Government, President Faure named seven UFC ministers 
to his cabinet. Competing UFC party congresses on August 10 and 12 
formally ratified the split by excluding rival leaders from party 
leadership. Noting the split, the Government banned UFC weekly marches, 
justifying the action on the grounds that Fabre was no longer the legal 
head or voice of the UFC.
    The Government remained highly centralized. The national government 
appointed officials and controlled the budgets of government entities 
at all levels, including prefectures and municipalities, and influenced 
the selection of traditional chiefs.
    There were nine female members of the national assembly and seven 
female ministers in the 32-member cabinet.
    Members of the southern ethnic groups remained underrepresented in 
both the Government and military.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. 
According to the World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators for 2009, 
government corruption was a severe problem.
    Corruption was common among prison officials, police officers, and 
members of the judiciary.
    In July the customs office created a disciplinary committee to 
investigate corrupt officers; however, the committee had not started 
operating by year's end.
    An independent court with an autonomous budget to oversee public 
expenditures was established in September 2009; the court began 
operations in July.
    Officials were not subject to financial disclosure laws.
    Although the press code provides for public access to government 
information, the Government in the past did not permit access for 
either citizens or noncitizens, including foreign media; however, the 
Government provided some information during the year, including 
postings on Web sites.
Section 5. 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 
sometimes cooperated, but typically were not responsive to NGO 
recommendations.
    There were several domestic human rights groups, including the 
Togolese League of Human Rights, the Center for Observation and 
Promotion of the Rule of Law, and the Togolese Association for the 
Defense and Protection of Human Rights.
    The Government generally cooperated with international governmental 
organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives or other 
organizations such as the ICRC (see section 1.c.).
    A permanent human rights committee exists within the national 
assembly, but it did not play any significant role in policymaking or 
exercise independent judgment.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit discrimination based on race, 
gender, religion, disability, language, or social status; however, the 
Government did not enforce these provisions effectively.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape and provides for prison terms of 
five to 10 years for those convicted. The prison term is 20 years if 
the victim is a child under 14, is gang-raped, or if the rape results 
in pregnancy, disease, or incapacitation lasting more than six weeks. 
The law does not specifically outlaw spousal rape. Although the 
Government was diligent in investigating reports of rape and 
prosecuting suspects, victims were reluctant to report rape due to the 
social stigma associated with being raped and fear of reprisal. Rape 
was thought to be a widespread problem throughout the country. During 
the year 22 persons were arrested for rape. At year's end all were in 
prison awaiting trial, awaiting convictions to be formalized, or 
serving sentences.
    The law does not specifically prohibit domestic violence, and 
domestic violence against women continued to be a widespread problem. 
Police generally did not intervene in abusive situations, and women 
were not aware of the formal judicial mechanisms designed to protect 
them. Although there were no official efforts to combat domestic 
violence, several NGOs were active in educating women on their rights.
    A 1984 presidential decree prohibits sexual harassment and 
specifically mentions harassment of female students; however, 
authorities did not enforce the decree, and sexual harassment was a 
problem throughout the society. While the law states that harassment is 
illegal and can be taken to court, no specific punishment is 
prescribed.
    The Government recognized the right of couples and individuals to 
decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their 
children. Health clinics and local NGOs were permitted to operate 
freely in disseminating information on family planning under the 
guidance of the Ministry of Health. There were no restrictions on the 
right to access contraceptives, but only about 11 percent of 
inhabitants in urban areas used them. The Government did not provide 
free childbirth services, and the lack of sufficient doctors meant most 
women only used midwives for childbirth as well as for prenatal and 
postnatal care, unless the mother or child suffered serious health 
complications. Maternal mortality was 510 deaths per 100,000 live 
births. Only heterosexual men and women received equal access to 
diagnosis and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, including 
HIV, but women were more likely than men to seek treatment and refer 
their partners.
    Although the law declares women equal under the law, women 
continued to experience discrimination in education, pension benefits, 
and inheritance. This was a consequence of traditional law, which 
applied to the vast majority of women. A husband legally can 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 requires equal pay for 
equal work, regardless of gender, but this provision generally was 
observed only in the formal sector. There are no restrictions on women 
owning property. Under traditional law 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. Otherwise, women can 
own property with no special restrictions. Polygyny was practiced. 
Women did not experience economic discrimination in access to 
employment, credit, or managing a business.
    The Ministry of Social Action and National Solidarity, along with 
independent women's groups and concerned NGOs, campaigned to inform 
women of their rights. In September President Faure launched a campaign 
to improve women's health and reduce infant mortality; the president 
also pledged financial support to the effort.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived either from birth within the 
country's borders or from the father's citizenship. If the father does 
not have a nationality or it is unknown, the mother's citizenship 
transfers to the child.
    School attendance is compulsory for both boys and girls until the 
age of 15, and the Government provides tuition-free public education 
from nursery through primary school; however, parents were required to 
pay for books, supplies, uniforms, and other expenses. According to the 
UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), although 92 percent of boys and 85 percent 
of girls started primary school, only an estimated 58 percent of boys 
and 41 percent of girls finished. For secondary school, the net 
enrollment was 34 percent for boys and 12 percent for girls, but only 
19 percent of boys and 9 percent of girls completed secondary school.
    Child abuse was a widespread problem. Although the law explicitly 
prohibits sexual exploitation of children and child prostitution, the 
law was not effectively enforced. There was no statutory rape law. The 
Government continued to work with local NGOs on public awareness 
campaigns to prevent exploitation of children.
    The law prohibits FGM, which was perpetrated on approximately 6 
percent of girls, according to UNICEF. It was believed the practice had 
decreased significantly in urban areas since the 1998 anti-FGM law was 
passed. The most common form of FGM was excision, which was usually 
performed on girls a few months after birth. Most of the larger ethnic 
groups did not practice FGM. Penalties for practitioners of FGM ranged 
from two months to five years in prison as well as substantial fines. 
However, the law rarely was applied because most FGM cases occurred in 
rural areas where awareness of rights was limited. Traditional customs 
often took precedence over the legal system among certain ethnic 
groups. The Government continued to sponsor educational seminars 
against FGM. Several NGOs, with international assistance, organized 
campaigns to educate women of their rights and on how to care for 
victims of FGM. NGOs also worked to create alternative labor 
opportunities for former practitioners.
    According to several international organizations, child marriage, 
especially in the north and among Muslims, existed on a small scale. 
Cases were often not reported as parents freely gave their children in 
marriage.
    A private radio station, Radio Zephir, sponsored by the 
international NGO Plan International and partially subsidized by the 
Government, broadcast a weekly program for children titled ``Children 
Also Have Rights.''
    In January 2009 the Government established a toll-free line for 
persons to report cases of child abuse and to seek help. The line 
provides free information on the rights of the child and legal 
procedures. The Government also established school curriculum to 
educate children on human rights and, working with UNICEF, trained 
teachers on children's rights.
    In 2007 the Government implemented the country's first child code, 
which provides for the protection of children's economic, 
psychological, and moral rights and includes national and international 
standards intended to protect children. The code prohibits child 
trafficking, child prostitution, child pornography, the employment of 
children in armed conflict and other worst forms of child labor, 
including the selling of children for sexual exploitation, forced 
labor, or servitude. Government efforts to implement the code resulted 
in the release in 2009 of hundreds of children from service as 
assistants to traditional healers. A 2009 ILO program continued to 
raise awareness of and rescue children from enforced labor.
    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.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community was very small, and there were 
no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, mental, and sensory disabilities in 
employment, education, access to health care, or in the provision of 
other state services, but the Government did not effectively enforce 
these provisions. There was no overt government discrimination against 
persons with disabilities, and such persons held government positions, 
but societal discrimination against persons with disabilities was a 
problem. The Government does not mandate accessibility to public or 
private facilities for persons with disabilities, although some public 
buildings had ramps. While the law nominally obliges the Government to 
aid persons with disabilities and shelter them from social injustice, 
the Government provided only limited assistance.
    The Agency for Handicapped Persons, under the Ministry of Social 
Action and National Solidarity, is responsible for protecting the 
rights of persons with disabilities. During the year the ministry held 
awareness campaigns against discrimination and to promote equality. It 
distributed food and clothing and provided some skills training to 
persons with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The relative dominance in 
private sector commerce and professions of members of southern ethnic 
groups, and the relative prevalence in the public sector, particularly 
in the security forces, of members of the former and current 
presidents' Kabye 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.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law provides that a person 
who engages in a homosexual act may be punished by one to three years' 
imprisonment and fined 100,000 to 500,000 CFA francs ($208 to $1,041). 
Eight persons were arrested for ``indecent assault'' and were in prison 
awaiting trial at year's end.
    There was societal discrimination based on sexual orientation.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--A 2005 law prohibits 
discrimination against persons infected with HIV/AIDS, and the 
Government sponsored broadcasts aimed at dissuading discrimination. 
However, persons infected with HIV/AIDS continued to face significant 
societal discrimination.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The constitution and law provide 
workers, except security forces (including firefighters and police), 
with the right to form and join unions, and they exercised this right 
in practice. Approximately 60 to 70 percent of formal sector workers 
were union members or supporters.
    The constitution and law provide most workers with the right to 
strike, including government health workers; however, striking health 
care workers may be ordered back to work as necessary for the personal 
security and wellbeing of the population. The 2006 labor code prohibits 
retribution against strikers by employers. In December 2009 culinary 
employees at the Sarakawa Hotel went on a 48-hour strike to demand 
year-end bonuses. The strike ended when management agreed to their 
demands.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The 
constitution and the labor code nominally provide workers the right to 
organize and bargain collectively; however, the Government limited 
collective bargaining to producing a single nationwide agreement 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 Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Security failed to 
enforce the prohibition against antiunion discrimination.
    The law provides exemptions from some provisions of the labor code, 
notably the regulations on hiring and firing for companies in the 
export processing zones (EPZs). Employees of EPZ firms did not enjoy 
the same protection against antiunion discrimination as did other 
workers. Unions generally did not have free access to EPZs or the 
freedom to organize workers there; however, in late 2009 the Government 
allowed the creation of two unions representing workers from various 
EPZ companies.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The labor code 
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, 
such practices occurred. Children sometimes were subjected to forced 
labor, primarily as domestic servants, porters, and roadside sellers. 
Children were also forced to perform agricultural work and beg. Women 
were trafficked for prostitution or forced labor as domestic servants.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
labor code prohibits the employment of children under the age of 15 in 
any enterprise, the employment of children under age 18 from working at 
night, and requires a daily rest period of at least 12 hours for all 
working children. However, the Government did not effectively enforce 
child labor laws, and child labor was a problem. Some children started 
work at age five and typically did not attend school for most of the 
school year.
    Children worked in both rural and urban areas, particularly in 
family-based farming and small-scale trading, and as porters and 
domestic servants, considered one of the worst forms of child labor. In 
some cases children worked in factories. In agricultural sectors, 
children assisted their parents with the harvesting of cotton, cocoa, 
and coffee. Children were involved in the production of foodstuffs, 
such as beans and corn, for consumption by the family.
    The most dangerous activity involving child labor was in the 
quarries, where children assisted their parents in crushing rock by 
hand and carrying buckets of gravel on their heads. Such labor was not 
sanctioned by the Government and occurred only in small, privately-
owned quarries. Reputable local NGOs reported that while quarry work 
was strictly a weekend and holiday activity for most children, others 
dropped out of school to work full time in the quarries.
    For some types of industrial and technical employment, the minimum 
age is 18. Inspectors from the Ministry of Labor, Employment, and 
Social Security 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 their families. In rural areas, parents sometimes placed young 
children into domestic work in other households in exchange for one-
time fees as low as 12,500 to 17,500 CFA francs ($26 to $36).
    Children were trafficked into indentured and exploitative 
servitude, which amounted to slavery.
    The Ministry of Social Action and National Solidarity was 
responsible for enforcing the prohibition against the worst forms of 
child labor. In 2007 the National Assembly adopted the child code that 
prohibits the employment of children in the worst forms of child labor, 
including trafficking, prostitution, pornography, and the use of 
children in armed conflict. Due to limited resources, the enforcement 
of child labor laws was weak. The ministry funded a center for 
abandoned children and worked with NGOs to combat child trafficking. 
The ministry frequently held workshops in collaboration with UNICEF, 
the ILO, NGOs, labor unions, and other partners to raise awareness of 
child labor in general and forced labor in particular.
    For information on child trafficking, also see the Department of 
State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Government sets minimum 
wages for different labor categories, ranging from unskilled through 
professional positions. There was no minimum wage for workers in the 
informal sector. In practice employers often paid less than the 
official minimum wage, mostly to unskilled workers. In August 2008 the 
Government raised the official monthly minimum wage from 10,000 to 
16,000 CFA francs ($20 to $33) to 28,000 CFA francs ($58). However, the 
new wage 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, Employment, and Social 
Security is responsible for enforcement of the minimum wage system, 
especially in the private sectors, but it 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 40 hours per week; at 
least one 24-hour rest period per week is compulsory, and workers are 
expected to receive 30 days of paid leave each year. Working hours for 
employees in the agricultural sector are not to exceed 2,400 hours per 
year (46 hours per week). The law requires overtime compensation, and 
there are restrictions on excessive overtime work; however, the 
Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Security's enforcement was 
weak, and employers often ignored these provisions.
    A technical consulting committee in the Ministry of Labor, 
Employment, and Social Security 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. 
Although workers have the legal right to remove themselves from unsafe 
conditions without fear of losing their jobs, in practice some could 
not do so. Labor laws also provide protection for legal foreign 
workers.

                               __________

                                 UGANDA

    Uganda, with a population of 32 million, is a constitutional 
republic led by President Yoweri Museveni of the ruling National 
Resistance Movement (NRM) party. The 2006 presidential and 
parliamentary elections were marred by serious irregularities. An 
influx of arms continued to fuel violence in the Karamoja region, 
resulting in deaths and injuries. The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), 
which relocated to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 2005, 
continued to hold children forcibly abducted from the country. The 
Governments of Uganda, Southern Sudan, and the DRC continued military 
actions against the LRA in the DRC, Southern Sudan, and the Central 
African Republic (CAR). There were instances in which elements of the 
security forces acted independently of civilian control.
    Serious human rights problems in the country included arbitrary 
killings; vigilante killings; mob and ethnic violence; torture and 
abuse of suspects and detainees; harsh prison conditions; official 
impunity; arbitrary and politically motivated arrest and detention; 
incommunicado and lengthy pretrial detention; restrictions on the right 
to a fair trial and on freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and 
association; restrictions on opposition parties; electoral 
irregularities; official corruption; violence and discrimination 
against women and children, including female genital mutilation (FGM), 
sexual abuse of children, and the ritual killing of children; 
trafficking in persons; violence and discrimination against persons 
with disabilities and homosexual persons; restrictions on labor rights; 
and forced labor, including 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 that the Government or its agents committed politically 
motivated killings; however, security forces killed demonstrators, 
suspects, detainees, and other citizens. Some deaths occurred as a 
result of torture.
    Security forces killed suspects while in custody or during 
questioning.
    For example, on March 23, police in Hoima District arrested Ibrahim 
Massa, officer in charge of Songa Police Post in Kyangwali subcounty, 
together with junior officers David Barongo and Samuel Turinawe, for 
beating to death suspect Gilbert Mukonyezi. Following a police 
investigation Massa was released, while Barongo and Turinawe were 
charged with manslaughter and released on bail pending hearing of their 
case.
    On May 17, police in Kampala arrested Rapid Response Unit (RRU) 
police officers Disinga Abangu, David Mulwanira, and Alex Muhiirwe for 
killing suspect Henry Bakasamba during questioning. Bakasamba died in 
police custody at the Kireka Detention Center on May 14. Police 
reported that investigations into the case were ongoing at year's end.
    On August 20, police in Gulu District arrested police officers Joe 
Okello, Steven Otim Mulema, and Collin Ayella for the death of Calvin 
Ocwee, who was arrested and allegedly tortured to death for stealing a 
motorcycle. A court charged the officers with murder and remanded them 
to prison pending trial.
    Security forces' use of excessive force, including the use of live 
ammunition, to carry out law enforcement operations or disperse 
demonstrators resulted in deaths.
    For example, on March 17, members of President Museveni's advance 
team fired into a crowd gathered at the Buganda Kingdom's Kasubi Tombs, 
after a fire destroyed the tombs on March 16. Cornelius Kayanja, Haruna 
Kakumba, and an unidentified person were killed, and five others 
injured. On December 2, a government commission began investigating the 
incident, but no action was taken by year's end.
    On April 2, two special police constables (SPCs) in Kisoro beat to 
death Evaristo Mihigo for allegedly resisting arrest. On April 7, a 
court in Kisoro charged the officers with murder and remanded them to 
prison. On July 9, the court dismissed the case due to lack of 
evidence.
    On September 12, police in Bugiri fired live bullets to disperse a 
crowd during the NRM party primary elections. One person was killed. 
There were no reports of an investigation or disciplinary action.
    On September 7, police in Hoima used live ammunition to break up a 
strike at the British America Tobacco (BAT) Uganda. Dennis Bazara and 
Benard Byabasaija were killed, and several others wounded. Authorities 
arrested police officers Augustine Kasangaki, Luke Mbusa, and Romeo 
Ojara for excessive use of force. On September 15, the Hoima Police 
Disciplinary Court charged Kasangaki, Mbusa, and Ojara with 
manslaughter and remanded them to prison (see section 7 b.).
    Excessive force and the indiscriminate use of live ammunition by 
security forces and the Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF) resulted 
in deaths during cattle recovery and disarmament operations in the 
Karamoja Region in the east.
    For example, 13 Karamojong citizens, including six children, one 
woman and two elderly persons, died during a January 4-7 UPDF operation 
to recover rustled cattle in Kotido District. Witness statements 
alleged that a helicopter gunship fired indiscriminately into livestock 
and persons. During this operation the UPDF arrested 32 persons, some 
of whom were allegedly tortured or mistreated while in detention.
    At least five Karamojong citizens died during a January 22 UPDF 
cattle recovery operation in Rengen subcounty of Kotido District. 
Eyewitnesses reported that individuals killed were not armed and 
included children. The UPDF reported that five alleged rustlers were 
killed and one UPDF soldier wounded in the engagement.
    At least 10 persons were killed in an April 24 cattle recovery and 
disarmament operation in Lokitela'Angilam town in Rengen subcounty, 
Kotido District. According to a joint UN Office of the High 
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Uganda Human Rights 
Commission (UHRC) statement, the dead included six children and two 
elderly men. During the operation, the UPDF allegedly fired small arms 
and rocket propelled grenades indiscriminately. An internal UPDF 
investigation of the incident reported that UPDF soldiers were 
responding to an attack by 30-40 armed assailants.
    In August the UPDF killed 29 Jie cattle rustlers in Nadunget, 
Moroto District. UPDF's third division commander Brigadier Patrick 
Kankiriho confirmed the incident, saying the rustlers refused to 
surrender.
    There were developments in some 2009 cases involving deaths caused 
by government security forces.
    In January 2009 security agents in Bukedea District reportedly 
tortured to death David Okwi, a member of the opposition party Forum 
for Democratic Change (FDC). In February 2009, the FDC petitioned the 
Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) to investigate Okwi's death. In 
November 2010, the UHRC concluded its investigation, and the case was 
pending a hearing before the UHRC tribunal at year's end.
    At year's end investigations continued in the following 2009 cases: 
the February killing of William Byamugisha and Daniel Tumwine, the 
February killing of Mucunguzi Katongole, the February beating and 
subsequent death of prison inmate Emmanuel Tindimwebwa, the March 
shooting deaths of Joseph Denaya and Cosmas Data, and the August death 
of Ali Katende while in police custody.
    The Government took no action to investigate security force 
handling of the September 2009 riots in Kampala that resulted in at 
least 40 deaths. On September 8, the High Court denied an appeal for 
bail by 23 individuals who were arrested during the riots and charged 
with the capital offence of terrorism. In January civilian Abdallah 
Byabasaija petitioned the High Court to compel the inspector general of 
police (IGP) and the Government to compensate him for the death of his 
wife, who was killed during the riots. The petition remained pending.
    In June police in Arua District arrested Mobile Police Protection 
Unit officer Ben Kiwanuka Drici, Charles Obuci, Celestine Mutahingwa, 
and Patrick Okiror for allegedly torturing to death suspect Taban 
Ramadan in December 2009. An investigation into the case was pending at 
year's end.
    Government security forces were punished for killings committed in 
2008 and previous years. In January a court in Kabale District 
sentenced police officers Difasi Buko and Michael Karuhize to 14 years' 
imprisonment for the 2008 killing of Dalas Innocent Mutekanga. On July 
6, a court in Kabarole District sentenced SPC Christopher Bahemuka to 
nine years' imprisonment for the 2007 killing of Godfrey Bitamazire. In 
January the UPDF's fifth division court martial sentenced to death UPDF 
private Africano Abono Lino for the 2006 killing of seven civilians in 
the Laguti Internally Displaced (IDP) camp. On April 13, a court in 
Kabarole District sentenced former UPDF officer Moses Musinguzi to 16 
years imprisonment for the 2006 killing of Erasmus Kalyega. On 
September 27, the High Court in Gulu sentenced UPDF soldiers Michael 
Onek Oloya and Francis Oryem each to 45 years in prison for the 2003 
killing of Bicentina Lakot.
    Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that members of 
Local Defense Units (LDUs) were responsible for killings; however, 
there were developments in several cases from previous years. On 
February 5, the High Court in Lira District sentenced Peter Onini, 
Geoffrey Engur, Alex Okaka, Ronald Adupa, and Moses Oyuku, former 
members of the Amuka militia, to 25 years' imprisonment for the 2006 
murder of David Odong at the Otwal Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) 
camp. In November police submitted the file of LDU member Moses 
Kabagambe to the state attorney for committal in the High Court for 
allegedly killing Lauren Arinaitwe in 2009 in Kabarole District.
    One terrorist attack occurred during the year. On July 11, an 
attack by the Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab killed 76 persons in 
Kampala. Al-Shabaab bombs killed individuals assembled to watch the 
World Cup finals at an Ethiopian restaurant and a rugby club. The 
Government arrested several dozen individuals in connection with the 
bombings including, on September 15, Kenyan human rights activist al-
Amin Kimathi and Kenyan attorney Mbuga Mureithi. On September 18, 
authorities released Mureithi without charge and deported him back to 
Kenya. On December 1, authorities charged 17 persons, including 
Kimathi, with terrorism, murder and attempted murder in relation to the 
bombings and released 18 others. Hearing of the cases was pending at 
year's end.
    As in previous years, ritual killings of children and adults 
resulted in deaths. The 2009 Police Annual Crime Report recorded a 
total of 29 suspected ritual killings (see section 6).
    Mob attacks against criminal suspects resulted in deaths during the 
year. The 2009 Police Annual Crime Report recorded a total of 332 mob 
action cases, many of which resulted in deaths. Witnesses rarely 
cooperated with police, making investigation of such incidents 
difficult.
    For example, on February 22, a mob in Obopi village, Arua District, 
beat to death a suspected witch doctor who was accused of killing two 
persons from the same village.
    In May a mob in Bugobi Trading Center in Namutamba District beat to 
death three suspected robbers for allegedly breaking into a shop.
    The trial of 11 suspects implicated in the beating death of 
landlord Sam Kubo in 2009 was pending.
    There were reports of increased cattle raids and societal violence 
in the Karamoja Region. According to the UPDF and human rights groups, 
cattle raids and the UPDF's forced disarmament campaign resulted in the 
deaths of at least 90 civilians and 32 UPDF soldiers during the year.
    As in the past five years, there were no reports of LRA attacks 
within the country; however, the LRA killed numerous persons in the 
DRC, CAR, and Sudan.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
abductions or kidnappings, but there were developments in past 
disappearance cases.
    In February the High Court ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs 
to conduct an inquiry into the disappearance and presumed death of 
Lutaya Saidi, a street vendor allegedly arrested by the Joint Anti-
terrorism Task Force (JATT) in 2007. The Ministry of Internal Affairs 
failed to conduct the inquiry within the prescribed 90 days, and there 
were no further developments.
    The whereabouts of at least six individuals identified in Human 
Rights Watch's April 2009 ``Open Secret'' report remained unknown. 
These individuals were allegedly arrested in 2008 and detained in the 
Kololo Detention Facility (see section 1.d.).
    As in the past five years, there were no reports of LRA abductions 
in Uganda; however, the LRA abducted many persons in the DRC, CAR, and 
Sudan.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
there were credible reports that security forces tortured and beat 
suspects, some of whom died as a result (see section 1.a.).
    The UHRC, the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI), the 
African Center for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims 
(ACTV), and other human rights organizations reported incidents of 
torture by security forces, including caning, severe beating, squeezing 
of private parts, stabbing, kicking, tying of limbs in contorted 
positions, forced marching, and rape. From January to April the ACTV 
registered 29 allegations of torture against the police, 19 against the 
UPDF, three against military police, six against the Violent Crime 
Crack Unit or Rapid Response Unit (RRU), 20 against unspecified 
security personnel, and 59 against prison officials. In September the 
Government approved payment of over one billion shillings ($431,592) 
owed to victims of torture and other abuses; however, the Government 
still owed victims 1.9 billion shillings ($820,025) at year's end.
    In its 2009 annual report released in October 2010, the UHRC 
reported registering 785 human rights complaints against 858 
individuals, including 106 UPDF members, 285 police officers, 86 other 
security agencies, 29 prison warders, and 343 private citizens. Of the 
785 complaints, 31 percent involved allegations of torture or cruel, 
inhuman, or degrading treatment and punishment.
    There were numerous reports of torture and abuse in unregistered 
detention facilities operated by the JATT and the Chieftancy of 
Military Intelligence (CMI). Torture victims included political 
activists and detainees.
    FHRI cited two cases of torture in its August report ``Overview of 
the Human Rights Situation in Uganda January-July 2010.'' On May 6, for 
instance, police in Kampala arrested, detained, and allegedly tortured 
Segilinya (full name withheld) for two weeks at Kitebi police post. On 
May 21, a court in Nsanji charged Segilinya with stealing a bicycle and 
remanded him to Kabasanda Prison. On May 15, police in Jinja arrested 
Mayinja (full name withheld) on robbery charges. Mayinja claimed he was 
beaten during three days of RRU detention.
    On April 4, UPDF soldier Lt. Justine Engwau allegedly tortured 
Nelson Okurut and Joseph Ikimyom after arresting them on robbery 
charges in Kasoka village, Bukedea District. The UPDF allegedly denied 
the victims access to medical care, even though they were in critical 
condition. UHRC concluded its investigation into this incident, and the 
matter was pending hearing before the UHRC tribunal at year's end.
    The 2009 torture case filed by Hoima Mayor Francis Atugonza against 
the CMI for alleged illegal detention and torture in a CMI ``safe 
house'' was pending a Constitutional Court ruling at year's end.
    Security force use of excessive force resulted in injuries during 
arrests and law enforcement operations.
    For example, on January 20, SPC Alfred Achikane allegedly shot and 
injured local musician Moses Ssali, his body guard Abbas Kayoyo, and 
Allan Masengere, Godfrey Kayiza, and David Oluka in Kampala. On 
February 9, a court in Kampala charged Achikane with five counts of 
attempted murder. On February 23, he was released on bail, and hearing 
of the case was pending.
    On March 22, SPC Patrick Tumusiime shot and injured civilian Abdul 
Nsubuga during an operation to round up criminals in a Kampala suburb. 
Police arrested Tumusiime and charged him with unlawful wounding. 
Police later released Tumusiime pending an investigation of the 
incident.
    On March 19, police severely beat Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) 
and Inter-Party Cooperation (IPC) women's leader Ingrid Turinawe and 
assaulted other FDC members at the Kabale police station. A police 
investigation accused Turinawe and others of trying to forcibly enter 
the police station and claimed the officers' actions were justified. An 
independent medical report confirmed that Turinawe suffered blows to 
the head and body, and a lawsuit against the police filed by Turinawe 
was pending at year's end.
    Police beat and used pepper spray or mace against 33 female IPC 
supporters on June 14. Four of the women were hospitalized due to blunt 
force injuries and ingestion of a chemical substance. On the same day, 
police charged two of the women, Ida Namukwaya and Eyoru Asala, with 
assault of police officers. Hearing of the assault case began on 
November 14 and was pending at year's end. On July 2, the IPC women 
filed a counter suit in the High Court accusing the police officers of 
assault. This case was pending hearing at year's end.
    In July police arrested more than 60 members of the National 
Alliance for Free and Fair Elections (NAFFE) and the Inter Party 
Cooperation (IPC) for staging nationwide demonstrations against the 
Electoral Commission. Police in Mbale and Bushenyi districts reportedly 
beat protestors. Police confirmed that one officer beat protesters in 
Mbale and said they would investigate the officer's actions. Results of 
this investigation were pending at year's end.
    In December Inspector General of Police General Kale Kayihura 
suspended the Rapid Response Unit's Commander, Nathan Byona, and senior 
police officers Nixon Karuhanga and Julius Kwikirizi over allegations 
of torture, extortion, and mismanagement. There were no reports of 
findings of the investigation at year's end.
    There were no developments in any of the 2009 cases of security 
force use of excessive force during arrests, law enforcement 
operations, or to disperse demonstrators.
    There was no update, for instance, on the March 2009 case in which 
UPDF Major Otim Demoi Latek allegedly tied up and seriously beat 
residents David Obonyo and Walter Okeny over a land dispute in Gulu.
    Court proceeding into Corporal Swaleh Swaib and SPC Henry Mukasa's 
alleged beating of four persons in July 2009 remained ongoing. One of 
the four individuals died of his injuries.
    The UHRC received complaints from individuals who sustained 
injuries during the September 2009 riots (see sections 1.a. and 1.d.). 
For example, a petition filed by Ssemukala Ismail alleged that security 
force members shot him while he was closing his shop in Nateete, 
disabling his left arm. Investigations into the incident were pending 
at year's end.
    There were no developments in the 2008 shooting of Masaba Bakari in 
Muzulu village, Namutamba District, by SPC Eric Kiirya for defying 
traffic police directives to stop.
    In May the Uganda Law Society sued the attorney general for the 
Director of Public Prosecution's (DPP) failure to prosecute Assistant 
Prisons Superintendent Sam Edoru and senior police officer Ivan 
Nkwasibwe for allegedly assaulting members of the society during the 
paramilitary takeover of the High Court in 2007. The Government 
paramilitary group known as the ``Black Mambas'' forcibly occupied the 
court to prevent FDC leader Kizza Besigye from being released on bail. 
A hearing of the suit was pending.
    As in previous years, mobs attacked persons suspected of stealing, 
ritual sacrifice, witchcraft, and other crimes, resulting in deaths and 
injuries. Motivated in part by lack of confidence in law enforcement 
and the judicial system, mobs beat, lynched, burned, and otherwise 
brutalized their victims (see section 1.a.).
    The Government continued to prosecute citizens for their alleged 
involvement in the 2009 September riots. The 2009 Police Annual Crime 
Report recorded 210 offenses against public order during the September 
riots. Of these, 112 cases were prosecuted, with 20 convictions and one 
acquittal. 91 cases remain pending.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions remained 
poor and, in some cases, life threatening. There were reports that 
security forces tortured inmates, particularly in military facilities 
and unregistered detention centers. Abusive forced labor in prisons 
countrywide remained a problem.
    Prison conditions came closest to meeting international standards 
in Kampala, where medical care, running water, and sanitation were 
provided; however, these prisons were among the most overcrowded. 
Serious problems in prisons outside Kampala included long remand 
periods, overcrowding, inadequate staff, and lack of food, water, 
medical care, and bedding.
    The Uganda Prisons Service reported there were 30,312 prisoners in 
the prison system at the end of August, approximately three times 
capacity. Severe overcrowding was also a problem at juvenile detention 
facilities and in female wings of prisons. The Kampala Remand Home, 
designed for 45 children, held 110. The Naguru reception center, 
designed for 30 prisoners, held 150 juveniles. The Prisons Service 
recorded 103 prisoner deaths nationwide from torture, overcrowding, 
malnutrition, poor sanitation, disease, overwork, and lack of medical 
care.
    Information was unavailable on conditions in unregistered 
facilities, although authorities allowed the UHRC and some 
international NGOs access to selected unregistered facilities.
    Prison authorities reported that the three suspects who allegedly 
strangled to death prisoners Geoffrey Akandwanaho, Fred Mugisha, and 
Ephraim Nankunda in 2008 were released on court bond in March 2009, and 
their trial hearing was pending at year's end.
    Female prisoners in central prisons were held in separate 
facilities; however, services and facilities for female prisoners in 
local prisons, including separate cells, were lacking in some areas. 
The Prisons Service had no budget for accommodating pregnant women or 
mothers with infants; the number of infants in women's prisons 
increased during the year. Due to lack of space in juvenile facilities, 
minors were held in prisons with adults. Pretrial detainees in Kampala 
prisons were separated from convicted prisoners, but pretrial detainees 
and convicted prisoners in the rest of the country were sometimes held 
together. Local NGOs reported that prisoners and detainees had 
reasonable access to visitors and were allowed to submit complaints. 
Prison authorities acknowledged a backlog in the investigation of 
complaints. Authorities allowed international NGOs, foreign diplomats, 
and local NGOs, principally the FHRI and the Uganda Prisoners' Aid 
Foundation, to conduct prison visits during the year but required 
advance notification.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit such practices; however, members of the security forces 
arrested and detained citizens arbitrarily during the year.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Uganda Police Force 
(UPF), under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, has primary 
responsibility for law enforcement. The UPDF is charged with external 
security but had significant responsibility for preventing violence 
resulting from interclan cattle raids in the Karamoja Region. The 
Internal Security Organization (ISO) and External Security Organization 
(ESO), which are security agencies and intelligence-gathering entities 
under the minister of security, occasionally detained civilians. The 
CMI is legally under UPDF authority, although it often acted as a 
semiautonomous unit in detaining civilians suspected of rebel and 
terrorist activity, as did the ISO and ESO. The Joint Anti-terrorism 
Taskforce (JATT), an interagency paramilitary group under the CMI, has 
no codified mandate but illegally detained civilians suspected of rebel 
and terrorist activity. The JATT is a joint command whose members are 
drawn from the UPDF, police, ISO, and ESO.
    The UPF continued to be constrained by limited resources, including 
low pay and lack of vehicles, equipment, and training. The UPF Human 
Rights Desk investigated complaints of police abuses, including 
mismanagement of case papers, torture and harassment, unlawful arrest 
and detention, abuse of office, irregular or discreditable conduct, and 
corrupt practices. The UPF reported receiving 1,296 allegations of 
human rights violations and unprofessional conduct between January and 
September and stated it took action in response to 330 of these cases.
    The UPDF continued efforts to transfer responsibility for law 
enforcement in the north and in the Karamoja region to the UPF. During 
the year the UPF deployed an estimated 2,000 additional police officers 
to Karamoja.
    In conjunction with the UHRC and international organizations 
including the ICRC and the OHCHR, the UPDF and police continued to 
train officers on internationally recognized human rights standards. 
During the year 224 police officers attended human rights and 
constitutional workshops. The police, UPDF, and Prisons Service also 
used human rights manuals in their training programs.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires that judges or prosecutors issue search warrants before 
arrests are made; however, in practice, suspects often were taken into 
custody without warrants. The law requires suspects to be charged 
within 48 hours of arrest, but suspects frequently were held longer. 
Suspects arrested under the Antiterrorism Law 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 do so. The law provides for bail at the 
discretion of the judge, and bail was generally granted with stringent 
conditions. Detainees are required by law to have access to a lawyer; 
however, many went without legal representation. The Government 
provided attorneys for indigent defendants accused of capital offenses.
    The law provides for family visitation, but incommunicado detention 
remained a problem. According to the African Center for Treatment and 
Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (ACTV), the military police held 
three civilians incommunicado in January. In its April 2009 report, 
Human Rights Watch (HRW) noted that ``JATT personnel frequently 
blindfolded, handcuffed, and sometimes beat suspects being taken to the 
Kololo detention facility. Detainees had no access to lawyers or family 
members and only learned of their whereabouts from other detainees or 
by spotting Kampala landmarks visible from the Kololo facility.''
    Mass arrests during police sweeps for criminals remained a problem, 
as did arrests based on alleged sedition, treason, incitement of 
violence, or terrorism.
    Local NGOs received complaints of illegal detention from four 
individuals allegedly detained by the RRU at the Kireka Detention 
Center following the July 11 terrorist bombings in Kampala. Three 
suspects were released without charge. The fourth suspect was still 
detained at year's end.
    On March 25, police and the UPDF arrested 200 persons in Mubende, 
allegedly to curb insecurity stemming from increased local burglary and 
murder rates. Police reported that four persons were charged with 
murder and robbery, while the rest were released without charge.
    On August 30, police in Lwengo District, in the central region, 
arrested more than 30 citizens allegedly hired to incite violence 
during NRM primary elections in Kinoni. Police released the suspects on 
September 1 without charge.
    Persons suspected of sedition, treason, incitement of violence, or 
terrorism were subjected to numerous abuses, such as detention without 
charge, detention in unofficial locations, and mistreatment, including 
torture (see subsections 2.a. and 2.b.).
    The Prisons Service held 16 pretrial treason suspects during the 
year. Fourteen of the suspects were arrested in 2009 for allegedly 
forming the Uganda Patriotic Front rebel group.
    The UHRC received complaints during the year from persons who 
claimed they were arbitrarily arrested. The Government paid 
compensation to some victims of arbitrary arrest during the year, but 
compensation was often slow. There were no developments in the 2008 
petition filed by former UHRC chairperson and current UN Special 
Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders Margret Sekaggya to establish a 
national fund to pay victims. Past compensation payments were made from 
general government funds administered by the Ministry of Justice and 
Constitutional Affairs.
    Human rights groups continued to express concerns about the 
treatment of individuals arrested by the UPDF in Karamoja in 
conjunction with the UPDF's response to cattle raids and the 
Government's disarmament campaign (see section 1.a.).
    Local and international human rights groups reported the Government 
detained civilians in military facilities and unregistered detention 
facilities known as safe houses, where they often were held 
incommunicado.
    The UHRC reported progress in inspecting military places of 
detention including Kigo, Makindye, and Gulu fourth division military 
barracks. The UHRC reported it can access these military facilities but 
only with advance notification. The UHRC also reported that it was able 
to visit the Kololo safe house and found no evidence of torture or 
abuse, although a formal report was not published.
    There were developments in some cases that occurred in 2009. For 
example, the RRU's director, Commandant Emmanuel Muhairwe, and two 
deputies, Peter Kakonge and Emmanuel Bwembale, who were placed on leave 
in October 2009 following allegations that RRU members illegally 
detained the wife of a government employee at an unknown location for 
more than a week, were reinstated and transferred to a different 
office.
    On September 21, the High Court rejected a bail application 
submitted by a group of 14 prisoners arrested between September 2008 
and May 2009 for allegedly forming a rebel group entitled the Uganda 
Patriotic Front and plotting to overthrow the Government.
    During the year police arbitrarily arrested over 100 opposition and 
civil society demonstrators demanding a new Electoral Commission, 
electoral reforms, and free and fair elections (see section 2.b.).
    Case backlogs in the judicial system contributed to pretrial 
detentions of two to three years but sometimes as long as seven years. 
The Prisons Service reported that more than half of its approximately 
30,000 inmates were pretrial detainees. The UHRC heard several cases 
brought by prisoners challenging the length of their detention.

    Amnesty.--Since 2000, the Government has offered a blanket amnesty 
to former LRA and Allied Democratic Forces rebel combatants to 
encourage defections. On June 14, parliament extended the mandate of 
the Uganda Amnesty Commission for two years. Over 26,000 individuals, 
more than half of whom are former LRA combatants, have benefited from 
amnesty.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected 
this provision in practice; however, the president has 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 judiciary. The judiciary ruled against the 
Government on several high profile cases during the year. Lower courts 
remained understaffed, weak, and inefficient. Judicial corruption was a 
problem (see section 4).
    The military court system often did not assure the right to a fair 
trial. Although the accused has the right to legal counsel, some 
military defense attorneys were untrained. The law establishes a court 
martial appeals process; however, sentences, including the death 
penalty, can only be appealed to the senior UPDF leadership. Under 
circumstances deemed exigent, a field court martial can be convened at 
the scene of a crime. The law does not permit appeal of a conviction 
under a field court martial. The military general court martial can try 
civilians charged with crimes listed under the UPDF Act.

    Trial Procedures.--An inadequate system of judicial administration 
and a lack of resources resulted in a serious backlog of cases and 
limited the right to a fair trial. All nonmilitary trials are public, 
but juries are not used. Defendants have the right to be present and to 
consult with an attorney in a timely manner, but cases may proceed 
without defendants in civil cases. The law requires that the Government 
provide an attorney for indigent defendants accused of capital 
offenses, but there were rarely funds to retain adequate counsel. By 
law defendants may confront or question witnesses against them and 
present witnesses and evidence on their behalf, but this right was not 
respected in practice. In 2008 the Constitutional Court ruled that 
suspected criminals have a right to obtain documentary evidence the 
state intends to use against them before the start of their trial. The 
ruling struck down the practice of ``trial by ambush.'' However, the 
ruling stated that the right of disclosure is not absolute in highly 
sensitive cases. There is a presumption of innocence, and defendants 
have the right of appeal.
    Suspects complained of long remand periods. For example, in 
February three UPDF soldiers facing murder charges--Emmy Namanya, Moses 
Keriri, and Yason Babishanga--protested long detention in civilian 
cells without charge. The soldiers alleged they were arrested in 
Kampala between 2002 and 2004 but by year's end had not been tried. The 
UPDF reported that the suspects were offered and applied for a plea 
bargain that would permit the court martial to deduct pretrial time 
served from their sentences; a hearing of the case was pending.
    In September a total of 12 persons who were convicted of crimes as 
minors but not sentenced sued the attorney general and the minister of 
justice and constitutional affairs over their continued detention. The 
individuals were arrested, charged, and convicted by various courts 
between 1991 and 2001. After conviction their cases were referred to 
the justice minister for sentencing because they were minors at the 
time. Due to the minister's failure to determine a sentence, the 
individuals were detained far beyond the maximum three years stipulated 
in the 1998 Children's Act.
    In September the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs 
reported that more than 124,000 cases were prosecuted from previous 
years and another 113,850 cases were registered in 2009. Of these, 
100,084 cases were disposed of, while 137,689 were pending at year's 
end.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners during the year; however, over 100 opposition 
politicians, supporters, or journalists critical of the Government were 
detained on politically motivated grounds for short periods.
    On October 12, the Constitutional Court cleared FDC leader Kizza 
Besigye of pending treason, terrorism, murder, and illegal use of 
firearms charges. The court determined that illegal detention, torture, 
and other unconstitutional abuses by security services and the 
Government irrevocably undermined the presumption of innocence and 
right to a fair trial of Besigye and the nine coaccused.
    In March lawyers representing treason convict Bright Gabula Africa 
requested the High Court to declare Africa eligible for amnesty. 
Africa's death sentence for treason was upheld by the Supreme Court in 
1995. He remained imprisoned pending the outcome of his appeal to the 
Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, a largely 
autonomous constitutional body. The High Court had not responded to the 
request by year's end.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters. In the case of a human rights 
violation, there is access to the UHRC, which has the powers of a court 
under the constitution. These powers include the authority to order the 
release of detainees, payment of compensation to victims, and other 
legal and administrative remedies, such as mediation. There were 
problems enforcing domestic court orders.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions, and 
the Government generally respected these prohibitions. However, police 
did not always obtain search warrants, as required by law, to enter 
private homes and offices.
    The Antiterrorism Act authorizes certain law enforcement officials 
to intercept communications to detect and prevent terrorist activities. 
The Government continued to monitor telephone conversations. On August 
5, President Museveni signed into law the Regulation of Interception of 
Communication Bill, which authorizes government security agencies to 
legally tap private conversations as part of wider efforts to combat 
terrorism-related offenses.
    The Government continued to encourage university students and 
government officials to attend NRM political education and military 
science courses known as ``chaka mchaka.'' The Government claimed the 
courses were not compulsory; however, human rights activists reported 
that civil servants and students were pressured to attend.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government at 
times restricted these rights. The police Media Crimes Unit and 
government officials closely monitored all radio, television, and print 
media, and the Government at times harassed and intimidated 
journalists, who continued to practice self-censorship.
    On May 2, HRW released a report that documents violations of press 
freedoms by the Government and ruling National Resistance Movement 
party officials. The report says the Government ``deploys a wide range 
of tactics to stifle critical reporting, from occasional physical 
violence to threats, harassment, bureaucratic interference, and 
criminal charges.'' The report warns that use of these tactics 
``threatens to fatally undermine media freedoms necessary for free and 
fair elections.''
    On August 25, the Constitutional Court upheld a petition submitted 
by the Independent's managing editor Andrew Mwenda in 2005 and declared 
the sedition law inconsistent with article 29 (1) of the constitution, 
which provides for freedom of speech. According to local NGOs, 15 
journalists, civil society activists, and political opposition members 
face pending sedition charges.
    Government officials detained and interrogated political leaders 
who made public statements critical of the Government and used libel 
laws and national security as grounds to restrict freedom of speech 
(see section 3). The President's Office reportedly monitored political 
talk shows, and the Government occasionally attempted to block 
participation of opposition members on radio talk shows.
    On March 29, police in Masaka District arrested Democratic Party 
supporter Muhammad Kigongo on allegations he accused President Museveni 
of being responsible for the March 16 fire that destroyed the Buganda 
Kingdom's tomb site at Kasubi. A court in Masaka charged Kigongo with 
sedition and released him on bail on March 31. The case hearing was 
pending at year's end.
    On April 1, police in Kasese District questioned and released on 
police bond FDC supporter Joram Bintamanya for alleging that President 
Museveni was responsible for the 2008 death of former Ministry of 
Defense permanent secretary Noble Mayombo. On April 22, the state 
prosecutor ordered the closure of the case for lack of recorded 
evidence.
    On April 1, police in Kabarole District arrested FDC supporters Tom 
Mboijana and Prosper Businge for statements made on Better FM radio 
accusing President Museveni of being responsible for the killing of 
three civilians at Kasubi Tombs on March 17. Mbojoina and Businge 
recorded statements and were released on police bond. Police 
investigations continued, and hearing of the case was pending at year's 
end.
    On April 16, police in Kasese arrested Messiah FM Radio presenter 
Charles Tumusiime and politicians Joram Kisembo and Isaac Hakiza over 
statements made regarding the Kasubi Tombs fire during a radio talk 
show. The police held the three suspects for eight hours before 
releasing them without charge.
    On May 8, Radio Nile FM radio panelist Titia Kamure allegedly 
accused President Museveni of using ``guerrilla tactics'' in 
redistricting decisions. Arua District police commander (DPC) Willis 
Mutabingwa said Kamure's statements abused the president and summoned 
her to record a statement. Kamure disregarded the summons, and the case 
was pending.
    On September 10, a group of motorcycle taxi drivers beat to death 
freelance journalist Paul Kiggundu after he was seen filming the group 
demolishing the house of another taxi driver in the southwestern part 
of the country. The drivers accused Kiggundu of working for the police. 
On September 21, police arrested five suspects in connection with 
Kiggundu's murder and remanded them to prison. An investigation into 
the case continued at year's end.
    On September 13, unidentified assailants beat and killed Prime 
Radio news presenter Dickson Ssentongo on his way to work in Mukono 
District. Ssentongo was politically active and was running for a 
position in the Democratic Party in the upcoming February 2011 
elections. There were no arrests made in connection to the murder of 
Ssentongo; police said an investigation in the incident continued at 
year's end.
    On November 5, police arrested Radio Hoima FM reporter Frederick 
Makuru Muhamba for allegedly inciting violence by broadcasting 
supposedly false information about the National Resistance Movement 
party's internal primaries. On November 6, police released Muhamba on 
bond, and hearing of the case was pending at year's end.
    On October 5, a Kampala court dismissed the September 2009 sedition 
charge against former Radio One presenter Robert Kalundi Sserumaga in 
light of the August 25 Constitutional Court ruling on the 
unconstitutionality of the sedition law. The hearing of a December 2009 
petition filed by Sserumaga in the High Court to challenge his 
dismissal and that of Radio Sapientia's Geoffrey Ssebagala was pending 
at year's end.
    There were some developments in previous cases of government 
harassment of politicians.
    On January 13, a court in Kampala postponed proceedings against 
Democratic Party (DP) spokesperson Betty Nambooze pending the 
Constitutional Court ruling on sedition. Nambooze was charged with 
sedition in December 2009 for making statements with the intent to 
generate public hatred, contempt, and dissatisfaction with President 
Museveni.
    The hearing of the December 2009 case against Hussein Kyanjo, a 
parliamentarian and member of the opposition Justice Forum party, for 
inciting violence during a December 2009 Buganda Kingdom conference was 
pending, and he remained free on bail at year's end.
    Several opposition politicians were denied access to the media.
    For example, on January 30, Luo FM radio in Pader District refused 
to host FDC President Kizza Besigye. Several other radio stations also 
refused to host Besigye, including Beta FM in Masindi, Radio Hoima, and 
Kapchorwa Trinity Radio. Several radio stations also refused to host 
UPC President Olara Otunnu during his January tour of the western 
region.
    On May 26, Ibrahim Abiriga, Arua resident district commissioner 
(RDC) blacklisted four regular guests of a Nile FM political talk show. 
In a letter, Abiriga ordered Nile FM Radio's management to stop hosting 
politicians Bernard Atiku (FDC), Nelson Cemari (UPC), former ambassador 
Harold Acemah (UPC), and Titia Kamure (UPC). RDC Abiriga claimed that 
some of the politician's statements threatened security. Nile FM 
stopped hosting the politicians.
    On October 8, the Government seized 500 copies of a new book 
critical of President Museveni written by FDC President Besigye's 
sister. On October 11, the Government acknowledged confiscating the 
books for security reasons. The Government released the books on 
October 20.
    There were many privately owned publications and broadcast 
stations, and the independent media were generally active and expressed 
a wide variety of views, although they faced obstacles. Media laws 
require that journalists be licensed and possess a university degree in 
journalism or the equivalent. The law also grants the Media Council the 
power to suspend newspapers. The Daily Monitor, the Independent 
Magazine, and the Weekly Observer continued to publish articles 
critical of the Government despite pending sedition cases against 
members of their staff. The Government owned several daily and weekly 
newspapers.
    Government agents and political leaders affiliated with the ruling 
party assaulted journalists during the year.
    In June 9, police officer Mohammed Mundu assaulted and destroyed 
the camera of Daily Monitor journalist Yusuf Muziransa for taking 
pictures of a vigilante group known as the Kiboko Squad beating 
opposition supporters in Kampala. On June 24, a court in Kampala 
charged Mundu with assault and malicious damage to property and 
remanded him to prison. On June 25, the court released Mundu on bail, 
and hearing of the case was pending at year's end.
    On September 6, Hassan Basajjabalaba, chairman of the NRM 
Entrepreneur League, assaulted journalist Arthur Kintu while he took 
pictures at an NRM conference in Kampala. On September 9, a court in 
Kampala issued a criminal summons to Basajjabalaba to appear in court 
over charges of assault; hearing of the case was pending at year's end.
    The Government also arrested and harassed journalists, some of whom 
were charged with criminal libel, sedition, and sectarianism.
    For example, on February 3, authorities charged Daily Monitor 
journalists Henry Ochieng and Angelo Izama with criminal libel for a 
December 2009 article that compared President Museveni to Ferdinand 
Marcos. On May 6, the magistrate's court in Kampala adjourned the case; 
a hearing was pending.
    On March 25, police in Kampala arrested Red Pepper journalists Ben 
Byarugaba, Dalton Kaweesa, and Johnson Taremwa for publishing a story 
titled ``Buganda Katikirro, Ministers Grilled at CID Headquarters for 
Five Hours.'' On March 26, the suspects were charged with sedition and 
released on police bond. On April 2, Inspector General of Police 
General Kale Kayihura ordered the withdrawal of the charges.
    On July 19, security forces in Kampala detained Kingdom FM radio 
journalist Rogers Matovu under unclear circumstances. On July 24, 
police released Matovu without charges. Matovu reportedly made critical 
statements about President Museveni during a conversation with 
unidentified persons during the African Union Summit in Kampala.
    On August 2, police arrested and charged Timothy Kalyegira, an 
online journalist, with sedition for publishing a conspiracy theory 
blaming the military for the July 11 terrorist attacks in Kampala. 
Police released Kalyegira on bond but confiscated his laptop and 
passport pending further investigations.
    On November 4, security personnel in civilian clothes allegedly 
detained Radio Simba journalist Arafat Nzito for questioning about an 
alleged call he received from the Middle East in December 2009 and for 
posting antigovernment materials on the Internet. On November 11, 
Nzito's lawyer filed a habeas corpus request for the Government to 
produce the missing journalist in court. On November 12, Nzito was 
released without charge (see section 1.b.).
    On August 17, the Constitutional Court stayed an arrest warrant for 
UPC President Olara Otunnu that was issued by a district court on 
August 3 for his failure to respond to a police summons. Police issued 
the summons to question Otunnu over allegations of sedition and 
promoting sectarianism that arose from accusing President Museveni of 
intentionally prolonging the country's 24-year conflict with the LRA 
during an April 12 radio show.
    Authorities also briefly detained a local radio journalist on July 
19 for allegedly promoting sectarianism; a TV journalist on August 19 
for filming immigration procedures along the country's border with the 
DRC; a newspaper journalist on August 22 for allegedly publishing an 
article critical of the Government; a radio journalist on September 6 
for allegedly inciting violence; and two newspaper journalists on 
September 25 for possible defamation charges.
    The August 2009 case against Daily Monitor photo journalist Stephen 
Otage, who was charged with criminal trespass for photographing former 
inspector general of government (IGG) Justice Faith Mwondha outside a 
courthouse without her permission, was pending at year's end.
    Forgery charges against Daily Monitor journalists Daniel Kalinaki 
and Henry Ochieng for the August 2009 publication of an alleged letter 
from President Museveni remained pending at year's end.
    There were no developments in the August 2009 sedition case against 
Independent Magazine's managing editor Andrew Mwenda, senior editor 
Charles Bichachi, and assistant news editor Joseph Were. The suspects 
remained free on bail at year's end.
    Local government officials restricted press freedom during the 
year.
    For example, on September 15, former IGG Justice Faith Mwondha 
barred journalists from covering Jinja High Court sessions. Mwondha 
accused journalists Frank Mugabi of the New Vision newspaper, Aldon 
Walukamba of Uganda Radio Network, and Catherine Asiyo of Kiira Radio 
of stalking her.
    On September 15, police in Hoima District barred journalists from 
covering the hearing of three police officers charged with killing two 
striking workers of British American Tobacco (BAT) Uganda (see section 
7. b.).
    On September 17, Jinja District Council officials barred 
journalists from covering a meeting in which the regional public 
accounts committee was questioning councilors and municipality 
technical team on possible cases of corruption.
    In August Jinja Resident District Commissioner Apollo Bwebale 
instructed all radio stations to stop conducting talk shows that are 
critical of the Government. Several warnings were allegedly sent to 
panelists who were regularly hosted on radio stations.
    On August 16, the Nakawa Chief Magistrate Court issued an 
injunction against all print and broadcast media houses in the country 
prohibiting them from publishing information about the ongoing police 
investigation into the July 11 terrorist bombings. Local media houses 
vowed to ignore the ban, and the Magistrate's directive was not 
enforced.
    The Government restricted the operation of private media outlets.
    In contrast with 2009, no radio stations were closed or suspended 
during the year; however, the Government continued to restrict 
independent television and radio stations that hosted opposition 
political candidates critical of the Government. The ban on new radio 
stations in Kampala was enforced reportedly because of limited 
available frequencies; however, the ban was widely disregarded without 
penalty.
    Two of the four Kampala radio stations that the Uganda Broadcasting 
Council (UBC) closed in September 2009 were allowed to reopen. The 
Government allowed Radio Sapientia to reopen in September 2009 with 
strict instructions not to broadcast political programs. The Government 
allowed Ssuubi FM to reopen in January. On October 23, President 
Museveni ordered the immediate reopening of the two frequencies of CBS 
radio, and CBS began operation. The High Court hearing of a December 
2009 petition filed by CBS employees seeking 3 billion shillings ($1.3 
million) in compensation and general damages related to the 
Government's closure of CBS remained pending at year's end.
    On April 26, Presidential Press Secretary Tamale Mirundi demanded 
apologies from a radio station for airing UPC president Olara Otunnu's 
accusations that President Museveni prolonged and politically profited 
from the LRA conflict. Mirundi warned there would be future 
consequences for the station if it refused to apologize. The station 
broadcast an apology on April 13 and 14.
    The Talk Show on Radio Simba and the WBS television program Kibaazo 
on Friday, which the Uganda Broadcasting Council shut down in September 
2009, were not reinstated during the year. Several journalists, 
including UBC TV Manager Mark Walungama and Charles Odongotho of Vision 
Voice, who were fired after the September 2009 riots were not 
reinstated to their jobs. Other journalists, including Manyo Matono and 
Andrew Ben Kiwanuka of Radio Simba and Matayo Laoysius and Irene Kiseka 
of Radio Sapiente, were reinstated but instructed not to report on 
political issues.
    There were developments in several 2008 cases of press freedom.
    For example, on March 24, the High Court ordered the Government to 
pay 30 million shillings compensation ($12,947) to WBS Television 
journalists Timothy Sibasi and Francis Tumekwatsize for their 2008 
beating by SPCs under the command of Laban Muhabwe. Payment to the 
victims is pending.
    There were no developments in the 2008 case against former Daily 
Monitor editors Joachim Buwembo, Bernard Tabaire, Emmanuel Gyezaho, and 
Robert Mukasa, who were charged with sedition in 2008 for articles 
alleging that former IGG Justice Faith Mwondha filed false salary 
claims. The suspects remained free on bail.
    There were no developments in the 2008 sedition case against the 
Independent Magazine's managing editor Andrew Mwenda, contributing 
editor Charles Bichachi, and reporter John Njoroge, who published an 
article alleging UPDF atrocities in 2003.

    Internet Freedom.--Individuals and groups could generally engage in 
the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail; 
however, at times the Government restricted access. The 2006 ban on 
access to radiokatwe.com, an antigovernment gossip Web site, remained 
in place. Access to the Internet continued to increase during the year, 
although due to lack of infrastructure, only 7.8 percent of the 
population used the Internet at least monthly.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom; however, research clearance was 
required in certain academic areas, such as history and political 
science, and was difficult to obtain.
    On December 13, Ethics and Integrity Minister Nsaba James Buturo 
prevented the UHRC and OHCHR from screening a documentary on Ugandan 
human rights defenders. Buturo alleged that the film promoted 
homosexuality. In the film, one human rights defender criticized 
Uganda's draft ``antihomosexuality bill'' for violating the rights of 
Ugandan citizens by forcing health care workers to report individuals 
believed to be gay or lesbian to authorities. In a December 15 press 
conference, the UHRC defended the documentary and criticized Buturo for 
violating the UHRC's constitutional independence.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The law restricts freedom of assembly, and security forces 
used excessive force, including live ammunition, to disperse 
demonstrators during the year. Police permits are required for all 
public meetings, demonstrations, and processions. In 2008 the 
Constitutional Court nullified section 32(2) of the Police Act, thus 
eliminating the requirement to obtain the written permission of the 
inspector general of police before holding an assembly of 25 or more 
persons. However, the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs 
appealed the court's decision, which in effect stayed any action on the 
court's ruling. By year's end no decision on the appeal had been made, 
and police and local government authorities used the Police Act to 
disrupt opposition party activities (see section 3).
    The use of excessive force to disperse demonstrators resulted in 
injuries (see sections 1.a. and 7.b.).
    For example, on January 4, police deployed in the early morning 
hours to prevent IPC members from assembling to protest the continued 
closure of CBS radio and the Government's refusal to change the 
Electoral Commission's top management.
    On March 18, police in Kabale beat IPC women leader Ingrid Turinawe 
and other IPC members for allegedly trying to enter a police station to 
visit several IPC members arrested earlier in the day for alleged 
unlawful assembly. Turinawe was subsequently hospitalized for several 
days, and an independent medical evaluation confirmed that she had 
received blows to the head and body. A police investigation determined 
that police had acted appropriately, and no charges were filed.
    On April 9, police in Mbale arrested UPC supporters Abas Wetaka, 
Mike Kasola, Milton Wanambwa, and Andrew Kibongo for staging an illegal 
demonstration to protest the sale of public park land. On April 12, a 
court in Mbale charged the suspects with holding an unlawful assembly 
and released them on bail. Hearing of the case was pending.
    On June 9, police in Kampala blocked three IPC-organized rallies to 
protest the composition of the Electoral Commission. Riot police and 
members of the vigilante ``Kiboko Squad'' beat opposition supporters 
while police looked on. Several supporters, including Sam Mugumya, an 
aide to FDC leader Kizza Besigye, were injured. Police reported that 
the IPC failed to notify authorities of the rallies and therefore 
assembled illegally.
    On June 14, police in Kampala injured IPC women Ingrid Turinawe, 
Lilian Liz Masia, and Catherine Ddembe, as they demonstrated outside a 
court house following the fourth postponement of the hearing of pending 
illegal assembly charges. In July the injured women filed an 
application in the High Court seeking the dismissal of Police Deputy 
Director of Operations Grace Turyagumanawe and police officers Moses 
Kafeero, Grace Akullo, and police spokeswoman Judith Nabakooba. Hearing 
of the application was pending.
    On July 10, police in Kampala fired shots into the air and used 
teargas to disperse a rally organized by DP President Norbert Mao. 
Police beat a civilian and later detained him at Kira Road police 
station. The police said the DP had not sought permission to organize 
the rally.
    There were developments in several prior cases of freedom of 
assembly.
    In July 2009 in Luwero District, security forces shot and injured 
Bugema Adventist Secondary School students Wilber Kwamboko Omara and 
Miriam Adyelo, who were participating in a student demonstration 
against poor food and corporal punishment. The same day police arrested 
security force members involved in the shooting, including police 
commander Eddie Kulany, community liaison officer Ibrahim Odroa, CID 
chief Sulieman Kibuye, and SPCs Robert Oguti and Alex Ojambo. An 
investigation continued at year's end.
    On April 16, a court in Kampala acquitted 11 FDC youth supporters 
who faced charges of holding an illegal assembly in August 2009. The 
youth were arrested following a foiled protest calling for electoral 
reforms. Grade 1 Magistrate Francis Dawa ruled the prosecution failed 
to provide evidence that they were involved in unlawful assembly.
    On March 2, a court in Kampala ordered the police to arrest Kampala 
parliamentarian Erias Lukwago for disregarding three summonses to 
appear in court to face charges of inciting violence during the 2009 
September riots. Lukwago remained free on bail, pending hearing of the 
case.
    In March a parliamentary investigation into police conduct 
confirmed claims that police assaulted MP Nabila Sempala and acted 
unprofessionally while arresting other MPs in 2008. The report 
recommended disciplinary action against Senior Superintendent of Police 
William Muhairwe and the Senior Officer in Charge of Ndeeba Station 
Noah Onyango. There were no reports that disciplinary action occurred.
    On December 20, Richard Buteera, the Director of Public 
Prosecutions (DPP) withdrew charges of unlawful assembly against 27 
individuals. The suspects, including MPs Beatrice Atim Anywar and 
Hussein Kyanjo and 25 others, were accused of participating in a riot 
against the Mabira forest giveaway in 2007.
    There were no developments in the 2008 case against opposition DP 
members Domic Matovu Savio, Emmanuel Mugandusi, Samuel Mulindwa, 
Margret Wazemba, and Ben Kiwanuka, charged with rioting, assault, and 
firearms possession during a rally at their party headquarters. The 
suspects remained free on bail.
    The August 2009 unlawful assembly charges against MPs Hussein 
Kyanjo, Erias Lukwago, and Beatrice Atim Anywar; DP youth wing vice 
president Fred Mukasa; Issa Ssekito, chairman of the Kampala Traders 
Association; and 17 others were pending.
    On November 17, Ethics and Integrity Minister James Buturo informed 
the Aga Khan-owned Serena Lakeside Resort Hotel in Kampala that the 
Serena would be ``an accomplice to an illegality'' if it allowed a 
November 18-20 regional NGO conference on health, HIV/AIDS, 
reproductive rights, and human rights for East African sex workers to 
proceed. Although there was no evidence of wrongdoing or illegality, 
the Serena asked conference participants to leave, and the event was 
cancelled.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
association, and the Government generally respected these rights.
    In April civil society organizations petitioned the Constitutional 
Court to challenge the 2006 NGO Registration Act, which requires most 
NGOs, including religious organizations, to renew their registration 
permits annually. The Constitutional Court failed to hear the petition 
due to a lack of a quorum on September 3, and the hearing remained 
pending. The Government established a committee to review the act in 
2008, when enforcement of the law was temporarily suspended. By year's 
end no action had been taken on the petition or by the committee.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were no reports of 
societal abuses or discrimination based on religious belief or 
practice, and prominent social leaders took positive steps to promote 
religious freedom.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement, foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation; 
however, the Government at times limited these rights in practice.
    The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    Travel restrictions were imposed on opposition party members, 
journalists, and others with pending charges of sedition and treason.
    On October 12, the Constitutional Court cleared FDC leader Kizza 
Besigye of pending treason, terrorism, murder, and illegal use of 
firearms charges. The court determined that illegal detention, torture, 
and other unconstitutional abuses by security services and the 
Government irrevocably undermined the presumption of innocence and 
right to a fair trial of Besigye and the nine coaccused.
    Radio One presenter Robert Sserumaga's passport was returned 
following the dismissal of sedition charges against him on October 5.
    A married woman must obtain her husband's written permission on her 
passport application if children are to be listed on her passport.
    The country has no law on forced exile, and the Government did not 
subject anyone to forced exile during the year.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--According to the UNHCR, 
147,401 IDPs remained in camps in northern Uganda's Acholi Region as of 
August. All IDPs in the Lango and Teso regions had returned to their 
homes by year's end. Conditions in IDP camps improved as a result of 
the lowered IDP population; however, remaining IDPs still lacked 
potable water, health care, schools and trained teachers, housing, and 
land.

    Protection of Refugees.--The laws provide for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees. However, in at least one 
instance, the Government expelled refugees to a country where their 
lives or freedom could be threatened on account of their race, 
religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or 
political opinion.
    On July 14-15, Ugandan authorities forcefully deported 
approximately 1,800 Rwandan asylum seekers from the Nakivale and Kyaka 
II settlements under a bilateral arrangement with Rwanda. At least two 
individuals were killed after jumping from trucks, and reports indicate 
that approximately 40 children were separated from their parents.
    The Government provides temporary protection to individuals who may 
not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol; 
however, no individuals received such protection during the year.
    As in 2009, some Kenyan refugees complained that the Government's 
self-sufficiency policy, which requires refugees to become self-
sufficient by providing them with land to cultivate, was ineffective 
because most refugees were merchants and businessmen, not farmers.
    There is no path to naturalization for refugees in the country. The 
Government's stance on local integration is that the constitution does 
not allow time in country as a refugee to count toward the residency 
requirement for naturalization. Between January and July, the 
Government assisted the UNHCR in the voluntary repatriation of 2,246 
refugees to Southern Sudan.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens with the right to change 
their government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in 
practice through generally free and fair elections based on universal 
suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--The 2006 presidential and 
parliamentary elections, the first multiparty general elections since 
President Museveni came to power in 1986, were marred by serious 
irregularities. Police recorded 450 cases of election-related violence 
during the electoral period. More than 100 election challenges were 
filed in the High Court and the Constitutional Court following the 2006 
elections, including charges of bribery, intimidation, violence, 
multiple voting, and ballot stuffing. The Ugandan Supreme Court agreed 
that irregularities occurred but found that these irregularities did 
not alter the 2006 presidential outcome and upheld President Museveni's 
reelection by a 4-3 margin. Four by-elections were held during the year 
to fill the seats declared vacant by the High Court in 2007, and 
election monitors reported some irregularities.
    The ruling NRM party operated without restriction, regularly 
holding rallies and conducting political activities. Approximately 38 
other parties were registered and allowed to function, although members 
of some parties were subjected to political violence, and authorities 
sometimes restricted opposition parties' ability to meet or 
demonstrate. Political involvement was primarily concentrated within 
the elite. Membership in the NRM conferred greater access to government 
positions and resources.
    In preparation for the 2011 general elections, several political 
parties including the ruling NRM, DP, FDC, UPC, Peoples Progressive 
Party, Social Democratic Party, Peoples Independent Party, Conservative 
Party, and the Uganda Federal Alliance conducted primary elections 
during the year. The elections were generally peaceful; however, the 
primaries of the ruling NRM party were marred by bribery, other 
election malpractice, and violence. Some opposition leaders were denied 
access to the media during the year, but the Government claimed radio 
stations that refused to air opposition views or candidates were 
privately owned stations acting on their own authority (see section 
2.a.).
    Police arbitrarily arrested opposition members during the year (see 
also section 2.c.).
    For example, on January 18, police in Kampala arrested 33 female 
IPC members after they tried to enter the Electoral Commission (EC) 
headquarters to protest the appointment of EC Chairman Badru Kiggundu. 
Police justified the arrests on the basis that the demonstration was 
blocking public access to the commission premises. On January 19, a 
court in Kampala charged the suspects with unlawful assembly; hearing 
of the case was pending at year's end.
    On March 18, police in Kabale arrested six opposition activists for 
allegedly holding an illegal meeting prior to a March 22 parliamentary 
by-election. From July 25-27, police arrested and later released 
several dozen opposition supporters throughout the country for 
protesting against the Electoral Commission. On August 19, police in 
Kampala and Mbarara arrested and later released several opposition 
protesters.
    On October 9, police in Kampala arrested three individuals for 
flashing the opposition FDC party's ``V'' symbol during Uganda's 
official independence day rally. Two of these individuals were released 
a few hours later, and the third was released on October 11.
    On November 16, police in Moyo arrested and detained three persons 
overnight for allegedly inciting violence at a Museveni rally by 
carrying posters proclaiming ``No Ferry No Vote'' and ``No Road No 
Vote.''
    On December 16, police in Gulu arrested four individuals for 
allegedly inciting violence by wearing blue galoshes, which police 
interpreted as a symbol for an opposition FDC party self-defense 
militia. Police released one of these individuals without charge on 
December 17, and on December 22 charged the remaining three with 
inciting violence and accepting a bribe from a political candidate and 
released them on bail. Their cases were pending at year's end.
    The hearing of the July 2009 case in which 19 DP members were 
charged with criminal trespass, illegal assembly, and interfering in 
police work was pending at year's end, and the suspects remained on 
bail.
    On October 25, Buganda Road Court cleared former Buganda Kingdom 
deputy information minister Medard Lubega Segona of sedition charges 
pending since September 2009.
    While the Constitutional Court found the sedition law 
unconstitutional on August 25 (see section 2.a.), hearings in the 
following cases were not held and the cases remained pending: the 
September 2009 case against UPC member Godwin Acai for statements he 
made during an August 2009 Unity FM radio talk show; the September 2009 
case against Democratic Party parliamentarian Erias Lukwago; the 2007 
and 2008 cases against Makindye West parliamentarian Hussein Kyanjo; 
and the 2008 case against Buganda Kingdom Deputy Information Minister 
Medard Seggona Lubega and Buganda Central Civic Education Committee 
chairperson Betty Nambooze.
    The hearing of the August 2009 illegal assembly case against 11 
members of the FDC youth wing was pending at year's end. The suspects 
remained free on bail.
    During the year the director of public prosecutions withdrew all 
2008 and 2009 charges against FDC youth leader Abedi Nasser Obole, who 
was first arrested in August 2008 for unlawful assembly and later 
charged with threatening the EC chairman and four commissioners.
    There were 102 women in the 333-member parliament. Of these, 80 
held seats designated for women. There were 14 female ministers in the 
president's 66-member cabinet. The deputy speaker and the deputy chief 
justice of the Supreme Court were women.
    The law requires elections through electoral colleges for the seats 
reserved for special-interest groups in parliament: 80 seats were 
reserved for women; five for organized labor; five for persons with 
disabilities; and five for youth. However, the UPDF High Command and 
President Museveni selected the 10 army representatives, and the five 
persons with disabilities were selected by an electoral college 
organized by a single government-supported NGO.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government investigated offenders; however, corruption was a 
serious problem, and officials engaged in corrupt practices with 
impunity. The Government selectively enforced financial disclosure 
laws. Government agencies responsible for combating corruption include 
the IGG, the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP), the Anticorruption 
Division of the High Court, the parliamentary accounting committee, the 
police CID, the Office of the Auditor General, and the Directorate for 
Ethics and Integrity. Political will to combat corruption at the 
highest levels of government remained weak, and corruption cases 
remained pending for years. The World Bank's most recent Worldwide 
Governance Indicators reflected that corruption was a severe problem.
    A September 2009 study conducted by the Public Procurement and 
Disposal of Assets Authority, which reports to the Ministry of Finance, 
estimated that corruption in the public procurement process resulted in 
an annual loss of 474 billion shillings ($205 million).
    A number of government ministries, agencies, and high-level 
officials were implicated in corruption. On May 11, the parliamentary 
public accounts committee (PAC) completed a report of expenditures made 
to support Uganda's hosting of the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of 
Government Meeting (CHOGM). The bipartisan PAC report implicated 
several senior government ministers for approximately $123 million in 
unexplained and unauthorized CHOGM expenses. The report was not debated 
in parliament or officially released to the public. During the year a 
mid-level engineer was prosecuted for CHOGM related corruption.
    On June 21, police arrested former National Social Security Fund 
(NSSF) managing director David Chandi Jamwa as he was fleeing the 
country. Authorities charged Jamwa with abuse of office and causing a 
financial loss to the Government and remanded him to prison. A 2008 IGG 
report implicated Jamwa and his former deputy Mondo Kangoyera in 
mismanaging NSSF money. On September 23, the High Court's 
Anticorruption Division cancelled Jamwa's bail and remanded him to 
prison pending prosecution in the High Court. On June 29, police also 
arrested NSSF's Chief Accounting Officer George Kyankunda for causing a 
financial loss of more than 3 billion shillings ($1.3 million).
    On July 7, President Museveni suspended the release of National 
Agricultural Advisory Services funds for the 2010/11 financial year 
after complaints of mismanagement, embezzlement, and corruption in the 
implementation of the program. The Government had allocated 120 billion 
shillings ($51.8 million) to help rural farmers. The president ordered 
an audit of the program, and a report of the findings was pending at 
year's end.
    On August 29, the IGG reinstated the case against NSSF board 
Chairman Geoffrey Onegi Obel, who was accused of causing a financial 
loss to the Government of eight billion shillings ($3.45 million) 
between 2004 and 2005. On September 16, the High Court honored Obel's 
request to refer the case to the Constitutional Court for a 
determination as to whether the High Court's Anticorruption Division 
can try crimes that occurred prior to its 2009 establishment.
    Corruption in the police force was a problem. Several officers 
implicated in bribery and corruption were arrested and prosecuted; by 
year's end, 17 police officers had been charged with corruption, and 
none had been discharged or dismissed for accepting bribes. 
Investigations into several police bribery charge cases were pending at 
year's end.
    On June 27, the Police Professional Standards Unit in Kampala 
arrested traffic officers Jamil Kirunda, Innocent Obaa, Alfred Otim, 
Patrick Dratoo, Evans Talemwa, and Patrick Ocen for extorting money 
from motorists. In July the police released the suspects on police 
bond, pending an investigation.
    In August police in Kampala arrested Assistant Superintendent of 
Police Gregory Mugisha on fraud charges. On August 25, the High Court 
charged Mugisha with abuse of office and tampering with evidence during 
investigations. The court released Mugisha on bail, and hearing of the 
case was pending at year's end.
    There were developments in some previous police corruption cases.
    On February 5, the High Court in Kampala released police officers 
George Kawuka, Robinson Okid, Samuel Wamakote, Livingstone Ojuk, 
Serafino Ogwanga, Peter Olegi, and James Kakuru. They were charged in 
December 2009 with accepting bribes from detainees to release them from 
Kiboga District Police Station.
    In May police in Gulu District suspended Robina Ocheng, officer in 
charge of media and political crimes, after a court found her guilty of 
stealing 1.7 million shillings ($733) that her supervisors had given 
her for use in an undercover operation in September 2009.
    In August police in Kampala arrested Criminal Investigation 
Department (CID) detective Hope Atuhaire for stealing 19 million 
shillings ($8,200) recovered from a suspect in 2008. In mid-August a 
court in Kampala sentenced Atuhaire to two years in prison for theft.
    Judicial corruption was a problem. Several magistrates were 
arrested for soliciting and receiving bribes.
    On February 4, Entebbe District police arrested grade 1 magistrate 
Godfrey Bindeba for soliciting and receiving a bribe of one million 
shillings ($431) from Felix Kintu to dismiss a forgery case. On March 
9, a court granted Bindeba bail, and hearing of the case was pending at 
year's end.
    On February 16, police in Kisoro District arrested grade 1 
magistrate David Cheptuke Kaye for receiving 100,000 shillings ($43) 
from suspect John Bosco Nyundo in exchange for bail. A court remanded 
Kaye to prison pending further hearings.
    On July 21, police in Jinja District arrested grade 2 magistrate 
Okitwi Odutu for taking a bribe of 100,000 shillings ($43) from Esther 
Nabulime to release her brother Emmanuel Sembule, who was facing 
robbery charges. On July 23, a court released Odutu on bail, and 
hearing of the case was pending at year's end.
    Grade 2 magistrate Moses Ndifuna, who in November 2009 was 
sentenced to two years' imprisonment for soliciting and receiving 
190,000 shillings ($82), remained on bail pending the hearing of his 
appeal.
    The anticorruption division of the High Court, which has three 
judges and five magistrates on staff and can only hear corruption cases 
referred by the IGG and DPP, convicted four individuals of corruption 
during the year.
    On June 29, the ACD sentenced Samson Bagonza, the Government chief 
engineer to five years' imprisonment for abuse of office and causing a 
financial loss of 1.6 billion shillings ($691,742). Bagonza had 
approved unauthorized highway construction works during the 2007 CHOGM 
preparations.
    On August 13, the ACD sentenced Ministry of Health official Joseph 
Isanga to five years' imprisonment for misusing 22 million shillings 
($9,495) meant to purchase medical drugs. The court released Isanga on 
bail pending an appeal.
    On September 13, the ACD sentenced Kapchorwa District Town Clerk 
Chemisto Alfred Mashandich and former town treasurer Martin Swami to 
four years' imprisonment, and town treasurer Sammy Nelson to five 
years' imprisonment for abuse of office and for causing a financial 
loss of 66 million shillings ($28,485). The court ordered the men to 
refund 28.6 million shillings ($12,343) and remanded them to prison 
pending an appeal.
    The four individuals convicted by the ACD in 2009 for stealing 
money from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria 
were free on bail pending hearing of their appeals.
    On September 9, the ACC granted bail to Winnie Musoke Kabogonza, 
the police department's undersecretary and accounting officer, Dennis 
Nyagweso, Dennis Twinamasiko, Alfred Okello, Ashe Kawooya, Primo 
Nyokatre, and Harriet Kyomugisha, who were charged and remanded to 
prison in August 2009 for failing to remove duplicate names and bank 
accounts from the police payroll.
    On May 17, the Constitutional Court rejected a 2009 petition filed 
by former minister of health Jim Muhwezi and deputies Mike Mukula and 
Alex Kamugisha, as well as former State House aide Alice Kaboyo, 
claiming the IGG did not have the legal mandate to investigate them 
over the alleged 2007 misappropriation of $8 million in Global Alliance 
for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI) funds. In June the accused 
appealed the Constitutional Court's ruling to the Supreme Court, and 
the hearing was pending. The four have been on police bail since 2007.
    There were no developments in the corruption case against solicitor 
general Lucien Tibaruha and acting litigation director Joseph Matsiko, 
who were indicted in 2007 for mismanagement resulting in financial loss 
to the Government. Both Tibaruha and Matsiko remained suspended from 
their positions.
    There were no developments in the 2008 parliamentary investigation 
into former IGG Justice Faith Mwondha's interventions in public 
tendering processes and allegations that her salary was higher than 
allowable under government policy; the IGG had not appeared before the 
committee at year's end.
    An estimated 17,000 public officials are subject to biannual 
reporting under financial disclosure laws. The IGG reported that for 
the 2009-10 cycle 16,909 officials reported. On May 27, the High Court 
rejected an IGG application seeking the dismissal of the Ministry of 
Health's principal accountant Nestor Gasasira and the seizure of his 
assets for failing to account for his wealth. The judge opined that 
Gasasira had not received a judicial hearing and that the Leadership 
Code Tribunal, not the IGG, was mandated to recommend such dismissals. 
The Supreme Court upheld the High Court's decision on August 24.
    The law provides for public access to government information, and 
the Government provided such access to citizens and noncitizens, 
including foreign media.
Section 5. 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 receptive to their views. Active, independent domestic 
groups included the FHRI, Human Rights Focus, Human Rights Network, 
Human Rights and Peace Center of Makerere University, the International 
Federation of Human Rights, the Justice and Peace Commission, the 
Uganda Journalist Safety Committee, the Uganda Prisoner's Aid 
Foundation, and the Uganda Association of Women Lawyers. Government 
officials continued to attend conferences and seminars hosted by NGOs 
on social problems and cooperated with NGOs on legal and prison 
reforms.
    In 2008, in response to NGO criticism and after consultation with 
civil society, the Government established a committee to review the 
2006 NGO Registration Act, which requires most NGOs, including 
religious organizations, to renew their registration permits annually. 
Enforcement of the law remained suspended during the review process, 
pending the NGO petition in the Constitutional Court (see section 
2.b.).
    The Government cooperated with international governmental 
organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives and 
organizations such as the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human 
Rights and also the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
    The UHRC is a permanent independent body with quasi-judicial 
powers, although the president appoints the UHRC's seven-member board. 
Under the law, the UHRC may subpoena information, order the release of 
detainees, and order the payment of compensation for abuses. The UHRC 
continued to pursue suspected human rights abusers, including in the 
military and police forces, and had branches countrywide; however, its 
resources were inadequate to investigate all complaints received.
    In its 2009 annual report, released in October 2010, the UHRC 
reported registering 785 human rights complaints against 858 
individuals, including 106 UPDF members, 285 police officers, 86 other 
security agencies, 29 prison warders, and 343 private citizens. Of the 
785 complaints, 31 percent involved allegations of torture or cruel, 
inhuman, or degrading treatment and punishment. The UHRC also examined 
the country's draft antihomosexuality bill and determined that the 
proposed legislation violates the Ugandan constitution and 
international law. The report called on the Government to pass pending 
antitorture legislation; improve prison conditions, particularly for 
women and children; eliminate illegal detention and prolonged pretrial 
detention practices; use murder statutes to prosecute cases of child 
sacrifice; and provide security forces with increased human rights 
education programming.
    In its April 2009 ``Open Secret'' report, HRW called on the 
Government to end all torture and mistreatment of detainees; stop 
arrest and interrogation by unauthorized security forces, including 
JATT; and release all detainees from the JATT headquarters in Kololo 
and close it as a place of detention. For detainees in Kololo for whom 
there is a legal basis for detention, HRW urged the Government to 
immediately transfer them to police custody, where they could be 
charged with a legally recognizable offense, if appropriate. HRW 
further urged the Government to promptly inform the relatives of each 
detainee of their whereabouts, condition, and the charges against them. 
Those charged should be tried before courts that met international fair 
trial standards. HRW also called on the Government to end impunity for 
human rights violations of the right to life and fair trial; the right 
to be charged before a judge within 48 hours of arrest; and freedom 
from torture and mistreatment, arbitrary arrest, and prolonged 
arbitrary detention.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability, 
language, or social status; however, the Government did not enforce the 
law in matters of locally or culturally prevalent discrimination 
against women, children, persons with disabilities, or certain ethnic 
groups.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape; however, rape remained a serious 
problem throughout the country, and the Government did not consistently 
enforce the law. Although the Government arrested, prosecuted, and 
convicted persons for rape during the year, the problem was 
underreported, and most cases were not investigated. Police lacked the 
criminal forensic capacity to collect evidence related to sexual 
assault, which hampered prosecution and conviction. There were 619 rape 
cases registered with the police in 2009, of which 240 went to court, 
resulting in only 12 convictions.
    On December 31, UPDF soldiers allegedly gang-raped Teddy Nakiru 
while on patrol at a trading center in Moroto district. The arrest of 
the soldiers and suspension of three unit officers, Major James Kasule, 
Lt.Walter Olum, and Lt. Sanyu Kaserebe, for failing to report the crime 
or take action against the soldiers were imminent at year's end, and 
investigations into the incident were ongoing.
    Domestic violence against women, including spousal abuse, remained 
widespread, and reports of such incidents continued to increase. The 
2009 police annual crime report listed 165 reported cases of domestic 
violence, compared to 137 reported cases in 2008, an increase of 20 
percent. These statistics greatly underestimate the extent of the 
problem; in November United Nations Population Fund reported that 60 
percent of women aged 15 and above experienced physical violence, 15 
percent of women face violence during pregnancy, and 24 percent report 
that their first sexual encounter was a forced one. Many law 
enforcement officials viewed wife-beating as a husband's prerogative, 
as did the majority of the population, and rarely intervened in cases 
of domestic violence.
    On March 17, President Museveni signed into law the 2009 Domestic 
Violence Bill, which criminalizes domestic violence, expands protection 
for victims, and provides penalties for abusers ranging from fines to 
two years' imprisonment.
    Between January and August, the Government arrested and prosecuted 
15 persons for domestic violence offenses. For example, on February 2, 
police in Masaka arrested Francis Kasekende for killing his wife Grace 
Phoebe following a family argument. An investigation into the case was 
pending. On July 12, police in Oyam District arrested Richard Otto for 
killing his wife Janet Akot. On July 24, police in Kampala arrested 
Apollo Dalton Nyangasi for killing his wife Christine Dambio. 
Investigations into the cases were pending.
    There were developments in domestic violence cases that occurred in 
previous years. For example, on February 18, a court in Mukono District 
committed former Mukono District police chief James Aurien to the High 
Court for trial for the 2008 killing of his wife Christine Opolot. The 
trial hearing was pending at year's end. In April the High Court in 
Kabarole District convicted and sentenced Reuben Asiimwe to 21 years' 
imprisonment for killing his wife, Peace Rodi, in 2005. On June 29, a 
court in Mbarara District sentenced Boniconsilla Kyaratuhe to 12 years' 
imprisonment for killing her husband in 2007. On September 16, the UPDF 
third division court martial in Moroto District sentenced Judith 
Koryang to death for killing her husband, UPDF Private Nelson Okello, 
in May 2009.
    There were no developments in the April 2009 case in which Richard 
Tito Okello killed his wife Scovia Acayo following a family argument.
    The law requires that bride prices be nonrefundable gifts to the 
parents of the bride. Constitutional amendments in 2007 did not abolish 
the practice, despite recommendations from civil society groups. On 
March 27, the Constitutional Court dismissed a petition filed in 2007 
by the Mifumi Project, a women's rights group that claims bride prices 
impede the rights of a woman and exacerbate domestic violence. The 
court dismissed the petition saying the group did not provide any 
scientific evidence to prove the connection between bride price and 
domestic violence. In April the Mifumi project appealed the ruling, and 
a Supreme Court hearing was pending.
    Although sexual harassment is prohibited with penalties of up to 14 
years' imprisonment, it was a widespread problem, and the Government 
did not enforce the law effectively. In April 2009 IGP General Kale 
Kayihura created a committee to investigate allegations of abuse of 
female police officers by senior male colleagues. Findings of the 
committee had not been released by year's end.
    No report was issued during the year by the committee established 
in 2008 to investigate allegations that male lecturers in Makerere 
University coerced female students into sexual acts as a condition for 
receiving good grades.
    There were no reports of findings by a team from the Ministry of 
Health that investigated 2007 allegations of sexual harassment filed by 
30 nurses against a senior staff member in Nakaseke Hospital.
    There are no laws restricting couples or individuals from deciding 
freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their 
children; however, family planning information and assistance was 
difficult to obtain, particularly in rural areas, where there were few 
health clinics. A 2006 survey found that 41 percent of married women 
had unmet family planning needs. There was no indication of 
discrimination in diagnosis or treatment of sexually transmitted 
infections, including HIV/AIDS. A January 2010 United Nations 
Development Program (UNDP) report cites maternal mortality at 505 
deaths per 100,000 live births.
    The law requires that women be accorded full and equal dignity of 
the person with men. However, discrimination against women continued to 
be widespread, especially in rural areas where it was part of 
traditional culture. Many customary laws discriminate against women in 
adoption, marriage, divorce, and inheritance. Under local customary law 
in many areas, women cannot own or inherit property or retain custody 
of their children. Traditional divorce law in many areas requires women 
to meet stricter evidentiary standards than men to prove adultery. 
Polygyny, where one husband has several wives, is legal under both 
customary and Islamic law, and, in some ethnic groups, men can 
``inherit'' the widows of their deceased brothers. Women also 
experienced economic discrimination. For example, a June study 
conducted by local NGO Actionaid found that although women did most of 
the agricultural work, they owned only 7 percent of the agricultural 
land. Women also experienced economic discrimination in access to 
employment, credit, income, business ownership, and senior or 
managerial positions.
    Eliminating gender inequality remained a high priority for the 
Government, which, in conjunction with NGOs and women's rights groups, 
sponsored workshops and training throughout the country to increase 
awareness of women's rights.

    Children.--Citizenship is afforded to children born in or outside 
of the country if at least one parent or one grandparent held Ugandan 
citizenship at the time of the child's birth. Children under the age of 
18 who are abandoned in the country with no known parents are 
considered to be Ugandan citizens, as are children under the age of 18 
adopted by citizen parents.
    The 2006 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey reported that only 21 
percent of rural and 24 percent of urban children had their births 
registered; however, lack of registration generally did not result in 
denial of public services.
    In 2008 parliament passed a law that provides for tuition-free and 
compulsory education for the first seven years of primary school or 
through high school for especially underprivileged students. Students, 
except for the most underprivileged, still had to pay for school 
supplies and some school operating costs, and many parents could not 
afford the school fees. Boys were more likely to finish primary school. 
The highest level of education achieved by most children was the fourth 
year of primary school.
    Child abuse remained a serious problem, particularly rape and 
sexual abuse of girls.
    According to the 2009 police annual crime report, defilement 
remained the most common crime committed against children, with 7,360 
cases recorded in 2009. The report also registered 3,126 cases of child 
neglect, 754 of child desertion, 550 of indecent assault, 552 of 
torture, 206 of child stealing, 49 of kidnapping, 46 of infanticide, 29 
of child sacrifice, and 16 of child trafficking. The Government worked 
with UNICEF and NGOs including Save the Children Fund and African 
Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and 
Neglect to combat child abuse in the country.
    There were isolated reports of corporal punishment in schools since 
the 2006 ban on the practice. For example, in March police in Buikwe 
District arrested Joseph Balyejjusa, a teacher of Progressive Primary 
School, for beating to death student Chrizeston Ssekatawa. An 
investigation into the incident was pending at year's end.
    Sexual contact outside marriage with girls less than 18 years of 
age, regardless of consent or age of the perpetrator, is considered 
``defilement'' under the law and carries a maximum sentence of death; 
however, such cases often were settled by a payment to the girl's 
parents. According to police statistics, in 2009 there were 7,360 
reported defilement cases, of which 4,433 went to court, with only 467 
resulting in convictions.
    Perpetrators of sexual abuse often were family members, neighbors, 
or teachers.
    In an effort to clear the backlog of cases, in 2007 the Government 
amended the 2006 Magistrate's Courts Bill, giving chief magistrates the 
authority to hear cases of rape of girls between the ages of 14 and 17; 
the High Court continued to try cases involving rape of girls younger 
than 14 years. In February 2009 the UPF announced that it would provide 
free rape and defilement medical examinations throughout the country to 
ensure that investigations were effectively carried out and 
perpetrators prosecuted. Since the program began in March 2009, an 
estimated 3,000 victims of rape and defilement have received free 
medical examinations at Mulago hospital in Kampala.
    The Sabiny ethnic group in rural Kapchorwa District and the Pokot 
ethnic group along the northeastern border with Kenya practiced FGM, 
despite local laws that prohibit the practice. On March 17, President 
Museveni signed into law the 2009 Prohibition of Female Genital 
Mutilation Bill. The law establishes that neither culture, religion, 
nor the consent of the victim are allowable defenses and establishes 
penalties of up to life imprisonment for the practice. The Government, 
women's groups, and international organizations continued 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. On July 29, the Constitutional 
Court declared the practice of FGM unconstitutional.
    Despite the Government ban, thousands of girls were subjected to 
FGM over the year, with one newspaper article reporting that 
approximately 820 girls were subjected to the practice in December 
alone in the districts of Kapchorwa, Bukwo, Kween, and Amudat. The 
police arrested several individuals involved in promoting the ritual. 
For example, on November 31, police arrested Jennifer Katungo, Patrick 
Chemonges, Flora Chebet, Juliet Chesewa, and Isaac Chemonges for their 
involvement in FGM practice in Binyiny subcounty, Kween District. 
Hearing of the case was pending. In December police arrested four girls 
under the age of 16 and five parents for their involvement in an FGM 
ritual in Kween District. The girls were released after questioning, 
and the parents were sentenced to two months community service. In 
December police in Bukwo District arrested Margret Chemutai, Brunei 
Chematene, Boniface Kabunga, and Julius Malinga for practicing FGM. On 
December 8, Chemutai pled guilty and was sentenced to four months in 
prison for circumcising eight girls. Chematene, Kabunga, and Malinga 
pled not guilty and were remanded to prison pending hearing of the 
case.
    Marriage of young girls by parental arrangement was common, 
particularly in rural areas, although the legal age for marriage is 18. 
Local NGO Concern for Children and Women Empowerment reported that 
acute poverty forced some parents to give away their children, 
including girls as young as 14 years, for early marriage and sexual 
arrangements. A March 2009 UN report stated that 32 percent of 
marriages involved underage girls.
    Reports of the ritual sacrifice of children increased during the 
year. For example, on June 18, police in Buikwe District arrested David 
Mukulu, Jennifer Night, Laubeni Mande, Yuda Nakacho, John Baptist 
Serwajjo, and Agnes Namanya for the ritual killing of three-year-old 
girl Evera Mudaali on June 6 in Nyenga subcounty. On May 18, police in 
Nakaseke District arrested Scovia Nalugo and Isma Kafeero for the 
ritual killing of a three-year-old girl in Ngoma subcounty. On July 19, 
police in Masaka District arrested John Lwahinda and Baker Muhwezi for 
the ritual killing of three-year-old Marvin Mukiibi in Kalisizo 
subcounty on June 30. The suspects from these cases were on remand in 
prison pending investigations and hearings of the cases.
    There were no developments in the March 2009 case in which Issa 
Wayibi, Sebastian Musana, Bbumba Aramazan, and Daudi Byendala were 
charged with the ritual killing of a girl, or the April 2009 case in 
which John Okech and six family members were charged with the ritual 
killing of a one-year-old girl. All suspects remained in prison pending 
investigations and hearings of the cases.
    On April 23, a court in Masaka acquitted businessman Godfrey Kato 
Kajubi of charges of the ritual killing of 12-year-old Joseph Kasirye; 
however, government prosecutors appealed the acquittal, and the case 
was pending at year's end.
    As in the past five years, there were no reports that during the 
year the LRA abducted or conscripted children within the country. 
However, an estimated 5,000 of 40,000 children abducted by the LRA in 
previous years for use as laborers, soldiers, guards, and sex slaves 
were reportedly still missing. There continued to be numerous reports 
of LRA abductions of children in the DRC, CAR, and Sudan during the 
year.
    Poverty, unstable family relationships, rape, inadequate family 
planning services, and other social, health, and economic factors 
contributed to cases of infanticide. The 2009 police crime statistics 
report cites 46 cases of infanticide but does not provide an analysis 
of the crimes.
    Since January police in Kampala rounded up approximately 331 street 
children, the majority from the Karamoja Region, and took them to 
Kampirigisa rehabilitation home in Mpigi District. Street children were 
often the victims of poverty, famine, and instability in Karamoja 
Region.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community was very small, and there were 
no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory or mental disabilities in 
employment, education, access to health care, and the provision of 
other state services; however, the Government did not enforce the law 
effectively. Persons with disabilities also faced societal 
discrimination and limited job and educational opportunities. There was 
no statutory requirement that buildings be accessible to persons with 
disabilities; however, the law requires that children with disabilities 
be given necessary special facilities.
    The UHRC continued to receive complaints of discrimination in 
employment and access to transport, cell phone, and other public 
services from persons with disabilities. Most schools in the country 
did not accommodate persons with disabilities.
    No action was taken to assist the 40 prison inmates with impaired 
hearing who had been denied a trial, health services, and education 
because they could not communicate.
    The Government supported the right of persons with disabilities to 
vote and participate in civic affairs. Five seats in parliament were 
reserved for representatives of persons with disabilities; however, a 
government-sponsored NGO managed election to these five seats in a 
process that was not transparent. Government agencies responsible for 
protecting the rights of persons with disabilities included the 
Ministry of State for Disabled Persons and the Ministry of Gender, 
Labor and Social Development, but both agencies lacked sufficient 
funding to undertake or support any significant initiatives. In August 
2009 President Museveni appointed members to the Equal Opportunities 
Commission, which is responsible for enforcing laws that protect 
persons with disabilities and ensuring that they have equal access to 
public office. In April the Government released 1.5 billion shillings 
($647,388) to accelerate ongoing projects being undertaken to increase 
incomes and improve livelihoods of persons with disabilities in 48 
districts.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--There were isolated reports of 
violence between ethnic minorities in some parts of the country. For 
example, in May five persons were injured and over 120 families 
displaced from Pera village following two days of clashes over land 
between the Alur and Madi ethnic groups along the Arua and Nebbi 
district border. Arua District police arrested and remanded seven 
suspects for inciting the violence, and the case continued at year's 
end.
    The August 2009 case against suspects Dominictic Ningrea, Martin 
Etima, D.Adrani, Alex Mawa, William Walya, Lilno, Jessica Nenia, 
Zaayoru Yena, John Anguzu, and Johnson Munuru, who were charged with 
inciting violence when ethnic Madi forcefully evicted several families 
of the Alur ethnic group from Kasomenga village in Rhino Camp 
subcounty, was pending at year's end.
    In August IGP Major General Kale Kayihura ordered an investigation 
of reports that police were harassing ethnic Somalis resident in the 
country. Ethnic Somalis accused the police of extortion, harassment and 
intimidation following the July 11 bombings in Kampala. There were no 
reports of findings of the investigation at year's end.

    Indigenous People.--The Batwa were the original inhabitants of land 
used by the Government in 1992 to establish Mgahinga National Park, 
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, and Echuya Central Forest Reserve. 
Numbering approximately 6,700 persons, the displaced Batwa lived in the 
districts of Bundibugyo, Kisoro, Kabale, Kanungu, Masaka, and Mbarara 
in the southwest and had limited access to education, health care, 
land, and economic opportunities. They were also prevented from 
pursuing hunting, gathering, and other traditional ways of life and 
often suffered food shortages. In March the United Organization for 
Batwa Development petitioned parliament to recognize Batwa rights to 
their former ancestral land to preserve their cultural values. The 
Government did not effectively protect their civil and political 
rights.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 
transgender (LGBT) persons faced discrimination and legal restrictions. 
It is illegal to engage in homosexual acts, based on a 1950 legal 
provision from the colonial era criminalizing ``carnal acts against the 
order of nature'' and prescribing a penalty of life imprisonment. No 
persons had been convicted under the law. On October 12, police in 
Kampala arrested one individual for alleged homosexuality, and on 
October 15 a court in Kampala charged the individual with homosexuality 
and released him on bail. Hearing of the case was pending at year's 
end.
    In September 2009 parliamentarian David Bahati introduced a draft 
``antihomosexuality bill'' that would impose punishments ranging from 
imprisonment to the death penalty on individuals twice convicted of 
``homosexuality'' or ``related offenses'' to include ``aiding and 
abetting'' homosexuality, ``conspiracy to engage'' in homosexuality, 
the ``promotion of homosexuality,'' or ``failure to disclose the 
offense'' of homosexuality to authorities within 24 hours. This draft 
legislation remained in the committee stage during the year but 
resulted in increased harassment and intimidation of LGBT persons. 
Although the Government did not endorse the draft legislation, several 
senior members of government and President Museveni's Cabinet openly 
expressed homophobic sentiment despite the High Court's December 2008 
ruling that constitutional rights apply to all persons, regardless of 
sexual orientation.
    LGBT persons were subject to societal harassment, discrimination, 
intimidation, and threats to their wellbeing during the year. 
Individuals openly threatened members of the LGBT community and their 
constitutional rights during several public events. For example, on 
April 15 in Jinja, Pastor Martin Ssempa led a march against 
homosexuality, and during an April 17 event against homosexuality at a 
church in Kampala, Ssempa showed a pornographic slideshow to audience 
members, which included several children. During these rallies 
participants openly threatened LGBT individuals.
    In its annual report for 2009, released in October 2010, the UHRC 
determined that the draft antihomosexuality bill violates the Ugandan 
constitution and international law.
    On October 10, an obscure local tabloid published the names, 
photographs, and, in some cases, residential locations of several LGBT 
activists under the headline ``Hang Them.'' On November 1, the High 
Court issued an injunction blocking the tabloid from further 
publication of information pertaining to homosexuality pending 
resolution of a court case filed by three LGBT activists, including 
David Kato. The case was pending at year's end.
    On December 13, Ethics and Integrity Minister Nsaba James Buturo 
prevented the UHRC and UN OHCHR from screening a documentary on Ugandan 
human rights defenders that Buturo alleged promoted homosexuality. In 
the film, one human rights defender criticized Uganda's draft 
antihomosexuality bill for violating the rights of Ugandan citizens by 
forcing health care workers to report alleged gay and lesbian 
individuals to authorities. In a December 15 press conference, the UHRC 
defended the documentary and criticized Buturo for violating the UHRC's 
constitutional independence.
    The April 2009 case against activists Fred Wasukira and Brian 
Mpadde, accused of involvement in homosexual acts, was pending. In 
September, police dismissed the June 2009 case in which Charles Ayeikoh 
was accused of homosexual acts.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Discrimination against 
persons with HIV/AIDS was common and prevented such persons from 
obtaining treatment and support. International and local NGOs, in 
cooperation with the Government, sponsored public awareness campaigns 
to eliminate the stigma of HIV/AIDS. Counselors encouraged patients to 
be tested with their partners and family so that they all received 
information about living with HIV/AIDS. Persons living with HIV/AIDS 
formed support groups to promote awareness in their communities.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers, except for 
``essential'' government employees, including police, army, and 
management level officials, to form and join independent unions, but 
all unions must be registered either under the National Organization of 
Trade Unions or the Confederation of Trade Unions. The law allows 
unions to conduct their activities without interference. Union 
officials estimated that more than 1.2 million workers were potential 
union members but only 300,000 workers were paid-up members.
    The law criminalizes any effort by an employer to obstruct the 
right of association; however, the Government generally did not enforce 
this provision. Labor activists claimed certain companies continued to 
bar employees from joining unions, including Dot Services and Cementers 
and Multiplex (both road construction companies); Mansons, a clearing, 
forwarding and transport company; West Nile Rural Electrification 
Company; BIDCO Uganda Ltd., an edible oil company; Mukwano 
Manufacturing Industries; Kawere Coffee Ltd; Kibimba Rice Scheme; Roko; 
Uganda Cement; as well as several other construction companies, 
supermarkets, and private universities.
    The law provides for the right to strike, and workers exercised 
this right; however, government policy required labor and management to 
make ``every effort to reconcile labor disputes before resorting to 
strike action.'' The Government did not always protect the right to 
strike, and police arrested persons who engaged in organizing strikes 
during the year.
    For example, on September 5, police arrested 12 sugarcane cutters 
of Lugazi Sugar Corporation during a strike to protest low pay and poor 
working conditions. On September 6, police released the workers after 
the intervention of the National Union of Plantation and Agricultural 
Workers Uganda. On September 20, Lugazi Sugar Corporation management 
signed an agreement to increase the workers' pay 17 percent, from 
80,000 shillings ($35) to 104,000 shillings ($45) per month for a 
period of two years. The workers also staged a brief strike in May 2009 
to protest low pay and poor working conditions.
    Police used excessive force to stop striking workers.
    For example, on September 7, police in Hoima District killed Dennis 
Bazara and Benard Byabasaija and injured several others during a strike 
at British American Tobacco (BAT) Uganda. The workers were protesting 
the company's delayed payment of their August salaries. Authorities 
arrested police officers Augustine Kasangaki, Luke Mbusa, and Romeo 
Ojara, who were implicated in the shooting, and an investigation was 
ongoing. On September 15, the Hoima Police Disciplinary Court started 
hearing the trial of Kasangaki, Mbusa, and Ojara and charged them with 
manslaughter. The suspects were remanded to prison until September 28. 
On September 21, police fired live bullets to disperse striking cane 
cutters of Kinyara Sugar Works. The workers were protesting low pay. 
There were no reported injuries. Following discussions with the union, 
management agreed to pay the cane cutters.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for collective bargaining; however, the Government did not 
protect this right in practice. Some employers ignored the legal 
requirement to enter into collective bargaining agreements with 
registered unions; only a few employers recognized the agreements. On 
September 8, the Uganda Flower Exporters Association comprising 20 
companies signed a collective bargaining agreement with Uganda 
Horticultural and Allied Workers Union. The agreement commits the 
companies to uphold workers' rights and enhance their salaries. No 
public service unions, including medical staff and teachers, were 
allowed to negotiate their salaries and employment terms. The 
Government fixed the terms and conditions for all civil service 
workers.
    As in 2009, there were no reports of antiunion discrimination 
during the year. The Government denied the registration of the Central 
Organization of Labor Unions, a union umbrella organization that broke 
away from the only legally registered consortium due to leadership 
disputes.
    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, particularly in prisons. While 
the law does not expressly prohibit prison labor, it states that such 
labor becomes forced if the worker is ``hired out to or placed at the 
disposal of a private individual, company, or association.'' NGOs and 
the UHRC reported that forced labor was a problem in local prisons 
nationwide. Prison officials hired out prisoners to work on private 
farms and construction sites where the prisoners were often overworked.
    Prison officials routinely supplemented their wages with cash crops 
grown by prisoners on prison grounds. 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 a day. Compensation, when paid, generally was very 
low. In July the Government announced that it would provide funds to 
prison administrators to pay prisoners for work performed, but no 
funding was released. Some wardens reportedly used income generated 
from prisoner labor to pay prisoners. Prisoners do not have savings 
accounts, but prison accounting staff recorded wages owed in a book.
    In June prison authorities began investigating allegations that 
police arrested over 1,300 individuals and forced them to work on large 
commercial farms. Reports alleged that police arrested citizens on idle 
and disorderly charges and sent them on remand to Butoro, Kasangati, 
and other prisons where they were forced into labor. A report of the 
investigation was pending at year's end.
    Exploitive child labor predominantly occurred in transport, mining, 
street vending/begging, scrap collecting, stone quarrying, brick-
making, road construction/repair, car washing, fishing, domestic nanny/
housekeeper service, bar/club service work, border smuggling, and 
prostitution. In all of these areas, there were likely occurrences of 
forced labor.
    For information on trafficking in persons, please see the 
Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits employers from hiring workers below the age of 18; 
however, statutory orders issued by the Ministry of Gender, Labor and 
Social Development permit the employment of children between the ages 
of 14 and 18, and 13-year-olds are allowed to engage in ``light work'' 
provided it does not interfere with education. Children under the age 
of 12 are prohibited from being employed in any business or workplace, 
and all children are prohibited from being employed during school 
hours. Nevertheless, child labor was common, especially in the informal 
sector.
    Many children left school and engaged in agricultural or domestic 
work to help meet expenses or perform the work of absent or sick 
parents, a situation common throughout the country. The problem was 
particularly acute among the large orphan population. In June 2009 the 
Bureau of Statistics estimated that more than 1.76 million or 17 
percent of children between the ages of five and 17, including 798,451 
girls, were involved in child labor.
    In urban areas children sold small items on the street, worked in 
shops, begged for money, and were involved in the commercial sex 
industry. Children were also employed in stone quarries, cattle 
herding, brick making, and commercial farming of tea, coffee, 
sugarcane, vanilla, tobacco, and rice. The Ministry of Gender, Labor 
and Social Development reported new incidents of the worst forms of 
child labor, including children involved in illicit activities such as 
cross-border smuggling. Government officials noted that child 
exploitation in the informal sector was of particular concern and was 
difficult to investigate. Children were known to be working as 
subsistence farmers, and domestic servants. There were also known 
instances of children in prostitution.
    The International Labor Organization (ILO) and the Federation of 
Uganda Employers sponsored a 2008 survey on child labor in the 
fisheries and tobacco industries which found that most of the 291 
children sampled worked long hours and that 71 percent were involved in 
hazardous work. Of the children involved with fisheries, 31 percent 
worked at night, and all were exposed to waterborne diseases, fatigue, 
a high risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, and injuries. Children on tobacco 
farms worked long days, dropped out of school during peak periods of 
tobacco production, and were exposed to dangerous chemicals, smoke, and 
dust.
    Institutions responsible for enforcing child labor laws and 
policies include the National Council of Children, the police force's 
Child and Family Protection Unit, the Industrial Court, and the 
Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development; however, financial 
constraints limited efforts. The ministry continued to offer social 
services to children working in the worst forms of child labor and 
other target groups, and it conducted training for staff, local 
leaders, and district labor inspectors. Sixty Ministry of Gender, Labor 
and Social Development district labor officers were responsible for 
reporting on child labor issues at the local level nationwide. The 
Government coordinated its efforts to stop child labor through the 
National Steering Committee on Child Labor, which included 
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 (NOTU), NGOs, journalists, and academics. 
The steering committee last met in January. However, due to lack of 
funds and logistical support, district labor officials have not 
conducted child labor inspections since 2004.
    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. The 
Government also cooperated with the ILO, foreign governments, and NGOs 
on several initiatives to combat child labor, including the education 
and reintegration of children into their communities. Several human 
rights NGOs continued programs to remove children from hazardous work 
situations.
    For information on trafficking in persons, please see the 
Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum legal wage was set 
in 1984 at 6,000 shillings ($2.59) per month, a rate that did not 
provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family and was not 
effectively enforced. The Government and the private sector negotiated 
a new monthly rate of 54,000 shillings ($23.35) in 2003; however, the 
2003 rate had not been implemented by year's end.
    The law includes provisions for district labor inspectors to 
``secure the enforcement of legal provisions relating to conditions of 
work and the protection of workers while engaged in their work;'' 
however, no inspections were carried out during the year, due in part 
to financial constraints.
    In industries that employed workers on an hourly basis, the normal 
workweek was 40 hours. The legal maximum workweek is 48 hours; however, 
exceptions can be made with agreement of the employer and employee. The 
law provides for an employee who works in excess of 48 hours per week 
to be remunerated at the minimum rate of 1.5 times the normal hourly 
rate for the overtime hours and two times the hourly rate on public 
holidays. The law also states that working hours may not exceed 10 
hours per day or 56 hours per week, including overtime hours; however, 
an employee may work in excess of 10 hours a day if the average number 
of hours over a period of three weeks does not exceed 10 hours per day 
or 56 hours per week. Employees are granted a 30-minute break for every 
eight-hour work shift. For every four months of continuous employment, 
an employee is entitled to seven days of paid annual leave per calendar 
year. Many industries paid workers annual increments or bonuses as 
payoffs to avoid overtime.
    The law establishes occupational health and safety standards, and 
the MGLSD's Department of Occupational Health was responsible for 
enforcement of occupational safety regulations. In practice inspections 
were very rare, primarily due to the lack of vehicles and funding for 
inspection trips, and standards were not effectively enforced. The law 
also provides workers the right to remove themselves from situations 
that endanger their health or safety without jeopardy to their 
employment. However, there were reports that workers were dismissed for 
their refusal to perform dangerous work. All workers, including foreign 
and migrant workers, were covered under the law.
    NOTU officials recorded seven deaths due to poor safety practices 
at several construction projects during the year.

                               __________

                                 ZAMBIA

    Zambia is a republic of 13.3 million citizens governed by a 
president and a unicameral national assembly. The ruling Movement for 
Multiparty Democracy (MMD) exerted considerable influence through its 
patronage and allotment of government resources. In a 2008 by-election, 
then-vice president Rupiah Banda was elected president in generally 
free and fair multiparty elections. Security forces reported to 
civilian authorities.
    Human rights problems included unlawful killings; torture, 
beatings, and abuse of suspects and detainees by security forces; 
official impunity; life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary 
arrests and prolonged pretrial detention; long trial delays; arbitrary 
interference with privacy; restrictions on freedom of speech, press, 
assembly, and association; government corruption; violence and 
discrimination against women; child abuse; trafficking in persons; 
discrimination based on sexual orientation and against persons with 
disabilities; restrictions on labor rights; 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 
reports that the Government or its agents committed politically 
motivated killings; however, security forces committed unlawful 
killings during the year. The Legal Resources Foundation (LRF), an 
independent human rights nongovernmental organization (NGO) that 
counseled victims' families and represented them in actions against the 
Government, consistently investigated and publicized such incidents; 
however, the Government rarely punished perpetrators. Police and 
government officials encouraged police officers to use their weapons 
when apprehending suspects, despite a government directive that 
restricted the use of firearms by police officers and a government 
pledge to retrain police on the use of force.
    On September 3, three police officers in Chipata were arrested in 
connection with the killing of three suspects. The officers reportedly 
shot the suspects when they attempted to flee while leading police to a 
place where the suspects had hidden carcasses of cattle they had 
stolen.
    On October 23, police reportedly killed two individuals in Mongu 
during a protest by the Barotse Freedom Movement (see section 6).
    There were no developments, and none were expected, in the February 
2009 police killing of Maybin Chongo or in the following 2008 cases: 
the April police beating to death of Alfred Nyanga; the May police 
beating to death of Robert Chimwang'a; and the September alleged 
killing of Gregory Kalezhi by a police patrol.
    Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that mobs killed 
suspected criminals; nor that police were accused of abuse; nor that 
persons were accused of witchcraft, mental illness, or sexual 
impropriety.
    There were no developments, and none were expected, in the February 
2009 mob killing of alleged arsonist and murderer ``Kalaye'' and in the 
following 2008 cases: the February mob stoning to death of a minibus 
driver; the March mob stoning of two men, one of whom died; and the 
April killing by a mob that stoned and set ablaze a man.

    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 including torture when apprehending, 
interrogating, and detaining criminal suspects or illegal immigrants. 
In 2008 the Government's Human Rights Commission (HRC) reported that 
torture was prevalent in police stations and noted that ``police 
officers continue to rely on torture as an interrogation technique.'' 
The HRC urged the Government to draft and enact legislation that would 
criminalize torture and provide for compensation to victims; however, 
no legislation had been drafted by year's end. Authorities also 
detained, interrogated, and physically abused family members or 
associates of criminal suspects in attempts to identify or locate the 
suspects. Officers who tortured, beat, or otherwise abused suspects 
generally were not disciplined or arrested for such acts.
    On September 7, the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that 
police routinely engage in cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, 
including torture, to extract confessions. Based on interviews 
conducted at six prisons, the report noted, ``They described what 
happened to them in police custody, before they were transferred to 
prison. Dozens of detainees said they had been beaten with metal bars, 
hammers, broom handles, police batons, sticks, or even electrified 
rods. Many said they had been bound first and hung upside down.'' On 
June 25, HRW wrote to Minister of Home Affairs Mkhondo Lungu and Chief 
Inspector of Police Simon Kabonde requesting that they investigate and 
halt these abuses. On September 11, Lungu publicly denied reports that 
police abused and tortured prison inmates. He also noted that human 
rights are an integral part of law enforcement training.
    On November 12, residents of the Garden Compound, Lusaka, rioted 
and burned a police station and six vehicles following reports that 
police tortured a man who later died in police custody. Inspector 
General of Police Francis Kabonde denied the reports of torture on 
November 13.
    On March 14, two Mazabuka police officers reportedly assaulted 
Christopher Perkins Liwoyo after he photographed them while acting as a 
freelance photographer. Liwoyo sustained minor injuries and did not 
press charges after being discouraged from doing so. Authorities did 
not take administrative action against the officers.
    On September 8, a magistrate awarded Shadreck Nkhuwa and Isaac 
Chilombo 10 million kwacha ($2,000) each after police detained and 
tortured them in Mumbwa for two days in 2004.
    On September 21, Ndola police reportedly shot and wounded 24-year-
old Conrad Mutale while he participated in a protest.
    There were no new developments, and none were expected, in the 
March 2009 reported police abuse of Edward Nkonde and Ephraim 
Munshimfwa; the July 2009 alleged police abuse of Cornelius Mwape; and 
the July 2009 charge of negligence of duty against an officer who 
detained a pregnant woman. There were also no new developments in the 
2008 alleged police abuse of Monde Naluli.
    There were instances of mob violence reported during the year.
    On February 4, a mob reportedly beat Chingola police officer 
Matandi Sitali in reaction to allegations that he had attempted to rape 
a woman.
    On September 9, a mob in Kitwe beat a police officer who allegedly 
stole a mobile phone from an accident victim at an accident scene.
    There were no new developments, and none were expected, in the mob 
beating of Konde Mamadi in August 2009.
    According to human rights groups, police occasionally demanded sex 
from female detainees as a condition for their release. There also were 
reports that police officers raped women and young girls while they 
were in custody.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
poor and life threatening. An inefficient judiciary delayed court 
proceedings, which contributed to the holding of large numbers of 
pretrial detainees in prison for extended periods and exacerbated 
overcrowding. The country's prisons, which were built to hold 5,500 
inmates, held nearly 15,300 prisoners and detainees. For example, 
Lusaka Central Prison, which was designed to accommodate 200 prisoners, 
held more than 1,500. By law the police can detain suspects up to 24 
hours in holding cells before transferring them to a ``remand prison.'' 
``Remand prisons'' were supposed to house detainees prior to conviction 
exclusively but, in practice, were also used to hold convicted 
prisoners. Prison conditions in remand prisons did not generally differ 
from those in other prisons.
    Poor sanitation, dilapidated infrastructure, inadequate and 
deficient medical facilities, meager food supplies, and lack of potable 
water resulted in serious outbreaks of dysentery, cholera, and 
tuberculosis, which the overcrowding exacerbated. Prisons generally had 
inadequate provision for ventilation, temperature, lighting, and basic 
and emergency medical care.
    Prisoners routinely complained that authorities denied them access 
to medical care as provided by law. Failure to remove or quarantine 
sick inmates and the lack of infirmaries at many prisons resulted in 
the spread of airborne illnesses such as tuberculosis, leading to the 
reinfection and death of prisoners. According to a report by HRW, the 
prison service estimated tuberculosis rates at over 5 percent, more 
than 10 times the rate outside of prisons. Drugs to combat tuberculosis 
were available, but the supply was erratic. Many prisoners were 
malnourished because they received only one serving of cornmeal and 
beans per day, called a ``combined meal'' because it represented 
breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
    On April 27, HRW issued a major report detailing massive 
overcrowding exacerbated by large numbers of pretrial detainees held 
for extended periods without trial; incidences of torture, and other 
violence administered by prison officials and other inmates; inadequate 
medical services; and poor sanitation and nutrition in prisons that 
manifested themselves in high rates of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and 
other diseases. The HRC estimated that the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in 
prisons in 2008 was 27 percent. Antiretroviral treatment was available 
to some prisoners with HIV/AIDS; however, poor nutrition often rendered 
the treatment ineffective. Authorities denied many prisoners access to 
condoms.
    Juveniles often were not held separately from adults. Women and men 
were generally held separately. Prison conditions for women were 
somewhat better than for men. HRW estimated that women make up 18 
percent and juveniles 10 percent of all prisoners. Incarcerated women 
who had no alternative for child care could choose to have their 
infants and young children with them in prison until the children 
reached the age of four. However, prisons provided no food or medical 
services to such children, so mothers had to share their rations with 
children, in an environment that often exposed the children to disease 
without medical care. Pretrial detainees were not held separately from 
convicted prisoners.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. The Government did not actively 
investigate or monitor prison and detention center conditions. 
Prisoners and detainees generally could not submit complaints to 
judicial authorities or request investigation of credible allegations 
of inhumane conditions. Authorities did not investigate these 
allegations or document the results of such investigations in a 
publicly accessible manner.
    The Government conducted some investigations of prison and 
detention conditions. In January 2009 the HRC Children's Rights 
Committee visited three reformatory centers and documented violations 
of children's rights in those centers. According to the committee's 
report released during the year, reformatory centers recorded cases of 
child abuse in the form of corporal punishment.
    In 2009 HRC chairperson Pixie Yangailo visited Kasama Central 
Police Station and described conditions at the station as ``pathetic.'' 
She noted that suspects were forced to sleep on the floor without 
blankets.
    The HRC recommended in its 2009 report that prisons be 
rehabilitated to meet acceptable humane and sanitary standards and that 
prisoners be separated by age and gender. The Government had not 
responded to these recommendations by year's end.
    The Government permitted prison visits by both domestic and 
international NGOs and by resident foreign diplomats during the year. 
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), provincial human 
rights committees, and the LRF periodically inspected prisons during 
the year. The ICRC performed its visits in accordance with standard 
modalities. The country did not have ombudsmen who could serve on 
behalf of prisoners and detainees to consider such matters as 
alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders to alleviate 
inhumane overcrowding; addressing the status and circumstances of 
confinement of juvenile offenders; improving pretrial detention, bail, 
and recordkeeping procedures to ensure prisoners do not serve beyond 
the maximum sentence for the charged offense.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, the Government did 
not respect these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Zambian Police 
Service (ZPS), divided into regular and paramilitary units under the 
Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA), has 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. The Central Police Command in 
Lusaka oversees nine provincial police divisions with jurisdiction over 
police stations in towns countrywide. Although the Government 
identified a need for 27,000 police officers and hired 1,500 new 
officers during the year, only 17,400 police were on duty at year's 
end. The HRC recommended in its 2009 report that the police increase 
its budget, enhance logistical support, improve working conditions for 
police officers, and implement human rights training as well as 
punitive and preventative measures to curb police misconduct. The 
Government had not responded to these recommendations by year's end.
    The approximately 21,600-member defense forces, divided into the 
army, air force, and national service, have primary responsibility for 
defending sovereignty and territorial integrity and cooperating with 
the appropriate civilian authority in times of emergencies and natural 
disasters. The defense forces have domestic security responsibility 
only in cases of national emergency. By law, the vice president 
declares a national emergency in cases of natural disasters, and the 
president declares a national emergency in a state of war, 
insurrection, hostilities, or public emergency. Each service has a 
commander who reports to the minister of defense. Paramilitary units of 
the ZPS, customs officers, and border patrol personnel conduct patrols 
on lakes and rivers.
    The Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) is responsible for enforcing 
the laws on illegal drugs, fraud, and money laundering. The DEC employs 
approximately 300 agents to oversee illegal drug enforcement and 
interdiction.
    Lack of professionalism, investigatory skills, and discipline in 
the security forces remained serious problems. Low salaries and 
substandard government housing exacerbated police corruption, as did 
poor working conditions.
    In an effort to address these issues, the Police Public Complaints 
Authority (PPCA) met during the year to review complaints regarding 
police conduct that were not resolved through internal police channels. 
The PPCA reported that between January and September, it received 143 
complaints of police misconduct: 31 were related to unlawful detention; 
50 to unprofessional conduct; 20 to police brutality; 20 to abuse of 
authority; 20 to unlawful debt collection; one to interference in a 
marriage; and one to death in police custody. The PPCA recommended to 
the MoHA permanent secretary disciplinary action in the form of 
punishment or dismissal in 26 of the 143 cases. Of the remaining 
complaints, the PPCA recommended nine for other disciplinary action 
while it dismissed the allegations in 94 cases and continued to 
investigate 14 cases. Many cases of abuse went unreported due to 
citizen ignorance of the PPCA and fear of retribution.
    Many complainants dropped their cases after involved police 
officers intimidated complainants or offered compensation to avoid a 
formal PPCA investigation, according to the PPCA.
    Security forces failed to prevent societal violence during by-
elections (see section 3).

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The 
constitution and law provide that authorities must obtain a warrant 
before arresting a person for some offenses; other offenses have no 
such requirement. For example, police are not required to obtain a 
warrant when they suspect that a person has committed offenses such as 
treason, sedition, defamation of the president, unlawful assembly, or 
abuse of office. In practice police rarely obtained warrants before 
making arrests.
    According to the law, suspects being arrested must be informed of 
their rights, including the immediate right to an attorney. The law 
provides that persons arrested must appear before a court within 24 
hours of their arrest; however, detainees were frequently held for much 
longer periods because prosecutors routinely required that officers 
collect additional evidence before presenting cases to a magistrate. 
The law provides for prompt judicial determination of the legality of 
charges against a detainee; however, authorities often did not inform 
detainees promptly of charges against them.
    There was a functioning bail system; however, prisons were 
overcrowded in part because indigent detainees and defendants did not 
have the means to post bail or were held for offenses for which bail is 
not granted, including treason, murder, aggravated robbery, and 
violations of narcotics laws. In practice police generally did not 
respect prisoners' right to apply for bail. The Government's legal aid 
office, responsible for providing representation for indigent detainees 
and defendants in criminal or civil cases, assisted few arrestees.
    Arbitrary arrest and detention remained problems. Police 
arbitrarily arrested family members of criminal suspects. Criminal 
suspects were arrested on the basis of insubstantial evidence, 
uncorroborated accusations, or as a pretext for extortion. Police 
officials disciplined some officers found engaging in extortion of 
prisoners, including suspensions and written reprimands, although 
dismissals for extortion were rare.
    Prolonged pretrial detention was a problem, and some defendants 
awaited trial for as long as 10 years. Approximately one-third of 
persons incarcerated in remand prisons and other prisons had not been 
convicted of a crime or received a trial date. Broad rules of procedure 
give wide latitude to prosecutors and defense attorneys to request 
delays or adjournments. According to human rights groups, prison 
administrators routinely altered paperwork to make it appear as though 
prisoners had appeared before a magistrate when they had not, often 
because prison authorities had no fuel to transport prisoners to 
courts. Judicial inefficiency, lack of resources, and lack of trained 
personnel also contributed to prolonged pretrial detention.
    In one case uncovered during the year, a 14-year-old boy had been 
held in a remand prison for two years without being brought to trial.
    Siavonga resident Norbert Chisanga was convicted by the Siavonga 
Magistrate's Court and imprisoned in 2006 for defiling three girls. 
However, at year's end, he still awaited final sentencing by the Lusaka 
High Court. Lusaka resident Over Mumba was convicted by the Lusaka 
Magistrate's Court and imprisoned in 2005 for heroin possession; at 
year's end, he still awaited final sentencing by the Lusaka High Court. 
Zacheous Sakala had been held in pretrial detention since 2002 without 
conviction. The HRC demanded in 2008 that the judiciary resolve his 
case.
    There were no new developments, and none were expected, in the 2008 
case of alleged unlawful detention of Rachel Bwalya and the case of 
Ernest Banda, who had been in detention since 2005.

    Amnesty.--A total of 825 prisoners were granted amnesty during the 
year. On May 25, in commemoration of the Africa Freedom Day, President 
Banda pardoned 350 prisoners. On October 24, President Banda ordered 
473 prisoners released as part of the country's independence day 
celebrations. On December 8, President Banda pardoned two prisoners who 
were jailed for three years for contempt of court.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary; however, the Government did not 
consistently respect judicial independence, and the judicial system was 
hampered by inefficiency, corruption, and lack of resources. Government 
officials used their offices to circumvent standard police and judicial 
procedures. However, during the year the courts at times made judgments 
and rulings critical of the Government. In several instances, the 
courts awarded damages in cases of police and other security force 
abuse or unlawful arrest.
    Accused military personnel may appear for summary trial before 
their commanding officers or be referred for trial in a military court 
by a court-martial. A court-martial sentence can be appealed to the 
Supreme Court. Military courts cannot try civilians and generally 
provided the same rights as civil criminal courts. The ZPS uses police 
tribunals to resolve internal police matters. Police tribunals try 
cases of police misconduct. However, they cannot try civilians or 
criminal cases involving police officers, but generally they provided 
the same rights as civil criminal courts.
    The constitution permits judges to serve on the Supreme and High 
Court up to age 65. The president, in consultation with the Judicial 
Service Commission, may permit a judge at age 65 to continue in office. 
The president, in consultation with the commission, may also appoint a 
judge to the Supreme or High Court for a period of up to seven years.
    There were no new developments, and none were expected, in the June 
2009 appeal to the Supreme Court by Lusaka businessmen Faustin Kabwe 
and Aaron Chungu to order Supreme Court Chief Justice Ernest Sakala and 
Justice Peter Chitengi to vacate their offices because they had passed 
the constitutionally mandated retirement age of 65.
    There were 165 magistrates at the end of the year. Attorneys who 
had a law degree held approximately 41 magistrate positions during the 
year; lay magistrates filled the rest. However, poor working conditions 
caused many magistrates to leave their jobs. The HRC recommended in its 
2009 report that the Government increase the number of magistrates and 
magistrate courts, improve accused persons' access to bail, and reduce 
abuses of judicial authority. The Government had not responded to these 
recommendations by year's end.

    Trial Procedures.--Defendants are considered innocent until proven 
guilty, and trials in the High Court as well as in magistrate and local 
courts are public. Juries are not used; a magistrate renders judicial 
decisions and determines sentences. Although trials are open to the 
public, the public is not permitted to comment on an ongoing case. 
Defendants have the right to be present and to consult with an 
attorney; however, many defendants lacked the resources to retain a 
lawyer. The law provides for free legal counsel when indigent 
defendants face serious charges; however, public defenders were 
overwhelmed with cases, and many defendants did not have legal 
representation. Defendants can confront or question witnesses against 
them and present evidence and witnesses on their behalf. Defendants and 
their attorneys have access to government-held evidence relevant to 
their cases. Defendants have the right to appeal.
    Although statutory (common) law extends these rights to all 
citizens and is generally applied equally, the 1964 Local Courts Act 
permits local courts to employ customary (tribal or traditional) laws 
that vary widely throughout the country. Statutory law takes precedence 
over customary law, and any citizen may bring a case to magistrate 
court. However, the Government encourages the use of customary law by 
local courts to augment the justice system and resolve disputes in 
rural areas. Lawyers are barred from participating in proceedings in 
courts that apply customary law, and there are few formal rules of 
procedure. Local court justices frequently do not have legal training 
but are expected to be versed in the traditions and customs of the 
ethnic group the court represents. Local courts cannot sentence 
convicted persons to imprisonment; they impose fines as punishment. 
Customary law sometimes discriminates against and denies the rights of 
some groups, particularly women and children.
    Courts were congested, and there were significant delays in trials 
while the accused remained in custody. In cases in which the 
magistrate's court did not have jurisdiction, at least six 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 six months.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters, and complainants have access 
to the High Court to seek damages for human rights abuses. There are 
administrative remedies available as well as judicial remedies for 
alleged wrongs. However, there were problems enforcing civil court 
orders due to insufficient judicial resources.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit 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 arrested suspected criminals at their 
homes without an arrest warrant.
    The law grants the DEC, ZSIS, and the police authority to monitor 
communications using wiretaps on the basis of a warrant based on 
probable cause. On June 9, The Post newspaper alleged that Inspector 
General of Police Francis Kabonde obtained some journalists' phone 
records from a mobile service provider without a warrant.
    Authorities sometimes detained, interrogated, and physically abused 
family members of criminal suspects to obtain their cooperation in 
identifying or locating suspects.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press; however, the Government 
restricted these rights in practice. The law includes provisions that 
may be interpreted broadly to restrict these freedoms.
    The Government allowed but sometimes attempted to impede 
individuals' right to exercise public or private spoken criticism by 
using intimidation; for example, it thwarted the ``Red Card'' protest 
campaign, in which participants peacefully held up red cards to protest 
against various government actions, by arresting three individuals for 
disturbing the peace (see section 2.b.). On March 18, Ndola magistrate 
Kelvin Limbani sentenced Darius Mukuka to 18 months' imprisonment for 
defaming President Banda in a public bar. On May 25, President Banda 
pardoned Mukuka.
    The Government allowed press criticism but sometimes attempted to 
impede it using intimidation. The Government-controlled Times of Zambia 
and Zambia Daily Mail were two of the most widely circulated 
newspapers. The Government exercised considerable influence over both 
newspapers, including reviewing articles prior to publication and 
censuring individuals responsible for published articles that 
criticized the Government. Opposition political parties and civil 
society groups complained that government control of the two newspapers 
limited their access to mass communication. Journalists in the 
Government-controlled media generally practiced self-censorship.
    The international media generally operated freely.
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views. A number of privately owned newspapers questioned government 
actions and policies. Although these circulated without government 
interference, officials used the law to suppress criticism of political 
or other leaders. Government officials and ruling MMD party supporters 
repeatedly targeted the leading independent newspaper, The Post, with 
criticisms, threats, and litigation for publishing information critical 
of the Government.
    The law permits presidential investigative tribunals to call as 
witnesses journalists and media managers who printed allegations of 
parliamentary misconduct. Failure to cooperate with a tribunal can 
result in charges of contempt, which are punishable by up to six months 
in prison. The media criticized these provisions as clear infringements 
of freedom of the press and claimed it was a means for 
parliamentarians, some of whom concurrently served the president in 
cabinet positions, to bypass the court system.
    On June 3, Magistrate David Simusamba found Fred M'membe, editor in 
chief of The Post, guilty of one count of contempt of court for 
publishing an article commenting on a case dismissed in 2009 against 
Chansa Kabwela, an editor with The Post. On July 7, M'membe was 
released on bail. His appeal remained pending at year's end.
    On July 31, MMD supporters in Ndola reportedly harassed and 
threatened with violence The Post newspaper reporter Abigail Chaponda 
for alleged bias against their party.
    On November10, the Lusaka High Court ordered the arrest of Zambian 
Watchdog editor Lloyd Himaambo and former spokesperson of former 
president Chiluba, Emmanuel Mwamba, for contempt of court. Himaambo had 
published articles purportedly written by Mwamba analyzing evidence in 
a criminal case. Their case remained pending at year's end.
    On November 11, MMD Lusaka Province Youth Chairman Chris Chalwe was 
sentenced to one year at hard labor for a July 2009 assault on 
journalists Chibaula Silwamba and Anthony Mulowa.
    There were no developments, and none were expected, in the February 
2009 assault on photojournalist Thomas Nsama and the May 2009 assault 
on journalists George Chellah and Eddie Mwanaleza.
    In addition to a government-controlled radio station, there were 
numerous private radio stations. The Government-owned Zambia National 
Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) was the principal local-content 
television station. Several private television stations, including 
foreign-owned media, also broadcast locally. The Government detained 
and censured individuals responsible for programs the Government deemed 
offensive. Opposition political parties and civil society groups 
charged that government control of the ZNBC limited their access to 
mass communication.
    On June 18, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Public 
Relations Officer Betniko Kayaya threatened to revoke Radio Sky FM's 
license for broadcasting programs the ministry considered a threat to 
peace and security.
    On November 20, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Permanent 
Secretary Sam Phiri reportedly threatened to revoke Radio Lyambai's 
license for hosting a program to discuss the Barotse Agreement (see 
section 6).

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
Although the Internet was available to and used by citizens, a lack of 
infrastructure limited public access. According to International 
Telecommunication Union statistics for 2009, approximately 6.3 percent 
of the country's inhabitants used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events. Although the law 
gives university councils at the three public universities a mandate to 
address faculty concerns, the minister of education may appoint council 
members. Some academics criticized this provision as an infringement of 
academic freedom.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly; 
however, the Government restricted this right in practice. Although the 
law does not require a permit to hold a rally, it requires organizers 
to notify police seven days in advance. Police are empowered to decide 
when and where rallies are held and who may address participants. The 
Government on occasion used the law's broad mandate to change 
arbitrarily the time and date of rallies, particularly of opposition 
political parties and NGOs, and did so during the year, including 
during by-election campaigns.
    Although there were no cases of police using violence to disperse 
protests, police reportedly condoned and committed acts of violence in 
the Mufumbwe by-election (see section 3).
    On March 12, Kitwe police arrested and detained Catholic priest 
Frank Bwalya for three days for reportedly distributing red cards at a 
Youth Day event in Kitwe. Bwalya co-organized the ``Red Card Campaign'' 
to encourage the public to flash red cards to protest the Government. 
On March 13, Bwalya was charged with breaching the peace. His case 
remained pending at year's end.
    On August 3, Ndola police arrested and detained a woman and her 13-
year-old son for allegedly flashing a red card at President Banda's 
motorcade. Both were charged with conduct likely to cause breach of 
peace and released the same day after admitting guilt and paying a 
50,000 kwacha ($10) fine.
    The case against Patriotic Front (PF) Members of Parliament (MP) 
Mumbi Phiri and Jean Kapata, who were arrested for protesting the 
acquittal of former president Frederick Chiluba in October 2009, 
remained pending. There were no developments in the 2008 police 
shooting of two University of Zambia students in Lusaka.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association, but the Government placed some limits on this right. All 
organizations must formally apply for registration to the MoHA 
Registrar of Societies. However, the registration process was long and 
permitted considerable discretion on the part of the registrar. During 
the year there were no cases in which the registrar refused to register 
an organization.
    On February 25, the Lusaka High Court upheld the 2004 decision by 
the Government to deregister the NGO Southern African Centre for the 
Constructive Resolution of Conflict (SACCORD) on grounds that it was 
inimical to national security. SACCORD received a temporary injunction 
permitting it to continue operations pending a hearing by the Supreme 
Court.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete discussion of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. However, the Government intermittently limited in-country 
movement. Police used roadblocks to control criminal activity, enforce 
customs and immigration regulations, check drivers' documents, and 
inspect vehicles for safety compliance. Police sometimes extorted money 
and goods from motorists at these roadblocks.
    The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern. There were no restrictions on refugees' 
travel inside the country, but refugees were required to have 
permission from the Government to move or live outside refugee camps. 
Such permission was frequently granted.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government has established a system 
for providing protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to 
countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account 
of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social 
group, or political opinion.
    The Government also provided temporary protection to individuals 
who may not qualify as refugees. There were reports during the year 
that the Government expelled Zimbabweans and other foreign nationals 
who could not provide evidence that they were refugees and were 
therefore considered irregular migrants.
    In late 2009 reports surfaced about corruption at Maheba Refugee 
Settlement. During government action on February 24 to restore order at 
Maheba following refugee protests over the corruption allegations, 
security forces killed one refugee, injured several others, arrested 
150, and deported 36. On April 13, the UNHCR protested the 
deportations, stating that the refugees were not given any notice or 
explanation for their expulsion. The Government subsequently acted to 
address corruption concerns at the settlement by investigating the 
allegations.
    According to the UNHCR, by the end of the year, the country hosted 
47,500 refugees, mainly from Angola and the Democratic Republic of 
Congo (DRC). The Government assisted in the repatriation of 9,200 
Congolese refugees during the year. On November 10, the Government 
officially closed Kala and Mwange refugee camps after assisting in the 
voluntary repatriation of over 6,000 Congolese refugees to the DR Congo 
and an additional 2,000 to Maheba refugee camp. With the final push on 
Congolese repatriations, it was estimated that only 6,000 Congolese 
refugees remained in the refugee settlements at year's end. Of the 
refugees in the country, 38 percent have settled on their own volition 
outside official refugee camps and settlements.
    Refugees at Kala, Mwange, and other camps were provided access to 
basic services, education, and police and courts. Government policy 
limited refugees' legal employment options to refugee camps, except 
where refugees obtained specific government authorization for 
employment outside camps.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens the right to change their 
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice 
through periodic elections held on the basis of universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In October 2008 then-vice 
president Rupiah Banda was elected president in a generally free and 
fair by-election conducted following the August 2008 death of then-
president Levy Mwanawasa.
    The law requires all elected officials except the president and 
vice president to vacate their offices from the time parliament is 
dissolved prior to running for election. The vice president is 
appointed and dismissed by the president. During the year several by-
elections were held after incumbent deaths or resignations. Reports of 
vote buying and misappropriation of government resources for unfair 
political advantage continued and, in some cases, were challenged in 
court.
    In April 29 by-elections, United Party for National Development 
(UPND) candidate Eliot Kamondo was elected MP representing Mufumbwe and 
MMD candidate Watson Banda was elected MP representing Milanzi. 
Elections-related violence contributed to four deaths and multiple 
injuries in Mufumbwe. Some observers alleged that ruling party 
supporters in both constituencies engaged in vote buying, misused 
government vehicles, distributed food and clothing for partisan 
purposes, and promised local development projects to entice voters to 
vote for their candidates. Some observers noted that security forces 
protected ruling party supporters but did not act to curb violence and 
even participated in violence against opposition supporters or voters. 
On December 15, Lusaka High Court Judge Philip Musonda nullified the 
election of Kamondo in Mufumbwe, citing the levels of violence as 
having disenfranchised voters. Some observers asserted that the court's 
ruling favored the ruling party, although Musonda denied that political 
factors influenced his decision. Kamondo appealed the decision to the 
Supreme Court.
    On August 5, PF candidate Susan Kawandami was elected MP 
representing Chifubu and Charles Milupi was re-elected to represent 
Luena. Milupi ran for his own seat after joining the Alliance for 
Democracy and Development party. Some observers alleged that MMD 
supporters in both constituencies engaged in vote buying and misuse of 
government resources for partisan purposes. On October 25, UPND 
candidate Cosmas Moono was elected MP representing Chilanga and MMD 
candidate Given Mung'omba was elected MP for Mpulungu. Observers 
alleged that the Chilanga election was accompanied with isolated 
instances of political violence while in both elections there was 
misuse of government resources for partisan purposes.
    Political parties could operate without restriction or outside 
interference, and individuals could independently run for election. 
However, the ruling MMD exerted considerable influence over the 
electoral process by using government resources to conduct political 
campaigns.
    There were 22 women in the 158-seat parliament, four in the 27-
member cabinet, and four on the Supreme Court. There was one minority 
MP; there were no minorities serving in the cabinet or on the Supreme 
Court. There were no female or minority provincial ministers. Political 
parties did not allocate parliamentary seats to minorities or women.
    On June 22, the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) concluded 
its work and published a revised draft of the constitution proposed by 
the 2005 Mung'omba Constitutional Review Commission. During a 40-day 
public comment period, the NCC incorporated some changes suggested by 
civil society organizations and the public. On August 31, the NCC 
submitted the final amended draft constitution to the minister of 
justice for submission to parliament. Some civil society groups, 
including large umbrella organizations representing women's and church 
groups, maintained their boycott of the NCC in protest of what they 
perceived as disproportionate government and ruling party 
representation.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government attempted to implement the law; however, some officials 
engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. Petty corruption among the 
police and other public authorities was particularly problematic. 
Police, who enjoyed a high degree of impunity, released prisoners for 
bribes, extorted money from victims, and required ``document processing 
fees'' or ``gas money'' to commence investigations.
    The World Bank's latest worldwide governance indicators reflected 
that corruption was a serious problem.
    On March 15, the Government announced its National Anti-Corruption 
Policy Implementation Plan. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), which 
reports independently to the president, is responsible for combating 
government corruption. The Government continued its collaboration with 
the international community to improve its capacity to investigate and 
prevent corruption. Parliamentary committees sustained their scrutiny 
of executive branch operations and resolved some irregularities 
reported by the Office of the Auditor General (OAG). The ACC continued 
its prosecution and public educational activities. In 2009 the ACC 
received 2,073 reports of corruption, 658 of which were investigated. 
Of those, eight resulted in convictions. The ACC maintained a toll-free 
hotline for reports of corrupt practices.
    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. Additionally, the Government had no clear policy for handling 
evidence in corruption cases, and the process to liquidate assets 
seized in these cases was not transparent.
    Public officials were not subject to financial disclosure laws, 
although presidential candidates were required to disclose financial 
assets when filing their candidacies with the Supreme Court.
    On April 13, parliament enacted the Public Interest Disclosure 
(Whistleblowers Protection) Act, the Forfeiture of Proceeds of Crime 
(Asset Forfeiture) Act, and the Plea Negotiations and Agreements (Plea 
Bargaining) Act. The Whistleblowers Protection Act protects those who 
report incidents of corruption and entitles them to anonymity, 
compensation, relocation, and employment reinstatement. The act does 
not protect those who air complaints publicly in the press. The Asset 
Forfeiture Act allows the Government to seize and confiscate illegally 
obtained property. The Plea Bargaining Act establishes a formal plea 
bargaining mechanism, which is designed to be employed in corruption 
cases.
    On November 3, parliament passed the Anti-Corruption Commission Act 
of 2010, which removed clauses in the existing law providing for abuse 
of office by public officials as a ground for corruption prosecutions. 
These clauses had authorized prosecutors to investigate and prosecute 
officials if they had abused their offices to amass wealth and/or 
maintain a standard of living beyond their means. Some civil society 
and opposition figures criticized the change as weakening 
anticorruption efforts because it eliminated a legal statute used to 
convict some officials of corruption.
    During the year the Government investigated and prosecuted 
corruption cases.
    For example, on May 18, the OAG published an audit report of the 
Roads Development Agency (RDA) indicating that it spent 985 trillion 
kwacha ($195.5 million) more on road projects than appropriated by 
parliament and noted several financial irregularities. On August 21, 
the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee found that the RDA board of 
directors provided insufficient oversight. Resolution of the audit 
findings remained pending at year's end.
    On May 26, a Lusaka court convicted Chansa Kabwela, a member of 
parliament and former finance minister, of corruption for accepting a 
$5,500 bribe (in U.S. dollars) in connection with irregular payments 
made to two security companies. He was sentenced to five years at hard 
labor. His appeal in the High Court remained pending at year's end.
    On August 13, High Court Judge Evans Hamaundu dismissed a petition 
to register in the country a 2007 London High Court judgment of 23 
million UK pounds ($46 million) against former president Fredrick 
Chiluba and seven others. Hamaundu ruled that Zambian law did not allow 
foreign judgments to be registered directly, although some previous 
foreign judgments have been registered.
    During the year the Government arrested seven Ministry of Health 
(MOH) officials in connection with the alleged embezzlement of more 
than 35.7 billion kwacha ($7.14 million) at the MOH. The case remained 
pending at year's end.
    In February 2009 a judge convicted former minister of lands Gladys 
Nyirongo of corrupt practices and abuse of authority and sentenced her 
to four years' imprisonment with hard labor. On October 8, the High 
Court upheld her conviction but reduced her sentence to two years' 
simple imprisonment. Nyirongo appealed to the Supreme Court. The case 
remained on appeal at year's end.
    In March 2009 a judge convicted former president Chiluba's wife 
Regina of theft and sentenced her to three-and-a-half years' 
imprisonment in a case stemming from items she illegally received from 
her husband while he served as president. On December 7, the Lusaka 
High Court overturned Regina Chiluba's conviction, and the prosecution 
declined to appeal the case.
    The law does not provide for public access to government 
information; however, the Government provided information to media and 
other interested parties, including foreign media, on an informal 
basis. Information related to defense and security forces was withheld 
from the public for reasons of national security.
Section 5. 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.
    Although the Government enacted a law to regulate NGOs in August 
2009, it had not officially implemented the law by year's end. Many 
NGOs expressed concern that government officials would use the new law 
to punish or disband NGOs for publicly expressing critical views on 
human rights and governance issues. NGOs claimed that the bill would 
force NGOs to focus on the Government's development priorities at the 
expense of their own objectives and that the Government-controlled NGO 
Registration Board created by the law would exert political pressure on 
NGOs.
    The Government regulated some NGOs prior to the law's 
implementation. On January 14, then-minister of home affairs Lameck 
Mangani directed the Registrar of Societies to come up with details 
about the Press Association of Zambia Executive Committee to ascertain 
the leadership's legality. On February 12, the Government opened an 
investigation into allegations that the Media Institute of Southern 
Africa had committed financial irregularities. On March 18, Mangani 
announced that eight NGOs were under investigation for alleged money 
laundering and other illegal activities, and the Registrar of Societies 
was scrutinizing some NGOs' mandates. The timing of his announcement 
coincided with vocal opposition to government proposals for statutory 
media regulation by the independent media and some NGOs.
    The Government generally cooperated with local human rights 
observers and international human rights and humanitarian NGOs. The 
Government cooperated with international governmental organizations and 
permitted visits by UN representatives, the ICRC, and other 
organizations.
    The HRC monitored human rights conditions, interceded on behalf of 
persons whose rights it believed were denied by the Government, and 
spoke on behalf of detainees and prisoners. The HRC oversees local 
human rights committees in all nine provincial capitals and nominally 
enjoyed the Government's cooperation without substantial political 
interference. However, independent human rights groups noted that the 
HRC was understaffed, underfinanced, and relied on the police to 
enforce its recommendations.
    The HRC noted in its 2009 report abuses by the judiciary and the 
police and called on the Government to implement reforms, including 
further criminalizing human rights violations. Citing funding 
insufficiency, the HRC did not issue an annual report during the year.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit discrimination based on race, 
ethnic group (tribe), gender, place of origin, marital status, 
political opinion, color, disability, language, social status, or 
creed. However, the Government did not effectively enforce the law, and 
violence and discrimination against women and children, discrimination 
based on sexual orientation, trafficking in persons, and discrimination 
against persons with disabilities remained problems.

    Women.--The law prohibits rape, and courts have discretion to 
sentence convicted rapists to life imprisonment with hard labor. 
However, rape was widespread. The Government did not enforce the law 
effectively and obtained few rape convictions. In 2009 the ZPS's Victim 
Support Unit (VSU) recorded 244 cases of rape, 60 cases of attempted 
rape, and 188 cases of indecent assault; 111 defendants were convicted, 
22 were acquitted, and 25 cases were withdrawn. However, these totals 
underestimated the problem's actual extent. The law does not 
specifically prohibit spousal rape, and penal code provisions that 
criminalize rape cannot be used to prosecute cases of spousal rape.
    Domestic violence against women was a serious problem, and wife 
beating was widespread. There is no specific law against domestic 
violence, including spousal abuse, and cases of domestic violence were 
prosecuted under the penal code's general assault provisions. Penalties 
for assault range from a fine to 25 years in prison, depending on the 
severity of injury and whether a weapon was used during the assault. 
The VSU was responsible for handling cases of domestic assault, wife 
beating, mistreatment of widows, and property expropriation (grabbing) 
by the deceased husband's relatives. In practice the police were often 
reluctant to pursue reports of domestic violence and preferred to 
encourage reconciliation.
    The Government and NGOs expressed continued concern about violence 
against women. Fear of retribution and cultural considerations deterred 
women from reporting domestic violence cases, and the VSU stated in a 
June 2009 report that this meant the full extent of sexual and gender-
based violence was unclear. However, increased public awareness 
resulted in more reporting of such incidents to police and other 
authorities than in previous years. The VSU reported that victims often 
refused to cooperate and the unit lacked equipment to analyze forensic 
evidence. The Government operated gender-based violence shelters, a 
toll-free hotline, and eight one-stop centers to provide comprehensive 
assistance to victims of sexual and gender-based violence. During the 
year the Government provided gender-based violence training to more 
than 300 police officers.
    Sex tourism occurred but was not prevalent. Sexual harassment was 
common. The law only prohibits sexual harassment of children; however; 
the penal code contains provisions under which sexual harassment could 
be prosecuted. The Government has successfully prosecuted persons for 
such actions. The Government has also successfully prosecuted persons 
for other forms of harassment under other sections of the penal code.
    Although couples and individuals enjoyed the right to decide freely 
and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children, they 
often lacked access to information. Scarcity of information effectively 
led to discrimination against women in the exercise of reproductive 
rights. Many women lacked access to contraception and skilled 
attendance during childbirth, including essential prenatal, obstetric, 
and postpartum care. UNICEF estimated that from 2003-08, the maternal 
mortality ratio was 590 per 100,000 live births. Women generally did 
not experience discrimination in terms of diagnosis and treatment for 
sexually transmitted infections. The number of women who received HIV 
testing and treatment increased substantially in recent years, and many 
more women than men sought treatment. Barriers that limited access to 
these services include economic and social discrimination as well as 
lack of access to health facilities.
    The law generally entitles women to equality with men. However, the 
Government did not adequately enforce the law, and women in practice 
experienced discrimination in employment, education, and land and 
property ownership. Women who were employed often suffered from 
discriminatory conditions of service, including pay inequity. Although 
the Ministry of Lands set aside special land quotas for women to 
redress the imbalance in property ownership, women lacked adequate 
access to credit to purchase land or property. In most cases, women 
remained dependent on their husbands or male members of their family to 
cosign for loans. As a result, few women owned their own homes or 
businesses, although some financial institutions allowed women to sign 
independently for loans. The Government was proactive in improving the 
status of women through legal protections and public awareness 
campaigns. The Ministry of Women, Gender, and Development (MOWGD) and 
the Gender in Development Division (GIDD) are the Government's primary 
agencies charged with promoting the status of women. The MOWGD 
coordinates gender policy while the GIDD plans, coordinates, and 
implements gender programs and policies across ministries.
    Local customary law generally discriminates against women. Despite 
constitutional and legal protections, customary law subordinates women 
with respect to property ownership, inheritance, and marriage. Polygamy 
is legally permitted under customary law. The practice of ``sexual 
cleansing,'' in which a widow is compelled to have sexual relations 
with her late husband's relatives as part of a cleansing ritual, 
continued as a practice under customary law. However, many local 
leaders banned the practice. The penal code prohibits ``sexual 
cleansing'' of children under the age of 16.
    Customary law dictates that rights to inherit property rest with 
the deceased man's family. Statutory law prescribes that the man's 
children equally share half of an estate, the widow 20 percent, the 
man's parents 20 percent, and other dependents 10 percent. In a 
polygynous marriage, the widow's share must be divided proportionally 
with other women based on the length of time each has stayed in the 
marriage. As a result, property grabbing from widows remained 
widespread. The courts generally consider property grabbing a criminal 
offense and mandate up to three years' imprisonment in these cases. 
However, most property grabbing cases were decided in local courts, and 
the fines they imposed were low.
    On December 10, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, 
Rashida Manjoo, expressed concern over the country's use of customary 
law and stated that it contributed to discrimination against women and 
led to inconsistent application of justice in cases of violence against 
women.

    Children.--The Ministries of Labor and Social Security (MLSS), 
Sport, Youth, and Child Development (MSYCD), Community Development and 
Social Services (MCDSS), Home Affairs (MoHA), and Education shared 
responsibility for promoting children's welfare. However, scarce 
resources and ineffective implementation of social programs continued 
to hinder their ability to assist children.
    Citizenship is derived by birth within the country's territory or 
from one's parents. The Government's failure to register births did not 
result in the denial of public services, such as education or health 
care, to children. UNICEF indicated in 2009 that approximate 16 percent 
of urban births and 6 percent of rural births in the country were 
registered.
    Although government policy calls for free basic education through 
grade seven, education was not compulsory, and many children did not 
attend school. Contrary to government policy, many teachers and school 
administrators required students to purchase uniforms or pay a fee 
before allowing them to attend classes, preventing some children from 
attending school. The numbers of girls and boys in primary school were 
approximately equal; however, fewer girls attended secondary school. 
Sexual abuse by teachers discouraged many girls from attending classes.
    Although the law prohibits sexual harassment of children, child 
abuse and violence against children were common problems. Defilement, 
which the law defines as the ``unlawful carnal knowledge of a child 
under the age of 16,'' was particularly common. The police VSU recorded 
1,676 defilement cases in 2009; prosecutions resulted in 277 
convictions and 63 acquittals.
    Female genital mutilation (FGM) is prohibited under the country's 
penal code and has rarely occurred in practice. Most cases of FGM in 
the country have been limited to small communities of immigrants from 
other parts of Africa. There were no cases of FGM reported during the 
year.
    The 2007 Demographics and Health Survey published by the Central 
Statistical Office indicated that 46 percent of women between the ages 
of 20 and 49 were married by age 18, including 11.6 percent who were 
married by age 15. Child marriage was more common in rural areas than 
in urban centers. Although a person must be at least 16 years old to 
marry under the formal law, there is no minimum age under customary 
law. Some local leaders spoke against child marriage and took steps to 
discourage it; however, most condoned the practice. The Police and 
Magistrates' courts intervened in cases of gross abuse.
    The law criminalizes child prostitution and child pornography with 
penalties of up to life imprisonment for perpetrators. Child victims of 
prostitution are not charged unless they are also pimps over 12 years 
of age. However, the law was not enforced effectively, and child 
prostitution was common. The country has a statutory rape law that 
provides penalties of up to life imprisonment in rape cases. The 
minimum age for consensual sex is 16 years.
    There are a large number of displaced and institutionalized 
children. According to the 2007 Zambian Demographic and Health Survey, 
the country has approximately 1.1 million orphaned children under the 
age of 17, including approximately 600,000 children orphaned as a 
result of HIV/AIDS. Orphaned children faced greater risks of child 
abuse, sexual abuse, and child labor. The survey indicated that about 
four in 10 children under the age of 18 were not living with both 
parents. About one in five children under the age of 18 were not living 
with either parent, and 15 percent were orphaned.
    An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 children lived on the streets, often 
begging or prostituting themselves to survive. The joint MCDSS and ZPS 
Child Protection Unit (CPU) worked with the police to identify and 
assist street children. The MCDSS District Street Children Committee 
authorized the CPU to place children, including orphans and neglected 
children, in government- and NGO-operated shelters. The CPU 
reintegrated street children with their families, sent them to school, 
and placed others in shelters. The MCDSS also maintained a cash 
transfer scheme to target vulnerable families who might otherwise send 
minors into the streets to beg or work. The MSYCD continued its efforts 
to rehabilitate street children by providing education and skills 
training at two converted national service camps for up to 200 girls in 
Kitwe and for 400 boys in Chipata. After graduating from the camps, the 
children were placed in youth resource centers throughout the country, 
where they received training in carpentry, tailoring, farming, and 
other trades.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were approximately 80 persons in the Jewish 
community; there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination in 
general, but there is no law that specifically prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, or mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or the 
provision of other state services or in other areas. Although the 
Government did not impose restrictions on persons with physical or 
mental disabilities from voting or participating in civic affairs, the 
law prohibits those with mental disabilities from holding public 
office. Persons with disabilities faced significant societal 
discrimination in employment and education.
    The MCDSS has responsibility for ensuring the welfare of persons 
with disabilities. Public buildings, schools, and hospitals rarely had 
facilities to accommodate persons with disabilities. The Government did 
not mandate accessibility to public buildings and services for persons 
with disabilities. In September 2009 The Post reported that conditions 
at the country's only mental health facility, Chainama Hills Mental 
Hospital, were generally good. No patterns of abuse of persons with 
disabilities in prisons were reported.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The country's seven major 
ethnic groups--Bemba, Kaonde, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Ngoni, and Tonga--
are divided into 73 ethnic subgroups. The Government protected their 
civil and political rights and any existing rights under the domestic 
law to share in revenue from the exploitation of natural resources on 
indigenous lands. The Government generally permitted autonomy for 
ethnic minorities by encouraging the practice of local customary law. 
Some political parties maintained political and historical connections 
to indigenous groups and promoted their interests.
    The Government grants special recognition to the Barotse Royal 
Establishment (BRE) as the political authority of the Lozi ethnic 
group. However, the Government does not recognize the 1964 Barotseland 
Agreement signed by the United Kingdom, Northern Rhodesia, and the BRE 
immediately prior to Zambia's independence that granted the Lozi 
political autonomy. Some Lozi groups have demanded official recognition 
of Barotseland as an autonomous region. On October 9, police arrested 
Grace Likando, Muyangana Muyangana, and two other members of the 
Barotse Freedom Movement (BFM) for reportedly protesting without 
permission to advocate for the recognition of the agreement in the 
draft constitution. On October 23, police reportedly killed two 
individuals in Mongu during a BFM protest.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law criminalizes 
homosexual behavior and provides penalties of 15 years' to life 
imprisonment for individuals who engage in ``unnatural'' (homosexual) 
acts. A lesser charge of ``gross indecency'' carries penalties of up to 
14 years' imprisonment. The Government enforced the law that 
criminalizes homosexual conduct and did not respond to societal 
discrimination. Societal violence against homosexual persons occurred, 
as did societal discrimination in employment, housing, and access to 
education or health care. There were active groups promoting rights of 
such persons, but the MoHA Registrar of Societies continued to refuse 
to register them. Groups held social gatherings but did not participate 
in open demonstrations or marches. There were also social impediments 
to the operation and free association of organizations for LGBT 
persons.
    On September 20, five male students from Kabulonga Boys High School 
in Lusaka appeared in court on charges of gross indecent practices 
between persons of the same sex for allegedly having performed sexual 
acts on other male students. If convicted they face minimum of seven 
years' and maximum of 14 years' imprisonment. The case remained pending 
at year's end.

    Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--The Government actively 
discouraged discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS. However, 
there was strong societal and employment discrimination against such 
individuals. Government officials made announcements discouraging such 
discrimination, but they did not publicly acknowledge cases of HIV/AIDS 
among government officials. As a result, the Government made little 
headway in changing entrenched attitudes of discrimination and denial.
    On May 26, the Livingstone High Court declared mandatory government 
testing of HIV/AIDS illegal. It awarded 10 million kwacha ($2,000) each 
to Stanley Kingaipe and Charles Chookole, two former air force officers 
who had sued the air force for dismissing them because they were 
diagnosed as HIV-positive. The court awarded damages because Kingaipe 
and Chookole were tested without their consent. However, the court 
upheld their dismissals on the basis that they were not dismissed due 
to their HIV status.
    Individuals increasingly sought free access to HIV/AIDS counseling 
and testing, and more than 300,000 HIV patients, including 23,000 
children, were receiving antiretroviral treatment by year's end.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers to form and 
belong to trade unions of their choice without previous authorization 
or excessive requirements, and workers exercised these rights in 
practice. Police officers and military personnel were not permitted to 
form unions. Approximately two-thirds of the country's 300,000 formal 
sector employees were unionized. The law allows unions to conduct their 
activities without interference, and the Government generally protected 
this right in practice.
    The Industrial and Labor Relations Act governs union activity. No 
organization can be registered unless it has at least 25 members, and, 
with some exceptions, no trade union can be registered if it claims to 
represent a class of employees already represented by an existing trade 
union. Unions may be deregistered under certain circumstances; however, 
the law provides for notice, reconsideration, and right of appeal to an 
industrial relations court.
    The law provides the right to strike, except for those engaged in a 
broadly defined range of essential services, but requires that all 
other legal recourse be exhausted first. Essential services not 
permitted to strike include the defense force, judiciary, police, 
prison and health services, and the ZSIS. The law further defines 
essential services as any activity relating to the generation, supply, 
or distribution of electricity; the supply and distribution of water, 
and sewage removal; fire departments; and the mining sector. Because 
the process of exhausting other legal alternatives to striking is 
lengthy, most unions chose to strike illegally. The last legal strike 
in the country occurred in 1993. Workers who engaged in illegal strikes 
could be dismissed by their employers; the Government at times 
intervened for political reasons when such dismissals occurred. During 
the year there were no such dismissals.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The right to 
collective bargaining, without government interference, is protected in 
law and freely practiced. The law also prohibits antiunion 
discrimination and employer interference in union functions, and the 
Government enforced this right.
    There are no known special laws or exemptions from regular labor 
laws in the Lusaka and Chambishi Multi-Facility 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 in labor-intensive, informal-
sector work such as domestic service, hospitality, agriculture, 
construction, and sexual exploitation. Forced labor occurred in the 
agriculture and mining sectors but was not common. 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 associated with 
traditional civil or communal obligations, as when a traditional leader 
or other dignitary calls upon all members of a village to assist in 
preparing for a visit; however, there were no reports of such 
activities during the year.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at http://www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits employment of children at any commercial, agricultural, 
or domestic worksite and the engaging of a child in the worst forms of 
child labor as defined in international conventions. Nevertheless, 
child labor was a problem in subsistence agriculture, domestic service, 
construction, farming, transportation, prostitution, quarrying, mining, 
and other informal sectors, where children under the age of 15 often 
were employed, and the law was not enforced. The law also prohibits 
slavery and the procurement or offering of a child for illicit 
activities.
    The minimum age for employment is 15; for hazardous work, it is 18. 
The labor commissioner effectively enforced minimum age requirements in 
the industrial sector, where there was little demand for child labor; 
however, minimum age standards were seldom enforced in the informal 
sector, particularly in mining and agriculture. Zambia ratified ILO 
Convention 182 in 2001 but had not promulgated a list of occupations 
considered to be the worst forms of child labor. Among the worst forms 
prohibited by law are child prostitution, slavery in all its forms, 
forced military conscription of children, and work that is harmful to 
the safety, health, or morals of children and young persons.
    During the year children, particularly those who had lost both 
parents to HIV/AIDS, were sent to rural areas to be cared for by 
relatives, or they lived on the streets.
    The MLSS, MoHA, and MCDSS are responsible for the implementation 
and enforcement of child labor laws and regulations, with charges for 
violations that provide for penalties ranging from a fine to a maximum 
of 25 years' imprisonment, or both. Labor inspectors may also enter 
family homesteads and agricultural fields to check for child labor 
violations.
    Because more than 85 percent of child labor occurred in the 
agricultural sector, most often with the consent of families, the MLSS 
labor inspectors focused on counseling and educating families that 
engaged children in child labor and did not refer any cases for 
prosecution during the year. Due to the scarcity of transportation, 
labor inspectors frequently found it difficult to conduct inspections 
in some rural areas. In cooperation with NGO partners, the Government 
continued its efforts to remove children from abusive situations. The 
children, mainly orphans, were placed in formal and transitional 
classes, while others were given vocational skills training. Local 
governments maintained 16 district child labor committees to perform 
outreach and plan activities for vulnerable and working children. The 
purpose of the committees was to increase awareness of child labor laws 
and the harmful effects of child labor, to mobilize communities to 
eliminate the worst forms of child labor, and to monitor the 
implementation of child labor programs at the district and village 
levels. The Government continued to provide awareness and training 
activities for officials charged with enforcing child labor laws; 
however, the MLSS reported that resource constraints prevented it from 
providing all required training. The Government participated in several 
projects to combat child labor and had generally been supportive.
    For information on child trafficking, see the Department of State's 
annual Trafficking in Persons Report at http://www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage in the formal 
sector was 268,000 kwacha ($53.60) per month, based on the legal 
maximum workweek of 48 hours. Significant parts of the workforce, 
including foreign and migrant workers, are not covered by minimum wage 
provisions and other acceptable conditions of work. The minimum wage 
for nonunionized workers, whose wages and conditions of employment were 
not regulated through collective bargaining, was determined by category 
of employment. 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 extended family. The minimum wage act did not apply to 
domestic servants. The MLSS is responsible for enforcing the minimum 
wage, and its inspectors received and resolved complaints.
    For 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 non-
unionized minimum wage. The standard workweek was 40 hours, and there 
were limits on excessive compulsory overtime, depending on the category 
of work. The law requires that workers earn two days of annual leave 
per month, and there is no limit on how much leave they can accrue. The 
law provides for overtime pay. Employers must pay employees who work 
more than 48 hours (45 hours in some categories) in one week at a rate 
of one and one-half times their hourly rate for their overtime hours. 
Workers receive double the rate of their hourly pay for work done on a 
Sunday or public holiday. 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 MLSS continued to conduct labor inspections during the year and 
ordered businesses to close when it found significant violations of 
labor laws.
    On June 21, 22 miners were seriously injured in an underground mine 
accident at the Chinese Collum Coal Mine (CCM) in Sinazongwe. On July 
21, four Chinese nationals at CCM reportedly assaulted miners Killian 
Chilindile and Chipo Muleya for failing to reach production targets. 
The case remained pending at year's end. On July 28, three miners were 
seriously injured in an underground mine accident at CCM. Although the 
Government closed the mine in 2009 for previous violations, it had not 
resolved these incidents by year's end.
    On October 15, two Chinese managers at CCM reportedly shot and 
wounded 13 Zambian employees in Sinazongwe as they protested over 
salaries and working conditions. The victims were hospitalized and 
later released. Officials from the Ministries of Mines and Labor and 
Social Security investigated the incident. CCM management agreed on 
November 10 to compensate the 13 Zambian workers between 20 and 45 
million kwacha ($4,000 and $10,000 each) in exchange for not pressing 
the Government to prosecute. Management also increased the minimum 
basic monthly salary of its workers.
    On November 6, police arrested a Chinese national, Bo Khan, for 
allegedly threatening to shoot his employees, Sankulani Phiri and 
Monica Sitali, after they tried to leave his residence without his 
permission. His case remained pending at year's end.
    The law protects the right of workers to remove themselves from 
work situations that endangered health or safety without jeopardy to 
their continued employment, but workers did not exercise this right in 
practice. The Government acted when well-known occupational health 
problems existed, such as by requiring that underground mine workers 
receive annual medical examinations.

                               __________

                                ZIMBABWE

    Zimbabwe, with a population of approximately 11.4 million, is 
constitutionally a republic, but the Government, dominated by President 
Robert Mugabe and his Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front 
(ZANU-PF) since independence, was not freely elected and was 
authoritarian. The last four national elections--the presidential 
election in 2002, parliamentary elections in 2005, harmonized 
presidential and parliamentary elections in March 2008, and the 
presidential run-off in June 2008--were not free and fair. In the March 
2008 elections, two factions of the opposition Movement for Democratic 
Change (MDC), known as MDC-T to denote Morgan Tsvangirai's faction and 
MDC-M for the group led by Arthur Mutambara, gained a parliamentary 
majority. Mugabe was declared the winner of the June 2008 run-off 
election after opposing candidate Tsvangirai withdrew due to ZANU-PF-
directed violence that made a free and fair election impossible. 
Negotiations subsequently took place, and in September 2008 the three 
parties signed the Global Political Agreement (GPA), a power-sharing 
agreement under which Mugabe would retain the presidency and Tsvangirai 
would become prime minister. In February 2009 Tsvangirai was sworn in 
as prime minister, and new cabinet ministers and deputy ministers from 
MDC-T, MDC-M, and ZANU-PF also were sworn in. Although the constitution 
allows for multiple parties, ZANU-PF, through the use of government and 
paramilitary forces, continued to intimidate and commit abuses against 
members and supporters of other political parties and obstructed their 
activities. In numerous instances, ZANU-PF leadership took actions and 
implemented policies that were contrary to the terms set out in the 
GPA. In February 2009 the National Security Council (NSC) was 
established to provide policy oversight and guidance to the security 
forces and direction to the Joint Operation Command (JOC--a group of 
senior security and civilian authorities). There were instances in 
which elements of the security forces acted independently of civilian 
control.
    Security forces, police, and ZANU-PF-dominated elements of the 
Government continued to commit numerous, serious human rights abuses. 
ZANU-PF's dominant control and manipulation of the political process 
through trumped-up charges, arbitrary arrest, intimidation, and 
corruption effectively negated the right of citizens to change their 
government. There were no politically motivated killings by government 
agents during the year; however, security forces continued to torture, 
beat, and abuse non-ZANU-PF political activists and party members, 
student leaders, and civil society activists with impunity. Projections 
of an early election in 2011 also led to an increase in the number of 
cases of harassment and intimidation of civil society, humanitarian 
organizations, and the media toward the end of the year. Security 
forces continued to refuse to document cases of political violence 
committed by ZANU-PF loyalists against members of other political 
parties. Prison conditions improved but remained harsh and life 
threatening. Security forces, which regularly acted with impunity, 
arbitrarily arrested and detained political activists not associated 
with ZANU-PF, members of civil society, labor leaders, journalists, 
demonstrators, and religious leaders; lengthy pretrial detention was a 
problem. Executive influence and interference in the judiciary 
continued, and the Government infringed on citizens' privacy rights. 
The Government continued to use repressive laws to suppress freedom of 
speech, press, assembly, association, and movement. The Government 
restricted academic freedom. High-ranking government officials made 
numerous public threats of violence against demonstrators and political 
activists not associated with ZANU-PF. The Government continued to 
evict citizens and to demolish homes and informal marketplaces. Farm 
invasions continued, and the Government impeded nongovernmental 
organization (NGO) efforts to assist those displaced, as well as other 
vulnerable populations, albeit to a lesser degree than in 2009. 
Government corruption remained widespread. The following human rights 
violations also continued: government restrictions on domestic and 
international human rights NGOs; violence and discrimination against 
women; trafficking of women and children; discrimination against 
persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities, the lesbian, gay, 
bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, and persons with HIV/AIDS; 
harassment and interference with labor organizations critical of 
government policies; child labor; and forced labor, including by 
children.
                        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 2009, 
there were no reports that the Government or its agents committed 
arbitrary or unlawful killings.
    There were three confirmed killings by political party supporters 
during the year. On April 17, ZANU-PF party activists and war veterans 
brutally beat Memory Chaduka, a female informal trader, in Masvingo for 
failing to contribute money toward Independence Day celebrations. Those 
who failed to make contributions to the Masvingo Informal Traders 
Association for the celebration were accused of being MDC supporters. 
Chaduka died of an extended injury resulting from broken ribs. ZANU-PF 
party activists also beat 25 other informal traders.
    On September 19, in Harare, ZANU-PF youths beat Chrispen 
Mandizvidza in the abdomen with unknown objects during a constitutional 
outreach meeting in Harare. Mandizvidza died on September 22 from a 
perforated bowel due to blunt trauma.
    On November 27, Augustine Mahute, an MDC activist, died from 
beating by ZANU-PF youths and then by police officers while in 
detention at Harare's Matapi Police Station. Mahute was involved in a 
dispute with ZANU-PF youths in the neighborhood. The youths also 
prevented Mahute's family from holding a funeral service by barring 
access to their house. Two individuals were injured in the skirmish.
    There were no developments in the torture and killing of Takunda 
Neshumba in March 2009 in police custody in connection with illegal 
diamond mining or in the beating and killing of Barnabas Makuyana in 
June 2009 by soldiers in Marange in connection with illegal diamond 
mining.
    There were no developments in the case of Arnold Mosterd, who died 
after being beaten in July 2009 by ZANU-PF supporters in Macheke, 
Mashonaland East. The suspects were originally arrested, but minister 
of state in the President's Office Didymus Mutasa reportedly ordered 
their release and allegedly told villagers to ``deal with'' strangers 
who visited the area inquiring about the killing, as they would be MDC 
supporters.
    There were no developments in the killing of MDC-T activist 
Godknows Dzoro Mtshakazi in August 2009 by four soldiers or the beating 
and killing of Moreblessing Tirivangani in September 2009 by soldiers 
in connection with illegal diamond mining.
    In 2009 at least 19 citizens died as a result of injuries sustained 
from political violence that targeted members of the opposition party 
in 2008, in addition to the more than 270 who died in 2008. The MDC-T 
released a statement in early July that named approximately 11,000 
perpetrators and catalogued them by province. Mashonaland East had the 
largest number--approximately 3,700--of perpetrators. The killings were 
primarily committed by members of ZANU-PF, ZANU-PF youth militia, war 
veterans, and, to a lesser extent, members of the military and police. 
At year's end, no one had been held legally accountable for the 
killings.
    There were no reported killings in connection with the Chiadzwa 
diamond fields during the year; 40 persons were killed there in 2009.
    In late 2008 security forces undertook a major operation to remove 
illegal diamond miners in the Marange/Chiadzwa area of Manicaland. 
Their brutal and heavy-handed approach resulted in hundreds of deaths.
    Despite the more than 270 confirmed killings resulting from 
political violence in 2008, there were no prosecutions or convictions 
in any of the cases. The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum filed 655 
suits in court against perpetrators for human rights violations. Of the 
total cases, 305 were filed against nonstate actors. By year's end, 
four cases were settled out of court, three cases were scheduled for 
trial, and 280 cases were referred to the community courts.
    During his annual address on Heroes' Day on August 9, President 
Mugabe stated that the Government would not punish those responsible 
for past politically motivated violence.

    b. Disappearance.--There were several credible reports of 
politically motivated abductions and attempted abductions during the 
year. MDC leaders reported that state security agents and ZANU-PF party 
supporters abducted and tortured dozens of MDC and civil society 
members, as well as student leaders, as part of an effort to intimidate 
them. The number of abductions spiked during the constitutional 
outreach process. In the majority of cases, victims were abducted from 
their homes or off the streets by groups of unidentified assailants; 
driven to remote locations; interrogated, assaulted, or tortured for 
one or two days; and abandoned. In some cases, the abducted person was 
located in police custody days or weeks later.
    On April 1, state security agents abducted Zivanai Muzorodzi, a 
Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) student leader, and beat him. 
The abduction came after Muzorodzi led a student demonstration on March 
29. Security agents in civilian clothing forced Muzorodzi from his 
house into a car and interrogated him as to why students were mixing 
student issues with national politics. Muzorodzi refused to divulge any 
information and, subsequently, was beaten and warned against future 
involvement in national politics.
    On May 27, in Masvingo security agents abducted and tortured two 
ZINASU leaders, Alec Tabe and Godfrey Kuraune. Tabe and Kuraune were 
organizing a demonstration against high examination fees at Masvingo 
Polytechnic. They were picked up by Central Intelligence Organization 
(CIO) agents, who then tortured them on their chests and genitals with 
a pair of pliers before leaving them at a nearby police station. Tabe 
and Kuraune were released after paying an admission of guilt fine to 
the police.
    On August 16, security agents abducted at gunpoint seven MDC-T 
supporters in Manicaland after the seven were accused of being vocal at 
a constitutional outreach meeting. All were found at the Chisumbanje 
police station on August 20. They were charged with disturbing the 
peace and released after paying $10 fines each.
    On December 24, three CIO agents in Chiredzi attempted to abduct 
Julius Mutavira and, failing to do so, assaulted him for being an MDC 
member. The agents arrived in an unmarked vehicle and tried to force 
Mutavira into the vehicle. Mutavira resisted and the agents beat him. 
Mutavira sustained severe injuries. He reported the incident to the 
Chikombedzi police station on December 28.
    There were no new developments in the following 2009 cases: the 
February abduction and beating of a ZANU-PF party activist, the March 
abduction and beating of an MDC-T leader, the May abduction and burning 
of an MDC-T party chairperson, and the May abduction and beating of 13 
MDC-T supporters.
    The Government did not investigate reported abductions.
    In 2008 multiple court cases were brought against 18 individuals, 
including 14 MDC-T members, three human rights activists, and one 
journalist, who were abducted and tortured by state security agents and 
then turned over to police. On August 30, the High Court held its first 
hearing on allegations of torture brought by one of the 18 individuals, 
Mapfumo Garutsa. The hearing was postponed, and police had not launched 
an investigation into the abductions by year's end.
    On August 13, the Government appealed a December 2009 magistrate 
court decision to dismiss contempt of court charges against Alec 
Muchadehama, who represented seven men who were abducted and tortured 
by state security agents and then were accused of involvement in 
various 2008 police station and railroad bombings; and court clerk 
Constance Gambara, who had prepared three of the defendants' orders of 
release on bail (see section 1.d.). In June 2009 Magistrate Chioniso 
Mutongi ruled that there was no reasonable suspicion that Muchadehama 
committed the alleged offenses. In October 2009 Mutongi suspended the 
trial due to the actions of an aggressive prosecutor whom he held in 
contempt of court. Magistrate Archie Wochiunga replaced Mutongi in 
November 2009 because the latter resigned due to harassment and 
threats. The Government appeal was pending at year's end.
    There were some developments related to the case of MDC-T activists 
Lloyd Tarumbwa, Terry Musona, and Fanny Tembo, who were abducted and 
tortured by security agents in 2008. In June 2009 authorities arrested 
MDC-T director general Toendepi Shonhe for testifying to their 
abduction. During a closed-door hearing with the judge and lawyers for 
the three abductees and the Government's lawyer, Shonhe had signed an 
affidavit stating that the three had been abducted. Shonhe was charged 
with perjury as a result of his statement (see section 1.d.). In August 
2009 the Government failed to produce credible witnesses, and Shonhe 
was acquitted. On January 18, Fanny Tembo and Emmanuel Chinanzvana were 
arrested on charges of killing a ZANU-PF councilor. They were released 
on the same day. The case was pending at year's end.
    There were no developments in determining the whereabouts of the 
following MDC-T activists identified as abducted in 2008: Gwenzi 
Kahiya, Ephraim Mabeka, Lovemore Machokoto, Charles Muza, and Edmore 
Vangirayi. Graham Matehwa was found alive in February 2009 near his 
home in Makoni district.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--Although the constitution prohibits torture and other 
cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, security forces 
continued to engage in such practices. Security forces continued to 
commit political violence, including torture of citizens in custody. 
Army and police units organized, participated in, or provided 
logistical support to perpetrators of political violence and generally 
permitted their activities. Police also continued to refuse to record 
reports of politically motivated violence or destruction of property. 
Police used excessive force in apprehending and detaining criminal 
suspects due to lack of resources, lack of training, and a culture of 
disregard for human rights. ZANU-PF supporters continued to assault 
suspected and known MDC members and their families, civil society 
activists, and student leaders. Violent confrontations between various 
youth groups aligned with either ZANU-PF or the MDC continued.
    Human rights groups reported that physical and psychological 
torture perpetrated by security agents and ZANU-PF supporters 
continued. Torture and other assault methods commonly reported included 
beating victims with sticks, clubs, whips, and cables; suspension; 
burning; electric shock; and falanga (beating the soles of the feet).
    During the year, one NGO reported 5,051 victims seeking treatment 
for injuries and trauma throughout the country. Approximately 65 
percent of the victims were male, and an estimated 7 percent were 
victims who had experienced injuries and trauma prior to this year. An 
estimated 93 percent did not declare an affiliation with any particular 
political, religious, or civil society group. Of the victims who 
reported their affiliation, nearly 40 percent were affiliated with the 
MDC; 34 percent were civilians with no affiliation; 10 percent were 
public officials; and 7 percent were associated with civil society 
organizations.
    On September 29, police in Bulawayo arrested Choga Njiva on 
allegations of armed robbery and the murder of a senior police officer. 
Njiva was denied access to lawyers for eight days on the ground of his 
crime being a ``very serious one.'' Njiva's lawyer gained access only 
after obtaining an order from the High Court. During detention Njiva 
suffered eight lacerations on the back from being whipped. He was 
hospitalized with three stitches on his eye, swollen genitals, a 
swollen chest, and fractured ribs. Magistrate Sibongile Msipa ordered 
an investigation on the allegations of torture within 14 days; however, 
an investigation had not taken place by year's end.
    On February 2, Magistrate Gloria Takundwa ruled that the Government 
had failed to produce evidence linking Pascal Gwezere to the theft of 
military weapons and acquitted him of all charges. In October 2009 
suspected security agents in Harare abducted and tortured MDC-T 
Transportation Manager Pascal Gwezere. He was suspended from the 
ground, beaten, and bitten on the face and ear to extract information 
about the MDC-T before the agents conducted a mock burial. Gwezere was 
taken to Harare Remand Prison and charged with stealing 21 weapons from 
a military barracks in Harare.
    Police repeatedly used cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or 
punishment against those in custody.
    For example, on April 15, six policemen beat 23-year-old Women of 
Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) member Timothy Katyora at the Harare Central 
Police Station. Katyora attempted to turn himself in, along with a 
group of activists, in an act of solidarity with fellow WOZA members 
who had been arrested. Police took Katyora to a separate room and beat 
him over the head while they interrogated him. Katyora received medical 
treatment for bruising and headaches.
    On September 29, police in Harare arrested Tenda Muchada, the 
program manager for the Combined Harare Resident Association, for 
allegedly driving a car involved in a robbery. Muchada was taken to the 
police station and beaten on his feet. Police released him on September 
30 without charges.
    Police also used excessive force to disperse demonstrators. For 
example, also on April 15, riot police, armed with tear gas and 
shotguns, dispersed a peaceful WOZA demonstration of approximately 500 
women at the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority headquarters in 
Harare. Police arrested 70 members, including a juvenile. Sixty-one 
members were released without charge on the same day. Jenni Williams, 
Magondonga Mahlangu, Clara Manjengwa, and Celina Makudani remained in 
custody at the Harare police station for five nights before they were 
released without charge. The Government refused to press charges 
against the four due to a lack of evidence. Police attempted to force 
the women to pay ``admission of guilt'' fines for their freedom. All 
women required medical attention for rashes, diarrhea, and flu symptoms 
incurred while in custody.
    Citizens were harassed or assaulted for listening to music or 
singing songs affiliated with the MDC-T. In early May, police disrupted 
a musical show featuring MDC-T legislator Paul Madzore. Madzore had 
obtained a court order for the show after the required notification to 
the police was denied for alleged security reasons.
    Within the security forces, intelligence officers and soldiers used 
torture to discipline and extract confessions from soldiers. For 
example, after several dozen weapons were discovered missing from the 
Pomona military barracks in Harare in October 2009, hundreds of 
soldiers were detained, questioned, and physically assaulted to extract 
confessions of theft of the weapons. The press reported that at least 
one soldier died in custody, likely as a result of injuries sustained 
during repeated torture. On May 20, Magistrate Munamato Mutevedzi 
ordered an investigation into the alleged torture after two of the 
soldiers, Chenjerai Gwirizha and Marksist Mwaruta, appeared in court. 
The case was pending at year's end.
    According to one NGO, at least 22,000 victims of the 2008 political 
violence had sought treatment, and approximately 10,200 of the cases 
received physical and psychological treatment; the others did not seek 
follow up treatment due to intimidation and lack of resources.
    NGOs reported no cases of rape being used as a tool of political 
violence.
    Youths and ``war veterans'' trained by ZANU-PF were also deployed 
to harass and intimidate MDC members; labor, student movement, and 
civic groups; journalists considered critical of the Government; and 
white farmers and their employees. During the four-day constitutional 
outreach process in Harare in September, one NGO treated 12 persons 
assaulted by ZANU-PF supporters. The injuries ranged from mild to 
serious.
    In early October in Gutu, ZANU-PF youths assaulted 10 villagers as 
punishment for attending the funeral of an MDC official. The youths 
ordered the villagers to lie on their stomachs before beating them with 
clubs and threatening them against attending future funerals of MDC 
members.
    On October 30, ZANU-PF supporters beat and stabbed MDC member 
Jonsaya Manyere after a constitutional outreach meeting in Harare where 
Manyere was actively contributing. Manyere suffered a head wound and 
was discharged from the hospital on November 8. Peter Garanewako, 
another MDC member, was also badly beaten by ZANU-PF sympathizers for 
his participation at another constitutional outreach meeting site in 
Harare on the same day. Neither incident was investigated by year's 
end.
    MDC members used violence and torture in retaliation for past ZANU-
PF-led violence. For example, on April 3, Edron Mangove stabbed to 
death ZANU-PF supporter Nhamo Munechi. Munechi reportedly harassed and 
assaulted Mangove for being an MDC supporter in the 2008 presidential 
election run-off. Mangove fled the country after the assault, and no 
further information was available at year's end.
    Intraparty factionalism also resulted in violence. Between April 12 
and 14, MDC-T youth backing one faction within the party besieged 
Harvest House, the MDC-T headquarters. The youths assaulted the party's 
director general, Toendepi Shonhe, and stole his vehicle at knifepoint. 
When MDC-T officials requested police assistance to resolve the 
building seizure, police refused and claimed that the incident was 
infighting between party factions. The director of security for Harvest 
House then hired a private security firm to regain control and 
establish security within the building. Five youths detained several 
members of the security firm, locked them in a room, and beat them with 
tools for more than three hours. Since the police refused to pursue the 
case, the MDC-T investigated the incident and, on May 16, expelled the 
five youths, Rhino Mashaya, Shakespear Mukoyi, Stephen Jahwi, Todini 
Todini, and Francis Machimbidzofa from the party.
    No action was taken in the other 2008 or 2009 cases of abuse.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions improved 
but remained harsh and life threatening. The Government's 46 main and 
22 satellite prisons were designed for a maximum of 17,000 prisoners. 
There are two remand prisons and one juvenile prison in the Zimbabwe 
Prison Service (ZPS). The ZPS estimated that there were between 13,500 
and 14,000 prisoners in the system at year's end, a number confirmed by 
the International Committee of the Red Cross. This constituted a 
significant reduction from a 2008 NGO estimate of 35,000 and the 2008 
government estimate of 22,000 to 24,000. Prison guards beat and abused 
prisoners. Poor sanitary conditions due to dilapidated prison 
infrastructure and overcrowding persisted, which aggravated health 
conditions and outbreaks of diarrhea, measles, tuberculosis, and HIV/
AIDS-related illnesses.
    Lawyers, NGOs, and church officials familiar with prison conditions 
reported that, although the situation had improved since 2009, 
shortages of food, water, electricity, clothing, and soap continued. 
NGOs started working with the ZPS to revitalize 23 prison farms, which 
totaled approximately 35,830 acres of land, to ameliorate food 
shortages. NGOs reported that prisoners were able to produce enough 
maize for consumption and that malnutrition was no longer an endemic 
problem at year's end. Malnutrition was largely eliminated by 
therapeutic feeding and food assistance. Prisoners were fed at least 
once daily; however, nutritional deficiencies remained a critical 
problem.
    NGOs reported the death rate among prisoners was lower than in 
2009, although neither the ZPS nor NGOs provided information on the 
death rate during the year. In 2009 NGOs estimated the death rate was 
40 deaths per month, a reduction from the estimated 40 to 50 deaths per 
week during the height of the 2008 prison crisis. Most prison deaths 
between 2008 and 2009 were attributed to harsh conditions, hunger, and 
HIV/AIDS. NGOs continued to estimate that approximately 70 percent of 
prisoners were HIV-positive; the ZPS did not routinely test prisoners 
for HIV. Due to inadequate facilities, outdated regulations, and the 
lack of medical personnel and medication, the majority of prisoners 
suffered from routine medical conditions such as hypertension, 
tuberculosis, diabetes, asthma, and respiratory diseases. NGOs also 
reported cases of pellagra, a serious illness caused by protein 
deficiency, which causes severe diarrhea, dermatitis, and dementia. 
Poor lighting and ventilation also aggravated the situation.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. All prisons engaged locally based 
chaplains to provide basic services. Church groups were able to conduct 
spiritual programs and humanitarian crusades in prisons. Visitor access 
was restricted primarily for maximum-security prisons. Authorities 
permitted prisoners to submit complaints, but investigations rarely 
were conducted. The ZPS conducted two assessments of prison center 
conditions, in January and in May, but the assessments were not 
released by year's end.
    NGOs estimated that there were 412 women in prison, 250 of whom 
were convicted as of June, and 72 children under the age of three lived 
with their incarcerated mothers. NGOs reported that female prisoners 
generally fared better than males. Female prisoners were held in 
separate wings of prisons and were guarded by female officials. Women 
generally received more food from their families than male prisoners. 
However, children living with their incarcerated mothers were required 
to share their mothers' food allocation. Prison officials also appeared 
to have prioritized food distribution to women. NGOs were unaware of 
women reporting rapes or physical abuse, which were common among the 
male population. NGOs suggested that female guards may have been more 
diligent about protecting female prisoners from abuse, and female 
prisoners may not have reported abuse. However, female prisoners 
continued to endure significant hardship. For example, prisons did not 
provide feminine sanitary supplies for women, resulting in frequent 
fungal infections, as female inmates were forced to reuse torn pieces 
of dirty blankets during their menses. Pregnant and nursing mothers 
were not provided additional care or food rations.
    NGOs estimated that there were between 350 and 400 juveniles in 
prison facilities; the majority were being held in pretrial detention. 
There was one juvenile prison in the ZPS; however, juveniles also were 
held in adult prisons throughout the country. Although juveniles were 
not officially held separately from adults, officials generally tried 
to place juvenile inmates in cells separate from adults. It became more 
common for juveniles to be sent to prison instead of to reformatory 
homes, as stipulated in the Children's Act. Juveniles were particularly 
vulnerable to the effects of poor prison conditions, and local NGOs 
reported several complaints of physical and sexual abuse.
    The mentally disabled were the most affected by the collapsed 
medical infrastructure within the ZPS. Inmates with psychiatric 
conditions were examined by two doctors, who must both confirm a mental 
disability and recommend that a patient either be released or returned 
to a prison facility. However, prisoners with mental disabilities 
routinely faced long waiting periods, as much as three years, before 
being evaluated. It also became more common for prisoners with mental 
disabilities to be sent to prison instead of mental institutions.
    While the total number of prisoners was below capacity, NGOs 
reported that overcrowding continued because at least half of the cells 
at each prison were used by prison guards. According to the ZPS, remand 
prisons faced overcrowding due to the spillover from overcrowded police 
stations, lengthy pretrial periods, and the ZPS's inability to 
transport detainees to court for their trials. The ZPS's two remand 
prisons could hold 2,000 detainees but were operating over capacity. 
Pretrial detainees often were held in prisons with convicted prisoners 
until their bail hearings. The majority of the prisoners interviewed by 
the local human rights NGOs had spent at least one year, and in some 
cases between three and five years, in a remand prison before having a 
pretrial hearing.
    The law provides international human rights monitors the right to 
visit prisons, but government procedures and requirements made it 
difficult to do so. Church groups seeking to provide humanitarian 
assistance were able to gain more access than in 2009. Organizations 
suspected of having nonhumanitarian motives for visiting prisoners 
faced restricted access. Organizations reported that their meetings 
with prisoners occurred without third parties present, and there were 
no restrictions placed by the ZPS on how they operated within the 
prisons. No mechanisms, including the existence of an ombudsman, 
existed to consider alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent 
offenders; to address the status and circumstances of confinement for 
juvenile offenders; and to improve pretrial detention, bail, and 
recordkeeping procedures to ensure that prisoners did not serve beyond 
the maximum sentence for the charged offense.
    Local NGOs continued to lobby the Government for institutional 
reforms, including alternative mechanisms to settle allegations out of 
court and to release prisoners who had committed misdemeanors and whose 
incarceration put pressure on the crowded prison system. One local NGO 
called for the introduction of counseling for 52 death row inmates. In 
August 2009 the Government granted amnesty to approximately 1,500 
females, juveniles, and terminally ill inmates who had sentences of 36 
months or less or had already served at least 20 years.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, some laws effectively 
weakened this prohibition, and security forces repeatedly arbitrarily 
arrested and detained persons. For example, on January 30, police 
dispersed an MDC meeting on the constitutional reform process and 
arrested all 52 MDC supporters in attendance. Police forcibly marched 
the group to the police station where most were released without 
charge. Eleven individuals, including the MDC's chairman for 
Mashonaland Central, were detained, charged with breaching security 
laws, and released on bail.
    On February 2, police arrested 22 WOZA members in a private house 
in Bulawayo. The members were discussing the constitutional process. 
They were released on the same day without charge.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Zimbabwe Republic 
Police (ZRP) is responsible for maintaining law and order. Although the 
ZRP is officially under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs, 
in practice the President's Office, through the JOC, controlled some 
roles and missions. In February 2009 the NSC replaced the JOC in this 
role. The Zimbabwe National Army and Air Force, under the Defense 
Ministry, were responsible for external security; however, there were 
cases in which the Government called upon them for domestic operations. 
The CIO, under the Ministry of State for National Security, is 
responsible for internal and external security.
    The lower ranks of the police were poorly trained and underpaid. 
The entire force was ill-equipped in both operational and 
administrative resources. Severely depleted human and material 
resources, especially fuel, further reduced police effectiveness in 
both deterring and responding to criminal activity during the year.
    Security forces perpetrated politically motivated violence, 
including torture of citizens in custody, largely at the behest of the 
leadership loyal to ZANU-PF. Police disrupted public gatherings and 
demonstrations, sometimes using violent means. Similarly, requests by 
civil society to hold public events were routinely denied if security 
chiefs believed the agenda contradicted their own political goals or, 
just as frequently, to make a counter-point on an issue under debate. 
Reports that security services tortured political and civil society 
activists who defied ZANU-PF's political agenda continued throughout 
the year. It was difficult for rank-and-file police to remain impartial 
due to the continued politicization of the force's upper echelons. 
Police and army personnel suspected of being sympathetic to the MDC and 
other political parties continued to be threatened with demotion, 
suspension, incarceration, or transfer to remote areas. While not 
widespread, there were reports of police using excessive force in 
apprehending and detaining certain criminal suspects due to lack of 
resources and lack of appropriate training.
    On November 14, the Standard newspaper published an article linking 
the cancellation of the annual police examination to a ploy by the 
police to hire war veterans and retired police officers ahead of the 
elections. The recruitment was not meant to appear as new recruitment, 
but as a transfer of war veterans and retired officers from one post to 
another. Two Standard journalists were arrested and charged with 
criminal defamation (see section 2.a.). The case continued at year's 
end.
    Security forces were rarely held accountable for abuses. Frequent 
allegations of excessive force and torture were often dismissed by 
senior government officials, who claimed that the actions were 
necessary to maintain public order. Court orders compelling 
investigations into allegations of abuse were routinely ignored by 
authorities. For example, police were reluctant or refused to record 
reports of politically motivated violence or similarly motivated 
destruction of property that occurred. Government efforts to reform the 
security forces were minimal, and training was rarely provided.
    ZRP leadership loyal to ZANU-PF stifled, derailed, or did not 
authorize the efforts of those police who sought to investigate cases 
of political violence. Police seldom responded during incidents of 
vigilante violence due in part to a lack of resources, manpower, will, 
or combination thereof.
    In February 2009 parliament passed the National Security Council 
Act, the enabling legislation for the new NSC. The NSC was set up to 
replace the JOC and is mandated to ensure accountability of the 
country's security sector. The JOC, which consisted of the army, 
police, prisons, and CIO, was blamed for orchestrating many human 
rights abuses. The NSC consists of representatives from the three 
political parties that constitute the transitional unity government, 
including President Mugabe as chair, Prime Minister Tsvangirai, the two 
deputy prime ministers, six ministers, and the security chiefs. The NSC 
is required by law to meet at least once every month and started 
meeting in February. President Mugabe reportedly continued to meet with 
the JOC outside the NSC.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The Criminal 
Procedure and Evidence Act (CPEA) stipulates that arrests require a 
warrant issued either by the court or a senior police officer. The law 
requires that police inform an arrested person of the charges before 
taking the individual into custody; however, these rights were not 
respected in practice. The law requires a preliminary hearing before a 
magistrate within 48 hours of an arrest (or 96 hours over a weekend). 
Police typically made arrests, which may have been politically 
motivated, on Fridays, which permitted legal detention until Monday. 
There were numerous reports that security forces arbitrarily arrested 
political and civil society activists, interrogated and beat them for 
information about their organizations' activities, and then released 
them the next day without charge.
    According to the CPEA, the court reserved the power to grant bail. 
However, the attorney general has the power to suspend bail while an 
appeal is lodged. High court judges at times granted bail 
independently. The act allows police to hold persons suspected of 
committing economic crimes for up to four weeks without bail.
    In 2008 Johannes Tomana, then deputy attorney general, announced 
that the Attorney General's Office would ``deny bail to all suspects 
arrested on charges of either committing or inciting political 
violence.'' In some cases, those arrested and denied bail were kept 
detained for weeks or months. In other cases, police continued to hold 
persons in jail even after a judge had granted bail or dropped the 
charges. On June 17, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) attorney 
Alec Muchadehama filed an application for referral to the Supreme Court 
to challenge the constitutionality of section 121 of the CPEA, which 
provides the Government with seven days to file an appeal against a 
ruling granting bail, on behalf of MDC-T Director General Toendepi 
Shonhe. On June 23, a magistrate referred the case to the Supreme 
Court; it was pending at year's end.
    Authorities often did not allow detainees prompt or regular access 
to their lawyers, and often informed lawyers who attempted to visit 
their clients that detainees were ``not available,'' especially in 
cases involving MDC members and civil society activists. Often 
detainees were ``moved'' overnight or on weekends from one police 
station or prison to another, and police refused to disclose the new 
location to their families and lawyers. Family members sometimes were 
denied access unless accompanied by an attorney. Detainees were often 
held incommunicado.
    Family members and attorneys often were denied access to detainees 
in prison and could not verify that a person had been arrested until 
the individual appeared in court (see section 1.c.).
    The Government continued to use arbitrary arrest and detention as a 
tool of intimidation and harassment, especially against MDC members and 
supporters, civil society and student activists, and journalists.
    For example, on November 25, police in Matabeleland North arrested 
17 MDC officials on charges of causing violence. The meeting was 
organized by the MDC-T provincial chairperson for nine councilors who 
defected from the MDC-M. On November 29, police released the 17 
officials on $30 bail each. Seven officials subsequently sought medical 
treatment and claimed they were denied food while in detention. The 
magistrate's court postponed the hearing to January 2011.
    Victims of theft during the 2008 political violence, who attempted 
to recover their property from ZANU-PF bases and subsequently were 
detained or charged with extortion or theft, were still standing trial 
at year's end.
    The Government continued its harassment and intimidation of human 
rights lawyers during the year. Police often threatened lawyers when 
they attempted to gain access to their clients in police custody. 
Several lawyers were arrested in connection with legal advice they 
provided to their clients. For example, in early October, Detective 
Chief Inspector Steven Mpofu threatened attorney Lison Ncube against 
representing Choga Njiva, who was arrested on September 29 on 
allegations of armed robbery and the murder of a senior police officer 
in Bulawayo (see section 1.c.). Njiva's father gave Ncube the blood-
soaked clothes in which Njiva was allegedly tortured while in 
detention. Inspector Mpofu threatened Ncube with arrest if he did not 
surrender the clothes.
    In November 2009 police arrested human rights lawyer Mordecai 
Mahlangu and charged him with obstruction of justice after he wrote 
Attorney General Tomana a letter on behalf of his client, Peter 
Hitschmann, who had been subpoenaed to testify against MDC-T treasurer 
Roy Bennett in his trial. Mahlangu was released on bail after spending 
a night in jail. On January 14, Magistrate Archie Wochionga acquitted 
Mahlangu, ruling that the facts before him did not constitute a crime. 
Mahlangu then applied to the High Court for an order to declare his 
arrest and detention unlawful. Judge Felistus Chatukuta, the spouse of 
Wayne Bvudzijena, a high-ranking police official, heard the case on 
February 4. Mahalngu's lawyers asked Judge Chatukuta to recuse herself, 
citing a possible conflict of interest due to her relationship to a 
member of the police. Chatukuta said she that would decide whether 
there was a conflict. The case was pending at year's end.
    During the year civil society groups reported that numerous arrests 
of MDC-T parliamentarians were politically motivated and meant to erode 
the MDC-T's voting power in parliament and to harass MDC-T 
parliamentarians.
    For example, in May Member of Parliament (MP) Paul Madzore and 
Senator Morgan Komich were arrested for insulting President Mugabe. 
Both were released and charges were dismissed.
    On June 4, police arrested MDC-T MP Ian Kay for allegedly 
distributing expired and unregistered medicines to three clinics in his 
constituency. Police raided his house purportedly looking for drugs and 
unlicensed firearms. On June 7, Kay was released on $500 bail. Kay was 
indicted and fined $2,000.
    On June 5, MDC-T legislator Eliah Jemere and the provincial party 
treasurer for Mashonaland Central, Gilbert Kagodora, were arrested for 
insulting the office of the president; both were released on bail on 
June 8. Kagodora was arrested after addressing an MDC rally. On 
November 26, Magistrate Charles Murove referred the case to the Supreme 
Court after Kagodora filed an application challenging the 
constitutionality of the charge.
    On June 6, police in Mutare arrested Teddy Chipere, MDC chairman of 
Makoni Central, for insulting the office of the president. He was 
released on bail on June 9.
    In February 2009 police arrested MDC-T treasurer Roy Bennett and 
charged him with insurgency and possessing weaponry with the intention 
of using it in connection with acts of insurgency. Bennett denied all 
the charges and was released on $5,000 bail in March. After several 
delays because the Government's key witness failed to appear, Bennett's 
trial began on January 12. On May 10, Justice Chinembiri Bhunu 
acquitted Bennet on all charges at the close of the state's argument 
and without a defense hearing. The Government appealed the acquittal on 
May 12 on grounds that Bhunu had erred, prompting the defense to file 
papers opposing the appeal bid. A decision on the appeal was scheduled 
for July 28, but the court postponed indefinitely the next trial date.
    Of the 17 MPs arrested in 2009, at least 15 were from the MDC, and 
four were suspended after they were sentenced to jail terms of more 
than six months. All four appealed their suspensions in the High Court, 
and three MPs--Ernest Mudavanhu, Shua Mudiwa, and Mathia Mlambo--won 
their appeals during the year, and the suspension was lifted. Suspended 
MPs were allowed to retain their seats during the appeal process but 
were barred from participating in parliament. There were numerous 
incidents of MDC-T parliamentarians being harassed by ZANU-PF 
supporters for their involvement in the constitutional outreach 
process.
    There were no further developments in the appeal of MP Meki 
Makuyana, who had been facing suspension since 2009.
    In June 2009 WOZA leaders Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu 
appeared in the Supreme Court after filing an appeal arguing that they 
were unlawfully arrested on charges of disturbing the peace in 2008. 
The remand hearing was postponed several times from July to October 
2009 to allow for the Supreme Court ruling. By October 2009 the 
Magistrate Court resumed the remand hearing for Williams and Mahlangu; 
however, the Government did not make available its court file for any 
of the remand hearings from October to December 2009. In December 2009 
the magistrate refused the application to remove the activists from 
remand stating that they were responsible for the delay by appealing to 
the Supreme Court. In January the defense lawyer filed an urgent 
application at the High Court requesting a review of the magistrate's 
decision. The state did not respond to the application and, after the 
elapse of the 10-day waiting period, the High Court ordered Williams 
and Mahlangu to be removed from remand. On November 26, the Supreme 
Court ruled that the police had violated Williams and Mahlangu's 
fundamental rights to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression. 
While ruling in favor of WOZA, the Supreme Court refrained from ruling 
on the legality of section 29 of the Public Order and Security Act 
(POSA), which had provided the legal basis for the arrest of Williams 
and Mahlangu.
    There were no developments in other arrest cases reported in 2009 
and 2008.
    Prolonged pretrial detention remained a problem, and some detainees 
were incarcerated for several years before trial or sentencing because 
of a critical shortage of magistrates and court interpreters, poor 
bureaucratic procedures, and for political reasons. During the year 
some detainees in Harare Remand Prison went for months without 
attending court for bail hearings because the ZPS lacked fuel to 
provide transport. Others who had bail set but could not afford to pay 
remained in detention. According to lawyers, pretrial detainees were 
held without charge for as long as 11 years. Lawyers also reported that 
juveniles usually spent more time in pretrial detention than adults 
because they could not attend court unless a parent or guardian 
accompanied them; however, the Government did not routinely notify 
parents when a juvenile was arrested.

    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 Government 
routinely delayed payment of court costs or judgments awarded against 
it in civil cases.
    NGOs reported several methods some senior government officials used 
to undermine the independence of the judiciary, including giving farms 
and homes to judges.
    For example, on May 20, President Mugabe, without consulting Prime 
Minister Tsvangirai as stipulated in the GPA, appointed George 
Chiweshe, the former chairperson of the former Zimbabwe Electoral 
Commission (ZEC), as judge president of the High Court. Chiweshe 
replaced Rita Makarau, who was elevated to the Supreme Court. As head 
of the ZEC, Chiweshe withheld the 2008 presidential election result for 
more than a month, fuelling accusations that he rigged the outcome in 
favor of President Mugabe.
    Magistrates heard the vast majority of cases. On June 18, the 
Judicial Services Act (JSA) went into effect. The JSA intended to 
provide greater independence for magistrates by removing authority over 
judicial magistrates and their support staff from the Public Service 
Commission and transferring it to the Judicial Services Commission 
(JSC). The act states that the JSC will also determine the remuneration 
and other conditions of service for the magistrates. Legal experts said 
that defendants in politically sensitive cases were more likely to 
receive a fair hearing in magistrates' lower courts than in higher 
courts, where justices were more likely to make political decisions. 
According to a November 2008 Human Rights Watch report, most junior 
magistrates and magistrates in rural areas did not benefit from 
government patronage. Instead, ZANU-PF sympathizers relied on threats 
and intimidation to force magistrates, particularly rural magistrates, 
to rule in the Government's favor. Some urban-based junior magistrates 
demonstrated a greater degree of independence and granted MDC and civil 
society activists bail against the Government's wishes. Other judicial 
officers, such as prosecutors and private attorneys, also faced 
political pressure, including harassment and intimidation. These 
conditions persisted in spite of the formation of the transitional 
unity government in 2009. For example, on May 17, Jonathan Samkange, 
who was accused of perjury as the counsel for the diamond company 
African Consolidated Resources in its civil suit against the 
Government-controlled Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe and 
Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation, was arrested for being late to 
his court hearing. He was released the same day. Unlike in 2009, there 
were no reports of lawyers and court officers being arrested on 
criminal charges after taking action that some in government opposed.
    There were no updates in any of the 2009 or 2008 cases involving 
lawyers or court officials.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair trial; however, this right frequently was compromised in practice 
due to political pressures. Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence 
under the law; however, this was not always respected in practice. 
Trials were held by magistrates or judges without juries and were open 
to the public, except in cases involving minors or state security 
matters. Assessors, in lieu of juries, could be appointed in cases in 
which the offense could attract a death penalty or lengthy prison 
sentence. Every defendant has the right to a lawyer of his or her 
choosing, but 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 request was rarely 
granted except in capital cases, where the Government provided an 
attorney for all defendants unable to afford one. Litigants in civil 
cases may request free legal assistance from the Legal Resources 
Foundation or ZLHR.
    Attorneys sometimes were denied access to their clients, especially 
in cases involving MDC members or civil society activists. Defendants 
have the right to present witnesses, present evidence on their own 
behalf, and question witnesses against them. However, these rights were 
not always observed in practice. Defendants and their attorneys have 
the right to be furnished with all government-held evidence relevant to 
their cases; however, this right was often not allowed in practice. 
Conviction requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt, and the 
prosecution bears the burden of proof. The right to appeal against both 
conviction and sentence exists in all cases, and it is automatic in 
cases in which the death penalty is imposed. The law extends these 
rights to all citizens; however, in politically sensitive cases, these 
rights were not always protected in practice. Government officials 
frequently ignored court orders in such cases, delayed bail and access 
to medical care, and refused to enforce court orders related to land 
disputes.
    The rights of an accused person apply to all citizens, including 
women, indigenous groups, and persons with disabilities.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were reports of political 
detainees throughout the year, including MDC officials, their 
supporters, NGO workers, and civil society activists. Many were held 
for one or two days and released; others were held for weeks or months. 
During the year police beat and tortured numerous political and civil 
society activists and student leaders while in detention.
    At year's end there were no known political prisoners in police 
custody.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--The African Commission on 
Human and People's Rights (ACHPR), an organization mandated by the 
African Union based in Banjul, Gambia, hears cases when member 
countries' internal remedies have been exhausted or do not exist. There 
were four pending cases from Zimbabwe before the commission at year's 
end. Two were at the admissibility stage, during which the commission 
decides whether to hear the case, and the other two were at the merits 
stage, where the commission makes a recommendation. Two cases involved 
the Government's handling of the land reform and the other two involved 
government evictions of citizens from nonfarming areas under Operation 
Murambatsvina (loosely translated from Shona as ``restore order'' or 
``get rid of the filth'').
    In July 2009 the ACHPR ruled that the Government should repeal 
sections 79 and 80 of the Access to Information and Privacy Protection 
Act (AIPPA) because they contravened article 9 of the ACHPR. The 
Government took no action to comply (see section 2.a.).
    In 2007 the Southern African Development Community (SADC) tribunal 
in Namibia, in its first decision since its establishment in 2000, 
ruled in favor of Michael Campbell, who was contesting the compulsory 
government acquisition of his farm. The tribunal was set up to provide 
that SADC member states adhere to the SADC treaty and protocols, 
protect the rights of citizens, and provide for the rule of law. 
According to the protocol establishing the tribunal, a person can bring 
a case after exhausting all available remedies or when unable to 
proceed under domestic jurisdiction. Campbell brought the case to the 
tribunal after the Supreme Court failed to issue a judgment in the 
case. However, in January 2008 the Supreme Court issued a judgment 
dismissing the Campbell case. Soon after the ruling, the then minister 
for lands, land reform, and resettlement, Didymus Mutasa, declared that 
the country would be bound only by its laws and the decisions of its 
superior courts.
    In April 2008 the SADC tribunal ruled that more than 70 white 
farmers who had been evicted from their lands could remain on their 
property pending a May 2008 hearing; their cases effectively joined the 
Campbell case that was still pending before the tribunal. In June 2008 
a group of 20 ``war veterans'' abducted and assaulted Michael Campbell 
and members of his family; they were hospitalized for their injuries. 
The perpetrators also looted the Campbell home and stole their car. In 
July 2008 the tribunal reaffirmed the injunction, condemning the 
Government's land seizures, and transferring the issue to the SADC 
summit for further action. However, the Government asserted that it 
would move forward with prosecution of the farmers who remained on the 
land, effectively ignoring the tribunal's authority.
    In November 2008 the SADC tribunal ruled in favor of the 79 farmers 
in the Campbell case, finding that, by barring titleholders from being 
heard in the courts, the Government violated the rule of law; that the 
farmers were discriminated against on the basis of race; and that the 
Government should compensate three dispossessed landowners by June 
2009. Although the tribunal ordered the Government not to interfere 
with any tribunal applicant still on his or her land or in possession 
of it when applying for relief, the Government continued prosecutions 
of farmers for remaining on government-confiscated farms during the 
year.
    In an August 2009 letter, Minister of Justice Patrick Chinamasa 
informed the SADC tribunal that the country was withdrawing from the 
tribunal. Chinamasa claimed that because the SADC Protocol on the 
Tribunal was neither ratified domestically nor by two-thirds of SADC 
membership, the tribunal was not validly constituted and, therefore, 
had no jurisdiction over the country. Lawyers from across SADC argued 
that the SADC treaty was amended in 2001 to incorporate the tribunal 
into SADC as an integral organ and exclude the tribunal from the usual 
SADC requirement for ratification by two-thirds. On January 26, High 
Court judge Bharat Patel ruled that the tribunal was legally 
constituted and that the Government's objection was misconceived and 
disingenuous.
    On July 16, the SADC tribunal for the third time found the 
Government in contempt of the November 2008 tribunal ruling by allowing 
ongoing invasions, arrests, and prosecutions of evicted commercial 
farmers. In response Chinamasa declared ``null and void'' the SADC 
tribunal ruling. On August 29, President Mugabe stated that the land 
reform program was instituted to correct colonial imbalances, and the 
country would not comply with the SADC ruling. In an August session, 
the SADC members decided to review within the next six months the role, 
functions, and terms of reference of the tribunal.
    On December 9, the SADC tribunal ruled that the Government had 
undermined the rule of law by refusing to compensate nine victims of 
state-sponsored political violence and torture as ordered by the 
Zimbabwean High Court in previous years. The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO 
Forum filed the case at the SADC tribunal in April 2009 on behalf of 
the victims.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Civil judicial procedures 
allow for an independent and impartial judiciary. However, in practice 
the judiciary showed indications of being politically influenced or 
intimidated in cases involving high-ranking government officials, 
politically connected persons, or violations of human rights. There 
were systematic problems enforcing domestic court orders, as resources 
for the judiciary and police were severely strained.

    Property Restitution.--The constitution stipulates that the 
Government must compensate persons for improvements made on land taken 
by the Government but does not set a timeline for the delivery of 
compensation. In practice the Government seldom provided restitution or 
compensation for the taking of private property.
    For example, in Chiadzwa approximately 4,000 persons were to be 
resettled from the allocated mining grounds to a government-owned 
agricultural estate outside Mutare, according to a 2009 government 
pronouncement. The Government and the three companies with 
concessionary and exploratory rights entered into an agreement whereby 
each party would pay half of the resettlement expenses. The Zimbabwe 
Environmental Law Association (ZELA) filed an urgent application to the 
High Court in December 2009, seeking an injunction against the 
resettlement. In January High Court judge Joseph Musakwa dismissed the 
application. In December 2009 ZELA also filed a suit against the 
Ministry of Defense, the police, and the Ministry of Mines challenging 
the legality of the resettlement policy. No court date had been set by 
year's end.
    More than 70 persons were resettled at year's end to a government-
owned agricultural estate outside Mutare. They were given short notice 
to resettle, no one received compensation, and livelihoods in the new 
location were uncertain. Also there were no social services in the new 
area. In August the district administrator in Mutare issued a notice to 
44 families, giving them 10 days to vacate their properties. The 
families refused to move without proper compensation and timely 
notification. The negotiation was pending at year's end.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions, but 
the Government did not respect these provisions in practice. Security 
forces searched homes and offices without warrants, senior government 
officials pressured local chiefs and ZANU-PF loyalists to monitor and 
report on persons suspected of supporting political parties other than 
ZANU-PF, and the Government forcibly displaced persons from their 
homes. Elements of the Government coerced ZANU-PF supporters and 
punished MDC supporters by manipulating the distribution of food aid, 
agricultural inputs, and access to other government assistance 
programs.
    The 2007 Interception of Communications Act (ICA) provides for the 
interception and monitoring of any communication (including telephone, 
postal mail, e-mail, and Internet traffic) in the course of 
transmission through a telecommunication, postal, or other system in 
the country. Civil liberties advocates criticized the ICA as repressive 
legislation that allows the Government to stifle freedom of speech and 
to target political and civil society activists.
    According to local human rights and humanitarian NGOs, sporadic 
evictions continued during the year, especially of tenants and informal 
vendors suspected of supporting the MDC. During the week of August 23, 
police and national park guards assaulted and arrested informal market 
traders in Chinoyi, Mutare, Gweru, and Rusape because of their 
association with the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and 
suspected association with the MDC.
    Land seizures remained a serious problem. Constitutional amendment 
17, enacted in 2005, transferred title of all land previously acquired 
for resettlement purposes to the Government, prohibited court 
challenges to the acquisitions, and allowed the Government to acquire 
any agricultural land for any purpose simply by publishing a notice of 
acquisition. The 2006 Gazetted Land (Consequential Provisions) Act 
requires all farmers whose land was forcibly seized by the Government 
and who were not in possession of an official offer letter, permit, or 
lease to cease to occupy, hold, or use that land within 45 days and to 
vacate their homes within 90 days. Only a small number of farmers 
received an offer letter or lease. Failure to comply is a criminal 
offense punishable by a fine and a maximum prison sentence of up to two 
years. The act was primarily used to target the 4,500 large-scale and 
primarily white-owned farms in the country for seizure and 
redistribution to black Zimbabweans, including ZANU-PF supporters.
    Some of the approximately 400 remaining white commercial farmers 
continued to be targeted, harassed, and threatened with eviction by 
farm beneficiaries, youths, and hired thugs. According to one 
commercial farmer union, an average of 150 farm incidents per month 
were documented during the year. In some instances farmers were forced 
off their farms at gunpoint, despite being in possession of a court 
order that allowed them to remain on the property, and not given the 
opportunity to collect their personal belongings. A few were arrested 
and kept in detention at the local police station for at least one 
night prior to being given access to a lawyer and released. Black farm 
workers on white-owned farms were beaten, intimidated, or displaced 
(see section 2.d.). Police, in most cases, did not intervene and stood 
aside while invaders and looters carried on their activities.
    On January 12, a gang invaded a citizen's farm in Manicaland. The 
invaders tied two family members to a tree and beat them before going 
to another farm. At least four other families were harassed and chased 
off their farms in the same week. Police refused to investigate the 
cases.
    Most invasions and evictions occurred in June. In Manicaland, for 
example, a farmer's wife was barricaded inside her home and given four 
hours to vacate the property, despite the fact that she had a High 
Court order allowing her to retain the farm. Another farmer in 
Manicaland was forced off his property despite his possession of a High 
Court order, and his foreman was beaten unconscious by the invaders.
    Farmer unions and NGOs believed that former land minister Mutasa 
was responsible for the June wave of invasions. Mutasa allegedly 
ordered 300 persons to ignore a Chipinge Magistrates' Court to vacate 
the coffee plantation they had occupied because it was not listed for 
resettlement. Mutasa later stated that he was ``protecting the poor.'' 
The NSC ordered an investigation into the June evictions. No further 
information was available on the investigation at year's end.
    No action was taken against perpetrators of numerous 2009 and 2008 
cases of land invasions, seizures of property, and attacks on farm 
owners and workers.
    No action was taken or anticipated in the numerous other reported 
2009 and 2008 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 speech and of the press, but legislation limits these 
freedoms in the ``interest of defense, public safety, public order, 
state economic interests, public morality, and public health.'' The 
Government restricted these rights in practice. Journalists and 
publishers practiced self-censorship.
    Under the criminal code, making a false statement prejudicial to 
the Government carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. Security 
authorities continued to restrict freedom of speech and arrest 
individuals, particularly those who made or publicized comments 
critical of President Mugabe or made political statements opposing the 
Government's agenda.
    For example, on November 5, police in Bulawayo ordered the Zimbabwe 
human rights NGO Forum to take down nine billboards and street signs on 
the grounds of their being offensive and potentially causing 
disharmony. The NGO had obtained permission in Bulawayo, among other 
major cities, to erect the billboards and street signs. The ICA 
continued to be used to monitor speech and to punish those who 
criticized the Government.
    There were credible reports that CIO agents and informers routinely 
monitored political and other meetings. Persons deemed critical of the 
Government were frequently targeted for harassment, abduction, 
interrogation, and torture.In September the trial of Douglas Mwonzora, 
Nyanga North legislator and chairperson of the parliamentary 
constitution-making committee, was postponed. Mwonzora called President 
Mugabe a ``goblin'' in March 2009 and was also charged with undermining 
the police when he allegedly said they were being used by ZANU-PF to 
intimidate villagers. On December 6, the case was referred to the 
Supreme Court. The case was pending at year's end.On September 3, 
Chipinge provincial magistrate Samuel Zuze sentenced Gift Mafuka to one 
year in prison with hard labor for insulting President Mugabe. Mafuka 
allegedly asked two children why they were wearing T-shirts picturing 
an old person (Mugabe) with wrinkles. His sentence was reduced by two 
months on the condition that he not call Mugabe ``old'' for the next 
five years. On November 23, Magistrate Samuel Zuze released Mafuka on 
$100 bail pending an appeal filed against both his conviction and 
sentence. The appeal was pending at year's end.
    The Government continued to restrict freedom of the press. The 
Ministry of Media Information and Publicity (MMIP) controlled the 
state-run media. Government-controlled media generally portrayed the 
activities of ZANU-PF officials positively, portrayed other parties and 
antigovernment groups negatively, and downplayed events or information 
that reflected adversely on the Government. High-ranking ZANU-PF 
officials, including President Mugabe, used the media to threaten 
violence against critics of the Government. There were also credible 
reports that the MMIP permanent secretary, George Charamba, routinely 
reviewed state-owned media news and excised reports on the activities 
of groups critical of the Government.
    The four main independent domestic weekly newspapers continued to 
operate despite threats and pressure from the Government. On June 4, 
NewsDay, an independent daily newspaper, began publishing in Harare and 
Bulawayo after receiving a license from the Zimbabwe Media Commission. 
The Daily News, which was banned in 2003, also resumed operations but 
had not resumed printing at year's end. The independent newspapers 
continued to criticize the ``inclusive'' government and ZANU-PF; 
however, they also continued to exercise some self-censorship due to 
government intimidation and the continuing prospect of prosecution 
under criminal libel and security laws.
    Radio remained the principal medium of public communication, 
particularly for the rural majority. The Government controlled all 
domestic radio broadcasting stations through the state-owned Zimbabwe 
Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH), supervised by the MMIP. On July 30, the 
Government officially launched the Voice of Zimbabwe radio, a 
subsidiary of the state-controlled ZBH in Gweru. The popularity of 
independent shortwave and medium-wave radio broadcasts to the country 
continued to grow, despite government jamming of news broadcasts by 
radio stations based in other countries, including the Voice of 
America's Studio 7, SW Radio Africa, and Voice of the People.
    Police increased radio seizures toward year's end. On October 12, 
police in Gweru raided the office of the Democratic Councils Forum 
(Demcof) and seized 862 solar radio sets to be distributed to rural 
areas in Midlands Province. Cleopas Shiri, Demcof training coordinator, 
was arrested, charged with customs violation, and released on bail on 
October 14. Shiri appeared in court for several hearings. The case was 
pending at year's end.
    On October 26, police in Murehwa seized radios previously 
distributed by NGOs to villagers in the district. Police reportedly 
wanted to establish the reasons behind the radio distribution and 
whether they had cleared customs. In mid-November police in 
Matabeleland South Province raided NGOs and private residences for 
wind-up shortwave radios distributed by VOA's Studio 7 program.
    The Government controlled the only domestically based television 
broadcasting station, the Zimbabwean Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC). In 
May the ZBC launched a second news and entertainment channel that 
broadcast from noon to midnight. International satellite television 
broadcasts were available through private firms but were too expensive 
for most citizens. Most citizens relied on free satellite decoders with 
a selection of South African and gospel channels for entertainment, 
news, and information.
    After years of using accreditation laws to prevent most major 
international media outlets and some local journalists from covering 
the country's elections, in July 2009 the Government allowed CNN and 
BBC film crews back into the country. However, foreign journalists 
continued to report that government agents followed them and prevented 
them from covering certain news events.
    For example, on February 12, police arrested a Mexican journalist 
who was filming potential tourist sites. The journalist, who was in a 
vehicle belonging to Minister of Tourism Walter Mzembi, and who had a 
letter of authorization signed by Mzembi, was released several hours 
after Mzembi's personal intervention.
    Senior ZANU-PF officials repeatedly criticized both local and 
foreign independent media for what they deemed to be biased reporting 
meant to discredit President Mugabe and misrepresent the country's 
political and economic conditions.
    In early January journalist Stanley Kwenda fled the country after 
he was reportedly threatened with death by a senior police officer, 
Chief Superintendent Chrispen Makedenge. Kwenda published a report 
describing the suicide of Makendenge's wife after years of suffering 
abuse and threats by her husband. Kwenda returned to Zimbabwe in August 
without incident.
    On February 10, police arrested Barnabas Madzimure and Fortune 
Mutandiro on the charge of writing and publishing falsehoods 
prejudicial to the state in the January 10 edition of The Zimbabwean. 
The story reported that Defense Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa and other 
leading members of the ZANU-PF party wanted to take control of the 
party. Madzimure and Mutandiro were initially arrested and released 
without charge on January 17.
    On March 1, freelance journalist Andrison Manyere was arrested 
outside the High Court in Harare after filming the arrival of several 
men imprisoned since 2007 on allegations of plotting to overthrow the 
Government. After seizing Manyere's camera, prison guards warned other 
journalists not to take pictures or footage of the suspects. Prison 
guards accused Manyere of filming without the permission of the 
commissioner of the Zimbabwe Prison Services. Manyere was held 
overnight and then released after paying an admission of guilt fine.
    Security forces arbitrarily harassed and arrested local and foreign 
journalists who contributed to published stories critical of government 
policies or security force operations.
    In March police arrested and detained Mashudu Metsianda, a 
journalist working for the Government-controlled daily newspaper, the 
Chronicle, in Beitbridge after the newspaper published his story on 
police. The charge was later dropped.
    On March 21, police detained freelance journalist Nunurai Jena at 
the Beitbridge border post after security officials discovered that he 
had tape-recorded Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) officials as they 
searched and questioned passengers travelling with him on the bus from 
South Africa. The security officials asked why he had not declared the 
tape recorder at the border and why he had recorded proceedings in a 
protected area without ZIMRA authorization. Jena was released without 
charge four hours later after being ordered to delete the contents of 
the recorder.
    On November 17, police in Bulawayo arrested and charged Nquobani 
Ndlovu, a journalist with the Standard, with criminal defamation for an 
article in the November 14 edition of the newspaper. Police 
interrogated Ndlovu about his sources, who claimed that the 
cancellation of the annual police examination was a ploy to hire war 
veterans and retired police officers ahead of the upcoming election. On 
November 22, the magistrate court released Ndlovu on $100 bail, a 
decision that prompted the Government to invoke section 121 of the 
Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, giving the Government an 
additional seven days to appeal. On November 25, the High Court 
dismissed the appeal and ordered his immediate release. Ndlovu was 
released on November 26. Ndlovu's case continued at year's end.
    On November 30, police in Harare arrested Nevanji Madanhire, 
Harare-based editor of The Standard, and charged him with criminal 
defamation in connection with the publication of a story by journalist 
Nquobani Ndlovu on police recruitment. Madanhire was released the 
following day on $100 bail. The case continued at year's end.
    In March 2009 police arrested editor Brezhnev Malaba and reporter 
Nduduzo Tshuma of The Chronicle, the Government-controlled daily 
newspaper in Bulawayo, after they published a story alleging police 
involvement in a Grain Marketing Board corn scandal. On August 16, 
Magistrate Sibongile Msipa referred the case to the Supreme Court after 
Malaba's lawyer filed an application challenging the constitutionality 
of the charge. The case was pending at year's end.
    In May 2009 police arrested Zimbabwe Independent editors 
Constantine Chimakure and Vincent Kahiya for publishing a story that 
revealed the role and names of police and intelligence agents in the 
abduction of human rights activists and charged them under the criminal 
code with publishing or communicating a statement with the intention of 
undermining public confidence in law enforcement agents (see section 
1.b.). The matter was referred to the Supreme Court on June 3. The next 
hearing was scheduled to occur in March 2011.
    In October 2009 police arrested freelance journalist Annie Mpalume 
in Manicaland Province's Chiadzwa diamond fields on allegations of 
entering a protected area without a pass. Mpalume was charged with 
violating the Protected Areas Act and released on bail; the case was 
pending at year's end.
    There were no developments in the 2009 or 2008 cases of harassment, 
abuse, and detention of journalists.
    The Government continued to use the AIPPA to serve as the primary 
justification to control media content and licensing of journalists. 
The main provisions of the law give the Government extensive powers to 
control the media and suppress free speech by requiring the 
registration of journalists and prohibiting the ``abuse of free 
expression.'' In 2008 the Government amended the AIPPA in order to 
abolish the Media and Information Commission. During its existence, the 
commission, under the MMIP, denied many local and foreign journalists 
accreditation.
    On April 28, the Government adopted new regulations for the 
accreditation of journalists and the registration of media services and 
effectively instituted a new pricing regime for accreditation and 
registration. The new regulations significantly reduced the previously 
prohibitive fees. According to the regulations for a mass media 
service, the application fee was $500 and the registration fee was 
$1,500. Local journalists were required to pay a $10 application fee 
and a $20 accreditation. Local journalists working for foreign media 
paid a $20 application fee and an accreditation fee of $100, as opposed 
to $1,000 and $3,000 under the previous regime. A foreign media 
organisation wishing to set up an office in Zimbabwe paid a $500 
application fee and a $2,000 operating license, as opposed to $10,000 
and $20,000 previously. The application fee for a news agency was $300 
and the registration fee was $1,000. The Zimbabwe Media Commission set 
June 4 as the deadline for the renewal of accreditation and 
registration but had not set a deadline for the submission of new 
applications. Practicing journalism without accreditation can incur a 
fine or maximum of two years' imprisonment.
    In May 2009 the MMIP convened a media conference and pledged to 
repeal the AIPPA. At least four independent newspapers, including the 
Daily News, had been shut since its enactment in 2002. No further 
action to repeal the law was taken by year's end.
    The Government created the Zimbabwe Media Commission in December 
2009 to succeed the Media and Information Commission and oversee media 
regulation, registration, and accreditation. The Zimbabwe Media 
Commission held its first meeting in March. The Broadcasting Authority 
of Zimbabwe, the regulatory body that licenses radio and television 
stations, was not formally constituted by year's end.
    As of year's end, the Government had not taken any action to repeal 
sections 79 and 80 of the AIPPA as ordered to do by the ACHPR in 2009.
    The Broadcasting Services Act, which parliament's legal committee 
found to be unconstitutional when it was passed in 2001, was amended in 
2008 to give the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe autonomy over 
allocation of licenses. The amendment also eased foreign funding 
restrictions, although it left the determination of how much foreign 
funding should be allowed to the discretion of the head of the MMIP.
    In 2006 the Government passed the General Laws Amendment Act 
(GLAA), which amended sections of POSA to allow authorities to monitor 
and censor ``the publication of false statements that will engender 
feelings of hostility towards--or cause hatred, contempt, or ridicule 
of--the president or acting president.'' The GLAA imposes a prison term 
for any journalist who ``insults the president or communicates 
falsehoods.''
    The criminal code makes it an offense to publish or communicate 
false statements prejudicial to the state. Legal experts criticized 
this section, saying that it imposes limits on freedom of expression 
beyond those permitted by the constitution.
    The extremely broad Official Secrets Act makes it a crime to 
divulge any information acquired in the course of official duties. In 
addition, antidefamation laws criminalize libel of both public and 
private persons.
    POSA and the criminal code grant the Government a wide range of 
legal powers to prosecute persons for political and security crimes 
that are not clearly defined. The 2006 enactment of the amended 
criminal code consolidated a variety of criminal offenses, including 
crimes against public order, reportedly to amend progressive portions 
of POSA. However, the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation and the 
Solidarity Peace Trust reported that almost all the offenses in POSA 
were transferred to the criminal code, in some cases with drastic 
increases in penalties for violations. Failure to give police the 
requisite advance written notice of a meeting or demonstration remains 
an offense under POSA.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on the 
Internet; however, the ICA permits the Government to monitor all 
communications in the country, including Internet transmissions. 
Internet access was available, but due to a lack of infrastructure it 
was not widely accessed by the public beyond commercial centers. 
According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2009, 
approximately 12.3 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The Government continued to 
restrict academic freedom. The president is the chancellor of all five 
state-run universities and appoints all vice chancellors. The 
Government has oversight of all higher education policy at public 
universities. The University of Zimbabwe Amendment Act and the National 
Council for Higher Education Act restrict the independence of 
universities, subjecting them to government influence and extending the 
disciplinary powers of the university authorities over staff and 
students.
    In late August the Ministry of Education announced that female 
students who become pregnant during the academic school year would be 
allowed a three-month maternal leave and would no longer face automatic 
expulsion. Male students who were to become fathers would also be 
authorized a three-month leave. While designed to de-stigmatize teenage 
pregnancy, conservative groups loudly condemned the policy as 
encouraging teenage pregnancy.
    CIO personnel at times assumed faculty and other positions and 
posed as students at the University of Zimbabwe and other public 
universities to intimidate and gather intelligence on faculty and 
students who criticized government policies and actions. CIO officers 
regularly attended all classes where noted MDC activists were lecturers 
or students. In response both faculty and students often practiced 
self-censorship in the classroom and their academic work.
    According to the Students Solidarity Trust, a local NGO that 
provides assistance to student activists, approximately 190 students 
were arrested or detained, and approximately 10 students were expelled 
or suspended, for engaging in student activism between January and 
June, as compared with 134 students arrested or detained and 14 
students expelled or suspended between January and June 2009. The NGO 
also reported seven cases of assault and four cases of torture and 
abduction during the same time period.
    For example, on March 29, police arrested eight University of 
Zimbabwe students for participating in an allegedly illegal gathering. 
They were granted bail on March 31.
    On June 15, police arrested and beat two student activists at the 
Masvingo Polytechnic College for allegedly assaulting the principal, 
theft, and malicious damage to property. In July police arrested two 
student activists, three University of Zimbabwe students, and five 
ZINASU activists in Bulawayo and Harare for participating in allegedly 
illegal gatherings or demonstrations on university campuses. All their 
cases were pending at year's end.
    During the political and economic crisis in 2008, the Government 
failed to provide students with adequate public education; however, 
during the year access to public education improved. In February 2009 
the Government began paying all civil servants, including teachers, a 
monthly stipend of $100, which provided a significant incentive for 
teachers who had fled election violence and hyperinflation in 2008 to 
return to the classroom. In May 2009 the Government increased salaries 
to approximately $150. At the same time, in response to pressure from 
teachers and the public, the Government also reduced school fees from 
between $50 and $150 to between $10 and $20 per trimester and 
eliminated school fees for teachers' children. Some teachers in 
affluent urban neighborhoods were reported to receive substantial 
salary increases from parents. There were no salary increases during 
the year.
    On February 5, approximately 2,000 government workers, including 
teachers, initiated a strike in ``demand'' of higher wages, improved 
working conditions, and price cuts at government-controlled utilities. 
According to one estimate, teachers constituted approximately two-
thirds of the country's 180,000 nonsecurity-sector civil service 
employees. Approximately 36,000 teachers participated in the strike, 
resulting in the closure of two-thirds of the country's public schools.
    The Government on occasion restricted human rights activists from 
using cultural platforms. For example, on March 26, police arrested 
Bulawayo artist Owen Maseko following the launch of a provocative 
exhibition on the Gukurahundi massacres. The artwork depicted political 
violence in the two Matabeleland provinces in the 1980s. One piece 
showed former vice president Joshua Nkomo and President Mugabe seated 
at a table signing the 1987 Unity Accord, with blood dripping from the 
ceiling on to Nkomo's shoulders. Police later covered the paintings 
with newspapers and blacked out the gallery's street-level windows. 
Maseko was charged with undermining the authority of President Mugabe 
and was released on a $100 bail on March 30. At the September 13 
hearing, the state sought to introduce a new charge of publishing or 
communicating falsehoods prejudicial to the Government. Magistrate 
Ntombizodwa Mazhandu ruled that the state can bring a new charge only 
if the initial charge had been withdrawn. The state then withdrew the 
initial charge. On September 18, Magistrate Mazhandu granted an 
application to refer the matter to the Supreme Court, whereby the court 
will determine whether Maseko's freedom of expression had been 
violated. The case was pending at year's end.
    On June 17, Michael Mabwe, cofounder and coordinator of Zimbabwe 
Poets for Human Rights, was called to the police station for allegedly 
contravening POSA by performing a poem that castigated the Government's 
violation of human rights. Mabwe was released on the same day without 
charge.
    In a government gazette published on August 27, Home Affairs 
Secretary Melusi Matshiya announced that it was illegal to depict the 
Gukurahundi as a tribal-based event. The ban targeted Owen Maseko's 
exhibition, which the Government deemed tribal-based.
    On August 31, Bulawayo Art Gallery Director Voti Thebe appeared in 
court for displaying Owen Maseko's exhibition. Thebe was released, but 
his trial was pending at year's end.
    In early September the Government cancelled work permits for the 
South African musical group Freshlyground ahead of its October 3 
concert in Harare. The decision came after the band made a video, 
Chicken to Change, featuring satirical puppetry of President Mugabe.
    On November 10, in Buhera, an unmarked vehicle with four CIO agents 
interrupted a performance on healing and reconciliation facilitated by 
three NGOs. The CIO agents questioned the facilitators about the script 
and the alleged political content of the play. Even though the 
producers had obtained clearance from the police, the agents questioned 
the facilitators on why clearance was not sought previously.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution provides for freedom of assembly; however, 
the Government restricted this right in practice. 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, which 
by definition constitutes 15 or more individuals, seven days in 
advance. Failure to do so results in criminal prosecution as well as 
civil liability. In 2008 POSA was amended as part of constitutional 
amendment 18 to require police to go to a magistrate's court and state 
in an affidavit why a public gathering should not take place. Although 
many groups that held meetings did not seek permits, other 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 sometimes 
approved requests; however, they disrupted many events whether or not 
they were notified.
    On January 18, police in Harare used batons to disperse a 
demonstration on education issues at the Ministry of Education. Police 
arrested three persons--WOZA member Thabita Taona, a journalist, and a 
bystander. The journalist and bystander were released the same day. 
Taona spent two nights in police custody before she was released.
    On January 25, police in Bulawayo disrupted a peaceful march by 200 
WOZA members and beat 11 participants. Six members were arrested and 
released several hours later without charge. The women were treated for 
soft tissue bruising.
    On February 17, police arrested two women in Mutare one day after a 
peaceful Valentine's Day demonstration and a door-to-door search for 
persons who took part. The police found WOZA materials in their homes 
after an illegal search. The two women were subjected to intimidation 
and threats during their two nights in custody. They appeared in court 
on February 19 and were released after the police failed to produce 
evidence to support charges of criminal nuisance.
    On September 20, in Harare, 83 WOZA and Men of Zimbabwe Arise 
members were arrested during a march to protest unprofessional police 
conduct. After two days in detention, they were released without bail. 
Police detained WOZA national coordinator Jenni Williams for two hours 
on September 22 for unlawfully addressing the 83 members after their 
release. Williams was released without charge.
    On November 25, police in Nkayi in Matabeleland North arrested 17 
MDC-T officials, some of whom were city councilors, on charges of 
holding a public meeting without police authority. The officials denied 
the charges and claimed that the alleged meeting was a private 
Christmas party. The officials were released, and a hearing was 
scheduled for January 2011.
    According to a February report submitted by the Zimbabwe Lawyers 
for Human Rights to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Home 
Affairs and Defence, at least 125 persons were arrested in 2009 for 
participating in gatherings and charged under either POSA or various 
provisions of the criminal code. In 2008 approximately 270 individuals, 
of a total of 1,446 human rights activists arrested or detained during 
the year, were charged with participating in unlawful gatherings under 
either POSA or the criminal code. None of the 2008 and 2009 cases with 
connection to POSA or the criminal code had been successfully 
prosecuted by the Government.
    In June 2009 police in Harare used batons to disperse a march by 
approximately 700 WOZA members to commemorate the International Day of 
Refugees. Police arrested five demonstrators and three journalists. 
Four of the arrested demonstrators suffered severe deep tissue 
injuries, one had a broken finger, and two were unable to walk without 
assistance. In August 2009 the four were summoned to the police station 
to make statements and answer questions in connection with their 
assault. No further action was taken by year's end.
    In September 2009 approximately 1,300 WOZA members in Bulawayo 
marched to commemorate the UN's International Day of Peace. One victim, 
Frances Vale, was unable to walk after being beaten by four police 
officers; he also suffered a fractured arm. Vale lost his job because 
his arm was improperly treated. He sued the police for damages, and the 
case was pending at year's end.
    No further action was taken in the 2009 or 2008 cases in which 
opposition figures and civil society members were harassed or arrested 
by government authorities.
    In response to continued unrest among student groups angered by 
increasing tuition, the Government continued to harass university 
student unions and student demonstrators. On January 14, police in 
Bindura arrested 28 students from the Bindura University of Science on 
allegations that they contradicted university authority by claiming 
that the Ministry of Higher Education would not provide university 
students with their exam results until they had paid the school fees. 
They were acquitted in July after the Government failed to make its 
case.
    In August 2009, 14 ZINASU representatives were arrested at the 
University of Zimbabwe while speaking to students about school fees. 
The students were charged under the Criminal Law (Codification and 
Reform) Act for participating in a gathering with intent to promote 
public violence, breach of peace, or bigotry; they were granted bail by 
a Harare magistrate. During a hearing in September 2009, a magistrate 
conceded that the section of the law the students were accused of 
contravening had been found unconstitutional and repealed several years 
earlier. On August 26, the magistrate court removed the students from 
remand and advised the prosecutor to proceed by summons if he wished to 
bring the students to trial.
    There were no developments in other student cases reported in 2009 
or 2008.

    Freedom of Association.--Although the constitution and law provide 
for freedom of association, the Government restricted this right in 
practice. Organizations generally were free of governmental 
interference only if the Government viewed their activities as 
nonpolitical. ZANU-PF supporters, sometimes with government support or 
acquiescence, intimidated and abused members of organizations perceived 
to be associated with other political parties. Suspected security force 
members visited the offices and inquired into the activities of 
numerous NGOs and other organizations that they believed opposed 
government policies.
    In late November, Criminal Investigative Department (CID) officers 
in Chivhu disrupted a Transparency International (TI) community 
outreach event. Despite a police clearance obtained prior to the event 
from the Chivhu Central Police, the CID insisted that clearances must 
be obtained from all security departments and threatened TI staff with 
arrest for distributing fliers. TI members eventually gained permission 
from the police to resume; however, six CID and three police officers 
patrolled the event. The event was disrupted for a second time shortly 
after it began by three CIO agents. TI was subsequently ordered to 
cancel the event and leave Chivhu.
    In early August the district administrator in Murehwa banned the 
NGO Crisis Coalition from conducting civic education activities in the 
area ahead of the constitutional outreach meetings by refusing to grant 
them clearance for the event.
    The formation of political parties and unions was not restricted; 
however, security forces and ZANU-PF supporters continued to interfere 
with activities of both during the year. On May 8, police in Waterfalls 
arrested Job Shikhala, MDC-99 leader, citing contravention of the POSA 
for holding a meeting without police permission. The meeting in 
question was the launching of the MDC-99 political party. Shikhala was 
released several days after arrest. On June 8, he was acquitted after 
the police failed to produce evidence in the case.
    On December 29, police barred the new political party, Zimbabwean 
African Political Union, from holding a public meeting at Tsholotsho 
Business Center on the grounds that they did not have sufficient 
manpower to cover the event.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation; however, the Government restricted these rights in 
practice. The Government generally cooperated with the Office of the UN 
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian 
organizations in providing assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, 
stateless persons, and other persons of concern but it interfered with 
some humanitarian efforts directed at internally displaced persons 
(IDPs).
    Unlike in 2009, the Government did not invoke travel bans on 
foreign correspondents; however, security forces continued to harass 
foreign journalists.
    The constitution prohibits forced exile, and there were no reports 
that the Government used it. A number of persons, including former 
government officials, prominent businessmen, human rights activists, 
MDC members, and human rights lawyers, left the country and remained in 
self-imposed exile.
    The registrar general continued to deny passports based on his 
interpretation of the Citizenship Act. The act requires all citizens 
with a claim to dual citizenship to have renounced their claim to 
foreign citizenship by January 2002 to retain their Zimbabwean 
citizenship. The act revokes the citizenship of persons who fail to 
return to the country in any five-year period. However, the High Court 
ruled in 2002 that this interpretation does not take into account the 
fact that persons are not automatically assured foreign citizenship 
merely because their parents were born in a foreign country, as some 
countries require persons to confirm their citizenship, in which case 
they could be rendered stateless. It further held that it is incorrect 
to presume that, when persons have a parent or parents born out of the 
country, they are citizens of the other country by descent. In addition 
some countries, including countries in southern Africa, do not have a 
means to renounce citizenship. Independent groups estimated that as 
many as two million citizens may have been disenfranchised by the law, 
including those perceived to have anti-ZANU-PF leanings, such as the 
more than 200,000 commercial farm workers from neighboring countries 
and approximately 30,000 mostly white dual nationals. The problem 
became particularly acute during voter registration in late 2007 and 
during the 2008 elections, when some were denied the right to vote--
despite having voted previously--because they could not adequately 
demonstrate their citizenship.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--According to the Internal 
Displacement Monitoring Center's 2009 estimate, between 600,000 and one 
million persons remained displaced within the country as a result of 
government policies, including state-sponsored election-related 
violence, land reform, and Operation Murambatsvina in 2005. According 
to an IDP assessment report conducted during the year, approximately 
one-third of the IDPs interviewed cited Murambatsvina as the cause of 
displacement. Nevertheless, the Government denied that a serious IDP 
problem existed. Historically, the Government did not tolerate use of 
the phrase ``internally displaced persons'' and instead referred to 
``mobile and vulnerable populations'' (MVPs). In 2009 the Government 
started acknowledging that there were some IDPs in the country and 
began to agree to use of the term when describing some populations. 
However, some government officials continued to refuse to describe 
victims of farm-related displacements as IDPs or MVPs and preferred to 
call them ``squatters.''
    Estimates for the number of IDPs varied widely and were not 
supported by comprehensive surveys conducted on a national scale due to 
the sensitivity of the issue. According to the International 
Organization for Migration (IOM), new displacements documented were 
mostly from disputed farming areas. In 2009 the IOM documented the 
displacement of 3,500 households with another 1,600 deemed at risk of 
displacement due to verifiable threats or eviction notices. During the 
year the IOM documented 466 displaced households with another 527 
households deemed at risk. Since 2009 the IOM has assisted more than 
475 households with temporary shelter, more than 1,000 households with 
emergency shelter, and 1,500 households with transitional shelter. The 
IOM and World Food Program have assisted approximately 110,000 
individuals with food assistance since 2009.
    The Government's campaign of forced evictions and the demolition of 
homes and businesses continued during the year under the land reform 
policy. For example, on August 25, police raided and burned an informal 
settlement at a race course in Harare. Approximately 50 armed police 
officers, accompanied by police dogs, arrived at the settlement and 
ordered an estimated 100 individuals to move. Police then began burning 
shacks and tents and beating the few who resisted. Nearly 55 
individuals, including five minor children, were arrested and released 
the same day. Police initially denied a request for access by a ZLHR 
lawyer. The majority of the individuals were employees of the race 
course, while the remaining were victims of Operation Murambatsvina. At 
year's end, ZLHR was in the process of assessing the property damage to 
file civil claims against the city of Harare, the police, and the 
Ministry of Home Affairs.
    Beginning in late September, the Government evicted approximately 
1,750 households from resettled former commercial farm lands without 
any provisional planning to resettle the displaced population. As of 
early December, approximately 1,050 households remained at risk of 
displacement. Illegal farm settlers, former farm workers, and persons 
internally displaced from other parts of the country constituted the 
affected population, and a majority had resided on their land for many 
years without formal offer letters or title deeds. Eviction notices 
were served in the presence of the police and the army. The eviction, 
which initiated at the start of the rain and planting season, presented 
humanitarian challenges for the affected population, particularly in 
terms of food security and relocation options.
    International organizations reported that the environment for 
humanitarian assistance operations had improved noticeably for the 
early part of the year. The Government did not substantially restrict 
NGO ability to provide IDP assistance. No formal restrictions existed 
at the national level. In a few isolated cases, organizations were 
advised by local authorities not to travel to places where there were 
ownership disputes on certain farms where workers might be at risk. 
There were cases of the Government interfering with aid distribution, 
notably in ZANU-PF strongholds, and linking the provision of assistance 
to ``voluntary'' work in the community.
    Projection of an early election in 2011 led to an increasing 
politicization of humanitarian assistance at the community level toward 
the end of year. There were credible reports of ZANU-PF local 
councilors and officials in Mashonaland forming ``committees'' through 
which NGOs had to channel humanitarian assistance. As a result, MDC 
supporters were excluded from receiving subsidized farm inputs, food 
aids, and medicines.
    In 2009 more than 5,000 farm workers and their families were 
affected by government-condoned eviction and demolition of homes and 
businesses. Approximately 3,300 families were forcibly displaced, 
sometimes violently, during government-condoned takeovers of commercial 
farms; an additional 1,800 farm workers and their families were allowed 
to remain on seized farms, but they remained at risk of displacement by 
new owners. According to a 2002 national census, the average household 
size was five persons per household, which suggested that 25,000 
persons might have been affected by the land reform program. Most were 
displaced from farms taken during the Government's politicized land 
reform program. In previous years new farm owners often allowed the 
farm workers of the previous owner to remain on the property. However, 
in 2009 evictions increased and hundreds of workers' homes were burned 
by new proprietors.
    Between April and June 2008, at least 30,000 persons were displaced 
in the wake of government-sponsored political violence and destruction 
of property, particularly in rural areas. In 2008, when violence levels 
in rural areas declined in the wake of political talks, many IDPs 
returned to or near their homes and were ``fined'' in food, animals, or 
money by local ZANU-PF militias. Many IDPs returned to their rural home 
areas and rebuilt homes damaged or destroyed in 2008, while others 
integrated into new communities within the country or in the diaspora. 
However, many families had not found permanent shelter or integration 
and continued to live in tents that were provided as temporary shelter. 
During the year the IOM started working with local authorities and 
communities to develop plans for integrating displaced families and 
affording them access to basic social services and living conditions.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's law provides for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees.
    In law and practice, the Government provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion.
    The Government maintained a formal encampment policy whereby 
refugees must live at the Tongogara refugee camp, with access to very 
basic services and accommodation. The UNHCR ran a transit center to 
host refugees from Tongogara with serious protection problems or who 
were in the process of resettlement interviews. However, the 
Government's encampment policy posed limitations on refugees' freedom 
of movement and ability to earn a livelihood. In some cases, the 
Government informally allowed refugees with special needs to live in 
urban centers. The Government granted work permits to a few refugees, 
primarily those with special skills.
    Some refugees lived in urban areas without the permission of the 
Government and remained at risk of arrest and return to the refugee 
camp. Approximately one-quarter of the refugees lived in Harare at 
year's end. There were reports of arrests and returns to the camp 
during the year. There were also several cases of criminal allegations 
against refugees; in such cases, the UNHCR assisted the refugees in 
obtaining access to legal representation. The detention of potential 
refugees at the border due to illegal entry was also a problem, since 
the Government lacked the budget and capacity to transfer them to 
Tongogara camp.
    The UNHCR had a resettlement program that processed approximately 
230 individuals for resettlement abroad during the year. The UNHCR was 
in the process of identifying up to 700 refugees for resettlement 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; however, this right was restricted in practice 
because the political process continued to be biased heavily in favor 
of ZANU-PF, which has dominated politics and government since 
independence in 1980.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Harmonized elections for 
the presidency, the House of Assembly, Senate, and local government 
were held in 2008. As in previous elections in 2000, 2002, and 2005, 
the preelection period was not free and fair. The environment was 
characterized by some violence and a media environment that heavily 
favored Mugabe. Although Tsvangirai was allowed to campaign, the police 
did not permit the MDC to hold all of its planned rallies, and some MDC 
activists were intimidated and beaten in the weeks before the election. 
Foreign journalists were not granted permission to cover the elections.
    The law stipulates that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) is 
responsible for maintaining and updating the voters' roll. However, the 
ZEC lacked the capacity to carry out these functions and relied heavily 
on the Registrar General of Voters Office to help it. In the weeks 
preceding the March elections, the registrar general and the ZEC did 
not ensure an open inspection of the voters' roll until they were 
compelled to do so by a court order. In 2009 a local NGO examined the 
voters' roll in its report 2013 Vision: Seeing Double and the Dead: A 
Preliminary Audit of Zimbabwe's Voters' Roll and found numerous 
inaccuracies. Notably, the report documented attempts to register 
voters at ghost addresses, multiple registrations of the same person in 
different constituencies, and an improbable number of registered voters 
over the age of 90.
    The March 2008 election was largely peaceful, with international 
observers from African organizations present; international observers 
from Western nations were not invited. Domestic observers played a 
critical role in the 2008 election and observed both voting and vote 
tallying at polling places across the country. For the first time, 
election results were posted outside each polling station. At numerous 
polling places, observers photographed the final vote count sheet and 
distributed the images.
    The March 2008 election results demonstrated a significant shift in 
the political environment. The MDC secured a majority in numerous local 
government councils and in the House of Assembly. Lovemore Moyo of the 
MDC-T was elected Speaker of the House by secret ballot, marking the 
first time for a member not affiliated with ZANU-PF to hold the 
position.
    The results of the presidential race were not released for more 
than a month, calling into question the credibility and independence of 
the ZEC. According to the ZEC tally, the MDC-T's Tsvangirai obtained 
47.9 percent of the vote, while Mugabe obtained 43.2 percent. Simba 
Makoni, an independent candidate, received 8.3 percent. Initially, the 
MDC-T challenged the results, asserting that Tsvangirai had secured the 
majority of votes needed to win the presidency. According to the ZEC 
tally, since no candidate secured the 50 percent-plus-one needed to win 
outright, a run-off election was set for June 2008.
    The months leading to the run-off election were marred by 
widespread violence and intimidation perpetrated by the ZANU-PF 
government and its supporters. The violence left more than 150 dead, 
thousands injured, and tens of thousands displaced. In June 2008, in 
the wake of the violence, Tsvangirai announced that he would not 
contest the run-off election. Nevertheless, the Government held the 
election, and in June 2008 the ZEC announced that Mugabe had won with 
more than 85 percent of the vote; he was inaugurated immediately.
    Due to a government policy shift from the first round, the Zimbabwe 
Election Support Network (ZESN) and other domestic observers faced 
significant obstacles that prevented them from observing the June 
election. The Government greatly reduced the number of accreditations 
from more than 8,600 in the harmonized election to 500 in the 
presidential run-off. Observers charged that the shortage of 
accreditations was to curtail the ability of civil society to monitor 
the election, especially polling.
    While the country did not allow citizens of most Western countries 
to observe the elections, it allowed election observer missions from 
three African groups: the Pan African Parliament, the SADC, and the 
African Union. Each group subsequently issued statements critical of 
the election, as did the leaders of a number of neighboring countries, 
including Botswana and Zambia.
    Following domestic and international protests of Mugabe's 
inauguration, ZANU-PF and the MDC resumed negotiations, with former 
South African president Thabo Mbeki as lead SADC mediator. In September 
2008, Mugabe, Tsvangirai, and MDC-M party leader Arthur Mutambara 
signed a power-sharing agreement, known as the GPA, to establish an 
``inclusive'' government.
    In January 2009, after several months of additional negotiations on 
the distribution of ministries and despite the abductions of MDC 
officials and Mugabe's reappointment of Reserve Bank governor Gideon 
Gono and appointment of Attorney General Johannes Tomana in violation 
of the GPA, Mugabe, Tsvangirai, and Mutambara agreed to implement an 
inclusive government. In February 2009 parliament passed constitutional 
amendment 19, which added to the Government the positions of prime 
minister, two deputy prime ministers, and a number of additional 
ministries and deputy ministry positions. Passage of the amendment 
paved the way for the inauguration of MDC-T leader Tsvangirai as prime 
minister, alongside deputy prime ministers Arthur Mutambara and 
Thokozani Khupe. Forty-one ministers and 20 deputy ministers also were 
sworn into office.
    In December 2009, several months after parliament submitted 
nominations to his office, President Mugabe named the members of three 
of four independent commissions, including the Media, Human Rights, and 
Electoral Commissions, as provided for in the GPA. On March 31, the 
president swore into office the Human Rights Commission, headed by 
prominent academic Reginald Austin, and the electoral commission, 
headed by former judge Simpson Mutambanengwe. President Mugabe had not 
appointed members to the Anticorruption Commission by year's end.
    The GPA mandates the writing of a new constitution. In July 2009 
the first All Stakeholders Conference was held in Harare to create a 
framework for the process. ZANU-PF supporters and war veterans 
disrupted the conference on its opening day, and it only resumed the 
following day after intervention by President Mugabe. The 
Constitutional Parliamentary Committee (COPAC), with three 
cochairpersons from the MDC-T, MDC-M, and ZANU-PF, led the process. 
Seventy outreach teams, with 12 members in each team, were set up to 
solicit public input. The outreach process was scheduled to begin in 
November 2009, to be completed by February, with the draft to be voted 
on in a national referendum by July. COPAC officially began the 
outreach on June 18, seven months behind schedule; it was completed by 
October. The outreach effort was rife with reports of intimidation, 
disruption, harassment, arrest of MDC-T supporters and members of 
parliament, and precoaching conducted by ZANU-PF supporters. Contrary 
to expectation, there were few cases of violence and human rights 
abuses.
    The cabinet agreed to amend portions of the Electoral Act in early 
July. The reforms, which had previously been agreed by the GPA 
negotiators, were designed to minimize election rigging by requiring 
presidential election results be announced within five days of voting, 
the voters' rolls be specific to polling stations, and electronic 
copies of the voters' roll be freely accessible. The amendments were 
pending approval by parliament at year's end.
    President Mugabe continued to make unilateral decisions without 
consulting the other two principals in the Government, as required by 
the GPA. For example, on May 20, President Mugabe appointed one judge 
to the Supreme Court and four to the High Court without consulting 
Prime Minister Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Mutambara. On July 
24, President Mugabe reassigned the country's ambassadors and 
representatives to Russia, Italy, Sweden, and South Africa, and the UN 
without consulting his coprincipals in the inclusive government.
    The ZEC was established in 2005 but was not constitutionally 
mandated until the passage of amendment 19. Under the amendment, the 
ZEC is charged with directing voter registration, maintaining the 
voters roll, conducting voter education, accrediting observers, and 
conducting elections. The ZEC consists of nine members, four of whom 
must be women, who are appointed by the president. The chairperson is 
appointed after consultation with the Judicial Service Commission, 
while the other eight are appointed from a list of nominees submitted 
by the Parliamentary Committee on Standing Rules and Orders. The ZEC 
also has provincial and district offices. President Mugabe announced 
the eight members of the ZEC in December 2009 and named Namibia-based 
Judge Simpson Mtambanengwe as chairperson on March 31. Since the ZEC's 
inception, observers have questioned its independence and impartiality.
    The constitution empowers the ZEC to set the boundaries of 
parliamentary and local constituencies. The delimitation report was 
completed in 2008 without debate in parliament, in contravention of the 
constitutional requirement. The MDC and members of civil society 
criticized the delimitation of wards and constituencies as favoring 
ZANU-PF.
    Although the constitution allows for multiple parties, ZANU-PF and 
security forces intimidated and committed abuses against other parties 
and their supporters and obstructed their activities.
    Under the constitution, the president may unilaterally declare a 
state of public emergency for a period of up to 14 days. The GPA 
stipulates that the president must consult with prime minister prior to 
dissolving parliament, prior to appointing or removing a vice president 
and any minister or deputy minister, and prior to appointing eight 
provincial governors who sit in parliament.
    In the 2008 elections the MDC-T won a majority of seats in city 
councils across the country. However, the Government routinely 
interfered with MDC-led local governments. For example, on August 25, 
the ZANU-PF minister of local government, urban, and rural development 
suspended seven MDC-T councilors from the Harare City Council on the 
charge that they had illegally evicted widows and orphans from houses 
belonging to the council. Councilors Job Mbadzi and Herbert Gomba were 
acquitted, while Peter Marange was found guilty and given a warning. On 
December 6, councilors Silas Machetu, Maxwell Katsande, Paul Gorekore, 
and Johnson Zaranyika were convicted and dismissed from the council. 
The councilors appealed their conviction in the High Court; the case 
was pending at year's end (see section 4).
    Under the Urban Councils Act, the Ministry of Local Government, 
Urban, and Rural Development has the power to appoint ``special 
interest councilors'' to local councils to represent special interest 
groups. Such appointments are intended to fill ``gaps'' by including 
members of business and civil society in the councils.
    After the 2008 elections, there were 34 women in the 210-seat House 
of Assembly. Women won 23 of the 60 elected seats in the Senate, 
including the president of the Senate. One vice president, one deputy 
prime minister, five ministers, and two governors were women. Of the 
270 elected positions in the House of Assembly and the Senate, 57 were 
filled by women, constituting 21 percent of the total, short of the 
SADC target of one-third for female representation. Women participated 
in politics without legal restriction, although according to local 
women's groups husbands commonly directed their wives to vote for the 
husbands' preferred candidates, particularly in rural areas. The ZANU-
PF congress allotted women one-third of 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 organizations.
    There were 11 members of minority groups in the cabinet, including 
Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe; former vice president Joseph 
Msika, who died in August 2009, and his replacement selected by the 
ZANU-PF party congress; and Vice President Joshua Nkomo, who was sworn 
in on December 2009. There were 46 members of minority groups in the 
House of Assembly, including three whites.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively and 
impartially, and officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices with 
impunity. According to World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 
corruption was a severe problem. Implementation of the Government's 
redistribution of expropriated white-owned commercial farms often 
favored ZANU-PF elite and continued to lack transparency. High-level 
ZANU-PF officials continued to select numerous farms and register them 
in the names of family members to evade the Government's policy of one 
farm per official. The Government continued to allow individuals 
aligned with top officials to seize land not designated for 
acquisition. Public officials were not subject to financial disclosure 
laws.
    Corruption was particularly pervasive in local government where 
officials abused their positions and government resources openly and 
with impunity. According to Transparency International-Zimbabwe's (TIZ) 
Advocacy and Legal Advice Center (ALAC), a total of 642 corruption-
related complaints were received between April 2009 and April 2010; the 
vast majority of complaints received in 2009 came from urban residents 
complaining about local government bribery, misappropriation of 
government resources, and abuse of power. Local councilors' control of 
the designation and allocation of new land lots for residential and 
commercial use led to numerous allegations of bribe attempts and rent-
seeking opportunities. Local government officials also demanded bribes 
or excessive fees for ``expediting'' paperwork, including birth 
certificates, passports, and licenses. Allegations of corruption were 
reported for both ZANU-PF and MDC-T councilors.
    For example, in Chitungwiza, a high density suburb outside of 
Harare, MDC-T councilors were unable to deliver city services largely 
due to council corruption and a lack of oversight and accountability. 
In response the MDC-T expelled all of the MDC-T councilors in 
Chitungwiza from the party early in the year. However, the expelled 
councilors remained in their elected positions and continued to serve 
as independent councilors at year's end.
    Corruption occurred at every level of the police force but took 
different forms depending on position, rank, or location. At the lower 
levels, corrupt officers extorted nominal to exorbitant fees for 
varying offenses from the public in an effort to augment their low 
salaries. However, numerous reports of corrupt police officials being 
investigated and arrested for criminal activity appeared throughout the 
year. Armed police continued routinely to erect roadblocks in and 
around cities and rural districts, claiming to be looking for 
criminals, smuggled goods, and food. However, in many cases police 
arbitrarily seized goods for their own consumption or extracted bribes 
from commuters.
    Constitutional amendment 19 requires that a previous anticorruption 
commission be disbanded and a new one appointed. The commission members 
had not been named by year's end.
    In early January the MDC-T set up a 13-member team to investigate 
reports of alleged corruption by its cabinet ministers, law makers, and 
councilors. Prosecutions for corruption continued but were selective 
and generally seen as politically motivated. The Government targeted 
MDC-T officials, persons who had fallen out of favor with ZANU-PF, and 
individuals without high-level political backing. On March 15, Justice 
and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa claimed that corruption 
was rampant among legal practitioners, both in public and private 
practice, and blamed leading criminal lawyers for bribing magistrates 
and prosecutors. Chinamasa also cautioned prosecutors against 
recklessly invoking a section of the CPEA, which allows the police to 
keep the accused in custody for an additional seven days after the 
granting of bail to allow the Government to appeal a decision to grant 
bail. In practice Chinamasa did not enforce this policy.
    On April 7, police arrested two Harare city councilors, Casper 
Takura and Warship Dumba, on the charge of criminal defamation for 
their involvement in a report that exposed illegal business dealings 
between businessman Phillip Chiyangwa and Local Government Minister 
Ignatius Chombo (ZANU-PF). The report documented how city-owned 
properties were sold to Chiyangwa in violation of city policy and law, 
and how Chombo and city council employees illegally sold property 
between 2005 and 2009. Takura and Dumba were released without charge. 
Chiyangwa sued the mayor of Harare, Muchadeyi Masunda, and nine 
councilors for criminal defamation in connection with the same report. 
The trial began on May 6 and was postponed to allow the High Court to 
deal with a separate application by the mayor and councilors 
challenging the magistrate's decision to place them in detention. On 
November 2, Chiyangwa withdrew the charges against the mayor and 
councilors. On August 25, Chombo suspended seven MDC-T councilors from 
the Harare City Council, accusing them of illegally evicting widows and 
orphans from council houses. The MDC-T denounced this move as part of a 
ploy to frustrate the investigation into the allegations against 
Chiyangwa, Chombo, and the city council employees. Chombo set up an 
independent disciplinary committee to conduct hearings on the 
allegations. The committee acquitted two councilors, Job Mbadzi and 
Herbert Gomba, and found Councilor Peter Marange guilty. The other four 
councilors, Silas Machetu, Maxwell Katsande, Paul Gorekore, and Johnson 
Zaranyika, were convicted and dismissed from the council on December 6. 
The four councilors appealed their conviction in the High Court; the 
case was pending at year's end.
    On June 28, police arrested businessman and prominent ZANU-PF 
member Temba Mliswa for fraudulently taking over a car accessory 
company in Harare. Mliswa was arrested along with Martin Mutasa, son of 
the ZANU-PF minister of presidential affairs, after publically accusing 
Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri of corruption. Mliswa was 
released on bail on July 5 but was continuously rearrested on new 
charges following his release. He was finally released on $1,000 bail 
on August 10 after nearly six weeks of incarceration. Mliswa faced more 
than70 charges related to the alleged illegal seizing of farms and farm 
equipment since 2002. On December 22, the court acquitted Mliswa of 
some of the fraud and extortion charges, citing insufficient evidence; 
however, testimony during the trial indicted that Mliswa's extensive 
list of alleged crimes was committed with the complicity, 
participation, and knowledge of several senior ZANU-PF, military, and 
police officials. Other charges were pending at year's end.
    In March 2009 Brigadier General Douglas Nyikayaramba, head of a 
committee to administer the provision of farming inputs, namely seed 
and fertilizer, named nine MPs whom he stated had abused a program that 
provided inputs to legislators by taking more inputs than they were 
allocated. Those accused included MDC-T MPs Evelyn Masaiti, Ernest 
Mudavanhu, Hamandishe Maramwidze, Edmore Marima, Heya Shoko, Ransome 
Makamure, and Tachiona Mharadza. ZANU-PF MPs Tranos Huruba and Ivine 
Dzingirayi were also accused. Mudavanhu was released on bail in 
September 2009 pending appeal. Makamure, Marima, and Shoko were 
acquitted in 2009. Dzingirayi, Masaiti, and Mudavanhu were acquitted 
during the year; the remaining case was pending at year's end. 
Convicted MPs could lose their seats in parliament.
    There were reports that ZANU-PF officials in the Government removed 
persons perceived to be MDC supporters from the civil service and the 
military. There also were reports that the Government assigned soldiers 
and youth service members to work in government ministries. It was 
common for the minister of local government to appoint ZANU-PF 
supporters to bureaucratic positions in MDC-led local governments. City 
public administrators reportedly earned hugely inflated salaries. In 
August 2009 the comptroller and auditor general submitted a report to 
parliament that documented significant irregularities within the 
Ministry of Youth Development, Indigenization, and Empowerment. 
Notably, the report stated that there were more than 10,000 names on 
the ministry's payroll that were not reflected in human resources 
records and that 458 persons were listed twice.
    NGOs documented numerous cases of public officials soliciting 
bribes to allocate lots and market stalls in the major cities. For 
example, there were reports that the Chitungwiza local council 
artificially lowered prices for residential stands to $200, while the 
market value was closer to $2,500, and collecting large bribes from 
well-connected individuals.
    In December 2009 the MDC-T announced it was suspending MDC-T mayor 
of Chitungwiza, Israel Marange, and several other MDC-T officials who 
were accused of corruption. Minister of Local Government Chombo, 
however, refused to dismiss the councilors, saying the issue was 
internal to the MDC-T. The councilors continued to serve at year's end.
    In April 2009, TIZ's ALAC began an anticorruption campaign by 
inaugurating a toll-free hotline for residents to report corruption, 
seek free legal advice, and propose solutions to prevent corruption, 
TIZ also established a monthly newsletter to discuss hotline 
complaints. Although the hotline was initially advertised in 
government-controlled media, in August 2009 the national public 
broadcaster, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings, refused to carry TIZ's 
advertisements. Many hotline callers complained about police soliciting 
bribes at traffic stops, corruption in the allocation of vending 
stalls, and officials' misappropriation of funds. The complainants were 
also disgruntled about the ineffectiveness of public institutions 
mandated to fight corruption, including the police and the 
Anticorruption Commission.
    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 enforced most vigorously.
Section 5. 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, investigating and publishing their findings on human 
rights cases; however, they were subject to government restrictions, 
interference, monitoring, and harassment. Domestic NGOs worked on human 
rights and democracy issues, including lobbying for revision of POSA 
and the AIPPA; election observation; constitutional and electoral 
reform; increasing women's access to the courts; raising awareness of 
the abuse of children; conducting civic education; advocating for the 
independence of the judiciary; and combating torture, arbitrary 
detention, and restrictions on freedom of the press and assembly. Major 
domestic independent human rights organizations included the Crisis in 
Zimbabwe Coalition, Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, ZESN, ZLHR, 
Zimbabwe Peace Project, National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), 
Students Solidarity Trust, and WOZA.
    The Government continued to use the Government-controlled media to 
disparage and attack human rights groups. Articles typically dismissed 
the efforts and recommendations of NGOs that were considered critical 
of the Government as efforts by groups that merely did the bidding of 
Western governments.
    During the year police arrested or detained NGO members, often in 
connection with demonstrations or marches; several were beaten during 
arrest and tortured while in custody. Numerous NGO members died in 
postelection violence in 2008.
    On March 23, police in Harare arrested Zimbabwe Human Rights 
Organization (ZimRights) director Okay Machisa for planning an 
exhibition of 65 photographs showing a range of images from the 2008 
election. Machisa was released several hours later after Prime Minister 
Tsvangirai pressured co-minister of home affairs Giles Mutsekwa to 
secure his release. On March 24, High Court judge Samuel Kudya ordered 
that the photos be released within an hour and ordered the police not 
to intervene in the exhibition. The photos arrived at the gallery only 
a few minutes before Tsvangirai's arrival to open the exhibit. After 
his departure, police returned to the gallery three times to search for 
the photos and Machisa and demanded entry without a warrant. ZimRights 
staff removed the photos from the gallery prior to the police return 
and denied entry throughout the night. On April 26, police arrested 
Joel Hita, ZimRights regional chairperson for Masvingo, and three other 
employees for organizing the same photo exhibition without notifying 
the police. The case was pending at year's end.
    The Government harassed some NGOs it believed opposed government 
policies, investigated their activities, and harassed their leaders. 
For example, on May 27, police in Mutare raided the office and 
residence of the Center for Research and Development director Farai 
Maguwu and arrested Lisben Maguwu. Lisben was charged with obstructing 
justice by assisting Farai Maguwu to escape through a window. Farai 
Maguwu went into hiding and, accompanied by lawyers, turned himself in 
on June 3. He appeared in court on June 8 and was detained illegally 
for more than 48 hours. While in police custody, he developed 
bronchitis; however, police denied him access to private medical care 
despite multiple court orders. The Government initially charged him 
with communicating information prejudicial to the state to Kimberly 
Process Certification Scheme monitor Abbey Chikane. The Government then 
charged him with communicating information that was prejudicial to the 
state's economic interest to human rights activists Gabriel Shumba, Tor 
Hugne-Olsen, and Anton Dekker. The magistrate court repeatedly denied 
bail, citing the gravity of the charge and the ongoing investigation. 
On July 12, the High Court granted bail on an appeal of the bail denial 
at the magistrate court. Bail conditions included $1,500, daily 
reporting to the Mutare police station, restricted movement in Mutare, 
and surrender of his international passport. In July police in Mutare 
called Farai Maguwu to the police station for driving a car alleged to 
be stolen. The magistrate court relaxed the bail conditions on August 
17. On October 22, Magistrate Vongai Muchuchuti acquitted Farai Maguwu 
after the Government withdrew its case.
    Representatives of international and foreign NGOs were arbitrarily 
harassed. For example, on September 9, police arrested four foreigners 
along with two members from the Allen Temple AIDS Ministry on the 
charge of practicing medicine without the supervision of a pharmacist. 
The four pled not guilty and were released on September 13 on $200 bail 
each. The case was pending at year's end.
    In 2007 parliament unanimously approved constitutional amendment 
18, which provides for the establishment of a parliamentary human 
rights commission; this was reiterated in amendment 19, which was 
adopted by parliament in February 2009. In December 2009 President 
Mugabe announced eight members of the Human Rights Commission, four of 
whom are required to be women, and, on March 31, named Namibia-based 
academic Reginald Austin as chairperson.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law provide that no person can be deprived of 
fundamental rights, such as the right to life, liberty, and security of 
person, based on one's race, tribe, place of origin, political 
opinions, color, creed, gender, or disability; however, the 
constitution allows for discrimination, primarily against women, on the 
grounds of ``customary law.'' Discrimination against women and persons 
with disabilities persisted. The Government and ZANU-PF continued to 
infringe on the right to due process, citizenship, and property 
ownership in ways that affected the white minority disproportionately.

    Women.--The law makes rape and nonconsensual sex between married 
partners a crime; however, few cases of rape, especially spousal rape, 
were reported to authorities because women were unaware that spousal 
rape was a crime and feared losing the support of their families, 
particularly in rural areas. Government statistics on rape were 
unavailable, but anecdotal evidence indicated it remained a widespread 
problem. The criminal code defines sexual offenses as rape, sodomy, 
incest, indecent assault, or immoral or indecent acts with a child or 
person with mental disabilities and provides for penalties up to life 
in prison for sexual crimes. Police acted on reported rape cases not 
associated with political violence, and the Government media frequently 
published stories denouncing rape and reporting convictions. In many 
cases, the survivors knew their rapists. The criminal code also makes 
it a crime to knowingly infect anyone with HIV and provides for 
penalties up to five years in prison. Local NGOs dealing with women's 
rights reported that rape cases were brought to the court and there 
were convictions; however, statistics were unavailable. Children born 
from rape suffered stigmatization and marginalization if their mothers 
or extended families failed to report the rape and failed to register 
their births.
    Rape survivors seldom received protection in court under law. For 
example, in August, Mildred Mapingure filed a suit against the 
Government, claiming $52,000 in damages for wrongful birth. Mapingure 
was raped by armed robbers and became pregnant. She reported the rape 
to the police and applied for termination of pregnancy in accordance 
with the Termination of Pregnancy Act. The courts delayed hearing the 
matter and granted Mapingure authority to terminate the pregnancy only 
when she was seven months pregnant. The doctors refused to terminate 
the pregnancy at that advanced stage and she gave birth as a result.
    During the year, two adult rape clinics were set up in public 
hospitals in Harare and Mutare. The clinics were designed to receive 
referrals from the police and NGOs working with rape survivors and to 
administer HIV tests and provide medicines to prevent HIV infection, 
other sexually transmitted diseases, and pregnancy. The clinics could 
collect evidence and give medical examination that could be used for 
court processes. According to one medical NGO, the clinics were well 
organized but had been poorly advertised due to fear that their 
capacity could not meet likely demand.
    In November 2009 the IOM, UNICEF, and the UN Population Fund 
created a one-stop center project for gender-based violence survivors. 
One one-stop center and three general centers were set up around the 
country. The announcement came in response to a survey that found that 
the country's social, political, and economic instability had led to an 
increase in sexual abuse of women, girls, and some boys. More than 50 
percent of the 1,900 persons interviewed, both male and female, 
reported that they had been raped. Nearly half of the respondents 
stated that they did not know what to do to cope with rape experiences.
    Domestic violence against women, especially wife-beating, continued 
to be a serious problem. The Musasa Project, a local NGO that worked 
for the protection and promotion of women's rights, reported that many 
women in the country were in an abusive marital relationship. Most 
cases of domestic violence went unreported, due to traditional 
sensitivities and the women's fear of abandonment without support. 
Authorities generally considered domestic violence to be a private 
matter and usually only arrested an offender for assault if there was 
physical evidence of abuse. There were newspaper reports of wife 
killings, and there were a few reports of prosecutions and convictions 
for such crimes; however, details were unavailable.
    In 2007 the Government enacted the Domestic Violence Act, which 
criminalizes domestic violence and provides enhanced protection for 
victims of abuse; the act was viewed as a milestone by women's rights 
groups. The law provides for a fine and a maximum prison sentence of 10 
years. The Ministry of Women's Affairs, Gender, and Community 
Development and local women's groups coordinated efforts to develop an 
implementation strategy after the act passed parliament in 2006. In 
October 2009 the ministry created an 11-member Anti-Domestic Violence 
Council to monitor the implementation of the act, with members drawn 
from government, civil society, churches, and traditional leaders. The 
council was ineffective, due to the unavailability of statistics and 
information on prevailing trends of domestic violence and lack of 
funding.
    The Government continued a public awareness campaign about the act. 
Several women's rights groups worked with law enforcement and provided 
training and literature on domestic violence as well as shelters and 
counseling for women. However, the high turnover rate within the police 
force demanded a continuous level of training that could not be met. 
Local women's rights groups reported that awareness of the domestic 
violence act increased; however, the press reported that the act proved 
difficult to implement. For example, one impediment was the police form 
to report domestic violence: not only was it difficult to complete, but 
due to budget constraints police would ask victims to make their own 
photocopies of the form.
    Labor legislation prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace, and 
an employer may be held liable for civil remedies if found to be in 
violation of provisions against ``unfair labor practices,'' including 
sexual harassment. Penalties for these violations are not specified in 
the law. Women commonly faced workplace sexual harassment, government 
enforcement was not effective, and there were no reports of any 
prosecutions during the year.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children and to 
have the information and means to do so free from discrimination, 
coercion, and violence. Inadequate medical facilities, including a lack 
of electricity and medication, contributed to a relatively high 
maternal mortality ratio of 880 deaths per 100,000 live births. HIV/
AIDS disproportionately affected females and was the major contributing 
factor to maternal deaths in the context of a weakened health delivery 
system. According to UNICEF's November 2009 Multiple Indicators 
Monitoring Survey (MIMS), 65 percent of women who were married or in a 
union used modern methods of contraception. Approximately 60 percent of 
births were attended by skilled attendants, while 40 percent of women 
gave birth at home. Half of the mothers between the ages of 15 and 19 
delivered their babies at home. Approximately 93 percent of women 
received prenatal care during pregnancy at least once. There was no 
information available on whether women were equally diagnosed and 
treated for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
    Despite laws aimed at enhancing women's rights and countering 
certain discriminatory traditional practices, women remained 
disadvantaged in society. Economic dependency and prevailing social 
norms prevented rural women in particular from combating societal 
discrimination. Despite legal prohibitions, women remained vulnerable 
to entrenched customary practices, including pledging young women to 
marry partners not of their choosing and forcing widows to marry the 
brothers of their late spouses.
    The law recognizes women's right to own property independently of 
their husbands or fathers; however, many women continued to be unaware 
of their property and inheritance rights. Divorce and maintenance laws 
were equitable, but many women lacked awareness of their rights. Women 
have the right to register their children's birth; however, in practice 
either the fathers or male relatives must be present. On June 3, the 
Supreme Court ruled in Margaret Dongo v. Registrar General that the 
registrar general has no right to bar mothers from obtaining passports 
for their children. The ruling followed a constitutional challenge 
filed against the discriminatory effect of the Guardianship of Minors 
Act, whereby the legal guardianship of minor children born in wedlock 
is vested only in their fathers. Justice Rita Makarau ruled that the 
application for a passport is not a judicial act and that the exclusive 
assistance of the minor child's legal guardian is not a legal 
requirement.
    Women and children continued to be adversely affected by the 
Government's forced evictions, demolition of homes and businesses, and 
takeover of commercial farms. Many widows who earned their income in 
the informal economy or by renting cottages on their property lost 
income when their market stalls or cottages were destroyed. Widows 
faced particular difficulties when forced to relocate to rural areas.
    The Ministry of Women's Affairs, Gender, and Community Development 
continued its efforts to advance women's rights. The ministry, through 
collaboration with local NGOs, continued training workshops for 
traditional leaders in rural communities to create more awareness of 
women's issues. The Government gave qualified women access to training 
in the armed forces and national service. Although there were advances 
for women within the armed forces in recent years, they continued to 
occupy primarily administrative positions. In recent years, women 
progressed in health and education but in general were concentrated in 
the lower echelons of the workforce, especially in the financial 
industry. Women held positions of importance in the legislative and 
executive branches of the Government.
    NGOs reported that anecdotal evidence indicated that women 
experienced economic discrimination, including in access to employment, 
credit, pay, and owning or managing businesses.
    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. The Government 
established the National AIDS Trust Fund to levy a 3 percent tax on 
incomes of individuals in formal employment and corporate entities.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from birth in the country and 
from one's parents, and every birth has to be registered with the 
Births and Deaths Registry. The 2003 Citizenship Amendment Act 
significantly changed citizenship laws and resulted in statelessness 
for some persons who were born to foreign-born parents (see section 
2.d.). Not all births were registered immediately, particularly if a 
child was born in a rural area outside a government hospital. Other 
reasons for failure to register births included fathers being absent or 
lacking time to register, parents not having a national identity card 
or birth certificate, the high cost of registration, and proximity to a 
place of registration. The failure to register all births resulted in 
some difficulties in accessing public services, particularly education 
and identification documents.
    Although legislation existed to protect children's rights, it was 
difficult to administer and enforce, primarily due to a lack of 
resources. Many orphaned children were unable to obtain birth 
certificates, which the Child Protection Society reported made it 
difficult for the children to enroll in school and access health 
services; however, the Government made improvements in 2007 by 
decentralizing the authority to issue birth certificates to local 
registrar general offices throughout the country. According to the 
UNICEF's MIMS, 37 percent of children under five years of age possessed 
birth certificates.
    Schools and clinics operated in most communities, although many 
families struggled to pay fees and purchase educational materials for 
their children. According to statistics from UNICEF, one-quarter of the 
country's children were orphans, of which approximately 70 percent were 
orphaned due to HIV/AIDS. Orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) 
together constituted 37 percent of the country's children, and 
approximately 80 percent of OVCs did not receive any form of external 
support. An estimated 100,000 children lived in child-headed 
households. Data on street children was not available at year's end.
    In 2007 the Ministry of Public Service, Labor, and Social Welfare 
and UNICEF formalized agreements with 21 NGOs to advance the National 
Action Plan for OVCs, which was designed to ensure that OVCs were able 
to access education, food, health services, and birth registration and 
were protected from abuse and exploitation. UNICEF reported that by 
February the NGOs involved had reached more than 800,000 OVCs with 
comprehensive support and protection since the beginning of the 
program.
    Primary education is not compulsory, free, or universal. According 
to the UNICEF's MIMS, 92 and 90 percent of female and male children of 
primary school age, respectively, attended primary school. Ninety-four 
percent of children of primary school age attended school in urban 
areas compared with 90 percent in rural areas. In 2009 the Ministry of 
Education, Sport, Art, and Culture drastically reduced school fees, 
particularly in rural areas, to increase enrollment. However, due to a 
lack of funding from the central government, some schools began to 
charge levies of up to several hundred dollars for the school year, 
which were prohibitive for many students. Some children continued to 
pay school fees and levies with crops and livestock if they did not 
have adequate hard currency. Despite a directive from the minister of 
education that no child should be refused education for not paying 
school fees, there were reports that students with unpaid fees were 
locked out or turned away from schools.
    Continuing economic hardship, displacement of thousands of children 
from their homes as a result of election-related violence in 2008, 
farm-related violence during the year, emigration of qualified 
teachers, and distance of the closest schools continued to affect 
enrollment rates. According to UNICEF, 71 percent of children who were 
not enrolled in school did not attend in 2009 because of financial 
constraints. In most regions of the country, fewer girls than boys 
attended secondary school. If a family was unable to pay tuition costs, 
it was most often female children who left school or never began. The 
Child Protection Society reported that girls were more likely to drop 
out because they were more readily employable, especially as domestic 
workers.
    Child abuse, including incest, infanticide, child abandonment, and 
rape, continued to be serious problems. Police statistics showed that 
reports of child rape tripled between 2005 and 2007. Anecdotal evidence 
suggested that a relative or someone who lived with the child was the 
most common abuser. Girl Child Network (GCN) reported that girls 
believed to be virgins were at risk of rape due to the belief among 
some that having sex with a virgin would cure men of HIV/AIDS. In 2008 
UNICEF and the Government launched the Stand Up and Speak Out child 
abuse awareness and prevention campaign. In October 2009 the NGO Plan 
Zimbabwe and the Ministry of Education, Sport, Art, and Culture 
launched the Learn Without Fear campaign, aimed at eradicating child 
abuse in schools. The campaign began after a study found that many 
children had been victims of unreported sexual and physical abuse by 
their teachers and peers. During the year the GCN reported an increase 
in the reports of violence in schools, with numerous cases of children 
suffering serious injuries from corporal punishment.
    The traditional practice of offering a young girl in marriage as 
compensatory payment in interfamily disputes continued, as did arranged 
marriage of young girls. The legal age for a civil marriage is 18, 
although 16- and 17-year-old girls could marry with their parents' 
approval. Customary marriage, recognized under the Customary Marriages 
Act, does not provide for a minimum marriage age for either boys or 
girls; however, the criminal code prohibits sexual relations with 
anyone younger than 18 years of age. According to UNICEF, one-third of 
women married when they were under 18 years of age, and 5 percent of 
women married when they were under 15 years of age. Approximately 21 
percent of young women between the ages of 15 and 19 were married or in 
a union. Child welfare NGOs reported that they occasionally saw 
evidence of underage marriages, particularly in isolated religious 
communities or among HIV/AIDS orphans who did not have relatives 
willing or able to take care of them.
    Statutory rape, legally defined as sexual intercourse with a child 
under the age of 12, carries a fine of $2,000, imprisonment up to 10 
years, or both. A person in possession of child pornography can be 
charged with public indecency and faces a fine of $600, imprisonment up 
to six months, or both. Child prostitution carries a fine of $200, 
imprisonment up to six months, or both. Those charged with child 
prostitution were often also charged with statutory rape. A parent or 
guardian who causes or allows a child under 18 years of age to 
associate with or become a prostitute could face up to 10 years in 
prison.
    Traditionally, the Government gave preference to National Youth 
Service (NYS) graduates among those seeking employment in the 
Government, especially in the security forces. From the time of its 
inception in 2000 until its suspension in 2007, an estimated 80,000 NYS 
youths underwent militia training at more than 150 training camps 
across the country. The stated purpose of the training camps was to 
instill national pride in youth, highlight the history of the struggle 
for independence, and develop employment skills; however, news reports 
quoted deserters as stating that the camps subjected trainees to 
partisan political indoctrination as well as military training. There 
were numerous credible reports that graduates were used by the 
Government to carry out political violence, human rights violations, 
and intimidation. There were numerous reports from NGOs that children 
as young as 16 participated in ZANU-PF affiliated youth militias, which 
perpetrated violence across the country during the 2008 election 
period. After the program's suspension in 2007, some participants were 
absorbed into the country's security structures, including the army, 
prisons, air force, intelligence organization, and police. Persons 
under the age of 18 are prohibited from joining the military or police.
    There were approximately one million orphans and OVCs in the 
country. One of the biggest contributing factors was the high HIV/AIDS 
rate. Approximately13 percent of the population was infected, and an 
estimated 2,214 persons died per week. The vast majority of orphans 
were cared for by the extended family. Many grandparents were left to 
care for the young and, in many cases, children or adolescents headed 
families and were forced to work to survive. Orphaned children were 
more likely to be abused; not to be enrolled in school; to suffer 
discrimination and social stigma; and to be vulnerable to food 
insecurity, malnutrition, and HIV/AIDS. Extended families and 
communities often refused to take orphans due to fear that they or 
their own children might contract HIV. Some children were forced to 
turn to prostitution for income.
    UNICEF estimated that at least 10,000 children were displaced in 
election-related violence in 2008. Several thousand were also displaced 
with their parents as a result of farm-related violence and evictions 
in 2009. At year's end, NGOs were uncertain how many children remained 
affected. Economic hardships and the Government's lack of support for 
social welfare institutions contributed to a highly vulnerable 
population of street children throughout the country. NGOs operated 
training centers and homes for street children and orphans, and 
government officials referred children to these centers.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html, as well 
as country-specific information at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community numbered approximately 270 
persons. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts or underlying 
pattern of discrimination.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution and law prohibit 
discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, access 
to public places, and the provision of services; however, the law was 
not widely known or implemented by government institutions. The lack of 
resources devoted to training and education severely hampered the 
ability of persons with disabilities to compete for scarce jobs. The 
law stipulates that government buildings be accessible to persons with 
disabilities, but implementation was slow. NGOs continued to lobby to 
include persons with albinism in the definition of ``disabled'' under 
the law. Persons with disabilities faced harsh societal discrimination. 
Traditional belief viewed persons with disabilities as bewitched and, 
consequently, as persons who should be locked away; children with 
disabilities often were hidden when visitors arrived.
    Children with disabilities were discriminated against in 
educational institutions. The unavailability of essential services, 
including sign language interpreters, Braille materials, and ramps 
prevented children with disabilities from attending school. Many 
schools refused to accept children with certain disabilities.
    According to the National Association of Societies for the Care of 
the Handicapped, persons with disabilities continued to be a forgotten 
and invisible group in society. For example, although an estimated 10 
percent of citizens had disabilities, they were marginalized from HIV/
AIDS intervention programs. The organization also reported that only 33 
percent of children with disabilities had access to education.
    Persons with mental disabilities also suffered from inadequate 
medical care and general provision of health services. There were eight 
centralized mental health institutions in the country with a holding 
capacity of more than 1,300 patients. The eight institutions were 
allocated approximately1 percent of the Ministry of Health's budget. 
Inpatients received cursory screening, and most waited for at least one 
year for a full medical review. A shortage of drugs and adequately 
trained mental health professionals resulted in patients not being 
properly diagnosed and not receiving adequate therapy. There were fewer 
than 10 certified psychiatrists working in public and private clinics 
and teaching in the country. There was a 50 percent vacancy rate for 
psychiatric-trained nurses; more than 90 percent of the available 
psychiatric services were provided at the mental institution in 
Bulawayo. NGOs reported patients being subjected to deplorable living 
condition in terms of food, water, clothing, and sanitation. Budgetary 
constraints and low holding capacity at these institutions resulted in 
persons with mental disabilities being kept at home and cared for by 
family, normally under chains and without treatment. No social workers 
worked on the issue of reintegration for recovering patients.
    The amendments to electoral laws changed voting procedures for 
persons with disabilities. In 2008 the ZEC issued a notice explaining 
that ``only the presiding officer and two other electoral officers or 
employees of the commission will assist any voter who requests to be 
assisted.'' Some groups complained that this ruling violated persons 
with disabilities' right to cast their votes in secret. Ahead of the 
June 2008 run-off election, there were widespread reports that ZANU-PF 
militias and war veterans instructed voters to claim blindness at the 
polling place in order to be assisted to vote for Mugabe. In 2009 the 
National Association of Societies for the Care of the Handicapped 
launched a five-year program to provide civic education to persons with 
disabilities with the goal of encouraging greater civic participation.
    The Government broadcast a regular, prime-time program on state 
radio to promote 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 and Asians less than 1 percent, 
and other ethnic groups 3 percent. There was some tension between the 
white minority and other groups, and in numerous instances ZANU-PF 
leadership manipulated this tension to further their political agenda. 
Historical tension between the Shona majority and the Ndebele minority 
caused the latter to perceive itself as marginalized by the Shona-
dominated government.
    The Government continued its attempts to attribute the country's 
economic and political problems to the white minority and Western 
countries. ZANU-PF supporters seldom were arrested or charged for 
infringing upon minority rights, especially those of the white 
commercial farmers targeted in the land redistribution program.
    In 2008 President Mugabe signed the Indigenization and Economic 
Empowerment Bill into law. The law's official purpose was to increase 
the participation of indigenous citizens in the economy, with the 
ultimate objective of at least 51 percent indigenous ownership of all 
businesses. During the year the minister of youth development, 
indigenization, and empowerment, Saviour Kasukuwere, gazetted the 
indigenization regulations, stipulating that all businesses with a net 
annual turnover of $500,000 or higher had to submit plans on how they 
intended to comply with the law by April. The deadline was extended 
indefinitely after protests from some sections in government as well as 
business and civic organizations. An indigenous Zimbabwean was defined 
as any person, or the descendant of such person, who before the date of 
the country's independence in 1980 was disadvantaged by unfair 
discrimination on the grounds of his or her race. The law was 
criticized as an attempt to create patronage for ZANU-PF.
    During the year ZANU-PF used the law as justification to force 
domestic partnerships on foreign business owners, who were typically 
white. Numerous businesses, including privately owned conservancies and 
factories, reported that senior ZANU-PF or military officials sought to 
force partnerships on them without contributing to the enterprise. The 
original foreign partners in these businesses were told by the 
officials that they should cede half of the business or face unnamed 
consequences.
    Historically, the Government has discriminated against language 
minorities through the Education Act, which enforced the teaching of 
English in schools, along with Shona or Ndebele, depending on the 
region. In 2001 other minority language groups (Tonga, Shangani, 
Kalanga, Suthu, Venda, and Nambya) formed the Zimbabwe Indigenous 
Languages Promotion Association (ZILPA) to petition the Government for 
legal reforms so that their languages could be taught in their schools. 
In 2008 the Government agreed to allow the teaching of these languages 
in the areas in which they were spoken, along with English and Shona or 
Ndebele. The Government did not provide resources for related teacher 
training or instructional materials. Nonetheless, the Tonga 
successfully developed curriculum and instructional materials to cover 
the seven years of primary school education. In August 2009 Ministry of 
Education, Sport, Art, and Culture officials met with ZILPA and agreed 
to support its request for funding to teach all minority languages.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Leadership in both ZANU-PF and 
MDC, including President Mugabe and Prime Minister Tsvangirai, 
publically denounced the LGBT community and warned against the 
inclusion of LGBT rights in the constitution. Over a period of years, 
Mugabe publicly denounced the LGBT community, blaming it for Africa's 
ills and declaring its members to be worse than ``pigs and dogs.'' 
Although there was no statutory law proscribing homosexual conduct, 
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. The criminal code 
definition of sodomy includes ``any act involving physical contact 
between males that would be regarded by a reasonable person to be an 
indecent act.'' Sodomy carries a penalty of up to one year in prison or 
a fine up to $5,000. There were no known cases of sodomy charges being 
used to prosecute consensual homosexual activity.
    Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ), the sole organization 
dedicated to advancing the rights of the LGBT community in the country, 
experienced discrimination and harassment. On May 21, police, armed 
with a search warrant, raided the GALZ office to search for dangerous 
drugs and pornographic materials, citing contravention of Censorship 
and Entertainment Control Act. The police forced GALZ employees Ellen 
Chademana and Ignatius Muhambi to provide passwords to their personal 
e-mail accounts and arrested them for possession of pornographic 
materials. In a second raid police charged the employees with 
contravening the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act for 
undermining the authority of President Mugabe after finding a picture 
of the president along with the plaque of a foreign gay and lesbian 
activist. Police also raided the house of the director of GALZ on May 
25. Police denied ZLHR lawyers access to the employees from May 21 to 
May 23 and granted the first initial visit on May 24. Four self-
identified police officers removed the two employees from their cell on 
the evening of May 25 and beat them in the face and knees during the 
course of an interrogation. ZLHR lawyers observed that the two had 
swollen faces, had plastic bags tied to their feet, and struggled to 
speak during a consultation following the beating. On May 25, ZLHR 
lawyers filed an urgent application at the High Court appealing the 
legality of the arrest and detention. On May 26, the two appeared 
before the magistrate court and were remanded from custody on $200 
bail. Chademana's hearing, postponed six times from July 1 as the 
Government's witnesses failed to turn up, finally commenced on August 2 
and ended on November 18. On December 16, Chademana was acquitted on 
the charge of possessing pornographic materials. Muhambi's trial 
started on June 30, and after multiple hearings he was acquitted of the 
charge of possessing pornographic materials on July 23. Both still 
faced charge of undermining the president at year's end.
    The Government censorship board continued to confiscate materials 
sent to GALZ from outside the country and refused to release the 
material, claiming that it was ``indecent.'' In 2008 GALZ filed three 
lawsuits against the censorship board, seeking the release of the 
materials. Due to the courts' refusal to act, three cases from 2008 
were pending at year's end.
    General homophobia and restrictive legislation made it difficult 
for the LGBT community to feel safe about being open about their 
sexuality in public. Because of significant social pressure, some 
families reportedly subjected men and women to ``corrective'' rape and 
forced marriages to encourage heterosexual conduct; the crimes were 
rarely reported to police. Women, in particular, were subjected to rape 
by male members of their own families.
    On December 1, approximately 30 members of an LGBT NGO participated 
in a march in Bulawayo to celebrate ``16 days of activism on violence 
against women.'' Police ordered the members to leave the venue of 
commemoration, citing as their reason the illegality of homosexuality.
    Members of the LGBT community reported widespread societal 
discrimination based on sexual orientation. Many persons who identified 
with the LGBT community did not seek medical care for sexually 
transmitted diseases or other health issues due to fear that health 
providers would shun them. In the 2006-07 Presidential HIV/AIDS 
Strategic Plan, the Government agreed to address HIV/AIDS among gay 
men. However, as of year's end, the Government had not made any effort 
to address the health needs of this population. Many LGBT persons 
reported leaving school at an early age, decreasing their capacity for 
economic gain. Coupled with socioeconomic discrimination, higher rates 
of unemployment and homelessness among members of the LGBT community 
were reported.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The Government has a 
national HIV/AIDS policy that prohibits discrimination against persons 
with HIV/AIDS, and the law prohibits discrimination against workers 
with HIV/AIDS in the private sector and parastatals. Despite these 
provisions, societal discrimination against persons affected by HIV/
AIDS remained a problem. Although there was an active information 
campaign by international and local NGOs, the Ministry of Health and 
Child Welfare, 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 white citizens and to blame them for 
the country's problems.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--While the law provides private sector 
workers with the right to form or join unions without prior 
authorization, and workers exercised these rights, they were not always 
respected in practice. The 2005 Labor Amendment Bill eliminated 
previous public sector worker rights and excluded such employees from 
protection under labor laws, placing them instead under the Public 
Service Act, which does not provide for the right to form and belong to 
trade unions, collective bargaining, strikes, or alternative dispute 
resolution mechanisms. These restrictions, however, were not enforced 
in practice. Public sector employees participated in unions and 
professional organizations. Some, particularly teachers and medical 
professionals, continued to mount campaigns for improved wages and 
conditions; union leaders and members continued to face harassment. 
Unions risked suspensions from registration for 12 months, and 
government recourse to draconian laws such as POSA, AIPPA, and the 
criminal law often curtailed trade union freedoms. The Government also 
restricted union activity indirectly by defining all senior employees 
as managers, although such employees did not enjoy benefits 
commensurate to the title; this restriction was not widely enforced in 
practice. Employees in positions designated as managerial were excluded 
from general union membership. Unions must be registered with the 
Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare.
    During the year approximately 350,000 persons belonged to the 36 
unions that form the ZCTU; approximately 55 percent of industries were 
unionized. The ZCTU estimated that 600,000 persons were employed in the 
formal sector. Approximately three million persons worked in the 
informal sector, of which 1.25 million belonged to a trade union for 
informal sector workers.
    The Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU), a government-
created alternative labor body, continued to support splinter unions in 
each economic sector; however, there was no evidence that either 
employers or employees viewed the splinter unions as legitimate. The 
Government was disinclined to include the ZFTU in labor-related 
discussion with employer and labor organizations. 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 they were not very influential.
    ZANU-PF elements of the Government openly targeted the ZCTU, 
declaring it aligned with the MDC. The Government continued to use POSA 
to limit the ZCTU and its affiliates' ability to meet with and consult 
their constituencies, although the law does not apply to labor unions. 
Under POSA, public gatherings require prior approval from the local 
police except for those organized by churches and unions. In practice 
unions often applied for permission and were denied. Unions were also 
prevented from holding meetings with their members and carrying out 
organizational activities, sometimes by the police or ZANU-PF 
supporters and under threat of arrest.
    On February 19, a group of 17 security officials representing the 
JOC interrogated Gertrude Hambira, the secretary general of the General 
Agriculture and Plantation Workers' Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ), about 
the union's role in producing a film, House of Justice, which 
documented abuse suffered by farm workers. Deputy Police Commissioner 
Innocent Matibiri led the 45-minute questioning. The interrogators 
accused Hambira of overstepping her bounds because the video dealt with 
human rights issues and not trade union issues. They also cautioned 
Hambira's lawyer against associating with such dangerous persons. On 
February 24, security officials raided GAPWUZ's office in downtown 
Harare looking for documents and for Hambira. On February 25, police 
questioned the deputy secretary general and GAPWUZ president over the 
same report. Hambira fled the country shortly after the incident and 
remained in hiding at year's end. During her absence, Hambira's family 
members were approached by unknown individuals asking for her 
whereabouts.
    On March 2, two plainclothes police officers attempted to 
participate in a ZCTU's educational workshop in Mutare. After being 
ejected from the meeting, the two left and returned with a group of 20 
police officers and two CID senior assistant inspectors. They ordered 
the workshop participants to disperse, and accused the ZCTU of 
conducting a workshop without police approval in contravention of POSA. 
Three ZCTU employees were arrested, two of whom were released later on 
the same day. Police charged the remaining employee with criminal 
nuisance and ordered him to pay a fine of $20. The ZCTU filed an appeal 
against the payment of the fine at the Mutare Magistrate Court and sent 
a protest letter to the minister of labor and social services. The 
matter was pending at year's end.
    Police often denied the ZCTU's applications to hold commemorations 
in particular venues and banned processions from taking place. On May 
14, the ZCTU notified police of its intention to commemorate Health and 
Safety Day in Kwekwe on June 6. Police ordered the commemoration to 
take place in Hwange instead. The ZCTU appealed on June 17. In a June 
22 response, police stated that the commemorations were not approved 
because police officers were engaged in World Cup activities. On June 
30, ZLHR lawyers appealed to the Bulawayo High Court; on July 2, the 
court granted the ZCTU permission to proceed with the commemorations 
and ordered police not to interfere. In similar fashion police banned 
an April 30 procession for International Workers Day in Masvingo and a 
May 24 procession for the commemoration of the death of 472 miners in 
Bulawayo. The police also sought to restrict union activities by 
prescribing certain conditions. For example, on International Workers 
Day in Harare, the police stipulated that the commemoration could take 
place on the condition that politicians not be invited.
    In 2008 in its report on trade union rights abuses, the 
International Labor Organization's (ILO) Application of Standards 
Committee included cases filed by the ZCTU concerning violations of 
freedom of association and protection of the right to organize for the 
second consecutive year. The Government was criticized regarding 
implementation of ILO Convention 87, which deals with freedom of 
association. The committee called on the Government to halt arrests, 
detentions, and threats and criticized it for refusing to appear before 
the committee for two consecutive years to face the allegations.
    In 2008 the ILO appointed a commission of inquiry to investigate 
complaints that worker rights were violated under ILO Conventions 26 
and 87. In May and August 2009, a three-person ILO commission of 
inquiry visited the country and interviewed more than 100 individuals, 
including those from government, civil society, unions, workers, and 
employers. The report was submitted to the Government in January; the 
Ministry of Labor accepted the report's findings and recommendations on 
behalf of the Government in April. In August the ILO, working in 
conjunction with the Government, the Employers' Confederation of 
Zimbabwe, and the ZCTU, conducted a mission visit to follow up on the 
implementation of the recommendations made in the report. A technical 
assistance package aiming at legislative and policy reform, 
institutional reform, strengthening of social dialogue, capacity 
building for key institutions, and knowledge and communication of 
information was provided during this visit.
    Although the Labor Relations Amendment Act (LRAA) explicitly 
recognizes the right to strike, it is circumscribed with procedural 
limits, including 14-day advance-notice requirements, mandated 30-day 
reconciliation periods, and possible mandatory referral to binding 
arbitration. It also requires that at least 50 percent of employees 
vote for a strike, although workers protesting health and safety 
standards or lack of equipment may strike without the notification and 
arbitration procedure. The act prohibits essential services employees 
from striking on the grounds that it would ``endanger(s) immediately 
the life, personal safety, or health of the whole or any part of the 
public.'' 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. Managers were also prohibited from striking; in some 
industries, the Government defined most employees as managers.
    In practice the Government harassed union leaders who called for 
strikes and union members who attempted to participate in them. 
Government-imposed delays prevented most employees and their unions 
from declaring legal strikes, and those who participated in strikes 
deemed illegal faced government intimidation and sentences of up to 
five years in prison.
    There were no further developments in any of the 2009 or 2008 cases 
of union harassment.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The LRAA 
provides workers 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 the ZFTU sometimes made such 
negotiations difficult. Collective bargaining agreements applied to all 
workers in an industry, not just union members. Public sector employees 
do not have the right to collective bargaining, strike, or alternative 
dispute resolution mechanisms; however, these restrictions were not 
enforced in practice. Teachers, the largest civil servant sector, 
engaged in labor actions during the year. In mid-September, the 
Zimbabwe Teachers Association, Teacher Union of Zimbabwe, and 
Progressive Teacher Union of Zimbabwe issued an ultimatum calling for a 
salary increase from $150 to $500. The ultimatum lapsed without any 
action from the Government. In November Finance Minister Tendai Biti 
announced a 40 percent increase in the civil service wage bill. 
However, the announcement did not specify the exact increase in 
teachers' salaries, and negotiations between the teacher unions and 
government continued at year's end.
    The minister of labor and social welfare retained the power to veto 
agreements that she believed would harm the economy, but she did not 
involve herself directly in labor negotiations unless requested to do 
so by one of the parties. Agreements reached by employers and employees 
must be gazetted by the Ministry of Labor to go into effect. In 
practice any agreement could be administratively blocked when left 
ungazetted over an indefinite period of time.
    Although the law prohibits antiunion discrimination, in practice 
union members faced discrimination and harassment. A labor court 
handled complaints of such discrimination under the mechanism for 
resolving cases involving ``unfair labor practices.'' The determining 
authority may direct that workers fired due to antiunion discrimination 
be reinstated, although this did not happen in practice.
    There were no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including by children, with the exceptions 
of working for parents or the national youth service; however, such 
practices occurred. Forced labor is punishable by a fine, two years' 
imprisonment, or both. Forced labor by children occurred across a wide 
range of sectors; however, no detailed information was available on the 
extent of the practice.
    NGOs reported that compulsion to work was no longer a factor for 
adults and children working in the Marange diamond fields during the 
year; however, adults and children continued to work for economic 
reasons. In 2009 Human Rights Watch and other NGOs reported that adults 
and children were subject to forced labor conditions while digging for 
diamonds in the Marange diamond fields. According to a June 2009 Human 
Rights Watch report, Diamonds in the Rough: Human Rights Abuses in the 
Marange Diamond Fields, children as young as 12 were forced to dig for 
diamonds in January and February. One victim told Human Rights Watch, 
``we worked together with about 30 children of ages between 10 and 17 
years. The children worked the same 11 hours each day as adults did. 
The soldiers had a duty roster for all villagers in Chiadzwa to take 
turns to work in the fields, irrespective of age.''
    Workers on seized farms reported that new owners occasionally 
forced them to work without pay and under threat of eviction from the 
farm.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Under the LRAA, child labor is punishable by a fine, two 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 ``a course of training or technical or 
vocational education.'' The law further states that no person under the 
age of 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 remains the 
minimum for light work, work other than apprenticeship, or work 
associated with vocational education.
    The Government released the 2004 Child Labor Report in 2006. 
According to the survey, approximately 46 percent of children between 
the ages of five and 17 were engaged in economic activity. The 
unemployment rate continued to grow, with some estimates as high as 90 
percent, which decreased the number of children employed in the formal 
sector. However, the incidence of children who worked in the informal 
sector continued to increase as more children worked to fill the income 
gap left by ill, unemployed, underemployed, or deceased relatives. 
Children often lacked access to necessary safety equipment and 
training. Children worked in the agricultural sector, in forestry, as 
domestics, in illegal gold and diamond mining, as street vendors, and 
as car-watchers. Although the Government and NGOs increasingly 
discussed the problem of child labor in the agricultural, domestic, and 
informal sectors, concrete data on the number of cases remained 
difficult to evaluate and confirm. An August 2007 survey by a domestic 
NGO documenting child labor reported that approximately one-third of 
children were working. Due to the economic downturn and reduction in 
school hours in 2008 and decreased school enrollment, the organization 
believed the percentage of children working was higher than one-third 
during the year.
    Most economically active children worked in the agriculture 
industry and were also involved in mining, domestic labor, and other 
areas of the informal economy. Children worked in all aspects of 
tobacco farming, from planting to preparation of leaves for sale; in 
the forestry regions of the eastern highlands on timber plantations; in 
some sugarcane plantations in the southeast; on tea and coffee 
plantations; and on small farms. Children worked on cotton farms; one 
NGO reported that school attendance rates declined in cotton growing 
areas during the harvest. Children also worked on some small commercial 
farms in all aspects of maize production. At one maize farm near 
Marondera, a local NGO found dozens of boys between the ages of 12 and 
16 working. In cities children commonly worked as street vendors and as 
guards for parked automobiles. Throughout the country, children, 
particularly girls, worked as domestic laborers, often for family 
members. Information on the extent to which child labor occurred in the 
production of commercial products was not available. In 2009 Human 
Rights Watch reported that children as young as 12 living near the 
Chiadzwa Diamond Mine in Manicaland continued to work as forced 
laborers under the guard of security forces in diamond fields. During 
the year NGOs reported that forced child labor in the Chiadzwa diamond 
field had ceased and the remaining children worked for economic 
reasons.
    Children were also engaged in the artisanal mining of gold and 
faced hazards to their health and safety. In particular children 
between the ages of 12 and 16 were used to crawl into small spaces in 
abandoned gold mine shafts near Shurugwi in Midlands Province. Also 
near Kwekwe, Bindura, and Mazowe, boys were involved in alluvial gold 
panning. In other areas, children panned for alluvial gold and used 
dangerous chemicals, including mercury, in purification processes. Most 
of these children worked for themselves, a family member, or someone in 
the community.
    Some employers did not pay wages to child domestic workers, 
claiming that they were assisting a child from a rural home by 
providing housing and board. In addition some employers paid the 
parents for the child's work. Relatives often took AIDS-orphaned 
children into their homes but used them as domestics without pay.
    The Department of Social Welfare in the Ministry of Labor and 
Social Welfare is responsible for enforcing child labor laws, but the 
department lacked personnel to carry out inspections or other 
monitoring. In 2007 the ministry signed a memorandum of understanding 
with the ILO to collaborate on a multiphase program for the elimination 
of the worst forms of child labor. The program was expected to address 
child labor issues and the implementation of ILO Convention 182, 
including identifying the worst forms of child labor and implementing 
activities pertaining to the prevention of child labor and the 
protection of working children. In 2008 the Government and the ILO 
initiated a nationwide survey on the worst forms of child labor; the 
survey had not been released at year's end.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There is no national minimum 
wage except for agricultural and domestic workers. The minimum wage did 
not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family, and 
more than 85 percent of the population continued to live below the 
Government's poverty line. The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare is 
responsible for enforcing the minimum wage; however, monitoring systems 
were ineffective, and many agricultural and domestic workers were 
remunerated below the minimum wage. In 2008 the ILO reported that four 
of five jobs in the country were in the informal sector, 78 percent of 
which were in agriculture. This trend continued during the year. These 
jobs generally provided extremely low cash income and poor working 
conditions and did not offer adequate worker protections.
    The maximum legal workweek is 54 hours, and the law prescribes a 
minimum of one 24-hour rest period per week. No worker is allowed to 
work more than 12 continuous hours; however, there was little or no 
enforcement, particularly in agricultural and domestic worker sectors. 
The law prescribes that workers receive not less than twice their 
standard remuneration for working on a public holiday. However, workers 
were unlikely to complain to authorities about violations due to fear 
of losing their jobs.
    The public service commission sets conditions of employment in the 
public sector. Health and safety standards were determined on an 
industry-specific basis. The Government designated the Zimbabwe 
Occupational Safety Council, a quasigovernmental advisory body made up 
of six representatives each from the Government, employers, and trade 
unions, to regulate working conditions; however, budgetary constraints 
and staffing shortages, as well as its status as an advisory council, 
made the council largely ineffective. Industries did not have the 
capacity to replace or update nonfunctioning and archaic machinery, 
further aggravating workplace conditions. The National Social Security 
Administration (NSSA) continued to experience difficulty monitoring the 
thousands of work sites across the country; however, it closed shops 
and factories not in compliance. Economic hardship also resulted in 
factories shutting on their own or operating informally. The NSSA could 
not inspect the informal sector due to budget constraints. The NSSA 
reported in 2007 that a high turnover in staff meant that only 20 of 31 
safety and health inspector positions were filled to monitor an 
estimated 14,000 registered factories. For the period May 2009 to May 
2010, the ZCTU reported 44 workplace fatalities and 686 injuries, a 
significant decrease from 106 fatalities and 3,122 injuries over the 
same period in 2008-09. As of year's end, the Government had not taken 
action to address health risks in the workplace. Workers have a legal 
right to remove themselves from dangerous work situations without 
jeopardy to continued employment, but in practice they risked the loss 
of their livelihood if they did.
    Information on the treatment of foreign and migrant workers was not 
available. The Government considered many commercial farm workers to be 
foreigners because one or both parents were born in another country.


                               __________
                       EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

                              ----------                              


                               AUSTRALIA

    Australia is a constitutional democracy with a federal 
parliamentary government. Its population was approximately 22.5 
million. Citizens periodically choose their representatives in free and 
fair multiparty elections. On June 24, Julia Gillard replaced Kevin 
Rudd as leader of the governing Australian Labor Party (ALP) and as 
prime minister. In federal parliamentary elections held August 21, 
neither the ALP nor the opposition Liberal Party and National Party 
coalition won enough seats to form a government. Subsequently, the ALP 
secured the support of the Greens Party member of Parliament (MP) and 
three independent MPs to gain a majority of 76 seats in the 150-seat 
House of Representatives and formed a government with Gillard as prime 
minister. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    Problems were reported in a few areas, including domestic violence 
against women and children, racially based attacks on foreign students, 
and societal discrimination against indigenous 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.
    In June the Queensland State Crime and Misconduct Commission 
released a report into authorities' investigation of the 2004 death of 
an indigenous citizen in police custody on Palm Island. The 
commission's report found that the initial police investigation and 
subsequent internal review of that investigation were flawed and 
recommended that six police officers involved in the investigations 
face disciplinary action. On November 23, the commission found 
insufficient evidence for additional charges against the officer linked 
to the death; he had been acquitted of manslaughter in 2007.

    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. There were occasional 
reports that police and prison officials mistreated suspects in 
custody. Some indigenous groups charged that police harassment of 
indigenous people was pervasive and that racial discrimination by some 
police and prison custodians persisted.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards, and the 
Government permitted visits by independent human rights observers.
    In December 2009 a prisoner at the Capricornia Correctional Center 
in Queensland State allegedly killed another prisoner. The trial for 
the alleged killer was pending at year's end.
    Three suicides occurred in the Villawood immigration detention 
center in Sydney during the year (see section 2.d.).
    In July the Western Australia State government provided 
compensation to the family of an Aboriginal elder who died in 2008 of 
heatstroke in a prison van, operated by a private security company, 
during a 220-mile drive to court to face a drunk-driving charge. No 
charges were filed against the two security guards involved. At year's 
end authorities were reviewing the case to determine whether to file 
charges against the security guards, the security company, and the 
Department of Correctional Services under the Occupational Safety and 
Health Act.
    According to a December publication of the Australian Bureau of 
Statistics (ABS), as of June there were 29,700 prisoners in the 
country, including 2,228 female prisoners and 6,367 unsentenced 
prisoners. Unsentenced prisoners included pretrial detainees, convicted 
prisoners awaiting sentencing, and persons awaiting deportation. No 
further breakdown was available.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. Authorities permitted prisoners and 
detainees to submit complaints to government-funded legal aid offices; 
federal, state, and territorial ombudsmen; and judicial authorities 
without censorship. Authorities investigated allegations of inhumane 
conditions and documented the results of such investigations in a 
publicly accessible manner. The Government investigated and monitored 
prison and detention center conditions. Both federal and state 
governments funded ``juvenile diversion'' programs to keep young 
persons out of the court and prison systems.
    Federal, state, and territorial government ombudsmen can serve on 
behalf of prisoners and detainees to consider such matters as 
alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders, addressing the 
status and circumstances of confinement of juvenile offenders, and 
improving pretrial detention, bail, and recordkeeping procedures.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these 
prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the armed forces and police, and the 
Government has effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse and 
corruption. There were no reports of impunity involving the security 
forces during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--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 committed an offense. Police must inform arrested persons 
immediately of their legal rights and the grounds for their arrest, and 
arrested persons must be brought before a magistrate for a bail hearing 
at the next sitting of the court. However, the law permits police to 
hold individuals in preventive detention for up to 24 hours without 
charge if a senior police official finds it is ``reasonably necessary 
to prevent a terrorist act or preserve evidence of such an act.'' 
Individuals may be detained for an additional 24 hours under court 
order.
    Although the law states that the maximum investigation period for 
which a person may be held and questioned without charge is 24 hours 
(unless extended by court order), it also provided that this allowable 
time for questioning a suspect may be spread across an unspecified 
number of days (a concept known as ``dead time'')--a provision 
criticized by human rights groups, the media, and the legal profession.
    On November 15, Parliament passed the National Security Legislation 
Amendment Bill 2010, which includes new powers for police to enter 
premises without a warrant in emergency circumstances; addresses the 
``dead time'' issue by establishing a seven-day limit on the amount of 
time a terrorism suspect can be held for questioning; expands 
counterterrorism laws to apply to those who incite violence on the 
basis of race, religion, ethnic origin, and political opinion; and 
extends the expiration period of regulations proscribing a terrorist 
organization from two to three years. It became law on November 24. 
Some of these provisions took effect in November and some in December.
    The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement Bill 2010, 
passed on November 15 and enacted into law on November 24, created 
parliamentary oversight of both the Australian Federal Police 
Commission and the Australian Crime Commission.
    A separate provision of law permits the attorney general to grant 
the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) authority to 
detain a person for a continuous period of up to 168 hours in special 
circumstances, such as ``reasonable grounds for believing that issuing 
the warrant to be requested will substantially assist the collection of 
intelligence that is important in relation to a terrorism offence.'' 
However, ASIO has not used this authority.
    The law permits a judge to authorize ``control orders'' on 
individuals suspected of involvement with terrorism-related activities. 
These orders may include a range of measures, such as monitoring of 
suspects and house arrest, and may be in effect for up to a year 
without the filing of criminal charges. If a control order is still 
warranted after one year, a new court order must be sought.
    In March Parliament passed the Independent National Security 
Legislation Monitor Bill, which provides for the appointment of an 
independent monitor to help ensure that counterterrorism laws strike an 
appropriate balance between protecting the community and protecting 
human rights. The Government had not appointed a monitor by year's end.
    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. 
Government-provided attorneys are available to provide legal advice to 
detainees who cannot afford counsel.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the right to a fair trial, 
and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. In the 
state district and county courts and the state and territorial supreme 
courts, there generally are a judge and jury for serious offenses. The 
judge conducts the trial, and the jury decides on the facts and the 
verdict. Defendants have the right to an attorney, and government-
funded attorneys are 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. The law extends these rights to all 
citizens.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters. There is also an 
administrative process at the state and federal levels to seek redress 
for alleged wrongs by government departments. Generally, administrative 
tribunals may only review a government decision if the decision is in a 
category specified under a law, regulation, or other legislative 
instrument as subject to a tribunal's review.

    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.--Although the constitution does not 
explicitly provide for freedom of speech or of the press, the High 
Court has held that a right to freedom of expression is implied in the 
constitution, 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.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government routinely monitored e-
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. Internet 
access was widely available to and used by citizens. In June 2009 the 
ABS estimated that 72 percent of households had Internet access.
    Law enforcement agencies require a warrant to intercept 
telecommunications, including Internet communications. In emergency 
situations the director general of the Australia Security Intelligence 
Organization may issue a warrant for this purpose without prior 
judicial authorization, but the attorney general must be informed.
    The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) maintains 
a list of so-called ``refused classification'' Web site content, 
primarily pertaining to child pornography, sexual violence, and other 
activities illegal in the country, compiled as a result of a consumer 
complaints process. ACMA may issue a notice to the provider to remove 
domestically hosted ``refused classification'' material, or links to 
such material, that is the subject of such a complaint if an 
investigation concludes the complaint is justified. The list is made 
available to providers of filtering software.
    On July 9, the Government announced suspension of plans to 
introduce mandatory Internet filtering, in order to review what should 
constitute ``refused classification'' material. However, three major 
telecommunications providers agreed to block voluntarily Web sites 
containing child pornography. Anticensorship groups had criticized the 
Government's mandatory filtering plan.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--While the rights 
of peaceful assembly and association are not codified in law, the 
Government generally respected these rights in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    The law does not address forced exile, but the Government did not 
use it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In law and 
practice, the Government provided protection against the expulsion or 
return of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be 
threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership 
in a particular social group, or political opinion. The Government 
funded refugee resettlement services, such as language and employment 
programs.
    Unauthorized arrivals seeking asylum are processed at the Christmas 
Island Detention Center, located off the country's northwest coast. 
Under a policy in effect since 2008, following health, identity, and 
security checks, unauthorized arrivals are to remain in immigration 
detention while their applications are being processed only if it is 
determined that they pose a threat to the community. However, the 
Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) 
reported that in practice a ``shortage of community-based accommodation 
appears to be preventing the release of some detainees from closed 
detention facilities into community detention.'' The HREOC also called 
for the end of the ``two-tiered'' system for unauthorized arrivals, 
whereby those who are intercepted on the mainland have more legal 
rights than those who arrive in a so-called ``excised'' offshore 
location (for example, Christmas Island). Human rights groups also 
criticized this system as discriminatory. On November 11, the High 
Court ruled, in a case brought by two asylum seekers held offshore, 
that the two were denied ``procedural fairness'' in the processing of 
their applications, and that all refugee-status assessments, regardless 
of the place or manner of the asylum seeker's arrival, are subject to 
the provisions of the Migration Act and the decisions of the country's 
courts, in the context of procedural fairness.
    The Department of Immigration and Citizenship provided immigration 
advice and assistance to persons making an initial asylum claim or 
application for lawful residence. There is also a statutory obligation 
to facilitate access to legal representation for persons in immigration 
detention.
    The Christmas Island Detention Center remained at or near capacity 
throughout the year; some asylum seekers were transferred to detention 
centers on the mainland due to the lack of adequate capacity at the 
Christmas Island center. As of October 22, there were 3,781 persons in 
immigration detention centers, including 1,754 detained on the mainland 
and 2,027 detained on Christmas Island. As of October 22, there were 
772 children (aged under 18 years) in immigration detention. Of these, 
11 were detained in the community under residence determinations, 654 
were in alternative temporary detention in the community, 47 were in 
immigration residential housing, and 60 were in immigration transit 
accommodation. On October 18, the Government announced it would move 
hundreds of children and vulnerable families out of immigration 
detention facilities and into community-based accommodation by June 
2011. By year's end it had begun to do so.
    On September 1, 92 Afghan asylum seekers, many of whom had had 
their initial asylum claims denied, scaled the perimeter fence of the 
immigration detention center in Darwin and staged a peaceful protest 
outside the center seeking support for their claims. Police took the 
protesters into custody without incident, and four were hospitalized: 
two for heat exhaustion, one for chest pains, and one for a preexisting 
injury.
    In September protests also occurred at the Villawood Detention 
Center in Sydney following the September 20 suicide of a Fijian 
detainee whose asylum claim had been denied. Two separate groups of 
protesters climbed onto the center's roof; both incidents were resolved 
peacefully. Protests broke out at the center again after an Iraqi 
detainee committed suicide on November 17. Several detainees climbed 
onto the center's roof, and some detainees set fires in the facility. 
These incidents also were resolved peacefully. In addition, groups of 
detainees at the Villawood and Christmas Island Detention Centers 
reportedly went on hunger strikes. Authorities opened investigations 
into both suicide cases. On December 8, a British detainee who had 
violated his visa conditions and was awaiting deportation was found 
dead at Villawood. That death also was ruled a suicide and was under 
investigation at year's end.
    In September five men went on trial in Perth charged with rioting 
and weapons offenses allegedly committed during a violent incident at 
the Christmas Island Detention Center in November 2009 between groups 
of Afghan and Sri Lankan asylum seekers. The groups assaulted each 
other with tree branches, pool cues, and broom handles. On November 4, 
two of the men were found guilty and given six-month suspended jail 
sentences. Charges against the other three men were dropped.
    Delays in processing asylum applications became a problem during 
the year, especially among a small number of asylum seekers who 
remained in long-term detention 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. 
The Commonwealth ombudsman reviews all cases of persons in detention 
for two years or more. As of October 22, there were 19 persons in 
immigration detention longer than two years.
    Detention facilities were monitored by Parliament, the ombudsman, 
the UNHCR, and an advisory group comprising experts in immigration and 
humanitarian issues.
    In response to a growing number of asylum seekers arriving by boat, 
the Government announced in April that the processing of new asylum 
applications for persons from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan would be 
suspended immediately for three and six months, respectively. In July 
the Government announced it would resume processing of applications 
from Sri Lanka, citing new UN guidelines pointing to an ``improved 
human rights and security situation in Sri Lanka.'' In August the UN 
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination released its 
Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial 
Discrimination for Australia. It expressed concerns with the two-tier 
processing arrangements for unauthorized arrivals and recommended 
lifting the suspension of processing of Afghan asylum seekers. In 
September the Government resumed processing of Afghan asylum seekers.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The law provides citizens the right to change their government 
peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice through 
periodic, free, and fair elections based on universal suffrage and 
mandatory voting.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In federal elections held 
August 21, the incumbent Australian Labor Party (ALP) government won 72 
seats in the 150-seat lower house of Parliament; the opposition 
Liberal-National Party coalition won 73; and others won five. The ALP 
formed a new government with the support of one Greens Party and three 
independent MPs. Political parties operated without restriction or 
outside interference.
    There are no legal impediments to public office for women or 
indigenous persons. Following the August elections, there were 64 women 
in the 226-seat federal Parliament (37 in the House of Representatives 
and 27 in the Senate). There were four female ministers in the 20-
member federal cabinet, two women among the 10 ministers outside the 
cabinet, and six women among the 12 parliamentary secretaries. There 
were two women among the eight premiers and chief ministers of the six 
states and two territories. The prime minister and the governor-general 
were women, and there were three female judges on the seven-member High 
Court.
    Indigenous persons generally were underrepresented among the 
political leadership. On August 21, an indigenous person was elected to 
the federal House of Representatives for the first time. There were no 
indigenous federal senators. There was one indigenous citizen in the 
Tasmania State parliament, one in the New South Wales State parliament, 
two in the Western Australia State parliament, and five in the Northern 
Territory legislative assembly. There was one Asian-Australian in the 
federal cabinet.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government generally implemented these provisions effectively. 
There were isolated reports of government corruption.
    On December 16, a former Queensland State government minister, 
Gordon Nuttall, was sentenced to an additional five years' imprisonment 
for corruptly arranging government contracts for his friends. Nuttall 
previously was sentenced to a seven-year prison term for receiving 
illegal payments from businessmen.
    Queensland, Western Australia, and New South Wales states have 
independent anticorruption bodies that investigate alleged government 
corruption, and every jurisdiction has an ombudsman who investigates 
and makes recommendations in response to complaints about government 
decisions. Public officials are subject to financial disclosure laws.
    Federal, state, and territorial governments have freedom of 
information laws that provide the public with access to government 
information, subject to both an application and a processing fee. 
Government information may be exempted from disclosure 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, an executive body that reviews 
administrative decisions by government entities. An adverse 
Administrative Appeals Tribunal decision may be appealed to the Federal 
Court of Australia.
    On May 31, the 2010 Australian Information Commissioner Act and 
Freedom of Information Amendment (Reform) Act came into effect. The 
former established a freedom of information commissioner, appointed on 
November 1, to promote and protect information rights. The latter 
established a framework for release of government information that 
included abolition of the federal government's freedom of information 
application fees and reduction of the period for gaining access to most 
Commonwealth records from 30 to 20 years.
Section 5. 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.
    The HREOC, which was adequately funded by the federal government, 
investigates complaints of discrimination or breaches of human rights 
under the federal laws that implement the country's human rights treaty 
obligations. It enjoyed a high level of public trust, and its reports 
were deemed credible and reported widely by the media and 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). On October 29, the HREOC released 
a report on the Christmas Island immigration detention center (see 
section 2.d.), which recommended that the Government stop holding 
detainees on the island and end the processing of unauthorized asylum 
seekers outside the provisions of the Migration Act. The Government did 
not take up these recommendations.
    In addition to the HREOC at the federal level, each state and 
territory has a human rights ombudsman.
    In April the Government released Australia's Human Rights 
Framework, its response to the September 2009 recommendations of the 
National Human Rights Consultation Committee established in 2008 to 
review how better to protect human rights in the country. As part of 
this framework, the Government committed to establishing a new 
Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights; requiring that each new 
bill be accompanied by a statement of compatibility with international 
human rights obligations; combining federal antidiscrimination laws 
into a single act to make the system more user-friendly; and creating 
an annual NGO Human Rights Forum. However, the Government did not take 
up the commission's recommendation for introduction of a federal human 
rights act (bill of rights).
Section 6. 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 criminalizes rape, including spousal rape, and the 
Government enforced the law effectively when cases were reported to the 
authorities. Penalties for rape are prescribed in the laws of the 
individual states and territories.
    The law prohibits violence against women, including domestic abuse, 
and the Government enforced the law. Nonetheless, violence against 
women remained a problem, particularly in indigenous communities.
    According to the ABS, approximately one in three women experienced 
physical violence during their lives, and almost one in five 
experienced sexual violence. Aboriginal women were 40 times more likely 
to be victims of family violence, compared with other women. Domestic 
violence was believed to be widely underreported in indigenous 
communities; among reasons cited for this were cultural factors and the 
isolation of many indigenous communities. The federal and state 
governments funded programs to combat domestic violence and support 
victims, including the funding of numerous women's shelters. Police 
were trained in responding to domestic violence.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment. Complaints of such harassment 
can give rise to criminal proceedings or disciplinary action against 
the subject of the complaint and to compensation claims by the 
plaintiff.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children. State 
and territorial governments provided comprehensive sex education and 
sexual health and family planning services. Women had access to 
contraception and skilled medical care, including essential prenatal, 
obstetric, and postpartum care, and women and men had equal access to 
diagnosis and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, including 
HIV. According to indicators published by the Population Research 
Bureau, an estimated 85 percent of married women aged 15-49 used some 
form of contraception, and 75 percent used modern contraceptive 
methods. Indigenous persons in isolated communities had more difficulty 
accessing such services than the population as a whole. Cultural 
factors and language barriers also inhibited use of sexual health and 
family planning services by indigenous persons, and rates of sexually 
transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancy among the indigenous 
population were higher than among the general population. According to 
a UN report on Trends in Maternal Mortality, 1990-2008, the country's 
estimated maternal mortality ratio was eight deaths per 100,000 live 
births.
    The independent federal sex discrimination commissioner, who is 
part of the HREOC, undertakes research, policy, and educational work 
designed to eliminate discrimination between men and women. There is a 
federal Office for Women, which focuses on reducing violence against 
women, promoting women's economic security, and enhancing the status of 
women.
    The HREOC received 532 complaints alleging 968 grounds of 
discrimination under the Sex Discrimination Act from July 2009 through 
June 2010. Of these, 21 percent alleged discrimination based on 
pregnancy, and 21 percent alleged sexual harassment. The commission 
resolved 568 complaints during the period, 275 by conciliation.
    Women have equal status under the law, and the law provides for pay 
equity. According to the ABS, the pay gap between male and female full-
time workers was 11 percent. The law requires organizations with 100 or 
more employees to establish a workplace program to remove barriers to 
women entering and advancing in their organization.
    There were highly organized and effective private and public 
women's rights organizations at the federal, state, and local levels.
    In August the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination 
against Women released its Concluding Observations of the Committee on 
the Elimination of Discrimination against Women for Australia, which 
praised the Government's approach in several areas. It also pointed to 
the disadvantaged status of indigenous women, urged the Government to 
pursue proposed reforms to the Sex Discrimination Act, and expressed 
concern at the persistence of violence against women.

    Children.--Citizenship is not derived by birth in the country. 
Children are citizens if at least one parent was a citizen or permanent 
resident at the time of the child's birth. Children born in the country 
to parents who are not citizens or permanent residents acquire 
citizenship on their tenth birthday if they have lived most of their 
life in the country.
    State and territorial child protection agencies investigate and 
institute prosecutions of persons for child neglect or abuse. All 
states and territories have laws or guidelines that require members of 
certain designated professions to report suspected child abuse or 
neglect. The federal government's role in child abuse prevention is 
limited to funding research, carrying out education campaigns, 
developing an action plan against the commercial exploitation of 
children, and funding community-based parenting programs.
    According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, there 
were 31,300 substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect from July 
2009 to June 2010. These included physical abuse, sexual abuse, 
emotional abuse, and neglect.
    There were reports of female genital mutilation performed on 
children in Muslim communities despite a law prohibiting the procedure. 
Hospitals conducted outreach on this matter.
    There were some cases of children under age 18 engaged in 
prostitution. Some teenagers--primarily girls, but also some boys--were 
forced into prostitution by pimps. The law provides for penalties of up 
to 25 years' imprisonment for commercial sexual exploitation of 
children.
    The law 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. The act prohibits 
citizens and residents from engaging in, facilitating, or benefiting 
from sexual activity with children under 16 years old overseas. 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.
    The legal age for consensual sex is 16 in the Australian Capital 
Territory, New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Victoria, and 
Western Australia, and 17 in Tasmania and South Australia. In 
Queensland the age of consent for anal sex is 18, while the age of 
consent for all other sexual behavior is 16. Maximum penalties for 
violations vary across jurisdictions. Defenses include reasonable 
grounds for believing that the alleged victim was above the legal age 
of consent and situations in which the two persons are close in age.
    The Government has enacted 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 is 
committed. All states and territories criminalize the possession, 
production, and distribution of child pornography. Maximum penalties 
for these offenses range from four to 21 years' imprisonment. Federal 
laws criminalize using a ``carriage service'' (for example, the 
Internet) for the purpose of possessing, producing, and supplying child 
pornography. The maximum penalty for these offenses is 10 years' 
imprisonment and/or a fine of A$275,000 (approximately $275,000). The 
Australian Federal Police worked with its international partners to 
identify and charge persons involved in the online exploitation of 
children, and the Government increased the number of staff dedicated to 
online child protection.
    The Government largely continued federal emergency intervention 
measures initiated by a previous government to combat child sexual 
abuse in 73 Northern Territory Aboriginal communities. The measures 
were taken following a 2007 government report documenting widespread 
instances of such abuse. These measures included emergency bans on 
alcohol and pornography sales, restrictions on the payment of welfare 
benefits in cash, linkage of support payments to school attendance, and 
medical examinations for all Northern Territory indigenous children 
under age 16. While public reaction to the intervention remained 
generally positive, some Aboriginal activists asserted that there was 
inadequate consultation and that the measures were racially 
discriminatory since nonindigenous persons were not subject to such 
restrictions. The UN special rapporteur on the situation of human 
rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, who toured 
Northern Territory indigenous communities in August 2009, echoed these 
concerns in a report released in February. Effective July 1, the 
Government extended restrictions on cash welfare payments to 
nonindigenous recipients in the Northern Territory.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--According to the 2006 census, the country's Jewish 
community numbered 88,832 persons. Civil-society organizations 
estimated the number in 2010 to be 120,000. In the 12-month period 
ending September 30, an annual report on anti-Semitism by the Executive 
Council of Australian Jewry, an NGO, recorded 394 anti-Semitic 
incidents, compared with 962 during the previous 12 months. The report 
noted that although there was a ``dramatic decrease'' in the total 
number of incidents reported, incidents involving harassment of Jewish 
persons on their way to or from a synagogue increased. Among the ``most 
disturbing'' incidents listed in the report were an assault on an 
Orthodox man on a train in Melbourne, the assault of synagogue staff in 
Sydney by a man who was later arrested and charged, and vandalism to 
synagogue buildings in Sydney and Melbourne.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, or mental 
disabilities in employment; education; access to premises; provision 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. The 
Government effectively enforced the law.
    The disability discrimination commissioner, who is part of the 
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 to buildings and otherwise protect the rights of persons 
with disabilities, including ensuring equal access to communications 
and information. The law also provides for mediation by the HREOC of 
discrimination complaints, authorizes fines against violators, and 
awards damages to victims of discrimination.
    The HREOC's July 2009 to June 2010 annual report stated that 1,057 
complaints citing 2,354 alleged grounds of discrimination were filed 
under the Disability Discrimination Act during that period. Of these, 
36 percent were employment related, and 37 percent involved the 
provision of goods and services. The HREOC resolved 978 complaints 
during the period, 486 of them through conciliation.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--According to the HREOC's July 
2009 to June 2010 annual report, it received 550 complaints under the 
Racial Discrimination Act, citing 922 alleged grounds of 
discrimination. Of these, 44 percent involved employment, 18 percent 
involved provision of goods and services, and 19 percent alleged 
``racial hatred.'' Persons born outside the country filed 38 percent of 
the complaints, and Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders filed 39 
percent. During this period 524 complaints were resolved, 245 through 
conciliation.
    In August the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial 
Discrimination released its Concluding Observations of the Committee on 
the Elimination of Racial Discrimination for Australia. It expressed 
concern at the absence of protection against racial discrimination in 
the constitution and racially motivated assaults of Indian students in 
the state of Victoria.

    Indigenous People.--According to the 2006 census, Aboriginals and 
Torres Strait Islanders numbered approximately 517,200 persons, 
approximately 2.5 percent of the total population.
    Indigenous ownership of land is predominately in non-urban areas; 
the land was previously government owned. The 1976 Federal Aboriginal 
Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act transferred almost 50 percent of 
the land in the Northern Territory to indigenous ownership. The 
National Native Title Tribunal resolves native land title applications 
through mediation and acts as an arbitrator in cases where the parties 
cannot reach agreement about proposed mining or other development of 
land. In 2002 the High Court ruled that native title rights do not 
extend to mineral or petroleum resources and that, in cases where 
leaseholder rights and native title rights are in conflict, leaseholder 
rights prevail but do not extinguish native title rights. At year's end 
the Western Australia State government was continuing its efforts to 
negotiate a native title agreement with the Nyoogar people.
    The A$1.7 billion (approximately $1.7 billion) Indigenous Land 
Corporation is a special account that provides a continuing source of 
funds for indigenous persons to purchase land for their use. It is 
separate from the National Native Title Tribunal and is not for payment 
of compensation to indigenous persons for loss of land or to 
titleholders for return of land to indigenous persons.
    As part of the intervention to address child sexual abuse in 
Northern Territory indigenous communities (see section 6, Children), 
the Government took control of certain indigenous communities through 
five-year land leases. During the year Amnesty International raised 
concerns about reported delays in government payment of rent to the 
communities for those leases. As of May the Government stated it had 
made payments to 45 out of 64 communities; it stated it would pay rent 
to the Aboriginal corporations that hold the land titles in the 
remaining communities once they provided certain financial account 
information. In 2009 the Government warned it would permanently acquire 
some townships in Alice Springs unless the townships relinquished 
control of services and signed 40-year leases with the Government; the 
leases subsequently were signed. (These townships are not Aboriginal 
land but special-purpose leases granted to local indigenous 
associations by the Northern Territory government.)
    The Government expressed a commitment to ``closing the gap'' on 
indigenous disadvantage, and since 2008 the prime minister has reported 
to Parliament on this at the beginning of each year. In July 2009 the 
Productivity Commission reported improvements among the indigenous 
population in key indicators, such as income, employment, home 
ownership, infant mortality, and completion of secondary school. 
However, significant gaps remained between indigenous and nonindigenous 
citizens in these and other key areas. According to the ABS, during the 
year indigenous adults were 14 times as likely as nonindigenous adults 
to be imprisoned and comprised 26 percent of the prison population. 
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, life 
expectancy for indigenous persons was 67 years for men and 73 for 
women, compared with 77 and 82 respectively for the nonindigenous.
    In March the UN special rapporteur on indigenous issues reported on 
the human rights of indigenous persons following an 11-day visit in 
August 2009, which included a meeting with the indigenous affairs 
minister. While praising efforts to address indigenous disadvantage and 
moves to establish a national indigenous representative body, the 
report asserted that some aspects of the Northern Territory 
intervention were incompatible with the country's international 
obligations and urged the Government to make the intervention compliant 
with the Racial Discrimination Act. In June Parliament passed 
legislation restoring the Racial Discrimination Act--suspended in the 
Northern Territory in August 2007 in connection with the intervention--
effective in December.
    In August the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial 
Discrimination, in its Concluding Observations of the Committee on the 
Elimination of Racial Discrimination for Australia, welcomed the 
Government's February 2008 national apology to indigenous people, its 
support for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and 
its commitment to ``close the gap'' in regard to indigenous 
disadvantage. It encouraged the country to increase funding for 
indigenous legal aid, and expressed concern at indigenous deaths in 
custody and the absence of ``appropriate compensation payment schemes'' 
for those forcibly removed from their parents in the past (known as the 
``stolen generations'').
    On May 2, a new national representative body for Aboriginals and 
Torres Strait Islanders, the National Congress of Australia's First 
Peoples, was formally established.
    The HREOC has an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social 
justice commissioner.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--In 2008 and 2009, the 
Government amended 84 laws to eliminate discrimination against same-sex 
couples and their children in a wide range of areas, including taxes, 
child support, immigration, pensions, and social security.
    Gay pride marches took place in major cities during the year; such 
marches were authorized by the Government, and police provided 
sufficient protection to participants.
    In August a man was charged with assault occasioning bodily harm in 
relation to an attack on a gay rights activist in Sydney. The victim 
stated that the accused had made violent homophobic comments toward 
him. The case was pending at year's end. On December 10, three 
teenagers were sentenced to prison terms for the January assault of a 
gay couple in the Queensland town of Maryborough.
    The HREOC received 19 complaints of employment discrimination based 
on sexual orientation from July 2009 through June 2010.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Federal and various 
state laws prohibit discrimination on the grounds of HIV-positive 
status. The HREOC reviews complaints of discrimination on the grounds 
of HIV/AIDS status under the category of disability-related complaints, 
but a specific breakdown of HIV/AIDS-related cases was not available. 
There were no reports of violence against persons based on HIV/AIDS 
status.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides workers, including 
public servants, the right of association domestically and 
internationally and protection against antiunion discrimination, and 
workers exercised these rights in practice. An ABS survey released in 
May indicated that in 2009 union membership was 20 percent of the total 
workforce and 14 percent of the private-sector workforce--virtually 
identical to 2008 percentages. The ABS estimated union membership in 
the agricultural sector at 4 percent. Union membership was estimated at 
46 percent in the public sector, 13 percent in retail, 22 percent in 
mining, 25 percent in manufacturing, and 20 percent in construction. 
Unions carried out their functions free from government or political 
control. Almost all unions were affiliated with the Australian Council 
of Trade Unions (ACTU).
    In March 2009 Parliament passed the Fair Work Act, the major 
component of the Government's workplace reforms, which replaced the 
Workplace Relations Act (WRA) as the country's basic labor law for 
private-sector workers. The Fair Work Act became fully effective in 
2010.
    Under the law workers are free to join or decline to join 
industrial associations, and discrimination against individuals for 
membership or nonmembership in a union is prohibited. In New South 
Wales (NSW), registration of a union may be cancelled in case of a 
strike having a substantially adverse effect on public service or 
defying an order of the NSW Industrial Relations Commission. 
Nationally, employers and other unions have the right to challenge 
changes to union ``eligibility rules,'' which essentially outline the 
types of employees the union may represent.
    Unions and the International Confederation of Trade Unions 
continued to claim that the Australian Building and Construction 
Commission (ABCC), which has special powers to investigate industrial 
activity in that sector, discriminated against unions. The ABCC has the 
authority to interview individual workers privately in connection with 
its investigations, and workers may be prosecuted for refusing to 
comply; penalties range from a fine of up to A$22,000 (approximately 
$22,000) to a prison term of up to six months. On November 24, union 
member Ark Tribe was found not guilty of failing to attend an ABCC 
interview in 2008.
    The law provides for the right to strike but 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. The law subjects strikers to penalties 
for taking industrial action during the life of an agreement and 
contains secondary-boycott provisions. Industrial action must be 
authorized by a secret ballot of employees; unions complained that this 
requirement was unduly time consuming and expensive to implement. The 
law permits the Government to stop strikes if they are judged to have 
an ``adverse effect'' on the employer or damage third parties, but this 
provision was not used during the year. Strikes in essential services--
such as law enforcement, air-traffic control, and sanitation--are 
regulated by federal and state laws.
    According to the ABS, during the 12-month period ending in 
September, 221 industrial disputes began, 19 more than during the 
previous 12 months. (Industrial disputes include both strikes and 
employer-initiated work stoppages, such as lockouts.) During the same 
period, total workdays lost due to industrial disputes rose from 
119,100 to 144,100.

    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.
    Under the WRA, negotiation of contracts covering wages and working 
conditions shifted further from a centralized awards system to 
enterprise-level agreements certified by the Australian Industrial 
Relations Commission. The WRA also provided for the negotiation of 
Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) between employers and individual 
workers, which were subject to fewer government regulations than awards 
or enterprise bargaining agreements. Transitional amendments to the WRA 
in 2008 abolished the signing of new AWAs and established a new ``no 
disadvantage'' test for future workplace agreements designed to ensure 
that they contain basic worker protections. Existing AWAs may continue 
until their expiration. In addition the 2008 law directed the 
Australian Industrial Relations Committee to create a national safety 
net of minimum employment standards and industrial awards, which came 
into effect in 2010.
    The Fair Work Act requires employers to act in ``good faith'' when 
a majority of employees want a collective agreement; gives unions 
greater ability to access worksites; enables low-paid workers to engage 
in multi-employer ``good faith bargaining''; reduces the list of 
``prohibited content'' issues that may not be included in a collective 
agreement; and gives stronger intervention powers to a new independent 
industrial relations umpire, Fair Work Australia, which assumed the 
functions of the Australia Industrial Relations Commission and other 
workplace bodies during the year. In July 2009 new provisions took 
effect providing unfair dismissal rights--previously removed for those 
in businesses with 100 or fewer employees under 2005 amendments to the 
WRA known as WorkChoices--to employees in all businesses. To be 
eligible an employee must have served with the employer at least six 
months (one year in the case of an employer with fewer than 15 
employees).
    Under the Fair Work Act, union officials have the right to enter 
workplaces if they hold right-of-entry permits granted by Fair Work 
Australia. Written notice is generally required to enter a workplace 
and should be provided no less than 24 hours and no more than 14 days 
before the proposed visit. A permit holder may enter premises to hold 
discussions with one or more employees. Eligibility to enter premises 
is not dependent on whether a union is party to an award or enterprise 
agreement, but rather on whether a union covers the work of a 
particular employee.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law explicitly 
prohibits forced or compulsory labor; however, trafficking in persons 
was a limited problem.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    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, state, and territorial governments monitored and enforced a 
network of laws, which varied among jurisdictions, governing the 
minimum ages for leaving school, claiming unemployment benefits, and 
engaging in specified occupations. The ACTU also monitored adherence to 
these laws.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Although a formal minimum wage 
exists, most workers received higher wages through enterprise 
agreements or individual contracts. There are above-minimum wage 
classifications for individual trades and professions. On June 29, Fair 
Work Australia, which determines minimum wage increases, increased the 
federal minimum award wage from A$543.78 (approximately $544) per week 
to A$569.90 (approximately $570), which provided a decent standard of 
living for a worker and family. The law makes casual and part-time 
workers, contractors, and the self-employed eligible for payment of up 
to 18 weeks of the national minimum wage. In June Parliament passed 
legislation establishing a taxpayer-funded, paid parental leave 
benefit, to go into effect in January 2011.
    The Fair Work Ombudsman provides employers and employees advice 
about their rights and has authority to investigate employers alleged 
to have exploited employees unlawfully.
    Under the Fair Work Act, maximum weekly hours are 38 plus 
``reasonable'' additional hours. Industry standards or awards mandate 
rest periods and pay for overtime.
    Over the past two decades, there has been a substantial increase in 
the percentage of the workforce regarded as temporary workers. The ABS 
reported that, as of July, approximately 3.37 million persons (30 
percent of the workforce) were employed as ``part-time'' workers, of 
whom 70 percent were women. Federal or state occupational health and 
safety laws apply to every workplace. Federal and state laws provide 
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. Workers exercised 
these rights in practice and have recourse to state health and safety 
commissions, which investigate complaints and order remedial action.
    Labor law protects citizens, permanent residents, and migrant 
workers. Migrant worker visas require that employers respect these 
protections and provide bonds to cover health insurance, worker's 
compensation insurance, unemployment insurance, and other benefits. 
There were some complaints, although to a lesser extent than in 
previous years, that some individuals on so-called ``457'' employer-
sponsored, skilled-worker visas were being underpaid and used as a less 
expensive substitute for Australian workers. During 2009, in response 
to such complaints, the Government tightened eligibility requirements 
for ``457'' visas, including increasing minimum salary levels to 
``market rates'' and increasing English-language requirements. There 
were no reports of worker rights abuses in the country's three 
inhabited dependent territories of Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) 
Island, and Norfolk Island.

                               __________

                           BURNEI DARUSSALAM

    Brunei Darussalam is a sultanate ruled by the same family for more 
than 600 years, and it has a population of approximately 428,000. 
Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah governed under emergency powers that place 
few limits on his power. The Legislative Council, made up of appointed, 
indirectly elected, and ex-officio members, with a limited role in 
recommending and approving legislation, met during the year. Security 
forces reported to the sultan.
    The following human rights problems were reported: inability of 
citizens to change their government; limits on freedom of speech, 
press, assembly, and association; restrictions on religious freedom; 
discrimination against women; trafficking in persons; restricted labor 
rights; and exploitation of foreign 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    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 
criminal offenses, and as of October official statistics reported 53 
persons caned, most commonly for drug-related offenses and immigration 
violations. Canings were carried out in the presence of a doctor, who 
had the authority to interrupt the punishment for medical reasons.
    At year's end the trial continued of four police officers accused 
in January 2009 of ``culpable homicide not amounting to murder and 
voluntarily causing grievous harm'' to Abdul Rahim Abdullah Tan, who 
died in police custody.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards. There were 374 
convicted persons and 22 persons awaiting trial. Jerudong Prison holds 
``serious offenders,'' and, separately, approximately 40 female 
prisoners. Juveniles are not subject to imprisonment.
    Approximately 30 percent of the inmate population consisted of 
foreigners of various religions. Inmates were permitted to practice 
their religions. A government-appointed committee composed of retired 
government officials monitored prison conditions and investigated 
complaints of inhumane conditions.
    During the year there were no reports that human rights monitors 
requested prison visits; foreign diplomats had consular access to 
detained nationals. Family members were permitted to visit prisoners 
and bring food.
    The prison has an ombudsmen system in place. ``Visiting justices,'' 
ranging from prominent businessmen and community leaders to 
representatives of public institutions, visited prisons once a month.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law provides for prompt 
judicial determination regarding the validity of an arrest, and in 
practice the Government generally observed this provision; however, it 
could be superseded through the invocation of emergency powers.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The police force and 
Internal Security Department (ISD) are under the direct control of the 
Prime Minister's Office. Civilian authorities maintained effective 
control over the police force and ISD, and the Government has effective 
mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse and corruption. There were 
no reports of impunity involving the security forces during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--A magistrate 
must endorse a warrant for arrest, except when police are unable to 
obtain an 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 act of committing a crime. After arrest police 
may detain a suspect up to 48 hours before bringing the individual 
before a magistrate. There were no reports that persons were detained 
without a hearing.
    The Internal Security Act (ISA) permits the Government to detain 
suspects without trial for renewable two-year periods. The Government 
regularly convenes an independent advisory board consisting of 
executive and judicial branch officials to review individual ISA 
detentions and recommend whether they should be renewed for an 
additional two years.
    According to reports, detainees were promptly informed of the 
charges against them. Information on detainees was made public only 
after their release.
    The criminal procedure code allows for bail except in cases 
indicated as ``discretionary'' by law. Detainees generally had prompt 
access to lawyers and family visitations; however, police may deny 
access in exceptional cases, such as probable cause to suspect witness 
tampering. There is no legal provision to provide affordable legal 
counsel for poor defendants, except in capital cases. In noncapital 
cases indigent defendants may act as their own lawyers in court.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law 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 the sultan and serve at his pleasure.

    Trial Procedures.--Secular law, based on English common law, 
provides all citizens with a fair and efficient judicial process. 
Defendants in criminal proceedings are presumed innocent. Most criminal 
cases are conducted in public trials by a judge or panel of judges. 
Procedural safeguards include the right to defense counsel, an 
interpreter, and a speedy trial, as well as the right to confront 
accusers and to avoid self-incrimination. Lawyers have access to the 
accused once charges are filed through the trial process, but not 
during initial questioning. Defendants and their attorneys have access 
to government-held evidence relevant to their cases. Defendants have a 
right of appeal. ISA detainees were denied the right to legal counsel 
and were not presumed to be innocent.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is no specific 
provision of law to bring civil suit for human rights violations. In 
customary practice individuals may present written complaints about 
rights violations to the sultan directly for review. Such complaints 
typically were handled privately, and there were no reports of civil 
remedies handled in this manner during the year. Individual government 
servants who act outside their authority resulting in civil wrongdoing 
may be subject to fines or prosecution. Civil courts were generally 
unbiased.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law permits government intrusion into the privacy 
of individual persons, families, and homes. Sharia (Islamic law) 
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 close male relative. During the year 51 khalwat cases were 
reported.
    The Government monitored citizens' private e-mail, cell phone 
messaging, and Internet chat room exchanges believed to be subversive. 
An informant system was used as part of the Government's internal 
security apparatus to monitor suspected dissidents.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Under the emergency powers, the 
Government significantly restricted freedom of speech and of the press. 
Members of the Legislative Council are allowed to ``speak their 
opinions freely,'' but they are prohibited from using language or 
exhibiting behavior deemed ``irresponsible, derogatory, scandalous, or 
injurious.''
    Under the Sedition Act, it is an offense to challenge in any way 
the authority of the sultan or members of the royal family. The act 
also makes it an offense to challenge ``the standing or prominence of 
the national philosophy, the Malay Muslim Monarchy concept.'' This 
ideology permeates the country's life and government administration, 
promoting Islam as the state religion and monarchical rule as the sole 
acceptable governing system and upholding the rights and privileges of 
the Brunei Malay race.
    The act provides for prosecution of newspaper publishers, 
proprietors, or editors who publish anything allegedly having a 
seditious intent. Publication may be suspended for up to one year, and 
publishers, printers, or editors can be prohibited from publishing, 
writing, or editing any other newspaper. Printing equipment can also be 
seized. Persons convicted under the act face fines of up to BN$5,000 
(approximately $3,500) and jail terms of up to three years.
    The law 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 requires distributors of 
foreign publications to obtain a government permit. The law allows the 
Government to close a newspaper without giving prior notice or showing 
cause. Journalists deemed to have published or written ``false and 
malicious'' reports may be subjected to fines or prison sentences.
    Foreign newspapers were routinely available, although the 
Government must approve their distribution. Internet versions of 
foreign media were routinely available.
    The Government owned the only television station. Three Malaysian 
television stations were also available, along with two satellite 
television services. Some content was subject to censorship based on 
theme, but such censorship was not consistent.
    The country's major newspapers practiced self-censorship. However, 
letters to the editor often included comments critical of the 
Government's handling of certain social, economic, and environmental 
matters. On occasion the Government responded to public opinion on 
topics concerning social or environmental problems and the delay of 
public services.

    Internet Freedom.--According to International Telecommunication 
Union statistics for 2009, approximately 81 percent of the country's 
inhabitants used the Internet. The Government monitored private e-mail 
and Internet chat room exchanges of citizens believed to be subversive. 
There was anecdotal information that fear of government surveillance 
reduced the number of visitors to Internet forums. The primary Internet 
service provider was state owned.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The Government generally 
respected academic freedom; however, some researchers chose to publish 
under a pseudonym from overseas when they perceived that subject matter 
would not be well received.
    A censorship board made up of officials from the Prime Minister's 
Office and the Ministries of Home Affairs and Religious Affairs 
determines the suitability of concerts, movies, cultural shows, and 
other public performances. Religious authorities also review 
publications to ensure compliance with social norms.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--Under the emergency powers, the Government significantly 
restricted the right to assemble. According to the Societies Order, 
public gatherings of 10 or more persons require a government permit, 
and police have the authority to stop an unofficial assembly of five or 
more persons deemed likely to cause a disturbance of the peace.

    Freedom of Association.--The law requires formal groups, including 
religious, social, or cultural, to register with the Registrar of 
Societies and provide regular reports on membership and finances. 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 prohibited Muslims from joining these 
organizations.
    The National Development Party maintained that government 
restrictions limited the party's growth.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. Government employees, both citizens and foreigners working on 
a contractual basis, must apply for approval to go abroad. In September 
2009 the Government introduced guidelines stating that no government 
officials may travel alone and that nonrelated male and female officers 
may not travel together. The Government restricted the movement of 
former political prisoners during the year following their release.
    By law the sultan may forcibly exile, permanently or temporarily, 
any person deemed a threat to the safety, peace, or welfare of the 
country. However, there have been no cases of banishment since 1984.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is not a party to the 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. 
The country's laws do not provide for the granting of asylum or refugee 
status, and the Government has not established a system for providing 
protection to refugees. In practice the Government did not provide 
protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries 
where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their 
race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, 
or political opinion. However, as in past years, there were no such 
expulsions or returns during the year.

    Stateless Persons.--The law, administered on a case-by-case basis, 
allows citizenship to permanent residents who have contributed to the 
country's economic growth, to women married to citizens for two years, 
to women married to permanent residents for five years, and to children 
of permanent resident fathers after the age of two years and six 
months. According to unofficial sources, there were approximately 
20,000 ``stateless'' persons in the country, including persons born and 
raised in the country who were not automatically accorded citizenship 
and its attendant rights but were granted permanent resident status. 
The births of members of the Dusun and Iban indigenous groups living in 
rural areas often were not registered. Coupled with illiteracy, this 
made it difficult to issue certificates of identity to such persons. 
Government policy mandates that a child of stateless parents born in 
the country must apply for a special pass. Individuals who do not have 
a certificate of identity or special pass do not enjoy full privileges 
of citizenship, do not have the right to own land, and are not entitled 
to full subsidized health care or higher education. In July 2009 the 
Land Code Strata Act, which allows permanent residents to own unit/s of 
multistory property for a maximum of 99 years, came into force. In lieu 
of passports, the Government issued certificates of identity to allow 
these persons international travel and reentry; foreign visas may be 
entered in the certificates.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    Citizens do not have the right to change their government 
peacefully. The same family has ruled the country for more than 600 
years. In 1962 the then sultan invoked an article of the constitution 
that allowed him to assume emergency powers for two years. These powers 
have been renewed every two years since 1962. The state of emergency 
places few limits on the sultan's power. The sultan also serves as 
prime minister, minister of defense, minister of finance, chancellor of 
the national university, inspector general of the Royal Brunei Police 
Force, and head of the Islamic faith.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Political authority and 
control rested entirely with the sultan. A 29-person legislative 
council (LegCo), which has no independent power and was composed 
primarily of appointed members, provides a forum for public discussion 
of proposed government programs as well as administrative deficiencies. 
It convenes once a year. Council members may be disqualified from 
service on the basis of various offenses, including disloyalty to the 
sultan.
    Persons 18 years of age and above may vote by secret ballot in 
village consultative council elections, which are based on a 
traditional system of village chiefs. Candidates must be Muslim, be 
approved by the Government, and be citizens or permanent residents for 
more than 15 years. The councils communicate constituent wishes through 
a variety of channels, including periodic meetings chaired by the 
minister of home affairs. The Government also meets with mukim 
(collections of villages) representatives to allow for airing of local 
grievances and concerns.
    The Brunei National Development Party was the country's only 
registered political party. The party pledged to support the sultan and 
the Government. Although the party criticized administrative 
deficiencies, its few activities received limited publicity, and it was 
hindered by membership restrictions.
    Individuals sought to express their views or 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.
    On May 29, the sultan appointed the first female cabinet member, 
Datin Adina, as deputy minister for culture, youth, and sports. Two 
other women held ministerial rank--the sultan's sister, Princess Masna, 
ambassador-at-large in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade; and 
Datin Hayati, appointed in August 2009, the first female attorney 
general. There were three female permanent secretaries--in the Ministry 
of Education, Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
and Trade. There were no female members appointed in the LegCo.
    Ethnic Chinese held one cabinet-level post and two LegCo positions.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government generally implemented these laws effectively; however, 
officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.
    In accordance with its zero tolerance policy for corrupt practices, 
the Government successfully prosecuted a number of low-level officials. 
On February 18, a former government minister accused of corruption in 
awarding government projects was sentenced to seven years in prison and 
ordered to pay 90 percent of the prosecution costs, which amounted to 
approximately $403,000 and restitution to the Government. The total 
amount he received in gratuities was BN$4.2 million ($3.2 million). The 
former minister's alleged partner was sentenced in absentia to seven 
years in prison, and an arrest warrant was issued. If captured, he 
would also be liable for 10 percent of the prosecution costs, amounting 
to HK$347,000 ($44,700).
    The police and the ISD were considered free of major corrupt 
practices, although there were reports of petty corruption.
    The Anticorruption Bureau, under the purview of the Prime 
Minister's Office, reports directly to the sultan.
    Government officials were not subject to financial disclosure 
reports.
    The law provides for public access to government information. 
During the year the LegCo approved, and the Government published, a 
summary of the budget for the fiscal year. However, the Government 
continued to restrict and classify as confidential some information on 
the financial dealings of the Government and the royal family. The law 
provides that no court can compel any person to give evidence relating 
to unpublished government records unless the relevant ministry's 
permanent secretary gives consent.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    Few civil society organizations dealt directly with human rights. A 
nongovernmental organization (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 may suspend the activities of a 
registered NGO if it deems such an act in the public interest. In the 
past the Consumers' Association of Brunei attempted to address human 
rights, but the Government impeded these attempts. However, the 
association remained active in building relationships with other NGOs 
in the region dealing with consumer protection issues. There were NGOs 
that dealt with such issues as assisting victims of domestic violence.
    The Government was not known to have interacted with international 
human rights NGOs.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law does not contain specific provisions prohibiting 
discrimination based on race, sex, disability, language, or social 
status.

    Women.--The law stipulates imprisonment of up to 30 years and 
caning with not fewer than 12 strokes for rape. The law does not 
criminalize spousal rape; it explicitly states that sexual intercourse 
by a man with his wife, as long as she is not under 13 years of age, is 
not rape. Protections against sexual assault by a spouse are provided 
under the amended Islamic Family Law Order 2010 and Married Women Act 
Order 2010, and the penalty for breaching a protection order is a fine 
not exceeding BN$2,000 ($1,538) or imprisonment not exceeding six 
months. During the year 23 rape cases were reported; at year's end 
police were investigating 11 and had forwarded 10 to the Attorney 
General Chambers.
    There is no specific domestic violence law, but arrests have been 
made in domestic violence cases under the Women and Girls Protection 
Act. The police investigate domestic violence only in response to a 
report by a victim. The police were generally responsive in the 
investigation of such cases. During the year there were a total of 62 
cases of spousal dispute abuse reported; at year's end 55 cases were 
under investigation, and eight had been forwarded to the Attorney 
General Chambers. The criminal penalty for a minor domestic assault is 
one to two weeks in jail and a fine. An assault resulting in serious 
injury is punishable by caning and a longer prison sentence.
    A special unit staffed by female officers existed within the police 
department to investigate domestic abuse and child abuse complaints. A 
hotline was available for persons to report domestic violence. The 
Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sport's Department of Community 
Development provided counseling for women and their spouses. Based on 
individual circumstances, some female and minor victims were placed in 
protective custody while waiting for their cases to be brought to 
court.
    Islamic courts staffed by 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 
Islamic courts recognized assault as grounds for divorce.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment and stipulates that whoever 
assaults or uses criminal force, intending thereby to outrage or 
knowing it is likely to outrage the modesty of a person, shall be 
punished with imprisonment for as much as five years and caning.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide the number, 
spacing, and timing of their children and have access to contraceptive 
devices and methods through the Government and private clinics. 
According to information gathered by the UN, in 2008 the maternal 
mortality rate was an estimated 21 deaths per 100,000 live births. 
Citizens enjoy free medical and health care, including skilled 
attendance during childbirth, prenatal care, and essential obstetric 
and postpartum care. Women had equal access to diagnostic and treatment 
facilities for sexually transmitted diseases. Women had equal access to 
HIV treatment and counseling, as well as follow-up treatment.
    In accordance with the Government's interpretation of Qur'anic 
precepts, Muslim women have rights similar to those of Muslim men in 
areas such as divorce and child custody. Islamic law requires that 
males receive twice the inheritance of women. Civil law permits female 
citizens to pass their nationality on to their children and to own 
property and other assets, including business properties.
    Unlike in previous years, women with permanent positions in the 
Government could apply for travel allowances for their children; 
however, they could not do so for their husbands working in the private 
sector. With this exception, they received the same allowance 
privileges as their college-educated counterparts. According to 
government statistics, women made up 57 percent of the civil service 
force and held 28 percent of senior management posts. Women are not 
discriminated against in access to employment and business.

    Children.--Birth registration is universal except for Dusun and 
Iban indigenous persons in rural areas (see section 2.d.). Citizenship 
is derived through one's parents rather than through birth within the 
country's territory. Parents with stateless status are required to 
apply for a special pass for a child born in the country; failure to 
register a child made it difficult to enroll the child in school.
    By law sexual intercourse with a female under 14 years of age 
constitutes rape and is punishable by imprisonment for not less than 
eight years and not more than 30 years and not less than 12 strokes of 
the cane. The law protects women, girls, and boys from exploitation 
through prostitution and ``other immoral purposes,'' including 
pornography.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html as well as 
country-specific information at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no known Jewish communities in the 
country, and there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law does not mandate accessibility 
or other assistance for persons with disabilities. The Government 
provided educational services for children with disabilities, but the 
level of services available was uneven. The Department for Community 
Development conducted several programs targeted at promoting awareness 
of the needs of persons with disabilities.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There were no reports of 
societal violence or discrimination based on sexual orientation. The 
law makes it a criminal offense to have ``sexual intercourse against 
the order of nature.'' There were no reports of official discrimination 
based on sexual orientation in employment, housing, access to 
education, or health care.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of societal violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--Under the Trade Unions Act, unions 
are legal and 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 of their choice without previous authorization or 
excessive requirements. Foreign workers are prohibited from forming or 
joining trade unions. In practice trade union activity was minimal, and 
the Government discouraged union formation. The three registered trade 
unions were in the oil sector and had a total membership of less than 5 
percent of the industry's total work force.
    While the law permits the formation of trade union federations, it 
forbids affiliation with international labor organizations unless there 
is consent from the home affairs minister and Department of Labor.
    The Government prohibits strikes, and the law makes no explicit 
provision allowing the right to strike.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
prohibits employers from discriminating against workers in connection 
with union activities but provides no legal framework for collective 
bargaining. There was very little union activity in the country, and 
employer discrimination against union members was not reported. 
Employers in the industrial sector did not encourage foreign workers to 
form unions.
    There is a free trade zone in Muara Port, known as the Muara Export 
Zone (MEZ). Labor laws are fully applicable in the MEZ.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, and there were no credible reports of 
forced labor.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Various laws prohibit the employment of children under age 16. Parental 
consent and approval by the Labor Commission is required for those 
under 18. Female workers under 18 may not work at night or on offshore 
oil platforms. The Department of Labor, which is part of the Ministry 
of Home Affairs, effectively enforced laws related to the employment of 
children. There were no reports of violations of child labor laws.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Most employed citizens 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 rest periods of 24 hours each week. Overtime is 
required for work in excess of 48 hours per week, and double time is 
required for work performed on legal holidays, but this frequently was 
not observed in practice.
    Occupational health and safety standards were established by 
government regulations. The Labor Department inspected working 
conditions on a routine basis and in response to complaints. It 
generally enforced labor regulations effectively, but enforcement in 
the unskilled labor sector was lax, especially for foreign laborers at 
construction sites, where pay arrearage and inadequate safety and 
living conditions were reported. It may close a workplace where health, 
safety, or working conditions are unsatisfactory. The law permits a 
worker to leave a hazardous job site without jeopardizing his 
employment, but in general this did not occur.
    According to government data, 87,867 foreigners worked in the 
country; such workers are excluded from most labor law protections, 
including freedom of association. During the year the minister 
responsible for labor was given additional authority to protect their 
rights, and the Government usually was quick to investigate and impose 
fines and punishment. Employers found guilty of abuses typically were 
fined or sentenced to prison and ordered 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 could not be 
resolved, repatriation of foreign workers was at the expense of the 
employer, and all outstanding wages were ordered paid. The majority of 
abuse cases were settled out of court by the employer paying financial 
compensation to the worker.
    Foreign migrant 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. The Government forbade wage deductions to 
agencies or sponsors and mandated that employees receive their full 
salaries; nevertheless, foreign workers continued to pay high fees to 
manpower agents to obtain work in the country.
    There were credible reports of domestic and construction workers 
from neighboring countries paying the equivalent of two months' wages 
to fictitious employers to obtain labor passes and work freelance on 
the local economy. There were also credible reports of citizens from 
South Asian countries working for little or no pay for up to two years 
to pay back foreign agents for securing jobs for them.
    During the year there were 10 cases reported of nonpayment of 
salaries. Eight of the complaints were made by domestic workers and 
were referred to the Attorney General Chambers. Two cases involved 
complaints made by workers in the formal sector; at year's end both 
were under investigation.
    The Government also prosecuted employers who employed irregular 
immigrants or did not process workers' documents, rendering them 
irregular.
    Immigration law allows for prison sentences and caning for workers 
who overstay their work permits and for irregular immigrants seeking 
work, as well as for foreign workers employed by companies other than 
their initial sponsor. While the majority of prosecutions were for 
those who overstayed their work permits, many workers stayed in an 
irregular status due to their former employers' negligence.

                               __________

                                 BURMA

    Burma, with an estimated population of 56 million, is ruled by a 
highly authoritarian military regime dominated by the majority ethnic 
Burman group. The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), led by 
Senior General Than Shwe, was the country's de facto government. 
Military officers wielded the ultimate authority at each level of 
government. In 1990 prodemocracy parties won more than 80 percent of 
the seats in a general parliamentary election, but the regime continued 
to ignore the results. In 2008 the regime held a referendum on its 
draft constitution and declared the constitution had been approved by 
92.48 percent of voters, a figure no independent observers believed was 
valid. The Government held parliamentary elections on November 7, the 
first elections since 1990. The Government-backed Union Solidarity and 
Development Party (USDP) claimed an overwhelming majority of seats in 
the national parliament and state/regional assemblies. Democracy 
activists and the international community widely criticized both the 
constitutional referendum and the elections process as seriously 
flawed. Parliament was scheduled to convene on January 31, 2011, with a 
special joint session of the upper and lower houses to follow within 15 
days. The constitution was to go into effect when that joint session 
was convened. The constitution specifies that the SPDC will continue to 
rule until a new government is formed.
    The regime continued to abridge the right of citizens to change 
their government and committed other severe human rights abuses. 
Government security forces were responsible for extrajudicial killings, 
custodial deaths, disappearances, rape, and torture. The Government 
detained civic activists indefinitely and without charges. In addition 
regime-sponsored mass-member organizations engaged in harassment and 
abuse of human rights and prodemocracy activists. The Government abused 
prisoners and detainees, held persons in harsh and life-threatening 
conditions, routinely used incommunicado detention, and imprisoned 
citizens arbitrarily for political motives. The army continued its 
attacks on ethnic minority villagers, resulting in deaths, forced 
relocation, and other serious abuses. The Government routinely 
infringed on citizens' privacy and restricted freedom of speech, press, 
assembly, association, religion, and movement. The Government did not 
allow domestic human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to 
function independently, and international NGOs encountered a difficult 
environment. Violence and societal discrimination against women 
continued, as did recruitment of child soldiers, discrimination against 
ethnic minorities, and trafficking in persons, particularly of women 
and girls. Workers' rights remained restricted. Forced labor, including 
that of children, also persisted. The Government took no significant 
actions to prosecute or punish those responsible for human rights 
abuses.
    Ethnic armed groups and some cease-fire groups (armed ethnic 
guerillas) allegedly committed human rights abuses, including forced 
labor and recruitment of child soldiers.
    The Government released Aung San Suu Kyi--general secretary of the 
National League for Democracy (NLD)--from house arrest on November 13, 
the date her sentence (for allegedly having violated the terms of her 
confinement) expired.
                        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 
the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings. 
The Government rarely punished officials responsible for the deaths.
    Government soldiers reportedly killed several individuals in 
Rakhine State. On February 22, two soldiers beat and killed Aung Cho 
after a shop owner accused him of stealing. On March 12, seven 
government soldiers reportedly killed Kyaw Win Maung after a minor 
street quarrel. On March 21, government soldiers allegedly killed Wai 
Phyo Aung after he deserted his army battalion two days earlier. Wai 
Phyo Aung's parents received no compensation, and no investigatory 
action was reported.
    In May government troops reportedly killed two Rohingya attempting 
to cross the Naff River by boat; the two reportedly were fleeing to 
Bangladesh. Also in May soldiers killed a teenage boy after a traffic 
accident in Bago Division; the soldiers involved in the accident 
reportedly were drunk.
    During the year there were reports of killings in connection with 
conflict in Karen State (see section 1.g.).
    There were no developments in the May 2009 killing of army sergeant 
Myint Soe in Magwe Division during interrogation by military agents.
    There were no developments in the November 2009 death of Win Maung, 
who reportedly died one day after police in Bago Division interrogated 
him regarding a theft case.
    At year's end no officials had been held accountable for the deaths 
of several persons in the custody of security forces in 2008, including 
Zawmir Uddin in Rakhine State, a medical worker in Khawzar police 
station in Mon State, at least 40 inmates at Insein Prison, and a man 
in Magwe police station.
    The Government continued to take no action to investigate or punish 
those responsible for extrajudicial killings of at least 30 persons 
during the regime's violent suppression of peaceful prodemocracy 
demonstrations in 2007. The Government did not investigate or punish 
those responsible for custodial deaths in 2007, including the following 
cases: Maung Chan Kun, Lin Lin Naing, Ko Naing Oo, NLD member Win Shwe, 
and Ko Ko Win.
    The Government took no action to investigate or take responsibility 
for the 2003 attack by government-affiliated forces on an NLD convoy 
led by party leader Aung San Suu Kyi near the village of Depeyin. As 
many as 70 persons were killed, and the whereabouts of 31 persons who 
disappeared remained unknown.

    b. Disappearance.--Private citizens and political activists 
continued to ``disappear'' for periods ranging from several hours to 
several weeks or more. Such disappearances generally were attributed to 
authorities who detained individuals for questioning without informing 
family members and to the army's practice of seizing private citizens 
for portering or related duties, often without notifying family 
members. Military forces routinely ignored requests by family members 
for information.
    There were reports of disappearances during the year in connection 
with conflicts in Shan and Karen states (see section 1.g.).
    On August 5 two leaders of an ethnic militia group in Shan State, 
Salang Hkun Myant and Saland Lau Yawng, disappeared after they were 
summoned to Nay Pyi Taw.
    The whereabouts remained unknown of four Arakanese university 
students arrested in September 2009. Authorities alleged the students 
were conspiring to plan activities commemorating the 70th anniversary 
of the death of a prominent Arakanese monk who advocated for 
independence from British rule.
    During the year seven members of Lin Let Kye (Shining Star), a 
group formed in 2008 to assist in the Cyclone Nargis relief effort, who 
disappeared in October 2009 were found serving prison sentences ranging 
from seven to 14 years for allegedly violating the Unlawful 
Associations Act.
    According to a human rights representative, 14 other persons also 
involved with Nargis relief efforts, including entertainers, writers, 
and press workers, were arrested in October 2009. Of this group, six 
had been released and eight remained in prison at year's end. With the 
exception of Nyan Tun, who was being held at a prison near Pyay, their 
identities and locations were unknown.
    According to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary 
Disappearances, there were five unresolved disappearance cases at the 
end of 2009.
    The whereabouts of persons seized by military units to serve as 
porters, as well as of prisoners transferred for labor or portering 
duties, often remained unknown. Family members generally learned of 
their relatives' fates only if fellow prisoners survived and later 
reported information to the families.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--Laws prohibit torture; however, members of the security 
forces reportedly tortured, beat, and otherwise abused prisoners, 
detainees, and other citizens. Security forces routinely subjected 
detainees to harsh interrogation techniques designed to intimidate and 
disorient. As in previous years, authorities took little or no action 
to investigate the incidents or punish the perpetrators. There were 
reports of physical abuse, torture, and rape in connection with 
conflicts in Shan and Karen states (see section 1.g.).
    On April 18, authorities arrested and reportedly tortured an NLD 
member to prevent him from organizing citizens to boycott the November 
elections; he was freed later that month.
    In May authorities reportedly tortured during interrogation Maung 
Zeya and his son, Sithu Zeya, for taking photographs at the site where 
a bomb exploded in April during the annual Thingyan water festival. In 
June authorities sentenced both to two years in prison; on December 21, 
Sithu Zeya received an additional eight-year sentence.
    In May police reportedly beat and severely injured several youths 
during interrogation in connection with bombings at the Myitsone dam 
site near Myitkyina, Kachin State. Police detained a total of 43 youths 
for two to three weeks before releasing them; however, some remained in 
detention at year's end.
    On July 30, prison guards placed Myo Kyaw Zin, an NLD member, in 
solitary confinement for one month following his complaints to prison 
guards about the treatment of political prisoners held in Putao prison 
in northern Kachin State.
    In August there were reports that authorities ruptured the eardrum 
of NLD member Hyat Aung during interrogation, resulting in hearing 
loss. He was believed to remain in custody at year's end.
    By year's end police had not investigated an April 2009 incident in 
which thugs assaulted five NLD members, reportedly on orders from the 
regime, in four separate incidents.
    Former political prisoners released in September 2009 claimed the 
Government subjected them to eight different types of torture--ranging 
from forced squatting for prolonged periods to electric shocks--during 
interrogation to extract confessions or to intimidate. They also 
complained of inedible food, beatings, and unsanitary conditions 
leading to severe health problems. Many were held in solitary 
confinement and forced to share an eight-by-eight-foot cell with up to 
three other prisoners with only a bucket to use as a toilet.
    Many monks held since 2007 for participating in the September 2007 
prodemocracy protests against the regime were defrocked and forced to 
eat three meals a day (monks generally do not eat after midday). 
Authorities beat, sometimes severely, those who resisted.
    The armed forces reportedly used coercive and abusive recruitment 
methods to procure porters. Persons forced into portering or other 
labor faced extremely difficult conditions, beatings, rape, lack of 
food and clean water, and mistreatment that at times resulted in death.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and labor camp 
conditions generally were harsh and life threatening. Prison food, 
clothing, and medical supplies were scarce and of poor quality. Bedding 
often was inadequate, sometimes consisting of a single mat or wooden 
platform on the floor. In many cases family members of prisoners, who 
generally were allowed one or two visits per month, supplemented 
prisoners' official rations of medicine and basic necessities. 
According to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political 
Prisoners (Burma) (AAPPB), authorities sent more than 200 political 
prisoners to remote prisons located hundreds of miles from their 
families.
    The Department of Prisons operated a reported 42 prisons and more 
than 100 labor camps. According to a human rights activist, there were 
approximately 63,000 male and 8,900 female prisoners. Pretrial 
detainees were held together with convicted prisoners, but political 
prisoners were typically held separately from common criminals. Former 
prisoners complained of being held in aging physical structures that 
received no maintenance and were infested with rodents, bacteria, and 
mold.
    The Government denied prisoners adequate medical care, although 
medical services in prisons partially reflected the poor health care 
services available to the general population. Collective reports from 
three dozen prisons indicated hepatitis B and amoebas were the most 
prevalent medical problems. Prisoners also suffered from various 
diseases, including malaria, heart disease, high blood pressure, and 
stomach problems--the result of unhygienic conditions and spoiled food. 
HIV/AIDS infection rates in prisons reportedly were high due to 
communal use of syringes for medical injections and sexual abuse by 
infected prisoners. One former political prisoner, who was released in 
2009, claimed the annual budget for medical supplies in the prison 
where he was incarcerated was 50,000 kyat (approximately $50). There 
were no medical doctors or trained health-care professionals on staff 
at several prisons. Prison officials took common criminals to the local 
hospital for treatment but were required to seek authorization from 
higher authorities before allowing political prisoners to seek medical 
assistance outside the prison. Political prisoners waited days to 
receive medical treatment for life-threatening conditions and several 
months for treatment of chronic and urgent problems.
    According to a political prisoner released in 2009, approximately 
three prisoners per month in one particular prison died due to the 
conditions. In April and May, eight criminal prisoners reportedly died 
of illnesses related to a heat wave.
    In May political prisoner Ko Kyaw Soe died in Myingyan prison at 
the age of 39. According to the AAPPB, he was the 144th prisoner since 
1998 to die while in the custody of prison authorities as a result of 
malnutrition, mistreatment, or inadequate medical care.
    According to the AAPPB, at least 137 political prisoners were in 
poor health due to harsh conditions, transfers to remote areas where 
there were no doctors, and the denial of proper medical care. Several 
political prisoners complained of inadequate treatment for medical 
problems, including hepatitis B, heart conditions, back pain, stomach 
problems, kidney stones, eye diseases, and dental problems.
    NLD member Naw Ohn Hla--held since October 2009 for offering 
Buddhist scriptures to monks--complained openly in court during a 
February 1 hearing about the poor living conditions at Insein Prison. 
Naw Ohn Hla shared a nine-by-ten-foot cell with nine other inmates. 
Authorities did not respond to Naw Ohn Hla's complaints.
    Shan State Army-North General Hsay Ten, the 74-year-old Shan ethnic 
politician serving a 106-year prison sentence for taking part in a 2005 
meeting with other politicians to discuss the authorities' plans for 
political transition, suffered from heart problems, diabetes, and 
cataracts. Authorities repeatedly denied him adequate medical care. 
Between August 2 and 9, authorities transferred him to three different 
prisons. He arrived at Sittwe Prison with a dislocated arm due to the 
heavy shackles placed on him during transport.
    Political prisoner Mya Aye, serving a 65-year sentence on a variety 
of charges, reportedly was not adequately treated for a heart 
condition. Prison authorities reportedly permitted a general 
practitioner to treat him but not a specialist.
    The heart condition of political prisoner Su Su Nwe, who was moved 
to Kale prison, continued to deteriorate due to lack of proper 
treatment.
    Comedian/activist Zarganar, serving a 35-year sentence in Kachin 
State, continued to suffer from hypertension and cardiac problems and 
did not receive adequate medical care.
    On July 16, political prisoner Myo Kyaw Zin, serving a 17-year 
term, was beaten by criminal prisoners. Authorities put Myo Kyaw Zin 
into solitary confinement for one month after he reported the incident.
    Prisoners and detainees did not have the right to manifest their 
religious beliefs or practices in public. Authorities did not permit 
prisoners and detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities 
without censorship or to request investigation of credible allegations 
of inhumane conditions. The Government did not investigate or monitor 
prison and detention center conditions.
    The Government did not permit media or other independent groups to 
monitor prison conditions. The Government continued to deny the 
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) unfettered access to 
prisons. As a result the ICRC could not follow the cases of more than 
4,000 detainees, including prisoners of conscience, minors, foreigners, 
and sick and elderly prisoners. The Government limited the ICRC's 
activities to supporting family visits to detainees and providing 
physical rehabilitation for landmine victims and other persons with 
disabilities. There was no ombudsman to serve on behalf of prisoners 
and detainees.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law does not prohibit 
arbitrary arrest or detention, and the Government routinely employed 
both practices. The law allows authorities to extend sentences after 
prisoners have completed their original sentence, and the Government 
regularly used this provision. The 1975 State Protection Law allows 
authorities to order detention without charge or trial of anyone they 
believe is performing or might perform any act that endangers the 
sovereignty and security of the state or public peace and tranquility.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The police force falls 
administratively under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Military Security 
Affairs (MSA) falls under the Ministry of Defense. MSA officers and 
Police Special Branch (SB) officers were responsible for detaining 
persons suspected of ``political crimes'' perceived to threaten the 
Government.
    Security forces maintained a tight grip on inhabitants, due in 
large part to the fear imposed by arbitrary detention, and also through 
threats to an individual's livelihood, such as ordering small 
businesses to close.
    Impunity was a serious problem. There are no effective legal 
mechanisms available to investigate security force abuses, and the 
Government took no significant measures to reform the security forces.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--By law 
warrants for searches and arrests are required; however, the MSA and 
police have special authority to conduct searches and make arrests at 
will. The law permits a court to detain persons without charge for up 
to two weeks, with the possibility of a second two-week extension. 
However, authorities frequently and arbitrarily extended detentions 
beyond this period, sometimes up to a year, without bringing the 
detainees before a judge or informing persons of the charges against 
them. The Government often held persons under the Emergency Act of 
1950, which allows for indefinite detention.
    Bail was commonly offered in criminal cases but rarely allowed for 
political prisoners. The Government regularly refused detainees the 
right to consult a lawyer and occasionally imprisoned or detained 
lawyers.
    The Government continued to use incommunicado detention and often 
failed to inform detainees' relatives of detentions until much later.
    In January antinarcotics police reportedly assaulted a man whom 
they accused of being in possession of opium. Authorities found no 
illegal narcotics when they searched his home but arrested him without 
charge or providing a reason.
    In December 2009 authorities released U Aye Myint, a labor activist 
from Magwe Region active in land-rights cases for farmers, who was 
sentenced in September 2009 to two years' imprisonment for threatening 
to injure a public servant.
    During the year the regime continued to hold numerous prodemocracy 
and human rights activists and several top opposition leaders (see 
Political Prisoners and Detainees). Other activists wanted by the 
regime remained in hiding or self-imposed exile.
    House arrest, a form of detention, was usually reserved for high-
profile political prisoners.

    Amnesty.--In March the Government released a foreign human rights 
activist arrested in September 2009, convicted, and imprisoned on 
politically motivated charges. He reported mistreatment by prison 
authorities during his incarceration. On August 22, the Government 
released 170 prisoners, but none were political prisoners.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The judiciary is not independent 
of the Government. The SPDC appoints justices to the Supreme Court, 
which in turn appoints lower-court judges with SPDC approval. These 
courts adjudicate cases under decrees promulgated by the SPDC that 
effectively have the force of law. The regime frequently directed 
verdicts in politically sensitive trials of civilians.
    Supreme Court justices and senior officials in the Office of the 
Attorney General allegedly were most often responsible for passing 
along and enforcing the orders of the military rulers.
    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 remain 
formally in place, the court system and its operation were seriously 
flawed, particularly in the handling of political cases. The misuse of 
blanket laws--including the Emergency Provisions Act, Unlawful 
Associations Act, Habitual Offenders Act, Electronic Transactions Law, 
Television and Video Act, and Law on Safeguarding the State from the 
Danger of Subversive Elements--as well as the manipulation of the 
courts for political ends continued to stifle peaceful dissent and 
deprive citizens of the right to a fair trial. Executive Order 5/96, 
providing for the arrest of any person deemed a threat to the National 
Convention (composed of handpicked delegates convened to draft a new 
constitution) and the ``roadmap to democracy,'' effectively suppressed 
open debate among citizens. Pervasive corruption further served to 
undermine the impartiality of the justice system.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the right to a fair trial, 
but it also grants broad exceptions, in effect allowing the regime to 
violate these rights at will. In common criminal cases, the court 
generally respected some basic due process rights, whereas there was a 
fundamental lack of due process in most politically sensitive cases.
    Defendants do not enjoy a presumption of innocence. Juries are not 
used in trials. Defendants have the right to be present at their 
trials. In political cases defendants were rarely given timely access 
to an attorney. By law the Government is not obligated to provide an 
attorney at public expense except in death penalty cases. Defendants 
and their attorneys were given access to government-held evidence 
relevant to their cases only after charges were made and when the case 
was put before the court.
    Common criminal cases were open to the public. Defense attorneys in 
criminal cases generally had 15 days to prepare for trial. However, 
courts often did not notify defense attorneys in political cases of the 
trial start date, leaving them little or no time to prepare. Even when 
lawyers of political activists were allowed the 15 days to prepare 
their clients' cases, they often were not allowed to present arguments 
on the day the case was tried in court. Instead, in some instances the 
court sentenced defendants immediately upon entering the courtroom, 
without arguments. Defense attorneys could call witnesses, cross-
examine them, and examine evidence. However, their primary function was 
not to disprove a client's guilt, which was usually a foregone 
conclusion, but rather to bargain with the judge to obtain the shortest 
possible sentence for the client.
    Political trials normally were not open to family members or the 
public. NLD members and other prodemocracy activists generally appeared 
able to retain the counsel of lawyers; however, lawyers were not always 
given the opportunity to mount a proper defense. They often were denied 
adequate access to their clients before trial, were not informed when 
trials would begin, and occasionally were not allowed to attend their 
clients' trials. Reliable reports indicated senior government 
authorities dictated verdicts in political cases, regardless of the 
evidence or the law.
    Persons complained they were not informed of the arrests of family 
members in a timely manner, not told their whereabouts, and often 
denied the right to see them and attend court hearings.
    The penal code allows the Government to render excessive sentences 
against political activists by allowing government prosecutors to 
charge detainees with multiple violations of archaic or widely ignored 
laws, such as violating currency laws, publishing materials likely to 
cause alarm, or spreading rumors. This practice could result in lengthy 
cumulative sentences. The regime often prosecuted political prisoners 
under such measures as the Emergency Provision Act, Law on Safeguarding 
the State from the Danger of Subversive Elements, Television and Video 
Act, Unlawful Associations Act, Electronic Transactions Law, and Law 
Relating to the Forming of Organizations.
    The Government routinely extended 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 by two months on six separate occasions, for a total extension 
of up to one year. SPDC Chairman Senior General Than Shwe can 
unilaterally extend or shorten a period of detention, as he did to 
reduce by half NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi's most recent detention in 
2009.
    The law provides those convicted of crimes with the right of 
appeal, and there is a multistage appeals process; however, in most 
appeal hearings the verdicts were upheld.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--Human rights observers reported 
there were more than 2,100 ``security detainees,'' including political 
prisoners, violators of state security laws, and those accused of 
fostering religious disturbances. Because the Government usually 
charged political detainees with criminal offenses, it denied holding 
any political prisoners. Despite government assertions, a vast majority 
of these prisoners were not believed to have engaged in any violence, 
theft, or other common crimes.
    On January 7, Special Branch police arrested monk Ashin Uk Kong Sah 
after he launched a campaign opposing the election in Mon State. On 
September 7, he was sentenced for a total of 15 years under the 
Electronic Transactions Law, Press Act, and section 505(b) of the penal 
code (inciting public unrest).
    On January 14, three NLD members were sentenced to three years with 
hard labor under the Unlawful Associations Act for allegedly accepting 
money from an exile group located on the border with Thailand.
    In April authorities arrested 12 members of Best Manure, an 
antigovernment group formed in the wake of the September 2007 monk-led 
uprising, for distributing pamphlets that encouraged citizens to 
participate in a campaign demanding the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and 
all other political prisoners.
    In June a district court sentenced monk U Gawthita to seven years' 
imprisonment for antigovernment activities. He was accused of defaming 
the Buddhist religion (Sasana) and violating the Unlawful Associations 
Act.
    On January 21, authorities charged eight activists for their roles 
in the September 2007 monk-led uprising. Authorities arrested the eight 
men, who included four monks and a schoolteacher, in 2009 during a 
crackdown that coincided with the two-year anniversary of the event. At 
year's end the activists remained in detention, awaiting conclusion of 
their trial.
    On February 15, a township court sentenced Naw Ohn Hla, Myint Myint 
San, Ma Cho, and Cho Cho Lwin to two years in prison. Arrested in 
October 2009, they were part of the Tuesday Prayer Group, a collection 
of prodemocracy activists who visited Rangoon's Shwedagon Pagoda every 
Tuesday to pray for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political 
prisoners.
    At year's end other political activists convicted in 2009 who 
remained in prison included Ashin Sandimar, Kyaw Zin Min, Wunna Nwe, 
and Zin Min Shein, all convicted of violating the Explosives Law and 
Unlawful Associations Act. Another seven--Saw Maung, Aung Moe Lwin, Moe 
Htet Nay, Tun Lin Aung, Zaw Latt, Naing Win, and Tun Lin Oo--convicted 
of violating the Unlawful Association Act, also remained in prison. Ko 
Tin Htut, sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment for carrying a poster 
calling for the release of all political prisoners, also remained 
imprisoned.
    Political activists detained in 2008 and convicted in 2009 who 
remained in prison included Bo Min Yu Ko, sentenced to 104 years' in 
prison; Kyaw Ko Ko, three years; Tin Min Htut and Nyi Pu, 15 years 
each; Ye Min Oo, Ye Myat Hein, Kyi Phyu, and Si Thu Maung, five to six 
and one-half years each; and Aung Kyaw Oo, four and one-half years.
    Also remaining in prison were members of the Generation 88 Students 
group sentenced in 2008: Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Kyaw Min Yu, Mya Aye, 
Aung Thu, Min Zeya, Myo Aung Naing, Nilar Thein, Zeya, Kyaw Kyaw Htwe 
(Markee), Panneik Tun, and Zaw Zaw Min, each sentenced to 65 years' 
imprisonment; and Tin Htoo Aung, sentenced to 33 years.
    Zaw Thet Htwe, sentenced in 2008 to 19 years under the Electronic 
Transactions Law, continued to serve his prison term, reduced to 15 
years on appeal. Monk U Gambira, sentenced in 2008 to 68 years' 
imprisonment, also remained in prison.
    Human rights activists Myo Min, sentenced to eight years for 
illegally crossing the border and violating the Unlawful Associations 
Act, and Myint Aye, sentenced to 28 years for conspiracy to commit 
bombings, continued to serve their prison terms following their 
convictions in 2008.
    Myanmar Development Committee leader Htin Kyaw, sentenced in 2008 
to 12 years' imprisonment, and human rights activists Aung Zaw Oo and 
Win Maw, sentenced in 2008 to 12 years and two years, respectively, 
remained in prison. Authorities subsequently charged Win Maw with 
breaching the Electronic Transactions Law, which could lead to an 
additional sentence of seven to 15 years. He remained in prison at 
year's end.
    Aung Htun was in Maubin prison, and Aung Kyaw San was in Maisat 
prison; the whereabouts of both were previously unknown. The 
whereabouts of Myat Thu remained unknown; human rights observers 
believed he continued to be detained without charge. The three were 
detained in 2007-08.
    In January authorities released lawyer Pho Phyu, arrested in 2009 
for reporting labor rights violations to the International Labor 
Organization (ILO) on behalf of a group of farmers. On February 13, 
authorities released NLD Vice Chairman U Tin Oo, imprisoned or under 
house arrest since the 2003 Depeyin incident.
    On November 13, the Government released Aung San Suu Kyi, general 
secretary of the NLD, from house arrest. In August 2009 she was 
convicted on charges of violating the terms of her house arrest and 
remained confined for an additional 18 months. She had been jailed or 
under house arrest for more than 15 of the last 21 years.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Civil judicial procedures 
and remedies existed in principle, but in practice there was no 
assurance a complainant would receive a fair hearing.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The Land Acquisition Act protects the privacy and 
security of the home and property. There were no laws protecting 
correspondence or other communications of citizens. Through its 
intelligence network and administrative procedures, the Government 
systematically monitored the travel of citizens and closely monitored 
the activities of those known to be active politically.
    Forced entry without a court order is illegal, but the Government 
generally did not respect this law.
    The law requires that persons who intend to spend the night at a 
place other than their registered domicile must inform local Peace and 
Development Council authorities in advance. Any household that hosts a 
person not domiciled there must maintain a guest list and submit it to 
authorities. Ward-level officials continued unannounced nighttime 
checks of residences for unregistered visitors. In contrast with 2009, 
there were no reports that the Government required family photographs. 
Previously, authorities in Rangoon Division sporadically required 
households to have ``family photographs'' taken for government agents 
to use when conducting nighttime checks of residences.
    Security personnel regularly screened private correspondence, 
telephone calls, and e-mail.
    The Government continued to control and monitor closely the 
licensing and procurement of all two-way electronic communication 
devices. Possession of an unregistered telephone, fax machine, or 
computer modem is punishable by imprisonment. Users of unregistered 
cordless telephones face up to three years in prison and a heavy fine. 
Use of unregistered radios is also punishable by a fine and 
imprisonment.
    Activists and politicians reported that authorities routinely 
monitored their movements.
    The Government reportedly continued its practice of conscripting 
members of ethnic minorities for service as military porters in Bago 
Division and in Chin, Karen, Kachin, Kayah, Rakhine, and Shan states 
(see section 1.g.).
    Government employees generally were prohibited from joining or 
supporting political parties; however, this proscription was applied 
selectively. The Government defines civil servants as employees at or 
below the director general and managing director levels; according to 
government claims, ministers are not considered civil servants. In 
April the Government's mass mobilization organization--the Union 
Solidarity and Development Association (USDA)--was transformed into a 
political party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), to 
contest the November 7 elections. Many of the Government's top leaders, 
including the prime minister, maintained high-level roles in the USDP. 
A number of reports indicated that the USDP, and its predecessor USDA, 
used coercion to compel citizens to join or support the party; state-
sector employees were the most susceptible to such pressure.
    Although students are not prohibited from joining a party, the 
Government reportedly discouraged students from participating in 
politics.
    The law does not permit private ownership of land; the Government 
can confiscate the land of individuals at any time. Weak private 
property rights and poor land ownership records facilitated involuntary 
relocations of persons by the Government, especially in rural areas.
    In early February authorities ordered approximately 270 Rangoon 
households, whom it claimed were illegal squatters, to move so the 
houses could be demolished. Police detained U Tun Yi, a resident 
affected by the removal, who submitted a letter to request that 
authorities stop the demolition. Police released him at the end of 
February.
    On May 30, the local government ordered 1,000 civilians from 
Myitkyina and Waingmaw townships to move from the vicinity of the 
Myitsone dam project site in Kachin State. Several protested the forced 
relocation and then fled to the border with China when the regime 
threatened to arrest them.
    There were some reports of forced relocations and demands for 
forced labor to build infrastructure. While more frequent in rural 
areas, reports of forced relocation in urban areas also existed. There 
were numerous reports government troops looted and confiscated property 
and possessions from forcibly relocated persons or persons who were 
away from their homes. The practice was more prevalent in Shan, Kayah, 
and Karen states and in areas of Mon State and Bago Division. The 
Government made no attempts to punish offenders or compensate victims 
for their losses (see also section 2.d.).
    The Government routinely confiscated food, cash, and other property 
from civilians. Military personnel routinely confiscated livestock, 
fuel, food supplies, money, and other items. Such abuses were 
widespread.
    Marriages between female citizens and foreigners are banned, and 
the Government ordered local attorneys not to be witnesses to such 
marriages; however, the ban was not widely enforced.
    The Government punished family members for alleged violations by 
individuals.

    g. Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts.--
Ethnic insurgent groups continued to battle the Government for autonomy 
or independence, including the Shan State Army-South; the Karenni 
National Progressive Party; and the Karen National Union (KNU), through 
its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA). Heavy 
fighting between the Government army and a breakaway faction of the 
Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) broke out on the border with 
Thailand on November 8. In ethnic minority regions, military personnel 
reportedly killed and raped civilians, shelled villages and burned 
homes, destroyed food and seized possessions, confiscated land, forced 
villagers to work on infrastructure projects, and demanded villagers 
provide food and construction materials for military camps. 
International NGOs reported similar abuses in Chin State. One NGO also 
reported that the Government restricted humanitarian access to the 
state and forced farmers to grow jatropha (physic nuts, an inedible 
castor oil crop) instead of food crops.
    The Government continued to pressure cease-fire and armed rebel 
groups to join the Government army-dominated Border Guard Force. 
Tensions remained high, with some cease-fire groups reportedly 
concerned the army could undertake military action to compel them to 
join the border force; several small cease-fire groups subsequently 
agreed to join.

    Killings.--On January 17, two villagers died when two government 
soldiers, targeting what they believed to be a Karen National 
Liberation Army stronghold, allegedly burned 13 houses in eastern Bago 
Division.
    On April 19, 15 unknown assailants beat to death a Catholic priest 
in Pekhone Township, Kayah State, reportedly due to tension between the 
Government army and the Catholic Church regarding land confiscated in 
2006.
    On May 16, government army soldiers reportedly killed 15-year-old 
Tin Min Naing in Bago Division after he fled a group of soldiers when 
faced with their demand that he join the army.
    In early December government army soldiers reportedly entered a 
KNU/KNLA Peace Council (KPC) camp near Myawaddy in Karen State, shot 
one soldier, and took six others as prisoners. On December 8, villagers 
found the mutilated bodies of the six prisoners and claimed they had 
been tortured before being killed. The KPC, which is distinct from the 
KNU, signed a cease-fire agreement with the Government in 2007.
    There were no developments in the June 2009 incident in which 
government army soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion 205 in Hpa An 
District reportedly raped and killed two Karen girls.
    There were no reported developments regarding the Government army's 
forcible relocation in August 2009 of hundreds of villagers in three 
townships in Shan State. During the forced relocation, authorities 
reportedly beat and killed villagers; others sought safety by hiding in 
the jungle.
    There were no reported developments in the September 2009 incident 
in which police officers in Shan State reportedly raped and killed a 
14-year-old girl and allegedly arrested, detained, and tortured seven 
persons, including some of those who found her body. Police allegedly 
threatened the victims' relatives to prevent the perpetrators from 
being tried.
    According to the most recent data available, up to 100 persons were 
killed and 500 injured by land mines during the year.
    In 2008 there were unverified reports of deaths and injuries caused 
by security forces using civilians to clear land mines, particularly in 
Karen State, where the army continued attacks against ethnic villages. 
UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights for Burma Tomas Ojea Quintana 
cited similar reports in his March 10 report on the country.

    Disappearance.--There were reports of disappearances during 
government army attacks in Shan and Karen states. Observers believed 
that many persons were killed and others fled to the border.

    Physical Abuse, Punishment, and Torture.--The Thailand-based Karen 
Women's Organization documented approximately 4,000 cases of abuse 
against women in Karen State over the past few years. The abuses 
included rape, killings, torture, and forced labor in more than 190 
villages by government troops from more than 40 army battalions.
    NGOs and international organizations continued to report numerous 
sexual assaults by soldiers throughout the rest of the country.
    In contrast with 2009, during the year the Government army in Chin 
State reportedly stopped the practice of forcing villagers to construct 
fences in an army camp and transport army supplies.
    There were no reports the Government investigated or otherwise 
attempted to identify and punish those responsible for numerous acts of 
killing, injury, and destruction committed against Karen or other 
ethnic communities.

    Child Soldiers.--The Government army continued to recruit and use 
child soldiers. The minimum age of enlistment in the army is 18 years, 
and the Government's official policy is to avoid conscripting child 
soldiers; however, it did not deny their existence. Informal recruiting 
targeted vulnerable children. Authorities routinely falsified the 
enlistment papers of those under age 18. According to the Office of the 
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the army recruited children 
as young as 10 years old. Credible sources indicated the number of 
child soldiers may have risen to 12,000, although accurate statistics 
were difficult to obtain.
    During the year exile media reported that the military forcibly 
enlisted children as young as 14 into the army in Mon and Rakhine 
states and Bago and Irrawaddy divisions. According to media reports, 
the South East Command paid brokers 200,000 kyat ($200) for each child 
soldier they conscripted. Other children were kidnapped.
    The ILO and the UN Children's Fund were the only international 
bodies in the country with a mandate to address the problem of child 
soldiers. The ILO reported there were 201 complaints of cases of child-
soldier recruitment during the year. The Government cooperated with the 
ILO to return 73 underage recruits--40 from complaints received in the 
year and 33 from 2009 cases. There were no reports of harassment of 
persons who complained about child-soldier cases.
    By year's end the ILO had received 331 complaints of underage 
recruitment since it began monitoring the problem in 2007. In response 
the military discharged 142 underage recruits and returned them to 
their families; 120 other cases were in process towards discharge. 
According to the ILO, commercial brokers or military personnel abducted 
the majority of recruits. The ILO reported that the Ministry of Home 
Affairs generally responded favorably once the ILO filed a complaint on 
behalf of a family member. The Government occasionally investigated and 
at times prosecuted the soldiers and brokers involved. In 2009 an army 
captain received a one-year sentence to a civilian prison and dismissal 
from the army for his role in child soldier recruitment; however, most 
military perpetrators, if punished at all, received one to three months 
in a military prison with hard labor, loss of 12 months' seniority for 
pension and promotion rights, salary deductions, and a reprimand. The 
chances of sanction of any type remained limited if the perpetrator was 
in the military. The number of child soldiers recruited likely far 
outnumbered the ones released. There were no reports of prosecutions 
against identified civilian brokers.
    Ethnic militias denied the existence of child soldiers in their 
ranks, although their existence was widely reported.
    According Human Rights Watch, government forces and various armed 
insurgent groups continued widespread and systematic forced recruitment 
of child soldiers.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Other Conflict-Related Abuses.--In Shan and Karen states, military 
forces displaced civilians from their traditional villages--which often 
were burned to the ground--and moved them into settlements tightly 
controlled by government troops in strategic areas. In other cases 
villagers driven from their homes fled into the forest, frequently in 
heavily mined areas, without adequate food, security, or basic medical 
care.
    Between July 18 and 20, according to a human rights group, more 
than 1,000 Karen residents from 10 villages were displaced as 
government troops mounted offensives against the Karen National 
Liberation Army.
    On July 23, the Government army attacked with mortars and then 
burned 50 homes, a school, and a church in Tha Dah Der, a Christian 
village in northern Karen State. More than 600 villagers fled into the 
jungle on the border with Thailand; only 350 had returned at year's 
end. In addition 300 persons from two neighboring villages--Tha Kaw To 
Baw and Ti Mu Der--also fled. According to observers, all persons from 
the two latter villages returned to their homes, which were not 
attacked.
    On November 8, fighting between the Government army and a breakaway 
faction of the DKBA near Myawaddy in Karen State forced thousands of 
civilians to flee their homes. According to some reports, more than 
20,000 refugees crossed the border into Thailand, although sources 
indicated that most returned to their homes shortly thereafter. 
Fighting continued sporadically through year's end.
    Forced relocations generated large migrations to neighboring 
countries or to parts of the country not controlled by the Government 
(see section 2.d.).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The Government severely and 
systematically restricted freedom of speech and press. Authorities 
arrested, detained, convicted, and imprisoned citizens for expressing 
political opinions critical of the Government and for distributing or 
possessing publications in which opposition opinions were expressed. 
Security services also monitored and harassed persons believed to hold 
antigovernment opinions.
    On March 17, the SPDC announced that political parties must seek 
government approval before publishing party materials or broadcasting 
any programs. The same directive subjected electoral publications to 
the 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Act, under which 
disseminating information that criticizes the Government or disturbs 
the peace is punishable by up to seven years in prison.
    On April 17, authorities arrested and reportedly tortured during 
interrogation former political prisoner Maung Zeya and his son, Sithu 
Zeya, for taking photographs at the sites where three bombs exploded 
during the annual Thingyan water festival. The court initially 
sentenced each to two years in prison, although additional charges were 
pending. Authorities sentenced Sithu Zeya to an additional eight years 
on December 21.
    Privately owned media existed, but the Government's Press Scrutiny 
and Registration Division tightly controlled all media and publications 
and took action against any attempt to provide independent 
interpretation or comment on news. The Ministry of Information issued 
licenses to private media publishers as long as the media printed 
government-approved material. The Press Scrutiny Board suspended the 
licenses of newspapers that printed items it deemed objectionable. 
Government agents or supporters held an estimated one-third of private 
media licenses.
    Government scrutiny of the press increased after officials 
announced that elections would be held on November 7. In June the 
Government-controlled Union Election Commission (UEC) released 
guidelines prohibiting political party publication of anything that 
criticized the military, government, or civil service personnel. That 
same month the editor of a local weekly journal complained the censor 
board cut information about the visit of foreign government officials. 
Also in June another journal cancelled publication of an issue after 
suffering heavy cuts by the censorship board, which approved only four 
of the 20 pages it submitted.
    In July the censor board suspended the weekly newspaper The Voice 
for two weeks for publishing an article that allegedly ``misquoted'' 
provisions of the 2008 constitution. Soon thereafter the censor board 
issued a directive to newspapers calling for the ``correct and complete 
quoting of the constitution, electoral laws, and its rules.'' In a 
separate incident, another journal, Flower News Weekly, dropped a legal 
issues section of the newspaper and issued a ``correction'' after being 
pressured by authorities.
    The Government continued to use force or intimidation to prohibit 
all public speech or planned events critical of the regime by all 
persons. The Government pursued this policy consistently with few 
exceptions.
    In contrast with 2009, the Government did not ban ceremonies 
commemorating Human Rights Day. However, human rights activists 
reported that local authorities sought reprisal against the owner of a 
teashop who hosted a ceremony at his home in Pyay.
    The law prohibits the publication or distribution of any printed 
material without obtaining prior approval from the Government. The 
Government controlled content in all print publications, and it owned 
and controlled all domestic radio and television broadcasting 
facilities. The official print and broadcast media were propaganda 
organs of the Government and did not report opposing views except to 
criticize them. The Ministry of Information's Press Scrutiny and 
Registration Division censored all private publications, including 
books. The censorship process for books can take several months or 
several years.
    Reporters were subject to arrest, harassment, intimidation, and 
violence by the authorities and supporters of the regime.
    On January 29, the Rangoon Special Court at Insein Prison sentenced 
reporter Ngwe Soe Lin to 13 years' imprisonment for attempting to 
smuggle information to the exile media.
    Twelve persons, including staff members from The Voice, Foreign 
Affairs, Pyi Myanmar, and Kandarawaddy journals, were arrested in 
October 2009 but were released approximately one month later.
    At year's end approximately 40 journalists were in prison, some 
serving sentences of up to 35 years. Freelance journalist Zaw Tun, 
sentenced to two years in prison in June 2009 for allegedly obstructing 
the work of an official, remained in prison. Sein Win Maung, office 
manager of Myanmar Nation magazine convicted in 2008 for violating the 
Printers and Publishers Act, continued serving a seven-year sentence. 
Myat Swe and his father, Thein Swe, co-owners of the English- and 
Burmese-language weekly newspaper Myanmar Times, reportedly remained in 
prison.
    Poet Saw Wai, arrested in 2008, was freed on May 26.
    The media practiced self-censorship due to fear of government 
reprisal. Publications generally did not report on sensitive economic 
and political topics or local tragedies if they might give a poor 
impression of governance.
    Imported publications remained subject to predistribution 
censorship by state censorship boards, and possession or distribution 
of publications not approved by the censorship boards was a serious 
offense. The Government also restricted the importation of foreign news 
periodicals.
    A few foreign news agencies were present but, except for some 
Chinese, had no expatriates based in the country. Foreign news agency 
bureau chiefs were rarely permitted to enter on journalist visas.
    In March police arrested and expelled a CNN reporter shortly after 
he arrived in Nay Pyi Taw to cover the annual Armed Forces Day 
celebration. Officials gave no explanation. The reporter had previously 
been deported while he was in the country reporting on Cyclone Nargis 
in 2008.
    Due to widespread poverty, limited literacy, and poor 
infrastructure, radio and television remained the primary media of mass 
communication. News periodicals rarely circulated outside of urban 
areas. The Government and government cronies continued to monopolize 
and control the content of the seven privately owned FM radio stations 
and one government-run shortwave radio station. Foreign radio 
broadcasts, such as those of Radio Free Asia, Voice of America, the 
BBC, and Democratic Voice of Burma, remained the principal sources of 
uncensored information.
    The Government continued to monopolize and control all domestic 
television broadcasting. It offered five public channels--four 
controlled by the Ministry of Information (MRTV, MRTV-3, MRTV-4, and 
Myanmar International) and one controlled by the armed forces 
(Myawaddy). The general population was allowed to register satellite 
television receivers for a fee, although it remained far too expensive 
for the majority of persons.
    The 1996 Television and Video Act makes it a criminal offense--
punishable by up to three years in prison--to publish, distribute, or 
possess a videotape not approved by a state censorship board. The 
Government continued to crack down on uncensored foreign videotapes and 
digital videodiscs, although pirated copies remained widely available 
on the street.

    Internet Freedom.--No laws or regulations exist regarding 
monitoring Internet communications or establishing penalties for the 
exercise of freedom of expression via the Internet. However, the 
Government monitored Internet communications and blocked Web sites so 
individuals could not freely engage in such activities. The Electronic 
Transactions Law prohibits Internet users from posting information that 
may undermine the interests and security of the state.
    The Government increased its control of the Internet in advance of 
the November elections. There were reports the Government sought to 
centralize network management in Yadanabon Cyber City (Mandalay Region) 
to make it easier for authorities to monitor electronic communications. 
Some domestic Internet service providers reportedly obtained censorship 
and surveillance equipment. There were also reports that government 
authorities pressured private Internet cafe owners in Rangoon to 
install closed-circuit television cameras and increase staffing to 
monitor patrons and Internet usage. Authorities reportedly claimed 
these new measures were enacted in response to several thwarted bomb 
attacks at Internet cafes in November, although the Government provided 
no evidence of such planned attacks.
    Internet access and usage was extremely limited, due to government 
restrictions and lack of infrastructure. According to the International 
Telecommunication Union, in 2008 0.2 percent of inhabitants used the 
Internet, mostly in cybercafes in cities.
    Authorities frequently blocked access to Web sites attracting many 
users or to large attachments related to political issues. E-mail 
messages sometimes took several days to arrive in a receiver's inbox, 
often with attachments deleted. Citizens believed this was due to the 
regime's censorship of e-mail.
    The Government banned most Web sites critical of the regime and its 
activities. Authorities also blocked access to some popular, free e-
mail services, social networking sites, and blogs as well as to other 
Internet messaging services.
    The Government attempted to block most Web sites containing words 
it considered suspicious, such as Burma, drugs, military government, 
democracy, student movement, 8888, and human rights. Users could 
sometimes reach the home pages of Democratic Voice of Burma and BBC's 
Burma service, but they could not access most articles on the sites. 
Occasionally the Government mistakenly blocked educational or other 
sites when its software detected censored words.
    While the Government rarely charged persons explicitly for 
expressing political, religious, or dissenting views in electronic 
forums, including e-mail, it often charged persons suspected of such 
activities with other crimes.
    On January 7, a court found Win Naing Kyaw, a former military 
officer, guilty of violating the Electronic Transactions Law. He was 
allegedly involved in leaking photographs of a ranking government 
official's visit to North Korea to a Web site run by Burmese 
journalists living in exile.
    Nay Phone Latt (Nay Myo Kyaw), Internet blogger and owner of three 
Internet cafes sentenced in 2008 to 20 years and six months, remained 
in prison.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The Government restricted 
academic freedom. University teachers and professors, most of them 
state employees, were subject to the same restrictions on freedom of 
speech, political activities, and publications as other state 
employees. Teachers could not discuss politics at work, join or support 
political parties, or engage in political activity, and they had to 
obtain advance approval for meetings with foreigners. The Government 
closely monitored curricula and censored course content. Like all other 
state employees, professors and teachers were required to join the 
USDA. However, election laws released during the year prohibited 
government employees, including teachers, from joining political 
parties. While these government employees did not join the political 
party successor of the USDA, the USDP, the Government still pressured 
them to vote for USDP candidates. Foreigners were not permitted to 
visit university campuses without prior approval or attend any meetings 
involving students, including graduation ceremonies.
    To limit the possibility of student unrest, some years ago the 
Government placed undergraduate campuses in remote areas, warned 
teachers and students that disturbances would be dealt with severely, 
and kept most on-campus dormitories closed. Many students opted to use 
self-study or private tutoring.
    The Government tightly controlled the limited number of private 
academic institutions and their curricula. Similar controls extended to 
Buddhist monastery-based schools, Christian seminaries, and Muslim 
madrassahs. In contrast with 2009, there were no reports that the 
Government suppressed private tutoring.
    The Government monitored most cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The law limits freedom of assembly, and the Government 
severely restricted it in practice. A long-standing ordinance 
officially prohibits unauthorized outdoor assemblies of more than five 
persons, although it was not enforced consistently.
    The regime and its supporters routinely used intimidation, 
violence, and the power of arrest to disrupt peaceful demonstrations 
and meetings.

    Freedom of Association.--The Association Law provides for citizens 
to form associations and organizations; however, the Government 
restricted freedom of association, particularly for prodemocracy 
supporters and those who contacted exile groups or individuals thought 
to be associated with groups in exile. A statute prohibits associating 
with any organization that the head of state declares to be unlawful.
    Freedom of association generally existed only for government-
approved organizations, including trade associations, professional 
bodies, and the USDP. Few secular, nonprofit organizations existed, and 
those that did took special care to act in accordance with government 
policy. Forty-seven political parties applied for permission to form 
and register under the Government's highly restrictive electoral laws 
issued in March; the Government ultimately granted permission to 37. 
The Government failed to consider the applications of three parties 
(all ethnic Kachin) and announced the dissolution of 10 parties, 
including the NLD, which refused on principle to register under the 
election laws. The NLD maintained its right to exist as a political 
party because it was registered under previous electoral legislation; 
it filed a suit against the Government for illegally applying electoral 
legislation retroactively to deregister the party. In November the 
Supreme Court declined to admit the party's appeal of its 
deregistration; the NLD stated it would pursue one final level of 
appeal. Authorities and the Government's election commission ensured 
strict control over the activities of newly registered political 
parties.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--There are no laws explicitly 
protecting freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, 
emigration, and repatriation. However, there are regional- and local-
level orders, directives, and instructions restricting freedom of 
movement. The Government did not fully cooperate with the UNHCR and 
other humanitarian organizations in providing protection and assistance 
to internally displaced persons, refugees, returning refugees, asylum 
seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    Although the Government restricted freedom of movement, most 
citizens were able to travel within the country. However, authorities 
closely monitored the movements of some opposition party members. 
Ethnic minority areas previously affected by conflict continued to 
experience strict controls on personal movement, including frequent 
military checkpoints and monitoring by military intelligence.
    The Government restricted the ability of internally displaced 
persons, refugees, and stateless persons to move. In particular the 
Government tightly controlled the movement of Muslim Rohingya, 
especially in Buthidaung, Kyauktaw, Maungdaw, and Rathedaung townships 
along the border with Bangladesh. Muslim youths from Rakhine State 
accepted for admission to universities and medical schools outside the 
state were unable to enroll due to travel restrictions imposed on them. 
The Government also required other noncitizens, primarily ethnic South 
Asians and 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.
    An ordinary citizen needed a passport from the Ministry of Home 
Affairs and a departure form from the Ministry of Immigration and 
Population to travel outside the country. To address the problem of 
trafficking in persons, the Government continued to hinder or restrict 
international travel for women, particularly those less than 25 years 
of age.
    Although there is no law explicitly restricting the foreign travel 
of citizens, the Government carefully scrutinized prospective travel 
abroad of all passport holders. Rigorous control of passport and exit 
visa issuance perpetuated rampant corruption, as applicants were 
sometimes forced to pay bribes of up to 400,000 kyat ($400).
    The Government regularly declined to issue passports to former 
political prisoners, activists, and some local staff of foreign 
embassies. College graduates who obtain a passport (except for certain 
government employees) are required to reimburse the Government for the 
cost of their education. It frequently took several months to receive a 
passport, particularly if the applicant was unwilling to offer a bribe 
as incentive for speedier service.
    The Government permitted foreign diplomats and foreign UN employees 
based in Rangoon to travel outside of Rangoon to designated tourist 
sites without prior permission but with prior notice; all other travel 
required advance permission and was sometimes denied.
    According to the UNHCR in Rangoon, approximately 120,000 Burmese 
refugees lived in camps in Thailand. The regime allowed the UNHCR 
limited access to monitor the potential areas of return to assess 
conditions for the voluntary return of the refugees and internally 
displaced persons, leading UNHCR officials to determine that conditions 
remained unsuitable for their return.
    Approximately 21,000 Rohingya lived as legally registered refugees 
in camps in southeastern Bangladesh, and some NGOs estimated as many as 
500,000 others, who were not registered by either Burmese or 
Bangladeshi authorities, lived outside the camps and in the border 
area. Neither Bangladesh nor Burma claimed the stateless Rohingya 
refugees as citizens.
    There are no provisions for forced exile or restrictions on 
emigration. In general citizens who emigrated legally were allowed to 
return to visit relatives, and some who lived abroad illegally and 
acquired foreign citizenship also were able to return. The Government 
often revoked passports for political reasons.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--According to the UNHCR, there 
were at least 451,000 IDPs in the country as of December, although 
accurate figures were difficult to determine due to poor access to 
affected areas. According to several international organizations, there 
were believed to be several million IDPs, but exact estimates were 
impossible due to lack of international access to certain areas of the 
country. Most international attention continued to focus on the eastern 
region, where conflict and repressive government policies displaced 
hundreds of thousands in the past decade within partial reach of 
international assistance, according to international relief and 
monitoring organizations. The UNHCR estimated there were 450,000 IDPs 
throughout the country at year's end. The Thai-Burma Border Consortium 
estimated at least 470,000 IDPs in the east, of whom 231,000 were in 
temporary settlements in areas administered by ethnic nationalities, 
111,000 were in hiding in remote areas, and 128,000 had followed SPDC 
eviction orders and moved to designated relocation sites. The Karen, 
Shan, Rohingya, and Kayah were the most affected groups. The main 
causes of internal displacement were army offensives against ethnic 
opposition groups, forced relocation and labor, and recruitment of 
child soldiers. The Government provided little or no protection or 
assistance to IDPs, many of whom were forcibly resettled under 
dangerous conditions. Authorities denied humanitarian organizations 
access to many IDPs in eastern regions along the Thai border on 
security grounds. IDPs in these areas regularly suffered hardships as a 
result of fighting between government army and insurgent groups, 
according to credible observers along the border. In addition both 
government army and insurgent groups frequently raped female IDPs, 
according to these observers. Karen IDPs in these areas have remained 
displaced for a number of years.
    According to NGOs, internal conflict in Karen State displaced more 
than 20,000 persons during the year. Heavy fighting broke out near 
Myawaddy on November 8 and continued sporadically at year's end. 
Persons in the area reported that many individuals crossed the border 
into Thailand daily but returned to their homes at night when fighting 
calmed down (see section 1.g.).
    The UN estimated that more than 100,000 persons remained homeless 
after Cyclone Giri struck Rakhine State in September. The UN Human 
Settlements Program reported in June that more than 100,000 families in 
the Irrawaddy Delta remained without adequate shelter following Cyclone 
Nargis in 2008.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is not a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 protocol. The 
law does not provide for the granting of asylum or refugee status, and 
the Government did not grant such status. The Government has not 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice 
the Government did not provide protection against expulsion or return 
of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be 
threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership 
in a particular social group, or political opinion.
    The UNHCR continued to negotiate for permission to work with what 
the Government termed ``communities that are affected by 
displacement.'' Despite the 2007 expiration of the memorandum of 
understanding (MOU) between the Government and the UNHCR, the 
Government continued to allow the UNHCR to provide humanitarian 
assistance to Rohingya in northern Rakhine State, whom the Government 
does not recognize as citizens.
    A separate MOU permitted the UNHCR to work with implementing 
partners in the southeast region, including parts of Karen and Mon 
states and Tanintharyi Division. Under the MOU, authorities permitted 
UNHCR foreign personnel to monitor their project activities in the 
region.

    Stateless Persons.--Citizenship is granted to anyone whose parents 
are both nationals of the country as prescribed by law. In practice the 
Government did not implement laws and policies to provide stateless 
persons the opportunity to gain nationality on a nondiscriminatory 
basis.
    There are 135 officially recognized ``national races'' who qualify 
for citizenship. Some members of native-born but so-called 
nonindigenous ethnic populations, such as Chinese, Indians, Bengalis, 
some Eurasians, and the country's Rohingya population, are not included 
in the list and are denied the full benefits of citizenship based on 
their nonindigenous ancestry. Of these, the Muslim Rohingya fared the 
worst, with nearly all Rohingya denied any benefits of citizenship.
    According to the UNHCR, there were approximately 724,000 legally 
stateless persons, mostly Rohingya, residing in northern Rakhine State 
near the border with Bangladesh. The Government does not recognize the 
existence of the Rohingya ethnicity and claims the Muslim residents of 
northern Rakhine State are the descendents of illegal immigrants from 
Bangladesh who moved into the country during British colonial rule. The 
Government consistently denied citizenship to most Rohingya on the 
grounds their ancestors did not reside in the country for one year 
prior to the start of British colonial rule in 1824, as required by the 
highly restrictive citizenship law. Only Rohingya who were able to 
prove long familial links to the country were eligible to apply for 
naturalization.
    Rohingya experienced severe legal, economic, and social 
discrimination. The Government required them to receive prior approval 
for travel outside their village tract of residence, limited their 
access to higher education, and prohibited them from working as civil 
servants, including as doctors, nurses, or teachers. Authorities 
required Rohingya to obtain official permission for marriages.
    The Government claimed it continued a program originally supported 
by the UNHCR to issue Temporary Registration Cards (TRCs) to stateless 
persons in Rakhine State. However, for years the UNHCR has not been 
able to obtain statistics from the Government on the issuance of TRCs 
in northern Rakhine State, where the majority of Rohingya live.
    In previous years Rohingya without temporary identification cards 
did not have the right to vote in the constitutional referendum. 
However, in late July and August organizers of the progovernment USDP 
and ward authorities in various parts of the country reportedly offered 
national registration cards (NRCs) to individuals in exchange for 
joining the USDP. The Government requires citizens over the age of 18 
to produce NRCs when they travel, enroll in universities, and vote. 
There also were reports that Deputy Minister for Home Affairs (MOHA) 
Brigadier General Phone Swe (retired) went to Rakhine State in July to 
issue citizenship scrutiny cards (CSCs), which serve a similar role as 
NRCs in that they prove citizenship and allow access to services, to 
Muslims who agreed to join the USDP. However, after some Muslims joined 
the USDP, MOHA reportedly reneged, instead issuing a TRC, which does 
not serve as proof of citizenship. To get the more useful CSC, 
authorities reportedly told Muslims they must pay a bribe of up to 
250,000 kyat ($250) to local immigration authorities.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The regime continued its systematic use of coercion and 
intimidation to deny citizens the right to change their government. The 
regime continued to prevent the parliament elected in 1990 from 
convening.
    The 2008 constitution--not yet in force at year's end--provides for 
popularly elected legislators to a bicameral parliament; however, it 
stipulates that at least 25 percent of the seats must be reserved for 
military members appointed by the uniformed commander in chief of 
Defense Services. It also bars many persons from office who had not 
resided in the country for at least 10 consecutive years prior to 
election, had prior misconduct the regime deemed disqualifying, 
accepted assistance from a foreign government, or were entitled to 
citizenship of a foreign nation. Additionally, by the constitution's 
own terms, the SPDC will continue to ``exercise state sovereignty'' 
until the parliament is convened, which was scheduled for January 31, 
2011.
    Since 1962 active-duty military officers have occupied the most 
important positions in the central government and in local governments, 
and the regime placed active-duty or retired military officers in 
senior-level positions in almost every ministry. Active-duty or retired 
military officers occupied 30 of 33 ministerial-level posts, including 
prime minister and the mayoral posts in Rangoon, Mandalay, and the 
administrative capital Nay Pyi Taw.
    In April and August, senior-level military officers, including all 
supraregional and regional commanders, reportedly retired from the 
military to prepare to contest the November 7 elections. The prime 
minister, who previously held the rank of general in the army, and 
others retained their cabinet positions. In late August there was a 
massive reshuffle of top military positions. Many senior generals 
retired from the military, with other generals assuming those commands. 
Than Shwe and some others remained on active duty in the military and 
retained their senior government positions.

    Elections and Political Participation.--The country held its first 
election in 20 years on November 7. Electoral laws, published on March 
8, are based on the flawed 2008 constitution. Under the laws political 
parties were required to compete under highly restrictive conditions 
that limited campaign activities, imposed relatively high candidate 
fees, and gave unusually broad powers to a government-appointed UEC to 
control the activities of political parties and their members.
    In early August the UEC announced there would be 330 township-based 
constituencies of the lower house (People's Parliament), 168 
constituencies of the upper house (National Parliament), and 665 
constituencies of the regional/state parliaments. One-quarter of all 
national and regional parliamentary seats were reserved for military 
appointees. All levels of parliament were scheduled to convene on 
January 31, 2011. A joint session of the upper and lower houses--the 
Union Assembly--was to convene within 15 days of that date. In addition 
the upper and lower houses each were to select a vice president, the 
military members of both the upper and lower houses would select a 
third vice president, and the entire bicameral parliament would select 
the president from among the three vice presidents. The constitution 
provides for the military to take over the Government should the 
president, who must have a military background, judge the security 
situation to be unstable.
    After announcing the election date, the Government gave registered 
political parties approximately two weeks' notice to submit names of 
their candidates. Many political parties complained that the 
Government's short notice did not provide them sufficient time to find 
candidates and identify constituencies in which they would contest 
seats.
    Individual members of some prodemocratic opposition parties used 
their own money to conduct campaign activities because restrictive laws 
made it difficult for candidates to raise money legally. The 
registration fee of 500,000 kyat ($500) per candidate was well above 
the means of the average citizen.
    The leader of one prodemocracy opposition party resigned in protest 
because he believed the elections would not be free and fair. Other 
parties, including the NLD, opted not to participate in the elections 
from the beginning. Parties accused the UEC of forwarding their party 
membership lists to SB police, who then visited party members at their 
homes on instruction from high-level SPDC officials. The SB reportedly 
requested members' biographies and two passport-size photographs.
    The UEC did not approve the registration of three ethnic Kachin 
political parties, reportedly because of past ties to the Kachin 
Independence Army cease-fire group, which had refused to integrate into 
the Government army-dominated Border Guard Force. In September the UEC 
announced elections would not be held in some ethnic areas, reportedly 
because of tensions over Border Guard Force problems.
    The Government-backed USDP, headed by the prime minister, drew upon 
the resources of the Government and government-affiliated businesses 
and reportedly bribed, coerced, and intimidated citizens into signing 
up for membership. It fielded candidates in nearly all constituencies. 
The USDP began its unofficial election campaign in late 2009, earlier 
than any other parties were permitted to engage in campaign activity.
    The constitution specifies the SPDC will continue to ``exercise 
state sovereignty'' and ``carry out. . . all the functions of the 
parliament'' until the new parliament is convened. According to senior 
government officials, the SPDC would disband after the new government 
was in place.
    The Government maintained tight control over the operations of 
political parties and political opponents' rights to organize and 
publicize their views. Persons who opposed the Government were 
subjected to imprisonment, violence, and harassment, including members 
of parties campaigning in the elections, despite assurances from the 
Government that the process would be free and fair.
    On September 14, the Government declared that the NLD and all other 
parties that did not reregister according to SPDC-issued electoral laws 
ceased to exist as political entities.
    In the November elections, the Government-backed USDP, whose 
candidates included cabinet ministers and other high-ranking government 
and military officials, won approximately 77 percent of all seats, with 
a reported 77 percent voter turnout. There were widespread complaints 
by prodemocratic and ethnic political parties of election fraud, 
especially around the use of highly suspect ``advance votes'' by the 
USDP. Some ethnic political parties fared well at the regional level. 
It was unclear what policy role the newly elected parliament would 
play.
    Ethnic cease-fire groups--many of which have agreements with the 
Government--were threatened with military action unless they agreed to 
come under control of the military through its Border Guard Force and 
agreed to participate in the elections.
    No women were in the senior ranks of political leadership. Members 
of certain minority groups were denied a role in government and 
politics. There were no female or ethnic minority members of the SPDC, 
cabinet, or Supreme Court.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides for criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government rarely and inconsistently enforced the 
anticorruption statute, and officials frequently engaged in corrupt 
practices with impunity. A complex and capricious regulatory 
environment fostered corruption. Authorities usually enforced 
anticorruption laws only when the regime's senior generals wanted to 
take action against officials whose egregious corruption had become an 
embarrassment or when they wanted to punish officials deemed a threat 
to the senior generals' power.
    Police corruption was a serious problem. Police typically required 
victims to pay substantial sums for crime investigations and routinely 
extorted money from the civilian population.
    Public officials were not subject to financial disclosure laws. The 
Government did not provide access to most official documents, and there 
is no law allowing for it. Most government data, even routine economic 
statistics, were classified or tightly 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.
Section 5. 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 hostile to outside scrutiny of 
its human rights record.
    More than 60 nonpolitical, international humanitarian NGOs operated 
in the country. A few others had a provisional presence while 
undertaking the protracted negotiations necessary to establish 
permanent operations in the country.
    The Government maintained travel restrictions on foreign 
journalists, NGO staff, UN agency staff, and diplomats in most 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. The Government's monitoring of 
the movements of foreigners, frequent interrogation of citizens 
concerning contacts with foreigners, restrictions on the freedom of 
expression and association of citizens, and practice of arresting 
citizens who passed information about government human rights abuses to 
foreigners obstructed efforts to investigate such 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.
    Authorities often allowed NGO staff to travel ``unaccompanied'' to 
areas affected by Cyclone Nargis in 2008 and 2009, although SB police 
monitored many visits. The work of the Tripartite Core Group--composed 
of the UN, the Association of South East Asian Nations, and the 
Government--formed to address Cyclone Nargis-related matters, ended in 
July. In August a senior government official declared the recovery 
period over, and the Government announced more restrictive policies 
regarding NGO travel and activities in cyclone-affected areas. Some 
international NGOs and UN agencies were required to have a government 
representative accompany them on field visits to other areas of the 
country, at the NGO or UN expense, although this rule was not 
consistently enforced. Foreign staff often experienced difficulty 
obtaining permission to travel to project sites outside of the cyclone-
affected areas.
    Many international humanitarian NGOs and UN agencies reported 
government pressure to limit their activities, and access to human 
rights activists, prisoners, and ethnic minorities by international 
personnel was highly restricted. The Government reportedly asked some 
personnel of international organizations to go on leave outside the 
country and not to return until after the elections. Employees of these 
international organizations reported difficulty getting the Government 
to approve long-term visas. UN agencies and NGOs continued to negotiate 
with the Government to agree on mutually acceptable guidelines for the 
activities of humanitarian organizations.
    On February 15-19, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights for Burma 
Tomas Ojea Quintana visited the country. He met with several political 
prisoners at Insein Prison (Rangoon), Butheedaung Prison (Rakhine 
State), and Sittwe Prison (Rakhine State). He also met with 
representatives from several progovernment cease-fire groups in Rangoon 
and with government officials in Nay Pyi Taw. Quintana concluded there 
persisted a pattern of gross and systematic human rights violations 
that had continued for many years involving government officials in the 
military and judiciary at all levels.
    The Government generally was resistant to attempts by senior UN 
officials to visit the country.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The SPDC continued to rule by decree and was not bound by any 
constitutional or statutory provisions concerning discrimination based 
on race, gender, disability, language, or social status.

    Women.--Rape is illegal, but the Government did not enforce the law 
effectively. If the victim is under 14 years of age, the sexual act is 
considered rape, with or without consent. In such cases the maximum 
sentence is two years' imprisonment when the victim is between ages 12 
and 14, and 10 years' to life imprisonment when the victim is under 12. 
Spousal rape is not a crime unless the wife is under 14.
    The regime did not release statistics concerning the number of rape 
prosecutions and convictions. The police generally opened and 
investigated reported cases of rape. However, in ethnic areas, when 
government soldiers committed rape, the army rarely took action to 
punish those responsible.
    Domestic violence against women, including spousal abuse, remained 
a problem. Spousal abuse or domestic violence was difficult to measure 
because the Government did not maintain statistics. There are no laws 
specifically against domestic violence or spousal abuse (including 
spousal rape), although there are laws related to committing bodily 
harm against another person. The related prison terms range from one 
year to life, in addition to possible fines.
    Police generally were reluctant to act in domestic violence cases; 
however, in cases where women sustained injuries and filed a report, 
police generally took action. Punishment for men in these cases 
typically was a fine but no imprisonment. The Government-affiliated 
Myanmar Women's Affairs Federation (MWAF)--usually chaired by the wife 
of the prime minister--sometimes lobbied local authorities, including 
the police, to investigate domestic violence cases involving spousal 
abuse. Since the MWAF was controlled by wives of regime leaders, police 
usually investigated cases referred to them by the group.
    The penal code prohibits sexual harassment and imposes fines or up 
to one year's imprisonment. There was no information on the prevalence 
of the problem because these crimes were largely unreported.
    Couples and individuals had the right to decide the number, 
spacing, and timing of children. The Government has pronatalist 
policies but allows for government and private-sector clinicians to 
provide contraceptives under the banner of ``birth spacing.'' There was 
a significant unmet need for family planning, and the most commonly 
reported barrier to accessing family planning services was cost and 
availability. Reproductive health services, including the availability 
of contraceptives, generally were limited to private clinics. Health 
authorities heavily regulated distribution of contraceptives. Community 
health workers were only allowed to advise on condoms. A client must be 
seen by a midwife to get injectables or oral contraceptive pills. With 
an acute shortage of midwives, this impeded access and prevalence. 
According to data gathered by the UN in Rangoon, the estimated maternal 
mortality ratio in the year was 240 per 100,000 live births. Women and 
men were given equal access to diagnostic services and treatment for 
sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
    By law women enjoy the same legal rights as men, including property 
and inheritance rights; however, it was not clear if the Government 
enforced the law. Women remained underrepresented in most traditionally 
male occupations (e.g., mining, forestry, carpentry, masonry, and 
fishing) and were effectively barred from certain professions, 
including the military officer corps. Poverty affected women 
disproportionately.
    There were no registered, independent women's rights organizations, 
although there were several groups with some relationship to the 
Government. The MWAF was the leading ``nongovernmental'' women's 
organization. The Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Association, 
another government-controlled agency, provided basic health assistance 
to mothers and children. The Myanmar Women Entrepreneurs' Association, 
a professional society for businesswomen, provided loans to women 
starting new businesses. While not controlled by the Government, the 
entrepreneurs' association enjoyed good relations with the Government 
and was allowed to conduct its activities to support women in business.

    Children.--By law citizenship is derived through parents, both of 
whom must be nationals of the country. In major cities (e.g., Rangoon 
and Mandalay), birth registration was not a problem for most Burmans 
who sought it. In these larger cities, births must be registered to 
qualify for basic public services and obtain national identification 
cards. In smaller towns and villages, birth registration was often 
informal, sometimes just the village midwife recording births in a 
notebook; however, it was unclear what the midwife did with that 
information. Access to public services in such remote communities often 
was not a problem, since the Government provided little service to 
these areas. The only exception to the examples above was the Rohingya 
community, where birth registration was a significant problem (see 
section 2.d.).
    By law education is compulsory, free, and universal through the 
fourth standard (approximately age 10). However, the Government 
continued to allocate minimal resources to public education, and 
schools routinely charged informal fees. Rates of school attendance 
were low, largely due to economic hardship.
    There are laws prohibiting child abuse, but they were neither 
adequate nor enforced. The Government claimed child abuse was not a 
significant problem. However, accurate statistics were not available, 
and some international NGOs believed the problem was more widespread 
than the Government acknowledged.
    The 1993 Child Law contains many provisions to protect children 
from abuse, sale, and other types of exploitation. The punishment for 
violators is up to two years' imprisonment or a fine of up to 10,000 
kyat ($10).
    Children reportedly engaged in prostitution for survival without 
third-party involvement. The penalty for child prostitution is 10 
years' imprisonment. The law prohibits pornography; the penalty is 
three to five years' imprisonment. The law prohibits statutory rape, 
punishable by two years to life in prison. In Rangoon and Mandalay, 
observers noted widespread presence of female prostitutes who appeared 
to be in their teens. Additionally, some brothels reportedly offered 
young teenage ``virgins'' to their customers for a substantial 
additional fee. Although there is no law explicitly banning child sex 
tourism, article 13 of the 1949 Suppression of Prostitution Act and the 
Prostitution Act prohibit pimping and prostitution, respectively, and 
the penal code prohibits having sex with a minor.
    The Government did not dedicate significant resources to protecting 
the rights and welfare of children. Children were at high risk, as 
deteriorating economic conditions forced destitute parents to take them 
out of school to work in factories and teashops or to beg. Many were 
placed in orphanages. With few or no skills, increasing numbers of 
children worked in the informal economy or in the street, where they 
were exposed to drugs and petty crime, risk of arrest, trafficking for 
sex and labor exploitation, and HIV/AIDS.
    The mortality rate of internally displaced children in conflict 
areas was significantly higher than in the rest of the country. In 
addition such children had few learning resources.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was one synagogue in Rangoon serving a small 
Jewish congregation. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--There is no law providing for equal 
treatment before the law and for general protection against 
discrimination, including discrimination against persons with 
disabilities. Under the constitution all citizens have the right to 
education and health care. The Government did not actively discriminate 
against persons with disabilities in employment, access to healthcare, 
education, or the provision of other state services or other areas, but 
there were few official resources to assist persons with disabilities. 
There are no laws mandating accessibility to buildings, public 
transportation, or government facilities.
    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 operated three 
schools for the blind, two for the deaf, two rehabilitation centers for 
adults with disabilities, and two for children with disabilities. 
However, the Government provided inadequate funds for its schools and 
programs for persons with disabilities.
    Military veterans with disabilities received benefits on a priority 
basis, usually a civil service job at equivalent pay. Official 
assistance to nonmilitary persons with disabilities in principle 
included two-thirds of pay for up to one year for a temporary 
disability and a tax-free stipend for permanent disability; however, 
the Government did not provide job protection for private-sector 
workers who became disabled.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Ethnic minorities constitute 
approximately 30 to 40 percent of the population, and the seven ethnic 
states make up approximately 60 percent of the national territory. 
Wide-ranging governmental and societal discrimination against 
minorities persisted. Tension between the Government army and ethnic 
populations remained high; the army occupied some ethnic groups' 
territories and controlled certain cities, towns, and highways. Abuses 
included reported killings, beatings, torture, forced labor, forced 
relocations, and rapes of members of ethnic groups by government 
soldiers. Some armed ethnic groups also may have committed abuses, but 
on a much smaller scale than the Government army (see section 1.g.).
    Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State were discriminated against 
because of their ethnicity. Most faced severe restrictions on their 
ability to travel, engage in economic activity, obtain an education, 
and register births, deaths, and marriages (see section 2.d.).
    Ethnic minority groups generally used their own languages at home. 
However, throughout all parts of the country controlled by the 
Government, including ethnic minority areas, Burmese remained the 
mandatory language of instruction in state schools, and teaching in 
local languages was not offered. 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.
    The Government continued to resettle groups of ethnic Burmans in 
various ethnic minority areas. During the year the Government 
reportedly resettled groups of ethnic Burmans in Maungdaw and 
Butheedaung townships in Rakhine State, giving them farmland 
confiscated from Rohingya residents.
    During the year there were several reports of ethnic villages being 
displaced for economic development, such as the Myitsone Dam project in 
Kachin State.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The penal code contains 
provisions against ``sexually abnormal'' behavior, and authorities 
applied them to charge gay men and lesbians who drew official 
attention. The maximum sentence is 20 years' imprisonment and a fine. 
Under the penal code, laws against ``unnatural offenses'' apply equally 
to both men and women. Nonetheless, such persons had a certain degree 
of protection through societal traditions.
    There was no official or social discrimination based on sexual 
orientation in employment.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There existed 
discrimination against HIV-positive patients, although HIV activists 
reported that awareness campaigns helped to reduce discrimination and 
stigma. Some persons reportedly were reluctant to visit clinics that 
treat HIV/AIDS patients for fear of being suspected of having the 
disease.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law permits workers to form trade 
unions with the prior consent of the Government; however, no free trade 
unions existed in the country. Domestic and internationally affiliated 
unions are not allowed, nor is individual membership in unions.
    The Government maintained its 2006 ruling criminalizing contact 
with the Federation of Trade Unions-Burma (FTUB), claiming it was a 
``terrorist group.''
    The Government forbids seafarers who found work on foreign vessels 
through the Seafarers Employment Control Division from having contact 
with the Seafarers' Union of Burma--affiliated with the Government-
banned FTUB--or the International Transport Workers' Federation.
    In June an individual active in assisting victims of forced labor 
applied to form a trade union but was warned by police he would be 
arrested if he persisted in forming ``an illegal organization.'' The 
individual did not pursue the application and remained free at year's 
end.
    Several FTUB leaders and labor activists were freed in 2009 after 
serving long-term sentences, including FTUB Central Executive Committee 
members Myo Aung Thant, U Thein Aung, Kyi Thein, and Chaw Su Hlaing. 
However, the whereabouts of Khin Maung Win, Ma Khin Mar Soe, Ma Thein 
Thein Aye, U Aung Moe Tin Oo, U Tin Hla, and 10 FTUB organizers in the 
Bago area were unknown at year's end.
    Six labor activists--Thurein Aung, Kyaw Kyaw, Wai Lin (Wai Aung), 
Nyi Nyi Zaw, Kyaw Win (Wanna), and Myo Min--arrested in connection with 
a labor rights seminar in Rangoon and sentenced in 2007 to 20 to 28 
years' imprisonment for sedition remained in prison. Labor activists 
Kan Mint and Nyunt Win, arrested and tried in 2008 on a number of 
charges, including links with exiled groups and sedition, were 
sentenced to 11 and one-half years' and 10 years' imprisonment in 
December 2008, respectively. At year's end five of the six labor 
activists remained in prison; the whereabouts of Khin Maung Cho, 
arrested in 2008, were unknown.
    Labor activists reported at the International Labor Conference that 
32 labor activists, including eight FTUB female members, remained 
imprisoned.
    Although the law prohibits labor strikes, a number of strikes took 
place at privately owned factories in Rangoon area industrial zones 
during the year. These were all of short duration, lasting less than a 
day on average. By all reports these were prompted by workers seeking 
wage increases or other benefits. In each case the strike was ended 
through a negotiated settlement. The Government closely monitored the 
strikes but did not use force to end them and appeared to have played a 
role in mediating between labor and factory management.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Although the 
2008 constitution provides that workers have a right to organize and 
have workers' representatives, the Government generally does not allow 
workers to organize or bargain collectively. However, workers' 
supervision committees existed at factories in some government-
designated industrial zones to address grievances. When a dispute 
cannot be resolved at the factory level, it is referred to a township 
committee chaired by the township chairman. The township committee 
attempts to resolve the problem through negotiation or, if necessary, 
arbitration. During the period a dispute is before the supervision 
committee process, the workers are required to continue their work, and 
demonstrations are prohibited.
    There are no export processing zones; however, there are special 
military-owned industrial parks. Labor laws are applicable in all 
industrial zones and across all industries, but they were not always 
enforced.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The SPDC 
Supplementary Order 2004 and Ministry of Home Affairs Order 1/99 
prohibit forced or compulsory labor (except as a criminal punishment); 
however, there were reports that such practices occurred. The law 
provides for the punishment of persons who impose forced labor on 
others. However, government and military use of forced or compulsory 
labor remained a widespread and serious problem, particularly targeting 
members of ethnic minority groups. Throughout the country international 
observers verified that the Government routinely forced citizens to 
work on roads, construction, and other maintenance projects. Citizens 
also were forced to work in military-owned industrial zones.
    The ILO continued to receive and investigate forced labor 
complaints. During the year the ILO received 201complaints of cases of 
child-soldier recruitment, an increase from 86 cases in 2009. Since the 
ILO began monitoring underage recruitment in 2007, it has received 331 
complaints. At year's end a total of 142 underage recruits had returned 
to their families, and 120 cases were being processed for discharge. A 
further 60 cases were under review, while nine lacked sufficient 
evidence to advance.
    The ILO reported one complaint in 2009 of internal trafficking of 
100 boys ages 13 to 15 for forced labor at a horticultural plantation. 
The boy who reported the case was initially abducted in Rangoon 
Division and taken to the plantation. According to the ILO, the boy 
escaped the plantation during the year and was home with his family; at 
year's end the status of the other boys was unknown.
    The Government's use of forced labor in support of military 
garrisons or military operations remained serious in ethnic or 
religious minority regions.
    On January 2, SPDC soldiers demanded that 30 villagers from Klaw Mi 
Der in Karen State retrieve rations from an SPDC base. The soldiers 
forced 10 women and 20 men to make the two-hour round trip journey on 
foot; they were not compensated for their work. On January 12, 
government soldiers ordered villagers to porter rations for eight 
hours, according to the Karen Human Rights Group. On February 9, light 
infantry battalions forced 30 male villagers to porter rations six 
hours in Karen State.
    In May in Rangoon, the Government reportedly forced some villagers 
to work on a road construction project for six days. Each person who 
refused had to pay a fine of 2,000 kyat ($2) per day.
    In June there were reports that 40 villagers were forced to act as 
security for a camp of 180 government soldiers searching for Arakan 
Liberation Army members and six government army defectors. The 
villagers also had to carry the soldiers' uniforms, backpacks, 
ammunition, and other equipment.
    Authorities continued to use forced labor countrywide to maintain 
existing civil infrastructure, including transportation and irrigation 
facilities. 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.
    During the year the Government released most Magwe farmers 
sentenced to hard labor in October 2009 on charges of trespassing after 
returning to land confiscated by the Government; however, an ILO 
facilitator and another individual connected with the case remained in 
prison at year's end.
    Although the Government took steps to address forced labor, it 
remained widespread. In February the Government agreed to extend the 
Supplementary Understanding of 2007 with the ILO, an agreement under 
which the ILO receives forced-labor complaints, the Government 
investigates such complaints, and the Government works with the ILO to 
engage in awareness-raising activities. The Government willingly 
participated in some joint investigations of forced-labor cases; 
however, the ILO reported rare instances of persons who had filed 
complaints later being charged under the Official Secrets Acts.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law sets a minimum age of 13 for the employment of children. The 1993 
Child Law provides for the protection of children in the workplace by 
classifying children ages 14 to 17 as youths and allowing them to 
engage in light duties. Light duties are not defined, however, and in 
practice the Child Law was not enforced. Child labor was prevalent and 
highly visible. In cities child workers were found mostly in the food-
processing, street-vending, refuse-collecting, and light-manufacturing 
industries and as restaurant and teashop attendants. In rural areas 
children routinely worked in family agricultural activities.
    Forced labor, including child forced labor, is illegal under Order 
199. Nonetheless, the Government army continued to recruit and use 
child soldiers. Ethnic armed groups and some cease-fire groups also 
allegedly recruited child soldiers (see section 1.g.).
    According to media reports, a child soldier who was illegally 
recruited by an army officer in 2007 at the age of 14 was officially 
discharged from the army in June with the help of ILO. The child 
reported that officers and older soldiers bullied and beat child 
soldiers, would not allow them to receive medical treatment, and put 
them on the front lines during battles. Following battle, child 
soldiers were required to do chores and were not permitted to rest.
    The Ministry of Social Welfare is broadly responsible for enforcing 
laws and regulations against forced labor, and the Ministry of Labor 
enforced the law in industrial zones. The UN Children's Fund continued 
to work with the Ministry of Labor to facilitate several interagency 
meetings and workshops on the protection of children.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Only government employees and 
employees of a few traditional industries were covered by minimum wage 
provisions. The Ministry of Finance and Revenue sets the minimum wage. 
It was not clear what methodology or process it uses. The minimum 
monthly wage for salaried public employees remained on par with the 
market monthly wage of 30,000 to 45,000 kyat ($30 to $45) for what was 
in effect an eight-hour workday. The rate for day laborers was 1,000 
kyat ($1) per day. 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 real wages in the public sector fostered widespread 
corruption and absenteeism. In the private sector, urban laborers 
performing unskilled work earned 1,000 to 3,000 kyat ($1 to $3) per 
day, while rural agricultural workers generally earned less. Skilled 
workers in the private sector tended to earn somewhat more than rural 
agricultural workers and urban laborers; for example, a skilled factory 
worker earned 30,000 to 50,000 kyat ($30 to $50) per month, according 
to private-sector employers.
    A surplus of labor, a poor economy, and the lack of protection by 
the Government continued to foster substandard conditions for workers. 
The law prescribes a five-day, 35-hour workweek for employees in the 
public sector and a six-day, 44-hour workweek for private sector 
employees, with overtime paid for additional work. Factory workers at 
state-owned enterprises must work 44 to 48 hours per week, depending on 
the type of factory. The law also allows for a 24-hour rest period per 
week, and workers are permitted 21 paid holidays per year; however, in 
practice such provisions benefited only a small portion of the labor 
force, since most workers were engaged in rural agriculture or the 
informal sector. The laws were generally enforced in the Government 
sector, but there were frequent violations by private enterprises. 
There were reports that workers at garment factories near Rangoon were 
forced to work long hours without receiving overtime pay and were 
dismissed for being absent from work for more than three days due to 
sickness.
    Numerous health and safety regulations exist, but the Government 
did not enforce them. Although the law permits workers to remove 
themselves from hazardous conditions, many could not expect to retain 
their jobs if they did so and accepted unfavorable working conditions 
as preferable to unemployment.

                               __________

                                CAMBODIA

    Cambodia is a constitutional monarchy with an elected government 
and a population of approximately 14 million. In the most recent 
national elections, held in 2008, the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), 
led by Prime Minister Hun Sen, won 90 of 123 National Assembly seats. 
Most observers assessed that the election process improved over 
previous elections but did not fully meet international standards. The 
CPP consolidated control of the three branches of government and other 
national institutions, with most power concentrated in the hands of the 
prime minister. Although civilian authorities nominally controlled the 
security forces, in many instances security forces acted under 
directives of CPP leadership.
    Members of security forces committed arbitrary killings and acted 
with impunity. Detainees were abused, often to extract confessions, and 
prison conditions were harsh. Human rights monitors reported arbitrary 
arrests and prolonged pretrial detention, underscoring a weak judiciary 
and denial of the right to a fair trial. Land disputes and forced 
evictions, sometimes violent, continued. The Government restricted 
freedom of speech and of the press through defamation and 
disinformation lawsuits and at times interfered with freedom of 
assembly. Corruption was endemic. Civil society expressed significant 
concern that the draft Law on Associations and Nongovernmental 
Organizations (NGOs) could seriously constrain the ability of NGOs to 
operate. Domestic violence and child abuse occurred, education of 
children was inadequate, and trafficking in women and children 
persisted. The Government offered little assistance to persons with 
disabilities. Antiunion activity by employers and weak enforcement of 
labor laws continued, and child labor in the informal sector 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 that the Government or its agents committed politically 
motivated killings; however, security forces reportedly committed 
arbitrary killings, although fewer than in previous years.
    The NGO Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) 
reported 12 arbitrary killings, four of which were allegedly committed 
by police, three by military police officers, and five by soldiers. 
Police arrested suspects in three cases.
    On January 10, a local human rights organization reported that two 
commune police officers in Kandal Province, Chil Sarath and Sun Vantha, 
beat Lon Chhun Leng. The victim subsequently died from his injuries. 
The perpetrators reportedly had a public dispute with the victim 
earlier the same evening at a wedding party. The victim's family filed 
a complaint with the provincial court. At year's end, the case was 
pending, no hearing date had been set, and the two commune police 
officers remained free.
    On March 22, a group of police officers led by Nov Hach, police 
chief of Me Sang District in Prey Veng Province, reportedly shot 
Chhoeun Chheang during an arrest attempt. In 2005 the provincial court 
had convicted Chhoeun in absentia on robbery charges and issued a 
warrant for his arrest. According to a local human rights organization, 
police reportedly were carrying out the warrant when the victim was 
shot and then abandoned; he subsequently died from his wounds. There 
was no reported investigation of the shooting.
    On April 16, Sok Ry, deputy police chief of Trapeang Phlong commune 
in Kampong Cham Province, allegedly shot robbery suspect Horm Vanda 
during an arrest attempt. The victim's family filed a complaint with 
the provincial court. At year's end, the case was pending, no hearing 
date had been set, and the deputy police chief remained free.
    On April 26, community activist Pech Sophon was shot and killed in 
front of his house in Samlot District in Battambang Province by a group 
of unknown persons. According to a local human rights organization, the 
victim was an active leader in his community's land dispute with local 
authorities, the military, and a private company. Police investigated 
the killing but did not release information about the investigation.
    On July 20, the appeals court upheld the decision of the Takeo 
Provincial Court to dismiss a complaint made by the family of fisherman 
Mao Sok, who died in March 2009 while in custody of the Takeo 
Provincial Fishery Department.
    There were no developments in the following cases: the April 2009 
death of Kong La while in custody of the Mong Russei District police in 
Battambang Province; the June 2009 death of Loeung Saroeun, who was 
immolated by a soldier in the military's 14th Intervention Brigade in 
Pursat Province; and the July 2009 death of Soy Sokhorn, who was shot 
and killed by a Phnom Penh military police officer.
    There were no developments in the following 2008 cases: the killing 
of Buern Soksina in Preah Vihear Province, the death resulting from a 
beating by security forces of a villager in Preah Vihear Province, the 
death of a bystander in Phnom Penh shot by a military police officer, 
the deaths of former CPP activist Cheang Sorm and Norodom Ranariddh 
Party deputy chief Sok Run, or the killing of journalist Khem Sambo and 
his son.
    Mines dating from the Indochina conflict and Khmer Rouge period 
continued to cause casualties. According to the Cambodia Mine/UXO 
Victim Information System, from January to November, mines and 
unexploded ordnance caused 70 deaths, 41 amputations, and 149 other 
injuries. The Government's Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance 
Authority continued to take steps to prevent civilian casualties caused 
by land mines and unexploded ordnance, including a mine clearance 
program and distribution of prevention materials such as leaflets, 
books, and signs. Information about the danger of mines and unexploded 
ordnance is a mandatory component of student curriculum in public 
schools, and provincial mine-action units conducted regular meetings 
with villagers at the commune and village levels to share information.
    On March 25, a mob attacked three men after the three allegedly hit 
two young women and stole their motorbike in Phnom Penh. According to 
press reports, police initially chased and subdued the three suspects, 
but then a mob of more than 400 persons forcibly removed the suspects 
from police custody and attacked them with sticks, steel pipes, and 
rocks, killing two. Police stood by throughout the incident. The mob 
left for dead the third man, Sok Siek, but he regained consciousness, 
and police arrested him and charged him with robbery. Police declared 
that they could not investigate the case of mob violence, because there 
were too many persons involved and no way to determine who was 
responsible, despite photographs of the attack.
    During the year local organizations reported at least two other mob 
killings.
    There were no developments in the February 2009 killing of Hang 
Heoun, accused of sorcery, in Sandan District, Kampong Thom Province. 
The seven alleged perpetrators remained in pretrial detention, and no 
trial date was set.
    There were no developments in two other mob killings reported in 
2009 or the two mob killings in 2008.

    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, 
beatings and other forms of physical mistreatment of police detainees 
and prison inmates continued, although the number of incidents 
decreased from 2009.
    There were credible reports that military and civilian police 
officials used physical and psychological torture and on occasion 
severely beat criminal detainees, particularly during interrogation. 
During the year nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported that 
authorities allegedly tortured at least 111 prisoners: 93 in police 
custody and 18 in prisons. Kicking, punching, and pistol whipping were 
the most common methods of physical abuse, but techniques also included 
electric shock, suffocation, caning, and whipping with wire. The NGOs 
reported that it was not uncommon for police to torture detained 
suspects until they confessed to a crime. Courts used forced 
confessions as legal evidence during trial despite admissibility 
prohibitions under the law.
    On February 5, two persons reported that Svay Chrum District police 
officers beat them while in police custody to obtain a confession for a 
robbery the two claimed they did not commit. Police later released them 
without charges. There was no investigation into their complaints.
    On May 15, three Thnoat Chum commune police allegedly beat and 
administered electric shocks to a person to obtain his confession for 
street fighting. The victim, who was seriously injured and lost 
consciousness as a result, claimed he was not involved in the fighting. 
He filed a complaint with the provincial court, which charged one 
commune police officer. At year's end, the case was pending and no 
hearing date had been set; the police officer remained free.
    Five persons from the village of Tumnob Teuk, who reported in 2009 
that military police from the Bavel District in Battambang Province 
beat, kicked, and administered electric shocks to them to extract 
confessions for a robbery they claimed they did not commit, remained in 
jail despite being acquitted of the robbery charges by the Battambang 
Provincial Court. The prosecutor filed an appeal of the acquittals; at 
year's end, no hearing date had been set.
    ADHOC reported 89 cases of physical assault on civilians by local 
authorities, government agents, or private bodyguards during the year, 
compared with 100 cases in 2009.
    There were 11 government-operated drug rehabilitation centers. Most 
observers agreed that the majority of detainees in such facilities were 
there involuntarily, committed to the facilities by law enforcement 
authorities or family members, and that as many as one-third of 
detainees were under the age of 18. Employees of the centers frequently 
used involuntary methods to ``control'' detainees, including tying 
detainees up or submitting them to intense exercise and electric 
shocks. Government leaders acknowledged the importance of treating drug 
addiction as a medical rather than criminal matter, but there was 
little reported action to follow up such statements.
    In contrast with 2009, there were no reported cases that the 
Government forced drug addicts to accept treatment with the 
controversial herbal substance Bong Sen without informed consent.
    There were no new developments in the 2008 reported cases of 
detainee abuse by authorities at two Ministry of Social Affairs, 
Veterans, and Youth Rehabilitation (MOSAVY) rehabilitation centers. At 
year's end, one center remained closed, while another was being used to 
hold homeless persons and some drug users and sex workers.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions did not 
meet international standards. Conditions remained harsh and at times 
were life threatening. Government efforts to improve them continued to 
be hampered by a 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.
    According to the Ministry of Interior Prison Department, there were 
14,043 prisoners and detainees, including 915 women and 772 juveniles. 
There were 25 prisons in the country, which were designed to hold 
between 8,000 and 11,000 persons. There were reports at some prisons 
that cells of 40 by 20 feet held up to 110 prisoners. At the 
Correctional Center 1 prison, 26-by-26-foot cells held an average of 50 
prisoners. In some prisons authorities used shackles and held prisoners 
in small, dark cells as a form of punishment.
    The Prison Department reported 83 prisoners and detainees died 
while in custody. Police claimed that they investigated the deaths and 
found evidence of preexisting conditions or other illness.
    On January 21, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court dismissed the 
wrongful death complaint filed by family of prisoner Heng Touch, who 
died in 2008 after sustaining injuries in prison under suspicious 
circumstances. The family did not appeal the dismissal.
    There were no developments in the 2008 deaths of prisoners Yan Sok 
Kea and Bun Vannarith while in police custody, or an elderly woman 
confined in a MOSAVY rehabilitation facility.
    The Government increased ration allowances for prisoner food and 
other necessities, but allowances remained inadequate. Observers 
continued to report that ration allowances for purchasing prisoners' 
food sometimes were misappropriated, exacerbating malnutrition and 
disease.
    In most prisons there was no separation of adult and juvenile 
prisoners, of male and female prisoners, or of persons convicted of 
serious crimes and persons detained for minor offenses. Pretrial 
detainees were routinely held together with convicted prisoners. 
According to government statistics, an estimated 34 percent of 
prisoners held in municipal and provincial prisons were pretrial 
detainees.
    Prisoners and detainees were routinely allowed access to visitors, 
although rights organizations confirmed that families sometimes had to 
bribe prison officials to visit prisoners or provide food and other 
necessities. NGOs also confirmed accounts that prisoners whose families 
bribed prison authorities received preferential treatment, including 
access to visitors, transfer to better cells, and the opportunity to 
leave cells during the day.
    There were credible reports that officials occasionally demanded 
bribes before allowing prisoners to attend trials or appeal hearings 
and before releasing inmates who had served their full term of 
imprisonment.
    Prisoners and detainees were allowed to observe their own religion.
    Complaints about alleged abuse could be submitted to judicial 
authorities through lawyers without censorship; however, a large number 
of prisoners and detainees could not afford legal representation. The 
Government investigated such complaints and monitored prison and 
detention center conditions through the Ministry of Interior's General 
Department of Prisons, which produced biannual reports on the 
management and development of prisons in the country. These and other 
investigation reports reportedly were available to the public upon 
request.
    The Government generally continued to allow international and 
domestic human rights groups, including the International Committee of 
the Red Cross and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human 
Rights (UNHCHR), to visit prisons and provide human rights training to 
prison guards. Some NGOs reported that at times cooperation from local 
authorities was limited, making it difficult to gain access to pretrial 
detainees. The Ministry of Interior continued to require that lawyers, 
human rights monitors, and other visitors obtain permission prior to 
visiting prisoners; the ministry withheld such permission in some 
politically sensitive cases. In some instances officials continued to 
permit NGOs to interview prisoners in private. UNHCHR representatives 
reported they usually were able to have a private meeting when 
interviewing a particular prisoner of interest.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention; however, at times the Government did not respect 
these prohibitions. The criminal procedures code allows for pretrial 
detention of up to six months for misdemeanors and 18 months for 
felonies. One in every 10 detainees in pretrial detention was held 
longer than the legal time limit, sometimes without legal 
representation or trial. During the year the Ministry of Interior 
reported having 210 persons in pretrial detention in excess of the 
legal time limit permitted for the charged offense. Additionally, some 
courts lost case files during pretrial detention periods, delaying 
court procedures.
    ADHOC reported at least 75 cases of illegal arrest or detention 
during the year. ADHOC stated that victims in 21 illegal detention 
cases subsequently were freed following detainee complaints, 
interventions by human rights NGOs, or payment of bribes. ADHOC 
believed that the actual number of arbitrary arrests and detentions was 
somewhat higher, because some victims in rural areas did not file 
complaints due to difficulty in traveling to the NGO's offices or 
concern for their family's security. According to ADHOC, authorities 
took no legal or disciplinary actions against the persons responsible 
for the illegal detentions.
    Throughout the year Phnom Penh municipal authorities arrested 
dozens of persons--usually the homeless, mentally ill, drug users, or 
commercial sex workers--during systematic street sweeps. Detainees 
typically lost all money and belongings in the course of a sweep. 
Authorities called the street sweeps part of an effort to ``regulate 
society.'' Occasionally authorities placed the detainees in a MOSAVY-
operated rehabilitation facility 15 miles from Phnom Penh. Detainees 
were told they were free to leave but would not be provided 
transportation if they left the rehabilitation center.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The General 
Commissariat of the National Police, which is under the supervision of 
the Ministry of Interior, manages all civilian police units. The police 
forces are divided into those who have the authority to make arrests, 
those without such authority, and the judicial police. Military police 
were permitted to arrest civilians if the officers met the training and 
experience requirements to serve as judicial police, if civilians were 
on military property, or when authorized by local governments. In 
practice, however, the military police sometimes engaged in regular 
civilian law enforcement activities under the authority and direction 
of provincial or local governments.
    Police officials killed citizens and committed other abuses with 
impunity, and in most cases the Government took little or no action. 
The law requires police, prosecutors, and judges to investigate all 
complaints, including those of police abuses; however, in practice 
judges and prosecutors rarely conducted an independent investigation as 
part of a public trial. Presiding judges usually passed down verdicts 
based only on written reports from police and witness testimonies. In 
general police received little professional training. Police who failed 
to prevent or respond to societal violence were rarely disciplined.
    On March 7, Oddar Meanchey forestry officials claimed that persons 
from a group of 200 military families shot at them when they attempted 
to remove the families from a protected forest area. The Forestry 
Administration had announced the week before that it was seeking the 
arrest of a village chief and a Royal Cambodian Armed Forces officer 
who they claimed had illegally convinced the families to settle in the 
protected area.
    On March 8, villagers evicted in 2009 from disputed land in Kraya 
commune, Kampong Thom Province, attempted to return to their former 
farmland that had been converted into a rubber plantation owned by a 
Vietnamese company. Police assigned to guard the plantation opened fire 
on the villagers, wounding three, after the villagers allegedly 
attacked them with knives. The provincial government had resettled the 
evictees on land near the site, but villagers claimed they had not 
received land suitable for planting crops.
    On August 20, the Siem Reap Provincial Court convicted nine 
villagers from Chi Kraeng commune of forming an illegal armed force and 
sentenced them to three years in prison. The court convicted three 
additional villagers from the same commune for attempting to confine 
court officials and sentenced them to three years in prison. The 
villagers were arrested in March 2009 during a land dispute in which 
police opened fire on a crowd of protesters, injuring three. The court 
revised the sentences of all 12 villagers to 17 months, equivalent to 
time served, but the villagers remained in prison pending the 
possibility of appeal by the prosecutor or to face additional charges. 
Despite calls from the Ministry of Justice for provincial authorities 
to take action against the shooters in the case, at year's end no 
action had been taken.
    There was no development in the June 2009 case in which a 
Ratanakiri provincial police sergeant shot and wounded a villager 
during a protest over an economic land concession.
    There were no developments in the 2008 case of Brigade 70 Major 
Meur Bora, who reportedly beat two men following a minor traffic 
accident, or in the 2008 case of an alleged government bodyguard who 
shot and killed a woman in a bar.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires police to obtain a warrant from an investigating judge prior 
to making an arrest, but police may arrest without a warrant anyone 
caught in the act of committing a crime. The law allows police to take 
a person into custody and conduct an investigation for 48 hours, 
excluding weekends and government holidays, before charges must be 
filed. In felony cases of exceptional circumstances prescribed by law, 
police may detain a suspect for an additional 24 hours with the 
approval of a prosecutor. However, authorities routinely held persons 
for extended periods before charging them. There was a functioning bail 
system; however, many prisoners, especially those without legal 
representation, had no opportunity to seek release on bail. Under the 
criminal procedures code, accused persons may be arrested and detained 
for up to 24 hours before being afforded access to legal counsel, but 
prisoners routinely were held for several days before gaining access to 
a lawyer or family members. According to government officials, such 
prolonged detention largely was a result of the limited capacity of the 
court system.
    On May 29, police in Phnom Penh arrested Leang Sokchhoeun and 
reportedly held him incommunicado for 33 hours, during which time he 
was also transported to Takeo Province. Leang's lawyer and family 
reported making multiple requests to speak with Leang after the 
expiration of the 24-hour detention period permitted by law, but police 
denied all requests (see also section 2.a.).
    There were no developments in the case of police officer Priep Pov, 
who remained in hiding after he was sentenced in absentia to one year 
in prison in April 2009.

    Amnesty.--The king may grant amnesty in certain cases, which he 
often does during important Buddhist religious ceremonies and national 
holidays. The Ministry of Interior reported that King Norodom Sihamoni 
pardoned 154 persons during the year.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, but the Government generally did not respect 
judicial independence in practice. The courts were subject to influence 
and interference by the executive branch, and there was widespread 
corruption among judges, prosecutors, and court officials.
    A lack of resources, low salaries, and poor training contributed to 
a high level of corruption and inefficiency in the judicial branch, and 
the Government did not provide for due process.
    Observers reported that many cases were pending due to a shortage 
of judges and courtrooms. Observers also speculated that court 
officials might have been focusing on cases from which they could gain 
financial benefits.
    There remained a critical shortage of trained lawyers, particularly 
outside Phnom Penh. Persons without means to secure counsel were often 
effectively denied the right to a fair trial. According to the bar 
association, approximately 30 percent of the country's 751 lawyers 
provided pro bono legal counsel to poor persons, which was inadequate 
to cover the basic legal rights of all of the country's poor.
    Sworn written statements from witnesses and the accused usually 
constituted the only evidence presented at trials. The accused person's 
statements sometimes were coerced through beatings or threats, and 
illiterate defendants often were not informed of the contents of 
written confessions that they were forced to sign. In cases involving 
military personnel, military officials often exerted pressure on judges 
of civilian criminal courts 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 often enjoyed impunity.
    In many criminal cases, rich or powerful defendants, including 
members of the security forces, usually paid money to victims and 
authorities to drop criminal charges against them. Authorities were 
known to urge victims or their families to accept financial restitution 
in exchange for dropping criminal charges or failing to appear as 
witnesses.

    Trial Procedures.--Trials are public. Juries are not used; the 
presiding judge possesses the authority to pass a verdict. 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. In felony cases, if a defendant cannot afford an 
attorney, the court is required to provide the defendant with free 
legal representation; however, the judiciary often lacked the resources 
to provide legal counsel, and most defendants sought assistance from 
NGOs or went without legal representation. Trials based on the civil 
code system typically were perfunctory, and extensive cross-examination 
usually did not take place. Defendants and their attorneys have the 
right to examine government-held evidence relevant to their cases; 
however, on rare occasions it was difficult for them to obtain such 
access, especially if the case was political or involved a high-ranking 
government official or well-connected member of the elite.
    Defendants are entitled by law to the presumption of innocence and 
the right of appeal, but due to pervasive corruption, defendants often 
were expected to bribe judges to secure a favorable verdict. A 
citizen's right to be present at his appeal often was limited by 
difficulty in transferring prisoners from provincial prisons to the 
appeals court in Phnom Penh. Consequently, more than half of all 
appeals were heard without the presence of the defendant.
    There was no development in the case of Thach Saveth. In 2009 the 
appeals court upheld Thach's 2005 conviction for killing labor leader 
Ros Sovannareth. Thach's lawyer appealed to the Supreme Court; as of 
year's end, no trial date had been set. Many observers, including local 
NGOs and the International Labor Organization (ILO), reported 
procedural irregularities in the case and a lack of evidence linking 
Thach to the crime.
    There were no developments in the case of Born Samnang and Sok Sam 
Oeun, who remained free on bail after the Supreme Court remanded their 
case to the appeals court in 2008. The two were convicted in 2004 for 
the killing of labor leader Chea Vichea. The case remained with the 
appeals court for reinvestigation and retrial.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The country has a 
judiciary in civil matters, and citizens are entitled to bring lawsuits 
seeking damages for human rights violations. Generally, there are both 
administrative and judicial remedies. Enforcing a court order for a 
civil or criminal case often was a problem. Persons sporadically turned 
to vigilante justice.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law provides for the privacy of residence and 
correspondence and prohibits illegal searches; however, observers 
reported that police routinely conducted searches and seizures without 
warrants.
    There continued to be reports of authorities entering private 
properties without proper judicial authorization. Due to forced 
collectivization during Khmer Rouge rule and the return of hundreds of 
thousands of refugees, land ownership was often unclear. The land law 
states that any person who peacefully possessed private or state 
private property (not state public land) without contention for five 
years prior to the 2001 promulgation of the law has the right to apply 
for a definitive title to that property. Most of the country's 
impoverished population continued to lack the knowledge and means to 
obtain adequate formal documentation of land ownership.
    Provincial and district land offices continued to follow pre-2001 
land registration procedures, which did not include accurate land 
surveys and opportunities for public comment. The Cadastral Commission 
failed to implement the identification and demarcation of state land, 
leading to land conflicts, arbitrary evictions, and ill-defined, 
uncontrolled state development. Land speculation, often in the form of 
land concessions, continued to fuel disputes in every province and 
increased tensions between poor rural communities and speculators. 
Urban communities faced forced eviction to make way for commercial 
development projects.
    The Cadastral Commission continued to perform its functions slowly. 
The courts remained responsible for resolving disputes in cases where 
land was registered or disputants were given land titles. The National 
Authority for Land Dispute Resolution was ineffective, and confusion 
existed over its jurisdiction, which overlapped with that of the 
national and provincial cadastral commissions. Implementation of social 
land concessions for landless citizens was limited.
    Cases of inhabitants being forced to relocate continued to occur 
when officials or businesspersons colluded with local authorities; the 
number of cases reported increased from 2009. Some persons also used 
the court system to intimidate the poor and vulnerable into exchanging 
their land for compensation below market value. ADHOC reported 
receiving 202 land-related cases during the year. During the same 
period, another NGO received 75 land-related cases in Phnom Penh and 13 
provinces, affecting 7,040 families. The poor often had no legal 
documents to support their land claims and lacked faith in the judicial 
system. Some of those expelled successfully contested these actions in 
court, but the majority of the cases in the courts were being processed 
at year's end.
    On March 19, violence broke out when authorities tried to carry out 
a Supreme Court-ordered eviction of families from a 162-acre plot of 
land in Udong District, Kampong Speu Province. Kuo Sheng, the Taiwanese 
owner of Meng Keth Company, claimed that he purchased 551 acres of land 
from 1997 to 2000 to plant trees and build a factory. A representative 
of the company stated that it would compensate villagers who could show 
a copy of their land documents. Village representatives insisted that 
none of the villagers sold their land to the company. Police and 
villagers attacked one another when the authorities attempted to evict 
villagers with force.
    On May 25, a group of military police, provincial police, and 
soldiers burned the houses of more than 100 villagers in O'Ampil 
Village, Anlong Veng District, Oddar Meanchey Province. Authorities 
claimed that the land was part of the Kulen Prumtep Wildlife Sanctuary 
and that a court ordered the eviction. Military and police agents 
burned the homes after the villagers refused to leave. Villagers 
maintained that they purchased the land from the Ministry of 
Environment in 2000 and that the eviction order should not have been 
enforced because there were cases pending in the court.
    In July 42 HIV/AIDS-affected families that were forcibly relocated 
from the Borei Keila neighborhood in Phnom Penh to the Tuol Sambo 
resettlement site in June 2009 received new concrete houses built by 
the NGO Caritas Cambodia. NGOs reported that six families entitled to 
apartments at Borei Keila had not yet received them.
    In March Sam Rainsy Party parliamentarian Son Chhay received a 
court order from the Siem Reap Provincial Court instructing him to 
vacate his land. The Supreme Court upheld a 2009 lower-court decision 
ordering Son Chhay to sell 7.8 acres of his land to a government agency 
for an amount reportedly below the market price.
    There were no developments in the case of Chea Sam Ath, who 
allegedly posed as a local village chief and ordered soldiers to shoot 
villagers protesting eviction in Malai District, Banteay Meanchey 
Province, in 2008. The investigation continued; Chea Sam Ath reportedly 
relocated to Oddar Meanchey Province.
    In May the Ratanakiri Provincial Court announced that it would 
appoint a new judge, the third in the long-running dispute between 
Jarai ethnic minority villagers from Kong Yu and Kong Thom and 
businesswoman Keat Kolney. The villagers had filed a civil complaint 
against Keat Kolney, accusing her of tricking them into thumbprinting 
transfer documents for 1,112 acres of land in Pate commune, O'Yadau 
District, Ratanakiri Province, in 2004. At year's end, the civil case 
remained unresolved.
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, these rights were not 
always respected in practice.
    The constitution requires that free speech not adversely affect 
public security. The constitution also declares that the king is 
``inviolable,'' and a Ministry of Interior directive conforming to the 
defamation law reiterates these limits and prohibits publishers and 
editors from disseminating stories that insult or defame government 
leaders and institutions.
    The 1995 press law prohibits prepublication censorship or 
imprisonment for expressing opinions. However, the Government continued 
to use the older UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) law to 
prosecute journalists and others on defamation, disinformation, and 
incitement charges. A 2006 amendment to the UNTAC law eliminates 
imprisonment for defamation but not for incitement or spreading 
disinformation, which carry prison sentences of up to three years. 
Judges also can order fines, which may lead to jail time if not paid.
    On March 12, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court charged opposition 
party leader Sam Rainsy with disinformation and forgery of public 
documents under articles 62 and 49 of the UNTAC law. The Government 
charged that maps presented by Rainsy in February during his public 
commentary about border demarcation with Vietnam were falsified. 
Although Rainsy remained in self-imposed exile in France, on September 
23, the court convicted Rainsy in absentia, sentencing him to 10 years 
in prison, a fine of five million riels (approximately $1,180), and 
additional compensation of 60 million riels ($14,150).
    Also in March, Kao Kim Hourn, Ministry of Foreign Affairs secretary 
of state and president of the University of Cambodia, filed a 
defamation complaint against Bun Tha, editor in chief of the newspaper 
Khmer Amatak (Immortal Khmer), for publishing articles criticizing fees 
charged to scholarship applicants at the university. The articles 
claimed the fees were unfair and implied corruption might be involved. 
Kao Kim Hourn stated in his complaint that the editor failed to seek 
comment from the university for the articles and that the fees had a 
legitimate use in funding housing for scholarship recipients and paying 
teacher salaries. The case was withdrawn in August, after the editor 
wrote an apology to Kao Kim Hourn.
    On May 29, police from the Ministry of Interior's Internal Security 
Department arrested Leang Sokchoeun, an employee of a local human 
rights NGO, on charges of disinformation, allegedly in connection with 
a series of leaflet distribution activities in Takeo Province. The 
leaflets reportedly contained criticism of the relationship between the 
Government and Vietnam; the prosecutor claimed that the content was 
insulting to the Government and to former king Norodom Sihanouk. Leang 
maintained his innocence and said he had only a tenuous connection to 
others allegedly involved in the incident. On August 30, the Takeo 
Provincial Court convicted Leang and three others on disinformation 
charges and sentenced Leang to two years in prison. Leang's family 
appealed the verdict; at year's end, no date to hear the appeal had 
been set.
    On December 19, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicted Seng 
Kunnaka of the UN World Food Program in Phnom Penh and sentenced him to 
six months in prison. He was charged with incitement under article 495 
of the new penal code for printing and sharing a Web article critical 
of senior government officials. At year's end, Seng was serving his 
sentence in prison.
    There were developments in several 2009 cases during the year. On 
January 27, the Svay Rieng Provincial Court convicted Sam Rainsy in 
absentia on charges of inciting racial hatred and destruction of public 
property in connection with an October 2009 incident in which a group 
of villagers uprooted wooden stakes demarcating the border with 
Vietnam. The court sentenced Rainsy to two years in prison and a fine 
of eight million riels ($1,890). The court also convicted two villagers 
who participated in uprooting the border stakes and sentenced each to 
one year in prison. Rainsy and the villagers appealed the decisions. On 
October 5, the appeals court upheld the lower court verdict and 
sentence against Rainsy. The verdict against the villagers was also 
upheld, but the remainder of their one-year sentences was suspended, 
and the villagers were released after serving nearly 10 months in 
prison. Rainsy appealed his verdict to the Supreme Court; as of year's 
end, no trial date had been set.
    Also in January the Government granted permission for the pro-
opposition newspaper Moneaksekar Khmer (Khmer Conscience) to resume 
publication after a six-month hiatus. The Government had accused editor 
Dam Sith of defamation, disinformation, and incitement but dropped the 
charges after Dam Sith apologized and closed the newspaper in June 
2009.
    On April 13, the Government agreed to the king's pardon of Hang 
Chakra, the publisher of the pro-opposition newspaper Khmer Machas Srok 
(Khmer Owners of the Land). Hang served nine months of a 12-month 
sentence for disinformation in connection with a series of articles 
that alleged corruption among Deputy Prime Minister Sok An's advisers 
and staff.
    On June 2, the Supreme Court upheld the defamation verdicts of the 
trial court and appeals court against opposition parliamentarian Mu 
Sochua. Prime Minister Hun Sen sued Mu in April 2009, stating that 
comments Mu made in a press conference and her subsequent efforts to 
attract international support defamed him. The court ordered Mu to pay 
a fine of eight million riels ($1,890) plus compensation to the prime 
minister of 8.5 million riels ($2,000), but Mu refused to pay. On July 
15, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court asked the National Assembly to dock 
Mu's salary as a lawmaker to cover the compensation owed to the prime 
minister; the National Assembly approved the request on July 29 and 
began deducting four million riels per month from Mu's salary. On 
August 9, the court issued a similar request to dock Mu's salary to 
cover the fine owed in the case, which also was approved.
    In a continuation of the 2008 defamation suit filed in France by 
Foreign Minister Hor Namhong against Sam Rainsy, on May 20, the French 
appeals court upheld the January 2009 guilty verdict against Rainsy and 
ordered him to pay 2,000 euros ($2,650) to the foreign minister.
    All major political parties had reasonable and regular access to 
the print media. All major Khmer-language newspapers received financial 
support from political parties and were politically aligned. There were 
an estimated 20 Khmer-language newspapers published regularly. In prior 
years at least four major newspapers supported opposition parties. 
During the year, due in part to financial difficulties, only one pro-
opposition newspaper was publishing regularly. Another pro-opposition 
media outlet maintained a Web site but only sporadically published a 
newspaper. Although the three newspapers with the largest circulations 
were considered pro-CPP, most newspapers criticized the Government, 
particularly on corruption and land grabbing. The prime minister, 
royalist party leaders, and opposition party leaders frequently came 
under attack.
    The Government, military forces, and ruling political party 
continued to dominate the broadcast media and influence the content of 
broadcasts. There were nine domestic television stations and 
approximately 50 radio stations. All television stations and most radio 
stations were controlled or strongly influenced by the CPP, although a 
few were independent or aligned with other parties. On July 8, the pro-
CPP Deum Ampil (Tamarind Tree) media outlet, which included a daily 
newspaper, Web site, and radio station, closed after a dispute between 
publisher Soy Sopheap and the outlet's principal financial backer. 
Several days later the financial backer, the owner of a large 
development company, opened a new progovernment media outlet under the 
name Nokor Wat Media Center.
    Journalists, publishers, and distributors were also subject to 
other forms of harassment and intimidation, including claims of illegal 
temporary detention, and most reporters and editors privately admitted 
to some self-censorship due to fear of government reprisals.
    In March, Rin Bora, a soldier from Battalion 503, seriously 
assaulted Reaksmey Kampuchea journalist Vong Thou for allegedly taking 
unfavorable photographs of gambling in the Poipet area. After the 
journalist filed a complaint with police, the perpetrator admitted the 
crime. The journalist dropped his complaint after Rin Bora apologized 
and paid civil compensation; the Government did not pursue criminal 
action after the civil complaint was dropped.
    The Government-controlled national television and radio stations 
broadcast live segments of the verdict in the first trial at the Khmer 
Rouge Tribunal (see section 5) and taped National Assembly sessions; 
however, in some instances National Assembly broadcasts were heavily 
edited. National radio and television stations broadcast some human 
rights, social action, public health, education, and civil society 
programming produced by domestic NGOs.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no reports that the Government 
monitored e-mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could 
engage in the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including 
by e-mail.
    According to the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, there 
were 173,675 Internet subscribers, approximately 1 percent of the total 
population. Most subscribers were in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. In urban 
areas Internet access was widely available through Internet cafes.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--In general there were no 
legal impediments to academic freedom. However, scholars tended to be 
careful when teaching politically related subjects due to fear of 
offending politicians.
    In July the Ministry of Education banned two general knowledge 
textbooks by Pen Puthsphea. Both books contained questions and answers 
referring to corruption within government as an impediment to 
development in the country and alleged that the Government does not 
respect human rights. Police and other government authorities collected 
copies of the books on sale in bookstores and warned vendors not to 
display or sell the volumes. Pen stated that he received anonymous 
telephone threats.
    In contrast with 2009, there were no reports of government 
restrictions on cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution provides for freedom of peaceful assembly, 
but at times the Government did not respect this right in practice.
    On January 13, the Ministry of Education prohibited the assembly on 
school grounds of teachers, education officers, and school leaders to 
discuss social conditions or political topics. The order states that 
gatherings for such purposes are a violation of the national law on 
education.
    The law requires that a permit be obtained in advance of a protest 
march or demonstration. One provision requires five days' advance 
notice for most peaceful demonstrations, while another requires 12 
hours' notice for impromptu gatherings on private property or at the 
peaceful protest venue in each province and limits such gatherings to 
200 persons. By law provincial or municipal governments hold primary 
responsibility for deciding whether to issue demonstration permits. In 
practice, particularly in Phnom Penh, lower-level government officials 
believed the national government to be the deciding authority and 
denied requests unless the national government specifically authorized 
the gatherings. The Government routinely did not issue permits to 
groups critical of the ruling party or of countries with which the 
Government had friendly relations. Authorities cited the need for 
stability and public security as reasons for denying permits. However, 
the law does not define the terms stability or public security to 
assist authorities in implementing the law. Police forcibly dispersed 
groups that assembled without a permit, in some instances causing minor 
injuries to some demonstrators.
    On March 1, police from Phnom Penh's Dangkor District prevented a 
group of more than 100 villagers from marching to the prime minister's 
residence in Takhmao to draw attention to their continuing land dispute 
with Ministry of Interior official In Samon. Police arrested eight 
villagers, detaining them for hours and threatening imprisonment, until 
the villagers agreed to thumbprint documents dropping their complaints 
over the land. Observers from several human rights organizations also 
reported that police temporarily confiscated their cameras and deleted 
all pictures of the day's events before returning the cameras.
    On August 8, officials forcibly dispersed a gathering of more than 
50 villagers from Battambang Province who assembled in front of the 
prime minister's home in Phnom Penh to protest a land dispute between 
400 families and members of the military. Unidentified plainclothes 
officials dragged villagers from a park and forced them to board a bus 
chartered by the Government to return the villagers to Battambang. In 
some cases officials shoved and crushed villagers into the bus with 
little regard for safety. The bus then reportedly dropped the villagers 
nearly 20 miles from their community.
    During the year ADHOC reported 183 protests, most of which were 
related to land or labor disputes.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
association, and the Government generally respected this right in 
practice; however, the Government did not effectively enforce the 
freedom of association provisions of the law (see section 7.a.).
    Membership in the Khmer Rouge, which ruled the country from 1975 to 
1979 and after its overthrow conducted an armed insurgency against the 
Government, is illegal, as is membership in any armed group.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government generally did not provide protection or 
assistance to internally displaced persons, refugees, returning 
refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, or other persons of 
concern, but it generally allowed humanitarian organizations to provide 
such protection and assistance. The Government cooperated with the UN 
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to provide protection and 
assistance to Montagnard asylum seekers.
    The constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not 
employ it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In December 
2009 the Government issued a subdecree by which it assumed sole 
responsibility for the refugee-status determination process, taking 
final control of what had been a jointly managed process with the UNHCR 
since 2008. The UNHCR continued to provide training and other technical 
assistance, and it participated in interviews and made recommendations 
to the Government on asylum cases.
    A 2005 memorandum of understanding with the UNHCR and the 
Government of Vietnam to resolve the situation of Montagnards under 
UNHCR protection remained in effect. Asylum seekers who reached the 
UNHCR Phnom Penh office were processed with government cooperation. 
During the year two Montagnards and 47 other new arrivals sought 
asylum; in addition, two children were born to asylum seekers in the 
country, one Montagnard and one non-Montagnard. According to the UNHCR, 
12 Montagnards and two other refugees departed for a third country, 
while authorities returned seven rejected Montagnard asylum seekers to 
Vietnam. There were 65 Montagnards in the remaining UNHCR protection 
site in Phnom Penh, which was a limited-access site; Montagnard 
refugees and asylum seekers there under UNHCR protection could leave 
only with UNHCR permission and escort. According to the UNHCR, during 
the year no refugees requested local integration.
    The Government generally provided protection against the expulsion 
or return of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would 
be threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, 
membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
    There were no reported cases of government abuse or mistreatment of 
refugees or asylum seekers, and restriction of movement was applied 
only in the case of the Montagnards under the special processing 
agreement.
    There were no developments in the case of the 20 Uighur asylum 
seekers forcibly deported to China in December 2009.

    Stateless Persons.--The country had habitual residents who were de 
facto stateless, and the Government did not effectively implement laws 
or policies to provide such persons the opportunity to gain 
nationality. Under the nationality law, citizenship may be derived by 
birth from a mother and father who are not ethnic Cambodians if both 
were born and living legally in Cambodia, or if either parent has 
acquired Cambodian citizenship.
    A 2007 study commissioned by the UNHCR estimated that several 
thousand potentially stateless persons lived in the country. However, 
the study's estimates came from anecdotal evidence from NGOs, and local 
UNHCR representatives did not consider the figure conclusive. The most 
common reason for statelessness was lack of proper documents from the 
country of origin.
    The UNHCR stated that the country's potentially stateless 
population included mostly ethnic Vietnamese. According to an NGO, 
individuals without proof of nationality often did not have access to 
formal employment, education, marriage registration, the courts, and 
land ownership.
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 generally exercised this right in 
practice through periodic elections on the basis of universal suffrage. 
Suffrage is voluntary for all citizens age 18 years and older.

    Elections and Political Participation.--The most recent national 
elections, held in 2008 for the National Assembly, were peaceful 
overall, with a process that was generally considered an improvement 
over past elections. However, observers noted that the elections did 
not fully meet international standards. Although some election day 
irregularities persisted, they were low in number and did not appear to 
affect the outcome or distort the will of the electorate.
    In May 2009 the country held indirect elections for 374 provincial 
and 2,861 district council seats for the first time in its history as 
part of the Government's decentralization and deconcentration 
initiative. Voting was limited to the 11,353 commune councilors elected 
in the 2007 commune elections. The CPP won 302 provincial seats and 
2,249 district seats; the remainder were split among various royalist 
and opposition parties.
    Parties could register, and individuals were free to declare their 
candidacy without restrictions.
    Some NGOs and political parties alleged that membership in the 
dominant CPP party provided advantages, such as gifts or access to 
government emergency aid.
    Traditional culture limited the role of women in government; 
however, women took part in the May 2009 indirect provincial and 
district council elections. There were 28 women in the 123-seat 
National Assembly and nine women in the 61-seat Senate. There was a 
female deputy prime minister and 45 female ministers, secretaries of 
state, undersecretaries of state, and National Election Commission 
officials. Women also served as advisers, and there were 31 female 
judges and prosecutors in the municipal and provincial courts, appeals 
court, and Supreme Court. Although there were no female governors, the 
Government appointed women as deputy governors in all of the 23 
provinces and the Phnom Penh Municipality. The National Election 
Committee reported that women held 15 percent of commune council seats, 
13 percent of district council seats, and 10 percent of provincial 
council seats.
    There were five members of minorities--four Cham and one other 
ethnic minority--in the National Assembly. There also were three 
members of minorities in the Senate. At least eight officials in senior 
positions in the Government were from minority groups.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.
    On January 20, the Government promulgated a new penal code that 
defines various corrupt acts and specifies the applicable penalties for 
such acts. The penal code entered into full effect on December 21. On 
April 17, the Government promulgated an anticorruption law, which 
provides the statutory basis for the establishment of a National 
Council against Corruption and an anticorruption unit to receive and 
investigate corruption complaints. Pursuant to the law, the Government 
appointed 11 council members in June. Fourteen investigators for the 
anticorruption unit were appointed in August, and it began receiving 
complaints the same month.
    Corruption was considered endemic and extended throughout all 
segments of society, including the executive, legislative, and judicial 
branches of government. There were reports that police, prosecutors, 
investigating judges, and presiding judges received bribes from owners 
of illegal businesses. Reported public experience with corruption was 
widespread, indicating many corrupt practices were not hidden. Meager 
salaries contributed to ``survival corruption'' among low-level public 
servants, while a culture of impunity enabled corruption to flourish 
among senior officials. In April the Phnom Penh Municipal Court 
convicted and sentenced a Justice Ministry official to eight years in 
prison for accepting bribes.
    Under the anticorruption law, public servants are subject to 
financial disclosure provisions.
    The National Archives Law allows unlimited access to informational 
documents in the public archive. However, the law grants access to 
other unspecified government documents only after 20 years, and 
documents affecting national security and preservation of personal 
lives may be released only after 40 and 120 years, respectively. Some 
NGOs reported that in practice it was difficult for them to access 
information; the Government frequently did not or could not answer 
requests for information.
Section 5. 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 
often cooperated with human rights workers in performing their 
investigations; however, there were multiple reports of lack of 
cooperation and, in some cases, intimidation by local government 
officials.
    There were approximately 40 human rights NGOs in the country, but 
only a small portion of them were actively involved in organizing 
training programs or investigating abuses.
    Domestic and international human rights organizations faced threats 
and harassment from local officials. These took the form of 
restrictions on and disruptions of gatherings sponsored by NGOs, verbal 
intimidation, threats of legal action, and bureaucratic obstruction. 
NGO public interest lawyers reported being denied access to detained 
clients in some human rights abuse cases, and an NGO reported that 
government officials warned that the NGO's representatives might be 
charged with disinformation and incitement if they spoke to the media 
about the cases.
    On January 1, ADHOC employees returned to work in Ratanakiri 
Province, after they had departed in August 2009 following statements 
by a local judge that charges would be deferred if they left the 
province. No additional charges were filed against the workers upon 
their return, although an investigation continued in the land dispute 
involving local villagers, including original charges filed in 2009 
against the ADHOC employees.
    On December 15, the Government released for public comment a draft 
Law on Associations and Nongovernmental Organizations. International 
and domestic NGOs expressed significant concerns about the draft law, 
which includes language that imposes burdensome reporting requirements 
on NGOs, prevents associations with fewer than 21 members from 
attaining legal status, erects burdensome barriers to the registration 
of foreign NGOs, requires foreign NGOs to collaborate with the 
Government, and outlaws unregistered NGOs without adequate due 
diligence. Foreign governments expressed concern that the proposed law 
would greatly increase the Government's regulation of both civil 
society and foreign NGOs.
    There were no developments in the 2009 cases involving three 
employees of the local NGO Independent Democracy of Informal Economic 
Association and one Sam Rainsy Party commune councilor charged with 
incitement. All of those arrested remained free on bail and were 
awaiting trial; no date had been set by year's end.
    The Government cooperated with international governmental bodies 
and permitted visits by UN representatives. The UN special rapporteur 
for human rights in Cambodia, Surya Subedi, made visits in January and 
June, during which Subedi met with the prime minister and other senior 
government officials.
    The Government had three human rights bodies: two separate 
Committees for the Protection of Human Rights and Reception of 
Complaints--one under the Senate and another under the National 
Assembly--and a Cambodian Human Rights Committee that reported to the 
prime minister's cabinet. The committees did not have regular meetings 
or a transparent operating process. The Cambodian Human Rights 
Committee submitted government reports for participation in 
international human rights review processes, such as the Universal 
Periodic Review, and issued responses to reports by international 
government bodies, but it did not conduct independent human rights 
investigations. Credible human rights NGOs considered the Government 
committees to have limited efficacy.
    The Government hosted the hybrid Extraordinary Chambers in the 
Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), which was administered jointly with the UN 
to try Khmer Rouge leaders and those most responsible for the abuses of 
the Khmer Rouge period. There were no allegations of corruption in the 
court's administration during the year. Some observers believed that 
public comments by government leaders on matters related to the ECCC's 
jurisdictional mandate constituted a form of political interference; 
however, there was no evidence that the work of the court was inhibited 
in any way, and national authorities successfully fulfilled their 
responsibilities to apprehend and hand over to the tribunal all 
individuals indicted by the ECCC.
    On July 26, the ECCC convicted Kaing Guek Eav (alias Duch), the 
former Khmer Rouge director of the S-21 torture prison (Tuol Sleng) who 
was charged with crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the 1949 
Geneva Convention (war crimes), premeditated murder, and torture. The 
court sentenced him to 35 years in prison but subtracted five years to 
compensate for the period of unlawful detention that Duch spent in 
military detention. With 11 years already served, Duch therefore faced 
an additional 19 years in prison. The defense counsel announced it 
would appeal the verdict to the ECCC's Supreme Court Chamber, on the 
grounds that Duch does not fit into the category of persons over which 
the court has jurisdiction. The prosecution also submitted an appeal, 
on the grounds that the sentence was inadequate. On September 16, the 
court issued a closing order, or indictment, against the four other 
detained Khmer Rouge senior leaders charging them with crimes against 
humanity, war crimes, and genocide. The court also continued 
investigations of five unnamed persons.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, 
disability, language, or social status; however, the Government did not 
generally protect these rights.

    Women.--The law prohibits rape and assault; nevertheless, local and 
international NGOs reported that violence against women, including 
domestic violence and rape, was common. Rape is a criminal offense and 
punishable by a prison sentence of between five and 10 years, according 
to the UNTAC law. A case of spousal rape may be prosecuted as ``rape,'' 
``causing injury,'' or ``indecent assault'' under the UNTAC law. Under 
the 2005 domestic violence law, spousal rape may fall within the 
definition of domestic violence that includes ``sexual aggression.'' 
Charges for spousal rape cases under the UNTAC law and the domestic 
violence law were rare. The domestic violence law criminalizes domestic 
violence but does not specifically set out penalties. However, the 
UNTAC law on battery and injury can be used to penalize domestic 
violence offenses, with penalties ranging from two months' to five 
years' imprisonment.
    According to one NGO, there were 501 cases of rape and 546 cases of 
domestic violence during the year; courts tried 180 of these cases. A 
different NGO documented 162 cases of domestic violence affecting 164 
victims and 74 cases of rape affecting 76 victims in 13 provinces and 
Phnom Penh by the end of November. Five cases of domestic violence and 
three cases of rape resulted in the deaths of eight victims. During the 
year the Ministry of Interior's antitrafficking department investigated 
428 cases of violence against women and children, resulting in the 
arrest of 377 perpetrators and rescue of 423 victims. Of the 428 cases, 
328 were for rape and attempted rape. The ministry reported that three 
cases of rape resulted in the death of four victims. The number of 
cases likely underreported the scope of the problem, due to ineffective 
enforcement, inadequate crime statistics reporting, and the fact that 
women were afraid to make complaints against perpetrators. NGOs 
reported that enforcement of the domestic violence law was weak, 
authorities continued to avoid involvement in domestic disputes, and 
victims frequently were reluctant to pursue formal complaints.
    There were no developments in the November 2009 case of a 19-year-
old woman reportedly raped by a police officer while another held her. 
Prosecution stalled, and the perpetrators remained free at year's end.
    The Government supported NGOs that provided training for poor women 
vulnerable to spousal abuse, prostitution, and trafficking. A local 
media center, an NGO, and the Ministry of Women's Affairs produced 
programming on women's matters. NGOs provided shelters for women in 
crisis.
    The Government used the 2008 Law on the Suppression of Human 
Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation to prosecute sex tourists.
    The labor law has provisions against sexual harassment in the 
workplace but does not specify penalties. There was no information on 
the rate of incidence.
    Couples and individuals could decide the number, spacing, and 
timing of their children, and they had the information and means to do 
so free from discrimination. Women had access to contraception and 
prenatal care as well as skilled attendance at delivery and postpartum 
care, but access was often limited due to income and geographic 
barriers. According to 2008 UN estimates, the maternal mortality ratio 
in 2008 was 290 deaths per 100,000 live births. Women were given equal 
access to diagnostic services and treatment for sexually transmitted 
infections, including HIV.
    The constitution provides for equal rights for women, equal pay for 
equal work, and equal status in marriage. However, a UN report 
criticized the continued teaching of a ``Women's Law'' in the primary 
school curriculum that it claimed legitimized an inferior role for 
women in society. For the most part, 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. Women often were concentrated in low-paying jobs and were 
largely excluded from management positions. Men made up the vast 
majority of the military, police, and civil service.
    The Ministry of Women's Affairs, mandated to protect the rights of 
women and promote gender equality in society, continued its Neary 
Ratanak (Women as Precious Gems) program. The program aimed to improve 
the image of women through gender mainstreaming, enhanced participation 
of women in economic and political life, and protection of women's 
rights. Sixteen government ministries continued gender mainstreaming 
action plans with support from the UN Development Program and in close 
collaboration with the Ministry of Women's Affairs. The Government 
reported that women held 50 percent of wage employment jobs in 
agriculture and the industrial sector and 37 percent of jobs in the 
service sector, a benchmark set in the Government's 2006-10 National 
Strategic Development Plan. In the development plan for 2009-13, the 
Government set a new target of 50 percent for the women's share of wage 
employment in the service sector and committed to maintaining the 
current 50 percent ratio in the agricultural and industrial sectors.

    Children.--By law citizenship may be derived by birth from a mother 
and father who are not ethnic Cambodians if both parents were born and 
living legally in Cambodia or if either parent has acquired Cambodian 
citizenship. The Ministry of Interior administered a modernized birth 
registration system, but not all births were registered immediately, 
due principally to parents' delay. The system did not include special 
outreach to minority communities. In addition, children born from the 
mid-1970s to the mid-1990s often were not registered, a result of the 
Vietnam/Khmer Rouge occupation/civil war. Many of these unregistered 
persons who later had families of their own did not perceive a need for 
registration. It was common for young persons not to be registered 
until a need arose. The failure to register all births resulted in 
discrimination, including the denial of public services. A study 
commissioned by the UNHCR on statelessness in the country stated that 
the birth registration process often excluded children of ethnic 
minorities and stateless persons. NGOs that provided services to 
disenfranchised communities reported that children without birth 
registration and family books were often denied access to education and 
health care. They stated that later in life the same individuals may be 
unable to access employment, own property, vote, or use the legal 
system.
    Children were affected adversely by an inadequate educational 
system. Education was free, but not compulsory, through grade nine. 
Many children left school to help their families in subsistence 
agriculture, worked in other activities, began school at a late age, or 
did not attend school at all. The Government did not deny girls equal 
access to education; however, families with limited resources often 
gave priority to boys. According to international organization reports, 
school enrollment dropped sharply for girls after primary school. 
Schools in many areas were remote, and transportation was a problem. 
This especially affected girls, due to safety concerns in traveling 
between their homes and schools.
    Child abuse was believed to be common, although statistics were not 
available. Child rape remained a serious problem; during the year a 
local NGO reported 357 cases of rape and attempted rape committed 
against persons under age 18. Thirty-three of the cases involved 
children below age five, 76 involved children ages five to 10, and 248 
involved children ages 10 to 18. Sexual intercourse with a person under 
age 15 is illegal; however, child prostitution and trafficking in 
children occurred. During the year raids on brothels rescued underage 
girls trafficked for prostitution. The Ministry of Interior reported 
arrests of 19 foreign pedophiles during the year. Some children engaged 
in prostitution for survival without third-party involvement.
    In April the Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicted and sentenced a 
senior Justice Ministry official to eight years in prison for accepting 
large bribes in exchange for attempting to engineer the release of 
convicted Russian pedophile Alexander Trofimov on the pretense of 
extradition to Russia. The official reportedly counterfeited 
extradition papers and forged the signatures of the justice minister 
and prime minister.
    The Government offered limited, inadequate services to street 
children at a rehabilitation center. A domestic NGO estimated that more 
than 1,500 street children in Phnom Penh had no relationship with their 
families and an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 children worked on the 
streets but returned to families in the evenings. An estimated 500 to 
2,000 children lived with their families on the streets in Phnom Penh.
    The Ministry of Interior reported that at least 52 children under 
the age of six reportedly were living with their mothers in prison. A 
local NGO reported 47 such children in 19 prisons and claimed that the 
children were subjected to mistreatment by prison guards and faced 
physical dangers from adult criminal cellmates. The children generally 
lacked proper nutrition and education.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international child abduction, please see the Department of State's 
annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was no known Jewish community in the country, 
and there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The 2009 Law on the Protection and 
Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities prohibits 
discrimination, neglect, exploitation, or abandonment of persons with 
disabilities. It includes persons with mental illnesses and 
intellectual impairments in the definition of persons with disabilities 
and requires that public buildings and government services, including 
education, be accessible to persons with disabilities. The Ministry of 
Social Affairs holds overall responsibility for protecting the rights 
of persons with disabilities, although the law assigns specific tasks 
to other ministries, including the Ministries of Health, Education, 
Public Works and Transport, and National Defense. The Government 
requested that all television channels adopt sign language 
interpretation for programming; as of year's end, two major television 
stations had sign language interpretation, and the Ministry of 
Information was working with the other stations to develop such 
capabilities. The Government continued efforts to implement the law, 
although the full period for compliance in some cases extends to 2015. 
By year's end, the Council of Ministers had approved three of four 
subdecrees to support the law and was reviewing the fourth.
    Programs administered by various NGOs brought about substantial 
improvements in the treatment and rehabilitation of persons with 
disabilities, but they faced considerable societal discrimination, 
especially in obtaining skilled employment.
    There are no legal limitations on the rights of persons with 
disabilities to vote or participate in civic affairs, but the 
Government did not make any concerted effort to assist them in becoming 
more civically engaged. MOSAVY is responsible for making policy to 
protect the rights of persons with disabilities and for rehabilitation 
and vocational skills training for such persons.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The rights of minorities under 
the nationality law are not explicit; constitutional protections are 
extended only to ``Khmer people.'' Citizens of Chinese and Vietnamese 
ethnicity constituted the largest ethnic minorities. Ethnic Chinese 
citizens were accepted in society, but animosity continued toward 
ethnic Vietnamese, who were seen as a threat to the country and 
culture. Some groups, including political groups, continued to make 
strong anti-Vietnamese statements. They complained of political control 
of the CPP by the Vietnamese government, border encroachment, and other 
problems for which they held ethnic Vietnamese at least partially 
responsible.

    Indigenous People.--The Government often ignored efforts by 
indigenous communities to protect their ancestral lands and natural 
resources. Despite the 2001 land law requiring the registration of 
communal lands of indigenous people, little was done to implement 
communal land titling. NGOs called for a moratorium on land sales and 
land concessions affecting indigenous communities. International and 
local NGOs were active in educating the indigenous communities about 
the land registration process and providing legal representation in 
disputes. NGOs reported loss of agricultural space and livelihoods due 
to the increased granting of economic land concessions on indigenous 
land. The NGO Indigenous Rights Active Members reported that it had 
recorded 14 continuing land disputes involving minority groups.
    The Khao Chuly Group continued to clear land in Pech Chreada 
District, Mondulkiri Province, for a rubber plantation, despite 
disputes with local ethnic Phnong villagers. Approximately 800 families 
in Bou Sraa commune reported being affected by the plantation.
    There were no developments in the 2008 land concession case 
affecting members of the indigenous community of Kak Village in Ta Lav 
Commune, Andoung Meas District, Ratanakiri Province. NGOs reported that 
much of the area in the 17,000-acre economic land concession for a 
rubber plantation may be eligible for registration as indigenous 
community land under the law.
    There were no further developments in the 2008 case in Ratanakiri 
Province where the BVB Investment Company and members of one of the 
affected communities, Yeak Laom Commune, reached an agreement for land 
use. However, other communities in the area continued to raise concerns 
about the development of the land without consultation with the 
traditional indigenous landholders.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There were no laws 
criminalizing homosexual acts, nor was there official discrimination 
against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, 
although some societal discrimination and stereotyping persisted, 
particularly in rural areas. In May several local businesses and NGOs 
hosted the sixth annual Phnom Penh Pride festival, a week-long series 
of events that highlighted the LGBT community.
    There were no reports of government discrimination based on sexual 
orientation in employment, statelessness, or access to education or 
health care. However, homosexual conduct was typically treated with 
fear and suspicion, and there were few support groups where such cases 
could have been reported.
    There were a few reports of private individuals refusing to employ 
or rent property to persons based on sexual orientation or gender 
identity.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There was no official 
discrimination against those infected with HIV/AIDS. Societal 
discrimination against those infected with HIV/AIDS remained a problem 
in rural areas; however, discrimination was moderated by HIV/AIDS 
awareness programs.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law permits private-sector 
workers to form and join trade unions of their own choice without prior 
authorization. Despite some improvement, enforcement of the law was 
poor. Membership in trade unions or employee associations is not 
compulsory, and workers are free to withdraw from such organizations, 
although a few unions attempted to intimidate workers who wanted to 
withdraw. Unions may affiliate freely, but the law does not explicitly 
address their right to affiliate internationally. Several local 
federations and confederations existed, such as the Cambodian 
Independent Teachers' Association (CITA), the National Independent 
Federation Textile Union of Cambodia, and others. These groups also 
affiliated internationally with trade unions, such as the International 
Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers' Federation, the International 
Trade Union Confederation, and others. While the law applies to foreign 
workers, it does not apply to civil servants, including teachers, 
judges, and military personnel, or to domestic workers.
    Approximately 5 percent of the labor force, estimated to be 8.8 
million persons, was unionized. Unions were concentrated in the garment 
and footwear industries, where approximately 60 percent of the 
estimated 363,200 workers were union members. The Cambodian Tourism and 
Service Workers Federation reported that it represented approximately 
3,750 hotel, casino, and airport workers. There were more than 1,944 
registered factory-level unions, 44 union federations and associations, 
and eight union confederations; the majority were aligned with the 
Government, and nine were independent.
    Few agricultural workers belonged to unions. The Farmers 
Association for Peace and Democracy had 1,000 members, and the 
Cambodian Federation of Independent Trade Unions, which organizes 
rubber plantation workers in addition to garment and shoe workers, had 
an unknown number of members who worked on rubber plantations.
    CITA, registered as an ``association'' due to prohibitions on 
public-sector unions, represented 9,300 of the country's 104,610 
teachers. CITA's requests for marches and other protests were 
frequently denied, although the union reported no direct government 
interference in day-to-day activities. Some CITA members feared that 
affiliation with the teachers association could hamper their chance of 
career advancement.
    Another public-sector association, the Cambodian Independent Civil 
Servants Association (CICA), represented approximately 1,600 officials 
of 177,000 civil servants nationwide. CICA leaders alleged that fears 
of harassment, discrimination, or demotion prevented other civil 
servants from joining.
    Union strength waned during the year, and many unions were unable 
to represent member interests adequately due to insufficient resources, 
training, and experience. In addition, corruption plagued the ranks of 
unions, employers, and government officials, hampering legitimate 
industrial relations. Violence, harassment, and intimidation between 
rival unions were common. Union leaders from across the political 
spectrum complained that the pro-government Khmer Youth Federation of 
Trade Unions habitually threatened and harassed workers from other 
unions.
    On November 2, the Supreme Court ordered a reinvestigation into the 
2007 killing of local union leader Hy Vuthy and returned the case to 
the lower court. Two men on a motorbike reportedly shot Hy, president 
of the Suntex garment factory chapter of the Free Trade Union of 
Workers in the Kingdom of Cambodia, while he was walking home from his 
factory shift. Police had made no arrests, and lower courts had ordered 
the case dismissed.
    In February 2009 the appeals court upheld the 2005 conviction of 
Thach Saveth for killing union leader Ros Sovannareth in 2004. Thach 
Saveth appealed to the Supreme Court (see section 1.e.).
    In August 2009 the appeals court ruled to reinvestigate the case of 
the 2004 killing of labor union leader Chea Vichea. In 2008 the Supreme 
Court provisionally released the two suspects convicted of the crime 
(see section 1.e.).
    Although the law provides for the right to strike and protections 
from reprisal, requirements to conduct a lawful strike are cumbersome. 
The law stipulates that strikes can be held only after several 
requirements have been met, including the failure of other methods of 
dispute resolution (such as negotiation, conciliation, or arbitration), 
a secret-ballot vote of union membership, and a seven-day advance 
notice to the employer and the Ministry of Labor and Vocational 
Training (MOLVT). There is no law prohibiting strikes by civil 
servants, workers in public sectors, or workers in essential services.
    The MOLVT reported that 13 strikes occurred in the Phnom Penh area 
in the first seven months of the year. The Garment Manufacturers 
Association of Cambodia reported 30 strikes nationwide during the same 
period. International observers, employers, and many union leaders 
agreed that almost no strikes fulfilled all prestrike legal 
requirements. Although some unions complained of a lack of MOLVT 
involvement, the MOLVT resolved approximately 50 percent of the 
disputes.
    The Government allowed most strikes held at factories but denied 
worker requests to hold protest marches outside the factory area. 
Police intervention in strikes generally was minimal and restrained, 
even in those cases where property damage occurred.
    On January 15, four garment workers protesting the dismissal of 
their three union leaders from Tage factory were injured in a scuffle 
with riot police but not seriously. During the year an estimated 900 
workers protested the January 8 dismissal of the union leaders.
    On June 21, approximately 2,000 workers at the Ocean garment 
factory protested in front of the factory, demanding the reinstatement 
of seven union representatives who were dismissed after they opposed 
the introduction of overtime hours. Mann Seng Hak, secretary general of 
the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, claimed the 
factory owner violated the law by suspending union representatives 
before submitting such action for MOLVT approval.
    On July 27, two female garment workers were injured after 
approximately 50 police tried to force an estimated 3,000 striking 
workers to end a week-long strike at the PCCS garment factory. A local 
police chief denied allegations that police used excessive force to 
break up the strike, adding that police only pushed workers back inside 
the factory compound.
    In spite of legal provisions protecting strikers from reprisals, 
there were credible reports that workers were dismissed on spurious 
grounds after organizing or participating in strikes. While most 
strikes were illegal, participating in an illegal strike was not by 
itself a legally acceptable reason for dismissal. In some cases 
employers pressured strikers to accept compensation and leave their 
employment. There are potential remedies for such dismissals, although 
none was particularly effective. The MOLVT may issue reinstatement 
orders, but these often provoked management efforts to pressure workers 
into resigning in exchange for a settlement. Collective disputes, such 
as when multiple employees are dismissed, may be brought before the 
Arbitration Council for a decision. Parties may choose if decisions are 
binding or nonbinding; if neither party objects to the arbitral award 
within eight days of its being issued, it automatically becomes 
binding. Individual disputes may be brought before the courts, although 
the judicial system was neither impartial nor transparent. Some unions 
urged the Government to expand the role of the Arbitration Council to 
include individual and collective interest disputes and to make its 
decisions binding.
    On May 1, Ath Thorn, president of the Cambodian Labor Confederation 
and the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union, led 
several thousand workers in a demonstration advocating numerous 
concessions by industry and the Government, including an increase of 
the garment-worker minimum wage and implementation of health-care and 
pension systems for garment workers. The march was peaceful, without 
any confrontation with police. In a separate event, participants in a 
300-strong march led by Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian 
Confederation of Unions and CITA, scuffled briefly with police due to a 
disagreement over the route of the march. Later the same evening, 
police prevented Rong Chhun and his colleagues from showing a film 
documentary in a public park about the killing of labor leader Chea 
Vichea. The documentary had not been authorized by the Ministry of 
Culture and Fine Arts, and municipal officials denied a permit for the 
screening. Police removed the screen that Rong Chhun and his supporters 
erected in the park and prevented its replacement.
    On September 13, garment workers launched a five-day strike to 
protest the minimum wage increase approved in July (see section 7.e.), 
which some union leaders contended was insufficient to combat the 
rising cost of living in and around Phnom Penh. Authorities publicly 
agreed to allow the strike to proceed. There were minimal reports of 
individual violence perpetrated by both workers and police; however, 
employers filed a large number of civil complaints against union 
leaders and workers that resulted in court injunctions and suspensions. 
On September 16, the unions involved called off the strike after the 
Government offered to broker a solution between workers and employers. 
The majority of workers returned to their jobs, but employers were 
reluctant to negotiate outstanding problems, including the return of 
379 workers who remained suspended during the year.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for the right to organize and bargain collectively, but the 
Government's enforcement of these rights was inconsistent. Collective 
bargaining agreements existed within the garment and hotel industry and 
with contract workers at the two international airports.
    There were 55 collective bargaining agreements registered with the 
MOLVT during the year. However, these were not comprehensive 
agreements, but rather simple agreements covering a few points on wage-
related matters.
    A regulation establishes procedures to allow unions to demonstrate 
that they represent workers for purposes of collective bargaining. The 
regulation also establishes requirements for employers and unions 
regarding collective bargaining and provides union leaders with 
additional protection from dismissal. The law requires trade unions and 
employers' organizations to file charters and lists of officials with 
the MOLVT. The Bureau of Labor Relations is responsible for 
facilitating the process of union registration and certification of 
``most representative status'' for unions, which entitles a union 
representing an absolute majority of workers in a given enterprise to 
represent all the workers in that establishment.
    Enforcement of the right of association and freedom from antiunion 
discrimination was inconsistent. Acts of union discrimination by the 
employer often went unpunished. Government enforcement of rights was 
hampered by a lack of political will and by confused financial and 
political relationships among 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 officials 
adequate salaries. The MOLVT often decided in favor of employees but 
rarely used its legal authority to penalize employers who defied its 
orders, instead referring many cases to the Arbitration Council.
    There were credible reports of antiunion harassment by employers, 
including the dismissal of union leaders, in garment factories and 
other enterprises. By year's end approximately 40 union leaders were 
dismissed or suspended without cause. In some factories persons 
employed in management appeared to have established their own unions, 
supported promanagement unions, or compromised union leaders through 
efforts to jeopardize their employment.
    Prominent independent and opposition union leaders reported 
receiving veiled threats of violence. Four union leaders affiliated 
with the Free Trade Union of Workers in the Kingdom of Cambodia were 
injured by enforcers hired by factory management, and one was beaten by 
a Chinese supervisor. Both independent and progovernment union leaders 
were injured by unidentified assailants. In two cases, nine union 
leaders were threatened with suits or sued for defamation, perjury, 
inciting workers to strike, destroying private property, and attempting 
to incite workers to commit assault. On several occasions dismissed 
union leaders accepted cash settlements after unsuccessfully appealing 
to the Government to enforce laws requiring their reinstatement.
    During the year the MOLVT formally warned 404 companies of legal 
violations. The MOLVT sent 86 cases of unresolved labor disputes to the 
Arbitration Council. The Arbitration Council received 145 cases from 
across the country, of which approximately 70 percent were successfully 
resolved. One hundred forty-five cases were completed, with 104 
arbitral awards and 30 agreements between the parties during the 
process; 11 cases were pending. Of 104 awards, 58 were opposed by one 
of the parties--45 by employers and 13 by workers.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
export processing zones (known as special economic zones).

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, but there were reports that such practices 
occurred in domestic service and other, almost exclusively informal-
sector, activities. Also see the Department of State's annual 
Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law provides protections for children from exploitation in the 
workplace; however, enforcement was often weak. The 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 to 
engage in ``light work'' that is not hazardous to their health and does 
not affect school attendance.
    Child labor was widespread in agriculture, brick making, salt 
production, shrimp processing, fishing, domestic service, and on rubber 
plantations. Child labor was also reported in the formal sector but to 
a much lesser extent. According to a 2006 study conducted by the World 
Bank and others, more than 750,000 economically active children were 
below the absolute minimum working age of 12. An additional 500,000 
children (12 to 14 years old) conducting non-light economic activity 
were below the minimum age for this type of work. According to the 
report, more than 250,000 children ages 15 to 17 worked more than 43 
hours per week or in hazardous sectors. An expert from the ILO's 
International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor stated that the 
number of children working in hazardous work conditions rose to 
approximately 300,000 during the year. Three-quarters of economically 
active children were in the agriculture sector, 15 percent in commerce, 
5 percent in small-scale manufacturing, and 2 percent in services.
    According to a 2007 report, a total of 21,266 child domestic 
workers were found in Phnom Penh and the three provinces of Battambang, 
Kampong Cham, and Siem Reap. The children typically did not attend 
school, worked long hours with no medical benefits, and received little 
or no pay. On February 19, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced 
schoolteacher Meas Nary to 20 years in prison--the maximum permitted 
under the human trafficking law--for her role in detaining and abusing 
her 11-year-old ward, whom she used as a domestic servant. Meas' 
husband, Var Savoeun, received a 10-year term. A relative of the child, 
Thoeung Reth, who sold her to the Phnom Penh couple, was sentenced to 
five years in prison on trafficking charges.
    On June 11, police arrested a Koh Kong woman for forcing her 12-
year-old stepson to scavenge for money and allegedly beating him if he 
did not earn enough. The intentional battery and assault charges carry 
potential prison terms of between two months and five years. At year's 
end, the case was pending in court.
    The MOLVT has responsibility for child labor inspection in both the 
formal and informal sectors of the economy, but its labor inspectors 
played no role in the informal sector or in enforcing the law in 
illegal industries, such as unregistered garment factories operating 
without a license from the MOLVT and the Ministry of Commerce. Within 
the formal sector, labor inspectors conducted routine inspections of 
some industries, such as garment manufacturing (where the incidence of 
child labor was negligible), but in some industries with the highest 
child-labor risk, labor inspections were entirely complaint-driven.
    The constitution prohibits forced or bonded child labor; however, 
forced child labor was a serious problem. Widespread corruption, lack 
of transparency, inadequate resources, and staffing shortages remained 
the most challenging obstacles. For more information on forced child 
labor, see also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in 
Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The law requires the MOLVT to 
establish a garment-sector minimum wage based on recommendations from 
the Labor Advisory Committee. On July 8, the committee agreed to 
increase the minimum wages for garment workers to $61 per month from 
$50 per month for regular workers and $56 per month from $45 per month 
for probationary workers. The new minimum monthly wages include an 
existing $6 cost-of-living allowance, which workers began receiving in 
2008. The new wages came into effect on October 1 and were scheduled to 
remain in force until 2014. Workers and union leaders claimed 
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, although garment-sector wages were generally 
higher than wages in the informal economy. The vast majority of 
employers in garment factories paid the minimum wage to permanent 
workers, although temporary and other such workers often were paid 
less. The law does not mandate a minimum wage for any other industry.
    The law provides for a standard legal workweek of 48 hours, not to 
exceed eight hours per day. The law establishes a rate of 130 percent 
of daytime wages for nightshift work and 150 percent for overtime, 
which increases to 200 percent if overtime occurs at night, on Sunday, 
or on a holiday. Employees are allowed to work up to two hours of 
overtime each day. However, the Government did not enforce these 
standards effectively. Workers reported that overtime was excessive and 
sometimes mandatory. Similarly, outside the garment industry, 
regulations on working hours were rarely enforced. Involuntary overtime 
remained a problem, although the practice decreased during the year. 
Employers used coercion to force employees to work. Workers often faced 
fines, dismissal, or loss of premium pay if they refused to work 
overtime.
    The law states that the workplace should have health and safety 
standards adequate to provide for workers' well-being. The Government 
enforced existing standards selectively, in part because it lacked 
trained staff and equipment. The MOLVT's Department of Labor Inspection 
was the primary enforcement agency, and during the year it issued 404 
warnings about labor law violations to companies. The agency appeared 
to conduct proactive inspections, but endemic corruption hindered the 
efficacy of such inspections. 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. Penalties are specified in the law, 
but there are no specific provisions to protect workers who complained 
about unsafe or unhealthy conditions. Workers have the right to remove 
themselves from situations that endangered health or safety without 
jeopardy to their employment, but those who did so possibly risked loss 
of employment.
    Personnel in the air and maritime transportation industries are not 
entitled to the full protections of the law. Articles 1 and 283 apply 
to the specific cases of these industries instead, but workers in these 
industries are free to form unions.
    On April 29, the International Labor Organization issued a report 
which estimated that more than 1,500 workers were killed annually by 
work-related accidents. Work-related accidents happened frequently in 
construction, brick making, fishing, the garment industry, and 
enterprises not complying with labor standards or with improperly 
installed safety systems. On April 30, more than 350 government 
officials, employers, and workers observed World Day for Occupational 
Health and Safety in Kampot Province. The event was aimed at 
understanding the risks of occupational health and safety and 
preventing work-related accidents.
    On June 2 and 3, approximately 50 workers fainted at a Chinese-
owned shoe factory Tiger Wing, located in the outskirts of Phnom Penh. 
Police claimed that the incidents were caused by workers' poor health, 
while a district official stated that chemical fumes from shoe glue 
caused the mass fainting. Health department officials ruled that the 
workers fainted due to heat exhaustion.
    On July 4, authorities ordered the temporary closure of the Pine 
Great Cambodia Garment factory in the capital's Meanchey District after 
47 of its employees fainted while they were working. A commune chief 
reported an additional 50 workers complained of headaches after 
returning home from their shifts. The deputy director of the 
Occupational Health Department denied chemicals could cause such an 
incident.

                               __________

                    CHINA, THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF

    The section for Tibet, the report for Hong Kong, and the report for 
Macau are appended below.)
    The People's Republic of China (PRC), with a population of 
approximately 1.3 billion, is an authoritarian state in which the 
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) constitutionally is the paramount 
authority. Party members hold almost all top government, police, and 
military positions. Ultimate authority rests with the 25-member 
Political Bureau (Politburo) of the CCP and its nine-member Standing 
Committee. Hu Jintao holds the three most powerful positions as CCP 
general secretary, president, and chairman of the Central Military 
Commission. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control 
of the security forces.
    A negative trend in key areas of the country's human rights record 
continued, as the Government took additional steps to rein in civil 
society, particularly organizations and individuals involved in rights 
advocacy and public interest issues, and increased attempts to limit 
freedom of speech and to control the press, the Internet, and Internet 
access. Efforts to silence political activists and public interest 
lawyers were stepped up, and increasingly the Government resorted to 
extralegal measures including enforced disappearance, ``soft 
detention,'' and strict house arrest, including house arrest of family 
members, to prevent the public voicing of independent opinions. Public 
interest law firms that took on sensitive cases also continued to face 
harassment, disbarment of legal staff, and closure.
    Individuals and groups, especially those seen as politically 
sensitive by the Government, continued to face tight restrictions on 
their freedom to assemble, practice religion, and travel. The 
Government continued its severe cultural and religious repression of 
ethnic minorities in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) and 
Tibetan areas. Abuses peaked around high-profile events, such as the 
awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to democracy activist Liu Xiaobo and 
sensitive anniversaries.
    As in previous years, citizens did not have the right to change 
their government. Principal human rights problems during the year 
included: extrajudicial killings, including executions without due 
process; enforced disappearance and incommunicado detention, including 
prolonged illegal detentions at unofficial holding facilities known as 
``black jails''; torture and coerced confessions of prisoners; 
detention and harassment of journalists, writers, dissidents, 
petitioners, and others who sought to peacefully exercise their rights 
under the law; a lack of due process in judicial proceedings, political 
control of courts and judges; closed trials; the use of administrative 
detention; restrictions on freedoms to assemble, practice religion, and 
travel; failure to protect refugees and asylum-seekers; pressure on 
other countries to forcibly return citizens to China; intense scrutiny 
of, and restrictions on, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); 
discrimination against women, minorities, and persons with 
disabilities; a coercive birth limitation policy, which in some cases 
resulted in forced abortion or forced sterilization; trafficking in 
persons; prohibitions on independent unions and a lack of protection 
for workers' right to strike; and the use of forced labor, including 
prison labor. Corruption remained endemic.
                        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 
security forces reportedly committed arbitrary or unlawful killings. No 
official statistics on deaths in custody were available. In April 2009 
the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) disclosed that at least 15 
prisoners died ``unnatural deaths'' under unusual circumstances as of 
the 2009 disclosure. According to a Chinese press report, seven of the 
prisoners died of beatings, three were classified as suicides, two were 
described as accidents, and three remained under investigation.
    On March 8, Zhou Lingguang, a Huazhou, Guangdong Province native 
died while in detention in Guangzhou. Zhou had been remanded to one 
year of reeducation through labor (RTL) in 2009 for gambling, but due 
to space limitations had been transferred to a Juvenile Detention 
Center. According to prison officials, Zhou's heart ``abruptly stopped 
beating.'' Family members questioned the official explanation, and 
demanded an independent autopsy. When the family viewed Zhou's body, 
they reported his corpse was covered except for the head and that he 
was enclosed in a glass case. They were not permitted to take 
photographs. Prison officials refused the family's request to release 
surveillance footage.
    On March 31, Yang Xiuan, an inmate serving a mandatory drug 
rehabilitation sentence died in a treatment center in Ziyang, Sichuan 
Province. A center official said he had died of natural causes, but his 
family doubted the official cause of death claiming that when they saw 
Yang's body his face was badly bruised.
    On May 3, authorities notified Fu Changping's family that he died 
in an RTL facility in Jixi, Heilongjiang Province. Although facility 
officials claimed he died ``normally,'' Fu's family said his body was 
covered in cuts and bruises. Medical records from when Fu entered the 
camp weeks earlier noted Fu was in good health. Authorities threatened 
to withhold compensation for Fu's death if the family continued to 
suggest Fu was murdered.
    On August 8, detainee Ren Aiguo was discovered dead in a detention 
center located in Heshun County, Jinzhong, Shanxi Province. An 
inspection team organized by local officials ruled the death a suicide. 
Ren's family challenged the ruling, claiming inspectors failed to 
properly investigate the death and ignored critical questions. The 
family questioned the lack of surveillance footage, although the room 
in the detention center where Ren was found was equipped with a video 
camera. The inspection team claimed the monitoring equipment in the 
facility had been out of service.
    There were no known developments in the 2009 deaths in custody of 
Lin Guojiang, Li Qiaoming, Li Wenyan, all of whom died under suspicious 
or unexplained circumstances, or regarding the allegation that Tibetan 
monk, Phuntsok Rabten, was beaten to death by police.
    In June Guangxi Litang Prison authorities reported the April 2009 
death of He Zhi, a Falun Gong practitioner who was sentenced to eight 
years' imprisonment in 2005. Authorities at Guangxi Litang Prison, 
where many Falun Gong practitioners reportedly are imprisoned, stated 
the cause of death was ``falling from bed,'' but He's brother claimed 
he found other injuries and bruises on He's body.
    According to a media report, Yu Weiping, an inmate at Rushan 
Detention Center in Weihai, Shandong Province, died in November 2009. 
His family found small holes in his chest and bruises on his body. 
Authorities told the family the holes were scars left from pimples; 
however, an autopsy revealed that sharp objects pierced Yu's chest, 
rupturing his heart. The family reported the death to the Weihai Public 
Security Bureau and demanded an investigation. By year's end there was 
no reported response.
    According to official media reports, 197 persons died and 1,700 
were injured during the July 2009 rioting in Urumqi. In November 2009 
eight ethnic Uighurs and one ethnic Han were executed without due 
process for crimes committed during the riots. At year's end 26 persons 
had been sentenced to death; nine others reportedly received suspended 
death sentences. Of these, three were reportedly ethnic Hans and the 
rest were Uighurs. In April a Uighur woman became the second woman 
sentenced to death for involvement in the violence. In December Uighur 
journalist Memetjan Abdulla was sentenced to life in prison for 
transmitting information about the riots because he translated an 
article from a Chinese-language Web site and posted it on a Uighur-
language Web site. China Daily reported that, according to the 
president of the XUAR Supreme People's Court, courts in the XUAR had 
tried 376 individuals in 2010 for ``crimes against national security'' 
and their involvement in the July 2009 violence.
    Defendants in criminal proceedings were executed following 
convictions that sometimes lacked due process and adequate channels for 
appeal.

    b. Disappearance.--According to a January NGO report and media 
accounts, Guo Yongfeng, a Shenzhen democracy activist and organizer of 
the Citizens' Association for Government Oversight, disappeared in 
September 2009 after being called in to a police station for 
questioning. Friends of Guo claimed that he had been sentenced to 18 
months' detention in an RTL camp; however, security officials would 
neither confirm nor deny this claim.
    In February 2009 authorities detained rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, 
who had represented Christians and Falun Gong practitioners. At year's 
end his whereabouts and legal status remained unknown. According to NGO 
and media reports, he was seen in his hometown in August 2009 under 
heavy police escort. Gao was seen briefly in Beijing in March and 
April, but subsequently disappeared again.
    In an October 2009 report, the NGO Human Rights Watch documented 
the disappearances of hundreds of Uighur men and boys following the 
July 2009 protests in Urumqi.
    On July 7, authorities released underground Catholic bishop Julius 
Jia Zhiguo of Zhengding, Hebei Province, who had been detained since 
March 2009.
    The whereabouts of underground Catholic priests Zhang Li and Zhang 
Jianlin, from Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, whom authorities detained in 
2008, remained unknown.
    At year's end the Government had not provided a comprehensive, 
credible accounting of all those killed, missing, or detained in 
connection with the violent suppression of the 1989 Tiananmen 
demonstrations. In October the Duihua Foundation, an international 
human rights NGO, estimated that fewer than a dozen continued to serve 
sentences for offenses committed during the demonstration, although 
other estimates were higher. Many activists who were involved in the 
demonstrations continued to suffer from official harassment.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The law prohibits the physical abuse of detainees and 
forbids prison guards from extracting confessions by torture, insulting 
prisoners' dignity, and beating or encouraging others to beat 
prisoners. On July 1, new rules went into effect excluding evidence, 
including confessions, obtained under torture in certain categories of 
criminal cases. However, during the year there were reports that 
officials used electric shocks, beatings, shackles, and other forms of 
abuse.
    In July the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) ordered local police 
officials to cease parading criminal suspects in public and called on 
local departments to enforce laws in a ``rational, calm, and civilized 
manner.'' The new regulations were a response to the public outcry over 
``shame parades,'' in which individuals suspected of being prostitutes 
were shackled and paraded in public. According to press reports, in 
July, prior to the MPS order, police in Dongguan, Guandong Province, 
forced arrested women in prostitution to parade in the streets barefoot 
and handcuffed and published their photos on the Internet.
    On May 30, the Supreme People's Court, the SPP, the MPS, the 
Ministry of State Security, and the Ministry of Justice issued 
regulations regarding the use of evidence in criminal cases. In July 
the lawyer for Chongqing businessman Fan Qihang revealed evidence that 
Fan was tortured while in custody in June 2009 on corruption charges. 
Despite the new regulations that evidence obtained through torture 
could not be used as a basis for judgment in a criminal case, Fan was 
executed in September.
    Henan activist Liu Shasha stated that on July 16 she was kidnapped 
outside People's University in Beijing. She identified those 
responsible as Beijing security officials and officials from Tongbai 
County, Henan Province, who hooded her and drove her to an unknown 
location outside Beijing. There, she said, her hands were bound and she 
was beaten. Liu's cell phone and bank card were taken, and she was 
dropped off in Ci County, outside Handan, Hebei Province. She returned 
to Beijing on July 18, and filed a police report regarding the 
incident.
    On July 8, lawyers met with imprisoned activist Guo Feixiong (aka 
Yang Maodong) in Guangdong Province's Meizhou Prison. During the 
meeting, Guo presented the lawyers a copy of a document stating his 
reasons for seeking a review of the judgment, including that he was 
subjected to torture during the investigation of his case.
    According to a July 7 NGO report, democracy activist Xu Wanping, 
who founded the China Action Party after the 1989 Tiananmen massacre 
and was serving a 12-year sentence for ``inciting subversion of state 
power,'' was repeatedly subjected to solitary confinement in Yuzhou 
Prison, Jiangbei District, Chongqing. The longest period of such 
confinement reportedly lasted 11 months. Xu's mental and physical 
health have deteriorated, and he reportedly has not received adequate 
medical attention while incarcerated. Xu has been denied release on 
medical parole.
    In March lawyer Gao Zhisheng revealed to journalists that he had 
been tortured during a period of illegal detention beginning in 
February 2009 (see section 1.b.).
    According to an NGO report, Shen Pailan, a Shanghai-based activist 
and petitioner was tortured and beaten while in detention between March 
24 and April 9. On March 24, Shen was kidnapped by employees of the 
Maqiao municipal government in Minhang District, Shanghai. While 
detained at a hotel, Shen was tortured and beaten. Shen was later 
transferred to Zhuanqiao Town Police Station and then to Minhang 
District Detention Center, where the police announced that she would be 
subjected to 15 days of administrative detention and fined RMB 500 
(approximately $75) for ``assault.''
    According to a November 2009 Human Rights Watch report, in March 
2009 An Weifeng was released for medical treatment from Bancheng Prison 
in Chengde, Henan Province, after being severely beaten and subjected 
to torture by police.
    In November 2008 the UN Committee Against Torture (UN CAT) stated 
its deep concern about the routine and widespread use in the country of 
torture and mistreatment of suspects in police custody, especially to 
extract confessions or information used in criminal proceedings. UN CAT 
also acknowledged government efforts to address the practice of torture 
and related problems in the criminal justice system. Many acts of 
torture allegedly occurred in pretrial criminal detention centers or 
RTL centers. Sexual and physical abuse and extortion occurred in some 
detention centers.
    There were widespread reports of activists and petitioners being 
committed to mental health facilities and involuntarily subjected to 
psychiatric treatment for political reasons. According to China News 
Weekly, the MPS directly administers 22 high-security psychiatric 
hospitals for the criminally insane (also known as ankang facilities). 
From 1998 to May 2010, more than 40,000 persons were committed to 
ankang hospitals. In May an MPS official stated in a media interview 
that detention in ankang facilities was not appropriate for patients 
who did not demonstrate criminal behavior. However, political 
activists, underground religious believers, persons who repeatedly 
petitioned the Government, members of the banned Chinese Democracy 
Party (CDP), and Falun Gong adherents were among those housed with 
mentally ill patients in these institutions. Regulations governing 
security officials' ability to remand a person to an ankang facility 
were not clear, and detainees had no mechanism for objecting to claims 
of mental illness by security officials. Patients in these hospitals 
reportedly were medicated against their will and forcibly subjected to 
electric shock treatment.
    According to a June 29 NGO report, Liao Meizhi was detained in 
February by individuals allegedly engaged by the Qianjiang Bureau of 
Health and the Laoxin Town Public Health Clinic while she was in 
petitioning with family members. She subsequently was committed to a 
psychiatric hospital. Liao had previously been detained in psychiatric 
institutions for petitioning. It was not known whether an independent 
doctor assessed her mental health.
    On June 5, a Beijing Chaoyang District Court ruled that China 
Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) had not violated the 
rights of former employee Chen Miaocheng, who died after 13 years of 
detention in a psychiatric institution. Chen, was involuntarily 
hospitalized in 1995 for ``paranoid schizophrenia'' but cleared for 
release in December 1996 by doctors at Beijing's Huilongguan Hospital. 
However, the hospital refused to discharge Chen unless his employer, 
Sinopec, agreed to his release. Sinopec refused, and Chen died in the 
hospital 12 years after being cleared for discharge. It remains unclear 
why Chen's employer needed to clear his release, or why this was 
withheld. Chen's widow filed a lawsuit against Sinopec, arguing that by 
having Chen involuntarily committed to a psychiatric institution, 
Sinopec had violated Chen's rights to life, liberty, and health. The 
court ruled that Sinopec had not violated the law when it committed 
Chen to the hospital and was not liable for his death since Chen died 
from pneumonia.
    According to an NGO report, on March 29, officials in Wuhan, Hubei, 
illegally detained petitioner Liu Caixia in a psychiatric institution. 
Liu, a former accountant at Central China University of Science and 
Technology in Wuhan, traveled to Beijing on March 26 to petition the 
Government over losing her job. Liu was detained in Beijing by 
officials from the Beijing Liaison Office of the Hongshan District 
Government and forcibly returned to Wuhan. Liu reportedly was detained 
in the psychiatric ward of the Huashan Town Health Clinic in Hongshan 
District.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Conditions in penal 
institutions for both political prisoners and criminal offenders were 
generally harsh and often degrading. Prisoners and detainees were 
regularly housed in overcrowded conditions with poor sanitation. 
Inadequate prison capacity remained a problem in some areas. 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 such goods. Adequate, timely 
medical care for prisoners remained a serious problem, despite official 
assurances that prisoners have the right to prompt medical treatment.
    Article 53 of the Prison Law mandates that a prison shall be 
ventilated, allow for natural light, and be clean and warm. However, in 
many cases there were inadequate provisions for sanitation, 
ventilation, heating, lighting, basic and emergency medical care, and 
access to potable water.
    Forced labor remained a serious problem in penal institutions. Many 
prisoners and detainees in penal and RTL facilities were required to 
work, often with no remuneration. Information about prisons, including 
associated labor camps and factories, was considered a state secret.
    In response to claims that the organs of executed prisoners were 
harvested for transplant purposes, Vice Minister of Health Huang Jiefu 
in August 2009 stated that inmates were not a proper source for human 
organs and that prisoners must give written consent for their organs to 
be removed.
    Conditions in administrative detention facilities, such as RTL 
camps, were similar to those in prisons. Beating deaths occurred in 
administrative detention and RTL facilities. According to NGO reports, 
conditions in these facilities were similar to those in prisons, with 
detainees reporting beatings, sexual assaults, lack of proper food, and 
no access to medical care.
    Information on the prison population is not made public. In 2004 
then minister of justice Fan Fangping reportedly said there were more 
than 670 prisons housing ``more than 1.5 million prisoners.'' According 
to domestic media reporting, a Ministry of Justice survey estimated 
that the prison population as of the end of 2005 was 1.56 million. The 
law requires juveniles be housed separately from adults, unless 
facilities are insufficient. In practice children were sometimes housed 
with adult prisoners and required to work. Political prisoners were 
housed with the general prison population and reported being beaten by 
other prisoners at the instigation of guards.
    Many prisoners and detainees did not have reasonable access to 
visitors and were not permitted religious observance. Under Article 52 
of the Jail Law, ``considerations shall be given to the special habits 
and customs of prisoners of minority ethnic groups.'' The Detention 
Center Regulation Article 23 had similar requirements. However, little 
information was available about the implementation of these 
regulations.
    Prisoners and detainees are legally entitled to submit complaints 
to judicial authorities without censorship and request investigation of 
credible allegations of inhumane conditions. Article 47 of the Prison 
Law further states that letters from a prisoner to higher authorities 
of the prison or to the judicial organs shall be free from examination. 
The law further states that a prison ``shall set up medical 
[facilities], living and sanitary facilities, and institute regulations 
on the life and sanitation of prisoners.'' It also states that the 
medical and health care of prisoners shall be put into the public 
health and epidemic prevention program of the area in which the prison 
is located. However, authorities did not investigate credible 
allegations of inhumane conditions nor document the results of such 
investigations in a publicly accessible manner.
    The law requires the Government to investigate and monitor prison 
and detention center conditions, and an official from the Prosecutor's 
Office is designated responsible for investigating and monitoring 
prison and detention center conditions.
    The Government generally did not permit independent monitoring of 
prisons or RTL camps, and prisoners remained inaccessible to local and 
international human rights organizations, media groups, and the 
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--Arbitrary arrest and detention 
remained serious problems. The law grants police broad administrative 
detention powers and the ability to detain individuals for extended 
periods without formal arrest or criminal charges.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The main domestic 
security agencies include the Ministry of State Security, the MPS, and 
the People's Armed Police. The People's Liberation Army was primarily 
responsible for external security but also had some domestic security 
responsibilities. Local jurisdictions also frequently used civilian 
municipal security forces, known as ``urban management'' officials, to 
enforce laws.
    The MPS coordinates the country's police force, which is organized 
into specialized police agencies and local, county, and provincial 
jurisdictions. Judicial oversight of the police was limited, and checks 
and balances were absent. Corruption at the local level was widespread. 
Police and urban management officials engaged in extrajudicial 
detention, extortion, and assault. In 2009 the Supreme People's 
Procuratorate acknowledged continuing widespread abuse in law 
enforcement. In 2009 domestic news media reported the convictions of 
public security officials who had beaten to death suspects or prisoners 
in their custody.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law allows 
police to detain suspects for up to 37 days before formal arrest. After 
arrest, police are authorized to detain a suspect for up to an 
additional seven months while the case is investigated. After the 
completion of a police investigation, an additional 45 days of 
detention are allowed for the procuratorate to determine whether to 
file criminal charges. If charges are filed, authorities can detain a 
suspect for an additional 45 days before beginning judicial 
proceedings. As a result, pretrial detention periods of a year or 
longer are not uncommon. In practice the police sometimes detained 
persons beyond the period allowed by law. The law stipulates that 
detainees be allowed to meet with defense counsel before criminal 
charges are filed. Police often violated this right.
    The criminal procedure law requires a court to provide a lawyer to 
a defendant who has not already retained a lawyer; who is blind, deaf, 
mute, a minor; or who may be sentenced to death. This law applies 
whether or not the defendant is indigent. Courts may also provide 
lawyers to other criminal defendants who cannot afford them, although 
courts often did not appoint counsel in such circumstances.
    Criminal defendants are entitled to apply for bail while awaiting 
trial. However, in practice few suspects were released on bail.
    The law requires notification of family members within 24 hours of 
detention, but individuals were often held without notification for 
significantly longer periods, especially in politically sensitive 
cases. Under a sweeping exception, officials are not required to 
provide notification if doing so would ``hinder the investigation'' of 
a case.
    The law protects the right to petition the Government for 
resolution of grievances. However, citizens who traveled to Beijing to 
petition the central government were frequently subjected to arbitrary 
detention, often by police dispatched from the petitioner's hometown. 
Some provincial governments operated facilities in Beijing or in other 
localities where petitioners from their districts were held in 
extrajudicial detention. Some local governments took steps to restrict 
petitioning. According to a May 27 Shanxi provincial government report, 
the Shanxi Provincial People's Congress adopted regulations that listed 
eight types of ``prohibited'' petitioning, including ``illegally 
gathering, encircling or rushing into government offices or important 
public spaces, stopping cars or hindering public transportation, 
linking up with others to petition,'' and similar acts. The regulations 
also stated that petitioners suspected of ``misrepresenting facts to 
frame others'' could be subject to criminal charges.
    According to NGO reports, Luan Chuyu of Nantong, Jiangsu Province, 
a villager facing forced eviction, was detained by police while 
petitioning in Beijing; she was held in a ``black jail'' from June 16-
18 and then forcibly returned to Nantong, where she was detained 
illegally in a local black jail for an additional month. Luan was 
released after local officials pressured her into signing an agreement 
consenting to the demolition of her home.
    On September 5, Liu Yujie a petitioner from Shiyan, Hubei Province, 
who had been demanding a meeting with Supreme People's Court President 
Wang Shengjun after losing her home in what she believed to be an 
unjust court ruling, was detained by police outside the Supreme 
People's Court in Beijing per a human rights NGO report. Liu was 
reportedly taken to a black jail in Jiujingzhuang, Beijing. Shiyan 
municipal officials in Beijing took custody of Liu and moved her to a 
black jail operated by the Beijing Liaison Office of Tanghe County, 
Henan Province. At year's end her status remained unclear.
    According to NGO reports, on October 6, petitioner Liu Xianzhi of 
Henan Province, was detained in Beijing and forcibly returned to her 
hometown of Nancao Township. While in Beijing Liu was reportedly held 
in a black jail operated by local government officials where she was 
beaten and sustained head and neck injuries.
    In July 2009 Noor-Ul-Islam Sherbaz, a minor, was detained and 
accused of participating in the July riots in Urumqi. In contravention 
of the law on the detention of juveniles, Sherbaz's parents had no 
contact with their son after his arrest and were not allowed to be 
present during police interrogations. On April 13, Aksu Intermediate 
People's Court found Sherbaz guilty of murder, at a trial that 
reportedly lasted 30 minutes, and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
    The law permits nonjudicial panels, known as ``labor reeducation 
panels,'' to remand persons to RTL camps or other administrative 
detention programs for up to three years without trial. Labor 
reeducation panels are authorized to extend these administrative 
sentences for up to one year. Detainees are technically allowed to 
challenge administrative RTL sentences and appeal for sentence 
reduction or suspension. However, appeals were rarely successful. Other 
forms of administrative detention include ``custody and education'' 
(for women engaged in prostitution and those soliciting prostitution) 
and ``custody and training'' (for minor criminal offenders). The 
2008Anti-Drug Law established a system of ``compulsory isolation for 
drug rehabilitation.'' The minimum stay in such centers is two years 
and the law states that this treatment can include work. Public 
security organs authorize detention in these centers and it often is 
meted out as an administrative rather than criminal measure. 
Administrative detention was used to intimidate political activists and 
prevent public demonstrations.
    Shanghai housing activist Mao Hengfeng was detained early in the 
year and sentenced to 18 months of RTL on March 4 for ``disturbing 
social order.'' Mao's family members and lawyer were prevented from 
visiting her for extended periods during the year.
    On August 6, a district court in Baoding, Hebei Province, heard a 
suit brought by reporter and activist Xu Yishun (also known by his pen 
name Kong Fanzhong). Xu challenged a Baoding RTL Management Committee's 
May 25 decision to sentence him to 18 months RTL for fraud. The hearing 
ended without issuance of a verdict.
    Authorities arrested persons on allegations of revealing state 
secrets, subversion, and other crimes as a means to suppress political 
dissent and public advocacy. These charges remain ill defined, 
including what constitutes a state secret. Citizens also were detained 
under broad and ambiguous state secrets laws for, among other actions, 
disclosing information on criminal trials, meetings, and government 
activity.
    Human rights activists, journalists, unregistered religious 
leaders, and former political prisoners and their family members were 
among those targeted for arbitrary detention or arrest.
    The Government continued to use extrajudicial house arrest against 
dissidents, former political prisoners, family members of political 
prisoners, petitioners, underground religious figures, and others it 
deemed politically sensitive. Numerous dissidents, activists, and 
petitioners were placed under house arrest during the October National 
Day holiday period and at other sensitive times, such as during the 
Shanghai Expo and the December Nobel Prize ceremony. Conditions faced 
by those under house arrest varied but sometimes included complete 
isolation in their homes under police guard. In some instances security 
officials were stationed inside the homes of subjects under house 
arrest. Others were occasionally permitted to leave their homes to work 
or run errands but were required to ride in police vehicles. When 
permitted to leave their homes, subjects of house arrest were usually 
under police surveillance.
    In March several Beijing dissidents, including Cha Jianguo, Gao 
Hongming, Li Hai, Xu Yonghai, and Qi Zhiyong, were placed under house 
arrest to prevent them from commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.
    On April 3, security guards at a Beijing housing compound prevented 
artist and activist Yan Zhengxue from leaving his residence to attend 
an arts exhibition. When Yan argued with the guards blocking his exit, 
they beat him, inflicting multiple injuries. Beijing artist and 
activist Yang Licai was also placed under house arrest in late March 
with a police vehicle and five police officers stationed outside his 
home. Retired Shandong University professor Sun Wenguang was placed 
under house arrest at his home in Jinan, Shandong.
    On September 9, blind human rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng was 
released after completing a prison sentence of three years and four 
months on politically motivated charges of ``disrupting traffic.'' 
Since his release, Chen, his wife, and his mother have been under house 
arrest and prevented from communicating with others. Chen was not 
allowed to seek medical attention for a gastrointestinal condition he 
developed in prison.
    On December 10, ethnic Mongolian activist Hada was released from 
prison after serving a 15-year prison sentence for espionage and 
separatism. Hada founded the Southern Mongolia Democracy Alliance, 
which called for a referendum on the future of the province of Inner 
Mongolia. At year's end neither he, his wife, nor his son have been 
seen publicly since his release.
    After the announcement of the awarding of the 2010 Nobel Peace 
Prize to imprisoned writer Liu Xiaobo, his wife, Liu Xia, was placed 
under extrajudicial house arrest. At year's end she had not seen in 
public since October, and her electronic and telephone communication 
ceased in November.
    Police surveillance, harassment and detentions of activists 
increased around politically sensitive events. Shanghai residents 
experienced more stringent security measures during the Shanghai World 
Expo from May 1 to October 31. In the period leading up to, and during 
the Expo, several prominent Shanghai activists, including Feng Zhenghu 
and Zheng Enchong, were placed under house arrest. Others were 
prevented from entering the city. Authorities prevented blogger Wen 
Kejian and artist Ai Weiwei from entering Shanghai on separate 
occasions during the Expo. Authorities prevented activists from 
departing China prior to the December 10 Nobel Peace Prize award 
ceremony, and briefly detained a number of prominent rights activists 
immediately before and during the Nobel ceremony. The annual plenary 
session of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese 
People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the anniversary of 
the Tiananmen massacre, the October announcement of the Nobel Peace 
Prize triggered similar security responses. Authorities in the XUAR 
used house arrest and other forms of arbitrary detention against those 
accused of supporting the ``three evils'' of religious extremism, 
``splittism,'' and terrorism.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law states that the courts 
shall exercise judicial power independently, without interference from 
administrative organs, social organizations, and individuals. However, 
in practice the judiciary was not independent. Legal scholars have 
interpreted President Hu Jintao's doctrine of the ``Three Supremes'' as 
stating that the interests of the Party are above the law. Judges 
regularly received political guidance on pending cases, including 
instructions on how to rule, from both the Government and the CCP, 
particularly in politically sensitive cases. The CCP Law and Politics 
Committee has the authority to review and influence court operations at 
all levels of the judiciary.
    Corruption also influenced court decisions. Safeguards against 
judicial corruption were vague and poorly enforced. Local governments 
appoint and pay local court judges and, as a result, often exerted 
influence over the rulings of judges in their districts.
    Courts are not authorized to rule on the constitutionality of 
legislation. The law permits organizations or individuals to question 
the constitutionality of laws and regulations, but a constitutional 
challenge can only be directed to the promulgating legislative body. As 
a result, lawyers had little or no opportunity to use the constitution 
in litigation.
    On February 9, Tan Zuoren was sentenced to five years in prison and 
three years' deprivation of political rights for ``inciting subversion 
of state power'' in a trial that was closed to the public (see 
Political Prisoners section). Tan had attempted to collect the names of 
students who died in the May 2008 Sichuan earthquake. The sentence was 
upheld by the Sichuan High People's Court on June 9.
    On July 23, an Urumqi court sentenced Uighur journalist Gheyret 
Niyaz to 15 years in prison for ``endangering state security.'' Niyaz, 
detained since October 2009, was reportedly not allowed access to 
defense counsel during his trial.
    Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, coauthor of the Charter 08 
manifesto, which called for increased political freedoms and human 
rights in China, was found guilty of the crime of ``inciting subversion 
of state power'' in a December 2009 trial that included serious due 
process violations. The Beijing High People's Court denied Liu's appeal 
on February 11.

    Trial Procedures.--There was no presumption of innocence, and the 
criminal justice system was biased toward a presumption of guilt, 
especially in high-profile or politically sensitive cases. According to 
the China Law Yearbook, in 2009 the combined conviction rate for first- 
and second-instance criminal trials was 99.9 percent. Of 997,872 
criminal defendants tried in 2009, 1,206 were acquitted. In many 
politically sensitive trials, courts handed down guilty verdicts with 
no deliberation immediately following proceedings. Courts often 
punished defendants who refused to acknowledge guilt with harsher 
sentences than those who confessed. The appeals process rarely resulted 
in overturned convictions. Appeals processes failed to provide 
sufficient avenues for review, and there were inadequate remedies for 
violations of defendants' rights.
    Supreme People's Court regulations require all trials to be open to 
the public, with the exceptions of cases involving state secrets, 
privacy issues, and minors. Authorities used the state-secrets 
provision to keep politically sensitive proceedings closed to the 
public and sometimes even to family members and to withhold access to 
defense counsel. Court regulations state that foreigners with valid 
identification should be allowed to observe trials under the same 
criteria as Chinese citizens. In practice foreigners were permitted to 
attend court proceedings only by invitation. As in past years, foreign 
diplomats and journalists unsuccessfully sought permission to attend a 
number of trials. In some instances the trials were reclassified as 
``state secret'' cases or otherwise closed to the public. Foreign 
diplomats requested but were denied permission to attend the February 
2009 trial of human rights advocate Huang Qi on charges of illegally 
possessing state secrets. Huang was sentenced in November 2009 to three 
years' imprisonment. His appeal was denied by the Chengdu Intermediate 
Court on February 8. According to NGO reports, Huang was not granted a 
formal appeal hearing before the decision was made. Requests by foreign 
diplomats to attend the February appeal hearing in the case of Liu 
Xiaobo were denied. Some trials were broadcast, and court proceedings 
were a regular television feature. A few courts published their 
verdicts on the Internet.
    The law grants most defendants the right to seek legal counsel upon 
their initial detention and interrogation, although police frequently 
violated this right. Individuals who face administrative detention do 
not have the right to seek legal counsel. Human rights lawyers reported 
that they were denied the ability to defend certain clients or 
threatened with punishment if they chose to do so.
    Both criminal and administrative defendants were eligible for legal 
assistance although 70 percent or more of criminal defendants went to 
trial without a lawyer. According to the China Law Yearbook, the number 
of legal-aid cases in 2009 totaled 542,686, a slight decrease from the 
previous year. Legal-aid personnel totaled 13,081, a slight increase 
over 2008, the vast majority of whom majored in law. Despite these 
slight shifts, the number of legal-aid personnel remained inadequate to 
meet demand. Non-attorney legal advisors provided the only legal-aid 
options in many areas.
    Some lawyers declined to represent defendants in politically 
sensitive cases, and such defendants frequently found it difficult to 
find an attorney. The Government took steps to discourage lawyers from 
representing defendants in sensitive cases. Following the July 2009 
unrest in the XUAR, the Beijing Municipal Judicial Bureau posted a 
notice on its Web site urging justice bureaus, the Beijing Municipal 
Lawyers Association, and law firms in Beijing to ``exercise caution'' 
in representing defendants facing charges related to the riots. Similar 
measures were taken with respect to Tibetan defendants. Certain 
Beijing-based rights lawyers were told they could not represent jailed 
Tibetans. Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen was denied counsel of his 
choosing as the attorney hired by his family was replaced with a 
government-appointed lawyer for his 2009 trial and 2010 appeal. Certain 
local governments in the XUAR and Tibetan areas implemented regulations 
stipulating that only locally registered attorneys were authorized to 
represent local defendants.
    When defendants were able to retain counsel in politically 
sensitive cases, government officials sometimes prevented attorneys 
from organizing an effective defense. Tactics employed by court and 
government officials included unlawful detentions, disbarment, 
harassment and physical intimidation and denial of access to evidence.
    In August security guards barred lawyer Zhang Kai from entering a 
courthouse in Linfen County, Shanxi Province, to file an administrative 
lawsuit on behalf of members appealing the potential destruction of a 
church building. According to domestic media, on April 7, when two 
lawyers tried to file a suit at the Heilongjiang High People's Court on 
behalf of villagers who believed they were unfairly compensated in a 
land requisition case, court police assaulted them, detaining one of 
the lawyers for two hours. The lawyers believed the attack was intended 
to prevent them from filing the lawsuit.
    In April 2009 Beijing lawyer Cheng Hai was attacked and beaten 
while on his way to meet with a Falun Gong client in Chengdu, Sichuan 
Province. According to Cheng, those responsible for the attack were 
officials from the Jinyang General Management Office, Wuhou District, 
Chengdu.
    The annual licensing review process was used to withhold licenses, 
and therefore the ability to practice law, from a number of human 
rights and public interest lawyers. According to the Beijing Lawyers 
Association , 95 percent of Beijing attorneys were re-licensed in the 
2010 annual review process. However, attorneys whose licenses were not 
renewed included a number of prominent human rights lawyers including 
Jiang Tianyong, Teng Biao,Wen Haibo, Zhang Lihui, Tong Chaoping, Yang 
Huiwen, and Li Jinsong. Shanghai rights lawyers Zheng Enchong and Guo 
Guoting were denied the renewal of their licenses as the result of a 
similar administrative finding in 2008.
    On April 30, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice permanently 
revoked the licenses of lawyers Liu Wei and Tang Jitian who had been 
active in defending human rights and religious freedom-related cases. 
On May 4, Liu and Tang filed a criminal complaint claiming that by 
revoking their licenses the Bureau of Justice Lawyers Management 
Department had abused its power in retaliation for their activism on 
behalf of lawyers.
    Defense attorneys may legally be held responsible if their client 
commits perjury, and prosecutors and judges have wide discretion to 
decide what constitutes perjury. In some sensitive cases, lawyers had 
no pretrial access to their clients, and defendants and lawyers were 
not allowed to communicate with one another during trials. In practice 
criminal defendants were frequently not assigned an attorney until a 
case was brought to court. Despite a 2008 statement by SPC Vice 
President Zhang Jun that 37 percent of criminal defendants were 
represented by lawyers, in 2009 only one in seven criminal defendants 
reportedly had legal representation.
    Mechanisms allowing defendants to confront their accusers were 
inadequate. Only a small percentage of trials involved witnesses and 
less than 10 percent of subpoenaed witnesses appeared in court. In most 
criminal trials, prosecutors read witness statements, which neither the 
defendants nor their lawyers had an opportunity to rebut. Although the 
criminal procedure law states that pretrial witness statements cannot 
serve as the sole basis for conviction, prosecutors relied heavily on 
such statements to support their cases. Defense attorneys had no 
authority to compel witnesses to testify or to mandate discovery, 
although they could apply for access to government-held evidence 
relevant to their case. Pretrial access to information by defense 
attorneys was minimal. Denial of due process by police and prosecutors 
led to particularly egregious consequences in capital cases.
    At year's end the Criminal Code contained 68 capital offenses, 
including nonviolent financial crimes such as counterfeiting currency, 
embezzlement, and corruption. In August state media reported that a 
pending amendment to the capital-punishment law would remove 13 
nonviolent economic crimes--ranging from smuggling relics and 
endangered animals to falsifying tax receipts--from the list of capital 
crimes. Persons above the age of 75 would be eligible for the exemption 
from the death penalty. There was no public information on how many 
defendants were either sentenced to the death penalty or executed 
during the year.
    In 2007 the Supreme People's Court (SPC) resumed the practice of 
reviewing all convictions that resulted in death sentences before 
executions may be carried out; with the exception of death sentences 
with a two-year reprieve. SPC spokesman Ni Shouming stated that, since 
reassuming the death penalty reviews, the SPC had returned 15 percent 
of death sentences to lower courts for further review based on unclear 
facts, insufficient evidence, inappropriate use of the death penalty, 
and inadequate trial procedures. Because official statistics remained a 
state secret, it was not possible to evaluate independently the 
implementation and effects of the procedures.
    An international human rights NGO estimated that approximately 
5,000 persons were executed during 2009.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--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 imprison 
citizens for reasons related to politics and religion. Tens of 
thousands of political prisoners remained incarcerated, some in prisons 
and others in RTL camps or administrative detention. The Government did 
not grant international humanitarian organizations access to political 
prisoners.
    Foreign NGOs estimated that several hundred persons remained in 
prison for ``counterrevolutionary crimes,'' which were repealed from 
the criminal code in 1997. Thousands of others were serving sentences 
under state security statutes. Foreign governments urged the Chinese 
government to review the cases of those charged before 1997 with 
counterrevolutionary crimes and to release those who had been jailed 
for nonviolent offenses under repealed provisions of the criminal law. 
At year's end no systematic review had occurred. The Government 
maintained that prisoners serving sentences for counterrevolutionary 
crimes and endangering state security were eligible to apply for 
sentence reduction and parole. However, political prisoners were 
granted early release at lower rates than prisoners in other 
categories. Persons were believed to remain in prison for crimes in 
connection with their involvement in the 1989 Tiananmen prodemocracy 
movement. The exact number was unknown because related official 
statistics were never made public.
    On January 15, Zhou Yongjun, a former Tiananmen Square student 
leader, was sentenced to nine years in prison for ``fraud'' by a 
Shehong County, Sichuan Province court, following his November 2009 
trial. Zhou had been detained in 2008 in Hong Kong while attempting to 
enter the country on a forged Malaysian passport in order to visit his 
ailing father. Although cleared by Hong Kong authorities of involvement 
in bank fraud, he was transferred to the custody of PRC authorities.
    In August 2009 activist Tan Zuoren went on trial for defaming the 
CCP, the charge resulting from his social advocacy work. On February 9, 
Tan was sentenced to five years in prison and three years' deprivation 
of political rights for ``inciting subversion of state power.''
    In July Charter 08 signatory and activist Liu Xianbin was indicted 
for subversion for an article he wrote following his 2009 release from 
a previous prison term. At year's end Liu was detained and awaiting 
trial in Suining, Sichuan Province. Liu was reportedly denied access to 
his lawyers during his detention.
    In March 2009 labor activist and lawyer Yuan Xianchen was convicted 
of ``inciting subversion of state power'' and sentenced to four years 
in prison and five years' deprivation of political rights, on the basis 
of articles he had written on implementing constitutional democracy.
    Many political prisoners remained in prison or under other forms of 
detention at year's end, including rights activists Hu Jia and Wang 
Bingzhang; Alim and Ablikim Abdureyim, sons of Uighur activist Rebiya 
Kadeer; journalist Shi Tao; democratic reform advocate Wang Xiaoning; 
land rights activist Yang Chunlin; Internet commentator Xu Wei; labor 
activists Hu Mingjun, Huang Xiangwei, Kong Youping, Ning Xianhua, Li 
Jianfeng, Li Xintao, Lin Shun'an, Li Wangyang, and She Wanbao; Catholic 
bishop Su Zhimin; Christian activist Zhang Rongliang; Uighur activist 
Dilkex Tilivaldi; and Tibetan Tenzin Deleg.
    In September rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng was released from prison 
following the completion of his sentence and was immediately placed 
under house arrest, along with his wife. In November democracy activist 
Qin Yongmin was released in Wuhan, after serving a 12-year sentence for 
``endangering state security.'' According to media reports, police 
officers confiscated his prison writings and warned him not to speak to 
reporters or meet other dissidents. At year's end Zhao Lianhai, who had 
been indicted on criminal charges for his advocacy on behalf of victims 
of tainted milk, was released on medical parole, but his whereabouts 
and welfare remained unconfirmed.
    Criminal punishments continued to include ``deprivation of 
political rights'' for a fixed period after release from prison, during 
which time the individual is denied rights of free speech and 
association. Former prisoners sometimes found their ability to find 
employment, freedom to travel, 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.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Courts deciding civil 
matters faced the same limitations on judicial independence as in 
criminal cases. The State Compensation Law provides administrative and 
judicial remedies for plaintiffs whose rights or interests have been 
infringed by government agencies or officials, including wrongful 
arrest or conviction, extortion of confession by torture, unlawful use 
of force resulting in bodily injury, illegal revocation of a business 
license, or illegal confiscation or freezing of property. In April the 
National People's Congress Standing Committee amended the law to allow 
for compensation for wrongful detention, mental trauma, or physical 
injuries inflicted by detention center or prison officials. In civil 
matters successful plaintiffs often found it difficult to enforce court 
orders.
    Companies affected by a July 16 oil spill in Dalian, Liaoning 
Province, were prevented from filing lawsuits for damages resulting 
from the spill. City officials visited one company to urge it to drop 
its claims, according to domestic media. In August police in Beijing 
intercepted fishermen and other Dalian residents impacted by the spill 
when they attempted to file a petition seeking compensation.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law states that the ``freedom and privacy of 
correspondence of citizens are protected by law''; however, in practice 
authorities often did not respect the privacy of citizens. Although the 
law requires warrants before law enforcement officials can search 
premises, this provision frequently was ignored. The Public Security 
Bureau (PSB) and prosecutors are authorized to issue search warrants on 
their own authority without judicial review. Cases of forced entry by 
police officers continued to be reported.
    Authorities monitored telephone conversations, fax transmissions, 
e-mail, text messaging, and Internet communications. Authorities also 
opened and censored domestic and international mail. Security services 
routinely monitored and entered residences and offices to gain access 
to computers, telephones, and fax machines.
    The monitoring and disruption of telephone and Internet 
communications were particularly widespread in the XUAR and Tibetan 
areas. Authorities frequently warned dissidents and activists, 
underground religious figures and former political prisoners not to 
meet with foreign journalists or diplomats, especially before sensitive 
anniversaries, at the time of important government or party meetings, 
and during the visits of high-level foreign officials. Security 
personnel also harassed and detained the family members of political 
prisoners, including following them to meetings with foreign reporters 
and diplomats and urging them to remain silent about the cases of their 
relatives.
    Family members of activists, dissidents, Falun Gong practitioners, 
journalists, unregistered religious figures, and former political 
prisoners were targeted for arbitrary arrest, detention, and harassment 
(see section 1.d.).
    Forced relocation because of urban development continued and in 
some locations increased during the year. Protests over relocation 
terms or compensation were common, and some protest leaders were 
prosecuted. In rural areas relocation for infrastructure and commercial 
development projects resulted in the forced relocation of millions of 
persons.
    Property-related disputes between citizens and government 
authorities, which often turned violent, were widespread in both urban 
and rural areas. These disputes frequently stemmed from local officials 
colluding with property developers to pay little or no compensation to 
displaced residents, combined with a lack of effective government 
oversight or media scrutiny of local officials' involvement in property 
transactions, as well as a lack of legal remedies or other dispute 
resolution mechanisms for displaced residents. The problem persisted 
despite central government efforts to impose stronger controls over 
illegal land takings and to standardize compensation. International 
media and other observers have raised doubt whether development of 
historically or culturally sensitive land, such as the Old City area in 
Kashgar, XUAR, was carried out in a transparent, fair manner.
    In November Chinese media reported that a woman committed suicide 
by self-immolation in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, after district 
authorities ordered the house of her ex-husband be forcibly demolished 
following failed negotiations with the landlord. In December Chinese 
media reported a case of self-immolation to protest a forced eviction 
in Beijing. In this case, in an attempt to stop the forced demolition 
of his family's house in Beijing's Haidian district, the individual 
reportedly burned himself, but survived. His mother and his wife were 
injured during the confrontation with workers carrying out the 
demolition order. Local media reported that the head of the district 
where the demolition happened also had an interest in the real estate 
development company responsible for development of the area.
    National law 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 
resulted in instances of local family-planning officials using physical 
coercion to meet government goals. Such practices included the 
mandatory use of birth control and the abortion of unauthorized 
pregnancies. In the case of families that already had two children, one 
parent was often pressured to undergo sterilization.
    A U.S.-based human rights organization reported that in August, the 
one-month-old daughter of a mother in Changfeng County, Anhui Province, 
was detained by local family-planning officials until the woman signed 
a document consenting to a sterilization procedure.
    In April as reported by a regional investigative newspaper 
affiliated with the newspaper Southern Daily and later in the 
international press, local family-planning officials in Puning, 
Guangdong Province, initiated an ``education campaign'' to encourage 
nearly 9,559 ``most serious violators of family-planning policies'' to 
undergo sterilization procedures. Reportedly, 1,300 persons were 
detained during this process, including family members of couples who 
had unauthorized births, until at least one member of the couple in 
violation submitted to a sterilization procedure.
    In late-April officials in Pingxiang, Jiangxi Province, levied a 
RMB 2,000 ($300) fine and threatened to demolish the home of the 
parents of a migrant worker who failed to submit his family-planning 
paperwork.
    Laws and regulations forbid the termination of pregnancies based on 
the sex of the fetus, but because of the intersection of birth 
limitations and a traditional preference for male children, 
particularly in rural areas, many families used ultrasound technology 
to identify female fetuses and terminate these pregnancies. National 
Population and Family Planning Commission (NPFPC) regulations ban non-
medically necessary determinations of the sex of the fetus and sex-
selective abortions, but some experts believed that the penalties for 
violating the regulations were not severe to deter unlawful behavior. 
According to government estimates released in February, the national 
average for the male-female sex ratio at birth was 119 to 100 in 2009 
(compared with norms elsewhere of between 103 and 107 to 100). The 
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences estimated that by 2020, there could 
be as many as 24 million more men than women of marriageable age (ages 
19-45) in China. In September Vice Premier Li Keqiang announced that 
the Government would ``launch measures to narrow the widening ratio of 
men and women.''
    Regulations requiring women who violate family-planning policy to 
terminate their pregnancies still exist in the 25th, 42nd, and 22nd 
provisions of the Population and Family Control Regulation of Liaoning, 
Jilin, and Heilongjiang provinces, respectively. An additional 10 
provinces--Fujian, Guizhou, Guangdong, Gansu, Jiangxi, Qinghai, 
Sichuan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Yunnan--require unspecified ``remedial 
measures'' to deal with unauthorized pregnancies (see section 6).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The law provides for freedom of 
speech and of the press, although the Government generally did not 
respect these rights in practice. The Government continued to control 
print, broadcast, and electronic media tightly and used them to 
propagate government views and CCP ideology. During the year the 
Government increased censorship and manipulation of the press and the 
Internet during sensitive anniversaries.
    Foreign journalists were generally prevented from obtaining permits 
to travel to Tibet except for highly controlled, government-organized 
press visits. While foreign journalists were allowed access to Urumqi, 
XUAR after the July 2009 riots, and during the year, local and 
provincial authorities continued to strictly control the travel, 
access, and interviews of foreign journalists, even forcing them to 
leave cities in parts of the XUAR. Media outlets received regular 
guidance from the Central Propaganda Department, listing topics that 
should not be covered. After events such as the July 2009 riots, the 
2008 Sichuan earthquake, or the 2010 Yushu earthquake media outlets 
were told to cover the stories using content carried by government-
controlled Xinhua and China Central Television.
    The General Administration of Press and Publication; the State 
Administration of Radio, Film, and Television, and the CCP remained 
active in issuing restrictive regulations and decisions constraining 
the content of broadcast media.
    The range of permissible public discourse continued to expand, with 
significant exceptions including speech that challenged the Government 
or the CCP. Political topics could be discussed privately and in small 
groups without punishment. However, those who made politically 
sensitive comments in public speeches, academic discussions, and 
comments to the media remained subject to punitive measures. 
Authorities frequently intervened to halt public speeches and lectures 
on politically sensitive topics.
    In March 2009 police detained Zhang Shijun, a former PLA soldier 
for publishing an open letter to President Hu Jintao expressing regret 
over his involvement in the Tiananmen massacre and urging the CCP to 
reconsider its condemnation of the 1989 demonstrations. At year's end 
his whereabouts remained unknown.
    The Government also frequently monitored gatherings of 
intellectuals, scholars, and dissidents where political or sensitive 
issues were discussed. Individuals who aired views critical of the 
Government or the CCP, particularly those who shared such views with 
foreign audiences, risked punishments ranging from disciplinary action 
in the workplace to police interrogation and detention. In 2008 to 
commemorate International Human Rights Day, a group of 303 
intellectuals and activists released a petition entitled ``Charter 
08,'' calling for the CCP to respect human rights and implement 
democratic reforms in China. Many Charter 08 signers continued to 
report official harassment, especially around sensitive dates, such as 
the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.
    In addition to the arbitrary detention of activists during the 2010 
World Expo, Shanghai authorities also prevented some local activists 
from participating in Expo seminars hosted by foreign governments. 
Activists reported that they were told by the authorities not to attend 
Expo events, including forum discussions on civil society and the rule 
of law hosted by a foreign government.
    The CCP directed the domestic media to refrain from reporting on 
certain subjects, and all broadcast programming required government 
approval. Nearly all print media, broadcast media, and book publishers 
were affiliated with the CCP or a government agency. There were a small 
number of privately owned print publications but no privately owned 
television or radio stations.
    International media were not allowed to operate freely and faced 
heavy restrictions.
    In early June, a foreign journalist was allowed to interview 
victims of the Sichuan earthquake only in the presence of foreign 
affairs and propaganda officials.
    In February police harassed a group of nine Hong Kong journalists 
attempting to cover the sentencing in Chengdu of activist Tan Zuoren. 
When the journalists attempted to interview Tan's lawyer and relatives 
outside the courthouse police reportedly used physical force to move 
them into a courthouse holding room, injuring one journalist in the 
process.
    Authorities barred foreign journalists from filming in, or 
entering, Tiananmen Square during sensitive periods.
    Authorities continued to enforce tight restrictions on Chinese 
citizens employed by foreign news organizations. In February 2009 the 
Government issued a code of conduct for Chinese employees of foreign 
media organizations. The code threatens dismissal and loss of 
accreditation for Chinese employees who engaged in ``independent 
reporting'' and instructed them to provide their employers with 
information that projects a good image of the country. The Foreign 
Correspondents' Club of China denounced the code of conduct as part of 
a government effort to intimidate their Chinese employees.
    Officials can be punished for unauthorized contact with 
journalists. Official guidelines for journalists were often vague, 
subject to change at the discretion of propaganda officials, and 
retroactively enforced. Propaganda authorities have forced newspapers 
to fire editors and journalists responsible for articles deemed 
inconsistent with official policy and have suspended or closed 
publications. The system of post-publication review by propaganda 
officials encourages self-censorship by editors, in an effort to avoid 
the losses associated with penalties for inadvertently printing 
unauthorized content.
    Government officials used criminal prosecution, civil lawsuits, and 
other punishments, including violence, detention, and other forms of 
harassment, to intimidate authors and journalists and to prevent the 
dissemination of controversial writings.
    A domestic journalist can face demotion or job loss for publishing 
views that challenge the Government.
    In August cartoonist Kuang Biao was reportedly reprimanded, fined 
RMB 1,500 (approximately $224), and demoted by his employer, the 
Southern Metropolis Daily, for publishing a cartoon in his personal 
blog. The cartoon depicted journalist Chang Ping tied up and in a 
stranglehold in a reference to Chang's 2008 removal as deputy editor of 
the Southern Metropolis Weekly after publishing an opinion piece on 
Tibet in the Financial Times.
    Journalists who remained in prison included Lu Gengsong, Lu 
Jianhua, Huang Jinqiu, and Shi Tao. During the year journalists working 
in traditional and new media sources were also imprisoned.
    According to government information, Uighur journalist Memetjan 
Abdulla was sentenced to life in prison in April reportedly for 
transmitting ``subversive'' information related to the July 2009 riots. 
Abdulla, an employee of the Uighur-language service of Chinese National 
Radio, was reportedly sentenced in a closed-door trial (see section 
1.a.).
    In July Uighur webmasters Dilshat Perhat, Nureli, and Nijat Azat 
were convicted of ``endangering state security,'' receiving sentences 
of five, 10, and 10 years, respectively. The verdicts were reportedly 
handed down at closed door trials in the Urumqi Intermediate Court.
    In March the Economic Observer fired deputy editor in chief Zhang 
Hong for orchestrating a joint editorial published by 13 Chinese 
newspapers calling for reform of the household-registration, or hukou, 
system and characterizing the system as unconstitutional and unfair to 
rural residents.
    Journalists and editors who exposed corruption scandals frequently 
faced retaliation. In July Zhejiang Province public security officials 
placed Economic Observer reporter Qiu Ziming on a national ``wanted'' 
list on charges of libel after Qiu published a series of reports 
alleging theft of state assets and insider trading in a publicly listed 
company. The Economic Observer issued a public statement criticizing 
the warrant and defending the stories as accurate. Other newspapers 
expressed public support for the Economic Observer, and the incident 
was widely discussed on the Internet. Local officials later rescinded 
the warrant and publicly apologized.
    Authorities continued to confiscate ``unauthorized publications,'' 
but due to data collection methods, which put potentially politically 
sensitive documents in the same category as pornography and pirated 
materials, it is difficult to determine how much of the reported 65 
million confiscated items in 2009 were in each category. Officials 
continued to censor, ban, and sanction reporting on labor, health, 
environmental crises, and industrial accidents. Authorities restricted 
reporting on stories such as the melamine milk scandal, schools 
destroyed during the Sichuan earthquake, and the July 2009 riots in 
Urumqi. Authorities also continued to ban books with content they 
deemed controversial.
    Widespread attention in the press to suicides at a Shenzhen factory 
and the waves of strikes that hit Guangdong factories in May and June 
prompted the Government to pressure domestic media outlets not to 
report on labor disputes.
    The law permits only government-approved publishing houses to print 
books. The State Press and Publications Administration (PPA) controlled 
all licenses to publish. Newspaper, periodicals, books, audio and video 
recordings, or electronic publication may not be printed or distributed 
without the approval of the PPA and relevant provincial publishing 
authorities. Individuals who attempted to publish without government 
approval faced imprisonment, fines, confiscation of their books, and 
other sanctions. The CCP exerted control over the publishing industry 
by preemptively classifying certain topics as state secrets.
    Many intellectuals and scholars exercised self-censorship, 
anticipating that books or papers on political topics would be deemed 
too sensitive to be published. The censorship process for private and 
government media also increasingly relied on self-censorship and, in a 
few cases, post-publication sanctions.
    According to the PEN American Center, Korash Huseyin, former editor 
of the Uighur-language Kashgar Literature Journal, was released in 2008 
after having served a full three year sentence, but his whereabouts 
remained unknown. Huseyin was sentenced in 2005 to three years in 
prison for publishing a short story that authorities considered 
critical of CCP rule of Xinjiang.
    Authorities continued to jam, with varying degrees of success, 
Chinese-, Uighur-, and Tibetan-language broadcasts of the VOA, BBC, and 
Radio Free Asia (RFA). English-language broadcasts on VOA generally 
were not jammed. Government jamming of RFA and BBC appeared to be more 
frequent and effective. Internet distribution of streaming radio news 
and podcasts from these sources often was blocked. Despite jamming 
overseas broadcasts, VOA, BBC, RFA, Deutsche Welle, and Radio France 
International had large audiences, including human rights advocates, 
ordinary citizens, and government officials.
    Television broadcasts of foreign news, largely restricted to hotels 
and foreign residence compounds, were occasionally subject to 
censorship. Such censorship of foreign broadcasts also occurred around 
the anniversary of the 1989 crackdown in Tiananmen Square. Individual 
issues of foreign newspapers and magazines were occasionally banned 
when they contained articles deemed too sensitive.
    Politically sensitive coverage in Chinese, and to a lesser extent 
in English, was censored more than coverage in other languages. The 
Government prohibited some foreign and domestic films deemed too 
sensitive.
    Authorities continued to limit media reporting on disasters. 
Following a plane crash in Yichun, Heilongjiang, that killed 42 persons 
on August 24, local authorities attempted to prevent domestic reporters 
from covering the disaster. According to domestic media, local police 
detained four journalists from three separate domestic news 
organizations who were attempting to cover the crash. Police later 
apologized for the detentions. However, documents leaked to foreign 
media suggested that the CCP issued orders that only the CCP newspapers 
Heilongjiang Daily, People's Daily, and Yichun Daily would be 
authorized to send reporters to Yichun to cover the crash.
    According to the August 17, 2009 issue of Caijing magazine, the 
Government plans to provide 300 million users with high speed fiber 
optic cable Next Generation Broadcasting broadband and cable television 
in approximately 10 years at a cost of RMB 100 billion (approximately 
$15.2 billion). According to comments made by a Shanghai China Telecom 
Deputy Chief Engineer ``through the end of 2010, Shanghai Telecom city 
fiber optic cable network was capable of covering 1.5 million homes and 
had 300,000 users. During the 12th Five Year Plan period, Shanghai 
Telecom will.finish the overall coverage of optic cable access.'' Some 
analysts believe that broadband and cable television could reduce the 
use of satellite dishes that the Government has suggested threaten the 
moral and political security of the country. Another strategy 
implemented in part to protect the country's information security was 
the launch in 2008 of the Chinasat 9 broadcast satellite that uses a 
unique digital broadcast standard so individuals who buy boxes to 
decode the satellite signal will not be able to watch programming on 
other satellites with less restricted content.
    There was also a government program called ``connecting the 
villages'' that has been replacing the many illegal albeit heretofore 
tolerated individual satellite dishes with community satellite cable 
systems. In January 2009 persons in rural Guizhou reported that this 
program was not popular there, since private dishes and receivers were 
inexpensive and brought in 60 channels while a community cable system 
often brings in only 20 or so channels.
    An unofficial source described a government campaign to tear down 
some of the illegal satellite dishes, which were common throughout the 
country. The campaign has been most rigorous in minority areas. There 
is also a phenomenon known as ``insertion broadcasting''--whereby 
politically incorrect parts of a broadcast from Hong Kong are replaced 
by material favored by the Government before broadcasting on Guangdong 
television. It also could refer to illegal insertion of programming 
into cable television systems.

    Internet Freedom.--In June the Information Office of the State 
Council released its first White Paper on the Internet; it outlined the 
Government's endeavors to guarantee certain freedoms of speech on the 
Internet as long as the speech did not endanger state security, subvert 
state power, damage state honor and interests, jeopardize state 
religious policy, propagate heretical or superstitious ideas, or spread 
rumors and other content forbidden by laws and administrative 
regulations among other caveats.
    The China Internet Network Information Center announced in June 
that the number of Internet users had increased to 420 million, 364 
million of whom had broadband access. Xinhua News Agency reported that 
users of Internet-capable mobile phones had reached 277 million and 
accounted for 65.9 percent of total Internet users in the country. In 
this rapidly expanding networked environment, the CCP continued to 
increase efforts to monitor Internet use, control content, restrict 
information, block access to foreign and domestic Web sites, encourage 
self-censorship, and punish those who violate regulations. According to 
news sources, more than 14 government ministries participated in these 
efforts, resulting in the censorship of thousands of domestic and 
foreign Web sites, blogs, cellphone text messages, social networking 
services, online chat rooms, online games, and e-mail. These measures 
were not universally effective.
    A 2005 State Council regulation deemed personal blogs, computer 
bulletin boards, and cellphone text messages as part of the news media, 
which subjected these media to state restrictions on content. Internet 
service providers were instructed to use only domestic media-news 
postings, to record information useful for tracking users and their 
viewing habits, to install software capable of copying e-mails, and to 
end immediately transmission of ``subversive material.''
    The Ministry of Public Security, which monitors the Internet under 
guidance from the CCP, employed thousands of persons at the national, 
provincial, and local levels to monitor electronic communications. 
Officials considered tools like social networking, micro-blogging, and 
video-sharing sites a major vulnerability for social stability and 
political control. The Information Office announced the formation of a 
new bureau in April. This new agency, officially called the Internet 
News Coordination Bureau, often referred to as Bureau Nine, operates 
under the State Council Information Office and is mainly responsible 
for ``guidance, coordination, and other work related to the 
construction and management of Web culture.'' Previously, the 
Information Office operated a single Bureau of Internet Affairs which 
supervised sites that published news in China.
    During the year provinces in northeast China strengthened control 
of the Internet, especially at Internet cafes. According to media 
reports, Liaoning Province successfully implemented a program to force 
independent Internet cafes to join larger franchises controlled by 
state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Liaoning Province also implemented 
regulations to ensure that the identities of all Internet cafe patrons 
could be verified and that software could be installed to allow 
authorities to monitor Internet use in real time and remotely control 
cafe computers.
    Major news portals, which reportedly were complying with secret 
government orders, required users to register using their real names 
and identification numbers to comment on news articles. Individuals 
using the Internet in public libraries were required to register using 
their national identity card. Internet usage reportedly was monitored 
at all terminals in public libraries. Internet cafes were required to 
install software that allows government officials to monitor customers' 
Internet usage. Internet users at cafes were often subject to 
surveillance. Many cafes sporadically enforced regulations requiring 
patrons to provide identification. In June 2009 the Ministry of 
Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued a directive 
instructing Internet cafes and schools to install ``Green Dam'' 
software designed to censor objectionable Internet content based on an 
updatable central database. The software had been intended for 
installation in all computers sold in the country; however, objections 
from industry groups, Internet users, and foreign governments related 
to privacy and security concerns appeared to contribute to the 
postponement of enforcement of the directive. In July MIIT announced 
that it stopped funding the distribution and maintenance of the 
software.
    The Government consistently blocked access to Web sites it deemed 
controversial, especially those discussing Taiwan and Tibetan 
independence, underground religious and spiritual organizations, 
democracy activists, and the 1989 Tiananmen massacre. The Government 
also at times blocked access to selected sites operated by major 
foreign governments, news outlets, health organizations, educational 
institutions, and social networking sites, as well as to search 
engines, that allow rapid communication or organization of users.
    Some Web sites included images of cartoon police officers that warn 
users to stay away from forbidden content. Operators of Web portals, 
blog-hosting services, and other content providers engaged in self-
censorship to ensure their servers were free from politically sensitive 
content. Domestic Web sites that refused to self-censor political 
content were shut down, and many foreign Web sites were blocked.
    During the year particularly during periods around sensitive 
events, authorities maintained tight control over Internet news and 
information. Access to foreign and domestic social networking sites was 
limited around Google's announcement it was considering leaving the 
country, the anniversary of the July 2009 riots in Xinjiang, the 
announcement of Liu Xiaobo's Nobel Peace Prize and the December prize 
ceremony, and other major events. In the wake of the riots in Urumqi, 
the Government asserted that information spread on the Internet had 
contributed to the violence, resulting in the complete shutdown of all 
Internet access, text messaging, and international telephone calls from 
the region. By January restrictions on international long-distance 
telephone calls to and from the XUAR had been lifted. Full Internet 
service was restored to the XUAR in May--10 months after it was 
blocked.
    Authorities employed an array of technical measures to block 
sensitive Web sites based in foreign countries. The ability of users to 
access such sensitive sites varied from city to city. The Government 
also automatically censored e-mail and Web chats based on an ever-
changing list of sensitive key words, such as ``Falun Gong'' and 
``Tibetan independence.'' While such censorship was effective in 
keeping casual users away from sensitive content, it was defeated 
easily through the use of various technologies. Software for defeating 
official censorship was readily available inside the country. Despite 
official monitoring and censorship, during the year dissidents and 
political activists continued to use the Internet to advocate and call 
attention to political causes such as prisoner advocacy, political 
reform, ethnic discrimination, corruption, and foreign policy concerns. 
Web users spanning the political spectrum complained of censorship. The 
blogs of a number of prominent activists, artists, scholars, and 
university professors were periodically blocked during the year.
    Given the limitations of technical censorship, self-censorship by 
Internet companies remained the primary means for authorities to 
restrict speech online. All Web sites are required to be licensed by or 
registered with MIIT, and all Internet content providers faced 
potential suspension of their licenses for failing to adequately 
monitor users of e mail, chat rooms, and instant messaging services. 
The Internet Society of China, a group composed of private and state-
run Internet companies, government offices, and academic institutions, 
cosponsored a Web site in 2009, China Internet Illegal Information 
Reporting Centre, which invited members of the public to report illegal 
online activity. Users were able to use the site to report not only 
crimes, such as pornography, fraud, and gambling, but also ``attacks on 
the party and government.'' Self-censorship by blog-hosting services 
intensified prior to sensitive events.
    On January 3, authorities disconnected labor activist Zhang 
Shanguang's Internet service by orders of the Ministry of State 
Security. His Internet service was restored January 5, but problems 
remained with his service. Zhang was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 
1998 for ``illegally providing intelligence to hostile organizations 
overseas'' and ``incitement to overthrow the Government,'' charges 
believed to be connected to his labor activism and contacts with 
foreign journalists and human rights organizations.
    In July the Urumqi Intermediate People's Court convicted three 
Uighur webmasters--Dilshat Perhat, webmaster and owner of Diyarim; 
Nureli, webmaster of Salkin; and Nijat Azat, webmaster of Shabnam--of 
``endangering state security.'' Dilshat Perhat received five years in 
prison; Nureli and Nijat Azat received three years and 10 years, 
respectively. The convictions reportedly were linked to posting 
politically sensitive language on the Web sites. The trials were 
reportedly closed.
    Authorities continued to jail numerous Internet writers for 
peaceful expression of political views. Starting February 26, police in 
Yunxi County, Hubei. detained Chen Yonggang and held him for eight days 
on suspicion of ``insulting and slandering others'' after Chen posted 
articles online alleging that local officials and businessmen had been 
colluding to embezzle huge funds of money in the name of engineering 
projects.
    On May 17, Tang Lin, the parent of a one-year-old tainted milk 
victim, wrote about the ``Sanlu Milk Power Incident'' in a QQ (on-line 
chat) group saying that he would ``take extreme action.'' Police in 
Chongqing arrested him May 19 and claimed that Tang's discussion in the 
group intended to ``spread terrorizing information and create a 
terrorizing atmosphere.'' He was punished with one-year of RTL. Tang's 
online message was deleted and there was no way for the public to know 
what he said to ``spread terrorizing information.''
    On May 28, National Security officers summoned Suining, Sichuan 
Province, dissident Liu Xianbin for articles he wrote and posted on 
overseas Web sites, as well as for his involvement with a recent 
seminar in Beijing regarding the case of three Fujian persons who were 
imprisoned for Internet postings. On June 28, Liu was formally 
detained, and at year's end, Liu remained in detention, awaiting a 
hearing on charges of ``subversion of state power.''
    On July 14, Web site managers at Sohu, Sina, and other major 
domestic Internet portals shut down the blogs of at least 100 prominent 
scholars, lawyers, and activists. Well-known bloggers, including He 
Weifang, Liu Junning, Pu Zhiqiang, Xu Zhiyong, and Zhang Zuhua, were 
among those whose blogs were removed.
    On July 29, Nanjing resident Huang Yiyu was detained for an online 
post regarding an explosion at a Nanjing chemical factory. The 
explosion, which took place on July 28, killed at least a dozen workers 
and injured hundreds, according to state media reports; Huang's post, 
entitled ``News from the Secret Information Office: Nanjing Chemical 
Factory Explosion Kills 259 People,'' claimed that the number of 
fatalities from the blast was far higher. Huang was believed to have 
been released on August 2. Reportedly, local officials took extreme 
measures to prevent citizens from reporting on the incident, including 
dispatching armed police to search the homes of nearby residents with 
the aim of deleting any images or video of the scene.
    On October 1, the revised State Secrets Law came into effect. An 
article published on Xinhua Net stresses the responsibility of 
providers of telecommunications services, especially Internet 
companies, to ``stop the leaking of state secrets on the Internet in a 
timely fashion.'' According to the revised law, Internet companies must 
cooperate with investigations of suspected leakages of state secrets, 
stop the transmission of such information once discovered, and report 
the crime to the authorities. Furthermore, they must comply with the 
authorities' orders when told to delete such information from their Web 
sites. Internet companies which fail to comply with the revised law 
will be punished by the relevant departments such as the police and the 
Ministry of State Security.
    In November Cheng Jianping was sentenced to a year in RTL for ``re-
tweeting'' a message related to a dispute between China and Japan. Her 
purported crime was ``disturbing social order.''
    Following his written support for Liu Xiaobo on the Internet, Zhao 
Dagong, a Charter 08 signatory, was detained by the Shenzhen Police in 
January. Police raided his house and took his computers for 
investigation. Authorities released Zhao from detention two weeks 
later.
    In July 2009 Fan Yanqiong, along with two other bloggers, was 
charged with ``false allegations with intent to harm'' for reporting 
that a young woman was raped and killed by a group of men that included 
local officials. In April a court in Fuqing, Fuzhou Province, sentenced 
them to imprisonment on charges of defamation and leaking state 
secrets. Fan received a two-year sentence; authorities released Fan on 
medical parole in August, and at year's end she remained under house 
arrest in Nanping. Access to Fan remained controlled.
    Tibetan Internet writers Kunchok Tsephel and Kunga Tseyang were 
sentenced to 15 years and five years in prison, respectively, in 
separate cases in November 2009. Kunchok Tsephel was convicted on 
``state secrets'' charges, while Kunga Tseyang was convicted on 
multiple charges, including writing and posting splittist articles on 
the Internet and having contact with a monk in India. Internet writer 
and environmental activist Chen Daojun was sentenced to three years in 
prison in 2008.
    According to Reporters Without Borders 2010 statistics, there were 
30 reporters and 74 cyber dissidents in prison.
    Regulations prohibit a broad range of activities that authorities 
interpret as subversive or slanderous to the state.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The Government continued 
restrictions on academic and artistic freedom and political and social 
discourse at colleges, universities, and research institutes. 
Instructors generally were told not to raise certain sensitive topics 
in class, such as the 1989 Tiananmen massacre. The General 
Administration of Press and Publications, the State Administration of 
Radio, Film, and Television, and the Central Propaganda Department were 
active in issuing restrictive regulations and decisions that 
constrained the flow of ideas and people.
    Authorities on a few occasions blocked entry into the country of 
speakers deemed politically sensitive and declined to issue passports 
to individuals selected for international exchange programs who were 
seen as politically unreliable, in particular individuals from minority 
nationality areas.
    Information outreach, educational exchanges, and other cultural and 
public diplomacy programs organized by foreign governments occasionally 
were subject to government interference. Foreign experts invited to 
participate in foreign government-sponsored programs on certain topics 
were denied visas.
    A foreign media expert who was on a speaking tour in the country, 
in which she had already spoken in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, 
was denied reentry to the mainland from Hong Kong.
    A minority student from the XUAR who was selected for a foreign 
government-sponsored academic exchange program was unable to 
participate because authorities from his university in Xinjiang refused 
to recommend granting him a passport.
    A number of other foreign government-sponsored exchange selectees, 
particularly those from minority provinces, encountered difficulties 
gaining approval to travel to participate in their programs.
    In April the Chinese Embassy in Moscow declined to issue a visa to 
a Russian filmmaker invited to participate in a foreign government-
sponsored film festival in Beijing.
    The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) restricted access to 
its computer networks and library databases for foreign scholars for a 
period of several months. CASS officials stated that the problem was a 
technical network security issue; affected scholars claimed there was 
political motivation.
    The Government used political attitudes and affiliations as 
criteria for selecting persons for the few government-sponsored study 
abroad programs but did not impose such restrictions on privately 
sponsored students. The Government and the party controlled the 
appointment of high-level officials at universities. While party 
membership was not always a requirement to obtain a tenured faculty 
position, scholars without party affiliation often had fewer chances 
for promotion.
    Researchers residing abroad also were subject to sanctions, 
including denial of visas, from the authorities when their work did not 
meet with official approval.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The law provides for freedom of peaceful assembly; however, 
the Government severely restricted this right in practice. The law 
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 suppressed demonstrations involving 
expression of dissenting political views.
    Citizens continued to gather publicly to protest evictions, 
relocations, and compensation in locations throughout the county, often 
resulting in conflict with authorities or other charges (see section 
1.f.).
    On April 29, approximately 500 villagers from Changchunling, 
Heilongjiang Province, blocked railroad tracks to protest an announced 
land requisition. More than 2,000 police, firefighters, and 
paramilitary troops reportedly responded to the protest. The ensuing 
riot resulted in injuries to both police officers and villagers. 
According to some reports, following the riots, police surrounded the 
village and shutdown communications networks including cell phones.
    In mid-July citizens held a mass protest in Suzhou's Tong'an 
Township, surrounding government offices and clashing with riot police. 
The demonstrators were protesting relocation compensation rates.
    On October 11, clashes between thousands of construction workers 
and police began in Dujiangyan, after a confrontation between laborers 
and management over unpaid wages left at least one worker dead. After 
company staff allegedly beat and killed one of their ranks, hundreds of 
workers blockaded a local road and subsequently clashed with police 
sent to restore order.
    On consecutive Sundays in late July and early August, more than 
2,000 persons gathered in Guangzhou to protest a Guangdong Chinese 
People's Political Consultative Conference proposal to scale down 
Cantonese-language programming on Guangzhou television channels. Police 
dispersed the crowd without incident on the first Sunday, but clashed 
with demonstrators and detained journalists on the second Sunday. 
Online comments and news coverage of the rallies, except for a 
government press conference claiming there was no intention to 
eliminate Cantonese and promote Mandarin, were removed from the 
Internet.
    All concerts, sports events, exercise classes, or other meetings of 
more than 200 persons require approval from public security 
authorities. Although peaceful protests are legal, in practice police 
rarely granted approval. Despite restrictions, there were many 
demonstrations, but those with political or social themes were broken 
up quickly, sometimes with excessive force. The number of ``mass 
incidents'' or violent protests against local government increased 
during the year. As in past years, the vast majority of demonstrations 
concerned land disputes; housing issues; industrial, environmental, and 
labor matters; government corruption; taxation; and other economic and 
social concerns. Others were provoked by accidents or related to 
personal petition, administrative litigation, and other legal 
processes.
    The ability of an individual to petition the Government is 
protected by law; however, persons petitioning the Government continued 
to face restrictions on their rights to assemble and raise grievances. 
Most petitions addressed grievances about land, housing, entitlements, 
the environment, or corruption. Most petitioners sought to present 
their complaints at national and provincial ``letters and visits'' 
offices. According to press accounts on April 12, more than 1,000 
petitioners from villages in Zhuanghe knelt before the municipal 
government headquarters while waiting to have their petitions heard. 
They accused village leaders of corruption, embezzlement, and 
negligence related to local land development schemes. Zhuanghe's Mayor, 
Sun Ming, was forced to resign in the wake of the incident.
    Although regulations banned retaliation against petitioners, 
reports of retaliation continued. This was partly due to incentives 
provided to local officials by the central government to prevent 
petitioners in their regions from raising complaints to higher levels. 
Incentives included provincial cadre evaluations based in part on the 
number of petitions from their provinces. This initiative aimed to 
encourage local and provincial officials to resolve legitimate 
complaints but also resulted in local officials sending security 
personnel to Beijing and forcibly returning the petitioners to their 
home provinces. Such detentions occurred before and after the enactment 
of the new regulations and often went unrecorded. In August 2009 the 
General Office of the State Council issued new guidelines for handling 
petitioners. The rules mandate sending officials from Beijing to the 
provinces to resolve petition issues locally, thereby reducing the 
number of petitioners entering Beijing. Other new rules include a 
mandated 60-day response time for petitions and a regulation 
instituting a single appeal in each case.
    In July according to domestic media reports, police in Hubei 
severely beat Chen Yulian, the wife of a provincial law enforcement 
officer, mistaking her for a petitioner. Six public security officers 
beat Chen when she tried to enter her husband's office building, which 
houses the Hubei provincial party headquarters. The Communist Party 
chief of the district bureau stated that the incident was a ``total 
misunderstanding,'' as ``police officers never realized that they were 
beating the wife of a senior leader.''

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association, but the Government restricted this right in practice. CCP 
policy and government regulations require that all professional, 
social, and economic organizations officially register with, and be 
approved by, the Government. In practice these regulations prevented 
the formation of truly autonomous political, human rights, religious, 
spiritual, labor, and other organizations that might challenge 
government authority.
    The Government maintained tight controls over civil society 
organizations. Legal and surveillance efforts aimed at controlling them 
increased. On March 1, new regulations issued by the State 
Administration for Foreign Exchange (SAFE) on foreign exchange 
donations to or by domestic institutions came into effect. According to 
the regulations, foreign exchange donations must ``comply with the laws 
and regulations.and shall not go against social morality or damage 
public interests and the legitimate rights and interests of other 
citizens.'' For donations between a domestic organization and a foreign 
NGO, the regulations required all parties and the banks to approve 
additional measures prior to a transaction being processed.
    To register, an NGO must find a government agency to serve as its 
organizational sponsor, have a registered office, and hold a minimum 
amount of funds. Some organizations with social or educational purposes 
that previously registered as private or for-profit businesses 
reportedly were requested to find a government sponsor and re-register 
as NGOs during the year. Although registered organizations all came 
under some degree of government control, some NGOs were able to operate 
with a degree of independence.
    The number of NGOs continued to grow, despite tight restrictions 
and regulations. According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA), as 
of the end of 2009, the country had 431,000 legally registered social 
organizations including social groups (238,000), civil nonbusiness 
units (190,000), and foundations (1,843). During the year an MCA 
official wrote, ``in 2007, China started to use the term ``social 
organization'' instead of ``civil organization'' because ``civil'' 
contrasts with ``official'' and reflected the opposing roles of civil 
society and government in the traditional political order. The 
Sixteenth and Seventeenth CCP Congresses changed the name to ``social 
organization.'' NGOs existed under a variety of formal and informal 
guises, including national mass organizations created and funded by the 
CCP, known as ``government NGOs'' or GONGOs.
    The lack of legal registration created numerous logistical 
challenges for NGOs, including difficulty opening bank accounts, hiring 
workers, and renting office space. NGOs that opted not to partner with 
government agencies could register as commercial consulting companies, 
which allowed them to obtain legal recognition at the cost of forgoing 
tax-free status. Security authorities routinely warned domestic NGOs, 
regardless of their registration status, not to accept donations from 
the U.S. government-funded National Endowment for Democracy and other 
international organizations deemed sensitive by the Government. 
Authorities supported the growth of some NGOs that focused on social 
problems, such as poverty alleviation and disaster relief, but remained 
concerned that these organizations might emerge as a source of 
political opposition. Many NGOs working in the Tibet Autonomous Region 
(TAR) were forced to leave because their project agreements were not 
renewed by their local partners following unrest in Lhasa and other 
Tibetan communities in 2008.
    No laws or regulations specifically govern the formation of 
political parties. However, the CDP remained banned, and the Government 
continued to monitor, detain, and imprison current and former CDP 
members.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation; however, the Government generally did not respect these 
rights in practice. The Government sometimes cooperated with the Office 
of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in providing 
protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, and other 
persons of concern.
    Authorities heightened restrictions on freedom of movement 
periodically, particularly to curtail the movement of individuals 
deemed politically sensitive before key anniversaries and visits of 
foreign dignitaries, and to forestall demonstrations. Freedom of 
movement continued to be extremely limited in the TAR and other Tibetan 
areas. Police maintained checkpoints in most counties and on roads 
leading into many towns, as well as within major cities such as Lhasa.
    Although the Government maintained restrictions on the freedom to 
change one's workplace or residence, the national household 
registration system (hukou) continued to change, and the ability of 
most citizens to move within the country to work and live continued to 
expand. Rural residents continued to migrate to the cities, where the 
per capita disposable income was more than four times the rural per 
capita income, but many could not officially change their residence or 
workplace within the country. Most cities had annual quotas for the 
number of new temporary residence permits that could be issued, and all 
workers, including university graduates, had to compete for a limited 
number of such permits. It was particularly difficult for rural 
residents to obtain household registration in more economically 
developed urban areas.
    The household registration system added to the difficulties rural 
residents faced even after they relocated to urban areas and found 
employment. The National Bureau of Statistics reported that there were 
225 million migrant workers at the end of 2008. These economic migrants 
lacked official residence status in cities, and it was difficult for 
them to gain full access to social services, including education and 
health care, despite laws, regulations, and programs meant to address 
their needs. Migrant workers had little recourse when subject to abuse 
by employers and officials. Some major cities maintained programs to 
provide migrant workers and their children access to public education 
and other social services free of charge, but migrants in some 
locations reported that it was difficult to obtain for these benefits 
in practice.
    Under the ``staying at prison employment'' system applicable to 
recidivists incarcerated in RTL camps, authorities denied certain 
persons permission to return to their homes after serving their 
sentences. Some released or paroled prisoners returned home, but they 
were not permitted freedom of movement.
    The Government permitted legal emigration and foreign travel for 
most citizens. There were reports that some academics and activists 
continued to face travel restrictions around sensitive anniversaries. 
In the fall, most notably in the time period between the Nobel Peace 
Prize announcement on October 8 and the December 10 Nobel ceremony, a 
large number of activists, lawyers, artists, authors, or other 
dissidents were prevented from leaving the country on the grounds that 
their doing so would damage the country's national security. Some were 
stopped at the airport, others were explicitly told prior to travel 
that they would be prevented from leaving the country (see section 
1.e.).
    Most citizens could obtain passports, although those whom the 
Government deemed threats, including religious leaders, political 
dissidents, and ethnic minorities, were refused passports or otherwise 
prevented from traveling overseas. Uighur residents of the XUAR 
reported difficulties at the local level in getting a passport 
application approved. Some residents of the XUAR and other citizens 
have reportedly had valid passports seized. In Tibetan regions of 
Qinghai, Gansu, and Sichuan provinces, in addition to the TAR, ethnic 
Tibetans experienced great difficulty applying for passports. The 
unwillingness of the PSB in Tibetan areas to issue or renew passports 
for ethnic Tibetans created, in effect, a ban on foreign travel for a 
large segment of the Tibetan population. Han residents of Tibetan 
areas, however, did not experience the same difficulties.
    The law neither provides for a citizen's right to repatriate nor 
otherwise addresses exile. The Government continued to refuse reentry 
to numerous citizens who were considered dissidents, Falun Gong 
activists, or ``troublemakers.'' Although some dissidents living abroad 
were allowed to return, dissidents released on medical parole and 
allowed to leave the country often were effectively exiled. Activists 
residing abroad were imprisoned upon their return to the country.
    In December 2009 the Royal Government of Cambodia, at the request 
of PRC authorities, forcibly returned a group of 20 Uighur asylum 
seekers to the country. At year's end their whereabouts and welfare 
remained unknown.
    The Government continued to try to prevent many Tibetans from 
leaving and detained many who were apprehended in flight (see Tibet 
Addendum). By year's end 874 Tibetans had arrived at the UNHCR 
reception center in Kathmandu. Flows to Nepal increased slightly during 
the year but were lower than the levels prior to the 2008 Lhasa 
crackdown. For the first time since 2003, there was a confirmed 
forcible return of three Tibetans from Nepal in June.
    In January videographer and Sun Yat-sen University professor Ai 
Xiaoming received the Prix Simone de Beauvoir (international human 
rights prize for women's freedom), but authorities did not allow her to 
travel abroad to attend the award ceremony.

    Protection of Refugees.--Although the country is a party to the 
1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 
Protocol, the law does not provide for the granting of refugee or 
asylum status, and the Government has not established a system for 
providing protection to refugees. The Government largely cooperated 
with the UNHCR when dealing with the resettlement of ethnic Han Chinese 
or ethnic minorities from Vietnam and Laos residing in the country. 
During the year the Government and the UNHCR continued discussions 
concerning the granting of citizenship to these residents.
    While the Government officially acknowledged that 37,000 residents 
of Kokang, in northeastern Burma, fled across the border into Yunnan 
during the Burmese army crackdown in August 2009, they were not 
officially designated as refugees. The Government did not respond to a 
UNHCR request for access to the border areas.
    The Government continued to consider all North Koreans ``economic 
migrants'' rather than refugees or asylum seekers, and the UNHCR 
continued to have limited access to North Korean refugees inside China. 
The lack of access to durable solutions and options, as well as 
constant fear of forced repatriation by authorities, left North Korean 
refugees vulnerable to human traffickers. Even refugees under UNCHR 
care were subjected to harassment and restrictions by authorities. The 
Government continued to deny the UNHCR permission to operate along its 
northeastern border with North Korea.
    In practice the Government did not provide protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion. Some North Koreans were permitted to travel to third countries 
after they entered diplomatic compounds in the country. The intensified 
crackdown begun in 2008 against North Korean refugees reportedly 
extended to harassment of religious communities along the border. The 
undocumented children of some North Korean asylum seekers and of mixed 
couples (i.e., one Chinese parent and one North Korean parent) 
reportedly did not have access to health care, public education, or 
other social services. The Government arrested and detained individuals 
who provided food, shelter, transportation, and other assistance to 
North Koreans. According to reports, some activists or brokers detained 
for assisting North Koreans were charged with human smuggling, and in 
some cases the North Koreans were forcibly returned to North Korea. 
There were also reports that North Korean agents operated clandestinely 
within the country to forcibly repatriate North Korean citizens.
    Although the Government does not grant refugee or asylum status, it 
allowed the UNHCR more latitude in assisting non-North Korean refugees. 
At the end of 2009 UNHCR Beijing had processed refugee claims for 
approximately 100 non-North Korean refugees in China (from Pakistan, 
Iraq, Somalia, and Eritrea). However, because these individuals were 
not officially recognized refugees, they remained in the country as 
illegal immigrants unable to work, with no access to education, and 
deportable by the host government at anytime.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution states that ``all power in the People's Republic 
of China belongs to the people'' and that the organs through which the 
people exercise state power are the NPC and the people's congresses at 
provincial, district, and local levels. However, the law does not 
provide citizens with the right to change their government peacefully, 
and citizens cannot freely choose or change the laws and officials that 
govern them. The CCP continued to control appointments to positions of 
political power.

    Elections and Political Participation.--According to the law, the 
NPC is the highest organ of state power. Formally, the NPC, composed of 
2,987 deputies, elects the president and vice president, the premier 
and vice premiers, and the chairman of the State Central Military 
Commission. In practice the NPC Standing Committee, which is composed 
of 175 members, oversaw these elections and determined the agenda and 
procedure for the NPC.
    The NPC Standing Committee remained under the direct authority of 
the party, and most legislative decisions require the concurrence of 
the CCP's nine-member Politburo Standing Committee. Despite its broad 
authority under the state constitution, the NPC does not set policy 
independently or remove political leaders without the party's approval.
    According to statistics from the MCA, almost all of the country's 
more than 600,000 villages had implemented direct elections for members 
of local sub-government organizations known as village committees. The 
direct election of officials by ordinary citizens remained narrow in 
scope and strictly confined to the local level. The Government 
estimated that one-third of all elections had serious procedural flaws. 
Corruption, vote buying, and interference by township-level and party 
officials continued to be problems. The law permits each voter to cast 
proxy votes for up to three other voters.
    The election law governs 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 
controlled by higher-level government officials or CCP cadres. At 
higher levels, legislators selected people's congress delegates from 
among their ranks. For example, provincial-level people's congresses 
selected delegates to the NPC. Local CCP secretaries generally served 
concurrently as the head of the local people's congress, thus 
strengthening party control over legislatures.
    On October 28, the NPC Standing Committee passed revisions to the 
law on deputies to the NPC and to lower-level people's congresses. 
Among other provisions the revisions stipulate that deputies may not 
serve as professional legislators but must have separate full-time 
jobs, and deputies may not maintain individual constituent liaison 
offices.
    Official statements asserted that ``the political party system 
[that] China has adopted is multiparty cooperation and political 
consultation under'' the CCP leadership. However, the CCP retained a 
monopoly on political power, and the Government forbade the creation of 
new political parties. The Government officially recognized nine 
parties founded prior to 1949, and 30 percent of NPC seats were held by 
parties other than the CCP. The establishment of new parties is 
functionally prohibited, and activists attempting to support unofficial 
parties have been arrested, detained, or confined.
    In September 2009 in Hunan Province, dissident Xie Changfa, who 
tried to organize a national meeting of the banned China Democratic 
Party, was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Guo Quan remained 
imprisoned following his October 2009 sentence to 10 years in prison 
and three years' deprivation of political rights for ``subversion of 
state power.'' Guo, a former Nanjing University professor and founder 
of the China New Democracy Party, published articles criticizing the 
country's one-party system. At year's end more than 30 current or 
former CDP members remained in prison or held in RTL camps, for their 
connection to a 2002 open letter calling for political reform and a 
reappraisal of the 1989 Tiananmen uprising, including Chen Shuqing, 
Sang Jiancheng, Yang Tianshui, and Jiang Lijun. In January 2009 CDP 
member Wang Rongqing was sentenced to six years' imprisonment for 
``subversion against the state'' after publishing articles critical of 
the political system.
    The Government placed no special restrictions on the participation 
of women or minority groups in the political process. However, women 
held few positions of significant influence in the CCP or government 
structure. Among the 2,987 delegates of the 11th NPC (term 2008-13), 
637 are women (21.3 percent of the total). There was one female member 
of the CCP's 25-member Politburo, who also concurrently served as one 
of five state councilors. There are three women ministers within the 28 
organs of the State Council: Minister of Supervision Ma Wen, Minister 
of Justice Wu Aiying, and Head of the National Population and Family 
Planning Commission Li Bin. According to government-provided 
information there were more than 230 female provincial and ministerial 
officials, more than 670 female mayors--twice the number in 1995--and 
more than 15 million female CCP cadres (approximately one-fifth of the 
total party membership).
    The Government encouraged women to exercise their right to vote in 
village committee elections and to run in those elections, although 
only a small fraction of elected members were women. In many locations 
a seat on the village committee was reserved for a woman, usually given 
responsibility for family planning.
    A total of 411 delegates from 55 ethnic minorities were members of 
11th NPC, accounting for 13.76 percent of the total number of 
delegates. All of the country's officially recognized minority groups 
were represented. The 17th Communist Party Congress elected 40 members 
of ethnic minority groups as members or alternates on the Central 
Committee. The only ministerial-level post held by an ethnic minority 
member was in the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, headed by Yang Jing, 
an ethnic Mongol from Inner Mongolia. In addition, there was one ethnic 
minority member, Vice Premier Hui Liangyu, of the Hui ethnic group, on 
the Politburo. Minorities held few senior party or government positions 
of significant influence.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. Many 
cases of corruption involved areas that were heavily regulated by the 
Government and therefore susceptible to fraud, bribery, and kickbacks, 
such as land usage rights, real estate, and infrastructure development. 
On December 29, the Information Office of the State Council released 
its first white paper on Efforts to Combat Corruption and Build Clean 
Government.
    Court judgments often could not be enforced against powerful 
special entities including government departments, state-owned 
enterprises, military personnel, and some members of the CCP. The 
Supreme Court during 2008-09 stated that there was a backlog of 330,000 
cases, with a total of RMB 343 billion ($50 billion) at stake.
    In its 2009 annual work report, the Supreme People's Procuracy 
reported that procuratorates nationwide had investigated 32,439 
corruption, dereliction of duty, and infringement of human rights 
cases, a decrease of 3.3 percent from the previous year, involving 
41,531 suspects, an increase of 0.9 percent. Among them, 2,670 suspects 
of embezzlement or bribery were officials at or above county- and 
director-level, including 204 at director general- or deputy director 
general-level and eight at the minister- (governor) or deputy minister- 
(vice governor) level; 9,355 were suspected of dereliction of duty or 
infringement of human rights. The SPP also investigated 10,218 cases of 
commercial bribery involving state functionaries. Within the SPP 
itself, 247 prosecutors were disciplined and 25 of them were charged 
criminally, though how many of these cases were corruption related was 
not specified.
    The party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), 
its lead body for countering corruption among members, reported that 
106,000 members had been found guilty of corruption in 2009, an 
increase of 2.5 percent over 2008. Of these, 85,353 received ``party 
discipline'' punishment and 29,718 received ``administrative 
punishment.''
    In an August 28 speech to government officials, Premier Wen Jiabao 
described corruption as ``the greatest danger for a ruling party.'' In 
July the Government and party issued a regulation requiring officials 
in government agencies or state-owned enterprises at the county-level 
or above to report their ownership of property, including property in 
their spouses' or children's names, as well as their family's 
investment in financial assets and in enterprises. Also in July the 
Government and party announced it would introduce a new collective 
decision-making procedure into state-owned enterprises, requiring all 
important decisions, including allocations of capital, arrangements for 
major projects, and personnel decisions, to be jointly decided by 
collective leadership. In the wake of the trial and conviction for 
corruption of former SPC Vice President Huang Songyou in January, the 
SPC reported that it had strengthened internal supervision by 
appointing anticorruption monitors, sending inspection task forces to 
local courts, and promulgating more discipline. The SPC reported that 
in 2009, 795 staff members in the court system were disciplined, and 
137 of them were transferred to judicial organs as criminal suspects, 
but how many of these cases were corruption related was not specified.
    There were numerous cases of public officials and leaders of state-
owned enterprises, who generally also hold high party rank, 
investigated for corruption during the year.
    In May Huang Guangyu, the founder of Gome Electrical Appliance 
Holding, who was detained in November 2009 on unspecified charges of 
``economic crimes,'' was convicted of illegal business operation, 
insider trading, and bribery, sentenced to 14 years in prison, fined 
RMB 600 million (approximately $90 million), and had RMB 200 million 
(approximately $30 million) in personal assets confiscated. Former 
Guangdong provincial police chief and chairman of the Guangdong 
provincial committee of the CPPCC, Chen Shaoji, who was detained along 
with Huang Guangyu in November 2009, was sentenced to death with a two-
year suspension after being found guilty of accepting bribes.
    Among the eight minister- or deputy minister-rank officials 
investigated for corruption in 2009 were former SPC Vice President 
Huang Songyou, sentenced to life imprisonment for taking bribes and 
embezzlement; Wang Yi, former vice president of state-owned China 
Development Bank, who received a suspended death sentence for taking 
bribes; and Wang Huayuan, former secretary of the Guangdong and 
Zhejiang provincial party commissions for discipline inspection, who 
was sentenced to death, suspended for two years. Also Zhang Chunjiang, 
the party chief at China Mobile, the world's largest mobile phone 
operator by subscribers, was removed from his post and expelled from 
the CCP after a CCDI inspection found him culpable of taking bribes in 
September. In 2009 35 senior executives of China's large SOEs, such as 
former Sinopec chairman Chen Tonghai, faced corruption charges.
    As part of efforts to increase transparency in the hiring process 
for party and government officials, Jilin Province instituted an ``open 
selection'' system for 800 positions in June. The online system allowed 
any qualified member of the public to apply--a departure from similar 
programs that required applicants be nominated by their work unit.
    The Ministry of Supervision and the CCDI are responsible for 
combating government corruption.
    In September People's University in Beijing inaugurated its first 
semester of ``anticorruption'' postgraduate courses taught by the CCP's 
leading antigraft officials. He Jiahong, deputy director of the 
university's criminal law research center, said that courses would be 
taught on advanced investigation techniques, such as ``how to obtain 
testimony from witnesses,'' ``the observation of facial expressions,'' 
and ``lie-detection techniques.'' Leading prosecutors of the SPP 
including Chen Lianfu, director of the SPP's Bureau of Anti-
Embezzlement and Bribery, and seven other antigraft prosecutors were 
brought to teach their techniques and give guidance. The course had 30 
students and ``plays a positive role in social anticorruption,'' 
according to professor Lin Zhe at the CCP Party School. All students 
selected for the program ``met strict criteria and were tested for 
aptitude,'' the official Global Times reported.
    Since 2008 the country has had freedom of information regulations 
in effect, which allow citizens to request information from the 
Government. While limited in comparison to freedom of information 
regulations in many other countries, the regulations did require 
government authorities to create formal channels for information 
requests and include an appeal process if requests were rejected or not 
answered. Publicly released provincial- and national-level statistics 
for freedom of information requests showed wide disparities in numbers 
of requests filed and in official documents released in response.
    The November 2009 report of the UN Group of Experts (UNGOE) on the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) presented information indicating 
that Huaying Trading Company (HTC), a Chinese-run mineral exporting 
company based in eastern DRC, sources minerals that originated in 
eastern DRC under the control of the Democratic Liberation Forces of 
Rwanda (FDLR). The FDLR, whose leaders continued to include architects 
of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, has committed numerous, serious human 
rights abuses in eastern DRC and Rwanda.
    In December 2010 an international NGO, Global Witness, published a 
report that stated that the export records of the DRC government's 
Division of Mines showed that two Chinese companies and one Hong Kong 
company purchased 100 percent of the 41.4 tons of columbite-tantalite 
(or ``coltan'') that originated in the conflict-affected North Kivu 
Province in May 2010. According to Global Witness, the three companies 
were Fogang Jiata Metals, Star 2000 Services, and Hong Kong-based 
Unilink Trading Hong Kong. The UNGOE interim report of May 2010 stated 
that ``in the Kivu provinces, it appears, almost every mining deposit 
is controlled by an armed group.''
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    The Government sought to maintain control over civil society 
groups, halt the emergence of independent NGOs, hinder the activities 
of civil society and rights' activist groups, and prevent what it has 
called the ``westernization'' of the country. The Government did not 
permit independent domestic NGOs to monitor openly or to comment on 
human rights conditions; in addition, domestic NGOs were harassed. The 
Government tended to be suspicious of independent organizations and 
increased scrutiny of NGOs with financial and other links overseas. 
Most large NGOs were quasi-governmental, and all official NGOs had to 
be sponsored by government agencies. Some grassroots NGOs registered as 
companies to avoid regulations requiring NGOs to have a sponsoring 
government agency.
    An informal network of activists around the country continued to 
serve as a credible source of information about human rights 
violations. The information was disseminated through organizations such 
as the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and 
Democracy, the foreign-based Human Rights in China Chinese Human Rights 
Defenders, and via the Internet.
    The Government remained reluctant to accept criticism of its human 
rights record by other nations or international organizations. It 
criticized reports by international human rights monitoring groups, 
claiming that such reports were inaccurate and interfered with the 
country's internal affairs. Representatives of some international human 
rights organizations reported that authorities denied their visa 
requests or restricted the length of visas issued to them.
    The Government did not have a human rights ombudsman or commission. 
The Government-established China Society for Human Rights is an NGO 
whose mandate is to defend the Government's human rights record. The 
Government maintained that each country's economic, social, cultural, 
and historical conditions influence its approach to human rights.
    The ICRC operated an office in Beijing, but the Government did not 
authorize the ICRC to visit prisons. The Government continued 
unofficial discussions on human rights and prisoner issues with a 
foreign-based human rights group, although the Government's cooperation 
with the group was not as extensive as in previous years.
    The Government continued to participate in official diplomatic 
human-rights dialogues with foreign governments.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    There were laws designed to protect women, children, persons with 
disabilities, and minorities. However, some discrimination based on 
ethnicity, sex, and disability persisted.

    Women.--Rape is illegal, and some persons convicted of rape were 
executed. The law does not recognize expressly or exclude spousal rape. 
The Government has not made available official statistics on rape or 
sexual assault, leaving the scale of sexual violence difficult to 
determine. Migrant female workers were particularly vulnerable to 
sexual violence.
    Violence against women remained a significant problem. According to 
a 2008 survey by the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), domestic 
violence affected one-third of China's 267 million families. The 
Government supported shelters for victims of domestic violence, and 
some courts were beginning to provide protections to victims. However, 
official assistance did not always reach victims, and public security 
forces often ignored situations of domestic violence. According to 
reports, 30 to 37 percent of families suffered from domestic violence, 
and more than 90 percent of the victims were women. The ACWF reported 
that it alone received 50,000 domestic violence complaints annually. 
Spousal abuse typically went unreported; an ACWF study found that only 
7 percent of rural women who suffered domestic violence sought help 
from police. While domestic violence tended to be more prevalent in 
rural areas, it also took place among the highly educated urban 
population. The ACWF reported that approximately one-quarter of the 
400,000 divorces registered each year were the result of family 
violence.
    The number of victims' shelters grew. According to ACWF statistics, 
in 2008 there were 27,000 legal-aid service centers, 12,000 special 
police booths for domestic violence complaints, 400 shelters for 
victims of domestic violence, and 350 examination centers for women 
claiming to be injured by domestic violence nationwide. Most shelters 
were operated by the Government, some with NGO participation. During 
the year the Government provided 680,000 office spaces in government 
buildings for women's resource centers.
    Both the Marriage Law and the Law on the Protection of Women's 
Rights and Interests have stipulations that directly prohibit domestic 
violence; however, some experts complained that the stipulations are 
too general, fail to define domestic violence, and are difficult to 
implement. Because of the judicial standard of ruling out ``all 
unreasonable doubt,'' even if a judge was certain that domestic 
violence was occurring, he or she could not rule against the abuser 
without the abuser's confession. Only 10 percent of accused abusers 
confessed to violent behavior in the family, according to 2009 data 
from the Institute of Applied Laws, a think tank associated with the 
court system. Collecting evidence in domestic violence cases remained 
difficult: the institute reported that 40 to 60 percent of marriage and 
family cases involved domestic violence; however, less than 30 percent 
were able to supply indirect evidence, including photographs, hospital 
records, police records, or children's testimony. Witnesses seldom 
testified in court.
    In April 2009 the Hunan High People's Court reportedly issued the 
first provincial-level guiding opinion concerning domestic violence 
cases, which was aimed at strengthening protections for female victims 
during judicial proceedings related to such abuse. In June 2009 a 
district court in Zhejiang Province granted the province's first anti-
domestic violence court order to a female victim. Following similar 
2008 orders in Jiangsu and Hunan, the order prohibits the abuser from 
intimidating or beating the spouse and opens the way for security 
forces to intervene to protect the victim's safety.
    After the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights was amended in 
2005 to include a ban on sexual harassment, the number of sexual 
harassment complaints increased significantly.
    The Government restricted the rights of parents to choose the 
number of children they have. The national family-planning authorities 
shifted their emphasis from lowering fertility rates to maintaining low 
fertility rates and emphasized quality of care in family-planning 
practices. In May a representative of the National Population and 
Family Planning Commission reported that 85 percent of women of 
childbearing age used some form of contraception. Of those, 70 percent 
used a reversible method. However, the country's birth limitation 
policies retained harshly coercive elements, in law and practice. The 
financial and administrative penalties for unauthorized births were 
strict.
    From February to April, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province was the site of a 
high-profile court proceeding in which a 30-year-old female plaintiff 
sued the local family-planning bureau, claiming that she had been 
barred from a civil service position in the county government for 
giving birth to a child before marriage. Although she married the 
father soon after the child's birth, the court ruled that the family-
planning bureau's original decree citing the birth as out of wedlock 
held, which did make her ineligible for the Government position.
    Although the Government announced adjustments would be implemented 
to address the problem of unequal birth sex ratios, it also affirmed 
the orientation of its family-planning policy at the highest levels, 
including maintaining the policy as part of the 12th Five-Year Plan 
that will be in effect 2011-15. In September Vice Premier Li Keqiang 
emphasized, however, that the policy would be ``better coordinated'' to 
take into account long-term economic and social developments.
    In 2007 China Daily reported, ``although sex selection is banned by 
the Population and Family Planning Law and the Law on Maternal and 
Infant Health, there are currently no provisions on the applicable 
punishment for such acts.''
    The NPFPC has been trying for many years to criminalize illegal sex 
identification and sex-selective abortion (commonly referred to as the 
``Two Nons''), which currently are prohibited only under administrative 
law. Members of the NPFPC have been working on the issue of legal 
reform related to sex-selective abortion since its inception and have 
proposed amendments to the Criminal Code to the National People's 
Congress (NPC) dealing with sex-selective abortion each year since 
2006.
    The use of ultrasounds to determine the sex of fetuses was 
prohibited. This ban, which carried administrative fines and penalties 
for healthcare workers found to have violated it, has been in place 
since 1995. Another similar ban on sex selective abortions was imposed 
by the NPFPC in 2004, although neither carried specific criminal 
penalties.
    The 2002 National Population and Family-planning Law standardized 
the implementation of the Government's birth limitation policies; 
however, enforcement varied significantly. The law grants married 
couples the right to have one birth and allows eligible couples to 
apply for permission to have a second child if they meet conditions 
stipulated in local and provincial regulations. The one-child limit was 
more strictly applied in urban areas, where only couples meeting 
certain conditions are permitted to have a second child (e.g., if each 
of the would-be parents are themselves an only child). In most rural 
areas, the policy was more relaxed, with couples permitted to have a 
second child in cases where the first child was a girl. Ethnic 
minorities are subject to less stringent rules. Countrywide, 35 percent 
of families fell under the one-child restrictions, and more than 60 
percent of families were eligible to have a second child, either 
outright or if they met certain criteria. The remaining 5 percent were 
eligible to have more than two children. According to government 
statistics, the average fertility rate for women nationwide was 1.8 
(representing the number of children each woman of child-bearing age 
has); in the country's most populous and prosperous city, Shanghai, the 
fertility rate was 0.8.
    While all provinces eliminated the birth-approval process for a 
first child, thus allowing parents to choose when to start having 
children, some provinces continued to regulate the period of time 
required between births. This adjustment signaled an end to the former 
family-planning quota system, in which some couples previously had to 
delay pregnancies if the allotted birth quota for that locality had 
already been exceeded.
    The law requires each person in a couple that has an unapproved 
child to pay a ``social compensation fee,'' which can reach 10 times a 
person's annual disposable income. The law grants preferential 
treatment to couples who abide by the birth limits.
    Social compensation fees were set and assessed at the local level. 
The law requires family-planning officials to obtain court approval 
before taking ``forcible'' action, such as detaining family members or 
confiscating and destroying property of families who refuse to pay 
social compensation fees. However, in practice this requirement was not 
always followed, and national authorities remained ineffective at 
reducing abuses by local officials.
    The population control policy relied on education, propaganda, and 
economic incentives, as well as on more coercive measures. Those who 
violated the child limit policy by having an unapproved child or 
helping another do so faced disciplinary measures such as social 
compensation fees, job loss or demotion, loss of promotion opportunity, 
expulsion from the party (membership is an unofficial requirement for 
certain jobs), and other administrative punishments, including in some 
cases the destruction of private property.
    In order to delay childbearing, the 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 have a child, 
with fines levied for violations. The law states that family-planning 
bureaus will conduct pregnancy tests on married women and provide them 
with unspecified ``follow-up'' services. Some provinces fined women who 
did not undergo periodic pregnancy tests.
    Officials at all levels remained subject to rewards or penalties 
based on meeting the population goals set by their administrative 
region. Promotions for local officials depended in part on meeting 
population targets. Linking job promotion with an official's ability to 
meet or exceed such targets provided a powerful structural incentive 
for officials to employ coercive measures to meet population goals. An 
administrative reform process initiated pilot programs in some 
localities that sought to remove this linkage for evaluating officials' 
performance.
    Although the family-planning law states that officials should not 
violate citizens' rights in the enforcement of family-planning policy, 
these rights, as well as penalties for violating them, are not clearly 
defined. By law citizens may sue officials who exceed their authority 
in implementing birth-planning policy. However, there exist few 
protections for whistleblowers against retaliation from local 
officials. The law provides significant and detailed sanctions for 
officials who help persons evade the birth limitations.
    During the year Puning City, Guangdong Province conducted two 
campaigns of ``sterilization of married couples that have two 
children'' during the year. According to the Puning government, the 
city conducted 8,916 sterilization procedures in April and more than 
3,000 in September. Meanwhile, a report by the Southern Rural News, a 
paper belonging to the Nanfang Daily Group, indicated that if two-child 
couples identified for sterilization did not cooperate with family-
planning officials or fled the area, authorities confiscated the 
couples' property or detained their family members. Detained family 
members were forced to take family-planning policy-learning sessions--
officials forced at least 1,300 persons related to two-child couples to 
attend the learning sessions in April.
    Government regulations implemented in 2008 make family-planning 
services, including reproductive health information and services, 
contraception devices, and family-planning technical services, 
available and free to migrants in their temporary residences. 
Previously, migrants were often forced to return to the place of their 
legal household registrations to receive services.
    According to 2008 UN statistics, the maternal mortality ratio was 
an estimated 38 per 100,000 live births. Regional differences indicated 
that the maternal mortality ratio in rural areas was much higher than 
in urban areas and also higher in poorer than in developed regions.
    According to a 2008 UN Development Fund (UNDP) report, China 
established specific objectives for infant and maternal mortality rates 
as well as for immunization coverage in the 11th National Development 
Plan (2006-2010). In 2003 the country implemented a health plan called 
the New Cooperative Medical Scheme (NCMS) meant to cover the entire 
rural population by 2010. Medical financial aid to fund and subsidize 
participation in NCMS by the poor was also introduced. Public funding 
for NCMS reportedly covered 85.7 percent of counties and had 730 
million subscribers. Still, rural, poor, migrant, and ethnic minority 
women continued to suffer the greatest mortality rates due to a lack of 
access to quality health services. There were reportedly more than 
3,000 mother-child health centers nationwide, employing 500,000 staff 
in a three-tiered network of county-, township-, and village-level 
services providing mother and child health care.
    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. The ACWF was the leading implementer 
of women's policy for the Government, and the State Council's National 
Working Committee on Children and Women coordinated women's policy. 
Nonetheless, many activists and observers were concerned that the 
progress made by women over the past 50 years was eroding. 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. Women continued to report that discrimination, 
sexual harassment, unfair dismissal, demotion, and wage discrepancies 
were significant problems.
    Authorities often did not enforce laws protecting the rights of 
women. According to legal experts, it was difficult to litigate a sex 
discrimination suit because the vague legal definition made it 
difficult to quantify damages, so very few cases were brought to court. 
Some observers 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. Women's rights advocates 
indicated that in rural areas women often forfeited land and property 
rights to their husbands in divorce proceedings. In principle, rural 
contract law and laws protecting women's rights stipulate that women 
enjoy equal rights in cases of land management, but experts argued that 
in practice this was rarely the case, due to the complexity of the law 
and difficulties in its implementation.
    Many employers preferred to hire men to avoid the expense of 
maternity leave and child care, and some lowered the effective 
retirement age for female workers to 50 (the official retirement age 
for men was 60 and for women 55, with the exception of men and women 
involved in physically demanding jobs, for which the retirement age was 
55 and 45, respectively). In addition, work units were allowed to 
impose an earlier mandatory retirement age for women than for men. 
Lower retirement ages also reduced pensions, which generally were based 
on the number of years worked. Job advertisements sometimes specified 
height and age requirements for women.
    Women earned less than men, despite government policies mandating 
nondiscrimination in employment and occupation. The Ministry of Human 
Resources and Social Security and the local labor bureaus were 
responsible for ensuring that enterprises complied with the labor law 
and the employment promotion law, each of which contains 
antidiscrimination provisions.
    A high female suicide rate continued to be a serious problem. 
According to the World Bank and the World Health Organization, there 
were approximately 500 female suicides per day in 2009. The Beijing 
Suicide Research and Prevention Center reported in 2009 that the 
suicide rate for females was three times higher than for males. Many 
observers believed that violence against women and girls, 
discrimination in education and employment, the traditional preference 
for male children, birth-limitation policies, and other societal 
factors contributed to the high female suicide rate. Women in rural 
areas, where the suicide rate for women was three to four times higher 
than for men, were especially vulnerable. Government research 
indicating that 58 percent of all suicides involved the use of 
pesticide led to the implementation of a trial program in Hunan and 
Zhejiang provinces to control its sale and storage to attempt to reduce 
suicide attempts.
    The UN Economic and Social Council reported that less than 2 
percent of women between the ages of 15 and 24 were illiterate. 
According to 2008 official government statistics, women comprised more 
than 70 percent of all illiterate persons above the age of 15. In some 
underdeveloped regions, the female literacy rate lagged behind the male 
literacy rate by 15 percent or more.
    While the gap in the education levels of men and women narrowed, 
differences in educational attainment remained a problem. Men continued 
to be overrepresented among the relatively small number of persons who 
received a university-level education. According to Ministry of 
Education statistics, in 2008 women accounted for 50 percent of 
undergraduate and college students, 46 percent of postgraduate 
students, and nearly 35 percent of doctoral students. Women with 
advanced degrees reported discrimination in the hiring process as the 
job distribution system became more competitive and market-driven.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from the parents. Parents must 
register their children in compliance with the national household 
registration system within one month of birth. Children not registered 
cannot access public services. No data was available on the number of 
unregistered births.
    The law provides for nine years of compulsory education for 
children. However, in economically disadvantaged rural areas, many 
children did not attend school for the required period and some never 
attended at all. Public schools were not allowed to charge tuition; 
however, faced with insufficient local and central government funding, 
many schools continued to charge miscellaneous fees. Such fees and 
other school-related expenses made it difficult for poorer families and 
some migrant workers to send their children to school.
    According to a 2008 UNDP report, the urban-rural gap in literacy 
rates of young persons had narrowed, from 6 percent in 1990 to 1.6 
percent in 2005. The proportion of girls attending school in rural and 
minority areas was reportedly smaller than in cities; in rural areas 61 
percent of boys and 43 percent of girls completed education higher than 
lower middle school. The Government reported that nearly 20 million 
children of migrant laborers followed their parents to urban areas. 
Most children of migrant workers who attended school did so at schools 
that were unlicensed and poorly equipped.
    Female babies suffered from a higher mortality rate than male 
babies, contrary to the worldwide norm. State media reported that 
infant mortality rates in rural areas were 27 percent higher for girls 
than boys and that neglect was one factor in their lower survival rate.
    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, a handful of 
doctors have been charged with infanticide under this law. Female 
infanticide, sex-selective abortions, and the abandonment and neglect 
of baby girls remained problems due to the traditional preference for 
sons and the coercive birth limitation policy.
    Kidnapping and buying and selling children for adoption increased 
over the past several years, particularly in poor rural areas. There 
were no reliable estimates of the number of children kidnapped; 
however, according to media reports, as many as 20,000 children were 
kidnapped every year for illegal adoption. Most children kidnapped 
internally were sold to couples unable to have children, particularly 
sons. Those convicted of buying an abducted child may be sentenced to 
three years' imprisonment. In the past most children rescued were boys, 
but increased demand for children reportedly drove traffickers to focus 
on girls as well. In 2009 the Ministry of Public Security started a DNA 
database of parents of missing children and children recovered in law 
enforcement operations in an effort to reunite families.
    By law those who force young girls (under age 14) into prostitution 
may be sentenced to 10 years or more in prison or given a life 
sentence, in addition to a fine or confiscation of property. If the 
case is especially serious, they are to be given a life sentence or 
sentenced to death, in addition to confiscation of property. Those 
inducing young girls (under age 14) into prostitution are to be 
sentenced to five years or more in prison in addition to a fine. Those 
who visit young female prostitutes (under age 14) are to be sentenced 
to five years or more in prison in addition to paying a fine.
    According to the law, the minimum age of consensual sex is 14.
    Pornography of any kind is illegal, including child pornography. 
Under the criminal code, those producing, reproducing, publishing, 
selling, or disseminating obscene materials with the purpose of making 
a profit may be sentenced up to three years in prison or put under 
criminal detention or surveillance, in addition to paying a fine. If 
the case is serious, they are to be sentenced to from three to 10 years 
in prison, in addition to paying a fine. If the case is especially 
serious, they are to be sentenced to 10 years or more in prison or 
given a life sentence, in addition to a fine or confiscation of 
property. Persons found disseminating obscene books, magazines, films, 
audio or video products, pictures, or other kinds of obscene materials, 
if the case is serious, may be sentenced up to two years in prison or 
put under criminal detention or surveillance. Persons organizing the 
broadcast of obscene motion pictures or other audio or video products 
may be sentenced up to three years in prison or put under criminal 
detention or surveillance, in addition to paying a fine. If the case if 
serious, they are to be sentenced to three to 10 years in prison in 
addition to paying a fine.
    Those broadcasting or showing obscene materials to minors less than 
18 years of age are to be severely punished.
    There were more than 150,000 urban street children, according to 
state-run media and the Ministry of Civil Affairs. This number was even 
higher if the children of migrant workers who spend the day on the 
streets were included. In 2008 state media reported that the number of 
children in rural areas left behind by their migrant-worker parents 
totaled 58 million.
    The law forbids the mistreatment or abandonment of children. The 
vast majority of children in orphanages were girls, many of whom were 
abandoned. Boys in orphanages were usually disabled or in poor health. 
Medical professionals sometimes 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. Adopted children were counted under the birth 
limitation regulations in most locations. As a result, couples that 
adopted abandoned infant girls were sometimes barred from having 
additional children.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts during 
the year. The Government does not recognize Judaism as an ethnicity or 
religion. According to information from the Jewish Virtual Library the 
country's Jewish population was 1,500 in 2006.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Person's 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law protects the rights of persons 
with disabilities and prohibits discrimination; however, conditions for 
such persons lagged far behind legal dictates, failing to provide 
persons with disabilities access to programs designed to assist them.
    The MCA and the China Disabled Persons Federation, a government-
organized civil association, were the main entities responsible for 
persons with disabilities. In September 2009 government officials 
confirmed that there were 83 million persons with disabilities living 
in the country. According to government statistics, in 2008 there were 
3,731 vocational education and training facilities, which provided 
training and job-placement services for 774,000 persons with 
disabilities. More than 4.5 million persons with disabilities were 
employed in cities and towns; 17.2 million were employed in rural 
areas. Government statistics stated that 7.4 million persons with 
disabilities enjoyed the minimum life guarantee; nearly three million 
had social insurance.
    The law prohibits discrimination against minors with disabilities 
and codifies a variety of judicial protections for juvenile offenders. 
In 2007 the Ministry of Education reported that nationwide there were 
1,618 schools for children with disabilities. According to NGOs, there 
were approximately 20 million children with disabilities, only 2 
percent of whom had access to special education that could meet their 
needs. In 2008 there were 419,000 children with disabilities in 
schools. NGOs claimed that while the overall school enrollment rate was 
99 percent, only 75 percent of children with disabilities were enrolled 
in school. Nationwide, 243,000 school-age children with disabilities 
did not attend school. Nearly 100,000 organizations existed, mostly in 
urban areas, to serve those with disabilities and protect their legal 
rights. The Government, at times in conjunction with NGOs, sponsored 
programs to integrate persons with disabilities into society.
    The physical abuse of children can be grounds for criminal 
prosecution. However, misdiagnosis, inadequate medical care, 
stigmatization, 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, where care was often inadequate. Those parents who chose 
to keep children with disabilities at home generally faced difficulty 
finding adequate medical care, day care, and education for their 
children. Government statistics showed that almost one-quarter of 
persons with disabilities lived in extreme poverty.
    Unemployment among adults with disabilities remained a serious 
problem. Under the Employment Promotion Law, local governments were 
required to offer incentives to enterprises that hired persons with 
disabilities. Regulations in some parts of the country also required 
employers to pay into a national fund for the disabled when the 
employees with disabilities did not make up the statutory minimum 
percentage of the total workforce.
    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; however, compliance 
with the law was lax. Students with disabilities were discriminated 
against in access to education. The law permits universities legally to 
exclude otherwise qualified candidates from higher education.
    The law forbids the marriage of persons with 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 law stipulates that local governments must employ 
such practices to raise the percentage of healthy births.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Most minority groups resided in 
areas they traditionally inhabited. Government policy calls for members 
of recognized minorities to receive preferential treatment in birth 
planning, university admission, access to loans, and employment. 
However, the substance and implementation of ethnic minority policies 
remained poor, and discrimination against minorities remained 
widespread.
    Minority groups in border and other regions had less access to 
education than their Han counterparts, faced job discrimination in 
favor of Han migrants, and earned incomes well below those in other 
parts of the country. Government development programs often disrupted 
traditional living patterns of minority groups and included, in some 
cases, the forced relocation of persons. Han Chinese benefited 
disproportionately from government programs and economic growth. As 
part of its emphasis on building a ``harmonious society,'' the 
Government downplayed racism and institutional discrimination against 
minorities, which remained the source of deep resentment in the XUAR, 
Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and Tibetan areas. In September 2009 
the State Council issued a white paper on ethnic policy, common 
prosperity, and development of all ethnic groups. The report stated 
that the country's ethnic policy ensured equality among all ethnic 
groups.
    According to 2007 government statistics, 36.3 percent of Guangxi 
Province's cadres were ethnic minorities. In 2008 all five of the 
country's ethnic minority autonomous regions had governors from 
minority groups for the first time in history. However, the Communist 
Party secretaries of these five autonomous regions were all Han. Han 
officials continued to hold the majority of the most powerful party and 
government positions in minority autonomous regions, particularly the 
XUAR.
    The Government's policy to encourage Han Chinese migration into 
minority areas significantly increased the population of Han in the 
XUAR. In recent decades the Han-Uighur ratio in the capital of Urumqi 
has shifted from 20 to 80 to 80 to 20 and continued to be a source of 
Uighur resentment. Discriminatory hiring practices gave preference to 
Han and discouraged job prospects for ethnic minorities. According to 
2005 statistics published by XUAR officials, eight million of the 
XUAR's 20 million official residents were Han. Hui, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, 
Uighur, and other ethnic minorities constituted approximately 12 
million XUAR residents. Official statistics understated the Han 
population, because they did not count the tens of thousands of Han 
Chinese who were long-term ``temporary workers.'' While the Government 
continued to promote Han migration into the XUAR and fill local jobs 
with migrant labor, overseas human rights organizations reported that 
local officials under direction from higher levels of government 
deceived and pressured young Uighur women to participate in a 
government-sponsored labor transfer program.
    The XUAR government took measures to dilute expressions of Uighur 
identity, including reduction of education in ethnic minority languages 
in XUAR schools and the institution of language requirements that 
disadvantaged ethnic minority teachers. The Government continued to 
apply policies that prioritized standard Chinese for instruction in 
school, thereby reducing or eliminating ethnic-language instruction. 
Graduates of minority language schools typically needed intensive 
Chinese study before they could handle Chinese-language course work at 
a university. The dominant position of standard Chinese in government, 
commerce, and academia put graduates of minority-language schools who 
lacked standard Chinese proficiency at a disadvantage.
    During the year authorities continued to implement repressive 
policies in the XUAR and targeted the region's ethnic Uighur 
population. Officials in the XUAR continued to implement a pledge to 
crack down on the Government-designated ``three forces'' of religious 
extremism, splittism, and terrorism and outlined efforts to launch a 
concentrated antiseparatist reeducation campaign.
    It was sometimes difficult to determine whether raids, detentions, 
and judicial punishments directed at individuals or organizations 
suspected of promoting the three forces were actually used to target 
those peacefully seeking to express their political or religious views. 
The Government continued to repress Uighurs expressing peaceful 
political dissent and independent Muslim religious leaders, often 
citing counterterrorism as the reason for taking action.
    Uighurs continued to be sentenced to long prison terms, and in some 
cases executed, on charges of separatism and endangering state 
security. The Government reportedly sought the repatriation of Uighurs 
outside the country, who faced the risk of persecution if repatriated.
    Freedom of assembly was severely limited during the year in the 
XUAR.
    In September 2009 the Government announced it would demolish three 
buildings owned by the family of exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer, 
president of the World Uighur Conference. The Government blamed Kadeer, 
a Uighur businesswoman in exile, for orchestrating the July 2009 riots 
in Urumqi. At year's end the buildings had not been demolished.
    Possession of publications or audiovisual materials discussing 
independence or other sensitive subjects was not permitted. Uighurs who 
remained in prison at year's end for their peaceful expression of ideas 
the Government found objectionable included Mehbube Ablesh, Abdulla 
Jamal, Adduhelil Zunun, Abdulghani Memetemin, and Nurmuhemmet Yasin.
    During the year XUAR and national-level officials defended the 
campaign against the three forces of religious extremism, splittism, 
and terrorism and other emergency measures taken as necessary to 
maintain public order. Officials continued to use the threat of 
violence as justification for extreme security measures directed at the 
local population, journalists, and visiting foreigners.
    In September 2009 state media reported that XUAR authorities 
approved the Information Promotion Bill, making it a criminal offense 
to discuss separatism on the Internet and prohibiting use of the 
Internet in any way that undermines national unity. The bill further 
bans inciting ethnic separatism or harming social stability. The bill 
requires Internet service providers and network operators to set up 
monitoring systems or strengthen existing ones and report 
transgressions of the law.
    Han control of the region's political and economic institutions 
also contributed to heightened tension. Although government policies 
continued to allot economic investment in, and brought economic 
improvements to the XUAR, Han residents received a disproportionate 
share of the benefits.
    (For specific information on Tibet, please see the Tibet addendum.)

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--No laws criminalize private 
homosexual activity between consenting adults. Homosexuality was 
decriminalized in 1997 and removed from the official list of mental 
disorders in 2001. Due to societal discrimination and pressure to 
conform to family expectations, most gay individuals refrained from 
publicly discussing their sexual orientation. Individual activists and 
organizations working on HIV/AIDs and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 
transgender (LGBT) issues continued to report discrimination and 
harassment from the authorities. In May HIV/AIDS activist Wan Yanhai, 
founder and director of the Beijing-based NGO Aizhixing, left the 
country, reportedly in response to increased pressure by authorities on 
himself and his organization.
    In January police blocked an event to choose a delegate to the 
Worldwide Mr. Gay pageant, shutting down the first-ever Mr. Gay China 
pageant just before the event. Police cited a lack of permits.
    In March, Li Yinhe, an activist and sexologist for the third time 
presented a proposal to the NPC and CPPCC advocating the legalization 
of same-sex marriage. Li had previously presented the proposal in 2003 
and 2006. To date, no NPC debate has been held on the proposal.
    On May 17, a small number of events were held across the country in 
universities to mark the International Day against Homophobia. The 
events were covered in English-language domestic media, but Chinese-
language coverage was subdued.
    In September police raided a park frequented by gays in Beijing, 
allegedly as part of a security sweep ahead of the October National Day 
holiday. Reports suggested approximately 80 men were taken to a local 
police station, most were released without charge.
    In March and April 2009, approximately 50 gays were reportedly 
detained in Renmin Park in Guangzhou and questioned by police. In 
August 2009 police in Guangzhou tried again to remove a group of gays 
from Renmin Park. The men refused, and after a nonviolent standoff, the 
police desisted.
    In June 2009 the first gay pride festival took place in Shanghai. 
Also in June 2009 the Beijing Queer Film Festival was held. Police had 
blocked previous attempts to hold the festival.
    LGBT plotlines and scenes are not allowed on broadcast television. 
However, in May a play with a lesbian theme was staged in a mainstream 
Beijing theatre.
    Although there is no legal prohibition against the registration of 
LGBT student groups, none were allowed to register at any university.
    In July 2009 a group of lesbians organized an online petition 
calling on the Government to rescind a 1998 law banning gays and 
lesbians from donating blood.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The Employment 
Promotion Law, which went into effect in 2008, improves protection 
against discrimination in employment, and local governments began 
modifying their regulations to reflect the new law. Under the law and 
adopted regulations, employment discrimination against persons carrying 
an infectious disease is prohibited, and provisions allow such persons 
to work as civil servants. While the law improves protection against 
discrimination in employment, it does not address some common types of 
discrimination in employment, including discrimination based on height, 
physical appearance, or place of origin.
    In April the country eliminated a 20-year travel ban that barred 
individuals with HIV/AIDS from entering the country. The State Council 
posted a statement on its Web site announcing that the Government had 
passed amendments on April 19, revising the Border Quarantine Law, as 
well as the Law on Control of the Entry and Exit of Aliens; the changes 
were effective immediately.
    Despite provisions in the Employment Promotion Law, discrimination 
against persons with HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B carriers (including 20 
million chronic carriers) remained widespread in many areas. Persons 
with HIV/AIDS suffered discrimination, and local governments sometimes 
tried to suppress their activities. At the same time, international 
involvement in HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment, as well as 
central government pressure on local governments to respond 
appropriately, brought improvements in some localities. Some hospitals 
that previously refused to treat HIV/AIDS patients had active care and 
treatment programs because domestic and international training programs 
improved the understanding of local healthcare workers and their 
managers. In Beijing dozens of local community centers encouraged and 
facilitated HIV/AIDS support groups.
    Some NGOs working with HIV/AIDS patients and their family members 
continued to report difficulties with local governments, particularly 
in Henan Province. Henan authorities provided free treatment to persons 
with HIV/AIDS, but foreign and local observers noted that local 
governments were reluctant or even hostile toward coordinating efforts 
with NGOs and preferred to work independently.
    On February 10, a nationwide rule banning mandatory hepatitis B 
virus tests in job and school admissions applications was promulgated.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law does not provide for freedom 
of association, as workers were not free to organize or join unions of 
their own choosing. Independent unions are illegal, and the right to 
strike is not protected in law.
    The All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), which is 
controlled by the CCP and chaired by a member of the Politburo, is the 
sole legal workers' organization. The trade union law gives the ACFTU 
control over all union organizations and activities, including 
enterprise-level unions and requires the ACFTU to ``uphold the 
leadership of the Communist Party.'' ACFTU constituent unions were 
generally ineffective in protecting the rights and interests of 
members. The ACFTU was active in advocating for government policies to 
better protect rights and interests of workers. Following widespread 
criticism of the ACFTU's response to several high-profile labor 
disputes that occurred primarily at automotive parts suppliers in 
Guangzhou, the union has advocated for reform of laws to better equip 
the union to protect workers' rights and interests.
    The ACFTU and its provincial and local branches continued to 
aggressively organize new unions and add new members. According to the 
latest available official ACFTU data, as of the end of 2009 there were 
1.8 million trade unions with 226 million registered ACFTU members, and 
about 84 million of the estimated 230 million migrant workers in the 
country had joined trade unions. Further, the ACFTU claimed that 79 
percent of foreign-invested companies, 78.5 percent of private 
companies, and 87 percent of the ``Fortune 500'' companies' China 
headquarters had established trade unions by the end of 2009.
    One of the 12 Taiwan employees who became a member of the Xiamen 
General Labor Union in 2009 (the first time a mainland ACFTU-affiliated 
labor union accepted Taiwan members) was invited to attend the 12th 
Fujian Provincial Trade Union Conference in May. He was the only Taiwan 
worker representative at this ACFTU conference. During the year the 
Xiamen government awarded ``May 1st Labor'' medals to six Taiwan 
workers. The medals, which usually are awarded to mainland workers, 
were for the first time awarded to workers from Taiwan in 2009.
    Although the law states that trade union officers at each level 
should be elected, most factory-level officers were appointed by ACFTU-
affiliated unions, often in coordination with employers, and were drawn 
largely from the ranks of management. Direct election by workers of 
union leaders continued to be rare, occurred only at the enterprise 
level, and was subject to supervision by higher levels of the union or 
Communist Party. In enterprises where direct election of union officers 
took place, regional ACFTU offices and local party authorities retained 
control over the selection and approval of candidates.
    The inability to directly elect their representatives was a key 
issue raised by workers in several labor disputes in Guangzhou. In July 
striking workers at three Honda auto components factories in the Pearl 
River Delta region not only demanded and obtained a large wage 
increase, they also succeeded in obtaining a promise of democratic 
union elections in which workers directly elect union leaders at the 
enterprise level. The Guangdong Federation of Trade Union indicated 
Honda's Nanhai plant will be a pilot site for remodeling the ACFTU and 
allowing union members to elect their own union chair. A senior ACFTU 
official was quoted by official media as saying the ACFTU hopes to end 
the practice of companies appointing union leaders or assigning someone 
from their human resources department to act as union leader.
    Following the heightened restrictions and surveillance reported by 
labor NGOs in 2009 surrounding politically sensitive anniversaries, 
several labor rights NGOs reported fewer restrictions during the year 
and in some cases said they were able to engage directly with high-
level government officials. However, authorities in the south increased 
restrictions on some labor NGOs in the aftermath of the large number of 
high-profile strikes in Guangdong factories.
    Despite more relaxed rules on NGO registration that Shenzhen 
implemented in 2008, labor NGOs still reported that they were unable to 
register as civil organizations and had little alternative but to 
register as businesses and be subject to taxation.
    According to local press accounts, Luo Xi, a former primary school 
teacher from Hunan Province who was previously sentenced to a lengthy 
RTL term following his participation in the 1989 Tiananmen incident, 
was arrested on January 8, for participating in and instigating a 
teachers' strike in Hunan in December 2008 to demand the same wages and 
benefits as civil servants. Luo was sentenced to two years' reeducation 
through labor in late January for ``disrupting social order.'' 
According to an NGO, on February 10, Xue Mingkai, a 20-year-old factory 
worker, was sentenced to one and a half years' imprisonment for 
subversion of state power by the Shenzhen Intermediate Court. 
Authorities claimed he had joined the China Democracy Party in 2009 and 
had recruited others to join. They also alleged he planned to organize 
a ``Democratic Workers' Party.''
    Labor activists detained in previous years reportedly remained in 
detention at year's end, including Wang Sen, Hu Mingjun, Li Wangyang, 
Kong Youping, Ning Xianhua, Li Jianfeng, Lin Shun'an, Chen Wei, She 
Wanbao, Zhu Fangming, Zhao Dongming, Ren Fengyu, Liu Jian, Wang 
Miaogen, Feng Xinchun, Huang Zhuyu, Xu Haiyan, Wang Jun, Huang Yunmin, 
Li Xintao, Liu Jian, Liu Jianjun, Yang Chunlin, Yu Changwu, Xu Zexin, 
Yuan Xianchen, You Jingyou, Zhang Qizhong, and Zhao Wuhu.
    While work stoppages are not expressly prohibited in law, article 
53 of the constitution has been interpreted as a ban on labor strikes 
by obligating all citizens to ``observe labor discipline and public 
order.'' Local government interpretations of the law varied, with some 
jurisdictions showing some tolerance for strikes while others continue 
to treat worker protests as illegal demonstrations. Without a clearly 
defined right to strike, workers had only a limited capacity to 
influence the negotiation process.
    As in past years, in spite of the unclear legal status of worker 
strikes, there were hundreds of reports of workers throughout the 
country engaging in strikes, work stoppages, and other protest actions. 
Most of the complaints were economic in nature, with demands for pay 
increases and better benefits being the most common. In many instances, 
workers successfully won concessions from companies and saw significant 
wage increases.
    Figures released by the Guangdong Province Human Resource and 
Social Security Department indicate 36 strikes involving more than 600 
workers demanding higher pay occurred over 48 days (May 25-July 12). 
These strikes were mainly in car parts factories and electronics plants 
of the Pearl River Delta. Labor Department officials at the provincial 
and municipal levels in Guangdong identified 142 more enterprises with 
unstable labor relations (120 in Guangzhou, 14 in Shenzhen, and eight 
in Zhuhai). While official media continued to aggressively publicize 
worker protests, the strikes in Guangdong Province led the Government 
to institute a media ban on all reports of strikes in the area.
    Several small labor protests in Jiangsu Province in May and June 
heightened anxiety in the Yangtze River Delta region. On June 8, 
workers at a Taiwan-owned machinery factory in Kunshan clashed with 
police. The 2,000-plus workers had walked off the assembly line to 
demand better pay and improved working conditions. Approximately 50 
protesters reportedly were injured. Prior to the incident in Kunshan, 
there had been reports in mid-May that 44 employees of the Taiwan-based 
company, Wintek Corporation, planned to sue the company for poisoning 
them after a Suzhou factory manager made them use n-hexane to clean 
iPhone screens ordered by Apple Corporation. Workers at Nikon Imaging 
company in nearby Wuxi also protested because of their dissatisfaction 
with the handling of a poisonous gas incident at the plant.
    The 2008 Labor Contract Law and the global financial crisis both 
contributed to the growth in labor disputes in the court system. 
According to the Supreme People's Court, courts nationwide handled 
295,500 labor dispute cases in 2008, a one-year increase of 95.3 
percent. The number of labor dispute cases increased another 7.8 
percent in 2009, to 318,600. From January to August, courts recorded 
207,400 new labor dispute cases.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The labor law 
permits collective bargaining for workers in all types of enterprises; 
however, in practice collective bargaining fell short of international 
standards. Under labor and trade union laws, collective contracts are 
to be developed through collaboration between the labor union and 
management and should specify such matters as working conditions, wage 
scales, and hours of work.
    The trade union law specifically addresses unions' responsibility 
to bargain collectively on behalf of workers' interests. Regulations 
required the union to gather input from workers prior to consultation 
with management and to submit collective contracts to workers or their 
congress for approval. There is no legal obligation for employers to 
negotiate, and some employers refused to do so. A key article of the 
2008 labor contract law requires employers to consult with labor unions 
or employee representatives on matters that have a direct bearing on 
the immediate interests of their workers.
    Despite the collective bargaining article in the 2008 Labor 
Contract Law, many employers prefer to deal with individual employees 
directly, allowing for widespread employer abuse of labor contracts. 
Common cases of noncompliance with the Labor Contract Law during the 
year included forcing employees to sign blank contracts and not 
providing workers a copy of their contract. Lack of government 
resources also undermined effective implementation and enforcement of 
the Labor Contract Law.
    In July the Guangdong provincial government issued guidelines on 
enterprise collective wage bargaining, which included requiring 
employers to give employee representatives information regarding a 
company's operations, including employee pay and benefits, to be used 
in wage bargaining. The guidelines also gave employees and employers 
the right to request the labor bureau to act as a mediator to help 
determine wage increase distribution among employees.
    In August the Beijing ACFTU instructed lower-level Beijing trade 
unions to initiate collective wage bargaining with companies that pay 
low average monthly wages. According to the Beijing Municipal 
Federation of Trade Unions, enterprises in Beijing with an average wage 
of less than RMB 1,100 per month (approximately $165) will be required 
to conduct collective negotiations.
    The ACFTU reported that 1.4 million collective contracts were 
signed by the end of September, covering 2.43 million enterprises and 
185 million workers.
    The 2008 Labor Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Law provides for 
labor dispute resolution through a three-stage process: mediation 
between the parties, arbitration by officially designated arbitrators, 
and litigation. The 2008 law improved workers' access to and 
streamlined this three-stage process. The number of labor disputes 
nationwide continued to rise as workers' awareness of the laws 
increased.
    The Trade Union Law provides specific legal remedies against 
antiunion discrimination and specifies that union representatives may 
not be transferred or terminated by enterprise management during their 
term of office. Collective contract regulations provide similar 
protections for employee representatives during collective 
consultations.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced and compulsory labor and contains provisions relevant to forced 
labor and trafficking for labor purposes. However, there were reports 
that such practices occurred. Punishment for forced labor offenses 
under the criminal code ranged from an administrative fine to a maximum 
of three years' imprisonment, which was deemed ``insufficiently 
dissuasive'' by the International Labor Organization's Committee of 
Experts on the Application of Standards.
    There were reports that employers withheld wages, or required 
unskilled workers to deposit several months' wages as security against 
the workers departing early from their labor contracts. These practices 
often prevented workers from exercising their right to leave their 
employment and made them vulnerable to forced labor. Implementation of 
new labor laws, along with workers' increased knowledge of their rights 
under these new laws, continued to reduce these practices.
    On September 13, the Supreme People's Court issued an 
interpretation intended to help workers substantiate claims of not 
being paid for overtime work. Among the key issues addressed, the 
ruling provided that for overtime claims, while employees have the 
initial burden of proving that overtime work was performed, the burden 
shifts to the employer if the employee can demonstrate that the 
employer had control over the evidence proving that the work was 
performed.
    Examples of continued reports of forced labor included: The freeing 
by police in May of 34 migrant workers who had been forced to work in 
slave-like conditions in a brick kiln in Hebei Province. A total of 11 
suspects including the kiln's owner were arrested. The discovery by 
local Xinjiang reporters in December of 12 mentally ill workers forced 
to work in slave labor-like conditions at a Chemical Factory in 
Tuokexun. The factory owner and his son were arrested, along with a 
labor trafficker from Sichuan's Qu County who allegedly sold the 
workers to the factory. The workers were rescued and placed in care, 
and the trafficker's ``Beggars Adoption Agency'' was closed down.
    Forced labor remained a serious problem in penal institutions 
according to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). Many 
prisoners and detainees in RTL facilities were required to work, often 
with no remuneration. In addition, there were credible allegations that 
prisoners were forced to work for private production facilities 
associated with prisons. These facilities often operated under two 
different names: a prison name and a commercial enterprise name. There 
was no effective mechanism to prevent the export of goods made under 
such conditions.
    The Ministry of Justice discussed allegations of exported prison 
labor goods with foreign government officials, but information about 
prisons, including associated labor camps and factories, was tightly 
controlled.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits the employment of children under the age of 16, but child 
labor remained a problem. The Government does not publish statistics on 
the extent of child labor.
    The Labor Law specifies administrative review, fines, and 
revocation of business licenses of those businesses that illegally hire 
minors, and provides that underage children found working should be 
returned to their parents or other custodians in their original place 
of residence. However, a significant gap remained between legislation 
and implementation. 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 in mines.
    Social compliance auditors working for foreign buyers continued to 
report some use of child labor in factories producing for export. There 
continued to be some reports that schools supplied factories with 
illegal child labor under the pretext of vocational training. There are 
reports that spot labor shortages, rising wage levels, and more demands 
made by adult workers compounded by continued fierce competition, 
induced some small enterprises to run the risk of hiring child labor, 
and some local authorities to ignore this practice to protect against 
employers moving to other areas.
    ITUC alleged that there was substantial employment of children 
under the age of 16 as a result of poor conditions in the rural 
education system that caused parents to send their children to work 
because their education was unaffordable. Additionally, work-study 
programs allow schools in poor areas to set up income generating 
schemes in agriculture and manufacturing, employing children to earn 
money for their school fees. Many of these programs resulted in abuses 
such as child labor that is forced and in dangerous and labor-intensive 
industries such as agriculture, construction, and factories in which 
the employed children worked long hours under harsh conditions.
    An April National Labor Committee report on KYE Systems 
Corporation, a consumer electronics factory in Dongguan City, Guangdong 
Province, (also known as Dongguan Kunying Computer Products Company 
Ltd.), claimed that dozens of work-study students employed at the 
factory over the past three years, purportedly 16 and 17years old, 
actually were 14 and 15 years of age and worked 15-hour shifts, six and 
seven days a week. The report also alleged that the factory prohibited 
bathroom breaks during working hours, restricted the off-compound 
movement of workers, provided inadequate bathroom and dormitory 
facilities (a bucket and sponge were provided for showering and 14 
workers shared each dorm room), and forced workers who made mistakes to 
clean the bathrooms.
    In April local media reported a 15-year-old in Panjin city, 
Liaoning Province, was severely injured by a gas explosion in a 
restaurant where he was working. In May a local journalist in Hebei 
Province discovered that a 14-year-old child laborer was hired to work 
seven days a week as a welder by a local factory. In July a popular 
newspaper in Guangzhou reported that a 13-year-old child laborer 
drowned while he was trying to escape from the local police in 
Guangzhou who were cracking down on an illegal workshop where he was 
employed to produce cigarettes.
    According to an official Xinhua news article, local labor 
inspection teams in Hainan Province found five girls, between ages 13 
and 15, employed as waitresses in a hotel in Zhanzhou City.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There was no national minimum 
wage, but the labor law requires local and provincial governments to 
set their own minimum wage according to standards promulgated by the 
Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS). The 
regulation states that labor and social security bureaus at or above 
the county level are responsible for enforcement of the law. It 
provides that where the ACFTU finds an employer in violation of the 
regulation, it shall have the power to demand that the relevant labor 
bureaus deal with the case.
    Due to changing economic and demographic conditions, almost all 
local and provincial governments raised minimum wage levels 
significantly during the year. Additionally, increased economic 
activity, spot shortages of skilled labor, increased inland investment, 
and successful strikes led to generally increased wage levels for 
workers in all parts of the country.
    While minimum wage laws apply to all workers, wage arrears remained 
a common problem. Governments at various levels continued their efforts 
to prevent arrears and recover payment of missing wages and insurance 
contributions. Many of the estimated 230 million migrant workers and 
their families faced numerous other obstacles with regard to working 
conditions and labor rights. Many were unable to access public 
services, such as public education or social insurance, in the cities 
where they lived and worked because they were not legally registered 
urban residents.
    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 three hours per day or 36 hours per month and 
mandates a required percentage of additional pay for overtime work. 
However, in practice compliance with the law was weak, and standards 
were regularly violated.
    While many labor laws and regulations on worker safety are fully 
compatible with international standards, implementation and enforcement 
were generally poor due to a lack of adequate resources. For example, 
MOHRSS reported that in 2008 there were only 23,000 fulltime 
professional inspectors, and indicated that there were areas in which a 
single labor inspector would be responsible for more than 50,000 
workers.
    Inadequately enforced occupational health and safety laws and 
regulations continued to put workers' health and safety at risk. The 
State Administration for Work Safety (SAWS) sets and enforces 
occupational health and safety regulations. The work safety law states 
that employees have the right, after finding 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. In practice 
such protective provisions were poorly enforced at the local level.
    The State Council issued an order requiring local governments and 
companies to strengthen standards by improving corporate safety 
management, providing technical support and enhancing supervision in an 
effort to prevent accidents in high-risk industries, such as mines and 
chemical factories. The 32-item order requires, among other items, that 
at least one senior manager accompany miners underground at all times 
and that workers in high-risk industries receive professional training 
and possess valid certification. If any unqualified and untrained 
workers are found employed in such workplaces, the company may be shut 
down. Factories or mines that have an accident that kills more than 
three persons or two fatal accidents in a year will be blacklisted. 
This information will then be released to departments related to land 
resources, construction, finance, investment, and banks to use as an 
important reference in future loan agreement negotiations. Also, seven 
national mine emergency teams will be established across the country to 
provide timely rescue work in the event of a serious accident.
    The State Council's Work Safety Committee orchestrated a nationwide 
campaign to improve work safety. In a July 20 report, the committee 
acknowledged that there were problems in the nationwide workplace-
safety check system and in resolving work safety problems. During the 
year inspectors reportedly uncovered 9.34 million unreported ``work 
safety dangers'' while inspecting 6.42 million work units (danwei), 
including 2.12 million industrial and mining facilities. Reportedly, 
3,327 of the serious hidden dangers were not adequately resolved by 
year's end.
    The coal industry continued to have a high incidence of accidents 
and fatalities, but the Government continued efforts to consolidate the 
industry into larger, better-regulated mining companies, including the 
campaign jointly carried out by the National Development and Reform 
Commission, the State Energy Administration, SAWS, and the State 
Administration of Coal Mine Safety to target small mines with an annual 
production capacity of less than 300,000 tons. According to statistics 
from the National Energy Administration (NEA), 620 small coalmines were 
shut down from January to May, eliminating production of 75.4 million 
tons of coal.
    Also according to the NEA, the death rate per million tons of mined 
coal for the first half of the year was 0.788, a decrease of almost 15 
percent from the previous year. It reported 71 accidents in total, 
killing 602 persons. Many of these accidents were attributed to 
production by illegal small mines and by overproduction of large mines. 
Independent labor groups stated the actual casualty figures could be 
much higher, since many accidents were covered up.
    The head of the SAWS said that illegal production, operations, and 
construction caused 502 major work-related accidents during the first 
half of the year, an increase of 75 accidents over the same period last 
year. According to official statistics, a total of 2,652 persons were 
reported injured, killed or missing in these 502 accidents, an increase 
of 576 victims over the first half of 2009. From January to June, large 
production accidents rose 36.4 percent from last year to reach 45, 
resulting in 764 individuals killed or listed as missing, up 53.4 
percent from the same period in 2009.
    As an example of the many reported coal mine accidents, in one 
weekend in July five separate mining incidents killed more than 40 
miners and left 13 trapped. Twenty-eight miners were killed at a 
privately owned mine in Hancheng City, Shaanxi Province, while a fire 
at a mine in Henan Province killed eight workers. The following day, 
two miners were killed following a gas explosion at a coal mine in 
Hunan Province, 13 workers were trapped in a flooded colliery in Gansu 
Province, and four miners died at a mine explosion at state-owned 
Nanpiao Coal and Electricity Co.'s Dayaogou Mine in Huludao City, 
Liaoning Province. Media later in the week reported the dismissal of 
Hancheng's mayor and the city government's action to halt production at 
33 coalmines until safety concerns were addressed.
    In March 153 miners were trapped underground after an accident at 
the Wangjialing Coal Mine in Shanxi Province. After eight days, 115 of 
them were rescued.
    According to the Ministry of Health, more than 14,000 workers were 
diagnosed with pneumoconiosis, or black lung disease, in 2009, 
accounting for 80 percent of new occupational disease cases during the 
year. Many of these miners had difficulty obtaining compensation as 
many of the mines were privately operated, and had closed. When the 
mines closed, many workers had no certificate to prove they once worked 
in the mine, and without the certificate a hospital cannot make an 
occupational disease assessment report, without which there can be no 
compensation.
                                 ______
                                 
                                 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 (PRC). The Tibetan population 
within the TAR was approximately 2.7 million and outside the TAR was an 
estimated 2.9 million. The Government strictly controlled information 
about, and access to, the TAR and Tibetan areas outside the TAR, making 
it difficult to determine accurately the scope of human rights abuses.
    There was severe repression of freedoms of speech, religion, 
association, and movement. The intensified controls applied following 
the March 2008 riots and unrest in Tibetan areas eased somewhat after 
the second anniversary of the unrest and its suppression. Authorities 
continued to commit serious human rights abuses, including 
extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial 
detention, and house arrest. The preservation and development of 
Tibet's unique religious, cultural, and linguistic heritage remained a 
concern.
    The fallout from the March 2008 protests continued to affect the 
human rights situation in Tibetan regions of the PRC. A number of 
Tibetans, especially monks, remained incarcerated for their role in the 
2008 protests and riots. People's Armed Police (PAP) presence remained 
at historically high levels in many communities across the Tibetan 
Plateau. In March all major monasteries in Lhasa were guarded by 
security forces. On March 14, many shops in the city closed to mark the 
anniversary of the demonstrations and the police crackdown. Students in 
many areas protested; in southern Gansu Province, students reportedly 
protested for freedom, human rights, and in support of the Dalai Lama.

    Deprivation of Life.--There were numerous reports that the 
Government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings; 
however, it was not possible to verify independently these reports. 
There were no reports that officials investigated or punished those 
responsible for the killings.
    In August police shot and killed a Tibetan during a mining protest 
in Phayul County in Ganzi (Kardze) Prefecture. State media claimed the 
Tibetan was shot accidentally when police fired warning shots at 
protesters.
    In December 2009 33-year-old Tibetan nun Yangkyi Dolma died of 
unknown causes in a Chengdu hospital after eight months in police 
custody. She was severely beaten by police and arrested in March 2009 
after she joined a protest in Ganzi County, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan 
Province calling for human rights and the swift return of the Dalai 
Lama.
    No further information was available regarding the January 2009 
death of Pema Tsepag following his beating by authorities; the March 
2009 killing of Phuntsok Rabten by public security agents; the March 
2009 killing of Panchou Lede in a clash between soldiers and farmers; 
and the August 2009 death of Kalden following his torture in a Lhasa 
prison.
    Following the outbreak of protests in March 2008, the Government 
reported that 22 persons were killed in the Lhasa violence, including 
18 civilians, one police officer, and three rioters. However, outside 
observers, including Tibetan exile groups and nongovernmental 
organizations (NGOs), variously placed the number of persons killed in 
Tibetan areas due to official suppression that began March 10 at 
between 100 and 218.
    There were reports of persons tried, found guilty, and executed for 
their activities during the 2008 protests. Trials and executions were 
not transparent, and requests by foreign observers to attend trials 
were denied. There was not enough information available to determine 
whether they were afforded due process.

    Disappearance.--Following the 2008 riots in Lhasa, authorities 
arbitrarily detained Tibetans, including monks and nuns, many of whom 
remained missing. Official statistics for the number detained were 
incomplete and covered only limited areas. In February 2009 official 
media reported that 953 persons were detained or had surrendered to 
police in Lhasa following the riots. The report stated that 76 persons 
were sentenced to prison in connection with the unrest, and an 
additional 116 were awaiting trial. Official sources have not reported 
the fates of these 116 persons. On December 21, an NGO reported that 
Jampel Wangchuk, 55, the disciplinarian at Drepung's Loseling College, 
had been sentenced to life in prison; Konchok Nyima, 43, the scripture 
teacher at Drepung's Gomang College, had been sentenced to 20 years; 
and 38-year-old Ngawang Choenyi, the scripture teacher at Drepung's 
Ngakpa College, was believed to be serving a sentence of 15 years.
    There was no information on the whereabouts of five monks, 
including Sonam Rabgyal, Damdul, and Rabgyal, who disappeared following 
a 2008 midnight raid on the Ramoche Temple in Lhasa. The whereabouts of 
Paljor Norbu, a Tibetan traditional painter sentenced to seven years in 
prison after a secret trial in 2008, remained unknown at year's end. No 
new information was available on the whereabouts of Phuntsok Gyaltsen, 
the deputy head of Phurbu Township, Palgon County, who was detained in 
2007.
    The whereabouts of the Panchen Lama, Gendun Choekyi Nyima, Tibetan 
Buddhism's second-most prominent figure after the Dalai Lama, and his 
family remained unknown. In October 2009 government officials in Tibet 
told a visiting foreign delegation that Gendun Choekyi Nyima was 
``growing up very well, loves Chinese culture and is enjoying his 
life.'' The officials asserted that his identification as the 11th 
Panchen Lama was ``illegal.''

    Torture and Other Cruel and Degrading Treatment.--The security 
regime employed torture and degrading treatment in dealing with some 
detainees and prisoners. Tibetans repatriated from Nepal reportedly 
suffered torture, including electric shocks, exposure to cold, and 
severe beatings, and were forced to perform heavy physical labor. 
Prisoners were subjected routinely to ``political investigation'' 
sessions and were punished if deemed insufficiently loyal to the state.
    In March 2009 police severely beat 21-year-old Tibetan nun Lobsang 
Khandro from the Gema Dra-wok Nunnery for carrying out an individual 
protest in Ganzi Prefecture. She allegedly carried pamphlets and prayer 
flags and shouted calls for freedom and support for the Dalai Lama as 
she walked to the Ganzi Prefecture government headquarters.
    On June 22, well-known businessman and environmentalist Karma 
Samdrup, on trial for alleged grave robbing and theft of cultural 
artifacts, accused his jailers of beatings, sleep deprivation, 
administration of drugs that made his ears bleed, and other 
mistreatment. On June 24, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
    Late in the year four monks from Lutsang Monastery were released 
from confinement in Qinghai Province. The four were arrested and 
sentenced to reeducation through labor (RTL) following a February 2009 
protest by Lutsang monks outside a government office.
    In May 2009 according to an NGO report, police injured six persons 
in Tawu County of Ganzi Prefecture while breaking up a protest against 
a hydroelectric project.
    According to numerous sources, many of those detained after the 
rioting in 2008 were subjected to extrajudicial punishments such as 
severe beatings and deprivation of food, water, and sleep for long 
periods. In some cases detainees suffered broken bones and other 
serious injuries at the hands of PAP and Public Security Bureau (PSB) 
officers. According to eyewitnesses, the bodies of persons killed 
during the unrest or subsequent interrogation were disposed of secretly 
rather than returned to their families.
    Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche, head of Pangri and Yatseg nunneries in 
Ganzi, told of police abuse during his April 2009 trial. He claimed 
that after his arrest in 2008, police handcuffed him with arms 
outstretched to an iron pillar and forced him to stand while they 
interrogated him continuously for four days and four nights. They told 
Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche that if he did not confess his wife and son 
would be detained. His trial was later postponed indefinitely. Foreign 
diplomats asked to observe the trial but received no reply. In late 
December 2009 a court sentenced Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche to eight-and-a-
half years in prison for illegal possession of weapons and ammunition 
(see Denial of Fair Public Trial section).
    In May 2009 Tibetan monk Jigme Guri from Labrang Monastery was 
released from prison. He alleged that prison authorities beat him 
repeatedly during two months of detention beginning in 2008. According 
to Jigme, the beatings left him unconscious for six days, and he 
required two hospitalizations.

    Prison Conditions.--In December 2009 the deputy director of the TAR 
Justice Bureau told a foreign diplomat that there were 3,000 prisoners 
in the five TAR prisons, which are separate from the RTL system.
    The mass detentions connected with the March 2008 unrest amplified 
already crowded and harsh prison conditions. Some prisons, including 
those in the RTL system, used forced labor to which prisoners may be 
assigned for three years (with the possibility of a one-year extension) 
without court review. The law states that prisoners may be required to 
work up to 12 hours per day, with one rest day every two weeks, but 
sometimes these regulations were not enforced; conditions varied from 
prison to prison.
    According to numerous sources, political prisoners in Tibetan areas 
endured unsanitary conditions and often had little opportunity to wash 
or bathe. Many prisoners slept on the floor without blankets and 
sheets. Prisoners reported being confined side by side with 20 to 30 
cellmates for many days.
    Former detainees reported that prisoners were not provided with 
enough food. According to sources, prisoners rarely received medical 
care unless they had a serious illness. Prisoners also complained that 
they often failed to receive money, food, clothing, and books sent by 
their families because such items were routinely confiscated by prison 
guards.

    Arbitrary Arrest and Detention.--During the year arbitrary arrest 
and detention continued in Tibetan areas. With a detention warrant, 
police legally may detain persons for up to 37 days without formally 
arresting or charging them. Police must notify the relatives or 
employer of a detained person within 24 hours of the detention. 
Following the 37-day period, police must either formally arrest or 
release the detainees. In practice police frequently violated these 
requirements.
    Official state media reported the detentions of 4,434 persons in 
Tibetan areas (1,315 in Lhasa) between March and April 2008. In 2008 
official media reported that approximately 1,317 persons were arrested 
in the March-April time frame, 1,115 of whom were released afterwards. 
Overseas organizations placed the total number detained at more than 
5,600.
    Many prisoners were subject to the RTL system or other forms of 
detention not subject to judicial review.

    Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Legal safeguards for Tibetans 
detained or imprisoned were inadequate in both design and 
implementation. According to a TAR Bureau of Justice official, all 
seven cities and prefectures had established legal assistance centers 
that offered services in the Tibetan language. Prisoners may request a 
meeting with a government-appointed attorney, but in practice many 
defendants did not have access to legal representation.
    According to the Tibet Daily, the TAR was strengthening the 
Communist Party's leadership over lawyers in the region in order to 
ensure that the work of lawyers ``goes in the correct direction.'' Of 
the 18 law firms in the TAR, 11 had their own Communist Party committee 
and six shared a Communist Party committee with the Justice Bureau in 
their prefecture. A party development leader was assigned to the law 
firm that had no party organization.
    Ethnic Han lawyers who volunteered to represent detainees involved 
in the 2008 protests received warnings from authorities not to take on 
such cases. Authorities threatened some with punishment or placed them 
under police surveillance. In cases that authorities claimed involve 
state security, trials often were cursory and closed. Authorities 
denied multiple requests from foreign diplomats to observe the trials 
of those charged with crimes related to the 2008 unrest. By law maximum 
prison sentences for crimes such as ``endangering state security'' and 
``splitting the country'' are 15 years for each count, not to exceed 20 
years in total. Authorities sentenced Tibetans for alleged support of 
Tibetan independence regardless of whether their activities involved 
violence.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--Due to the lack of independent 
access to prisoners and prisons, it was impossible to ascertain the 
number of Tibetan political prisoners. A number of the Tibetans 
arrested or detained in the days and weeks following the spring 2008 
protests were sentenced throughout 2010. Many prisoners were held in 
the extrajudicial RTL prisons operated by the Ministry of Public 
Security and never appeared in public court.
    Based on information available from the U.S. Congressional 
Executive Commission on China's political prisoner database, as of 
September 3, there were 824 Tibetan political prisoners imprisoned in 
Tibetan areas. Of these, 765 were Tibetans detained on or after March 
10, 2008, and 59 were Tibetans detained prior to March 10, 2008. Of the 
765 Tibetan political prisoners who were detained on or after March 10, 
2008, 443 (approximately 58 percent) were Tibetan Buddhist ``religious 
professionals'' (monks, nuns, and trulkus, or high-ranking reincarnated 
lamas). Sentencing information was available for 152 of the 824 
Tibetans. Of the 152 Tibetan political prisoners for whom sentencing 
information is available, 116 were detained on or after March 10, 2008. 
According to an NGO report, as of December 30, there were 831 known 
political prisoners in Tibet, of whom 360 were known to have been 
convicted by courts; 12 Tibetans were serving life sentences. The 
actual number of Tibetan political prisoners and detainees was believed 
to be much higher. An unknown number of prisoners continued to be held 
under the RTL system.
    In January authorities sentenced singer Tashi Dhondrup to 15 
months' hard labor for writing, recording, and distributing songs with 
lyrics such as: ``The occupation and denial of freedom of Tibetans/This 
is torture without trace.''
    On April 6, at Northwest Nationalities University in Lanzhou, 
authorities detained Tashi Rabten, editor of the banned literary 
magazine Eastern Snow Mountain, which discussed the 2008 protests.
    On April 23, authorities detained the Tibetan writer Tagyal (pen 
name Shogdung) in Xining. Shogdung is the author of the banned book 
Opening of Earth and Sky, which severely criticized PRC government 
policies in Tibetan areas and praised the 2008 protests against the 
Government. Authorities considered the book subversive for its 
criticism of the PRC government: On October 14, Tagyal was released on 
bail, and at year's end was awaiting trial.
    On May 20, authorities arrested writer Doku Tsultrim apparently 
because of material he was preparing to publish on Tibetan youth after 
the April 14 Yushu earthquake.
    On May 25, the Lhasa Intermediate Court sentenced Sonam Tsering to 
death with two years reprieve to consider his post-sentencing behavior 
for inciting and participating in the Lhasa riot; five others were 
sentenced to between three and seven years in prison.
    On June 26, authorities sentenced businessman Dorje Tashi, owner of 
the Yak Hotel in Lhasa, to life in prison. Although the authorities 
kept the charges against him secret, they reportedly involved helping 
exile groups.
    In February 2009 authorities handed down sentences of 18 months to 
three years in prison to six Tibetans in Ganzi Prefecture for 
participating in protests.
    In May 2009 according to an NGO report, authorities sentenced 
Tsultrim Gyatso, a monk of Labrang Monastery in southern Gansu 
Province, to life imprisonment for ``endangering state security.''
    According to the Agence France Presse, early in 2009 authorities 
handed down sentences ranging from three years to life in prison to a 
total of 76 persons involved in the March 2008 riots.
    An NGO reported that in July 2009 the Lithang County, Ganzi 
Prefecture Intermediate People's Court sentenced Tibetan monk Jamyang 
Tenzin of Yonru Geyden Rabgayling Monastery, Lithang County, to three 
years' imprisonment for opposing a work team sent to conduct a 
``patriotic education campaign'' at his monastery.
    In August 2009 an NGO reported that eight Tibetans in Machen County 
were sentenced to one to seven years in prison following protests 
related to the suicide of Tashi Sangpo, which was reportedly triggered 
by his inhumane treatment at the hands of the police.
    In December 2009 authorities sentenced filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen 
to six years in prison for ``splittism'' for his film Leaving Fear 
Behind, which documented the lives of Tibetans in China and their views 
on the Dalai Lama.
    In 2009 in Barkham County, Aba (Ngaba) Prefecture, four students 
were imprisoned for working on a student newspaper at their Tibetan 
high school. One of the students was sent to an RTL camp in Mianyang. 
Charges were not brought against the other three. Three teachers at the 
high school were fired in connection with this case.
    Wangdu (Wangdui), a former employee of an HIV/AIDS prevention 
project run by a foreign NGO, who in 2008 was sentenced to life 
imprisonment for engaging in ``espionage'' on behalf of the ``Dalai 
clique,'' remained in prison. Migmar Dhondup, another former employee 
of a foreign NGO, also remained in prison on the same charge.
    Prominent Buddhist figure Tenzin Delek Rinpoche was serving a life 
sentence in a Sichuan prison on separatism, firearms, and explosives 
charges. According to Tibetan sources, the firearms were left at his 
temple by a group who had renounced hunting.
    Dozens of monks and nuns who resisted ``patriotic education'' 
campaigns before the 2008 protests continued serving prison terms.
    According to an NGO, the PSB arrested Kunga Tsangyang, a monk from 
the Labrang Monastery, during a late-night raid in March 2009. The 
reported arrest was part of a continuing sweep of Tibetan Internet 
writers that began after the 2008 unrest. In November 2009 he was 
sentenced to five years in prison on charges of disclosing state 
secrets in a closed-door trial by the Gannan Intermediate People's 
Court in Gansu Province.
    In December 2009 Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche, a senior religious leader 
who allegedly had been tortured to extract a false confession, was 
sentenced to seven years for misappropriation of public assets and one-
and-a-half years for illegal possession of ammunition after dozens of 
nuns at a nunnery he headed staged a peaceful protest in May 2008. 
Prosecutors maintained that a pistol and ammunition were found during a 
police raid, but Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche maintained that he had been 
framed. The monk's lawyer stated he had given a false confession after 
police deprived him of sleep for four days (see Torture section).
    Late in 2008 the Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture Intermediate 
People's Court sentenced Dorje Kangzhu, a 34-year-old nun, to seven 
years in prison for ``inciting secession.'' She was arrested for 
distributing Tibetan independence leaflets and shouting pro-Tibet 
slogans in 2008.
    The following political prisoners remained incarcerated: Rongye 
Adrak, Adak Lupoe, Lama Jigme Tenzin (Jinmei Danzeng) aka Bangri 
Chogtrul, Jarib Lothog, monk Lodroe, Khenpo Jinpa, art teacher and 
musician Kunkhyen, Buchung; Penpa, Bangri Chogtrul Rinpoche, monk 
Choeying Khedrub (Quyin Kezhu), Dawa (also called Gyaltsen Namdak), 
monk Lobsang Palden, teacher Dolma Kyab, Sherab Yonten, Sonam Gyelpo, 
retired physician Yeshe Choedron (Yixi Quzhen), monk Tenzin Bucheng 
(Danzeng Puqiong), monk Lobsang Ngodrub, and monk Tsering Dhondup.

    Freedom of Speech and Press.--Tibetans who spoke to foreign 
reporters, attempted to relay information to foreigners outside the 
country, or passed information regarding the 2008 protests were subject 
to harassment or detention. During 2009, 59 individuals were convicted 
for ``creating and spreading rumors'' after the 2008 unrest.
    The Government severely restricted travel by foreign journalists to 
Tibetan areas. In the TAR, foreign journalists can gain access to the 
region only by participating in highly structured government organized 
tours, where the constant presence of government minders makes 
independent reporting difficult. Outside the TAR, foreign journalists 
frequently were expelled from Tibetan areas despite government rules, 
adopted in 2008, stating that foreign journalists do not need the 
permission of local authorities to conduct reporting. In June the 
Foreign Correspondents Club of China (FCCC) called on China to apply 
its own reporting regulations and open the TAR to foreign journalists. 
An FCCC survey found that 86 percent of respondents said that it was 
not possible to report accurately and comprehensively about Tibet. 
Respondents submitted 35 applications for travel to the TAR over the 
past two years; only four were approved. Some foreign media were able 
to report from Yushu immediately after the earthquake without serious 
government interference.
    In March 2009 the FCCC urged the Government to halt detentions of 
journalists and open Tibetan areas for news coverage. Reporters from at 
least six different news organizations were detained or had their 
property confiscated when they attempted to visit Tibetan areas of 
Gansu, Sichuan, and Qinghai provinces ahead of the first anniversary of 
social unrest in Tibet.
    Tibetans noted that the authorities had ordered that coverage of 
the Yushu relief efforts should focus on the army's efforts and should 
downplay the work of Tibetan monks.
    On April 6, two Tibetan writers, Tashi Rabten and Druklo, were 
taken into custody by police during a raid at their hostel at the 
Northwest University for Nationalities in Lanzhou, Gansu Province. 
Tashi Rabten was one of four Tibetan writers whose arrest the NGO 
Reporters Without Borders reported in August 2009. The other three were 
Zhuori Cicheng, the monk Gang Ni, and Kang Gongque. Kang Gongque was 
sentenced to two years in a Sichuan Province prison.
    On December 30, the Aba Intermediate Court found three Tibetan 
writers, Jangtse Dhonko, Bhudha and Kalsang Jinpa, guilty of splittism. 
Jangtse and Bhuda were each sentenced to four year' imprisonment; 
Kalsang Jinpa was given a three-year sentence.
    The Government continued to jam radio broadcasts of Voice of 
America's (VOA) and Radio Free Asia's (RFA) Tibetan- and Chinese-
language services and the foreign-based Voice of Tibet. Some Tibetans 
reported that at times they were able to receive such radio broadcasts 
despite frequent jamming. One monk in Sichuan observed that he might be 
able to hear VOA/RFA broadcasts ``if he bought a better radio''; 
however, ``if he were caught with a better radio he would be 
punished.'' In Tibetan areas of southern Gansu Province and the Ganzi 
Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province police confiscated or 
destroyed satellite dishes suspected of receiving VOA Tibetan-language 
television as well as VOA and RFA audio satellite channels. The dishes 
have been replaced with government-controlled cable television systems. 
Some Tibetans were able to listen to overseas Tibetan-language radio 
and television on the Internet.
    Domestic journalists did not report on repression in Tibetan areas; 
bloggers who did so faced punishment.

    Internet Freedom.--In August the Internet magazine Tibetan Review 
reported that Internet cafes across Tibet had been ordered to finish 
installing a ``state-of-the-art'' surveillance system by the end of the 
month. The system would not only restrict content that could be viewed 
but would also monitor users' Internet activities. Identity cards 
belonging to the person using the Internet must be swiped to allow 
online access, and viewed content could then be traced back to that 
identity. The order reportedly has been implemented.
    During major religious, cultural, and political festivals in 
Tibetan areas, many Web sites were shut down and Internet cafes were 
closely monitored.
    The Internet blog of well-known Tibetan poet and journalist, 
Tsering Woeser, remained inaccessible to Internet users inside China 
due to official Internet filtering. Authorities continued to refuse to 
issue Woeser a passport. Most foreign Tibet-related Web sites critical 
of official policy in Tibetan areas were blocked to users in China 
throughout the year.
    Official censorship greatly hampered the development of Tibetan-
language Internet sites. Although the Government funded projects 
designed to improve Tibetan-language computer interfaces, security 
agencies responsible for monitoring the Internet often lacked the 
language skills necessary to monitor Tibetan content. As a result, 
Tibetan-language blogs and Web sites were subject to indiscriminate 
censorship, with entire sites closed down even when the content did not 
appear to touch on sensitive topics.
    In March authorities cut off both Internet and cell phone text 
messaging in various parts of Ganzi and Aba prefectures in Sichuan 
Province and in the TAR. In June when the two sons of the leader of the 
Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism made a short visit to the Sakya 
Monastery in the TAR, cell phone connections and the Internet in Sakya 
County were completely shut down.
    In February 2009 police in Machu County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous 
Prefecture, arrested Kunchok Tsephel Gopey Tsang, owner of the Tibetan 
cultural and literary Web site The Lamp, which was taken off the 
Internet for several months. In November 2009 he was sentenced to 15 
years in prison on charges of disclosing state secrets.
    In 2009 according to an NGO, Gonpo Tserang was sentenced in Dechen, 
TAR, to three years in prison for ``inciting separatism'' by sending e-
mail and text messages about the March 2008 protests. The verdict from 
the trial stated that ``Gonpo Tserang used the Internet to deliberately 
fabricate rumors, distorting the true situation to incite separatism.''
    Tibet activists inside and outside of China have been harassed by 
well-organized computer-hacking attacks originating from within China 
according to a foreign-based study group.
    Cell phone and Internet service in the TAR and the Tibetan areas of 
Sichuan, Qinghai, and Gansu provinces were curtailed at times during 
the March period of sensitive anniversaries and the new ``Serf 
Liberation Day'' (see Academic Freedom and Protection of Cultural 
Heritage).

    Academic Freedom and Protection of Cultural Heritage.--Authorities 
in Tibetan areas required professors and students at institutions of 
higher education to attend political education sessions in an effort to 
prevent separatist political and religious activities on campus. Ethnic 
Tibetan academics were frequently encouraged to participate in 
government propaganda efforts, such as by making public speeches 
supporting government policies or accepting interviews by official 
media. Academics who failed to cooperate with such efforts faced 
diminished prospects for promotion. Academics in China who publicly 
criticized the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) policies on Tibetan 
affairs faced official reprisal. The Government controlled curricula, 
texts, and other course materials as well as the publication of 
historically or politically sensitive academic books. Authorities 
frequently denied permission to Tibetan academics to travel overseas 
for conferences and academic/cultural exchanges.
    Planned urban economic growth, rapid infrastructure development, 
the growing non-Tibetan population, the expanding tourism industry, the 
forced resettlement of nomads and farmers, the weakening of Tibetan-
language education at the middle and high school levels, and the 
introduction of more modern cultural influences continued to disrupt 
traditional living patterns and customs and marginalized the local 
population.
    In March the authorities in Lhasa launched another in a series of 
``Strike Hard'' campaigns. According to official reports, in the early 
days of the campaign, they raided 4,115 rented accommodations; checked 
60 crime-prone areas; carried out comprehensive checks on 7,347 
nonpermanent residents of the city; raided more than 70 guest houses, 
Internet cafes, entertainment centers, and bars; and detained 435 
persons. Although ostensibly an anticrime operation, police searched 
private homes, guest houses, hotels, bars, and Internet cafes for 
photographs of the Dalai Lama and other politically forbidden items. 
Police examined the cell phones of Lhasa residents to search for 
``reactionary music'' from India and photographs of the Dalai Lama. 
Human rights groups believed the motive behind the ``strike hard'' 
campaign was to harass human rights activists and supporters of Tibetan 
independence.
    On March 28, the TAR marked its second annual observance of ``Serf 
Emancipation Day,'' the day in 1959 that China's rulers formally 
abolished the Dalai Lama's regional government. During the official 
celebration, Tibetan officials denounced the Dalai Lama.
    The Dalai Lama and other observers expressed concern that 
development projects and other central government policies 
disproportionately benefited non-Tibetans and continued to promote a 
considerable influx of Han, Hui, and other ethnic groups into the TAR.
    Residents lacked the right to play a role in protecting their 
cultural heritage, including their environment. In 2007 the TAR 
government revised the TAR Cultural Relics Protection Regulations, 
asserting ownership over religious relics and monasteries.
    Tibetans protested against mining or other industrial activities 
that harm the environment. In September Radio Free Asia reported that 
Tibetan demonstrators in Driru County, TAR protested construction of a 
dam. In August police shot and killed 47-year-old protester Babo at a 
mine in a Tibetan area of Sichuan. Local Tibetans said that three 
Tibetans were shot in the incident. On May 25, police opened fire on 
Tibetans at a cement factory in Xiahe (Labrang) County in Gansu 
Province; 15 Tibetans sustained gunshot wounds or injuries from police 
beatings according to an exile source in contact with Tibetans in the 
area.
    Tibetan and Mandarin Chinese are official languages in the TAR, and 
both languages appeared on some, although not all, public and 
commercial signs. In most cases, Chinese signage was in large 
characters, with Tibetan in small letters, sometimes misspelled, and 
often there was no Tibetan at all. Inside official buildings and 
businesses, including banks, post offices, and hospitals, very little 
signage in Tibetan could be found and in many instances, forms and 
documents for use by citizens or customers were available only in 
Mandarin. Mandarin was widely spoken and was used for most official 
communications. The illiteracy rate among Tibetans was more than five 
times higher (47.6 percent) than the national average (9.1 percent), 
according to 2000 census data. In many rural and nomadic areas, 
children received only one to three years of Tibetan-language education 
before continuing their education in a Mandarin-language school. 
According to official figures, the illiteracy rate among youth and 
working-age adults fell from 30.9 percent in 2003 to 2.4 percent in 
2008.
    According to a 2006 report by the Xinhua News Agency, a looser 
definition of literacy was used for Tibetan speakers than for Mandarin 
speakers in rural Tibet. Tibetan-speaking peasants and nomads were 
considered literate by PRC government standards if they could read and 
write the 30 basic letters of the Tibetan alphabet and read and write 
simple notes. However, Tibetan writing commonly stacks letters on top 
of one another creating an additional 89 letters beyond the basic 30. 
Tibetans regard persons who only recognize the 30 letters as 
semiliterate. Mandarin-speaking nomads and herders were considered 
literate if they could recognize 1,500 Chinese characters.
    The Primary/Middle School Tibetan-language Curriculum Committee of 
the Five Provinces (TAR, Sichuan, Qinghai, Gansu, and Yunnan) 
established a national Tibetan-language curriculum for primary and 
middle schools in Tibetan areas that was predominantly translated 
directly from a standard Chinese curriculum, offering Tibetan students 
very little insight into their own culture, history, and values. Few 
elementary schools in Tibetan areas used Tibetan as the primary 
language of instruction. In Kangding (Dartsedo), capital of Ganzi 
Prefecture, there were no elementary schools where Tibetan children 
could study in Tibetan. Tibetan students were required to study 
Mandarin, which generally was used to teach most subjects. In middle 
and high schools--even some officially designated as Tibetan schools--
teachers nearly always used Tibetan only to teach classes in Tibetan 
language, literature, and culture, and taught all other classes in 
Mandarin. Of more than 15 middle and high schools in Aba Prefecture of 
Sichuan Province, in only three was the curriculum taught primarily in 
Tibetan.
    On October 19, a provincial government decision to replace Tibetan 
with Mandarin as the main medium of instruction in Tibetan schools in 
Qinghai Province set off protests by several thousand Tibetan students 
in Tongren (Rebkong), Huangnan (Malho) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in 
Qinghai. The protesters held banners in both Mandarin and Tibetan 
calling for ``Equality for Nationalities'' and ``Expand the Use of the 
Tibetan Language'' and ``Freedom for the Nationalities.''
    As a practical matter, proficiency in Mandarin was essential to 
qualify for higher education. China's most prestigious universities 
provided no instruction in Tibetan or other ethnic minority languages. 
Lower-ranked universities established to serve ethnic minority students 
only offered Tibetan-language instruction in courses focused on the 
study of the Tibetan language or culture. At the minority universities, 
Tibetans and other ethnic minority students typically achieved high 
proficiency in Mandarin, as it was the medium for much of the 
curriculum, such as computer and business courses.
    Leading universities generally required English-language 
proficiency for matriculation. Most graduates of Tibetan schools, 
however, learned only Mandarin and Tibetan and were thus unable to 
attend the better universities. This resulted in a shortage of Tibetans 
trained in science and engineering and, consequently, a near-total 
reliance on imported technical specialists from outside Tibetan areas 
to work on development projects.
    On April 3, Tibetan students of the Machu Tibetan Middle School 
protested the firing of the school's headmaster Kyabchen Dedrol and two 
Tibetan assistants Do Re and Choekyong Tseten. Chinese authorities 
fired them following a student-led protest. In China, school 
authorities were held strictly accountable for the political activities 
of their students.

    Freedom of Religion.--For a complete discussion of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    Freedom of Movement.--The law provides for the freedom to travel; 
however, in practice the Government strictly regulated travel and 
freedom of movement of Tibetans.
    Freedom of movement, particularly for monks and nuns, was limited 
severely within Lhasa and throughout the TAR, and in Tibetan areas of 
Qinghai, Gansu, and Sichuan provinces. It was less of a problem in 
Yunnan, where there were many fewer monasteries and nunneries than 
other Tibetan areas. The PAP and local PSBs set up multiple roadblocks 
and checkpoints on major roads, in cities, and on the outskirts of 
monasteries. Tibetans traveling in religious attire were subject to 
extra scrutiny by police at roadside checkpoints. Several Tibetan monks 
reported that it remained difficult to travel outside their home 
monasteries, with officials frequently denying permission for outside 
monks to stay temporarily at a particular monastery for religious 
education. After the Yushu earthquake, many monks from neighboring 
counties and provinces were forced to leave, although local Tibetans 
needed their help to conduct funeral ceremonies for the many earthquake 
victims.
    Many Tibetans, particularly prominent religious figures, scholars, 
and dissidents, as well as those from rural areas, continued to report 
difficulties obtaining passports. It has been more difficult for 
Tibetans to obtain new or renew existing passports following the 2008 
protests. In some cases, in order to obtain passports Tibetans had to 
promise not to travel to India. In other cases, Tibetan students with 
scholarships to foreign universities could not study abroad because 
authorities refused to issue them passports. Some Tibetans were able to 
obtain passports only after paying substantial bribes to government 
officials.
    Tibetans continued to encounter substantial difficulties and 
obstacles in traveling to India for religious, educational, and other 
purposes. Ethnic Tibetan government and CCP cadres in the TAR and Ganzi 
Prefecture were not allowed to send their children to study abroad. In 
addition to passport restrictions, reinforcement of border posts made 
travel, such as pilgrimages via Nepal to India to see the Dalai Lama, 
more difficult.
    The Government restricted the movement of Tibetans during sensitive 
anniversaries and events, and increased controls over border areas at 
these times. There were reports of arbitrary detentions of persons, 
particularly monks and nuns, returning from India and Nepal. Detentions 
generally lasted for several months, although in most cases authorities 
did not bring formal charges against prisoners.
    Tight border controls sharply limited the number of persons 
crossing the border into Nepal and India. The Tibetan Reception Center 
in Kathmandu received 874 new Tibetan arrivals. In 2009 there were 838 
arrivals, in 2008 there were 596, and in 2007 there were 2,156.
    The Dalai Lama, the Karmapa, Sakya Trizin, Kyabje Trulshuk 
Rinpoche, and Gyalwa Menri Trizin--leaders of all the schools of 
Tibetan Buddhism--remained in exile. The whereabouts of the Panchen 
Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, remained unknown.
    Many non-Tibetan Chinese citizens worked in Tibetan regions. 
Buddhist monks, particularly Han, were allowed only temporary visits to 
Tibetan Buddhist monasteries. Local religious affairs authorities often 
forbid Han or foreign Buddhists from staying in monasteries for long-
term study.
    The Government also regulated foreign travel to the TAR. In 
accordance with a 1989 regulation, foreign visitors were required to 
obtain an official confirmation letter issued by the Government before 
entering the TAR. Most tourists obtained such letters by booking tours 
through officially registered travel agencies.
    Authorities halted nearly all foreign travel to Lhasa for several 
months following the 2008 demonstrations. Foreign tourists were again 
banned from the TAR in March 2009 during the 50th anniversary of the 
1959 Tibetan uprising. After March the number of foreign tourists 
traveling to the TAR increased, but authorities enforced more tightly 
than before existing rules that foreign visitors must remain with tour 
groups.
    Foreign nationals who were granted official permission to travel to 
Lhasa had their movements restricted within the city and surrounding 
areas. Officials continued to restrict severely the access of diplomats 
and journalists to Tibet. Foreign officials and reporters were able to 
travel to the region only on closely chaperoned trips arranged by the 
Tibet Foreign Affairs Office. Foreign diplomats must obtain permission 
from the TAR's Foreign Affairs Office for each visit to the TAR; 
permission was difficult to obtain. During the year three-quarters of 
the U.S. requests for official travel to the TAR were denied. In 
September authorities approved a visit to Lhasa by the U.S. Ambassador.
    Official visits to the TAR were supervised closely, and delegation 
members were afforded very few opportunities to meet local residents 
not previously approved by the authorities. For those diplomatic trips 
that were approved, the TAR Foreign Affairs Office required some high-
level delegations to stay at the Government-affiliated Lhasa Hotel, in 
the western, predominantly ethnic Han portion of Lhasa, rather than 
hotels in the Tibetan quarter.
    With the exception of a few highly controlled trips, authorities 
repeatedly denied requests for international observers to visit Tibetan 
areas.

    National Minorities.--Although TAR census figures showed that 
Tibetans made up 92 percent of the TAR's permanently registered 
population, official figures did not include a large number of long-, 
medium-, and short-term Han residents, such as cadres, skilled workers, 
unskilled laborers, military and paramilitary troops, and their 
dependents. Chinese social scientists estimated the number of this 
floating population, including tourists and visitors on short-term 
business trips, for Lhasa alone was more than 200,000 (nearly half the 
population of Lhasa and more than 10 percent of the TAR's population) 
during the May to November high season for tourism and migrant workers. 
According to a Lhasa city official, 260,000 of the 450,000 individuals 
living in downtown Lhasa during the year belonged to the floating 
population.
    Migrants to the TAR overwhelmingly were concentrated in urban 
areas, where government economic policies disproportionately benefited 
ethnic Han Chinese. Small businesses, mostly restaurants and retail 
shops, run by ethnic Han and Hui migrants predominated in cities 
throughout Tibetan areas. Tibetans continued to make up nearly 98 
percent of the rural population, according to official census figures.
    The Government continued its campaign to resettle Tibetan nomads 
into urban areas across the TAR and other Tibetan areas. Officials 
offered nomads monetary incentives to kill or sell their livestock and 
move to newly created Tibetan communities. However, there were reports 
of compulsory resettlement where promised compensation was either 
inadequate or not paid at all.
    According to a December 2009, China News Net report, 230,000 
households in the TAR, including 1.2 million farmers and herders, had 
been resettled into permanent housing--80 percent of the target 
population.
    Improving housing conditions and education for Tibet's poorest were 
among the goals of resettlement, yet a requirement that villagers build 
houses according to strict official specifications within two or three 
years often forced resettled families into debt to cover construction 
costs.
    Although a state media report during the year noted that Tibetans 
and other minority ethnic groups made up 70 percent of government 
employees at the provincial level in the TAR, ethnic Han continued to 
hold the top CCP positions in nearly all counties and prefectures, 
including that of TAR party secretary. Within the TAR, ethnic Han 
continued to hold all the top security, military, financial, economic, 
legal, judicial and educational positions. Tibetans holding government 
and party positions were often prohibited from openly worshipping at 
monasteries or practicing their religion.
    The economic and social exclusion of Tibetans was a major reason 
why such a varied cross section of Tibetans, including business 
operators, workers, students, university graduates, farmers, and nomads 
participated in the 2008 protests. Some Tibetans reported that they 
experienced discrimination in employment, and some job advertisements 
in the TAR noted that Tibetans need not apply. Some claimed that ethnic 
Han Chinese were hired preferentially for many jobs and received 
greater pay for the same work. Some Tibetans reported that it was more 
difficult for ethnic Tibetans than Han to obtain permits and loans to 
open businesses. Continued discriminatory treatment of Tibetans' 
applications for passports is another source of dissatisfaction. The 
use of Mandarin was widespread in urban areas, and many businesses 
limited employment opportunities for Tibetans who did not speak 
Mandarin. Restrictions on international NGOs that provide assistance to 
Tibetan communities resulted in the elimination of many NGO programs 
and the expulsion of many foreign NGO workers from the TAR.
    The TAR tourism bureau continued its policy of refusing to hire 
Tibetan tour guides educated in India or Nepal. Government officials 
stated that all tour guides working in the TAR were required to seek 
employment with the Tourism Bureau and pass a licensing exam on tourism 
and political ideology. The Government's stated intent was to ensure 
that all tour guides provided visitors with the Government's position 
opposing Tibetan independence and the activities of the Dalai Lama. 
Some ethnic Tibetan tour guides in the TAR complained of unfair 
competition from government-sponsored ``Help Tibet'' tour guides 
brought in from outside the TAR and put to work after receiving a crash 
course on Tibet.

    Women and Children--There were no formal restrictions on women's 
participation in the political system, and women held many lower-level 
government positions. However, women were underrepresented at the 
provincial and prefecture levels of government. According to an 
official Web site, female cadres in the TAR accounted for more than 30 
percent of the TAR's total cadres.
    There was no information on the incidence of rape or domestic 
violence. In a Tibetan area of Sichuan Province, a resident said that 
sex-based violence, including rape, was common among Tibetan herders 
and often went unreported.
    The TAR Health Bureau reported 102 cases of HIV/AIDS in the TAR 
between 1993 and 2009. Lack of knowledge about HIV transmission and 
economic pressures on women and girls engaged in prostitution led them 
to engage in unprotected sex. Diagnosis and treatment of sexually 
transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, appeared to be 
nondiscriminatory.
    Family-planning policies permitted Tibetans and members of other 
relatively small minority groups to have more children than ethnic Han. 
Some urban Tibetans who have permanent employment, as well as CCP 
members and government officials, and some ethnic Han living in Tibetan 
areas, generally were limited to two children. Rural Tibetans were 
encouraged, but not required, to limit births to three children.
    According to official policy, primary education was compulsory, 
free, and universal. According to official TAR statistics, 96.5 percent 
of children between the ages of six and 13 attended school, and 90 
percent of the TAR's 520,000 primary school students completed lower 
middle school, for a total of nine years of education. In 2003 the UN 
special rapporteur on the right to education reported that official PRC 
education statistics did not accurately reflect attendance and were not 
independently verified.
    The TAR is one of the few areas of the PRC that does not have a 
skewed sex ratio resulting from sex-selective abortion and inadequate 
health care for female infants.
                                 ______
                                 
                               hong kong
    Hong Kong, with a population of approximately seven million, 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 SAR's charter, the Basic Law of the SAR (the Basic Law), 
specify that Hong Kong will enjoy a high degree of autonomy except in 
matters of defense and foreign affairs. The Fourth Term Legislative 
Council (LegCo) was elected from a combination of geographic and 
functional constituencies in 2008 elections that were generally free 
and fair. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    There were few reports of serious human rights abuses, but the 
following human rights problems were reported: limited ability of 
citizens to participate in and change their government, press self-
censorship, limited power of the legislature to introduce or amend 
legislation and inability to approve executive appointments, 
disproportionate political influence of certain sectors of society in 
LegCo, and societal prejudice against certain ethnic minorities.
                        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 any politically 
motivated killings.
    On May 25, a jury ruled that the death of ethnic Nepali Dil Bahadur 
Limbu was a lawful killing. In March 2009 a police constable shot and 
killed Limbu during an altercation in which he violently resisted a 
police constable's request to examine his identity documents. Limbu's 
family and activists expressed concern at what they believed was 
improper limitation of the scope of the inquest, unwillingness by the 
coroner to admit relevant evidence, and a decision not to include 
recommendations to the police regarding handling cases involving ethnic 
minorities (a key point of contention in the case was that the 
constable's warnings prior to shooting were given in Cantonese, which 
Limbu did not speak). The High Court (Court of First Instance) granted 
Limbu's family a judicial review of the inquest finding in September; 
the hearing was 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 Basic Law prohibits torture and other forms of abuse, 
and the Government generally observed the prohibition in practice. In 
the first half of the year, the police force's Complaints Against 
Police Office (CAPO) received 168 allegations of assault by police 
officers on persons in detention. Eleven cases were found ``not 
pursuable,'' 39 were withdrawn, and 118 were pending investigation and 
endorsement by the Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC). There 
were 48 allegations of assault by police officers on persons not in 
custody. Seven were found ``not pursuable,'' nine were withdrawn, and 
32 were pending investigation as of June.
    CAPO, monitored by the IPCC, continued to investigate an August 
2009 incident in which narcotics officers reportedly entered a house 
without presenting identification or search warrant until the search 
had already been underway for an hour. Officers reportedly handcuffed 
and beat two residents in the course of a search for narcotics, 
reportedly leaving one resident with a ruptured right eardrum. As of 
year's end, neither body had made public the results of its 
investigation.
    Police continued following a revised policy and guidelines 
regarding strip searches implemented in 2009. Some legislators and 
activists contended that police should only conduct such searches based 
on a ``reasonable suspicion,'' but police officials defended searches 
on safety and security grounds. Some activists reported complaints from 
prostitutes that they were routinely subjected to full strip searches, 
which they contended was meant to humiliate them.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions 
generally met international standards. The Government permitted 
monitoring visits by independent human rights observers. No human 
rights organizations requested such visits during the year.
    According to government statistics, as of June the total adult 
(over age 21) population in prison, rehabilitation, or pretrial 
detention was 7,232--4,884 male and 2,348 female inmates. As of June a 
total of 66 juveniles under age 16 were serving sentences in penal, 
retraining, or rehabilitation facilities.
    Through June the average prison occupancy rate was 91 percent. 
Overcrowding occurred in some prisons, particularly in maximum-security 
prisons, pretrial detention facilities, and institutions for female 
inmates.
    There were five reported deaths of persons in custody of the 
Correctional Services Department; abuse did not appear to be a factor. 
Inquest results had not been reported by year's end.
    Prisoners and detainees were able to send out and receive an 
unrestricted number of letters, receive regular visits, manifest their 
religious beliefs or practices in public, and attend available 
religious services. Authorities permitted prisoners and detainees to 
submit complaints to judicial authorities without censorship and to 
request investigation of credible allegations of inhumane conditions. 
Authorities investigated credible allegations of inhumane conditions 
and documented the results of such investigations in a publicly 
accessible manner. The Government investigated and monitored prison and 
detention center conditions.
    The Correctional Services Department arranged a visit by the media 
to a penal institution as part of the department's annual press 
conference. Separately, justices of the peace (JPs) are permitted to 
make unannounced visits to penal institutions, and 247 such visits took 
place between January 1 and June 30. JPs may make suggestions and 
comments on matters such as physical environment facilities, 
overcrowding, staff improvement, training and recreational programs and 
activities, and other matters affecting the welfare of inmates.
    The 1,400-place Lo Wu Correctional Institution opened in July, 
bringing the average occupancy of female detention facilities down 23 
percent to an average of 92 percent. Police also commenced renovations 
to station holding cells following complaints by NGOs about conditions.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest or detention, and the Government generally observed these 
prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the police, and the Government had 
generally effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse and 
corruption.
    There were no reports of impunity involving the security forces 
during the year. The IPCC, which oversees CAPO, observes, monitors, and 
reviews complaints and actions taken in connection with such 
complaints. It may identify any fault or deficiency in police practices 
or procedures and make recommendations in respect to such practices or 
procedures. The IPCC can require the police to investigate or 
reinvestigate complaints and provide other information as it deems 
necessary. The IPCC also advises or makes recommendations to the 
commissioner of police or the SAR chief executive (CE) as appropriate. 
IPCC members and observers are also empowered to attend any interview 
conducted by the police concerning a complaint and observe the 
collection of evidence by the police in the investigation of a 
complaint at any time and without prior appointment.
    Human rights activists and some legislators expressed concern that 
all IPCC members are appointed by the CE and that the IPCC's lack of 
power to conduct independent investigations limits its oversight 
capacity. The IPCC cannot compel officers to participate in its 
investigations, and the media reported cases of police officers 
declining to do so. In response, IPCC chair Jat Sew-tong told the media 
he was confident that, if needed, he could approach the police 
commissioner and the officer would be ordered to participate.
    On April 1, in response to a number of serious offenses committed 
by police officers in 2008-09, the police force began conducting 
psychometric screening of applicants for the posts of probationary 
inspectors and recruit police constables.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Suspects were 
apprehended openly with warrants based on sufficient evidence and 
issued by a duly authorized official. Suspects must be charged within 
48 hours or released, and the Government respected this right in 
practice. Interviews of suspects are required to be videotaped. The law 
provides accused persons with the right to a prompt judicial 
determination, and authorities respected this right effectively in 
practice. Detainees were promptly informed of charges against them. 
There was a functioning bail system, and detainees were allowed prompt 
access to a lawyer and family members.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice. The judiciary provided citizens with a fair 
and efficient judicial process. The courts may interpret those 
provisions of the Basic Law that address matters within the limits of 
the SAR's autonomy. The courts also interpret provisions of the Basic 
Law that touch on central government responsibilities or on the 
relationship between the central authorities and the SAR. However, 
before making final judgments on these matters, which are not subject 
to appeal, the courts must seek an interpretation of the relevant 
provisions from the Standing Committee of the National People's 
Congress (NPC/SC). The Basic Law requires that courts follow the NPC/
SC's interpretations, although judgments previously rendered are not 
affected. As the final interpreter of the Basic Law, the NPC/SC also 
has the power to initiate interpretations of the Basic Law.
    The NPC/SC's mechanism for interpretation is its Committee for the 
Basic Law, composed of six Mainland and six Hong Kong members. The CE, 
LegCo president, and chief justice nominate the Hong Kong members. 
Human rights and lawyers' organizations expressed concern that this 
process, which can supersede the Court of Final Appeal's power of final 
adjudication, could be used to limit the independence of the judiciary 
or could degrade the court's authority.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the right to a fair public 
trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right in 
practice. The judiciary was an active participant in the international 
community of common law jurisprudence. A roster of 15 nonpermanent 
judges from other common law jurisdictions served the Court of Final 
Appeal, providing a fifth judge to join panels with four permanent 
justices to hear cases and participate in the drafting of decisions. 
Legal precedents from other common law jurisdictions were routinely 
cited in the courts, while Hong Kong precedents were cited in other 
common law jurisdictions.
    Trials are by jury except at the magistrate and district court 
level. An attorney is provided at the public's expense if defendants 
cannot afford counsel. Defendants can confront and question witnesses 
testifying against them and present witnesses to testify on their 
behalf. Defendants and their attorneys have access to government-held 
evidence relevant to their cases. Defendants have the right of appeal.
    Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence except in official 
corruption cases. Under the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, a current 
or former government official who maintained a standard of living above 
that commensurate with his official income, or who controls monies or 
property disproportionate to his official income, is guilty of an 
offense unless he can satisfactorily explain the discrepancy. In 
practice the courts upheld this ordinance. Court proceedings are 
conducted in either Chinese or English, the SAR's two official 
languages.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary for civil matters and access to a court to 
bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or the cessation of, human rights 
violations.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and the Government 
generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
    The Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance provides that no personal 
data may be used for a purpose other than that stated at the time of 
its collection without the data subject's prescribed consent. Specific 
exemptions allow SAR authorities to transfer personal data to allow 
prevention, detention, or prosecution of a crime when certain 
conditions are met. Data may be transferred to a body outside of the 
SAR for purposes of safeguarding the security, defense, or 
international relations of the SAR or for the prevention, detection, or 
prosecution of a crime, provided conditions set out in the ordinance 
are met. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data 
(PCPD) worked to prevent the misuse, disclosure, or matching of 
personal data without the consent of the subject individual or the 
commissioner.
    The appointment of former postmaster Allan Chiang Yam-wang to 
replace Roderick Woo Bun as privacy commissioner for personal data drew 
criticism from activists and legislators after the media reported 
Chiang had been involved in improper surveillance and data transfers 
while serving as postmaster general. The Government declined to 
reconsider his appointment, and he took office on August 4.
    In May the private company Octopus, provider of transport and 
stored-value cards, admitted that customer data was improperly shared 
without consent of its customers, provoking widespread criticism from 
legislators and the public. The PCPD conducted an investigation but 
declined to issue an enforcement notice on grounds that Octopus was 
unlikely to reoffend. In his October 13 policy address, the CE pledged 
both that the PCPD would issue new guidance and that his administration 
would legislate more-specific personal data protections through 
amendments to the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance.
    The use of covert surveillance and the interception of 
telecommunications and postal communications can be granted only to 
prevent or detect ``serious crime'' or protect ``public security.'' The 
law establishes a two-tiered system for granting approval for 
surveillance activities, under which surveillance of a more intrusive 
nature requires the approval of a judge, and surveillance of a less 
intrusive nature requires the approval of a senior law-enforcement 
official. Applications to intercept telecommunications must involve 
crimes with a penalty of at least seven years' imprisonment, while 
applications for covert surveillance must involve crimes with a penalty 
of at least three years' imprisonment or a fine of at least HK$1 
million (approximately $128,000). In 2009 a total of 1,781 
interceptions and 208 surveillances were authorized, leading to 366 
arrests. There were 12 reported instances of noncompliance or 
irregularities in executing interceptions or surveillances. There were 
five reports that interceptions or surveillances might contain 
information subject to legal professional privilege (LPP) and two that 
might contain journalistic material (JM). Upon review by the 
commissioner, no cases involving LPP were confirmed, and only one case 
of interception of JM was confirmed. However, the commissioner noted he 
could not yet review the actual interceptions and recommended that he 
be permitted to do so, both in reported cases of possible violations 
and to conduct random reviews. Overall, his conclusion was that, when 
violations occurred, they were due either to technical problems, 
inadvertent or careless mistakes, or unfamiliarity with regulations and 
procedures, rather than deliberate disregard for law or regulation.
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. The independent media were active and expressed a 
wide variety of views without official restriction. International media 
organizations operated freely. Foreign reporters needed no special 
visas or government-issued press cards.
    The code of ethics of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) 
states that ``a journalist shall not lend himself/herself to the 
distortion or suppression of the truth because of advertising or other 
considerations.'' However, reports of media self-censorship continued 
during the year. Most media outlets were owned by businesses with 
interests on the Mainland, which led to claims that they were 
vulnerable to self-censorship, with editors deferring to the perceived 
concerns of publishers regarding their Mainland business interests. In 
its 2010 report, Freedom House again rated the press as ``partly 
free.''
    In July the HKJA publicly criticized what it saw as an increasing 
reliance by government officials and agencies on ``off-the-record'' or 
background briefings, at which no photos or recordings were permitted 
and officials could not be quoted by name. While the organization 
recognized the role of background briefings to allow more junior 
officials to speak on highly technical subjects, it called on senior 
officials to brief on the record concerning new government policies to 
allow journalists to perform their duty to inform the public. In 
response, the director of government information services, Michael Wong 
Wai-lun, stated, ``It has been our practice to hold press conferences 
to announce major policies and measures and update the community on 
significant incidents.'' The HKJA questioned this assertion, noting 
that the more frequent press ``stand-ups'' did not offer the same 
opportunities to ask questions as a formal press conference. The HKJA 
reported an increase in the number of press conferences following its 
complaint.
    The HKJA also singled out the police force as failing to meet 
earlier commitments to provide timely notification of incidents. When 
the police switched to encrypted digital radio in 2004 (effectively 
ending journalists' ability to monitor police activity through 
scanners), the police reportedly undertook to release an average of 100 
reports per day. An HKJA study of reports issued between July and 
December 2009 indicated an average of only 2.7 reports were being 
issued per day and were often not timely or were watered down. The HKJA 
also accused police of withholding news involving prominent persons. In 
response, the police stated that ``in deciding what information should 
be disseminated, police will take into consideration the public's right 
to know, the requirement of the code on access to information, and the 
principles that the information would not involve personal privacy and 
affect judicial procedures.''
    On August 13, the Government promulgated the revised charter of 
government-owned broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), which 
stated that RTHK ``would provide an open forum for the exchange of 
views without fear or favor.'' Section 6.C. of the charter specifies 
that ``RTHK is editorially independent.'' While editorial authority 
lies with the program director (a government appointee), a new ``Board 
of Advisers,'' appointed at the time as the revised charter was 
promulgated, is empowered to advise the director ``on all matters 
relating to editorial principles.'' In announcing the revised charter 
and appointment of the board, the Commerce and Economic Development 
Bureau (the parent government agency for RTHK) stated that ``the 
Government attaches great importance to safeguarding RTHK's editorial 
independence, which is enshrined in the charter.'' Activists and RTHK 
staff, however, expressed concern that, as a body appointed by the 
Government, the board can exert influence on the broadcaster's 
editorial independence. RTHK staff also complained they did not have a 
seat on the board.
    In December the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) 
again ordered unlicensed station Citizens' Radio to cease broadcasting, 
reporting that the station's transmissions had interfered with Civil 
Aviation Department transmissions. Citizens' Radio, whose equipment had 
been repeatedly seized and whose staff had frequently faced charges for 
unlicensed broadcasting, believed they were denied a fair chance to 
receive a proper license. After a 2008 court decision found the 
previous system was inconsistent with the Basic Law, amendments to the 
Telecomunications Ordinance passed in January laid out the specific 
criteria by which license applications will be considered. However, 
sole authority to grant or refuse the license remains with the Chief 
Executive (in consultation with the Executive Council), and there is no 
legal obligation to explain the ground for a refusal.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet; there was some monitoring of the Internet to combat 
sexual exploitation of children (see section 6, Children). Commercial 
Internet service was widely available, including a number of 
government-supplied wireless (WiFi) ``hot spots'' and public and 
commercial venues in which WiFi or other access was provided at no 
charge to visitors and customers. Individuals and groups could engage 
in the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-
mail. According to Nielsen/NetRatings statistics for the year, 
approximately 69 percent of the SAR's inhabitants used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were generally no 
restrictions on academic freedom and cultural events.
    Some scholars suggested Hong Kong-based academics practiced some 
self-censorship in their China-related work to preserve good relations 
and research and lecturing opportunities in the Mainland.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The law provides for freedom of assembly and association, 
and the Government generally respected these rights in practice. The 
Government routinely issued the required ``Letter of No Objection'' for 
public meetings and demonstrations, and the overwhelming majority of 
protests occurred without serious incident. Government statistics 
indicate that between July 1997 (Hong Kong's return to China) and June 
2010, an average of seven to eight ``public events'' occurred every 
day. However, activists and pandemocratic legislators expressed concern 
that the Government took a more restrictive view of protests happening 
at the Central Government Liaison Office (CGLO), which saw several 
clashes with protesters end in arrests. Activists alleged the police 
were acting under instructions from Beijing, which police denied.
    In March police arrested six activists from the Alliance in Support 
of the Patriotic Democratic Movement in China on charges of ``unlawful 
assembly'' stemming from a December 2009 protest outside the CGLO in 
support of Liu Xiaobo. Twenty activists entered the grounds, at which 
point there was a scuffle with police and CGLO security guards. On 
December 20, a magistrate acquitted the six, but the Government 
announced it would appeal the verdict. Police charged activists under 
section 18 of the Public Order Ordinance, a vaguely worded law that 
allows authorities to declare any gathering of more than three persons 
an ``unlawful assembly'' should they act in a ``disorderly, 
intimidating, insulting, or provocative manner.''
    Regarding assault charges, activists and some lawmakers expressed 
concern about the lack of clear guidelines about whether an alleged 
offender would be charged under the Police Force Ordinance (PFO) or the 
Offences Against the Person Ordinance (OAPO). Both criminalize assault 
on a police officer on duty, but while the PFO carries a maximum 
penalty of six months' imprisonment and a HK$5,000 ($643) fine, the 
OAPO carries a maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment. Some 
activists also alleged that police faced no penalty for making arrests 
that ultimately were not prosecuted or that resulted in cases dismissed 
by the courts, allowing them to use arrest as a means of intimidation 
and to discredit protesters.
    In December the media reported that the police force was completing 
work on a new Public Order Manual, which would guide police in handling 
public demonstrations. The media quoted a prominent human rights NGO 
and a member of the Independent Police Complaints Council as expressing 
concern that the contents of the manual would not be made public.
    Well over 100,000 persons joined the annual vigil commemorating the 
June 4 Tiananmen massacre, the highest turnout in many years. 
Approximately 30,000 persons joined the annual July 1 democracy march. 
Both events were conducted peacefully.
    Immediately prior to the June 4 commemorative events, Food and 
Environmental Health Bureau officials ordered the seizure of statues 
used by activists. The officials declared that the statues, which had 
been used by activists for years without incident, constituted a 
``public entertainment'' requiring insurance that the activists had not 
obtained. Pandemocratic legislators and activists, as well as editorial 
opinion, condemned the move. Ultimately, the police (who were in 
physical possession of the statues) returned them to activists prior to 
June 4.
    In September SAR authorities twice prevented members of the Action 
Committee for Defending the Diaoyu Islands (Senkaku Islands in 
Japanese) from leaving Hong Kong waters in a fishing vessel to protest 
Japanese detention of a Chinese fishing crew in the disputed Senkaku 
Islands. Unlike earlier voyages, which the Government halted on grounds 
that fishing boats are not rated to carry passengers, the group 
traveling in September was made up solely of persons qualified in some 
respect as sailors. An earlier judicial appeal, which challenged the 
Government's action in halting a vessel in May 2009 as a violation of 
the Basic Law's guarantee of freedom of movement, failed in a lower 
court in February. However, in December the High Court (Court of First 
Instance) reversed the decision, ruling that the evidence cited by the 
Government as grounds to stop the vessel was ``very weak.''
    In December 2009 activists staged a protest on behalf of Mainland 
activist Liu Xiaobo at the Lo Wu border crossing. During an ensuing 
scuffle between the SAR and the Mainland, activists alleged that 
Mainland law enforcement officers dragged activists across the border. 
Six activists ended up in Mainland custody, although they were released 
that same evening. SAR authorities requested Mainland assistance in 
determining whether officers had indeed crossed the border. As of 
year's end, no response from the Mainland had been received.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for this right, and the 
Government generally respected it in practice. In the first half of the 
year, 1,375 societies were registered or exempted from registration 
under the Societies Ordinance. No applications were rejected by the 
police.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were no reports of 
societal abuses or discrimination based on religious affiliation, 
belief, or practice, including anti-Semitic acts against the small 
Jewish community, during the year. Please see www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/
rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides residents freedom of 
movement, freedom of emigration, and freedom to enter and leave the 
SAR, and the Government generally respected these rights in practice, 
with some prominent exceptions.
    Under the ``one country, two systems'' framework, the SAR continued 
to administer its own immigration and entry policies and made 
determinations regarding claims under the Convention Against Torture 
(CAT) independently.
    The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing temporary permission to enter the SAR and assistance to 
internally displaced persons, refugees, returning refugees, asylum 
seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    There continued to be cases in which persons traveling to the SAR 
for reasons that did not appear to contravene the law were refused 
entry by the Immigration Department. The Immigration Department, as a 
matter of policy, declined to comment on individual cases. Activists, 
some legislators, and others contended the refusals, usually of persons 
holding critical views of the Mainland, were made at the behest of the 
PRC authorities. The Security Bureau countered that, while the 
Immigration Department exchanges information with other immigration 
authorities, including the Mainland, it makes its decisions 
independently.
    In January authorities denied visas to six technicians of a music 
and dance troupe contracted by the Epoch Group (a media organization 
with ties to Falun Gong) to present several performances in Hong Kong. 
The Immigration Department stated that the visas were refused in 
accordance with laws protecting the employment of local workers and 
that the troupe could hire competent staff locally. The Epoch Group 
cancelled the show and requested a judicial review of the refusals. The 
review was granted, and the case was scheduled to be heard in January 
2011.
    On June 1, foreign citizen Chen Weiming, the sculptor who designed 
the Goddess of Democracy statue used by activists to commemorate June 
4, was denied entry to the SAR. Chen's lawyer, Democratic Party 
legislator James To Kun-sun, told the media he was unable to file a 
legal challenge before Chen was put on a departing flight on June 2. 
Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee Siu-kwong repeated the Government's 
long-standing denial that it maintains an immigration ``blacklist,'' 
stating that it was ``totally unrelated to so-called political 
suppression.''
    Most residents easily obtained travel documents from the SAR 
government. However, the PRC authorities did not permit some Hong Kong 
human rights activists and most prodemocracy legislators to visit the 
Mainland. Eleven incumbent legislators were denied ``Home Return 
Permits'' to visit the Mainland.
    Forty-two legislators, including four pan-democrats without home 
return permits, visited the Mainland on May 8-10, principally to visit 
the Shanghai Expo.
    Government policy was to repatriate undocumented migrants who 
arrive from the Mainland, and authorities did not consider them for 
refugee status. As of July 31, 3,752 immigration offenders and illegal 
immigrants were repatriated to the Mainland. The Government does not 
recognize the Taiwan passport as valid for visa endorsement purposes, 
although convenient mechanisms exist for Taiwan passport holders to 
visit Hong Kong.
    The law does not provide for forced exile, and the Government did 
not use it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The SAR is not a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol and 
has no temporary protection policy. The director of immigration has 
discretion to grant refugee status or asylum on an ad hoc basis but 
only in cases of exceptional humanitarian or compassionate need. The 
Immigration Ordinance does not provide foreigners the right to have 
asylum claims recognized. In practice the Government provided some 
protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries 
where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their 
race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, 
or political opinion. The Government's practice was to refer refugee 
and asylum claimants to a lawyer or the UNHCR.
    The Government does not recognize a legal obligation to grant 
protection under Article 3 of the CAT, leaving this to the discretion 
of the Director of Immigration, but in practice has generally reviewed 
claims made under CAT. As of August there were 6,600 such claims 
pending determination by the Immigration Department. In December 2009 
the department established new screening procedures, and by August 60 
claims had been reviewed; none were granted. The SAR has granted 
protection under CAT to only one applicant, in 2008.
    After a 2008 court decision found that the Immigration Department's 
process was not sufficiently ``certain and accessible,'' a new review 
mechanism for CAT claims was put into effect in December 2009. 
Claimants have access to legal counsel from the Duty Lawyer Service, 
whose lawyers have received training in refugee and torture claims from 
the Hong Kong Academy of Law. There is also a system to appeal 
Immigration Department decisions, with the reviews conducted by 
experienced magistrates. Several observers, including the bar 
association and the law society, suggested processing refugee and CAT 
claims at the same time to avoid duplicate filings.
    The Government, in collaboration with nongovernmental organizations 
(NGOs) and on a case-by-case basis, offered in-kind assistance, 
including accommodation, food, clothing, and other basic necessities, 
as well as appropriate transport allowance and counseling and medical 
services, to asylum seekers and torture claimants who were deprived of 
basic needs while their claims were being processed. As of June 30, 
approximately 5,400 persons were receiving assistance.
    Those whose claims are pending have no legal right to work, and 
those granted either refugee status by the UNHCR or relief from removal 
under CAT are permitted to work only if specifically permitted by the 
director of immigration. They are also ineligible for training by 
either the Employees Retraining Board or Vocational Training Council. 
Applications to attend school or university are considered on a case-
by-case basis, at the discretion of the director of immigration. In 
November local lawyers assisting the SAR's only CAT protection 
recipient and four applicants recognized as refugees by the UNHCR 
challenged the restriction in court; the court reserved judgment, and 
no verdict had been announced by year's end.
    A May 30 High Court (Court of Appeal) decision upheld a March 2009 
decision by the High Court (Court of First Instance) that the 
Government could not charge asylum or CAT claimants found to be working 
with ``overstaying''; the decision was based on grounds that their 
release on recognizance constituted authority from the director of 
immigration to remain in the SAR. The Government indicated it would 
study the judgment before determining whether to appeal. LegCo had 
previously passed legal amendments in November 2009 making it illegal 
for claimants--who are otherwise regarded as illegal immigrants by the 
Government--to work or establish a business.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The right of residents to change their government peacefully is 
limited by the Basic Law. Reforms passed in June expanded from 800 to 
1,200 the number of members in the committee that selects the CE. A 
second reform added five seats to the 30 elected directly from the five 
geographic constituencies. An additional five seats were also added to 
the functional constituency (FC) representing the district councils. 
These new seats are to be nominated by elected district councilors and 
then elected by all voters who do not have a vote in another FC. 
Specific implementing legislation on both reforms was pending at year's 
end.
    The remaining 30 LegCo seats are elected by 28 FCs, which represent 
key economic and social sectors. These 30 seats are elected by fewer 
voters than the electorate in a single geographic constituency. The 
vast majority of FC voters are represented by the three largest FCs, 
while the four smallest have fewer than 200 voters. Some of these 
latter organizations allow ``corporate voting,'' meaning the chief 
executive officer of a corporation or organization votes on behalf of 
the entire entity. Persons with interests in more than one sector 
represented by an FC may be able to cast three votes (one in their 
geographic constituency, one in an FC as an individual voter, and one 
as the authorized representative of a corporate elector). In addition, 
such electors may be able to control or influence the votes of other 
authorized representatives of corporate electors in other FCs in which 
they have interests.
    The Government repeatedly stated that the current method of 
selecting legislators for these seats does not conform to principles of 
universal suffrage, but it took no steps to reform the ``traditional'' 
FCs. The High Court (Court of First Instance) struck down a legal 
challenge to corporate voting in December 2009, ruling that the 
election systems did not contravene the Basic Law.
    District councils are responsible for advising the Government on 
matters affecting the well-being of district residents, the provision 
and use of public facilities, and the use of public funds allocated for 
local public works and community activities. The District Council 
Ordinance gives the CE authority to appoint 102 of the 529 district 
councilors, and he exercised this power. Pan-democrats contended that 
the CE uses appointments to dilute their influence on the councils and 
repeatedly called for the abolition of the appointed seats.
    The SAR sends 36 deputies to the NPC and has 126 delegates in the 
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
    The approval of the CE, two-thirds of LegCo, and two-thirds of the 
SAR's delegates to the Mainland's NPC are required to place an 
amendment of the Basic Law on the agenda of the NPC, which has the sole 
power to amend the Basic Law.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In 2007 the CE Election 
Committee selected incumbent Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, and the PRC's State 
Council formally appointed him. In 2008 voters in five geographic 
constituencies elected 30 legislators, half of the total LegCo, in 
elections that were generally free and fair. A record number of 
candidates, both party affiliated and independent, contested the 
elections. Of the 30 FC seats, 14 incumbents returned uncontested.
    In March five legislators resigned to force a by-election they 
declared to be a ``referendum'' on political reform, particularly on 
achieving universal suffrage. While the Government stated that neither 
the Basic Law nor local law establishes a legal process by which to 
conduct a referendum, on May 16, the Government held the by-election. 
Supporters of the by-election criticized the Government for not making 
the traditional efforts to encourage citizens to vote in the by-
election. They also criticized the publicly announced decision of the 
CE and senior officials not to cast ballots in the election. The by-
election itself, which saw a turnout of approximately 17 percent, was 
generally free and fair, and the five ``incumbents'' were reelected.
    The Basic Law prohibits LegCo from putting forward bills that 
affect public expenditure, political structure, or government policy. 
Bills that affect government policy cannot be introduced without the 
CE's written consent. The Government has adopted a very broad 
definition of ``government policy'' to block private member bills. On 
occasion, and on advice of LegCo's legal advisors, the LegCo president 
has challenged the administration's assertion that a motion was out of 
order and allowed it to come to vote. When private member bills are 
considered, passage requires separate majorities among members of both 
the geographical constituencies and the FCs.
    Seven of the 30 executive councilors (cabinet ministers and 
``nonofficial'' councilors) were women. Seven of the 30 directly 
elected LegCo members were women, and women held four of the 30 FC 
seats. Women made up between 17 and 23 percent of the membership in the 
major political parties. Two political parties represented in LegCo 
were headed by women, and several women were party vice chairs. Four of 
the 22 most senior government officials were women.
    There is no legal restriction against non-Chinese running for 
electoral office or participating in the civil service, although most 
elected or senior appointed positions require that the office holder 
have legal right of abode only in the SAR. There were no members of 
ethnic minorities in LegCo. The Government regards ethnic origin as 
irrelevant to civil service appointment and does not collect data on 
the number of nonethnic Chinese serving in the civil service, a 
practice that some observers criticized as preventing the Government 
from monitoring hiring and promotion rates for nonethnic Chinese.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    There were isolated reports of government corruption, and the 
Government sought to combat official corruption through the Prevention 
of Bribery Ordinance and the Independent Commission against Corruption 
(ICAC).
    From the beginning of the year through September, ICAC received 787 
reports of corruption involving government institutions or personnel. 
As of June, 311 were under investigation (including one that was being 
prosecuted, 168 were deemed nonpursuable, and 43 were found to be 
unsubstantiated. Eighteen cases of election-related corruption were 
reported in the first half of the year, with 13 under investigation, 
four deemed nonpursuable, and one found to be unsubstantiated.
    There are no legal protections for whistleblowers. In an April 2009 
submission to LegCo, the Government argued that existing procedures 
protected staff from being penalized for making complaints or 
suggestions ``in good faith'' and that those reporting crime or 
corruption also were protected under the law.
    The SAR requires the 27 most senior civil service officials to 
declare their financial investments annually and the approximately 
3,100 senior working-level officials to do so biennially. Policy 
bureaus may impose additional reporting requirements for positions seen 
as having a greater risk of conflict of interest.
    There is no freedom of information legislation. An administrative 
code on Access to Information serves as the framework for the provision 
of information by government bureaus and departments and the ICAC. 
However, they may refuse to disclose information if disclosure would 
cause or risk causing harm or prejudice in several broad areas: 
national security and foreign affairs (which are reserved to the 
central government); immigration issues; judicial and law enforcement 
issues; direct risks to individuals; damage to the environment; result 
in improper gain or advantage; management of the economy; management 
and operation of the public service; internal discussion and advice; 
public employment and public appointments; research, statistics and 
analysis; third-party information; business affairs; premature 
requests; and information on which legal restrictions apply. Political 
inconvenience or the potential for embarrassment are not a justifiable 
basis for withholding information.
    In a January report, Effectiveness of Administration of Code on 
Access to Information, the ombudsman cited ``deficiencies among certain 
departments, displaying considerable misunderstanding of the provisions 
and unfamiliarity with the procedural requirements of the code after 
well over a decade of implementation. Some have refused requests for 
information without giving any reason or with reasons not specified in 
the code; others have misused the reasons specified in the code.'' In 
the first half of the year, the Office of the Ombudsman reported 
receiving 16 code-related complaints. In response, the Constitutional 
and Mainland Affairs Bureau cited the ombudsman's statistics that, of 
the 25,125 requests made under the code between March 1995 and 
September 2009, 23,986 (95.5 percent) had been met in full, 563 (2.2 
percent) had been met in part, and only 576 (2.3 percent) were refused 
under reasons set out in the code. In its annual report, the HKJA again 
called on the Government to pass a formal freedom of information law.
    Company registry documentation and the November 2009 report by the 
UN Group of Experts (UNGOE) on the Democratic Republic of the Congo 
(DRC) indicated that Huaying Trading Company (HTC), a Chinese-run 
mineral exporting company based in eastern DRC, maintained a presence 
in Hong Kong. According to UNGOE reporting, HTC purchased minerals from 
mines controlled by the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR), 
which controlled several mines in the eastern DRC provinces of North 
and South Kivu. The FDLR, whose leaders continued to include architects 
of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, has committed numerous, serious human 
rights abuses in eastern DRC and Rwanda. The UNGOE report also 
presented information indicating that Refractory Metals Mining Company 
Ltd. (RMMC), also based in Hong Kong, financed trading activities of 
Africa Ventures Ltd., which bought minerals from suppliers that 
purchased such material from FDLR mines.
    In addition, according to UNGOE's May interim report, ``in the Kivu 
provinces, it appears, almost every mining deposit is controlled by an 
armed group.'' In December the international NGO Global Witness 
reported that the export records of the DRC government's Division of 
Mines showed that a Hong Kong-based company, Unilink Trading Hong Kong, 
was one of three companies that purchased columbite-tantalite (or 
``coltan'') exported from conflict-affected North Kivu Province in May.
Section 5. 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 
generally were cooperative and responsive to their views. Prominent 
human rights activists critical of the central government also operated 
freely and maintained permanent resident status in the SAR.
    During the year the Government prepared independent submissions and 
responses to queries from UN bodies and foreign consulates resident in 
the SAR.
    There is an Office of the Ombudsman and an Equal Opportunity 
Commission (EOC), both appointed by the Government but independent in 
their operations. Both organizations operated without interference from 
the Government and published critical findings in their areas of 
responsibility. In a change welcomed by activists, the new EOC 
commissioner, Lam Woon-kwong, was a vocal public advocate on minority 
rights, access to public and commercial buildings for persons with 
disabilities, and other issues within the EOC's responsibility.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law provides that all residents are equal, and the Government 
enforced this in practice. The EOC is responsible for implementing the 
Sex Discrimination Ordinance (SDO), the Disability Discrimination 
Ordinance, the Family Status Discrimination Ordinance, and the Race 
Discrimination Ordinance.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is criminalized under the 
law, and police enforced the law effectively. From January to June, 54 
rape cases and 775 indecent assault cases were reported to the police. 
Of these, 52 rape cases and 546 indecent assault cases were detected, 
leading to 63 and 515 arrests, respectively.
    The Government regarded domestic violence against women as a 
serious concern and took measures to prevent and prosecute offenses. It 
effectively enforced criminal statutes prohibiting domestic violence 
against women and prosecuted violators. Between January and June, there 
were 1,105 cases of domestic violence involving heterosexual partners 
reported to, and investigated by, the police. The Domestic Violence 
Ordinance allows victims to seek a three-month injunction, extendable 
to six months, against an abuser. The ordinance does not criminalize 
domestic violence directly, although abusers may be liable for criminal 
charges under other ordinances, including the Crime Ordinance and the 
Offences Against the Person Ordinance. The Government enforced the law 
and prosecuted violators, but sentences typically consisted only of 
injunctions or restraining orders.
    The 2008 Domestic Violence (Amendment) Ordinance expands the scope 
of previous law to cover molestation between married couples and 
heterosexual cohabitants, former spouses or cohabitants, and immediate 
and extended family members. The revised law provides better protection 
for victims under age 18, allowing them to apply for an injunction in 
their own right, with the assistance of an adult guardian, against 
molestation by their parents, siblings, and specified immediate and 
extended family members. The 2008 law also empowers the court to 
require the abuser to attend an antiviolence program. In cases in which 
the abuser caused bodily harm, the court may attach an authorization of 
arrest to an existing injunction, and both injunctions and 
authorizations for arrest can be extended to two years.
    The Government maintained programs that provide intervention and 
counseling to batterers. There were eight integrated family service 
centers and family and child protective services units, which offered 
services to domestic violence victims and batterers. The Government 
also continued its public information campaign to strengthen families 
and combat violence and increased public education on the prevention of 
domestic violence. In March the director of social welfare announced 
that the Government would increase spending on services to victims of 
domestic violence with a HK$5 million ($643,000) grant to the social 
service NGO Po Leung Kuk to provide support to victims.
    The SDO prohibits sexual harassment or discrimination on the basis 
of sex, marital status, and pregnancy. The law applies to both males 
and females. The SDO also provides for the establishment of the EOC to 
work towards the elimination of discrimination and harassment as well 
as to promote equal opportunity between men and women. As of September 
30, the EOC had received 230 new complaints and handled 351 complaints 
(including complaints carried forward from the previous year) under the 
SDO.
    In March EOC commissioner Lam Woon-kwong declared to the media that 
he was concerned about instances of pregnant women being unfairly 
dismissed from their jobs. He indicated there were approximately 150 
such cases a year reported under the SDO, with 170 cases reported in 
2009.
    Couples and individuals had the right to decide the number, 
spacing, and timing of children and had the information and means to do 
so free from discrimination, coercion, and violence. Access to 
information on contraception, skilled attendance at delivery, and 
prenatal and postpartum care were widely available. According to the 
SAR Department of Health, the maternal mortality rate in 2009 was 2.4 
deaths per 100,000 births. Women and men were given equal access to 
diagnostic services and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, 
including HIV.
    As of March 31, women filled 32 to 35 percent of the civil service 
at all ranks. Women made up 66 percent of the LegCo Secretariat 
workforce and 54 percent of the senior ``directorate'' ranks. Twenty-
two percent of the judges and judicial officers were women, although 
none sat on the bench of the Court of Final Appeal.
    In June the Government raised its gender benchmark for 
participation by women in advisory and statutory bodies from 25 to 30 
percent. However, activists and legislators complained that women 
remained underrepresented, with 40 such bodies having no government-
appointed female members at all.
    While the law treats men and women equally in terms of property 
rights in divorce settlements and inheritance matters, in practice 
women faced discrimination in employment, salary, welfare, inheritance, 
and promotion. Women reportedly formed the majority of the working poor 
and those who fall outside the protection of labor laws.
    There was a Women's Commission that served as an advisory body for 
policy making, and a number of NGOs were active in raising problems of 
societal attitudes and discrimination against women.

    Children.--All Chinese nationals born in Hong Kong or abroad to 
parents, of whom at least one is a PRC national Hong Kong permanent 
resident, acquire both PRC citizenship and Hong Kong permanent 
residence, the latter of which allows right of abode in the SAR. 
Children born in Hong Kong to non-Chinese parents, at least one of whom 
is a permanent resident, acquire permanent residence and qualify to 
apply for naturalization as PRC citizens. Registration of all such 
statuses was routine.
    From January to June, there were 832 cases of crimes against 
children reported to police: 325 involved physical abuse (referring to 
victims younger than 14 years of age), and 507 involved sexual abuse 
(referring to victims younger than 17 years of age). The Domestic 
Violence Ordinance mandates protection for victims of acts of child 
abuse such as battery, assault, neglect, abandonment, and sexual 
exploitation, and the Government enforced the law. Section 153P of the 
Crimes Ordinance allows for prosecution of certain sexual offenses, 
included those against minors that are committed outside the territory 
of the SAR.
    The Government provided parent education programs, including 
instruction on child abuse prevention, in all 50 of the Department of 
Health's maternal and child health centers. It also provided public 
education programs to raise awareness of child abuse and alert children 
about how to protect themselves. The Social Welfare Department provided 
child psychologists for its clinical psychology units and social 
workers for its family and child protective services units. The police 
maintained a child abuse investigation unit and a child witness support 
program. A law on child-care centers helped prevent unsuitable persons 
from providing child-care services.
    The media reported on a growing number of boys engaged in 
``compensated dating,'' which was already a concern among minor girls. 
The majority of cases involved teenage girls, both above and below the 
age of consent, who advertised escort services that might include sex, 
either to support themselves or for extra pocket money. Some women and 
girls involved in the trade reported being beaten or abused by clients. 
In response to this trend, police continued monitoring Internet chat 
rooms and Web sites used by both individuals and syndicates to 
advertise services, with officers assigned to gather evidence against 
the operations and determine the techniques used by syndicates to 
recruit the girls.
    In September police arrested 19 adults and minors involved in 
luring teens and others into the sex trade through the Internet, in 
some cases forcing the victims into prostitution.
    The legal age of consent for heterosexuals is 16. Under the Crimes 
Ordinance, a person having ``unlawful sexual intercourse'' with a 
victim under 16 is subject to five years' imprisonment, while having 
unlawful sexual intercourse with a victim under 13 results in 
imprisonment for life.
    The Prevention of Child Pornography Ordinance makes it an 
imprisonable offense to possess, produce, copy, import, or export 
pornography involving a child under 18 years of age, or to publish or 
cause to be published any advertisement that conveys or is likely to be 
understood as conveying the message that any person has published, 
publishes, or intends to publish any child pornography. The penalty for 
creation, publication, or advertisement of child pornography is eight 
years' imprisonment, while possession carries a penalty of five years' 
imprisonment.
    The SAR is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html as well as 
country-specific information at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts against 
the small Jewish community during the year.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities in employment, access to health care, or the provision of 
other state services, and the Government effectively enforced these 
provisions. The Government effectively implemented laws and programs to 
ensure that persons with disabilities have access to buildings, 
information, and communications.
    The Social Welfare Department, directly or in coordination with 
NGOs and employers, provided a range of services and training to assist 
persons with disabilities in finding work commensurate with their 
abilities. As of March a total of 15,158 persons were participating in 
these various programs.
    As of March the Government employed 3,316 civil servants with 
disabilities, including 17 at the senior directorate grade, in a total 
workforce of 156,573. Persons with disabilities filled 2 percent of 
LegCo Secretariat positions, 1 percent of judicial positions, and 2 
percent of nonjudicial positions in the judiciary.
    Instances of discrimination against persons with disabilities 
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. As of 
September 30, the EOC had received 396 complaints under the ordinance 
and handled 560 cases (including cases carried over from the previous 
year).
    Despite inspections and the occasional closure of noncompliant 
businesses under the Buildings Ordinance, access to public buildings 
(including public schools) and transportation remained a serious 
problem for persons with disabilities.
    On September 9, EOC commissioner Lam Woon-kwong called on the 
Government to lead the way in addressing access for people with 
disabilities. He cited an EOC study of 60 government buildings that he 
contended ``were doing a far from satisfactory job'' in providing 
barrier-free facilities. He specifically cited the lack of access for 
persons with disabilities at 15 percent of polling stations used in the 
LegCo by-election. He also criticized one of Hong Kong's largest owners 
of shopping centers and carparks for failing to address access issues.
    The media, legislators, and activists championed the cause of 
injured worker Lee Shing-leung, who lost his leg in an industrial 
accident in 2007. Because the Government ruled he was only ``60 percent 
disabled,'' Lee did not qualify for a disability allowance. On 
September 20, the High Court ruled against Lee in a judicial review, 
but the judge expressed sympathy for his case and urged greater 
flexibility in the welfare system.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Although 95 percent ethnic 
Chinese, the SAR is a multiethnic society with persons from a number of 
ethnic groups recognized as permanent residents with full rights under 
the law. Discrimination based on race is prohibited by law, and the EOC 
oversees implementation and enforcement of the 2008 Race Discrimination 
Ordinance. The Race Relations Unit, which is subordinate to the 
Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, served as secretariat to 
the Committee on the Promotion of Racial Harmony and implemented the 
committee's programs. The unit also maintained a hotline for inquiries 
and complaints concerning racial discrimination.
    The Race Discrimination Ordinance and various implementing 
regulations entered into force in July 2009, when the EOC was empowered 
to handle complaints. The code of practice (along with selected other 
EOC materials) was available in Hindi, Thai, Urdu, Nepali, Indonesian, 
and Tagalog in addition to Chinese and English. Between July 2009 (when 
the ordinance entered into force) and September 30, the EOC received 63 
complaints and handled 73 cases.
    The Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau sponsored a cross-
cultural learning program for non-Chinese speaking youth through grants 
to NGOs.
    The Government had a policy to integrate non-Chinese students into 
the regular education system. The Government also provided a special 
grant for designated schools with a critical mass of non-Chinese 
students to develop their own programs and to share best practices with 
other schools, as well as to develop supplementary curriculum materials 
and to set up the Chinese-language support centers to provide after-
school programs. However, activists expressed concern that there was no 
formal government-provided course to prepare students for the General 
Certificate for Secondary Education exam in Chinese, a passing grade 
from which is required for most civil service employment.
    Beginning in 2009 the Government provided HK$8 million ($1 million) 
to sponsor NGOs to set up four support service centers that teach 
ethnic minority groups special skills, including English and Cantonese, 
and HK$16 million ($2 million) per year to fund their annual operating 
costs.
    In January the media reported cases of ethnic Pakistanis with Hong 
Kong residency attempting to open personal accounts but faced 
difficulties or refusals from banks on grounds that they were from a 
``third world'' or ``terrorist'' country. The Hong Kong Monetary 
Authority deputy chief executive declared that the entity had advised 
all banks to review their existing policies and procedures to ensure 
compliance with the Race Discrimination Ordinance.
    In May the media reported that an ethnic minority applicant to the 
police force who, in addition to being able to speak English and three 
South Asian languages, had a A* grade in Chinese in the officially 
recognized British General Certificate of Secondary Education, was 
rejected for inadequate ability in Chinese. In August the media 
reported that parents of an ethnic South Asian student with straight A 
grades in preschool was denied a place at a school after being given 
zero marks in a Chinese assessment. The student, who had been 
instructed in spoken and written Chinese in preschool and scored 85 
percent on a comparable test, was reportedly not asked any Chinese-
related questions at his entry assessment. The family reported that the 
Education Bureau failed to take action on their complaint and took the 
case to the EOC.
    In June the respected minority-rights advocacy NGO Unison reported 
racist statements and threats of physical violence posted on line and 
in e-mail messages following Unison's support of the family of Dil 
Bahadur Limbu, who was killed during an altercation with police in 2009 
(see section 1.a.). The EOC responded by warning bloggers and Internet 
service providers that they might incur liability under the Race 
Discrimination Ordinance if they allowed the posting of such comments. 
The EOC also requested the names of individuals posting such comments 
or sending hate e-mails. The posts were removed, and the overall case 
was moved to the police for investigation as ``vilification'' under the 
race discrimination ordinance. No conclusion to the investigation had 
been announced by year's end.
    In June the media reported that approximately 30 students and their 
parents filed a complaint with the EOC over restrictions by schools 
regarding varying official uniforms to suit cultural or religious 
customs. Only 17 primary schools that were designated as having a 
majority student population of ethnic minorities routinely allowed such 
variations.
    Activists reported that citizens of South Asian descent faced 
discriminatory treatment and racial profiling from police on patrol, 
including repeated checks of identity documents and the use of 
disparaging terms for South Asians. South Asians carrying large amounts 
of money were on some occasions treated as suspicious and asked to 
explain the source of the money.
    Activists and the Government disputed whether new immigrants from 
the Mainland should be considered as a population of concern under 
antidiscrimination legislation. While concerns have been raised that 
new immigrants do not qualify to receive social welfare benefits until 
they have resided in the SAR for seven years, the courts have upheld 
this legal standard. Such immigrants can apply on a case-specific basis 
for assistance.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There are no laws 
criminalizing same-sex relationships. In 2005 the High Court (Court of 
First Instance) ruled that maintaining an age of consent for male-male 
relations at 21 rather than 16 violated the Bill of Rights Ordinance. 
The Law Reform Commission continued a review of sexual offenses in 
common and statute law. In the interim, enforcement of the law was in 
accordance with the 2005 decision. There are no specific laws governing 
age of consent for female-female relations.
    The SAR does not register or recognize same-sex marriages. In 
October the High Court (Court of First Instance) ruled against a 
transsexual woman who sued the Government to be allowed to marry. The 
woman completed gender-reassignment surgery and changed her identity 
documents to ``female.'' However, since the law does not allow her to 
change her birth certificate, she cannot legally marry her male 
partner. The court ruled that there was insufficient evidence ``to 
demonstrate a shifted societal consensus...regarding marriage to 
encompass a postoperative transsexual...the court must not rush to 
substitute its own judgment in place of that of...the Government or 
legislature of Hong Kong.''
    There were no reports of societal violence or official 
discrimination based on sexual orientation. Laws on domestic violence 
apply to same-sex cohabitant relationships.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of societal violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers to form and 
join independent unions of their choice without previous authorization 
or excessive requirements. The law was effectively applied. Trade 
unions must register under the Trade Unions Ordinance and must have a 
minimum membership of seven persons for registration. At the end of 
2009, there were 812 registered trade unions, consisting of 768 
employee unions, 18 employers' associations, and 26 mixed organizations 
of employees and employers. During the first half of the year, 10 new 
unions were registered and four unions were deregistered upon request.
    Government statistics indicated that, at the end of 2009, there 
were 730,519 salaried employees and wage earners (totaling 22.5 percent 
of the workforce) claiming affiliation with a union.
    The 1997 Employment and Labor Relations (Miscellaneous Amendments) 
Ordinance prohibits the use of union funds for political purposes, 
requires the CE'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.
    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. In addition, there is 
no legal entitlement to reinstatement in the case of unfair dismissal. 
One strike, involving 35 workers, took place during the first half of 
the year.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law does 
not guarantee the right to collective bargaining. According to an 
International Trade Union Congress report issued during the year, 
although almost 25 percent of the workforce was unionized, unions were 
not strong enough to force management to engage in collective 
bargaining. Thus, less than 1 percent of workers were covered by 
collective agreements, and those that existed were not legally binding. 
The Government did not engage in collective bargaining with civil 
servants' unions, although it consulted relevant employee organizations 
on compensation matters. A 2009 motion supported by union activists in 
LegCo that called on the Government to promote collective bargaining 
and legislate on the right to collective bargaining failed due to 
opposition by the Government and business representatives.
    The Workplace Consultation Promotion Unit in the Labor Department 
facilitated communication, consultation, and voluntary negotiation 
between employers and employees. Tripartite committees for each of the 
nine sectors of the economy included representatives from some trade 
unions, employers, and the Labor Department.
    Antiunion discrimination did not occur in practice. However, there 
is no provision guaranteeing reinstatement of workers dismissed because 
of their trade union membership.
    There are no export processing zones in the SAR.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor. There were concerns that some migrant 
workers were lured to the SAR with false promises of employment but 
then forced into prostitution. There were also concerns that some 
migrant workers faced high levels of indebtedness assumed as part of 
the terms of employment, creating a risk they could fall victim to debt 
bondage. Some Hong Kong-licensed employment agencies are suspected of 
colluding with Indonesian agencies to profit from the debt scheme. Some 
Hong Kong agencies illegally confiscated passports, employment 
contracts, and ATM cards of domestic workers and withheld them until 
their debt had been repaid.
    The SAR's Employment Ordinance mandates one 24-hour period of rest 
within each seven-day period, but there were reports some employers 
compelled domestic workers to work seven days a week. There also were 
reports that some employers illegally forbade domestic workers to leave 
the residence of work for nonwork-related reasons, effectively 
preventing them from reporting exploitation to authorities. SAR 
authorities actively pursued reports of such violations.
    For more information, please see the Department of State's annual 
Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There are laws to protect children from exploitation in the workplace, 
and the Government effectively enforced these laws. The Employment of 
Children Regulations prohibits employment of children under the age of 
15 in any industrial establishment. The regulations limit work hours in 
the manufacturing sector for persons 15 to 17 years of age to eight 
hours per day and 48 hours per week between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. They also 
prohibit overtime in industrial establishments with employment in 
dangerous trades for persons less than 18 years of age.
    Children 13 and 14 years of age may work in certain nonindustrial 
establishments, subject to conditions aimed at ensuring a minimum of 
nine years of education and protection of their safety, health, and 
welfare. The Labor Department conducted regular workplace inspections 
to enforce compliance with the regulations. In contrast with 2009, no 
employers were convicted of offenses involving employment of children 
13 to 14 years of age without written parental consent and valid school 
attendance certificates.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--LegCo passed legislation 
establishing a statutory minimum wage in July, and the initial hourly 
rate was set at HK$28 ($3.60), to be implemented in May 2011. Domestic 
workers of foreign origin have a minimum wage set under separate 
legislation. In April amendments to the Employment Ordinance made it a 
criminal offense, punishable by a maximum fine of HK$350,000 ($45,000) 
and three years' imprisonment, to willfully default on Labor Tribunal 
and Minor Employments Claims Adjudication Board awards. Some employers 
provided workers with various kinds of allowances, meals, medical 
treatment, and subsidized transport. Two-income households were the 
norm. There are no regulations concerning working hours, paid weekly 
rest, rest breaks, or compulsory overtime. Workweeks of up to 60 hours 
and more were not uncommon. In his policy address during the year, the 
CE stated that, having established a minimum wage, the Government would 
begin consultations on maximum working hours. As of year's end, the 
consultations had not begun.
    Unionists alleged that workers were tricked by employers into 
signing contracts that changed their terms of employment to ``self-
employed,'' and thus they were not entitled to employer-provided 
benefits such as paid leave, sick leave, medical insurance, workers' 
compensation, or Mandatory Provident Fund payments.
    The Occupational Safety and Health Branch of the Labor Department 
is responsible for safety and health promotion, enforcement of safety 
management legislation, and 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's Occupational Safety and Health Branch conducted 64,044 
workplace inspections. There were 709 convicted summonses, resulting in 
fines totaling HK$5.3 million ($687,000). In addition to prosecuting 
offenses under the safety legislation, the Labor Department also issued 
improvement notices requiring employers to remedy contraventions of 
safety laws within a specified period and suspension notices directing 
removal of imminent risks to life and limb in workplaces. During the 
first half of the year, 703 improvement notices and 66 suspension 
notices were served.
    Although worker safety and health continued to improve, serious 
problems remained, particularly in the construction industry. In the 
first quarter of the year, the Labor Department reported 9,327 
occupational injuries, including 2,972 classified as industrial 
accidents. In the same period, there were seven 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.
    There are no laws restricting work during typhoon or rainstorm 
warning signals except for a Labor Department recommendation that 
employers have only essential staff come to work during certain 
categories of typhoon or rainstorm warnings. Both pro-Beijing and pan-
democratic unions called for a review of protections for workers during 
inclement weather, including legal protections.
    The minimum wage for foreign domestic workers was HK$3,580 per 
month ($460). The standard workweek was 48 hours, but many domestic 
workers worked much 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 provided a decent 
standard of living. Foreign domestic workers can be deported if 
dismissed. After leaving one employer, workers have two weeks to secure 
new employment before they must leave the SAR. Activists contended this 
restriction left workers vulnerable to a range of abuses from 
employers. Workers who pursue complaints through legal channels may be 
granted leave to remain; however, they are not able to work, leaving 
them either to live from savings or to depend on charitable assistance.
    Domestic workers were required to live with their employers (who do 
not always provide separate accommodation for the worker), which made 
it difficult to enforce maximum working hours per day or overtime.
    The Government contended that the ``two-week rule'' was necessary 
to maintain effective immigration control and prevent migrant workers 
from overstaying and taking up unauthorized work. Regarding maximum 
hours and rest periods, the Government stated that the Employment 
Ordinance rules on these issues cover local and migrant workers. 
However, in its explanation of why live-in domestic helpers (both local 
and foreign) would not be covered by the statutory minimum wage, the 
Government explained that ``the distinctive working pattern--round-the-
clock presence, provision of service-on-demand, and the multifarious 
domestic duties expected of live-in domestic workers--makes it 
impossible to ascertain the actual hours worked so as to determine the 
wages to be paid.''
    During the first six months of the year, four employers were 
convicted for labor law mistreatment violations under the Employment 
Ordinance relating to the employment of foreign domestic workers. 
During the first seven months of the year, 97 foreign domestic workers 
filed criminal suits, 42 of which were against employers, for 
maltreatment including rape (one), indecent assault (10), and injury 
and serious assault (31).
                                 ______
                                 
                                 macau
    Macau, with a population of approximately 544,600, is a Special 
Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and 
enjoys a high degree of autonomy, except in defense and foreign 
affairs, under the SAR's constitution (the Basic Law). Chief Executive 
Fernando Chui Sai-on, who took office in December 2009, headed the 
Government after being elected in July 2009 by a 300-member commission. 
Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    The following human rights problems were reported: limits on 
citizens' ability to change their government and lack of progress in 
prosecuting cases of trafficking in persons. National security 
legislation, passed in 2009 in accordance with article 23 of the Basic 
Law, remained a source of concern, but by year's end no cases had been 
brought under the law.
                        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 arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    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 rights.
    During the first six months of the year, there were 20 complaints 
of police mistreatment; three were referred as criminal cases, two 
resulted in disciplinary proceedings, six were pending investigation, 
and nine were dismissed for lack of evidence or not pursued.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards, and the 
Government permitted monitoring visits by independent human rights 
observers. No such visits were made during the year. Judges and 
prosecutors made monthly visits to prisons to hear complaints from the 
prisoners.
    The SAR has a maximum prison capacity of 1,323 persons; the 
occupancy rate was approximately 71 percent during the year. The age of 
criminal responsibility is 16. The total prison population for persons 
of this age and above for the first half of the year was 136 female and 
784 male inmates. Offenders between the ages of 12 and 16 were subject 
to an ``education regime'' under the Institute of Minors (IM), which 
could include incarceration depending on the offense. Between January 
2009 and June 2010, there were 29 boys and six girls in IM programs, of 
whom 28 boys and six girls were incarcerated. IM programs involved 
educational and vocational training programs, for which the youths 
received normal educational reports (i.e., their participation in an IM 
program was not part of their academic record).

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these 
prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the Public Security Police (general 
law enforcement) and Judiciary Police (criminal investigations), and 
the Government has effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse 
and corruption. There were no reports of impunity involving the 
security forces during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Persons were 
apprehended openly with warrants based on sufficient evidence and 
issued by a duly authorized official. Detainees were allowed access to 
a lawyer of their choice or, if indigent, to one provided by the 
Government. Detainees also were allowed prompt access to family 
members. Police must present persons 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 law provides that cases must come to 
trial within six months of an indictment. The criminal procedure code 
mandates that pretrial detention is limited to between six months to 
three years, depending on the charges and progress of the judicial 
system. Judges often refused bail in cases where sentences could exceed 
three years.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice. The courts may rule on matters that are ``the 
responsibility of the PRC government or concern the relationship 
between the central authorities and the SAR,'' but before making their 
final judgment, which is not subject to appeal, the courts must seek an 
interpretation of relevant provisions from the National People's 
Congress (NPC) 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.''
    Both Portuguese and Chinese are official languages. The need to 
translate laws and judgments into Chinese and Portuguese and a shortage 
of local bilingual lawyers and magistrates hampered the development of 
the legal system. There also was a severe shortage of judges.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the right to a fair trial, 
and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right.
    Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence and have access to 
government-held evidence relevant to their cases and a right to appeal. 
Trials are public and are by jury except at the magistrate-court level. 
Defendants have the right to be present at their trials and to confront 
witnesses. They also have the right to consult with an attorney in a 
timely manner; public attorneys are provided for those who are 
financially incapable of engaging lawyers or paying expenses of 
proceedings. The law extends these rights to all residents.
    The judiciary provides citizens with a fair and efficient judicial 
process; however, due to an overloaded court system, a period of up to 
a year often passed between filing a civil case and its scheduled 
hearing.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary for civil matters, and citizens have access to 
a court to bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, a human 
rights violation.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and the Government 
generally respected these prohibitions in practice. Activists and a 
local prodemocracy political party complained in the media that they 
were subjected to heightened surveillance during the November visit of 
PRC premier Wen Jiabao, including the police warning some activists not 
to attend certain events. The Public Security Police denied the 
allegations.
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.
    The Law on Safeguarding National Security, which entered into force 
in February 2009, criminalizes both committing and ``acts in 
preparation'' to commit, treason, secession, subversion of the PRC 
government, and theft of state secrets. The crimes of treason, 
secession, and subversion specify the use of violence, and the 
Government stated that the law would not infringe on peaceful political 
activism or media freedom.
    Activists and some legislators expressed concern about the 
vagueness of the term ``acts in preparation,'' which they saw as 
possibly criminalizing a broad range of activities. Activists and some 
legislators also were concerned about the use of ``prying into'' to 
define one type of illegally acquiring state secrets and the lack of an 
explicit ``public interest defense'' for journalists publishing 
classified information. In addition, there was concern that the PRC's 
broad definitions of state secrets, as well as its ability 
retroactively to declare formerly unclassified material to be secret, 
would affect enforcement of the law. As of year's end, no one had been 
charged with a crime under the law.
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views without restriction, and international media operated freely. 
Major newspapers were heavily subsidized by the Government and tended 
to closely follow the PRC government's policy on sensitive political 
issues, such as Taiwan; however, they reported freely on the SAR 
government, including reports critical of the Government.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
According to the World Internet Project statistics for 2009, 
approximately 70 percent of the SAR's inhabitants used the Internet. 
The SAR reportedly also offered affordable access to broadband 
Internet.
    The Strike against Computer Crime Law, passed in June 2009, 
criminalizes a range of cybercrimes and empowers the police, with a 
court warrant, to order Internet service providers to save and then 
provide a range of data. Some legislators expressed concern that the 
law grants police the authority to take these actions without a court 
order under some circumstances.
    The media reported that several Web sites, among them Facebook, 
YouTube, and Skype, which are blocked on the PRC mainland, were blocked 
on government-provided free WiFi service. The Government denied any 
intention to restrict access, stating that the main problem was 
available bandwidth and pointing out that the ``mobile'' version of 
Facebook was available. Twitter, which is banned on the mainland, also 
was available on the service.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The law provides for freedom of assembly, and the Government 
generally respected this right in practice. The law requires prior 
notification, but not approval, of demonstrations. In cases in which 
authorities tried to restrict access to public venues for 
demonstrations or other public events, the courts generally ruled on 
the side of the applicants. Police may redirect march routes, and 
organizers had the right to challenge such decisions in court.
    On May 1, protesters representing a range of labor and other 
problems clashed violently with police. Activists ascribed the clash to 
a police ruling that the protesters could not use one of the main 
thoroughfares, claiming the prohibition was made too late for the 
groups to be able to challenge it in court. Marchers chose to use their 
original route, resulting in the conflict. Police used water cannons, 
pepper spray, and batons to disperse the marchers; some protesters 
resisted by using bamboo scaffolding and other materials to attack 
police. A total of 41 persons were reported injured, including 32 
police officers and two journalists.
    Activists reported that more than 500 participants took part in the 
annual candlelight vigil commemorating June 4 (the date of the 1989 
Tiananmen Square massacre), the largest turnout since the 1999 handover 
and an increase over the 300 who attended the 20th anniversary in 2009. 
However, activists were denied access to all but one of the eight 
locations where they had displayed banners regarding the incident in 
previous years. The Civil and Municipal Affairs Bureau declared that it 
sent a letter to event organizers, the Union for the Democratic 
Development of Macau, declaring that four of the venues were ``not 
suitable for banners'' and three had been reserved for other purposes; 
organizers told the media they had not received the letter.
    In September there were media reports that an internal document 
circulating within the Security Bureau proposed limiting protests on 
public order grounds. The topic was widely covered and criticized in 
the media, leading the Security Bureau to issue a statement claiming 
the document was an examination of the existing legal regime (as 
opposed to proposals for new laws) and that the Government respected 
the rights of assembly and demonstration.
    Labor protesters marching on October 1 (PRC National Day) generally 
accepted a police recommendation to alter their routes from one of the 
main thoroughfares, although the marches concluded at Government House 
as originally planned. The marches, involving a total of a few hundred 
participants, occurred without incident.

    Freedom of Association.--The Basic Law and the civil code provide 
for freedom of association. No authorization is required to form an 
association, and the only restriction is that the organization not 
promote violence, crime, or disruption of public order.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. Persons denied entry into the SAR have the right to contact 
their consulate or other representative of their country, to have 
assistance with language interpretation, and to consult a lawyer. The 
Immigration Department cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees in handling refugees.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government generally 
respected the law in practice.
    The Internal Security Law grants police the authority to prevent 
entry and to deport nonresidents who are regarded under the law as 
unwelcome, deemed to constitute a threat to internal security and 
stability, or are suspected of transnational crimes. Legislators and 
activists alleged that police used this law to prevent Hong Kong 
democracy and rights activists from entering the SAR, including when 
the purpose of travel was merely tourism or personal business. Police 
declined to discuss the circumstances of individual cases.
    In August Leung Li, a Hong Kong Democratic Party (DPHK) district 
councilor, was stopped at the border for three hours as officials 
investigated ``problems with his ID card.'' Leung voluntarily returned 
to Hong Kong but told the media he believed the problem was his DPHK 
membership. He noted that he had traveled across the land border 
between Hong Kong and Guangdong several times using the same card 
without incident. Government officials indicated at the time that their 
investigation was continuing but denied that Leung's party affiliation 
was the problem.
    The media reported that on October 1, Nano Yeung Pui-yan, a Hong 
Kong social worker traveling to Macau with her family, was denied 
entry. Officials reportedly questioned her about her political party 
affiliation (none) and told her she had chosen ``the wrong time to 
visit.'' Yeung was instructed to sign a paper indicating she had been 
refused entry under the Internal Security Law.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status in accordance with the 1951 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 the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion. Persons granted status enjoyed the same rights as other SAR 
residents, while persons with pending applications were eligible to 
receive government support, including basic needs, medical care, and 
education for children.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The law limits citizens' ability to change their government. Only a 
small fraction of citizens play a role in the selection of the chief 
executive (CE). The head of government is chosen by a 300-member 
Election Committee, consisting of 254 members elected from four broad 
societal sectors (which have a limited franchise) and 46 members chosen 
from among the SAR's legislators and representatives to the NPC and 
Chinese People's Political Consultative Congress.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In June 2009, following 
discussions within the sectors and their subordinate units responsible 
for selecting the Election Committee, exactly 254 candidates were 
nominated, thus constituting the committee without an election. By 
virtue of securing 286 of the 300 nominating votes, and thus precluding 
any other candidate from winning the 50 nominations required to stand 
for election, former secretary for social affairs and culture Fernando 
Chui Sai-on ran unopposed for CE. In July 2009 he received 282 votes 
from the Election Committee; he took office in December 2009.
    In September 2009 the SAR also elected parts of its 29-member 
Legislative Assembly. Sixteen electoral ``slates'' representing 123 
candidates (the SAR does not have formal political parties for 
elections, and candidates form ad hoc rosters to contest elections) 
competed for the 12 directly elected seats. The election, open to all 
registered SAR residents, was considered generally free and fair. Ten 
indirectly elected legislators were returned uncontested after internal 
consultation among the four broad sectors that elect these seats. Seven 
seats were filled by CE appointment.
    There are limits on the types of legislation that legislators may 
introduce. The law stipulates that legislators may not initiate 
legislation related to public expenditure, the SAR's political 
structure, or the operation of the Government. Proposed legislation 
related to government policies must receive the CE's written approval 
before it is submitted. The legislature also has no power of 
confirmation over executive or judicial appointments.
    A 10-member Executive Council functions as an unofficial cabinet, 
approving draft legislation before it is presented in the Legislative 
Assembly. The Basic Law stipulates that the CE appoint members of the 
SAR Executive Council from among the principal officials of the 
executive authorities, members of the legislature, and public figures.
    There were no registered political parties; politically active 
groups registered as societies or companies. These groups were active 
in promoting their political agendas, and those critical of the 
Government did not face restrictions. Such groups participated in 
protests over government policies or proposed legislation without 
restriction.
    There were four women in the 29-member Legislative Assembly. Women 
also held a number of senior positions throughout the Government, 
including the Secretary for justice and administration, the second-
highest official in the SAR government. Fourteen of the SAR's 29 judges 
were women. Women made up more than 41 percent of the senior-level 
executive, 48 percent of the judicial, and 100 percent of the senior 
legislative staff (i.e., not including legislators) work forces. There 
were three members of ethnic minorities in the Legislative Assembly. 
One Executive Council member was from an ethnic minority, as was the 
police commissioner.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, there were instances of officials engaging in corruption.
    The Commission against Corruption (CCAC) investigated the public 
and private sectors and had the power to arrest and detain suspects. 
Initially chartered only to handle public-sector corruption, in March 
the CACC gained competence over private-sector corruption under the 
Prevention and Suppression of Bribery in the Private Sector Law of 
2009. The Ombudsman Bureau within the CCAC reviewed complaints of 
maladministration or abuse by the CCAC. There was also an independent 
committee outside the CCAC, called the Monitoring Committee on 
Discipline of CCAC Personnel, which accepted and reviewed complaints 
about CCAC personnel.
    By law the CE, his cabinet, judges, members of the Legislative 
Assembly and Executive Council, and executive agency directors are 
required to disclose their financial interests upon appointment, 
promotion, and retirement, and at five-year intervals while in the same 
position.
    The law does not provide for public access to government 
information. However, the executive branch published online, in both 
Portuguese and Chinese, extensive information on 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. The information provided by the 
legislature was less extensive.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A number of domestic and international groups monitoring human 
rights 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 sent delegations to join the PRC delegation at UN 
human rights fora throughout the year. The Government also cooperated 
with diplomatic missions in researching human rights matters.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law stipulates that residents shall be free from discrimination 
based on race, gender, disability, language, or social status, and many 
laws carry specific prohibitions against discrimination; the Government 
effectively enforced the law.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape, including spousal rape, and the 
Government effectively enforced the law. In the first half of the year, 
there were 12 rape investigations opened by prosecutors, four of which 
had gone to indictment by midyear. The police and courts acted promptly 
on rape cases.
    Although there is not a specific law on domestic violence, laws 
that criminalize the relevant behaviors, including ``ill-treatment of 
minors or spouses,'' were used by the Government effectively to 
prosecute domestic violence. However, various nongovernmental 
organizations (NGOs) and government officials considered domestic 
violence against women to be a growing problem. In the case of spousal 
abuse or violence against minors, the penalty is two to eight years' 
imprisonment; if the abuse leads to the death of the victim, the 
penalty is five to 15 years. In the first half of the year, 189 cases 
of crimes related to domestic violence were reported to police.
    The Government made referrals for victims to receive medical 
treatment, and medical social workers counseled victims and informed 
them of social welfare services. The Government funded NGOs to provide 
victim support services, including housing, until their complaints were 
resolved. The Government also supported two 24-hour hotlines, one for 
counseling and the other for reporting domestic violence cases.
    NGOs 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 advice regarding legal actions against perpetrators. A range of 
counseling services was available to persons who requested them at 
social centers. Two government-supported religious programs also 
offered rehabilitation programs for female victims of violence.
    There is no law specifically addressing sexual harassment, 
excepting the use of a position of authority to coerce performance of 
physical acts. Harassment in general is prohibited under laws governing 
equal opportunity, employment and labor rights, and labor relations. 
Between January and June, one complaint of gender discrimination was 
filed with the Labor Affairs Bureau but was later withdrawn.
    Couples and individuals had the right to decide the number, 
spacing, and timing of their children and had the information and means 
to do so free from discrimination or coercion. Access to contraception, 
prenatal care, and skilled attendance at delivery and in postpartum 
care were widely available. According to the World Health Organization, 
in 2009 the maternal mortality rate was zero. Women and men were given 
equal access to diagnostic services and treatment for sexually 
transmitted infections, including HIV.
    Equal opportunity legislation mandates that women receive equal pay 
for equal work; however, observers estimated that there was a 
significant difference in salary between men and women, particularly in 
unskilled jobs. The law allows for civil suits, but few women took 
their cases to the Labor Affairs Bureau or other entities. 
Discrimination in hiring practices based on gender or physical ability 
is prohibited by law, and penalties exist for employers who violate 
these guidelines.

    Children.--In accordance with the Basic Law, children of Chinese 
national residents of Macau born in or outside the SAR and children 
born to non-Chinese national permanent residents inside the SAR are 
regarded as permanent residents. There is no differentiation between 
these categories in terms of access to registration of birth. The 
Government protected the rights and welfare of children through the 
general framework of civil and political rights legislation that 
protects all citizens.
    The law specifically provides for criminal punishment for sexual 
abuse of children and students, statutory rape, and procurement 
involving minors. The criminal code sets 14 as the age of sexual 
consent and 16 as the age for participation in the legal sex trade. 
Child pornography is prohibited by law.
    The SAR is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance with the convention at http://
travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--
4308.html as well as country-specific information at http://
travel.state.gov/abduction/country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish population was extremely small, and 
there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or the 
provision of other state services, and the Government generally 
enforced these provisions in practice. The law mandates access to 
buildings, information, and communications for persons with 
disabilities. The Government enforced the law effectively. The Social 
Welfare Institute was primarily responsible for coordinating and 
funding public assistance programs to persons with disabilities. There 
was a governmental commission to rehabilitate persons with 
disabilities, with part of the commission's scope of work addressing 
employment.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There are no laws 
criminalizing any sexual orientation, and no prohibition against 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender persons forming organizations or 
associations. There were no reports of violence against persons based 
on their sexual orientation.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The law prohibits 
discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS and limits the number of 
required disclosures of an individual's HIV status. Employees outside 
medical fields are not required to declare their status to employers. 
There were anecdotal reports that persons whose status became known, as 
well as organizations supporting them, faced some forms of 
discrimination. There were no reported incidents of violence against 
persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law, including article 27 of the 
Basic Law, provides for the right of workers to form and join unions or 
``labor associations'' of their choice without previous authorization 
or excessive requirements, and the Government generally respected this 
right in practice. There is no law specifically defining the status and 
function of labor unions, nor are employers compelled to negotiate with 
them. While there are no legal restrictions preventing companies from 
refusing to hire union workers, union membership is not a legitimate 
basis for dismissal under the Law on Labor Relations.
    Workers in certain professions, such as the security forces, are 
forbidden to form unions, take part in protests, or strike. Such groups 
had organizations that provided welfare and other services to members 
and that could speak to the Government on behalf of their members.
    Under article 27 of the Basic Law, workers have the right to 
strike, but there is no specific protection in the law from retribution 
if workers exercised this right. The Government argued that striking 
employees are protected from retaliation by labor law provisions, which 
require an employer to have ``justified cause'' to dismiss an employee. 
In contrast with 2009, there were no reports that the Government failed 
to enforce these provisions during the year. Strikes, rallies, and 
demonstrations were not permitted in the vicinity of the CE's office, 
the Legislative Assembly, and other key government buildings, although 
in practice some protests occurred near government headquarters.
    Workers who believed they were dismissed unlawfully may bring a 
case to court or lodge a complaint with the Labor Department or the 
Office of the High Commissioner against Corruption and Administrative 
Illegality, which also functions as ombudsman. However, migrant workers 
have no right to such recourse.

    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. In practice companies often 
negotiated with unions, although the Government often acted as an 
intermediary. Pro-PRC unions traditionally have not attempted to engage 
in collective bargaining. Migrant workers and public servants do not 
have the right to bargain collectively.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination and employer 
interference in union functions, and the law was enforced in practice. 
However, the Union for Democracy Development Macau expressed concern 
that the law contains no explicit provisions that bar discrimination 
against unions.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, and there were no reports that such 
practices occurred. Also see the Department of State's annual 
Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    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-
operated or small businesses. Local laws do not establish specific 
regulations governing the number of hours these children can work, but 
International Labor Organization conventions were applied. The Labor 
Department enforced the law through periodic and targeted inspections, 
and violators were prosecuted.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Local labor laws establish the 
general principle of fair wages and mandate compliance with wage 
agreements. There is no mandatory minimum wage, except for government-
outsourced security guards and cleaners. Average wages provided a 
decent standard of living for a worker and family. The law also sets 
maximum hours, rest days, statutory holidays, and premium pay rules. 
Article 70 of the 2008 Labor Relations Law allows employers to dismiss 
staff ``without just cause'' provided that economic compensation, 
indexed to the employee's length of service, is paid.
    Local customs normally favored employment without the benefit of 
written labor contracts, except in the case of migrant workers, who 
were issued short-term contracts. Labor groups reported that employers 
increasingly used temporary contracts to circumvent obligations to pay 
for workers' benefits, such as pensions, sick leave, and paid holidays. 
The short-term nature of the contracts also made it easier to dismiss 
workers by means of nonrenewal.
    Labor legislation provides for a 48-hour workweek, an eight-hour 
workday, paid overtime, annual leave, and medical and maternity care. 
Although the law provides for a 24-hour rest period each week, workers 
frequently agreed to work overtime to compensate for low wages. The 
Labor Department provided assistance and legal advice to workers upon 
request.
    The Labor Department enforced occupational safety and health 
regulations, and failure to correct infractions could lead to 
prosecution. Although the law includes a requirement that employers 
provide a safe working environment, no explicit provisions protect 
employees' right to continued employment if they refused to work under 
dangerous conditions.
    Local migrant worker associations and the International Labor 
Organization expressed concern about the Law on the Employment of 
Nonresident Workers, which requires foreign workers who left their jobs 
for any cause not held to be ``just,'' to depart the SAR for six 
months. Labor officials stated that the law, meant to deter ``job 
hopping'' by migrant workers, was implemented only if the worker could 
not demonstrate just cause for wishing to terminate the contract 
himself (such as abuse, nonpayment of wages, and contract violation) or 
if the employer dismissed the worker after three days' unauthorized 
absence (in accordance with the labor law). However, the lack of 
coordination between the Labor Affairs Bureau, which handled 
complaints, and the Immigration Department, which granted or withdrew 
permission for migrant workers to remain in the SAR, meant that workers 
filing complaints could be dismissed from their positions, lose their 
immigration status, and be forced to depart prior to the resolution of 
their complaints. While the Government noted that workers under such 
circumstances could apply for special extensions to remain, Labor 
Affairs Bureau director Shun Ka Hung was quoted in the media as stating 
that dissatisfied workers ``can always go back to their homeland to 
find another job.''

                               __________

                                  FIJI

    Fiji, with a population of approximately 837,000, is a republic 
under a 1997 constitution that provided for a ceremonial president 
selected by the Great Council of Chiefs and an elected prime minister 
and Parliament. However, in April 2009 the interim government headed by 
armed forces commander Commodore Josaia Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama 
abrogated the constitution, imposed a state of emergency, and continued 
its rule by decree, a situation that remained at year's end. The 
abrogation followed a bloodless coup d'etat in late 2006 in which 
Bainamarama overthrew the elected government and dissolved Parliament. 
In 2007 the interim military government was replaced by a nominally 
civilian interim government headed by Bainimarama as prime minister. 
Public Emergency Regulations (PER) promulgated in April 2009 remained 
in effect at year's end. Security forces did not report to civilian 
authorities.
    The Government denied citizens the right to change their government 
peacefully. The Government dismissed the entire judiciary in 2009 and 
replaced it with its own appointees. In July the Government implemented 
a media decree that continued censorship and intimidation of the media. 
Other continuing human rights problems included police and military 
impunity, poor prison conditions, restrictions on freedom of speech and 
peaceful assembly, prosecution and deportation of regime critics and 
human rights activists, attacks against religious facilities, the 
dismissal of constitutionally appointed government officials, 
government corruption, deep ethnic division, violence and 
discrimination against women, and sexual exploitation of 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings during the year.
    By year's end there had been no investigation of the 2008 death in 
custody of Josefa Baleiloa.
    In February the Court of Appeal upheld a previous High Court 
decision that ordered the military to pay F$45,000 (approximately 
$22,500) in general damages for pain and suffering and F$18,000 
(approximately $9,000) in ``exemplary damages'' to the family of 
convicted criminal Taito Navualaba, who died from a beating by security 
forces in 2000. The court held that since Navualaba had voluntarily 
surrendered to police and soldiers, their assault on him could not be 
justified under emergency powers then in effect, as the Government had 
asserted. However, the military did not pay the damages because in 
April the Government issued a decree extending immunity to the military 
and the national police against criminal charges or civil liability 
suits relating to their role in the 2000 and 2006 coups and the 2009 
abrogation of the constitution (see section 1.d.). The effect of the 
decree was to nullify the legal basis for the lawsuit.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--While the abrogated constitution prohibits such practices, 
the security forces did not always respect this prohibition in 
practice. The PER authorize the Government to use whatever force is 
deemed necessary to enforce PER provisions.
    Throughout the year various persons detained by police accused 
police of beating them to obtain confessions. Lawyers reported to the 
courts cases in which their accused clients allegedly had been beaten 
by police during questioning. For example, in January defense counsel 
for five persons arrested on murder charges earlier that month told the 
High Court that two of their clients were assaulted by police officers 
while in custody.
    By year's end there had been no investigation into allegations that 
security forces beat politician Iliesa Duvuloco and several other men 
detained in April 2009 for distributing political pamphlets critical of 
the Government.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions did not 
meet international standards. The national prison system was seriously 
underfunded and overcrowded, with deteriorating infrastructure and 
complaints about delivery of essential services. The system had 
insufficient beds, inadequate sanitation, and a shortage of basic 
necessities. The pretrial detention facility at Suva's prison remained 
closed due to its substandard condition.
    There were approximately 1,100 inmates in the country's 14 prisons. 
The number of pretrial detainees continued to rise, in part because, 
unlike in previous years, during the year the courts generally refused 
to grant bail. Numbers of pretrial detainees held at various prison 
facilities exceeded capacity. A June 14 report in the Fiji Sun 
newspaper stated that there were 273 pretrial detainees in custody 
around the country, while there was capacity for only 73 in the system. 
According to the report, 83 of the detainees were held in Lautoka 
Prison, which had capacity for only 18; seven in Ba Prison, which had 
capacity for eight; 17 in Labasa Prison, which had capacity for 12; 159 
in Suva's Korovou Prison, which had capacity for 30; and seven in the 
women's prison in Suva, which had capacity for five. During the year 
authorities began to hold pretrial detainees in Naboro Prison as well 
due to the lack of adequate capacity at Korovou Prison.
    In some cases pretrial detainees and convicted prisoners were held 
together.
    Prisoners and detainees were permitted reasonable access to 
visitors, including family members, and religious observance. The 
Prisons Act allows prisoners to submit complaints to judicial 
authorities, but the Government reviews all prisoner letters and has 
the authority to seize them. Authorities did not investigate or 
document in a publicly accessible manner credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions.
    The Government permitted prison monitoring visits by independent 
human rights observers. During the year the International Committee of 
the Red Cross (ICRC) visited official detention facilities and 
interviewed inmates; such visits were permitted without third parties 
present.
    Although the Ombudsman Act authorizes the ombudsman to investigate 
maladministration in government departments, decreases in the staffing 
and budget levels for the Ombudsman's Office since the 2009 coup 
greatly reduced its capacity to carry out its statutory duties, which 
in previous years included investigating allegations of prisoner abuse 
or neglect, overcrowding, and recordkeeping problems.
    Some prison improvements were made during the year. The Prison 
Service began installing new cameras in prisons to improve security. In 
July the prisons commissioner, Brigadier General Iowane Naivalurua, 
carried out an audit of the standard operating procedures of the Prison 
Service to align them with the provisions of the 2006 Prisons and 
Corrections Act, which incorporates international minimum standards for 
prison conditions as the minimum standards for the country's prisons.
    Programs to build skills and generate income for prison inmates 
were augmented during the year. The commissioner established a 
commercial arm of the Prison Service, which ran various farms that sold 
at commercial prices to the public and paid inmates for their labor. 
Male prisoners participated in farming and bakery operations, while the 
one women's prison in Suva had a program for producing handicrafts and 
clothing. As part of rehabilitation efforts, the commissioner 
established a trial creative arts program, including an exhibition of 
prisoners' artwork in November. The commissioner also reached an 
agreement with the Fire Authority for the training of prisoners as 
firefighters as they prepared for release back into society, and 
introduced a so-called ``yellow ribbon'' program, which encouraged the 
public to ease the return of convicted prisoners back into the 
community after their release.
    In January the Government closed Lakeba Prison in Lau Province, 
citing successful efforts to reduce recidivism in Lau as eliminating 
the continued need for that particular facility.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The abrogated constitution 
prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention, but the Government did not 
always respect this prohibition in practice. The PER authorize security 
forces to detain a person for up to seven days before bringing charges 
and producing the accused in court. Various persons accused of 
breaching the PER and the Public Order Act during the year were held up 
to six days without charge and in some cases were not charged at all.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Ministry of Home 
Affairs, headed by the minister for defense, oversees the Fiji Police 
Force, which is responsible for law enforcement and the maintenance of 
internal security. Historically responsible for external security, the 
Republic of Fiji Military Force (RFMF) has maintained since 2005 that 
it has a broad constitutional responsibility for national security that 
also extends to domestic affairs. Many constitutional scholars in the 
country rejected that assertion. Under the PER soldiers are authorized 
to perform the duties and functions of police and prison officers.
    In September Brigadier General Iowane Naivalurua was appointed 
police commissioner, while also remaining prisons commissioner. Police 
maintained a network of stations and posts throughout the country. 
Policing of more remote and smaller islands was done through regularly 
scheduled visits. However, during the year 10 police posts were closed 
due to budget constraints. There was a joint military and police 
command center based at the Suva Central Police Station. Military 
personnel were assigned to accompany police patrols and jointly staff 
police checkpoints.
    The police Professional Standards Unit is responsible for 
investigating complaints of police misconduct. The Fiji Independent 
Commission against Corruption (FICAC) also continued to investigate 
public agencies and officials, including some members of the police and 
military forces. However, impunity and corruption remained problems. 
The PER provide immunity from prosecution for members of the security 
forces for any deaths or injuries arising from the use of force deemed 
necessary to enforce PER provisions.
    On April 1, the Government promulgated the Limitation of Legal 
Liability Decree for prescribed political events--the third immunity 
decree issued since the 2006 coup. The decree extends immunity to the 
military and the national police against criminal charges or civil 
liability lawsuits relating to their roles in the 2000 and 2006 
seizures of power and the 2009 abrogation of the constitution. The 
decree grants absolute, unconditional, and irrevocable immunity to 
Bainimarama, former president Ratu Josefa Iloilo, former caretaker 
prime minister Jona Senilagakali, and members of the military and 
police forces (excluding, however, the anti-Bainimarama armed forces 
mutineers who supported the 2000 storming of Parliament). The decree 
nullifies the grounds for lawsuits against the regime by victims of 
security force violence and by the families of persons allegedly 
beaten--in some cases to death--while in military custody.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--By law police 
officers may arrest persons without a warrant for violations of the 
2010 Crimes Decree, promulgated in February, which replaced the 
preexisting Penal Code. Police also arrest persons in response to 
warrants issued by magistrates and judges. Under the constitution 
arrested persons must be brought before a court without ``undue 
delay,'' normally 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, these rights were not always 
observed by the police and military after the constitution was 
abrogated. The PER permit the Government to detain for up to seven days 
without charge persons suspected of violating PER provisions.
    The Bail Act gives accused persons the right to bail, unless it is 
not in the interests of justice that bail be granted. There is a 
presumption in favor of granting bail; however, this may be rebutted by 
the prosecution if it objects to bail, and in cases where the accused 
has been convicted and is appealing or has previously breached bail 
conditions. Both police and the courts can grant bail; however, during 
the year police refused to grant bail to persons charged with drunk 
driving. During the year the courts made it more difficult for accused 
persons to apply for bail, requiring this to be by motion and affidavit 
that required the services of a lawyer. During the year the number of 
prisoners remanded approximately doubled compared with 2009 because of 
a pattern of refusal of bail by the courts. Detainees generally were 
allowed prompt access to counsel and family members, but some 
journalists and others detained for short periods after criticizing the 
Government were denied prompt access to a lawyer.
    On March 8, High Court Judge Priyantha Fernando issued a second 
court order to police to allow Saimoni Rokotunidau access to his 
lawyer. Rokotunidau was recruited into the police force in 2008; at the 
time he was a pastor of the New Methodist Church who preached to police 
and their families during the former police commissioner's ``Jesus 
Crusade.'' However, he subsequently used a police vehicle to carry out 
a bank robbery and was dismissed from the police in March when he was 
arrested for the offense. In April he was convicted of robbery with 
violence and sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment. Police had ignored an 
earlier court order for Rokotunidau to access his lawyer in private. 
Justice Fernando also ordered the prosecution to ascertain why 
Rokotunidau's family was not allowed to visit him in detention.
    The Legal Aid Commission provided counsel to some indigent 
defendants in criminal cases, a service supplemented by voluntary 
services from private attorneys. However, there were delays in the 
provision of legal aid to some accused persons who requested 
assistance, due to lack of adequate legal aid staff and resources.
    On June 22, businessman Viliame Gavoka and Pastor Laione 
Lutunacevamaca were charged with one count each of malicious acts 
allegedly causing public alarm by spreading rumors of a tsunami 
prophecy. It was alleged that between March 8 and June 16 in Nadi, 
Lutunacevamaca sent out an e-mail stating that the country would be 
struck by a disaster on June 23. Gavoka was charged for circulating the 
e-mail. On December 13, defense lawyers applied for the charges to be 
reconsidered, and the court adjourned the case for a further hearing in 
February 2011.
    The courts had a significant backlog of cases, worsened by the 
Government's April 2009 dismissal of the existing judiciary. Processing 
was slowed by, among other things, a shortage of prosecutors and 
judges. As a result some defendants faced lengthy pretrial detention.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary, but during the year the Government interfered 
with judicial independence in practice.
    The Administration of Justice Decree of April 2009, which 
reestablished the courts, prohibits all tiers of the judiciary from 
considering cases relating to the 2006 coup; all acts of the interim 
government between December 4, 2006 and April 9, 2009; the abrogation 
of the constitution on April 10, 2009; and all government decrees since 
December 2006. The military-appointed chief registrar issued 
termination certificates for all such pending cases. Women's 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) asserted that some new magistrates 
made inappropriate comments and exercised poor judgment in domestic 
violence and sexual assault cases and that, because of media censorship 
under the PER, the public was not informed about this conduct.
    After the constitution was abrogated, the chief registrar also 
assumed responsibility for prosecuting lawyers for disciplinary 
breaches before a government-appointed judge. Civil-society 
organizations criticized these additional duties as infringing on the 
independence of the judiciary.
    A February amendment to the Administration of Justice Decree 
removed the courts' jurisdiction to hear challenges to decisions by the 
Government on judicial restructuring, terms and conditions of 
remuneration for the judiciary, and terminated court cases. Similar 
clauses limiting the jurisdiction of the courts on decisions made by 
the cabinet, ministers, or government departments were included in 
various decrees issued throughout the year.
    The Government continued to prohibit an International Bar 
Association delegation from visiting the country to evaluate the 
independence of the judiciary. The Government also reiterated its 
refusal to allow the UN special rapporteur on the independence of 
judges to visit the country for the same purpose.

    Trial Procedures.--Procedures enabling a fair trial are enumerated 
in the Criminal Procedure Decree, the prosecuting manual of the 
Prosecutor's Office, the High Court Act, and the Magistrates' Court 
Act, and were implemented by the courts in accordance with legal 
precedent. The Government's judicial appointments included judges from 
other British Commonwealth countries familiar with Commonwealth legal 
traditions. In most cases defendants have the right to a public trial, 
and the court system generally enforced this right in practice during 
the year; however, the PER permit trials for violations of PER 
provisions to be held in camera.
    The Legal Aid Commission, supplemented by voluntary services of 
private attorneys, provided free counsel to some indigent defendants in 
criminal cases. Most cases were heard in the magistrates' courts. The 
Crimes Decree defines which offenses may be tried in the magistrate' 
courts and which must be tried in the High Court. Serious offenses, 
including murder, rape, trafficking in persons, bribery, treason, 
sedition, and mutiny, can only be heard in the High Court. Trials in 
the High Court provide for the presence of assessors, typically three, 
who are similar to jurors but only advise the presiding judge. 
Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence and may question witnesses, 
present evidence on their own behalf, and access government-held 
evidence relevant to their cases. The right of appeal exists but often 
was hampered by delays in the process. The law extends these rights to 
all citizens.
    The military court system provides for the same basic rights as the 
civilian court system, although bail is granted less frequently in the 
military system and courts martial are seldom public.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or long-term political detainees. Police detained 
for short periods and questioned a number of journalists and others 
critical of the Government.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Although the law provides 
for an independent and impartial judiciary in civil matters, the 
judiciary is prohibited by decree from considering lawsuits relating to 
the 2006 coup, subsequent actions by the interim government, the 
abrogation of the constitution, and subsequent military decrees. In the 
event of a human rights violation, under the constitution an individual 
also could complain to the Fiji Human Rights Commission (FHRC). 
Although the Government decreed that the FHRC could continue to exist 
following the constitution's abrogation, under a May 2009 decree it is 
prohibited from investigating cases filed by individuals and 
organizations relating to the 2006 coup and the 2009 abrogation of the 
constitution.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The abrogated constitution prohibits such actions, but 
the Government frequently ignored these prohibitions in practice. The 
PER permit military personnel to search persons and premises without a 
warrant from a court, and to take photographs, fingerprints, and 
measurements of any person. Police and military officers also may enter 
private premises to break up any meeting considered unlawful.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The abrogated constitution 
provides for freedom of speech and of the press, but the Government 
generally did not respect these rights in practice. The PER give the 
Government the power to detain persons on suspicion of ``endangering 
public safety or the preservation of the peace''; the Government has 
used this provision to intimidate and in some cases detain persons who 
criticized the Government. In addition, the PER and a media decree 
issued in June provide for government censorship of the media.
    In January the Government issued a decree stopping government 
pension payments to persons who criticized the 2006 coup and the 
Government. Among those whose pensions were cancelled were former 
cabinet members in the Government of former prime minister Laisenia 
Qarase, former prime minister and former coup leader Sitiveni Rabuka, 
and senior civil servants. (Qarase's pension has been withheld since 
December 2006.) In May the Government reversed itself and announced it 
was repealing the decree. It resumed pension payments to all those 
affected except Qarase, but it did not provide retroactive payments for 
the January-May period.
    The new Crimes Decree promulgated in February includes criticism of 
the Government in its definition of the crime of sedition. This 
includes statements made in other countries by any person, who can be 
prosecuted on return to Fiji.
    Using the PER, police detained and arrested individuals during the 
year for comments deemed a threat to national security. On March 5, 
security forces detained former politician Peceli Rinakama for comments 
he reportedly made to a passing bystander relating to the conviction of 
eight persons charged with conspiring to assassinate Bainimarama. 
Rinakama was released on March 11. He was charged under the Public 
Order Act with uttering words calculated to bring death or physical 
injury to a person or injury to the lawful authority of the Government. 
At year's end the case had not yet come to trial.
    The Government published fortnightly supplements called New Dawn 
and Fiji in Focus in the Fiji Sun newspaper, and all its advertising 
was printed exclusively in the Fiji Sun until October, when the Fiji 
Times newspaper--disfavored by the Government--was sold and purchased 
by a local company that changed its editorial policy. The Government 
retained a shareholding of less than 20 percent in the Daily Post 
newspaper until the paper ceased to publish in 2009 due to poor sales. 
The country's television news program production was owned and operated 
by Fiji One, one of two national noncable television stations. A 
company whose board is appointed by the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs 
on behalf of the provincial councils owned 51 percent of Fiji One; the 
remainder was privately held. The Government owned the Fiji 
Broadcasting Corporation, which operated six radio stations. The 
Government guaranteed a loan for the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation to 
set up a television station. The Ministry of Information's Fiji Today 
program was broadcast twice daily on the private television station 
MaiTV.
    During the year the Government harassed, intimidated, and in some 
cases detained for questioning a number of journalists in response to 
reporting critical of the Government. Television journalist Rachna 
Nath, who reported the October arrest of former prime minister Mahendra 
Chaudhry (see section 2.b.), was questioned by police for allegedly 
inciting public anger in violation of the PER.
    The PER authorize the Ministry of Information, military media cell 
officers, and police to vet all news stories before publication, 
resulting in the removal of all stories the Government deemed 
``negative'' and ``inciteful,'' and therefore, according to the 
Government, a threat to national security. All radio stations were 
required to submit their news scripts to the permanent secretary for 
information, a military appointee, before each news bulletin was 
broadcast, and the print and television media were censored on a daily 
basis by Ministry of Information and military media cell officers, 
accompanied by police officers, who were placed in media newsrooms.
    In March police announced an investigation of the Viti FM radio 
station after the station broadcast a talkback show on same-sex 
marriages following the promulgation of the new Crimes Decree. Also in 
March, two senior news editors at Fiji TV were transferred to other 
departments after the Government alleged antigovernment bias on their 
part.
    On June 25, the Government promulgated a new media decree, which 
penalizes the media for ``irresponsible reporting.'' The decree, which 
supersedes previous laws regarding the media, defines media 
organizations as excluding Internet and telecommunications service 
providers and production houses engaged in production of advertisements 
or other audiovisual materials. The decree requires that the directors 
and 90 percent of the shareholders of locally based media be citizens 
of, and permanently residing in, the country and obliges foreign-owned 
media to sell their shares in media organizations operating in the 
country. Under the decree, reporting may not include information that 
threatens public order or the national interest, creates communal 
discord, or offends public decency. The decree establishes a new Fiji 
Media Industry Development Authority to enforce these provisions. The 
authority has the power to investigate journalists and media outlets 
for alleged violations of the decree, including powers of search and 
seizure of equipment.
    The decree also establishes a media tribunal to decide complaints 
referred by the authority, with the power to impose jail terms of up to 
two years and fines of up to F$ 1000 (approximately $ 500) for 
journalists, F$ 25,000 ($12,500) for publishers and editors, and F$ 
100,000 ($ 50,000) for media organizations. The tribunal is not bound 
by formal rules of evidence.
    The decree strips the judiciary of power to challenge the decree 
itself or any proceedings or findings of the Media Authority, the 
proposed tribunal, or the information minister.
    Although in April the Government indicated that it would continue 
to renew the PER only until the media decree was promulgated, at year's 
end the PER had not been repealed and remained in force.
    In September, as a result of the local ownership requirements of 
the Media Decree, Australian company News Limited was forced to sell 
the Fiji Times, the country's oldest newspaper and traditionally a 
government critic. As a result of a change in the Times's editorial 
policy following the sale, the editor and his deputy were obliged to 
resign.
    The Media Council, a voluntary private watchdog group of media and 
academic figures, receives and seeks to resolve complaints of bias and 
malfeasance within the media. However, the continuous extension of the 
PER and the promulgation of the Media Decree ensured government control 
over media content through censors.
    In November 2009 the Government revoked all broadcasting licenses, 
ostensibly to allow a review of signal bands. Television and radio 
stations were issued temporary licenses pending completion of the 
review, which was still in progress at year's end.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on general 
public access to the Internet, but evidence suggested that the 
Government monitored private e-mails of citizens.
    The International Telecommunication Union reported that 
approximately 12 percent of the country's inhabitants used the Internet 
in 2009. The Internet was widely available and used in and around urban 
centers, and the majority of the population lived in areas with 
Internet coverage. However, low-income persons generally could not 
afford individual service, and other public access was very limited. 
Access outside urban areas was minimal or nonexistent.
    The Government monitored Internet traffic in an attempt to control 
antigovernment reports by anonymous bloggers. In January the Prime 
Minister's Office directed the Suva City Council to suspend 20 
employees accused of antigovernment blogging activities. In February 
the council terminated the contracts of 12 of the suspended employees 
for alleged antigovernment activity. Although the Government did not 
cite a specific legal authority for the directive, it has the power 
under the Local Government Act to give directions to municipal councils 
under certain circumstances.
    From July 1-2, police detained and questioned Richard Naidu, news 
editor of the online news Web site FijiLive, after the site reported 
that then police commissioner Esala Teleni had been suspended from his 
position. The Web site also was closed down for several hours. Naidu 
was not charged, nor was he compensated for the detention. (Teleni 
resigned his position in September.)
    In July the Government promulgated a decree requiring all telephone 
users to register their personal details with telephone and Internet 
providers, including their name, birth date, home address, and 
photographic identification. The decree imposes fines of up to 
F$100,000 (approximately $50,000) on providers who continue to provide 
services to unregistered users and up to F$10,000 (approximately 
$5,000) on users who do not update their registration information as 
required under the decree. Vodafone, one of two mobile telephone 
providers, went beyond the decree requirements and required users to 
register their nationality, postal address, employment details, and 
both thumbprints.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--Academic freedom was 
generally respected; however, government work-permit stipulations 
prohibit foreigners from participating in domestic politics. University 
of the South Pacific contract regulations effectively restrict most 
university employees from running for or holding public office or 
holding an official position with any political party.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The abrogated constitution provides for freedom of assembly, 
but since the 2006 coup, the Government has interfered with this right 
in practice. The PER allow the Government to refuse applications for 
permits for marches and meetings sought by antigovernment political 
parties and NGOs, and to regulate--including by use of such force as 
deemed necessary--the use of any public place by three or more persons. 
Under the PER police and military officers also may enter any public or 
private premises to break up any meeting or assembly deemed unlawful. 
Although some civic organizations were granted permits to assemble, 
permits for all political demonstrations and marches were denied. The 
Government also refused a permit for the Methodist Church, which 
historically has been associated with ethnic Fijian nationalism, to 
hold its annual three-day conference during the year and for its 52 
divisions to hold their quarterly meetings. In December the Government 
notified the church that its divisions could resume holding quarterly 
meetings and that it would be permitted to hold an annual conference in 
2011, but restricted to one day in length.
    On January 17, police halted a stress management meeting of the 
Fiji Human Resources Institute for being held without a valid permit. 
On May 5, police halted the general meeting of the Van and Carrier 
Association on the same grounds; its executives were questioned but 
were released without charge.
    On October 1, police detained former prime minister Mahendra 
Chaudhry and five associates for allegedly holding a ``political 
meeting'' without a permit in breach of the PER. On October 4, a 
magistrate granted them release on bail. Chaudhry applied for the 
recusal of the judge appointed to hear the case and for the appointment 
of a foreign-national judge; in November the High Court refused both 
requests. At year's end Chaudhry and his associates remained free on 
bail and their case was scheduled to be heard in 2011.
    On December 9, one day before a scheduled Human Rights Day march by 
the Fiji NGO Coalition for Human Rights, the Government canceled the 
march permit, citing concern that the demonstrators could become 
unruly.

    Freedom of Association.--The abrogated constitution provided for 
freedom of association. Since the constitution's abrogation, no decree 
provides for this right. During the year the Government did not 
restrict persons from joining NGOs, professional associations, or other 
private organizations, but some were not permitted to hold meetings 
with their members. In July members of the civil service were 
prohibited from joining a training program run by Leadership Fiji, a 
prominent NGO, and from giving a talk to any training program run by 
Leadership Fiji, ostensibly because a former judge whose appointment 
was terminated by the Government following the abrogation of the 
constitution was invited by the NGO to speak at the training program.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The abrogated constitution provides 
for freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, 
and repatriation, but the Government frequently restricted or denied 
these rights in practice. The PER authorize the Government to prohibit, 
restrict, or regulate movement of persons.
    The Government maintained a list of persons banned from leaving the 
country, including human rights activists and lawyers. Names on the 
list were not made public; would-be travelers discovered their 
inclusion when they were turned back by airport immigration 
authorities.
    The Government continued to limit the travel of government critics 
and deport noncitizen critics. Former prime minister Laisenia Qarase, 
who was charged in 2008 with abuse of office, continued to be subject 
to strict bail conditions prohibiting him from traveling out of the 
country, on the grounds that such travel would pose a ``threat to 
national security.'' At year's end the case remained pending.
    Until September the ability of lawyer and regime critic Imrana 
Jalal to travel out of the country was limited after she was charged on 
January 1 with offenses relating to a business operated by her husband. 
In September the travel restrictions were lifted after a High Court 
judge stayed all charges against her (see section 4). Jalal 
subsequently left the country.
    In January Fijian-born foreign citizen Padma Lal, wife of Fijian-
born foreign citizen and regime critic Brij Lal, who was deported in 
November 2009, was refused entry into Fiji and deported.
    The Government provided nominal cooperation with the Office of the 
UN High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it 
during the year.

    Protection of Refugees.--In 2008 the Government published a notice 
authorizing the entry into force of refugee-related provisions of the 
2003 Immigration Act. However, by year's end the Government had not 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. The 
Government does not have an established procedure for providing 
protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries 
where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their 
race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, 
or political opinion, but no such cases were known to have arisen 
during the year.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    Although the abrogated constitution provides citizens the right to 
change their government peacefully, citizens did not have this right in 
practice. The country continued to be ruled by a military-dominated 
government following the 2006 military overthrow of the popularly 
elected government, and at year's end Parliament, the 12 elected 
municipal councils, and the Great Council of Chiefs remained suspended. 
The office of the vice president, vacant since August 2009, remained 
unfilled.

    Elections and Political Participation.--The most recent elections, 
held in 2006, were judged generally free and fair. Party politics was 
largely race based, although this did not limit participation in the 
political process. The governing Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL) 
party was primarily ethnic Fijian, and the Fiji Labour Party (FLP), the 
second-largest party, was primarily Indo-Fijian, although both had 
membership across racial lines. After the elections the SDL established 
a multiparty cabinet with the FLP as required by the constitution. This 
government was removed by the RFMF under Bainimarama's leadership 
during the 2006 coup.
    In April 2009, when the Court of Appeal ruled that the coup and the 
appointment of Bainimarama's government were unlawful, Bainimarama 
resigned the position of prime minister; the president reappointed him 
the next day after abrogating the constitution. At year's end the PER 
continued in force, and the Government continued to rule by decree. 
Bainimarama has declared that political reforms are necessary before 
elections can resume and repeatedly postponed national elections. The 
Government had stated that elections (previously promised for 2009) 
would be held in 2014. In July, however, Bainimarama announced that 
elections could be delayed beyond 2014 because of continued opposition 
to his government's reform program. He stated that persons around the 
country had implored him to cancel the elections.
    There was one woman in the 11-member cabinet. Women played 
important roles in the traditional system of chiefs and some were 
chiefs in their own right. The Government's suspension of the Great 
Council of Chiefs removed one forum where women exercised political 
influence.
    At year's end there were two Indo-Fijian ministers in the cabinet 
and no other minority ministers. Indo-Fijians, who accounted for 37 
percent of the population, continued to be underrepresented at senior 
levels of the civil service and greatly so in the military. Indo-
Fijians comprised approximately 35 percent of the civil service 
overall. The ``disciplined services''--the military, police, and prison 
services--were predominantly ethnic Fijian.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, corruption, including within the civil service, has been a 
significant problem for post-independence governments, and officials 
frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.
    Despite measures by the Government during the year to combat 
corruption within the bureaucracy, systemic corruption continued. In 
the absence of parliamentary oversight and other checks and balances, 
much government decision making was not transparent. The media 
published articles on the reports and conclusions of the Government-
appointed Public Accounts Committee and reports of FICAC investigations 
on abuse of office, but the Government censored independent media 
reporting on some government corruption. In 2008 the auditor general 
announced that in the absence of a sitting Parliament, audit reports 
would be submitted to the cabinet and would not be made public. This 
practice continued during the year. The cabinet referred such reports 
to the Public Accounts Committee for review.
    Public officials are not subject to financial disclosure laws. 
FICAC is the primary body responsible for combating government 
corruption.
    In December 2009 FICAC charged Ratu Sakiusa Tuisolia, a critic of 
the Government and the husband of human rights lawyer Imrana Jalal, 
with offenses related to operation of a restaurant without a business 
license, normally a misdemeanor adjudicated by municipal authorities 
with a F$20 (approximately ($10) fine. Jalal was charged with the same 
offenses on January 1. Tuisolia and Jalal maintained that businesses in 
Suva typically operated while waiting for license issuance, and that 
the FICAC charges were politically motivated. In July the High Court 
issued a stay order on all seven charges against Jalal; a prosecution 
appeal of the order was pending at year's end. On October 6, Tuisolia 
was tried on charges relating to alleged abuse of the company credit 
card of Airports Fiji, of which he was chief executive officer from 
2003-06. He was acquitted on those charges. The charges relating to his 
business license were still pending at year's end.
    The corruption case of former prime minister Qarase remained 
pending at year's end, and Qarase remained free under strict bail 
conditions.
    Although the abrogated constitution instructed Parliament to enact 
a freedom of information law as soon as practicable, no such law has 
been enacted. The Government was frequently unresponsive to public 
requests for government information. A 2008 amendment to the FICAC 
decree allows FICAC to prosecute the offense of ``misconduct in public 
office.'' The amendment gives FICAC authority to prosecute civil 
servants who divulge confidential government information to others 
without authorization.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    The Government continued to scrutinize the operations of local and 
international NGOs, engendering a climate of uncertainty within the NGO 
community. Most NGOs practiced varying degrees of self-censorship. 
Government officials were only cooperative and responsive to the views 
of NGOs that avoided criticizing the 2006 coup and the Government.
    There were several NGOs that concentrated on a variety of local 
human rights causes, such as the Citizens' Constitutional Forum, the 
Fiji Women's Rights Movement, and the Fiji Women's Crisis Center.
    On January 4, the military's land force commander issued a warning 
to NGOs and critics to cooperate with the Government. In February the 
military commander and prime minister warned two prominent NGO 
activists, Virisila Buadromo of the Fiji Women's Rights Movement and 
Reverend Akuila Yabaki of the Citizens Constitutional Forum, against 
making statements on the independence of the judiciary. The two had 
reported on the subject to the UN universal periodic review of the 
country's human rights situation.
    NGOs were constrained in their operations by the February Crimes 
Decree, which includes in the definition of sedition criticism of the 
Government, and the June Media Decree, which requires all publications 
to be vetted by the Ministry of Information (see section 2.a.). NGOs 
may apply to the attorney general for exemptions to this requirement, 
but prominent NGOs confirmed that processing of their applications for 
such exemptions remained pending at year's end. Although the FHRC was 
reestablished by decree after the abrogation of the constitution, it 
was not authorized to investigate complaints against the abrogation, 
other actions of the Government, or the 2006 coup.
    The ICRC continued to operate in the country. A number of UN 
organizations concerned with human rights had regional offices in the 
country and sought to work with the Government on various human rights 
issues.
    The country remained suspended from the Commonwealth of Nations and 
the major regional organization Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), in 
response to Bainimarama's failure to address expectations ``to return 
Fiji to democratic governance in an acceptable time-frame,'' in 
addition to other concerns, including human rights violations, 
expressed in statements by the PIF and the Commonwealth.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, sex, place 
of origin, ethnicity, sexual orientation, color, primary language, 
economic status, age, or disability. The Government generally enforced 
these provisions effectively, although there were problems in some 
areas. After the constitution's abrogation, only the 2007 Employment 
Relations Promulgation (ERP), which came into force in 2008, had 
similar provisions, but these are limited to workers and industrial 
relations matters.

    Women.--Rape, domestic abuse, incest, and indecent assault were 
significant problems. The Crimes Decree provides for a maximum 
punishment of life imprisonment for rape; however, prior to the 
promulgation of the Crimes Decree in February, most rapes were 
prosecuted in the magistrates' courts, which have a sentencing limit of 
10 years. There were inconsistencies in the sentences imposed for rape 
by different magistrates; sentences generally ranged from one to six 
years' imprisonment. The Domestic Violence Decree, which also came into 
force in February, recognizes spousal rape as a specific offense. The 
NGOs Fiji Women's Rights Movement and Fiji Women's Crisis Center 
pressed for more consistent and severe punishments for rape.
    The Domestic Violence Decree created a specific domestic violence 
offense. Police claimed to practice a ``no-drop'' policy, under which 
they pursued investigations of domestic violence cases even if a victim 
later withdrew her accusation. However, women's organizations reported 
that police were not always consistent in their observance of this 
policy. Courts dismissed some cases of domestic abuse and incest or 
gave the perpetrators light sentences. Incest was widely believed to be 
underreported. Traditional and religious practices of reconciliation 
between aggrieved parties in both ethnic Fijian and Indo-Fijian 
communities were sometimes taken into account to mitigate sentences in 
domestic violence cases, and in many cases offenders were released 
without a conviction on the condition they maintain good behavior, 
rather than jailed. An active women's rights movement sought to raise 
public awareness of domestic violence.
    Four women's crisis centers funded by foreign governments operated 
in the country. The centers offered counseling and assistance to women 
in cases of domestic violence, rape, and other problems, such as lack 
of child support.
    Sex tourism is prohibited by law but reportedly occurred, 
particularly in tourist centers such as Nadi and Savusavu, including 
cases involving children. Taxi drivers, hoteliers, bar workers, and 
others reportedly acted as middlemen, facilitating the commercial 
sexual exploitation of children.
    The Human Rights Commission Act specifically prohibits sexual 
harassment, and criminal laws against ``indecent assaults on females'' 
prohibit offending the modesty of women and have been used to prosecute 
sexual harassment cases. Under the ERP sexual harassment in the 
workplace is a specific ground of complaint that can be filed by 
workers. The Ministry of Labor reported that one sexual harassment 
complaint filed with the Employment Relations Tribunal (ERT) under the 
ERP in a prior year was withdrawn during the year. Two other sexual 
harassment complaints were filed during the year and were pending 
before the ERT at year's end.
    In response to various complaints in 2009 from some indigenous 
village provincial councils about a purported breakdown of order in 
villages, during the year the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs drafted a 
model village by-law addressing issues raised by the councils, 
including women's dress. The draft model by-law included a prohibition 
on wearing of shorts, T-shirts, and long hair by women. The ministry 
distributed the draft to villages around the country for further 
discussion. However, some of the 1,170 registered indigenous village 
communities used the draft as an ostensibly legal basis for enforcing a 
customary dress code on women, including in some villages a requirement 
that women and girls wear ankle-length skirts. In some villages this 
resulted in cases of assaults by village headmen of young girls found 
wearing shorts.
    Couples and individuals generally have the right to decide freely 
the number, spacing, and timing of their children. The Government 
provided family planning services, and women had access to 
contraceptives free of charge at public hospitals and clinics, and for 
a nominal charge if prescribed by a private physician. According to 
indicators published by the Population Research Bureau (PRB), an 
estimated 40 percent of married women ages 15-49 used modern 
contraceptive methods. Unmarried and young women generally were 
discouraged from undergoing tubal ligation for birth control, and 
public hospitals, especially in rural areas, often refused to perform 
the operation on unmarried women who requested it. Nurses and doctors 
often required the husband's consent before carrying out the operation 
on a married woman, although there is no legal requirement for such 
consent. Most women gave birth in hospitals, where skilled attendance 
at birth and essential prenatal, obstetric, and postpartum care were 
available. According to PRB indicators, skilled health personnel 
attended an estimated 99 percent of births. According to a UN report 
entitled Trends in Maternal Mortality: 1990 to 2008, the estimated 
maternal mortality ratio was 26 deaths per 100,000 live births. Women 
had equal access to diagnosis and treatment for sexually transmitted 
infections, including HIV.
    Women have full rights of property ownership and inheritance 
rights, but in practice often were excluded from the decision-making 
process on disposition of communal land, which constituted more than 80 
percent of all land. Many women were successful entrepreneurs. Other 
than a prohibition on working in mines, there were no legal limitations 
on the employment of women. The ERP prohibits discrimination on the 
basis of sex. In practice, however, women generally were paid less than 
men for similar work. According to the Asian Development Bank, 
approximately 30 percent of the economically active female population 
was engaged in the formal economy, and a large proportion of these 
women worked in semisubsistence employment or were self-employed.
    The Ministry for Women worked to promote women's legal rights.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived both by birth within the country 
and through one's parents.
    School is mandatory until age 15, but the inability of some 
families to pay for uniforms, school fees, and bus fares limited 
attendance for some children.
    Corporal punishment was common both in homes and in schools, 
despite a Ministry of Education policy forbidding it in the classroom. 
Increasing urbanization, overcrowding, and the breakdown of traditional 
community and extended family-based structures led to an increasing 
incidence of child abuse and appeared to be factors that increased a 
child's chance of being exploited for commercial sex.
    The Court of Appeal has ruled that 10 years is the minimum 
appropriate sentence in child rape cases; however, in such cases police 
often charged defendants with ``defilement'' rather than rape, because 
defilement is easier to prove in court. Defilement or unlawful carnal 
knowledge of a child under 13 years of age has a maximum penalty of 
life imprisonment, while the maximum penalty for defilement of a child 
between 13 and 15 years or of an intellectually impaired person is 10 
years' imprisonment. Women's NGOs have complained that magistrates 
imposed shorter sentences, from two to eight years, in child defilement 
cases.
    The legal age for marriage is 18, although children between 16 
and18 years of age can marry with parental consent. Some NGOs reported 
that child marriage was a problem, especially in rural areas, where 
girls often married at age 16, preventing them from completing their 
secondary school education. In indigenous villages girls under age 16 
who became pregnant could begin to live as common-law wives with their 
child's father after the men presented traditional apologies to the 
girls' families, thereby avoiding the filing of a complaint to police 
by the families. The girls frequently married the fathers as soon as 
legally permissible, at age 16.
    Child prostitution was reported among high school students and 
homeless and jobless youth. Commercial sexual exploitation of children 
continued to occur during the year. Under the Crimes Decree, commercial 
sexual exploitation of children is an indictable offense that must be 
tried in the High Court. The decree makes it an offense for any person 
to buy or hire a child under 18 years of age for sex, prostitution, or 
other unlawful purpose, punishable by imprisonment for up to 12 years. 
It is also an offense for a householder or innkeeper to allow 
commercial sexual exploitation of children in his or her premises, but 
there were no prosecutions or convictions for these offenses during the 
year.
    The minimum age for consensual sex is 16. The maximum penalty is 
life imprisonment in the case of a person who has sexual relations with 
a child under age 13, and 10 years' imprisonment in the case of a 
person who has sexual relations with a child between age 13 and age 15. 
In the latter case it is considered a sufficient defense to establish 
that the perpetrator had ``reasonable cause'' to believe the child was 
age 16 or older. Despite the maximum penalties provided for, 
magistrates have sometimes imposed sentences as low as two years' 
imprisonment in such cases.
    Child pornography is illegal under the Juveniles Act. The maximum 
penalty for violators is 14 years' imprisonment and/or a maximum fine 
of F$25,000 (approximately $12,500) for a first offense and life 
imprisonment and/or a fine of up to F$50,000 (approximately $25,000) 
for a repeat offense, and the confiscation of any equipment used in the 
commission of the offense. A child welfare decree promulgated in August 
requires mandatory reporting to police by teachers and health and 
social welfare workers of any incident of child abuse.
    Increasing poverty led to more children working as casual laborers, 
often with no safeguards against abuse or injury.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport-4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was no known Jewish community, and there were 
no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip

    Persons With Disabilities.--Under the constitution abrogated in 
2009, all persons are considered equal under the law, and 
discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, 
education, provision of housing and land, or provision of other state 
services is illegal. Since the constitution's abrogation, no new decree 
has addressed specifically the rights of persons with disabilities; 
however, existing statutes provide for the right of access to places 
and all modes of transport generally open to the public. Public health 
regulations provide penalties for noncompliance; however, there was 
very little enabling legislation on accessibility for persons with 
disabilities, and there was little or no enforcement of laws protecting 
them.
    Building regulations require new public buildings to be accessible 
to persons with disabilities, but only a few existing buildings met 
this requirement. Under the Health and Safety at Work Act, all new 
office spaces must be accessible to persons with disabilities. There 
were only a small number of disabled-accessible vehicles in the 
country. The Fiji Disabled People's Association, an NGO, reported that 
most persons with disabilities were unemployed due to lack of 
sufficient education and training and negative attitudes of employers. 
There were no programs to improve access to information and 
communications for persons with disabilities, and persons with 
disabilities, in particular persons with hearing or vision impairments, 
had difficulty accessing public information. There were a number of 
community organizations to assist those with disabilities, particularly 
children.
    Most persons with mental and intellectual disabilities were 
separated from society and typically were supported at home by their 
families. The September Mental Health Decree stipulates that treatment 
should be provided for persons with mental and intellectual 
disabilities in the community, public health, and general health 
systems. Institutionalization of persons with severe mental 
disabilities was in a single underfunded public facility in Suva. There 
were a number of special schools offering primary education for persons 
with physical, intellectual, and sensory disabilities; however, cost 
and location limited access. Opportunities for a secondary school 
education for those with disabilities were very limited.
    The Fiji National Council for Disabled Persons, a government-funded 
statutory body, worked to protect the rights of persons with 
disabilities. Several NGOs also promoted attention to the needs of 
persons with various disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Tension between ethnic Fijians 
and Indo-Fijians has been a longstanding problem. Indigenous Fijians 
make up 57 percent of the population, Indo-Fijians comprise 37 percent, 
and the remaining 6 percent is composed of Europeans, Chinese, and 
Rotuman and other Pacific Islander communities. The abrogated 
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,'' but a 
nonjusticiable compact in the constitution also cites the 
``paramountcy'' of Fijian interests as a guiding principle. The compact 
also provides for affirmative action and ``social justice'' programs to 
``secure effective equality'' for ethnic Fijians and Rotumans, ``as 
well as for other communities.'' The compact chiefly benefited the 
indigenous Fijian majority. Indigenous Fijians dominated the civil 
service, including senior positions.
    The Government publicly stated its opposition to such policies, 
which it characterized as racist, and called for the elimination of 
discriminatory laws and practices that favor one race over another; 
however, as of year's end, most remained in place. The Government's 
reform priorities, including reform of discriminatory laws and 
practices, were part of a political dialogue process with political 
parties that stalled and was not reconvened after the abrogation of the 
constitution.
    In an effort to address the sensitive question of ethnic and 
national identity, in April the Government decreed that the country's 
citizens would henceforth be known as ``Fijians,'' a term that 
previously was understood to refer only to the ethnic indigenous 
population. Ethnic Fiji Islanders would become known as ``I Taukei'' 
(literally, ``owners'' in the Fijian language). The decree requires 
that anywhere the word ``indigenous'' appears in the law and in 
government publications and communications, it is to be replaced by the 
term ``I Taukei.'' Some commentators, writing in blogs or overseas 
publications, observed that the lack of prior consultations with the 
indigenous community about the change and its promulgation by decree 
could complicate its implementation, given the historical opposition by 
indigenous Fijians to making ``Fijian'' the common name for all 
citizens. (The 1997 constitution used the term ``Fiji Islander'' to 
refer to all citizens.)
    Prior to the 2006 coup, most postindependence governments pursued a 
policy of political predominance for ethnic Fijians. Land tenure 
remained a highly sensitive and politicized issue. Ethnic Fijians 
communally held approximately 87 percent of all land, the Government 
held approximately 4 percent, and the remainder was freehold land, 
which private individuals or companies may hold.
    Ethnic Fijians' traditional beliefs, cultural values, and self-
identity are closely linked to the land. Most cash-crop farmers were 
Indo-Fijians, the majority of whom are descendants of indentured 
laborers who came to the country during the British colonial era. 
Virtually all Indo-Fijian farmers were obliged to lease land from 
ethnic Fijian landowners. Many Indo-Fijians believed that their very 
limited ability to own land and their consequent dependency on leased 
land from indigenous Fijians constituted de facto discrimination 
against them. A pattern of refusals by ethnic Fijian landowners to 
renew expiring leases continued to result in evictions of Indo-Fijians 
from their farms and their displacement to squatter settlements. Many 
indigenous Fijian landowners in turn believed that the rental formulas 
prescribed in the national land tenure legislation discriminated 
against them as the resource owners. This situation contributed 
significantly to communal tensions.
    On June 30, the Government promulgated the Land Use Decree to 
improve access to land. The decree establishes a ``land bank'' in the 
Ministry of Lands for the purpose of leasing land from indigenous 
landowning units through the Native Land Trust Board, which has the 
legal ownership of indigenous lands, and subleasing the land to 
individual tenants for lease periods of up to 99 years. The stated aim 
of the decree was to provide both equitable returns to landowners and 
greater security of land tenure for tenants compared to the previous 
legal framework contained in the Agricultural Landlord and Tenant Act 
(ALTA), under which leases could only run for 30 years. ALTA leases 
began expiring in 1997, leading to the eviction of many Indo-Fijian 
sugar cane farmers.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The abrogated constitution 
prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The 
preexisting Penal Code criminalized homosexual acts between males, but 
the judiciary held these provisions to be unconstitutional. The new 
Crimes Decree that came into force in February does not criminalize 
homosexual acts between consenting adults, and for the first time 
recognizes male-on-male rape as a crime. The ERP prohibits 
discrimination in employment based on sexual orientation.
    There was some societal discrimination against persons based on 
sexual orientation, although there was no systemic discrimination. 
There were no known cases of violence based on sexual orientation or 
gender identity.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There was some societal 
discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS, although it was not 
systemic. There were no known cases of violence targeting persons with 
HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The constitution and law protect the 
rights of workers to form and join unions, elect their own 
representatives, publicize their views on labor matters, and determine 
their own policies, but the authorities did not always respect all of 
these rights in practice. After the constitution was abrogated, and 
freedom of expression and assembly subsequently were restricted under 
the PER, unions reported considerable government interference with, and 
denial of, their right to organize.
    An estimated 31 percent of the wage-earning work force was 
unionized. The majority of unionized workers were employed in 
traditional key sectors of the economy, including the sugar industry, 
tourism, manufacturing, and the public sector. While some unions were 
ethnically based, most were not, and both Indo-Fijians and ethnic 
Fijians held leadership roles in the trade union movement.
    The ERP allows restrictions on the right of association if 
necessary in the public interest or to protect national security, and 
police, military, and prison personnel are prohibited from forming or 
joining a union.
    All unions must register with the Government, which has 
discretionary power to refuse to register any union with an 
``undesirable'' name, as well as to cancel registration of existing 
unions in cases provided for by law. The ERP gives unions the right to 
appeal to the ERT against an adverse decision by the trade union 
registrar. Major trade unions reported instances of the Government 
using the ERT in a biased fashion to shut down negotiations and 
appeals.
    In February the Fiji Sugar Corporation ceased the so-called check-
off facility (direct deduction of union dues) for two registered 
unions: the national farmers' union (Kisan Sangh) and the Fiji Cane 
Growers' Association. As of year's end, this check-off facility had not 
been reinstated.
    On February 17, military personnel detained Attar Singh, a 
prominent unionist and official of the National Federation Party (NFP). 
He was questioned and instructed to stop holding informal meetings at 
the NFP office.
    In October soldiers were deployed at three sugar mills; the 
Government cited suspected union sabotage, claimed by the Government to 
have affected the efficiency of the mills.
    The law provides for the limited right to strike, except that 
police, military, and prison personnel may not strike. Unions can 
conduct secret strike ballots, but must give the registrar 21 days' 
notice. More than 50 percent of all paid-up union members--not only 
paid-up members who actually cast ballots in the election--must vote in 
favor of a strike in order for the strike to be legal; the 
International Trade Union Confederation criticized this provision as 
too restrictive. The Ministry of Labor also must be notified 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. To carry out a legal strike, organizers of 
strikes in certain ``essential services''--including emergency, health, 
fire, sanitary, electrical, water, and meteorological services; 
telecommunications; air traffic control; and fuel supply and 
distribution--must give an employer an additional 28 days' notice.
    The ERP also permits the minister of labor to declare a strike 
unlawful and refer the dispute to the ERT; in these circumstances 
workers and strike leaders can face criminal charges if they persist in 
strike action after the referral.
    In January unionist Pramod Rae was visited at home by military 
officers and warned against organizing a strike during negotiations 
with the Bank of Baroda.
    There were no strikes during the year.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Workers have 
the right to organize and bargain collectively. However, wage 
negotiations generally were conducted at the level of individual 
companies rather than industry wide.
    Under the ERP any trade union with six or more members may enter 
into collective bargaining with an employer. The ERP allows individual 
employees, including nonunionized workers, as well as unions to bring a 
dispute with employers before the permanent secretary for labor for 
mediation. Individuals, employers, and unions on behalf of their 
members may submit employment disputes and grievances alleging 
discrimination, unfair dismissal, sexual harassment, or certain other 
unfair labor practices to the Ministry of Labor. If mediation fails, 
the authorities may refer the dispute to the ERT; the ERT's decision 
can be appealed to the Employment Court (a division of the High Court) 
and from there to the Court of Appeal.
    Since the constitution was abrogated, unions reported that the 
Government used the mediation process to punish unions deemed 
insufficiently cooperative with government policies, interrupting the 
collective bargaining process, interfering with mediation, and denying 
appeals for unrelated political reasons.
    While not promoted by the ERP, individual contracts were common. 
Employers tended to offer advantageous packages to new employees, 
particularly skilled labor, to promote individual contracts, which 
according to labor groups reduced the possibilities for collective 
bargaining and weakened unions. Under the former Compulsory Recognition 
Act, only unions with 30 percent workforce membership could negotiate 
with an employer. However, the ERP allows any six individual employees 
to form a union and start negotiating with an employer--another 
provision seen by existing unions as weakening worker unity and hence 
bargaining power.
    Under the ERP it is an offense for an employer to victimize any 
worker or make it a condition of employment for a worker not to belong 
to a union, but union organizers were occasionally vulnerable to 
dismissal or to other interference by employers, particularly when 
operating on company premises.
    Export processing zones (EPZs) are subject to the same laws as the 
rest of the country. Labor groups reported continuing difficulties 
organizing workers in the EPZs, however, due to fear of employer 
reprisals. With the decline of the garment industry in the country, the 
number of workers employed in the EPZs also declined significantly.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The ERP prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, but there were reports that such practices 
occurred. The Labor Inspectorate is responsible for enforcing the law, 
but did not have sufficient inspectors for full enforcement.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Enforcement of existing child labor regulations was inadequate and 
failed to protect children fully from workplace exploitation. Under the 
law children under age 12 may not be employed except in a family-owned 
business or agricultural enterprise; any such employment must not 
interfere with school attendance and is to be of limited duration. 
Although the law provides that education is compulsory up to age 15, 
children between ages 12 and 15 may be employed on a daily wage basis 
in nonindustrial ``light'' work not involving machinery, provided they 
return to their parents or guardian every night. Persons between ages 
15 and 17 may be employed in certain occupations not involving heavy 
machinery, hazardous materials, mines, or heavy physical labor; 
however, they must be given specified hours and rest breaks.
    The Ministry of Labor deployed inspectors nationwide to enforce 
compliance with labor laws, including those covering child labor. 
However, there was no comprehensive government policy to eliminate the 
worst forms of child labor. 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 
prostitutes. Children as young as age 11 worked as full-time laborers 
in the sugar cane industry. Children also worked in the production of 
other agricultural products, including coconuts and root vegetables.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There was no single, national 
minimum wage, although the Wages Councils, comprising representatives 
of both workers and employers, set minimum wages for certain sectors. 
On July 1, minimum wage increases went into effect in nine industrial 
sectors; however, minimum wage levels did not provide a decent standard 
of living for a worker and family. Entry-level wages in unregulated 
sectors, especially service industries, provided a sparse standard of 
living for a worker and family. The Labor Ministry enforced minimum 
wages through its Labor Inspectorate; however, the inspectorate did not 
have sufficient inspectors to fully enforce the law. The ERT and the 
Employment Court adjudicate cases of employers charged by the Labor 
Inspectorate with violating minimum wage orders.
    There is no single national limitation on maximum working hours for 
adults; however, there are restrictions and overtime provisions in 
certain sectors. Workers in some industries, notably transportation and 
shipping, worked excessive hours.
    There are workplace safety laws and regulations, and a worker's 
compensation act. The Occupational Health and Safety Inspectorate in 
the Ministry of Labor monitors workplaces and equipment and 
investigates complaints from workers. Safety standards apply equally to 
citizens and foreign workers; however, government enforcement suffered 
from a lack of trained personnel and delays in compensation hearings 
and rulings. Unions generally monitored safety standards in organized 
workplaces, but many work areas did not meet standards, and not all 
were monitored by the Ministry of Labor for compliance. The law accords 
employees the right to remove themselves from a hazardous worksite 
without jeopardizing their employment, but most feared the loss of 
their jobs if they did so. Although mines are excluded from the Health 
and Safety at Work Act, the Mining Act empowers the director of mines 
and his inspectors to enter and inspect all mines with a view to the 
health, safety and welfare of the employees.

                               __________

                               INDONESIA

    Indonesia is a multiparty democracy with a population of 
approximately 237 million. In July 2009 Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was 
reelected president in free and fair elections. Domestic and 
international observers judged the April 2009 legislative elections 
generally free and fair as well. Security forces reported to civilian 
authorities, although the fact the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) 
continued to be partly self-financed had the potential to weaken this 
control.
    Human rights problems during the year included: occasional 
incidents, primarily in Papua and West Papua Provinces, of arbitrary 
and unlawful killings by security forces; vigilantism; sometimes harsh 
prison conditions; impunity for some officials; official corruption, 
including in the judicial system; some narrow and specific limitations 
on freedom of expression; societal abuse against religious groups and 
interference with freedom of religion sometimes with the complicity of 
local officials; trafficking in persons; child labor; and failure to 
enforce labor standards and 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.--The Government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings; however, 
security force personnel killed a number of alleged criminals and 
terrorists in the course of apprehending them.
    On August 30, Kasmir Timumun died in police custody in Buol, 
Central Sulawesi, following his arrest for illegally racing a 
motorcycle. Police reported that Timumun committed suicide, but 
credible nongovernmental organization (NGO) sources reported that his 
body bore evidence of abuse. On August 31, a crowd of as many as 3,000 
persons attacked the police station with rocks and Molotov cocktails. 
Police killed eight of the protesters. Nineteen police were injured 
during the riot. At the end of the year, police had named three 
officers as suspects in the death of Timumun. Results of an autopsy of 
Timumun were not publicly available at the end of the year.
    The police continued vigorous action against accused terrorists. As 
of September 28, security forces shot and killed at least 17 terrorist 
suspects in exchanges of gunfire. Approximately 120 suspects were 
detained. Eleven police were shot and killed and 12 were injured in 
these exchanges.
    On September 22, 12 heavily armed men on motorcycles attacked a 
subdistrict police station in Hamparan Perak, North Sumatra, and killed 
three police officers. The attack was believed to be retaliation for 
police antiterrorist actions.
    Violence affected the provinces of Papua and West Papua during the 
year. Due to the remoteness of the area it was difficult to confirm 
reports villages were burned and scores of civilians killed. Much of 
this violence was connected to the Free Papua Movement (OPM) and 
security force operations against OPM. For example, on February 15, 
unidentified gunmen shot and killed Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) 
member Sahrul Mahulau. On April 13, gunmen reportedly affiliated with 
OPM killed three construction workers in the Mewulok District of Puncak 
Jaya.
    The confusion around events in the provinces of Papua and West 
Papua was illustrated in the apparent killing in Puncak Jaya Regency of 
Pastor Kindeman Gire. In October a commissioner of the National Human 
Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) said that the commission was opening an 
investigation into Kindeman's death. Other sources have alleged 
Kindeman was shot and killed in March. At year's end it was agreed that 
Kindeman was killed, but the manner and perpetrators were uncertain.
    On May 17, security forces shot and killed OPM leader Werius 
Telenggen and OPM member Yarton Enumbi in Yambi village, Puncak Jaya, 
Papua.
    A group of gunmen in Puncak Jaya shot and killed Brimob member Agus 
Suhendra on June 14. On August 4, unidentified gunmen shot and killed 
Atril Wahidin, a former driver for the head of Mewulok District.
    On September 14, members of Brimob in Manokwari, West Papua, shot 
and killed Naftali Kwan and Septinus Kwan during a riot sparked by a 
traffic accident. On September 24, 11 Brimob officers were sanctioned 
in connection with the shooting. Four received 21 days in custody, the 
other seven received 14 days.
    On November 28, five persons shot and killed one civilian and 
wounded six others in Nafri, Jayapura District. All of the victims were 
non-Papuan Indonesians.
    In addition to killings by security forces and OPM, there were a 
number of violent incidents, including some killings by unknown parties 
in Papua and West Papua.
    On April 14, three members of the Jakarta Public Order Agency were 
killed in rioting near the Jakarta port, Tanjung Priok. The mob 
reportedly believed it was protecting the tomb of an 18th century 
religious leader.
    In April 2009 the North Jakarta police beat and shot Bayu Putra 
Perdana while he was in custody. According to a hospital autopsy, Bayu 
died as a result of torture. In response to Bayu's death, an ethics and 
administrative police committee sentenced two police personnel to 14 
days detention, demotion, and an official reprimand.
    In August 2009 members of Brimob killed tribal leader and former 
political prisoner Yawan Wayeni at his house in Mantembu village, Yapen 
Island, Papua. In May video footage of Wayeni's death appeared on the 
Internet. The video showed the police taunting and providing no 
assistance to Wayeni as he was dying, but does not show events leading 
up to his death. Police sources claimed Wayeni was armed with a home-
made weapon, while Papuan activists claimed that he was unarmed.
    No further information was available regarding the 2009 deaths of 
Mika Boma, Abet Nego Keiya, Melkia Agape, Fauzi Bin Syarifuddin, or 
Kelly Kwalik.
    In 2008 the South Jakarta District Court acquitted retired army 
general Muchdi Purwoprandjono on charges of planning the 2004 murder of 
human rights activist Munir Said Thalib. In July 2009 the Supreme Court 
upheld the acquittal and remanded the case to the district court. In 
2009 the Attorney General's Office (AGO) stated it intended to file a 
motion requesting the Supreme Court to ``review'' the ruling but had 
not done so by year's end. Under the law the AGO must present new 
evidence or identify judicial inconsistencies in the original ruling 
for the review to be granted. The case was also under review by the 
Judicial Commission, a judicial oversight body.
    In January 2009 an appeals court overturned a lower-court acquittal 
of Rohainil Aini as an accomplice in Munir's murder and sentenced her 
to one year in prison. However, at year's end Aini had not started 
serving her sentence.

    b. Disappearance.--The Government reported little progress in 
accounting for persons who disappeared in previous years or in 
prosecuting those responsible for such disappearances. The criminal 
code does not specifically criminalize disappearance.
    In September 2009 the House of Representatives (DPR) approved the 
formation of an ad hoc court to pursue investigations of and possible 
prosecutions for the 1998 abductions of prodemocracy activists. By 
year's end the Government had not established this ad hoc court.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution states that every person shall have the 
right to be free from torture, inhuman, and degrading treatment. The 
law criminalizes the use of violence or force by officials to elicit a 
confession, punishable by up to four years in prison, but the criminal 
code does not specifically criminalize torture. In previous years law 
enforcement officials widely ignored and were rarely tried under this 
statute. The Government made some efforts to hold members of the 
security forces responsible for acts of torture. In 2007 the UN special 
rapporteur on torture reported evidence of torture in many police 
detention facilities in Java. The special rapporteur reported that 
torture was common in certain jails and used to obtain confessions, 
punish suspects, and seek information that incriminated others in 
criminal activity. Torture typically occurred soon after detention. 
There were reports detainees were beaten with fists, sticks, cables, 
iron bars, and hammers. Some detainees reportedly were shot in the legs 
at close range, subjected to electric shock, burned, or had heavy 
implements placed on their feet.
    From January to September, Komnas HAM received 708 complaints of 
human rights violations against the National Police.
    Abuse of detainees in Papua came under heightened scrutiny when, on 
October 16, a graphic video was posted on YouTube that showed several 
TNI personnel threatening one detainee, Telangga Gire, with a knife to 
the throat and applying a smoldering stick to the genitals of another 
detainee, Tunaliwor Kiwo. This was believed to have taken place on May 
30 during a military operation in the Puncak Jaya region of Papua. 
Subsequently, this video was conflated with another incident in March, 
also captured on video, in which four TNI personnel beat and kicked 
several Papuan detainees. The four TNI personnel implicated in this 
latter incident, Second Lieutenant Cosmos, Private First Class Sahminan 
Lubis, Private Joko Sulistiono, and Private Dwi Purwanto, were court-
martialed and sentenced to five to seven months' imprisonment for 
disobeying orders, exceeding orders, and encouraging others to do so. 
At year's end an investigation into the May 30 video apparently was 
underway.
    Human rights activists and relatives of the detainees reported at 
least some of the 22 Republic of South Maluku (RMS) activists detained 
in early August were beaten (see section 2.a.).
    On September 23, three military personnel from the 742nd Infantry 
Battalion/Satya Wira Yudha-Mataram allegedly assaulted a priest, Beatus 
Ninu, in Kupang Regency, after the priest asked the soldiers to quiet 
down. After an investigation, the case was passed to a military court 
for prosecution.
    In December 2009 four Depok police officers detained J.J. Rizal for 
possible drug use and accused him of being a pickpocket. The officers 
abused Rizal, who suffered a cut lip, two contusions on his head, a 
bruised jaw, and ringing in the ears. On March 3, the officers were 
convicted and each sentenced to three months' imprisonment.
    In December 2009 a civilian, accompanied by police officers from 
the Criminal Investigations Division of the Maluku Regional Police, 
reportedly beat Aan (one name only) while interrogating him in Jakarta. 
No information was available regarding action by the police Internal 
Disciplinary Unit.
    There were numerous reports of alleged police abuse of prisoners 
throughout the year.
    No further information was available regarding the cases of 
Carmadi, Monika Zonggonau, or Kiten Tabuni.
    Between January and October in Aceh, 39 persons were caned publicly 
for violating Sharia laws dealing with gambling, adultery, consuming 
alcohol, and for selling food during the fasting month of Ramadan. 
Unlike in previous years, there were no reported cases of caning for 
being alone with persons of the opposite sex.
    On July 15, the Langsa District Court in East Aceh District 
sentenced Muhammad Nazir and Feri Agus, Sharia Police members, to eight 
years in prison for the rape and torture of a 20-year-old female 
student while she was in custody.
    On October 1, authorities in Jantho, Aceh Besar, publicly caned 
Murni binti Amris and Rukiah binti Abdullah for selling cooked rice 
during the day during the month of Ramadan.
    On August 27, Muchtar bin Ibrahim was indicted under the antiterror 
law for the November 2009 shooting of a German Red Cross official in 
Aceh.
    Mobs carried out vigilante justice, but reliable statistics on such 
actions were not available. There were instances in which police failed 
to respond to such violence, which was often triggered by thefts or 
perceived thefts.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Conditions at the 
country's 642 prisons and detention centers were sometimes harsh. 
Overcrowding was widespread. In Jakarta, occupancy frequently was two 
to three times more than recommended capacity. According to the 
Government, the Pondok Bambu Detention Facility in Jakarta, designed 
for 500 prisoners, held 1,172. The facility has two types of cells, 
small and large. A small cell is approximately nine square yards and 
designed for one to two prisoners. According to NGOs, three to five 
prisoners were assigned to small cells. Authorities routinely assigned 
20 to 30 prisoners to large cells designed to hold a maximum of 10 
prisoners.
    According to a team of international visitors that visited a number 
of prisons in August, all facilities had abundant outdoor and multi-use 
space that appeared to be underused. Prisoners were provided with food, 
potable water, and basic medical care. Conditions of confinement and 
treatment of prisoners in the facilities visited appeared to comply 
with the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.
    NGOs noted authorities sometimes did not provide prisoners adequate 
medical care. According to Ministry of Justice and Human Rights 
officials, the medical budget for some prisons is as low as 14,500 
rupiah ($1.65) per prisoner. Filep Karma, a prisoner in Abepura prison, 
received needed medical care in Jakarta on July 19, after waiting since 
August 2009. Advocates for Ferdinand Pakage, another prisoner in Papua, 
continued to raise funds so that he could receive needed eye treatment. 
Yusuf Sipakoly, a prisoner associated with the RMS separatist movement, 
died in custody on September 14, in Ambon, Maluku. Sipakoly reportedly 
did not receive sufficient care for a kidney condition.
    Guards regularly extorted money from and mistreated inmates. There 
were widespread reports the Government did not supply sufficient food 
to inmates, and family members often brought food to supplement their 
relatives' diets. Family members reported prison officials often sought 
bribes to allow relatives to visit inmates. Officials held unruly 
detainees in solitary confinement for up to six days on a rice-and-
water diet. According to government figures, 842 prisoners died during 
the year, compared with 778 in 2009.
    In November 2009 detained Papuan activist Buchtar Tabuni was beaten 
at Abepura Class II Penitentiary, sparking riots involving protesters 
both inside and outside the prison the next day. The authorities 
implicated and detained three TNI personnel and a police officer for 
allegedly beating Buchtar. In a separate case, Buchtar was moved from 
Abepura Penitentiary to a police detention center on December 3 and 
charged with fomenting a prison riot.
    According to The International Centre for Prison Studies, prison 
capacity was designed for 76,550 inmates; however, there were more than 
140,000 prisoners, including approximately 2,500 juveniles and 11,000 
women. There are six women-only prisons in the country, including five 
in Java and one in North Sumatra. According to the Directorate General 
for Corrections, as of March there were 2,609 juvenile detainees and 
2,589 juvenile prisoners.
    Lack of prison capacity, limited number of personnel, and poor 
prison conditions were found throughout the East Java prison system. 
Total provincial prison capacity was designed for 10,000 inmates; there 
were more than 16,000 inmates. In Medaeng Prison in Surabaya, there 
were more than 1,600 inmates, although the prison's designed capacity 
is for 500 inmates.
    By law children convicted of serious crimes should serve their 
sentences in juvenile prisons. However, according to a 2007 statement 
by the UN special rapporteur on torture, children were incarcerated 
with adults in both pretrial detention centers and in prisons. By law 
prisons held those convicted by courts, while detention centers held 
those awaiting trial; in practice pretrial detainees at times were held 
with convicted prisoners.
    Prisoners were permitted religious observance. Prisoners and 
detainees had reasonable access to visitors, although this access 
reportedly was limited in some cases. The Government actively monitors 
prison and detention center conditions.
    Authorities permitted prisoners and detainees to submit complaints 
to judicial authorities without censorship and to request investigation 
of credible allegation of inhumane conditions.
    Since February 2009 the Government has denied the International 
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to monitor prison conditions 
and treatment of prisoners nationwide. In addition, the Government 
requested the ICRC to close field offices in Aceh and Papua Provinces. 
Negotiations continued throughout the year to restore ICRC access to 
Papua.
    The national ombudsman can serve on behalf of prisoners and 
detainees on a variety of issues, including monitoring conditions and 
treatment of prisoners; addressing the status and circumstances of 
confinement of juvenile offenders; and improving pretrial detention, 
bail, and recordkeeping procedures to ensure that prisoners do not 
serve beyond the maximum sentence for the charged offense. In the past, 
the ombudsman has investigated prison issues and communicated his 
findings to the minister of law and human rights and the Supreme Court. 
The Ombudsman's Office and the Directorate General for Correctional 
Facilities have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Supervision of 
Public Service for detainees and prisoners.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law contains provisions that 
protect against arbitrary arrest and detention but lacks adequate 
enforcement mechanisms, and some authorities violated these provisions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The president appoints 
the national police chief, subject to confirmation by the DPR. The 
police chief reports to the president but is not a full member of the 
cabinet. The Indonesian National Police (INP) has 374,526 personnel 
deployed in 31 regional commands in 33 provinces. The police maintain a 
centralized hierarchy; local police units formally report to the 
national headquarters. The military is responsible for external defense 
but also has a residual obligation to support the police with its 
domestic security responsibilities. On July 16, a presidential decree 
formally established a new Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT). The BNPT is 
to coordinate the Government's counterterrorism policy and activities. 
In Aceh the Sharia Police, a provincial body, is responsible for 
enforcing Sharia.
    The Internal Affairs Division and the National Police Commission 
within the INP investigates complaints against individual police 
officers. Additionally, Komnas HAM and NGOs conducted external 
investigations with the knowledge and cooperation of the police. During 
the year, 682 officers were charged criminally and 5,437 received 
disciplinary infractions.
    In January 2009 the Ministry of Law and Human Rights approved the 
Use of Force Police Action Policy, which among other things requires 
that whenever force is used or whenever a citizen or police officer is 
injured as a result of use of force a Use of Force Resistance Control 
Form must be completed. Implementation of this policy and training 
continued throughout the year.
    From January to September, Komnas HAM received 708 complaints of 
human rights violations against the National Police. In December Komnas 
HAM announced at a press conference that during the year there were 30 
cases of abuse committed during interrogations.
    In June 2009 the INP implemented regulations that standardized 
human rights regulations in the normal course of police duties. 
However, impunity and corruption remained problems in some provinces.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
provides prisoners with the right to notify their families promptly and 
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. 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 law limits periods of pretrial detention. Police are permitted 
an initial 20-day detention, which can be extended to 60 days by the 
prosecutors while the investigation is being completed; prosecutors may 
detain a suspect for a further 30 days during the prosecution phase and 
may seek a 20-day extension from the courts. 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. Additionally, the court may extend detention 
periods up to another 60 days at each level if a defendant faces a 
possible prison sentence of nine years or longer or if the individual 
is certified to be mentally disturbed. During the year authorities 
generally respected these limits in practice. The antiterrorism law 
allows investigators to detain for up to four months before charges 
must be filed any person who, based on adequate preliminary evidence, 
is strongly suspected of committing or planning to commit any act of 
terrorism.
    During his 2007 visit, the UN special rapporteur on torture found 
that in many instances the authorities did not grant bail, frequently 
prevented access to defense counsel during investigations, and limited 
or prevented access to legal assistance from voluntary legal defense 
organizations. Court officials sometimes accepted bribes in exchange 
for granting bail.
    By law suspects or defendants have the right to legal counsel of 
their choice at every stage of an investigation. Court officials will 
provide free legal counsel to persons charged with offenses that carry 
a death penalty or imprisonment of 15 years or more, or to destitute 
defendants facing charges that carry a penalty of five years or more. 
Suspects have the right to bail and to be notified of the charges 
against them.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for judicial 
independence; however, in practice the judiciary remained susceptible 
to influence from outside parties, including business interests, 
politicians, and the security forces. Low salaries continued to 
encourage acceptance of bribes, and judges were subject to pressure 
from government authorities, which appeared to influence the outcome of 
cases.
    Widespread corruption throughout the legal system continued (see 
section 4), which specialized task forces in the AGO effectively 
prosecuted.
    During the year hundreds of low-level and sometimes mid-level 
soldiers were tried in military courts, including 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 to prepare a case. Under the law, military 
prosecutors are accountable to the Supreme Court; however, military 
prosecutors were responsible to the TNI for the application of laws.
    A three-person panel of military judges heard trials, while the 
High Military Court, the Primary Military Court, and the Supreme Court 
heard appeals. Some civilians criticized the short length of prison 
sentences imposed by military courts.
    NGO sources stated some military court proceedings all the way to 
the Supreme Court were not public; however, the November court-martial 
of four soldiers for beating a Papuan detainee was public (see section 
1.c.).
    Four district courts located in Surabaya, Makassar, Jakarta, and 
Medan are authorized to adjudicate cases of gross human rights 
violations. At year's end only the Makassar and Jakarta courts had 
adjudicated such cases. The law provides for each court to have five 
members, including three noncareer human rights judges, who are 
appointed to five-year terms. Verdicts can be appealed to the standing 
appellate 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.
    Under the Sharia court system in Aceh, 19 district religious courts 
and one court of appeals heard cases. The courts heard only cases 
involving Muslims and used decrees formulated by the local government 
rather than the penal code. Critics argued that Sharia regulations were 
procedurally ambiguous. For example, defendants had a right to legal 
aid, but this right was inconsistently implemented. Although Sharia 
cases were supposed to be tried in closed hearings, during the year 
there were numerous problems with trial proceedings going forward in 
open court.

    Trial Procedures.--The law presumes defendants are innocent until 
proven guilty. 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. However, the 
courts allowed forced confessions and limited the presentation of 
defense evidence. Defendants have the right to avoid self-
incrimination. In each of the country's 804 courts, a panel of judges 
conducts trials by posing questions, hearing evidence, deciding on 
guilt or innocence, and imposing punishment. Both the defense and 
prosecution can appeal.
    The law gives defendants the right to an attorney from the time of 
arrest and at every stage of examination and requires that defendants 
in cases involving capital punishment or a prison sentence of 15 years 
or more be represented by counsel. In cases involving potential 
sentences of five years or more, the law requires an attorney be 
appointed if the defendant is indigent and requests counsel. In theory 
indigent defendants may obtain private legal assistance, and NGO lawyer 
associations provided free legal representation to indigent defendants. 
The law extends these rights to all citizens. In some cases procedural 
protections, including those against forced confessions, were 
inadequate to ensure a fair trial. With the noted exceptions of Sharia 
and military trials, trials are public.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--In early August the authorities 
arrested a number of RMS activists in Ambon for allegedly planning to 
fly banned RMS flags during an August 3 visit by President Yudhoyono. 
Among those arrested were Benny Sinay, Izak Sapulete, Andy Marunaya, 
Edwin Muranay, Ongen Krikof, Marven Bremer, Steven Siahaya, Ony 
Siahaya, and Jacab Sinay. The arrests apparently were meant to 
forestall a repetition of the 2007 incident when 22 traditional war 
(cakalele) dancers, including Johan Teterisa, displayed a banned 
separatist flag during President Yudhonoyo's visit to Ambon. The 22 
were serving sentences--ranging from seven to 20 years--in 
penitentiaries in Java and Ambon. On appeal, the court reduced 
Teterisa's sentence from life to 15 years.
    A number of Papuan independence activists, including Filep Karma, 
were in detention for raising a banned separatist flag. In July Karma 
received medical treatment at a Jakarta hospital and was later returned 
to Abepura prison in Papua. Another activist imprisoned for a flag 
raising, Yusak Pakage, received a pardon on July 8.
    In November 2009 Semuel Yaru and Luther Wrait raised a banned 
separatist flag in front of the Papua People's Council. On August 12, 
they were sentenced to one year in prison, less time already served.
    According to international NGOs Human Rights Watch and Amnesty 
International, there were more than 83 persons in prisons throughout 
the country for flag raising or other nonviolent political offenses.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The civil court system can 
be used to seek damages for victims of human rights violations; 
however, corruption and political influence limited victims' access to 
this remedy.

    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. 
Authorities occasionally conducted warrantless surveillance on 
individuals and their residences and monitored telephone calls.
    In some parts of the country, particularly in Kalimantan and Papua, 
residents believed government-sponsored transmigration programs, which 
move households from more densely populated areas to less-populated 
regions, interfered with their traditional ways of life, land usage, 
and economic opportunities. Although the number of new persons in 
transmigration was significantly less than in previous years, the 
Government continued to support financially approximately 8,800 
households moved in 2009 from overpopulated areas to isolated and less-
developed areas in 26 provinces.
    The Government used its authority, and at times intimidation, to 
expropriate land for development projects, often without fair 
compensation. In other cases state-owned companies were accused of 
endangering resources upon which citizens' livelihood depended. A 
presidential decree on land acquisition for public use allows the 
Government to acquire land for private development projects even if 
landowners have not agreed on the amount of compensation. A number of 
NGOs argued the decree served the interests of wealthy developers at 
the expense of the poor.
    During the year security forces allegedly used excessive force 
while evicting individuals involved in land disputes. During the year 
evictions of squatters living on government land and of street vendors 
continued to decrease. Jakarta Legal Aid (LBH Jakarta) reported that 
during the year there were 55 cases reported related to land-rights 
violations in Jakarta, including evictions and land disputes. According 
to city officials, the Jakarta administration carried out evictions 
during the year, forcing persons out of their homes.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and the law 
provide for freedom of speech and freedom of the press; however, the 
Government at times restricted these rights in practice. Politicians 
and powerful businessmen filed criminal or civil complaints against 
journalists whose articles they found insulting or offensive; some 
journalists faced threats of violence. Nonetheless, a vigorous, 
independent media operated in the country and expressed a wide variety 
of views, generally without restriction. In 2007 the Constitutional 
Court annulled or ruled unconstitutional various provisions of the 
criminal code that provided special protections to the president, the 
vice president, and the Government.
    On April 19, the Constitutional Court rejected a motion to strike 
down the 1965 Blasphemy Law. Under the law, ``spreading religious 
hatred, heresy and blasphemy'' is punishable by up to five years in 
prison.
    On October 5, the Supreme Court restored the broadcast license of 
Chinese-language, Falun Gong-affiliated Radio Era Baru, and the station 
resumed broadcasting. It was forced to stop broadcasting following a 
court decision in March and had been battling the Government over its 
license since 2007.
    The Indonesian Press Legal Aid (LBH Pers) reported that during the 
year, there were at least 37 physical and 29 nonphysical cases of media 
intimidation.
    During the year a number of journalists died under suspicious 
circumstances. On July 30, police in Merauke, Papua, found the body of 
freelance journalist Ardiansyah Matra'is. Matra'is reportedly received 
threatening messages in the preceding days from unknown individuals. On 
August 21, television reporter Ridwan Salamun was stabbed and killed 
while filming a fight between two villages in Southeast Maluku. The 
International Federation of Journalists claimed local police knew who 
killed Salamun but made no effort to arrest the perpetrators. The body 
of Alfrets Mirulewan, chief editor of the Pelangi Weekly, was found on 
Kisar, Maluku, on December 17, sparking widespread condemnation. 
Photographs of Mirulewan allegedly show bruises on his face and scratch 
wounds on his knees. NGO sources reported Mirulewan was investigating 
the illegal sale of gasoline on Kisar and the possible involvement of 
police officers. At year's end authorities were still investigating, 
and results of an autopsy were not publicly available.
    On February 15, the Bali State Court sentenced Nyoman Susrama, 
Komang Gede, and Ida Bagus Narbawa to a life sentence, 20 years in 
jail, and five years in jail, respectively, for their involvement in 
the February 2009 murder of Radar Bali journalist Anak Agung Prabangsa.
    Reporters also faced violence and harassment during the year. On 
May 19, Ahmadi, a journalist with Harian Aceh, wrote a news story on a 
logging business run by the local Alapan Military Sub-District Command. 
Although officials from the district command requested he not publish 
information on the business, Harian Aceh published the article on May 
21. That same day, Kardiar, a military officer from the Simeleu 
Military District Command, assaulted Ahmadi. At year's end no charges 
had been filed.
    On July 6, two unknown individuals on motorcycles attempted to 
firebomb the offices of the Tempo weekly magazine. No injuries were 
reported. The attack came one week after Tempo had run a feature on 
suspiciously large police bank accounts. Tempo also faced a lawsuit 
from the police.
    On July 13, police beat and kicked three journalists reporting on 
police brutality in handling demonstrations in Dobo City of Aru Island 
Regency in Southeast Maluku. Police also took the journalists' cameras 
and deleted all the pictures.
    On September 1, in Karanganyar, Central Java, Lieutenant Colonel 
Lilik Sutikna assaulted Triyono, a Solo Pos journalist, after Triyono 
reported on allegations of corruption that implicated Lilik. The 
regional military commander relieved Lilik of command pending an 
internal investigation.
    During the year a trend of persons accused of corruption or 
involved in civil disputes filing criminal and civil defamation 
complaints with police continued.
    On September 7, Tommy Suharto, a son of the former president, sued 
the national airline, Garuda Indonesia, and its in-flight magazine over 
an article that referred to him as a ``convicted murderer.''
    In July 2009 Kho Seng Seng and Winny Kwee were convicted of 
defamation and given six-month suspended sentences and one year of 
probation each. Both had submitted letters to editors of different 
newspapers complaining about a property developer. At year's end their 
cases still were pending appeal at the Supreme Court.
    In September 2009 the Jakarta police identified human rights 
activist Usman Hamid as a suspect for alleged defamation and slander 
against former State Intelligence Agency deputy chief Muchdi 
Purwopranjono. At year's end the case was still pending.
    In January 2009 Illian Deta Arta Sari and Emerson Yuntho, staff 
members of the NGO Indonesia Corruption Watch, were identified as 
suspects in a criminal defamation case after criticizing the AGO's 
record of asset recovery, citing an official audit document. They 
received a notice of complaint in October 2009. At year's end the case 
was still pending.
    Although the Papua Special Autonomy Law permits flying a flag 
symbolizing Papua's cultural identity, a government regulation 
prohibits the display of the Morning Star flag in Papua, the RMS flag 
in Maluku, and the Crescent Moon flag in Aceh.
    Between August 2 and 9, police arrested 21 activists who planned to 
display a banned separatist flag during President Yudhoyono's visit to 
Ambon on August 3 (see section 1.e.). Police seized 14 flags and 133 
pamphlets carrying a statement requesting the release of Maluku and 
Papua separatists. No RMS flags were displayed and no protests occurred 
during President Yudhoyono's visit in August.
    In April 2009 Musa Tabuni, Serafin Diaz, and Yance Mote were 
arrested and charged with subversion and separatism following a West 
Papua National Committee Customary Council meeting in Jayapura. As of 
the end of September, they were released pending appeal of their cases 
to the Supreme Court.
    The Government continued to restrict foreign media, NGO, and 
government personnel from traveling to the provinces of Papua and West 
Papua by requiring them to request permission to travel through the 
Foreign Ministry or an Indonesian embassy. The Government approved some 
requests and denied others. Some journalists traveled to Papua without 
permission. There were no reports of restrictions on journalists 
traveling to previous areas of conflict in Aceh, Maluku, North Maluku, 
and Sulawesi.

    Internet Freedom.--According to International Telecommunication 
Union statistics for 2009, approximately 12 percent of the country's 
inhabitants used the Internet.
    The 2008 Information and Electronic Transaction Law, meant to 
combat online crime, pornography, gambling, blackmail, lies, threats, 
and racism, prohibits citizens from distributing in electronic format 
any information that is defamatory, and punishes transgressors with a 
maximum of six years in prison or a fine of one billion rupiah 
($110,000) or both. The Information and Communication Ministry Web site 
offered free software to block Web sites with adult content.
    The minister of information requested Internet service providers to 
block access to pornographic Web sites starting on August 11, the first 
day of the month of Ramadan. On September 27, the minister requested 
citizens report pornographic Web sites to the Government, in order to 
block them.
    Internet cafes are required to provide the identities of Internet 
users to a government agency on a monthly basis.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--In 2008 the DPR passed an 
antipornography bill. Critics considered its definition of pornography 
too broad and feared it could be used to justify attacks on artistic, 
religious, and cultural freedom. The bill includes provisions that 
allow citizens to ``supervise'' adherence to the law. In February 2009 
the Constitutional Court began consideration of a complaint the law 
violates freedom of religion and expression tenets of the constitution. 
On March 25, the Constitutional Court held that the antipornography 
bill did not violate the constitution.
    During the year the Government-supervised Film Censorship Institute 
continued to censor domestic and imported movies for content deemed 
pornographic or religiously offensive. As recently as December 2009, 
politically sensitive films also were censored; however, no films were 
banned during the year.
    On October 14, the Constitutional Court struck down a long-standing 
law that gave the AGO the authority to ban written material, deeming it 
unconstitutional. In its decision, the Constitutional Court stated the 
AGO still maintains the authority to monitor written material and to 
request a court order to ban written material.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The law provides for freedom of assembly, and the Government 
generally respected this right. The law generally does not require 
permits for 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. In general these permits were granted routinely.
    During the year police arrested participants in peaceful 
demonstrations that included the display of illegal separatist symbols 
(see section 2.a.).
    During the year there were a number of large demonstrations 
throughout Papua. Demonstrators complained of police overreaction and 
undue use of force; police said demonstrators initiated the violence by 
throwing rocks and employing traditional weapons such as arrows and 
spears. Police broke up a demonstration in Manokwari, West Papua, on 
April 22, claiming demonstrators had not obtained proper permits. On 
August 2, police broke up another demonstration in Manokwari due to 
permit issues.
    On September 27, police arrested 30 activists peacefully protesting 
the Government's failure to implement an ad-hoc tribunal to investigate 
cases of disappearances as recommended by parliament in 2009 (see 
section 1.b.). Police held the activists for several hours at a police 
station before releasing them.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association, and the Government generally respected it in practice. The 
People's Consultative Assembly banned the Indonesia Communist Party 
(PKI) in 1966. In previous years persons accused of being affiliated 
with the PKI were barred from the civil service and given special 
numbers on their national identity cards.
    Members of Ahmadiyya have not held any national conferences since 
2008, when the Bali police refused to issue them a permit.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the Department of State's 2010 International Religious 
Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution allows the 
Government to prevent persons from entering or leaving the country. 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 cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    Citizens enjoyed freedom of movement within the country and, with 
few exceptions, were able to travel outside the country. During the 
year the Government continued to restrict freedom of movement for 
foreigners to Papua through a system of ``travel letters,'' but 
enforcement was inconsistent.
    The Government prevented at least 356 persons from leaving and 528 
from entering the country during the year. The immigration office 
prevented these departures at the request of the police, the AGO, the 
Anticorruption Commission (KPK), and the Department of Finance. Some of 
those barred from leaving were delinquent taxpayers, convicted or 
indicted persons, individuals implicated in corruption cases, and 
persons otherwise involved in legal disputes.
    The constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not 
use it. In May the Government restored the citizenship of OPM founder 
Nicholas Jouwe who returned to the country after 40 years of self-
imposed exile.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--In March 2009 the Internal 
Displacement Monitoring Center reported there were between 70,000 and 
120,000 IDPs in the country. Many were displaced due to natural 
disasters, but there were also persons in Papua and West Papua 
displaced by clashes between the security forces and OPM. According to 
the Aceh Recovery Body, only 1,500 IDPs remained in Aceh. According to 
the International Organization for Migration (IOM), IDPs from the 
September 2009 West Sumatra earthquake have largely returned to their 
homes. In the aftermath of the 2008 mudflow in Porong, all mudflow 
refugees left the Porong Market Camp and were staying in temporary 
houses or rented houses while awaiting full compensation payments. In 
July Porong Market started to operate as a market again. The Government 
permitted domestic and international humanitarian organizations to 
access IDP-hosting areas and to assist IDPs. The Government did not 
attack or target IDPs or forcibly return or resettle IDPs under 
dangerous conditions. IDPs generally struggled with poor housing, food 
insecurity, poor access to land, and limited access to education and 
other basic services, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring 
Center.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's law does not provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has not 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice 
the Government provided some protection against the expulsion or return 
of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be 
threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership 
in a particular social group, or political opinion. There were varying 
estimates of the number of refugees and asylum seekers in the country. 
Through the end of September, the UNHCR recognized 557 refugees and 
2,882 asylum seekers. The IOM estimated 1,404 refugees or asylum 
seekers. The Government reported 1,642 refugees or asylum seekers. Some 
were applicants, and others were dependents. Most were from Sri Lanka, 
Iraq, Afghanistan, or Burma.
    The Government prohibited refugees from working and accessing 
public elementary education.
    During the year the Government reportedly agreed to release nearly 
200 UNHCR-registered refugees in detention centers into the care of 
IOM.
    Approximately 75,000 ex-East Timorese refugees resided in West 
Timor. During 2005-09, the Government provided 11,000 houses for 55,000 
former refugees in Kupang, Timor Tengah Selatan, Timor Tengah Utara, 
and Belu regencies. Approximately 500 families remained in a shelter in 
Kupang. Conflicts, mostly involving land disputes, between local people 
and former refugees sometimes occurred.
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 constitution provides for national elections every five years. 
DPR members automatically are members of the People's Consultative 
Assembly, a fully elected body consisting of the 550 DPR members and 
128 members of the House of Regional Representatives (DPD).

    Elections and Political Participation.--In July 2009 President 
Yudhoyono was reelected overwhelmingly in generally free and fair 
elections.
    In April 2009 the country conducted its third democratic 
legislative elections. These were a complex affair with voters 
receiving ballots for the DPR, the DPD, provincial parliaments, and 
regency and city councils. Thirty-eight national parties competed in 
the elections, with an additional six parties in Aceh Province only. 
Irregularities occurred, requiring 245 reruns in 10 provinces. 
Observers concluded the vast majority of irregularities involved 
logistical difficulties (primarily due to faulty voter list data) 
rather than malfeasance. Some violence and intimidation also marred the 
legislative election campaign in Aceh, Papua, and West Papua. In 
general, domestic and foreign observers found the elections free and 
fair.
    Parties were required to win a minimum of 2.5 percent of the 
national vote to qualify for a seat in the DPR. Nine parties met this 
threshold and won seats in parliament. There was a delay in final 
legislative seat allocations, because the Constitutional Court, the 
Supreme Court, and the National Election Commission had different 
allocation systems; the Constitutional Court's ruling prevailed. The 
top three vote getters were secular, nationalist parties, followed by 
the four largest Islamic-oriented parties. President Yudhoyono's 
Democrat Party won a plurality of seats, while then-Vice President 
Kalla's Golkar Party finished in second place. The major opposition 
party, the Indonesia Democratic Party-Struggle, led by Megawati 
Sukarnoputri, finished in third place.
    All adult citizens, age 17 or older, are eligible to vote except 
active members of the military and the police, convicts serving a 
sentence of five years or more, persons suffering from mental 
disorders, and persons deprived of voting rights by an irrevocable 
verdict of a court of justice. Married juveniles are legally adults and 
allowed to vote.
    In 2007 the Constitutional Court ruled independent candidates could 
run for local office and that a political party's nomination was not 
required.
    During the year there were 244 regional elections scheduled; there 
were also elections for seven governors and 237 mayors/regents. In 
August, of 57 candidates not identified with a political party, only 
one was victorious, in the district of Sidoarjo, East Java.
    During the year the Constitutional Court received 230 requests to 
adjudicate election disputes. Of these, 224 were decided, with 26 
rulings in favor of complainants. As a result of the decisions, there 
were election reruns in Surabaya, Manado, and Merauke. In addition, the 
court called for election reruns in Mandailing Natal and in South 
Tangerang City. At year's end six cases were pending.
    In a few isolated cases, local elections led to civil disturbances. 
For example, on May 21, supporters of a candidate disqualified because 
he had not passed a required medical examination rioted in Mojokerto, 
East Java. The rioters attacked official buildings and burned dozens of 
official cars. Thirteen persons were injured. Despite this incident, 
the June 7 election went smoothly.
    In other cases, on June 1, supporters of a disqualified candidate 
for regent burned ballots and ballot boxes in seven district offices in 
Toli-Toli, Central Sulawesi. On June 8, approximately 400 supporters of 
a losing candidate clashed with police personnel and threw stones at 
the election commission office in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara. The crowd 
also destroyed a political party's office and burned a car. Clashes 
broke out again on June 14, injuring dozens of persons.
    In South Sulawesi, on June 23, thousands of persons threw stones 
and destroyed the election commission office in Tana Toraja, claiming 
the election commission was not neutral. They also burned ballot 
papers, burned cars, and destroyed four district offices, the speaker 
of the local parliament's residence, the election monitoring board's 
office, and the Golkar office. On June 26, thousands of supporters of 
six losing candidates rioted in Soppeng. They burned the election 
commission's office, burned dozens of ballot boxes, and destroyed four 
district offices. Also on June 26, an unidentified group of people 
threw Molotov cocktails at the Tanralili district office in Maros 
following local elections in this regency. A clash also broke out on 
the same day between supporters of two candidates in Gowa. No 
casualties were reported in this clash.
    There are no legal restrictions on the role of women in politics. A 
law on political parties mandated that women make up 30 percent of the 
founding members of a new political party. An election law, which 
included a nonbinding clause for parties to select women for at least 
30 percent of the candidate slots on their party lists, ensured parties 
put forward more women candidates. The Constitutional Court invalidated 
this clause when it struck down the law and ruled voters for the first 
time could directly elect their representatives, regardless of their 
position on party lists. The number of women in parliament increased 
significantly, from 11 percent to 18 percent of the DPR seats in the 
April 2009 elections. During the year women held five of 37 cabinet-
level positions.
    At the provincial level, there was one female governor and one vice 
governor. Women held disproportionately few leadership positions in 
local government in some provinces; for example, in Aceh the highest 
position held by a woman was that of deputy mayor, in the city of Banda 
Aceh.
    Women played an increasingly important political role in East Java. 
The number of female members of the Surabaya city parliament increased 
from four in the previous parliament to 15, or 30 percent of the total. 
In the East Java provincial parliament, the female members of 
parliament increased from 16 percent to 19 percent of the total. More 
women also became regents and mayors in East Java, such as the regent 
of Tuban, the regent of Banyuwangi, and the Surabaya mayor.
    With the exception of Aceh Province, where non-Muslims were 
effectively blocked from political office by a requirement that all 
candidates must demonstrate their ability to read the Qur'an in Arabic, 
there were no legal restrictions on the role of minorities in politics. 
There were no official statistics on the ethnic backgrounds of 
legislators in the DPR. President Yudhoyono's cabinet consisted of a 
plurality of Javanese, with others being of Sundanese, Bugis, Batak, 
Acehnese, Papuan, Balinese, and Chinese heritage.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government generally implemented these laws effectively. Despite 
the arrest and conviction of many high-profile and high-powered 
officials, there was a widespread domestic and international perception 
that corruption was a part of daily life. Both the KPK and the AGO 
under the deputy attorney general for special crimes have jurisdiction 
over investigation and prosecution of corruption cases. During the year 
the KPK conducted 62 inquiries, 55 investigations, and 55 prosecutions. 
As a result of the KPK's prevention and prosecutorial activities, it 
recovered a total of approximately 170 billion rupiah (approximately 
$18.8 million) in state assets. In addition, it prevented the loss of 
more than 500 billion rupiah ($55.5 million) in state assets, according 
to the KPK's annual report. Between January and November, the AGO 
reported recovering 354.6 billion rupiah ($34.9 million).
    Widespread corruption throughout the legal system continued. Bribes 
and extortion influenced prosecution, conviction, and sentencing in 
civil and criminal cases. During the year the National Ombudsman 
Commission reported receiving 160 complaints of judicial corruption 
involving judges, clerks, and lawyers. Key individuals in the justice 
system were accused of accepting bribes and of turning a blind eye to 
other government offices suspected of corruption. Legal aid 
organizations reported cases often moved very slowly unless a bribe was 
paid.
    As a result of an independent fact-finding team's investigation, 
President Yudhoyono formed a Task Force to Eradicate Judicial Mafia to 
investigate the network of case brokers and influence peddlers who act 
as intermediaries in judicial cases. As of December 9, the task force 
had received 3,483 complaints, with 667 cases related to land rights 
issues; 397 cases related to corruption, collusion, and nepotism; 262 
cases of fraud and embezzlement; and 135 cases of extortion, bribery, 
abuse of authority, and document forgery.
    Police commonly extracted bribes ranging from minor payoffs in 
traffic cases to large bribes in criminal investigations. Corrupt 
officials sometimes subjected migrants returning from abroad, 
particularly women, to arbitrary strip searches, theft, and extortion.
    On September 1, the KPK named 25 suspects, primarily former and 
current members of parliament, as suspects in a bribery case related to 
vote buying during the 2004 selection of the Bank of Indonesia's senior 
deputy governor. At the end of the year, however, they had not 
questioned Nunun Nurbaeti, who allegedly distributed billions of rupiah 
in traveler's checks to buy votes to help elect Miranda Goeltom.
    On March 31, Gayus Tambunan, a tax directorate official, was 
arrested in Singapore on corruption charges. Gayus allegedly bribed 
police, prosecutors, and a judge during an investigation of his case in 
tax court. Following his arrest, police investigated and arrested 
several persons in the police Criminal Investigations Division (CID). 
Following this arrest, Gayus allegedly bribed prison officials to 
obtain temporary release from prison on a number of occasions and 
reportedly led an active social life including international travel.
    On May 10, police arrested Susno Duadji, fomer head of the CID, on 
suspicion of involvement in several corruption cases.
    On August 4, the Supreme Court found As'ad Syam, regent of 
Muarojambi during the 1999-2004 period, guilty of corruption in the 
misuse of the regional government budget and sentenced him to four 
years' imprisonment.
    Anticorruption reform appeared to have become a tool in a political 
power struggle with legislators and others criticizing members of 
President Yudhoyono's administration over the 2008 bailout of Bank 
Century. At year's end neither the KPK nor other investigators had 
found any evidence of fraud on the part of the Government in the 
bailout. KPK leadership continued to come under attack during the year, 
in particular deputy commissioners Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M. 
Hamzah.
    By law, senior government officials, as well as other officials 
working in certain agencies, are required to file financial disclosure 
reports.
    On April 30, the 2008 Freedom of Information Act, which grants 
citizens access to governmental information and provides mechanisms 
through which citizens can obtain such information, came into effect. 
The law allows for a protected class of ``secret'' information, 
including information on: state defense and security; law enforcement 
investigation and activities; public officials; and business interests 
of state-owned enterprises. At year's end many government entities were 
unprepared to implement the law.
    The Alliance of Independent Journalists reported no problems for 
the media in obtaining unclassified public documents from the 
Government.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    Domestic human rights organizations operated throughout the country 
and actively advocated for improvements to the Government's human 
rights performance; the Government met with local NGOs, responded to 
their inquiries, and took some actions in response to NGO concerns. 
However, some government officials, particularly in Papua, subjected 
the organizations to monitoring, harassment, and interference as well 
as threats and intimidation. Activists said intelligence officers took 
their pictures surreptitiously and sometimes questioned their friends 
and family members regarding their whereabouts and activities.
    On July 8, unidentified persons assaulted Tama Langkun, an activist 
with Indonesia Corruption Watch who was investigating a police 
corruption case. At year's end, police had made no arrests related to 
this case.
    Other human rights and anticorruption activists reported 
threatening messages and other intimidation.
    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 
occurred in conflict areas. Some domestic human rights organizations 
expressed concern about the 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, 
the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), 
and Komnas HAM. In 2008 the AGO rejected Komnas HAM's recommendations 
to file charges in four incidents dating from 1998 to 2004 including 
Wamena-Wasior, Trisakti, Semanggi I and II, and forced disappearances.
    In September 2009 the DPR approved the formation of an ad hoc 
tribunal that could investigate and prosecute the disappearance of 
human rights activists. Twenty-four human rights activists and students 
disappeared between 1997 and 1998; 10 later resurfaced, accusing the 
military of kidnapping and torture. One body was found, and 13 
activists remained missing. However, parliament failed to approve 
action regarding other cases of human rights violations that occurred 
before 2000. By year's end the Government had not established this 
tribunal.
    Although the 2006 Law on the Government of Aceh states a human 
rights court would be established in Aceh, it was not established by 
year's end.
    In 2008 the Commission on Truth and Friendship (CTF), established 
by the Governments of Indonesia and Timor-Leste in 2005 to address 
human rights violations committed in Timor-Leste in 1999, delivered its 
final report to the two governments' presidents. The report recognized 
gross violations of human rights occurred prior to and immediately 
after the popular consultation in East Timor in 1999. The report's 
recommendations for Indonesia included a human rights training program 
emphasizing that the military remain neutral in political controversies 
and elections and enhanced authority for institutions charged with 
investigation and prosecution for human rights violations. The 
Government disseminated the CTF recommendations within the Government, 
and a variety of ministries began carrying out the recommendations.
    The Indonesian judicial processes either acquitted or eventually 
overturned all convictions of Indonesian defendants--two Indonesians of 
Timorese descent served some jail time for crimes in 1999--despite 
overwhelming evidence that Indonesian civilians and security forces 
committed gross human rights violations. An estimated 300 Indonesians 
indicted by the UN-Timor-Leste Serious Crimes Unit remained in 
Indonesia.
Section 6. 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 sometimes failed to defend these 
rights.

    Women.--Reliable nationwide statistics on the incidence of rape 
continued to be unavailable. The legal definition of rape is narrow and 
excludes marital rape. Light sentences continued to be a problem. Rape 
is punishable by four to 14 years in prison, and the Government 
imprisoned perpetrators for rape and attempted rape; however, many 
convicted rapists were given the minimum sentence.
    The law prohibits domestic abuse and other forms of violence 
against women. However, domestic violence was a problem. Violence 
against women remained poorly documented by the Government. Nationwide 
figures were unavailable. Officials from the Ministry of Women 
Empowerment stated that 11,469 cases of violence against women were 
reported from 20 provinces during the year. Most NGOs working on women 
and children's issues believed the real figure was far higher, noting 
the tendency of many victims to keep silent. Komnas Perempuan reported 
domestic violence was the most common form of violence against women.
    Social pressure forced many women not to report spousal abuse. 
Through the month of October, the Women's Legal Aid Foundation received 
722 complaints of spousal abuse, including rape and sexual harassment. 
Two types of crisis centers were available for abused women: 
government-run centers in hospitals and NGO centers in the community.
    Nationwide the police operated ``special crisis rooms'' or 
``women's desks'' where female officers received criminal reports from 
female and child victims of sexual assault and trafficking and where 
victims found temporary shelter.
    According to NGOs, some female genital mutilation (FGM) of women 
over the age of 18 occurred. A Ministry of Health decree forbids 
medical personnel from performing such procedures; however, this did 
not affect traditional circumcisers and birth attendants, who did most 
female circumcisions.
    International sex tourism and child sex tourism continued, 
especially on the islands of Batam and Karimun and in major urban 
centers across the country.
    Although not explicitly mentioned, sexual harassment is against the 
law and is actionable under the criminal code.
    The Government recognizes the right of individuals and couples to 
choose the number, spacing, and timing of children. Although the 
Government subsidized and provided access to contraception throughout 
the country, women were sometimes denied the opportunity to select the 
contraceptive methods best suited to their needs or preferences, 
according to a November Amnesty International report. The report 
indicated that unmarried women in particular were not provided adequate 
access to contraceptives. According to NGOs, 55 percent of married 
women used contraception. According to the 2007 Demographic and Health 
Survey, 93 percent of women received medical prenatal care. The 
maternal mortality ratio according to 2008 UN statistics was 240 per 
100,000 live births. Informed sources believed that 79 percent of women 
had skilled birth attendants at delivery and 32 percent received 
prenatal or postnatal obstetric care. Government policy provides that 
women and men had equal access to diagnosis and treatment for sexually 
transmitted infections, including HIV.
    The law states that women have the same rights, obligations, and 
opportunities as men; however, it also states that women's 
participation in the development process must not conflict with their 
role in improving family welfare and educating the younger generation. 
The 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.
    Divorce is available to both men and women. Many divorcees received 
no alimony, since there was no system to enforce such payments. If 
there is no prenuptial agreement, joint property is divided equally. 
The law requires a divorced woman to wait 40 days before remarrying; a 
man can remarry immediately. The Government continued to implement 
Sharia in Aceh. The impact of this implementation varied across the 
province but, continuing the pattern of the last few years, in general 
appeared to be less intrusive due to improved government oversight of 
the Sharia police. The most visible impact on women's rights appeared 
to be the enforcement of dress codes. It was not uncommon for Sharia 
police to briefly stop and lecture women whose dress did not conform to 
local Sharia requirements on appropriate attire.
    Local governments and groups in areas outside Aceh also undertook 
campaigns to promote conformity by women with the precepts of Sharia. 
Local regulations in some areas mandated the wearing of Islamic dress 
by government employees. Vigilance in enforcing separation of sexes, 
fasting, and dress codes increased during Ramadan.
    Women faced discrimination in the workplace, both in hiring and in 
gaining fair compensation; however, there has been progress in that 
area. According to International Labor Organization (ILO) reports, 
women's hourly wages as a percentage of men's wages increased from 78 
percent in 2004 to 83 percent in 2008. Women in administrative and 
managerial jobs reportedly earned more than their male counterparts in 
2008. However, women were still underrepresented at the managerial 
level. According to the Government, women constituted 43 percent of all 
civil servants but less than 7 percent of senior officials. Some 
activists said that in manufacturing, employers relegated women to 
lower-paying, lower-level jobs. Like their male counterparts, 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. By law, if both 
members of a couple worked for a government agency, the couple's head-
of-household allowance was given to the husband.
    Jobs traditionally associated with women continued to be 
significantly undervalued and unregulated. For example, domestic labor 
receives little legal protection. Under the labor law, domestic workers 
are not provided with a minimum wage, health insurance, freedom of 
association, an eight-hour work day, a weekly day of rest, vacation 
time, or safe work conditions. Consequently, as reported by NGOs, 
abusive treatment and discriminatory behaviour continued to be rampant.

    Children.--Citizenship is acquired primarily through one's parents; 
however, it can be acquired through birth in national territory. 
Although the law provides for free birth registration, it was not 
enforced, and approximately 30 percent of citizen births were not 
registered. Without birth registration, families may face difficulties 
in accessing government-sponsored insurance benefits and enrolling 
children in schools. It was often impossible to be certain of a child's 
age, and ages were falsified on identity cards, sometimes with the 
cooperation of government officials.
    Although the law provides for free education, in practice most 
schools were not free of charge, and poverty put education out of the 
reach of many children. By law children are required to attend six 
years of elementary school and three years of junior high school; 
however, in practice the Government did not enforce these requirements. 
Although girls and boys received equal educational opportunities, boys 
were more likely to finish school.
    Some provinces and districts, such as South Sumatra Province and 
Serdang Bedagai District in North Sumatra Province, have local policies 
for compulsory education for 12 years or up to senior secondary.
    The national government provided educational assistance to 2.2 
million of the 26 million elementary school students, 10 percent of 
whom were from poor families. The Government categorized as poor a 
person earning 250,000 rupiah ($28) or less per month.
    Child labor and sexual abuse were serious problems. According to 
the National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas Perlindungan Anak) 
estimates, between 70,000 and 90,000 children were victims of sexual 
abuse during the year. The Child Protection Act addresses economic and 
sexual exploitation of children as well as adoption, guardianship, and 
other issues; however, some provincial governments did not enforce its 
provisions. Child abuse is prohibited by law, but government efforts to 
combat it generally continued to be slow and ineffective. NGOs reported 
excessively long waits to bring a child rape case to court and unclear 
mechanisms for reporting and dealing with child abuse.
    FGM was practiced in many parts of the country, and there are no 
laws specifically banning the practice. Complications from the FGM 
surgical procedures reportedly were minimal. Some NGO activists 
dismissed any claims of mutilation, saying the ritual as practiced in 
the country was largely symbolic. In 2007 the minister of women's 
empowerment called for a complete ban of the practice. In 2006 the 
Ministry of Health banned FGM by doctors and nurses. However, symbolic 
female circumcisions that did not involve physical damaging of the 
child could be carried out, and violators of the ban did not face 
prosecution. According to NGOs, the practice remains prevalent in the 
country. NGO activists said that female circumcision was seen as a 
religious duty.
    The legal distinction between a woman and a girl was not clear. The 
law sets the minimum marriageable age at 16 for a woman (19 for a man), 
but the Child Protection Law states persons under age 18 are children. 
A girl who marries has adult legal status. Girls frequently married 
before reaching the age of 16, particularly in rural and impoverished 
areas.
    According to ILO data from 2007, there were 21,000 child 
prostitutes in Java. Nationally, the ILO estimated 40,000 to 70,000 
children were the victims of sexual exploitation. Many teenage girls 
were forced into prostitution, often through debt bondage. NGOS and 
government officials believe the number is rising.
    Although government policy was not to detain or imprison victims of 
child sexual exploitation, some victims reportedly were treated as 
criminals and penalized for prostitution activities. Corrupt civil 
servants issued falsified identity cards to underage girls, 
facilitating entry into the sex trade. There also were reports of 
sexual exploitation of boys. The country was a destination for child 
sex tourism. During the year NGOs reported that pedophile rings 
continued to operate in Bali. NGO observers said many girls were forced 
into prostitution after failed marriages 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 that they 
were once married.
    Wahana Visi, an NGO in Surabaya, found that most of the 300 
children living in the Dolly prostitution area in Surabaya experienced 
abuse and violence. The East Java Integrated Service Center recorded 
253 cases of violence against children in 2009 and 149 cases between 
January and June.
    Komnas Perlindungan Anak reported that during the year, it received 
2,335 complaints regarding cases of violence against children.
    In a February survey of 736 street children in Jakarta and Depok by 
the Ministry of Social Affairs, 14 children admitted they have been 
victims of sexual abuse, 31 had been raped, and 175 suffered physical 
abuse. The ministry estimated there were 230,000 street children, and, 
at least in some areas, the percentage of girls among street children 
seemed to be growing.
    According to Komnas Perlindungan Anak, 6.5 million children under 
the age of 18 were working because of poverty.
    There is no statutory rape law or an established age for consensual 
sex. The 2008 Pornography Law prohibits child pornography and 
establishes penalties.
    Substantial numbers of street children were apparent in Jakarta and 
the provinces of East Java, West Java, North Sumatra, and South 
Sulawesi. At the end of the year, officials from the Ministry of Social 
Affairs reported that there were at least 8,000 street children living 
in Jakarta. East Java was home to more than 8,200 street children, many 
reportedly susceptible to sexual abuse and violence. Approximately 40 
shelters in the province provided services to such children. According 
to the Ministry of Social Affairs, at the end of the year there were 
1,030 children under the supervision of various rehabilitation centers 
in Jakarta. The Government continued to fund other shelters 
administered by local NGOs and paid for the education of some street 
children.
    A UN report found that juvenile detainees in prisons across Java 
were subjected to harsh conditions. The report noted both police and 
other inmates subjected children as young as 10 to severe physical 
abuse. Although children were detained in juvenile detention centers, 
due to the high number of detainees children frequently were mixed with 
the general population in both jails and prisons, increasing the 
potential for abuse.
    During the year the Directorate General of Corrections reported 
that there were 2,054 children in the prison and detention center 
population. NGOs reported that the Government paid little attention to 
the rights of juvenile offenders. Juveniles were held in the same 
detention facilities as adults during pretrial and trial phases of 
detention and frequently experienced abuse while in detention. 
According to the Government, 5,760 children received jail sentences 
during the year.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish population was extremely small. On June 
6, demonstrators gathered outside the Beth Hashem synagogue in 
Surabaya, East Java, to protest Israeli government actions related to 
the Gaza relief flotilla incident. Protesters burned the Israeli flag 
and tried unsuccessfully to enter the synagogue. There were no injuries 
or damage to the synagogue. Although the Government promoted tolerance 
education in primary schools, there was no specific curriculum devoted 
exclusively to anti-Semitism education.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The Government classifies persons with 
disabilities into three categories: physically disabled, intellectually 
disabled, and physically and intellectually disabled. These categories 
are further divided for schooling. The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical and mental disabilities in employment, 
education, access to health care, or the provision of other state 
services. The law also mandates accessibility to public facilities for 
persons with disabilities; however, the Government did not enforce this 
provision. The Government estimated that approximately 3.7 percent of 
the population had a disability. However, one NGO found 16.8 percent of 
the population in West Java had a significant hearing deficiency.
    The Government restricts the rights of persons to vote or 
participate in civil affairs by not enforcing accessibility laws.
    Few buildings and virtually no public transportation facilities 
were accessible to persons with disabilities. The law requires 
companies that employ more than 100 workers to set aside 1 percent of 
positions for persons with disabilities. However, the Government did 
not enforce the law, and persons with disabilities faced considerable 
discrimination.
    In urban areas only a few city buses offered wheelchair access, and 
many of those had their hydraulic lifts vandalized, rendering them 
unusable. Few companies provided facilities for persons with 
disabilities, and fewer companies employed such persons. Surabaya's 
airport opened in 2006 and was not accessible for persons with 
disabilities. Lack of funds was generally cited as the primary reason 
for not improving accessibility.
    Access to information and communications technology for persons 
with disabilities is limited. The Government taxes hearing aids as 
electronics, rather than medical equipment, making them prohibitively 
expensive.
    On September 15, Garuda Indonesia Airlines blocked Irwan Subena, a 
blind passenger, from boarding his return flight from Makassar to 
Denpasar.
    In 2003 the Government stated the country was home to 1.3 million 
children with disabilities; the actual number 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 many parents chose to keep children with disabilities at home; 
however, many schools refused to accommodate such children, stating 
they lacked the resources to do so. According to 2008-09 government 
statistics, there were 1,686 schools dedicated to educating children 
with disabilities, 1,274 of them run privately. According to NGOs, more 
than 90 percent of blind children were illiterate. Some young persons 
with disabilities resorted to begging for a living. Children with 
disabilities were sent to separate schools, and mainstream education 
was extremely rare. The country's universities did not offer a degree 
in special education.
    During the year NGOs reported that people with disabilities were 
housed in care facilities in unsafe, dirty conditions throughout Riau 
Province. The Government has taken no action.
    The Ministry of Social Affairs is responsible for protecting the 
rights of persons with disabilities. To date, they have taken no 
actions to improve respect for the rights of persons with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The Government officially 
promotes racial and ethnic tolerance. Ethnic Chinese accounted for 
approximately 3 percent of the population, played a major role in the 
economy, and increasingly participated in politics. However, some 
ethnic Chinese noted that, despite recent reforms, public servants 
still discriminated against them when issuing marriage licenses and in 
other services and often demanded bribes for a citizenship certificate, 
although such certificates were no longer legally required. A number of 
articles of law, regulation, or decree discriminated against ethnic 
Chinese citizens. NGOs such as the Indonesia Antidiscrimination 
Movement urged the Government to revoke the remaining discriminatory 
articles. Discussions of corruption on local blogs at times degenerated 
into racial diatribes.

    Indigenous People.--The Government viewed all citizens as 
``indigenous''; however, it recognized the existence of several 
``isolated communities'' and their right to participate fully in 
political and social life. These communities include the myriad Dayak 
tribes of Kalimantan, families living as sea nomads, and the 312 
officially recognized indigenous groups in Papua. During the year 
indigenous persons, most notably in Papua, 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 prevent 
companies, often in collusion with the local military and police, from 
encroaching on indigenous peoples' land. In Papua tensions continued 
between indigenous Papuans and migrants from other provinces, between 
residents of coastal and inland communities, and among indigenous 
tribes.
    Human rights activists asserted the Government-sponsored 
transmigration program transplanting poor families from overcrowded 
Java and Madura to less populated islands 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 poor.
    In Tarakan, East Kalimantan, tensions between migrant Bugis and 
indigenous people turned violent; between September 26 and September 
30, five persons died in communal fighting sparked by the death of an 
indigenous person, reportedly at the hands of migrant Bugis.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The 2008 Pornography Law bans 
gay and lesbian sex. In addition, local regulations across the country 
criminalize gay and lesbian sex. According to NGOs, many persons 
characterized lesbian, gay, transgender, and bisexual (LGBT) issues as 
socially taboo. The Government took almost no action to prevent 
discrimination against LGBT persons, and in some cases failed to 
protect LGBT individuals from societal abuse. Police corruption, bias, 
and violence caused LGBT individuals to avoid interaction with police. 
Sharia police in Aceh reportedly harassed transgender individuals. NGOs 
reported LGBT individuals were sometimes ostracized by religious 
groups, family members, and the general public.
    LGBT organizations and NGOs operated openly. However, certain 
religious groups sporadically disrupted LGBT gatherings, and 
individuals were sometimes victims of police abuse.
    On March 26-28, hundreds of activists from a number of hard-line 
Muslim groups, including the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), disrupted 
an international LGBT conference in Surabaya, forcing their way into 
the hotel hosting the conference. Local police refused to issue a 
permit to the conference organizers in the face of hard-line 
opposition. The hard-line groups then forced the cancellation of the 
conference by forcing entry and occupying the hotel where the 
conference was being held.
    On April 30, members of FPI disrupted training for transgender 
activists conducted by the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas 
HAM).
    Throughout May and June, LGBT organizations across the country 
commemorated the International Day Against Homophobia. Organizers held 
public discussion groups, marched, and engaged in other activities 
raising awareness of LGBT issues. However, local officials and groups 
forced the cancellation of at least one event. After threats from FPI, 
organizers in Yogyakarta cancelled an open-air concert scheduled for 
May 22. Organizers in Surabaya opted not to hold a parade in the wake 
of a disrupted conference in March.
    Protesters from FPI and local universities disrupted an 
internationally supported LGBT film festival in Jakarta in September. 
Mainstream Islamic organizations, including the head of the Indonesian 
Council of Ulema, also condemned the festival.
    NGOs documented instances of government officials not issuing 
identity cards to LGBT individuals.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Stigma and 
discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS were pervasive. However, 
government policy encouraged tolerance, took steps to prevent new 
infections, and provided free antiretroviral drugs, although with 
numerous administrative barriers. The Government position of tolerance 
was adhered to unevenly at all levels of society; for example, 
prevention efforts often were not aggressive for fear of antagonizing 
religious conservatives, and in addition to barriers to access to free 
antiretroviral drugs, potential recipients had to pay medical fees that 
put the cost beyond the reach of many.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides broad rights of 
association for workers in the private sector but places restrictions 
on organizing among public sector workers. Workers in the private 
sector formed and joined unions of their choice without previous 
authorization or excessive requirements. 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. To form a collective bargaining unit, a union must receive 
the support of at least 50 percent of employees in an establishment. 
The Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration records, rather than 
approves, the formation of a union, federation, or confederation and 
provides it with a registration number. In recent years some unions 
reported local ministry offices prejudicially recommended denial of 
registration.
    To remain registered, unions must keep the Government informed 
about changes in their governing bodies. The law allows the Government 
to petition the courts to dissolve a union if it conflicts with the 
state ideology (Pancasila) or the constitution. A union also may be 
dissolved if its leaders or members, in the name of the union, commit 
crimes against the security of the state and are sentenced to at least 
five years in prison. Once a union is dissolved, its leaders and 
members may not form another union for at least three years. There were 
no reports that the Government dissolved any unions during the year.
    Although the law recognizes civil servants' freedom of association 
and right to organize, employees of several ministries may only form 
employee associations, with more limited rights. In particular they do 
not have the right to strike. Union organizations sought to organize 
government employees, as well as state-owned enterprise (SOE) 
employees, although they encountered resistance from enterprise 
management, and the legal basis for registering unions in SOEs remained 
unclear.
    During the year, according to labor sources, 10 percent of workers 
in the formal sector were trade union members, and more than 35 percent 
of workers in the service sector belonged to unions. According to the 
National Statistics Bureau, as of August the total workforce was 116.5 
million workers, of whom 108.2 million were employed. Most union 
members were permanent rather than contract workers. As of February the 
National Statistics Bureau estimated that 65.6 percent of workers were 
in the informal sector.
    The right to strike is recognized but substantially restricted 
under the law. Under the Manpower Development and Protection Act (the 
Manpower Act), workers must give written notification to the 
authorities and to the employer seven days in advance for a strike to 
be legal, specifying the starting and ending time of the strike, venue 
for the action, reasons for the strike, and including signatures of the 
chairperson and secretary of the striking union. A ministerial 
regulation declares illegal all strikes at ``enterprises that cater to 
the interests of the general public or at enterprises whose activities 
would endanger the safety of human life if discontinued.'' Types of 
enterprises included in this classification are not specified, leaving 
it to the Government's discretion. The same regulation also classifies 
strikes as illegal if they are ``not as a result of failed 
negotiations'' and gives employers' additional leeway to obstruct a 
union's move to strike.
    Before workers can strike, they must engage in lengthy mediation 
with the employer and proceed to mediation facilitated by a government 
mediator or risk having the strike declared illegal. Due in part to 
cumbersome restrictions, strikes tended to be unsanctioned or 
``wildcat'' strikes that broke out after a failure to settle long-term 
grievances or when an employer refused to recognize a union. In the 
case of an illegal strike, an entrepreneur may make two written appeals 
within a period of seven days for workers to return. Workers who do not 
respond to those appeals are considered to have resigned. Employers 
commonly used such appeals as intimidation tactics against strikers.
    The primary reasons for strikes during the year were 1) demand for 
an increase in salary, 2) suspension of overtime payment and/or regular 
salary, 3) unjust dismissal of workers, and 4) the illegal use of 
contract workers. One notable ``wildcat'' strike occurred over the 
disparity between the salaries of citizens versus foreign ``expert'' 
salaries. During the year workers staged protests in major cities 
demanding companies pay into the national social security system, put 
an end to corrupt business practices, and that the Government pass the 
social-safety-net bill, which is under discussion in the parliament.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--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. The 
Manpower Act, which regulates collective bargaining, the right to 
strike, and general employment conditions, does not apply to SOEs. At 
year's end the Government continued to fail to issue implementing 
regulations on the right to organize and bargain collectively.
    According to the Manpower Ministry, approximately 25 percent of 
companies with more than 10 employees had CLAs. Although most of these 
agreements went beyond the legal minimum provisions set by the 
Government, more than a third of employers reportedly violated the 
terms of the CLA with relative impunity.
    The law prohibits employment discrimination against union 
organizers and members and provides penalties for violations; however, 
in many cases the Government did not effectively enforce the law. 
Employer retribution against union organizers, including dismissals and 
violence, were not prevented effectively or remedied in practice. Some 
employers threatened employees who made contact with union organizers. 
Management singled out strike leaders for layoffs when companies 
downsized. Legal requirements existed for employers to reinstate 
workers fired for union activity, but, in many cases, the Government 
did not enforce this effectively.
    Legal procedures were lengthy, with antiunion discrimination cases 
sometimes taking up to six years. Bribery and judicial corruption in 
workers' disputes continued, and decisions often were not in workers' 
favor. While dismissed workers may be compensated, they were rarely 
reinstated. Companies sometimes transferred union leaders to jobs where 
they could not continue their union activities. Managers in some 
locations reportedly employed thugs to intimidate and assault trade 
union members who attempted to organize legal strike actions, and at 
times, the police intervened inappropriately and with force in labor 
matters, usually to protect employers' interests.
    Employees at the Surabaya Zoo established a labor union in June. 
However, the zoo management attempted to stop the union from operating. 
Police and forest rangers threatened the labor union members and tore 
down the labor union's signboards. Labor activists received threats if 
they continued to assist with unionization. One employee was fired for 
her role in the establishment of the union. Only 70 out of Surabaya 
Zoo's 200 employees have joined the labor union. Management reduced the 
salary and benefits of those who joined the union.
    In recent years employers have repeatedly filed criminal complaints 
against union officers following failed collective bargaining 
negotiations or lawful strikes. In a number of cases, union officers 
were prosecuted and even served prison time for destruction of property 
and interference with profits as a result of complaints brought by 
employers. Some provisions in criminal law have aided these tactics, 
such as a crime of ``unpleasant acts,'' which creates criminal 
liability for a broad range of conduct. There were credible reports of 
the police investigating or interrogating union organizers.
    In August hundreds of workers from the Indonesian Metal Labor Union 
Federation (FSPMI) from Mojokerto, Sidoarjo, and Pasuruan held a 
demonstration in front of the Pasuruan Police office demanding police 
drop a criminal case filed against FSPMI board members Pujianto and 
Jazuli. In 2008 PT. Sri Rejeki in Pasuruan reported Pujianto and Jazuli 
to the police for defamation. On September 8 and September 21, the 
Bangil State Court in Pasuruan began Pujianto and Jazuli's trial.
    The increasing trend of using contract labor directly affected 
unions' right to organize and bargain collectively. Under the Manpower 
Act, contract labor is to be used only for work that is ``temporary in 
nature.'' However, according to an International Trade Union 
Confederation report, many employers violated these provisions, 
sometimes with the assistance of local offices of the Manpower 
Ministry. In these cases, companies declared bankruptcy in order to 
avoid severance payments provided for under law, closed the factory for 
several days, and then rehired workers as contract labor at a lower 
cost. Union leaders and activists usually were not rehired. Labor 
courts have ruled in favor of workers who filed either for compensation 
or to be rehired. In most cases, however, the company has appealed to 
the Supreme Court where the labor court's decisions have been 
overturned.
    Labor activists claimed companies orchestrate the formation of 
multiple unions, including ``yellow'' unions, to weaken legitimate 
unions. During the year 16 percent of companies with unions had more 
than one union. In these companies, 42 percent of the employees 
reported that the employer did not treat all of the unions with equal 
respect and that the employer gave better treatment to workers who were 
members of a union controlled by the company (38 percent).
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
special economic zones (SEZs). However, reportedly there were stronger 
antiunion sentiments and actions by employers in SEZs. For example, 
employers in the Batam SEZ tended to hire labor on two-year contracts 
and favored workers under 24 years of age, in part to inhibit union 
formation.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor; however, there were credible reports that 
such practices occurred, including forced and compulsory labor by 
children (see section 7.d.). Forms of forced exploitation included 
domestic servitude, commercial sexual exploitation, and forced labor in 
the mining, fishing, and agricultural sectors.
    At year's end the Government was still renegotiating the 2006 
memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Government of Malaysia about 
Indonesian workers' conditions in Malaysia. The MOU ceded some basic 
worker rights to employers, particularly the right of workers to hold 
their own passports and the guarantee of a minimum wage.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
Manpower Act establishes 15 as the minimum age for work and prohibits 
children under the age of 18 from working in hazardous sectors. 
Children 13 to 15 years of age may work no more than three 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. A 
strong legal framework and National Action Plans address economic and 
sexual exploitation, including child prostitution, child trafficking, 
and the involvement of children in the narcotics trade, and provide 
severe criminal penalties and jail terms for persons who violate 
children's rights. However, the Government did not enforce these laws 
effectively.
    An estimated six to eight million children exceeded the legal 
three-hour-daily work limit, working in agriculture, street vending, 
mining, clothing manufacture, prostitution, and other areas.
    Children worked in agriculture primarily on palm oil, tobacco, 
rubber, tea, and marijuana plantations. Children also worked in 
fisheries, manufacturing (such as cottage factory footwear production, 
textiles, cigarette production), logging, toy making, food processing 
(e.g., bird-nest gathering), and in the small-scale mining sector. 
Other children work in the informal sector selling newspapers, shining 
shoes, street vending, scavenging, and working with their parents in 
family businesses or cottage industries.
    A domestic worker advocacy group estimated that there were four 
million domestic workers in the country, of whom at least 1.3 million 
were under age 18. Many domestic workers 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 forced labor by children; however, 
the Government was not effective in eliminating the practice, which 
remained a problem. A significant number of children worked against 
their will in prostitution, pornography, begging, drug trafficking, 
domestic service, and other exploitive situations, including a small 
number on fishing platforms. For information on forced child labor, 
also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report 
at www.state.gov/g/tip.
    Despite legislative and regulatory measures, most children who 
worked, including as domestics, did so in unregulated environments. 
Anecdotal evidence suggested that local labor officials did not 
investigate the workplaces of child domestic workers and carried out 
few child labor investigations in factories.
    At the end of 2008, the International Labor Organization-
International Program for the Elimination of Child Labor Jakarta, in 
collaboration with various local universities/research institutes, 
conducted baseline surveys in a number of localities in North Sumatra, 
Lampung, and East Java. The surveys identified 3,396 children ages 
seven to 17 years who were engaged in plantation work (palm oil, 
rubber, tobacco, coffee, coconut), of whom 28 percent were age 12 years 
and below and 52 percent were not in school.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--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. During 
the year Papua offered the highest minimum wage at 1.1 million rupiah 
(approximately $120) per month, while the Manpower Ministry reported 
official minimum wages as low as 500,000 rupiah ($60) per month in East 
Java.
    Local manpower officials were responsible for enforcing minimum 
wage regulations. Enforcement remained inadequate, particularly at 
smaller companies. There is no enforcement of the minimum wage in the 
informal sector. Labor law and ministerial regulations provide workers 
with a variety of benefits, but it was estimated that, aside from 
government officials, only 10 percent of workers received social 
security benefits. Persons who worked at foreign-owned companies 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, which was rarely done.
    The law establishes a 40-hour workweek, with one 30-minute rest 
period for every four hours of work. Companies often required a five-
and-a-half- or six-day workweek. The law also requires at least one day 
of rest weekly. The daily overtime rate was 1.5 times the normal hourly 
rate for the first hour and twice the hourly rate for additional 
overtime, with a maximum of three hours of overtime per day and no more 
than 14 hours per week. Unions complained that companies relied upon 
excessive overtime in some garment and electronics assembly plants, to 
the detriment of workers' health and safety. Observance of laws 
regulating benefits and labor standards varied by sectors and regions. 
Employer violations of legal requirements were fairly common, sometimes 
resulting in strikes and protests. The American Center for 
International Labor Solidarity reported workers in the garment industry 
worked extremely long hours, but because their pay slips did not 
specify the amount of overtime paid, they could not be certain they 
were fully compensated for overtime. The Manpower Ministry continued to 
urge employers to comply with the law; however, government enforcement 
and supervision of labor standards continued to be weak.
    Both the law and regulations provide for minimum standards of 
industrial health and safety. In practice the country's worker safety 
record was poor. The state-owned insurance agency reported 86,692 
workplace accidents between January and November, an average of 237 
incidents per day. Local 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. By law workers have the right to 
remove themselves from hazardous conditions without jeopardizing 
employment; in practice it was not clear they could avail themselves of 
this right.

                               __________

                                 JAPAN

    Japan is a parliamentary democracy with a population of 
approximately 127.4 million. In August 2009 the Democratic Party of 
Japan (DPJ) won parliamentary elections and ended the Liberal 
Democratic Party's half-century of dominance. In June, Naoto Kan 
succeeded Yukio Hatoyama as prime minister. In July elections for the 
parliament's upper house, the ruling coalition led by the DPJ lost its 
majority in that chamber but retained control of the more powerful 
lower house. The elections were considered free and fair. Security 
forces reported to civilian authorities.
    Human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported problems 
with the country's detention facilities and legal system. There were 
several reports of corruption during the year. Sexual harassment and 
employment discrimination continued to be reported. Discrimination 
against children born out of wedlock, minority groups, and foreigners 
were problems. The exploitation of foreign trainees 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    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.
    On March 22, a Ghanaian man being deported from the country died 
aboard an airplane prior to take-off while in handcuffs. Although an 
official judicial autopsy could not determine the cause of death and 
noted no sign of physical harm, his widow said she saw bruises when 
identifying the man's body, and immigration officials testified in the 
Diet (parliament) that he was gagged by a towel and forced into his 
seat by 10 officers. In December a police investigation into whether 
the 10 officers used excessive force was sent to Chiba prosecutors to 
decide if indictments are warranted.
    NGOs and foreign diplomats reported instances of alleged physical 
abuse in some prisons. Four instructors at Hiroshima Juvenile Training 
School, a reform facility for juvenile offenders, were convicted during 
the year for physically abusing approximately 50 students in 2009. 
Following this incident, the Ministry of Justice conducted a 
questionnaire at the country's other 51 juvenile training schools. 
Seventy-one persons, slightly more than 2.1 percent of the total 
population of juveniles in protective custody, responded that they had 
been abused by their instructors.
    The Government continued to deny death-row inmates and their 
families information about the date of execution. Families of condemned 
prisoners were notified of the execution after the fact. The Government 
stated this policy was to spare the prisoners the anguish of knowing 
when they were going to die. Condemned prisoners, although held in 
solitary confinement for an average of almost eight years until their 
execution, were allowed visits by their families, lawyers, and other 
persons. An NGO reported that prisoners facing the death penalty were 
sometimes kept in solitary confinement for decades and concluded that a 
number of these prisoners had become mentally ill as a result but that 
requests for mental health records of death-row inmates were summarily 
denied.
    NGOs continued to report that prison management regularly abused 
the rules on solitary confinement. Punitive solitary confinement may be 
imposed for a maximum of 60 days, but procedures allow wardens to keep 
prisoners in ``isolation'' solitary confinement indefinitely. A 
prisoner released from Fuchu Prison during the year was kept in 
isolation for the final four years of his sentence. Prison officials 
stated that solitary confinement was an important tool to maintain 
order in prisons that were at or above capacity.
    Hazing, bullying, and sexual harassment were reported as problems 
in the Japanese Self Defense Forces.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions 
generally met international standards. However, several facilities were 
overcrowded and lacked sufficient heating in the winter or air 
conditioning in the summer. Extreme summer heat in the prisons caused 
the deaths of a male prisoner in Osaka Prison in July and a female 
prisoner in Kochi Prison in August. In both cases, the prisoners were 
moved to protection cells (normally used for inmates on suicide watch) 
shortly before collapsing and dying. The Kochi Prison inmate had been 
diagnosed with heatstroke four days earlier and moved briefly to a 
hospital but was subsequently returned to the prison.
    Prisoner rights advocates also alleged that inmates may have frozen 
to death in the winter. In some institutions, clothing and blankets 
were insufficient to protect inmates against cold weather. Most prison 
facilities did not provide heating during nighttime hours in winter 
despite freezing temperatures, exposing inmates to a range of 
preventable ailments and medical conditions. Foreign prisoners in the 
Tokyo area presented to visiting diplomatic officials chilblains-
affected fingers and toes, the direct result of long-term exposure to 
deleteriously cold and at times freezing conditions.
    NGOs and foreign diplomatic officials also reported that some 
facilities provided inadequate food and medical care. Foreign 
diplomatic officials confirmed numerous cases in which the prison diet 
was inadequate to prevent significant weight loss, including muscle 
mass. Cases of slow and inadequate medical treatment were documented, 
including in detainees and prisoners with preexisting medical 
conditions. Police and prison authorities were particularly slow 
providing treatment of mental illness and had no protocol for offering 
psychiatric therapy. The Fukuoka Bar Association also raised concerns 
that prison doctors repeatedly forced an inmate to use a catheter even 
though he rejected the treatment. The inmate subsequently developed a 
catheter-associated urinary tract infection. NGOs, lawyers, and doctors 
also criticized medical care in police-operated preindictment detention 
centers and immigration detention centers. Poor sanitary and health 
conditions in immigration detention facilities resulted in complaints 
of common fungal infections among detainees.
    At the end of 2009, there were 75,250 prisoners, a slight decrease 
from 2008. This figure, which counts detained defendants and suspects 
as well as sentenced prisoners and convicts, included 5,212 female 
prisoners and 38 minors. Men and women prisoners were held in separate 
facilities in prisons and detention centers. Minors were held 
separately from adults in prisons and regular detention centers, but 
regulations do not require that minors be held separately in 
immigration detention centers.
    NGOs and foreign diplomatic officials reported that pretrial 
detainees routinely were held incommunicado for up to 23 days before 
being allowed access to persons other than their attorneys or, in the 
case of foreign arrestees, consular personnel. Prisoners' access to 
visitors was often limited to immediate family members. The law allows 
for broad religious observances within prisons, as long as these 
activities do not interfere with prison management. Prisons are also 
required to allow for consultations with prison chaplains, but the 
frequency of visits and the range of religions represented varied 
widely at different prisons. As a result, routine access to religious 
observances was not guaranteed, and foreign diplomatic officials said 
that prison officials repeatedly rejected some prisoners' requests to 
join religious meetings citing limits on the size of the groups.
    While prisoners and detainees were permitted to submit complaints 
to judicial authorities without censorship and to request investigation 
of credible allegations of inhumane conditions, the results of such 
investigations were provided to the prisoners in a letter offering 
little detail beyond the investigation's final determination.
    Although there were no ombudsmen serving on behalf of prisoners and 
detainees, prison management regulations stipulate that independent 
committees inspect prisons and detention centers operated by the 
Ministry of Justice and police-operated detention facilities. The 
committees included physicians, lawyers, local municipal officials, 
representatives of local communities, and other local citizens. In the 
March 2009-April 2010 fiscal year, these committees visited a total of 
194 prisons and detention facilities (not including pretrial detention 
facilities) and conducted 756 interviews with detainees without the 
presence of prison officials. The committees made 603 recommendations 
to prison or detention facility superintendants, of which 356 were 
implemented or were in the process of being implemented. In addition, 
the committees found 130 recommendations required either further 
discussion or follow-up inspections, and 117 were referred to the 
Ministry of Justice.
    A 2009 amendment to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition 
Law established a similar independent inspection process for 
immigration detention facilities. There is no inspection procedure in 
place for observing the country's 52 juvenile reform facilities.
    During the year the International Committee of the Red Cross did 
not request any prison visits.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, but NGOs and journalists alleged that police in 
large cities employed racial profiling to harass and sometimes arrest 
``foreign-looking'' persons, particularly dark-skinned Asians and 
persons of African descent, without cause. While many of these 
instances were limited to police officers' legal requests for 
immigration papers, anecdotes included one man who was dragged to the 
police station and stripped by force and a few instances reported in 
the press where foreigners were required to provide urine samples to 
police.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the National Police Agency (NPA) and 
local police forces, and the Government has effective mechanisms to 
investigate and punish abuse and corruption. There were no reports of 
impunity involving the security forces during the year. However, some 
NGOs criticized local public safety commissions as lacking independence 
from or sufficient authority over police agencies.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Persons were 
apprehended openly with warrants based on sufficient evidence and 
issued by a duly authorized official, and detainees were brought before 
an independent judiciary. NGOs claimed that warrants were granted at 
high rates, and that detention sometimes occurred even though the 
evidentiary grounds were weak.
    The law provides detainees the right to a prompt judicial 
determination of the legality of the detention and requires authorities 
to inform detainees immediately of the charges against them. 
Authorities usually held suspects in police-operated detention centers 
for an initial 72 hours. After interviewing a suspect, a judge may 
extend preindictment custody by up to two consecutive 10-day periods. 
Prosecutors routinely sought and received these extensions. Prosecutors 
may also apply for an additional five-day extension in exceptional 
crimes such as insurrection, foreign aggression, and disturbance. NGOs 
pointed out that routine granting of extensions undermined the intent 
of the law--prompt judicial determination of the legality of the 
detention.
    The code of criminal procedure allows detainees, their families, or 
representatives to request that the court release an indicted detainee 
on bail. However, bail is not available during preindictment to persons 
detained in either police or Ministry of Justice detention facilities. 
Because judges customarily granted prosecutors' requests for 
extensions, the system of pretrial detention, known as daiyou kangoku 
(substitute prison), usually continued for 23 days. Suspects in 
pretrial detention are legally required to face interrogation, although 
NPA guidelines limit interrogations to a maximum of eight hours and 
prohibit overnight interrogations. Preindictment detainees had access 
to counsel, including at least one consultation with a court-appointed 
attorney. Prisoner advocates said that in practice this access 
continued to improve in terms of duration and frequency. However, 
counsel may not be present during interrogations. Family members 
usually were allowed to meet with detainees, but only in the presence 
of a detention officer. Article 81 of the code of criminal conduct 
allows police to prohibit detainees from having interviews with persons 
other than their counsel if there is probable cause that the suspect 
may flee or may conceal or destroy evidence. Many detainees, including 
most of those charged with drug offenses, were held incommunicado until 
indictment and were allowed only consular and legal access. Prosecutors 
at their discretion may partially record suspects' confessions, but 
NGOs pointed out that partial and discretionary recording could be 
misleading. While internal police supervisors increasingly are present 
during interrogations, there is no independent oversight of the 
interrogations.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice. In 2009 the country began a lay-judge (jury) 
system for serious criminal cases. NGOs noted that the lay-judge system 
improved the procedure for disclosure of evidence, but they remained 
skeptical that prosecutors will respect acquittal verdicts decided by 
lay judge panels. The first two full acquittals in the lay-judge system 
were appealed and at year's end were awaiting trials before 
professional judges.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides the right to a fair trial for 
all citizens and each charged individual receives a public trial by an 
independent civilian court, has access to defense counsel, and has the 
right to cross-examine witnesses. A defendant is presumed innocent 
until proven guilty in a court of law, and defendants cannot be 
compelled to testify against themselves.
    The UN Committee Against Torture (CAT), NGOs, and lawyers 
questioned whether defendants were presumed innocent in practice. 
According to NGOs, the majority of indicted detainees confessed while 
in police custody. Safeguards exist so that suspects cannot be 
compelled to confess to a crime or be convicted when a confession is 
the only evidence. In 2009 the National Public Safety Commission issued 
regulations prohibiting police from touching suspects (unless 
unavoidable), exerting force, threatening them, keeping them in fixed 
postures for long periods, verbally abusing them, or offering them 
favors in return for a confession. Defense counsel is not allowed to be 
present during interrogations.
    NGOs asserted that the new rules were not adequately enforced and 
that prisoners continued to be subjected to interrogation sessions of 
eight to 12 hours in length, during which detainees were handcuffed to 
a chair for the entire period and aggressive questioning techniques 
were used. NGOs also stated that, although the practice is illegal, 
interrogators sometimes offered bail in exchange for a detained person 
proffering a confession. From April 2009 to March, the Federation of 
Bar Associations counted 29 press reports of violations of 
interrogation guidelines. In December an Osaka police officer was 
indicted on charges of illegal intimidation after a man in his custody 
surreptitiously made a recording of his interrogation in September and 
subsequently filed a complaint with prosecutors.
    The use of police-operated detention centers was criticized because 
it puts suspects in the custody of their interrogators. The Government 
stated that article 16 of the Act on Penal Detention Facilities and 
Treatment of Inmates and Detainees separates the function of 
investigation from the function of detention. The vast majority of 
arrested suspects were sent to police detention facilities, with a much 
smaller proportion sent to Ministry of Justice-operated preindictment 
detention centers. In 2009 more than 99 percent of cases that reached 
trial resulted in conviction. Independent legal scholars alleged that 
the judiciary gives too much weight to confessions; the Government 
disputed the assertion.
    There were media reports of persons convicted on the basis of 
police-obtained confessions who were later proved innocent. In July a 
retrial began for two Fukawa men who confessed to and were convicted of 
murder in 1967. Although they were paroled in 1996, they have insisted 
the confessions were coerced and sought exoneration; new evidence, 
including revelations that police tampered with the interrogation 
tapes, led the Supreme Court to allow a new trial. The trial ended on 
December 10 and a judgment was scheduled to be rendered in March 2011.
    According to some independent legal scholars, trial procedures 
favor the prosecution, although the Government disputed the claim. The 
law provides for access to counsel; nevertheless, a significant number 
of defendants reported that this access was insufficient. The law does 
not require full disclosure by prosecutors unless the defending 
attorney is able to satisfy disclosure procedure conditions. In 
practice this sometimes resulted in the suppression of material that 
the prosecution did not use in court. As a result, the legal 
representatives of some defendants claimed that they did not receive 
access to relevant material in the police record. In appeal attempts in 
some cases, defense attorneys were not granted access to possible 
exculpatory DNA evidence. The police's response in those cases was that 
all evidence was destroyed after the initial trial. The Government's 
official position regarding the disclosure of evidence to defense 
attorneys is that any evidence, including DNA, can be disclosed through 
the disclosure procedure in accordance with the code of criminal 
procedure ``if the conditions are met.'' In September and October, a 
senior prosecutor and the chief and deputy chief of the Osaka District 
Public Prosecutor's Office were arrested on charges of falsifying 
evidence and then concealing the criminal act in the case of a public 
servant on trial for alleged postal fraud. In December the country's 
top prosecutor resigned over the scandal.
    The language barrier was a serious problem for foreign defendants. 
No guidelines exist to ensure effective communication between judges, 
lawyers, and non-Japanese-speaking defendants. Several foreign 
detainees claimed that police urged them to sign statements in Japanese 
that they could not understand and that were not translated adequately. 
No standard licensing or qualification system existed for court 
interpreters, and trials proceeded even if no translation or 
interpretation was provided, despite the Government's claims that 
trials cannot proceed unless translation or interpreting is provided. 
According to the 2010 Police White Paper, prefectural police stations 
made available police officers or other employees with foreign language 
skills to serve as interpreters during interrogations.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters. Persons have access to a 
court to bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, a human 
rights violation. There are both administrative and judicial remedies 
for alleged wrongs.

    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. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a 
functioning democratic political system combined to ensure freedom of 
speech and of the press.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
Approximately 78 percent of the population used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events. The Ministry of 
Education's approval process for history textbooks continued to be a 
subject of controversy, particularly regarding the treatment of certain 
subjects pertaining to the 20th century. Some textbook authors accused 
the Ministry of Education of editing their writing in ways that 
distorted the intended meaning. The national anthem and national flag 
continued to be controversial symbols. From April 2008 to March 2009, 
69 teachers were disciplined for refusing to sing the national anthem 
in front of the flag.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The law provides 
for the freedom of assembly and association, and the Government 
generally respected these rights in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in 
providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, and 
other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. The 
Government also began a small-scale third country resettlement program 
involving 27 Burmese refugees from a refugee camp in Thailand.
    In practice the Government provided some protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion. The Government also provided temporary protection to 
individuals who may not qualify as refugees and provided it to 501 
persons in 2009.
    Refugee and asylum applicants could ask lawyers to participate in 
their appeal hearings before the system of refugee examiners; however, 
in practice refugee and asylum seekers had limited access to legal 
representatives due to the limited amount of legal aid available and 
the small number of lawyers working on asylum matters. Although there 
was a free counseling service for foreigners, including asylum seekers 
and refugees, at the Japan Legal Support Center established by the 
Ministry of Justice, there was no public financial assistance to pay 
legal costs for asylum seekers outside of this center. Lawyers working 
for asylum seekers who lacked financial means could apply for financial 
assistance from the Federation of Bar Associations.
    The UN CAT, NGOs, and lawyers criticized the indefinite and often 
long period of detention between the rejection of an application for 
asylum and deportation. The UN special rapporteur on the human rights 
of migrants expressed concern about the policy of detaining asylum 
seekers and other irregular migrants for prolonged periods, in some 
cases for as long as three years. NGOs believed that inadequate 
explanation of the cause for rejecting an asylum application made 
appealing the decision difficult. During the year there were a series 
of suicides, attempted suicides, and hunger strikes by detained asylum 
seekers unable to obtain temporary release. The Ministry of Justice 
implemented a program during the year to streamline the asylum petition 
process and reduce time spent in detention. The program stipulates that 
the cases of all detained asylum seekers must be reviewed quarterly and 
that first instance decisions must be completed within six months of 
application. The program led to a reduction in the number of detained 
asylum seekers to the lowest level in recent years.
    The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) 
reported that asylum seekers from certain countries received 
preferential consideration while those from other countries were 
sometimes forcibly returned to situations of risk.
    Applicants for refugee status normally were not allowed to work 
unless they meet certain conditions. To obtain the right to work, 
persons applying for refugee status must be in need and completely 
dependent on government shelters or NGO support. In the interim the 
Refugee Assistance Headquarters, a government-funded foundation, 
provided small stipends. However, budget shortfalls caused by an 
increase in applications led to stricter criteria and eliminated this 
aid to many applicants.
    Refugees faced the same patterns of discrimination that other 
foreigners did: reduced access to housing, education, and employment. 
Except for those who met the conditions stated above, persons whose 
refugee status was pending or on appeal did not have the legal right to 
work or receive social welfare, rendering them completely dependent on 
overcrowded government shelters, illegal employment not subject to 
labor law oversight, or NGO assistance.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The law provides citizens 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 and Political Participation.--In July the country held 
elections for the upper house of the Diet, which brought an end to the 
ruling DPJ-led coalition's bicameral majority. The elections were 
considered free and fair. Political parties operated without 
restriction or outside interference.
    Women held 52 of 480 seats in the lower house of the Diet and 44 of 
242 seats in the upper house. At year's end there were three female 
governors and two women in the 18-member cabinet. Because some ethnic 
minorities are of mixed heritage and do not self-identify, it was 
difficult to determine the number of minorities that served in the 
Diet. Three Diet members acknowledged being naturalized Japanese 
citizens.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government generally implemented these laws effectively. 
Independent academic experts stated that ties between politicians, 
bureaucrats, and businessmen were close and that corruption remained a 
concern. During the first half of the year, the NPA reported arrests in 
20 cases of bribery and four cases of bid rigging. There were regular 
media reports of investigations into financial and accounting 
irregularities involving high-profile politicians and government 
officials, including a decision by a civilian panel requiring that 
prosecutors indict former DPJ secretary general Ichiro Ozawa. In 
September lower house member Muneo Suzuki's conviction for accepting 
bribes was upheld, and he began a two-year prison sentence. An 
investigation into the campaign fundraising of then prime minister 
Yukio Hatoyama that began in 2009 resulted in the conviction of a 
Hatoyama aide in April; prosecutors did not file charges against the 
former prime minister.
    Although laws requiring financial disclosure for public officials 
exist, they were laxly enforced.
    The public has the legal right to access government information. 
There were no reports that the Government denied legal requests for 
information or required information seekers to pay prohibitive fees to 
gain access.
Section 5. 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 restriction, investigating and 
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials 
generally were cooperative and responsive to their views.
    The Government cooperated with intergovernmental organizations and 
permitted visits by UN representatives and representatives of other 
intergovernmental organizations, including the International 
Organization for Migration and International Labor Organization.
    Human rights groups pointed out that the country had not 
established an independent national human rights institution and that 
the national Human Rights Commission reports to the Ministry of 
Justice. There were no ombudsman offices at the national level. While 
there were no official human rights committees in the Diet, there were 
unofficial groups that covered human rights-related matters such as 
abolishing the death penalty.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, gender, 
disability, language, and social status. Although the Government 
generally enforced these provisions, discrimination against women, 
ethnic minority groups, and foreigners remained problems.

    Women.--The law criminalizes all forms of rape against women, 
including spousal rape, and the Government generally enforced the law 
effectively. According to NPA statistics, 1,402 rapes against women and 
girls were reported in 2009 and 571 were reported during the first half 
of 2010. Prosecutors brought charges in 662 rape cases in 2009. Many 
police stations had female officers to provide confidential assistance 
to female victims.
    Although prohibited by law, domestic violence against women 
remained a problem. Ministry of Justice statistics showed that 70 
perpetrators were prosecuted in 2009 under the antispousal violence 
law. District courts may impose six-month restraining orders on 
perpetrators of domestic violence to protect threatened or abused 
spouses and their children under the age of 20 years and may also 
impose sentences of up to one year in prison or fines of up to one 
million yen (approximately $12,150). In 2009 courts granted 2,411 of 
3,087 petitions for protection orders, with 526 withdrawals and 150 
dismissals. The law, which covers common-law marriages and divorced 
individuals, includes protection for relatives of victims and persons 
threatened with violence. According to NPA statistics, in 2009 there 
were 28,158 reported cases of domestic violence, with women 
constituting more than 98 percent of the victims. Spousal violence 
consultation assistance centers reported 72,792 consultation cases in 
2009, with women the victims in more than 99 percent of the cases.
    Sexual harassment in the workplace remained widespread. During the 
12-month period ending in March, the Ministry of Health, Labor, and 
Welfare (MHLW) received 11,898 consultations, over 60 percent of which 
were from female workers. The law includes measures to identify 
companies that fail to prevent sexual harassment, but it does not 
include punitive measures to enforce compliance other than publicizing 
the names of offending companies. The Government established hotlines 
in prefectural labor bureau equal employment departments and charged 
them with the duty of handling consultations concerning sexual 
harassment and mediating disputes when possible.
    Despite apologies by successive Japanese political leaders, a 
number of NGOs continued to criticize the country's apologies to and 
compensation for ``comfort women'' (the victims of forced prostitution 
during World War II) as inadequate. The Government provided 
compensation payments through a government-initiated private fund, 
expressed remorse, and extended apologies to the victims.
    Couples and individuals could decide freely and responsibly the 
number, spacing, and timing of their children, and they had the 
information and means to do so free from discrimination, coercion, and 
violence. Women had access to contraception and maternal health 
services, including skilled attendance during childbirth and essential 
obstetric and postpartum care. Maternal mortality was 6.8 deaths per 
100,000 live births in 2008. Men and women received equal access to 
diagnosis and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, including 
HIV.
    The law prohibits sexual discrimination and generally provides 
women the same rights as men. The Gender Equality Bureau, a cabinet 
office in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and Food Safety, Social 
Affairs, and Gender Equality, continued to examine policies and monitor 
progress on gender equality. Its White Paper on Gender Equality 2010 
concluded that, more than 10 years since the passage of the Basic Law 
for a Gender-Equal Society, the participation of women in society 
remained inadequate and called for increased gender-equality awareness 
focused on reaching men and housewives in addition to working women.
    Inequality in employment remained a problem in society. Women 
composed 41.9 percent of the labor force, unchanged from 2009, and 
their average monthly wage was 226,100 yen (approximately $2,750), 
about two-thirds of the monthly wage earned by men (333,700 yen, or 
$4,050). Women held just 10.7 percent of managerial positions, and 70 
percent of employed women resigned after the birth of their first 
child.
    In August 2009 the UN Committee on the Elimination of 
Discrimination against Women termed the country's efforts to implement 
antidiscrimination measures as insufficient. The committee pointed to 
discriminatory provisions in the civil code, unequal treatment of women 
in the labor market, and low representation of women in high-level 
elected bodies. The committee urged the country to abolish a six-month 
waiting period stipulated in the civil code for women but not men 
before remarriage, to adopt a system allowing for the choice of 
surnames for married couples, and to repeal civil code and family-
registration law provisions that discriminate against children born out 
of wedlock. The Government pointed to changes in its nationality law 
and civil code that address some of these concerns, including a 
resolution of the surnames matter, the establishment of women's rights 
to their husbands' pensions, and improved legal protection for women in 
child custody issues.

    Children.--The nationality law grants citizenship at birth to the 
child of: a Japanese father who is either married to the child's mother 
or recognizes paternity of the child; a Japanese mother; or, a child 
born in the country to parents who are both unknown or do not have 
nationality.
    Reports of child abuse continued to increase. From April 2009 
through March 2010, there were 44,210 possible cases of child abuse by 
parents or guardians reported to the Child Guidance Center, an increase 
of more than 1,500 from the preceding year. According to the NPA, in 
2009 a total of 335 child abuse cases resulted in arrest and 28 
children were killed as a result of abuse by parents or guardians. To 
better ensure children's safety, municipal governments require that 
suspected abusive parents or guardians be interviewed by child welfare 
officials and provided with assistance as required. When necessary, 
suspected homes must also be inspected with the police in a supporting 
role. 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 mandates that 
anyone aware of suspicious circumstances must report the information to 
a local child counseling center or municipal welfare center.
    Child prostitution is illegal, with a penalty of imprisonment with 
labor for up to three years or a fine of up to one million yen 
($12,150) for offenders, including the intermediary and the person 
involved in solicitation. However, the practice of enjo-kosai 
(compensated dating) and easy facilitation by means of online dating, 
social networking, and delivery health (call girl or escort service) 
sites made de facto domestic child-sex tourism a problem. There are 
statutory rape laws. The minimum age for consensual sex varies with 
jurisdiction and ranges from 13 to 18. The penalty for statutory rape 
is no less than two years' imprisonment with forced labor.
    The country continued to be an international hub for the production 
and trafficking of child pornography. The distribution of child 
pornography is illegal; the penalty is imprisonment with labor for not 
more than three years or a fine not exceeding three million yen 
($36,460). Although the distribution of child pornography is illegal, 
the law does not criminalize the simple possession of child 
pornography, which often depicts the brutal sexual abuse of small 
children. While this continues to hamper police efforts to effectively 
enforce existing child pornography laws and fully participate in 
international law enforcement in this area, child pornography 
investigations increased 40 percent in 2009 to 935 cases. New measures 
announced in July included instructing Internet service providers to 
voluntarily block Internet access to child pornography, increased 
cooperation with foreign law enforcement agencies, and boosting 
resources for investigations; they were designed to combat child 
pornography without changing current laws. But children's advocates 
criticized the measure to block access, noting that it does not require 
Internet service and cellular data providers to block the images and, 
in fact, the law prohibits providers from censuring any user access.
    The new measures also do not address the unfettered availability of 
sexually explicit cartoons, comics, and video games. While the NPA 
maintained that no link has been established between these animated 
images and child victimization, other experts suggested the situation 
harms children by creating a culture that appears to accept sexual 
abuse of children.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html as well as 
country specific information at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish population is approximately 2,000 
persons. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical and mental disabilities in employment, 
education, and access to health care, and the Government generally 
enforced these provisions; however, the Federation of Bar Associations 
complained that discrimination is undefined and thus not enforceable 
through judicial remedies. In December 2009 the Government established 
an advisory committee to help develop domestic laws to enable the 
country to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with 
Disabilities.
    Persons with disabilities generally were not subject to overt 
discrimination in employment, education, or provision of other state 
services; however, in practice they faced limited access to these 
services.
    The law mandates that the Government and private companies hire 
minimum proportions of persons with disabilities (including mental 
disabilities). Companies with more than 300 employees that do not 
comply must pay a fine of 50,000 yen (approximately $600) per vacant 
position per month. Public employment of persons with disabilities 
exceeded the minimum. According to MHLW statistics, the private sector 
lagged, despite increases over previous years. In a 2009 survey of 
private companies with more than 56 workers, 1.6 percent of their 
employees had disabilities.
    Accessibility laws mandate that new construction projects for 
public use must include provisions for persons with disabilities. In 
addition, the Government grants low-interest loans and tax benefits to 
operators of hospitals, theaters, hotels, and other public-use 
facilities if they upgrade or install features to accommodate persons 
with disabilities.
    According to NGOs there were an estimated 20,000 homeless persons 
who could not receive old-age pensions, disability pensions, and 
livelihood protection allowances because they were considered to be 
without residence. NGOs reported that, due to inadequate protection by 
the social safety net and the social stigma against homelessness, a 
significant number of elderly citizens and homeless individuals 
committed petty crimes to obtain the food and shelter provided by life 
in prison. Surveys showed that persons with mental disabilities may 
have accounted for up to 60 percent of the repeat-offender population 
in some prisons. Surveys also showed a significant percentage of repeat 
offenders were homeless persons who were not receiving social services. 
Police and prison authorities were particularly slow providing 
treatment of mental illness and had no protocol for offering 
psychiatric therapy.
    According to NGOs and physicians, persons with mental illnesses 
also faced stigmatization and both educational and occupational 
barriers. Mental health professionals stated that insufficient efforts 
were being made to reduce the stigma of mental illness and to inform 
the public that depression and other mental illnesses were treatable, 
biologically based illnesses.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Ethnic minorities experienced 
varying degrees of societal discrimination. The approximately three 
million Buraku (descendants of feudal-era ``outcasts''), although not 
subject to governmental discrimination, were frequently victims of 
entrenched societal discrimination. The UN CERD and Buraku advocacy 
groups reported that, despite the socioeconomic improvements achieved 
by many Buraku, widespread discrimination persisted in employment, 
marriage, housing, and property value assessments. While the Buraku 
label is no longer officially used to identify people, the family 
registry system can be used to identify Buraku and facilitate 
discriminatory practices. Buraku advocates expressed concern that 
employers, including many government agencies that require family 
registry information from job applicants for background checks, may use 
this information to identify and discriminate against Buraku 
applicants.
    Despite legal safeguards against discrimination, the country's 
large populations of Korean, Chinese, Brazilian, and Filipino permanent 
residents--many of whom were born, raised, and educated in Japan--were 
subject to various forms of deeply entrenched societal discrimination, 
including restricted access to housing, education, health care, and 
employment opportunities. Other foreign nationals resident in the 
country as well as ``foreign-looking'' Japanese citizens reported 
similar discrimination and also said they were prohibited entry, 
sometimes by signs reading ``Japanese only,'' to privately owned 
facilities serving the general public, including hotels and hot 
springs. Noting that the discrimination is usually open and direct, 
NGOs complained of government inaction in prohibiting it.
    An enforcement directive published by the Japanese Social Insurance 
Agency explicitly made it easier for employers to avoid paying pension 
and insurance contributions on behalf of their foreign employees 
teaching languages as compared to Japanese employees in the same 
position. A labor union representing the teachers said the directive 
provides impunity to employers who illegally fail to enroll foreign 
teachers in the system.
    Many foreign university professors, especially women, complained 
that they were hired on short-term contracts without possibility of 
tenure.
    There was a widespread perception among citizens that 
``foreigners,'' often members of Japan-born ethnic minorities, were 
responsible for most of the crimes committed in the country. The media 
fostered this perception by disproportionately reporting crimes 
committed by non-Japanese citizens, although Ministry of Justice 
statistics showed that the crime rate for foreigners, excepting 
immigration violations, was lower than the crime rate for citizens. 
Long-term foreign residents, including naturalized citizens, reported 
being targeted, particularly by the police.
    Many immigrants struggled to overcome obstacles to naturalization, 
including the broad discretion available to adjudicating officers and 
the great emphasis on Japanese language ability. Aliens with five years 
of continuous residence are eligible for naturalization and citizenship 
rights. Naturalization procedures also require an extensive background 
check, which includes inquiries into the applicant's economic status 
and assimilation into society. The Government defended its 
naturalization procedures as necessary to ensure the smooth 
assimilation of foreigners into society.
    Approximately 600,000 ethnic Koreans were permanent residents or 
citizens. In general their acceptance by society was steadily 
improving. In 2009, 7,639 ethnic Koreans applied for citizenship, a 
slight increase from the prior year. The vast majority of applications 
were approved. Ethnic Koreans who chose not to naturalize faced 
difficulties in terms of civil and political rights.
    Representatives of some ethnic schools continued to press the 
Government to have their schools recognized as educational foundations 
and to accept the graduates of their high schools as qualified to take 
university and vocational school entrance exams. The Ministry of 
Education stated that the graduates of ethnic schools certified by 
international school associations as being equivalent to a 12-year 
program could take the entrance exam.
    During the year nativist groups became increasingly aggressive in 
harassing foreigners and Japan-born ethnic minorities. In August, four 
antiforeigner group members were arrested after a demonstration against 
the Kyoto Number 1 Korean Elementary School that involved verbal 
harassment of the schoolchildren.

    Indigenous People.--Although the Ainu enjoyed the same rights as 
all other citizens, when clearly identifiable as Ainu they faced 
discrimination. The Ainu law, enacted in 1997, emphasizes preservation 
of Ainu culture, but it lacks some provisions that a few Ainu groups 
have demanded, such as land claims, reserved seat(s) for Ainu in the 
Diet and local assemblies, and a government apology to the Ainu people.
    The UN Human Rights Committee submitted a report to the Government 
in 2008 advising it to designate both the Ainu and the Ryukyu (a term 
that includes residents of Okinawa and portions of Kagoshima 
Prefecture) as indigenous peoples and give assistance to protect and 
promote their culture and traditions. The Government replied that, 
while it does not recognize ``Ryukyu'' as an indigenous people, it 
acknowledges their unique culture and history and has made efforts to 
preserve and show respect for these traditions.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--While there is no national law 
that protects against discrimination on the basis of sexual 
orientation, some local governments have enacted laws prohibiting 
employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. NGOs that 
advocate for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons reported 
some instances of bullying, harassment, and violence.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of societal violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. 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 the Government effectively enforced the law. Unions 
were free of government control and influence; however, public service 
employees' basic union rights, governed by a separate law, are 
restricted in ways that effectively require prior authorization to form 
unions. In 2009 just over 10 million persons, or 18.5 percent of the 
total workforce, were members of unions. Among workers in the 
agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sectors, 15,000--or 2.7 percent of 
the total workers in these sectors--belonged to unions.
    Except for public sector workers and employees of state-owned 
enterprises, the law allows unions to conduct their activities without 
interference, and the Government protected this right. The continued 
increased use of short-term contracts, often in violation of the Labor 
Standards Law, not only undermined regular employment but also 
frustrated organizing efforts.
    Unions in the private sector have the right to strike, and workers 
exercised this right in practice. Workers in sectors providing 
essential services, including electric power generation and 
transmission, transportation and railways, telecommunications, medical 
care and public health, and postal service, however, must give 10 days' 
advance notice to the authorities. Public sector employees do not have 
the right to strike, but such employees are able to participate in 
public employee organizations, which can negotiate collectively with 
their public employers on wages, hours, and other conditions of 
employment. They are not able to enter into collective bargaining 
agreements.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Collective 
bargaining is protected by law and was freely practiced. However, the 
276,345 public employees and 2,515,728 employees involved in providing 
essential services (approximately 4.5 percent of the total workforce of 
62.7 million) are not afforded this right. Approximately one-third of 
workers were part-time or nonregular workers, who found it difficult to 
organize for collective bargaining purposes. Moreover, an increasing 
number of businesses were choosing to change their form of 
incorporation and moving to a holding company structure. Investment 
fund ``companies,'' which are not legally considered employers, also 
appeared to be playing a larger role. In addition to changes in 
corporate structure, there were labor market changes affecting 
corporate activities. As a result a significant proportion of the 
workforce was unable to participate in collective bargaining units.
    There were no reports of antiunion discrimination or other forms of 
employer interference in union functions.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor; however, there were reports that such 
practices occurred. Workers who entered the country illegally or who 
overstayed their visas were at risk for these practices, including 
nonpayment or underpayment of wages. Some companies illegally forced 
foreign laborers in the Industrial Trainee and Technical Internship 
Program to work overtime, refused to pay them allowances, restricted 
their movement, communications, and travel documents, and forced them 
to deposit paychecks into company-controlled accounts. The law and 
Ministry of Justice guidelines prohibit these practices, and the Labor 
Standard Inspection Bodies monitored workplace compliance with the 
labor laws. Its normal response was to issue warnings and advisories; 
legal recourses normally were not pursued except in the most serious 
cases.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at https//www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits the exploitation of children in the workplace, and the 
MHLW effectively implemented the law. By law children between the ages 
of 15 and 18 may perform any job that is not designated as dangerous or 
harmful. Children between the ages of 13 and 15 may perform ``light 
labor'' only, and children under 13 may work only in the entertainment 
industry. Other than victims of human trafficking and child 
pornography, child labor was not a problem.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at https//www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--A revision to the law increased 
minimum wage rates effective October 24. They ranged from 643 yen 
($7.81) to 821 yen ($9.98) per hour, depending on prefecture. The 
revised law also increased to 500,000 yen ($6,080) the fine for 
employers that fail to pay the minimum wage. The minimum daily wage 
provided a decent standard of living for a worker and family.
    The law provides for a 40-hour workweek for most industries and 
mandates premium pay for hours worked in excess of 40 per week or eight 
per day. However, it was widely accepted that workers, including those 
in government jobs, routinely exceeded the hours outlined in the law. 
Labor unions frequently criticized the Government for failing to 
enforce maximum working-hour regulations. From April 2009 to March 
2010, surviving family members filed 768 applications with the MHLW 
seeking recognition of a deceased as a karoshi (death from overwork) 
victim. The ministry officially recognized 293 karoshi victims during 
the year. Worker rights NGOs claimed the number was much higher, and 
that overwork and other employment conditions contributed to many of 
the 31,560 suicides during the year.
    According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and 
Development, Japanese employers hired part-time, short-term contract or 
nonregular workers rather than permanent employees to circumvent 
protection by labor law. Such workers made up one-third of the labor 
force and worked for lower wages and often with less job security and 
fewer benefits or in more precarious working conditions than career 
workers. Many of these workers lost their jobs during the year due to 
private-sector cuts and some sought damages from their employers, 
alleging that the repeated renewal of their short-term contracts 
obligated their employers to convert them to career employees. Other 
groups argued that the labor system had been too rigid before 
regulations changed to allow this type of work. One of the stated goals 
of the 2008 Revised Part-Time Work Law was to provide equality for 
part-time workers, the majority of whom are women, in terms of wages 
and training. To qualify, however, part-time workers must have parity 
with full-time workers in terms of tasks, overtime, and transfers. In 
practice only 4 to 5 percent of part-time workers qualified under these 
terms.
    Advocacy groups reported that employers exploited illegal foreign 
workers, who often had little or no knowledge of the Japanese language 
or their legal rights. By law, students are allowed to work only 28 
hours per week. However, foreign students, particularly self-sponsored 
students, the majority of whom were Chinese, often held two or three 
low-wage jobs and as a result were moderately to severely sleep 
deprived, with the concomitant greater risk of injury and illness.
    The UN special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants and NGOs 
reported that the Foreign Trainee and Technical Intern Program, despite 
its declared intent as a vehicle of international assistance, is 
designed in a way that facilitates the exploitation of foreign workers. 
The majority of the trainees are Chinese nationals who pay fees of more 
than $1,400 to Chinese brokers to apply for the program and then must 
offer deposits of up to $4,000 and sometimes a lien on their home prior 
to leaving for Japan. According to worker advocates, if they report 
mistreatment or exit the program early, the brokers seize these assets. 
During the year a government ordinance prohibited the practices of 
requiring deposits from applicants to the program and imposing fines on 
the participants. While the law governing the trainee program has been 
amended to address employer violations and the Government increased 
enforcement in 2010, the system of punishing victims for speaking out 
continued to allow many companies to use the program for cheap, 
unregulated labor.
    In some companies, trainees reportedly were forced to work unpaid 
overtime and received less than the minimum wage. Moreover, their wages 
were automatically deposited in company-controlled accounts, despite 
the fact that ``forced deposits'' are illegal. According to NGOs, 
trainees sometimes had their travel documents taken from them and their 
movement controlled to ``prevent escape or unauthorized communication 
with others.'' In 2009 the Ministry of Justice confirmed that 360 
companies and other organizations that accepted foreign trainees were 
involved in wrongful practices, of which an estimated 80 percent 
involved violations of labor-related laws, failure to pay wages, unpaid 
overtime, and contracting out the trainees as laborers to other 
companies. Out of 444 cases recognized as wrongful practices, 123 cases 
were found to represent violations of labor-related laws and 
regulations. NGOs and labor unions working with foreign workers noted 
no noticeable improvement in companies' treatment of foreign workers. A 
survey conducted by the Japan International Training Cooperation 
Organization found that 27 trainees died from April 2009 to March, nine 
of them from brain and heart diseases often associated with working 
long hours. Three of the trainees committed suicide. On November 19, 
the Japanese Labor Standards Office officially certified a trainee's 
2008 death as karoshi. Although the company where the 31-year-old 
Chinese trainee worked reported only minimal overtime on his timecards, 
the Standards Office determined he had worked, on average, over 80 
hours a week for the 12 months preceding his death. The company was 
under criminal investigation.
    In January the Kumamoto District Court ordered an agent for foreign 
trainees and a training company to pay four Chinese interns 4.4 million 
yen (approximately $53,480) in damages in addition to ordering the 
company, a sewing firm, to pay 12.8 million yen (approximately 
$155,560) in unpaid wages. Several similar lawsuits were awaiting 
judgment.
    The Government sets occupational health and safety standards, and 
the Ministry of Labor effectively administered the various laws and 
regulations governing occupational health and safety. 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. In 2009 labor inspectors 
responded to 48,448 complaints, inspected 146,860 workplaces, and 
ordered 4,553 places of business to suspend operations and correct 
occupational health and safety problems. They also referred 1,110 cases 
to prosecutors.

                               __________

                                KIRIBATI

    Kiribati is a constitutional multiparty republic with a population 
of approximately 100,000. The president exercises executive authority 
and is popularly elected for a four-year term. The legislative assembly 
nominates at least three, and no more than four, presidential 
candidates from among its members. Parliamentary and presidential 
elections held in 2007 were considered generally free and fair. Anote 
Tong of the Boutokaan Te Koaua party was reelected president. Security 
forces reported to civilian authorities.
    Violence and discrimination against women, child abuse, and 
commercial sexual exploitation of children were the main human rights 
problems 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 
reports the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful 
killings.

    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 government officials employed them. Traditional village 
practice permits corporal punishment for criminal acts and other 
transgressions.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions 
generally met international standards, and the Government permitted 
visits by family members, church representatives, and diplomats. The 
Government also permitted monitoring visits by independent human rights 
observers, but there were no such visits during the year.
    As of August the prison system held 102 inmates (98 men and four 
women). There were 96 convicted prisoners, of whom 91 were male and 
five were female, and six pretrial detainees, all male. There were no 
juveniles (defined as those under age 18). There was no separate 
facility for juvenile offenders, but children under age 16 usually were 
not incarcerated. Juveniles ages 16 to 17 generally may be detained no 
longer than one month in the adult facility; however, for more serious 
offenses, such as murder, juveniles over age 16 can be held in custody 
for more than a month and can be sentenced to longer terms. Pretrial 
detainees accused of serious offenses who did not meet bail were held 
with convicted prisoners. Persons charged with minor offenses normally 
were released on their own recognizance pending trial.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. Although authorities permit complaints 
by inmates about inhumane conditions, the complaints are subject to 
censorship. There were no such complaints received, nor investigations 
undertaken, during the year. The Government monitors prison conditions. 
The country does not have any ombudsman who can serve on behalf of 
prisoners and detainees.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these 
prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the police force, and the Government 
has effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse and 
corruption. There were no reports of impunity involving the security 
forces during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--In some cases 
magistrates issued warrants before an arrest was made. Persons 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. These requirements generally were respected in 
practice. Many individuals were released on their own recognizance 
pending trial, and bail was granted routinely for many offenses. 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 oneself. 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. Detainees 
were allowed prompt access to legal counsel. Public defenders, known as 
``people's lawyers,'' were available free of charge for arrested 
persons and others who needed legal advice.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair public trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this 
right. There is no trial by jury. An accused person must be informed of 
the charges and be provided adequate time and facilities to prepare a 
defense. The law also provides for the rights to confront witnesses, 
present evidence, and appeal convictions. Defendants facing serious 
criminal charges are entitled to free legal representation. Procedural 
safeguards are based on British common law and include the presumption 
of innocence until proven guilty. The law extends these rights to all 
citizens.
    Extrajudicial traditional communal justice, in which village elders 
decide cases and mete out punishment, remained a part of village life, 
especially on remote outer islands. Nonetheless, the incidence of 
communal justice was declining under pressure from the codified 
national law.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters, as well as access to a court 
to bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, human rights 
violations.

    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 no government 
restrictions, there were some concerns about the lack of local 
independent media.
    The Government Broadcasting and Publications Authority (BPA) 
operated Radio Kiribati, the dominant news source in the country, and 
published a twice-weekly newspaper. A board of directors appointed by 
the Government oversees BPA operations. A media company owned by a 
member of Parliament affiliated with the governing party operated the 
country's other radio station and published a weekly newspaper.
    International media were allowed to operate freely. The law 
requires newspapers to register with the Government, but there were no 
reports the Government denied registration to any publication.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. While 
generally available and accessible on South Tarawa, public access to 
the Internet elsewhere in the country was limited by lack of 
infrastructure. The International Telecommunication Union reported that 
approximately 2 percent of the country's inhabitants used the Internet 
in 2009.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    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.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. Although the law prohibits government restrictions on 
citizens' freedom of movement, it does not restrict such actions by 
traditional village councils.
    The need did not arise during the year for government cooperation 
with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees or other 
humanitarian organizations in providing protection and assistance to 
internally displaced persons, refugees, returning refugees, asylum 
seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The law 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 
did not use forced exile. On rare occasions traditional village 
councils and the courts have banished persons from a specific island 
within the country, usually for a fixed period of time, but there were 
no reports of such banishments during the year.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is not a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or the 1967 Protocol 
relating to the Status of Refugees. Its laws do not provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has not 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. During the 
year there were no applications for refugee resettlement, asylum, or 
protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries 
where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their 
race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, 
or political opinion.
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.

    Elections and Political Participation.--The legislature has 45 
members: 43 are elected by universal adult suffrage, the Rabi Island 
Council of I-Kiribati (persons of Kiribati ancestry) in Fiji selects 
one, and the attorney general is an ex officio member. The most recent 
parliamentary elections were held in August 2007. In October 2007 the 
legislature elected Anote Tong of the Boutokaan Te Koaua party to a 
second term as president. The elections were considered generally free 
and fair. There were no government restrictions on political opponents, 
and political parties could operate without restriction or outside 
interference. Elected village councils run local governments in 
consultation with traditional village elders.
    There were three women in the 45-member legislature. Several 
permanent secretaries were women.
    The president and several members of the legislature were of mixed 
descent.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, but 
the Government did not always implement the law effectively. Government 
officials have sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity, 
but there were no specific reports of government corruption during the 
year.
    Nepotism, based on tribal, church, and family ties, was prevalent. 
Public officials were not subject to financial disclosure laws. The 
auditor general is responsible for oversight of government 
expenditures. In reality the auditor general lacked sufficient 
resources, and findings of misappropriations and unaccounted for funds 
were generally ignored, or the investigations were inconclusive.
    Since 2009, together with Nauru and Tuvalu, the country has 
participated in a subregional audit support program, an initiative of 
the Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions, with the goal of 
enabling public accounts to be audited to uniformly high standards in a 
timely manner.
    No law specifically provides for citizen or media access to 
government information. In practice the Government was fairly 
responsive to individual requests for information.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    Domestic and international human rights groups generally operated 
without government restriction. Government officials were cooperative 
and responsive to their views.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, 
national origin, or color, and the Government observed these 
prohibitions in practice; however, only native I-Kiribati may own land.

    Women.--Spousal abuse and other forms of violence against women 
were significant problems. Alcohol abuse frequently was a factor in 
attacks on women. Rape, including spousal rape, is a crime, with a 
maximum penalty of life imprisonment, but sentences were typically much 
shorter.
    According to a Kiribati Family Health and Safety Study prepared in 
2009 by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, approximately 75 
percent of the women surveyed had been victims of domestic violence at 
some time in their lives. The law does not address domestic violence 
specifically, but general common law and criminal law make assault in 
all forms illegal. The law provides for penalties of up to six months' 
imprisonment for common assault and up to five years' imprisonment for 
assault involving bodily harm. Prosecutions for rape and domestic 
assault were infrequent, largely due to cultural taboos on reporting 
such crimes and police attitudes encouraging reconciliation over 
prosecution.
    The law does not specifically prohibit sex tourism. There were 
reports of foreign fishermen engaging in commercial sexual acts with 
minors (see section 6, Children). Obscene or indecent behavior is 
banned.
    The law does not prohibit sexual harassment. Information presented 
in workshops conducted during the year in connection with efforts to 
develop a national policy on gender equality indicated that sexual 
harassment was more widespread than previously regarded.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children. Access 
to contraception, as well as prenatal, obstetric, and postnatal care, 
was available from public health hospitals and centers. According to 
the World Health Organization, approximately 90 percent of births were 
attended by skilled health personnel, and the maternal mortality was 
estimated to be 158 deaths per 100,000 live births based on data from 
the 2005 census. According to indicators published by the Population 
Reference Bureau, an estimated 36 percent of married women ages 15-49 
used some form of contraception, and an estimated 31 percent used 
modern contraceptive methods. Women and men had equal access to 
diagnosis and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, including 
HIV.
    The law does not prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender, 
and the traditional culture, in which men are dominant, impeded a more 
active role for women in the economy. Women filled many government 
office and teaching positions. According to the most recent census in 
2005, 56 percent of professionals were women (primarily teachers and 
nurses). 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 rights of ownership and 
inheritance of property as well as full and equal access to education. 
However, land inheritance laws are patrilineal, and sons are entitled 
to more land than are daughters.
    The Citizenship Act contains some discriminatory provisions. For 
example, the foreign wife of a male citizen acquires citizenship 
automatically through the marriage; however, the foreign husband of a 
female citizen does not. A man who applies for citizenship through 
naturalization may include his wife and children in his application; 
however, a woman may not include her husband and children in her 
application.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived by birth in the country, unless 
the child acquires the citizenship of another country at birth through 
a noncitizen parent. Citizenship is also derived through one's father.
    Chronic alcohol abuse leading to child abuse (physical and 
occasionally sexual) and neglect continued to be a serious problem. 
There is a police unit specifically focused on child and family 
violence.
    Crewmembers of foreign fishing vessels that stopped in the country 
engaged in commercial sexual exploitation of women, some of whom were 
underage. The Police Domestic Violence and Sexual Offenses Unit 
reported that they had boarded foreign shipping vessels and found young 
women engaged in such prostitution, but there were no statistics on the 
number of girls under age 18 involved in such activity. Some girls 
worked as prostitutes in bars frequented by crewmembers. Local I-
Kiribati, sometimes including family members, acted as facilitators, 
delivering girls to the boats. The girls generally received cash, food, 
or goods in exchange for sexual services. The lack of a legal ban on 
prostitution, and the fact that the legal age of consent is 15, 
hindered police efforts to stem the practice.
    The minimum age for consensual sex is 15. Sexual relations with a 
girl under age 13 carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, and 
sexual relations with a girl aged 13-14 carries a maximum penalty of 
five years' imprisonment. The victim's consent is not a permissible 
defense under either provision; however, in the latter case, reasonable 
belief the victim was 15 or older is a permissible defense.
    The penal code has no specific provision concerning child 
pornography.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The country's Jewish community was limited to a few 
foreign nationals, and there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law does not specifically prohibit 
discrimination against persons with disabilities; however, there were 
no formal complaints of discrimination in employment, education, or the 
provision of other state services for persons with physical, sensory, 
intellectual, or mental disabilities. Accessibility of buildings, 
communications, and information for persons with disabilities is not 
mandated, and there were no special accommodations for persons with 
disabilities. There were two main nongovernmental organizations that 
supported and advocated for persons with disabilities: Te Toa Matoa 
(Disabled Persons' Organization) and the School for the Disabled. The 
school offered special elementary education classes and programs for 
children with disabilities from age six to age 14 years. The central 
hospital on Tarawa had a wing for persons with mental disabilities, and 
there was a psychiatrist working on Tarawa. Physiotherapy services also 
were offered at the hospital for persons with physical disabilities.
    There was no government agency specifically responsible for 
protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Sodomy and acts of ``gross 
indecency between males'' are illegal, with maximum penalties of seven 
and five years' imprisonment, respectively, but there were no reports 
of prosecutions directed at lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender 
persons under these provisions. There were no reports of societal 
discrimination or violence based on sexual orientation or gender 
identity.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of societal discrimination or violence against persons with HIV/AIDS. A 
government-run HIV/AIDS taskforce coordinated outreach and educational 
activities concerning HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. 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. The Government did not 
control or restrict union activities; however, unions must register 
with the Government.
    According to the 2005 census, the labor participation rate was 
approximately 64 percent, with 37 percent of the adult workforce 
occupied in subsistence farming or fishing. An estimated 10 percent of 
wage-earning workers were union members. Employers and workers were 
represented through the Kiribati Chamber of Commerce and the Kiribati 
Trade Unions Council, respectively. There were no official public-
sector trade unions, but nurses and teachers belonged to voluntary 
employee associations similar to unions and constituted approximately 
30 to 40 percent of total union and association membership.
    The law provides for the right to strike, but no strikes have taken 
place since 1980. There were no instances reported during the year in 
which the right to strike was denied.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
protects workers from employer interference in their right to organize 
and administer unions and provides for collective bargaining. The 
Government's Public Service Office sets wages in the large public 
sector (53 percent of workers in the cash economy, according to the 
2005 census). In a few statutory bodies and government-owned companies, 
however, 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 collective bargaining agreements 
during the year. There were no reports of antiunion discrimination, and 
there were mechanisms to resolve any complaints that might arise.
    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.

    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. Officers from the Ministry of Labor and Human Resources 
Development generally enforced these laws effectively. Children rarely 
were employed outside the traditional economy.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The wage-earning workforce 
consisted of approximately 13,100 persons, mostly employed on the main 
atoll of Tarawa, the political and commercial capital. The remainder of 
the working population worked within a subsistence economy. There is no 
official minimum wage, but the Labor Ministry estimated the ``non-
legislated'' minimum to be between A$1.60 and A$1.70 (approximately 
$1.60 and $1.70) per hour. There is provision for a minimum wage at the 
discretion of the Labor Ministry, but it has never been implemented. 
The standard wage income provided a marginally decent standard of 
living for a worker and family.
    There is no legislatively prescribed workweek. Workers in the 
public sector worked 36.25 hours per week, with overtime pay for 
additional hours.
    Employment laws provide rudimentary health and safety standards for 
the workplace, which the Labor Ministry is responsible for enforcing. 
Employers are liable for the expenses of workers injured on the job, 
but a lack of qualified personnel hampered the Government's ability to 
enforce employment laws, and no workplace inspections were conducted 
during the year. Workers do not have the right to remove themselves 
from hazardous work sites without risking loss of employment.

                               __________

                 KOREA, DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF

    The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) \1\ 
is a dictatorship under the absolute rule of Kim Jong-il, general 
secretary of the Korean Workers' Party (KWP) and chairman of the 
National Defense Commission (NDC), the ``highest office of state.'' The 
country has an estimated population of 23.5 million. Kim's father, the 
late Kim Il-sung, remains ``eternal president.'' National elections 
held in March 2009 were not free or fair. Security forces did not 
report to civilian authorities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ Note on Sourcing: 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 or confirm reported abuses. When 
referenced, refugee testimony can be dated because of the time lapse 
between refugee departure from North Korea and contact with NGOs or 
officials able to document human rights conditions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Citizens did not have the right to change their government. The 
Government subjected citizens to rigid controls over many aspects of 
their lives. There continued to be reports of extrajudicial killings, 
disappearances, arbitrary detention, arrests of political prisoners, 
harsh and life-threatening prison conditions, and torture. There 
continued to be reports that pregnant female prisoners underwent forced 
abortions in some cases, and in other cases babies were killed upon 
birth in prisons. The judiciary was not independent and did not provide 
fair trials. Citizens were denied freedom of speech, press, assembly, 
and association, and the Government attempted to control all 
information. The Government restricted freedom of religion, citizens' 
movement, and worker rights. There continued to be reports of severe 
punishment of some repatriated refugees and their family members. There 
were widespread reports of trafficking in women and girls among 
refugees and workers crossing the border into China.
                        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 numerous 
reports that the Government committed arbitrary and unlawful killings. 
Defector and refugee reports indicated that in some instances the 
Government executed political prisoners, opponents of the regime, 
repatriated defectors, and others accused of crimes with no judicial 
process. The law prescribes the death penalty for the most ``serious'' 
or ``grave'' cases of ``antistate'' or ``antination'' crimes, 
including: participation in a coup or plotting to overthrow the state; 
acts of terrorism for an antistate purpose; treason, which includes 
defection or handing over state secrets; suppressing the people's 
movement for national liberation; cutting electric power lines or 
communication lines; and illegal drug transactions. According to 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and think tanks in the Republic of 
Korea (ROK or South Korea), a 2007 addendum to the penal code extended 
executions to include less serious crimes such as theft or destruction 
of military facilities or national assets, fraud, kidnapping, 
smuggling, and trafficking.
    Border guards reportedly had orders to shoot to kill potential 
defectors, and prison guards were under orders to shoot to kill those 
attempting to escape from political prison camps, but it was not 
possible to determine if this practice continued during the year. 
During the year the Government reportedly announced that attempting to 
cross the border or aiding others in such an attempt was punishable by 
execution. Religious and human rights groups outside the country 
alleged that some North Koreans who had contact with foreigners across 
the Chinese border were imprisoned or killed.
    During the year South Korean officials and NGOs reported that 
public executions continued, but no official statistics were available.
    In January an NGO reported that authorities executed three citizens 
who attempted to defect and sent the attempted defectors' families 
either to political prison camps or rural provinces (see section 1.f.). 
This incident was reportedly part of the ``50-Day Battle'' security 
crackdown to prevent defections (see section 2.d.).
    South Korean press reported in March that authorities executed a 
man by firing squad for making an unauthorized phone call to contacts 
outside of North Korea. He was allegedly describing rice prices and 
living conditions in North Korea.
    In March after the 2009 currency revaluation, international press 
reported a man was shot and killed for treason for burning his money, 
which bore a picture of Kim Il-sung, instead of giving it to the 
Government.
    Press and NGOs reported the execution of officials, including Park 
Nam-ki, director of planning and finance, reportedly for initiating the 
November 2009 currency reform policy (see section 2.e.). This report 
has not been confirmed.
    It was unknown whether the Government prosecuted or otherwise 
disciplined members of the security forces for killings that occurred 
in 2008 and 2009.
    In July press reported that, according to his brother, Son Jong-nam 
was executed in December 2008. Son Jong-nam was sentenced to death in 
2006 for maintaining contacts with organizations outside the country.

    b. Disappearance.--NGO, think tank, and press reports indicated 
that the Government was responsible for disappearances. In recent years 
defectors claimed that state security officers often apprehended 
individuals suspected of political crimes and sent them, without trial, 
to political prison camps. There are no restrictions on the ability of 
the Government to detain and imprison persons at will and to hold them 
incommunicado. The penal code states that a prosecutor's approval is 
required to detain a suspect; however, the Government ignored this law 
in practice.
    In June international press reported the disappearance of Ri Je 
Gang, a first deputy director of the Workers Party's Organization and 
Guidance Department. North Korea's news media reported that Ri died in 
a car accident; international press reported speculation that Ri's 
death was possibly the result of an internal power struggle.
    In February foreign media reported that female prisoners in prison 
camps who were impregnated by guards disappeared shortly after the 
pregnancy was discovered.
    In February an NGO reported a woman in Chungjin, North Hamgyoung 
Province, disappeared after making a statement about the difficulty of 
market activities following the currency revaluation. The female 
merchant was not seen after authorities allegedly called her to the 
security department on February 3.
    Japan continued to seek further information about the cases of 12 
Japanese nationals whom the Japanese government designated as having 
been abducted by DPRK government entities. The DPRK did not announce 
any progress or results of an investigation it agreed to reopen after 
discussions with the Japanese government in 2008. Japan also hoped to 
gain answers regarding other cases of suspected abductions of Japanese 
nationals.
    ROK government and media reports indicated that the DPRK government 
also kidnapped other nationals from locations abroad in the 1970s and 
1980s. However, the DPRK government continued to deny its involvement 
in the kidnappings. The ROK government estimated that approximately 496 
of its civilians, abducted or detained by DPRK authorities since the 
end of the Korean War, remained in the DPRK. The ROK government also 
estimated 560 South Korean prisoners of war and soldiers missing in 
action also remained alive in North Korea.
    In 2008 the media reported South Korean missionary Kim Dong-shik 
had most likely died within a year of his 2000 disappearance near the 
China-DPRK border.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The penal code prohibits torture or inhuman treatment; 
however, many sources continued to report these practices. Methods of 
torture and other abuse reportedly included severe beatings, electric 
shock, prolonged periods of exposure to the elements, humiliations such 
as public nakedness, confinement for up to several weeks in small 
``punishment cells'' in which prisoners were unable to stand upright or 
lie down, being forced to kneel or sit immobilized for long periods, 
being hung by the wrists or forced to stand up and sit down to the 
point of collapse, and forcing mothers recently repatriated 
involuntarily from China to watch the infanticide of their newborn 
infants. Defectors continued to report that many prisoners died from 
torture, disease, starvation, exposure to the elements, or a 
combination of these causes.
    During the year a Human Rights Watch release provided an account of 
torture experienced by Shin Dong-hyuk, a defector born and confined in 
a political prison camp in Kaechon in South Pyongan Province for 22 
years. In previous testimonies, Shin had stated that beatings and 
torture were common within the camp. The 2010 Witness to 
Transformation: Refugee Insights into North Korea study (Witness to 
Transformation), published by the Peterson Institute of International 
Economics, noted that 90 percent of refugee respondents who had been 
incarcerated in North Korea witnessed forced starvation, 60 percent 
witnessed death due to beating or torture, and 27 percent witnessed 
executions.
    The North Korean Human Rights Database Center's 2010 White Paper on 
North Korean Human Rights indicated that officials have in some cases 
prohibited live births in prison and ordered forced abortions, 
particularly in detention centers holding women repatriated from China, 
according to first-hand refugee testimony. In some cases of live birth, 
the white paper reported that prison guards killed the infant or left 
it for dead. Guards also sexually abused female prisoners according to 
the white paper.
    Defectors reported that reeducation through labor, primarily 
through sentences at forced labor camps, was a common punishment and 
consisted of difficult physical labor such as logging, mining, or 
tending crops under harsh conditions. Reeducation involved memorizing 
speeches by Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--NGO, refugee, and press 
reports indicated that there were several types of prisons, detention 
centers, and camps, including forced labor camps and separate camps for 
political prisoners. Witness to Transformation described four main 
types of prison and detention facilities: kwan-li-so, political penal-
labor camps; kyo-hwa-so, correctional or reeducation centers; jip-kyul-
so, collection centers for low-level criminals; and ro-dong-dan-ryeon-
dae, labor-training centers. One kwan-li-so camp, Camp 22, is estimated 
to be 31 miles long and 25 miles wide and to hold 50,000 inmates. 
Defectors claimed the kwan-li-so camps contained unmarked graves, 
barracks, worksites, and other prison facilities. The Washington Post 
reported in July 2009 that numerous prison camps can be seen in 
satellite images and that the camps have been consolidated from 14 
locations to five. An NGO reported six major prison camp complexes 
across the country. Kwan-li-so penal-labor camps are administered by 
the National Security Agency (NSA); kyo-hwa-so reeducation centers are 
administered by the People's Safety Agency (PSA). An NGO reported six 
kwan-li-so facilities: Kaecheon (No.14) and Bukchang (No.18) in South 
Pyongan Province, Yoduk (No.15) in South Hamkyung Province, and Hwasung 
(No.16), Chongjin (No.25), and Hoiryeong (No.22) in North Hamkyung 
Province as North Korea's six remaining political prison camps.
    Reports indicated that those sentenced to prison for nonpolitical 
crimes were typically sent to reeducation prisons where prisoners were 
subjected to intense forced labor. They stated that those who were 
considered hostile to the regime or who committed political crimes were 
sent to political prison camps indefinitely. Many prisoners in 
political prison camps were not expected to survive. The Government 
continued to deny the existence of political prison camps.
    Reports indicated that conditions in the political prison camps 
were harsh and that systematic and severe human rights abuses occurred 
throughout the prison and detention system. Detainees and prisoners 
consistently reported violence and torture. Press reported defector 
accounts of public executions in political prison camps. According to 
refugees, in some places of detention, prisoners received little or no 
food and were denied medical care. Sanitation was poor, and former 
labor camp inmates reported they had no changes of clothing during 
their incarceration and were rarely able to bathe or wash their 
clothing. An NGO reported that one reeducation center was so crowded 
that prisoners were forced to sleep on top of each other or sitting up. 
The same NGO reported that guards at a labor camp stole food brought 
for inmates by their family members. An NGO reported in January 
unsanitary conditions, crowding of inmates, and high death rates caused 
by epidemics in a reeducation center.
    South Korean and international press reported that kyo-hwa-so, or 
reeducation centers, hold populations of up to 10,000 political 
prisoners, economic criminals, and ordinary criminals.
    During the year the South Korean National Human Rights Commission 
reported that defectors indicated that North Korean authorities 
selected prison inmates to spy on others and to torture other 
prisoners. The commission also reported that attempts to escape led to 
execution by firing squad or hanging.
    South Korean press reported an increase in the number of inmates at 
a labor camp under the Ministry of People's Armed Forces in North 
Hamkyung Province.
    Estimates of the total number of prisoners and detained in the 
kwan-li-so political penal-labor camps range between 150,000-200,000. 
The Washington Post and Donga Ilbo estimated 154,000 prisoners. 
Information on the number of women and juvenile prisoners was not 
available. No additional information was available on whether men and 
women were held together or if conditions varied for women. One NGO 
reported that political prisoners sent to punishment facilities were 
subject to torture without consideration of their gender.
    Under the Criminal Procedure Law, a criminal case is dismissed in 
case of a crime committed by a person under 14 years of age and under 
article 62 public education is applied in case of a crime committed by 
a person above 14 and under 17 years of age. One NGO reported in a 
survey of 20 defector youth that five reported experiencing torture 
while incarcerated between 1998 and 2003. There was no way to confirm 
whether changes to the criminal law in 2004 and 2005 resulted in less 
severe treatment for juveniles.
    One NGO reported that women make up the majority of prisoners in 
ro-dong-dan-ryeon-dae, or labor-training centers; the majority of 
prisoners in these facilities were repatriated from China.
    There was no information available on whether prisoners and 
detainees had reasonable access to visitors. In past years defectors 
reported that Christians were subjected to harsh punishments if their 
faith was made public. No information was available on whether 
prisoners or detainees could submit complaints to judicial authorities 
without censorship or request investigation of credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions. It is also not known whether results of 
investigations were made public. There was no information on whether 
the Government investigated or monitored prison and detention 
conditions. Neither the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights 
situation in the DPRK nor the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture have 
been allowed to independently assess conditions inside the country.
    The Government did not permit inspection of prisons or detention 
camps by human rights monitors. There was no information on whether 
ombudsmen can serve on behalf of prisoners and detainees to consider 
such matters as alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders 
to alleviate inhumane overcrowding; addressing the status and 
circumstances of confinement of juvenile offenders; and improving 
pretrial detention, bail, and recordkeeping procedures to ensure 
prisoners do not serve beyond the maximum sentence for the charged 
offense.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, but reports indicated that the Government did not 
observe these prohibitions in practice.
    Witness to Transformation reported that authorities had a high 
level of discretion in detaining, arresting, prosecuting, and releasing 
people.
    Following the currency revaluation, an NGO reported in January the 
arrest of 40 individuals for dumping or burning the old currency. The 
Provincial Police Department deemed destroying old currency as treason 
because the currency had pictures of Kim Il-song.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The internal security 
apparatus includes the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and the State 
Security Department (SSD). The security forces do not have adequate 
mechanisms to investigate possible security force abuses.
    The formal public security structure was augmented by a pervasive 
system of informers throughout the society. Surveillance of citizens, 
both physical and electronic, was routine.
    The MPS, responsible for internal security, social control, and 
basic police functions, is one of the most powerful organizations in 
the country and controlled an estimated 144,000 public security 
personnel. MPS maintains law and order; investigates common criminal 
cases; manages the prison system; controls traffic; monitors citizens' 
political attitudes; conducts background investigations, census, and 
civil registrations; controls individual travel; manages the 
Government's classified documents; protects government and party 
officials; and patrols government buildings and some government and 
party construction activities. Border Guards are the paramilitary force 
of the MPS and are primarily concerned with monitoring the border and 
with internal security.
    NGOs reported a ``50-Day Battle'' initiated by the Government in 
January to increase surveillance and the role of the public security 
forces to prevent defections (see section 2.d.).

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Revisions to 
the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code in 2004 and 2005 
added shortened periods of detention during prosecution and trial, 
arrest by warrant, and prohibition of collecting evidence by forced 
confessions. There was no confirmation of whether these changes were 
incorporated in practice, or if the Government increased the amount of 
resources to eliminate inhumane conditions.
    Members of the security forces arrested and reportedly transported 
citizens suspected of committing political crimes to prison camps 
without trial. According to one South Korean NGO, beginning in 2008 the 
PSA was authorized to handle directly criminal cases without approval 
of prosecutors. Previously, once police officers arrested suspects, the 
preadjudication department examined facts and evidence of the case and 
passed the case to prosecutors. The court made an official decision on 
the case only after completion of the prosecutors' investigation. The 
change was made reportedly because of corruption among prosecutors. One 
NGO reported that investigators could detain an individual for the 
purpose of investigation up to two months.
    There were no restrictions on the Government's ability to detain 
and imprison persons at will or to hold them incommunicado. Family 
members and other concerned persons found it virtually impossible to 
obtain information on charges against detained persons or the lengths 
of their sentences. Judicial review of detentions did not exist in law 
or in practice.

    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 did 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.'' Witness to Transformation reported that only 13 percent of 
the 102 respondents who were incarcerated in the country received a 
trial.

    Trial Procedures.--The MPS dispensed with trials in political cases 
and referred prisoners to the SSD for punishment. Little information 
was available on formal criminal justice procedures and practices, and 
outside access to the legal system was limited to trials for traffic 
violations and other minor offenses.
    The constitution contains elaborate procedural protections, 
providing that cases should be heard in public, except under 
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, as opposed to 
nonpolitical, crimes and claimed that the Government offered trials and 
lawyers only to the latter. There was no indication that independent, 
nongovernmental defense lawyers existed. According to a Washington Post 
report and the South Korean National Human Rights Commission report, 
most inmates at prison camps were sent there without a trial and 
without knowing the charges against them.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--While the total number of 
political prisoners and detainees remained unknown, a 2003 report by 
the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, The Hidden Gulag, 
reported an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 persons were believed to be 
held in kwan-li-so political penal-labor camps. The Washington Post and 
Donga Ilbo estimated 154,000 political prisoners were being held in 
labor camps. The Government considered critics of the regime to be 
political criminals. Political offenses reported during the year 
included burning old currency or criticizing the Government's currency 
revaluation. Reports from past years described political offenses as 
including sitting on newspapers bearing Kim Il-sung's or Kim Jong-il's 
picture, mentioning Kim Il-sung's limited formal education, or defacing 
photographs of the Kims.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--According to article 69 of 
the constitution, ``[c]itizens are entitled to submit complaints and 
petitions. The state shall fairly investigate and deal with complaints 
and petitions as fixed by law.'' Under the Law on Complaint and 
Petition, citizens are entitled to submit complaints to stop 
encroachment upon their rights and interests or seek compensation for 
the encroached rights and interests. Reports indicated this right was 
not respected in practice.
    During the year the currency revaluation of November 2009 was 
reversed following reports of food shortages and public discontent and 
unrest. The November 2009 currency revaluation decreed that families 
could only trade 100,000 won (approximately $30), for new won. (Note: 
following the Government currency revaluation in November 2009, the 
exchange rate has fluctuated. Approximations in this report are based 
on the rate as of December 2010.) No other property restitution was 
granted.

    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 informants to identify critics and 
potential troublemakers. Entire communities sometimes were subjected to 
security checks. Possessing ``antistate'' material and listening to 
foreign broadcasts were crimes that could subject the transgressor to 
harsh punishments, including up to five years of labor reeducation.
    The Government monitored correspondence and telephone 
conversations. Private telephone lines operated on a system that 
precluded making or receiving international calls; international phone 
lines were available only under restricted circumstances. Foreign 
diplomats in Pyongyang stated that the local network was divided so 
telephone use remained a privilege.
    During the year press reports estimated access to an internal 
mobile phone network increased to an estimated 300,000 users. The 
system was segregated from systems used by foreigners and could not be 
used for international calls. In the border regions adjacent to China, 
unauthorized Chinese mobile phones were reported to be used in making 
international calls. Those caught using such cell phones illegally were 
reportedly arrested and required to pay a fine or face charges of 
espionage, or harsher punishments.
    On February 1, the MPS issued a decree to limit communication and 
access to information from South Korea, and to increase surveillance of 
the border to prevent defections. The South Korean press reported that 
jamming devices were installed to obstruct cell phone communications. 
The press reported detentions of up to 10 years were common for 
accessing outside media. The press also reported increased punishment, 
including fines between 500,000 and one million won ($278-$556), for 
calling people in China and possible punishment for the political 
offense of communicating with South Korea. NGOs reported increased 
monitoring of Chinese cell phones by government agents and arrests for 
using cell phones to call relatives outside the country.
    In September the Washington Post reported that the city of Hoeryong 
employed 14 men to monitor the region's phone conversations; typically 
they can tap a call within two or three minutes of its being initiated.
    The Government divided citizens into strict loyalty-based classes 
known as songbun, which determined access to employment, higher 
education, place of residence, medical facilities, certain stores, and 
marriage prospects.
    Collective punishment was practiced. Entire families, including 
children, have been imprisoned when one member of the family was 
accused of a crime. Collective punishment reportedly can extend to up 
to three generations.
    The Agence France-Presse reported harsher punishments, including 
collective punishment for families of defectors. An NGO reported that 
the MPS decree issued during the year stipulated individuals caught 
using an unauthorized cell phone and their family members would be sent 
to a political prison camp.
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 prohibited 
the exercise of these rights in practice. There were numerous instances 
of persons being interrogated or arrested for saying anything that 
could be construed as negative towards the Government.
    The constitution provides for the right to petition. However, the 
Government did not respect this right. For example, when anonymous 
petitions or complaints about state administration were submitted, the 
SSD and MPS sought to identify the authors, who could be subjected to 
investigation and punishment.
    During the year Reporters without Borders reported that two 
journalists died, resulting from harsh conditions at the Yoduk 
political prisoner camp in 2001. Both reporters reportedly were 
detained at the camp for criticizing the leadership of Kim Jong-il. 
Information regarding the deaths could not be confirmed.
    The Government sought to control virtually all information. There 
were no independent media. The Government carefully managed visits by 
foreigners, especially journalists.
    During visits by foreign leaders, groups of foreign journalists 
were permitted to accompany official delegations and file reports. In 
all cases journalists were monitored strictly. Journalists generally 
were not allowed to talk to officials or to persons on the street. For 
all foreign visitors, including journalists, cell or satellite phones 
were held at the airport for the duration of the stay.
    Domestic media censorship continued to be strictly enforced, and no 
deviation from the official government line was tolerated. The 
Government prohibited listening to foreign media broadcasts except by 
the political elite, and violators were subject to severe punishment. 
Radios and television sets, unless altered, are set to receive only 
domestic programming; radios obtained from abroad had to be altered to 
operate in a similar manner. Elites and facilities for foreigners, such 
as hotels, could be granted permission to receive international 
television broadcasts via satellite. The Government continued to 
attempt to jam all foreign radio broadcasts. The postal service is 
limited. The New York Times has reported that the phone book is 
considered classified.

    Internet Freedom.--Internet access for citizens was limited to 
high-ranking officials and other designated elites, including select 
university students. This access was granted via international 
telephone lines through a provider in China, as well as a local 
connection that was linked with a German server. An ``intranet'' was 
reportedly available to a slightly larger group of users, including an 
elite grade school, select research institutions, universities, and 
factories, and a few individuals. The Korea Computer Center acted as 
the gatekeeper, downloading only acceptable information for access 
through the intranet. Reporters Without Borders reported that some e-
mail access existed through this internal network. According to a 2009 
press report, an increasing number of citizens had e-mail addresses on 
their business cards, although they were usually e-mail addresses 
shared among all the employees of an organization. In 2009 Reporters 
Without Borders named the country an ``Internet Enemy'' due to its 
strict Internet restrictions.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The Government restricted 
academic freedom and controlled artistic works. A primary function of 
plays, movies, operas, children's performances, and books was to 
buttress the cult of personality surrounding Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-
il.
    According to North Korean media, Kim Jong-il frequently told 
officials that ideological education must take precedence over academic 
education in the nation's schools. Indoctrination was carried out 
systematically through the mass media, schools, and worker and 
neighborhood associations. Indoctrination continued to involve mass 
marches, rallies, and staged performances, sometimes including hundreds 
of thousands of persons.
    An NGO reported in January that following the currency revaluation, 
local officials lectured at education projects to silence complaints 
about the Government's policies. Police launched a ``50-Day Battle'' to 
increase security on unauthorized economic activity.
    The Government continued its attempt to limit foreign influences on 
its citizens. Listening to foreign radio and watching foreign films is 
illegal; however, numerous NGOs reported that Chinese and South Korean 
DVDs, VCDs, CDs, and videotapes continued to be smuggled into the 
country. The Government intensified its focus on preventing the 
smuggling of imports of South Korean popular culture, especially 
television dramas. According to media and NGO reports, in an attempt to 
enforce the restriction against foreign films, police routinely cut 
electricity to apartment blocks and then raided every apartment to see 
what types of DVDs and videos were stuck in the players.
    There were numerous examples of the Government's crackdown on 
foreign DVDs. In February the South Korean media reported that house 
searches to combat the spread of South Korean videos were common 
following the currency revaluation.
    During the year, the New York Times reported that a 35-year-old man 
spent six months in a labor camp in 2009 after being caught watching 
``Twin Dragons,'' a foreign film with Jackie Chan.
    An NGO reported that in June local officials in North Hamkyung 
Province cracked down on illegal movies from the ROK. Officials entered 
homes without warning, examined electric devices to see if VCR and DVD 
players had South Korean programs, confirmed televisions and radios had 
fixed channels, and checked if households had other electronic 
equipment such as MP3 players. Recording machines and computers were 
confiscated and nine families were reportedly arrested for possessing 
South Korean DVDs.
    According to an NGO, security guards of Chungjin, North Hamkyung 
Province arrested three art students for watching and circulating South 
Korean movies with 30 other people. However, the students were underage 
and of high-status families, therefore making it difficult to impose 
harsh punishment.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution provides for freedom of assembly; however, 
the Government did not respect this provision in practice and continued 
to prohibit public meetings not previously authorized.
    The New York Times reported that widespread hardship, popular anger 
over the currency revaluation, and growing political uncertainty did 
not harden into noticeable resistance against the Government (see 
section 1.e.).

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
association; however, the Government failed to respect this provision 
in practice. There were no known organizations other than those created 
by the Government. Professional associations existed primarily to 
facilitate government monitoring and control over organization members.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for the ``freedom to 
reside in or travel to any place''; however, the Government did not 
respect this right in practice. During the year, the Government 
continued to carefully control internal travel. The Government did not 
cooperate with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees or 
other humanitarian organizations in providing protection and assistance 
to internally displaced persons, refugees, returning refugees, asylum 
seekers, stateless persons, and other persons.
    The Government continued to restrict the freedom to move within the 
country. Only members of a very small elite class and those with access 
to remittances from overseas had access to personal vehicles, and 
movement was hampered by the absence of an effective transport network 
and by military and police checkpoints on main roads at the entry to 
and exit from every town. Use of personal vehicles at night and on 
Sundays was restricted.
    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. 
Foreign officials visiting the country observed checkpoints on the 
highway leading into Pyongyang from the countryside.
    The Government also restricted foreign travel. The Government 
limited issuance of exit visas for foreign travel to officials and 
trusted businessmen, artists, athletes, and academics. Short-term exit 
papers were available for some residents on the Chinese border to 
enable visits with relatives or to engage in small-scale trade.
    It was not known whether the laws prohibit forced exile; the 
Government reportedly forced the internal exile of some citizens. In 
the past the Government engaged in forced internal resettlement of tens 
of thousands of persons from Pyongyang to the countryside. Sometimes 
this occurred as punishment for offenses, although there were reports 
that social engineering was also involved. For example, although 
disabled veterans were treated well, other persons with physical and 
mental disabilities, as well as those judged to be politically 
unreliable, were sent out of Pyongyang into internal exile.
    The Government did not allow emigration, and beginning in 2008 it 
tightened security on the border, which dramatically reduced the flow 
of persons crossing into China without required permits. NGOs reported 
strict patrols and surveillance of residents of border areas and a 
crackdown on border guards who may have been aiding border crossers in 
return for bribes.
    Substantial numbers of citizens have crossed the border into China 
over the years, and NGO estimates of those who lived there ranged from 
thousands to hundreds of thousands. During the year reports suggested 
that the number of North Koreans in northeastern China declined. Some 
settled semipermanently in northeastern China, others traveled back and 
forth across the border, and others sought asylum and permanent 
resettlement in third countries. A few thousand citizens were settled 
in third countries during the year.
    A February 1 decree by the MPS made special stipulations against 
defectors, increasing the charge to a ``crime of treachery against the 
nation,'' possibly punishable by execution. This decree coincided with 
NGOs' reports of a ``50-Day Battle'' to wipe out potentially hostile 
forces of unrest, increasing scrutiny of and punishments for possessing 
Chinese cell phones and South Korean videos, and preventing defections. 
Security increased along border areas, and the South Korean press 
reported increased house searches.
    South Korean press reported that the Government issued orders for 
guards to shoot to kill attempted border crossers. South Korean press 
reported that five North Koreans were shot dead on the Chinese side of 
the border and two others wounded by North Korean border guards after 
they crossed the Apnok River on December 14.
    The law criminalizes defection and attempted defection, including 
the attempt to gain entry to a foreign diplomatic facility 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 five years of ``labor correction.'' In 
``serious'' cases defectors or asylum seekers are subject to indefinite 
terms of imprisonment and forced labor, confiscation of property, or 
death. Many would-be refugees who were returned involuntarily were 
imprisoned under harsh conditions. Some sources indicated that the 
harshest treatment was reserved for those who had extensive contact 
with foreigners.
    In the past, reports from defectors indicated that the Government 
differentiated between persons who crossed the border in search of food 
(who might be sentenced only to a few months of forced labor or in some 
cases merely issued a warning) and persons who crossed repeatedly or 
for political purposes (who were sometimes sentenced to heavy 
punishments, including death). The law stipulates a sentence of up to 
two years of ``labor correction'' for the crime of illegally crossing 
the border.
    During the year the Government reportedly continued to enforce the 
policy that all border crossers be sent to prison or reeducation 
centers.
    Witness to Transform reported that approximately one-quarter of 
defectors who had successfully escaped North Korea surveyed in 2004 
reported having been arrested in China and repatriated to North Korea 
at least once before their successful departure.
    On June 13, a South Korean NGO reported that 13 North Korean 
defectors were caught in Dandong, China, and 10 were repatriated back 
to North Korea. The group consisted of two men and eight women. Three 
children of age five and six were released.
    On May 31, Asahi Shinbum of Japan reported that the North Korean 
authorities were investigating every household for defectors and 
missing persons. If a family member on the family registration was not 
occupying the household, thorough interrogation took place. More than 
1,000 of those who could not answer questions properly and clearly were 
taken away for punishment. Moreover, the Government was issuing new 
identification cards for every person older than 17 years of age, in 
order to investigate the number of missing citizens.
    On July 26, a South Korean NGO reported that three repatriated 
North Korean defectors were executed. Two brokers who had aided their 
departure were reportedly sentenced to life in prison.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law does not provide for the granting 
of asylum or refugee status in accordance with the 1951 Convention 
relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 protocol, nor has the 
Government established a system for providing protection for refugees. 
The Government did not grant refugee status or asylum. The Government 
had no known policy or provision for refugees or asylees and did not 
participate in international refugee fora.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    Citizens do not have the right to change their government 
peacefully. The KWP and the Korean People's Army, with Kim Jong-il in 
control, dominated the political system. Little reliable information 
was available on intraregime politics. The legislature, the Supreme 
People's Assembly (SPA), meets only a few days per year to rubber-stamp 
resolutions and legislation presented by the party leadership.
    In September international press reported that Kim Jong-eun, son of 
Kim Jong-il, was promoted to senior military and party positions that 
established him as heir-apparent to his father and the de facto second 
in the leadership structure.
    The Government demanded near deification of both Kim Jong-il and 
Kim Il-sung. All citizens remained subject to intensive political and 
ideological indoctrination, which was intended to ensure loyalty to the 
leadership and conformity to the state's ideology and authority.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Elections of delegates to 
the SPA were held in March 2009. The elections were neither free nor 
fair, and the outcome was virtually identical to prior elections. The 
Government openly monitored voting, resulting in nearly 100 percent 
participation and 100 percent approval.
    The Government has created several ``minority parties.'' Lacking 
grassroots organizations, they existed only as rosters of officials 
with token representation in the SPA. The Government regularly 
criticized the concept of free elections and competition among 
political parties as an ``artifact'' of ``capitalist decay.''
    Following the 2003 elections, women made up 20 percent of the 
membership of the SPA. Women constituted approximately 4.5 percent of 
the membership of the Central Committee of the KWP but held few key KWP 
leadership positions. During the year Kim Kyoung-hui, minister of light 
industry and Kim Jong-il's sister, was promoted to be a member of the 
politburo and given general officer rank.
    The country is racially and ethnically homogenous. Officially there 
are no minorities, and there was no information on minority 
representation in the Government.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    It is not known whether the law provides criminal penalties for 
official corruption, whether the Government implemented any such laws 
effectively, or how often officials engaged in corrupt practices with 
impunity. Corruption was reportedly widespread in all parts of the 
economy and society. Corruption in the security forces was endemic.
    Reports of diversion of food to the military and government 
officials and bribery were indicative of corruption in the Government 
and security forces. The Government continued to deny any diversion of 
food, although it hinted that it was combating internal corruption.
    In June the New York Times reported that in the wake of the 
currency revaluation, individuals with political connections avoided 
having their savings confiscated while market traders were severely 
limited in the amount of money they were permitted to exchange into new 
won. One woman from Hamhung said the local bank director allowed her 
relatives to exchange three million won ($1,667), 30 times the official 
limit.
    In December a South Korean NGO reported that the NSA promised to 
guarantee smugglers impunity to continue their smuggling activities if 
they reported river crossers to the NSA.
    These examples were illustrative, not exhaustive, and the extent of 
corruption was unknown.
    Foreign media reported that the Government launched a formal 
corruption investigation in 2008 specifically targeting the National 
Economic Cooperation Federation and the North Korean People's Council 
for National Reconciliation. The federation reportedly accepted bribes 
to label Chinese-made goods as ``Made in North Korea,'' allowing them 
to be exported to South Korea duty free. There were no new developments 
in this case during the year.
    It was not known whether public officials are subject to financial 
disclosure laws and whether a government agency is responsible for 
combating corruption. There are no known laws that provide for public 
access to government information.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    There were no independent domestic organizations to monitor human 
rights conditions or to comment on the status of such rights. The 
Government's North Korean Human Rights Committee denied the existence 
of any human rights violations in the country.
    The Government ignored requests for visits from international human 
rights experts and NGOs. The NGO community and numerous international 
experts continued to testify to the grave human rights situation in the 
country during the year. The Government decried international 
statements about human rights abuses in the country as politically 
motivated and as interference in internal affairs. The Government 
asserted that criticism of its human rights record was an attempt by 
some countries to cover up their own abuses and that such hypocrisy 
undermined human rights principles.
    The Government emphasized that it had ratified a number of UN human 
rights instruments but continued to refuse cooperation with UN 
representatives. The Government prevented the newly appointed UN 
special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DPRK, 
Marzuki Darusman, from visiting the country to carry out his mandate. 
The Government continued to refuse to recognize the special 
rapporteur's mandate and rejected the offer of the Office of the High 
Commissioner on Human Rights to work with the Government on human 
rights treaty implementation.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution grants equal rights to all citizens. However, the 
Government has reportedly never granted its citizens most fundamental 
human rights in practice, and it continued pervasive discrimination on 
the basis of social status.

    Women.--The Government appeared to criminalize rape, but no 
information was available on details of the law and how effectively the 
law was enforced. Women in prison camps reportedly were subject to rape 
by prison guards and forced abortions.
    Violence against women has been reported as a significant problem 
both inside and outside the home.
    Women who have left the country reported that although ``sexual 
violation'' was understood, ``sexual harassment'' is not defined in the 
DPRK. Despite the 1946 Law on Equality of the Sexes, defectors reported 
that sexual harassment of women was generally accepted due to 
patriarchal traditions. Defectors reported that there was little 
recourse for women who have been harassed.
    It was difficult to obtain accurate information regarding 
reproductive rights in the country. According to the country's initial 
report to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of 
Discrimination Against Women submitted in 2002, ``family planning is 
mapped out by individual families in view of their actual circumstances 
and in compliance with laws, regulations, morality, and customs.Women 
have the decision of the spacing of children in view of their own wish, 
health condition, and the like. But usually the spacing of children is 
determined by the discussion between the wife and the husband.'' The UN 
Population Fund estimated that the maternal mortality ratio in 2008 was 
250 per 100,000 live births. In 2000 the country reported in the UN 
Children's Fund's (UNICEF) multiple-indicator cluster survey that a 
doctor, nurse, or skilled midwife delivered 96.7 percent of births.
    The constitution states that ``women hold equal social status and 
rights with men''; however, few women reached high levels of the party 
or the Government, although they were represented proportionally in the 
labor force.
    Press and think tanks have reported that, while women were less 
likely than men to be assigned full-time jobs, they had more 
opportunity to work outside the socialist economy.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents and in some 
cases birth within the country's territory.
    The state provides 11 years of free compulsory education for all 
children. However, reports indicated some children were denied 
educational opportunities and subjected to punishments and 
disadvantages as a result of the loyalty classification system and the 
principle of ``collective retribution'' for the transgressions of 
family members. NGO reports also indicated children were unable to 
attend school regularly because of hidden fees or insufficient food.
    Foreign visitors and academic sources reported that from fifth 
grade children were subjected to several hours a week of mandatory 
military training and that all children had indoctrination in school.
    The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child repeatedly has 
expressed concern over de facto discrimination against children with 
disabilities and the insufficient measures taken by the state to ensure 
these children had effective access to health, education, and social 
services.
    It was not known whether boys and girls had equal access to state-
provided medical care; access to health care was largely dependent upon 
loyalty to the Government.
    Information about societal or familial abuse of children remained 
unavailable. There were reports of trafficking in young girls among 
persons who had crossed into China.
    Article 153 of the criminal law states that a man who has sexual 
intercourse with a girl under the age of 15 shall be ``punished 
gravely.''
    In March one South Korean media source reported that the inadequacy 
of sex education in schools contributed to sexual harassment and 
violence against young girls in and out of schools.
    In February a South Korean NGO reported an increase in the number 
of street children (known as kkotjebi) in markets of North Hamkyung 
Province following the currency revaluation.
    An NGO reported that in August street children at the Shinsungchun 
station attempted to rob an individual, which led to the individual's 
death. It was reported that the authorities subsequently beat, 
arrested, and then killed the children.
    According to NGO reports, there was a large population of street 
children, many of them orphans, who were denied entrance to public 
schools.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was no known Jewish population, and there 
were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--A 2003 law mandates equal access for 
persons with disabilities to public services; however, implementing 
legislation has not been passed. Traditional social norms condone 
discrimination against persons with physical disabilities. Although 
veterans with disabilities were treated well, other persons with 
physical and mental disabilities have been reportedly sent out of 
Pyongyang into internal exile, quarantined within camps, and forcibly 
sterilized. According to a report released in 2006 by the World 
Association of Milal, an international disability NGO, persons with 
disabilities constituted approximately 3.4 percent of the population, 
more than 64 percent of whom lived in urban areas. A domestic 
organization known as the Korean Federation for the Protection of the 
Disabled (KFDP) has endorsed this number. A foreign NGO reported that 
the KFDP allowed them to operate in North Korea. The NGO was allowed to 
provide support and training at an orthopedic hospital, a school for 
hearing-impaired children, a coal mine hospital, and a home for elderly 
persons with disabilities. It was not known whether the Government 
restricted the right of persons with disabilities to vote or 
participate in civic affairs.
    The KFDP was founded in 1999 to coordinate the work with disabled 
population countrywide. In 2008 KFPD formed a partnership with the 
World Federation for the Deaf (WFD). According to WFD, North Korea 
reported that it had eight schools for the deaf, founded following Kim 
Il-Sung's instruction to build several schools for deaf children in 
1959.
    UNICEF has noted that very high levels of malnutrition indicate 
serious problems for both the physical growth and psychosocial 
development of young children. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization 
(FAO) estimated that 7.8 million, or 33 percent of the population was 
undernourished. FAO estimated 37 percent of children suffered from 
stunting.

    Social Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on Sexual 
Orientation and Gender Identity.--There are no laws against 
homosexuality; however, no information was available on discrimination 
based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--No information was 
available regarding discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of association; however, this provision was not respected in practice. 
There were no known labor organizations other than those created by the 
Government. The KWP purportedly represents the interests of all labor. 
There was a single labor organization, the General Federation of Trade 
Unions of Korea. Operating under this umbrella, unions functioned on a 
classic Stalinist model, with responsibility for mobilizing workers to 
support production goals and for providing health, education, cultural, 
and welfare facilities.
    Unions do not have the right to strike. According to North Korean 
law, unlawful assembly can result in five years of correctional labor.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Workers do not 
have the right to organize or to bargain collectively. The Government 
controls all employment aspects, ranging from assigning jobs to 
determining wages. Joint ventures and foreign-owned companies are 
required to hire their employees from government-vetted lists of 
workers. Factory and farm workers were organized into councils, which 
had an impact on management decisions. Although the law stipulates that 
employees working for foreign companies can form trade unions and that 
foreign enterprises must guarantee conditions for union activities, the 
law does not protect workers who might attempt to engage in union 
activities from employer retaliation, nor does it impose penalties for 
employers who interfere in union activities.
    There was one special economic zone (SEZ) in the Rajin-Sonbong 
area. The same labor laws that apply in the rest of the country apply 
in the Rajin-Sonbong SEZ, and workers in the SEZ were selected by the 
Government.
    Under a special law that created the Kaesong Industrial Complex 
(KIC), located close to the demilitarized zone between South Korea and 
North Korea, special regulations covering labor issues negotiated with 
South Korea were in effect for the management of labor in the area. 
Those regulations did not contain provisions that guarantee freedom of 
association or the right to bargain collectively.
    According to South Korea's Ministry of Unification, a total of 122 
South Korean firms were operational at the KIC as of December, and 
approximately 46,000 North Korean workers were employed at KIC as of 
December. South Korea's Ministry of Unification reported that the 
DPRK's Central Special Zone Development Guidance Bureau provided 
candidates for selection by South Korean companies. Under an inter-
Korean agreement, North Korean workers at the KIC reportedly earned a 
monthly basic minimum wage of $60.77 after social welfare deductions 
(according to the KIC Labor Law, wages are set in U.S. dollars). 
Employing firms reported, however, that with overtime the average 
worker earned approximately $88 per month before deductions. Due to a 
lack of transparency, it was difficult to determine what proportion of 
their earned wages workers ultimately took home. Although the special 
laws governing the KIC require direct payment in cash to the workers, 
the wages were in fact deposited into accounts controlled by the North 
Korean government, which withheld a portion for social insurance and 
other benefits and then remitted the balance (reportedly about 70 
percent) to the workers in an unknown combination of ``commodity supply 
cards,'' which could be exchanged for staple goods, and North Korean 
won, converted at the official exchange rate. Workers at the KIC do not 
have the right to choose employers.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor. However, the Government mobilized the 
population for construction and other labor projects, including on 
Sundays, the one day off per week. The penal code criminalizes forced 
child labor; however, there were reports that such practices occurred 
(see section 7.d.). The Government also frequently gathered large 
groups together for mass demonstrations and performances. ``Reformatory 
labor'' and ``reeducation through labor,'' including of children, have 
traditionally been common punishments for political offenses. Forced 
and compulsory labor, such as logging, mining, tending crops, and 
manufacturing, continued to be the common fate of political prisoners. 
The NGO Human Rights Watch reported that one defector was forced to 
work 16 hours a day in a mine.
    The penal code requires that all citizens of working age must work 
and ``strictly observe labor discipline and working hours.'' There were 
numerous reports that farms and factories did not pay wages or provide 
food to their workers. According to reports from one NGO, during the 
implementation of short-term economic plans, factories and farms 
increased workers' hours and asked workers for contributions of grain 
and money to purchase supplies for renovations and repairs. According 
to the penal code, failure to meet economic plan goals can result in 
two years of ``labor correction.''
    From April to September 2009, numerous reports indicated that the 
Government initiated a ``150-day battle'' labor-mobilization campaign 
to boost the economy by increasing work hours and production goals. The 
150-day battle campaign exhorted workers to work harder to resolve food 
shortages and to rebuild infrastructure. The labor drive was part of 
the country's larger goal of building a ``great, prosperous, and 
powerful'' nation by 2012, the birth centennial of Kim Il Sung. 
Immediately after the 150-day battle the country engaged in a second 
labor-mobilization campaign, the ``100-Day battle,'' to further 
increase output.
    A June NewYork Times report stated that each family connected to 
Chongjin state construction company was required to deliver 17 bags of 
pebbles each month to the local party committee to contribute to 
resurfacing Chongjin's only paved road in preparation for the 2012 
centennial of Kim Il-Sung's birth.
    Forced labor continued to take place in brick making, cement 
manufacturing, coal mining, gold mining, iron production, and textile 
industries.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
According to the law, the state prohibits work by children under the 
age of 16 years.
    School children sometimes were sent to work in factories or in the 
fields for short periods to assist in completing special projects, such 
as snow removal on major roads, or in meeting production goals. 
Children were forced also to participate in cultural activities and, 
according to academic reports, were subjected to harsh conditions 
during mandatory training sessions. Thousands of children were 
reportedly held and forced to work in labor camps alongside their 
parents.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--No reliable data were available 
on the minimum wage in state-owned industries. However, anecdotal 
reports indicated that the average daily wage was not sufficient to 
provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. Since the 
2002 economic reforms, compensation underwent significant change, as 
citizens sought to earn hard currency to support themselves and their 
families. Workers often had to pay for services, such as housing rental 
and transportation, that previously had been provided either free or at 
highly subsidized rates by the state. Foreign observers who visited the 
country reported that many factory workers regularly failed to go to 
work, paying a bribe to managers to list them as present, so they could 
engage in various trading and entrepreneurial activities instead. The 
same source stated that many government factories were not operating, 
primarily due to electricity shortages.
    Class background and family connections could be as important as 
professional competence in deciding who received particular jobs, and 
foreign companies that have established joint ventures continued to 
report that all their employees must be hired from registers screened 
by the Government.
    The constitution stipulates an eight-hour workday; however, some 
sources reported that laborers worked longer hours, perhaps including 
additional time for 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 was unknown. Foreign diplomats 
reported that workers had 15 days of paid leave plus paid national 
holidays. Some persons were required to take part in mass events on 
holidays, which sometimes required advance practice during work time. 
Workers were often required to ``celebrate'' at least some part of 
public holidays with their work units and were able to spend a whole 
day with their families only if the holiday lasted two days.
    Many worksites were hazardous, and the industrial accident rate was 
high. The law 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.
    Citizens labored under harsh conditions while working abroad for 
North Korean firms and under arrangements between the Government and 
foreign firms. Contract laborers worked in Africa; Central and Eastern 
Europe (most notably in Russia); Central, East, and Southeast Asia; and 
the Middle East. In most cases employing firms paid salaries to the 
North Korean government, and it was not known how much of that salary 
the workers received. Workers were typically watched closely by 
government officials while overseas and reportedly did not have freedom 
of movement outside their living and working quarters.
    Wages of some of the several thousand North Koreans employed in 
Russia reportedly were withheld until the laborers returned home, 
making them vulnerable to deception by North Korean authorities, who 
promised relatively high payments.

                               __________

                           KOREA, REPUBLIC OF

    The Republic of Korea (Korea or ROK) is a constitutional democracy 
governed by President Lee Myung-bak and a unicameral legislature. The 
country has a population of approximately 48 million. In 2008 the Grand 
National Party obtained a majority of National Assembly seats in a free 
and fair election. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    The following human rights problems were reported: hazing of 
military personnel, imprisonment of conscientious objectors, the 
Government's interpretation of laws regulating the Internet and 
telecommunications, and sexual and domestic violence.
                        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 arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.
    During the first six months of the year, there were 35 suicides 
among military personnel, 13 of which were cited as being caused by 
hazing, mistreatment, or an inability to adjust to military life. The 
Ministry of National Defense conducted independent investigations of 
these incidents and made no arrests. The ministry maintained a suicide 
prevention program.

    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 Ministry of National Defense reported 22 hazing 
incidents resulting in physical injuries. Nine persons were indicted in 
these incidents. The ministry maintained a hazing prevention program.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards, and the 
Government permitted monitoring visits by independent human rights 
observers.
    The Ministry of Justice reported the total of number of prisoners 
at year's end was 45,681, of whom 2,375 were women and 430 were 
juveniles. Pretrial detainees generally are held at detention centers; 
when held at prisons, they are separated from the prisoners and are 
subject to looser restrictions on access to visitors and telephone use.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. Authorities permitted prisoners and 
detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities without 
censorship and to request investigation of credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions. Authorities investigated credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions and documented the results of such investigations 
in a publicly accessible manner. The Government investigated and 
monitored prison and detention center conditions.
    Prisoners can petition the Ministry of Justice's Human Rights 
Violations Center or the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to 
make prison abuse claims. During the year 300 petitions were submitted 
to the justice minister, of which 64 were under investigation. Of the 
67 filed with the Human Rights Violations Center, five resulted in 
findings of relief for the petitioners. The International Committee of 
the Red Cross, which maintains an office in Seoul, did not request 
prison visits during the year.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these 
prohibitions. However, the National Security Law grants authorities the 
power to detain, arrest, and imprison persons who commit acts that the 
Government views as intended to endanger the ``security of the state.'' 
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) continued to call for reform or 
repeal of the law, contending that its provisions do not define 
prohibited activity clearly. The Ministry of Justice maintained that 
the courts had established legal precedents for strict interpretation 
of the law that preclude arbitrary application.
    During the year 32 persons were detained for violating the National 
Security Law; 26 were indicted, one had indictment delayed, one was 
dismissed, and four others were under investigation. Of those who were 
indicted, 14 were convicted and 12 were in trial proceedings.
    In August authorities arrested a pastor for violating the National 
Security Law by travelling to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea 
(DPRK or North Korea) without prior permission from the Government. In 
December the pastor was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
    A secondary school teacher indicted in 2008 for violating the 
National Security Law by distributing banned material remained free on 
bail. The court heard oral arguments and indicated it would rule on the 
case in February 2011.
    Four NGO members detained and charged in September 2008 with 
illegal contact with North Korean agents and distribution of North 
Korean press material for the purpose of exalting DPRK leader Kim Jong-
il were convicted during the year. Two of the members were serving 
prison sentences, and the two others received suspended sentences and 
probation. All four appealed the sentences and filed a defamation claim 
against the Government. In November a district court judge dismissed 
the defamation claim and stated that prosecutors did not release false 
information. The four appealed, and at year's end the case was pending 
before the Supreme Court.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the Korean National Police Agency, 
and the Government has effective mechanisms to investigate and punish 
abuse and corruption. There were no reports of impunity involving 
security forces during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
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 authorities believe that a suspect may 
destroy evidence or escape capture if not arrested quickly. In such 
cases a public prosecutor or police officer must prepare an affidavit 
of emergency arrest immediately upon apprehension of the suspect. 
Police may not interrogate for more than six hours a person who 
voluntarily submits to questioning at police stations. Authorities must 
release an arrested suspect within 20 days unless an indictment is 
issued. An additional 10 days of detention is allowed in exceptional 
circumstances.
    There is a bail system. Human rights lawyers stated that 
authorities generally did not grant bail for detainees who were charged 
with committing serious offenses, might attempt to flee or harm a 
victim, or had no fixed address.
    The law provides for the right to representation by an attorney, 
including during police interrogation. There are no restrictions on 
access to a lawyer, but authorities can limit a lawyer's participation 
in an interrogation if the lawyer obstructs the interrogation or 
divulges information that impedes an investigation. The courts 
respected a defendant's right to a lawyer. During the trial stage and, 
under certain circumstances, during the pretrial stage, an indigent 
detainee may request that the Government provide a lawyer.
    Access to family members during detention varied according to the 
severity of the crime under investigation. There were no reports of 
access to legal counsel being denied.

    Amnesty.--The Ministry of Justice reported that special amnesty was 
given to 2,735 persons during the year; 5,685 others who violated only 
administrative laws also received amnesty.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides defendants with a number of 
rights in criminal trials, including the presumption of innocence, 
protection against self-incrimination, the right to a speedy trial, the 
right of appeal, and freedom from retroactive laws and double jeopardy. 
Trials are open to the public, but judges may restrict attendance if 
they believe spectators might disrupt the proceedings. There is a 
public jury system, but jury verdicts are not legally binding. Court-
appointed lawyers are provided by the Government (at government 
expense) in cases where defendants cannot afford to provide their own 
legal counsel. When a person is detained, the initial trial must be 
completed within six months of arrest. Judges generally allowed 
considerable scope for the examination of witnesses by both the 
prosecution and the defense. Defendants have the right to be present 
and to consult with an attorney. They can confront or question 
witnesses against them, and they can present witnesses and evidence on 
their behalf. Defendants have access to relevant government-held 
evidence. The constitution provides for the right to a fair trial for 
all citizens, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this 
right.
    In August the Ministry of Justice added grand jury review to its 
criminal procedure and installed citizen prosecution commissions at all 
prosecutors' offices.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--The Ministry of Justice stated 
that no persons were incarcerated solely because of their political 
beliefs.
    The law requires military service for all male citizens; it does 
not allow for conscientious objectors, who can receive a maximum three-
year prison sentence. The Ministry of Justice noted that the law does 
not distinguish conscientious objectors from others who do not report 
for mandatory military service. The ministry reported that during the 
year there were 6,863 cases of Military Service Act violations, with 
1,358 cases referred for trial and 5,505 cases settled out of court.
    Watchtower International, a Jehovah's Witnesses organization, 
reported that in November there were 933 Jehovah's Witnesses members, 
along with approximately 30 others, serving an average of 18 months in 
prison for conscientious objection to military service. This number was 
more than double that of January 2009. Watchtower attributed the rise 
to the number of conscientious objectors who had delayed beginning 
prison terms, expecting the Ministry of National Defense to introduce 
an alternative service system for conscientious objectors. However, in 
2009 the ministry reversed its earlier position and announced it would 
not pursue the introduction of an alternative service for conscientious 
objectors.
    In November Watchtower declared it was monitoring 141 cases on 
appeal in the Supreme Court and nine cases before the Constitutional 
Court, two of which involved reservists. Constitutional Court rulings 
on the matter in 2002 and 2004 upheld the constitutionality of the law.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters, and there were no problems 
enforcing domestic court orders. Citizens had access to a court to 
bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, a human rights 
violation. There are administrative and judicial remedies available for 
alleged wrongs.

    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 establishes 
conditions under which the Government may monitor telephone calls, 
mail, and other forms of communication for up to two months in criminal 
investigations and four months in national security cases. According to 
a National Assembly audit, the number of court-approved wiretappings 
decreased from 799 in the first half of 2009 to 589 in the first half 
of 2010.
    In September the Ministry of Justice indicted seven working-level 
officials from the Prime Minister's Office on charges of illegal 
civilian surveillance. The investigation found that the Public Official 
Ethics Unit within the Prime Minister's Office conducted surveillance 
on the former head of Kookmin Bank and known supporter of the previous 
administration, as well as on a National Assembly member and his wife. 
The ministry was widely criticized in the local media and by local NGOs 
for the passive manner in which the investigation was conducted. The 
investigation failed to reveal reasons for initiating the surveillance, 
additional records of surveillance, and involvement of any high-ranking 
officials in ordering the surveillance. In November the court convicted 
all seven officials and sentenced them to prison.
    The Government continued to require some released prisoners to 
report regularly to the police in accordance with the Security 
Surveillance Act.
    The National Security Law forbids citizens from listening to DPRK 
radio programs in their homes or reading books published in the DPRK 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 viewing DPRK satellite telecasts 
in private homes is legal.
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. 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 generally without restriction. Under 
the National Security Law the Government may limit the expression of 
ideas that praise or incite the activities of antistate individuals or 
groups.
    In December the appeals court affirmed a district court's verdict 
of not guilty in the case of four producers and one writer from the 
Munwha Broadcasting Corporation's PD Notebook program. The five had 
been charged with spreading false rumors about the alleged health risks 
of eating U.S. beef. The prosecution appealed the decision to the 
Supreme Court.

    Internet Freedom.--There were some government restrictions on 
access to the Internet and reports that the Government monitored e-mail 
and Internet chat rooms.
    According to 2008 Organization for Economic Cooperation and 
Development data, 95 percent of households had access to the Internet 
through broadband connections. In addition to Internet access from 
home, public Internet rooms were widely available and inexpensive.
    The Government blocked violent, sexually explicit, and gambling-
oriented Web sites and required site operators to rate their site as 
harmful or not to youth, based on telecommunications laws that ban 
Internet service providers from offering information considered harmful 
to youth. The Government also continued to block DPRK Web sites and 
direct access to the DPRK's YouTube channel and Twitter account. While 
viewing Web sites praising the DPRK regime remained lawful, 
disseminating information about the Web sites, including posting links 
to the sites, is unlawful under the National Security Law.
    In December the Constitutional Court struck down clause 1, article 
47, of the Framework Act on Telecommunications as unconstitutional, 
ruling that the term ``public interest'' was too broad to meet the 
constitutional requirement of a clear definition. The article, which 
prohibited individuals from making false communication over the 
Internet with the intent to harm ``public interest,'' had been used to 
indict individuals who posted allegedly misleading information about 
the prospects of financial markets, candlelight protests in 2008, and 
North Korea's attacks on a South Korean warship and Yeonpyeong Island 
during the year. Observers expected the case against 47 bloggers, 
including the blogger Minerva, who wrote more than 200 online postings 
criticizing the Government's economic policies, to be dismissed as a 
result of this ruling.
    In January 2009 the Government expanded the Network Act, which 
requires identity verification in order to post messages on Web sites, 
to apply to all Web sites operating a domestic server with more than 
100,000 visitors (previously set at 300,000) per day, thereby 
increasing the number of applicable sites from 37 to 167. A civic 
organization challenged the constitutionality of this act for 
infringing on freedom of expression. In July the Constitutional Court 
heard oral arguments but at year's end had not rendered a decision.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The law provides for freedom of assembly, and the Government 
generally respected this right in practice. The law prohibits 
assemblies that are considered likely to undermine public order and 
requires police to be notified in advance of demonstrations of all 
types, including political rallies. Police must notify organizers if 
they consider an event impermissible under this law; however, police 
routinely approved demonstrations. The police reportedly banned some 
protests by groups that had not properly registered or that were 
responsible for violent protests in the past.
    A law passed in September 2009 by the National Assembly prohibiting 
public gatherings between sunset and sunrise became invalid when the 
National Assembly failed to revise it by June, as instructed by the 
Constitutional Court.
    The Ministry of Justice confirmed that none of the 24 riot police 
officers accused of excessive violence during the 2008 beef protests 
were arrested. In May three were fined, two were assessed fines of one 
million won (approximately $885) each, and one was assessed a fine of a 
half-million won ($440).

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association, and the Government generally respected this right in 
practice. Associations operated freely, except those seeking to 
overthrow the Government.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the Department of State's 2010 International Religious 
Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--Citizens could generally move freely 
throughout the country; however, government officials restricted the 
movement of certain DPRK defectors by denying them passports. In many 
cases travelers going to the DPRK must receive a briefing from the 
Ministry of Unification prior to departure. They must also demonstrate 
that their trip does not have a political purpose and is not undertaken 
to praise the DPRK or criticize the ROK government.
    The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in 
assisting internally displaced persons, refugees, returning refugees, 
asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The law does not include provisions for forced exile, and the 
Government did not employ it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's law provides for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice 
the Government provided protection against the expulsion or return of 
refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened 
on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a 
particular social group, or political opinion.
    The Government did not routinely grant refugee status or asylum. 
Government guidelines provide for offering temporary refugee status in 
the case of a mass influx of asylum seekers and an alternative form of 
protection--a renewable, short-term permit--to those who meet a broader 
definition of ``refugee.'' In May 2009 the Ministry of Justice 
increased its staff reviewing refugee applications. The average 
processing time for refugee applications decreased from 42 months in 
March 2008 to 12 months in January 2010. In November the refugee 
adjudication authority moved from the ministry's headquarters to the 
Seoul Immigration Office, streamlining the bureaucratic procedures and 
providing better access to translators available at the Seoul office. 
During the year the Government approved 47 applications for refugee 
status and rejected 168 applicants.
    Those granted refugee status are given resident status with 
employment authorization. They are provided with basic living expenses 
and medical expenses if their income falls below the poverty line. In 
May the NHRC provided consultation service to refugees. In March, for 
the first time, a non-DPRK refugee became a Korean citizen. The 
Government also provided temporary humanitarian protection to 43 
persons who may not qualify as refugees.
    The Government continued its longstanding policy of accepting 
refugees from the DPRK, who are entitled to citizenship in the ROK. The 
Government resettled 1,407 DPRK refugees in the first six months of the 
year. In July the Ministry of Unification signed a memorandum of 
understanding with the Korean Bar Association to provide legal 
assistance to the refugees. In September the ministry opened the DPRK 
Refugee Support Foundation to help defectors adjust to life in the ROK.
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 for all citizens 19 years of age or older.

    Elections and Political Participation.--National Assembly elections 
held in April 2008 were free and fair.
    Both the majority and the various minority political parties 
operated without restriction or outside interference.
    In general elections, 50 percent of each party's candidates on the 
proportional ballot must be women, and 30 percent of each party's 
geographical candidates are recommended to be women. At year's end 
there were 45 women in the 299-seat National Assembly, with one of 18 
National Assembly committees chaired by a woman. One of 13 Supreme 
Court justices and two of 15 cabinet ministers were women.
    There were no members of minority groups in the National Assembly.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government implemented the law effectively. There were reports of 
officials receiving bribes and violating election laws. According to 
the Ministry of Justice, as of November 481 government officials had 
been prosecuted for abuse of authority, bribery, embezzlement or 
misappropriation, and falsification of official documents. In the 
National Assembly, as of November one member was in detention and 
another was on trial for misappropriation and other criminal charges.
    By law public servants above a certain rank must register their 
assets, including how they were accumulated, thereby making their 
holdings public. Several government agencies are responsible for 
combating government corruption, including the Board of Audit and 
Inspection, which monitors government expenditures, and the Public 
Service Ethics Committee, which monitors civil servant financial 
disclosures and financial activities. The Anti-Corruption and Civil 
Rights Commission manages public complaints and administrative appeals 
on corrupt government practices. In the first half of the year, the 
commission logged more than 1,500 corrupt government practice claims. 
The commission also evaluates ``good governance and cleanliness'' of 
public organizations and expanded the number of organizations under its 
purview to 712, compared with 478 in 2009.
    The country has a Freedom of Information Act, and in practice the 
Government granted access for citizens and noncitizens alike, including 
foreign media.
Section 5. 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 Government also was 
cooperative with international organizations. UN High Commissioner for 
Human Rights Navanethem Pillay and UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of 
Opinion and Expression Frank La Rue visited in May.
    The NHRC is an independent government body established to protect 
and promote human rights; it has no enforcement powers, and its 
decisions are not binding. The NHRC investigates complaints, issues 
policy recommendations, and conducts education campaigns.
    In December the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea 
disbanded after five years of examining more than 10,000 petitions 
alleging wrongful civilian deaths caused by military and law 
enforcement authorities from the time of Japanese colonial rule in the 
early 1900s, the Korean War, and democracy movement crackdowns from the 
late 1950s to the 1980s. In its final report, the commission presented 
its findings on 86 percent of the incidents and deemed the others 
unverifiable. In many cases the commission refrained from assigning 
culpability because of difficulty in judging incomplete accounts of 
past incidents using present-day standards.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law forbids discrimination on the basis of gender, religion, 
disability, social status, and race, and the Government effectively 
enforced it.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape. Although there is no specific 
statute that defines spousal rape as illegal, the courts have 
established a precedent by convicting spouses in such cases. The 
penalty for rape is at least three years in prison; if a weapon is used 
or two or more persons commit the rape, punishment ranges from a 
minimum of five years' to life imprisonment. During the year the 
minimum prison sentence for rape or sexual assault increased from five 
years to seven and from three years to five, respectively, when the 
perpetrator is a relative of the victim.
    The Ministry of Justice stated that there were 18,985 reports of 
rape or sexual violence during the year, resulting in the indictment of 
8,385 suspects. In 2009 there were 8,746 reports and 3,858 
prosecutions.
    The law defines domestic violence as a serious crime and enables 
authorities to order offenders to stay away from victims for up to six 
months. Offenders can be sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison 
and fined up to seven million won ($6,190). Offenders also may be 
placed on probation or ordered to see court-designated counselors. The 
law requires police to respond immediately to reports of domestic 
violence, and they were generally responsive. During the year the 
Justice Ministry registered 4,363 cases of domestic violence, resulting 
in 551 indictments.
    The law obligates companies and organizations to take preventive 
measures against sexual harassment, and the Government enforced the law 
effectively. Civil remedies are generally available for sexual 
harassment claims. At public institutions, administrative remedies are 
also available. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF) 
conducts an annual survey on sexual violence, and its study during the 
year found that approximately 2.4 percent of women said they were 
victims of sexual harassment. The ministry provides sexual harassment 
prevention training to approximately 15,000 public institutions and 
reports to the National Assembly annually. In September an assembly 
member was expelled from his party for making remarks that could be 
interpreted as sexual harassment to a group of female university 
students.
    The law allows couples and individuals to decide freely the number, 
spacing, and timing of their children and to have the information and 
means to do so free from discrimination. Access to contraception and 
maternal health services, including skilled attendance during 
childbirth, prenatal care, and essential obstetric and postpartum care, 
were widely available. According to the MOGEF, the estimated maternal 
mortality rate in the year was 10.8 deaths per 100,000 live births. 
Women were equally diagnosed and treated for sexually transmitted 
infections, including HIV.
    Women enjoy the same legal rights under the constitution as men. 
The law permits a woman to head a household, recognizes a wife's right 
to a portion of a couple's property, and allows a woman to maintain 
contact with her children after a divorce. The law also allows a 
remarried woman to change her children's family name to her new 
husband's name.
    The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) reported that labor 
participation of women between the ages of 15 and 64 in 2008 was at 
54.7 percent. To increase participation of women, the ministry 
maintained employment-training centers for women at 72 locations to 
provide job assistance to women, especially those with gaps in their 
employment history. The ministry also maintained an affirmative action 
program for public institutions with 50 or more employees and private 
institutions with 500 or more employees; the program requires 
institutions that fail to maintain a female workforce that is at least 
60 percent that of the average of relevant occupations to comply with a 
hiring plan devised by the ministry. The ministry reported that the 
size of the workforce composed of women had increased. It also noted 
that as of July women filled approximately 42 percent of newly created 
jobs and made up more than 45 percent of the newly hired workforce.
    The number of women in entry-level civil service positions and new 
diplomatic positions continued to increase. However, women continued to 
experience a pay gap, since a higher percentage of working women tended 
to fill lower-paying, low-skilled contract jobs. An MOEL study 
published in December found that women earned 66 percent as much as men 
in hourly wages and 62.5 percent when job benefits were included. A 
September MOGEF study revealed that only 25 percent of working mothers 
in their 20s and 30s had used extended maternity leave. The law 
penalizes companies found to discriminate against women in hiring and 
promotions. A company found guilty of practicing sexual discrimination 
can be fined up to approximately five million won ($4,420).

    Children.--Citizenship is based on parentage, which requires that 
either the mother or the father be a citizen of the country at the time 
of birth. Citizenship is also given in circumstances where parentage is 
unclear if a person is stateless. The Government allows all persons to 
benefit from public services, regardless of birth registration, if they 
are legal residents. There were no reports of a denial of public 
services due to a lack of proper birth registration.
    As of September a total of 6,910 child abuse cases were reported to 
the Ministry for Health and Welfare. The ministry's Child Protection 
Center intervened in 4,017 of the cases, 91of which involved abuses in 
orphanages and childcare facilities. The ministry maintained shelters 
that provided protection, counseling, and treatment services to the 
victims of child abuse.
    In June high-profile cases of sex offenses against minors prompted 
the Government to raise the minimum prison sentence from seven to 10 
years for rape and five to seven years for other sexual assaults 
involving a minor 13 years of age or younger. Other changes to the law 
included extending the statute of limitations for another 10 years in 
cases with DNA or other scientific evidence and expanding the 
information disclosed on a sexual offender's registry. The MOGEF 
maintained 10 centers that provided counseling, treatment, and legal 
assistance to child victims of sexual violence.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html as well as 
country-specific information at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There is a small Jewish population consisting 
almost entirely of expatriates. There were no reports of anti-Semitic 
acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or the 
provision of other state services or other areas, and the Government 
effectively enforced the law. The Government effectively implemented 
laws and programs to ensure that persons with disabilities have access 
to buildings, information, and communications. The law establishes 
penalties for deliberate discrimination of up to three years in prison 
and 30 million won ($26,535). The Government, through the Ministry of 
Health and Welfare, continued to implement a comprehensive set of 
policies that included encouraging public and private buildings and 
facilities to provide barrier-free access, providing part-time 
employment, and employing a task force to introduce a long-term care 
system. The Government operated a national rehabilitation research 
center to increase opportunities and access for persons with 
disabilities.
    Firms with more than 50 employees are required by law to hire 
persons with disabilities, and firms with more than 100 employees are 
required to contribute to funds used to promote the employment of 
persons with disabilities if they fail to hire persons with 
disabilities up to a certain percentage of their workforce. In July the 
Government began providing financial assistance to low-income persons 
with severe disabilities. In 2009 the Government raised the target 
percentage of the workforce at relevant public institutions from 2 to 3 
percent and at relevant private companies from 2 to 2.3 percent. At the 
end of 2009, the percentage of the workforce composed of persons with 
disabilities was at 1.86 percent at firms with more than 50 employees, 
compared with 1.35 percent in 2006.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The country has long prided 
itself on its racial homogeneity, but its growing ethnic minority 
population passed the 1.2 million mark in midyear. To meet the 
projected growth in ethnic minorities due to the increasing number of 
migrant workers and foreign brides, the MOGEF and MOEL initiated 
various programs to increase public awareness of cultural diversity and 
to assist foreign workers, wives, and multicultural families to adjust 
to life in the country.
    The local media reported some violence against foreigners, 
including a man with a mental disability killing his foreign bride, 
leading to a swift government crackdown on illegal matchmaking 
agencies. Other incidents appeared to be isolated in nature. Local NGOs 
and the media also reported that North Korean refugees, although 
supported through government-funded resettlement programming, faced 
discrimination.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law that installed the 
NHRC prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and 
gives the NHRC the authority to review cases of discrimination based on 
sexual orientation. During the year the NHRC received six cases of 
alleged discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender 
(LGBT) persons but did not find merit in any of the cases. There are no 
specific laws punishing or providing remedy to victims of 
discrimination or violence against LGBT persons. The Ministry of 
Justice reported the equality principles under article 11 of the 
constitution apply to LGBT persons. The Government punished 
perpetrators of violence against LGBT persons according to the law.
    Societal discrimination against LGBT persons persisted. In June the 
Constitutional Court heard oral arguments on the constitutionality of 
the military code of conduct prohibiting consensual homosexual 
relationship between military personnel. At year's end the court had 
not issued a ruling.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Some observers claimed 
that persons with HIV/AIDS suffered from societal discrimination and 
social stigma. The law protects the confidentiality of persons with 
HIV/AIDS and protects them from discrimination.
    The NHRC reported there were 577 employment discrimination cases 
filed during the year. A total of 104 complaints alleged age 
discrimination, and the NHRC recommended remedy in three of the cases.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides workers with the 
right to associate freely and allows public servants to organize 
unions. In January the labor law was amended to authorize union 
pluralism starting in July 2011. The new law is intended to allow 
multiple unions to form at a single enterprise but permit only a single 
negotiation channel with management. Amid competition among labor 
unions to gain bargaining rights, workers would have more options for 
selecting a labor union, resulting in overall improvement of union 
services.
    The ratio of organized labor in the entire population of wage 
earners in 2009 was approximately 10 percent. There are two national 
labor federations, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and 
the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), and an estimated 4,689 
labor unions. The KCTU and the FKTU were affiliated with the 
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). Most of the FKTU's 
constituent unions maintained affiliations with international union 
federations. The MOEL reported that approximately 1.6 million of the 
country's 16.6 million workers were union members.
    The Government recognized a range of other labor federations, 
including independent white-collar federations representing hospital 
workers, journalists, and office workers at construction firms and 
government research institutes. Labor federations not formally 
recognized by the MOEL generally operated without government 
interference.
    The law bans education workers from engaging in certain political 
activities, such as joining a political party or openly endorsing a 
political party or candidate. Offenders can serve up to one year in 
jail and be fined a maximum of 3.6 million won ($3,185). In June and 
July 2009, the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTEWU) 
launched two rounds of antigovernment petitions. The Seoul District 
Prosecution Service indicted 159 KTEWU members for violating the 
Educational Workers Labor Union Act banning certain political 
activities. Cases were heard at multiple district courts depending on 
the domiciles of the indicted teachers. The courts made conflicting 
rulings, and at year's end all cases were pending before various 
appellate courts. Meanwhile, the superintendent of the Gyeonggi 
provincial education office who postponed punishing the teachers per 
the order from Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology was 
acquitted by both the district and appellate courts in a breach of duty 
indictment brought against him by the Suwon District Prosecution 
Service.
    The right to strike is provided for in law but limited in certain 
circumstances. By law unions must submit a request for mediation to the 
Labor Relations Commission before a strike; otherwise, the strike is 
illegal. In most cases the mediation must be completed within 10 days; 
in the case of essential services, within 15 days. Strikes initiated 
following this period without majority support from union membership 
are illegal. Striking also is prohibited in cases in which a dispute 
has been referred to binding arbitration. The law includes a list of 
essential sectors prohibited from striking that goes beyond 
international standards. Among the workers employed at major defense 
corporations subject to the Defense Industry Act, those working in the 
areas of electricity generation, water supply, or production of defense 
products are not allowed to strike. In addition, if striking employees 
resort to violence, unlawful occupation of premises, or damaging of 
facilities, their actions are deemed illegal. Strikes not specifically 
pertaining to labor conditions, including wages, benefits, and working 
hours, are also illegal. The constitution and the Labor Relations Act 
provide workers the right to strike and exempt them from legal 
responsibility in the case of a legal strike; however, workers who use 
violence or participate in illegal activities can be prosecuted under 
the criminal code on charges of ``obstruction of business.'' The ITUC 
reported that this charge was used to detain hundreds of trade 
unionists and criminalize basic union activities. Striking workers can 
be removed by police from the premises, and, along with union leaders, 
prosecuted and sentenced. The law prohibits retribution against workers 
who conduct a legal strike and allows workers to file complaints of 
unfair labor practices against employers. The MOEL reported that in the 
first eight months there were 55 strikes, in which 30,623 workers 
participated.
    In May the appeals court affirmed a lower court's conviction of 
then-KCTU president Lee Suk-haeng related to his role in organizing a 
general strike in 2008 and increased his sentence from two to four 
years in prison.
    The law prohibits retribution against workers who conduct a legal 
strike and allows workers to file complaints of unfair labor practices 
against employers.
    Strikes are prohibited for central and local government officials.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for the right to collective bargaining, and workers exercised 
this right in practice. The law also empowers workers to file 
complaints of unfair labor practices against employers who interfere 
with union organizing or who discriminate against union members. The 
National Labor Relations Commission can require employers found guilty 
of unfair practices to reinstate workers fired for union activities.
    The law permits public servants to organize trade unions and 
bargain collectively, although it restricts the public service unions 
from collective bargaining on topics such as budgetary and policy-
making matters.
    Workers in export processing zones (EPZs) have the rights enjoyed 
by workers in other sectors, and labor organizations are permitted in 
the EPZs. However, foreign companies operating in the EPZs are exempt 
from some labor regulations, including provisions that mandate paid 
leave, obligate companies with more than 50 persons to recruit persons 
with disabilities for at least 2 percent of their workforce, encourage 
companies to reserve 3 percent of their workforce for workers over 55 
years of age, and restrict large companies from participating in 
certain business categories.

    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 provides protections to children from exploitation in the 
workplace, and the Government effectively enforced this law through 
regular inspections. Child labor was not considered a problem.
    The Labor Standards Act prohibits the employment of persons under 
age 15 without an authorization certificate from the MOEL. Because 
education is compulsory through middle school (approximately age 15), 
few such certificates were issued for full-time employment. To obtain 
employment, children under age 18 must obtain written approval from 
either parents or guardians. Employers must limit minors' overtime 
hours and are prohibited from employing minors at night without special 
permission from the MOEL.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage is reviewed 
annually. Although the employment and labor minister has the authority 
to set the minimum wage, the proposed minimum wage is reviewed and 
approved by the Minimum Wage Council formed by representatives from 
labor, business, and government. During the year the minimum wage was 
set at 4,110 won ($3.64) per hour, which was a 2.75 percent increase 
over 2009 and equal to the increase in the minimum cost of living.
    Persons working in the financial/insurance industry, publicly 
invested companies, state corporations, and companies with more than 20 
employees are required to receive premium pay for work in excess of 40 
hours per week. The labor law requires employers to allow 30 minutes' 
rest in a four-hour work period and one hour's rest in an eight-hour 
work period, to be taken within the work period. It also allows a 
flexible work hours system under which employers can require laborers 
to work up to 48 hours during certain weeks without paying overtime so 
long as average weekly work hours for any given two-week period do not 
exceed 40 hours (and 52 hours during certain weeks without paying 
overtime so long as average weekly work hours for any given three-month 
period do not exceed 40 hours). If mutually agreed, management may ask 
employees to work up to 56 regular hours in a given week. Workers may 
work more than 12 hours per day in overtime during a workweek if both 
the employer and the employee agree. The Labor Standards Act also 
provides for a 50 percent higher wage for overtime.
    The Government sets health and safety standards, and the Korea 
Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) is responsible for 
monitoring industry adherence to these standards. KOSHA conducts 
inspections both proactively according to regulations and reactively in 
response to complaints. It also provides technical assistance to 
resolve deficiencies discovered during inspections. KOSHA reports on 
its Web site descriptions of and statistics on work-related injuries 
and fatalities on a quarterly basis. In the first six months of the 
year, there were 48,066 work-related accidents and 1,028 fatalities, 
which were a 6.3 percent increase and 2.9 percent decrease, 
respectively, from the same period in 2009. KOSHA provided training and 
subsidies to improve work safety and reduce work-related accidents. Its 
services were extended to the migrant workers, since its training 
modules and materials were available in 10 languages and disseminated 
to various worksites.
    Contract and other ``nonregular'' workers accounted for a 
substantial portion of the workforce. The MOEL reported that as of 
August there were approximately 5.7 million nonregular workers, 
composing approximately 33.3 percent of the total workforce. The MOEL 
reported that in 2009 nonregular workers performed work similar to 
regular workers but received approximately 84 percent of the wages of 
regular workers.
    The law on nonregular workers allows companies with more than 300 
workers to use temporary worker contracts valid for a maximum of two 
years.
    There were 513,621 foreign workers (465,302 legal and 48,319 
illegal) residing in the country at year's end, 220,319 of whom were 
admitted under the Employment Permit System (EPS). The Government 
implemented a variety of social services and legal precedents to 
address complaints about the working conditions of foreigners. During 
the year the MOEL provided training on the EPS to employers hiring 
foreign workers. The ministry continued programs implemented in 2009 
for foreign workers to ease the difficulties of living and working in 
the country, including free legal advice programs, free translation 
services, health checkups in their native language, and the 
establishment of several ``human rights protection centers for 
foreigners.''
    The Government continued to use the EPS to increase protections and 
controls on foreign workers while easing the labor shortage in the 
manufacturing, construction, and agricultural sectors. Through the EPS, 
permit holders may work only in certain industries and have limited job 
mobility, but they generally enjoy the same rights and privileges as 
citizens. Foreign workers are limited in their freedom to change jobs. 
In 2009 the EPS law was amended to provide better protection to foreign 
workers. The amendments allow more flexibility in the length of 
contracts, ensure that job changes that are not the fault of the worker 
are excluded from their three allowable job changes, and permit the 
worker to change employers if the working conditions are deemed 
different from the contract terms. Unless the Ministry of Justice 
grants an extension on humanitarian grounds, workers lose their legal 
status if they lose their job and do not find a new employer within 
three months.
    NGOs and local media reported that irregular workers were at a 
greater risk for discrimination because of their status and that 
foreign laborers sometimes faced physical abuse and exploitation from 
employers. The NGO Korea Migrant Center received reports of abuse of 
female entertainment visa holders.
    The MOEL reported that foreign workers filed 4,646 complaints 
related to unpaid wages during the year.

                               __________

                                  LAOS

    The Lao People's Democratic Republic is an authoritarian one-party 
state ruled by the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP). The most 
recent National Assembly (NA) election was held in 2006. The 
constitution legitimizes only a single party, the LPRP, and almost all 
candidates in the 2006 election were LPRP members vetted by the party. 
Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    The central government continued to deny citizens the right to 
change their government. Prison conditions were harsh and at times life 
threatening. Corruption in the police and judiciary persisted. The 
Government infringed on citizens' right to privacy and did not respect 
the rights to freedom of speech, the press, assembly, or association. 
Local officials at times restricted religious freedom and freedom of 
movement. Trafficking in persons remained a problem. Workers' rights 
were restricted.
                        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 arbitrary or 
unlawful killings. Unlike past years, there were no credible reports of 
military action against insurgent groups.
    There were no developments in the cases of persons allegedly killed 
by the military or police in 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 the beating or torture of an arrested 
person. In practice, members of the police and security forces 
sometimes abused prisoners.
    Detainees occasionally were subjected to beatings and long-term 
solitary confinement in completely darkened rooms, and in many cases 
they were detained in leg chains or wooden stocks for long periods. 
Former inmates reported that degrading treatment, the chaining and 
manacling of prisoners, and solitary confinement in small unlit rooms 
were standard punishments in larger prisons, while smaller provincial 
or district prisons employed manacles and chains to prevent prisoners 
from escaping.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions varied 
widely but in general were harsh and occasionally life threatening. 
Prisons were overcrowded with poor ventilation, minimal sanitation 
facilities, inadequate food and potable water, and substandard medical 
care. Prisoners in larger, state-operated facilities in Vientiane 
generally fared better than those in provincial prisons. Food rations 
were minimal, and most prisoners relied on their families for 
subsistence. Most of the larger facilities allowed prisoners to grow 
supplemental food in small vegetable gardens, although there were 
periodic reports that prison guards took food from prisoners' gardens. 
Prison wardens set prison visitation policies. Consequently, in some 
facilities families could make frequent visits, but in others visits 
were severely restricted.
    There were credible reports from international organizations that 
authorities treated ethnic minority prisoners particularly harshly. 
Former prisoners reported that incommunicado detention was used as an 
interrogation technique and against perceived problem prisoners; 
however, there were no reports of its use during the year. Although 
most prisons had some form of clinic, usually with a doctor or nurse on 
staff, medical facilities were extremely poor and medical treatment for 
serious ailments was unavailable. In some facilities prisoners could 
arrange treatment in outside hospitals if they could pay for the 
treatment and the expense of police escorts.
    Male and female prisoners were held in the same prisons but were 
placed in separate cells. In some prisons juveniles were held with 
adult prisoners, although there were no official or reliable statistics 
available. Most juveniles were in detention for narcotics offenses or 
petty crimes.
    Family members generally could access prisoners and detainees, 
although sometimes the family did not live close to the jail. Prisoners 
and detainees could follow some religious observances, but no 
facilities were provided.
    Authorities permitted prisoners and detainees to submit complaints 
to judicial authorities without censorship and to request investigation 
of credible allegations of inhumane conditions; however, family members 
rarely make such requests for fear of exacerbating poor detention 
conditions. There were no investigations of credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions. There were no records of government investigation 
or monitoring of prison and detention center conditions.
    The Government did not permit regular independent monitoring of 
prison conditions. The Government continued to deny the request of the 
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to establish an 
official presence in the country to monitor prison conditions. The 
Government at times provided foreign diplomatic personnel access to 
some prisons, but such access was strictly limited. There were no 
ombudsmen to serve on behalf of prisoners and detainees.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention; however, in practice, the Government did not 
respect these provisions and arbitrary arrest and detention persisted.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--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 
the LPRP and the LPRP's popular front organizations. The MoPS includes 
local police, traffic 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 have domestic security 
responsibilities that include counterterrorism and counterinsurgency as 
well as control of an extensive system of village militias.
    Impunity remained a problem, as did police corruption. The MoPS 
Inspection Department maintained complaint boxes throughout most of the 
country for citizens to deposit written complaints.
    The Government cooperated with international organizations to 
implement a national strategy to strengthen law enforcement and deal 
with increased drug trafficking and abuse as well as related crime and 
police corruption.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Police and 
military forces have powers of arrest, although normally only police 
carried them out. Police agents exercised wide latitude in making 
arrests, relying on exceptions to the requirement that warrants are 
necessary except to apprehend persons in the act of committing crimes 
or in urgent cases. Police reportedly sometimes used arrest as a means 
to intimidate persons or extract bribes. Unlike in previous years, 
there were no reports that military forces detained persons suspected 
of insurgent activities.
    There is a one-year statutory limit for detention without trial. 
The length of detention without a pretrial hearing or formal charges is 
also limited to one year. The Office of the Prosecutor General (OPG) 
reportedly made efforts to ensure that all prisoners were brought to 
trial within the one-year limit, but the limit occasionally was 
ignored. The OPG must authorize police to hold a suspect pending 
investigation. Authorization is given in three-month increments, and a 
suspect must be released after a maximum of one year if police do not 
have sufficient evidence to bring charges. There is a bail system, but 
its implementation was arbitrary. Prisoner access to family members and 
a lawyer was not assured, and incommunicado detention remained a 
problem.
    Authorities at times continued to detain prisoners after they 
completed their sentences, particularly in cases where prisoners were 
unable to pay court fines. In other cases prisoners were released 
contingent upon their agreement to pay fines at a later date.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for the 
independence of the judiciary. The judiciary was weak, but there were 
no cases reported during the year of senior government or party 
officials influencing the courts. Impunity and corruption were 
problems; reportedly, some judges could be bribed. The NA may remove 
judges from office for ``impropriety,'' although no judges were removed 
during the year.

    Trial Procedures.--By law, defendants enjoy a presumption of 
innocence; however, in practice judges usually decided guilt or 
innocence in advance, basing their decisions on the result of police or 
prosecutorial investigation reports. Most trials, including criminal 
trials, were little more than pro forma examinations of the accused and 
review of the evidence. Juries are not used. Trials that involve 
certain criminal laws relating to national security, state secrets, 
children under the age of 16, or certain types of family law are 
closed. The law provides for open trials in which defendants have the 
right to defend themselves with the assistance of a lawyer or other 
persons. Defense attorneys are provided at government expense only in 
cases involving children, cases with the possibility of life 
imprisonment or the death penalty, and cases considered particularly 
complicated, such as those involving foreigners. The law requires that 
authorities inform persons of their rights and states that defendants 
may have anyone assist them in preparing written cases and accompany 
them at trial; however, only the defendant may present oral arguments 
at a criminal trial. Defendants are permitted to question witnesses and 
can present witnesses and evidence on their own behalf. Defendants have 
the right of appeal.
    Court litigants may select members of the Lao Bar Association to 
represent them at trial. The association is nominally independent but 
receives some direction from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). For several 
reasons, including the general perception that attorneys cannot affect 
court decisions, most defendants did not choose to have attorneys or 
trained representatives. The association's two satellite offices in the 
provinces of Champasak and Oudomsay provided legal services to citizens 
in need.
    All of the country's judges were LPRP members. Most had only basic 
legal training, and some zonal courts had few or no reference materials 
available for guidance. The NA's Legal Affairs Committee occasionally 
reviewed the Supreme People's Court (SPC) decisions for ``accuracy'' 
and returned cases to it or the OPG for review when the committee 
believed decisions were reached improperly.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were three well-known 
political prisoners. Colonel Sing Chanthakoumane, an official of the 
pre-1975 government, was serving a life sentence after a 1990 trial 
that was not conducted according to international standards. The 
Government continued to prevent access to him and ignored requests to 
release him on humanitarian grounds. At least two persons, Thongpaseuth 
Keuakoun and Seng-aloun Phengboun, arrested in 1999 for attempting to 
organize a prodemocracy demonstration, continued to serve 15-year 
sentences for antigovernment activities. Authorities allowed families 
to visit them, but no humanitarian organization had regular access to 
them. The Government declared the prisoners would not be released 
despite an international call for their release. The Government also 
denied having any information about nine individuals allegedly detained 
in November 2009 while traveling to the capital for a protest.
    According to some Internet reports, authorities continued to detain 
a small but unknown number of persons, particularly members of the 
Hmong ethnic group suspected of insurgent activities, for allegedly 
violating criminal laws concerning national security. There were no 
credible reports during the year of persons arrested, tried, and 
convicted under laws relating to national security that prevent public 
court trials.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The law provides for 
independence of the judiciary in civil matters; however, enforcement of 
court orders remained a problem. If civil or political rights are 
violated, one may seek judicial remedy in a criminal court or pursue an 
administrative remedy from the NA under the law. In regard to social 
and cultural rights, one may seek remedy in a civil court.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law generally protects privacy, including that of 
mail, telephone, and electronic correspondence, but the Government 
reportedly violated these legal protections when there was a perceived 
security threat.
    The law prohibits unlawful searches and seizures. By law police 
must obtain search authorization from a prosecutor or a panel of 
judges, but in practice police did not always obtain prior approval, 
especially in rural areas. Security laws allow the Government to 
monitor individuals' movements and private communications, including 
via cell phones and e-mail.
    The MoPS regularly monitored citizen activities through a 
surveillance network that included a secret police element. A militia 
in urban and rural areas, operating under the aegis of the armed 
forces, shared responsibility for maintaining public order and reported 
``undesirable elements'' to police. Members of the LPRP's front 
organizations, including the Lao Women's Union (LWU), the Youth Union, 
and the Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC), also played a role 
in monitoring citizens at all societal levels.
    The Government relocated some villagers for land concessions given 
to development projects and continued to relocate highland farmers, 
most of whom belonged to ethnic minority groups, to lowland areas under 
its plan to end opium production and slash-and-burn agriculture. In 
some areas, officials persuaded villagers to move; in others, villagers 
relocated spontaneously to be closer to roads, markets, and government 
services. While there were no reports of the Government forcibly 
relocating villagers, there were reports of individuals displaced by 
government projects. Although the resettlement plan called for 
compensating farmers for lost land and providing resettlement 
assistance, this assistance was not available in many cases or was 
insufficient to give relocated farmers the means to adjust. Moreover, 
in some areas farmland allotted to relocated villagers was poor and 
unsuited for intensive rice farming, resulting in some relocated 
villagers experiencing increased poverty, hunger, malnourishment, and 
disease. The Government relied on assistance from nongovernmental 
organizations (NGOs), bilateral donors, and international organizations 
to cover the needs of those recently resettled, but such aid was not 
available in all areas.
    The law allows citizens to marry foreigners only with prior 
government approval; marriages without it may be annulled, with both 
parties subject to arrest and fines. Premarital cohabitation with 
foreigners is illegal. The Government routinely granted permission to 
marry, but the process was lengthy and burdensome, offering officials 
the opportunity to solicit bribes.
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 the Government severely 
restricted political speech and writing and prohibited most public 
criticism that it deemed harmful to its reputation. The law forbids 
slandering the state, distorting party or state policies, inciting 
disorder, or propagating information or opinions that weaken the state.
    Authorities prohibited the dissemination of materials deemed by the 
Ministry of Information and Culture to be indecent, subversive of 
``national culture,'' or politically sensitive. Any person found guilty 
of importing a publication considered offensive to the national culture 
faced a fine or imprisonment up to one year.
    The state owned and controlled most domestic print and electronic 
media. Local news in all media reflected government policy. Although 
domestic television and radio broadcasts were closely controlled, the 
Government did not interfere with broadcasts from abroad. Many citizens 
routinely watched Thai television or listened to Thai radio, including 
news broadcasts from international news sources. Citizens had 24-hour 
access to international stations via satellite and cable television. 
The Government required registration of receiving satellite dishes and 
payment of a one-time licensing fee, largely as a revenue-generating 
measure, but otherwise made no effort to restrict use.
    The Government permitted the publication of several privately owned 
periodicals of a nonpolitical nature, including those specializing in 
business, society, and trade. While officials did not review in advance 
all articles in these periodicals, they reviewed them after publication 
and could penalize periodicals whose articles did not meet government 
approval. A few foreign newspapers and magazines were available through 
private outlets that had government permission to sell them.
    The Government required foreign journalists to apply for special 
visas and restricted their activities. Authorities did not allow 
journalists free access to information sources, but often allowed them 
to travel without official escorts. When escorts were required, they 
reportedly were at journalists' expense.

    Internet Freedom.--The Government controlled all domestic Internet 
servers and retained the ability to block access to Internet sites it 
deemed pornographic or critical of government institutions and 
policies. The Lao National Internet Committee under the Prime 
Minister's Office administered the Internet system.
    The Government sporadically monitored Internet usage.
    The Prime Minister's Office required all Internet service providers 
to submit quarterly reports and link their gateways to facilitate 
monitoring, but the Government's enforcement ability appeared limited. 
The Government did not block major foreign news sources, nor did it 
have the capability to monitor blogging or the establishment of new Web 
sites. There were no reports of government prosecution of persons for 
the expression of political, religious, or dissenting views via the 
Internet. There were no reports of government attempts to collect 
personally identifiable information of a person in connection with that 
person's peaceful expression of political, religious, or ideological 
opinion or belief.
    Many citizens used the services of a growing number of Internet 
cafes for private correspondence rather than personal computers. Very 
few homes had Internet access; most non-business users depended on 
Internet cafes located chiefly in the larger urban areas. The 
International Telecommunication Union reported that Internet users 
numbered approximately 5 percent of the country's inhabitants in 2009.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The law provides for 
academic freedom, but in practice the Government imposed restrictions. 
The Ministry of Education tightly controlled curricula in schools, 
including private schools and colleges.
    Both citizen and noncitizen academic professionals conducting 
research in the country may be subject to restrictions on travel, 
access to information, and publication. Although the Government 
exercised control via requirements for exit stamps and other mechanisms 
over the ability of state-employed academic professionals to travel for 
research or obtain study grants, the Government actively sought such 
opportunities worldwide and approved virtually all such proposals.
    The Government required films and music recordings produced in 
government studios to be submitted for official censorship; however, 
uncensored foreign films and music were available in video and compact 
disc formats. The Ministry of Information and Culture attempted to 
limit the influence of Thai culture in Lao music and entertainment, but 
these attempts had little effect.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The law provides for freedom of assembly; however, the 
Government restricted this right in practice. The law prohibits 
participation in demonstrations, protest marches, or other acts that 
cause ``turmoil or social instability.'' Participation in such acts is 
punishable by prison terms of one to five years (see section 1.e.).

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides citizens the right to 
organize and join associations, but the Government restricted this 
right in practice. For example, political groups other than popular-
front organizations approved by the LPRP are forbidden. A new decree 
that the Government began implementing in 2009 allows the registration 
of nonprofit civil society organizations--including economic, social-
welfare, professional, technical, and creative associations--at the 
district, provincial, or national level, depending on the scope of work 
and membership. Only one organization completed the application process 
by year's end.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, but in practice the Government imposed some restrictions. 
The Government cooperated in some cases with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    Citizens who travel across provincial borders are not required to 
report to authorities; however, in designated security zones, officials 
occasionally set up roadblocks and checked identity cards. Citizens 
seeking to travel to contiguous areas of neighboring countries 
generally obtained permits easily from district offices. Those wishing 
to travel farther abroad were required to apply for passports.
    The Government did not use forced exile; however, it denied the 
right of return to persons who fled the country during the 1975 change 
in government and were tried in absentia for antigovernment activities. 
There were no cases during the reporting period of any individuals 
being denied entry to Laos based on past activities.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is not a signatory to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, but 
the law provides for asylum and the protection of stateless persons. In 
practice the Government did provide some protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion. The Government did not routinely grant refugee or asylum 
status; however, it showed some flexibility in dealing pragmatically 
with individual asylum cases.
    The Government continued to refuse the UNHCR's request to 
reestablish an in-country presence, which it had in the 1990s, to 
monitor the reintegration of Hmong returnees from Thailand. The 
Government stated that the UNHCR's mandate expired in 2001 and that all 
former refugees had successfully reintegrated. During the year foreign 
diplomats, representatives from international organizations (including 
the UNHCR), and the press visited Phonekham and Phalak villages, where 
some of the Lao Hmong returned from Thailand were resettled, including 
the Lao Hmong involuntarily returned from Thailand in December 2009.
    The Government's policy both for Hmong surrendering internally and 
for those returned from Thailand was to return them to communities of 
origin whenever possible. However, most of the December 2009 returnees 
resettled in Phonekham village, Borikhamxay Province, where the 
Government provided land, housing, clean water, and electricity plus 
one year's supply of food. Several hundred persons without strong 
community links who returned between 2007 and 2009 were relocated in 
government settlements such as Phalak village, Vientiane Province.
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 constitution outlines a system composed of executive, legislative, 
and judicial branches, the LPRP controlled governance and the 
leadership at all levels through its constitutionally designated 
``leading role.''

    Elections and Political Participation.--The law provides for a 
representative national assembly, elected every five years in open, 
multiple-candidate, fairly tabulated elections, with voting by secret 
ballot and universal adult suffrage. However, the constitution 
legitimizes only the LPRP; all other political parties are outlawed. 
Election committees, appointed by the NA, must approve all candidates 
for local and national elections. Candidates do not need to be LPRP 
members, but in practice almost all were. The most recent NA election, 
held in 2006, was conducted under this system.
    The NA chooses members of the Standing Committee, generally based 
on the previous Standing Committee's recommendations. Upon such 
recommendations, the NA elects or removes the president and vice 
president. The Standing Committee has the mandate to supervise all 
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 NA, upon the president's recommendation, formally elects the 
prime minister and other government ministers.
    There were 29 women in the 115-seat NA, including two on the nine-
member Standing Committee, and three women were members of the 13-
member Supreme Court. The 55-seat LPRP Central Committee included four 
women, one of whom was also a member of the 11-member Politburo and 
president of the National Assembly. Of 12 ministers in the Prime 
Minister's Office, two were women. The minister of labor and social 
welfare also was a woman.
    While 80 percent of the population lived in rural areas and the 
village chief and village council handled most everyday matters, fewer 
than 1 percent of the village chiefs were women. The LWU--the LPRP mass 
organization focused on women's issues with a presence in every village 
and at every government level--is the only organization that has 
representation in every village; however, only one member of the LWU 
represented women in each village council.
    There were seven members of ethnic minorities in the LPRP Central 
Committee, including two in the Politburo. The NA included 23 members 
of ethnic minorities, while three of the 28 cabinet ministers were 
members of ethnic minority groups. The new president of the National 
Assembly was also a member of an ethnic minority. One SPC justice was a 
member of an ethnic minority.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively and 
officials often engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. Wages of 
all government officials were extremely low; and many officials, such 
as police, had broad powers that they could easily abuse.
    Many police officers used their authority to extract bribes from 
citizens. Corrupt officials reportedly were seldom punished. Police 
were trained at the National Police Academy, but the extent to which 
the academy's curriculum covered corruption was unknown.
    In theory the Government's National Audit Committee has 
responsibility for uncovering corruption in all government ministries, 
including the MoPS, but in practice its investigative activities were 
minimal. Authorities arrested and administratively punished lower-level 
officials on occasion for corruption. There were no reports of criminal 
cases being brought to trial. The Government-controlled press rarely 
reported cases of official corruption.
    Central and provincial inspection organizations responsible for 
enforcing laws against corruption lacked defined roles and sufficient 
powers as well as adequate funding, equipment, and legal support from 
the Government.
    Prior to taking their designated positions, senior officials were 
required by party policy to disclose their personal assets to the 
LPRP's Party Inspection Committee. The committee inspects the 
officials' assets before and after the officials have been in their 
positions. However, the LPRP used its control of government authorities 
and media to block public censure of corrupt officials who were party 
members.
    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, deeming such 
secrecy necessary for ``national security.''
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    There were no domestic human rights NGOs.
    The Government only sporadically responded in writing to requests 
for information on the human rights situation from international human 
rights organizations. However, the Government maintained human rights 
dialogues with several foreign governments and continued to receive 
training in UN human rights conventions from several international 
donors.
    The Government maintained contacts and cooperated with the ICRC in 
various activities for the implementation of international humanitarian 
law.
    A human rights division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has 
responsibility for investigating allegations of human rights 
violations. However, in practice the division apparently had no 
authority to perform or order other ministries to undertake 
investigations. The ministry on occasion responded to inquiries from 
the UN regarding the human rights situation in the country.
Section 6. 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 citizens may bring 
charges of discrimination against individuals or organizations was 
neither well developed nor widely understood among the general 
population.

    Women.--Rape was reportedly rare, although, like most crime, it was 
likely underreported. The country does not have a central database of 
crime, nor does it provide statistics on crime. The law criminalizes 
rape, with punishment set at three to five years' imprisonment. 
Sentences are significantly longer and may include capital punishment 
if the victim is under age 18 or is seriously injured or killed. In 
rape cases that were tried in court, defendants generally were 
convicted with sentences ranging from three years' imprisonment to 
execution.
    Domestic violence is illegal; however, there is no law against 
marital rape, and domestic violence often went unreported due to social 
stigma. Penalties for domestic violence, including battery, torture, 
and detaining persons against their will, may include both fines and 
imprisonment. The criminal law granted exemption from penal liabilities 
in cases of physical violence without serious injury or physical 
damage. LWU centers and the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare 
(MLSW), in cooperation with NGOs, assisted victims of domestic 
violence. Statistics were unavailable on the number of abusers 
prosecuted, convicted, or punished.
    Sexual harassment was rarely reported and its extent was difficult 
to assess. Although sexual harassment was not illegal, ``indecent 
sexual behavior'' toward another person is illegal and punishable by 
six months to three years in prison.
    Couples and individuals had the right to decide the number, 
spacing, and timing of children, and had the information and means to 
do so free from discrimination. Access to information on contraception 
was generally available; however, contraception was not widely 
available in rural areas and was often financially out of reach. The UN 
Population Fund estimated the maternal mortality ratio to be 660 deaths 
per 100,000 live births. Deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth 
were the number one cause of death for women of reproductive age. Very 
few women had access to skilled birth attendants and very few medical 
centers were equipped to deal with complicated births, especially in 
small, nomadic, and ethnic villages. Antenatal care remained low.
    Women and men were given equal access to diagnostic services and 
treatment for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
    Traditional attitudes and gender role stereotyping kept women and 
girls in a subordinate position, preventing them from equally accessing 
education and business opportunities, and there was little government 
effort to redress this. Women continued to be disproportionately 
affected by poverty, especially in rural and ethnic minority 
communities. While rural women carried out more than half of total 
agricultural production in every field, the additional workloads of 
housework and child rearing also fell primarily on women.
    The law provides for equal rights for women, and the LWU operated 
nationally to promote the position of women in society. The law 
prohibits legal discrimination in marriage and inheritance; however, 
varying degrees of culturally based discrimination against women 
persisted, with greater discrimination practiced by some hill tribes. 
The LWU conducted several programs to strengthen the role of women. The 
programs were most effective in the urban areas. Many women occupied 
decision-making positions in the civil service and private business, 
and in urban areas their incomes were often higher than those of men.

    Children.--Regardless of where they are born, children acquire 
citizenship if both parents are citizens. Children born of one citizen 
parent acquire citizenship if born in the country or, when born outside 
the country's territory, if one parent has a permanent in-country 
address. Not all births were immediately registered.
    Education is compulsory, free, and universal through the fifth 
grade; however, high fees for books and supplies and a general shortage 
of teachers in rural areas prevented many children from attending 
school. There were significant differences among the various ethnic 
groups in the educational opportunities offered to boys and girls. 
Although the Government's policy is to inform ethnic groups on the 
benefits of education for all children, some ethnic groups did not 
consider education for girls either necessary or beneficial. While 
figures were not reliable, reported literacy rates for girls were 
approximately 10 percent lower than for boys in general. Although 
school enrollment rates for girls remained lower than for boys, gender 
parity has been increasing.
    The law prohibits violence against children, and violators were 
subject to stiff punishments. Reports of the physical abuse of children 
were rare.
    The law allowed marriage under the age of 18 in ``special and 
necessary cases,'' often cases of underage pregnancy, and a 
considerable percentage of women married before reaching the age of 18.
    The law does not contain penalties specifically for child 
prostitution, but the penalty for sex with a child (defined as under 15 
years of age, the age of consent) is one to five years' imprisonment 
and a fine of 500,000 to three million kip (approximately $60 to $360). 
The law does not include statutory rape as a crime distinct from sex 
with a child or rape of any person. Child pornography is not treated 
differently from pornography in general, for which the penalty is three 
months' to one year's imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 to 200,000 kip 
($6 to $24).
    A general increase in tourism in the country and a concomitant rise 
in child sex tourism in Southeast Asia in recent years attracted the 
attention of authorities, who sought to prevent child sex tourism from 
taking root. The Government continued efforts to reduce demand for 
commercial sex through periodic raids and training workshops. The 
Government and NGOs hosted seminars to train tourism-sector employees, 
including taxi drivers and tourism police. Many major international 
hotels in Vientiane and Luang Prabang displayed posters created by 
international NGOs warning against child sex tourism. In 2009 the 
Government introduced a hotline for reporting child sex tourism and 
placed ads in many tourist locations throughout the country to 
encourage people to report suspected cases of child sex tourism.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was no known Jewish community in the country, 
and there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at http://www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution provides citizens 
protection against discrimination but does not specify that these 
protections apply to persons with disabilities. The Ministry of Health 
has primary responsibility for protecting the rights of persons with 
disabilities. Because of the large number of disabilities resulting 
from unexploded ordnance accidents, the ministry works extensively on 
this issue, especially in coordination with the international NGO COPE. 
Regulations promulgated by the MLSW and the Lao National Commission for 
the Disabled protect such persons against discrimination; however, the 
regulations lack the force of law. The law does not mandate 
accessibility to buildings or government services for persons with 
disabilities, but the MLSW has established regulations regarding 
building access and built some sidewalk ramps in Vientiane. While there 
was some progress on accessibility, lack of resources for 
infrastructure slowed the retrofitting of most buildings. There were no 
reports of discrimination in the workplace.
    The Lao Disabled People's Association operated a care center for 
children with cerebral palsy; the cost was covered by foreign 
assistance. The Ministry of Health in conjunction with international 
NGOs operated the Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise to 
supply prosthetic limbs, correct club feet, and provide education to 
deaf and blind persons.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The law provides for equal 
rights for all minority citizens, and there is no legal discrimination 
against them; however, some societal discrimination persisted. 
Moreover, some critics charged that the Government's resettlement 
program for ending slash-and-burn agriculture and opium production 
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 the traditional 
livelihoods and community structures of these minority groups. 
International observers questioned whether the benefits promoted by the 
Government--access to markets, schools, and medical care for resettled 
persons--outweighed the negative impact on traditional cultural 
practices. Some minority groups not involved in resettlement, 
especially those in remote locations, faced difficulties, believing 
they had little voice in government decisions affecting their lands and 
the allocation of natural resources from their areas.
    Of the 49 official ethnic groups in the country, the Hmong are one 
of the largest and most prominent. There were a number of Hmong 
officials in the senior ranks of the Government and the LPRP, including 
one Politburo member and five members of the LPRP Central Committee. 
However, some Hmong believed their ethnic group could not coexist with 
ethnic Lao. This belief fanned separatist or irredentist beliefs among 
some Hmong. The Government focused limited assistance projects in Hmong 
areas to address regional and ethnic disparities in income, which 
helped ameliorate conditions in the poorest districts.
    Although there were no reports of attacks by the few remaining 
Hmong insurgent groups during the year, the Government leadership 
maintained its suspicion of Hmong political objectives. Although 
residual, small, scattered pockets of insurgents and their families 
remained in remote jungle areas, the Government reduced efforts from 
previous years to actively combat the insurgents.
    The Government continued to offer ``amnesty'' to insurgents who 
surrender, but it continued to deny international observers permission 
to visit the estimated more than 2,000 insurgents who have surrendered 
since 2005--other than a few families in Phalak village. Because of 
their past activities, amnestied insurgents continued to be the focus 
of official suspicion and scrutiny.
    The Government generally refused international community offers to 
assist surrendered insurgents directly but allowed some aid from the UN 
and international agencies as part of larger assistance programs.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There was no law prohibiting 
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Within lowland Lao 
society, despite wide and growing tolerance of homosexual practices, 
societal discrimination in employment and housing persisted, and there 
were no governmental efforts to address it. Reports indicated that 
lesbians faced greater stigma and discrimination than gay men.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There was no societal 
violence and no official discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS, 
but societal discrimination existed. The Government actively promoted 
tolerance of those with HIV/AIDS, and it conducted public-awareness 
campaigns to promote understanding toward such persons.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law does not allow workers to 
form and join independent unions of their choice; they may form unions 
without previous authorization only if they operate within the 
framework of the officially sanctioned Federation of Lao Trade Unions 
(FLTU), which in turn is controlled by the LPRP. In addition the law 
does not permit unions to conduct their activities without government 
interference and prohibits union membership for foreign workers. 
Strikes are not prohibited by law, but the Government's ban on 
subversive activities or destabilizing demonstrations and its failure 
to provide means to call a strike made strikes extremely unlikely, and 
none were reported during the year.
    According to the FLTU, there were 3,910 trade unions nationwide, 
including in most government offices. These included 16 provincial 
trade unions, one municipal trade union, 36 ministerial trade unions, 
and 2,772 permanent trade unions. Total FLTU membership was 155,000, 
approximately 5 percent of the total workforce. Most FLTU members 
worked in the public sector.
    The Government employed the majority of salaried workers. 
Subsistence farmers made up an estimated 80 percent of the work force.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--There is no 
right to organize and bargain collectively. The law 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 MLSW. 
The ministry generally did not enforce the law, especially in dealings 
with joint ventures in the private sector. Labor disputes reportedly 
were infrequent. According to labor activists, the FLTU needed 
government permission to enter factories and had to provide advance 
notice of such visits, rendering it powerless to protect workers who 
filed complaints.
    The Government set wages and salaries for government employees; 
management set wages and salaries for private business employees.
    The law stipulates that employers may not fire employees for 
conducting trade union activities, lodging complaints against employers 
about law implementation, or cooperating with officials on law 
implementation and labor disputes, and there were no reports of such 
cases. Workplace committees were used for resolving complaints, but 
there was no information on how effective these committees were in 
practice.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
the country's export processing zone.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor except in time of war or national disaster. 
However, some NGOs reported that Lao girls were subjected to conditions 
of forced labor within the country.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at http://www.state.gov/g/tipls/tiprptndex.htm.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--By 
law children under age 15 may not be recruited for employment except to 
work for their families, provided such work is not dangerous or 
difficult. The MoPS and the MoJ are responsible for enforcing these 
provisions, but enforcement was ineffective due to a lack of inspectors 
and other resources. Many children helped on family farms or in shops 
and other family businesses, but child labor was rare in industrial 
enterprises. Some garment factories reportedly employed a very small 
number of underage girls.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The MLSW sets the minimum wage 
but has no regular schedule or transparent process for doing so. In 
2009 the MLSW, in consultation with the FLTU and Lao Chamber of 
Commerce and Industry, set the daily minimum wage for the more than 
120,000 private-sector workers at 13,385 kip (approximately $1.60); the 
monthly minimum wage was 348,000 kip ($41). Additionally, employers 
were required to pay a 8,500 kip ($1) meal allowance per day. These 
wages were insufficient to provide a decent standard of living for a 
worker and family. The NA, in consultation with the Ministry of 
Finance, increased the minimum wage for civil servants and state 
enterprise employees to 405,000 kip ($47.80) per month in 2008. In 
addition to their minimum wage, civil servants often received housing 
subsidies and other government benefits. Some piecework employees, 
especially on construction sites, earned less than the minimum wage.
    The law provides for a workweek limited to 48 hours (36 hours for 
employment in dangerous activities) and at least one day of rest per 
week. Overtime may not exceed 30 hours per month, and each period of 
overtime may not exceed three hours. The overtime pay rate varies from 
150 to 300 percent of normal pay. The overtime law was not effectively 
enforced.
    The law provides for safe working conditions and higher 
compensation for dangerous work. In case of death or injury on the job, 
employers are responsible for compensating a worker or the worker's 
family. Employers generally fulfilled this requirement in the formal 
economic sector. The law also mandates extensive employer 
responsibility for those disabled at work, and this provision appeared 
effectively enforced. The MLSW is responsible for workplace 
inspections. Officials undertake unannounced inspections when notified 
of a violation of safe working standards. However, the MLSW lacked the 
personnel and budgetary resources to enforce the law effectively. The 
law 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, China, and Burma, and they were vulnerable 
to exploitation by employers. These immigrants primarily worked in 
construction, plantations, casinos, and service industries.

                               __________

                                MALAYSIA

    Malaysia is a federal constitutional monarchy with a population of 
approximately 28.3 million. It has a parliamentary system of government 
headed by a prime minister selected through periodic, multiparty 
elections. The United Malays National Organization (UMNO), together 
with a coalition of political parties known as the National Front (BN), 
has held power since independence in 1957. The most recent national 
elections, in March 2008, were conducted in a generally transparent 
manner and witnessed significant opposition gains. In April 2009 Najib 
Razak was sworn in as prime minister. Security forces reported to 
civilian authorities.
    Some obstacles prevented opposition parties from competing on equal 
terms with the ruling coalition. Other human rights problems included: 
some deaths occurred during police apprehensions and while in police 
custody; police abuse of detainees; overcrowded immigration detention 
centers (IDCs); arbitrary arrest and detention using the Internal 
Security Act (ISA) and three other statutes that allow detention 
without trial; and persistent questions about the impartiality and 
independence of the judiciary. The Government continued to pursue the 
prosecution of a prominent opposition leader on sodomy charges. The 
criminal and Sharia courts utilized caning as a form of punishment. The 
Government continued to restrict freedom of press, association, 
assembly, speech, and religion. Trafficking in persons remained a 
problem. Longstanding government policies gave preferences to ethnic 
Malays in many areas. Some employers exploited migrant workers and 
ethnic-Indian citizens through forced labor. Some child labor occurred 
in plantations.
                        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 
politically motivated killings by the Government or its agents; 
however, during the year local media reported that police killed 35 
persons while apprehending them, down from 108 such killings in 2009. 
State-influenced print media used a consistent narrative to describe 
these encounters--suspects stopped by police, tried to attack police; 
police killed suspect in self-defense; evidence of criminal activity 
found on suspect's body. Local human rights groups suggested this 
pattern was used to justify deaths, usually of ethnic minorities, in 
police custody.
    On April 9, police shot and killed two ethnic Indian brothers, R. 
Logeswaran and R. Satchithananthan. Police reportedly saw them engaging 
in suspicious activity and tried to stop their car. The police reported 
that the brothers attempted to hit police personnel with their car and 
then opened fire, forcing the police to return fire in self-defense. 
Police claimed to have found numerous weapons in the vehicle and that 
the brothers were responsible for several armed robberies. Indian 
rights groups were critical of the shootings as an example of police 
``shoot-to-kill'' policies. There was no known investigation into the 
matter.
    On April 26, police shot and killed Aminulrasyid Amzah, a 15-year-
old ethnic Malay boy they were attempting to stop and question for 
engaging in suspicious activity. Police alleged that after a high-speed 
chase, he placed his car into reverse and was attempting to run over 
the officers when they drew their weapons and fired the deadly shots. 
Condemnation of the shooting came from all parts of society. Senior 
government officials, including the prime minister, called for full 
police cooperation into the investigation. The killing reportedly led 
to a review of the police standard operating procedures relating to use 
of deadly force. On May 4, the Government created a special eight-
member panel to oversee the police investigation. On May 10, police 
Corporal Jenain Subi was charged for culpable homicide not amounting to 
murder for the fatal shooting. On September 3, the special panel found 
that the investigation was fair and transparent. The trial commenced on 
October 12 and was ongoing at year's end.
    On November 13, police shot and killed Muhammad Hanafi Omar, 22, 
Mohd Shamil Hafiz Shafie, 16, and Mohd Khairul Nizam Tuah, 20, after 
the three allegedly robbed a gas station in Selangor. According to 
police, the three were part of a criminal gang that had robbed three 
gas stations in the days leading up to the shootings. The police 
reportedly shot and killed them in self-defense after they tried to 
attack police with machetes. On November 17, local human rights 
nongovernmental organization (NGO) SUARAM (Voice of the Malaysian 
People) publicly questioned the police justification. On November 21, 
the families of the youths lodged a complaint against the police 
claiming that the shootings were tantamount to executions. There were 
no known further developments during the year.
    The trial of police constable Navindran Vivekanandan for causing 
grievous hurt in the January 2009 death of Kugan Ananthan, an ethnic 
Indian in police detention, continued at year's end. On August 14, 
Kugan's mother, N. Indra, petitioned the king to intervene in the 
criminal case, claiming that the evidence implicated additional 
individuals, although the Government only charged one officer.
    The inquest into the July 2009 death of Teoh Beng Hock, a political 
aide to a Selangor State legislative assemblyman, continued at year's 
end. On August 11, the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) attempted to 
introduce a purported suicide note. Critics raised concerns as to the 
reason for the delayed disclosure and questioned the note's 
authenticity. Teoh's family asserted that the note contained multiple 
discrepancies and did not match Teoh's handwriting.
    On October 25, the inquest into the July 2009 death in police 
custody of R. Gunasegaran concluded. The coroner found that the cause 
of death in Gunasegaran's case could not be conclusively proven.
    There were no known developments in the November 2009 police 
shooting of five ethnic Indian youths ages 17 to 24.
    The RM100 million (approximately $32 million) civil suit instituted 
by the father of 2006 murder victim, Altantuya Shaaribu, against the 
Government, political analyst Razak Baginda, and the two police 
officers convicted for the killing continued at year's end.
    On June 30, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered the Government and 
police to pay RM1.4 million ($451,600) to Suzana Mohamad Aris, whose 
husband, Mohamad Anuar Sharip, allegedly was beaten to death while in 
police custody in 1999. Judge Lee Swee Seng said, ``Let the message go 
forth from this place that any more deaths in police custody is one too 
many. The basic human right of a detainee to seek medical treatment 
should be immediately attended to. There should be no more loss of life 
in police custody as every life is precious.''

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--No law specifically prohibits torture; however, laws that 
prohibit ``committing grievous hurt'' encompass torture. Although there 
were some allegations of beatings and mistreatment by the 
nonprofessional People's Volunteer Corps (RELA) and immigration 
officials in IDCs, the number of such allegations was greatly reduced. 
IDCs continued to be administered by the Immigration Department and 
supplemented by RELA.
    In January the Government charged N. Tharmendran, a former Royal 
Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) sergeant, for the theft of two fighter-jet 
engines from the RMAF. On June 17, N. Nagarajah filed a police report 
on behalf of his son, N. Tharmendran, alleging that he was tortured 
into confessing to the crime while in military detention. Tharmendran 
claimed military intelligence officials detained and tortured him for 
three weeks. He further alleged that army officers forced him to wear a 
helmet while they used golf clubs and cricket bats to hit his head; 
that he was stripped to his underwear and forced to stand on a block of 
ice; threatened with death; and deprived of sleep. Tharmendran filed a 
petition to cross-examine his alleged attackers during his criminal 
case. Both the criminal case against Tharmendran and follow-up to his 
police report continued at year's end.
    There were no developments in the January 2009 case alleging that 
seven police officers committed ``criminal intimidation'' and 
``voluntarily caused hurt to extort confession'' against B. Prabakar.
    On March 12, SUARAM issued a press statement saying four youths 
ages 15 to 20, detained for being in possession of a stolen bicycle, 
were ``tortured physically and mentally by police during the entire 
duration of their detention.''
    There were no known developments during the year concerning the 
2008 beating of a Pakistani detainee by immigration officials at 
Lenggeng IDC.
    In the past, persons detained under the ISA commonly suffered 
beatings, physical and mental abuse, and other mistreatment. For 
example according to Amnesty International, Sanjeev Kumar, detained 
under the ISA in 2007, at the time of his release in 2008 was paralyzed 
and mentally unstable as a result of beatings. However, local NGOs 
report that treatment of detainees under the ISA has improved in recent 
years, and there were no reports of mistreatment during the year.
    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 law 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. The caning was carried out with a half-inch-thick wooden cane 
that could cause welts and scarring. The law exempts men older than 50 
and all women from caning. Male children 10 years of age and older may 
be given up to 10 strokes of a ``light cane.''
    Some states' Sharia laws also prescribe caning. Although federal 
law exempts all women from caning, there are no exemptions for women 
under Sharia law and the national courts have not resolved issues 
involving conflicts between the constitution, the penal code, and 
Sharia law. In Sharia caning, a smaller cane is used, and the caning 
official cannot lift the cane above the shoulder, thus reducing the 
impact. Additionally, the subject is fully covered with a robe so that 
the cane will not touch any part of the flesh. Local Islamic officials 
claimed that the idea is not to injure but to make offenders ashamed of 
their sin so that they will repent and not repeat the offense.
    On February 17, the Home Ministry announced that three Muslim women 
and four Muslim men found guilty of illicit sex under Sharia law had 
been caned on February 9. The canings of the women took place in a 
female prison in Selangor and were administered by government 
officials. These were the first reported cases of women being caned in 
the country. Local NGOs condemned the punishments. The Malaysian Bar 
Council in a press release observed that it was shocking that the 
Government made the announcement only after the punishment had been 
carried out since the constitution forbids corporal punishment of 
women. In an earlier case in July 2009, the Kuantan Sharia High Court 
(Pahang State) sentenced Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno to a RM5,000 
(approximately $1,400) fine and six strokes of a cane for consuming 
alcohol at a hotel in Pahang State in 2008. Kartika was the first 
Muslim woman sentenced to caning, but on April 1, the Sultan of Pahang 
commuted her caning sentence and reduced the penalty to 20 days of 
community service at a child daycare center.
    During the year Sharia courts sentenced at least five persons to 
caning for alcohol offenses. In 2009 Sharia courts sentenced persons to 
caning for alcohol offenses and for khalwat (close proximity by 
unmarried persons of the opposite sex).

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison overcrowding, 
particularly in facilities near major cities, remained a serious 
problem. In December 2009 the Home Ministry reported that the country's 
31 prisons held 32,130prisoners in locations designed to hold 32,600. 
According to the International Centre for Prison Studies, in mid 2008, 
women made up 8.3 percent of the total prison population. Local and 
international NGOs estimated most of the country's 16 IDCs were at or 
beyond capacity, with some detainees held for a year or more.
    NGOs and international organizations involved with migrant workers 
and refugees made credible allegations of overcrowding, inadequate 
food, lack of regular access to clean water, poor medical care, poor 
sanitation, and lack of bedding in IDCs. An NGO with access to the IDCs 
claimed that overcrowding, deficient sanitation, and lack of medical 
screening and treatment facilitated the spread of disease. During the 
year the Government allowed local NGOs with mobile medical clinics into 
the IDCs. On August 24, the Ministry of Home Affairs' secretary general 
publicly acknowledged that security measures and living conditions at 
all the IDCs were seriously deficient and that none met international 
standards. He added that a five-agency committee had been set up to 
tackle the problem at IDCs and to upgrade IDC standard operating 
procedures.
    In 2008 the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) identified 
poor medical care as the principal reason why 1,300 detainees had died 
over the previous six years in IDCs, prisons, and jails. In October 
2009, a SUHAKAM commissioner noted that most of the deaths reportedly 
were due to communicable diseases that thrive in unsanitary and 
overcrowded detention facilities. The commissioner also recommended 
that the IDCs observe better health standards to prevent the spread of 
disease.
    Prisoners and detainees are allowed visitors during specified 
visiting hours, and, provided the religious practices were not derived 
from one of the 56 sects of Islam the Government considers ``deviant'' 
and a threat to national security, there were no issues with religious 
observance. The Prisons Act does not provide a process for prisoners to 
submit complaints to judicial authorities. It does allow judges to 
visit prisons to examine conditions and ask prisoners and prison 
officials about prison conditions. According to local NGOs, because 
prison authorities reportedly monitor all incoming and outgoing 
materials, complaints normally would not be sent through prison 
authorities. When a lawyer is appointed to investigate a claim such 
documents could be treated as private and confidential under attorney-
client privilege.
    The authorities generally did not permit NGOs and the media to 
monitor prison conditions. The Government approved visits by the 
International Committee of the Red Cross and SUHAKAM officials on a 
case-by-case basis. SUHAKAM serves as the Government's de facto 
ombudsman, investigating human rights abuses, including those alleged 
to have taken place within the prison system.
    The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) had access to 
registered refugees and asylum seekers detained in IDCs and prisons. 
Historically, prison and IDC officials denied the UNHCR access to 
unregistered asylum seekers in detention; however, since April 2009, 
IDCs scheduled UNHCR visits to interview unregistered potential 
refugees. Through these interviews, the UNHCR secured the release of 
2,885 refugees from IDCs during the year.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution stipulates that 
no person may be incarcerated unless in accordance with the law. 
However, the law allows investigative detention to prevent a criminal 
suspect from fleeing or destroying evidence while police conduct an 
investigation. Four laws, most notably the ISA, also permit preventive 
detention to incarcerate an individual suspected of criminal activity 
or to prevent a person from committing a future crime. Such laws 
severely restrict, and in some cases eliminate, access to timely legal 
representation and a fair public trial.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The approximately 
102,000-member Royal Malaysia Police (RMP) force is under the command 
of the inspector general of police (IGP), who reports to the home 
affairs minister. The IGP is responsible for organizing and 
administering the police force. The Department of Islamic Development 
Malaysia (JAKIM) enforces Sharia law. JAKIM sometimes receives 
assistance from the RMP when conducting religious raids. The Government 
has some mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse and corruption. 
There were NGO and media reports that security forces acted with 
impunity during the year.
    Police officers are subject to trial by the civil courts. Police 
representatives reported that there were disciplinary actions against 
police officers during the year. Punishments included suspension, 
dismissal, and demotion.
    The Government continued to focus police reform efforts on 
improving salaries, quarters, and general living conditions of police 
officers. However, the status of other reforms, including the formation 
of an independent police complaints and misconduct commission, remained 
pending at year's end. NGOs complained that the Government's reform 
efforts lacked transparency.
    The police training center continued to include human rights 
awareness training in its courses. SUHAKAM conducted human rights 
training for police once during the year.
    Unlike in previous years, security forces acted to prevent or 
respond to some incidents of societal violence. Specifically, when 
places of worship were attacked in January, in response to a high 
court's ruling that non-Muslims could use the word ``Allah'' to 
describe God in Malay-language publications, government security forces 
reacted quickly to maintain control over the situation and prevent it 
from escalating.
    On September 28, 50 protesters from the Malay rights group Perkasa 
gathered outside the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall to 
protest against controversial rapper Wee Meng Chee (also known as 
Namewee) as he prepared to speak at a youth summit. The crowd burned 
enlarged photos of Namewee and attempted to enter the hall but were 
stopped by antiriot police.
    In recent years, the Home Ministry relied primarily upon RELA to 
conduct raids and detain suspected illegal migrants. However, in 2009 
the Government reduced RELA involvement and authority in immigration 
matters and by August 2009, had removed all RELA personnel from the 
IDCs. In 2009 the Government announced that RELA members would assist 
the police in combating crime. However, after the August 1 escape of 20 
Afghan nationals from an IDC near Kuala Lumpur International Airport, 
Deputy Home Minister Lee Chee Leong announced that security for the 
IDCs would be transferred from immigration authorities to the Prison 
Department, with RELA providing perimeter security. NGOs and 
organizations dealing with refugee affairs reported that RELA continued 
to enforce immigration laws.
    In December RELA membership reached 2,042,215, having almost 
doubled since 2009. The Government took steps to increase RELA's 
overall role, specifically in assisting police with criminal matters. 
NGOs remained concerned that inadequate training left RELA members ill 
equipped to perform their duties. On December 29, Koh Tsu Koon, 
minister in the Prime Minister's Department, said that due to the 
impossibility of stationing police officers on every corner, thousands 
of RELA members were deployed to assist police in the patrolling of 
high-crime areas. Reported abuses by RELA members included extortion, 
theft, pilfering items from homes, and pillaging refugee settlements. 
However, such reports were fewer than in previous years.
    The Government did not release information on how it investigated 
complaints against RELA members or how it administered disciplinary 
action. The Public Protection Authorities Act of 1948 and a 2005 
Amendment to Essential Regulations give RELA members legal immunity for 
official acts committed in good faith.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
permits police to arrest individuals for some offenses without a 
warrant and hold suspects for 24 hours without charge. A magistrate may 
extend this initial detention period for up to two weeks. Although 
police generally observed these provisions, a 2005 police commission 
report noted that police sometimes released suspects and then quickly 
rearrested them and held them in investigative custody. Local NGOs 
asserted that this practice continued. The law gives an arrested 
individual the right to be informed of the grounds for his arrest by 
the police officer making the arrest. Police must inform detainees that 
they are allowed to contact family members and consult a lawyer of 
their choice.
    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, and judicial decisions generally upheld the practice. 
The 2005 police commission report stated that an ``arrest first, 
investigate later'' mentality pervaded some elements of the police 
force and recommended that detention procedures be reviewed to prevent 
abuse. On some occasions law enforcement agencies did not promptly 
allow access to family members.
    The law allows the detention of a person whose testimony as a 
material witness is necessary in a criminal case if that person is 
likely to flee. Bail is usually available for those accused of crimes 
not punishable by life imprisonment or death. The amount and 
availability of bail is determined at the judge's discretion. When bail 
is granted, accused persons usually must surrender their passports to 
the court.
    Crowded and understaffed courts often resulted in lengthy pretrial 
detention, sometimes lasting several years. In December 2009 Chief 
Justice Zaki Azmi stated there were 900,000 cases pending in the lower 
courts and 91,000 in the higher courts. On September 25, the chief 
justice of the federal court announced the establishment of two 
additional civil high courts to ease the backlog in commercial and 
civil high court cases. In October Zaki announced there were 43,403 
pending civil cases at the high court, a 53.5 per cent reduction 
compared with 93,523 cases in 2008. There are 3,459 pending criminal 
cases at the High Court, a 23.8 per cent reduction compared with 4,544 
cases in 2008. On December 14, Zaki announced that the Government would 
allow plea bargaining as a means of reducing case backlogs.
    Four preventive detention laws permit the Government to detain 
suspects without normal judicial review or filing formal charges: the 
ISA, the Emergency (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) Ordinance, 
the Dangerous Drugs (Special Preventive Measures) Act, and the 
Restricted Residence Act.
    The ISA empowers police to arrest without a warrant and hold for up 
to 60 days any person who acts ``in a manner prejudicial to the 
national security or economic life of Malaysia.'' During the initial 60 
day detention period in special detention centers, the ISA allows for 
the denial of legal representation and does not require that the case 
be brought before a court. The home minister may authorize further 
detention for up to two years, with an unlimited number of two-year 
extensions to follow. In practice, the Government infrequently 
authorized ISA detention beyond two two-year terms. Some of those 
released before the end of their detention period were subject to 
``imposed restricted conditions.'' These conditions limit freedom of 
speech, association, and travel inside and outside the country.
    Even when there are no formal charges, the ISA requires that 
authorities inform detainees of the accusations against them and permit 
them to appeal to a nonjudicial advisory board for review every six 
months. However, advisory board decisions and recommendations are not 
binding on the home minister, not made public, and often not shown to 
the detainee.
    The Bar Council and several human rights NGOs have called for the 
repeal of the ISA, which does not allow judicial review of ISA 
decisions in any court, except for issues of compliance with procedural 
requirements. The UN Human Rights Council's Working Group on Arbitrary 
Detention visited the country June 7-18 and at the conclusion of its 
visit recommended that the ISA (and the other preventive detention 
laws) be repealed or, if amended, brought into conformity with the 
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
    In April 2009, on his first day in office, Prime Minister Najib 
announced that his office would conduct a comprehensive review of the 
ISA. Since the announcement, the Home Affairs Ministry has held closed 
meetings with numerous groups, including political parties and NGOs, to 
review the act. Little information has been made publicly available 
regarding these meetings.
    In 2009 the Government released 31 ISA detainees, including five 
detained Hindu Rights Action Force leaders and five alleged Jemaah 
Islamiya (JI) terrorist organization members.
    On January 27, the Home Minister confirmed that on January 21, 
authorities detained 10 persons--nine foreigners and one citizen--under 
the ISA for alleged links with international terrorist organizations. 
The nine foreign-born arrestees from Yemen, Nigeria, Jordan, and Syria 
reportedly were deported in March. The Government placed the one 
Malaysian citizen, Azzahari Murad, under the provisions of the 
Restrictive Residence Act on March 11.
    On July 15, authorities detained Mohamad Fadzullah Abdul Razak for 
allegedly recruiting undergraduate students to join JI. At year's end 
he remained in custody under the ISA.
    On August 11, authorities detained three persons, citizens Sheikh 
Abdullah Sheikh Junaid, and Samsul Hamidi, and Indonesian 
MustawanAhbab, for alleged terrorist links. The Government released 
Sheikh Abdullah Sheikh Junaid and Samsul Hamidi within 60 days of their 
arrest.
    On September 2, the Home Ministry released Shamsuddin Sulaiman, an 
alleged member of JI, after eight years in detention. On September 24, 
the Home Ministry deported and turned over to Singaporean authorities 
Mas Selamat Kastari, alleged leader of the Singapore JI network.
    According to local NGOs, during the year authorities detained 25 
persons under the ISA and released 15 persons. At year's end there were 
25 persons reportedly in detention under the ISA, including those who 
had been detained in previous years. Reasons for the detentions were 
links to terror organizations, document forgery, and involvement in 
human smuggling syndicates.
    On March 25, the Court of Appeals overturned the Kuala Lumpur High 
Court's 2007 award of RM2.5 million (approximately $715,000) to former 
ISA detainee Abdul Malek Hussin for his arrest and alleged torture 
under the ISA in 1998. The Court of Appeals ruled that his detention 
under the ISA was legal and that he was not entitled to the monetary 
award. On August 12, the Federal Court upheld the ruling.
    Under the Emergency Ordinance (EO), the home minister may issue a 
detention order for up to two years against a person if he deems it 
necessary for the protection of public order, ``the suppression of 
violence, or the prevention of crimes involving violence.'' A local NGO 
reported that in 2009, the Government detained 548 persons under the 
EO. According to statistics the Home Ministry presented to Parliament 
in January, 3,701 individuals were detained under the EO and other 
preventative measures between 2000 and 2009. The authorities used the 
EO on suspected organized-crime figures.
    In December 2009 authorities reportedly arrested four youths 
between the ages of 15 and 20--S. Gunaseelan, M. Puspanathan, P.S. 
Jagendran, and V. Rajkumar--for being in possession of a stolen 
bicycle. The four were reportedly detained for 60 days under the EO. On 
March 11, the home minister ordered the detention of the four under the 
Restricted Residence Act. On March 12, SUARAM issued a press statement 
saying the four were ``tortured physically and mentally by police 
during the entire duration of their detention'' under the EO. On 
December 20, the Government allowed Jagandran to return to his 
hometown, but his movement is restricted until March 2012, under the 
provisions of the EO.
    Provisions of the Dangerous Drugs Act give the Government specific 
power to detain suspected drug traffickers without trial for up to 39 
days before the home affairs minister must issue a detention order. 
Once the Home Affairs Ministry issues the detention order, the detainee 
is entitled to a hearing before a court, which has the authority to 
order the detainee's release. Authorities may hold suspects without 
charge for successive two-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. Police frequently detained suspected 
narcotics traffickers under this act after courts acquitted them of 
formal charges. According to the National Antidrug Agency, the 
Government detained 1,176 persons under the preventive detention 
provisions of the act during the first 11 months of 2009, compared with 
1,115 persons during all of 2008.
    The Restricted Residence Act allows the home affairs minister to 
place individuals under restricted residence away from their homes. 
These persons may not leave the residential district assigned to them, 
and they must present themselves to police on a daily basis. As under 
the ISA, authorities may renew the term of restricted residence every 
two years. The minister 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.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Three constitutional articles 
provide the basis for an independent judiciary; however, other 
constitutional provisions, legislation restricting judicial review, and 
additional factors limited judicial independence and strengthened 
executive influence over the judiciary.
    Members of the bar, NGO representatives, and other observers 
expressed serious concern about significant limitations on judicial 
independence, citing a number of high-profile instances of arbitrary 
verdicts, selective prosecution, and preferential treatment of some 
litigants and lawyers.
    In 2008 a royal commission, which had been formed to investigate 
the 2002 videotape of a purported conversation in which a senior 
lawyer, V.K. Lingam, and a senior judge, Ahmad Fairuz Abdul Halim, 
discussed arrangements for assigning cases to ``friendly'' judges, 
released its findings and determined that former prime minister 
Mahathir, UMNO Secretary General Tengku Adnan, and former chief justice 
Eusoff Chin among others were involved in manipulating judicial 
appointments and improperly influenced the promotion of judges. In June 
2009 in a written reply to opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) 
parliamentarian Karpal Singh's question on why there was no follow-up 
on the commission's findings, a minister in the Prime Minister's 
Department explained that the cases were closed for lack of evidence. 
On August 23, Lingam, along with Eusoff Chin and Ahmad Fairuz appealed 
the high court's 2008 decision denying them permission to appeal the 
findings of the royal commission. On August 24, the Court of Appeal 
granted permission for the three to challenge the findings of the royal 
commission and directed the high court to hear the case. On September 
23, the AGC appealed the Court of Appeal's decision to the Federal 
Court. On September 30, the high court announced that it would hear the 
case on May 16, 2011.
    In 2008 authorities arrested parliamentary opposition leader Anwar 
Ibrahim for alleged consensual sodomy with a former aide. Prosecutors 
charged Anwar in court under the penal code for ``consensual carnal 
intercourse against the order of nature,'' which carries a potential 
sentence of 20 years in jail. The court released Anwar on bail.
    In August 2009 Anwar filed an application for judicial review to 
disqualify the Government's prosecution team on grounds of alleged 
bias, conflict of interest, and prosecutorial misconduct. After months 
of delay while the trial court ruled on motions ranging from requests 
for evidence to outright dismissal, Anwar's trial began on February 2, 
with his former aide and alleged victim, Saiful Bukhari, taking the 
stand as the prosecution's first witness. Since the beginning of the 
trial, there have been six administrative delays due to appeals. The 
trial was scheduled to resume January 21, 2011. Prosecution for 
consensual sodomy between two adults is extremely rare in Malaysian 
jurisprudence.

    Trial Procedures.--English common law is the basis for the secular 
legal system. The constitution states that all persons are equal before 
the law and entitled to equal protection of the law. Trials are public, 
although judges may order restrictions on press coverage. Juries are 
not used. Defendants have the right to counsel at public expense if 
requested by an accused individual facing serious criminal charges. 
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. Defendants confronted witnesses against them and 
presented witnesses and evidence on their behalf, although judges 
sometimes disallowed witness testimony. Government-held evidence was 
not consistently made available. Attorneys are required to apply for a 
court order to obtain documents covered under the Official Secrets Act. 
Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty and may appeal 
court decisions to higher courts. The law limits a defendant's right to 
appeal in some circumstances. The Government stated that the limits 
expedite the hearing of cases in the upper courts, but the Bar Council 
declared that they impose excessive restrictions on appeals.
    In firearm and certain national security cases, a lower standard 
for accepting self-incriminating statements by defendants as evidence 
is in effect. Regulations also allow the authorities to hold an accused 
for an unspecified time before making formal charges.
    In criminal cases, police sometimes used tactics that impaired a 
defendant's due process rights. For example, police used raids and 
document seizures to harass defendants.
    Sharia courts do not give equal weight to the testimony of women. 
Many NGOs complained that women did not receive fair treatment from 
Sharia courts, especially in matters of divorce and child custody.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The structure of the civil 
judiciary mirrors that of the criminal courts. A large case backlog 
often resulted in delayed provision of court-ordered relief for civil 
plaintiffs. The courts have encouraged the use of mediation and 
arbitration to speed settlements. According to judicial sources, 
mediation was used in 60 percent of road accident cases and 
approximately 40 percent of other civil cases. The Government and 
government officials can be sued in court for alleged violations of 
human rights.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--Various laws prohibit arbitrary interference with 
privacy rights; however, authorities infringed on citizens' privacy 
rights in some cases. Provisions in the security legislation allow 
police to enter and search without a warrant the homes of persons 
suspected of threatening national security. Police also may confiscate 
evidence under these provisions. Police used this legal authority to 
search homes and offices; seize computers, books, and papers; monitor 
conversations; and take persons into custody without a warrant. The 
Government monitored e mails sent to Internet blog sites and threatened 
to detain anyone sending content over the Internet that the Government 
deemed threatening to public order or security.
    JAKIM guidelines authorize JAKIM officials to enter private 
premises without a warrant if they deem swift action necessary to 
conduct raids on premises where they suspect Muslims are engaged in 
offenses such as gambling, consumption of alcohol, and sexual relations 
outside marriage.
    On January 4, local news outlets reported that the Selangor Islamic 
Religious Department (JAIS) conducted raids at budget hotels in 
Selangor in conjunction with the New Year's Eve celebration and 
arrested 52 unmarried couples in hotels for violating khalwat. On April 
25, local newspapers reported that a 21-year-old college student fell 
to his death from the fifth floor of an apartment building when he 
reportedly tried to escape a raid by JAIS agents searching for khalwat 
violators.
    In corruption investigations, after a senior police official 
involved in the investigation submits a written application, the law 
empowers a deputy public prosecutor to authorize interception of any 
messages sent or received by a suspect. Information obtained in this 
way is admissible as evidence in a corruption trial. Security forces 
have broad authority to install surreptitiously surveillance devices on 
private property. In addition, public prosecutors may authorize police 
to intercept postal and telecommunications messages if a prosecutor 
judges these likely to contain information regarding a terrorist 
offense. Intercepted communications from such efforts are admissible in 
court.
    The law permits the Home Ministry to place criminal suspects under 
restricted residence in remote districts away from their homes for two 
years.
    The Government bans membership in unregistered political parties 
and organizations.
    Certain religious issues posed significant obstacles to marriage 
between Muslims and adherents of other religions. The Government does 
not recognize marriages between Muslims and non-Muslims.
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 expression and intimidated journalists into 
practicing self-censorship. According to officials of the Home and 
Information Ministries, they imposed restrictions on the media to 
protect national security, public order, and friendly relations with 
other countries.
    The law provides that legislation ``in the interest of security 
(or) public order'' may restrict freedom of speech. For example, the 
Sedition Act prohibits public comment on issues defined as sensitive, 
such as racial and religious matters. The Government used the ISA, the 
Sedition Act, the Official Secrets Act, the Printing Presses and 
Publications Act, criminal defamation laws, and other laws to restrict 
or intimidate political speech. Nevertheless, individuals frequently 
criticized the Government publicly or privately. However, on some 
occasions the Government retaliated against those who criticized it.
    The election law makes it an offense for a candidate to ``promote 
feelings of ill will, discontent, or hostility.'' Violators could be 
disqualified from running for office.
    On August 18, popular Chinese-language radio station 98.8 
terminated the employment of a Chinese-speaking ethnic-Malay announcer, 
Jamaluddin Ibrahim, reportedly in response to a letter from the 
Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) stating that 
Jamaluddin's comments on race relations negatively influenced the 
security of the country and were unacceptable.
    On June 12, the High Court acquitted opposition DAP parliamentarian 
Karpal Singh of charges under the Sedition Act for comments at a 
February 2009 media conference that the sultan of Perak could be sued 
for his role in the removal of a state's chief minister.
    On July 1, the Home Ministry failed to renew the annual publishing 
permit of People's Justice Party of Malaysia (PKR) newspaper Suara 
Keadilan after it expired on June 30. Anwar Ibrahim was the de facto 
leader of PKR. Also in July the Home Ministry refused to renew the 
permits of two other opposition political party newspapers--the Islamic 
Party of Malaysia's (PAS) Harakah, which expired on July 7, and the 
DAP's Rocket, which expired on June 30. Both parties appealed the Home 
Ministry's decision. On July 15, the Home Ministry approved Harakah's 
permit with conditions that the newspaper be sold only to members and 
at the party's headquarters and offices. On August 18, the Home 
Ministry renewed the permit of the Rocket and imposed the same 
conditions.
    Parties in the ruling coalition owned or controlled a majority of 
shares in two of the three major English and all Malay daily 
newspapers. Businesspersons well connected to the Government and ruling 
parties owned the third major English-language newspaper and all four 
major Chinese-language newspapers.
    Journalists were subject to harassment and intimidation due to 
their reporting. On February 19, a journalist for the Government-
influenced daily, The Star, P. Gunasegaran, wrote an article titled 
``Persuasion, not Compulsion'' in which he questioned whether the 
detention and caning of three Muslim women for having illicit sex was 
an appropriate punishment. On February 22, the conservative Muslim NGO 
Rakyat Islam Prihatin and several others including the pro-Malay-rights 
group Perkasa lodged police reports demanding that the Government 
revoke The Star's printing permit to protest the article. The NGOs 
claimed the article insulted Islam and demanded both an apology and 
that Gunasegaran be fired. On February 23, the Home Ministry issued a 
show-cause letter against the publication. On February 24, The Star 
issued an apology in response.
    On September 22, police questioned member of parliament and 
daughter of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, Nurul Izzah, for sedition, 
following the two-part article she authored, entitled ``Malaysia or 
Malaysaja'' (Malaysia or Malay Only) for the Web site Malaysian Insider 
on August 31. In the article Nurul argued that the constitution refers 
to the ``special position'' of the Malays and other bumiputera (Malays 
and other indigenous persons, literally ``sons of the soil''), but not 
to any inalienable rights. Nurul also invited Ibrahim Ali, president of 
the Malay rights NGO Perkasa, to debate. On September 2, Ibrahim Ali 
lodged a police report against Nurul over the article, accusing her of 
questioning the constitution. On September 22, the police questioned 
Nurul Izzah. There were no further developments during the year.
    On September 29, DAP member of Parliament Tony Pua was questioned 
by police for sedition for suggesting the abolishment of discounts for 
luxury residential properties for bumiputera and channeling those 
benefits to the poor instead. His suggestion was published in the local 
daily Utusan Malaysia on July 27, which resulted in numerous police 
reports filed against Pua for questioning the rights of ethnic Malays. 
No further information regarding the case was available.
    Unlike in past years, there were no instances of journalists being 
subject to arrest.
    Criminal defamation is punishable by a maximum of two years in 
jail, a fine, or both. This, along with the Government power over 
annual license renewal and other policies, inhibited independent or 
investigative journalism and resulted in extensive self-censorship. 
Nonetheless, the English-, Malay-, and Chinese-language press sometimes 
provided alternative views on sensitive issues, as did online media and 
bloggers.
    The Government continued to censor the media by controlling news 
content, requiring the annual renewal of publishing permits, and 
limiting circulation to an organization's members only. Printers often 
were reluctant to print publications that were critical of the 
Government for fear of reprisal. However, publications of opposition 
parties, social action groups, unions, Internet news sites, and other 
private groups actively covered opposition parties and frequently 
printed views critical of government policies.
    The Government directly and indirectly censored the media by using 
the Printing Presses and Publications Act, which requires domestic and 
foreign publications to apply annually to the Government for a permit, 
making publication of ``malicious news'' a punishable offense and 
empowering the home affairs minister to ban or restrict publications 
believed to threaten public order, morality, or national security. It 
also prohibits court challenges to suspension or revocation of 
publication permits. According to the Government, these provisions 
ensured that the media did not disseminate ``distorted news'' and were 
necessary to preserve harmony and promote peaceful coexistence in a 
multiracial country. During the year the ministry continued to review, 
censor, and confiscate many foreign publications.
    During the year the Home Ministry banned at least 25 books that 
could ``jeopardize public order'' or were obscene. The books banned 
include a Tamil-language book, Sex Exercise by Tamilvanan, and a Malay 
book, Between Love and Sin by Fahmi Ismail. Home Ministry officials 
added that individuals involved in the printing, importing, publishing, 
selling, and distributing of these banned titles could be charged under 
the Printing, Presses, and Publishing Act of 1984, which carries a jail 
term of up to three years and a fine up to RM20,000 (approximately 
$5,700).
    In June the Government banned the book Perak Darul Kartun (Perak 
Land of Cartoons) and a magazine of political cartoons, Issues in 
Cartoons. Home Ministry Secretary General Mahmood Adam said the 
Government banned the publications because their contents could 
influence people to revolt against the leaders and government policies.
    On June 24, the Home Ministry also banned a book, 1Funny Malaysia, 
by cartoonist Zulkifly Anwar Ulhaque (also known as Zunar) and 
published by Kini Books, which is owned by Internet news portal 
Malaysiakini. Mahmood Adam said the book's contents were deemed 
unsuitable and detrimental to public order. On September 24, police 
officials arrested Zunar for sedition just hours before the launch of 
his book, Cartoon-o-phobia. The Government confiscated 66 copies of the 
book. Zunar was released on bail September 25 and was ordered to report 
to police on October 7. On October 8, the high court allowed Zunar to 
file a challenge to the book ban. A hearing was scheduled for March 10, 
2011.
    On August 19, Home Ministry enforcement officers seized copies of 
political books, Body 2 Body and The March to Putrajaya, from 
Kinokuniya, an international bookstore in Kuala Lumpur. The officers 
left a seizure notice with the store's employees. On September 30, the 
Home Ministry banned the books for containing ``baseless accusations 
against national leaders and inciting public hatred and anger against 
the federal constitution.'' On October 4, Kim Quek, the author of March 
to Putrajaya, made the book available on the Internet free of charge. 
On December 10, Kim Quek filed a lawsuit against the home minister, the 
police, and the Government alleging unlawful seizure of the books. The 
high court judge scheduled a hearing for January 10, 2011.
    On January 25, the High Court of Kuala Lumpur lifted as 
unconstitutional the ban imposed in 2008 against the book Muslim Women 
and the Challenge of Islamic Extremism, by Norani Othman, cofounder of 
the NGO Sisters in Islam (SIS).
    On March 8 and 11, the Home Ministry banned 13 Malay-language, 
three Tamil-language, and five Chinese-language books claiming the 
books were immoral and unsuitable for public reading.
    Radio and television stations were as restricted as the print media 
and were predominantly supportive of the Government. News of the 
opposition was tightly restricted and reported in a biased fashion. 
During the 13 by-elections held since the March 2008 national 
elections, the mainstream media provided minimal coverage of opposition 
candidates, intensely negative reporting about their parties' senior 
figures, and extensive reporting on the ruling party candidates.
    On April 20, Joshua Wong Ngee Chong, producer of NTV7's Chinese-
language talk show ``Editor's Time,'' resigned to protest self-
censorship by the private television channel in the face of alleged 
pressure from the prime minister's wife, Rosmah Mansor. According to 
Wong, Rosmah forwarded text messages to NTV7 senior management calling 
episodes of some of its talk shows racist. The episodes in question 
featured debates between politicians from the ruling coalition Barisan 
Nasional and the opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) as well as 
independent commentators. NTV7 subsequently did not report on the April 
25 Hulu Selangor parliamentary by-election or political issues in 
general; nor did it invite opposition politicians as guests. NTV7 
subsequently refused to air a documentary on the Hulu Selangor by-
election.
    On April 28, the director general of state-owned Radio Television 
Malaysia, Ibrahim Yahya, allegedly ordered a Chinese-language 
documentary series Galeri Mandarin Nasional taken off the air after 
only two episodes. The 10-episode series depicted the plight of more 
than 10,000 natives of Belaga, Sarawak, after their forced relocation 
to Sungai Asap and Sungai Koyan in 1998 due to the construction of 
Bakun Dam. The documentary producer reportedly said that his superior 
claimed that some ``sensitive elements'' in the documentary could be 
harmful to the Sibu parliamentary by-election that was to be held on 
May 16 and the upcoming Sarawak State election.
    Television stations censored programming in line with government 
guidelines. The Government banned some foreign newspapers and magazines 
and occasionally censored foreign magazines or newspapers, most often 
for sexual content. The Government maintained a ``blacklist'' of local 
and foreign performers, politicians, and religious leaders who were not 
allowed to appear on television or broadcast on radio.
    The Government generally restricted remarks or publications, 
including books, that it judged might incite racial or religious 
disharmony.

    Internet Freedom.--Internet access was widely available, except in 
East Malaysia, where the Internet was often not available beyond urban 
centers. According to International Telecommunication Union statistics 
for 2009, approximately 65 percent of the country's inhabitants used 
the Internet.
    On March 1, Information, Communication and Culture Minister Rais 
Yatim said the Government would not impose any restrictions on the 
Internet, noting that the Government would not resort to measures such 
as censoring software to monitor all personal computers. However, on 
September 4, the Home Ministry deputy secretary general for security, 
Abdul Rahim Mohamad Radzi, announced the establishment of a taskforce 
to monitor the Internet for blog postings deemed harmful to national 
unity and to take action against those trying to stoke racial tensions. 
The taskforce involved police, Internet regulators, the Ministry of 
Information, and the Attorney General's Chambers. The Government 
monitored e mails sent to Internet blog sites and threatened to detain 
anyone sending content over the Internet that the Government deemed 
threatening to public order or security. On September 13, Rais Yatim 
mentioned the formation of a special taskforce to investigate 
complaints about possible threats to national security and unity. On 
September 15, the MCMC warned Internet operators to avoid offensive, 
indecent, or sensitive matters such as religion and race.
    Criminal defamation and preventive detention laws generated some 
self-censorship from local Internet content sources such as bloggers, 
Internet news providers, and NGO activists.
    On September 2, the Petaling Jaya Sessions court charged blogger 
Irwan Abdul Rahman under the Communication and Multimedia Act for 
``creating and spreading lies with the malicious intent to hurt 
others.'' Irwan posted a satire stating that the National Electric 
Company (Tenaga Nasional Berhad) would sue the World Wildlife 
Federation for organizing the ``Earth Hour Campaign'' encouraging 
consumers not to use electricity for an hour because such an event 
would cost the national corporation millions in unrealized revenue. If 
convicted, Irwan could face a year's imprisonment and a fine of as much 
as RM50,000 (approximately $16,000). A hearing was scheduled for 
January 26, 2011.
    On December 6, UMNO Supreme Council member Dr. Shahidan Kassim 
called for the blocking of the Facebook social networking Web site if 
its contents pose a threat to national security. He made his comments 
after a Malaysian Facebook account holder allegedly insulted Islam and 
leaders of Malaysia on the Web site. He accompanied the Perlis Facebook 
Association committee members as they lodged a police complaint 
regarding the matter. The group reportedly also lodged a report at the 
State Islamic Religious Department.
    In March 2009 the Sessions Court Kuala Lumpur charged six persons 
under the Communications and Multimedia Act for insulting the Sultan of 
Perak on blogs or other Internet postings. The blogs related to the 
Perak political crisis following the takeover by the BN in February 
2009. One blogger pled guilty and was fined RM10,000 (approximately 
$2,850). The remaining five pled not guilty. On June 22, the Sessions 
court acquitted Muslim Ahmad on the grounds that the prosecution failed 
to establish a prima facie case against him. At year's end the trials 
against the remaining four remained pending.
    The Communications and Multimedia Act requires certain Internet and 
other network service providers to obtain a license. Previously the 
Government stated that it did not intend to impose controls on Internet 
use but that it would punish the ``misuse'' of information technology. 
The act permits punishment of the owner of a Web site or blog for 
allowing content of a racial, religious, or political nature that a 
court deems offensive.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The Government placed some 
restrictions on academic freedom, particularly the expression of 
unapproved political views, and enforced restrictions on teachers and 
students who expressed dissenting views. The Government continued 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 the Government used the loyalty 
pledge to restrain political activity among civil servants, academics, 
and students.
    Although faculty members 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. 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 on student and faculty political activity.
    During the year Deputy Prime Minister Muhydiddin Yassin told the 
press he wanted tighter screening for university lecturers to keep 
extremist ideology out of the university system. The administrations of 
several universities agreed to cooperate closely with police in 
identifying both faculty and students with possible extremist links.
    The Government has long stated that students should be apolitical, 
and it used that assertion as a basis for denying political parties 
access to student forums. According to student leaders, academic 
authorities sometimes expelled or fined students who signed 
antigovernment petitions. School authorities did not restrain 
propagation of government views on controversial issues on school 
campuses.
    On August 11, Minister of Higher Education Khaled Nordin announced 
the cabinet's reaffirmation of a 1974 decision that college and 
university students not join political parties after a Ministry of 
Education official had suggested lifting the ban. However, during an 
August 27 National Front Youth town-hall meeting, Prime Minister Najib 
said that he was keeping an open mind about university students getting 
politically involved.
    In the past the Government has censored and banned films for 
profanity, nudity, sex, violence, and certain political and religious 
content. There were no such actions during the year; however, on 
September 27, the Chairman of the Film Censorship Board called for a 
ban on the import and distribution of Japanese anime, on grounds that 
it contained negative elements, which could corrupt the minds of 
children. Although the Government allowed art-house foreign films at 
local film festivals, sexual content was censored by blocking the 
screen until the concerned scene was over.
    The youth wing of PAS protested against singers and groups it 
considered obscene and not in accordance with Islamic values. The 
Government responded by canceling or placing conditions on performances 
by some international performers. The PAS-led Kedah State government 
continued its policy of issuing entertainment licenses to female 
artists only for concerts for female audiences. The state government 
also maintained a blanket ban on rock, reggae, pop, and dangdut (an 
Indonesian style of music) concerts, which it claimed could have a 
``negative impact'' on youth.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution states that all citizens have ``the right 
to assemble peaceably and without arms''; however, the Government 
placed significant restrictions on this right through use of the Public 
Order Ordinance and the Police Act. The ordinance restricts public 
assemblies that could damage security and public order, while the act 
requires police permits for all public assemblies except for workers on 
picket lines. The act defines a public assembly as a gathering of five 
or more persons.
    The decision to grant a permit rests with the district police 
chief; however, senior police officials and political leaders 
influenced the granting or denial of some permits. Police granted 
permits routinely to government and ruling coalition supporters but 
used a more restrictive approach with government critics, opposition 
parties, NGOs, and human rights activists.
    Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that the Government 
used tear gas and chemically laced water cannons to break up rallies. 
On August 1, police arrested 25 people at a candlelight vigil in 
protest of the 50th anniversary of the Internal Security Act. Among 
those arrested were anti-ISA movement President Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh 
and PKR Supreme Council Member Badrul Hisham.
    On July 27, a sessions court sentenced two of the six Muslim 
protesters, who in August 2009 had desecrated a cow's head to protest 
the relocation of a Hindu temple to their area, to pay a RM3,000 ($967) 
fine or face three months' imprisonment after they plead guilty to 
sedition. One of the two men was also sentenced to an additional week 
in jail. The court granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal to 
the four others. These six and six others had previously pled guilty to 
the charge of participating in an illegal assembly with the intention 
of causing public unrest and were ordered to pay a RM1,000 ($322) fine 
or face a month in jail.
    At year's end the cases of the nine persons arrested for 
participating in an assembly marking International Human Rights Day 
2007 were still pending.
    On November 20, the sessions court acquitted the 17 members of the 
Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections who were arrested in 2007 on the 
grounds that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case 
against them.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for the right of 
association; however, the Government placed significant restrictions on 
this right, and certain statutes limit it. Under the Societies Act, 
only registered 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 its affiliated 
organizations from registering because they allegedly posed a national 
security threat. The Government has the power to revoke the 
registration of an existing society for violations of the act. Unlike 
in prior years, the Government did not use this power against political 
opposition groups.
    Some human rights and civic society organizations had difficulty 
obtaining government recognition as NGOs; as a result some NGOs were 
registered as companies, which presented legal and bureaucratic 
obstacles to raising money to support their activities. Some NGOs also 
reported that the Government monitored their activities.
    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 (see section 2.a.). 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 
maintained that the act still was necessary. In 2008 Parliament amended 
the act to allow students to be members of organizations outside the 
university.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice, although there were some restrictions. The eastern states of 
Sabah and Sarawak controlled immigration and required citizens from 
peninsular Malaysia and foreigners to present passports or national 
identity cards for entry. The Government provided some cooperation to 
the UNHCR and generally did not impede other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, 
stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    By law anyone entering the country without appropriate 
documentation is considered illegal and faces mandatory imprisonment 
for a maximum of five years, a fine not to exceed RM10,000 
(approximately $3,200), or both, and mandatory caning not to exceed six 
strokes. In June 2009 the Government stated that it had sentenced 
47,914 migrants to be caned for immigration offenses since amendments 
to its Immigration Act came into force in 2002, and at least 34,923 
migrants had been caned between 2002 and 2008, according to the 
country's prison department records. In its 2010 publication, A Blow to 
Humanity--Torture by Caning in Malaysia, Amnesty International (AI) 
estimated that the Government canes as many as 10,000 prisoners a year.
    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 criminal 
activities.
    Citizens must apply for government permission to travel to Israel.
    The constitution provides that no citizen may be banished or 
excluded from the country. In 2008, however, Chin Peng, the former 
leader of the communist insurgency, lost his bid to return to Malaysia 
when the Court of Appeal upheld an earlier ruling compelling him to 
show identification papers proving his citizenship, forcing him to 
continue to live in exile in Thailand. In April 2009 the Federal Court 
upheld the Court of Appeal's decision.
    Dissident blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin was in self-exile in London; 
he has said he would return to the country to face sedition charges 
when he was assured he would not be detained under the ISA.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is not a party to the 1951 UN 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, 
and its laws do not provide for the granting of asylum or refugee 
status. The Government has not established a system for providing 
protection to refugees. The Government did not grant refugee status or 
asylum. The Government did not provide legal protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion. At the same time, the Government generally cooperated with 
UNHCR and did not deport individuals registered as refugees by the 
UNHCR and being processed for resettlement to third countries.
    The Government generally did not distinguish between asylum seekers 
and illegal immigrants and detained them in the same immigration 
detention centers. Beginning in April 2009 the Government provided 
preferential treatment to those individuals carrying a UNHCR card. 
Reports of government deportation of some refugees and asylum seekers 
with UNHCR refugee cards effectively stopped as of July 2009.
    According to government officials, there were an estimated four 
million foreign nationals in the country, of whom nearly two million 
were illegal and undocumented. Of this latter group, the majority were 
from Indonesia. Additionally, 61,000 Filipino Muslims who fled the Moro 
insurgency in the 1970s were reportedly living in the country. Although 
they were not legally authorized to work, the Government typically did 
not enforce laws prohibiting registered refugees from working. On 
November 18, Home Ministry Secretary General Mahmood Adam said the 
Cabinet would decide in December if the Government would allow refugees 
to work in the country; however, no further developments were reported 
during the year.
    During the year the UNHCR registered 91,985 persons of concern in 
the country 18,378 of whom were children. The majority of illegal 
migrants worked in construction, restaurants, plantations, and garment 
factories, as well as in the sex industry.
    The Government provided access to health care for refugees with 
UNHCR cards at a discounted foreigner's rate; however, the costs 
generally were beyond their means. Mobile clinics run by NGOs existed, 
but access was limited.
    Refugees had no access to formal education, and although there were 
schools run by NGOs and ethnic communities, opportunities for schooling 
were limited by a lack of resources and qualified teachers.
    In previous years there were many allegations from NGOs, 
international organizations, and civil society groups that immigration 
officials were involved in the trafficking of Burmese refugees from 
IDCs to Thailand, where some refugees were sold into slavery. There 
were no such reports of trafficking during the year. NGOs and 
international organizations reported that since April 2009, allegations 
of abuse of power by RELA decreased. However, RELA continued to conduct 
raids targeting illegal migrant communities and detained refugees and 
asylum seekers along with allegedly illegal migrants. According to 
local NGOs and international organizations, IDCs allowed those with the 
UNHCR documents access to the UNHCR while in detention. Refugees with 
UNHCR cards occasionally were arrested during the raids but were 
released after the authorities were satisfied with the documents. Since 
April 2009 the authorities also provided UNHCR access to potential 
refugees without UNHCR registration cards as well as to all Burmese 
detainees in the IDCs to verify whether they were asylum seekers.
    Because the UNHCR did not maintain a presence at the country's 
border, most asylum seekers traveled to Kuala Lumpur for 
determinations; in 2009 and the early part of the year UNHCR conducted 
mobile registrations in areas with high concentrations of refugees. 
During the year the UNHCR listed 91,985 persons as asylum seekers and 
refugees, approximately 92 percent of whom were Burmese citizens with 
Chin and Rohingya being most numerous, and sizeable groups of Kachin, 
Karen, and Mon. UNHCR registered 9,539 refugees through its mobile 
registration from January to March.
    During the year the UNHCR submitted 12,648 refugees to third 
countries for resettlement consideration. Third countries accepted and 
resettled 7,955 refugees during the year.
    During the year UNHCR staff members conducted numerous visits to 
various prisons and IDCs located throughout the country to provide 
counseling and support to its persons of concern and ensure legal 
representation.
    NGOs reported that detention facilities were overcrowded, 
unsanitary, and lacked adequate medical facilities (see section 1.c.).

    Stateless Persons.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents. NGO 
estimates of the number of stateless persons ranged from several 
thousand to as many as 30,000. A foreign government estimated that 
approximately 10 to 20 percent of the 60,000 illegal immigrants and 
persons of concern living in Sabah were stateless children born in 
Sabah. Government officials denied stateless persons access to 
education, health care, and the right to own property.
    Some persons were stateless because the Government refused to 
register their birth due to inadequate proof of their parents' 
marriage. Interfaith marriages not recognized by the Government 
sometimes resulted in undocumented, de facto stateless children.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The law provides citizens the right to change their government 
peacefully, and citizens formally exercised this right in practice 
through periodic elections based on universal suffrage; however, while 
votes generally were recorded accurately, there were some 
irregularities that affected the fairness of elections, and this right 
was abridged in practice.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Opposition parties were 
unable to compete on equal terms with the governing BN coalition, led 
by the ethnic-Malay UMNO party, which has held power at the national 
level since independence in 1957, because of restrictions on 
campaigning, freedom of assembly and association, and access to the 
media. Nevertheless, opposition candidates campaigned actively, and in 
the most recent national elections, held in 2008, the opposition 
parties captured 82 of 222 parliamentary seats and 198 of 505 state 
assembly seats, winning control of five out of 13 state governments, 
and capturing 49 percent of the popular vote nationwide. For the first 
time since 1969, the opposition's electoral success denied the ruling 
coalition a two-thirds majority in Parliament, blocking the 
Government's ability to amend the constitution at will. The opposition 
parties won eight of the 11 local by-elections since the March 2008 
general election.
    On December 16, Anwar Ibrahim and three other opposition 
parliamentarians were suspended from Parliament for six months. The 
cause given for Anwar's suspension was making misleading statements to 
Parliament when he linked the prime minister's 1Malaysia slogan to a 
One Israel concept. The three other parliamentarians were suspended for 
contempt occasioned by their opposition to Anwar's suspension.
    On April 25, BN candidate P. Kamalanathan defeated PKR candidate 
Zaid Ibrahim in the Hulu Selangor by-election. On May 24, Zaid Ibrahim 
petitioned the high court to invalidate the results. On August 5, the 
court dismissed the petition.
    On May 16, DAP candidate Wong Ho Leng defeated the BN candidate in 
the Sibu by-election in the East Malaysian State of Sarawak. In the 
pre-election period, DAP leaders filed official reports with the 
Election Commission claiming that the prime minister and other BN 
leaders had violated election laws by promising millions of dollars in 
development funds to the constituency. On May 20, the Election 
Commission dismissed the reports claiming it had no powers to 
investigate the allegation as the election laws only apply to 
allegations against the candidate or their agents. The Commission 
stated that the DAP should refer their reports to the Malaysian 
Anticorruption Commission (MACC).
    On February 9, a five-member panel of the Federal Court upheld the 
Court of Appeals' reversal of a high court decision and ruled that the 
sultan of Perak was empowered to dismiss the chief minister of the 
state. This concluded the contretemps begun in February 2009 in which 
the BN coalition regained control of Perak, one of the five states won 
by the opposition PR coalition, when three PR state legislative 
assembly members declared support for the BN and the sultan dismissed 
the opposition-controlled state government and appointed a BN state 
government.
    Political parties could not operate without restriction or outside 
interference. The lack of equal access to the media was one of the most 
serious problems for the opposition in the 2008 national elections and 
in the subsequent by-elections. Opposition leaders also claimed that 
the Election Commission was under government control and lacked the 
independence needed to carry out its duties impartially. There were 
numerous opposition complaints of irregularities by election officials 
during the campaign; however, most observers concluded that they did 
not substantially alter the results. NGOs and opposition party leaders 
lodged allegations of illegally registered ``phantom'' voters, 
reportedly brought in from other districts to vote in tightly contested 
districts; inflated voter rolls; nonregistered voters using fictitious 
names or the names of dead voters still listed on the voter rolls; and 
noncitizens registered to vote.
    The constitution states that parliamentary constituencies should 
have approximately equal numbers of eligible voters; however, in 
practice the numbers varied significantly. For example, the Putra Jaya 
constituency had 6,606 voters, while in Kuala Lumpur the Seputih 
constituency had 76,891 voters. In Perak, Gopeng had 74,344 voters 
compared with Lenggong, with only 23,223 voters. Each of these 
constituencies had one member of Parliament (MP).
    Over the years power increasingly has been concentrated in the 
prime minister, and Parliament's function as a deliberative body has 
deteriorated. Parliament rarely amended or rejected government-proposed 
legislation and did not give legislation proposed by the opposition 
serious consideration. Parliamentary procedures allow the speaker of 
parliament to suspend members, establish restrictions on tabling 
questions, edit written copies of members' speeches before delivery, 
and severely restrict members' opportunities to question and debate 
government policies. With the increased number of opposition MPs since 
2008, government officials often faced sharp questioning in Parliament, 
and the press reported in greater detail than in the past.
    Under the Local Government Act, elections of public officials were 
confined to state assemblies and the federal Parliament. The central 
government has appointed all local and city officials since the 1969 
race riots. Some politicians and NGO activists advocated the 
reintroduction of local government elections. Some ruling-party 
municipal officials noted that local bodies were simply ``rubber 
stamps'' for the Government.
    Women faced no legal limits on participation in government and 
politics. At year's end two of the 32 cabinet ministers were women. 
Women held 23 of the 222 seats in the lower house and 17 of the 68 
Senate seats.
    In practice the political dominance of the Malay majority meant 
that ethnic Malays held the most powerful senior leadership positions. 
Non-Malays filled 11 of the 29 ministerial posts and 23 of the 42 
deputy minister positions.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials often engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. The media 
reported numerous cases of alleged official corruption, and there was a 
broadly held perception of widespread corruption and cronyism within 
the governing coalition and in government institutions. The MACC is 
responsible for investigating and persecuting corruption by both 
private and public bodies.
    On July 8, the newspaper The Star reported that the MACC had 
arrested 194 people from January to May 31 involved in attempting to 
bribe public officials. MACC reportedly also arrested 140 public 
servants for accepting bribes.
    On December 15, the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010 came into 
effect. The act is designed to protect individuals who disclose 
information on corrupt practices in both the public and private 
sectors.
    Surveys by international NGOs identified the police as among the 
country's most corrupt government organizations. A 2009 Home Affairs 
Ministry survey noted that 70 percent of respondents had bribed police 
officers under duress. Reported police offenses included accepting 
bribes and theft.
    In May 2009 the Government declassified an independent audit on the 
Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project that revealed that the construction 
cost had escalated from RM1.1 billion (approximately $314 million) in 
2001 to an estimated RM12.5 billion ($3.57 billion). Credible observers 
alleged that a revolving door of individuals in politics, government, 
and the private sector led to a lack of appropriate checks and balances 
and a general misuse of funds. In October 2009 the Government announced 
a special task force to determine misconduct or criminal behavior on 
the part of individuals or entities involved in the project and to 
recommend actions against them. In December 2009 government authorities 
arrested and charged the former general manager of the Port Klang 
Authority, Phang Oi Choo; the chief operating officer, Stephen Abok; 
and the architect, Bernard Tan Seng Swee. In December 2009 a fourth 
individual, Law Jenn Dong, an engineer, was also arrested and charged. 
On July 29, the Kajang Sessions Court charged the former transport 
minister and former Malaysian Chinese Association (a component party of 
the ruling BN) president, Ling Liong Sik, over his involvement in the 
PKFZ project. The case remained pending at year's end.
    Civil servants who refused or failed to declare their assets faced 
disciplinary actions and were ineligible for promotion.
    The Official Secrets Act prohibits the dissemination of classified 
information. The act encompassed documents concerning national 
security, defense, and international relations. However, critics 
accused the Government of using the act to prevent dissemination of 
materials and stifle dissent.
    There is no law designed to facilitate citizens' requests for 
government statistics or other information collected and compiled by 
the Government. Individual MPs were allowed to request and obtain such 
information on an ad hoc basis, some of which was then made available 
to the public.
    The November 2009 report of the UN Group of Experts on the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) reported that the Malaysian 
Smelting Corporation, based in Malaysia, purchased natural resources, 
the proceeds of which may have directly or indirectly funded 
perpetrators of human rights abuses in the eastern DRC.
Section 5. 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 
government officials were somewhat cooperative and responsive to their 
views.
    In 2009 the Islamic women's NGO SIS criticized the sentencing of 
Kartika Shukarno--later pardoned--to caning for drinking alcohol in 
public (see section 1.c.). A number of conservative Islamic groups 
filed police reports against SIS for allegedly having insulted the 
Sharia system. Police took statements from SIS employees as part of an 
investigation into alleged violation of the penal code for causing 
disharmony, disunity, feelings of enmity, hatred, or ill will, or 
prejudicing the maintenance of harmony or unity, on grounds of 
religion. There were no further developments during the year (see 
section 6, Women).
    On June 16, AI released the report Abused and Abandoned: Refugees 
Denied Rights in Malaysia. Although the report was generally critical 
of the country's efforts to provide protections to refugees, it 
recognized the cooperation of the Government. The AI report noted that 
in July 2009, ``Amnesty International was given unprecedented and 
unfettered access to three immigration detention center facilities in 
and around the capital, Kuala Lumpur.'' Similarly, UNHCR and members of 
the diplomatic corps noted willingness by the Government to allow 
visits to IDCs and trafficking shelters.
    The Government cooperated with some international organizations 
during the year and provided increased cooperation to the UNHCR to 
resettle refugees in third countries.
    SUHAKAM was generally considered a credible monitor of some aspects 
of the human rights situation. However, 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 of 
a court case.
    On June 7, the prime minister announced the appointment of Hasmy 
Agam as chairman of SUHAKAM, and he also appointed six new 
commissioners. On September 23, Agam announced that the Commission had 
proposed that the Government grant it powers to litigate human rights 
cases.
    SUHAKAM commissioners traveled throughout the country to educate 
community leaders, including police officials, on the importance of 
human rights. Commissioners also made several visits to prisons 
throughout the country to monitor conditions. They repeatedly noted the 
slow government response to their reports that touched on fundamental 
liberties.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution provides for equal protection under the law and 
prohibits discrimination against citizens based on sex, religion, race, 
descent, or place of birth. However, the constitution also provides for 
the ``special position'' of ethnic Malays and the indigenous groups of 
the eastern states of Sabah and Sarawak (collectively, bumiputera), and 
discrimination based on this provision persisted.

    Women.--The penal code states that rape is punishable by a prison 
term of up to 30 years, caning, and a fine. The Government enforced the 
law effectively. A 2007 amendment to the Penal Code criminalized 
marital rape. In August 2009 a sessions court in Pahang State sentenced 
a man to the maximum five years in jail, in what was believed to be the 
first successful prosecution of marital rape under the amended law.
    The courts may decide the minimum jail term for a man convicted of 
statutory rape of a girl age 15 years or less. The law also prohibits a 
person in authority from using his position to intimidate a subordinate 
into having sexual relations.
    Violence against women remained a problem. Reports of rape and 
spousal abuse drew considerable government, NGO, and press attention. 
Under the Domestic Violence Act, anyone who willfully contravenes a 
protection order by using violence against a protected person may be 
punished by imprisonment of up to one year and a maximum fine of 
RM2,000 ($633). In extreme cases involving ``grievous hurt'' inflicted 
using a deadly weapon, the maximum imprisonment increases to 20 years. 
Women's groups criticized the act as inadequate and called for 
amendments to strengthen it. In their view the act failed to protect 
women in immediate danger because it requires that separate reports of 
abuse be filed with both the Social Welfare Department and the police, 
causing delay in the issuance of a restraining order. Cases also 
require visible evidence of physical injury, despite its interpretation 
to include sexual and psychological abuse. On April 20, The Star 
reported the following rape statistics released by the home minister: 
In 2008 there were 3,409 police reports lodged by rape victims and 
3,626 in 2009. Of the cases reported in 2008, police arrested 2,261 
suspects and 184 of them were charged. Of the 3,626 cases reported in 
2009, 2,301 suspects were arrested and 162 of them were charged. 
According to a December report by the Home Ministry, 2,426 rape cases 
were reported from January to August, and 119 persons were charged.
    Many government hospitals had crisis centers where victims of rape 
and domestic abuse could make reports without going to a police 
station. NGOs and political parties also cooperated to provide 
counseling for rape victims, but 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 (MWFCD) and a leading women's NGO, 
only 10 percent of rape cases were reported to police. Women's groups 
noted that courts were inconsistent in punishing rapists.
    Although the Government, NGOs, and political parties maintained 
shelters and offered other assistance to battered spouses, activists 
asserted that support mechanisms for victims of domestic violence 
remained inadequate. There was a sexual investigations unit at each 
police headquarters to help victims of sexual crimes and abuse. Women's 
rights activists claimed that police needed additional training in 
handling domestic abuse and rape cases.
    Some Sharia experts urged Muslim women to become more aware of the 
provisions of Sharia that prohibit spousal abuse and provide for 
divorce on grounds of physical cruelty. Provisions in state Sharia 
laws, however, generally prohibit wives from disobeying the ``lawful 
orders'' of their husbands and presented an obstacle to women pursuing 
claims against their husbands in Sharia courts. Muslim women were able 
to file complaints in civil courts.
    A government voluntary code of conduct provides a detailed 
definition of sexual harassment, which is meant to raise public 
awareness of the problem, but women's groups advocated passage of a 
separate law on sexual harassment. 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. In December 2009 the Human 
Resources Ministry announced that there had been 276 reported cases of 
sexual harassment since 1999, of which 271 had been resolved. According 
to a December report by the Home Ministry, 1,441 sexual harassment 
cases were reported from January to August, with 73 brought to court.
    In an effort to reduce sexual harassment during travel, the 
Government introduced all-female public transportation services. In 
April Malaysian Railway established women-only cars on its trains, and 
in December the city of Kuala Lumpur launched a women-only bus service.
    Couples and individuals had the right to decide the number, 
spacing, and timing of their children. Contraceptives such as the 
birth-control pill and condoms were permitted and were locally 
available, although an expert from one domestic NGO estimated that only 
50 percent of women use contraceptives of any type. The great majority 
of births were attended by skilled medical personnel, and women 
generally had access to postpartum care. According to 2008 UN 
statistics, the maternal mortality rate was 31 per 100,000 live births. 
Women and men generally had equal access to diagnostic and treatment 
services for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
    Women's rights advocates asserted that women faced discriminatory 
treatment in Sharia courts due to prejudicial interpretations of 
Islamic family law.
    In August 2009 the NGO coalition Joint Action Group for Gender 
Equality (JAG) issued a press statement stating that the conviction of 
Kartika Shukarno for drinking alcohol illustrated discrimination 
against Muslim women in the country (see section 1.c.). SIS, a member 
group of JAG, faced apparent retaliation from conservative Islamic 
NGOs. In September 2009 JAG issued a press release condemning Kartika's 
sentence noting that it ``undermined the Government's efforts to 
project an image as a moderate Islamic country.'' In February it 
criticized the caning of three women for illicit sex. SIS urged the 
Government to review caning as a form of punishment under the Sharia 
Criminal Offences Act. It argued that certain Sharia laws contravene 
the provisions of the federal constitution that forbid discrimination 
based on gender. Conservative Islamic NGOs including the Selangor 
Islamic Council (MAIS) filed more than 50 police reports against SIS, 
accusing it of insulting the Sharia system, the king, and the 
constitution. A member of parliament called on the National Fatwa 
Council to investigate SIS. On March 12, the Friday mosque sermons 
issued by MAIS called on the public to take action against SIS and its 
officers. Police took statements from SIS employees as part of an 
investigation into alleged violation of the penal code for causing 
disharmony, disunity, feelings of enmity, hatred, or ill will, or 
prejudicing the maintenance of harmony or unity, on grounds of 
religion. There were no further developments during the year.
    The law allows polygyny, which a few Muslim men practiced. Islamic 
inheritance law generally favors male offspring and relatives. A small 
but steadily increasing number of women obtained divorces under the 
provisions of Sharia that allow for divorce without the husband's 
consent.
    Non-Muslim women are subject to civil law. The Guardianship of 
Women and Infants Act gives mothers equal parental rights. Four states 
extend the provisions of the act to Muslim mothers, and women's groups 
continued to urge the other states to do the same.
    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. For example, the Women's Ministry 
developed programs and workshops to encourage women to enter the 
business community and operate small- and medium-sized enterprises. In 
August the Women's Ministry launched a Symposium on Women 
Entrepreneurship in 2010, which included a grant of RM4.7 million 
($1.52 million) for 946 women entrepreneurs in the country.
    Women experienced some economic discrimination in access to 
employment. In December 2009 the human resource minister announced that 
there were 3.8 million women compared with 7.2 million men in the labor 
force. In May SUHAKAM reported that women continued to be discriminated 
against in the workplace in terms of promotion and salary. Only 20 
percent of officials at the decision-making level in government were 
women, a lower percentage than in the private sector. Women were 
routinely asked their marital status during job interviews. In 2008 the 
Kedah State government announced that women entertainers could perform 
only in front of all-female crowds. The JAG condemned the state 
government for infringing gender-equality rights protected by the 
constitution.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents (see section 
2.d.). Parents must register a child within 14 days of birth. The 
authorities require citizens to provide their marriage certificate and 
both parents' Malaysian Government Multipurpose Card. Noncitizens must 
provide passport or travel documents. Parents applying for late 
registration must prove the child was born in the country. The 
authorities do not enter the father's information for a child born out 
of wedlock unless there is a joint application by the mother and the 
person claiming to be the father. The authorities do not register 
children born to illegal immigrants or asylum seekers. Asylum seekers 
who register a birth risk arrest as illegal immigrants. The UNHCR 
registered children born to refugees. Marriages between Muslims and non 
Muslims were officially void. Couples in such marriages had difficulty 
registering births that recognize the father due to the invalidity of 
the marriage. Children without birth certificates are stateless and 
denied entry into both public and private schools. Stateless children 
(like noncitizens) were required to pay higher medical fees, which 
caused hardship in many cases.
    Although primary education is compulsory, there was no enforcement 
mechanism governing school attendance.
    The Government recognized that sexual exploitation of children and, 
particularly in rural areas, incest were problems. The law provides for 
six to 20 years' imprisonment and caning for individuals convicted of 
incest. The testimony of children is accepted only if there is 
corroborating evidence. This posed special problems for molestation 
cases in which the child victim was the only witness.
    Female circumcision is reportedly a routine practice among Muslim 
Malays. In November 2009 local online news portal Malaysiakini reported 
that ``in Malaysia, female circumcision refers to the act of making a 
small scratch or using a sharp penknife to nick the prepuce of the 
vagina. It is usually performed on infants within a few months of 
birth, by medical doctors or midwives.''
    On December 4, 14-year-old Siti Maryam Mahmood married 23-year-old 
Adbul Manan Othman at a Kuala Lumpur mosque as part of a 250-couple 
mass wedding. The couple reportedly first married in July after 
permission by a Sharia court. On December 6, Women's Minister Shahrizat 
Abdul Jalil said the Government does not condone child marriages and 
vowed to look into the matter. However, on December 8, Law Minister 
Nazri Aziz said that Islam permits underage marriage and the Government 
had no plan to ban it or review the laws. Minister in Charge of Islamic 
Affairs Jamil Khir Baharom reportedly welcomed the marriage. The 
minimum age of marriage for males is 18; Muslim girls below the age of 
16 may marry with the approval of a Sharia court, but such marriages 
were uncommon. Reportedly two girls, ages 10 and 11, were married to 
older men in Kelantan State during the year.
    Statutory rape occurred and was prosecuted. According to the MWFCD, 
most victims were below 15 years of age. However, Islamic law 
provisions that consider a Muslim girl an adult after her first 
menstruation sometimes complicated prosecution of statutory rape. Such 
a girl may be charged with khalwat, an offense under Sharia, even if 
she is under the age of 18 and her partner is an adult. Sharia courts 
sometimes were more lenient with males charged with khalwat, although 
in many cases Muslim men were charged and punished for statutory rape 
under civil law.
    Child prostitution existed, but child prostitutes often were 
treated as delinquents or illegal immigrants rather than victims.
    Sabah had a problem of street children. Estimates ranged from a few 
hundred to 15,000 children born in the country to illegal immigrant 
parents, some of whom were deported. These children lacked citizenship 
and access to government-provided support and often resorted to menial 
labor, criminal activities, and prostitution to survive. Child 
trafficking remained a problem.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--No reliable estimate of the country's Jewish 
population was available, and there were no locally based Jewish 
communities or synagogues. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--Neither the constitution nor other laws 
explicitly prohibit discrimination based on physical or mental 
disabilities, but the Government promoted public acceptance and 
integration of persons with disabilities.
    The Government did not discriminate against persons with 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or in the 
provision of other state services. A public sector regulation reserves 
1 percent of all public-sector jobs for persons with disabilities. The 
Government did not mandate accessibility to transportation for persons 
with disabilities, and few older public facilities were adapted for 
such persons. New government buildings were generally outfitted with a 
full range of facilities for persons with disabilities.
    A code of practice serves as a guideline for all government 
agencies, employers, employee associations, employees, and others to 
place suitable persons with disabilities in private sector jobs.
    Special education schools existed but were not sufficient to meet 
the needs of the population with disabilities.
    The Government undertook initiatives to promote public acceptance 
of persons with disabilities, make public facilities more accessible to 
such persons, and increase budgetary allotments for programs aimed at 
aiding them. Recognizing that public transportation was not ``disabled-
friendly,'' the Government maintained its 50 percent reduction of the 
excise duty on locally made cars and motorcycles adapted for persons 
with disabilities. The Ministry of Human Resources was responsible for 
safeguarding the rights of the disabled.
    The 2008 Persons with Disabilities Act recognizes the rights of 
persons with disabilities to enjoy the benefits of public transport, 
housing, education, employment, and health care. However, there is no 
penalty for those who do not comply with its provisions. For example, 
there are by-laws to compel new buildings to provide access for persons 
with disabilities but also loopholes that allow local authorities to 
exempt compliance. Critics called the act a ``toothless tiger.''

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The law and government policy 
provide for extensive preferential programs designed to boost the 
economic position of ethnic Malays or bumiputera, who constitute a 
majority of the population. Such programs limited opportunities for 
non-bumiputera in higher education, government employment, business 
permits and licenses, and ownership of land. Businesses were subject to 
race-based requirements that limited employment and other economic 
opportunities for non-bumiputera citizens. According to the Government, 
these programs were necessary to ensure ethnic harmony and political 
stability.
    Despite the Government's stated goal of poverty alleviation, these 
race-based policies were not subject to upper income limitations and 
appeared to contribute to the widening economic disparity within the 
bumiputera community. Ethnic Indian citizens, who did not receive such 
privileges, remained among the country's poorest groups. Another goal 
of this policy is for bumiputera to hold 30 percent of the nation's 
wealth. According to several studies, the program reached or exceeded 
this target; however, official government figures placed bumiputera 
equity at 18.9 percent. The Government did not respond to public 
requests to make its methodology available.
    On March 30, the prime minister unveiled a New Economic Model, an 
economic policy reform agenda that called for, among other things, the 
restructuring of the country's system of bumiputera ethnic preferences 
to reduce unequal treatment of different ethnicities by the Government. 
The prime minister cited the reforms as a means to better target 
subsidies and preferences to the poorest citizens, regardless of 
ethnicity. Conservative bumiputera-rights groups raised strong 
objections to any changes that could threaten ethnic preference 
programs.
    In April 2009 Prime Minister Najib announced that the Government 
had lifted the 30 percent bumiputera equity requirement for 27 service 
subsectors including health, social, tourism, business, and computer 
services. Given the narrow scope of these subsectors, observers 
considered the announcement a minor adjustment to the entrenched pro-
Malay economic policies.
    During the year the PAS, a part of the opposition coalition, 
endorsed the establishment of a PAS Supporters Congress, made up of 
non-Muslims, as an official wing of the party. The PAS constitution 
stipulates that only Muslims can become members; however, 
representatives of the Supporters Congress will be allowed to sit in 
the party's supreme council.

    Indigenous People.--Indigenous people (the descendants of the 
original inhabitants of the peninsular region of the country and the 
Borneo states, such as the Penan) 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, vested considerable authority in the 
non-Orang Asli minister for rural development to protect, control, and 
otherwise decide issues concerning this group. As a result indigenous 
people in peninsular Malaysia had very little ability to participate in 
decisions that affected them. The Government did not effectively 
protect indigenous persons' civil and political rights.
    The Orang Asli, who numbered approximately 150,000, constituted the 
poorest group in the country. According to the 10th Economic Plan 
covering the years 2010-15, 50 percent of the 29,990 Orang Asli 
households were living below the poverty line. Of these, about 5,700 
households (19 percent) were considered to be ``hardcore poor.'' A 
local NGO that focused on Orang Asli rights estimated that these 
numbers underreported the numbers living in poverty because it 
considered only Orang Asli living in established villages--not those 
living deep in the rainforest. A government-sponsored national advisory 
council monitored the development of Orang Asli, but only five of the 
council's 17 members were Orang Asli. In addition, only one Orang Asli 
held a management position in the Government's Department of Orang Asli 
Affairs. Under its ninth economic plan covering the years 2006-10, the 
Government allocated slightly more than RM377 million (approximately 
$108 million) for development projects for the Orang Asli. These 
focused on improving health, preschool education, infrastructure, and 
economic activities. The plan included an additional RM100 million 
($28.6 million) for development of lands inhabited by the Orang Asli 
and another RM20 million ($5.7 million) to curb inflationary pressures. 
The Department of Orang Asli Affairs reported that the dropout rate 
among primary school children had improved from 30 percent to 20 
percent since 2008. Moreover, the number of students who drop out 
between primary and secondary school declined from 50 percent to 30 
percent during the same timeframe. In 2008 approximately 600 Orang Asli 
students went on to college or university.
    Under the Aboriginal People's Act, Orang Asli were permitted to 
live on designated land as tenants at-will, but they 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 was rezoned for development. Although 
the Orang Asli were given the authority to reside on the land, these 
rights were often undocumented. This led to confrontations between the 
Orang Asli and logging companies. While the Government continued 
development in these areas, the Orang Asli struggled for their land 
rights. In 2008 the Government announced it would grant land ownership 
rights of 125,000 acres of rural land currently belonging to state 
governments to 20,000 Orang Asli households.
    The uncertainty surrounding Orang Asli land ownership made them 
vulnerable to exploitation. Logging companies continued to encroach on 
land traditionally held by Orang Asli as well as indigenous groups in 
the Borneo states. Indigenous people in Sabah and Sarawak continued to 
protest encroachment by state and private logging and plantation 
companies onto land that they considered theirs under native customary 
rights.
    Laws allowing condemnation and purchase of land do not require more 
than perfunctory notifications in newspapers, to which indigenous 
persons may have no access. In past years this deprived some indigenous 
persons of their traditional lands with little or no legal recourse. In 
recent years court decisions recognizing native customary title in land 
have resulted in greater protections of the Orang Asli land rights. In 
2007 the Federal Court, the country's highest court, found that native 
customary titles are recognized in common law.
    The 2007 petition filed by the Semalai, an Orang Asli group, to the 
high court to review a Pahang State government-ordered eviction from an 
area the Semalai claimed as their traditional land remained pending at 
year's end. In 2007 a suit was filed against authorities who allegedly 
tore down an Orang Asli church in Gua Musang. In July 2009 the high 
court declared that the Orang Asli had the right to their land and to 
practice the religion of their choice under the Federal Constitution. 
The Government appealed the judgment, and the case remained pending at 
year's end.
    On March 17, an Orang Asli group staged a peaceful demonstration in 
Putrajaya to protest against a proposed amendment to the National Land 
Act. The Network of Orang Asli Villages founder, Tijah Yok Chopin, and 
the Persatuan Orang Asli Malaysia president, Majid Suhut, handed over a 
memorandum signed by 12,000 Orang Asli to Regional Development Minister 
Shafie Apdal, claiming that the amendment ignored the fundamental 
rights of the indigenous people. They also demanded that the Government 
recognize their rights to ancestral lands.
    In May members of the Temuan tribe won a 15-year court battle and 
were awarded RM6.5 million ($2.1 million) in a landmark settlement with 
highway authorities for forcibly taking their ancestral land for 
development. The Temuan community filed a suit after authorities 
forcibly acquired 38.5 acres of land in Selangor in 1995 to construct a 
highway to Kuala Lumpur International Airport without paying 
compensation. In 2002 the high court ruled that the Orang Asli enjoyed 
native title rights and should be compensated. The Selangor State 
government appealed the decision in 2005. In May the state government 
withdrew the appeal after the opposition coalition took over Selangor.
    On April 4, Minister of Rural and Regional Development Mohd Shafie 
Apdal announced the allocation of RM570 million (approximately $182 
million) for Orang Asli development and stated the Government never 
neglected the Orang Asli community in implementing infrastructure and 
economic development projects. Shafie said that 61 percent of the Orang 
Asli settlements (534 villages) had basic amenities such as 24-hour 
electricity supply, clean water supply, and land development projects 
that enabled them to earn regular income.
    On September 22, the Kuala Lumpur High Court awarded damages to the 
Orang Asli tribes in Johor, ruling that government authorities had 
trespassed on their land, unlawfully demolished their Christian chapel, 
and failed to honor a 2001 pledge to list the site as customary native 
land. Authorities had torn down the church in 2005 alleging that it was 
built on state land.
    The Penan, an indigenous community of Sarawak, used native 
customary rights to establish land ownership and stewardship. Each 
group of Penan maintained its own foraging area, which was passed down 
from one generation to another. Customary native lands were not always 
well demarcated. Indigenous rights groups alleged that Abdul Taib 
Mahmud, the chief minister of Sarawak, leased Penan and other 
indigenous groups' customary land to logging companies and land 
developers in exchange for political favors and money. Local observers 
claimed that logging companies harassed and sometimes threatened vocal 
Penan leaders and land-rights activists. The Sarawak Penan Association 
continued urging the state government to delineate the Penan's native 
customary land boundaries, revoke timber licenses that overlapped their 
land, stop issuing provisional leases for plantations, and halt all 
logging and plantation development activities on their land. The Penan 
tribe was among the poorest groups in the country and lived below the 
poverty line.
    In August 2009 hundreds of Penan armed with spears and blowpipes 
set up blockades in the Borneo interior to protest against logging and 
plantations on their ancestral land. In September 2009 the police tore 
down the blockades and subsequently denied using any force in the 
removal of the blockades. The Sarawak state government agreed to 
several of the Penan's demands in an effort to end the protests and 
blockades against logging operations. The state government recognized 
the economic grievances of the Penan and pledged to provide farming 
land, water, electricity, schools and medical facilities to those Penan 
who had settled into villages, and to build houses for nomadic Penan 
who wished to settle. The state also agreed to provide training, 
financial and technical aid for Penan who wished to engage in rubber or 
orchard farming, and to accelerate the birth certificate and identity-
card issuance rate for Penan.
    A credible international NGO reported that workers from two logging 
companies, including one owned by the chief minister's family, 
regularly sexually abused Penan women and girls, resulting in several 
pregnancies. In September 2009 Minister of Women, Family, and Community 
Development Shahrizat Jalil confirmed that Penan girls had been raped 
and molested by timber company workers. The minister announced that the 
timber company was identified and police would take further action. 
Subsequently, Deputy Commissioner of Police for Sarawak Hamza Taib said 
no further action would be taken on three of the cases due to lack of 
evidence, while the fourth was still pending as police had yet to 
identify the victim or witnesses. On July 13, the women's minister 
visited the Penan community and urged the police to take these cases 
seriously.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Although there are no laws 
that prohibit homosexual conduct, laws against sodomy and ``carnal 
intercourse against the order of nature'' exist and were enforced 
sporadically. Religious and cultural taboos against homosexual conduct 
were widespread. For example, during the year a Health Ministry 
official stated that homosexual activity and masturbation helped to 
spread the H1N1 infection.
    On December 21, a 32-year-old Muslim man acknowledged being gay in 
a video posted on the YouTube Web site. In the video, entitled ``I'm 
Gay, I'm OK,'' the individual encouraged other gay persons to be 
confident in themselves. In six days, the video was viewed more than 
140,000 times. The man received online death threats as a result of the 
video and stated that he feared for his life. Perak Mufti Harussani 
Zakaria condemned the video and said that the individual had ``derided 
his own dignity and Islam in general.''

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The Government's 
response to HIV/AIDS was generally nondiscriminatory, although 
stigmatization of AIDS sufferers was common. In 2008 the deputy prime 
minister announced that the premarital courses required for Muslims by 
the Federal Religious Council would include mandatory HIV screening. 
Non-Muslims were encouraged to participate but it was not compulsory. 
He attributed the need for this screening to the rising rate of HIV 
infection among women. According to the health minister, there were 
approximately 3,100 new cases during the year.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--By law most workers have the right to 
form and join trade unions, but the Trade Unions Act (TUA) and the 
Industrial Relations Act (IRA) restrict this right. Other laws also may 
restrict freedom of association. For example, the penal code requires 
police permission for public gatherings of more than five persons. 
Trade unions represented 8.9 percent of the labor force with a total 
membership of 803,405 as of October, a decrease from 805,654 in 2009. 
In December the Department of Statistics reported the working-age 
population of individuals ages 15 to 64 years old was 11,569,400. As of 
October there were 693 trade union organizations: 319 unions 
represented the services industry; 57 represented the agriculture, 
forestry and fishery industries; and 170 represented production 
industries.
    Those restricted by law from joining a union include public sector 
workers categorized as ``confidential, managerial, and executive,'' as 
well as defense and police officials. However, the 2007 amendments to 
the IRA made it more difficult for workers to form unions because the 
director general of trade unions and the minister of human resources 
also have absolute authority to determine designations of workers' 
status as ``confidential,'' ``managerial,'' or ``executive,'' leading 
to possible systemic abuse by employers. In theory foreign workers can 
join a trade union; however, the Immigration Department barred foreign 
workers from holding trade union offices, and most foreign workers' 
contracts banned them from joining a trade union.
    The TUA prohibits interfering with, restraining, or coercing a 
worker in the exercise of the right to form trade unions or 
participation in lawful trade union activities. However, the act 
restricts a union to representing workers in a ``particular 
establishment, trade, occupation, or industry or within any similar 
trades, occupations, or industries.'' In addition the director general 
of trade unions has broad discretion to refuse to register a trade 
union and to withdraw the registration of an existing trade union based 
on provisions outlined in the act without being subject to judicial 
review. When registration is refused, withdrawn, or canceled, a trade 
union is considered an unlawful association; there were no reports of 
any such actions during the year.
    Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) officials continued to 
express frustration about delays in the settlement of union recognition 
disputes. While the IRA requires that an employer respond to a union's 
request for recognition within 21 days of application, it was common 
for such applications to be refused and unions to go unrecognized for 
one to four years. If an employer does not respond to the union 
application within 21 days, the union must submit a written appeal to 
the director general of trade unions within 14 days. If the union fails 
to submit the appeal within the stipulated period, the union 
automatically is not recognized. The act denies the right of unions and 
individuals to hold strikes protesting the lack of recognition of their 
union.
    Trade unions from different industries, except for those in the 
electronics sector, may join in national congresses, but such 
congresses must register separately as societies under the Societies 
Act.
    In the past, government policy inhibited the formation of national 
unions in the electronics sector, the country's largest industry, 
because it has ``pioneer status,'' which affords certain investment 
incentives. The Government's rationale was that establishment of 
national unions in the electronics sector would impede foreign direct 
investment and negatively affect the country's international 
competitiveness in the sector; government leaders stated that 
enterprise-level unions were more appropriate for the electronics 
industry. However, in May 2009, the Cabinet approved formation of 
regional industrial unions for the electronics industry in peninsular 
Malaysia.
    Unions maintained independence from both the Government and 
political parties, but individual union members may belong to political 
parties. Although by law union officers 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 on behalf of local unions.
    Trade unions were permitted to affiliate with international trade 
union organizations, such as global union federations and the 
International Trade Union Confederation, subject to the approval of the 
director general of trade unions.
    Although private-sector strikes are legal, the right to strike is 
severely restricted. Strikes or lockouts are prohibited while a dispute 
is before the industrial court. The law contains a list of ``essential 
services'' in which unions must give advance notice of any industrial 
action. The IRA lists various types of employment under essential 
services, including: banking services; electricity services; fire 
services; port, dock, harbor, and airport services; postal services; 
prison services; production, refining, storage, supply, and 
distribution of fuel and lubricants; public health services, radio 
communication services; telegraph, telephone, and telecommunication 
services; transport services; water services; any service provided by 
any of the following departments of government--chemistry, civil 
aviation, customs and excise, immigration, marine, meteorology, and 
printing; and services that are connected with, or related to, or which 
assist towards the maintenance and functioning of the armed forces and 
the RMP. The list includes sectors not normally deemed essential under 
International Labor Organization definitions. MTUC officials said that 
requirements imposed by the authorities were so stringent that it was 
almost impossible to strike. According to MTUC officials, there were no 
strikes during the year.
    The IRA 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 may then 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. The IRA prohibits employers from taking 
retribution against a worker for participating in the lawful activities 
of a trade union. However, in many cases, these provisions were not 
effectively enforced. The IRA limits worker compensation for wrongful 
termination to a maximum of two years from the time the employee was 
laid off.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Workers, in the 
private sector, have the legal right to organize and bargain 
collectively, and collective bargaining was widespread in those sectors 
where labor was organized. Employees in the public sector, however, do 
not enjoy such a right.
    There are two national labor organizations. The MTUC is a society 
of trade unions in both the private and government sectors and is 
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. The other national 
organization is the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and 
Civil Services (CUEPACS), a federation of public employee unions 
registered under the TUA.
    CUEPACS included 127 distinct civil servant unions with 
approximately 300,000 members out of one million civil servants, 
represented by an estimated 160 unions. Teacher unions accounted for 
140,000 of CUEPACS' 300,000 members. CUEPACS held talks with the 
Government through three national joint councils (NJCs) that represent 
three types of workers: managerial and professional, scientific and 
technological, and general (all other types of workers, such as 
clerical and support staff). The Government established the NJC system 
to have NJCs serve as aggregating, intermediary negotiating bodies 
between the Government and the various unions served by CUEPACS. NJC 
members are elected from constituent unions. While an individual civil-
service union may approach the Government directly on narrow issues 
that affect only that particular union or its members, broader issues 
that affect the entire civil service flow up to CUEPACS and then to one 
of the NJCs, depending on the type of civil servants involved.
    CUEPACS sought a minimum wage for civil servants; however, by 
year's end, despite government assertions that it was considering 
establishing a minimum wage, there was no minimum wage for public or 
private sector workers.
    The Government limited collective bargaining agreements in 
companies designated as having pioneer status. The MTUC continued to 
object to legal restrictions on collective bargaining in pioneer 
industries.
    Charges of discrimination against employees engaged in organizing 
union activities may be filed with the Ministry of Human Resources or 
the industrial court. The industrial court was slow to adjudicate 
worker complaints when conciliation efforts by the Ministry of Human 
Resources failed.
    The Government holds that issues of transfer, dismissal, and 
reinstatement are internal management prerogatives; therefore, they are 
excluded from collective bargaining.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
export processing zones. Although the electronics sector's pioneer 
status inhibits organizing, many companies had ``in-house unions'' seen 
as a preferable alternative by management, which did not allow workers 
in this sector to affiliate with national union umbrella bodies.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The constitution 
prohibits forced or compulsory labor; however, there were reports that 
such practices occurred. Although the Malaysian Passport Act 
criminalizes possession of someone else's passport ``without legal 
authority,'' the existence of memorandums of understanding (MOUs) that 
allow for employer retention of employee passports appear to provide 
sufficient legal authority to satisfy this exception in the passport 
law. The law therefore does not effectively prevent employers from 
holding employees' passports, and it was common practice for employers 
to do so thereby making employees more vulnerable to human trafficking 
and forced labor. This practice effectively made some foreign workers 
captives of the hiring company. Recruiting agents required fees that 
sometimes made foreign workers vulnerable to debt bondage. Some 
companies used debt bondage to force some foreign workers to accept 
harsh working conditions, threatening imprisonment and deportation. 
Indebted to their employers due to excessively high recruitment fees 
and without their passports, workers were effectively forced to work 
long hours, accept lower wages than promised, allow wage deductions, 
and live in poor housing. Forced labor conditions reportedly occurred 
in some palm oil and rubber plantations, factories manufacturing 
computer components, garment production, restaurants, and in domestic 
households.
    Labor activists and human rights NGOs reported that debt bondage 
was practiced in some plantations, where whole families of ethnic 
Indians and migrant workers were placed into forced labor conditions.
    Some of the estimated 300,000 foreign women employed as household 
workers were subjected to physical abuse and forced to work under harsh 
conditions, and some child household employees worked in conditions 
amounting to forced labor. A number of domestic workers were not paid 
or were paid below the agreed salary. Several of the abused women 
reported their employers beat them, forced them to sleep on kitchen 
floors, and fed them only the scraps from a meal.
    Although Malaysia and Indonesia concluded a MOU in 2006 that, among 
other things, called for domestic workers to be paid directly, receive 
compensation for personal injury, and be given time off in lieu of 
overtime, it remained a common practice for employers to deposit wages 
with recruiting agencies as repayment for debts. In 2009 the two 
countries began negotiating a new MOU that would address minimum 
salaries, provide domestic workers with one day off per week, and 
remove language allowing employers to confiscate worker passports. On 
May 18, the countries recommitted to the process by signing a letter of 
intent to amend the MOU, but at year's end, a new agreement was not 
reached due to disagreements over which country would be responsible 
for costs associated with travel, agents, and other related fees.
    On September 19, police arrested a couple in Penang for allegedly 
abusing their Indonesian maid. Win Faidaa, a 26-year-old woman from 
East Java, claimed she was raped by her employer and beaten by her 
employer's wife if she refused the husband's sexual advances. She 
claimed the couple beat her with a belt, splashed her with hot water, 
and burnt her with an iron. On September 22, local news service Bernama 
reported that Indonesia's Labor and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin 
Iskandar announced that prospective maids from Indonesia would be 
banned from leaving for Malaysia until the Indonesian government could 
ensure their safety; however, many continued to arrive unofficially.
    In June 2009 a court charged Hau Yuan Tyung with three counts of 
abusing her Indonesian maid, Siti Hajar. Tyung allegedly scalded Siti 
Hajar with boiling water as well as tortured and starved her. On May 
20, a sessions court in Kuala Lumpur found Hau guilty and sentenced her 
to eight years in jail for causing grievous harm to Siti Hajar. The 
judge also ordered Hau to pay RM5,000 ($1,600) in compensation to Siti 
Hajar. Tyung appealed her conviction. The Kuala Lumpur High Court 
scheduled January 25, 2011 to deliver its decision.
    In September 2009 the Indonesian ambassador announced that the 
embassy would only renew passports of domestic workers if employers 
agree to pay a minimum monthly salary of RM500 ($145).
    In October 2009 Mantik Hani, 26, an Indonesian woman working as a 
maid in Selangor died from injuries sustained allegedly at the hands of 
her employer, A. Murugan. Police found Hani in a locked bathroom in 
Murugan's house. Her arms and legs were bound, she had bruises all over 
her body, a broken back and wrist, and a serious wound to her right leg 
that exposed bone. She appeared to have been locked in the bathroom for 
two days without food. Police arrested and charged Murugan with murder. 
In November 2009 he pled not guilty to the charges. On July 20, the 
high court in Kuala Lumpur convicted him of murder and sentenced him to 
death by hanging. Murugan's appeal of his conviction remained pending 
at year's end.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits the employment of children younger than age 14 but 
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 a child work more than six hours per day, more than six 
days per week, or at night.
    Most child laborers worked informally in palm-oil plantations and 
the agricultural sector, helping their parents in the field; however, 
only adult members of the family received a wage. Child labor in urban 
areas often was 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 
had largely replaced child labor and that child labor provisions were 
vigorously enforced.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--No national minimum wage 
provision was in effect. Prevailing market wages generally provided a 
decent standard of living for citizens, although not for all migrant 
workers. Wage councils, established by a 1947 act to provide a 
recommended minimum wage for sectors in which the market wage was 
deemed insufficient, had little impact on wages in any sector. 
According to MTUC officials, the wage councils had not met since 1996, 
and their recommended wages have long been obsolete.
    Plantation workers generally received production-related payments 
or daily wages. Under a 2003 agreement, plantation workers received a 
minimum wage of RM350 (approximately $115) per month. Proponents of the 
agreement said that productivity incentives and bonuses raised the 
prevailing wage to RM700 ($229).
    Under the Employment Act, working hours may not exceed eight hours 
per day or 48 hours per workweek of six 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 the standards, but a shortage of inspectors 
precluded strict enforcement.
    Foreign migrant laborers, legal and illegal, often worked under 
difficult conditions, performed hazardous duties, had their pay 
withheld by employers, and had no meaningful access to legal counsel in 
cases of contract violations and abuse. The following was typical 
example of exploitation and abuses of foreign migrant workers: a labor-
outsourcing company recruited foreign workers to work at a foreign-
owned electronics plants in the country. Each worker paid approximately 
RM5,000 (approximately $1,600) and signed a contract guaranteeing work 
for an extensive period of time (typically over 24 months) at a salary 
of RM800 ($255) per month. Their passports were confiscated and they 
were taken to a dormitory near the plant. They worked at a plant for 
about one-third of the contractual period, earning the agreed upon 
salary. However, when work at the plant slowed, several workers were 
returned to the outsourcing company, which then sent them to work 
elsewhere, e.g. in restaurants, a glove factory, a poultry farm, a 
frozen fruit plant--all in contradiction to their contracts. During 
this time the employers withheld their pay.
    Foreign workers, particularly if they were illegal aliens, 
generally did not have access to the system of labor adjudication. 
However, 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 law. 
According to the results of a survey conducted during the year by the 
Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers, the average monthly wage of 
foreign workers engaged in the manufacturing sector was RM581 
(approximately $185). Migrant workers may bring employment disputes to 
industrial court. However, this mechanism was seldom used. It is time 
consuming and, once their work visa terminated, migrants require 
``special passes'' to stay in the country. These passes are valid for 
one month and cost RM100 ($32) to renew. Renewal is subject to the 
discretion of the director general of immigration. Migrants holding 
special passes were not allowed to work.
    The Workmen's Compensation Act covers both local and foreign 
workers but provides no protection for foreign household workers. 
According to the Government, foreign household workers are protected 
under the Employment Act with regard to wages and contract termination. 
However, these workers are excluded from provisions of the act that 
would otherwise ensure that they received one rest day per week, an 
eight-hour workday, and a 48-hour workweek.
    Employers sometimes failed to honor the terms of employment and 
abused their household workers. Household workers must be ages 25 to 45 
for admission into the country, according to Immigration Department 
officials. They were not allowed to bring family members into the 
country while employed. The terms of the contract for Indonesian 
domestic workers, who made up approximately 90 percent of all foreign 
household workers, were often vague and open to abuse. The typical 
contract provided for a monthly salary of RM450 to 600 ($143 to 191) 
but did not specify the number of working hours per day. NGOs reported 
that many Indonesian household workers were required to work 14 to 18 
hours a day, seven days a week. The contract for Filipina household 
workers included more comprehensive protections, but both groups 
suffered from a lack of education concerning their legal rights.
    Some workers alleged that their employers subjected them to inhuman 
living conditions, withheld their salaries, confiscated their travel 
documents, and physically assaulted them.
    Workers have the right to take legal action against abusive 
employers. According to NGOs the courts generally sided with employees 
and ruled that employers must pay all back salary and compensate 
plaintiffs for injuries, but long delays in court proceedings and 
rulings often precluded aggrieved foreign workers from seeking redress 
through the court system.
    Mechanisms for monitoring workplace conditions were inadequate. 
Private, for-profit labor agencies, themselves often guilty of abuses, 
were often responsible for the resolution of abuse cases. Bilateral 
labor agreements with Indonesia do not provide adequate protections for 
household workers.
    The Occupational Safety and Health Act covers all sectors of the 
economy except the maritime sector and the armed forces. 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 cooperate with 
employers to create a safe, healthy workplace. Employers or employees 
who violate the act are subject to substantial fines or imprisonment 
for up to five years, although the MTUC complained that some employers 
flouted the rules with impunity. There are no specific statutory or 
regulatory provisions that provide a right for workers to remove 
themselves from dangerous workplace conditions without arbitrary 
dismissal.
    On March 22, six Filipino workers died after inhaling carbon 
monoxide gas while cleaning a tank at a water treatment plant in Kota 
Kinabalu, Sabah. The incident occurred when two of the workers entered 
the filtering tank and switched on a pump to remove the remaining water 
inside. When they failed to emerge four hours later, four of their 
colleagues went to check on them and discovered them unconscious inside 
the tank. The four workers then went one-by-one into the tank to rescue 
them but were overcome by the gas and died.
    On August 16, Karna Bahabar Gharti Magar, a Nepalese worker, died 
inside JCY SDB BHD Company, a producer of computer parts in Johor Baru. 
It was alleged that he fell ill and requested treatment that was 
initially denied by company. In response to his death, 5,000 foreign 
workers protested for three days until employers and outsourcing 
companies agreed to provide compensation of RM10,000 ($3,225) to 
Gharti's family. The company also agreed to provide a minimum salary of 
RM546 ($175) per month along with an ambulance service for emergency 
cases and prompt treatment for all workers at a clinic on the factory 
premises. The Ministry of Human Resources was reportedly investigating 
the circumstances of Gharti's death.

                               __________

                            MARSHALL ISLANDS

    The Republic of the Marshall Islands is a constitutional republic 
with a population of approximately 52,000. In 2007 voters elected the 
Nitijela (parliament) in generally free and fair multiparty elections. 
In October 2009 a vote of no confidence in the Nitijela removed Litokwa 
Tomeing from presidential power, and the Nitijela elected its speaker, 
Jurelang Zedkaia, as president. Security forces reported to civilian 
authorities.
    Human rights problems during the year included poor prison 
conditions, government corruption, violence against women, child abuse, 
and lack of worker 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    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 
August, after a police officer was injured during a fight among 
prisoners at the Majuro prison, police chained four prisoners to the 
outdoor staircase of the firehouse next to the police station for five 
days. The prisoners were forced to wear clothing normally worn by 
firefighters. They were obliged to sleep on the stairs and were 
released only to use the bathroom facilities. Police released the 
prisoners from the staircase after the attorney general ordered them to 
do so. At year's end no disciplinary action had been taken against the 
officers involved.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions did not 
meet international standards. Lighting, ventilation, and sanitation 
were inadequate, and there was no program to ensure regular access to 
outside activity. Security was poor.
    During the year police authorities on Ebeye Island concluded their 
investigation into the 2007 death of a prisoner at a temporary holding 
facility on the island. The authorities concluded that police were not 
at fault in the death. However, the case continued to be controversial, 
as some citizens expressed concern that the investigation was allegedly 
carried out by the same officers involved in the original arrest of the 
deceased for public drunkenness.
    According to a Ministry of Justice official, as of December the 
country's only national prison, on Majuro Atoll, held 43 inmates--all 
male adults. Of these, 39 were convicted prisoners, and four were 
awaiting trial.
    There were no specialized prison facilities for female prisoners, 
including juveniles; they generally were held under house arrest, 
although some female offenders were held temporarily in a separate 
police substation until released to house arrest. Some male juveniles 
were held temporarily with the general prison population until released 
to their parents. Pretrial detainees were not separated from the 
general prison population.
    Prisoners had reasonable access to visitors and were permitted 
religious observance. They were permitted to submit complaints about 
their treatment without censorship and request investigation of 
credible allegations of inhumane conditions. The Office of the Attorney 
General investigated the only reported case of abuse during the year 
and an official response was published in the only national newspaper.
    The Government permits prison visits by independent human rights 
observers, but there were no requests for such visits during the year.
    The country does not have an ombudsman; however, the public 
defender has authority to serve on behalf of prisoners and detainees 
and advocates for their appropriate and timely release. Due to the 
small size of the country and the small prison population, inmates 
generally were known to the courts, and judges regularly reviewed 
pending cases.
    During the year work began on renovations to the Majuro prison. In 
2009 prisoners had destroyed newly renovated space at the facility. 
Improvements during the year increased the security of the ceiling and 
strengthened the walls of the prison but did not improve the sanitary 
facilities.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution prohibits 
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed 
these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the police force, and the Government 
has effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse and 
corruption. There was one report of impunity involving police during 
the year concerning a deliberate delay in the response to a domestic 
violence case, which ended with the woman being stabbed to death 
allegedly by her husband. No disciplinary action was taken against the 
officers involved.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Under the 
constitution a warrant issued by a court is required for an arrest if 
there is adequate time to obtain one. The courts have interpreted this 
to exempt situations such as a breach of the peace or a felony in 
progress. The law provides detainees the right to a prompt judicial 
determination regarding the legality of the detention. Authorities 
generally respected this right and informed detainees promptly of the 
charges against them. There was a functioning system of bail, and 
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. Detainees 
were allowed access to a lawyer of their choice and, if indigent, to 
one provided by the state. Families had access to detainees.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice, although there were reports of government 
officials using their positions to protect family members from 
prosecution for alleged wrongdoing. Two senior government officials 
convicted of drunk driving and hitting pedestrians with their cars 
received only home detention for 60 days, rather than the prison 
sentences normally imposed for such offenses. Multiple reports alleged 
that many crimes reported to police were not investigated or 
prosecuted.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right.
    Defendants may choose either a bench trial or a four-member jury 
trial. Defendants normally opted for jury trials, which had a higher 
rate of acquittals. Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence and 
have the right to counsel. An attorney is provided at public expense 
for indigent defendants facing serious criminal charges. Defendants may 
question witnesses, examine government-held evidence, and appeal 
convictions. The constitution extends these rights to all citizens. 
Noncitizen defendants also enjoy these rights, except that the services 
of the public defender are provided only to citizens.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is no separate 
judiciary in civil matters, but there are administrative remedies for 
alleged wrongs, including human rights abuses, as well as judicial 
remedies within the general court system.

    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.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. For most 
citizens, however, Internet access was limited by small bandwidth, slow 
connections, and high prices. The International Telecommunication Union 
reported that approximately 3 percent of the country's inhabitants used 
the Internet in 2009.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    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.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The need did not arise during the year for government 
cooperation with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees or 
other humanitarian organizations in providing protection and assistance 
to internally displaced persons, refugees, returning refugees, asylum 
seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The law does not prohibit forced exile, but the Government did not 
employ it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is not a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or the 1967 Protocol 
relating to the Status of Refugees. Its laws do not provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has not 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice 
the country has almost no history of refugees or asylum seekers, and 
there were no requests during the year for protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The law provides citizens 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 and Political Participation.--Executive power is 
centralized in the president and his cabinet. The legislature consists 
of the Nitijela and a council of chiefs (Iroij), the latter of which 
serves a largely consultative function dealing with custom and 
traditional practices.
    In October 2009 the legislature elected Jurelang Zedkaia as 
president after a no-confidence vote removed President Litokwa Tomeing 
from power.
    The most recent elections for the Nitijela were held in 2007. Some 
ballot boxes were recounted on the initiative of the chief electoral 
officer, which caused accusations of impropriety and assertions that 
the boxes should have been reopened only with a court order. A team of 
independent election observers from the Pacific Islands Forum stated in 
its initial report that the election, while poorly managed, was 
conducted in a democratic manner, enabling voters to exercise their 
will freely. A February 2008 report by a government-appointed 
independent commission of inquiry placed the blame for the marred 
election on interference in civil service hiring procedures by the then 
minister of internal affairs, which led to unqualified individuals 
managing the election process. By year's end the National Electoral 
Commission completed the registration process for the scheduled 2011 
national election, under which all persons desiring to vote in the 
election were required to register by district and atoll. This national 
registration was conducted to resolve some of the reported problems in 
the previous election.
    Individuals and parties can freely declare their candidacy and 
stand for election. There are no restrictions on the formation of 
political parties, although many candidates preferred to run 
independently or loosely aligned with informal coalitions.
    There are no legal impediments to women's participation in 
government and politics; however, traditional attitudes of male 
dominance, women's cultural responsibilities and traditionally passive 
roles, and the generally early age of pregnancies made it difficult for 
women to obtain political qualifications or experience. There was one 
woman in the 33-member Nitijela, who served as minister of health, and 
four women in the 12-seat House of Iroij. Since the country's founding 
there has always been a woman in the Nitijela, but never more than one. 
There were a number of women in prominent appointed government 
positions, including those of secretary of education, minister and 
secretary of health, secretary of foreign affairs, director of the 
Social Security Administration, banking commissioner, and director of 
the Environmental Protection Agency.
    There were no members of minorities in the legislature.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. In 
October independent auditors reported that they had identified 11 
problem areas in the country's 2009 financial statements, an increase 
from the eight areas identified in 2008.The auditors gave a qualified 
opinion on internal controls and compliance, noting deficiencies and 
material weaknesses in fiscal controls.
    Public officials are not subject to financial disclosure laws. The 
Attorney General's Office is responsible for investigating cases of 
alleged corruption. In December the attorney general filed criminal 
cases alleging corruption regarding government procurement practices at 
the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Health, respectively; the cases 
were pending at year's end.
    No high-level elected official has ever been indicted for 
corruption. Voters tend to look to representatives for financial 
assistance, which pressured elected officials to use government 
authority to provide patronage to extended family members and 
supporters. In October Nitijela Speaker Alvin Jacklick asked his 
colleagues to eliminate the total of $16,000 (the U.S. dollar is the 
national currency) members receive annually as a ``representational 
allowance.'' The members rejected this proposal and, instead, raised 
the allowance to $20,000. There were also frequent allegations of 
nepotism in government hiring, especially for teachers, where studies 
found serious discrepancies between teacher pay and qualifications. 
Officials also have used their positions to protect family members from 
prosecution for alleged wrongdoing.
    The law does not provide specifically for public access to 
government information. Although there is no specific statutory basis 
for denying such information, the Government held that the burden for 
overcoming a denial of access rests with the public. In most cases, in 
order to receive the information, a document must be filed with the 
court showing the reason the information is required.
Section 5. 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 existed. The Government was not 
always responsive to the concerns of nongovernmental organizations 
(NGOs).
    There were no international human rights NGOs represented in the 
country. The Government permitted visits by UN representatives and 
other international organizations, but there were none during the year.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, 
race, color, language, national or social origin, place of birth, and 
family status or descent, and the Government generally observed these 
provisions.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape, including spousal rape, and the 
Government generally enforced the law when incidents were reported to 
officials. The law establishes penalties of up to 25 years' 
imprisonment for first-degree sexual assault. However, most observers 
believed that few sexual offenses were prosecuted, since cultural 
constraints discouraged victims from reporting such crimes to the 
police. The courts have promulgated rules designed to protect women 
filing rape charges during court testimony. According to the Public 
Defender's Office, one rape case from Arno Atoll was pending at year's 
end; the alleged offender was held in the Majuro prison awaiting trial.
    The law prohibits domestic violence, and the Government generally 
enforced the law when incidents were reported to officials. The law 
establishes penalties for domestic abuse in the same category as 
assault and battery. Spousal abuse was common; most assaults occurred 
while the assailant was under the influence of alcohol. According to a 
government survey published in the Marshall Islands Journal in October 
2009, more than 70 percent of female spouses had been abused during an 
unspecified time period. Violence against women outside the family also 
occurred, and women in urban centers risked assault if they went out 
alone after dark.
    Police generally responded to reports of rape and domestic assault, 
and the Government's health office provided counseling in reported 
spousal and child abuse cases.
    Women's groups under the NGO Women United Together in the Marshall 
Islands (WUTMI) continued to publicize women's issues and promote 
greater awareness of women's rights. On August 25, following the August 
14 killing of a college teacher allegedly by her husband, WUTMI led a 
march to the courthouse in Majuro to protest domestic violence and ask 
the Government to strengthen legal penalties for domestic violence 
offenses. Police charged the deceased's husband in her death; he 
remained in detention awaiting trial as of year's end. An off-duty 
police officer was outside the teacher's house when the killing 
occurred and reported to his on-duty colleagues that he heard screams; 
however, he called them off when the screaming stopped. Following this 
incident the Government began training for police on how to respond 
properly to reports of domestic violence.
    Sexual harassment is not prohibited by law but did not appear to be 
a widespread problem.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide the number, 
spacing, and timing of children and the information and means to do so 
free from discrimination. Access to information on contraception, and 
to prenatal care, skilled attendance at delivery, and postpartum care 
were widely available on Majuro and Kwajalein Atolls; however, on 
remote atolls, often only small infirmaries with minimally trained 
attendants were available. Women and men were given equal access to 
diagnostic services and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, 
including HIV. The Ministry of Health provided free contraceptives, 
with particular emphasis on reducing the high rate of teenage 
pregnancy. According to indicators published by the Population Research 
Bureau, an estimated 45 percent of married women ages 15-49 used some 
form of contraception. Maternal mortality was approximately 0.1 to 0.2 
percent (one reported maternal death in 2009 and two in 2010, with 
approximately 1,200 births per year in the country), although maternal 
deaths in the outer islands may have been underreported. A large number 
of premature babies were born to young teenage mothers, with a 
resulting high number of babies born with physical and mental 
deficiencies.
    Women generally enjoy the same rights as men under family law and 
in the judicial system. Only women may own land. The inheritance of 
property and traditional rank is matrilineal, with women occupying 
important positions in the traditional system, although control of 
property often was delegated to male family members on behalf of female 
landowners. Tribal chiefs are the traditional authorities in the 
country; customarily, a chief is the husband or eldest son of the 
female landowner. The traditional authority exercised by women has 
declined with growing urbanization and movement of the population away 
from traditional lands. While female workers were prevalent in the 
private sector, many were in low-paying jobs with little prospect for 
advancement. Men and women had pay equity for all government positions 
involving similar work.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived through one's parents. Children 
born within the country to foreign parents do not acquire citizenship 
at birth, but may apply for citizenship upon turning 18 years old.
    Education was universal and compulsory to age 18, and the national 
government did not charge tuition fees, but it was estimated that up to 
20 percent of children did not attend elementary 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 annual registration fee, 
which varied by school but averaged approximately $10, or incidental 
expenses. The lack of school lunch programs in public schools was cited 
as another factor that contributed to absenteeism and poor performance.
    Child abuse and neglect are criminal offenses, but public awareness 
of children's rights remained low, and child abuse and neglect were 
considered increasingly common. Convictions for violations are 
punishable by up to 25 years in prison, depending on the degree of the 
offense. 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. Nonetheless, there 
were no reports or prosecutions during the year.
    The minimum age for consensual sex is 16. The country's statutory 
rape law provides penalties of up to 25 years' imprisonment for 
violators. No laws address child pornography.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were few Jewish persons in the country, and 
there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--In 2009 there were no confirmed reports 
that persons were trafficked to, from, or within the country.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution states that no person 
may be treated in a discriminatory manner under law or by public 
officials, but it does not include disability in its listing of 
specific prohibited grounds of discrimination. In practice persons with 
physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental disabilities faced 
difficulties in obtaining employment and accessing health care and 
other state services. There were no laws or policies designed to ensure 
access for individuals with disabilities to buildings, public 
transport, education, communications, or information. There were no 
building codes, and in practice most buildings were not accessible to 
persons with disabilities. Hospitals and two major grocery stores had 
ramps for persons with disabilities.
    The Government provided minimal support for persons with mental 
disabilities.
    There were no psychiatric facilities in the country. Persons whom 
the police deemed as exhibiting psychotic behavior were held with the 
general prison population and visited by a doctor. When prison 
officials protested the disruptions caused by this practice, other 
arrangements, such as house arrest, were made.
    There is no government agency specifically charged with protecting 
the rights of persons with disabilities in general. The Ministry of 
Health is charged with treating mental and physical disabilities, and 
the Ministry of Education is responsible for supporting special 
education for children with disabilities. In practice there were no 
special education classes for children with disabilities, except for a 
small foreign-funded class providing three months of instruction for 
the hearing impaired at Ebeye on Kwajalein Atoll. The attorney general 
is responsible for handling court cases involving complaints of 
discrimination against persons with disabilities, but no such cases 
were brought during the year. Authorities declared November 21-27 as 
``Disability Week,'' and a large event was held on a field across from 
the capitol to spread awareness of the rights and concerns of persons 
with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--As in some previous years, the 
authorities appeared to enforce selectively immigration laws against 
migrants from the People's Republic of China. In December a Chinese 
national was arrested on arrival at the airport allegedly for outbursts 
made against immigration officials. The individual was charged with 
obstructing an immigration officer in the execution of his duty. No 
other persons were arrested or prosecuted on similar charges.
    Some ethnic Chinese reported being threatened or attacked based on 
their race and receiving regular racial slurs. The local press reported 
that attacks on Chinese sailors by youth gangs were common. In July 
2009 a gang of local men assaulted a Chinese ship captain in Majuro, 
but by year's end the perpetrators had not been identified, and no 
arrests were made. Other ethnic Chinese stated that taxi drivers 
commonly refused to stop for Chinese passengers, although most taxis 
were owned by Chinese businessmen.
    A law requires that employers who hire foreign workers make 
monetary contributions into a fund that provides job training for 
citizens. While many considered the law discriminatory against foreign 
workers, employers were willing to pay the fee in order to hire 
technically skilled labor, which was not widely available in the 
country.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There is no law criminalizing 
homosexual conduct, and there were no reports of societal violence 
based on sexual orientation or gender identity. There were no reports 
of official or societal discrimination based on sexual orientation in 
employment, housing, statelessness, or access to education or health 
care.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no accounts 
of societal violence based on HIV/AIDS infection. There was some 
cultural stigma attached to HIV infection, and NGOs and the Government 
conducted campaigns to provide HIV/AIDS education and encourage testing 
for the disease.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides for the right of 
free association in general, and the Government interpreted this right 
as allowing the existence of labor unions. With a small number of major 
employers, there were few opportunities for workers to unionize, and 
the country has a limited history and culture of organized labor. Of 
the total workforce of approximately 18,500 persons, an estimated 57 
percent worked in the public sector, 21.5 percent in subsistence 
agriculture, and only 21.5 percent in private industry. In January 2009 
public school teachers formed the country's first labor union. 
Approximately 10 percent of the country's teachers were union members; 
however, the unwillingness of some teachers to pay union dues reduced 
the union's membership during the year. The approximately 110-member 
union did not engage in negotiation or collective bargaining during the 
year, but there were no reports of government restrictions on its 
activities.
    The law does not provide for the right to strike, and the 
Government has not addressed this issue.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--There is no 
legislation concerning collective bargaining or trade union 
organization. Wages in the cash economy were determined by market 
factors in accordance with the minimum wage and other laws.
    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 irregular immigrant Chinese 
population. 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.--
There is no law or regulation setting a minimum age for employment of 
children. Children typically were not employed in the wage economy, but 
it was common for children to assist their families in fishing, 
agriculture, retailing, and other small-scale enterprises. This was 
particularly true in the subsistence economies of the more remote 
atolls.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The law establishes a minimum 
wage of $2.00 per hour for both government and private-sector 
employees. 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 often were several wage earners to support each family. The 
Ministry of Resources and Development adequately enforced the minimum 
wage regulations. Foreign employees and local 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. Most foreign workers--
who constituted approximately 30 percent of the workforce (excluding 
agroforestry) and most of the professional and technical classes in the 
country--earned considerably more than the minimum wage; their earnings 
were estimated to be at least 50 percent higher on average than those 
of local workers.
    The Office of the Chief of Labor within the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs has the authority to make recommendations to the Nitijela on 
working conditions, such as the minimum wage, legal working hours and 
overtime payments, and occupational health and safety standards. 
However, there have been no such actions by the Office of Chief of 
Labor during the past four years, and the minimum wage has remained the 
same for over a decade. 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. 
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 applies to 
foreign workers in the same manner as citizens. The Office of the Chief 
of Labor did not conduct any inspections of workplace health and safety 
conditions during the year.

                               __________

                    MICRONESIA, FEDERATED STATES OF

    The Federated States of Micronesia is a constitutional republic 
composed of four states: Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap. Its 
population was approximately 103,000. Individual states enjoyed 
significant autonomy and traditional leaders retained considerable 
influence in Pohnpei and Yap. The elected unicameral Congress selects 
the president from among its four at-large members. In 2007 Congress 
chose Emanuel Mori as president. There were no formal political 
parties. The most recent elections for Congress, held in March 2009, 
were considered generally free and fair, despite technical problems and 
some allegations of fraud in Chuuk. Security forces reported to 
civilian authorities.
    Reported human rights problems included judicial delays, government 
corruption, discrimination against women, domestic violence, and child 
neglect.
                        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 arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    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 unlike in 
the previous year, there were no reports that government officials 
employed them.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards.
    The Government permits prison visits by independent human rights 
observers, but none occurred during the year.
    At year's end the country's four states had approximately100 
inmates held in facilities with a total capacity of 150 prisoners. 
Pohnpei held 18 persons, including one woman and one pretrial detainee; 
Yap held 19 persons, including one woman, five pretrial detainees, and 
five prisoners on work-release programs; Kosrae held 16 persons (all 
male), including one pretrial detainee and one mentally ill person; and 
Chuuk held 47 persons. No further information was available on those 
held in Chuuk. Pretrial detainees usually were held together with 
convicted prisoners.
    There were no designated juvenile detention facilities, so the 
states seldom incarcerated juvenile offenders. Such crimes were usually 
resolved in the traditional, mediation-based manner between the 
families of the perpetrator and the victim. No juveniles were 
incarcerated as of year's end.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. Authorities permitted prisoners and 
detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities without 
censorship and to request investigation of credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions, but authorities rarely investigated such 
allegations. The Government has the obligation to investigate and 
monitor prison and detention center conditions, but no information was 
publicly available as to whether it did so during the year. There is no 
ombudsman to serve on behalf of prisoners and detainees to consider 
such matters as alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders 
to alleviate any overcrowding; addressing the status and circumstances 
of confinement of juvenile offenders; and improving pretrial detention, 
bail, and recordkeeping procedures to ensure prisoners do not serve 
beyond the maximum sentence for the charged offense.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these 
prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the national, state, and local police 
forces, and the Government has effective mechanisms to investigate and 
punish abuse and corruption. Law enforcement agencies in Chuuk remained 
staffed with friends and relatives of powerful individuals, and the 
public defenders in Chuuk and Yap States relayed some anecdotal reports 
of police abuse, but no cases were investigated or charged during the 
year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Warrants are 
required for arrests, and detainees were promptly advised of the 
charges against them. Detainees must be brought before a judge for a 
hearing within 24 hours of arrest, and this requirement was generally 
observed in practice. Most arrested persons were released on bail. 
Detainees had prompt access to family members and lawyers. However, the 
Public Defender's Office was underfunded, and not all detainees who 
requested its assistance received adequate legal assistance in 
practice.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.
    The formal legal system coexists with traditional, mediation-based 
mechanisms for resolving disputes and dealing with offenders at the 
local level. As a result, few cases reach the trial stage. Except in 
major criminal cases such as murder or rape, if a perpetrator 
apologizes, the families involved can determine an appropriate 
punishment.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the right to a fair trial, 
and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. Trials are 
public, although juveniles are allowed closed hearings. Judges conduct 
trials and render verdicts; there are no juries. Defendants enjoy a 
presumption of innocence and have the right to counsel, to question 
witnesses, to access government-held evidence, and to appeal 
convictions. The law extends these rights to all citizens. 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 did 
not go to trial, and suspects routinely were released indefinitely. 
Bail, even for major crimes, usually was set at low levels.
    There is a national public defender system with an office in each 
state. However, the system was underfunded, and not all defendants 
received adequate legal assistance in practice. The national public 
defender reported no case backlog during the year, but the state public 
defender's offices had a backlog of cases not only because of the lack 
of staff, but also, in Chuuk, because of a lack of sufficient judges to 
hear the cases. The National Court also lacked sufficient funding and 
staffing to adequately uphold standards. One member of the bar was a 
convicted felon who represented persons in court. The National Bar 
Association lacked a standard procedure for disbarment.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters. The Supreme Court is 
responsible for hearing lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, 
human rights violations.

    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 expression but does not refer specifically to speech or the 
press; however, the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice.
    Individuals could criticize the Government publicly or privately 
without reprisal. The number of independent media outlets remained 
small, however, and there was a lack of consistently reliable access to 
broadcast media.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. Cost and 
lack of infrastructure limited public Internet access on the outlying 
islands in each state. On the four principal islands, infrastructure 
was adequate, but cost still limited access. However, each state 
telecommunications office had Internet work stations available to the 
public 24 hours a day for reasonable hourly fees. The International 
Telecommunication Union reported that approximately 16 percent of the 
country's inhabitants used the Internet in 2009.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    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.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within the country. Foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation are addressed in other areas of the law. In practice none 
of these rights were restricted. The need did not arise during the year 
for government cooperation with the Office of the UN High Commissioner 
for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in providing 
protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, refugees, 
returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other 
persons of concern.
    The law does 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.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is not a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or the 1967 Protocol 
relating to the Status of Refugees, and the Government has not 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. There were 
no formal requests for refugee status or asylum during the year, and 
there were no reports of expulsion or return of refugees to countries 
where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their 
race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, 
or political opinion.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens 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 and Political Participation.--The 14-member Congress 
comprises 10 members elected by district and four at-large members, one 
from each state. The last national congressional elections, held in 
March 2009, were generally free and fair. In statewide elections in 
Chuuk in March 2009, there were allegations of polling fraud. 
International election monitoring and review concluded that Chuuk 
experienced some procedural irregularities, but the outcome was not 
significantly altered.
    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 were no significant 
efforts to form organized political parties, and none existed. 
Candidates generally sought political support from family and allied 
clan groupings, religious groups, and expatriate citizen communities.
    Cultural factors in the male-dominated society limited women's 
representation in government and politics. Women were well represented 
in the middle and lower ranks of government at both the federal and 
state level but were scarcer in the upper ranks. A woman held the 
cabinet-level position of secretary of health services, and there was 
one female justice on the Pohnpei State Supreme Court. No women ran for 
national office in the 2009 elections. There was one elected woman 
serving in a governing body, a member of the Pohnpei State legislature. 
There were no women in the other state legislatures or in the national 
legislature.
    The country is a multicultural federation, and both the legislature 
and the Government included persons from various cultural backgrounds.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government sometimes implemented these laws effectively; however, 
officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. 
Government corruption was a serious problem, particularly in Chuuk 
State.
    Public officials were not subject to financial disclosure laws. The 
Office of the Attorney General has primary responsibility for combating 
government corruption. However, the national attorney general, 
appointed in 2007, remained suspended from practice before the bar due 
to allegations of improper practices prior to assuming the position of 
attorney general. (His suspension dated from 1999.)
    There is no national law providing for public access to government 
information. The speaker of Congress can declare any congressional 
documents confidential. State laws and practices varied. Legislative 
hearings and deliberations generally were open to the public. In 
Pohnpei the state legislature's proceedings were televised, and in Yap 
they were broadcast on FM radio. Information from other branches of 
government also was accessible; however, retrieval sometimes was 
delayed by the loss or mishandling of records and the need for lower 
level administrative personnel to verify that release was permissible. 
There were no reported cases of government denial of access to media, 
but there were only a small number of media outlets, and their 
reporting resources were limited.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    Although there are no official restrictions, no local groups 
concerned themselves exclusively with human rights. Several groups 
addressed problems concerning the rights of women and children, and the 
Government cooperated with these groups.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law provide explicit protection against 
discrimination based on race, sex, or language, but societal 
discrimination against women remained a problem.

    Women.--Sexual assault, including rape, is a crime. There is no 
specific law against spousal rape. Sexual assault involving a dangerous 
weapon or serious physical or psychological harm to the victim is 
punishable by up to nine years' imprisonment in Chuuk and 10 years' 
imprisonment in the other three states, and/or a fine of up to $20,000 
(the U.S. dollar is the national currency) in Kosrae and $10,000 in the 
other states. If neither a dangerous weapon nor serious harm is 
involved, the assault is punishable in all states by up to five years' 
imprisonment or a fine. Such crimes were underreported, however, due to 
social stigma, and few cases were prosecuted. The curriculum at the 
police academy included programs to train police officers to recognize 
the problem. According to police and women's groups, there were a 
number of reports of physical and sexual assaults against women, both 
citizens and foreigners, outside the family context.
    Reports of spousal abuse, often severe, continued during the year. 
Although assault is a crime, there were no specific laws against 
domestic abuse. Effective prosecution of offenses was rare. In many 
cases victims decided against initiating legal charges against a family 
member because of family pressure, fear of further assault, or belief 
that the police would not involve themselves actively in what is seen 
as a private family problem. Within the traditional extended family 
unit, violence, abuse, and neglect directed against spouses or children 
were deemed offenses against the family, not just the individual 
victims, and were addressed by a complex system of familial sanctions. 
However, traditional methods of coping with family discord were 
breaking down with increasing urbanization, monetization of the 
economy, and greater emphasis on the nuclear family. No government 
agency, including the police, has succeeded in replacing the extended 
family system or in addressing the problem of family violence directly.
    There were no governmental or private facilities to shelter and 
support women in abusive situations. However, Pohnpei State began a 
program of domestic violence education that included a hotline. The 
Pohnpei Department of Public Safety also began training its officers to 
handle domestic violence situations. In June the Chuuk State Attorney 
General's Office sponsored a three-day workshop on domestic violence 
conducted by representatives of a foreign attorneys general 
association. Attendees included members of state government, the 
religious community, and women's and other interested community groups. 
As a result of the workshop, the Chuuk Women's Advisory Council, a 
nongovernmental organization (NGO), received a foreign government grant 
to build a multipurpose center to be used initially as an office and 
eventually also as a shelter for victims of domestic violence.
    In July the national government held a National Women's Conference 
that addressed various gender-based issues, including women's health, 
women in decision making, self employment of women, improving women's 
education, problems of women with disabilities, and domestic violence. 
The conference adopted three resolutions: asking all states to pass 
mandatory maternity leave for state employees, as the national and 
Kosrae State governments already had done; urging state governments to 
pass necessary laws to address domestic violence and other forms of 
violence against women; and endorsing a pending congressional bill to 
provide reserved seats for women in Congress.
    The law does not prohibit sexual harassment, and anecdotal reports 
suggested that it was pervasive.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide the number, 
spacing, and timing of children, and the information and means to do so 
free from discrimination. Access to information on contraception, 
prenatal care, skilled attendance at delivery, and postpartum care were 
widely available through private and public medical facilities. The 
maternal death rate could not be calculated due to underreporting or 
missing data; however, the maternal mortality ratio was estimated to be 
very low. According to indicators published by the Population Reference 
Bureau, skilled health personnel attended an estimated 88 percent of 
births, and an estimated 70 percent of married women ages 15-49 used 
modern contraceptive methods. The Government conducted public 
information campaigns on reproductive health matters through posters 
and billboards; other types of local media were not readily available. 
Women and men were given equal access to diagnostic services and 
treatment for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
    Women have equal rights under the law, including the right to own 
property, and there were no institutional barriers to education or 
employment. The largest employers were the national and state 
governments, and women received equal pay for equal work. The public 
sector comprises fully half of the country's 15,500 jobs, with nearly 
5,000 in state government positions and approximately 2,500 in national 
and municipal government or public enterprises or agencies. Societal 
discrimination against women continued, however, and cultural mores 
encouraged differential treatment for women. For example, in Yap State 
women were prohibited from entering a meeting hall during men's 
meetings. In Chuuk State women must bow in the presence of men during 
formal meetings. Nonetheless, women were active and increasingly 
successful in private business. There was a national women's working 
group made up of female national government employees, including the 
Secretary of health and social services, that advised the Government. 
Additionally, several small NGOs were interested in women's issues, 
particularly those associated with family violence and abuse. The 
Women's Interest Section of the Department of Health and Social 
Services worked to protect and promote women's rights.

    Children.--A child acquires citizenship if one or both parents were 
citizens. Individual states maintain birth records.
    Although a compulsory education law requires all children to begin 
school at age six, not all did so, and the law was not enforced. A 
shortage of qualified teachers and lack of textbooks hampered progress. 
The law permits children to leave school when they reach the age of 14 
or after completing the eighth grade.
    Child abuse is illegal, although the constitution provides for a 
right of parental discipline. Crime statistics indicated no complaints 
of, or arrests for, child abuse during the year, but cultural attitudes 
regarding parental discipline limited the reporting of abuse. There 
were some anecdotal reports of child abuse and neglect.
    The states' statutory rape laws apply to children age 13 and below 
in Chuuk, Yap, and Kosrae and age 15 and below in Pohnpei. The maximum 
penalties vary according to state--Chuuk: five years' imprisonment, 
$5,000 fine; Kosrae: 10 years, $20,000 fine; Yap: 10 years, $10,000 
fine; and Pohnpei: five years, $5,000 fine. Only Pohnpei has a statute 
prohibiting child pornography. Both Chuuk and Pohnpei have provisions 
against exhibiting ``adult films'' in general; Yap and Kosrae have no 
such provisions. Both Chuuk and Pohnpei impose a penalty of six months' 
imprisonment for violations.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international child abduction, please see the Department of State's 
annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no known Jewish communities in the 
country, and there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination in 
public service employment against persons with physical disabilities. 
There were no reports of discrimination against persons with physical, 
sensory, intellectual, or mental disabilities in employment, access to 
health care, or provision of other state services; however, persons 
with disabilities usually did not seek employment outside the home. 
Children with disabilities, including learning disabilities, were 
provided with special education, including instruction at home if 
necessary; however, such classes were dependent on foreign funding. 
Neither laws nor regulations mandate accessibility to public buildings 
or services for persons with disabilities. In practice many buildings 
had ramps and/or were only one story. There was one elevator in the 
two-story Pohnpei State government building--the only elevator in the 
country. There were no policies or programs to ensure access to 
information and communications for persons with disabilities.
    Due to a lack of facilities for treating mentally ill persons, some 
persons with mental illnesses but no criminal background were housed in 
jails. The authorities provided separate rooms in jails for persons 
suffering from mental illness, and state health departments provided 
medication as part of their programs to provide free treatment to all 
mentally ill residents.
    The national Health Services Department is responsible for 
protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Each of the country's four 
states has a different language and culture. Traditionally the state of 
Yap had a caste-like social system with high-status villages, each of 
which had an affiliated low-status village. In the past those who came 
from low-status villages worked without pay for those with higher 
status. In exchange those with higher status offered care and 
protection to those subservient to them. The traditional hierarchical 
social system has been gradually breaking down, and capable people from 
low-status villages could rise to senior positions in society. 
Nonetheless, the traditional system continued to affect contemporary 
life. Persons from low-status backgrounds tended to be less assertive 
in advocating for their communities' needs with the Government. As a 
result, low-status communities sometimes continued to be underserved.
    The national and state constitutions prohibit noncitizens from 
purchasing land, and a 2002 law continued to limit the occupations that 
noncitizens could fill. The national Congress granted citizenship to 
non-Micronesians only in rare cases. There is no permanent residency 
status. For the most part, however, noncitizens shared fully in the 
social and cultural life of the country.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There are no laws 
criminalizing homosexual conduct. There were no reports of violence, 
official or societal discrimination, or workplace discrimination 
against lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender persons.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of societal violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--Although the law does not 
specifically provide for the right of workers to join a union, under 
the constitution citizens have the right to form or join associations, 
and national government employees by law can form associations to 
``present their views'' to the Government without being subject to 
coercion, discrimination, or reprisals. No workers, including foreign 
workers, were prohibited from joining unions, but 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 no unions. The national and state 
governments employed more than half of the country's wage-earning 
workers. The majority of the remaining working-age population was 
engaged in subsistence farming and fishing.
    There is no specific right to strike, but no law prohibits strikes. 
There were no employment-related disputes or demonstrations during the 
year.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--No law deals 
specifically with trade unions or with the right to collective 
bargaining. Since there were no unions, there were no reports of 
collective bargaining agreements during the year. Individual employers, 
the largest of which were the national and state governments, set 
wages.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The constitution 
prohibits forced or compulsory labor. There were reports of a few men 
and women from other Pacific nations being subjected to forced labor.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
National and state laws do not establish a minimum age for employment 
of children. In practice there was no employment of children for wages, 
but children often assisted their families in subsistence farming and 
in family-owned shops.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum hourly wage for 
employment with the national government was $2.65. All states had a 
minimum hourly wage for government workers: $2.00 in Pohnpei, $1.25 in 
Chuuk, $1.42 in Kosrae, and $1.60 in Yap. Only Pohnpei had a minimum 
wage for private sector workers: $1.35 per hour. These minimum wage 
structures apply to skilled and unskilled workers and 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 was standard practice) or prescribing standards of 
occupational safety and health. A federal regulation requires that 
employers provide a safe workplace, but the Department of Health had no 
enforcement capability, and working conditions varied in practice. 
There is no law for either the public or private sector that permits 
workers to remove themselves from dangerous work situations without 
jeopardy to their continued employment.
    Foreign workers were not subjected to abuse or deported without 
cause. They have the right to a hearing if facing deportation.
    Working conditions aboard some Chinese-owned fishing vessels 
operating in the country's waters continued to be very poor. Crewmen 
reported a high incidence of injuries, beatings by officers, and 
nonpayment of salary.

                               __________

                                MONGOLIA

    Mongolia, with a population of three million, is a multiparty, 
parliamentary democracy. The most recent presidential election, held in 
May 2009 and considered largely free and fair, was won by former prime 
minister Tsakhia Elbegdorj of the Democratic Party. Prime Minister 
Sukhbaatar Batbold and his majority Mongolian People's Revolutionary 
Party (MPRP) continued to dominate the parliament but governed under a 
unity government with the Democratic Party. Security forces reported to 
civilian authorities.
    While the law provides for protection of basic human rights, the 
following human rights problems were noted: police abuse of prisoners 
and detainees; uneven enforcement of the law and official impunity; 
poor conditions in detention centers; arbitrary arrest, lengthy 
pretrial detention, and corruption within the judicial system; 
government interference in the media; continued refusal by some 
provincial governments to register Christian churches; secrecy laws and 
a lack of transparency in government affairs; inadequate measures to 
counter domestic violence against women; and 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings during the year.
    In February, after investigating the circumstances of the 2008 
protest resulting in the deaths of five persons, the State Prosecutor 
General's Office (SPO) dropped all charges against the 10 police 
officers suspected of firing upon civilians and the four senior police 
officials suspected of giving the order to open fire. However, in 
November the SPO reopened the case.

    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, sources 
reported that police, especially in rural areas, occasionally beat 
prisoners and detainees. The use of unnecessary force, particularly to 
obtain confessions, in the arrest process reportedly was common.
    Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) claimed that guards or police 
sometimes meted out cruel punishment to inmates at police stations and 
detention centers. The NGOs stated that some inmates were burned with 
cigarettes, beaten with batons, or kicked in the shins with steel-toed 
boots.
    According to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), during 
the year the SPO's Special Investigative Unit (SIU) received 210 
complaints from citizens, including 10 complaints against police and 
prison officers suspected of torture, of which three were dismissed, 
five led to convictions, and two were sent to the SPO. The NHRC stated 
that some incidents of alleged torture occurred during investigations 
but not during imprisonment. The NHRC received five complaints against 
police and law enforcement officers concerning beatings, abuse, and 
confessions through torture. The five complaints were transferred to 
the SIU; one had resulted in compensation and arrests or charges by 
year's end.
    Amnesty International reported that hazing was common within the 
military, primarily including beatings by higher-ranking personnel of 
their subordinates.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--According to Amnesty 
International, conditions in prisons were poor but improved during the 
year. The low quality of medical care available to prisoners remained a 
concern. The General Executive Agency of Court Decision (GEACD) 
reported that there were 7,265 prisoners, of whom 452 were women and 75 
were juveniles. UN officials reported that children and adults often 
were not separated in police detention facilities. The GEACD reported 
20 deaths during the year in prisons and prison clinics under its 
control. The National Police and GEACD reported two deaths in detention 
facilities. Amnesty International declared that this number was 
understated due to the practice of correctional officials releasing 
terminally ill patients from their ward shortly before their impending 
death.
    Amnesty International reported that conditions at holding cells in 
police stations and pretrial detention facilities remained poor. 
Sources reported incidents of detainee abuse and forced confessions and 
cited the conflict of interest inherent in the National Police's 
continued oversight of administrative predetention facilities, due to 
their concurrent responsibility to interrogate detainees. Overcrowding 
and low-quality medical care threatened the health of detainees. There 
were approximately 900 detainees in the sole pretrial criminal 
detention facility serving Ulaanbaatar in Gants-khudag, a dark building 
with poor ventilation and a capacity according to the GEACD of 640. At 
times cells held eight persons in spaces intended for two or three. 
Detainees were granted only one hour of time outside their cell per 
week.
    Within the Denjin Myanga administrative detention facility in 
Ulaanbaatar, sources reported that detainees found guilty of 
administrative offenses lived in squalid conditions due to overcrowding 
and poor ventilation. Although the section holding them was built to 
hold 120, there often were more than 200 detainees. Officials reported 
that conditions were worst in the winter, when arrests increase and the 
severe cold weather precludes outside activities.
    Inebriated individuals were detained in overcrowded police-operated 
detoxification centers for up to 24 hours. Officials reported that they 
lacked the resources to provide adequate water, food, hygienic 
standards, adequate bedding, ventilation, and bathing facilities. 
Detainees were stripped to their underclothing and kept in stone-
floored, overcrowded cells with only a blanket to keep warm for the 
duration of their detention. Children were detained alongside adults, 
and detainees were kept together regardless of whether their crime was 
violent or not. Diseases were common among inmates and guards alike.
    Many inmates entered prison and detention centers infected with 
tuberculosis or contracted it in prison. The Government quarantined and 
treated victims at its tuberculosis hospital.
    NGOs and the Government offered vocational, educational, outdoor, 
and religious activities. NGOs provided clothing, food, books, English-
language instruction, and vocational training in prisons and detention 
centers.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. The law allows prisoners and detainees 
to submit complaints to judicial authorities without censorship and 
request investigations, but Amnesty International stated that in many 
cases this process was significantly flawed and failed to address 
legitimate complaints. The Prosecutor's Office and State Special 
Inspection Agency monitored prison and detention center conditions. In 
November the results of monitoring by the Capital City Prosecutor's 
Office and Capital City Special Inspection Office were released 
publicly. Their report disclosed problems of hygiene, including failure 
to clean rooms and bedding, failure of cafeteria staff to abide by 
standards, contamination of the drinking water with bacteria, and 
inadequacies in the dimensions and conditions of the cells.
    The NHRC monitored conditions at several prisons and detention 
centers. Monitors from the diplomatic and human rights community were 
granted unaccompanied meetings with prisoners during the year. The 
GEACD reported that ombudsmen are not able to serve on behalf of 
prisoners and detainees.
    At year's end the GEACD reported that the Government had invested 
19.9 billion tugrik ($16 million) in prison renovation since 2006, 
resulting in improvements in 35 facilities.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law provides that no person 
shall be arrested, detained, or deprived of liberty except by specified 
procedures; however, arbitrary arrest and detention occurred. General 
public awareness of basic rights and judicial procedures, including 
rights with regard to arrest and detention, was limited, especially in 
rural areas.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Security forces are 
under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of 
Justice and Home Affairs, and the General Intelligence Agency. The 
Defense Ministry oversees national defense and assists in providing 
domestic emergency assistance and disaster relief, in support of 
internal security forces. The national police and the Border Force 
operate under the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs. The 
intelligence agency is responsible for both internal security and 
foreign intelligence collection and operations. The agency's civilian 
head reports directly to the prime minister. The SPO supervises 
undercover activities of the police and intelligence agencies.
    Mechanisms to investigate police abuses remained inadequate, since 
investigatory units lacked the resources to pursue all allegations. The 
SIU investigates allegations of misconduct by law enforcement 
personnel, prosecutors, and members of the judiciary. According to the 
SIU, police frequently blocked or impeded the work of its 
investigators, particularly when the targets of investigation were 
high-ranking police officials. During the year the SIU received 721 
complaints against law enforcement officials, opened cases on 132 of 
these complaints, refused to open cases on 283 complaints, and 
transferred 297 complaints to other agencies. At year's end nine cases 
were under investigation. The SIU investigated a total of 329 persons: 
155 police officers, 135 civilians, 29 investigators, five intelligence 
agency officers, three judges, and two prosecutors.
    There were no major government actions, including training, to 
reform the security forces.
    There were multiple reports from members of minority groups that 
ultranationalist groups enjoyed impunity, due to police complacence and 
unwillingness to apprehend the offenders. Ultranationalists targeted 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons, Chinese, and 
Koreans with threats, violence, and the extraction of protection money.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--A judge-issued 
warrant is required prior to the arrest of a suspect. A ``pressing 
circumstances'' exception allows police to arrest suspects without 
obtaining a warrant. The UN reported that two-thirds of those accused 
with criminal offenses in Ulaanbaatar were arrested without court 
authorization.
    By law police must request a court order to continue holding 
suspects after 24 hours. If permission is obtained, police may hold 
suspects for up to 72 hours before a decision is made to prosecute or 
release them. If a court order is not granted within 72 hours, police 
must release suspects.
    Detainees generally were informed promptly of the charges against 
them. The maximum pretrial detention with a court order is 24 months; 
an additional six months are allowed for particularly serious crimes 
such as murder. Detainees are allowed prompt access to family members. 
Detainees may be released on bail with the approval of a prosecutor.
    A detainee has the right to a defense attorney during pretrial 
detention and all subsequent stages of the legal process. If a 
defendant cannot afford a private attorney, the Government must appoint 
an attorney. Despite this legal provision, many detainees were unaware 
of their right to a government-appointed attorney and did not assert 
it. There was a shortage of public-funded and pro bono attorneys for 
low-income defendants, particularly outside Ulaanbaatar. To address the 
shortage, the Government, working with the UN Development Program, 
placed an attorney in each of the provincial capitals and the districts 
of Ulaanbaatar to provide free legal advice. Nonetheless, some 
detainees refused to use state-funded attorneys for fear that such 
attorneys would not fairly represent them. Furthermore, many defense 
attorneys' law licenses remained suspended for providing services to 
the victims of police violence from the July 2008 riots.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this 
provision in practice; however, corruption and outside influence were 
increasingly problematic, particularly at the level of the Supreme 
Court. Bribery could contribute to the dismissal of a case or reduction 
of a recommended sentence.
    There were three cases involving judges pending at year's end.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the right to a fair public 
trial by a judge, but this was undermined by frequent cases of bribery 
and a large number of cases per judge. The law provides that defendants 
are innocent until proven guilty, and this was respected in practice. 
Juries are not used. Closed proceedings are permitted in cases 
involving state secrets, rape cases involving minors, and other cases 
as provided by law. Defendants may question witnesses, present 
evidence, and appeal decisions. The law extends these rights to all 
citizens.
    Despite these provisions, trial procedures were often plagued by 
legal inconsistencies. There was a shortage of state-provided defense 
lawyers, and many defendants lacked adequate legal representation. 
Judges often relied on confessions, many of which were coerced by 
police, in convicting defendants.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Administrative and 
judicial remedies are available for alleged wrongs. Corruption, outside 
influence, and enforcement of court orders were problems in the civil 
judicial system. Although by law victims of police abuse can sue for 
damages, in practice few were able to claim compensation.
    In February 2009 Ulaanbaatar police detained for four hours a 
lawyer who represented religious workers facing deportation. No charges 
were issued, but the lawyer said that police fined him. The lawyer 
appealed the fine, and in March 2009 the Supreme Court ruled in his 
favor. However, the plaintiff stated that police disregarded the 
Supreme Court's judgment and refused to repay him.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The criminal code and constitution prohibit such 
actions; however, there were reports of government surveillance, 
wiretapping, and e-mail account intrusions against journalists and NGOs 
critical of the Government.
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. Nevertheless, government interference with 
licensing and indirect intimidation of the press, particularly 
broadcast media, was evident.
    A variety of newspapers and other publications represented both 
major political parties and independent viewpoints. The Ministry of 
Justice and Home Affairs licensed newspapers, television and radio 
broadcasters, and magazines. The media law bans censorship of public 
information and any legislation that would limit the freedom to publish 
and broadcast; however, perceived self-censorship continued to be a 
problem. A December 2009 poll of journalists by Globe International, a 
domestic media rights NGO, found that half of them reported self-
censoring their work because of threats or the fear of prosecution or 
job loss. The Government monitored all media for compliance with 
antiviolence, antipornography, antialcohol, and tax laws.
    In September 2009 the Media Office of the General Policy Authority 
sent a ``cooperation agreement'' valid for one year to all Ulaanbaatar-
based television stations. In exchange for providing ``safety for 
television stations that signed the agreement and for their journalists 
working at flashpoints,'' the police required ``balanced'' and ``true 
and objective information'' and forbade the dissemination of 
``incorrect information and propaganda that encourages mass disorder 
during public demonstrations'' or ``information compromising public or 
organizational privacy and state secrecy.'' The agreement also required 
that ``when reporting, media outlets shall regularly contact central 
headquarters for information on the current situation.'' In addition it 
stated that ``if a public demonstration becomes mass disorder, the 
media shall cooperate with the police and broadcast propaganda to 
defuse and resolve the situation.'' All but two television stations 
reportedly signed the agreement, leaving in question whether the police 
would extend protection to those that did not. There were no reports 
the two stations that did not sign the agreement experienced public 
safety problems.
    In December 2009 the investigative newspaper Niigmiin Toli was 
fined for defamation by the Ulaanbaatar Metropolitan Court following a 
letter it published from an anonymous citizen in the province of Bayan-
Olgii criticizing local Governor Khaval and his staff. On August 27, 
following the newspaper's rejection of the court order to apologize and 
pay a fine of two million tugrik ($1,610) to the ``defamed'' officials, 
the GEACD raided the office and seized a computer with a database of 
confidential sources. Although authorities reportedly claimed that the 
property was seized in lieu of the fine, the editor in chief stated 
that, unlike newer computers in the office, the value of the antiquated 
computer was less than the amount of the fine, leading the newspaper to 
allege the specific computer was seized by authorities to uncover 
confidential sources.
    Press representatives alleged indirect censorship in the form of 
government and political party harassment, such as frequent libel 
complaints and tax audits. The law places the burden of proof on the 
defendant in libel and slander cases. Both libel and ``insult'' were 
criminal charges. Globe International reported that in advance of the 
protests of late March and early April, the nominally independent 
Communications Regulatory Commission demanded that one television 
station not cover the demonstrations. Due to the commission's role in 
licensing, observers interpreted this as tantamount to a threat, and by 
extension, censorship.
    Observers stated that many newspapers were either affiliated with 
political parties or owned (fully or partly) by individuals affiliated 
with political parties and that such affiliation strongly influenced 
the published reports. The observers also noted that underpaid 
reporters frequently demanded payment to cover or fabricate a story.
    Broadcast media similarly were not free of political interference. 
A lack of transparency during the tendering process and lack of a fully 
independent licensing authority inhibited fair competition for 
broadcast frequency licenses and benefited those with political 
connections. At the provincial level, local government control of the 
licensing process similarly inhibited the development of independent 
television stations.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet. Individuals and groups could engage in the peaceful 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail; however, 
there were reports that the Government monitored some e-mail accounts. 
According to the Information and Communication Technology Agency, there 
were 56 Internet service providers with 106,000 subscribers in the 
country, and all provinces had Internet connectivity. Internet access 
continued to expand during the year to remote areas as a result of 
government and private-sector efforts. According to a 2009 survey by 
the technology agency, 73 percent of Ulaanbaatar residents had used the 
Internet at least once. According to the same agency, 6 percent of 
families in Ulaanbaatar had Internet connections in their homes.
    A representative of the LGBT Centre alleged government monitoring 
of their personal e-mail accounts, stating that recent activity logs 
frequently listed unknown Internet protocol addresses within the 
country.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    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.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government generally cooperated with the Office of the UN 
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian 
organizations in providing protection and assistance to refugees, 
asylum seekers, and other persons of concern.
    Foreign residents must obtain exit visas to leave the country. 
Public and private entities increasingly used the visa requirement to 
pressure foreign investors to settle commercial disputes, effectively 
detaining them until they settled or underwent a full investigatory 
process, which could be lengthy. However, even after a dispute is 
settled, a claim can be refiled in the same venue, if local police and 
prosecutors are willing, or in a different venue.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is not a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or the 1967 Protocol 
relating to the Status of Refugees. However, the constitution provides 
for the right to asylum, and in practice the Government provided 
protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries 
where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their 
race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, 
or political opinion.
    Citizenship is inherited from parents. Refugees are considered 
illegal migrants and as such do not have access to basic services such 
as health care and education, nor are they allowed to work. The UNHCR 
reported that ``stateless persons are unable to enjoy their most 
fundamental rights such as the right education, health care, and an 
adequate standard of living.'' According to statistics provided by the 
Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs and the Immigration Agency, in 
December there were 29 individuals who were stateless and under 
consideration for naturalization. Most had renounced their original 
citizenship in the process of applying for Mongolian citizenship. By 
law the procedure to acquire and/or reacquire Mongolian nationality 
should take no more than six months, but in reality it often took 
considerably longer.
    The Immigration Agency does not consider ethnic Kazakhs to be 
stateless without verification with Kazakh authorities that they are 
not Kazakh citizens. The UNHCR reported that many thousands of ethnic 
Kazakh Mongolians renounced their Mongolian nationality upon moving to 
Kazakhstan in the early 1990s, but many who were unable to gain Kazakh 
citizenship returned to Mongolia, where they became stateless. The 
UNHCR reported that the process of reacquiring Mongolian nationality 
was long and complicated and recommended improving the implementation 
of relevant laws. In addition observers cited the lack of awareness 
regarding the relevant legal framework as a reason for statelessness. 
Furthermore, the process of verification with the Kazakh government was 
protracted.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The law provides citizens the right to change their government 
peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice through 
periodic elections based on universal suffrage. The law limits the 
president to two four-year terms. Parliamentary and local elections are 
held separately, also for four-year terms.
    The law provides that the majority party in the parliament, in 
consultation with the president, shall appoint the prime minister. 
Members of the parliament may serve as cabinet ministers. There is no 
requirement that the prime minister or other ministers be a member of 
the parliament.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In the most recent 
presidential election, held in May 2009, the former prime minister and 
candidate of the opposition Democratic Party, Tsakhia Elbegdorj, 
defeated MPRP incumbent Nambar Enkhbayar. Independent observers 
described the election as largely free and fair.
    The potential for bias within the General Election Commission was a 
concern, particularly for smaller political parties. Four of the nine 
commissioners belonged to the MPRP and three to the Democratic Party 
prior to becoming commissioners and cancelling their memberships, as 
required by law.
    Political parties could operate without restriction or outside 
interference. There were 17 political parties registered with the 
Supreme Court.
    There were no legal impediments to the participation of women or 
minorities in government and politics, but their numbers remained 
small. There were three women in the 76-member parliament. One of the 
15 cabinet ministers was a woman, as were seven of the 17 Supreme Court 
justices. Women and women's organizations were vocal in local and 
national politics and actively sought greater female representation in 
government policymaking.
    There were three ethnic Kazakhs serving in the parliament. There 
were two members of minority groups serving in the cabinet or Supreme 
Court.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not always implement the law effectively, 
and officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. 
Corruption was perceived to be a serious and continuing problem at all 
levels of government, particularly within the judiciary and customs 
service. Varying degrees of corruption at most levels of government 
resulted in a blurring of the lines between the public and private 
sectors. Conflicts of interest were frequent. The problem was 
compounded by ineffective governmental oversight bodies and media that 
frequently failed to expose corruption.
    Corruption in law enforcement agencies was endemic. The 
Government's Independent Agency Against Corruption investigated some 
police officers but did not make public the results of any such 
investigations.
    The criminal code proscribes the acceptance of bribes by officials 
and provides for fines or imprisonment of up to five years. It also 
outlaws offering bribes to government officials. Members of the 
parliament are immune from prosecution during their tenure, preventing 
a number of allegations of corruption from going to trial. Corruption-
related arrests and convictions were rare but increasing.
    The anticorruption agency, which is responsible for investigating 
corruption cases, declared that nearly all of the most senior officials 
complied with the requirement to declare their assets and income (and 
those of relatives, including spouses, parents, children, and live-in 
siblings). The agency also is required to review the asset declarations 
of public servants, including police officers and members of the 
military, and this was carried out in practice. The agency received 427 
reports of improprieties during the year, of which it referred more 
than 46 for criminal investigation.
    Government and parliamentary decision making was not transparent, 
and public legislative hearings were rare. Meetings of the parliament's 
standing committees were not open to the press or the public. 
Nevertheless, in May the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Legal 
Affairs held a hearing in which parliamentarians questioned officials 
who allegedly violated anticorruption statutes. General sessions of the 
parliament were largely open to the public, although not in all cases.
    There was no law providing for public access to government 
information. The far-reaching State Secrets Law inhibited freedom of 
information and government transparency while at the same time 
undermining accountability. The law also hindered citizen participation 
in policy discussions and government oversight.
Section 5. 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 assistance from the UN Development Program, a local 
representative in each provincial assembly monitored human rights 
conditions.
    The NHRC is responsible for monitoring human rights abuses, 
initiating and reviewing policy changes, and coordinating with human 
rights NGOs; it reports directly to the parliament. The NHRC consists 
of three senior civil servants nominated by the president, Supreme 
Court, and parliament for terms of six years.
    The Government allowed midlevel civil servants to receive human 
rights training through seminars, conferences, and lectures.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law 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.

    Women.--Rape and domestic abuse are illegal; however, no law 
specifically prohibits spousal rape, and rape remained a problem. 
During the year 254 persons were convicted of rape, according to the 
research center of the Supreme Court. However, NGOs alleged that many 
rapes were not reported and claimed that police and judicial procedures 
were stressful to victims and tended to discourage reporting of the 
crime. Social stigma also lowered the number of cases reported.
    According to NGOs, police referred only a small number of rape 
cases for prosecution, largely claiming that there was insufficient 
evidence. Postrape medical examinations were available, and results 
were occasionally used as evidence; however, such exams were not always 
available in remote areas. NGOs stated that negative attitudes among 
some police resulted in certain cases not being referred to 
prosecutors.
    The criminal code outlaws sexual intercourse through physical 
violence (or threat of violence) and provides for sentences of up to 
five years. If the victim is injured or is a minor, the penalty can 
reach 10 years. Such a crime resulting in death, victimizing a child 
less than 14 years of age, or committed by a recidivist may result in 
15 to 25 years' imprisonment or the death penalty. Gang rape is 
punishable by death.
    Domestic violence remained a serious problem, particularly against 
women of low-income rural families. The law requires police to accept 
and file complaints, visit the site of incidents, interrogate offenders 
and witnesses, impose administrative criminal penalties, and bring 
victims to refuge. It also provides for sanctions against offenders, 
including expulsion from the home, prohibitions on the use of joint 
property, prohibitions on meeting victims and on access to minors, and 
compulsory training aimed at behavior modification. However, this level 
of service was rarely provided because the police lacked sufficient 
funding and, according to NGOs, often were reluctant to intervene in 
what was viewed as an internal family matter.
    Between 2007 and June 2009, the Mongolian Women's Legal Association 
documented more than 240 criminal proceedings involving domestic 
violence. During the same period, the association reported that 
officers invoked the hooliganism article of the administrative code in 
cases of domestic violence 4,800 times. Of these interventions, 7 
percent resulted in detentions of the assailant for up to 30 days and 
the remainder in fines payable to the state. At year's end 20 victims 
had received services, and 15 cases had been processed. The Government 
maintained a care facility for domestic violence and rape victims in 
the National Center for Trauma Treatment.
    There were no reliable statistics regarding the extent of domestic 
abuse; however, the National Center Against Violence (NCAV) estimated 
that approximately one in three women was subject to some form of 
domestic violence and one in 10 women was battered. A total of 484 
persons were convicted of domestic violence and given restraining 
orders during the year. However, the law fails to assign responsibility 
to particular agencies in the execution of restraining orders. As a 
result the women's legal association reported that restraining orders 
were poorly monitored and enforced. The law instructs that restraining 
orders be in effect only as long as the victims are in shelter, thus 
exposing them to danger upon their release.
    The NCAV stated that it provided temporary shelter to 437 persons 
at its six locations and provided psychological counseling to hundreds. 
The NCAV launched domestic violence prevention campaigns without 
governmental support. State and local governments financially supported 
the NCAV in providing services to domestic violence victims. The 
Ministry of Social Welfare and Labor (MSWL) provided approximately 
eight million tugrik ($6,440) to the NCAV for its shelter in 
Ulaanbaatar, and the Government welfare agencies provided an additional 
16 million tugrik ($12,880) to two shelter houses in Ulaanbaatar. The 
province of Selenge provided 2.3 million tugrik ($1,850) to the local 
shelter house.
    According to women's NGOs, sex tourism from South Korea and Japan 
remained a problem.
    There are no laws against sexual harassment. NGOs alleged there was 
a lack of awareness within society on what constituted inappropriate 
behavior, making it difficult to gauge the actual extent of the 
problem. An NHRC survey found that one of every two employed women 
under the age of 35 identified herself as a victim of workplace sexual 
harassment.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children and have 
the information and means to do so free from discrimination. The 
Ministry of Health reported that 83 percent of pregnant women had 
access to childbirth services, prenatal care, essential obstetric care, 
and postpartum care in 2009. However, observers stated that public 
reproductive health-care facilities had long waiting times, a lack of 
confidentiality, and unprofessional treatment by medical personnel. 
According to data gathered by the UN, the 2008 estimated maternal 
mortality ratio was 65 deaths per 100,000 live births. The UN 
Population Division estimated that 66 percent of women or their 
partners used contraceptive methods. Women were equally diagnosed and 
treated for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
    The law provides men and women with equal rights in all areas, 
including equal pay for equal work and equal access to education. In 
most cases these rights were enjoyed in practice. The Gender Center for 
Sustainable Development reported that from 2000 to 2008, men who worked 
in managerial positions earned 22.8 percent more than women equivalent 
in rank, and men who worked as engineers had 45.4 percent higher 
salaries than their female counterparts.
    Women represented approximately half of the workforce, 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 
business or were involved in the creation and management of new trading 
and manufacturing businesses. The mandatory retirement age of 55 for 
women is five years lower than for men.
    Divorced women secured alimony payments under the family law, which 
details the rights and responsibilities regarding alimony and 
parenting. The former husband and wife evenly divided property and 
assets acquired during their marriage. In a majority of cases, the 
divorced wife retained custody of any children, but Monfemnet reported 
that divorced husbands often failed to pay child support without state 
penalty. Women's activists said that because businesses were usually 
registered under the husband's name, ownership was increasingly 
transferred automatically to the former husband.
    There was no separate government agency to oversee women's rights; 
however, there was the National Gender Center under the Prime 
Minister's Office, a national council to coordinate policy and women's 
interests among ministries and NGOs, and a division for women and youth 
concerns within the MSWL. In the parliament there was a Standing 
Committee on Social Policy, Education, and Science that focused on 
gender matters.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents.
    Child abuse was a significant problem, principally in the forms of 
violence and sexual abuse. According to the Governmental National 
Center for Children, both problems were most likely to occur within 
families.
    Although against the law, the commercial sexual exploitation of 
children--involving those under 18 years of age--was a problem. 
According to NGOs there were instances wherein teenage girls were 
kidnapped, coerced, deceived, and forced to work as prostitutes. The 
minimum age for consensual sex is 16. Violators of the statutory rape 
law are subject to a penalty of up to three years in prison. The law 
prohibits the production, sale, or display of all pornography and 
carries a penalty of up to three months in prison. The country was not 
believed to be a destination for child sex tourism.
    Police raids freed some teenage victims of commercial sexual 
exploitation; however, NGOs claimed other police officers worked with 
procurers and brothel keepers. Teenage victims of sexual exploitation 
were often detained and punished for the crime of prostitution.
    Although society has a long tradition of raising children in a 
communal manner, societal and familial changes orphaned many children. 
Child abandonment was a problem; other children were orphaned or ran 
away from home as a result of parental abuse, much of it committed 
under the influence of alcohol. An MSWL official stated there were no 
effective legal deterrents for child abandonment.
    According to the MSWL, there were 41 temporary shelters and 
orphanages, seven fewer than in 2009 after inspections found them to be 
noncompliant with the standards adopted in 2008. The MSWL reported that 
there were six government-funded shelters, classifying the Address 
Identification Center (AIC) as a shelter. Of these, officials stated 
that facilities run by the AIC, National Center for Children, and 
Ulaanbaatar city government failed to meet the Government's standards 
for shelters. Approximately 1,500 children lived in shelters 
countrywide. In the winter an estimated 60 children, and in the summer 
hundreds of children, were estimated to be living on the street.
    Minors who ran away from or were lost or abandoned by their parents 
are brought to the police-run AIC in Ulaanbaatar for the purpose of 
reconnecting children with their families. With a capacity of 45, it 
was often overcrowded with as many as 70. Police officials stated that 
children of abusive parents were sent to shelters rather than back 
home, but some observers suggested that many youths were sent back to 
abusive parents. The AIC was unable to provide adequate medical 
attention to the children, many of whom could not access public health 
services for lack of an identification card. Officials stated that the 
state allocated 24,000 tugrik ($20) a month for all medical expenses 
despite officials' estimates that 80 percent of the entering children 
were sick, in many cases severely so. Since many of the children lacked 
their identification cards, public hospitals refused to provide those 
children even rudimentary treatment. The Law on the Provisional 
Detention of Homeless Children states that children should be kept in 
the AIC for no longer than seven days, yet in practice they were kept 
for up to 180 days. Children residing at the AIC for such long 
durations were not integrated into regular schools.
    The Government began implementation of a ``Road Home Program'' to 
provide educational and recreational activities for 35 children who 
were regular entrants to the AIC. All funding for this program came 
from outside donors.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish population was very small, and there 
were no reports of anti-Semitic acts during the year.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The labor law prohibits discrimination 
in employment and education against persons with disabilities. At 
year's end the NHRC was investigating whether laws discriminate against 
persons with disabilities in health care or in the provision of other 
state services. The law defines the types of disabilities as including 
those concerning physical, sensory, and mental but not intellectual 
attributes. The Law on Social Protection of the Disabled gives 
provincial governors and the Ulaanbaatar governor the responsibility to 
implement measures to protect the rights of persons with disabilities. 
However, the Government did little to execute such measures, and in 
practice most persons with disabilities faced significant barriers to 
employment, education, and participation in public life.
    According to the Mongolian National Federation of Disabled Persons' 
Organizations (MNFDPO), there were an estimated 81,500 persons with 
disabilities over the age of 16 in the country, of whom 20 percent were 
employed. The Government provided tax benefits to enterprises that 
hired persons with disabilities. The law requires workplaces to hire 
one person with disabilities for every 25 employees or pay a fine. 
However, the law requires that disabled persons may work a maximum of 
36 hours a week before overtime, thus creating a disincentive for 
companies to employ them. Companies often chose to pay the small fine 
rather than fill the legal quota for disabled individuals. Furthermore, 
the Government itself failed to employ disabled individuals in the 
ratio required of employers.
    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. The reemployment right was 
generally enforced in practice.
    In February a new law took effect mandating standards of physical 
access for persons with disabilities to newly constructed public 
buildings; however, by year's end the law had not been applied. One 
school newly constructed in Songino-Khairkhan District failed to meet 
the new regulations. Government buildings remained largely inaccessible 
to persons with disabilities. Public transportation was also largely 
inaccessible to such persons. Despite a new law introducing standards 
for road construction under which some textured sidewalks meant to aid 
visually impaired pedestrians were installed, the persistence of open 
manholes, protruding obstacles, and unheeded crosswalks prevented many 
persons with disabilities from moving freely.
    There were several specialized schools for youth with disabilities, 
but these students could also attend regular schools. However, in 
practice children with disabilities had limited access to education. 
The MNFDPO estimated that of 33,000 children with disabilities, 60 
percent failed to complete secondary education. Schools for individuals 
with disabilities could accommodate only 2,200 children.
    The law requires the Government to provide benefits according to 
the nature and severity of the disability. Although the Government 
generally provided benefits, the amount of financial assistance was 
low, and it did not reach all persons with disabilities. The MNFDPO 
stated that benefits were provided in an ad hoc manner, often failing 
to meet the actual demands of the recipients. According to the MNFDPO, 
of the 97,000 government-registered persons with disabilities, during 
the year approximately 42,000 received an allowance from the 
Government's Social Welfare Fund, and 46,000 persons received 
allowances from the Social Insurance Fund. The MNFDPO alleged that the 
employment support fund, a program targeted at persons with 
disabilities through local governments, was often misappropriated at 
the provincial level.
    Persons with disabilities could not fully participate in the 
political process. Little accommodation was made for such persons at 
polling stations, and there were no such representatives in the 
parliament. The MNFDPO estimated that in the 2009 presidential 
election, only 34 percent of the electorate with disabilities cast a 
ballot. Persons with sight and hearing disabilities had difficulty 
remaining informed about public affairs due to a lack of accessible 
broadcast media. The MNFDPO stated that less than 15 percent of 
broadcasting on the state-owned television channel had simultaneous 
sign language.
    The MNFDPO worked with the Government to encourage vocational 
education centers to work with children with disabilities so that they 
could eventually be capable of running small businesses. The 
Ulaanbaatar city government sponsored one factory staffed with 
approximately 70 blind individuals.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Homosexual conduct is not 
specifically proscribed by law. However, Amnesty International and the 
International Lesbian and Gay Association criticized a section of the 
penal code that refers to ``immoral gratification of sexual desires,'' 
arguing that it could be used against persons engaging in homosexual 
conduct. Such persons reported harassment and surveillance by police. 
Police took little or no action to apprehend ultranationalists who 
threatened, abducted, and committed acts of violence against members of 
the LGBT community.
    There were reports that individuals were assaulted in public and at 
home, denied service from stores and nightclubs, and discriminated 
against in the workplace based on their sexual orientation. There also 
were reports of abuse of persons held in police detention centers based 
on their sexual orientation.
    Some media outlets described gays and lesbians with derogatory 
terms and associated homosexual conduct with HIV/AIDS, pedophilia, and 
the corruption of youth.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There was no official 
discrimination against those with HIV/AIDS; however, some societal 
discrimination existed. The public continued largely to associate HIV/
AIDS with homosexual conduct, burdening victims with the attendant 
social stigma.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law entitles workers to form or 
join independent unions and professional organizations of their 
choosing without previous authorization or excessive requirements, and 
the Government respected this right in practice. However, some legal 
provisions restrict these rights for groups such as foreign workers, 
public servants, and workers without employment contracts.
    Union officials estimated union membership of salaried individuals 
remained constant. No arbitrary restrictions limited who could be a 
union official, and officers were elected by secret ballot.
    The law provides for the right to strike. The Confederation of 
Mongolian Trade Unions (CMTU) reported that university administrators 
used pressure and threats to prevent the formation of unions among 
lecturers. The Federation of Mongolian Education and Science Unions 
also reported police harassment during an April 1 protest before 
Government House. Furthermore, a union leader for teachers in School 75 
of Khan-Uul District was fired for leading a one-day strike in April.
    The Government prohibits third parties from organizing a strike. 
Persons employed in essential services, which the Government defines as 
occupations critical for national defense and safety and including 
police, utility, and transportation, do not have the right to strike. 
The list of essential services appeared to comply with International 
Labor Organization guidelines.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Laws protect 
collective bargaining, and these were effectively enforced. The law 
regulates relations among 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 tripartite Labor Dispute Settlement Committee resolves disputes 
between workers and management. The Government does not allow 
intervention in collective bargaining by third parties.
    The law protects the right of workers to participate in trade union 
activities without discrimination, and the Government protected this 
right in general. Nevertheless, the administration failed to enforce a 
2009 court order requiring the compensation and rehiring of striking 
Aero Mongolia mechanics. After the Supreme Court ruled against it, 
Aero-Mongolia filed a new case during the year claiming the union to be 
illegal. The case remained on appeal at year's end. The fired mechanics 
reported being blacklisted as a result of their union activities.
    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, 
there were isolated reports that such practices occurred.
    The NHRC stated that military officials reportedly subjected 
subordinates to forced labor, such as cutting firewood, digging 
ditches, or working at construction sites owned by the superiors' 
friends or relatives.
    An estimated 524 North Korean laborers were employed in the fields 
of mining, factory work, utilities, transportation, construction, 
customer service, and health. There was concern that some North Korean 
workers were not free to leave their employment or complain about 
unacceptable work conditions.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law 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 age 18 may not work at night, engage in 
arduous work, or work in hazardous occupations such as mining and 
construction. However, involuntary child labor occurred in the 
construction and mining (coal, gold, and fluorspar mineral) sectors, 
although largely if not exclusively in the informal, artisanal mining 
sector. Labor inspectors assigned to regional and local offices were 
responsible for enforcement of these prohibitions and all other labor 
regulations. 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 and unauthorized small-
scale mining as well as scavenging in dumpsites and herding animals. 
Widespread alcoholism and parental abandonment made it necessary for 
many children to support themselves. The National Center for Children 
estimated the number of children in the labor force as high as 77,000, 
although up to 90 percent of these children were involved in 
traditional animal husbandry, while only 1 percent were estimated to be 
involved in mining.
    International organizations continued to voice concern over child 
jockeys in horseracing. According to NHRC reports, more than 30,000 
child jockeys competed in horse races each year. Children commonly 
learn to ride horses at age four or five, and young children 
traditionally serve as jockeys during the national Naadam festival, 
where races range from two to nearly 20 miles. The state bans racing 
with child jockeys during the coldest period (October 18 through 
February 13), and there are regulations requiring adequate headwear. 
With increased NGO monitoring during horseracing events, there 
reportedly was greater adherence to these regulations.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The legal minimum wage was 
108,000 tugrik ($87) per month. This minimum wage, which applied to 
both public- and private-sector workers and was enforced by the Labor 
Ministry, did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and 
family. Some workers received less than the minimum wage, particularly 
at smaller companies in rural areas. The minimum wage is reset annually 
by the MSWL in consultation with trade union representatives and 
employers.
    The standard legal workweek is 40 hours, and there is a minimum 
rest period of 48 hours between workweeks. For persons 14 and 15 years 
of age, the workweek is 30 hours; for individuals with disabilities and 
those 16 and 17 years of age, it is 36 hours. 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 from working overtime by law. These laws 
generally were enforced in practice.
    There is no law mandating sick leave for workers. According to the 
Government, employers set their own rules in this regard.
    Laws on labor, cooperatives, and enterprises set occupational 
health and safety standards; however, enforcement of the standards was 
inadequate. The MSWL had an insufficient number of inspectors, 
according to the CMTU. Inspections were conducted both proactively and 
in response to complaints filed. A CMTU representative stated that 
fines imposed against companies not complying with labor standards were 
insufficient to induce management to resolve problems cited by 
inspectors. The near-total reliance on outmoded machinery and problems 
with maintenance and management led to frequent industrial accidents, 
particularly in the construction, mining, and power sectors. Workers 
have the right to remove themselves from situations that endanger 
health or safety without jeopardy to their employment, and authorities 
enforced this right.
    Foreign workers, the majority of whom were Chinese mining and 
construction workers, reportedly worked in conditions that did not meet 
government regulations. The MSWL did not monitor the working or living 
conditions of Chinese or North Korean laborers. Observers stated that 
North Korean laborers likely failed to receive the minimum wage.

                               __________

                                 NAURU

    Nauru is a constitutional republic with a population of 
approximately 9,200. The most recent parliamentary elections, held in 
November, were generally free and fair. There were no formal political 
parties. The 18-member unicameral parliament reelected March Stephen as 
president. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    Few human rights problems were reported.
                        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 arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    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 and Detention Center Conditions.--During the year a new 
prison compound was made operational, although minor completions 
remained ongoing at year's end. The only other prison in the country 
was damaged by fire in 2008 and closed when the new prison became 
operational. Prison conditions generally met international standards. 
The new facility could hold up to 60 prisoners at full capacity. The 
new facility houses a juvenile center, a women's prison, and a main 
prison. During the year there were 20 prisoners in detention, including 
one woman and no juveniles. There were also five pretrial detainees 
held in the same facility. Unlike in previous years, short-term 
detainees (those held for no more than 24 hours, generally for drunk 
and disorderly behavior), including juveniles, were accommodated in the 
low-risk area of the prison, instead of in cells made from converted 
shipping containers.
    Authorities permitted prisoners and detainees to submit complaints 
to judicial authorities through their families, lawyers, or directly 
with the officer in charge. All complaints were addressed by the 
officer in charge. If necessary, the police assist in the 
investigation. Government representatives made weekly visits to the 
correction center.
    The Government affirmed it would permit monitoring visits by 
independent human rights observers, but none were reported. Prison 
visits by church groups and family members were permitted.
    There was no ombudsman who could serve on behalf of prisoners and 
detainees. Prison authorities provided daily reports to the correction 
center management on the behavior of each prisoner. These reports were 
submitted to the Quarterly Remission Program, which could reduce a 
prisoner's sentence by a quarter of their total term based on good 
behavior. The recommendations were made by corrections center 
management to the Secretary for Justice, who issued final decisions. 
The program was also used to ensure prison terms were accurately 
monitored.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these 
prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the police, and the Government has 
effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse and corruption. 
There were no reports of impunity involving the security forces during 
the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Arrests are 
made openly, based either on warrants issued by authorized officials or 
for proximate cause by a police officer witnessing a crime. Police may 
hold a person for no more than 24 hours without a hearing before a 
magistrate. There was a functioning bail system. The law provides for 
accused persons to have access to legal assistance, but in practice 
qualified assistance was not always readily available. Detainees were 
allowed prompt access to family members.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. 
Procedural safeguards are based on English common law. They include the 
presumption of innocence; the right to be informed promptly of charges; 
the right to adequate time and facilities to prepare a defense; the 
right to confront witnesses, present evidence, and appeal convictions; 
the right to trial by jury; and a prohibition on double jeopardy and 
forced self-incrimination. Trials are public, defendants have the right 
to legal counsel, and a representative for the defense is appointed at 
public expense 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. These rights were extended to all citizens without 
exception.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters, including access to a court 
to bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, human rights 
violations.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and 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 and law provide 
for freedom of expression, and the Government generally respected 
freedom of speech and of the press in practice.
    Although there were no government restrictions, there were few 
local independent media.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail.
    Internet facilities were available for public use for an affordable 
fee.
    According to the International Telecommunication Union, in 2009 
approximately 2.1 percent of the population had access to the Internet. 
However, the communal culture of the country allowed for ready sharing 
of such access, and the country gained broadband access in October.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
provides for freedoms of assembly and association, and the Government 
generally respected these rights in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the Department of State's 2010 International Religious 
Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--Neither the constitution nor the law 
specifically provides for freedom of movement within the country, 
foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation, but the Government 
generally respected these rights in practice. The Government cooperated 
with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and other 
humanitarian organizations in providing protection and assistance to 
internally displaced persons, refugees, returning refugees, asylum 
seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    Neither the constitution nor law prohibits forced exile; however, 
the Government did not use it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is not a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. 
Its laws do not provide for the granting of asylum or refugee status, 
and the Government has not established a system for providing 
protection to refugees. There were no requests during the year for 
protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries 
where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their 
race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, 
or political opinion.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens 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 and Political Participation.--On March 20, with 
parliament in a stalemate of nine members for the Government and nine 
members in the opposition, President Marcus Stephen called a general 
election two years into the three-year parliamentary term. The 
parliament indirectly elects the president, but the two factions have 
not been able to form a majority in the parliament.
    On April 24, the same 18 members were reelected, and the stalemate 
continued. The 19th Parliament was unable to form a new government, and 
on June 11, President Marcus Stephen declared a state of emergency and 
dissolved parliament. The state of emergency is an administrative 
measure enabling the Government in place to operate without a new 
parliamentary mandate, and it does not restrict individual or political 
freedoms. Another round of elections took place on June 19, which 
resulted in another hung parliament.
    On November 1, a third parliamentary election took place. The state 
of emergency was lifted after President Marcus Stephen was reelected, 
defeating opposition member Milton Dube, in free and fair elections. 
The stalemate was broken with a deal that made opposition leader and 
former president Ludwig Scotty speaker of the house.
    Political parties could operate without restriction or outside 
interference, but there were no formal parties.
    There are no legal impediments to participation in politics by 
women. However, women have traditionally been less prominent in 
politics than men. No women stood as candidates in the parliamentary 
elections. The country's dually accredited permanent representative to 
the UN and ambassador to the United States was a woman. Women held some 
senior civil service positions, including the head of the civil service 
and the presidential counsel.
    There were no members of minorities in the parliament or the 
cabinet. The country has a small and almost entirely homogenous 
Micronesian population.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, but 
there are no financial disclosure laws or specific government agencies 
responsible for combating government corruption. During the year there 
were some allegations of corruption surrounding the election campaign.
    There are no legal provisions for public access to government 
information, and the Government did not freely provide such access.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    The Government did not restrict establishment of local human rights 
organizations, but no such groups existed.
    The Government cooperated with international governmental 
organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives and other 
organizations.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, 
place of origin, color, creed, or sex, and the Government generally 
observed these provisions.

    Women.--Rape is a crime punishable by up to life imprisonment. 
However, there was no information regarding the extent of rape or 
domestic violence. Police investigated all reports of rape thoroughly, 
and cases were vigorously prosecuted by the courts. Spousal rape is not 
specifically identified as a crime, but police investigated and filed 
charges when allegations of rape were made against a spouse.
    The Government kept no statistics on the incidence of physical or 
domestic abuse of women. However, credible reports from women's 
organizations indicated that sporadic abuse occurred, often aggravated 
by alcohol use. Families normally sought to reconcile such problems 
informally and, if necessary, communally. The police and judiciary 
treated major incidents and unresolved family disputes seriously.
    Some forms of sexual harassment are crimes, but sexual harassment 
was not a serious problem.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide the number, 
spacing, and timing of their children. The Government-run medical 
system provided access to contraception and prenatal, obstetric, and 
postpartum care free of charge. A Department of Health survey on 
contraceptive use reported that 36 percent of surveyed married women 
used some form of contraception. There were no figures available 
regarding maternal mortality rates. Women and men had equal access to 
diagnostic services and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, 
including HIV.
    The law grants women the same freedoms and protections as men. The 
Government officially provides equal opportunities in education and 
employment, and women may own property and pursue private interests. In 
practice, however, societal pressures and the impoverished economic 
circumstances often limited opportunities for women to exercise these 
rights fully. The Women's Affairs Office was responsible for promoting 
professional opportunities for women.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents. The 
constitution also provides for acquisition of citizenship by birth in 
the country in cases in which the person would otherwise be stateless.
    Government resources for education and health care for children 
were severely constrained by the economic crisis.
    Child abuse statistics were not compiled, but anecdotal evidence 
indicated that abuse occurred.
    The minimum age for consensual sex is 17 years. The penalty for 
unlawful carnal knowledge or attempted carnal knowledge of a girl under 
age 17 is six years' imprisonment. ``Indecent treatment'' of a girl 
under age 17 is a misdemeanor punishable by two years' imprisonment.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international child abduction, please see the Department of State's 
annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html

    Anti-Semitism.--There was no known Jewish community and no reports 
of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--In 2009 there were no confirmed 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. Nonetheless, there 
was no reported discrimination against persons with disabilities in 
employment, education, access to health care, or the provision of other 
state services. No legislation mandates services for persons with 
disabilities or access to public buildings. Department of Education 
teachers provided rudimentary classes for a small group of students 
with disabilities, which were held at a teacher's home, as no classroom 
was available.
    There is no government agency with specific responsibility for 
protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. There are no formal 
mechanisms to protect persons with mental disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Ethnic Chinese composed 
approximately 5 percent of the population. A pattern of petty theft, 
property damage, and assault directed at the ethnic Chinese community 
continued during the year. Police attributed most attacks on ethnic 
Chinese to economic motivations and noted a general trend of theft-
related attacks on a few private businesses.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Sodomy is illegal, but there 
were no reports of prosecutions directed at lesbian, gay, bisexual, or 
transgender persons. There were no reports of violence or 
discrimination against persons on the basis of sexual orientation or 
gender identity.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of violence or discrimination against persons based on HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The constitution provides for the 
right of citizens to form and belong to trade unions or other 
associations. However, the country lacks labor laws and formal trade 
unions. Historically, the transient nature of the mostly foreign 
workforce hampered efforts to organize trade unions. Several small 
associations, such as the Nauru Fishermen's Association, People's 
Movement Association, and Buada Lagoon Owners' Association, offer 
information on fisheries vocational skills and regulations.
    The right to strike is not protected, prohibited, or limited by 
law. There were no strikes during the year.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Although there 
are no legal impediments, collective bargaining did not take place. A 
tiny private sector, mostly family-run stores and restaurants, employed 
approximately1percent of salaried workers. Salaries, working hours, 
vacation periods, and other employment matters for government workers 
are governed by public service regulations.
    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.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law sets the minimum age of employment at 17. The Department of Human 
Resources and Labor is responsible for enforcing the law, which was 
respected by the only two significant employers: the Government and the 
phosphate industry. Some children under 17 worked in small family-owned 
businesses.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Government has a graduated 
salary system for public service officers and employees. At lower 
ranges the salaries did not provide a decent standard of living for a 
worker and family. There was no minimum wage for private-sector 
workers.
    By regulation the workweek in both the public and private sectors 
was 35 hours for office workers and 40 hours for manual laborers. 
Neither the law nor regulations stipulate a weekly rest period; 
however, most workers observed Saturdays and Sundays as holidays. There 
were provisions for premium overtime pay only for public-sector 
workers.
    The Government sets some health and safety standards, which the 
Department of Human Resources and Labor is responsible for enforcing. 
The phosphate industry had a history of workplace health and safety 
requirements and compliance, but with the decline of the industry, 
enforcement of these regulations was lax. A gradual revival of the 
industry, which continued during the year, was accompanied by 
accusations that unfiltered dust discharge from the phosphate plant 
exposed workers and the surrounding communities to a significant health 
hazard. The Government did not act to eliminate the problem, citing 
high costs. Workers have the right to remove themselves from situations 
that endanger health or safety without jeopardy to their employment.

                               __________

                              NEW ZEALAND

    New Zealand is a parliamentary democracy with a population of 
approximately 4.3 million. Citizens choose their representatives in 
free and fair multiparty elections, most recently held in 2008 when the 
National Party won 58 parliamentary seats and formed a minority 
coalition government with John Key as the prime minister. Security 
forces reported to civilian authorities.
    There were reports that indigenous persons disproportionately 
experienced societal problems and that ethnic minority individuals 
experienced 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    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 and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards, and the 
Government permitted monitoring visits by independent human rights 
observers.
    On March 1, fellow inmates allegedly killed a prisoner at Auckland 
Prison. Authorities charged three men with murder and a fourth as an 
accessory and scheduled all four for a jury trial in Auckland in May 
2011. The family complained that supervision at the prison was 
inadequate.
    At year's end the prison population was 8,423. Of these, 525 were 
female, 524 were between the ages of 15 and 19, and 4,240 
(approximately half) were prisoners of Maori descent. Male and female 
prisoners were held in separate prison facilities under equivalent 
conditions.
    Persons accused of a crime who are 17 years of age or older are 
tried as adults and, if convicted, sent to adult prisons. Juvenile 
correctional facilities hold prisoners who are younger than 17.
    Authorities allow prisoners at least one personal visit each week 
for a minimum of 30 minutes, permit religious observance, and allow 
them to make uncensored complaints to statutory inspectors or to the 
ombudsmen. The Ombudsmen Office reports to Parliament annually on its 
findings. The law provides for specified rights of inspection, 
including those by members of Parliament (MPs) and justices of the 
peace, and information was publicly available on complaints and 
investigations, subject to the provisions of privacy legislation.
    The law requires prison facilities to be inspected to ensure that 
they meet minimum standards, and improvements were made when 
deficiencies were identified.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these 
prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over police, and the Government has 
effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse and corruption. 
There were no reports of impunity involving security forces during the 
year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--A court-issued 
warrant is usually necessary to make an arrest, but police may arrest a 
suspect without a warrant if there is reasonable cause. Police officers 
may enter premises without a warrant to arrest a person if they 
reasonably suspect the person of committing a crime on the premises or 
have found the person committing an offense and are in pursuit. Police 
must inform arrested persons immediately of their legal rights and the 
grounds for their arrest.
    After arresting and charging a suspect, police may release the 
person on bail until the first court appearance. Court bail is granted 
after the first court appearance, unless there is a significant risk 
that the suspect would flee, tamper with witnesses or evidence, or 
commit a crime while on bail. Police do not normally grant bail for 
more serious offenses such as assault or burglary. Authorities granted 
family members prompt access to detainees and allowed detainees prompt 
access to a lawyer of their choice and, if indigent, to a lawyer 
provided by the Government.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the right to a fair trial, 
and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. Defendants 
enjoy the rights found in other common-law jurisdictions, including a 
presumption of innocence, a right to a jury trial, a right of appeal, 
and the rights to counsel, to question witnesses, and to access 
government-held evidence. The law extends these rights to all citizens. 
A lawyer is provided at public expense if the defendant cannot afford 
counsel.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters, which includes access to the 
Human Rights Review Tribunal and other courts to bring lawsuits seeking 
damages and other remedies for alleged human rights abuses. There are 
also administrative remedies for alleged wrongs through the Human 
Rights Commission (HRC) and the Office of Human Rights Proceedings.

    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. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a 
functioning democratic political system combined to ensure freedom of 
speech and of the press.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
Internet access was widely available, with usage listed by the 
International Telecommunication Union as 84 individuals per 100 
inhabitants in 2009.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    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.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in 
assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
    There is no statutory authority for imposing a sentence of exile, 
and the Government did not practice forced exile.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice 
the Government provided protection against the expulsion or return of 
refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened 
on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a 
particular social group, or political opinion. The Government also 
provided temporary protection to individuals who may not qualify under 
the definition of the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of 
Refugees and its 1967 Protocol until their status was determined and 
action taken.
    During the year the country handled five stateless persons' cases, 
in all of which the individuals claimed refugee status. In the case of 
a Kuwaiti pending at the end of 2009, authorities granted the 
individual refugee status. Authorities also opened four new cases 
involving three Kuwaitis and one Palestinian. The Government granted 
refugee status to the Palestinian and two of the Kuwaitis; the third 
Kuwaiti's case remained pending at year's end.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The law 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.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In the most recent general 
elections, held in 2008, the National Party won 58 of 122 parliamentary 
seats and formed a minority government in coalition with the ACT Party 
and the United Future Party. The National-led government also had a 
cooperation agreement with the Maori Party; under the terms of the 
cooperation agreement, the National Party abandoned its opposition to 
Maori-designated parliamentary seats. A good working relationship 
existed between the Maori Party and the National Party government. 
Three other parties were represented in Parliament: Labour, Green, and 
Progressive.
    Women participated fully in political life. There were 41 women 
among the 122 MPs and eight women on the executive council, which is 
composed of 28 ministers (20 within the cabinet and eight outside). The 
chief justice of the Supreme Court was a woman. There was one woman in 
the 24-seat parliament of the Associated State of the Cook Islands 
following national elections on November 17 and four women in the 20-
seat parliament of the Associated State of Niue.
    Seven seats in Parliament are reserved for persons of Maori 
ancestry. The number of Maori seats is adjusted every five years, based 
on the number of persons who register to vote on the Maori electoral 
roll. Persons of Maori ancestry can also become MPs by election or 
appointment to non-Maori conventional seats.
    There were 20 Maori members, six members of Pacific Island descent, 
and six members of Asian descent in Parliament. The cabinet included at 
least three members of Maori ancestry.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government generally implemented these laws effectively. There were 
isolated reports of government corruption during the year. Efforts to 
combat corruption and prosecution of corruption cases are handled 
through the Ministry of Justice and the independent Serious Fraud 
Office.
    The law requires MPs, including all ministers, to submit an annual 
report of financial interests, which is then disclosed publicly. Career 
civil servants are not subject to this requirement but are subject to 
ethics standards established by the State Services Commission.
    The law provides for public access to government information, 
including access for noncitizens and foreign media, to be provided 
within 20 working days of a request, and the Government generally 
adhered to the law in practice. Information must be made available 
unless a good reason, such as concern for national security, exists for 
not doing so; the Government did not abuse this provision. The 
requester must be given an estimate of any fees before the information 
is provided.
Section 5. 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 Ministry of Justice funds the active HRC, which operated as an 
independent agency without government interference. The commission had 
a staff of 60 and adequate resources to perform its mission. It 
submitted more than 60 legal and policy interventions during the year 
ending June 30, and the Government responded to its recommendations, 
which led to several law changes. The HRC was considered effective, and 
public confidence in it was high.
    The Office of the Ombudsmen, an organization responsible to 
Parliament but independent of the Government, is charged with 
investigating complaints about the administrative acts, decisions, 
recommendations, and omissions of national- and local-government 
agencies; inspecting prisons; and following up on prisoner complaints. 
The office enjoyed government cooperation, operated without government 
or party interference, was adequately resourced, and was considered 
effective and trusted by the public. The office produced a wide variety 
of reports for the Government that were available on its Web site 
www.ombudsmen.parliament.nz.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, sex, 
disability, age, and national or ethnic origin, and the Government 
actively enforced these prohibitions.

    Women.--Violence against women affected all socioeconomic groups. 
The law criminalizes rape, including spousal rape. The maximum penalty 
is 20 years' imprisonment; however, indefinite detention may occur in 
cases where the parole board during its annual review believes that the 
prisoner continues to pose a continuing threat to society. (The 
Ministry of Justice reported no such cases during the July 2009 through 
June 2010 period.) During the July 2009-June 2010 period, police 
recorded 2,961 ``sexual attacks'' that resulted in 1,362 prosecutions, 
an increase compared with 2,364 sexual attacks and 1,127 prosecutions 
during the previous comparable period. In 2009 police recorded 21 
offenses of spousal rape with 19 convictions and 77 charges of unlawful 
sexual connection with a spouse with 73 convictions.
    The Government's Task Force for Action on Violence Within Families 
continued to coordinate a variety of government initiatives to 
eliminate family violence, including its Te Rito program, a national 
strategy to address all forms and degrees of domestic violence.
    Police were responsive when domestic violence was reported. The 
Government partially funded women's shelters, rape crisis centers, 
sexual abuse counseling, family violence networks, and violence 
prevention services.
    The law prohibits sex tourism. The Government prosecuted in New 
Zealand sexual offenses committed abroad, based upon evidence 
collected, including photographs confiscated from the accused upon 
reentry into the country.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment and provides civil penalties. 
However, sexual contact induced by certain threats may also fall under 
the criminal code, with a maximum 14-year prison sentence. The HRC 
published fact sheets on sexual harassment and made sexual harassment 
prevention training available to schools, businesses, and government 
departments on a regular basis.
    The Government recognized the basic right of couples and 
individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and 
timing of their children, and granted access to information on 
reproductive health free from discrimination, coercion, or violence. 
The Government does not limit access to male contraception, and female 
contraception is available without parental consent to women 16 years 
and older. According to UN Population Fund data and the Population 
Reference Bureau, the country's estimated maternal mortality ratio in 
2008 was 14 deaths per 100,000 live births with a woman's lifetime risk 
of maternal death of one in 3,800. The UN estimated contraceptive use 
among married women ages 15-49 at 75 percent. Skilled healthcare for 
women was widely available. Women and men were equally diagnosed and 
treated for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
    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. The HRC has an equal opportunity employment 
team that focuses on workplace gender problems. This team regularly 
surveys pay scales, conducts a census of women in leadership roles, and 
actively engages public and private employers to promote compensation 
equality.
    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. According to June 2009 
Department of Labor (DoL) survey statistics, women earned more than 89 
percent of the average hourly earnings for men.

    Children.--Children born in the country attain citizenship if 
either parent is a citizen or legal permanent resident of the country. 
Children born outside of the country attain citizenship if either 
parent is a citizen born in the country.
    Cases of child abuse and neglect increased over previous years, but 
according to the Ministry of Justice, it remained unclear whether this 
trend identified in 2008 reflected higher levels of abuse and neglect, 
or whether lower community tolerance stimulated increased reporting. 
The Government promoted information sharing between the courts and 
health and child-protection agencies to identify children at risk of 
abuse. The Office of the Commissioner for Children played a key role in 
monitoring violence and abuse against children.
    Commercial sexual exploitation of children remained a problem. A 
2007 nationwide study found that 1.3 percent of 772 surveyed sex 
workers were underage. When discovered, law enforcement authorities 
arrested and prosecuted the violators. Citizens who commit child sex 
offenses overseas may be prosecuted in New Zealand courts. The law 
makes it an offense punishable by seven years' imprisonment to assist a 
person under 18 years of age in providing commercial sexual services; 
to receive earnings from commercial sexual services provided by a 
person younger than 18; or to contract for commercial sexual services 
from, or be a client of, a person under 18. The law also makes it an 
offense to deal in individuals younger than 18 for sexual exploitation 
or engagement in enforced labor. The penalty for a person who sells, 
buys, transfers, barters, rents, hires, or in any other way enters into 
a dealing or takes an action involving a person under 18 for the 
purposes of sexual exploitation or enforced labor is 14 years' 
imprisonment.
    On August 18, a court found a New Plymouth brothel owner guilty of 
charges from 2008 of employing a 15-year-old girl as a prostitute in 
2005 and scheduled sentencing in January 2011.
    A 2007 prosecution in Christchurch relating to underage 
prostitution resulted in a conviction on December 10 and a sentence of 
six months' home detention and 200 hours' of community work.
    The Government developed in concert with NGOs a national plan of 
action against the commercial exploitation of children and operated 
programs to reintegrate children out of prostitution through vocational 
training and educational opportunities.
    The law provides that any person who has a sexual connection with a 
person younger than 16 years of age is liable to imprisonment for a 
term not exceeding 10 years. However, no person may be convicted of 
such a charge if he or she was married to the young person concerned at 
the time.
    The law prohibits child pornography and provides for a NZ$10,000 
(approximately $7,500) fine of an individual, and NZ$30,000 ($22,500) 
of a body corporate, if a person makes, imports, supplies, distributes, 
possesses for supply, displays, or exhibits an objectionable 
publication. The law also provides a penalty of 10 years' imprisonment 
or a NZ$200,000 ($150,000) fine of a body corporate if a person commits 
such an act knowing that the publication is objectionable. Possession 
of objectionable material is also an offense punishable by a NZ$2,000 
fine ($1,500) for an individual and NZ$5,000 ($3,750) for a body 
corporate. A person possessing objectionable material and knowing it is 
objectionable is liable to a penalty of 5 years' imprisonment or a 
NZ$50,000 ($37,500) fine for an individual or a NZ$100,000 ($75,000) 
fine for a body corporate. It constitutes an aggravating factor to be 
taken into account in sentencing if the publication promotes or 
supports exploitation of children or young persons for sexual purposes, 
deals with sexual conduct with or by children or young persons, or 
exploits nudity of children or young persons.
    The Department of Internal Affairs Censorship Compliance Unit 
actively policed images of child sex abuse on the Internet and 
prosecuted offenders. The Government maintains extraterritorial 
jurisdiction over child sex offenses committed by the country's 
citizens abroad.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html as well as 
country-specific information at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community numbered approximately 7,000. 
Anti-Semitic incidents were rare.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    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, housing, 
and accommodation. During the year the HRC received 357 disability-
related complaints which represented 27 percent of the total complaints 
received. Compliance with access laws varied. The Government is 
prohibited from discriminating on the basis of physical, sensory, 
intellectual, or mental disability, unless such discrimination can be 
``demonstrably justified.''
    The Government supported equal access for persons with disabilities 
to polling facilities.
    The Government's Office for Disability Issues worked to protect and 
promote the rights of persons with disabilities. In addition, during 
the year both the HRC and the Mental Health Commission continued to 
address mental health problems in their antidiscrimination efforts.
    In its December report, the HRC identified areas in which the 
Government made progress in implementing the Convention on the Rights 
of Persons with Disabilities. One highlighted area receiving complaints 
was public land transport; an HRC inquiry found it to be 
``significantly less available, less accessible, less affordable, and 
less acceptable'' to persons with disabilities than to others. During 
the year the Government undertook initiatives to improve accessibility 
to public land transport, although the Government stated that gaps 
remained.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Pacific Islanders, who made up 
7 percent of the population, experienced societal discrimination. The 
Ministries of Justice and Pacific Island Affairs had a program to 
identify gaps in delivery of government services to Pacific Islanders.
    Asians, who made up 10 percent of the population, also reported 
some societal discrimination. The Government mandates a Race Relations 
Commissioner who developed a Diversity Action Program aimed at the 
Maori, Pacific Island, and Asian communities. The program includes an 
annual Diversity Forum to eliminate race-based discrimination that was 
widely attended and considered effective.

    Indigenous People.--Approximately 15 percent of the population 
claimed at least one ancestor from the country's indigenous Maori 
minority. 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.
    Maori constituted approximately half of the prison population and 
42 percent of persons serving community-based sentences. The 
Government, along with community partners, implemented several programs 
and services to reduce Maori recidivism and overrepresentation in the 
criminal justice system.
    Government policy recognized a special role for indigenous persons 
and their traditional values and customs, including cultural and 
environmental problems that affected commercial development. The 
Ministry of Maori Development, in cooperation with several Maori NGOs, 
sought to improve the status of indigenous persons.
    A 2004 law regulates ownership of the foreshore (the land between 
high and low tide) and the seabed. The law grants ownership of the 
foreshore and seabed to the state; provides for universal public 
access; and establishes a mechanism to accommodate customary indigenous 
rights of land use, including preservation of existing fishing rights. 
The law continued to be the focus of protests by Maori groups asserting 
customary title to the land and by non-Maori groups opposing such 
claims. In addition various Maori leaders expressed differing views. 
After a leader of the Maori Party, which cooperated with the National 
Party-led government, introduced a bill repealing the law on September 
15, a parliamentary select committee undertook to consult publicly and 
report in early 2011.
    During the year the Government settled two Maori claims related to 
the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, the country's founding document. By year's 
end six additional groups signed deeds of settlement and were awaiting 
legislation to make their deeds unconditional, and 36 other groups were 
in various stages of negotiations with the Government. The Government 
Web site found at http://www.ots.govt.nz continued to enable the public 
to monitor treaty-settlement progress.
    The Land and Water Forum (also known as the Land and Water Trust) 
met in October and November to identify shared outcomes and goals for 
freshwater and related land management. Maori Iwi (tribes) and trust 
organizations actively participated in forum meetings, although 
indigenous Maori rights and interests in freshwater resources are also 
covered elsewhere.
    Seventeen of the cases involving individuals investigated in 2005 
and arrested in 2007, some of whom were Maori, remained pending at 
year's end with trials on various weapons charges expected in 2011.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law prohibits abuse, 
discrimination, and acts of violence based upon sexual orientation and 
gender identity, and the Government generally enforced the law. During 
the year the HRC received 187 discrimination complaints relating to 
gender or sexual orientation (14 percent of all complaints). The 
Ministry of Justice received no reports of societal violence or 
discrimination based on sexual orientation.
    On December 10, a court sentenced two men to nine and one-half 
years and 10 years in prison, respectively, for the manslaughter of a 
transsexual in 2009. One prison term was longer, because the court 
determined the offense to be a hate crime.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The law prohibits 
violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS, and there 
were no such cases reported.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides workers in public 
and private sectors the right to form and join organizations of their 
choice without previous authorization or excessive requirements, and 
the law was applied. Nearly all unionized workers were members of 
unions affiliated with the Council of Trade Unions, a federation that 
included unions representing various trades and locations. A few small, 
nonaffiliated labor unions also existed. According to DoL statistics 
published in March 2009, unions represented 17 percent of all wage 
earners.
    The law allows unions to conduct their activities without 
government interference, including the right to strike, and this right 
was exercised in practice. Labor organization in the territory of 
Tokelau (population approximately 1,470) was limited and based on 
communal decision making and activity. In Niue, a self-governing 
country in free association with New Zealand (population 1,625), the 
dominant public sector (422 positions) had an active public-service 
association. In the Cook Islands, also a self-governing country in free 
association with New Zealand (official population 21,000; resident 
population 13,000), 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 New Zealand's national legislation.
    The law prohibits sworn police officers (which includes all 
uniformed and plainclothes police but excludes clerical and support 
staff) from striking or taking any form of industrial action. Disputes 
that cannot be settled by negotiation between the police association 
and management are subject to compulsory, final-offer arbitration. 
Strikes by providers of ``key services'' are subject to certain 
procedural requirements, including mandatory notice of three to 14 
days, depending on the service involved. Key services include: 
production, processing, and supply of petroleum products; production 
and supply of electricity, water, and sewer services; emergency fire 
brigade and police services; ambulance and hospital services; 
manufacturing of certain pharmaceuticals and dialysis solutions; 
operation of residential welfare or penal institutions; airport and 
seaport operations; and dairy production operations. The listing of 
some of these sectors is based on broader criteria than the 
International Labor Organization's definition of ``essential 
services.''
    In response to potential industrial unrest, an October amendment to 
labor law, according to the DoL, clarified and confirmed the employment 
status of film-production workers to reflect that working relationships 
in that industry are predominantly (but not exclusively) contract 
based. While the legislation defines workers in the film industry who 
are not employees as independent contractors but does not prevent film-
production-company employees from joining unions and bargaining 
collectively, it does take away the court's ability to determine the 
type of work arrangement in the screen film industry (regardless of the 
actual work arrangement). Unions joined screen actors in protest of the 
result.
    A labor law amendment during the year extends the ability of 
employers and employees to agree to trial periods of 90 days or less 
for all employers, during which employees are not permitted to raise a 
personal grievance for unjustified dismissal (a provision that drew 
union criticism). However, employees may raise a personal grievance on 
the grounds of sexual or racial harassment, discrimination, or 
unjustified disadvantage. If an employment relationship problem arises 
during the trial period, the employee and the employer may access 
mediation services. Designed to improve labor-market flexibility and 
encourage employment of new staff members, particularly from groups 
that faced higher levels of labor-market disadvantage, the amendment 
was scheduled to become effective in 2011.
    The Employment Court has full and exclusive jurisdiction in matters 
related to strikes or lockouts and may issue an injunction to prevent a 
strike or lockout. The DoL also offers mediation in such cases.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for the right of workers to organize and contract collectively 
through unions, and workers exercised this right in practice. The law 
governs industrial relations and promotes collective bargaining. To 
bargain collectively, unions must be registered, be governed by 
democratic rules, be independent, and have at least 15 members. Unions 
may not bargain collectively on social or political issues.
    The law prohibits uniformed members of the armed forces from 
organizing unions and bargaining collectively. However, police have 
freedom of association and the right to organize and bargain 
collectively.
    There were no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and the Government 
generally enforced these provisions effectively. There were no reports 
of forced labor during the year.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--DoL 
inspectors effectively enforced a ban on the employment of children 
under the age of 15 in hazardous industries such as manufacturing, 
mining, and forestry. Children under age 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.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--On April 1, the Government 
increased the minimum hourly wage to NZ$12.75 (approximately $9.55). 
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. In 
addition, the new entrants' wage for 16- to 17-year-old workers was 
increased to NZ$10.20 (approximately $7.65) for nonsupervisory workers 
with less than three months or 200 hours of employment. A majority of 
the work force earned more than the minimum wage.
    A 40-hour workweek is traditional. There are legal limits regarding 
hours worked and 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 is the norm. 
The law provides for a minimum four-week annual paid vacation and 11 
paid public holidays. Employees who work on a paid holiday are entitled 
to time and a half for that day and a day off with pay on another date. 
The armed forces are exempted from this benefit.
    Employees are accorded by law one paid 10-minute rest break during 
a two- to four-hour work period, one paid 10-minute rest break and one 
unpaid 30-minute meal break during a four- to six-hour work period, and 
two paid 10-minute rest breaks and one unpaid 30-minute meal break 
during a six- to eight-hour shift.
    The law allows companies with 19 or fewer employees to hire new 
workers for a trial period of up to 90 calendar days. Employers are 
permitted to dismiss such new employees during this period without 
cause as long as the decision is not based upon illegal discrimination.
    The DoL is responsible for enforcing laws governing work 
conditions. During the year the DoL received 9,246 health- or safety-
related employment complaints and 2,404 miscellaneous employment 
complaints, and by year's end it completed 4,654 and 2,107 
investigations of those complaints, respectively.
    The Government mandates employers to provide health insurance for 
their seasonal workers.
    Extensive laws and regulations govern health and safety issues. 
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. DoL inspectors 
effectively enforced safety and health rules, and they had the power to 
shut down equipment if necessary. The DoL normally investigated reports 
of unsafe or unhealthy working conditions within 24 hours of 
notification.

                               __________

                                 PALAU

    Palau is a constitutional republic with a population of 
approximately 20,800. The president, vice president, and members of the 
legislature (the Olbiil Era Kelulau) are elected for four-year terms. 
There are no political parties. In the generally free and fair 
elections held in November 2008, Johnson Toribiong was elected 
president. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    Problems were reported in the following areas: government 
corruption, domestic violence, trafficking in persons, and 
discrimination and abuse of foreign 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    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 and Detention Center Conditions.--Conditions in the 
country's sole prison, although primitive, generally met international 
standards. Overcrowding remained a problem. There were 79 prisoners, 
including four women.
    The few female prisoners were held in separate cells but were 
permitted to mingle with male inmates during daylight hours.
    Prisoners had access to visitors and held religious observance. 
They were permitted to file complaints, and authorities investigated 
allegations of mistreatment. Authorities also monitored prison 
conditions.
    No visits by independent human rights observers were requested or 
made during the year. The Government does not have an ombudsman; 
however, officials took measures to alleviate overcrowding through a 
work-release program and other programs allowing prisoners to take 
academic courses at a local community college; provided separate 
confinement for juveniles; and had established procedures for 
recordkeeping. Prisoners and detainees could raise problems through 
private attorneys or court appointed attorneys.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these 
prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The civilian 
authorities maintained effective control over the national police and 
marine police in Koror and Peleliu states. The Government has effective 
mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse and corruption. Corruption 
and impunity were not major problems.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires warrants for arrests. Warrants are prepared by the Office of 
the Attorney General and signed by a judge. The law provides for a 
prompt judicial determination of the legality of detention, and this 
was observed in practice. Detainees were informed promptly of the 
charges against them and 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 law provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the right to a fair trial, 
and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. The 
Government has an independent public defender system.
    Trials are public and are conducted by judges; there are no juries. 
A 2008 amendment to the constitution changed the law to provide for 
trial by jury, but the amendment had not been instituted due to lack of 
funding. Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence and a right of 
appeal. They can question witnesses, present evidence on their own 
behalf, and access government-held evidence in their cases. The law 
extends these rights to all citizens.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters for lawsuits involving 
allegations of human rights violations.

    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. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a 
functioning democratic political system combined to ensure freedom of 
speech and of the press.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
Over 60 percent of the population had access to the Internet. Costs of 
personal computers limited Internet access in homes. Internet 
infrastructure is in place for general public access. Internet access 
was available at schools, government offices, private businesses, 
Internet cafes, and hotels.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    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.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government was willing to cooperate with the Office of 
the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian 
organizations in providing protection and assistance to internally 
displaced persons, refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, 
stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is not a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or the 1967 Protocol 
relating to the Status of Refugees. Its laws do not provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has not 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice 
the Government provided some protection against the expulsion or return 
of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be 
threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership 
in a particular social group, or political opinion. The Government did 
not grant refugee status or asylum; however, the Government provided 
temporary protection to individuals who may not qualify as refugees to 
17 persons during the year.
    In 2008, 11 Burmese refugees arrived from the Philippines seeking 
asylum, and the Government permitted them to remain temporarily. A 
UNHCR official interviewed the Burmese and granted them refugee status. 
They received financial assistance from UNHCR while waiting for a third 
country to accept them as refugees. Nine refugees had been resettled in 
third countries by the end of the year.
    In November 2009, six Uighurs arrived for temporary resettlement.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The law provides citizens 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 and Political Participation.--In November 2008 voters 
elected a new congress, Johnson Toribiong as president, and Kerai 
Mariur as vice president. The president, vice president, and congress 
serve four-year terms. The Council of Chiefs, consisting of the highest 
traditional chiefs from each state, advises the president on 
traditional laws and customs. Although there have been political 
parties in the past, there were none during the year.
    There are no legal impediments to women's participation in 
government and politics. Two women were elected to the Senate in the 
November 2008 general elections. Women constituted 16 percent of state 
legislators. Three women served as state governors during the year. 
Three female associate justices served in the Supreme Court, and five 
of the country's nine judges were women. A woman was appointed to serve 
as the attorney general.
    There were two members of minorities in the House of Delegates.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    Government corruption was a problem, which the Government took some 
steps to address. The law provides criminal penalties for official 
corruption, and public officials are required to file annual financial 
disclosure statements with the Ethics Commission. The Office of the 
Special Prosecutor and the Office of the Public Auditor are responsible 
for combating government corruption. The Office of the Special 
Prosecutor has been vacant since March.
    In July 2009 Senator and former president Tommy Remengesau, Jr. was 
charged with 19 counts of violation of the code of ethics. Elected 
officials are required annually to submit a list of assets and sources 
of income to the Ethics Commission. Senator Remengesau did not disclose 
all properties he owned in his 2000-03 annual ethics disclosure 
statements. On November 9, the court found him guilty on 12 counts, 
acquitted him on two counts, and dismissed five counts at the request 
of the prosecution. In December he was ordered to pay $156,000 (the 
U.S. dollar is the national currency) in fines, an equivalent to the 
value of properties he did not disclose.
    In February a state governor entered a plea agreement for one count 
of misuse of public funds and one of misconduct in public office in 
exchange for dismissal of money laundering charges. The governor was 
charged previously in 2008 with 302 counts of embezzling state funds, 
but the court dismissed the case without prejudice when the former 
special prosecutor resigned. In March the governor was sentenced to 
five years in jail and fined $10,000. The jail sentence was suspended 
for six months. A state employee also was charged with embezzlement in 
the same case. The governor and the state employee reportedly withdrew 
more than $190,000 from the state bank account between 2002 and 2005 
for their personal use.
    The law provides for the right of citizens and noncitizens 
including foreign media to examine government documents and observe 
official deliberations of any government agency, and the Government 
generally respected this provision in practice.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A number of domestic and international groups concerned with human 
rights generally operated without government restriction. Government 
officials were cooperative and responsive to their views.
    There were no visits by UN representatives or other international 
governmental organization. There were no reports by international 
groups on human rights violations.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability, 
language, or social status, and the Government generally observed these 
provisions.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is a crime punishable by a 
maximum of 25 years of imprisonment. During the year there was no 
reported case of rape.
    There are no laws on domestic violence. Cases that would be 
characterized as domestic violence are prosecuted as assault and 
battery. Alcohol and drug abuse contributed to violence and crime 
against women and children. According to the Office of the Attorney 
General, the Ministry of Health, and women's groups, reported cases of 
women and children as victims of crimes represented a relatively small 
percentage of cases of actual abuse. Assault is a criminal offense, 
punishable by up to six months in jail or a fine of up to $100, and the 
police responded when such cases were reported; women, however, were 
reluctant to press charges against their spouses. There were no 
shelters for victims. The Government conducted public education efforts 
to combat abuse against women and children.
    Sexual harassment is illegal and did not appear to be a major 
problem.
    Couples and individuals had the right to decide the number, 
spacing, and timing of children, and had the information and means to 
do so free from discrimination. Access to information on contraception, 
and skilled attendance at delivery and in postpartum care, were widely 
available at the Government's Belau National Hospital. People have 
access to contraceptive products available from Belau National 
Hospital, private clinics, and department stores. According to the 
Government, the maternal mortality rate was reported to be at zero in 
2007. Women and men were given equal access to diagnostic services and 
treatment for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
    Women have the same legal rights as men and enjoy those rights. 
There is no special government office to promote the legal rights of 
women. The inheritance of property and of traditional rank is 
matrilineal, with women occupying positions of importance within the 
traditional system. There were no reported instances of unequal pay for 
equal work or gender-related job discrimination. There are laws 
protecting women from job discrimination and providing equal pay for 
equal work. The Bureau of Aging and Gender, under the Ministry of 
Community and Cultural Affairs, promotes gender workplace equality.
    A local women's group held an annual conference 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, participated.

    Children.--Citizenship of a child is derived from the parents. A 
child born to foreign national parents is registered as a citizen of 
those countries.
    There were no reports of child marriage.
    There were no reports of children under the age of 18 years 
engaging in prostitution. Commercial sexual exploitation of children is 
not a problem, and there were no reported cases. There are no laws on 
commercial sexual exploitation of children.
    The age of consensual sex is 16 years, and penalties for statutory 
rape is not more than five years jail term. The law does not 
specifically address child pornography.
    Children's rights generally were respected, although there were 
isolated reports of child neglect. Law enforcement officers including 
the Office of Victims of Crime aggressively investigated and prosecuted 
cases of violence against children.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution prohibits 
discrimination against persons with physical or mental disabilities. 
The Disabled Persons' Antidiscrimination Act and the Programs and 
Services for Handicapped Children Act cover both persons with mental 
disabilities and persons with physical disabilities, and the Government 
enforced the provisions of these acts. No discrimination was reported 
against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to 
health care, or the provision of other state services. The Government 
provides a monthly stipend of $50 for persons with disabilities. The 
law mandates access to buildings for persons with disabilities, and the 
Government generally enforced these provisions in practice. The public 
schools had special education programs to address problems encountered 
by persons with disabilities.
    The Government agency Ngak Mak Tang (Everyone Matters) is 
responsible for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The law prohibits noncitizens 
from purchasing land or obtaining citizenship. Foreign workers 
constituted approximately 55 percent of the workforce. A majority of 
citizens viewed the recent rapid increase in foreign workers 
negatively. Foreign workers and their dependents, both documented and 
undocumented, accounted for nearly a third of the population. Foreign 
residents were subject to discrimination and were targets of petty and 
sometimes violent crimes, as well as other harmful acts against the 
persons and property. Foreign residents made credible complaints that 
the authorities did not pursue or prosecute crimes committed against 
noncitizens with the same vigor as crimes against citizens.
    In addition some foreign nationals experienced discrimination in 
employment, pay, housing, education, and access to social services, 
although the law prohibits such discrimination.
    The Division of Labor handles cases of workplace discrimination 
against foreign workers.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There is no law criminalizing 
sexual orientation. There were no reports of cases of violence or 
discrimination based on sexual orientation.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of cases of violence or discrimination against person with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law 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.
    The law does not provide for the right to strike, and the 
Government has not addressed this issue. There were no workers' strikes 
or protests during the year.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--There is no law 
concerning trade union organization or collective bargaining. Market 
forces determine wages in the cash economy.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor; however, there were reports that such 
practices occurred. There were also reports of foreign workers, 
particularly domestic helpers and unskilled laborers, forced to accept 
jobs different from those for which they were recruited. Employers 
sometimes verbally threatened or withheld passports and return tickets 
of foreign workers desiring to leave unfavorable work situations. The 
Division of Labor works with employers and employees to address these 
problems.
    There were no reports of forced or compulsory labor by children.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law states that the Government shall protect children from 
exploitation. The Division of Labor is responsible for enforcing laws 
and regulations relating to child labor. 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 small-
scale family enterprises.
    By regulation no foreigner under age 21 may be admitted into the 
country for employment purposes, and the Government generally enforced 
this regulation effectively.
    For information on trafficking in persons, please see the 
Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--A 1999 law sets the minimum wage 
at $2.50 per hour, but 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 controlled. The national minimum wage provided a 
decent standard of living for a worker and family. Anecdotal evidence 
indicated that unskilled workers (usually foreigners) for commercial 
firms were paid only $1.50 to $2.00 per hour; wages for domestic 
helpers employed in private households were lower still. In addition to 
their wages, foreign workers usually were provided basic accommodations 
and food gratis or at nominal cost. The country continued to attract 
foreign workers from the Philippines, China, and Bangladesh. During the 
year there were more than 6,000 foreign nationals with work permits in 
the country; of these, roughly 60 percent were from the Philippines, 15 
percent from China, and 10 percent from Bangladesh.
    There is no legislation concerning maximum hours of work. 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 enforcement was sporadic. 
Working conditions varied in practice.
    Although there are occupational and safety standards, the law does 
not specifically provide workers the right to remove themselves from 
situations that endanger their health or safety without jeopardizing 
their continued employment, and no law protects workers who file 
complaints about such conditions. Anecdotal evidence suggested that 
noncitizens would likely lose their employment if they removed 
themselves from situations that endangered health or safety. Since 
foreign workers generally are not permitted to change employers and 
must depart the country if their contract ends for any reason, such 
workers were reticent about reporting abuses. There were no reports to 
the Government of violations of occupational health or safety standards 
during the year. The Division of Labor enforces safety standards and 
laws.
    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, China, and Bangladesh. The most 
commonly reported abuses included misrepresentation of contract terms 
and conditions of employment, withholding of pay or benefits, and 
substandard food and housing. There were also complaints of physical 
abuse. In a number of instances local authorities took corrective 
action when alerted by social service and religious organizations. The 
Division of Labor helped to resolve disputes or complaints between 
employers and foreign workers.

                               __________

                            PAPUA NEW GUINEA

    Papua New Guinea is a constitutional, federal, multiparty, 
parliamentary democracy with a population of approximately 6.3 million 
and more than 800 indigenous tribes. The most recent general elections, 
held in 2007, were marred by bribery, voter intimidation, and influence 
peddling. A coalition government, led by Prime Minister Michael Somare, 
was formed following the elections. On December 14, Somare stepped 
aside as prime minister after the public prosecutor requested the chief 
justice to appoint a leadership tribunal to investigate allegations 
that he failed to file annual income tax returns for a number of years, 
and Deputy Prime Minister Sam Abal became acting prime minister. 
Security forces reported to civilian authorities. There were some 
instances in which elements of the security forces acted independently.
    Human rights abuses during the year included arbitrary or unlawful 
killings by police, severe police abuse of detainees, poor prison 
conditions, police impunity, lengthy pretrial detention, infringement 
of citizens' privacy rights, government corruption, violence and 
discrimination against women, sexual abuse of children, trafficking in 
persons, discrimination against persons with disabilities, intertribal 
violence, violence against Asians, and ineffective enforcement of labor 
laws.
                        respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        From:

    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--The Government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings; however, 
police killed a number of persons during the year. According to police 
reports, most killings occurred during gunfights with criminal suspects 
who were resisting arrest. However, public concern about police 
violence persisted.
    On November 5, correctional officers at Baisu Prison outside Mount 
Hagen shot and killed five prisoners and wounded a number of others 
during an escape attempt. One wounded prisoner subsequently died of his 
wounds, and the body of a seventh was found in the Waghi River, which a 
number of the escapees had tried to swim across. The officers 
reportedly shot at the prisoners as they and other inmates attempted to 
run away after scaling the prison wall. Police reportedly were 
investigating the incident at year's end.
    There were no further known developments in the following 2008 
cases involving police actions: the death of a young man resulting from 
a shootout between police and youths in Kimbe Province and the police 
killings of three gunmen who tried to rob the Bank South Pacific in 
West New Britain.
    There were numerous press reports during the year of vigilante 
killings and abuses, some of which were related to alleged involvement 
in sorcery and witchcraft. For example, in July a mob attacked and 
hacked to death a prison escapee wanted for robbery and murder in Lae 
City. In September the Post Courier newspaper reported that, in a 
village in the Western Highlands, a mother of four was beaten, bound 
with barbed wire, and later burned alive for allegedly killing a man 
from another tribe through sorcery. In October the Post Courier 
reported that four persons, including an elderly couple, accused of 
using sorcery to kill a tribal chief were tortured and then thrown into 
the Waghi River in Chimbu Province. The incident had occurred in 
September but was only reported to police in October. According to 
police reports, the victims allegedly were badly beaten, tied up with 
ropes, and dragged for several miles before being thrown into the fast-
flowing river. Police investigations found that the killings were 
arranged and backed by the whole community.
    No further information was available on the status of police 
investigations into the following 2009 vigilante killings: the killing 
of a woman by a group of men in Mount Hagen, allegedly for confessing 
she had eaten a man's heart; the killing of a man and his son by 
persons from Ban village near Mount Hagen; and the killing of three men 
by members of a community in Sandaun Province for allegedly performing 
witchcraft that resulted in a fellow resident's death.

    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, 
individual police members frequently beat and otherwise abused suspects 
during arrests and interrogations, and in pretrial detention. There 
were numerous press accounts of such abuses, particularly against young 
detainees.
    In May the UN special rapporteur on torture, Manfred Nowak, visited 
the country on a fact-finding mission at the invitation of the 
Government. He reported systemic beatings of detainees by police upon 
arrest and within the first hours of detention, including during 
interrogation. He also reported severe punishment of prison escapees 
that he characterized as amounting to torture, including brutal 
beatings with bush knives and gun butts, shooting detainees at close 
range, and cutting detainees' tendons with axes and bush knives after 
they were apprehended with the intent of disabling them. He further 
reported that the victims usually were kept in cells without any 
medical treatment, which sometimes even led to their death.
    At year's end no further information was available on the status of 
the 2009 case of alleged rape of a cleaning woman by officers at a 
police station in Port Moresby.
    There were no further known developments in the June 2008 police 
shooting that resulted in the amputation of the suspect's leg and the 
August 2008 police shooting and wounding of bank robbery suspect 
William Kapris.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Despite minor improvements 
to existing cells and increased capacity, prison conditions remained 
poor, and the prison system continued to suffer from serious 
underfunding. Two prisons--in Tari, Southern Highlands and Daru, 
Western Province--remained closed during the year due to tribal 
conflicts and unresolved health issues, respectively. Neither prisons 
nor police detention centers had medical care facilities. In some 
police holding cells, detainees lacked bedding and sufficient food and 
water. In November the National newspaper reported that problems with 
the water supply at Baisu Prison outside Mount Hagen caused a dysentery 
outbreak in which four inmates died.
    Overcrowding in prisons and police cells remained a serious 
problem. According to the correctional services commissioner, all 
except five of the country's prisons experienced overcrowding during 
the year. The commissioner also confirmed that during the year the 
holding capacity of the country's prisons increased from approximately 
3,600 beds to 4,366 beds, including a new facility opened in 
Bouganville. At year's end, the number of inmates was 4,268, 
approximately one-third of whom were pretrial detainees. There were 230 
female inmates, including 150 convicted prisoners and 80 pretrial 
detainees, and 151 juveniles, including 78 convicted prisoners and 73 
pretrial detainees. While there were some improvements in the pace of 
police investigations and an increase in the number of judges in the 
magistrates' courts and the National Court, in some areas infrequent 
court sessions, slow police investigations, and bail restrictions for 
certain crimes continued to exacerbate overcrowding. Prison escapes 
were common, even from high-security installations.
    Male and female inmates usually were held separately, but some 
rural prisons lacked separate facilities, and there were reports in the 
past of assaults on female prisoners. During the year, 13 of the 
country's 18 prison facilities had separate, detached accommodations 
for juvenile offenders; the remaining five did not. To hold minors 
waiting to be arraigned prior to posting of bail, there were three 
juvenile reception centers located in Port Moresby, Lae, and Wewak, all 
run by the Catholic Church; there was no longer a center operating in 
Goroka, according to the correctional services commissioner. Human 
Rights Watch reported that juveniles routinely were held with adults in 
police detention cells, where in many cases they were assaulted by 
older detainees. Police denied juvenile court officers access to police 
cells. Pretrial detainees were held in the same prisons as convicted 
prisoners but had separate cells.
    Prisoners had reasonable access to visitors and were permitted 
religious observance. Authorities permitted prisoners and detainees to 
submit credible complaints of inhumane conditions without censorship to 
the Ombudsman Commission for investigation or directly to the judicial 
authorities. The Ombudsman Commission was mandated to visit prisons, 
but could not effectively monitor and investigate prison conditions due 
to lack of adequate funds and staff.
    The Government permitted monitoring visits by independent human 
rights observers, and one such visit was made during the year.
    The Ombudsman Commission does not have specific authority to 
investigate on its own initiative such matters as alternatives to 
incarceration for nonviolent offenses; addressing status and 
circumstances of confinement of juvenile offenders; and improving 
pretrial detention, bail, and recordkeeping procedures to ensure 
prisoners do not serve time beyond the maximum sentence for their 
offense. However, the commission can investigate prisoner complaints 
relating to such matters.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution prohibits 
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed 
these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--A commissioner who 
reports to the minister for internal security heads the national police 
force, the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary. Internal divisions 
related to clan rivalries and a serious lack of resources negatively 
affected police effectiveness. Police impunity was a serious problem.
    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. Despite these 
prescribed procedures, in many cases investigations remained 
unresolved.
    The Ombudsman Commission deals with public complaints and concerns 
about members of the police force.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--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, but this was rare in practice. Police, prosecutors, and 
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.
    Only National or Supreme Court judges may grant bail to persons 
charged with willful murder or aggravated robbery. In all other cases, 
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; however, the 
Government did not always respect these rights. Detainees had access to 
counsel, and family members had access to detainees.
    Due to very limited police and judicial resources and a high crime 
rate, suspects often were held in pretrial detention for lengthy 
periods. Although pretrial detention is subject to strict judicial 
review through continuing pretrial consultations, the slow pace of 
police investigations, particularly in locating witnesses, and 
occasional political interference or police corruption frequently 
delayed cases for months. In addition, circuit court sittings were 
infrequent because of shortages of judges and travel funds. Some 
detainees were held in jail for up to two 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 judicial 
independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The legal system is based on English common law. 
The law provides for due process, including a public trial, and the 
court system generally enforced these provisions. Judges conduct trials 
and render verdicts; there are no juries. Defendants have the right to 
an attorney. The Public Solicitor's Office provides legal counsel for 
those accused of ``serious offenses'' (charges for which a sentence of 
two years or more is the norm) who are unable to afford counsel. 
Defendants and their attorneys may confront witnesses, present 
evidence, access government-held evidence, plead cases, and appeal 
convictions. The law extends these rights to all citizens. The shortage 
of judges created delays in both the process of trials and the 
rendering of decisions.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters. District courts may order 
``good behavior bonds,'' commonly called ``protection orders,'' in 
addition to ordering that compensation be paid for violations of human 
rights. However, courts had difficulty enforcing judgments. In 
addition, many human rights matters were handled by village courts, 
which were largely unregulated. Village and district courts often were 
hesitant to interfere directly in domestic matters. Village courts 
regularly ordered that compensation be paid to an abused spouse's 
family in cases of domestic abuse rather than issue a domestic court 
order.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution prohibits such actions; however, 
there were instances of abuse. Police raids and searches of illegal 
squatter settlements and homes of suspected criminals 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.
    At year's end there was no further information on the status of a 
2009 lawsuit filed by landowners in Porgera against the police, 
charging that, during an operation against alleged illegal mining and 
criminal activity in the area, police also destroyed more than 300 
homes of legal residents.
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. All newspapers included a variety 
of editorial viewpoints and reported on controversial topics. There was 
no evidence of officially sanctioned government censorship; however, 
newspaper editors complained of intimidation tactics aimed at 
influencing coverage.
    In March Prime Minister Somare threatened to call reporters before 
the Parliamentary Privileges Committee to oblige them to reveal the 
names of politicians allegedly linked to crime. The prime minister made 
the comment after reports appeared in the press that accused bank 
robber William Kapris had claimed that unnamed ``politicians'' assisted 
criminals. However, no reporters were called before the committee 
during the year. In May a National Court judge ordered that the media 
be prohibited from court proceedings against Kapris.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. In practice 
cost factors and lack of infrastructure limited public access to the 
Internet. The International Telecommunication Union reported that 
approximately 2 percent of the country's inhabitants used the Internet 
in 2009.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution provides for freedom of assembly; however, 
the Government often limited this right in practice. Public 
demonstrations require police approval and 14 days' notice. Asserting a 
fear of violence from unruly spectators, police rarely gave approval.
    In May police interrupted a rally at Goroka National Park by 
activists opposed to proposed government amendments to the Ombudsman 
Commission and Forestry Acts. The Government briefly detained three 
members of the group; they were released after approximately a half 
hour of questioning. Later during the rally, police reportedly 
intervened again and told the group's leader, anticorruption activist 
Noel Anjo, to avoid making personal attacks on the prime minister and 
other senior ministers.
    In September police denied approval for a planned nationwide 
protest march led by Anjo against controversial constitutional 
amendments made by Parliament to the Ombudsman Commission Act. Police 
had allowed earlier protests against the amendments to take place in 
Port Moresby and Lae in May.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
association, and the Government generally respected this right in 
practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws do not provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has not 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. The 
Government did not grant refugee status or asylum. In practice the 
Government provided protection against the expulsion or return of 
refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened 
on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a 
particular social group, or political opinion. The Government also 
provided temporary protection to individuals who may not qualify as 
refugees.
    With support from the UNHCR, the Government continued to provide 
protection to approximately 2,300 persons residing at the East Awin 
refugee settlement who fled the Indonesian province of West Papua 
(formerly Irian Jaya). Another 5,000 such persons, classified by the 
Government as ``border crossers,'' lived in villages adjacent to the 
border with Indonesia, and approximately 2,400 lived in urban areas, 
including the capital, Port Moresby. During the year the UNHCR assisted 
four persons to return to West Papua.
    Registered refugees residing in the East Awin refugee settlement 
were granted a certificate of identity that allowed them to travel 
freely within the country and to West Papua.
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 but flawed elections based on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--The most recent general 
election was held in 2007. Bribery, voter intimidation, and undue 
influence were widespread in some parts of the country during the 
election. After the election the National Court registered 53 election 
petitions that alleged illegal practices. By the end of 2009 (the 
latest information available), 28 petitions were dismissed and 14 were 
withdrawn, two by-elections and four judicial recounts were ordered, 
and court decisions were pending on the remaining five petitions.
    In May presidential and parliamentary elections were held for the 
Government of the autonomous Bougainville province. International 
observers deemed the elections generally free and fair. John Momis was 
elected president, defeating the incumbent and several other 
challengers.
    Political parties could operate without restriction or outside 
influence. In February the governor of the National Capital District 
launched a new political party, the United Democratic Front, with a 
stated goal of fighting government corruption.
    There is no law limiting political participation by women, but the 
deeply rooted patriarchal culture impeded women's full participation in 
political life. There was one woman in the 109-seat Parliament. She 
served as minister of community development, the only cabinet position 
held by a woman. There was one female National Court justice and no 
female provincial governors.
    There were six minority (non-Melanesian) members of Parliament 
(MPs). Of these, two were in the cabinet, and three were provincial 
governors.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials often engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.
    Corruption at all levels of government was a serious problem due to 
weak public institutions, leadership, and governance; lack of 
transparency; politicization of the bureaucracy; and the use of public 
resources to meet traditional clan obligations.
    In February Parliament's Public Accounts Committee commented on 
examinations it undertook of the accounting standards and handling of 
public monies by government entities. The committee reported that, of 
the nearly 1,000 agencies examined between 2003 and 2008, only five 
were found to be acceptably accountable and transparent in their use of 
public funds. In March the director of the National Research Institute 
stated that in many cases public development projects were not 
implemented because the funds allocated were stolen by public 
officials.
    In June Finance Minister Patrick Pruaitch was suspended from office 
after the Supreme Court ruled that under the law an official referred 
to a leadership tribunal for allegations of official misconduct is 
automatically suspended from office. Pruaitch had been referred to such 
a tribunal; his appeal of the referral was pending at year's end.
    In October the former police operations commander for the National 
Capital District, Andy Bawa, was arrested and charged with two counts 
of official corruption. The charges involved receiving a double salary 
since January 2008--one from the police force and another from another 
government agency. Bawa was suspended without pay pending the outcome 
of his court case. In November the National Executive Council (NEC) 
suspended then police commissioner Gari Baki for allegedly misleading 
the NEC into obtaining 10 million kina (approximately $4 million) for 
police operations at the liquefied natural gas project site in the 
Southern Highlands Province. The NEC asserted that the funds were not 
actually necessary. The NEC also ordered investigations into Baki's 
four years as police commissioner. The acting commissioner, who 
replaced Baki, offered Andy Bawa his job back; however, Bawa declined 
to resume the post until the courts ruled in his case. At year's end, 
investigations were still ongoing, and Bawa's case was still before the 
courts.
    In November MP Tonny Puana was arrested and charged with 
misappropriation of funds and false pretenses; however, the case had 
not been referred to the Public Prosecutor's Office for prosecution by 
year's end.
    At year's end, charges of misappropriation of funds filed in 2009 
against former Southern Highlands governor Hami Yawari were still 
awaiting assignment of trial dates before the National Court.
    There was no further information available on the status of the 
Ombudsman Commission's investigation of two 2008 cases: one involving 
allegations that representatives of a foreign government had offered 80 
million kina (approximately $31.1 million) to government officials in 
exchange for establishing diplomatic relations and another in which the 
media claimed that a government minister had 100 million kina 
(approximately $38.9 million) in a foreign bank account.
    Public officials are subject to financial disclosure laws as 
stipulated in the leadership code of conduct. The Ombudsman Commission, 
Leadership Tribunal, and Public Accounts Committee are key 
organizations responsible for combating government corruption.
    On December 14, Prime Minister Somare stepped aside as prime 
minister after the acting public prosecutor requested the chief justice 
to appoint a leadership tribunal to investigate allegations that he 
failed to file income tax statements or filed incomplete statements 
with the Ombudsman Commission on a number of occasions between 1993 and 
2005. The commission had referred the matter to the Public Prosecutor's 
Office. At year's end, a leadership tribunal had not yet been 
appointed. Deputy Prime Minister Sam Abal was appointed acting prime 
minister and remained in that position at year's end, pending 
resolution of the case against Somare.
    In April, despite widespread public opposition, Parliament took a 
preliminary vote to pass an amendment to the constitution that removes 
the power of the Ombudsman Commission to issue directives to 
individuals and organizations to preserve and uphold the conduct of 
public office holders. The Ombudsman Commission had used this power to 
issue directives preventing payments from public funds to officeholders 
it believed were using such funds improperly. As of year's end, a final 
vote on the bill proposing the amendment had not taken place in 
Parliament.
    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.
Section 5. 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.
    As of year's end, there were no further known developments in the 
investigation of the December 2009 shooting and wounding of Chief 
Ombudsman Commissioner Chronex Manek by unknown assailants.
    The Government cooperated with international governmental 
organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives and other 
organizations. The UN special rapporteur on torture visited the country 
during the year (see section 1.c.).
    The Ombudsman Commission is responsible for investigating alleged 
misconduct and defective administration by governmental bodies, alleged 
discriminatory practices by any person or body, and alleged misconduct 
in office by leaders under the Leadership Code. It operated without 
government or political party interference; however, constraints in 
staffing resources often caused delays in investigations and thus in 
completion and release of reports. The commission presented a report to 
Parliament in December 2009 on the entry, arrest, detention, and 
transportation of former Solomon Islands attorney general Julian Moti 
from Papua New Guinea to Solomon Islands in 2006 while he was facing 
charges of having sex with a child in Australia. The report, which was 
tabled in Parliament in March, found that a number of the country's 
laws had been breached when Moti was flown to the Solomon Islands in a 
Papua New Guinea military aircraft. The report also found that the 
directions had come from Prime Minister Somare. As of year's end, the 
Government had taken no further action in the matter.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution provides for equal protection under the law 
irrespective of race, tribe, place of origin, color, or sex; however, 
enforcement of the provisions was not effective.

    Women.--Violence against women, including gang rape and domestic 
violence, was a serious and prevalent problem.
    Rape, including spousal rape, is a crime punishable by 
imprisonment, and prison sentences were imposed on convicted 
assailants, but 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. 
The legal system allows village chiefs to negotiate the payment of 
compensation in lieu of trials for rapists.
    Human Rights Watch (HRW) documented five cases of gang rape 
allegedly committed in 2009 and 2010 by members of a private security 
force employed at the Porgera gold mine site in Enga Province. The 
reported assaults all took place on or near the waste dumps surrounding 
the mine; most of the victims were illegally mining on the dumps. HRW 
reported further that police and the mining company both opened 
investigations into these and other allegations of sexual violence by 
security personnel at the site, and the investigations were continuing 
as of November.
    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. Widespread sexual violence 
committed by police officials and their unresponsiveness to complaints 
of sexual or domestic violence served as barriers to reporting by both 
women and men. Traditional village mores, which served as deterrents 
against violence, were weak and largely absent when youths moved from 
their villages to larger towns or to the capital. According to Amnesty 
International (AI), approximately two-thirds of women in the country 
have been hit by their partners, with the number approaching 100 
percent in parts of the Highlands. AI reported that there were only 
three shelters for abused women in Port Moresby, all privately run; the 
situation was even worse outside the capital.
    Violence committed against women by other women frequently stemmed 
from domestic disputes. In areas where polygyny was customary, an 
increasing number of women were charged with murdering one of their 
husband's other wives. Independent observers indicated that 
approximately 90 percent of women in prison had been convicted for 
attacking or killing another woman.
    Sexual harassment is not illegal, and it was a widespread problem.
    Under the country's family planning policy, couples and individuals 
have the right to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, 
and timing of their children free from violence and coercion. However, 
in practice the decision of the husband or male partner on such matters 
usually prevailed over the wishes of the woman. Access in practice to 
contraception and adequate prenatal, obstetric, and postnatal care was 
hindered by logistical problems faced by the Health Department in 
distributing supplies. Medical facilities also were limited in their 
capacity to provide adequate services to the growing population. 
According to indicators published by the Population Research Bureau, 26 
percent of married women between the ages of 15 and 49 used some form 
of contraception. According to the UN report Trends in Maternal 
Mortality: 1990-2008, the country's estimated maternal mortality ratio 
was 250 deaths per 100,000 live births. Women and men had equal access 
to diagnosis and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, 
including HIV.
    The laws have provisions for extensive rights for women dealing 
with family, marriage, and property disputes. 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. 
Women continued to face severe inequalities in all spheres of life: 
social, cultural, economic, and political. There is no employment 
antidiscrimination law.
    Village courts tended to impose jail terms on women found guilty of 
adultery while penalizing men lightly or not at all. By law a district 
court must endorse orders for imprisonment before the sentence is 
imposed, and circuit-riding National Court justices frequently annulled 
such village court sentences. Polygyny and the custom in many 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 sometimes were given as compensation to settle disputes between 
clans, although the courts have ruled that such settlements denied the 
women their constitutional rights.
    According to statistics published by the UN Educational, Social, 
and Cultural Organization, women continued to lag behind men in 
literacy and education; 53 percent of women were literate, compared 
with 62 percent of men. The Ministry of Community Development was 
responsible for women's issues and had considerable influence over the 
Government's policy toward women.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived through birth to a citizen 
parent.
    Primary education was not free, compulsory, or universal. 
Substantial fees were charged and posed a significant barrier to 
children's education. Many children did not progress further than 
primary school. With foreign funding assistance, the Government 
abolished school fees for students in grades one and two in an effort 
to increase primary school enrollment.
    Boys and girls had equal access to medical care, but many children 
did not receive effective care. Government-provided free medical care 
for citizens, including children, was no longer available due to budget 
cuts and deteriorating infrastructure, particularly in rural areas.
    Sexual abuse of children was believed to be frequent. Independent 
sources confirmed that, in two major cities, 1,000 or more cases of 
child sexual abuse were reported in 2009. Incest is a crime and 
reportedly increased in frequency. There were cases of commercial 
sexual exploitation of children in urban areas, including minors 
working in bars and nightclubs. HRW documented numerous instances of 
police abuse of children.
    The legal age for marriage is 18 for boys and 16 for girls. There 
is a lower legal marriage age (16 for boys and 14 for girls) with 
parental and court consent. However, customary and traditional 
practices allow marriage of children as young as age 12, and child 
marriage was common in many traditional, isolated rural communities. 
Child brides frequently were taken as additional wives or given as 
brides to pay family debts and often were used as domestic servants. 
Child brides were particularly vulnerable to domestic abuse.
    The minimum age for consensual sex is 16. The maximum penalty for 
violators is 25 years' imprisonment or, if the child is under age 12, 
life imprisonment. Child pornography is illegal; penalties range from a 
minimum of five to a maximum of 15 years' imprisonment.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was no known Jewish community in the country, 
and there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution prohibits 
discrimination against persons with physical or mental disabilities; 
however, there are no antidiscrimination laws. Persons with physical, 
sensory, intellectual, and mental disabilities faced discrimination in 
education, training, and employment. No legislation mandates 
accessibility to buildings, and most buildings were not accessible. 
There were no policies or programs to assist persons with disabilities 
in obtaining access to communications and information.
    Through the National Board for the Disabled, the Government granted 
funds to a number of nongovernmental organizations that provided 
services to persons with disabilities. The Government provided free 
medical consultations and treatment for persons with mental 
disabilities, but such services were rarely available outside major 
cities. In several provinces, apart from the traditional clan and 
family system, services and health care for persons with disabilities 
did not exist. Most persons with disabilities did not find training or 
work outside the family structure.

    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. During the year 
tribal fighting continued in the highlands provinces. In the last few 
years, the number of deaths resulting from such conflicts continued to 
rise due to the increased availability of modern weapons.
    On September 9, mobs attempted to break into and loot Asian 
businesses in Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province. The businesses 
remained closed for the day and police dispersed the crowds. A 
parliamentary committee appointed to investigate the widespread 
violence directed at Asian businesses in the country in 2009 had not 
issued a report as of year's end.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Sodomy and acts of ``gross 
indecency'' between male persons are illegal. The maximum penalty for 
sodomy is 14 years' imprisonment and, for acts of gross indecency 
between male persons (a misdemeanor), three years. However, there were 
no reports of prosecutions directed at lesbian, gay, bisexual, or 
transgender (LGBT) persons under these provisions during the year. 
There were no specific reports of societal violence or discrimination 
against LGBT persons, but they were vulnerable to societal 
stigmatization.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of government discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS; however, 
there was a strong societal stigma attached to HIV/AIDS infection that 
prevented some individuals from seeking HIV/AIDS-related services. The 
nongovernmental Business Coalition against HIV/AIDS worked to combat 
discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides for the right of 
workers in both the public and private sectors to form and join labor 
unions, subject to registration by the Department of Labor and 
Industrial Relations (DLIR), and workers exercised this right in 
practice. The Government did not use registration to control unions; 
however, an unregistered union has no legal standing and thus cannot 
operate effectively. An estimated one-half of the approximately 250,000 
wage earners in the formal economy were members of approximately 50 
trade unions. The Public Employees Association represented an estimated 
12,000 persons employed by national, provincial, and municipal 
governments, or one-third of the public-sector workforce. Unions were 
independent of both the Government and political parties.
    The law provides for the right to strike for workers in both the 
private and public sectors, although the Government may and often did 
intervene in labor disputes to require arbitration before workers may 
legally strike. The law prohibits retaliation against strikers, but the 
DLIR did not always enforce the law. Employees of some government-owned 
enterprises went on strike on several occasions during the year, 
primarily to protest against privatization policies or in pay disputes. 
In most cases the strikes were brief and ineffective.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Workers in both 
the public and private sectors have the right to organize and engage in 
collective bargaining, and workers exercised these rights in practice. 
However, 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 DLIR and the courts are involved in 
dispute settlement. Wages above the minimum wage were set through 
negotiations between employers and employees or their respective 
industrial organizations.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination by employers against 
union leaders, members, and organizers; however, the DLIR enforced the 
law selectively.
    Antiunion practices were widespread in the logging industry, which 
was known for extremely low wages and poor working conditions, 
including debt bondage and cramped and unhygienic accommodation of 
workers. In July the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) 
reported that members of the ITF-affiliated Papua New Guinea Maritime 
and Transport Workers' Union employed by the fishing company Frabelle 
reportedly were told by their employer that they would lose their jobs 
unless they agreed to sign a petition giving up their union membership.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The constitution 
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, but there were reports that such 
practices occurred.
    There were instances of women and children forced into involuntary 
domestic servitude, often by members of their immediate family or 
tribe, and of men forced to work in logging and mining camps. There 
were also reports of a growing number of foreign workers, particularly 
from China and other Pacific nations, entering the country illegally 
and being subjected to conditions of forced labor.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law establishes the minimum working age as 16; for hazardous work, the 
minimum age is 18. However, children between the ages of 11 and 18 may 
be employed in a family 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. Work by children between the ages of 11 and 16 must not 
interfere with school attendance. There were children selling 
cigarettes, food, CDs, and DVDs on the street and in grocery stores 
near mining and logging camps. Some children (primarily girls) worked 
long hours as domestic servants in private homes, often to repay a 
family debt to the ``host'' family. In some cases the host family was a 
relative who had informally ``adopted'' the child. The DLIR is 
responsible for enforcing child labor laws; however, enforcement was 
not effective.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    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. In April 2009 the board increased the 
minimum wage to 100.80 kina (approximately $39) per week and also 
abolished the separate, lower youth wage for new entrants into the 
labor force between the ages of 16 and 21. Although it was above the 
national per capita income, the minimum wage did not provide a decent 
standard of living for a worker and family who lived solely on the cash 
economy.
    The law regulates minimum wage levels, allowances, rest periods, 
holiday leave, and overtime. The law limits the workweek to 42 hours 
per week in urban areas and 44 hours per week in rural areas, and it 
provides for premium pay for overtime work. The law provides for at 
least one rest period of 24 consecutive hours every week. Although the 
DLIR and the courts attempted to enforce the law, they were not 
effective.
    The DLIR is also responsible for enforcing the Industrial Health 
and Safety Law and related regulations. The law requires inspection of 
work sites 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. 
Many illegal foreign workers lacked full legal protection and were 
vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.

                               __________

                              PHILIPPINES

    The Philippines, with a population of 94 million, is a multiparty 
republic with an elected president and bicameral legislature. On May 
10, approximately 75 percent of registered citizens voted in automated 
elections for president, both houses of congress, and provincial and 
local governments. The election was generally free and fair, but was 
marked by some violence and allegations of vote buying and electoral 
fraud. Long-running Communist and separatist insurgencies affected the 
country. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    Arbitrary, unlawful, and extrajudicial killings by elements of the 
security services and political killings, including killings of 
journalists, by a variety of state and non-state actors continued to be 
serious problems. Concerns about impunity persisted. Members of the 
security services physically and psychologically abused suspects and 
detainees, and there were instances of torture. Pretrial detainees and 
convicts were often held in overcrowded, substandard conditions. 
Disappearances occurred, and arbitrary or warrantless arrests and 
detentions were common. Trials were delayed, and procedures were 
prolonged. Corruption was endemic. Leftist and human rights activists 
reported harassment by local security forces. Problems such as violence 
against women, abuse of children, child sexual exploitation, 
trafficking in persons, child labor, and ineffective enforcement of 
worker rights were common.
    In addition to killing soldiers and police officers in armed 
encounters, rogue elements of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation 
Front (MILF) and terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), Jemaah Islamiya 
(JI), and New People's Army (NPA)--the military wing of the Communist 
Party--killed local government officials and other civilians. These 
same groups also were linked with bombings that caused civilian 
casualties and kidnappings for ransom. The MILF, ASG, and NPA 
reportedly used child soldiers in combat or auxiliary roles.
                        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 and 
antigovernment insurgents committed a number of arbitrary and unlawful 
killings, including in connection with combat operations between 
government forces and Muslim rebels in parts of Mindanao (see section 
1.g.). The Commission on Human Rights (CHR), an independent government 
agency, investigated 53 new complaints of politically motivated 
killings involving 67 victims during the year. The CHR suspected 
personnel from the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed 
Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in some killings of leftist activists 
operating in rural areas. Suspects in other cases were ordinary 
citizens or remained unknown. The nongovernmental organization (NGO) 
Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) also reviewed 
allegations of summary executions by government security forces. The 
TFDP was unable to investigate all allegations it received but counted 
nine cases involving 11 victims of summary executions by government 
forces during the year. Karapatan, another NGO, recorded 44 victims of 
extrajudicial killings.
    The PNP's Task Force Usig (TFU), responsible for monitoring 
extrajudicial killings, has recorded 161 cases of killings since 2001. 
The TFU, which uses different criteria than the CHR, identified nine 
new cases of extrajudicial killings during the year. Of the 161 cases 
monitored by the TFU, 99 were filed in court and prosecutors' offices, 
61 were under investigation, and one case was closed. There were no 
convictions of state actors during the year.
    Killings of activists, judicial officials, and local government 
leaders continued to be serious problems. On March 1, two unidentified 
armed men shot and killed antimining activist Gensun Agustin in 
Calamegatan, Cagayan. On June 14, two armed men shot and killed peasant 
worker and human rights activist Benjamin Bayles in Buenavista, 
Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental. Two members of the AFP were 
arrested and charged with the murder. On July 5, Fernando Baldomero, a 
municipal councilor of Lezo, Aklan, and provincial coordinator of a 
leftist group, was shot and killed in Kalibo, Aklan. Murder charges 
were filed against two suspects on August 2, but no arrests were made. 
In separate incidents on July 9, unidentified armed men shot and killed 
peasant leader Pascual Guevarra in San Isidro, Laur Town, Nueva Ecija, 
and elementary school teacher-activist Mark Francisco in Malibas, 
Masbate. Both cases remained under investigation at year's end.
    On May 18, unidentified armed men shot and killed Judge Andres 
Cipriano in Aparri, Cagayan. There were no available witnesses, and no 
case was filed. On October 4, Judge Reynaldo Lacasandile was shot and 
killed in Vigan City. The National Bureau of Investigation filed murder 
charges against seven persons on November 8 in connection with the 
killing.
    On May 9, the day prior to national elections, two persons were 
killed and 12 wounded when a hand grenade was thrown inside a mosque in 
Pikit, North Cotabato. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, 
which authorities viewed as politically motivated.
    Vigilante groups, including those with suspected ties to state 
actors, were suspected of summary killings of adult criminals and 
minors involved in petty crime in major metropolitan areas. The 
Coalition Against Summary Execution recorded 74 cases of apparent 
vigilante killings in Davao City from January through October. The CHR 
concluded its public hearings on the Davao killings in 2009 but had not 
released its report by year's end. The international NGO Human Rights 
Watch's April 2009 report on the Davao killings concluded that members 
of the police and local officials were involved or complicit. 
Authorities made no arrests in vigilante killings cases.
    On September 8, the trial started for 19 suspects accused of 
involvement in the November 2009 massacre of 58 individuals in 
Maguindanao. An additional 32 suspects were arraigned and in pretrial 
detention. An additional 146 suspects remained at large, including 10 
police officers and four soldiers.
    Government forces, terrorist groups, and armed groups killed a 
number of civilians during clashes (see section 1.g).
    Investigations of other cases from 2009 and 2008 were ongoing.

    b. Disappearance.--During the year, the CHR investigated 10 new 
cases of enforced disappearances, abductions, and kidnappings involving 
16 victims. Of the 16 victims, eight returned to their families and 
reported they had not been detained or kidnapped, one was found alive 
and in police custody, two were found dead, and five remained missing 
as of year's end. CHR investigations found that PNP and AFP personnel 
were implicated in five of the 10 disappearance cases. Four cases 
remained under investigation, four cases were closed when the victims 
resurfaced, and two cases were closed and terminated when the family 
declined to pursue them. During the reporting period, the NGO Families 
of Victims of Involuntary Disappearances (FIND) monitored four reported 
disappearance cases involving eight victims. At year's end, five 
victims were still missing, two were found dead, and one was found 
alive.
    Some victims' families complained that the courts and police failed 
to address adequately their complaints concerning disappearances in 
which security forces were suspected. Evidence of a kidnapping or 
killing is required to file charges. FIND and other NGOs continued to 
support the efforts of victims' families to press charges. In most 
cases evidence and documentation were unavailable, and convictions were 
rare.
    There were no developments in earlier disappearance cases, and 
there were no convictions for disappearance cases during the year. The 
decision as to whether to grant the petition for a writ of amparo 
providing the court's protection to the family of indigenous rights 
activist James Balao, who disappeared in 2008, remained pending before 
the Supreme Court.
    Investigative and judicial inaction on previous cases of 
disappearance contributed to a climate of impunity and undermined 
public confidence in the justice system.
    Terrorist and criminal groups committed a number of kidnappings for 
ransom in the southern Philippines (see section 1.g.).

    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 were alleged to have routinely abused and 
sometimes tortured suspects and detainees. According to the CHR and 
human rights groups, the use of excessive force and torture remained an 
ingrained part of the arrest and detention process. Common forms of 
abuse during arrest and interrogation included electric shock, 
cigarette burns, and suffocation.
    The CHR investigated 22 cases of alleged torture involving 93 
victims, with police, military, and other law enforcement officers 
identified as suspects during the year. During the same period, the 
TFDP documented 35 cases of torture involving 57 victims and alleged 
that security forces were responsible.
    In November 2009, then president Arroyo signed the Anti-Torture Law 
that criminalizes acts of torture. Penalties range from one month to 
life in prison, depending on the gravity of the offense. The law also 
provides rehabilitation and compensation of not less than 10,000 pesos 
($218) to victims of torture and their families. The Secretary of 
Justice and CHR chair signed the law's implementing rules and 
regulations on December 10.
    There were reports that prison guards physically abused inmates. 
The CHR and the TFDP reported that abuse by prison guards and other 
inmates was common, but prisoners, fearing retaliation, refused to 
lodge formal complaints. Women in police custody were particularly 
vulnerable to sexual and physical assault by police and prison 
officials. The police sometimes punished officers who committed assault 
or abuse. Human rights activists believed suspected ASG and NPA members 
in captivity were particular targets for abuse.
    On August 23, authorities filed administrative and criminal cases 
against a police officer, two of his superiors, and six of his 
subordinates involved in the alleged torture of a robbery suspect 
inside a police precinct in March. The case was initiated after a cell 
phone video of the suspect being questioned by police while lying 
naked, bound, and with a cord tied to his genitals was broadcast on 
local media. A police task force, the ombudsman, and the CHR conducted 
separate inquiries into the case.
    There were alleged instances of rape perpetrated by PNP officials. 
On December 31, a Manila police officer allegedly arbitrarily detained, 
robbed, and raped a woman inside the Manila Police District 
headquarters. Unlike in previous years, there were no anecdotal reports 
of an increase in rape and sexual abuse charges filed against officers.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
rudimentary and sometimes harsh. Jails and prisons were often 
overcrowded, lacked basic infrastructure, and provided prisoners with 
inadequate nutrition and medical attention.
    The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), under the Department of Justice, 
administered seven prisons and penal farms for prisoners sentenced to 
more than three years in prison. During the year, BuCor's prisons and 
penal farms held 36,101 prisoners, including 2,041 women. The 
Department of Interior and Local Government's (DILG) Bureau of 
Management and Penology (BJMP) and PNP control over 1,002 city, 
district, and municipal jails that hold pretrial detainees, those 
awaiting final judgment, and convicts serving sentences of three years 
or less. The DILG reported that its jails operate at an average of 400 
percent over their designated capacity, and that Manila City Jail, 
built to hold 1,000 inmates, held 5,300 inmates at year's end.
    Prison and jail administrators allotted a daily subsistence 
allowance of 50 pesos ($1.10) per prisoner. Lack of potable water, poor 
sanitation, and poor ventilation continued to cause health problems. 
During the year, BuCor and the BPMJ reported 871 deaths in prison due 
to various illnesses, including cardiopulmonary arrest and pulmonary 
tuberculosis. Some prisoners, including women and children, were abused 
by other prisoners and prison personnel. The slow judicial process 
exacerbated overcrowding. During the year, the president granted 
executive clemency to 29 elderly persons. BuCor records showed that at 
least 8 percent of its inmates were 60 or older.
    According to BJMP regulations, male and female inmates should be 
held in separate facilities and, in national prisons, overseen by 
guards of the same sex; 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 or place them in youth detention 
centers, in some instances children were not fully segregated from 
adult male inmates. Girls were sometimes held in the same cells as 
boys. As part of reform and budget reduction efforts during the year, 
the Government consolidated women and minors into fewer jails, 
including some that contained separate facilities for those groups. Of 
the 1,002 BJMP and PNP-managed jails, 194 had separate cells for 
minors, while 418 jails had separate cells for women. Lack of adequate 
food for minors in jails and prisons was a concern (see section 6, 
Children).
    During the year, BJMP and PNP jails held 59,289 prisoners, 95 
percent of whom were pretrial detainees. The remainder had been 
convicted of various crimes. Of the total number of sentenced prisoners 
and detainees, 5,673 were adult women and 12 were minors. During the 
same period, the BJMP released 111 minor inmates, usually in response 
to a court order following a petition by the Public Attorney's Office 
(PAO) or the inmate's private lawyer, or through NGO-led appeals.
    Prisoners and detainees generally had access to visitors, but local 
NGOs reported that family visitation was restricted at times for some 
political detainees. Prison officials noted that security concerns and 
space limitations at times restricted prisoners' access to visitors. 
Muslim officials reported that while Muslim detainees were allowed to 
observe their religion, Catholic masses were often broadcast by 
loudspeaker to prison populations made up of both Catholic and non-
Catholic prisoners and detainees. There were no reports that 
authorities censored or blocked prisoner or detainee complaints or 
requests for investigation of inhumane conditions. International 
monitoring groups, including the International Committee of the Red 
Cross, were allowed free access to jails and prisons. However, a local 
NGO reported difficulty accessing jails or detention centers where 
children were held and was forced to seek court orders or permission 
from the governor to visit political prisoners in one provincial jail.
    In an October 16 riot in the Bataan provincial jail, 57 prisoners 
were injured when guards used water hoses, truncheons, and rubber 
bullets to quell an uprising of an estimated 900 inmates. A CHR 
investigation found that the guards used excessive force against the 
prisoners, and nine correctional officers were removed from their posts 
following the incident.
    BuCor continued to automate inmate records in order to fast track 
the release of qualified inmates, and the Public Attorney's Office 
worked with BuCor and the BJMP to address the status and circumstances 
of confinement of juvenile offenders and improve pretrial detention, 
bail, and recordkeeping procedures to ensure that prisoners do not 
serve beyond the maximum sentence for the charged offense. It also 
installed security cameras and constructed a hospital ward for inmate 
patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in one of its major prisons, and 
partnered with the Department of Health, international organizations, 
and other stakeholders to implement a tuberculosis control and 
prevention program in jails and prisons in the National Capital Region.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law 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 and the AFP arrested 
and detained citizens arbitrarily. During the year, the TFDP documented 
80 cases of illegal arrest and detention involving 142 victims. The CHR 
tracked 57 cases of arbitrary arrest involving 70 victims and 40 cases 
of illegal detention involving 45 victims. During the same period, the 
NGO FIND counted one enforced disappearance victim who was later found 
alive.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Department of 
National Defense directs the AFP, which shares responsibility for 
counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations with the PNP. The 
DILG directs the PNP, which is responsible for law enforcement and 
urban counterterrorism; however, governors, mayors, and other local 
officials have considerable influence over local police units. The 
132,577-member PNP has deep-rooted institutional deficiencies and 
suffered from a widely held and accurate public perception that 
corruption remained a problem. The PNP's Internal Affairs Service 
remained largely ineffective. Members of the PNP were regularly accused 
of torture, soliciting bribes, and other illegal acts. Efforts were 
underway to reform and professionalize the institution through improved 
training, expanded community outreach, and pay raises. During the year, 
there were 69 administrative cases filed against 97 members of the 
police force, including administrative officials and police officers, 
for various human rights violations. Out of the 69 cases filed, 61 were 
resolved and eight were undergoing summary proceedings. The PNP 
dismissed 12 persons in connection with these cases. The deputy 
ombudsman for the military received 67 cases involving alleged human 
rights abuses by the military and law enforcement officers from January 
to July, the majority of which were filed against low-ranking police 
and military officials. All of the cases were under investigation by 
the Deputy Ombudsman's Office as of August.
    The police and military routinely provided human rights training to 
their members, augmented by training from the CHR. The PNP maintained a 
network of 1,636 human rights desk officers at the national, regional, 
provincial, and municipal levels. The CHR noted that senior PNP 
officials appeared receptive to respecting the human rights of 
detainees, but rank-and-file awareness of detainee rights remained 
inadequate. The Commission on Appointments determines whether senior 
military officers selected for promotion have a history of human rights 
violations and solicits input from the CHR and other agencies through 
background investigations. A promotion can be withheld indefinitely if 
the commission uncovers a record of human rights abuses. Negative 
findings do not, however, preclude promotion, and there were no reports 
of promotions withheld on human rights grounds during the year.
    Human rights groups and the CHR noted little progress in 
implementing and enforcing some reforms aimed at decreasing the 
incidence of killings, and cooperation and coordination between police 
and prosecutors remained limited. On July 16, the Department of Justice 
instructed prosecutors to coordinate closely with local law enforcement 
agencies in resolving political and media killings, violence, or 
harassment. The CHR approved operational guidelines and rules of 
procedure for its witness protection program on April 8, but funding 
for the CHR and government witness protection programs remained 
inadequate. Potential witnesses were at times unable to enter the 
program due to funding constraints or procedural delays. On June 14, a 
potential witness in the November 2009 massacre in Maguindanao, Suwaib 
Upahm, was shot and killed in Parang, Maguindanao, while his request 
for entry into the witness protection program was pending with the 
Department of Justice. Police arrested two suspects on July 4.
    The AFP did not aggressively pursue internal investigations into 
alleged serious human rights abuses by some of its members. From 
January to July, the AFP Human Rights Office monitored four new cases 
of killings, two cases of torture, illegal detention, and illegal 
arrest, and one case of enforced disappearance. Murder charges were 
filed in civilian courts in one of these cases (see section 1.a).
    Government-armed civilian militias supplemented the AFP and the 
PNP; the AFP held operational control of Citizens' Armed Force 
Geographical Units (CAFGU), and Civilian Volunteer Organizations (CVOs) 
fell under PNP command. These paramilitary units often received minimal 
training and were poorly monitored, tracked, and regulated. Some 
politicians and clan leaders, particularly in Mindanao, maintained 
their own private armies and at times co-opted CVO and CAFGU members 
into these armies. Human rights NGOs have linked state-backed militias 
and private armies with numerous human rights abuses, including the 
2009 massacre of 58 people--family members and supporters of a 
gubernatorial candidate, 31 media members, and six passersby--in 
Maguindanao Province.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Citizens are 
apprehended openly with warrants based on sufficient evidence and 
issued by a duly authorized official, and are brought before an 
independent judiciary. However, there were some reports during the year 
of citizens, including minor children, being picked up by security 
forces without warrants and detained arbitrarily. The Human Security 
Act of 2007 permits warrantless arrests and detention without charges 
for up to three days for committing or attempting to commit acts of 
terrorism; the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of this act 
on October 5. Detainees have the right to a judicial review of the 
legality of their detention and, except for offenses punishable by a 
life sentence, the right to bail. During the year, 8,260 detainees (14 
percent of detainees) were able to post bail. The law provides an 
accused or detained person the right to a lawyer of his choice and, if 
indigent, to one provided by the state. Authorities are required to 
file charges within 12 to 36 hours for arrests made without warrants, 
with the time given to file charges increasing with the seriousness of 
the crime. Lengthy pretrial detention remained a problem, due largely 
to the under-resourced justice system. The BJMP released 29,800 inmates 
during the year as part of jail decongestion programs. There was no 
available data indicating the number of detainees who were released 
because they had been jailed for periods equal to or longer than the 
maximum prison terms they would have served if convicted. Large jails 
employed paralegals to monitor inmates' cases to prevent detention 
beyond the maximum sentence and to assist decongestion efforts.
    On December 10, President Aquino ordered all charges dropped 
against 43 suspected NPA members arrested in a joint PNP and AFP 
operation in Morong, Rizal, on February 6. The group, dubbed the 
``Morong 43,'' asserted they were medical professionals and volunteer 
health workers attending a community-health training seminar. Although 
arrested by the PNP, the group initially was detained at a secure 
military compound. Local CHR personnel, legal counsel, and relatives 
were denied prompt access to the detainees, and there were reports of 
psychological and physical abuse in the initial hours of their 
detention. On February 11, a total of 40 detainees were charged with 
illegal firearms possession and the remaining three with illegal 
possession of firearms and explosives, all nonbailable offenses. On May 
1, after almost three months in military custody, 38 detainees were 
transferred to a PNP detention center in Metro Manila. The other five 
detainees reportedly admitted their NPA affiliation and became state 
witnesses; they remained in military custody as part of the rebel 
returnee program. A local court ordered release of the ``Morong 43'' on 
December 17 following the Department of Justice's (DOJ) withdrawal of 
the criminal charges on grounds of illegal search and arrest, as it was 
determined that evidence gathered under a defective search warrant 
could not be used in court. Three members of the group remained in jail 
at year's end due to pending charges in other, unrelated cases; the 
five state witnesses opted to remain in the rebel returnee program.
    The NPA and some Islamic separatist groups were responsible for a 
number of arbitrary detentions, including kidnappings and hostage 
taking.

    Amnesty.--On October 12, President Aquino issued a proclamation 
granting amnesty to more than 300 soldiers and marines accused of 
participating in mutinies in 2003, 2006, and 2007.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary; however, the judicial system suffered from 
corruption and inefficiency. Personal connections and sometimes bribery 
resulted in impunity for some wealthy or influential offenders. This 
contributed to widespread skepticism that the judicial process could 
deliver due process and equal justice. The Supreme Court continued 
efforts to ensure speedier trials, sanction judicial malfeasance, 
increase judicial branch efficiency, and raise public confidence in the 
judiciary. No judges were dismissed or disciplined during the year.

    Trial Procedures.--The law requires all persons accused of crimes 
be informed of the charges against them, have the right to counsel, and 
be provided a speedy and public trial before a judge. Defendants are 
presumed innocent and have the right to confront witnesses against 
them, present evidence, and appeal convictions. The authorities 
respected defendants' right to be represented by a lawyer, but poverty 
often inhibited a defendant's access to effective legal representation. 
Skilled defense lawyers staffed the PAO, but their workload was large 
and resources were scarce. The PAO provided legal representation for 
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.
    The law provides that cases should be resolved within set time 
limits once submitted for decision: 24 months for the Supreme Court; 12 
months for a court of appeals; and three months for lower courts. 
However, these time limits were not mandatory and were not respected in 
practice. In effect, there were no time limits for trials. Government 
officials estimated that it takes an average of five to 10 years to 
obtain a conviction and that the national conviction rate was 20 
percent. The system relied heavily on witnesses' testimony and gave 
relatively little weight to circumstantial and forensic evidence. 
Written evidence and wiretaps were not routinely employed.
    Lengthy pretrial detention remained a problem. Trials take place in 
short sessions over time as witnesses and court time become available; 
these noncontinuous sessions created lengthy delays. Furthermore, there 
was a widely recognized need for more prosecutors, judges, and 
courtrooms. Judgeship vacancy rates were high; of the total 2,187 
trial-court judgeships, 531 (24 percent) were vacant. Courts in 
Mindanao and poorer provinces had higher vacancy rates than the 
national average. Sharia (Islamic Law) court positions were 
particularly difficult to fill because of the requirement that 
applicants be members of both the Sharia Bar and the Integrated Bar. 
All five Sharia district court judgeships and 39 percent of circuit 
court judgeships remained vacant. Sharia courts do not have criminal 
jurisdiction.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--Various human rights NGOs 
maintained lists of incarcerated persons they considered to be 
political prisoners. The TFDP tracked 287 political prisoners during 
the year, the majority of whom had not been convicted. Some NGOs 
asserted it was frequent practice to make politically motivated arrests 
of persons for common crimes or on fabricated charges, and to continue 
to detain them after their sentences expired.
    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. 
During the year, the Government released eight persons whom NGOs 
claimed were political prisoners.
    The Government permitted access to alleged political prisoners by 
international humanitarian organizations.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The judiciary is 
independent and impartial in civil matters. There are administrative 
remedies as well as judicial remedies for civil complaints; however, 
corruption was widespread in the judiciary, and cases often were 
dismissed. Complainants have access to local trial courts to seek 
damages for, or cessation of, human rights abuses.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law allows judges to issue search warrants on a 
finding of probable cause. While the Government generally respected 
restrictions on search and seizure within private homes, searches 
without warrants occurred. Judges generally declared evidence obtained 
illegally to be inadmissible.
    The Government generally respected the privacy of its citizens; 
however, leaders of communist and leftist organizations and rural-based 
NGOs complained of what they described as a pattern of surveillance and 
harassment.
    Forced resettlement of urban squatters, who made up at least 30 
percent of the urban population, continued during the year. 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 
limitations, and the issuance of land titles to squatters was limited.

    g. Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts.--
The Government combated antigovernment forces and terrorists who 
actively sought to destabilize the country during the year. Government 
forces killed a number of civilians during clashes with antigovernment 
forces. Some citizens' groups complained that the AFP, in confronting 
the ASG and NPA, illegally detained citizens, destroyed houses, 
displaced residents, and shelled villages. Clashes between the AFP and 
forces of the separatist MILF and incidents of clan violence continued 
in central Mindanao during the year, resulting in the deaths of 
civilians and the displacement of thousands of others. In July 2009 the 
Government and the MILF signed an agreement to end hostilities and 
resume discussions on a comprehensive peace agreement. Formal 
negotiations between the two parties did not resume prior to year's 
end.

    Killings.--Government forces acknowledged the civilian deaths in 
the course of military operations against the MILF, NPA, and other 
groups, whose forces also killed civilians, police officers, and AFP 
soldiers. On November 15, three civilians, including respected botanist 
Leonardo Co, were killed during AFP combat operations in Kananga, 
Leyte. AFP forces asserted the civilians were caught in the crossfire 
between the military and suspected NPA insurgents; other witnesses 
reported the firing came only from one side. CHR and DOJ investigations 
into the case were ongoing at year's end.
    Military sources reported that 176 AFP members were killed in 
action during encounters with rebel and terrorist groups during the 
year, 166 by the NPA and 10 by the ASG. During the same period, AFP 
operations killed 131 insurgents: 97 suspected NPA members, 23 ASG 
members, and 11 MILF members. Insurgents killed 11 PNP officers during 
the year, and the PNP claimed 44 NPA insurgents were killed in police 
operations around the country. The AFP also recorded 55 bombings during 
the same period.
    NGOs alleged that government security forces abducted, tortured, or 
killed civilians during military operations against the MILF. NGOs also 
reported that indiscriminate shelling of villages by security forces 
led to civilian deaths. There were reports that both the MILF and 
government forces set fire to villages. Clan feuds contributed to 
violence between various armed factions in Mindanao.
    The Government suspected groups with ties to the ASG or JI were 
responsible for bombings in Cotabato City, Jolo City, and Zamboanga 
City that killed civilians. No group claimed responsibility for the 
attacks. The Government also attributed fatal bombings and beheadings 
in Basilan to the ASG.
    Communist insurgents, mainly from the NPA, used roadside bombs, 
ambushes, and other means to kill political figures, military and 
police officers, and civilians, including suspected military and police 
informers. The NPA and other criminal extortion groups also harassed 
businesses and government offices, and burned farms, businesses, and 
private communication facilities to enforce the collection of 
``revolutionary taxes.
    In separate June 27 incidents, suspected NPA members shot and 
killed village chief Maritess Toldanes in Balatan, Camarines Sur, and a 
Sorsogon-based former militia member, Rodrigo Felonia. Toldanes 
reportedly was killed when she refused an NPA extortion attempt. The 
NPA also claimed responsibility for the July 13 killing of former 
Eastern Samar Town Mayor Mateo Biong, Jr. and the July 31 killing of 
former NPA member Crisaldo Banan, an alleged military informant.
    On March 6, alleged NPA members ambushed and killed 11 soldiers on 
an election security detail in Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro. On June 9, 
seven AFP soldiers were killed in an ambush by suspected NPA members 
while securing a village for a medical mission in Bontoc Town, Mountain 
Province. On August 22, the NPA claimed responsibility for an August 21 
ambush by landmine and small arms fire in Catarman, Northern Samar, 
that killed eight police officers. On December 14, two days before a 
scheduled holiday ceasefire, NPA members killed 10 AFP soldiers in a 
landmine-initiated ambush in Northern Samar. A nine-year-old boy was 
also killed in the attack.

    Abductions.--Numerous kidnappings by various armed criminal and 
terrorist groups, including the ASG, were recorded in Mindanao and the 
Sulu Archipelago. Often victims were released in exchange for payments 
or rescued by authorities, while others were killed by their captors.
    At least 23 individuals, including five businessmen, three 
soldiers, three farmers, three loggers, two teachers, and one militia 
member, were reportedly abducted by ASG, NPA, and other kidnap-for-
ransom groups in Compostela Province, Basilan, Cotobato City, and the 
Zamboanga Peninsula during the year. Five were killed and 12 were 
either rescued or released; six remained missing or captive.
    Unidentified gunmen abducted Nuraldin Yusoph, son of a Commission 
on Elections (COMELEC) commissioner, in Marawi City on June 20. In 
exchange for his release, the kidnappers demanded the commission 
nullify election results in four Lanao del Sur towns. Nuraldin was 
released unharmed on July 19 in Cagayan de Oro.
    On July 29, NPA members used five children as human shields during 
an encounter with government soldiers in Lupi Town, Camarines Sur. The 
hostages were later released unharmed.

    Child Soldiers.--During the year, the NPA and the ASG targeted 
children for recruitment as combatants and noncombatants. The NPA 
claimed it assigned persons 15 to 18 years of age to self-defense and 
noncombatant duties; however, there were reports the NPA continued to 
use minors in combat. During the year, the AFP reportedly rescued eight 
child soldiers, all of whom were allegedly recruited by the NPA.
    The ASG recruited teenagers to fight and participate in its 
activities. The AFP stated that some Islamic schools in Mindanao served 
as fronts to indoctrinate children.
    In May the UN released a report identifying the ASG, the NPA, and 
the MILF as among the world's ``persistent violators of children in 
armed conflicts.'' According to the report, these groups have recruited 
or used child soldiers for at least the past five years. It noted the 
progress made with the MILF when its representatives signed the July 
2009 action plan to prevent recruitment and use of child soldiers and 
to release children from all MILF units. The UN report also noted 
isolated cases of minors, ages 15-17, being voluntarily recruited into 
the paramilitary Citizen Armed Forces Geographical Units that fall 
under AFP operational control (see section 1.d.). At year's end, 
according to the UN Children's Fund the Government was discussing the 
issue with the UN country task force.
    During the year, the Department of Social Welfare and Development 
(DSWD) assisted one child soldier rescued from rebel groups. Government 
reporting mechanisms for children in armed conflict were inconsistent 
between agencies and regions, making it difficult to evaluate the scope 
of the problem. See also the Department of State's annual Trafficking 
in Persons report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Other Conflict-Related Abuses.--Clashes between the MILF and AFP 
continued and caused the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) 
to fluctuate. Most IDPs were in the central Mindanao provinces of Lanao 
del Norte, Cotabato, and Maguindanao (see section 2.d.).
    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.'' 
The MILF also maintained its own ``people's courts.'' The AFP used 
civilian facilities such as schools to quarter soldiers during military 
operations in remote areas. NGOs claimed the AFP sometimes appropriated 
civilian facilities or private property without compensation to 
residents.
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.
    The Government owned several television and radio stations; 
however, most print and electronic media were privately owned. The 
independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of views 
without restriction, but they were freewheeling and often criticized 
for lacking rigorous journalistic standards. 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 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 face 
harassment and threats of violence from individuals critical of their 
reporting.
    Journalists continued to be killed. The Center for Media Freedom 
and Responsibility (CMFR) reported eight journalists killed during the 
year. The CMFR claimed that four out of the eight were killed in the 
line of duty. The TFU, which also tracks killings of media 
practitioners, classified two of these cases as work-related killings. 
The TFU has recorded 39 media practitioners slain in work-related 
killings since 2001; this total does not include the 31 media members 
killed in the Maguindanao massacre, which was monitored by a special 
task force.
    On June 14, a gunman shot and killed local broadcaster Desiderio 
Camangyan, an anti-illegal logging activist, in Manay, Davao Oriental. 
On July 21, murder charges were filed against a local police officer 
and a local village chief in Camangyan's death. The police officer is 
under restrictive custody pending preliminary investigation. On July 9, 
two gunmen shot Iriga City-based radio broadcaster Miguel Belen in 
Nabua, Camarines Sur; he died 20 days later. Murder charges were filed 
against two suspects on August 6.
    On July 21, two gunmen shot and killed local radio broadcaster 
Jovelito Agustin in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte. On the same day, murder 
charges were filed against a local government official and his aide.
    Cases of journalist killings for 2009 and 2008 remained ongoing.
    On August 6, a local court acquitted a former police officer and 
another suspect in the 2004 killing of Laoag City-based radio 
broadcaster Roger Mariano.
    Human rights NGOs frequently criticized the Government for failing 
to protect journalists. The National Union of Journalists of the 
Philippines accused the police and the Government of failing to 
investigate adequately these killings and of subjecting journalists to 
harassment and surveillance. In some situations it was difficult to 
discern if violence against journalists was carried out in retribution 
for their profession or if these journalists were the victims of random 
crime.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in peaceful 
expressions of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. Internet 
access was available widely. According to International 
Telecommunication Union statistics for 2009, approximately 6.5 percent 
of the country's inhabitants used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--Student groups at some 
universities accused security forces of harassing student political 
groups. The Government did not otherwise interfere with academic 
freedom. There were no government restrictions on academic freedom or 
cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The law provides for freedom of assembly, and the Government 
generally respected this right in practice. The police exhibited 
professionalism and restraint in dealing with demonstrators, with a few 
exceptions. An NGO reported that protesters were injured by police in a 
July 3 protest in Manila calling for land reform.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association, and the Government generally respected this right in 
practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the Department of State's 2010 International Religious 
Freedom Report at http://www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    Foreign travel 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 faced personal 
risk.
    The Government retained its formal ban on travel to Iraq for the 
purposes of employment, but the Department of Foreign Affairs estimated 
that 6,000 Filipinos worked there. The travel ban also included 
Afghanistan, Nigeria, Somalia, Jordan, and Lebanon. The Philippine 
Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) sought to regulate and 
control departures for work abroad, and required citizens to register 
with government agencies and receive pre-departure screening, training 
and certification before traveling for employment overseas. Millions of 
citizens worked overseas and remitted money home. Such remittances were 
equivalent to approximately 10 percent of the 2010 gross domestic 
product.
    Forced exile is illegal, and the Government did not use it.

    Internally Displaced Persons.--Clashes between the AFP and the MILF 
and incidents of clan violence during the first half of the year caused 
the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to fluctuate. The 
International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimated 26,600 
families, or between 128,000 and 160,000 individuals, remained 
displaced in Mindanao either by the AFP/MILF conflict or by clan 
violence. The overwhelming majority were located in Maguindanao 
Province and the Muslim-majority areas of Cotabato. A July IOM report 
estimated 18,874 families, or between 94,000 and 113,000 persons, were 
living in displacement camps, evacuation centers, relocation sites, or 
in the homes of relatives in Maguindanao, and that nearly 25,000 people 
had been displaced by clan violence.
    In October 2009 the Government and the MILF signed an Agreement on 
the Civilian Protection Component of the International Monitoring Team, 
which reconfirmed their obligations under international humanitarian 
and human rights law to refrain from intentionally targeting or 
attacking noncombatants and to avoid acts that would cause collateral 
damage to civilians. The agreement also includes provisions for the 
protection of key civilian facilities, such as schools, hospitals and 
relief distribution sites. The terms of reference had not, however, 
been finalized as of year's end.
    The Government permitted humanitarian organizations to access IDP 
sites. NGOs noted that food aid was sometimes delayed. Security forces 
did not target IDPs, but military operations were carried out near IDP 
sites. The Government did not restrict the movement of IDPs. At various 
times the Government encouraged IDPs to return home, but they often 
were reluctant due to security concerns and food scarcity. On November 
26, unidentified gunmen attacked a UN World Food Program (WFP) truck in 
Lanao del Sur, killing one WFP contract worker. The incident remained 
under investigation at year's end.
    Government agencies, often with support from UN agencies and other 
international assistance, provided food assistance and other goods, 
constructed shelters and public infrastructure, repaired schools, 
constructed sanitation facilities, offered immunization, health, and 
social services, and provided cash assistance and skills training. 
Following its July 2009 cease-fire agreement with the MILF, the 
Government embarked on a program to assist IDPs to return to their 
villages and regain their livelihoods. UN reports indicated that some 
IDPs, particularly in Maguindanao and Lanao del Norte provinces, 
returned to their villages as a result of the improved security 
situation. Other agencies, including the UN Development Program, 
Mindanao Emergency Response Network, and the Red Cross, continued to 
provide food and essential items such as medicine, blankets, water 
containers, and mosquito nets.

    Protection of Refugees.--No comprehensive legislation provides for 
granting refugee status or asylum. In practice the Government provided 
protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries 
where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of race, 
religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or 
political opinion. The refugee unit in the DOJ determined which asylum 
seekers qualify as refugees. The Government also provided temporary 
protection to individuals who may not qualify as refugees. There were 
no reports of the Government extending such protections during the 
year.
    The Government cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian 
organizations in assisting refugees. In August 2009 the Department of 
Foreign Affairs and the UNHCR signed a Memorandum of Agreement on the 
Emergency Transit of Refugees, permitting the transit of refugees 
through the Philippines for onward resettlement in another country. The 
UNHCR recorded the transit of 216 refugees during the year.
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 that were largely free and fair and held on the basis of 
universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--On May 10, the country 
conducted nationwide elections for president, both houses of congress, 
provincial governors, and local government officials. It was the 
country's first automated election, and voter turnout was high despite 
procedural problems that caused extensive polling delays. International 
and national observers viewed the election as generally free and fair, 
but there were incidents of violence and allegations of fraud in some 
areas. The PNP recorded 180 election-related violent incidents 
resulting in the deaths of 55 persons between January 10 and June 9.
    On March 30, the COMELEC approved a resolution allowing registered 
detainees to vote. According to the BJMP, an estimated 17,336 detainees 
voted in the May 10 elections.
    Some 300,000 poll station workers, mostly teachers, were denied the 
right to vote when COMELEC failed to create procedures allowing them to 
vote at their assigned polls, which generally were outside their 
designated precinct.
    In general, political parties could operate without restriction. On 
April 8, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of party-list accreditation 
for Ang Ladlad, an organization representing lesbian, gay, bisexual, 
and transgender (LGBT) persons. COMELEC had rejected the group's 
petition for accreditation in October 2009 on grounds it ``tolerates 
immorality, which offends religious beliefs.''
    There were no restrictions in law or practice on participation by 
women and members of minorities in politics. Many women held positions 
of leadership and authority. There were three women in the 24-seat 
Senate and 57 women in the 268-seat House of Representatives. There 
were six women in the 32-member cabinet, three female associate 
justices on the 15-member Supreme Court, and 16 women among the 82 
governors.
    Muslims, indigenous groups, and other citizens argued that electing 
senators from a nationwide list favored established political figures 
from the Manila area. Election of senators by region would require a 
constitutional amendment, which many Muslims and members of other 
groups underrepresented in the national legislature favored. There were 
no Muslim or indigenous senators and no Muslim or indigenous cabinet 
members. There were 11 Muslim members in the House of Representatives, 
mostly elected from Muslim-majority provinces, and one member of 
indigenous descent.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials often engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. Both the 
Government and the private sector have established a number of 
anticorruption bodies, including an ombudsman's office and an 
anticorruption court, and public officials were subject to financial 
disclosure laws. During the year, the Government convicted 42 officials 
in 125 corruption cases, including the March 3 conviction of a former 
representative in Sorsogon and the August 19 conviction of a former 
state university president. There were reports of widespread corruption 
among prison guards and, to some extent, at higher levels of authority 
within the prison system. The 132,577-member PNP suffered from a widely 
held and accurate public perception that corruption remained a problem. 
PNP members were regularly accused of soliciting bribes and other 
illegal acts.
    The law provides for the right to information on matters of public 
concern. However, denial of such information often occurred when the 
information related to an anomaly or irregularity in government 
transactions, and little government information was available 
electronically, making it difficult to retrieve. In addition, no 
legislation sets procedures for access to information or penalties for 
officials who fail to disclose lawfully available data.
Section 5. 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. The CHR and, 
to some extent, the PNP responded to and investigated cases of human 
rights abuses, as requested by NGOs. 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 Presidential Human Rights Committee consulted with NGOs 
but did not include representation from the NGO community, which some 
groups claimed reduced their ability to participate in the Government's 
human rights initiatives.
    The Government cooperated with international organizations.
    The CHR is 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 authority to make recommendations regarding 
military and higher-level police promotions. The commission has a 
chairperson and four members. CHR monitoring and investigating 
continued to be hamstrung by insufficient resources. Approximately 
three-quarters of the country's 42,000 barangays (villages) have human 
rights action centers, which coordinated with CHR regional offices; 
however, CHR's regional and subregional offices remained understaffed 
and underfunded. The CHR nationwide budget increased 12 percent over 
the prior year to 285.89 million pesos (approximately $6.23 million). 
The CHR conducted numerous investigations during the year and faced 
some difficulty accessing military facilities and privately owned sites 
to conduct its searches for missing or detained persons.
    The House of Representatives and Senate maintained active human 
rights committees.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination against women, children, and 
minorities; however, vague regulations and budgetary constraints 
hindered implementation of these protections.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is illegal, but enforcement 
was ineffective. Rape continued to be a problem, with most cases 
unreported. From January to November, the PNP reported 4,776 rape 
cases, 15 percent higher than reported in 2009. The Bureau of 
Correction's prisons and penal farms held 3,992 prisoners convicted of 
rape, 42 of whom were serving life sentences. There were reports of 
rape and sexual abuse of women in police or protective custody--often 
women from marginalized groups, such as suspected prostitutes, drug 
users, and lower-income individuals arrested for minor crimes. There 
were alleged instances of rape perpetrated by PNP officials. Unlike in 
previous years, there were no anecdotal reports of an increase in rape 
and sexual abuse charges filed against police officers.
    Violence against women remained a serious problem. The law 
criminalizes physical, sexual, and psychological harm or abuse to women 
and their children committed by their spouses or partners. From January 
through November, the PNP reported 9,225 cases of domestic violence 
against women and their children, a 91 percent increase over the same 
period last year. This number likely underreported significantly the 
level of violence against women and children.
    A local women's support group noted that, in smaller localities, 
perpetrators of abuse sometimes used personal relationships with local 
authorities to avoid prosecution. On other occasions, women who sought 
to file complaints through the police were told to pay special fees 
before their complaints could be registered.
    The PNP and the DSWD both maintained 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. 
Approximately 10 percent of PNP officers were women. The PNP has a 
Women and Children's Unit to deal with these matters. There are 1,843 
PNP women and children's desks throughout the country.
    Although prostitution was illegal, sex tourism, with clients coming 
from domestic sources, the United States, Europe, Australia, and other 
East Asian countries, continued during the year. Trafficking in women 
both domestically and internationally for forced labor and sexual 
exploitation remained serious problems. Please see the Department of 
State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment, but it remained widespread and 
underreported in the workplace due to victims' fear of losing their 
jobs. Women in the retail industry worked on three- to six-month 
contracts and were often reluctant to report sexual harassment for fear 
their contracts would not be renewed. Some labor unions protested age 
discrimination and punitive action against female employees who became 
pregnant (see section 7 a.).
    The constitution upholds the basic right of couples and individuals 
to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of 
their children, and to have the information and means to do so free 
from discrimination, coercion, and violence. However, the provision of 
health care services is the responsibility of local governments, and 
although men and women generally were treated equally, restrictions on 
the provision of birth-control supplies by government-run health 
facilities in some localities reduced the availability of family-
planning resources for impoverished women. For example, in 2000 the 
then mayor of Manila issued an executive order that discouraged the use 
of artificial contraception and required city hospitals and health 
clinics to develop programs to promote natural family planning. 
According to NGOs, city hospitals and health clinics have ceased to 
procure, offer, or advise on artificial contraception since the 
implementation of the order, which remained in effect at year's end. In 
an October 7 advisory, the CHR found the executive order to be in 
violation of the laws on non-discrimination. While artificial 
contraception could be purchased on the open market, it remained 
unaffordable for many of the city's poorest residents.
    Social hygiene clinics in urban areas served everyone who sought 
consultation and treatment. Women and men were equally diagnosed and 
treated for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. The 
Department of Health trained rural health physicians in diagnosis and 
treatment, but local health offices faced resource constraints. For 
maternal health services, 70 percent of pregnant women had at least 
four antenatal care visits, and 40 percent of births were facility 
based or had skilled birth attendants. According to UN Population Fund 
statistics, the adjusted maternal mortality rate was 160 deaths per 
100,000 live births in 2009.
    The law does not provide for divorce, although courts generally 
recognized the legality of divorces obtained in other countries if one 
of the parties is a foreign national. Marriage can be terminated 
through a legal annulment, but the cost precludes annulment as an 
option for many families. 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 
seven are placed in the care of the mother unless there is a court 
order to the contrary. Children over the age of seven normally also 
remained with the mother, although the father could dispute custody 
through the courts.
    By law, but not always in practice, women have most of the rights 
and protections accorded to men. Women are accorded the same rights as 
men in respect to the ownership, acquisition, management, 
administration, enjoyment, and disposition of property and assets. 
Although they faced workplace discrimination, women continued to occupy 
positions at all levels of the workforce. In an April labor force 
survey, 57 percent of government officials, corporate executives, 
managers, and supervisors were women. The survey also revealed that of 
the 3.1 million unemployed persons, 37.5 percent were women and 62.5 
percent were men.
    The Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), composed of 10 government 
officials and 11 NGO leaders appointed by the president, is the primary 
policy-making and coordinating body on issues of women and gender 
equity.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived by birth within the country's 
territory or from one's parents. The Government continued to promote 
birth registration. Credible organizations estimated there were more 
than two million unregistered children in the country, primarily among 
Muslim and indigenous groups.
    Elementary and secondary education is free and compulsory through 
age 11, but the quality of education remained poor and access was not 
universal. Public elementary and secondary school enrollment rates were 
85 and 62 percent, respectively. According to the 2007 UNICEF Mid-Term 
Review, boys were more likely than girls to drop out of school. 
Children could be deprived of education if they lacked required 
documents, such as birth certificates.
    Child abuse remained a problem. From January to June, DSWD offices 
served 4,451 victims of child abuse, of whom 66 percent were girls. 
Approximately 44 percent of the girls were victims of sexual abuse, 
while 2 percent were victims of sexual exploitation. Some children also 
were victims of police abuse while in detention for committing minor 
crimes. Several cities ran crisis centers for abused women and 
children. Foreign pedophiles exploited children, and the Government 
continued its efforts to prosecute accused pedophiles and deport 
foreign pedophiles.
    Child prostitution continued to be a serious problem, and the 
country remained a destination for child sex tourism. Since the passage 
of a law against child labor in 2003, the Department of Labor and 
Employment (DOLE) ordered the closure of 22 establishments for 
allegedly prostituting minors. Trials in these cases were ongoing. In 
2009 DOLE issued new regulations that facilitate the immediate closure 
of establishments suspected of using children for commercial sex acts, 
with court hearings to determine the validity of the Government's 
complaint to be held at a later time. Under the new regulation, the 
DOLE was able to close two establishments as of year's end.
    The minimum age for consensual sex is set at 12 years of age. The 
statutory rape law criminalizes sex with minors under the age of 12 and 
sex with a child under age 18 involving force, threat, or intimidation. 
The maximum penalty for child rape is reclusion perpetua, a 40-year 
sentence with no option for pardon or parole until 30 years have been 
served and a lifetime bar to holding political office. In November 2009 
President Arroyo signed the Anti-Child Pornography Act, which carries 
penalties ranging from one month to life in prison and fines from 
50,000 to five million pesos ($1,090 to $109,051), depending on the 
gravity of the offense. Law enforcement agencies and NGOs report that 
minors continued to be unlawfully used in the production of child 
pornography and exploited in cybersex operations.
    The NPA and ASG continued to recruit minors both as combatants and 
noncombatants (see section 1.g.).
    UNICEF estimated that there were 250,000 street children. Many 
street children appeared to be abandoned and engaged in scavenging or 
begging. At year's end the DSWD had provided services to 2,360 street 
children nationwide.
    NGOs alleged that vigilantes with ties to government authorities 
were responsible for killing street children engaged in petty crime in 
Davao and other major cities (see section 1.a.). Children were affected 
by displacement in central Mindanao but generally had access to 
government services (see section 2.d.).
    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, but procedural safeguards often were ignored in 
practice. According to the BJMP, 418 minors were held on ``preventive 
detention'' while their trials were underway. Many child suspects were 
detained for extended periods without access to social workers and 
lawyers and were not segregated from adult criminals. NGOs believed 
that children held in integrated conditions with adults were highly 
vulnerable to sexual abuse, recruitment into gangs, forced labor, 
torture, and other ill treatment.
    During the year, government agencies and NGOs transferred 399 minor 
prisoners to DSWD rehabilitation centers and continued to work to 
secure the release of minors wrongfully imprisoned and of those below 
15 years of age. The DSWD ran 11 regional youth rehabilitation centers 
for juvenile offenders. There were three detention centers for children 
in Manila.
    The Philippines is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's country-specific information at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--An estimated 400 to 1,000 mostly foreign nationals 
of Jewish heritage lived in the country. There were no reports of anti-
Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution prohibits 
discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual and 
mental disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, 
and other social services. The law provides for equal physical access 
for persons with both physical and mental disabilities to all public 
buildings and establishments, but in practice many barriers remained.
    The National Council for the Welfare of Disabled Persons formulates 
policies and coordinates the activities of all government agencies for 
the rehabilitation, self-development, and self-reliance of persons with 
disabilities and their integration into the mainstream of society. The 
DOLE's Bureau of Local Employment maintained registers of persons with 
disabilities indicating their skills and abilities. The bureau 
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. One NGO reported that the Government had 
limited means to assist persons with disabilities in finding 
employment, and such persons had limited recourse when their rights 
were violated because of the financial barriers to filing a lawsuit.
    The DSWD operated two assisted living centers in Metro Manila and 
five community-based vocational centers for persons with disabilities 
nationwide. Assisted-living centers were understaffed and underfunded. 
During the year, the DSWD provided services to 3,886 persons with 
disabilities.
    Advocates for persons with disabilities contended that equal-access 
laws were ineffective due to weak implementing regulations, 
insufficient funding, and government programs that 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 were limited. Two of Manila's three light-rail lines 
were wheelchair accessible; however, many stops had unrepaired, out-of-
service elevators. Buses lacked wheelchair lifts, and one NGO claimed 
that private transportation providers, such as taxis, often overcharged 
persons with disabilities or refused service. A small number of 
sidewalks had wheelchair ramps, which were often blocked, crumbling, or 
too steep. The situation was worse in many smaller cities and towns.
    The constitution provides for the right of persons with physical 
disabilities to vote; however, persons with mental disabilities are 
disqualified from voting. Persons with physical disabilities are 
allowed to vote with the assistance of a person of their choice. In 
practice, many persons with disabilities did not vote because of the 
physical barriers described above.

    Indigenous People.--Indigenous people lived throughout the country 
but primarily were concentrated in the mountainous areas of northern 
and central Luzon and in Mindanao. They numbered over 14 million 
persons or 16 percent of the national population, with more than 63 
percent of the total in Mindanao. 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 often suffered from lack of health, 
education, and other basic services. NGOs estimated that up to 70 
percent of indigenous youth left or never attended school because of 
discrimination they experienced. According to a local NGO, only 21 of 
1,700 local government units in the country complied with the 
requirement of the 1987 People's Rights Act for the mandatory 
representation of indigenous persons in policy-making bodies and local 
legislative councils.
    Indigenous people suffered disproportionately from armed conflict, 
including displacement from their homes, because they often inhabited 
mountainous areas favored by guerrillas. Their lands were often the 
sites of armed encounters, and various parties to the fighting 
recruited many indigenous people. The Task Force for Indigenous 
People's Rights (TFIPR) lobbied for an appropriate mechanism through 
which indigenous people could be recognized as an official party and 
represented in peace talks between the Government and MILF. During the 
year, the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) reported 12 
cases of human rights violations, including harassment, physical, and 
sexual abuse allegedly committed by military and NPA forces. The NCIP 
referred these cases to the CHR, the PNP, and the Office of the 
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process for investigation. Other NGOs 
reported the use of security forces to protect mining and other private 
interests in indigenous areas.
    The NCIP, staffed by tribal members, implemented constitutional 
provisions to protect indigenous people, including the awarding over 
the last year of Certificates of Ancestral Land and Ancestral Domain 
Titles covering over 665,889 acres of land claimed by indigenous 
people. It awarded such ``ancestral domain lands'' on the basis of 
communal ownership, stopping sale of the lands by tribal leaders. TFIPR 
reported extrajudicial killings of indigenous people and lobbied 
against encroachment by mining companies on indigenous land. On August 
17, two unidentified men shot and killed antilogging tribal leader 
Carlito Chavez in Monkayo, Compostela Valley. The task force also 
contended that mining companies were unlawfully claiming three million 
of the 4.5 million acres of Igorot-owned ancestral land in Cordillera 
region.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There was some societal 
discrimination based on sexual orientation, including in employment and 
education. LGBT organizations held public marches or other events 
during the year to promote equality and antidiscrimination legislation. 
An LGBT group's effort to register as a political party originally was 
denied because it ``tolerated immorality, which offends religious 
beliefs.'' However, on April 8, the Supreme Court allowed it to 
participate in the elections.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The law prohibits all 
forms of discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS and provides 
basic health and social services for these persons. However, there was 
some evidence of discrimination against HIV/AIDS patients in the 
provision of health care, housing, and insurance services. The rate of 
HIV/AIDS remained low, although the rate of infection was believed to 
be underreported. Overseas workers were required to participate in an 
HIV/AIDS class as part of a predeparture orientation seminar.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides for the right of 
most workers, with the exception of the military and the police, to 
form and join trade unions. Foreign national workers are prohibited 
from forming or joining unions unless there is a reciprocity agreement 
between the countries. Trade unions are independent of the Government. 
Unions have the right to form or join federations or other labor 
groups, and many of them join national and international 
confederations.
    During the reporting period, the Bureau of Labor Relations reported 
135 registered labor federations and 16,132 private sector unions. The 
1.7 million union members included approximately 4.7 percent of the 
total workforce of 36.5 million. Use of short-term contractual labor, 
which is not permitted to organize, was still prevalent, particularly 
by large employers. There were 1,706 public sector unions, with a total 
membership of 368,315 or approximately 21 percent of the total employed 
persons in the public sector.
    Killings and harassment of labor leaders and advocates continued to 
be a problem, although to a lesser extent than in recent years. From 
January to June, the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) 
documented five killings of labor leaders, including the June 14 
killing of Benjamin Bayles (see section 1.a.) and the June 2 killing of 
Edward Panganiban. Panganiban was the Secretary of the independent 
union Samahang Lakas ng Manggagawa sa Takata Philippines (SALAMAT-
Independent) in the Japanese-owned company Takata Philippines 
Incorporated. Union leaders of SALAMAT-Independent link the killing to 
the continuing collective bargaining dispute between the union and 
Takata Philippines management; Takata Philippines denied any connection 
to the killing. The case remains under investigation. In addition, the 
CTUHR documented 22 cases of threats, harassment, and intimidation 
affecting 151 workers and labor advocates, seven cases of physical 
assault, and three case of violent dispersal of protests.
    Eight cases alleging violations of freedom of association rights 
were pending with the International Labor Organization (ILO) Committee 
on Freedom of Association (CFA). In September 2009 the Government 
cooperated with a high-level ILO mission to investigate labor rights 
violations in the country. The ILO mission noted issues relating to 
violence, intimidation, threat, and harassment of trade unionists and 
the absence of convictions in relation to those crimes. It also 
observed obstacles to the effective exercise in practice of trade union 
rights. In response to ILO mission recommendations, the Government 
constituted the Tripartite Industrial Peace Council on January 20 to 
monitor the application of international labor standards.
    Subject to 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 have been exhausted. During the year, the DOLE 
reported eight strikes involving 3,034 workers.
    On September 9, the association representing flight attendants and 
stewards of Philippine Airlines (FASAP) filed a notice of strike over 
alleged unfair labor practices. The 1,600-member association denounced 
discriminatory airlines policies that mandate retirement at age 40 and 
require pregnant flight attendants to take seven months of unpaid 
leave. In addition to the loss of salary or allowance, the seven months 
are deducted from the employee's years of service. On December 23, DOLE 
ruled in favor of the FASAP, granting back salary increases amounting 
to 222 million pesos ($4.9 million), a compulsory retirement age of 60 
years, and other benefits. Philippine Airlines (PAL) was expected to 
appeal the decision.
    The DOLE secretary, and in some special cases, the president, may 
intervene in some labor disputes by assuming jurisdiction and mandating 
a settlement if the Secretary or the president determines the strike-
affected company is vital to the national interest. During the year, 
the DOLE assumed jurisdiction in seven labor dispute cases. Labor 
rights advocates criticized the Government for intervening in labor 
disputes in sectors that were not vital to the national economy. On 
December 15, President Aquino assumed jurisdiction over a labor dispute 
between PAL and the PAL Employees Association (PALEA) regarding PAL's 
plan to outsource some 2,600 ``non-core'' positions. Upon assuming 
jurisdiction, the president issued a stay order that temporarily 
suspended implementation of a layoff plan that DOLE had previously 
approved and prohibited a planned PALEA strike. The case remained with 
the Office of the President at year's end.
    Government workers are prohibited from joining strikes under threat 
of automatic dismissal. Government workers may file complaints with the 
Civil Service Commission, which handles administrative cases and 
arbitrates disputes between workers and their employers.
    Although the labor code provides that union officers who knowingly 
participate in an illegal strike may be dismissed and, if convicted, 
imprisoned for up to three years, there has never been a conviction 
under this provision.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Law and 
regulations provide for the right to organize and bargain collectively 
in both the private sector and in corporations owned or controlled by 
the Government. Similar rights are afforded to most government workers. 
Collective bargaining was practiced; however, it was subject to 
hindrance by employers, and union leaders were subject to reprisal. In 
the public sector, collective bargaining was limited. During the year, 
212,054 private- and public-sector workers were covered by collective 
bargaining agreements, or approximately 12 percent of union members and 
less than 1 percent of the total workforce.
    Allegations of intimidation and discrimination in connection with 
union activities are grounds for review before the quasijudicial 
National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) as possible unfair labor 
practices. 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. The DOLE, through the mediation board, also worked to 
improve the functioning of labor-management councils in companies that 
already had unions.
    On March 18, the Bureau of Labor Relations released its decision 
nullifying the February 13 impeachment of Amado-Kadena union officials. 
In July the union also filed a complaint before the Commission on Human 
Rights against Dole Philippines and the AFP, asserting the company is 
harassing plantation workers and conducting anti-union activities. At 
year's end there were no reported developments.
    According to union leaders, union members were frequently 
threatened with dismissal, and union organizers were sometimes 
illegally dismissed. On February 18, a total of 17 bus driver-union 
members were dismissed after seeking the union's certification as the 
sole and exclusive bargaining agent. The union filed illegal dismissal 
cases with money claims regarding underpayment of wages; the case was 
pending at NLRC at year's end.
    Labor law applies uniformly throughout the country, including in 
Special Economic Zones (SEZs); however, local political leaders and 
officials who governed the SEZs 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 
further obstructed the enforcement of workers' rights to organize. The 
DOLE can conduct inspections of SEZs and establishments located there, 
although local zone 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. Union 
successes in organizing in the SEZs were few and marginal in part due 
to organizers' restricted access to the closely guarded zones and the 
propensity among zone establishments to adopt fixed-term, casual, 
temporary, or seasonal employment contracts.
    Labor unions claimed that government security forces were stationed 
near industrial areas or SEZs to intimidate workers attempting to 
organize. Labor groups also alleged that companies in SEZs used 
frivolous lawsuits as a means of harassing union leaders and reported 
that firms used bankruptcy as a reason for closing and dismissing 
workers attempting to organize. Bankruptcy is an acceptable reason for 
closing a firm, unless there is a pattern in which it was falsified and 
used to deny worker rights.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor; however, there were reports that such 
practices occurred, particularly affecting children, mainly in 
prostitution, drug trafficking, domestic service, agriculture, and 
other areas of the informal sector (see sections 6 and 7.d.).
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at http://www.state.gov/g/tip.

    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. The 
law allows employment of those between the ages of 15 to 18 for certain 
hours and periods of the day but forbids the employment of persons less 
than 18 years of age in hazardous or dangerous work.
    Child labor remained a common problem, and a significant number of 
children were employed in the informal sector of the urban economy as 
domestic workers or as unpaid family workers in rural agricultural 
areas. NGO and government officials report cases in which family 
members sell children to employers for domestic labor or sexual 
exploitation. A DOLE report estimated there were more than 2.2 million 
working children ages 15 to 17 in the country in 2009; the majority 
were laborers and unskilled workers. There were no reliable estimates 
on the number of working children below age 15, as the last 
comprehensive child labor survey was conducted in 2001. Government and 
NGO sources report that child workers were often exposed to hazardous 
working environments in industries such as mining, fishing, pyrotechnic 
production, domestic service, garbage scavenging, and agriculture, 
especially sugar cane plantations. See also the Department of State's 
annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.
    Most child labor occurred in the informal economy, often in family 
settings. The Government, in coordination with a number of domestic 
NGOs and international organizations, implemented programs to develop 
safer options for children, return them to school, and offer families 
viable economic alternatives to child labor. Although the Government 
devoted additional resources to programs that worked to prevent, 
monitor, and respond to child labor during the year, resources remained 
inadequate.
    The Government imposed fines and instituted criminal prosecutions 
for child labor violations in the formal sector, such as in 
manufacturing. The trial continued for a Metro Manila garment factory 
that employed 10 child laborers. In October 2009 the DOLE issued a 
circular that provides that businesses found guilty of violating the 
child labor law more than three times would face closure. The DOLE 
continued its efforts to remove child workers from hazardous 
situations. From January to September, DOLE conducted five rescue 
operations involving 35 child laborers.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Tripartite regional wage boards 
responsible for setting minimum wages approved an increase in daily 
minimum wage rates in 12 regions during the year. Under a new law, 
minimum wage earners are exempt from paying income tax. The highest 
minimum wage rates were in the National Capital Region, where the 
minimum daily wage for nonagricultural workers was 404 pesos ($9). The 
lowest minimum wage rates were in the Southern Tagalog Region, where 
daily agricultural wages were 190 pesos ($4.21). Labor groups protested 
that the hike, the first since 2008, was too small, and that the 
national minimum wage did not provide a decent standard of living for a 
worker and family. The regional wage board orders covered all private 
sector workers except domestic servants and others employed in the 
service of another person; these persons were frequently paid less than 
the minimum wage.
    Boards exempted some newly established companies and other 
employers from the rules because of factors such as business size, 
industry sector, export intensity, financial distress, and level of 
capitalization. These exemptions excluded substantial numbers of 
workers from coverage under the law. During the year, the regional wage 
boards of the National Wage and Productivity Commission granted minimum 
wage exemptions to 87 establishments. Unions filed complaints about the 
minimum wage exemption policies.
    Violation of minimum wage standards and the use of contract 
employees to avoid the payment of required benefits were common, 
including in the Government-designated SEZs, where tax benefits were 
used to encourage the growth of export industries. According to a 
January to November Bureau of Working Conditions report, 12,566 of 
34,948 inspected firms were found to have violated core labor 
standards. Many firms hired employees for less than the minimum 
apprentice rates, even if there was no approved training in their 
production-line work.
    DOLE relies on a system of inspections and voluntary self-
certifications to verify labor law compliance. DOLE conducts 
inspections in establishments that employ 10 to 199 workers. 
Establishments employing under 10 or more than 200 persons and 
unionized establishments with collective bargaining agreements are 
subject to self-assessment. DOLE provided training and advisory 
services to enterprises with less than 10 workers to help them comply 
with national labor laws. From January to November, 11 percent (606 out 
of 5,323) of commercial establishments inspected by DOLE were not in 
compliance with the prevailing minimum wage. DOLE acknowledged that the 
shortage of inspectors made it difficult to enforce the law. In 
addition to fines, the Government also used administrative procedures 
and moral suasion to encourage employers to rectify violations 
voluntarily. 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 
eight-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 one day of rest each week. However, 
there is no legal limit on the number of overtime hours that an 
employer may require. DOLE conducted only sporadic inspections to 
enforce limits on workweek hours. From January to November, DOLE labor 
inspectors made 1,245 inspections to check on companies' compliance 
with general labor and working standards. Labor groups maintained that 
forced overtime was common.
    The law provides for a comprehensive set of occupational safety and 
health standards. DOLE has responsibility for policy formulation and 
review of these standards, but with too few inspectors nationwide, 
local authorities often must carry out enforcement. DOLE continued 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. Through November, DOLE conducted occupational safety 
standards compliance inspections on 5,323 establishments; 1,360 (25 
percent) of these had occupational safety standards violations at 
inspection. 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 overseas citizens, most of whom were temporary or contract 
workers. The Government placed financial sanctions on and criminal 
charges against domestic recruiting agencies found guilty of unfair 
labor practices. Although 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.
    Most labor laws apply to foreign workers, who must obtain work 
permits and may not engage in certain occupations. Typically their work 
conditions were better than those faced by citizens, as they were 
generally employed in the formal economy and were recruited for high-
paying, specialized positions.

                               __________

                                 SAMOA

    Samoa, with a population of approximately 188,000, is a 
constitutional parliamentary democracy that incorporates traditional 
practices into its governmental system. Executive authority is vested 
in Head of State Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi, elected by parliament in 
2007. The unicameral parliament, elected by universal suffrage, is 
composed primarily of the heads of extended families (matai). The most 
recent parliamentary elections, held in 2006, were marred by charges of 
bribery. All 10 by-elections subsequently ordered by the Supreme Court 
were considered generally free and fair. The ruling Human Rights 
Protection Party maintained its majority and continued to be the only 
officially recognized party in parliament. Security forces reported to 
civilian authorities.
    Human rights problems included police abuse, poor prison 
conditions, domestic violence against women, abuse of children, and 
discrimination against women and non-matai.
                        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 arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    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 observed these prohibitions in practice. However, 
there were some allegations of police abuses.
    The media and publications of a local nongovernmental organization 
(NGO) reported police abuses. In January a young man lodged a complaint 
of police brutality through a local NGO. The man alleged that he 
sustained injuries to his head, teeth, and ear after a police officer 
punched him. In May the same NGO received complaints from the mother of 
a 16-year-old boy who she claimed received injuries to his hands while 
he was in police custody; the boy was believed to be handcuffed at the 
time of questioning. In August a woman lodged a complaint through a 
local NGO that she was indecently assaulted by a police officer while 
under questioning at the police station. All such cases were reported 
to be under investigation by the Police Professional Standards Unit. At 
year's end there were no reports on the results of these 
investigations.
    In April the court dismissed a case against a former minister, 
accused of killing a fellow villager, when not enough witnesses 
appeared.
    In July a senior police officer accused in March 2009 of sodomy and 
indecent assault of a juvenile in 2007 at the Oloamanu Juvenile Center 
was found guilty and sentenced to three-and-one-half years in prison. 
However, in December the Supreme Court ordered a retrial, reportedly 
due to a request from the Attorney General's Office to rehear the 
witnesses' accounts. The trial continued at year's end.
    There were no reported developments in the investigation of two 
cases in September 2009 in which police allegedly assaulted persons in 
custody.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions remained 
poor. Some prison facilities were nearly a century old. The Tafaigata 
men's prison had 29 cells of various sizes, including eight large 
concrete cells that were approximately 30 feet by 30 feet and held 20 
to 25 inmates each. Only basic provisions were made with respect to 
food, water, and sanitation in the 24 older cells. Cell lighting and 
ventilation remained poor; lights were only turned on from dusk until 9 
p.m. Some but not all individual cells had toilet facilities.
    The separate Tafaigata women's prison had five cells that were 
approximately 15 feet by nine feet, and each held four to six inmates. 
Bathroom facilities were in separate rooms. Physical conditions, 
including ventilation and sanitation, generally were better in the 
women's prison than in the men's prison.
    Some juveniles were held with adults, but most were housed in the 
Oloamanu Juvenile Center. Physical conditions at the center were 
generally better than those at the adult facilities, but there were 
unconfirmed reports of problems with food, clothing, and the water 
supply.
    Prisoners were permitted escorted hospital visits for medical 
checks as necessary. There is a room at the police officers' 
headquarters used as a medical clinic; however, there was no doctor or 
nurse assigned to the facility. In September the media reported an 
influenza outbreak at the Tafaigata men's prison. One of the cells 
reportedly was used as an isolation cell, which public health officials 
inspected daily. The influenza epidemic subsequently was contained and 
eliminated.
    At year's end there were more than 300 inmates at the Tafaigata 
men's and women's prisons, the Oloamanu Juvenile Center, and Vaiaata 
Prison combined. Most inmates were incarcerated in the Tafaigata 
facilities. Although exact numbers were not available, both the men's 
and the women's prisons contained more inmates than they were 
originally designed to hold. By December construction was completed on 
an additional wing of five cells for male inmates at Tafaigata. The 
wing was expected to hold 60 inmates.
    The Government permitted family members and church representatives 
to visit prisons every two weeks. Families were allowed to bring food 
parcels for inmates; however, the practice was disallowed in December 
when police found contraband and cell phones in the parcels.
    Overnight detainees were held at two holding cells at police 
headquarters in Apia. The cells had good lighting, sanitation, and 
ventilation. Pretrial detainees were held at the Tafaigata Prison but 
in separate holding cells; they did not socialize with the rest of the 
prison community.
    Prisoners and detainees were permitted religious observance. 
Authorities permitted prisoners and detainees to submit complaints to 
judicial authorities without censorship and to request investigation of 
credible allegations of inhumane conditions, and authorities 
investigated such allegations and documented the results in a publicly 
accessible manner. The Government investigated and monitored prison and 
detention center conditions.
    In August police officials announced that the Professional 
Standards Unit was investigating police wardens at Tafaigata Prison 
after the media published complaints made by a prisoner on parole. The 
first matter involved the investigation of a claim that a police warden 
impregnated a female inmate. The same female prisoner previously had 
received an additional two-year sentence when she was found guilty of 
having her baby aborted by another inmate. The second matter under 
investigation was an allegation that police wardens had borrowed money 
from inmates and failed to pay back the loans. Police officials stated 
their concern regarding such events; however, at year's end officials 
had not released any findings from investigations.
    The Government permitted monitoring visits by independent human 
rights observers; however, there were no known requests during the 
year. The Office of the Ombudsman is legally mandated to receive and 
investigate complaints of prisoners and detainees on issues of inhumane 
overcrowding, status and circumstances of juvenile offenders, and 
improvement of pretrial detention, bail, and recordkeeping procedures. 
There were no complaints or reports by prisoners made known to the 
Ombudsman's Office.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution prohibits 
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed 
these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The country has a small 
national police force. Enforcement of rules and security within 
individual villages is vested in the fono (council of matai). A 
commissioner for police and prisons administration is appointed to a 
three-year term and reports to the minister of police. A lack of 
resources limited police effectiveness.
    In May the court found an assistant commissioner guilty of indecent 
assault in 2007 against a female police officer. The assistant 
commissioner was fined 250 tala ($107) and put on probation for 12 
months. The assistant commissioner was not reappointed when his three-
year contract ended.
    The Samoa Police Force contributed to United Nations Peacekeeping 
efforts in Sudan, Liberia, East Timor, and the Solomon Islands. In June 
a Samoan peacekeeper was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for 
negligent driving for causing the death of a civilian in the Solomon 
Islands. The Samoan government negotiated an extradition agreement with 
the Solomon Islands government, and at year's end the police officer 
was serving his sentence in Tafaigata Prison.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The Supreme 
Court issues arrest warrants based on sufficient evidence. 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 were informed within 24 hours of the 
charges against them, or they were released. There was a functioning 
bail system. Detainees were allowed prompt access to family members and 
a lawyer of their choice. If the detainee was indigent, the Government 
provided a lawyer.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.
    Due to staff shortages, some Supreme Court and district court 
judges faced a backlog of pending cases. Of particular concern were 
postponements of rulings on constitutional cases, some of which were 
pending for years.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. 
A trial judge examines evidence and determines if there are grounds to 
proceed. Defendants have the presumption of innocence. Trials are 
public, and juries are used. 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. The law extends these rights to all citizens.
    Many civil and criminal matters were handled by village fono, which 
varied considerably in their decision-making styles and the number of 
matai involved in the decisions. The Village Fono Act recognizes the 
decisions of the fono and provides for limited appeal to the Lands and 
Titles Court and the Supreme Court. The nature and severity of the 
dispute determine which court receives an appeal. A further appeal may 
be made to the Court of Appeal if necessary. According to a 2000 
Supreme Court ruling, the fono may not infringe upon villagers' freedom 
of religion, speech, assembly, or association.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters, including access to a court 
to bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, human rights 
violations.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The laws prohibit such actions, and the Government 
generally respected these prohibitions in practice. However, there is 
little privacy in villages, where there can be substantial societal 
pressure on residents to grant village officials access without a 
warrant.
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.
    Individuals generally could criticize government officials publicly 
or privately without reprisal.
    The independent media were generally active and expressed a wide 
variety of views without restriction. The law stipulates imprisonment 
for any journalist who, despite a court order, refuses to reveal a 
confidential source upon request from a member of the public. However, 
there has been no court case invoking this law.
    The opposition alleged limited access to state-run radio and former 
state-run television.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
Although for financial reasons private ownership of computers was 
relatively uncommon, access to the Internet through Internet cafes was 
generally available and widely used in urban areas. Internet access was 
limited or nonexistent in rural areas. The International 
Telecommunication Union reported that approximately 5 percent of the 
country's inhabitants used the Internet in 2008.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The Government generally did 
not restrict academic freedom or cultural events. The 2009 ban on the 
movies Milk, Angels and Demons, The Butcher, Van Wilder, Unborn, and 
The Cell 2 continued. In March the movie Precious was banned for 
inappropriate scenes and story; however, the ban was lifted in April. A 
local NGO that had pressed for the release of the film argued that 
themes of incest and indecent assault helped raise public awareness of 
these issues.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
provides for freedoms of assembly and association, and the Government 
generally respected these rights in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. However, traditional law governs villages, and village fono 
regularly banned citizens from village activities or banished citizens 
from the village for failing to conform to village laws or obey fono 
rulings. Cases of village banishment were rarely made public. Of those 
cases that became known during the year, reasons for banishment 
included murder, rape, adultery, and unauthorized claims to land and 
matai title. In some cases civil courts overruled banishment orders. 
Some banished persons were accepted back into the village after 
performing a traditional apology ceremony.
    In August the head of state was banned from one of his villages 
after the village refused to recognize him as a title holder. The 
conflict, according to media reports, arose from a dispute whereby the 
head of state built a shelter without the traditional protocol 
consultation with members of the village. In September traditional 
leaders banished the deputy prime minister from his electoral 
constituency after he delivered a letter to them announcing he would 
not run in the next general elections. According to media reports, the 
constituency decision was based on the deputy prime minister's failure 
to follow the traditional protocol of announcing such a decision with 
the leaders in person. At year's end both the head of state and deputy 
prime minister remained banished from their respective villages.
    The Government was willing to cooperate with the Office of the UN 
High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in 
providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern, but the need did not arise during the year.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of refugee status, but the Government has not established a 
system for providing protection to refugees. The Government received no 
requests during the year for refugee status, asylum, or protection 
against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their 
lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, 
religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or 
political opinion.
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 based on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--The most recent elections, 
held in 2006, were marred by charges of bribery. As a result of 
election challenges filed by losing candidates, the Supreme Court 
ordered 10 by-elections. All the mandated by-elections were conducted 
and generally considered free and fair.
    The law does not prohibit the formation of opposition parties, but 
there were no officially recognized opposition parties. Restrictive 
rules limiting the formation of viable opposition political parties has 
allowed the ruling political party to dominate government since 1982. 
In October 2009 and February 2010, parliament amended the Electoral Act 
and the constitution, respectively, to disallow current members of 
parliament from joining or associating with political parties other 
than those of which they were members during their initial oath of 
allegiance. As a result, in March three Independent members resigned 
from parliament because of their association with the Tautua Samoa 
Party. After by-elections in May, two members were reelected, while the 
ruling Human Rights Protection Party gained the other seat.
    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 parliament are drawn from the approximately 30,000 
matai, who are selected by family agreement; there is no age 
qualification. Although both men and women are permitted to become 
matai, only 8 percent were women. Matai controlled local government 
through the village fono, which were open to them alone.
    There were four women in the 49-member parliament, three of whom 
served in the 13-member cabinet. One woman served as head of a 
constitutional office, two women as chief executive officers of 
government ministries, and six women as general managers of government 
corporations. There are no constitutional quotas reserved for the 
number of female parliamentarians.
    The political rights of citizens who are not of ethnic Samoan 
heritage are addressed by the reservation of two parliamentary seats 
for at-large members of parliament, known as ``individual voters'' 
seats. One at-large cabinet minister and parliamentarian was of mixed 
European-Samoan heritage. Citizens of mixed European-Samoan or Chinese-
Samoan heritage were well represented in the civil service.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government generally implemented the law effectively. Penalties 
ranged from several months to several years of imprisonment if 
convicted. There were isolated reports of government corruption during 
the year.
    In March a cabinet minister pled guilty to two charges of negligent 
driving and was fined 300 tala ($130) from two separate accidents in 
November 2009. On one occasion, he was driving a government vehicle; on 
the other, a government-paid rental vehicle.
    In July an account officer in the Ministry of Police pled guilty to 
charges of theft from a 2008 charge of embezzling approximately 270,000 
tala ($116,460) and was sentenced to four-and-one-half years' 
imprisonment. The case of two other account officials in the Ministry 
of Finance continued at year's end.
    Police corruption was not a significant problem, although there 
were credible reports of minor instances of bribery, such as bribes to 
avoid traffic citations.
    Public officials were not subject to financial disclosure laws; 
however, such disclosure was encouraged by codes of ethics applicable 
to boards of directors of government-owned corporations. The law 
provides for an ombudsman to investigate complaints against government 
agencies, officials, or employees, including allegations of corruption. 
The ombudsman may require the Government to provide information 
relating to a complaint.
    By law, government information is subject to disclosure in civil 
proceedings involving the Government, unless the information is 
considered privileged or its disclosure would harm the public interest. 
In the case of other requests, petitioners had to navigate an often 
slow bureaucratic process, and consequently information was not always 
obtainable in a timely manner.
    The November 2009 report of the UN Group of Experts on the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) presented information indicating 
that African Ventures Ltd., which was registered in Samoa, directly or 
indirectly funded conflict and perpetrators of human rights abuses in 
the eastern DRC.
Section 5. 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 Government cooperated with international governmental 
organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives and other 
organizations. In July representatives from the UN Convention Against 
Corruption visited the country, as did UN Human Rights Council 
representatives in September; each group conducted regional and local 
workshops.
    The Office of the Ombudsman was generally considered effective and 
operated free from government or political party interference; however, 
the Government did not always adopt its recommendations.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, 
disability, language, or social status, and the Government generally 
respected these provisions in practice. However, politics and culture 
reflected a heritage of matai privilege and power, and members of 
certain families of high traditional status possessed some advantages.

    Women.--The constitution prohibits abuse of women, but common 
societal attitudes tolerated their physical abuse within the home; such 
abuse was common.
    Rape is illegal, but there is no legal provision against spousal 
rape. Many cases of rape went unreported because common societal 
attitudes discouraged such reporting. In recent years, however, 
authorities noted a rise in the number of reported cases of rape. This 
appeared to be a result of efforts by government ministries and local 
NGOs to increase awareness of the problem and the need to report rape 
cases to police. Rape cases that reached the courts were treated 
seriously, and the conviction rate was generally high. The penalties 
for rape range from two years' to life imprisonment, but a life 
sentence has never been imposed. The trial of the former cabinet 
minister charged with 22 charges of rape and assault was adjourned to 
January 2011 after the prosecution was allowed more time to collect 
evidence. In October a former deputy speaker of the house admitted to a 
charge of attempted rape following a 2009 complaint from a female 
relative. In December the former deputy speaker was sentenced to four 
years' imprisonment.
    Domestic abuses typically went unreported due to social pressure 
and fear of reprisal. Village fono typically punished domestic violence 
offenders, but only if the abuse was considered extreme (that is, 
visible signs of physical abuse). Village religious leaders also were 
permitted to intervene in domestic disputes. When police received 
complaints from abused women, the Government punished the offender, 
including by imprisonment. Domestic violence is charged as common 
criminal assault, with penalties ranging from several months to one 
year in prison. The Government did not keep statistics on domestic 
abuse cases specifically but acknowledged the problem to be one of 
considerable concern. The Ministry of Police has a nine-person Domestic 
Violence Unit, which worked in collaboration with NGOs that combated 
domestic abuse. NGO services for abused women included confidential 
hotlines, in-person counseling, victim support, and shelters.
    From February to August, a local NGO carried out a national 
campaign to bring awareness through reporting, services, and 
information against abuses to women and children. The campaign included 
holding community workshops, providing counseling, and posting banners 
along roadsides throughout the country.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children and to 
have the information and means to do so free from discrimination. The 
National Health Service, private hospitals, general practitioners, and 
various health care centers provided information and access to 
contraception and access to maternal health services, which included 
skilled attendance during childbirth, prenatal care, and essential 
obstetric and postpartum care. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported 
that the estimated annual maternal mortality rate was 29 deaths per 
100,000 births from 2003 to 2008. Women and men had equal access to 
diagnosis and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, including 
HIV.
    Women have equal rights under the constitution and statutory law, 
and the traditionally subordinate role of women was changing, albeit 
slowly, particularly within the more conservative segments of society. 
The Ministry of Women, Community, and Social Development oversees and 
helps secure the rights of women. To integrate women into the economic 
mainstream, the Government sponsored numerous programs, including 
literacy and training programs for those who did not complete high 
school.
    A labor law provision prohibits employment of women between 
midnight and 6 a.m. unless special permission is granted by the 
commissioner of labor. This regulation was generally observed. 
Permission for night work was generally granted upon application.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived by birth in the country if at 
least one parent is a citizen; the Government may also grant 
citizenship by birth to a child born in the country if the child would 
otherwise be stateless. Citizenship also is derived by birth abroad to 
a citizen parent who either was born in Samoa or resided there at least 
three years.
    By law education is compulsory through the age of 14. The 
Government did not effectively enforce the compulsory education law, as 
children under the age of 14 years were seen selling goods on the 
streets during school hours.
    The January enactment of the 2009 Education Act led to a government 
initiative, supported by foreign assistance, that suspends public and 
private Christian school fees for five years for all students attending 
public school under the age of 14. However, students had to pay some 
administration fees, which were controlled by respective school boards 
for operating the school.
    Law and tradition prohibit the severe abuse of children, but both 
tolerate corporal punishment. Although there were no official 
statistics available, press reports indicated a rise in reported cases 
of child abuse, especially incest and indecent assault cases, which 
appeared to be due to citizens' increased awareness of the need to 
report physical, emotional, and sexual abuse of children. The 
Government aggressively prosecuted such cases. In August a teacher was 
sentenced to 12 months' probation and fined 150 tala ($65) for 
inflicting bodily harm on a high school student.
    The minimum age for consensual sex is 16 years; the maximum penalty 
for violators is seven years' imprisonment. There is no specific 
criminal provision regarding child pornography; however, child 
pornography cases can be prosecuted under a provision of law that 
prohibits distribution or exhibition of indecent material. The maximum 
penalty is imprisonment for two years.
    The Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration and the Ministry 
of Education, in collaboration with NGOs, carried out educational 
activities to address domestic violence and inappropriate behavior 
between adults and children and to promote human rights awareness.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--The country had no organized Jewish community, and 
there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--There is no law pertaining specifically 
to the status of persons with disabilities or regarding accessibility 
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, 
including physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental disabilities, in 
the areas of employment, education, access to health care, or 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 ramps and elevators in most 
multistory buildings.
    The Ministry of Women, Community, and Social Development has 
responsibility for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Sodomy and ``indecency between 
males'' are illegal, with maximum penalties of seven and five years' 
imprisonment, respectively. However, these provisions were not actively 
enforced with regard to consensual homosexual acts between adults. 
There were no reports of societal violence based on sexual orientation 
or gender identity; however, there were isolated cases of 
discrimination.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of societal violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. 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 functioned as a union for all government workers, 
who made up approximately 8,000 of the approximately 25,000 workers in 
the formal economy. Unions generally conducted their activities free 
from government interference.
    The Supreme Court has upheld the right of government workers to 
strike, subject to certain restrictions imposed principally for reasons 
of public safety, and workers exercised this right.
    Workers in the private sector have the right to strike, but there 
were no private sector strikes during the year.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides workers with the right to organize and bargain collectively, 
and workers exercised this right in practice. The Public Service 
Association engages in collective bargaining on behalf of government 
workers, including bargaining on wages. Arbitration and mediation 
procedures are in place to resolve labor disputes, although such 
disputes rarely arose.
    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, but the matai frequently called upon 
persons, including minors, 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.--It 
is illegal to employ children under the age of 15 years except in 
``safe and light work.'' The Ministry of Labor refers complaints of 
illegal child labor to the attorney general for enforcement; however, 
no cases were prosecuted during the year. The law does not apply to 
service rendered to family members or the matai, some of whom required 
children to work for the village, primarily on village farms. The 
extent of this practice varied by village, but it generally did not 
significantly disrupt children's education.
    Children frequently were seen vending goods and food on Apia street 
corners. The Government has not made a definitive determination 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. 
To address the child vendor problem, the 2009 Education Act prohibits 
any student from being engaged in light or heavy industrial activity 
within school hours of 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.; however, it did not ban 
vending by children under 14 years of age altogether.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--An advisory commission to the 
minister of labor makes recommendations on minimum wage increases every 
five years, based on national surveys held every three years. There 
were two minimum wages: two tala ($0.86) per hour for the private 
sector, and 2.65 tala ($1.14) for the public sector. In June the 
public-sector minimum wage was passed by government after 
recommendation by the advisory commission; however, in December 
authorities decided to maintain the private-sector minimum wage at two 
tala. Neither provided a decent standard of living for a worker and 
family unless supplemented by other activities, such as subsistence 
farming and fishing. Wages in the private sector are determined by 
competitive demand for the required skills but should not be less than 
the minimum private sector wage.
    The provisions of the Labor Act cover only the private sector; a 
separate law, the Public Service Act, covers public sector workers. 
Labor laws stipulate a standard workweek of no more than 40 hours, or 
eight hours per day (excluding meal times). For the private sector, 
overtime pay is specified at time and a half, with double time for work 
on Sundays and public holidays and triple time for overtime on such 
days. For the public sector, there is no paid overtime, but 
compensatory time off is given for overtime work.
    The Occupational Safety Hazard Act establishes certain rudimentary 
safety and health standards for workplaces, which the Ministry of 
Commerce, Industry, and Labor is responsible for enforcing. The law 
also covers persons who are not workers but who are lawfully on the 
premises or within the workplace during work hours. However, 
independent observers reported that safety laws were not enforced 
strictly, except when accidents highlighted noncompliance. Work 
accidents were investigated when reports were received. Many 
agricultural workers, among others, were inadequately protected from 
pesticides and other dangers to health. Government education and 
awareness programs addressed these concerns by providing appropriate 
training and equipment to agricultural workers. Safety laws do not 
apply to agricultural service rendered to the matai.
    While the law does not address specifically the right of workers to 
remove themselves from dangerous work situations, the commissioner of 
labor investigates such cases, without jeopardy to continued 
employment. The Government investigated several cases during the year. 
Government employees are covered under different and more stringent 
regulations, which were enforced adequately by the Public Service 
Commission.

                               __________

                               SINGAPORE

    Singapore is a parliamentary republic in which the People's Action 
Party (PAP), in power since 1959, overwhelmingly dominates the 
political scene. The population was approximately five million, with 
foreign guest workers accounting for one-quarter of the total. 
Opposition parties exist, and the 2006 parliamentary elections were 
generally fair and free of tampering; however, the PAP placed 
formidable obstacles in the path of political opponents. Security 
forces reported to civilian authorities.
    The Government has broad powers to limit citizens' rights and 
handicap political opposition, which it used. Caning is an allowable 
punishment for numerous offenses. The following human rights problems 
also were reported: preventive detention, infringement of citizens' 
privacy rights, restriction of speech and press freedom and the 
practice of self-censorship by journalists, restriction of freedoms of 
assembly and association, some limited restriction of freedom of 
religion, and some 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    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.
    The law mandates caning, in addition to imprisonment, as punishment 
for approximately 30 offenses involving violence, such as rape and 
robbery, and for nonviolent offenses such as vandalism, drug 
trafficking, and violation of immigration laws. The cane, made of 
rattan, is four feet long and one-half inch in diameter; it is soaked 
in water and treated with antiseptic before the caning. The caning 
officer delivers the strokes using the whole of his body weight. 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 persons determined 
medically unfit are exempt from punishment by caning. During the year, 
3,170 convicted persons were sentenced to judicial caning, and 98.7 
percent of caning sentences were carried out.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards.
    At year's end the total number of prisoners and detainees in 
custody of the authorities was 12, 798, of whom 9.4 percent were women. 
Ninety-four inmates, ages 17 and 18, comprised the juvenile prison 
population, which included drug rehabilitation center inmates. The 
designed capacity of the prison system was 15,564.
    The frequency and type of visitors allowed was determined by the 
category of the inmate. In general, family members and close relatives 
were allowed to visit inmates. The Prison Authority must approve 
nonrelatives who wish to visit. Most inmates were allowed visits either 
once or twice every month. Prisoners awaiting trial were allowed visits 
every weekday. Most inmates were allowed up to three visitors in a 
visit session. The prison system also uses tele-visits. There were 
seven teleconference centers located throughout the city-state, 
including one specifically for visits by children under age 21.
    Religious services within the prison system were provided by 
volunteers from religious organizations such as the Prison Fellowship, 
the Buddhist Federation, the Roman Catholic Prison Ministry, SANA 
(Muslim), and the Sikh Welfare Council.
    Authorities permitted prisoners and detainees to submit complaints 
to judicial authorities without censorship and to request investigation 
of credible allegations of inhumane conditions. The Board of Visiting 
Justices, made up of justices of the peace who are appointed by the 
prime minister, is responsible for the basic welfare of the prisoners 
and conducts prison inspections. All inmates have access to the 
visiting justices.
    Authorities investigated credible allegations of inhumane 
conditions and documented the results of such investigations in a 
publicly accessible manner. The Government investigated and monitored 
prison and detention center conditions. The Institutional Discipline 
Advisory and Review Committee renders an opinion to the director of 
prisons on whether corporal punishment ordered by a superintendent on 
any inmate for committing an institutional offense in penal 
institutions or drug rehabilitation centers is excessive.
    The Government did not allow human rights monitors to visit 
prisons; however, diplomatic representatives were given regular, 
frequent consular access to citizens of their countries.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these 
prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the police force and the armed 
forces, and the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Corrupt Practices 
Investigation Bureau had effective mechanisms to investigate and punish 
abuse and corruption. There were no reports of impunity involving the 
security forces during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
provides that, in most instances, arrests are to be carried out after 
issuance of an authorized warrant; however, some laws, such as the 
Internal Security Act (ISA), provide for arrests without warrants. 
Those arrested under warrants must be charged before a magistrate 
within 48 hours. The majority of those arrested were charged 
expeditiously and brought to trial. A functioning bail system exists. 
Those who face criminal charges are allowed counsel; however, there is 
no access to counsel during an initial arrest and investigation before 
charges are filed. The Government assigned attorneys to represent 
indigent persons accused of capital crimes. The Law Society 
administered a legal aid plan for some other accused persons who could 
not afford to hire an attorney.
    Some laws--the ISA, the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act 
(CLA), the Misuse of Drugs Act (the drug act), and the Undesirable 
Publications Act (UPA)--have provisions for arrest and detention 
without a warrant, and under the ISA, CLA, and drug act, executive 
branch officials can order continued detention without judicial review. 
The ISA has been employed primarily against suspected security threats; 
in recent years such threats have come from suspected terrorists. The 
CLA 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 authorizes the minister for home affairs, with the 
consent of the president, to order detention without filing charges if 
it is determined that a person poses a threat to national security. The 
initial detention may be for up to two years, and the minister for home 
affairs may renew the detention for an unlimited number of additional 
periods of up to two years at a time with the president's consent. 
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 three 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.
    In January, a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) 
was arrested for terrorist activities and ordered to be detained under 
the ISA.
    In July three male citizens, suspected of links to Muslim radicals, 
were arrested. One, a full-time member of the armed forces, was ordered 
detained for two years under the ISA. The other two were placed under 
Restriction Orders (ROs--limits on ability to travel and participate in 
public organizations and activities) for two years.
    In August, three years after escaping from custody, Mas Selamat 
Kastari, the leader of the Singapore Jemaah Islamiya (JI) terrorist 
network, was returned to Singapore by Malaysian law enforcement 
authorities and again detained under the ISA.
    At year's end 15 detainees were held under the ISA as suspected 
terrorists. The majority were suspected of belonging to JI; three were 
suspected of self-radicalization, and one was detained for his 
suspected involvement with the MILF.
    A religious rehabilitation program designed to wean detained 
terrorists from extremist ideologies is in effect, and a number of 
detainees were released under the program, subject to ROs. The 
authorities stated that all of the detainees released cooperated in 
investigations and responded positively to rehabilitation.
    At year's end 48 persons were on ROs. This number included both 
released detainees and suspected terrorists who were never arrested. A 
person subject to an RO must seek official approval for a change of 
address or occupation, for overseas travel, or for participation in any 
public organization or activity. There is also a category of Suspension 
Direction (SD), which prohibits association with militant or terrorist 
groups or individuals as well as the ability to travel outside the 
country without the prior written approval of the Government. During 
the year two persons were on SDs. Detainees released on ROs and SDs 
were monitored by the authorities and required to report to authorities 
on a regular basis.
    Authorities released two JI detainees, being held under the ISA, on 
ROs in January. In the same month, the Government did not renew the 
expired ROs of three other JI members who had been on ROs since 2004.
    In February authorities released a self-radicalized detainee under 
an SD and in July released a JI detainee under an SD.
    The CLA comes up for renewal every five years and was last renewed 
in February 2009. Under the CLA the minister for home affairs may order 
preventive detention, with the concurrence of the public prosecutor, 
for an initial period of one year, and the president may extend 
detention for additional periods of up to one 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 that 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. Persons detained under the CLA 
have recourse to the courts via an application for a writ of habeas 
corpus. Persons detained without trial under the CLA are entitled to 
counsel, but they may challenge the substantive basis for their 
detention only to the CLAC. The CLA was used almost exclusively in 
cases involving narcotics or criminal organizations and has not been 
used for political purposes. In 2008 the most recent year for which 
statistics were available, the Government issued 64 detention orders 
and six police supervision orders, and 290 persons were in detention 
under the CLA. During the five-year period from 2004 through 2008, the 
Government detained 366 persons and released 272 persons under the CLA.
    Persons who allege mistreatment while in detention may bring 
criminal charges against government officials alleged to have committed 
such acts; no such cases were reported during the year.
    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 drug act also permits detention without trial. Under the drug 
act, if a suspected drug abuser tests positive for an illegal drug, the 
director of the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) may commit the person to 
a drug rehabilitation center for a six-month period, which is 
extendable by a review committee of the institution for up to a maximum 
of three years. At year's end 765 persons were held in drug 
rehabilitation centers while 32 persons were held in the Inhalant 
Treatment Center. Under the Intoxicating Substances Act, the CNB 
director may order the treatment of a person believed to be an inhalant 
drug abuser for up to six months.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence; however, in practice constitutionally authorized laws 
that limit judicial review permit restrictions on individuals' 
constitutional rights. The president appoints judges to the Supreme 
Court on the recommendation of the prime minister and in consultation 
with the chief justice. The president appoints subordinate court judges 
on the recommendation of the chief justice. The term of appointment is 
determined by the Legal Service Commission (LSC), of which the chief 
justice is the chairman. Under the ISA and the CLA, the president and 
the minister for 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. 
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. 
In past years, some opposition politicians have been bankrupted by such 
suits.
    Some commentators and representatives of international 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) said that the LSC's authority to 
rotate subordinate court judges and magistrates and the Government's 
discretion with regard to extending the tenure of Supreme Court judges 
beyond the age of 65 undermined the independence of the judiciary.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the right to a fair trial, 
and independent observers viewed the judiciary as generally impartial 
and independent, except in a small number of cases involving direct 
challenges to the Government or the ruling party. The judicial system 
generally provides citizens with an efficient judicial process. In 
normal cases the Criminal Procedure 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. Trials are public and heard by a 
judge; there are no jury trials. Defendants 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. In death penalty cases, the Supreme Court 
appoints two attorneys for defendants who are unable to afford their 
own 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. Defendants 
enjoy a presumption of innocence and the right of appeal in most cases. 
Despite the general presumption of innocence, the drug act 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 limits, it is the defendant's burden to prove he or she 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 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.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is no 
differentiation between civil and criminal judicial procedures. The 
subordinate courts handled the majority of civil cases. Access to the 
courts is open, and citizens and residents have the right to sue for 
infringement of human rights. There were no known attempts to use legal 
action against the Government for human rights violations.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution does not address privacy rights; 
remedies for infringement of some aspects of privacy rights are 
available under statutory or common law. 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 property without a warrant 
if they decide that such a search is necessary to preserve evidence or 
under the discretionary powers of the ISA, CLA, the drug act, and the 
UPA.
    Law enforcement agencies, including the Internal Security 
Department and the Corrupt Practices Investigation Board, had 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. Most residents believed that the authorities routinely 
monitored telephone conversations and the use of the Internet. Most 
residents also believed that the authorities routinely conducted 
surveillance of some opposition politicians and other government 
critics.
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 of the press. Government 
intimidation and pressure to conform resulted in self-censorship among 
journalists; however, there was a moderate level of debate in 
newspapers and on the Internet on some public issues such as the 
institution of a minimum wage, immigration policy, and censorship. 
There also was extensive coverage of opposition parties and candidates 
in the Government-linked media.
    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. The ISA has not been invoked in recent years against 
political opponents of the Government.
    Government leaders urged that news media support the goals of the 
elected leadership and help maintain social and religious harmony. In 
addition to strict defamation and press laws, the Government's 
demonstrated willingness to respond vigorously to what it considered 
personal attacks on officials led journalists and editors to moderate 
or limit what was published.
    Citizens do not need a permit to speak at indoor public gatherings 
outside the hearing or view of nonparticipants, unless the topic refers 
to race or religion.
    The Government effectively restricts the ability to speak or 
demonstrate freely in public to a single location called Speakers' 
Corner, which is located in a public park. Prospective speakers must be 
citizens or permanent residents and show their identification cards. 
Events need not be registered in advance with the police but must be 
preregistered online with the Government. While it was not necessary to 
declare speech topics in advance, 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 August in a rally organized by the Singapore Anti-Death Penalty 
Campaign and the socio-political Web site The Online Citizen, 
approximately 140 persons gathered at the Speaker's Corner to sign a 
petition urging that a Malaysian drug trafficker who had been sentenced 
to death be spared.
    The Government strongly influenced both the print and electronic 
media. Two companies, Singapore Press Holdings Limited (SPH) and 
MediaCorp, owned all general circulation newspapers in the four 
official languages--English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil. MediaCorp was 
wholly owned by a government investment company. SPH was 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 topics usually 
closely reflected government policies and the opinions of government 
leaders.
    Columnists' opinions and letters to the editor expressed a moderate 
range of opinions on public issues.
    Government-linked companies and organizations operated all domestic 
broadcast television channels and almost all radio stations. Only one 
radio station, the BBC World Service, was completely independent of the 
Government. Some Malaysian and Indonesian television and radio 
programming could be received, but satellite dishes were banned, with 
few exceptions. Cable subscribers had access to numerous foreign 
television news channels and many entertainment channels. In general 
these were not censored with the exception of certain themes such as 
homosexuality and explicit sexual content.
    The Media Development Authority (MDA), a statutory board under the 
Ministry of Information, Communications, and the Arts (MICA), continued 
to heavily regulate broadcast and print media, Internet sites, and 
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 the MDA 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 if authorities determine that such materials threaten 
the stability of the state, 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 
MDA has the power to sanction broadcasters for broadcasting what it 
believes to be inappropriate content. All content shown between 6 a.m. 
and 10 p.m. must be suitable for viewers of all ages.
    A substantial number of foreign media operations were located 
within the country, and a wide range of international magazines and 
newspapers could be purchased uncensored. However, under the Newspaper 
and Printing Presses Act (NPPA), the Government may limit the 
circulation of foreign publications that it determines interfere with 
domestic politics. The NPPA requires foreign publications that report 
on politics and current events in Southeast Asia, with circulation of 
300 or more copies per issue, to register, post a S$200,000 
(approximately $153,000) bond, and name a person in the country to 
accept legal service. The Government has granted exemptions to 19 of 
the 24 publications to which these requirements could apply.
    The Government may limit (or ``gazette'') the circulation of 
publications. The Government also may ban the circulation of domestic 
and foreign publications under provisions of the ISA and the UPA. The 
Broadcasting Act 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 Government may impose restrictions on the number of households 
receiving a broadcaster's programming, and a broadcaster may be fined 
up to S$100,000 (approximately $76,500) for failing to comply.
    Critics charged that government leaders used defamation lawsuits or 
threats of such actions to discourage public criticism and intimidate 
opposition politicians and the press. Conviction on criminal defamation 
charges may result in a prison sentence of up to two years, a fine, or 
both.
    In March the International Herald Tribune (IHT) settled the libel 
lawsuit brought by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Senior Minister Goh 
Chok Tong, and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew. An apology was issued for 
a February article from which readers may have inferred that Lee Hsien 
Loong attained his position through nepotism. The IHT's publisher, The 
New York Times Co., the editor of the global edition, and the article's 
writer paid a total of S$160,000 (approximately $122,400) in damages.
    In July Christopher Neo, vice president of the opposition National 
Solidarity Party, was issued a summons for illegal hawking by the 
National Environment Agency for selling the party's newsletter without 
a license, the first such summons issued to a political party since 
2003.
    The attorney general may bring charges for contempt of court, and 
he used this power to charge several persons who published criticisms 
of the judiciary.
    On November 16, freelance journalist and author, Alan Shadrake, was 
sentenced to six weeks in jail and a fine of S$20,000 ($15,300) for 
contempt of court for 11 passages which impugned the impartiality, 
integrity, and independence of the Singapore courts in his antideath-
penalty book Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock. He 
also was held responsible for the prosecution's cost, S$50,000 
($38,250). On November 22, the court granted Shadrake a stay on his 
sentence pending appeal. Although the authorities have not officially 
banned Shadrake's book, it can no longer be found for sale in the 
country.

    Internet Freedom.--Although residents generally had unrestricted 
access to the Internet, the Government subjected all Internet content 
to the same rules and standards as traditional media. However, the 
Government did not appear to enforce many restrictions on Internet 
content, and some banned videos and other materials were accessible 
online. Individuals and groups could engage in the expression of views 
via the Internet, including by e-mail. Internet service providers 
(ISPs) are required to ensure that content complies with the MDA's 
Internet code of practice. The MDA also regulates Internet material by 
licensing the ISPs through which local users are required to route 
their Internet connections. The law permits government monitoring of 
Internet use, and the Government closely monitored Internet activities 
such as blogs and podcasts. The MDA was empowered to direct service 
providers to block access to Web sites that, in the Government's view, 
undermined public security, national defense, racial and religious 
harmony, or public morals. Political and religious Web sites must 
register with the MDA. Although a government-appointed review panel 
recommended the Government cease banning100 specific Web sites that the 
Government considered pornographic, incited racial and religious 
intolerance, or promoted terrorism and extremism, the ban remained.
    In August a citizen was arrested for inciting violence through 
comments he posted on his Facebook page criticizing the Youth Olympic 
Games organizing committee. He was released on bail.
    The Internet was widely available and used, with extensive wireless 
access throughout the country. According to the 2009 Singapore Infocomm 
Development Authority's Household and Individual Usage Survey, 81 
percent of the country's inhabitants had household Internet access.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--All public institutions of 
higher education and political research had limited autonomy from the 
Government. Although faculty members are not technically government 
employees, in practice they were subject to potential government 
influence. Academics spoke, 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 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.
    In March 2009 Parliament amended the Films Act to permit certain 
previously banned political films. Documentary films ``without any 
animation and composed wholly of an accurate account'' depicting 
events, persons, or situations, and party-political videos, party 
manifestoes, or declarations of policy are now permitted, provided they 
do not contain ``dramatic'' elements. The Films Act does not to apply 
to any film sponsored by the Government and allows the MICA minister to 
exempt any film from the act. The amended Films Act also preserves the 
MICA minister's power to ban any film, whether political or not, that 
in his opinion is ``contrary to the public interest.''
    In July MICA banned the film Dr. Lim Hock Siew under a section of 
the Films Act that allows the banning of any film that is contrary to 
public interest. The Government contended the film gave a ``distorted 
and misleading portrayal of Dr. Lim's 1963 arrest and detention under 
the ISA.''
    Certain films that were barred from general release may be allowed 
limited showings, either censored or uncensored, with a special rating.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--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, including political meetings and rallies, require police 
permission. The threshold for a public assembly was previously an event 
involving at least five persons, but an act passed in April 2009 
redefined ``public assembly'' to include events staged by as few as one 
person. However, citizens do not need permits for indoor speaking 
events unless they touch on ``sensitive topics'' such as race or 
religion, or for qualifying events held at Speakers' Corner. 
Spontaneous public gatherings or demonstrations were virtually unknown. 
The 2009 act also gives police the power to order a person to ``move 
on'' from a certain area and not to return to the designated spot for 
24 hours.
    During the year a number of Falun Gong practitioners who were 
Peoples' Republic of China (PRC) citizens with permanent residency, 
dependent, and student visa statuses claimed harassment by the police 
and immigration authorities. In December five practitioners were 
convicted of committing or abetting vandalism for displaying placards 
and posters in a pedestrian underpass near the site of their group 
exercises in October 2009. The authorities impounded their passports 
and issued them special passes authorizing them to remain in the 
country. The special passes forbid them to work and must be renewed on 
a monthly basis. Other PRC-citizen Falun Gong practitioners in the 
country also claimed to be in an ``immigration limbo'' unable to work, 
and some reportedly left the country.
    In August authorities arrested a PRC-citizen Falun Gong 
practitioner in Singapore on a social visitor's pass for meditating at 
the Esplanade. The Government decided to deport her rather than charge 
her with a crime. Issued a special pass while awaiting deportation, she 
appeared weekly at the Immigration and Customs authority to renew her 
status.
    On December 9, the NGO Singaporeans for Democracy (SFD) cancelled 
plans for its International Human Rights Day march for 30 persons on 
December 10 when it failed to obtain a police permit. The proposed 
march was to be from Speakers' Corner to Parliament House 
(approximately one-half mile); the police advised the organizers to 
hold the event at Speakers' Corner. The SFD's appeal also was denied.
    In April five members of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party 
(SDP) were convicted of taking part in a 2007 procession without a 
valid permit. The High Court allowed the Government a rare appeal of 
their October 2009 acquittal.
    In May 12 members of the SDP were charged with taking part in an 
illegal assembly in 2008. The assembly's focus was targeted at economic 
issues. Each faces a fine of up to S$1,000 ($765) if convicted.
    In September the SDP advertised and held a preelection rally at 
Speaker's Corner. Party members, wearing red party shirts, distributed 
literature, gave speeches, and played music. The rally took place 
without disturbance.
    The Government closely monitored political gatherings regardless of 
the number of persons present. Plainclothes police officers often 
monitored political gatherings.

    Freedom of Association.--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. The Government has absolute 
discretion in applying criteria to register or dissolve societies. 
During the year the Registry of Societies received 278 registration 
applications. Eight applications were withdrawn, and 63 were pending at 
year's end. Two approved applications were for new political parties: 
The Socialist Front and the United Singapore Democrats. Singaporeans 
for Democracy also was registered during the year.
    In November the Government officially categorized the human rights 
advocacy group, Maruah, as a political association under the Political 
Donations Act. Maruah is the country's representative in the region-
wide Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism.
    The Government prohibits organized political activities except by 
groups registered as political parties or political associations. This 
prohibition limits opposition activities disproportionately and 
contributes to restricting the scope of unofficial political expression 
and action. The PAP was able to use nonpolitical organizations, such as 
residential committees and neighborhood groups, for political purposes 
far more extensively than opposition parties. Political parties and 
associations 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 
oriented organizations, and providers of welfare services.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete discussion of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and the law provide 
for freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, 
and repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights 
in practice; however, it limited them in certain circumstances. The 
Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for 
Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in providing protection 
and assistance to internally displaced persons, refugees, returning 
refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of 
concern.
    Citizens' choice of where to live sometimes was limited by the 
Government's legal requirement for ethnic balance in publicly 
subsidized housing, in which the majority of citizens lived. 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. 
According to official press releases, at year's end there were 48 
suspected terrorists subject to such restrictions.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.
    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 the law allows for the loss of citizenship by 
citizens who reside 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 uniformed 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 and permanent residents with national service reserve 
obligations are required to advise the Ministry of Defense if they plan 
to travel abroad. Persons 13 years of age or older who have not 
completed national service obligations are required to obtain exit 
permits for international travel. To obtain the required permit, a 
prospective traveler must in certain cases post a bond equal to 
S$75,000 (approximately $57,350) or 50 percent of the combined gross 
annual income of both parents for the preceding year, whichever is 
greater. The bond requirement applies to travelers age 16 years and 
above for travel exceeding three months, and to travelers age 13 to 16 
for travel lasting two years or more.
    In exchange for allowing former members of the Communist Party of 
Malaya (CPM) residing outside the country to return to Singapore, the 
Government requires that they renounce communism, sever all links with 
the CPM, and agree to be interviewed by the Internal Security 
Department about their past activities. Some former CPM cadres accepted 
these conditions and returned, but some observers estimated that 
approximately 30 alleged CPM members have not.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is not a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or the 1967 Protocol 
relating to the Status of Refugees. The country's laws do not provide 
for the granting of asylum or refugee status, although the Government 
has established a system for providing protection to refugees on a 
case-by-case basis. In practice the Government provided protection 
against expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives 
or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion.
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. Opposition parties can 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 five decades, has used the Government's extensive powers to place 
formidable obstacles in the path of political opponents.

    Elections and Political Participation.--The general elections 
operate under the first-past-the-post system. Following the 2006 
elections, the PAP (having captured 66.6 percent of the vote) held 82 
of 84 elected constituency seats in Parliament; the opposition 
Singapore Democratic Alliance (13.1 percent) and the Workers' Party 
(16.3 percent) each held one elected seat. Because three seats are 
reserved by law for opposition parties, the Workers' Party obtained a 
second, ``nonconstituency'' seat as the opposition party with the 
highest vote total.
    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 intimidating 
organized political opposition and circumscribing 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 challenge seriously the ruling party. The PAP 
claimed that the lack of an effective opposition was due to 
disorganization, weak leadership, and the absence of persuasive 
alternative policies.
    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) further strengthened the PAP's position. 
The CDCs promoted community development and cohesion and provided 
welfare and other assistance services. The PAP dominated the CDCs even 
in opposition-held constituencies from which it threatened to withdraw 
publicly funded benefits.
    The PAP completely controlled key positions in and out of 
government, influenced the press, pursued opposition political figures 
in the courts, and otherwise limited opposition political activities. 
Often the means were fully consistent with the law and the normal 
prerogatives of a parliamentary government, but the overall effect was 
to disadvantage and weaken political opposition. Since 1988 the PAP 
changed all but nine single-seat constituencies into group 
representational constituencies (GRCs) of five 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 ethnic minority candidate. These changes made 
it more difficult for opposition parties, all of which had very limited 
memberships, to fill multimember candidate lists. The constitutional 
requirement that members of Parliament resign if expelled from their 
party helped ensure backbencher discipline.
    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. There were 28 registered political 
parties in the country; however, only seven 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 blocks or to establish community 
foundations. In addition government influence extended in varying 
degrees to academic, community service, and other NGOs.
    The law provides for a president to be popularly elected for a six-
year term from among candidates who are approved by a constitutionally 
prescribed committee selected by the Government. In 2005 the committee 
decided that the PAP-endorsed incumbent, President S.R. Nathan, was the 
only qualified candidate out of four applicants. The election was 
cancelled, and Nathan was inaugurated for a second term. 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 were run by or linked to 
the Government.
    Voting is compulsory, and 95 percent of eligible voters voted in 
the most recent general election. However, more than 43 percent of 
those eligible voters lived in GRCs where the opposition was unable to 
field candidates and the PAP candidates were automatically elected. 
There is no legal bar to the participation of women in political life; 
women held 17 of the 84 elected parliamentary seats. There were four 
female ministers of state, including one of cabinet rank. Three of the 
15 Supreme Court justices were women. The solicitor general was a 
woman.
    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 made up 
approximately 13 percent of the general population and held 
approximately 15 percent of elected seats in Parliament. Indians made 
up approximately 9 percent of the general population and held 
approximately 11 percent of the elected seats in Parliament. There were 
four ethnic Indian ministers and one ethnic Malay minister. Two of the 
15 members of the Supreme Court were ethnic Indian; there were no 
Malays on the court.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The Government actively prosecuted officials involved in 
corruption. The Government-linked media increased its coverage of 
government employees arrested for corruption. During the year details 
of a fraud in which officials of the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) 
embezzled millions of dollars over a number of years emerged. In 
December Ho Yen Teck, a SLA contractor, pleaded guilty to 21 counts of 
conspiracy to cheat the Government. Eight other persons were accused of 
cheating the public sector department out of S$12.2 million ($9.3) 
million.
    In December one of the nine persons accused in the SLA fraud case, 
Koh Seah Wee, a former senior government executive, was also charged 
with defrauding the Supreme Court and the Intellectual Property Office. 
He was remanded to custody to await trial.
    The salaries of senior officials are public information, and 
political parties must report donations; however, there is no financial 
disclosure law. The Corrupt Practices Investigation Board, which 
answers directly to the prime minister, is responsible for 
investigating and prosecuting corruption by government officials.
    There are no laws that specifically provide for public access to 
government information.
Section 5. 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. Some domestic NGOs criticized 
restrictions on human rights or suggested changes that would relax or 
remove restrictions.
    The Government did not obstruct international human rights 
organizations from observing human rights-related court cases.
    The UN special rapporteur on racism visited the country from April 
21 through April 28.
    Some international human rights NGOs criticized the Government's 
policies in areas such as capital punishment and freedom of expression. 
The Government generally ignored such criticisms or published 
rebuttals.
Section 6. 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; there is no explicit 
provision granting equal rights to women and minorities. Mindful of the 
country's history of intercommunal 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 gender.

    Women.--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 be committed only by a man, and spousal rape is 
generally not a crime. However, husbands who force their wives to have 
intercourse can be prosecuted for other offenses, such as assault, and 
spousal rape is a criminal offense when the couple is separated, 
subject to an interim divorce order that has not become final, or 
subject to a written separation agreement, as well as when a court has 
issued a protection order against the husband. During the year 21 
persons were prosecuted for rape; there were 15 convictions, and six 
persons were awaiting trial. The Ministry of Education and the police 
carried out programs aimed at preventing rape.
    The law criminalizes domestic violence and intentional harassment. 
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 law prescribes mandatory caning and a 
minimum imprisonment of two years for conviction on any charge of 
``outraging modesty'' that caused the victim fear of death or injury. 
The press gave prominent coverage to instances of abuse or violence 
against women. A 2009 survey by a local NGO found that 9 percent of 
respondents reported having experienced some form of sexual or physical 
violence in their lifetime. Several voluntary welfare organizations 
provided assistance to abused women. During the year there were 3,058 
applications for personal protection orders, 15 percent of which were 
filed by wives for protection against their husbands.
    There are no specific laws prohibiting stalking or sexual 
harassment; however, the Miscellaneous Offenses Act (MOA) and laws 
prohibiting insults to modesty were used successfully to prosecute 
these offenses. Under the MOA a person who uses threatening, abusive, 
or insulting words or behavior can incur a fine of up to S$5,000 
($3,800). A 2008 survey by a local NGO found that 54 percent of 
respondents (58 percent of females and 42 percent of males) reported 
having experienced some form of sexual harassment at work. The Ministry 
of Manpower, the National Trades Union Council, and the Singapore 
Employers Federation jointly operated a venue for public feedback and 
advice on fair employment practices.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children. 
Contraceptive supplies and information, provided by the Ministry of 
Health, as well as public and private doctors, were readily available. 
Medical services were available, including for sexually transmitted 
diseases, and were provided without discrimination. According to UN 
statistics, the maternal mortality ratio was nine deaths per 100,000 
live births in 2008. The national birthrate was well below replacement 
levels and since the mid-1980s the Government has pursued pronatalist 
policies, which provide comprehensive clinical services and a wide 
range of social and fiscal incentives.
    Women accounted for 56.4 percent of civil service employees. They 
enjoyed the same legal rights as men, including civil liberties, 
employment, commercial activity, and education. The Women's Charter 
gives women, among other rights, the rights 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 falls under the administration of the Muslim Law Act, 
which empowers the Sharia (Islamic law) court to oversee such matters. 
The law allows Muslim men to practice polygymy, 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. During the year there 
were 40 applications for polygynous marriage of which eight were 
approved. The rest were rejected, withdrawn, or remained pending at the 
end of the reporting period. Polygynous marriages constituted 0.3 
percent of Muslim marriages.
    Both men and women have the right to initiate divorce proceedings; 
however, in practice some women faced significant difficulties that 
prevented them from pursuing such proceedings. This included the lack 
of financial resources to obtain legal counsel. Men do not have the 
right to seek alimony from their wives in cases of divorce or 
separation.
    In recent years women constituted approximately 55 percent of the 
labor force and were well represented in many professions. However, 
women held few leadership positions in the private sector and only one 
cabinet-level position in the Government. Women were overrepresented in 
low-wage jobs such as clerks and secretaries. In 2008 salaries for 
women ranged upwards from 66 percent of men's salaries depending on the 
occupational grouping.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents, and birth 
registration is essentially universal.
    In May a government press release stated that the law distinguishes 
between minors and children. Minors are defined as under 18 years of 
age, and children are defined as those below 14 years old.
    The Children and Young Persons Act created a juvenile court system 
and established protective services for children orphaned, abused, 
``troubled,'' or with disabilities. The Ministry of Community 
Development, Youth, and Sports (MCYS) 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 a substantial portion of living expenses and 
overhead, as well as expenses for special schooling, health care, and 
supervisory needs.
    Female circumcision is prevalent among the Muslim population. The 
procedure is performed by female doctors at Muslim clinics, usually on 
female infants or prepubescent girls. It normally involves nicking the 
prepuce. It is markedly different from the more severe forms of genital 
mutilation.
    Some child prostitution occurred. During the year authorities 
arrested 28 girls under the age of 18 for prostitution-related 
activities. Two persons were convicted of crimes relating to commercial 
sexual exploitation of persons under 18; a third case remained under 
investigation.
    The age of consent to noncommercial sex is 16 years. In 2009 there 
was a 36 percent increase in reported statutory rape cases involving 
girls less than 14 years of age--83 cases, up from 61 cases in 2008. 
Sexual intercourse with anyone under 16 is punishable by up to five 
years in prison and a maximum fine of S$10,000 (approximately $7,600). 
The authorities may detain persons under 18 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 MCYS sponsored activities promoting children's causes, 
including family stability.
    Singapore acceded to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects 
of International Child Abduction in December; the convention is 
scheduled to come into force on March 1, 2011. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/country/
country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The size of the Jewish community was approximately 
800 to 1,000. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts, and 
synagogues held regular Sabbath services.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The MCYS is responsible for protecting 
the rights of persons with disabilities. MCYS' Enabling Masterplan 
2007-11 outlined a five-year policy roadmap for the programs and 
services in the disability sector.
    Electoral law allows those voters who, incapacitated by blindness 
or other physical cause, are unable to vote in the manner described by 
law to receive voter assistance by other authorized citizens to mark 
and cast their ballots.
    The Government maintained a comprehensive code on barrier-free 
accessibility; it established standards for facilities for persons with 
physical disabilities in all new buildings and mandated the progressive 
upgrading of older structures. There was no comprehensive 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. A tax deduction of up to S$100,000 (approximately 
$76,500) was available to employers to defray the expense of building 
modifications to benefit employees with disabilities. The country 
allows guide dogs for the blind into public places and on trains, but 
the laws do not cover buses and taxis. During the year 100 percent of 
public trains and 37 percent of buses were wheelchair accessible. All 
major pedestrian thoroughfares have curb cuts.
    Informal provisions in education permit university matriculation 
for the visually impaired, those hard of hearing, and students with 
other physical disabilities. Approximately 8,200 children with 
intellectual disabilities attended mainstream schools during the year. 
There were 20 special education schools that enrolled approximately 
4,900 students. All primary and secondary schools were equipped with 
basic handicap facilities such as handicap toilets and first-level 
wheelchair ramps. Approximately 20 percent of all primary and secondary 
schools (68 schools) were equipped with full-handicap facilities.
    The Government provided funds for two distinct types of early 
education programs for children with special needs. The Early 
Intervention Program for Infants and Children (EIPIC) provides 
educational and therapy services for children up to six years of age 
who have handicaps or special needs. During the year there were 1,225 
children enrolled in the 12 EIPIC programs. At the 18 Integrated Child 
Care Centers (ICCP), special needs children engage in the same group 
activities as the other children while also receiving enhancements of 
the normal childcare curriculum. During the year 97 special needs 
children were enrolled in the ICCPs.
    The Government allows a tax deduction of up to S$3,500 
(approximately $2,700) per individual for families caring for a sibling 
or spouse with a disability. For families caring for a child who is 
disabled, they received a tax deduction of up to S$5,500 (approximately 
$4,200) per child. Mental and physical disabilities are treated in the 
same way. Every child under EIPIC received a S$300 (approximately $234) 
monthly subsidy. The state-mandated health insurance program 
specifically excludes coverage for mental illnesses and personality 
disorders.
    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 13 percent of the population. The constitution 
acknowledges them as the indigenous people of the country and charges 
the Government to support and promote their political, educational, 
religious, economic, social, cultural, and language interests. The 
Government took steps to encourage greater educational achievement 
among Malay students. However, ethnic Malays have not 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 
asserted, 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. 
Some ethnic Indians also reported that discrimination limited their 
employment and promotion opportunities. Government guidelines called 
for eliminating language referring to age, gender, or ethnicity in 
employment advertisements; restrictive language pertinent to job 
requirements, such as ``Chinese speaker'' remained 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.
    Government policy enforced ethnic ratios for publicly subsidized 
housing.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--After failure of a 2007 
attempt to repeal the section of the penal code criminalizing sex 
between men, Prime Minister Lee stated that the authorities would not 
actively enforce the statute, leaving gay men free to live their 
private lives in peace as long as they did not actively promote their 
sexual orientation.
    During the year two men were arrested for a homosexual act in a 
public toilet and charged under laws that provide for a jail term of up 
to three months, or fine, or both. One of the men was convicted and 
fined S$3,000 ($2,300). At year's end the other man remained out on 
bail awaiting trial.

    Other Societal Violence or 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 countered misperceptions about HIV/AIDS, and publicly 
praised employers that welcomed workers with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The constitution provides all 
citizens 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 registrar, however, has broad 
powers to refuse to register a union or to cancel registration, and to 
approve a new union's rules or changes to an existing union's rules. 
The Amalgamated Union of Public Employees was declared exempt from 
these provisions, and its scope of representation expanded 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 to choose 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 may grant exemptions. The 
Trade Unions Act limits the objectives for which unions can spend their 
funds and prohibits payments to political parties or the use of funds 
for political purposes.
    The national labor force consisted of slightly more than three 
million workers, 540,000 of whom were represented by 60 unions and one 
association. Approximately 18 percent of the workforce is unionized. 
There is no agricultural sector in Singapore.
    Almost all of the unions were affiliated with the National Trade 
Union Congress (NTUC), an umbrella organization with a close 
relationship with the Government. Formed in 1961 from the amalgamation 
of trade unions affiliated to the ruling PAP, NTUC expanded over the 
years to control other smaller unions. 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 Swee Say, a PAP member of parliament (MP), was a member of 
the cabinet as minister in the Prime Minister's Office. Young PAP MPs 
with no union experience were elected to leadership positions in the 
NTUC or member unions. NTUC policy prohibited union members who 
supported opposition parties from holding office in affiliated unions. 
While the NTUC was financially independent of the PAP, the two shared a 
common ideology and worked closely with management in support of 
nonconfrontational labor relations. Labor groups expressed concerns 
that while the arrangement has created a conducive environment for 
multinational corporations to invest, it effectively restricted the 
rights of workers to associate freely and bargain collectively with 
employers.
    The NTUC was free to associate regionally and internationally.
    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 three sectors: water, gas, and electricity. Other 
workers have the legal right to strike but rarely did so. No specific 
laws prohibit retaliation against strikers. The law provides that 
before striking, 51 percent of unionized workers must vote in favor of 
the strike by secret ballot, as opposed to the more common practice of 
51 percent of those participating in the vote. There were no strikes 
during the year.
    Most disagreements were resolved through informal consultations 
with the Ministry of Manpower. If conciliation failed, the disputing 
parties usually submitted their case to the tripartite Industrial 
Arbitration Court (IAC), which was composed of representatives from 
labor and management and chaired by a judge. In limited situations the 
law provides for compulsory arbitration, which has not been used since 
1980.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Collective 
bargaining was a normal part of labor-management relations in the 
industrial sector. Because almost all unions were affiliated with the 
NTUC, it almost has an exclusive authority to exercise collective 
bargaining power. The IAC must certify collective agreements before 
they go into effect. The IAC may refuse certification at its discretion 
on the ground of public interest. In 2009, a total of 384 collective 
agreements were filed with the IAC. Union members may not reject 
collective agreements negotiated between their union representatives 
and the employer. Transfers and layoffs are excluded from the scope of 
collective bargaining. However, in practice employers consulted with 
unions on both issues and the Tripartite Panel on Retrenched Workers 
issued guidelines calling for early notification to unions of layoffs.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including by children. There were reports 
of practices indicative of forced labor.

    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 13. Restrictions on the employment of 
children between the ages of 13 and 16 are rigorous and were fully 
enforced. Children under the age of 15 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 age 13 or older may be employed 
in light work, subject to medical clearance. Employers must notify the 
commissioner of labor within 30 days of hiring a child between the ages 
of 15 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 
15 and 16 to no more than seven 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. Agreements between 
management and labor were renewed every two to three years, although 
wage increases were negotiated annually. The National Wages Council, a 
group composed of labor, management, and government representatives, 
issued yearly guidelines on raises and bonus pay that served as the 
starting point for bargaining agreements. Subject to negotiation in 
each enterprise, up to 10 percent of salaries was considered 
``variable'' each month, allowing companies to eliminate that portion 
of pay if there were financial problems. The labor market generally 
offered citizens and permanent residents good working conditions and 
relatively high wages that provided a decent standard of living for a 
worker and family. In 2009 the median income among all households 
headed by a citizen or permanent resident was S$58,200 ($44,530); among 
employed households headed by a citizen or permanent resident, the 
median income was S$64,776 ($49,560).
    The Employment Act sets the standard legal workweek at 44 hours and 
provides for one rest day each week.
    The Ministry of Manpower effectively enforced 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. Effective March 2009, the ministry 
tightened the factory registration scheme for some 8,000 higher-risk 
factories. The new scheme strengthens the requirements for 
implementation of risk management and safety and health management 
system in these higher-risk factories, including construction 
worksites, shipyards, metal working factories, and petrochemical 
plants. While workers have the right under the Employment Act to remove 
themselves from a dangerous work situation, their right to continued 
employment depended upon an investigation by the ministry.
    Because of a domestic labor shortage, in 2009 approximately 700,000 
foreign workers were employed legally. 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. Although substantial numbers of foreign workers held white-
collar jobs, foreign workers were generally concentrated in low-wage, 
low-skill jobs and were often required to work long hours. Employers 
are required by law to provide their workers with a minimum standard of 
housing. In 2009 the Ministry of Manpower removed 21,000 foreign 
workers from unacceptable housing. Although the great majority of the 
approximately 196,000 foreign domestic workers (mainly from the 
Philippines, Indonesia, and Bangladesh) worked under clearly outlined 
contracts and reported no complaints against their employers or 
employment agencies, there are regular reports of employers arrested 
for abuse or mistreatment of their domestic workers. The authorities 
fined or imprisoned employers who abused maids. In 2009 the Ministry of 
Manpower collected unpaid wages on behalf of maids in 219 cases. 
Pregnancy is a breach of the standard work permit conditions for 
foreign domestic workers, and the Government may cancel work permits 
and require repatriation of foreign domestic workers who become 
pregnant.
    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. The NTUC reported that it advocated for 
the rights of all migrant work-permit holders through its Migrant 
Workers' Forum. In addition the Ministry of Manpower offered 
conciliation services for all employees, foreign or local. The Foreign 
Workers Unit of the ministry provided free advisory and mediation 
services to foreign workers experiencing problems with employers. The 
Government allowed complainants to seek legal redress and operated a 
hotline for maids. In 2009 the hotline received approximately 2,193 
calls, 95 percent of which were general inquiries.

                               __________

                            SOLOMON ISLANDS

    The Solomon Islands is a constitutional multiparty parliamentary 
democracy with a population of approximately 537,000. Parliamentary 
elections held on August 4 were considered generally free and fair, 
although there were incidents of vote buying. On August 24, Parliament 
elected Danny Philip as prime minister. The Regional Assistance Mission 
to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI), a multinational police-centered force 
organized by Australia, arrived in the country in 2003 at the 
Government's invitation to assist in restoring law and order and 
rebuilding the country's institutions following the 1998-2003 violent 
conflict between the Malaitan and Guadalcanalese ethnic groups. RAMSI 
continued its assistance during the year, and relations between RAMSI 
and the Government remained stable. Security forces reported to 
civilian authorities.
    Human rights problems during the year included lengthy pretrial 
detention, government corruption, 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    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 
confirmed reports of such practices during the year. There were a few 
allegations by detainees that they were mistreated by police during 
questioning, but they often lacked substantiating evidence.
    In November the High Court convicted Member of Parliament (MP) and 
Fisheries Minister Jimmy Lusibaea of unlawful wounding for shooting an 
unconscious man in the knees and of assault on a police officer with a 
pistol butt; the assaults occurred in 2000 following a shootout at a 
nightclub. Lusibaea was the leader of the militant group Malaita Eagle 
Force during the country's 1998-2003 ethnic conflict. The court 
sentenced him to two years and nine months' imprisonment. His appeal of 
the conviction was pending at year's end; the High Court rejected his 
application for release on bail pending the court's consideration of 
the appeal.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions 
generally met international standards.
    At year's end there were 163 convicted prisoners and 102 pretrial 
detainees in the country. Of these, one was female and 12 were 
juveniles.
    Prisoners had reasonable access to visitors and were permitted 
religious observance. Authorities permitted prisoners and detainees to 
submit complaints and request investigation of credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions. Complaints and requests were screened by the 
respective prison commanders. The Professional Standards Unit of the 
Correctional Service and the Office of the Ombudsman investigated 
credible allegations of inhumane conditions and documented the results 
in a publicly accessible manner. The Government, through the judiciary 
and Office of the Ombudsman, investigated and monitored prison 
conditions.
    The Government permitted monitoring visits by independent human 
rights observers, and such visits occurred during the year.
    Although the Office of the Ombudsman has authority to investigate 
complaints of inhumane prison conditions, it does not have specific 
legal authority to consider on its own initiative such matters as 
alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenses or improving 
pretrial detention, bail, and recordkeeping procedures.
    The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had a program 
in place to cover costs for family visits to long-term prisoners from 
other provinces held in Honiara.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution prohibits 
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed 
these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--A commissioner, who 
reports to the minister of police, heads the Royal Solomon Islands 
Police (RSIP) force of 1,134 members, including 159 women. This force 
was supported by 310 RAMSI Participating Police Force officers, who 
served in line positions and in logistical and financial support. Peter 
Marshall, a New Zealander, was appointed police commissioner in 2008.
    While the police were more effective under RAMSI, the RSIP 
continued to be weak in investigation and reporting. Police impunity 
was not a serious problem during the year. The police service has an 
inspection unit to monitor police discipline and performance.
    In December 2009 a Honiara probationary police officer, who was 
charged with indecent assault and attempted rape in November 2008, was 
convicted and sentenced to two years' imprisonment. He was discharged 
from the police in 2009.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
provides for a judicial determination of the legality of arrests. 
Detainees generally were informed promptly of the charges against them 
and have the right to counsel. The Public Solicitor's Office provided 
legal assistance to indigent defendants, and detainees had prompt 
access to family members and to counsel. Officials found to have 
violated civil liberties were subject to fines and jail sentences. 
There was a functioning system of bail. However, delays in adjudication 
of the large number of cases before the courts resulted in lengthy 
pretrial detention for some detainees. During the year RAMSI had 10 
legal advisors brought in from Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific 
islands: four worked with the Office of the Director of Public 
Prosecutions and six worked with the Public Solicitor's Office. The 
advisors helped to build the expertise of the Government's lawyers and 
also contributed to reducing the backlog of cases.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the right to a fair trial, 
and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right.
    Trial procedures normally operated in accordance with British 
common law, with a presumption of innocence, access to attorneys, and 
the rights to access government-held evidence, confront witnesses, and 
appeal convictions. The law extends these rights to all citizens. 
Judges conduct trials and render verdicts; there are no juries. Accused 
persons are entitled to counsel, and an attorney was provided at public 
expense for indigent defendants facing serious criminal charges.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters; local courts and magistrates' 
courts have civil jurisdiction. In addition, the constitution provides 
that any person whose rights or freedoms have been contravened may 
apply directly to the High Court for redress.

    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.
    In 2008 RAMSI initiated the Solomon Islands Media Strengthening 
Scheme (SOLMAS), which continued during the year. SOLMAS worked with 
the Media Association of Solomon Islands, the Solomon Islands 
Broadcasting Corporation, and the Department of Communications to 
provide training and technical support to local journalists.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. In practice 
cost factors and lack of infrastructure limited public access to the 
Internet. The International Telecommunication Union reported that 
approximately 2 percent of the country's inhabitants used the Internet 
in 2009.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution provides for freedom of assembly, and the 
Government generally respected this right in practice. Demonstrators 
must obtain permits, which the Government generally granted.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
association, and the Government generally respected this right in 
practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in 
providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it. 
Native-born citizens may not be deprived of citizenship on any grounds.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws do not provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has not 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. The 
Government did not grant refugee status or asylum during the year. In 
practice the Government provided protection against the expulsion or 
return of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be 
threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership 
in a particular social group, or political opinion.
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.

    Elections and Political Participation.--The August 4 national 
parliamentary elections were regarded as generally free and fair, 
although there was evidence of vote buying. On August 24, Parliament 
elected Danny Philip as prime minister.
    Political parties could operate without restriction, but they were 
institutionally weak, with frequent shifts in political coalitions and 
unstable parliamentary majorities.
    Male dominance in government limited the role of women. There were 
no women in the 50-member Parliament. The five women who served as 
permanent secretaries in the previous Sikua government continued in 
their roles with the new Philip government. Unlike in 2009, there were 
no female judges on the High Court.
    There was one minority (non-Melanesian) MP.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials often engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. Government 
corruption and impunity in both the executive and legislative branches 
continued to be serious problems.
    Police corruption was not a serious problem during the year. 
However, some observers criticized the police as more loyal to their 
respective ethnic group, or wantok (extended family), than to the 
country as a whole.
    Public officials were subject to financial disclosure laws under 
the leadership code of conduct. The Office of the Leadership Code 
Commission (LCC) investigates matters of misconduct involving MPs or 
senior civil servants. If the LCC finds that there is conclusive 
evidence of misconduct, it sends the matter to the Department of Public 
Prosecution, which may then proceed with legal charges. The LCC 
chairman and two part-time commissioners make up a tribunal that has 
the power to screen certain cases of misconduct and apply fines of up 
to SI$5,000 (approximately $665) on MPs or senior civil servants. The 
Office of the Ombudsman is responsible for investigating public 
complaints of government maladministration.
    In March the auditor general ordered the Agricultural and Livestock 
Department to account for its management of a 2007 SI$10 million 
(approximately $1.3 million) cattle-funding project, calling the 
department's management records ``abysmal'' and citing a number of 
omissions and irregularities in the department's records. The auditor 
general also stated that an MP pressured department staff to allocate 
and pay funds to cattle farmers in his particular constituency.
    MP Peter Shanel, who served a nine-month jail sentence following 
his 2008 conviction for unlawful wounding and possession of an unlawful 
weapon in a restricted area, was reelected to Parliament in the August 
elections and was appointed minister for foreign affairs and external 
trade.
    At year's end no further information was available on the status of 
the LCC investigation begun in 2008 into 16 MPs from the National 
Alliance Party of Solomon Islands (NAPSI) for accepting SI$50,000 
(approximately $6,655) in loans from Bobo Dettke, a prominent Honiara 
businessman and founder of NAPSI.
    Former prime minister and former MP Sir Allan Kemakeza's appeal of 
his 2007 conviction for intimidation, larceny, and demanding money with 
menace was discontinued in 2009; he was not reelected to Parliament in 
the August election.
    On June 6, a former East Honiara MP and a former cabinet minister 
were convicted after a High Court retrial on charges lodged in 2004 and 
2005, respectively, of official corruption involving the granting of 
certificates of naturalization to Chinese nationals. They appealed, and 
on October 8, the Court of Appeals overturned the convictions.
    No law provides for public access to government information. In 
practice the Government generally was responsive to inquiries from the 
media during the year.
Section 5. 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.
    The Guadalcanal Peace Building and Reconciliation Committee (GPRC) 
was formed in 2007 to plan the reconciliation and peace process on 
Guadalcanal. The GPRC has 15 members appointed by the Ministry for 
National Unity, Reconciliation, and Peace (MNURP). Together with the 
Malaita Peace and Reconciliation Committee, the GPRC planned and 
coordinated peace and reconciliation activities in consultation with 
the MNURP. Since the establishment of the two committees, work plans 
were produced and some key activities were implemented, including 
provincial and community consultations and dialogue forums, and the 
establishment of task forces on Marau and Guadalcanal Province 
reconciliation, RSIP and Guadalcanal Provincial Government (GPG) 
reconciliation, and national government and GPG reconciliation. In 2009 
the MNURP also recruited a number of peace mediators from local 
communities on short-term contracts as part of the ministry's 
continuing work in strengthening the peace-building capacity of 
existing structures.
    The Government cooperated with international governmental 
organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives and other 
organizations. There were a number of visits from UN representatives 
during the year; however, no public reports were released.
    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 and operated without governmental or political party 
interference during the year, it was limited by a shortage of 
resources.
    In 2009 the Guadalcanal Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) 
was launched by South African Nobel Peace Prize winner Bishop Desmond 
Tutu. The commission is an independent body comprising three national 
and two international commissioners. It was established to hear 
accounts of violence and abuse experienced by thousands of citizens 
during the 1998-2003 period of ethnic violence between Malaitans and 
Guadalcanalese and provide a forum for victims and perpetrators to 
speak about the causes and impact of that violence. During the year 
stakeholder workshops were held in Malaita, Guadalcanal, and Gizo; a 
national public hearing was held in March in Honiara; and five regional 
public hearings were held in other provinces. Closed hearings were held 
for cases of particular sensitivity, including those involving the RSIP 
Voluntary Early Retirement Scheme for officers who had participated in 
the ethnic conflict. In December the Government granted a one-year 
extension to the TRC to enable it to fulfill its mandate. At year's end 
the Government had not provided to the TRC SI$5 million (approximately 
$665,500) in development funds that was promised and committed in 2009; 
however, the Government continued to provide other regular funding for 
staffing and leasing of premises. At year's end the TRC continued 
negotiating with the MINURP to provide the development funds.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution provides that no person--regardless of race, place 
of origin, color, 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 the male-
dominated society. Unemployment remained high, and there were limited 
job opportunities for persons with disabilities.

    Women.--Violence against women, including rape and domestic abuse, 
remained a serious problem. 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 maximum penalty for rape is life imprisonment. Spousal rape is 
not a crime. As part of the police curriculum, officers received 
specialized training on how to work with rape victims. The police have 
a Sexual Assault Unit, staffed mostly by female officers, to combat the 
problem.
    The law does not specifically address domestic violence; however, 
there are provisions against common assault. Although statistics were 
unavailable, incidents of domestic violence appeared to be common. The 
police commissioner confirmed that, as in 2009, domestic violence 
complaints were received almost every week. However, in the cases of 
domestic abuse that were reported, victims often dropped charges before 
the court appearance, or the case was settled out of court. According 
to the police commissioner, in cases in which charges were filed, the 
time lapse between the charging of an individual and the subsequent 
court hearing may be as long as two years. The magistrates' courts 
dealt with physical abuse of women as with any other assault, but 
prosecutions were rare. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) conducted 
awareness campaigns on family violence during the year. The Family 
Support Center and a church-run facility for abused women provided 
counseling and other support services for women. The Family Support 
Center did not have an in-house lawyer and depended heavily on the 
Public Solicitor's Office for legal assistance for its clients.
    Sexual harassment is not illegal and was a widespread problem.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children. 
Contraception and adequate prenatal, obstetric, and postnatal care were 
accessible at all government hospitals and rural health clinics, and 
all nurses were trained to provide family planning services. According 
to indicators published by the Population Reference Bureau, an 
estimated 35 percent of married women ages 15-49 used some form of 
contraception and an estimated 27 percent used modern contraceptive 
methods. According a UN report entitled Trends in Maternal Mortality, 
1990-2008, the country's estimated maternal mortality was 100 deaths 
per 100,000 live births. An estimated 86 percent of births were 
attended by skilled health personnel. Women and men had equal access to 
diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, including 
HIV.
    The law accords women equal legal rights, including the right to 
own property. However, most women were limited to customary family 
roles, and this situation 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. Women who were employed were 
predominantly engaged in low-paying and low-skilled jobs.
    The Solomon Islands National Council of Women and other NGOs 
attempted to make women more aware of their legal rights, including 
voting rights, through seminars, workshops, and other activities. The 
Government's Women's Development Division within the Ministry of Women, 
Youth, and Children's Affairs also addressed women's issues.

    Children.--Citizenship is acquired through one's parents. The 
country's laws do not allow dual citizenship for adults, and persons 
who acquire dual citizenship at birth must decide by age 18 which 
citizenship they wish to retain. Births frequently were not registered 
immediately due to lack of infrastructure, but the delays did not 
result in denial of public services to children.
    During the year major foreign assistance continued to bolster the 
educational system, but education was not compulsory, and the high cost 
of school fees severely limited attendance at secondary and higher 
institutions. In 2009 the Government implemented a new education policy 
that abolished school fees up to the form three (high school) level. A 
sample survey released by the Government in September 2009 found that 
since implementation of the policy, primary school enrollment increased 
6 percent, and secondary school enrollment increased 4.8 percent. 
School attendance rates were lower for girls than for boys, and the 
dropout rate was higher for girls.
    The law grants children the same general rights and protections as 
adults. There are laws designed to protect children from sexual abuse, 
child labor, and neglect, but few resources were provided to enforce 
the law. Child sexual and physical abuse remained significant problems, 
according to the coordinator of the Family Support Center in Honiara. 
However, children generally were respected and protected within the 
traditional extended family system, in accordance with a family's 
financial resources and access to services. Virtually no children were 
homeless or abandoned.
    Both boys and girls may legally marry at age 15, and the law 
permits marriage at age 14 with parental and village consent, but 
marriage at such young ages did not appear to be common.
    There were some anecdotal reports of children involved in 
prostitution.
    The minimum age for consensual sex is 15. The maximum penalty for 
sexual relations with a girl under age 13 is life imprisonment, and for 
sexual relations with a girl above age 12 but under age 15, it is five 
years' imprisonment. Consent is not a permissible defense under either 
of these provisions; however, in the latter case, reasonable belief 
that the victim was 15 or older is a permissible defense. Child 
pornography is illegal, with a maximum penalty of 10 years' 
imprisonment. However, there were reports of use of children in the 
production of pornography.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community was very small, and there were 
no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--In 2009 there were no confirmed reports 
that persons were trafficked to, from, or within the country.

    Persons With Disabilities.--There is no law or national policy on 
persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, or mental disabilities, 
and no legislation mandates access to buildings for such individuals. 
In practice very few buildings were accessible to persons with 
disabilities. There were no special accommodations for persons with 
disabilities to ensure access to information and communications. Their 
protection and care were left to the extended family and NGOs. The 
country had one educational facility for children with disabilities, 
which was supported almost entirely by the ICRC. A disability center in 
Honiara assisted persons with disabilities in finding employment; 
however, 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.
    Persons with mental disabilities were cared for within the family 
structure; there were very limited government facilities for such 
persons. The Kilufi Hospital in Malaita operated a 10-bed ward for the 
treatment of psychiatric patients. A psychiatrist resident in Honiara 
ran a clinic at the National Referral Hospital.
    The Ministry of Home Affairs is responsible for protecting the 
rights of persons with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The country comprises more than 
27 islands with approximately 70 language groups. 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. Tensions and 
resentment between the Guadalcanalese and the Malaitans on Guadalcanal 
culminated in violence beginning in 1998. The presence of RAMSI greatly 
reduced ethnic tension between the two groups, and the Peace and 
Reconciliation Ministry organized reconciliation ceremonies. However, 
underlying problems between the two groups remained, including issues 
related to jobs and land rights.
    On November 29, rioting broke out in Honiara following the 
conviction and sentencing of Fisheries Minister and former militant 
leader Jimmy Lusibaea on assault charges (see section 1.c.); gangs of 
youths attempted to break into and loot Chinese businesses. Police 
contained the violence and arrested 37 persons. Police attributed the 
violence to opportunism rather than racial or political motives.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Sodomy is illegal, as are 
``indecent practices between persons of the same sex.'' The maximum 
penalty for the former is 14 years' imprisonment and for the latter 
five years. However, there were no reports of prosecutions directed at 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender persons under these provisions 
during the year. There were no reports of violence or discrimination 
against persons on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There was societal 
stigma toward persons with HIV/AIDS, but there were no specific reports 
of disownment by families as reported in the past and no reports of 
violence targeting persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. 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 an 
estimated 10 percent of the population participated in the formal 
sector of the economy. According to the president of the Council of 
Trade Unions (CTU), approximately 35 percent of the total workforce was 
employed in the public sector and 65 percent in the private sector, and 
55 percent of employees in the public sector and 25 percent of those in 
the private sector were organized.
    The law protects workers against antiunion activity, and there were 
no areas where union activity was officially discouraged.
    The law permits strikes in both the public and private sectors. 
Advance notice to the Government is required for strikes to be legal. 
Private-sector disputes usually were referred quickly to the Trade 
Disputes Panel (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.
    In January the Government paid the remaining seven percent of an 
increase in the cost of living allowance for public employees that the 
TDP had prescribed in 2009 following a strike by the Solomon Islands 
Public Employees Union (SIPEU). The Government had made an initial 
payment of 4.5 percent in 2009.
    Also in 2009, following the SIPEU strike, the Government issued an 
official notice prohibiting strikes by civil servants in essential 
services. There were procedures in place designed to ensure these 
workers due process and protect their rights.
    In 2009 the Government appointed a commission of inquiry (COI) to 
examine the longstanding standoff between the Solomon Islands National 
Union of Workers and the Russell Islands Plantation Estate. In June, 
however, the COI was discontinued due to lack of funds and inability of 
the chairman, a retired Australian judge, to continue to serve. At 
year's end no report was issued, and the Government was planning to 
form a working group to negotiate with union members, villagers, and 
company management to resolve the dispute.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for the right to organize and bargain collectively, and unions 
exercised these rights in practice. Wages and conditions of employment 
were determined by collective bargaining, usually at the level of 
individual firms. According to the president of the CTU, a number of 
collective bargaining agreements were reached or renewed during the 
year. The CTU president also reported that nearly all workers in the 
public sector and approximately 80 percent of workers in the private 
sector were covered by collective bargaining agreements.
    Disputes between labor and management that cannot be settled 
between the two sides are referred to the 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.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The constitution 
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, except as part of a court 
sentence or order; however, the law contains no penalties for 
violators. There were unconfirmed reports of forced domestic servitude 
and persons forced to work in logging camps.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law forbids labor by children under age 12, except light agricultural 
or domestic work performed in the company of parents or other labor 
approved by the commissioner of labor. Children under age 15 are barred 
from work in industry or on ships, except aboard training ships for 
educational purposes; those under age 18 may not work underground in 
mines, or at night in any industry. The commissioner of labor is 
responsible for enforcing child labor laws, but few resources were 
devoted to investigating child labor cases. Given low wages and high 
unemployment, there was little incentive to employ child labor in the 
formal wage economy; however, there were reports of children working as 
cooks and performing other tasks in logging camps, where conditions 
often were poor. There also were reports of children working in 
subsistence agriculture and other family-run enterprises.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage was SI$4.00 
(approximately $0.53) per hour for all workers except those in the 
fishing and agricultural sectors, who received SI$3.50 (approximately 
$0.47). 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 six 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 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. However, according to the president of the CTU, 
during the year there were numerous violations of the occupational 
safety and health laws, and the authorities did not effectively enforce 
safety and health law provisions.

                               __________

                                 TAIWAN

    Taiwan's population of 23 million is governed by a president and 
parliament chosen in multiparty elections. International observers 
considered the January 2008 legislative elections and the March 2008 
presidential election, which Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang Party (KMT) 
won, free and fair. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    Principal human rights problems reported were corruption, violence 
and discrimination against women and children, trafficking in persons, 
and abuses of foreign 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 that the authorities committed arbitrary or unlawful killings.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution stipulates that no violence, threat, 
inducement, fraud, or other improper means should be used against 
accused persons, and there were no reports that the authorities 
employed them.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards, and the 
authorities permitted visits by independent human rights observers. As 
of December there were 57,088 adults (52,367 men and 4,721 women) and 
fewer than 1,000 juveniles imprisoned, and prisons operated at 119.6 
percent of design capacity.
    All prisoners and detainees have access to visitors. During the 
active investigation phase of their cases, a small number of detainees, 
on a court order, may be deprived of the right to have visitors. All 
prisoners and detainees are permitted religious observance. Prisoners 
are able to meet with religious leaders, who visit on a regular basis, 
and may request additional meetings with religious leaders as well.
    Authorities permit prisoners and detainees to submit complaints to 
judicial authorities without censorship, although in practice all 
correspondence is screened entering and leaving the facilities.
    When a prisoner makes allegations of inhumane conditions, prison 
authorities investigate the claims and release the results of their 
investigation to the judicial authorities and occasionally to the 
press. Authorities investigate and monitor prison and detention center 
conditions.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution prohibits 
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the authorities generally observed 
these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The National Police 
Administration (NPA) of the Ministry of Interior (MOI) has 
administrative jurisdiction over all police units, although city mayors 
and county magistrates appoint city and county police commissioners. 
Mayors and magistrates are responsible for maintaining order and 
assessing the performance of police commissioners within their 
jurisdictions.
    Prosecutors and the Control Yuan are responsible for investigating 
allegations of police malfeasance. The NPA also has an inspector 
general and an internal affairs division that investigates allegations 
of police misconduct. Police officers and senior officials suspected of 
corruption and other misbehavior were prosecuted and punished upon 
conviction.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--A warrant or 
summons is required by law, except when there is ample reason to 
believe the suspect may flee, or in urgent circumstances. Indicted 
persons may be released on bail at judicial discretion. By law 
prosecutors must apply to the courts within 24 hours after arrest for 
permission to continue detaining an arrestee. The authorities generally 
observed these procedures, and trials usually took place within three 
months of indictment. According to the Code of Criminal Procedure, 
prosecutors may apply to a court for approval of a pretrial detention 
of an unindicted suspect for a maximum of two months, with one possible 
two-month extension. Judicial reform advocates have urged limiting 
pretrial detention to better protect defendants' rights. Pretrial 
detention may be requested in cases where the potential sentence is 
five years or more and where there is a reasonable concern that the 
suspect could flee, collude with other suspects or witnesses, or tamper 
or destroy material evidence.
    Human rights advocates complained that the law did not provide 
adequate protection, since there is no requirement that suspects have 
legal representation during questioning. The Judicial Yuan (JY) and the 
NPA operated a program to provide legal counsel during initial police 
questioning to qualifying indigent suspects who are mentally 
handicapped or charged with a crime punishable by three or more years 
in prison. Lawyers recruited by the Legal Aid Foundation staffed 21 
branch offices that serviced 23 cities and counties around the island. 
Fifty police subbureaus, one-third of the island's 158 subbureaus, were 
implementing the program. Detained persons may request such assistance 
in all of the island's subbureaus. Human rights lawyers contended that 
while courts were required to appoint counsel after an indictment was 
filed, the existing Criminal Procedure Code did not specify what 
lawyers could do to protect the rights of indigent criminal suspects 
during initial police questioning. The program has enjoyed some 
success, but some groups argued that police need more on-the-job 
training and police facilities should be improved to accommodate 
lawyers in their initial questioning of suspects. More than half of the 
island's 5,000 lawyers have participated in this program.
    Beginning May 2009, authorities implemented the January 2009 
Constitutional Court interpretation declaring that prison authorities 
could no longer tape or monitor nor provide to prosecutors discussions 
between defense counsel and their clients.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the authorities generally respected judicial 
independence in practice. Although the authorities made efforts to 
eliminate corruption and to diminish political influence in the 
judiciary, some residual problems remained. During the year judicial 
reform advocates pressed for greater public accountability, reforms of 
the personnel system, and other procedural reforms. Some political 
commentators and academics also publicly questioned the impartiality of 
judges and prosecutors involved in high-profile and politically 
sensitive cases.
    Former president Chen Shui-bian and his wife, who were indicted in 
2008 on corruption charges, were found guilty and sentenced to life in 
prison in September 2009. Chen appealed the verdict and on June 10, the 
Taiwan High Court reduced Chen's prison term to 20 years. The Chen 
trial heightened scrutiny of issues such as pre-indictment and pretrial 
detention, prosecutorial leaks, other possible prosecutorial 
misconduct, and transparency in judicial procedures. In October 2009 
the Constitutional Court upheld the constitutionality of judicial 
procedures used by the Taipei District Court in the Chen case.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution establishes the right to a fair 
trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. 
Judges, rather than juries, decided cases; all judges were appointed by 
and were responsible to the JY. A single judge, rather than a defense 
attorney or prosecutor, typically interrogated parties and witnesses.
    Trials are public, although court permission may be required to 
attend trials involving juveniles or potentially sensitive issues that 
might attract crowds. A defendant's access to evidence held by the 
prosecution is determined by the presiding judge on a case-by-case 
basis. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty and 
have the right to an attorney, and criminal procedure rights are 
extended to all persons without limitation.
    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 
three years or more may appeal beyond that level. The Supreme Court 
automatically reviews life imprisonment and death sentences. It is 
unconstitutional to allow the confessions of accomplices to be the only 
evidence to convict a defendant.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary for civil matters. Administrative remedies are 
available in addition to judicial remedies for alleged wrongs, 
including human rights violations.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution prohibits such actions, and the 
authorities 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 authorities generally 
respected these rights in practice.
    There was a vigorous and active free press. Critics alleged that 
the authorities increased their placement of advertisements packaged as 
news reports and programs in local newspapers and television. They said 
the placement deterred a few media outlets from criticizing the 
authorities. The authorities denied using advertising revenue to 
manipulate the media.
    In September the Public Television Service (PTS) Foundation board 
fired PTS President Sylvia Feng. She then alleged the Taiwan 
authorities were interfering in the operations of PTS. PTS is a part of 
the Taiwan Broadcasting System (TBS), which is funded principally by 
the authorities. In January 2009, 3,000 persons gathered outside the 
Legislative Yuan (LY) to protest the legislature's freeze on TBS's 
budget and alleged political interference in the operation of TBS.
    In September the National Communications Commission (NCC) rejected, 
for the second time, applications from Next TV (a unit of Next Media 
Group) to launch news, information, and entertainment channels on 
cable, although it approved Next TV's applications for a sports and a 
movie channel. The NCC said the proposed programming on the three 
rejected channels was more or less the same and questioned the 
necessity of the additional channels. The NCC also expressed concern 
that Next TV's plan to include animated news, which presents events in 
``drama'' format, did not meet the standards of professional 
journalism. Next TV accused the NCC of suppressing freedom of speech 
and stifling creativity. Next TV said its animated news program had won 
praise for its innovative format.
    In November 2009, the Taipei City Government fined Apple Daily, 
also a part of the Next Media Group, a total of NT$1 million 
(approximately $35,710) for using animation on its Web site to 
reconstruct and illustrate stories of rape, sexual assault, and 
violence that appeared in the newspaper. The city government also 
barred primary and middle schools in the city from subscribing to Apple 
Daily and added that anyone wishing to borrow Apple Daily from Taipei 
public libraries must provide identification proving they were 18 years 
or older. At year's end the ban remained in effect. Taipei Mayor Hau 
Lung-bin said he respected press freedom but would do what was 
necessary to comply with the Child Welfare Law.
    A total of 26 journalists from 10 People's Republic of China (PRC) 
news outlets had journalists based in Taiwan.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no official restrictions on access to 
the Internet, and individuals and groups could engage in the expression 
of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. According to 
International Telecommunication Union statistics, approximately 70.1 
percent of the population used the Internet.
    Several nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported that law 
enforcement officials monitored Internet chat rooms and bulletin boards 
and used Internet addresses to identify and prosecute adults 
responsible for posting sexually suggestive messages; one leading NGO 
noted a decrease in such monitoring. Critics alleged the Child and 
Youth Sexual Transaction Prevention Act (CYSTPA), which is intended to 
protect children from sexual predators, was used to punish 
constitutionally protected free speech between consenting adults. In 
response to a request by persons opposed to this use of the CYSTPA, the 
Constitutional Court looked at the issue and ruled in favor of the law 
enforcement officials' actions. The court noted that the constitutional 
guarantee to free speech is not absolute and may be subject to 
reasonable restrictions intended to preserve a significant public 
interest--in this case, ``to deter and eliminate cases where children 
or juveniles become objects of sexual transaction.''

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no restrictions 
on academic freedom.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--Opposition-party legislators and human rights NGOs claimed 
that the Assembly and Parade Law unconstitutionally restricted free 
speech and assembly, and called for it to be amended or abolished. They 
claimed that the law unfairly disadvantaged smaller organizations and 
was selectively enforced. The Taiwan Association for Human Rights and 
more than a dozen other civic groups formed an alliance to advocate 
removing restrictions on street protest demonstrations and eliminating 
the requirement to apply to police for permission to hold a 
demonstration.
    In May 2009 the authorities charged two professors alleged to be 
organizers of the 2008 ``Wild Strawberry'' student movement 
demonstrations for failing to obtain permits in violation of the 
Assembly and Parade Law. On September 9, the Taipei District Court 
deferred the trial of one of the defendants in the case and requested a 
ruling by the Constitutional Court on the Assembly and Parade Law. In 
2009 Taiwan courts convicted three individuals of violations of the law 
in separate cases. The courts sentenced two to prison terms of less 
than two months and fined one. During the year authorities did not 
charge anyone with violations of the assembly law.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides this right, and the 
authorities generally respected it in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within Taiwan, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the authorities generally respected these rights in 
practice.
    All travelers from the PRC are required to have invitations from 
sponsors and are subject to approval by the Mainland Affairs Council. 
PRC tourists must travel in groups and stay at designated hotels. PRC 
tour groups must be chaperoned by a Taiwan travel agency, which is 
required to post a NT$1 million (approximately $35,710) bond in order 
to receive PRC tour groups. The bond can be partially or entirely 
forfeited if any tour group member is involved in legal problems or is 
reported missing. The Tourism Bureau must be notified in advance of any 
change to a tour group itinerary.
    The law does not provide for forced exile, and it was not 
practiced.

    Protection of Refugees.--Because of its international status, 
Taiwan is unable to be a party to the 1951 UN Convention relating to 
the Status of Refugees or its 1967 protocol; its law does not provide 
for the granting of asylum or refugee status. All PRC citizens 
unlawfully present are required by law to be returned to the PRC. At 
year's end there were eight PRC nationals on Taiwan seeking asylum 
elsewhere.
    Throughout the year the authorities repatriated undocumented 
immigrants to their countries of origin. According to the MOI, the 
total number of undocumented PRC immigrants deported to the mainland 
declined from 365 in 2008 to 236 in 2009 and to 90 in 2010. As of 
November 66 undocumented PRC immigrants were awaiting deportation. For 
the first eight months of the year, the average detention for PRC 
undocumented immigrants lasted 81 days. There were 1,159 non-PRC 
undocumented aliens (including 504 men and 655 women) awaiting 
deportation. Their average waiting time was 37.7 days.
    In January 2009 a group of more than 100 ethnic Tibetans ended a 
24-day sit-in seeking legal status in Taiwan. The Tibetans entered 
Taiwan at different times since 2002 and overstayed their temporary 
visas. In January 2009 the LY passed amendments to the Immigration Act 
allowing Tibetans who overstay their visas to apply for residency 
certificates, and since then more than 100 ethnic Tibetans have gained 
legal residency.
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 based on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In January 2008 the 
Kuomintang Party (KMT) won a significant majority in the LY following 
the implementation of a new single-member-district electoral system. 
Two months later the KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou won the 
presidency, marking the second peaceful, democratic transfer of power 
in Taiwan's history. Observers regarded the elections as free and fair.
    Political parties operated without restriction or outside 
interference.
    There were 33 women in the 113-member LY. Eight of the 48 Executive 
Yuan (cabinet) members were women. The mayor of Kaohsiung, the island's 
second largest city, was a woman. Two of the 15 Constitutional Court 
justices were women. At least half of the at-large seats won by a 
political party were required to be filled by women.
    Representatives of the indigenous population participated in most 
levels of the political system. They held six reserved seats in the LY, 
half of which were elected by plains tribes and half by mountain 
tribes. Indigenous persons accounted for approximately 2 percent of the 
population; their allocation of legislative seats was more than double 
their proportion of the population.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the authorities generally implemented these laws effectively. There 
were allegations of official corruption during the year.
    In June the Taipei High Court upheld the conviction of former 
president Chen Shui-bian and his wife Wu Shu-jen for corruption, money 
laundering, forgery, and embezzlement but reduced the sentences from 
life to twenty years in prison. Chen remained in custody while he 
appealed his high court conviction.
    Over the past two years, the courts have convicted four KMT 
legislators and one People First Party legislator of vote buying. On 
September 8, Taipei courts also convicted two incumbent KMT lawmakers 
and six former Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers of corruption and 
sentenced them to jail terms ranging from four to 10 years.
    In April 2009 the LY amended the Act for the Punishment of 
Corruption to allow criminal charges against civil servants who fail to 
account for the origins of abnormal increases in their assets. All 
public servants are subject to the Public Servants' Property 
Declaration Law.
    The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) is in charge of combating official 
corruption.
    Police corruption, while limited, was a problem. The NPA did not 
keep statistics on police corruption cases. In June nine ranking police 
officers in Taipei City were indicted for taking bribes from organized 
crime figures. The prosecutors recommended sentences ranging from 11 to 
20 years in jail. In August the director of a police station in Hualien 
County was sentenced to 13 years in jail for taking bribes from an 
illegal gravel business. Another two police officers involved in the 
case were sentenced to 31 months and 64 months, respectively.
    In September a former police officer in Taipei County was sentenced 
to 10 and a half years in jail for taking bribes from a human-
trafficking ring to extend the residence permits of Vietnamese victims. 
In October 2009 three police officers in Taipei County were indicted 
for receiving bribes amounting to NT$23 million (approximately 
$821,400) from brothels. The prosecutor recommended a prison term of 13 
years and six months for the main suspect. At year's end the trial was 
ongoing. From January to November, prosecutors indicted 1,123 persons 
on various corruption charges, including 68 senior officials 
(department director level and above) and 33 elected officials.
    The Access to Government Information Law stipulates that all such 
information be made available to the public upon request, except 
national secrets, professional secrets, personal information, and 
protected intellectual property. The law provides that registered 
citizens, companies, and groups can submit information requests and can 
appeal denied requests. These privileges are extended on a reciprocal 
basis to citizens of foreign countries.
Section 5. 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 
their findings on human rights cases. The authorities often were 
cooperative and responsive to their views.
Section 6. 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. The 
authorities enforced these provisions effectively.

    Women.--Violence against women, including rape and domestic 
violence, remained a serious problem. Rape, including spousal rape, is 
a crime. Because victims were socially stigmatized, many did not report 
the crime, and the MOI estimated that the total number of sexual 
assaults was 10 times the number reported to the police.
    The law provides protection for rape victims. Rape trials are not 
open to the public, unless the victim consents. The law permits a 
charge of rape without requiring the victim to press charges.
    The law establishes the punishment for rape as not less than five 
years' imprisonment, and those convicted usually were given prison 
sentences of five to 10 years. According to the MOI, 6,816 reports of 
rape or sexual assault were filed through September. As of November 
1,815 persons were indicted for sexual assault, and 1,705 persons were 
convicted. According to the MOJ, the average prosecution rate for rape 
and sexual assault over the past five years was approximately 50 
percent, and the average conviction rate was about 90 percent.
    The law allows prosecutors to take the initiative in investigating 
complaints of domestic violence without waiting for a spouse to file a 
formal lawsuit. As of November 91,457 cases of domestic violence had 
been reported. Also as of November authorities prosecuted 2,894 persons 
for domestic violence and convicted 2,159. As of November 18,120 
protection orders had been issued to female domestic violence victims 
and 3,033 to male victims. Typically persons convicted in domestic 
violence cases were sentenced to less than six months in prison. Social 
pressure not to disgrace their families discouraged abused women from 
reporting incidents to the police.
    The law requires all cities and counties to establish violence 
prevention and control centers to address domestic and sexual violence, 
child abuse, and elder abuse. These centers provided victims with 
protection, medical treatment, emergency assistance, shelter, legal 
counseling, and education and training on a 24-hour basis.
    Sexual harassment in the workplace is a crime, punishable by fines 
of from NT$100,000 to NT$1 million (approximately $3,570 to $35,710) 
and imprisonment for up to two years. All public employers and larger 
private employers are required to enact preventive measures and 
establish complaint procedures to deter sexual harassment. During the 
year 19,814 cases were reported through the 113 hotline. Women's groups 
complained that, despite the law and increased awareness of the issue, 
judicial authorities remained dismissive of sexual harassment 
complaints.
    Individuals and couples had the right to decide the number, 
spacing, and timing of their children and had the information and means 
to do so.
    Unmarried persons, however, are prohibited by law from obtaining 
fertility treatments. Access to contraception and skilled attendance 
during childbirth and postpartum were widely available. In 2009 the 
maternal mortality rate per 100,000 live births was reported as 8.4 
deaths. Women and men were equally diagnosed and treated for sexually 
transmitted infections, including HIV.
    The law prohibits discrimination based on gender. The Gender 
Equality in Employment Act (GEEA) provides for equal treatment with 
regard to salaries, promotions, and assignments. The GEEA entitles 
women to request up to two years of unpaid maternity leave and forbids 
termination because of pregnancy or marriage. Central and local 
agencies, schools, and other organizations are required to develop 
enforcement rules and set up gender equality committees to oversee the 
implementation of the law. One NGO claimed that the authorities were 
not doing enough to raise public awareness of this issue.
    Women's advocates noted that women continued to be promoted less 
frequently, occupied fewer management positions, and worked for lower 
pay than did their male counterparts. Women made up 50 percent of the 
service industry workforce and the total workforce. According to the 
Council for Labor Affairs (CLA), salaries for women averaged 82 percent 
of those for men performing comparable jobs.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents or by birth on 
the island. The authorities were committed to the rights and welfare of 
children, and the law included provisions to protect them.
    Child abuse continued to be a widespread problem. A reliable NGO 
reported sexual abuse was more prevalent than the public realized, with 
the estimated number of victims reaching approximately 20,000 annually 
while only approximately 3,000 were reported. According to the MOI, 
22,089 cases, including cases of physical, mental, or sexual abuse or 
harm due to guardian neglect, were reported during the year. Central 
and local authorities, as well as private organizations, continued 
efforts to identify and assist high-risk children and families and to 
increase public awareness of child abuse and domestic violence.
    By law persons discovering cases of child abuse or neglect must 
notify the police or welfare authorities. Child welfare specialists 
must notify the local authorities within 24 hours, and authorities must 
take appropriate measures within 24 hours. Regulations encourage 
officials to respond to investigation requests within four days. The 
MOI Children's Bureau and NGO specialists monitored cases to ensure 
that requirements were met. An official hotline accepted complaints of 
child abuse and offered counseling. Courts are to appoint guardians for 
children whose parents are deemed unfit.
    The minimum age of consent to engage in sexual relations is 18. 
Persons who engaged in sex with children under age 14 faced sentences 
of three to 10 years in prison. On September 26, more than 15,000 
persons gathered in front of the presidential office to demand a 
mechanism for eliminating incompetent judges following a series of 
verdicts that gave lenient sentences to child sex offenders. On 
September 7, the Supreme Court announced that, effective immediately, 
offenses involving sexual assault on children under the age of seven 
would result in a minimum sentence of seven years in prison. Those who 
engaged in sex with minors between ages 14 to 16 were sentenced to 
three to seven years. Solicitors of sex with minors older than 16 but 
younger than 18 faced up to one year in prison or hard labor, or a fine 
up to NT$ three million (approximately $107,000). According to the MOI 
Child Welfare Bureau, 418 minors were rescued from prostitution in 2009 
and placed in shelters.
    The extent to which child prostitution occurred was difficult to 
measure because of increased use of the Internet and other 
sophisticated communication technologies to solicit clients. 
Advertisements related to prostitution were prohibited, and the law was 
enforced in practice. Under the law citizens arrested abroad for having 
sex with minors could also be indicted and convicted for patronizing 
underage prostitutes in foreign countries, although there were no such 
cases over the past four years. The law also prohibits child 
pornography, and violators are subject to sentences of up to six months 
and substantial fines.
    As of November, 382 persons were indicted and 320 persons were 
convicted of violating the Child and Youth Sexual Transaction 
Prevention Act, which criminalizes child prostitution and the 
possession and distribution of child pornography. The law requires 
publication of violators' names in newspapers.
    Taiwan is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts. The 
Jewish population numbered approximately 200 persons.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with disabilities and sets minimum fines for 
violations.
    The MOI and the CLA are responsible for protecting the rights of 
persons with disabilities. The law stipulates that the authorities must 
provide services and programs to members of the population with 
disabilities. Free universal medical care was provided to persons with 
disabilities. NGOs continued to assert that more public nursing homes 
were needed and that current programs, such as home care services, 
needed to be expanded to meet the growing needs of those with 
disabilities, including the growing number of elderly persons.
    From July 2009 a public agency with 34 or more employees must hire 
at least 3 percent of its workforce from among those with physical or 
mental disabilities. Private sector enterprises that have a work force 
of 67 or more are required to have at least 1 percent of the payroll 
filled by employees with disabilities. The new employment regulations 
were expected to provide approximately 4,400 job opportunities for 
persons with disabilities. The authorities provided subsidies ranging 
from NT$3,000 to 7,000 (approximately $107 to $250) to persons with 
disabilities. As of September, subsidies amounting to NT$12.1 billion 
($432 million) had been allocated. In 2009 a total of NT$15.65 billion 
($559 million) was distributed.
    By law new public buildings, facilities, and transportation 
equipment must be accessible to persons with disabilities, and this 
requirement was generally met. Violations resulted in fines ranging 
from NT$60,000 to NT$300,000 (approximately $2,140 to $10,700).

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--As of November, 8 percent of 
all marriages included a foreign-born spouse, primarily from China, 
Vietnam, Indonesia, or Thailand, and an estimated 8.9percent of all 
births were to foreign-born mothers.
    Foreign spouses were targets of discrimination both inside and 
outside the home.
    In 2009 the Control Yuan held that the right to family unification 
was a protected constitutional right and that, therefore, consideration 
of spousal visas should be handled in accordance with due process 
principles.
    The authorities offered free Chinese-language and child-raising 
classes and counseling services at community outreach centers to assist 
foreign-born spouses' integration into society. The Legal Aid 
Foundation provided legal services to foreign spouses and operated a 
hotline to receive complaints. The MOI also operated its own hotline 
with staff conversant in Vietnamese, Cambodian, Thai, Indonesian, 
English, and Chinese.
    Following amendments to the law, PRC-born spouses must wait six 
rather than eight years to apply for Taiwan residency, whereas non-PRC 
spouses may apply after only three years. The amended law also 
stipulates that PRC foreign spouses are also permitted to work on 
Taiwan immediately on arrival. In addition the authorities canceled the 
quota for visas for PRC spouses in August 2009.

    Indigenous People.--There are 14 identified non-Chinese groups of 
indigenous people, accounting for approximately 2 percent of the 
population. The law protects the civil and political rights of these 
indigenous persons. The Indigenous Peoples Basic Act stipulates that 
the authorities should provide resources to help indigenous individuals 
develop a system of self-governance, formulate policies to protect 
their basic rights, and promote the preservation and development of 
their language and culture. Critics complained that the authorities did 
not do enough to preserve aboriginal culture and language.
    In September activists claiming to represent the Pingpu, an 
indigenous population of approximately one-half million, filed a 
petition with the Presidential Office and the Council of Indigenous 
Peoples asking for official recognition. The application was rejected. 
The Pingpu activists claimed that without official recognition, they 
would eventually become culturally extinct.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There are no laws prohibiting 
homosexual activities. According to homosexual rights activists, 
violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons 
was rare, but societal discrimination against LGBT persons with HIV and 
AIDS was a problem.
    LGBT rights activists said instances of police pressure to LGBT-
friendly bars and bookstores decreased. However, in February the Taipei 
City Education Bureau issued an official letter to schools warning of 
homosexual influence on students. Following mounting pressure from LGBT 
rights advocates, in September the Education Bureau asked that school 
officials disregard the letter.
    The eighth annual gay pride march was held on October 30.
    LGBT rights activists alleged the restrictions on doctors providing 
fertility treatments to unmarried persons unfairly discriminated 
against LGBT persons, who are not permitted to marry.
    Employers convicted of discriminating against jobseekers on the 
basis of sexual orientation face fines of up to NT$1.5 million 
(approximately $53,570).

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There was reported 
discrimination, including employment discrimination, directed against 
persons with HIV/AIDS. An amendment of the AIDS Prevention and Control 
Act allows foreign spouses infected with HIV to remain on Taiwan, if 
they can show they were infected by their spouse or by medical 
treatment received while on Taiwan. The amended law, renamed the HIV 
Prevention and Patients' Rights Protection Act, also stipulates that 
HIV-infected citizens cannot be denied access to education, medical 
services, housing, or other necessities.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The right to unionize is protected by 
the constitution but is highly regulated under the Labor Union Law 
(LUL) and other laws.
    Some public employees have limited rights to form unions. Teachers 
and civil servants were allowed to form professional associations to 
negotiate with the authorities but were not allowed to strike. These 
restrictions led to a long-running dispute between the authorities and 
groups representing teachers and civil servants.
    Foreign workers are not allowed to form their own unions. In June 
the LY amended the LUL to allow foreign workers to assume union 
leadership positions.
    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 them to county and city authorities as well as to the CLA 
for review. Labor unions may be rejected or dissolved, if they do not 
meet CLA certification requirements or if their activities disturb 
public order.
    At the end of September, approximately 29 percent of the 11.1 
million-person labor force belonged to one of the 4,842 registered 
labor unions. Many of them were also members of one of 10 island-wide 
labor federations.
    The right to strike is provided by law, and workers exercised this 
right in practice.
    However, legal constraints make it difficult to strike, undermining 
the usefulness of collective bargaining. Workers may strike over issues 
of compensation and working schedules but not living or working 
conditions. The law requires mediation of labor disputes when the 
authorities deem them to be sufficiently serious or to involve unfair 
practices. The law also prohibits labor and management from disturbing 
the ``working order'' while mediation or arbitration is in progress. 
Teachers and defense industry employees, however, are not afforded the 
right to strike. Critics contended the law had a chilling effect on the 
right to strike, because it restricted workers' ability to take action 
in a dispute. The law mandates stiff penalties for violations of no-
strike and no-retaliation clauses. In June the LY amended the LUL and 
reduced punishments for unions that violate regulations.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law gives 
workers the right to organize, bargain, and act collectively, although 
some positions are not afforded this right.
    At the end of September, there were 39 collective bargaining 
agreements in force. However, they covered only a small proportion of 
the labor force, mainly in large companies; 95 percent of industrial 
labor unions had no collective agreements. No special labor laws or 
labor law exemptions apply to the export processing zones in Kaohsiung 
and Taichung.
    The LUL prohibits discrimination, dismissal, or other unfair 
treatment of workers because of union-related activities. Labor unions 
charged, however, that during employee cutbacks, labor union leaders 
were sometimes laid off first or dismissed without reasonable cause. 
For example, in March labor union leaders of a touch panel 
manufacturing company alleged that lay-offs management said were 
necessary due to shrinking revenue and outsourcing were, in fact, an 
effort to get rid of union leaders. In addition the Teachers' 
Association of Taipei County claimed in August that Taipei County 
authorities had requested all schools to cancel leave for teachers' 
association-related activities. Although workers did not pursue 
mediation in either case, labor activists maintained that the labor 
environment remained unfriendly to any organization activities. The 
Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions and the Taiwan Labor Front 
contended there was no specific penalty for the improper dismissal of a 
labor union leader.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor. However, there were reports that such 
practices occurred. There was evidence of trafficking in persons into 
forced labor in such sectors as household caregivers, farming, fishing, 
manufacturing, and construction (see section 7.e.).
    The antitrafficking law criminalizes forced labor, and public 
awareness campaigns included worker education pamphlets, foreign worker 
hotlines, and Ministry of Education programs on trafficking as part of 
the broader human rights curriculum.
    See also the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
Labor Standards Law (LSL) stipulates age 15, when compulsory education 
ends, as the minimum age for employment. County and city labor bureaus 
effectively enforced minimum-age laws.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The LSL provides standards for 
working conditions and health and safety precautions. At the end of 
September, the LSL covered an estimated 6.6 million of the 8.1 million 
salaried workers. Those not covered included health-care workers, 
gardeners, bodyguards, teachers, doctors, lawyers, civil servants, and 
domestic workers.
    Foreign household caregivers and domestic workers are covered 
instead by the Employment Services Act, which does not provide for a 
minimum wage or overtime pay, set limits on the workday or workweek, or 
provide for minimum breaks or vacation time. At the end of December, 
184,000 of the 377,000 foreign household caregivers and domestic 
workers had applied for coverage under the Employment Services Act. In 
September migrant workers' rights advocates protested the failure of 
authorities to submit a Household Services Act, which would provide 
those basic labor protections for all household caregivers and domestic 
workers, to the legislature for consideration.
    An increase in the minimum wage to NT$17,880 per month ($638) or 
NT$98 per hour ($3.50) was scheduled to take effect in January 2011. 
While sufficient in less expensive areas, the minimum wage did not 
provide a decent standard of living for a single-income family in urban 
areas such as Taipei. Labor rights activists reported that any benefit 
to foreign workers from previous increases to the monthly minimum wage 
failed to cover the increase in the maximum NT$5,000 ($178) monthly 
deduction the CLA allowed employers to collect. The average 
manufacturing wage was more than double the legal minimum wage, and the 
average wage for service industry employees was even higher. 
Nevertheless, the real monthly average wage decreased from NT$44,424 
($1,580) in 2008 to NT$42,176 ($1,506) in 2009 due to the influence of 
the global financial crisis. Many workers either lost their jobs or 
took unpaid leave in 2009. As a result, unemployment increased from 1.8 
percent to 5.9 percent in 2009, but decreased to 5.2 percent during the 
year. The number of labor disputes in 2009 numbered 30,385 cases in 
2009, a 24 percent increase from 2008. Of these, 29,128 cases were 
related to wage and severance pay disputes. As the economy and 
employment recovered, there were 18,118 labor disputes in the first 
nine months of the year, a 24.2 percent decrease from the same period 
in 2009.
    To assist jobless workers, the authorities provided unemployment 
relief payments for nine months and offered short-term job programs.
    Legal working hours were 336 hours per eight-week period (for an 
average of 42 hours per workweek). A five-day workweek has been 
mandated for the public sector, and according to a CLA survey, more 
than half of private sector enterprises also had a five-day workweek.
    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 their continued 
employment. There was widespread criticism, however, that the CLA did 
not effectively enforce workplace laws and regulations. During the year 
the CLA's 307 inspectors conducted 89,339 inspections, a decrease of 
1.1 percent from 2009. Those 307 inspectors were responsible for 
inspecting approximately 310,000 enterprises covered by the 
Occupational Safety and Health Law. Labor NGOs and academics argued 
that the labor inspection rate was far too low to serve as an effective 
deterrent against labor violations and unsafe working conditions, 
especially for labor working in small and medium factories.
    Regulations require intensified inspection and oversight of foreign 
labor brokerage companies. NGOs reported that some labor brokers and 
employers regularly collected high fees or loan payments from foreign 
workers, using debts incurred in the source country as a tool for 
involuntary servitude. During the year there were 379,653 documented 
migrant workers in Taiwan--among them, 135,019 from Indonesia, 64,516 
from Thailand, and 54,218 from Vietnam. The CLA estimated there were 
33,000 undocumented workers. NGOs asserted that foreign workers were 
unwilling to report employer abuses for fear the employer would 
terminate the contract and forcibly deport them, leaving them unable to 
pay back debt accrued to brokers or others.
    An employer may deduct only labor insurance fees, health insurance 
premiums, income taxes, and meal and lodging fees from the wages of a 
foreign worker. Violators face fines of NT$60,000 to 300,000 
(approximately $2,140 to 10,710) and loss of hiring privileges. 
Critics, however, complained that violations continued and that the CLA 
did not effectively enforce statutes and regulations intended to 
protect foreign laborers from unscrupulous brokers and employers.
    The CLA operated a Foreign Worker Direct-Hire Service Center that 
allowed local employers to rehire their foreign employees, especially 
caregivers, without a broker. NGOs, however, argued that complicated 
procedures and restrictions on eligibility to use the service prevented 
widespread implementation and advocated lifting restrictions on 
transfers between employers.
    The service center also permitted the direct rehiring of foreign 
workers engaged in manufacturing, fisheries, construction, and other 
industries. NGOs and academics urged the CLA to provide basic labor 
protections such as minimum wage, overtime, and a mandatory day off for 
household caregivers and domestic workers.
    The National Immigration Agency is responsible for all immigration-
related policies and procedures for foreign workers, foreign spouses, 
immigrant services, and repatriation of undocumented immigrants. The 
CLA is responsible for work permits and services related to occupation. 
The CLA also provides mediation services and may permit the transfer of 
employees in situations where the employee has suffered exploitation or 
abuse.
    Except for victims of trafficking in persons or employer abuse, 
foreign workers deemed to have worked illegally faced heavy fines, 
mandatory repatriation, and a permanent ban on reentering Taiwan.

                               __________

                                THAILAND

    Thailand is a constitutional monarchy with a population of more 
than 67 million. The king is revered and in the past exerted strong 
informal influence. A coalition government led by Abhisit Vejjajiva, of 
the Democratic Party, has been in power since 2008. The most recent 
national elections for the lower house of parliament, held in 2007, 
were generally viewed as free and fair, but there were widespread 
allegations of vote buying. Antigovernment protests that resulted in 
significant political unrest from March to May in Bangkok and various 
northeastern provinces, along with continuing internal conflict in the 
southernmost provinces, led the Government to restrict some rights and 
delegate certain internal security powers to the armed forces. Security 
forces reported to civilian authorities.
    Security forces continued at times to use excessive force against 
criminal suspects, and there were reports that police tortured, beat, 
and otherwise abused suspects, detainees, and prisoners, many of whom 
were held in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions. There were 
occasional dismissals, arrests, prosecutions, and convictions of 
security forces in response to this behavior; however, official 
impunity continued to be a serious problem. A separatist insurgency in 
the South resulted in numerous human rights abuses, including killings, 
committed by government security forces, ethnic Malay Muslim 
insurgents, and local defense volunteers. The Government maintained 
some limits on freedom of speech, the press, and assembly. Human rights 
workers, particularly those focusing on violence in the South, reported 
harassment and intimidation. Police corruption was widespread. 
Trafficking in persons remained a concern. Members of hill tribes 
without proper documentation continued to face restrictions on their 
movement, could not own land, and often were the targets of labor 
violations. Government enforcement of labor laws was inconsistent.
                        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 that the Government or its agents committed any 
politically motivated killings; however, at year's end government and 
independent fact-finding commissions were investigating April and May 
clashes between security forces and antigovernment protesters in 
Bangkok and the Northeast that resulted in the deaths of 79 civilians, 
11 security force members, and two foreign journalists. Public 
attention focused in particular on the May 19 deaths of six protesters 
and volunteer medical personnel in Wat Pathum and the vicinity. 
Additionally, security forces occasionally used excessive and at times 
lethal force against criminal suspects and committed or were connected 
to extrajudicial, arbitrary, and unlawful killings. There were reports 
of killing, torture, and unlawful detention during the year in 
connection with the conflict in the southernmost provinces (see section 
1.g.).
    According to the Ministry of Interior's (MOI) Investigation and 
Legal Affairs Bureau, from October 1, 2009, to September 30, 819 
persons died in official custody. Authorities attributed most of the 
deaths to natural causes while in prison. Police killed 145 suspects 
during the arrest process.
    Between March and May, antigovernment protesters affiliated with 
the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD, or red 
shirts) established two separate protest sites, including the 
commercial center of Bangkok, while calling for the dissolution of 
parliament. Ensuing clashes with government security forces left 92 
persons dead. However, it remained unclear how many were killed by 
security forces, by armed factions associated with the protest, or by 
accident.
    On May 30, Sulaiman Naesa died at the Inkhayuthboriharn Army Camp 
after apparently using a towel to hang himself. Sulaiman's relatives 
and local human rights groups reported what they considered to be signs 
of torture on his body, including a wound on the left side of his neck 
and another wound on his back that appeared to be from a sharp object. 
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) was examining the case at 
year's end.
    On June 26, police shot and killed Manit Toommuang, suspected of 
drug trafficking and murder, while in police custody. Shortly before 
being shot, Manit was photographed sitting on a couch in his apartment 
with his hands handcuffed behind his back. According to police 
accounts, Manit took a gun from one of the officers and fired once, 
causing the police to use deadly force in self-defense. The case 
remained under investigation at year's end.
    On August 11, Makhoseng Pohtae, a suspected militant, died in 
custody due to injuries reportedly received after being tortured by 
Yala police in the initial months following his arrest in March 2009. 
An internal investigation by the Southern Border Provinces Police 
Command found the abusing officers guilty of misconduct. At year's end 
the National Counter-Corruption Commission (NCCC) was investigating the 
case.
    On September 2, a Narathiwat court acquitted a police 
superintendent of all charges related to his involvement in the case of 
Imam Yapa Koseng, who died while in army custody in 2008. In addition 
the court rejected the case against five Royal Thai Army (RTA) soldiers 
from Task Force 39 for their involvement in Yapa's death, stating that 
the criminal proceedings should be filed with a military court. Two 
lawsuits remained pending: the potential criminal proceeding against 
the five military suspects, under consideration by the NCCC since 2008; 
and the civil lawsuit filed by Yapa's family in March 2009 against the 
Ministry of Defense, RTA, and Royal Thai Police (RTP), which was 
suspended pending the resolution of a jurisdictional problem.
    A criminal trial continued against three officers in Kalasin 
Province suspected of involvement in the 2004 killing of Kiattisak 
Thitboonkhrong and the subsequent cover-up. This was one of 10 cases 
accepted in 2009 by the Department of Special Investigation's (DSI) 
Special Case Center for investigation related to the 2003 ``War on 
Drugs'' campaign, although the killings occurred after 2003. The DSI 
forwarded eight of the cases to the Office of the Attorney General 
(OAG) and one to the NCCC. The remaining cases were pending.
    According to the Thailand Mine Action Center, during the year there 
was one death and 23 injuries due to land mines, occurring in Buriram, 
Chanthaburi, Sakaew, Sisaket, Ubon Ratchatani, Tak, and Trat provinces. 
The Government continued public awareness campaigns, including sending 
landmine awareness teams to the affected villages and landmine 
education teams to local schools to inform students of the risk 
associated with land mines and instruction on how to avoid injuries.
    There were at least eight violent incidents between Thai border 
rangers and Cambodian illegal loggers during the year. For example, on 
January 10, border rangers shot at a group of Cambodians illegally 
logging on the Thai side of the border in Sisaket Province. Two 
Cambodians reportedly were killed during the incident. On March 8, 
border rangers allegedly shot and killed one individual among a group 
of Cambodian illegal loggers in Surin Province. On November 6, Thai 
border rangers allegedly shot and killed two armed Cambodian loggers in 
Sisaket Province.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no confirmed reports of politically 
motivated disappearances; however, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) 
reported that several persons remained missing following the dispersal 
of antigovernment protesters in May. According to the Mirror 
Foundation, the whereabouts of 17 protesters remained unknown at year's 
end; there also were multiple media reports of numerous protesters 
having fled to Cambodia. There were no confirmed reports that 
individuals disappeared after being questioned by security officials in 
the southern provinces.
    The Working Group on Justice for Peace reported that Doromae Jehlae 
disappeared on his way to work on March 17 in Pattani Province. His 
relatives stated that he had been questioned by soldiers in the days 
prior to his disappearance.
    There were no developments in the case of Abduloh Abukaree, who 
disappeared in December 2009 after failing to return to his home in 
Narathiwat Province. He was a key witness in a DSI case against high-
ranking police officials connected to the disappearance of prominent 
Muslim attorney and human rights activist Somchai Neelaphaijit. There 
were no developments in the 2008 case of Kamol Laosophaphant, a 
businessman in Khon Kaen Province who disappeared after going to a 
police station to lodge criminal complaints against local officials 
concerning state railway land deals. At year's end the case regarding 
the disappearance of Somchai Neelaphaijit remained before the NCCC, and 
the appeals court continued to examine the possibility of future 
prosecutions. Somchai disappeared in 2004 after providing legal 
representation to criminal suspects who had allegedly been tortured by 
high-ranking police officials.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution specifically prohibits such practices, 
but there is no law that specifically prohibits torture, and it is not 
punishable as an offense under criminal law. Additionally, section 17 
of the Emergency Decree effectively provides immunity from prosecution 
to security officials for actions committed during the performance of 
their duties. NGOs and legal entities continued to report that members 
of the police and military occasionally tortured and beat suspects to 
obtain confessions. There were newspaper reports of numerous cases in 
which citizens accused police and other security officials of using 
brutality. By year's end there had been one prosecution, although no 
conviction, of a military official for alleged torture; there also were 
criminal actions being pursued against RTP officers.
    The NHRC, in a report dated September 15, found that torture took 
place widely and systematically in the deep South. The study, which 
examined 35 alleged torture cases since 2006, found that beating and 
intimidation tactics were widely used by state officials. Torture 
tactics included covering the victims' heads with plastic so they were 
unable to breathe, applying lit cigarettes to body parts, beating 
victims with a wooden stick covered by a sponge, and using electric 
shocks. According to the report, most of the abusers were members of 
the armed forces or police who arrested and detained suspects under 
special laws including martial law, the Internal Security Act, and the 
Emergency Decree.
    In May 2009 an army unit stopped Adil Samae and Masaofi Khawaenbgbu 
for questioning in Yala Province. One of the soldiers began beating the 
pair before the two escaped. They reported the incident to the police 
two days later, and on January 26, the case was brought before the 
Pattani Military Court. On April 26, the court found the soldier guilty 
of abuse, sentenced him to six months in prison, and fined him 2,000 
baht ($62.50). The prison sentence was later reduced to two years' 
probation. Following the military court verdict, on May 10, Adil and 
Masaofi filed a civil lawsuit at the Songkhla Administrative Court 
against the Ministry of Defense and the Royal Thai Army. At year's end 
the court was examining the case.
    There were no developments in the case of university students 
Ismael Tae and Amisi Manak, allegedly tortured by security personnel 
from Yala and Pattani provinces in 2008.
    There were no developments in the case of Rayu Korkor, arrested in 
2008 with Imam Yapa Koseng and four other men. Rayu alleged that he 
witnessed Yapa's death at the hands of security officials (see section 
1.a.) and that he was tortured. The RTP forwarded the case to the NCCC, 
and Rayu's relatives also filed a civil lawsuit against the RTA that 
remained pending at year's end.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
poor. Most prisons and detention centers were overcrowded. There were 
approximately 172,000 prisoners in prisons and detention facilities 
designed to hold 150,000. Sleeping accommodations were insufficient, 
medical care was inadequate, and communicable diseases were widespread 
in some prisons. Seriously ill prisoners at times were transferred to 
provincial or state hospitals.
    Prison authorities sometimes used solitary confinement of not more 
than one month, as permitted by law, to punish male prisoners who 
consistently violated prison rules or regulations; the Department of 
Corrections maintained that the average confinement was approximately 
seven days. Authorities also used heavy leg irons to control prisoners 
who were deemed escape risks or harmful to other prisoners.
    Approximately 13 percent of the prison population consisted of 
pretrial detainees, who were not segregated from the general prison 
population. Men, women, and children often were held together in police 
station cells pending indictment. Separate detention facilities for 
juvenile offenders were available in all provinces.
    Prisoners and detainees had access to visitors and were permitted 
religious observance. Authorities permitted prisoners and detainees or 
their representatives to submit complaints without censorship to 
ombudsmen but not directly to judicial authorities. The Ministry of 
Justice (MOJ), through its Department of Corrections, was responsible 
for investigating and monitoring prison and detention facility 
conditions, but authorities rarely investigated complaints and did not 
make public the results of such investigations.
    Conditions in immigration detention centers (IDCs) remained poor. 
The Immigration Police Bureau, reporting to the Office of the Prime 
Minister, administered the IDCs, which were not subject to many of the 
regulations that govern the regular prison system. Overcrowding and a 
lack of basic medical care continued to be serious problems. Juveniles 
above the age of 14 were detained with adults in IDCs. There also were 
complaints of inadequate and culturally inappropriate food, especially 
by Muslim detainees. There were reports that detainees, including 
children, were not permitted sufficient exercise at some facilities. 
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that guards physically 
abused detainees in IDCs administered by the Immigration Police Bureau.
    The Government permitted visits to prisons and IDCs by independent 
human rights observers. Additionally, the Government allowed human 
rights observers to make a single controlled visit to the Inkayuth 
military camp in Pattani Province, the first visit of its kind in the 
southernmost provinces. Representatives of the International Committee 
of the Red Cross (ICRC) were allowed to meet prisoners without third 
parties present and made repeated visits. By the end of 2009, the ICRC 
had also received access to all police facilities in the southernmost 
provinces; however, at year's end the military had not approved ICRC 
requests to visit prisoners detained in military detention facilities 
in the four southernmost provinces, where detainees allegedly were 
mistreated. Additionally, the ICRC was unable to visit persons 
affiliated with the March-May antigovernment protests who were arrested 
and detained in military camps for violating provisions of the 
Emergency Decree. Representatives of the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had access to some detainees at the 
Suvarnabhumi Airport IDC in Bangkok; however, the access varied on a 
case-by-case basis. UNHCR officials were able to interview detainees in 
Suan Phlu IDC, and access continued for third countries to process 
recognized refugees for resettlement.
    Ombudsmen have the power to consider and investigate complaints 
lodged by any aggrieved citizen. Following an investigation, ombudsmen 
can refer a case to a court for further review or provide 
recommendations for further action to the appropriate agency, but they 
do not have the power to force agencies to comply with their 
recommendations. They can investigate complaints and petitions received 
from prisoners and provide recommendations to the Department of 
Corrections; however, they are not empowered to act on a prisoner's 
behalf, nor do they involve themselves in a case unless an official 
complaint is received.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution specifically 
prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention; however, government forces 
occasionally arrested and detained persons arbitrarily. The Emergency 
Decree, which gives the Government the authority to detain persons 
without charge for up to 30 days in unofficial places of detention, was 
used during parts of the year in as many as 27 of the country's 76 
provinces. This action was in addition to martial law, which existed in 
31 border-region provinces and allows for detention without charge for 
a maximum of seven days. The Emergency Decree was lifted in Bangkok and 
three adjoining provinces on December 22, leaving only three southern 
provinces under the decree at year's end.
    Emergency Decree provisions make it very difficult to challenge a 
detention before a court. According to the law, under the decree 
detainees should have legal access to counsel; however, in practice 
there was no assurance of prompt access to legal counsel or family 
members, nor were there transparent safeguards against the mistreatment 
of detainees. Additionally, the decree effectively provides broad-based 
immunity from criminal, civil, and disciplinary liability for officials 
acting under its provisions.
    According to the NHRC subcommittee on civil and political rights, 
422 persons were detained for violating the Emergency Decree for 
actions connected to violent red-shirt antigovernment protests in April 
and May, some of whom were believed to have been bystanders not 
participating in the protests or violence. Human rights groups reported 
that a number of those arrested and detained for six months or longer 
without having the opportunity in court to answer for their charges 
committed relatively minor offenses such as violating curfew, 
participating in the protests, or burning tires. At year's end 158 of 
the 422 remained in detention.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The RTP has the 
authority to minimize threats to internal security and suppress 
criminal activity. It is under the direct supervision of the prime 
minister and a 20-member police commission. The police commissioner 
general is appointed by the prime minister and subject to cabinet and 
royal approval. The Border Patrol Police has special authority and 
responsibility in border areas to combat insurgent or separatist 
movements.
    The 2008 implementation of the Internal Security Act (ISA) created 
the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) as a state agency under 
the command of the prime minster, who acts as the ISOC director. It is 
considered an interagency monitoring body, with both civilian and 
military representation. The act also includes broad powers for the 
military. During the year the Government invoked the ISA five times in 
Bangkok to allow security forces to deal with antigovernment protests. 
The Emergency Decree, which was in effect across large sections of the 
country during part of the year, including in Bangkok between April and 
December, provides the Government greater powers than the ISA and 
therefore takes precedence. At year's end Bangkok remained covered by 
the ISA, which replaced the decree on December 22. The ISA also was in 
effect in four districts of Songkhla Province throughout the year. 
Human rights organizations and academics criticized the Government for 
repeatedly utilizing the ISA, with cabinet approval, to respond to 
alleged threats to national security by restricting fundamental rights.
    There were reports that police abused prisoners and detainees, 
generally with impunity. Complaints of police abuse can be filed 
directly with the superior of the accused police officer, the Office of 
the Inspector General, or the police commissioner general. The NHRC, 
Lawyers' Council of Thailand (LCT), NCCC, Court of Justice, MOJ, and 
Office of the Prime Minister also accept complaints of police abuse and 
corruption, as does the Office of the Ombudsman. The NHRC received 78 
complaints of police abuse during the year.
    When the police department receives a complaint, an internal 
investigation committee first takes up the matter and may temporarily 
suspend the officer involved in the complaint during the investigation. 
Various administrative penalties exist, and serious cases can be 
referred to a criminal court.
    The joint NCCC-OAG committee investigation into the April 2009 
attempted killing of People's Alliance for Democracy leader Sondhi 
Limthongkul continued. At year's end the police officer and two 
soldiers for whom arrest warrants were issued in July 2009 remained 
free.
    Procedures for investigating suspicious deaths, including deaths 
occurring in police custody, require that a prosecutor, forensic 
pathologist, and local administrator participate in the investigation 
and that, in most cases, 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 arrests.
    The Ministry of Defense requires that service members receive human 
rights training both as a part of routine training and prior to 
deployments. This training takes place under the mandate of a 1992 
cabinet resolution in response to the political violence in May of that 
year. The routine training occurs at various levels, including for 
officers, noncommissioned officers, enlisted personnel, and recruits. 
Additionally, military service members deploying in support of 
counterinsurgency operations in the South also received specific human 
rights training, including training for detailed, situation-specific 
contingencies.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--With few 
exceptions, the law requires police to obtain a warrant from a judge 
prior to making an arrest. In practice the system for issuing arrest 
warrants was subject to misuse by police officers and a tendency by the 
courts automatically to approve all requests for warrants. By law 
persons must be informed of likely charges against them immediately 
after arrest and must be allowed to inform someone of their arrest. The 
law provides for access to counsel for criminal detainees; however, 
lawyers and human rights groups claimed that police often conducted 
interrogations without providing access to an attorney. Lawyers working 
in the southern provinces reported that under the Emergency Decree they 
were denied adequate access to detained clients, and some individuals 
in those southern provinces reported they were denied permission to 
visit detained family members. Foreign detainees sometimes were 
pressured to sign confessions without the benefit of a competent 
translator. The MOJ and OAG sought to provide an attorney to indigent 
detainees at public expense.
    Under normal conditions the law allows police to detain criminal 
suspects for 48 hours after arrest for investigation. Court permission 
is required to extend detentions for additional periods (up to a 
maximum of 84 days for the most serious offenses) to conduct 
investigations. Lawyers reported that police rarely brought cases to 
court within the 48-hour period. Laws and regulations place offenses 
for which the maximum penalty is less than three 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. According to the LCT, pretrial 
detention of criminal suspects for up to 60 days was not uncommon.
    The law provides defendants the right to request bail, and the 
Government generally respected this right. However, some human rights 
groups reported that police frequently either did not inform detained 
suspects of their right to request bail or refused to recommend bail 
after a request was submitted.
    Under martial law the military has the authority to detain persons 
without charge for a maximum of seven days, and under the Emergency 
Decree a person may be detained for up to 30 days without charge.
    On May 24, Suthachai Yimprasert, assistant professor of history at 
Chulalongkorn University, was arrested for violating the Emergency 
Decree by distributing leaflets critical of the Government's treatment 
of the red-shirt protesters. He was detained without charge at a 
military camp in Saraburi Province before being released on June 5.
    On June 27, Sombat Boonngammanong was arrested under a provision of 
the Emergency Decree prohibiting the gathering of more than five 
persons after he held a small demonstration in Bangkok, during which he 
tied red ribbons to a signpost while others with him held up 
photographs of violent actions allegedly related to the military 
dispersal of red-shirt protesters on May 19. He was held in detention 
without charge at a Border Patrol Police command office in Pathumthani 
Province before being released on July 9.
    On October 5, police in Ayutthaya Province arrested Amornwan 
Charoenkij for selling flip-flop shoes printed with the faces of the 
prime minister and deputy prime minister, along with a statement that 
read, ``People died at Ratchaprasong.'' She was arrested for violating 
provisions of the Emergency Decree, despite the fact that the decree 
had been lifted in Ayutthaya in July. Amornwan was released on bail, 
and her case was pending at year's end.

    Amnesty.--The king issued a royal amnesty proclamation in honor of 
his 60th wedding anniversary on April 28. By year's end approximately 
10,000 prisoners had been pardoned and released as part of this 
amnesty.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary. Although the judiciary generally was regarded as 
independent, it was subject to corruption and outside influences. 
According to human rights groups, the lack of progress in several high-
profile cases involving alleged abuse by the police and military 
diminished the public's trust in the justice system and discouraged 
some victims of human rights abuses (or their families) from seeking 
justice.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the presumption of 
innocence. There is no trial by jury. A single judge decides trials for 
misdemeanors; two or more judges are required for more serious cases. 
The constitution provides for a prompt trial, although a large backlog 
of cases remained in the court system. 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.
    In ordinary criminal courts, defendants enjoy a broad range of 
legal rights, including access to a lawyer of their choosing; however, 
indigent defendants are not automatically provided with counsel at 
public expense. The LCT budget was reduced by more than 15 percent from 
2009. The legal aid provided was often done on an intermittent, 
voluntary, public-service basis and was of low standard. Some NGOs 
reported that legal aid lawyers pressured their clients into paying 
additional fees directly to them. The court is required to appoint an 
attorney in cases where the defendant disputes the charges, is 
indigent, or is a minor, as well as in cases where the possible 
punishment is more than five years' imprisonment or death. Most free 
legal aid came from private groups, including the LCT and the Thai 
Women Lawyers Association. There is no discovery process; consequently, 
lawyers and defendants do not have access to evidence prior to the 
trial. The law provides for access to courts or administrative bodies 
to appeal or seek redress, and the Government generally respected this 
right.
    Several NGOs expressed concern over the lack of adequate protection 
for witnesses, particularly in cases involving alleged police 
wrongdoing. The MOJ's Office of Witness Protection had limited 
resources and primarily played a coordinating role. In most cases 
witness protection was provided by the police, but six other state 
agencies participated in the program. Witnesses, lawyers, and activists 
involved in cases of alleged police abuse reported that protection was 
inadequate and that they were intimidated by the police sent to provide 
protection.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters. The law provides for access 
to courts and administrative bodies to bring lawsuits seeking damages 
for, or cessation of, a human rights violation, and the Government 
generally respected this right. However, sections 16 and 17 of the 
Emergency Decree, which was in force in as many as 27 provinces, 
expressly excludes scrutiny by the Administrative Court or civil or 
criminal proceedings against government officials, although victims may 
seek compensation from a government agency instead.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution specifically prohibits such actions, 
and the Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice. 
However, the use of martial law and the Emergency Decree gives 
government security forces the authority to conduct searches without a 
warrant, and this authority was used on many occasions. There were 
numerous complaints from persons claiming that security forces abused 
this authority, but the decree provides security forces broad immunity 
from prosecution.
    Security services monitored persons, including foreign visitors, 
who espoused extremist or highly controversial views.

    g. Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflict.--
The internal conflict in the ethnic Malay, Muslim-majority, 
southernmost provinces (Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala, and portions of 
Songkhla) continued throughout the year. Insurgents carried out almost 
daily bombings and attacks that caused deaths and injuries. The 
Emergency Decree in effect in this area gives military, police, and 
civilian authorities significant powers to restrict certain basic 
rights and delegates certain internal security powers to the armed 
forces. The decree also provides security forces broad immunity from 
prosecution. The martial law imposed in 2006 remained in effect in 
Narathiwat, Pattani, and Yala, giving a wide range of powers to 
security forces.

    Killings.--Human rights groups accused government forces of 
extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and torture of individuals 
suspected of involvement with separatists. As a result of attacks by 
suspected insurgents, tension between the local ethnic Malay Muslim and 
ethnic Thai Buddhist communities remained high, alongside a distrust of 
security officials.
    On March 14, insurgents killed police Colonel Sompian Eksomya, 
police commander in Bannang Sata, Yala, in an ambush. The insurgents 
first disabled Sompian's vehicle with a bomb and then fired at the 
vehicle, killing the colonel and his driver and injuring two other 
police officers.
    On June 6, Doro-mae Da-che, also known as Ustaz Mae, was shot and 
killed in Bannang Sata. The media and NGOs speculated that the act was 
in retaliation for the killing of Colonel Sompian.
    There was no progress in the case of Laila Paaitae Daoh, a 
prominent human rights activist in Yala killed by suspected insurgents 
in March 2009.
    On September 2, police dropped charges against former paramilitary 
ranger Sutthirak Kongsuwan, stating there was insufficient evidence to 
continue. Sutthirak, wanted on a warrant for the June 2009 attack at 
the Al Furqon mosque in Narathiwat, turned himself in to authorities on 
January 14. There was no progress in the case related to the alleged 
getaway driver.
    There were no developments in June 2009 shooting of two Buddhist 
monks in Yala; one monk was killed and the other seriously wounded.
    According to statistics from DeepSouthWatch, between January and 
October separatist violence resulted in 831 individuals killed and 
injured in 1,183 incidents. As in previous years, separatists 
frequently targeted government representatives, including district and 
municipal officials, as well as Buddhist and Muslim civilians.
    Some government-backed civilian defense volunteers, most of them 
ethnic Thai Buddhists from villages in the South, continued to receive 
basic training and weapons from security forces. Human rights 
organizations expressed concerns about vigilantism against ethnic Malay 
Muslims by these defense volunteers and other civilians.

    Physical Abuse, Punishment, and Torture.--The Government continued 
to arrest suspected militants, some of them juveniles, and in some 
cases held them for a month or more under provisions of the Emergency 
Decree and martial law. Human rights organizations considered the 
arrests arbitrary, excessive, and needlessly lengthy, and they 
expressed concerns about detention facility overcrowding. Civil society 
groups accused the army of torturing some suspected militants at 
detention facilities.
    The three southernmost provinces are covered by two security laws. 
Martial law allows for detention without charge up to seven days 
without court or government agency approval in Pattani, Narathiwat, and 
Yala. The Emergency Decree, in effect in the same areas, allows 
authorities to arrest and detain suspects for up to 30 days without 
charge. After the expiration of this period, authorities can begin 
holding suspects under normal criminal law. Unlike under martial law, 
these detentions require the consent of a court of law, although human 
rights NGOs complained that courts did not always exercise their right 
to review these detentions. In some cases a suspect was held first 
under martial law for seven days and then detained for an additional 30 
days under the Emergency Decree. In December 2009 the ISA was imposed 
in lieu of martial law and the Emergency Decree in the four districts 
of Songkhla. The Southern Border Province Police Command stated that 
447 persons were arrested in 2009 under the Emergency Decree, with 12 
killed during arrest or in related skirmishes. It was unclear whether 
any persons were detained under martial law alone.

    Child Soldiers.--There were no reports of persons under the age of 
18 conscripted or recruited into governmental armed forces. There were 
reports that separatist groups recruited teenagers under the age of 18 
to carry out attacks. Human rights organizations alleged that 
separatists used private Islamic schools to indoctrinate ethnic Muslim 
Malay children with a separatist agenda.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Other Conflict-Related Abuses.--Human rights organizations alleged 
that the military mailed official letters to village headmen or local 
district officers in the four southernmost provinces, inviting them to 
nominate a specific number of ``voluntary villagers'' to attend a 
workshop. Credible sources indicated that villagers who attended these 
training sessions were subject to interrogations and collection of 
biological data (fingerprints, DNA samples, and photographs).
    The Ministry of Education reported that since 2004 insurgents had 
burned more than 330 schools in the South, 40 of them more than once. 
During the year insurgents burned six schools in Yala and Pattani; at 
least three had been burned previously. The Government periodically 
closed schools throughout the region in response to attacks against 
teachers, students, educational facilities, and parents. The Government 
frequently armed ethnic Thai Buddhist and ethnic Malay Muslim 
civilians, fortified schools and temples, and provided military escorts 
to monks and teachers. According to the ministry, 173 teachers, 
students, and education staff had been killed and 284 others injured 
due to separatist violence since 2004. During the year 10 students were 
injured and two were killed; six school personnel were injured and 12 
were killed.
    Separatist violence included attacks on medical facilities. 
According to the Ministry of Public Health, 81 public health volunteers 
had been killed, 50 health volunteers injured, and 25 community health 
centers burned or bombed in the South since 2004.
    While official government statistics were not available, there were 
reports that more than 30 percent of ethnic Thai Buddhists had fled 
violence-affected areas to other provinces.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law 
specifically provide for freedom of speech and of the press with some 
exceptions, although the Government limited these rights during the 
year.
    Freedom of speech and of the press occasionally were curtailed by 
government interference and the use of provisions authorized under the 
Emergency Decree. Attempts by the Government to hamper freedom of 
expression on the Internet increased. Television and radio broadcasters 
also were monitored closely, and the Government exerted pressure on 
broadcast media to cooperate in disseminating constructive and 
``balanced'' news, especially after the April 7 invocation of the 
decree in response to the onset of civil unrest. Nevertheless, the 
media and civil society vocally criticized government authorities 
throughout the year. Print, broadcast, and online media covered news 
critical of the Government and senior-level officials and carried 
interviews with opposition figures.
    The international and independent media were allowed to operate 
freely, except in coverage of matters deemed a threat to national 
security or offensive to the monarchy.
    By law the Government may restrict freedom of speech and of the 
press to preserve national security, maintain public order, preserve 
the rights of others, protect public morals, and prevent insults to 
Buddhism. The law allows police under a court order to restrict or 
confiscate publications and other materials for disturbing the peace, 
interfering with public safety, or offending public morals.
    By invoking the Emergency Decree, the Government can restrict print 
and broadcast media, online news, and social media networks. The decree 
empowers the Government ``to prohibit publication and distribution of 
news and information that may cause the people to panic or with an 
intention to distort information.'' It also authorizes the Government 
to censor news considered a threat to national security. These powers 
were employed beginning in April and continued through the end of the 
year.
    Lese majeste provisions in the criminal code make it a criminal 
offense punishable by up to 15 years' imprisonment to criticize the 
king, queen, royal heir apparent, or regent. The provisions allow 
private citizens to initiate lese majeste complaints against each 
other, and there were several cases in which private citizens did so. 
During a December 2009 speech, Prime Minister Abhisit announced the 
establishment of a committee to advise the police, DSI, and Ministry of 
Information and Communication Technology (MICT) on the careful, 
appropriate, and fair conduct of lese majeste cases. The committee, 
chaired by Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Justice Kittipong 
Kittayarak, held its first meeting on January 12.
    On October 20, prosecutors indicted Surachai Danwattananusorn, 
leader of the antigovernment Red Siam Group, on lese majeste charges 
relating to a speech he made at a rally in 2008. He remained free on 
bail awaiting a trial date at year's end.
    On November 2, the Metropolitan Police announced that arrest 
warrants had been issued for two unnamed women shown in a photograph 
holding placards with lese majeste content during a red-shirt rally 
near Democracy Monument on October 10. By year's end the two women had 
not been arrested.
    On November 24, former UDD leader Worawut Tanungkorn (Suchart 
Narkbangsai) was sentenced to three years in prison for comments made 
during a speech at a red-shirt rally at Sanam Luang in 2008 deemed to 
be in violation of lese majeste. Worawut was arrested on November 1 
after evading arrest for more than two years.
    The appeal of political activist Daranee Charnchoengsilpakul, 
sentenced in August 2009 to 18 years in prison on three counts of lese 
majeste, was pending at year's end. On August 3, the appeals court 
denied a request for bail.
    The 2008 case against social activists Chotisak Ongsoong and 
Songkran Pongbunjan, who were charged with lese majeste for not 
standing for the royal anthem in a movie theater in 2007, remained 
pending at year's end.
    The 2008 lese majeste case against social critic Sulak Sivaraksa 
remained pending at year's end.
    Two separate lese majeste cases filed in 2008 against journalist 
Jonathan Head, former BBC Bangkok bureau chief, remained pending at the 
end of the year. The charges originated from remarks Head made in 2007 
at panel events at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT), 
as well as a claim that his reporting over a two-year period ``damaged 
and insulted the reputation of the monarchy.''
    There was no government ownership or control of print media. 
Political figures, prominent families, and large media conglomerates 
owned large stakes in many leading newspapers.
    Government entities owned and controlled all radio and broadcast 
television stations, including the 524 officially registered 
``regular'' AM and FM stations. The armed forces and police owned 
another 244 radio stations, ostensibly for national security purposes. 
Other owners of national broadcast media included the Government's 
Public Relations Department and the Mass Communication Organization of 
Thailand, a former state enterprise of which the Government owned a 
majority share. Nearly all stations were leased to commercial 
companies.
    The 2008 Broadcasting Act governs the regulation of radio and 
television frequencies. The act provides for three categories of 
broadcast licenses: public service, community service, and commercial. 
On December 20, the Frequency Allocation Bill, which establishes a 
National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission to allocate 
broadcast frequencies and regulate broadcast media, received royal 
approval and was signed into law; by law the commission must be formed 
within 180 days.
    Radio stations must renew their licenses every seven years. Radio 
signals are broadcast via government transmitters. Stations are 
required by law to broadcast 30-minute, government-produced newscasts 
twice daily. Under new regulations governing community radio operations 
that took effect in July 2009, community radio operators were granted a 
30-day period to register for temporary 300-day trial operating 
licenses with the National Telecommunications Commission. According to 
the Government, by year's end more than 7,000 community radio operators 
had registered. The Government warned community radio operators who 
failed to register that they would be considered illegal if they 
continued to operate and could be charged with unlicensed use of 
transmitters and radio frequencies. At year's end there were few 
reports of government action against unlicensed operators, estimated to 
be numerous.
    According to the Thai Journalists Association, the Government did 
not interfere with the freedom of mainstream print newsrooms during the 
political unrest. However, authorities shut two UDD-sponsored magazines 
in May during the political unrest, ThaiRed News and Voice of Thaksin, 
claiming they were a threat to national security. On June 24, in 
response to the forced closings, a group of UDD members launched 
another UDD-leaning news magazine called Red Power. Under the auspices 
of the Emergency Decree, authorities closed its printing facility in 
September; however, by November Red Power was back on the newsstands, 
reportedly being printed in a neighboring country.
    On April 7, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, citing a 
threat to national security, ordered the closure of the People's 
Channel (PTV), the satellite television station operated by the UDD. 
Suthep alleged that PTV was spreading distorted information about the 
Government's handling of the red-shirt protests; the Government 
subsequently distributed clips of PTV broadcasts of protest leaders 
calling for widespread arson. In addition PTV's related Web sites were 
blocked.
    On April 13, acting under the authority of the Emergency Decree, 
the Government ordered satellite operator Thaicom to terminate the 
signal of D-station, the satellite television outlet operated by the 
UDD. Days later police raided D-station operations in Bangkok and 
seized broadcasting equipment. D-station resumed broadcasting in May.
    According to the National Telecommunications Commission, by year's 
end at least 25 community radio stations had been shut after the 
Government invoked the Emergency Decree in April. In Chiang Mai 
Province, police searched a community radio station known to support 
the UDD and seized its transmission equipment; the station resumed 
broadcasting politically related content in September. Provincial ISOC 
branches also asked community radio stations to not incite unrest and 
warned that they would be closed if they failed to comply. In Udon 
Thani Province, police raided a pro-UDD community radio station and 
seized its transmission equipment; the director was charged with 
operating radio equipment without a license and released on bail. Some 
pro-UDD radio stations later resumed operations, but most if not all 
reportedly were self-censoring political content. One radio station 
manager reported that many stations did not have the money to reopen, 
particularly after their broadcasting equipment was confiscated by 
government officials and never returned.
    On April 16, Taxi Radio FM 106.8, a station affiliated with the 
red-shirt movement in Bangkok, shut the station after the Government 
reportedly succeeded in jamming the frequency. The station later 
resumed broadcasting with only sports news and entertainment content; 
the former station manager reportedly was in hiding.
    On June 16, the censorship board banned a television commercial 
entitled ``Thailand, We Apologize,'' citing its potential to cause 
unrest. The commercial featured scenes of riots and arson as well as 
clashes between protesters and security forces in Bangkok.
    There were reports that journalists were subject to harassment, 
intimidation, and violence due to their reporting, particularly during 
the period of political unrest in March through May. The deaths of two 
foreign journalists killed while covering the antigovernment protests 
in Bangkok in April and May remained under investigation.
    On July 27, journalist Kongpop Sawasdi, a reporter for the Thai 
Rath newspaper in Nakhon Pathom Province who also owned the local 
newspaper Pathom Post, was shot and killed at a local restaurant. The 
journalist had previously written a series of articles investigating a 
corruption case involving a local politician. On August 17, police 
announced that seven suspects had been arrested. The case continued at 
year's end.
    The case of Samraeng Khamsanit, a reporter whose car was set on 
fire in 2008, as well as the shooting cases of Matichon reporters 
Surayud Yongchaiyudh and Atiwat Chainurat in 2008, remained under 
investigation. All three victims were believed to have been targeted 
for their politically sensitive reporting.
    Print media criticism of political parties, public figures, and the 
Government was common. Journalists generally were free to comment on 
government activities and institutions without fear of official 
reprisal; however, they occasionally practiced self-censorship, 
particularly with regard to the monarchy and national security. 
Broadcast media was subject to government censorship both directly and 
indirectly, and self-censorship was evident. Nevertheless, broadcast 
media reported criticism of the Government.
    Defamation is a criminal offense, punishable by a fine of up to 
200,000 baht (approximately $6,250) and two years' imprisonment. 
Criminal courts made several rulings on defamation and libel cases 
against media figures, political activists, and politicians.
    People's Alliance for Democracy leader Sondhi Limthongkul, found 
guilty in September 2009 of defamation for statements made against a 
former deputy prime minister during a weekly show presented on ASTV in 
2007, continued to appeal his case. Sondhi was sentenced to two years 
in prison without probation and was released on bail.
    On September 2, a criminal court found Sondhi Limthongkul and ASTV 
program host Sarocha Pornudomsak guilty of defaming former prime 
minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The charges stemmed from remarks made by 
Sondhi about Thaksin while visiting supporters in the United States in 
2007; the remarks were subsequently broadcast on ASTV. The pair were 
sentenced to two years in prison, subsequently reduced to six months' 
probation, and fined 20,000 baht ($625).
    Two issues of The Economist magazine had distribution disrupted due 
to the sensitive nature of their content. The March 20 issue, which 
included an article about the monarchy entitled ``As the Father Fades, 
His Children Fight,'' was not made available to subscribers, due to 
concerns about the sensitivity of its content and the potential risk 
placed on distributors. The May 22 issue, which included articles 
entitled ``The Battle of Bangkok'' and ``A Polity Imploding,'' was 
shared with distributors; however, the newsstand distributor decided 
not to place the issue on newsstands. The May 22 issue was distributed 
to subscribers.
    Local television stations came under heavy criticism from UDD 
members for what they claimed was one-sided coverage of events, and UDD 
protesters reportedly attacked local television crews during 
demonstrations in Bangkok.
    During antigovernment protests on March 27 and April 4, and again 
on August 31, state-run NBT Channel 11 was attacked with grenades. The 
attacks remained under investigation.
    On May 19, in the aftermath of the Government's move to disperse 
the protesters from the Bangkok city center, a group of persons 
believed to be affiliated with the red-shirt protest movement set fire 
to the building that housed the Channel 3 television station, causing 
severe damage.

    Internet Freedom.--The Government imposed some restrictions on 
access to the Internet and reportedly monitored Internet chat rooms. 
Individuals and groups generally could engage in the peaceful 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail; however, 
there were limitations. Internet access was available and used by 
citizens in urban and rural areas, with an estimated penetration of 31 
percent.
    The 2007 Computer Crime Act (CCA), which created new computer crime 
offenses, establishes procedures for the search and seizure of 
computers and computer data in certain criminal investigations, and it 
gives the MICT authority to request and enforce the suspension of 
information disseminated via computer. Under the act a court order is 
required to ban a Web site; however, this was not always applied in 
practice. A maximum five-year prison sentence and a 100,000 baht 
($3,125) fine can be imposed for posting false content on the Internet 
that undermines public security, causes public panic, or hurts others. 
A maximum 20-year sentence and 300,000 baht ($9,375) fine can be 
imposed if an offense results in the death of an individual. It also 
obliges Internet service providers to preserve all user records for 90 
days, in the event that officials wish to access them. In addition any 
service provider who gives consent to or intentionally supports the 
publishing of illegal content is also liable. Most prosecutions under 
the CCA were for content-related offenses. Media activists criticized 
the law, stating that the offenses were defined too broadly and some 
penalties were too harsh.
    Additionally, the Government used provisions of the Emergency 
Decree to block thousands of Web sites and specific URLs. Unlike the 
CCA, under the decree authorities are not required to obtain a court 
order when blocking a Web site or a specific URL. Web site operators 
whose sites are blocked under the decree are given no warning, and 
there is no appeals process. Despite the lifting of the decree on 
December 22, Web sites blocked under such provisions remained 
inaccessible at year's end.
    There was a significant increase in Internet censorship, and the 
CCA and the Emergency Decree were used to stifle freedom of expression. 
The Government closely monitored and blocked thousands of Web sites 
that expressed antigovernment sentiment and those that were deemed 
critical of the monarchy. Many political Web boards and discussion 
forums chose to self-censor and closely monitored discussions to avoid 
being blocked. In addition many newspapers disabled or restricted 
access to their public comments sections to minimize exposure to 
possible lese majeste charges.
    According to a report from i-Law, the Government used the CCA to 
block almost 44,000 specific URLs, approximately 88 percent of which 
were for lese majeste-related content. The research also revealed that 
the courts took relatively little time to review a URL before granting 
the order to block access, often granting the order to block on the 
same day that MICT made the request. The number of URLs blocked on each 
court order varied but typically numbered in the hundreds.
    On April 1, Thanthawut Thaweewarodomkul, also known by his online 
name Red Eagle, was arrested in Bangkok and charged with lese majeste 
under provisions of the CCA. Thanthawut, who denied all charges, was 
the alleged Web master of a UDD Web site. He was awaiting trial at 
year's end.
    On April 8, the Government, under the authority of the Emergency 
Decree, issued an order to close 36 Web sites that were accused of 
being a threat to national security. Although most of the blocked sites 
were pro-UDD Internet forums and blogs, Prachatai.com, a politically 
neutral Web site known to be critical of the Government, was also on 
the list. Also under the decree, the Government blocked access to 
numerous UDD-affiliated Facebook and Twitter accounts; the majority of 
these Web sites remained inaccessible at year's end. Additionally, a 
number of Web sites chose to self-censor, voluntarily discontinuing 
their services by shutting their Web sites or changing their content.
    On April 9, the MICT announced that it had restricted access to 
10,000 URLs and other online content deemed inappropriate or a threat 
to national security. The MICT also announced that it would begin 
focusing its attention on content posted on social networking sites 
such as Hi5, Facebook, and Twitter.
    On April 30, authorities arrested Wipas Raksakulthai in Rayong 
Province for posting an alleged lese majeste comment on his Facebook 
page, the first known social networking-related arrest under the CCA. 
His case was pending at year's end.
    On September 13, the DSI announced via its Web site that an arrest 
warrant, dated May 24, had been issued for Thanapol Bamrungsri for 
comments posted on his Facebook page deemed in violation of lese 
majeste laws. At year's end no arrest had been made.
    On September 24, Prachatai.com executive director Chiranuch 
Premchaiporn was arrested at Suvarnabhumi International Airport on lese 
majeste charges related to comments posted on her Web site by a user in 
2008. She was transported to Khon Kaen Province and was granted bail 
early on September 25. Her case was pending at the end of the year. 
Chiranuch was also arrested in March 2009 and charged with violating 
article 15 of the CCA for allowing material on her Web board considered 
offensive to the monarchy; her trial in this earlier case was scheduled 
for February 2011.
    Squadron Leader Chanin Khlaikhlung, of the Royal Thai Air Force, 
surrendered to police on November 17 after his supervisor filed a lese 
majeste complaint against him for comments about the monarchy posted on 
his Facebook page. His case remained pending at year's end.
    Suwicha Thakhor received a royal pardon and was released from 
prison on June 28, after serving part of his 10-year sentence following 
a lese majeste conviction under CCA provisions in April 2009.
    Thiranan Vipuchanan, Katha Pajajiriyapong, Somchet Ittiworakul, and 
Thassaporn Rattawongsa, arrested in November 2009 for allegedly 
spreading false information on the Internet about the king's medical 
condition and thus endangering national security, remained free on bail 
while awaiting the results of a police investigation.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom.
    Cultural events may be censored, usually for reasons of public 
decency. Under the 2008 Film Act, the state is authorized to ban the 
release of movies that ``offend the monarchy, threaten national 
security, hamper national unity, insult faiths, disrespect honorable 
figures, challenge morals, or contain explicit sex scenes.'' Section 25 
of the act stipulates that all films to be screened, rented, exchanged, 
or sold in the country must be screened and approved by the Film and 
Video Classification Committee. The film Insects in the Backyard, which 
tells the story of a transgendered single father and features scenes 
with child prostitutes and homosexual sex, was banned by the Culture 
Ministry's National Film Board for immorality and scenes considered 
pornographic. Additionally, theater owners and broadcasters frequently 
censored films before submitting them to the board. As part of the 2008 
act, a seven-tiered rating system was introduced in August 2009. Movie 
theaters also had to apply for operation licenses by September 2009 or 
pay up to one million baht ($31,250) in fines. There were no reports 
that fines were levied or any other restrictions acted upon during the 
year.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution provides for freedom of assembly, and the 
Government generally respected this right with some exceptions. Martial 
law, which gives the military authority to restrict freedom of 
assembly, was in effect in 31 provinces. The Emergency Decree, which 
covered as many as 27 provinces during the year, also gives the 
Government the authority to limit freedom of assembly.
    The provinces of Surat Thani, Phuket, and Phang Nga have provisions 
that prohibit migrant workers--specifically those from Cambodia, Burma, 
and Laos--from forming gatherings, among other restrictions, while 
Samut Sakhon Province prohibits gatherings of more than five persons. 
The provisions were not strictly enforced. Employers and NGOs could 
request permission from authorities for migrant workers to hold 
cultural gatherings and were often not required to do so if the 
gatherings were on private property.
    Throughout the year the UDD network staged protests in Bangkok and 
other areas of the country. Demonstrations in Bangkok drew as many as 
100,000 persons in March. The protests began on March 12 as UDD 
supporters began to converge on Bangkok. On March 16, protesters 
collected their own blood and began splashing it on the offices of the 
prime minister and the ruling party headquarters. On April 3, the 
demonstrators began occupying the Ratchaprasong intersection, located 
at the heart of Bangkok's commercial district. On April 7, thousands of 
protesters stormed parliament, seizing weapons from bodyguards and 
forcing legislators to flee. In response the Government invoked the 
Emergency Decree, restricting all political gatherings of more than 
five persons. The restriction was not enforced until May 19.
    On April 10, violent clashes occurred between UDD protesters and 
government security forces on Ratchadamnoen Road near Phan Fah Bridge; 
live ammunition and military-grade weaponry was used by both sides, 
according to eyewitness reports and the media. By the following 
morning, 25 persons had been killed, including 10 protesters, nine 
civilians, one foreign journalist, and five members of the security 
forces. The circumstances surrounding the deaths were under 
investigation at year's end.
    On April 21, UDD protesters clashed with progovernment protesters 
near Silom Road, using bottles, slingshots, and fireworks, causing 
several injuries. On April 22, a series of M-79 grenade attacks on a 
mass transit station in Bangkok killed one person and injured more than 
50. On April 28, one soldier was killed and 19 persons were wounded as 
protesters and security forces clashed near Don Muang Airport. The 
soldier's death was initially reported in the media as a case of 
``friendly fire''; however, it remained under investigation. On April 
29-30, hundreds of UDD protesters forced their way into Chulalongkorn 
Hospital, searching for soldiers who they believed were stationed 
there, causing the hospital to close and transfer patients to other 
hospitals.
    On May 13, two protesters were killed, including Major-General 
Khattiya Sawasdipol, the self-described military adviser to the UDD, 
who was shot in the head by a sniper while giving a media interview. On 
May 14, protesters clashed with police and army units as they began 
surrounding the protesters' main camp. Small-scale clashes between 
armed protesters and security forces continued outside the perimeter of 
the protest encampment, with dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries 
reported. On May 19, security forces dispersed the protesters, with 
casualties reported on both sides, along with a foreign journalist.
    At year's end government and independent fact-finding commissions 
were investigating the April and May clashes between security forces 
and antigovernment protesters.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution specifically provides for 
freedom of association, although exceptions are made ``to protect 
public interests, to maintain public peace and order or good morals, or 
to prevent economic monopoly.''
    The law prohibits the registration of parties with the same name or 
emblem as that of a dissolved political party. Legal experts maintained 
that the law was designed to inhibit the reregistration of the Thai Rak 
Thai political party, which the Constitutional Court dissolved in 2007.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation. The Government generally respected these rights in 
practice, with some exceptions for ``maintaining the security of the 
state, public peace and order or public welfare, town and country 
planning, or youth welfare.'' The Government generally cooperated with 
humanitarian organizations in providing protection and assistance to 
internally displaced persons, refugees, returning refugees, asylum 
seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of concern, although with 
restrictions.
    Members of hill tribe minorities who were not citizens were issued 
identity cards that restricted their freedom of movement. Holders of 
such cards were prohibited from traveling outside their home district 
without prior permission from the district head and needed permission 
from the provincial governor to travel outside their home province. 
Offenders were subject to fines and jail terms. Persons without a card 
could not travel at all. Human rights organizations reported that 
police at inland checkpoints often asked for bribes in exchange for 
allowing stateless persons to move from one district to another.
    Refugees residing in the nine camps on the border with Burma were 
not granted freedom of movement and were legally confined to refugee 
camps. If caught outside one of the official camps, a refugee is 
subject to fines, detention, deregistration, and deportation.
    Other long-time noncitizen residents, including thousands of ethnic 
Shan and other nonhill tribe minorities, were required to seek 
permission from local authorities or the army for foreign and domestic 
travel.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not practice 
it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is not a signatory to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 protocol, and 
the law does not provide for the granting of asylum or refugee status. 
Nevertheless, authorities continued the country's longstanding practice 
of hosting significant numbers of refugees. In practice the Government 
provided some protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to 
countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account 
of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social 
group, or political opinion.
    Asylum seekers and non-Burmese refugees who reside outside the 
official refugee camps are considered illegal migrants by law. If 
captured, they are detained at IDCs in Bangkok and other provinces. 
Conditions in many IDCs were poor, often stemming from overcrowding and 
poor ventilation. Some refugees and asylum seekers held at IDCs 
suffered from physical and mental health problems. Refugees are unable 
to work legally in the country. Burmese refugees in the official camps 
are formally prohibited from working or earning a livelihood outside 
the camps.
    The Government allowed undocumented migrant workers from three 
neighboring countries to work legally in certain sectors of the economy 
if they registered with authorities and began a process to document 
their status (see section 7.e.).
    Provincial Admissions Boards (PABs), the Government's screening 
process for Burmese asylum seekers, were reactivated in 2009 on a pilot 
basis in four refugee camps following a four-year hiatus. At year's end 
the results of the pilot screening were under review by the Government, 
and the planned expansion of the screening process to the remaining 
five camps during the year had not occurred. While the Government 
generally cooperated with humanitarian organizations in assisting 
refugees in official camps, cooperation with the UNHCR to protect 
certain groups remained uneven. The UNHCR was formally forbidden to 
conduct refugee status determinations or provide its protection mandate 
to Lao Hmong, North Koreans, and Burmese (including Rohingya) outside 
the official camps. The UNHCR continued to have access to asylum 
seekers in the main IDC in Bangkok to conduct status interviews and 
monitor new arrivals. Several resettlement countries were allowed to 
conduct processing activities, and NGOs were able to provide health 
care, nutritional support, and other assistance there as well.
    The Government continued to allow the UNHCR to monitor the 
protection situation of more than 144,000 Burmese refugees and asylum 
seekers living in nine camps along the Burmese border but prohibited 
the UNHCR from having an assistance role in the camps. NGOs provided 
basic humanitarian assistance in the camps. Government authorities 
issued identification cards to registered refugees living in the camps. 
The Government allowed NGOs to provide food, education, shelter, water, 
sanitation, housing, and other services to Burmese in the camps. An 
estimated 45,000 Burmese were not registered due to the defunct status 
of the PABs. Government officials did not distinguish between asylum-
seeking Burmese and other undocumented Burmese migrants outside the 
designated camps, regarding all as illegal migrants. Generally, those 
arrested were taken to the border and deported.
    The Government continued to facilitate third-country resettlement 
of camp refugees, and during the year 11,107 Burmese were resettled 
from camps to other countries.
    The Government convened a special ``fast track'' PAB screening 
process for certain persons affected by the 2007 repression of 
prodemocracy protesters in Burma. By the end of 2007, the special PAB 
had approved 98 persons for refugee status and allowed their third-
country resettlement. During the year special ``fast track'' PAB 
screenings were initiated for two humanitarian cases. The PAB approved 
11 persons, permitting them to seek third-country resettlement.
    Many Burmese asylum seekers--mostly those seeking refuge from 
border skirmishes--were returned to Burma by army border units before 
they could reach the established refugee camps. During the year 
thousands of asylum seekers entered the country and the refugee camps. 
In July officials confirmed that 922 ethnic Karen had crossed into Tak 
Province seeking asylum in anticipation of fighting between Democratic 
Karen Buddhist Army factions after a breakdown in negotiations with the 
Burmese government. After two days the army facilitated their return to 
Burma with the promise that the asylum seekers could return if fighting 
erupted.
    From November 7 until the end of the year, approximately 30,000 
ethnic Karen and other Burmese entered the country at Mae Sot, Phop 
Pra, and Three Pagodas Pass to flee fighting between the Democratic 
Karen Buddhist Army, often aligned with other ethnic armies, and the 
Burmese army. In the months prior to the Burmese elections, the UNHCR 
and NGOs working in and around the official camps had conducted 
contingency planning at the request of the RTA. While fighting was 
underway, fleeing populations generally were permitted to remain in the 
country at designated sites outside the official camps. The UNHCR, 
NGOs, and community-based organizations were able to provide food, 
water, shelter, health, and sanitation services to most populations. 
When the fighting ceased, the Thai army facilitated the return of the 
displaced Burmese to Burma with the promise that they could cross again 
if fighting resumed. Some small groups of refugees remained in 
Thailand, waiting for conditions to improve before returning to Burma. 
Some NGOs reported both coerced and forced returns by the Thai army. 
The UNHCR confirmed that forced returns occurred at Wah Lay on December 
25.
    In late 2008 and early 2009, 79 Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants 
who arrived by sea were caught and detained in an IDC. In July 2009 two 
died of illness while in detention. On February 28, 28 Bangladeshi 
migrants from this group were repatriated, and one Rohingya was 
deported to Burma. During the year one person died of illness in 
detention and one was released. At year's end 46 members of the group 
remained in indefinite detention at Suan Phlu IDC. NGO groups had 
regular access to the detained Rohingya.
    The Immigration Police conducted sweeps in Bangkok and the southern 
region of the country from October to December, arresting and detaining 
208 Sri Lankan Tamils, including women and children. Of this group, 195 
were UNHCR-designated persons of concern. At least 119 remained in 
detention at year's end. In December the Immigration Police conducted 
similar operations in Bangkok in a Pakistani Ahmadi community and 
detained 84 persons, including 54 women and children; all were refugees 
or asylum seekers.

    Stateless Persons.--A significant number of stateless persons, many 
of whom are known as highlanders or members of hill tribes, resided in 
the country, concentrated in the northern region. Others migrated from 
Burma but are not ethnic Burmese and do not have Burmese citizenship. 
Still others fall into neither category. According to the 2009 UNHCR 
statistics of stateless persons in the world, there were approximately 
3.5 million stateless persons in the country. This total included 
approximately one million members of hill tribes and displaced persons 
holding various registration cards issued by government agencies; one 
million registered illegal migrant workers from Burma, Laos, and 
Cambodia; 148,000 refugees from Burma residing in camps along the Thai-
Burma border; and 1.5 million to two million unregistered illegal 
migrant workers.
    Citizenship is not automatically conferred by birth within the 
country. By law citizenship is based either on birth to one or both 
Thai parents, marriage to a Thai man, or naturalization. It can also be 
acquired by means of special government-designated criteria implemented 
by the MOI with approval from the cabinet. Finally, it can be granted 
as a result of the 2008 nationality law (see also section 6, Children). 
Progress was made in removing some of the significant obstacles to 
establishing citizenship--specifically, the requirements for certain 
documentary evidence and witnesses. The labyrinth of citizenship-
related laws and regulations and the existence of substantial gray 
areas within and among them continued to lead to their uneven 
application as well as extortion by corrupt local officials.
    The 2008 nationality law provides citizenship eligibility to 
certain categories of previously ineligible highlanders, streamlining 
citizenship registration and easing evidentiary requirements. A 
subcommittee of the National Security Council approved granting of 
permanent residency permits and naturalization for approximately 
200,000 registered stateless persons residing in the country for 20 to 
30 years. An additional 500,000 unregistered stateless persons were 
pending consideration by the same subcommittee.
    The 2008 Civil Registration Act stipulates that every child born in 
the country will receive an official birth certificate, regardless of 
the parents' legal status. Some stateless persons born in the country 
who may have been able to prove citizenship eligibility often waived 
that right to classify themselves as ``migrants,'' thereby gaining 
access to public health care and certain jobs unavailable to stateless 
persons. In doing so these individuals lost any claim for citizenship 
eligibility that they previously held. The nationality law allows these 
individuals to reclaim their eligibility provided they relinquish 
migrant worker status and take certain steps, such as surrendering work 
permits.
    Previously, implementation of the Civil Registration Act was not 
uniform, often depending on local authorities' knowledge, ability, and 
willingness to follow the law; however, the Government, with support 
from the UNHCR, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), and UN Educational, 
Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), launched a nationwide 
campaign for universal birth registration for refugee children in 
camps. Ministerial regulations and guidelines were issued to address 
gaps in knowledge and understanding to implement this policy 
effectively. Additionally, the Government approved the withdrawal of 
the country's reservation on article 7 of the Convention on the Rights 
of the Child regarding birth registration and nationality.
    The 2005 national strategy permits individuals who lack legal 
status and entered the country before January 1995 to remain in the 
country temporarily and apply for legal status, including citizenship. 
However, at year's end some implementing regulations remained under 
development.
    Stateless highland women encountered more barriers to citizenship 
than did men. Tribal customs and traditions subjected women to a social 
status that limited their access to postprimary education and political 
opportunities that would have contributed to knowledge of the 
citizenship process. Many stateless highland women had few economic 
opportunities outside the home and therefore could not afford the 
bribes sometimes demanded for processing citizenship applications. 
Highlanders claimed to have paid district officials 3,000 to 49,000 
baht ($94 to $1,530), although there is no official processing cost for 
citizenship. NGOs reported that some local officials pressed women into 
offering sexual favors in exchange for accelerating their citizenship 
registration.
    Many stateless highlanders lived in poverty. As noncitizens they 
could not vote, own land, or travel outside their home district or 
province without prior permission. Stateless persons also had 
difficulty accessing credit and government services, such as health 
care. The law also prohibits stateless persons from participating in 
certain occupations reserved for citizens, most notably farming; 
however, in practice officials permitted noncitizen highlanders to 
undertake subsistence agriculture. Without legal status, stateless 
persons were also subject to arrest, deportation, extortion, and other 
forms of abuse. UNESCO officials asserted that lack of legal status was 
the single greatest risk factor for trafficking or other exploitation 
of highlanders, such as by being forced into the drug trade or other 
sectors of the underground economy, as a result of being precluded from 
many legitimate economic opportunities.
    Any stateless person wishing to travel outside the country must 
have an exit permit. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued exit 
permits to stateless persons to study abroad. Other long-time 
noncitizen residents, including thousands of ethnic Shan and other 
nonhill tribe minorities, were required to seek permission from local 
authorities or the army for foreign and domestic travel.
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 through periodic, free, and fair elections based 
on universal, compulsory suffrage. The constitution provides for the 
election of all members of the 480-seat House of Representatives and 76 
members of the 150-seat Senate. It also provides for the appointment of 
74 additional Senate members by members of the judiciary and other 
regulatory bodies.

    Elections and Political Participation.--The 2007 national election 
for the House of Representatives generally was considered free and 
fair; however, there were allegations of widespread vote buying, minor 
procedural irregularities, and scattered but unconfirmed reports of 
intimidation by local military and government officials. International 
observers stated that the martial law in effect in parts of the country 
during the election was inconsistent with international norms.
    During the year five by-elections were held. The Election 
Commission of Thailand (ECT) reported 62 complaints of election fraud 
related to campaign promises or vote buying. There were no reports of 
election-related violence during the year.
    In the parliament all 150 allotted seats for senators were filled. 
Of the 480 allotted seats for the House of Representatives, five were 
not filled due to party dissolutions. In September 2009 the ECT 
disqualified 16 representatives for unconstitutional stock holdings 
that created conflicts of interest and sent their cases to the 
Constitutional Court for a final ruling. On November 3, the 
Constitutional Court upheld the disqualification of six of the 16 
representatives. December 12 by-elections filled the seats vacated by 
the court ruling.
    Political parties could operate without restriction or outside 
interference. During the year the ECT dissolved nine parties for 
inability to maintain compliance with the election law, and six parties 
requested to be dissolved.
    There were 85 women in the 630-seat bicameral parliament. Women 
chaired six of the Senate's 22 standing committees but none in the 
lower house. Women held three of the 36 cabinet positions. The 
constitution encourages political parties to consider a ``close 
proximity of equal numbers'' of both genders. Women have the right to 
vote and run for positions, but there were relatively few elected 
female officials.
    Few members of 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 30 Muslim and 
seven Christian members of parliament.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, government implementation of the law was weak, and officials 
sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.
    Corruption remained widespread among members of the police force. 
There were numerous incidents of police charged with sexual harassment, 
theft, and malfeasance. There were reports that police tortured, beat, 
and otherwise abused detainees and prisoners, generally with impunity. 
Police officers were arrested for drug trafficking, were reportedly 
involved with intellectual property rights violations, and were 
convicted on extortion charges.
    On February 26, the Supreme Court of Justice's Criminal Division 
for Persons Holding Political Positions (SCCDP) issued its verdict in 
the 76 billion baht ($2.38 billion) asset confiscation case against 
former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, ordering 46 billion baht 
($1.44 billion) to be confiscated on abuse of power grounds. Thaksin 
appealed the verdict on March 26. On August 11, the court ruled in 
favor of the prosecution, closing the case. A July 2009 warrant for the 
arrest of Thaksin continued in force, and the SCCDP case against him 
regarding the Export-Import Bank of Thailand's loan to Burma of four 
billion baht ($125 million) remained suspended. Thaksin continued to 
reside outside the country.
    On December 21, Vice-Minister of Commerce Veerasak Jinarat was 
dismissed from his position by order of the prime minister in response 
to a report from the NCCC implicating him in financial improprieties 
with a rice sale scheme. The NCCC was investigating the case at year's 
end.
    On December 29, a criminal court sentenced Wassana Permlarp, former 
chairman of the Election Commission, and two other former election 
commissioners to two years in prison for malfeasance in office for 
exploiting their positions on the commission to increase their salaries 
in 2004.
    The OAG decided not to pursue charges against one of two former 
senior Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) administrators found guilty 
in May 2009 by the NCCC of abuse of power while they held their 
positions in 2001-02. At year's end the OAG was considering whether to 
pursue charges against the other official, former AMLO secretary 
general Phiraphan Premphuti.
    The case against Wisit Tantisunthorn, former secretary general of 
the Civil Servants' Pension Fund Board and found guilty in 2009 of 
insider trading, was forwarded to the NCCC for further action and 
remained pending at year's end.
    Thaksin's wife, her brother, and her secretary were sentenced in 
2008 to prison terms ranging from two to three years for tax evasion. 
They were released on bail and appealed their sentence in 2008; the 
appeal continued to be examined at year's end.
    The NCCC and OAG continued to investigate allegations of corruption 
committed by the Thaksin government. The findings by the NCCC and OAG 
triggered multiple cases at the SCCDP. The NCCC brought several other 
cases to court and reported that there were 6,407 cases pending 
investigation in June. In the year prior to June, 2,779 cases were 
received, of which 1,104 were completed; 154 of those cases required 
further action, including disciplinary actions, impeachments, and 
referrals to the courts, the OAG, or a joint NCCC-OAG committee.
    In August the OAG decided not to indict three of seven prominent 
former government ministers and other high-ranking officials on charges 
of malfeasance related to a 2007 purchase of fire trucks. The OAG cited 
insufficient evidence for their decision. The NCCC stated it would 
pursue cases against the seven accused without going through the OAG. 
All seven cases were pending at year's end.
    In addition to the NCCC and OAG, other entities playing a role in 
combating corruption included the Anti-Money Laundering Office, Supreme 
Court, Ombudsman's Office, Administrative Court, and MOJ.
    Public officials were subject to financial disclosure laws.
    The constitution provides access to public information, and there 
were no reports that government agencies denied citizens' requests for 
information. If a government agency denies a request, a petition may be 
made to the Official Information Commission, and petitioners may appeal 
the commission's preliminary ruling to an appellate panel. According to 
the commission, the vast majority of petitions were approved. There 
were 453 petitions received and 251 appeals during the year. Requests 
for public information may be denied for reasons of national security 
and public safety.
    On August 12, a foreign court sentenced film producers Gerald and 
Patricia Green to six months in prison for paying a Thai tourism 
official $1.8 million in bribes to secure the rights to manage the 
Bangkok International Film Festival. At year's end no charges had been 
filed against the official who allegedly received the bribe, although 
the NCCC was examining the case.
    The November 2009 and 2008 reports of the UN Group of Experts 
(UNGOE) on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) presented 
information indicating that Thailand Smelting and Refining Company, 
Ltd. (Thaisarco), which was based in Thailand and owned by Amalgamated 
Metals Corporation (AMC), a United Kingdom-based company, purchased 
minerals from suppliers who sourced their minerals from mines in 
eastern DRC controlled by the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda, 
whose leaders continued to include architects of the 1994 Rwandan 
genocide and which has committed numerous, serious human rights abuses 
in eastern DRC and Rwanda. In addition, according to the UNGOE Report 
of November 2009, Thaisarco purchased minerals from DRC-based 
companies, including World Mining Company (WMC). The UNGOE obtained 
documents showing that WMC received shipments of cassiterite from a 
mining zone where production was controlled by DRC Armed Forces 
soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Innocent Zimurinda. 
During the year the UN Security Council sanctioned Zimurinda for having 
unlawfully used and recruited child soldiers.AMC announced in September 
2009 that it had ceased purchasing minerals from the DRC.
Section 5. 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. 
However, NGOs that dealt with sensitive political matters, such as 
opposition to government-sponsored development projects or border 
matters, faced periodic harassment. Human rights workers focusing on 
violence in the southern provinces were particularly vulnerable to 
harassment and intimidation by government agents and militant groups. 
Very few NGOs were accorded tax-exempt status, which sometimes hampered 
the ability of domestic human rights organizations to secure adequate 
funding.
    At year's end police had not identified any suspects in the April 
2009 shooting of Phetchaburi environmentalist and community leader 
Phongthep Hongthong. Police report that the case was suspended until a 
suspect could be identified.
    In April the person arrested for the July 2009 shooting of 
environmentalist and community leader Kittinarong Koetrot in 
Phetchaburi Province was sentenced to 34 years and four months in 
prison.
    Security remained a concern for several groups who were unable to 
register as NGOs with the Government. In September 2009 police visited 
the offices of at least 12 Burmese exile groups on several 
``immigration raids.'' The groups targeted included the Human Rights 
Education Institute of Burma and the Burmese Women's Union. Ten women 
from the union were detained but later released after paying 5,000 baht 
($156) each. As a result of these raids, many offices remained closed 
for several weeks.
    The seven-member NHRC is tasked with producing two annual reports 
on the human rights situation in the country. In June Chairwoman Amara 
Pongsapich announced the formation of a committee to look into various 
incidents related to the March-May street protests in Bangkok, but at 
year's end it had not produced a public report. The NHRC received 748 
cases during the year, but modest staffing and resources hampered 
progress.
    The parliament had two committees that addressed human rights 
problems: the House Standing Committee on Legal Affairs, Justice, and 
Human Rights; and the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights, Rights 
and Liberties, and Consumer Protection. Human rights advocates 
generally believed the committees were well intended but lacked the 
enforcement capability required to be truly effective. They also were 
described as reactive, difficult to access, and hampered by the 
political affiliations of their chairmen.
    Following the dispersal of the antigovernment protests in May, 
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, as part of a proposed reconciliation 
plan, formed three commissions to investigate events leading up to and 
including the March-May protests for the purposes of national 
reconciliation. The National Reform Committee, chaired by former prime 
minister Anand Panyarachun, was tasked with creating a plan for 
national reforms across the country. The Assembly for National Reform, 
chaired by Prawase Wasi, was responsible for mobilizing persons from 
all sectors of society to participate in national reform. The Truth and 
Reconciliation Commission, chaired by Khanit na Nakhorn, was charged 
with uncovering the facts related to the deadly violence in April and 
May.
    The Government denied visas to two human rights activists from 
France who were invited to present a human rights report on Vietnam at 
the FCCT on September 13. The Government also pressured the FCCT to 
cancel the event, claiming that it had a long-standing policy of not 
allowing persons or organizations to use the country as a place to 
conduct activities detrimental to other countries.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution provides for equal treatment without respect to 
race, gender, religion, disability, language, or social status; 
however, in practice some discrimination existed, and government 
enforcement of equal protection statutes was uneven.

    Women.--Rape is illegal, although the Government did not always 
enforce the law effectively. The criminal code permits authorities to 
prosecute spousal rape, and prosecutions occurred. According to the 
police, 4,255 rape cases were reported during the year, with nine 
additional cases in which the victim was killed. Suspects were arrested 
in 2,397 of the former category of cases and in all nine of the cases 
that resulted in the victim's death. The Health Ministry reported that 
an estimated 25,750 women and children were abused between January and 
November, including approximately 12,000 women more than 18 years old 
and 13,000 children. The ministry reported that the majority of the 
abused children were girls, with most of the cases involving sexual 
abuse.
    NGOs believed that rape was a serious problem. According to 
academics and women's rights activists, rapes and domestic assaults 
were underreported, in part because state agencies tasked with 
addressing the problem were not adequately funded and 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 female police officers in 
metropolitan Bangkok and three other provinces.
    The law specifies a range of penalties for rape or forcible sexual 
assault, depending on the age of the victim, severity of assault, and 
physical and mental condition of the victim after the assault; 
penalties range from four years' imprisonment to life as well as fines. 
The law also provides that any individual convicted twice for the same 
criminal rape offense in three years is liable to receive increased 
penalties for recidivism, which include monetary fines and harsher jail 
sentences. The amount of the penalty depends on such factors as the 
severity of the injury or the death of the victim and generally varies 
from 30,000 baht ($940) to 150,000 baht ($4,700).
    Domestic violence against women was a significant problem. The 2007 
Protection of Victims of Domestic Violence Act imposes a fine of up to 
6,000 baht ($190) or up to six months' imprisonment for violators and 
provides authorities, with court approval, the power to prohibit 
offenders from remaining in their homes or contacting family members 
during trial. The law implements measures designed to facilitate the 
reporting of domestic violence complaints and reconciliation between 
the victim and the perpetrator. Additionally, the law restricts media 
reporting on domestic violence cases in the judicial system.
    Some domestic violence crimes, particularly cases where the victim 
was seriously injured, were prosecuted under provisions for assault or 
violence against a person where harsher penalties could be levied. 
Domestic violence frequently went unreported, and police often were 
reluctant to pursue reports of domestic violence. NGO-supported 
programs included emergency hotlines, temporary shelters, and 
counseling services to increase awareness of domestic violence, HIV/
AIDS, and other matters involving women. The Government's crisis 
centers, located in some state-run hospitals, cared for abused women 
and children, although several centers faced budget difficulties. 
State-run hospitals referred victims to external organizations when 
services at a hospital were not available. The Ministry of Social 
Development and Human Security (MSDHS) reported that 673 cases of 
domestic violence were recorded during the year in 67 of the country's 
76 provinces.
    The MSDHS continued to develop a community-based system, operating 
in all regions of the country, to protect women from domestic violence. 
The program focused on training community representatives from each 
community on women's rights and abuse prevention to increase community 
awareness of these problems.
    Sex tourism was a problem. According to the MSDHS, there are no 
laws that specifically address sex tourism. However, the criminal code, 
laws on prostitution, and laws combating trafficking in persons contain 
provisions to combat sex tourism.
    Sexual harassment is illegal in both the public and private 
sectors. The law for public-sector employees specifies fines of not 
more than 20,000 baht ($625) for individuals convicted of sexually 
harassment. Private-sector employees must file criminal charges if they 
have a sexual harassment claim. The punishment depends on the degree of 
harassment and age of the victim. Abuse categorized as an indecent act 
may result in imprisonment of up to 15 years and a fine of up to 30,000 
baht ($940). The Civil Servant Regulations Act prohibits sexual 
harassment and stipulates five levels of punishment: probation, docked 
salary, salary decrease, discharge from service, and termination. NGOs 
claimed that the legal definition of harassment was vague and 
prosecution of harassment claims difficult.
    In September the Public Prosecutor's Office dismissed for 
insufficient evidence a case in which a female naval lieutenant claimed 
to have been sexually harassed by a senior army general. On June 29, 
the Defense Ministry also concluded its own investigation into the 
allegation, finding that the complainant was unable to provide 
sufficient information and evidence for a prosecution to proceed. The 
lieutenant also received an official reprimand for not following 
military procedure, since she had made her case public and filed the 
complaint with civilian courts. At year's end the alleged victim was 
considering refiling the case.
    Couples and individuals could decide freely and responsibly the 
number, spacing, and timing of children, and they had the information 
and means to do so free from discrimination. The publicly funded 
medical system provided access to contraceptive services and 
information, prenatal care, skilled attendance during childbirth, and 
essential obstetric and postpartum care. Women had equal access to 
diagnosis and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, including 
HIV.
    According to data from the Population Reference Bureau, 
approximately 70 percent of married women and girls ages 15 to 49 used 
contraception. Although statistics were unavailable, the percentage of 
unmarried women, men, adolescents, ethnic minorities, and migrant 
workers who had access to contraception was estimated to be less. 
Approximately 97 percent of births were attended by skilled health 
personnel, and the lifetime risk for death during childbirth was one in 
500. Prenatal and postnatal care was estimated to be accessible to more 
than 90 percent of mothers and babies.
    Military academies (except for the nursing academy) did not accept 
female students, although a significant number of instructors at the 
military academies were women. After the military reorganization in 
September, 42 women held the rank of general or above across all 
branches of the military and within the Ministry of Defense. The Police 
Cadet Academy for commissioned officers accepts female cadets, and 70 
of 280 new cadets were women. According to the MSDHS, in 2007 women 
held 22 percent of managerial positions in publicly listed companies 
and 35 percent in commercial companies. In 2008 women held 16 percent 
of high-level administrative positions in the Government sector. 
According to the Office of the Civil Service Commission, women held 24 
percent of executive-level positions. Women 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 women were 
concentrated in lower-paying jobs. In practice women received lower pay 
for equal work in many sectors of the economy.
    The Government's Office of Women's Affairs and Family Development 
promotes the legal rights of women, notably through the suboffice of 
the Bureau of Gender Equality Promotion.

    Children.--Citizenship is not automatically conferred by birth 
within the country. By law citizenship is based either on birth to one 
or both Thai parents, marriage to a Thai man, or naturalization. It can 
also be acquired by means of special government-designated criteria 
implemented by the MOI with the approval of the cabinet. Finally, it 
can be granted as a result of the 2008 nationality law. Additionally, 
the Government approved the withdrawal of the country's reservation on 
article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child regarding birth 
registration and nationality (see section 2.d.).
    According to NGOs, highlanders and other stateless individuals on 
occasion did not register births with the authorities because 
administrative complexities, misinformed and unscrupulous local 
officials, language barriers, and restricted mobility made it difficult 
to do so (see section 2.d.).
    Primary education was compulsory, free, and universal. Violence in 
the southern provinces, especially that aimed at public school 
teachers, sporadically forced the temporary closure of public schools 
and disrupted the educational process in those areas. Many NGOs 
reported that most children of registered migrant workers, particularly 
in Chiang Mai and Mae Sot, were permitted to attend public schools; 
however, language barriers, distance from school, and frequent 
relocations to follow parents to new job sites prevented some migrant 
children from attending school. These children remained without access 
to community services provided to children attending public schools, 
such as day-care centers, government-subsidized free milk, and lunch 
privileges. Migrant workers who could afford it often chose to send 
their children to private nurseries or day-care centers at their own 
expense.
    The law provides for the protection of children from abuse, and 
laws on rape and abandonment carry harsher penalties if the victim is a 
child. The law imposes a jail term of seven to 20 years' imprisonment 
and a fine of up to 40,000 baht ($1,250) for sexual intercourse with a 
victim under the age of 13. If the victim is under the age of 15, the 
penalty is four to 20 years' imprisonment and a fine of up to 40,000 
baht ($1,250).
    A 2009 private university-sponsored poll of persons ages 12 to 24 
in the Bangkok area found that 12.9 percent had encountered sexual 
harassment. 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 with a judge's consent allow children to testify on 
videotape in private surroundings in the presence of a psychologist, 
psychiatrist, or social worker. However, many judges declined to use 
videotaped testimony, citing technical problems and the inability to 
question accusers and defendants directly in court. Some children's 
advocates claimed that minor female sexual abuse victims received 
better physical and psychological care than male victims did. 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.
    Child prostitution remained a problem. According to government 
officials, academics, and NGO representatives, children (both boys and 
girls), especially among migrant populations, were sometimes forced, 
coerced, or lured into prostitution. While it was widely believed there 
were fewer incidences of citizens forced into prostitution, children 
from poor families remained vulnerable, and there were some incidences 
of parents who forced their children into prostitution. Pedophilia 
continued, by citizens and foreign sex tourists.
    The 1996 Prostitution Prevention and Suppression Act imposes heavy 
penalties on whoever procures, lures, compels, or threatens children 
under 18 years old for the purpose of prostitution. Section 8 of the 
act provides that a customer who has sexual intercourse with a 
prostitute under the age of 15 shall be subject to two to six years in 
prison and a fine of up to 120,000 baht ($3,750); if the prostitute is 
between the ages of 15 and 18, the prison term is one to three years, 
and the fine is up to 60,000 baht ($1,875). Parents who allow a child 
to enter into prostitution also are punishable and can have their 
parental rights revoked. Those who procure children for prostitution 
face strict penalties, and the punishment is more severe if the minors 
involved are under 15. The penal code prohibits the production, 
distribution, and import or export of child pornography. The penalty is 
imprisonment of not more than three years and a fine of not more than 
6,000 baht ($190). The law also imposes heavy penalties on persons who 
sexually exploit children, both boys and girls, younger than 18 years 
old. It defines punishments for pimping, trafficking for labor 
exploitation, and human smuggling.
    A 2005 study widely cited by NGOs and state agencies estimated 
there were 20,000 street children in major urban centers. However, the 
Government and NGOs could provide shelter to only 10,000 children each 
year. Generally, the children were referred to government-provided 
shelters, but many, especially foreign illegal migrants, reportedly 
avoided the shelters due to fear of being deported. Ultimately the 
Government either sent citizen street children to school, to 
occupational training centers, or to their families with social worker 
supervision. Some street children from other countries were 
repatriated.
    Street children were often omitted from national reports on child 
labor matters, and national statistics on street children often 
included only citizens.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html as well as 
country-specific information at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community is very small, and there were 
no reports of anti-Semitic incidents.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution prohibits 
discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, 
and mental disabilities in education, access to health care, or the 
provision of other state services; however, government enforcement was 
not effective. The law also mandates that persons with disabilities 
have access to information, communications, and newly constructed 
buildings, but these provisions were not uniformly enforced. Activists 
continued to work to amend laws that allow employment discrimination 
against persons with disabilities.
    Persons with disabilities who register with the Government are 
entitled to free medical examinations, wheelchairs, and crutches. The 
Government provided five-year, interest-free, small business loans for 
persons with disabilities.
    The Community Based Rehabilitation Program remained active in all 
provinces. The Community Learning Center for People with Disabilities 
project expanded to 30 provinces. A National People with Disabilities 
Day is recognized annually on November 14.
    The Government maintained 43 special schools for students with 
disabilities. The Ministry of Education reported that there were 76 
centers nationwide offering special education programs for preschool-
age children, one in each province. All state schools nationwide, 
approximately 30,000, are required by law to accept students with 
disabilities. There also were nine government-operated and at least 23 
NGO-operated training centers for persons with disabilities, including 
both full-time and part-time or seasonal centers. The Government 
operated 111 state shelters specifically for persons with disabilities, 
including two day-care centers for autistic children. In addition there 
were private associations providing occasional training for persons 
with disabilities. There were reports of schools turning away students 
with disabilities, although the Government claimed that such incidents 
occurred because schools did not have appropriate facilities to 
accommodate such students.
    Some persons with disabilities who found employment were subjected 
to wage discrimination. Government regulations require private firms 
either to hire one person with a disability for every 200 other workers 
or contribute to a fund that benefits persons with disabilities, but 
this provision was not uniformly enforced. Government officials 
estimated that as many as 50 percent of firms complied with the law; 
the chairman of the Council of Disabled People of Thailand believed the 
number to be 35 to 45 percent, mostly due to inadequate government 
follow-up with companies. Some state enterprises had discriminatory 
hiring policies.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Two groups--former belligerents 
in the Chinese civil war and their descendants living in the country 
since the end of the civil war, and children of Vietnamese immigrants 
who resided in 13 northeastern provinces--lived under laws and 
regulations that could restrict their movement, residence, education, 
and occupation. The Chinese are required to live in the three northern 
provinces of Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Mae Hong Son. According to the 
MOI, none were granted citizenship during the year.

    Indigenous People.--Members of hill tribes who were not citizens 
continued to face restrictions on their movement, could not own land, 
had difficulty accessing credit from banks, and although protected by 
labor laws, often were subjected to labor violations. They also were 
barred from state welfare services such as universal health care.
    The 2008 Nationality Act provides citizenship eligibility to 
certain categories of highlanders who were not previously eligible (see 
section 2.d.). Although the Government supported efforts to register 
citizens and educate eligible hill tribe persons about their rights, 
activists reported that widespread corruption and inefficiency, 
especially among highland village headmen and district and subdistrict 
officials, contributed to a backlog of pending citizenship applications 
as well as improperly denied applications.
    Hill tribe members continued to face societal discrimination 
arising in part from the belief that they were involved in drug 
trafficking and environmental degradation.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There are no laws that 
criminalize sexual orientation. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender 
(LGBT) groups were able to register with the Government, although there 
were some restrictions on the language that can be used in registering 
their group names. They reported that police treated LGBT victims of 
crime as any other person except in the case of sexual crimes, where 
there was a tendency to downplay sexual abuse or not take harassment 
seriously.
    There was continued discrimination based on sexual orientation and 
gender identity. The Thai Red Cross would not accept blood donations 
from gay men. Some life insurance companies refused to issue policies 
to gay persons, although four major insurance companies agreed to sell 
life insurance policies to LBGT citizens with full transfer of benefits 
to same-sex partners. According to military sources, the armed forces 
did not draft gay or transgendered persons because of the assumed 
detrimental effect on the military's strength, image, and discipline. 
The official rejection rationale recorded in military documentation was 
``Type 3--Sickness That Cannot Be Cured Within 30 Days,'' as opposed to 
the previously utilized ``Type 4--Permanently Disabled or Mentally 
Ill.'' The law does not permit transgendered individuals to change 
their gender on identification documents. Some major businesses did not 
allow transgendered persons to use their preferred bathrooms. NGOs also 
alleged that some nightclubs, bars, hotels, and factories denied entry 
or employment to gays, lesbians, and transgendered individuals.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Persons with HIV/AIDS 
faced the psychological stigma associated with rejection by family, 
friends, colleagues, teachers, and the community, although intensive 
educational outreach efforts may have reduced this stigma in some 
communities. There were reports that some employers refused to hire 
persons who tested HIV-positive following employer-mandated blood 
screening. According to the Thailand Business Coalition on AIDS, an 
estimated 8,000 businesses pledged not to require HIV/AIDS tests for 
employees or discharge infected employees and vowed to hold regular 
awareness campaigns, with 1,150 pledging during the year.
    The NHRC was investigating a complaint filed in September 2009 
about the so-called AIDS temple, Wat Phrabat Namphu, which sheltered 
many dying AIDS patients. AIDS activists objected to the temple's 
practice of displaying corpses of AIDS patients as a cautionary tale, 
although temple officials stated that the patients gave consent. On 
July 1, the NHRC held a meeting with Wat Phrabat Namphu and struck a 
preliminary agreement whereby the temple would be permitted to display 
corpses provided that no personal information on the deceased 
individuals, including names, was included. The NHRC made a follow-up 
visit to the temple on December 20, and a final recommendation was 
pending at year's end.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows private sector workers 
to form and join trade unions of their choosing without prior 
authorization. Enforcement of labor laws was inconsistent, and in some 
instances the 1975 Labor Relations Act and the 1998 and 2008 Labor 
Protection Acts (LPA) were not effective in protecting workers who 
participated in union activities. The law allows unions to conduct 
their activities without government interference. It also permits 
workers to strike, and this right was exercised in practice.
    The labor law does not allow civil servants, including public 
schoolteachers, soldiers, and police, to form or register a union. They 
can form and register associations, but these associations do not have 
the right to bargain collectively. Labor activists and some civil 
servants interpreted the 2007 constitution as broadening the freedom of 
association to include granting civil servants the right to form a 
union. While efforts by a small number of civil servants to organize a 
union or unions were underway, the related labor laws had not been 
amended to allow civil servants to do so.
    The State Enterprise Labor Relations Act (SELRA) gives state-owned 
enterprise workers the right to form unions. These unions generally 
operated independently of the Government. The law restricts 
affiliations between state enterprise unions and private-sector unions. 
However, unofficial contacts at the union level between public- and 
private-sector workers continued, and the Government did not interfere 
with these relationships.
    Noncitizen migrant workers, whether registered or illegally 
present, do not have the right to form unions or serve as union 
officials; however, registered migrants may be members of unions 
organized and led by Thai citizens. A few registered migrants joined 
unions, but the number that did so was low, due in part to language 
barriers and the fact that migrant workers and Thai workers often 
worked in different industries. A substantial number of migrant workers 
worked in factories near border-crossing points, where there were 
reports of frequent violations of labor laws and where few inspections 
were carried out to verify compliance with the law.
    The labor force consisted of 38.4 million persons. Less than 2 
percent of the total work force but nearly 10 percent of industrial 
workers and more than 59 percent of state enterprise workers were 
unionized. At the end of 2009, there were 44 state enterprise unions 
with 167,510 members and 1,194 private labor unions with 338,550 
members. Compared with 2008, the number of private labor unions 
decreased, and membership in both state enterprise and private unions 
decreased slightly.
    Workers can be dismissed for any reason, provided severance payment 
is made. The law does not provide for reinstatement, and the 
requirement for severance pay was not always respected. The labor court 
ordered reinstatement of employees in some cases where dismissal 
resulted from union activity and was illegal. However, because the 
process to request reinstatement was lengthy and costly for the 
employee, most cases were settled out of court through severance 
payments to the employee with no punitive sanctions for employers.
    The Supreme Court denied Jitra Kotchadet's case against garment 
maker Triumph International for dismissing her without cause in 2008.
    In February former employees of a Triumph subsidiary company agreed 
to move their protest from the Ministry of Labor (MOL) building, where 
they had protested since October 2009, in exchange for 250 sewing 
machines and vocational training. These workers had been dismissed in 
June 2009. As part of this agreement, the Government also promised to 
help the group secure loans from financial institutions and provide 
transportation for the workers to go home. The company blamed the 
global economic situation and a drop in demand for the layoffs; union 
leaders argued the layoffs were an attempt to purge the firm of active 
union members, many of whom had protested Jitra's dismissal in 2008.
    In September 900 Burmese migrant workers staged a nine-day strike 
at the Dechapanich Fishing Net Factory in Khon Kaen after factory 
management fired six workers and refused to return their legal 
documents to the fired workers. Workers demanded the return of all 
passports, worker identity cards, and work permits. They also demanded 
compensation for daily overtime earned since February. The striking 
workers were threatened with cancellation of their visas and 
deportation, but the employer eventually complied with the workers' 
demands. Ultimately, the migrant workers all resigned from the factory 
and found new jobs in Bangkok.
    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 in the past and did not do so during the year. The law 
also forbids strikes in ``essential services,'' which are defined much 
more broadly than under International Labor Organization (ILO) criteria 
and include sectors such as telecommunications, electricity, water 
supply, and public transportation. The law 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. Strike action in the private sector was constrained by the 
legal requirement to call a general meeting of trade union members and 
have a strike approved by at least 50 percent of all union members. 
During the year there were strikes against various companies, generally 
after negotiations over compensation had reached an impasse. In one 
instance, while negotiations were still underway, management of an 
international automotive company ordered a lockout, stating that 
workers were damaging equipment and vehicles on the production line.
    The SELRA prohibits lockouts by state enterprises and strikes by 
state enterprise workers. However, in the past a large number of state 
enterprise workers took sick leave or vacation on the same day, leading 
to the closing of business operations. No legal action was taken 
against those workers.
    During 2009 there were 101 labor disputes, nearly double the 2008 
figure. MOL statistics showed three lockouts by employers involving 156 
employees and two strikes that involved 456 employees. The majority of 
union demands in 2009 were related to wages and other benefits.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for the right of citizen private-sector workers to organize 
and bargain collectively. The law 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; however, many disagreements 
were settled successfully.
    The law prohibits antiunion actions by employers; however, it also 
requires that union officials be full-time employees of the company or 
state enterprise, which made them vulnerable to employers seeking to 
discipline workers who served as union officials or who attempted to 
form unions. It also serves as a prohibition against permanent union 
staff, thus limiting the ability of unions to organize in depth and be 
politically active. The Labor Relations Act allows only two government-
licensed outside advisors to a union, and local-level MOL offices 
reportedly blocked the registration of labor advisors deemed too 
activist. Union leaders and outside observers complained that this 
action interfered with the ability to train union members and develop 
expertise in collective bargaining and that it contributed to rapid 
turnover in union leaders.
    Employers reportedly discriminated against workers seeking to 
organize unions. While the law protects workers who submit demands 
relating to working conditions, it does not protect workers from 
employer reprisal for union activities prior to the registration of the 
union; employers could exploit this loophole to defeat efforts at union 
organization. During the year there were reported cases of workers 
being dismissed from their jobs for engaging in union activities. In 
some cases the labor courts ordered workers reinstated if grounds for 
their dismissal were proven inaccurate. Reinstatement of some of these 
workers subsequently occurred.
    A system of labor courts exercises judicial review over most 
aspects of labor law for the private sector; however, there was 
reported abuse in the system. Problems of collective labor relations 
are adjudicated through the tripartite labor relations committee and 
are subject to review by the labor courts. Workers may also seek 
redress through the NHRC. In private-sector labor disputes that cannot 
be resolved through negotiations or voluntary arbitration and that may 
affect the national economy or public order, the law authorizes the MOL 
to refer them to the Labor Relations Committee for settlement. Although 
the legal authority seldom was used, international standards allow for 
this type of provision only if the private sector activity in question 
involves essential services--those whose interruption would endanger 
the life, personal safety, or health of the whole or part of the 
population.
    Redress of grievances for state enterprise workers was 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 approach limited any disincentive for employers to fire 
union organizers and activists.
    Labor brokerage firms used a ``contract labor system'' under which 
workers signed an annual contract. Although contract laborers performed 
the same work as direct-hire workers, often they were paid less and 
received fewer, or no, benefits. Contract laborers are covered under 
the law, and according to the 2008 Labor Protection Act, businesses 
must provide contract laborers ``fair benefits and welfare without 
discrimination.'' Regardless of whether the contract labor employee was 
outsourced and collected wages from a separate company, according to 
the act the contracting business is the overall employer. Plaintiffs 
filed lawsuits in an attempt to seek clarification of their obligations 
under the new law; the labor court ruled in each case that the law 
requires equal pay and benefits for subcontract and regular employees.
    The law requires that members of a union be ``employees working for 
the same employer'' or ``employees in the same description of work.'' 
Such provisions, coupled with requirements that the union represent a 
certain percentage of the workforce, could hamper collective bargaining 
efforts where contract workers are not considered part of the potential 
bargaining unit but make up a substantial portion of the workforce.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
export processing zones. However, employers' associations reportedly 
cooperated to discourage union organization in the zones. Union 
organization was common at major international firms in large 
industrial estates.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The constitution 
prohibits forced or compulsory labor except in the case of national 
emergency, war, or martial law, or to avoid imminent public calamity. 
The 2008 Antitrafficking in Persons Act prohibits all forms of human 
trafficking, including forced labor of men, women, and children. 
Despite efforts by the Government to enforce and raise awareness of the 
law, problems of forced labor of men, women, and children persist in a 
small proportion of the economy, particularly in those sectors where 
foreign migrant labor is common.
    Employers often kept possession of migrant workers' registration 
and travel documents, which restricted their travel outside the work 
premises. Reportedly, some migrant workers requested that employers 
keep their documentation for safekeeping.
    There continued to be reports of sweatshops or abusive treatment in 
a few sectors, particularly on seagoing trawlers, in garment factories, 
and in shrimp and seafood processing facilities. Mistreatment at times 
included the prevention of workers, primarily foreign migrants, from 
leaving the premises. The large number of migrants from Burma, 
Cambodia, and Laos created opportunities for abuse.
    Sarawut Ayuken, sentenced to death in August 2009 for the 2007 
murder of a Karen migrant worker, remained in prison awaiting the 
decision of the appeals court, along with two other defendants involved 
in the case.
    In January the criminal court convicted a Burmese broker, arrested 
in October 2009, of violating the Anti-Human Trafficking Act and the 
Immigration Act in a case involving 18 Burmese forced to work on 
fishing boats in Chonburi Province. The broker was sentenced to four 
years' imprisonment; the boat foreman was sentenced to 30 months in 
prison and a fine of 82,500 baht ($2,600). Due to lack of evidence, 
charges were dropped against a third individual involved in the case.
    Two persons convicted in November 2009 for trafficking workers to 
the Anoma Samut Sakhon shrimp processing factory remained free while 
awaiting the result of their appeal.
    On December 9, a criminal court convicted the three defendants in 
the forced labor-related case involving the Ranya Paew shrimp 
processing factory. A 2006 raid on the factory resulted in the 
identification of 66 victims of trafficking. Each of the defendants was 
sentenced to 20 years in prison, the maximum penalty. At year's end the 
defendants remained free while awaiting the result of their appeal.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--In 
general, sufficient legal protections exist for children in the formal 
economic sector. The LPA is the primary law regulating employment of 
children under the age of 18. Employment of children under the age of 
15 is prohibited. An exception exists for children 13 to 15 years old 
who have parental permission to perform agricultural work during school 
breaks or nonschool hours as long as the employers provide a safe work 
environment. Employers may not require children under the age of 18 to 
work overtime or on a holiday and may not require work between 10 p.m. 
and 6 a.m. without MOL approval. Children under 18 must not be employed 
in hazardous work, which includes any activity involving metalwork, 
hazardous chemicals, poisonous materials, radiation, and harmful 
temperatures or noise levels; exposure to toxic microorganisms; 
operation of heavy equipment; underground or underwater work; and work 
in places where alcohol is sold or in massage parlors. The maximum 
penalty for violating these prohibitions is one year in prison, fines 
up to 200,000 baht ($6,250), or both. The LPA provides limited coverage 
to workers in some informal sectors, such as fishing and domestic 
employment. The law allows for issuance of ministerial regulations to 
address sectors not covered in the law; such regulations increased 
protections for child workers in domestic and agricultural sector work.
    Child labor remained a problem, particularly in agriculture, the 
garment industry, seafood processing, fishing-related industries, and 
the informal sector. There was reason to believe that some garments, 
pornography, shrimp, and sugarcane were produced and processed by child 
labor in violation of international standards. In urban areas most 
underage workers worked in the service sector, including in gasoline 
stations, small-scale industry, and restaurants. Observers believed 
that while the prevalence decreased, some children (usually foreign) 
were exploited in street selling, begging, domestic service, and 
agriculture work, sometimes in a system of debt bondage. Many of these 
foreign children, predominantly migrants from Burma, Cambodia, and 
Laos, were in the country illegally, which increased their 
vulnerability to exploitation. There were reports of street children 
who were bought, rented, or forcibly ``borrowed'' from their parent or 
guardians to beg alongside women in the street.
    Outside urban areas, children worked in agriculture, garment, and 
fishing-related industries. Child labor was less evident in larger, 
export-oriented factories and registered processing facilities. NGOs 
reported greater child labor in garment factories along the Burmese 
border, in Mae Sot Province. There was no comprehensive survey of child 
labor throughout the country.
    The Social Security Office under the MOL reported that there were 
65,536 children ages 15 to 18 years old formally working and registered 
in the social security system in 2009. This figure was an almost 40 
percent decrease from 2008 and may be a result of the extension of free 
education from nine years to 12 years in the 2007 constitution and the 
2009 government policy that extended free education, including coverage 
of fees, books, and uniforms, further to 15 years. Other MOL statistics 
showed that 2,774 children between 15 and 17 years old worked 
legitimately in 2009. This increase (more than 2,065 in 2008) was more 
indicative of increased efforts by the MOL to inspect facilities than 
an increase in child labor. The number of all child laborers, legal and 
illegal, was likely much larger when taking into consideration child 
laborers in the informal sector, including unregistered migrant 
children. According to a study funded by the MOL and the ILO, labor 
abuse of child citizens was declining, and such children made up less 
than 1 percent of the workforce.
    The MOL is the primary agency charged with enforcing child labor 
laws and policies. Labor inspectors, widely considered to be too few, 
were believed to be reactive, rather than proactive, and normally 
complaints-driven. In an effort to improve labor law enforcement, the 
MOL Department of Labor Protection and Welfare inspection plan for the 
year prioritized labor inspections of small factories (fewer than 49 
workers), which were believed to be high risk for the use of child 
labor. In line with prevailing cultural norms, the inclination of labor 
inspectors when dealing with violators was to negotiate promises of 
better future behavior rather than seek prosecution and punishment. The 
legal requirement for a warrant hampered inspection of private homes to 
monitor the welfare of child domestic workers.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage ranged from 151 
baht to 206 baht per day ($4.72 to $6.44), depending on the cost of 
living in various provinces. The minimum wage was not adequate to 
provide a decent standard of living for a worker and nuclear family. On 
December 14, the cabinet approved an increase in the minimum wage. 
Beginning on January 1, 2011, the minimum wage was set to range from 
159 baht to 221 baht ($4.97 to $6.91) per day.
    The Government sets wages for state enterprise employees under the 
SELRA. Wages for civil servants are determined by the Office of Civil 
Service Commission. However, the 2008 Civil Servant Act gives each 
ministry or department more flexibility in setting civil servant salary 
levels.
    The MOL is responsible for ensuring that employers adhere to 
minimum wage requirements (applicable to the formal sector); however, 
enforcement of minimum wage laws was mixed. Some formal sector workers 
nationwide received less than the minimum wage, especially those in 
rural provinces. Labor protections apply to undocumented workers; 
however, many unskilled and semiskilled migrant workers worked for 
wages that were at times significantly less than the minimum wage.
    The LPA mandates a maximum workweek of 48 hours, or eight hours a 
day over six days, with a limit on overtime of 36 hours per week. 
Employees engaged in ``dangerous'' work, such as chemical, mining, or 
other industries involving heavy machinery, legally may work a maximum 
of 42 hours per week and are not permitted overtime. Petrochemical 
industry employees cannot work more than 12 hours per day and can work 
continuously only for a period not exceeding 28 days. Protections 
existing in the LPA do not apply universally to all sectors. Household 
domestic workers, for example, are covered by only a few sections of 
the LPA.
    Provisions of the LPA include protection for pregnant workers, 
prohibiting them from working on night shifts, overtime, and holidays, 
with dangerous machinery, or on boats. In some cases, a pregnant 
employee who works in a nonphysically demanding office position may 
work overtime, if the employee consents. Despite the act's prohibition 
against dismissing pregnant workers, there were reports that employers 
intentionally laid off workers who became pregnant.
    The MOL promulgates health and safety regulations regarding 
conditions of work and is responsible for their enforcement; however, 
the inspection department enforced these standards inconsistently 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. According to the MOL's Department of Labor Protection and 
Welfare, consumer goods production, hotels, restaurants, and the 
construction industry had the highest incidence of legal violations 
regarding workers' safety.
    During 2009 there were 149,436 reported incidents of diseases and 
injuries from industrial accidents. This included 106,598 minor 
disabilities (resulting in no more than three days of missed work) and 
42,838 disabilities resulting in more than three days of missed work 
(including permanent disabilities and deaths). However, the rate of 
incidents occurring in the informal and agricultural sectors and among 
migrant workers was believed to be higher. Occupational diseases rarely 
were diagnosed or compensated, and few doctors or clinics specialized 
in them. Many of the young migrant women employed along the Burma 
border had limited and substandard medical care options. In medium-
sized and large factories, government health and safety standards often 
were applied, but overall enforcement of safety standards was lax. In 
the informal sector, health and safety protections were substandard.
    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.
    On November 8, in the first workplace health and safety case to go 
to the Supreme Court, the court ruled that the Bangkok Weaving Factory 
must pay almost eight million baht ($250,000) in compensation to 37 
ailing former workers. The court ruled that the company failed to 
provide a safe working environment, which resulted in the staff 
developing byssinosis, a respiratory disorder common among textile 
workers.
    The Government allowed undocumented migrant workers from three 
neighboring countries to work legally in certain sectors of the economy 
if they registered with authorities and began a process to document 
their status, namely the verification of their nationality, by March 2. 
However, on January 19, the Government extended the deadline for an 
additional two years.
    Migrants from Laos and Cambodia may complete their citizenship 
verification at locations throughout Thailand. Generally, Burmese 
migrants must travel to one of three processing centers in border 
locations inside Burma, reportedly due to Burmese government insistence 
that registration take place within Burma. The Burmese government, 
however, temporarily allowed citizenship verification to take place on 
the Thai side of the border in Ranong Province from July through the 
end of the year to alleviate the need for some migrants to make a boat 
crossing into Burma during the monsoon season. Following the July 
closure of the Thai-Burma Friendship Bridge between Mae Sot and 
Myawaddy, migrants could no longer complete processing at Myawaddy. 
Workers could conduct processing at the third processing center located 
in Tachilek, across the border from the Thai town of Mae Sai.
    In September 2009 three workers' rights and labor organizations 
submitted a letter to the UN special rapporteur on the human rights of 
migrants, requesting an investigation into the migrant worker 
nationality verification process for Burmese migrants due to concern 
for the safety of migrants. On February 2, the UN special rapporteur on 
the human rights of migrants, along with the special rapporteur on 
contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and 
related intolerance, sent a letter of concern to the Government.
    According to information compiled by the International Organization 
for Migration with the assistance of the MOL, between January and 
February 932,255 migrants (812,984 from Burma) renewed their work 
permits and were eligible for nationality verification processing. By 
December 388,506 individuals had completed the process. Migrant 
children of registered migrants are entitled to register for 
residential permits if their parents have residential permits.
    Migrant workers, regardless of their legal status, remained 
vulnerable to poor working conditions. Reports indicated that they were 
routinely paid well below the minimum wage, worked long hours and in 
unhealthy conditions, and (because of their generally illegal status) 
were at risk of arrest and deportation. Civil society observers 
continued to criticize the Government's handling of migrant workers due 
to the workers' perceived vulnerability to exploitation. There were 
several reports of migrant workers forced to make extorted payments to 
local-level officials. There also were reports that migrant worker 
deportees were coerced to make payments to officials in Burma, who 
allegedly shared payments with local Thai officials. NGOs complained 
that a June 2 order to deport undocumented migrants exacerbated the 
problem. Concerns also were raised regarding a September ministerial 
regulation that brought into effect a section of the 2008 Alien Working 
Act requiring affected workers from Cambodia, Laos, and Burma to 
contribute a set amount to a repatriation fund. In response to 
criticisms by civil society and government concern that the financial 
burden of the fund as organized could push workers underground, the 
Government delayed planned implementation of the fund until March 2012. 
Until reaching the potential implementation date in 2012, the MOL 
planned to study how to address the financial burden concerns.
    Irregular migrant workers that complete the new amnesty and related 
nationality verification process have access to the Workmen's 
Compensation Fund (WCF) and Social Security Office (SSO) funds. 
However, migrant workers faced discrimination by an SSO policy that 
denies migrants registered but with disabilities access to the WCF.
    The March report of the ILO Committee of Experts asked the 
Government to review the SSO policy and ``to instruct the SSO to take 
positive and urgent measures lifting restrictive conditions and 
facilitating access of migrant workers to the WCF irrespective of their 
nationality.'' This action followed a 2009 complaint alleging that the 
Government was denying Burmese migrant workers access to the WCF 
following work accidents in violation of ILO convention 19.
    In July the family of Hsai Htun, an unregistered Shan migrant from 
Burma who died in 2007 as a result of a work accident, appealed a lower 
court's decision to revoke an SSO order that directed the employer to 
pay compensation. At year's end the Supreme Court had not ruled on the 
appeal, and the family had not received compensation.
    In some provinces local regulations prohibit migrant workers from 
owning mobile telephones, leaving a worksite at night between the hours 
of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., gathering in assemblies of more than five 
persons, and organizing or taking part in cultural events. However, the 
regulations were rarely enforced. There were reports that security 
officials harassed NGO personnel who were trying to assist illegal 
migrant workers.
    Problems encountered by Thai citizens working overseas highlighted 
the problem of exploitative labor supply agencies that charged heavy 
and illegal recruitment fees sometimes equal to a worker's first- and 
second-year earnings. In many cases recruited workers did not receive 
the benefits they were promised and incurred significant debt. Local 
moneylenders, mostly informal, contributed to this practice by offering 
exorbitant loans to allow workers to pay recruitment fees, some of 
which were as high as 500,000 baht ($15,625), according to an NGO 
study. The Department of Employment issued regulations limiting the 
maximum charges for recruitment fees to ensure that the fees are not 
excessive; however, effective enforcement of the rules was difficult.

                               __________

                              TIMOR-LESTE

    Timor-Leste is a multiparty parliamentary republic with a 
population of approximately 1.1 million. President Jose Ramos-Horta was 
head of state. Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao headed a four-
party coalition government formed following free and fair elections in 
2007. International security forces in the country included the UN 
Police (UNPOL) within the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) 
and the International Stabilization Force (ISF), neither of which was 
under the direct control of the Government. The national security 
forces are the National Police (PNTL) and Defense Forces (F-FDTL). 
Security forces reported to civilian authorities, but there were some 
problems with discipline and accountability.
    Serious human rights problems included police use of excessive 
force during arrest and abuse of authority; perception of impunity; 
arbitrary arrest and detention; and an inefficient and understaffed 
judiciary that deprived citizens of due process and an expeditious and 
fair trial. Domestic violence, rape, and sexual abuse were also 
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 during 
the year; however, on August 27, F-FDTL soldiers were involved in a 
fight with locals in Laivai, Lautem, in which one civilian was beaten 
to death. The case was handed to the Prosecutor General's Office and 
the Human Rights Ombudsman for investigation. At year's end the 
investigation was ongoing.
    There were no developments in the May 2009 case in which a group of 
F-FDTL members allegedly beat two men on a beach in Dili; one of the 
victims was subsequently found dead.
    On January 4, a PNTL officer was arrested after he allegedly shot 
and killed a 25-year-old man and injured another in Dili in December 
2009. A judge released the officer a day later under restrictive 
measures. The PNTL suspended the officer and referred the case to the 
Prosecutor General's Office. The Prosecutor General brought charges 
against the officer and the trial commenced on December 9. At the end 
of the year the trial continued.
    On March 3, the Dili District Court convicted and sentenced 23 of 
the former police and soldiers involved in the failed assassination 
attempts on President Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Gusmao in February 
2008. On August 27, President Ramos-Horta commuted the sentences of the 
23 rebels, and they were released from prison.
     On May 6, the Court of Appeals overturned the Dili District 
Court's February 15 sentencing of two civilian perpetrators of violent 
incidents in the 2006 crisis to lengthy prison terms. The civilians, 
leaders of a militant veterans group, were found guilty by the District 
Court of violence against persons and property and illegal use of 
firearms, ammunition, and explosives. The Court of Appeals stated that 
the evidence did not strongly support the lower court's ruling.

    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 the prohibition against torture; however, there 
were incidents of cruel or degrading treatment of civilians by police 
and military personnel. Parliamentarians, nongovernmental organizations 
(NGOs), UNMIT, and the Office of the Ombudsman for Human Rights and 
Justice received complaints about the use of excessive force by 
security forces. Most involved beatings, use of excessive force during 
incident response or arrest, threats made at gunpoint, and 
intimidation.
    In the beginning of the year, the PNTL conducted operations in the 
Bobonaro and Covalima Districts against ``ninjas'' (armed individuals 
who concealed their identities with masks) accused of committing 
serious crimes. The police detained individuals who were alleged 
members of the Popular Council for the Defense of the Democratic 
Republic of Timor-Leste (CPD-RDTL), and there were accusations that 
some of the detained were beaten.
    There were no updates on the following cases from 2009:
    In June 2009 F-FDTL personnel beat at least two civilians and 
reportedly pointed their weapons at UNPOL members after breaking up a 
fight between two martial arts groups in Maliana, Bobonaro District. At 
year's end a criminal investigation was ongoing.
    Also in June 2009 an F-FDTL member, using his rifle, allegedly 
threatened and beat a residential security guard. The guard filed 
official complaints with both the F-FDTL and PNTL, but it was not clear 
that an investigation was opened.
    In September 2009 a group of F-FDTL members physically assaulted a 
Timorese woman and two foreign military personnel. One of the F-FDTL 
members involved was expelled from the military in December 2009. The 
criminal investigation continued.
    In November 2009 an off-duty police officer allegedly shot and 
seriously injured Mateus Pereira in Vila Verde, Dili. The police 
officer was suspended for 120 days during an internal PNTL 
investigation. After the internal investigation the results were 
transferred to the Prosecutor General's office. At year's end no 
charges were filed.
    At year's end there were no developments in the following 2008 
incidents: the case of former Baucau PNTL subdistrict commander 
Francisco Ersio Ximenes serving a suspended one year sentence following 
his removal from active duty for the beating of a victim with a baton 
during questioning; the case of three PNTL officers in Suai who 
allegedly participated in gang-related violence that resulted in 15 
persons injured and 20 houses burned; and the case of PNTL Task Force 
members beating four Dili residents; or the two police officers who 
were sentenced to two and six months' suspended imprisonment for the 
assault of a woman in Ossu Subdistrict, Viqueque District.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions 
generally met international standards. Despite some improvements with 
regard to access to food and water, police station detention cells 
generally did not comply with international standards and lacked 
sanitation facilities and bedding. The lack of detention cells at some 
police stations discouraged the initiation of formal charges against 
detained suspects. The civilian authorities ran two prisons, located in 
Dili (Becora) and Gleno. Together the two prisons held 223 individuals 
(reliable estimates of the designed capacity of the prisons were not 
available). The vast majority were pretrial detainees charged with 
homicide, robbery, or sexual assault. Four of the prisoners were women, 
and 10 were juveniles. The F-FDTL operated a military prison facility 
at its headquarters in Dili without civilian oversight. There were no 
separate facilities for women and youth offenders.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. Authorities permitted prisoners and 
detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities without 
censorship and to request investigation of credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions. Authorities investigated credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions; however, the results of such investigations were 
not clearly documented in a publicly accessible manner. The Government 
investigated and monitored prison and detention center conditions.
    UNMIT personnel noted allegations of mistreatment of prisoners by 
prison guards during the first 72 hours of imprisonment and a lack of 
special facilities for the mentally ill, who consequently were detained 
with other prisoners.
    The Government permitted prison visits by the International 
Committee of the Red Cross and independent human rights observers. The 
Ombudsman's Office was able to conduct detainee monitoring in Dili. It 
was not clear whether an ombudsman could serve on behalf of prisoners 
and detainees more broadly, could address the status of juvenile 
offenders, or could improve pretrial detention, bail, and recordkeeping 
procedures.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention; however, there were many instances in which these 
provisions were violated, often because magistrates or judges were 
unavailable.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The president is 
commander-in-chief of the armed forces, but the chief of defense, the 
F-FDTL's senior military officer, exercised effective day-to-day 
command. Civilian secretaries of state for public security and defense 
oversaw the PNTL and F-FDTL, respectively.
    The PNTL, with UNMIT assistance, continued efforts to reform, 
restructure, and rebuild in the wake of its collapse during the 
political crisis of 2006. A central element was a ``screening'' to 
ensure that each of the approximately 3,000 PNTL officers was checked 
for integrity and past crimes or misbehavior. Following screening, 
officers were to go through renewed training and a six-month UNPOL 
mentoring program. By year's end all but 209 officers had completed the 
UNPOL program.
    Each of the country's 13 districts has a district PNTL commander 
who normally reports to the PNTL general commander. In spite of 
improvements, the PNTL as an institution remained poorly equipped and 
undertrained, subject to numerous credible allegations of abuse of 
authority, mishandling of firearms, and corruption. An opposition 
parliamentarian and an international NGO criticized the emphasis on a 
paramilitary style of policing, which includes highly armed special 
units and does not sufficiently delineate between the military and the 
police.
    Efforts were made to strengthen the PNTL's internal accountability 
mechanisms. At year's end the Professional Standards and Discipline 
Office (PSDO) had 358 cases in its database, although all but 162 cases 
had been closed. These cases include assaults, use of violence, fraud, 
unlawful discharge of a weapon, neglect of duty, not reporting to duty, 
and misconduct. The PSDO forwarded substantiated cases to the 
appropriate authorities. Out of the substantiated cases, 16 cases 
resulted in verbal warnings, 42 cases resulted in written reprimands, 
19 cases resulted in suspensions, and one case ended in dismissal. At 
the district level there were serious obstacles to the functioning of 
the PSDO. PSDO officers were appointed by, and reported to, the PNTL 
district commander. Persons with complaints about police behavior 
experienced obstacles when attempting to report violations including 
repeated requests to return at a later date or to submit their 
complaint in writing. The Organic Police Law promulgated in February 
2009 does not provide for guaranteed participation from the civilian 
sector in police oversight.
    In February 2009 the UN Security Council instructed UNMIT to begin 
handing over primary policing responsibilities to the PNTL once PNTL 
personnel in a particular district demonstrated the ability to perform 
those responsibilities adequately. Handovers occurred in four of the 
country's 13 districts in 2009: Lautem, Oecussi, Manatuto, and 
Viqueque. During the year, handovers occurred in six additional 
districts: Aileu, Ainaro, Baucau, Ermera, Liquica, and Manufahi.
    More than 550 ISF personnel from Australia and New Zealand 
supported the police and security forces.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires judicial warrants prior to arrests or searches, except in 
exceptional circumstances; however, this provision was often violated. 
The extreme shortage of prosecutors and judges outside of the capital 
contributed to police inability to obtain required warrants.
    Government regulations require a hearing within 72 hours of arrest 
to review the lawfulness of an arrest or detention and to provide the 
right to a trial without undue delay. During these hearings the judge 
may also determine whether the suspect should be released because 
evidence is lacking or because the suspect is not considered a flight 
risk. The countrywide shortage of magistrates meant that police often 
made decisions without legal authority as to whether persons arrested 
should be released or detained after 72 hours in custody. This 
contributed to an atmosphere of lawlessness and impunity. Judges may 
set terms for conditional release, usually requiring the suspect to 
report regularly to police.
    The law provides for access to legal representation at all stages 
of the proceedings, and provisions exist for providing public defenders 
to indigent defendants at no cost. Public defenders were in short 
supply. Most were concentrated in Dili and Baucau, with other areas 
lacking the same level of access. Many indigent defendants relied on 
lawyers provided by legal aid organizations. A number of defendants who 
were assigned public defenders reported that they never saw their 
lawyer, and there were concerns that some low priority cases were 
delayed indefinitely while suspects remained in pretrial detention.
    The pretrial detention limit of six months and the requirement that 
such detentions be reviewed every 30 days need not apply in cases 
involving certain serious crimes. The 30-day review deadline was also 
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 law provides that judges shall 
perform their duties ``independently and impartially'' without 
``improper influence'' and requires public prosecutors to discharge 
their duties impartially. However, the country's judicial system faced 
a wide array of challenges including concerns about the impartiality of 
some judicial organs, a severe shortage of qualified personnel, a 
complex and multisourced legal regime, and the fact that the majority 
of the population did not speak Portuguese, the language in which the 
laws were written and the courts operated. Access to justice was 
notably constrained.
    Progress in establishing judicial institutions and recruiting and 
training qualified judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys was slow. 
By year's end, 17 judges, 11 prosecutors, and 11 public defenders of 
Timorese nationality were assigned to the country's judicial 
institutions. Three non-Timorese public defenders and three judges 
served in the country.
    Judges, prosecutors, and public defenders assigned to other 
districts outside Dili often did not reside in these areas. Their 
intermittent presence continued to hamper severely the functioning of 
the judiciary outside the capital.
    The trial process often was hindered by nonattendance of witnesses 
due to lack of proper notification or lack of transportation. The 
shortage of qualified prosecutors and technical staff in the Prosecutor 
General's Office hampered its work and resulted in a large case 
backlog. International prosecutors continued to handle many sensitive 
cases. At year's end there was a nationwide backlog of approximately 
4,500 cases, a reduction of approximately 700 cases from the previous 
year. The length of time for cases to come to trial varied 
significantly, with some delayed for years and others tried within 
months of accusations.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the right to a fair trial; 
however, the severe shortages of qualified personnel throughout the 
system led to some trials that did not fulfill prescribed legal 
procedures. Trials are before judges. Except in sensitive cases, such 
as crimes involving sexual assault, trials are public. Defendants have 
the right to be present at trials and to consult an attorney in a 
timely manner. Attorneys are provided to indigent defendants. 
Defendants can confront hostile witnesses and present other witnesses 
and evidence. Defendants and their attorneys have access to government-
held evidence. Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence and have a 
right of appeal to higher courts.
    The legal regime was complex and inconsistently applied, but the 
Government adopted a new criminal procedure code and a penal code; the 
latter came into force in June 2009. The criminal procedure code was 
translated into Tetum (the language spoken most widely in the country), 
but the Penal Code was available only in Portuguese.
    The Court of Appeal operated primarily in Portuguese. The UN 
regulations, many of which remained in force, were available in 
English, Portuguese, Indonesian, and Tetum. Laws enacted by parliament, 
intended to supplant Indonesian laws and UN regulations, were published 
in Portuguese but were seldom available in Tetum. Litigants, witnesses, 
and criminal defendants often were unable to read the new laws. Trials 
are required to be conducted in Portuguese and Tetum. However, the 
quality of translation provided in court varied widely, and 
translations into Tetum were often incomplete summaries.
    In July 2009 a witness protection law came into force, but 
protection arrangements remained lacking. In many violent crimes, 
witnesses were unwilling to testify because of the high potential for 
retribution against them or their families. Court personnel also 
reported increased concern regarding their own safety.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Civil judicial procedures 
were beset by the same problems encountered by the judicial system as a 
whole. The ombudsman for human rights and justice can sue government 
agencies/agents for alleged human rights abuses; however, the 
ombudsman's approach has been to refer allegations of abuse to the 
prosecutor general or the leadership of the PNTL or F-FDTL.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and the Government 
generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
    A 2003 land law broadly defines what property belongs to the 
Government and was criticized as disregarding many private claims. In 
previous years the Government evicted persons from land identified as 
state property at times with little notice and with no due process.
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. The independent media were active and expressed a 
wide variety of views without restrictions. Television and radio 
broadcasts were the primary sources for news. However, there was often 
no reception outside Dili and district capitals, and broadcasts were 
often irregular due to technical or resource problems. Many persons did 
not have access to television or radio.
    In June a journalist from Diario Nacional was beaten by PNTL 
officers at the Government Palace, but it was not clear that an 
investigation was opened.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
Internet access was extremely limited. According to International 
Telecommunication Union statistics for 2008, less than 1 percent of the 
country's inhabitants used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The Government generally did 
not restrict academic freedom or cultural events. Academic research on 
Tetum and other indigenous languages must be approved by the National 
Language Institute.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The law on assembly and demonstrations establishes 
guidelines to obtain permits to hold demonstrations and requires police 
be notified four days in advance of any demonstration or strike. The 
law also stipulates that demonstrations cannot take place within 100 
yards of government buildings or facilities, diplomatic facilities, or 
political party headquarters. In practice demonstrations were allowed 
to take place without the requisite advance notification, and the 100-
yard regulation was rarely observed.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
association, and the Government generally respected this right in 
practice. However, in the beginning of the year, there were accusations 
that during the anti-``ninja'' activities (see section 1.c.), the PNTL 
intimidated and asked members of CPD-RDTL to resign from the 
organization.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in 
providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    Travel by road to the western enclave of Oecussi required visas and 
lengthy stops at Timorese and Indonesian checkpoints at the border 
crossings.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--In June 2009 the Government 
formally closed the last of the IDP camps set up after the 2006 
political crisis displaced an estimated 150,000 individuals. All 
persons who remained in transitional shelters have returned home or 
been resettled. The Ministry of Social Solidarity administered 
reintegration assistance in coordination with local and international 
NGOs.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government established a system for 
providing protection to refugees. The Government granted refugee status 
or asylum in the past; 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 contravened the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of 
Refugees. These advocates also expressed concern that no written 
explanation is required when an asylum application is denied. In 
practice the Government provided protection against the expulsion or 
return of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be 
threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership 
in a particular social group, or political opinion.
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 based on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--The president and 
parliament were elected to a five-year mandate in generally free and 
fair national elections in 2007. The Government headed by Prime 
Minister Gusmao is a four-party coalition controlling 37 seats in the 
65-seat parliament.
    There were 19 women in parliament. Women held three senior 
ministerial positions--finance, justice, and social solidarity--one 
vice-minister position, and one secretary of state position.
    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.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides for criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices. By law the 
Anticorruption Commission is charged with leading national 
anticorruption activities and has the authority to refer cases for 
prosecution. The Anticorruption Commission was established in February, 
taking responsibility for corruption cases from the Office of the 
Ombudsman for Human Rights and Justice, and a commissioner was 
appointed in March. At year's end the Commission had begun several 
investigations.
    The Ombudsman's Office transferred several high-profile corruption 
cases to the Prosecutor General's Office, including accusations of 
nepotism against the vice prime minister and the minister of foreign 
affairs for employing the vice prime minister's wife at a Timorese 
mission overseas. The Prosecutor General's Office submitted charges in 
this case.
    There were accusations of police corruption in the country. Some of 
the accusations involved border police accepting bribes along the 
extensive land borders with Indonesia, and police accepting bribes from 
brothels that engaged in trafficking in persons.
    On October 20, the Prosecutor General's Office brought charges 
against four members of the PNTL for stealing money from funds set up 
for the 2008 Anti-Rebels joint operations.
    The country does not have financial disclosure laws. In 2009 Prime 
Minister Gusmao demanded that all cabinet officials in his government 
complete financial disclosure documents, but by year's end none had 
done so.
    The law stipulates that all legislation, Supreme Court decisions 
(when the court is established), and decisions made by government 
bodies must be published in the official gazette. If not published they 
are null and void. Regulations also provide for public access to court 
proceedings and decisions and the national budget and accounts. In 
practice there were concerns that public access to information was 
constrained. For example, the official gazette was published only in 
Portuguese, although by law it is to be published in Tetum as well. 
Moreover, its irregular publishing schedule and varying cost meant that 
few journalists, public servants, or others had regular access to it or 
knew how to access it. During the year, the official gazette became 
available online.
Section 5. 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. NGOs also played an 
active role in assisting and advising in the development of the 
country. The Government generally cooperated with these organizations, 
but during the year there were instances of security authorities 
preventing or resisting efforts to monitor human rights compliance.
    UNMIT continued to play an important role in the country's 
development and cooperated closely with the Government.
    The Office of the Ombudsman is responsible for the promotion of 
human rights and good governance. It has the power to investigate and 
monitor human rights abuses and governance standards, and to make 
recommendations to the relevant authorities. The Ombudsman's Office was 
located in Dili, with satellite offices in Same, Bobonaro, Oecussi, and 
Baucau. It had limited ability to conduct outreach or activities in 
other districts. The Human Rights Monitoring Network, made up of 10 
NGOs, closely cooperated with the ombudsman.
    In July 2008 President Ramos-Horta and Indonesian President 
Yudhoyono publicly accepted the bilateral Commission on Truth and 
Friendship's (CTF) finding that gross human rights violations had been 
committed during and after the 1999 independence referendum. The report 
assigned ``institutional responsibility'' for such violations to the 
Indonesian Armed Forces. Presidents Yudhoyono and Ramos-Horta also 
accepted the report's other findings, conclusions, and recommendations. 
Neither government pursued individuals responsible for abuses at this 
time. In December 2009 parliament adopted a resolution acknowledging 
the work and reports of the CTF and the Commission for Reception, 
Truth, and Reconciliation. The resolution instructed that legislation 
be drafted to implement the recommendations of the two reports and to 
establish an autonomous body to carry them out. Parliament debated a 
national reparations program and ``Institute for Memory'' during the 
year, but at years' end, no legislation implementing the CTF 
recommendations had been passed.
Section 6. 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.--Gender-based violence remained a serious concern. Although 
rape is a crime, failures to investigate or prosecute cases of alleged 
rape and sexual abuse were common, as were long delays. Authorities 
reported that the backlog of court cases led some communities to 
address rape accusations through traditional law, which does not always 
provide justice to victims. The definition of rape under the Penal Code 
appears broad enough to make spousal rape a crime, although that 
definition had not been tested in the courts.
    On May 3, the parliament passed the Law against Domestic Violence. 
The law was enacted to provide protection and defense to vulnerable 
groups including women, children, the elderly, and persons with 
disabilities, against all forms of violence, exploitation, 
discrimination, abandonment, oppression, sexual abuse, and 
mistreatment.
    Domestic violence against women was a significant problem often 
exacerbated by the reluctance of authorities to respond aggressively. 
Cases of domestic violence and sexual crimes generally were handled by 
the PNTL's Vulnerable Persons Units (VPUs). Women's organizations 
assessed VPU performance as variable, with some officials actively 
pursuing cases and others preferring to handle them through mediation 
or as private family matters. VPU operations were severely constrained 
by lack of support and resources. Police at times came under pressure 
from community members to ignore cases of domestic violence or sexual 
abuse.
    There was no law prohibiting sexual harassment, and sexual 
harassment was reportedly widespread, particularly within some 
government ministries and the police.
    The Government recognized the right of couples and individuals to 
decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their 
children to have the information and means to do so free from 
discrimination, coercion, and violence. Women's access to family 
planning information, education, and supplies was limited principally 
by economic considerations. Contraceptive use was low, although the 
Ministry of Health and NGOs promoted both natural and modern family 
planning methods, including the distribution of intrauterine devices, 
injectable contraceptives, and condoms. The results of a Demographic 
and Health survey released during the year indicated significant 
improvements in mortality rates, but adult women continued to suffer 
from higher mortality than men and 42 percent of such deaths were 
associated with pregnancy and childbirth. According to 2008 estimates 
by the UN Population Fund, the maternal mortality rate in the country 
was 370 deaths per 100,000 live births. Thirty percent of women had 
skilled attendance during childbirth, 61 percent of mothers received 
antenatal care from a medical professional, and only 32 percent of 
mothers received postpartum care. Both women and men had equal access 
to diagnostic and treatment services for sexually transmitted 
infections, including HIV.
    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. Traditional cultural practices, 
such as payment of a bride price and occasionally polyandry, also 
occurred. Women were also disadvantaged in pursuing job opportunities 
at the village level.
    The constitution guarantees equal rights to own property. 
Parliament debated a national land law, which included more specific 
rights for women's ownership of land, but at year's end, no land law 
legislation was passed.
    The Secretary of State for the Promotion of Equality in the Prime 
Minister's Office is responsible for the promotion of gender equality. 
UNMIT's Gender Affairs Unit also monitored discrimination against 
women. Women's NGOs worked under an umbrella organization called Rede 
Feto (Women's Network). Rede Feto coordinated the work of NGOs working 
on women's issues and provided input to draft legislation on women's 
issues, such as the recent Law on Domestic Violence. The Secretary of 
State for the Promotion of Equality and the Advisor to the Prime 
Minister for Civil Society both coordinated and supported the work of 
Rede Feto.
    Women's organizations offered some assistance to female victims of 
violence, including shelters for victims of domestic violence and 
incest, a safe room at the national hospital for victims of domestic 
violence and sexual assault, and escorts to judicial proceedings.
    In November the country submitted its candidacy as a member of the 
UN Women Executive Board.

    Children.--Children acquire citizenship both through birth within 
the territory of the country and by having a citizen parent. A Central 
Civil Registry registers a child's name at birth and issues birth 
certificates. The rate of birth registration was low.
    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 ensure provision of free education. 
According to UN statistics, approximately 20 percent of primary school-
age children nationwide were not enrolled in school; the figures for 
rural areas were substantially higher than those for urban areas.
    In rural areas heavily indebted parents sometimes provided their 
children as indentured servants as a way to settle the debt. If the 
child was a girl, the receiving family could also demand any dowry 
payment normally owed to the girl's parents.
    There is no clearly defined age below which sex is by definition 
nonconsensual. Violence against children and child sexual assault was a 
significant problem. Some commercial sexual exploitation of minors 
occurred. The Penal Code describes a vulnerable victim for purposes of 
rape as a ``victim aged less than 17 years'' and provides an aggravated 
sentence. The Penal Code separately addresses ``sexual abuse of a 
minor,'' which is described as one ``age less than 14 years,'' and also 
separately addresses ``sexual acts with an adolescent,'' which it 
defines as ``a minor aged between 14 and 16 years.'' The Penal Code 
also makes both child prostitution and child pornography crimes and 
defines a ``child'' for purposes of those provisions as a ``minor aged 
less than 17 years.'' The Penal Code also criminalizes abduction of a 
minor, although it does not define what constitutes a minor for 
purposes of that section.
    In September 2009 the Prime Minister's office established the 
Timor-Leste National Commission on Child Rights. The commission is 
mandated to promote, defend, and monitor child rights.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was no indigenous Jewish population, and 
there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    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 physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities. There were no reports of discrimination against persons 
with disabilities in employment, education, or the provision of other 
state services; however, in many districts children with disabilities 
were unable to attend school due to accessibility problems.
    Training and vocational initiatives did not address the needs of 
persons with disabilities. In the past some persons with mental 
disabilities faced discriminatory or degrading treatment due in part to 
a lack of appropriate treatment resources or lack of referral to 
existing resources; it was not clear whether this situation had 
improved. Mentally ill persons were imprisoned with the general prison 
population and were denied needed psychiatric care. An office in the 
Ministry of Social Solidarity was responsible for protecting the rights 
of persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities are eligible 
for monthly special monetary stipends through the Ministry of Social 
Solidarity.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Although tensions between 
persons from the eastern districts (Lorosae) and persons from the 
western districts (Loromonu) contributed to the 2006 political crisis, 
such tensions appeared to be greatly reduced and no specific incidents 
were observed during the year.
    Relations were generally good between the ethnic majority and 
members of several small ethnic minority groups including ethnic 
Chinese (who constitute less than 1 percent of the population) and 
ethnic-Malay Muslims.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law makes no reference to 
homosexual activity. Gays and lesbians were not highly visible in the 
country, which was predominantly rural, traditional, and religious. 
According to the East Timor Law and Justice Bulletin (ETLJB), the 
principal international NGO that runs an HIV-AIDS transmission 
reduction program excludes gays from its program. Aside from the ETLJB 
report, there were no formal reports of discrimination based on sexual 
orientation, due in part to limited awareness of the issue and a lack 
of formal legal protections.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no formal 
reports of discrimination based on HIV/AIDS status.
Section 7. 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 were slowed by inexperience, a lack of organizational skills, 
and the fact that more than 80 percent of the workforce was in the 
informal sector. There are official registration procedures for trade 
unions and employer organizations. At year's end the Government began 
compiling data on the percentage of unionized workers in the formal 
sector.
    While the law prohibits dismissal for union activity, it also 
allows for financial compensation in lieu of reinstatement, thus 
partially weakening the protection against employers' interference.
    The law provides for the right to strike, but few workers exercised 
this right during the year. The law on assembly and demonstrations 
could be used to inhibit strikes but was not used in this way.
    The law prohibits foreigners from participating in the 
administration of trade unions.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--While 
collective bargaining is permitted by law, workers generally had little 
experience negotiating contracts, promoting worker rights, or engaging 
in collective bargaining and negotiations. The Ministry of Social 
Solidarity is the Government agency charged with labor dispute 
settlement.
    There are no formal export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--Government 
regulations prohibit forced or compulsory labor, and there were reports 
that such practices occurred. Men from Burma were subjected to 
conditions of forced labor in construction and other industries, while 
men from Cambodia and Thailand were forced to toil on fishing boats 
under harsh working conditions, and with poor food and no access to 
medical care. Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in 
Persons Report at https//www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law generally prohibits children under 18 from working; however, there 
are circumstances under which children between the ages of 15 and 18, 
as well as children under 15, can work. The minimum age does not apply 
to family-owned businesses, and many children worked in the 
agricultural sector. Child labor in the informal sector was a major 
problem. In practice enforcement of the labor code outside of Dili was 
limited.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The law does not stipulate a 
minimum wage. The law provides for a standard workweek of 40 hours, 
standard benefits such as overtime and leave, and minimum standards of 
worker health and safety. The Ministry of Social Solidarity is 
responsible for enforcing the labor code. A National Labor Board and a 
Labor Relations Board exist, and there are no restrictions on the 
rights of workers to file complaints and seek redress. Workers have the 
right to remove themselves from hazardous conditions without 
jeopardizing employment; however, it was not clear whether they could 
avail themselves of this right in practice.

                               __________

                                 TONGA

    The Kingdom of Tonga is a constitutional monarchy with a population 
of approximately 120,900. Political life is dominated by King Siaosi 
(George) Tupou V, the nobility, and a few prominent commoners. 
Parliamentary elections held November 25 were deemed generally free and 
fair. On December 21, Parliament elected nobles' representative Lord 
Tu'ivakano as prime minister. A state of emergency declared following a 
2006 riot in the capital of Nuku'alofa remained in effect during the 
year but limited in scope to Nuku'alofa. Security forces reported to 
civilian authorities.
    The king's June replacement of the Judicial Services Commission 
with a royally appointed lord chancellor for appointing judges raised 
concerns about the continued independence of the judiciary. The 
Government at times restricted media coverage of certain political 
topics. Government corruption was a problem, and domestic violence and 
discrimination against women continued.
    The aristocracy-dominated political system was democratized during 
the year with the November parliamentary elections, in which for the 
first time a majority of members were popularly elected in accordance 
with political reforms promulgated in 2009.
                        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 arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    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.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards. The Government 
permitted monitoring visits by international human rights observers, 
but there were no such visits during the year.
    At year's end the country's four prisons and other detention 
facilities--located on the main islands of Tongatapu, Vava'u, Ha'apai, 
and 'Eua--held a total of 159 inmates, including pretrial detainees. Of 
these, seven were women and 22 were juveniles (defined as under age 
20). A breakdown between the number of convicted prisoners and the 
number of pretrial detainees was not available. There were 103 male and 
seven female inmates in Tongatapu Prison, four additional prisoners who 
lived and worked on the prison's animal farm, and one person held in a 
police cell on Tongatapu. There were 14 inmates on Vava'u, 13 on 
Ha'apai, and 17 on 'Eua--all male. The maximum prison capacity was 132 
persons on Tongatapu, 14 on Vava'u, 13 on Ha'apai, and 30 on 'Eua.
    Prisoners had reasonable access to visitors and were permitted 
religious observance. The authorities permitted prisoners to submit 
complaints without censorship to the prison officer-in-charge, who then 
forwarded them to the commissioner of prisons for review and action. At 
least once every quarter, a group of three to five persons called 
``visiting officers,'' chosen by the cabinet and normally including a 
police magistrate, a physician, and a clergyman, visited the prisons to 
hear any prisoner complaints or grievances. Prisoners also are 
permitted to submit complaints to judicial authorities.
    The country does not have an ombudsman who can serve on behalf of 
prisoners and detainees to consider such matters as alternatives to 
incarceration for nonviolent offenders to alleviate overcrowding; 
addressing the status and circumstances of confinement of juvenile 
offenders; or improving pretrial detention, bail, and recordkeeping 
procedures to ensure that prisoners do not serve beyond the maximum 
sentence for the charged offense. However, overcrowding was not a 
problem during the year, and the authorities maintained a tracking 
system to ensure that prisoners were not held beyond the maximum 
sentence for their offense.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution prohibits 
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed 
these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The security apparatus 
consists of the Tonga Defense Services (TDS) and a police force. The 
minister of defense controls the TDS, which is responsible for external 
security and, under the state of emergency, shared domestic security 
duties with the police.
    The minister of police and prisons directs the police force of 
approximately 405 persons. There were no reports of police impunity 
during the year. Public complaints against the police are referred to a 
specific police office that conducts internal investigations and, if 
necessary, convenes a police tribunal. Entry-level police training 
included training on corruption, ethics, transparency, and human 
rights.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
provides for the right to judicial determination of the legality of 
arrest, and this was observed in practice during the year. Under normal 
circumstances police have the right to arrest detainees without a 
warrant, but detainees must be brought before a local magistrate within 
24 hours. In most cases magistrates set bail. The law permits unlimited 
access by counsel and family members to detained persons. Indigent 
persons could obtain legal assistance from the community law center 
(CLC). However, the CLC did not have a dedicated source of funding 
during the year and was dependent on donations.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice. The highest-ranking judges historically have 
been foreign nationals from the British Commonwealth legal tradition.
    In June the king announced that the appointment of judges would 
hereafter be handled by a lord chancellor appointed by the monarch in 
place of the Judicial Services Commission, which the king disbanded. 
The lord chancellor also has authority to investigate complaints 
against judges, which previously rested with the Judicial Services 
Commission. The change ostensibly was made to insulate judicial 
appointments from parliamentary influence. Opponents of the change 
asserted it would compromise the independence of the judiciary.
    A number of controversial changes were made in the judiciary during 
the year. In December 2009 the cabinet reportedly decided not to renew 
the chief justice's contract; he left office in August. His departure 
was followed by the contentious departure, also in August, of Acting 
Chief Justice Warwick Andrew, who claimed he was prevented from 
completing the remaining one month of his term. The Government denied 
this, stating that Andrew was granted early leave that he had 
requested. These departures left the judiciary with only one sitting 
judge and one magistrate until newly appointed Chief Justice Michael 
Scott began his term in September. Subsequently, two additional 
magistrates were appointed to the Tongatapu courts to manage a backlog 
of cases that arose due to the availability of only one sitting 
magistrate, whose death in September created even more delays in court 
processes.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. 
Trials are public, and defendants have the option to request a seven-
member jury. Defendants are presumed innocent, may question witnesses 
against them, and have access to government-held evidence. They have 
the right to be present at their trials and to consult with an attorney 
in a timely manner. Public defenders are not provided, but the CLC 
provided free legal advice and representation in court. Local lawyers 
occasionally took pro bono cases. Defendants have the right of appeal. 
The law extends these rights to all citizens.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters. Any violation of a human 
right provided for in the law can be addressed in the courts.

    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, but the Government did not always 
respect these rights in practice.
    In May the Government withdrew a charge against member of 
Parliament Clive Edwards for ``speaking seditious words'' at a 
prodemocracy rally in 2006.
    Media outlets reported on political developments and high-profile 
court cases but exercised self-censorship regarding high-profile 
individuals. Since the political campaigns of 2008, the Government-
owned Tonga Broadcasting Commission (TBC)'s board has directed that all 
programming be reviewed by TBC board-appointed censors prior to 
broadcast.
    In December the Ministry of Information ordered the FM 88.1 radio 
station to cease broadcasting, on the grounds that it was broadcasting 
without a license. The station had been operating under a license owned 
by publisher Kalafi Moala, who reportedly withdrew the license after 
receiving complaints from the ministry about the station's political 
reporting. The station's owner denied that its reporting was partisan 
and asserted that the Government was attempting to hinder public 
discussion about the negotiations to form a new government after the 
November elections.
    Media access to parliamentary debates remained restricted; however, 
the debate minutes were available publicly online a day after the 
debates. The Government lifted these restrictions to allow the media to 
cover Parliament's election of a new prime minister in December. 
However, some prodemocracy media complained that their reporters were 
not invited to the new prime minister's installation ceremony, although 
other media representatives were invited.
    Privately owned media carried reports about internal government 
changes and policies, and letters to the editor continued to be a 
favorite venue for citizens to air criticisms and concerns about the 
country's direction. From time to time, private media carried comments, 
including some by prominent citizens, critical of government practices 
and policies.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. Lack of 
infrastructure limited access to a certain extent, but there were 
Internet cafes available in the larger towns in all three of the 
country's main island groups. The International Telecommunication Union 
reported that approximately 7 percent of the country's inhabitants used 
the Internet in 2009.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution provides for freedom of assembly, and the 
Government generally respected this right in practice. Revised 
emergency powers regulations, issued in September 2008 and renewed 
every 30 days thereafter, do not explicitly prohibit public meetings or 
gatherings.
    By year's end all court cases involving persons charged with 
offenses relating to the 2006 riot in Nuku'alofa had been resolved.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
association, and the Government generally respected this right in 
practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and prior to the declaration of a state of emergency in 
2006, the Government generally respected these rights in practice. The 
continuing emergency powers regulations authorized the police and 
military to restrict free movement in and around a ``proclaimed area'' 
of Nuku'alofa, but these restrictions were rarely enforced.
    The need did not arise during the year for cooperation with the UN 
High Commissioner for Refugees or other humanitarian organizations in 
providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    The law does not prohibit forced exile, but the Government did not 
employ it in practice.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is not a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or the 1967 Protocol 
relating to the Status of Refugees. Its laws do not provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has not 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In principle 
the Government provided protection against the expulsion or return of 
refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened 
on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a 
particular social group, or political opinion, but no persons were 
known to have applied for refugee status or temporary protection during 
the year.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    During the year the Government implemented political reforms 
approved by Parliament in 2009. The number of popularly elected members 
of the unicameral Parliament was increased to a majority of 17 out of 
26; the remaining nine MPs are nobles elected by their peers. 
Parliament elects the prime minister, who appoints the cabinet; up to 
four cabinet members may be selected from outside Parliament. Prior to 
the reforms, only nine of 30 MPs were popularly elected, with nine 
elected by the nobles and the remainder appointed by the king; the king 
also appointed the prime minister and cabinet. Cabinet members and 
nobles often voted as a bloc.
    Although, under the reforms, the majority of MPs are chosen by 
popular vote, the king retains significant powers, such as that to 
withhold his assent to laws and to dissolve Parliament.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Citizens 21 years or older 
and resident in the country may vote. The most recent parliamentary 
elections, held November 25, were deemed generally free and fair and 
resulted in a strong showing for prodemocracy candidates, who won 12 of 
the 17 popularly elected seats. However, five popularly elected MPs 
joined with the nine nobles to elect a noble, Lord Tu'ivakano, as prime 
minister.
    Nobles and cabinet members associated with the royal family have 
traditionally dominated the Parliament and government. For several 
decades a democracy movement has been building, and since 2005 three 
pro-reform political parties have been registered.
    There was one woman in the 30-member Parliament prior to the 
November election. No women were elected to the new Parliament in 
November. A woman may become queen, but the constitution forbids a 
woman to inherit hereditary noble titles or become a chief.
    There were no members of minorities in the Government.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption. The 
Government generally implemented the law, but officials often engaged 
in corrupt practices with impunity, and corruption remained a serious 
problem. In February 2008 the Office of the Auditor General began 
reporting to Parliament directly, instead of to the prime minister. The 
Office of the Anti-Corruption Commissioner is empowered to investigate 
official corruption.
    There were unconfirmed reports of government corruption during the 
year. Incidents of bribe taking and other forms of corruption in the 
police force reportedly occurred. Government preferences appeared to 
benefit unfairly businesses associated with government officials, 
nobles, and the royal family. There is no law requiring financial 
disclosure for public officials. The royal family continued to exert 
significant influence over public finances.
    The law does not specifically allow for public access to government 
information, and such access was a problem, especially when the 
Government deemed the information sensitive.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    Domestic and international human rights groups generally operated 
without government restriction, investigating and publishing their 
findings on human rights cases. Government officials were fairly 
cooperative and responsive to their views.
    Government offices include a commission on public relations that 
investigates and seeks to resolve complaints about the Government.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law confirms the special status of members of the royal family 
and the nobility. While social, cultural, and economic facilities were 
available to all citizens regardless of race and religion, members of 
the hereditary nobility had substantial advantages, including control 
over most land and a generally privileged status.

    Women.--Rape is punishable by up to 15 years' imprisonment. The law 
does not recognize spousal rape. The incidence of rape appeared to be 
infrequent, although there were no reliable statistics. Rape cases were 
investigated by the police and prosecuted under the penal code. Police 
received two reports of rape during the year. One nongovernmental 
organization (NGO) reported receiving three reports of rape.
    The Police Domestic Violence Unit, together with various NGOs, 
including the National Center for Women and Children, the Women and 
Children Crisis Center, and the Salvation Army, conducted public 
awareness and prevention campaigns against domestic violence. 
Statistics compiled by the National Center for Women and Children and 
the Women and Children Crisis Center indicated that more than 600 
persons sought assistance from these organizations during the year. Of 
these, 79 percent were women, and 14 percent were children. Domestic 
violence was the leading complaint for women, while neglect and 
physical abuse were the leading reasons for seeking assistance for 
children.
    The law does not address domestic violence specifically, but 
domestic violence can be prosecuted under laws against physical 
assault. The Police Domestic Violence Unit has a ``no drop'' policy in 
complaints of domestic assault, and these cases proceed to prosecution 
in the Magistrate's Court. The no drop policy was introduced in 2009 
because many women were reluctant to press charges against their 
spouses due to cultural constraints. Police received 174 domestic 
assault reports during the year. Following reports of abuse, victims 
received counseling from Police Domestic Violence Unit officers. 
Perpetrators were also provided counseling. The police worked with the 
National Center for Women and Children as well as the Women and 
Children Crisis Center to provide shelter for abused women. The Free 
Wesleyan Church operated a hotline for women in trouble, and the 
Salvation Army provided counseling and rehabilitation programs.
    Sexual harassment is not a crime, but physical sexual assault can 
be prosecuted as indecent assault. Sexual harassment of women sometimes 
occurred, based on complaints received by the Police Domestic Violence 
Unit.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children. Public 
hospitals and health centers and a regional NGO's clinic provided free 
information about and access to contraception. According to indicators 
published by the Population Research Bureau (PRB), an estimated 23 
percent of married women ages 15-49 used modern contraceptive methods. 
Under a Ministry of Health policy, a woman is not permitted to undergo 
a tubal ligation at a public hospital without the consent of her 
husband or, in his absence, her male next of kin. Public hospitals and 
health centers provided free prenatal, obstetric, and postpartum care. 
According to PRB indicators, skilled health personnel attended an 
estimated 95 percent of births. According to Ministry of Health data, 
in 2007 (the latest figure available) the estimated maternal mortality 
ratio was 37 deaths per 100,000 live births. Women and men received 
equal access to diagnosis and treatment for sexually transmitted 
infections, including HIV.
    Inheritance laws, especially those concerned with land, 
discriminate against women. Women can lease land, but inheritance 
rights pass through the male heirs. 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. If there 
are no male relatives, a widow is entitled to remain on her husband's 
land as long as she does not remarry or engage in sexual intercourse.
    The Office of Women within the Ministry of Education, Women, and 
Culture is responsible for facilitation of development projects for 
women. During the year the office assisted women's groups in setting up 
work programs.
    There were no reports of discrimination against women compared with 
men in the terms of employment, including types of work, hours worked, 
or pay. Women who rose to positions of leadership often had links with 
the nobility. Some female commoners held senior leadership positions in 
business and government, including that of governor of the Reserve 
Bank.
    The National Center for Women and Children and the Women and 
Children Crisis Center focused on domestic abuse and improving the 
economic and social conditions of women. Both offered counseling to 
women in crisis, and the Women and Children Crisis Center operated a 
safehouse for women and children. Other NGOs, including Ma'a Fafine Moe 
Famili (For Women and Families, Inc.) and the Tonga National Women's 
Congress, promoted human rights, focusing on the rights of women and 
children. Several religiously affiliated women's groups also advocated 
for women's legal rights.

    Children.--Birth in the country does not confer citizenship. 
Citizenship is derived from one's parents or from the citizen parent if 
only one parent is a citizen.
    According to Police Domestic Violence Unit statistics, during the 
year there were 22 reports of assaults on children up to age 18, two of 
which involved children age 10 or younger. One person was sentenced to 
life imprisonment for manslaughter in the 2009 death of a four-year-old 
child, but in October the Appeals Court ordered a retrial on grounds of 
miscarriage of justice. The retrial was pending before the Supreme 
Court at year's end.
    The minimum age for consensual sex is 16 years. Violators may be 
charged with indecent assault on a female, which carries a maximum 
penalty of two years' imprisonment; indecent assault of a child carries 
a maximum sentence of five years. A separate provision of law prohibits 
carnal knowledge of a girl under age 12, with a maximum penalty of life 
imprisonment. The law also prohibits child pornography, with penalties 
of a fine of up to 100,000 pa'anga (approximately $53,475) or up to 10 
years' imprisonment for individuals and a fine of up to 250,000 pa'anga 
(approximately $133,700) for corporations.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental abduction, please see the Department of State's 
annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was no known resident Jewish community, and 
there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--In 2009 there were no confirmed reports 
that persons were trafficked to, from, or within the country.

    Persons With Disabilities.--There are no legally mandated 
provisions for services for persons with physical, sensory, 
intellectual, or mental disabilities. There were no formal complaints 
of discrimination in employment, education, and provision of other 
government services. However, there were no programs to ensure access 
to buildings for persons with disabilities, and in practice most 
buildings were not accessible. There also were no programs to ensure 
access to communications and information for persons with disabilities. 
The Tonga Red Cross Society operated a school for children with 
disabilities and conducted occasional home visits. A Ministry of 
Education pilot program, which began in 2007, continued during the year 
to assimilate children with disabilities into primary schools. The 
queen mother ran a center providing accommodation and meals for adults 
with disabilities. There was an NGO advocating on behalf of persons 
with disabilities.
    There was no specific government agency with responsibility for 
protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--According to the Ministry of 
Labor, Commerce, and Industries, ownership and operation of food retail 
stores in the country has been legally restricted to citizens since 
1978. Despite this policy the retail sector in many towns was dominated 
by Chinese nationals, who also moved into unrestricted sectors of the 
economy. There were reports of crime and societal discrimination 
targeted at members of the Chinese minority.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Sodomy is illegal, with a 
maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment, but there were no reports of 
prosecutions directed at lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender persons 
under this provision. Persons who engaged in openly homosexual behavior 
faced societal discrimination. There were no reports of violence 
against persons based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of discrimination or violence against persons based on HIV/AIDS status.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--Workers gained the right to form 
unions under the 1964 Trade Union Act, but regulations on the formation 
of unions were never promulgated, and there were no official unions. An 
estimated 35 percent of the population were wage earners, of whom 
approximately 65 percent worked in the agricultural sector. The 
Friendly Islands Teachers Association and the Tonga Nurses Association 
were incorporated under the Incorporated Societies Act; however, they 
have no formal bargaining rights under the act. The Public Servants 
Association (PSA) acted as a de facto union representing all government 
employees.
    The Trade Union Act provides workers with the right to strike, but 
implementing regulations were never formulated. There have been 
strikes, but none took place during the year.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law permits 
collective bargaining, but there were no implementing regulations, and 
collective bargaining was not known to take place in practice.
    There was no dispute resolution mechanism in place specifically for 
labor disputes, although persons could take their cases to court. In 
January an out-of-court settlement was recorded in the PSA's suit 
against the Government relating to the firing of the PSA secretary from 
her government job in 2007; the details were not made public.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
the two small export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, and there were no reports that such 
practices occurred among citizens. There were anecdotal reports that 
some foreign workers may have been coerced into forced labor.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Although there is no legislation prohibiting child labor, the practice 
did not exist in the wage economy. According to the National Center for 
Women and Children and other NGOs, some school-age children were 
working in the informal sector in traditional family activities such as 
subsistence farming and fishing.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There is no minimum wage law, 
although there are government guidelines for wage levels set by the 
Ministry of Labor, Commerce and Industries. According to the Asian 
Development Bank, 23 percent of workers in 16 communities surveyed in 
2005 earned less than 29 pa'anga (approximately $16) per week, which 
did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. 
Government workers received pay raises in 2009, and their salaries 
generally were sufficient to provide a decent standard of living for a 
worker and family.
    Labor laws and regulations, enforced by the Ministry of Labor, 
Commerce, and Industries, limited the workweek to 40 hours. The 
ministry enforced laws and regulations in the wage sector of the 
economy, particularly on the main island of Tongatapu, but enforcement 
in the agricultural sector and on the outer islands was less 
consistent.
    Few industries exposed workers to significant danger, and 
industrial accidents were rare. Workers have the right to remove 
themselves from situations that endangered health or safety without 
jeopardy to their employment; however, the authorities seldom enforced 
this right.

                               __________

                                 TUVALU

    Tuvalu is a parliamentary democracy with a population of 
approximately 11,100. In September citizens elected a 15-member 
unicameral Parliament in generally free and fair elections. There were 
no formal political parties. Following the elections a loose coalition 
of eight members of Parliament formed a new government and selected 
Maatia Toafa as prime minister. In December Parliament ousted Toafa in 
a vote of no confidence and selected Willy Telavi, Toafa's former 
health minister, as the new prime minister. Security forces reported to 
civilian authorities.
    Few human rights problems were reported, but there were concerns 
that traditional customs and social patterns led to and perpetuated 
religious and social discrimination, including discrimination against 
women. Domestic violence 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    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 exercise traditional discretionary 
punishment and disciplinary authority. This includes the right to 
inflict corporal punishment for infringement of customary rules, which 
can be at odds with national law. However, during the year there were 
no reports of such corporal punishment.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards, and the 
Government permitted visits by local church representatives. The 
Government permitted visits by independent human rights observers, but 
there were no such visits during the year.
    As of October the prison system held seven convicted prisoners and 
one pretrial detainee, all male. The pretrial detainee was held in a 
separate facility from the prisoners. There were no juvenile offenders 
(defined as those under age 18) in custody.
    Prisoners had reasonable access to visitors and were permitted 
religious observance. A government doctor provided medical treatment 
for prisoners. Prisoners were permitted to submit complaints without 
censorship through the Office of the Peoples' Lawyer. During the year 
the Government did not investigate or monitor prison conditions and did 
not receive any complaints or allegations of inhumane prison 
conditions.
    The country does not have an ombudsman who can act on behalf of 
prisoners and detainees.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these 
prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the national police service, and the 
Government has effective mechanisms to investigate and punish police 
abuse and corruption. There were no reports of impunity involving the 
security forces during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
permits arrests without warrants if a police officer witnesses the 
commission of an unlawful act or has ``reasonable suspicion'' that an 
offense is about to be committed. Police estimated that the majority of 
arrests were of this type. Police may hold a person arrested without a 
warrant for no more than 24 hours without a hearing before a 
magistrate. When a court issues an arrest warrant, the maximum 
permissible detention time before a hearing must be held is stated on 
the warrant and normally is one to two weeks.
    There was a functioning system of bail. Arrested persons generally 
were promptly informed of the charges against them, although 
bureaucratic delays sometimes occurred because persons charged with 
serious offenses to be tried in the High Court must wait for its 
semiannual session. Detainees had prompt access to family members. A 
``people's lawyer'' (public defender) was available free of charge for 
arrested persons and other legal advice. Persons on the outer islands 
did not have ready access to legal services, however, as the people's 
lawyer was based on the main island of Funafuti and infrequently 
traveled to the outer islands. The country had no attorneys in private 
practice.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the right to a fair trial, 
and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. Procedural 
safeguards are based on British common law. The law provides for a 
presumption of innocence. Judges conduct trials and render verdicts; 
there are no juries. Trials are public and defendants have the right to 
be present. Defendants have the right to be informed of the nature of 
the offenses with which they are charged, to consult with an attorney 
in a timely manner, and to have access to an independent public 
defender. They also have the right to confront witnesses, present 
evidence, and appeal convictions. The law extends these rights to all 
citizens. Since 2008 the number of backlogged cases awaiting trial both 
on Funafuti and the outer islands decreased significantly.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters. Individuals may bring 
lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, human rights violations.

    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.
    Although there were no government restrictions, there were no 
private, independent media. The Government's Media Department 
controlled the country's sole radio station.
    There was no domestic television broadcast. Those few who could 
afford it received international satellite television broadcasts. DVDs 
and videotapes circulated freely and were widely available. 
International media were allowed to operate freely.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet and no reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. In 2009 the 
International Telecommunication Union reported that approximately 43 
percent of the country's inhabitants used the Internet. The relative 
lack of telecommunications infrastructure and high cost restricted 
public access to the Internet beyond the capital island of Funafuti.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    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.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The need did not arise during the year for government 
cooperation with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees 
and other humanitarian organizations in providing protection and 
assistance to internally displaced persons, refugees, returning 
refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of 
concern.
    The constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not 
practice it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, but the Government has not 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. During the 
year there were no applications for refugee resettlement, asylum, or 
protection against expulsion or return of refugees to countries where 
their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, 
religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or 
political opinion.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The law provides citizens 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 and Political Participation.--The September general 
elections were generally free and fair. An eight-member majority of the 
newly elected Parliament selected Maatia Toafa as prime minister. In 
December Parliament ousted Toafa in a no-confidence vote and selected 
Willy Telavi, the former health minister in Toafa's government, as the 
new prime minister.
    There were no formal political parties; instead, Parliament tended 
to divide between an ad hoc faction with at least the necessary eight 
votes to form a government and an informal opposition faction.
    Participation by women in government and politics was limited, 
largely due to traditional perceptions of women's role in society. 
There were no women in the 15-member Parliament. One woman served as a 
cabinet minister.
    There were no members of minorities in Parliament or the cabinet.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for some forms of official 
corruption, such as theft; however, laws against corruption are weak. 
There was a widespread public perception that government transparency 
and accountability needed further improvement. While the Government 
enacted a ``leadership code'' in 2007 that outlines standards of 
conduct for government officials, as of year's end it was not 
implemented. Concerns remained that public funds sometimes were 
mismanaged and that government officials sometimes benefited unfairly 
from their positions, particularly in regard to overseas travel and 
related payments and benefits.
    The law provides for annual, public ministerial reports, but 
publication was spotty and often nonexistent. The Auditor General's 
Office, responsible for providing government oversight, was 
underfunded. Public officials were not subject to financial disclosure 
laws.
    Since 2009, together with Nauru and Kiribati, the country has 
participated in a subregional audit support program, an initiative of 
the Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions, with the goal of 
enabling public accounts to be audited to uniformly high standards in a 
timely manner.
    There is no law providing for public access to government 
information. In practice the Government was somewhat cooperative in 
responding to individual requests for such information.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    There were no local NGOs focused entirely on human rights, although 
there were no known barriers to their establishment. Some human rights 
advocates, such as the Tuvalu National Council of Women, operated under 
the auspices of the Tuvalu Association of Nongovernmental 
Organizations, which was composed primarily of religious organizations. 
The people's lawyer monitored sentencing, equality before the law, and 
human rights issues in general. This institution, which at times was 
critical of the Government, nonetheless was supported by the 
Government, which frequently sought its advice. The few other local 
organizations involved in human rights issues generally operated 
without government restriction, investigating and publishing their 
findings on human rights cases. However, opportunities to publicize 
such information locally were severely limited due to the lack of local 
print and electronic media. Government officials were somewhat 
cooperative and responsive to local organizations' views.
    The Government cooperated with international governmental 
organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives or other 
organizations.
    Although the country does not have a human rights ombudsman, 
persons can raise human rights concerns and complaints with the Office 
of the People's Lawyer.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and 
place of origin, and the Government generally enforced these 
prohibitions. In 2005 the High Court stated that the omission of gender 
as a basis of discrimination in the constitution was deliberate, and 
there is no constitutional protection against sex discrimination.

    Women.--Rape is a crime punishable by a minimum sentence of five 
years' imprisonment, but spousal rape is not included in the legal 
definition of this offense. There were both arrests and trials for 
rape-related offenses during the year. The High Court convicted one 
defendant of rape and sentenced him to seven years' imprisonment. A 
second rape case was scheduled for trial in March 2011.
    The law does not specifically address domestic violence, and the 
issue was not a source of broad societal debate. Acts of domestic 
violence were prosecuted under the assault provisions of the penal 
code. The maximum penalty for common assault is six months' 
imprisonment, and for assault with actual bodily harm, five years' 
imprisonment. A 2007 demographic and health survey conducted by the 
Secretariat of the Pacific Community reported that approximately 47 
percent of the women surveyed had experienced some type of violence in 
their lifetime. Nine percent experienced sexual violence, 25 percent 
experienced other physical violence, and a further 12 percent were 
victims of both sexual and other physical violence. Human rights 
observers criticized the police for seeking to address violence against 
women using traditional and customary methods of reconciliation rather 
than criminal prosecution. There were no shelters or hotlines for 
abused women.
    The law does not specifically prohibit sexual harassment but 
prohibits indecent behavior, which includes lewd touching. Sexual 
harassment was not widely reported.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely the number, 
spacing, and timing of their children, and have the means and 
information to do so free from discrimination, coercion, and violence. 
The nongovernmental Tuvalu Family Health Association provided 
information and education about, and access to, contraception. 
According to indicators published by the Population Research Bureau, an 
estimated 29 percent of married women ages 15-49 used modern 
contraceptive methods. Government hospitals also offered family 
planning services and provided free prenatal, obstetric, and postnatal 
care. Virtually all births were attended by skilled health personnel, 
and maternal mortality was reported to be at zero since 2004. Women and 
men received equal access to diagnosis and treatment of sexually 
transmitted infections, including HIV.
    There remained some areas in which the law contributes to an 
unequal status for women, such as land inheritance rights and child 
custody rights. In practice women held a subordinate societal position, 
constrained both by law in some instances and by traditional customary 
practices. Nonetheless, women increasingly held positions in the health 
and education sectors, headed a number of NGOs, and were more active 
politically. In the wage economy, men held most higher-paying 
positions, while women held the majority of lower-paying clerical and 
retail positions.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived through one's parents.
    The Government did not compile child-abuse statistics, and there 
were no reported cases of child abuse or child prostitution during the 
year. However, anecdotal evidence indicated that child abuse occurred. 
Corporal punishment, in the form of strokes of a cane or paddle, was 
common in schools.
    The age of consent for sexual relations is 15. Sexual relations 
with a girl below age 13 are punishable by up to life imprisonment. 
Sexual relations with a girl older than age 12 but younger than age 15 
are punishable by up to five years' imprisonment. The victim's consent 
is irrelevant under both these provisions; however, in the latter case, 
reasonable belief that the victim was 15 or older is a permissible 
defense. There is no specific provision of law pertaining to child 
pornography.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was no known Jewish community and no reports 
of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--In 2009 there were no confirmed reports 
that persons were trafficked to, from, or within the country.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law does not prohibit 
discrimination on the basis of physical, sensory, intellectual, or 
mental disability. There were no known reports of discrimination 
against persons with disabilities in employment, education, or the 
provision of other state services. However, supplementary state 
services to address the special needs of persons with disabilities were 
very limited. There are no mandated building accessibility provisions 
for persons with disabilities. Although the one multi-story government 
building had elevators, they were not operational, and there were no 
elevators in other multi-story buildings. Persons with disabilities had 
limited access to information and communications. The Fusi Alofa 
Association (Tuvalu National Disabled Persons Organization) and the 
Tuvalu Red Cross undertook regular home visits to persons with 
disabilities and conducted educational programs to raise community 
awareness of the rights of persons with disabilities and to advocate 
for such persons. The Fusi Alofa Association ran basic education 
classes in Funafuti for children with disabilities who were not able to 
attend school.
    The Community Affairs Department in the Ministry of Home Affairs 
and Rural Development is responsible for protecting the rights of 
persons with disabilities.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Sodomy and acts of ``gross 
indecency between males'' are illegal, with maximum penalties of 14 and 
seven years' imprisonment, respectively, but there were no reports of 
prosecutions directed against lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender 
persons under these provisions during the year. Societal discrimination 
against persons based on sexual orientation was not common, and there 
were no reports of such discrimination during the year.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Persons with HIV/AIDS 
faced some societal discrimination. Local agents of foreign companies 
that hired seafarers from Tuvalu to work abroad barred persons with 
HIV/AIDS from employment. The Government and NGOs cooperated to inform 
the public about HIV/AIDS and to counter discrimination. There were no 
reports of violence against persons based on HIV/AIDS status.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides for the right of 
association. Workers were free to organize unions and choose their own 
labor representatives, but most of the working-age population 
(approximately 75 percent) lacked permanent employment and worked in 
the informal and subsistence economy.
    An estimated 69 percent of the wage-earning workforce was employed 
by the Government either directly (39 percent) or in public or 
semipublic corporations (30 percent). Public-sector employees, such as 
civil servants, teachers, and nurses, were members of professional 
associations that did not have union status. The only registered trade 
union, the Tuvalu Seamen's Union, had approximately 1,350 members, 
approximately 300 of whom worked on foreign merchant vessels.
    The law provides for the right to strike, but no strike has ever 
taken place.

    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 the few individual private-sector employers set 
their own wage scales. Both the private and public sectors generally 
used nonconfrontational deliberations to resolve labor disputes.
    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 age 14 from working in the formal labor 
market. The law also prohibits children under age 15 from industrial 
employment or work on any ship and stipulates that children under age 
18 are not allowed to enter into formal contracts, including work 
contracts. However, a separate provision of law allows children age 15 
or older to enter into apprenticeships of up to five years, subject to 
approval by the Commissioner of Labor. No restrictions are placed on 
the type of work that a child apprentice may perform; however, he or 
she must be medically examined and determined to be physically and 
mentally fit to be employed in the specified occupation. Apprentices 
may lawfully live away from their families; in such cases, under the 
law the contract must adequately provide for the supply of food, 
clothing, accommodation, and medical attention to the apprentice. 
However, the Government did not have sufficient resources to monitor 
and enforce child labor law provisions effectively. Children rarely 
were employed outside the traditional economy of subsistence farming 
and fishing.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage, set by the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Labor, was barely 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 sector was AUS$130 
(approximately $130). The Government does not set a minimum wage for 
the private sector. Private-sector wages were typically somewhat lower 
than the Government's minimum wage rate.
    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Labor may specify the days and 
hours of work for workers in various industries. The law sets the 
workday at eight hours. However, the ministry did not have sufficient 
resources to enforce the law during the year.
    The law provides for rudimentary health and safety standards. It 
requires employers to provide adequate potable water supply, basic 
sanitary facilities, and medical care. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
and Labor is responsible for the enforcement of these regulations, but 
in practice it provided minimal enforcement. Workers may 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 multiparty parliamentary democracy with a population 
of approximately 234,000. The head of government, Prime Minister Sato 
Kilman, was appointed in December after Edward Natapei was ousted in a 
parliamentary vote of no confidence. The most recent elections, held in 
September 2008, were considered generally free and fair. Security 
forces reported to civilian authorities. Police officials on occasion 
acted peremptorily or at the direction of senior politicians.
    Human rights problems during the year included police violence, 
poor prison conditions, arrests without warrants, an extremely slow 
judicial process, government corruption, 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.--The Government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings. On March 
4, authorities released the report of a coroner's inquest conducted by 
New Zealand Justice Nevin Dawson in the case of escaped prisoner John 
Bule, who died after sustaining multiple injuries while in police 
custody following his recapture in March 2009. The report highlighted 
police abuse by the Vanuatu Mobile Force (VMF), a police paramilitary 
unit, and called for an inquiry into Bule's death and a scaling down of 
the VMF's powers. The report noted instances of intimidation during the 
inquest, including a death threat against Dawson from a senior VMF 
officer. At year's end no one had been charged in the case, and the 
Government had not set up any commission of inquiry into the matter.
    In March a group of villagers from Kaiovo village on Maewo Island 
reportedly killed two brothers from the same village whom they accused 
of using sorcery to cause the deaths of two staff members of Gambule 
Junior Secondary School in 2009. The killings occurred on Ambae Island. 
Police arrested five suspects, who were later released on bail. Two of 
the suspects jumped bail before questioning. At year's end they were 
still at large, and police were still investigating the matter.
    During the year a court found one defendant guilty of murder and 
another guilty of intentional assault causing permanent injury in the 
case of the 2007 mob violence in which three persons were killed and 20 
injured in the Blacksands and Anabrou squatter settlements in Port 
Vila. Specific information on the first defendant's sentence was not 
available. The second defendant was sentenced to two years and nine 
months' imprisonment.

    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 of police and correctional officer abuse of criminal 
suspects and prison inmates, respectively.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Conditions at the three 
prisons in Port Vila improved slightly during the year with foreign 
donor funding but remained below international standards.
    Following the 2008 release of a report detailing prisoner 
complaints about the poor conditions at the main Port Vila prison, the 
Government established a commission of inquiry to investigate prisoner 
allegations. The commission prepared a report that was released in 
August 2009. Major recommendations included a review of certain 
sections of the Correction Services Act and demolition and rebuilding 
of buildings at the Stade Correctional Center in Port Vila. In April 
2009 a Supreme Court judge expressed the court's concern about 
treatment of inmates and ordered the public prosecutor to investigate 
and report back to the court, among other things, the names of all 
prisoners hospitalized since January 2009, details of their injuries 
and illnesses, and information on prison escapees. According to the 
public prosecutor, only one case-that of inmate Sam Koilo-had been sent 
to the courts; at year's end the case remained before the Court of 
Appeal, and no report had been released.
    At year's end the prison system held a total of 190 inmates, 
including 158 convicted prisoners and 32 pretrial detainees. There were 
five female prisoners and three male juvenile prisoners (defined by law 
as persons under age 16). Although there is no legislated maximum 
capacity for existing prison facilities, the total prison capacity 
during the year was 210. This included two men's facilities in Port 
Vila, one men's facility in Santo, and one women's facility in Port 
Vila. Male inmates were incarcerated in overcrowded facilities. Persons 
deemed mentally unfit to stand trial were held with the general prison 
population.
    In September 2009 the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Impunity 
Watch reported that the country had implemented separation of juveniles 
from adult prisoners in its correctional facilities. According to the 
acting director of the Correctional Services Department, the existing 
facilities, especially in Port Vila, made total separation of juveniles 
from adults difficult, and in some cases juveniles still were held with 
adults during the year. However, he stated that the number of juveniles 
in custody remained very low.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. Authorities permitted prisoners and 
detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities without 
censorship and to request investigation of credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions. The Office of the Ombudsman is mandated to 
investigate complaints of human rights violations; however, no 
investigations related to prison conditions were undertaken during the 
year. Supreme Court justices regularly visited prisons to monitor 
conditions.
    The Government permitted prison monitoring visits by independent 
human rights observers. During the year representatives from the UN 
High Commissioner for Human Rights visited the prisons in Port Vila.
    The Ombudsman Commission is not authorized to consider on its own 
initiative such matters as alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent 
offenders to alleviate overcrowding; addressing the status and 
circumstances of confinement of juvenile offenders; and improving 
pretrial detention, bail, and recordkeeping procedures to ensure that 
prisoners do not serve beyond the maximum sentence for the charged 
offenses. The commission can investigate specific complaints received 
from prisoners relating to such matters, but it did not undertake any 
such investigations during the year.
    There were some improvements reported in prison conditions during 
the year. According to the acting director, in line with 
recommendations from the commission of inquiry report into prisoner 
complaints of 2008, prison authorities increased activities and 
programs for prisoners, with a focus on vocational training, education, 
and arts. Foreign government assistance continued to support the 
maintenance and improvement of the existing facilities. There was an 
increase in the number of church groups visiting the correctional 
centers, and a prison ministry was established. Unlike in 2009, when 
health-care services were procured from the Red Cross to supplement 
services available through the public health system, inmates were taken 
to the local hospital to receive health-care services. The technical 
advisor of the Vanuatu Corrections Project stated that, with foreign 
government assistance, significant progress was made toward 
construction of a new correctional center, with the acquisition of a 
site and the development of a concept design in 2009. In November a 
groundbreaking ceremony was held to begin construction of a road to the 
site for the new center.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution prohibits 
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed 
these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The commissioner of 
police heads the police force, including a police maritime wing, the 
paramilitary VMF, the Immigration Department, the National Disaster 
Management Office, and the National Fire Service. Police effectiveness 
was hampered by a lack of resources and involvement in ancillary 
activities such as search and rescue operations, immigration, and 
national disaster response.
    There were allegations of police impunity, in particular with 
regard to the VMF. The report of a coroner's inquiry into the 2009 
death in custody of recaptured prison escapee John Bule (see section 
1.a.) characterized the VMF as a force with a ``culture of violence'' 
that considered itself ``above the law.''
    The Office of the Ombudsman is mandated to investigate complaints 
of security force abuses.
    During the year foreign assistance continued to address some of the 
problems confronting the force. Actions taken under the assistance 
projects included recruitment of new officers, establishment of 
additional police posts on outer islands and in rural areas, and police 
building repairs and maintenance. Under a five-year capacity-building 
project begun in 2006, seven Australian Federal Police officers were 
attached to the Vanuatu Police Force as advisors.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--A warrant 
issued by a court is required for an arrest; however, police made a 
small number of arrests without warrants during the year. The 
constitutional provision that suspects must be informed of the charges 
against them generally was observed in practice.
    A system of bail operated effectively; however, some persons not 
granted bail spent lengthy periods in pretrial detention due to 
judicial inefficiency. The ratio of pretrial detainees to the total 
prison population was relatively high. Judges, prosecutors, and police 
complained about large case backlogs due to a lack of resources and 
limited numbers of qualified judges and prosecutors. Years could pass 
before a case was brought to trial. Detainees were allowed prompt 
access to counsel and family members. The Public Defender's Office 
provided counsel to indigent defendants.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. 
The judicial system is derived from British common law. Judges conduct 
trials and render verdicts; there are no juries. 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 to counsel, a right to judicial determination of the validity 
of arrest or detention, a right to question witnesses and access 
government-held evidence, and a right of appeal. The law extends these 
rights to all citizens. The Public Defender's Office provides free 
legal counsel to indigent defendants.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary for civil matters, including for human rights 
violations; however, police were often reluctant to enforce domestic 
court orders, particularly when the orders concerned their own family 
or clan members.

    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.
    During the year charges brought against a correctional officer for 
assaulting Marc Neil-Jones, publisher of the Vanuatu Daily Post 
newspaper, in January 2009 were dropped after witnesses failed to 
confirm the identities of the defendant and three other alleged 
assailants in the case.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail; however, 
cost and lack of infrastructure limited public access to the Internet. 
The International Telecommunication Union reported that approximately 8 
percent of the country's inhabitants used the Internet in 2009.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    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.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees in providing protection and assistance to 
internally displaced persons, refugees, asylum seekers, stateless 
persons, and other persons of concern.
    The law does not address forced exile, but the Government did not 
employ it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is not a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or the 1967 Protocol 
relating to the Status of Refugees. The law does not provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has not 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. The 
Government did not grant refugee status or asylum. In practice there 
were no cases of refugees being returned or expelled to countries where 
their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, 
religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or 
political opinion. According to the immigration compliance officer, at 
year's end three Sri Lankans and one Indonesian from West Papua 
remained in Port Vila awaiting resettlement in a third 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, and citizens exercised this right in practice 
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of 
universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--The most recent national 
parliamentary elections were held in September 2008; they were 
considered generally free and fair. Allegations of bribery and 
electoral fraud were raised against then foreign minister Bakoa 
Kaltongga, two other politicians, and a former ambassador to the UN. 
The allegations included bribery of electoral officials and 
discrepancies in voting rolls that led to some voters being turned away 
from polling booths. According to the chief electoral officer, 13 
petitions were filed alleging irregularities in the elections. Of 
these, six were upheld in court, resulting in three recounts and three 
by-elections. At year's end two additional petitions were pending 
Supreme Court decisions, and the remaining petitions were withdrawn.
    Political parties could operate without restriction or outside 
interference.
    Traditional attitudes regarding male dominance and customary 
familial roles hampered women's participation in economic and political 
life. There was one woman in the 52-member Parliament. No women served 
in the cabinet. The solicitor general--the second-ranking official 
(under the attorney general) in the Office of the State Law--was a 
woman.
    There were no minorities (non-Melanesians) in Parliament or the 
cabinet.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials often engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.
    There were reports of government corruption during the year. The 
law provides for the appointment of public servants on the basis of 
merit; however, in practice political interference at times hampered 
the effective operation of the civil service.
    The ombudsman reported that, while police corruption sometimes 
occurred, his office received no specific complaints during the year.
    At year's end police were still investigating a 2008 report by the 
Office of the Ombudsman that revealed allegations of corruption and 
fraud in the Vatumauri Bay land deal. A new member of Parliament (MP) 
and a former lord mayor of Port Vila allegedly were implicated in the 
case. Although the case was referred to the Public Prosecutor's Office 
for further action, in 2009 that office sent it back to the police for 
further investigation, citing lack of sufficient evidence to prosecute.
    MPs and elected members of provincial governments are subject to a 
leadership code of conduct, which includes financial disclosure 
requirements. However, the Office of the Ombudsman confirmed that some 
officials did not comply with these disclosure requirements. The 
Ombudsman's Office and Auditor General's Office are key government 
agencies responsible for combating government corruption.
    No law provides for public access to government information. In 
practice the Government's response to requests for information from the 
media was inconsistent.
Section 5. 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. Government officials often were 
cooperative and responsive to their views.
    The president appoints a government ombudsman to a five-year term 
in consultation with other political leaders. Since its establishment 
the Ombudsman's Office has issued a number of reports critical of 
government institutions and officials. However, it did not have 
adequate resources or independent power to prosecute, and the results 
of its investigations may not be used as evidence in court proceedings. 
Cases reported to the ombudsman and deemed to be valid were referred to 
the Public Prosecutor's Office for further action, but there were few 
prosecutions.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, place of 
origin, language, or sex; however, women remained victims of 
discrimination in the tradition-based society.

    Women.--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.
    Violence against women, particularly domestic violence, was common, 
although no accurate statistics existed. 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.
    The 2008 Family Protection Act (FPA), which entered into force in 
March 2009, covers domestic violence, women's rights, children's 
rights, and family rights. Violators could face prison terms of up to 
five years or a fine of up to 100,000 vatu (approximately $1,095) or 
both. In November the Government established a Family Protection Unit 
at police headquarters in Port Vila to deal with issues addressed by 
the FPA. An officer in the Family Protection Unit confirmed that more 
than 50 protection orders were issued since the FPA's entry into force. 
A protection order does not require proof of injury; as long as there 
is a threat of violence, police can issue an order.
    There were no government programs to address domestic violence, and 
media attention to the abuse was limited. The Department of Women's 
Affairs played a role in the process for implementing the Family 
Protection Act. The Police Academy provided training in the handling of 
domestic violence and sexual assault cases. Police have a ``no drop'' 
policy under which they do not drop reported domestic violence cases; 
if the woman later wishes to withdraw her complaint, she must go to 
court to request that it be dropped.
    Churches and NGOs operated facilities for abused women. NGOs also 
played an important role in educating the public about domestic 
violence, but did not have sufficient funding to implement their 
programs fully.
    Sexual harassment is not illegal and was a problem.
    According to the country's family planning policy guidelines, 
couples and individuals have the right to decide freely the number, 
spacing and timing of their children. This right was generally upheld 
in practice. According to the national reproductive health coordinator, 
the Ministry of Health provides training on, and works to raise 
awareness of, human rights and gender equity with regard to 
reproductive health services and behavior. The country is predominantly 
a patriarchal society, and sometimes decisions on family planning and 
contraceptive use were made by the man in the relationship without 
taking the woman's views into consideration. According to country 
indicators published by the Population Reference Bureau, an estimated 
38 percent of married women ages 15-49 used some form of contraception, 
with 37 percent using modern contraceptive methods. The ministry 
cooperated with the Department of Labor on the Male Involvement in 
Reproductive Health Project, which worked to sensitize men in the 
workforce about reproductive health issues. A regional adolescent 
health and development program funded by the UN Population Fund worked 
with schools to strengthen school-based clinics and to incorporate 
counseling and services.
    The country's geographical layout in relation to service delivery 
points, both between islands and inland, sometimes made it difficult to 
obtain access to contraception; essential prenatal, obstetric, and 
postpartum care; and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, 
including HIV. Obstacles included lack of adequate roads and the high 
cost of transport to reach health-care facilities. According to the 
World Health Organization, the estimated maternal mortality ratio was 
70 deaths per 100,000 live births, and nearly 93 percent of births were 
attended by skilled health personnel. Women were equally diagnosed and 
treated for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
    While women have equal rights under the law, they were 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. The majority of 
women entered into marriage through ``bride-price payment,'' a practice 
that encouraged men to view women as property. Although the law does 
not prohibit women from owning or inheriting land, in practice women 
generally were barred by tradition from land ownership. Many female 
leaders viewed village chiefs as major obstacles to social, political, 
and economic rights for women.
    In practice women experienced discrimination in access to 
employment, credit, and pay equity for substantially similar work. 
Vanuatu Transparency Limited and the South Pacific Commission, through 
a program of the Pacific Regional Rights Resource Team, worked to 
increase awareness of women's legal rights. The Government, with the 
assistance of the UN Development Program, ran the Vanuatu Women's 
Development Scheme (VANWODS). VANWODS provided poor and disadvantaged 
women with microloans to start income-producing activities, with the 
goal of making these activities progressively more self-financing. 
Women interested in running for public office received encouragement 
from the Vanuatu Council of Women and the Department of Women's 
Affairs, which also offered training programs and funding.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived through one's parents.
    The Government stressed the importance of children's rights and 
welfare, but there were significant problems with regard to education. 
Although there is a free and universal education policy, school fees 
served as a barrier to education. In October the Government released 
its second and final tranche of funds to honor a commitment made in 
2009 to provide all primary-school children (grades 1-6) with a stipend 
to pay school fees.
    School attendance is not compulsory. Boys tended to receive more 
education than did girls. Although attendance rates were similar in the 
early primary grades, fewer girls advanced to the higher grades. A 
significant portion of the population, perhaps as high as 50 percent, 
was functionally illiterate.
    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.
    In December Supreme Court Justice Oliver Sasak gave a suspended 
three-year sentence to a man who pleaded guilty to the sexual assault 
of a 10-year-old girl on the island of Epi; the chairperson of the NGO 
Pacific Network against Violence against Women criticized the leniency 
of the sentence.
    Children generally were protected within the traditional extended 
family system. Members of the extended family played an active role in 
a child's development. Virtually no children were homeless or 
abandoned.
    The legal age for marriage is 21, although boys between 18 and 21 
and girls between 16 and 21 may marry with parental permission. In 
rural areas and some outer islands, some children married at younger 
ages.
    There were some children under age 18 who were engaged in 
prostitution.
    Section 97 of the penal code addresses statutory rape. It provides 
for a maximum legal penalty for violators of five years' imprisonment 
if the child is over age 12 but under age 15, or 14 years' imprisonment 
if the child is under age 13.
    Child pornography is illegal. The maximum penalty is five years' 
imprisonment if the child is age 14 or older, and seven years' 
imprisonment if the child is under age 14.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual Report on Compliance with the Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction at http://
travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--
4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The country's Jewish community was limited to a few 
foreign nationals, and there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--In 2009 there were no confirmed reports 
that persons were trafficked to, from, or within the country.

    Persons With Disabilities.--There is no law specifically 
prohibiting discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, 
intellectual, or mental disabilities. There is a national policy 
designed to protect the rights of persons with disabilities, but the 
Government did not implement it effectively. There were no special 
programs to assist persons with disabilities and no legislation 
mandating access to buildings, information, and communications for 
them. Their protection and care were left to the traditional extended 
family and NGOs. In practice most buildings were not accessible to 
persons with disabilities. Due to a high rate of unemployment, few jobs 
were available for persons with disabilities. Persons with mental 
illness generally did not receive specialized care; members of their 
extended families usually attended to them.
    The Ministry of Justice and Social Welfare is responsible for 
overseeing the implementation of the country's obligations under the UN 
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Most of the population is 
Melanesian. 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 prime real estate was increasingly leased to others. 
Within the limits of this system of land tenure, there generally were 
no reports of discrimination against ethnic minorities; however, only 
indigenous farmers may legally grow kava, a native herb, for export.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There were no reports of 
societal violence or discrimination against persons based on sexual 
orientation or gender identity.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of societal violence or discrimination against persons based on HIV/
AIDS status.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides all workers with the 
right to organize and join unions, and workers exercised this right in 
practice. Approximately 15,000 persons participated in the formal 
economy as wage earners. Combined union membership in the private and 
public sectors was approximately 1,900. The two existing trade unions, 
the Vanuatu Teacher's Union and the Vanuatu National Worker's Union, 
were independent of the Government and grouped under an umbrella 
organization, the Vanuatu Council of Trade Unions. The high percentage 
(approximately 70 percent) of the population engaged in subsistence 
agriculture and fishing precluded extensive union activity. Unions 
require government permission to affiliate with international labor 
federations, but the Government has not denied any union such 
permission.
    Workers have the right to strike, and this right was exercised in 
practice. The law prohibits retaliation for legal strikes. In the case 
of private-sector employees, complaints of violations are referred to 
the Department of Labor for conciliation and arbitration. In the public 
sector, the Public Service Commission handles 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.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Unions 
exercised the right to organize and bargain collectively. They 
negotiated 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 magistrates' courts. 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.
    While the law does not require union recognition, it prohibits 
antiunion discrimination once a union is recognized. Complaints of 
antiunion discrimination are referred to the Department of Labor. There 
were no known employee complaints of such discrimination received by 
the department during the year.
    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.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits children under age 12 from working outside family-owned 
agricultural production, where many children assisted their parents. 
The employment of children from 12 to 18 years of age is restricted by 
occupational category and conditions of labor, including employment in 
the shipping industry and nighttime employment. However, the Department 
of Labor did not effectively enforce these laws.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--In 2008 the Department of Labor 
increased the minimum wage to 26,000 vatu (approximately $285) per 
month. The minimum wage was enforced effectively, but 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 their incomes through subsistence farming.
    Various laws regulated benefits such as sick leave, annual 
vacations, and other conditions of employment, including a 44-hour 
maximum workweek that included at least one 24-hour rest period. The 
Employment Act provides for a premium of 50 to 75 percent over the 
normal rate of pay for overtime work. A 2008 amendment to the act 
increased maternity leave pay from 50 percent of salary to full salary 
for up to 12 weeks.
    The Employment Act, enforced by the Department of Labor, 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 four inspectors attached to the Department of 
Labor could not enforce the law fully. Laws on working conditions and 
safety standards apply equally to foreign workers and citizens.

                               __________

                                VIETNAM

    The Socialist Republic of Vietnam, with a population of 
approximately 88.6 million, is an authoritarian state ruled by the 
Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), led by General Secretary Nong Duc 
Manh, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, and President Nguyen Minh Triet. 
The most recent National Assembly elections, held in 2007, were neither 
free nor fair, since the CPV's Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF), an 
umbrella group that monitored the country's mass organizations, vetted 
all candidates. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    Citizens could not change their government, and political 
opposition movements were prohibited. The Government increased its 
suppression of dissent, arresting at least 25 political activists, 
convicting 14 dissidents arrested in 2008, 2009, and 2010, and denying 
the appeals of another 10 dissidents convicted at the end of 2009. 
Police commonly mistreated suspects during arrest or detention. Prison 
conditions were often austere. Although professionalism in the police 
force improved, members of the police sometimes acted with impunity. 
Individuals were arbitrarily detained for political activities and 
denied the right to fair and expeditious trials. Political influence, 
endemic corruption, and inefficiency strongly distorted the judicial 
system. The Government increased measures to limit citizens' privacy 
rights and freedom of the press, speech, assembly, movement, and 
association. Internet freedom was further restricted as the Government 
orchestrated attacks against critical Web sites and spied on dissident 
bloggers. Freedom of religion continued to be subject to uneven 
interpretation and protection; despite some progress, significant 
problems remained, especially at the provincial and village levels. 
Police corruption remained a significant problem. The Government 
maintained its prohibition of independent human rights organizations. 
Violence and discrimination against women as well as trafficking in 
persons continued to be problems, despite laws and government efforts 
to combat such practices. Some ethnic minority groups suffered societal 
discrimination. The Government limited workers' rights to form and join 
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 
reports that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings; however, there were reports of nine deaths of 
persons in custody during the year. In nearly all cases, police alleged 
the victim committed suicide.
    In January Nguyen Quoc Bao died while in custody in Hanoi, 
allegedly as the result of being beaten by police after being detained 
for a traffic violation. There was no reported investigation into Bao's 
death.
    Vo Van Khanh died in police custody in May in Quang Nam Province, 
after police arrested him for a traffic violation. There was no 
reported investigation into police conduct, despite allegations of 
abuse leading to Khanh's death.
    In June two individuals allegedly died as the result of beatings 
received while in detention: Nguyen Phu Trung was detained by police 
for his suspected involvement in a burglary in Hanoi, and Vu Van Hien 
died after being taken to the hospital in Thai Nguyen Province 
following a beating in detention. Several police officers in Hanoi 
reportedly were either arrested, suspended, or fired for their 
involvement in Trung's death.
    In July Nguyen Van Khuong in Bac Giang Province was beaten to death 
after being arrested for a traffic violation. One police officer 
involved in the questioning of Khuong was arrested for use of excessive 
force.
    In August Tran Duy Hai died in police custody in Hau Giang Province 
shortly after questioning related to his supposed involvement in a 
burglary. Police claimed Hai committed suicide, but family members 
asserted he was beaten to death. There was no reported investigation 
into police conduct.
    Tran Ngoc Duong died in police custody in Dong Nai Province in 
September after being arrested for involvement in a neighborhood 
dispute. An investigation into police conduct reportedly was initiated.
    There were two deaths in custody in December: Nguyen Van Thang died 
after he was arrested in Haiphong Province, and Dang Van Den died after 
being detained in An Giang Province for allegedly being involved in a 
burglary. There were reports that police were investigating the cause 
of Thang's death. In An Giang Province, police detained several other 
individuals following public protests of police involvement in the 
death of Den in custody.
    In addition, police in Thanh Hoa Province shot and killed two 
individuals in May, including a 12-year-old child, who were 
participating in a land-rights protest against a large state-owned 
enterprise. Press reports claimed that police were investigating the 
actions of officers involved, but there was no public information on 
the results of the investigation.
    There were no developments in the case of Y Ben Hdok, a Montagnard 
from Dak Lak who died while in detention in 2008.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.
    There was no information on the whereabouts of Thich Tri Khai, a 
monk from the unregistered Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, arrested 
in 2008.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The law prohibits physical abuse; however, police commonly 
mistreated suspects physically during arrest or detention. Incidents of 
police harassment were reported in Hanoi and Danang and in the 
provinces of Bac Giang, Binh Phuoc, Dak Lak, Dien Bien, Hanoi, Gia Lai, 
Ha Giang, Lai Chau, Nghe An, Quang Nam, Son La, Thai Binh, Thai Nguyen, 
Thanh Hoa, and Tra Vinh.
    Many incidents were related to unrecognized Protestant churches 
seeking to hold services in these provinces. For example, several small 
house churches affiliated with the Inter-Evangelistic Movement (IEM) 
continued to report difficulties in several locations in Dien Bien 
Province, where police in past years broke up meetings of worshippers. 
Local authorities there refused to register IEM meeting points and 
pressured followers to abandon their faith. Between July 2009 and March 
2010, Pastor Nguyen Trung Ton, head of the Full Gospel Church in Thanh 
Hoa Province, reported repeated and extended harassment and beatings by 
local and provincial police at several different Full Gospel meeting 
points in Thanh Hoa. Local officials interrupted numerous church 
gatherings and detained and physically abused church members and 
leaders, including Ton and his family. Authorities did not investigate 
the actions of security officials or those hired to carry out the 
physical attacks. Ton was a member of the Bloc 8406 political movement 
and a close affiliate of dissidents Le Thi Cong Nhan and Do Nam Hai.
    Land-rights protesters in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Danang, and 
several Mekong Delta provinces also reported harassment from local 
authorities. Most incidents between local authorities and ethnic 
minorities involved land, money, or domestic disputes.
    The Government reported that more than 33,000 drug users were 
living in forced detoxification labor camps. The overwhelming majority 
of these individuals were administratively sentenced to two years 
without judicial review.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions could be 
austere but generally were not life threatening. Overcrowding, 
insufficient diet, lack of clean drinking water, and poor sanitation 
remained serious problems. Prisoners generally were required to work 
but received no wages. Foreign diplomats observed Spartan but clean 
living areas and generally acceptable labor conditions during a 
November 2009 visit to Nam Ha Prison in Ha Nam Province. Prisoners 
sometimes were placed in solitary confinement, where they were deprived 
of reading and writing materials for periods of up to several months. 
Family members made credible claims that prisoners received benefits by 
paying bribes to prison officials or undertaking hunger strikes.
    Prisoners had access to basic health care, with additional medical 
services available at district or provincial hospitals. However, in 
many cases officials prevented family members from providing medication 
to prisoners. Family members of imprisoned activists who experienced 
health problems claimed that medical treatment was inadequate, 
resulting in greater long-term health complications.
    The total number of prisoners and detainees was not publicly 
available. Pretrial detainees were held separately from convicted 
prisoners. Juveniles were held separately from adults in prison, but on 
rare occasions they were held with adults in detention for short 
periods of time due to unavailability of space. Men and women were held 
separately. Political prisoners were typically sent to specially 
designated prisons that also held other regular criminals, and in most 
cases political prisoners were kept separate from nonpolitical 
prisoners. Some high-profile political prisoners were kept in complete 
isolation from all other prisoners. While prison sentences could be 
extremely lengthy, prisoners were not forced to serve beyond the 
maximum sentence for their charged offense.
    Prisoners were limited to one 30-minute family visit a month, and 
family members were generally permitted to give supplemental food and 
bedding to prisoners. Prisoners did not have the right to manifest 
their religious beliefs or practices in public. Roman Catholic priest 
Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly (released in March), Le Thi Cong Nhan, and 
Nguyen Van Dai were allowed to keep the Bibles given to them by 
visiting foreign delegations, but in general prisoners were denied 
access to religious books and scriptures. Prisoners were allowed to 
submit complaints to prison management and judicial authorities, but 
their complaints were routinely ignored.
    Authorities allowed foreign diplomats and a foreign delegation to 
make limited prison visits and meet with prisoners in various prisons. 
The press was permitted limited visits to prisons, but state control of 
the media restricted reporting on living conditions. In the past the 
International Committee of the Red Cross was permitted to visit 
prisons, but no such visits occurred during the year. No individuals 
were allowed to serve on behalf of prisoners and detainees to consider 
such matters as alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The criminal code allows the 
Government to detain persons without charges indefinitely under vague 
``national security'' provisions such as articles 84, 88, and 258. The 
Government also arrested and detained indefinitely individuals under 
other legal provisions. Authorities subjected several dissidents 
throughout the country to administrative detention or house arrest.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Internal security is 
the responsibility of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS); however, 
in some remote areas, the military is the primary government agency and 
performs 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 maintains a system of household registration and block 
wardens to monitor the population. While this system was less intrusive 
than in the past, it continued to be used to monitor those suspected of 
engaging, or likely to engage, in unauthorized political activities. 
Credible reports suggested that local police used ``contract thugs'' 
and ``citizen brigades'' to harass and beat political activists and 
others, including religious worshippers, perceived as ``undesirable'' 
or a ``threat'' to public security.
    Police organizations exist at the provincial, district, and local 
levels and are subject to the authority of people's committees at each 
level. At the commune level, it was common for guard forces made up of 
residents to assist the police. The police were generally effective at 
maintaining public order, but police capabilities, especially 
investigative, were generally very low. Police training and resources 
were inadequate.
    The Government cooperated with several foreign governments in a 
program for provincial police and prison management officials to 
improve the professionalism of security forces.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The criminal 
code outlines the process by which individuals are taken into custody 
and treated until they are brought before a court or other tribunal for 
judgment. The Supreme People's Procuracy (Public Prosecutor's Office) 
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 person. The procuracy issues retroactive warrants in such 
cases. The procuracy must issue a decision to initiate a formal 
criminal investigation of a detainee within nine days; otherwise, 
police must release the suspect. In practice the nine-day regulation 
was often circumvented.
    The investigative period typically lasted from three months for 
less serious offenses (punishable by up to three years' imprisonment) 
to 16 months for exceptionally serious offenses (punishable by more 
than 15 years' imprisonment or capital punishment) or more than two 
years for national security cases. However, at times investigations 
were prolonged indefinitely. The criminal code further permits the 
procuracy to request additional two-month periods of detention after an 
investigation to consider whether to prosecute a detainee or ask police 
to investigate further. Investigators sometimes used physical abuse, 
isolation, excessively lengthy interrogation sessions, and sleep 
deprivation to compel detainees to confess.
    By law detainees are permitted access to lawyers from the time of 
their detention; however, authorities used bureaucratic delays to deny 
access to legal counsel. In cases investigated under broad national 
security laws, authorities prohibited defense lawyers' access to 
clients until after an investigation had ended and the suspect had been 
formally charged with a crime, most often after approximately four 
months. Under the regulations, investigations can be continued and 
access to counsel denied for more than two years. In addition a 
scarcity of trained lawyers and insufficient protection of defendant 
rights made prompt detainee access to an attorney rare. In practice 
only juveniles and persons formally charged with capital crimes were 
assigned lawyers.
    Attorneys must be informed of and allowed to attend interrogations 
of their clients. However, a defendant first must request the presence 
of a lawyer, and it was unclear whether authorities always informed 
defendants of this right. Attorneys also must be given access to case 
files and be permitted to make copies of documents. Attorneys were 
sometimes able to exercise these rights.
    Police generally informed families of detainees' whereabouts, but 
family members could visit a detainee only with the permission of the 
investigator, and this permission was not regularly granted. During the 
investigative period, authorities routinely denied detainees access to 
family members, especially in national security cases. Prior to a 
formal indictment, detainees also have the right to notify family 
members. However, a number of detainees suspected of national security 
violations were held incommunicado. There is no functioning bail system 
or equivalent system of conditional release. Time spent in pretrial 
detention counts toward time served upon conviction and sentencing.
    Courts may sentence persons to administrative detention of up to 
five years after completion of a sentence. In addition police or mass 
organizations can propose that one of five ``administrative measures'' 
be imposed by people's committee chairpersons at district and 
provincial levels without a trial. The measures include terms ranging 
from six to 24 months in either juvenile reformatories or adult 
detention centers and generally were applied to repeat offenders with a 
record of minor offenses, such as committing petty theft or 
``humiliating other persons.'' Terms of 24 months were standard for 
drug users and prostitutes. Individuals sentenced to detention 
facilities were forced to meet work quotas to pay for services and the 
cost of their detention. Chairpersons may also impose terms of 
``administrative probation,'' which generally was some form of 
restriction on movement and travel. Authorities continued to punish 
some individuals using vaguely worded national security provisions in 
the criminal code.
    Six police officers in Quang Ninh Province were administratively 
punished in December after a video they took while arresting several 
alleged prostitutes later appeared on the Internet. Police officers 
were shown in the video prohibiting several naked crying women from 
covering themselves while being questioned, videotaped, and 
photographed. Three of the police officers were demoted two ranks, two 
were demoted one rank, and one officer received a written reprimand for 
violating the rights of the accused.
    Arbitrary detentions, particularly for political activists, 
remained a problem. The Government used decrees, ordinances, and other 
measures to detain activists for the peaceful expression of opposing 
political views (see section 2.a.). During the year authorities 
increasingly charged political dissidents with violating article 79, 
``attempting to overthrow the state,'' due to their alleged membership 
in political parties other than the CPV. While violators of article 79 
had the possibility of receiving the death penalty, they typically 
received sentences of up to seven years in prison, although one 
individual received a sentence of 16 years' imprisonment. Unlike in 
previous years, all activists who appealed their sentences had their 
original sentences upheld.
    There were continued reports that government officials in the 
Central and Northwest Highlands temporarily detained ethnic minority 
individuals for communicating with the ethnic minority community 
abroad.
    Peaceful land-rights protests in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi 
resulted in the temporary detention and surveillance of several 
organizers, although the Government handled the dispersal of these 
protests without significant violence.
    Religious and political activists also were subject to varying 
degrees of informal detention in their residences. In Ho Chi Minh City, 
prominent activists Nguyen Dan Que and Do Nam Hai remained under house 
arrest.

    Amnesty.--In honor of National Day, the central government 
amnestied approximately 17,500 prisoners, the overwhelming majority of 
whom had ordinary criminal convictions. More than 100 Montagnards from 
the Central Highlands convicted of violating national security laws in 
2001 and 2004 were released during the year.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for the 
independence of judges and lay assessors; however, in practice the CPV 
controlled the courts at all levels through its effective control over 
judicial appointments and other mechanisms. In many cases the CPV 
determined verdicts. Most, if not all, judges were members of the CPV 
and were chosen at least in part for their political views. As in past 
years, the judicial system was strongly distorted by political 
influence, endemic corruption, and inefficiency. CPV influence was 
particularly notable in high-profile cases and other instances in which 
a person was charged with challenging or harming the CPV or the state.
    There was a shortage of trained lawyers and judges. Low 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. The Government continued to participate in 
training programs to address the problem of inadequately trained judges 
and other court officials.
    In May the Government granted a foreign nongovernmental 
organization (NGO) an operating license to conduct training initiatives 
aimed at reforming the criminal code and strengthening lawyers' 
capacity.
    The Vietnam Bar Federation, a national professional association 
created in May 2009 to represent practicing attorneys, falls under the 
supervision of the VFF and closely coordinated with the Ministry of 
Justice and the Vietnam Lawyers Association. The federation acted as an 
umbrella association overseeing the functions of local bar associations 
and continued developing a professional code of conduct for lawyers.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides that citizens are 
innocent until proven guilty; however, many lawyers complained that 
judges generally presumed guilt. Trials generally were open to the 
public, but in sensitive cases judges closed trials or strictly limited 
attendance. Juries are not used. The public prosecutor brings charges 
against an accused person and serves as prosecutor during trials. 
Defendants have the right to be present and have a lawyer at trial, 
although not necessarily the lawyer of their choice, and this right was 
generally upheld in practice. Defendants unable to afford a lawyer 
generally were provided one only in cases involving a juvenile offender 
or with possible sentences of life imprisonment or capital punishment. 
The defendant or defense lawyer has the right to cross-examine 
witnesses; however, there were cases in which neither defendants nor 
their lawyers were allowed to have access to government evidence in 
advance of the trial, cross-examine witnesses, or challenge statements. 
Defense lawyers commonly had little time before trials to examine 
evidence against their clients. In national security cases, judges 
occasionally silenced defense lawyers who were making arguments on 
behalf of their clients in court that because the judges deemed the 
arguments reactionary. Convicted persons have the right to appeal. 
District and provincial courts did not publish their proceedings. The 
Supreme People's Court continued to publish the proceedings of all 
cases it reviewed.
    There continued to be credible reports that authorities pressured 
defense lawyers not to take as clients any religious or democracy 
activists facing trial, and several lawyers who took these cases faced 
harassment, arrest, conviction, and occasionally disbarment. Other 
human rights lawyers, such as Le Cong Dinh, Le Tran Luat, Le Thi Cong 
Nhan, and Le Quoc Quan, were stripped of their bar memberships and were 
not permitted to practice law.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no precise estimates 
of the number of political prisoners. The Government reportedly held 
more than 100 political detainees at year's end, although some 
international observers claimed there were even more.
    In January in Phu Yen Province, lay preachers Ksor Y Du and Kpa Y 
Ko, affiliated with the Good News Mission Church, were arrested for 
alleged connections with the United Front for the Liberation of 
Oppressed Races (FULRO) and for opposing the Government. Police 
allegedly handcuffed and dragged Ksor Y Du behind a motorbike to the 
police station. The Government's Committee for Religious Affairs (CRA) 
asserted that both had long-time connections with FULRO, an armed 
guerrilla group that sought the creation of an independent Montagnard 
state, and had prior convictions for ``illegally crossing the border.'' 
The CRA contended that they had been ``embroiled by hostile forces'' in 
a plot to encourage a separatist movement by sowing division among 
ethnic communities. In November both were tried jointly and convicted 
in Phu Yen Provincial Court. Ksor Y Du was sentenced to six years' 
imprisonment and Kpa Y Ko to four years' imprisonment for attempting to 
organize demonstrations, causing political and security disorder, and 
dividing national solidarity.
    On January 24, dissident Nguyen Ba Dang, a member of the People's 
Democratic Party (PDP), was arrested in Hai Duong Province and charged 
with violating article 88, which prohibits distribution of propaganda 
against the state. He awaited trial at year's end.
    In February Doan Huy Chuong, Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung, and Do Thi 
Minh Hanh, affiliated with the For the People's Party (FPP) and the 
United Workers and Farmers Organization (UWFO), were arrested for 
distributing pamphlets calling for citizens to advocate for democracy 
and fight attempted invasions from China. The distribution of the 
leaflets was a joint campaign by Viet Tan, Rally for Justice, the PDP, 
and the Viet Labor Movement. The individuals were tried jointly in 
October and convicted of violating article 89, ``causing public 
disorder to oppose the people's government.'' Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung 
was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment, while Do Thi Minh Hanh and 
Doan Huy Chuong each were sentenced to seven years' imprisonment.
    On April 19, Pham Thi Phuong and her husband Pham Ba Huy were 
arrested in Ho Chi Minh City for planning ``terrorist activities.'' The 
Government alleged that Phuong, an FPP member, left the country in 2002 
while under investigation for fraud and illegally returned as part of a 
campaign to bomb statues in Ho Chi Minh City. The Government also 
alleged that the FPP had paid her $5,000 to carry out the bombing. They 
were awaiting trial at year's end.
    In May a priest with the unrecognized Cao Dai faith in Tay Ninh was 
convicted for ``slandering an on-duty official,'' according to the MPS-
affiliated People's Police newspaper. The priest was arrested in 
November 2009 after criticizing several police officers for actions 
against religious followers of the unrecognized Cao Dai faith. In 2008 
the priest had led a protest of more than 300 followers of the group to 
the Cao Dai Holy See to denounce the leader of the official Cao Dai 
organization and demand that the officially recognized church return 
properties, including the Cao Dai Holy See, to the unrecognized church.
    In June Doan Van Chac was arrested after evading arrest for 27 
years. In 1983 Doan participated in a campaign against the Government 
that resulted in the deaths of three government officials. He was 
awaiting trial at year's end.
    In June Phung Lam from Binh Phuoc Province was arrested for alleged 
ties to the Democratic Party of Vietnam (DPV) and DPV chairman Nguyen 
Sy Binh. Police claimed that Lam posted articles opposing the 
Government on the Internet. Lam fled to Cambodia in May but was 
arrested when he attempted to return to visit his family in June. He 
was awaiting trial at year's end.
    In July and August, Nguyen Thanh Nam and Pham Van Thong from Ben 
Tre Province, Pastor Duong Kim Khai from Ho Chi Minh City, and Tran Thi 
Thuy from Dong Thap were arrested for their alleged ties to Viet Tan 
and for organizing and advocating on behalf of land-rights claimants in 
Ben Tre and Dong Thap provinces; they were charged with violating 
article 79. The Government alleged that several of the individuals had 
participated in Viet Tan training in Thailand. Several family members 
of the accused denied any connection to Viet Tan. In November 
authorities arrested lay pastor Nguyen Chi Thanh and congregant Pham 
Ngoc Hoa, affiliated with Khai and the unrecognized Mennonite Church, 
on the same charge for their alleged ties to Viet Tan and their work 
with Khai. All awaited trial at year's end.
    In August Pham Minh Hoang, a dual foreign national and professor at 
the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, was arrested for his 
alleged ties to Viet Tan and for posting critical comments online 
against the Government under a pseudonym; he was charged with violating 
article 79. Hoang's family denied any connection to Viet Tan. He was 
awaiting trial at year's end.
    On October 10, Australian citizen Vo Hong was arrested for her 
involvement in a public protest sponsored by Viet Tan against China's 
actions over maritime boundary disputes on the eve of Hanoi's 1,000th 
anniversary. Hong was originally charged with terrorism but was 
released and deported after being detained for 11 days.
    On October 29, U.S. citizen Le Kin was arrested in Ho Chi Minh City 
for violating article 79 relating to his alleged involvement with 
overseas political organizations critical of the Government. He was 
awaiting trial at year's end.
    In November attorney Cu Huy Ha Vu was arrested first for allegedly 
soliciting a prostitute but later for violating article 88 relating to 
his Internet articles and interviews with foreign media criticizing 
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. Vu twice sued the prime minister, first 
for the controversial decision to allow Chinese companies to mine 
bauxite in the Central Highlands, and second for issuing a decree that 
restricted complaints against the Government. He was awaiting trial at 
year's end. Vu, a former employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 
is the son of Cu Huy Can, a friend of Ho Chi Minh and famous 
revolutionary poet who served as the first minister of agriculture and 
later as minister of culture.
    Vu Duc Trung and Le Van Thanh, affiliated with the Falun Gong 
movement, were arrested in Hanoi in November for illegally broadcasting 
information into China. According to state-run media, Chinese officials 
asked the Vietnamese government to initiate the arrests. Both were 
awaiting trial at year's end.
    In December Chau Heng, a Khmer Krom land-rights activist from An 
Giang Province, was arrested upon reentering Vietnam after being denied 
political refugee status by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for 
Refugees (UNHCR) in Thailand. Heng led large-scale protests in 2007 and 
2008 against local government land seizures.
    On January 20, prominent attorney Le Cong Dinh, businessman and 
blogger Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, Le Thang Long, and DPV leader and Viet 
Youth for Democracy cofounder Nguyen Tien Trung, arrested in mid-2009, 
were tried jointly in Ho Chi Minh City for violating article 79. The 
Government claimed the individuals were involved in a plot to create 
new political parties and overthrow the Government. Dinh and Trung pled 
guilty to joining political parties other than the CPV but denied they 
were attempting to overthrow the Government. They were sentenced to 
five and seven years' imprisonment, respectively. Long and Thuc 
maintained their innocence but were sentenced to five and 16 years' 
imprisonment, respectively. Foreign diplomats and journalists were 
permitted to attend the trial. Several foreign governments denounced 
the proceedings and sentences. On March 11, the Ho Chi Minh City 
Appellate Court rejected the appeals of Le Cong Dinh, Le Thang Long, 
and Tran Huynh Duy Thuc and upheld their original sentences. Foreign 
diplomats and journalists were denied admittance to the appeals court. 
Nguyen Tien Trung did not appeal his verdict.
    On April 29, the Thai Binh Province Appeals Court upheld the five-
and-a-half-year prison term of Tran Anh Kim, arrested in July 2009 and 
convicted in December 2009 for violating article 79 due to his 
leadership role in the DPV.
    On April 20, four FPP members arrested in September 2009 were 
convicted in Lam Dong Province for violating article 91 for ``fleeing 
abroad to oppose the Government.'' Duong Au was sentenced to five 
years' imprisonment and five years' administrative probation, Phung 
Quang Quyen was sentenced to four years' imprisonment and four years' 
administrative probation, and Truong Van Kim and Truong Thi Tam were 
each sentenced to three years' imprisonment and three years' 
administrative probation.
    On February 5, dissident author Tran Khai Thanh Thuy was convicted 
of assault in Hanoi and sentenced to three-and-one-half years in prison 
following an October 2009 incident in which she and her husband, Do Ba 
Tan, were attacked by unidentified individuals. Thuy was struck in the 
head with a brick but was charged with assault. Do Ba Tan was sentenced 
to two years' probation. Foreign diplomats and journalists were 
permitted to attend the trial but not the appeals hearing in April that 
upheld her original sentence. There were credible reports that Thuy was 
beaten in August by another prisoner. Foreign diplomats were denied 
repeated requests to visit Thuy in prison.
    On January 18, the Hanoi Appellate Court upheld the three-year 
sentences of Bloc 8406 members Tran Duc Thach and Vu Van Hung and the 
four-year sentence of Pham Van Troi. All three were arrested in 2008 
and convicted of violating article 88 in October 2009 for displaying 
banners that criticized the Communist Party and advocated multiparty 
democracy. Foreign diplomats and journalists were not permitted to 
attend the appeal.
    On January 21, the Haiphong Appellate Court rejected the appeals of 
six dissidents affiliated with Bloc 8406 who were arrested in 2008 and 
convicted in October 2009 for violating article 88. The six were 
sentenced to jail terms ranging from two to six years' imprisonment for 
displaying banners that criticized the Communist Party and advocated 
multiparty democracy. Foreign diplomats and journalists were not 
allowed to attend the appeals trial.
    On January 29, Pham Thanh Nghien, a Bloc 8406 member arrested in 
2008, was convicted in Haiphong for violating article 88 and sentenced 
to four years' imprisonment and three years' administrative probation 
relating to her petition to hold a demonstration against the 
Government's policies on inflation and for criticizing the Government's 
handling of border disputes with China. Nghien's family, journalists, 
and foreign diplomats were not permitted to attend the appeal 
proceedings.
    Several other political dissidents affiliated with outlawed 
political organizations, including Bloc 8406, PDP, People's Action 
Party, Free Vietnam Organization, DPV, UWFO, and others, remained in 
prison or under house arrest in various locations. In March Bloc 8406 
published a list of 38 members imprisoned for their affiliation with 
the movement.
    Several of approximately 30 activists arrested in 2006-07 but later 
released remained under investigation and administrative detention 
without being formally charged.
    International NGOs estimated that several hundred ethnic minority 
demonstrators associated with the 2004 Central Highlands protests 
remained in prison.
    Authorities also detained and imprisoned persons who used the 
Internet to publish ideas on human rights, government policies, and 
political pluralism (see section 2.a., Internet Freedom).
    Several persons, including political activists and religious 
leaders, were released during the year.
    In June Mennonite pastor Nguyen Thi Hong was released five months 
early following her January 2009 conviction for ``abusing trust to 
appropriate property'' related to alleged unpaid debts owed by her 
deceased husband.
    In March, following two strokes in prison in July and November 
2009, dissident Catholic priest Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly was granted a 
one-year humanitarian medical release to allow him to seek treatment 
for a brain tumor. Ly was arrested in 2007 for violating article 88 due 
to his role in cofounding the Bloc 8406 movement and the Vietnam 
Progressive Party (VPP) and was sentenced to 8 years' imprisonment.
    In March Le Thi Cong Nhan--well-known human rights attorney, Bloc 
8406 cofounder, and VPP spokeswoman--was released from prison after 
completing her three-year sentence. Nhan was arrested in 2007 and 
convicted of violating article 88.
    In August Truong Minh Nguyet was released from prison. A member of 
the Vietnamese Patriots Group and vice chair of the Vietnam Political 
and Religious Prisoners Friendship Association, Nguyet was arrested in 
2007 and sentenced to four years' imprisonment for ``abusing democratic 
freedoms.''
    In August PDP founding member Le Nguyen Sang was released from 
prison after completing his four-year sentence. Sang was arrested in Ho 
Chi Minh City in 2006 for violating article 88, related to his 
involvement with the PDP.
    In May PDP founding member Nguyen Bac Truyen was released after 
completing his three-and-a-half-year prison sentence. Truyen was 
arrested in Ho Chi Minh City in 2006 for violating article 88 related 
to his role in the creation of the PDP.
    Mai Thi Dung, a member of the unrecognized Hoa Hao Buddhist Church, 
was released in August after completing her five-year sentence. Dung 
was arrested in 2005 and convicted in 2006 for ``disturbing the public 
order'' and assaulting police after allegedly assisting in pouring 
gasoline on a local official.
    During the year there were reports that authorities released more 
than 100 Montagnards from the Central Highlands convicted of violating 
national security laws relating to 2001 and 2004 protests in the 
Central Highlands.
    In July Dinh Quang Hai was released after completing his 10-year 
sentence. In September Huynh Buu Chau was released after completing an 
11-year sentence. He was arrested in 1999 in Cambodia while petitioning 
the UNHCR for refugee status; Cambodian officials escorted Chau to the 
Vietnamese border and turned him over to Vietnamese police. He was 
subsequently convicted of ``fleeing abroad to oppose the Government.''
    Nguyen Anh Hao was released in July after completing a 13-year 
sentence. Hao was arrested in 1997 and convicted of ``fleeing abroad to 
oppose the Government.''
    In July Truong Van Suong was granted a one-year humanitarian 
medical release due to declining health after spending 33 years in 
detention, including six years in reeducation camps (1975-81).

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is no clear or 
effective mechanism for pursuing a civil action to redress or remedy 
abuses committed by authorities. Civil suits are heard by 
administrative courts, civil courts, and criminal courts, all of which 
follow the same procedures as in criminal cases and are adjudicated by 
members of the same body of judges and lay assessors. All three levels 
were subject to the same problems of corruption, lack of independence, 
and inexperience.
    By law a citizen seeking to press a complaint regarding a human 
rights violation by a civil servant is required first to petition the 
officer accused of committing the violation for permission to refer the 
complaint to the administrative courts. If a petition is refused, the 
citizen may refer it to the officer's superior. If the officer or his 
superior agrees to allow the complaint to be heard, the matter is taken 
up by the administrative courts. If the administrative courts agree 
that the case should be pursued, it is referred either to the civil 
courts for suits involving physical injury seeking redress of less than 
20 percent of health-care costs resulting from the alleged abuse, or to 
the criminal courts for redress of more than 20 percent of such costs. 
In practice this elaborate system of referral and permission ensured 
that citizens had little effective recourse to civil or criminal 
judicial procedures to remedy human rights abuses, and few legal 
experts had experience with the system. In August the Government issued 
new regulations limiting the number of government agencies that could 
receive a complaint and restricting each complaint to only one 
signatory. The new regulation restricted the common practice of 
individuals, particularly land-rights petitioners, from sending joint 
complaints to numerous federal agencies.

    Property Restitution.--In August 2009 the prime minister issued a 
decree that offers compensation, housing, and job training for 
individuals displaced by development projects. Nevertheless, there were 
widespread reports of official corruption and a general lack of 
transparency in the Government's process of confiscating land and 
moving citizens to make way for infrastructure projects. By law 
citizens must be compensated when they are resettled to make way for 
infrastructure projects, but there were complaints, including from the 
National Assembly, that compensation was inadequate or delayed.
    In January Catholic parishioners in Hanoi conducted several large-
scale prayer vigils as a result of the police's destruction of a large 
concrete crucifix on disputed property at Dong Chiem parish.
    In May police clashed with local Catholics at a cemetery in the 
village of Con Dau outside Danang. In 2003, despite objections by some 
parishioners, the Government reached an agreement with Catholic 
officials to relocate parishioners while building an ecotourism resort 
in the area. Both sides agreed that a former Catholic cemetery within 
the construction zone would no longer be used, and the Government 
designated a new cemetery. On May 4, when protesting parishioners 
attempted to bury the remains of a local parishioner in the cemetery, 
which authorities had closed in March, police intervened. Parishioners 
reportedly attacked police who were blocking the entrance to the 
cemetery, and violence between police and parishioners ensued. Police 
arrested six parishioners accused of starting the altercation and 
damaging a police vehicle. On October 27, the six were tried for public 
disorder; two individuals received nine- and 12-month jail sentences, 
and the remaining four defendants received suspended sentences. Three 
of the accused were denied their right to legal representation. An 
appeal by family members of the convicted was denied on the grounds 
that it was not filed by the convicted individuals directly.
    Local security officials allegedly interrogated Nguyen Thanh Nam on 
two separate occasions for his involvement in the May clash in Con Dau. 
In July Nam died under unusual circumstances one day after being 
detained by police for attempted burglary. The accounts of the cause of 
Nam's death differed widely, even among family members. Some claimed 
the death was from natural causes, while others alleged it was the 
result of police beatings during interrogation. Nam's family denied 
efforts by police to conduct an autopsy and signed an affidavit 
claiming he died from a stroke. In October Nam's wife was pressured by 
security services to make a videotaped statement that Nam died of a 
stroke, but she refused.
    Some members of ethnic minority groups in the Central and Northwest 
Highlands continued to complain that they had not received proper 
compensation for land confiscated by the Government to develop large-
scale state-owned coffee and rubber plantations.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions; however, the 
Government did not respect these prohibitions in practice. Household 
registration and block warden systems existed for the surveillance of 
all citizens, although these systems were less intrusive than in the 
past. Authorities focused particular attention on persons suspected of 
being involved in unauthorized political or religious activities.
    Forced entry into homes is not permitted without orders from the 
public prosecutor; however, security forces seldom followed these 
procedures but instead asked permission to enter homes, with an implied 
threat of repercussions for failure to cooperate. Police forcibly 
entered homes of a number of prominent dissidents, such as Nguyen Khac 
Toan, Nguyen Thanh Giang, Le Tran Luat, Nguyen Cong Chinh, and Do Nam 
Hai, and removed personal computers, cell phones, and other material.
    Government authorities opened and censored targeted persons' mail; 
confiscated packages and letters; and monitored telephone 
conversations, e-mail, text messages, and fax transmissions. The 
Government cut the telephone lines and interrupted the cell phone and 
Internet service of a number of political activists and their family 
members.
    Membership in the CPV remained a prerequisite to career advancement 
for all government and government-linked organizations and businesses. 
However, economic diversification made membership in the CPV and CPV-
controlled mass organizations less essential to financial and social 
advancement.
    The imbalanced ratio of newborn boys to girls was increasing 
rapidly. According to the UN Population Fund, for every 100 females 
births in 2009 there were 111 male births, up from 105 five years ago. 
One government study found the ratio to be 120 boy births per 100 girls 
in some wealthier areas of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The Government 
announced nationwide targets to reduce the growing disparity to no more 
than 113 male births in 2015 and 115 in 2020. Experts attributed the 
rise to three main factors: societal bias, government pressure for 
smaller family size, and the increasing access to affordable technology 
for son-selection.
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 continued to restrict 
these freedoms, particularly with respect to speech that criticized 
individual government leaders; promoted political pluralism or 
multiparty democracy; or questioned policies on sensitive matters such 
as human rights, religious freedom, or border disputes with China. The 
line between private and public speech continued to be arbitrary.
    Both the constitution and the criminal code include broad national 
security and antidefamation provisions that the Government used to 
restrict freedom of speech and of the press. The criminal code defines 
the crimes of ``sabotaging the infrastructure of socialism,'' ``sowing 
divisions between religious and nonreligious people,'' and ``conducting 
propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam'' as serious 
offenses against national security. The criminal code also expressly 
forbids ``taking advantage of democratic freedoms and rights to violate 
the interests of the state and social organizations.''
    Political activists and family members of prisoners occasionally 
were physically prevented from meeting with foreign diplomatic 
representatives. Tactics included setting up barriers or guards outside 
their residences or calling them into the local police station for 
random and repetitive questioning.
    The CPV, government, and party-controlled mass organizations 
controlled all print, broadcast, and electronic media. The Government 
exercised oversight through the Ministry of Information and 
Communication (MIC), under the overall guidance of the Communist Party 
Propaganda and Education Commission. These two bodies frequently 
intervened directly to dictate or censor a story. More often, however, 
control over media content was ensured through pervasive self-
censorship, backed by the threat of dismissal and possible arrest.
    Some private investors were permitted to operate television 
channels and news aggregator Web sites and to publish certain pages in 
newspapers, as long as the content was not deemed ``sensitive'' by the 
Government. However, private ownership of any media outlet was 
prohibited.
    During the year Vietnam News Agency began the first exclusive news 
channel, V-News, broadcasting in Vietnamese and English. Vietnam 
Television (VTV) also began Vietnam Today, a daily program aimed at the 
overseas Vietnamese community to encourage the diaspora to return.
    Despite the continued growth of Internet blogs, the party and the 
Government increased efforts to suppress press freedom, continuing a 
``rectification'' campaign begun in 2008. In speeches in January and 
February, the prime minister stated that ``journalists must be loyal 
soldiers serving the nation,'' called on news agencies to fight against 
``sedition,'' and asserted that the press ``should not report 
information that harms the country's interests.'' Similarly, the MIC 
held a conference on the media's responsibility in the ``fight against 
false arguments, slanders, and accusations against Vietnam,'' claiming 
that many ``reactionary forces'' were attempting to carry out 
``peaceful evolution plots against Vietnam to incite an overthrow of 
the Government'' and that the media should be more active in reporting 
on these ``slanders'' from overseas.
    In December the MIC officially reprimanded the editor in chief and 
two reporters from the news Web site Vietnam Net for publishing results 
of a survey on corruption by Transparency International. The author of 
the article was also denied renewal of her government-issued press 
card.
    Several journalists were attacked or threatened relating to their 
reporting on sensitive stories. The most serious cases included Lao 
Dong newspaper reporter Tran The Dung, who was assaulted by several 
individuals while reporting on illegal poultry imports, and Tien Phong 
newspaper reporters Vo Minh Chau and Minh Thuy, who were attacked in Ha 
Tinh Province while investigating illegal land encroachment. Police 
continued to investigate several of the assaults at year's end. Phan Ha 
Binh, deputy managing editor of Tien Phong, was arrested in October for 
soliciting a VND 220 million ($11,000) bribe from a cement company 
about which he threatened to write negative articles.
    The law requires journalists to pay monetary damages to individuals 
or organizations whose reputations were harmed as a result of 
journalists' reporting, even if the reports were true. Independent 
observers noted that the law severely limited investigative reporting. 
There were press reports on topics that generally were considered 
sensitive, such as the prosecution on corruption charges of high-
ranking CPV and government officials, as well as occasional criticism 
of officials and official associations. Nonetheless, the freedom to 
criticize the CPV and its senior leadership remained restricted.
    In November the MIC issued a new decree restricting the ability of 
the local press to report on foreign news stories, requiring them to 
seek advance permission.
    Foreign journalists must be approved by the Foreign Ministry's 
press center, and they must be based in Hanoi, with the exception of 
one correspondent reporting solely on economic matters who lived and 
maintained an office in Ho Chi Minh City while officially accredited to 
Hanoi. Foreign journalists are required to renew their visas every 
three to six months. The number of foreign media employees allowed was 
limited, and Vietnamese employees working for foreign media are 
required to register with the Foreign Ministry.
    The procedure for foreign media outlets to hire local reporters and 
photographers and receive approval for their accreditation continued to 
be cumbersome. The press center nominally monitored journalists' 
activities and approved, on a case-by-case basis, requests for 
interviews, photographs, filming, or travel, which must be submitted at 
least five days in advance. By law foreign journalists are required to 
address all questions to government agencies through the Foreign 
Ministry, although this procedure often was ignored in practice. 
Foreign journalists noted that they generally did not notify the 
Government about their travel outside Hanoi unless it involved a story 
that the Government would consider sensitive or they were traveling to 
an area considered sensitive, such as the Central Highlands.
    Under February 2009 regulations, the MIC has the authority to 
revoke licenses for foreign publishers, and each foreign publisher must 
reapply annually to maintain its license. Foreign-language editions of 
some banned books were sold openly by street peddlers and in shops 
oriented to tourists. Foreign-language periodicals were widely 
available in cities. Occasionally the Government censored articles.
    The law limits satellite television access to top officials, 
foreigners, luxury hotels, and the press, but in practice persons 
throughout the country were able to access foreign programming via home 
satellite equipment or cable. Cable television, including foreign-
origin channels, was widely available to subscribers living in urban 
areas.

    Internet Freedom.--The Government allows access to the Internet 
through a limited number of Internet service providers (ISPs), all of 
which were state-owned joint stock companies. Internet usage continued 
to grow throughout the year. Nearly 27.3 million persons (32 percent of 
the population) had access to the Internet, according to the 
Government's General Statistics Office. According to a separate study 
by Internet World Stats, in large population centers more than 50 
percent had access, with even higher numbers reported in Hanoi and Ho 
Chi Minh City.
    Blogging continued to increase rapidly. The MIC estimated that 
there were more than one million bloggers. In addition a number of 
prominent print and online news journalists maintained their own 
professional blogs. In several cases their blogs were considered far 
more controversial than their mainstream writing. In a few instances, 
the Government fined or punished these individuals for the content of 
their blogs.
    The number of persons who used social networking sites increased to 
several million. Zing Me, officially launched in August after one year 
of trial operation, was estimated to be the largest social networking 
site, with more than five million users. Despite the Government 
ordering ISPs to block Facebook in November 2009, the site remained 
popular with young persons, many of whom used workarounds to access the 
site. Facebook finished the year with nearly two million users. In May 
the Government-owned Vietnam Multimedia Corporation launched GO.VN, but 
adoption was sluggish.
    The Government forbids direct access to the Internet through 
foreign ISPs, requires domestic ISPs to store information transmitted 
on the Internet for at least 15 days, and requires ISPs to provide 
technical assistance and workspace to public security agents to allow 
them to monitor Internet activities.
    The Government requires cybercafes to register the personal 
information of their customers and store records of Internet sites 
visited by customers. However, many cybercafe owners did not maintain 
these records. ISP compliance with these government regulations was 
unclear.
    Although citizens enjoyed increasing access to the Internet, the 
Government monitored e-mail, searched for sensitive key words, and 
regulated Internet content.
    Decree 97, issued by the Prime Minister's Office in 2008, details 
the Government's role in the management, provision, and use of Internet 
services and electronic information on the Internet. During the year 
several cities and provinces issued additional regulations to control 
online access. In April the Hanoi People's Committee issued regulations 
requiring all ``Internet retailers'' to install government-approved 
software to monitor online activities.
    In June the MIC issued new regulations governing Internet companies 
and requiring social networking sites and Web sites that provide 
information in the areas of ``politics, economics, culture, and 
society'' to register and receive an operating license from the 
Government before operation.
    In September Hanoi authorities ordered Internet cafes within 200 
meters (219 yards) of a school to cease operations and required ISPs to 
cut online access to Internet cafes between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. to curb 
online gaming. Some businesses flouted the regulations by registering 
as restaurants, which were not subject to the same restrictions.
    Government regulations prohibit bloggers from posting material that 
the Government believes undermines national security or discloses state 
secrets, incites violence or crimes, or includes inaccurate information 
harming the reputation of individuals and organizations. These 
regulations were routinely ignored. The regulations also require global 
Internet companies with blogging platforms operating in the country to 
report to the Government every six months and, if requested, to provide 
information about individual bloggers. Officials construed article 88 
of the criminal code, which bans ``distributing propaganda against the 
state,'' to prohibit individuals from downloading and disseminating 
documents that the Government deemed offensive.
    Authorities continued to detain and imprison dissidents who used 
the Internet to criticize the Government and publish ideas on human 
rights and political pluralism.
    In January Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, the blogger known as Change We Need 
who regularly reported on corruption in the prime minister's family, 
was sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment for subversion. In August 2009 
Huy Duc was dismissed from his job for his politically sensitive blog 
postings.
    In March several bloggers affiliated with the Free Journalists 
Club, including bloggers Wind Trader, Truth and Justice, and AnhBa 
Saigon (Phan Thanh Hai), were detained for short periods.
    In October authorities arrested AnhBa Saigon for postings critical 
of the Government and charged him with violating article 88. Officials 
arrested Le Nguyen Huong Tra (Co Gai Do Long) for violating article 258 
after posting commentaries critical of the son of MPS Vice Minister 
Nguyen Khanh Toan. Nguyen Van Hai (Dieu Cay) was transferred to a new 
jail on the day of his scheduled release in October and rearrested for 
violating article 88 based on three-year-old blog postings. His former 
wife was denied permission several times to meet with him, while his 
son was allowed regular 30-minute monthly meetings. At year's end 
Nguyen reportedly was being held in isolation. All three bloggers were 
awaiting trial at year's end.
    In October Vi Duc Hoi, a former Communist Party official from Lang 
Son, was arrested for online postings critical of the CPV and charged 
with violating article 88. Hoi, a CPV member since 1980, was ejected in 
2007 after he authored online articles disparaging corruption in the 
CPV. He was awaiting trial at year's end.
    At least 50 Web sites critical of the Government and hosted 
overseas were targeted by distributed denial-of-service attacks. A 
majority of the targeted Web sites were news aggregator sites that 
regularly republish postings by high-profile dissidents critical of the 
Government. Several other Web sites were made inoperable by hackers.
    Throughout the year the Web site Bauxite Vietnam, an online forum 
started by intellectuals in opposition to the Government's plan to 
allow Chinese companies to mine bauxite in the Central Highlands, 
experienced repeated distributed denial-of-service attacks. The main 
Bauxite Vietnam Web site was disabled, as were several replacement Web 
sites of the same name; however, the managers of the site created new 
Bauxite Vietnam Web sites with different Internet protocol addresses to 
avoid attacks. Security services repeatedly questioned the chief editor 
of Bauxite Vietnam, Nguyen Hue Chi, from mid-January to February 
regarding his role with the Web site.
    In December the popular news portal Vietnam Net was hacked multiple 
times and made inaccessible. An investigation into the attacks 
continued at year's end.
    On March 30, Google's security team posted online a statement 
affirming that malware implanted in Vietnamese-language keyboard 
software had been used to spy on Vietnamese dissidents and to launch 
``distributed denial-of-service attacks against blogs containing 
messages of political dissent.'' Online security company McAfee also 
alleged that the denial-of-service attacks were ``politically 
motivated'' and that the perpetrators ``have some allegiance to the 
Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.''
    Political dissidents and bloggers routinely reported having the 
Internet connections at their homes disconnected on orders from the 
security services. In May well-known dissident poet and blogger Ha Si 
Phu had his Internet and telephone lines disconnected in his home town 
of Dalat for spreading ``antigovernment'' information.
    The Government continued to use firewalls to block some Web sites 
that it deemed politically or culturally inappropriate, including sites 
affiliated with the Catholic Church, such as Vietcatholic.net, and 
others operated by overseas Vietnamese political groups. The Government 
appeared to have lifted most of its restrictions on access to the Voice 
of America Web site, although it continued to block Radio Free Asia 
most of the time. During the year BBC online in Vietnamese and English 
was at times blocked. Nevertheless, the local press occasionally wrote 
stories based on Radio Free Asia broadcasts and BBC articles.
    The MIC requires owners of domestic Web sites, including those 
operated by foreign entities, to register their sites with the 
Government and submit their planned content and scope to the Government 
for approval; however, enforcement remained selective.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The Government asserts the 
right to restrict academic freedom, and authorities sometimes 
questioned and monitored foreign field researchers. Foreign academic 
professionals temporarily working at universities in the country were 
allowed to discuss nonpolitical topics widely and freely in classes, 
but government observers regularly attended classes taught by both 
foreigners and nationals. Security officials occasionally 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. Local librarians increasingly 
were being trained in professional skills and international standards 
that supported wider international library and information exchanges 
and research.
    In November the Government issued a decree restricting the ability 
of international and domestic organizations to host conferences with 
international sponsorship or participation. The decree requires 
government approval of all such events at least 20 days in advance of 
the conference. The Government used the edict to postpone or cancel 
conferences hosted by foreign embassies and consulates.
    Members of the academic community continued to express concern over 
the July 2009 decree (Decision 97), which prohibits independent 
scientific and technical organizations from publicly criticizing party 
and state policy, alleging that it was a potentially severe restriction 
on academic freedom.
    The Government controlled art exhibits, music, and other cultural 
activities; however, artists were allowed broader latitude than in past 
years to choose the themes for their works. The Government also allowed 
universities more autonomy over international exchanges and cooperation 
programs.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--Freedom of assembly is limited by law, and the Government 
restricted and monitored all forms of public protest or gathering. 
Persons wishing to gather in a group are required by law and regulation 
to apply for a permit, which local authorities can issue or deny 
arbitrarily. In practice only those arranging publicized gatherings to 
discuss sensitive matters appeared to require permits, and persons 
routinely gathered in informal groups without government interference. 
The Government generally did not permit demonstrations that could be 
seen to have a political purpose. The Government also restricted the 
right of several unregistered religious groups to gather in worship.
    Demonstrations by citizens demanding redress for land-rights claims 
frequently took place in Ho Chi Minh City and occasionally in Hanoi. 
Police monitored these protests but generally did not disrupt them.

    Freedom of Association.--The Government severely restricted freedom 
of association. Opposition political parties were neither permitted nor 
tolerated. 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, including unregistered 
religious groups, were able to operate outside of this framework with 
little or no government interference.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation; however, the Government imposed some limits on freedom of 
movement for certain individuals. The Government generally cooperated 
with the UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations in providing 
protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, refugees, 
returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other 
persons of concern.
    Several political dissidents, amnestied with probation or under 
house arrest, were subject to official restrictions on their movements. 
Although their probation ended in 2009, dissidents Nguyen Khac Toan, 
Pham Hong Son, Le Thi Kim Thu, and others were prohibited from 
receiving a passport and traveling overseas. Attorney Le Quoc Quan, 
attorney Le Tran Luat, and journalist Nguyen Vu Binh were allowed to 
travel within the country but were prohibited from traveling overseas.
    A government restriction regarding travel to certain areas remained 
in effect. It requires 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.''
    The 2007 Law on Residence was not broadly implemented, and 
migration from rural areas to cities continued unabated. However, 
moving without permission hampered persons seeking legal residence 
permits, public education, and health-care benefits.
    Foreign passport holders must register to stay in private homes, 
although there were no known cases of local authorities refusing to 
allow foreign visitors to stay with friends and family. Citizens also 
were required to register with local police when staying overnight in 
any location outside of their own homes; the Government appeared to 
enforce these requirements more strictly in some districts of the 
Central and Northern Highlands.
    Officials occasionally delayed citizens' access to passports in 
order to extort bribes, and prospective emigrants occasionally 
encountered difficulties obtaining a passport.
    The law does not provide for forced internal or external exile, and 
the Government did not use it.
    The Government generally permitted citizens who had emigrated to 
return to visit. However, the Government refused to allow certain 
activists living abroad to return. Known overseas Vietnamese political 
activists were denied entrance visas or were detained and deported 
after entering the country.
    By law the Government considers anyone born to at least one 
Vietnamese citizen parent to be a citizen; there are also provisions 
for persons who do not have a Vietnamese-citizen parent to acquire 
citizenship under certain conditions. Emigrants who acquire another 
country's citizenship are generally considered Vietnamese citizens 
unless they formally renounce their Vietnamese citizenship. However, in 
practice the Government treated overseas Vietnamese as citizens of 
their adopted country. Legislation passed in 2008 sought to clarify 
this apparent discrepancy by allowing for dual citizenship. The 
Government generally encouraged visits and investment by such persons 
but sometimes monitored them carefully. The Government continued to 
liberalize travel restrictions for overseas Vietnamese, including 
permitting visa-free travel and permitting individuals to petition to 
receive Vietnamese passports.
    The Government continued to honor a tripartite memorandum of 
understanding signed with the Government of Cambodia and the UNHCR to 
facilitate the return from Cambodia of all ethnic Vietnamese who did 
not qualify for third-country resettlement.
    Local government authorities observed but did not hinder fact-
finding and monitoring visits by UNHCR and foreign diplomatic 
representatives to the Central Highlands. The UNHCR reported that it 
was able to meet with returnees in private. Foreign diplomats 
experienced some resistance from lower-level officials in permitting 
private interviews of returnees. As in previous years, local police 
officials sometimes were present during foreign diplomat interviews 
with returnees but left when asked. Provincial governments generally 
continued to honor their obligations to reintegrate peacefully ethnic 
minority returnees from Cambodia.
    The UNHCR, which conducted several monitoring trips throughout the 
year, reported that there was ``no perceptible evidence of 
mistreatment'' of any of the ethnic minority individuals it monitored 
in the Central Highlands.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is not a signatory to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, 
and the law does not provide for the granting of asylum or refugee 
status. The Government has not established a system for providing 
protection to refugees and did not grant refugee status or asylum. 
Government regulations and policy do not explicitly provide protection 
against the expulsion or return of persons where their lives or freedom 
would be threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, 
membership in a particular social group, or political opinion; however, 
there were no such reported cases during the year.

    Stateless Persons.--The country's largest stateless group consisted 
of approximately 9,500 Cambodian residents who sought refuge in Vietnam 
in the 1970s and were denied the right to return by the Government of 
Cambodia, which asserted no proof existed that these individuals had 
ever possessed Cambodian citizenship. Almost all were ethnic Chinese or 
Vietnamese who were initially settled in four refugee camps in and 
around Ho Chi Minh City. When humanitarian assistance in these camps 
ceased in 1994, an estimated 7,000 refugees left the camps in search of 
work and opportunities in Ho Chi Minh City and the surrounding area. An 
additional 2,100 remained in four villages in which the camps once 
operated. Many had children and grandchildren born in Vietnam, but 
neither the original refugees nor their children enjoy the same rights 
as Vietnamese citizens, including the right to own property, comparable 
access to education, and public medical care. In July the first group 
of 287 individuals received Vietnamese citizenship as part of a joint 
UNHCR-government effort to survey and naturalize these stateless 
individuals. The naturalization applications for the approximately 
1,800 remaining had been submitted to the Office of the President for 
final approval and were expected to be completed before the end of 
2011.
    The Government previously resolved earlier problems of 
statelessness due to involuntary denationalization of its citizens, 
such as women who married foreigners, by implementing legislation 
passed in 2008 allowing dual citizenship. This group typically 
consisted of women who married Chinese and Korean men. Previously the 
women had to renounce their Vietnamese citizenship to apply for foreign 
citizenship, but before gaining foreign citizenship they divorced their 
husbands and returned to Vietnam without possessing any citizenship or 
supporting documentation. However, Taiwanese law continued to require 
Vietnamese women to renounce their citizenship in order to marry and 
apply for Taiwanese citizenship. The Government and the UNHCR worked 
with the authorities in Taiwan to address this problem.
    The Vietnam Women's Union continued to work with the Government of 
South Korea to address international marriage brokering and premarriage 
counseling, including education on immigration and citizenship 
regulations. Some domestic and international NGOs provided assistance.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution does not provide for the right of citizens to 
change their government peacefully, and citizens could not freely 
choose and change the laws and officials that govern them.

    Elections and Political Participation.--The most recent elections 
to select members of the National Assembly were held in 2007. The 
elections were neither free nor fair, since all candidates were chosen 
and vetted by the VFF. Despite the CPV's early announcement that a 
greater number of ``independent'' candidates (those not linked to a 
certain organization or group) would run in the elections, the ratio of 
independents was only slightly higher than that of the 2002 election. 
The CPV approved 30 ``self-nominated'' candidates, who did not have 
official government backing but were allowed to run for office. There 
were credible reports that party officials pressured many self-
nominated candidates to withdraw or found such candidates 
``ineligible'' to run.
    According to the Government, more than 99 percent of the 56 million 
eligible voters cast ballots in the election, a figure that 
international observers considered improbably high. Voters were 
permitted to cast ballots by proxy, and local authorities were charged 
with assuring that all eligible voters cast ballots by organizing group 
voting and that all voters within their jurisdiction were recorded as 
having voted. This practice was seen as having greatly detracted from 
the transparency and fairness of the process.
    In the 2007 election, CPV leaders--Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, 
Party Chief Nong Duc Manh, President Nguyen Minh Triet, and National 
Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong--retained their seats. CPV 
candidates took 450 of 493 seats. Only one of the 30 self-nominated 
candidates won.
    The National Assembly, although subject to the control of the CPV 
(all of its senior leaders and more than 90 percent of its members were 
party members), continued to take incremental steps to assert itself as 
a legislative body. The National Assembly publicly criticized 
socioeconomic policies, corruption, the Government's handling of 
inflation, financial problems of large state-owned enterprises, and the 
plan to mine bauxite in the Central Highlands. For the first time, the 
National Assembly voted against an official government project 
sponsored by the prime minister--a VND 1.12 quadrillion ($56 billion) 
high-speed rail project. Assembly sessions were televised live 
countrywide. Some legislators also indirectly criticized the CPV's 
preeminent position in society.
    All authority and political power is vested in the CPV, and the 
constitution recognizes the leadership of the CPV. The CPV Politburo 
functioned as the supreme decision-making body in the country, although 
technically it reports to the CPV Central Committee. Political 
opposition movements and other political parties are illegal.
    The Government continued to restrict public debate and criticism 
severely. No public challenge to the legitimacy of the one-party state 
was permitted; however, there were instances of unsanctioned letters 
critical of government policy from private citizens, including some 
former senior party members. The most prominent of these involved 
widely publicized letters from General Vo Nguyen Giap criticizing the 
Government's decision to allow substantial foreign investment in 
bauxite-mining projects in the Central Highlands. The Government 
continued to crack down on the small opposition political groupings 
established in 2006, and members of these groups faced arrests and 
arbitrary detentions.
    Members of Bloc 8406, a political activist group that calls for the 
creation of a multiparty state, continued to face harassment and 
imprisonment. At least 38 members of the group were in detention at 
year's end.
    The law provides the opportunity for equal participation in 
politics by women and minority groups. There were 127 women in the 
National Assembly, or 26 percent, a slightly lower percentage than in 
the previous assembly.
    Ethnic minorities held 87 seats, or 18 percent, in the National 
Assembly, exceeding their proportion of the population, estimated at 14 
percent.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides for criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not always implement the law effectively, 
and officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. 
Corruption continued to be a major problem. The Government persisted in 
efforts to fight corruption, including publicizing budgets of different 
levels of government and continuing to streamline government inspection 
measures. Cases of government officials accused of corruption 
occasionally were widely publicized.
    The anticorruption law allows citizens to complain openly about 
inefficient government, administrative procedures, corruption, and 
economic policy. In regular Internet chats with high-level government 
leaders, citizens asked pointed questions about anticorruption efforts. 
However, the Government continued to consider public political 
criticism a crime unless the criticism was controlled by authorities. 
Attempts to organize those with complaints to facilitate action are 
considered proscribed political activities and subject to arrest. 
Senior government and party leaders traveled to many provinces, 
reportedly to try to resolve citizen complaints. Corruption related to 
land use was widely publicized in the press, apparently in an 
officially orchestrated effort to bring pressure on local officials to 
reduce abuses.
    Corruption among police remained a significant problem at all 
levels, and members of the police sometimes acted with impunity. 
Internal police oversight structures existed but were subject to 
political influence.
    Foreign aid donors conducted a biannual Anti-Corruption Dialogue as 
part of consultative group meetings with the Government. Previous 
dialogues focused on corruption in the education, health, and 
construction sectors.
    In January Vu Dinh Tuan, the former deputy chairman of the Office 
of the Government, and 22 other collaborators were charged with abuse 
of power to seek personal benefit relating to taking bribes while 
rewarding contracts for modernizing information technology systems in 
government agencies. The Government alleged Thuan took VND 275 million 
($14,100) and that his actions directly cost the Government 
approximately VND 4.6 billion ($242,100).
    In June police arrested Doan Tien Dung, deputy general director of 
the state-owned Bank for Investment and Development, alleging he had 
received more than VND six billion ($307,700) in bribes in exchange for 
approving loans and illegal cash withdrawals. Also in June a high 
school teacher, who became famous throughout the country for bringing 
endemic bribe-taking by teachers in the education system to light 
through undercover videotapes shown on national television, resigned 
his position due to being harassed and passed over for promotion. The 
teacher's actions in bringing the corruption to light had earlier 
earned him an award from the minister of education.
    In August Bui Tien Dung, the former director of Project Management 
Unit Number 18 (PMU-18), was sentenced to an additional three years' 
imprisonment, in addition to his earlier sentence of 13 years, for 
``intentionally violating state economic regulations causing serious 
consequences.'' Two other colleagues of Dung also received prison terms 
for embezzlement. At year's end eight key corruption cases originating 
in 2007 remained unfinished, including the PMU-18 and Bai Chay bridge 
project scandals.
    In a wide-ranging corruption scandal in Ho Chi Minh City, in August 
two individuals were convicted of bribery and ``cheating to usurp the 
people's property'' and sentenced to life imprisonment in relation to 
bribes paid to city officials, bank officers, and others under the ruse 
of building a housing complex and industrial park. The two ringleaders 
bribed city officials with more than VND 1.6 billion ($72,000) to 
obtain government approval for the projects, and then based on these 
approvals they borrowed and embezzled more than VND 115 billion ($5.9 
million) from the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development 
(Agribank). The former district people's committee chairman who had 
received the bribes and facilitated government approval of the project 
was sentenced to 26 years' imprisonment, while several commune 
officials received double-digit sentences related to abuse of power. 
Several officials at Agribank also received lengthy prison terms for 
violating banking regulations.
    In August Pham Thanh Binh, chief executive officer of the 
shipbuilding conglomerate Vinashin, was arrested under misappropriation 
charges. In September two former Vinashin board members--Tran Quang Vu 
and Tran Van Liem--and two former Vinashin subsidiaries general 
directors--Nguyen Van Tuyen and Nguyen Tuan Duong--were also arrested 
on similar charges of misappropriation and embezzlement.
    A VTV financial department employee alleged in September that the 
VTV director had embezzled VND 1.6 billion ($82,000) in value-added 
taxes and had also misappropriated funds of the Japanese aid agency 
relating to construction of a new VND10 trillion ($500 million) 
headquarters. There was no official investigation into the alleged 
embezzlement.
    In September Huynh Ngoc Si, former deputy director of the Ho Chi 
Minh City transport service, was indicted for receiving more than 
$262,000 in bribes from officials of Pacific Consultants International 
(PCI), a foreign consulting firm. Si was sentenced to life imprisonment 
on October 18. The Government seized his two homes and also ordered him 
to pay a $262,000 fine to the Government. Si and his associate Le Qua 
were convicted in September 2009 of ``abusing power while on official 
duty'' for accepting VND 52 million ($2,700) and VND 54 million 
($3,000), respectively, in kickbacks from office rent from PCI. In 
March Si and Qua appealed their three- and two-year sentences, only to 
have the appellate court extend their sentences to six and five years, 
respectively.
    In September four Vietnamese-American directors of the foreign-
based Nexus Corporation were convicted of paying bribes to government 
officials from 1999 to 2008 in exchange for contracts with government 
agencies.
    According to the asset declaration decree, government officials 
must annually report by November 30 the real estate, precious metals, 
and ``valuable papers'' they own; money they hold in overseas and 
domestic bank accounts; and their taxable income. The Government must 
publicize asset declaration results only if a government employee is 
found ``unusually wealthy'' and more investigation or legal proceedings 
are needed. In addition to senior government and party officials, the 
decree applies to prosecutors, judges, and those at and above the rank 
of deputy provincial party chief, deputy provincial party chairperson, 
deputy faculty head at public hospitals, and deputy battalion chief. 
Due to a lack of transparency, it was not known how widely the decree 
was enforced.
    The law does not provide for public access to government 
information, and the Government did not usually grant access for 
citizens and noncitizens, including foreign media. In accordance with 
the Law on Promulgation of Legal Normative Documents, the Official 
Gazette published most government legal documents in its daily edition. 
The Government maintained a Web site in both Vietnamese and English, as 
did the National Assembly. In addition decisions made by the Supreme 
People's Court Council of Judges were accessible through the Supreme 
People's Court Web site. Party documents such as politburo decrees were 
not published in the Gazette.
Section 5. 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 did not tolerate 
attempts by organizations or individuals to comment publicly on its 
human rights practices, and it used a wide variety of methods to 
suppress domestic criticism of its human rights policies, including 
surveillance, limits on freedom of the press and assembly, interference 
with personal communications, and detention.
    The Government generally prohibited private citizens from 
contacting international human rights organizations, although several 
activists did so. The Government usually did not permit visits by 
international NGO human rights monitors; however, it allowed 
representatives from the press, the UNHCR, foreign governments, and 
international development and relief NGOs to visit the Central 
Highlands. The Government criticized almost all public statements on 
human rights and religious matters by international NGOs and foreign 
governments.
    In September the Government requested that Thai authorities 
prohibit two individuals affiliated with a human rights NGO from 
entering that country. The NGO had planned to unveil a report critical 
of Vietnam's leadership on human rights issues during its chairmanship 
of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Similarly, two 
individuals affiliated with a foreign-based human rights NGO were 
barred from visiting the country to attend the ASEAN People's Forum in 
September.
    During the year the Government hosted two UN independent experts: 
the independent expert on minority issues in July, and the independent 
expert on human rights and extreme poverty in August. Both met with the 
deputy prime minister and foreign minister and were permitted to travel 
to remote regions of the country.
    The Government discussed human rights matters bilaterally with some 
foreign governments. Several foreign governments continued official 
talks with the Government concerning human rights, typically through 
annual human rights dialogues.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability, 
language, or social status; however, enforcement of these prohibitions 
was uneven.

    Women.--The law prohibits using or threatening violence, taking 
advantage of a person who cannot act in self-defense, or resorting to 
trickery to have sexual intercourse with a person against that person's 
will. This criminalizes rape, spousal rape, and in some instances 
sexual harassment. In 2009 a man from the Phan Thiet Province was 
jailed for 18 months for raping his wife. Other rape cases were 
traditionally prosecuted to the full extent of the law. No reliable 
data were available on the extent of the problem.
    Domestic violence against women was considered common. A landmark 
survey conducted jointly by the UN and the General Statistics Office in 
November found that 58 percent of married women had been victims of 
physical, sexual, or emotional domestic violence. Officials 
increasingly acknowledged it as a significant social concern, and it 
was discussed more openly in the media. The law prescribes punishment 
ranging from warnings to a maximum of two years' imprisonment for 
``those who cruelly treat persons dependent on them.'' The Law on 
Domestic Violence Prevention and Control specifies acts constituting 
domestic violence, assigns specific portfolio responsibilities to 
different government agencies and ministries, and stipulates 
punishments for perpetrators of domestic violence; however, NGO and 
victim advocates considered many of the provisions to be weak. While 
the police and legal system generally remained unequipped to deal with 
cases of domestic violence, the Government, with the help of 
international and domestic NGOs, continued to train police, lawyers, 
and legal system officials in the law.
    Several domestic and international NGOs worked to address domestic 
violence. Hotlines for victims operated by domestic NGOs existed in 
major cities. The Center for Women and Development, supported by the 
Vietnam Women's Union, also operated a nationwide hotline, although it 
was not widely advertised in rural areas. Another NGO, Hagar Vietnam, 
established a training program to reintegrate into society women who 
suffered domestic abuse. In September the first 13 girls graduated from 
the program. While rural areas often lacked the financial resources to 
provide crisis centers and hotlines, a 2007 law establishes ``reliable 
residences'' allowing women to turn to another family while local 
authorities and community leaders attempt to confront the abuser and 
resolve complaints. Government statistics reported that approximately 
half of all divorces were due in part to domestic violence. The divorce 
rate continued to rise partly due to domestic violence and also to 
growing societal acceptance of divorce, but many women remained in 
abusive marriages rather than confront social and family stigma as well 
as economic uncertainty.
    The Government, with the help of international NGOs, supported 
workshops and seminars aimed at educating women and men about domestic 
violence and women's rights in general and also highlighted the problem 
through public awareness campaigns. Domestic NGOs were increasingly 
engaged in women's issues, particularly violence against women and 
trafficking of women and children.
    The act of sexual harassment and its punishment is clearly defined 
in the law; however, in reality there was no legal requirement to 
prevent it. Publications and training on ethical regulations for 
government and other public servants do not mention the problem, 
although it existed.
    Victims of sexual harassment may contact social associations such 
as the Women's Union to request their involvement. If the victim has 
access to a labor union representative, complaints can also be lodged 
with the labor officers. In serious cases victims may sue offenders 
under article 121 of the penal code, which deals with ``humiliating 
other persons'' and specifies punishments that include a warning, 
noncustodial reform for up to two years, or a prison term ranging from 
three months to two years. However, in reality sexual harassment 
lawsuits were unheard of, and most victims were unwilling to denounce 
the offenders publicly.
    The law restricts the number of children per couple to two. The 
Government primarily implemented the policy through media campaigns 
that strongly encouraged individuals to practice family planning. The 
Government also enforced the policy by denying promotions and salary 
increases to public-sector employees with more than two children, 
albeit in an inconsistent manner.
    The law affirms an individual's right to choose contraceptive 
methods as well as access to gynecological diagnosis, treatment, and 
health check-ups during pregnancies. It also provides for medical 
services when giving birth at health facilities, and officials 
generally enforced the law. According to data gathered by the UN, the 
estimated maternal mortality ratio in 2008 was 56 deaths for every 
100,000 live births. Unmarried women in reproductive ages had limited 
or no access to subsidized contraceptives, due to government policy and 
lack of access in rural areas. Women were equally diagnosed and treated 
for sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.
    Women continued to face societal discrimination. Despite the large 
body of legislation and regulations devoted to the protection of 
women's rights in marriage and in the workplace, as well as labor code 
provisions that call for preferential treatment of women, women did not 
always receive equal treatment.
    Although legislation provides for equal inheritance rights for men 
and women, in practice women faced cultural discrimination. A son was 
more likely to inherit property than a daughter, unless specified by a 
legal document. Labor laws prohibit gender-based preferential hiring 
for jobs, and while NGOs assumed that such discrimination occurred, 
allegations were hard to prove.
    The CPV-affiliated Women's Union and the Government's National 
Committee for the Advancement of Women (NCFAW) continued to promote 
women's rights, including political, economic, and legal equality, and 
protection from spousal abuse. The Women's Union also operated 
microcredit consumer finance programs and other programs to promote the 
advancement of women. The NCFAW continued implementing the Government's 
national strategy on the advancement of women. Key areas of this 
strategy focused on placing more women in senior ministry positions and 
in the National Assembly. The strategy also focused on increasing 
literacy rates, access to education, and health care.

    Children.--By law the Government considers anyone born to at least 
one Vietnamese citizen parent to be a citizen, although persons born to 
non-Vietnamese parents can also acquire citizenship under certain 
circumstances. Not all births were registered immediately, but this was 
sometimes the result of an uneducated populace. A birth certificate is 
required for public services, such as education and health care, and 
the choice by some parents, especially ethnic minorities, to not 
register their children affected the ability to enroll them in school 
and receive government-sponsored care.
    Education is compulsory, free, and universal through the age of 14; 
however, authorities did not always enforce the requirement, especially 
in rural areas, where government and family budgets for education were 
strained and children's contribution as agricultural laborers was 
valued.
    Anecdotal evidence suggested that child abuse and corporal 
punishment in schools was widespread. A study conducted by the UN and 
the General Statistics Office found that 25 percent of children were 
victims of child abuse as reported by their mothers during a study on 
domestic violence.
    Child prostitution, particularly of girls but also of boys, existed 
in major cities. Many prostitutes in Ho Chi Minh City were under 18 
years of age. Some minors entered into prostitution for economic 
reasons. The penal code, issued in 1999 and updated in 2009, 
criminalizes all acts of sale, fraudulent exchange, or control of 
children as well as all acts related to child prostitution and forced 
child labor. The 2009 penal code carries sentences ranging from three 
years' to life imprisonment and fines from VND five million to VND 50 
million ($256 to $2,564). Articles 254, 255, and 256 describe acts 
related to child prostitution, including harboring prostitution (12 to 
20 years' imprisonment), brokering prostitution (seven to 15 years' 
imprisonment), and buying sex with minors (three to 15 years' 
imprisonment). Similarly, the 1991 Law on Protection, Care, and 
Education of Children prohibits all acts of cruel treatment, 
humiliation, abduction, sale, and coercion of children into any 
activities harmful to their healthy development. The 2004 revised 
version has an additional chapter on protection and care of 
disadvantaged children.
    The minimum age of consensual sex is 18. Statutory rape is illegal 
under article 111 of the criminal code. Statutory rape can result in 
life imprisonment or capital punishment. Penalties for sex with minors 
between the ages of 16 and 18, dependent upon the circumstances, vary 
from five to 10 years in prison. The production, distribution, 
dissemination, or selling of child pornography is illegal under article 
253 of the criminal code and carries a sentence of three to 10 years' 
imprisonment.
    The Government's National Program of Action for Children for 2001-
10 aimed to create the best conditions to meet demands and rights of 
every child, prevent and eliminate child abuse, and implement programs 
to prevent child trafficking, child prostitution, and child 
pornography. The Government also promulgated the Program on Prevention 
and Resolution of the Problems of Street Children, Sex-abused Children, 
and Children Being Overworked and Working in Poisonous and Dangerous 
Conditions for 2004-10. The program had separate projects for 
prevention of sexual child abuse; communication, advocacy, and capacity 
enhancement for program management; prevention of and support for 
street children; and prevention of hazardous and dangerous working 
conditions for children. Initial assessments indicated that these 
measures provided an important legal basis for children's matters and 
that most local governments, departments, and unions supported these 
efforts. A lack of funding and a clear understanding of 
responsibilities, along with unclear implementation guidance, hindered 
implementation in certain localities.
    According to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs 
(MOLISA), there were an estimated 23,000 street children, who were 
sometimes abused or harassed by police. MOLISA managed two centers to 
provide support for children in needy situations. Youth unions also 
launched awareness campaigns.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--There are small Jewish expatriate communities in 
Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, with a permanent Chabad-Lubavitch center in 
Ho Chi Minh City. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--Articles 59 and 67 of the constitution 
provide for the protection of persons with disabilities. The Law on 
Disabled Persons prohibits discrimination against or maltreatment of 
persons with disabilities. The law also encourages the employment of 
persons with disabilities. In June the National Assembly enacted a 
national law providing for the rights of people with physical, sensory, 
intellectual, and mental disabilities. The new law requires equality 
for people with disabilities through accommodation, access to 
education, employment, health care, rehabilitation, transportation, and 
vocational training.
    The provision of services to persons with disabilities, although 
limited, improved during the year. The Ministry of Transportation 
continued to implement accessibility codes for public transportation 
facilities and trained transportation agency officials and students on 
use of the codes. Construction or major renovation of new government 
and large public buildings must include access for persons with 
disabilities. The Ministry of Construction maintained enforcement units 
in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Danang, Quang Nam, and Ninh Binh to enforce 
the barrier-free codes.
    Access to education for children with disabilities, including 
blindness, deafness, and mobility restrictions, was extremely limited. 
The law provides for preferential treatment for firms that recruit 
persons with disabilities and for fines on firms that do not meet 
minimum quotas that reserve 2 to 3 percent of their workforce for 
workers with disabilities; however, the Government enforced these 
provisions unevenly. Firms that have 51 percent of their employees with 
disabilities can qualify for special government-subsidized loans.
    The Government respected the political and civil rights of persons 
with disabilities. Under the election law, ballot boxes may be brought 
to the homes of individuals unable to go to a polling station.
    The Government supported the establishment of organizations aiding 
persons with disabilities. Such persons were consulted in the 
development or review of national programs, such as the national 
poverty reduction program, vocational laws, and various educational 
policies. The National Coordination Committee on Disabilities and its 
ministry members 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, inpatient physical therapy. Several 
provinces, government agencies, and universities had specific programs 
for those with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Although the Government 
officially prohibits discrimination against ethnic minorities, 
longstanding societal discrimination against ethnic minorities 
persisted. Despite the country's significant economic growth, some 
ethnic minority communities benefited little from improved economic 
conditions. In certain areas, including the Northwest Highlands, 
Central Highlands, and portions of the Mekong Delta, ethnic minority 
groups made up the majority of the population.
    Some members of ethnic minority groups continued to leave for 
Cambodia and Thailand, reportedly to seek greater economic opportunity 
or shortcuts to immigration to other countries. Government officials 
monitored certain highland minorities closely, particularly several 
ethnic groups in the Central Highlands, where it continued to impose 
security measures because of concern that the religion they practiced 
encouraged ethnic minority separatism.
    The Government continued to impose security measures in the Central 
Highlands in response to concerns over possible ethnic minority 
separatist activity. There were reports that ethnic minority 
individuals who telephoned the ethnic minority community abroad were a 
special target of police attention. Several individuals connected to 
overseas separatist organizations were arrested, convicted, and 
sentenced to lengthy prison terms. During the period around sensitive 
occasions and holidays, an increased security presence was reported 
throughout the region. There were a few reports that members of ethnic 
minorities seeking to enter Cambodia were returned by Vietnamese police 
operating on both sides of the border, sometimes followed by police 
beatings and detentions.
    The Government continued to address the causes of ethnic minority 
discontent through special programs to improve education and health 
facilities and expand road access and electrification of rural 
communities and villages. The Government allocated land to ethnic 
minorities in the Central Highlands through a special program, but 
there were complaints that implementation of these special programs was 
uneven.
    The Government maintained a program to conduct classes in some 
local ethnic minority languages in elementary and secondary schools. 
The Government worked with local officials to develop local language 
curricula, but it appeared to implement this program more 
comprehensively in the Central Highlands and the Mekong Delta than in 
the mountainous northern and northwestern provinces. Ethnic minorities 
were not required to pay regular school fees, and the Government 
operated special schools for ethnic minorities in many provinces, 
including subsidized boarding schools at the middle- and high-school 
levels. The Government offered special admission and preparatory 
programs as well as scholarships and preferential admissions at the 
university level. There were also a few government-subsidized technical 
and vocational schools for ethnic minorities. Nonetheless, there were 
credible cases of discrimination against Christian ethnic minorities, 
although the law provides for universal education for children 
regardless of religion or ethnicity.
    The Government broadcast radio and television programs in ethnic 
minority languages in some areas. The Government also instructed 
ethnic-majority Kinh officials to learn the language of the locality in 
which they worked. Provincial governments continued initiatives 
designed to increase employment, reduce the income gap between ethnic 
minorities and ethnic Kinh, and make officials sensitive and receptive 
to ethnic minority culture and traditions.
    The Government granted preferential treatment to domestic and 
foreign companies that invested in highland areas, which are populated 
predominantly by ethnic minorities. The Government also maintained 
infrastructure development programs that targeted poor, largely ethnic 
minority areas and established agricultural extension programs for 
remote rural areas. The July and August visits of the UN independent 
expert on minority issues and the independent expert on human rights 
and extreme poverty focused on the need to facilitate bilingual 
education to improve the economic situation of minorities. Both experts 
visited majority minority areas, including the Northwest Highlands, 
Central Highlands, and portions of the Mekong Delta.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--A homosexual community exists 
but was largely underground. There are no laws that criminalize 
homosexual practices. There was no official discrimination in 
employment, housing, statelessness, or access to education or health 
care based on sexual orientation, but social stigma and discrimination 
was pervasive. Most homosexual persons chose not to tell family of 
their sexual orientation for fear of being disowned.
    There was growing public awareness of homosexuality and little 
evidence of direct official discrimination based on sexual orientation. 
In contradiction of the penal code, the chief judge of the Quang Binh 
Provincial People's Court in August refused to prosecute the gang rape 
of a transsexual, claiming the code did not address rape of 
transgendered individuals.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There was no evidence 
of official discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS, but societal 
discrimination against such persons existed. Individuals who tested 
positive for HIV reported latent social stigma and discrimination, 
although not in receiving medical treatment for their condition. The 
law states that employers cannot fire individuals for having HIV/AIDS 
and doctors cannot refuse to treat persons with HIV/AIDS. However, 
there were credible reports that persons with HIV/AIDS lost jobs or 
suffered from discrimination in the workplace or in finding housing, 
although such reports decreased. The Government reported approximately 
5,100 school age children with HIV/AIDS. In several cases HIV/AIDS-
infected children or HIV/AIDS orphans were barred from schools due to 
pressure from other parents. With the assistance of foreign donors, the 
national government and provincial authorities took steps to treat, 
assist, and accommodate persons with HIV/AIDS and thereby decrease 
societal stigma and discrimination, but these measures were not 
consistently applied. Faith-based charities were sometimes permitted to 
provide HIV prevention and home-based care services to persons with or 
affected by HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law does not allow workers to 
organize and join independent unions of their choice. While workers may 
chose whether or not to join a union and the level (local, provincial, 
or national) at which they wish to participate, every union must be 
affiliated with the country's only trade union, the Vietnam General 
Confederation of Labor (VGCL).
    The VGCL, a union umbrella organization controlled by the CPV, 
approves and manages a range of subsidiary labor unions organized 
according to location and industry. By law the provincial or 
metropolitan branch of the VGCL is responsible for organizing a union 
within six months of the establishment of any new enterprise, and 
management is required to cooperate with the union.
    According to VGCL statistics, in November its total membership was 
more than seven million, an estimated 15 percent of the total labor 
force. Of the VGCL members, 53 percent worked in the public sector and 
state-owned enterprises and 47 percent in the private sector. 
Approximately three million union members worked in the private sector, 
including in enterprises with foreign investment (nearly 1.4 million 
persons). The VGCL reported that more than 102,000 individual workplace 
unions existed, with approximately 75,000 unions in the public sector 
and state-owned enterprises and 31,000 unions in the private sector.
    The law does not allow for independent unions; however, a 2007 
revision states that the negotiation of disputes can be led and 
organized by ``relevant entities,'' which may be composed of worker 
representatives when the enterprise in question does not have a union. 
While the law allows for ``union activities,'' especially during 
emergencies such as a strike, the VGCL is required to establish an 
official union within six months. There was little evidence that 
leaders or organizations active during this six-month window continued 
to be active or recognized afterwards.
    There are mandatory union dues for union members of 1 percent of 
salary, and employers must contribute 2 percent of payroll. In foreign 
direct investment companies, employers are required to contribute 1 
percent of payroll. While these dues are intended to support workers 
and union activities, there was little transparency regarding their 
use. The vast majority of the workforce was not unionized and did not 
pay union dues, as almost 36 million of the country's 46.7 million 
total laborers worked in the informal sector and engaged in activities 
such as small-scale farming or worked in small private-sector 
companies.
    Union leaders influenced key decisions, such as amending labor 
legislation; developing social safety nets; and setting health, safety, 
and minimum wage standards.
    Strikes are illegal if they do not arise from a collective labor 
dispute or if they concern problems that are outside of labor 
relations. The law stipulates an extensive and cumbersome process of 
mediation and arbitration that must be followed before a strike may 
take place. Before a legal strike can be held, workers must take their 
claims through a process involving a conciliation council (or a 
district-level labor conciliator where no union is present); if no 
resolution is obtained, the claims must be submitted to a provincial 
arbitration council. Unions (or workers' representatives where no union 
is present) have the right either to appeal decisions of provincial 
arbitration councils to provincial people's courts or to go on strike. 
Individual workers may take cases directly to the people's court 
system, but in most cases they may do so only after conciliation has 
been attempted and has failed. The amendment also stipulates that 
workers on strike will not be paid wages while they are not at work.
    The labor code prohibits strikes in 54 occupational sectors and 
businesses that serve the public or that the Government considers 
essential to the national economy and defense. A decree defines these 
enterprises as those involved in electricity production; post and 
telecommunications; railway, maritime, and air transportation; banking; 
public works; and the oil and gas industry. The ``essential services'' 
under this decree are defined much more broadly than in the 
International Labor Organization (ILO) criteria. The law also grants 
the prime minister the right to suspend a strike considered detrimental 
to the national economy or public safety.
    The VGCL reported 424 strikes throughout the year, with more than 
83 percent occurring in Ho Chi Minh City and surrounding provinces. 
This represented an increase compared with 310 strikes in 2009 but well 
below peak levels in 2008, when 762 strikes were recorded. The vast 
majority of strikes typically did not follow the authorized 
conciliation and arbitration process and thus were considered illegal 
``wildcat'' strikes. During the year 85 percent of strikes occurred in 
foreign-invested companies, primarily those owned by Taiwanese or South 
Koreans.
    While wildcat strikes are illegal, the Government tolerated them 
and took no action against the strikers. The 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, especially with foreign-owned companies. By law 
individuals participating in strikes declared illegal by a people's 
court and found to have caused damage to their employer are liable for 
damages.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides VGCL-affiliated unions the right to bargain collectively on 
behalf of workers; the law was generally enforced, although VGCL-
affiliated unions were not independent. Collective labor disputes over 
rights must be routed through a conciliation council and, if the 
council cannot resolve the matter, to the chairperson of the district-
level people's committee. The law stipulates an extensive and 
cumbersome process of mediation and arbitration that must be followed 
before a strike may take place.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
export processing zones and industrial zones. A May 2009 government 
circular tasks zone boards with responsibility for monitoring labor law 
compliance within their zones. There was no evidence that labor 
inspection quality or frequency differed within the zones. However, 
there were credible reports that employers, both in and outside the 
zones, tended to use short-term or probationary contracts to avoid 
certain legally mandated worker benefits such as unemployment insurance 
or to inhibit workers from joining trade unions.

    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. Prisoners routinely were required 
to work for little or no pay under administrative and legislative 
regulations. They produced food and other goods used directly in 
prisons or sold on local markets, reportedly to purchase items for 
their personal use. There was anecdotal evidence and press reports of 
forced labor by children in small privately owned garment factories and 
gold mines and by ethnic minority adults on coffee plantations in the 
Central Highlands.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits most child labor but allows exceptions for certain types 
of work. However, child labor remained a problem, particularly in rural 
areas, where two-thirds of the population resided. The law sets the 
minimum age for employment at 18, but enterprises may hire children 
between 15 and 18 if the firm obtains permission from parents and 
MOLISA. A 2006 ILO analysis of the country's household surveys showed 
that 6.7 percent, or 930,000, of children between the ages of six and 
17 participated in some economic activity, usually on family farms or 
in family businesses not within the scope of the law.
    By law an employer must ensure that workers under 18 do not 
undertake hazardous work or work that would harm their physical or 
mental development. Prohibited occupations are specified in the law. 
The law permits children to register at trade training centers, a form 
of vocational training, from the age of 13. Children may work a maximum 
of seven hours per day and 42 hours per week and must receive special 
health care. A 2008 MOLISA survey reported that there were more than 
25,000 children working in conditions considered hazardous, but some 
observers questioned the accuracy of this number.
    In rural areas children worked primarily on family farms and in 
other agricultural activities and household responsibilities. In some 
cases they began work as young as age six and were expected to do the 
work of adults by the time they were 15. Especially during harvest and 
planting seasons, some parents did not permit children to attend 
school. Migration from rural to urban settings exacerbated the child 
labor problem, because unauthorized migrants were unable to register 
their households in urban areas. Consequently, their children could not 
attend public schools, and families had less access to credit. 
Officials stated that juveniles in education and nourishment centers, 
which functioned much as reform schools or juvenile detention centers, 
were commonly assigned work for ``educational purposes.''
    In urban areas children worked in family-owned small businesses or 
on the street shining shoes or selling articles such as lottery tickets 
and newspapers. One shelter reported that children as young as nine 
years were lured into Ho Chi Minh City to sell lottery tickets. Child 
labor was also increasingly common in small urban factories. Labor 
officials in Ho Chi Minh City declared that 62 of 173 production units 
they inspected in 2009 used illegal child labor. During the year city 
labor officials reported 558 documented child laborers, but 
international organizations estimated that there were between 2,500 and 
5,000 child laborers under age 14. Most were employed in garment or 
mechanic workshops in Binh Tan, Tan Phu, and Binh Chanh districts. 
Government inspectors reported that more than 96 percent of child 
workers were employed without official documentation and that 75 
percent were from the central coast and Mekong Delta provinces. A 2009 
ILO study also found evidence of child labor in family or small 
informal businesses such as brick-making, stone and wood carvings, and 
rubber sap collection; however, the survey authors refrained from 
drawing nationwide conclusions based on these limited data.
    MOLISA is responsible for enforcing child labor laws and policies. 
Government officials may 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 exploitive situations, and 
fined the employers.
    The Government also continued programs to eliminate persistent 
child labor, with a particular focus on needy families and orphans, and 
in March launched a joint project with the ILO to eliminate the worst 
forms of child labor.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The law requires the Government 
to set a minimum wage, which is adjusted for inflation and other 
economic changes. The official monthly minimum wage for unskilled 
laborers at foreign-investment joint ventures and foreign and 
international organizations was between VND 1.19 million ($61) and 1.34 
million VND ($69) in urban areas and approximately VND 1 million ($53) 
in rural areas. For employees working for the state sector or domestic-
owned private-sector companies, on farms, or in family households, the 
official minimum wage was between VND 730,000 ($37) and VND 980,000 
($50), based on the region. While this was above the poverty line set 
by the Government, many considered this amount inadequate to provide a 
worker and family a decent standard of living.
    The Government set the workweek for government employees and 
employees of companies in the state sector at 40 hours, and it 
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 law sets normal working hours at eight hours per day, with a 
mandatory 24-hour break each week. Additional hours require overtime 
pay at one and one-half times the regular wage, two times the regular 
wage for weekdays off, and three times the regular wage for holidays 
and paid leave days. The law limits compulsory overtime to four hours 
per week and 200 hours per year but provides 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 VGCL and employer representatives. The law also 
prescribes annual leave with full pay for various types of work. It was 
unclear how strictly the Government enforced these provisions. There 
were credible reports that factories exceeded the legal overtime 
thresholds and did not meet legal requirements for rest days.
    By law a female employee who is engaged to be married, pregnant, on 
maternity leave, or caring for a child under one year of age cannot be 
dismissed unless the enterprise closes. Female employees who are at 
least seven months' pregnant or are caring for a child under one year 
of age cannot be compelled to work overtime, at night, or in locations 
distant from their homes. It was not clear how well the law was 
enforced.
    The law requires the Government to promulgate rules and regulations 
that provide for worker safety. MOLISA, in coordination with local 
people's committees and labor unions, is charged with enforcing the 
regulations, but enforcement was inadequate for many reasons, including 
low funding and a shortage of trained enforcement personnel. The VGCL 
asserted that authorities did not always prosecute violations. MOLISA 
acknowledged shortcomings in its labor inspection system, emphasizing 
that the country had an insufficient number of labor inspectors. The 
VGCL stated, and MOLISA acknowledged, that low fines on firms for labor 
violations failed to act as an effective deterrent against violations. 
During the year a government decree increased fines on employers who 
failed to pay mandated social insurance premiums on behalf of 
employees. MOLISA stated these increased fines were still too low to 
deter violations. On-the-job injuries due to poor health and safety 
conditions and inadequate employee training in the workplace were a 
problem, but the number of reported workplace fatalities decreased from 
550 in 2009 to 287 in the first 10 months of the year. Machinery, such 
as rolling mills and presses, caused the greatest number of 
occupational injuries.
    According to a 2008 survey by MOLISA on working conditions in small 
and medium-sized enterprises, up to 80 percent did not meet minimal 
work safety requirements, 8 percent had working conditions described as 
considerably poor, and 90 percent used obsolete machines and equipment. 
Employees typically worked in hazardous working environments--31 
percent worked in very hot conditions, 24 percent in excessively noisy 
conditions, and 17 percent in places with high levels of dust.
    The law provides that workers may remove themselves from hazardous 
conditions without risking loss of employment; however, it was unclear 
how well this was enforced. MOLISA stated that there were no worker 
complaints of employers failing to abide by the law.


                               __________

 
                           EUROPE AND EURASIA

                              ----------                              


                                ALBANIA

    The Republic of Albania is a parliamentary democracy with a 
population of approximately three million. The constitution vests 
legislative authority in the unicameral Assembly (parliament), which 
elects both the prime minister and the president. The prime minister 
heads the Government, while the president has limited executive power. 
In June 2009 the country held parliamentary elections, which the 
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Office for 
Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) described as marking 
progress over past elections, but not fully realizing OSCE commitments. 
While the opposition Socialist Party (SP) voted to certify the 
elections as legal and final, it began a boycott of the parliament in 
September 2009, calling for an investigation into alleged electoral 
fraud. The boycott continued at year's end. Security forces reported to 
civilian authorities.
    There were reports that police severely beat and mistreated 
suspects during interrogation and detention. Some cases of physical 
mistreatment were reported in prisons. Police corruption and impunity 
persisted. Government corruption remained a serious and unresolved 
problem. Discrimination against women, children, homosexual persons, 
and minorities were problems. Trafficking in persons also 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings. The killings of two political figures--Socialist 
Party Member of Parliament Fatmir Xhindi and a Christian Democrat 
leader, Alex Keka--were under investigation and remained unresolved at 
year's end.
    On December 12, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe 
(COE) released COE rapporteur Dick Marty's report on allegations 
concerning inhuman treatment of persons and illicit trafficking in 
human organs. The report stated that, from July 1999 to mid-2000, 
elements of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and affiliates held scores 
of ``disappeared'' persons at temporary locations at Bicaq, Burrel, 
Rripe, and Fushe-Kruje. The report alleged that some of these persons 
had their kidneys extracted for use by an international organ-
trafficking ring. The report alleged that most of those held--ethnic 
Albanians and Serbs whom the KLA believed to be collaborators--were 
presumed to have been killed. According to the report, first-hand 
sources credibly implicated five members of the ``Drenica Group'' 
within the KLA in having ordered, and in some cases personally 
overseen, killings, detentions, beatings, and interrogations in the 
context of KLA-led operations on the territory of Albania between 1998 
and 2000. The report also stated that the head of the Drenica Group, 
Kosovo Prime Minister Hasim Thaqi, operated with the ``support and 
complicity'' of Albania's government, secret service, and the mafia. 
Albanian authorities denounced the content of the report but pledged 
their cooperation with any investigation.
    The UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and 
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) whose 
mandates did not extend into Albania, previously investigated the 
allegations of organ harvesting contained in the Marty report and 
concluded that there was insufficient evidence to pursue a criminal 
case.
    The EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) War Crimes Unit 
maintained an open but inactive investigation into the organ 
trafficking allegations. The EULEX War Crimes Unit stated that it 
possessed no evidence related to these allegations and called on the 
COE and other parties to share whatever evidence they may have 
obtained. Following the release of the COE report, EULEX indicated that 
it lacked jurisdiction to investigate alleged crimes committed on the 
territory of Albania. However the Government publicly expressed its 
willingness to cooperate with an investigation of these alleged crimes.
    During the year there were continuing reports of societal killings, 
including both generational ``blood feud'' and revenge killings. Such 
killings sometimes involved criminal gangs. According to the Interior 
Ministry, there were five blood feud-related killings during the year. 
However, NGOs reported 55 blood feud-related killings during the year. 
According to NGOs, fear of blood feud reprisals effectively imprisoned 
approximately 1,490 families their homes. The Court of Serious Crimes 
tried blood feud cases. The law punishes premeditated murder, when 
committed for revenge or a blood feud, with 20 years' or life 
imprisonment.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.
    Albanian prosecutors believed that they had traced Ilir Kumbaro, on 
trial with three of his National Intelligence Service (SHISH) 
colleagues for the 1995 kidnapping and torture of Remzi Hoxha and two 
other citizens, to the United Kingdom, where he was allegedly living 
under an assumed name and had applied for asylum. The prosecutor 
requested extradition. The trial and the extradition request were 
pending at year's end.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions; however, 
police and prison guards sometimes beat and abused suspects and 
detainees.
    During the year the Government continued to implement 
recommendations resulting from the Council of Europe's Committee for 
the Prevention of Torture (CPT) 2008 visit to the country's prisons and 
detention centers. In its report on the visit, the CPT noted credible 
allegations of physical mistreatment, at times severe, mostly during 
police questioning.
    The December 12 COE report on inhuman treatment of persons and 
illicit trafficking in human organs (see section 1.a.) alleged that, in 
1998 to June 1999, the KLA with the cooperation of SHIK, detained 
``prisoners of war'' from Kosovo at locations it Durres, Cahan, and 
Kukes, where they were held in makeshift cellblocks, left in insanitary 
conditions without food and water, and were visited periodically by KLA 
soldiers to be questioned under harsh treatment, or indiscriminately 
beaten.
    The Albanian Helsinki Committee (AHC) and the Albanian Human Rights 
Group (AHRG) reported that police sometimes used excessive force or 
inhuman treatment. During the year the AHC reported that it received 10 
complaints of mistreatment by police and prison staff. The majority of 
these complaints concerned unjustified stops by police, detention past 
legal deadlines, failure to make citizens aware of their rights when 
detained, and poor conditions of detention centers. The AHC reported 
that conditions and treatment while in police custody are more 
problematic than in the prison system. According to the AHRG, police 
more often mistreated suspects at the time of arrest or initial 
detention. Roma, Balkan-Egyptians, and persons engaging in homosexual 
conduct were particularly vulnerable to police abuse.
    Police sometimes used threats and violence to extract confessions.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--The Ministry of Justice 
operated all detention facilities, while the Ministry of Interior 
oversaw police detention facilities.
    Prison conditions varied widely between prison facilities dating 
from the communist period and those opened after 1991. In the 
facilities dating from the communist period, concerns existed about 
adequate provisions for sanitation, ventilation, lighting, health care, 
and access to potable water. The Government was taking steps to address 
these needs and slowly phase out the older facilities. Establishments 
opened after 1991 generally met international standards. Changes in the 
law establishing a probation system, usage of alternative sentencing 
guidelines, and the construction of new prisons decreased overcrowding. 
The Albanian Helsinki Committee (AHC) reported during the year that 
there was a general alleviation of prison overcrowding, largely due to 
probationary services. Prisons have obtained modernized medical 
equipment and additional medical staff and supplies. However, access to 
medical care was not always available. During the year the AHC found 
that infrastructure conditions in some of the police detention 
facilities were very troubling.
    Prisoners and detainees have the right to meet relatives and 
meetings can occur up to four times per month for adults and up to 
eight times for juveniles. Prisoners and detainees are free to exercise 
their religion and some facilities have special places for religious 
services.
    Prisoners and detainees are permitted to submit complaints to the 
ombudsman. Every penal installation has a mailbox in which prisoners 
and detainees are entitled to submit complaints without censorship. The 
ombudsman reported that this service was functional. Prisoners and 
detainees are also entitled under the law to submit complaints to 
judicial and administrative authorities.
    Authorities investigated credible allegations of inhumane 
conditions and documented the results of such investigations, although 
the results were not always easily accessible to the general public. 
According to the Government, in 2009 the Government carried out over 
350 inspections and investigations.
    The Government allowed local and international human rights groups, 
the media, and others to monitor prison conditions. The law provides 
for an ombudsman to implement the National Mechanism for Torture 
Prevention. The ombudsman also monitored prison conditions and acted on 
prisoner complaints. The ombudsman found that several facilities lacked 
the appropriate infrastructure and found instances of overcrowding. The 
ombudsman investigated allegations of corruption within the prison 
system and found corruption to be a serious problem. However, the 
ombudsman's term in office ended in March, and the parliament was 
unable to appoint a new ombudsman, leaving a gap which hindered the 
functioning of this office.
    During the year there were no reports that authorities held minors 
together with adults. In October 2009 the Government opened the 
Juvenile Institute in Kavaje, which serves as a rehabilitation, 
correctional, and consultation center for juveniles.
    In 2009 authorities initiated 361 disciplinary proceedings against 
prison guards and officials.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, there were some 
reports that police occasionally arbitrarily arrested and detained 
persons.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Local police units 
report to the Ministry of Interior and are the main force responsible 
for internal security.
    Despite improvements in law enforcement training and management, 
police did not consistently respect the human rights of citizens during 
the performance of their duty and were not fully accountable to the 
rule of law. In some instances, police impunity was a problem. Police 
officers did not enforce the law equally and an individual's political 
or criminal connections often influenced enforcement of laws. Low 
salaries contributed to continued corruption and unprofessional 
behavior which remained impediments to the development of an effective 
civilian police force.
    During the year the ombudsman processed and completed complaints 
against police officers mainly on arrest and detention problems; the 
ombudsman resolved nearly one third in favor of the complaining 
citizen.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The 
constitution requires that authorities inform detained persons 
immediately of the charges against them and of their rights. Police 
sometimes failed to inform citizens of their rights at the time of 
arrest. Under the law, police must immediately inform the prosecutor of 
an arrest. The prosecutor may release the suspect or petition the court 
within 48 hours to hold the individual further. A court must decide 
within 48 hours whether to place a suspect in detention, require bail, 
prohibit travel, or require the defendant to report regularly to the 
police. In practice prosecutors requested and courts routinely ordered 
detention in many criminal cases. However, courts routinely denied 
prosecutors' requests for detention for well-connected, high-profile 
defendants. In many cases house arrest was granted and not enforced 
consistently; time spent under house arrest accrued toward prison time 
if a defendant was convicted.
    Courts must provide indigent defendants with free legal counsel. 
According to the AHC, police officers often failed to inform defendants 
of this right, and there were complaints by detainees that authorities 
did not provide them with defense counsel from the outset of their 
detention. The AHC and several NGOs offered free legal advice and 
advocacy services to indigent persons.
    The law requires completion of most pretrial investigations within 
three months; however, a prosecutor may extend this period to two years 
or longer. The law provides that the maximum pretrial detention should 
not exceed three years; there were no reports that authorities violated 
this limit during the year. However, lengthy pretrial detentions often 
occurred due to delayed investigations, defense mistakes, or the 
intentional failure of defense counsel to appear. For example, in the 
2008 Gerdec case involving the explosion of a former military 
ammunition demilitarization facility resulting in 26 deaths. During the 
year the hearings were postponed 77 times, due in many cases to the 
failure of defense attorneys to appear or due to the absence of a 
member of the court. Under the law, a judge cannot hold an attorney in 
contempt of court to prevent these actions by attorneys.
    Limited material resources, lack of space, poor court calendar 
management, insufficient staff, and failure of attorneys and witnesses 
to appear prevented the court system from adjudicating cases in a 
timely fashion.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary; however, political pressure, intimidation, 
widespread corruption, and limited resources sometimes prevented the 
judiciary from functioning independently and efficiently. The 
politicization of appointments to the High and Constitutional Courts 
threaten to undermine the independence and integrity of these courts.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the right to a fair trial 
with defendants presumed innocent until convicted. The court system 
does not provide for jury trials. Prosecutors and defense lawyers 
present cases to a judge or panel of judges, and defendants have the 
right to access all evidence that prosecutors present to the judges, 
can question witnesses against them, and present witnesses and 
evidence. Defendants have the right to appeal. The law mandates an 
alternative sentencing system for juveniles.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees; however, former political prisoners 
under the communist government complained that they had either not 
received the compensation due them under the law or that payments were 
coming too slowly.

    Regional Human Rights Courts Decisions.--During the year the 
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) delivered eight judgments 
concerning the country. These cases largely concerned the right to a 
fair trial within a reasonable time, the right to an effective remedy, 
and the right to peaceful enjoyment of possessions. As of September 
there were 287 cases pending before the ECHR regarding Albania.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is a functional 
civil law system where citizens have access to redress; however, it was 
susceptible to corruption, inefficiency, and political tampering. These 
factors undermine the judiciary's authority, contribute to 
controversial court decisions, and lead to an inconsistent application 
of civil law. The Bailiff's Office is responsible for enforcing civil 
judgments. The law allows private bailiffs to enforce judgments, 
facilitating both private and public entities to help enforce rulings. 
However, complete and timely enforcement of court decisions remained 
elusive.

    Property Restitution.--The laws governing restitution or 
compensation for private and religious property confiscated during the 
communist era are complex, and a large number of cases involving 
conflicting claims by new owners and the state (on one side) and former 
owners (on the other) remained unresolved. There was no update to the 
September 2008 European Parliament briefing paper on property 
restitution in the country which noted that the first round of 
judgments of the ECHR had found ``serious deficiencies'' in the 
administrative and judicial system of the country with respect to 
property restitution and compensation of former owners. The judiciary 
has serious problems with independence, transparency, and 
accountability.
    As in previous years, the Government did not provide restitution or 
compensation to religious organizations for religious properties and 
objects that the former communist government confiscated or damaged.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and 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 and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government respected 
many of these rights in practice, however: there were reports that the 
Government and businesses influenced and pressured the media.
    Individuals could freely criticize the Government publicly or 
privately without reprisal, although there were some exceptions. Some 
media outlets reported they experienced selective tax inspections due 
to their editorial point of view. Two dailies (Tema and Korrieri) 
closed in the spring after receiving fines of 20 million leks and 22 
million leks respectively ($200,000 and $220,000). The dailies stated 
that the Government imposed the fines due to their lack of 
documentation showing they had destroyed unsold copies. Tema stated 
that inspections went as far back as 2005. Tema appealed the fine with 
the Ministry of Finance and the case was ongoing. In October Tema 
resumed publication after a reorganization.
    The media were active and largely unrestrained, however; there were 
cases of direct and indirect political pressure on the media, including 
threats against journalists. At times political pressure and lack of 
funding constrained the independent print media, and journalists 
reported that they practiced extensive self-censorship. Political 
parties, trade unions, and other groups published newspapers or 
magazines independent of government influence.
    The public Albanian Radio and Television operated a national 
television channel and a national radio station and, by law, receives 
50 percent of its budget from the Government. The station remained 
under government control in its editorial line. While private stations 
generally operated free of direct government influence, most owners 
believed that the content of their broadcasts could influence 
government action toward their other businesses. Business owners also 
freely used media outlets to gain favor and promote their interests 
with both major parties.
    The investigative role of the media continued during the year. 
Leading broadcaster Top Channel's popular investigative satirical show, 
Fiks Fare, led to dismissals and criminal cases against corrupt public 
officials. In 2009 hidden camera footage led to the dismissal of 
former-minister of culture, youth, and sports Ylli Pango who was 
accused of sexual misconduct. On June 18, the Tirana District Court 
heard Pango's lawsuit and decided to fine the broadcaster 51 million 
leks ($500,000) for ``harming the ex-minister's moral stature and 
causing anxiety and grief.'' The station appealed the ruling, and the 
case was pending at year's end.
    In March the appellate court remanded the modified 2006 Council of 
Ministers decision to break its 20-year lease of space to Top Channel, 
a private television station that was sometimes critical of the 
Government, and order the station to vacate the state-owned office 
building in which it was located. The council agreed to allow Top 
Channel to move to another state-owned property. Despite this order, 
the station claimed that tenants in the new property did not allow Top 
Channel to move in and carry out its work. In March the Appeals Court 
returned the case for readjudication to the Tirana District Court. The 
case was ongoing at year's end.
    The law punishes libel with a prison sentence of up to two years 
and a fine. During the year there were no libel suits against 
reporters. However, two media outlets, Vision Plus and Shekulli, filed 
libel suits against the prime minister in December for prejudicial 
public statements that he allegedly made against them in parliament. 
The High Court ruled in May and June on the lawsuits, citing that 
``there were no elements of the criminal offences of insult and 
defamation because the damaged parties could not prove the charges.''
    Various forms of media intimidation continued. Journalists 
continued to complain that publishers and editors censored their work, 
either directly or indirectly in response to political and commercial 
pressures. Many journalists complained that their lack of employment 
contracts frequently hindered their ability to report objectively.
    On November 14, a Gjirokaster correspondent of the daily Panorama 
newspaper was reportedly assaulted by two persons. The assailants 
reportedly told the reporter to stop writing in the newspaper. Before 
the assault, the reporter had printed an interview with an unnamed 
woman who reportedly worked in drug plantations in Lazarat. The 
reporter filed a criminal suit with the Prosecutor's Office. The case 
was ongoing at year's end.
    In December businessman Rezart Taci, who was accused of assaulting 
journalist Mero Baze in November 2009 for Baze's reporting on alleged 
corruption in the privatization of ARMO, the country's state-owned oil 
refinery, was acquitted. His two bodyguards were each fined 350,000 
leks ($3,500).

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
Access to the Internet increased rapidly during the year but remained 
limited, particularly outside major urban areas. According to 
International Telecommunication Union statistics for the year, 
approximately 36 percent of the country's inhabitants used the Internet 
compared to 20.6 percent in 2009. Of those an estimated 80 percent were 
Internet users through mobile phones.
    The law provides that the Office of the Commissioner for Data 
Protection to handle complaints regarding the abuse or misuse of 
personal information in the Internet. During the year there were no 
reports that the Government attempted to collect identifiable 
information on a person in connection with that person's peaceful 
expression of political, religious, or ideological opinion.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedoms of assembly 
and association, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice.
    The law requires the organizers of gatherings in public places to 
notify police three days in advance; there were no reports that police 
arbitrarily denied such gatherings.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
association and the Government generally respected it in practice. The 
law prohibits the formation of any political party or organization that 
is nontransparent or secretive; there were no reports that the 
Government used this provision against any group during the year.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    Internal migrants must transfer their civil registration to their 
new community of residence to receive government services and must 
prove they are legally domiciled through property ownership, a property 
rental agreement, or utility bills. Many persons could not provide this 
proof and thus lacked access to essential services. Other citizens 
lacked formal registration in the communities in which they resided, 
particularly Roma and Balkan-Egyptians. The law does not prohibit their 
registration, but it was often difficult in practice to complete.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees.
    In practice the Government provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion. Under the law, there is no time limit for requesting asylum, 
but the Government must make the decision regarding granting asylum 
within 101 days of the initial request. The Government generally 
complied with this time frame. The Government actively cooperated with 
the UNHCR and the Refugee and Migrants Services Albania, which provided 
assistance to refugees.
    The Government provided temporary protection to refugees and 
provided it to 99 persons during the year.
    In cooperation with international organizations, the Government, 
through the EU's Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development, 
and Stabilization program, prescreened undocumented migrants at all 
border crossing points. Under the program, an NGO and government team 
assisted border police in identifying undocumented migrants who were 
potential victims of trafficking, asylum-seekers, or economic migrants.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens the right to change their 
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice 
through periodic elections based on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In June 2009 the country 
held parliamentary elections that the OSCE ODIHR election observation 
mission stated met most OSCE commitments but nevertheless ``did not 
fully realize the country's potential to adhere to the highest 
standards for democratic elections.'' The observation mission 
specifically cited problems in administrative procedures with the vote 
count, ``a highly polarized environment,'' biased media coverage, and 
procedural violations, such as proxy voting. ODIHR observers assessed 
voting positively in 92 percent of voting centers.
    The process through which political parties name electoral 
commissioners remains opaque. According to the law, political parties 
should name electoral commissioners 45 to 90 days prior to the election 
depending on their role. However, political parties did not always 
follow the law in practice. As a result, political parties often 
changed commissioners, or did not name them until shortly before 
elections, preventing them from receiving the training required to 
execute their duties effectively. Electoral commissioners were also 
susceptible to interference from political parties.
    At year's end the political impasse that followed the June 2009 
election continued. The SP, despite having certified the electoral 
results, boycotted parliament, called for investigations into alleged 
electoral fraud, and blocked key legislation requiring a parliamentary 
super majority, including the establishment of an administrative courts 
system. The parliament's work has been obstructed by the ongoing 
political impasse and neither the SP nor the Government has shown a 
readiness to compromise and end the deadlock. As a result, the 
parliament was not fully functioning during the year, and the 
parliament approved almost no major legislative proposals.
    Political parties operated without restriction or outside 
interference. The country has two major political parties, the 
Democratic Party (DP) and the SP and many smaller parties. In the June 
2009 elections, 34 parties campaigned freely throughout the country. 
Political party financing was largely opaque.
    Overall, women were poorly represented at the national and local 
levels of government, despite commitments by the major political 
parties to increase their representation. After the June 2009 
elections, there were 23 women in the 140-seat parliament, an increase 
from nine in the previous parliament. These included the speaker and 
one woman in the Council of Ministers.
    The law mandates that women fill 30 percent of appointed and 
elected positions, and the electoral code provides that 30 percent of 
candidates should be women. However, not all parties followed the 
electoral code, and many placed women's names in low spots on the 
ballot, virtually assuring that they would not win a seat in the 
parliament under the country's regional proportional parliamentary 
system in which votes are allocated to candidates in order of their 
appearance on the ballot.
    Several members of the Greek minority served in parliament and in 
the executive branch in ministerial and subministerial positions, 
including as the minister of labor.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, despite several arrests of high-level local and central 
government officials, government corruption remained a major obstacle 
to meaningful reform. World Bank governance indices for 2009 indicated 
that corruption was a serious problem According to a corruption survey 
released during the year, 91.8 percent of respondents think that 
corruption among public officials was either ``widespread'' or 
``somewhat widespread.'' Respondents to the survey stated that customs 
and tax officials, as well as doctors, were the most corrupt 
institutions and groups.
    The Government prosecuted corrupt officials and managed complaints 
regarding corrupt police through the ombudsman and the Internal Control 
Service of the Albanian State Police. However, broad immunity 
provisions for judges, members of parliament, and other high level 
officials hindered the Government's ability to prosecute high-level 
corruption. Immunity can only be lifted by parliament or by a High 
Council of Justice decision. The Government's anticorruption task force 
against organized crime coordinated anticorruption activities. The 
prime minister headed the task force that included several ministers 
and heads of independent state-owned agencies, such as the public 
electricity company and representatives of the police and intelligence 
organizations.
    The law prohibits government ministers and their close family 
members from owning a company directly tied to their official 
responsibilities. Since its inception in 2003, the High Inspectorate 
for the Declaration and Audit of Assets (HIDAA) received assets 
declarations from officials. HIDAA is charged with the implementation 
of the asset declaration law and the conflict of interest law. Each 
year HIDAA collects nearly 4,000 asset declaration forms from 
politicians, public servants, and the judiciary. HIDAA selected 4 
percent randomly for a full administrative investigation. HIDAA also 
investigated cases that the media, civil society, or others referred to 
it. HIDAA's mandate is limited in that it conducts administrative 
investigations and refers cases to prosecutors for additional 
investigation. During the year HIDAA sent 14 cases to prosecutors for 
further investigation and facilitated the resolution of 197 conflict of 
interest cases. During the year there were new officials who declared 
their assets for the first time. HIDAA administers conflict of interest 
regulations; during the year it fined individuals for delaying their 
submissions and fined 29 for conflict of interest. During the year the 
Ministry of Interior reported that the state police investigated 1,931 
cases related to corruption and financial crimes, and authorities 
arrested 359persons. The Government confiscated approximately 835 
million leks ($8 million) in assets. According to the Ministry of 
Interior, police dismantled organized criminal groups during the year. 
However, organized crime remained a serious problem.
    The Joint Investigative Units to Fight Economic Crime and 
Corruption (JIU) are multiagency units which investigated and 
prosecuted public corruption and other financial crimes. There are 
seven JIUs, one in Tirana and six others throughout the country, which 
investigate corruption and other financial crimes. Citizens referred 
two judges, whom officials had asked for bribes in return for favorable 
rulings. The JIUs also charged two prosecutors with corruption for 
accepting bribes related to criminal cases. All of these cases were 
pending at year's end.
    The JIUs were composed of police staff from the prosecutor's 
offices, the state police, customs and tax police, and other relevant 
institutions. The JIUs used a team structure to concentrate capacity 
and foster communication necessary for effective investigations and 
prosecutions. The JIUs received direct referrals from citizens.
    The JIUs continued to bring cases in numerous sectors rife with 
corruption. In the medical field, officials charged surgeons, 
anesthesiologists, and other medical personnel with corruption for 
demanding payment to provide what should have been free government 
services. Officials arrested traffic police officers in several major 
cities on charges of corruption and abuse of office for accepting 
bribes in lieu of traffic fines. Prosecutors charged customs officers 
and businessmen with corruption and smuggling for allowing trucks to 
cross the border without paying customs duties.
    After an eight-month investigation into corruption in the 
importation of fuel, on June 3, authorities arrested the director and 
two inspectors from the Fuel Inspection Directorate in the Ministry of 
Economy for taking $100,000 in bribes ($10,000 per ship cleared) over 
an eight-month period from a fuel importer in exchange for issuing 
false technical inspection permits and customs clearances.
    In early 2009 the trial of several former government officials, 
including the former head of the Property Restitution Commission and 
his lawyer on charges of corruption, abuse of office, and falsification 
of documents. Prosecutors alleged that the two orchestrated a scheme to 
transfer 135 acres of prime coastal land to a family that had never 
owned or claimed to own the land. Due to many delays, including the 
absence of defense attorneys on several occasions, the trial continued 
at year's end.
    During the year the prosecutor general made no further requests to 
lift the official immunity of former minister of defense Fatmir Mediu 
in connection with the 2008 explosion at a military base where old 
ammunition was rendered safe in Gerdec. In 2009 the Supreme Court ruled 
that Mediu had official immunity upon his June 2009 reelection to 
parliament.
    The lack of an independent, effective, and merit based civil 
service system remains an impediment to fighting corruption and hinders 
the ability of the Government to serve its citizens effectively and 
transparently. Politicization of the civil service recruiting system 
leads to high turnover in civil servants.
    Corruption in the education system continued. University officials 
reportedly required payments for students to gain admission. Officials 
sometimes required bribes or sexual favors from students for them to 
matriculate or pass examinations.
    Citizens and noncitizens, including foreign media, have the right 
to obtain information concerning the activities of government bodies 
and persons who exercise official state functions; however, citizens 
often faced serious problems in obtaining information from public and 
government institutions.
    The law requires public officials to release all information and 
official documents with the exception of classified documents and state 
secrets. Most government ministries and agencies posted public 
information directly on their Web sites. However, businesses and 
citizens complained of a lack of transparency and the failure to 
publish regulations or legislation that should be basic public 
information.
Section 5. 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 and responded to their views. During the year the 
Government set up an agency for the support of civil society which has 
the mandate to allocate state funding to NGOs. In December 2009 a group 
of human rights NGOs collaborated to publish a human rights report on 
the country and plans to issue another in 2011.
    The ombudsman is the main human rights institution for promoting 
and enforcing human rights. The ombudsman has the authority to monitor 
judicial proceedings and inspect detention and prison facilities; the 
ombudsman can initiate cases in which a victim is unwilling or unable 
to come forward. Although the ombudsman lacked the power to enforce 
decisions, he acted as a monitor for human rights violations. The most 
common cases included citizen complaints of police abuse of power, lack 
of enforcement of court judgments in civil cases, wrongful dismissal, 
and land disputes. The ombudsman reports to parliament annually.
    In many cases the Government took concrete steps to correct 
problems in response to the findings of the ombudsman. Cooperation 
improved between the Ministry of Interior and the ombudsman, and the 
Government implemented some suggestions made by the ombudsman.
    The Government cooperated with the UN and other international 
bodies, permitting visits throughout the year.
    The parliament has a committee on Legal Issues, Public 
Administration, and Human Rights. However, this committee was largely 
ineffective on human rights issues and remained constrained in its work 
by the SP boycott of parliament.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, ethnicity, 
disability, language, or social status; however, the Government did not 
effectively enforce these prohibitions, and discrimination persisted. 
On February 4, parliament approved a new law on antidiscrimination. The 
law created the Office of the Commissioner for Protection from 
Discrimination, which is to receive and process complaints of 
discrimination. In May parliament named a commissioner; however, the 
new institution suffered from inadequate funding and staffing.

    Women.--The criminal code penalizes rape, including spousal rape; 
however, victims rarely reported spousal abuse, and officials did not 
prosecute spousal rape in practice. The concept of spousal rape was not 
well established, and authorities and the public often did not consider 
it a crime. The law imposes penalties for rape and assault depending on 
the age of the victim. For rape of an adult, the prison term is three 
to 10 years; for rape of an adolescent between the ages of 14 and 18, 
the term is five to 15 years and, for rape of a child under the age of 
14, the sentence is seven to 15 years.
    Domestic violence against women, including spousal abuse, remained 
a serious problem. During the year police reported cases of domestic 
violence and the Government pressed charges in cases. The Department of 
Equal Opportunities at the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, and Equal 
Opportunity covers women's issues, including domestic violence.
    The Government did not fund specific programs to combat domestic 
violence or assist victims, although nonprofit organizations provided 
assistance. NGOs reported that an estimated eight domestic violence 
hotlines operated. The hotlines, serving mainly the northern part of 
the country, each received approximately 25 calls per month from women 
reporting some form of violence. NGOs operated four shelters for 
battered women in Tirana, Vlora, Elbasan, and Gjirokaster. During the 
year NGOs and police noted a substantial increase in reports of 
domestic violence, primarily due to increased awareness of services and 
more trust in the police. According to government figures, there were 
1,744 cases of domestic violence reported during the year, compared 
with 1,063 in 2009. Often the police do not have the training or 
capacity to deal with domestic violence cases.
    In many communities, particularly those in the northeast, women 
were subjected to societal discrimination as a result of traditional 
social norms that considered women to be subordinate to men.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment; however, officials rarely 
enforced the law.
    Reproductive rights are generally respected by the Government. 
Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely the number, 
spacing, and timing of their children and have the information and 
means to do so free from discrimination, coercion, and violence. 
Citizens have access to contraception. Under the law, health care is 
provided to all citizens; however, the quality of and access to care, 
including obstetric and postpartum care, was not satisfactory, 
especially in the remote rural areas. According to 2008 UN estimates, 
the maternal mortality rate in Albania is 31 deaths per 100,000 live 
births. Women are equally diagnosed and treated for sexually 
transmitted infections, including HIV.
    The law provides equal rights for men and women under family law, 
property law, and in the judicial system. Neither the law nor practice 
excluded women from any occupation; however, they were not well 
represented at the highest levels of their fields. The law mandates 
equal pay for equal work; however, the Government and employers did not 
fully implement this provision.

    Children.--On November 4, the parliament approved the law ``For the 
Protection of the Rights of the Child.'' This law provides the legal 
and institutional framework for protecting children's rights.
    In general parents must register their children in the same 
community where they are registered. However, according to the 
Children's Rights Center of Albania (CRCA), children born to internal 
migrants or those returning from abroad frequently had no birth 
certificates or other legal documentation and, as a result, were unable 
to attend school. This is a particular problem for Romani families as 
well, who often marry young and fail to register their children.
    The law provides for nine years of free education and authorizes 
private schools. School attendance is mandatory through the ninth grade 
or until age 16, whichever comes first; however, in practice many 
children left school earlier than the law allowed to work with their 
families, particularly in rural areas. Parents must purchase supplies, 
books, uniforms, and space heaters for some classrooms, which was 
prohibitively expensive for many families, particularly Roma and other 
minorities. Many families also cited these costs as a reason for not 
sending girls to school.
    As in previous years, child abuse, including sexual abuse, occurred 
occasionally, although victims rarely reported it. In some cases 
children under the age of 18 engaged in prostitution. The penalties for 
the commercial sexual exploitation of children range from fines to 15 
years' imprisonment. The country has a statutory rape law and the 
minimum age of consensual sex is 14. The penalty for statutory rape of 
a child under the age of 14 is a prison term of five to 15 years. The 
law prohibits making or distributing child pornography, and the 
penalties are a fine of one to five million leks ($10,000 to $50,000) 
and a prison sentence of one to five years. Child marriage remained a 
problem in many Romani families and typically occurred when children 
were 13 or 14 years old.
    There were reports that orphans leaving the custody of the state at 
adulthood faced significant challenges finding adequate housing and 
services.
    Displaced and street children remained a problem, particularly 
Romani children, who made up 90 percent of street children. Street 
children begged or did petty work; some migrated to neighboring 
countries, particularly during the summer. These children were at 
highest risk of trafficking, and some became trafficking victims.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were reportedly fewer than 100 Jews living in 
the country; there were no known functioning synagogues or community 
centers and no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution and law prohibit 
discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, 
and mental disabilities; however, employers, schools, health care 
providers, and providers of other state services sometimes 
discriminated against persons with disabilities. The law mandates that 
new public buildings be accessible to persons with disabilities, but 
the Government only sporadically enforced the law. Widespread poverty, 
unregulated working conditions, and poor medical care posed significant 
problems for many persons with disabilities.
    During the year the ombudsman continued to inspect mental health 
institutions and found that while physical conditions in facilities in 
Vlora and Shkoder had improved, they were not in compliance with 
standards and remained understaffed. Inspections of the Tirana 
Psychiatric Hospital found that specific windows and doors needed to be 
replaced for safety reasons. The ombudsman regularly conducts 
inspections throughout Albania and recommended a major legal, 
organizational, and budgetary review of the country's mental health 
care system. The admission and release of patients at mental health 
institutions was a problem due to lack of sufficient financial 
resources to provide adequate psychiatric evaluations.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--There were reports of societal 
discrimination. As visible minorities, members of the Romani and 
Balkan-Egyptian communities suffered significant societal abuse and 
discrimination.
    The law permits official minority status for national groups and 
separately for ethnolinguistic groups. The Government defined Greeks, 
Macedonians, and Montenegrins as national groups; Greeks constituted 
the largest of these. The law defined Aromanians (Vlachs) and Roma as 
ethnolinguistic minority groups.
    In October the Council of Ministers approved the National Action 
Plan for the Roma and Egyptian Involvement Decade for 2010-15. The 
total budget for implementing the five-year plan was expected to be 
nearly 2.5 billion leks ($23 million).
    The ethnic Greek minority pursued grievances with the Government 
regarding electoral zones, Greek-language education, property rights, 
and government documents. Minority leaders cited the Government's 
unwillingness to recognize ethnic Greek towns outside communist-era 
``minority zones''; to utilize Greek in official documents and on 
public signs in ethnic Greek areas; to ascertain the size of the ethnic 
Greek population; or to include a higher number of ethnic Greeks in 
public administration.
    During the year government prosecutors continued to appeal the 
dismissal of charges against Vasil Bollano, the ethnic Greek mayor of 
Himara, who was found guilty of abuse of office, but whose conviction 
was overturned on appeal in June 2009. The court convicted Bollano of 
destruction of government property after he ordered the removal of 
several new road signs in the Himara district because they were written 
in Albanian and English but not Greek.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There are no laws 
criminalizing sexual orientation, and the law does not differentiate 
between types of sexual relationships. There were lesbian, gay, 
bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) organizations in the country. The 
groups operated without interference from police or other state actors. 
There were reports that individuals were beaten, fired from their 
employment, or subjected to discrimination due to their sexual 
orientation. Often these cases went unreported.
    NGOs claimed that police routinely harassed LGBT persons and 
transgender sex workers.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The country has a low 
prevalence of HIV/AIDS. There is a general social stigma against 
persons with HIV/AIDS, although there were no reports of violence 
against such individuals during the year. The country's legal 
structures prohibit discrimination; however, implementation at times 
was lacking. Under the law, all health services are provided free of 
charge.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--Workers have the right to form 
independent unions and they exercised this right in practice; however, 
the law prohibits members of the military and senior government 
officials from joining unions and requires that a trade union have at 
least 20 members to be registered. Approximately 18 percent of the 
workforce belonged to unions.
    The law provides the right to strike for all workers except civil 
servants, and workers exercised this right in practice. Civil servants 
do not have the right to strike; this applies to the uniformed 
military, police, indispensable medical and hospital personnel, persons 
providing air traffic control and prison services, and both essential 
and nonessential workers in water and electrical utilities. The law 
prohibits strikes that courts judge to be political.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Citizens in all 
fields of civilian employment have the constitutional right to organize 
and bargain collectively, and the law establishes procedures for the 
protection of workers' rights through collective bargaining agreements. 
However, labor unions operated from a weak position. Unions 
representing public sector employees negotiated directly with the 
Government. Effective collective bargaining remained difficult, and 
agreements were hard to enforce. During the year parliament adopted a 
law requiring workers' representative bodies in enterprises with 20 or 
more employees to inform workers of all problems affecting them and 
their companies.
    The law does not prohibit antiunion discrimination, and there were 
some reports of such occurrences. According to the Independent Trade 
Union of Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers, employers in the 
textile, garment, leather, and footwear sectors engaged in antiunion 
behavior. Reportedly, they threatened international relocation if 
workers unionized. In April the Constitutional Court overturned the 
2009 law that could be used to sequester properties belonging to the 
country's trade unions.
    There are no export processing zones, free trade zones, or 
industrial parks.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, women and 
children were trafficked for sexual exploitation and labor. For more 
information on forced or compulsory labor, please see the Department of 
State's annual Trafficking in Persons report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law criminalizes exploitation of children for labor or forced services; 
however, the Government did not enforce the law effectively. According 
to a CRCA estimate released during the year, more than 50,000 children 
under 18 years of age worked at least part time. The CRCA reported that 
the majority of child laborers worked as street or shop vendors, 
beggars, farmers or shepherds, drug runners, vehicle washers, textile 
factory workers, miners, or shoeshine boys. Research suggested that 
begging started at a young age--as early as four or five years old. The 
criminal code prohibits the exploitation of children for begging. 
Police generally did not enforce this law.
    The law sets the minimum age of employment at 16 years and 
regulates the amount and type of labor that children under the age of 
18 may perform. Children between the ages of 16 and 18 years old can 
work in certain specified jobs. The law provides that the Ministry of 
Labor, Social Affairs, and Equal Opportunity is responsible for 
enforcing minimum age requirements through the courts; however, there 
were no reports of enforcement. Labor inspectors investigated the 
formal labor sector, whereas most child labor occurred in the informal 
sector. Most of the labor inspections occurred in shoe and textile 
factories, and some instances of child labor were found in the course 
of these inspections.
    In 2008 a massive explosion at a military base in the town of 
Gerdec, where old ammunition was rendered safe, killed 26 persons, 
including several illegally employed children, and injured hundreds of 
others, some seriously.
    The Government, together with several NGOs and international 
donors, had some specific programs aimed at preventing illegal child 
labor. During the year the Child Labor Unit at the Ministry of Labor 
continued to implement the second phase of its child labor monitoring 
initiative in the regions of Elbasan and Shkoder. As a result of those 
efforts, 362 children were withdrawn from various forms of employment 
and returned to school. In addition the Ministry of Tourism has 
established a code of conduct for preventing child sex tourism that was 
signed by 24 tourist agencies and hotels.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum wage was 
20,000 leks ($190) per month. However, it was not sufficient to provide 
a decent standard of living for a worker and family. According to 
INSTAT, the average wage for government workers in the third quarter of 
the year was 47,000 leks ($447) per month. The Albanian Institute of 
Statistics also reported that average monthly wages in the public 
sector had increased 6.4 percent from 2009. The Ministry of Labor, 
Social Affairs, and Equal Opportunity has the responsibility for 
enforcing minimum wage compliance.
    The law establishes a 40-hour workweek; however, individual or 
collective agreements typically set the actual workweek. Many persons 
worked six days a week. The law requires payment of overtime and rest 
periods; however, employers did not always observe these provisions in 
practice. The Government had no standards for a minimum number of rest 
periods per week, no limits on the maximum number of hours worked per 
week, and no regulations regarding premium pay for overtime; it did not 
prohibit excessive compulsory overtime.
    The Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, and Equal Opportunity is 
responsible for enforcing occupational health and safety standards and 
regulations; however, enforcement was lacking overall. Workplace 
conditions were frequently very poor and, in some cases, dangerous. 
Workers at the Bulqiza mines continued to request a lower retirement 
age. In response the Government issued instead a salary increase for 
miners who work beyond the age of 50. Other requests from miners 
included better medical services for miners who have an accident at 
work and an improvement of their legal status as miners. The respective 
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Energy attempted in March to 
reinvigorate the mechanism of the Mines Inspection and Rescue Unit 
which has been in place for the last 50 years. The Government also 
created a task force with a combination of central and local 
authorities, the tax administration, and the state police to improve 
law enforcement in the area.
    Several accidents in the Bulqiza mines were reported during the 
year. Most accidents involved collapses in the mines and were due to a 
lack of adequate safety measures and procedures. In May a 65-year-old 
mineworker was reported to have died in a work-related accident while 
working in one of the Bulqiza mines. During the year media outlets 
continued to report that women and minors collected chromium from mines 
to support their families.
    The law does not provide workers the right to remove themselves 
from hazardous situations without jeopardy to their employment.

                               __________

                                ANDORRA

    The Principality of Andorra is a constitutional parliamentary 
democracy with a population of approximately 85,000. Two co-princes--
the president of France and the Spanish bishop of La Seu d'Urgell--
serve with joint authority as heads of state, and a delegate represents 
each in the country. In April 2009 the country held free and fair 
multiparty elections for the 28 seats in the General Council of the 
Valleys (the parliament), which selects the head of government. 
Citizens elected Jaume Bartomeu from the Social Democratic Party as 
head of government. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    The ombudsman reported prolonged pretrial detention. The law does 
not protect effectively the right of workers to form and join unions or 
unions' right to bargain collectively and to strike.
                        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 arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices, and 
there were no reports that government officials employed them.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards. The Government 
permitted monitoring visits by independent human rights observers.
    According to information obtained from the Government, at year's 
end 61 persons, 10 women and 51 men, of 15 nationalities, including 
Romanian, Spanish, Andorran, Georgian, Ukrainian, Chinese, French, 
Moroccan, and Italian, were in jail. In the majority of cases the 
prisoners were accused of robbery.
    The prison regime separated prisoners according to gender, age, and 
other personal circumstances. Convicted prisoners were held separately 
depending on their sentence and were separated from pretrial detainees. 
Prisoners had reasonable access to visitors and were permitted 
religious observance. Authorities permitted prisoners and detainees to 
submit complaints to judicial authorities without censorship and 
request investigation of credible allegations of inhumane conditions. 
The Government investigated and monitored prison and detention center 
conditions.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the national police, the country's 
only security force, and the Government has effective mechanisms to 
investigate and punish abuse and corruption. There were no reports of 
impunity involving police during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Warrants are 
required for arrest. Police legally may detain persons for 48 hours 
without charging them with a crime, and police generally observed this 
time limit in practice. A system of bail exists. The law allows 
detainees to have prompt access to a lawyer. In September the 
Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional the established practice 
of not allowing detainees to have access to a lawyer for as long as 24 
hours after their detention. Persons charged with a crime can either 
choose their own lawyer or accept one designated by authorities. 
Detainees generally were allowed prompt access to family members.
    Cases of foreigners accounted for most of the lengthy detention 
cases of up to one year primarily because in most such cases two or 
even three countries might be involved.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected 
judicial independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution and law provide for the right 
to a fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this 
right. Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence. Trials are public, 
and defendants can request a jury. Defendants have the right to be 
present and consult with an attorney in a timely manner. If a defendant 
facing serious criminal charges cannot afford an attorney, the 
Government must appoint a public attorney. Defendants can confront or 
question witnesses against them and present witnesses and evidence on 
their behalf. Defendants and attorneys have access to government-held 
evidence in their cases. The law extends the rights to all citizens 
with no exception. Defendants have the right to appeal.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The judiciary is 
independent and impartial in civil matters. Plaintiffs can bring 
lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, a human rights 
violation. No administrative remedies are available for alleged wrongs.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and 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 and law provide 
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.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for the 
year, approximately 79 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
and law provide for the freedoms of assembly and association, and the 
Government generally respected these rights in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assisting refugees, returning refugees, 
asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The constitution and law prohibit forced exile, and the Government 
did not employ it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is not a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or the 1967 Protocol 
relating to the Status of Refugees. The law does not provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status. However, the Government has from 
time to time cooperated with the UNHCR and other organizations in 
assisting refugees ``for humanitarian reasons.''
    In practice the country provided some protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion. There were no such cases during the year.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens 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 and Political Participation.--Observers considered the 
General Council elections in April 2009 free and fair. Individuals and 
parties could freely declare their candidacy and stand for election.
    There were 10 women in the 28-seat General Council and two women in 
the nine-seat cabinet. One of the five judges of the Supreme Court of 
Justice is a woman.
    Citizens are ethnically and linguistically homogeneous but 
represent only 36 percent of the total population. Only citizens have 
the right to vote and hold official positions; consequently, there were 
no members of minorities in government. The population largely consists 
of immigrants from Spain, Portugal, and France.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption. The 
chief of police is responsible for combating corruption. There were no 
reports of government corruption during the year.
    Public officials are not subject to financial disclosure laws. The 
Unit for the Prevention and the Fight against Corruption is the 
Governmental agency responsible for the implementation and monitoring 
of the provisions contained in the law.
    The law provides for public access to government information, and 
the Government permitted access in practice for citizens and 
noncitizens, including foreign media.
Section 5. 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 cooperative and responsive to their views.
    The ombudsman is a consolidated entity well known in different 
areas of the Government and among citizens. While the ombudsman is a 
complementary institution to the traditional judicial control of the 
administrative activity, its main function is to defend and oversee the 
fulfillment and application of the rights and liberties included in the 
constitution and ensure that the performance of the public sector 
adheres to constitutional principles. The ombudsman is independent from 
other institutions and provides its functions free of charge for 
interested persons. The ombudsman enjoyed the Government's cooperation 
and operated without government interference. In general the ombudsman 
had adequate resources and was considered effective. The ombudsman 
makes a published annual report to parliament with recommendations.
    There was a moderate increase in the number of cases examined by 
the ombudsman. According to the latest report, the institution received 
266 complaints in 2009 (compared with 258 in 2008). Of these, 184 were 
simple requests for information; 37 complaints related to housing 
controversies between owners and renters and social security services; 
and 45 complaints dealt with prolonged pretrial detention. In October 
parliament authorized the ombudsman to accept requests and complaints 
from minors.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuse, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law declare all persons equal before the law 
and prohibit discrimination on grounds of birth, race, gender, origin, 
opinions, or any other personal or social condition. In the most part, 
the Government effectively enforced it.

    Women.--The law prohibits rape, including spousal rape; rape is 
punishable by up to 15 years' imprisonment. Authorities enforced the 
law effectively.
    There is no specific law prohibiting domestic violence, although 
other laws may be applicable in such cases. According to the Ministry 
of Health, Welfare, and Family, there were 167 reports of physical 
abuse against women until the end of November, an increase from 2009, 
when the total number of cases was 162. Of the 167 cases to which the 
State Secretariat for Equality and Welfare of the Ministry of Health 
attended, 15 percent of the women were Andorran nationals. Only 47 
percent of the complaints were filed by women. Victims of domestic 
violence could also request help from the Andorran International 
Women's Association (AIWA) and the Andorran Women's Association, but 
victims rarely filed a complaint with police due to fear of reprisal. 
In early December the Government opened its first shelter for women. 
The Government also operated a hotline and provided medical and 
psychological services to victims of domestic violence. The Government 
and AIWA placed abused women and their children in the private 
apartments of families who agreed to provide them with shelter. 
Caritas, a religious nongovernmental organization, worked closely with 
the Government and AIWA on social problems.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment under the provisions for other 
sexual aggressions. The law provides a penalty of three months to three 
years. The Government enforced the law effectively.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely the number 
of children they wish to have. There was easy access to contraception 
and skilled attendance during childbirth. Women were treated for 
sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, equally with men.
    The law prohibits discrimination against women privately or 
professionally; however, the nongovernmental organization working for 
women's rights and trade union representatives reported cases of gender 
discrimination especially related to unequal salaries for the same 
work. Observers estimated that women earned 35 percent less than men 
for comparable work. The Government is making efforts to combat pay 
discrimination in general, and it applied pay equality within the 
Government. There are no limitations on women's participation in the 
labor market, and the Government has encouraged women to participate in 
politics.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents; birth in the 
country's territory does not confer citizenship. Legal immigrants may 
obtain citizenship after 20 years of residence in the country. Children 
of residents may obtain citizenship after age 18 if they have resided 
virtually all of their life in the country. Dual nationality is not 
permitted.
    Violence against children persisted. According to data from 
January, the latest available, 222 minors were treated for various 
forms of abuse during the year.
    The country's general law against rape also covers statutory rape. 
Child pornography is illegal and carries a prison sentence of up to 
four years. The age of majority, 18 years, is also the age of consent. 
The penalty for statutory rape is 15 years' imprisonment, the same as 
for rape in general.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abductions. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts against 
the approximately 500-person Jewish community.

    Trafficking in Persons.--In 2009 there were no confirmed reports 
that persons were trafficked to, from, or within the country.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, and the 
provision of other state services, and the Government enforced it 
effectively. Nevertheless, societal discrimination against persons with 
disabilities existed on a small scale in the form of social and 
cultural barriers. Persons with disabilities also faced disadvantages 
in the labor market. The law mandates access to public buildings for 
persons with disabilities, and the Government generally enforced this 
provision.
    According to the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Labor, there were 
approximately 400 persons with disabilities, of whom 99 were minors. 
Schools continued to implement the law to adapt infrastructure to the 
needs of children with disabilities. During the year approximately 99 
children with disabilities attended modified schools. An association 
for persons with disabilities operates in the principality.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--On the basis of constitutional 
provisions for the right to freedom of ideas, religion, and ideology, 
the Government acts against any discrimination that may occur in the 
country. There were no reports of official or societal discrimination 
based on sexual orientation in employment or occupation, housing, or 
access to education or health care.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of societal violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS. 
However, the Government bars immigrants with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The constitution recognizes that 
workers have the right to form trade unions to defend their economic 
and social interests. In 2009 the Government approved a labor relations 
law to protect the right of unions to operate. However, this law does 
not provide the right to strike. Alternate dispute mechanisms such as 
mediation and arbitration exist. During the second half of the year, 
the Government and all relevant agents worked to develop further the 
rights contained in the constitution regarding this issue, including 
the right to strike as well as provisions for minimum services in cases 
of strike. In practice, the Government lacked mechanisms to protect 
worker rights. Unions continued to denounce the lack of laws that 
effectively develop and protect the constitutional rights of workers.
    No strikes occurred during the year. However, on May 1 (Labor Day), 
approximately 100 workers conducted a peaceful demonstration calling on 
the Government to approve new laws further developing workers rights.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law does 
not specifically provide for collective bargaining, and collective 
bargaining did not occur.
    The law does not prohibit antiunion discrimination but there were 
no official reports that it occurred during the year. Workers continued 
to be reluctant to admit to union membership, fearing retaliation by 
their employers, and unions did not make their membership numbers 
public.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--Slavery and forced 
or compulsory labor are punishable by a maximum of 12 years in prison. 
There were no reports that such practices occurred.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Without exception, the law prohibits children younger than 14 years 
from working. Children between the ages of 14 and 15 may work up to two 
months per year during school holidays following strict regulations 
contained in the laws. Laws protect children between the ages of 14 and 
15 and children between the ages of 16 and 17 by limiting working 
hours, providing for safety restrictions, restricting the type of work 
children may perform, and outlining other conditions.
    Laws protect children from exploitation in the workplace, and the 
Government effectively enforced these laws.
    The labor inspection office in the Ministry of Social Welfare, 
Public Health, and Labor effectively enforced child labor regulations.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum wage of 
5.28 euros ($7.08) per hour and 915.20 euros ($1,226.40) per month did 
not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family due to 
the high cost of living. The labor inspection office enforced the 
minimum wage effectively.
    The law limits the standard workweek to five eight-hour days for a 
total of 40 hours per week. Workers may work up to two overtime hours 
per day or 15 hours per week, 50 hours per month, and 426 hours per 
year. The law provides for premium pay of time plus 25 percent the 
first four hours per week and time plus 50 percent the following four 
hours. There is a required rest period of 12 hours between working 
shifts.
    The labor inspection service sets occupational health and safety 
standards and had the authority to levy sanctions and fines against 
companies violating them. Although the law authorizes employees to 
refuse certain tasks if their employers do not provide the necessary 
level of protection and security standards, it does not provide workers 
the right to remove themselves from dangerous work situations without 
jeopardizing their continued employment.
    The labor inspection service received more than 200 complaints from 
January to October against companies for violating health and safety 
regulations. Accidents at work diminished; from January through 
December, there were 4,019 accidents reported. The majority of 
accidents reported came from the construction sector, as well as the 
motor and machinery sector.

                               __________

                                ARMENIA

    Armenia is a constitutional republic with a population of 
approximately 3.2 million. The constitution provides for an elected 
president and a unicameral legislature (the National Assembly). The 
country has a multiparty political system. In 2008 Serzh Sargsian of 
the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) was sworn in as president, after 
a significantly flawed presidential election. The RPA continued to 
dominate the three-party ruling coalition in the National Assembly, as 
well as the Government's cabinet. Security forces reported to civilian 
authorities.
    Citizens' right to change their government through peaceful 
elections was restricted due to repeated, significant flaws in the 
conduct of elections, including a by-election for a parliamentary seat 
in January. Some members of the security forces continued to commit 
human rights abuses with impunity while under the direction of civilian 
leadership. During the year suspicious deaths occurred in the military 
under noncombat conditions, while hazing and other mistreatment of 
conscripts by officers and fellow soldiers, and a lack of 
accountability for such actions, continued. Police reportedly beat 
citizens during arrest and interrogation. Overcrowding contributed to a 
significant worsening of prison conditions.. Authorities continued to 
arrest and detain criminal suspects without reasonable suspicion and to 
detain arbitrarily individuals due to their opposition political 
affiliations or political activities. Courts remained subject to 
political pressure from the executive branch, and judges operated in a 
judicial culture that expected courts to find the accused guilty in 
almost every case. During the year the authorities released four 
individuals who had been convicted in connection with the 2008 
presidential election and postelection unrest in trials flawed by due 
process violations and apparent political motivations. Two other 
individuals convicted in connection with these events were released 
from prison after serving their full sentences, while a handful of 
other individuals remained incarcerated. The media, in particular 
television, continued to lack diversity of opinion and objective 
reporting; incidents of violence, intimidation, and self-censorship 
against and in the press continued. Authorities continued to deny 
requests by opposition parties and other groups to gather or hold 
rallies at requested venues arbitrarily, sometimes providing 
alternative venues, and sometimes preventing persons from attending 
rallies. Authorities and laws restricted religious freedom. Corruption 
remained a problem, with authorities taking limited measures to curb 
it. Domestic violence was common, but largely went unreported to 
authorities. Trafficking was a problem, but authorities took efforts to 
combat it.
                        respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        From:

    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--The Government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings; however, 
four police officers stood trial for allegedly beating and inducing the 
suicide of a suspect in their custody, and suspicious deaths of 
military personnel occurred under noncombat conditions.
    On April 13, Vahan Khalafian, a 24-year-old robbery suspect, died 
under suspicious circumstances while in police custody in the city of 
Charentsavan. Initially National Police Chief Alik Sargsian issued 
several statements that Khalafian was mentally unstable and had 
committed suicide. Sargsian also denied the possibility that Khalafian 
might have been physically mistreated by police; however, an 
investigation by the Special Investigative Service (SIS) revealed that 
Khalafian apparently was tortured by a senior police officer attempting 
to extract a robbery confession, and Sargsian issued a public apology. 
Authorities continued to maintain, however, that Khalafian committed 
suicide by grabbing a kitchen knife from a drawer and stabbing himself 
to death. On June 25, the SIS announced that its investigation had 
concluded that the behavior of police officers led Khalafian to commit 
suicide. On April 27, Ashot Harutyunian, head of the criminal 
intelligence division of the Charentsavan police, was arrested and 
formally charged with actions that exceeded his official authority and 
had grave consequences. Moris Hayrapetian, Garik Davtian, and Gagik 
Ghazarian, Harutyunian's subordinates, were charged with abuse of 
official authority. Khalafian's family, their lawyer, and human rights 
activists following the case challenged the official version of death, 
asserting that the autopsy revealed other bruises and injuries in 
addition to Khalafian's two stab wounds. Khalafian's family also 
questioned the role of Charentsavan police chief Norik Heboyan--who was 
dismissed from his position on May 28--and Deputy Chief Samvel 
Tonoyan--who retained his position--in Khalafian's death, calling into 
question the conduct of the investigation. The trial of the four 
defendants began on July 6. Harutyunian denied the charges against him. 
He also denied that Khalafian had committed suicide and said that he 
was being framed by the SIS and his subordinate Moris Hayrapetian, who 
was charged with lesser crimes, in order to cover up Khalafian's 
killing by police. On November 29, a judge in the first instance court 
of Kotayk found Harutyunian guilty and sentenced him to eight years in 
prison. Hayrapetian was given a two-year suspended sentence and the two 
other suspects, Garik Davtyan and Gagik Ghazarian, were acquitted. 
Khalafian's family denounced the verdict as unfair and maintained that 
their relative had been killed by police while at the police station 
and that the investigation failed to reveal Khalafian's murderer and 
the complete circumstances of his death. The human rights defender 
(ombudsman) also challenged the official version of suicide in a 
November 29 interview with Radio Liberty.
    In a July 28 statement, the Ministry of Defense announced that 
Lieutenant Artak Nazarian, a platoon commander stationed in the Tavush 
region, reportedly killed himself on July 27. The Office of the 
Military Prosecutor subsequently began a criminal case against a 
captain and three servicemen for beating and humiliating Nazarian. 
According to official information, Nazarian killed himself after 
becoming unable to bear abuse by fellow servicemen. Captain Hakob 
Manukian was arrested on charges of abuse of official authority with 
grave consequences, while Mkhitar Mkhitarian, Adibek Hovhannisian, and 
Harutik Kirakosian were arrested and charged with using violence 
towards a commander. In interviews given after the death, Nazarian's 
relatives accused the military of a cover up, claiming that Nazarian 
was either forced to commit suicide or killed by fellow servicemen, 
possibly even earlier than the date of death specified in the military 
report. Nazarian's cousin, who was present at the autopsy, told 
reporters that the forensic medics had found numerous injuries on his 
relative's face, hands, shoulders, and feet which were allegedly 
inflicted hours before Nazarian's death. According to official 
information, a suicide note was found inside Nazarian's clothes. In 
subsequent interviews, the family alleged numerous violations in the 
conduct of the investigation and evidence tampering aimed at covering 
up Nazarian's death. The investigative body denied the Nazarian 
family's requests to disregard as evidence the suicide note (which was 
discovered by Captain Manukian and transferred to the investigative 
body with significant delay on August 9); to be given copies of the 
notebook pages to conduct an alternative forensic examination of the 
handwriting; and to have access to the protocols and relevant documents 
on examination of the crime scene and Nazarian's clothes. The 
investigation of the case remained underway at end of the year.
    In response to public outcry concerning noncombat-related military 
shooting deaths, the Ministry of Defense on August 8 issued a statement 
announcing disciplinary measures it had taken during an unscheduled 
August 6 session of the Defense Ministry collegium. Eight officers who 
were commanders and deputy commanders of military units were dismissed 
from their posts; seven of them were also discharged from the military 
services. In addition 14 officers were issued strict reprimands, six 
were issued regular reprimands, and 10 received warnings for failing to 
comply with the terms of service. Ten commanders of subunits and chiefs 
of services were also released from their positions and demoted; one 
officer was reduced in rank.
    On September 8, according to media reports, Artur Hakobian, an 
enlisted 27-year-old junior sergeant serving in a military unit in the 
Vayots Dzor region, shot himself to death. A criminal case was opened 
into the death on charges of ``inducing'' suicide; no update was 
available on the status of the investigation at year's end.
    In apparent response to the reports of abuse occurring in the 
military, the Ministry of Defense on December 13 launched a 24-hour, 
anonymous hotline that citizens could call to register concerns related 
to military service.
    The military prosecutor reported that during the year 54 military 
servicemen died under noncombat conditions, an increase from 44 in 
2009. According to official statistics 11 were killed by enemy fire; of 
the remaining cases, 13 were murders; eight deaths were due to 
illnesses; six deaths were caused by car accidents; five deaths by 
accidents; four deaths were due to mishandling of weapons; three were 
suicides; three were induced suicides; and one was due to physical 
violence.
    On May 4, the court of first instance sentenced Andok Galstian to 
10 years of imprisonment for the September 2009 death of Aram 
Mkrtchian, an 18-year-old conscript who died in a hospital after being 
beaten by Galstian, his battalion commander at a military post in the 
Vayots Dzor region. Major Mamikon Vardanian, the second defendant in 
this case and deputy commander of the military unit who had been 
charged with insulting a soldier, was given a six month suspended 
sentence.
    No developments were reported in the investigation into the deaths 
of eight civilians and two police officers killed during clashes 
between security forces, looters, and protesters disputing the 2008 
presidential elections. In August 2009 authorities opened criminal 
proceedings against four police officers accused of improperly using 
tear gas against demonstrators in the postelection events. The four 
officers allegedly fired tear gas grenades at demonstrators from 
dangerously close distances, resulting in the deaths of three civilians 
and the injury of three others. For the second consecutive year, the 
criminal proceedings were still in the investigation stage, and no 
police officer had been prosecuted. Law enforcement bodies were 
reportedly still unable to match the ballistics evidence to specific 
firearms. According to new official information, however, forensic 
tests reportedly determined that the tear gas canisters had ricocheted 
from other surfaces and had not been fired directly at the victims.
    On March 19, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture 
(CPT) released a report on its 2008 visit to the country just weeks 
after the events took place. The report stated that the type of injury 
experienced by two of the victims suggested impact from a weapon such 
as a ``rubber bullet'' or possibly from a tear gas canister fired at 
close range directly at the head. During the year the families of nine 
of the 10 victims unsuccessfully filed four separate lawsuits against 
the SIS and the Prosecutor General's Office for inaction and failure to 
investigate, reveal, and punish those responsible for the deaths. The 
first instance court and the Court of Appeals rejected the lawsuits, 
and the highest appellate court, the Court of Cassation, refused to 
accept the cases for review.
    On January 13, the court of first instance of the Gegharkunik 
region acquitted the soldiers Rustam Asatrian and Karen Tovmasian of 
criminal negligence in the death by electrocution of serviceman Tigran 
Ohanjanian in 2007. However, the court subsequently sent the case to 
the military prosecutor's office for additional investigation. 
Ohanjanian's family has long insisted that Ohanjanian did not die from 
accidental electrocution but was killed. Both the Court of Appeals (on 
March 30) and the Court of Cassation (on June 7) upheld the trial court 
decision. Additional investigation into the case was ongoing at the end 
of the year.
    According to human rights observers, in the majority of reported 
incidents of hazing and death in the military services, the relevant 
bodies usually presented a sanitized version of events and follow-up 
investigations focused on reinforcing it. Observers also claimed that 
the armed forces in most cases declined to punish those behind hazing 
incidents and suspicious deaths.
    Ethnic Armenian separatists, with Armenia's support, continued to 
control most of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and seven 
surrounding Azerbaijani territories. Land mines placed along the border 
with Azerbaijan and along the line of contact in the Nagorno-Karabakh 
conflict continued to cause bodily harm. During the year government 
sources reported that 12 military personnel were injured by landmine 
explosions and one civilian was killed.
    According to official information, during the year shootings along 
the line of contact in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resulted in 
casualties on the Armenian side, including the death of 11 and the 
wounding of 34 military personnel.
    No developments were reported in the February 2009 killing of 
Colonel Gevorg Mherian, deputy chief of the national police, who was 
shot outside the entrance to his home in central Yerevan. As of year's 
end, the killer had not been identified, and the investigation 
continued. On February 10, Police Chief Alik Sargsian announced the 
creation of a special investigation force tasked with solving high-
profile killings committed since 2000, including the death of Colonel 
Mherian.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--While the law prohibits such practices, members of the 
security forces regularly employed them. Witnesses continued to report 
that police beat citizens during arrest and interrogation. Human rights 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported similar allegations; 
however, most cases of police mistreatment continued to go unreported 
due to fear of retaliation. Human rights groups continued to report 
that many individuals transferred to prisons from police detention 
facilities alleged torture, abuse, or intimidation while in police 
custody and that the main purpose of the torture and physical abuse was 
to extort confessions. According to domestic observers, most instances 
of abuse of arrested persons by law enforcement personnel continued to 
occur in police stations, particularly in the offices of police 
officers, rather than at police detention facilities, which were 
accessible to monitors.
    On February 10, the ombudsman sent a letter to the prosecutor 
general informing him that, during a February 5 visit to the detention 
facility of the Yerevan Police Department, his staff discovered 
multiple records of persons who were brought to the facility with 
numerous bruises, abrasions, and other injuries. The ombudsman provided 
details on 10 such cases and inquired about measures, if any, the 
Prosecutor General's Office was taking to investigate. At year's end, 
the authorities had yet to reply to the requests in the ombudsman's 
letter.
    The NGO Helsinki Citizens Assembly-Vanadzor (HCAV) reported that, 
in the first nine months of the year, it received seven complaints from 
citizens who alleged police torture either against them or their 
relatives that was aimed at obtaining information about certain crimes 
or at extracting self-incriminating testimony. According to HCAV, in 
most of these cases, the police failed to act on HCAV's reports with a 
criminal or internal investigation or the police responded by saying 
that the internal queries revealed no violations.
    On May 17, various media announced that Gagik Ghazarian died in a 
hospital from injuries incurred when he jumped from the window of the 
Kentron and Nork-Marash Courthouse, reportedly in an escape attempt. A 
spokesperson for the Cassation Court stated that the incident occurred 
after the judge had ruled that Ghazarian be held as a suspect in a 
drug-trafficking case. HCAV alleged that Ghazarian jumped to his death 
in response to police torture he experienced prior to the session. It 
based its claim on a letter it received on May 27 from an individual 
identified as K.M., who described being beaten along with Ghazarian by 
police after they apprehended him on May 13. According to K.M., the 
beatings were part of an attempt to extort confessions from the two 
that they were carrying drugs. Although no bodily injuries were 
registered upon their transfer from the police station to a detention 
facility at Nubarashen penitentiary, K.M. said he had blood in his 
urine for three days after the police beatings, while Ghazarian 
sustained a broken rib. According to official information, a criminal 
case was launched to investigate the escape attempt by Ghazarian, which 
also reportedly investigated the alleged cruel treatment in custody. 
The case was subsequently dropped due to Ghazarian's death, and, 
according to official information, the alleged cruel treatment in 
custody was not confirmed.
    Unlike the previous year, the Civil Society Monitoring Board (CSMB) 
did not report any new incidents of alleged torture and mistreatment of 
detainees by the Rapid Response Division of the Justice Ministry's 
Penitentiary Department. However, authorities did not respond to the 
CSMB's September 2009 allegations that inmates were tortured. According 
to the Helsinki Committee NGO, most instances of abuse in prisons went 
unreported due to the opaque nature of life behind bars, but anecdotal 
accounts suggest that it is a systemic problem.
    On June 23, the Public Monitoring Group of Police Detention 
Facilities (PMG) released its annual report covering 2009. It noted 
that 172 of the 967 persons arrested by police and subsequently 
transferred from police stations to police detention facilities in the 
capital of Yerevan showed bruises and bodily injuries upon their 
arrival at the detention facilities. The sources of the injuries were 
not listed and no one was held responsible for them.
    According to the ombudsman's annual report for 2009, released in 
March, citizen complaints about illegal actions by the police, 
including allegations of torture, continued to grow in comparison with 
previous years. The complaints mostly concerned citizens who claimed 
they had been summoned to police stations, detained there illegally, 
and subjected to inhuman treatment, including torture and beating. 
Complainants also alleged that police officers sought to extort 
confessions through violence, threats, and unlawful pretrial detention. 
According to the ombudsman's report, it was virtually impossible to 
restore the rights of citizens who had suffered police mistreatment or 
torture. The ombudsman asserted that police routinely responded to the 
ombudsman's inquiries about allegations of abuse with uninformative, 
formulaic replies; he added that such an atmosphere of impunity 
contributed to the increase in such abuse.
    On March 5, the Paris-based International Federation for Human 
Rights (FIDH) together with a domestic NGO, the Civil Society 
Institute, issued a joint statement noting Sasha Davtian's release from 
prison and calling for an investigation of allegations that he and his 
two daughters were tortured by police personnel. The statement also 
called for a reinvestigation of charges that Davtian tortured his 
daughters, for which he was convicted. Davtian was released on February 
26 after the Court of Appeals reduced his prison sentence from four to 
three years, making him eligible for release under a 2009 general 
amnesty. In 2008 Davtian reported the abduction and rape of his then 
underage daughter to the police. In February 2009 police dismissed 
their investigation, claiming they could not locate the alleged 
perpetrator. Following complaints by Davtian, a different police 
investigator reopened the case in May 2009. According to a journalist 
reporting on the case, Davtian was subsequently summoned to the police 
station of Yerevan's Kentron District and severely beaten by 
approximately 10 officers over several days as they tried to force him 
to confess to torturing his two daughters and raping one of them. 
According to the same report, Davtian identified some of his 
assailants--police officers Eric Poghosian, Artur Poghosian, and Artur 
Hovhannisian and police investigator Ruben Vardanian. According to the 
joint statement, the presidents of these organizations visited Davtian 
in prison on February 5, documented his testimony about his 
mistreatment, and certified that he had lost eight teeth as a result of 
his beatings. According to an October 2009 media report, police also 
abused Davtian's two daughters--one of whom was the rape victim--in an 
attempt to force them to testify against their father. The younger 
daughter was reportedly taken to the police station of Yerevan's 
Kentron District where Eric Poghosian, Ruben Vardanian, and other 
officers repeatedly beat her, deprived her of food and water, and did 
not allow her to use the restroom during the three days they held her. 
She testified against her father in the initial proceedings but later 
recanted her testimony in court. The other daughter testified that she 
was also detained by the police for two days, not allowed to sit down, 
and repeatedly struck and humiliated. In December 2009 a trial court 
judge threw out the initial testimony of the daughters against their 
father as well as other police evidence on the grounds that the 
testimony had been obtained in an unlawful manner; she subsequently 
also cleared Davtian of the rape charge. At the same time, she 
sentenced Davtian to four years on the torture charges, since he had 
admitted beating his daughters. According to the journalist covering 
the case, police were believed to have harassed the family to hide the 
identity of the true rapist, allegedly a son of a high-ranking police 
officer. The investigation into the rape was suspended in February 
2009, after no perpetrator was found. According to official 
information, neither the alleged abuse of the Davtian family by police 
officers nor any violation of the criminal procedural legislation was 
substantiated during the trial.
    In December 2009 the criminal case against Shirak Shahnazarian, the 
former police chief of Gyumri, was dropped. He was charged in 2009 with 
abuse of power ``accompanied by the use of violence'' for allegedly 
beating and illegally detaining a citizen who had come to him with a 
complaint in custody in July.
    In response to a 2009 request made by the ombudsman that the 
authorities investigate reports that police mistreated five persons 
while they were held in the police station of Yerevan's Arabkir 
District in April 2009, the authorities replied that two of the five 
individuals had attacked police officers while at the station and 
allegations of abuse by police officers were not substantiated. 
According to the ombudsman, the alleged abuses had included illegal 
deprivation of liberty, denial of food and sleep, beating, withholding 
medical aid, and degrading treatment.
    In a March 19 report on the visit of its representatives to 
detention facilities two weeks after the 2008 postelection unrest in 
Yerevan, the CPT stated that it interviewed approximately 70 persons 
being detained on charges related to the unrest. Almost all claimed 
they had been physically mistreated by law enforcement officers at the 
time of their apprehension although they offered no resistance. The 
mistreatment allegedly included pushing, truncheon blows, kicks and 
punches to the body and head, and being dragged into police vehicles. 
In some cases mistreatment continued during transportation to police 
facilities and at these police facilities after arrival. Examination of 
some detainees by a medical professional in the delegation found 
physical marks or conditions consistent with the allegations. Medical 
documentation at penitentiary establishments also contained 
descriptions by prison doctors of various injuries observed in the 
initial examination of a number of persons who had been admitted in the 
two weeks preceding the delegation's visit. Detainees charged that some 
of the law enforcement officials involved wore masks and showed no form 
of identification. Some of those interviewed maintained that the 
mistreatment they experienced was intended to obtain self-incriminating 
confessions or damaging information about others.
    There was no progress during the year in the police investigation 
into allegations that law enforcement personnel tortured and 
intimidated numerous witnesses who were called to testify against 
opposition figures arrested in connection with the disputed 2008 
presidential elections and ensuing violence.
    On February 7, the Court of Appeals upheld the December 2009 
decision of a lower court rejecting the appeal of the family of Levon 
Gulian against the SIS's termination in April 2009 of their 
investigation into Gulian's death due to lack of evidence that a crime 
had occurred. On August 27, however, the Court of Cassation invalidated 
the Court of Appeals decision and returned the case to the SIS for 
further investigation. The SIS claimed that Gulian, an alleged witness 
to a homicide, had fallen to his death from a second-story police 
station window in 2007 while trying to escape. Gulian's family and 
human rights activists maintained the investigation was not conducted 
in a credible and transparent manner and claimed that Gulian had died 
as a result of police abuse.
    On June 15, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that 
authorities had subjected penitentiary inmate Ashot Harutyunian to 
torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment by failing to 
provide him with appropriate medical assistance and by placing him in a 
metal cage during appeal proceedings. The ECHR also ruled that 
Harutyunian's right to a fair trial and presumption of innocence had 
been violated. Harutyunian was serving a seven-year sentence for 
defrauding a business partner; he suffered from several serious 
illnesses. In his appeal to the ECHR, he claimed that prison 
authorities ignored his requests for medical assistance and a special 
diet. Harutyunian suffered a first heart attack in 2004 but was not 
allowed urgent surgery recommended by doctors in a Yerevan prison 
hospital; he subsequently died from a second heart attack in Kosh 
Prison in January 2009. The media reported Harutyunian's lawyer as 
claiming that the Office of the Prosecutor General ensured that 
Harutyunian was returned to prison after an early release in 2007 
because of the office's reputed close ties with the businessman 
Harutyunian was convicted of defrauding.
    Within the armed forces, the impunity and lack of accountability of 
commanders, rampant corruption, and substandard living conditions 
continued to contribute to mistreatment and noncombat injuries. 
Although no reliable statistics on the prevalence of military hazing 
were available, soldiers reported to human rights NGOs that the abuse 
continued. Soldiers' families claimed that corrupt officials controlled 
military units, while human rights monitors and the ombudsman reported 
that soldiers with serious disqualifying health conditions were 
conscripted into military service. According to official information, 
during the year 176 military personnel were convicted of hazing and 
related violations and 12 more cases were under trial at year's end.
    On September 18, the opposition Hraparak newspaper published the 
anonymous account of a young man who had recently finished his military 
service and which detailed abuses by his battalion commander officer, 
Vardan Martirosian, at a military unit in the Ararat region. According 
to the account, Martirosian brutally beat and punished soldiers for 
minor misconduct or no reason at all. The young man also alleged that 
an induced suicide of a soldier in their unit had never been officially 
reported, and nobody was punished in connection with the death. On 
October 14, Radio Liberty reported that the investigation service of 
the Ministry of Defense had arrested Vardan Martirosian on charges of 
abuse of power after it had discovered that Martirosian had forced 
conscripts to take out and hand over to him loans from a local bank in 
the amount of 500,000 drams (approximately $1,400). Further reports 
revealed that Artur Karapetian, another officer from that unit, had 
also been arrested for extorting money from soldiers. According to 
official information, the investigation revealed, that in following 
Martirosian's orders, Major Arsen Nersisian, the head of the 
headquarters of the military unit, had collected 610,000 drams 
(approximately $1,500) from various servicemen in the period from June 
2009 to August. Nersisian had also collected 170,000 drams 
(approximately $425) from soldiers and had purchased a laptop from the 
deputy commander of the unit, Artur Karepetian, and presented it to 
Martirosian. A criminal case was launched against the three on charges 
of abuse of authority. On December 29, the criminal case against 
Martirosian and Karapetian was dropped due to ``actual repentance,'' 
and the investigation into Nersisian was still ongoing at year's end.
    According to 2009 research conducted by the domestic Soldier's 
Mothers NGO, the most numerous violations of soldiers' rights, 
approximately 46 percent, occurred during the process of medical 
examination. These violations included incomplete medical examinations 
prior to induction into service and induction into service of recruits 
with disqualifying medical conditions. The ombudsman in his 2009 annual 
report cited one instance in which these practices led to the death of 
a soldier. The ombudsman's report noted that families of recruits who 
complained to the Office of the Ombudsman about the actions of the 
military commissariats were reluctant to put their complaints in 
writing from fear that their sons would be assigned to faraway units in 
retaliation. The Office of the Ombudsman found servicemen in poor 
health at almost all military units it visited. The ombudsman's report 
also noted that conscripts with various degrees of psychological 
illness were given assignments to guard border areas. These individuals 
included conscripts who had medical restrictions, such as prohibitions 
on carrying weapons, as well as persons with histories of self-injury. 
The report cited unit commanders as observing that some conscripts with 
severe psychological problems were a significant threat to others.
    On November 5, media outlets reported the arrest of Lieutenant 
Colonel Armen Bareghamanian, deputy commander of a military unit, for 
brutally beating soldier Eric Grigorian on October 28. Grigorian was 
hospitalized with a broken nose, brain concussion, and other injuries 
following an almost hour-long beating by Bareghamanian, who was angered 
by the fact that Grigorian missed the morning assembly. By year's end, 
the investigation on charges of abuse of authority remained underway, 
while Bareghamanian remained under detention. Prior to this incident, 
Bareghamanian was under investigation for beating another soldier, 
Bagrat Yeghishian, in the same unit on June 17, while continuing to 
hold his position as deputy commander. The criminal case into 
Yeghishian's beating was launched on August 19. On November 9, 
Bareghamanian was convicted and sentenced to two-and-one-half years in 
prison for abusing Yeghishian.
    On September 11, amateur video footage appeared on YouTube 
depicting an unidentifiable man in a rural, outdoor setting slapping 
and otherwise mistreating two young men in army uniforms. The man was 
sitting on the ground enjoying a meal, while the two young men took 
turns kneeling in front of him and having their ears pulled and their 
necks and heads slapped and shaken. The video, which was immediately 
removed from YouTube, caused a public outcry. Although initially 
condemning the creation and dissemination of such footage, the Defense 
Ministry announced on September 17 that the film was authentic and that 
the depicted events involving Armenian military personnel occurred in 
July. The ministry identified the abuser as Major Sasun Galstian, who 
was reportedly intoxicated, and the victims as Sergeant Garik 
Harutyunian and conscript Bakur Yeghikian. Authorities initiated a 
criminal case, and Major Galstian was arrested on charges of abuse of 
authority. On December 9, Galstian was convicted and sentenced to three 
years in prison.
    In mid-July the investigative Hetq weekly reported on the trial of 
11 conscripts who had repeatedly beaten and humiliated fellow conscript 
Abraham Kupalian over a period of approximately six months starting in 
September 2009. A second victim, Armen Borisov, was also mistreated 
when he tried to protect Kupalian. According to Hetq, Kupalian could 
recall 12 instances of battery and abuse by the conscripts Yura 
Sarjian, Davit Manukian, Andranik Terterian, Aghasi Tonoyan, Gevorg 
Davtian, Levon Galstian, Davit Ghazarian, Davit Ghukasian, Artur 
Tarloyan, Ara Manukian, and Aram Vagharshakian. Kupalian complained to 
his commander, Grigori Avetisian, who took no action. According to the 
article, at least two other officers, Gevorg Yeritsian and Ara 
Melkonian, knew about the beatings but also took no action. Four of the 
11 abusers were sentenced to three years in prison, while the others 
received conditional sentences. However, neither the commander of the 
unit nor the two other officers were held accountable. Grigor Avetisian 
was initially charged with inaction; however the charges against him 
were later dropped.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions worsened 
significantly during the year, in large part due to overcrowding. The 
number of registered deaths in prisons increased, from 15 in 2009 to 37 
during the year, with most attributed to illnesses and some to 
suicides. In a preliminary statement issued at the end of a September 6 
to 15 observation mission, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of 
the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) noted that some prisons exhibited 
overcrowding, poor sanitation, minimal medical care, and a lack of 
sufficient ventilation. The working group observed that overcrowding 
appeared to facilitate corruption in prison, including prisoners 
bribing guards to move them to less populated cells. However, the 
working group also noted some improvements. Authorities generally 
permitted visits by independent human rights observers.
    On July 26, the CSMB noted that in the previous 12 months, the 
number of inmates in confinement increased by 20 percent. The CSMB 
reported that, according to official data as of July 1, 4,850 persons 
were being held in penitentiary institutions designated to hold a 
maximum of 4,396 inmates. The CSMB stated that in Nubarashen, the 
country's largest penitentiary, 16 to 20 inmates were kept in cells 
designed to hold only eight persons, with convicts taking turns 
sleeping. According to the CSMB, the overcrowding and consequent bad 
ventilation caused health and psychological problems and produced 
tensions and conflict among inmates. The CSMB noted that conditions 
could be interpreted under the European Convention of Human Rights as 
constituting cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, and, in certain 
cases, torture.
    According to the CSMB, overcrowding was attributable in part to the 
courts' extensive use of pretrial detention and the limited application 
of alternative punishments and conditional release on parole. The board 
noted that, according to 2009 data, only 14 percent of inmates who 
qualified for early release on parole were actually released. During 
the year human rights activists and attorneys continued to voice 
concerns over the activities of the Commissions on Early Release and 
Release on Parole, particularly the absence of strict criteria for the 
commissions' decision-making process, the lack of an appeal mechanism, 
and the fact that most members of the commissions were representatives 
of law enforcement structures who were prone to hold a bias against 
individuals with criminal records.
    During the year the CSMB filed several urgent reports to the 
Ministry of Justice regarding the deteriorating health condition of 
some convicts; although these convicts theoretically qualified for 
early release on account of their health problems, they remained in 
prison. According to the CSMB, the interagency medical commission in 
charge of considering the early release of prisoners on health grounds 
was generally very slow to act, which resulted in undue delays in their 
deliberations.
    According to official information, the average number of persons 
held in penitentiaries during the year was 4,807 persons. This included 
an average yearly number of 456 pretrial detainees and 416 detainees 
whose cases were in progress and who were in custody awaiting court 
verdicts. Pretrial detainees were confined separately from inmates. The 
total capacity of all penitentiary institutions was 4,395 persons.
    By the end of the year, there were 204 women (143 convicts and 61 
detainees) and 34 juveniles (22 convicts and 12 detainees) who were 
kept in the Abovian penitentiary for women and juveniles. One of the 
juvenile detainees was a woman. Women and male juveniles were kept in 
separate zones. There were no facilities for female juvenile convicts, 
mainly because juvenile girls were rarely convicted; however, if 
convicted they were held with adult women. Inmates were housed in large 
dormitories--with women housed separately from juvenile boys--and, 
according to domestic observers, this arrangement generated conditions 
that were worse than those observed at penitentiaries where inmates 
were confined in separate cells.
    In its 2009 report, the PMG described the use of police detention 
cells as actual holding centers for pretrial detainees as a significant 
problem. In the regions outside of Yerevan, pretrial detainees 
outnumbered arrestees in police cells by more than two to one--2,276 of 
the former compared with 915 of the latter. By law pretrial detainees 
may not be held in police cells for more than three days, since the 
cells were not equipped to offer detainees the same conditions as 
pretrial detention cells at penitentiaries. However, the PMG reported 
that in the regions there were instances of pretrial detainees spending 
as long as 27 days in police cells. While the PMG monitored police 
detention facilities, they did not have access to police station 
premises.
    Convicts and detainees did not always have reasonable access to 
visitors. Both have the right to short-term visits, and convicts are 
also entitled to long-term (conjugal) visits. A person under pretrial 
detention is granted at least two visits per month (each lasting up to 
three hours) with close relatives, representatives of the mass media, 
or other persons--unless the body conducting pretrial proceedings has 
prohibited such visits. Most convicts are entitled to at least one 
short-term visit per month (lasting up to four hours) with close 
relatives or other persons and to long-term visits (up to three days) 
with close relatives once per every two months. These minimum 
entitlements were not always met, however, mainly for technical 
reasons. Due to overcrowding, individuals confined in the Nubarashen 
penitentiary could not exercise their right to visits or were forced to 
accept much shorter visits than provided by law. Persons convicted of 
especially grave crimes and those serving life sentences are entitled 
to fewer visits--three short-term and one long-term visit per year. 
According to domestic observers, these additional limitations on access 
constituted excessive punishment beyond what was ordered by the courts.
    According to domestic observers, authorities did not investigate 
credible allegations of inhumane conditions and did not document the 
results of such investigations in a publicly accessible manner. In 
addition authorities did not always permit prisoners and detainees to 
submit uncensored appeals to authorities requesting investigation of 
credible allegations of inhumane conditions. By law the communications 
of pretrial detainees may only be censored by a court order. However, 
according to domestic observers, there were numerous cases when the 
letters of convicted persons were read and censored by prison 
administrations.
    According to domestic observers, the Government did not efficiently 
investigate and monitor conditions in prison and detention facilities. 
The Oversight Department of the Ministry of Justice was in charge of 
monitoring the implementation of the legal requirements for the 
penitentiaries, but according to domestic observers, it did not have 
sufficient staff and resources to carry out this function effectively.
    During the year there were no cases launched against prison 
administration or other officials for violence toward inmates.
    On July 20, the ombudsman sent a letter to the Ministry of Justice 
conveying his concern about suicides and deadly accidents in the 
Nubarashen prison during the May to July period. He asked the ministry 
to explain these events and describe the measures it was taking to 
address them. In its response, the Ministry of Justice reported that it 
had discovered a number of violations committed by prison 
administration and medical personnel in civilian medical institutions 
and, while they had not contributed to the deaths, they nevertheless 
rendered those in confinement more vulnerable. The Ministry of Justice 
said it was taking measures to correct the situation.
    Domestic prison monitors believed that the increase in deaths was 
correlated with worsening prison conditions. According to official 
information during the year, 37 deaths were registered in the 
penitentiaries--an increase from 15 cases in 2009. Most of the deaths 
were due to illnesses, one was due to an accident, and four were 
suicides.
    Corruption among prison officials was also a problem in which both 
prisoners and administration participated (see section 4). In 2009 the 
NGO Helsinki Committee reported the account of a former prisoner at 
Nubarashen penitentiary who claimed that the prison was ruled by a 
clandestine organized criminal system, with rampant corruption 
affecting the prisoners and involving the administration; he described 
secrecy, blackmail, gambling, torture, psychological pressure, 
intimidation, and inducing inmates to commit suicide as prevalent 
practices. The account alleged that bribes had to be paid for legally 
prescribed privileges, such as visits, walks, telephone calls, and 
receipt of packages.
    The Government generally permitted domestic NGOs and international 
rights groups, including the International Committee of the Red Cross 
(ICRC), to monitor conditions in prisons. The ICRC was permitted to 
visit both prisons and pretrial detention centers and did so in 
accordance with its standard modalities. Authorities generally 
permitted CSMB personnel to visit prisons without advance notice.
    In 2008 the National Assembly delegated to the ombudsman 
responsibility for the country's implementation of the Optional 
Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture (OPCAT). 
Overseen by the Office of the Ombudsman, a group of four 
representatives of various NGOs and three experts appointed by the 
ombudsman began implementing OPCAT during the year and visited various 
detention facilities and police stations beginning in the summer 
months.
    The Law on the Human Rights Defender does not specify whether the 
ombudsman can serve on behalf of prisoners and detainees to consider 
such matters as alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders 
to alleviate inhumane overcrowding; addressing the status and 
circumstances of confinement of juvenile offenders; and improving 
pretrial detention, bail, and recordkeeping procedures to ensure 
prisoners do not serve beyond the maximum sentence for the charged 
offense. The law does allow the ombudsman, after receiving a complaint 
of a human right violation from any person, to propose corrective 
action by the state to eliminate the committed violation, including 
initiating legal action to invalidate any legal acts of the state that 
violate human rights and fundamental freedoms.
    At the conclusion of its September observation mission, the UNHRC 
working group found some positive developments, including efforts to 
improve physical conditions in the prisons and detention centers it 
visited, and noted that 33 out of 40 police detention centers had been 
refurbished. The statement also stressed the apparent good rapport 
between prisoners, detainees, and prison guards and reported it did not 
receive any allegations of abuse of power or mistreatment by prison 
guards from any inmate.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention. While statutory law provides for adequate 
judicial review, judges are often reluctant, however, to challenge the 
requests of prosecutors in detaining persons or the conduct of police 
in arresting suspects. Statutory law does not require that a wanted 
person for whom a warrant has been issued be promptly brought before a 
judge for the review of his detention after apprehension. However, case 
law from the Cassation Court requires such prompt judicial review. In 
practice authorities on occasion arrested and detained criminal 
suspects without reasonable suspicion. Authorities continued to detain 
arbitrarily individuals who held political affiliations or engaged in 
activities perceived to be in opposition to the Government.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The national police are 
responsible for internal security, while the National Security Service 
(NSS) is responsible for national security, intelligence activities, 
and border control; the heads of both organizations are appointed by 
the president. The police and the NSS continued to lack sufficient 
training, resources, and established procedures to implement reforms 
successfully or to prevent incidents of abuse. Law enforcement bodies 
did little to investigate allegations of abuse within their ranks. As a 
result, impunity remained a chronic, serious problem, particularly 
among police personnel.
    There was no dedicated mechanism for investigating police abuse. By 
law citizens may sue police in court. According to official 
information, during the year the police conducted 24 internal 
investigations into citizens' complaints of police misconduct and 
brutality against detained or arrested persons, witnesses, or citizens. 
Eighteen of the cases were considered unsubstantiated by proof; two 
were in progress; and four cases resulted in disciplinary actions 
towards four police officers, including removal from service in one 
case.
    During the year the SIS conducted four investigations into 
instances of abuse by representatives of law enforcement bodies. Two of 
these cases involving eight defendants were sent to the courts, one was 
dropped due to the absence of a crime, and one was suspended since the 
perpetrator could not be found.
    By law detainees may file complaints before trial to address abuses 
allegedly committed by law enforcement personnel during criminal 
investigations; however, detainees must obtain permission from the 
police or prosecutor's office to undergo the forensic medical 
examination that is required to substantiate a report of physical 
abuse. Human rights NGOs continued to report that authorities rarely 
granted such permission or granted it at a later date when physical 
signs of abuse were no longer visible.
    On March 31, the Government approved the 2010-11 Police Reform 
Program. The program was developed with the support of the Organization 
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and recommended 
structural, organizational, and educational reforms in the police. 
Authorities continued to develop community policing initiatives in 
cooperation with the OSCE, through which two police outreach stations 
were opened in Yerevan's Arabkir District in 2009.
    On May 14, the two opposition members of a fact-finding group the 
Government created and subsequently disbanded after the 2008 
postelection disturbances, released a report on the involvement of the 
armed forces in those events. The report asserted that armed forces 
units were ordered into Yerevan prior to the declaration of the state 
of emergency on March 1 and argued that this was a violation of the 
constitution. As evidence the authors cited a legal analysis of the 
constitution, the numerous contradictions between the statements of 
various officials, available photographic and video material, and a 
2008 top secret directive that was leaked to the press in December 
2009. The directive, issued by then minister of defense Mikael 
Harutyunian, placed the armed forces on high alert, ordered the 
formation and arming of special groups of officers, and created a 
special command structure with broad control over military units 
stationed in and around Yerevan under the leadership of then commander 
of the Yerevan garrison and deputy minister of defense, Yuri 
Khachaturov. On May 4, Armen Sargsian, a former senior defense ministry 
official, was sentenced to two years in prison for leaking the 
document; his subordinate, Lyusia Aivazian, received a one-year 
suspended sentence on the same charges. Following the release of the 
secret directive and the report by the former members of the fact-
finding group of experts, the political opposition claimed that the 
actions of the authorities represented a coup d'etat.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Within three 
hours of taking a person into custody, the investigative body must 
either formally arrest or release the individual. Within 72 hours after 
taking a person into custody, the investigative body must either 
release the arrested person or bring charges against the individual and 
obtain a detention warrant from a judge. Judges rarely denied police 
requests for detention warrants. At times police summoned individuals 
and held them in excess of three hours, without a formal arrest, on the 
pretext that they were material witnesses to a crime (and not 
suspects). Domestic observers contended police avoided labeling 
summoned persons as suspects to avoid the legal requirement to grant 
them the rights of suspects.
    According to the PMG's 2009 report, the registries of police 
detention facilities noted 257 occasions when the right to meet with an 
attorney had been exercised by the 4,158 persons held in such 
facilities during 2009. This figure included instances when the same 
person met with his attorney several times.
    In its statement of preliminary observations issued in September, 
the UNHRC Working Group on Arbitrary Detention noted the excessive 
powers of police, the NSS, and Border Guards facilitated the arrest and 
detention of numerous individuals without an arrest warrant. Arrests 
were often not a consequence of an ongoing police investigation; 
instead, persons were detained to be investigated.
    The law provides for a bail system; however, in practice most 
courts denied requests for bail, ordering instead either continued 
detention or release of defendants on their own recognizance pending 
trial. In the latter case, defendants were sometimes required to 
surrender their passports and to sign statements promising not to leave 
the country or, in some cases, the city limits. Attorneys and court 
observers complained that while the law requires reasoned decisions be 
made on detention, and that detention be viewed as the measure of last 
resort, in practice detention decisions were often approved 
automatically by courts, with little consideration given to whether 
less restrictive alternatives might suffice to assure the orderly 
administration of justice. The overuse of detention applied also to 
juvenile offenders. There is no separate system for dealing with 
juvenile offenders and, in the view of some observers, the lack of 
demarcation between the adult and juvenile systems fails to recognize 
the unique nature of juvenile justice fully.
    On March 8, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human 
Rights (ODIHR) issued the final report on its trial monitoring project 
in the country from April 2008 to July 2009, which contained findings 
from ODIHR's monitoring of the criminal trials resulting from the 
postelection unrest in 2008. According to the report, judicial review 
of arrest and detention did not always meet either international 
standards or national legal requirements, and decisions to keep persons 
who were accused in custody pending trial were not reasoned properly 
and did not adequately address the facts in individual cases. The ODIHR 
report stated that alternatives to custody were seldom explored, and 
defense motions requesting them were frequently not addressed. Police 
arrests were often improperly and inaccurately documented, which 
created doubts about the legality of arrests and detention in police 
custody. The report noted the law treated detention hearings as closed 
hearings. The justification given by judicial authorities for holding 
closed hearings was to protect information obtained during a criminal 
investigation; however, this procedure prevented the media and public 
from monitoring the appropriateness of detention decisions and shielded 
courts from any scrutiny of those decisions.
    The law requires police to inform detainees of their rights to 
remain silent, to make a telephone call, and to be represented by an 
attorney from the moment of arrest. Public defenders must be provided 
in the case of indigent detainees; however, in practice police often 
questioned and pressured detainees to confess to crimes prior to 
indictment and in the absence of legal counsel. The practice of 
detaining individuals as ``material witnesses'' before designating them 
as suspects resulted in the questioning of individuals without the 
benefit of a defense attorney. Police sometimes restricted detainees' 
access to family members and attorneys.
    Between May 28 and 31, police, under the command of Deputy Chief of 
Yerevan Police Robert Melkonian, arbitrarily detained dozens of 
persons--mainly youth activists, representatives of the political 
opposition, and some journalists--who sought to enter the centrally 
located Freedom Square after police ordered them not to do so--in 
several instances resorting to force to deter them (see section 2.b.).
    Lengthy pretrial or preventive detention remained a chronic 
problem. Although the law requires a well-reasoned decision to justify 
grounds for an extension of pretrial custody, judges routinely 
prolonged custody on seemingly unclear grounds. In practice authorities 
generally respected the provision of the law stipulating that pretrial 
detention could not extend beyond 12 months. However, the law does not 
set any limits for detention of defendants once their cases are sent to 
court.
    According to official information, during the year the average 
prison population consisted of 4,807 inmates of which pretrial 
detainees totaled 456 persons and 416 were detainees whose trials were 
in progress.
    In a statement containing its preliminary observations on its 
September 6 to 15 visit, the UNHRC working group noted the ratio in 
prisons between persons in pretrial detention and those convicted 
seemed proportional and adequate, with approximately a quarter of 
detainees on remand.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary; however, courts remained subject to political 
pressure from the executive branch as well as the self-imposed 
expectation that judges would find the accused guilty in almost every 
case. Although judicial corruption continued to exist, courtroom 
observers believe it occurred less frequently than in the past. This 
was due to several reported factors--judicial salaries were raised 
significantly; many corruption cases were brought against mid to low-
level government personnel (including police officers and prosecutors); 
and the mindset of judges has become more cautious due to a greater 
possibility of disciplinary action and other penalties than in previous 
years.
    Trials usually met many of the procedural standards for fairness; 
however, they were often unfair in substance, because many judges felt 
compelled to work with prosecutors to achieve convictions. Judges were 
reluctant to challenge police experts or hold the prosecution 
accountable for meeting an appropriately high standard of guilt, 
thereby hampering the defendant's ability to mount a credible defense.
    Since 2008 the ECHR has found 13 violations of citizens' right to a 
fair trial as provided under the European Convention on Human Rights. 
In one case decided during the year, the ECHR declared the right of 
access to a court was violated when the Court of Cassation rejected an 
applicant's appeal as not timely without due regard to the fact that 
the applicant was unable to submit the appeal for reasons beyond his 
control. The judgment went into effect on October 4, following the 
Government's unsuccessful appeal of the decision to the Great Chamber 
of the ECHR.

    Trial Procedures.--The law requires most trials be public but 
permits exceptions, including when a secret trial is deemed to be in 
the interest of ``morals,'' national security, or for the ``protection 
of the private lives of the participants.'' Juries are not used. A 
single judge issues verdicts in first instance courts (except for cases 
on crimes punishable by life imprisonment), and panels of judges 
preside in the higher courts. Defendants generally have the right, and 
are generally required, to be present at their trials. They have the 
right to counsel of their own choosing, and the Government is required 
to provide them with defense counsel--a public defender--upon request; 
however, this obligation was frequently not honored in regions outside 
of Yerevan, where there often were not enough defense lawyers. 
Reportedly, defendants would at times refuse their public defenders 
because of the perception that public defenders colluded with 
prosecutors.
    By law defendants may confront witnesses, present evidence, and 
examine the Government's case in advance of the trial; however, in 
practice defendants and their attorneys had very little ability to 
challenge government witnesses, particularly police officers. Under the 
law, police officers are prohibited from testifying at trial in their 
official capacities unless they are testifying as a witness or victim 
in a case. Thus, official police reports detailing the evidence found 
at a crime scene or the confession of a defendant were routinely 
received as evidence without any in-court testimony from police. 
Defense lawyers had almost no ability to challenge the findings of 
these official reports, which were generally considered by courts to be 
unimpeachable. Judges controlled the ``witness list,'' which designated 
the witnesses deemed to have evidence relevant to a criminal case, and 
defense attorneys complained that at times they were not allowed to 
call or obtain the attendance at trial of witnesses whom they believed 
to have evidence helpful to their client's defense.
    Defendants, prosecutors, and the injured party have the right to 
appeal court rulings. Judges generally granted defendants' requests for 
additional time to prepare cases. The law provides for the presumption 
of innocence; in practice, however, this right was frequently violated.
    Courts at all levels failed to give proper consideration to claims 
by defendants or witnesses that they had undergone torture during the 
investigation of their cases. Defense lawyers have the right to present 
evidence of torture to overturn improperly obtained confessions; 
however, judges often did not respond to such evidence, gave it little 
credence, or rejected it outright and issued guilty verdicts in cases 
where witnesses had alleged torture. A reported exception was the 
December 2009 decision of a trial court judge in the Aragatsotn region, 
who recognized as unacceptable the testimony obtained from the 
daughters of Sasha Davtian on the grounds that those testimonies had 
been obtained in an unlawful manner, under duress. In spite of this 
decision, no subsequent investigation or prosecution of those who 
committed the rape was conducted, nor was there an investigation into 
the violence allegedly inflicted on the family by police officers (see 
section 1. c.). Judges also failed to exclude evidence resulting from 
illegal arrests.
    The OSCE/ODIHR trial monitoring report released on March 8 observed 
that the right not to be compelled to testify and the obligation to 
exclude unlawfully obtained evidence were not always respected in 
practice. Defense motions to exclude such evidence were largely ignored 
or denied. In some cases judges relied on pretrial statements of 
defendants which conflicted with their testimonies during the trial, 
despite allegations the pretrial statements were made under duress and 
intimidation. Similarly, judges relied on witness statements despite 
allegations they were obtained under duress. Research on this subject 
by the UN Development Program, in collaboration with the ombudsman, 
concluded that even in the presence of objective indications that a 
party to the trial had been subjected to torture, the courts did not 
raise the issue, and, in rare instances, evidence was admitted even 
when it was officially recognized that it had been obtained as a result 
of an act of torture.
    Domestic observers maintained that judges were somewhat more 
sensitive to the rights of the defense than in years past; however, the 
courts tended to favor the prosecution in all but a few proceedings. 
They cited as evidence the courts' continued denials of defense motions 
and improper editing of the records of court proceedings.
    It was very common for witnesses in criminal cases to disavow in 
court statements they had previously given to police. This may be done 
in part because witnesses fear retribution from the defendant, in part 
because their initial statements were made under police pressure, but 
mostly it is done because it is the custom and practice to recant such 
statements so as to accuse a person in a public forum. As such 
recantations are common in criminal cases, the courts routinely relied 
on a witness's initial statement to find an accused person guilty.
    Expert opinions proffered by the prosecution were often not 
effectively challenged. This circumstance was sometimes due to 
reluctance of the courts to grant motions of defense attorneys 
requesting additional forensic expertise. The OSCE/ODIHR report noted 
that defense lawyers regularly motioned the courts to summon witnesses, 
order forensic expertise, and introduce other additional evidence. 
Courts were generally reluctant to grant such motions and often refused 
to do so without providing a rationale as required by law. Defense 
lawyers claimed that such attitudes prevented them from defending their 
clients, especially if the clients were perceived to be opponents of 
the Government.
    On January 14, the Constitutional Court ruled unconstitutional the 
``contempt of court'' provision of the criminal code, since it 
envisaged criminal liability only towards witnesses, victims, and 
defense attorneys, but not prosecutors. The ruling was based on the 
application of the ombudsman in response to a request from the Chamber 
of Advocates (defense bar), after two criminal cases were launched 
against four defense attorneys for disrespectful actions towards the 
court. The defense attorneys had walked out of a trial of Khachatur 
Sukiasian, a prominent opposition supporter, member of parliament, and 
businessman whom they were defending, to illustrate that the trial 
could go on without them, as they complained that trials for criminal 
cases were a formality, with verdicts decided by judges before the 
trials started. These and other defense attorneys claimed this put them 
in a difficult situation in which they were present at the trial but 
unable to defend their clients. The four attorneys were acquitted 
following the Constitutional Court ruling.
    Two court decisions during the year appeared to shift the balance 
slightly in the direction of defendants. On March 26, the Cassation 
Court ruled that a statement given to investigators by an individual 
classified by police--the investigative body in the country--as a 
``witness'' could not be used against that person in a criminal case 
because in reality that person was a suspect whom the police had 
classified as a witness and who had been denied the right to an 
attorney. The court's decision followed a ruling by the ECHR that the 
actual status of a person was determinative of that person's rights, 
and that the artificial determination made by a police officer would 
not determine a person's true status and rights.
    On April 2, the Constitutional Court found unconstitutional a 2007 
provision in the criminal procedural code which allowed trial judges to 
suspend a trial and apply to the Prosecutor General's Office for 
revision of the indictment protocol to include new or aggravated 
charges. The Constitutional Court ruled this provision was in violation 
of the main principles of fair trial and the presumption of innocence. 
This decision, viewed by many observers as significant, reaffirmed the 
judiciary must be independent from the prosecution and that these 
entities cannot coordinate efforts to secure a conviction.
    As in the past, the vast majority of criminal cases sent to trial 
resulted in convictions. Observers reported this was because many 
judges felt it was their job to work with the prosecutors and return 
guilty verdicts. Furthermore, many judges feared they would face 
retribution should they return an acquittal on a sensitive case that 
was important to authorities. Notwithstanding that many weak cases 
resulted in convictions, the high conviction rate could also be 
attributed to police investigators weeding out weak cases and not 
sending them to court. According to court statistics, the courts 
rendered only 31 acquittals (both partial and full acquittals in 
reference to 39 persons) out of a total of 3,307 verdicts announced 
during the year, an acquittal rate of approximately 0.9 percent. 
However, in comparison with 2009, the number of acquittals increased.
    In December 2009 the ombudsman issued a public report in which he 
noted that violations of the right to a fair trial distorted the role 
of the courts as an impartial arbiter, keeping public confidence in the 
administration of justice very low.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--During the year authorities 
released four individuals who had been convicted in connection with the 
2008 presidential election and postelection unrest. Two other 
individuals convicted in connection with these events were released 
from prison after serving their full sentences, while a handful of 
other individuals remained incarcerated. Most were supporters or 
members of the political opposition that disputed the outcome of the 
2008 presidential election or participated in postelection 
demonstrations. The arrests and trials of most or all of the 
incarcerated individuals appeared politically influenced to varying 
degrees. Some were charged under broadly defined criminal charges of 
``usurpation of state authority'' or ``organizing mass disorder,'' 
while others were prosecuted under weapons possession laws or for 
resisting arrest. As a result of subsequent amendments to the criminal 
code, the ``usurpation of state authority'' charges were dropped, but 
the other charges remained. Authorities continued to deny the presence 
of political prisoners in the country.
    On January 29 and July 29, Mkrtich Sapeyan and his brother Zhora 
Sapeyan were released after serving their terms of two and two-and-a-
half years, respectively. They were convicted, in a trial many 
observers considered lacking due process and politically motivated, of 
beating a government supporter who heckled opposition presidential 
candidate Levon Ter-Petrossian in the town of Talin during a 2008 
campaign rally.
    Oppositionists Ashot Manukian, Mushegh Saghatelian, Gabriel 
Gabrielian, and Felix Gevorgian, who had been imprisoned following the 
2008 events, were granted early release on October 29, November 24, 
December 6, and December 9, respectively, after serving half of their 
sentences that many considered politically motivated.
    On February 10, authorities returned Sasun Mikaelian to a prison 
hospital after he underwent a second heart surgery in a private clinic. 
Mikaelian was a supporter of 2008 opposition presidential candidate 
Ter-Petrossian and a former member of parliament who was sentenced to 
eight years' imprisonment for illegal weapons possession and organizing 
mass disorder following the 2008 events in a trial many considered 
politically motivated. Arevik Stepanian, a physician at the clinic, 
claimed that Mikaelian, who in addition to heart trouble suffered from 
war-time injuries, needed physical exercise, a special diet, and 
constant monitoring by a cardiologist. The Ministry of Justice claimed 
that Mikaelian could receive the necessary treatment at the prison 
hospital, a claimhis family members strongly disputed. Throughout the 
yearthere were reports that Mikaelian's health was deteriorating and, 
on more than one occasion, he was taken to a civilian hospital for 
urgent care. The opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) claimed 
that Mikaelian was eligible for, and should be granted, early release 
on health grounds in accordance with the criminal procedural code. 
However, he remained in a prison hospital at year's end.
    On January 19, Nikol Pashinian, a prominent opposition figure and 
editor of the opposition Haykakan Zhamanak daily, was convicted of 
organizing ``mass disorder'' in connection with the March 2008 events 
and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment in a trial many observers 
considered to be politically motivated. At the same time, Pashinian was 
acquitted of assaulting a police officer during a separate preelection 
opposition demonstration in 2007. The Court of Appeals upheld the 
verdict on March 9 but ruled he was eligible for the June 2009 amnesty, 
and his sentence was reduced by half.
    On February 12, Saribek Sukiasian was detained by police and held 
for 72 hours for allegedly keeping the businessman Gor Davtian hostage 
in his office to renegotiate the terms of ownership of one of the 
companies owned by his brother, Khachatur Sukiasian. Khachatur 
Sukiasian's family and companies continued to be government targets, 
apparently in retaliation for his support of Ter-Petrossian's 2008 
presidential candidacy. Charges against Saribek Sukiasian were dropped 
on June 14 due to lack of evidence. According to official information, 
on October 19, the SIS dropped the criminal case against Sukiasian as 
his participation in the alleged crime was not proven.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--Once they have exhausted 
domestic legal remedies, citizens may apply to the ECHR for the redress 
of grievances involving an alleged infringement of rights under the 
European Convention on Human Rights. During the year the ECHR announced 
it handed down five judgments against the state and that dozens of 
applications remained pending before the court at year's end. In 2009 
the ECHR issued judgments in nine cases involving the country, eight of 
which found at least one violation of the convention by the state.
    The Government was generally responsive in providing specific 
monetary compensation when ordered to do so by ECHR. However, it was 
substantially less responsive in readjudicating the cases that resulted 
in the violations of the European Convention of Human Rights--and the 
ECHR's subsequent decisions--and in making legislative or 
administrative corrective changes to prevent similar violations. For 
example, on August 13, the Court of Cassation again refused Meltex 
Limited, the parent company of broadcaster A1Plus, a broadcast license, 
despite an ECHR ruling that the Government violated the freedom of 
expression provisions of the convention by failing to provide a written 
explanation for denying it a license in 2002. However, the Government 
paid 30,000 euros ($42,900) to Meltex Limited as ordered by the ECHR.
    In 2007 the ECHR had stated that during the trial of the criminal 
case Misha Harutiunian versus Armenia, Harutiunian's right to a fair 
trial was violated when evidence that had been obtained by torture was 
used as proof of guilt in the case. In its April 2009 decision, the 
Court of Cassation reversed previous judgments against Harutiunian and 
sent the case to the court of general jurisdiction of the Syunik Region 
for a new trial. On March 22, Harutiunian was again convicted and 
sentenced to 10 years in prison, exactly the same amount of time which 
he had already served. The defense appealed the judgment in the Review 
Criminal Court, and the case was pending at year's end. Harutiunian's 
defense attorneys raised issues as to whether the ECHR decision was 
properly enforced. The ECHR judgment had legally obliged the country to 
stop the violation and eliminate its consequences to restore 
Harutiunian to the state existing before the judgment to the highest 
possible extent. The defense challenged the action of the Government, 
alleging that by reconvicting Harutiunian, who had already served his 
entire sentence, the Government had failed to follow the principle of 
restitution. The defense further alleged the evidence used in the 
second trial was insufficient to support the second conviction.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Citizens had access to 
courts to bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, a human 
rights violation; however, the courts were widely perceived as corrupt, 
and potential litigants in civil cases often evaluated the advisability 
of bringing suit on the basis of whether they or their opponents had 
greater resources with which to influence judges. Citizens also had 
access to the Office of the Ombudsman as well as to the Constitutional 
Court in order to challenge the constitutionality of legislation.
    There was no progress during the year in the cases of many Yerevan 
residents whose property was razed on eminent domain grounds, despite 
the Constitutional Court's ruling in 2006 that the 2002 government 
decision authorizing such demolitions violated the constitution. In 
June 2009 the ECHR delivered a verdict in the Minasian and Semerjian 
versus Armenia case, ruling the state had violated the property rights 
of both citizens when expropriating their property. By the end of the 
year, ECHR had not made an accompanying decision on the amount of the 
compensation to be provided.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution prohibits unauthorized searches and 
provides for the right to privacy and confidentiality of 
communications. However, the Government violated these rights in 
practice.
    By law judges may authorize authorities to wiretap a telephone or 
intercept correspondence only after being presented with compelling 
evidence of criminal activity; however, during the year judges 
arbitrarily granted permission, and searches without warrants 
reportedly occurred. According to a February 23 statement issued by the 
defense attorneys of Saribek Sukiasian, the police on February 13 
conducted an illegal search in the office of ``SIL Concern'' CJSC 
belonging to the Sukiasian family. According to the defense attorneys, 
although the court warrant was issued for a different address, the 
investigator allegedly wrote over the other address to carry out the 
search. The statement also noted police had illegally confiscated a 
computer in the office that contained important material in reference 
to Saribek Sukiasian's case that should have been protected by 
attorney-client privilege.
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 
always respect these rights in practice. There continued to be 
incidents of violence and intimidation of the press and press self-
censorship throughout the year. The media, especially television, 
continued to lack diversity of opinion and objective reporting. 
Domestic and international observers expressed concern substantive 
changes to media legislation enacted during the year, in connection 
with the country's planned switchover to digitalized broadcasting, 
could reduce media pluralism and citizens' access to diverse 
information and opinions.
    Individuals could generally criticize the Government publicly and 
privately without fear of retaliation; however, media outlets, 
particularly broadcasters, feared reprisal for reporting that was 
critical of the Government. These reprisals included the threat of 
losing a broadcast license or of a selective tax investigation, as well 
as loss of revenue when advertisers learned an outlet was in disfavor 
with the Government. This fear of retribution led to a high degree of 
self-censorship.
    Most newspapers were privately owned, with the exception of 
government-sponsored Hayastani Hanrapetutiun and its Russian-language 
version, Respublika Armenii. The print media generally expressed a wide 
variety of views without restriction but remained influenced by 
economic or political interest groups or individuals.
    Greater plurality of opinion existed in online publications, 
although the readership of online media remained limited, especially 
outside Yerevan.
    Newspaper circulation remained very limited, as was the audience 
for the country's 20 radio stations, of which three were public and two 
were broadcast from abroad. According to official information, 82 
television stations operated during the year, of which three were 
public and four were broadcast from abroad. All but the three public 
television stations were privately owned, and half of all of the 
television stations operating in the country were small broadcasters 
based in outlying regions. Only the state-owned Public Television (H1) 
had nationwide coverage, although several other stations were able to 
broadcast beyond their home regions. Most stations were owned by 
progovernment politicians or well-connected businessmen, factors that 
continued to prompt journalists working for them to practice self-
censorship. Major broadcast media outlets generally expressed 
progovernment views and avoided editorial comment or reporting critical 
of the Government.
    During the year there were reports of physical attacks against 
journalists in connection with their journalistic activity. Many of the 
perpetrators remained unidentified. Representatives of law enforcement 
agencies also occasionally harassed journalists during the year. There 
were no new developments in the investigation of attacks against 
journalists recorded in previous years.
    The Government's relationship with journalists, particularly those 
who were independent of, or regarded as hostile to, the authorities was 
not constructive. There were no reports authorities took any special 
measures during the year to protect threatened or vulnerable 
journalists or to punish those who sought to intimidate them.
    On February 24, Gagik Margarian, a police officer seconded to the 
SIS, reportedly attacked photojournalist Gagik Shamshian as Shamshian 
was about to enter the Prosecutor General's Office to cover a press 
conference. When Shamshian refused to stop taking pictures of Margarian 
as Margarian was entering the office, Margarian reportedly swore at 
Shamshian and struck him in the head with a briefcase. During the press 
conference, the prosecutor general encouraged the photojournalist to 
file a complaint and to share with law enforcement bodies the footage 
he had taken. On February 25, an investigation of possible battery and 
obstruction of a journalist's work was launched against Margarian, and 
in a press release issued the same day, the Prosecutor General's Office 
condemned ``all manifestations of violence, regardless of towards whom 
it is directed,'' and posted on its Web site the video footage of the 
incident caught by its security cameras. The video footage depicted a 
scuffle between Shamshian and Margarian, where the two mostly pushed 
each other, but also showed Margarian striking Shamshian's head with a 
briefcase. According to the February 25 medical report issued by the 
hospital he visited after the scuffle, Shamshian suffered damage to his 
ear membrane as a result of the blow; however, according to the 
subsequent March 1 medical forensic examination that formed part of the 
investigation, the injury could not have been sustained as a result of 
the scuffle. On April 9, the case against Margarian was dropped for 
``lack of a criminal action,'' since according to official information, 
most witnesses attested that Shamshian provoked the attack.
    Investigative journalism was often viewed negatively, especially by 
those who were the subjects of scrutiny. Physical attacks on 
investigative journalists, or other attempts to discourage whistle-
blowing by journalists, continued to occur. On April 2, the Azg daily 
reported its reporter was attacked by a construction worker when the 
reporter tried to photograph a construction site in downtown Yerevan. 
The worker allegedly struck the reporter on the head and shoulders and 
tried to grab the camera and the bag from him. Nearby students helped 
the reporter escape the attacker. Reportedly the worker threatened the 
journalist, saying that ``your hours are numbered.'' The reporter chose 
not to press charges and remained unidentified.
    On May 31, during a small opposition gathering, police detained 
Susanna Poghosian and Lilit Tadevosian, reporters for the opposition 
newspapers Haykakan Zhamanak and Hayk, respectively, as they were 
performing their journalistic duties. Poghosian and Tadevosian were 
released later the same day.
    On the same day, Ani Gevorgian, another reporter from the 
opposition Haykakan Zhamanak daily, was arrested as she was filming a 
confrontation between police and opposition supporters near Freedom 
Square. She was charged with assaulting a police officer. On June 3, 
she was released by a court on condition she not depart the country. On 
November 29, the criminal case against Gevorgian was dropped.
    On September 7, members of Prime Minister Sargsian's entourage 
accompanying him to the opening of a cultural center in the Shirak 
Region reportedly impeded the journalistic activities of the 
independent GALA television and broke a microphone belonging to the 
company. In a statement released on September 7, GALA described the 
incident as obstruction of journalistic activity. The statement also 
noted that, after the incident, an employee of the prime minister's 
press service offered a verbal apology to GALA's journalist. However, 
on the same day, an assistant to the prime minister denied GALA's 
allegations, claimed that one of Sargsian's bodyguards had accidentally 
broken the microphone's tripod, and stated other journalists present 
could prove it was an accident. The assistant also announced that GALA 
would be compensated for the damages to the company's equipment, but no 
such compensation was provided by year's end.
    At year's end, there were no indications police investigated 
allegations of police abuse in connection with the reported April 2009 
attack on journalist David Jalalian. Jalalian was reportedly attacked 
by police officers before Yerevan's May 2009 municipal election while 
he was covering an opposition gathering in downtown Yerevan. The 
initial reports of the attack, accompanied with photos of Jalalian's 
injuries, were followed by a report that Jalalian testified to the 
police that he was not beaten but instead pushed by police officers and 
fell on his back. Media reports alleged that Jalalian recanted after 
two police officers visited him at his home and threatened him.
    An NSS investigation of an apparent attempt in April 2009 to kill 
Argishti Kivirian, an attorney and the editor of two independent online 
media outlets, continued at year's end. Three assailants attacked 
Kivirian with wooden batons and tried to shoot him in the entryway of 
his apartment building as he returned home from work in the early 
morning. Kivirian was hospitalized in grave condition with severe 
injuries and cuts on his head and body and was placed in intensive 
care. In July 2009 the NSS arrested two suspects, Gurgen Kilikian and 
Vladik Merabian, and charged them with attempted murder but released 
them on March 8 pending further investigation.
    There were no developments in the investigation of the May 2009 
attack on Nver Mnatsakanian, a news anchor and talk show host for the 
private Shant TV television station. Mnatsakanian was attacked and 
beaten by unknown assailants on his way home from work and suffered 
injuries to his head, foot, and hand, requiring treatment in a 
hospital. The case was suspended in September 2009, since the 
perpetrators were not found.
    There were no developments in the investigation of any of the 
attacks on journalists during the May 2009 Yerevan municipal elections. 
On election day, violence and abuse directed at journalists often 
occurred in the presence of police and election officials, who did not 
intervene either to prevent or stop it.
    There was no progress during the year in resolving numerous cases 
of intimidation and violence against journalists and damage to their 
property during the 2008 presidential election. Likewise, no progress 
was made in the numerous cases of widespread harassment and 
intimidation of reporters during the 2008 postelection protests. There 
were no suspects identified or prosecutions initiated in connection 
with these incidents, except in one case of a voting precinct 
chairperson who was fined for restricting the rights of a journalist 
and election observers at a polling place.
    Police reportedly continued their search for two of the three 
persons who violently attacked investigative journalist Edik 
Baghdasarian, known for exposing corruption, in 2008. In June 2009 one 
individual, Karen Harutyunian, was sentenced to five years in prison 
for his role in the attack. Police failed to apprehend the two other 
alleged perpetrators and suspended their investigation in October 2009.
    There was no progress in the investigation of the 2008 attacks 
against Gyumri-based Asparez Journalists Club.
    During the year the GALA television station based in Gyumri 
continued to face legal disputes and government pressure that led most 
advertisers to withdraw their commercials. On April 6, the State 
Revenue Committee (SRC) terminated the customs clearance of equipment 
GALA was seeking to import, claiming the broadcaster owed 822,200 drams 
(approximately $2,100) in fines imposed for its failure to pay back 
taxes in 2007-08. GALA insisted it had no outstanding tax obligations, 
but its equipment was cleared by customs only after the SRC seized the 
822,200 ($2,100) drams from the company. In May GALA's executive 
director, Karine Harutyunian, stated that advertisers were cancelling 
their commercials under government pressure. Only the French-owned 
mobile telephone operator Orange continued to place its commercials 
with the television station. The station's difficulties began in late 
2007 when GALA broadcast a speech by former president Levon Ter-
Petrossian before he announced his candidacy for the 2008 presidential 
election. Following the broadcast, authorities launched an aggressive 
tax audit and in 2008 charged GALA 26 million drams ($85,000) in back 
taxes, fines, and late fees.
    On December 16, the National Commission on TV and Radio (NCTR) 
turned down the 13th bid for a frequency by the independent A1Plus 
television news outlet, which was forced off the air in 2002. According 
to the NCTR's chairman, Grigor Amalian, A1Plus lost its latest bid for 
a television broadcasting license to another television company because 
it presented false letters of financial support in its application for 
a new license. According to the attorneys of A1Plus, NCTR committed 
procedural violations in its conduct of the competition for the new 
license; they maintained the NCTR should have returned the application, 
requested clarifications, or completely removed A1Plus from the 
competition if it had concerns about the application's contents. A1Plus 
representatives also maintained that even without the funds that were 
pledged in the letters in question, the media outlet still had 
sufficient financial resources to carry out its proposed business plan. 
On December 20, A1Plus announced it had appealed to the administrative 
court to compel the NCTR to provide it with a copy of the application 
package of its competitor and winner of the tender, Armnews TV. NCTR 
had refused to provide the documents to A1Plus immediately after the 
competition, claiming it needed the documents for work, and that the 
documents would be provided only after January 20, 2011. A1Plus stated 
that it would file other appeals with the court on different aspects of 
the December 16 NCTR competition; however, by year's end no such 
appeals had been lodged.
    In 2008, in response to an appeal from A1Plus, the ECHR ruled that 
the NCTR's refusal to provide a written explanation for its repeated 
refusals to grant a license violated the freedom of expression 
provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights. The ECHR 
awarded, and the Government paid, 30,000 euros (approximately $42,900) 
to A1Plus' parent company, Meltex Limited. However, the Cassation Court 
declined a subsequent application by A1plus that it revise its earlier 
decisions to comply with the ECHR decision, on grounds that the ECHR 
decision had not explicitly required it to do so. Meltex then appealed 
to the Constitutional Court, which ruled on February 12 that a 
provision of the civil procedure code the Cassation Court had relied 
upon in its decisions was unconstitutional. The Constitutional Court 
also noted the Cassation Court should have complied with an earlier 
ruling on this subject in an unrelated matter. However, on August 13, 
the Cassation Court again rebuffed a subsequent application by Meltex 
and reaffirmed its earlier decision to uphold the NCTR's decision to 
deny A1 Plus an operating license.
    On May 18, the National Assembly adopted changes to the civil, 
criminal, and criminal procedural codes decriminalizing the offenses of 
``libel'' and ``insult.'' The changes were enacted in response to calls 
by international organizations for greater protection for freedom of 
expression. Dunja Mijatovic, the OSCE representative on freedom of the 
media, stated the country ``made a significant step forward to support 
freedom of expression.'' Domestic media watchdog groups nevertheless 
asserted the ceiling for pecuniary damages was high in the domestic 
context; they cautioned that, although the authorities cited 
decriminalization as justification for the amendments, the offence of 
``false denunciation,'' whose definition is very similar to that of 
``libel'' and ``insult,'' still remained a criminal offense and could 
be used against journalists. At the same time, a statute remained in 
the criminal code criminalizing slander of judges, prosecutors, and 
other representatives of law enforcement bodies. As of year's end, 
there were no reported cases of the new statutes being used.
    The transition from analog to digital broadcasting prompted 
additional amendments to the Law on Television and Radio, which, in 
spite of its stated purpose, were widely perceived as a way of further 
tightening government control of broadcast media and limiting the 
voices of independent media in advance of the next national election 
cycle in 2012-13. On May 10, the Government published draft amendments 
to the law that it claimed were necessary to establish the legal 
framework for the transition. With little time for deliberation, the 
National Assembly, in its last session prior to the summer recess, 
enacted the amendments on June 10, and President Sargsian signed them a 
week later. The drafters of the amendments had offered assurances the 
recommendations of domestic media associations and international 
organizations would be considered when the National Assembly revised 
the drafts, but the final version ignored most of them. These 
amendments followed the 2008 enactment, also done hurriedly and with 
little input from the parties most concerned, of controversial 
amendments to the same law that established a two-year moratorium on 
the issuance of broadcast licenses, also justified on the basis of the 
impending switchover to digital broadcasting.
    While the June amendments failed to address key issues related to 
digitalization, such as the regulation of mobile and Internet 
broadcasting, digital transmitters, and network operators, they 
contained provisions many asserted were not technically necessary for 
digitalization, and, as domestic observers indicated, would 
significantly limit media freedom and pluralism. The June amendments 
would reduce the number of television channels eligible to broadcast in 
Yerevan from 22 to 18 and allow only one local channel to broadcast by 
digital signal from each of the country's 10 administrative regions to 
replace the multiple local television companies already broadcasting 
via analog signals. Regional television companies would be allowed to 
continue broadcasting analog signals until 2015.
    The seemingly arbitrary number of digital broadcasting licenses 
perplexed domestic observers in light of the potential afforded by 
digital technology to expand vastly the number of television channels. 
The Government claimed the reduction was required by the peculiarity of 
the frequency landscape; however, in spite of significant pressure from 
domestic media associations and international organizations, the 
Government did not publicize the technical audit of available 
frequencies on which it claimed the planned reduction was based, making 
verification of the limitations impossible. Representatives from the 
NCTR, including its chairman, Grigor Amalian, had promised to release 
the audit initially in September, and later by October, but had not 
done so by year's end. Furthermore, in response to an inquiry by the 
domestic NGO Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression, the Ministry 
of Economy on December 2 stated that the foreign company which had been 
commissioned to conduct the technical audit had presented its final 
report on August 26--a date well after the Law on TV and Radio had been 
amended in June. The Ministry of Economy also stated that the 
Government had rejected and returned the audit for revision on October 
27. The amendments also imposed thematic directions for each of the 
future digital channels--such as youth-oriented and scientific-
educational programming, entertainment, music, local and international 
news programming, and rebroadcasting of foreign TV channels--thereby 
restricting what each TV company could broadcast.
    On June 15, OSCE media freedom representative, Dunja Mijatovic, 
whose office provided legal expertise and recommendations throughout 
the amendment process, announced the final version of the law passed by 
parliament failed to promote broadcast pluralism in the digital era. 
Although Mijatovic's office acknowledged that some of the OSCE's 
recommendations were acted upon, it noted others of crucial importance 
for a smooth transition from analog to digital broadcasting were not 
taken into account.
    On July 20, as the 2008 moratorium on the issuance of new licenses 
expired, the NCTR issued a tender for applications for 18 broadcast 
licenses for nationwide, Yerevan-based, and regional broadcasting. On 
July 27, it issued a second tender for applications for seven more 
broadcast licenses, reportedly for TV broadcasters in the country's 
regions, notwithstanding that the June amendments specified that only 
18 requests for broadcast licenses would be tendered. In October the 
NCTR announced that 20 media companies had applied for the 18 broadcast 
licenses it had tendered in July, with two of the licenses each being 
bid on by two competitors. On December 16, the NCTR selected the 
winners for the 18 licenses. A1Plus lost its bid to the Yerevan-based 
Armnews TV, widely perceived as a progovernment company. The Yerevan-
based ALM TV, which unlike A1Plus had an existing broadcasting license 
and was in operation at year's end, lost its bid to Yerevan-based 
Yerevan TV.
    On December 23, the NCTR announced the winners of the seven bids 
for regional-based broadcasting in the country's regions. Only two of 
the seven bids involved more than one competitor. GALA TV in the Shirak 
Region lost its bid in one of these competitive tenders to a television 
station widely perceived as progovernmental also operating there.
    Prompted by the controversy sparked by the June amendments to the 
Law on Television and Radio, the Presidency announced on September 28 
its recommendation to the ombudsman that he lead a working group to 
review the legislation and its effect on the digitalization process. 
The ombudsman accepted the offer and, on October 12, the group, 
consisting of representatives of various NGOs and state bodies, held 
its first meeting. At year's end, the working group had yet to issue 
any recommendations for amending the legislation passed in June, and it 
remained unclear when it would do so.
    On September 16, the National Assembly passed amendments that 
significantly increased the fees charged to broadcasters--both annual 
fees for broadcasting and one-time fees for participating in a tender 
for a broadcast license. According to some observers, while the amount 
of the new fees was understandable considering the very low fees 
broadcasters had previously paid, their rapid escalation could 
nevertheless pose an insurmountable burden for smaller companies, 
especially those operating in the country's regions.

    Internet Freedom.--During the year there were no government 
restrictions on access to the Internet or reports of suspected 
government monitoring of e-mail or Internet chat conversations. During 
the year there were no reported cases of the Government deliberately 
blocking independent or pro-opposition Web sites, as it had done during 
the 2008 state of emergency.
    Internet cafes were widely available in the cities, although 
Internet service provider connections were often extremely slow, thus 
limiting their effectiveness. Some Internet cafes also operated outside 
urban areas. According to International Telecommunication Union 
statistics for 2010, approximately 7 percent of the country's 
inhabitants used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--On April 16, the Ministry of 
Education and Science prohibited the premiere showing of the film 
Election by Tigran Paskevichian at the National Center of Aesthetic 
Education. The film depicted the developments prior to and following 
the disputed 2008 presidential election. In explaining the decision, a 
ministry official, Arman Aivazian, referred to a provision of a 
governmental decree that prohibited religious and political 
organizations from conducting activities in not-for-profit 
institutions. Paskevichian denied the applicability of this statute to 
the movie showing and insisted his freedom of speech had been 
infringed. The film was eventually broadcast on GALA Television and was 
shown in small halls belonging to opposition parties.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution provides for freedom of assembly; however, 
authorities restricted this right in practice, particularly the 
assembly of individuals perceived to be political opponents. 
Authorities continued arbitrarily to deny requests by opposition 
parties and other groups to gather or hold rallies in originally 
requested venues of Yerevan. Some groups reported lack of access to 
closed venues as well.
    Domestic observers perceived the current Law on Conducting 
Meetings, Assemblies, Rallies, and Demonstrations and its 
implementation as unfairly restricting individuals' right to assemble, 
with the implementation of the law giving authorities unfettered 
discretion to grant or deny permission to conduct meetings and rallies. 
According to the law, organizers must notify authorities about all 
planned gatherings with the exception of not mass public events (fewer 
than 100 persons) and spontaneously formed events. Observers 
complained, however, that these procedures were heavily regulated and 
contained loopholes that permitted abuse by the authorities. For 
example, although the law states that an authorized body is required to 
consider the notification of a mass public event (over 100 persons) 
within 72 hours of receiving it, and the organizers must be immediately 
informed about a decision, the law appears to prohibit any assembly if 
a decision is never made by the authorized body. Furthermore, observers 
noted the criteria under which rallies may be denied are highly 
subjective, as any ``justified official opinion'' of the police or the 
National Security Service may be used to justify such a denial to 
permit assembly or to terminate an assembly that already began.
    On May 25, in a report on freedom of assembly over the period 2008-
09, the ombudsman concluded that the country's practices regarding 
peaceful assembly did not correspond with applicable international 
standards. The report stated that, although legislation on freedom of 
assembly was largely brought into line with international standards in 
2004, it still contained ambiguous provisions that resulted in 
inconsistent application of the law, particularly when reviewing 
notifications, which led to legal uncertainty as to when applications 
could be denied. The report concluded the conduct of authorities in 
many cases supported the claim they did not adequately appreciate the 
importance of freedom of assembly or its utility in helping a country 
resolve its national problems.
    During the year authorities prevented, dispersed, or otherwise 
interfered with gatherings by organizations it associated with 
opposition to its policies. On at least eight occasions during the 
year, authorities dispersed opposition ANC and other groups seeking to 
hold small scale demonstrations in Freedom Square or rejected permit 
applications by them to do so. Freedom Square reopened in May after two 
years of closure for construction of an underground parking lot. The 
square is particularly symbolic, as it has served as the country's 
historic venue for demonstrations against sitting governments. The 
square was the site of 10 days of peaceful protests following the 
disputed 2008 presidential elections until security forces used force 
to dislodge the protesters.
    In the course of heading off one of these demonstrations, police 
told the demonstration leader his group could rally anywhere in Yerevan 
but Freedom Square. On at least two occasions, authorities cited other 
events that purportedly had been scheduled at the same time; however, 
observers noted that no notice of these events had been published. In 
several instances, police efforts to prevent the demonstrations 
resulted in violence, injuries, and the detention of some 
demonstrators.
    On May 31, a skirmish between ANC supporters and police occurred 
when police stopped approximately 50 ANC supporters from entering 
Freedom Square. Police forcibly detained approximately 20 demonstrators 
and three journalists working for opposition newspapers. One of the 
detained journalists accused the police of beating and pushing 
individuals at the scene, regardless of whether they were ANC 
supporters or ordinary citizens. All but three of those detained were 
released within a few hours. The exceptions were journalist Ani 
Gevorgian and two youth activists, Sargis Gevorgian and Davit 
Kiramijian. In a written statement defending their actions, police 
stated that Sargis Gevorgian and Kiramijian struck a police sergeant 
and tore off his epaulettes; they provided no reason for Ani 
Gevorgian's arrest. The lawyer for the three claimed that all three 
were subjected to violence and suffered injuries. Ani Gevorgian and 
Sargis Gevorgian were released after 72 hours but were charged with 
violence towards a representative of authority. Davit Kiramijian, 
charged with hooliganism, was held without bail pending police 
investigation; however, he was released on July 2 following a court 
order. The combined trial for Davit Kiramijian and Sargis Gevorgian 
began on July 14 and, on December 28, both were convicted and given 
suspended two-year prison sentences. The investigation of the separate 
case against Ani Gevorgian, charged with using violence against two 
police officers, was dropped on November 29.
    According to official information on the investigation of criminal 
cases launched in connection with the incidents occurring in and around 
Freedom Square from May 26 to June 1, police actions were deemed 
legitimate. The investigation found that ANC supporters had held mass 
gatherings in Freedom Square without permission from the municipality, 
disturbed the peace of citizens and various organizations, and insulted 
and attacked police officers, resulting in injury to several officers. 
The ANC denied these claims, asserting all the attempted gatherings 
were peaceful, small in size, and thus not requiring advance 
authorization.
    In addition to preventing demonstrations in Freedom Square, police 
interfered with a number of other efforts by opposition groups to 
assemble peacefully during the year.
    On February 19, ANC youth attempted to march in the center of 
Yerevan to mark the second anniversary of the disputed 2008 
presidential elections. Police pushed them out of the street and 
cordoned off their rally area. Six youths were detained and released 
several hours later.
    On March 1, the ANC held a rally in front of the Institute of 
Ancient Manuscripts. Police did not disperse the rally but reportedly 
tried to limit access to roads leading into Yerevan and denied buses 
entry into the capital. There were also reports police summoned ANC 
supporters outside of Yerevan and tried to persuade them not to 
participate in the rally. There were similar efforts by police to 
prevent persons from the regions from travelling to Yerevan to 
participate in other demonstrations.
    On March 27, the ANC attempted to hold a town hall meeting in 
Gyumri in a privately owned sports center. The landlord accepted the 
rental payment, but after the meeting was announced in the press, NSS 
officers reportedly visited the landlord and compelled him to cancel 
the agreement. A second attempt by the ANC to hold the meeting in a 
movie theater was unsuccessful after the NSS reportedly pressured the 
theater owner to cancel that rental agreement.
    The municipality of Yerevan rejected the application of the ``We 
Are against Foreign Schools'' initiative to organize a concert on June 
19 in Aznavour Square in front of the Moscow Cinema.
    On July 28, according to media reports, police used force to 
prevent a group of environmental activists from blocking the entrance 
to the Russia-based VTB Bank in downtown Yerevan. The activists were 
protesting mining, principally financed by the bank, in the country's 
Teghut forest. Armen Dovlatian, chairman of the Greens Union, was 
reportedly injured, while environmental activist Mariam Sukhudian was 
reportedly struck.
    On September 29, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation 
(Dashnaktsutyun) political party , was able to hold a small rally in 
the town of Ashtarak despite the refusal of local authorities to 
sanction the rally and a subsequent decision of an administrative court 
on September 28 upholding the refusal.
    On November 9, a videotaped skirmish occurred between police and a 
small number of ANC youth picketers who were protesting outside a 
Yerevan hotel at the start of an EU-organized human rights seminar. The 
skirmish broke out when police attempted to move the picketers forcibly 
behind a cordon they erected after the youth had already begun their 
peaceful picket. The police briefly detained youth activists Areg 
Gevorgian, Sargis Ghazarian, Sargis Gevorgian, and Vahagn Gevorgian, 
claiming that they disobeyed lawful demands, insulted and attacked a 
police official, and launched a criminal case of violence against 
representatives of authorities. The activists claimed policed punched 
and kicked them at the police station. According to official 
information, the criminal case was dropped on December 28 with the 
investigation showing the youth had no intention of violating public 
order. Authorities did not investigate or question the legality of the 
police actions in breaking up the peaceful picket.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
association, and the Government generally respected it in practice; 
however, registration requirements for all political parties, 
associations, and secular and religious organizations remained 
cumbersome. The law stipulates citizens have the right to form 
associations, including political parties and trade unions, except for 
persons serving in the armed services and law enforcement agencies.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the Department of State's 2010 International Religious 
Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/drl//irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation; however, there were some restrictions in practice. The 
authorities cooperated with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for 
Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations in providing 
protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, refugees, 
returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other 
persons of concern.
    During the year there were numerous credible reports authorities 
prevented citizens residing outside Yerevan from travelling to attend 
opposition rallies in the capital.
    To leave the country on a temporary or permanent basis, citizens 
must obtain an exit visa. Exit visas for temporary travel out of the 
country may be routinely purchased within one day of application for 
approximately 1,000 drams (approximately $3) for each year of validity.
    The law does not prohibit forced exile, but there were no reports 
the Government used it.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--During the country's war with 
Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, authorities evacuated approximately 
65,000 households from the border region, but most IDPs later returned 
to their homes or settled elsewhere. Of the remaining IDPs, almost two-
thirds could not return to their villages, which were surrounded by 
Azerbaijani territory. Other IDPs chose not to return due to 
socioeconomic hardship or fear of land mines. A 2005 mapping study 
conducted by the Norwegian Refugee Council, together with the Migration 
Agency under the Ministry of Territorial Administration, found that 
8,399 IDPs resided in the country. There were no further studies to 
estimate current numbers of IDPs.
    During a visit to the country in September, the UN representative 
on the human rights of IDPs, Walter Kaelin, cited a lack of adequate 
housing and limited economic opportunities as remaining obstacles faced 
by some of the country's IDPs.

    Protection of Refugees.--The laws provide for granting asylum or 
refugee status, and the Government has established a system for 
providing protection to refugees.
    The law on refugees and asylum adopted in 2009 incorporated the 
basic principles of refugee protection established by the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, bringing most aspects of 
the admission and treatment of asylum seekers and refugees into 
conformity with international standards, ensuring respect for the right 
to asylum, and addressing national security concerns. Since its 
adoption, the Government, in consultation with the UNHCR, has issued 
nine by-laws setting up procedural standards for the implementation of 
the law.
    In practice authorities provided protection against the expulsion 
or return of refugees to a country where their lives or freedom would 
be threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, 
membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. 
Authorities also provided temporary protection during the year. 
According to the Migration Service, 50 persons applied for asylum 
during the year. During the year the Government granted asylum and 
refugee status to 14 persons.
    There was an established procedure for granting asylum that 
included amnesty for the illegal entry of an asylum seeker and access 
to the territory for individuals seeking asylum. Asylum seekers 
experienced prolonged delays at the airport's international zone while 
waiting for their asylum application to be registered. Asylum seekers 
who were serving sentences for illegal entry were generally not 
released immediately following the registration of their asylum 
applications and were required to serve the remainder of their 
sentences.
    The UNHCR reported at least one case of extradition of a person who 
contacted the UN expressing a clear wish to claim asylum. The UNHCR had 
immediately passed the information to the relevant state authorities; 
however, the person was extradited despite the efforts of the State 
Migration Service and the UNHCR to prevent it. In its September 
statement, the UN Human Rights Council's Working Group on Arbitrary 
Detention noted its concerns that asylum seekers not be turned away at 
the border or after detention without an opportunity to claim asylum in 
accordance with internationally accepted procedures.
    Due to a lack of institutional capacity, the authorities often 
struggled to integrate asylum seekers into society once they were 
granted permanent residency status. Temporary housing for refugees and 
asylum seekers was often inadequate in supply and in poor condition. 
Refugees faced the same social and economic hardships that confronted 
the general population.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    Although the law provides citizens with the right to change their 
government peacefully, that right was restricted in practice due to 
repeated, significant flaws in the conduct of elections.

    Elections and Political Participation.--On January 10, three 
candidates competed in a by-election to fill the seat formerly held by 
a government opponent, Khachatur Sukiasian, who in September 2009 
relinquished his seat in protest against the parliament's stripping of 
his parliamentary immunity as well as the immunity of three other 
members who supported the presidential campaign of opposition leader 
Levon Ter-Petrossian in the 2008 presidential elections. One of the 
candidates for the seat included prominent jailed oppositionist Nikol 
Pashinian, who remained incarcerated at year's end on charges related 
to the 2008 postelection unrest.
    In December 2009 four youth activists were accosted and beaten by 
more than 20 assailants in downtown Yerevan while distributing 
election-related materials on behalf of Pashinian's campaign in the by-
election. The police launched a criminal case and charged Vahan 
Nadarian and David Simonian, reportedly progovernment loyalists, with 
provoking the incident. Opposition officials alleged that supporters of 
the ruling RPA carried out the attack, but Simonian denied the 
allegations. Charges against Nadarian were later dropped due to lack of 
evidence, while Simonian was charged with infliction of willful slight 
damage to health and battery and, on April 2, was convicted and fined 
150,000 drams ($345).
    The by-election was marred by numerous reports of irregularities, 
including intimidation of voters; verbal and physical threats directed 
at journalists, observers, and candidate proxies; ballot stuffing; and 
the unregulated presence in polling places of nonvoting individuals 
sympathetic to the progovernment National Unity Party candidate. In 
some instances, these individuals, rather than electoral commission 
members, appeared to be managing the electoral process.
    On election day, Petros Makeyan, a campaign manager for Nikol 
Pashinian, and two companions were hospitalized after being beaten 
outside a polling station. Authorities launched a criminal case, but 
the case was subsequently dropped.
    According to HCAV, a domestic organization that observed the 
election, the chairperson of polling station number 10/19, after 
receiving complaints about election violations, forcibly evicted those 
who had complained and closed the polling station for over an hour. 
During the station's closure, the voters' lists disappeared temporarily 
until the chairperson returned them, removing them from his jacket. 
During the day, some voters arriving at the polling station discovered 
that somebody had already voted under their names. The election 
commission refused to discuss the numerous complaints lodged with it 
over its administration of the voting. The results at this and one 
other polling station were later invalidated.
    In its findings, HCAV said it observed open voting in 10 polling 
stations; directed voting and campaigning in 18 stations; and 
intimidation, threats, and restriction of rights of proxies, observers, 
and reporters in eight polling stations. Voting in the by-election was 
conducted in 34 polling stations in Yerevan's Kentron District.
    The by-election produced a very low turnout with numerous observers 
attributing this circumstance to growing public apathy about politics 
and distrust of the flawed electoral processes. An estimated 23 percent 
of approximately 56,000 eligible voters cast their ballots. In 2007 
voter turnout in the same parliamentary district was 53 percent.
    Women's participation in political and public life, especially in 
decision-making bodies, remained low. There were 11 women in the 131-
seat National Assembly, two in the cabinet, and no female governors. 
Only five of the incoming 52 Yerevan City Council members were women, 
and no women headed any of Yerevan's 12 administrative districts. The 
ombudsman's annual report, released in March, pointed out the 
inadequate participation of women in the country's political life. The 
election code stipulates that at least every 10th person on each party 
list submitted for parliamentary elections should be a woman, and at 
least 15 percent of the individuals submitted in parties' final lists 
should be women. Although many observers considered the quota 
insufficient, the final seat allocation for women was often lower than 
that mandated in the electoral code. For example, only two of the 63 
members of parliament representing the ruling RPA were women.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    Corruption remained a problem, with authorities taking limited 
preventive or punitive measures against it. While the law provides 
criminal penalties for official corruption, the Government did not 
implement the law effectively or evenly, and officials frequently 
engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. Although two high level 
officials were arrested in February for taking bribes and the minister 
of agriculture received a public reprimand in March for misuse of 
government funds, no concrete actions were taken to address the 
systemic corruption in government.
    The World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators also reflected 
that corruption continued to be a serious problem. Civic groups working 
to address corruption stated authorities continued to ignore media 
reports implicating government officials in corrupt practices.
    Beginning in January 2009, all public officials and their family 
members, as well as citizens with annual incomes exceeding eight 
million drams (approximately $21,000), were subject to financial 
disclosure laws, according to which they had to file their asset 
declarations no later than April 15; however, it was unclear to what 
extent officials and individuals with high incomes complied. According 
to domestic observers, tax authorities lacked the capacity and 
resources to verify the reliability of asset declarations.
    Government programs to curb chronic corruption continued to produce 
few tangible results. The activities of the Governmental Anticorruption 
Strategy Monitoring Commission and Anticorruption Council continued to 
be viewed with skepticism. In 2009 the Government approved a 2009-12 
anticorruption strategy following two years of development and six 
months of wide-ranging discussions in Yerevan and the regions and the 
posting of the strategy on the Government's Web site; however, the 
Government failed to fund implementation of the strategy and devoted no 
money for anticorruption efforts.
    On January 22, President Sargsian told the Control Chamber (an 
official auditing body that monitors government budgetary activity) it 
must work more closely with law enforcement authorities and press 
harder for the prosecution of state officials suspected of embezzling 
public funds and engaging in corrupt practices. Sargsian acknowledged 
the lack of prosecutions of government officials on corruption charges 
undermined public trust. Ishkhan Zakarian, head of the Control Chamber, 
reported the chamber had inspected all ministries and government 
agencies in 2009 and reported 21 cases of embezzlement to state 
prosecutors.
    On February 18, the Prosecutor General's Office accused Tigran 
Grigorian, head of the Ministry of Nature Protection's State Ecological 
Inspectorate office, and his deputy, Arsen Petrosian, of accepting five 
million drams (approximately $13,000) in bribes from a mining company 
to reduce the company's fines for violations of environmental safety 
rules. On August 6, the court sentenced Grigorian to seven years in 
prison, and Petrosian to 10 years' imprisonment, on charges of 
accepting a bribe.
    On March 4, during a cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Sargsian 
publicly reprimanded the agriculture minister for misuse of government 
funds. The Control Chamber discovered the Agriculture Ministry had 
purchased cattle medication for farmers from a private supplier at 
grossly inflated prices. Sargsian asked the state body overseeing the 
civil service to dismiss the two senior Ministry of Agriculture 
officials in charge of procurement.
    On March 26, newspapers reported allegations that Hovhannes 
Hovsepian, head of the Control Service under the Presidency, arranged 
for relatives to be appointed to government positions. One sister was 
appointed as head of a state medical college while another sister was 
appointed head of a maternity hospital. Hovsepian also allegedly 
arranged for his brother-in-law to be appointed deputy head of a 
department of the real estate registration agency.
    On December 27, a criminal case was launched against Alvaro 
Antonian, the head of the Seismic Protection Service, for allegedly 
misappropriating three million drams ($8,000) in a French government-
sponsored assistance program to establish a network of seismic stations 
in the country.
    On May 5, the Office of the Prosecutor filed a criminal case 
against Areg Hayrapetian, head of the legal and inspection department 
of the Ministry of Culture, for abuse of office. Hayrapetian allegedly 
arranged for the ministry to pay 19,600,000 drams ($53,000) to a 
private insurance company which he owned for services that were never 
provided.
    While the constitution prohibits individuals with active business 
interests from holding public office, the authorities continued to 
ignore the prohibition in practice and ignored violations. Prominent 
businessmen continued to occupy seats in parliament, while various 
government officials reportedly continued to use their offices to 
promote their private business interests.
    On February 9, newspapers published a photograph of a large manor 
alleged to be the home of Minister of Nature Protection Aram 
Harutyunian. One article alleged that the minister owned three gas 
stations, a hotel-restaurant complex, and an asphalt factory. On March 
4, another newspaper reported that member of parliament Hrant Grigorian 
allegedly declared an annual income of 190,000,000 drams ($512,000) in 
addition to his government salary of 311,000 drams ($840) per month. 
The newspaper said it had discovered that Grigorian owned a private 
transportation company, a gas station, a hotel complex, a restaurant, 
and a store.
    Corruption remained a significant problem in the police and 
security forces. In spite of efforts further to reduce bribe taking by 
traffic police, citizens continued to report being solicited to pay 
bribes, although less frequently than in previous years. Citizens also 
reported police officers solicited bribes to drop criminal cases or 
reduce penalties. Corruption in prisons continued to be a problem, 
exacerbated by low salaries and poor and sometimes dangerous working 
conditions for prison employees. In certain facilities, prisoners 
bribed officials to obtain single occupancy cells and additional 
comforts. There were unverified reports prison officials charged 
unofficial fees to family members and friends seeking to deliver meals 
to inmates.
    There were widespread reports about corruption in the Medical-
Social Expertise Commission (MSEC) under the Ministry of Labor and 
Social Affairs, the body that determines a person's disability status 
(see section 6).
    During the year the Control Chamber published similar findings on 
gross violations and financial abuse in numerous state bodies; as in 
previous years, however, these cases were rarely prosecuted.
    According to official statistics, various law-enforcement bodies 
launched 420 corruption-related cases during year. During the year the 
courts convicted 159 persons, including 79 officials. The majority of 
officials investigated or convicted were section heads or other low-
level officials.
    While the law provides for public access to government information, 
in practice many government bodies and officials were reluctant to 
provide such access. As of year's end, the Government had not adopted 
the regulations on the collection and provision of information that 
were required by, and supplementary to, the 2003 Freedom of Information 
Law. Officials cited the absence of these regulations when refusing to 
provide information. NGOs were more successful in gaining access to 
information through the courts than obtaining it directly from 
government agencies.
    In 2008 the Freedom of Information Center published the results of 
a survey on journalists' access to information, which reported 
difficulty accessing official information remained a serious problem. 
The survey claimed the main obstacle to obtaining official information 
was the mentality of officials who viewed information at their disposal 
as their private property. Other obstacles included the absence of 
formal procedures for storing and providing information as well as the 
low level of awareness among journalists of their rights.
Section 5. 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, freely 
investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases.
    During the year independent domestic human rights organizations and 
domestic affiliates of international organizations operated in the 
country. Authorities generally did not deny requests to meet with 
domestic NGO monitors and followed some NGO recommendations, 
particularly those related to social welfare, education, and local 
matters. Authorities were usually unresponsive, however, to NGO 
allegations of mistreatment and abuse committed by law enforcement 
bodies. Authorities' general response in such instances was that they 
had investigated the allegations but could not corroborate them.
    On August 5, without any prior consultations with interested 
parties, the Government adopted a highly controversial decree 
establishing an oversight body under the Ministry of Justice to watch 
over the ``legality'' of activities of nonprofit organizations. The 
stated objectives of the new body were to provide for the compliance of 
nonprofit organizations with domestic legislation, to reveal cases of 
their violating the law, and to increase the transparency of their 
finances. The decree gives broad authorities to the new oversight body, 
which, among other powers, will be able to inspect NGOs and demand they 
be suspended or closed without providing a mechanism for appeal. NGOs 
criticized the decree as unconstitutional and the oversight body as a 
means for establishing complete governmental control over civil society 
organizations. According to NGOs, the creation of the oversight body 
followed failed attempts by the Government in 2009 to push similarly 
restrictive legislation through the National Assembly.
    On March 11, the prosecutor's office announced that charges against 
Mariam Sukhudian, a young environmental activist, had been dropped. In 
August 2009 police charged Sukhudian with falsely reporting a crime 
after she publicly reported instances of sexual and other abuse at a 
state-run boarding school for children with special needs in 2008. The 
charges were downgraded to slander in October 2009. The defendant and 
domestic human rights monitors criticized the charges as retaliation 
for Sukhudian's bringing the abuses to light.
    On February 5, the court acquitted Arshaluis Hakobian of the 
domestic Helsinki Association NGO, who was on trial for assaulting 
police officers, after the prosecution withdrew all charges for lack of 
evidence. Police arrested Hakobian in June 2009, claiming he had 
assaulted police officers while they were summoning him to appear at 
SIS in connection with an official complaint of electoral fraud that 
Hakobian filed after the May 2009 municipal elections. According to 
Hakobian, police officers beat him on the way to and at the police 
station and denied him access to a lawyer during the initial hours of 
his detention. CSMB members visited Hakobian in prison and reported 
numerous injuries on his legs, hands, back, and head.
    There were no developments in the investigation of the assaults 
against youth activists Arsen Kharatian and Narek Hovakimian in 2008.
    There was a human rights defender (ombudsman) with a mandate to 
protect human rights and fundamental freedoms from abuse by the 
national, regional, and local governments and their officials. During 
the year the ombudsman issued both regular and unscheduled reports on 
human rights problems. The law requires the ombudsman to present an 
annual report to the National Assembly during the first quarter of 
every year, but parliament did not schedule its hearing on the 
ombudsman's 2009 annual report until November 15. The Government has 
generally been unresponsive to the ombudsman's reports; it never 
answered the questions raised in the ombudsman's 2008 report on that 
year's postelection violence, choosing to criticize the report instead. 
During the year the Ombudsman's Office received 4,089 complaints from 
5,221 citizens; it resolved 123 of these complaints with 562 persons 
reportedly receiving redress for their grievances.
    In September 2009 the ad hoc parliamentary commission set up to 
investigate the postelection disturbances of 2008 reported that it was 
unable to shed more light on the 10 deaths that occurred and urged law 
enforcement authorities to do more to identify and prosecute those 
responsible. In June 2009 President Sargsian disbanded the bipartisan 
fact-finding group of experts he established to assist the commission 
in its inquiry. According to domestic observers, the disbanding of the 
fact-finding group was connected to the leaking of sensitive reports 
that assigned culpability to authorities for some of the 10 deaths.
    In December 2009 the PACE Monitoring Committee criticized the 
commission's self-censorship for not sufficiently challenging the 
official version of events. It also deplored the report's one-sided 
description of events and lack of discussion of the postelection arrest 
and prosecution of a large number of opposition supporters.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit discrimination based on race, 
gender, disability, language, or social status; however, the Government 
did not effectively enforce these prohibitions in practice.

    Women.--Rape is a criminal offense and carries a maximum penalty of 
15 years' imprisonment. There are no explicit laws criminalizing 
marital rape. According to police information cited by the Prosecutor 
General's Office, nine cases of rape and attempted rape were registered 
in the country during the year. In connection with these cases, nine 
individuals were prosecuted, seven were convicted, and two cases were 
still under investigation. According to official information, none of 
these reported cases constituted marital rape. Crimes such as rape 
continued to be underreported due to the social stigma attached to 
them.
    There is no law against domestic violence. Few cases of spousal 
abuse or other violence against women were reported during the year, 
although such violence was believed to be widespread, a belief 
supported by a study released by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) in 
July. That study, conducted during 2008 and 2009 with the cooperation 
of the National Statistical Service, indicated that partners had 
subjected 61 percent of women to controlling behavior, 25 percent to 
psychological violence or abuse, 8.9 percent to physical violence, and 
3.3 percent to sexual violence. Perpetrators other than husbands and 
other intimate partners subjected 2.3 percent of women to physical 
violence and 0.1 percent to forced sex. The survey revealed that 7.4 
percent of women gave up or refused a job because their partner did not 
want them to work; 8.7 percent said their partners had taken their 
earnings or savings against their will; and 60.9 percent of women who 
had a partner during their lifetime were unemployed. The survey also 
showed that violence against women had an adverse effect on women's 
health and their social, mental, physical, and economic well-being.
    Local experts indicated the survey findings did not reflect the 
full scope of domestic violence, since the household survey was not 
anonymous.
    On October 4, the Armavir Development Center, a domestic NGO, 
presented the results of an anonymous survey it had conducted among 300 
women in the Armavir Region in November and December 2009. According to 
the findings, 68 percent of women interviewed admitted being subjected 
to psychological abuse (42 percent of these women indicated the abuse 
occurred either often or sometimes); and 38 percent of women 
interviewed admitted being subjected to physical abuse (21 percent 
indicating often or sometimes). According to the findings, 76 percent 
of those who were subjected to physical violence did not ask for help, 
but those who did applied to family or neighbors. The survey revealed a 
connection between the level of education and location (for example, 
rural versus urban), with more educated, urban-dwelling women 
considering psychological abuse or physical violence inflicted by 
spouses to be unacceptable.
    In another anonymous 2007 survey commissioned by the domestic 
Women's Rights Center NGO, 66 percent of respondents acknowledged that 
family members had subjected them to psychological abuse, and 39 
percent considered themselves victims of either moderate or severe 
physical abuse.
    According to domestic observers, most cases of domestic violence 
continued to go unreported because victims were afraid of physical 
harm, were apprehensive that police would return them to their 
husbands, or were ashamed to disclose their family problems.
    On October 1, police launched an investigation into the death of 
20-year-old Zaruhi Petrosian, a resident of the town of Masis, who was 
hospitalized late on September 30 with a brain hematoma, a broken 
finger, and bruises on her body. The police subsequently arrested Yanis 
Sargisov, Petrosian's common law husband, on charges of willful heavy 
damage to health leading to death by negligence. The criminal 
investigation was later transferred to the investigation department of 
the Ministry of Defense in light of Sargisov's service in the armed 
forces. According to Hasmik Petrosian, Zaruhi Petrosian's sister, 
Zaruhi had long been physically abused by her husband and mother-in-
law. Officials stated the investigation could not corroborate abuse by 
the mother-in-law. At year's end, the investigation of Sargisov 
continued while he remained in custody. Petrosian's child remained in 
an orphanage while the mother-in-law and Petrosian's sister both 
claimed custody of the child.
    In March the domestic Women's Resource Center Armenia (WRCA) NGO 
launched a public awareness campaign to advertise its Sexual Assault 
Crisis Center and help hotline. The Yerevan municipality eventually 
rejected the organization's application to advertise the center on 
large commercial billboards, on the grounds that the billboard graphics 
would place unnecessary psychological stress on teenagers and women. 
The municipality then took steps to remove all WRCA's advertising. The 
WRCA asserted that, by limiting the billboards to providing only the 
help hotline number, the municipality reduced the effect of its 
advocacy against sexual assault of women.
    There were two NGO-operated shelters, in Yerevan and Gyumri, 
offering victims of domestic violence refuge and other assistance, 
including psychological and legal counseling. The NGO running the 
Yerevan shelter also operated a hotline. Both shelter operations 
depended upon private donors; the Government did not provide them 
funding.
    Referring to data analyzed by the Police Information Center, the 
Prosecutor General's Office reported 392 cases of domestic violence 
were registered in the country during the year, which included not only 
spousal abuse but also violence perpetrated by any family member. These 
included 229 cases of battery; 104 cases of infliction of willful light 
damage to health; 25 cases of threats to murder, to inflict heavy 
damage to one's health, or to destroy property; 22 cases of infliction 
of willful medium damage to health; six cases of infliction of heavy 
damage to health, two of which led to the death of the victim; one case 
of torture; and five murders or attempted murders.
    The law does not specifically prohibit sexual harassment, although 
it addresses lewd acts and indecent behavior. While there was no public 
data on the extent of the problem, observers believed sexual harassment 
directed against women in the workplace to be widespread.
    According to law, couples and individuals have the right to decide 
freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their 
children, and to have the information and means to do so free from 
discrimination, coercion, and violence. However, in practice especially 
in more traditional families, such decisions were often made by the 
male spouse and his parents. Access to and information about 
contraception was low, especially in rural areas. Skilled attendance 
during childbirth was more accessible in large towns and other 
population centers. Women were diagnosed and treated for sexually 
transmitted infections, including HIV, equally with men. According to 
data compiled by international organizations, in 2008 there were 
approximately 29 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. The 
publication Maternal Mortality in 2005: Estimates developed by WHO, 
UNICEF, UNFPA and the World Bank estimated the lifetime risk of 
maternal death, the probability that a woman will die of pregnancy-
related causes, to be one in 980.
    There were reports that women, especially those in rural or remote 
areas, faced insufficient access to adequate general and reproductive 
health-care services. Observers noted various efforts made to improve 
reproductive health care had not been effective.
    International and local observers recommended during the year that 
the Government continue to take measures to improve women's access to 
health care in general, and to reproductive health-care services in 
particular. During the year observers called on authorities to increase 
efforts to improve the availability of sexual and reproductive health 
services (including family planning), to mobilize resources for that 
purpose, and to monitor actual access to those services by women. 
Further recommendations were made that the Government widely promote 
family planning and reproductive health education for girls and boys, 
with special attention to prevention of pregnancies of underage girls, 
sexually transmitted diseases, and HIV/AIDS.
    Men and women enjoy equal legal status; however, gender and age 
discrimination were continuing problems in the public and private 
sectors. Women generally did not enjoy the same professional 
opportunities or wages as men and often were relegated to more menial 
or low-paying jobs. Women remained underrepresented in leadership 
positions in all branches of government--national, regional, and local.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents. Observers 
indicated that parents, particularly the poorest and most socially 
disadvantaged, were unable to register their children at birth, thereby 
potentially depriving them of essential social services and increasing 
their children's vulnerability. However, during the year international 
donors continued to work with authorities to address the situation.
    Severe disparities remained in preschool, primary, and secondary 
education based on gender, geographic region, and income. Despite 
generally equitable access, substantial inequities existed in the 
quality of education between affluent and poorer households and between 
urban and rural areas. More affluent households and households from 
urban areas had greater access to better education, training, and 
complementary school programs than did poor and rural households. The 
number of dropouts after basic education remained substantial, 
especially among impoverished students.
    Free basic health care was equally available to boys and girls 
through the age of 18 but often was of poor quality, and officials 
often required overt or concealed payment for services.
    In April and May, the domestic branch of the international NGO Save 
the Children conducted an assessment of child abuse in the regions of 
Tavush, Lori, and Gegharkunik. According to the assessment, children in 
those regions were subjected to abuse from numerous sources. The most 
common forms of abuse included domestic physical and psychological 
abuse and neglect, particularly the failure to provide adequate food, 
clothing, and shelter. Children reported that outside the home they had 
also been subjected to physical and psychological abuse in 
institutions, schools, and occasionally on the streets. According to 
the assessment, parents also exploited their children economically by 
forcing them to work. The assessment revealed children were unaware of 
their rights and responsibilities, and this lack of awareness appeared 
to make violence against children socially acceptable.
    The law prohibits sexual exploitation of children through 
antitrafficking statutes. These envisage punishment for trafficking of 
children from seven to 15 years imprisonment, depending on aggravating 
circumstances (see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in 
Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip).
    Statutory rape, defined in the law as sexual acts with a person 
less than 16 years of age, is punishable with a fine and imprisonment 
up to two years. Since the punishment for statutory rape is not 
categorized as grave, sexual solicitations and similar actions directed 
at minors and failure to report statutory rape are not criminalized. 
According to domestic observers, the criminal code does not provide the 
necessary legal framework for adequately assessing and prosecuting 
sexual crimes involving children.
    Child pornography is punishable by imprisonment for up to six 
years.
    There were some reports of abuse of children in institutions. On 
November 30, a court sentenced Smbat Urumian to nine years' 
imprisonment for trafficking children. Urumian, a former deputy 
director of a special school for children who exhibit socially 
dangerous behavior, was found guilty of forcing three of the students 
of the special school into beggary. The court meanwhile cleared Urumian 
of the child molestation charges he also faced.
    On January 11, the Prosecutor General's Office began a criminal 
investigation of allegations of sexual and physical abuse of female 
students by a teacher at Special School No. 11 for children with 
special needs. This action reversed the office's August 2009 
determination the allegations were unsubstantiated. A group of youth 
activists who served as volunteers at the school raised the initial 
alarm of abuse in 2008. On May 24, the trial court convicted former 
teacher Levon Avakian, who admitted his guilt, to two years in prison. 
On May 31, the Ministry of Education and Science dismissed the 
principal, MeruzhanYengibarian, citing lack of trust in his capacity to 
head the school. The youth activists considered the teacher's 
punishment to be too lenient and called for further investigation into 
the role played by the principal and other teachers, who were 
reportedly aware of but did not prevent the abuse. On August 4, 
following an appeal by the victims, the court of appeals increased 
Avakian's sentence to three years.
    On March 12, following the developments related to Special School 
No. 11 and in response to significant pressure from civil society and 
the international community, the Ministry of Education and Science 
established a public group for monitoring special schools and 
residential facilities, whose composition included approximately 18 
NGOs.
    A 2009 study by the domestic NGO Armenian Helsinki Committee 
monitored 12 special education schools and four boarding institutions. 
Many children indicated that, among other forms of punishment, they had 
been slapped or beaten, shut in a classroom, or prevented from going 
home. Some teachers admitted resorting to violence for discipline. The 
study also noted that most institutions lacked proper central heating, 
and that sanitary and hygiene conditions were substandard. In a study 
of 12 general education schools in the Syunik Region during the same 
period, the NGO found that physical or psychological violence, 
including beating, slapping, pulling ears, and other degrading 
treatment were used regularly as punishment. Treatment of students at 
schools was unequal and depended on teachers' relations with students, 
whether students pursued private classes with a teacher, and whether 
students had influential parents. The results of studies in 2007 and 
2008 by the same organization were substantively the same.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The size of the country's Jewish population was 
estimated at between 500 and 1,000 persons. There were no reports of 
anti-Semitic violence during the year.On October 19, the Hebrew side of 
the Joint Tragedies Memorial, erected in downtown Yerevan in 2006, was 
vandalized. Brown paint was poured over the memorial and ``Death to the 
Jew'' was stenciled on the memorial along with a swastika. 
Representatives of the Jewish community denied the presence of anti-
Semitic sentiments in the country and labeled the incident 
``hooliganism,'' possibly caused by foreigners. The Jewish community 
praised the immediate reaction by the presidential administration, 
which called into action local authorities and law enforcement. The 
city administration removed the signs of vandalism by the next morning, 
and police launched an investigation. On October 21, the president's 
press secretary and the Armenian Church made separate statements 
condemning the desecration of the memorial.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    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; however, 
discrimination remained a problem. The law and a special government 
decree provide for accessibility to buildings, including schools, for 
persons with disabilities, but in practice very few buildings and other 
facilities were accessible to these persons. The Ministry of Labor and 
Social Affairs is responsible for protecting the rights of persons with 
disabilities but failed to do so effectively.
    In spite of the large number of officially registered persons with 
disabilities in the country, disabled persons are seldom seen outside 
the home due to the social stigma associated with disabilities. In 
extreme cases the social stigma sometimes prompts families to hide 
their disabled children completely from public view, depriving them in 
the process from access to education and integration into society.
    Persons with all types of disabilities experienced problems in 
virtually all spheres of life, including health care, social and 
psychological rehabilitation, education, transportation, communication, 
access to employment, and social protection. Access to information and 
communications was a particularly significant problem for persons with 
sensory disabilities. Hospitals, residential care, and other facilities 
for persons with serious disabilities remained substandard. According 
to official data, more than 90 percent of persons with disabilities who 
were able to work were unemployed.
    In its monitoring of mental health facilities in the Syunik and 
Shirak regions during 2009, the domestic NGO Helsinki Citizens Assembly 
of Vanadzor (HCAV) reported numerous deficiencies, including poor 
hygienic conditions, poor nutrition, inappropriate buildings, outdated 
and ineffective medications, lack of professionally trained staff, 
instances of physical violence, and use of patient labor in health 
facilities. HCAV expressed the view that the entire operation of mental 
health facilities was deficient. It noted the absence of a state policy 
on mental health, the lack of appropriate legislation for the proper 
implementation of legislation regulating the work of psychological 
clinics, the lack of standards and norms for staff conduct, and 
insufficient funding of facilities.
    In a May 10 letter to the Ministry of Health, the ombudsman called 
attention to violations his office discovered in the Nubarashen 
Psychological Clinic during an April 13 visit. The ombudsman's staff 
encountered a number of patients who were being kept involuntarily in 
the clinic after the conclusion of their treatment under the pretext 
that their ``relatives would not come for them.'' The ombudsman noted 
this was unacceptable. The ombudsman highlighted other inappropriate 
practices including denying pretrial detainees, who were in the clinic 
for psychological evaluations, the right to recreational walks and 
telephone use. The ombudsman called on the ministry to conduct an 
internal investigation to address these problems. The ministry 
responded to the ombudsman's letter by creating on May 25 a special 
commission to review the problems. The commission confirmed some of the 
findings and reported the clinic would resolve those problems, 
including by purchasing new bedding and ensuring that pretrial 
detainees had walking space. In reference to the patients who were kept 
involuntarily, the ministry responded that those were legally incapable 
persons who were undergoing treatment based on the request of their 
legal representatives.
    There were widespread reports about corruption and arbitrary 
rulings in the body that determines a person's disability status, the 
Medical-Social Expertise Commission (MSEC) under the Ministry of Labor 
and Social Affairs. On May 3, the ombudsman informed the head of the 
commission by letter the number of complaints his office received about 
the arbitrary decisions of MSEC continued to grow annually. Citizens 
complained to the ombudsman that MSEC would arbitrarily deprive them of 
disability status despite their worsening health condition. According 
to the letter, the ombudsman's office had never managed to achieve 
redress for any of the grievances against the commission, which, 
according to the ombudsman, placed it alongside police in terms of 
unanswered complaints.
    In 2008 an online news agency published a HCAV survey of patients 
at the Vanadzor Neurological and Psychiatric Clinic. Patients reported 
physical abuse, torture, and abusive narcotic sedation by clinic 
personnel and medical staff. Patients also complained of deprivation of 
privileges and insufficient food.
    According to the domestic NGO Unison, which monitored the May 2009 
Yerevan municipal elections, many persons with physical disabilities 
did not have access to the polls during the vote, and very few 
participated in the vote.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Societal attitudes towards 
homosexuality remained highly unfavorable, with society generally 
viewing homosexuality as an affliction.
    Persons who were openly gay were exempted from military service, 
purportedly because of concern they would be abused by fellow 
servicemen. However, the actual exemption required a medical finding 
via psychological examination that gays possessed a mental disorder, 
which was stamped in their documents and could affect their future.
    According to human rights activists, lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and 
transgender persons experienced some of the most humiliating 
discrimination in prisons, where they were forced to do some of the 
most degrading jobs and separated from the rest of the prison 
population.
    Societal discrimination based on sexual orientation continued to be 
a problem with respect to employment, family relations, and access to 
education and health care for sexual minorities.
    In an interview with the Iravunk biweekly that appeared in the 
newspaper's December 24 to 27 edition, Artur Baghdasarian, secretary of 
the National Security Council that advises the president on national 
security matters, answered a question on homosexuality stating that, 
``Such conduct does not fit in with our society. Family and Armenian 
traditions prevail for people who were the first to adopt Christianity. 
Those unnatural things are unacceptable to us. I am against limitations 
of human rights in general. However, I consider homosexuality is 
extremely dangerous for Armenia.''
    In an interview in the Hraparak daily on December 6, National 
Police Chief Alik Sargsyan answered a question on the gathering of 
homosexuals in one of Yerevan's central parks, stating that, ``We try 
to take them to such a place where they won't be seen, but they like to 
appear in public. We do not practice any violent measures, do not 
violate human rights, it is their business, but in our city, it is not 
appropriate for people.I cannot bear them physically.''

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
during the year of acts of societal violence or discrimination against 
persons with HIV/AIDS.
    Many employers reportedly discriminated against potential employees 
by age, most commonly requiring job applicants to be between the ages 
of 18 and 30. While this discrimination appeared to be widespread, 
authorities did not take any action to mitigate it. After the age of 
40, workers, particularly women, continued to have little chance of 
finding jobs appropriate to their education or skills.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers, except those 
serving in the armed forces and law enforcement agencies, to form and 
to join independent unions of their choice without previous 
authorization or excessive requirements. However, in practice most 
workers were unable to exercise this right. Labor organizations 
remained weak because of employer resistance, high unemployment, and 
poor economic conditions. The Confederation of Labor Unions (CLU) 
estimated that, as of February, approximately 250,000 workers, or an 
estimated 21 percent of the workforce, were members of 27 trade unions. 
There were additional labor unions that did not belong to the CLU. 
Labor unions were generally inactive with the exception of those 
connected with the mining industry.
    The law allows unions to conduct their activities without 
government interference. The law also provides for the right to strike 
except for members of the armed forces and law enforcement agencies, 
but workers rarely went on strike due to the fear of losing their jobs. 
While the law prohibits retaliation against strikers, it occurred 
periodically.
    Employees of the Kapan Gold Mining Company, a major mining company 
in the South, held a large scale strike in January to demand an 
increase in wages and bonuses as well as improvement in working 
conditions. As the strike was not sanctioned by the workers' local 
union, company management found it to be in violation of domestic labor 
legislation and dismissed approximately 50 workers, mainly those most 
active in staging the strike. Many were subsequently reinstated, and 
the dispute was settled after negotiations with the company's 
management and the regional governor, with mutual concessions by the 
involved parties.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Although the 
law provides for collective bargaining, in practice it was practically 
nonexistent.
    There were no specific reports of antiunion discrimination. 
However, reportedly some mining enterprises, including some financed by 
foreign investors, discouraged employees from joining labor unions with 
the implied threat of loss of employment.
    There were 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 women and girls were trafficked for commercial sexual 
exploitation and labor, and that men were trafficked for labor 
exploitation in the construction sector. A small number of girls and 
boys were trafficked internally for commercial sexual exploitation and 
forced begging, respectively. Also see the Department of State's annual 
Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There are laws and policies to protect children from exploitation in 
the workplace. The minimum age for employment is 16 years old, but 
children may work from the age of 14 with permission of a parent or a 
guardian. Persons who are under 18 years old are prohibited from 
working overtime, in harmful and dangerous conditions, at night, or on 
holidays; nevertheless, authorities responsible for compliance with 
child labor law failed to implement the law in practice.
    According to observers, many children, especially in rural regions, 
were involved in family businesses, mainly in agriculture. Observers 
also reported seeing children in Yerevan selling flowers and drawings 
and working in local markets after school hours. Children also worked 
in trade, construction, and car services, operated vehicles, and 
gathered waste metal and bottles. According to a 2008 study by the UN 
Children's Fund on child labor, less than 5 percent of children between 
seven and 18 years old had paying jobs, not counting those involved in 
family farms or businesses. The survey also found almost one-third of 
working children were below the legal working age, almost all children 
worked without legal contracts, and some children were employed in 
heavy manual work as laborers and loaders.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The monthly minimum wage of 
30,000 drams ($80) did not provide a decent standard of living for a 
worker and family.
    The law provides for a 40-hour workweek, 28 days of mandatory 
annual leave, and compensation for overtime and nighttime work. In 
practice the authorities did not effectively enforce these standards. 
Many private sector employees were unable to obtain paid leave and were 
required to work more than eight hours a day without compensation. 
According to representatives of some employment agencies, many 
employers also continued to hire employees for a ``probationary'' 
period of 10 to 30 days, during which they were not paid. Often these 
employees were subsequently dismissed and unable to claim payment for 
the time they worked because their initial employment was undocumented.
    Occupational and health standards are established by government 
decrees. The State Labor Inspectorate responsible for enforcing these 
standards did not always do so effectively. During the year the State 
Labor Inspectorate reportedly made little progress toward implementing 
an inspection regime or enforcing the labor code, and its work was 
reportedly undermined by corruption.
    Workers had the right to remove themselves from work situations 
that endangered their health and safety, but they were unlikely to do 
so because such an action could jeopardize their employment. Work 
safety and health conditions remained substandard in numerous sectors, 
and there was one fatal workplace incident during the year.
    On February 23, 18-year-old construction worker Arman Gasparian was 
killed as a result of a crane jib collapse at a construction site in 
Yerevan. The crane jib collapsed when the crane operator attempted to 
extricate a cement truck stuck in the ground at the construction site. 
On July 22, the crane operator was found guilty on charges of causing 
death by negligence, and was given a two-year suspended prison 
sentence.

                               __________

                                AUSTRIA

    Austria is a parliamentary democracy with constitutional power 
shared between a popularly elected president and a bicameral parliament 
(Federal Assembly). The country's eight million citizens choose their 
government representatives in periodic, free, and fair multiparty 
elections. In 2008 voters elected members of the national parliament. 
Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    During the year there were some reports of excessive use of force 
by police and societal discrimination against Muslims and members of 
unrecognized religious groups, particularly those considered ``sects.'' 
Incidents of violence against women, child abuse, and trafficking in 
women and children for prostitution and labor were also reported. There 
were reports of anti-Semitic incidents, including physical attacks, 
taunting, graffiti and defacement, Internet postings, property damage, 
and vilifying and threatening letters and telephone calls. Isolated 
incidents of neo-Nazi and right-wing extremism and xenophobia directed 
toward members of minority groups 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.
    On March 12, a Lower Austrian court found a police officer guilty 
of negligence causing bodily harm in the August 2009 shooting death of 
a 14-year-old burglary suspect. The officer was given an eight-month 
suspended prison term.

    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 
isolated reports that police beat and abused persons.
    On March 11, the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention 
of Torture (CPT) released the report on its February 2009 delegation 
visit to the country. The CPT delegation reported receiving a number of 
allegations of excessive use of force at the time of apprehension. The 
delegation also received a number of allegations, in particular from 
juveniles, of physical mistreatment or verbal abuse during police 
questioning. The report noted that in two cases police officers 
allegedly also threatened to inflict pain on juveniles if they did not 
confess to a particular criminal offense.
    On February 11, a U.S. citizen working in Vienna was injured when 
police arrested him after reportedly confusing him with a drug dealer. 
Police rejected accusations of excessive use of force and stated that 
physical force was used only when the subject resisted arrest. The 
Prosecutor's Office filed charges of negligence against one of the 
officers involved. In a trial on June 24, the district court judge 
concluded that the intent to harm could not be excluded and that she 
had no jurisdiction to rule in this case. The case was sent to the 
higher provincial court, which at year's end had not yet heard the 
case.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prisons and detention 
center conditions did not always meet international standards.
    Overcrowding remained a problem in some institutions. In its March 
11 report, the CPT noted that the overall prison population in the 
country had been on the decline since 2004 and stood at a little over 
8,000 at the beginning of 2009. At the same time, the official capacity 
of prisons increased from 8,074 to 8,501 detainees.
    The CPT reported that the delegation had not received any 
allegations of staff mistreatment at any of the prisons visited and 
that many prisoners emphasized the correct attitude and behavior of 
staff towards prisoners. However, the CPT delegation reported hearing a 
number of allegations of violence among prisoners at the Innsbruck and 
Vienna-Josefstadt prisons. Detention conditions at regional police 
headquarters and police stations visited by the CPT were on the whole 
satisfactory.
    In March the Human Rights Advisory Council, an independent 
governmental body whose members were appointed by the minister of the 
interior, released its 2009 annual report. The report described 
conditions facing aliens prior to deportation as ``questionable from a 
human rights point of view'' and at times ``not in conformity with 
human rights standards.'' There were no indications that authorities 
made changes in response to these criticisms.
    Some human rights observers criticized the incarceration of 
nonviolent offenders, including persons awaiting deportation, for long 
periods in single cells or inadequate facilities designed for temporary 
detention. In its March 11 report, the CPT expressed misgivings over 
the long-standing practice of accommodating foreign nationals pending 
deportation in police establishments designed to hold criminal and 
administrative offenders. It noted that conditions under which foreign 
nationals were held in the police detention center in Vienna-Hernalser 
Guertel remained unacceptable, with foreign nationals being locked in 
their cells for 23 hours a day, with reading and playing board games 
their only occupation.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. Authorities permitted prisoners and 
detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities without 
censorship and to request investigation of credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions. The Government investigated and monitored prison 
and detention center conditions. The Federal Ombudsman's Office can 
investigate on behalf of prisoners and detainees but cannot consider 
such matters as alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders 
to alleviate overcrowding. There were strict checks on the enforcement 
of pretrial detention restrictions and bail provisions, and detailed 
recordkeeping procedures to ensure that prisoners did not serve beyond 
the maximum sentence for the offense with which they were charged.
    Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) monitored prisons on a regular 
basis. In addition delegations from the CPT regularly visited the 
country to review conditions at the country's prisons and detention 
centers. During its most recent visit in February 2009, the delegation 
paid particular attention to the treatment of persons in police 
detention and to the detention conditions under which foreign nationals 
were held.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and information available during the year 
suggests that the Government generally observed these prohibitions; 
however, the strict application of slander laws tended to discourage 
reports of police abuse.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the police and army, and the 
Government has effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse. 
There were no reports of impunity involving the security forces during 
the year.
    Some police violence appeared to be racially motivated. Amnesty 
International's Annual Report for 2009 criticized a certain degree of 
``ethnic profiling'' by police, noting that immigrants and ethnic 
minorities were more likely to be suspected of crimes than 
``Caucasians.'' The report further claimed that police and the judicial 
system regularly denied minorities their right to equal treatment and 
noted that authorities do not effectively investigate and punish 
racially motivated police misconduct. Amnesty International expressed 
concern that the criminal justice system as a whole, and police in 
particular, were failing to provide the same level of service to 
foreign nationals and members of ethnic minorities as they routinely 
provided to citizens from the country's majority ethnic group.
    Police were also accused of not taking seriously the personal 
safety concerns of members of minority communities. After the killings 
of a Chechen asylee in January 2009 and a Sikh religious leader at a 
Sikh temple in May 2009, information emerged suggesting that in both 
cases police had ignored warnings or specific requests for personal 
protection.
    NGOs and other groups continued to criticize the police for 
targeting minorities. Racial sensitivity training for police and other 
officials continued with NGO assistance. The Human Rights Advisory 
Council monitored police respect for human rights and made 
recommendations to the interior minister.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--In criminal 
cases the law allows investigative or pretrial detention for up to 48 
hours, during which a judge may decide to grant a prosecution request 
for extended detention. The law specifies the grounds for investigative 
detention and conditions for bail. The judge is required to evaluate 
such detention periodically. The maximum duration for investigative 
detention is two years. There is a functioning bail system. Police and 
judicial authorities respected these laws and procedures in practice. 
Apprehensions were based on sufficient evidence and issued by a duly 
authorized official and brought before an independent judiciary.
    Some legal experts called for a review of an article in the 
criminal code designed to target collusion of suspected terrorists, 
which they asserted authorities have used improperly to detain persons 
on charges not connected with terrorism. The provision was used to try 
animal rights activists who had damaged fur stores.
    Detainees have the right to access a lawyer. Although indigent 
criminal suspects have the right to an attorney, the criminal 
procedures code requires an attorney be appointed only after a court 
decision to remand such suspects into custody (i.e., 96 hours after 
their apprehension). The law provides that criminal suspects are not 
required to answer questions without an attorney present although, 
according to the March 11 CPT report, the criminal police were 
instructed to question suspects without delay and may do so before an 
attorney arrives. In its March 11 report the CPT also noted that, while 
a system of free legal counseling by telephone was introduced in 2008 
in cooperation with the Austrian Bar Association, many police officers 
outside Vienna appeared to have received no information on how to 
utilize the service. On average, according to the bar association, only 
a few such calls per day had been registered in the country since the 
hotline's introduction. Only initial counseling by telephone was free 
of charge, which, according to the CPT report, affected the utilization 
of the service by detained persons, since they did not have the means 
to pay an attorney to be present during police questioning.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the right to a fair trial, 
and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. A system of 
judicial review provides multiple opportunities for appeal. Persons 
charged with criminal offenses are considered innocent until proven 
guilty. Trials must be public and conducted orally. Juries are used 
only in trials for major offenses. Defendants have the right to be 
present during trials. They can confront or question witnesses against 
them and present witnesses and evidence on their behalf. Defendants can 
consult attorneys no later than 96 hours after apprehension. Legal 
counsel is provided pro bono for needy persons in cases where attorneys 
are mandatory. Attorneys are not mandatory in minor offense cases. 
Defendants and their attorneys have access to government-held evidence 
relevant to their cases.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--From January to August the 
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on 13 cases against the 
Government. The ECHR found violations concerning the right to a fair 
trial and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, the length 
of proceedings, the prohibition of discrimination, and the right to 
vote during imprisonment. The Government complied with the ECHR orders 
and decisions.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters, including an appellate 
system. These institutions are accessible to plaintiffs seeking damages 
for human rights violations. Administrative remedies as well as 
judicial remedies were available for redressing alleged wrongs.

    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 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 the press. The independent media were active and 
expressed a wide variety of views with few restrictions. Individuals 
generally could criticize the Government publicly or privately without 
reprisal.
    The law prohibits public denial, belittlement, approval, or 
justification of the Nazi genocide or other Nazi crimes against 
humanity in a print publication, a broadcast, or other media. It also 
prohibits incitement, insult, or contempt against a group because of 
its members' race, nationality, or ethnicity if the statement violates 
human dignity. The Government strictly enforced these laws.
    On September 9, the Vienna Criminal Court gave convicted Holocaust-
denier Gerd Honsik an additional two-year, nonsuspended prison sentence 
for violating the law prohibiting neo-Nazi activities. The conviction 
stemmed from the 2009 publication of two neo-Nazi books in which Honsik 
made accusations concerning the work of Simon Wiesenthal. Honsik was 
already serving time for a previous violation of the law prohibiting 
neo-Nazi activities.
    Strict libel laws discouraged reporting of governmental abuse.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups engaged in the peaceful 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
Approximately 75 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet, according to 2010 statistics from the International 
Telecommunication Union.
    Beginning in June, a special unit of the Interior Ministry 
investigated a neo-Nazi Web site that was based outside of Europe and 
that displayed links to Hitler's Mein Kampf, called for actions to 
preserve the ``German heritage,'' and denounced persons who fight 
right-wing extremism. In October police conducted several house 
searches but no arrests were reported.
    There were no reports that the Government attempted to collect 
personally identifiable information of persons in connection with their 
peaceful expression of political, religious, or ideological opinion or 
beliefs.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    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.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation. The Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, 
stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use it 
in practice.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees.
    Rejected asylum seekers have recourse to the Federal Asylum Court. 
When they allege a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights, 
they can appeal to the Constitutional Court. Since July 2008 asylum 
seekers no longer have recourse to the Higher Administrative Court, a 
change criticized by human rights groups.
    The Federal Asylum Court reported that more than half of new appeal 
cases were adjudicated in less than six months whereas decisions in 
``Dublin cases'' (i.e., cases returned to another EU member state under 
the Dublin Regulation establishing the criteria and mechanisms for 
determining the member state's responsibilities in asylum cases) take 
an average of two weeks. In December there were 1,250 pending cases 
before the Asylum Court, and a further 800 cases before the 
Administrative Court. Under the law, authorities have six months to 
process an application from the time it is filed. Observers expressed 
concern that, due to a significant backlog of cases in the appellate 
system, some applicants wait four years or more for final determination 
of their cases.
    Asylum seekers' freedom of movement was restricted to the district 
of the refugee camp to which they were assigned for the duration of 
their initial application process, i.e., until the country's 
responsibility for examining the application is determined.
    Asylum seekers and refugees received a subsistence allowance and 
housing. While they were legally restricted from seeking regular 
employment, they were eligible for seasonal employment. Children of 
asylum seekers and refugees between the ages of six and 15 were 
eligible for education. Following changes to the asylum process in 2009 
that placed additional restrictions on those applying for asylum, total 
applications have fallen by 27 percent while the approval rate for 
applications has declined from 32 percent in 2007 to 14 percent in 
2010.
    The UNHCR has noted that the country continued to return asylum 
applicants to Greece under the Dublin Regulation, despite expert 
reports that asylum law and practice in Greece were not in compliance 
with international and European human rights standards. In October, 
Human Rights Watch released a report criticizing the deportation of 
Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians by a number of European countries, 
including Austria, back to Kosovo where adequate reception conditions 
for safe and dignified returns were not established.
    The country 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. Member 
states of the EU and other signatories to the 1951 Convention relating 
to the Status of Refugees were considered safe countries of transit.
    In practice the Government provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion.
    Human rights groups continued to criticize the detention system as 
a breach of human rights. Asylum seekers who are in detention awaiting 
deportation are held in police detention centers, generally in closed 
cells with no opportunities for training/work and very limited access 
to legal counsel. According to Amnesty International, in October the 
Interior Ministry significantly reduced funding for legal advice for 
asylum seekers, provided by NGOs.
    New asylum legislation, effective on January 1, introduced measures 
to counter the abuse of the asylum process. The legislation limits 
follow-up applications and claims to improve the assessment of claims 
of family relations and age. The new laws made it easier for 
authorities to detain asylum applicants awaiting deportation in cases, 
such as ``Dublin cases,'' where rejected asylum seekers either file 
follow-up applications that appear to lack justification or violate 
registration obligations.
    The Government did not provide temporary protection during the year 
to any individuals who did not qualify as refugees.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The law provides citizens 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 and Political Participation.--The country held national 
parliamentary elections in 2008 and presidential elections in April 
2009; there were no reports of serious abuse or irregularities in 
either election.
    Political parties could operate without restriction or outside 
interference.
    The parliament consists of the popularly elected National Council 
and the Federal Council, which is named by the federal states. There 
were 51 women in the 183-seat National Council and 21 women in the 62-
member Federal Council. There were six women in the 14-member Council 
of Ministers (cabinet).
    There appeared to be relatively little representation of ethnic 
minorities at the national level. Following the September 2008 
elections, a Muslim woman entered the Federal Assembly for the Green 
Party.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption. In 
2008 the Government tightened the criminal code's corruption 
regulations and established a special central public prosecution 
department with countrywide authority for corruption cases. To 
alleviate some measures viewed as too strict, the Government in 
September 2009 amended and defined more precisely criminal laws against 
corruption. Criminal code provisions against corruption cover civil 
servants; officials with functions in legislation, administration or 
justice on behalf of the state, including ministers, governors, and 
members of parliament on all levels; and employees and representatives 
of the country's companies. The term ``corruption'' includes bribery 
and illicit intervention, abuse of office, and accepting an advantage. 
The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and the 
Government generally implemented these laws effectively. There were 
isolated reports of government corruption during the year.
    Corruption in the private sector was not considered a major problem 
in the country; however, the ongoing scandals involving the Hypo Alpe 
Adria banking group and Meinl European Land (MEL) raised the profile of 
private sector corruption during the year. Another ongoing, high-
profile corruption case involved the Government's $1.1 billion 
privatization of 60,000 state-owned apartments in 2004 (the so-called 
``BUWOG affair''). The Prosecutor's Office continued its investigation 
into the matter but did not make any indictments during the year.
    During the year prosecutors and the federal auditor's office were 
still investigating the failed expansion of the Vienna airport terminal 
that, due to cost overruns, triggered a controversy regarding political 
influence in the appointment of the managers and consultants handling 
the project. The investigation of the federal auditor's office focused 
on allegations of embezzlement and related statutory offenses by the 
board of Airport Vienna in connection with contracts for construction 
companies and consultants.
    The five parliamentary parties agreed in August to tighten donation 
rules on financing for political parties.
    According to Transparency International, there is ``little or no 
enforcement'' by the country of the Antibribery Convention of the 
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In 
August, the head of an OECD working group on corporate corruption, Mark 
Pieth, criticized the country for inadequate enforcement of its 
anticorruption laws. Although the country has strengthened its criminal 
code in recent years and established an anticorruption prosecutor, a 
number of weaknesses remain, including too little independence for 
prosecutors, poor whistleblower protection, and prosecutions that are 
few and slow.
    There are financial disclosure laws for public officials. The 
courts are responsible for corruption cases. Parliamentary committees 
oversee ethics rules for elected officials.
    The law provides for full public access to government information, 
and the Government generally respected this provision in practice. 
Authorities may only deny access if it would violate substantial data 
protection rights or involve national security information. Petitioners 
could challenge denials before the Administrative Court.
Section 5. 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, but some 
groups were dissatisfied with the information supplied by authorities 
in response to specific complaints. A human rights ombudsman's office 
consisting of three independent commissioners examines complaints 
against the Government. There were no parliamentary human rights 
committees during the reporting period.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law provides for protection against discrimination based on 
race, gender, disability, language, or social status, and the 
Government generally enforced these protections.

    Women.--Under the law, rape, including spousal rape, is punishable 
by up to 15 years' imprisonment. The Government generally enforced the 
law. According to 2009 statistics from the Ministry of the Interior, 
there were 1,039 reported cases of rape or sexual coercion. There were 
no reports of police or judicial reluctance to prosecute spousal or 
other rape cases.
    Violence against women, including spousal abuse, was a problem. The 
Office of Women's Affairs and Civil Service estimated that 10 percent 
of adult women have suffered from violence in a relationship. However, 
fewer than 10 percent of abused women filed complaints. By law police 
may expel abusive family members from family homes for up to three 
months. In 2009 the courts issued injunctions prohibiting abusive 
family members from returning home in 6,731 cases.
    The Government funded privately operated intervention centers and 
help lines for victims of domestic abuse. The centers provided for 
victims' safety, assessed the threat posed by perpetrators, helped 
victims develop plans to stop the abuse, and provided legal counseling 
and other social services. In the view of most observers, these centers 
were generally effective in providing shelter for victims of abuse.
    In September the Government launched a ``Don't Look Away'' public 
awareness campaign aimed at discouraging sex tourism. Billboards and 
short video spots featured an e-mail address that travelers and tourism 
industry staff could use to report suspicious activity to the 
authorities.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment, and the Government generally 
enforced the law. Of the 3,455 cases of discrimination brought to the 
ombudsman for equal treatment of gender in 2009, 494 involved sexual 
harassment. The labor court may order employers to compensate victims 
of sexual harassment on the basis of the Federal Equality Commission's 
finding in a case; the law provides that a victim is entitled to a 
minimum of 700 euros (approximately $940) in financial compensation.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children, and are 
free to do so without any discrimination, coercion, and violence. Women 
have access to contraception and skilled attendance during childbirth, 
including obstetric and postpartum care, and are diagnosed and treated 
for sexually transmitted infections as equally as men. According to 
data compiled by international organizations, there were approximately 
5 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in the country in 2008.
    The Minister for Women's Affairs and Civil Service is responsible 
for promoting the legal rights of women. Women enjoy the same legal 
rights as men, and the Federal Equality Commission and the ombudsman 
for equal treatment of gender oversee laws requiring equal treatment of 
men and women.
    According to Statistics Austria's Women's Report 2010, women earned 
on average 25.5 percent less than men; women's average earnings were 
approximately 15 percent less than men for equivalent work. Labor 
participation for women aged 15 to 64 was 69 percent, roughly the same 
as men. The report attributed the recent increase in female labor 
market participation to a rise in part-time work. Approximately 41.5 
percent (1998: 30.7 percent) of women in employment worked part-time. 
The report stated that labor market participation of women is also 
important in reducing poverty risk: around 60 percent of single mothers 
who do not work are at risk of poverty.
    Although labor laws provide for equal treatment of women in the 
civil service, women remained underrepresented. The law requires the 
Government to hire women of equivalent qualifications ahead of men in 
all civil service areas, including the police force. During the year 
less than 40 percent of civil servants were women. The judiciary system 
and academia were two areas which did not meet the target. There are no 
penalties, however, for agencies failing to attain the 40-percent 
target.
    To address the low labor market participation rate for women, 
Women's Affairs Minister Gabriele Heinisch-Hosek, together with trade 
unions, continued an awareness-raising campaign during the year. She 
pointed to the international study Global Gender Gap Report 2009, 
published in October 2009, which indicated that the gender gap in the 
country had worsened.
    Female employees in the private sector may invoke equality laws 
prohibiting discrimination against women. On the basis of the Federal 
Equality Commission's findings, labor courts may award compensation of 
up to four months' salary to women who experienced discrimination in 
promotion due to their gender. The courts may also order compensation 
for women who were denied a post despite having equal qualifications.

    Children.--By law children derive citizenship from their parents.
    Child abuse remained a problem, and the Government continued its 
efforts to monitor abuse and prosecute offenders. The Ministry for 
Economics, Family, and Youth estimated that 90 percent of child abuse 
was committed by close family members or family friends. Officials 
noted a growing readiness to report abuse cases. Trafficking of 
children remained a problem. See the Department of State's annual 
Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.
    During the year there were occasional reports of underage marriage, 
primarily in the Muslim and Romani communities; however, such cases 
were undocumented. Some male immigrants married underage girls in their 
home countries and returned to the country with them.
    The law provides up to 10 years' imprisonment for an adult 
convicted of sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 14. If 
the victim becomes pregnant, the sentence may be extended to 15 years. 
In 2008 the Ministry of the Interior reported 1,806 cases of child 
abuse, most involving intercourse with a minor.
    The law provides for criminal punishment for possessing, trading, 
or private viewing of child pornography. Exchanging pornographic videos 
of children is illegal.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html as well as 
country-specific information at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--According to 2001 census figures and 2010 estimates 
from the Vienna Institute of Demography, a branch of the Austrian 
Academy of Sciences, the Jewish community in the country numbered 
approximately 7,000.
    The NGO Forum against Anti-Semitism reported 70 anti-Semitic 
incidents between January and December, including four physical 
assaults, as well as name-calling, graffiti and defacement, threatening 
letters, anti-Semitic Internet postings, property damage, and vilifying 
letters and telephone calls. Vienna Jewish Community (IKG) President 
Ariel Muzicant reported a rise in anti-Semitic incidents related to the 
May 31 Gaza flotilla incident. There were anti-Israel demonstrations 
organized by several Muslim groups at the beginning of June, including 
the use of an anti-Semitic banner displaying the slogan, ``Wake up, 
Hitler.'' Another banner equated the Star of David to the swastika. 
Muzicant also reported an incident in which two Turkish-speaking men 
spat on a rabbi in Vienna. The Vienna Jewish Community's offices and 
other Jewish community institutions in the country, such as schools and 
museums, continued to receive extra police protection.
    In March the outside wall of the Mauthausen concentration camp site 
was defaced with anti-Islamic and anti-Semitic graffiti, similar to 
that of a previous incident in February 2009. The Interior Ministry 
increased security but rejected a proposal by the Mauthausen Memorial 
Committee to place video cameras on the site.
    The law banning neo-Nazi activity prohibits public denial, 
belittlement, approval, or justification of the Nazi genocide or other 
Nazi crimes against humanity in print publication, broadcast, or other 
media. The Government strictly enforced these laws.
    Beginning in June, a special unit of the Interior Ministry 
investigated a neo-Nazi Web site based outside of Europe that displayed 
links to Hitler's Mein Kampf and called for actions to preserve the 
``German heritage,'' while denouncing persons who fight right-wing 
extremism. In October police conducted several house searches but no 
arrests were reported. In November the country's media reported denials 
from the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counter-
Terrorism (BVT) that neo-Nazis had infiltrated one of its branch 
offices. The statements came in the wake of reports regarding the 
transfer of a BVT agent whose son was linked to the neo-Nazi Web site.
    On September 9, the Vienna Criminal Court gave convicted Holocaust-
denier Gerd Honsik an additional two-year nonsuspended prison sentence 
for violating the law prohibiting neo-Nazi activities. The conviction 
stemmed from the 2009 publication of two neo-Nazi books in which Honsik 
made accusations concerning the work of Simon Wiesenthal. Honsik was 
already serving time for a previous violation of the law prohibiting 
neo-Nazi activities.
    On November 15 and 16, the criminal court in Eisenstadt tried 14 
men, ages 18 to 38, on charges of neo-Nazi activity. The men were 
accused of publicly displaying the Hitler salute and smearing swastika 
graffiti on stores between 2007 and 2009. The court gave six of the 
defendants suspended prison sentences of five to eight months and 
sentenced five of them to 70-100 hours of social work. Three of the 
defendants were acquitted.
    On December 1, a regional court in Wels convicted three men of neo-
Nazi activity in relation to an incident at the site of the former 
concentration camp in Ebensee. The men disturbed a commemoration 
ceremony at the site, fired air rifles at a group of French visitors, 
and shouted Nazi slogans. The three men received suspended prison 
sentences of up to six months.
    On December 3, the Austrian Times reported that an Austrian soldier 
was facing charges for giving a Nazi salute while on a peacekeeping 
mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The soldier was subsequently dismissed 
from military service. In a July press conference, the Defense Minister 
announced the military had a ``no tolerance'' policy in regards to any 
form of right-wing extremism.
    School curricula fostered discussion of the Holocaust and the 
tenets of different religions and advocated religious tolerance. The 
Education Ministry offered special teacher-training seminars on 
Holocaust education while also conducting training projects with the 
Anti-Defamation League.
    On November 17, the parliament adopted a law establishing a fund 
for the renovation and maintenance of Jewish cemeteries. In compliance 
with the 2001 U.S.-Austrian ``Washington Agreement,'' which called for 
the country to ``provide additional support for the restoration and 
maintenance of Jewish cemeteries,'' the Government will allocate 20 
million euros (approximately $27 million) over 20 years to the project.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law protects persons with physical, 
sensory, intellectual, and mental disabilities from discrimination in 
housing, education, employment, and access to health care and other 
government services. The Government's performance in enforcing these 
provisions was mixed.
    Federal law mandates access to public buildings for persons with 
physical disabilities; however, many public buildings lacked such 
access due to insufficient enforcement of the law and low penalties for 
noncompliance. Persons with disabilities generally had access to 
information and communications.
    The law provides for involuntary sterilization of adults with 
mental disabilities in cases where a pregnancy would be considered 
life-threatening. However, authorities have not performed any 
involuntary sterilization in recent years. The law prohibits the 
sterilization of minors.
    The Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, and Consumer Protection 
handles problems for persons with disabilities. The Government funded a 
wide range of programs for persons with disabilities, including 
provision of transportation and assistance for integrating 
schoolchildren with disabilities into regular classes and for 
integrating employees with disabilities into the workplace.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--In 2009 the Ministry of the 
Interior recorded 453 neo-Nazi, right-wing extremist, xenophobic, or 
anti-Semitic incidents directed against members of minority groups. The 
Government continued to express concern over the activities of extreme 
right-wing skinhead and neo-Nazi groups, many with links to 
organizations in other countries.
    Human rights groups reported that Roma faced some discrimination in 
employment and housing. However, the head of the Austrian Romani 
Cultural Association reported that the situation of the Romani 
community, estimated at more than 6,200 indigenous and between 15,000 
and 20,000 nonindigenous individuals, has significantly improved in 
recent years. Government programs, including financing for tutors, have 
helped school-aged Romani children move out of ``special needs'' and 
into mainstream classes. The Government also initiated programs in 
recent years to document the Romani victims of the Holocaust and to 
compensate its victims.
    NGOs reported that Africans living in the country experienced 
verbal harassment in public. In some cases black Africans were 
stigmatized as being involved in the drug trade or other illegal 
activities.
    Federal law recognizes Croats, Czechs, Hungarians, Roma, Slovaks, 
and Slovenes as national minorities. It requires any community where at 
least 25 percent of the population belongs to one of these groups to 
provide bilingual town signs, education, media, and access to federal 
funds earmarked for such minorities. Communities in the Slovene-
speaking area of the state of Carinthia have some bi-lingual town 
signs, but authorities have so far refused to implement rulings by 
higher courts requiring the state to install additional bilingual 
signs. The Chancellor's Office appointed a high-ranking official tasked 
with resolving the dispute.
    The Government continued training programs to combat racism and 
educate the police in cultural sensitivity. The Ministry of the 
Interior renewed an agreement with the Anti-Defamation League to teach 
police officers cultural sensitivity, religious tolerance, and the 
acceptance of minorities.
    Poor German language skills were a major factor preventing 
minorities from entering the workforce. In April 2009 the Labor 
Ministry announced efforts to combat this situation by providing German 
language and skilled labor training for 19- to 24-year-olds.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There was some societal 
prejudice against gays and lesbians; however, there were no reports of 
violence or discrimination based on sexual orientation. Lesbian, gay, 
bisexual, and transgender persons' organizations, such as the 
Homosexual Initiatives (HOSI) in Vienna and Linz and the Lambda Rights 
Committee, were present and generally operated freely. Vienna hosted an 
annual gay pride march in July and the city provided police protection.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of societal violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides workers the right to 
form and join independent unions without prior authorization or 
excessive requirements, and workers exercised this right in practice. 
According to the Austrian Trade Union Federation, 35 percent of the 
workforce belonged to unions. The law does not explicitly provide a 
right to strike; however, the right is recognized in practice. The law 
prohibits retaliation against strikers, and the Government effectively 
enforced the law.

    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 labor force worked under a collective bargaining agreement. The 
Austrian Trade Union Federation was exclusively responsible for 
collective bargaining.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination, and there were no 
reports of antiunion discrimination or other forms of employer 
interference in union functions.
    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 women were trafficked to the country for domestic labor 
and that children were trafficked to the country for begging (see the 
Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/g/tip).

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--Laws 
and policies protect children from exploitation in the workplace and 
prohibit forced or compulsory labor, and the Government generally 
enforced these laws and policies effectively.
    There were reports of trafficking of children for begging. In 2009 
the Crisis Center for Unaccompanied Minors in Vienna assisted 121 
children, primarily from Bulgaria and Romania, who were trafficked into 
the country (see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in 
Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip).
    The minimum legal working age is 15 years. Children under the age 
of 15 are not permitted to work, with the exception of children at 
least 12 years old engaged in certain forms of light work on family 
farms or businesses. Children over 15 years of age are subject to the 
same regulations on hours, rest periods, overtime wages, and 
occupational health and safety restrictions as adults, except for 
additional limitations on hazardous forms of work or limitations for 
ethical reasons.
    The Labor Inspectorate of the Federal Ministry of Labor, Social 
Affairs, and Consumer Protection is responsible for enforcing child 
labor laws and policies in the workplace, and the Inspectorate enforced 
the laws effectively. The Labor Inspectorate did not find any 
violations of child labor laws during the year.

    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. All collective 
bargaining agreements provide for a minimum wage of 1,000 euro ($1,340) 
per month. Wages in select areas where no such collective agreements 
exist, such as for domestic workers, janitorial staff, and au pairs, 
are regulated in pertinent law and are generally lower than those 
covered by collective bargaining agreements. According to the Austrian 
Trade Union Federation, some 350,000 Austrians are ``working poor,'' 
meaning that they have a job, but cannot sustain themselves or their 
families without additional assistance.
    The country participated in an International Labor Organization 
(ILO) pilot project measuring ``decent work standards'' in ILO member 
states. The ILO's profile for the country, released in October 2009, 
noted progress in employment rates for women and an improved framework 
for reconciling work, family, and personal life, but found the country 
lagging in reducing the persistently large wage gap between men and 
women.
    Existing legal provisions stipulate a maximum workweek of 40 hours, 
but collective bargaining agreements also provide for a workweek of 38 
or 38.5 hours per week for more than half of all employees. Flexible 
work hour regulations, in place since 2008, allow firms to increase the 
maximum regular time hours from 40 to 50 per week. In special cases and 
including overtime, work hours can be raised up to 60 hours per week 
for a maximum of 24 weeks annually. However, these 24 weeks can only be 
in eight-week segments, with at least a two-week break between each 
eight-week period.
    The law also requires compulsory time off on weekends and official 
holidays. An employee must have at least 11 hours off between workdays. 
Authorities effectively enforced these provisions. Foreign workers in 
both the formal and informal sectors make up approximately 13 percent 
of the country's workforce. Wage and hour standards are equitably 
enforced across all groups.
    The law limits overtime to five hours per week and to 60 hours per 
year; however, authorities did not enforce these laws and regulations 
effectively, and some employers exceeded legal limits on compulsory 
overtime. Collective bargaining agreements can specify higher limits. 
The law stipulates 50-percent premium pay for overtime.
    The Labor Inspectorate regularly enforced mandatory occupational 
health and safety standards. Workers could file complaints anonymously 
with the Labor Inspectorate, which could bring suit against the 
employer on behalf of the employee. However, workers rarely exercised 
this option and normally relied instead on the nongovernmental worker's 
advocacy group, the Chamber of Labor, which filed suits on their 
behalf.
    The law gives workers the right to remove themselves from a job 
without incurring any prejudice to their careers if they fear serious, 
immediate danger to life and health, and workers were able to exercise 
this right in practice.

                               __________

                               AZERBAIJAN

    Azerbaijan is a republic with a population of approximately nine 
million and a presidential form of government. Legislative authority is 
vested in the Milli Majlis (National Assembly). In practice the 
president dominated the executive, legislative, and judicial branches 
of government. November 7 parliamentary elections did not meet a number 
of key standards of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in 
Europe (OSCE) for democratic elections. According to the final report 
of the OSCE's Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights 
(ODIHR), election shortcomings included a deficient candidate 
registration process, limits on freedom of assembly and expression, a 
restrictive political environment, unbalanced media coverage of 
candidates, and problems in vote counting and tabulation. President 
Ilham Aliyev, the son of former president Heydar Aliyev, was elected to 
a second term in 2008 in a flawed election; constitutionally mandated 
presidential term limits were removed in a March 2009 referendum, which 
was also seriously flawed. Although there were more than 50 political 
parties, the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party, chaired by President Aliyev, 
dominated the political system. Ethnic Armenian separatists, with 
Armenia's support, continued to control most of the Nagorno-Karabakh 
region of the country and seven surrounding Azerbaijani territories. 
The Government did not exercise any control over developments in those 
territories. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    Restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly, and association 
impaired political party activities and significantly limited citizens' 
right to change their government through peaceful elections. There were 
reports that torture and beating of persons in police and military 
custody resulted in at least seven deaths, and law enforcement 
officials acted with impunity. Prison conditions were generally harsh 
and in some cases life threatening. Arbitrary arrest and detention, 
particularly of individuals considered by the Government to be 
political opponents, and lengthy pretrial detention continued. The 
Government continued to imprison persons for political reasons, 
although authorities released some of these individuals during the 
year. Pervasive corruption, including in the judiciary and law 
enforcement, continued. Restrictions and pressure on the media and 
restrictions on political participation worsened. The Government 
continued to restrict religious freedom in some cases. Cases of 
violence against women were also reported. Trafficking in persons 
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 that the Government or its agents committed any arbitrary or 
unlawful killings during the year; however, human rights monitors 
reported that at least seven persons died in police or military 
custody.
    On March 25, Jeyhun Zarbaliyev died while in the custody of the 
Nasimi District Police Department #19. Police detained him on March 23. 
Authorities alleged that Zarbaliyev committed suicide. The Ministry of 
Internal Affairs indicated that it launched an internal investigation, 
and as a result three employees were dismissed from the service at the 
internal affairs agencies, and six employees were found liable by a 
disciplinary committee. The ministry also reported that the Nasimi 
District prosecutor's criminal investigation revealed misconduct by 
police.
    On April 14, Vugar Azizov, age 43, died while in Salyan District 
Police custody. He had been detained on drug use charges. The official 
cause of death was reported as drug addiction and arterial 
hemorrhaging.
    On July 14, Urkhan Mammadov, age 21, died in a military unit 
located in the District of Shaki. The Government reported the victim 
suffered from respiratory distress, coronary failure, and a brain 
tumor. Mammadov's family sued the Government, alleging that there were 
minor bruises on Mammadov's body. At year's end, the case was pending 
in the Ganja City Court of Appeals.
    On September 28, police in the Ujar District Police Department 
reportedly beat Nadir Abdullayev to death for rudely answering an 
officer's question. Abdullayev's relatives alleged that the victim's 
extensive injuries proved he had been tortured.
    On September 31, Namir Pirmammadov died at Military Unit # 157 in 
Goranboy District, reportedly after suffering beatings to his head and 
face.
    On November 17, Rauf Huseynov died at the Shirvan City Road Police 
Department. Officials reported Huseynov had a heart attack while in 
detention. Huseynov was the chief of the Zardab District Military 
Conscription Office. No signs of physical torture were reported.
    On December 11, police in Jalilabad allegedly beat Gazanfar 
Seydanov; he died of his injuries at the hospital on the same day.
    There were no new developments in the cases of Vagif Suleymanov, 
Togrul Mammadzade, Rustam Aliyev, or Aga Turabov, all of whom died in 
police or Justice Ministry custody in 2009.
    There were no new developments in the cases of Rashad Haziyev, 
Mahammad Rahimov, or Zaur Mammadov, all of whom were found dead in or 
outside of police stations in 2008.
    Abuse in the military was widespread (see section 1.c.) and at 
times resulted in death.
    The Government reported six deaths of military conscripts during 
2009, which it attributed to incidents along the line of contact.
    Ethnic Armenian separatists, with Armenia's support, continued to 
control most of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and seven 
surrounding Azerbaijani territories. During the year shootings along 
the militarized line of contact separating the sides as a result of the 
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict again resulted in numerous casualties on both 
sides. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported two civilian casualties 
along the line of contact during 2009. Figures for 2010 were 
unavailable.
    According to the national agency for mine actions, landmines killed 
one soldier and injured four (two soldiers and two civilians). 
According to the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action, 64,448 
units of explosive ordnance were destroyed.

    b. Disappearance.--During the year there were no reports of 
politically motivated disappearances. However, the Government reported 
that 4,049 Azerbaijani citizens were registered as missing persons at 
the State Committee as the result of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
    The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) continued to 
process cases of persons missing in connection with the Nagorno-
Karabakh conflict and worked with the Government to develop a 
consolidated list of missing persons. According to the ICRC, during the 
year the number of persons confirmed missing from both sides of the 
conflict increased from 4,558 to 4,571. As a result of a framework 
agreement signed with the Government in 2008, the ICRC collected ante 
mortem data from 3,189 families since the beginning of the collection 
in 2008. The information, gathered from families on both sides of the 
line of contact as well as in Armenia, was meant to assist state 
commissions in the identification of human remains. In December the 
ICRC signed a license agreement with the Government to hand over an 
ante mortem/post mortem database which will allow for the matching of 
the information collected from the families of missing persons (ante 
mortem data) with the information collected by forensic experts during 
future exhumations (post mortem data).
    The ICRC continued to pay special attention to prisoners of war and 
civilian internees (POWs/CIs) and conducted visits throughout the year 
to ensure their protection under international humanitarian law. The 
ICRC regularly facilitated the exchange of Red Cross messages between 
POWs/CIs and their families to help them reestablish and maintain 
contact. The Government reported that the ICRC facilitated the 
repatriation of one prisoner of war and one civilian internee, as well 
as the return/transfer of the remains of four Azerbaijanis (two 
military and two civilian) to Azerbaijan during the year, and in 
exchange, the remains of two individuals were returned to Armenia.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and criminal code prohibit such practices 
and provide for penalties of up to 10 years' imprisonment; however, 
there were credible reports that security forces beat detainees to 
extract confessions and that military personnel physically abused 
subordinates. During the year domestic human rights monitors reported 
that 169 persons were tortured in custody by security forces. There 
were reports that at least seven of these individuals subsequently 
died. Impunity remained a problem. According to a 2009 report submitted 
to the UN Committee against Torture by the Human Rights Center of 
Azerbaijan and the International Federation of Human Rights, 
authorities also implemented a de facto ban on independent forensic 
examinations of detainees who claimed mistreatment and delayed access 
to an attorney.
    The military Prosecutor's Office arrested and summoned to the court 
five members of the military regarding crimes committed on January 28, 
including taking bribes; insulting; causing injuries or torture of a 
military man; and abuse of authority, excess, or negligence. The court 
hearing continued at year's end.
    On June 12, three cadets of the High Military Navy School beat 
fellow cadet Royal Musayev. Musayev was hospitalized. Ombudswoman for 
Human Rights Elmira Sulevmanova appealed to both the deputy prosecutor 
general and the military prosecutor to investigate and bring the 
perpetrators to justice. Neither had initiated an investigation by 
year's end.
    On August 6, human rights monitors in Nakhchivan reported that 
authorities wrongfully placed Jannet Baghirova in a state mental clinic 
after Baghirova reportedly violated a ban on street vending. 
Authorities released Baghirova the same day after receiving numerous 
complaints.
    During the year a local nongovernmental organization (NGO) reported 
numerous police beatings of persons based on sexual orientation (see 
section 6).
    During the year there was no accountability for the 2008 beating of 
Mirza Zahidov.
    According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, authorities punished 
276 employees for human rights abuses and dismissed 20 from their 
positions during the year.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions remained 
harsh, and some prison conditions were life threatening, despite 
continuing prison infrastructure improvements.
    Overcrowding, inadequate nutrition, lack of heating and 
ventilation, and poor medical care combined to make the spread of 
infectious diseases a serious problem. Despite ongoing improvements to 
prison infrastructure, prisons, which were generally Soviet-era 
facilities, did not meet international standards. In maximum-security 
facilities, authorities limited physical exercise for prisoners as well 
as visits by attorneys and family members. There were few opportunities 
for prisoners to work or receive training. Some pretrial detainees 
reportedly were held in ``separation cells,'' which were often located 
in basements to conceal evidence of physical abuse. Food and sleep 
reportedly were denied in these cells to elicit confessions.
    Local and international monitors continued to report poor 
conditions at maximum security Qobustan Prison. Authorities began 
construction of a new facility during the year. In a November 2009 
report, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) 
stated that during a 2008 visit to Qobustan Prison, a prison officer 
attempted to threaten a prisoner for speaking to the CPT delegation, 
and it was apparent that authorities had warned certain other prisoners 
not to complain to the delegation. Nevertheless, the delegation 
received several credible reports from prisoners of intentional 
physical abuse and excessive use of force by prison officers.
    The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that during the year, it 
renovated the following detention facilities: the Counter Trafficking 
Department and the Police Departments of Khazar, Sabail, Nasimi 
districts of Baku and Gusar, Goygol, and Lerik districts. The ministry 
also reported that an additional 20 detention facilities were 
renovated.
    During the year harsh prison conditions resulted in numerous 
deaths; the Ministry of Justice reported that 106 persons died in 
detention during the year, a decrease of 19 percent from 2009. The 
Ministry attributed most deaths to a variety of diseases but reported a 
substantial decrease in deaths due to tuberculosis, although more 
inmates died of tuberculosis than from any other disease. The Ministry 
of Internal Affairs reported one death in its facilities, due to 
suicide. Authorities dismissed one officer and disciplined two others 
for negligence in connection with these deaths.
    In August 2009, Novruzali Mammadov, a prominent scholar of the 
ethnic minority Talysh group and former editor in chief of the Talysh 
Sedo newspaper, died in the Ministry of Justice medical treatment 
facility. The Ministry reported that he died of a stroke, but family 
members and local human rights defenders believed he had not received 
appropriate medical care. Mammadov's widow sued the Ministry of Justice 
and submitted Mammadov's case to the European Court of Human Rights 
(ECHR) during the year. Some local NGOs believed Mammadov's arrest was 
related to his ethnicity and cultural activities.
    During the year there was no investigation into the 2008 death of 
Arif Aslanov while in Ministry of Justice custody.
    The Ministry of Justice reported treating 497 prisoners for drug-
resistant tuberculosis during the year. The Government reported that 
the other major causes of death among prisoners and detainees were 
cancer, myocardial infarction, hepatic cirrhosis, and strokes.
    A joint government-human rights community prison monitoring group 
was able to gain access to prisons only with prior notification to the 
Penitentiary Service. During the year the group reportedly experienced 
difficulty in obtaining permission to access facilities, even with 
prior notification. In 2009 the group visited numerous detention 
facilities, advocated for better medical conditions in prisons, 
arranged for more telephones to be installed in prison facilities, 
donated books to prison facilities, and provided legal assistance to 47 
prisoners.
    Men and women were held together in pretrial detention facilities; 
however, all women were housed in a separate prison facility after 
being sentenced. Minors were also supposed to be held in a separate 
facility; however, international monitors noted some children were held 
with adults.
    The Government permitted some prison visits by international and 
local humanitarian and human rights groups, including the ICRC, the 
CPT, the OSCE, and the Azerbaijan Committee against Torture. As of July 
2009, however, the Azerbaijan Committee against Torture was no longer 
permitted to visit Ministry of Justice facilities without prior 
notification. The Ministry of Internal Affairs-run pretrial detention 
centers still allowed the committee immediate access. The ICRC had 
unobstructed access to the POWs/CIs who were held in connection with 
the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh as well as to detainees held in 
facilities under the authority of the Ministries of Justice, Internal 
Affairs, and National Security. The Penitentiary Service denied foreign 
embassies access to prisons outside of consular visits. The missions of 
some international organizations were still permitted to visit prisons 
for monitoring purposes.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--Although the law prohibits 
arbitrary arrest and detention, the Government generally did not 
observe these prohibitions in practice, and impunity remained a 
problem.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Ministry of 
Internal Affairs and the Ministry of National Security are responsible 
for internal security and report directly to the president. The 
Ministry of Internal Affairs oversees local police forces and maintains 
internal civil defense troops. The Ministry of National Security has a 
separate internal security force.
    While security forces were generally able to act with impunity, the 
Government asserted that it took action against 276 Ministry of 
Internal Affairs employees for 174 complaints of human rights 
violations during the year. The Government did not report on its 
criminal prosecutions but stated that it dismissed 20 officers from the 
Ministry of Internal Affairs police forces, removed 18 officers from 
their positions, and administratively disciplined 238 others.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law states 
that persons who are detained, arrested, or accused of a crime should 
be advised immediately of their rights and the reason for their arrest 
and accorded due process; however, the Government did not respect these 
provisions in practice. Arbitrary arrest, often based on spurious 
charges of resisting the police, remained a problem throughout the 
year.
    The law allows police to detain and question individuals for 48 
hours without a warrant; in practice police detained individuals for 
several days, sometimes weeks, without a warrant. In other instances 
judges issued ex post facto warrants.
    Judges, acting at the instruction of the Prosecutor General's 
Office or of other executive branch officials, sentenced detainees to 
jail within hours of their arrest without providing them access to an 
attorney.
    The law provides for access to a lawyer from the time of detention; 
in practice access to lawyers was poor, particularly outside of Baku. 
Although entitled to it by law, indigent detainees did not have such 
access. Authorities often restricted family member visits and withheld 
information about detainees; days frequently passed before families 
could obtain any information about detained relatives. There was no 
formal, functioning bail system; however, individuals were sometimes 
permitted to vouch for detainees, enabling their conditional release 
during pretrial investigation. Politically sensitive suspects were at 
times held incommunicado for several hours or sometimes days while in 
police custody.
    During the year there were numerous instances of violations of 
arrest and detention procedures.
    On November 12, the Sharur police department detained Sabit Aliyev 
until November 21 without charge. Sabit Aliyev served as an election 
monitor for his brother, Sakhavat Aliyev, a candidate in the November 7 
parliamentary elections; 48 hours is the legal limit of detention 
without charge. Ahead of release, Sabit Aliyev was required to sign a 
statement forbidding him to leave the village (see section 3).
    On November 19, Bakhtiyar Hajiyev reported that he had been 
released after having been detained for over 24 hours without food or 
water. Hajiyev, a candidate in the November 7 parliamentary elections, 
also told Radio Liberty that officials threatened him during his 
detention and did not allow his family to see him (see section 2.d.).
    During the year there were a number of cases of police detaining 
members of opposition political parties in connection with their 
attempts to hold peaceful political demonstrations (see section 2.b).
    Lengthy pretrial detention of up to 18 months was a serious 
problem. The prosecutor general routinely extended the initial three-
month pretrial detention period permitted by law in successive 
increments of several months until the Government completed an 
investigation.

    Amnesty.--On March 17, President Aliyev issued a pardon for 62 
prisoners. Among those pardoned was the editor in chief of Azadlig 
newspaper, Ganimat Zahid (Zahidov), who had been convicted on charges 
many international and domestic observers characterized as spurious and 
politically motivated (see section 2.a.).

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Although the law provides for an 
independent judiciary, in practice, judges did not function 
independently of the executive branch. The judiciary remained corrupt 
and inefficient. Verdicts were largely unrelated to the evidence 
presented during the trial.
    The executive branch continued to exert a strong influence over the 
judiciary. The Ministry of Justice controls the Judicial Legal Council, 
which administers the examination for judge candidates.
    Credible reports indicated that judges and prosecutors took 
instruction from the presidential administration and the Justice 
Ministry, particularly in cases of interest to international observers. 
While judges' salaries steadily increased for several years prior to 
2008, there continued to be credible allegations that judges routinely 
accepted bribes. During the year the ministry reported that the 
Judicial Council initiated disciplinary proceedings against 21 judges. 
The ministry reported that 11 of its employees were subjected to 
disciplinary actions; two of these cases were sent to the Prosecutor 
General's Office, resulting in one conviction.
    In February 2009 the president issued a decree creating the 2009-13 
State Program on Development of the Justice System. The program's 
objectives included improving legislation and the quality of 
professional staff training.
    On February 26, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal by Intigam 
Aliyev, head of the Legal Education Society, regarding the lower 
court's decision that he insulted the ``honor and dignity'' of Judge 
Gazanfar Karimov in a book on disciplinary actions against judges. In 
June 2009 Aliyev appealed to the ECHR; the case was pending at year's 
end.
    The constitution prohibits a person from being tried and/or 
sentenced twice for the same crime. On September 29, Sayyara Heydarova, 
who received a three-year conditional sentence in April 2009 for the 
same incident for which she was originally jailed in 2005, appealed her 
conviction to the ECHR, after exhausting national court remedies. The 
case was pending at year's end.
    The Judicial Legal Council continued to coordinate efforts with 
international organizations to train judges.
    On February 4, the Judicial Legal Council issued a decision to 
dismiss three judges working in Baku courts for negligence. One of the 
judges, Sudaba Mammadova, had sentenced Azadlig newspaper editor in 
chief Ganimat Zahid to four years' imprisonment in 2007 on charges that 
international monitors considered spurious (see section 2.a.).

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for public trials except in 
cases involving state, commercial, or professional secrets or matters 
involving confidential, personal, or family matters. However, during 
the year international monitors noted numerous violations of this law 
in practice.
    While the law provides for the presumption of innocence in criminal 
cases, the right to review evidence, the right of defendants to 
confront witnesses and present evidence at trial, the right to a court-
approved attorney for indigent defendants, and the right of appeal for 
defendants and prosecutors, these provisions generally were not 
respected in practice.
    International monitors found numerous instances where judges did 
not inform the accused of their rights or the charges brought against 
them. Even in cases where the presumption of innocence was not 
explicitly breached, the practice of having the accused appear in 
handcuffs inside locked metal cages implicitly did so. In addition, 
judges often failed to read the verdict publicly, leaving the accused 
without knowledge of the reasoning behind the judgment.
    Jury trials were not used. Foreign and domestic observers usually 
were allowed to attend trials. The use of small courtrooms with 
inadequate seating prevented public attendance at some hearings. 
Information regarding trial times and locations was generally 
available, although there were some exceptions, particularly in the 
Court of Grave Crimes.
    Although the constitution prescribes equal status for prosecutors 
and defense attorneys, in practice prosecutors' privileges and rights 
outweighed those of the defense. Judges reserved the right to remove 
defense lawyers in civil cases for ``good cause.'' In criminal 
proceedings, judges may remove defense lawyers because of a conflict of 
interest or if a defendant requests a change of counsel. In addition, 
judges often showed preference to prosecutors when assessing motions, 
oral statements, and evidence submitted by defense counsel.
    The law limits representation in criminal cases to members of a 
government-controlled collegium of lawyers (bar association). Since 
there were only 768 collegium members, of which only an estimated 415 
were practicing, access to licensed legal representation was 
restricted, particularly outside of Baku.
    On August 9, the president signed a decree increasing the number of 
judges in the country to 600.
    The constitution prohibits the use of illegally obtained evidence; 
however, despite some 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. Judges often simply ignored claims 
of police mistreatment. Investigations often focused on obtaining 
confessions rather than gathering physical evidence against suspects. 
Serious crimes brought before the courts most often ended in 
conviction, as judges generally required only a minimal level of proof 
and collaborated closely with prosecutors. In the rare instances in 
which judges determined that the evidence presented was not sufficient 
to convict a defendant, they could return cases to the prosecutor for 
additional investigations, effectively giving the prosecutors 
subsequent chances for convictions.
    Aside from the Court of Grave Crimes and the Military Court of 
Grave Crimes, courts often failed to provide translators. Each court is 
entitled to contract translators during hearings, and such expenses 
must be covered by the Ministry of Justice.
    There were no verbatim transcripts of judicial proceedings; 
testimony, oral arguments, and judicial decisions were not recorded. 
Instead the court officer generally took notes that tended to be sparse 
and decided what, if anything, should be included in the notes. For 
example, during Eynulla Fatullayev's Court of Appeals trial, which ran 
from August through the end of the year, Fatullayev argued that the 
protocol produced by the lower court did not reflect his own words (see 
section 2.a.).
    The country has a military court system with civilian judges. The 
military court retains original jurisdiction over any case in which 
crimes related to war or military service are adjudicated.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--Local NGOs maintained that the 
Government continued to hold political prisoners, although estimates of 
the number varied. During the year the Government released between 11 
and 14 individuals whose imprisonments were considered to have been 
politically motivated, including six journalists and two bloggers and 
youth activists (see section 2.a.). At year's end, NGO activists 
maintained that the Government held between 20 and 46 political 
prisoners.
    Elchin Amiraslanov, Safa Poladov, and Arif Kazimov, who had been 
listed in the 2005 Council of Europe experts report on political 
prisoners, remained incarcerated during the year.
    Some estimates of the number of political prisoners included 
persons arrested in 2005 on charges of plotting a coup and subsequently 
convicted of corruption.
    There were no reliable estimates of the number of political 
detainees. Most political detainees received sentences of between 10 
and 15 days in jail, which were often described as ``administrative 
detention'' sentences.
    The Government generally permitted unrestricted access to alleged 
political prisoners by international humanitarian organizations such as 
the ICRC as well as UN representatives.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--Citizens have the right to 
appeal court decisions on human rights cases to the ECHR within six 
months of the first Supreme Court ruling on a case. Citizens continued 
to exercise this right frequently. At year's end there were 
approximately 100 cases involving the country awaiting action by the 
ECHR.
    According to the ECHR Web site, during the year it issued 18 
decisions in favor of Azerbaijani citizens. According to news agency 
APA, Azerbaijani citizens applied mostly for protection of property 
rights (nine cases), protection of freedoms and security rights (eight 
cases), and fair hearing (four cases).
    On April 22, the ECHR ruled that the imprisonment of journalist 
Eynulla Fatullayev violated his right to freedom of expression and that 
the Government therefore should immediately release him. As of year's 
end, the Government had not complied with the ruling (see section 
2.a.).
    During the year the ECHR ruled in two separate cases that 
authorities had violated the rights of opposition candidates Nemat 
Aliyevand Flora Kerimova under the European Convention on Human Rights 
by declaring progovernment candidates the winners in the 2005 
parliamentary elections in their respective districts.
    On November 9, the ECHR ruled in favor of former Minister for 
Economic Development Farhad Aliyev, who had challenged the length of 
his pretrial detention. The court awarded him 16,000 euros ($21,400) 
for nonmaterial damage and 25,000 euros ($33,500) for legal expenses. 
At year's end, another case submitted by Aliyev regarding his 
corruption conviction remained pending; he was arrested in 2005 on coup 
plotting charges but convicted on corruption charges. On November 9, 
Eldar Salayev, who was detained in the Aliyev case, also won a judgment 
from the ECHR for excessively long detention.
    There were seven cases during the year involving property rights: 
one case, Safarova v. Azerbaijan, involved a dispute regarding a police 
station located on Safarova's property. The remaining six property 
cases involved internally displaced persons squatting in the apartment 
of the legal owner.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The law does not provide 
for an independent and impartial jury in civil matters. District courts 
have jurisdiction over civil matters in their first hearing; appeals 
are addressed by the Court of Appeals and then by the Supreme Court. 
Citizens have the right to bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or 
cessation of, human rights violations. As with criminal trials, all 
citizens have the right to appeal to the ECHR within six months of the 
first Supreme Court ruling on their case.

    Property Restitution.--NGOs reported that the laws governing 
eminent domain were sufficient. However, in practice these laws were 
not respected. Domestic monitors reported that the number of property 
rights complaints they received continued to rise, compared with 
previous years. NGOs further reported that the Government did not 
rigorously enforce its own expropriation laws, especially outside of 
Baku. These NGOs reported that citizens did not trust the country's 
court system and were reluctant to pursue compensation claims. In 2009 
the Baku Executive Authority announced its plan to redevelop a section 
of the downtown area running from Heydar Aliyev Palace towards 
Azerbaijan Drama Theater. Residents of two main streets (Fuzuli and 
Shamsi Badalbeyli) were notified that they had to vacate their homes, 
for which they would be compensated at AZN 1,500 ($1,830) per 11 square 
feet. Human rights defenders reported that water, electricity, and gas 
were shut off in the buildings to force occupants to vacate. At year's 
end, residents remained dissatisfied, and tensions with local 
authorities continued. Most houses had, however, been demolished and 
fenced off from residents.
    During the year six of the 18 cases on which the ECHR ruled 
involved property rights (see section 1.e).

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law prohibits arbitrary invasions of privacy and 
monitoring of correspondence and other private communications; the 
Government did not respect these legal prohibitions in practice.
    The constitution allows for searches of residences only with a 
court order or in cases specifically provided by law; however, 
authorities often conducted searches without warrants. It was widely 
believed that the Ministry of National Security and the Ministry of 
Internal Affairs monitored telephone and Internet communications, 
particularly those of foreigners, prominent political and business 
figures, and persons engaged in international communication. In one 
such incident in 2009, the Ministry of National Security identified and 
questioned many of the 43 persons who voted via text message for the 
Armenian entry into the annual Eurovision song contest. After an 
investigation, the European Broadcasting Union, which ran the contest, 
decided not to sanction the country's public television channel but 
changed its rules so that, in the future, the television company that 
broadcasts the program will be responsible for the actions of the 
telephone companies with which it works.
    Police continued to intimidate and harass family members of 
suspected criminals.
    Military service is universal for all men age 18 to 35. Waivers 
exist for physical reasons such as poor eyesight. There was a 
widespread belief that a waiver from military service could be 
purchased. Citizens also believed that assignments to easier military 
duties could be bought. The constitution provides alternative service 
for conscientious objectors; however, the law on military service 
provided no clear implementation mechanism. Some chose to go to jail 
rather than serve in the military.
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 specifically prohibits press censorship; 
however, the Government often did not respect these rights in practice. 
During the year the Government released six journalists and two 
bloggers, but limited media independence remained a problem.
    In September the international NGO Article 19 reported that freedom 
of expression had ``significantly deteriorated'' in the country since 
2005 for journalists, activists, and ordinary citizens. Article 19 
found that self-censorship had become ``pervasive'' and that many civil 
society and political party activists felt that they were living in an 
environment increasingly hostile to freedom of expression. The 
international NGO International Crisis Group stated that ``the absence 
of a free and constructive exchange of information and ideas breeds an 
atmosphere of distrust and resentment.'' Nevertheless, many opposition 
parties continued to publish newspapers, and human rights activists 
were mostly able to conduct their work without fear of reprisal.
    On October 9, police raided the office of the proreform youth 
movement Dalga, evicting members from the premises. Dalga closed its 
offices on October 11. The raid reportedly took place in response to 
Dalga members' publicly wearing T-shirts depicting democratic reformer 
Mammad Emin Rasulzade, the president of the first Azerbaijan Democratic 
Republic in 1918-1920.
    In 2009 the Government amended the law on mass media to make it 
easier for the Government to close a publication.
    A number of opposition and independent media outlets operated 
during the year. The print media expressed a wide variety of views on 
government policies, although objective, professional reporting was 
rare. The broadcast media adhered almost exclusively to a progovernment 
line in their news coverage.
    Most print outlets in the country were organs of the ruling party, 
opposition parties, or were thought to be connected to prominent 
government officials. Newspaper circulation rates, both government and 
opposition, were low, not surpassing 5,000 in most cases. Many 
newspapers were circulated only in the capital. There were eight 
national television stations and 14 regional outlets. There were 11 
national radio broadcasters. The Government prohibited Voice of 
America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and the BBC from broadcasting 
on national FM frequencies and national television. Without these 
international broadcasters, the public did not have access to unbiased 
news on any widely available broadcast media. There also were several 
national state-owned newspapers and numerous newspapers funded by city 
or district-level officials.
    On July 22, National Press Day, President Aliyev allocated AZN 
20,000 ($24,390) to each of 32 newspapers. The group of 32 newspapers 
included those associated with the Government and with the opposition.
    On August 1, the publisher of Azadliq, one of two major opposition 
daily newspapers, barred Azadliq employees from printing activities for 
two days because of a reported AZN 16,000 ($19,510) debt owed to the 
publisher. Press reports of the incident stated that the editor in 
chief, Qanimat Zahid, characterized this demand for payment as 
government pressure and taking back its previous financial aid.
    Some private television stations operated, but independent media 
monitoring found their programs to be biased in favor of the ruling 
party. ANS Television, the audience leader, was generally regarded as a 
source of relatively balanced news coverage prior to its temporary 
closure by the National Television and Radio Council (NTRC) in 2006. 
However, most media monitors believed ANS had since adopted a more 
cautious, self-censored approach to news coverage, often broadcasting 
the same news and news angles as government-sponsored media. In an 
August ANS analytical program, journalist Mirshahin Agayev criticized 
imprisoned journalist Eynulla Fatullayev and disparaged civil society 
and opposition groups for advocating his release. Many observers 
believed the program was ordered by the Government and demonstrated the 
decline in the broadcaster's independence.
    The OSCE/ODIHR's media monitoring concluded that ``all monitored 
television channels devoted a considerable portion of their coverage to 
state authorities and their activities. Progovernment candidates gained 
an advantage prior to the commencement of the official campaign period 
as their competitors received hardly any news coverage on the monitored 
television channels.''
    During the year the Government released six journalists; however, 
two remained imprisoned or were jailed during the year on criminal 
convictions for libel and other charges supposedly unrelated to their 
work. International and local commentators believed that the Government 
targeted the journalists due to their criticism of government figures 
and policies.
    On March 17, the Government released Ganimat Zahid, editor in chief 
of Azadliq newspaper after a presidential pardon. Zahid had been 
convicted of hooliganism and inflicting minor bodily harm in 2007. 
International and domestic observers considered his imprisonment to be 
politically motivated.
    On July 6, the Qarabagh District Court sentenced Eynulla Fatullayev 
to two years and six months of imprisonment for heroin possession. At 
the time of the ruling, Fatullayev was serving an eight-year, six-month 
prison sentence on charges of supporting terrorism, inciting ethnic 
hatred, and tax evasion. International and domestic observers 
considered his imprisonment politically motivated. The OSCE 
representative on media freedom called the drug charge ``highly 
improbable.'' Local human rights defenders believed the drug case was 
brought to keep Fatullayev imprisoned in anticipation of an ECHR ruling 
exonerating him on the previous charges. On April 22, the ECHR ordered 
Fatullayev's immediate release and awarded him compensation. The 
Government appealed the decision to the Grand Chamber of the ECHR, 
which on October 4 refused to hear the case. On November 5, the Court 
of Appeals held a hearing remanding Fatullayev into detention pending 
his appeal hearing on the drug conviction. On November 11, the Plenum 
of the Supreme Court formally absolved Fatullayev of the incitement and 
libel charges but increased his tax evasion sentence to two years, six 
months--essentially time served. Fatullayev remained in detention 
pending the appeal of his drug conviction at year's end.
    On November 2, the Gubadly District Court sentenced Guzgu newspaper 
correspondent Kamran Bayaliyev (Kamran Sekhavet) to one year of 
corrective labor for hooliganism and inflicting intentional minor 
bodily injuries. The Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) 
considered this sentence to be retribution for articles Bayaliyev 
published in 2009 criticizing local authorities in Jeyranbatan for 
alleged corruption. At the end of the year, the case had moved to the 
Sumqayit Court of Appeals.
    A number of journalists who criticized government officials in the 
course of their work were subjected to harassment, threats, and acts of 
physical violence that appeared to be connected to their criticism of 
the Government or public officials. The Government did not hold 
perpetrators accountable. According to Reporters without Borders, 
independent and opposition journalists were under constant pressure 
because of their work.
    A media-monitoring NGO reported that during the year there were 106 
incidents involving verbal or physical assaults on journalists, 
compared with 51 such cases in 2009.
    For example, according to Human Rights Watch, on May 15, 
authorities arrested Seymur Haziev, a reporter for Azadlig and Bizim 
Yol, for taking part in a rally calling for the lifting of restrictions 
on freedom of assembly in advance of the November parliamentary 
elections. Police took Haziev, along with 30 others, to a police 
station and interrogated him without allowing him access to a lawyer. 
Haziev was charged with resisting arrest and sentenced to seven days' 
imprisonment by a Baku court. Haziev told Human Rights Watch that, on 
May 17, he was taken from his cell and escorted to a room where two men 
kicked and hit him periodically during a one-hour interrogation in 
which they asked Haziev why he wrote articles critical of President 
Ilham Aliyev and the Government. On May 22, Haziev was released. After 
the incident, Haziev filed a complaint against the police. At year's 
end the case was still pending.
    On July 28, Yeni Musavat reported that unidentified men attacked 
reporters Elmin Badalov and Anar Gerayli while they were taking 
photographs for an investigative story about luxury villas on the 
outskirts of Baku that allegedly belonged to Transportation Minister 
Ziya Mammadov. While they were taking pictures of the villa, three cars 
pulled up and six men got out, beat the two reporters, and threatened 
their lives. The unidentified men held the two journalists for three 
hours around the premises and then released them after deleting the 
photographs. Immediately after reporting the incident, Yeni Musavat 
lodged a complaint with the police. However, at year's end, the police 
had yet to summon either victim.
    The editor in chief of Komanda newspaper, Rashad Ergun, claimed 
that, on August 22, soccer player Mahmud Gurbanov assaulted him in 
retaliation for an August 15 article he wrote that was critical of 
Gurbanov. Ergun sued Gurbanov, and the case was under investigation at 
year's end.
    In January 2009 police assaulted Afgan Mukhtarli, a reporter for 
the opposition newspaper Yeni Musavat. According to Human Rights Watch, 
Mukhtarli alleged that the Yasamal District police chief ordered the 
attack. Mukhtarli had previously written articles criticizing the 
police chief.
    In April 2009 Yasamal District police beat three employees of ANS 
Television as they were filming the controversial destruction of a 
mosque. The employees received minor injuries, and their equipment was 
destroyed. Police eventually compensated the channel for the equipment 
but did not return the video of the incident.
    Police physically assaulted three journalists, Elchin Hasanov, 
Afgan Mukhtarli, and Natig Adilov, in front of Police Department No. 39 
in Sabail District in May 2009. The journalists were reporting on the 
detention of a group of youth who had protested against the celebration 
of ``flower day'' and the absence of any official mourning for the 
victims of the mass killing at the Azerbaijan State Oil Academy. On 
April 2, the Sabail District Court dismissed the journalists' complaint 
against the police. The journalists filed an appeal, which was heard on 
November 2 by the Court of Appeals. During the hearing, a video was 
shown with footage of police assaulting the journalists. Defense 
witness Rufet Alakberov testified that the police officers who 
assaulted the journalists were not employees of the Sabail District 
Police Office. After deliberation, the judge dismissed the lawsuit.
    In September 2009, unknown assailants beat the editor in chief of 
Ayan newspaper, Javid Alasgaroglu, and threw him into a trash dump. 
Alasgaroglu sustained serious injuries and was hospitalized. The 
victim's family attributed the incident to Alasgaroglu's professional 
activity. The newspaper had published several critical articles about 
government officials.
    Emin Huseynov, a reporter who was chair of the IRFS, was 
hospitalized after being beaten by police in 2008 while covering the 
breaking up of a public meeting by police. He later filed suit against 
the Ministry of Internal Affairs, charging that no legal action had 
been taken against his attackers.
    There were no indications that authorities held any police officers 
accountable for physical assaults on journalists in recent years.
    Serious concerns remained about impunity in the 2005 killing of 
Elmar Huseynov. Media and human rights activists continued to call on 
the Government to investigate the case fully. Those highlighting the 
lack of accountability for the killing during the year included the 
OSCE's representative for freedom of the media, the International 
Crisis Group, and a group of nine international NGOs. Imprisoned 
journalist Eynulla Fatullayev issued an appeal in March asserting that 
a senior National Security Ministry official had organized Huseynov's 
murder, that the ministry had attempted to block his and others' 
independent investigation of the murder, and that the ministry had him 
arrested for having continued to investigate the killing. Within weeks 
of Fatullayev's statement, his father reported a death threat made 
against both of them if they did not ``shut up once and for all.'' The 
Committee to Protect Journalists concluded that Fatullayev's 
imprisonment was in reprisal for his extensive coverage of Huseynov's 
unsolved murder.
    In February the Milli Majlis amended two laws to implement several 
changes approved in the March 2009 constitutional referendum that limit 
media freedom. These included a prohibition on videotaping or 
photographing anyone without their permission. The authorities 
implemented this prohibition selectively. For example, on July 20, 
citing the law, Presidential Administration guards harassed a group of 
journalists who were photographing and filming a protest in Sabirabad 
by residents unhappy with the Government response to flood damage in 
the region. The guards detained IRFS and Turan Information Agency 
employees Javid Gurbanov and Mehman Huseynov, Radio Liberty 
correspondent Abbas Atilay, and Bizim Yol newspaper correspondent Haji 
Zeynalov. The guards seized the journalists' videotape, erased images 
of administration buildings, and issued a warning that they were not 
authorized to film or photograph the administration's premises. In 
contrast, authorities took no action to apply the law when Lider 
Television broadcast a video of an opposition newspaper editor engaged 
in a sexually explicit act with a woman on October 25, weeks away from 
the November parliamentary elections. A nationwide television station, 
Lider was considered to be closely aligned with the Government.
    Although pro-opposition journalists openly criticized government 
officials, a combination of intimidation and a desire not to alienate 
potential advertisers led most independent journalists and editors to 
practice some degree of self-censorship.
    Suspect lawsuits were also used to intimidate journalists. For 
example, during the year there were 40 civil cases against media. 
Lawsuits were filed against the following media outlets and 
journalists: six cases were brought against opposition newspaper Yeni 
Musavat, three against its deputy editor in chief Azar Ayxan, and one 
against its editor in chief Rauf Arifoglu. Three lawsuits were filed 
against Azadliq and its reporter Alovsat Osmanly. Two lawsuits were 
filed against Bizim Yol news and its correspondent Natig Jadaly. Four 
lawsuits were brought against Gundelik Baki newspaper and one against 
Hurriyet newspaper. Lawsuits were also filed against Olke newspaper, 
its editor in chief Rafael Bejanov, and its reporters Elmidar Bayramov, 
Nijat Daglar, Nasimi Sharafkhanly, and Zulfugar Huseynli. Six lawsuits 
were filed against Khural newspaper's editor in chief Avaz Zeynally and 
deputy editor in chief Malahat Zeynally. Lawsuits also were brought 
against Dunya Kriminaly newspaper, Trend Information Agency, Milletim 
newspaper's Faramaz Novruzoglu, P.S. Nota newspaper, editor in chief 
Saradar Alibayli, and Tribuna Information Agency.
    These 40 civil lawsuits were filed by Ramiz Mehdiyev, the head of 
the Presidential Administration; the Text-book Evaluation Council of 
the Ministry of Education; Mahin Orujova, the director of Children 
Music School # 3; Elsevar Akhundov, a military unit commander; Ikhtiyar 
Shirin, a former prosecutor general; Rasim Musayev, the chief of the 
Ganja City Police Department; Jalal Aliyev, a member of parliament; 
Novruzali Aslanov, a member of parliament; the head of the Binagadi 
Municipality; imprisoned editor in chief of Ideal newspaper Nazim 
Guliyev; Dilshad Amirova, an owner of the Bina Shopping Center; Nina 
Ahmadovam, a citizen; and Singer Karim. Anar Mammadov, son of Minister 
of Transportation Ziya Mammadov, filed a lawsuit against Azadliq and 
Yeni Musavat newspapers demanding each be fined AZN 500,000 ($609,760).
    During the year a total of AZN 37,500 ($45,730) in fines were 
levied against media organizations. The highest amounts were fines 
against the Tribuna Agency, an independent on-line agency known for 
criticizing low- to mid-level officials, for AZN 20,000 ($24,390) and 
Khural newspaper, a weekly paper known for its pan-Turkish ideas, for 
AZN 10,000 ($12,195).
    The law allows for large fines and up to three years' imprisonment 
for persons convicted of libel. Administration officials stated 
publicly in April 2009 that this provision would be removed from the 
criminal code, and subsequently courts overturned the conviction of two 
journalists for libel. However, the Government's statements 
notwithstanding, libel remains a criminal offense.
    In previous years the Government used defamation suits and the 
threat of exorbitantly high fines for libel to intimidate and harass 
the media. Fine payments due from previous defamation suits threatened 
the financial viability of the print media and journalists. Government 
reliance on measures that hampered the printing and distribution of 
independent newspapers and magazines remained largely unchanged.
    Most newspapers and magazines were printed in government publishing 
houses or on private printing presses owned by individuals who had 
connections with government officials. The majority of independent and 
opposition newspapers remained in precarious financial situations; they 
continued to have problems paying wages, taxes, and periodic court 
fines. Most relied on political parties or influential sponsors for 
financing. According to prominent journalists, government 
representatives directly or indirectly dissuaded companies and 
institutions from placing advertising in opposition media. As a result, 
paid advertising was largely absent in opposition media.
    The Government prohibited some state libraries from subscribing to 
opposition newspapers, prohibited state businesses from buying 
advertising in opposition newspapers, and pressured private business to 
do the same. Political commentators noted this practice reduced the 
wages that opposition and independent outlets could pay to their 
journalists, allowing progovernment outlets to hire away quality staff. 
In addition, international media monitoring reports indicated that 
intimidation by officials of the Ministry of Taxes further limited the 
independence of the media.
    There were no restrictions on systems to receive satellite 
broadcasts by foreign stations, but the NTRC continued to impose a 
general requirement that local, privately owned television and radio 
stations not rebroadcast entire news programs of foreign origin.
    In October, nine international NGOs reported that the environment 
for journalists in the regions was more restrictive than in Baku. They 
highlighted the situation in the exclave of Nakhchivan as especially 
dangerous. In 2009, Nakhchivan- and Baku-based journalists reported 
that authorities in Nakhchivan continued to block distribution of 
opposition newspapers.

    Internet Freedom.--The Government generally did not restrict access 
to the Internet, but it required Internet service providers to be 
licensed and have formal agreements with the Ministry of Communications 
and Information Technologies. The Ministry of Communication and 
Information Technologies reported that 45 percent of the population 
used the Internet; broadband access reached 12 percent of the 
population, and there were 14 computers per 100 inhabitants.
    There was no evidence to confirm the widely held belief that the 
Government monitored Internet traffic of foreign businesses and 
opposition leaders. On October 8, users of the satirical www.eqreb.com 
Web site could access it only through proxy servers outside of the 
country, since it was blocked from direct access within the country. A 
local NGO monitoring the media situation in the country assessed the 
move as government censorship.
    Domestic observers stated that during the year, the Government did 
not block Web sites throughout the majority of the country. However, 
the same observers indicated that Web sites were blocked routinely in 
the exclave of Nakhchivan.
    On November 18, authorities suspended the sentence of youth 
activist and blogger Adnan Hajizade and released him on parole. On 
November 19, a court ordered the release of youth activist and blogger 
Emin Milli under the same conditions. Police had arrested Hajizade and 
Milli in July 2009 when they complained to police about an attack on 
them by two men. Hajizadeh and Milli were sentenced to prison terms of 
24 months and 30 months, respectively, in November 2009.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The Government on occasion 
restricted academic freedom.
    Some domestic observers raised concerns about the Government's 
selection of participants for state-sponsored study abroad programs. 
The Government maintained that its selection process was transparent 
and that political affiliation was not a factor.
    Opposition party members continued to report difficulties in 
finding jobs teaching at schools and universities. Most known 
opposition party members teaching in state educational institutions had 
been fired in previous years.
    On January 19, the State Oil Academy dismissed student Elmin 
Badalov, who also worked as a journalist for the Poligon information 
agency. At the end of 2009 Badalov had published an article regarding 
bribery cases and financial fraud at the academy. On April 5, Badalov 
filed a lawsuit challenging his dismissal and appealed to the Court of 
Appeals on May 5. As of the end of the year, the case was pending at 
the Supreme Court.
    During the fall parliamentary election campaign, students reported 
pressure from the administration to avoid cooperation with independent 
election monitoring organizations as well as pressure to vote for the 
Government's candidate. During the 2008 presidential election campaign, 
students at several universities reported pressure from deans to avoid 
cooperation with an independent NGO monitoring the election. Some 
students reported being directed by the deans of their faculties to 
change voter registration from their home districts so that they would 
have to vote at the university. Others reported that universities 
required students to attend pro-presidential rallies, providing 
transportation and threatening students with expulsion if they did not 
attend. In another case students were threatened with expulsion from 
their dormitory if they participated in election monitoring.
    There were no reports of government restrictions on cultural 
events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The law provides for freedom of assembly; however, the 
Government severely restricted this right in practice. Although the law 
stipulates that groups may peacefully assemble only with prior 
notification of relevant government bodies, the Government continued to 
interpret this provision as a requirement for advance permission from 
local officials.
    During the year the Government continued to require all rallies to 
be preapproved and held at designated locations far removed from city 
centers, a stipulation that most political parties and NGOs found 
unacceptable. Authorities throughout the country routinely refused such 
requests.
    The Government denied opposition, NGO, religious freedom advocates, 
and others' requests to hold rallies on multiple occasions and broke up 
several unsanctioned pickets and demonstrations, often detaining 
participants for several hours. Many of these detentions were arbitrary 
(see section 1.d.)
    For example, on May 15, the opposition Azadliq coalition held an 
unsanctioned rally in Baku. Police detained 10 participants from the 
opposition: five protesters for seven days and five for five days.
    On June 5, the Azadliq coalition held another unsanctioned rally in 
Baku. After breaking it up, police briefly detained 19 participants.
    On June 12, Musavat and the Popular Front Party (PFP) held an 
unsanctioned demonstration in Baku. Police detained 32 persons 
including activists Ramiz Khalilov (Musavat) and Abulfaz Gurbanly (PFP) 
for 10 days each. Police also issued official warnings to Arif Hajily 
and Tofig Yagublu and fined Tural Abbasly and Ahad Mammdli each AZN 25 
($30).
    On June 19, the Azadliq coalition again held an unauthorized 
protest in Baku. Police detained 83 participants. The police later 
released 79, but four activists were detained for several days.
    On July 3, opposition parties held a united unsanctioned 
demonstration in Baku. Police detained approximately 70 participants. 
Prior to the demonstration, police detained three opposition activists 
at their homes: Tural Abbasly, Yalchin Abbasly, and Ahad Mammadli. The 
court issued them official warnings and fined them each AZN 25 ($30). 
Police also detained nine other opposition activists prior to the 
protest, including Fuad Gahramanly, Razi Nurullayev, Nuraddin Mammadli, 
and Abulfaz Gurbanly. Police took 10 or 11 protesters to Sabayil 
District Police Station #8 and released them that evening. Police drove 
the remaining protesters, nearly 60 individuals, 40 miles away from 
Baku to Gobustan and inexplicably abandoned them in an isolated area.
    On July 31, opposition parties PFP, Classic Popular Front, and 
Musavat held an unsanctioned demonstration in Baku; police detained 
more than 100 protesters. Police issued warnings to 10 protesters; 
seven were detained for 10 days, one for eight days, and two for seven 
days. Police fined seven persons AZN 20-25 ($25-30). Police bused 20 
protesters 40 miles away from Baku to Gobustan and dropped the 
protesters there, leaving them to find their own ways back to the city.
    On August 9, Turan News Agency reported that the Baku Mayor's 
Office refused to authorize a rally of unregistered NGOs. The NGOs 
requested permission to rally on a square near the Ministry of Justice 
on August 4. The mayor's office refused on the grounds that the rally 
would disturb people resting in the square and demonstrating near state 
facilities is not allowed.
    Prior to October 10, the PFP-Musavat Block applied to the Baku 
Mayor's Office for permission to hold a rally on October 10 in support 
of freedom of assembly. Reportedly, Chairman of the Central Election 
Commission Mazahir Panahov said that the assembly was in violation of 
the election code because it was outside the designated campaign 
period. The opposition block disagreed with this characterization of 
its intent but moved the assembly to October 17. The Baku Mayor's 
Office again withheld permission. In the run up to parliamentary 
elections, the PFP-Musavat Block did not hold any unauthorized rallies.
    On December 9, Minister of Education Misir Mardanov announced that 
girls were not allowed to wear hijab (headscarf) at school. News 
organizations reported that during a December 10 rally attended by 
hundreds protesting this ban outside of the Ministry of Education, 
police arrested 12 demonstrators. On December 15, approximately 100 
persons in the Masalli region reportedly participated in a rally 
opposing the hijab ban. Two persons reportedly were arrested. On 
December 16, in Nardaran village, several thousand protested the ban.
    Yusif Alikramoglu, Hajikuli Hashimov, and Azer Sarjanov were 
arrested for breaking a window at a school in Baku to protest the ban 
on hijab at schools. On December 23 they were released. The accused 
said they had been arrested on a framed-up charge, reported the Centre 
for Protection of Religion.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association, although in practice the Government's restriction of this 
right tightened during the year. A number of provisions allow the 
Government to regulate the activities of political parties, religious 
groups, businesses, and NGOs, including a requirement that all 
organizations register either with the Justice Ministry or the State 
Committee on Work with Religious Associations. Although the law 
requires the Government to act on registration applications within 30 
days of receipt, vague, cumbersome, and nontransparent registration 
procedures continued to result in long delays that effectively limited 
citizens' right to associate.
    In June 2009 the Milli Majlis amended the law on NGOs to add new 
restrictions on freedom of association. While officials removed the 
most troublesome provisions of the first draft of the amended law, the 
new amendments contained some restrictions, including requiring 
deputies of NGO branches to be Azerbaijani citizens and requiring 
foreign NGOs to sign an agreement with the Government before opening an 
office. In December 2009 President Aliyev issued a decree making 
further changes to the law on NGOs. International and local NGOs were 
concerned by a new provision in this decree that requires NGOs to 
register all grants they receive with the Ministry of Justice.
    Some NGOs estimated that approximately 1,000 such groups remained 
unregistered at year's end.
    For example, the NGO Election Monitoring Center (EMC), which the 
ministry deregistered in 2008, attempted to register as a new 
organization, the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center 
(EMDS) that December. The organization was denied registration on what 
observers believed to be unsubstantial grounds. In November 2009 the 
EMC appealed to the ECHR; the case remained pending at year's end. On 
February 2, EMDS appealed its registration application to the Supreme 
Court. On August 13, the Supreme Court returned the case to the Court 
of Appeals, where it remained at year's end.
    Human Rights Watch reported that the Ministry of Justice denied 
registration to the Television and Alternative Media Development Center 
three times during the year.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation; however, the Government limited freedom of movement at 
times, particularly for internally displaced persons (IDPs).
    The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to IDPs, refugees, returning 
refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of 
concern. The State Migration Service was responsible for all refugee 
matters, including refugee status determination. International NGOs 
continued to report that this department, created in 2007, remained 
inefficient and did not operate transparently.
    Since 2006 the Government has prevented the foreign travel of PFP 
chairman Ali Kerimli, by refusing to renew his passport, citing an 
outstanding civil complaint against him from 1994. The Government had 
renewed Kerimli's passport on several occasions in the intervening 
years without objection. Kerimli filed an appeal on the decision, which 
was rejected at all levels of the court system. Kerimli submitted his 
case to the ECHR in January 2009 and was awaiting a judgment at year's 
end.
    After the parliamentary elections, the Government prevented former 
candidate and democracy activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev from crossing the 
border into Georgia to pursue graduate studies, citing his obligation 
to complete mandatory military service. Observers believed that the 
authorities did so because of Hajiyev's activism, which included 
placing evidence of electoral fraud on You Tube.
    The law requires men of draft age to register with military 
officials before traveling abroad. Those pursuing higher education may 
request a deferment to complete their studies. The law on military 
service does not stipulate deferments for undergraduate or graduate 
studies although military draft boards commonly granted such deferments 
upon presenting annual proof of enrollment. Some travel restrictions 
were placed on military personnel with access to national security 
information. Citizens charged with or convicted of criminal offenses 
and given suspended sentences were not permitted to travel abroad. 
Officials regularly extracted bribes from individuals who applied for 
passports.
    While official government policy allows citizens of ethnic Armenian 
descent to travel, low-level officials reportedly often requested 
bribes or harassed ethnic Armenians who applied for passports. Some 
Armenians of mixed descent reported to a local NGO that they had 
problems with officials in the passport and registration department 
when applying for identification cards. Applicants with Azerbaijani 
surnames who applied encountered no problems except for having to pay 
bribes.
    Since his 2004 conviction for participating in postelection 
demonstrations in 2003, the Government prevented the former imam of the 
Juma Mosque in Baku, Ilgar Ibrahimoglu, from traveling outside the 
country. At the close of the year, his status remained unchanged.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.

    Internally Displaced Persons.--As of year's end, the UNHCR reported 
that there were 592,860 registered IDPs in the country, representing 
151,085 families. The vast majority fled their homes between 1988 and 
1993 as a result of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
    IDPs were required to register their place of residence with 
authorities and could live only in approved areas. This so-called 
``propiska'' system, a carryover from the Soviet era, was imposed 
mainly on persons who were forced from their homes after ethnic 
Armenian separatists took control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 
adjacent territories in the western part of Azerbaijan. The Government 
asserted that registration was needed to keep track of IDPs to provide 
them with assistance. According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring 
Center, many IDPs who resided in Baku were unable to register their 
residence, gain access to formal employment, government assistance, 
health care, education, or pensions and had difficulty buying property.
    The UNHCR reported that during the year, the Government built three 
new IDP settlements (one rural and two urban) in Aghdam, Yevlakh, and 
Goranboy. During the last year 7,047 IDPs (1566 families) were 
relocated to these settlements. By the end of the year, the total 
number of new settlements was 67 for 20,000 families comprising 90,000 
individuals.
    The State IDP and Refugee Committee reported that on February 27, 
in Gabala 155 IDP families were re-housed in two newly constructed 
buildings. It reported that on November 10, in Yevlakh 612 IDP families 
were re-housed in a new building. It reported that on November 11, in 
Aghdam Region, a new settlement opened for 689 IDP families. 
Additionally, 70 IDP families in Baku were relocated to a five-story 
building in Absheron Region. The committee moved 40 IDP families, 
temporarily settled in Zaraghan village of Gabala Region, to a new 
apartment. In the area of Goranboy Region the construction of five-
story buildings for 164 IDP families and a school building for 360 
pupils were completed.
    During the year 2,360 IDPs were provided with permanent jobs, and 
4,458 individuals received seasonal jobs; 123 were eligible for 
unemployment assistance. The committee enrolled 363 individuals in 
vocational training, and 312 were involved in payable public 
activities. An additional 97 various community microprojects were 
completed by the Social Development Fund for IDPs.
    The State IDP and Refugee Committee reported its 2010 budget was 
AZN 340 million ($414.6 million), up from 307.8 million AZN in 2009 
($375.4 million). IDPs received monthly food subsidies and heating fuel 
subsidies in the winter.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to some refugees through 
the Refugee Status Determination Department. While the department 
progressed in many ways, improvement was offset by a series of court 
rulings on refugee status determinations that rejected all appeals of 
negative asylum decisions.
    In practice the Government provided some protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion. As of December 31, the UNHCR had 1965 individuals registered 
with them: 1,891 refugees and 74 asylum seekers, a decrease of 9 
percent from 2009. The State Migration Service reported that it had 
granted 69 individuals refugee status during the year. According to the 
UNHCR, most of these individuals were ethnic Azerbaijanis from Iran. 
The Government did not provide any notable assistance to government- or 
UNHCR-recognized refugees or asylum seekers.
    The two largest groups among the refugees are the Chechens and 
Afghans. The Government did not recognize most refugees as refugees 
under the 1951 convention. As a result, the UNHCR continued to carry 
out all protection and assistance functions for populations of concern 
in the country.
    Despite UNHCR recognition of Chechens and Afghans as populations of 
concern, the laws on residence, registration, and the status of 
refugees and IDPs do not apply to these populations. They are required 
to register with police and are not entitled to residence permits. 
Chechens are permitted to enter the country visa-free under a bilateral 
passport system with Russia.
    According to the UNHCR, 82 Chechens sought and were granted 
temporary protection during 2009, a 40 percent decrease from the 
previous year. All refugee children registered with the UNHCR were 
allowed to attend public schools. However, because Chechens and Afghans 
did not have legal resident status in the country, they were not 
permitted access to public medical services. The UNHCR provided basic 
medical assistance with the support of foreign donors.
    During 2009, 100 Afghans arrived and registered with the UNHCR, a 
decrease from previous years. Afghans complained of police visits to 
their homes, with the implied threat of deportation. There were no 
reports of forced return of Afghans. Afghan community leaders reported 
that the UNHCR denied protection to 50 persons during the year. In 
addition, they reported that UNHCR benefits were not enough to support 
their families, and that without legal status in the country it was 
impossible to find work.
    The Government has no legal mechanism to provide temporary 
protection to individuals who do not qualify as refugees. However, the 
Government accepted the UNHCR identification cards issued to Chechens 
and Afghans.

    Stateless Persons.--Citizenship is derived by birth within the 
country or from one's parents. The law provides for the right to apply 
for stateless status. However, in practice many persons could not 
obtain the documentation required for the application and therefore 
remained formally unrecognized. The law on citizenship was amended in 
2008 to make it harder for foreigners and stateless persons to obtain 
citizenship.
    According to UNHCR statistics, the Government reported there were 
2,078 stateless persons in the country at the end of 2009. The vast 
majority of these persons were ethnic Azeris from Georgia or Iran. NGOs 
estimated there were many other undocumented stateless persons, with 
estimates ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands, among them 
Meskhetian Turks, whose status was not formally recognized and who did 
not possess stateless certificates.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens with the right to change 
their government peacefully; however, the Government continued to 
restrict this right in practice by interfering in elections. The law 
also provides for an independent legislature; however, the Milli 
Majlis's independence was minimal, and it exercised little legislative 
initiative independent of the executive branch. Unlike previous 
elections since the country's independence, no opposition party members 
obtained seats in the flawed November 7 parliamentary elections.

    Elections and Political Participation.--On November 7, 
parliamentary elections held throughout the country included the 
participation of progovernment and opposition political parties. 
However, these elections did not meet a number of international 
standards for a democratic election. According to domestic and 
international observers, shortcomings included a deficient candidate 
registration process, constraints on freedom of assembly and 
expression, a restrictive political environment, imbalanced media 
coverage of candidates, and unequal treatment of candidates by 
authorities. The OSCE/ODIHR final report concluded that overall, the 
elections did not meet a number of key OSCE commitments for democratic 
elections and important elements of domestic legislation.
    In June the Milli Majlis amended the election code with little 
public debate. Some of the amendments partially addressed concerns 
raised by the Council of Europe and the OSCE. However, other provisions 
further shortened the overall election period and the election campaign 
phase and eliminated limited state funding for candidates. The 
structure of election commissions at all levels--a longstanding 
problem--was not made more balanced by the amendments, and concerns 
remained over the eligibility of candidates, complaints, appeals 
procedures, and the equality of the vote.
    In the run-up to the November parliamentary elections, the 
Government limited opposition parties' right to assemble by insisting 
that such demonstrations and candidate meetings with voters take place 
far from the center of Baku, often in places difficult to reach via 
public transportation (see section 2.b.).
    Opposition parties and local NGOs reported widespread interference 
in the candidate registration process. Election officials registered 
nearly 100 percent of the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party candidates, but 
only 30-40 percent of opposition party candidates. Media monitors 
concluded that news coverage favoring the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party, 
combined with restrictive interpretations of public assembly laws, 
created an unlevel playing field for candidates during the official 
campaign period and exposed citizens to no meaningful political debate. 
The Central Election Commission (CEC) organized televised roundtables 
for all candidates, granting each candidate four minutes to present his 
or her platform and political views.
    Authorities accredited a large number of international and domestic 
observers; however, officials individually registered monitors from 
EMDS, one of the country's largest domestic observer organizations, and 
reportedly refused to accredit 40 EMDS monitors without providing a 
just cause. Although international observers saw domestic monitors in 
over half of the polling stations visited, precinct election 
commissions hindered independent domestic and international monitoring. 
EMDS reported that its observers encountered pressure from local 
authorities on election day and afterwards, despite a November 6 appeal 
from the EMDS chairman to the CEC chairman.
    International observers negatively rated 11 percent of voting 
procedures and 32 percent of vote counts in observed polling stations. 
They found the vote tabulation process insufficiently transparent and 
frequently inconsistent with procedures. The OSCE final election report 
also concluded that the CEC and courts generally did not respect due 
process in reviewing post-election complaints and appeals. The 
Constitutional Court confirmed the CEC's final election results while 
cases were still pending and before all legal deadlines for appeals had 
expired. According to the CEC, voter turnout was just under 50 percent, 
although most independent observers placed the figure at approximately 
20 percent.
    In the post-election period, there were reports of pressure on 
election observers, candidates, and family members.
    On November 9, Hafiz Aliyev, brother of EMDS election monitor 
Jeyhun Aliyev, was fired from his job as a biology teacher. On November 
10, Jeyhun Aliyev's father was fired from his job as a history teacher.
    On November 8, the chairman of the 103rd election district, Khalig 
Khudaverdiyev, called EMDS election monitor Imamverdi Valiyev to demand 
an official letter withdrawing Valiyev's formal complaints of election 
violations.
    One day before the November 7 parliamentary elections, Sakhavat 
Aliyev (candidate for opposition party Musavat) showed to OSCE long 
term observers a copy of an unsigned, but otherwise completed, protocol 
of election results for precinct #3 in his district (Sharur #2), which 
Radio Liberty's Web site later reported on. After it was reported, his 
family received four threatening telephone calls, and on November 14, 
the police detained Sakhavat's younger brother Sabit for seven days 
without charge. Sabit had served as one of Sakhavat's election 
observers. On December 10, in the Nakhchivan village of Pusyan, police 
officers severely beat other Aliyev family members, including 
Sakhavat's brother, Chapay Aliyev, who sustained a head injury. Police 
also beat five other members of the family: two female cousins, his 
sister, and his brother-in-law. During the same incursion, police 
bulldozed the family shop. The local hospital refused treatment of one 
of the women who sought help. Ambulances refused to pick up victims. 
Taxi drivers refused to transport victims to the hospital. Local NGOs 
reported a police cordon around the village. On or about December 25, 
the police dissolved the cordon, but at year's end, Chapay Aliyev had 
still not received medical attention.
    On November 22, Mammadgulu Aliyev went on a week-long hunger strike 
in protest of his and his son Hafiz's firing from their jobs as 
teachers in Nakhchivan. Mammadgulu Aliyev was the head of Musavat 
Party's local branch. Aliyev and his son observed the election and 
linked the loss of their jobs to their drawing attention to the 
electoral fraud they observed.
    The IRFS reported on December 7 that Zulfugar Tagiyev had been 
fired from a job he had held for 20 years with the Sharur Region 
Electricity Network Office. IRFS reported that Tagiyev was told he had 
been fired because he and his family had voted for Sakhavat Aliyev. 
Tagiyev also alleged that he did not yet have his letter of dismissal, 
which prevented him from going to court. Tagiyev sought relief from the 
Nakhchivan Supreme Assembly (parliament) and the Sharur Region Police 
Department.
    Also on December 7, IRFS reported that the head of the Sharur 
Region Communications Office had asked for the resignation of Zakir 
Asgarov, who was an independent election observer.
    In December 2009 municipal elections were held throughout the 
country. Media monitors concluded that all television stations largely 
ignored the preelection period. Political parties were required to have 
candidates registered in at least one-half of all municipalities in 
order to qualify for free airtime during this period, a requirement 
that only the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party met and subsequently refused 
to use. Opposition parties and local NGOs reported interference in the 
candidate registration process. Official results showed a turnout of 
approximately 32 percent, which was low for the country and indicated 
the general apathy of voters to these elections. Although the CEC 
announced plans to rerun some races in response to postelection 
complaints, such elections had not been held by year's end.
    In March 2009 authorities held a national referendum on 41 proposed 
changes to 29 articles of the constitution. The changes included, among 
other items, the removal of term limits on the presidency and a 
provision that postpones elections in times of war. Little time was 
given to the Milli Majlis or the public to discuss the changes sought 
by the administration. Opposition groups reported widespread 
harassment, including arrests and detention, while collecting 
signatures for registration and during the campaign period. Voters 
lacked the information necessary to make an informed choice on the 
large number of referendum items.
    Balloting procedures on referendum day were flawed and widely 
considered worse than the 2008 presidential election. Observers also 
noted significant shortcomings in the counting and tabulation process. 
Voter turnout was estimated by observers at 43 percent, rather than the 
official tally of more than 71 percent. This lower figure exceeded the 
25 percent threshold needed under the law for referendum to be valid.
    In the 2008 presidential election, the final report of the OSCE 
election observation mission stated that the election indicated that 
the country had made considerable progress toward meeting its OSCE 
commitments and other international standards, especially regarding 
some technical aspects of election administration, but found that the 
election process did not meet all of these commitments. The period 
prior to the 2008 election was marred by continued restrictions on 
freedom of speech and freedom of assembly for the main opposition 
parties. The main opposition parties boycotted the election, citing 
these restrictions and problems with the election code, especially 
provisions limiting their ability to campaign effectively.
    The ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party continued to dominate the 
political system. Domestic observers reported that membership in the 
ruling party conferred advantages such as being given preference for 
public positions. Despite having formed political blocs in advance of 
the November parliamentary elections, none of the main opposition 
parties won seats to the Milli Majlis according to the official 
results.
    Members of the opposition were more likely to experience official 
harassment and arbitrary arrest and detention than other citizens. 
Regional branch opposition party members reported that local 
authorities often took actions to prevent routine party activities, 
such as pressuring restaurant owners not to allow opposition parties to 
use their facilities for meetings and events. Regional party members 
often had to conceal the purpose of their gatherings and hold them in 
remote locations. Opposition party members reported that police often 
dispersed small gatherings at tea houses and detained participants for 
questioning. For example, in a northern region, an opposition candidate 
reported that he was not informed regarding the time that the electoral 
commission would meet to consider his registration application. 
Therefore, the commission rejected his application, and he was not 
there to advocate on his own behalf. There were widespread complaints 
that an insufficient number of petition sheets were distributed to 
ensure a candidate made it through the registration process.
    Since 2006 opposition parties have had difficulties renting office 
space; some parties operated out of their leaders' apartments 
reportedly because landlords were afraid to rent office space to them 
due to official pressure.
    After the November 7 parliamentary elections, there were 19 women 
in the incoming parliament, up from 14 women in the previous 
parliament. Several women held senior government positions, including 
deputy speaker of the Milli Majlis. Hijran Huseynova was the chairwoman 
of the Committee for Family, Women, and Children Affairs, a ministerial 
level position. There were no legal restrictions on the participation 
of women in politics, although traditional social norms limited women's 
political roles, and they were underrepresented in governmental 
offices. No woman filled an ExCom (local authority) position.
    Minorities such as the Talysh, Avars, Russians, and Jews serve in 
the Milli Majlis and in government.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law penalizes corruption by prohibiting bribery; however, there 
was widespread corruption with impunity throughout society, including 
in the civil service, government ministries, and the highest levels of 
government.
    The World Bank's worldwide governance indicators reflected that 
corruption was a severe problem. Transparency International reported 
some improvement during the year due to the establishment of a 
financial intelligence unit and improved coordination and cooperation 
in combating corruption-related violations in the field of state and 
municipal property management. However, the International Crisis Group 
reported that there was an increased reliance on corruption by elites 
``to dominate virtually all aspects of public life.''
    Criminal cases related to petty corruption were opened during the 
year, specifically on bribery charges. However, these cases had little 
or no impact on the prevalence of bribery and petty and grand 
corruption in the country. In 2009 the Presidential Administration 
removed from office the appointed head of the Executive Committee of 
the Nizami District of Baku, Mehbali Aliyev, reportedly due to 
corruption. No criminal charges had been filed against Aliyev as of the 
end of the year.
    Law enforcement corruption was a problem. Police often levied 
spurious, informal fines for traffic and other minor violations and 
extracted protection money from local residents. In previous years, 
traffic police officers received substantial pay raises to counter 
corruption; nevertheless, the low wages of other law enforcement 
officials continued to contribute to police corruption. During the year 
the ministry reported that it dismissed and brought criminal cases 
against six police officers: one on bribery charges and five officers 
on four counts of extortion. The Ministry of Justice reported that it 
called to account 220 justice officials and dismissed 26 employees from 
various Ministry of Justice facilities.
    The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that it received 174 
complaints about its actions with accusations of violations of human 
rights and liberties, including: 51 cases of rude treatment, 38 cases 
of groundless detention, 46 instances of improperly issuing a police 
summons, 22 violations of drivers' rights, five cases of forced 
criminal accountability with no grounds, three violations of rights of 
foreigners or persons without citizenship, and nine miscellaneous 
offenses. According to the ministry, it disciplined 276 employees, 
demoted 18, fired 20, and applied other disciplinary measures to 238.
    There were reports that police officials required additional money 
on top of court fines in order to return prisoners' clothing and 
release them.
    Key provisions of the Government's 2007 national strategy for 
increasing transparency and combating corruption still had not been 
implemented at year's end. The strategy established a framework for 
increasing the accountability of government, cooperating with civil 
society, and systematically monitoring and reporting on the 
implementation of anticorruption measures. One of the national 
strategy's main elements, the law on financial disclosure, requires 
officials to report their annual income, sources of income, property, 
and financial liabilities. It also prohibits nepotism and limits 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, the Government often did not 
provide access. 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.
    Azerbaijan participated in the Extractive Industries Transparency 
Initiative (EITI) which requires it to adhere to 12 agreed EITI 
principles to manage natural resources for the benefit of all members 
of society by creating a cooperative relationship between government, 
companies, and civil society, and to disclose payments and revenues 
received from extractive industries.
    In February 2009 Azerbaijan was the first participating county to 
be named fully compliant by the International EITI Board. The State Oil 
Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ), which is responsible for implementing EITI 
principles, also increased access to information about oil and gas 
revenues. However, some observers complained that the fund was not 
designed, governed, or managed to ensure expenditures were geared 
towards poverty alleviation or the delivery of public services. 
Moreover, observers noted that the country's oil and gas revenues were 
not managed in full by SOFAZ or subject to EITI transparency practices. 
While all of the 26 oil and gas companies in the country participated 
in the EITI process, only a handful of companies agreed to disaggregate 
revenue reporting. In February the country created the mutli-
stakeholder group, a monitoring body made up of equal members from the 
Government, private industry, and civil society. This group was created 
to ensure the active engagement of civil society and to facilitate 
public debate. Many of its recommendations were incorporated into the 
2010 work plan.
Section 5. 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. Although the 
Government maintained ties with some human rights NGOs and responded to 
their inquiries, on occasion the Government criticized and intimidated 
other human rights NGOs and activists. The Ministry of Justice 
continued routinely to deny registration to some human rights NGOs. 
NGOs continued to report throughout the year that NGOs whose names 
contained the following words were routinely rejected for registration: 
human rights, democracy, institute, and society. In addition, the 
reasons for rejection were arbitrary. For example, the Ministry of 
Justice accepted the charter for one NGO that the ministry liked but 
rejected the same charter, except for a different organizational name, 
for an NGO that the ministry did not like. Another NGO's registration 
was rejected for lack of a plural ending. A number of cases were making 
their way through the court system. The Ministry of Justice stated that 
it only denied those organizations whose documents did not comply with 
legislation.
    On August 9, Turan News Agency reported that the Baku Mayor's 
Office refused to authorize a rally of unregistered NGOs. The NGOs 
requested permission to rally on a square near the Ministry of Justice. 
There were approximately 1,000 unregistered NGOs. During the year the 
Ministry of Justice registered 124 NGOs.
    The major local human rights NGOs were the Association for the 
Protection of Women's Rights, the Bureau of Human Rights and Respect 
for the Law, the Azerbaijan Foundation of Democracy Development and 
Human Rights Protection, the Azerbaijani Committee against Torture 
(ACAT), the Institute for Peace and Democracy, the Helsinki Citizens' 
Assembly, IRFS, and the Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan. Most of the 
leading NGOs were affiliated with one of two independent, umbrella 
organizations, the Human Rights Federation and the Monitoring Group of 
Human Rights Organizations.
    In 2009 some NGOs reported increased pressure against their 
activities. For example, the minister of internal affairs sued Leyla 
Yunus, leader of the Institute of Peace and Democracy, for an interview 
she gave to an online newspaper in which she criticized the police. The 
minister subsequently dropped the case. In addition, several election 
observers affiliated with EMDS were harassed by local authorities in 
connection with their observation activities (see sections 2.b. and 3).
    Several NGOs reported that the Government and police at times 
refused to protect them from so-called provocateurs who threatened, 
harassed, and attacked NGO activists and vandalized their property. 
During the year some local NGOs reported increased pressure on citizens 
who filed official complaints against local authorities. For example, 
in April human rights activist and chairman of the Defense of Democracy 
Public Union Vidadi Isgandarov published an article in the newspaper 
Azadlig concerning police bribery in the Goychay District. On May 3, 
the Goychay District former Chief of Police, Vugar Mammadyarov; the 
Chief of Administrative Prosecutions, Bakhtiyar Hashimov; and the head 
of the investigation office, Rufat Ibayev, filed a lawsuit against 
Isgandarov charging him with slander. The court case was pending at 
year's end.
    In December 2009 a group of Nakhchivan State University leaders and 
students reportedly beat two representatives of the Nakhchivan 
Democracy and NGO Development Resource Center who were investigating 
corruption at the university. The group from the university also 
reportedly threatened a journalist with the IRFS who arrived at the 
scene of the assault. The NGO representatives called the police before 
the attack, as they feared an attack was imminent and needed 
protection. However, the police did not arrive until after the 
assailants had left the scene. Local authorities reportedly responded 
by denying that the events occurred and scheduling a tax inspection of 
the center for January 2010. The audit resulted in an AZN 332 ($393) 
fine due to the belated submission of a statement. The NGO maintained 
that the Tax Authority was supposed to inform them first of the need to 
submit the statement before levying the fine. During the year the NGO 
also had a problem with maintaining an office space and was forced to 
vacate twice. At the end of the year, it had no office space.
    In 2009 Akifa Aliyeva of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly fled the 
country after reporting repeated harassment by local authorities in 
connection with her work defending the rights of a Ukrainian prisoner 
in Ganja. She has remained abroad since.
    The registration process for NGOs remained cumbersome and included 
requirements to register grants from foreign entities. NGO grants from 
foreign entities were subject to a social security tax of 22 percent on 
employee salaries, although grants from a few countries with bilateral 
agreements with the Government were subject only to a 2 percent tax. 
NGO activists reported that these provisions inhibited their 
organizations' activities.
    During the year the Council of State Support to NGOs provided AZN 
2.10 million ($2.56 million) to 352 NGOs, an increase from the AZN 1.8 
million (approximately $2.2 million) distributed to 250 NGOs in 2009. 
While many of these NGOs were considered to be progovernment, some NGOs 
that were critical of the Government also received grants. One NGO sued 
the council for revoking a grant awarded to the organization. The NGO 
stated the grant was revoked after the NGO submitted an official 
complaint about the council's grant review process, which the NGO 
alleged was corrupt. The Supreme Court dismissed the case on June 30.
    The Government generally permitted visits by UN representatives and 
other international organizations, such as the ICRC. International 
NGOs, such as Reporters without Borders, generally operated without 
government hindrance.
    Citizens may appeal violations committed by the state or by 
individuals to the Ombudswoman for Human Rights, Elmira Sulevmanova. 
The ombudswoman may refuse to accept cases of abuse that are more than 
a year old, anonymous complaints, and cases already being handled by 
the judiciary. The ombudswoman received 8,000 appeals in 2009, of which 
83.7 percent were complaints about developments that occurred during 
the year; 51 percent of these complaints were accepted for 
investigation. Of those investigated, 44.7 percent were successfully 
resolved. The Milli Majlis elected Sulevmanova to a second term on 
March 5.
    During 2009 the ombudswoman reported that the Human Rights National 
Action Plan working group, which included five subcommittees, continued 
to work on areas identified as priorities in the action plan. During 
the year the ombudswoman traveled around the country to hear human 
rights complaints, cooperated with foreign diplomats and domestic NGOs 
working on human rights, and submitted an annual report to the Milli 
Majlis.
    The Milli Majlis and the Ministry of Justice also had human rights 
offices that heard complaints, conducted investigations, and made 
recommendations to relevant government bodies. Officials of the Human 
Rights Office within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regularly met with 
the diplomatic community to discuss issues of concern.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability, 
language, or social status, but the Government did not always respect 
these prohibitions in practice or effectively enforce them.

    Women.--Rape is illegal and carries a maximum 15-year prison 
sentence. The Government reported 35 rapes during 2009. The Government 
reported 16 cases of rape or attempted rape brought against 15 persons 
and a further 48 cases of gender-based violence against 40 individuals.
    Most rape victims reportedly knew their assailants but did not 
report incidents because of fear and shame.
    There are no laws on spousal abuse or specific laws on spousal 
rape, although these crimes could be prosecuted under other sections of 
the criminal code if a spouse complained. 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 were no government-sponsored programs for victims of rape or 
domestic violence. In Baku a women's crisis center operated by the 
Institute for Peace and Democracy provided free medical, psychological, 
and legal assistance to women. The center also worked on a number of 
projects funded by international donors to combat gender-based violence 
and trafficking in persons in the Caucasus region. Representatives of 
the institute regularly appeared on popular television talk shows to 
discuss women's issues.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment; however, the Government rarely 
enforced the prohibition. No organization was specifically dedicated to 
receiving these complaints.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely the number, 
spacing, and timing of their children. Information was accessible so 
families and individuals could make reproductive decisions free from 
discrimination, coercion, and violence. Contraception was widely 
available, but demographic surveys showed low levels of use. Skilled 
attendance during childbirth was accessible, as was prenatal care and 
essential obstetric and postpartum care. According to estimates 
compiled by international organizations, the maternal mortality rate 
was approximately 38 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2008. Women and 
men had equal access to the diagnosis and treatment for sexually 
transmitted infections, including HIV. However, patriarchal norms, 
based on cultural, historical, and socioeconomic factors, in some cases 
limited women's reproductive rights.
    Women nominally enjoy the same legal rights as men; however, 
societal discrimination was a problem. Traditional social norms and 
lagging economic development in the country's regions 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. Women were underrepresented in high-level jobs, 
including top business positions. A local NGO reported that women's 
salaries were on average 70 percent of men's salaries.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived by birth within the country or 
from one's parents.
    The law requires the Government to protect the rights of children 
with regard to education and health care. In practice government 
programs provided a low standard of education and health care for 
children. While education was compulsory, free, and universal until the 
age of 17, large families in impoverished rural areas 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 work or 
beg rather than attend school. A Baku NGO working with street children 
reported that boys and girls begging and/or engaged in prostitution 
earned three times as much in a month as a teacher.
    On December 29, news reports indicated that in the Khojasan 
District of Baku, parents were keeping their girls at home and not 
sending them to school in protest of the hijab ban announced by the 
Minister of Education earlier that month (see section 2.b.).
    The Ministry of Internal Affairs did not provide any information on 
the number of cases of rape or sexual abuse of children reported during 
the year. There were reports that children were trafficked for sexual 
exploitation and begging. During the year three of the identified 
victims of sex trafficking were under the age of 18.
    One international NGO and two local NGOs reported a growing problem 
with child marriage. The Social Union of Solidarity among Women (SUSW) 
stated that statistical data was unavailable from governmental 
agencies. SUSW reported that the problem had spread from the southern 
and northern regions to the entire country. Legislation is not 
particularly clear; early marriages could be prosecuted on the basis of 
Articles 34 of the constitution and Articles 152 and 153 of the 
criminal code, but no cases have been prosecuted. SUSW found that 
rural-area girls were marrying in the eight and ninth grades. Girls 
marrying in religious marriage contracts (kabin or kabin-nama) evaded 
governmental bodies and the laws cited above and were not entitled to 
recognition of status in case of divorce. The American Bar Association 
(ABA) reported that a 12-year-old inadvertently revealed to her 
classmates that ``my husband is picking me up.'' The ABA also reported 
on trying to help a woman left without assets or property after being 
divorced from her husband at age 15. SUSW reported numerous cases of 
men moving to Russia for work, but leaving their underage wives in 
Azerbaijan.
    Statutory rape is prohibited by law and defined as ``the sexual 
relations or other actions of sexual nature, committed by a person who 
has reached 18, with a person who has not reached 16'' and is 
punishable by up to three years' imprisonment. The law states that a 
girl can marry at the age of 17 and with the local authority's 
permission at the age of 16. The law further states that a boy can 
marry at the age of 18. In 2002 the Caucasus Muslim Board issued a 
fitva (fatwa) that stated 18 as the marriage age, but the fitva failed 
to have much effect on the religious marriages of kabin.
    Child pornography is prohibited by law, and its production, 
distribution, or advertisement is punished by three to five years' 
imprisonment. If the pornography is created by the parents of the child 
or by teachers or other educators, the punishment increases to four to 
seven years' imprisonment.
    A large number of refugee and IDP children lived in substandard 
conditions. In some cases these children were unable to attend school.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no credible reports of anti-Semitic acts 
against the country's Jewish community.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, and the 
provision of other state services, but the Government did not enforce 
these provisions effectively. Discrimination in employment was a 
problem. It was commonly believed that children with disabilities were 
ill and needed to be separated from other children and 
institutionalized. Several international and local NGOs developed 
educational campaigns to change social perceptions and reintegrate 
disabled children.
    There are no laws mandating access to public or other buildings, 
information, and communications for persons with disabilities, and most 
buildings were not accessible.
    Care in facilities for the mentally ill and persons with 
disabilities varied; some provided adequate care while others lacked 
qualified caregivers, equipment, and supplies to maintain sanitary 
conditions and provide a proper diet.
    The Ministries of Health and Labor and Social Welfare were 
responsible for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Some of the approximately 
20,000 citizens of Armenian descent living in the country historically 
complained of discrimination in employment, schooling, housing, the 
provision of social services, and other areas. Citizens who were ethnic 
Armenians often concealed their ethnicity by legally changing the 
ethnic designation in their passports. There were no reports of 
violence against Armenians during the year.
    Some groups reported sporadic incidents of discrimination, 
restrictions on the ability to teach in their native languages, and 
harassment by local authorities. These groups included Talysh in the 
south, Caucasian Lezghins in the north, displaced Meskhetian Turks, and 
displaced Kurds from the Lachin Region controlled by Armenia-supported 
Nagorno-Karabakh separatists.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Numerous incidents of police 
brutality against individuals based on sexual orientation occurred, 
according to a local NGO. Authorities did not investigate or punish 
those responsible for such acts, largely because victims were unwilling 
to file complaints due to fear of social stigma.
    During the year, members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 
transgender (LGBT) community continued to refuse to lodge formal 
complaints with law enforcement bodies out of fear of reprisal or 
retaliatory persecution. Also during the year, the LGBT community held 
almost monthly gatherings; these were routinely raided.
    During 2009 police raided gay bars on four occasions and arrested 
almost 50 persons. Police reportedly held the individuals and 
threatened to expose their sexuality publicly unless they paid a bribe. 
The human rights Ombudsman's Office intervened to resolve the 
incidents.
    There was one NGO that worked on LGBT issues in the country. This 
NGO worked to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and provided legal advice, 
psychological assistance, and outreach activities. The NGO reported no 
official harassment of its work. There were no attempts to organize gay 
pride marches during the year; however, there was a small gathering on 
May 17 to commemorate International Anti-Homophobia Day.
    On August 11, police found the bodies of two transgendered 
individuals, Zamiq Gasimov and Yadigar Kuzmin, in Baku. The police 
arrested three perpetrators who admitted to killing the two on the 
basis of hatred toward sexual minorities. A local NGO reported that it 
was unable to obtain updates on the case, for which the investigation 
had been closed.
    In December the Prosecutor General's office issued a statement 
regarding a murder investigation that could be interpreted as linking 
``nontraditional'' sexual orientation to criminal behavior.
    There was societal prejudice against LGBT persons. While being 
fired from a job for sexual orientation remained illegal, LGBT 
individuals reported that employers found other reasons to fire them. 
Discrimination in access to healthcare was also a problem.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of societal violence or discriminations against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association, including the right to form labor unions, but there were 
some restrictions on this right in practice. Uniformed military and 
police are prohibited from joining unions. The law also prohibits 
managerial staff from joining a union, but managers in government 
industries often had union dues automatically deducted from their 
paychecks.
    The law allows trade unions to conduct their activities without 
government interference; however, in practice most unions were not 
independent. The overwhelming majority of labor unions remained tightly 
linked to the Government, with the exception of some journalists' 
unions.
    The Azerbaijani Trade Union Confederation (ATUC), the only trade 
union confederation in the country, represented approximately 37 
percent of the workforce in the formal economy. Although the ATUC was 
registered as an independent organization, some workers considered it 
closely aligned with the Government.
    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; court employees; fire 
fighters; and health, electric power, water supply, telephone, railway, 
and air traffic control workers. Striking workers who disrupt public 
transportation could be sentenced to up to three years' in prison. The 
law prohibits retribution against strikers, such as dismissal or 
replacement. Both local and international NGOs claimed that workers in 
most industries were largely unaware of their rights and afraid of 
retribution if they initiated complaints. This was especially true for 
workers in the public sector.
    Although the labor law applied to all workers and enterprises, the 
Government could negotiate bilateral agreements that effectively 
exempted multinational enterprises from national labor laws. For 
example, production-sharing agreements (PSAs) between the Government 
and multinational energy enterprises did not provide for employee 
participation in a trade union. Labor organizations and local NGOs 
reported that some of these companies discouraged employees from 
forming unions, and most employees of multinational enterprises 
operating under PSAs were not union members, although there were 
exceptions. Workers employed by British Petroleum were unionized, but 
the situation was worse in other multinational corporations, especially 
companies run by Chinese subcontractors. The ATUC reported that in 2009 
there was some progress in starting new unions and that multinational 
corporations in the country had begun to welcome these initiatives.
    The law prohibits trade unions from carrying out political 
activities and from associating with political parties or receiving 
finances from political parties, but this provision was not uniformly 
enforced.
    Many of the state-owned enterprises that dominated the formal 
economy withheld union dues from workers' pay but did not deliver the 
dues to the unions. A quarter of the dues collected for the oil 
workers' union were officially withheld by employers for 
``administrative costs'' associated with running the union. However, 
the complete lack of transparency made it impossible to tell exactly 
how dues were spent. Unions and their members had no recourse to 
investigate withheld funds.
    Membership in the Union of Oil and Gas Industry Workers remained 
mandatory for the State Oil Company's 65,000 workers, whose union dues 
(2 percent of each worker's salary) were automatically deducted from 
their paychecks.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides workers with the right to bargain collectively; however, 
unions could not effectively negotiate wage levels and working 
conditions because government-appointed boards ran major state-owned 
firms and set wages for all government employees. Collective bargaining 
agreements were often treated as formalities and not enforced. The ATUC 
reports that during the year, there were 130 new agreements for a total 
of 11, 890 collective contracts. In addition, ATUC reported that there 
were 1,971 collective contracts signed between non-state sector and 
trade unions, which is a 7.5 percent per annum increase. The ATUC also 
reported that during the year, 88 new trade union organizations were 
created, including 11 organizations with 2,157 members in joint 
ventures or enterprises with foreign investments.
    There were reports of antiunion discrimination by foreign companies 
operating in Baku. Labor NGOs reported that multinational energy 
companies and their subcontractors often discouraged union membership 
by their employees. For many multinational companies, the absence of 
union membership rights in the PSAs facilitated this behavior.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The constitution and 
law prohibit forced or compulsory labor, except in circumstances of war 
or in the execution of a court's decision under the supervision of a 
government agency. Some observers reported that there were occurrences 
of forced or compulsory labor Additionally, men and boys were 
trafficked to Russia for forced labor. Also, see the Department of 
State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.
    The Building and Wood Workers' International Union (BWI) reported 
that the Independent Trade Union of Construction Complex Workers of 
Azerbaijan; the Trade Union of Construction and Construction Materials 
of Bosnia and Herzegovina; the Trade Union Construction, Housing, and 
Communal Services of Republika Srpska; and BWI signed a cooperation 
agreement on the protection of migrant workers' rights in Eastern 
Europe on April 1. According to BWI, the impetus for the agreement was 
the situation with company SerbAz, which operated in Azerbaijan with 
workers from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. The SerbAz case was 
discovered in October 2009 and involved approximately 496 victims.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law provides for the protection of children from exploitation in the 
workplace and from work that is dangerous to their health, and there 
were few complaints of abuses of child labor laws. Two local NGOs 
stated that the drastic decline in cotton production has reduced the 
number of children working in this sector. In addition the Government, 
through an NGO, has conducted outreach to further address the issue. 
Children were also reportedly trafficked for commercial sexual 
exploitation and begging. Also, see the Department of State's annual 
Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.
    The minimum age for employment depended on the type of work. In 
most instances the law permits children to work from age 15; children 
age 14 may work in family businesses or, with parental consent, 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 the ages of 16 and 18 may not work more than 36 hours per week. 
The law prohibits employing children under 18 in difficult and 
hazardous work conditions. The Ministry of Labor and Social Security is 
responsible for enforcing child labor laws. However, the unit 
responsible is considered ineffective.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Government raised the 
minimum wage to AZN 85 (approximately $104) per month on August 31. The 
minimum wage was administratively set. Domestic NGOs reported that this 
wage was not enough to provide a decent standard of living for a worker 
and family. The Ministry of Taxes, the Ministry of Labor, and the State 
Social Protection Fund share responsibility for enforcing the minimum 
wage. However, in practice the minimum wage was not effectively 
enforced.
    The law provides equal rights to foreign and domestic workers. 
However, local human rights groups, including the Oil Workers Rights 
Defense Council, maintained that employers, particularly foreign oil 
companies, did not always treat foreign and domestic workers equally. 
Domestic employees of foreign oil companies often received lower pay 
and worked without contracts and health care. The Oil Rights Defense 
Council also reported that resolving labor issues with large 
international companies was far easier than with local companies 
because the multinational companies had more experience and more 
transparency in their labor relations. A representative from the 
International Labor Organization (ILO) noted that many persons working 
in governmental regulatory bodies also had business interests, causing 
conflicts of interest.
    The law provides for a 40-hour workweek; 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. It was not 
known whether local companies provided the legally required premium 
compensation for overtime, although international companies generally 
did. There was no prohibition on excessive compulsory overtime. 
However, most individuals worked in the informal economy, where the 
Government did not enforce contracts or labor laws.
    The law sets health and safety standards; however, government 
inspections of working conditions were weak and ineffective, and 
standards were widely ignored. The ATUC monitored compliance with labor 
and trade regulations, including safety and health conditions. The ATUC 
received 236,220 complaints in 2008. Conversely, the Ministry of Labor 
reported receiving only one complaint.
    The law sets health and safety standards; however, government 
inspections of working conditions were weak and ineffective, and 
standards were widely ignored. ATUC received 158,627 complaints during 
the year, down from 236,220 in 2009.
    The International Trade Union Confederation reported that the 
Government's bilateral agreements with multinational corporations, the 
contents of which were confidential, contributed to labor rights 
violations. In 2007 the Oil and Gas Workers' Union of Azerbaijan 
reached a new contract with the State Oil Company that included greater 
social protections and health and safety commitments. By the end of 
2009, only 20 percent of the contract's points had been met, and no 
update was available at year's end.
    Workers did not have the right to remove themselves from situations 
that endangered their health or safety without jeopardizing their 
employment. According to information provided by the Azerbaijan office 
of the ILO, in 2009 there were 33 fatal accidents and 122 injuries in 
the first six months of the year, with 18 deaths and 38 injuries in the 
construction sector alone. According to the Oil Workers Rights Defense 
Council, an NGO dedicated to protecting worker rights in the oil 
sector, there were nine deaths in 2010: seven at the State Oil Company, 
one at Salyan Oil, and one at Asfen Tekfen. There were also seven 
injuries in the oil sector. The Oil Workers Rights Defense Council 
reported initiating 37 court cases, of which 17 were successful.

                               __________

                                BELARUS

    Belarus is a republic with a population of 9.5 million. The country 
has a directly elected president, who is chief of state, and a 
bicameral ``parliament,'' the National Assembly, consisting of the 
Chamber of Representatives (lower house) and the Council of the 
Republic (upper house). A prime minister appointed by the president is 
the nominal head of government. In practice, however, power is 
concentrated in the presidency. Since his election as president in 
1994, Alyaksandr Lukashenka has consolidated his power over all 
institutions and undermined the rule of law through authoritarian 
means, including manipulated elections and arbitrary decrees. 
Subsequent presidential elections, including the one held on December 
19, were neither free nor fair, and fell well short of meeting 
international standards. The 2008 parliamentary elections also failed 
to meet international standards. Security forces reported to civilian 
authorities and to the president in particular.
    During the year authorities continued to commit frequent, serious 
abuses in a system bereft of checks and balances, and dominated by the 
president. Authorities denied citizens the right to change their 
government, manipulating the December 19 presidential election to 
ensure that the president would not be seriously challenged. The 
election administration lacked independence and impartiality; 
opposition candidates faced an uneven playing field and a restrictive 
media environment, and the vote count was marked by a lack of 
transparency. The Government failed to account for past politically 
motivated disappearances. Security forces beat detainees and 
protesters, used excessive force to disperse peaceful demonstrators, 
and reportedly used torture during investigations. A crackdown on a 
postelection demonstration led to the arrest of over 700 activists, 
including criminal charges against five presidential candidates and 
numerous activist and journalists. Reports of abuse of prisoners 
continued, and prison conditions remained extremely poor. Authorities 
arbitrarily arrested, detained, and imprisoned citizens for criticizing 
officials, participating in demonstrations, and other political 
reasons. Impunity remained a serious problem. The judiciary lacked 
independence, and suffered from inefficiency, and political 
interference; trial outcomes were often predetermined, and many trials 
were conducted behind closed doors. Authorities continued to infringe 
on citizens' privacy rights, and to target opposition youth leaders for 
military conscription. The Government further restricted civil 
liberties, including freedom of speech, press, assembly, association, 
religion, and freedom of movement. The Government seized printed 
materials from civil society activists and prevented independent media 
from disseminating information and materials. The Government continued 
to hinder or prevent the activities of religious groups other than the 
Belarusian Orthodox Church, at times fining or deporting their leaders 
for conducting services. Official corruption in all branches of 
government continued to be a problem. Authorities harassed, fined, and 
prosecuted nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and political parties, 
refusing to register many and then threatening them with criminal 
prosecution for operating without registration. Violence and some 
discrimination against women were problems, as was violence against 
children. Trafficking in persons remained a significant problem, 
although some progress was made in combating it. There was 
discrimination against persons with disabilities, Roma, ethnic and 
sexual minorities, persons with HIV/AIDS, and those who sought to use 
the Belarusian language. Authorities harassed and at times dismissed 
members of independent unions, severely limiting the ability of workers 
to form and join independent trade unions and to 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 
reports during the year that the Government or its agents committed any 
arbitrary or unlawful killings; some human rights observers contended 
that authorities staged the apparent suicide of Aleh Byabenin, a 
prominent independent journalist and opponent of the Government (see 
section 2.a.).

    b. Disappearance.--Following the postelection arrests and 
detentions of hundreds of protestors on the evening of December 19 (see 
section 1.d.), the whereabouts of some high-profile detainees remained 
unknown for days. For example, presidential candidate and Tell the 
Truth movement leader Uladzimir Nyaklyaeu, after being beaten by 
individuals believed to be members of the country's special forces, was 
abducted from the hospital by unknown individuals believed to be state 
security officials. Hospital officials subsequently reportedly stated 
that Nyaklyaeu had been discharged and ``left on his own two feet.'' On 
December 20, Lukashenka announced at a press conference that Nyaklyaeu 
was being held at the Committee for State Security (KGB) detention 
facility.
    In March police reportedly suspended an investigation into the 
abduction of opposition youth leader Zmitser Dashkevich on the grounds 
that they failed to identify any suspects. Activists reported that in 
December 2009 security forces abducted Dashkevich near his home in 
Minsk, drove him to a forest approximately 40 miles north of the city, 
forced him out of the car, and left him there.
    The prosecutor general further extended his 10-year-long 
investigation into the 1999 disappearance of former interior minister 
and opposition leader Yury Zakharanka and in August, for the first 
time, he sent Zakharanka's mother an official reply to her numerous 
requests for details of the investigation. The letter stated that the 
prosecutors were studying various theories of the case, including those 
that related it to Zakharanka's political activities. There were no 
developments in the continuing investigations into the 2000 
disappearance of journalist Zmitser Zavadski, and the 1999 
disappearances of opposition activist Viktar Hanchar and businessman 
Anatol Krasouski. There was evidence of government involvement in these 
cases, but authorities continued to deny any connection with the 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices; however, the KGB, riot 
police, and other security forces continued to beat detainees and 
demonstrators routinely.
    Police frequently beat individuals during arrests, as well as 
persons detained for organizing or participating in demonstrations and 
other opposition activities (see section 2.b.). For example, 
approximately 20 democratic activists complained that police bruised 
and scratched them on February 8 while they were detained for two hours 
for fingerprinting and identity checks after riot police forcibly broke 
up peaceful rallies in support of detained activists Mikalay 
Autukhovich and Uladzimir Asipenka from Vaukavysk. On February 14, 
police violently dispersed a St. Valentine's Day march staged by the 
Malady Front opposition youth organization and arrested 22 activists, 
four of them minors. The detainees reported that at least five of their 
number were beaten, and Tatsyana Shaputska, a Malady Front member 
previously expelled from the Belarus State University (BSU) for 
political activities, suffered a minor concussion.
    On February 16, security forces manhandled and arrested 
approximately 20 democratic activists demonstrating in downtown Minsk 
in remembrance of opposition leaders who disappeared in 1999 and 2000. 
Police seized a number of persons as they approached the venue and 
arrested others in the square a few minutes later. Officers in 
plainclothes used force against journalists, blocking their photograph 
and video cameras, and pushing them away from the demonstrators. Six 
activists from the European Belarus campaign, who were charged as a 
result of their participation in these events, claimed to prosecutors 
that they experienced brutal and inhumane treatment at the hands of 
police.
    After forcibly dispersing demonstrators in Minsk on May 6, police 
reportedly beat participant and former political prisoner Alyaksandr 
Kazulin and other democratic activists. The demonstration, involving 
more than 50 activists, took place outside the Supreme Court following 
the announcement of guilty verdicts in a criminal case against two 
Vaukavysk activists and two other persons.
    On May 27, police in Minsk detained and severely beat opposition 
youths, including Franak Vyachorka and Zmitser Parmon, as they were 
preparing for an organized cycling event to pay tribute to a national 
poet. Parmon required immediate medical assistance and underwent 
surgery on his broken collarbone. On June 2, he informed prosecutors 
about the beating and urged them to open an investigation. In their 
reply the prosecutors' told Parmon that his injuries were due to his 
own ``carelessness.''
    On July 9, unidentified men assaulted Artur Finkevich, one of the 
leaders of the Young Belarus opposition youth group, and his associate 
Alyaksandr Lukshyn. They knocked the two down, beat them, and sprayed 
an unknown substance in their faces. Attackers took Finkevich's 
computer, flash drives, money, mobile phone, and personal documents, 
including his passport. Finkevich was reportedly taken to a hospital 
for treatment of burns in his face and eyes, and bruises. The theft of 
his passport prevented Finkevich from participating in a long-planned 
international visitor program sponsored by a foreign government.
    On the night of December 19, in a violent confrontation with 
demonstrators following the presidential election, police used physical 
force to break up the crowd, beat peaceful demonstrators, and detain 
over 700 persons, including presidential candidates. According to press 
reports, scores of demonstrators and a number of police officers were 
injured (see section 2.b.). Many demonstrators remained in detention at 
year's end.
    Human rights advocates continued to report the use of torture and 
other forms of physical and psychological abuse of suspects during 
criminal and administrative investigations. For example, the 
prosecution's evidence in the criminal case against anticorruption 
activists Autukhovich and Asipenka consisted largely of statements by 
persons who subsequently recanted their testimonies. Authorities 
dropped treason charges against them, but convicted them on other 
charges. The witnesses claimed that they were subjected to violence, 
blackmail, psychological pressure, and other forms of intimidation to 
get them to testify against the activists. The Belarusian Helsinki 
Committee (BHC) provided documentation of a police practice of charging 
individuals as accomplices in certain crimes in order to induce them to 
implicate others, then dropping the charges and forcing them to serve 
as prosecution witnesses. Numerous women detained in the December 19 
protests reported that they were threatened with rape while in custody. 
Many of those who were ultimately charged with criminal behavior were 
detained for the maximum ten days without charge, permitting 
authorities to put pressure on them by denying them visits, receipt of 
medicines, and food from their families.
    The hazing of new army recruits, including beatings and other forms 
of physical and psychological abuse, continued; however, the situation 
improved somewhat as the Government increased its prosecution of 
offenders. A military prosecutor claimed in June that the number of 
crimes committed by army personnel was declining, although in the first 
six months of the year the official crime rate remained at 2009 levels. 
The military prosecutor stated that no hazing deaths or assaults 
causing severe bodily harm were registered in the first six months of 
the year, but he acknowledged that hazing remained the most widespread 
offense reported among military personnel during that period.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions remained poor and in many cases posed threats to life 
and health. There were shortages of food, medicine, warm clothing, 
bedding, and inadequate access to basic and emergency medical care and 
to clean drinking water. Ventilation in cells and overall sanitation 
was poor. As a result tuberculosis, pneumonia, and other communicable 
diseases were widespread. According to domestic human rights groups, 
the rate of tuberculosis infection was seven times the national average 
due to overcrowding and poor sanitary conditions. The death rate from 
tuberculosis among inmates was 1.3 times the national average. The 
United Nations Development Program reported in September 2009 that none 
of the country's prisons fully complied with the World Health 
Organization's tuberculosis infection control guidelines and expressed 
concern over sexual and other types of harassment and violence in 
prisons.
    In May 2009 according to the Government, authorities were holding 
37,578 persons, including approximately 1,200 juveniles, in detention. 
Of the prisoners, 46 percent were serving sentences for economic 
crimes, including embezzlement, fraud, tax evasion, theft, money 
laundering, and illegal business activities. Prisoners who complained 
about abuse of their rights often faced humiliation, death threats, or 
other forms of punishment. Some stated that they were blackmailed. 
Sources claimed that the outcome of applications for parole frequently 
depended on bribes to prison personnel.
    According to a 2008 BHC report, authorities continued their 
practice of isolating certain prisoners--particularly inmates with HIV/
AIDS and foreign citizens. They restricted or denied a variety of 
prisoners' rights, including the right to appeal their sentences, 
express their political and civil beliefs, vote, and obtain information 
from their families. Prison administrators arbitrarily abused inmates 
and applied severe penalties for minor violations of the ``internal 
regime.''
    Former prisoners reported that medical checkups were rare, were 
frequently provided by underqualified medical personnel, and that the 
results were often fabricated. Authorities failed to provide conditions 
necessary for maintaining proper personal hygiene. Prisoners often 
complained of malnutrition and low quality uniforms and bedding. Some 
former political prisoners reported that they experienced psychological 
abuse and often had to share a cell with violent criminals. They also 
reported that authorities neither explained nor protected their legal 
rights.
    Malady Front activist Ivan Stasyuk complained to the prosecutor 
general's office about conditions at the detention center in Brest, 
where he was held from February 3 to 6, on suspicion of malicious 
hooliganism. Stasyuk reported a lack of bedding, inadequate lighting 
and ventilation, and cold cells.
    In another case Cameroonian athlete Guy Francois Toukam was 
detained at the Minsk airport on June 1 upon his arrival to take part 
in a soccer tournament and was held for 44 days because of purportedly 
fake travel documents. After his release from a pretrial detention 
center in Minsk, Toukam stated that he was beaten, denied legal 
assistance, experienced racial discrimination, and denied adequate 
nutrition, with a resulting weight loss of more than 40 pounds. 
Authorities permitted him to shower only once a week, never took him 
outdoors for exercise, required him to sleep on a wooden bench, and 
seized his personal belongings.
    During his 15-month period of pretrial detention, which began in 
February 2009 Vaukavysk activist Autukhovich asserted that he lost most 
of his teeth due to poor quality drinking water and the denial of 
proper treatment and dentures.
    Overcrowding in prisons and detention centers, and use of a form of 
internal exile known as ``khimiya'' were serious problems. Persons 
sentenced to khimiya lived in prison barracks and were forced to work 
under strict conditions.
    The law permits family and friends to bring detainees food and 
hygiene products and to send them parcels by mail, but in many cases 
authorities did not adhere to the law.
    Prisoners and detainees had limited access to visitors, and denial 
of meetings with families was a common punishment for disciplinary 
violations. Although the law provides for freedom of religion, and 
there were no specific reports of infringements, prisoners generally 
were prevented from holding religious services and performing rituals 
that did not comply with prison regulations. Former prisoners credibly 
reported that their complaints to higher authorities were often 
censored or not forwarded at all and that their requests for 
investigation of allegations of inhumane conditions were considered 
selectively by prison administrations and could result in severe 
disciplinary action against those who complained. They also complained 
of increased pressure from the prison administration in cases of claims 
of inhumane treatment.
    The 2008 BHC report showed that authorities rarely investigated 
allegations of inhumane conditions or documented the results in a 
publicly accessible manner. It highlighted the lack of any independent 
appeals mechanism that would secure prompt, impartial, and transparent 
investigation of the numerous complaints of mistreatment, or would 
provide a means to hold offenders liable for such incidents.
    While authorities claimed to conduct periodic investigations and 
monitoring of prison and detention center conditions, human rights 
groups asserted that such inspections--even if they did occur--lacked 
any credibility. There was no ombudsman who could serve on behalf of 
prisoners and detainees; human rights advocates who were not members of 
state-controlled bar associations had no access to prisoners and 
detainees and could not provide them with legal counsel. For example, 
on December 31, Andrey Pustashyla, a senior officer of the Prosecutor's 
General office, inspected the pretrial detention facilities of the KGB 
following numerous credible complaints from lawyers and family members 
of detainees in connection with the large-scale detentions in Minsk on 
and after December 19. Pustashyla claimed that all the detainees were 
healthy and did not voice any concerns regarding conditions at the 
facilities. He also reported that such inspections of the KGB 
facilities were completed every month.
    Authorities did not permit independent monitoring of penal 
institutions. Despite numerous requests to the Ministries of Interior 
and Justice, government officials continued to refuse to meet with 
human rights advocates or approve requests to visit detention 
facilities. There were no reports during the year of independent 
monitoring of prison conditions by domestic or international human 
rights groups, independent media, or the International Committee of the 
Red Cross.
    The Government took some limited steps to improve prison and 
detention center conditions, primarily through the use of amnesties to 
relieve overcrowding. In May the president signed a law that 
established a standard of approximately nine square feet of cell space 
per prisoner and would permit inmates to play sports. Prisoners 
enrolled in distance learning courses were allowed to leave prisons to 
take exams, although they were obliged to register at a police precinct 
near their place of residence. The maximum term for which prisoners 
could be held in isolation as a punishment for disciplinary violations 
was reduced from 15 to 10 days. Authorities ceased to reduce food 
rations for prisoners being held in isolation, a practice human rights 
advocates described as torture. At a June 23 press conference, 
Prosecutor General Ryhor Vasilevich acknowledged that problems existed 
in providing medical and other assistance in prisons and called on the 
interior ministry, which supervises prisons, to enforce prison 
standards and eliminate ``physical or psychological violence'' against 
prisoners.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law limits arbitrary 
detention; however, the Government did not respect these limits in 
practice. Authorities continued to arrest individuals for political 
reasons and to use administrative measures to detain political 
activists before, during, and after protests.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Ministry of 
Interior exercised authority over the police, but the KGB and 
presidential security services also exercised police functions and the 
president has the authority to subordinate all security bodies to his 
personal command. Impunity among law enforcement personnel remained a 
serious problem. Individuals have the right to report police abuse to a 
prosecutor; however, the Government often did not investigate reported 
abuses by the security forces or hold perpetrators accountable.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Under the law 
police must request permission from a prosecutor to detain a person in 
excess of three hours; however, in practice these procedures were 
usually ignored, and police routinely detained and arrested individuals 
without warrants. Authorities may hold a person suspected of a crime 
for up to 10 days without filing a formal charge and for up to 18 
months after filing charges. Under the law prosecutors, investigators, 
and security service agencies have authority to extend detention 
without consulting a judge. Detainees have the right to petition the 
legality of their detention, but in practice appeals by suspects for a 
court review of their detention frequently were suppressed or ignored.
    Police often detained individuals for several hours, ostensibly to 
confirm their identity, and then released them without charges. They 
frequently used this tactic to detain members of the opposition and 
demonstrators, to prevent the distribution of leaflets and newspapers, 
or as a pretext to break up civil society meetings and events.
    During the year authorities arbitrarily detained or arrested 
hundreds of individuals, including opposition figures and members of 
the independent media, for reasons that were widely considered to be 
politically motivated. For example, Conservative Christian Party 
activists Syarhey and Vital Kavalenka were subjected to repeated 
harassment during the year. On January 7, police arrested Syarhey 
Kavalenka for placing an unregistered white-red-white opposition flag 
on top of a Christmas tree in Vitsyebsk. On January 10, the prosecutor 
extended his detention for two months; however, on January 12, he was 
unexpectedly released but forbidden to leave the country. On May 14, he 
was convicted of severely disturbing public order and resisting police, 
and given a suspended three-year prison term with probation. The court 
also ordered him to pay more than 4.5 million rubles ($1,500) in 
damages to police and city authorities. On April 21, Kavalenka and his 
brother, Vital, were sentenced to seven and six days in jail, 
respectively, for illegally demonstrating in front of a courthouse. 
Vital Kavalenka was also fined 70,000 rubles ($23) on minor hooliganism 
charges. On June 8, Syarhey Kavalenka was fined 105,000 rubles ($35) on 
charges that he used foul language on May 8. On July 8, he was again 
detained and jailed for 10 days on charges of violating probation 
requirements. On July 9, a Vitsyebsk district court sentenced Syarhey's 
brother Vital to five days in jail for allegedly using obscenities. The 
activists asserted that authorities isolated them during a large 
international music festival held in Vitsyebsk in mid-July and attended 
by the president. Moreover, on August 11, Syarhey Kavalenka was fined 
770,000 rubles ($257) for slandering police officers during his 
detention in July.
    On January 15, a Vitsyebsk district court sentenced Young Belarus 
member Taras Surhan to seven days in jail for minor hooliganism. Surhan 
was detained on January 9 and released three days later, pending trial. 
On February 2, a court subjected Surhan to a year of police supervision 
following his conviction for opposition activities in 2009. On April 
23, Surhan was arrested for nine days for participating in an 
unsanctioned demonstration on April 20.
    On February 19, Aleh Surhan, another Vitsyebsk activist and a 
member of the Belarusian Christian Democracy Party, was jailed on 
allegations of violently resisting a police officer; Surhan claimed it 
was the police who had manhandled him. Surhan was ordered to pay 2.5 
million rubles ($833) in compensation to the officer.
    On March 3, a Belarusian Christian Democracy Party activist in 
Zhodzina, Andrey Kasheuski, was given an administrative sentence of 15 
days in prison for distributing independent newspapers. He went on a 
hunger strike while in jail to protest his sentence and his resulting 
inability to file papers that would have enabled him to run in the 
April 25 municipal elections. Police also briefly detained Kasheuski on 
April 5, but they released him later with no charge.
    On March 24, a court in Minsk fined three human rights advocates 
17,500 rubles ($6) for holding an unsanctioned protest against death 
penalty executions in front of the presidential residence on March 23. 
They spent the night at detention facilities. Photojournalist Syarhey 
Sys, also apprehended at the site, was released without charge.
    On April 27, police arrested opposition activists Andrey Kuzminsky, 
Mikhail Naskou, and Alyaksey Atroshchanka for carrying a white-red-
white opposition flag and for organizing an unsanctioned protest 
against former Kyrgyz president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who was staying in 
the country. They were fined 17,500 rubles ($6) each the next day after 
a night in custody.
    On May 7, police in Brest detained two human rights defenders for 
distributing leaflets on the 11th anniversary of Yury Zakharanka's 
disappearance. They were held for more than an hour, and all printed 
materials were seized from them. In Minsk seven activists, including 
United Civic Party Chair Anatol Lyabedzka, were apprehended for 
illegally demonstrating on the same occasion.
    On May 18, a small business activist in Slonim, Viktar Marchyk, was 
summoned by police and interrogated about his political activities.
    On June 2, authorities detained Young Belarus group members Ivan 
Zaytsau, Zmitser Skachkou, and Kiryl Kavalyou for more than an hour in 
Homyel while the three were collecting signatures to protest the 
enactment of Internet regulations. All were released without charge; 
police confiscated their printed materials.
    On July 26, also in Homyel, police apprehended three opposition 
activists who were handing out greeting cards on the occasion of the 
20th anniversary of the adoption of the country's declaration of 
independence. Independent journalist Larysa Shchyrakova also was 
briefly detained for covering the event.
    Security forces tightened control over the dissemination of 
materials printed by the opposition in the months before the December 
19 presidential elections. On August 7 in Dobrush, police officers 
arrested two activists of the For Freedom movement, Syarhey Stsepanets 
and Yauhen Suvorau, while they were distributing information kits about 
the movement's leader Alyaksandr Milinkevich. They were held at a 
precinct for an hour. On August 8, police in Hrodna detained Belarusian 
Christian Democracy Party member Mikalay Bausyuk at a bus station and 
confiscated ``for further examination'' copies of the party's bulletin, 
its presidential candidate's election platform, and other printed 
materials.
    On August 15, authorities arrested human rights advocate Raman 
Kislyak in Brest for disseminating leaflets about the UN International 
Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced 
Disappearance. Police searched his personal belongings and seized more 
than 20 copies of the leaflet. On August 28, authorities in Minsk 
detained two members of the United Civic Party for distributing 
leaflets about their party's presidential nominee and interrogated them 
for three hours. On August 31 in Brest, police detained Young Belarus 
activists Yury Batsuk and Ihar Mishkou for disseminating booklets about 
the For Freedom movement's leader. The two were questioned and their 
materials seized. Another For Freedom supporter, Alyaksandr Pratsko, 
was briefly detained in Homyel on September 3 for distributing the same 
booklets.
    On September 8, police detained Uladzimir Valodzin, a prominent 
antinuclear activist and a member of the Belarusian Party of the 
Greens, and Ihar Shchapiha, a Right Alliance group activist, without a 
warrant. They were reportedly charged in connection with arson attacks 
on April 30 against a bank office and the House of Trade Unions and 
against detention facilities on September 5. Police released Valodzin 
and Shchapiha without charge after nine days in detention.
    On September 7, police detained at a soccer game 50 activists of 
the Tell the Truth movement for wearing T-shirts bearing the campaign's 
logo. On September 9, at least 15 activists were detained at a hockey 
game for the same reason. In both cases all were taken to a police 
precinct for an identity check, filmed, and fingerprinted. In the 
latter incident officers reportedly ordered the activists to take their 
shirts off, and when one female activist refused, they cut her T-shirt 
into pieces and threatened others with short-term arrests. All were 
ultimately released without charge five hours later.
    On September 11, authorities detained over 20 civil society and 
opposition activists who were on their way to an open-air rock music 
festival near Orsha. Some of them were charged with violating traffic 
regulations and forced to miss the event due to lengthy identity 
checks.
    On November 15, police in Minsk detained two opposition youth 
Mikhail Pashkevich and Raman Bahdanovich for putting up political 
stickers. They were held at a police station for an hour and released 
without charge. In a similar incident on November 24, authorities in 
Minsk fined Malady Front member Eduard Lobau 105,000 rubles ($35) for 
pasting political stickers on residential buildings in Babruysk on 
October 9.
    On December 8, Zmitser Dashkevich, leader of the Malady Front youth 
group, was pulled over by police in Minsk and detained for several 
hours over an allegedly falsified driver's license. Police released 
Dashkevich and presented him an official notification that he was 
cleared of suspicion of forgery after representatives of the office of 
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) arrived 
at the police station to monitor detention procedures.
    On the night of December 19, police in Minsk arrested and detained 
over 700 persons who were demonstrating against Lukashenka's long hold 
on power. Most of these individuals were sentenced under the 
administrative code to detention for 10 to 15 days, and remained 
incarcerated at year's end (see section 2.b.). A number of leading 
supporters of opposition parties--including seven presidential 
candidates--were detained; five candidates were subsequently charged 
with crimes. Authorities delayed pressing charges for the maximum legal 
period of ten days; detainees, unlike those charged with crimes, could 
legally be denied access to their families and food, and medical 
supplies from outside. A number were initially denied access to their 
lawyers on the pretext that ``no rooms'' were available for such 
consultations. Authorities also pressured and harassed family members 
of imprisoned activists.

    Amnesty.--On May 5, the president signed a new amnesty law. 
According to the interior ministry, the amnesty was initially expected 
to apply to approximately 30,000 convicts, of whom 4,500 could be 
released and others could have their sentences reduced. However, at 
year's end 3,300 convicts were released from prisons, more than 8,673 
had their jail terms reduced by one year, and another 7,000 convicts 
serving noncustodial terms for various criminal offenses were 
amnestied. One thousand had their convictions commuted.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary; however, the Government did not respect judicial 
independence in practice. Corruption, inefficiency, and political 
interference with judicial decisions were widespread.
    There was evidence that prosecutors and courts convicted 
individuals on false and politically motivated charges, and that senior 
leaders and local authorities dictated the outcomes of trials.
    A 2006 report by the UN special rapporteur on the country described 
the authority of prosecutors as ``excessive and imbalanced'' because 
they may extend detention without the permission of judges. The report 
also noted an imbalance of power between the prosecution and the 
defense. Defense lawyers were unable to examine investigation files, to 
be present during investigations, or to examine evidence against 
defendants until a prosecutor formally brought the case to court. 
Lawyers found it difficult to challenge some evidence because technical 
expertise was under the control of the prosecutor's office. According 
to many defense attorneys, these imbalances of power persisted 
throughout the year, especially in politically motivated criminal and 
administrative cases. There were very few cases during the year in 
which criminal defendants were exonerated.
    By presidential decree bar associations are independent; however, 
in practice they remained subordinate to the Ministry of Justice. 
Lawyers must be licensed by the ministry, are required to work in 
regional bar associations, and must renew their licenses every five 
years. The law prohibits attorneys from engaging in private practice, 
although private legal companies are allowed to provide legal 
assistance and advice to private companies and represent their clients 
in economic courts.
    A number of attorneys representing prominent opposition leaders, 
civil society activists, and independent journalists arrested on or 
after December 19 reported that their licenses could be revoked for 
activities related to the defense of their clients. In a notice posted 
on its Web site, the Justice Ministry charged that ``certain lawyers'' 
who were defending individuals facing criminal charges, including up to 
seven presidential candidates, were committing ``gross violations'' of 
the rules of professional etiquette for lawyers as well as of the 
country's laws. The ministry accused the lawyers of distorting 
information about the investigations of their clients, their state of 
health, and conditions of detention. The ministry said it was 
conducting an investigation and would take whatever measures the law 
required. Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that 
authorities actually revoked lawyers' licenses for defending NGOs or 
opposition political parties.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the presumption of 
innocence; in practice the burden of proof was frequently on 
defendants. The law also provides for public trials; however, trials 
were occasionally closed and frequently held in judges' offices where 
attendance was severely limited. Judges adjudicate all trials; there is 
no system of trial by jury. For the most serious cases, two civilian 
advisors assist a judge. Government-controlled media frequently 
conducted propaganda campaigns declaring the guilt of suspects even 
before trial and revealed alleged materials from ongoing investigations 
designed to demonstrate further the ``guilt'' of persons awaiting 
trial.
    The law provides defendants with the right to attend proceedings, 
to confront witnesses, and to present evidence on their own behalf; 
however, in practice these rights were not always respected. During the 
year numerous opposition politicians and NGO leaders were tried and 
convicted without being permitted to be present at their trials. On 
January 5, Ales Halavan, a Vitsyebsk member of the Belarusian Christian 
Democracy Party, and his associate, Valer Ramanenka, were detained and 
spent three days in custody. Police seized four white-red-white 
opposition flags from them. On February 20, Halavan was notified that a 
court had sentenced him in absentia to seven days of administrative 
arrest.
    On February 5, a court in Hrodna fined Anzhelika Borys, the former 
leader of the unregistered organization Union of Poles, 4.2 million 
rubles ($1,400) in absentia. In addition Polonika, a Hrodna-based 
education, cultural, and tourism company headed by Borys, was fined 71 
million rubles ($23,700) for its failure to report humanitarian 
assistance it received from a Polish NGO partner. In October 
authorities reportedly dropped financial claims against Polonika.
    On June 16, Alyaksandr Kuznyatsou, leader of the Belarusian Popular 
Front youth wing in Vitsyebsk, was notified that authorities had fined 
him 35,000 rubles ($12) in absentia for disseminating printed 
materials.
    The law provides for access to legal counsel for detainees and 
requires that courts appoint a lawyer for those who cannot afford one; 
however, at times some detainees were denied access to a lawyer and at 
other times, to a Belarusian-language interpreter if they requested 
hearings in the that language. Most judges and prosecutors were not 
fluent in Belarusian and rejected motions for interpreters. The law 
provides for the right to choose legal representation freely; however, 
a presidential decree prohibits NGO members who are lawyers by training 
from representing individuals other than members of their organizations 
in court.
    Courts often allowed information obtained by use of force during 
interrogations to be used against defendants.
    Defendants have the right to appeal court decisions, and most 
defendants did so. However, appeals courts upheld the verdicts of the 
lower ones in the vast majority of cases.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--At year's end authorities had 
detained approximately 40 persons from the political opposition, human 
rights and civil society groups, and independent media organizations in 
connection with the large-scale demonstration in Minsk on the night of 
December 19. Most of these political prisoners had either been charged 
or were expected to be charged with the crimes of organizing or 
actively participating in ``mass disturbances.'' Authorities refused to 
permit access to many of the prisoners by lawyers, family members, 
foreign embassies, or prison monitoring groups. Amnesty International 
described 16 of the prisoners as ``prisoners of conscience'' who were 
facing ``trumped up charges.''
    Some of those in detention and facing politically motivated 
criminal charges at year's end included: Uladzimir Nyaklyaeu, 
presidential candidate and leader of the Tell the Truth campaign; 
Andrey Sannikau, presidential candidate and co-coordinator of the 
European Belarus coalition; Mikalay Statkevich, presidential candidate 
and leader of the Social Democratic party; Ales Mikhalevich, 
presidential candidate and leader of the NGO For Modernization; 
Alyaksandr Atroshchankau, Sannikau's campaign spokesman; Paval 
Sevyarynets, leader of the Belarusian Christian Democratic party and 
aide to presidential candidate Vital Rymasheuski; Zmitser Bandarenka, 
leader of independent media organization Charter 97 and co-coordinator 
of the European Belarus coalition; Iryna Khalip, independent journalist 
and Sannikau's wife; Natallya Radzina, Charter 97 editor; Anatol 
Lyabedzka, chairman of the United Civic Party; Nasta Palazhanka, deputy 
chair of the Malady Front opposition youth organization; Alyaksandr 
Fyaduta, aide to Nyaklyaeu; Alyaksandr Klaskouski, a former police 
officer; Uladzimir Kobets, Sannikau's campaign chief; Syarhey Vaznyak, 
aide to Nyaklyaeu; Alyaksandr Arastovich, aide to Statkevich; Syarhey 
Martsaleu, aide to Statkevich; Mikita Likhavid, For Freedom movement 
activist; Dzmitry Novik, Belarusian Popular Front member; Paval 
Vinahradau, Tell the Truth campaign activist; Illya Vasilevich, youth 
activist; and Vasil Parfyankou, Tell the Truth campaign activist.
    Other protest participants or bystanders imprisoned at year's end 
and facing similar politically motivated charges included: Ivan Haponau 
and Artsyom Breus, both Russian citizens; Aleh Fedarkevich; Uladzimir 
Khamichenka; Dzmitry Myadzvedz; Uladzimir Loban; Alyaksandr Malchanau; 
and Alyaksandr Kvyatkevich. Authorities also held Malady Front leader 
Zmitser Dashkevich and Malady Front activist Eduard Lobau, two 
opposition youth activists detained on December 18 on charges of 
``severe hooliganism.''
    During the year authorities detained hundreds of persons for brief 
periods of time for what appeared to be political reasons. During the 
December 19 protests, police detained more than 700 persons for their 
participation in an ``illegal'' demonstration, and sentenced them to 
heavy fines or between five and 15 days of administrative detention. 
Police subsequently released most of them after these periods of 
administrative detention ended (see section 1.d.).
    During the year authorities prosecuted conscientious objectors. At 
the same time, authorities denied such individuals the opportunity to 
undertake alternatives to military service, in spite of a 
constitutional provision guaranteeing this right.
    On February 1, a court in Minsk sentenced Ivan Mikhaylau, a member 
of the Messianic Jewish community New Covenant, to three months in jail 
on charges of avoiding the draft. Mikhaylau had been in detention since 
his December 2009 arrest for refusing to appear at a conscription 
office, based on his personal beliefs. Amnesty International recognized 
Mikhaylau as a prisoner of conscience. The Minsk regional court revoked 
Mikhaylau's three-month sentence on March 9, and he was released the 
next day. On May 4, a Minsk district court cleared him of draft evasion 
charges. The prosecutor's appeal against the acquittal was rejected on 
June 15.
    On February 11, a court in Homyel fined Belarusian Christian 
Democracy Party activist Yauhen Yakavenka 175,000 rubles ($58) for 
failing to comply with an enlistment office summons to appear on 
January 29. Yakavenka filed his third application for civilian service 
on February 2, asserting that he was not a draft dodger but only wanted 
to exercise his ``constitutional rights'' according to his ``pacifist 
beliefs.'' Yakavenka also repeatedly requested that his military 
summons be written in the Belarusian language. On June 4, a court 
sentenced Yakavenka to one year of restricted freedom for draft 
evasion. The Homyel regional court granted him amnesty on July 23. 
Yakavenka reported that on September 15, he was again summoned to 
appear at a conscription office; he again requested that his summons be 
written in Belarusian.
    In November 2009 a court in Homyel fined Zmitser Smyk, a member of 
Jehovah's Witnesses, 3.5 million rubles ($1,170) for alleged draft 
evasion. Smyk sought to participate in alternate civilian service, 
citing his religious beliefs. On May 31, Smyk was acquitted of draft 
dodging charges after his multiple appeals. On July 16, the Homyel 
Regional Court rejected the appeal submitted by prosecutors against the 
acquittal of Smyk.
    The last of 11 opposition youths convicted and sentenced or fined 
for participating in a 2008 demonstration by entrepreneurs in Minsk, 
Artsyom Dubski, was released during the year. Authorities continued to 
seek three additional persons whom courts convicted in the same case. 
The three, Alyaksey Bondar, Mikhail Kryvau, and Tatsyana Tsishkevich, 
escaped abroad and have not served the two years of ``restricted 
freedom'' to which they were sentenced in April 2008. They faced 
further criminal prosecution and additional charges upon return to the 
country.
    On May 6, following a trial marked by an array of procedural 
violations, the Supreme Court convicted Autukhovich and Asipenka, two 
Vaukavysk anticorruption activists in the entrepreneurs movement and 
long-time opponents of the Lukashenka government, along with two 
others, of illegal weapons possession after they were held in pretrial 
detention for approximately 15 months. During that time Amnesty 
International recognized Autukhovich as a political prisoner. 
Authorities initially charged the pair with the arson of a police 
station. The Supreme Court sentenced Autukhovich to five years' and two 
months' imprisonment, Asipenka to three years, and the others to two to 
three years. Autukhovich and Asipenka had been detained on the charges 
of arson, illegal weapons possession, and terrorism since February 
2009. Authorities ultimately dismissed dismiss the terrorism charges 
due to lack of evidence. Human rights observers noted that no material 
evidence was presented against the activists in court and that most of 
the evidence was provided by Autukhovich's former employee, Alyaksandr 
Laryn, who earlier had made self-incriminating statements to police 
without the presence of his lawyer allowed. Asipenka was released in 
November.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The law provides that 
individuals can file lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, a 
human rights violation; however, the civil judiciary was not 
independent and was rarely impartial in such matters.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions; however, the 
Government did not respect these prohibitions in practice. Authorities 
applied wiretapping, video surveillance and a network of informers to 
deprive persons of privacy in which to express dissenting political 
views.
    By law persons who obstruct law enforcement personnel in the 
performance of their duties can be penalized or charged with an 
administrative offense even if the ``duties'' may be perceived as 
illegal. ``Obstruction'' could include any effort to prevent KGB or law 
enforcement officers from entering the premises of a company, 
establishment, or organization; refusing to allow KGB audits; or 
denying or restricting KGB access to information systems and databases.
    The law requires a warrant before, or immediately after, conducting 
a search; however, the KGB and riot police entered homes, conducted 
searches, and read mail without warrants. The KGB has the authority to 
enter any building at any time, as long as it applies for a warrant 
within 24 hours after the entry. There were credible reports that 
government agents covertly entered homes of opposition activists and 
offices of opposition groups and monitored the actions of individuals. 
In numerous instances authorities searched residences and offices for 
clearly political reasons.
    On April 30, police searched offices of human rights advocate 
Zmitser Salauyeu in Navapolatsk. The prosecutor authorized the raid as 
part of a criminal investigation into vandalism and anti-Semitic 
graffiti. Police confiscated a computer, discs, printed materials, and 
opposition white-red-white flags. Prior to the raid, Salauyeu had made 
numerous complaints to local prosecutors regarding incidents of 
vandalism and other activities of local neo-Nazi groups. Police had 
also previously raided his office, and failed to return seized computer 
equipment from that prior search.
    On May 18-19, coordinated searches were conducted in private 
residences and offices of activists of the Tell the Truth information 
campaign in more than 20 cities across the country. Dozens of persons 
were detained, and the equipment, documents, and financial resources of 
the NGO were confiscated. Most of the individuals were released without 
further explanation as soon as they had been questioned; however, 
police held the campaign's leader, Uladzimir Nyaklyaeu, activist Andrey 
Dzmitryeu, and the chief editor of the independent newspaper Tavarysch, 
Syarhey Vaznyak, for three days and accused them of knowingly 
disseminating false information. The three were released without 
charge. On November 17, police suspended the criminal investigation 
again them.
    On June 28, police searched without a warrant the residence of 
young opposition activist Andrey Krechka, whom they claimed to suspect 
of hacking into a commercial company's Web site. A few days earlier 
unknown persons smashed a window of Krechka's car and stole a 
satellite-based navigation system.
    Following the December 19 postelection protests, authorities raided 
the offices and homes of dozens of activists and civil society 
organizations. On December 20, law enforcement officers raided offices 
of the unregistered human rights organization Vyasna and briefly 
detained 10 activists who were subsequently released without charge. 
Police seized all computer equipment, as well as still and video 
cameras. The same day, authorities searched the offices of the Tell the 
Truth campaign and Charter 97. Yuliya Rymasheuskaya, Tell the Truth 
leader Uladzimir Nyaklyaeu's spokesperson, was briefly detained along 
with other activists. Security forces also arrested Natalya Radzina, 
editor of the Charter 97 Web site, on charges of organizing and 
participating in the December 19 demonstrations.
    On December 23, four KGB officers searched the apartment of 
Alyaksandr Fyaduta, an aide to Nyaklyaeu, and confiscated a laptop, 
flash drives, and printed materials.
    On December 25, KGB and police raided residences of at least 12 
people, including Sannikau, Mikhalevich, Bandarenka, Atroshchankau, 
Radzina, and Arastovich, in connection with the criminal ``mass 
disturbances'' case. In Minsk, police also searched apartments of human 
rights advocate Aleh Volchak, opposition activist Vyachaslau Siuchyk, 
and the parents of detained journalist Khalip. Police also raided the 
residences of human rights defender Alyaksey Kaputski in Maladzyechna 
and of opposition activist Paval Batuyeu in Salihorsk. In most of these 
instances police seized electronic equipment and paper files. The 
United Civic Party reported that the KGB raided their offices for four 
hours on December 25 and confiscated electronic equipment, seven 
computers, and printed materials.
    On December 27, security officers searched the apartment of 
Sannikau's campaign chief, Uladzimir Kobets; Sannikau's eldest son, 
Kanstantsin Sannikau; and Charter 97 leader Dzmitry Bandarenka.
    On December 28, four KGB officers and a police investigator 
searched the residence of Anatol Lyabedzka, chair of the United Civic 
Party, for three hours and seized a computer and printed materials. 
Lyabedzka had been arrested for alleged involvement in the ``mass 
disturbances'' case during a previous raid on his apartment on December 
20.
    On December 30, KGB officers searched the home of retired KGB 
lieutenant colonel Valery Kostka in Smalyavichy although Kostka had not 
participated in the December 19 demonstration. Police also searched the 
apartment of opposition youth activist Andrey Kim; the summer cottage 
of Nyaklyaeu's campaign chief, Andrey Dzmitryeu; and the residence of 
human rights advocate Alena Tankachova. Police also interrogated 
Tankachova and seized printed materials from her.
    Security forces continued to target prominent opposition and civil 
society leaders with arbitrary searches and interrogations at border 
crossings and airports. For example, on June 2, Andrey Vardamatski, a 
sociologist and head of an opinion research company, was detained and 
searched for four hours upon his arrival in Minsk. On September 12, 
border guards at Minsk airport held a leader of the European Belarus 
civil campaign, Andrey Sannikau, for an hour to search his belongings 
upon his return from a conference in Riga. He was also thoroughly 
checked on his way to the conference on September 10.
    On December 24, the country's border officers detained Vilnius-
bound activist Katsyaryna Stsyapanava for two hours, transported her to 
a local KGB office, and interrogated her regarding her participation in 
the December 19 demonstration. She was subsequently released without 
charge.
    The law prohibits authorities from intercepting telephone and other 
communications without a prosecutor's order. In practice authorities 
routinely monitored residences, telephones, and computers. Nearly all 
opposition political figures reported that authorities monitored their 
conversations and activities.
    The law allows the KGB, the Internal Affairs Ministry, special 
security services, financial intelligence personnel, and certain border 
guard detachments to use wiretaps. Wiretaps require the permission of a 
prosecutor; however, the lack of prosecutorial independence rendered 
this requirement meaningless.
    The Ministry of Communications has the authority to terminate the 
telephone service of persons who violate their telephone contracts, and 
such contracts prohibit the use of telephone services for purposes 
contrary to state interests and public order.
    During the year authorities forcibly conscripted younger members of 
political opposition groups into the military. There were also reports 
of discrimination and harassment against them during their military 
service.
    On January 26, a Brest district court rejected an appeal filed by 
Malady Front member Yauhen Skrabets challenging his conscription and 
the legality of the actions of the conscription officers. Skrabets 
continued to serve in the army at year's end.
    On July 30, a Malady Front leader in Mahilyou, Stanislau 
Ramanovich, was drafted despite recent surgery on his arm. Ramanovich 
lost his deferment earlier when he was expelled from his university for 
what other activists described as political reasons.
    In January 2009 authorities stopped Franak Vyachorka, former leader 
of the Belarusian Popular Front's youth wing, on a Minsk street and 
physically delivered him to the 8th Radar Brigade in Baranavichy. He 
took a military oath there in February 2009 and was later transferred 
to a radar unit in Mazyr. In mid-December 2009 Vyachorka was sent back 
from a hospital to the military unit despite medical grounds for an 
early discharge from the army. Vyachorka's medical record was 
subsequently revised to omit references to his medical condition as 
diagnosed in the hospital. Vyachorka was discharged on April 14.
    The Government continued to deny certain youths their right to 
alternate civilian military service as provided for in the 
constitution. On February 11, a court in Homyel fined Belarusian 
Christian Democracy Party activist Yauhen Yakavenka 175,000 rubles 
($58) for failing to comply with an enlistment office summons to appear 
on January 29. Yakavenka filed his third application for civilian 
service on February 2, asserting that he was not a draft dodger but 
only wanted to exercise his ``constitutional rights'' according to his 
``pacifist beliefs.'' Yakavenka also repeatedly requested that his 
military summons be written in the Belarusian language. On June 4, a 
court sentenced Yakavenka to one year of restricted freedom for draft 
evasion. The Homyel oblast court granted him amnesty on July 23. 
Yakavenka reported that on September 15, the occasion of another call-
up to the conscription office, he again requested that his summons be 
written in Belarusian.
    There were numerous reports that the Government employed a number 
of means to coerce young persons, including university students and 
military conscripts, to join the pro-Lukashenka, state-funded 
Belarusian Republican Youth Union (BRYU). To this end the Government 
employed a widespread system of BRYU informants organized into civilian 
patrol squads whose objective was to recruit youths and students for 
various projects around the country in the name of good citizenship.
    High school students feared that they would not be allowed to 
enroll in universities without BRYU membership, and university students 
reported that proof of BRYU membership was often required to register 
for popular courses or to receive a dormitory room. Universities also 
offered patrol members discounts on tuition. In 2008 former education 
minister Alyaksandr Radzkou stated that membership in the BRYU would be 
considered in new mandatory recommendations for students who wished to 
train for professions in foreign affairs, state administration, and 
journalism.
    During the year authorities continued to harass family members of 
NGO leaders and civil society activists. In March, for example, the 
father of Artur Finkevich, leader of the NGO Young Belarus, was 
summoned for an interrogation by the KGB. In late December following 
the arrest of presidential candidate Andrey Sannikau and his wife, 
independent journalist Iryna Khalip, authorities attempted to take 
custody of their three-year-old son, Danil Sannikau, from his maternal 
grandmother. Authorities claimed that they were only doing a routine 
investigation into whether the grandmother was healthy enough and had 
the financial means to care for the boy in his parents' absence.
    Following the crackdown on demonstrators on December 19, 
authorities raided the offices of organizations and NGOs, seizing 
equipment and interrogating staff (see sections 2.a. and 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 did not 
respect these rights in practice and enforced numerous laws to control 
and censor the media. Individuals could not criticize the Government 
publicly without fear of reprisal. Authorities videotaped political 
meetings, conducted frequent identity checks, and used other forms of 
intimidation. Wearing masks, displaying unregistered flags and symbols, 
and displaying placards bearing messages deemed threatening to the 
Government or public order are also prohibited.
    The law also limits free speech by criminalizing actions such as 
giving information to a foreigner about the political, economic, 
social, military, or international situation of the country that 
authorities deem to be false or derogatory.
    The Government censored the media. Authorities warned, fined, or 
jailed members of the media who publicly criticized the Government. 
Under the law the Government may close a publication after two 
``warnings'' in one year for violating a range of restrictions on 
speech and the press. In addition regulations give authorities 
arbitrary power to prohibit or censor reporting. The Information 
Ministry can suspend periodicals or newspapers for three months without 
a court ruling. The law also prohibits the media from disseminating 
information on behalf of unregistered political parties, trade unions, 
and NGOs. Many publications were forced to exercise self-censorship.
    A February 2009 media law further restricted press freedoms by 
subjecting online news sources to the same regulations as print and 
broadcast media. It also required that all existing media reregister 
before February 8, mandated that journalists be accredited, and 
prohibited domestic media from receiving more than 30 percent of their 
resources from foreign organizations. Although the majority of media 
outlets, including private ones, successfully reregistered, the 
Information Ministry continued to deny registration to independent 
media, i.e. media perceived to be publishing information independently 
of government control. The 2009 law also further complicated 
distribution of publications with a circulation of less than 300 
copies, which did not require registration but had to carry imprint 
information and producers of such publications could be ``warned'' for 
failing to comply with the requirement. The new law was widely 
criticized by domestic and international NGOs and press advocates.
    There were independent media, including newspapers, magazines and 
Internet news Web sites, all owned by individuals or groups other than 
the Government, which sought to provide independent coverage of events. 
However, they operated under repressive media laws and most faced 
discriminatory publishing and distribution policies.
    State-owned media dominated the information field and maintained 
the highest circulation and viewership. The state-owned postal system, 
Belposhta, and the state-owned kiosk system, Belsayuzdruk, continued to 
refuse to deliver and sell at least 10 independent newspapers that 
covered politics. In 2007 Belposhta removed three popular Russian 
newspapers (Kommersant, Moskovskiy Komsomolets, and Nezavisimaya 
Gazeta) from its subscription list. However, other Russian newspapers, 
including Izvestiya, were distributed. Media analysts asserted that the 
newspapers were removed because of reporting critical of Lukashenka's 
policies.
    In February the Information Ministry turned down the third 
registration application from the regional independent newspaper Khimik 
Dva goroda. Officials claimed that the newspaper could not be 
registered because of issues related to hygiene in its office. Previous 
reasons for refusals included the allegedly insufficient educational 
qualifications of the chief editor and the fact that, while describing 
itself as covering general politics, the newspaper also included a 
``homes and gardens'' section.
    On March 23, the Supreme Economic Court dismissed an appeal of the 
Information Ministry's rejection of the registration application of the 
independent newspaper Nash Dom.
    On April 1, the Information Ministry denied registration to the 
Homyel independent newspaper Silnye Novosti Gomelya on the grounds that 
its chief editor had ``no appropriate qualifications or experience.'' 
Tatsyana Bublikava, an independent journalist previously ``warned'' for 
illegally working in the country for the Warsaw-based Belsat TV, 
applied for registration as the editor. There continued to be no 
independent newspapers that covered political issues in the Homyel 
Oblast.
    On May 12, First Deputy Information Minister Liliya Ananich met 
with the editors of four regional independent newspapers that had been 
denied multiple registration applications. Ananich reportedly dismissed 
their arguments and told them that the ministry followed the law.
    On June 14, Baranavichy authorities rejected the application of the 
local independent newspaper Intex-press to be distributed through 
state-run networks. Belposhta cited ``inexpediency,'' and the 
Belsayuzdruk alleged that their ``overburdened'' network had no 
capacity to distribute the newspaper.
    Although authorities continued to allow the independent newspapers 
Narodnaya Volya, Nasha Niva, and two regional newspapers, all banned 
for several years before 2008, to be distributed through state 
distribution systems, they remained subject to restrictions. On July 7, 
Belsayuzdruk did not release the print-run of Nasha Niva due to its 
front-page article reporting that an investigation by a Russian 
television channel implicated Lukashenka in the disappearances in 1999 
and 2000 of opposition leaders and a journalist. The state-owned 
company denied that the copies of the newspaper were not available at 
kiosks. In September 2009 Belsayuzdruk denied a request from Narodnaya 
Volya to add a third day to its existing twice-a-week circulation, 
claiming that it was ``not possible to distribute additional copies due 
to the massive output of other periodicals'' on the specific day 
requested.
    On August 11, the Brest office of Belsayuzdruk unilaterally reduced 
the circulation of the popular independent newspaper Brestsky Kuryer by 
two-thirds. An official stated that this was a way to ``penalize'' the 
owners for attempting to find additional outlets for selling the 
newspaper through retail stores.
    Local authorities frequently warned independent editors and 
journalists to avoid reporting on certain topics and not to criticize 
the Government. Authorities also warned businesses not to advertise in 
newspapers that criticized the Government. According to the independent 
Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), officials from the 
presidential administration met with leading bankers, including 
representatives of foreign-controlled banks, and ``strongly 
recommended'' that they advertise only with state media. The Babruysk-
based independent newspaper Bobruysky Kuryer was forced to go out of 
business due to the advertisement ban.
    On March 22, the Supreme Court upheld a January 13 Ministry of 
Justice requirement that the BAJ stop issuing press badges to its 
1,000-plus members. These badges had been displayed by independent 
reporters, free lancers, and Web site and foreign correspondents 
covering public events, including opposition demonstrations, in order 
to gain access and report the news.
    On March 11, the Information Ministry issued a warning to the 
popular daily Komsomolskaya Pravda v Belorussiy for publishing ``false 
information.''
    On April 19, a court in Beshankovichy fined Heorhi Stankevich, a 
journalist and Belarusian Christian Democracy party activist, 700,000 
rubles ($235) for illegally distributing the newspaper Kryvinka with a 
circulation under 300 copies. Stankevich, the editor and publisher of 
the newspaper, was detained on April 8.
    On April 26, a prosecutor in Hantsavichy warned the chief editor of 
the independent newspaper Hantsavitski Chas, Alyaksey Bely, and 
journalist Katsyaryna Kurlovich for an April 16 article purportedly 
carrying false information. On November 17, a prosecutor in Hantsavichy 
summoned a woman who was quoted in Hantsavitski Chas expressing 
criticism of media coverage related to the presidential election. 
Deputy chief editor Pyotr Huzayeuski stated that authorities exerted 
pressure on the newspaper by harassing its readers.
    On June 14, the Information Ministry warned the independent 
newspaper Novy Chas for failing to list the editor's full name and a 
bar code in the imprint information. On June 18, the Ministry of Trade 
issued a warning to the same newspaper for illegally advertising 
programs of Belsat TV. The chief editor noted in response that the 
information was published in the newspaper free of charge. On November 
13, security officers detained executive director of the newspaper 
Yazep Palyubyatka, who was transporting copies of the newspaper. Police 
checked his passport information and released him without charge. Novy 
Chas remained out of circulation from state-run distribution centers at 
the end of the year.
    On July 6, a prosecutor in Klyotsk issued a warning to Aleh 
Nikulin, the publisher of the Catholic bulletin Apostalski Vetraz with 
a circulation of under 300 copies, that Nikulin had violated laws and 
could be held liable for lacking official registration.
    On September 14, the Information Ministry also warned the 
independent publication Brestskaya Gazeta for purportedly disseminating 
false information.
    On September 15, the Supreme Economic Court rejected appeals by 
Nasha Niva of two warnings issued by the Information Ministry on July 
22 and July 26 about articles allegedly containing false information 
and defaming the state-controlled BRYU.
    On November 16, the Belposhta office in Baranavichy, citing 
``inexpediency,'' declined to include the independent newspaper Intex-
press in its 2011 subscription catalogue.
    Journalists reporting for international media that gave extensive 
coverage to the country, such as the Warsaw-based independent satellite 
channel Belsat TV and the Polish radio station Radio Racyja, continued 
to receive warnings from the prosecutor's office for working without 
accreditation. After enactment of the new media law, authorities sent 
warnings to at least 20 independent journalists.
    On July 20, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected the 
accreditation application of Radio Racyja journalist Viktar 
Parfyonenka.
    On November 3, the foreign ministry refused to extend accreditation 
for Yauhen Ahurtsou, a member of BAJ and local correspondent of the 
Russian radio station Golos Rossii. The ministry alleged that Ahurtsou 
worked for the radio station without accreditation after its 
credentials had expired on September 1 and that it received a belated 
request to extend it on September 11. The ministry reportedly reviewed 
the request only on November 2 and alleged that Ahurtsou published 
articles on the station's Web site after September 1.
    On November 19, the ministry denied the accreditation applications 
of Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza's correspondent Andrzej Paczobut 
and a photojournalist citing their previous work for the publication 
without permission from the Government. This was in spite of the fact 
that the photojournalist had maintained a valid accreditation at all 
times.
    On December 9, the ministry turned down the accreditation and entry 
visa request of Swedish photojournalist Dean Cox without any 
explanation.
    Independent domestic media outlets faced penalties for cooperating 
with foreign-based media. On February 4, a court in Minsk fined the 
publishers of Narodnaya Volya 700,000 rubles ($235) for placing a 
notice regarding the programs of Belsat TV.
    International media continued to operate in the country but not 
without interference and harassment. Euronews and the Russian channels 
First Channel, NTV, and RTR were generally available, although only 
through paid cable services in many parts of the country. Their news 
programs were at times blocked, censored, or replaced with local 
programming. For example, the Russian NTV channel's four documentaries 
implicating Lukashenka in the high-profile disappearances of political 
leaders and a journalist in 1999 and 2000 were subject to blackouts and 
censorship by the Government during the year. Broadcasts from other 
countries, including Poland and Lithuania, could be received in parts 
of the country, usually along the border. In April 2009 the Government 
suspended the broadcast of five popular Russian channels, including TV 
Center International and Ren TV.
    On November 18, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs renewed for one 
year the accreditation of nine journalists and technical personnel of 
European Radio for Belarus (ERB), including the bureau chief and 
editor. The ministry denied reaccreditation for an ERB Brest 
correspondent and also rejected a second registration application from 
external broadcaster Belsat TV.
    In late December the ONT state television station announced that 
its talk show Vybar was being suspended until mid-January after a 
contentious election night interview with Lidziya Yarmoshyna, chairman 
of the Central Election Commission. Host Syarhey Darafeyeu asked 
Yarmoshyna to comment on a video clip showing a teacher at a state 
university urging her students to ``vote early,'' leading Yarmoshyna to 
storm off the set. Early voting, strongly encouraged by the Government, 
lasted five days, during which independent observers had no ability to 
monitor ballot boxes at night. At a news conference on December 20, 
Lukashenka referred to the 30-year-old Darafeyeu as a ``boy journalist 
who must be put in his place.''
    The Government continued to harass, assault, and arrest 
journalists. On January 13, police searched the private residence of 
independent journalist Syarhey Serabro in Vitsyebsk and confiscated 
computer equipment and a camera. Although officers returned his 
property on January 26, Serabro was questioned in relation to the 
criminal case against local opposition activist Syarhey Kavalenka on 
February 1. He was again summoned for interrogation on February 22.
    On February 4, a court in Minsk sentenced independent journalist 
Ivan Shulha to 10 days in jail for allegedly inflicting bodily harm on 
a police officer during his detention. Also in early February police on 
two separate occasions attempted to conduct warrantless raids on the 
apartment of Belsat TV correspondent Mikhail Yanchuk.
    On February 15, the chief editor of Magazyn Polski na Uchodzstwie, 
Ihar Bantsar, and Gazeta Wyborczej correspondent Andrzej Paczobut were 
each sentenced to five days in prison for participating in an 
unsanctioned meeting at the Polish House educational center in Hrodna 
on February 10. On April 1, police in Shchuchyn confiscated 450 copies 
of Magazyn Polski na Uchodzstwie from employees who were pulled over 
and searched on the road between Minsk and Hrodna.
    Police interrogated and searched several independent journalists 
while investigating a defamation suit filed by Ivan Korzh, ex-chair of 
the KGB in the Homyel region, against police officers who had provided 
journalists with information Korzh contended was false. On February 17 
and 26, police searched the workplace of Narodnaya Volya deputy editor 
Maryna Koktysh and the apartment of the newspaper's editor, Svyatlana 
Kalinkina. Iryna Khalip, a journalist for the Russian newspaper Novaya 
Gazeta, and her spouse, presidential candidate Andrey Sannikau, were 
questioned at a police precinct on March 3. During raids of the offices 
and private apartments of witnesses on March 16, police confiscated 
computer equipment and electronic storage media from Natallya Radzina, 
editor of the opposition Web site Charter 97, Koktysh and Kalinkina of 
the Narodnaya Volya, and Khalip. A police officer hit Radzina in the 
face when attempting forcibly to enter the office of Charter 97. On 
March 12, security officers arrested Koktysh and seized a vehicle that 
she was importing at the Lithuanian border, claiming that the car was 
stolen. Koktysh was released without charge the next day, and the car 
was returned to her a few days later. On March 26, Kalinkina, Koktysh, 
and Radzina were summoned for interrogation. Police again interrogated 
Kalinkina, Radzina, and Khalip on April 2. Radzina indicated that many 
of the questions related to Charter 97's operations. They were again 
interrogated on April 28.
    Authorities also informed Radzina that police had opened a separate 
defamation investigation into comments made by bloggers on the Charter 
97 Web site; the bloggers were reacting to an article about the 
imprisonment of Autukhovich that appeared in the state-owned newspaper 
Sovetskaya Belorussiya. On May 19, Radzina, Kalinkina, and Koktysh were 
summoned for further interrogation. Khalip was summoned again on May 
26. On July 1, the Minsk city prosecutor's office questioned Radzina as 
a witness in the defamation case. On December 8, a prosecutor informed 
Charter 97 of a third criminal case opened against the group that 
required further examination of previously confiscated computer 
equipment. The prosecutor declined to disclose charges and suspects in 
the case. All cases were pending at year's end.
    Security officers continually hampered efforts of independent 
journalists to cover Solidarity Day and other protests in Minsk. On 
February 16, Nasha Niva photographer Yuliya Darashkevich was detained 
and questioned for three hours. On February 23, authorities charged 
independent journalist Alyaksandr Dzianisau with conducting an 
unauthorized interview with the administrator of a local school, 
despite the administrator's agreement to participate in the interview. 
On March 15, a court in Hrodna fined Dzianisau 70,000 rubles ($23).
    On March 2, Interior Minister Anatol Kulyashou's deputy, Aleh 
Pyakarski, supported police measures during street protests and called 
for regulations to establish rules of conduct for reporters covering 
demonstrations.
    On March 22, Interior Minister Kulyashou declined to meet with the 
BAJ to discuss possible measures against police officers for 
obstructing journalists during mass events in downtown Minsk. The 
Minister stated that all demonstrations were prohibited in downtown 
Minsk and that police never abused their powers. He also claimed that 
``no individuals who had identified themselves as journalists were 
detained'' during these demonstrations. Kulyashou added that his 
ministry gave no ``special'' orders to impede journalists from 
performing their duties.
    On April 16, police detained independent photojournalists Uladzimir 
Grydzin and Kseniya Avimava for three hours. They were photographing 
democratic youth activists delivering a petition to BRYU officials in 
Minsk.
    On April 21, police briefly detained independent journalist 
Uladzimir Staraverau in Vitsyebsk and confiscated his video materials.
    On May 18, security officers raided the private residences and 
offices of activists across the country associated with the Tell the 
Truth information campaign. Syarhey Vaznyak, chief editor of the 
independent newspaper Tavarysch, was detained for three days along with 
two other campaign leaders. Police detained and questioned independent 
journalists Yury Aleinik, Yury Varonezhtsau, Larysa Nasanovich, 
Alyaksandr Ulitsyonak, and Alyaksandr Fyaduta.
    On June 15, police detained and questioned independent journalists 
Nasta Krauchuk and Volha Zharnasek, who were covering Tell the Truth 
campaign activists as they disseminated printed materials to students 
in front of BSU. The journalists were taken to a police precinct, 
searched, questioned, and released a few hours later with no charge. 
However, Krauchuk reported that their camera was damaged during 
detention.
    On November 17, prosecutors questioned Viktar Fedarovich, a 
journalist from independent media organization BelaPAN, regarding an 
article that purportedly contained information illegally disclosed from 
a preliminary criminal investigation against senior prosecutor 
Svyatlana Baikova.
    On December 9, police briefly detained one BelaPAN and one Nasha 
Niva correspondent who were covering a sanctioned demonstration staged 
by Belarusian activists of the Russian National Bolshevik Party against 
Lukashenka's reelection bid. The two were released after an 
identification check without charge.
    On December 10, independent journalist Dzmitry Rastaeu was forced 
to resign from his job at the independent Vecherniy Bobruysk newspaper 
after local ideology officer Mikhail Kavalevich pressured publishers to 
fire him for his criticism of the Government.
    During and after the Government crackdown that followed the 
December 19 postelection demonstrations, authorities raided the offices 
of a number of independent media outlets.
    On the night of December 19, police detained at least 15 
journalists, members of BAJ, and over five foreign correspondents, 
according to the BAJ press services. One of the foreign journalists, 
Mariya Antonova, of Agence France Presse, was reportedly released and 
left the country on December 20. Twenty-two other journalists reported 
being the victims of physical violence during the police crackdown on 
demonstrations. These included Michael Schwirtz and James Hill of the 
New York Times, Anton Kharchenko and Victor Filyaev of television 
channel Russia Today, and Hanz Cezarek, a photojournalist for Austrian 
Internet-based news service news.at.
    On December 25, according to press reports, authorities raided the 
Minsk offices of ERB, which was officially registered in the country 
but based in Poland, and Belsat TV, unregistered in the country and 
based in Poland. Over 50 pieces of office and studio equipment were 
seized from the ERB offices without the presence of its journalists, 
leaving little more than tables and chairs. In anticipation of the 
raid, Belsat staff had vacated their premises several days earlier. On 
December 31, KGB agents searched the apartment of Belsat reporter 
Katsyaryna Tkachenka, seizing her laptop and SIM cards.
    On December 28, three KGB officers searched for three hours the 
residence of Andrey Skurko, chief editor of the independent Nasha Niva, 
and confiscated computer equipment. That same day security forces 
raided offices of the Belarusian PEN Center and Nasha Niva in downtown 
Minsk. Officers seized 12 computers and electronic storage media.
    On December 31, KGB officers raided the residence of Nasha Niva 
photojournalist Yuliya Darashkevich in search of video and photos from 
the December 19 demonstration. They seized two laptops, flash drives, 
recording devices, cameras, and disks.
    During the year several independent journalists, including 
Kalinkina, Radzina, and Khalip, as well as playwright Mikalay Khalezin, 
received threats of physical violence in anonymous letters by mail and 
in comments on their blogs. They linked the intimidation with their 
professional activities and believed security forces were behind the 
threats.
    The Government tightly controlled the content of domestic broadcast 
media. In 2007 the president stated that control of radio and 
television stations remained a high priority for the Government and 
that private stations would not be allowed to operate in the country. 
He also stated that state publishing houses would never sign contracts 
with independent media publications that violated media laws. In April 
2009 the president reiterated his earlier remarks and dismissed 
concerns about ``the closure of the Russian channels.'' On December 20, 
Lukashenka pledged to ``reform the Internet'' which according to him, 
was used to ``mock authorities and the people.'' He committed to 
``bringing it closer to Western standards'' and threatened journalists 
that they would be held ``fully responsible for every word.''
    Only the state-run radio and the state-run television networks were 
allowed to broadcast nationwide. The Government continued to use its 
virtual monopoly of television and radio broadcasting to disseminate 
its version of events and minimize all opposing viewpoints. State 
television coordinated its propaganda documentaries with the country's 
security services.
    Local independent television stations operated in some areas and 
reported local news; however, most were under government pressure to 
forgo reporting on national issues or risk being censored. Such 
stations frequently were pressured into sharing materials and 
cooperating with authorities to intimidate local opposition and human 
rights groups that met with foreign diplomats.
    Libel is a criminal offense. There are large fines and prison 
sentences of up to four years for slandering and insulting the 
president. Penalties for defamation of character make no distinction 
between private and public persons. A public figure who is criticized 
for poor performance while in office may sue both the journalist and 
the media outlet that disseminated the critical report. For example, on 
January 11, a court in Barysau convicted the independent newspaper 
Borisovskie Novosti and its journalist Anatol Mazgou of insulting a 
member of the local government in an article and obliged them to pay 2 
million rubles ($670) in moral damages.
    On May 13, the Brest regional prosecutors warned small business 
activist Viktar Chaykouski that he could be held criminally liable for 
``discrediting the Republic of Belarus'' in his ``subjective'' 
interviews with independent media. Chaykouski purportedly ``cited 
unreliable information about the social and economic situation'' in the 
country.
    Human rights sources reported in July that prosecutors were 
investigating bloggers' comments on the independent news site 
vialejka.org for possible libel. Activist Mikalay Susla was summoned 
for questioning as a witness, and his computer was confiscated for 
further examination.
    On July 15, regional prosecutors notified Syarhey Panamarou, an 
editor of the Boyki Klyotsk bulletin (circulation under 300 copies), 
that a criminal case against him for allegedly libeling local 
government officials in his publications was sent to court. Hearings 
were scheduled for August 23, but Panamarou fled the country to escape 
prosecution. He characterized the charges as politically motivated.
    The Government took numerous other actions during the year to limit 
the independent press, including limiting access to newsprint and 
printing presses. Several independent newspapers, including Vitsyebski 
Kuryer (previously forced out of the country and registered in Russia) 
and Tavarysch, printed materials in Russia because domestic printing 
presses (mostly state-owned) refused to print them. The Information 
Ministry warned the Tavarysch newspaper in June that it could lose its 
registration due to the editorial's failure to publish the newspaper 
weekly according to its registration license. Both newspapers remained 
out of circulation at year's end. Other independent newspapers, such as 
Salidarnasc, BDG, and Bobruysky Kuryer, disseminated Internet-only 
versions due to printing and distribution restrictions.
    At year's end journalists of the independent weekly Gazeta 
Slonimskaya continued to work from their homes, after having been 
forced to vacate the newspaper's rented premises in mid-2008. The 
newspaper's editor, Viktar Uladashchuk, stated that he could not lease 
a new office because rental agencies feared government reprisals.
    During the year the Government confiscated numerous independent and 
opposition newspapers and seized leaflets and other materials deemed to 
have been printed illegally.
    On January 12, police briefly detained opposition activist Barys 
Khamayda for distributing independent newspapers in Vitsyebsk. He was 
again apprehended and held for more than two hours on February 18 and 
an hour on June 27. On February 22, police detained Malady Front 
activist Ales Kirkevich on charges of illegally distributing the 
newspaper Khristiankaya Oborona. On March 25, a court in Hrodna fined 
him 1,225,000 rubles ($410). In August, Kirkevich was fined 875,000 
rubles ($290) in absentia for the illegal distribution of printed 
materials on July 3.
    Police detained private publisher Viktar Ramnyou at least four 
times during the year and confiscated numerous copies of his 
independent newspaper Vitsyebski Kuryer (printed in Russia) and other 
material. He was heavily fined on charges of distributing illegally 
printed materials. For example, on March 17, police seized 50,000 
copies of the independent newspaper Nash Dom from Ramnyou and his 
associate Volha Karach; on March 26, police fined Ramnyou 1,750,000 
rubles ($585). On March 25, police in the Vitsyebsk region seized over 
10,000 copies of the Vitsyebski Kuryer from Ramnyou, and on the same 
day a court in Lyozna fined Ramnyou 1,225,000 rubles ($410) for 
illegally transporting the publication. On April 8, police seized 
10,000 copies of the Vitsyebski Kuryer from Ramnyou in the Mahilyou 
region and searched his car. On May 6, Ramnyou was fined 1,050,000 
rubles ($350) for illegally carrying 53 copies of the newspaper. On 
October 8, more than 11,000 copies of the newspaper Vitsyebski Kuryer 
were seized from him. On October 12, a court in Lyozna fined Ramnyou 
1,225,000 ($410) for illegal distribution. In a separate case involving 
Vitsyebski Kuryer, the Supreme Economic Court upheld a decision of the 
Vitsyebsk Oblast Economic court to deny publishers a license to 
distribute newspapers independently.
    On March 24, police detained democratic activist Alyaksandr Pratsko 
for distributing the independent publication Novy Chas at a market in 
Homyel. Officers examined copies of the newspaper and released Pratsko 
an hour later without charge. On March 26, a court in Buda-Kashalyou 
fined journalist and human rights advocate Valer Shchukin 1,050,000 
rubles ($350) for transporting 24,000 copies of the Nash Dom newspaper.
    On May 4, authorities confiscated more than 12,000 copies of the 
newspaper Nash Dom from democratic activist Khrystsina Shatsikava. On 
June 28, a judge in Mahilyou upheld the confiscation and the court 
fined Shatsikava 700,000 rubles ($235) for disseminating illegally 
printed materials.
    During a raid on April 1, authorities confiscated materials from 
For Freedom movement activist Alyaksandr Ramanovich. On June 16, a 
court in Pinsk fined Ramanovich 1,050,000 rubles ($350) for 
distribution of illegally printed materials.
    On June 7, a court in Vitsyebsk fined in absentia the editor of the 
Vitsyebski Kuryer newspaper, Aleh Barshcheuski, 700,000 rubles ($235) 
for illegally disseminating printed media. Police searched 
Barshcheuski's car and confiscated copies of the newspaper.
    On July 9, police in Krychau detained an independent distributor 
and confiscated 297 copies of the local independent publication Volny 
Horad. The prosecutors ordered a ``linguistic examination'' of the 
newspaper.
    On October 1, a court in Mahilyou fined human rights advocate and 
journalist Valer Shchukin 1,050,000 rubles ($350) for illegal 
distribution of printed materials. Police detained Shchukin on August 8 
and confiscated 24,000 copies of the Nash Dom newspaper as well as 
5,500 copies of a bulletin about women's rights.
    On November 30, a court in Vitsyebsk fined activist Syarhey 
Kandakou 700,000 rubles ($235) for distributing the newspaper 
Vitsyebski Kuryer. The publication remained out of circulation at 
year's end.

    Internet Freedom.--On July 1, the president issued an edict that 
requires registration of service providers and Internet Web sites, 
establishes restrictions on access to sites containing ``extremist 
activity'' (which many activists believed could be interpreted to 
include government opponents), and requires the collection of 
information on users at Internet cafes. It requires service providers 
to store data on the Internet use of individuals for a year and to hand 
that information over to law enforcement agencies upon their request. 
The edict restricts access to Web sites whose content includes 
``extremist activities;'' materials related to illicit weapons, 
explosives, and drugs; trafficking in persons; pornography; and 
promotion of violence. It requires service providers to eliminate 
access to these subject areas from government offices, educational 
facilities, and cultural institutions if ordered to do so by the KGB, 
the prosecutor general, the Operation and Analytical Center under the 
presidential administration, and other state agencies. On October 27, 
the State Telecommunications Inspectorate under the Communications 
Ministry stated that the list of restricted Web sites, which is 
undisclosed, contained 20 sources that carried ``extremist or 
pornographic'' materials. Internet service providers are required to 
update the list on a daily basis. Decisions to restrict access to 
Internet sources may be appealed to the courts.
    The Government partially restricted access to the Internet, and 
monitored e-mail and Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups were 
generally able to engage in the peaceful expression of views via the 
Internet, including by e-mail, but opposition activists faced the 
likelihood that their e-mails and other Web-based communications would 
be monitored.
    The authorities freely monitored Internet traffic. By law the 
telecommunications monopoly, Beltelekam, and other organizations 
authorized by the Government had the exclusive right to maintain 
Internet domains.
    On October 25, operation and analytical center deputy Uladzimir 
Ryabavolau stated that the main purpose of regulating the ``Belarus 
segment of the Internet'' was to create ``conditions for its 
accelerated development.'' Many activists and demonstration 
participants questioned after the December 19 demonstration reported 
that security officers told them that phone records had placed them in 
the vicinity of Independence Square during the demonstration. In late 
December international and local media reported that Swedish 
telecommunications firm Ericsson confirmed it had supplied surveillance 
equipment to authorities. Such equipment allowed the Government to 
track use of the three major mobile communications networks during the 
protests. On March 3, Lukashenka signed an edict that required 
telecommunications companies to provide the KGB and other security 
officials with access to their customer databases. The companies were 
responsible for bearing the costs of purchase, installation, and 
maintenance of the relevant equipment.
    Approximately one-third of the population had access to the 
Internet, and Internet use was highest in urban areas. Access was 
restricted by relatively high costs and lack of high-speed services in 
certain areas of the country, as well as at state companies and 
organizations where reportedly filters exist (and which cover 
workplaces of 80 percent of the country's workers). On occasion 
government providers blocked independent and opposition Web sites 
during major political events.
    On June 24, authorities blocked the Web site of the unregistered 
Malady Front NGO. Additionally, the group had no control over or access 
to its Web site and was not able to update information on it due to 
``external interference'' between June 8 and 20. In May the Malady 
Front was forced to close down its Salihorsk region Web site due to 
numerous viruses and continued script errors.
    On July 8, the state-controlled Beltelekam claimed that it blocked 
the Web site of the independent Vitsyebski Kuryer in response to a 
request from the newspaper's owners to discontinue hosting services as 
of July 5. Volha Karach, one of the newspaper's founders, denied that 
the paper had made any such request. The Web site resumed its 
operations at a different domain hosted outside of the country on July 
12.
    On July 16, the opposition group Charter 97 reported a cyber attack 
on its Web site after it posted a critical documentary about 
Lukashenka, implicating him in high-profile disappearances in 1999 and 
2000. The Web site also was blocked on June 23, following extensive 
reports about a dispute over natural gas pricing between the 
Governments of Belarus and Russia.
    On September 7, authorities in Navapolatsk blocked the independent 
Internet resource ximik.info in compliance with the July 1presidential 
edict. According to the Web site's editor, Andrey Alyaksandrau, a 
number of local educational institutions had eliminated access to the 
Web site long before the edict's enforcement. In response to the 
Government's interference and Internet restrictions, many opposition 
groups and independent newspapers switched to Internet domains 
operating outside the country. The few remaining independent media 
sites with domestic ``.by'' domains practiced heavy self-censorship.
    On election day, December 19, both before and during the 
antigovernment demonstration, cyber attacks apparently blocked 
independent news portals and social networks. The Web sites of Charter 
97, Belarusian Partisan, Vyasna, Belarusian Christian Democracy, 
electroname.com, citizenby.org, Salidarnasc, Twitter, Facebook, and 
LiveJournal were all unavailable throughout the country. Access to 
certain news portals, including independent news agency BelaPAN and 
Radio Liberty, was intermittent.
    The Government continued to collect and obtain personally 
identifiable information on independent journalists and democratic 
activists. For example, investigators hacked personal passwords to 
access e-mails, Skype records, and other materials, to read decoded 
files, and to retrieve deleted information on the computers confiscated 
from independent journalists Kalinkina, Koktysh, Khalip, and Radzina 
during raids in February and March.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The Government restricted 
academic freedom and cultural events. Educational institutions were 
required to teach an official state ideology that combined reverence 
for the achievements of the former Soviet Union and of Belarus under 
the leadership of Lukashenka. Use of the word ``academic'' was 
restricted; NGOs were prohibited from including the word ``academy'' in 
their titles. Opportunities to receive a higher education in the 
Belarusian language in the majority of fields of study were scarce. 
Administrations of higher educational institutions made no effort to 
accommodate students wishing to study in Belarusian-language classes.
    In October 2009 Deputy Education Minister Tatsyana Kavalyova stated 
that ideology remained ``the backbone'' of education in the country and 
gave ``special flavor to the educational environment.'' She also noted 
that every educational institution maintained an ideology department.
    During the year authorities harassed, intimidated, and dismissed 
teachers on political grounds. For example, Minsk regional education 
official Taisa Danilevich warned six local schoolteachers that they 
would be dismissed if they did not disavow their membership in 
opposition parties.
    In May authorities dismissed Belarusian language teacher Syarhey 
Salodkin from a school in the village of Koptsi. Salodkin published the 
bulletin Poklich Voli, circulation fewer than 300 copies, which the 
local education department considered ``opposition.'' Salodkin also 
refused to join the state-run trade union.
    On June 11, the Belarus State University of Culture and Arts 
dismissed prominent playwright Andrey Kureychyk for his public support 
of the Tell the Truth information campaign leaders who were detained 
and arrested in May. Following extensive criticism in the independent 
media, Kureychyk was offered his job back on July 18.
    Government-mandated textbooks contained a heavily propagandized 
version of history and other subjects. All schools, including private 
institutions, were considered political bodies that must follow state 
orders and could not be led by opposition members. The education 
minister has the right to appoint and dismiss the heads of private 
educational institutions.
    The BRYU continued its efforts to promote ideological purity among 
students. University students reportedly were pressured to join the 
BRYU to receive benefits and rooms in dormitories. Local authorities 
also pressured BRYU members to campaign on behalf of government 
candidates. In addition authorities at times pressured students to act 
as informants for the country's security services.
    According to an education ministry directive, educational 
institutions may expel students who engage in antigovernment or 
unsanctioned political activity and are to maintain the proper 
ideological education of students. During the year at least six 
students were expelled for political reasons, compared with three or 
more in 2009, at least 10 in 2008, 20 in 2007, and more than 100 in 
2006. Some school officials continued to cite poor academic performance 
or absence from classes as reasons for the expulsions.
    In February the Belarus Science and Technologies University 
expelled first-year student Syarhey Kuryanovich for his participation 
in activities of the unregistered European Belarus coalition. 
Professors told Kuryanovich privately that they were forced to grade 
him low and expel him for his subsequent academic failures.
    On March 5, the private Institute for Parliamentary Studies and 
Entrepreneurship expelled Marat Abramouski after he announced he would 
run in local elections.
    In March a university in Mahilyou expelled Stanislau Ramanovich, a 
Malady Front local leader, for his political activities. Two KGB 
officers interrogated Ramanovich at the university in January and 
threatened him with expulsion.
    On March 24, Iryna Hubskaya, a second-year student and a democratic 
candidate in local elections, was expelled from a private university in 
Minsk, allegedly for missing classes.
    During the year Franak Vyachorka, a prominent opposition youth 
leader who was expelled from BSU in 2008 and forcibly drafted in 2009, 
applied for enrollment to five universities. Four of them denied his 
application in September, one never responded, and Vyachorka complained 
to the Education Ministry that he was ``denied the right to receive 
higher education in Belarus.'' BSU previously rejected eight 
application requests from Vyachorka and told him in September that he 
could be reinstated as a correspondence student of the philology 
department starting on February 1, 2011.
    On November 3, the International Liberal Arts and Economics 
Institute expelled fifth-year student Uladzimir Kumets for 
participating in the nomination group of presidential candidate and 
Tell the Truth campaign leader Uladzimir Nyaklyaeu. During a meeting on 
November 10, the head of the institute reportedly promised Nyaklyaeu 
that Kumets would be reinstated in January 2011. Kumets left the 
country to avoid prosecution after the December 19 crackdown.
    The Belarusian State University expelled Malady Front activist 
Tatsyana Shaputska following her return from the Eastern Partnership 
Civil Society Forum in Brussels in November 2009. Although the foreign 
minister claimed that she was expelled for poor attendance, Shaputska 
reportedly was told that the reason for her expulsion was that she 
failed to gain permission for the trip from the law faculty dean. On 
January 28, the Education Ministry turned down her reinstatement 
request, stating that there were no ``legal grounds'' for revoking 
expulsion orders. A Minsk district court dismissed Shaputska's appeal 
on March 26.
    Human rights advocates announced in November that BSU expelled a 
fifth-year journalism student for being featured in an anti-Lukashenka 
video clip posted to YouTube prior to the election.
    In December the Committee for the Protection of the Repressed 
Solidarity reported that opposition youth activist Mikhail Mikulich was 
expelled from the Belarusian State Pedagogical University for political 
reasons.
    The Government continued to ban teachers and democratic activists 
from promoting the wider use of the Belarusian language and the 
preservation of its culture. For example, on September 5, police in 
Khoyniki briefly detained Maryia Tulzhankova, a member of the young 
historians' society Talaka, while she was attending the 2010 Belarus 
Written Language Festival. Officers questioned her about photographing 
folk bands' performances and looked through her pictures. She was 
released without charge.
    The Government also restricted cultural events. During the year, 
the Government continued to force opposition theater groups into such 
venues as bars and private apartments and to suppress unofficial 
commemorations of historical events. For example, on January 27, 
organizers of the public release of the compact disc Belarusian Guitar 
Poet Hits had to look for a different venue for the event at the last 
minute after Minsk city authorities warned the St. Simon and St. Helena 
Catholic Church against holding the affair. The compact disc was 
produced by the unregistered Belarusian Christian Democracy Party.
    At year's end authorities claimed they were not planning to expel 
students who took part in the December 19 postelection demonstration in 
Minsk. BSU administration stated that they would review written 
explanations submitted by students who were arrested and served short-
term sentences before taking further action. On December 28, Viktar 
Iuchankau, spokesman for the Education Ministry, asserted that students 
were ``not expelled from Belarusian universities for political 
reasons.'' According to information released by a state TV channel on 
December 26, 14 percent of those arrested during the December 19 
demonstration were students, and there were credible reports that at 
least 10 of these students were facing expulsion at the end of the year 
for their political activities related to the December 19 
demonstration.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution provides for freedom of peaceful assembly; 
however, the Government severely restricted this right in practice. 
Only registered political parties, trade unions, and NGOs could request 
permission to hold a demonstration of more than 1,000 persons, and 
denials were common. Security forces frequently forcibly dispersed 
participants, often causing injuries (see section 1.c.).
    The law criminalizes participation in the activities of 
unregistered NGOs, training of persons to demonstrate, financing of 
public demonstrations, or solicitation of foreign assistance ``to the 
detriment'' of the country. Violations are punishable by up to three 
years in prison.
    During the year authorities employed a variety of means to 
discourage the holding of demonstrations, to break them up, to minimize 
their impact, and to punish the participants. Organizers must apply at 
least 15 days in advance for permission to conduct a public 
demonstration, rally, or meeting, and government officials are required 
to respond no later than five days prior to the scheduled event. 
However, authorities generally refused permits to opposition groups or 
granted permits only for demonstrations held well away from city 
centers. Authorities used intimidation and threats to discourage 
persons from participating in demonstrations, openly videotaped 
participants, and imposed heavy fines or jail sentences on participants 
in unsanctioned demonstrations. On dozens of occasions authorities 
fined opposition activists and members of NGOs for participating in 
unauthorized protests. On many occasions police and other security 
officials beat and detained demonstrators before, during, and after 
unsanctioned peaceful demonstrations (see section 1.c.).
    On March 16, 14 opposition supporters who held a rally in front of 
the Supreme Court to show support for the Vaukavysk activists on trial 
were detained and charged with holding an unsanctioned event. European 
Belarus campaign activists Maksim Vinyarski, Palina Kuryanovich, and 
Palina Dzyakava were held in custody overnight and fined 700,000 rubles 
($235), 1,050,000 rubles ($350), and 1,325,000 ($440), respectively. On 
March 29, a court in Minsk fined youth activist Andrey Kuzminski 
1,400,000 rubles ($465). In April opposition youths Andrey Krechka and 
Aleh Ladutska were fined 700,000 rubles ($235) each, and Artur 
Finkevich and Yauhen Afnahel were fined 17,000 rubles ($6) each.
    On March 23, police arrested three prominent human rights 
advocates, Ales Byalyatski, Valyantsin Stephanovich, and Iryna Toustik 
for protesting against two death penalty executions; police also 
arrested independent journalist Syarhey Sys. They charged all but Sys 
with violating mass events regulations. On March 24, a Minsk district 
court fined the three 17,500 rubles ($6) each.
    Authorities took various measures to deter efforts by prodemocracy 
activists to celebrate the March 25 anniversary of the country's 
declaration of independence in 1918, an event the Government does not 
recognize. Authorities rejected democratic activists' applications to 
hold the annual March 25 Freedom Day demonstration and to march 
downtown, as well as one on April 26 commemorating the Chernobyl 
disaster in central Minsk. Instead they gave permission for the group 
to gather at the Academy of Sciences building and demonstrate in a 
secluded park outside central Minsk.
    A few hours before the planned demonstration, security forces 
apprehended Yury Karetnikau, the leader of the NGO Right Alliance, at 
the Minsk railway station. Police detained a group of Right Alliance 
activists for an identification and vehicle check on the road from Lida 
to Minsk. Without a warrant they confiscated 20 unregistered white-red-
white opposition flags and 500 Belarusian Popular Front emblems from 
opposition youth activist Andrey Krechka in Minsk. In Asipovichy, 
Belarusian Popular Front activist Ihar Simbirau's residence was 
searched, and police questioned four Belarusian Christian Democracy 
members at a railroad station in Babruysk, thus preventing them from 
boarding a train on time. On March 25, in Homyel, security officers 
took the local For Freedom movement activist Pyotr Kuznyatou off the 
Minsk-bound train. Police also hampered the delivery of the sound 
amplifying equipment to the demonstration venue.
    Young Belarus member Anton Rusin was detained prior to the March 
25, demonstration, along with his associate Tsimafey Dranchuk, who was 
taken to the emergency room from the police precinct due to high blood 
pressure. On March 26, a court in Minsk fined Rusin 875,000 rubles 
($290) on minor hooliganism charges.
    Despite the Government's actions, on March 25, approximately 1,000 
democracy activists demonstrated peacefully at the designated site; 
however, police in full riot gear blocked a group of 500 of the 
participants from marching toward downtown Minsk.
    On April 26, authorities took heightened security measures at the 
site of the peaceful demonstration attended by approximately 1,500 
persons by fencing off the premises in front of the Academy of Sciences 
building and installing metal detectors around the perimeter. 
Alyaksandr Lastouski, the Minsk city police spokesperson, noted that 
similar measures would be taken during any street rallies in which 
participation was expected to exceed 500 persons, in order ``to ensure 
the safety of Belarusian citizens.''
    Officials in Brest denied opposition political groups authorization 
to organize Labor Day marches on May 1, alleging that they could 
disrupt traffic.
    In May, Minsk authorities refused a request from opposition 
politician Ales Mikhalevich and his associates to hold a rally in front 
of the National Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War to 
protest plans for its demolition.
    On May 7, police briefly detained seven opposition activists, 
including United Civic Party leader Anatol Lyabedzka, for demonstrating 
in Minsk to mark the 11th anniversary of the 1999 disappearance of Yury 
Zakharanka. On the same day a Minsk district court fined the seven from 
350,000 ($115) to 1,050,000 rubles ($350). Also on May 7, in Brest two 
human rights activists were detained for distributing leaflets 
including information on the Zakharanka case.
    On May 12, former political prisoner Alyaksandr Kazulin was given a 
700,000 ruble ($235) fine, and fines of 525,000 rubles ($175) each were 
given to Small Business Council leader Alyaksandr Makayeu and to Malady 
Front activists Mikalay Dzemidzenka and Uladzimir Yaromenka, on charges 
that they used obscene language during a May 6 protest in front of the 
Supreme Court.
    On June 21, Minsk authorities denied the unregistered Russian 
National Bolshevik Party representatives permission to protest in the 
city center against the presidential edict on Internet regulations. 
Earlier, on June 10, 50 activists peacefully gathered at a remote park 
for a sanctioned demonstration against the edict.
    On June 23, riot police dispersed an unauthorized rally against 
Edict no. 60 by Russian National Bolshevik Party activists; police 
detained five activists, who remained in custody overnight. The next 
day Yauhen Kontush, the leader of the group, was fined 875,000 rubles 
($290), and the four others were fined 175,000 rubles ($60) each.
    On July 12, a Homyel district court turned down an appeal from 
democratic groups challenging a ban on rallies to mark June 1, 
International Children's Day. Authorities refused 34 applications for 
demonstrations related to the occasion.
    On July 15, police arrested approximately 70 activists near the 
national library in Minsk. The young participants planned to stage a 
pillow fight to mark the 600th anniversary of the 1410 Grunewald 
battle. All except former political prisoner and youth leader Andrey 
Kim were released three hours later without charges. Kim was kept in 
custody overnight. The next day a court fined Kim 17,500 rubles ($6) 
for holding an unsanctioned mass event.
    On July 24, police in Mahilyou broke up a protest by Russian 
National Bolshevik Party representatives against the Internet edict. 
Party activist Valyantsin Labachou was detained for an hour and taken 
to a police station for an identification check.
    On July 26, police in Homyel detained at least 10 activists, 
including human rights advocate Anatol Paplauny, who demonstrated to 
mark the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of 
Belarus' Sovereignty. Police confiscated their printed materials. In 
separate incidents on the same day, officers briefly detained four 
other democracy activists.
    On July 27, police in Minsk also dispersed opposition activists 
marking the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of 
Belarus' Sovereignty and briefly detained several participants.
    On August 16, eight opposition activists were arrested during an 
unsanctioned Solidarity Day rally in Minsk; they were released without 
charges three hours later.
    On July 27, police in Salihorsk detained local Malady Front 
activists Andrey Tychyna and Ryhor Astapenya for attempting to hold a 
commemoration of the adoption of the Declaration of Belarus' 
Sovereignty. On August 24, a court fined them 700,000 ($235) each for 
disobeying police orders.
    In August authorities in Brest, Kamyanets, Malaryta, and Mahilyou 
denied the request of Tell the Truth campaign activists to demonstrate, 
to display placards, and to collect signatures in support of campaign 
leader Uladzimir Nyaklyaeu's nomination to the Fourth All-Belarusian 
People's Assembly.
    On August 5, a district court in Minsk fined opposition activists 
Mikalay Dzemidzenka and Katsyaryna Davydzik 105,000 rubles ($35) each, 
and Vyachaslau Siuchyk and Andrey Kim 350,000 rubles ($115) each for 
participating in an unauthorized demonstration on July 27, the occasion 
of the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Belarus' 
Sovereignty. All were detained overnight and released.
    On August 12, the Minsk city government denied opposition forces 
permission to march and rally on August 16 to mark the monthly 
Solidarity Day and the high-profile disappearances of 1999 and 2000. 
Their application contained errors, according to officials.
    On August 16, police arrested eight opposition activists during an 
unsanctioned demonstration on the Solidarity Day in northern Minsk. All 
were required to write written explanations of their activities at a 
police station and were released three hours later without charge.
    On August 17, authorities in Mahilyou denied activists of the 
unregistered Party of Freedom and Progress permission to hold small 
demonstrations in the city to call for infrastructure improvements to 
roads and hospitals. Activists also planned to collect signatures for a 
petition favoring the construction of two outpatient clinics in remote 
neighborhoods and for road repairs. Mahilyou authorities designated a 
site in front of a deserted building in the city outskirts as a venue 
for demonstrations.
    In Brest authorities turned down applications from democracy 
activists to hold a demonstration in the city center on August 30 to 
mark the International Day of the Disappeared. Instead, they were 
instructed to stage it at a remote stadium which remained the only 
authorized demonstration venue in Brest.
    On September 9, more than 50 opposition youths were briefly 
detained for their attempt to stage another unsanctioned pillow fight 
in central Minsk. Police questioned them and released without charge.
    In September members of the unregistered Belarusian Christian 
Democracy Party and other democracy activists staged a number of 
unauthorized protests against Minsk city authorities' plans to convert 
the former Catholic Bernardine monastery into a hotel and entertainment 
center. Although most of the demonstrations proceeded peacefully, on 
September 16 security forces arrested at least 18 activists on their 
way to the protest, fingerprinted them at a police station, and 
released them without charges hours later. Opposition activist 
Vyachaslau Siuchyk complained that his wife and son were beaten when 
they attempted to enter the precinct. On September 20, Belarusian 
Christian Democracy co-chair Paval Sevyarynets, three Malady Front 
leaders, and two more activists were detained, reportedly battered in a 
police bus, and harassed at a precinct. The next day on their way to a 
protest seven activists, including Belarusian Christian Democracy co-
chair Vital Rymasheuski, were detained by police for more than two 
hours and then released without charge.
    On September 24, Homyel opposition activists Vasil Palyakou and 
Valer Repnin were fined 1,050,000 rubles ($350) each for illegally 
distributing greeting cards on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of 
the adoption of the Declaration of Belarus' Sovereignty on July 26.
    On October 2, four Malady Front activists were detained for three 
hours for disseminating printed materials about demonstrations at the 
Bernardine monastery. Police threatened the youths with expulsion from 
their universities and dismissal from their jobs if they continued such 
political activities.
    On October 29, police in Minsk prevented a group of democracy 
activists from holding an event inside a grocery store to raise 
awareness about domestic violence, despite an agreement between the 
activists and store management. Minsk authorities denied a number of 
activists' applications to stage a similar event in central Minsk.
    On November 2, Minsk authorities denied opposition youths 
permission to organize a demonstration in favor of renaming the Lenin 
subway station, citing regulations prohibiting mass events within 200 
meters of subway stations. On November 16, police blocked opposition 
activists from marching to the presidential administration building 
from the Kastrychnitskaya Square in downtown Minsk. Although no one was 
arrested, plainclothes security officers recorded the demonstration and 
forced the demonstrators to disperse, threatening them with criminal 
charges for holding an unauthorized protest.
    On November 22, police in Vitsyebsk detained civil society activist 
Yan Dzyarzhautsau and independent media distributor Barys Khamayda for 
holding an unauthorized picket urging a boycott of the presidential 
election. A court fined Dzyarzhautsau 350,000 rubles ($115) and 
sentenced Khamayda to five days in jail on the same day for having 
numerously violated mass events regulations. However, a higher court 
dropped the charges and released Khamayda after he had served a day in 
jail.
    In late November, Homyel city authorities refused an application 
from local human rights advocates Leanid Sudalenka and Anatol Paplauny 
to stage a rally to mark International Human Rights Day on December 10. 
Officials cited many reasons for the denial, including the applicants' 
failure to cover police and ambulance expenses. Authorities also 
claimed that demonstrations were not permitted in central Homyel and 
would only be authorized for locations on the outskirts of the city.
    On the evening of election day, December 19, police forcibly 
dispersed a crowd estimated to number 20,000-30,000 which assembled on 
Kastrychnitskaya Square and marched to the Independence square in Minsk 
to protest vote fraud in the presidential elections. Scores of persons 
were injured, including presidential candidates Uladzimir Nyaklyaeu, 
Andrey Sannikau, and Vital Rymasheuski. Over 700 persons were detained, 
according to independent human rights groups. Authorities appeared 
determined to disrupt the previously planned unauthorized 
demonstrations. Even before the polls closed, police stopped a group of 
protesters led by presidential candidate Nyaklyaeu and a van carrying a 
sound system for the demonstration. While the check was in progress, a 
group of unidentified men in black uniforms believed to be special 
forces jumped out of nearby vehicles and tossed stun grenades at the 
group. Nyaklyaeu was beaten in the attack and authorities seized the 
group's sound equipment. Supporters took Nyaklyaeu to a hospital for 
treatment, but unidentified men believed to be secret service officers 
later abducted him from his hospital bed and roughly handled his wife 
in the process. After more than 24 hours of denial by police and 
security services that Nyaklyaeu had been detained, Lukashenka revealed 
at a press conference in response to a reporter's question that 
Nyaklyaeu was being detained in a KGB detention center.
    At about 10:30 pm, after a small group of individuals, some alleged 
to be provocateurs, broke windows in one of the principal government 
buildings housing the parliament, the Central Election Commission, and 
the council of ministers, riot police charged the main group of 
demonstrators who had not been involved in any window breaking. As they 
cleared the square, police trampled upon or indiscriminately beat 
scores of protesters, journalists, and bystanders with batons and 
fists. In many cases police chased protesters for blocks in order to 
arrest them. Other participants were rounded up in the following days. 
While most of the demonstrators were released after serving 
administrative sentences of 10 to 15 days, authorities on or about 
December 29 charged at least 22 opposition leaders and activists, 
including five presidential candidates with ``organizing and 
participating in mass disturbances,'' offenses that could carry 
penalties of up to 15 years' imprisonment, and investigations of a 
number of other opposition leaders were underway at year's end.
    In the wake of December 19 demonstration, security officers 
continued to harass and jail activists who protested the police actions 
on that night. For example, on December 27 a Minsk court sentenced 
opposition youth activists Mikhail Pashkevich to 15 days in jail; Volha 
Damarad, Mikhail Matskevich, and Ales Kirkevich to 10 days in jail; and 
Dzmitry Shurkhay to five days in jail for demonstrating in front of the 
pretrial detention facility on December 21. Police detained three more 
opposition youth demonstrators on December 29 and held them at pretrial 
detention facilities overnight. On December 30, the three were jailed 
for protesting: Franak Vyachorka and Andrey Krechka were imprisoned for 
12 days and Anton Koipish for 10 days.
    Police also used preemptive arrests and detentions to prevent 
democratic activists' participation in protests. For example, on 
January 11, a court in Navahrudak convicted local Belarusian Christian 
Democracy member Yury Kazak of malicious hooliganism and fined him 
8,750,000 rubles ($2,915). Police detained Kazak and his associate 
Darya Bakhur on November 7, 2009, the 92nd anniversary of the October 
Russian Revolution, which was observed as a holiday, after a bust of 
Lenin in the city center was splashed with green paint. Bakhur was 
released without charge.
    On December 9, a court in Krupki convicted prominent artist Ales 
Pushkin of using foul language and resisting police officers, and 
sentenced him to 13 days in jail. Police had arrested Pushkin at his 
home the previous day.
    On December 17, police arrested Nyaklyaeu campaigner Kiryl 
Semyanchuk in Hrodna. The next day, Semyanchuk was sentenced to six 
days in jail. Aleh Kalyankou was sentenced to three days in jail on 
December 19. Both men were charged with participating in an 
unauthorized rally against early voting held in Hrodna in December.
    On December 18, a court in Homyel jailed Rymasheuski's aide Yury 
Klimovich for 15 days for allegedly using obscenities in public.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association; however, the Government severely restricted it in 
practice.
    The Government enforced laws and registration regulations to 
restrict the operation of independent associations that might be 
critical of the Government. All NGOs, political parties, and trade 
unions must register with the Ministry of Justice. A government 
commission reviews and approves all registration applications; in 
practice its decisions were based largely on political and ideological 
compatibility with the Government's authoritarian philosophy.
    Registration procedures required applicants to provide the number 
and names of founders, along with a physical address in a 
nonresidential building, an extraordinary burden. Individuals listed as 
members are vulnerable to retribution. The Government's refusal to rent 
office space to unregistered organizations and the expense of renting 
private space forced most organizations to violate the nonresidential 
address requirement. This allowed authorities to deregister existing 
organizations and deny their reregistration.
    During the year the Government denied registration to numerous NGOs 
and political parties on a variety of pretexts, including ``technical'' 
problems with applications. Authorities frequently harassed and 
intimidated individuals who identified themselves as founding members 
of organizations in an effort to induce them to abandon their 
membership and thus deprive groups of the number of petitioners 
necessary for registration. Many of the rejected groups had previously 
sought and been denied registration on multiple occasions. The 
Government continued deregistering groups during the year.
    On February 18, the Supreme Court turned down an appeal challenging 
the regional justice department's refusal to register the human rights 
NGO Berastseiskaya Vyasna in the Brest region. Authorities cited the 
organization's failure to submit a copy of the registration fee receipt 
as a reason for the refusal. On August 20, the department turned down 
the NGO's tenth registration request saying that one of the addresses 
on the form was inaccurate. On November 16, the Supreme Court dismissed 
Berastseiskaya Vyasna's appeal.
    In July 2009 the Supreme Court upheld the Ministry of Justice's 
April denial of registration of the Belarusian Christian Democracy 
Party, citing technical flaws in the party's registration documents. 
The party again attempted to register in December 2009, and the Justice 
Ministry once again denied registration on the grounds that the party 
had allegedly provided false information about its founders. On 
February 18, the Supreme Court upheld the Justice Ministry's denial. 
The party's cochairs Paval Sevyarynets, Vital Rymasheuski, and Dzyanis 
Sadouski were banned from the courtroom when the judge announced the 
verdict, although foreign diplomats and journalists were allowed to 
observe. On October 25, the Justice Ministry denied the party's third 
registration attempt, claiming other technical problems with the 
application. Sevyarynets called the refusal ``politically motivated'' 
and said authorities continued to exert pressure on members to disavow 
their affiliation with the party.
    On May 5, the Supreme Court turned down an appeal from the Assembly 
of Democratic NGOs to challenge the ministry's third registration 
refusal. Despite the court's recognition of some of the Assembly's 
arguments as valid, the judge ruled against the appeal.
    On May 26, the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal filed by the local 
office of the Kyiv-based International Helsinki Association for Human 
Rights to challenge a Justice Ministry's registration denial.
    On May 28, the Supreme Court rejected a complaint from the Malady 
Front challenging its sixth registration denial. The justice ministry 
refused the application citing lack of a proper legal address and 
numerous administrative and criminal convictions of its members.
    On October 15, the Minsk Economic Court terminated registration of 
the Right Alliance NGO based on authorities' allegations that the NGO 
was carrying out illegal political activities.
    On November 10, authorities deregistered the Movement Forward NGO, 
which had supported the Tell the Truth campaign. The Minsk Economic 
Court ruled that the NGO's lease was invalid and that the NGO 
subsequently did not secure a legal address for official registration.
    On November 18, a prosecutor in Hrodna issued a warning to Malady 
Front deputy chair Ales Kirkevich that he could be held criminally 
liable for acting on behalf on an unregistered organization.
    In August 2009 the Supreme Court rejected a registration denial 
appeal by prominent human rights NGO Vyasna. This was the third denial 
since the Government stripped Vyasna of its registration in 2003. The 
Justice Ministry stated that the NGO failed to document the precise 
meaning behind its name and asserted that many of its founders had 
administrative or criminal records that made them inappropriate 
advocates for human rights work. During the year Vyasna remained active 
but did not attempt to register.
    During the year the Ministry of Justice indicated that it continued 
to issue written warnings to NGOs, political parties, and trade unions. 
Harassment in the form of inspections by security officials and 
confiscation of political literature continued.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement, including the right to emigrate. However, the Government at 
times restricted the right of its citizens to foreign travel. The 
Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for 
Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations in providing 
protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, refugees, 
returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and persons of 
concern.
    The Government maintained a database of persons who were banned 
from traveling abroad. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 
the list contained the names of at least 120,000 persons who were 
prohibited from foreign travel, including those who possessed state 
secrets, were facing criminal prosecution or civil suits, or had 
outstanding financial commitments. Opposition politicians and civil 
society activists criticized the database, saying it restricted freedom 
of travel. Some persons were informed by letter that their names were 
in the database; others were informed at border crossings. In some 
cases opposition activists were either turned away at the border or 
detained for lengthy searches. For example, on November 2 in Homyel, 
border guards conducted two separate searches of four Tell the Truth 
campaign activists from Mahilyou returning to the country on a train 
from Kyiv. On November 4, officers detained and searched for two hours 
Hrodna activists Uladzimir Khilmanovich and Viktar Sazonau after they 
arrived by train from Poland.
    Under a presidential decree, any student who wishes to study abroad 
must obtain permission from the minister of education. The decree, 
ostensibly intended to counter trafficking in persons, also requires 
the Ministry of Interior to track citizens working abroad and obliges 
travel agencies to report individuals who do not return from abroad as 
scheduled.
    The law also requires persons who travel to areas within 15 miles 
of the border to obtain an entrance pass.
    The law does not allow forced exile, but sources assert that 
security forces threatened opposition leaders with bodily harm or 
prosecution if they did not leave the country. The law allows internal 
exile, known as khimiya, for persons convicted of crimes, and 
authorities employed it during the year.
    Many university students who had been expelled or were under threat 
of expulsion for their political activities opted for self-imposed 
exile. Since 2006 more than 500 students left the country to continue 
their studies at foreign universities, and at least 44 students were 
still enrolled in programs in Poland at the end of the year.
    Internal passports, a form of national identity card, were required 
for permanent housing, work, and hotel registration. Police continued 
to harass individuals who lived at a location other than the legal 
place of residence indicated in their internal passports.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees. In practice the Government 
provided protection against expulsion or return of refugees to 
countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account 
of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social 
group, or political opinion.
    While all foreigners have the right to apply for asylum, no Russian 
nationals received either refugee status or complementary protection in 
the country. Immigration authorities and courts asserted that under the 
terms of treaties on the union between Belarus and Russia and as a 
result of the equal rights of citizens in each country, Russians can 
legally settle and obtain residence permits in the country based on 
their Russian citizenship and therefore do not need asylum. 
Nevertheless, immigration authorities did accept 14 asylum applications 
from Russian citizens during the year.
    Asylum seekers have freedom of movement within the country but must 
reside in the region where they filed their applications for refugee 
status and in a place known to the authorities. Authorities reportedly 
often required asylum seekers to settle in rural areas. Change of 
residence was possible only with notification to authorities. 
Authorities issue registered asylum seekers certificates that serve as 
identification documents and protect them from expulsion. In accordance 
with the law, they must also register with local authorities to obtain 
internal passports.

    Stateless Persons.--The UNHCR listed 7,731 stateless persons at 
year's end, down from a total of 7,799 persons in January.
    Citizenship is derived either by birth within the country's 
territory or from one's parents; if one parent is a citizen, the child 
is a citizen regardless of place of birth.
    Arbitrary detention of, and violence against, stateless persons 
generally were not problems. However, stateless persons faced 
discrimination in employment because authorities often required them to 
settle in rural areas and prohibited them from seeking jobs outside of 
the regions where they lived. In practice stateless persons could not 
change their region of residence.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The law provides the right for citizens to change their government 
peacefully; however, the Government denied citizens this right in 
practice.
    Since his election in 1994 to a five-year term as the country's 
first president, Lukashenka steadily consolidated power in the 
executive branch to dominate all branches of government, effectively 
ending any separation of power among the branches of government. Flawed 
referenda in 1996 and 2004 amended the constitution to broaden his 
powers, extend his term in office, and remove presidential term limits. 
Subsequent presidential elections, including the one held on December 
19, continued to deny citizens the right to express their will to 
choose between opposing candidates in an honest and transparent process 
with fair access to media and resources. The September 2008 
parliamentary elections fell significantly short of international 
standards for democratic elections, according to the final report by 
the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) 
observation mission. Despite the president's stated intent to conduct a 
free and fair election, authorities impeded constitutional rights of 
expression, association, and assembly. All of the 110 candidates 
declared winners were supporters of Lukashenka's policies.

    Elections and Political Participation.--The December 19 
presidential election was marred by numerous violations of procedures 
and an absence of transparency and accountability that led the OSCE/
ODIHR mission observation to report that the country still had ``a 
considerable way to go in meeting its international commitments.'' 
OSCE/ODIHR observers assessed the vote count as ``bad or very bad in 
almost half of all observed polling stations,'' with clear instances of 
ballot stuffing and tampering. Although opposition candidates enjoyed 
somewhat greater freedom to enter the race and promote their 
candidacies than in some earlier elections, preelection campaigning 
remained extremely limited, and government harassment of independent 
newspapers, opposition political parties, and independent NGOs 
throughout the year limited the opposition's ability to mount effective 
campaigns (see sections 1.f, 2.a, and 4). According to the OSCE/ODIHR 
mission, broadcasters nationwide devoted 90 percent of their political 
coverage to the incumbent president. What coverage there was of 
opposition candidates was overwhelmingly negative. Despite a nominal 
increase in opposition representation, authorities continued to exclude 
opposition representatives from election commissions at all levels. The 
Central Election Commission had four opposition members in advisory, 
nonvoting roles. Local polling places were administered almost 
exclusively by electoral commissions made up of Lukashenka supporters, 
sometimes masquerading as progovernment NGOs or pro-Lukashenka 
political parties, or employees of state-owned enterprises and public 
sector. The majority of observers at local polling place appeared to be 
similarly supportive of the regime, and many of them received 
instructions in advance to report that the proceedings were ``in 
order.''
    However, the most serious violations took place after the polls 
closed, when, as the OSCE mission observed, the situation 
``deteriorated significantly.'' In many precincts ballots from early 
voting and those cast using mobile ballot boxes, which could not be 
monitored effectively by independent observers, were mixed together 
with those cast at the precinct on election day, a violation of the 
country's election law. In many instances international observers 
reported that counting was conducted silently and at a sufficient 
distance as to make evaluation of the count impossible. There were a 
number of reports that vote totals changed as the ballot boxes were 
transported between local precincts and the territorial election 
commission offices. No genuinely independent organizations were 
permitted to conduct exit polls, but in the opinion of the independent 
NGO For Fair Elections, which monitored 250 polling stations across the 
country, the president failed to gain the 50 percent of the vote 
necessary to avoid a runoff. The official results gave him 79.65 
percent of the vote against nine other candidates. The head of the 
OSCE/ ODIHR mission observed the next day that ``a positive assessment 
of this election isn't possible.''
    There were instances in which state-owned printing houses refused 
to produce opposition leaflets. Supporters of opposition candidates 
also reported harassment by authorities, including seizure of campaign 
materials. Government-controlled print media, including the newspapers 
Respublika and Narodnaya Gazeta, required some opposition candidates to 
censor their election platforms prior to publication to remove 
criticism of the incumbent and calls for demonstrations on the night of 
December 19. Political parties continued to receive formal ``warnings'' 
for minor offenses under a law that allows authorities to suspend 
parties for six months after one warning and close them after two. The 
law also prohibits political parties from receiving support from abroad 
and requires all political groups and coalitions to register with the 
Ministry of Justice.
    Authorities continued to harass the unrecognized Union of Poles and 
its members (see section 6).
    During the year there were multiple cases of youth members of 
political opposition groups forcibly conscripted into the military. 
There were also reports of discrimination and harassment against them 
while in military service (see section 1.f.).
    There were 35 women in the 110-member Chamber of Representatives 
and 19 women in the 64-member Council of the Republic. A woman chaired 
one of the Chamber of Representative's 20 committees and there was one 
woman in the 40-member Council of Ministers.
    No high level members of government or the National Assembly openly 
identified themselves as members of a minority, although several were 
ethnic Poles or members of other ethnic groups.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, reports indicated officials continued to engage in corrupt 
practices. The World Bank's worldwide governance indicators reflected 
that corruption was a serious problem in the country. According to 
Prosecutor General Ryhor Vasilevich, the majority of the corruption 
cases involved accepting and soliciting bribes, fraud, and abuse of 
power.
    On June 2, Deputy Prosecutor General Viktar Konan asserted that 
public sector employees should tour prisons as a part of national 
anticorruption campaign. Soon after, representatives of various 
ministries reportedly visited a detention center in Minsk. Konan 
criticized the council of ministers and regional executive authorities 
for failing to tackle corruption effectively and stated that the 
ministries of economy and finance were responsible for one-third of all 
corruption crimes.
    The lack of transparency between the president's personal funds and 
official government accounts and a heavy reliance on off-budget 
revenues suggested corruption within the executive branch.
    Petty corruption among police was widespread. According to the 
interior ministry, 140 corruption-related criminal cases were opened 
against police officers during the year. Military Prosecutor Alyaksandr 
Dranitsa said on June 27 that the number of crimes committed by staff 
of the armed forces was on decline. Corruption offenses accounted for 
15 percent of all crimes by military personnel, according to Dranitsa. 
He acknowledged that hazing remained the most widespread crime 
registered in the military.
    A 2008 anticorruption law expanded the list of professions 
described as vulnerable to corruption, designated the prosecutor 
general's office as the coordinator of anticorruption efforts, and 
prohibited government officials from having foreign bank accounts or 
engaging in nepotism. In April 2009 the president signed a decree 
extending the authority to investigate corruption cases beyond 
prosecutors to include also the interior ministry and the KGB.
    The prosecutor general reported that during the year authorities 
registered 3,637 corruption crimes, up 8.1 percent from the previous 
year. Bribery accounted for 36.4 percent of cases, fraud for 28.8 
percent, and embezzlement through abuse of office for 23.7 percent. 
Vasilevich claimed that corruption offenses often stemmed from the 
Government's failing to take proper measures to prevent and combat 
corruption.
    There were numerous corruption prosecutions during the year; 
however, prosecutions remained selective and were in some cases 
politically motivated.
    On February 10, a court in Baranavichy sentenced a former local 
financial police chief to five years in prison for facilitating illegal 
business activities and tax evasion.
    On March 25, the Military Court convicted Yauhen Kamarnitski, a 
former deputy head of the State Border Committee, of accepting large 
bribes and sentenced him to five years of house arrest on account of 
his poor health. His accomplice in the case, Alyaksandr Aparovich, a 
former deputy chief of the Smarhon border unit, was sentenced to four 
years in prison.
    On May 7, the Supreme Court sentenced former Minsk regional 
prosecutor Mikhail Snyahir to seven years in prison following closed-
door court proceedings. Snyahir was charged with abuse of authority, 
accepting bribes, and illegal possession of arms.
    On June 22, the Minsk regional court sentenced Mikhail Tsyhan, a 
former head of a Minsk district, to eight years in prison. He was 
convicted of bribery, abuse of authority, embezzlement, and illegal 
activities involving ammunition.
    On August 12, a court sentenced Arkadz Karputs, a former 
chairperson of the Hrodna regional council and a member of the upper 
chamber of the parliament, to two years in jail on a bribery charge. 
Karputs reportedly pleaded guilty.
    On October 25, prosecutors extended rigid house arrest for 
Svyatlana Baykova, a former senior investigator with the prosecutor 
general's office. The KGB arrested Baykova on February 25 and charged 
her with abuse of office and illegally dropping criminal charges 
against some suspects in a high-profile smuggling case which involved 
Hramovich. Baykova wrote a letter to the president seeking her release 
and pledging to assist him in combating corruption.
    On November 3, the Military Court sentenced the chief of the 
district military recruitment office in Barysau, Dzmitry Pshanko, to 
four years in prison and property forfeiture for bribery, fraud, and 
power abuse. Pshanko was arrested in December 2009 when he was 
accepting a $450 bribe from a young man for deferring his compulsory 
military service on medical grounds. The case featured at least four 
additional instances of bribery.
    On November 9, the Hrodna regional prosecutor's office told the 
press that Henadz Khatsko, the former chief of the Hrodna regional 
police department, could avoid criminal charge if he reimbursed the 
Government 11 million rubles ($3,700). Khatsko, who had fled the 
country, returned and voluntarily appeared before the police on 
November 5. He was charged with abuse of office and bribery, and 
released on his own recognizance. The case was pending at year's end.
    On December 24, the Defense Ministry announced that Commander-in-
Chief of the Air and Air Defense Forces Ihar Azaronak was arrested and 
charged on December 30 with abuse of office and accepting large bribes. 
He remained in custody at year's end.
    In January 2009 the prosecutor general announced the arrest of the 
former chief of the Financial Investigations Department of the State 
Control Committee, Anatol Hramovich, for abuse of power, bribery, and 
customs duty evasion. On May 21, the Belarus Military Court commenced 
hearings against Hramovich behind closed doors. There were no reports 
of further developments in his case before year's end.
    In March 2009 the KGB opened a major corruption case against a 
number of senior-level interior ministry personnel in Homyel region. 
Authorities reportedly arrested and charged the officials with bribery 
and other corruption-related offenses. On February 17, the Supreme 
Court sentenced three police officials to between three and four years 
in jail. An additional defendant was convicted, but was found eligible 
for amnesty and released.
    The law, government policies, and a presidential decree severely 
restricted public access to government information. Citizens had some 
access to certain categories of information on government databases and 
Web sites; however, much of the information was neither up-to-date nor 
complete.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    There were a number of active domestic human rights NGOs; however, 
authorities were often hostile to their efforts, did not cooperate with 
them, and were not responsive to their views. Three prominent human 
rights NGOs, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, the Center for Human 
Rights, and the Center for Legal Transformations, remained registered. 
A variety of unregistered NGOs, including Vyasna, Charter 97, the 
Committee for the Protection of the Repressed ``Solidarity,'' the Human 
Rights Alliance, Legal Assistance to the Population, and For Religious 
Freedom, continued to operate in spite of systematic harassment from 
authorities.
    Following the flawed December presidential election, authorities 
raided the offices of some NGOs, seizing computers and other equipment. 
The president announced that the Minsk office of the OSCE would be 
closed, and authorities refused to extend the mandate of the OSCE Minsk 
Office past December 31 despite a clear desire by the OSCE to continue 
its work in the country.
    Authorities harassed both registered and unregistered NGOs, 
subjected them to frequent inspections and threats of deregistration, 
and monitored their correspondence and telephone conversations. 
Authorities harassed family members of NGO leaders and civil society 
activists (see section 1.f.). The Government ignored reports issued by 
human rights NGOs and rarely met with them. State-run media did not 
report on human rights NGOs and their actions; independent media that 
reported on human rights issues were subject to closure and harassment.
    The Government refused to register numerous NGOs and continued to 
harass them under articles 193 and 193.1 of the criminal code, which 
criminalizes organizing or participating in any activity by an 
unregistered organization. The law also prohibits persons from acting 
on behalf of unregistered NGOs. Between 2006 and 2009 courts convicted 
17 persons of crimes under article 193.1. Several domestic and 
international human rights groups, including Amnesty International, 
continued to urge the Government to abolish article 193.1 and to remove 
other legal obstacles that hindered the work of NGOs and allowed 
official harassment of civil society and youth activists.
    Authorities can close an NGO after issuing only one warning that it 
violated the law. The most common pretexts that prompted a warning or 
closure were failure to obtain a legal address and technical 
discrepancies in application documents. The law allows authorities to 
close an NGO for accepting illegal forms of foreign assistance and 
permits the Ministry of Justice to participate in any NGO activity and 
to review all NGO documents. NGOs also must submit detailed reports 
annually to the ministry about their activities, office locations, 
officers, and total numbers of members.
    In 2008 a presidential order took effect that increased rent 
tenfold for most NGOs. Prior to the order NGOs paid one euro ($1.34) 
per square foot of office space, compared with 10 euro ($13.40) charged 
to commercial groups. While some groups, including youth sports groups, 
charity organizations, and children's arts centers, continued to pay 
the one euro rate, other NGOs, such as the Belarusian Voluntary Society 
for Historic and Cultural Heritage Protection, were required to pay the 
higher rate. Many NGOs stated the higher rent would likely force them 
to close. On February 8, a senior state property committee member 
stated that to be eligible for discounted rent rates, an NGO should 
``actively support the Government's policies.''
    During the year the BHC continued to experience problems with 
authorities. In 2008 the Supreme Court allowed the Ministry of Justice 
to withdraw a petition to suspend the BHC's activities. However, the 
NGO's bank accounts remained blocked, and alleged tax arrears were 
unresolved. The case originated in 2005, when authorities seized BHC 
office equipment as partial payment of 191.5 million rubles 
(approximately $63,800) in alleged tax arrears and fines for back taxes 
on international donor funds dating from 2000-02. In October 2009 the 
financial intelligence services requested income statements and other 
information from BHC members. During the year BHC's accounts remained 
blocked.
    The KGB continued to harass NGO and political party members and 
activists by planting defamatory articles or information about them in 
the media. For example, in late December all state television channels 
aired a documentary implicating opposition presidential candidates, 
European security services, and opposition forces in masterminding a 
coup d'etat. The 45-minute film featured wiretapped mobile phones 
conversations, KGB footage of searches and video of the December 19 
demonstration dispersal. It also included alleged financial reports by 
the candidates to purported foreign sponsors of the opposition. In 
other printed and broadcast media reports and exposes during the year, 
state media portrayed the opposition as weak and debilitated, 
downplayed their activities, and alleged that they operated through 
foreign grants and sponsorship in order to promote their personal 
interests.
    Authorities were reluctant to engage on human rights problems with 
international NGOs, whose representatives often had difficulty gaining 
admission to the country. For example, in December authorities denied a 
visa to Martin Uggla, the head of the Ostguppen Swedish Initiative for 
Democracy and Human Rights. Uggla last traveled to the country in 2006 
and has since been denied visas on four occasions.
    Authorities routinely ignored NGOs' recommendations on how to 
improve the human rights situation in the country and their requests to 
stop harassing the NGO community.
    On December 31, according to press reports, a foreign ministry 
spokesman announced that there were ``no objective reasons'' for 
extending the mandate of the OSCE office in Minsk. The office had been 
operating in the country since 2003 with a mandate to assist the 
country in the area of rule of law and with economic and environmental 
matters. (An earlier office with a broader, mandate was terminated in 
2001.) The Government claimed that the OSCE mandate ``has been 
fulfilled'' and pointed to the earlier closure of OSCE missions in 
neighboring countries.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability, 
language, or social status. In practice the Government did not always 
enforce these prohibitions. Problems included violence against women 
and children; trafficking in persons; and discrimination against 
persons with disabilities, Roma, ethnic minorities, and members of the 
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape in general but does not include 
separate provisions on marital rape. Rape was a problem. However, most 
women did not report it due to shame or fear that police would blame 
the victim. Although no statistics on rape were available, the interior 
ministry stated that the number of registered cases of rape decreased 
35 percent during the year.
    Domestic violence, including spousal abuse against women, was a 
significant problem. A 2006 Amnesty International report concluded that 
measures taken by authorities to protect women against domestic 
violence were insufficient. The criminal code does not contain a 
separate article dealing with domestic violence. According to a study 
released by BSU's Center for Sociological and Political Research on 
March 2, four out of five women between ages 18 and 60 claimed that 
they were subjected to psychological violence in their families. One in 
four women suffered from physical violence, and 13 percent of women 
reported that their partners sexually abused them. Women remained 
reluctant to report domestic violence due to fear of reprisal and 
social stigma. According to the study, only 6 percent of male and 46 
percent of female victims of domestic violence sought professional 
assistance. NGOs operated crisis shelters, primarily in Minsk, but they 
were poorly funded and received only limited support from the 
Government.
    The prosecutor general announced that the number of domestic crimes 
increased by 4.4 percent to 3,111 during the year.
    Sexual harassment reportedly was widespread, but no specific laws, 
other than those against physical assault, address the problem.
    Couples and individuals had the right to decide the number, 
spacing, and timing of children, and had the information and means to 
do so free from discrimination. Access to information on contraception 
and skilled attendance at delivery and in postpartum care were widely 
available. Women and men had equal access to diagnostic services and 
treatment for sexually transmitted infections. According to data 
published jointly by the World Health Organization, the UN Children's 
Fund, the UN Population Fund, and the World Bank, the country's 
maternal mortality ratio was 15 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births 
in 2008.
    The law provides for equal treatment of women with regard to 
property ownership and inheritance, family law, and the judicial 
system, and it was generally respected in practice. The law also 
requires equal wages for equal work, although this provision was not 
always enforced. On December 2, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social 
Security Ihar Staravoytau said that women's wages were 20 percent less 
than those of men's despite higher education levels. Employment of 
women in the private sector remained limited. Staravoytau also noted 
that it took one month on average for men to find new employment and 
more than two months for women. Women also accounted for two-thirds of 
all officially unemployed persons seeking a job for more than a year. 
The Labor and Social Security Ministry is responsible for ensuring 
gender equality, although it cannot issue binding instructions to other 
government agencies. There were very few women in the upper ranks of 
management or government, and most women were concentrated in the 
lower-paid public sector. Women's groups also voiced concerns about the 
feminization of poverty, particularly among women with more than two 
children, female-headed households, women taking care of family members 
with disabilities or older family members, and rural and older women.
    The National Statistics Committee reported that as of June 1, 52 
percent of the unemployed were women compared to 55.1 percent in June 
2009. The law grants women the right to three years of maternity leave 
with assurance of job availability upon return. However, employers 
often circumvented employment protections by using short-term 
contracts, then refusing to renew a woman's contract when she became 
pregnant. During an inspection of 29 enterprises in the Vitsyebsk 
region in 2009, the local prosecutor's office found that employed women 
who were taking care of minor children were at times forced to travel 
on business and to work overnight and overtime without their prior 
consent and in violation of laws. A number of women worked in extreme 
and hazardous conditions.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived either by birth within the 
country's territory or from one's parents. A child of a citizen is a 
citizen regardless of place of birth, even if one of the parents is not 
a citizen.
    In contrast with previous years, there were fewer reports that 
Romani children were subject to harassment from non-Romani children and 
teachers. The majority of Romani youth did not finish secondary school 
and failed to enroll university programs. There were no special school 
programs for Roma, although there were such programs for Jews, ethnic 
Lithuanians, and Poles.
    The juvenile affairs commission reported that between January and 
October, 32 children were raped, 34 were victims of other forms of 
sexual abuse, and 15 were subjected to molestation. Seven underage 
girls were involved in prostitution-related crimes, four other girls 
were engaged in prostitution, and nine children were involved in 
distribution of pornography. During the same period a total of 8,590 
crimes were committed against children, up from 6,128 during 2009. Of 
this total, 6,244 children were parties in cases against their parents 
for refusing to compensate the Government for maintenance of their 
children removed from their households and placed in institutional 
care. Between January and October, 70 children were reportedly killed 
and 80 were injured. Mothers killed six newborn babies, and six 
children committed suicide in the same period.
    According to data from the interior ministry, 26 minors became 
victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation. Ten minors were engaged 
in child pornography as of year's end. The law provides penalties of up 
to 13 years in jail for production or distribution of pornographic 
materials depicting a minor. Child prostitution was a problem, and 
children, along with men and women, were forced into begging and forced 
labor (see section 7.c.). There were also reports of child trafficking.
    Rape or sexual assault of a person known to be a minor is 
punishable by up to 15 years in jail. Sexual acts between a person 
older than 18 years of age and a person known to be younger than age 16 
carry penalties of up to five years in jail.
    There were some reports of child marriage within the Romani 
community, where girls as young as age 14 and boys as young as age 16 
frequently were married with parental consent.
    The country was not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--Jewish groups estimated that between 30,000 and 
40,000 persons identified themselves as Jews. Most were not active 
religiously.
    During the year anti-Semitic incidents continued but were on 
decline, and authorities sporadically investigated reports of such 
acts. Religious sites were vandalized. The Government did not promote 
antibias and tolerance education.
    On May 9, during Victory Day celebrations, vandals set fire to 
wreaths and flowers laid at the memorial to Holocaust victims in Brest. 
The memorial had been vandalized on numerous occasions since it was 
erected in 1992, including in each year since 2008. Previous 
investigations failed to uncover the perpetrators.
    On October 8, independent media reported that neo-Nazi graffiti 
appeared on industrial buildings in Pinsk and local authorities took no 
steps either to remove the slogans or to identify the vandals.
    On December 22, Jewish community leader Yakau Basin submitted an 
appeal to prosecutors seeking to open an investigation into vandalism 
and the promotion of Nazism. Basin reported that swastikas and neo-Nazi 
graffiti appeared near the door to his apartment and said that the act 
of vandalism was ``a direct threat'' to him.
    Jewish community and civil society activists continued to express 
concern over the concept of a ``greater Slavic union'' that was popular 
among nationalist organizations, including the neo-Nazi group RNU, 
which remained active despite its official dissolution in 2000. Neo-
Nazis were widely believed to be behind these and numerous other 
incidents across the country. Anti-Semitic and Russian ultranationalist 
newspapers and literature, DVDs, and videotapes imported from Russia 
continued to be sold.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law does not specifically prohibit 
discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, or 
mental disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, 
and other government services, and such discrimination was common in 
practice.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Security is the main government 
agency responsible for protecting the rights of persons with 
disabilities. The law mandates that transport, residences, and 
businesses be accessible to persons with disabilities. However, in 
practice few public areas were wheelchair accessible. The National 
Association of Disabled Wheelchair Users estimated that more than 75 
percent of persons with disabilities were unable to leave their own 
homes without assistance.
    Authorities provided minimal, reportedly ineffectual, benefits for 
persons with disabilities. For example, persons with disabilities who 
lived alone were entitled to a 50-percent discount on rent and 
utilities. Since few residences were accessible, persons with 
disabilities had to live with friends or family and thus were 
ineligible for the discount. Public transportation was free to persons 
with disabilities, but neither the subway in Minsk nor the bus system 
was wheelchair accessible. A government prohibition against workdays 
longer than seven hours for persons with disabilities reportedly made 
companies reluctant to hire them.
    On March 24, a court in Hrodna upheld a suit filed by wheelchair 
user Syarhey Feshchanka against local traffic police seeking 7 million 
rubles ($2,330) in damages. The court ordered police to pay Feshchanka 
1.3 million rubles ($430). In August 2009 Feshchanka fell down the 
stairs of the traffic police building and was injured. The building 
contained no ramp. Police reportedly took no steps to install a ramp 
and suggested wheelchair users either call officers from their homes or 
use a stationary phone on the first floor of the building to contact an 
officer. According to local authorities in Hrodna, no secondary schools 
and few grocery stores were accessible for wheelchair users.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Governmental and societal 
discrimination against the ethnic Polish population and Roma persisted. 
There were also expressions of societal hostility toward proponents of 
Belarusian national culture.
    During the year authorities continued to harass the independent and 
unregistered Union of Poles of Belarus (UPB) and its former head, 
Anzhelika Borys. The UPB split from the Government-controlled Union of 
Belarusian Poles in 2005. As part of an effort to keep the UPB members 
from attending a January 21 meeting in Ivyanets, police detained 
approximately 46 members for several hours. All were released with no 
charges after a Polish diplomat intervened on their behalf.
    In late January in Ivyanets, authorities engineered the replacement 
of the longtime head of the local Polish House, Teresa Sobal, with a 
progovernment candidate. In December 2009 police had initiated a 
criminal case against Sobal over alleged misappropriation of funds in 
2004.
    On February 5, a court in Hrodna fined Borys and her organization 
Polonika, the principal source of financial support for the UPB, 4.2 
million and 72 million rubles ($1,400 and $24,000) for alleged tax law 
infringements. On October 11, the Hrodna Regional Economic court 
dropped financial claims against Polonika. The newly elected UPB chair, 
Anzhelika Orechwo, said she was unaware of the reasons behind the move 
but noted that authorities could resume prosecution at any moment.
    In a separate incident on February 5, Borys' car was vandalized in 
Hrodna. Borys was fined 1,050,000 rubles ($350) on February 15 for 
participating in an unsanctioned demonstration in Hrodna on February 10 
in support of Sobal. Borys' three senior associates received five-day 
jail sentences for participating in the demonstration. On April 6, 
Hrodna court officers searched Borys' apartment to inventory her 
property so that it could be seized to cover her fines.
    On February 8, police raided and seized the Polish House, citing 
``illegal property possession.'' Seizure of the Ivyanets facility left 
only two of the original 16 UPB-run Polish Houses remaining in the 
country, one in Barysau and one in Baranavichy. On February 17, a court 
issued final eviction orders for the UPB to vacate the premises.
    The Minsk regional court turned down an appeal on March 11 from 
Polonika asking for the return of the Polish House in Ivyanets and 
reinstatement of its ousted manager, Sobal. Although the 
misappropriation case against Sobal was suspended in February, police 
searched her home on June 28. On August 3, police notified Sobal that 
the investigation against her was being reinstated, and that she was 
banned from traveling abroad. That investigation was ongoing at year's 
end.
    Official and societal discrimination continued against the 
country's 10,000 to 20,000 Roma. The Romani community continued to 
experience high unemployment and low levels of education. In 2005 
authorities estimated the unemployment rate among Roma at 80 percent. 
Roma often were denied access to higher education in state-run 
universities. In December 2009, however, the office of the 
plenipotentiary representative for religious and nationality affairs 
stated that the country's Romani community had no problems that would 
require the Government's attention.
    The Russian and Belarusian languages have equal legal status; 
however, in practice Russian was the primary language used by the 
Government. In 2007 the Constitutional Court's chief justice 
acknowledged that discrimination against the Belarusian language was 
``not rare'' but maintained that such discrimination was usually 
corrected.
    Because the Government viewed proponents of the Belarusian language 
as political opponents of the regime, authorities continued to harass 
and intimidate academic and cultural groups seeking to promote use of 
the Belarusian language. Proposals to widen use of the language were 
routinely rejected.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Homosexuality is not illegal, 
but discrimination against members of the LGBT community was 
widespread, and harassment occurred.
    In early May authorities denied the LGBT community permission to 
hold a pride parade in downtown Minsk on May 15, the International Day 
against Homophobia and Transphobia. Authorities claimed that the parade 
would disrupt traffic. According parliament member Nina Mazay, the most 
effective way to ensure the safety of participants in this instance 
given ``negative sentiments toward gays and lesbians'' was to ban the 
assembly. The activists defied the ban, and riot police violently 
dispersed approximately 30 demonstrators on May 15. Seven activists, 
including Alyaksandr Fyodarau, Syarhey Yenin, Aleh Hruvich, and two 
Russian citizens, were detained, placed in pretrial detention, and each 
sentenced to 17,500 ruble ($6) fines on May 17.
    On June 21, LGBT activists Syarhey Androsenka and Syarhey Pradzed 
filed individual communications to the UN Human Rights Committee 
complaining about earlier fines. In December 2009 a court in Minsk 
fined LGBT community activist Alyaksandr Haharyn 105,000 rubles ($35), 
Androsenka 875,000 rubles ($290), and Pradzed 350,000 rubles ($115) for 
participating in an unsanctioned protest in front of the Iranian 
embassy. The activists demonstrated to protest the use of capital 
punishment of LGBT persons in Iran. The Minsk City Court and the 
Supreme Court subsequently upheld these fines.
    On October 11, police in Minsk arrested Pradzed for staging a one-
man protest to mark International Coming-Out Day. He was held in 
custody overnight and fined 700,000 rubles ($235) the next day.
    In September 2009 the KGB in Homyel informed local gay rights 
activist Svyataslau Semyantsou that it had opened a criminal case 
against him for participating in activities of an unregistered group. 
The KGB also threatened Semyantsou with charges of providing defamatory 
and discrediting information to a foreign source. No further 
information on the status of this case was available during the year.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Societal discrimination 
against persons with HIV/AIDS remained a problem, and the illness 
carried a heavy stigma. The UN AIDS office reported that there were 
numerous reports of HIV-infected individuals who faced discrimination, 
especially at workplaces and during job interviews. However, there were 
indications of greater awareness and increased tolerance towards 
persons infected with the virus. For example, maternity wards no longer 
segregated HIV-positive mothers into separate facilities. As of 
December 1, the Government reported that 11,661 persons in the country 
were infected with HIV. Between January and November, 971 new HIV cases 
were registered. As of December 1, 174 children had tested HIV-
positive, and eight died. The chairman of the local Red Cross asserted 
in September that registered cases reflected only 25 percent of the 
total number of persons with HIV/AIDS in the country.
    There were also frequent reports of family discrimination against 
HIV-positive members of households. This included preventing HIV-
positive parents from seeing their children, or requiring HIV-positive 
family members to use separate dishware. According to an independent 
study released by the Belarusian Community of People Living with HIV/
AIDS in September, at least 10 percent of HIV-positive women reported 
suicidal thoughts.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers, except state 
security and military personnel, to form and join independent unions; 
however, in practice the Government did not respect this right. During 
the year the Government continued efforts to suppress independent 
unions, to stop union activities, and to bring all union activity fully 
under its control. Its efforts included frequent refusals to extend 
employment contracts for members of independent unions and refusals to 
register independent unions.
    According to Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BCDTU) 
leader Alyaksandr Yarashuk, no independent unions have been established 
since President Lukashenka's 1999 decree requiring trade unions to 
register with the Government.
    The Government-controlled Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus 
(FTUB) was the largest union, claiming an estimated four million 
members; however, that number was likely inflated, since the country's 
total workforce was approximately four million. The BCDTU, with four 
constituent unions and approximately ten thousand members of 
independent trade unions, was the largest independent union umbrella 
organization.
    In December 2009 FTUB chairman Leanid Kozik asserted that 
``provocations'' and ``demands'' by trade unions not affiliated with 
the FTUB should be ignored.
    Local authorities continued to deny multiple registration 
applications to the Vitsyebsk, Mahilyou, and Homyel chapters of the 
Belarusian Union of Electronic Industry Workers (REP). According to the 
REP, authorities refused to reregister the chapter in Mahilyou because 
the REP office proprietor had not agreed to register the office as its 
legal address due to harassment from officials. In April 2009 a court 
in Mahilyou upheld the registration denial. Further attempts to 
reregister in Mahilyou were also denied.
    In May authorities in Hrodna refused an application from local REP 
activists seeking to organize rallies on International Children's Day 
on June 1.
    On October 21, citing inaccuracies in paperwork and violations of 
laws, Salihorsk town authorities refused a third registration 
application from the Belarusian Independent Trade Union at JV Delta-
Style. Belarusian Independent Trade Union vice chair Mikalay Novik 
called authorities' claims ``farfetched and groundless,'' and noted 
that they would appeal to court. On August 27, the leader of the 
independent trade union in Salihorsk, Natalya Mikhnyukevich, was fined 
17,500 rubles ($6) for allegedly illegally meeting with the Delta-Style 
workers on August 4; she was briefly detained by police at that time. 
In August, Salihorsk authorities denied the independent trade union's 
application to stage a protest against registration refusals.
    In Babruysk on November 17, armed employees of the State Wildlife 
Inspectorate broke into the home of Mikhail Ustsinovich, the leader of 
the grassroots independent trade union of the Belshyna tire company, 
and beat him. Officials broke doors and windows at the house, 
reportedly looking for illegal fishing equipment. The Inspectorate 
subsequently charged Ustsinovich with illegal fishing, possession of 
unregistered arms, and resisting state officials. After Ustsinovich 
appealed to the prosecutor general, the Inspectorate additionally 
charged Ustsinovich with assaulting an Inspectorate official.
    During the December 19 postelection crackdown, at least nine REP 
members were arrested and served short-term jail sentences. Belarusian 
Free Trade Union leader Mikhail Kavalkou was arrested and sentenced to 
10 days in jail. Courts convicted Free Trade Union member Alyaksey 
Koutun, REP member Alyaksandr Tysevich, and Free Metalworkers' Union 
member Uladzimir Syarheyeu of participating in an unsanctioned 
demonstration and sentenced them to jail terms ranging from 10 to 15 
days.
    In January the Ministry of Justice denied registration to Razam, a 
trade union of small- and medium-sized businesses, based on 
insufficient documentation and a failure to demonstrate that the union 
had the 500 members required for registration. Razam's leader, Iryna 
Yaskevich, stated that the registration process was ``excessively 
complicated'' and insisted that the group had filed correct 
applications with the ministry. On March 25, the Supreme Court upheld 
registration denial and the ministry's claims.
    The Government continued to target union leaders and activists. For 
example, the oil refinery Naftan in Navapolatsk pressured Alyaksandr 
Nasedkin to withdraw his membership from the independent trade union a 
month after he joined it.
    In February four members of the independent trade union at the 
Hrodna Azot nitrogen fertilizer factory unsuccessfully complained to 
prosecutors of discrimination against them based on their membership in 
the union. They were threatened with dismissals and cuts in bonus 
payments, and pressured to withdraw from the union.
    In February the Minsk Regional Court denied an appeal from REP 
member Yury Loban challenging his earlier dismissal from the BelAZ 
mining trucks producer in Zhodzina.
    In May management of the Babruysk tractor parts and components 
factory did not extend the employment contract of Leanid Haishun, a 
member of the Free Trade Union.
    On May 18 in Brest, police illegally searched the offices of REP 
and homes of some members, and briefly detained eight activists. They 
confiscated personal belongings, printed materials, documents, and 
computer equipment.
    Workers who were deemed ``natural leaders'' or who involved 
themselves in NGOs or opposition political activities were routinely 
fired for these activities. For example, in March, Mikalay Rasyuk was 
dismissed from his job at a construction company for his political and 
civic activism. KGB officers questioned Rasyuk at work on February 2 
and warned him against holding unsanctioned rallies in Mahilyou. 
Uladzimir Shyla, a prominent opposition activist in Salihorsk, was 
fired on May 6, just three days after he began his job. Shyla's 
employer was reportedly summoned to the KGB and ordered to dismiss him. 
In June Mazyr-based human rights advocate Uladzimir Tselyapun was 
dismissed from his job for his political activities and participation 
in municipal electoral campaign. In July a travel agency dismissed 
opposition youth activist Yaraslau Hryshchenya for allegedly violating 
labor regulations.
    In November the State TV and Radio Broadcasting Company fired 
engineer Yauhen Shapchyts for producing an anti-Lukashenka video clip 
that was posted on YouTube. Paval Bandzich, one of the actors in the 
video, was dismissed from the International Ecological University, 
where he led a theater studio.
    On December 1, a private company fired human rights advocate Ales 
Kaputski in Maladzechna. The activist was engaged in monitoring 
presidential elections. He was also dismissed from a job in 2008 for 
observing the parliamentary elections. In December Alyaksandr Baran in 
Kirausk was fired for his participation in the election campaign of 
Uladzimir Nyaklyaeu. Baran organized meetings with voters, collected 
signatures, and monitored the voting.
    Pursuant to a December 2009 court order, the management of a 
hydropower station in Lukoml was forced to reinstate Alyaksey Habryel, 
the leader of a local independent trade union. Habryel's labor contract 
was not extended in October 2009, and it was widely believed that he 
was dismissed for his union activities. After the management 
successfully appealed Habryel's reinstatement, he was dismissed on May 
21.
    The law provides for the right to strike; however, tight government 
control over public demonstrations made it difficult for unions to do 
so. Management and local authorities also blocked worker attempts to 
organize strikes on many occasions by declaring them illegal. On June 
15 and 16, carpenters at the Lyos factory in Baran went on strike to 
protest management's refusal to abide by an earlier agreement to 
increase pay. On June 17, workers ended the strike after the director 
promised to raise pay. At year's end this promise remained unfulfilled.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for the right to organize and bargain collectively; however, 
government authorities and managers of state-owned enterprises 
routinely interfered with union activities and hindered workers' 
efforts to bargain collectively, in some instances arbitrarily 
suspending collective bargaining agreements.
    In July 2009 the FTUB recommended that employers sign collective 
bargaining agreements only with the trade union with the largest number 
of members, irrespective of whether there were members of other trade 
unions among the personnel. BCDTU leader Yarashuk argued that such a 
measure violated the rights of trade unions. On September 15, Leanid 
Kozik, head of the FTUB, said that every employer should conclude a 
collective bargaining agreement with the staff irrespective of whether 
the company has a trade union organization. Over 17,500 employers had 
collective bargaining agreements with their employees, Kozik asserted. 
He further claimed that only the FTUB was able to ensure employers' 
compliance with collective bargaining agreements as it had ``several 
thousand members'' at most companies compared to ``ten or twenty'' 
members of independent trade unions. He encouraged ``small trade 
unions'' to join the FTUB because FTUB local leaders were better able 
to advocate for their rights.
    Since 2000 the Government has required state employees, who 
constitute approximately 80 percent of the workforce, to sign short-
term work contracts. Although such contracts may have terms of up to 
five years, most expired after one year, which gave the Government the 
possibility of firing employees by simply declining to renew their 
contracts. Many members of independent unions, political parties, and 
civil society groups lost their jobs because of this practice. On March 
31, the president signed an edict providing the possibility for 
employers to sign open-ended work contracts after five years of good 
conduct. The edict limited the rights of employers to approve open-
ended contracts earlier than five years after the service computation 
date and made no major changes to the contracting system. The provision 
did not apply to state employees and other categories of workers who 
remained subject to mandatory contracts.
    During the year the Polatsk chapter of the BFTU continued to 
negotiate without success with the Polatsk Shklovalakno fiberglass 
manufacturer over the company's unwillingness to grant the BFTU the 
same privileges granted to its rival, the progovernment FTUB. In April, 
Polatsk Shklovalakno management announced a fourfold increase in rent 
for meeting space for the 30-member Belarusian Free Trade Union, while 
allowing the progovernment FTUB to meet rent-free. In October 
management refused to commence talks with the free trade union on pay 
increases and working conditions, claiming that the organization had no 
rights to represent interests of workers. According to the collective 
agreement, management claimed that the trade union of chemical industry 
workers, part of the FTUB, was the sole representative.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
the country's six free economic zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor; however, there were reports that women, 
men, and children were trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation 
and forced labor. Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.
    During the year the Government approved ``subbotniks,'' which 
required employees of the Government, state enterprises, and many 
private businesses to work on Saturday and to donate their earnings to 
finance government social projects. Workers who refused to take part 
were subjected to fines and intimidation by employers and authorities.
    There were reports that authorities forced men serving mandatory 
military service to undertake work that was unrelated to their military 
service.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law forbids the exploitation of children in the workplace, including a 
prohibition on forced and compulsory labor, and specifies policies for 
acceptable working conditions. The Government generally implemented 
these laws in practice.
    The minimum age for employment is 16; however, a child as young as 
age 14 may conclude a labor contract with the written consent of one 
parent or a legal guardian. The prosecutor general's office reportedly 
enforced the law effectively. Minors under age 18 were allowed to work 
in nonhazardous jobs, but were not allowed to work overtime, on 
weekends, or on government holidays. Work was not to be harmful to the 
minors' health or hinder their education.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--In November the national minimum 
monthly wage was 400,000 rubles (approximately $132), which did not 
provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. In 
December the average monthly wage was 1,595,870 rubles ($530).
    The law establishes a standard workweek of 40 hours and provides 
for at least one 24-hour rest period per week. Although the situation 
improved during the reporting period, because of the country's 
difficult economic situation, many workers worked considerably less 
than 40 hours per week, and factories often required workers to take 
unpaid furloughs due to lack of demand for the factories' products. The 
law provides for mandatory overtime and holiday pay, and restricts 
overtime to four hours every two days, with a maximum of 120 hours of 
overtime each year. According to sources the Government was believed to 
enforce these standards effectively.
    The law establishes minimum conditions for workplace safety and 
worker health; however, employers often ignored these standards. 
Workers at many heavy machinery plants did not wear minimal safety 
gear. There is a state labor inspectorate, but it lacked authority to 
enforce employer compliance and often ignored violations.
    The Ministry of Labor reported 232 workplace fatalities during the 
year. The ministry reported that workplace accidents were caused by 
carelessness, poor conditions, malfunctioning equipment, and poor 
training and instruction. Worker intoxication was involved in 12 
percent of workplace deaths and injuries. The law does not provide 
workers the right to remove themselves from dangerous and unhealthy 
work environments without risking loss of employment.
    On November 1, the BCDTU expressed serious concerns about 
occupational safety requirements and their implementation in the 
manufacturing industry following a deadly blast at the Pinskdreu 
woodworking plant on October 25. Fourteen workers died and dozens were 
injured in the explosion that reportedly occurred due to human error. 
The BCDTU noted that the Government failed to investigate the case or 
examine whether outdated equipment at Pinskdreu and other plants played 
a role in the explosion.

                               __________

                                BELGIUM

    The Kingdom of Belgium, with a population of approximately 10.7 
million, is a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarch who 
plays a mainly symbolic role. The country is a federal state with 
several levels of government: national, regional (Flanders, Wallonia, 
and Brussels), language community (Flemish, French, and German), 
provincial, and local. The council of ministers (cabinet), led by the 
prime minister, holds office as long as it retains the confidence of 
the lower house (Chamber of Representatives) of the bicameral 
parliament. Federal parliamentary elections held during the year were 
considered free and fair. Security forces reported to civilian 
authorities.
    The following human rights problems were reported: overcrowded 
prisons, lengthy pretrial detention, poor detention conditions prior to 
deportation of adults and children whose asylum applications were 
refused, violence against women, child abuse, trafficking in persons, 
and racial and ethnic discrimination in the job market.
                        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 arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    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. In its July 23 report on 
the situation in Belgian prisons, the Council of Europe (COE) Council 
for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) highlighted events that occurred in 
the Forest Prison on September 22 and on October 30, 2009. Due to the 
fact that regular prison staff were on strike, the local Forest police 
took over, resulting in prisoners being beaten, subjected to verbal 
abuse, and in two instances, hospitalized. Both disciplinary and 
criminal investigations were ongoing. The two officers in charge of the 
police squad were temporarily suspended; however, the Council of State 
cancelled the suspension because of a legal technicality.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions met most international standards, but overcrowding 
remained a problem. The Government permitted monitoring visits by 
independent human rights observers, and such visits occurred during the 
year.
    On March 1, 10,561 inmates occupied prison and detention 
facilities, 400 more inmates than in March 2009. The facilities have a 
designed capacity of 9,105.
    In its July 23 report, the CPT cited a number of allegations of 
mistreatment by prison guards. Several inmates from the Ittre Prison 
claimed to have been beaten by prison guards in the so-called naked 
cells, while wearing handcuffs (for disciplinary reasons, inmates may 
be undressed and locked in separate cells). On August 8, 2009, in the 
Jamioulx Prison, an inmate suffering from a mental disorder refused to 
go to an isolated cell and allegedly was killed by three guards who 
tried to subdue him. A police investigation of the incident was 
ongoing.
    In June 2009 the human rights commissioner of the COE issued a 
report noting that 75 percent of all prisons were overcrowded. He also 
expressed concern over violence among prisoners and the dilapidated 
state of some prisons and shortcomings in the supply of health care. 
While the Government upgraded some older facilities, incarcerations 
outpaced construction. Inmates on pretrial detention accounted for 34 
percent of the prison population.
    Prisoners and detainees have reasonable access to visitors and are 
allowed religious observance. The authorities permitted prisoners and 
detainees to submit complaints and allegations of inhumane conditions 
to judicial authorities without censorship. Authorities investigated 
credible allegations of inhumane conditions and documented these 
results in a publically accessible manner. The Government investigated 
and monitored prison and detention center conditions.
    The Government permitted visits to prisons and detention centers by 
members of parliament and independent human rights groups during the 
year, including a CPT visit that focused on prison and detention camp 
conditions. The federal mediator acts as an ombudsman allowing any 
citizen to address issues with the administration. In 2009, upon 
request from inmates from the Merksplas Prison, the federal mediator 
recommended the Ministry of Justice not to use a building of the 
Merksplas Prison, because the cells were small, overcrowded, and 
without running water. Following the mediator's report, the Ministry of 
Justice made the necessary improvements to reopen the building.
    During the year the Ministry of Justice continued implementing the 
2008-12 master plan for building seven new penitentiaries and upgrading 
existing infrastructure. To ease overcrowding, 500 inmates were sent to 
serve part of their sentences in prisons in the Netherlands. Forty 
percent of all inmates were non-Belgian nationals. Prison authorities 
provided meals that met the dietary requirements of the various 
religious faiths practiced by inmates. In March there were 420 female 
inmates, constituting approximately 4 percent of the prison population. 
There were no specific reports of abuses in the seven prisons where 
women were held.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these 
prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The federal police are 
responsible for internal security and nationwide law and order. Local 
police operated branches in 196 police districts. The federal police 
General Inspection Service (AIG) handled 1,153 complaints in 2009, and 
there were 57 cases handled by its disciplinary commission. An 
independent oversight committee (Committee P) also monitored police 
activities. In a report submitted to parliament in January, the 
committee stated that it had received 2,401 complaints about police 
behavior in 2009 for the federal and local police forces combined. The 
complaints concerned discriminatory behavior, brutality, racism, 
failure to intervene, violations of privacy, and arbitrary detention. 
The committee pointed out that police officers often fail to observe 
rules and regulations when dealing with undocumented aliens, 
prostitutes, and squatters. Civilian authorities maintained effective 
control over the federal and local police and the armed forces, and the 
Government has effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse and 
corruption.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Under the 
constitution, an individual may be arrested only while committing a 
crime or by a judge's order carried out within 24 hours. The law 
provides a person in detention with the right to a prompt judicial 
determination of the legality of his or her detention, and the 
authorities generally respected this right. Detainees were promptly 
informed of charges against them. There is a functioning bail system. 
Alternatives to incarceration included conditional release, community 
service, probation, and electronic monitoring. In 2009 the Ministry of 
Justice handled 10,112 alternative punishment (e.g., community service) 
cases, compared with 10,131 the previous year. By the end of 2009, an 
additional 928 convicts were monitored electronically outside of prison 
premises.
    The law provides rights to inmates regarding disciplinary matters, 
correspondence, telephone conversations, and religious practice. 
Brochures were handed out to inmates informing them of their rights. 
Implementation courts are responsible for handling release issues, 
penitentiary leave, and electronic monitoring. Legislation protects 
offenders with mental disorders, and the Government implemented plans 
to treat more of these inmates outside of prisons.
    According to 2010 figures, pretrial detainees made up almost 35 
percent of the prison population. The average length of pretrial 
detention was approximately 90 days.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected 
judicial independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. 
All defendants are presumed innocent and have the right to be present, 
to counsel (at public expense if necessary), to confront witnesses, to 
present evidence, and to appeal.
    The law gives domestic courts jurisdiction over war crimes and 
crimes against humanity that occurred outside the country when the 
victim or perpetrator is a citizen or legal resident of the country.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--On January 10, the ECHR 
released its judgment in the Muskhadzhiyeva case involving five Chechen 
asylum seekers, a mother and her four children. The family arrived in 
Belgium on October 11, 2006, and requested asylum on October 12. The 
request was denied; following the dismissal of their application family 
members were all detained in a closed center. The family ultimately 
brought its case to the ECHR in September 2007. The court found two 
violations, namely that the children had been detained in a closed 
center meant only for adults and the health of the children was very 
poor. These issues have been addressed, through payment by the state of 
17,000 euros ($22,780) to the family for damages and through a 
regulation that the country will no longer house children in closed 
centers, even if they are accompanied by adults.
    In 2009 the ECHR issued judgments that found five violations of the 
right to a fair trial, two violations for the length of proceedings, 
one violation of the right to liberty and safety, one violation for the 
absence of effective inquiry and one violation for inhuman and 
degrading treatment as provided under the European Convention on Human 
Rights. The Government treated all ECHR decisions as binding.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters. Plaintiffs may seek damages 
either individually or through specialized organizations for human 
rights violations under the applicable antidiscrimination legislation.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and legal code 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 and law provide 
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.
    Holocaust denial is a criminal offense, and there was one 
conviction during the year. On September 15, the Brussels Appeal court 
confirmed the charge of holocaust denial against Roeland Raes (a member 
of the Flemish extremist party Vlaams Belang) for his 2001 statements 
contesting the authenticity of Anne Franks' diary ( see section 6 Anti-
Semitism). Individuals could criticize the Government publicly and 
privately without reprisal.
    On March 31, a group of extremist Muslims called ``Sharia4Belgium'' 
interrupted a reading organized by Antwerp University. The reading was 
entitled ``The Islam Debate: Long Live God, Down with Allah.'' Police 
led approximately 20 shouting protesters out of the building, but there 
was no violence. No one was detained.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to Internet sites. There were no reports that the Government monitored 
e-mail or Internet chat rooms, and individuals and groups could engage 
in the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-
mail. In cooperation with the Government, Child Focus, a government-
sponsored center for missing and exploited children, developed programs 
to warn users of Web sites containing illegal content, especially child 
pornography.
    According to International Telecommunications Union statistics for 
2009, approximately 76 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.
    There were no reports of the Government attempting to collect any 
personally identifiable information on internet users.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
and law provide for freedom of assembly and association, and the 
Government generally respected these rights in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, 
stateless persons, and other persons of concern.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees.
    The law allows authorities to grant ``subsidiary protection'' to 
individuals who might not qualify as refugees but who could establish 
that upon return to their home country, they would face the death 
penalty, torture, or other inhuman treatment. From January through 
September, 504 applicants, mostly from Iraq and Afghanistan, qualified 
for subsidiary protection. During the year 19,941 applications were 
filed, compared with 17,186 applications in 2009. Most applicants came 
from Iraq, Kosovo, Russia, Guinea, and Afghanistan. From January 
through September, the Commissariat for Refugees awarded refugee status 
to 1,470 applicants. Most accepted refugees came from Iraq, Guinea, and 
Afghanistan.
    During 2009 scores of asylum seekers who stayed in the country 
illegally after their applications were refused took refuge in churches 
and went on hunger strikes to draw public attention to their situation. 
On the eve of its 2009 summer recess, the Government reached agreement 
on a new set of criteria for awarding residence permits for 
undocumented aliens. The latter were allowed to submit applications 
between September and December. The newly defined criteria covered 
aliens who had become victims of an unduly long asylum application 
process and undocumented aliens who were living in a precarious 
humanitarian situation or who could prove that they were integrated 
into local society, either by having lived in the country for at least 
five years or by having been gainfully employed for at least one year.
    Regularization of status on the grounds of an unduly long 
application period, urgent humanitarian reasons, or medical reasons was 
granted to 14,830 applicants in 2009, compared with 8,369 the previous 
year. In 2009 FEDASIL, the Government agency providing shelter for 
refugees, the Red Cross, and local governments provided assistance to 
an average of 18,164 persons but lacked capacity to deal with the 
growing demand. Under the law, refugees who spent four months in a 
collective relief center qualified for independent living and were 
permitted to leave the centers and provided material assistance to do 
so.
    Following a critical report from a European Parliament commission 
in 2008, the Government announced that unaccompanied minors stopped at 
the border would no longer be held in closed centers, but in 
specialized observation and orientation centers. Minors held with their 
parents had access to individualized education. In May the European 
Commission adopted an action plan to harmonize and strengthen the 
protection of unaccompanied minor migrants. During 2009 FEDASIL 
provided shelter to 1,074 unaccompanied foreign minors. In practice, 
the Government provided protection against the expulsion or return of 
refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened 
on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a 
particular social group, or political opinion.
    Refused asylum seekers were informed in writing and in person of 
repatriation scenarios from which they could choose. The Government, in 
partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 
provided relocation assistance to unsuccessful asylum applicants who 
agreed to return voluntarily to their countries of origin. Unsuccessful 
applicants who did not leave voluntarily were subject to forced 
repatriation. A report issued during the year revealed that, between 
1984 and 2009, more than 40,000 refused asylum seekers and other 
immigrants were repatriated under the IOM-sponsored Return and 
Emigration of Asylum Seekers ex-Belgium (REAB) program, including 2,669 
immigrants in 2009. This figure was in line with that of 2008, when 
2,446 persons were repatriated under IOM auspices. Refused families 
with children qualified for temporary individual housing.
    In 2009, 6,439 persons were assigned to closed centers, where 
asylum seekers were not permitted to leave the facility, compared with 
6,902 persons in 2008. Their average stay in closed centers was 24 
days. Most refugees held at these centers came from Romania, Brazil, 
Morocco, Bulgaria, or Russia. The COE's human rights commissioner, 
members of the Belgian parliament, and representatives from the 
International Federation of Human Rights Organizations visited the 
closed centers to inspect living conditions.
    Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) complained that living 
conditions at the closed centers for refused asylum seekers were 
substandard. The Government started to refurbish the closed centers at 
the Brussels national airport. In July 2009 the Council of Ministers 
decided to create additional temporary places for asylum seekers, thus 
accommodating more than 1,000 asylum seekers in 20 hotels. In November 
2009 the Government approved the creation of 1,200 additional reception 
places. In December 2009 the Belgian Red Cross increased its capacity 
by approximately 240 places. Through the Public Organization for Social 
Support and NGOs, nearly 350 individual reception places were opened. 
By the end of November, an additional 2,600 places were made available.
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 ages 18 and older exercised this 
right through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of 
universal suffrage. Voting in all elections is compulsory. Failure to 
vote is punishable by a nominal fine.

    Elections and Political Participation.--General elections were held 
on June 13. They were considered free and fair by the media. Political 
parties could operate without restriction or outside interference. The 
constitution requires the presence of men and women in federal, 
regional, and local governments, and the law requires an equal number 
of male and female candidates on party tickets in European, federal, 
regional, provincial, and local elections. Failure to meet the 
requirement would nullify the elections and render any government 
thereby created illegal.
    Following the June 13 elections, there were 60 women in the 150-
seat federal Chamber of Representatives and 25 women in the 71-seat 
Senate; five of the 23 federal cabinet ministers and state secretaries 
were women.
    There were seven members of minorities in the Chamber of 
Representatives and five in the Senate from Moroccan and Turkish 
origin.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government generally implemented these laws effectively. Elected 
officials and high-level civil servants are required to disclose any 
regular private employment or public jobs they hold and to provide 
confidential disclosure of their financial situation.
    With some exceptions, such as material involving national security, 
the law provides public access to government information. In practice, 
the Government respected this law.
    The November 2008 and November 2009 reports of the UN Group of 
Experts (UNGOE) on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) presented 
information indicating that Trademet and Traxys, which were based in 
Belgium, had indirectly funded conflict and perpetrators of human 
rights abuses in the eastern DRC through the purchase of conflict 
minerals.
Section 5. 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 
generally were cooperative and responsive to their views. The 
Government-sponsored Center for Equal Opportunity and the Combat 
Against Racism (CEOCR) is tasked with promoting equal opportunity and 
with combating all forms of discrimination, exclusion, or preferential 
treatment based on race, color of the skin, descent, national or ethnic 
origin, sexual orientation, marital status, birth, wealth, age, 
religion or ideology, physical condition, disability, or physical 
characteristics. The center is charged with ensuring respect for the 
basic rights of foreigners and informs the authorities on migration 
issues, including smuggling and trafficking. The center is also 
expected to promote consultation among public and private players, and 
it has the authority to start litigation regarding complaints sent to 
the center. Members of the public are entitled to ask the center for an 
opinion or report possible cases of discrimination. The center may 
escalate a case and file a complaint with the police. One example 
during the year involved the center filing a complaint against 
Archbishop Mgr. Leonard for his derogatory statements about AIDS 
victims.
    Federal and regional government ombudsmen monitor and publish 
reports on the workings of the agencies coming under their respective 
jurisdictions. In 2009 the federal ombudsman released a report on the 
closed centers for rejected asylum seekers.
    The Government cooperated with international tribunals in the 
prosecution of war crimes. In May 2008 police arrested Jean-Pierre 
Bemba, the leader of the Movement for the Liberation of Congo and a 
former Congolese vice president, after an arrest warrant was issued by 
the International Criminal Court. Bemba was charged with crimes against 
humanity and war crimes and transferred to The Hague in July 2008. His 
trial was scheduled for April but was postponed due to the defense's 
claim of insufficient financial resources. Bemba's trial finally began 
on November 22.
Section 6. 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 
prohibitions.
    The law identifies 18 grounds of possible discrimination subject to 
legal penalty: age, sexual orientation, civil status, birth, financial 
situation, religious belief, philosophical orientation, physical 
condition, disability, physical characteristics, genetic 
characteristics, social status, nationality, race, color of skin, 
descent, national origin, and ethnic origin. A separate law governs 
gender discrimination in the workplace. Under a directive issued by the 
Board of Prosecutors General, the police and prosecutors must mention 
racial motivation when recording offenses. Specifically, police must 
highlight if there were racial motivations when an offense was 
reported, and if so, the case must be escalated by the prosecutor (e.g. 
if there were a racial motivation in a murder case, the charge would 
additionally include a hate crime offense.)

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is illegal, and the 
Government prosecuted such cases. In 2009 the federal police registered 
2,751 rape cases, compared with 2,786 the previous year. A convicted 
rapist may be imprisoned for a minimum of 10 years to a maximum of 30 
years. The length of sentence is based on the age of the victim, the 
age difference between the offender and the victim, the relationship 
between the offender and the victim, and the use or absence of violence 
during the crime.
    The minimum age for consensual sex is 16. Statutory rape carries 
penalties of imprisonment from 15 to 20 years. If the victim is under 
the age of 10, the imprisonment rises to 20 to 30 years. In May a 
Brussels court convicted a man of raping his three children.
    The law prohibits domestic violence. In 2009 the federal police 
reported 20,471 such cases of physical violence between partners, 
compared with 19,768 cases in 2008. In 2009 the federal police 
registered 138 cases of sexual violence between partners, compared with 
131 cases in 2008. In 2009 there were 17,258 cases of psychological 
violence or mental cruelty between partners, compared with 16,927 cases 
in 2008. The law defines and criminalizes domestic violence and 
provides for fines and incarceration. The law allows police to enter a 
home without the consent of the head of household when investigating a 
domestic violence complaint; however, there were complaints that the 
police frequently declined to do this in practice. An action plan for 
dealing with domestic violence was in force, and the regional 
governments formally joined the effort. Police forces and prosecuting 
magistrates registered all complaints and official actions taken in 
connection with domestic violence.
    A number of government-supported shelters and telephone help lines 
were available across the country for victims of domestic abuse. In 
addition to providing shelter, many offered assistance on legal 
matters, job placement, and psychological counseling to both partners.
    In a 2008 report to the Senate, the federal police noted 17 honor 
killings that had taken place over the preceding five-year period. 
There were no reports of honor killings in the country during the year. 
During the year the Institute for the Equality of Men and Women claimed 
damages in the case of a Pakistani woman who died in an honor killing 
in 2007 resulting from a failed arranged marriage. The brother of the 
victim was found guilty, with the complicity of many other members of 
the family.
    Reliable statistics on sexual harassment are not easily accessible 
since formal complaints may be filed with various entities. The law 
aims to prevent violence and harassment at work, obliging companies to 
set up internal procedures to handle complaints by employees.
    The law prohibits discrimination on the grounds of gender, 
pregnancy, motherhood, or sex change. It also prohibits sexual 
intimidation in labor relations and in access to goods, services, 
social welfare, and health care. A separate law prohibits sexual 
harassment in the workplace, and the Government generally enforced it.
    The constitution provides for complete freedom in the way that 
persons organize their private lives, including the basic right of 
couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, 
spacing, and timing of their children. Health clinics and local health 
NGOs were permitted to operate freely in disseminating information on 
family planning. There are no restrictions on the right to access 
contraceptives. Men and women received equal access to diagnosis and 
treatment for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. According 
to estimates compiled by international organizations, there were 
approximately five maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in country 
in 2008.
    Women have the same legal rights as men, including rights under 
family law, property law, in the judicial system, in labor relations, 
and in social welfare protection. The federal government's Institute 
for the Equality of Men and Women, which is tasked with promoting 
gender equality, may initiate lawsuits if it finds that equality laws 
have been violated. Most of the complaints received during the year 
were work-related and most concerned women whose employment contract 
was terminated because of pregnancy.
    During the year the Government continued implementation of the 
Gender Mainstreaming Act of 2007, which obliges the authorities to 
address gender aspects in planning policy, collecting data, drafting 
budgets, awarding contracts, and drafting reports. As per the Institute 
for Equality of Men and Women, the authorities were in the process of 
implementing the decree to establish a gender test (an evaluation of 
all administrative and legal acts in terms of male-female equality) and 
an interdepartmental coordination group.
    Economic discrimination against women continued. During the year 
the Institute for the Equality of Men and Women released a survey 
(based on 2007 data) showing an average gap of 11 percent in the gross 
wages paid to men and women. The gap was 27 percent for white-collar 
and 16 percent for blue-collar workers. The gap was smaller in the 
public sector, where female contract workers earned 7 percent less than 
their male colleagues. Female statutory civil servants earned 1 percent 
more than their male colleagues. Taking into account part-time work, 
the overall wage gap was 25 percent. According to the report, the main 
factors contributing to the gap were job classification, branch of 
employment, type of employment contract, and time actually worked. 
Through legislation and decrees, federal and regional authorities 
sought to increase the presence of women on the boards of public 
enterprises and government agencies. Data from the European 
Professional Women's Network indicated that women filled 11.1 percent 
of the positions on boards of directors of the country's leading 
private companies compared with 7 percent in 2008.

    Children.--The Government registered all live births immediately, 
and citizenship is conferred to the child through the parents' 
nationality.
    There were reports of child abuse. In 2009 the federal police 
registered 5,201 cases of child abandonment, abuse, and neglect, 
compared with 3,971 cases in 2008.
    The NGO Child Focus reported that it handled 2,087 missing children 
and child abuse cases in 2009. There were 1,019 cases of runaways; 
approximately half of these returned home within 48 hours, although the 
average time for runaways to be missing increased. Thirty-six cases 
concerned abduction by a third person. Child Focus handled 467 of the 
cases (involving 672 children) of abduction to another country.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.
    The law provides for the protection of youth against sexual 
exploitation, abduction, and trafficking, and provides severe penalties 
for child pornography and possession of pedophilic materials. The 
penalties for producing and disseminating child pornography range from 
five to 15 years' imprisonment and from one month to one year for 
possession of such material. The law permits the prosecution of 
residents who commit such crimes abroad and provides that criminals 
convicted of the sexual abuse of children must receive specialized 
treatment before they can be paroled and must continue counseling and 
treatment after their release from prison. The NGO Child Focus handled 
257 sexual abuse cases and continued its Internet-based public 
awareness campaign. In 2009 the group received 2,131 reports of child 
pornography on the Internet and forwarded relevant cases to the 
specialized units of the federal police.
    According to official figures, in 2009 the federal police 
investigated 388 child pornography cases, and international networks 
operating in several countries were dismantled with the help of Europol 
and Eurojust. In several court cases judges handed down prison 
sentences for downloading child pornography. Following a 2007 Europol 
investigation in Austria and Poland, approximately 40 citizens were 
identified in child pornography cases. One of them was a former member 
of parliament from the city of Mons. In May a school director was 
arrested for viewing and sending child pornography. The trial of a 
lawyer, who previously worked on the case of the infamous child killer 
Marc Detroux, also began during the year; he was accused of viewing and 
sending child pornography.
    Rape and forcible sexual assault are criminal offences, and 
penalties range from five years' to 30 years' imprisonment, with the 
maximum penalty in effect for cases resulting in the death of the 
victim.
    During the reporting period, the federal prosecutor launched 
investigations into allegations of child abuse carried out over many 
years by priests in the Catholic Church. A 10-hour questioning session 
of high-ranking members of the clergy and intrusive searches of tombs 
led to complaints from religious freedom advocates.

    Anti-Semitism.--The size of the Jewish community was estimated at 
40,000 to 50,000. During the year there were 47 reports of anti-Semitic 
acts, including attacks against persons, verbal harassment of Jews, and 
vandalism of Jewish property, down from the 109 reported incidents in 
2009. The law prohibits public statements that incite national, racial, 
or religious hatred, including denial of the Holocaust. Unidentified 
vandals threw Molotov cocktails at three different synagogues on 
separate days: Antwerp synagogue in January, then Charleroi and 
Brussels synagogues during April. Verbal and cyber hate incidents were 
also reported. In September two incidents took place in Antwerp between 
drunken Polish men and members of the Jewish community. The intoxicated 
men were physically aggressive, insulting all Jews they encountered. On 
November 8, three teenagers threw stones at a Jewish man and woman 
coming out of a shop in Antwerp.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law provides for the protection of 
persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental disabilities 
from discrimination in employment, education, and access to health care 
and other state services. In 2009 the CEOCR received 255 complaints 
regarding discrimination against persons with disabilities. Most were 
employment-related and concerned access to private and public buildings 
and services, including public transport, and access to banks, bars, 
and restaurants. While the Government mandated that public buildings 
erected after 1970 must be accessible to such persons, many older 
buildings were still inaccessible because of preservation orders.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--A survey released in November 
2009 on discrimination and intolerance as perceived by ethnic 
minorities from northern Africa, Turkey, sub-Saharan Africa, and 
Eastern Europe revealed that skin color and dress associated with Islam 
were the most important factors contributing to intolerance and 
discrimination, especially in the areas of housing and employment.
    In its 2009 annual report, the CEOCR stated that discrimination 
against the members of the Muslim community, estimated at 500,000, 
principally of Moroccan and Turkish origin, greatly exceeded that 
experienced by other immigrant communities. In 2009 the CEOCR, which 
investigates complaints of discrimination, racism, and hate 
instigation, handled 1,692 discrimination and racism complaints, a 
decrease from the previous year. Most complaints concerned nationality 
and ethnic descent (49 percent), physical handicaps (15 percent), and 
discrimination on the ground of religious and philosophical orientation 
(13 percent). Complaints related to ethnic descent, nationality, race, 
and skin color accounted for 60 percent of all complaints registered by 
the CEOCR. Places of work and the Internet were most often cited as the 
places where the alleged discriminatory acts occurred. Thirty percent 
of the complaints received by the CEOCR were deemed justified. In 2009 
the CEOCR initiated court cases in 1.1 percent of the registered 
complaints. Courts convicted a number of persons for inciting racial 
hatred, shouting abuse, denying the Holocaust, and using violence 
against asylum seekers. Judges convicted employers for discriminating 
on racial and physical grounds in hiring personnel. Landlords were 
convicted for discriminating against foreigners and persons with 
disabilities.
    Data released by the Ministry of Justice indicated that in 2008, 61 
percent of the cases of alleged discrimination handled by the courts 
were dismissed.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--According to the CEOCR, 6 
percent of the complaints received in 2009 concerned discrimination 
based on sexual orientation. Most were work-related, with the center 
receiving several reports on violence against gays and lebians. On May 
15, 35,000 persons attended the Belgian Pride (equivalent of Gay Pride) 
without reported incidents of violence.

    Other Societal Violence and Discrimination.--Of the complaints 
received in 2009 by the CEOCR, 3 percent involved discrimination based 
on health or medical conditions, including against persons with HIV/
AIDS. Most of the complaints were related to workplace incidents.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides workers the right to 
form and join independent unions of their choice without previous 
authorization or excessive requirements, and workers exercised this 
right in practice, with Belgian and non-Belgian workers enjoying the 
same rights. Work council elections are mandatory in enterprises 
employing over 100 employees, and safety and health committee elections 
are mandatory in companies employing more than 50 employees. 
Approximately 60 percent of private and public sector workers were 
members of labor unions. 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 strike for all 
private and all public workers, except for the military. The 
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) noted in its 2010 survey 
of violations of trade union rights that it was concerned about 
antiunion discrimination and collective representation in small and 
medium-sized enterprises.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The right to 
bargain collectively is recognized, and the Government protected this 
right. The law prohibits antiunion discrimination and employer 
interference in union functions, and the Government protected this 
right in practice. The ITUC reported one antiunion incident when a 
union representative was threatened at knife point on May 4.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor; however, there were reports that such 
practices occurred. Women, men, and children from Eastern Europe, sub-
Saharan Africa, and Asia were trafficked to the country for commercial 
sexual exploitation and forced labor. Female victims, including 
children, worked as prostitutes in massage parlors, as escorts, and 
through the Internet. Male victims were forced to work in restaurants, 
bars, sweatshops, horticulture, fruit farms, and construction sites. 
Police and courts used antitrafficking legislation to combat economic 
exploitation. In its 2009 report on trafficking, the CEOCR noted 
several cases of debt bondage, with victims lacking freedom of movement 
as their documents were retained.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There are laws and policies to protect children from exploitation in 
the workplace and the Government generally enforced these laws. The 
minimum age of employment is 15. Persons between the ages of 15 and 18 
can participate in part-time work and study programs and work full time 
during school vacations. The Ministry of Employment regulates 
industries that employ juvenile workers to ensure that labor laws are 
followed, and occasionally grants waivers for children temporarily 
employed by modeling agencies and by the entertainment business. There 
is growing concern about children exploited by organized begging gangs 
in larger cities.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The monthly national minimum 
wage was 1,387.49 euros ($1,859) for workers 21 years of age, 1,424.31 
euros ($1,908) for workers 21 1/2 years of age with six months of 
service, and 1,440.67 euros ($1,931) for workers 22 years of age with 
one year of service. When combined with extensive social benefits, this 
provided a decent standard of living for a worker and family.
    The standard workday is eight hours, and the standard workweek is 
38 hours. Departure from these norms can occur under the terms of a 
collective bargaining agreement, but work time may not exceed 11 hours 
per day and 50 hours per week. An 11-hour rest period is required 
between two work periods. Overtime is paid at a time-and-a-half premium 
Monday through Saturday and at double time on Sundays. The Ministry of 
Labor and the labor courts effectively enforced these laws and 
regulations.
    Workers have the right to remove themselves from situations that 
endanger their safety or health without jeopardy to their continued 
employment, and workers exercised this right in practice. Regulations 
were generally enforced effectively by the Employment and Labor 
Relations Federal Public Service.

                               __________

                         BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

    Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of two entities within the state, 
the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the federation) and the 
Republika Srpska, and Brcko District, with an estimated population of 
four million. The federation has a Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) and Croat 
majority, while the Republika Srpska has a Serb majority. The 1995 
General Framework Agreement for Peace (the Dayton Accords) provides for 
a democratic republic with a bicameral parliament but assigns many 
governmental functions to the two entities. The Dayton Accords also 
provide for a high representative who has the authority to impose 
legislation and remove officials. The tripartite presidency consists of 
Bosnian Croat Zeljko Komsic, Bosnian Serb Nebojsa Radmanovic, and 
Bosniak Bakir Izetbegovic. During the year the country held general 
elections that international observers deemed free and fair but noted 
that the press was biased and that private media tended to favor 
particular candidates. Security forces reported to civilian 
authorities.
    The following human rights problems were reported: deaths from 
landmines; mistreatment of prisoners; poor and overcrowded prison 
conditions with violence among prisoners; police failure to inform 
detainees of their rights or allow effective access to legal counsel 
prior to questioning; harassment and intimidation of journalists and 
civil society; obstruction of the return of internally displaced 
persons and refugees; government corruption; discrimination and 
violence against women and ethnic, sexual, and religious minorities; 
discrimination against persons with disabilities; trafficking in 
persons; and limits on employment rights. At year's end, Ratko Mladic, 
the Bosnian Serb war crimes indictee most wanted by the International 
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), remained at large.
                        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 arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.
    Domestic courts and the ICTY continued to adjudicate cases arising 
from killings during the 1992-95 conflict.
    During the year there were nine landmine accidents that killed six 
persons and injured eight. Two of the six persons killed were deminers.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.
    An estimated 12,000 persons remained missing from the 1992-95 war. 
During the year the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) 
reported 22,464 requests to trace relatives missing from the 1992-95 
conflict. By year's end, 12,062 persons had been accounted for, 
including 468 located alive.
    The law provides for the state-level Missing Persons Institute 
(MPI) to account for persons missing from the 1992-95 conflict, but 
neither entity fully implemented the law in practice. During the year 
the Republika Srpska continued to support an entity-level Operational 
Team for the Search for Missing Persons with similar responsibilities 
to the MPI. Observers characterized the team as an effort to disrupt 
the MPI's work. Republika Srpska operational teams refused MPI 
personnel access to archives that were transferred to MPI's ownership 
in accordance with the law.
    During the year both Republika Srpska and federation prosecutors 
did not cooperate fully in the MPI's exhumation and identification 
process because of disagreements over jurisdiction but worked with 
state-level authorities to reach some compromises. On August 25, the 
chief prosecutor decided that the State Prosecutor's Office would take 
over competence for exhumations after January 2011. The announcement 
reflected concern that a lack of reliable information on gravesite 
locations had resulted in a drop of the case-resolution rate during the 
year, as well as over disagreements between prosecutors' offices at 
various levels over which agencies should oversee exhumations. By the 
end of September, MPI carried out 109 exhumations resulting in the 
recovery of 280 bodies and 551 sets of partial remains. The majority of 
remains were recovered from 16 mass graves (15 of them related to the 
1995 Srebrenica genocide).
    From 2000 through the end of September, the International 
Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) generated a total of 29,634 DNA 
matches relevant to 15,707 missing persons, of which 25,339 DNA matches 
represented 13,156 individuals related to the country. In all the ICMP 
collected more than 88,300 blood samples from persons related to 29,045 
missing individuals, of which 69,532 blood samples related to 23,359 
persons who were still missing.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices; however, there were 
credible allegations that police physically mistreated individuals at 
the time of their arrest and during detention.
    On September 24, the Council of Ministers adopted the report of the 
Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) 
regarding its May 2009 visit to the country's prisons. The CPT report 
noted that authorities had made only limited attempts to address 
concerns raised in an earlier report on the CPT's 2007 visit as well as 
authorities' failure to address systematic deficiencies affecting the 
prison service. The CPT noted that it was obliged to repeat many of its 
recommendations from 2007 and warned the country that if future visits 
revealed continued noncompliance with the country's obligations under 
the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or 
Degrading Treatment or Punishment, it would use its authority under the 
convention to make a public statement regarding the conditions.
    According to the May 2009 CPT report, there were credible 
allegations that officers at the Sarajevo Remand Prison abused a group 
of recaptured escapees in March of that year. The escapees alleged that 
corrections officers kicked and punched them in a stairwell out of the 
view of surveillance cameras as punishment for their escape. At Zenica 
prison, the CPT reported that, although incidents of mistreatment 
decreased since the 2007 visit, prisoners being transferred to the 
disciplinary unit reported that corrections officers abused them with 
kicks, punches, and blows with truncheons, apparently at night when the 
unit manager was not on duty. The report noted that the ``vast majority 
of prisoners interviewed'' made no allegations of ill treatment by 
prison staff.
    In September 2009 parliament enacted a law forming an independent 
commission to monitor the conditions in prisons, treatment of 
prisoners, as well as respect for their basic human rights.
    In June 2009 the federation Ministry of Justice reported that the 
management of Zenica prison installed video surveillance to prevent 
what the CPT characterized in its May 2009 report as the generalized 
problem of mistreatment of prisoners by prison staff. During the year 
prison management implemented a detailed plan developed last year to 
decrease violence between the prisoners including separating the 
prison's walking area into 10 separate areas, special accommodations 
for higher-risk prisoners, and hiring 50 additional guards, many of 
whom were interns who may be hired full-time at a later date.
    The CPT delegation also reported meeting several patients at the 
Sokolac Psychiatric Hospital who alleged that police punched and hit 
them with batons when they were apprehended. The delegation noted that 
a doctor working at the hospital confirmed the allegations.
    The CPT report also recorded the presence of baseball bats, replica 
pistols, and metal piping (with wrist straps) in interrogation rooms at 
a number of police stations and stated that there was no legitimate 
reason for such items to be present.
    During the year the Government began construction of a new criminal 
psychiatric facility at Sokolac, scheduled to be completed in April 
2011, and temporarily transferred prisoners to a renovated psychiatric 
correctional facility in Tuzla. During the year the Government began 
funding the independent commission established by last year's 
amendments to the correctional code to monitor future allegations of 
abuse and violations.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions were below international standards in several areas. 
The Government permitted independent human rights observers to perform 
monitoring visits, and such visits occurred during the year. Poor 
hygiene, and antiquated facilities remained serious problems.
    By year's end, there were 2,749 persons incarcerated throughout the 
country, including 20 persons imprisoned by state-level authorities and 
1,671 and 1,058 by the federation and Republika Srpska respectively. By 
the Government's standards, the total capacity of federation and 
Republika Srpska prisons was 2,792 persons.
    In its May 2009 report, the CPT noted that little had changed since 
its 2007 visit to address the fundamental weakness permitting 
interprisoner violence. Prisoners and staff felt that the culture of 
interprisoner violence and intimidation at Zenica prison threatened 
them. Fights among prisoners and violence between rival gangs organized 
around ethnic or regions of origin were common. The CPT reported that 
Zenica prison was not under the effective control of prison staff and 
reiterated its recommendation that the country draw up a comprehensive 
plan to address interprisoner violence that included staffing levels 
sufficient to control the prison population.
    There were reports of corruption among prison officials. There were 
credible reports that some prisoners in the Sarajevo prison used 
connections to arrange transfer to the Igman correctional institution, 
where conditions and recreational facilities were considered better and 
security more lax.
    Lenient rules allowing weekend furloughs for good behavior even to 
violent felons came under increasing public scrutiny following the 
disappearance of a high-profile prisoner. The law requires furloughs to 
be supervised for prisoners serving sentences of 10 years or more, 
alcoholics, drug addicts, and repeat offenders, and also permits 
authorities to supervise prisoners whose sentences are less than 10 
years.
    Adult and juvenile female inmates were held together in separate 
wings of facilities for adult males. Facilities held male inmates 
between the ages of 16 to 18 years old with adult male inmates, while 
male inmates under the age of 16 years old were held separately.
    The Government permitted independent human rights observers to 
visit, and gave international community representatives widespread and 
unhindered access to detention facilities and prisoners. The law 
provides for the right of prisoners to communicate, file complaints, 
and expect expeditious resolution of violations. Authorities generally 
permitted prisoners and detainees to submit complaints to judicial 
authorities without censorship and to request investigations of 
credible allegations of inhumane conditions, although the country's 
ombudsman documented a few violations of this law at the Sarajevo and 
Tuzla prisons during the year. The ombudsman also noted common 
complaints from prisoners that state-level authorities rarely 
interviewed inmates regarding prison conditions and other alleged 
violations, despite the creation of a state-level commission for such 
investigations under a 2009 law.
    The law also allows detainees and prisoners to send their requests 
or complaints to the country's ombudsman, who has authority to advocate 
for the rights of prisoners, including juveniles, regarding status and 
circumstances of confinement, bail, overcrowding, and other conditions. 
However, the ombudsman often lacked sufficient staffing and resources 
to meet demand in these areas. During the year the ombudsman documented 
several cases in which prison authorities did not forward requests to 
the ombudsman, including a letter signed by 25 prisoners at the 
Sarajevo prison.
    The ombudsman can also advocate on behalf of prisoners to improve 
pretrial conditions and recordkeeping to ensure that prisoners do not 
serve beyond the maximum sentence for the charged offense. The 
ombudsman lacked authority to advocate for alternatives to 
incarceration for nonviolent offenders to alleviate overcrowding.
    According to the ombudsman's report this year, detention facilities 
throughout the country lacked satisfactory sanitation, air and food 
quality, lighting, and climate control. The report observed that the 
windows in the jail in Doboj were covered with concrete blocks, 
preventing adequate ventilation. In Bihac prison, bathrooms lacked 
doors and stalls were separated by blankets. The report also noted 
numerous complaints, particularly in Sarajevo prison, that food and 
juices provided in prison cafeterias frequently passed their expiration 
dates. The ombudsman noted that prisoners and detainees had reasonable 
access to visitors and were permitted religious observance. Prisons 
that previously lacked adequate spaces for religious observances, 
particularly Sarajevo prison, corrected these inadequacies during the 
year.
    There were numerous reports, especially at Sarajevo and Zenica 
prisons, of those convicted of murder and criminal traffic violations 
incarcerated together. The ombudsman criticized prison administrations 
throughout the country for not taking ``risk evaluation'' into 
consideration when colocating prisoners.
    The ombudsman's recommendations are not binding, and laws governing 
prison facilities do not differentiate between violent and nonviolent 
offenders.
    During the year prison authorities did not always fulfill the 
recommendations of the September 2009 ombudsman's report on the 
country's prisons and correctional departments. The ombudsman's report 
for this year also noted several problems, including an inadequate 
legal framework, and found that mistreatment and violence remained 
common in prisons and often resulted from serious organizational 
problems. The report also noted the same concerns regarding Zenica and 
Sarajevo prisons where little effort had been made to improve 
conditions.
    During the year the ombudsman delegation carried out follow-up 
visits to its September 2009 visit to the country's prisons. The 
delegation noted that Foca prison had added 50 new beds and was 
preparing to add 38 new staff members. In addition the prison began 
providing employment opportunities for prisoners. The delegation 
reported that Tuzla prison hired 16 new staff members and formed two 
new women's sections of the prison. In Kozlovac the prison authorities 
started to reconstruct the old prison building, which was expected to 
increase the capacity of the prison by 64 persons. Female prisoners 
mainly complained about their inability to work and the lack of 
occupational therapy and other privileges.
    The ICRC continued to have access to detention facilities under the 
jurisdiction of the ministries of justice at both the state and entity 
levels.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these 
prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The law extends 
significant overlapping law enforcement competencies to the state-level 
government, to each entity, and to the Brcko District, each of which 
has its own police force. An EU military force continued to support the 
country's government in maintaining a safe and secure environment for 
the country's population. NATO offices in Sarajevo continued to assist 
the country's authorities in the implementation of defense reform, 
counterterrorism, and cooperation with the ICTY. The EU Police Mission 
remained in the country to monitor the local police.
    The country made limited progress on state-level police reform, 
although authorities continued to postpone local-level police reform 
until after the completion of reform in this area. By year's end, the 
Government formed a number of bodies including agencies for forensics, 
education, police support, direction for coordination, and foreigners 
that the law mandated, but some bodies often had insufficient staff. 
However, the agencies for forensics, police support and education had 
minimal staff and had not begun operations due to political 
interference and misunderstandings with entities on mechanisms and 
procedures for transferring staff, equipment, and competencies to the 
state level. Entities did not meet the target standards of ethnic 
representation on police forces that their respective constitutions 
mandated.
    Professional standards units (PSUs) are the internal affairs 
investigative units in each entity's Interior Ministry and in the Brcko 
District. There were continued reports of corruption within the entity- 
and state-level security services.
    During the year the Republika Srpska PSU received 543 conduct-
related complaints and determined that 50 of these were well founded. 
During the year authorities pursued 107 disciplinary proceedings 
against 155 employees of the Ministry of Interior. As a result of 
proceedings, authorities suspended 22 employees, including three for 
corruption. The unit forwarded recommendations for disciplinary action 
to prosecutors in 22 cases that they considered major violations. In 
addition authorities filed 22 felony reports and misdemeanor reports 
against Republika Srpska Interior Ministry employees for offenses 
including narcotics trafficking, forgery, theft, domestic violence, 
assault, extortion, and traffic violations, indicating a significant 
decrease from the previous year. During the year the federation PSU 
investigated 68 cases and forwarded 13 complaints to prosecutors for 
disciplinary action. During the year the Brcko District PSU 
investigated 126 cases and concluded that 120 complaints were well 
founded. The PSU forwarded 13 cases deemed to be major violations of 
duty to prosecutors for disciplinary action.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Police 
generally arrested persons openly with warrants based on sufficient 
evidence. The law provides that authorities promptly inform detainees 
of the charges against them, and there was a functioning bail system. 
The law requires police to bring suspects before a prosecutor within 24 
hours of detention. During this period, police may detain individuals 
for up to six hours at the scene of a crime for investigative purposes. 
The prosecutor has an additional 24 hours to release the person or to 
bring the person before a judge who decides whether they should remain 
in pretrial custody. The law generally limits pretrial detention to one 
year. The law allows detainees to request a lawyer of their own 
choosing, requires authorities to inform detainees of the charges 
against them after an indictment, and provides for the right to a 
speedy trial. In practice authorities often denied detainees prompt 
access to an attorney. There were no cases of arbitrary arrest or 
detention reported during the year.
    In its May 2009 report, the CPT delegation reported that the right 
to access an attorney only became effective some time after detained 
persons had been deprived of their liberty and that access to an 
attorney seemed to occur only after authorities brought the detainees 
before a judge to remand them into custody. Many of the persons 
interviewed by the delegation claimed that authorities did not permit 
them to contact an attorney or even inform them of their rights until 
after the crime police questioned them.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The state constitution does not 
explicitly provide for an independent judiciary, but the laws of both 
entities do. The State Court is the highest court in the country for 
certain criminal cases, including war crimes, organized crime, 
terrorism, economic crime, and corruption. The country also has a State 
Constitutional Court and State Prosecutor's Office. Each entity has its 
own Supreme Court and office of chief prosecutor. The state-level 
courts do not exercise judicial supremacy over the entity-level courts. 
Political parties sometimes influenced the judiciary at both the state 
and entity levels in politically sensitive cases. Judicial reforms 
reduced the level of intimidation by organized crime figures and 
political leaders, but intimidation continued.
    The absence of extradition treaties with neighboring countries 
continued to be a major hurdle to bringing suspects to justice, 
particularly given the relatively small size of the country, the 
prevalence of dual citizenship, and the ease of movement across borders 
with former Yugoslav countries.
    The state-level High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) acts 
independently and regulates many of the most important affairs of the 
judiciary with clear, transparent criteria for judicial and 
prosecutorial appointments and detailed disciplinary liability for 
judges and prosecutors.
    Inefficiency in the courts undermined the rule of law by making 
recourse to civil judgments less effective. There was a backlog of 
nearly two million unresolved civil cases, more than one-half involving 
utility bills. Authorities estimated that only 10 percent of the cases 
involved criminal matters.
    According to the 2008 report of the Center for Human Rights of 
Sarajevo University, more than 20 percent of decisions of the State 
Constitutional Court had not been implemented. The majority of the 
cases pertained to so-called ``systematic failures'' of government, 
such as problems concerning missing persons, old currency savings, and 
compensation for war damages.

    Trial Procedures.--The laws of the federation and Republika Srpska 
provide that defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence, public 
trials, and the right to counsel at public expense, if charged with a 
serious crime. However, courts did not always appoint defense attorneys 
where the maximum sentence was less than five years. The law provides 
defendants the right to confront witnesses, to present witnesses and 
evidence on their own behalf, to access government-held evidence 
relevant to their case, and to appeal verdicts. The Government observed 
these rights in practice.
    The State Court continued to make progress adjudicating organized 
crime and war crimes cases and expanded the witness protection program. 
During the year the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) 
Witness Protection Department provided support to more than 140 
individuals.
    The State Court War Crimes Chamber and entity courts continued 
conducting war crimes trials during the year. By November the State 
Prosecutor's Office opened 18 new war crimes investigations involving 
28 suspects and secured judgments in nine war crimes cases involving 13 
alleged war criminals, 10 of whom were convicted and three acquitted.
    The State Prosecutor's Office continued to use plea agreements in 
some cases. In 2008 the Council of Ministers adopted a national 
strategy for the prosecution of war crimes that foresaw the prosecution 
of the most serious war crimes by 2016 and all other war crimes by 
2024.
    On May 21 and June 23, respectively, the State Court sentenced 
Cerim Novalic to seven years in prison and confirmed an indictment for 
Zulfikar Alispago, former commander of the ``Zulfikar'' special 
purposes squad with the main headquarters of the country's army, for 
war crimes against civilians in Konjic.
    During the year the country's courts sentenced four individuals to 
a total of 77 years in prison and confirmed indictments for eight 
others for war crimes in Srebrenica. An August 13 indictment charged 
that Franc Kos (also known as ``Slovenac'' and ``Zuti''), Stanko Kojic, 
Vlastimir Golijan, and Zoran Goronja (known as ``Zoka'' ) with 
participating in the July 1995 killings of more than 800 men and boys 
at the Branjevo military farm in Pilica in the Zvornik municipality.
    On August 27, Veselin ``Batko'' Vlahovic, suspected of committing 
war crimes in Sarajevo from 1992 to 1995, was extradited from Spain. He 
was arrested on his arrival at the Sarajevo airport on August 26 and 
taken to the detention unit of the State Court.
    Elsewhere in the country during the year, courts sentenced eight 
individuals to a total of nearly 175 years in prison and indicted eight 
others for war crimes against civilians.
    In December 2009 the State Court found Ratko Bundalo and Nedo 
Zeljaja guilty of crimes against humanity in the Kalinovik region. The 
court sentenced Bundalo and Zeljaja to 19 years and 15 years in prison, 
respectively. The court acquitted a third defendant, Dordislav Askraba, 
on all counts.
    Despite local and international efforts to prosecute war crimes, 
many lower-level perpetrators remained unpunished, including those 
responsible for the approximately 8,000 persons killed in the 
Srebrenica genocide and those responsible for approximately 13,000 to 
15,000 other persons who are missing and presumed to have been killed 
during the 1992-95 war.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--During the year the 
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued one judgment involving the 
country. On May 27, ECHR upheld the right of former Yugoslav military 
officer Branimir Djokic, who had a legally valid purchase contract, to 
repossess his prewar apartment and to register his title. The 
Government compensated Djokic in compliance with ECHR's decision. 
During the previous year, ECHR issued judgements that found 10 
violations by the country of various provisions of the European 
Convention on Human Rights, including one violation of the right to 
liberty and security, three violations of the right to a fair trial, 
one violation of the right to an effective remedy, and four violations 
involving protection of property.
    During the year the country complied with ECHR judgments requiring 
individual measures either through actual remedies or by submitting 
action plans for compliance to ECHR. The country remained noncompliant 
with the ECHR's December 2009 Sejdic-Finci judgment that the country's 
constitutional provisions on ethnic minorities running for certain 
elected offices violated the European Convention on Human Rights.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The law provides for an 
independent and impartial judiciary in civil matters, and citizens 
could file civil suits for human rights violations.

    Property Restitution.--The country's four traditional religious 
communities had extensive claims for restitution of property that the 
Government of the former Yugoslavia nationalized after World War II. In 
the absence of state legislation specifically governing restitution of 
properties that the previous communist regime nationalized, return of 
former religious properties continued on a case by case basis at the 
discretion of municipal officials; these officials rarely completed 
such restitution and usually did so in favor of the majority group in 
that particular municipality.
    Many officials used property restitution cases to provide political 
patronage. Other unresolved restitution claims were politically and 
legally complicated. On June 9, the federation government, Sarajevo 
Canton government, Sarajevo Stari Grad municipality, and the economic 
faculty in Sarajevo signed an agreement to return the building that 
housed the University of Sarajevo's economic faculty to the Serb 
Orthodox Church. According to the agreement, the construction of the 
new economic faculty building should begin in 2011; however, during the 
year the Governments did not undertake any activities to fulfill the 
agreement.
    The Jewish and Muslim communities also asserted historic claims to 
many commercial and residential properties in Sarajevo. The Catholic 
community maintained a large number of similar claims in Banja Luka.
    Roma displaced during the 1992-95 conflict had difficulty 
repossessing their property as a result of discrimination and because 
they lacked documents proving ownership or had never registered their 
property with local authorities.

    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 
Republika Srpska-based journalists continued to complain of telephone 
tapping and increased government surveillance.
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 did not always respect 
press freedom in practice. Laws delegated safeguarding freedom of the 
press to the cantons in the federation and to the entity-level 
authorities in the Republika Srpska. Defamation laws exist at the 
entity-level, and freedom of information legislation exists at both the 
entity- and state-levels. However, the Government, including the 
courts, did not fully implement these laws in practice, and government 
respect for freedom of speech and the press did not improve during the 
year.
    The federation criminal code prohibits hate speech. The Republika 
Srpska criminal code does not specifically proscribe hate speech, 
although the law prohibits causing ethnic, racial, or religious hatred. 
The broadcasting code of practice also regulates hate speech by 
broadcasters. The country's Communications Regulatory Agency (CRA) did 
not register any cases of hate speech during the year. However, 
independent analysts noted a tendency by politicians and other leaders 
to label unwanted criticism as hate speech. Many media outlets used 
language, often nationalistic, considered incendiary on matters related 
to ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and political affiliation. 
Both entities have defamation laws which are used in courts. The Press 
Council registered four cases of hate speech in print media.
    Many privately owned newspapers were available and expressed a wide 
variety of views. A number of independent print media outlets continued 
to encounter financial problems that endangered their operation.
    During the year the Press Council considered 110 complaints related 
to print media, accepting 36 as valid and rejecting 10 as unfounded. In 
some cases, the council instructed media outlets to publish a 
refutation or a retraction, or advised the same, resolving 41 cases in 
this way. In 26 cases, the council gave instructions for further 
complaint procedures, or for evaluating cases in court. Most of the 
complaints accepted by the council involved allegations that print 
media outlets denied persons the right to respond to reports and 
articles that they considered false or defamatory. The number of 
complaints due to breach of children's rights to privacy and protection 
from discrimination increased during the year. In four cases, the 
council registered hate speech in articles published in a daily 
newspaper. The Press Council continued to face pressures and 
difficulties in preserving its status as a single organization in 
charge of print self regulation for the entire country.
    Political pressures on state-level media institutions continued. 
Political pressures on the CRA continued, with politicians often 
alleging a lack of impartiality. Public broadcasters remained 
vulnerable to political influence as well. Bosnia-Herzegovina Radio 
Television tried to maintain a neutral editorial policy, but its 
influence remained limited. Two public broadcasters, Federation 
Television (FTV) and Radio Television of Republika Srpska (RTRS), 
remained the largest television broadcasters in the country. RTRS 
reported predominantly pro-Republika Srpska ruling party views, while 
there were complaints that FTV continued supporting certain opposition 
parties.
    The problems of the CRA and the undermining of the CRA's 
independence remained unresolved. Its authority was challenged on 
political grounds by the ruling political parties. The Council of 
Ministers failed, for a third year in a row, to appoint a CRA general 
manager and attempted to influence the selection of a candidate by 
making it part of a broader political package. In April 2009 the 
mandate of CRA council members expired. By year's end, the state 
parliament had not completed procedures for appointing new council 
members. In 2009, the CRA's status was reduced to that of an 
administrative body, but an October 19 decision excluded the CRA from 
the Law on Administrative Bodies. Public broadcasters remained 
fragmented due to the failure of the steering boards of the public 
broadcasters to establish a unified public broadcasting system. On 
September 23, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe 
(OSCE) issued a report on the country's media which noted that this 
lack of progress to establish a public broadcasting system undermined 
the long-term viability of public broadcasting in general.
    The few media outlets in the Republika Srpska that retained 
editorial independence continued to report government interference with 
their operations. A local commercial network of five stations operated 
in both entities (Mreza Plus), as did the private television networks 
OBN and PinkBH. Dozens of small independent television stations 
broadcast throughout the country. Radio continued to provide a forum 
for diverse points of view. In many cases, news programs of independent 
broadcasters reflected opposition perspectives.
    The majority of Republika Srpska media showed a distinct bias in 
favor of the Republika Srpska government. On July 2, the Republika 
Srpska government, for the second consecutive year, decided to give 
five million convertible marks ($3.4 million) to Republika Srpska-based 
media, stating that the assistance would be distributed to projects 
``of general social interest'' that ``improve access to information.'' 
Despite an official 90-day application submission deadline, the 
Republika Srpska government allocated funds to 14 selected media 
outlets well before that deadline. Media watchdog organizations and 
opposition groups described the program as a subsidy to organizations 
sympathetic to the ruling Republika Srpska party preceding the 
country's general elections during the year. There were also complaints 
that federation media outlets exhibited political bias demonstrating 
support for certain political parties or business interests.
    While there were continued reports of threats against journalists, 
recent research by the Bosnia and Herzegovina Association of 
Journalists revealed widespread popular indifference toward such 
violence. During the year the Free Media Help Line (a part of the 
Bosnia and Herzegovina Journalists Association) registered 43 cases 
involving violations of journalists' rights and freedoms or pressure 
from government and law enforcement officials. During the year there 
were nine cases of pressure on and threats to journalists that included 
one death threat and five physical attacks. Other cases involved 
assault threats and denial of access to information.
    In some instances, media sources reported officials threatened 
media outlets with loss of advertising or limited their access to 
official information. Politicians and government officials also accused 
media outlets of opposing a given ethnic group or betraying their own 
ethnic group. Some journalists complained of telephone tapping, 
increased government surveillance, actual or threatened lawsuits, and 
repeated visits from tax authorities.
    There were several incidents reported during the year that involved 
violence against journalists or possible attempts to intimidate the 
media:
    In August Damir Kaletovic, a journalist with the popular FTV 
program 60 Minutes, was charged with illegal taping and secret 
listening after broadcasting a threat made by Vitomir Popovic, the 
country's human rights ombudsman, against him and FTV news director 
Bakir Hadziomerovic. The threats were allegedly made after FTV 
criticized Popovic's reelection as ombudsman, accusing him of 
corruption and involvement in war crimes. Popovic was recorded as 
saying that Kaletovic and Hadziomerovic each ``deserved a bullet to the 
head'' for broadcasting the story. On September 20, following numerous 
requests from Kaletovic, the Banja Luka district prosecutor opened an 
investigation into the threats allegedly made by Popovic. Both the case 
against Kaletovic and the investigation of Popovic remained open at 
year's end.
    On September 22, a store owner in Stolac kicked and attempted to 
choke Dnevni List journalist Nevres Dedic after he took photos of a 
police raid involving the store. The store owner also damaged Dedic's 
camera. The attack reportedly occurred in front of five or six police 
officers, who warned but failed to stop the attacker. Dedic filed a 
complaint with the police. The Association of BiH Journalists strongly 
criticized the attack and police failure to protect the journalist. The 
association asked cantonal police to investigate the case and provide a 
public explanation why they failed to protect a journalist on duty. 
Dedic's attorney filed criminal charges against the attacker. Several 
individuals were arrested during the police operation called ``Tax'' 
aimed at breaking the tobacco smuggling chain. However, Dedic's 
attacker remains released on bail.
    In May Ljiljana Kovacevic reported receiving official notification 
of legal charges filed against the BETA news agency in connection with 
a slander suit brought by Republika Srpska Prime Minister Dodik. In May 
2009 the prime minister filed the suit against the agency and 
Kovacevic, its Banja Luka correspondent, for reporting that SIPA 
submitted a report on suspected criminal activity against him and other 
persons in connection with questionable construction tenders. Dodik 
asked the court for 15,000 convertible marks ($10,200) in damages. BETA 
accepted the notification but reportedly had not received any 
additional documents clarifying the case's status.
    On election day, October 3, the ruling Republika Srepska political 
party, Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), faxed a letter 
to ATV Banja Luka prohibiting the station from reporting at its 
election headquarters. The country's journalists association condemned 
SNSD's action as discriminatory.
    By year's end, FTV had not complied with a court order directing 
FTV to reinstate former news director Duska Jurisic. On January 18, FTV 
fired Jurisic allegedly for ``lacking adequate communication skills 
which damaged the FTV's reputation.'' In October labor inspection 
officials determined that FTV's replacement of Jurisic was illegal. On 
November 8, the municipal court of Sarajevo also ruled FTV's decision 
to replace Jurisic to be illegal. On December 15, after FTV appealed 
the court's ruling, the municipal court of Sarajevo ordered FTV to 
reinstate Jurisic as news director until the final ruling.
    During the year the police did not follow up the reported June 2009 
death threat made against Alija Behram, the director of RTV Mostar and 
host of a political television show. Behram received the threat after a 
broadcast concerning controversial political issues in Mostar that some 
believed were anti-Muslim.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for the 
year, approximately 38 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events; however, ethnic 
favoritism and politicization of faculty appointments constrained 
academic freedom. In Sarajevo Serbs and Croats complained that Bosniaks 
received preferential treatment in appointments and promotions at the 
University of Sarajevo. The University of Banja Luka and the University 
of East Sarajevo continued to limit faculty appointments almost 
exclusively to Serbs. The University of Mostar remained divided into 
two separate universities, reflecting the continued ethnic divide in 
the city. Parochial interests influence the remaining five public 
universities in Bosniak-majority areas. It was widely believed that 
corruption is common in the university system.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The law provides for freedom of assembly, and the Government 
generally respected this right in practice.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association, and the Government, with certain exceptions, generally 
respected this right in practice. A wide range of social, cultural, and 
political organizations functioned without interference.
    The law allows NGOs to register freely; however, some NGOs and NGO 
associations experienced difficulties registering, including long 
delays and inconsistent application of the law. Some NGOs, frustrated 
by delays at the state level, chose instead to register their 
organizations at the entity level.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights; 
however, some limits remained in practice. The Government cooperated 
with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and 
other humanitarian organizations in providing protection and assistance 
to internally displaced persons, refugees, returning refugees, asylum 
seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.

    Internally Displaced Persons.--The return of persons displaced by 
the 1991-95 wars in the former Yugoslavia continued to steadily 
decrease. According to the UNHCR, 358 persons (of whom, 340 were 
minorities) returned during the first six months of the year. 
Government officials and some NGOs, however, believed that the total 
number of returns was significantly lower, since the UNHCR determined 
returns based on property restitution rather than physical presence. 
According to the UNHCR, there were an estimated 113,465 registered 
displaced persons in the country at the end of 2009 seeking return to 
their prewar places of residence.
    On June 24, the country's parliament adopted the Revised Return 
Strategy which deals with the issues of property and return of 
displaced persons and refugees. The strategy treats equally the right 
to return and the right to assistance for local integration of those 
who choose not to return. Some of the organizations working on return 
issues expressed concerns over the strategy, believing it would further 
slow the return process and encourage local integration.
    The high unemployment rate, lack of access to social benefits, 
inability to transfer social benefits when returning from another 
entity, lack of available housing, and high municipal administration 
taxes on documents that were necessary for accessing reconstruction 
assistance for return continued to inhibit returns.
    Minority returnees often faced intimidation and complained of 
discrimination in hiring. In returnee areas throughout the country, the 
percentage of minorities holding municipal employment was neither 
representative of current populations, nor consistent with legally 
mandated percentages based on the 1991 census, indicating local 
government failures to implement and enforce the provisions of the law. 
Minority returnees also faced obstructions in their access to 
education, health care, and pension benefits, as well as poor 
infrastructure.
    During the year observers continued to note a trend of attacks 
directed against symbols of minority groups, rather than attacks 
against individuals. This hostility continued to affect returns. Many 
returnees cited authorities' failure to apprehend war criminals as a 
disincentive to return. Many displaced persons created permanent lives 
away from their prewar homes, and only individuals with few other 
options (including a large number of elderly pensioners) tended to 
return.
    In the Republika Srpska, the Ministry for Refugees and Displaced 
Persons provided support to Bosniaks and Croats returning to the entity 
and to Bosnian Serbs returning to the federation. The federation 
Ministry for Refugees assisted Croats and Serbs returning to the 
federation, and Bosniaks and Croats returning to the Republika Srpska. 
Both entity-level refugee ministries provided limited reconstruction 
assistance to returnees and also committed part of their budgets 
towards joint projects that were determined by the State Commission for 
Refugees.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees.
    The Government provided protection against the expulsion or return 
of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be 
threatened on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a 
particular social group, or political opinion.
    Asylum seekers with pending claims, regardless of national origin, 
may remain in asylum centers until the courts adjudicate their claims, 
a process which normally took three months, although in some cases 
longer. Asylum seekers have the right to appeal a negative decision, 
and the law requires the court to render a decision within two months.
    Asylum seekers have the right to education and legal redress for 
human rights complaints. However, they do not have the right to 
employment unless the Government grants them asylum. There were no 
reports of abuse of refugees, and adequate protection was provided to 
refugees in asylum centers.
    During the year the Government did not grant temporary protection 
to any individuals not considered to qualify as refugees.

    Stateless Persons.--According to UNHCR, there were between 3,000 
and 5,000 persons at risk of statelessness, the large majority of whom 
were Roma. This figure also includes those lacking birth registration 
and persons at risk of denaturalization (largely those naturalized 
during the country's 1992-95 conflict). According to UNHCR, by year's 
end, approximately 1,300 cases remained for review by the Government. 
By year's end, more than 50 percent of the cases reviewed resulted in 
denaturalization, which may render some persons stateless. There were 
no reported cases during the year. In 2009 one person had been 
registered as legally stateless, but was subsequently naturalized on 
the basis of his origin (not on the basis of statelessness). The law 
provides that a child born to one or two parents who are citizens of 
the country is also a citizen, regardless of the place of birth. A 
child born on the territory of the country to parents who are not 
Bosnian citizens does not gain citizenship unless both parents are 
stateless persons. While the law provides no special provisions to 
expedite naturalization for stateless persons, it provides stateless 
persons opportunities to gain nationality on a nondiscriminatory basis. 
Stateless persons apply for naturalization through the same procedures 
as other foreigners.
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 multiparty elections based on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Observers from the OSCE 
concluded that the general election was largely conducted in line with 
international standards but noted problems, including deficiencies in 
the registration process, group voting, and irregularities in the 
counting process. The OSCE identified some biased reporting and noted 
that private media, particularly print, tended to favor certain 
candidates. Smaller parties complained about systematic underexposure 
in the media. Many Republika Srpska print media reported nationalistic 
parties' rhetoric advocating Republika Srpska's secession and implying 
connections between segments of the country's Muslim community and 
international terrorism. Some major outlets in the federation reported 
parties' use of 1992-95 wartime imagery to intensify ethno-political 
discord.
    Political parties generally operated without restriction or outside 
influence. Individuals and parties representing a wide spectrum of 
political views could freely declare their candidacies and run for 
election. The law provides that Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks, and ``others'' 
must be adequately represented in entity, cantonal, and municipal 
government institutions, based on the 1991 census, until the returns 
process detailed by the Dayton Accords is completed. However, the 
Government did not respect this law in practice. Separate from the 
three constituent peoples, there were 16 recognized national minority 
groups.
    Nationalist rhetoric from leaders of all ethnic groups dominated 
political exchanges. In particular Serb politicians regularly called 
into question the validity and existence of the state of Bosnia and 
Herzegovina and threatened to call a referendum in the Republika Srpska 
to secede from the state.
    The law requires that at least 30 percent of political party 
candidates be women. During the year the country held general 
elections. An estimated 37 percent of all candidates were women, while 
women accounted for 17 percent of those actually elected. A December 
study by the president of the country's Central Election Commission 
concluded that women were not appointed to the number of higher level 
government positions that the law's candidate quota system envisioned 
because of significant gender prejudice. At year's end, eight of 42 
members of the state-level House of Representatives were women. There 
were no women in the nine-member Council of Ministers, although there 
was one female deputy minister. At the entity level, women held four of 
23 leadership positions in the federation, including the president, one 
vice president, one minister, and one speaker in parliament. In the 
Republika Srpska, during most of the year, two of 16 ministers and one 
speaker in parliament were women. By year's end, following October's 
general elections, a record five women were appointed as ministers in 
the Republika Srpska.
    Minorities remained severely underrepresented in government. There 
were no members of a minority group in the parliament and only one 
member of a minority in the Council of Ministers.
    As of year's end, the Government had not complied with the December 
2009 ECHR judgment that the constitutional provision that precludes 
``others'' (that is, persons outside the three constituent peoples--
Serbs, Croats, and Bosniaks) from becoming president or delegates of 
the parliament's upper chamber violates the European Convention on 
Human Rights. The ECHR found that the country's constitution 
discriminates against minorities other than the ``constituent 
peoples,'' and required the country to bring its constitution in 
compliance with the European Convention for Human Rights.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides for criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials frequently engaged in corrupt actions with impunity. 
According to World Bank governance indicators for 2009, corruption 
remained a serious problem, although the country's rating improved 
slightly compared with the previous year.
    On January 13, state prosecutors initiated two indictments against 
the former head of the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA), 
Haris Basic, and a senior FIPA associate on charges of abuse of office, 
exceeding official authority, providing material gain to others, and 
incurring damages to the Government in the amount of 54,000 convertible 
marks ($36,720). The case was ongoing at year's end.
    In February the state prosecutor ordered an investigation of 
charges of abuse of power by Damir Hadzic, mayor of the Novi Grad 
municipality in Sarajevo. The case was in the pretrial phase at year's 
end.
    On April 28, the head of the border police's airport office, Fadil 
Jaganjac, was sentenced to five months in prison for allowing three 
persons to enter the country with forged passports.
    On April 8, a state court acquitted Edhem Bicakcic and Dragan 
Covic, the president of the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and 
Herzegovina party, of corruption charges for alleged offenses committed 
during the time they served as prime minister and deputy prime minister 
of the federation.
    On July 16, the country's appellate court acquitted Mladen Ivanic, 
president of the Party for Democratic Progress and a House of Peoples 
delegate, of charges that he misused public funds when he was Republika 
Srpska prime minister from 2000-02.
    As of year's end, state prosecutors had not filed any charges in 
connection with the SIPA criminal report, announced in February 2009 
that alleged corruption by Republika Srpska officials, including Prime 
Minister Milorad Dodik, in connection with several illegal construction 
tenders. The head of SIPA's organized crime unit, Dragan Lukac, who led 
the investigation, was removed from his position in September 2009.
    Candidates for certain public offices, including for seats in 
parliament at the state and entity levels, and members of the Council 
of Ministers and entity governments are subject to financial disclosure 
laws. The Central Election Commission is responsible for ensuring 
compliance with these laws.
    Although the law provides for citizen access to government records, 
many government agencies did not comply with the law. According to the 
law, the Government must provide an explanation for any denial of 
access, and citizens may appeal denials in the court system or to the 
ombudsman's offices. In practice the Government sometimes failed to 
provide the required explanation for denial of access unless citizens 
appealed to the ombudsman, the courts, or legal aid. Public awareness 
of the law remained low.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A wide variety of human rights groups and NGOs generally operated 
without restriction, investigating and publishing their findings. 
However, government officials were often inefficient and slow to 
respond to their recommendations.
    By year's end, the UN Development Program estimated the number of 
NGOs registered in the country to be more than 12,000. Financial 
viability remained the most challenging obstacle to overall civil 
society as only nonpolitically oriented organizations receive support 
from local governments. Registration and the procedure to change an 
organizational statute take significantly longer than prescribed by 
legislation due to registration authorities' inefficiency. Public 
support mechanisms and regulations were underdeveloped. Instead of 
following set guidelines and criteria, the Government commissions that 
allocated public benefit funds seemed to base many of their decisions 
on political interest and allocated large percentages of funds to 
predetermined beneficiaries such as religious communities, sports 
organizations, and veterans associations. The methods of allocation 
remain nontransparent and subject to corruption. Additionally there 
were no monitoring and evaluation mechanisms.
    During the year NGO advocacy activities became more diverse, using 
methods such as policy papers, public announcements, and street 
actions. NGO participation in decision-making processes was still 
insufficient and case by case. Both the Government and the NGO sector 
lack sufficient knowledge about the existing mechanisms for NGO 
participation. The Council of Ministers has the right to return any 
legislative draft which did not go through the NGO consultation 
process, but to date has not used this mechanism. Despite some 
successful advocacy initiatives during the year, NGOs were largely 
excluded from decisions of greater political importance or sensitivity. 
NGOs continued to establish greater cooperation with the Government at 
lower levels. In addition to the existing Agreement on Cooperation 
signed by the Council of Ministers, more than 60 municipalities drafted 
and signed agreements with local NGOs by year's end.
    Positive media coverage of NGOs continued to increase during the 
year. The media showed greater willingness to follow and support the 
work of the NGO community, although this willingness generally extended 
only to NGO work that did not threaten government interests. Some media 
covered more controversial issues, such as organized crime and 
corruption in the health, education, and public administration sectors 
and recognized NGOs' value as watchdogs and sources of information.
    The state-level government cooperated fully with international 
organizations, such as the Office of the High Representative, which has 
special powers over the Government, as well as other international 
organizations, such as the ICRC, ICMP, and the OSCE. However, the 
Republika Srpska government was less responsive and cooperative than 
were the state-level and federation governments with such 
organizations.
    The entity-level ombudsmen ceased to exist during the year, as 
mandated by the law, and a single state-level ombudsman institution 
composed of three members representing the country's three constituent 
groups became fully functional with the headquarters in Banja Luka and 
branch offices in Sarajevo, Mostar, Brcko, and Livno. The state-level 
ombudsman is a functional institution with authority to investigate 
violations of the country's human rights laws on behalf of individual 
citizens and to submit recommendations to the Government for remedy. 
However, the ombudsman's recommendations are not legally binding.
    The state parliament has a Joint Commission for Human Rights, 
Rights of Children, Youth, Immigration, Refugees, Asylum, and Ethics, 
consisting of members of both houses of parliament. The 11-member 
commission regularly held hearings, proposed legislation, and 
participated in human rights-related activities with governmental and 
nongovernmental organizations.
    The Government generally cooperated with the International Criminal 
Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) by complying with investigations 
and handing over indicted suspects. During an October 18 visit to the 
country, ICTY Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz stated that time was 
running out and called on countries in the region to help arrest the 
two remaining ICTY fugitives, Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic. Brammertz 
described their arrest as becoming imperative, particularly because of 
the damaging effects that delay of justice has on victims. The ICTY 
trial of Radovan Karadzic, a fugitive for 13 years, for alleged crimes 
committed in the country was ongoing at year's end.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability, 
language, or other social status; however, the Government did not 
enforce these prohibitions effectively.

    Women.--Rape and spousal rape are illegal; the maximum penalty for 
either crime is 15 years' imprisonment. A sense of shame reportedly 
prevented some rape victims from complaining to authorities. While 
police generally responded to reports of sexual assault, they tended 
not to treat reports of spousal rape with the same seriousness. 
Violence against women, including domestic violence and sexual assault, 
remained widespread and underreported. According to NGO estimates, one-
third of the women in the country were victims of domestic violence. 
Both entities have laws that require police to remove an offender from 
the family home. Experts estimated that only 10 percent of domestic 
violence victims reported the crime. Police received specialized 
training in handling cases of domestic violence, and there were two 
hotlines operating throughout the country that provided assistance to 
victims. During the year the Republika Srpska domestic violence hotline 
had received 1,516 reports of domestic violence while the federation 
hotline received 519. There were several shelters throughout the 
country for victims of domestic violence, many of which received 
financial and other material support from the Government during the 
year. Many of these shelters doubled as shelters for victims of 
trafficking in persons.
    Couples and individuals had the right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children, and had 
the information and means to do so free from discrimination, coercion, 
and violence. There was easy access to contraception and skilled 
attendance during childbirth. Most women had access to prenatal and 
postpartum care through employer or government insurance. However, 
insurance costs for self-employed women were often prohibitive, and the 
actual amount of benefits provided to unemployed mothers often varied 
according to canton or municipality. According to estimates compiled by 
international organizations, there were approximately nine maternal 
deaths per 100,000 live births in the country in 2008. Men and women 
received equal access to diagnosis and treatment for sexually 
transmitted infections, including HIV.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment, but it was a serious problem. 
Many NGOs reported that women experienced sexual harassment, but 
victims almost never filed complaints because they did not recognize 
their experiences as harassment and were not aware of their legal 
rights. Women have equal legal status to men, and authorities treated 
women equally in practice. The Government's Agency for Gender Equality 
worked to inform women of their rights. The state- and entity-level 
parliaments had committees for gender equality. Although few women held 
positions of substantial economic or political power, they were 
represented in most professions. However, results from a labor force 
survey released during the year showed that women had no larger share 
in employment than men in any formal economic sector. The survey 
indicated that over 62 percent of women of working age were inactive in 
formal labor markets, although many employers underreported employment 
to avoid mandatory social security contributions. An October report 
submitted by six prominent women's rights organizations to the U.N. 
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women concluded 
that the Government had taken no affirmative action measures that would 
address gender inequality in employment, noting the absence of job-
growth programs tailored specifically for women. According to the 
report, the state- and entity-level government employment strategies 
recognized the problem of gender-based inequalities in the labor market 
and structural stereotyping but were not seriously committed to 
increasing women's competitiveness in the labor market.
    Authorities documented a small but increasing number of gender-
related discrimination cases. 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 had problems with 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 and physical appearance, for female applicants. Women remained 
underrepresented in law enforcement agencies, although there was 
continued progress.

    Children.--By law a child born to one or two parents who are 
citizens of the country is also a citizen, regardless of the place of 
birth. A child born on the territory of the country to parents who are 
not Bosnian citizens does not gain citizenship unless both parents are 
stateless persons.
    During the year the UNHCR, through a local legal aid NGO, 
registered the birth of children, mainly Roma, whose parents failed to 
register them as they were required by the law. The NGO ``Vasa Prava'' 
estimated that there were 4,500 unregistered children in the country. 
Unregistered children experienced significant obstacles in accessing 
social, educational, and health benefits.
    Education is free and compulsory through the age of 15. Schools 
required parents to pay for books, lunches, and transportation. These 
expenses caused some children to drop out of school. A lack of reliable 
monitoring hindered efforts to ensure that children receive an 
education. The law requires children with special needs to attend 
regular classes, but schools were often unable to accommodate them.
    During the year the country's Roma council estimated that less than 
35 percent of Romani children attended school regularly. Poverty 
prevented many Romani children from attending school. Authorities 
provided textbooks, meal allowances, and transportation allowances for 
Romani children. Verbal harassment from other students and language 
problems also contributed to the exclusion of Roma from schools.
    During the year students in areas where they are in the minority 
frequently faced a hostile environment. Obstruction by nationalist 
politicians and government officials slowed efforts to abolish school 
segregation and enact other reforms. During the year Stolac High School 
operated without accreditation because the Herzegovina Neretva Cantonal 
Ministry of Education found that the curriculum submitted by the Stolac 
Municipal Council discriminated against Bosniak students.
    In some areas of the country, local officials and parents sought to 
establish complete physical segregation of Bosniak and Croat students. 
Many schools effectively entrenched segregation and discrimination. The 
law provides for administrative and legal unification of the estimated 
56 schools with separate classes for Bosnian Croats and Bosniaks; 
however, implementation of the law did not lead to integrated 
classrooms. Some of these schools shared extracurricular activities, 
school entrances, and recreation facilities.
    In the Republika Srpska, non-Serbs made up less than 5 percent of 
the teaching staff in primary and secondary schools. In the federation, 
minority teachers made up between 5 and 8 percent of all teachers, 
depending on the canton. Children in primary and secondary schools 
studied what some NGOs described as ``divergent, ethnically specific 
curricula.''
    On December 1, following three-days of discussion with state- and 
entity-level officials, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human 
Rights publicly called for ending school segregation, particularly in 
the federation, because it ``reinforces prejudices and intolerance and 
perpetuates ethnic isolation.'' The commissioner added that such 
ethnic-based and divided education systems are not consistent with 
Council of Europe standards and remain an obstacle to sustainable 
returns of persons displaced by the 1992-95 war.
    Family violence against children was a problem. Police investigated 
and prosecuted individual cases of child abuse. Some NGOs estimated 
that one family in four experienced domestic violence. Municipal 
centers for social work protected children's rights, but lacked 
resources and housing for children fleeing abuse or those whom they 
needed to remove from abusive homes.
    In certain Romani communities, girls married between the ages of 12 
and 14 years old. The Government did not have any programs that were 
aimed specifically at reducing the incidence of child marriage.
    Rape is a crime under entity criminal laws. The prescribed sentence 
for rape is from one to 10 years' imprisonment (if without aggravating 
circumstances). The minimum age for consensual sex is 18 years old. 
However, entity-level laws against ``enticement to prostitution'' 
permit police to treat minors 14 years and older as ``juvenile 
prostitutes'' instead of victims of rape or trafficking in persons. 
Women's and children's rights NGOs complained that the law allows 
police to subject children 14 to 17 years old to interrogation and 
criminal proceedings, although no such prosecutions were documented 
during the year. Under entity criminal codes, abuse of a child or 
juvenile for pornography is a crime that carries a sentence of one to 
five years imprisonment.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no reports of anti-Semitic violence 
against members of the Jewish community, which is estimated to be less 
than 1,000 persons, and one report of violence against property. On 
November 18, the secretary of Jewish community in Doboj reported that 
the walls of the local synagogue were vandalized with Nazi graffiti, a 
swastika, and ``Sieg Heil.'' Doboj police immediately came to the crime 
scene to start an investigation, which remained open at year's end.
    On November 7, a Bosnian-Croat soccer fan held a Nazi flag during a 
match in Siroki Brijeg, Sarajevo. The police were said to have stood by 
and allowed display of the flag and repeated shouting of ``Sieg Heil.''

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law in both entities prohibits 
discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, 
and mental disabilities; however, there was discrimination against 
persons with disabilities in employment, education, and access to 
health care and other state services. Children with disabilities lacked 
sufficient medical care and educational opportunities. Policies toward 
persons with similar disabilities differed between entities in part due 
to structural differences between the entities' institutions. In the 
federation, the Institute for Medical Disability Status Classification, 
staffed by medical professionals and overseen by five relevant 
federation ministries in cooperation with an advisory NGO, determined 
the severity of each person's specific disability and level of 
assistance needed. In the Republika Srpska, the Government social 
workers in the Center for Social Welfare under the entity Ministry of 
Health and Social Welfare evaluated persons for disabilities and 
assistance.
    In the federation, the law mandates that all public buildings must 
be retrofitted to provide access to persons with disabilities, and new 
buildings must also be accessible by the end of the year. However, 
buildings were rarely accessible to persons with disabilities in 
practice. Several government buildings, including the federation 
government and parliament buildings, were not in compliance with the 
law. The Republika Srpska had comparable laws for public access, but 
few older public buildings were accessible.
    There was clear discrimination between different categories of 
persons with disabilities, although the vast majority of such persons 
were unemployed. Persons with disabilities resulting from service 
during the 1992-95 conflict were given a privileged status above 
civilian war victims and persons who were born with disabilities. The 
Republika Srpska government paid 40 convertible marks ($27) monthly to 
upwards of 5,000 persons recognized by its Center for Social Welfare as 
disabled. In the federation, some 35,000 persons, using standards 
adopted by the Government in 2009, were officially recognized as ``90 
percent'' or ``100 percent'' disabled and received 440 convertible 
marks ($372) in assistance each month. Veterans and civilian war 
victims with disabilities received an estimated 1,000 convertible marks 
($680).
    Many individuals with disabilities lived in institutions, although 
a growing number of programs for children with disabilities were 
available in schools. During the year an estimated 30 percent of 
persons with disabilities residing in institutions were capable of 
independent living if housing and resources were available. At year's 
end, an estimated 1,900 persons with varying degrees of intellectual 
disabilities were institutionalized. During the year the federation 
government began a pilot program for assisted living in Tuzla which 
included 20 persons with intellectual disabilities. As of year's end, 
no such programs existed in the Republika Srpska.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Ethnic differences remained a 
powerful force, although mixed communities existed peacefully in some 
areas.
    Harassment and discrimination against minorities continued 
throughout the country, often related to property disputes. These 
problems most often included desecration of graves, graffiti, arson, 
damage to houses of worship, verbal harassment, dismissal from work, 
threats, and assaults. Specific incidents reported during the year 
included the following:
    On January 23, unknown individuals threw stones at the building of 
Croat Cultural Center Petar Ajvazovic in Doboj, damaging the stone 
tablet with the name of the institution. Police investigated the 
incident but did not identify the perpetrators.
    On February 19, two minors from Sarajevo accosted Orthodox priest 
Milorad Milinkovic in Sarajevo's suburb of Reljevo. The next day the 
Sarajevo canton police identified the perpetrators, who confessed to 
verbally abusing the priest. The police filed an offense report against 
their parents for negligent parenting.
    On April 4, two persons spray-painted swastikas, crosses, and 
Ustasha insignias on 13 tombstones at a Muslim cemetery in Zepce. The 
local Muslim community and municipal leaders strongly condemned the 
act. The perpetrators were taken into custody. The prosecutor ordered 
them detained for 24 hours.
    During the year the investigation continued in the August 2009 case 
in which a 20-year-old male fired two shots at the Serb Orthodox church 
building in Sarajevo's suburb of Reljevo.
    There were no developments and none were expected in the November 
2009 bombing attack at the home of the Serb Orthodox parish priest in 
Sanski Most (in the federation). Priest Slobodan Visekruna was standing 
near the explosion but was not injured. Police and the cantonal 
prosecutor investigated the attack, which was strongly criticized by 
local officials. The case remained unsolved at year's end.
    There were no developments and none were expected in the August 
2009 case of two young males who verbally assaulted Trebinje Imam 
Husein Effendi Hodzic in front of the Osman Pasina Mosque in central 
Trebinje. The case remained unsolved at year's end.
    Ethnic discrimination in employment and education remained key 
problems. In most cases, employers did not reverse the widespread 
firing of members of ethnic minorities during and after the 1992-95 
conflict, and employers often hired members of the local ethnic 
majority over minorities. Many smaller enterprises were owned by 
politically connected individuals, usually members of the majority 
group in their communities, and did not employ minorities. State- and 
entity-level officials generally did not act to prevent such 
discrimination.
    There were an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 Roma in the country. Roma 
experienced serious difficulties in enjoying the full range of 
fundamental human rights provided to them under the law. The country's 
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights estimated that only 1 percent of 
the working-age Romani population were employed and indicated that 
employers usually downsized Roma first during a reduction in force. 
Many Roma lacked birth certificates, identification cards, or a 
registered residence, preventing them from accessing health care and 
public education services or registering to vote.
    In 2008 the country joined the 12-country Decade of Roma Inclusion 
initiative of central and southeast European countries to raise the 
socioeconomic status and encourage the social inclusion of Roma over 
2005-15. As part of the initiative, the country adopted a national 
``decade action plan'' that established goals and indicators in the 
initiative's four priority areas: education, employment, health, and 
housing. In coordination with Romani representatives, the Government 
tasked the state Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees (MHRR) with 
overseeing implementation of the action plan. In 2009, the MMHRR began 
with annual allocation of three million convertible marks ($2 million) 
for implementation. Romani representatives complained that the 
bureaucratic procedure significantly delayed the utilization of funds.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--While the law prohibits 
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, it was not fully 
enforced in practice, and there was frequent societal discrimination 
against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons.
    Gays and lesbians faced frequent harassment and discrimination, 
including termination from employment. In some cases, dismissal letters 
explicitly stated that sexual orientation was the cause of termination, 
making it extremely difficult for them to find another job. The 
European Commission Progress Report for the year found that physical 
attacks and harassment of LGBT persons continued and that no government 
official condemned such acts.
    The Q Association, an umbrella organization for the country's LGBT 
population, operated semipublicly, and the employees of the 
organization did not openly display their address and contact 
information, as they were afraid of intimidation and threats. For the 
same reason, the association did not organize any high-profile public 
events to promote LGBT rights during the year. In 2008 the 
association's Queer Sarajevo Festival was harshly criticized by Muslim 
community leaders and was the scene of threats and physical violence 
against festival organizers and participants.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--According to government 
statistics, there were 167 officially registered cases of HIV/AIDS in 
the country at year's end, with slightly more than half registered in 
the federation. The NGO XY-Association for Sexual and Reproductive 
Health estimated that the actual number of cases throughout the country 
was at least 600. There was significant social stigma and employment 
discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS, a general lack of 
awareness of HIV/AIDS, and extremely limited resources to identify and 
assist those affected.
    During the year government-run testing facilities lacked properly 
trained counselors or a systematic method of referring those diagnosed 
with HIV/AIDS for outside counseling and often relied on periodic, 
informal requests from the NGO Apoha to relay the contact information 
to those who had been recently diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Government-run 
clinics and hospitals often used separate silverware and dining 
facilities for patients with HIV/AIDS, and waiting room staff often 
ignored HIV/AIDS patients' rights to privacy and confidentiality. While 
the Government provided HIV-suppressing drugs free of charge to persons 
diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, it did not fund the treatment of opportunistic 
infections associated with HIV/AIDS.
    Although the entity and Brcko District governments did not directly 
sponsor HIV/AIDS awareness and antidiscrimination programs for school-
age children, authorities permitted the XY-Association to conduct 
``peer education'' training workshops in public schools during school 
hours in 17 cities throughout the country during the year.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers in both 
entities (including migrant workers, but excluding members of the 
military) to form and join independent unions without previous 
authorization or excessive requirements, and workers did so in 
practice. However, a cumbersome state-level government NGO registration 
system was a problem. For example, the International Labor Organization 
has criticized the Government for not allowing the Trade Union of 
Bosnia and Herzegovina, representing approximately 260,000 workers 
primarily from federation government-owned enterprises, to register as 
a union at the state level since 2002. Lack of formal recognition 
blocked the union from engaging in social dialogue on problems 
pertaining to state-level competencies with partners.
    The law provides for the right to conduct union activities without 
interference; however, authorities did not impose sanctions against 
employers who obstructed workers from organizing. Worker rights 
violations continued to be a lower priority for ministry inspectors, as 
state officials instead focused on bolstering state revenues by 
cracking down on unregistered employees and employers that did not pay 
taxes. Some unions reported that employers threatened employees with 
dismissal if they joined a union and have in some cases fired union 
leaders for their activities.
    The law in both entities and the Brcko District provides for the 
right to strike, and workers exercised this right in practice. However, 
in the federation, the law has burdensome requirements for workers who 
wish to conduct a strike. For example, a trade union cannot officially 
announce a strike without first reaching an agreement with the employer 
on which ``essential'' personnel would remain at work. If no agreement 
is reached, then the strike can be declared illegal. This effectively 
enables the employer a means to prevent a legitimate strike.
    In Republika Srpska, workers, including those in the health sector 
and public utilities, must provide a minimum level of service in the 
event of a strike.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for the right to bargain collectively in both entities and the 
Brcko District. In both entities, general collective agreements, 
wherein the minimum wage and other conditions of work are fixed, were 
negotiated by the respective governments and representative 
organizations of employers and workers. A number of private employers 
have refused to recognize these agreements. Workers' and employers' 
organizations were not skilled in collective bargaining. Labor 
authorities in the federation noted that employers and workers often 
did not fully analyze whether such agreements were financially 
sustainable when they were signed.
    Antiunion discrimination is prohibited by law but was widespread in 
both entities and the Brcko District. The labor inspectorates and 
courts did not deal effectively with complaints of antiunion 
discrimination by employers although the courts in the federation have 
often ruled in favor of workers in union-related disputes. In practice 
the Government did not impose fines on employers who prevented workers 
from unionizing, a practice that was becoming more prevalent as private 
sector businesses replaced former state-owned enterprises that had a 
traditional union culture. There are no legal or technical barriers 
preventing an employee from bringing a complaint against an employer. 
However, high unemployment coupled with fear of losing one's job, a 
backlogged court system, and the lack of legal protection for the 
approximately 20 percent of the labor force working in the unregistered 
gray economy, were disincentives to filing complaints.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
the country's four 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 individuals and organized crime syndicates trafficked 
women and children within and to the country for commercial sexual 
exploitation and sometimes for begging and forced labor.
    Victims of sexual exploitation worked primarily out of private 
apartments and homes or were driven to clients and forced to perform 
sexual services. They reported working in conditions akin to slavery, 
with little or no financial support, where they were intimidated, 
verbally threatened, and subjected to physical and sexual assault to 
keep them in a condition of servitude.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Entity-level and Brcko District labor laws restrict child labor, and 
the entity governments enforced these laws in practice. The minimum age 
for employment of children in the federation and in Republika Srpska is 
15 years old; minors between the ages of 15 to 18 years old must 
provide a valid health certificate to work. The law prohibits children 
from performing hazardous labor. In the federation, the law prohibits 
minors from ``night work'' except in exceptional circumstances. 
Although child labor was not generally a problem, children sometimes 
assisted their families with farm work and odd jobs. Reports indicated 
that children sometimes worked in small, family-owned shops.
    Trafficking in children for sexual exploitation and sometimes for 
labor and begging was a problem. Organized begging rings exploited 
Romani children in particular, of which more than half were under the 
age of 14 and did not attend school.
    Entity governments are responsible for enforcing child labor laws. 
Neither entity had inspectors dedicated to child labor inspections, and 
authorities investigated violations of child labor laws as part of a 
general labor inspection. Both entities' labor inspectorates reported 
that they had not found significant violations of child labor laws in 
the workplace, although they did not conduct reviews of children 
working on family farms. The Government did not collect data on child 
labor.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The monthly minimum wage in the 
federation was 343 convertible marks ($233). In the Republika Srpska, 
the monthly minimum wage was 370 convertible marks ($252) except in the 
textiles and footwear sectors where it was 320 convertible marks 
($218). The Brcko District did not have a separate minimum wage or an 
independent pension fund, and employers typically used the minimum wage 
rate of whichever entity its workers decided to direct their pension 
funds towards. None of these levels provided a decent standard of 
living for a worker and family. Labor inspection agencies at the entity 
level were responsible for enforcing the minimum wage. In the case of 
the federation, the entity agency was responsible for large state-owned 
enterprises, while cantonal inspection agencies were responsible for 
small, private businesses. The agencies were effective at enforcing the 
minimum wage, largely because it was low. Many employers did not report 
actual salaries in an effort to avoid payment of social contributions.
    Many workers had outstanding claims for back payment of salaries 
and pensions. The law requires employers in both entities and the Brcko 
District to make substantial mandatory contributions to pension and 
health care funds. To avoid paying high social welfare benefits, 
employers often did not officially register their employees, leaving 
employees without access to public health care and unable to officially 
transfer to another employer.
    Many employers were behind, sometimes for years, in paying salaries 
or providing health and pension benefits to employees of public works 
and institutions.
    The legal workweek in both entities and the Brcko District is 40 
hours; however, seasonal workers may work up to 60 hours per week. The 
law limits overtime to 10 hours per week in both entities; the 
federation has no provision for premium pay, while the Republika Srpska 
requires a 30 percent premium. A recent study, funded by Norwegian 
trade unions, found that employers routinely denied workers overtime 
and sick leave in the private commercial sector in both entities and 
the Brcko District, particularly those employed in large shopping 
malls. An employee in the Republika Srpska may volunteer for an 
additional 10 hours in exceptional circumstances. Federation and 
Republika Srpska laws require a minimum rest period of 30 minutes 
during the workday. The entities and the Brcko District have little 
ability to enforce regulations on working hours, daily and weekly rest, 
or annual leave, and these protections were generally believed to be 
lacking.
    Authorities in both entities and the Brcko District did not 
adequately enforce regulations related to acceptable work conditions. 
While labor inspectorates made some effort to enforce registration of 
employees, they limited most inspections to conditions affecting the 
officially registered workforce. In the Republika Srpska, the courts 
were ineffective in providing adequate protections to workers. Union 
leaders have lobbied for the creation of special labor courts to handle 
the workload, but the proposal lacks the support of the state's High 
Judicial and Prosecutorial Council. Republika Srpska law holds 
employers responsible for improving working conditions.
    The law provides workers the right to remove themselves from 
situations that endanger their health or safety without jeopardy to 
their employment; however, this right was not effectively enforced in 
practice. Workers' rights extended to all official, that is, 
registered, workers including migrant and temporary workers. According 
to informal estimates, approximately 40 percent of the total work force 
was unregistered.

                               __________

                                BULGARIA

    The Republic of Bulgaria is a parliamentary democracy with a 
population of approximately 7.6 million. The constitution vests 
legislative authority in the unicameral National Assembly (Narodno 
Sabranie). A minority government headed by a prime minister ruled the 
country. Observers generally deemed the July 2009 general elections 
free and fair. Law enforcement organizations reported to civilian 
authorities although, in some instances, law enforcement officers acted 
independently.
    Human rights problems reported during the year included police use 
of force against, and mistreatment of, detained persons and members of 
minorities and harsh conditions in prisons and detention facilities. 
There were strong concerns about pressure on and intimidation of 
journalists; reports of discrimination against religious minority 
groups; and corruption in the executive, legislative, and judicial 
branches of government. Other problems included violence against women 
and children; substandard education for Romani children; harsh 
conditions in state-run institutions for children; trafficking in 
persons; and discrimination against persons with disabilities, Roma, 
other members of minority groups, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 
transgender (LGBT) persons.
                        respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        From:

    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--The Government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings; however, 
security forces shot and killed one person.
    On July 23, the police shot and killed Marian Ivanov during his 
arrest in Pleven. At year's end, the investigation against the police 
officer was pending.
    At year's end, authorities continued to investigate two officers 
implicated in the 2009 case of a detainee who suffocated during 
transfer from one detention center to another.
    On November 12, following the January 20 decision of the Supreme 
Court of Cassation, the Military Appellate Court reduced by half the 
sentences of the five former Blagoevgrad police officers convicted in 
the 2005 death of Angel Dimitrov. Thus the highest-ranking officer 
received nine years, and the rest received eight years each.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.
    The Government acted effectively against ransom kidnappings 
involving wealthy businessmen and their families. On October 14, the 
prosecutor indicted nine members of a gang for 11 kidnappings and one 
attempted kidnapping. At year's end, two gang members were out on bail; 
the rest remained in custody.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
observers noted increased use of force in connection with the 
Government's stepped up efforts to address organized crime. In the 
first six months of the year, the Government investigated 30 cases of 
police violence. In 2009 the Government investigated 42 cases of police 
violence and prosecuted 10 police officers; the courts convicted six. 
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) claimed that authorities 
frequently did not properly investigate complaints from persons who 
alleged police brutality.
    Police can detain persons for 24 hours without charging them. 
Police sometimes arrested suspects for minor offenses and physically 
abused them to force confessions, especially Romani suspects. NGOs 
continued to report that Romani victims were more willing to lodge 
official complaints against the authorities.
    Human rights groups continued to claim that medical examinations in 
cases of police abuse were not properly investigated, and officials 
rarely punished offending officers.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally did not meet international standards.
    Conditions in most prisons were harsh with inadequate toilet 
facilities and insufficient heating and ventilation. Overcrowding 
remained a serious problem, especially in pretrial detention centers. 
During the year there were 9,379 prisoners in the country's 13 prisons 
with a capacity for 8,740; a slight increase from the previous year. 
The daily food allowance was approximately 3.20 levs ($2.17). NGOs 
received complaints about both the quality and quantity of food. The 
prison administration received complaints from prisoners about imposed 
sanctions, medical services, living conditions, and prison guards. 
Although the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) facilitated training 
for guards, they did not receive sufficient training. There were some 
reports of mistreatment of inmates. Authorities held foreign prisoners 
serving longer terms in a separate prison in Sofia to provide them with 
easier access to consular services.
    The 2008 BHC case in the administrative court against the Ministry 
of Justice for not providing adequate guard supervision and failing to 
provide physical security to prisoners was pending at year's end.
    In September the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention 
of Torture (CPT) released the report of its 2008 visit to the country's 
prisons and detention facilities. The CPT noted that, despite some 
improvements, conditions in detention facilities and prisons remained 
poor, and the police often exceeded the 24-hour detention period. The 
CPT noted that the police at times would handcuff a prisoner to an 
immovable object when there was insufficient cell space for an inmate. 
The CPT also noted that access to medical care was substandard and 
reiterated its recommendation that authorities improve medical record 
keeping, including records on an inmate's condition at the beginning of 
custody, to better identify injuries related to police custody.
    Prison authorities acknowledged difficulties diagnosing and 
treating the increasing numbers of drug-dependent inmates and limiting 
their access to narcotics. According to the prison administration, an 
estimated 1,100 prisoners, or nearly 12 percent of the prison 
population, were drug dependent.
    All prisoners have the right to work, and two days of work reduced 
the prison term by three days. In practice the prison administration 
offered work to only a limited number of prisoners in low-security 
prisons. Prisoners alleged that the system for determining the type of 
regime that a prisoner received was corrupt and lacked oversight.
    Only one detention facility met internationally established human 
rights standards. The Government partially renovated a few other 
detention centers. During the year 22,029 persons, including 1,108 
women and 738 juveniles, went through the country's 42 pretrial 
detention centers; at year's end, there were 1,283 detainees there. The 
total capacity of the centers was 1,786 persons.
    NGOs reported that the juvenile justice system lacked coordination. 
Crime reports were not matched with social reports for proper case 
assessment, which resulted in inefficient assignment of corrective 
action. At year's end, there were 66 juveniles in corrective schools 
and 29 in pretrial detention.
    While prisoners in principle have the right to receive visitors, in 
most cases, that was impossible due to a lack of space to accommodate 
visitors in the facility. Prisoners could hold religious observance 
without restrictions on the denomination.
    Prisoners reported substandard conditions to the prison 
administration, the ombudsman, and the court system. During the year 
prisoners filed 785 complaints with the prison administration claiming 
improper sanctions, improper transfers to other facilities, substandard 
medical services, poor conditions, and abuse by prison guards. The 
prison administration found 449 of those complaints unfounded; it 
investigated the rest of the complaints and imposed sanctions.
    During the year the Government generally permitted monitoring of 
prisons by independent observers, including the CPT's December 2009 
visit to the country's detention facilities and the BHC's periodic 
visits.
    During the year the National Assembly allocated 20 million levs 
($13.6 million) to improve living conditions and reduce overcrowding 
over the three-year period to 2013.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention; however, there were reports that police at times 
abused their arrest authority.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Interior Ministry 
is responsible for law enforcement. The State Agency for National 
Security (DANS) is responsible for domestic intelligence analysis and 
corruption. A special parliamentary committee provides oversight of 
DANS. The Interior Ministry, the Prosecution Service, and DANS 
cooperate in creating organized crime task forces focused on high-level 
organized crime and corruption.
    The National Intelligence Service and the National Protective 
Service, which answer to the president, were subject to oversight by a 
permanent parliamentary committee.
    Impunity remained a problem. NGOs claimed that military judges, who 
were responsible for all military and Ministry of Interior appeals, 
were vulnerable to influence, as the defense minister had the power to 
confirm their appointments as well as to promote or demote them in 
rank. However, there were no specific reports of such pressure during 
the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--While not 
required, police normally obtained a warrant from a prosecutor prior to 
apprehending an individual. Authorities generally informed detainees 
promptly of the charges against them. Police may hold a detainee for 24 
hours without charge, and a prosecutor may authorize detention for an 
additional 72 hours without charge. In general authorities observed 
these laws in practice. Prosecutors may not arrest military personnel 
without the defense minister's approval. A court must approve detention 
for more than 72 hours; such detention can last up to two years for the 
most serious charges. In general authorities observed these laws in 
practice.
    The law provides for bail, and bail was widely used.
    The law provides for the right to counsel from the time of 
detention; however, police often failed to inform detainees of this 
right, and detainees often lacked timely access to a lawyer. The law 
provides state-funded legal aid for low-income defendants, but a lack 
of coordination hindered this program's implementation.
    The report on the CPT visit noted improvement in the legal aid 
system and further recommended that authorities ensure full 
effectiveness of the arrangements for access to counsel, and keep 
strict records on defendants' access to counsel.
    Long delays awaiting trial were common, and there was a large 
backlog of outstanding investigations. Tough, statutorily mandated time 
limits for investigations often resulted in hasty indictments that 
judges returned for additional investigation.
    The law grants amnesty for crimes committed due to ``negligence.'' 
The intent of the law was to reduce overcrowding in prisons. However, 
in 2009 authorities released only 210 prisoners. Prosecutors complained 
the law granting amnesty effectively blocked many investigations of 
corruption in public office, since ``negligence'' was often the only 
crime for which corrupt public officials could be prosecuted. On 
January 19, the constitutional court rejected the Government's 
challenge to the legitimacy of this law.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary; however, corruption, inefficiency, and lack of 
accountability were pervasive problems.
    The Supreme Judicial Council appoints, promotes, disciplines, and 
dismisses judges, investigators, and prosecutors. It investigates 
complaints of judicial misconduct and recommends disciplinary action. 
Observers noted that the council was slow to exercise its authority and 
implement internal discipline. From January to October, the council 
dismissed one magistrate and disciplined 23 others for professional 
misconduct.
    Judicial and investigative backlogs remained a problem in some 
jurisdictions. Despite modest improvements, long delays for criminal 
trials were common. In July the Government enacted amendments to the 
penal procedure code to alleviate problems with trial delays; these 
amendments include the use of reserve defense attorneys who can 
substitute if illness or the absence of the original attorney delays 
the process. In several high-profile cases, judges used the new 
procedures to eliminate delays in court proceedings. As a result of 
these amendments, observers noted a slight improvement in the 
efficiency of the trial process.

    Trial Procedures.--The law presumes defendants innocent until 
proven guilty and allows them ample time to prepare a defense. All 
court hearings are public except for cases involving national security, 
endangerment of public morals, and the privacy of juvenile defendants. 
Observers often complained that a court would unnecessarily hear cases 
of high public interest behind closed doors when the prosecution 
presented wiretap evidence.
    Juries are not used. In cases involving serious crimes, two lay 
judges join a professional judge. If a crime carries a sentence of 
imprisonment for more than 15 years, two professional judges and three 
lay judges hear the case. In such circumstances, a majority vote 
determined verdicts. Defendants have the right to be present at their 
trial. A defense attorney is mandatory if the alleged crime carries a 
punishment of 10 or more years in prison for juveniles, foreigners, 
persons with mental or physical disabilities, or for trials conducted 
in the absence of the accused. Defendants have the right to confront 
witnesses, examine evidence, and present their own witnesses and 
evidence. The law provides for the right of appeal, which was widely 
used. Trial procedures apply equally to all citizens.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--As of November, the 
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) had issued 60 judgments that 
found 89 violations by the country of the European Convention on Human 
Rights. In the judgments, the ECHR ordered the Government to pay 
980,148 euros ($1.3 million) in compensation and court costs. The 
judgments found 27 violations of the right to a speedy and fair trial; 
19 violations of the right to an effective remedy; 11 violations of the 
right to liberty and security; six violations of the right to respect 
for private and family life; five violations involving the prohibition 
against inhuman or degrading treatment; four violations of the right to 
life; one violation of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; 
one case of discrimination; one violation of the right to safeguards 
against expulsion; and one case of double jeopardy. The Government 
complied strictly with the judgments.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The law provides for an 
independent and impartial judiciary in civil matters; however, the same 
long delays as for criminal cases affected court action on civil cases. 
Individuals may file allegations of human rights abuses with courts and 
with the Commission for Protection against Discrimination, which may 
impose sanctions on violators.

    Property Restitution.--In May 2009 the Jewish community was able to 
regain possession and physically occupy a formerly state-run hospital 
in central Sofia. The hospital management's appeal of the court's 
ruling was denied. On June 14, the Ministry of Regional Development 
filed a new appeal that the court rejected, but the Government still 
had the ability to appeal in the Supreme Court.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions, and 
the Government generally respected these provisions in practice.
    A permanent parliamentary subcommittee oversaw the use of 
specialized investigative techniques.
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, there were reports that individuals 
with political and economic interests intimidated journalists. NGOs 
reported that journalists practiced self-censorship or took money from 
political and business leaders and from organized crime groups to plant 
positive stories about the leaders and criminal groups. In addition 
media owners forced journalists to pervert the facts. In many cases, 
the true owners of media companies could not be identified. On October 
22, the National Assembly passed the Print Periodicals Media Bill, 
which seeks to enforce transparency in media ownership.
    Individuals criticized the Government freely without reprisal. 
However, in rural areas offering fewer employment opportunities, 
individuals were more hesitant to criticize local governments.
    Media organizations and in a few cases political parties freely 
published a variety of newspapers. Private television and radio 
stations provided a variety of news and public interest programming. 
However, the acquisitions in June of a number of media outlets by 
groups affiliated with business and political interests led to further 
monopolization of private media and limited the variety of views 
available in print and on television. Both print and electronic media 
were susceptible to economic and, to a certain degree, political 
influence. Although the state-owned electronic media presented 
opposition views, observers believed that the law was inadequate to 
protect their programming independence and left these media vulnerable 
to government pressure.
    During the year there was one killing of a journalist reported. On 
January 5, Boris ``Bobbie'' Tsankov, the controversial author of 
tabloid publications on the country's underworld and a former radio 
show host, was killed by unknown persons. Authorities accused one 
person of contracting the killing. The investigation was ongoing at 
year's end.
    During the year there were reports of threats or attempts to 
intimidate journalists.
    On February 8, Bulgarian news agency journalist Ivan Yanev was 
investigating the killing of a police officer in the village of Enina 
when a police spokesman from the nearby city of Stara Zagora threatened 
him, stating that Yanev was a ``dead man.'' Authorities accused Yanev 
of reporting on the killing before the official police version was 
released and prohibited him from returning to the crime scene.
    In July Nova Television reporter Diliana Gaytandjieva alleged that 
the deputy speaker of the National Assembly, Lachezar Ivanov, pressured 
her to stop the broadcast of a program that revealed luxury real estate 
and vehicles owned by six customs officers. Ivanov's motive for 
exerting pressure on Gaytandjieva was alleged to be a personal 
relationship with one of the targets of the program. Under pressure 
from his party, Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria, 
Ivanov stepped down as deputy speaker and committee chair.
    During the year the police closed the investigation into the 2008 
assault on Frognews editor in chief, Ognian Stefanov, whom authorities 
suspected of affiliation with www.opasnite.net, a Web site closed for 
reportedly releasing classified information. Police stated that they 
were unable to find the attackers.
    Libel is legally punishable. Usually the courts interpreted the law 
in a manner that favored journalistic expression. Many defamation cases 
were prompted by journalists reporting about corruption or 
mismanagement; the most frequent plaintiffs were government officials 
and other persons in public positions.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
Internet Society Bulgaria estimated that approximately 45 percent of 
the population had access to the Internet on a regular basis. According 
to the European Commission's 2009 report on the single European 
electronic communications market, the broadband penetration rate rose 
to 13 percent in January compared to 11.2 percent in 2009. However, 
many less-developed rural areas did not have the infrastructure to 
support Internet services.
    In 2008 the Supreme Administrative Court struck down a government 
decree that allowed security services to gather data on Internet users' 
activities. On May 10, amendments to the Electronic Communications Act 
restored security services' access to electronic traffic data. However, 
the legislation imposed strict judicial control over this authority. 
There were no reports that the Government attempted to collect the 
personally identifiable information of a person in connection with that 
person's peaceful expression of political, religious, or ideological 
opinion or beliefs.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The law provides for freedom of assembly, and the Government 
generally respected this right in practice. The law requires groups 
requesting a permit for gatherings to give 48-hours' notice. The law 
prohibits public gatherings within a security zone (five to 20 meters) 
around the National Assembly, the Council of Ministers, and presidency 
buildings. Mayors can prohibit, dismiss, or suggest an alternative site 
for a gathering that they regard as posing a threat to public order, 
security, or traffic.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association, and the Government generally respected this right in 
practice. The law prohibits groups that endanger national unity or 
promote racial, national, or religious hatred, violate the rights of 
citizens, or seek to achieve their objectives through violent means. 
The Government generally respected the rights of individuals and groups 
to establish their own political parties or other political 
organizations.
    Political parties based on religious, ethnic, or racial affiliation 
are illegal. In practice the prohibition did not appear to weaken the 
role of some ethnic minorities in the political process; a number of 
parties in reality represented various ethnic minority groups. NGOs may 
not engage in political activity.
    The law requires a political party to have 5,000 members to 
register officially.
    In December 2009 the Committee of Ministers of the Council of 
Europe decided to end its monitoring of the 2005 ECHR judgment against 
the Government for preventing the Macedonian activist group Ilinden 
from registering as a political party, although the Government 
continued to deny Ilinden the right to register.
    On February 19, the Blagoevgrad District Court upheld a lower 
court's refusal to register the Society of Repressed Macedonians in 
Bulgaria.
    In 2009 the Sofia Appellate Court upheld the decision of the 
Blagoevgrad District Court, which had refused to register the Nikola 
Vaptsarov Macedonian Cultural and Educational Society. The court ruled 
that there was no separate Macedonian ethnicity in the country and that 
some of the organization's goals, as outlined in its statute, implied 
the existence of such an ethnicity.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice.
    The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it in practice.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for granting asylum or 
refugee status, and the Government has established a system for 
protecting refugees. The Government provided some protection against 
the expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedoms would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion. The UNHCR stated that the risk of genuine refugees being 
rejected was limited.
    The law requires that persons seeking refugee status file an 
application within ``a reasonable time'' after entering the country. 
Observers remained concerned about the institutional capacity of the 
Government to process requests and transfer applicants to shelters. The 
authorities sustained the practice of detaining asylum seekers who 
enter the country illegally in the center in Busmantsi, treating them 
as illegal immigrants and thus subject to potential deportation. 
Although the law sets a maximum six-month period of detention, there 
were numerous reports of detentions exceeding six months as well as of 
guards mistreating detainees. Detainees also complained of poor living 
conditions and inadequate access to legal counsel.
    On February 16, law enforcement officials arrested the head of the 
migration directorate on charges of supporting a criminal group 
supplying foreigners with false citizenship documents. The court 
ordered the defendant to remain in jail pending trial. The 
investigation was pending at year's end.
    On February 16, in an unrelated case, the head of the state agency 
for refugees was fired and charged with embezzlement. The defendant 
remained free on bail, and the investigation was pending at year's end.
    On February 18, 25 detainees in Busmantsi went on a hunger strike 
to highlight the need for more humane treatment. The legal deportation 
of seven Nigerian citizens, whom authorities notified of their 
deportation 15 minutes before their flight, inspired the strike. The 
strikers asserted that the entire system for granting asylum in the 
country was corrupt and demanded better conditions and expedited 
release from the center for all first-time asylum applicants. On June 
6, an activist committee organized a public rally in support of the 
persons detained in Busmantsi. An estimated 100 protesters gathered in 
front of the facility to demand respect for the human dignity of the 
detainees, improved living conditions, and access to health services 
and education.
    During the year authorities did not continue an investigation of 
the October 2009 death of Hassun Albaddj, who died in the Busmantsi 
detention center. The preliminary review found no evidence of physical 
abuse, although his repeated requests for medical attention apparently 
went unanswered.
    The number of applicants for refugee status has decreased by two-
thirds since 2002. As of November the Government granted humanitarian 
status in 108 cases, accorded asylum in 19 cases, and denied asylum in 
318 cases of a total 825 applications. Most applications came from 
citizens of Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Syria, Algeria, and 
stateless persons.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The law provides citizens the right to change their government 
peacefully, and citizens generally exercised this right in practice 
through periodic, free, and fair elections based on universal suffrage. 
However, reports of large-scale vote buying marred the June 2009 
European Parliament and July 2009 general elections.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Despite persistent vote-
buying allegations and the previous ruling coalition's late changes to 
the electoral system, observers widely regarded the July 2009 
parliamentary election as free and fair.
    According to election observers, 10 to 16 percent of the votes in 
the European Parliament election were purchased or manipulated, 
including busing voters to different districts, which had a greater 
influence on the results than the general elections due to the lower 
voter turnout. As of July, authorities brought 158 persons to trial, 
and the courts convicted 97 for election-related violations. The 
investigations of two cases of vote buying were pending.
    The country has a mixed electoral system in which individuals vote 
for both a political party list and a specific candidate in a single 
mandate district. The single mandate districts undermined the equality 
of the vote due to a significant variation in population sizes of the 
districts.
    The law provided immunity for candidates for political office. This 
resulted in the release of parliamentary candidates whom authorities 
charged with serious crimes, including leaders of organized-crime 
groups, from pretrial detention.
    In 2009 the National Assembly established a committee with a three-
month mandate to investigate numerous accusations of double voting and 
improper registration of citizen voters living in Turkey. According to 
the committee, thea majority of the irregularities (64.4 percent of 
reported cases) was unintentional and resulted from officials' 
incompetence or disregard of procedures in reducing the time of voting 
and processing the results.
    There were 53 women in the 240-seat National Assembly, compared 
with 51 elected in 2005. A number of women held elective and appointive 
offices at high levels in the Government, including two ministers. 
Women held key positions in the National Assembly, including that of 
speaker of the assembly, one deputy speaker, and chairmanship of seven 
of the 20 standing committees.
    There were 28 members of minority groups (27 ethnic Turks and one 
Roma) in the National Assembly. There was one ethnic Turkish minister 
in the cabinet. While the ethnic Turkish minority was well represented, 
Roma were underrepresented, particularly in appointed leadership 
positions. Pomaks (ethnic Bulgarians who are Muslims) held elected 
positions at the local level.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    Despite increased efforts to hold public officials accountable, 
corruption remained a problem in all branches of government. The law 
provides criminal penalties for official corruption; however, the 
Government did not implement the law effectively, and officials often 
engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. Corrupt practices included 
bribery, conflict of interest, elaborate embezzlement schemes, and 
procurement violations. Corruption continued to exist in high civil and 
administrative courts. In both the executive and judiciary, NGOs 
reported that corrupt officials were often fired, pressured to quit, or 
most often reassigned rather than prosecuted on corruption-related 
charges. The overly formal judicial system made it difficult to 
prosecute high-profile organized crime and corruption cases 
effectively.
    On March 29, the Government adopted amendments to the criminal 
procedure code to address some of the weaknesses in the country's legal 
procedures. The amendments allow police to testify in court and provide 
for the protection of witness identity. Judges can also assign reserve 
defense lawyers to prevent attempts by defendants to delay cases on 
unjustified grounds. The changes also strengthened the role of 
specialized investigative techniques, making it possible for collateral 
wiretap information, as well as reports from the EU's European 
Antifraud Office, to be accepted as evidence.
    During the year the Government indicted four former ministers as 
well as, for the first time, a sitting minister from the current 
government. While there were few verdicts, since 2009 the number of 
high-profile corruption cases has steadily increased. During the year 
the following developments were reported with regard to the 
Government's efforts to prosecute cases of high-level corruption:
    In separate rulings on March 29 and June 30, the Sofia City Court 
found Mario Nikolov guilty on charges of document fraud and 
embezzlement of EU funds and sentenced him to 12 years in prison. The 
court also convicted his wife and six other accomplices, and sentenced 
them to six years imprisonment. Nikolov and his accomplices were 
members of a criminal network specializing in the embezzlement of EU 
funds.
    In May an investigative report revealed that three judges from the 
Supreme Administrative Court, the head judge of the Sofia Appellate 
Court, and one other high-level magistrate helped their close relatives 
obtain beach-front real estate on the Black Sea. The three supreme 
administrative court judges were fired.
    On June 30, a court acquitted former deputy minister of interior, 
Raif Mustafa, and his associate, Rosen Marinov, of attempting to bribe 
Marin Dimitrov, the former head of the Fisheries Agency. Despite tape 
recordings of Marinov offering a bribe and Dimitrov's testimony, the 
court found Mustafa and Marinov not guilty. The Prosecution Service 
appealed this decision.
    In May 2009 the Supreme Judicial Council officially dismissed the 
chair of Varna administrative court, Anelia Tsvetkova, for undermining 
the prestige of the judiciary. DANS arrested Tsvetkova in July 2008 for 
bribery and confiscated 150,000 levs ($101,710) from her home. Her 
trial on bribery charges was pending at year's end.
    The law mandates that government officials declare any 
circumstances in which they could be accused of using their position 
for personal profit. According to the law, high-level public officials 
who fail to submit a financial disclosure declaration can be fined as 
much as 1,500 levs ($1,017). According to the National Audit Office, 
during the year 16 of 6,546 officials covered by the law did not submit 
their annual declaration within the statutory deadline, compared with 
71 of 6,656 officials in 2009.
    The law provides the right of public access to government 
information; however, NGOs continued to complain the Government did not 
implement the law effectively. While the courts allowed greater access 
to government information, the Government rarely implemented these 
decisions.
Section 5. 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. Human rights observers 
reported uneven levels of cooperation from various national and local 
government officials.
    The law provides for an ombudsman to review the complaints of 
individuals against the Government for violations of rights or 
freedoms. The ombudsman can request information from state authorities, 
act as an intermediary in resolving disputes, make proposals for 
terminating existing practices, and refer information to the 
prosecution service. During the year the ombudsman received 3,687 
complaints of violations of citizens' rights and freedoms compared with 
2,686 in 2009. The majority of complaints concerned quality of public 
services, property issues, and social assistance programs. NGOs 
continued to criticize the ombudsman for focusing on administrative 
issues rather than actively engaging on human rights cases.
    A permanent parliamentary committee oversees human rights, 
religious denominations, and citizens' complaints and petitions.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, 
disability, social status, and sexual orientation; however, the law 
does not prohibit discrimination on the basis of language. Societal 
discrimination continued, particularly against ethnic minorities, 
sexual minorities, and persons with disabilities. Trafficking in 
persons continued to be a problem.
    The Government investigated complaints of discrimination, issued 
rulings, and imposed sanctions against violators. The law allows 
individuals to pursue a discrimination case through the court system or 
through the Commission for Protection against Discrimination. During 
the year the commission received 663 complaints. The majority of the 
complaints concerned labor discrimination. A little over a quarter of 
the cases involved complaints of multiple discriminations. The 
commission found 216 cases of discriminatory practices and imposed nine 
fines totaling 48,800 levs ($32,547) on violators.

    Women.--Rape is illegal but underreported due to the stigma 
attached to it. Spousal rape can be prosecuted under the general rape 
statute; however, authorities rarely prosecuted it in practice. 
Sentences for rape range from two to eight years in prison (from three 
to 10 years if the victim is a blood relative). When rape results in 
serious injury or suicide, sentences range between three and 15 years 
imprisonment, and when the victim is a minor, between 10 and 20 years. 
Authorities generally enforced laws against rape when violations came 
to their attention. According to NGOs, the social taboo experienced by 
rape victims discouraged them from reporting the crime, and it was a 
far more serious obstacle to prosecution than police reluctance to 
investigate. As of July the prosecution service filed 103 rape cases, 
and the court sentenced 65 persons.
    NGOs reported that one in four women was a victim of domestic 
violence. Although there were no precise statistics, NGO estimates 
identified an increase in its occurrence.
    The law defines domestic violence as any act of, or attempt at, 
physical, psychological, sexual violence, emotional, or economic 
pressure against members of one's family or between cohabitating 
persons. The law requires the Government to adopt an annual action plan 
to prevent and protect against domestic violence and requires the state 
to fund it. The law empowers the court to deal with offenders by 
imposing fines, issuing restraining or eviction orders, or requiring 
special counseling. NGOs assessed the implementation of the law 
positively and stated that the courts issued more restraining orders. 
Failure to adhere to court restraining orders is a criminal offense.
    On June 8, the Government passed implementing regulations to the 
law on protection against domestic violence that provide a framework 
for partnership between government and NGOs and set out the scope of 
the national program for prevention of and protection against domestic 
violence. The regulations give NGOs a mechanism for obtaining 
government funds for prevention and protection projects.
    A local NGO operated a 24-hour, free hotline for women in crisis, 
and other NGOs provided short-term protection and counseling to victims 
in 17 crisis centers throughout the country. Police and social workers 
referred victims of domestic violence to NGO-run shelters, but NGOs 
complained that local authorities rarely provided financial assistance 
for operational costs.
    Sexual harassment is punishable under prohibitions against 
coercion, which carry a punishment of up to six years in prison. The 
law identifies sexual harassment as a specific form of discrimination. 
During the year the Commission for Protection against Discrimination 
continued to receive sexual harassment complaints, which accounted for 
an estimated 5 percent of all complaints. However, sexual harassment 
remained a widespread problem, and the Government did not effectively 
enforce the law.
    The Government generally respected the right of couples and 
individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and 
timing of their children, and to have the information and means to do 
so free from discrimination, coercion, and violence. Women generally 
had good access to contraception and skilled attendance during 
childbirth, including essential obstetric and postpartum care. However, 
access to contraception and skilled attendance in childbirth were less 
available to women in poor rural areas. The National Statistical 
Institute (NSI) reported the maternal mortality rate was five deaths 
per 100,000 live births in 2009. However, a report at the National 
Obstetrics and Gynecology Conference held in May claimed there were no 
reliable statistics on maternal mortality and estimated an average 
annual number of 12 deaths per 100,000 live births. Women were treated 
equally in the diagnosis and treatment of HIV and other sexually 
transmitted infections.
    The law provides women with the same rights as men; however, women 
faced some discrimination in hiring and pay. According to NSI 
quadrennial data, women's salaries were 11 percent lower than men's, 
with some lower-paid sectors, such as education and services, dominated 
by women. The National Council on Equality between Women and Men, 
headed by the minister of labor and social policy under the Council of 
Ministers, is responsible for safeguarding the rights of women. 
Primarily a consultative body, the council is charged with promoting 
cooperation and coordination among NGOs and government agencies.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents. Children are 
immediately registered upon birth in the country.
    Public education is compulsory until the age of 16, and free 
through the 12th grade, but the Government did not effectively enforce 
attendance requirements. Children were required to pay for books after 
the fourth grade, which was a problem for poor families.
    According to the Ministry of Education and Science, dropout trends 
affected Romani children disproportionately: in primary school, 23 
percent of students were Roma, while by the ninth grade, only 3 percent 
of students were Roma. The majority of students left school due to 
social and family reasons.
    The education provided to Romani children was generally inferior, 
and nearly 10 percent of Roma never attended school. In 2009 the 
Supreme Court of Appeals upheld the 2005 ruling that the city of Sofia 
was guilty of discrimination for failing to provide equal educational 
opportunities to Romani children.
    Romani activists and NGOs continued to complain that the closure of 
450 schools for budgetary reasons resulted in a higher number of Romani 
children dropping out of school because Romani parents were especially 
reluctant to allow their children to travel to new schools in other 
towns, and parents at schools accepting new Romani students often 
reacted negatively to their arrival.
    The Government lacked a policy on children with disabilities, 
resulting in their receiving inadequate access to education, 
healthcare, and social services (see section 6,).
    Violence against children was a problem. According to the National 
Center for Public Opinion Surveys, during the year, one in five 
children was a victim of violence or abuse in school. Experts noted the 
emergence of new forms such as cyber bullying. According to the NSI, 
2,009 children were victims of serious crimes in 2009, down from 2,606 
juvenile victims in 2008. Experts commented that the cruelty of the 
acts had increased, noting the number of murders rose from seven to 12. 
The Government operated a 24-hour free hotline for children, which 
received over 5,000 calls per month, often removed children from 
abusive homes, and prosecuted abusive parents.
    Although no official statistics were available, NGOs reported that 
child marriage, which was common in Romani communities, resulted in 
school dropouts, early childbirths, poor parenting, and spreading 
poverty. In October the Roma NGO Amalipe presented a study showing that 
the average age for marriage among the Roma was 18 years.
    The Government continued to report a declining trend in the number 
of children detained by police for vagrancy and begging, which as of 
October was 397 compared with 659 in 2008. Many believed adults 
exploited these children, who were primarily engaged in begging, 
prostitution, or washing car windows. When such children were 
apprehended, police generally placed them in protective custody for up 
to 24 hours, unless remanded to protective custody by a prosecutor. 
Subsequently, many children were sent to state-run institutions.
    Implementation of child-care policies was decentralized. The 
Government funded child welfare programs. Some municipalities 
contracted with NGOs to provide care, but some NGOs remained concerned 
about the ability of poorer municipalities to manage and administer 
care effectively.
    Problems in state-run institutions for children, including 
incidents involving the exploitation of children, continued to receive 
media attention during the year. In September the BHC and the 
prosecution service conducted a joint inspection of institutions for 
disabled children that uncovered 238 deaths in the preceding decade as 
a result of poor treatment, lack of supervision, and unsanitary 
conditions as well as violence. At the time of inspection, 103 
residents suffered from malnutrition and 622 suffered from serious 
infections. Further findings also revealed cases of sexual abuse, 
physical violence, and injury. The Prosecution Service opened 
investigations into 166 cases of death and 27 cases for injury.
    During the year the Government began a deinstitutionalization 
program with the aim of closing all such institutions by 2025 and 
integrating the children into foster families or family-type homes. To 
accomplish this objective, the Government took significant steps to 
enhance family preservation, foster care, and adoption programs.
    In 2009 there were 6,920 children, including children with 
disabilities, in 137 specialized institutions. This was a decrease from 
7,466 children in 140 institutions in 2008 and a 45 percent decrease 
from 12,609 children in 165 institutions in 2001. The majority of 
children in institutions were Roma. Most children in state institutions 
were not orphans; courts institutionalized children when they 
determined that their families were unable to provide adequate care.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual Report on Compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--According to the Jewish organization Shalom, anti-
Semitism was not widespread, but there were increasing reports of anti-
Semitic incidents. In March, a week before Passover, vandals painted 
the Jewish school in Sofia with anti-Israeli slogans. In May vandals 
painted the memorial of the Russian soldiers in Sofia with swastikas on 
the eve of the 65th anniversary of the end of the Holocaust. The media 
and NGOs gave public support to Shalom's declaration protesting the 
incidents. Jewish organizations remained concerned over the lack of 
public sensitivity to the fact that the overwhelming majority of those 
acts were unpunished.
    On June 6, skinhead extremists attacked a group of young persons in 
a streetcar who were going to a protest rally in support of asylum-
seekers in front of the Center for Temporary Accommodation of 
Foreigners in Busmantsi. On June 8, the police arrested eight persons 
but subsequently released two of them; the investigation was ongoing at 
year's end.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or the 
provision of other state services or other areas; however, the 
Government did not effectively enforce these provisions in practice. 
Societal discrimination against persons with disabilities persisted.
    The law requires improved access to buildings for persons with 
disabilities, and some new public works projects took this requirement 
into account; however, enforcement of this law lagged in existing, non-
renovated buildings. The law promotes the employment of disabled 
persons; however, enforcement was poor, and most persons with 
disabilities were unemployed primarily due to lack of access to 
adequate education and skills. For the most part, employers did not 
equip workplaces to accommodate persons with disabilities, and many 
were not able to find accessible transportation.
    Persons with mental and physical disabilities, including very young 
children, were often in institutions separated from the rest of 
society. The majority of these institutions were located in remote 
rural areas, which prevented hiring of qualified staff and hampered 
access to timely medical assistance. Despite some incremental 
improvements, conditions in institutions for persons with disabilities 
remained poor. The Government operated 26 institutions for children and 
youth with disabilities.
    The Government continued to lack a policy with regard to children 
with disabilities, resulting in their receiving inadequate access to 
education, healthcare, and social services. Children with varying types 
and degrees of disability were placed in the same institution. In 2009 
there were 2,906 children with disabilities in public institutions.
    NGOs criticized the Government for continuing to isolate persons 
with disabilities in a costly parallel system of education, 
socialization, and health care. Critics maintained that the Government 
lacked both institutional capacity and the will to move from the old 
model to an inclusive, community-oriented model.
    The constitution provides the right of all citizens to vote, and 
the law provides specific provisions to ensure that persons with 
disabilities have access to the polls. However, authorities rarely 
enforced these provisions in practice, and the majority of polling 
stations were not wheelchair accessible.
    The Interagency Council for Integration of Persons with 
Disabilities was responsible for developing the policy supporting 
persons with disabilities. The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, 
through its executive agency for persons with disabilities, was 
responsible for protecting the rights of disabled persons and worked 
with government-supported national representative organizations for 
persons with disabilities. However, human rights groups remained 
concerned about the lack of vision and transparency regarding financial 
and other support to the national representative organizations as well 
as the poor capacity of the agency to implement any reforms.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Societal discrimination against 
Roma and other minority groups remained a problem that sometimes 
resulted in incidents of violence between members of different ethnic 
groups. Authorities estimated that Roma constitute between 6 and 10 
percent of the population. According to a 2002 Council of Europe 
report, there were 600,000 to 800,000 Roma in the country. According to 
the 2001 census, ethnic Turks made up 9 percent of the population. 
Ethnic Bulgarian Muslims, often termed Pomaks, are a distinct group of 
Slavic descent, whose ancestors converted from Orthodox Christianity to 
Islam; they constitute 2 to 3 percent of the population.
    Popular prejudice against Roma remained widespread. There were 
isolated cases of police harassment, arbitrary arrests, and violence 
against Roma. However, NGOs reported that, while an increasing 
percentage of Roma were willing to file complaints against authorities, 
the overall number of complaints had dropped in recent years.
    In September the Yambol municipality demolished a squatter 
settlement populated by an estimated 100 Roma families. The local 
government refused to compensate the expelled families, but provided 
them with free transportation to a location of their choice. 
Authorities made an individual assessment of each family and placed 
them on the relevant waiting list for municipally owned apartments. In 
November the local court ruled that the demolition had been illegal. 
Roma NGOs commented that the historical landlessness of Roma was among 
the main factors for their poor housing situation. NGOs estimated that 
50 to 70 percent of Romani housing was illegally constructed and were 
concerned that more municipalities would initiate legal proceedings to 
demolish illegally built houses.
    There were no further developments reported with regard to the 
September 2009 destruction of 46 Romani homes in Burgas municipality, 
during which police used disproportionate force during the demolitions.
    Following the 2009 ruling of the European Committee of Social 
Rights that the country failed to ensure that any person who is without 
adequate resources have access to social assistance provided by the 
state, the Government promulgated in February amendments to the Social 
Assistance Act, which eliminated the time limits for eligibility for 
assistance.
    Workplace discrimination against minorities, especially Roma, 
continued to be a problem. The unemployment rate among Roma was nearly 
65 percent, reaching 80 percent in some regions. General public 
mistrust of Roma, coupled with their low level of education, made Roma 
less able to find jobs. Many observers noted the quality of education 
offered to Romani children was inferior to that afforded most other 
students. However, there were isolated examples of success, such as the 
National Assembly internship program which has graduated 10 young Roma 
professionals each year since 2007.
    Under the penal code, inciting racial or national enmity, hatred, 
or discrimination is a crime punishable by up to three years in prison, 
and plaintiffs may also file civil claims with the court for damages 
inflicted by discriminatory statements.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law prohibits 
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, but the Government 
did not effectively enforce this prohibition. While reports of violence 
against LGBT persons were rare, societal discrimination, particularly 
discrimination in employment, remained a problem. The gay-rights 
organization Gemini reported that individuals continued to be reluctant 
to pursue legal remedies for discrimination due to the stigma of being 
openly identified as gay.
    In May the Antidiscrimination Commission ruled that a November 2009 
regulation by the city of Pazardjik prohibiting public expression of 
sexual orientation violated the country's antidiscrimination laws. In 
early August in response to a complaint that the commission's ruling 
was not being enforced, Pazardjik prosecutor Stefan Yanev asserted that 
the regulation was not discriminatory because homosexuality is a 
disease. He said also that the regulation would prevent prostitutes 
from parading their orientation and seeking clients in front of the 
city hall. On the following day, the Supreme Administrative Prosecution 
Service abolished the Pazardjik ordinance. At year's end, the Pazardjik 
city council was challenging the Antidiscrimination Commission's 
decision in the Supreme Administrative Court.
    On June 26, the third annual gay pride parade in downtown Sofia 
attracted an estimated 300 participants. The parade was held without 
disruption but under heightened security. Earlier that day, 10 
nationalist organizations gathered about 100 protesters to demonstrate 
against the gay pride parade. The Holy Synod of the Christian Orthodox 
Church condemned the parade, calling it a glaring, shameful, and sinful 
demonstration and appealing to the local authorities to prohibit the 
event. For the first time, the gay pride parade received support from a 
political party in the National Assembly, the right-wing conservative 
Democrats for Strong Bulgaria.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--According to the Hope 
against AIDS Foundation, HIV/AIDS patients faced discrimination and 
inadequate medical care due to doctors refusing to provide treatment 
from fear of contracting the disease. Patients typically did not 
contest these situations in court due to the social stigma attached to 
being identified as having HIV/AIDS. The NGO stated that at least four 
patients with HIV/AIDS died due to denial of treatment. Patients 
reported hiding the fact that they were HIV positive to receive medical 
care. Women also encountered social stigma when being diagnosed and 
treated for sexually transmitted diseases.
    As of September, the Health Ministry reported 1,223 HIV-infected 
patients in the country, while NGOs estimated the actual number of 
cases to be around 4,000. During the year the ministry identified 114 
new HIV patients--three were pregnant women and 20 were prison inmates. 
The majority of the newly identified patients contracted the disease 
through intravenous drug use and homosexual contacts.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides for the right of all 
workers to form or join independent trade unions of their choice 
without previous authorization or excessive requirements, and workers 
exercised this right in practice. The European Trade Union Institute 
(ETUI) stated that 20 percent of the country's workforce was unionized.
    The law allows unions to conduct their activities without 
interference, and the Government generally protected this right in 
practice. The law also provides for the right to strike; however, key 
public sector employees (primarily military and law enforcement 
personnel) were subject to a blanket prohibition against striking. 
These employees were able to take the Government to court as a means of 
ensuring due process in protecting their rights. Although the law 
prohibits police from striking, police held symbolic protests in 2008 
and in January 2009 against low wages and poor working conditions. In 
March a group of approximately 3,000 police, military, tax employees, 
and prison guards protested against the Government's announced anti-
crisis plan, which would potentially reduce their salaries.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides a legal structure for collective bargaining, which was 
practiced nationally. Labor unions alleged that some employers failed 
to bargain in good faith or to adhere to agreements. According to ETUI, 
30 to 35 percent of workers were covered by a collective bargaining 
agreement.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination and includes a provision 
for a six-month salary payment as compensation for illegal dismissal. 
In addition complaints of discrimination based on union affiliation 
could be filed with the Commission for Protection against 
Discrimination, but there were no reports of such complaints during the 
year.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
the country's six free trade zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including by children. According to the 
Government's labor inspectorate, the Government effectively enforced 
those prohibitions. However, there were some reports of children being 
forced to work for their families or criminal organizations. Women and 
children were trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation. Also see 
the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There are laws and policies to protect children from exploitation in 
the workplace, including a prohibition on forced or compulsory labor 
and policies regarding acceptable working conditions. The Government 
was generally effective in implementing these laws and policies.
    The law sets the minimum age for employment at 16 years old and the 
minimum age for dangerous work at 18. To employ children, employers 
must obtain a work permit from the General Labor Inspectorate under the 
Ministry of Labor and Social Policy to employ workers under the age of 
18. Employers can hire children under the age of 16 with special 
permits in limited types of employment. The General Labor Inspectorate 
inspects the working conditions at all companies applying for child 
work permits.
    Employment of children without a work permit is a criminal offense 
and entails a punishment of up to six months in prison. Child labor 
laws generally were enforced well in the formal sector, but NGOs 
reported that children were exploited in certain industries 
(particularly small family-owned shops, textile production, 
restaurants, construction businesses, and periodical sales) and by 
organized crime (notably for prostitution, pickpocketing, and the 
distribution of narcotics). Besides trafficking for commercial sexual 
exploitation, the worst forms of child labor included heavy physical 
labor and labor on family tobacco farms, a significant health hazard. 
The Government continued programs to eliminate the worst forms of child 
labor, mounted educational campaigns about their effects, and 
intervened to protect, withdraw, rehabilitate, and reintegrate children 
engaged in the worst forms of child labor.
    The general labor inspectorate continued to report a decline in 
child employment during the year, which was primarily due to the 
overall unemployment rise resulting from the financial crisis. As of 
December the inspectorate granted 1,734 requests for employment of 
children between the ages of 16 and 18 years old. The inspectorate 
granted 100 requests for work permits for children under the age of 16. 
The inspectorate referred 12 cases of unlicensed, underage workers to 
the Prosecution Service. The inspectorate also found five other 
violations of child labor laws, primarily involving failure to 
recognize the different provisions for paid leave and working hours 
that apply to minors. According to the inspectorate, once corrected, 
employers did not repeat the violations.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum wage 
remained 240 levs ($163) per month. While this wage did not provide a 
decent standard of living for a worker and family, many workers 
received more wages unofficially to avoid taxes.
    The law provides for a standard workweek of 40 hours with at least 
one 24-hour rest period per week. The Ministry of Labor and Social 
Policy is responsible for enforcing both the minimum wage and the 
standard workweek. The law stipulates that premium pay for overtime 
cannot be less than 150 percent during workdays, 175 percent during 
weekends, and 200 percent during official holidays. The law prohibits 
overtime for children under age 18, pregnant women, and women with 
children up to age six. Enforcement was generally effective in the 
state sector but weaker in the private sector. During the year the 
labor inspectorate found 490 violations of overtime pay rules.
    A national labor safety program, with standards established by law, 
gives employees the right to healthy and nonhazardous working 
conditions. The labor inspectorate is responsible for monitoring and 
enforcement. In the first nine months of the year, there were exactly 
the same number of work-related incidents as in 2009, but employers 
were generally more compliant in observing their obligation to provide 
healthy working conditions. Conditions in some sectors, particularly 
construction, mining, chemicals, and transportation, continued to pose 
risks for workers. As of October there were 60 workplace-related 
deaths, compared with 48 for the same period in 2009. At least 30 
percent of the deaths occurred in the construction sector.
    The law gives employees 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, refusal to 
work in such situations could result in the loss of employment.

                               __________

                                CROATIA

    The Republic of Croatia is a constitutional parliamentary democracy 
with a population of 4.4 million. Legislative authority is vested in 
the unicameral Sabor (parliament). The president serves as head of 
state and commander of the armed forces, cooperating in the formulation 
and execution of foreign policy; he also nominates the prime minister, 
who leads the Government. Domestic and international observers stated 
that presidential elections held in December 2009-January 2010 were in 
accordance with international standards. Security forces reported to 
civilian authorities.
    There were reports of prison overcrowding, large backlogs of 
unresolved criminal and civil cases, ineffective prosecution of some 
domestic war crimes trials, lack of progress in restoring nationalized 
property to the Serb Orthodox Church and Coordination of Jewish 
Communities in Croatia, incidents of societal violence and 
discrimination against ethnic minorities, particularly Serbs and Roma, 
violence and discrimination against women, trafficking in persons, 
violence and discrimination against gays and lesbians, and 
discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
                        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 the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful 
killings. There were no killings of police officers in the line of 
duty.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.
    In December the Government reported 1,853 persons remained missing 
from the 1991-95 military conflict, including an estimated 831 ethnic 
Serbs, the majority of whom went missing in 1995. During the year the 
Government investigated 39 possible mass and individual gravesites, 
resulting in the exhumation of the remains of 53 persons, 51 of whom 
were believed to be ethnic Serbs. The Government identified the remains 
of 63 persons found earlier, 52 of whom were ethnic Serbs.
    The Government continued to cooperate with the International 
Commission of Missing Persons (ICMP), with which it exchanged 7,039 
blood samples. These exchanges led to the identification of the remains 
of 223 persons since 2004. To date the Government has exhumed 4,589 
bodies and identified 3,691 missing persons, including the 223 remains 
identified through the exchange of blood samples.
    The Government handled all exhumations and identifications, while 
the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) 
monitored only the sites related to cases it investigated. The ICMP 
assisted in the identification of remains. The Organization for 
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the International Committee 
of the Red Cross (ICRC), and experts from Serbia and Bosnia and 
Herzegovina also monitored certain exhumations.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices, and the 
Government generally respected these provisions in practice.
    On March 25, three off-duty police officers severely beat and 
injured a 20-year-old Roma at a gas station in Karlovac (see section 
6).

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
centers were overcrowded.
    The prison system has a capacity of approximately 3,500 persons, 
but there were an estimated 5,000 inmates in prisons, penitentiaries, 
and juvenile detention institutions at the end of the year. Of the 
5,000 inmates, 225 were women. There were 107 juvenile prisoners.
    The country has an ombudsman for human rights, who regularly 
visited prisons throughout the country to assess conditions. According 
to the ombudsman, while treatment of prisoners was generally humane, 
the Government was unable to meet fully prisoners' needs for 
healthcare, hygiene, space and fresh air, and access to work 
opportunities due to overcrowding.
    The ombudsman specifically cited poor ventilation and insufficient 
outdoor time as problems. While prisoners generally had access to 
medical care, medical personnel do not staff all prisons continuously 
during the week and during vacation times. Access to sufficient 
psychiatric services and to specialists was a problem. Prisoners have 
potable water.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observances. Authorities did not permit prisoners 
and detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities without 
monitoring. Authorities allowed prisoners to request investigation of 
credible allegations of inhumane conditions; however, the ombudsman 
reported that prison staff verbally harassed some prisoners, and in one 
case subjected a prisoner to disciplinary measures following an oral 
complaint to the ombudsman. The Central Office of the Prison System 
Department monitors prison conditions, promptly responds to complaints 
about prison conditions from the ombudsman's office, and rectifies 
problems where possible.
    The Government permitted visits by independent human rights 
observers, including the ICRC. The ombudsman has no authority to serve 
on behalf of prisoners to consider such matters as alternatives to 
incarceration for nonviolent offenders to alleviate overcrowding; 
addressing the status and circumstances of confinement of juvenile 
offenders; and improving pretrial detention, bail, and recordkeeping 
procedures to ensure that prisoners do not serve beyond the maximum 
sentence for the charged offense. The ombudsman can only intervene in 
relation to prison conditions. His opinion is not binding. The 
ombudsman recommended that certain well behaved prisoners be moved to 
lower security level facilities or to a prison closer to their home to 
facilitate family visits.
    During the year the Government completed construction of a new 
prison facility in Glina in accordance with a March 2009 Constitutional 
Court verdict instructing the Government to adjust prison capacity in 
Zagreb's main prison to meet present needs within five years. The 
facility was designed to provide room for 420 prisoners.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and the law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The national police 
have primary responsibility for national security; in times of 
disorder, the prime minister and the president may call upon the 
military to provide security. The intelligence service is under the 
authority of the prime minister and the president. An independent 
oversight board monitors intelligence service performance.
    On March 12, the Zagreb County Court sentenced Mladen Slogar to 30 
years in prison for the 2008 killing of Ivana Hodak. During the trial 
prosecutors claimed Slogar, a homeless man, harbored a personal grudge 
against the Hodak family. Hodak was a young lawyer and the daughter of 
Zvonimir Hodak, a prominent criminal defense lawyer. Hodak's killing 
sparked a public outcry and led to the replacement of the interior and 
justice ministers within days.

    Arrest Procedure and Treatment While in Detention.--Police obtained 
arrest warrants by presenting 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.
    Police must provide those arrested with access to an attorney of 
their choice within 24 hours of arrest. The magistrate appoints an 
attorney to represent an indigent detainee if the charges carry a 
potentially lengthy sentence. The Government generally enforced these 
provisions. For organized crime and corruption cases, prosecutors have 
the authority to hold suspects for up to 48 hours. In all cases, an 
investigative judge must decide within 48 hours of an arrest whether to 
extend detention for further investigation. Investigative detention 
generally lasts up to 30 days; however, trial courts may extend the 
period up to 12 months in certain cases. The law allows six months' 
pretrial detention, but a court may extend it to 12 months in certain 
cases, primarily war crimes and organized crime cases, at the state 
prosecutor's request. The courts may release detainees on their own 
recognizance, but most criminal suspects were held in custody until 
trial. The option of posting bail after an indictment is available, but 
detainees did not commonly exercise the right. Detention centers 
allowed visits by family members.
    The law provides that state attorneys have primary investigative 
responsibilities. The law gives investigative judges the authority to 
oversee the legality of investigations and detentions, including 
oversight of human rights issues and supervising relations between 
prosecutors and defendants. Investigative judges also rule on appeals 
regarding detention and on the use of such special investigative 
techniques as surveillance, wiretapping, and raids. The law also 
provides for a ``supervisor for detention,'' who is responsible for 
ensuring the constitutional rights of detainees are not violated.
    On April 30, the parliament ratified the Agreement on Execution of 
Court Decisions in Criminal Matters with Bosnia and Herzegovina, which 
was negotiated in February. The agreement aims to end the effective 
impunity resulting from the legal prohibition on extradition of 
Croatian nationals. The prohibition potentially allows persons with 
dual citizenship who have been convicted in Bosnia and Herzegovina to 
reside in the country without fear of extradition. Under the agreement, 
the sentencing state may request that the execution of the original 
sentence be enforced by the other state. The agreement excludes in 
absentia and nonfinal convictions, as well as criminal acts of a 
political, military, or fiscal nature. However, the agreement does not 
exclude war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
    During the year the country signed new extradition agreements with 
Serbia and Montenegro, providing for extradition of each country's 
nationals in organized crime and corruption cases. The June amendment 
to the Croatian constitution allowing for the extradition of Croatian 
nationals to EU-member and other states on a bilateral basis made such 
agreements possible. The agreements took effect upon signing, but had 
not been formally ratified by parliament before year's end.
    On August 24, the country extradited Srecko Kalinic, who held both 
Croatian and Serbian citizenship, to Serbia. In 2007 a Serbian court 
sentenced Kalinic to 30 years for his involvement in the assassination 
of then Serbian prime minister Zoran Djindjic. Kalinic was the first 
citizen extradited to a foreign country since Croatia's independence in 
1991.

    Amnesty.--The law permits amnesty except in cases of war crimes. 
During the year prosecutors reviewed all war crimes cases in which 
there were indictments or ongoing investigations. For 310 of the 1,284 
defendants in these cases, prosecutors either downgraded the charges 
from war crimes to armed rebellion, for which amnesty would apply, or 
cancelled proceedings for other reasons, such as insufficient evidence.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected 
judicial independence. The judiciary continued to suffer from a heavy 
backlog of cases. In June the Ministry of Justice reported that 778,127 
unresolved civil and criminal cases remained before the courts, a 
decrease of 10 percent from 2009.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution and law provide for the right 
to a public trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this 
right. The legal system uses panels of judges, which in some cases 
included lay judges, rather than juries to hear cases. Defendants have 
the right to counsel, to be present at trial, to confront or question 
witnesses against them, and to present witnesses and evidence on their 
behalf. Defendants have access to evidence relevant to their cases, 
enjoy the presumption of innocence, and have the right to appeal.
    In January the parliament amended the Law on Legal Aid to simplify 
the process of attaining free legal assistance. However, 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and international organizations 
criticized the law's complex application procedure, strict 
requirements, and the Government's failure to properly compensate legal 
aid providers for their services, stating that the law seriously limits 
the access of vulnerable individuals to free legal aid.
    During the year prosecutors continued to review all pending war 
crimes cases and in absentia convictions and apply standard measures to 
ensure uniform practices without regard to the defendant's national 
origin.
    The law provides for reopening of war crimes cases tried in 
absentia upon the presentation of new evidence by either the defendant 
or prosecutor, whether or not the defendant is present in the country. 
During the year according to the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor, 
prosecutors requested trials be reopened for 94 of the 464 individuals 
who had been convicted in absentia, and the courts of original 
jurisdiction granted requests on behalf of 67 defendants. On appeal the 
Supreme Court approved reopening the cases of an additional 21 
defendants.
    During the year the OSCE reported that the Supreme Court issued 
decisions on appeals in 12 cases concerning 26 individuals (17 ethnic 
Croats, eight ethnic Serbs and one Bosnian). Of the 27 appeals, the 
court confirmed 11 decisions concerning seven Croats, three Serbs, and 
one Bosnian and reversed 12 decisions concerning eight Croats and four 
Serbs.
    In January the Supreme Court reduced the charges against 12 persons 
convicted in February 2009 for their role in the 1991-92 killings in 
the village of Miklusevci from ``genocide'' to ``war crimes.'' However, 
the court confirmed their sentences, which ranged from four to 12 
years' imprisonment for war crimes.
    On March 11, the Supreme Court upheld the acquittal of former 
Croatian Army commander Rahim Ademi of war crimes and reduced, from 
seven years to six, the prison sentence given to former Croatian Army 
commander Mirko Norac for war crimes.
    On July 30, the Supreme Court upheld the May 2009 war crimes 
conviction of Branimir Glavas and five codefendants, but reduced their 
sentences. The court reduced Glavas's sentence from 10 years to eight 
years. In August a parliamentary committee cancelled Glavas's status as 
a member of parliament, retroactive to the date of the final verdict in 
his war crimes conviction. On September 29, a court in Bosnia and 
Herzegovina upheld the eight-year sentence issued by the Croatian 
court, and Glavas was arrested the same day. On December 14, an appeals 
court in Bosnia further upheld the sentence. Along with former general 
Norac, Glavas was the highest-ranking Croatian ever convicted in a 
domestic war crimes trial in the country.
    On December 10, police arrested suspected war criminal Tomislav 
Mercep in Zagreb. On December 13, an investigative judge opened a 
formal investigation and ordered his further detention. During the 
early 1990s war in the country, Mercep served as an advisor in the 
Ministry of Interior in command of reserve police units in Pakracka 
Poljana in Eastern Croatia and in Zagreb. Mercep was charged for 
personally ordering the unlawful detention, torture, and killings of 
civilians and for failing to prevent illegal activities by his 
subordinates.
    In January the Government established a special committee to 
monitor and suggest improvements to witness and victim support efforts. 
Members of the committee come from various ministries, the judiciary, 
prosecutors' offices, academia, and NGOs. The Government established a 
new Directorate for Probation and Witness and Victim Support in the 
Ministry of Justice. In July courts took control of four witness and 
victim support offices (Zagreb, Osijek, Vukovar, and Zadar) from the UN 
Development Program (UNDP). In July the UNDP and the Ministry of 
Justice signed an agreement on a second phase of the program, intended 
to facilitate the establishment of witness and victim support programs 
in the Split, Rijeka, and Sisak county courts.
    Since the constitutions of most Southeast European countries 
involved in the 1991-95 conflict prohibit extradition of their 
citizens, the country's chief state prosecutor has signed agreements 
with counterparts in Montenegro and Serbia to enable the transfer of 
evidence in such cases, allowing suspects to be tried where they live 
rather than where the alleged crime was committed. During the year the 
country transferred evidence in two cases covering six defendants to 
Serbia. There were no transfers of evidence to Montenegro.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--In 2009 the European Court 
of Human Rights (ECHR) issued 19 judgments involving the country, 16 of 
which found at least one violation by the state of the European 
Convention on Human Rights. The court found seven violations by the 
country of the right to a fair trial, six violations regarding the 
length of legal proceedings, three violations each of the right to 
respect for privacy and family life and protection of property, two 
violations of the right to an effective remedy, and one violation each 
of convention provisions concerning the right to life, inhuman or 
degrading treatment, lack of effective investigation, and the right not 
to be tried or punished twice.
    During the year there were 30 decisions on admissibility of cases 
involving the country before the ECHR, of which the court found four 
partially admissible.
    In March the ECHR Grand Chamber ruled the state had violated its 
obligations under the European convention in a case involving school 
discrimination against 15 Romani children (see section 6).
    On December 9, the ECHR ruled the country discriminated against 
three Christian religious communities by not affording them some of the 
rights that they would be entitled to if they qualified for a special 
agreement with the state. Communities with more than 6,000 members or 
that existed in the country before 1941 are entitled to state 
agreements that provide some funding for salaries and pensions of 
religious officials, recognition of marriages conducted within the 
faith, and regulation of public school catechisms among other things. 
The ECHR ruled that the country should compensate each of the three 
communities 9,000 euros ($11,926).

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters, although continuing case 
backlogs raised concerns about judicial effectiveness and efficiency. 
In March the human rights ombudsman reported that his office received 
1,655 complaints in 2009 related to administrative and judicial 
proceedings, 334 of which dealt with the judiciary. Unlike in previous 
years, when the majority of complaints concerned lengthy proceedings, 
most of the complaints in 2009 involved verdicts perceived to have been 
unjust. The ombudsman noted there was an increase in the number of 
groundless complaints during the year.

    Property Restitution.--During the year the Government endeavored to 
return private properties to their rightful owners. However, the 
property law gives precedence to the rights of temporary occupants, 
mainly ethnic Croats, over those of the original owners, who were 
predominantly ethnic Serbs. In nine cases owners could not repossess 
their homes and were waiting for completion of administrative 
procedures.
    Restitution of property seized during World War II and the 
Communist era remained a problem. The law on restitution of and 
compensation for property taken during the Communist era permits the 
restitution of property only to individuals who were citizens at the 
time parliament passed the law. As a result, the law does not apply to 
persons who had property expropriated but left the country and became 
citizens of other countries. Many claimants subsequently acquired 
Croatian citizenship but were blocked by law from filing claims.
    Restitution of communal property remained a problem for the Serb 
Orthodox Church and the Coordination of Jewish Communities in Croatia, 
the umbrella organization representing the main Jewish Community of 
Zagreb and smaller communities throughout the country. In addition, 
representatives of the Jewish community complained about a Ministry of 
Justice decision in March that denied the community the right to the 
title for property previously restituted.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and 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 and law generally 
provide for freedom of speech and the press; however, growing economic 
pressures led journalists to practice self censorship. Direct 
government efforts to influence the media were rarely reported except 
at the local level.
    There were reports that local officials influenced media coverage. 
There were also reports of commercial interests using advertising 
revenue to influence press coverage and prevent the publication of 
negative articles, and that the media in turn threatened to publish 
negative stories about businesses to extort money from them.
    Journalists reported practicing self-censorship. They expressed the 
fear of being singled out for staffing cuts if they were to write 
articles critical of advertisers.
    The law provides for no less than six months' and no more than five 
years' imprisonment for hate speech. Hate speech committed over the 
Internet is punishable by six months' to three years' imprisonment.
    Individuals may freely criticize the Government publicly or 
privately without reprisal.
    A wide range of private newspapers and magazines was published 
without government interference. Media ownership was not fully 
transparent, enabling political or other interests to conceal their 
influence on media outlets.
    The law regulates the national television and radio networks 
separately from other electronic media. Independent television and 
radio stations operated in the country, and two of the four national 
television channels were private and independent. There were no reports 
of the Government influencing them with advertising revenue.
    Local governments partly or fully owned approximately 70 percent of 
the local media, making local broadcast media particularly vulnerable 
to political pressure. Approximately 46 percent of local radio stations 
depended on the financial support of local authorities.
    On August 5, a group of neo-fascists attacked a Croatian Television 
(HRT) crew at the annual celebration in Cavoglave, Dalmatia of the 1995 
military operation that defeated separatist ethnic Serb forces in the 
country. The Croatian Journalists Association released a statement the 
following day criticizing the police reaction for being slow and 
unresponsive. Following broadcast of HRT footage of the attack, police 
identified several of the alleged attackers and filed criminal charges 
against one of them and misdemeanor charges against several others. As 
of year's end, the individual who was criminally charged was still 
awaiting a court hearing.
    On December 22, authorities arrested four persons suspected in the 
June 2008 beating of investigative journalist Dusan Miljus. The four 
were arrested as part of a wider sting operation aimed against 
organized crime. One has been charged with the attack on Miljus and was 
awaiting a court hearing.
    The trial of Joca Amsterdam for the 2008 killing of Ivo Pukanic, a 
publisher and co-owner of the NCL Media Group, began in April. The 
trial was held in Serbia because of Serbian government restrictions on 
the extradition of its nationals. The trial continued at year's end. On 
November 3, six accomplices on trial in the country were convicted on 
charges of aiding, abetting, and committing murder. Their sentences 
ranged from 15 to 40 years' imprisonment.
    On December 20, the Split Municipal Court, on appeal, sentenced 
former Makarska municipal court judge Predrag Trutin, to six months in 
prison for the 2006 beating of Andjelko Erceg, the editor in chief of 
the local weekly Makarska Kronika. This appeal followed a March local 
court ruling in which Trutin was acquitted of the charges.
    There was intense public debate after the Serbian minority 
newspaper Novosti published in its October 8 weekly edition a 
controversial cover for a story regarding the September 23 crash of two 
Croatian MiG-21 fighter planes in the central part of the country 
during training. The headline, ``Both of them, both are down,'' was an 
echo of a famous phrase spoken by a Croatian soldier in 1991 during the 
war with Serbia after Croatian forces shot down two Yugoslav fighter 
jets. Minister of Defense Branko Vukelic strongly condemned the cover 
as ``an insult to all Croatian veterans and well-meaning citizens of 
the Republic of Croatia.'' Following his statement Novosti received 
threatening phone calls. President Josipovic condemned the threats but 
also stated that he did not like the cover and thought the publisher 
should reconsider its editorial policy. Media reports questioned 
whether Vukelic and Josipovic's statements undercut freedom of 
expression. As a minority paper, Novosti receives some government 
financing. Over a month later, the board of Novosti replaced the 
editor-in-chief.
    Libel is a criminal offense. During the year there were no reports 
of politically motivated libel cases. A large number of libel cases 
from previous years remained unresolved due to judicial backlogs. 
Courts may fine, but not imprison, persons convicted of slander and 
libel.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports the Government monitored e-mail or Internet 
chat rooms. In general individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
Internet access was widely available and used by citizens throughout 
the country. During the year there were no reports that the Government 
collected, requested, or obtained the personally identifiable 
information of persons in connection with peaceful expression of 
political, religious, or ideological opinion or belief. An estimated 51 
percent of the country's inhabitants used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly, 
and the Government generally respected this right in practice.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of association, and the Government generally respected this 
right in practice; however, the law gives the Ministry of Justice 
authority over the establishment and internal governance of 
foundations. While authorities applied the law equally to all 
organizations, the law itself was seen by observers as restrictive and 
controlling. For example, the law provides that organizations may not 
register if their statutory goals are deemed trivial or if their 
property is not deemed sufficient to carry out their statutory 
activities. The law also permits the Government to influence the 
appointment of an organization's management body.
    On July 10, police arrested and detained an estimated 140 persons 
who were reportedly peacefully protesting the destruction of a historic 
part of Zagreb to construct an entrance ramp for a shopping center. The 
international NGO Amnesty International (AI) stated that the arrests 
and detentions were an unnecessary restriction of the right to freedom 
of peaceful assembly. AI called on the authorities to guarantee the 
right of freedom of assembly.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl//irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.
    Refugees returning to the country as citizens of another former 
Yugoslav republic, rather than as Croatian citizens, encountered 
obstacles obtaining permanent residency status. The law permits former 
habitual residents who returned and applied by June 2005 to be 
reinstated to their prewar status as habitual residents without further 
requirements, and they could subsequently apply for citizenship. 
However, the Government did not consistently apply this provision, 
resulting in uncertainty and delaying the integration of returnees. The 
law exempts refugees from the republics of the former Yugoslavia from 
the rigid citizenship requirements of the previous law. However, the 
UNHCR criticized the Government's implementation of the law and 
maintained that returning refugees faced undue hardship and delay in 
obtaining citizenship. NGOs reported positive feedback concerning the 
law from returnees who were able to acquire citizenship.
    The Government took steps to recognize or ``convalidate'' legal and 
administrative documents issued by entities not under the country's 
control during the 1991-95 conflict. In November the Government 
reported receiving an estimated 23,000 applications for 
``convalidation'' and issuing decisions in approximately 89 percent of 
the cases. The Government approved documents in approximately 56 
percent of the cases that it decided during the year, rejecting 44 
percent of the applications for convalidation. International observers 
noted there were wide discrepancies between regional offices with 
average approval rates varying by as much as 50 percent, bringing into 
question the equity of the approval system. The Government stated the 
discrepancy was due to the lack of documentation in some regions and 
took steps during the year to obtain this documentation, with limited 
success.
    As of September the UNHCR had registered the return of 389,185 
refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), of which 132,707 were 
minority Serbs. The total included 302 persons who returned in the 
first nine months of the year. The UNHCR reported that 54 percent of 
total returns were sustainable, while the remainder were either one-
time or ``commuter'' returns. International organizations listed the 
poor state of the regional economy, lack of employment, and delays in 
access to permanent housing for the former tenants of socially owned 
apartments as the main obstacles to return. In addition, many refugees 
chose to settle in their countries of refuge.
    Repossession by Serbs of housing that once belonged to them was 
almost complete. There were instances in which persons were discovered 
attempting to use the courts to recover alleged investments made while 
illegally occupying the property, and 19 such cases were pending in the 
courts. The Government remained reluctant to offer settlements before 
the cases reached a court.
    During the year the Government program to resolve the claims of 
persons, mainly ethnic Serbs, who held tenancy rights in socially owned 
apartments prior to the war, but who lost these rights during or just 
after the war, continued slowly. As of November individuals submitted 
14,006 claims for government-provided housing under the program, 4,590 
of which were in urban areas. According to the UNHCR, from 1995 through 
the end of November, the Government allocated 6,538 housing units, 
mainly in war-affected areas. During the year the Ministry of Regional 
Development, Forestry, and Water Management delivered 798 housing units 
to returnees, approximately 38.5 percent of its 2009 target of 2,070 
housing units.
    On June 22, the European Committee of Social Rights found that the 
question of restitution or compensation of occupancy and tenancy rights 
does not fall within the scope of Article 16 of the European Social 
charter (the right of the family to social, legal, and economic 
protection, which includes housing) and that the country does not have 
an obligation to restitute or compensate for loss of dwelling former 
occupants or tenants who do not return to the country. At the same time 
the European Committee of Social Rights found the country to be in 
violation of two other areas covered by the same article: failure to 
implement the housing program within a reasonable timeframe and failure 
to take into account the heightened vulnerabilities of many displaced 
families and of ethnic Serb families in particular.
    In response to a March 2009 decision by the UN Human Rights 
Committee against the country regarding the lost occupancy and tenancy 
rights of a former refugee who fled the country during the 1990s Balkan 
wars, the Government offered an apartment as compensation. The returnee 
turned down this offer and one other due to the size and location of 
the apartments; the Government subsequently offered him a third 
apartment.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--Authorities took an 
inconsistent approach in their treatment of minority IDPs. As of 
September 2, there were 146 IDPs registered with the Government; of 
these 1,638 were ethnic Serbs. Since this number has not changed since 
2008, the UNHCR questioned the accuracy of government figures. The 
Serbs were either waiting to be recognized as integrated in their 
current places of displacement or to receive reconstruction assistance 
from the state.
    The Government allowed free access to all displaced persons by 
domestic and international humanitarian organizations and permitted 
them to provide assistance.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for granting 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government has a system to provide 
protection for refugees. Persons seeking protection generally 
considered the country a place of transit, and a significant number of 
asylum seekers left the country before the courts decided their claims. 
International observers criticized the Government for delays in making 
initial decisions for asylum seekers.
    In law and practice the country provided effective protection 
against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their 
lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, 
religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or 
political opinion.
    The Government reported 182 persons applied for asylum through 
November of this year; of these, five persons were granted refugee 
status, and eight received subsidiary protection (protection granted to 
an applicant whose situation is not covered by the 1951 Convention 
relating to the Status of Refugees). There was a reception center for 
asylum seekers in Kutina, near Zagreb.
    On July 2, the parliament amended the law on asylum, a necessary 
step in the country's EU accession bid. The amendments extended the 
length of subsidiary protection from one year to three and extended the 
right to accommodation for persons granted protection from one year to 
two. The law expanded access of persons granted protection to public 
health care, education, and employment. The law also expanded the role 
of the appeals commission, making it more independent; the commission 
is scheduled to be replaced in 2012 by an administrative court that 
oversees asylum appeals. The UNHCR closely followed cases of 
individuals whom the Government deported or whom authorities returned 
to their country of origin.
    There were no reports of persons requesting temporary protection 
during the year.

    Stateless Persons.--Citizenship is derived by birth in the 
country's territory or from one of the parents. According to UNHCR 
statistics, there were 237 stateless persons in the country as of the 
end of 2009. However, according to the UNHCR and Roma NGO estimates, 
there were 1,000 stateless Roma in the country and an additional 2,000 
of unidentified citizenship. Most stateless Roma were from other areas 
of the former Yugoslavia and had difficulty providing documents needed 
to register as Croatian citizens. Stateless Roma had problems accessing 
state services. In October 2009 the UNHCR, supported by EU funding, 
entered into a joint project with the human rights ombudsman's office 
that sought to regularize the legal status of Roma in the country. 
During the year 242 people were assisted either with civil registration 
or access to basic rights. One person obtained citizenship through the 
help of the program.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide 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.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Political parties could 
operate without restriction or outside interference.
    In presidential runoff elections held on January 10, Ivo Josipovic, 
candidate of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SDP), defeated 
Milan Bandic, the independent mayor of Zagreb, to become the country's 
third president. While noting progress in the work of most institutions 
involved, Citizens Organized to Observe Elections (GONG), the country's 
leading election-monitoring NGO, observed that the electoral process 
had not been fully transparent, primarily due to inadequate regulation 
of campaign financing and outdated lists of out-of-country voters.
    In June the parliament fixed the number of representatives elected 
by the estimated 400,000 registered voters living abroad to three, thus 
changing the previously stipulated nonfixed quota, which had typically 
resulted in four to six ``diaspora'' representatives. This number was a 
result of a political compromise between the governing party and the 
main opposition party. The opposition party wanted the diaspora to have 
less influence in elections.
    There were 39 women in the 153-seat parliament. There were two 
women in the 19-seat cabinet, including the prime minister. There were 
five women among the 13 Constitutional Court justices, including the 
president of the court, and 19 women among the 40 Supreme Court 
justices.
    Ethnic minority groups including Serbs, Bosniaks, Czechs, Slovaks, 
Italians, Hungarians, Jews, Germans, Austrians, Ruthenians, Ukrainians, 
Slovenes, Montenegrins, Macedonians, Russians, Bulgarians, Poles, Roma, 
Romanians, Turks, Vlachs, and Albanians are guaranteed a minimum of 
eight representatives in the parliament. In June the parliament adopted 
amendments to the Constitutional Law on National Minorities that would 
allow members of the ethnic Serb minority, the largest in the country, 
to vote only in the general elections although the minority is 
guaranteed a minimum of three parliamentary representatives. These new 
provisions allow ethnic Serb parties to win a possible fourth seat in 
the parliament, although implementation will require changes to the 
Election Law. Voters from smaller minority ethnic groups have the right 
to vote both for a representative in the general elections as well as 
for a minority representative. Previously all members of minority 
groups had to choose either to vote in the general parliamentary 
elections or to vote for one of the minority representative seats.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not always implement the laws effectively, 
and corruption remained a serious problem.
    Corruption cases in the country involved nearly all segments of 
society, the economy, and government, with a nexus of institutions--
primarily in health care, university faculties, the judiciary, and 
public-sector and commercial enterprises--often at the center of 
corruption cases.
    During the year the Office for Suppression of Corruption and 
Organized Crime (USKOK) reported that 137 persons were indicted for 
corruption compared with 160 from the previous year and concluded 
several cases against high-profile government officials, university 
professors, judges, public servants, and other professionals.
    On December 10, former prime minister Ivo Sanader was arrested in 
Austria based on an international arrest warrant issued after 
parliament on December 9 stripped his immunity from detention at the 
state prosecutor's request. Following parliament's decision, a Croatian 
judge ordered Sanaders arrest and 30 days of pretrial detention to 
facilitate the state prosecutor's investigation of Sanader for possible 
corruption. Sanader was awaiting extradition at year's end. No formal 
indictment was issued, as investigations continued.
    On December 6, a Zagreb court found former minister of defense and 
current member of parliament Berislav Roncevic and his former 
assistant, Ivo Bacic, guilty of abuse of authority and position for 
alleged misuse of funds in a 2004 deal to buy 39 trucks for the 
Ministry of Defense. Roncevic was sentenced to four years in prison and 
Bacic to two years. They were also ordered to pay 10.2 million kunas 
($1.8 million) in damages to the state budget.
    On October 16, Damir Polancec, former deputy prime minister and 
minister of the economy, was sentenced to 15 months in prison for 
corruption related to the commissioning of an unnecessary study while 
he was minister of the economy. On October 19, he pled guilty to a 
separate charge of abuse of office relating to the installation of 
lighting for a soccer stadium in his home town. He received a one year 
suspended sentence for this charge and will serve no time if he does 
not commit another crime in the next four years. There were two other 
corruption cases pending against Polancec at year's end. The first 
involved Polancec and members of the former management board of 
Croatian food manufacturer Podravka and focused on Polancec's and the 
board's role in official corruption between 2007 and 2009.The second 
case centered on potential illegal activities involving the country's 
power company HEP while Polancec was deputy prime minister from 2005 to 
2009. Authorities alleged that Polancec helped a Sibenik-based light 
metal factory defraud HEP of approximately 600 million kunas ($107 
million). Both of these investigations against Polancec continued at 
year's end.
    On September 29, authorities arrested Mladen Barisic, Chief of the 
Customs Administration, in connection with allegedly fake tenders 
amounting to a reported 40 million kunas ($7.1 million). An 
investigation continued at year's end.
    During the year the Supreme Court ruled on appeals related to the 
multiyear USKOK anticorruption operation and subsequent trials 
codenamed ``Maestro.'' On February 17, the court upheld the May 2009 
corruption conviction and sentencing to 11 years in prison of Josip 
Matanovic, a former vice president of the Croatian Privatization Fund. 
The court also upheld one defendant's sentence of three years' 
imprisonment and ordered a retrial for several defendants who were 
convicted in the original May 2009 trial. On May 25, the court ordered 
a retrial of two individuals acquitted in a March 2009 trial involving 
corruption in the Privatization Fund. This trial continued at year's 
end.
    On February 1, the Zagreb County Court convicted 19 of 21 
defendants of abuse of office, bribes, and brokering illegal deals in 
connection with the ``Index III'' corruption case at the University of 
Zagreb School of Economics. Five defendants, including all of those 
convicted of taking bribes, received sentences of from 14 to 30 months 
in prison. Among those sentenced to prison was the highest-profile 
defendant, economics professor Desa Mlikotin Tomic, who resigned as 
chair of the parliament's Committee for the Prevention of Conflict of 
Interest following the initial police raids at the Economics Faculty in 
2008. All students accused in the case received suspended sentences, 
while several professors were prohibited from serving in academic 
positions for two to five years. At year's end, an appeal was pending 
in the Supreme Court.
    Appeals of two cases decided in 2009 dealing with corruption at the 
Transportation Faculty at the University of Zagreb, ``Index I'' and 
``Index II,'' were pending at the Supreme Court.
    On March 17, the Ministry of Justice sent a request to authorities 
in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the detention and imprisonment of Ognjen 
Simic, based on the agreement reached in February between Bosnia and 
Herzegovina and Croatia that provides for persons convicted in one 
country to be imprisoned in the other, should they flee there. Simic, a 
heart surgeon, fled to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2008 at the conclusion 
of his corruption trial. In June a court in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 
which was deciding on Simic's detention under the agreement, reduced 
his sentence to two-and-a-half years from the five years imposed under 
the Croatian Supreme Court's final verdict in 2009. On December 1, the 
same court upheld this reduced sentence in a retrial after the Supreme 
Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina threw out the June 
verdict.
    During the year the Government gave special attention to the legal 
and institutional framework used to combat corruption, including 
investigations, prosecution, and interagency and international 
cooperation. The Government worked closely with civil society and the 
private sector to promote the rule of law in society.
    The law requires public officials to declare their assets. Most 
government officials complied, although there were questions as to the 
thoroughness and effectiveness of the system and imprecision as to the 
types of assets covered.
    Within the Government, the public prosecutor's and police's Offices 
for Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime (USKOK and PN-USKOK, 
respectively) were the main law enforcement bodies responsible for 
fighting corruption. Specialized panels of judges at the four largest 
courts in the country heard organized crime and corruption cases. The 
Ministry of Justice's Anticorruption Sector monitored the 
implementation of anticorruption measures throughout the Government.
    The law provides the right of public access to government 
information; however, NGOs complained that the Government did not 
implement the law efficiently or effectively.
Section 5. 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.
    The Government cooperated with the International Tribunal for the 
former Yugoslavia (ICTY), based in The Hague. On June 18, ICTY Chief 
Prosecutor Serge Brammertz stated during his semiannual presentation to 
the UN Security Council that the country had been ``generally 
responsive to the needs of the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP)'' in the 
first half of the year but that ``the issue of the missing important 
documents related to Operation Storm in 1995 remains outstanding.'' On 
July 26, the ICTY Trial Chamber rejected the prosecution's motion for 
an order compelling the country to turn over missing documents in the 
Gotovina case after more than two years of litigation. Judge Orie wrote 
that ``the Croatian government in recent years has taken a proactive 
approach and made substantial efforts to intensify the search for the 
documents.'' The Trial Chamber stated that the OTP would be able to 
renew an application for these documents ``if new circumstances 
arise.''
    In his next written report delivered to the UNSC in November, the 
chief prosecutor noted that the task force, established by the 
country's government to investigate the fate of the missing military 
documents sought by the OTP, had begun to explore important new avenues 
in the investigation, in line with previous OTP recommendations. The 
prosecutor acknowledged the commitment of the Government to resolve the 
inconsistencies contained in previous task force reports, urging the 
authorities to continue the investigation and account for the missing 
military documents.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on gender, age, race, 
disability, language, or social status; and the Government generally 
enforced these prohibitions.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is a crime punishable by one 
to 10 years' imprisonment; however, according to NGOs many women did 
not report rape or spousal rape. The law provides longer sentences for 
sexual violence against persons with disabilities. In cases of rape 
under aggravated circumstances resulting in death or pregnancy, or if 
the victim is a minor, sentences may be between three and 15 years. Due 
to social pressure and stigmatization, rape and sexual violence were 
underreported. NGOs criticized the Government for allowing only police 
and not hospitals to have rape kits, resulting in victims having to be 
examined twice. The availability of victim assistance services, such as 
rape crisis centers, varied widely from community to community.
    In the first 11 months of the year, 75 rapes and 20 attempted rapes 
were reported to police. NGO officials estimated that for every 
reported rape, there were 15 unreported cases; on average, 100 to 140 
cases of sexual violence and rape were reported annually. The NGO 
Women's Room stated that women frequently did not report rape and 
spousal rape because they lacked information about available legal 
protections, felt ashamed, feared reprisal, or, in cases of spousal 
rape, were concerned about economic consequences. Victims also were 
reluctant to report rape, particularly spousal rape, because it was 
difficult to prove in court and because medical staff, police, and 
judicial officials were not trained to treat victims. Women's NGOs 
asserted that sentences for spousal rape tended to be lenient.
    Violence against women, including spousal abuse, remained a 
problem. Through August, 16 women and two minor girls were killed as a 
result of domestic violence, including Mirela Srsic-Smith, a local 
Croatian Television (HRT) news reporter in September. Her death 
followed the August killing of a woman by her husband in front of a 
safe house for victims of domestic violence. The killings received 
widespread media attention and immediate calls for government action.
    The law provides that persons other than the victim, including 
police, may initiate a complaint of domestic violence, which is treated 
as a misdemeanor, but could be deemed a criminal offense depending on 
the severity of the act. Penalties range from fines of 1,000 to 50,000 
kunas ($180 to $9,000) or up to 90 days in prison for misdemeanor 
offenses. Under the law, perpetrators may face up to five years in 
prison for the same acts if they are treated as a criminal offense. 
Police officials tended to classify domestic violence against women as 
misdemeanors, resulting in minimal sentences, particularly in cases of 
spousal rape. Police officers in most urban areas were trained to 
handle family violence and provide quick intervention, secure victims' 
safety, and remove perpetrators from families; in rural areas, police 
officers were generally less well trained in handling such cases.
    According to a survey published on November 23 by the NGO Women's 
Room and the Government's Gender Equality Office, the majority of 
female victims of domestic violence criticized the police, courts, and 
centers for social care as insufficiently helpful. The police, courts, 
and centers for social care cited a heavy workload and lack of training 
and space as the main obstacles to assisting victims.
    On November 8, the Ministry of Interior and the UNDP launched a 
``Living Life Free of Violence'' campaign with the goal of raising 
public awareness of domestic violence and encouraging citizens to 
report domestic violence. The campaign included video statements by 
President Josipovic and other government officials as well as the 
country's most famous sports and entertainment celebrities. The videos 
were screened throughout the country's schools and placed on social 
networking Web sites. As part of the campaign, 52,000 students and 
4,000 parents attended 1,300 lectures organized in schools throughout 
the country.
    On November 29, the ministries of interior, health, justice, 
education, family, and administration signed an agreement to improve 
cooperation to fight more effectively against domestic violence.
    Support for victims of domestic violence was limited. In general 
private donations financed most services. NGOs and local governments 
operated 18 shelters, all but three of which were permanent. The 
central government in conjunction with county, city, and civic 
organizations financed shelters and counseling centers for victims of 
domestic violence. The ombudsman for human rights reported that 2.5 
million kunas ($450,000) were paid during the year to NGOs running 
shelters for victims of domestic violence. Hotlines, counseling, and 
legal assistance were available to domestic violence victims.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace; however, it 
remained a problem. According to trade unions, the problem was most 
pronounced in the textile, leather, trade, and catering industries. The 
ombudsman for gender equality and unions reported that her office 
worked on sexual harassment cases, although many women were reluctant 
to take action for fear of reprisal. On March 3, a court handed down 
the country's first conviction for sexual harassment at a workplace, 
sentencing one defendant to six months in prison for making sexual 
comments over a three-year period. A second defendant was given a four-
month suspended sentence for harassing a female employee. Local union 
representatives believed the verdict would set an important precedent.
    The Government generally respected the right of couples and 
individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and 
timing of their children. Citizens generally had the information and 
means to do so free from discrimination, coercion, or violence. 
However, only couples of the opposite sex can receive artificial 
insemination. Individuals and same-sex couples are prohibited. There 
was no recent data on the percentage of the population with access to 
contraception, although condoms were widely available, and oral 
contraception was available with a prescription. According to a 
Croatian Bureau of Public Health July report, the maternal mortality 
rate in 2009 was 13.46 deaths per 100,000 live births, an increase from 
6.86 in 2008. Access to maternal health services was generally good, 
although 5 percent of new mothers in 2009 reportedly had little or no 
prenatal care. However, according to the World Health Organization's 
World Health Statistics 2010, 100 percent of births in the country were 
attended by skilled health professionals.
    According to the UNDP, the number of women reported to have HIV 
infections was significantly lower than that of men, but women and men 
were diagnosed and treated equally. However, women living in rural 
areas and working out of the home were believed to be less aware of the 
need and location for testing as their male counterparts. Men and women 
were equally diagnosed and treated for sexually transmitted infections.
    Women generally held lower paying positions in the work force. In 
June the Croatian Statistics Bureau released its annual report Women 
and Men in Croatia. The report noted that women earned less than men in 
most sectors, both private and public. On average women earned 12 
percent less than men. Women were also more likely to be unemployed. 
These disparities were present despite the fact that women generally 
achieved a higher level of education than men. On March 11, the 
Government presented its 2010-13 strategy for the development of female 
enterprise, aimed at increasing the number of women launching 
businesses. Prime Minister Kosor said that the goal was to increase the 
ratio of female beneficiaries of enterprise stimulation programs from 
the current 16 percent to at least 40 percent over the next years.
    The Office for Gender Equality was responsible for implementing the 
law on gender equality that came into effect in 2008 and formulating 
the Government's gender policy; the ombudsman for gender equality 
monitored implementation of the law, including the submission of 
mandatory action plans for state institutions and public companies. In 
May the ombudsman for gender equality issued her annual report, which 
noted that women were underrepresented in the management structure of 
public companies and at state secretary positions in the state 
administration. The ombudswoman noted that almost 89 percent of persons 
on management boards were men.
    The law provides for quotas to secure increased political 
representation for women. It requires that women make up at least 40 
percent of the voting list for each political party by the third round 
of local and national elections as well as in elections for seats in 
the European Parliament. Political parties, state bodies, local 
authorities, employers, and the media can be fined for violating the 
law. Local NGOs criticized the law on the grounds that the fines were 
too small to be a deterrent and that the Government rarely enforced 
previous laws with quotas.
    On May 7, at a round-table event on gender equality in the media, 
the ombudsman for gender equality noted that women were generally 
underrepresented in the country's media. She noted that the media 
mentioned women mainly in the context of scandals and entertainment 
rather than the economy and politics. On June 30, the Office for Gender 
Equality provided 180,000 kunas ($32,000) in support of several NGO 
projects aimed at the suppression of gender stereotypes in printed and 
audiovisual media.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived by birth in the country's 
territory or from one of the parents. Authorities register all births 
at the time of birth within the country or upon registration for births 
abroad. There were few reports that failure to register births resulted 
in denial of public services, including education and health care for 
children.
    Igor Lakic, Adviser for Human Rights at the Ombudsman's Office who 
cooperated with the UNHCR on their project related to Roma status 
issues, explained that registration of births was not a problem; rather 
children's problems were related to a lack of citizenship and the 
inability to access rights derived from citizenship. Many Romani 
parents, particularly in settlements close to the Serbian and Bosnian 
and Herzegovinian borders, including Slavonski Brod and Beli Manastir, 
were citizens of another former Yugoslav republic, and the process to 
acquire Croatian citizenship often took years. Such parents and their 
foreign-born children, therefore, had no rights to free health care or 
social assistance (although they generally did not face problems in 
enrolling in schools). Although statistics were unavailable, the scope 
of the problem was believed to be widespread.
    While education is free and compulsory through grade eight, Romani 
children faced serious obstacles in continuing their education, 
including discrimination in schools and a lack of family support. The 
number of Romani children enrolled in preschool education for the 2009-
10 school year was 588, a slight decrease from 595 in 2008. According 
to the Ministry of Science, Education, and Sports, the number of new 
Romani students increased to 4,186 from 3,940 in 2009.
    The reimbursement of kindergarten fees to Romani parents, 
introduced in the previous year, was expanded to include preschool 
education. The payments made for the current academic year totaled 
508,000 kunas ($91,000) for 660 children in 49 schools and 
kindergartens. The Government distributed more than 350 scholarships to 
Romani students in high school, an increase of 50 compared with the 
previous school year. The number of Romani students receiving 
scholarships for university-level studies increased to 26 from 20 in 
the previous school year.
    In March the ECHR Grand Chamber ruled that the state had 
discriminated against 15 Romani students from Medjimurje who were 
placed in separate Roma-only classes. The ECHR ordered the Government 
to pay 4,500 euros ($5,963) to each pupil and 10,000 euros ($13,251) in 
court expenses. The ruling superseded the July 2009 ECHR ruling that 
rejected the complaint of discrimination and found the schools 
separated Roma children only until their language skills improved 
sufficiently so as to join a regular classroom.
    On July 15, the parliament amended the Law on Primary and Secondary 
Education to provide additional language classes to children who do not 
speak Croatian.
    Child abuse, including sexual abuse, was a problem.
    The ombudsman for children reported 1,930 new complaints of 
individual violations of children's rights through December. The office 
has seen annual increases in the number of complaints, due in part to 
the greater visibility and presence of the ombudsman. The office 
continued its campaign, launched in 2008 in cooperation with the 
Council of Europe, to prevent corporal punishment. The campaign 
targeted families, schools, children's homes, and penitentiaries. 
During the year the ombudsman also led a campaign focused on the rights 
of children from families of divorced parents and lobbied for faster 
rulings by family courts on issues affecting the lives of these 
children. In December an 18-month EU-funded program to curb the sexual 
exploitation and abuse of children began. The 800,000 euro ($1.06 
million) project included extensive training for police officers on 
investigation techniques, questioning methods, prevention of secondary 
victimization of children who had been subjected to sexual abuse, and 
capacity building at social care centers to better assist victims.
    During the year the Government established an additional four 
family centers, bringing the total number to 17. The county-level 
centers are a community resource where families could seek the advice 
of experts including lawyers, psychologists, and social workers.
    While statistics were unavailable, child marriage was believed to 
be a problem in the Romani community. Common law marriages between 
persons 16 years of age and older were customary, often prompted by 
pregnancies. These marriages were in some cases made official when 
partners reached adulthood.
    Statutory rape is included in the penal code, with the minimum age 
for consensual sex set at 14 years. Penalties for statutory rape range 
between one and eight years, but in aggravated circumstances, such as 
rape resulting in pregnancy or repeated sexual acts, the penalties 
range from five to 40 years. Filming or photographing children for 
pornographic material can be punished with a sentence of between one 
and five years of prison, while exposure of children to pornography may 
result in fines or a sentence of up to one year in prison.
    In February the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor provided the 
following data on sexual acts committed against minors and children for 
the year 2009, the last year for which data was available. In 2009 the 
Office of Chief State Prosecutor received 60 reports of sexual 
intercourse with minors and children and won 28 convictions for the 
crime. Prosecutors also had 136 reports and 52 convictions for lewd 
behavior involving a child or a minor, 11 reports and five convictions 
of abusing children for pornography, and 29 reported cases of child 
pornography on the Internet with 14 convictions for crimes committed 
earlier.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The country's Jewish community numbered 
approximately 2,300. Anti-Semitic vandalism and acts with anti-Semitic 
overtones were reported during the year.
    On August 14, a photograph was placed on the social networking Web 
site Facebook of a male making a Nazi salute and a female wearing a 
Hitler mask; the photograph was taken in front of the of the Jewish 
community building in Osijek. The suspected perpetrators were 
identified, but authorities could not provide information about further 
legal action.
    On November 17, anti-Semitic graffiti appeared near the site of a 
planned golf course in Dubrovnik. There has been public opposition to 
the building of the course. The director of the company in charge of 
the course said the act was a ``gross provocation against the 
investors, most of whom are Israeli citizens and Jews.'' The mayor of 
Dubrovnik condemned the act and called on police to find the 
perpetrators.
    On April 27, unknown persons damaged 12 tombstones at the Jewish 
cemetery in Osijek. The head of the Jewish community in Osijek 
attributed the act to young delinquents. Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor 
condemned the act and called for an urgent investigation, which 
continued at yearend.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to 
health care, and in the provision of other state services; however, 
discrimination occurred.
    The Government maintained 10 counseling centers offering assistance 
to persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities and their families. A total of 943 persons with 
disabilities were employed during the year, while there were 6,207 
disabled persons who were unemployed. An estimated 68 percent of 
unemployed persons with disabilities were unemployed for more than a 
year.
    In a report covering the second half of 2009, the ombudsman for 
disabilities noted the majority of complaints received by her office 
involved welfare and pension payments, followed by complaints involving 
accessibility and legal matters. The office actively cooperated with 
NGOs dealing with persons with disabilities.
    During the year there were several legal changes affecting the 
lives of persons with disabilities. On June 16, the constitution was 
changed to remove the word ``invalid'' and replace it with ``persons 
with disabilities.'' In July a new law on checks and bonds was passed 
that allows blind persons to sign their own checks without a lengthy 
bureaucratic procedure, as had previously been the case.
    During the year the ombudsman criticized a new law on public roads 
that limited free-of-charge use of the highway for persons with 
disabilities; under the previous law, the definition of disability was 
broadly construed, resulting in overuse of the benefit. While intended 
to correct the overuse, the tougher standards of the new law, according 
to some observers, disadvantaged many who should have benefited from 
the provision.
    The number of persons with mental disabilities in institutions did 
not decrease, despite some efforts to develop community-based 
alternatives to institutionalization. On September 23, Human Rights 
Watch released a report criticizing the country for doing little to 
deinstitutionalize persons with intellectual or mental disabilities. 
According to the report, more than 4,000 persons with mental 
disabilities and 5,000 persons with intellectual disabilities remained 
in institutions, while only 16 from the former group and 250 from the 
latter moved to alternative community living programs allowing for a 
better quality of life. The law provides that unemployed parents of 
children with disabilities be granted 2,200 kunas ($390) in monthly 
compensation. The law also provides compensation to foster-care 
families.
    The law mandates access to buildings for persons with disabilities; 
however, the Government did not always enforce this provision, and the 
law did not mandate that existing facilities be retrofitted. As a 
result, access to public facilities for persons with disabilities 
remained limited.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--While constitutional 
protections against discrimination applied to all minorities, open 
discrimination and harassment continued against ethnic Serbs and Roma.
    Incidents, including looting, physical threats, verbal abuse, and 
spraying graffiti on Serb property, continued in the Dalmatian 
hinterland and the central part of the country.
    On April 23, a wooden cross marking the gravesite of nine ethnic 
Serb civilians killed during the Balkan wars of the 1990s was toppled 
in Varivode in the coastal interior of the country. Prime Minister 
Kosor criticized the vandalism, and authorities arrested one person. On 
October 5, President Josipovic inaugurated a new monument to the 
victims of Varivode and stated that those who had committed war crimes 
should be punished.
    On July 9, in the coastal city of Split, a sign reading ``Serbs 
should hang--never forget, never forgive,'' appeared on an overpass. 
The Davis Cup tennis tournament was taking place at the time, and 
Serbia and Croatia were scheduled to compete against each other. The 
sign was removed after an hour, although police did not identify 
perpetrators.
    On August 15, a number of vehicles owned by ethnic Croats were 
vandalized with pro-Serb graffiti (four 'S' letters symbolizing greater 
Serbia) in the majority Croatian village of Aljmas in the eastern part 
of the country. The vandalism occurred during a Catholic mass 
celebrating the Assumption of Mary. No suspects were identified.
    In May 2008 authorities indicted one of the eight persons arrested 
for the 2008 abuse of the local Serb population in the village of 
Bukovic. At year's end his trial was pending. The seven others accused 
were minors, and information about the proceedings against them was 
confidential.
    On October 27, a Knin court sentenced two men who had broken into a 
Serb returnee house and physically assaulted the owner in July 2009 to 
five months in prison and two years' probation.
    At year's end the trial of three persons indicted in July 2009 for 
smashing the windows and slashing the tires of a car with Serbian 
plates in front of the Hotel Plat in Dubrovnik had not begun.
    On January 25, the venue for the appeals of two young men arrested 
for verbally and physically abusing two Serb returnees in 2007 and 
attempting to set fire to their home was changed from Pozega to 
Slavonski Brod county court. In 2009 the two perpetrators were 
sentenced to two years in prison with parole, but the prosecution 
appealed the sentence. A decision on the appeal was pending at year's 
end.
    Discrimination continued against ethnic Serbs in several areas, 
including the administration of justice, employment, and housing. 
Ethnic Serbs in war-affected regions were subject to societal 
harassment and discrimination. Local authorities sometimes refused to 
hire qualified Serbs even when no Croats applied for a position.
    The law provides for proportional minority employment in the public 
sector in areas where a minority constitutes at least 15 percent of the 
population; however, the Government for the most part did not observe 
the law in practice. Ethnic Serbs, the largest minority, were most 
affected by the slow implementation of the law. In May the Serbian 
National Council, an elected self-governing body representing Croatia's 
ethnic Serbs, issued a survey showing that the number of Serbs employed 
in state administration and justice has been slowly declining since 
2008. The council was most concerned with discrepancies in areas with 
high rates of ethnic-Serb refugee returnees. They cited the example of 
Lika-Senj County, where ethnic Serbs made up more than 11 percent of 
the population but only 0.5 percent of the police force. NGOs 
representing the ethnic Serb minority also complained about the lack of 
credible data on minority employment in state ministries.
    The National Minority Council received approximately 41.3 million 
kunas ($7.4 million) for minority associations' cultural programs 
during the year.
    Societal violence, harassment, and discrimination against Roma 
continued to be a problem. While only 9,463 persons declared themselves 
to be Roma in the 2001 census, officials and NGOs estimated that the 
Romani population was between 30,000 and 40,000.
    On March 25, three off-duty police officers severely beat a 20-
year-old Roma at a gas station in Karlovac. The victim suffered 
multiple bone fractures on his head and was hospitalized. Initially 
police filed charges against the victim and another Romani person for 
attacking police officers and disturbing public order. Subsequently, 
and following critical media reports, the three officers involved were 
suspended, and criminal charges were brought against them. An 
additional three officers were suspended for misreporting facts. In 
June prosecutors in Karlovac indicted one police officer for causing 
heavy bodily injury to the victim. The case is pending at the Karlovac 
Municipal Court, and a hearing had not been scheduled at year's end.
    On September 5, approximately 100 ethnic Serbs and Croats from the 
small village of Zemunik organized a protest against air pollution 
allegedly caused by the burning of garbage and other materials by the 
Romani community there. The group, which included the village mayor, 
also protested the Roma use of vacant houses owned by Serb refugees. 
The protest was criticized by the press and President Josipovic 
strongly criticized discrimination of any kind against Roma.
    Roma faced many obstacles, including lack of knowledge of the 
Croatian language, lack of education, lack of citizenship and identity 
documents, high unemployment, and widespread discrimination. Many 
Romani women, in particular, had only limited Croatian language skills. 
According to the Council of Europe, only 6.5 percent of Roma had 
permanent jobs, while the Government estimated 20,000 to 30,000 Roma 
were receiving some form of social assistance. The Government estimated 
more than 90 percent of registered Roma lived on social aid.
    On a national level, the Government worked to increase the 
employment rate of Roma by providing two years' worth of salary 
payments to employers who hired Romani workers. Government spending on 
programs for Roma increased from 17 million kunas ($3 million) in 2008 
to 27 million kunas in 2009 ($4.8 million).
    On June 4, the Government allocated 4 million kunas ($716,000) to 
help legalize a Roma settlement in the town of Parag, in the northern 
part of the country. The Government made similar efforts in other parts 
of the country including finishing infrastructure projects in Darda, 
the largest Roma settlement in the eastern part of the country.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There was some societal 
violence and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 
transgender (LGBT) persons.
    On June 19, for the second year in a row, an antigay protest was 
staged during the annual Gay Pride Parade. Members of the protest 
carried banners with abusive language such as ``kill the faggots'' and 
raised their arms in Nazi salutes. Organizers of the parade considered 
the protest a hate crime and criticized authorities for allowing it to 
take place. Police arrested three persons who tried to break through 
police lines and attack parade participants. Police were later 
criticized for using excessive force against one of the attackers. Two 
parade participants were attacked after the parade, but the attackers 
remain unidentified.
    During the year LGBT NGOs requested the removal of a public school 
catechism textbook containing homophobic language. In July the Ministry 
of Science, Education, and Sports replied in a letter that the book had 
been approved by a commission of experts in line with the law and 
refused to remove the book.
    In the spring, newspapers reported that a primary school teacher 
had referred in class to homosexuality as a disease. The mothers of two 
children in the class reported the case to the Ministry of Science, 
Education, and Sports, and a group of human rights NGOs later charged 
the teacher with a breach of the Antidiscrimination Act. The Zagreb 
Municipal Court held three hearings on the matter; the NGOs involved 
requested a new judge on the grounds that the old judge was biased and 
verbally abusive towards witnesses. In November a Zagreb court refused 
to dismiss the current judge. No new hearings were scheduled at year's 
end.
    LGBT organizations reported several incidents against LGBT persons 
during the year and criticized police for failure to provide adequate 
protection.
    On January 3, a transsexual woman was physically attacked in a town 
in eastern Croatia by three men who threatened to kill her. When the 
victim tried to report the case, the police officer in charge used 
offensive language and ridiculed her during questioning.
    On April 4, a group of young men stalked and beat a young gay man 
in Zagreb. The victim sustained light injuries. Police were unable to 
identify the perpetrators.
    On November 2, two gay men were attacked with wooden bats, tear 
gas, and broken glass outside a Zagreb nightclub. Police identified and 
detained two suspects. The Minister of Interior condemned the incident 
proclaiming zero tolerance for hate crimes and crimes motivated by 
homophobia. Local LGBT NGOs issued a statement requesting tougher 
sanctions for such attacks and permanent training for police officers 
dealing with similar hate crime cases. Prosecutors charged the two 
perpetrators under criminal law with an act intended to degrade a 
person in a public place. The first hearing took place on December 28, 
when the two suspects were released from detention. The next hearing 
was scheduled for mid-January 2011.
    On November 6, a gay man was beaten and his nose broken in Zagreb. 
Police were still searching for the perpetrators at year's end.
    Societal discrimination against LGBT persons was frequently 
manifested by insults, stereotypical jokes, and societal prejudices.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Societal discrimination 
against persons with HIV/AIDS remained a problem. The Croatian 
Association for HIV (HUHIV) reported dentists and general practitioners 
at times refused to treat HIV-positive patients, and some hospitals 
postponed surgery because doctors were reluctant to operate on them. If 
an HIV patient did not go through the infectious disease hospital, he 
or she often waited for treatment, and doctors sometimes delayed 
surgery indefinitely. There were allegations transplant centers refused 
to put HIV patients on their lists of potential organ recipients. 
Additionally, the NGO stated that many patients' right to privacy had 
been violated while other patients feared their HIV status would be 
shared without their consent.
    The NGO also criticized discriminatory regulations regarding 
employment, such as legislation forbidding persons with HIV from 
working as police officers.
    According to HUHIV representatives, the lack of public assistance, 
such as hotlines, for HIV-positive patients was a problem. According to 
the UN theme group on HIV/AIDS, an analysis of the country's laws 
indicated they contain discriminatory provisions regarding HIV. The 
group cited legal provisions requiring testing under medical 
supervision for certain professions and, in certain cases, restricted 
employment for prisoners and HIV-positive persons. According to the 
analysis, most cases of discrimination occurred outside the scope of 
the law or were due to insufficient enforcement of privacy laws, lack 
of consistent, adequate medical care, and discrimination in school or 
the workplace. HUHIV also specifically criticized regulations 
forbidding HIV-positive persons from working as police officers and 
lack of appropriate sex education in schools. This lack of knowledge 
leads to discrimination and stigmatization of people with HIV/AIDS, and 
children often have wrong perceptions about risk of contraction.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--Workers are entitled by law to form 
or join unions of their choice without previous authorization or 
excessive requirements, and workers exercised this right in practice. 
Unions generally were independent of the Government and political 
parties. According to a 2009 tripartite study by the Government, 
unions, and employers, approximately 35 percent of the work force was 
unionized. There are no restrictions on unionization for any type of 
worker. The law provides all workers the possibility of unionization, 
regardless of position (including police), except for active military 
personnel.
    The law provides for the right to strike, with some limitations, 
and workers exercised these rights during the year. The law does not 
permit members of the armed forces, police, government administration, 
or public services to strike. Workers may strike only at the end of a 
contract or in specific circumstances cited in the contract after they 
have gone through mediation. When negotiating a new contract, workers 
are also required to go through mediation before striking. 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.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The 
constitution and law protect collective bargaining and the right to 
organize, and workers exercised these rights in practice; however, some 
international observers reported that small firms did not always uphold 
this right.
    Approximately 12 percent of the country's workers were on fixed-
term contracts with employers. Manual labor and retail employees were 
primarily affected and many employers hired new workers for a trial 
period of typically three months. A recent amendment to the labor code 
limits temporary work contracts to no more than three years.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination and expressly allows 
unions to challenge firings in court; however, incidents of union-
related harassment and firing of employees occurred, and in general the 
inefficiency of the court system seriously delayed and discouraged 
citizens' attempts to seek redress through the legal system.
    There are 15 free trade zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including by children, but there were 
incidents in which adults and children were trafficked for prostitution 
and labor. Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in 
Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There are laws and policies to protect children from exploitation in 
the workplace and provide for acceptable working conditions. Labor law 
amendments that went into effect on January 1 further impose strict 
regulations on the employment of minors, forbidding employment in work 
environments that could pose health threats to minors.
    The minimum age for employment of children is 15 years. The 
Ministry of Economy, Labor, and Entrepreneurship, in conjunction with 
the ombudsman for children and the state inspectorate, is responsible 
for enforcing this regulation. Minors under the age of 15 may work if 
they receive prior approval from the state labor inspectorate and if it 
is determined that the child is not expected to suffer physically or 
mentally from the work. Approval is usually requested for filming movie 
scenes or for play rehearsals. The law prohibits workers under the age 
of 18 from working overtime, at night, or under dangerous conditions.
    In 2009 the last year for which data were available, the State 
Labor Inspectorate recorded 153 violations of labor-related laws 
involving 73 children under the age of 17. Of these violations, four 
involved children under the age of 15. Violations occurred mainly in 
the hospitality, tourism, retail, food, industrial, services, and 
construction sectors and were related to working overtime or past 
curfew and wage miscalculations.
    The law proscribes the worst forms of child labor, including 
trafficking in children for purposes of sexual exploitation and labor. 
The national ombudsman for children coordinated the country's efforts 
to prevent the exploitation of children and assist in removing children 
from exploitative situations. The labor inspectorate has 111 inspectors 
whose duties include inspection for illegal employment of minors. The 
inspectorate forwarded all cases of violations involving minors to the 
Office of the Ombudsman for Children. Criminal cases were prosecuted by 
the State Prosecutor's Office and often resulted in convictions.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage as determined 
by the Government is 2,814 kunas ($504) per month; the net minimum 
monthly wage is between 2,000 and 2,200 kunas ($358-$394), depending on 
exemptions, and did not provide a decent standard of living for a 
worker and family. Government statistics from July indicated the 
average net wage per month was 5,277 kunas ($945), and the minimum 
monthly cost of living for a family of four in rented housing was 6,631 
kunas ($1,188). The Government enforced the minimum wage.
    Nonpayment and late payment of wages continued to be a problem, as 
was nonpayment for overtime and holiday work. According to the labor 
inspectorate, the law no longer requires that records be kept of the 
number of persons who did not receive payment of their salaries. 
However, workers have the right to bring court proceedings against 
employers who did not issue pay slips to their employees. Based on data 
received through various reports, the inspectorate concluded that in 
2009 there were at least 3,975 violations of established payment 
procedures and practices.
    The inspectorate reported that it shut down 707 employers for 
periods of at least 30 days during 2009 for labor law violations. 
Violations included employing local and foreign workers without work 
permits, employing workers not registered with the pension fund, and 
employing workers not registered with a health insurance agency. The 
labor inspectorate noted that although its officers continued to 
increase their inspections and reporting of violations, the courts did 
not hand down punishment commensurate with the seriousness of the 
violations, and therefore the inspectorate's actions were not 
effective. The inspectorate pointed to the large number of violations 
that were not tried in court due to the expiration of the statute of 
limitations. For 2009 out of 5,286 court decisions involving 11,932 
violations of both terms of employment and work safety, 4,351 such 
violations were thrown out due to expiration of the statute of 
limitations.
    The law provides for a standard workweek of 40 hours. Workers are 
entitled to a 30-minute break daily, one day off out of seven, and a 
minimum of four weeks of paid vacation annually. The law provides that 
workers are entitled to time-and-a-half pay for overtime and limits 
overtime to eight hours per week. The labor inspectorate must be 
notified if overtime work by an employee continues for more than four 
consecutive weeks, for more than 12 weeks during a calendar year, or if 
the combined overtime of employees of an employer exceeds 10 percent of 
the total working hours in a particular month. Pregnant women, mothers 
of children under three years of age, and single parents of children 
under six years of age may work overtime only if they freely give 
written consent to perform such work. An amendment to the labor law 
that went into effect on January 1 further requires pregnant women to 
obtain a note from a doctor indicating their fitness to work overtime 
and that such work would not adversely affect their health or that of 
the fetus. In 2009 the inspectorate processed 16,294 violations of the 
labor law. After processing, the inspectorate sent 6,127 violations to 
misdemeanor courts for proceedings. Infractions included violations 
related to labor contracts, payment for work, annual leave, and unpaid 
and unreported overtime. In 2009 authorities sent 31 criminal 
proceedings against employers to municipal state attorneys' offices.
    The Government set health and safety standards, which the Health 
Ministry enforced; its inspectorate has jurisdiction over enforcement 
of health and safety laws at the workplace. In practice many industries 
often did not meet worker protection standards. In 2009 the 
inspectorate initiated 3,316 requests for misdemeanor proceedings 
covering 6,635 violations of safety standards. During 2009 courts 
handed down 5,286 decisions for misdemeanor acts involving work safety, 
a great number of which concerned cases from 2007 and 2008. The 
inspectorate expressed concern that of the 11,932 misdemeanor cases 
reported over the past few years, 4,351 have been thrown out of court 
due to the statute of limitations.
    Under the law workers may remove themselves from hazardous 
conditions and have recourse through the courts if they believe that 
they have been dismissed wrongfully for doing so; however, according to 
the labor inspectorate, workers did not exercise this right in practice 
and normally reported employers only 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, 
administered by Turkish Cypriots, proclaimed itself the ``Turkish 
Republic of Northern Cyprus'' (``TRNC'') in 1983. The United States 
does not recognize the ``TRNC,'' nor does any country other than 
Turkey. A substantial number of Turkish troops remained on the island. 
A buffer zone, or ``green line,'' patrolled by the UN Peacekeeping 
Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), separates the two parts.
                           republic of cyprus
    The Republic of Cyprus is a constitutional republic and multiparty 
presidential democracy. The area under control of the Government has 
approximately 803,200 inhabitants. In 2006, 56 representatives were 
elected to the 80-seat Vouli Antiprosopon (House of Representatives) in 
free and fair elections, and in 2008 President Demetris Christofias was 
elected in free and fair elections. Security forces reported to 
civilian authorities.
    Problems were reported in some areas. There were reports of police 
abuse and degrading treatment of persons in custody and asylum seekers. 
Violence against women, including spousal abuse, and several incidents 
of violence against children were reported. There were instances of 
discrimination and violence against members of minority ethnic and 
national groups. Trafficking of women to the island, particularly for 
sexual exploitation, continued to be a problem, and labor trafficking 
was also reported.
                        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 arbitrary or 
unlawful killings during the year.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.
    The Government participated in the autonomous, tripartite (UN, 
Greek Cypriot, Turkish Cypriot) UN Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) 
as part of its efforts since 1996 to account for persons missing as a 
result of the intercommunal violence in 1963-64 and the conflict in 
1974. By year's end, the CMP had exhumed the remains of 767 individuals 
and had returned the remains of 209 Greek Cypriots to their families. 
Exhumations continued in different parts of the island. According to 
the CMP, 1,392 Greek Cypriots and 440 Turkish Cypriots remained 
missing.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; there 
were reports, however, that police abused detainees. There continued to 
be reports that police engaged in heavy-handed tactics and degrading 
treatment of suspects. The Independent Authority, an independent 
committee appointed by the Council of Ministers, investigated 
complaints of police bribery, corruption, unlawful financial gain, 
violation of human rights, abuse of power, preferential treatment, and 
conduct unbecoming of police officers.
    There were several allegations of police abuse reported during the 
year:
    On February 23, a police sergeant allegedly beat a foreign detainee 
in Nicosia Central Prison Block 10. The Ombudsman's Office investigated 
the case following a complaint submitted by the nongovernmental 
organization (NGO) KISA (Movement for Equality, Support, Antiracism) 
and concluded that police had used excessive violence against the 
detainee. The ombudsman asked the police leadership to investigate the 
case further. The detainee was deported on March 11. The Independent 
Authority investigated the complaint and concluded that no offense was 
committed. The attorney general endorsed the conclusion.
    On April 15, the press reported that a 70-year-old Cypriot 
complained that he was beaten at the Anthoupoli police station in 
Nicosia, where he was transferred following his arrest for drunk 
driving. The Independent Authority investigated the complaint and 
concluded that the police officers involved had not committed an 
offense.
    During the year a trial was ongoing of police officers from the 
Strovolos police station who, in March 2009, allegedly beat and used 
racist comments against 19-year-old Henry Taylor, a Zimbabwean 
national, after accusing him of stealing a moped. Taylor contended he 
was a victim of mistaken identity, and he was later released without 
charge. The attorney general ordered the summary trial of the officers 
involved. The hearing of the case was pending at year's end.
    During the year the Appellate Court ordered the retrial of nine of 
11 police officers charged in 2005 with beating two students and 
acquitted by a court in March 2009. The Appellate Court acquitted the 
remaining two officers. The Appellate Court hearing of the case started 
on December 8. Eight of the officers pleaded guilty to the charge of 
causing actual bodily harm while the ninth pleaded guilty to the charge 
of misconduct. The trial was ongoing at year's end.
    In May 2009 the press reported the alleged beating of a young man 
who was arrested by police in Limassol in 2007 for allegedly making an 
indecent hand gesture to police. The man claimed that he was taken to 
the Limassol police station, handcuffed, and beaten by an officer while 
five or six other officers looked on. As a result of the beating, he 
allegedly suffered a concussion and other head and neck injuries and 
was hospitalized for five days. According to police, disciplinary 
charges were brought against an officer after an investigation by the 
Independent Authority; the officer's hearing on charges of misconduct 
and illegal exercise of authority had not been completed at year's end.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Conditions in prisons, 
detention centers, and other government institutions generally met 
international standards, although there have been reports of 
overcrowding.
    During the year the ombudsman and NGOs received complaints that 
police subjected inmates to physical abuse and discriminatory 
treatment. The ombudsman reported that during the year her office 
received five complaints from prisoners concerning physical violence 
allegedly committed by prison officials and eight complaints of 
physical violence allegedly committed by police officers in detention 
centers. The ombudsman was preparing a report on systemic violence 
against prisoners by prison officials while the complaints against 
police officers were being investigated. The ombudsman's investigation 
of complaints submitted in previous years could not establish whether 
physical violence had actually occurred against prisoners, and the 
investigations were terminated.
    The ombudsman reported discriminatory treatment of women and 
Turkish Cypriot inmates regarding their access to facilities at the 
Central Prison. Inmates in the Central Prison during the year included 
296 women, including one juvenile, and 25 male juveniles; juveniles 
were held separately from adults. The ombudsman reported in April that 
her office examined a complaint that female inmates were treated 
unequally because they were not given the option to serve their prison 
sentences or portions of them in the Open Prison or the Out of Prison 
Employment Center as is the case with male inmates. The problem was 
attributed to the lack of separate facilities and overcrowding. The 
ombudsman recommended that the prison director take immediate measures 
to safeguard the equal treatment of male and female detainees. A 2008 
investigation by the ombudsman showed that prison authorities denied 
requests by Turkish Cypriot inmates for access to the Open Prison and 
Out of Prison Employment Center. The ombudsman recommended that the 
security reasons cited for the rejections be explicitly stated and 
fully justified on a case-by-case basis.
    The ombudsman received two complaints in 2009 from Turkish Cypriots 
alleging discriminatory treatment in the Central Prison. Both 
complaints were under investigation at year's end. Prison authorities 
reported that Turkish Cypriots who lived in the area under government 
control were granted all rights concerning access to the Open Prison 
and the Out of Prison Employment Center. Turkish Cypriots who lived in 
the area under Turkish Cypriot administration were admitted to the Open 
Prison but were granted exit permits only with an escort. An NGO 
reported that foreign detainees complained of physical violence in 
detention centers located in police stations and discrimination in the 
Central Prison. An NGO reported that foreign inmates were tasked with 
heavier work and had more restricted visitation rights than local 
prisoners.
    Following the completion of the Independent Authority's 
investigation, the attorney general ordered a postmortem examination 
into the March 2009 death of a young Moldovan man who was arrested for 
drunk driving and a series of traffic violations and found dead in his 
cell at the Lycavitos police station in Nicosia. The state coroner 
found no evidence of a crime.
    During the year overcrowding remained the Nicosia Central Prison's 
greatest problem, despite renovation and expansion. Prison authorities 
acknowledged that many of the prison buildings, constructed prior to 
1960, needed renovation. Construction work was underway to increase 
capacity and improve sanitary conditions. In September 2009 the 
ombudsman complained via the media that overcrowding created problems 
for prisoners' health and welfare. The prison's capacity was 350, but 
at times it housed up to 737 inmates. Approximately 70 percent of the 
prisoners were foreigners imprisoned for illegal entry, stay, and 
employment, as well as theft, burglary, false pretenses, and other 
offenses.
    The ombudsman reported that, due to overcrowding, convicted 
criminals were not separated from pretrial detainees and that both 
long- and short-term prisoners were held together. In a 2009 report on 
drug use in the Central Prison, the ombudsman recommended separate 
detention for drug users. Prison authorities confirmed that 
overcrowding prevented separation of prisoners by health condition. In 
September 2009 the ombudsman also complained via the media that the 
prison lacked a health center even though her office had requested the 
creation of one 10 years earlier; at year's end, the Central Prison 
still lacked a health center.
    The Government permitted prison visits by independent human rights 
observers, and such visits, unrestricted and unannounced, occurred 
during the year. The ombudsman and the prison board visited Central 
Prison on a regular basis. The Human Rights Committee of the House of 
Representatives also visited the prison and examined the living 
conditions of the detainees.
    In 2008 the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of 
Torture (CPT) conducted one of its periodic spot checks; 
representatives visited several sites, including the Central Prison, 
the psychiatric unit in Athalassa, and several police stations, and 
privately interviewed detainees and prisoners. The CPT's report on the 
visit was not released by year's end.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these 
prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The police enforce the 
law and combat criminal activity. The Greek Cypriot National Guard 
(GCNG), backed by a contingent of Greek military forces, the Elliniki 
Dhinami Kyprou (Hellenic Force in Cyprus), protects national security. 
The GCNG reports to the Ministry of Defense, which reports to the 
president. The police report to the Ministry of Justice and Public 
Order. The president appoints the chief of police. The police force is 
composed of a headquarters with six functional departments, six 
geographic district divisions, including one inactive district for the 
area administered by Turkish Cypriots, and seven police units that 
provide specialized services. One case alleging serious police 
corruption was before the court.
    The Independent Authority appoints independent investigators from a 
list submitted by the attorney general. From January 1 to September 30, 
the committee received 92 complaints and appointed investigators for 41 
of those cases. The investigators completed 15 cases; in 12 of these 
they concluded that no criminal offenses had been committed. The 
attorney general concurred in eight of those cases and his opinion was 
pending on the remaining four. In three other completed cases, the 
investigators proposed that the attorney general bring criminal charges 
against the police officers involved; the attorney general's decision 
was pending at year's end. Investigators continued to work on 24 cases, 
suspending their investigation on one case because the complainant 
failed to respond and on a second after the complaint was withdrawn. Of 
the 51 cases for which an investigator was not appointed, seven were 
deemed outside the scope of the committee's responsibility, seven were 
deemed of minor importance and were referred to the chief of the police 
for handling, 22 complaints remain pending due to insufficient 
evidence, and two complaints were withdrawn. The committee conducted 
preliminary investigations of 13 of the cases and concluded that 12 of 
them did not merit further investigation, while the remaining one was 
referred to the chief of police because the committee established 
negligence on the part of members of the police force. In 2009 the 
committee received 112 complaints compared with 110 in 2008. Of these, 
14 were deemed outside the scope of the committee's responsibility, one 
was withdrawn by the complainant, seven were sent to the police chief 
for further investigation, and 13 were pending at the end of 2009, 
awaiting further evidence from the complainants and other sources. The 
investigation on one complaint was suspended because the complainant 
did not show interest in pursuing it. The committee appointed 
investigators on 41 cases and carried out preliminary investigations of 
35 cases.
    In January 2009 two Paphos police officers were suspended on 
suspicion of extorting and blackmailing illegal immigrants. The hearing 
of their case was ongoing at year's end.
    The attorney general suspended the prosecution of three police 
officers and a civilian whom authorities arrested in February 2009 
after a Sri Lankan man complained to Limassol police that the officers 
had blackmailed him and his two Sri Lankan roommates, who were residing 
illegally in the country, into paying 700 euros (approximately $940) 
each. The alleged victim had identified the three officers, who were 
arrested together with a 35-year-old mechanic.
    In June 2009 the killing of police officer Stavros Stavrou 
attracted media attention due to Stavrou's alleged involvement in 
illegal dealings. Prior to his death, police had reportedly 
investigated Stavrou for involvement in cabarets, drugs, electronic 
gambling, and an arson attack, although they were reportedly unable to 
gather enough evidence to make a case against him. An administrative 
investigation into possible illegal dealings of the deceased officer 
did not reveal any incriminating evidence. His killing remained under 
police investigation at year's end.
    During the year police investigated 19 criminal cases against 
members of the force. Of those cases, 11 were still under 
investigation, seven were pending trial, and one case was withdrawn at 
the instruction of the attorney general. Also during the year the 
attorney general ordered the criminal prosecution of one police officer 
in one of four cases pending from 2008. Court hearings for two other 
2008 cases were completed, and the defendants were found to have caused 
actual bodily harm and injury and fined 1,800 and 850 euros 
(approximately $2,400 and $1,140), respectively. The attorney general 
suspended the prosecution of the fourth case from 2008 in which a 
member of the police was investigated for allegedly assaulting a 
civilian; the investigation concluded that there was no evidence of a 
criminal offense.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires judicially issued arrest warrants, and authorities respected 
this requirement in practice. Persons may not be detained for more than 
one day without referral of the case to a court for extension of 
detention. Most periods of investigative detention did not exceed 10 
days before formal charges were filed. The attorney general generally 
made efforts to minimize pretrial detention, especially in cases of 
serious crimes. Attorneys generally had access to detainees. Bail was 
permitted. The Government claimed the right to deport foreign nationals 
for reasons of public interest, regardless of whether they had been 
charged with, or convicted of, a crime.
    While authorities detained aliens without identity documents when 
they did not know where to deport them, the Government's policy was not 
to hold such persons long term in detention centers. Instead, if 
deportations could not be executed in a reasonable amount of time--
generally six months--the Government's policy was to release 
undocumented migrants and rejected asylum seekers and give them 
residence permits for a limited period of time, provided they had not 
been found guilty of a crime. An NGO reported, however, that 
undocumented aliens were only released provided they signed a document 
consenting to the issuance of travel documents by their home country. 
The NGO reported that at least one undocumented foreigner remained in 
detention for more than three years. The NGO also reported released 
detainees did not have access to health care or social benefits and 
were not entitled to permanent residency permits unless they had a job.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law and constitution provide 
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 the Supreme Court. There are no special courts 
for security or political offenses. There are military tribunals that 
have jurisdiction over members of the GCNG.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the right to a fair trial, 
and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. The 
constitution provides for public trials, and defendants have the right 
to be present and to consult with an attorney in a timely manner. Jury 
trials are not used. An attorney is provided for those who cannot 
afford one, and defendants have the right to question witnesses against 
them and present evidence or witnesses on their behalf. The law also 
provides that defendants and their attorneys have access to government-
held evidence related to their cases. Defendants enjoy a presumption of 
innocence and have a right of appeal. The Government generally 
respected these rights in practice.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--During the year the 
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued three judgments that found 
the country in violation of various provisions of the European 
Convention on Human Rights.
    On January 7, the ECHR ruled in Rantsev v. Cyprus and Russia that 
Cyprus failed to protect 20-year-old Russian cabaret artist Oxana 
Rantseva from human trafficking and failed to conduct an effective 
investigation into the circumstances of her death in 2001. The court 
found Cyprus in violation of Article 2 (right to life), Article 4 
(prohibition of slavery and forced labor), and Article 5 (right to 
liberty and security) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The 
ECHR held that Cyprus had to pay the applicant 40,000 euros ($53,600) 
in nonpecuniary damages and 3,150 euros ($4,220) for costs and 
expenses. The Government made a unilateral declaration before the court 
acknowledging that it had violated the convention and offered to pay 
pecuniary and nonpecuniary damages to the applicant. The Government 
informed the court that in February 2009 it appointed three independent 
experts to investigate the circumstances of Rantseva's death, 
employment, and stay in Cyprus as well as the possible commission of 
any unlawful acts against her. The investigators questioned a number of 
witnesses in Cyprus and, on July 2, applied to Russian authorities for 
permission to receive testimony from witnesses in Russia. The 
investigators were waiting for a reply from the Russian authorities at 
year's end.
    In 2009 the ECHR issued three judgments that found a violation by 
the state of the European Convention on Human Rights; all three 
violations concerned the length of legal proceedings.
    There were no reports that the Government failed to comply with 
ECHR decisions.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters, permitting claimants to bring 
lawsuits seeking damages for or cessation of human rights violations, 
and citizens successfully availed themselves of it.

    Property Restitution.--Turkish Cypriots have filed a total of 84 
court cases, 15 of them during the year, to reclaim property located in 
the Government-controlled area, and the Supreme Court issued judgments 
in one case concerning Turkish Cypriot properties that are under the 
guardianship of the Ministry of Interior. Amendments to the law 
governing these types of properties, enacted in May, give the minister 
of interior, as the guardian of Turkish Cypriot properties, authority 
to return properties to Turkish Cypriot applicants after examining the 
circumstances of each case. In one case during the year, the Supreme 
Court upheld the trial court's decision that the property in question 
fell within the competence of the guardian of the Turkish Cypriot 
properties and rejected the appeal of the Turkish Cypriot applicant to 
be appointed as trustee of some property belonging to the Vakif, the 
Muslim institution that regulates religious activity for Turkish 
Cypriots.
    On January 19, the British Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the 
plaintiff in the case of Apostolides v. Orams in which the Greek 
Cypriot plaintiff sought to enforce a Cyprus court order regarding 
property located in the area administered by Turkish Cypriots by 
applying the court order against the defendants' assets in the United 
Kingdom. The Orams asked for permission to appeal, but permission was 
denied on March 26 by the British Supreme Court of Appeal Panel. In 
April 2009 the European Court of Justice, to which the British Court of 
Appeal had referred the case for a ruling on some issues, had also 
ruled in favor of the plaintiff.
    On March 1, the Grand Chamber of the ECHR declared inadmissible 
eight property cases filed against Turkey by Greek Cypriot applicants. 
The chamber ruled that the applicants had not pursued their cases 
through an effective domestic remedy established specifically to deal 
with such cases, the Immovable Property Commission (IPC).
    In September the ombudsman, in her capacity as the authority with 
oversight in matters involving racism and discrimination, reported that 
the examination of two complaints submitted by Turkish Cypriots 
revealed that the state was discriminating against Turkish Cypriot 
property owners and was restricting their property rights. Both Turkish 
Cypriots had applied to the Land Registry Department to secure title 
deeds for their properties in the Government-controlled area and were 
told that they needed the prior approval of the Ministry of Interior. 
The ombudsman recommended abolition of the 1963 law that restricts the 
property rights of Turkish Cypriot for reasons of public safety.
    In 2008 the ECHR endorsed a friendly settlement brokered by the IPC 
in 2007 between Greek Cypriot Michael Tymvios and Turkey. The 
settlement would exchange Tymvios's property in the northern part of 
the island for Turkish Cypriot property in the Government-controlled 
area plus a payment of one million dollars. Later in 2008 Tymvios 
complained that the Government, citing the guardianship law, refused to 
transfer ownership of the Turkish Cypriot property in the Government-
controlled area to him despite the ECHR action. In November 2009 
Tymvios filed two actions against the attorney general and the Ministry 
of Interior, asking the court to order the defendants to turn over to 
him the Turkish Cypriot property awarded to him by the IPC, to prohibit 
the defendants from using the property in question, and to pay him 
damages. The application was scheduled to be heard by the District 
Court of Larnaca on December 14.

    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.
    Individuals could criticize the Government publicly or privately 
without reprisal, and the Government did not attempt to impede 
criticism.
    Independent newspapers and periodicals proliferated. Several 
private television and radio stations competed effectively with 
government-controlled stations; government-owned stations accounted for 
approximately 18-20 percent of the viewership for television news and 
30 percent of the general radio audience. International broadcasts, 
including telecasts from Turkey and Greece, were available without 
interference throughout the island.
    As of year's end, the Supreme Court had not ruled on the Attorney 
General Office's appeal of its 2008 decision that the Government should 
appoint Christoforos Christoforou to head the Cyprus News Agency. In 
2006 the Council of Ministers rejected a decision by the board of the 
Cyprus News Agency to appoint Christoforos Christoforou as its new 
director. Some newspapers and opposition parties attributed the 
rejection to Christoforou's authorship of articles criticizing 
government policies regarding the UN efforts in 2004 to reunify the 
island. The Cyprus Journalists' Union called on the Government to 
reverse its decision and approve the appointment.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including e-mail. The 
Internet was easily accessible and widely available to the public. 
According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2009, 
nearly 50 percent of the country's inhabitants were users of the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were generally no 
government restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events, but 
certain oversight efforts threatened academic independence and 
activities.
    The Government continued to exert political pressure on 
universities to refrain from any contact with universities in the 
Turkish Cypriot community because the Government considered them 
illegal.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The law and 
constitution provide for freedom of assembly and association, and the 
Government generally respected these rights in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within government-controlled areas, foreign travel, 
emigration, and repatriation, and the Government generally respected 
these rights in practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of 
the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian 
organizations in providing protection and assistance to internally 
displaced persons (IDPs), refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, 
stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The Government did not restrict Greek Cypriots from traveling to 
the area administered by Turkish Cypriots, but it generally advised 
them against spending the night at Greek Cypriot properties, gambling 
in the area administered by Turkish Cypriots, or buying or developing 
property there.
    The Government allowed EU citizens and citizens of other countries 
not subject to a visa requirement, who entered from ports of entry in 
the area administered by Turkish Cypriots, to cross the green line into 
the Government-controlled area; the Government maintained, however, 
that all ports of entry in the area administered by Turkish Cypriots 
are illegal.
    Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots were required to show 
identification cards when crossing the green line. Members of each 
community were required to obtain insurance coverage in the community 
where they planned to drive their vehicles. Turkish Cypriots flew in 
and out of Larnaca and Paphos airports without obstruction. The 
Government issued 575 passports to Turkish Cypriots during the year.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--Although Greek Cypriots 
displaced as a result of the 1974 division of the island fall under the 
UN definition of IDPs, the Government considered them refugees. At 
year's end, these individuals and their descendants numbered 208,304. 
Depending on their income, IDPs and their descendants are eligible for 
financial assistance from the Government. They have been resettled, 
have access to humanitarian organizations, and are not subject to 
attack, targeting, or mandatory return under dangerous conditions.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees.
    NGOs and refugees reported that the Asylum Service was better 
staffed and processed applications more quickly than in previous years. 
Of the 44,287 applicants who filed from 2002 to the end of 2010, 288 
were granted full refugee status and 2,408 were granted subsidiary 
protection status and humanitarian status. During the year the 
Government did not deport any refugees, and authorities granted full 
refugee status to 31 persons. The law forbids the detention of minor 
asylum seekers.
    In contrast to previous years, refugees and NGOs did not report 
that any asylum cases were closed without consideration or receiving a 
government response. NGOs and asylum seekers alleged that the Nicosia 
District Welfare Office continued to be inconsistent in the delivery of 
benefits to eligible asylum seekers. The ombudsman examined many such 
complaints and reported that in many cases the allegations were well 
founded, in which case her office made suggestions for remedial action.
    In practice, the Government provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary 
protection to countries where their lives or freedom would be 
threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership 
in a particular social group, or political opinion.
    KISA claimed that authorities detained and deported asylum seekers 
whose applications were rejected before the Supreme Court undertook a 
final adjudication of their applications. Moreover, KISA and the 
ombudsman reported complaints from asylum seekers concerning 
difficulties in accessing the asylum application procedure and delays 
in the examination of their applications. The ombudsman reported that 
she did not receive any complaints from asylum seekers that police 
physically or psychologically abused them.
    The Government granted individuals determined to be refugees 
permission to stay and gave them temporary work permits, but it did not 
grant permanent resettlement rights. The law allows asylum seekers to 
be employed in fisheries, the production of animal feed, waste 
management, gas stations and car washes, freight handling in the 
wholesale trade, building and outdoor cleaning, distribution of 
advertising and informational materials, and food delivery. However, 
KISA reported that the Labor Office refused to approve and renew labor 
contracts for asylum seekers outside the farming and agriculture 
sector.Asylum seekers whose cases were awaiting adjudication were 
allowed to work after residing six months in the country, but they were 
limited to the areas permitted by law. During the six-month period, 
asylum seekers had access to a subsistence allowance and could live in 
the reception center for refugees located in Kofinou, the sole 
reception center for asylum seekers. There were complaints regarding 
the remoteness, limited capacity, and lack of facilities at Kofinou; 
conditions reportedly improved, however, after the Government entered a 
private-public partnership with a university in 2008 to operate the 
center.Asylum seekers who refused an available job could be cut off 
from state benefits. To obtain welfare benefits, asylum seekers had to 
have a valid address, which was impossible for many who were homeless. 
KISA reported delays in the delivery of checks to asylum seekers who 
were eligible for benefits. According to NGOs, asylum seekers reported 
discrimination in the provision of state medical care.
    On September 14, the press reported that a diabetic Congolese 
asylum seeker died in his Nicosia hostel room after the welfare 
services cut his benefits, denying him regular meals vital to his 
health. An autopsy found that the asylum seeker died of a heart attack. 
The coroner could not conclusively confirm that the heart attack was 
caused by an irregular diet. The asylum seeker arrived in the country 
in 2005; although he was able to apply for asylum and received medical 
treatment, his benefits were cut off three months before his death, 
allegedly due to bureaucratic red tape. The Ministry of Labor ordered 
an inquiry, which revealed that the deceased had presented the welfare 
services with a letter from his doctor stating that he was able to 
perform only light work, but his benefits were discontinued after he 
refused to take a suitable job offered by the Labor Department. As a 
result of this investigation, the Ministry of Labor changed the 
procedure for handling similar cases. Asylum seekers with a medical 
condition rendering them unable to work or able to perform only light 
work are referred to a medical board for assessment and are entitled 
for public assistance while awaiting a decision.
    In January 2009 a 28-year-old asylum seeker died after allegedly 
waiting two days for treatment, first at a private clinic in Nicosia 
and later at the Nicosia general hospital, following an accident at the 
horse farm where he was working. According to press reports, the 
private clinic did not offer the man treatment during the first 24 
hours he was there, despite his having suffered a head injury. Police 
opened a case against the employer for illegal employment and a second 
case relating to the death of the asylum seeker. Both cases were 
presented to court and were pending trial at year's end.
    In August 2009 the UNHCR complained through the media that a 
Kurdish child suffering from a terminal congenital condition was denied 
government funding to travel abroad for medical treatment because of 
his refugee status, in contravention of the country's refugee law, 
which provides refugees access to the same medical treatment as 
Cypriots and other EU citizens. Although the Health Ministry 
subsequently agreed to cover the travel costs on humanitarian grounds, 
the child was never taken for treatment abroad. The child died in 
November 2009, a week after an operation was performed at a state 
hospital. KISA reported that asylum seekers, recognized refugees, and 
migrant workers were denied government funding for treatment abroad 
when treatment was not available in the country.
    The Government provided funding to two local colleges for 
educational services aimed at helping recognized refugees integrate 
into society and also to a local NGO to help torture victims.
    During the year the Government provided temporary protection to 395 
individuals who may not qualify as refugees.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The law and constitution provide citizens the right to change their 
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice 
through periodic, free, and fair elections based on universal suffrage. 
In national elections, only those Turkish Cypriots who reside 
permanently in the Government-controlled area are permitted to vote and 
run for office. In elections for the European Parliament, all Cypriot 
citizens have a right to vote and run for office, including Turkish 
Cypriots who live in the area administered by the Turkish Cypriots.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In 2006 free and fair 
elections were held for the 56 seats assigned to Greek Cypriots in the 
80-seat House of Representatives.
    Political parties operated without restriction or outside 
interference.
    Women held seven of the 56 seats filled in the House of 
Representatives and two of 11 ministerial posts. They also held senior 
positions in the judicial branch.
    There were no members of minorities in the House of 
Representatives, and the 24 seats assigned to Turkish Cypriots went 
unfilled. The small Armenian Orthodox, Maronite Christian, and Roman 
Catholic communities elected special nonvoting observer representatives 
from their respective communities to the House of Representatives.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, which 
vary depending on the charges, and the Government generally implemented 
these laws effectively. There were isolated reports of government 
corruption.
    While the Government generally investigated and prosecuted cases of 
corruption, cases usually moved at a slow pace, and the evidence law, 
which prohibits wiretapping and electronic surveillance, made obtaining 
convictions difficult.
    On May 11, the police charged two employees of the Public Works 
Department of the Ministry of Communications and Works with abusing 
their position by using public materials and labor for private 
purposes.
    During the year the attorney general ordered the criminal 
prosecution of two senior officers of the Ministry of Agriculture 
following an investigation into allegations that the minister of 
agriculture had attempted to influence the procedure to appoint 
personnel in one of the ministry's departments. The complaints were 
made by a senior agriculture ministry inspector. The case was pending 
before the court.
    In January the attorney general filed two criminal cases against 
six police officers and the director of the central prison in 
connection with the 2008 escape of double murderer and rapist Antonis 
Procopiou Kitas from a Nicosia private hospital where he had stayed for 
seven months while serving a life sentence. The minister of justice and 
public order resigned over the escape, and the Government appointed 
independent criminal investigators to investigate the possible 
involvement of police and government officials. Separate investigations 
were also ordered into how Kitas acquired a new passport and why he was 
allowed to stay at the hospital for such an extended period of time. A 
hearing of the case against the former director of the central prison 
began in October 2009 and was still in process. The case against the 
police officers was scheduled for hearing on November 29.
    State and public officials are required by law to declare their 
assets, but asset declarations are not public documents. Officials who 
fail to submit declarations are subject to a fine. In June 2009 the 
Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional the law requiring public officials 
to declare their assets. The attorney general appealed the decision; 
the appeal was pending at year's end.
    The constitution provides citizens the right of access to 
government information, but there were no specific laws to ensure 
public access. Civil servants were not allowed to provide access to 
government documents without first obtaining permission from the 
relevant minister. During the year there were no reported cases of the 
Government denying individuals access to government information.
Section 5. 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. There is a government 
ombudsman, whose portfolio includes human rights, and a legislative 
committee on human rights.
    The UN, through the CMP, continued its efforts to account for 
persons missing after the intercommunal violence in 1963-64 and the 
conflict of 1974.
    During the year the ombudsman received complaints from citizens and 
foreigners living on the island who believed their rights had been 
violated by the Government. During her independent investigations, the 
ombudsman generally enjoyed good cooperation with other government 
bodies. The ombudsman's annual reports focused on police misconduct, 
treatment of patients at state hospitals, treatment of asylum seekers 
and foreign workers, and gender equality in the workplace. The Office 
of the Ombudsman was well respected and considered effective. In 2008 
the ombudsman stated that the Government had complied with 80 percent 
of her office's recommendations.
    The legislative Committee on Human Rights, which most local NGOs 
considered effective, is made up of 10 members of the House of 
Representatives, who serve five-year terms. The committee discussed 
wide-ranging human rights problems, including trafficking in persons, 
prison conditions, and the rights of foreign workers. The executive 
branch did not exercise control over the committee.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability, 
language, or social status, and the Government effectively enforced 
these prohibitions.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape, including spousal rape, with a 
maximum sentence of life in prison. Most convicted offenders received 
considerably less than the maximum sentence. Police indicated that 31 
cases of sexual assault were reported during the year.
    Violence against women, including spousal abuse, was reported, and 
there has been a sharp increase in recent years in the number of 
reported cases. The law establishes clear mechanisms for reporting and 
prosecuting family violence and provides that the testimony of minors 
and experts, such as psychologists, may be used as evidence to 
prosecute abusers. The law provides for prison terms for the abuse of 
family members. Doctors, hospital workers, and education professionals 
are required to report all suspected cases of domestic violence to 
police. Many victims refused to testify in court, however, and by law 
spouses cannot be compelled to testify against each other. Courts were 
obliged to drop cases of domestic violence if the spousal victim was 
the only witness and refused to testify.
    During the year police received 619 cases of domestic violence. 
They initiated criminal investigations in 460 of these and filed 197 
criminal cases in court. In 78 percent of the cases, the victims were 
female.
    An NGO working with domestic abuse victims reported a slight 
decrease in the number of telephone calls to its hotline from 2009 to 
2010. The NGO reported that 1,151 callers, of whom 77.5 percent were 
women, 14.4 percent children, and 8.1 percent men, claimed to be 
victims of domestic violence. The NGO also operated a shelter in 
Nicosia that served 72 victims of domestic violence during the year.
    In September 2009 the media reported that five NGOs accused the 
Government of deliberately minimizing the number of domestic violence 
victims by failing to collect accurate data using EU definitions. By 
the NGOs' estimates, 80,000 Greek Cypriot women were directly subjected 
to domestic violence, and an estimated 4,000 foreign housemaids 
suffered violence at the hands of their employers.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace, but there 
were reports that it was a widespread problem, with most incidents 
unreported to authorities. In September 2009 a Cyprus University of 
Technology (TEPAK) report showed that 6 percent of employees in the 
country had experienced sexual harassment in their workplace and that 
one in two persons believed that some victims deserved the harassment. 
During the year the Labor Office received 22 complaints regarding 
sexual harassment, 21 by foreign housekeepers. The Labor Office's 
investigation found only two complaints to be valid. The Labor Office 
reported that 15 of the complaints were either withdrawn or could not 
be further investigated because the complainants failed to appear at 
the scheduled interview. A complaint investigated in 2009 was also 
found to be valid.
    In April the ombudsman issued a report concluding that the career 
of a female bank employee was put on hold by the bank's management 
because she had reported the deputy general manager of the bank for 
sexually harassing her. The ombudsman ruled that the actions of the 
bank management constituted discrimination in violation of the relevant 
legislation and invited the bank's chief executive officer to 
consultations before issuing her final adjudication. In her final 
recommendation, the ombudsman stated the bank should abolish the 
current discriminatory treatment of the complainant and ensure that her 
future professional development would be treated objectively while 
taking into consideration the difficulties she had encountered.
    Couples and individuals were generally able to freely decide the 
number, spacing, and timing of their children, and to have the 
information and means to do so free from discrimination, coercion, and 
violence. There was easy access to contraception, skilled attendance 
during childbirth, and women were diagnosed and treated for sexually 
transmitted infections, including HIV, equally with men. According to 
estimates compiled by international organizations, there were 
approximately 10 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in the country 
in 2008.
    Women generally have the same legal status as men under family and 
property law and in the judicial system. The National Mechanism for 
Women's Rights under the Ministry of Justice and Public Order is tasked 
with the promotion, protection, and coordination of women's rights. 
Laws requiring equal pay for men and women performing the same work 
were enforced effectively at the white-collar level. Despite a strong 
legal framework, the Ministry of Labor and Social Insurance's 
enforcement was ineffective at the blue-collar level. Research by one 
NGO suggested that remuneration for female blue-collar workers was 25 
to 30 percent less than for their male counterparts.
    During the year an NGO representing divorced mothers worked with 
police to encourage efforts to collect delinquent child support 
payments. The courts may garnish wages and assets and ultimately 
imprison persons to enforce child support payments.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents, and there is 
universal birth registration at the time of birth.
    During 2008 the Ombudsman's Office received a complaint regarding 
discriminatory treatment of Romani children in public education. The 
ombudsman's investigation was ongoing at year's end.
    Child abuse was a problem. The Welfare Department reported an 8.8 
percent increase in cases of child abuse in 2009 compared with 2008. 
The Welfare Department stated that most cases of abuse were linked to 
domestic violence. During the year police conducted 155 criminal 
investigations of child abuse compared with 200 the previous year. Of 
those cases, 69 were filed in court in 2010 and 139 in 2009.
    In 2008 there were two reports that girls were trafficked for 
commercial sexual exploitation; there were no reports of such 
trafficking in 2009 or 2010.
    The minimum age for consensual sex is 17, and sexual intercourse 
with a person under the age of 17 is a criminal offense. The penalty 
for sexual intercourse with a person between 13 and 17 is a maximum of 
three years' imprisonment. For sexual intercourse with a person under 
13, the penalty is up to life in prison. Possession of child 
pornography is a criminal offense punishable by a maximum of 10 years' 
imprisonment.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were approximately 2,000 persons in the 
Jewish community, which consists of a very small number of native 
Jewish Cypriots and a greater number of expatriate Israeli, British, 
and other European Jews.
    On November 30 and December 1, the Jewish community's Hanukkah 
display in Larnaca was vandalized. Vandals spray-painted the light 
bulbs of a menorah representation placed at a public location near the 
community's center and painted targets, swastikas, and the stylized 
letters ``SS'' on and near the display. The community notified police, 
who collected evidence and opened an investigation. No arrests were 
made by year's end. There were continued reports of verbal harassment 
of members of the Jewish community.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report 
at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or in the 
provision of other state services, and in practice the Government 
generally enforced these provisions. The law mandates that public 
buildings and tourist facilities built after 1999 be accessible to all; 
government enforcement of the law was ineffective, however, and older 
buildings frequently lacked access for persons with disabilities. There 
were no appropriate institutions for adults suffering from mental 
disabilities who were in need of long-term care.
    The amended People with Disabilities Law, which extended the 
ombudsman's authority to cover discrimination based on disabilities in 
both the private and public sectors, had not been fully implemented by 
year's end. Problems facing persons with disabilities included narrow 
or nonexistent sidewalks and lack of transport, parking spaces, 
accessible toilets, and elevators. During the year the ombudsman 
examined 26 complaints of discrimination against persons with 
disabilities. While many of the cases were still under investigation, 
the ombudsman reported full compliance of private and government 
organizations with her recommendations in the cases that were 
completed.
    There were no long-term care facilities specifically for persons 
with mental disabilities, but many such persons were housed at the 
Athalassa Psychiatric Hospital. In 2007 an association representing 
approximately 300 families with children with Down syndrome complained 
that the Government did not respond to its repeated calls for the 
creation of a specialized center for the treatment of such children, 
particularly those in need of temporary hospitalization. Some were 
housed at the hospital, where they allegedly received inadequate care. 
The parents claimed that the children were left naked, locked in their 
wards for excessive amounts of time, and placed under the influence of 
sedative medication. In December 2009 the same association complained 
that the Government rejected its request for a subsidy to cover its 
operating expenses, and as a result it had to close its office.
    According to a study presented at a meeting of the House Committee 
on Human Rights in May, one in three patients discharged from Athalassa 
Psychiatric Hospital were living in retirement homes and were 
experiencing difficulties integrating into society. Ten percent of 
these former patients were under the age of 30. Members of the 
committee noted that there is no infrastructure to support mental 
health patients with the result that, when they leave the psychiatric 
hospital, their medication is stopped and there are no programs for 
their social integration or aftercare in general, a situation that 
could lead to serious problems.
    On August 27, the Paraplegics Association complained that the new 
public buses, introduced in June as part of the overhaul of the public 
transport system, did not meet the needs of wheelchair users as they 
only had space for one wheelchair instead of two. After a meeting with 
the minister of communications and works on September 2, the 
Paraplegics Association said that the Government agreed to satisfy the 
demand for two wheelchair spaces in all buses ordered from now on. The 
Government also agreed to modify current buses if demand showed that 
there was a need for two wheelchair spaces.
    In 2008 the president of the Cyprus Mental Health Commission, 
Christodoulos Messis, stated that, in order to reduce numbers, patients 
in the Athalassa psychiatric unit were being released into nursing 
homes for the elderly regardless of their age, with no plan for their 
rehabilitation within the community. He criticized the mental health 
services for not creating appropriate halfway houses and boarding 
schools to host psychiatric patients wishing to reintegrate into 
society and return to active employment.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Insurance's Service for the Care 
and Rehabilitation of the Disabled was responsible for protecting the 
rights of persons with disabilities. In addition the minister of labor 
and social insurance chaired the Pancyprian Council for Persons with 
Disabilities, which included representatives of government services, 
organizations representing persons with disabilities, and employer and 
employee organizations. The council monitored actions that affected the 
protection of the rights of persons with disabilities and served as a 
forum for persons with disabilities to contribute to public policy.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--There were reported incidents 
of government and societal discrimination against members of minority 
national and ethnic groups.
    On November 5, clashes broke out in Larnaca between participants in 
an antiracism NGO event and demonstrators marching against the presence 
of undocumented migrants. One Turkish Cypriot, a member of a music 
group participating in the NGO event, was stabbed and several police 
officers and demonstrators were injured. The mosque in Larnaca was 
vandalized following the events. Police were investigating the attack 
on the mosque at year's end.
    On November 12, small groups of young persons wearing hoods and 
holding sticks attacked seven persons in different parts of Nicosia. 
Victims included a man from Mali, a German student, a 16-year-old 
British Armenian Cypriot, and four Greek Cypriots, whom the attackers 
apparently perceived to be foreigners. The police arrested and 
questioned six persons between the ages of 16 and 18; all were charged. 
Some were remanded for six days and others released pending the hearing 
of the case. According to a police report, some of the persons arrested 
admitted that their motives were racist and that their targets were 
foreigners. The attacks were condemned by senior government officials 
and all political parties. A similar incident occurred on November 17, 
when four young men attacked an Indian student in Nicosia. The four men 
were arrested, charged, and then released.
    During the year there were several reports of violent attacks in 
the Government-controlled area against Turkish Cypriots:
    On March 30, according to press reports, a group of about 200 Greek 
Cypriot fans of the APOEL soccer club attacked two Turkish Cypriots, 
lawyer Baris Mamali and businessman Tekin Birinci, in their car after 
they crossed to the south to watch a soccer match. The attackers 
pounded on the car with their hands, threw rocks, and shouted that they 
were going to kill the two Turkish Cypriots. They were saved by a small 
group of Greek Cypriots who shielded the car until the police arrived 
and dispersed the crowd. A police investigation did not produce 
evidence against a specific person, and the case was classified as 
``undetected.''
    On May 4, the Turkish Cypriot press reported that two fans of the 
same football club attacked Turkish Cypriot Hasan Atik while he was 
driving from Larnaca to Nicosia. The attackers were riding motorcycles. 
They reportedly broke the lights and mirrors of Atik's car and hit his 
arms with sticks. Atik told the media that he reported the incident to 
the Cypriot police at the checkpoint in Nicosia without results. Police 
stated that Atik reported the incident only for insurance purposes but 
did not file a complaint.
    On September 11, the Turkish Cypriot press reported that a group of 
five Greek Cypriot men attacked a Turkish Cypriot couple, Nermin 
Arnavut, 61, and Altay Arnavut, 69, on a visit to Larnaca. They had 
pulled over to the side of the street when the Greek Cypriots 
approached them and reportedly called them ``filthy Turks'' and 
``dogs.'' The assailants hit the woman on the arm; when she rolled up 
the window and locked the door, they then went to the driver's side and 
hit the husband on the neck and face until he lost consciousness. The 
couple crossed back to the northern part of the island without 
reporting the incident to the Republic of Cyprus officials, but made a 
complaint to the Turkish Cypriot police.
    There was also one report of an attack on an African student. On 
July 20, a group of youth in black T-shirts bearing the logo of the 
far-right organization ELAM (National Popular Front) beat a 25-year-old 
Nigerian student in a main Nicosia street. In his effort to escape, the 
student was nearly hit by a car. The attackers damaged the car as well. 
The Nigerian was transferred to Nicosia General Hospital and was 
treated for scratches and bruises. A police investigation did not 
produce evidence against specific persons, and the case was classified 
as undetected. An ELAM spokesman denied that the attackers were members 
of that organization and condemned the incident. The Government, 
political parties, and several youth and human rights organizations 
issued statements criticizing the attack.
    The 1975 Vienna III Agreement remains the legal source of authority 
regarding the treatment of Turkish Cypriots living in the Government-
controlled area. The Government generally 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 religious 
activities.
    In January 2009 the ombudsman complained through the media that 
foreigners were being subjected to humiliating and discriminatory 
treatment by authorities at passport control at Larnaca Airport. At the 
end of 2010, the ombudsman reported that she was not aware of any 
changes to these practices. However, no new complaints were submitted 
during the year. The Independent Authority investigated the 2009 
complaint and concluded that no offense had been committed by passport 
control officers. Police reported that, during the year, police 
officers of the Aliens and Immigration Unit participated in two 
seminars on multiculturalism and immigration in addition to the annual 
training they received as part of the country's cooperation with the 
European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the 
External Borders (FRONTEX).
    In August the ombudsman issued a report supporting the Maronite 
religious group's request that the state increase the amount allocated 
to members of the Maronite, Armenian, and Latin religious groups for 
tuition at private secondary schools. In 2009 the Maronite religious 
community complained to the ombudsman that the Government failed to 
take effective measures to protect the use of the Maronite language. 
The ombudsman found the complaint to be justified and made 
recommendations to the Government.
    On September 13, experts of the European Commission against Racism 
and Intolerance arrived in the country to evaluate its performance on 
matters of racism and discrimination and assess progress since the 
previous report was issued in 2006; the report on their findings had 
not been released by year's end.
    In October 2009 the European Network against Racism Cyprus issued 
its 2008 ``shadow report'' on racism in the country. The report noted a 
significant rise in racist violence and called for the Government to 
adopt and implement an action plan covering all areas where 
discrimination and racism persist. It also called on the Government to 
develop and enact a comprehensive migration policy that would include 
an integration policy for migrants.
    During a police operation in September 2009, police took 150 
individuals to police stations, reportedly to confirm their immigration 
status. Authorities arrested 36 for ``illegal residence'' and 12 for 
involvement in violence that took place earlier at Nicosia's only 
functioning mosque. The minister of interior was critical of the 
operation, noting that his ministry was responsible for implementation 
of immigration policy; the minister of justice defended the operation, 
stating that police were simply doing their job. The ombudsman, acting 
as head of the Authority against Racism and Discrimination, stated that 
such practices fed xenophobic attitudes and racist stereotypes and had 
nothing to do with the country's immigration policy. The ombudsman 
opened an investigation which found that the police had violated the 
detainees' constitutional right to personal freedom and security and 
that their arrest was based on their ethnic origin rather than evidence 
that a crime had been committed. The ombudsman's report made a number 
of recommendations to police for adjusting their practices to safeguard 
human rights regardless of a person's race or ethnic origin.
    Many foreign workers reported that they almost always faced delays 
in the renewal of work visas despite the fact that they followed proper 
and timely procedures. In many cases the delays left them vulnerable to 
detention and deportation by immigration police.
    Some Turkish Cypriots living in the Government-controlled area 
reportedly faced difficulties obtaining identification cards and other 
government documents, particularly if they were born after 1974. 
Turkish Cypriots made few formal complaints to the UNFICYP about their 
living conditions in the south. Complaints most often concerned the 
lack of affordable accommodation.
    The ombudsman received complaints that the Government denied 
automatic citizenship to children of Turkish Cypriots married to 
Turkish citizens who resided in the area administered by Turkish 
Cypriots. Instead of granting citizenship automatically to such 
children, the Ministry of Interior routinely sought approval from the 
Council of Ministers before confirming their citizenship. During the 
year the Council of Ministers approved 634 cases. The ombudsman's 
office had no authority to examine the complaints because the Council 
of Ministers' decision to apply different criteria for granting 
citizenship to children born to one Turkish parent was a political one. 
Children of Turkish Cypriots married to Turkish citizens and living 
outside of Cyprus were automatically granted citizenship, however.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Despite legal protections, 
gays and lesbians faced significant societal discrimination, and few 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) persons were open about 
their sexual orientation. On May 19, the first LGBT movement, Accept 
LGBT Cyprus, announced its operation and organized a series of events. 
The events were covered by the media and there was no negative public 
reaction.
    A 2009 report by the Gay Liberation Movement of Cyprus (AKOK) and 
the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans- and Intersex 
Association (ILGA) noted that there was no significant LGBT movement in 
the country, and a general stigma against homosexuality was present in 
society. The organization reported that some local religious figures 
and politicians frequently stated in public that gays and lesbians were 
``immoral persons, bodily and mentally perverted.'' The groups also 
noted that there was no specific LGBT antidiscrimination law and that 
the lack of awareness-raising efforts and education about LGBT issues 
significantly contributed to the stigmatization of LGBT persons.
    On June 17, a spokesperson for Accept LGBT Cyprus criticized a 
decision of the state-controlled Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) 
management to ban a radio advertisement featuring a lesbian woman 
discussing her relationship with another woman. The advertisement was 
part of a European Commission-funded tolerance campaign run by the 
ombudsman's office. The campaign was aired by private stations and did 
not prompt a negative public reaction.
    In January 2009 the ombudsman publicly claimed that authorities at 
passport control at Larnaca Airport asked some foreign nationals about 
their sexual orientation.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--An NGO reported 
complaints of discrimination toward persons with HIV/AIDS and asserted 
that HIV-positive persons faced social exclusion and termination from 
employment. During the year the ombudsman issued reports on two 
complaints submitted by HIV-positive persons. In a report issued in 
June the ombudsman concluded that the deportation order issued against 
an HIV-positive British citizen, who was arrested and jailed for drunk 
driving, violated his right as an EU citizen to free movement and 
settlement in any EU country. The Ministry of Interior had informed the 
complainant that he would be deported because his personal conduct 
represented a serious threat to public and legal order and to public 
health. The ombudsman recommended revocation of the deportation order.

    Incitement to Acts of Discrimination.--Government-approved 
textbooks used at the primary and secondary school levels included 
language that was biased against Turkish Cypriots and Turks or 
refrained from mentioning the Turkish Cypriot community altogether. In 
addition, there were anecdotal reports of teachers using handouts or 
leading classroom discussions that included inflammatory language.
    In March the minister of education announced that a special 
government committee established in 2008 to examine the question of 
education reform had completed work on a set of curricula on all 
subjects, including history. Implementation of the history curriculum 
was scheduled to begin in September 2011. As part of a series of 
training programs in the new curricula, the Ministry of Education 
extended the Christmas vacation to allow teachers to attend four days 
of obligatory training that included a session on avoiding language 
that might offend the Turkish Cypriot community and contribute towards 
the division of the island. In addition, the ministry developed 
supplementary material for use by teachers that used a factual approach 
to historical events and excluded language biased against Turkey and 
the Turkish Cypriots.
Section 7. 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 
independent unions of their own choosing without prior authorization, 
and workers did so in practice. Police officers could form associations 
that had the right to bargain collectively. More than 70 percent of the 
workforce belonged to independent unions. The law allows unions to 
conduct their activities without interference, and the Government 
generally protected this right in practice. With the exception of 
members of the armed forces, police, and gendarmerie, all workers, 
including migrant and foreign workers, have the right to strike; 
authorities have the power to curtail strikes in ``essential 
services,'' but this power was used rarely in practice. An agreement 
between the Government and essential services personnel provides for 
dispute resolution and protects workers in the sector.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for collective bargaining, and workers exercised this right in 
practice. Although collective bargaining agreements are not legally 
binding, their terms were effectively observed by employers and 
employees. Collective bargaining agreements covered approximately 60 
percent of workers, both citizen and foreign. Workers covered by such 
agreements were predominantly in the larger sectors of the economy, 
including construction, tourism, the health industry, and 
manufacturing.
    Antiunion discrimination is illegal, but union leaders contended 
that private sector employers were able to discourage union activity 
because the enforcement of labor regulations prohibiting antiunion 
discrimination was sporadic and penalties for antiunion practices were 
minimal.
    There are no special laws for or exemptions from regular labor laws 
in the export processing zone at 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 women and children were trafficked for domestic 
labor, and NGOs reported isolated cases of asylum seekers trafficked 
for forced labor in agriculture. Also, please see the State 
Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/
tip.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Insurance experienced a 
substantial increase in the number of complaints of labor exploitation. 
Foreign workers, primarily from Eastern Europe and East and South Asia, 
were reportedly forced to work up to 13 hours a day, seven days a week, 
for very low wages. NGOs and the ombudsman confirmed that employers 
often retained a portion of foreign workers' salaries as payment for 
accommodations.
    Many domestic workers were reluctant to report contract violations 
by their employers out of fear of losing their jobs and consequently 
their work and residency permits. An NGO reported that there were cases 
of domestic workers whose travel documents were withheld by their 
employers. On December 4, a Vietnamese housekeeper reported to the 
police that her employer hit her and then two other men transferred her 
to another location where they tied her up and beat her. The employer 
and the two men were arrested and charged with abducting the woman and 
causing her serious bodily harm. In November a Chinese domestic worker 
reported to the police that her employer threw her in the swimming pool 
and ridiculed her because she did not know how to swim. At year's end, 
police were investigating a possible case of assault and humiliating 
treatment against the employer; the woman was transferred to the 
shelter for victims of trafficking.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits the employment of children, defined as persons under 15, 
except in specified circumstances, such as combined work-training 
programs for children who have attained the age of 14 or employment in 
cultural, artistic, sports, or advertising activities, subject to 
certain rules limiting work hours. Nighttime work and engagement of 
children in street trading is prohibited. The law also permits the 
employment of adolescents, defined as persons between the ages of 15 
and 18, provided it is not harmful, damaging, or dangerous, and also 
subject to rules limiting hours of employment. Employment of 
adolescents between midnight and 4:00 a.m. is not permitted. The 
minimum age for employment in an ``industrial undertaking'' is 16.
    The Government effectively enforced laws and policies to protect 
children from exploitation in the workplace. Ministry of Labor and 
Social Insurance inspectors are responsible for enforcing the child 
labor laws and did so effectively. There were isolated examples of 
children under 16 working for family businesses.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Although there is no national 
minimum wage, there is a minimum wage for certain groups that are 
deemed vulnerable to exploitation. The minimum wage for shop 
assistants, nurses' assistants, clerks, hairdressers, and nursery 
assistants was 835 euros (approximately $1,120) per month for the first 
six months and 887 euros ($1,190) per month thereafter. This amount did 
not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. For 
asylum seekers working in the agricultural sector, the minimum monthly 
wage was either 425 euros ($570) with accommodation and food provided 
or 767 euros ($1,030) without accommodation and food. Neither amount 
provided a decent standard of living for a worker and family.
    The minimum starting salary for foreign nationals working as 
housekeepers was 290 euros (approximately $390) per month, plus a 
minimum of 120 euros ($160) for lodging if the worker was not a live-in 
and an additional 16 percent for social insurance, which employers were 
required to pay directly to the Government. Medical insurance, visa 
fees, travel, and repatriation expenses are covered by the employers. 
Cabaret performers' contracts typically stipulated that they receive at 
least 205 euros ($275) per week for 36 hours of work. These wages did 
not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family.
    Workers in almost all other occupations, including unskilled labor, 
were covered under collective bargaining agreements. The wages set in 
these agreements were significantly higher than the minimum wage.
    Foreign workers were allowed to claim pensions, and in some cases 
there were bilateral agreements that allowed workers to claim credit in 
their home countries. Unions and labor confederations were generally 
effective in enforcing negotiated wage rates (collectively bargained 
rates), which were generally much higher than the minimum wage. The 
Migration Service was responsible for enforcing the minimum wage for 
foreign workers but did not actively do so.
    The legal maximum workweek was 48 hours, including overtime. Unions 
and employers within the same economic sector collectively determined 
the actual working hours. In the private sector, white-collar employees 
typically worked 39 hours a week, and blue-collar employees worked 38 
hours a week. In the public sector, the workweek was 38 hours in the 
winter and 35 hours in the summer. The law does not require premium pay 
for overtime or mandatory rest periods; however, these benefits were 
sometimes stipulated in contracts and collective agreements. The law 
provides that foreign and local workers receive equal treatment. Labor 
ministry inspectors are responsible for enforcing these laws. Labor 
unions, however, reported enforcement problems in sectors not covered 
by collective agreements. They also reported that certain employers, 
mainly in the building industry, exploited illegal foreign workers by 
paying them very low wages.
    There were reports that foreign domestic workers, primarily from 
East or South Asia, were mistreated by their employers or fired without 
cause in violation of their contracts. Some domestic workers, 
particularly live-in maids, reported working excess hours for employer 
families at all times, night and day, without additional compensation 
or time off. Although the law protects domestic workers who file a 
complaint with the Ministry of Labor and Social Insurance from being 
deported until their cases have been adjudicated, NGOs reported that 
many domestic workers did not complain to authorities about 
mistreatment due to fear of deportation.
    Government inspectors of the Ministry of Labor were responsible for 
enforcing health and safety laws. The Ministry of Labor and labor 
unions reported that health and safety laws were satisfactorily 
enforced but there was an increase in work-related accidents during the 
year. Factory inspectors processed complaints and inspected businesses 
to ensure that occupational safety laws were observed. Their 
inspections were supported by close government cooperation with 
employer and employee organizations. However, inspections did not occur 
in private households where persons were employed as domestic servants.
    Workers have the right to remove themselves from work situations 
that endanger health or safety without jeopardy to their continued 
employment, and authorities effectively enforced this right.
               the area administered by turkish cypriots
    Since 1974 the northern part of Cyprus, with a population of 
approximately 265,000 persons according to 2006 data, has been run by a 
Turkish Cypriot administration that proclaimed itself the ``Turkish 
Republic of Northern Cyprus'' (``TRNC'') in 1983. The United States 
does not recognize the ``TRNC,'' nor does any country other than 
Turkey. Dervish Eroglu was elected ``president'' in 2010 in free and 
fair elections. Elections to the ``Assembly of the Republic'' in April 
2009 were also free and fair and resulted in the formation of a single-
party ``government'' of the UBP (National Unity Party). The 2010 
municipal elections were generally free and fair. The ``TRNC 
constitution'' is the basis for the ``laws'' that govern the area 
administered by Turkish Cypriots. Police and security forces were 
ultimately under the operational command of the Turkish military, per 
transitional article 10 of the ``TRNC constitution,'' which cedes 
responsibility for public security and defense ``temporarily'' to 
Turkey.
    There were problems in some areas, particularly police abuse of 
detainees and prison conditions. There were restrictions on the rights 
of asylum seekers and no regulatory infrastructure to handle asylum 
applications or to protect the rights of asylum seekers. Trafficking in 
persons 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 
reports that authorities or their agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.
    Authorities participated in the autonomous, tripartite (UN, Greek 
Cypriot, Turkish Cypriot) UN Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) in 
Cyprus as part of their continuing efforts to account for persons who 
remained missing after the intercommunal violence in 1963-64 and the 
conflict of 1974. In 2006 the CMP began its project to exhume, 
identify, and return remains. As of year's end, the CMP had exhumed the 
remains of 767 missing persons and returned the remains of 54 Turkish 
Cypriots to their families. Exhumations continued in different parts of 
the island. According to the CMP, 1,392 Greek Cypriots and 440 Turkish 
Cypriots remained missing.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The ``law'' prohibits such practices; however, there were 
reports that police abused detainees. The ``law'' does not refer to 
``torture,'' which falls under the section of the criminal code that 
deals with assault, violence, and battery.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions did not 
meet international standards. Inmates complained of overcrowding at the 
prison, but the authorities claimed that they addressed the problem.
    During the year inmates also raised complaints via the media of 
unsanitary living conditions, brutality, and prison authorities' 
negligence, while wardens complained about intimidation and unruliness 
by certain inmates. In the prison, which had a former capacity of 291 
inmates, the introduction of a bunk-bed system in 2009 raised official 
bed capacity to 427; of the 250 prisoners held there at year's end, 59 
percent were foreigners, mostly Turkish citizens. Nine women prisoners 
and seven juveniles were incarcerated. Approximately 34 percent of the 
prisoners were awaiting trial.
    Some former inmates complained to the press that sanitary 
conditions were inadequate.
    According to the authorities, prisoners and detainees were 
permitted to both submit complaints to judicial authorities without 
censorship and to request investigation of credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions. Authorities reported they did not receive any 
complaints. They stated that all prisoners were allowed religious 
observance.
    Prisoners were permitted access to visitors either once every 10 
days or once every 30 days, depending on the prisoner's sentence type. 
(Detainees and prisoners with light punishment could receive visitors 
every 30 days while prisoners with ``stern penalties'' could receive 
visitors every 10 days). Visits are limited to 30 minutes except during 
holidays. Convicted inmates are allowed a maximum of 40 minutes of 
phone calls four days a week; detainees are given access to phones 
three days a week.
    In August a Cameroonian asylum seeker, who had been arrested and 
jailed in July for possessing fraudulent travel documents, claimed in a 
media interview that he was beaten by the police and subjected to 
racial slurs by other inmates and prison officials. He said he was 
visited by UNHCR officials both while in prison and afterwards. The 
Turkish Cypriot Human Rights Foundation filed complaints with the 
prison authority, but no results were reported. During his detention, 
the UNHCR's local implementing partner, the Refugee Rights Association 
(RRA), prevailed upon a court to reverse the individual's deportation 
order.
    On June 4, a Turkish inmate attempted suicide in the Central Prison 
and died in the Nicosia hospital the next morning. The press alleged 
that the inmate had complained about brutality by wardens. The head of 
the Wardens Union strongly denied the allegations and stated that the 
inmate had psychological problems and had attempted suicide several 
times before.
    On February 25, the human rights NGO Platform for the Prevention of 
Torture complained via the media that authorities did not permit visits 
to investigate allegations of mistreatment and violence against 
prisoners.
    In October 2009 inmates went on a hunger strike to protest poor 
living conditions, corruption, and mistreatment by custodial staff, as 
well as negligence by the authorities.
    In October 2009 an opposition ``member of parliament'' visited the 
prison and told the press afterward that prison conditions were 
unsatisfactory.
    In November 2009 a riot broke out in the prison. The media reported 
that inmates set a section of the prison on fire to protest the failure 
of the warden and the ``government'' to improve conditions. One inmate 
allegedly told his lawyer that the riot police who raided the prison 
set the mattresses on fire.
    In November 2009 the head of the Prison Wardens Union alleged that 
visitors, lawyers, and civilian workers often entered the prison 
unchecked and supplied inmates with drugs and cell phones.
    In 2008 the media reported that a number of inmates were on a 
hunger strike to protest poor living conditions. Later in 2008 a group 
of inmates set their beds on fire to protest what they considered to be 
severe punishment in the prison.
    In September 2009 an anonymous 17-year-old former prisoner, who had 
been convicted of theft and was recently released from the Nicosia 
prison, told the media that custodial staff and inmates mistreated and 
physically intimidated inmates convicted of rape. The youth also 
claimed that police beat him when he was arrested and forced him to 
sign false police-drafted testimony.
    In response to a 2007 riot, prison authorities summoned the special 
riot police to restore order; the riot police, however, allegedly 
targeted not only rioters but the general prison population, beating 
scores of prisoners with truncheons. After obtaining permission from 
the ``Ministry of Interior,'' the Turkish Cypriot Doctors Association 
examined prison inmates in 2008; of a random sample of 60 prisoners, 54 
had heavy bruising on their legs consistent with blows from truncheons. 
The ``prime minister'' subsequently announced that the police 
intervention would be investigated; however, at year's end, there had 
been no effective investigation of the events.
    Juveniles were not held separately from adults.
    During the year authorities permitted prison visits by local 
journalists. In September a group of journalists from the daily 
newspaper Kibris visited the prison and met with prisoners, 
subsequently publishing a feature on their lives. In 2007 a group from 
the Turkish Cypriot Doctors Association visited the prison to observe 
and investigate. A group from the Turkish Cypriot Bar Association and 
another from the Turkish Cypriot Human Rights Association visited the 
prison in 2008. According to authorities, a number of foreign diplomats 
visited the prison in 2009 to inspect prison conditions and to evaluate 
the situation of some foreign prisoners.
    The scope of the ombudsman's duties does not include advocating for 
reduced or alternative sentences or addressing the status of juvenile 
prisoners or improving detention/bail conditions.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The ``law'' prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and authorities generally observed these 
prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Police are responsible 
for law enforcement. The chief of police reports to a Turkish Cypriot 
general, who is nominally under the supervision of the ``Prime 
Ministry,'' holding the ``security portfolio.'' The police and security 
forces are ultimately under the operational command of the Turkish 
military, however, per transitional article 10 of the ``TRNC 
constitution,'' which ``temporarily'' cedes responsibility for public 
security and defense to Turkey. Security forces were generally 
cooperative with civilian authorities and effective in matters of law 
enforcement. The police are divided into eight functional divisions and 
five geographic divisions.
    The ``Office of the Attorney General'' continued to work with the 
inspection division (or occasionally the criminal investigative 
division) to investigate allegations of police misconduct. In contrast 
to previous years, there were investigations of five officers 
concerning the abuse of detainees during 2009. Following the 
investigations, prosecutors dropped two of the cases; three cases were 
still pending investigation because witnesses in each case were abroad. 
In 2010, three cases of police misconduct/brutality were filed; one was 
dropped after the investigation showed the claims were unfounded; 
investigations in the other two cases were ongoing.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Judicially 
issued arrest warrants are required for arrests. No person may be 
detained longer than 24 hours without referral of the case to the 
courts for a longer period of detention. Authorities generally 
respected this right in practice. Detainees were usually informed 
promptly of charges against them, although individuals believed to have 
committed a violent offense were often held for longer periods of time 
without being charged. Judges could order that suspects be held for 
investigative detention for up to 10 days before formal charges are 
filed, or up to three months for those accused of serious crimes. 
According to ``legislation,'' any detained person must be brought 
before a judge within 24 hours. The person can then be detained in 
police custody for a period of up to three months, but a judge reviews 
the detention every eight days. Bail was permitted and routinely used. 
Detainees were usually allowed prompt access to family members and a 
lawyer of their choice. The authorities provided lawyers to the 
destitute for violent offenses only. Particularly at the time of 
arrest, police sometimes did not observe legal protections. Some 
suspects were not permitted to have their lawyers present when giving 
testimony, in contravention of the ``law.'' Suspects who demanded the 
presence of a lawyer were sometimes threatened with stiffer charges or 
physically intimidated.
    In September a citizen named Osman Kalkan told the press that he 
was beaten in front of his son by officers at the Alaykoy police 
station, where he had gone to make a complaint. Kalkan alleged that he 
was hospitalized but that the police confiscated the medical report 
produced by the doctor.
    In February the chairwoman of the Turkish Cypriot Human Rights 
Foundation asserted that there had been several cases of torture in 
police custody. A lawyer with the organization opined in September that 
allegations should be investigated by an independent body rather than 
by police.
    In February the lawyer of murder suspect Ferhat Beyoglu repeated 
his claim that his client continued to be tortured in prison.
    In June 2009 the chair of the Turkish Cypriot Bar Association told 
the media that police commonly mistreated suspects and used violence to 
coerce suspects to provide testimony.
    In June 2009 the lawyer for three defendants in the Yucel Erol 
murder case alleged that police repeatedly tortured his clients in 
order to obtain confessions. The lawyer maintained that the defendants, 
Mustafa Cavga, Hasan Nur, and Emin Ozbeyit, were subjected to severe 
beating and threats while in detention. The judge ordered the suspects 
to undergo a medical examination to substantiate the claim. The NGO 
Torture Prevention Platform lobbied the ``attorney general'' to 
investigate the claims but reported at year's end that no effective 
investigation was conducted. In December 2009 there were media reports 
that a former detainee claimed to have witnessed Hasan Nur being 
tortured.
    In April the lawyer for the defendants in the Erol case repeated 
his claim that his clients were tortured in detention. Defendant 
Mustafa Cavga claimed in court that police examiner Aslan Coskun 
tortured him at police headquarters four times until he completed and 
signed his initial statement. His claims were supported by a witness, 
Rusen Yavuz, a former inmate who said that Cavga had been in the cell 
next to his and was tied and suspended by his hands. In late April, 
following statements by his lawyer and two witnesses, the court decided 
that Cavga was neither tortured nor pressured. In September the case 
was finalized and Hasan Nur was sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment, 
while Cavga and Ozbeyit were each sentenced to 30 years.
    In 2008 three Iranians arrested in Famagusta for possession of 
opium complained in court that narcotics police tortured them to force 
a guilty plea. Lawyers for two of the three suspects complained that 
their clients were stripped naked and beaten in detention and pressured 
to sign a statement. The judge ordered the suspects to undergo a 
medical examination, which did not substantiate the defendants' claims, 
and the trials proceeded. In June the ``Torture Prevention Platform,'' 
associated with the Turkish Cypriot Human Rights Foundation, filed an 
official complaint with authorities related to the case. As of year's 
end, no results had been reported.
    In 2008 the lawyer representing Ferhat Beyoglu and Metin Taskin, 
both accused murder suspects, claimed in court that police were using 
torture to pressure his clients to plead guilty. The judge ordered a 
medical examination, which did not substantiate the defendants' claims, 
and the trials proceeded.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The ``law'' provides for an 
independent judiciary, and authorities generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.
    Most criminal and civil cases begin in district courts, from which 
appeals are made to the ``Supreme Court.'' There were no special courts 
for political offenses. In 2007 ``legislation'' was passed transferring 
jurisdiction from military to civilian courts in cases where civilians 
are accused of violating military restrictions, such as filming or 
photographing military zones.
    In January 2009 the ECHR ruled against Turkey and in favor of an 
applicant, Yasir Amer, who claimed that he had not been provided with a 
translator and, therefore, had been denied the right to a fair trial as 
provided under the European Convention on Human Rights. Amer had been 
sentenced to life in prison for murdering a businessman in the northern 
part of Cyprus. The ECHR ruled that there had been a violation of the 
convention on account of the excessive length of the criminal 
proceedings; the court awarded Amer 5,000 euros ($6,700) in 
nonpecuniary damages and 2,000 euros ($2,680) for costs and expenses.

    Trial Procedures.--The ``law'' provides for the right to a fair 
trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. The 
``TRNC constitution'' provides for public trials, the defendant's right 
to be present at those trials, and the defendant's right to consult 
with an attorney in a timely manner. Authorities provide lawyers to 
indigent defendants only in cases involving violent offenses. 
Defendants are allowed to question witnesses against them and present 
evidence and witnesses on their behalf. The ``law'' also requires that 
defendants and their attorneys have access to evidence held by the 
``government'' related to their cases. Defendants enjoy a presumption 
of innocence and have a right to appeal. Authorities generally 
respected these rights in practice.
    In 2008 the head of the Nicosia Bar, Baris Mamali, complained via 
the media that protections of detainees' rights were not sufficiently 
implemented, contravening articles 16-18 of the ``TRNC constitution.'' 
Mamali confirmed that legally granted rights, such as the right to 
remain silent and the right to a lawyer, were not uniformly respected. 
Mamali also stated that arbitrary and unjust arrests took place at 
times.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There was generally an 
independent and impartial judiciary for civil matters, permitting 
claimants to bring lawsuits seeking damages for human rights 
violations. There were generally no problems enforcing domestic court 
orders.

    Property Restitution.--During the year Greek Cypriots continued to 
pursue property suits against the Turkish government for the loss since 
1974 of property located in the area administered by Turkish Cypriots. 
Turkish Cypriots pursued claims against the Republic of Cyprus as well. 
Under ECHR rules, as long as adequate local remedies exist, an 
appellant does not have standing to bring a case before the ECHR until 
that appellant exhausts all local remedies. In response to the ECHR's 
2005 ruling, in the Xenides-Arestis case, that Turkey's ``subordinate 
local authorities'' in Cyprus had not provided an adequate local 
remedy, a property commission was established to handle claims by Greek 
Cypriots; in 2006 the ECHR ruled that the commission had satisfied ``in 
principle'' the ECHR's requirement for an effective local remedy. In a 
March 2010 ruling, the ECHR recognized the property commission as a 
domestic remedy. The Immoveable Property Commission (IPC) reportedly 
received 840 applications by year's end and completed 202. Five 
applicants received restitution of their properties outright (plus 
compensation), one received restitution pending a future settlement of 
the Cyprus problem, one accepted partial restitution, another received 
full restitution, and 130 accepted compensation in lieu of restitution. 
Two property exchange (plus compensation) decisions were also issued. 
Two applications were rejected and 60 were revoked. As of year's end, 
the commission had paid more than $75 million in compensation.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The ``law'' prohibits such actions; there were 
reports, however, that police subjected Greek Cypriots and Maronites 
living in the area administered by Turkish Cypriots to surveillance. 
Although the authorities reported otherwise, a Maronite representative 
asserted that 13 houses in the village of Karpasia were occupied by the 
Turkish military during the year.
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 authorities generally respected 
these rights in practice, but journalists were at times obstructed in 
their reporting, fined, and threatened with more serious charges.
    Individuals were generally able to publicly criticize the 
authorities without reprisal. In 2008, however, two youths were 
arrested for forming a group on Facebook that involved ``gross personal 
insults'' against then ``TRNC president'' Mehmet Ali Talat. The youths 
were detained for three days and released pending trial. They were 
tried on defamation charges and in April 2010 were sentenced to two 
years of probation.
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views without restriction. International media were generally allowed 
to operate freely. Bayrak Radyo Televizyon Kurumu (BRT) is the only 
``government''-owned television and radio station.
    In February a BRT program featuring an opposition Republican 
Turkish Party (CTP) member who worked for another television channel 
was taken off the air by the management. The BRT director claimed to 
have acted in this manner because the program host had not informed him 
about the guest; he asserted that it was an issue of internal 
management and hierarchy.
    In August 2009 a well-known Nicosia independent bookstore, Isik 
Kitabevi, was damaged by an apparent arson attack. Then ``president'' 
Talat, then ``prime minister'' Dervis Eroglu, several ``members of 
parliament,'' and NGOs criticized the attack. The bookstore moved 
shortly after the attack to a new location and continued to operate. At 
year's end, the bookstore had moved back to its original location, but 
the case was dropped because no perpetrator was identified, and the 
investigation did not yield any results.
    In March 2009, in the run-up to the April 19 general elections, the 
``Ministry of Finance,'' then controlled by the ruling CTP, demanded 
that the highest-circulation newspaper, Kibris, immediately pay its tax 
debt of 11 million Turkish lira ($7.3 million) to the ``government.'' 
According to the Kibris editor in chief, Resat Akar, the ``government'' 
also demanded that he resign or take a leave of absence until after the 
elections. After negotiations with the ``ministry,'' the management of 
Kibris agreed to pay the debt in several installments. Eventually, Akar 
did leave his position during the elections; it is unclear whether this 
was in response to the ``government's'' alleged demands.

    Internet Freedom.--The authorities did not restrict access to the 
Internet, and there were no reports that they monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. The 
Internet was easily accessible and widely available to the public. 
According to a study conducted by the KADEM polling and research 
company in November, 58 percent of the population used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The authorities did not 
restrict academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The ``law'' 
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the authorities 
generally respected this right in practice.
    In November 2009 riot police used pepper spray to disperse a group 
of trade unionists protesting against the ``government'' and arrested 
16 of the demonstrators. The Turkish Cypriot Human Rights Foundation 
issued a statement condemning the ``government'' and the police for 
using brutality to suppress the demonstration, for wrongful arrests, 
and for subsequent abuse of some of those arrested. At year's end, the 
trials were ongoing, and the number of defendants had fallen to eight. 
Prosecutors reviewed investigations of police use of disproportional or 
extreme force and found them to be groundless.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, see the 2009 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The ``law'' provides for freedom of 
movement within the area administered by Turkish Cypriots, foreign 
travel, emigration, and repatriation, and authorities generally 
respected these rights in practice.
    Cooperation between the Office of the UN High Commissioner for 
Refugees (UNHCR) and the Turkish Cypriot authorities was handled 
through an intermediary NGO, due at least in part to complications 
arising from the unrecognized status of the ``TRNC.'' No law exists 
regarding the handling of asylum applications; therefore, the UNHCR 
representative in Cyprus adjudicated asylum claims.
    Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots were required to show 
identification cards when crossing the green line. Greek Cypriots and 
foreigners crossing into the area administered by Turkish Cypriots were 
also required to fill out a ``visa'' form.
    In September 2009 confusion surrounding procedures to allow 
worshipers to pass through the normally unused Limnitis/Yesilirmak 
crossing to attend a mass at St. Mamas Church in the Turkish Cypriot-
administered area prevented some Greek Cypriot worshipers from 
attending. Nevertheless, the mass took place, and hundreds of Greek 
Cypriots who had entered through other crossing points participated.
    In 2006 the immigration ``law'' was amended, and authorities 
reported that all illegal immigrant workers were registered. According 
to the new ``law,'' all employers who wish to import foreign workers 
need official permission from the ``Department of Labor'' to register 
them. As a result of the new ``law,'' the number of illegal workers, 
and thus illegal immigrants, in the area administered by Turkish 
Cypriots decreased dramatically. Authorities deported illegal 
immigrants found without work permits. All illegal immigrants without 
work permits were prohibited from entering the ``TRNC'' at the ports of 
entry. Asylum seekers were generally treated as illegal immigrants and 
were either deported or denied entry.
    In March the ``labor minister'' announced that 2,000 illegal 
workers had been deported in the previous four months.
    Turkish Cypriots had difficulty traveling to most countries because 
only Turkey recognizes travel documents issued by the ``TRNC.'' Some 
Turkish Cypriots used Turkish travel documents, but many obtained 
travel documents issued by the Republic of Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots 
born after 1974 to parents who were both Republic of Cyprus citizens 
before 1974 obtained passports relatively easily, compared with Turkish 
Cypriots born after 1974 to only one Cypriot parent. Children of 
Turkish Cypriot mothers and Turkish fathers were reportedly usually 
denied citizenship by Republic of Cyprus authorities. Children of 
Turkish Cypriot fathers and Turkish mothers reportedly also faced some 
obstacles. According to a 2008 interview with the Kibris newspaper, a 
Republic of Cyprus official stated that non-Cypriot spouses of Turkish 
Cypriots would not be eligible for passports if their marriage ceremony 
took place in the ``TRNC'' and that any children resulting from such 
marriages would also be ineligible to receive Republic of Cyprus 
passports.
    The ``law'' prohibits forced exile, and the authorities did not 
employ it.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--Although they would fall 
under the UN definition of IDPs, Turkish Cypriots considered persons 
displaced as a result of the division of the island to be refugees. 
These persons and their descendants numbered approximately 90,000 to 
100,000 in the north. They were resettled, had access to humanitarian 
organizations, and were not subject to attack, targeting, or return 
under dangerous conditions.

    Protection of Refugees.--The 1951 Convention relating to the Status 
of Refugees is incorporated into Turkish Cypriot domestic ``law,'' as 
were all other laws adopted during pre-1963 British colonial rule and 
later ``ratified'' by the Turkish Cypriot administration. Authorities 
admitted that they had no ``law'' or system in place for dealing with 
asylum seekers or the protection of refugees and stated that asylum 
applications were systematically rejected. Potential asylum seekers who 
attempted to enter the area administered by Turkish Cypriots illegally 
were almost always arrested, taken to court, and deported after serving 
their sentence. During the year, however, authorities facilitated the 
access of 33 asylum seekers and five refugees to the UNHCR 
representatives in the UN-buffer zone.
    In practice authorities did not provide protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened. Individuals who requested asylum were 
supposed to be directed to the UNHCR or its local implementing partner, 
the Refugee Rights Association (RRA). However, authorities often 
refused to grant asylum seekers access to the RRA, refused their entry, 
treated them as illegal immigrants, and denied them the opportunity to 
apply for asylum through the UNHCR.
    The RRA was affiliated with the Turkish Cypriot Human Rights 
Foundation in the area administered by Turkish Cypriots. Only the UNHCR 
representative can consider applicability of the 1951 convention; the 
RRA's mission was to monitor and identify individuals who want to apply 
for asylum, to refer them to the UNHCR, to advocate to the Turkish 
Cypriot administration not to deport such individuals but instead to 
provide protection for the prospective applicants, and to facilitate 
their accommodation and employment. According to the RRA, at year's 
end, 24 asylum seekers and five refugees were residing and working (for 
below-minimum wages and sometimes in exchange for food) or attending 
school in the area administered by Turkish Cypriots. They could not 
travel abroad because they would be unable to return due to their lack 
of status, which rendered them illegal according to Turkish Cypriot 
immigration rules. The UNHCR did not provide financial assistance to 
asylum seekers except in exceptional cases. There were no reliable 
estimates of the number of asylum seekers crossing into the Government-
controlled areas, since irregular crossings go unrecorded.
    In February the chairwoman of the Turkish Cypriot Human Rights 
Foundation asserted to the media that several immigrants had been given 
jail sentences although the ``law'' clearly stated that immigrants 
should not be imprisoned.
    In August a number of asylum seekers and refugees interviewed by a 
local daily recounted stories of mistreatment and poor living 
conditions in the north. According to the article, five refugees and 11 
asylum seekers present in the north at time of reporting were 
neglected, some of them jailed for ``illegal entry'' and at times 
separated from their children.
    In February 2009 Kivanc Aktug, the head of the NGO Human Relief 
Mission, the former implementing partner of the UNHCR in the area 
administered by the Turkish Cypriots, was arrested by Turkish Cypriot 
``police'' for smuggling asylum seekers into the Government-controlled 
area. According to media reports, Aktug was working as part of a ring 
of human smugglers. Following the arrest, the UNHCR Representative's 
Office publicly stated that it had stopped working with the NGO as its 
implementing partner at the end of 2008. Aktug was detained for three 
days and released on bail pending trial. The investigation has been 
completed, and a number of cases against Aktug were still pending in 
the Nicosia court.
    The RRA stated that, despite its efforts, authorities at ports 
often denied entry to asylum seekers, and those trying to enter the 
``TRNC'' illegally were usually detained and subsequently deported. The 
RRA complained that authorities usually denied asylum seekers access to 
the RRA's lawyers and vice versa.
    During the year several Iraqis and Palestinians were denied entry 
and deported. However, the RRA reported that several deportation orders 
were successfully canceled. Five women--four Palestinian and one 
Nigerian--sought asylum during the year, but authorities in the area 
administered by Turkish Cypriots declared them prohibited migrants due 
to migration offenses and issued deportation orders. The women were 
subsequently assisted by the RRA and the UNHCR and permitted to seek 
asylum with the Republic of Cyprus. The cases of eight other Iraqi 
asylum seekers were still pending in the ``TRNC courts'' at year's end.
    Four asylum seekers were deported during the year despite their 
status. At year's end, 24 asylum seekers (eight Palestinians, three 
Nigerians, one Cameroonian, one Iranian, nine Iraqi, one Turkmen and 
one Bangladeshi) continued to reside in the north, working or attending 
school. At year's end, there were one Afghan and four Palestinian 
refugees present in the area administered by Turkish Cypriots.
    In September 2009 the chair of the Turkish Cypriot Human Rights 
Foundation complained through the media about systematic deportation of 
asylum seekers and refugees despite laws against such treatment in the 
Turkish Cypriot ``legislation'' and accused authorities of negligence 
and using the unrecognized status of the ``TRNC'' as an excuse for not 
abiding by international rules and practices.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The ``law'' provides Turkish Cypriots the right to change their 
``government'' peacefully, and they exercised this right in practice 
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of 
universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Turkish Cypriots choose a 
leader and a representative body every five years or less. The 2009 
``parliamentary'' elections, which were free and fair, resulted in the 
formation of a single-party ``government'' of the National Unity Party 
(UBP).
    Greek Cypriots and Maronite residents were prohibited from 
participating in Turkish Cypriot ``national'' elections; they were 
eligible to vote in Greek Cypriot elections but had to travel to the 
Government-controlled area to exercise that right. Greek Cypriot and 
Maronite enclave communities in the area administered by Turkish 
Cypriots directly elected municipal officials. Turkish Cypriot 
authorities did not recognize these officials.
    Authorities did not restrict the political opposition, and 
membership or nonmembership in the dominant party did not confer formal 
advantages or disadvantages; there were widespread allegations, 
however, of societal cronyism and nepotism.
    There were four women in the 50-seat ``parliament.'' There were no 
minorities represented in the ``parliament.''
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The ``law'' provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, authorities did not implement the ``law'' effectively, and 
officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. 
Corruption, cronyism, and lack of transparency were generally perceived 
to be serious problems in the legislative and executive branches.
    The ``government'' stated several times since April 2009 that once 
it formed a regulatory board for corruption matters, it would 
investigate corruption allegations regarding the Evkaf Foundation, the 
Electricity Authority, the ``ministries'' of finance and health, and 
the cooperative central bank. In August 2009 the ``government'' drafted 
and passed ``legislation'' to create a ``regulatory commission'' to 
investigate corruption allegations; in October 2009 the law was 
referred to the ``Constitutional Court'' by then ``president'' Talat 
and found ``unconstitutional.'' Some lawyers criticized the 
``government'' through the media for stalling necessary investigations 
and waiting for the board to be established instead of tasking the 
``Attorney General's Office'' to investigate corruption allegations.
    In 2008, after a lengthy trial, a public servant was sentenced to 
four years in prison for defrauding the state electricity authority in 
1998-2000. During the year, six additional public servants from the 
Electricity Authority were convicted and sentenced to various prison 
terms in the same case. Several of them appealed, and in September 2009 
the appeals court overturned the conviction of Senel Ortan, who had 
been sentenced to six years in prison.
    Also in 2008 the media reported that 116 corruption and abuse cases 
documented by the Court of the Exchequer since 1986 were still awaiting 
review by the ``parliament.''
    Opposition parties continued to claim that the ``government'' 
primarily hired supporters of the ruling party for public sector jobs 
during the year. In September several newspapers received and published 
complaints from villagers in Iskele and Karpaz who accused the ruling 
UBP ``government'' of firing members or supporters of opposition 
parties from local public jobs and replacing them with UBP members and 
supporters and relatives of local UBP ``members of parliament,'' 
mayors, and branch chiefs.
    The ``constitution'' provides for the right of free access to 
``government'' information, and the ``Right of Access to Information 
Law'' provides for public access. In practice, however, civil servants 
were not allowed to provide access to ``government'' documents without 
first obtaining permission from their directors or ``minister.'' There 
were some complaints by NGO representatives about being denied access 
to ``government'' information during the year. ``Member of parliament'' 
Mehmet Cakici unsuccessfully attempted to follow the steps prescribed 
by the ``law'' to gain access to information and statistics regarding 
alleged mismanagement of the public employees' retirement fund. In 
2009, he took the case to the ``Attorney General's Office,'' where it 
was pending at year's end.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A number of domestic human rights groups operated in the area 
administered by Turkish Cypriots; one NGO asserted that it faced 
restrictions when investigating human rights cases. The international 
NGO Minority Rights Group International was also active in the area 
administered by Turkish Cypriots, conducting research, capacity-
building, and implementing advocacy campaigns under an EU grant. 
Authorities' cooperation with NGOs was inconsistent.
    Many local human rights groups were concerned with improving human 
rights conditions in the area administered by Turkish Cypriots. NGOs 
included groups promoting awareness of domestic violence; women's 
rights; rights of asylum seekers, refugees, and immigrants; trafficking 
in persons; torture; and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender 
persons' rights. These groups were numerous but had little impact on 
specific ``legislation.'' A few international NGOs were active in the 
area administered by Turkish Cypriots, but many were hesitant to 
operate there due to political sensitivities related to working in an 
unrecognized area.
    The UN, through the CMP, continued its efforts to account for 
persons missing after the intercommunal violence beginning in 1963-64 
and the conflict of 1974.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The ``law'' prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, 
disability, language, or social status. Authorities generally enforced 
these prohibitions.

    Women.--The ``law'' provides 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 whose specific mission was to support rape victims.
    Violence against women, including spousal abuse, was a problem. The 
``law'' prohibits domestic violence under a general assault/violence/
battery clause in the criminal code. Even though allegations of 
domestic violence were usually considered a family matter and settled 
out of court, 29 domestic violence cases were tried during 2009; all of 
these were completed during the year and all resulted in various fines 
and bail but no prison sentences. During the year prosecutors brought 
nine cases of domestic violence, and all were in the trial process at 
year's end. Authorities considered a case more credible if there was at 
least one witness in addition to the victim.
    In December 2009 an academic expert complained that domestic 
violence was not defined specifically in the ``law'' and that certain 
requirements for the protection of women's rights--such as rights to 
education, rehabilitation services, and special units in police and 
health departments--were not met.
    The ``law'' does not specifically prohibit sexual harassment, but 
victims could pursue such cases under other sections of the ``law.'' 
Sexual harassment was not discussed widely, and any such incidents 
largely went unreported.
    Couples and individuals were able to freely decide the number, 
spacing, and timing of their children, and had access to contraception, 
skilled attendance during childbirth, and obstetric and postpartum 
care.
    Women generally have the same legal status as men under property 
``law,'' family ``law,'' and in the ``judicial system.'' ``Laws'' 
requiring equal pay for men and women performing the same work were 
generally enforced at the white-collar level; however, women working in 
the agricultural and textile sectors were routinely paid less than 
their male counterparts. Several NGOs worked to protect women's rights 
but there was no specific ``government'' agency that had this 
responsibility.

    Children.--``Citizenship'' is derived from one's parents, and there 
is universal birth registration at the time of birth.
    Turkish Cypriot ``authorities'' continued to screen all textbooks 
sent to the Rizokarpasso Gymnasium, a Greek Cypriot school, but did not 
send textbooks deemed derogatory back to the Government-controlled 
area.
    One NGO and the media reported that child labor was a growing 
problem. According to reports, exploited children were mostly from 
mainland Turkey.
    There were some media reports of child abuse, most commonly in the 
form of sexual battery or rape. As with domestic violence, there were 
social and cultural disincentives to seek legal remedies for such 
problems, which observers believe were underreported.
    In December the NGO Social Risks Prevention Foundation established 
a 24-hour hotline for reporting child abuse.
    The ``criminal code'' penalizes sexual relations with underage 
girls. The maximum penalty for sex with a girl under the age of 13 is 
life imprisonment. The maximum penalty for sex with girls older than 13 
but younger than 16 is three years' imprisonment. There are no ``laws'' 
regarding child pornography.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community was very small and composed 
primarily of nonresident businesspersons. A synagogue that opened in 
2008 in Kyrenia held services regularly. There were no reports of anti-
Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report 
at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The ``law'' prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or in the 
provision of other ``state'' services, and in practice the authorities 
effectively enforced these provisions. The ``government'' employed 605 
persons with disabilities and provided financial aid to the other 3,444 
of the 4,049 known persons with disabilities in the area administered 
by Turkish Cypriots. The ``law'' does not mandate access to public 
buildings and other facilities for persons with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The ``law'' prohibits 
discrimination, and the 1975 Vienna III Agreement remains the legal 
source of authority regarding the treatment of Greek Cypriots and 
Maronites; however, authorities' noncompliance with some of the 
agreement's provisions made life difficult for the 342 Greek Cypriot 
and 110 Maronite residents.
    Under the Vienna III Agreement, the UNFICYP visited the Greek 
Cypriot residents of the enclave weekly and the Maronites twice a 
month; any additional visits had to be preapproved by the authorities. 
Although the Vienna III Agreement provides for medical care by a doctor 
from the Greek Cypriot community, the authorities only permitted such 
care by registered Turkish Cypriot doctors; enclaved persons also 
traveled to the Government-controlled area for medical care.
    Greek Cypriots and Maronites were able to take possession of some 
of their properties but were unable to leave any of their properties to 
heirs residing in the Government-controlled area. A Maronite 
representative asserted that Maronites were not allowed to bequeath 
property to their heirs who do not reside in the area administered by 
Turkish Cypriots and possess ``TRNC'' identification cards. The 
authorities allowed the enclaved residents to make improvements to 
their homes and to apply for permission to build new structures on 
their properties. Maronites living in the Government-controlled area 
could use their properties only if those properties were not under the 
control of the Turkish military or allocated to Turkish Cypriots.
    A majority of foreign workers in the area administered by Turkish 
Cypriots were Turkish. One NGO reported that Turkish workers were often 
targeted by police investigations during the year. The same NGO also 
reported that many Turkish workers lived in derelict buildings in 
Nicosia, with up to 20 persons sleeping in one room. Those working in 
the agricultural and construction sectors were reportedly forced to 
sleep on the ground, and those working in restaurants were seen 
sleeping after hours on chairs in the establishments where they worked.
    During the year many Turkish women were employed as cleaners 
without being registered for social insurance. A growing number of 
families employed women from Turkmenistan and the Philippines as 
domestic workers and for child care.
    In February three sisters of Kurdish origin who were working at a 
duty-free shop at Ercan Airport were fired. The media reported that the 
young women were fired because they were Kurdish. The airport security 
manager claimed that the police did not approve the renewal of the 
women's airport identity credentials.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Male homosexual activity is 
criminalized in the area administered by Turkish Cypriots under a 
general sodomy statute that excludes female homosexual activity. The 
maximum penalty is 14 years' imprisonment. Homosexuality remained 
highly proscribed socially and rarely discussed. Very few lesbian, gay, 
bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) persons were publicly open about their 
sexual orientation.
    In 2008 members of the LGBT community, including some NGOs, started 
a group, the Initiative Against Homophobia, aimed at legal reform and 
reducing homophobia. There were no reported impediments to its 
operation or free association, and it was officially accepted and 
registered as an association in March 2009. An informal LGBT group, the 
Short Bus Movement, organized cultural activities, such as film 
screenings. During the year neither police nor ``government'' 
representatives engaged in or condoned violence against the LGBT 
community.
    While there were no recorded cases of official or societal 
discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing, 
statelessness, access to education, or health care, some members of the 
LGBT community explained that an overwhelming majority of LGBT persons 
hide their sexual orientation to avoid such problems. They also 
complained that there is no specific antidiscrimination law for LGBT 
persons.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. 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 
independent unions of their own choosing without prior authorization, 
and workers did so in practice. Fewer than 10 percent of private sector 
workers and more than 65 percent of semipublic and public sector 
workers belonged to labor unions. The ``law'' allows unions to conduct 
their activities without interference, and the authorities generally 
protected this right in practice.
    Although the ``law'' provides for the right to strike, employers 
have an unrestricted right to hire replacement workers in the event of 
a strike, which limited the effectiveness of this right in practice. 
The ``law'' does not permit essential service workers, namely judges 
and members of the police and armed forces, to strike. Authorities have 
the power to curtail strikes in ``essential services.''
    In June the ``government'' prohibited a strike by the 
``parliament's'' employees union (Mec-Sen), postponing it for 60 days. 
In February the ``government'' also prohibited a strike by Cyprus 
Turkish Airlines employees, postponing it for 60 days. The strikes did 
not take place 60 days later.
    Some companies pressured workers to join unions led or approved by 
the company. Officials of independent unions claimed that the 
authorities created rival public sector unions to weaken the 
independent unions.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The ``law'' 
provides for collective bargaining, and workers exercised this right in 
practice. The 26,000 public and semipublic employees who made up 
approximately 30 percent of the work force benefited from collective 
bargaining agreements.
    The ``law'' does not prohibit antiunion discrimination, and union 
leaders claimed that private sector employers were able to discourage 
union activity because the enforcement of labor regulations was 
sporadic and penalties for antiunion practices were nominal.
    There are no special ``laws'' for or exemptions from regular labor 
``laws'' in the export processing zone at the port of Famagusta.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The authorities 
prohibited forced or compulsory labor, including by children, but there 
were reports that such practices occurred. Migrant workers in the 
construction and agricultural sectors were subjected to reduced wages 
and nonpayment of wages, beatings, and threats of deportation. One NGO 
asserted that there were cases of forced labor in the agricultural and 
domestic service sectors.
    Also, please see the State Department's annual Trafficking in 
Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
``laws'' generally provide protection for children from exploitation in 
the workplace. In contrast to previous years, NGOs alleged that 
authorities did not always effectively enforce these ``laws'' and that 
children, mainly from Turkey, were being used for labor, primarily in 
the agricultural sector along with their families and in manufacturing.
    According to accounts by the Turkish Cypriot Human Rights 
Foundation, child labor in the urban informal economy was also a 
problem, albeit to a lesser extent than in the agriculture and in 
manufacturing sectors.
    The minimum age for employment in an ``industrial undertaking'' is 
15, the last year for which education is compulsory, and children may 
be employed in apprentice positions between the ages of 15 and 18 under 
a special status. Labor inspectors generally enforced the ``law'' 
effectively. It was common in family-run shops for children to work 
after school, and children as young as 11 worked in orchards during 
school holidays.
    The ``Ministry of Labor'' is responsible for enforcing child labor 
``laws'' and policies, and they were generally enforced in practice. 
The ``ministry'' held monthly inspections and kept statistics of its 
findings. In 2009 inspectors identified 425 workers without work 
permits. The authorities fined 182 employers and companies for failures 
to comply with the ``law,'' but their enforcement of the rules and 
requirements was generally perceived to be inadequate.
    In August the ``Ministry of Labor'' established a ``street support 
team'' to prevent child labor and other abuse of children. The team is 
responsible for identifying child abuse; it urged the public to report 
any such abuse.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--In December the minimum wage was 
raised to 1,300 lira ($837) per month, which did not provide a decent 
standard of living for a worker and family. Migrant workers often were 
offered substandard accommodations as part of their compensation or 
were made to pay for accommodation. The ``Ministry of Labor and Social 
Security'' is responsible for enforcing the minimum wage; however, it 
was widely reported that illegal foreign workers were generally paid 
below the minimum wage.
    In July the ``government'' changed the legal maximum workweek from 
38 hours in the winter and 36 hours in the summer to 39 hours at all 
times of the year as part of an austerity measures package. The new 
workweek went into effect in November despite trade union protests 
asserting that according to the ILO, the maximum workweek cannot exceed 
37.5 hours. Labor inspectors generally enforced these ``laws,'' except 
in the case of migrant workers, who worked irregular hours and at times 
were reportedly required by their employers to work up to 14 hours per 
day, seven days a week. The ``law'' requires overtime pay, but it was 
not uniformly enforced.
    Authorities sporadically enforced occupational safety and health 
regulations. Although factory inspectors processed complaints and 
inspected businesses to ensure that occupational safety ``laws'' were 
observed, workers who filed complaints did not receive satisfactory 
legal protection and could face dismissal. Workers did not have the 
legal right to remove themselves from situations that endangered health 
or safety without risking their continued employment.

                               __________

                             CZECH REPUBLIC

    The Czech Republic is a multiparty parliamentary democracy with a 
population of approximately 10.2 million. Legislative authority is 
vested in the bicameral parliament, consisting of a Chamber of Deputies 
(Poslanecka snemovna) and Senate (Senat). The president, elected every 
five years by parliament, is head of state and appoints a prime 
minister from the majority party or coalition. In 2008 the bicameral 
parliament elected Vaclav Klaus as president for a second term. The 
elections for the Chamber of Deputies on May 28-29 were considered to 
be free and fair, as were elections on October 22-23 for one-third of 
the seats in the Senate. A coalition government, consisting of three 
center-right parties--the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), the Tradition 
Responsibility Prosperity party (TOP 09), and Public Affairs (VV)--is 
led by Prime Minister Petr Necas (ODS). Security forces reported to 
civilian authorities.
    Notable human rights problems included official corruption, 
trafficking of persons for commercial sexual exploitation and labor, 
neo-Nazi and nationalist extremism directed at Roma and other 
minorities, and societal discrimination against 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings during the year.
    In January 2009 a Vietnamese man died in police custody in Brno. 
Police beat the man, a suspected heroin dealer, in his apartment. In 
August three police officers were convicted of abuse of power; one 
received a prison sentence of three and a half years, while the other 
two received a suspended sentence of three years and were prohibited 
from serving as public officials for five years. In December the police 
officers appealed the verdict citing new evidence.

    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 during the year that government officials employed them; 
however, coerced sterilization of women and surgical castration of male 
prisoners convicted of sexual offenses were reported in previous years.
    In 2008 the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Group of Women 
Harmed by Sterilization (WHS) reported that its field research 
uncovered two cases of coerced sterilization in 2007 and 2008. The WHS 
has reported no new cases after 2008. The alleged case in 2008 involved 
a 19-year-old Romani woman from Karvina. After a detailed joint 
investigation with the Karvina hospital, the WHS concluded that the 
woman had not been sterilized. In the 2007 case, a social worker 
allegedly warned the victim that, if she did not undergo sterilization, 
two of her children would be placed in state care. Police began 
investigating the case in August 2009. That same month the Budapest-
based European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) provided legal representation 
for the victim. The WHS reported that the police closed the 
investigation in November 2009 after interviewing the woman, the social 
worker, representatives from WHS, and others finding no evidence of a 
crime. The woman has since formally withdrawn her accusation.
    In November the UN Committee on Elimination of Discrimination 
against Women urged the Czech Republic to adopt legislative changes to 
prevent future coercive sterilizations and to address those that have 
already occurred. Specifically the committee urged the Government to 
extend the three-year statute of limitations for bringing compensation 
claims in these cases and ensure that any time limit starts from the 
time of discovery of the consequences of the sterilization by the 
victim rather than from the time of injury. Furthermore, the committee 
recommended that the Czech Republic consider establishing an ex-gratia 
compensation procedure for victims of coercive sterilization whose 
claims have lapsed.
    In 2009 the WHS also identified 20 previously unreported cases of 
women, both Roma and non-Roma, who alleged they had been sterilized 
without informed consent, some before 1989 and others in the 1990s. The 
WHS, in cooperation with the ERRC, sent formal complaints to the 
regional health authorities on behalf of the alleged victims to 
determine whether the hospitals performed sterilizations and, if so, 
whether they occurred without informed consent. Health authorities 
rejected 17 of the complaints because the clinics in question were 
operated directly at the national level by the Ministry of Health and 
not the regional authorities or because information was lacking. Three 
other cases were still pending at year's end.
    The Ostrava Regional Court ruled in 2008 that a local hospital was 
liable for a wrongful sterilization performed on a Romani woman, Iveta 
Cervenakova, 11 years prior and recognized her right to financial 
compensation of 500,000 korunas (approximately $27,600) and an apology. 
The hospital appealed to the Olomouc High Court, which ruled in 2008 
that Cervenakova was not entitled to financial damages because the 
deadline for making such claims had passed. However, the high court 
upheld the requirement that the hospital apologize, which it did. In 
December 2009 the Supreme Court in Brno rejected Cervenakova's appeal, 
and in July she filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights 
(ECHR) in Strasbourg, which was pending at year's end.
    In October 2009 the Supreme Court dismissed a claim by Romani 
Helena Ferencikova, who demanded financial compensation from a hospital 
that performed an unwanted sterilization on her. In November 2009 the 
interim government officially expressed regret over unauthorized 
sterilizations of women, mostly Romani women.
    In October 2009 a delegation from the Council of Europe's Committee 
for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) visited the country to follow up on 
concerns over the Government's program of surgical castration of sex 
offenders. According to the Health Ministry, 94 sex offenders underwent 
surgical castration in the 10 years prior to April 2008. The CPT 
assessed that patients did not give free and informed consent to 
surgical castration and found the practice to be ``degrading.'' The CPT 
reported that in 50 percent of cases it reviewed, surgical castration 
was carried out on nonviolent offenders. The Government denied that 
surgical castrations are ``degrading'' and did not end the practice; it 
did, however, publish guidelines for judiciary and healthcare officials 
outlining clear and strict requirements for the castration procedure 
and ensuring informed consent of sex offenders. In its report on the 
2009 visit, the CPT discussed again concerns related to its inspection 
team members' access to medical documentation without prior patient 
agreement. Czech privacy laws prohibit the release of an individual's 
medical information without consent. The CPT called on the Government 
to end immediately the use of surgical castration for the treatment of 
sex offenders and criticized the Government for withholding medical 
records and providing inaccurate information on a number of occasions 
before, during, and after the visit.
    The CPT also criticized the context in which prisoners were offered 
the choice of castration or imprisonment, noting in its 2008-09 General 
Report that it was questionable whether consent to surgical castration 
will always be truly free and informed. Reporting on its findings 
during a separate visit to the country in 2008, the CPT noted that ``a 
situation can easily arise whereby patients or prisoners acquiesce 
rather than consent, believing that it is the only available option to 
them to avoid indefinite confinement.'' In response the Government 
stated that according to the law all patients must request the 
castration in writing and have their cases approved by an independent 
expert commission. It did not, however, address whether these laws were 
respected in practice. The Government did not consider the CPT's 
findings sufficient reason to abandon the sterilization program.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions met most international standards. The Government 
permitted visits by independent human rights observers, and such visits 
occurred during the year. However, prison overcrowding remained a 
problem.
    The report by the CPT regarding its 2008-09 visit to the country 
identified several problems in Valdice Prison, which accommodated 
persons sentenced to life imprisonment as well as troublesome or 
dangerous high-security prisoners. It found that the treatment and 
conditions of detention of these prisoners continued to raise serious 
problems. These included concerns about physical and sexual abuse of 
vulnerable prisoners; failure to integrate prisoners sentenced to life 
imprisonment with the general prison population; the lack of a process 
for prisoners to appeal their placement in Section E, which holds the 
more violent criminals; and unresponsive staff. In response, the 
Government replaced a substantial part of its prison staff.
    In September the prison population was 111 percent of the intended 
capacity of the facilities. The number of prisoners has increased 
steadily since 2002. As of August there were 21,979 prisoners in the 
country's prisons, of which 1,424 were women, 16 were juveniles, and 
2,500 were pretrial detainees of both sexes. Of convicted prisoners, 61 
percent had some type of employment in the prison to earn money.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors (three 
hours per week) and are permitted religious observance of their 
choosing. Authorities permitted prisoners and detainees to submit 
complaints to the Office of the Ombudsman without censorship, and the 
ombudsman investigated credible allegations of inhumane conditions in 
addition to his systematic prison control visits. In the first nine 
months of the year, the ombudsman received approximately 190 complaints 
regarding the prison service, including the high price of goods in the 
prison shop, inability to receive non-Czech cigarettes, and the use of 
shackles on prisoners considered to be extremely dangerous. In addition 
to prison visits, the ombudsman began monitoring cell conditions in 
police stations. In the first nine months, he visited 184 cells in 52 
police stations.
    The Government permitted independent monitoring of prison 
conditions by local and international human rights groups and the 
media. According to the Czech Prisons Service, there were numerous 
media visits to prisons during the year. All requests for visits were 
granted.
    The Government was in the process of building additional prison 
cells with the goal of increasing the average prison cell size from 43 
to 65 square feet per prisoner and to decrease prison overcrowding.
    The Czech Helsinki Committee also found continued prison 
overcrowding to be a problem and reported an increased number of 
complaints regarding health care in prisons. During their visits they 
found that hygienic conditions worsened in several prisons in late 
2010, and the number of tuberculosis cases increased.
    On January 1, the Government amended the criminal code to allow 
house arrest as a measure designed to alleviate to prison overcrowding.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the Government observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The national police are 
responsible for enforcing the law and maintaining public order. Salary 
cuts at the Ministry of the Interior following government-wide fiscal 
austerity measures resulted in a lowered rate of retention among the 
national police force, especially among experienced detectives, which 
hampered the effectiveness of their work. Corruption remained a problem 
among law enforcement bodies. The Ministry of the Interior oversees 
police actions and is responsible for investigating allegations of 
police misconduct. Observers believed that the ministry sometimes 
whitewashed wrongdoing or prematurely terminated investigations of 
units under its control.
    On October 5, the Ministry of the Interior announced the 
reorganization of the Foreigners' Police, an independent police force 
that handled all applications for and problems with long-term 
residency. Their responsibilities and some personnel will be 
distributed to regional police offices, effective January 1, 2011, in 
an effort to improve the quality of immigration and residency 
procedures. The change responded to numerous allegations made by the 
Government and NGOs of corruption and inefficiency within the 
Foreigners' Police.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Police arrest 
persons accused of criminal acts using warrants issued by a judge. The 
accused person must be turned over to a court within 24 hours, and a 
judge must question and decide whether to hold the individual further 
within 24 hours.
    Police may arrest a person without a warrant under a number of 
circumstances: when they believe a prosecutable offense has been 
committed; when they consider it necessary to prevent further offenses 
or destruction of evidence; when they need to protect a suspect; or 
when a person refuses to obey police orders to move. Suspects arrested 
without a warrant must be informed promptly of the reason for their 
arrest, questioned, and either released within 48 hours or turned over 
to a court. If turned over to a court, a judge must decide whether to 
charge the individual within 24 hours. Only a person who has been 
charged with a crime may be held in custody.
    A defendant in a criminal case has the right to choose a lawyer or 
have one provided by the state. The court determines whether attorneys' 
fees will be partially or fully covered by the state. The law provides 
for bail except for serious crimes or to prevent witness tampering. The 
authorities respected these rights in practice.
    The Ministry of Justice, which oversees the prison system, also 
inspected prisons throughout the year. However, investigations into 
complaints by prisoners are conducted by the Ombudsman's office. NGOs, 
such as the Helsinki Commission, also monitored prison conditions.
    Lengthy pretrial detention was a problem; however, the situation 
was reportedly improving. Under the law, pretrial detention may last no 
longer than two years except for ``exceptionally grave'' offenses. 
According to prison service data for the first six months of the year, 
the average length of pretrial detention was 94 days. A suspect may 
petition investigating authorities at any time for release from 
detention.

    Amnesty.--The president granted amnesty to 69 persons for 
humanitarian reasons in 2009 and 38 in the first nine months of 2010.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice; however, political pressure occurred in some 
instances and judicial effectiveness was hampered by complicated 
procedural rules that at times delayed judgments for years. Structural 
deficiencies and a lack of sufficient specialized judicial training 
also contributed to delays and undermined effectiveness.

    Trial Procedures.--The laws provide for the right to a fair trial, 
and the independent judiciary generally enforced this right.
    Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence. Trials are public. 
Juries are not used. In serious cases a panel of three judges rules on 
the guilt or innocence of the defendant, while a single judge hears 
less serious cases. In trial courts (on the district level) the panel 
of judges is composed of one professional judge, who is the chair, and 
two lay judges identified from the public. Appeals and cases 
originating in regional courts have only professional judges. 
Defendants have the right to be present at trial and to consult an 
attorney; the Government provides an attorney without charge to 
defendants who cannot afford one. Defendants may confront adversarial 
witnesses and present witnesses and evidence on their own behalf. 
Defendants and their attorneys are entitled to access government-held 
evidence relevant to their cases. Convicted persons have a right of 
appeal. The law extends these rights to all persons.
    The length of trial procedures decreased, and case backlogs 
throughout the judicial system have been reduced by fully staffing 
judicial positions at the local level at the expense of regional and 
high courts.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--During the year the ECHR 
entered 11 judgments against the Czech Republic. The ECHR found several 
violations of the right to liberty and security, to a fair trial, to 
undisturbed use of property, and respect of family rights. During 2009 
the ECHR accepted for review 726 of 2,074 complaints against the Czech 
Republic (a comparable number to 2008). The ECHR asked the Government 
to provide further information concerning 15 complaints, and judgments 
were delivered in six cases (compared with 16 in 2008). The ECHR found 
two violations by the country of the right to liberty and security and 
one violation of the right to a fair trial.
    The Government complied with ECHR decisions; however, it only took 
limited action in the areas of compensation for forcibly sterilized 
women and inclusive education for Romani children. In November the 
European Roma Rights Center filed a complaint with the Committee of 
Ministers in Strasbourg, which is charged with overseeing 
implementation of ECHR rulings, stating that the Czech Republic failed 
to comply with European law by not integrating Romani children into 
mainstream schools.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The constitution provides 
for a separate, independent judiciary in civil matters, and there is 
access to a court to bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation 
of, human rights violations. Available remedies include monetary 
damages, equitable relief, and cessation of harmful conduct. 
Administrative remedies are also available.

    Property Restitution.--The law provides for restitution of 
properties confiscated under the Communist regime as well as 
restitution of, or compensation for, Jewish property wrongfully seized 
during the Nazi era. Although it was still possible to file claims for 
artwork, the claims period for other types of property has expired. Two 
claims for Jewish communal property in Brno remained before the courts 
at year's end. In 2009 the Liberec regional government refused without 
explanation to return one property in Turnov.
    Parliament failed to ratify before the May general elections the 
comprehensive compromise settlement reached in 2007 between the 
Government and the churches over restitution of properties of religious 
orders and financial compensation to churches for loss of properties. 
The legislative process now must start over. On May 25, the Government 
and the Catholic Church resolved protracted litigation over the 
ownership of St. Vitus Cathedral when the president and Archbishop Duka 
signed an agreement providing that the state is the sole owner of the 
property. The agreement provides that the church will administer the 
cathedral as the metropolitan church, while the state will secure 
necessary material assistance. Under the agreement the church dropped 
its appeal at the Constitutional Court against earlier court rulings.

    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. Independent media were active and expressed a wide 
variety of views without restriction.
    The law mandates prison sentences of six months to three years for 
persons who deny Communist-era crimes or the Nazi Holocaust. Speech 
inciting hatred based on race, religion, class, nationality, or other 
group affiliation is also illegal and carries a sentence of up to three 
years in prison.
    In June eight members of National Resistance, a neo-Nazi group, 
were indicted in Prague on charges of supporting and promoting Nazism. 
The individuals posted propaganda materials in public places and 
organized neo-Nazi events. The defendants each faced multiple counts 
with a possible total of eight years in prison if convicted. The trial 
was postponed, and two defendants, who had been held without bail since 
October 2009, were released on bail in December.
    In April 2009 parliament passed a law that criminalizes the 
publication of information obtained from police sources such as 
wiretaps. The law also criminalizes the publication of names of victims 
of serious crimes and the names of all crime victims younger than age 
18. Journalists violating the law face fines of up to five million 
korunas (approximately $276,000) and prison sentences of up to five 
years.
    In June an administrator of iDNES.cz news server filed criminal 
charges against a contributor nicknamed ``Kraxna'' for threats against 
his life and family. Kraxna had frequently cursed and threatened the 
administrator for removing racist comments from group boards. The 
administrator filed the charges after the contributor threatened to 
kill his son and mentioned the son by name, heightening concern over 
the threat. Police investigated the case and arrested Kraxna for 
committing violence against a group or individual members of a group. 
The offender confessed to the crime and promised not to commit the 
crime again in the future. As a result, Kraxna received a six-month 
suspended sentence.
    In September 2009 the Prague Municipal State Attorney's Office 
filed charges against a member of the ultranationalist, unregistered 
National Party for speech inciting hatred based on race for a televised 
election advertisement that referred to a ``final solution of the Gypsy 
question.'' In November 2009 a Prague district court handed a National 
Party representative a one-year suspended sentence and three years' 
probation for the advertisement.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could and did engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2009, 
approximately 63.5 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The law provides 
for freedoms of assembly and association, and the Government generally 
respected these rights in practice.

    Freedom of Assembly.--The law provides for freedom of assembly, and 
the Government generally respected this right in practice.
    The Government may legally restrict or prohibit gatherings, 
including marches, demonstrations, and concerts that promote hatred or 
intolerance, advocate suppressing individual rights, or jeopardize the 
safety of participants. Protesters are required to have permits for 
demonstrations, but police generally did not interfere with 
spontaneous, peaceful demonstrations.
    In August 2009 parliament amended the law on assembly to provide 
local governments additional time (three working days instead of three 
calendar days) to review demonstration applications. The Government 
distributed a handbook to local governments designed to help local 
officials accurately apply the law regarding public gatherings.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of association, and the Government generally respected this 
right in practice. The law, however, requires organizations, 
associations, foundations, and political parties to register with local 
officials or the Ministry of the Interior.
    On February 17, a Supreme Administrative Court ruling dissolved the 
far-right Workers Party (DS), which had mostly neo-Nazi membership. The 
court ruled that party's program contained xenophobia, chauvinism, 
homophobia, as well as a racist subtext. Members of the DS reorganized 
into the Workers' Social Justice Party (DSSS) and unsuccessfully ran in 
local and Senate elections, receiving less than 1 percent of the vote.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of 
concern.
    The constitution and law prohibit forced exile, and the Government 
did not employ this practice.
    On October 5, the minister of the interior announced the 
dissolution of the Foreigners' Police, which had handled all 
applications for and problems with long-term residency and transfer of 
those responsibilities to the ministry's Department of Asylum and 
Migration Policy (see section 1.d.).

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status and the Government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees. Temporary protection for 
individuals who may not qualify as refugees is available based on EU 
laws. However, no such protection has yet been granted.
    Because the law defines ``safe countries of origin'' from which 
applicants are unlikely to be granted refugee status, the Ministry of 
the Interior no longer receives asylum applications from ``safe'' 
countries. ``Safe country of transit'' laws do apply to asylum seekers 
who transit through Canada, the United States, or Switzerland. The 
applications of these individuals can be denied. However, each case is 
reviewed individually.
    In practice the Government generally provided protection against 
the expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion.
    The Ministry of the Interior makes the initial determination on 
granting international protection. Applicants whose cases are denied 
may appeal to a single-judge regional court. Appeals of regional court 
decisions are reviewed by a five-judge panel composed of judges serving 
on the Supreme Administrative Court. The five-judge panel first 
determines if the case presents new problems or if the regional court 
made a grave error. If so, the panel reviews the substance of the 
claim.
    The law provides that the Government must conduct asylum hearings 
in a language comprehensible to applicants or provide them with an 
interpreter.
    The Ministry of the Interior requires medical proof of 
homosexuality from individuals seeking asylum for reasons of fear of 
persecution in their home country due to their sexual orientation. The 
Ministry of Health, which oversees the process, conducts a 
``phallometric test'' on these asylum seekers. Asylees are connected to 
a machine that monitors blood flow to sexual organs while viewing 
heterosexual pornographic images. If the machine detects a response to 
the images, the Ministry of the Interior denies the application for 
asylum. The European Union Fundamental Rights Agency has criticized the 
use of the test as a violation of the European Convention on Human 
Rights. The Ministry of the Interior contended that the test has been 
conducted in fewer than 10 cases and with the full written consent of 
the individual.
    The law allows the Government to detain asylum applicants who 
attempt to enter the country via an international airport for up to 120 
days. This provision particularly affected applicants lacking identity 
documents.
    Refugees are considered to have equal legal status with permanent 
residents and may work without restrictions. In addition, refugees are 
entitled to special integration assistance based on the State 
Integration Program, which provides access to Czech language courses, 
assistance with employment, and access to accommodations. Access to the 
public health care system is automatic once refugee status is granted. 
The children of refugees are subject to the laws regulating the 
education of minors residing in the country. Asylum applicants must 
wait one year in order to work without restrictions.
    According to Ministry of the Interior statistics, there were 626 
asylum claims submitted in the first eight months of the year. Almost 
half of the requests (47.2 percent) were repeat submissions from asylum 
seekers whose applications were previously rejected by the relevant 
authorities. The ministry granted refugee status to 62 asylum seekers 
and granted subsidiary protection, de facto refugee status for those 
who do not qualify for asylum, to 54 persons.
    In April 2009 a resettlement agreement between the Government and 
the UNHCR formalizing the country's resettlement program went into 
effect. A pilot resettlement program was established in 2008. In 2009 
the first group of 19 Burmese refugees was brought from Malaysia to the 
country. The Government resettled an additional 39 Burmese refugees 
during the year. Due to financial constraints, plans for continued 
participation in the resettlement program have been postponed 
indefinitely.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens 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 and Political Participation.--On May 28-29, the country 
held elections for seats in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower chamber 
of parliament. The center-right Civic Democratic Party (ODS) formed a 
coalition with two new parties, the right-of-center Tradition 
Responsibility Prosperity Party (TOP 09) and centrist Public Affairs 
(VV). On October 22-23, elections were held for one-third of the seats 
in the Senate and for municipal governments. Both elections were 
considered free and fair.
    Individuals and parties freely declared their candidacies and stood 
for election, and political parties operated without restriction or 
outside interference.
    There were 44 women in the 200-seat Chamber of Deputies, including 
the speaker and two of three deputy speakers, and 15 women in the 81-
seat Senate. There were no women in the 15-member cabinet and five 
women on the 15-member Constitutional Court. One of the country's 13 
regional governors was a woman.
    One justice on the Constitutional Court was an ethnic Slovak. Few 
of the country's estimated 200,000 Roma were integrated into political 
life. No Roma were members of parliament, had cabinet portfolios, or 
sat on the Supreme Court. Some Roma were appointed to national and 
regional advisory councils dealing with Romani affairs. Four Roma 
served in leadership roles in the Commission for Human Rights and 
National Minorities, which the new government downgraded from ministry 
status.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not always implement the law effectively, 
and officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. 
According to World Bank governance indicators, corruption was a problem 
in the country.
    Corruption in public procurement was a major problem. Political 
pressure; insufficient or ineffective legislation requiring disclosure 
of origin of assets, regulating public procurement, and lobbying; 
ineffective police investigative tools; and a limited number of 
experienced investigators at regional levels contributed to the 
infrequent prosecution of high-level corruption. According to the 
police anticorruption unit, a major barrier was the lack of an adequate 
government witness process through which immunity from prosecution 
could be offered to persons willing to testify against coconspirators. 
Also, a lack of a specialized prosecutorial body limited effective 
prosecution of complex corruption cases. The current system requires 
multiple parts of a case to be handled by various responsible bodies. 
This often created obstacles in linking all existing evidence collected 
by law enforcement bodies. Although public figures must disclose the 
state of their finances each year, disclosure of the origin of 
financial assets is voluntary.
    Law enforcement agencies are responsible for combating government 
and private corruption. The police anticorruption unit investigated 
corruption allegations concerning high-level officials and major 
regional and local cases. It also investigated some private individuals 
and companies accused of corruption. Other regular police units 
investigated lower-level cases. According to the Ministry of the 
Interior, police conducted 86 bribery investigations in 2010, handed 
over 37 cases of bribery for prosecution, twice as many as in 2009, and 
investigated 57 public officials for abuse of authority. In the first 
half of the year, records of the Ministry of Justice indicated that 
courts convicted 35 public officials of crimes relating to abuse of 
power, of which two were sentenced to prison, 24 were released on 
probation, and eight received fines. Of the 43 public officials 
convicted of bribery-related offenses (19 for receiving a bribe and 25 
for offering a bribe), six were sentenced to prison, 27 were released 
on probation, and nine received fines. As of October 1, the 
anticorruption unit investigated 66 cases of public corruption, one of 
which involved a judge. Eight investigations were completed and handed 
over to the courts. The trials did not begin by year's end. In 2009 the 
police anticorruption unit investigated six cases involving judges, of 
whom two were cleared for lack of evidence; the remaining four were 
under prosecution at the regional prosecutors' office in Prague.
    In October 2009 the Government eliminated the anticorruption unit 
of the military police and redistributed the unit's responsibilities to 
other offices. The Government cited budgetary reasons for the cuts, but 
allegations persisted that the unit was disbanded because it was 
successfully fighting military corruption. The police anticorruption 
unit stated that it continued to work well with military police 
anticorruption officials, despite the disbanding of the military 
anticorruption unit.
    The press continued to report allegations of corruption.
    In February allegations appeared in the press based on 
conversations recorded in a cafe by journalists posing as businessmen 
that government officials and political parties had received kickbacks 
during the negotiation of contracts sometime between 2004 and 2008 for 
the purchase of Pandur military vehicles manufactured by the Austrian 
company Steyr. Then prime minister Jan Fischer called for an 
investigation, and a joint Czech-Austrian investigation was pending at 
year's end.
    On September 1, Mlada Fronta Daily (MFD), a national newspaper, 
printed a transcript of conversations between then deputy defense 
minister Jaroslav Kopriva and lobbyists. The tapes indicated that they 
were negotiating a no-bid contract for hundreds of millions of korunas 
for mortars. During two conversations, the deputy minister and the 
lobbyists detailed what they allegedly knew about how similar corrupt 
procurements occurred in the past and described how it was possible to 
launder money. The minister of defense immediately fired Kopriva and 
created a subcommittee to investigate all procurements in the ministry. 
The results were pending at year's end. Police were also investigating 
the case.
    In November MFD printed allegations by a U.S. businessman and 
former ambassador to the Czech Republic that in February 2008 then 
deputy defense minister Martin Bartak solicited a multimillion-dollar 
bribe. The former ambassador stated that the minister requested the 
bribe in exchange for assistance in resolving a dispute involving the 
former ambassador's company and one of its key suppliers. Bartak was 
placed on administrative leave from his duties pending the results of 
an investigation.
    On December 14, MFD published allegations by Libor Michalek, chief 
of the State Environmental Fund, that he was asked by Martin Knetig, an 
advisor to the minister of environmental affairs, to manipulate a 
public tender to provide funds for his party, the Civic Democrats, as 
well as to finance the political career of Minister Pavel Drobil. 
Michalek recorded the conversations, including one with the minister, 
in which he allegedly offered Michalek a senior position in the 
ministry in exchange for destroying the taped conversations. 
Immediately after the publication of the story, Minister Drobil fired 
Knettig and Michalek. Minister Drobil tendered his own resignation 
shortly afterwards. The police are investigating the allegations.
    In September 2009 MFD reported that one of their journalists posed 
with a hidden camera as a casino owner and purportedly offered one 
million korunas (approximately $55,200) to several members of major 
political parties in exchange for opposing a proposal to introduce a 
new fee on gambling machines. Three politicians accepted the offer but 
did not receive any money. After a police investigation, it was 
determined that no crime had been committed, and the case was closed. 
One of the politicians remains in parliament.
    On September 7, a Brno court sentenced former mayor Ales Kvapil and 
lobbyist Radovan Novotny to seven years in prison for seeking a four 
million koruna ($220,000) bribe from a developer to allow a building 
project to go forward. The key evidence in the case was the developer's 
secret taping of his meetings with the convicted individuals.
    On September 17, police announced two corruption investigations in 
Kolin and Znojmo. Anticorruption police in Znojmo were investigating 
the mayor and deputy mayor for manipulation of public tenders. The 
Kolin deputy mayor was recorded demanding a one million koruna 
(approximately $55,000) bribe for providing land to a businessman at a 
reduced price.
    In October 2009 the media reported that the law school at the 
University of Western Bohemia in Plzen awarded numerous degrees in 
recent years to persons who did not earn them, including politicians, 
law faculty, police officers, customs agents, other state officials, 
and family members of mafia figures. The head of the country's 
accreditation commission, Vladimira Dvorakova, alleged that organized 
crime established the system with the goal of controlling these 
officials once in office. The report led to the firing of several 
school administrators. After a year of investigations, 200 diplomas 
were found to be suspicious.
    An investigation by the United Kingdom's Serious Fraud Office into 
overseas bribery allegations against BAE Systems, including allegations 
that the British-Swedish aerospace joint venture BAE Systems/Saab 
bribed several members of the Czech parliament and ministry officials 
in 2002 to gain their approval for a multi-million dollar contract to 
lease jet fighters, concluded with a fine to BAE Systems/Saab. The 
suspended Czech investigation has been reopened and continued at year's 
end.
    Several ministries have anticorruption hotlines for citizens to 
report allegations. The Ministry of the Interior's anticorruption 
hotline, administered by the country branch of the NGO Transparency 
International (TI), received 4,653 calls in the first six months of the 
year. TI registered 400 new clients (i.e. callers who ask for advice or 
guidance) and identified 290 corruption complaints, 67 concerning the 
judiciary, 41 concerning police, 79 concerning property rights and 
construction permits, and 43 concerning public procurement. Almost one-
third of the complaints (122) concerned municipal officials.
    Credible allegations of corruption persisted throughout the 
judiciary, as did allegations of high-level political interference in 
sensitive public corruption cases. In the first nine months of 2009, 
the Justice Ministry received 18 calls on its anticorruption hotline, 
120 e-mail complaints, and 572 written complaints. Of this total, 10 
communications alleged corruption on the part of judges, and three 
alleged corruption on the part of prosecutors. One case concerning a 
judge was submitted to the police for investigation.
    There were a number of court cases involving judicial misconduct 
during the year. On April 6, Jiri Berka, a bankruptcy judge in the town 
Usti nad Labem, was found guilty of criminal conspiracy for his part in 
a bankruptcy fraud scheme involving 11 other individuals. He and eight 
other defendants were each sentenced to nine years' imprisonment. An 
appeal was pending at year's end.
    On September 7, the Prague High Court stripped Supreme Court deputy 
chair Pavel Kucera of his judgeship, the harshest possible 
administrative penalty, for influencing the investigation into 
corruption allegations surrounding former deputy prime minister Jiri 
Cunek. The court found that Kucera had violated his duties as judge and 
undermined trust in the judiciary. Kucera appealed the verdict. In 
November the minister of justice suspended him from serving as an 
active judge, and Kucera resigned the following day, effectively 
closing the disciplinary proceedings against him.
    The law provides for public access to government information, and 
the Government usually provided such access in practice to citizens and 
noncitizens, including foreign media. NGOs reported an increasing 
number of denials over the past two years, especially at the local 
level and on the use of public finances. Applicants whose requests are 
denied have 15 days to appeal. They may also appeal if authorities 
exceed the time limit for processing a request.
    According to the Government, several cases involving public access 
to information from local governments reached the courts during 2009. 
Courts were reportedly receptive to the requests for information by 
plaintiffs. In one case, the Regional Court in Usti nad Labem held that 
the regional governor's office must cover expenses for refusing to 
provide information to the NGO Children of the Earth about the office's 
rising budget. In another case, the Supreme Administrative Court held 
that the Czech energy company CEZ is a public institution that must 
provide information upon request.
Section 5. 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.
    After the May 10 death of ombudsman Otakar Motejl, the office was 
vacant for several months due to the parliament's failure to agree on a 
replacement. On September 7, the parliament elected Pavel Varvarovsky, 
a former constitutional judge, to the position. Representatives from 
the Office of the Ombudsman made regular visits to government 
facilities, examining the treatment of individuals and monitoring 
respect for fundamental rights. They issued quarterly and annual 
reports on the office's activities in addition to reports on topics of 
special concern. The office operated without government or party 
interference, had adequate resources, and was considered effective. In 
the first nine months of the year, the ombudsman received 4,320 
complaints. In 2009 the ombudsman received 7,321 complaints, 53 percent 
of which fell within his mandate; 5,433 calls were made to the 
information hotline requesting simple advice. The ombudsman opened 702 
inquiries in 2009.
    In July the Government decided to return the Ministry of Human 
Rights to the level of a commission, decreasing its authority. The body 
had been elevated to a ministry in 2007. On September 15, the cabinet 
voted to dismiss former minister Michal Kocab from the position of 
commissioner. Although the Government stated at the time that a 
replacement would be named within a week, the position remained vacant 
at year's end. NGOs criticized the decision to make the ministry a 
commission and the failure to name a permanent commissioner, claiming 
these indicated a lack of government concern over human rights issues.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on gender, age, disability, 
race, ethnic origin, nationality, sexual orientation, religious faith, 
or personal belief. However, the Government did not effectively enforce 
these provisions, and significant societal discrimination against Roma 
and women persisted. Trafficking in persons also remained a problem.
    In June 2009 parliament overrode the president's 2008 veto of 
antidiscrimination legislation and adopted a comprehensive 
antidiscrimination act that harmonized the country's law with EU 
requirements.

    Women.--The law prohibits rape, including spousal rape, and the 
Government effectively enforced these provisions in practice. The law 
provides penalties of two to 15 years in prison. Although experts 
considered rape to be underreported, they noted an upward trend in the 
number of rape convictions since 2001. They attributed this trend to 
improved police training, public awareness campaigns, and greater 
interaction between police and NGOs. In the first eight months of the 
year, 432 rapes were reported, 250 of which were investigated. In the 
first six months of the year, courts convicted 92 offenders, giving 
prison sentences to 54 offenders and suspended sentences to 35 
individuals.
    On January 1, an amendment to the penal code criminalizing stalking 
went into effect. Offenders convicted of stalking can be sentenced to 
up to three years in prison. The law broadens the criminal offenses 
under which law enforcement may arrest and prosecute perpetrators of 
domestic violence. In connection with implementation of the new law, 
the Ministry of the Interior provided training to counselors, social 
workers, and law enforcement officials who work with these persons.
    Experts believed that violence against women was more widespread 
than suggested by the number of cases reported to authorities due to 
the stigma associated with reporting such abuses.
    Domestic violence is punishable by up to three years in prison with 
longer sentences under aggravated circumstances. In 2008 police 
obtained authority to remove violent abusers from their homes for 10 
days. In the first eight months of the year, NGO Bily Kruh Bezpeci 
reported that 723 offenders, including women, were removed from the 
home. In 2009 a total of 778 offenders were removed.
    In the first eight months of the year, interior ministry statistics 
indicated that 407 cases of domestic violence were reported, and police 
investigated 295 cases. In the first six months of the year, 
authorities prosecuted 220 cases of domestic violence. Justice ministry 
statistics indicated that, in the first six months of the year, 141 
individuals were convicted of domestic violence: 28 individuals were 
sentenced to prison, and 113 were given suspended sentences. Alcohol 
played a major role in many domestic violence cases, along with drugs, 
work-related stress, and gambling. The NGO Bily Kruh Bezpeci reported 
that, in the first eight months of the year, 638 children witnessed 
acts of domestic violence. In 2009, 911 children reportedly witnessed 
such acts.
    Police continued to train personnel selected to handle domestic 
violence cases and to work with social service agencies. However, due 
to high turnover, many personnel lack practical experience in dealing 
with these problems. Several hotlines and crisis centers offered 
psychological counseling to victims of rape and domestic abuse. In the 
first eight months of the year, for example, the Dona hotline received 
3,140 calls related to domestic violence compared with 4,090 calls in 
2009.
    Sex tourism in border areas and major urban areas declined due to 
the economic slowdown and a crackdown by local governments. The 
Ministry of the Interior also noted a general decline in demand for 
commercial sexual services in 2009 and the first eight months of the 
year, especially in the regions bordering Germany and Austria. Cities 
in the interior also made progress reducing sex tourism. Prague, Brno, 
Plzen, and other cities adopted by-laws prohibiting prostitution in 
public places. The number of erotic nightclubs decreased, and many were 
reportedly on the brink of closure.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment; however, the Government did 
not effectively enforce it, and sexual harassment remained a problem. 
Czech law, in compliance with the EU, places the burden of proof on the 
defendant. Those convicted can be fined up to 70,000 korunas 
(approximately $3,860), dismissed from work, or sentenced to prison. 
According to a study conducted by the Gender and Sociology Section of 
the Czech Academy of Sciences in February 2009, 25 percent of female 
respondents experienced sexual harassment at work.
    Couples and individuals generally had the right to decide freely 
and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children and 
had the information and means to do so without discrimination, 
coercion, or violence. Involuntary sterilization of Romani women was a 
problem in past years but not reported this year; in 2007 and 2008, 
there were reports that doctors had coerced two Romani women to be 
sterilized (see section 1.c.).
    Access to contraception was widespread, and the prevailing practice 
was to have skilled attendance at childbirth, including obstetric and 
postpartum care. Estimates compiled by international organizations 
indicated that there were approximately 8 maternal deaths per 100,000 
live births in the country in 2008. According to NGOs, women and men 
were equally diagnosed and treated for sexually transmitted diseases, 
including HIV.
    The law grants men and women equal rights, including in family and 
property law matters. According to Eurostat data for the second quarter 
of the year, the employment rate of women was 56.1 percent, and women 
constituted 42.7 percent of the workforce. Women's salaries for similar 
work lagged behind men's by just over 26 percent, and women were more 
likely to work in professions with lower median salaries than those 
chosen by men. It was unclear whether the salary gap was the result of 
discrimination against women, lack of access to proper professional 
training and preparation, or a possible preference among women for more 
flexible, family-friendly jobs. The Council for Equal Opportunities for 
Men and Women monitored gender issues and advised the Government on 
enforcing equal gender rights.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents.
    While the Government provided free, compulsory education through 
age 15, Romani children were often subject to discriminatory treatment. 
Romani children were enrolled at disproportionately high rates in 
remedial school systems, known as ``practical'' schools, which 
effectively segregated them into a substandard education. According to 
the Ministry of Education, approximately 27 percent of Romani children 
attended ``practical'' schools during the year, compared with 2 percent 
of non-Romani children. During the year 7,800 students attended 
practical schools, two-thirds of whom were Romani. In regular schools 
Romani children were often segregated from the majority population due 
both to their place of residence (often in a Romani-majority 
neighborhood) and because school officials in regular schools at times 
separated Romani children for remedial instruction. The Government 
continued to address discrimination in the education of children during 
the year. However, the decision to place a child in a practical school 
is made by a judge based on a social worker's recommendation. Judges 
are obliged to follow legal criteria in determining that a student be 
placed outside the regular education system. The Ministry of Education 
introduced recommended changes to the placement system to reduce the 
number of children placed in ``practical'' schools; these 
recommendations were not legally binding, however. In November 
following a country visit, Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human 
Rights Thomas Hammarberg stated, ``There has been virtually no change 
on the ground in the Czech Republic since the European Court of Human 
Rights found three years ago that the country had discriminated against 
Roma children by educating them in schools for children with mental 
disabilities.''
    In 2009 the Ministry of Education finalized two studies, one on 
education opportunities of children from excluded communities and the 
other analyzing teachers' individual approaches to students with 
special educational needs. Both studies pointed to unequal educational 
opportunities for Romani children. Approximately 65 percent of Romani 
children from ``practical'' schools enrolled in vocational high 
schools, many of which did not have final examinations in their 
curricula, and only 0.93 percent enrolled in regular high schools. 
Since the examinations offered at the completion of regular high school 
are required in order to enter a university, the large majority of 
Romani students who were in vocational schools without final 
examinations were effectively precluded from a university education. In 
2009 the Ministry of Education created a new Department for Equal 
Opportunities in Education and in March 2010 approved the Plan for 
Inclusive Education to address these problems. However, in October the 
new minister of education halted all work on the plan. Two employees of 
the ministry charged with implementing changes to ``practical'' schools 
resigned due to reservations over the new direction taken by the 
ministry. The minister of education stated that he would present new 
decrees for the inclusion of Romani students in February 2011.
    Local governments offered free preschool education to children who 
may be unprepared to enter or perform well in the school system for 
social or economic reasons. In order to increase school attendance, 
some local governments linked school attendance by children with 
welfare payments to parents. Other localities funded teaching 
assistants in basic schools who worked closely with families to ensure 
regular attendance, often going to homes before school to collect 
students.
    Although the law permits Romani curricula, no elementary school in 
the country used the curricula. The Romani language was taught as a 
foreign language at two secondary schools and several universities.
    While the law prohibits family violence, sexual abuse, and other 
forms of mistreatment of minors, child abuse remained a problem. As of 
January 1, a minor is defined as any child under the age of 18. 
According to an ongoing 15-year study conducted by sexologists at the 
medical school of Charles University in Prague, 10 percent of children 
in the country have experienced sexual abuse; 7 percent were sexually 
abused at least once, while 3 percent were sexually abused repeatedly.
    Under the lead of the Ministry for Human Rights (since downgraded 
to a commission), the Government in 2008 adopted a 10-year national 
strategy for preventing violence against children. The document 
identified several priorities, including adopting a policy of zero 
tolerance for violence against children, support for preventive 
measures, further education for experts, and increasing the 
accessibility of services for endangered children. In April 2009 the 
ministry led a conference on promoting children's rights during the 
country's EU presidency. A second conference in June 2009 focused on 
child violence, injury prevention, and child mental health promotion.
    In May 2009 the Government introduced the National Coordination 
Mechanism for Locating Missing Children. The project combined existing 
tools to locate quickly missing children. Since its inception, the 
project recorded a 95 percent success rate in locating missing children 
through close cooperation between mobile telephone operators, the 
media, and the public.
    According to a report by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs 
in 2009, as many as 22,000 children were living in institutions, 
including over 8,000 placed in care pursuant to a court decision. 
Efforts to provide care to children were hampered by a lack of 
coordination among agencies and across regions. In 2009 the Government 
implemented a three-year national action plan for the care of foster 
children to provide preventive care to families and thereby reduce 
institutionalization.
    The 2010 penal code introduces protections of children in 
accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Prison 
sentences for those found guilty of child abuse were increased up to 12 
years or 18 years in case of the death of a child. The Ministries of 
the Interior and Justice have implemented use of special interviewing 
rooms for child victims and witnesses. A child victim is not required 
to give additional testimony in any future court proceedings when 
specially trained police follow the special interview requirements 
(presence of psychologists, and, in some cases, judges and defense 
attorneys).
    Although some members of the Romani community married before 
reaching the legal age of 18, underage marriage was not a significant 
problem.
    Some children were engaged in prostitution for survival without 
apparent third-party involvement. NGOs reported that many teenagers in 
prostitution were runaways or products of orphanages and the foster 
care system. NGOs working with high-risk children attributed the 
problem largely to deficiencies in the foster care system, which often 
failed to provide adequate job skills and promote the adoption of 
unwanted children by capable parents. According to Ministry of the 
Interior statistics, police investigated 30 cases of commercial sexual 
exploitation of children in the first six months of the year, compared 
with 46 cases in all of 2009.
    The minimum age of consensual sex is 15. Sexual relations with a 
child younger than age 15 is punishable by a prison term up to eight 
years or, in the case of the death of the child, up to 18 years. The 
law prohibits the possession, manufacture, and distribution of child 
pornography, which is punishable by imprisonment for up to eight years.
    In October 2009 police broke up the largest network of distributors 
of child pornography in the country's history. The distributors 
operated in Prague and parts of southern and northern Moravia. Of the 
160 suspects involved, 32 were detained. One-quarter of the suspects 
were women. In November 2009 three civilian employees of the Ministry 
of Defense were detained. The operation involved approximately 1,000 
police throughout the country. More than 300 computers containing 
pictures and videos with child pornography were confiscated. The 
perpetrators ranged in age from 20 to 80. At year's end the 
investigation was ongoing, with additional arrests possible.
    In the first six months of the year, the Ministry of Justice 
reported that seven persons were convicted for production or other 
handling of child pornography. One person received a prison sentence 
and six received suspended sentences.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--Although estimates varied, the country's Jewish 
population was believed to be approximately 10,000. Public expressions 
of anti-Semitism were rare, but small, fairly well organized 
ultranationalist groups with anti-Semitic views were active around the 
country. The Ministry of the Interior continued to counter such groups, 
monitoring their activities, increasing cooperation with police from 
neighboring countries, and shutting down unauthorized rallies. In 2009 
according to the Ministry of Interior, police recorded 48 criminal 
offenses with an anti-Semitic motive, representing an increase of 78 
percent over 2008. The Federation of Jewish Communities reported 28 
anti-Semitic incidents, none of which was an attack on a person. 
Attacks included damage to property and spray painting of anti-Semitic 
remarks and Nazi symbols.
    Several groups advocating violence against Jews and other 
minorities were active. The number of rallies and demonstrations of 
extreme-right groups declined during the year.
    In January 2009 vandals damaged the monument to Holocaust victims 
in Teplice. Police investigated the case but closed it for lack of 
evidence. However, Teplice municipal officials, local police, and 
representatives of the local Jewish community introduced quarterly 
meetings to monitor and evaluate the overall situation.
    In November 2009 the Ministry of Defense discharged, without 
severance pay or pension, two military officers, based on reports that 
they had worn symbols of German SS units on their helmets while serving 
in Afghanistan. Their immediate supervisors retired.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    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, and the 
Government generally enforced these provisions. However, persons with 
disabilities faced a shortage of public accommodations and were 
unemployed at disproportionately high rates.
    The ombudsman is required to make regular visits to all 
governmental and private workplaces of persons with physical 
restrictions to examine conditions, ensure that fundamental rights are 
respected, and advocate for improved protection against mistreatment. 
His office made these visits throughout the year.
    In 2009 through its program to aid persons with disabilities, 
Mobility for All, the Government provided 112.5 million korunas 
(approximately $6.25 million) to cosponsor 56 projects in towns and 
cities throughout the country, building barrier-free sidewalks, 
crossings, crossroads, and handicapped elevators in government 
institutions; purchasing barrier-free buses; and providing barrier-free 
access to government institutions, schools, libraries, galleries, and 
museums.
    Approximately 60 percent of Prague's metro stations were accessible 
to persons with disabilities, and most buses and new tramcars were 
configured to accommodate them. However, of 15 major metro stations in 
the city center, only five were barrier free. There were 294 barrier-
free high schools in the country as well as 50 barrier-free 
institutions of higher learning, including universities.
    In prior years, media reports and the UN Human Rights Council 
sharply criticized the use in several social care homes of ``cage 
beds'' for young persons with severe mental and physical disabilities. 
During unannounced visits in 2009 to 25 psychiatric institutions, the 
ombudsman found that restraint beds were used in most geriatric 
psychiatric units. He found that net beds, enclosed areas, and 
sedatives administered without a physician present were often used to 
restrict patients' freedom of movement. In his report the ombudsman 
cited the lack of personnel as a major cause for the use of these beds.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Minority groups in the country 
included Roma, Ukrainians, Slovaks, Vietnamese, Poles, Russians, and 
Germans. Roma faced high levels of poverty, unemployment, and 
illiteracy as well as varying levels of discrimination in education, 
employment, and housing.
    Societal prejudice against the country's Romani population 
occasionally manifested itself in violence. Members and sympathizers of 
neo-Nazi organizations were the most frequent perpetrators of acts of 
interethnic violence, particularly against Roma. Ultranationalists were 
also active. During the year neo-Nazi and skinhead rallies or marches 
took place in several cities. Although the organizations operated 
separately, both the Workers Party and the National Party periodically 
announced they would be ``patrolling'' Romani neighborhoods or 
gatherings to ensure that no laws were being broken.
    On March 14, a Molotov cocktail was thrown into a bedroom of a 
Romani home in the settlement of Bedriska. A 14-year-old girl was 
asleep in the room at the time. The cocktail failed to explode upon 
impact, resulting in no injuries and little damage to the home. Local 
police arrested a neighbor and her minor son on charges of attempted 
murder. Although police determined that the attack was not racially 
motivated, activists said it could not be ruled out. On December 10, 
the regional court in Ostrava sentenced the boy to a three-year 
suspended sentence for attempted reckless endangerment and his mother 
to an 18-month suspended sentence for not stopping her son from 
throwing the cocktail.
    On May 12, the regional court in Ostrava opened the trial against 
Jaromir Lukes, David Vaculik, Ivo Mueller, and Vaclav Cojocaru, who 
were accused of throwing Molotov cocktails into the home of a Romani 
family in the town of Vitkov in April 2009. Three persons, including a 
two-year-old girl who was treated for second- and third-degree burns 
over 80 percent of her body, were injured in the resulting fire. On 
October 20, the court found all four guilty of attempted murder and 
property damage. The judge found the crime to involve extraordinary 
circumstances that allowed for more stringent sentencing. Vaculik, 
Mueller, and Lukes received 22-year sentence, and Cojocaru received a 
20-year sentence. These are the longest sentences ever handed down for 
a racially motivated crime. The four were also required to pay seven 
million korunas ($389,000) for the child's medical expenses and a 
further 10.072 million korunas ($560,000) to the child and her family 
for pain and suffering. The convicted persons immediately appealed. The 
appeals court will hear the case in 2011.
    On November 27, Pavel Louda, mayor of Novy Bydzov, posted a 
statement on the city's official Web site declaring a ``war on 
gypsies.'' In the statement he collectively blamed all Roma for rapes 
and thefts in the town and declared that the citizens wanted the Roma 
to ``disappear.'' He threatened to undertake repressive measures in 
order to bring the Roma under control. The prime minister and other 
government officials released statements condemning the mayor's 
actions. Neo-Nazi groups immediately began Internet discussions on ways 
to exploit the situation and how to organize ``Janov 2,'' a reference 
to the violent patrols of neo-Nazi groups culminating in a violent 
clash with police in Janov in 2008. They officially offered to send 
``monitoring teams'' to patrol the city. At the close of the year, no 
patrols had been conducted.
    In December police opened an investigation of a young Czech man for 
promoting Nazism on Facebook. The man placed photos, video, music, and 
personal opinions supporting Nazi and neo-Nazi actions.
    In May 2009 unknown persons attempted an arson attack against a 
Romani home in the village of Zdiby. No one in the home was injured. 
Police investigated the case but have made no arrests.
    Police arrested a number of right-wing extremists during 2009. In 
October 2009 UOOZ, the police Unit for Combating Organized Crime, 
arrested 24 individuals and charged 18 with supporting and promoting 
movements aimed at suppressing the rights and freedoms of the 
individual. Police president Oldrich Martinu stated that several of 
those arrested were linked to the neo-Nazi organization White Justice 
and had been trained by Lukas Sedlacek, a member of the Czech military. 
The Ministry of Defense discharged Sedlacek from the military without 
severance pay or pension. Other arrestees were linked to the National 
Resistance, the Workers Party, and the Resistance Women Unity group. In 
June the district court of Benesov found 11 of the defendants guilty, 
sentencing two individuals to 30 months' imprisonment, one individual 
to two years' imprisonment, two teenagers to one year in a juvenile 
detention center, and the others to a 30-month suspended sentence.
    In 2008 an estimated 1,000 police officers used force to prevent an 
estimated 500 well armed, right-wing rioters in Litvinov from attacking 
Roma. Approximately 300 Romani men who gathered to defend their 
community were also involved in the melee. In January 2009 the state 
prosecutor dropped rioting and assault charges against 15 protesters. 
The only persons convicted in the confrontation were two Roma sentenced 
to 400 hours of community service for physically and verbally 
assaulting members of the Workers Party. As a direct result of the 
incident, the Government stepped up the police presence in Romani 
neighborhoods, including increasing the police presence in Janov, the 
Litvinov Romani neighborhood, from 21 to 31 officers.
    During the year eight men stood trial for a series of attacks on 
Roma in 2008 in Sumbark, a neighborhood in Havirov with a large Romani 
population. Some of the alleged attackers were described as members of 
the group Thugs Havirov and one as a member of the group National 
Resistance. One attack victim was severely beaten. On December 17, the 
regional court in Ostrava found the defendants guilty; sentencing was 
deferred until the sentence for one of the defendants in an unrelated 
assault case was processed.
    In its 2009 annual report on hate crimes, the Organization for 
Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) reported that 188 persons 
were prosecuted and 103 persons were sentenced for crimes motivated by 
racial or similar hatred.
    Over the previous two years, police focused greater attention on 
combating promoters of extremism. The Security Information Service 
(BIS), the country's civilian domestic intelligence agency, reported at 
the start of May that right-wing extremist activity decreased in the 
country during the first six months of the year. BIS stated that 
developments involving neo-Nazis were particularly influenced by police 
raids in 2009 against members of extremist parties and the prohibition 
of the Workers' Party. The service believed that extremist groups were 
less unified than in the past.
    The Government completed construction work on a memorial for Romani 
victims of the Holocaust near the site of a World War II concentration 
camp for Roma in Lety. A new information center about the Romani 
Holocaust is also complete. In 2009 the Government allocated 21.5 
million korunas (approximately $1.2 million) for the memorial and 
purchased property from three nearby municipalities. Because the actual 
site of the concentration camp is currently a pig farm, Romani 
Holocaust survivors and activists rejected the Government's plan and 
insisted that the pig farm be removed. The Government rejected 
acquiring the pig farm as prohibitively expensive.
    The law prohibits employment discrimination based on ethnicity; 
however, Roma continued to face discrimination in employment. Some 
employers refused to hire Roma and requested that local labor offices 
not send them Romani applicants. According to a 2008 joint study by the 
Government and the World Bank, 55.8 percent of Roma of working age did 
not participate in the labor market (neither employed nor actively 
seeking employment), 5.2 percent were unemployed, and 12.2 percent did 
not have a job but reported income during the survey period.
    Roma faced widespread discrimination in access to housing and other 
accommodations. While housing discrimination based on ethnicity is 
prohibited by law, NGOs stated that some municipalities still applied 
municipal regulations in a way that discriminated against certain 
socially disadvantaged groups, primarily Roma, including basing housing 
decisions on the reputation of the applicant and family at previous 
residences.
    A 2006 Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs study found that more 
than 330 ``excluded'' localities or ghettos in the country were almost 
exclusively inhabited by Roma. Some ghettos consisted only of several 
houses on the outskirts of towns and some were just individual houses 
in towns and cities. The study estimated the combined population in 
these ghettos at 80,000, or more than one-third of the country's Romani 
population. The study found that the ghettos were blighted by 
substandard housing and poor health conditions. The author of the 
study, Ivan Gabal of the Gabal Analysis & Consulting research firm, 
believed the size of the ghettos was continuing to grow. Beyond housing 
discrimination, reasons for the growth in Romani-dominated ghettos 
included unaffordable rents elsewhere and urban gentrification.
    Restaurants, bars, and other public places at times refused to 
serve Roma.
    The Government continued implementing a long-term integration plan 
for Roma coordinated by the Agency for Social Inclusion in Roma 
Localities. The agency was created in 2008 to synchronize and evaluate 
social integration efforts by ministries and municipalities. One of the 
most successful programs was Usvit, piloted in 2009 in the town of Most 
and the socially excluded area of Chanov. The Ministry of the Interior, 
the local government, the police force, and NGOs in the town of Most 
and neighborhood of Chanov collaborated to provide improved housing, 
train Romani mentors to ensure that Romani offenders complete probation 
to avoid incarceration, hire police assistants to prevent crime, 
provide inclusion training to teachers, offer debt education training 
to young girls, and ensure media coverage of successful Roma. The 
program was expanded to seven additional excluded areas and encompassed 
28 ongoing projects.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 
transgender (LGBT) organizations operated freely in the country.
    On June 26, gay rights advocates held the third annual gay pride 
march in Brno. Members of the National Resistance protested the event 
but were kept away from the marchers by police. In June 2009 when the 
parade was held in Tabor, members of the Workers Party attempted to 
disrupt the march, but a police anticonflict team mostly separated them 
from marchers.
    The Government did not keep statistics regarding incidents of 
violence directed at individuals based on their sexual orientation or 
gender identity. A report by a government working group on issues 
involving sexual minorities indicated that physical and verbal attacks 
occurred, although they often were not reported.
    There were some reported cases of discrimination against persons 
based on sexual orientation. A gay registered partner of a parent may 
not adopt the partner's child, although a LGBT person not in a 
registered partnership may adopt.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--As of June 2009 the 
country required citizens of certain countries who request long-term 
resident status to provide a medical record proving they are not HIV 
positive.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law protects workers' right to 
form and join unions of their choice without authorization or excessive 
requirements, and workers, including foreign and migrant workers, 
generally exercised this right in practice. Although the law applies 
equally to Czech and foreign workers, the latter generally did not join 
unions due to the short-term nature of their work or the lack of social 
interaction with Czech employees. An estimated 10 percent of the 
workforce was unionized, a decrease of approximately 7 percent from 
2009, according to the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions 
(CMKOS), a national umbrella organization. Approximately 90 percent of 
nonagricultural union members were affiliated with CMKOS. Agricultural 
workers made up 2.9 percent of the workforce; 42 percent of 
agricultural workers were members of the Trade Union of Agricultural 
Workers.
    The law allows unions to conduct their activities without 
interference. While regulations entitle union members to conduct some 
union activities during work hours, the amount of time to which workers 
are entitled is not specified, leaving room for wide interpretation on 
the part of employers. CMKOS reported cases in which employers did not 
allow union members sufficient paid time to fulfill union 
responsibilities.
    Workers generally have the legal right to strike if mediation 
efforts fail. However, unionized workers in certain professions may not 
strike. These professions include judges, prosecutors, police, and 
members of the military and other security forces. The law limits the 
right to strike for workers involved in health care, nuclear energy, 
oil and gas pipelines, air traffic control, firefighting, and 
telecommunications. Workers in these sectors do, however, have access 
to mediation. The law requires unions to provide employers, in writing, 
with the total number of strikers and a list of the members of the 
strike committee or contact persons for negotiation purposes at least 
three days before a strike.

    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 level. The scope for collective 
bargaining was more limited for civil servants, whose wages are 
regulated by law. Under the law trade unions are the only bodies that 
may legally represent workers, including nonmembers of trade unions. 
During the year trade unions affiliated with CMKOS negotiated 
collective agreements that covered 25 to 30 percent of the workforce.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination; nonetheless, CMKOS 
reported that in 2008 and 2009 some employers pressured workers to give 
up their trade union activities by threatening either to fire them or 
to reduce their wages. In 2008 a leading hotel group, CPI Hotels, 
indicated to all members and officers of the CMKOS-affiliated Trade 
Union of Catering, Hotel, and Tourism Workers (OSPHCR) that employment 
at the newly acquired Cernigov Hotel in Hradec Kralove would be 
conditional on their leaving the union. The local OSPHCR organization 
subsequently terminated its activities in March 2009. The OSPHCR 
reported that, as of September 2010, the Cernigov Hotel trade union 
chapter had not been reconstituted. During 2009 individual members of 
the OSPHCR working at Gomel Hotel in Ceske Budejovice, the other hotel 
recently acquired by CPI Hotels, reportedly also yielded to pressure to 
either terminate their union membership or their employment. The union 
has not filed a formal complaint against CPI. The OSPHCR reported that 
some employees of another hotel owned by the CPI chain, the Clarion 
Congress Hotel in Prague, expressed general interest in organizing a 
trade union chapter.
    According to CMKOS, the number of violations of labor law and trade 
union rules increased during the year. CMKOS attributed the increase to 
the impact of the global economic downturn. However, union and nonunion 
employees were often not willing to file formal complaints or to 
testify against their employers due to fears of job loss, reduced 
wages, or degraded labor conditions. CMKOS-affiliated trade unions did 
not report many of the violations to CMKOS. Only eight of 32 unions 
responded to the questionnaire on antiunion discrimination distributed 
by CMKOS, and some of these requested to remain anonymous in all 
reporting. The questionnaire did find examples of violations including 
administrative obstacles to the collective bargaining process, 
unauthorized unilateral changes in wages, and threats to terminate 
union activities or face dismissal.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor; however, there were reports that men and 
women, including migrant workers, were subject to conditions of forced 
labor in the country. For more information, see the Department of 
State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at http://www.state.gov/g/
tip.
    In June two men were found guilty of trafficking for the purpose of 
labor exploitation by the regional court in Usti nad Labem. It was the 
first successfully prosecuted case of forced labor in the country. The 
men operated a temporary employment agency, which was hired to provide 
seasonal workers for a meat factory and asparagus farm. The factory and 
farm paid the employment agency for their services. However, the agency 
did not pay the Romanian workers any salary and used coercion and 
threats to force them to work without pay. Although the prosecutor won 
the case, she appealed the sentencing as too lenient. According to 
several NGO sources, the Government, in an effort to address the high 
unemployment of third country nationals, developed a plan to employ 
foreign workers at the Government-owned forestry company Lesy CR. A 
temporary employment agency was hired to provide workers from this 
target group. Reportedly the company signed contracts, written only in 
Czech, with approximately 500 Vietnamese. Unbeknownst to the workers, 
the contract stated that the first three months of employment 
constituted a ``training period,'' during which the ``trainees'' would 
not be paid. At the end of the initial three months, the agency fired 
the ``trainees'' and hired a new group of workers using the same 
contracts. Lesy CR remained unaware of the exploitation as the foreign 
workers feared if they complained they would be subject to deportation. 
Eventually word spread throughout the Vietnamese community, and the 
temporary employment agency began recruiting Mongolians. The agency 
reportedly exploited almost 2,000 workers before Lesy CR and government 
officials became aware of the situation. Government officials have not 
charged the owners of the agency with any criminal violations. Each 
worker signed a valid contract, and it is legal to provide unpaid 
training to prospective employees. NGOs, however, were working with the 
OSCE to find legal redress for the exploited workers.In 2008 the 
Government established an interministerial group to coordinate 
government efforts against trafficking and forced labor.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
Government effectively enforced laws and policies to protect children 
from exploitation in the workplace. The minimum legal working age is 
15. Employment conditions for children ages 15 to 18 were subject to 
strict safety standards. Children may obtain a permit from the Labor 
Office to work up to 12 months in artistic, cultural, sports, or 
advertising activities, subject to the conditions that the work must be 
age appropriate, safe, and compatible with full-time school attendance. 
The work cannot hinder the child's development. Such activities cannot 
take place between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. The State Bureau for Labor 
Inspections (SBLI) effectively enforced these regulations in practice. 
Infringement of child labor rules is subject to fines of up to two 
million korunas (approximately $110,000). During the year the SBLI did 
not report any cases of child labor law violations involving children 
less than 15 years old. With respect to children ages 15 to 18, the 
SBLI reported 14 cases of administrative violations of child labor law 
during the year. However, no fines were imposed due to the minor nature 
of the offenses.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The Ministry of Labor and Social 
Affairs establishes and enforces minimum wage standards. During the 
year the national minimum wage was 8,000 korunas (approximately $420) 
per month and provided a decent standard of living for a worker and 
family when combined with social benefits for low-paid workers. The 
last update to the minimum wage occurred in 2007. The minimum wage is 
enforced by the SBLI and was one of the main targets of SBLI 
inspections.
    The law provides for a 40-hour workweek, two days of rest, and a 
break of at least 30 minutes during the standard eight-hour workday. 
Employers may require up to eight hours per week of overtime when work 
needs demand but may not require more than 150 hours of overtime in a 
calendar year. Additional overtime is subject to the consent of the 
employee. Premium pay for overtime, equal to at least 125 percent of 
the average earnings, is governed by the provisions of the labor code.
    During the year SBLI inspectors conducted 5,472 labor code 
enforcement checks. The SBLI imposed fines totaling 23 million korunas 
(approximately $1.2 million) for substantial violations of the labor 
code involving contracts, wages, overtime pay, and rest periods.
    According to the International Organization for Migration, the 
standard conditions of work were not always observed in situations 
involving migrant workers. Low-qualified foreign workers coming from 
less developed countries were sometimes dependent on temporary 
employment agencies to find and retain work. According to trade unions 
and NGOs, migrants sometimes worked under substandard conditions and 
were subject to inhumane treatment by these agencies. Most commonly, 
salaries were paid to the agencies, which then garnished wages, 
resulting in workers receiving subminimum wages, working overtime 
without proper compensation, or working without any compensation at 
all. Since migrant workers seldom filed formal complaints of such 
abuses, authorities had few tools with which to intervene. The SBLI 
undertook regular inspections and dealt with accusations of labor 
infringements. During the year the SBLI inspected 89 work agencies 
employing migrant workers. According to the SBLI, the inspections 
revealed inconsistencies in work agreements, denials of salary bonus 
payments, and inconsistencies involving working hours and overtime. 
Although the SBLI did not establish any cases of systematic 
discrimination based on citizenship, gender, age, or health status, 
labor law violations were most frequently reported in cases where equal 
labor and wage conditions differed for permanent staff and temporary 
workers hired by agencies.
    In accordance with the labor code, an employer is obliged to 
provide safety and health protection in the workplace, maintain a safe 
and healthy work environment, and prevent health and safety risks. The 
SBLI effectively enforced health and safety standards. During the year 
12,012 checks focused on health and safety standards and occurred 
primarily (but not exclusively) in the construction industry and in the 
manufacturing, transport, agricultural, and forestry sectors. The 
inspections occurred both proactively and reactively during the year. 
Fines in excess of 20 million korunas (approximately $1.1 million) were 
imposed for cases of substantial infringement of the law. Workers have 
the right to refuse work endangering their life or health without 
risking the loss of their employment, and they exercised this right in 
practice. Workers have both the right and obligation to strengthen the 
efforts for protecting safety and health in the workplace by complying 
with health and safety standards. The number of registered injuries in 
the workplace decreased 9 percent from 2009, while the number of fatal 
accidents increased by 3 percent over 2009.

                               __________

                                DENMARK

    Denmark, with a population of approximately 5.5 million, is a 
constitutional monarchy with democratic parliamentary rule. Queen 
Margrethe II is head of state. A prime minister, usually the leader of 
the majority party or coalition, is head of government and presides 
over the cabinet, which is accountable to the unicameral Folketing 
(parliament). The minority, center-right coalition government led by 
the Liberal Party (Venstre) won a plurality of seats in the 2007 
elections, which were deemed free and fair. Security forces reported to 
civilian authorities.
    Authorities often held pretrial detainees together with convicted 
criminals, and there were instances in which they held children 
together with adults. During the year there were three cases of persons 
imprisoned for public speech or dissemination of statements that courts 
found constituted racism, while two similar cases were pending at 
year's end. Incidents of religious and ethnic discrimination against 
minority groups continued to be reported, and Romani rights advocates 
criticized the deportation of 37 Roma in July and August as 
discriminatory. Domestic violence against women and trafficking in 
women and children continued to be reported.
                        respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        From:

    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--The Government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings; however, 
on April 24, police shot and killed an individual during an attempted 
robbery. A preliminary investigation indicated that the killing was 
neither arbitrary nor unlawful.
    On June 13, the Office of the National Prosecutor reopened a 
November 2009 case in which police shot and killed a man who was armed 
with a knife.

    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 and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions 
generally met international standards, and the Government permitted 
monitoring visits by independent human rights observers, such as the 
Institute for Human Rights and Rehabilitation, in accordance with the 
UN's Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture. Such visits 
occurred during the year. However, authorities often held pretrial 
detainees together with convicted criminals, and there were instances 
in which authorities detained children together with adults. A law 
passed in June reduced to 14 years the age at which authorities could 
place children in police custody.
    According to government statistics, 14,244 new inmates entered 
prisons in 2009 (the most recent year for which statistics were 
available), of whom 1,199 were women and 783 were juveniles. On 
average, 3,715 prisoners (including 179 women and 24 juveniles) were 
incarcerated on a given day during 2009, which represented 
approximately 92 percent of the total prison capacity of 4,019 persons.
    Prisoners have access to visitors and religious counsel. They may 
adjust their work schedules to permit observance of their religion. 
Prisoners are able to make complaints without censorship directly to 
the Prison and Probation Service or via the parliamentary ombudsman. 
The investigations of these complaints are kept in a public register.
    The Government monitored prison and detention center conditions. 
The parliamentary ombudsman is responsible for inspecting these 
institutions. The ombudsman can serve on behalf of prisoners and 
detainees to consider such matters as advocating for alternatives to 
incarceration for nonviolent offenders to alleviate overcrowding; 
addressing the status and circumstances of confinement of juvenile 
offenders; and improving pretrial detention, bail, and recordkeeping 
procedures to ensure that prisoners do not serve beyond the maximum 
sentence for the charged offense. The ombudsman may not change a 
decision by the Danish Prison and Probation Service but may act on 
behalf of the prisoner to request reconsideration of a case. During the 
year there were no known credible complaints to the ombudsman regarding 
human rights violations or inhuman conditions at the state's prisons.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the national police, and the 
Government has effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse and 
corruption. There were no reports of impunity involving the security 
forces during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law allows 
police to begin investigations and make arrests either on their own 
initiative based upon visual evidence, or based on a court order 
following an indictment filed by public prosecutors with the courts. 
Apprehended persons are brought before an independent judiciary.
    If authorities take an individual into custody, the law mandates 
that he or she be brought before a judge within 24 hours; however, 
police are required by law to make every effort to limit this time to 
less than 12 hours. Statistics were not available regarding the average 
time prisoners were held prior to first appearance before a judge. 
After coming before a judge, individuals may be detained for a further 
period of up to 72 hours while the judge makes a decision on their 
status. A foreigner arrested in connection with immigration proceedings 
(i.e., deportation) may be held up to 72 hours before the initial 
appearance before a judge. Authorities generally respected the right to 
a prompt judicial determination and informed detainees quickly of 
charges against them.
    The country does not have a bail system; rather, a judge decides 
either to release the detainee on his or her recognizance or to keep 
the detainee in jail until trial. Pretrial detention is authorized only 
if: the violation could incur a sentence longer than 18 months, there 
is reason to believe the person is a flight risk, there is reason to 
believe the person may intend to commit a new offense, or the person's 
release would impede the investigation of the case. The period of 
pretrial custody should not exceed four weeks. However, a court order 
may further extend custody in four-week increments. According to the 
Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Ministry of 
Justice, 89.4 percent of detainees served less than three months in 
pretrial custody in 2008.
    The minister of justice is responsible for the rules regarding the 
treatment of pretrial detainees. A document circulated to police by the 
Danish Prison and Probation Service outlines detainees' rights to 
inform next of kin of their arrest, to contact a lawyer, and to have 
access to medical treatment. The circular specifies that arrested 
persons always have the right to unsupervised visits with an attorney 
from the time they are brought to a police station. The Government 
provided counsel for those who could not afford legal representation. 
The police may deny other forms of visitation to those in custody, 
subject to a court appeal. However, police generally did not restrict 
visitor access in practice.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution and law provide for the right 
to a fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this 
right. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Trials are 
public. Juries must hear criminal cases in which the maximum penalty is 
greater than four years' imprisonment. The law gives defendants the 
right to timely consultation with an attorney, at public expense if 
needed. Defendants have the right to question witnesses against them 
and to present their own witnesses. Defendants and their attorneys have 
access to government evidence relevant to their cases. The right of 
appeal is automatic and encompasses both procedural matters and 
sentences imposed. The law provides that courts may increase criminal 
sentences through additional charges when bias is proved as a motive. 
Bias can be based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or 
religion. The law extends the above rights to all citizens.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--The country is subject to 
legal decisions of the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR). The ECHR 
did not issue any negative decisions related to the country during the 
year. In 2009 the ECHR issued decisions against the country that found 
three violations with respect to the length of legal proceedings, two 
violations of the right to an effective remedy, and one violation of 
the right to protection of property as provided under the European 
Convention on Human Rights. The Government generally complied with the 
ECHR's judgments against it, for example by providing compensation to 
claimants.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters, including access to the court 
system to bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, a human 
rights violation. There were no reported problems enforcing domestic 
court orders. In addition to judicial remedies, administrative remedies 
are also available.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and 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 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. Individuals were able to 
criticize the Government publicly and privately without reprisal. The 
independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of views 
with few restrictions.
    The law prohibits any public speech or dissemination of statements 
or other pronouncements by which a group of persons is threatened, 
derided, or degraded because of their race, skin color, national or 
ethnic background, faith, or sexual orientation; offenders may be fined 
or imprisoned for up to two years. The law also prohibits ``blasphemy'' 
and provides that a person who publicly mocks or insults a legally 
existing religious community's tenets of faith or worship may be fined 
or imprisoned for up to four months. During the year, in addition to 
prosecuting racially motivated crimes (see section 6), courts found 
five individuals guilty of racism under the criminal code section which 
makes racist behavior, including speech, directly punishable by law. 
Three defendants served sentences ranging between 10 to 40 days in 
prison, one was fined 1,000 kroner ($178), and one was put on 
probation. Courts acquitted two other defendants tried during the year 
under the same section of law.
    In June parliament voted to lift the parliamentary immunity of 
Jesper Langballe, a member of the Danish People's Party, so he could be 
prosecuted for racism. A newspaper column in January quoted Langballe 
as saying that ``Muslims kill their daughters [over crimes of honor] 
and turn a blind eye while they are raped by their uncles.'' Langballe 
himself supported the lifting of his immunity, asserting that he wanted 
a court to hear the case. Langballe was writing in support of the views 
of Lars Hedegaard, a freedom-of-the-press activist who made even 
stronger remarks in 2009. A court fined Langballe 5,000 kronor ($890) 
on December 3, after he pled guilty. Langballe argued that the law as 
written made it impossible for a defendant to prove his innocence, and 
as a member of parliament he attempted unsuccessfully to have the law 
repealed. In August the public prosecutor charged Hedegaard with a 
similar offense. The Hedegaard case was pending trial as of year's end.
    Cartoonist Kurt Westergaard continued to receive security 
protection due to threats on his life because of his controversial 
cartoon depictions of the Prophet Mohammed, first published in 2005. On 
January 1, authorities arrested a 28-year-old Somali man with a Danish 
residence permit after, armed with an axe and a knife, he forced his 
way into Westergaard's home in Aarhus. Police responded to the home 
invasion, shot the intruder in the knee and the hand, and arrested him; 
he was charged with attempted murder of the cartoonist and of a police 
officer on duty. The Security and Intelligence Service (PET) considered 
the attempted killing of Westergaard to be terrorism related. According 
to PET's information, the arrested man had close relations to the 
Somali terror organization al-Shabaab and to al-Qaida leaders in East 
Africa.
    On August 31, after a five-year investigation into Roj-TV, a 
television network licensed in the country, for suspected links to the 
Kurdish terrorist organization PKK/Kongra Gel, authorities charged the 
network and its parent company with promoting the activities of a group 
that commits or intends to commit acts of terrorism. The director of 
public prosecutions stated that Roj-TV persistently broadcast 
television programs with a content aimed at promoting and supporting 
the activities of the PKK. The trial was scheduled to begin in August 
2011. In December the Eastern High Court upheld a lower-court ruling 
ordering police to unfreeze the station's bank accounts and return 
funds seized at the time of the August indictment.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
However, authorities continued to employ an Internet filter, designed 
to block child pornography, which operates on computers used by 98 
percent of the country's Internet users. During the year there were no 
known cases in which the filter mistakenly affected legitimate sites. 
Government statistics released in November indicated that approximately 
88 percent of the country's inhabitants use the Internet regularly, and 
89 percent of the population had some form of Internet access in their 
homes.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    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 the year, 262 
individuals sued the Copenhagen police force, alleging mistreatment 
during and after their detention in December 2009 in connection with 
the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. The Copenhagen City 
Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and ordered the police to pay 
compensation.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl//irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in 
providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, 
stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The constitution and law prohibit forced exile, and the Government 
did not employ it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the Government 
provided protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to 
countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account 
of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social 
group, or political opinion. During the first two quarters of the year, 
authorities received 2,223 applications for asylum, began processing 
1,316, and approved 929.
    In May 2009 the Government concluded an agreement with the Iraqi 
government under which Iraq would take back those of its citizens who 
had been denied asylum based on safe country of origin. In April the 
Ministry of Immigration and Integration Affairs reported that 272 
rejected Iraqi asylum seekers had been in the country at the time of 
the agreement, 88 of whom were still awaiting deportation.
    The Government also provided temporary humanitarian protection to 
individuals who may not qualify as refugees, providing such protection 
to 274 persons in the first five months of the year and to 413 persons 
in 2009.
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 based on universal suffrage.
    The territories of Greenland and the Faroe Islands have 
democratically elected governments whose powers may encompass all 
matters except the constitution, nationality, the Supreme Court, 
foreign and national security affairs, and monetary matters. 
Greenlanders and Faroese have the same rights as other citizens. Each 
territory elects two representatives to the parliament. In June 2009 
Greenland's new Self Governance Agreement, which further expanded the 
area of competency of Greenland's government, entered into force.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Free and fair parliamentary 
elections took place in 2007 and resulted in the continuation of a 
center-right coalition. In April 2009 Lars Loekke Rasmussen was named 
prime minister, replacing Anders Fogh Rasmussen (no relation), who 
resigned to become secretary general of NATO.
    Political parties could operate without restriction or outside 
interference.
    In parliamentary elections in 2007, 67 women were elected to the 
179-seat parliament, and after a cabinet reshuffle in February, there 
were nine women in the 19-seat cabinet. Following municipal and 
regional elections in November 2009, 32.1 percent of the members of 
municipal councils and 35.1 percent of the members of regional councils 
were women.
    Four citizens of other than Danish, Greenlandic, or Faroese origin 
were elected to the parliament in the 2007 elections. There were no 
ethnic minorities in the 19-seat cabinet. There were 65 persons of non-
Danish ethnic origin among those elected to municipal councils in the 
November 2009 municipal elections.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for corruption by officials, 
and the Government generally implemented the law effectively. There 
were isolated reports of government corruption during the year. One 
involved an accusation that a police chief on the island of Funen had 
regularly accepted free VIP tickets to a local event center since 2007, 
allegedly in exchange for assurances that police would give permission 
for performances to be held at the center.
    Public officials are not subject to financial disclosure laws, but 
government officials may not work on cases in which they have a 
personal or economic interest or represent a person, or have close 
relations to a person, who has a special interest in a specific matter. 
Officials must inform their superiors of any possible issues that might 
disqualify them. The Ministry of Justice and the State Employer's 
Authority in the Ministry of Finance are responsible for combating 
government corruption.
    The law provides for public access to government information, and 
the Government granted access to citizens and noncitizens, including 
foreign media.
Section 5. 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.
    A parliamentary ombudsman investigated complaints regarding 
national and local public authorities and any decisions they made 
regarding the treatment of citizens and their cases. The ombudsman 
could independently inspect, at his initiative, any facility within his 
authority, such as prisons, detention centers, and psychiatric 
hospitals. There was also a European ombudsman, who ensured compliance 
with EU basic rights, and a consumers' ombudsman, who investigated 
complaints related to discriminatory marketing. These ombudsmen enjoyed 
the Government's cooperation, operated without government or political 
interference, had adequate resources, and was considered effective.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit discrimination based on race, 
gender, disability, language, or social status, and the Government 
generally enforced the law effectively. However, there were incidents 
of violence against women, child abuse, and trafficking in persons.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is a criminal offense, and 
the Government effectively prosecuted persons accused of such crimes. 
In 2009 authorities received 431 reports of rape; charges were brought 
in 297 cases, resulting in 51 convictions. As of October 25, there were 
301 reports of rape. Penalties for rape include up to eight years' 
imprisonment or up to 12 years' imprisonment in aggravating 
circumstances.
    Violence against women, including spousal abuse, remained a 
problem. According to the Ministry for Gender Equality, an estimated 
28,000 women and 21,000 children experienced domestic violence 
annually. The National Organization of Shelters for Battered Women 
reported that in 2009, 36 crisis centers in Denmark proper (excluding 
Greenland and the Faroe Islands) received 14,821 applications for 
assistance. Of these, 7,430 were inquiries about available rooms at a 
shelter; in 2,991 cases, shelter space was available. Authorities 
estimated that 1,858 women moved into shelters in 2009. Under the law, 
any assault on another person is illegal. This also applies to domestic 
violence and rape. Penalties include imprisonment for up to 12 years, 
depending on the seriousness of the offense. The Government and 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) operated 24-hour hotlines, 
counseling centers, and shelters for female victims of violence and 
embarked on nationwide information campaigns and police training on 
gender-based violence.
    Honor killings were a relatively new phenomenon. In 2007 the 
national police force formally published a strategy to identify and 
combat such crimes. In 2009 police reported 185 separate cases 
involving honor-related crimes such as forced marriage and threats. 
They did not officially identify any honor-related killings during the 
year.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment and provides for monetary 
compensation for victims, paid by the perpetrator and/or the employer 
who allowed or failed to prevent the incident. The Government 
effectively enforced the law. Few cases were reported during the year.
    The Government recognized the basic right of couples and 
individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and 
timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so 
free from discrimination, coercion, and violence. Health clinics and 
local health NGOs were permitted to operate freely in disseminating 
information on family planning under the guidance of the Ministry of 
Public Health. There were no restrictions on access to contraceptives, 
and the Government provided free childbirth services. Women have 
unfettered access to maternal health services including skilled 
attendance during childbirth. Women also used nurses and midwives for 
prenatal and postnatal care unless the mother or child suffered more 
serious health complications. The maternal mortality rate is low, with 
only one known case during the year. According to a 2008 estimate of 
the UN Population Fund, maternal mortality was five deaths per 100,000 
live births. Men and women had equal access to diagnosis and treatment 
for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
    Women have the same legal status as men, including under family 
law, property law, and in the judicial system. The law requires equal 
pay for equal work. However, the Women's Council in Denmark reported 
that men, on average, earn as much as 18 percent more per hour than 
women. In the public sector, the difference was reported to be 20 
percent. Women held positions of authority throughout society, although 
they were notably underrepresented in senior business positions and as 
university professors.
    In January the Office of the Prime Minister instructed that all 
public-sector workplaces ``must be made aware of existing rules so that 
burqas and niqabs are not worn in central government, regional, or 
municipal work places'' because the Government ``is determined to fight 
the views about . . . women which the burqa and the niqab symbolize.''
    In August 2009 the UN Committee on the Elimination of 
Discrimination against Women released a report indicating that women 
occupied 13 percent of the management positions in the labor market. 
The report noted that aside from the difference in pay, women generally 
did not experience economic discrimination in access to employment, 
credit, or owning or managing businesses.

    Children.--Citizenship is primarily derived from one's parents. 
Citizenship is automatically given to children of married parents, 
provided one parent is a citizen, and to children of unwed citizen 
mothers. The child of an unmarried citizen father and a foreign mother 
can only become a citizen if the child is born in the country. Anyone 
born in the country who would otherwise be stateless has the right to 
obtain citizenship either at birth or by application at a later date. 
The law requires that all persons practicing medicine in the country 
register the births of the children they deliver.
    During the first half of the year, police received 85 reports of 
the sexual abuse of children, compared with 131 reports for 2009.
    Female genital mutilation (FGM)--with or without consent of the 
victim or her parents--is illegal and carries a maximum penalty of six 
to 10 years in prison. The law applies to nationals and residents, 
regardless of whether the act was committed within the country or 
abroad and regardless of whether the act was a criminal offense under 
the law of the country where it was committed. The first case of FGM to 
be prosecuted in the country was tried in 2009. A court convicted a 49-
year-old woman of Eritrean background of performing FGM on her two 
daughters. The court sentenced her to two years in prison, of which 18 
months were suspended and the remaining six months corresponded to time 
served. The husband was acquitted. The Government conducted information 
campaigns targeting the problem of FGM.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish population was estimated at 6,000 
persons. There were isolated incidents of anti-Semitism. According to 
victims' reports, the perpetrators were mainly immigrants, many of them 
from Arab and other Muslim countries. Most incidents involved 
vandalism, such as graffiti, and nonviolent verbal assaults.
    In December PET released its annual report on religious- and race-
related crime reported in 2009. The report included 21 incidents 
attributed specifically to religious motivation, up from nine incidents 
in 2008, but did not distinguish between anti-Semitic and other forms 
of religious motivation. The increase was attributed to a broadened 
definition of religiously motivated crime and a campaign to encourage 
local police precincts to report such crimes more reliably. Only one of 
the 21 incidents was involved violence; the others included harassment, 
graffiti and other vandalism, propaganda, and threats of violence. The 
Mosaic Religious Society, which represents one-third of the country's 
Jewish population, claimed that there were seven incidents of anti-
Semitism in the first half of the year and 22 in 2009.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical and mental disabilities in employment, 
education, access to health care or other state services, and other 
areas, and the Government effectively enforced these provisions in 
practice. The law mandates access to buildings, education, information, 
and communications for persons with disabilities, and the Government 
generally enforced these provisions in practice.
    The Ministry of Social Affairs has responsibility for protecting 
the rights of persons with disabilities, and implementation is the 
responsibility of municipal governments. The Danish Disability Council, 
a government-funded organization, monitored the status of persons with 
disabilities and advised the Government and the parliament on issues 
relating to disability policy. The Equal Opportunities Center for 
Disabled Persons is a government-funded entity that documented and 
alerted the Government to inequalities in society that affected persons 
with disabilities. The Danish Institute for Human Rights and the 
parliamentary ombudsman were also involved in monitoring the treatment 
of disabled persons. Each year, the ombudsman receives a significant 
number of complaints related to discrimination against persons with 
disabilities.
    In April 2009 the Government reported that more than 16,000 adults 
were in state-sponsored, long-term or temporary, special-care 
facilities for the persons with physical or mental disabilities.. The 
state also provided protected employment for approximately 9,000 
persons with disabilities and offered 22,500 such individuals special 
state-sponsored activities to assist in their well-being. This was a 
part of the state's effort to move care for persons with disabilities 
from institutions to a home environment to promote greater individual 
self-reliance and reduced dependence on the public sector.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--In December 2009 PET reported 
175 recorded hate crimes for 2008, the most recent year for which 
figures were available. This represented roughly a five-fold increase 
compared to 2007. Police attributed the increase to a new definition 
used by PET of what constitutes a hate crime broadened to include 
crimes motivated by political issues, skin color, nationality, ethnic 
origin, religious beliefs, and sexual orientation. For the first time, 
PET combined its hate crime cases with those from the various regional 
and national police registries. According to police, hate-crime victims 
included ``Jews and people of an ethnic origin other than Danish'' 
(mostly African or Middle Eastern ethnic groups). Members of minority 
groups were sometimes the perpetrators of incidents against other 
minority groups. Reported cases included such hostile actions as 
graffiti, vandalism, theft, and racist Internet and written messages. 
The Government effectively investigated and dealt with cases of 
racially motivated violence.
    The presence of ethnically and racially diverse refugees and 
immigrants (mostly Turks, Iraqis, Lebanese, Pakistanis, Somalis, 
Afghanis and refugees from the former Yugoslavia) caused some tension 
between citizens and immigrants, which were documented in press 
reports. A report released by the EU Human Rights Agency in December 
2009 stated that every third Somali in the country had experienced some 
form of racial harassment. During the year a local police department 
fined an individual 1,000 kroner ($178) for refusing to pay a fare to a 
taxi driver because the driver was of an ethnic origin other than 
Danish and for using language derisive of the driver's ethnic origin in 
the ensuing argument.
    During July and August, the Government expelled 37 Roma to Romania 
after arresting them for illegal camping and trespassing in an 
abandoned building. The European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) criticized 
this action, asserting that the authorities failed to conduct 
individual assessments of the persons concerned and was discriminatory 
in singling out Roma. The ERRC charged the authorities with violating 
the European Convention on Human Rights, and on September 3, the ERRC 
filed an appeal against the deportations with the Danish Ministry of 
Refugees, Immigration, and Integration Affairs. The case was pending at 
year's end.
    In August the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial 
Discrimination (CERD) reviewed the country's periodic report to that 
body. While the committee observed some positive developments, CERD 
disapproved of the wide breadth of power given to the director of 
public prosecutions, especially related to the handling and 
discontinuance of cases involving racism.
    During the year a steering group of experts from the Copenhagen 
police department, the City of Copenhagen, the Danish Institute for 
Human Rights, and the City of Frederiksberg initiated a campaign to 
discourage hate crimes, including those motivated by ethnic and racial 
hostility (see Section 6, Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of 
Violence Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity).

    Indigenous People.--The law protects the rights of the indigenous 
Inuit inhabitants of Greenland. Greenland's legal system seeks to 
accommodate their customs, provides for the use of laypersons as 
judges, and sentences most prisoners to holding centers (rather than 
prisons), where they are encouraged to work, hunt, or fish during the 
day.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The annual Copenhagen Pride 
parade was held August 18-22 and was followed by a ``pride show'' in 
Copenhagen's main town square.
    During the year the Danish Institute for Human Rights joined with 
local governments and the Copenhagen police department to launch a 
campaign to discourage hate crimes. The stated goals of the campaign 
were to persuade victims and witnesses of hate crimes to report them to 
the police; prevent and combat hate crime; create a safe public 
environment in Copenhagen and Frederiksberg, especially for minority 
groups at risk of being victimized by hate crime; increase the general 
public's understanding of hate crime; and inform the public on places 
where victims of hate crimes can get help. It was too early to assess 
the effectiveness of the campaign.
    There were no reports of official or systematic societal 
discrimination based on sexual orientation.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of societal discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law states that all workers, 
including military and police personnel, may form or join independent 
unions of their choosing without previous authorization or excessive 
requirements. These laws were effectively enforced. Approximately 76 
percent of wage earners belonged to unions. Unions could conduct their 
activities without government interference. The law provides for the 
right to strike, and workers exercised this right during the year by 
conducting legal strikes. In some cases, when a strike occurs, not all 
union members may strike.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Collective 
bargaining is protected by law and was freely practiced. Members of the 
workforce associated with unions were covered by annual collective 
bargaining agreements. These agreements also indirectly influenced 
wages and working conditions for the rest of the workforce. The law 
allows unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the 
Government protected 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, and there were no 
reports that such practices occurred. Also see the Department of 
State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits the exploitation of children in the workplace, and the 
Government effectively enforced this prohibition in practice. No 
instances of child labor were reported.
    The minimum legal age for full-time employment is 15 years. The law 
sets a minimum age for part-time employment of 13 years; however, 
school-age children are limited to less strenuous tasks. The law limits 
work hours and sets occupational health and safety restrictions for 
children.
    Child labor law is enforced by the Danish Working Environment 
Authority (DWEA), an autonomous arm of the Ministry of Labor.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The law does not mandate a 
national minimum wage; minimum wages are negotiated between unions and 
employer associations. According to statistics released on March 1, the 
average minimum wage for all private and public sector collective 
bargaining agreements was 106 kroner ($19) per hour, exclusive of 
pension benefits. The wage provided a decent standard of living for a 
worker and family. Migrant workers are entitled to the same minimum 
wages and must adhere to the same employment regulations as citizens.
    Workers generally enjoyed a 37-hour workweek that was established 
by contract rather than by law. Workers received premium pay for 
overtime and were not subjected to compulsory overtime. Working hours 
were determined by collective bargaining agreements that adhered to the 
EU directive that an average workweek not exceed 48 hours.
    The law prescribes conditions of work, including safety and health; 
the DWEA ensured compliance with labor legislation. The same laws 
protect legal migrants and foreign workers, and this was enforced in 
practice.
    During the first 10 months of the year, the DWEA conducted 19,489 
company screenings, visits, and inspections and made 8,554 requirements 
for additional information or improvements concerning working-
environment problems, compared with 10,917 such requests out of 25,623 
inspections in 2009. If required improvements are not carried out 
within a specified time, the DWEA has the authority to take the case to 
police or the courts. Workers may remove themselves from hazardous 
situations without jeopardizing their employment, and authorities 
effectively enforced this right in practice. Greenland and the Faroe 
Islands have similar work conditions, except that their standard 
workweek was established by collective bargaining at 40 hours.

                               __________

                                ESTONIA

    With a population of 1.34 million, Estonia is a multiparty 
constitutional parliamentary democracy with a unicameral parliament, a 
prime minister as head of government, and a president as head of state. 
Parliamentary elections held in 2007 were generally free and fair. 
Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    There were problems in some areas. There were allegations that 
police used excessive force during the arrest of suspects; authorities 
investigated and brought charges against alleged offenders. Some 
shortcomings remained in detention center conditions; lengthy pretrial 
detention continued to be a problem; domestic violence, inequality of 
women's salaries, child abuse, and trafficking of women were also 
reported.
                        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 arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    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 used excessive physical force and verbal abuse 
during the arrest and questioning of suspects.
    During the year authorities processed 37 criminal cases related to 
police officers' excessive use of force. They dropped charges in 27 
cases and sent two to the prosecutor's office for further action. At 
year's end, eight cases were pending.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--The legal chancellor (the 
country's ombudsman) found a number of deficiencies in prison and 
detention center conditions, particularly in detention centers, where 
detainees are kept for short periods. The Government sought to correct 
some of these deficiencies. The Government permitted visits by 
independent human rights observers.
    In September the country's prisons and detention centers held 3,436 
persons, including 2,682 convicted prisoners and 754 pretrial 
detainees. Women made up 5.7 percent of the prisoners, and persons 
under the age of 18 accounted for 1.3 percent.
    Following visits in 2009 to detention centers in Rakvere, 
Kuressaare, and Haapsalu, the legal chancellor reported deficiencies in 
detainees' ability to take care of personal hygiene; deficient living 
conditions were a problem also in Voru and Valga police prefectures, 
although small renovations had improved the facilities. Some detention 
facilities lacked any possibilities for exercise. The legal chancellor 
reported insufficient access by detainees to legal information and 
incorrect registration of official documents, including the personal 
files of detainees.
    During 2009 the chancellor also visited Murru and Tartu prisons, 
the former dating from the Soviet era. With regard to prisons, the 
chancellor noted that some shortcomings in physical facilities 
remained, including inadequate washrooms, primarily in Murru prison, 
which housed fewer than 500 prisoners. The chancellor also noted that 
more than half of all prisoners serve time in contemporary prisons.
    Authorities permitted prisoners and detainees to submit complaints 
to judicial authorities without censorship and to request investigation 
of credible allegations of inhumane conditions. However, the chancellor 
reported that information available to prisoners about their rights and 
about measures they could take to improve their circumstances was 
inadequate. Authorities investigated all complaints and documented the 
results of their investigations in a publicly accessible manner. 
Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. However, the chancellor criticized a 
serious shortage of telephones that limited the ability of prisoners to 
make contacts outside. He also noted that in Murru prison, the staff 
possessed inadequate knowledge of Russian to communicate properly with 
Russian-speaking prisoners.
    In September the Harju County Court announced the results of a 
trial in which a former acting director of Murru Prison, a former 
security chief, and a former warden were charged with negligence that 
lead to the deaths of two inmates at the hands of other prisoners in 
2006. The court acquitted the former acting prison director on all 
charges but convicted the former security chief of covering up the 
first-degree crime and fined him 58,200 kroon ($4,900). On October 13, 
the court convicted the former warden as an accessory to murder and was 
sentenced him to three years in prison. At year's end the sentence was 
being appealed to the district court.
    The Government permitted local and international human rights 
groups and the media to monitor prison conditions, and such monitoring 
occurred during the year. The Council of Europe's Committee for the 
Prevention of Torture last visited the country in 2007. Authorities had 
not released the report on that visit by year's end. The legal 
chancellor may not act on behalf of individual prisoners but can make 
recommendations to ministries to improve such matters as detention 
conditions and record-keeping procedures.
    The chancellor noted that the Government continued to make 
improvements in prison facilities. For example, in Murru Prison rooms 
for the provision of health care services were refurbished and, 
according to the prison administration, other parts of the facility 
that were in particularly poor sanitary condition were being 
refurbished step by step.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and laws 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the national police, the border guard 
board, the security police board, and the tax and customs board, and 
the Government has effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse 
and corruption. There were no reports of impunity involving the 
security forces during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--By law 
authorities must in most cases possess warrants issued by a court to 
make arrests. They must inform detainees promptly of the grounds for 
their arrest. There is a functioning bail system. Authorities may hold 
a person for 48 hours without charge; further detention requires a 
court order. Police rarely violated these requirements. Detainees are 
entitled to immediate access to legal counsel, and the Government pays 
for legal counsel for indigent persons. The legal chancellor reported 
cases of insufficient access to legal documentation in prisons and 
detention centers and insufficient telephones to contact family 
members.
    Lengthy pretrial detention was a problem. By law authorities may 
hold a person in pretrial detention for six months. In a particularly 
complex criminal case, the judge responsible for the preliminary 
investigation may extend the length of detention at the request of a 
chief public prosecutor. Approximately 24 percent of the incarcerated 
population was in pretrial detention; the average length of pretrial 
detention was seven months.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence and 
have the right of appeal. Trials are public. Juries are not used. Cases 
may be heard by a single judge, a judge together with public assessors, 
or a committee of judges. Defendants have the right to be present and 
to consult with an attorney in a timely manner. In criminal 
proceedings, an attorney is available to all defendants at public 
expense, although individuals often preferred to hire their own 
attorneys. In civil proceedings, an attorney is provided for indigents. 
Defendants may confront or question witnesses against them and present 
witnesses and evidence on their own behalf. Defendants and their 
attorneys have access to government-held evidence relevant to their 
cases. The law extends these rights to all residents, whether or not 
they are citizens.
    The constitution provides for the right to a fair trial, and an 
independent judiciary generally enforced this right.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--In 2009 the European Court 
of Human Rights delivered four judgments in which it found violations 
of the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights or its 
protocols. When the cases involved individuals, authorities made the 
necessary awards within the required three months. In a finding related 
to policies and laws, the Ministry of Justice prepared corrective 
legislation, which was with parliament at the end of the year.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters. There is access to a court to 
bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, a human rights 
violation. Administrative as well as judicial remedies are available 
for alleged wrongs. There were no problems with enforcing civil court 
orders.

    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 the press.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet and no reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
During the year approximately 75.1 percent of the population used the 
Internet, and 68 percent of households had Internet access in the home.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution provides for this right, and the Government 
generally respected it in practice.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for this right 
for citizens, and the Government generally respected it in practice. 
The law specifies that only citizens may join political parties, but 
noncitizens are free to join other civil groups.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, 
stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not 
employ it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The laws provide for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees.
    The Government has a ``safe country of origin or transit'' policy; 
it regarded countries that were parties to the 1951 refugee convention 
as safe countries, but authorities reported that they granted 
interviews to all individual asylum seekers. In practice the Government 
provided some protection against expulsion or return of refugees to 
countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account 
of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social 
group, or political opinion. During the year, 33 persons applied for 
asylum. The Government granted refugee status or asylum to 11 
individuals. Government officials indicated that it made decisions on 
asylum claims after soliciting the UNHCR's views. A negative decision 
on an asylum claim may be appealed to the courts and such appeals have 
been made. The applicant may remain in the country during the 
procedure.
    The UNHCR, in its Universal Periodic Review of the country's 
refugee practices, released in July, referred to ``the remarkably low 
number'' of registered asylum seekers at the border, and suggested a 
``possible lack of access to the asylum procedure for persons in need 
of international protection who are being turned away at the border.'' 
In particular the UNHCR criticized the authority that the border guards 
have to conduct the initial examination of asylum claims submitted at 
the border with ``the power to refuse entry, if there is a manifestly 
unfounded case. In such situations, the asylum seeker is immediately 
sent away from the Estonian border.'' Government representatives 
indicated that border guards underwent thorough training in the asylum 
process as part of the process of the country's joining the Schengen 
Area. Observers have noted that the small number of applicants may be 
due to the comparatively low level of asylee benefits compared with 
some neighboring countries.
    During the year the Government provided temporary protection to six 
individuals who did not qualify as refugees.

    Stateless Persons.--Citizenship derives from one's parents. 
According to government statistics, at the end of the year, 100,942 
persons, or 7.5 percent of the population, were of undetermined 
citizenship or de facto stateless. A large majority of the stateless 
were ethnic Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, or other Russian 
speakers who became stateless due to state succession. The UNHCR 
recorded 104,813 stateless persons as of the end of 2009.
    Nearly all stateless persons were long-term residents and, as such, 
could vote in local, but not parliamentary, elections. There are 
statutory procedures that offer opportunities to gain legal residence 
status or citizenship. Individuals of undetermined citizenship were 
eligible to apply for naturalization, but must pass language and civics 
tests before acquiring citizenship. In 2009, 55 percent of those taking 
the test at the level required to acquire citizenship passed. 
Authorities have adopted policies, such as funding citizenship and 
language courses and simplifying the process for persons with 
disabilities, to facilitate acquisition of citizenship by those 
stateless persons who wish it. Children under 15 years of age whose 
parents are residents of undetermined citizenship and have lived in the 
country for five years are eligible to acquire citizenship at their 
parents' request.
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 based on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In 2007 the country held 
parliamentary elections, considered free and fair, that led to the 
formation of a coalition government. Political parties could operate 
without restriction or outside interference.
    In June 2009 the country held elections to the European Parliament, 
and in October 2009 there were nationwide municipal elections. Both 
were considered free and fair.
    Only citizens may vote in parliamentary elections or be members of 
political parties. Noncitizens who reach the age of 18 by election day, 
whose address in their rural municipality or city is entered in the 
population register, and who reside in the country on the basis of a 
long-term residence permit, may vote in local elections. Resident 
noncitizens may not run for office.
    Citizens of the European Union (EU) who have established permanent 
residency may also vote in local elections, and those EU citizens who 
are registered in the country's population register may vote in 
elections to the European Parliament.
    There were 24 women in the 101-seat parliament. The speaker and 
deputy speaker of the parliament were women. There was one female 
minister in the 13-member cabinet.
    Nine members of ethnic minorities served in the 101-seat 
parliament.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government generally implemented these laws effectively. As 
demonstrated in the World Bank's broad-based corruption indicators, the 
Government has effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse and 
corruption. There were several reports of government corruption during 
the year.
    There were reports of corruption among the judiciary. In January a 
former Viru County court judge was jailed for two years for claiming 
and accepting a bribe to release a murder suspect. In March a Parnu 
County court sentenced another former Viru County court judge to two 
years and eight months in jail for taking a bribe and leaking details 
to criminals of a surveillance operation he had himself authorized. 
Some of the leaked information was considered highly confidential. On 
November 19, a former Voru County court judge sentenced Vambola Oll to 
six months in prison and three-and-a-half years' probation for 
knowingly making an illegal decision to favour one of his acquaintances 
in a misdemeanour case and for accepting a bribe.
    On May 26, the Supreme Court let stand the Harju County court's May 
2009 conviction of businessman Aivo Parn, lawyer Tarmo Sild, and former 
minister of environment Villu Reiljan of attempted bribery in 
connection with the sale of a building belonging to the Ministry of the 
Environment. The former minister received a suspended jail sentence of 
two years and three months for demanding a bribe, while the court fined 
the lawyer and the businessman, the former for acting as intermediary 
and the latter for promising a bribe.
    No verdict was announced by year's end in the trial of former 
environment minister and former head of the People's Union political 
party, Villu Reiljan, who was charged with illegally approving the 
exchange of protected land in nature preserves for other state 
properties. The trial began in the Harju County court in November 2009. 
State prosecutors also charged two well-known politicians, the head of 
a state agency, and a group of businessmen with involvement in the 
illegal exchange.
    Public officials are subject to financial disclosure laws. The 
Justice Ministry is responsible for coordinating anticorruption 
activities.
    The law provides for public access to government information and 
allows for monitoring of the public sector's performance. The 
Government provided access to citizens and noncitizens in practice, 
including foreign media.
Section 5. 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.
    The legal chancellor, an independent official with a staff of 30 
persons, performs the role of human rights ombudsman. The legal 
chancellor reviews legislation for compliance with the constitution and 
oversees observance by authorities of fundamental rights and freedoms 
and the principles of good governance. The legal chancellor also helps 
resolve accusations of discrimination based on gender, race, 
nationality (ethnic origin), color, language, religion, social status, 
age, disability, and sexual orientation. The legal chancellor makes 
recommendations to ministries and local governments, requests 
responses, and has the authority to appeal to the Supreme Court. The 
legal chancellor compiles an annual report for parliament. Public trust 
in the office was high, and the Government was responsive to the 
reports and decisions issued by this office.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, 
disability, language, or social status, and the Government generally 
enforced the prohibitions. However, violence against women and child 
abuse were problems.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is illegal, and authorities 
prosecuted rape cases. The penalty for rape is up to 15 years' 
imprisonment. In 2009 police reported 124 rapes, 40 percent of all 
sexual crimes. In 2009 courts convicted 52 persons of sexual assault, 
including 32 for sexual assault of minors.
    Violence against women, including spousal abuse, was a problem. 
NGOs reported that one woman in four has suffered physical, sexual, or 
emotional domestic violence, and NGOs considered domestic violence a 
serious problem. The law prohibits physical abuse; it does not 
differentiate between acts committed against men and women. Such abuse 
is punishable by a fine or imprisonment of up to three years, up to 
five in instances of longstanding and unremitting violence. In 2009 
police reported 4,518 cases of physical abuse, including domestic 
violence and physical abuse of minors, 59 percent of all violent 
crimes. In the same year courts convicted 1,160 individuals of physical 
abuse, including 15 who abused minors. A total of 39 individuals, 
including one whose victim was a minor, were convicted of longstanding 
and unremitting violence. Victims of domestic violence may obtain help, 
including counseling and legal assistance, from social workers employed 
by local governments and from specialized NGOs.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment; however, some incidents of 
sexual harassment in the workplace occurred. According to the law, 
disputes over sexual harassment may be resolved in court, by an 
administrative hearing by the legal chancellor, or by the gender 
equality and equal treatment commissioner. An injured party may demand 
compensation for damages and termination of the harmful activity. 
During 2008 one local branch of the Labor Inspectorate handled five 
harassment cases involving four women and a man who filed complaints 
against their supervisors. In 2009 the maximum compensation for damages 
was 50,000 kroon ($4,490). During the year the gender equality and 
equal treatment commissioner received three complaints regarding sexual 
harassment; all were from women. Of women participating in a government 
survey, 4.4 percent had experienced sexual harassment.
    The Government recognized the basic right of couples and 
individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and 
timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so 
free from discrimination, coercion, and violence. Health clinics and 
local health NGOs operated freely in disseminating information on 
family planning. There are no restrictions on access to contraceptives. 
The incidence of maternal mortality is low. According to 2008 UN 
estimates, the maternal mortality rate was 12 deaths per 100,000 live 
births. Access to maternal health services, including skilled 
attendance during childbirth, prenatal care, essential obstetric care, 
and postpartum care is available free of charge. Women received equal 
access to diagnosis and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, 
including HIV.
    Although women have the same legal rights as men under the law and 
are entitled to equal pay for equal work, these rights were not always 
observed in practice. While the average educational level of women was 
higher than that of men, women's average pay was generally lower, and 
there continued to be female- and male-dominated professions. According 
to government statistics, women earned on average 30.3 percent less 
than men in 2007. The 2004 Gender Equality Act established the position 
of Gender Equality and Equal Treatment Commissioner, an independent and 
impartial expert who monitors compliance with that law. The Gender 
Equality Department of the Ministry of Social Affairs, established in 
1996, is responsible for coordinating the Government's efforts to 
eliminate gender inequality, drafting legislation to this end, and 
promoting gender equality.

    Children.--Citizenship derives from one's parents. One citizen 
parent may pass citizenship to a child regardless of the other parent's 
citizenship status. Children born to members of the country's large 
population of stateless persons were automatically stateless unless a 
long-term resident parent applied to obtain citizenship for the child 
before the child reached the age of 15.
    Child abuse continued to be a problem. In 2008 police reported 762 
cases of violence against children, including domestic and school 
violence. The police and the Border Guard Board worked to combat child 
abuse, including sexual abuse of children.
    In 2009 police registered 49 cases of rape of minors. Police 
registered 200 cases of sexual abuse of persons under 18 years of age, 
including 34 cases involving victims under the age of 14. In 2009 
courts convicted 32 persons of sexual assault of minors. There is no 
legal minimum age for consensual sex. The law prohibits child 
pornography; punishment ranges from a fine to as much as three years in 
prison.
    In September 2009 in a report issued following a 2008 visit to the 
country, the UN special rapporteur on the sale of children, children in 
prostitution, and child pornography emphasized that the age of consent 
for children should not be younger than 18. The rapporteur recommended 
assigning the role of ombudsman for children's rights to the legal 
chancellor.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual Report on Compliance with the Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction at http://
travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--
4308.html as well as country-specific information at http://
travel.state.gov/abduction/country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community was estimated to number 
approximately 2,500 persons.
    There was one report of anti-Semitic vandalism. On September 20, 
the Israel-based Coordination Forum for Countering Anti-Semitism 
reported that unknown persons spray painted swastikas on trees at the 
entrance to a Holocaust memorial at Klooga.
    On July 31, a march was held in Sinimae to honor veterans who had 
been part of the 20th Estonian Waffen SS Grenadier Division. The event 
has been a source of controversy in the past due to the connection 
between non-Baltic Waffen SS units and Nazi war crimes. There were no 
additional reports of anti-Semitic statements or actions associated 
with the event.
    The Government took a number of steps to associate itself with 
commemoration of the Holocaust and to encourage best practices in 
teaching about it in schools.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical and mental disabilities in employment, 
education, access to health care, or the provision of other state 
services. The Government generally enforced these provisions. The law 
does not mandate access to buildings for persons with disabilities; 
most older buildings were inaccessible, although new or renovated 
buildings generally were. The Ministry of Social Affairs is responsible 
for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities, and local 
governments are responsible for the provision of social welfare 
services to persons with disabilities. The Government focused on 
developing rehabilitation services to improve the ability of persons 
with disabilities to cope independently and increase their social 
inclusion. Children, adults, and elderly persons with disabilities 
necessitating prosthetics and orthopedic or other technical aids are 
compensated by the state for 50 to 90 percent of the cost of the 
device.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--While there is no specific law 
prohibiting hate crimes, the law prohibits incitement to hatred, 
violence, or discrimination on a variety of grounds, including 
nationality, race, skin color, language, and social origin.
    In August the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial 
Discrimination (CERD) recommended that the country prohibit racist 
organizations and that it make incitement of hatred on racial grounds a 
punishable offense. The existing law limits the prosecution of hate 
speech to acts that result in serious consequences. The report called 
for the state to redouble its efforts to address various forms of 
discrimination and further the integration of minorities, especially 
where language is an issue. The committee emphasized the importance of 
transforming the existing human rights institutions into an independent 
national human rights institution that would comply with the Paris 
Principles.
    The Government provides for the protection of the cultures of 
minority groups. However, some observers alleged that a law related to 
minority cultural autonomy is discriminatory because it has not been 
successfully used to support the large Russian population. In order for 
a minority group to receive the status of cultural autonomy, there must 
be an organization that represents a significant fraction of that 
minority's population; however, no single NGO represented the required 
fraction of the 343,000 ethnic Russians, so they did not enjoy this 
status. Ingrian Finns and Coastal Swedes were the only two groups to 
achieve recognition as culturally autonomous. The Government funds 
language and cultural programs for a number of other minority groups, 
including Russians. In districts where more than half of the population 
speaks a language other than Estonian, the law entitles inhabitants to 
receive official information in that language, and the law was 
respected in practice. The August UN CERD report recommended that the 
Government extend this entitlement to all districts regardless of the 
number of non-Estonian speakers. In practice the Government has already 
made attempts to do so.
    Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians are the largest ethnic 
minorities, together making up 29 percent of the population. The 
Government encouraged social integration through a policy that promotes 
naturalization and learning Estonian. Knowledge of Estonian is required 
to obtain citizenship, and all public servants and public sector 
employees, service personnel, medical professionals, and sole 
proprietors must possess a minimum competence in the language. A 
Language Inspectorate enforces language skills among these sectors 
through referrals to language classes and small fines. Proficiency is 
usually determined through examination; however, citizenship applicants 
who already passed the basic-level language proficiency examination or 
the basic school final examination for Estonian as a second language do 
not have to take the citizenship language examination.
    Largely for historical reasons, Russian speakers work 
disproportionately in blue-collar industries and continued to 
experience higher unemployment than ethnic Estonians.
    Some noncitizen residents, particularly ethnic Russians, alleged 
that the language requirement resulted in job and salary 
discrimination. Many Russian speakers believed they would face job 
discrimination even if they possessed adequate Estonian. The country's 
Human Development Report for 2008, prepared by a local NGO, noted that 
Russian speakers who possess equal human capital (fluent Estonian, 
higher education, and Estonian citizenship) faced greater difficulty 
finding positions as managers and professionals than did ethnic 
Estonians.
    More than 100 schools, 58 of them high schools, employed the 
Russian language for their instruction. The Government continued to 
implement its plan to provide 60 percent of all instruction in the 
``Russian-language'' high schools in the Estonian language by the 2011-
12 school year. Many of these high schools have implemented this 
transition more rapidly than required by the Governmental plan.
    Roma, who numbered fewer than 1,000, were primarily located in 
three areas in the country. Roma communities reportedly faced 
discrimination in employment and other areas. The Government took steps 
to emphasize the importance of education for Romani children, but a 
December 2009 report of the European Commission against Racism and 
Intolerance recorded the persistence of a high dropout rate and late 
entry into school among Romani children. The report also noted 
complaints that Romani children were being placed in schools for 
disabled children even though they were not disabled. A social worker 
explained that this was the only available mechanism to prepare the 
children for school, and one head of the Romani community told the 
press that the Roma themselves were to blame for not preparing their 
children for school. There were 15 students officially registered as 
Roma in the school system, but the Ministry of Education and Research 
estimated that there were approximately 90 students of Romani ancestry 
who identified themselves as Estonian- or Russian-speakers. With 
funding from the Ministry of Education and Research, the University of 
Tartu was conducting research, in cooperation with representatives of 
the Romani community, to devise strategies to boost educational 
performance and reduce the dropout rate among Romani youth.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--By law no person may be 
discriminated against on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, or 
other personal characteristics, and the Government generally respected 
these rights. There were no reports of official discrimination based on 
sexual orientation in employment and occupation, housing, 
statelessness, or access to education or health care. Human rights NGOs 
and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender groups, as well as private 
individuals, actively participated in public discussions dealing with 
issues connected to the rights of the LGBT community, but some 
activists expressed concern with the authorities' unwillingness to 
pursue more aggressively possible misdemeanors under the penal code 
involving incitement to hatred. While there were no reports of violence 
or human rights abuses specifically targeting individuals based on 
their sexual orientation or gender identity during the year, activists 
contended that the society was not very accepting of LGBT persons. Most 
LGBT persons do not reveal their sexual identities and would avoid 
reporting incidents to police. Anti-LGBT messages do not appear in 
mainstream media, but there were instances of performances in private 
clubs with anti-LGBT themes and recordings of music videos posted to 
social networking sites with lyrics and actions that encourage violence 
against gays and lesbians.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of societal violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides for the right of 
workers to form and join independent unions of their choice without 
previous authorization or excessive requirements; however, some workers 
found it difficult to exercise this right in practice. The 
Confederation of Estonian Trade Unions (EAKL) continued to report 
frequent violations of trade union rights in the private sector. Less 
than 8 percent of the total workforce belonged to trade unions; unions 
were present in the energy, transportation, teaching, public service, 
media, and services sectors, among others. The law allows unions to 
conduct their activities without interference, and the Government 
generally respected this right in practice.
    The law provides for the right to strike, and workers exercised 
this right in practice. Public servants at the state and municipal 
levels do not have the right to strike; there is a practice in place by 
which they may negotiate directly with their employers.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--According to 
government statistics, collectively bargained contracts covered 
approximately 32.7 percent of workers, including workers in enterprises 
with at least five workers. Collectively bargained contracts also cover 
nonunion members. The law provides for collective bargaining and 
collective dispute resolution, and collective bargaining was freely 
practiced.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination; however, the EAKL 
continued to report that antiunion behavior was widespread in the 
private sector. According to the EAKL, labor inspectorates did not 
efficiently enforce the law. Some enterprises advised workers against 
forming trade unions, threatened them with dismissal or a reduction in 
wages if they did so, or promised them benefits if they did not join 
unions. Both employees and employers have the right to request that 
labor dispute committees or the courts resolve individual labor 
disputes, and these mechanisms functioned effectively throughout the 
year.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
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 (please see the Department of 
State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
Government effectively enforced laws and policies to protect children 
from exploitation in the workplace.
    The law sets the minimum age for employment at 18, with some 
exceptions. Children 15 to 17 years old may work with the consent of a 
parent or guardian. With the consent of the Labor Inspectorate, minors 
seven to 12 years old may do light work in the areas of culture, art, 
sports, or advertising; minors 13 to 14 years old may work in some 
additional capacities.
    Children under the age of 18 may not perform hazardous or dangerous 
work. The law limits the hours that children may work and prohibits 
overtime or night work. The Labor Inspectorate was responsible for 
enforcing these laws and did so in practice. There were no separate 
inspections regarding the age of child workers.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national monthly minimum 
wage of 4,350 kroon ($391) did not provide a decent standard of living 
for a worker and family; however, 87.4 percent of the workforce earned 
more than the minimum wage. The minimum wage has remained the same for 
the past three years despite rising heat and electricity costs.
    The standard workweek is 40 hours. The law requires a rest period 
of at least 11 hours in sequence for every 24-hour period. Reduced 
working time is required for minors and for employees who perform 
underground work, work that poses a health hazard, or work of an 
otherwise special nature. The law requires overtime pay of not less 
than 150 percent of the hourly wage of the employee. These requirements 
were effectively enforced.
    The Government set occupational health and safety standards. The 
labor inspectorate, health protection inspectorate, and technical 
inspectorate were responsible for enforcement of these standards and 
made efforts to enforce them. Workers have the right to remove 
themselves from situations that endanger their health or safety without 
jeopardizing their continued employment, and they exercised this right 
in practice. In 2009 there were 2,927 occupational accidents, a ratio 
of 491.3 occupational accidents per 100,000 employees.

                               __________

                                FINLAND

    Finland is a constitutional republic of 5.3 million persons with a 
directly elected president and a unicameral parliament (Eduskunta). The 
prime minister is head of a four-party coalition government. 
Parliamentary elections in 2007 were free and fair. Security forces 
reported to civilian authorities.
    Human rights problems included police failure to provide detainees 
timely access to legal counsel, questionable contributions to political 
campaigns, violence against women, trafficking in persons, societal 
discrimination against foreign-born residents and Roma, and violence 
against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons and 
property.
                        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 arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices, and 
there were no reports that government officials employed them.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards, and the 
Government permitted monitoring visits by independent human rights 
observers.
    The Government's report on human rights policy stated that in 
January 2009, 510 cells in five penitentiaries had inadequate sanitary 
facilities. During the year the media reported that closures and 
renovations of selected prisons reduced the total number of inadequate 
cells to 200 in two penitentiaries.
    During the year prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to 
visitors and were permitted religious observance. Authorities permitted 
prisoners and detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities 
without censorship and to request investigation of credible allegations 
of inhumane conditions. There were no such complaints during the year.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government observed 
these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the military and the national police 
force, which are under the centralized control of the Ministry of 
Defense and the Ministry of the Interior, respectively. The Government 
has effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse and 
corruption. There were no reports of impunity involving security forces 
during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires police to have a warrant issued by a prosecutor to make an 
arrest. If an individual is arrested while committing a crime, a 
warrant must be obtained within three days; arrested persons must 
receive a court hearing within three days. Authorities usually 
respected these rights in practice. Detainees must be promptly informed 
of the charges against them, and lawyers must be provided for the 
indigent. There were no developments or reports of government action in 
response to the finding in 2009 by the Council of Europe's Committee 
for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) that detainees' access to legal 
counsel was often significantly delayed.
    There is no system of bail, but most defendants awaiting trial were 
eligible for conditional release based on personal recognizance. There 
were no reports of preventive detention, which the law allows 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.
    The law permits police to carry out a simplified pretrial 
investigation in cases such as endangering traffic, petty theft, and 
unlawful use of narcotics where the statutory punishment for the 
alleged offense is limited to a fine. In these simplified pretrial 
investigations police may often conduct the questioning and other 
aspects of the investigation soon after the offense at the place where 
it was allegedly committed.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected 
judicial independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution and law provide for the right 
to a fair public trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced 
this right.
    Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Trials in 
courts of the first instance are usually public. The law does not 
provide for trial by jury. Defendants have a right to be present at 
trial. They also have a right to consult an attorney in a timely 
manner, although in 2009 the CPT reported many cases in which detainees 
were denied prompt access to an attorney of their choice (see section 
1.e.). Attorneys are to be provided at public expense if defendants 
face serious criminal charges that can result in imprisonment or 
significant fines. Defendants can confront and question witnesses 
against them and present witnesses and evidence on their own behalf. 
Defendants and their attorneys have access to government-held evidence 
relevant to their cases. Defendants have a right of appeal.
    The law extends these rights to all citizens and legal residents. 
Irregular migrants have the same rights as citizens except that they 
may be removed from the country or deported for legal cause. An alien 
residing in the country has the right to be heard in a matter relating 
to the refusal of his or her entry, deportation, or prohibition of 
entry. If the matter is taken to court, the Supreme Administrative 
Court makes the final decision. The alien is allowed to stay in the 
country until the legal procedure is concluded.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--During the year the 
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued 17 judgments against the 
Government, some of them involving multiple infractions. In nine cases 
the court found excessive lengths of legal proceedings; in eight, 
violations of the freedom of expression; in two, violations of the 
right for a fair trial; and in two, violations of the right for the 
respect of family and private lives. When a breach of the ECHR is 
found, the Government's policy is to take action in the specific case 
in which the breach was found and enact legislative and administrative 
changes to avoid a repeat of the infraction.
    In June a study for the Ministry of Justice found that the 
country's laws and regulations were adequate for the protection of 
freedom of expression but that authorities did not take ECHR decisions 
into sufficient account when applying them. It recommended training for 
officials on those decisions. The ministry commissioned the study 
because the Government had lost many cases in the ECHR related to 
freedom of expression.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The constitution provides 
all persons in the country with a fundamental right to live under the 
rule of law and to have the law applied equally and without 
discrimination. The country has an independent and impartial judiciary 
in civil matters, and there was access to courts to bring lawsuits 
seeking damages for, or cessation of, human rights violations.

    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 and law provide 
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.
    Publishing hate material and public speech intended to incite 
discrimination or violence against any national, racial, religious, or 
ethnic group are crimes.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
According to the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority, 86 
percent of the country's residents used the Internet in the period from 
August to October, and 81 percent of households had an Internet 
connection. Supplementing private use, approximately 91 percent of 
enterprises are connected with broadband.
    In the beginning of July access to a broadband connection of at 
least one-megabit became a legally ``guaranteed right'' for all 
residents. Telecommunications service providers must be able to offer 
every permanent residence or business affordable and high-quality 
broadband access to the Internet. The new measure provides equally 
high-standard access to the Internet to all residents and to support 
services in sparsely populated areas of the country. According to the 
law, the broadband subscription's price and delivery time must be 
reasonable.
    Courts can fine persons found guilty of inciting racial hatred on 
the Internet, and during the year there were reports of court decisions 
fining individuals for publishing and distributing hate material via 
the Internet.
    On September 9, the prosecutor general's office charged a man who 
threatened Minister of Migration and Europe Astrid Thors by creating a 
group on the social networking Web site Facebook with the heading ``I 
am prepared to do a few years for killing Astrid Thors.'' He was 
charged with illegal threats, aggravated defamation, public 
encouragement of crime, and incitement against a national group. He was 
convicted on December 8 and fined 640 euros ($858); in addition his 
computer was confiscated. This was the country's first prosecution of a 
threat made on Facebook.
    On April 16, the Helsinki Court of Appeals upheld the fine of 615 
euros ($824) against Olavi Maenpaa, a member of the Turku city council 
from the True Finns Party, for making derogatory and slanderous remarks 
against immigrants in an election debate held in 2007 and broadcast on 
national television and the Internet.
    On June 3, the district court in Kymenlaakso found a 43-year-old 
man guilty of incitement of an ethnic group after he sold extremist 
white-power music on the Internet. The man was fined 420 euros ($563), 
but did not receive a jail sentence.
    On October 29, the Helsinki Court of Appeals upheld the district 
court's conviction of Jussi Halla-aho, a local politician and 
parliamentary candidate from the True Finns Party, for defaming 
religion and affirmed his fine of 330 euros ($442). However, the 
appeals court found that Halla-aho's Internet writings on Somalis were 
within the bounds of lawful exaggeration and provocation and dismissed 
charges of inciting racial hatred.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
and law provide for the freedoms of assembly and association, and the 
Government generally respected these rights in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl//irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice.
    The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in 
providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, 
stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees.
    On March 11, the Ministerial Working Group on Immigration Policy 
left the national quota allocation for the year at 750 refugees, 
unchanged from previous years. The ministerial group agreed to receive 
200 Iraqi refugees from Syria, 150 Burmese refugees from Thailand, 150 
Congolese refugees from Rwanda, 150 Afghan refugees from Iran, and 100 
refugees on an emergency basis. Afghan refugees were allocated a quota 
for the first time in five years. The Government selected quota 
refugees individually and gave preference to vulnerable refugee women. 
Authorities expected that approximately 2,000 fewer persons would seek 
asylum during the year than in 2009, when 5,988 applications were 
filed.
    The continuing deportation case of an Egyptian grandmother, Eveline 
Fadayel, received widespread media attention. The 65-year-old woman 
lived in the country since 2007. The Finnish Immigration Service 
previously denied her a residence permit because grandparents are not 
considered immediate family members. Authorities ordered her to leave 
the country by mid-June, but her relatives hid her. On August 31, the 
ECHR extended her temporary stay in the country, and the Government 
responded to the ruling on December 21 by issuing her a one-year 
residence permit. Fadayel subsequently died.
    On July 1, legislation entered into force to provide for faster 
adjudication of the claims of asylum seekers from other EU countries 
and reduce their monetary benefits. In practice a citizen from another 
EU country cannot be granted asylum in the country.
    In practice the Government provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to a country where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion.
    There were reports of societal discrimination against foreign-born 
residents, including refugees and asylum seekers, and there was 
violence directed at asylum applicants.
    According to statistics for 2009 from the UN High Commission for 
Refugees, 2,407 stateless persons lived in the country at the end of 
2009. A child may obtain citizenship from either his mother or father 
regardless of the place of birth and may also acquire citizenship if he 
is born in Finland and would otherwise be stateless. Involuntarily 
stateless persons and certain other special groups (such as refugees) 
have a shorter residency requirement than typical applicants before 
gaining citizenship--four years as opposed to six.
    All asylum applicants are granted temporary residency while they 
await the decision regarding their applications, but to discourage 
asylum seekers from destroying their identification documents, only 
those applicants who crossed the border with proper identification 
documentation may without discrimination seek employment, education, 
healthcare, property ownership, and other services after three months. 
Otherwise, the right to work may be granted after six months of 
residence.
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 based on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Parliamentary elections in 
2007 were considered free and fair. Political parties could operate 
without restriction or outside interference.
    There were 84 women in the 200-seat parliament and 12 women in the 
20-member Council of State (cabinet). The president, the prime 
minister, and the president of the Supreme Court were women.
    There were 13 members of minority groups in the parliament and two 
in the cabinet. The autonomous region of the Aland Islands elects one 
representative and has its own parliament. The indigenous Sami minority 
enjoys semiautonomous status and has its own parliament.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government generally implemented these laws effectively.
    Public debate on election-financing ambiguities continued during 
the year. Effective September 1, the law requires parties, candidates, 
and candidates' supporters to report every donation above 800 euros 
($1,072) in municipal elections or above 1,500 euros ($2,010) in other 
elections. This reporting requirement also applies to other forms of 
electoral support, such as funding seminars or donating goods and 
services for political purposes. The National Audit Office, the 
country's supreme audit institution, is responsible for collecting the 
reports and maintaining a public register on the Internet.
    During the year the National Bureau of Investigation continued 
investigating suspected instances of bribery and abuse of trust 
involving members of parliament from the Center and National Coalition 
parties.
    On September 16, Chancellor of Justice Jaakko Jonkka urged the 
parliamentary Constitutional Committee to investigate an alleged 
conflict of interest involving Matti Vanhanen (Center Party) while he 
was prime minister. Vanhanen left the prime minister's office on June 
22 because of this scandal. The alleged conflict of interest related to 
cabinet decisions about whether the state-run Slot Machine Association 
should aid the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Youth Foundation (a 
Center party-led housing charity). The Youth Foundation had funded 
Vanhanen's presidential election campaign in 2006. Vanhanen did not 
recuse himself from participating in these cabinet decisions. On 
October 12, the parliamentary Constitutional Law Committee requested a 
police inquiry into Vanhanen's role in his government's decisions.
    On October 27, prosecutors brought charges against seven former 
executives of the now-insolvent property developer Nova Corporation, 
including two CEOs, Arto Merisalo and Tapani Yli-Saunamaki, for 
aggravated debtor fraud and aggravated bookkeeping offenses. According 
to a police inquiry, the corporation's spending included giving more 
than 100,000 euros ($134,000) to the political fundraising body 
Kehittyvien Maakuntien Suomi. Nova also allegedly funded a birthday 
party for former foreign minister Ilkka Kanerva (National Coalition 
Party).
    In June the state prosecutor charged Markku Murto, the former CEO 
of Patria Vammas, a subsidiary of the majority-state-owned defense 
contractor Patria, and four other persons with the bribery of Egyptian 
officials and bookkeeping crimes. Investigators reviewed three separate 
allegations of bribery by Patria. The oldest of the cases involved 
possible bribery by Patria of high-ranking officials in Slovenia to 
help secure a contract for armored vehicles. The company's former CEO 
Jorma Wiitakorpi resigned in 2008 as the investigation into this matter 
intensified, and several other employees were arrested on charges of 
bribery related to this case in the same year. Of the two other cases 
being investigated by Finnish authorities, one involved allegations of 
bribery to secure contracts in Croatia, and the other involved possible 
violations of the country's corporate secrecy laws.
    All citizens, including public officials, are subject to public 
disclosure laws. By law income and asset information from all tax forms 
must be made public each year. The Office of the Chancellor of Justice 
oversees government activities and prosecutes cases of possible 
corruption.
    The law provides for public access to government information, with 
the exception of national security information and documents covered by 
privacy laws, and the Government provided such access in practice.
Section 5. 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 Parliamentary Ombudsman enjoyed the Government's cooperation, 
operated without government or party interference, and had adequate 
resources. In 2009, the last year for which data are available, 4,806 
new matters were referred to the ombudsman, and the ombudsman issued a 
decision in 4,903 cases. The main targets of the complaints received 
were the social welfare authorities, law enforcement authorities, heath 
care, municipal affairs, education, and taxation. The average length of 
time taken to deal with an oversight-of-legality case at the end of the 
year was 6.1 months.
    The parliamentary Constitutional Law Committee issued statements on 
bills submitted to it regarding their consonance with international 
human rights agreements. The parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee 
dealt with legislation relating to criminal and procedural law, the 
courts, and the prison system.
    On June 11, the Ita-Uusimaa district court found Francois 
Bazaramba, a Rwandan living in the country, guilty of committing 
genocide in Rwanda in 1994 and sentenced him to life in prison. The 
court found that Bazaramba, an ethnic Hutu, led attacks against Tutsis 
in southern Rwanda and gave orders and instructions that led to 
killings. In addition he was found to have disseminated anti-Tutsi 
propaganda, organized roadblocks, and distributed seized property. 
Bazaramba applied for asylum in the country in 2003. The Justice 
Ministry denied the Rwandan government's extradition request and tried 
Bazaramba because it feared Rwanda would not be able to provide a fair 
trial.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit discrimination based on race, 
gender, disability, language, or social status, and the Government 
effectively enforced these prohibitions. However, there were reports of 
violence against women and children, trafficking in persons, and 
societal discrimination against foreign-born residents and Roma.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape, including spousal rape, and the 
Government enforced the law effectively. The maximum prison sentence 
for rape is six years, but can be as much as 10 years in cases of 
aggravated rape. Between January and September, 648 cases of rape were 
reported to police. In 2009, 660 cases of rape were reported to police. 
The number of reported rapes during the year included cases reported to 
the Finnish Border Guards and Customs that were not included in 2009 
data. In 2009, the most recent period for which government figures were 
available, 153 persons were convicted of rape.
    On March 8, Amnesty International stated in two reports that 
victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence seeking justice in the 
country faced many obstacles, such as inadequate, negative, or 
dismissive responses by police, medical, and judicial personnel. On 
February 5, Allan Rosas, the country's judge in the European Court of 
Justice, stated to the Finnish Broadcasting Company that sentences by 
the country's courts for rape were light compared to those of other EU 
countries. During the year other legal scholars also criticized the 
variations among sentences by different courts for the same crimes.
    Police and other government officials actively encouraged victims 
to report rapes through various public awareness campaigns.
    Societal violence against women, including spousal abuse, continued 
to be a problem. According to the 2009 National Research Institute of 
Legal Policy survey, 12 percent of violence reported to the police 
qualified as domestic violence, 75 percent of victims of domestic 
violence were women, and 25 percent were men.
    Domestic abuse may be prosecuted under various criminal laws, 
including laws prohibiting rape, assault and battery, harassment, and 
disturbing the peace. The penalty for physical domestic violence ranges 
from a minimum of six months to a maximum of 10 years in prison.
    The NGO Federation of Mother and Child Homes and Shelters stated 
domestic violence is a problem in all age and social groups regardless 
of level of education. Violent behavior within a family often remained 
unreported to the police. A report by the Ministry of Social Affairs 
and Health highlighted three trends in violence against women. Sexual 
violence (including harassment) seemed to be more frequent. With 
approximately 100,000 women involved in domestic or sexual violence in 
2008, crimes involving serious domestic violence did not decrease 
significantly, since the number of women in relationships killed in 
violent deaths remained stable. In 2003-08, the period covered by the 
report, an average of 23 women were killed annually in partnerships. 
The number of women who experienced violence by their former husband or 
partner increased.
    Police may refer potential perpetrators or victims of domestic 
violence to government social welfare agencies that have programs 
designed to reduce domestic violence. These programs promoted 
cooperation between cohabiting partners by providing support to victims 
and anger management counseling and other advisory services to 
perpetrators.
    The Government encouraged women to report domestic violence and 
abuse and provided counseling, shelters, and other support services to 
victims of domestic violence and rape. The Government also funded NGOs 
that provided additional services, including a telephone hotline and 
crisis center. According to regional and municipal officials who 
operated shelters, most women who sought shelter from violence were 
between the ages of 25 and 35 and were married or in a cohabiting 
relationship; nearly one-fourth of those seeking shelter were reported 
to be immigrants, although shelter records often omitted victims' 
origins to protect them. Foreign-born residents who were not proficient 
in Finnish, Swedish, Sami, or English experienced some difficulty 
accessing domestic violence services.
    Sexual harassment is prohibited by law, and the Government 
generally enforced the law in practice. The prosecutor general is 
responsible for investigating sexual harassment cases. Employers who 
fail to protect employees from harassment are subject to fines or a 
maximum of six months' imprisonment. The Office of the Ombudsman for 
Minorities, one of the authorities that track gender-related problems 
in the country, noted an increase of inappropriate treatment in the 
workplace in 2009 related to working conditions (ambiguities in working 
hours and pay) or other unsatisfactory treatment such as name-calling 
or isolation in the work community.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children, and have 
the information and means to do so free of discrimination, coercion, 
and violence. Women have access to contraception and skilled attendance 
during childbirth, including obstetric and postpartum care. Women and 
men are equally diagnosed and treated for sexually transmitted 
infections. According to UN estimates for 2008, the maternal mortality 
rate in the country was 8 deaths per 100,000 live births, and all the 
births were assisted by skilled attendants.
    Women have the same rights as men under family and property laws 
and in the judicial system. The Government maintained three entities 
devoted to gender equality problems: the ombudsman for equality, the 
Gender Equality Unit, and the Council for Equality.
    The law stipulates that men and women must receive equal pay for 
equal work. However, allegations of wage discrimination against women 
continued. In 2009 the equality ombudsman's office received 540 
complaints (59 percent of all cases) alleging discrimination and 
unequal treatment.
    On average women earned 19 percent less than men for substantially 
similar work. According to Statistics Finland data from November, the 
most recent information available, the average monthly wage in the 
private sector for men was 3,297 euros ($4,418) but only 2,669 euros 
($3,576) for women. This disparity was attributed to the tendency of 
men to work in more senior or skilled positions than women, with the 
exception of the fields of medicine and education. Men tended to 
dominate the upper ranks in industry, finance, and some government 
ministries, while women remained overrepresented in lower-paying 
occupations. This pay gap narrowed slightly from 2008 to 2009 because 
women's earnings in the public sector rose faster than men's. The law 
provides that individuals may receive compensation for lost wages in 
cases where gender-based discrimination is proven.
    The conflict between the leadership of the Evangelical Lutheran 
Church (ELC), the larger of the country's two state churches, and 
members of its clergy who refused to cooperate with female pastors 
continued during the year. The recalcitrant clergy were in the 
minority, and on September 12, Irja Askola became the country's first 
female ELC bishop.
    The Supreme Court ruled on October 24 that a pastor who refused to 
work with a woman colleague was guilty of discrimination. The court's 
ruling brought to a close the first case in the country's legal history 
involving discrimination against woman clergy. The court heard that Ari 
Norro had refused to work with a woman, citing his convictions against 
female clergy. The Supreme Court ruled that religious freedoms do not 
supersede antidiscrimination laws. A district court had fined Norro 320 
euros ($429), and the appeals court and the Supreme Court upheld the 
fine.

    Children.--Citizenship at birth is generally derived through either 
or both of the child's parents. A child can also acquire citizenship at 
birth if he or she is born in the country and meets certain other 
criteria, such as if the parents have refugee status in the country or 
if the child is not eligible for any other country's citizenship. A 
local registration office records all births in the Population 
Information System.
    Between January and September, 840 cases of suspected child sexual 
abuse were reported to police, 55 percent more than in 2009. The 
minister of justice declared on both February 4 and May 4 that 
sentences for sex crimes against children were being toughened.
    According to the National Research Institute of Legal Policy, 
victimization is more prevalent among youths than it is among adults. A 
national victimization survey found that 20 percent of 15 to 19 year 
olds reported having been victims of violence or threats of violence in 
2009. Four percent reported violent victimization resulting in physical 
injury. Recent years have seen new types of victimization emerging 
through technology including harassment and threats by e-mail and SMS 
(text) messages.
    Children were subjected to violence at home, school, and during 
leisure activities. Girls tended to experience violence at home, while 
boys were subjected to violence outside the home, usually by another 
boy. Violence against children outside of the home by adults was 
limited, with less than 5 percent of children reporting physical 
violence by a teacher, and only isolated instances of violence and 
sexual abuse by recreational instructors. Psychological violence was 
more common; approximately 9 percent of students surveyed reported 
psychological violence from a teacher.
    The country has laws against statutory rape, with the age of sexual 
consent set at 16 years of age. The minimum age for a sex worker is 18 
years of age. A person whose age cannot be determined but who can 
justifiably be assumed to be under the age of 18 is regarded as a 
child. Sexual abuse of a child has a maximum sentence of four years' 
incarceration while aggravated sexual abuse of a child carries a 
maximum sentence of 10 years' imprisonment. Manufacturing, selling, 
renting, importing, or exporting sexually obscene pictures or 
recordings of a child carries a maximum prison sentence of two years, 
and aggravated distribution of sexually obscene pictures of children 
has a minimum sentence of four months and a maximum sentence of six 
years' imprisonment.
    There were no reports that child sex tourism was a problem in the 
country. If a resident engages in child sex tourism abroad, the 
country's laws provide for extraterritorial prosecution for such acts, 
and the citizen could be investigated and prosecuted by local law 
enforcement.
    There is a government ombudsman for children's problems under the 
Ministry for Social Affairs and Health. During the year the ombudsman 
continued to work to raise public awareness of child abuse and promote 
the Government's child, youth, and family policy program.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--According to Statistics Finland, the country's 
Jewish community numbered approximately 1,500. There were no reports of 
anti-Semitic acts.
    The Ministry of Education continued to integrate tolerance and 
antibias courses and material into the public-school curriculum. 
Students begin studying the Holocaust and the phenomenon of anti-
Semitism in the eighth grade.
    On August 1, the country's National Board of Education amended the 
national core curricula for basic and general upper secondary education 
levels to underscore the historic importance of the Holocaust and other 
historical human rights crimes.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution and law prohibit 
discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, 
and mental disabilities in employment, education, access to health 
care, or the provision of other state services. The Government 
effectively enforced these provisions.
    Laws mandating access to buildings for persons with disabilities 
were generally enforced, although many older buildings remained 
inaccessible. Most forms of public transportation were accessible, but 
problems continued in some geographically isolated areas. The Ministry 
for Social Affairs and Health and the Ministry of Employment and the 
Economy are responsible for protecting the rights of persons with 
disabilities, and do so effectively.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--There was some societal tension 
between ethnic Finns and minority groups, and there were reports of 
racist or xenophobic incidents. The most common reported race-related 
crime was assault. In 2009, the most recent year for which data are 
available, police received 1,007 reports of hate-crime-related crimes 
and misdemeanors. Approximately 85 percent of those reported crimes had 
indications of racist motives related to the victims' ethnic or 
national background. Religious and sexual motives counted for 11.5 
percent of reported cases.
    There were occasional reports of fighting between ethnic Finns and 
foreign-born youths of African and Middle Eastern descent, as well as 
fighting between rival ethnic immigrant groups. The law does not have a 
specific category for ``race-related crimes'' or ``hate crimes.'' 
However, racism as a motive or party to another motive to any other 
criminalized act is a cause for aggravating the sentence. Nine persons 
were under investigation following a fight at Helsinki's Linnanmaki 
amusement park that led to its early closure during the park's 60th 
anniversary celebrations on June 6. Six of the suspects were women, and 
three were men. They were all between the ages of 16 and 27. According 
to police, the fight began after a heated exchange between Somalis and 
Kurds in a line for one of the rides. According to media reports, 
dozens of young persons with immigrant backgrounds took part in the 
incident.
    On September 11, a fire almost destroyed a Buddhist temple under 
construction in Turku. Police investigated and stated that the fire was 
set deliberately. The media reported that the same temple was 
vandalized a week earlier, and there was an attempt to burn sheets that 
had been hung on the walls. It is to be the first purpose-built 
Buddhist temple in the country.
    According to the minority ombudsman, discrimination against the 
approximately 10,000 to 12,000 Roma in the country extended to all 
areas of life, resulting in their effective exclusion from society. 
Roma are classified as a ``traditional ethnic minority'' in the 
ombudsman's report. The Romani minority was the most frequent target of 
racially motivated discrimination, followed by Russian-speakers, 
Somalis, Turks, Iraqis, Sami, and Thais. Ethnic Finns were also 
occasionally victims of racially motivated crimes for associating with 
members of minority communities.
    On November 20, a group of approximately 15 persons wearing 
swastikas and brandishing Nazi symbols heckled an antiracism 
demonstration of 100 persons in Turku. Police held one of the hecklers 
overnight but did not arrest him.
    As of April, 52,200 Russian-speaking persons lived in the country, 
principally in Helsinki and areas along the Russian border. They were 
by far the largest minority not speaking Finnish or Swedish, the 
country's two official languages. In April 2009, the latest date for 
which data was available, unemployment among immigrants from the former 
Soviet Union (excluding Estonia) was 31 percent, compared to 17.6 
percent for all immigrants and 8.8 percent in the country overall. As 
causes for this discrepancy, a report by the minority ombudsman 
identified the lack of Finnish-language ability, the lack of education 
or recognition of training, personal cultural differences, lack of 
employers' confidence in Russian-speakers, discrimination, and the lack 
of local social networks. Russian-origin persons have the highest 
number of requests for assistance of any immigrant group and nearly 
double that of Somalis (the immigrant group with the second highest 
number of requests).
    On October 25, Eva Biaudet, the current ombudsman, proposed that 
the country institute an anonymous job application system for public 
sector jobs to counter discrimination against Russian-speakers. 
According to the ombudsman's office, the unemployment rate among 
Russian-speakers greatly exceeded the average rate among all foreigners 
even though many Russian-speakers are highly trained and have a good 
command of Finnish.
    The Government strongly encouraged tolerance and respect for 
minority groups and sought to address racial discrimination. All 
government ministries included antiracism provisions in their 
educational information, personnel policy, and training programs. The 
Government also monitored the treatment of national, racial, and ethnic 
minorities by police, border guards, and teachers. The Government's 
minority ombudsman monitored and assisted victims of discrimination. 
The ombudsman for minorities supervises compliance with the prohibition 
of ethnic discrimination.

    Indigenous People.--The constitution provides for the protection of 
the Sami language and culture, and the Government financially supported 
these protections. The Sami, who constitute less than 0.1 percent of 
the population, have full political and civil rights as citizens as 
well as a measure of autonomy in their civil and administrative 
affairs. A 21-member Sami parliament (Samediggi), popularly elected by 
the Sami, is responsible for the group's language, culture, and matters 
concerning their status as an indigenous people. The Sami parliament 
can adopt legally binding resolutions, propose initiatives, and provide 
policy guidance. It is an independent body but operates under the 
purview of the Interior Ministry. Despite constitutional protections, 
members of the Sami community continued to protest the lack of explicit 
legislation to safeguard Sami land, resources, and economic livelihood. 
The Government owns 90 percent of the land in the Sami home region, 
much of it in the form of national parks. Sami have alleged for decades 
that the Government used their land for logging and other purposes 
without consulting them.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--No person may be discriminated 
against on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, or other personal 
characteristics. The Government generally respected these rights, and 
law enforcement authorities investigated and punished violations of 
these rights. Gays in legal partnerships were not allowed to donate 
blood or organs for use in the country.
    On July 2, three men between the ages of 19 and 21 were accused of 
staging a preplanned attack on Helsinki's annual gay pride parade. 
After throwing smoke bombs to cause confusion, they assaulted more than 
30 persons, including children, with pepper spray. No one was seriously 
injured. Some 3,000 to 5,000 persons took part in the parade. The 
country's political leadership, including the president, condemned the 
attack. At year's end, police continued the pretrial investigation.
    On July 10, the media reported that the Helsinki office of the 
Association for Sexual Equality (SETA) was vandalized. The police 
stated that windows had been broken and a swastika painted on the Seta 
office door. The office was empty at the time. The police could not say 
whether the incident was linked to the attack on the Helsinki Pride 
parade. On the night of December 25-26, a similar attack occurred in 
Jyvaskyla in which windows of the local Seta office were broken, but no 
other vandalism occurred. Police and the landlords considered these 
incidents to be vandalism.
    On March 18, the Helsinki regional court of appeals awarded Johanna 
Korhonen 80,500 euros ($107,870) in damages and legal expenses in a 
case of wrongful dismissal. She was fired as editor in chief of the 
newspaper Lapin Kansa in 2008 prior to taking up her post. She alleged 
her new employers, Alma Media Group, abruptly fired her when they 
discovered her life partner was a woman. The award included 
compensation for violating the equality laws, as well as for wrongful 
dismissal. Alma Media Group CEO Kai Telanne also faced a criminal 
charge over the dismissal, and the Occupational Safety and Health 
Administration considered the company's action a case of illegal 
discrimination.
    On October 12, Tampere Bishop Matti Repo and Member of Parliament 
Paivi Rasanen from the Christian-Democratic Party questioned the need 
to protect the rights of LGBT persons in a televised program. In 
reaction to some of Repo's comments against LGBT persons, the media 
reported over 40,000 persons formally left the Evangelical Lutheran 
Church by November 3. This compared to the normal number of 44,000 
persons in an entire year. In contrast the Christian Democratic Party, 
which had some 12,000 registered members before the incident, 
reportedly gained 1,000 new members during the same period.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of societal violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The constitution provides for the 
freedom to form trade unions and to organize. The statute regulating 
work agreements extends these rights to both the employee and the 
employer. Any restriction or obstruction of these rights is prohibited. 
According to statistics from the Ministry of Employment and the 
Economy, approximately 71 percent of the workforce belonged to unions 
during the year. In January 2009 a survey by the University of Turku 
reported that approximately 30 percent of the foreign labor force in 
the country was unionized. On June 16, the largest labor federation, 
the Central Organization of Finnish Trade Unions, stated that roughly 
one-third of immigrant workers had joined labor unions.
    The law grants employees the right to strike, with some exceptions 
for public sector employees who provide essential services. Workers 
exercised this right in practice. An official dispute board can make 
nonbinding recommendations to the cabinet on ending or limiting the 
duration of strikes when national security is threatened.
    Employees prohibited from striking can use arbitration to provide 
for due process in the resolution of their concerns. The national 
conciliator assists the negotiating partners in settling labor disputes 
if a collective agreement cannot be reached without outside help. The 
national conciliator can also assist central labor market organizations 
in drawing up comprehensive income policy agreements. A strike is legal 
when an employment contract is not in effect and the action is pursuant 
to new contract negotiations. If a contract agreed by all parties is in 
effect, a strike is considered illegal. Fines may be imposed for 
illegal strikes.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for the right to organize and bargain collectively, and the 
Government protected this right in practice. The country's labor market 
system is characterized by an extensive tripartite cooperation between 
the Government, employers groups, and trade unions. The Occupational 
Safety and Health authorities monitor unorganized employers' adherence 
to generally applicable collective agreements. The regulation of the 
labor market is based on labor legislation and, primarily, on 
collective agreements. Any trade union and employers' association may 
make collective agreements. Nearly all collective agreements are 
branch-specific. The Ministry of Labor and Economy decides on the 
universal validity of the agreement. The parties to collective 
agreements are trade unions and the central organizations of employers' 
associations. The role of the Government has been, when needed, to 
support the conclusion of collective agreements by making the 
appropriate economic policy decisions, such as in cases involving 
taxes.
    Employers of nonunionized workers are required to compensate 
employees at a wage equal to that stipulated by existing collective 
bargaining agreements.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination, and there were no 
reports that it occurred during the year.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor; however, there were reports that such 
incidents occurred. Men and women were subjected to forced labor in the 
construction industry, restaurants, and as domestic servants.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report atwww.state.gov/g/tip.
    On April 30, the district court in Pietarsaari rejected charges of 
human trafficking against two men of Vietnamese origin who ran an 
ethnic restaurant. The prosecutor alleged the victim was forced to work 
in his relative's restaurant for too many hours per week and for too 
little pay.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law protects children from exploitation in the workplace.
    The law allows children older than the age of 15 to enter a valid 
employment contract as long as work does not interrupt compulsory 
education. Such employment is restricted to no more than nine hours per 
day and 48 hours per week with mandatory minimum daily rest of 12 
hours. Additionally young workers may not work at night after 10:00 
p.m. or in certain conditions that risk health and safety. Children as 
young as the age of 14 may work under more limited circumstances.
    Children younger than 15 years old may be employed for summer work, 
school-related events, modeling, and other similar purposes, but the 
approval of their guardians is required. Even with guardian approval, 
the Occupational Safety and Health office must approve the precise 
employment terms of every young worker, and the working hours are 
limited in all cases. Employers are required to provide work insurance, 
social payments, and a letter of reference for all young workers. The 
law applies to work done by all persons under 18 years of age, whether 
in the private or public sector. In addition to employment 
relationships, the provisions of the act on occupational safety and 
health apply to the practical training of under-18-year-old pupils or 
practical work done at school.
    The Ministry of Employment and the Economy enforces child labor 
regulations; there were no reports of children engaged in work outside 
the parameters established by law.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There is no national minimum 
wage law; however, the law requires all employers, including 
nonunionized employers, to pay minimum wages agreed to in collective 
bargaining agreements. The Ministry of Employment and the Economy is 
responsible for labor policy strategy and implementation, improving the 
viability of working life and its quality, and promoting employment.
    The standard workweek established by law is eight hours per day 
with no more than 40 hours of work per week. The Confederation of 
Finnish Industries conducted a study in 2009, which showed that an 
industrial worker had, on average, a 33-hour workweek. Certain 
occupations, such as seamen, household workers, road-transport workers, 
and workers in bakeries, are subject to separate workweek regulations. 
Employees working shifts or during the weekend are entitled to one 24-
hour rest period per week. Workers are entitled to premium pay for 
overtime work. The law limits a worker to 250 hours of overtime per 
year and 138 overtime hours in any four-month period.
    The Government sets occupational health and safety standards, and 
the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health enforced them effectively. 
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration monitors compliance 
with occupational safety and health legislation, including overseeing 
the employment terms for young workers. The Occupational Safety and 
Health Administration has the right to enter workplaces and to carry 
out health and safety inspections. They receive information and 
analyses necessary for inspection purposes from the employer. The 
administration informs the employer of an inspection in advance, unless 
a surprise inspection is necessary for enforcement purposes. A 
subsequent inspection report gives the employer written advice on how 
to remedy minor defects. In the case of serious violations, the 
inspector issues an improvement notice and monitors the employer's 
compliance with it. When necessary the Occupational Safety and Health 
Administration may issue a binding decision and impose a fine. If the 
hazardous situation involves a risk to life, the inspector may halt 
work on the site or issue a prohibition notice concerning the source of 
risk. Workers have the right to refuse dangerous work situations 
without penalty, and the Government enforced this right in practice.
    The labor and occupational safety laws cover all employees in the 
country, regardless of their nationality. If an employer's response to 
an employee complaint is not satisfactory, unionized employees may 
forward the matter to the relevant trade union. Nonunion employees may 
contact the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for advice 
and guidance.

                               __________

                                 FRANCE

    France is a multiparty constitutional democracy with a population 
of approximately 64.7 million.\1\ The president of the republic is 
elected by popular vote for a five-year term, and Nicolas Sarkozy is 
the incumbent. The upper house (Senate) of the bicameral parliament is 
indirectly elected through an electoral college, while the lower house 
(National Assembly) is directly elected. Parliamentary and presidential 
elections took place in 2007 and were free and fair. The Union for a 
Popular Movement (UMP) is the majority party in parliament. Security 
forces reported to civilian authorities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The country includes 11 overseas administrative divisions that 
are also covered in this report. Four overseas territories in French 
Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Reunion, have the same political 
status as the 22 metropolitan regions and 100 departments on the 
mainland. Six divisions are overseas ``collectivities:'' French 
Polynesia, Mayotte, Saint-Barthelemy, Saint-Martin, Saint-Pierre and 
Miquelon, and Wallis and Futuna. New Caledonia is a special overseas 
collectivity with a unique status between an independent country and an 
overseas department. Following a March 2009 referendum, Mayotte will 
become the 101st department in 2011. Citizens of these territories 
periodically elect deputies and senators to represent them in 
parliament, like the other overseas regions and departments.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The following human rights problems were reported: overcrowded and 
dilapidated prisons; lengthy pretrial detention; protracted 
investigation and trial proceedings; restrictions on religious wear in 
public institutions; societal violence against women; child marriage in 
minority communities; anti-Semitic incidents; trafficking in persons; 
and hostility towards immigrants, Roma, and Travellers.
                        respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        From:

    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--The Government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings; however, 
on July 16, security forces killed Karim Boudouda in an exchange of 
gunfire after he allegedly robbed a casino. The inspector general of 
the national police (IGPN) absolved the police involved because 
Boudouda opened fire first on the police. On July 17, police killed the 
driver of a car who refused to stop at a police checkpoint. According 
to police, the driver hit a police officer at the first checkpoint, 
carrying him on the hood of his car for several hundred yards. At the 
second checkpoint, the driver again refused to stop and drove straight 
at two other police officers, who shot and killed the driver. At the 
end of the year authorities continued to investigate the incident.
    During the year authorities continued investigations into the 2009 
deaths of two detainees while in police custody:
    In June 2009, 69-year-old Ali Ziri died of a heart attack while 
under arrest in Argenteuil. On May 17, the National Commission on 
Security Ethics (CNDS) recommended that the police officers involved be 
sanctioned for their role in his death. The prosecutor's investigation 
continued at year's end.
    In November 2009 Mohamed Boukrourou, a 41-year-old Moroccan 
citizen, died during a police arrest in Valentigney. The case remained 
under investigation 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 and law prohibit such practices; however, 
there were occasional accusations of police discrimination and 
degrading treatment.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards for men and 
women, and the Government permitted monitoring visits by independent 
human rights observers. Both credible nongovernmental organizations 
(NGOs) and government officials, however, reported overcrowding and 
unacceptable hygienic conditions.
    Prison overcrowding was a problem. At the end of the year the 
Ministry of Justice and Liberties reported that 60,544 persons were 
incarcerated in the country's 191 prisons, exceeding prison capacity by 
approximately 4,000. However, overcrowding improved compared with 2009, 
when overcapacity reached nearly 7,500.
    Although there were no known deaths in prison due to mistreatment 
or adverse conditions during the year, prison suicides continued to be 
a problem. According to penitentiary officials, there were 72 prison 
suicides between January 1 and August 27, while credible sources in 
NGOs reported 118 prison suicides as of December 31.
    On May 26, a Caen administrative court ordered the Government to 
compensate six plaintiffs 500 to 3,000 euros ($670 to $4,020) each for 
failure to respect human dignity while in prison. On June 11, a Rouen 
administrative court ordered the Government to compensate 38 prisoners 
and former prisoners of Rouen's prison 350 euros to 4,000 euros ($469 
to $5,360) each for lack of basic hygiene in the prison. The Ministry 
of Justice and Liberties appealed the decision. On December 9, a Douai 
administrative court confirmed the judgment against the prison.
    Authorities maintained administrative holding centers for 
foreigners whom they could not immediately deport. There were 24 
holding centers on the mainland and three in the overseas territories.
    On September 29, a judge ruled that the presence of a seven-month-
old baby in the Metz detention center was illegal because it was 
``inhumane and degrading treatment.'' The baby was detained along with 
her parents, who were Albanian citizens living illegally in the 
country. The family was released from the detention center, but the 
deportation order remained in place.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. Authorities permitted prisoners and 
detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities without 
censorship and to request investigation of credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions. Authorities investigated credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions and documented the results of such investigations 
in a publicly accessible manner. The Government investigated and 
monitored prison and detention center conditions.
    The Inspector General for Places of Detention, an independent 
authority, assures that detainees' fundamental rights are respected. In 
addition detainees may address issues about the prison or justice 
system to the state mediator or his delegate.
    The Government permitted prison visits by independent, local, and 
foreign human rights observers. The UN Committee against Torture (CAT) 
examined the country's prisons during the year. The Council of Europe 
Committee for the Prevention of Torture also conducted an inspection of 
prisons. The reports of these visits were not yet published at year's 
end.
    At the end of the year, 5,767 prisoners were under electronic 
surveillance, a 19.5 percent increase compared with 2009. New prisons 
have gymnasiums, outdoor recreation areas, and family spaces. The 
Ministry of Justice and Liberties increased prisoner access to work, 
sports, libraries, worship, cultural services, education, and training 
programs during the year. On October 28, the Ministries of Justice and 
Liberties, and of Labor, Employment, and Health launched a strategic 
action plan for the period 2010-14 to improve the physical and mental 
health of prisoners and to strengthen the suicide prevention policy.
    To reduce overcrowding, the Government opened four new prisons with 
an additional 1,230 places during the year, with a long-term goal of 
gradually reaching national capacity of 80,000 beds by 2017. The 
Government increased the budget for the prison system by 10 percent, to 
2.1 billion euros ($2.8 billion) during the year. In August 2009 the 
Ministry of Justice and Liberties instituted an action plan to combat 
suicides that included such preventative measures as increasing prison 
guard training, ``humanizing'' inmate living conditions, providing at-
risk inmates with ``protective kits'' of tearable sheets and blankets 
and flame-retardant mattresses, and implementing a solidarity and alert 
policy among prisoners.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions. However, lengthy pretrial detention was a 
problem. The Government provided financial compensation in 47 cases of 
wrongful incarceration in 2009, the last year for which data is 
available.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Under the direction of 
the Ministry of the Interior, Overseas France, Local Authorities, and 
Immigration, a civilian force of 144,000 national police and a quasi-
military national gendarmes force of 98,000 maintained internal 
security. In conjunction with specific gendarmes units used for 
military operations, the army is responsible for external security 
under the Ministry of Defense. Police and gendarmes were generally 
considered effective.
    During the year, 60 neighborhood police (police de proximite) units 
worked to curb juvenile delinquency and petty crime in neighborhoods 
with high levels of youth crimes.
    Official impunity was not widespread. The IGPN, the inspector 
general of police services (IGS), and the Office of Judicial Police 
investigated and prosecuted allegations of civil law enforcement 
brutality by all police forces and the gendarmes. The CNDS investigated 
allegations of misconduct by municipal police, gendarmes, and private 
security forces and reported its findings to the prime minister and 
parliament. According to the 2009 CNDS report, the most recent year for 
which data was available, the number of complaints increased by 4 
percent during 2008 to 153 cases, compared with 147 in 2007.
    The CNDS investigates allegations of improper conduct by law 
enforcement officers and helps assure that all persons responsible for 
law enforcement comply with ethical standards. While individuals who 
allege that they have been subjected to police mistreatment do not have 
direct access to the CNDS, their complaints may be referred to the CNDS 
through a member of parliament or other intermediary. In its annual 
global report released on May 27, Amnesty International (AI) 
highlighted cases of excessive force and other abuses by police in the 
country.
    On November 29, police in Colombes used a Taser to subdue a man, 
who died shortly thereafter. Initial autopsy results were inconclusive 
as to the cause of death. On December 12, police in Marseille fired a 
``flash-ball'' at a man to break-up a violent altercation. The flash-
ball hit the man in the thorax, and he later died from his injuries. 
The IGS continued to investigate both incidents at the end of the year.
    During the year there were occasional reports that police used 
violence during counterdemonstration operations. On March 19, police 
fired a flash-ball close to a crowd during a demonstration in Toulouse, 
causing a student to lose an eye. Prosecutors filed charges against the 
police officer involved for voluntary aggravated assault. The date of 
the trial was not set at the end of the year. On May 1, police fired a 
flash-ball close to a crowd during a violent demonstration in Neuilly-
sur-Marne, causing a protester to feel dizzy for several days. At 
year's end the IGS and IGPN were still investigating the incidents.
    On March 24, Marseille's criminal court sentenced a police officer 
to nine years in prison for the rape and sexual assault of five women 
while they were in police custody.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires police to obtain warrants based on sufficient evidence prior 
to detaining suspects, but police can immediately arrest suspects 
caught in the act. Individuals have the right to a judicial ruling on 
the legality of their detention during the first hour, and authorities 
generally respected this right in practice. Authorities must inform 
detainees of charges against them once they are in police custody. A 
system of bail exists and was utilized. Detainees generally had access 
to a lawyer, and the state provides legal counsel if the detainee is 
indigent.
    In cases involving terrorism or drug trafficking, the law allows 
longer periods of detention before notification to counsel. Authorities 
may hold such suspects for up to 96 hours without charge or access to a 
lawyer and may petition a judge to extend detention by an additional 48 
hours. Suspects must be either charged or released, after a maximum of 
six days.
    During the year police invoked the antiterrorism law to prolong the 
detention of more than 30 suspected members of the terrorist 
organization Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA). At year's end the 
suspected ETA members remained in detention and under investigation. 
The dates of their trials were not set.
    In January, in an unprecedented decision, a criminal court in Paris 
rejected five separate police requests to keep suspects in custody 
without charge on the grounds that defense lawyers could not 
appropriately exercise the defendants' rights while in custody.
    AI criticized the country's system of allowing multiple, successive 
periods of detention during the investigation of an alleged crime and 
accused authorities of inadequate investigations of complaints. During 
the year authorities held suspects in custody without charge in 700,000 
instances. On July 30, the Constitutional Council found that the laws 
regulating custody without charge are unconstitutional. The council 
stated that the custody without charge rules could remain in place 
until July 1, 2011, but need to be abolished thereafter. The law allows 
police to hold anyone suspected of having committed a crime in 
detention for up to 24 hours, which can be extended for an additional 
24 hours regardless of the seriousness of the crime. In very limited 
circumstances involving the most serious crimes, detainees are not 
informed of their right to remain silent or allowed access to a lawyer.
    Long delays in bringing cases to trial and lengthy pretrial 
detention were problems. Pretrial detention was generally allowed only 
if the suspect could be sentenced to more than three years in prison 
for crimes against property. However, a few suspects spent many years 
in detention before trial. According to government statistics for 2007, 
the most recent year for which they were available, the average length 
of pretrial detention was 5.7 months, an increase of 10 percent since 
2001.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected 
judicial independence in practice. However, delays in bringing cases to 
trial were a problem.
    The Tribunal of the Armies is a military court for acts committed 
outside of the country. The court tries only military personnel. In 
July parliament closed the Tribunal of the Armies effective January 1, 
2011. The Magistrate Court of Paris will assume responsibility for the 
cases of the Tribunal of the Armies.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution and law provide for the right 
to a fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this 
right. Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence. Except for those 
involving minors, trials are public and usually held before a judge or 
tribunal of judges. In cases where the potential punishment exceeds 10 
years' imprisonment, a panel of professional and lay judges hears the 
case. Defendants have the right to be present and to consult with an 
attorney in a timely manner. An attorney is provided at public expense 
if needed when defendants face serious criminal charges. Defendants are 
able to question the testimony of prosecution witnesses against them 
and present witnesses and evidence in their defense. Defendants and 
their attorneys have access to government-held evidence relevant to 
their cases. Defendants have a right to appeal.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--During the year the 
European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) found 27 violations by the 
Government of the European Convention on Human Rights. On October 14, 
the ECHR ruled that the country's custody without charge procedures did 
not provide for due process. The court stated that persons held in 
custody must have access to a lawyer from the beginning and during all 
interrogations and had the right to remain silent. However, the 
Constitutional Council had previously ruled on July 30 that the 
country's custody without charge rules were unconstitutional and must 
be abolished by July 1, 2011.
    In general the Government complied with ECHR decisions.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters and access to a court to bring 
lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, human rights violations.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions, and 
the Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice. A 
2009 report by the independent government agency, the CNDS, described a 
quasi-systematic practice of strip searches during secondary inspection 
by the national police. The practice continued during the year. 
However, detainees were no longer searched a second time if they were 
transferred from the national police to the gendarmerie.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
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.
    There were some limitations of freedom of speech and of the press. 
Strict antidefamation laws prohibit racially or religiously motivated 
verbal and physical abuse. Written or oral speech that incites racial 
or ethnic hatred as well as denial of the Holocaust and crimes against 
humanity are illegal. Authorities may deport a noncitizen for publicly 
using ``hate speech'' or constituting a threat of terrorism. On 
November 9, the Government for the second time deported a ``radical'' 
imam, Ali Ibrahim el-Soudany, to Egypt for his hostile comments about 
the West. Interior Minister Hortefeux stated that government 
authorities had been following el-Soudany's increasingly ``dangerous'' 
preaching since 2008. He was previously deported in January but managed 
to reenter the country.
    On October 21, the NGO SOS Racism filed a lawsuit against perfumer 
Jean-Paul Guerlain following an October 15 national television 
interview about a new perfume he produced. During the interview he used 
a racial epithet for ethnic Africans. A trial date was not set at the 
end of the year.
    On December 15, the Fort-de-France criminal court convicted 
businessman Alain Huygues-Despointes for praising crimes against 
humanity. The conviction stemmed from a February 2009 television 
interview he gave where he said there were ``positive aspects'' of 
slavery and criticized mixed-race marriages because he said he wanted 
to ``preserve'' his race. The judge ordered him to pay a 7,500-euro 
($10,050) fine. His lawyers said that he would appeal the ruling.
    Individuals could criticize the Government publicly or privately 
without reprisal. The independent media were active and generally 
expressed a wide variety of views without restriction. The law 
prohibits primetime advertising from state-funded television networks 
and authorizes the president to name the head of public broadcasting.
    On August 23, the president named Remy Pfimlin as the head of 
public broadcasting. The same day, Pfimlin fired journalist Arlette 
Chabot, who served as news director for France 2 television. Chabot had 
previously broadcast news pieces critical of the president, and the 
president had complained openly about public broadcasting's treatment 
of government policy in its news reports.
    On January 4, parliament passed a law that provides additional 
protections to journalists and limits the instances where the 
Government can compel them to reveal their sources. Under the law 
journalists can only be compelled to reveal sources in cases where 
serious crimes have taken place and access to the sources is required 
to complete the investigation.
    On September 13, the newspaper Le Monde filed a lawsuit against the 
president's office, alleging that it violated the law providing for the 
secrecy of journalistic sources by ordering counterintelligence 
services to find the source of a leak in its investigation of a 
government corruption scandal. The case continued at year's end.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2009, 
approximately 72 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet. There were no reports that the Government attempted to 
collect the personally identifiable information of a person in 
connection with that person's peaceful expression of political, 
religious, or ideological opinions or beliefs.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
and law provide for freedoms of assembly and association, and the 
Government generally respected these rights in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in 
providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of 
concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.
    The law requires persons engaged in itinerant activities with a 
fixed domicile to sign a declaration that must be renewed periodically. 
Itinerant persons without a fixed abode must possess travel documents, 
which are renewed every three months, and must choose a city of 
residence for administrative purposes.
    On July 28, President Sarkozy made a speech linking increased crime 
rates with the Romani and Traveller communities. He announced that the 
Government planned to dismantle 300 unauthorized camps within three 
months and to repatriate Roma living illegally in the country to their 
countries of origin. According to EU and the country's regulations, 
Romanian and Bulgarian citizens (who comprised the bulk of the Romani 
migrants) may remain in the country for a maximum of three months 
unless they are employed or enrolled in school.
    The Government offered Roma living illegally in the country 
voluntary repatriation. It provided each person who accepted voluntary 
repatriation with a plane ticket and 300 euros ($402) per adult and 100 
euros ($134) per child. Those who did not accept voluntary repatriation 
were processed for deportation. While immigration judges approved most 
deportation orders, they refused some. According to government 
officials, authorities deported 977 Romanian and Bulgarian Roma from 
the country between July 28 and August 29. NGOs reported that many Roma 
who accepted voluntary repatriation returned to the country by the end 
of the year.
    Although the Government had been conducting similar deportations 
for several years with very little media attention, the publicity 
surrounding the dismantling of unauthorized settlements and subsequent 
deportations created significant public debate over the policy. NGOs, 
including AI, Human Rights Watch, and the European Roma Rights Center, 
accused the Government of engaging in actions that served to stigmatize 
a minority group. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial 
Discrimination, the European Parliament, and other intergovernmental 
bodies also lodged concerns over the policy. In mid-September, European 
Commission Vice President Viviane Reding announced the initiation of 
legal proceedings against the country. The Government maintained that 
it was only enforcing EU and national law and called on the EU to do 
more to promote Romani integration throughout Europe. On October 19, 
the EU announced that it had suspended its legal actions against the 
Government because authorities had made sufficient commitment to assure 
that procedural safeguards affecting the free movement of EU citizens 
were in place.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. The system 
for granting refugee status was active and accessible.
    Although asylum application forms submitted to the Office for the 
Protection of Refugees and Stateless Refugees (OFPRA) must be completed 
in French, application instructions were available in English, 
Albanian, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Turkish, Tamil, and Arabic.
    In practice the Government provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of persons to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened because of race, religion, nationality, 
membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. 
Authorities take into account the ability of the state concerned to 
offer protection to the person in danger from persecution by nonstate 
agents. However, in May human rights groups criticized the Government's 
expulsion practices, pointing out that the Government was deporting 
illegal Afghan immigrants back to a war-torn country. As of December 1, 
the Government had deported 25,511 illegal immigrants according to 
Interior Ministry statistics.
    During the year the CAT criticized the country's treatment 
procedures to expedite the cases of asylum seekers and to expel those 
rejected to countries where they risked torture, cruel sentences, or 
inhumane or degrading treatment. The CAT also expressed concerns about 
persistent allegations of poor treatment of asylum seekers by police.
    In 2009 Prime Minister Francois Fillon promised to aid the city of 
Paris in providing lodging and medical care for up to 700 unaccompanied 
foreign minors and identified 70 Afghan exiles for lodging at the 
Welcome Center for Asylum Seekers. Nevertheless, NGOs reported the 
continuing presence of dozens of homeless Afghan youths near the Canal 
Saint-Martin in the 10th district of Paris at year's end.
    The Government also provided temporary protection to individuals 
who may not qualify as refugees but who may be exposed to certain 
serious risks if they returned to their country of origin. The 
Government granted temporary protection to 10,373 persons in 2009, 
according to OFPRA. Individuals may renew their status for a period of 
one year.

    Stateless Persons.--According to OFPRA statistics, there were 1,078 
stateless persons in the country at the end of 2009. Stateless persons 
receive benefits from OFPRA, which is charged with the implementation 
of international conventions on refugees and stateless persons. 
Citizenship is derived both from one's parents and from one's place of 
birth. A child born in the country to foreign parents may acquire 
citizenship at birth if stateless.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens the right to change their 
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice 
through periodic, free, and fair elections based on universal suffrage. 
Political parties generally operated without restriction or outside 
interference.
    Travellers (an itinerant group of individuals that may also include 
Roma if they do not have fixed abodes) were permitted to vote in 
municipal elections only after a three-year period of ``attachment'' to 
a municipality. Romani and Traveller groups asserted that this 
requirement, which is based on special legislation applying only to 
itinerant groups, was discriminatory, since other French and EU 
citizens, including homeless persons, were able to vote after only a 
six-month attachment period.

    Elections and Political Participation.--The 2007 national 
parliamentary and presidential elections were considered free and fair. 
On March 14 and 21, the country held regional elections that 
independent observers considered free and fair.
    As a result of the September 2008 senatorial elections, 182 women 
sat in the two chambers of the 920-seat parliament, 107 in the National 
Assembly and 75 in the Senate. At the end of the year there were 11 
female ministers in the 31-member ministerial cabinet. Women made up 48 
percent of regional council members, 13 percent of departmental council 
members, and 35 percent of municipal council members. They held two 
presidencies of the 22 regional councils, five presidencies of the 96 
mainland departmental councils, and 14 percent of mayoral positions. 
The law requires political parties to present candidate lists 
containing equal numbers of male and female candidates or face fines. 
Following the 2007 legislative elections, the UMP was fined four 
million euros ($5.4 million), and the Socialist Party was fined 500,000 
euros ($670,000) for not including equal numbers of female candidates 
on their candidate lists.
    Because the law prohibits the Government from collecting 
information on the racial or ethnic background of residents of the 
country, no statistics on minority participation in the Government were 
available. With the exception of parliamentary representatives from 
some of the overseas territories where the populations were 
predominantly of non-European origin, minorities appeared to be 
significantly underrepresented in the Government. As of year's end 
there was only one black member of the National Assembly. During his 
tenure President Sarkozy has appointed six female minority officials to 
his cabinet.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government generally implemented these laws effectively. There were 
some reports of government corruption during the year.
    On April 30, Senator and former interior minister Charles Pasqua 
was convicted of corruption when he was interior minister during the 
1990s. The judge gave him a one-year suspended sentence.
    On August 24, former president Jacques Chirac and Paris mayor 
Bertrand Delanoe reached a settlement in Paris magistrate court for 
alleged corruption when Chirac was mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995. 
According to media reports, Chirac will pay the city 550,000 euros 
($737,000) in exchange for the city's withdrawing a civil complaint. 
The Government was pursuing criminal charges at year's end.
    The IGS, IGPN, and the Inspectorate of the National Gendarmerie 
actively investigated and prosecuted allegations of police and gendarme 
corruption. The IGPN reported that 3,109 police officers were punished 
for misconduct in 2009, the last year for which data was available. 
However, AI accused the Government of failing to punish properly all 
cases of police misconduct and corruption.
    On December 10, Bobigny's criminal court sentenced seven police 
officers to terms of from six months to one year in prison for 
falsifying a police report. The convictions stem from an incident on 
September 9 in which a police car involved in a chase injured an 
officer, but in the police report the officers involved stated that the 
driver of the car being pursued was responsible for the injury.
    The president, parliamentarians, members of the European 
Parliament, ministers, regional and departmental council heads, mayors 
of larger communities, and directors of state-owned companies (post 
office, railway, and telephone) are required to declare their personal 
assets to the Commission for the Financing Transparency of Political 
Life at the beginning and the end of their terms. The commission issued 
periodic reports on officials' financial holdings on a discretionary 
basis at least once every three years.
    The law provides for public access to government information, and 
the Government provided access in practice for citizens and 
noncitizens, including foreign media.
Section 5. 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, investigated, and published their 
findings on human rights cases without government restrictions. 
Government officials were cooperative and responsive to their views.
    The High Authority for the Struggle against Discrimination and for 
Equality (HALDE) is the independent administrative authority that 
judges all discrimination, direct or indirect, that is prohibited by 
law or an international agreement to which the country is a party.
    The National Consultative Commission on Human Rights serves in an 
advisory role to the Government on human rights and produces an annual 
report on racism and xenophobia in the country.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit discrimination based on race, 
gender, disability, language, or social status, and the Government 
generally enforced these prohibitions.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape, including spousal rape, and the 
Government generally enforced the law effectively. The penalty for rape 
is 15-years' imprisonment and may be increased due to the age of the 
victim or the nature of the relationship of the rapist to the victim. 
The Government and NGOs provided shelters, counseling, and hotlines for 
rape victims. The Ministry of the Interior, Overseas France, Local 
Authorities, and Immigration reported that the number of reported rapes 
decreased by 4.2 percent from 10,277 in 2008 to 9,842 in 2009, the last 
year for which data was available. A report published by three NGOs 
estimated that there are 75,000 victims of rape each year. The Ministry 
of Justice and Liberties reported that 2,151 persons were convicted of 
rape in 2008, the last year for which data was available. On November 
24, three NGOs launched a national campaign to raise awareness about 
rape.
    Violence against women was a problem. The law prohibits domestic 
violence against women, including spousal abuse, and the Government 
generally enforced it. The penalty for domestic violence varies 
according to the type of crime and ranges from three years in prison 
and a fine of 45,000 euros ($60,300) to 20 years' imprisonment. The 
Government sponsored and funded programs for female victims of 
violence, including shelters, counseling, hotlines, and free mobile 
phones. The Government also supported the work of 25 associations and 
NGOs dedicated to fighting domestic violence by labeling them a ``great 
national cause'' for the year. The Government funded a media campaign 
to combat domestic violence. The Government reported that 140 women 
were killed by their spouses in domestic violence in 2009, an 18 
percent decrease from 2008, when 165 women were killed. According to 
estimates by the National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies 
(INSEE), 675,000 women were victims of domestic violence during 2008 
and 2009.
    On July 9, parliament passed a law combating violence against 
women. It strengthened protection for victims by providing a 
provisional ``protection order'' for at-risk women, especially those 
threatened by forced marriage or female genital mutilation (FGM), who 
have filed a complaint against their spouses or abusers. It also 
provides for increased legal protection for foreign nationals and 
undocumented immigrants who are victims of abuse.
    The law prohibits FGM as ``violence involving mutilation or 
permanent infirmity.'' It is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and 
a fine of 150,000 euros ($201,000). The sentence increases to 20 years 
if the crime involves a minor under 16 years of age. The statute of 
limitations for FGM is 20 years after the victim turns 18 years old.
    According to the Group for the Abolition of Sexual Mutilations, 
65,000 female adults and minor women were either victims of FGM or 
under threat of it, while the National Institute for Demographic 
Studies reported that 53,000 women were under threat of FGM during the 
year. Government estimates concurred with NGO estimates.
    The majority of FGM victims were recent sub-Saharan African 
immigrants or their children. One study concluded that FGM had become 
less prevalent due to awareness campaigns, but prevention and 
information efforts were needed to cover children at risk during family 
visits to their countries of origin. The Government provided 
reconstructive surgery and counseling for FGM victims.
    Sex tourism to other countries remained a problem. The Government 
created a Web site where individuals could report cases. It also funded 
campaigns on child prostitution on all major television channels and 
worked with Air France to raise tourists' awareness. The Ministry of 
Economy, Industry, and Employment mandated that all tourism students 
complete courses designed to develop awareness of the problem of sex 
tourism. The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs researched 
indicators of child sex tourism abroad in order to warn tourists of 
child sex tourism sites and monitored sex tourism data. The law 
includes extraterritorial provisions that apply domestic law to sexual 
offenses committed abroad by citizens or residents of the country.
    On January 21, a joint sting operation by the country's police and 
Cambodian police against a pedophilia ring operating in Phnom Penh led 
to the arrest of two Cambodian citizens charged with child prostitution 
and one U.S. citizen charged with indecent acts with three minors.
    On April 2, the Central Office for the Repression of Violence 
against People arrested for pedophilia and sex tourism a French citizen 
returning from Cambodia. The suspect remained in protective custody 
awaiting trial at the end of the year.
    On September 10, a Paris court found Jean-Claude Chamoux guilty of 
raping more than 10 girls in Thailand in 2005. The court sentenced 
Chamoux to 15 years in prison.
    The law prohibits gender-based job discrimination and harassment of 
subordinates by superiors, but it does not apply to relationships 
between peers. Sexual harassment was not widely considered a problem in 
the workplace. Both the Government and NGOs widely publicized the laws, 
and the Government enforced them effectively. According to the Ministry 
of the Interior, Overseas France, Local Authorities, and Immigration, 
the number of reported sexual harassment cases dropped by 12 percent 
from 2006 to 2007, the most recent year for which data was available; 
the statistics did not specify the gender of the victims. The new law 
to combat violence against women adopted on July 9 increases the 
penalty for sexual harassment to 15,000 euros ($20,100) and one year in 
prison.
    There was easy access to contraception, skilled attendance during 
childbirth, and women were diagnosed and treated for sexually 
transmitted infections, including HIV, equally with men. Couples and 
individuals were able to decide freely and responsibly the number, 
spacing, and timing of their children and had both the information and 
means to do so free from discrimination, coercion, and violence. 
According to data compiled by international organizations, the maternal 
mortality rate in the country in 2008 was eight deaths per 100,000 live 
births.
    Under the constitution and law, women have the same rights as men 
in family law, property law, and the judicial system. The secretary of 
state for solidarity is responsible for the legal rights of women. The 
constitution and law provide for equal access to professional and 
social positions. The law requires that women receive equal pay for 
equal work. However, various governmental organizations and NGOs 
estimated that there was a gender-based pay discrepancy of 
approximately 27 percent in practice. Although they made up 58.5 
percent of the public sector's workforce, women were underrepresented 
in managerial jobs and continued to face difficulties attaining 
positions of responsibility. According to a survey of the top 500 
companies in the country released during the year, 8 percent of 
executive-board members were women.
    Women were generally underrepresented in the legislature and other 
levels of government leadership. According to the Observatory for 
Parity between Men and Women, in May the unemployment rate was 9.6 
percent for women compared to 8.1 percent for men.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived both from one's parents and the 
place of one's birth. Children born within the country's territory to 
at least one French citizen parent automatically acquire citizenship at 
birth. A child born in the country to foreign parents may acquire 
citizenship at birth if stateless or acquire the right at the age of 18 
with five years of residence.
    There are strict laws against child abuse by parents or guardians, 
and the Government generally enforced the law effectively and 
prosecuted abusers. On January 26, parliament passed a law making 
incest a crime. Previously authorities prosecuted incest under laws 
that prohibit rape and sexual assault.
    The law provides for a government children's advocate, a position 
charged with defending and promoting children's rights as defined by 
law. Child abuse was generally not considered a problem.
    The Government provided counseling, financial aid, foster homes, 
and orphanages for abuse victims. Various NGOs also helped minors seek 
justice in cases of mistreatment by parents.
    The minimum legal age of marriage is 18 years old. Child marriage 
was a problem, particularly in communities of African or Asian origin. 
Although such marriage ceremonies took place primarily outside of the 
country, authorities took steps to address the problem. Parents may be 
prosecuted in these cases. Women and girls could seek refuge at 
shelters if their parents or guardians threatened them with a forced 
marriage. The Government offered some educational programs to inform 
young women of their rights. The High Council for Integration stated it 
was important to distinguish between arranged and forced marriage. 
According to human rights observers, 70,000 children between the ages 
of 10 and 18 were at risk of being forced into a marriage.
    The law criminalizes statutory rape of minors under the age of 16, 
the minimum age of consensual sex, and the Government generally 
enforced the law effectively. The penalty for statutory rape is 15 
years' imprisonment and may be increased due to the age of the victim 
or the nature of the relationship of the rapist to the victim. The 
Government and NGOs provided shelters, counseling, and hotlines for 
statutory rape victims. The law prohibits child pornography, and the 
maximum penalty for its use and distribution is five years' 
imprisonment and a 75,000-euro ($100,500) fine.
    Three members of the national soccer team were under investigation 
for soliciting sex from an underage prostitute. Police questioned the 
players involved, and the investigation continued at the end of the 
year.
    On May 20, police dismantled a child prostitution ring in Bordeaux. 
They arrested nine Bulgarian nationals, accusing them of aggravated 
pimping. They face 15 years' imprisonment and a fine of three million 
euros ($4 million). Authorities placed the victims in foster care. The 
trial date was not set at year's end.
    On November 30, police dismantled a child forced begging ring in 
Montpellier. They arrested 19 persons from the former Yugoslavia, 
accusing them of organized theft and human trafficking. The trial date 
was not set at year's end.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html. as well 
as country-specific information at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community was estimated to number 
600,000 persons. There were reports of a number of anti-Semitic 
incidents during the year, including slurs against Jews and attacks on 
synagogues and cemeteries. According to the Ministry of Interior, 
Overseas France, Local Authorities, and Immigration, during the year 
there were 466 anti-Semitic incidents. During the year the Protection 
Service of the Jewish Community (SPCJ) also reported 131 anti-Semitic 
acts and 335 threats. There was a 46 percent reduction in anti-Semitic 
incidents in the year compared with 2009. The SPCJ, the Anti-Defamation 
League, and NGO National Center for Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism, 
however, each reported an increase in anti-Semitic acts following the 
May 31 Gaza flotilla incident. A representative from the French Council 
for the Jewish Faith expressed satisfaction with the Government's 
response in the wake of the flotilla incident, noting that places of 
worship were secured, police cordons prevented protests from turning 
violent, and local officials remained in contact with Jewish community 
leaders.
    During the year violent attacks were reported. On September 3, 
eight adolescents attacked a 30-year-old Russian citizen with a knife 
following a verbal dispute in a Paris park. According to the victim's 
lawyer, the adolescents only began to attack him after they noticed he 
was wearing a Star of David around his neck. The police arrested three 
minors, whom they later released. The public prosecutor's office 
immediately appealed the decision to release the minors. The judge in 
charge of the judicial investigation stated that he would prosecute the 
case as a religious hate crime. A trial date was not set at the end of 
the year. On April 30, two assailants attacked David Pariente, a Jewish 
man wearing a yarmulke, with a knife and an iron rod in Strasbourg. 
Police immediately apprehended two suspects. Police released an 
individual identified as a witness in the attack and on May 2 charged 
the assailant, a 38-year-old Algerian national, with attempted 
aggravated murder. A trial date was not set at the end of the year.
    In July 2009 a Paris court sentenced Youssouf Fofana to life in 
prison with no possibility of parole for 22 years and convicted 26 
members of the ``gang of barbarians'' for the 2006 kidnapping, torture, 
and killing of a Jewish man, Ilan Halimi. Two of Fofana's most active 
accomplices received sentences of 15 and 18 years in prison, and others 
received prison sentences ranging from six months to nine years. 
Prosecutors appealed the relatively light sentences given to 17 of his 
26 accomplices, asking that the judge increase them. On December 17, 
the judge increased the sentences for Fofana's two primary accomplices 
to 18 years and confirmed the sentences for the other accomplices.
    During the year there were a number of attacks against Jewish 
property and cemeteries reported, including the following examples:
    On January 27 and again in late July, graves in a Jewish cemetery 
in Strasbourg were desecrated with swastikas. President Sarkozy 
criticized the January incident as ``intolerable'' and a demonstration 
of the ``the hideous face of racism.'' Police continued to investigate 
the incident at the end of the year.
    On May 2, a 78-year-old Jewish man was attacked in Nimes with tear 
gas in front of the synagogue, which was then vandalized with anti-
Semitic slurs, according to press reports. Police arrested a suspect, 
but a trial date was not set at the end of the year.
    On June 7, in Metz, a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a Jewish 
nursing home, although no damage was reported. Following an 
investigation, one person confessed to the crime. A judge gave him a 
10-month suspended sentence and ordered him to pay a fine of 500 euros 
($670) and complete 210 hours of community service.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution and law prohibit 
discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, 
and mental disabilities in employment, education, access to health 
care, and the provision of other government services. The Government 
generally enforced these provisions effectively.
    During the year according to the Observatory for Inequalities, 19 
percent of persons with disabilities were unemployed, twice the 
national unemployment rate. The law requires companies with more than 
20 employees to provide that persons with disabilities make up 6 
percent of the company work force. Noncompliant companies could face 
criminal fines that benefit the National Association for the 
Professional Integration of the Disabled, an organization of workers 
and employers unions that funds training for professionals with 
disabilities. However, many companies admitted to being unaware of 
their legal obligations. On average persons with disabilities made up 
approximately 5 percent of the work force of companies that were 
subject to the law.
    The law provides for government compensation to persons for the 
consequences of a disability and requires that buildings, education, 
and employment be accessible to them. The law requires that any new 
building with public or community space and any existing public 
building be accessible for persons with disabilities. Many existing 
buildings as well as transportation systems did not yet meet these 
requirements. The law also requires the establishment of centers in 
each administrative department to assist disabled persons with 
receiving compensation and employment assistance.
    On September 13, the president announced that social security 
payments to adults with disabilities would continue to increase by 5 
percent per year until 2012. The increases, which began in 2007, would 
total 25 percent by 2012. During the year the Government paid adults 
with disabilities 696.63 euros ($933.48) per month.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Societal violence and 
discrimination against the country's large immigrant population 
remained a problem. The problem continued to be particularly severe on 
the island of Corsica, where attacks caused some families to move to 
the mainland or to return to their countries of origin. During the year 
authorities reported 81 bombings or attempted bombings as well as 16 
murders and 14 attempted murders in Corsica. The Government publicly 
criticized and addressed incidents of violence against immigrants.
    On June 4, a magistrate court in Paris found Minister of the 
Interior, Overseas France, Local Authorities, and Immigration Brice 
Hortefeux guilty of racial slander. The charges were related to racist 
remarks that he made on camera at a political party event in September 
2009. The court fined him 750 euros ($1,005) and ordered him to pay 
2,000 euros ($2,680) to an antiracism organization. Both sides filed an 
appeal. The NGO Movement against Racism and for Friendship between 
Peoples continued to call for the minister's resignation.
    On June 29, the criminal court of Creteil fined the former prefect 
and local coordinator for Reunion, Paul Girot de Langlade, 5,000 euros 
($6,700) for racial slander. The penalty stemmed from a July 2009 
complaint filed by a security employee of Caribbean origin at Orly 
Airport.
    On October 28, a group of armed and masked assailants attacked a 
Romani settlement in the Parisian suburb of Triel-sur-Seine, home to an 
estimated 30 families. Witnesses reported that the attackers arrived 
around 2:00 a.m. in a car with a siren and were dressed as police 
officers. Carrying nightsticks and pistols, they broke down the doors 
of several caravans and began harassing the occupants. The attackers 
allegedly forced one woman to strip naked and robbed the residents of 
their identification documents. Authorities continued to investigate 
the incident at year's end.
    Many observers expressed concern that discriminatory hiring 
practices in both the public and the private sectors prevented 
minorities from sub-Saharan Africa, the Maghreb, the Middle East, and 
Asia from equal access to employment.
    According to a 2009 survey by INSEE, the unemployment rate of 
immigrants was nearly twice as high as that of nonimmigrants (16 
percent versus 8.4 percent). A survey by INSEE showed that children of 
immigrants also had higher unemployment rates than did the children of 
two French parents. According to the report, lower levels of education 
and experience for the children of immigrants were only partly 
responsible for the higher unemployment rate.
    Travellers' organizations alleged that both itinerant Travellers 
and those with fixed abodes faced discrimination in education, housing, 
and access to government services. Housing and other discrimination 
problems were particularly acute for Travellers, as some mayors denied 
school registration to children whose parents lived in illegal 
campsites. Travellers benefited from a special status that authorizes 
children discontinuous school attendance without justification. School 
registration rates for Travellers were 66.7 percent in kindergarten, 
81.8 percent in primary schools, and 78.8 percent in high school, but 
absenteeism and breaks within the education system were frequent. 
According to a survey conducted by the NGO collective Romeurope that it 
released in February, between 5,000 and 7,000 Romani children living in 
the country were not enrolled in school.
    Travellers were subject to laws that did not apply to residents 
with permanent residences. Individuals over the age of 16 not settled 
in one place must have a periodically renewed travel permit. Any delay 
in renewal entails a maximum fine of 1,500 euros ($2,010). Authorities 
did not consider Traveller caravans to be housing. As a result, they 
were not entitled to housing assistance.
    The law requires municipalities with more than 5,000 inhabitants to 
provide a camping site with facilities and access to water and 
electricity. As of year's end, more than half of the municipal 
authorities had established 16,000 campsites. However, there was still 
a shortage estimated at over 20,000 sites (according to authorities) or 
up to 60,000 sites (according to NGOs). At the end of the year, 
approximately 5,000 additional campsites were under construction or 
slated for construction.
    Citizens may report cases of discrimination based on national 
origin and ethnicity to HALDE. During the year HALDE received 12,000 
discrimination claims, half of which regarded employment. HALDE issued 
opinions on approximately 300 cases per year and offered mediation for 
hundreds more.
    The Government attempted to combat racism and discrimination 
through programs that promoted public awareness and that brought 
together local officials, police, and citizen's groups. Some public 
school systems also managed antidiscrimination educational programs. 
The 2008 plan, Hope for the Suburbs, combined security, employment, 
housing, and education measures into a package of initiatives to 
improve living conditions and opportunities for the citizens, 
particularly youth, of the country's multiracial suburbs.
    In September the Government opened 13 boarding schools for 
promising high school students from poor and immigrant families. On May 
25, Prime Minister Fillon launched a new consultative body, the 
National Council for Urban Zones. He also announced plans to rezone 
underprivileged suburbs and to redistribute government money to target 
areas with the greatest need. Nevertheless, implementation of Hope for 
the Suburbs plan continued to be slow.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law prohibits 
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Authorities pursued 
and punished perpetrators of violence against lesbians, gays, 
bisexuals, and transgender persons (LGBT). The NGO SOS Homophobia 
reported 1,259 homophobic acts in 2009. It reported that there were 88 
instances of physical assault, a 33 percent decrease compared with 
2008. After the NGO Inter-LGBT claimed that gay and lesbian minors were 
frequently targeted for violence, the Ministry of National Education, 
Youth, and Community Life responded by asking schools to introduce 
lessons on tolerance and diversity.
    During the year LGBT organizations held at least eight gay pride 
marches. The Government authorized them and provided sufficient 
protection to marchers.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There was no societal 
violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The constitution and law provides 
workers, including migrant workers, the right to form and join unions 
of their choice without previous authorization or excessive 
requirements, and workers exercised these rights in practice on the 
mainland as well as in the overseas territories. Approximately 9 
percent of the workforce maintained formal union membership. The law 
allows unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the 
Government protected this right in practice. Workers, with the 
exception of certain essential service workers such as police and armed 
forces, have the right to strike except when a strike threatens public 
safety. Workers exercised this right by conducting legal strikes during 
the year. Healthcare and public transport workers are required to 
provide a minimum level of service even during strikes. Laws and 
regulations prohibit retaliation against strikers, and these laws were 
effectively enforced.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for the right to bargain collectively, and workers exercised 
this right freely. Approximately 90 percent of workers in the formal 
economy operated under collective bargaining agreements negotiated by 
trade union representatives.
    Although the law prohibits antiunion discrimination, union 
representatives noted occasional reports of antiunion discrimination, 
particularly in small companies.
    There are no special laws or exceptions from regular labor laws in 
the country's 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. Also see the Department of 
State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at http://www.state.gov/g/
tip.
    Men, women, and children, mainly from Eastern Europe, West Africa, 
and Asia, continued to be trafficked for the purpose of forced labor, 
including domestic servitude.
    Although there are strict laws against trafficking in persons for 
domestic labor, the press reported cases of forced child labor in 
households, but no government statistics were available. The press 
reported that some African boys were victims of trafficking and lured 
into forced labor within the professional soccer industry. During the 
year the Committee against Modern Slavery received 239 complaints and 
provided assistance to 127 victims, the majority of whom were women 
working in domestic labor.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits most forms of child employment, and the Government 
generally implemented laws and policies to protect children in the 
workplace effectively. The minimum age for employment is 16 years old. 
There are exceptions for those enrolled in certain apprenticeship 
programs or working in the entertainment industry; however, these 
industries are subject to further regulation of conditions and work 
hours and for minors. Persons under the age of 18 are generally 
prohibited from performing work considered arduous or working between 
10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. Labor inspectors from the Ministry of Labor, 
Employment, and Health investigated workplaces and generally enforced 
compliance with child labor laws.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--On January 1, the Council of 
Ministers raised the national minimum wage to 8.86 euros ($11.87) per 
hour. The Ministry of the Economy, Industry, and Employment enforced 
the new wage. The minimum wage provided a decent standard of living for 
a worker and family. Salaries below the minimum wage were permitted for 
certain categories of employment, such as persons in subsidized jobs 
and internships, which must conform to separate, clearly defined 
standards. Employers, except those in the informal economy, generally 
adhered to the minimum wage requirement.
    The official workweek is 35 hours. Companies may negotiate opt outs 
with employees. The maximum number of working days for white-collar 
workers is 235 days per year. Maximum hours of work are fixed at 10 
hours per day, 48 hours per week, and an average of 44 hours per week 
over a 12-week work period. Employees are entitled to a daily rest of 
at least 11 hours and a weekly break of at least 24 hours total, not 
including the daily rest period. Employers are required to give workers 
a 20-minute break during a six-hour workday. Premium pay of 25 percent 
is mandatory for overtime and on weekends and holidays. These standards 
were effectively enforced.
    The law sets basic occupational health and safety standards. The 
Ministry of Labor, Solidarity, and Public Sector is responsible for 
enforcing the law and did so effectively. Workers have the right to 
remove themselves from situations that endanger their health or safety 
without jeopardy to their employment, and the Government effectively 
enforced this right.
    There were press reports that undetermined numbers of undocumented 
immigrants experienced substandard pay and working conditions, 
particularly in the textile and agriculture sectors. Undocumented 
immigrants held several demonstrations during the year to try to obtain 
work permits.
    During the year the Government launched a Health in the Workplace 
plan to address workplace stress and to reduce the number of workplace 
accidents by 25 percent by2014.

                               __________

                                GEORGIA

    The constitution of Georgia\1\ provides for an executive branch 
that reports to the President, a unicameral Parliament, and an 
independent judiciary. The country has a population of approximately 
4.6 million. President Mikheil Saakashvili was reelected in January 
2008 in an election that international observers found consistent with 
most Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) 
democratic election commitments; however, the OSCE also highlighted 
significant problems, including widespread allegations of intimidation 
and pressure, flawed vote-counting and tabulation processes, and 
shortcomings in the complaints and appeals process. These and other 
problems continued into the parliamentary elections in May 2008, which 
international observers concluded were uneven and incomplete in their 
adherence to international standards. Although a significant number of 
opposition parties existed, the country was dominated by a single 
party. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ Except where otherwise noted, figures and other data do not 
include the separatist, occupied regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The main human rights abuses reported during the year included 
abuse of prisoners and detainees, poor prison conditions, and arbitrary 
arrest and detention. There were reports of selective application of 
the law--crimes allegedly involving government officials or supporters 
were slowly investigated and often remained pending, while crimes 
allegedly involving persons or organizations linked to the opposition 
were investigated quickly and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. 
This imbalance led to allegations of impunity for government officials. 
There continued to be allegations of a lack of due process, government 
pressure on the judiciary, and that individuals remained in prison for 
politically motivated reasons. There were reports of pressure on 
businesses to suppress potential support for the opposition and 
independent media. There were reports of curbs on media freedom. There 
were some cases of restrictions on religious freedom and a lack of 
progress on religious issues. There were also reported cases of 
violations of the rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs) during 
some evictions in Tbilisi, and senior-level corruption in the 
Government. Harassment of opposition and NGO members, prejudice against 
persons based on their sexual orientation and government interference 
with labor associations also were reported.
    Significant human rights achievements included: the implementation 
of a new Criminal Procedure Code with increased evidentiary standards 
and rights of the accused; amendments strengthening the Public 
Defender's Office (human rights ombudsman/PDO); the construction of new 
prisons that met international standards; and the first direct election 
of the Tbilisi mayor.
    De facto authorities in the separatist regions of Abkhazia and 
South Ossetia, supported by several thousand occupying Russian troops 
since the 2008 armed conflict between Russia and Georgia, remained 
outside the control of the central government. Russian border guards 
restricted the movement of the local population. A cease-fire remained 
in effect in both Abkhazia and South Ossetia, although incidents of 
violence occurred in both areas.
    The de facto authorities in Abkhazia continued to restrict the 
rights, primarily of ethnic Georgians, to vote, to participate in the 
political process, and to exercise basic rights such as property 
ownership, business registration, and travel. Ethnic Georgians also 
suffered harassment by Abkhaz and Russian forces, including a lack of 
funding for basic infrastructure maintenance and limitations on 
Georgian-language instruction in the Gali district schools.
    Since 2008 the de facto authorities in South Ossetia have refused 
to permit most ethnic Georgians driven out during and after the 
conflict to return to South Ossetia unless they renounced their 
Georgian citizenship and took the ``citizenship'' of the ``Republic of 
South Ossetia''; in practical terms, this often meant accepting a 
Russian passport. With the exception of the International Committee of 
the Red Cross (ICRC), international organizations were not allowed 
regular access to South Ossetia to assess the condition of the local 
population or to provide humanitarian assistance.
                        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 
that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful 
killings during the year. Georgian government officials and de facto 
authorities accused one another of committing attacks that resulted in 
arbitrary and unlawful killings in the occupied regions of South 
Ossetia and Abkhazia during the year. Georgian and Russian officials 
also traded such accusations (see section 1.g.).
    The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that there were two cases 
of police officers fatally using their weapons in the line of duty 
during the year. In one April 17 case, a court found the officer guilty 
of manslaughter and sentenced him to two years and six months in 
prison. The other incident occurred on August 18, and the ministry 
reported the police returned fire after the suspect in question shot at 
police officers and persons on the street.
    There were no further developments, and none are expected, in the 
case of Roin Shavadze, whom police allegedly shot and killed in 2008. 
According to the Ministry of Justice, in 2008 authorities transferred 
the criminal case to the Investigative Division of the Prosecution of 
Ajara; at year's end, the investigation continued.
    There were seven killings during the year connected to the conflict 
in Abkhazia (see section 1.g.).
    A number of deaths occurred from unexploded ordinance. On January 
14, in Ajara, a person collecting scrap metal from a former military 
firing range picked up a piece of unexploded ordinance and took it to 
his home where it exploded, killing three persons. NGO Halo Trust 
reported two injuries from unexploded ordnance in Tbilisi. Limited 
information about events in Abkhazia and South Ossetia made it 
difficult to confirm reports of incidents in those regions. However, 
Halo Trust reported one death from a mine and three injuries from 
unexploded ordnance in Abkhazia during the year.

    b. Disappearance.--There was a report during the year of a 
politically motivated disappearance connected to the conflict in 
Abkhazia. The Government made little effort to investigate the 2009 
reported kidnappings and beatings of a number of members of some 
nonparliamentary opposition parties by unknown assailants.
    Ethnic Abkhaz Garri Jopua reportedly disappeared on October 9 and 
reappeared in Abkhazia on November 8. He alleged that he was detained 
and tortured by Georgian law enforcement officials, and credible 
sources found evidence that Georgian officials had detained him.
    Reliable information from the separatist regions, which remained 
outside of government control, remained difficult to obtain. In some 
case missing individuals were detained by Russian or regional de facto 
authorities (see section 1.d.).

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
there were reports that government officials continued to employ them 
with limited accountability. The PDO's 2009 annual National Preventive 
Mechanism Report (released in June) noted that allegations of 
mistreatment increased compared with previous monitoring. In a June 26 
speech, the public defender stated that accountability for torture and 
other inhuman treatment remained a problem.
    On December 15, the PDO released a statement describing the 
National Preventive Mechanism's (NPM) monitoring for the first half of 
the year, which reported that instances of prison employees and police 
officers mistreating detained and imprisoned individuals continued. The 
PDO also noted that police quite frequently used excessive force when 
detaining persons. The PDO stated that investigations into allegations 
of mistreatment were inadequate and ineffective. However, the statement 
also noted that, unlike in penitentiaries and police stations, there 
were almost no cases of mistreatment in pretrial detention facilities.
    The NGO Empathy reported that on April 6, police officers in Telavi 
beat a minor in their custody, denied him access to water, food, or 
washroom facilities, and refused to allow him to contact his family or 
a lawyer. Empathy reported that the Telavi prosecutor's office 
initiated a criminal investigation, but the only information about its 
progress at year's end was that the case had been transferred to the 
Isani-Samgori prosecutor's office.
    During the year an Armenian NGO reported that Vahagn Chakhalian, an 
ethnic Armenian serving a 10-year sentence in the Rustavi prison for an 
attempted 2006 break-in at the Akhalkalaki municipal building (see 
section 6), complained to the PDO that on April 30, prison guards beat 
him. The Ministry of Justice asserted on June 15 that medical experts 
found no evidence of mistreatment and that his cellmate denied seeing 
any signs of physical abuse. On June 23, during a visit with PDO 
representatives, Chakhalian signed a statement denying any complaints 
against the prison administration and refusing any PDO assistance. The 
NGO claimed that the PDO was biased on this issue.
    The PDO investigated the possible mistreatment of Neli Naveriani 
during her arrest in Mestia on July 7. The PDO representative who 
visited her at the Zugdidi penitentiary noted bruising on her arm, and 
Naveriani confirmed that she received the bruises from police 
officials. The deputy prosecutor in Zugdidi stated that Naveriani 
received the bruises while resisting arrest. On July 21 and November 
17, the PDO requested that the Chief Prosecutor open an investigation 
into the case; however, by year's end no response was received.
    On August 17, the PDO called on the chief prosecutor to investigate 
the observed injuries on Irakli Kakabadze's, arms and shoulders after 
his arrest on August 14. According to the PDO, Kakabadze, a dual U.S.-
Georgian citizen, stated he received the injuries from the chief of the 
Tbilisi patrol police and his deputy. The PDO noted that the injuries 
were reported in the detention center's protocol. The Ministry of 
Internal Affairs claimed their investigation found no signs of 
mistreatment or disciplinary or criminal violations; that Kakabadze 
could not identify the perpetrators; and that his further questioning 
was hampered since he left Georgia on August 18. On October 27, the PDO 
made another request to the chief prosecutor; however, by year's end no 
response was received (see sections 1.d. and 2.b.).
    The NGO Human Rights Priority reported that, on August 19, prison 
guards severely beat prisoners at Prison No. Seven in Ksani with 
sticks. According to Human Rights Priority, prison authorities singled 
out prisoner Archil Sakhvadze during the beatings and told him to 
withdraw the application he had filed with the European Court of Human 
Rights (ECHR). On August 31, Sakhvadze was transferred to Prison No. 
Six in Rustavi. Human Rights Priority reported that a PDO 
representative visited Sakhvadze and noted his injuries. According to 
Human Rights Priority, the ECHR sent a letter requesting information on 
the status of both Sakhvadze's health and the investigation into the 
allegations. On October 7, a reply was received giving details of 
Sakhvadze's health and indicating that an investigation into the 
allegations continued at year's end. According to the PDO and the 
Ministry of Correction and Legal Assistance, the case was still ongoing 
at year's end.
    On August 27, Dimitri Lortkipanidze from the parliamentary minority 
reported that the lawyer of Vakhtang Maisaia, who was serving a 29-year 
sentence for espionage at Tbilisi Prison No. Eight, informed him that 
prison guards beat Maisaia to force him to end his hunger strike 
against his detention. Lortkipanidze called on the PDO to investigate 
the allegation. According to the PDO, the chief prosecutor's office 
informed them on December 10 that an investigation continued.
    An incarcerated non-Georgian citizen reported that guards 
physically assaulted him during a prison transfer on August 8. The 
Ministry of Correction and Legal Assistance asserted that it 
investigated the report of assault against the non-Georgian citizen, 
which included interrogating witnesses and conducting medical 
examinations, and concluded that the allegations could not be 
corroborated. He also reported that during the year he witnessed prison 
guards randomly choosing inmates for beatings.
    There were no developments in the reported May 2009 beating of 
Nugzar Otanadze. The PDO reported that it never received a response to 
a request for an investigation from the chief prosecutor's office. 
According to the Ministry of Justice, the investigation was terminated 
at Otanadze's request in September 2009.
    There were no developments, and none were expected, in the 
investigation of the allegation that unidentified, masked officers in 
the Kutaisi Jail and Strict Regime Institution No. Two, beat 12 
juvenile prisoners in July 2009. The investigation department of the 
Ministry of Corrections and Legal Assistance continued its 
investigation of the allegation of use of excessive force at year's 
end.
    According to the PDO and human rights monitors, the incidence of 
abuse in police stations remained low, due to continued, unannounced, 
random monitoring of stations. However, the PDO reported in June that 
physical injuries were observed very frequently on persons upon 
admission to police detention facilities, and the number of such cases 
had increased. The public defender stated in a June 26 speech that 
officials who conducted investigations into allegations of torture 
often mischaracterized such acts as abuse of official power, which 
carried a far lighter sanction.
    The PDO reported that it received three complaints during the year 
that police officers physically abused persons in detention, and that 
its last monitoring of pretrial detention facilities, conducted in 
December, found no cases of physical injuries. However, the PDO stated 
that accurate statistics do not exist given that an investigation is 
only launched upon a victim's request. The PDO reported that 
investigations into allegations made during the year were either 
dismissed or ongoing at year's end.
    In a September 21 report on its February 5-15 visit to the country, 
the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) 
reported receiving a few allegations of police physically mistreating 
persons in their custody. Most involved excessive use of force (for 
example, punches and kicks) at the time of apprehension, but there were 
also allegations of mistreatment during questioning. For example, one 
person alleged that following his apprehension in early February, he 
spent a night in an office at a district police station in Tbilisi 
where police officers repeatedly hit and kicked him to compel him to 
confess to a crime. Another person alleged that following his 
apprehension, officers took him to the Department of Constitutional 
Security of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where he was hit with 
clubs and kicked. However, the CPT report concluded that ``the 
situation as regards the treatment of persons detained by police in 
Georgia has considerably improved in recent years.''
    During protests in spring 2009, the PDO received 32 complaints of 
police mistreatment from protest activists (see section 2. b.). Most 
cases involving violence against opposition activists during the 2009 
spring protests remained unsolved at year's end.
    According to the Ministry of Justice, authorities initiated 19 
investigations into allegations of torture and 15 into inhuman 
treatment during the year, compared with 17 allegations of torture, six 
of inhuman or degrading treatment, one of use of duress to compel 
evidence, and one less-grave injury to health in 2009. During the year 
the Ministry of Justice reported that 11 cases were terminated and 
judgments were rendered against four persons (two for torture and two 
for inhuman treatment).
    NGOs and the PDO reported that victims often failed to report abuse 
due to fear of retribution by police or prison authorities against them 
or their families. NGOs also continued to claim that close ties between 
the Prosecutor General's Office and police hindered the ability of NGOs 
to substantiate police misconduct. NGOs alleged that the judiciary's 
lack of professionalism and independence made it unresponsive to 
allegations of mistreatment. As a result, despite implementation of 
positive reforms, NGOs claimed law enforcement officials could still 
mistreat persons with limited risk of exposure or punishment. NGOs also 
believed a lack of adequate training for law enforcement officers, as 
well as low public awareness of the protections afforded citizens, 
impeded improvements.
    The PDO noted that monitoring groups found no instances in which 
police officers incorrectly registered a detainee when they brought him 
to the police station, which previously had been a means for police 
officers to conceal abuse. All law enforcement officers and 
representatives of the Prosecutor's Office, with the exception of 
officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs' special units (including 
the Special Operatives Department, the Constitutional Protection 
Department, and the counterterrorism center), were required to wear 
identity badges during meetings with detainees and prisoners. Special 
police units were exempt to protect members' anonymity. NGOs asserted 
that this protected the personnel of these units from accountability 
for abuse.
    There were reports of indiscriminate military force by the parties 
to the August 2008 conflict in South Ossetia resulting in civilian 
injuries (see section 1.g.).
    In 2008 Zugdidi police officers Data Gvinjilia and Davit Nadaraia 
arrested Gocha Ekhvaia near Engurkalakkombinad in Zugdidi. Ekhvaia 
alleged that they forcibly took him from his home after questioning him 
on the whereabouts of a missing person, beat him, and drove him around 
before testing him for drugs. Ekhvaia was placed in isolation for seven 
days of court-ordered administrative detention, during which he lost 
consciousness and was hospitalized. The Zugdidi regional prosecutor's 
investigation into allegations of police torture of Ekhvaia continued 
at year's end.
    In September the Government's Interagency Coordinating Council 
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment adopted a new strategy. The new strategy prioritizes the 
following areas of needed reform: development of an effective 
complaints procedure for inmates; development of prompt, impartial, and 
effective investigations of all allegations of ill-treatment; 
protection, compensation, and rehabilitation of victims of 
mistreatment; improvement of internal and external monitoring systems 
for early detection and prevention of mistreatment in detention 
facilities; and improvement in the capacity of relevant institutions.
    The Government's action plan to address torture, mistreatment, and 
medical care included the PDO as the country's NPM, an institution 
required under the UN Optional Protocol to the Convention against 
Torture and intended to be the lead government agency for monitoring 
allegations of torture and mistreatment of detainees. It published its 
first National Preventive Mechanism Report, covering 2009, in June.
    In July 2009 parliament amended the law to give the PDO greater 
responsibility for monitoring prisons and other closed facilities and 
allow it to draw on outside experts in its monitoring efforts. However, 
the PDO noted that the Law on the Public Defender does not explicitly 
state that the NPM can use audio and video equipment. The mechanism 
follows the regulations established by each institution.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Conditions in many prison 
and pretrial detention facilities remained poor and did not meet 
international standards. The PDO, the CPT, and many NGOs including 
Human Rights Watch (HRW) continued to report that while newly 
constructed facilities met international standards, old facilities 
still in use were inhuman and exposed detained persons to life-
threatening conditions, including poor facilities, overcrowding, and 
inadequate health care. Most prison and pretrial detention facilities 
lacked adequate sanitary facilities.
    In its September 21 report on conditions found during its February 
5 to 15 visit to the country, the CPT noted that, although there were 
no allegations of mistreatment of patients by staff, the ``ever 
deteriorating'' state of the Asatiani Psychiatric Institute in Tbilisi 
created conditions ``easily described as inhuman and degrading.'' While 
the CPT noted that the Government had taken action to prevent 
mistreatment of prisoners, it cited mistreatment at Prison No. 8 in 
Tbilisi (Gldani), Penitentiary Establishment No. 7 in Ksani, and 
Penitentiary Establishment No. 8 in Geguti as particular problems. In 
its 2009 National Preventive Mechanism Report, the PDO noted that in 
some penitentiaries sanitary-hygienic conditions and overcrowding were 
poor enough to amount to inhuman and degrading treatment.
    According to Ministry of Corrections and Legal Assistance data, 
during the year 75 convicts died in prison compared with 92 in 2009 and 
94 in 2008. Of the 75 deaths, five were suicides, one resulted from 
carbon monoxide inhalation from a fire in Ksani Prison No. 15, and the 
others were due to illness.
    The 2009 National Preventive Mechanism Report recounted the case of 
a prisoner who committed suicide in December 2009 in Kutaisi Prison No. 
2. The PDO called for a special investigation into the suicide because 
there was evidence of physical abuse inflicted on the body before the 
suicide. According to the PDO, on May 31, the investigation into the 
criminal case was suspended.
    Many prisons were severely short of medical facilities, including 
equipment and medicine. The 2009 National Preventive Mechanism Report 
noted that inequality between the national healthcare system and 
healthcare in the penitentiary system violated international standards. 
Medical care was also provided unequally in penitentiaries in different 
geographical areas. Prisons administrators were not able to provide 
comprehensive emergency services. The PDO reported that during the year 
many prison doctors were terminated from their positions for not 
providing adequate service to inmates, and most prisoner deaths during 
the year were due to tuberculosis. The PDO criticized the Ministry of 
Corrections and Legal Assistance for a lack of adequate healthcare.
    Since 2008 the Penitentiary Department has been overseen by the 
Ministry of Corrections and Legal Assistance, and the unit responsible 
for monitoring penitentiary establishments has been located in the 
General Inspection Department of that ministry.
    According to Ministry of Corrections and Legal Assistance, the 
inmate population continued to grow, increasing overcrowding. During 
the year inmate population was 23,511 as compared with 21,239 in 2009 
and 18,528 in 2008. The law defines three categories of penitentiaries: 
common regime, strict regime, and prison. Inmates were assigned to 
facilities depending on their crimes, with first-time offenders and 
persons convicted of less serious crimes assigned to common regime 
establishments; recidivists and those who committed graver crimes were 
assigned to strict regime establishments or prisons.
    The law sets the standard living space per prisoner as 22 square 
feet in common and strict regime establishments, 27 square feet in 
prisons, 32 square feet in the women's colony, 37 square feet for 
juveniles, and 32 square feet in medical facilities. According to the 
NPM 2009 report, overcrowding remained a problem, and eight facilities 
were overcrowded.
    International organizations that monitor prison conditions pointed 
out that the country's space standards for prisoners did not meet 
international standards. The CPT found that overcrowding was ``rife'' 
in several of the prisons that it visited.
    NGO Empathy reported that in September the Ministry of Corrections 
and Legal Assistance moved some juvenile offenders to Prison Facility 
No. Eight and that this facility did not meet international standards 
for juvenile justice including an adequate courtyard for exercise. The 
Ministry of Corrections and Legal Assistance reported that a new 
facility for female inmates, including female juveniles, opened during 
the year and a new administrative building was constructed to improve 
prison conditions at Juvenile Facility No. 11. During the year 70 
juveniles participated in new rehabilitation programs including 
computer classes. Since its merger with the Ministry of Justice, the 
Prosecutor's Office appeared more flexible in following more 
progressive criminal justice practices, including piloting a juvenile 
diversion program during the year.
    The presidential administration sought to use early release of 
certain convicts to reduce the size of the prison population. According 
to the Ministry of Corrections and Legal Assistance, the president 
pardoned 1,299 convicts during the year. In 1,115 cases, the prisoners 
were released from prison; in 154 the sentences were halved; in 18 the 
convict was released from a conditional sentence; and in 12 instances, 
prison sentences were shortened. In 2009 990 persons received pardons 
and in 2008 the number was 2,804.
    Plea bargains were also used as a tool to try to alleviate prison 
overcrowding (see section 1.e.). During the year test cases began in 
the implementation of alternative sentencing for juvenile offenders. On 
October 1, a new code of imprisonment went into effect and councils for 
early release, akin to parole boards, were created. Three new prisons 
opened during the year that met European standards for living 
conditions.
    A working unit of the Ministry of Corrections and Legal Assistance 
continued to oversee implementation of a code of conduct for 
penitentiary employees modeled after European practices. According to 
the ministry, during the year there were 156 cases of violation of 
discipline by officers in various penitentiaries compared with 263 in 
2009 and 179 in 2008. Violations resulted in various degrees of 
punishment including notices (18 cases), reprimand (108), severe 
reprimand (27), demotion (two), and dismissal (one). The ministry 
reported that the most common reason for disciplinary action was abuse 
of authority.
    On July 21, parliament amended the law to grant the public defender 
the right to make nonbinding recommendations to law enforcement 
agencies that they investigate allegations of human rights violations, 
including those involving abuse of prisoners. Government agencies have 
10 days to respond to the public defender's recommendation. Agencies 
that decide not to open an investigation as recommended by the public 
defender are required to submit a written justification of their 
decision to the PDO within 15 days. The amendment was intended to force 
government agencies to justify publicly any failure to investigate 
allegations and to improve response times to the PDO. The PDO reported 
that its communications with most governmental institutions improved; 
however, there continued to be cases of late or inadequate responses, 
and the PDO was doubtful if the improvement was directly related to the 
amendment.
    On December 30, the Ministry of Corrections and Legal Assistance 
eliminated its requirement that members of the clergy from confessions 
other than the Georgian Orthodox Church seek that church's permission 
to counsel or visit prisoners. Members of the Muslim and Baptist 
communities had reported having trouble obtaining the Georgian Orthodox 
Church's permission for such visits during the year.
    While there were Georgian Orthodox chapels in most prisons, there 
were no specific nondenominational areas for worship; some minority 
religious leaders complained that members of their communities were 
unable to worship in the prisons during their holidays due to a lack of 
appropriate space. However, a new order issued on December 10 under 
article 2 of the Code of Imprisonment explicitly provides for the 
religious worship of prisoners and detainees, including worship space, 
the right to meet with clergy of any confession, and the right to have 
religious items.
    Authorities permitted prisoners to submit complaints to judicial 
authorities, such as PDO representatives, as well as NGOs, 
international organizations, and lawyers, without censorship and 
request investigations of inhuman conditions. Authorities opened 
investigations into such allegations; however, in many case they never 
officially completed their investigations, filed charges, or took other 
disciplinary action against officials alleged to have committed abuses.
    The Government permitted independent monitoring of prison 
conditions by international organizations, local and international 
human rights groups, and the media. Such monitoring occurred during the 
year. The ICRC had full access to prisons and detention facilities in 
undisputed Georgia and some access to facilities operated by the de 
facto authorities in Abkhazia and South Ossetia to monitor conditions 
of incarceration and treatment of all prisoners and detainees. The ICRC 
also supported health programs in prisons and detention centers.
    Prison conditions in the two separatist regions were chronically 
substandard, although overcrowding reportedly was not a problem. 
According to press reports, in February a Georgian prisoner, Demur 
Gogokhia, died in Dranda prison. Abkhazian de facto officials reported 
that the cause of death was an infectious disease, but the Georgian 
media reported allegations that he had died from the effects of 
repeated torture. On June 25, an ethnic Georgian, Besik Anjaparidze, 
reportedly died in an Abkhaz jail four days after his arrest by de 
facto officials who cited a heart attack as the cause of death, but the 
Georgian government alleged he died as the result of physical abuse 
while in custody.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, the Government's 
observance of these prohibitions was uneven.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Ministry of 
Internal Affairs has primary responsibility for law enforcement. During 
times of internal disorder, the Government may also call on the armed 
forces. The ministry controls the police, which are divided into 
functional departments and a separate, independently funded, Police 
Protection Department that provides security and protection to both 
infrastructure sites and private businesses. The Ministry of Finance 
has its own investigative service.
    On October 1, provisions of the reformed criminal procedure code 
(CPC) entered into force. The code encourages accountability and 
professionalism in the police by barring the use of illegally seized 
evidence and legally seized evidence stemming from an initial illegal 
action by police (see section 1.e.).
    During the period leading up to the May municipal elections, there 
were reports that law enforcement officials intimidated opposition 
representatives (see section 3). There were also reports that law 
enforcement officials selectively enforced laws against those aligned 
with the opposition (see section 2.b.).
    During nonparliamentary opposition protests between April and July 
2009, police reportedly used excessive force against protesters on 
several occasions (see section 2.b.); in most case the absence of 
accountability resulted in allegations of police impunity.
    Also unresolved at year's end were allegations made in 2009 by the 
then public defender and by NGOs that police planted evidence, engaged 
in inhuman and degrading treatment, abused official authority, and 
exceeded the limits of official authority. Nonparliamentary opposition 
activists claimed that police especially targeted them with such 
actions (see section 1.e.).
    According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, its General 
Inspection Service imposed more disciplinary actions on law enforcement 
officers during the year than in previous years. Forms of punishment 
included reprimands, demotions, and dismissals. There were 861 such 
actions compared with 566 in 2009. The ministry also reported that 
during the year more police officers were arrested for committing 
various crimes, 46 as compared with 29 in 2009. Crimes during the year 
included corruption (18 cases), carrying or using narcotics (two), 
fraud or excessive use of authority (12), abuse of authority (12), and 
misappropriation of state property (two).
    The Human Rights Protection Unit in the Office of the Prosecutor 
General issued regular updates on the status of cases, trials, and 
investigations of human rights violations. However, NGOs maintained 
that the incidence of abuse was higher than the number of cases 
investigated by the prosecutor general, and failure to conduct 
systematic investigations and pursue convictions of all alleged abusers 
contributed to a culture of impunity. Human rights NGOs also asserted 
that many instances of abuse went unreported by victims due to fear of 
reprisals or lack of confidence in the judicial system.
    The Prosecutor General's Office was in charge of all criminal 
investigations into allegations of torture and mistreatment. 
Prosecutors were required to investigate the use of force by police 
when a detainee with injuries sustained during arrest was registered. 
The law requires the office to open an investigation when it receives 
information about a possible violation, even if from an anonymous 
source. If prosecutors conclude after investigation that charges are 
not warranted, the decision can be appealed to a higher level within 
the office. Any person subjected to abuse was able to pursue a civil 
action against the abuser. In some case the Prosecutor General's Office 
continued investigations indefinitely without issuing any findings. In 
most cases that were completed, the office concluded that the use of 
force by police was reasonable.
    The law obliges police officers to uphold the human rights of all 
persons and to use force only when strictly necessary for the 
performance of their duties; the Ministry of Internal Affairs and 
Prosecutor General's Office are responsible for implementing the law. 
The General Inspection Service is responsible for investigating 
suspected infractions on duty by police officers, receiving complaints 
from citizens on the ministry's hotline, via the public defender, or 
from the main unit of the ministry's Human Rights and Monitoring 
Department. Infractions may be addressed to the police officer's 
supervisor, who can also initiate an inquiry. There are seven 
categories of disciplinary measures: reproach, condemnation, severe 
condemnation, deprivation of the ministry badge, demotion, demotion by 
one grade, or dismissal. If there is suspicion that a police officer 
committed a criminal act, the officer is suspended and, if the 
allegations are confirmed, the inquiry materials are transferred to the 
Prosecutor's Office for criminal investigation.
    During the year the Police Academy included training on human 
rights in the basic course for patrol police and conducted specialized 
training on human rights in cooperation with international partners, 
such as the Council of Europe. The Police Academy curriculum for 7,000 
patrol, regional inspectors, and junior police officers included 
training on the legal basis for the use of coercive force, proper crowd 
control, hate crime investigations, tactical training on negotiation 
skills for managing critical situations with the goal of using coercive 
force as a last resort, police ethics, and role playing to illustrate 
these points.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The reformed 
CPC which took effect during the year includes better-defined rights 
and due process protections for those arrested and measures intended to 
increase the speediness of trials, thus potentially reducing time in 
detention (see section 1.e.). The code provides that the term of the 
defendant's initial arrest shall not exceed 72 hours without judicial 
review and that the arrested person shall be presented with the 
indictment within 48 hours from the moment of arrest. Upon arrest the 
defendant is to be advised of all legal rights, and any statements made 
after arrest but before the defendant is advised of his rights are 
inadmissible and excluded from evidence in the criminal case. Court 
observers found that judges adhered to these time frames strictly.
    Police are also required to provide detainees a copy of the arrest 
and search form, signed by police and detainees. The PDO and NGOs 
reported that police often failed to inform detainees fully of their 
rights and that, if informed of their rights, detainees often did not 
understand them. However, the PDO reported that such instances could 
not be verified because detainees signed that they had been provided 
with information on their rights at the time of their arrest. On 
November 4, the PDO recommended that the Ministry of Internal Affairs 
use a form during detention that explicitly states the rights of those 
arrested.
    The CPC permits law enforcement officers to arrest a person without 
a warrant only in exceptional cases. There was no indication that the 
code was violated in this regard during the year.
    The law provides safeguards for a speedy trial through strict time 
frames. A pretrial hearing must occur within 60 days of arrest; if no 
pretrial hearing has commenced within 60 days, the defendant must be 
released. A trial should begin within 14 days of the pretrial hearing. 
The total time allowed under the CPC for detention of a defendant is 
nine months, within which the main trial proceedings must be initiated. 
Extensions of these timeframes are permitted at the request of the 
defendant; the prosecution has only limited ability to alter these time 
frames.
    After multiple surveys, the judiciary established that the average 
trial length for cases to go through the court system was 12 to 13 
months for criminal cases; 18 to19 months for civil cases; and 15 to 18 
months for administrative cases. The duration of trials at the trial-
court stage did not exceed three to five months. A high number of 
judicial vacancies at the trial-court level may have contributed to 
some delays in scheduling trials. Thirty-three new judges completed 
training during the year. The speed at which the judiciary could add 
new judges was affected by a 12-month training program that each 
candidate was required to pass.
    A second cause of delays in scheduling trials was the failure of 
prosecutors and defense lawyers to appear for hearings. Both 
prosecutors and defense lawyers used this tactic if they were not 
prepared to conduct their case on the day in question. The CPC permits 
courts to impose sanctions on trial lawyers for such misconduct. During 
the year judges imposed financial sanctions for such lawyer misconduct 
as confirmed by court monitors.
    The Judicial Administration and Management Reform Project September 
survey, conducted by the Institute for Polling and Marketing, found 
that the main reasons for delay in the regional courts and the Tbilisi 
City Courts were: parties asked for postponement to negotiate plea 
agreement (12 percent); prosecutors requested postponement (9 percent); 
defense lawyers requested postponement because of conflict with another 
trial (8 percent); defense requested more time to prepare case (7 
percent); witness did not attend trial (7 percent); health reasons (6 
percent); absence of defense lawyer (5 percent); absence of prosecutor 
(2 percent); and absence of defendant.
    There is a system of bail. The new CPC shifted the presumption 
toward releasing detainees, with conditions (including posting of bail 
or other surety), away from the previous practice where pretrial 
detention was presumed and bail or other alternatives used only 
marginally. There was an increase in the judiciary's use of bail 
instead of pretrial detention during the year. NGOs noted that, due to 
economic hardship, some defendants were not able to pay bail even when 
it was granted and ended in pretrial detention. In many case 
prosecutors used standardized and stereotypical formulations in seeking 
to detain defendants and did not refer to the individual facts of the 
case, thus failing to provide an explanation of how the specific 
circumstances calls for application of coercive measures (detention).
    According to Ministry of Justice data, detention was used in 7,802 
cases (54.4 percent) during the year, bail in 3,977 (27.8 percent), 
bail secured by remand order in 2,465 (17.2 percent), personal 
guarantees in 79 (0.6 percent), and other coercive measures in six 
(0.04 percent). In the first 11 months of 2009, bail was used in 4,727 
cases, custodial bail in 2,031, pretrial detention in 6,957, release 
under supervision in 174, and other measures of restraint in 35.
    A property bond is also permitted. In addition to bail and pretrial 
detention, the law permits obligating a defendant to appear in court at 
a set time or upon summons; prohibiting a defendant from undertaking 
certain activities or pursuing a certain profession; obligating a 
defendant to report to the court, police, or other state agency daily 
or periodically; supervision by an agency appointed by the court; 
electronic monitoring; prohibiting a defendant from leaving or entering 
a certain location; prohibiting a defendant from meeting certain 
persons without special authorization; and ordering a defendant to 
surrender a passport or other identification documents. During the year 
test cases began in the use of alternative sentencing for juvenile 
offenders.
    A detainee has the right to request immediate access to a lawyer 
and the right to refuse to make a statement in the absence of counsel. 
An indigent defendant or a defendant charged in a criminal case has the 
right to counsel at public expense. The ministry in charge of the 
proceedings appoints counsel upon the defendant's request. If a 
defendant requests an attorney after arrest, the investigator or 
prosecutor who is handling the case is responsible for contacting and 
engaging the attorney. While exact reasons varied (that is, 
insufficient time to retain a lawyer or lack of information on basic 
legal rights), many defendants were unrepresented at the bail or 
detention hearing stage. The proportion was 37 percent at Tbilisi City 
Court, based on data compiled by the court's monitors. The courts and 
Legal Aid Services sponsored public service announcements on access to 
free legal aid throughout the year.
    Defense counsel has the right to meet persons accused of a crime 
without hindrance, supervision, or undue restriction; however, NGOs and 
lawyer associations complained that long lines and cumbersome entry 
checks at penitentiary institutions (that they must go through for each 
client they meet) hindered their ability to prepare cases. They blamed 
the problem on a shortage of interviewing rooms for lawyers and their 
clients at detention facilities.
    Officers must notify detainees' families of their location within 
five hours of their arrest and record the circumstances of the 
notification in the case record. PDO representatives regularly reviewed 
these records during their visits to police stations and found that, in 
most cases, officers adhered to these requirements.
    The constitution and the law stipulate that detainees must be 
brought before a magistrate judge within 72 hours. Those not brought 
before a judge by the prosecutor within this period must be released. 
The Prosecutor General's Office is the only body authorized to engage 
directly with the courts. There were no reports during the year of 
officials holding detainees longer than 72 hours without charging them.
    In the case of Irakli Kakabadze and two others who painted over a 
street sign as part of a protest to call for its renaming, the PDO 
concluded that Kakabadze's detention on the charge of disobeying police 
orders was not warranted because video shot at the scene showed 
Kakabadze and the others obeyed orders (see sections 1.c. and 2.b.). 
Georgian Young Lawyers' Association (GYLA) representatives noted that 
the only wrongdoing committed by the protesters was defacing the street 
sign, a crime that envisages a 50 lari ($28) fine, not arrest.
    In May 2009 authorities arrested three members of the 
nonparliamentary opposition on charges of hooliganism after the 
opposition members allegedly slapped and punched Georgian Public 
Broadcaster (GPB) journalist Nika Avaliani. At a press conference, the 
three protesters alleged that during their detention, police beat them, 
verbally abused them, and threatened them with death and rape. The 
Ministry of Internal Affairs opened an investigation into the 
allegations which continued at year's end.
    In contrast with 2009, there were no reports that law enforcement 
officers planted drugs or weapons on persons during the year to arrest 
or charge them in criminal cases. In 2009 this practice was reported, 
and many such cases were considered politically motivated (see section 
1.e.). In most of the 2009 cases, individuals accepted plea bargains or 
were found guilty.
    In 2009 there were reports that authorities detained individuals 
solely because they were family members of a criminal suspect, despite 
the lack of evidence of any ties to an alleged crime. The public 
defender and NGOs reported that in May 2009, police officers from the 
Ministry of Internal Affairs detained at least 11 relatives of Koba 
Otanadze, accused of being one of the leaders of the Mukhrovani mutiny 
(see sections 1.g. and 1.c.). Authorities did not formally register 
these individuals as detained, and the public defender could not 
determine their whereabouts. They were released 21 hours later, after 
the arrest of Otanadze. The Ministry of Internal Affairs confirmed the 
detention of some family members under the status of ``suspects'' or 
``witnesses.'' Authorities filed charges of resisting arrest against 
family member Nugzar Otanadze (see section 1.c.). No other formal 
charges had been filed at year's end, either against family members who 
had been detained or against those responsible for the detentions.
    A February 23 amendment to article 80 of the Criminal Code of 
Georgia increased the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 14 
years of age (from 12 years old). The amended article 80 provided state 
that, ``[f]or purposes of criminal responsibility, juvenile is the 
person from 14 to 18 years of age at the time of commission of crime.''
    During the year de facto officials of the separatist territories 
and Russian officials continued to detain many individuals in the 
separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia on charges related to 
their ``illegal'' crossing of the administrative boundary line. Russian 
border guards, who began administering the boundary lines in 2009, 
carried out many of those detentions by enforcing boundary-crossing 
rules imposed by the de facto authorities, but they usually handed 
custody of the individuals over to the de facto authorities. In most 
case the individuals were released within a few hours or days; in some 
case the individuals were held considerably longer. In Abkhazia the 
detainees were often fined; in South Ossetia they sometimes were. 
Georgian authorities also detained a number of individuals near the 
administrative boundary lines on various charges, including illegal 
entry into the country. Such individuals often carried only Russian 
passports with no evidence of authorization to be present in Georgia.
    On June 3, Russian border guards detained two herders who crossed 
the South Ossetian administrative boundary near Karbala while trying to 
round up their herd; one was released immediately because of ill 
health, while the other was released later that day. In mid-August, a 
resident of the South Ossetian village of Sinaguri tried to cross the 
administrative boundary into her village from undisputed Georgia, but 
Russian border guards stopped her because it was after the curfew of 
8:00 p.m.; she eventually reached her home by another route, but her 
husband was later arrested by de facto officials reportedly for 
assisting her ``illegal'' crossing.
    On July 5, a Russian helicopter landed in Khurcha, outside the 
Abkhaz administrative boundary, and detained three men who were 
apparently engaged in cross-boundary trade; Russian officials claimed 
they had landed inside Abkhazia, but EU monitors determined the 
location was outside the administrative boundary line. On October 2, 
Russian border guards detained a woman attempting to enter Abkhazia 
near Orsantia; she was reportedly accused of ``smuggling'' blankets and 
mattresses into Abkhazia. In mid-November, Russian border guards 
detained dozens of individuals in a series of incidents, many of which 
were likely related to the transport of hazelnuts across the boundary 
during the harvest season. On November 22, approximately 20 
individuals, including some women and children, were held overnight in 
Barghebi; the next day, approximately 12 men from the group were 
brought to Gali and fined.
    On September 10, after the intercession of EU officials, Abkhaz de 
facto officials released Malkhaz Kordzaia, who had been held for two 
years on charges of ``illegally'' crossing the administrative boundary.
    In May the de facto authorities released six individuals whom they 
detained in August 2009 in the Akhalgori region of South Ossetia for 
attempting to smuggle wood.

    Amnesty.--During the year according to statistics of the Ministry 
of Corrections and Legal Assistance, presidential orders pardoned 1,299 
convicts, compared with 687 in 2009.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary. However, reports persisted that the 
executive branch and some senior judges exerted pressure on the 
judiciary.
    According to the PDO's report for the second half of 2009, problems 
continued within the judicial system including court independence, 
quality of investigations, parity of the sides, and substantiation of 
court decisions at various stages of consideration.
    Many NGOs complained that judicial authorities continued to act in 
favor of the ruling party, in some cases even without an actual 
directive to do so, particularly if there was a perceived government 
interest in the case. Some NGOs and nonparliamentary opposition alleged 
that in cases involving opposition activists, the courts tended to rule 
in favor of the Government. NGOs also expressed concern that recent 
judicial appointees lacked the experience and training to act 
independently.
    Much of the public viewed the judiciary as one of the country's 
most corrupt institutions. However, the most recent comprehensive 
survey of court user satisfaction with court effectiveness indicated 
that 63 percent of court users agreed that the courts were reliable, 
with 60 percent indicating that the courts were impartial. The 
Institute for Polling and Marketing conducted the survey in August.
    On May 18, GYLA released a report, Justice in Georgia, which 
asserted that individual judges sometimes received ``directives'' on 
specific cases from other higher-ranking judges. Because of the 
subjectivity of determining the grounds for bonuses, as well as 
disciplinary punishments (and possibly criminal punishments) for 
violations of internal investigations, judges not following such 
instructions were subject to repercussions, most notably assignment to 
an undesired court.
    In a December 13 paper, the International Crisis Group (ICG) stated 
that many Georgians still perceived the judiciary as dependent on the 
executive branch and deferential to the prosecution, especially given 
the 1 percent acquittal rate in criminal cases. In a December 15 
report, Transparency International (TI)/Georgia also raised concerns 
about the implications of the low acquittal rate for a fair trial. 
According to the Ministry of Justice, during the year the acquittal 
rate was 6 percent compared with 12 percent in 2009.
    During the year according to statistical data provided by the 
Supreme Court of Georgia, 21 defense attorneys were charged with crimes 
and 17 defense lawyers were charged with fraud. Sufficient information 
was not available to demonstrate that all these lawyers were objects of 
undue pressure by the Government. However, the December Report on the 
Georgian Mission of the International Observatory for Lawyers described 
cases of lawyer intimidation where the defense lawyers were arrested 
and sentenced on fraud charges. The Georgian Bar Association argued 
that these lawyers were working on ``sensitive'' cases or were 
considered ``opposition'' lawyers and were targeted as such. The 
December Report on the Georgian Mission of the International 
Observatory for Lawyers described two cases of government intimidation 
of attorneys. The PDO stated that some lawyers encountered difficulties 
in their ability to serve their clients properly. The PDO documented 
several ``problematic issues'' regarding the limited access of lawyers 
to their incarcerated clients.
    On October 15, parliament approved a package of constitutional 
amendments, including provisions governing the judiciary, that were 
scheduled to take effect in 2013. Under these amendments, common court 
judges are to be given lifetime appointments after a three-year 
probationary period. The Venice Commission and Georgian experts had 
criticized this probation period as potentially undermining judicial 
independence due to a lack of clear guidelines or criteria governing 
the decision-making process as to how judges will be retained or 
removed.
    The High Council of Justice appoints and dismisses judges. Chairman 
and members of the Supreme Court are nominated by the president and 
approved by parliament. The chairman of the Supreme Court sits as 
chairman of the council.
    During the year NGOs and observers continued to criticize the lack 
of transparency in the selection, appointment, and disciplining of 
judges. Despite the use of objective written examinations to create a 
pool of potential qualified appointees and publication of the names of 
all potential candidates for public comment, the judicial appointment 
process was not sufficiently transparent. Oral interviews of appointees 
were held behind closed doors with no public knowledge of what criteria 
were used for selection.
    During the year the Supreme Court and the High School of Justice 
reduced their training program for judges to 12 months to streamline 
the training program. Judicial candidates, who have served as lawyers 
for at least 10 years prior to being selected for the judicial training 
program, can now complete the High School of Justice course in six 
months. The program was intended to promote a merit-based selection and 
vetting process for judges and help eliminate unqualified appointees. 
The program included examinations and performance measures to provide 
objective criteria for ranking the performance of the judicial 
candidates.
    A law on ex parte communications prohibits prosecutors, defendants, 
investigators, and any interested third parties from contacting judges 
outside the courtroom during cases to influence their decisions. 
According to the judiciary, during the year there were no disciplinary 
actions taken against sitting judges or other public officials for such 
violations; this also was the case in 2009. The disciplinary process 
against judges was primarily initiated for violations of an in-custody 
defendant's term of detention or for other types of procedural 
violations that infringed upon the legal rights of defendants.
    During the year 10 judges reportedly left office on personal 
resignation requests, and four new judges were appointed after 
graduating from the judicial training program. The reformed CPC removed 
the judge from the investigative process, thus reducing the opportunity 
for ex parte communication and undue influence from the prosecution.
    During the year the High Council of Justice's Judicial Ethics and 
Disciplinary Procedure Department received 1,053 complaints. They 
reported that the majority of complaints were unsubstantiated or 
faulty. The High Council started disciplinary proceeding against 30 
judges and referred these cases to the Disciplinary Board of the Common 
Courts. As a result of the board's decisions, one judge was dismissed, 
one received a reprimand, and one received a notice. Other cases 
awaited a decision from the board at year's end. In 2009 the 
Disciplinary Board of the Common Courts discussed 44 disciplinary cases 
involving 32 judges, 19 of which were new cases and 25 held over from 
2008. Of these cases, the board imposed disciplinary sanctions on 18 
judges, three of whom were dismissed.
    Some members of the courts were arrested on corruption charges 
during the year. On May 31, the Ministry of Justice's Inspector 
General's Office conducted a large scale anticorruption operation and 
arrested a judge of the Tbilisi Court of Appeals. Dimitri 
Mchedlishvili, an appellate judge, was arrested for allegedly accepting 
a bribe of 5,000 lari ($2,825) in exchange for assisting a defendant on 
a criminal case. During 2005-07, he was the High School of Justice's 
Chief of the Judicial Disciplinary Proceedings Department. In July he 
was found guilty and sentenced to three years' imprisonment, one-year 
conditional sentence with two years of probation. In addition he was 
fined 10,000 lari ($5,650).
    Prosecutor Levan Bochorishvili was arrested during the year for 
allegedly accepting bribes in the amount of 1,000 and 1,500 lari ($565 
and $847) in exchange for fashioning favorable plea agreements for 
defendants. In July he was found guilty and sentenced to three years of 
imprisonment, one-year conditional sentence with two years of 
probation. In addition he was fined 30,000 lari ($16,949). During this 
investigation, defense attorney Nana Tkhelidze was arrested for 
allegedly accepting payments in the amount of 6,500, 4,000, 1,500, and 
1,000 lari ($3,672, $2,260, $847, and $565) to use in securing 
favorable plea agreements for defendants.
    The Prosecutor's Office is responsible for disciplinary action for 
violations of the ethics code for prosecutors. The Office of the 
Prosecutor General conducts an inquiry into such facts and presents 
this information to the prosecutor general with a recommendation for 
disciplinary action. The Ministry of Justice, actively implemented the 
code during the year with 23 employees of the Chief Prosecutor's Office 
receiving disciplinary actions ranging from notice to reprimand. Three 
prosecutors were reprimanded specifically for a violation of the code 
of ethics.
    In December 2009 officials arrested a prosecutor and accused him of 
accepting a 2,000 lari ($1,087) bribe to secure a favorable sentence 
for a defendant. Officials also arrested the defense attorney for his 
alleged role in the incident. In May the prosecutor was found guilty 
and sentenced to nine months' imprisonment, four years and three 
months' conditional sentence, and five years and three months of 
probation. In addition he was deprived of the right to hold a 
government position for three years.
    The OSCE's September 13 report on the May 30 municipal elections 
raised concerns about the handling of election grievances by the 
courts, noting that ``most appeals were dismissed by the courts, even 
when during the hearings substantial evidence and testimonies on 
violations were presented.''

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution and the law provide for the 
right to a fair trial; however, in spite of continued reforms, concerns 
continued about the fairness of trials.
    Human rights activists were concerned that the Prosecutor's Office 
is not independent from the Ministry of Justice and that there is no 
direct parliamentary vote on the chief prosecutor's nomination. 
Concerns also remained that under the reformed CPC, part of the 
criminal justice internal guidelines was not public information. Such 
lack of public access potentially made it difficult for lawyers to 
raise procedural points in criminal cases.
    By law defendants are presumed innocent. Under the CPC, the 
prosecution must demonstrate a ``high probability'' of guilt at the 
pretrial stage. If the prosecutor cannot meet this burden, the court 
must dismiss the prosecution's case and release any detained defendant.
    On September 24, parliament further amended the CPC. These 
amendments include changes to the jury deliberation and unanimity 
standards that mirror European legal traditions that do not require a 
unanimous jury verdict. The CPC requires a unanimous jury verdict; 
however, if a unanimous verdict cannot be reached with the first three 
hours of deliberation, a verdict by a two-thirds majority is now 
allowed in the next six hours of deliberation. If after this six hours 
of deliberation a verdict cannot be reached by a two-thirds majority, 
the judge will inquire whether any juror is refusing to participate in 
deliberations or has a private interest in the case that was not 
disclosed during jury selection. If satisfied that neither of these 
circumstances exists, the court will then allow three more hours of 
deliberation. If after that time no verdict is rendered, the court may 
either dismiss the jury and declare a mistrial, or allow the jury 
further time to deliberate. If a second jury trial also results in a 
hung jury and no verdict, then the defendant may not be tried a third 
time and will be deemed acquitted.
    By law a court must certify that a plea bargain was reached without 
violence, intimidation, deception, or illegal promise and that the 
accused had the opportunity to obtain legal assistance. Under the 
reformed CPC, either prosecutors or defendants may initiate plea 
agreements. Prosecutors are under an obligation to inform the victim of 
the terms of the plea agreement. The victim can also seek a review of 
the plea bargain by a senior prosecutor. According to Ministry of 
Justice statistics, during the year the use of plea bargaining 
increased significantly. During the year the number of plea agreements 
was 80.8 percent (15,614) of all judgments as compared with 58.9 
percent (10,400) in 2009 and 52 percent (10,608) in 2008.
    The majority of plea agreements (which included a proposed 
sentence) contained a financial penalty along with either a prison term 
or a suspended sentence. Even proper and viable plea agreements were 
often perceived as a way for defendants to buy their way out of prison. 
According to the ICG, critics of the plea bargaining system asserted 
that the system had ``become a revenue source rather than an instrument 
of justice.'' Some NGOs reported that the Government coerced defendants 
into accepting plea bargains.
    In a December 15 report, TI/Georgia evaluated the strengths and 
weaknesses of plea bargaining in the country. The report identified a 
number of benefits of plea bargaining to the country's criminal justice 
system: Plea bargaining brought greater efficiency and cost-savings to 
the court process and was a successful tool in fighting corruption, 
especially in the context of addressing organized crime. TI also noted 
that fewer persons were sent to prison during the year because plea 
bargain agreements allowed them to serve suspended sentences. This 
procedure alleviated overcrowded correctional facilities. However, TI 
raised significant concerns about the fairness of the plea bargaining 
system, highlighting the imbalance between the powers of the 
prosecution and the judiciary and the system's lack of transparency in 
the application and collection of fines. TI also reported a consensus 
among interviewed experts that the core problem was not in the law but 
in the court and justice system.
    The reformed CPC enhanced the provisions for due process. Detainees 
and defendants have the right to be presumed innocent until proven 
guilty and to receive a speedy, fair, and continuous trial. The code 
protects the privilege against self-incrimination. The reformed code 
provided that a defendant may ask that a pretrial investigative 
confession be suppressed and excluded from the main trial without 
providing a rationale or requiring any showing of prejudice or any 
wrongdoing by police. If the defendant does not seek to exclude the 
confession, no conviction stands if it is based solely on the 
confession of the defendant. Initial reports by court observers 
suggested uneven implementation of the reformed CPC as it applies to 
the protection of defendant rights.
    Defendants have the right to a public trial, except where national 
security, privacy, or protection of a juvenile is involved. On February 
23, parliament amended the criminal code and increased the minimum age 
of criminal responsibility to 14 years of age (from 12 years old). 
However, the law makes a distinction between criminally responsible 
adults and juveniles (who are between the ages of 14 and 18 years old).
    The reformed CPC provides for the right to a jury trial for 
aggravated murder cases in Tbilisi the first year and provides for 
expansion of the trials use for all types of murders and rape in all 
cities in subsequent years. The law providing for such jury trials 
under Tbilisi City Court jurisdiction entered into force on October 1. 
No jury trial had been scheduled at year's end. However, on September 
30, a successful mock jury trial was held including a call for jurors 
and jury selection. Courts are required to instruct juries that guilt 
must be established by the prosecutor alone beyond a reasonable doubt. 
The prosecutor's offices engaged in raising public awareness on 
criminal justice legislative reforms, including a well-publicized 
campaign on the introduction of jury trials.
    Defendants have the right to be present at their trial and to 
consult an attorney from the time of their arrest. Nevertheless, for 
reasons discussed earlier, many defendants in criminal pretrial 
hearings, where decisions are made on arrest or bail, did not enjoy the 
benefit of counsel.
    Defendants may question and confront witnesses against them and 
present witnesses and evidence on their own behalf at trial. The 
reformed CPC made the rights of the prosecution and defense to collect 
and present evidence more equal. By law, defendants and their attorneys 
have access to the prosecution's evidence relevant to their cases at 
any point during the investigation and may make copies at their own 
expense. The prosecution must disclose all evidence to the defendant no 
later than five days prior to the pretrial hearing. If the prosecution 
does offer evidence at trial that has not been previously disclosed to 
the defense, the court is obligated to exclude such evidence. Court 
observers reported that the prosecution complied with the new discovery 
rules.
    In exigent circumstances (that is, evidence about to be destroyed 
or tampered with), prosecutors may seize evidence without court 
approval but, within 12 hours of the warrantless seizure, they must 
explain the underlying urgency to the court's satisfaction.
    A convicted defendant has the right of appeal. The prosecution 
cannot appeal an acquittal. Once a verdict is rendered, if a prison 
sentence is given, then it begins immediately regardless of any pending 
appeals. The reformed CPC establishes a time limit within which all 
appeals must be resolved. In cases in which the appellant is 
incarcerated, the time limit for all appeals to be completed is nine 
months and 12 months for cases in which the appellant is not 
incarcerated.
    The law provides that a verbatim record must be prepared and signed 
by the secretary and the presiding judge within five days of the 
conclusion of the court hearing or trial. Only then can the parties 
receive it. Under the reformed CPC, regardless of whether an arrested 
person is ultimately convicted, the state must fully reimburse from the 
state budget the damage caused from an illegal or groundless arrest, as 
determined by civil legal proceedings.
    By law persons charged with crimes can be tried in their absence if 
they are absent to avoid trial. If persons convicted in their absence 
appeal their conviction within one month of their arrest or surrender, 
the law provides for a new trial. Human rights NGOs criticized these 
provisions because they apply to all crimes; the Government's position 
has been in favor of timely commencement of trial and presentation of 
evidence and witnesses to prosecute criminal behavior successfully and 
not to reward those who abscond from their prosecution.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--Several nonparliamentary 
opposition parties and NGOs alleged that the Government continued to 
hold political prisoners and detainees. Estimates of the number varied; 
reasonable estimates were in the dozens. The Government, NGOs, and 
opposition leaders disagreed on the definition of a political prisoner. 
The public defender did not name any political prisoners or detainees 
in his report for the second half of 2009. According to the PDO, the 
office did not receive requests for assistance regarding political 
prisoners during the year. The parliamentary Human Rights Committee, 
which included a member from the opposition, disagreed with assertions 
that the Government held political prisoners.
    According to observers, a majority of cases alleged to have been 
politically motivated in connection with the spring 2009 opposition 
protests involved charges of illegal possession of weapons or drugs 
against opposition activists. In the majority of such cases, procedural 
shortcomings were reported. In August 2009 nonparliamentary opposition 
party representatives gave the Minister of Internal Affairs a list of 
48 activists from various opposition parties that they considered to 
have been arrested on fabricated charges during the April to July 2009 
protests. These charges were mainly related to drug and arms 
possession. The Ministry of Internal Affairs opened an investigation 
into the allegations and began discussions with the nonparliamentary 
opposition. Reportedly 10 individuals were released after the initial 
talks in August 2009, and 16 were released in November 2009. Many of 
these individuals were released on bail or released after serving short 
administrative sentences. It was not clear how many of the individuals 
from the original list of 48 had been released at year's end. In August 
2009 two Republican Party opposition activists on the list were 
sentenced to prison terms by the Gori City Court.
    In his report for the first half of 2008, the then public defender 
identified five political prisoners and, in his report for the second 
half of 2008, he identified one. Of these individuals, three remain 
incarcerated, including Merab Ratishvili, Joni Jikia, and Maia Topuria.
    The Government permitted international human rights and domestic 
organizations to visit persons claiming to be political prisoners or 
detainees, and some organizations did so during the year.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--During the year the ECHR 
ruled against the Government in four cases involving alleged violations 
of the European Convention on Human Rights, and supported it in 13 
cases. The violations occurred from 1997 to 2006. The violations 
pertained to the right to a fair hearing, property rights, the right to 
a speedy trial, and the right to life. According to the Ministry of 
Justice, authorities paid compensation in three of the cases by year's 
end.
    For example, on May 27, the ECHR ruled that the Ministry of 
Internal Affairs unlawfully deprived former ministry official Batalbi 
Saghinadze of the right to use a cottage by evicting him in 2004. An 
IDP, Saghinadze had been living in the cottage since 1994. The ECHR 
also ruled that the Government's decision extending Saghinadze's 
pretrial detention in 2006 was unlawful because the decision consisted 
of a template with prewritten findings. The court ordered the 
Government to return the cottage or equivalent lodging to Saghinadze or 
pay 15,000 euros ($19,600) in damages.
    On June 8, in the case of Khaindrava and Dzamashvili versus 
Georgia, the ECHR concluded that the state had failed in its 
obligations to carry out an effective investigation of an alleged 
assault on the applicant's life (in 1997), and that there had therefore 
been a violation of article 2 (right to life) of the European 
Convention in its procedural aspect (the investigation). The court 
ordered the state to pay 12,000 euros ($15,700) in damages.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The constitution provides 
for an independent and impartial judiciary in civil matters, but there 
were concerns about the professionalism of judges and transparency in 
their adjudication. The constitution and law stipulate that a person 
who suffers damages resulting from arbitrary detention or other 
unlawful or arbitrary acts, including unlawful human rights violations, 
is entitled to bring a civil action.

    Property Restitution.--GYLA reported several cases in which it 
offered legal assistance during the year to groups that claimed the 
Government improperly used imminent domain to seize at unfair prices 
their property in Tbilisi for public works. In addition GYLA reported 
that the Government was exerting pressure on these groups to accept the 
offered compensation.
    In Abkhazia the de facto law banned de facto courts from 
considering any property claims filed by ethnic Georgians who left 
Abkhazia before, during, or after the 1992-93 war, thereby effectively 
depriving IDPs of their property in Abkhazia. During the year de facto 
courts in Abkhazia reportedly did not make efforts to establish facts 
or administer justice but acted at the direction of prosecutors and law 
enforcement.
    In December South Ossetian de facto authorities issued a decree 
that invalidated all real estate documents issued by the Georgian 
government between 1991 and 2008 relating to property held in the 
Akhalgori region. The same decree declared that all property in 
Akhalgori belonged to the de facto authorities until a ``citizen's'' 
right to that property was established in accordance with de facto 
legislation.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions without 
court approval or legal necessity and prohibit police from searching a 
residence or conducting undercover or monitoring operations without a 
warrant; however, these prohibitions were not always respected.
    NGOs continued to report that police conducted searches and 
monitored private telephone conversations without first obtaining court 
orders; the CPC permits such searches only under limited circumstances. 
NGOs reported that police often obtained warrants after the fact and 
many citizens were unaware of their right to delay a search of their 
home by one hour to summon two objective third-party witnesses to the 
search. Under the CPC, if authorities conduct a search or seizure 
without a warrant because of urgency, a court must later approve the 
warrantless seizure; otherwise, the evidence collected is considered 
invalid.
    During the year some opposition figures reported concerns about 
government surveillance. An opposition leader alleged that such 
surveillance included monitoring of the e-mails and cell phones of 
national and regional opposition leaders by officials of the Ministry 
of Internal Affairs Constitutional Protection Department.
    NGOs and some opposition members contended that tax authorities 
targeted certain companies and persons for searches for political 
reasons; they viewed the subsequent fines as a form of ``legal 
extortion'' by the Government. They asserted that the authorities in 
some cases used the threat of tax audits as a tool to dissuade 
businesses from contributing to opposition-linked persons and 
organizations. Businesses and persons across the political spectrum 
reported this practice. In a May report, TI/Georgia noted that the tax 
administration, while improved, failed to apply risk analysis or other 
auditing mechanisms in selecting businesses to audit. The report noted 
that this omission allowed for excesses by the financial police who, 
motivated by budgetary shortfalls and political considerations, used 
tax audits, as one commentator noted, as a political club.
    There were concerns about the lack of due process and respect for 
the rule of law in a number of developments related to property rights. 
During the year there were reports that the Government sold state-owned 
land in the municipality of Mestia in the region of Samegrelo-Zemo 
Svaneti without notifying local residents who had been using it in 
accordance with customary practice (see section 2.b.).
    IDPs and IDP advocates expressed concern that authorities did not 
fully respect property rights as they removed IDPs from temporary 
shelters in Tbilisi during the year. The Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) observed that in most cases the 
evicted IDPs occupied these buildings without the consent of the 
Government or the buildings' rightful owners (see section 2.d.).

    g. Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts.--
On January 11, the Tbilisi City Court rendered a verdict in the case of 
a reported mutiny at the Mukhrovani military base in May 2009. The 
court acquitted one high-ranking official, Koba Kobaladze, of mutiny 
charges. It sentenced Koba Otanadze to 29 years in prison, Levan 
Amiridze to 28 years, and Shota Gorgiashvili, who at the time was a 
tank battalion commander, to 19 years. The court handed down other 
guilty verdicts on lesser charges ranging from the illegal possession 
of firearms to disobedience, and sentences ranged from three to 15 
years. Most of the 41 accused accepted plea bargains from the 
prosecution. Otanadze, Gorgiashvili, Amiridze, and 14 others appealed 
their convictions. On October 21, a three-judge panel upheld the prison 
sentences for all 17 defendants. Otanadze appealed to the Supreme 
Court, where the proceedings were pending at year's end. Some NGOs had 
raised concerns about aspects of this case.
    Separatist conflicts in the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia 
remained unresolved, but the security situation stabilized to the point 
that no overt use of military force was reported in the conflict areas. 
According to the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM), the Georgian 
Ministries of Defense and Internal Affairs remained in compliance with 
their Memoranda of Understanding, which limited the Government's 
presence, movements, and armaments in the conflict areas. Russian 
occupying forces in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and de facto militias 
refused access to international monitors and conducted numerous 
unannounced exercises. No international party was able to monitor the 
extent of their military presence.
    In an October 7 report, the Council of Europe's commissioner for 
human rights, Thomas Hammarberg, highlighted a number of human rights 
problems following the August 2008 armed conflict in Georgia, including 
the inability of the majority of ethnic Georgians from South Ossetia 
and Abkhazia to return to their homes and the failure of the Government 
to grant some persons displaced by the 2008 conflict status as 
internally displaced persons. Hammarberg also noted progress in 
removing explosives and other remnants of war of danger to the public 
and the release of detainees on both sides, although de facto 
authorities continued to hold six persons in detention in South 
Ossetia.
    HRW reported that despite the passage of more than two years, the 
Government had not effectively investigated international human rights 
and humanitarian law violations committed during the August 2008 
conflict.
    While there was little official information on the human rights and 
humanitarian situation in Abkhazia and South Ossetia due to limited 
access to these regions, many allegations of abuses persisted.
    The UNHCR maintained a presence in the region of Abkhazia. During 
the year de facto authorities allowed the UN Secretary General's 
Representative, who represents the UN in the Geneva Discussions on the 
conflict in Georgia, to visit Abkhazia periodically and to send staff 
members there on a rotating, nonpermanent basis. UNICEF and UNDP 
representatives also periodically visited Abkhazia. None of these 
missions had a specific human rights mandate.
    The mandate of the OSCE's military monitoring mission in South 
Ossetia ended in 2009, when Russia's refusal to join consensus in a new 
mandate led to the closure of the mission after 17 years of work. 
Subsequent efforts to negotiate an arrangement for a new OSCE presence 
in South Ossetia and the rest of Georgia were unsuccessful as of year's 
end.
    The Gali region of Abkhazia, where many ethnic Georgians live, 
remained tense because of limitations on freedom of movement, 
kidnapping, arbitrary arrests, and deaths in custody. There were 
numerous reports of looting and robbery by Russian forces, Abkhaz de 
facto forces, and criminal gangs, especially during the harvest season 
when local farmers were extorted for a portion of their income. 
Systemic problems in the criminal justice system of the de facto 
authorities, in particular the failure to conduct impartial 
investigations and to bring alleged perpetrators to trial, sustained a 
climate of impunity. Abuse by de facto law enforcement authorities 
included arbitrary arrests and detention as well as possible 
mistreatment of detainees. De facto law enforcement authorities rarely 
wore uniforms or carried badges or credentials, allowing them to act 
with impunity. Russian military forces and de facto militias limited 
the ability of international observers to travel in Abkhazia to 
investigate claims of abuses.

    Killings.--Attacks in the conflict areas, some lethal, continued 
during the year; Georgian government officials and de facto authorities 
accused one another of committing some of these attacks, which occurred 
in or near South Ossetia and Abkhazia. No suspects or arrests were 
announced in any of the following cases.
    On January 29, one police officer and two villagers were reportedly 
killed by mines placed near a private home in Chuburkhinji, in 
Abkhazia; seven others were reportedly injured. De facto authorities 
speculated that Georgian government forces could have been behind the 
attack; press reports suggested the incident resulted from tension 
between Russian and Abkhaz de facto forces.
    On May 20, a villager was injured by a grenade reportedly rigged as 
a booby trap in his yard in Takhtisdziri, a village in undisputed 
Georgia close to the South Ossetian administrative boundary.
    On June 1, an Abkhaz de facto customs official, Gennadiy Kvitsinia, 
and a colleague were shot and killed in an a reported ambush in 
Dikhazurga, a village in Abkhazia close to the administrative boundary; 
one other person was wounded. Two days later a local de facto Abkhaz 
administrative official in the nearby village of Repi, Dima Katsia, was 
shot and killed. De facto officials accused Georgian authorities of 
responsibility for both attacks, but later admitted that the June 1 
incident was more likely a criminal affair; they did not offer any 
evidence for their accusation. Press reports suggested that the attacks 
were connected to criminal activity related to the extortion of 
villagers, and the Katsia attack may have been retaliation for the 
Kvitsinia attack.
    On June 15, Anatoliy Kisiev reportedly suffered three gunshots and 
his 15-year-old son was reportedly beaten in Disevi, a village in South 
Ossetia and close to the administrative boundary. De facto authorities 
accused Georgian police of the attack; Georgian officials said any 
attack would have involved only Ossetians.
    On June 23, the Georgian media reported that de facto officials 
from the Abkhaz ``antiterrorist center'' arrested three ethnic Georgian 
brothers in retaliation for the June 1 and 3 killings of de facto 
administration officials. One brother, Gogita Anjaparidze, died while 
in custody; de facto officials reported that he died of a heart attack, 
but Georgian officials alleged he was tortured for three hours and then 
beaten to death. The other two brothers were also reportedly beaten and 
then taken to area hospitals. They reportedly were being held in an 
Abkhaz prison at year's end.
    On July 22, five or six Abkhaz police officers were reportedly 
injured in a roadside bombing in the Gali district of Abkhazia, 
although other reports suggested no one was seriously injured. De facto 
officials accused Georgian government of responsibility for the attack; 
press reports suggested the Abkhaz may have been involved in a dispute 
with Russian officials or had criminal links.
    On December 7, police arrested six men in connection with three 
explosions that took place in Tbilisi on September 22, October 21, and 
November 28 (which killed a woman). The Ministry of Internal Affairs 
publicly alleged that the leader of the suspects, an ethnic Georgian 
from the occupied region of Abkhazia, was working under the orders of a 
Russian officer stationed in Abkhazia.
    No developments were reported during the year in the following 
conflict-related killings that occurred in 2009: The January 2009 
shooting and killing of a Georgian police officer in Knolevi, near the 
South Ossetian administrative boundary, in what appeared to be a sniper 
attack; the March 2009 attack, involving an improvised explosive device 
that killed a Georgian police officer in Dvani, near the South Ossetian 
administrative boundary; the April 2009 killing of Elguja Beraia, a 
Georgian resident of the Abkhaz village of Nabakevi; the June 2009 
attack involving an improvised explosive device that killed the driver 
of an ambulance in a convoy led by EU monitors in Eritskali, near the 
Abkhaz administrative boundary line; the July 2009 explosive attack 
that killed a Georgian resident of Akhalgori in South Ossetia in his 
car as he drove from Akhalgori to an IDP settlement in government-
controlled territory; and the August 2009 attack, involving an 
improvised explosive device, that killed two civilians in Gagra in 
Abkhazia.

    Abductions.--During the year there continued to be reports of 
abductions along the administrative boundaries of both occupied 
regions.
    Government and Abkhaz commissions on missing persons reported that 
nearly 2,000 Georgians and Abkhaz remained missing as a result of the 
1992-93 war in Abkhazia. The South Ossetian de facto authorities 
reported 116 persons still missing from conflicts in 1991 and 2004. The 
ICRC continued its efforts to assist authorities concerned to fulfill 
their obligation to inform the families of the missing persons about 
their whereabouts. Most of the missing persons from the 1992-93 war 
were believed to have disappeared in the region of Abkhazia. During the 
year there were no exhumations of persons thought to have been killed 
during the 1992-93 conflict, according to the ICRC.
    The ICRC was unable to close approximately 100 of the 1,100 
tracking requests from families and authorities it received during the 
2008 conflict. There were no developments, and none were expected, in 
the 2008 abduction and killing of an elderly woman near Nabakevi.
    South Ossetian de facto authorities claimed that several South 
Ossetians disappeared while in Georgian custody, including in 
particular Alan Khachirov, Soltan Pliyev, and Alan Khugayev, who were 
allegedly detained in 2008. The de facto authorities claimed to have 
evidence, including eyewitness accounts, that these three were held in 
Georgian facilities; they sought outside assistance in investigating 
the cases, and the EUMM and Council of Europe became involved. On 
September 29, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas 
Hammarberg, reported that there were indications that Georgian law 
enforcement officials had detained the three. He criticized the 
Georgian investigators for their ineffectiveness and lack of 
independence. The cases remained unresolved at year's end.

    Physical Abuse, Punishment, and Torture.--During the year there 
were no developments, and none were expected, in the reported killing 
of nine ethnic Georgian women and the rape of two others by South 
Ossetian irregulars. Investigation of reported rapes was difficult due 
to chaotic conditions and lack of police in locations where they 
reportedly occurred, often behind Russian checkpoints where Georgian 
officials had no access.
    There were no further developments, and none were expected, in the 
investigation into an attack by unknown perpetrators in 2008 on the 
village of Khurcha on the Abkhaz administrative border. A 2009 UN 
investigation found that grenades were fired from the Georgian-
controlled side of the cease-fire line. Four civilians were injured.
    There were no developments, and none were expected, in the looting 
and burning by South Ossetian militias of five ethnic Georgian villages 
near Tskhinvali-Tamarasheni, Kekhvi, Kvemo Achabeti, Zemo Achabeti, and 
Kurt during the 2008 conflict. At the time, the Russian online news 
agency Regnum quoted Eduard Kokoity, South Ossetia's de facto leader, 
as stating that the Georgian enclaves of Kekhvi and Tamarasheni were 
``liquidated'' as a result of military operations.
    There were also no developments, and none expected, in the reported 
mistreatment of at least five of 32 Ossetians reportedly detained by 
Georgian forces in 2008 during the armed conflict and the arbitrary 
detention by South Ossetian forces (sometimes together with Russian 
forces) of at least 159 ethnic Georgians. Four of the ethnic Georgians 
were killed, at least four reportedly tortured, and almost all 
reportedly exposed to inhuman and degrading treatment and detention 
conditions prior to their release In a September 29 report, the Council 
of Europe's commissioner for human rights, Thomas Hammarberg, reported 
that the de facto authorities did not cooperate in the investigation of 
two Georgian soldiers who were captured alive during the conflict, but 
were reportedly beaten and died while in captivity. Their remains were 
returned to Georgian authorities.

    Other Conflict-Related Abuses.--Russian border guards began 
controlling the administrative boundaries of the two regions in 2009 
and continued during the year to restrict the free movement of the 
local population across the administrative boundary line for medical 
care, pension services, religious services, and school.
    During the year working groups at the Geneva talks on the occupied 
territories focused on such problems as freedom of movement, the supply 
of water from South Ossetia to other parts of Georgia, and the supply 
of gas from undisputed Georgia to the South Ossetian region of 
Akhalgori. None of these issues was resolved by year's end.
    There are well over 350,000 IDPs as a consequence of the conflicts 
in Abkhazia and South Ossetia (see section 2.d.).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press; however, there were credible 
reports that the Government restricted freedom of speech and the press.
    Individuals were generally free to criticize the Government 
publicly and privately without reprisal, although there were some 
notable exceptions. Some individuals told foreign monitors they were 
reluctant to discuss, or had stopped discussing, sensitive topics by 
telephone due to concerns about government eavesdropping. NGOs reported 
that a climate of widespread impunity for attacks and harassment of 
human rights defenders had a chilling effect on dissenting voices and 
watchdog groups, especially outside of Tbilisi. They also asserted that 
the Government used the legal process to silence critical voices. An 
opposition leader alleged that Ministry of Internal Affairs' 
Constitutional Protection Department officials filmed some opposition 
political meetings outside of Tbilisi. There were reports that unknown 
persons photographed participants at opposition rallies.
    Opposition supporters alleged that individuals who had participated 
in opposition demonstrations had been fired from their jobs. In 
November 2009 there were reports that representatives of the ruling 
party in Tbilisi informed a number of individuals that they had 
evidence of their participation in the spring opposition demonstrations 
and that they would suffer consequences for their participation. 
However, NGOs reported no cases of retribution specifically tied to the 
spring protest participation.
    Opposition figures and representatives of the Government regularly 
appeared on the same shows, thereby providing a plurality of views. 
During the year programming more frequently utilized a debate format. 
During the municipal elections period in May, the GPB aired various 
candidate debates including all major candidates for Tbilisi mayor.
    The GPB broadcast public policy debates on the weekly television 
talk show Accents, anchored by Eka Kvesitadze. Maestro and Kavkasia 
also ran political talk shows in a debate format. GPB aired a separate 
political talk show, Dialogue, twice a week. On February 22, the public 
broadcaster launched Channel 2, a public affairs channel aimed at 
airing daily nonedited coverage of political parties and parliamentary 
plenary and committee sessions. The channel provided access to the 
media market to representatives from across the political spectrum 
including airing unedited footage from press events of the 
nonparliamentary opposition parties. Channel 2 did not have nationwide 
coverage. Its signal covered about 60 percent of the population, 
including the country's major cities.
    Throughout the year NGOs, independent analysts, and journalists 
accused high-ranking government officials and opposition politicians of 
influencing editorial and programming decisions through their personal 
connections with news directors and media executives and by directing 
advertising (and through it, advertising income) using their personal 
connections with business owners. There were reports that business 
owners were intimidated into not advertising with opposition-leaning 
media outlets through the threat of lengthy financial audits by 
government authorities. Kavkasia TV reported that on November 15 that a 
company cancelled a signed advertising contract after the business 
owner allegedly received a threat from a government official that his 
business would be closed should he proceed with the contract.
    There were approximately 200 independent newspapers, although most 
were local and extremely limited in circulation and influence. During 
the year print media frequently criticized senior government officials. 
However, some individuals affiliated with these papers reported facing 
pressure, intimidation, and violence for doing so. Few newspapers were 
commercially viable. Patrons in politics and business typically 
subsidized newspapers, which were subject to their influence.
    The three largest television broadcasters in the country were the 
state-owned GPB and the privately owned Rustavi 2 and Imedi TV, the 
country's two most popular television stations. All three were 
generally considered to have a progovernment editorial policy. An 
international NGO estimated that there were more than 45 regional 
television stations outside of Tbilisi, 17 of which offered local daily 
news, although most were at a very low professional level.
    On January 21, a report by HRW noted a lack of transparency in 
media ownership and a mixed environment ``with diverse print media, but 
nationwide television broadcasting limited to the state-owned public 
broadcaster and progovernment Rustavi 2 and Imedi stations.'' On April 
27, Freedom House described the press as ``partly free.'' On May 3, HRW 
accused government authorities of intimidating journalists and denying 
them access to public information. Investigative journalists and NGOs 
particularly complained about access to court information.
    In its final report on the May 30 municipal elections issued on 
September 13, the OSCE's Office of Democratic Institutions and Human 
Rights (ODIHR) concluded that the GPB, which broadcast two debates, 
provided the public with balanced coverage of the campaign. However, 
all other television stations ODIHR monitored lacked such balance, 
supporting either the Government or opposition. The report noted that 
major broadcasters covered authorities' activities widely and 
positively, indirectly benefiting progovernment candidates. The report 
described the main television stations as charging artificially high 
prices for paid advertisements to limit media use by poorly financed 
opposition candidates.
    The International Research and Exchanges (IREX) Board's media 
sustainability index report for the year stated that ``the ruling 
elite'' exercised significant influence over the primary news companies 
to ``shape the national narrative'' and again raised concerns that the 
majority of media outlets remained split along political fault lines.
    On March 13, Imedi TV, a broadcast channel headed by a former 
senior member of the Saakashvili administration, aired a 
``mockumentary'' of a Russian invasion on Georgia. The program's 
failure to clarify that the events being portrayed were a dramatization 
and not real resulted in short-lived panic throughout the country. 
There were allegations that government officials were directly involved 
in the production of the program. Audio tapes, posted by an anonymous 
source on a previously unknown Russian Web site and picked up by pro-
opposition journalists and political activists, purportedly 
demonstrated that the Government was in talks with the Imedi director. 
On March 15, the Georgian National Communications Commission (GNCC) 
ordered Imedi to make a primetime apology for the broadcast.
    The continued lack of transparency regarding media ownership fueled 
concerns over the ownership of the country's television stations, which 
served as the main source of information for most of the public. 
Throughout the year the PDO and others called for changes in the law on 
broadcasting to increase the transparency of media outlet ownership, 
including requiring information to be made publicly available regarding 
the shareholder structure of license holders and their owners. In its 
report for the year, IREX raised concerns about a ``nested doll''-style 
media ownership system. However, the ownership of many media outlets, 
including Imedi and Rustavi-2, remained unclear at year's end.
    The IREX Board's Media Sustainability Index for the year noted that 
national television stations rarely broadcast investigative stories. 
TI/Georgia's November 2009 report raised similar concerns. Rustavi 2, 
Imedi, and the GPB did not produce investigative reports.
    As noted in TI/Georgia's November 2009 report, the GNCC was not 
perceived to be a truly independent regulatory body, in that it made 
politically motivated decisions. The GNCC denied the allegations, 
claiming it treated all broadcasting channels the same. Since 2008 the 
GNCC prevented the establishment of any new television and radio 
stations by delaying the issuance of broadcasting licenses, citing the 
continuing need to complete a survey. In November it stated that the 
survey was complete; nevertheless, it had not issued any licenses by 
year's end.
    The GNCC exercised some control over programming by issuing 
stations content-based licenses rather than all-purpose broadcast 
licenses. There is a ``general license,'' which allows for news and 
political programming, and licenses strictly limiting content to 
``entertainment only.'' On July 2, parliament approved an amnesty for 
tax obligations accumulated before March 1, applicable to all 
television stations, including regional broadcaster Channel 25, which 
had previously lost a court case challenging a tax levy. Some NGOs, 
including the GYLA, criticized the Government for not including a 
breakdown of how much of the reported 36 million lari ($20.3 million) 
liabilities belonged to each station. Observers believed that the 
progovernment stations, Imedi and Rustavi 2, were the major 
beneficiaries of the amnesty. The Government justified its refusal to 
release details by citing the tax code, which categorizes such 
information as a commercial secret.
    There were reports of direct physical attacks, harassment, and 
intimidation of journalists by government officials.
    On January 22, a regional correspondent for the Human Rights Center 
and editor of a regional newspaper in Shida Kartli was reportedly 
physically and verbally assaulted by security guards at the regional 
government administrative building. The journalist was attempting to 
obtain public financial information about the regional administration 
for an investigative report when the incident occurred. According to 
the Human Rights Center, authorities had taken no further action on 
this case by year's end. According to the Ministry of Justice, an 
investigation determined that the journalist attempted to enter the 
building without a proper pass and verbally assaulted security officers 
when they asked him to follow proper procedures. The ministry also 
reported that forensic examination revealed no signs of physical 
injury.
    In February an investigative journalist, Vakhtang Komakhidze, 
sought asylum in Switzerland, citing aggressive threats from government 
officials against him and his family. Komakhidze claimed that such 
threats intensified and included death threats after he visited South 
Ossetia in December 2009 to research a report on the 2008 conflict. The 
author of many investigative reports critical of the Government, 
Komakhidze headed investigative reporting production studio Reportiori 
(Reporter). On July 27, Switzerland granted Komakhidze asylum.
    On June 25, police officers in Gori (in the Shida Kartli region) 
allegedly seized the camera of a journalist from Trialeti radio and 
television station in Gori and erased footage that showed authorities 
dismantling a controversial statue of Stalin. The journalist alleged 
that when they seized the camera, the officers pulled him to the ground 
and kicked him. The journalist's camera was returned later, and he was 
able to continue filming; however, he claimed that after he publicly 
reported the incident, a regional police official threatened him by 
telephone. The journalist filed complaints with the Ministry of 
Internal Affairs and the PDO. The PDO appealed to the main prosecutor 
to investigate the case. The PDO had no updated information on the case 
at year's end. However, according to the Ministry of Justice, 
authorities terminated the investigation when they determined that 
police officers had found the camera unattended and had returned the 
camera to the journalist intact, including the controversial footage. 
The ministry reported that neither the journalist nor the cameraman had 
reported any physical assault.
    Trialeti reported several other cases of police harassment during 
the year. The owner of the company alleged that it began after the 
company signed an agreement with pro-opposition Maestro TV. Trialeti 
representatives reported that they faced unequal access to government 
buildings, received anonymous phone threats, were disproportionally 
stopped for traffic violations, and were under surveillance by unknown 
persons while covering stories. They also reported that businesses 
advertising on Trialeti were threatened with financial audits.
    On October 7, Trialeti's news director reported that police 
officers assaulted him when they pulled him over for a traffic 
violation and then detained him for disobeying police orders. He was 
fined 400 lari ($226) by the local court. The PDO requested that the 
Office of the Chief Prosecutor open an investigation into the police 
assault allegations, but had no update on the case at year's end. 
According to the Ministry of Justice, authorities terminated an 
investigation into the case; a forensic examination determined that the 
news director had minor injuries on his arms and shoulder, and, while 
the arm injuries could have been inflicted at the time of arrest, the 
shoulder injury occurred earlier.
    On October 21, private security guards reportedly assaulted 
Kavkasia Television reporters filming a protest at Lilo Market, and 
police on the scene took no action. Kavkasia reported that they did not 
press charges or request an investigation. The PDO issued a statement 
on November 10 reporting that on November 3 it sent a letter to the 
prosecutor general demanding a response to the assault allegation. 
According to the Ministry of Justice, a journalist was questioned; 
neither the journalist nor anyone else reported any interference into 
the work of the journalists.
    According to a PDO statement issued on November 16, in October and 
November, an individual named Gela Chvritidze physically assaulted Enri 
Kobakhidze, the president of the Tanamgzavri television station. The 
statement indicated that Chvritidze appeared to have a police 
affiliation. On November 23, the OSCE representative on freedom of the 
media requested additional information about this case from the foreign 
minister. According to the PDO, the chief prosecutor launched an 
investigation on November 15; the investigation was pending at year's 
end. According to the Ministry of Justice, an investigation determined 
that the two persons in question got into a fight at a wedding 
ceremony, the cause of the fight was a private matter, and it had no 
connection to Kobakhidze's media ownership. Chvritidze was dismissed 
from the police.
    According to the PDO, there was no update in the investigation into 
the April 2009 alleged physical assault by police on Versia newspaper 
journalists, Ana Khavtasi and Nino Komakhidze, at an opposition protest 
rally in front of the Public Broadcaster's building.
    There were no developments, and none were expected, in the Ministry 
of Internal Affairs' investigations of November 2009 allegation by Mzia 
Amaglobeli, publisher of the Batumi newspaper Batumelebi, that the 
local unit of the ministry in Batumi tried to blackmail the head of the 
newspaper's investigative reporting team into cooperating with it. 
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the investigation 
continued at year's end.
    There were no developments, and none were expected, in the 
investigation by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of death threats 
reportedly made in 2008 against editor in chief Eter Turadze and a 
staff member of the Batumelebi newspaper, or allegations by two 
independent journalists, Maka Tsiklauri and Irakli Goguadze, that the 
Government pressured them on matters related directly to their work in 
2008.
    There also were reports of attacks on journalists by 
nongovernmental actors. On May 7, a discussion on Kavkasia Television's 
program Barieri (Barrier) with leaders of two fundamentalist Georgian 
Orthodox groups and supporters turned into a fistfight. Representatives 
of the fundamentalist groups, Union of Orthodox Parents and the Public 
Orthodox Christian Movement, verbally and physically assaulted some of 
the program's guests and the station's staff, including journalists and 
the station's director general. Police detained at least eight persons. 
On August 12, the Tbilisi City Court found eight persons guilty of 
hooliganism and obstructing the work of journalists and sentenced them 
to four and one half years in prison.
    In April 2009 a journalist and a cameraman from Rustavi 2 alleged 
that three young persons assaulted them outside of parliament while 
they were covering nonparliamentary opposition protests. The cameraman, 
Levan Kalandia, stated that three young persons approached and started 
to insult journalist Natia Lekishvili, in a confrontation that 
escalated into a brawl. Video footage, broadcast on television, showed 
a young man punching the cameraman. According to the PDO, an 
investigation was launched and continued at year's end.
    According to the PDO, the assault on Prime News Agency journalist 
Teona Managadze by opposition protesters in April 2009 did not amount 
to a crime, and the PDO did not request an investigation.
    Media in the separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia 
remained tightly restricted by the de facto authorities and Russian 
occupying forces.
    HRW and Amnesty International reported that on July 24, in 
Tskhinvali, South Ossetia, as many as 10 assailants, including three 
members of the de facto South Ossetian ``parliament'' allegedly 
attacked an independent journalist and civil society activist, and 
threatened his colleague. The journalist suffered injuries from punches 
to his head, face, and body, and required hospitalization. The attack 
was allegedly in retaliation for his participation in a Georgian-
Ossetian civil forum where humanitarian problems were discussed; de 
facto Ossetian authorities reportedly denounced participants in the 
forum as traitors. Both victims reportedly left South Ossetia after the 
attack.
    On September 22, Russian and de facto authorities in Abkhazia 
reportedly dismantled radio and television transmitters located in the 
Inguri power station. Without the transmitters, ethnic Georgian 
populations in the Gali region were no longer able to receive Georgian 
language programming.
    Often journalists worked without contracts, which in effect 
encouraged them to practice self-censorship. Journalists were hesitant 
to report material that did not reflect the owners' views, since they 
were afraid of losing their jobs. There were reports of authorities 
influencing journalists--sometimes through intimidation--into 
practicing self-censorship. Opposition party representatives and media 
advocates reported that they believed journalists either did not cover 
or lightly covered events that showed the Government in a negative 
light on their own volition out of concern that critical pieces would 
not be aired or could potentially cost them their jobs. An example was 
a discussion on media freedom hosted on December 22 by the pro-
opposition Trialeti television and radio station. Pro-opposition media 
outlets Maestro and Kavkasia covered this discussion; however, 
progovernment outlets Rustavi and Imedi did not.

    Internet Freedom.--Outside of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, there 
were no government restrictions on access to the Internet or reports 
that the Government monitored e-mail or Internet chat rooms. However, 
according to November amendments to the Law on the Operative-
Investigative Activity, communication companies are obligated to 
provide for the availability of private information for investigations; 
therefore, law enforcement officials conducting an investigation will 
have access to private e-mails, chats, open, and closed conversations 
on the Internet.
    Individuals and groups could engage in the expression of views via 
the Internet, including by e-mail. E-mail access rose slightly during 
the year but remained centered in Tbilisi and other metropolitan areas. 
According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2009, 
approximately 31 percent of the country's inhabitants regularly used 
the Internet.
    Insufficient information was available about the situation in the 
occupied territories.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly; 
however, there were concerns about provisions in the law. During the 
year authorities permitted demonstrations; of the few large protests, 
most, but not all, were held without incident.
    The law requires political parties and other organizations to give 
prior notice and to obtain permission from local authorities to 
assemble on a public thoroughfare. Permits for assemblies were 
routinely granted during the year. The law governing administrative 
offenses prohibits the blocking of streets ``artificially'' and 
``deliberately,'' either by protesters themselves or with ``various 
types of constructions and/or objects.'' The amended law on police 
allows the use of nonlethal projectiles, including for riot control. 
The maximum prison term for a number of administrative offenses 
increased from 30 to 90 days. In contrast under the CPC, pretrial 
detention for criminal charges is 60 days.
    In October 2009 legal experts of the Venice Commission expressed 
concern over provisions in the Law on Assembly and Manifestations that 
restrict freedom of assembly, which they recommended that parliament 
amend. The experts and some NGOs also expressed concern that parliament 
enacted the law before receiving the commission's opinion and expressed 
a desire to comment on two other laws affecting freedom of assembly. At 
year's end parliament was in discussions with the commission to address 
their areas of concern.
    On September 2, the public defender submitted a constitutional 
complaint regarding a number of articles in three laws affecting 
freedom of assembly including, a ban on demonstrations by one person or 
by a person without Georgian citizenship; a prohibition on 
demonstrations within 20 meters of certain designated locations; a ban 
on blocking traffic under certain circumstances; the requirement to 
notify local officials five days in advance, thereby eliminating the 
possibility of a spontaneous demonstration; and a ban on defacing 
public property.
    The head of the Tolerance Center within the PDO reported that on 
May 4, he was hit on the head by a member of a fundamentalist Georgian 
Orthodox Church group during a rally in support of the publication of a 
book critical of the church. The rally was reportedly disrupted by 
extreme Orthodox Christian groups, some of whose members physically 
assaulted demonstrators. Police reportedly tried to part the 
conflicting sides but failed to respond adequately during the rally and 
failed to bring charges against those involved.
    On May 6, police and protesters reportedly suffered some minor 
injuries during a protest against Police Day. According to reports, a 
scuffle broke out when protestors tried to cross a police blockade to 
disrupt a police parade. Protesters threw stones and injured police 
officers, and police used batons in self-defense. There were no 
confirmed reports of arrests or excessive use of force by police. 
Except for this incident, the protest was reportedly conducted 
peacefully.
    The PDO requested an investigation into two aspects of the arrest 
of Irakli Kakabadze and two others who assembled to advocate the 
renaming of a Tbilisi street (see sections 1.c. and 1.d.).
    On August 19, police arrested two activists for allegedly resisting 
police orders during a protest of IDP evictions (see section 2.d.). The 
two were fined 400 lari ($217) and released the same day. The scuffle 
with protesters reportedly occurred when police attempted to arrest the 
protest organizer. However, there was no reported violence on the part 
of police, and police did not arrest the organizer.
    On October 21, vendors at one of Tbilisi's largest outdoor markets, 
Lilo, went on strike to protest the enforcement of tax regulations. 
Opposition politicians, accompanied by journalists, decided to enter 
the market to see the shops and protest their closure but were barred 
entry by nonuniformed police and private security providers, leading to 
a scuffle. Journalists said that during the incident security guards 
assaulted them (see section 2.a.). Police arrested opposition party 
member Zaza Chakvetadze (National Forum). On October 25, a judge denied 
bail to Chakvetadze and sent him to pretrial detention pending an 
investigation. Chakvetadze was charged with resisting arrest. National 
Forum denied any wrongdoing and stated that the arrest was politically 
motivated. According to the Ministry of Justice, Chakvetadze attempted 
to use a firearm. Chakvetadze pled guilty and was sentenced to a two-
year suspended sentence and fined 2,000 lari ($1,130).
    Some school directors claimed that the Ministry of Education and 
Science forced them to resign after students at their schools protested 
reforms to the national university entrance exams on November 9. Eight 
directors resigned.
    The nonparliamentary opposition organized several large protests in 
2009 during which police or nonuniformed assailants reportedly clashed 
with protesters with little accountability. The nonparliamentary 
opposition groups held a sustained protest from April to July 2009. 
Throughout this protest, the opposition parties called for President 
Saakashvili's resignation. For the most part, authorities allowed the 
unauthorized rallies (which included prolonged disruptions of traffic 
and public thoroughfares) to take place unimpeded. However, NGOs and 
the PDO reported dozens of cases of attacks on participants as they 
were leaving these protests by unknown assailants wearing masks and 
carrying blunt instruments.
    In May 2009 police detained three young activists, who subsequently 
asserted that they had been beaten and threatened while in custody. 
Later during the day of their detention at Tbilisi police headquarters, 
several nonparliamentary opposition activists and police officers were 
injured in a confrontation outside the headquarters. According to the 
PDO, an investigation was launched, but there was no update by year's 
end.
    In June 2009 police and protesters clashed outside a Tbilisi police 
station. Police reportedly attacked the protesters, journalists, and 
the PDO representative on the scene, injuring some of them. Police 
arrested 39 protesters for resisting police orders. Five activists were 
sentenced to 30 days in prison. The Tbilisi City Court fined the others 
400 lari ($237) and released them. The PDO stated that their requests 
for information on investigations into allegations of misbehavior 
against police officers on this occasion remained unanswered at year's 
end.
    In July 2009 police arrested seven activists from a pro-opposition 
youth group that was rallying outside of parliament. The Ministry of 
Internal Affairs stated that all of the activists were charged with 
petty hooliganism, resisting police orders, and blocking the parliament 
building's entrance. One of the activists was fined 400 lari ($237); 
the others received either 12- or 14-day prison sentences for 
administrative offenses.
    According to a Web site, police arrested three opposition youth 
activists in November 2009, claiming that they had violated the amended 
law on rallies and resisted arrest. The Tbilisi City Court found the 
three guilty, despite the reported existence of film footage indicating 
that they had not violated the law or resisted arrest. GYLA criticized 
the arrest and the court ruling as a ``rough violation'' of freedom of 
assembly. The PDO reported that the three activists did not break any 
laws, stating that ``the constitutionally provided freedom of assembly 
of Dachi Tsaguria, Jaba Jishkariani, and Irakli Kordzaia has been 
violated.''
    In 2007 the Old Tbilisi District Prosecution Office initiated a 
preliminary investigation into injuries sustained by individuals during 
demonstrations in November 2007. The Office of the Chief Prosecutor's 
investigation into the incidents continued at year's end. NGOs, 
including HRW, continued to report that the Prosecutor's Office had not 
brought charges against attackers. The PDO had no update at year's end. 
The Ministry of Internal Affairs stated in 2007 that 11 police officers 
were dismissed because of inappropriate behavior during the 
demonstrations.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of association; however, the Government did not always respect 
this right in practice. There were some allegations during the year 
that members of opposition parties not represented in parliament (the 
nonparliamentary opposition) and their families and associates were 
selectively targeted for prosecution by law enforcement agencies and 
were subjected to stricter penalties than other citizens upon 
conviction. There also were allegations of pressure on opposition 
figures including surveillance and actual or threatened job loss. The 
lack of criminal accountability for physical assaults on opposition 
activists or supporters over the previous five years remained a 
problem.
    On August 31, the president pardoned the son and brother of 
opposition activist Eka Beselia, as part of a pardon of 240 prisoners. 
Police arrested them in August 2009 for hooliganism and disobeying 
police orders. In December 2009 the Batumi City Court sentenced them to 
1.5- and 2.5-year prison terms, respectively. Many legal analysts 
viewed these sentences as particularly harsh in view nature of the 
charges, although they were within sentencing guidelines. Beselia 
claimed that the arrests and convictions were due to her political 
activities.
    Regional police arrested opposition and Mestia city council member 
Neli Naveriani and three of her nephews on July 7 for allegedly 
extorting money from a Canadian investor building a tourist resort in 
Mestia. The investigation took five days. Naveriani admitted entering 
into negotiations with the investor because her family had used the 
land he was to build on for generations, but denied making any threats. 
Her family had not legally registered their claim to the land. NGOs, 
including GYLA, stated that Naveriani was targeted for prosecution 
because of her opposition role in Mestia and because she made public 
allegations of election violations by the governor of the Samegrelo-
Zemo Svaneti region and the Mestia district executive chief (see 
section 3). The Zugdidi District Court found Naveriani guilty on 
November 9 and sentenced her to four years in prison. GYLA reported 
that she pled guilty on the expectation of a plea bargain, but the 
prosecutor's office turned down the motion. GYLA lawyers appealed the 
sentence, and the case was pending at year's end.
    Some opposition party figures, and the OSCE/ODIHR in its final 
report on the May municipal elections, noted that ``a pervasive climate 
of fear exists, such that state employees and their family members are 
reluctant to associate with the opposition, for fear of losing their 
jobs.''
    The Ministry of Internal Affairs made no arrests and did not 
conclude any investigations into cases reported during the spring 2009 
protests, including the assault on four members of the Ratom (Why) 
movement by 10 to 15 masked assailants who warned them not to attend 
any more rallies on pain of physical retribution; the reported physical 
and verbal assault on Shmagi Gelbakhiani, Ivane Gobejishvili, and other 
members of the youth organization of the nonparliamentary opposition 
group Alliance for Georgia as they were going to a protest rally 
outside parliament; and the reported beating of Gocha 
Sakhltkhutsishvili, a member of the organizational committee of the 
protest actions, and theft of his car.
    In 2009 the PDO published a report with 32 suspected politically 
motivated assaults on nonparliamentary opposition activists during the 
protests in April to July 2009. According to the PDO, it forwarded all 
the information gathered in these cases to the Prosecutor's Office for 
further investigation. Investigations were continuing at year's end.
    There were developments related to 2008 physical assaults reported 
by the PDO on opposition supporters Mamuka Kvaratskhelia, Ramin 
Abuladze, Davit Sazanishvili, Amiran Iobashvili, Nugzar Khutsurauli, 
Giorgi Tavdgiridze, Giorgi Shervashidze, Boris Dzanashvili, Levan 
Jgarkava, Levan Gvarjaladze, Davit Metreveli, Ioseb Bortsvadze, Zurab 
Giguashvili, and Nona Sagareishvili. According to the PDO, in the case 
of Gvarjaladze, a criminal suspect was found; Jgarkava requested the 
termination of his case himself in 2008; Dzanashvili's case was also 
terminated in 2008. According to the PDO, the other cases were not 
investigated. According to the Ministry of Justice, there was not 
enough evidence in the case of Dzanashvili to continue the 
investigation. According to the Ministry of Justice, the investigations 
regarding Kvaratskhelia, Abuladze, Sazanishvili, Iobashvili, 
Khutsurauli, Tavdgiridze, Shervashidze, Metreveli, Bortsvadze, 
Giguashvili, and Sagareishvil were still pending at year's end.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for full freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation for Georgian citizens, but this freedom was limited in 
practice by de facto authorities and Russian occupying forces. The 
Government cooperated with UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations 
in protecting and assisting IDPs, refugees, returning refugees, asylum 
seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    Georgian law imposes limitations on foreigners moving into and out 
of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. It also imposes special requirements on 
persons conducting economic activities in the occupied regions. There 
were no reports the Georgian authorities unduly restricted any 
international humanitarian organizations in practice. Russian and 
Abkhaz de facto authorities limited international organizations' 
ability to operate in Abkhazia; Russian and South Ossetian de facto 
authorities blocked virtually all international organizations, 
including humanitarian organizations, from regular access to South 
Ossetia.
    De facto authorities and Russian forces in the occupied regions of 
Abkhazia and South Ossetia restricted freedom of movement. Checkpoints 
operated by Russian border guards and de facto militia often obstructed 
citizens' movement within these regions and between these regions and 
areas controlled by the Georgian government. Although Abkhaz de facto 
authorities maintained that the administrative boundary with the rest 
of Georgia was officially closed, they allowed limited crossings at the 
Rukhi Bridge; in July they introduced a permit system that formalized a 
process of granting permission to cross the boundary for 100 Russian 
rubles (about $3) for a single trip. South Ossetian de facto 
authorities allowed limited crossings in and out of the Akhalgori 
region, which is populated predominantly by ethnic Georgians. 
International observers were able to gain limited access to Abkhazia, 
but only a small number gained occasional and extremely restricted 
access to South Ossetia.
    Following the 2008 hostilities, Russian and South Ossetian forces 
occupied villages outside of the South Ossetian and Abkhazian 
administrative boundaries. By October 2008 Russian and irregular forces 
had, to some extent, pulled back to preconflict positions. Major 
exceptions included an increase in the scale of the Russian presence 
and expansions into previously unoccupied areas, including a 
significant new Russian and Ossetian presence in the Akhalgori valley 
and the Upper Kodori Valley in Abkhazia. In October Russian forces 
withdrew from their checkpoint near Perevi, outside the South Ossetian 
administrative boundary, which they had maintained since the war.
    South Ossetian de facto authorities reportedly exerted pressure on 
local residents, especially younger residents, to accept South Ossetian 
authority. On September 24, the media reported that the de facto 
authorities announced that ethnic Georgians would face restrictions, 
such as a fee to cross the administrative boundary, unless they 
obtained South Ossetian ``passports.'' This requirement had not taken 
effect by year's end.
    An Abkhaz ``citizenship'' law allows dual Russian-Abkhaz, but not 
dual Georgian-Abkhaz, ``citizenship.'' Ethnic Georgians living in 
Abkhazia were required to acquire Abkhaz ``citizenship'' to open 
businesses, establish bank accounts, vote in elections, travel freely, 
or own property. While ethnic Georgians in the region could legally 
apply for Abkhaz ``passports,'' the processing of their applications 
met with long delays and, in most cases, was never completed. In late 
December, a de facto Abkhaz and a Russian member of a property rights 
commission stated that the commission would not consider claims to 
property in Abkhazia made by ethnic Georgians.
    Abkhaz de facto militia conducted searches of local populations. 
They extorted money and valuables from ethnic Georgians accused of 
violating the identity document requirements. International 
organizations reported that Gali residents faced serious threats of 
extortion, especially at harvest time, but generally refused to make 
public or specific allegations of such abuse for fear of retribution.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.

    Internally Displaced Persons.--According to the Ministry for IDPs 
from the Occupied Territories, Refugees, and Accommodations, before the 
2008 armed conflict there were approximately 235,000 IDPs from the 
conflicts of 1992 and 1993; the UNHCR estimated this number at 359,716 
during the year. The UNHCR estimated that of the approximately 127,000 
individuals displaced as a result of the 2008 conflict, 3,472 remained 
displaced as of January. They had not received a durable solution in 
undisputed Georgia. In addition as of January, the UNHCR counted 
105,715 persons as being in an ``IDP-like'' situation needing 
protection and humanitarian assistance; this number included 
individuals who returned to Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and areas adjacent 
to the Administrative Boundary Line with both South Ossetia and 
Abkhazia, as well as those displaced in the 2008 conflict who were 
subsequently relocated.
    By year's end most IDPs displaced in 2008 had received formal IDP 
status under national legislation; however, IDP status was not 
established for some individuals who were displaced or claimed to have 
been displaced in the 2008 conflict. These individuals, described by 
the Ministry for IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Refugees, and 
Accommodations as ``IDP status seekers,'' include persons who had never 
been registered with Georgian authorities, such as persons who never 
underwent birth registration or who were displaced from regions which 
prior to 2008 were not under Georgian control; persons whose departure 
from South Ossetia cannot be established as indeed having been caused 
by the conflict; or persons who cannot prove their former residence in 
the occupied territories. These include in particular persons who may 
own property in the Akhalgori region of South Ossetia, but may have 
moved for economic, educational, or other reasons prior to the 
conflict. As there was some seasonal movement of persons to and from 
Akhalgori, it was at times difficult to establish where an individual 
was settled at the time of the conflict. Various agencies including the 
Government, the UNHCR, and NGOs employed different methods in 
estimating the total number of IDPs.
    During the year IDPs from the 2008 conflict continued to receive 
assistance, including a monthly status-linked cash payment from the 
Government, as well as some benefit from assistance activities of the 
international donor community. The Ministry for IDPs from the Occupied 
Territories, Refugees, and Accommodations continued to implement the 
action plan for the implementation of the State Strategy on IDPs 
adopted in 2008. The main objectives of the plan were to provide decent 
living conditions for IDPS and promote their socioeconomic integration 
while they are displaced and to create conditions for the return of 
IDPs in safety and dignity. The Government took steps during the year 
to rehabilitate existing collective centers, purchase or build new 
housing, or offer cash payments in lieu of providing housing to IDPs 
from the early 1990s and 2008 conflicts. The Government made 
substantial progress on providing housing to IDPs and moved from a 
reactive approach (getting as much housing built as quickly as 
possible) to a long-term solution approach (providing durable solutions 
to IDPs from both conflicts). Most IDPs, primarily those displaced in 
conflicts in the 1990s, nonetheless continued to endure inadequate 
living conditions. These were often in dilapidated collective centers 
occupied in irregular fashion at the time of displacement, which often 
fail to meet minimum standards for shelter and sanitation, and with 
insufficient access to services and economic opportunity.
    NGOs and international organizations such as the UNHCR and the UN 
criticized a series of IDP evictions from Tbilisi between June and 
August. On August 20, the UNHCR and others raised concerns about the 
transparency of the process. The PDO raised concerns about the 
conditions of the alternative housing provided. On September 17, the 
representative of the UN secretary general for the human Rights of 
IDPs, Walter Kaelin, said that while the action plan for IDPs was 
generally sound, more needed to be done to provide for livelihoods and 
social support, especially for IDPs relocated from temporary 
accommodations. He cited the summer's IDP evictions as a matter of 
particular concern but welcomed the Government's willingness to work 
with the UNHCR and the international community to create eviction 
procedures that would provide for sufficient notice and support before 
removals took place. Authorities completed eviction procedures at the 
end of September, and they were approved by the Ministry for IDPs from 
the Occupied Territories, Refugees, and Accommodation and by the UNHCR.
    In November the PDO released Report on the Human Rights Situation 
of Internally Displaced Persons and Conflict-Affected Individuals in 
Georgia. The report found that the country's laws and regulations on 
IDPs ``do not contradict'' international standards, and praised the 
State Strategy as consistent with international norms. However, the 
report noted problems in the implementation of the strategy, including 
lack of sufficient communication between the Ministry for IDPs from the 
Occupied Territories, Refugees, and Accommodations and the IDPs, 
insufficient participation of civil society, and inadequate 
coordination within the Government in providing housing solutions for 
IDPs.
    On May 27, the ECHR ruled that former ministry of internal affairs 
official, Batalbi Saghinadze, an IDP from Abkhazia living outside of 
Tbilisi since 1994, had been unlawfully deprived of the right to use 
the residence from which he was evicted in 2004 by the Ministry of 
Internal Affairs, which previously owned it (see section 1.e.).
    Abkhaz de facto authorities continued to prevent repatriation of 
the approximately 235,000 persons displaced by the 1992-93 war, despite 
their 1994 agreement with Georgia, Russia, and the UNHCR, which called 
for the safe, secure, and voluntary return of IDPs who fled during the 
war. Approximately 45,000 IDPs, many working as seasonal laborers, have 
returned to the Gali region of Abkhazia, but Abkhaz de facto 
authorities refused to allow the return of IDPs to other regions of 
Abkhazia. A property law prevented IDPs living elsewhere in Georgia 
from reclaiming homes in Abkhazia, especially outside Gali.
    On September 7, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution calling 
for the voluntary, safe, and dignified return of IDPs to and from 
Abkhazia and South Ossetia; the right of IDPs to the property they left 
behind in the occupied territories; and the prohibition of a forced 
demographic change in the regions.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees.
    UNHCR reported that in June the permanent Martkopi Reception Center 
for Asylum Seekers officially opened on the outskirts of Tbilisi to 
improve the overall asylum system and to bring it closer to 
international standards of protection for asylum seekers. On June 15, 
the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) reported 
the Government granted two refugees residence permits and travel 
documents for travel outside the country. The UNHCR reported that the 
refugee population during the year was 693; 44 persons sought asylum 
during the year.
    In practice the Government provided some protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion. There were no reports of such returns during the year.
    In a 2008 report, the UNHCR expressed concern that law did not 
fully provide for such rights and recommended additional legislation 
and procedural safeguards, training for border guards, and a mechanism 
to speed referral of asylum seekers. During the year the UNHCR observed 
cases in which asylum seekers were referred to the Ministry for IDPs 
from the Occupied Territories, Refugees, and Accommodations by border 
guards, and noted improved cooperation on training issues.
    On June 15, ECRI reported an improvement in relations between 
police and Chechen refugees in the Pankisi valley area. During the year 
the UNHCR declared its mandate fulfilled with respect to the permanent 
settlement of the Chechen refugee population in the Pankisi valley and 
closed its suboffice for the region on December 31.
    The Russian soldiers who defected to Georgia from South Ossetia in 
June and December 2009 remained in the country with protected status as 
asylum seekers at year's end. In both case the Government assisted the 
asylum applicants with temporary protection while they initiated the 
process of applying for asylum in the country. Neither asylum case was 
resolved by year's end.

    Stateless Persons.--The law provides citizenship at birth if one or 
both parents are citizens. It also gives citizenship to children of 
stateless individuals born on the country's territory. Article 26 of 
the Law on Citizenship provides that an adult may become a citizen by 
satisfying the following requirements: (a) has been permanently 
residing on the country's territory during the previous five years; (b) 
knows the state language; (c) is familiar with its history and laws; 
(d) has a job or owns real estate on the country's territory, realizes 
business or owns shares in a Georgian company or industry. However, a 
person seeking naturalization is expected first to give up any previous 
citizenship.
    According to December government statistics, a total of 1,987 
legally stateless persons were identified and registered by the 
authorities. The UNHCR recorded 1,826. Nevertheless, due to delays in 
issuing birth certificates and other documentation problems (especially 
among minority communities), the actual number of stateless persons in 
the country was likely higher. Among those registered as stateless, 
documentation was poor. The number of registered stateless persons may 
include Chechens, who volunteered for repatriation to Russia but were 
rejected because they were never registered in Russia and did not have 
documented Georgian citizenship. This confusion was compounded for 
persons who lived in the occupied territories.
    Children lacking birth certificates were unable to participate in 
social aid or educational programs. Often children were not registered 
because their parents had no documentation. In 2008 the Civil Registry 
Agency (CRA) launched an intensive registration project in Kvemo Kartli 
to register juveniles and family members who lacked identification 
documents. Since 2008 approximately 11,000 persons, living in 10 
regions throughout the country, were identified through a UNHCR program 
(implemented by an NGO, the Legal Development and Consultation Group, 
in close collaboration with the CRA) as lacking necessary 
documentation. To date over 60 percent of these have received free 
legal aid, assistance in obtaining documentation to establish their 
birth, confirmation of their right to Georgian citizenship, and finally 
receipt of identity papers.
    In May 2009 the CRA opened new offices in Khvelvachauri and Poti. 
Two agency offices in Senaki and Gori were restored and refurbished, 
which (as with all the other agency territorial offices) provided for 
IDP registration as well as registration and documentation of IDPs 
lacking documentation due to the destruction of the national archives 
on the South Ossetian side of the administrative boundary. In 2008 the 
CRA counted 2,500 IDPs without documentation, out of which 
approximately 1,700 were assisted through the NGO Legal Development and 
Consultations Group and the agency. The 2002 census, the latest, 
reported the number of Roma at 472. Many Romani IDPs from Abkhazia were 
not entitled to IDP social assistance because they had no documentation 
to prove their status. CRA officials stated that Roma with out-of-date 
Soviet passports had no difficulty applying for and receiving Georgian 
documents but noted that Roma were often reluctant to file official 
applications for documents.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens with the right to change 
their government peacefully; however, the Government's record in the 
most recent national elections was mixed. The OSCE/ODHIR noted progress 
but also significant shortcomings in the May 30 municipal elections.
    On October 15, parliament approved a number of amendments to the 
constitution including provisions that shift some political powers from 
the president to the prime minister in 2013. The Council of Europe's 
Venice Commission considered the October 15 constitutional amendments 
to contain ``several important improvements'' but concluded that it 
would be desirable to strengthen the powers of parliament further. The 
commission also viewed the no confidence procedures as a potential 
source of instability due to the time frame and potentially cumbersome 
process. Some civil society activists, opposition leaders, and others 
had urged the parliament to extend the period for public debate and for 
parliament's consideration of Venice Commission recommendations.

    Elections and Political Participation.--According to the OSCE/ODIHR 
election observation mission, the May 30 municipal elections marked 
evident progress towards meeting OSCE and Council of Europe 
commitments. However, significant remaining shortcomings included 
deficiencies in the legal framework, its implementation, an uneven 
playing field for candidates, and isolated cases of election-day fraud.
    The May elections included the first direct elections of the 
Tbilisi mayor. In its final report on the election released on 
September 13, the OSCE/ODIHR mission noted improvements, including in 
the management of the election administration and in efforts to enhance 
the quality of voters' lists. The ODIHR assessed voting positively in 
96 percent of polling stations visited by observers; however, regional 
variations pointed to systemic problems in some areas. Observers also 
reported a variety of procedural violations including 13 instances of 
likely ballot box stuffing as well as cases of multiple voting, proxy 
voting, and a series of seemingly identical signatures of voters on 
voters' lists. The observers also noted procedural violations in one-
fifth of the vote counts and one-fourth of the vote tabulations they 
monitored. The most widely observed procedural violations related to 
inking.
    Despite reforms enacted in 2009, the OSCE/ODIHR final report also 
found that inadequacies remained in the electoral code including: 
limitations on candidacy and voting rights; an election system that 
does not guarantee the equality of the vote; provisions that allow 
unlimited campaigning by certain public officials and the use of 
administrative resources for campaign purposes; and a number of gaps, 
inconsistencies, and contradictions.
    The OSCE/ODIHR mission received allegations of violations from 
opposition parties and nongovernmental organizations, including reports 
of pressure on opposition candidates to withdraw. The mission found 
that 4.5 percent of candidates running for majoritarian seats withdrew 
after registering, although the reasons for their withdrawals were not 
reported.
    One case reported by NGOs, including GYLA and TI/Georgia, involved 
the governor of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti and the district chief executive 
of Mestia. On the night of May 3, the governor and the district chief 
reportedly ordered police to assemble opposition candidates forcibly 
and bring them to the city administration building. Once inside the 
building, the governor allegedly pressed the opposition candidates to 
withdraw from the elections. Four candidates reportedly signed 
withdrawal documents that night. The Government's Interagency Task 
Force for the elections recommended that the governor take a leave of 
absence from his office, which he did, but he returned soon after the 
May 30 elections. As of year's end the local prosecutor's office had 
not filed criminal charges, and an investigation by the office remained 
underway. In late October the district chief executive resigned from 
his position.
    An observer from the NGO Public Movement Multinational Georgia 
(PMMG) took a video of precinct election commission officials stuffing 
the ballot box in the city of Akhalkalaki; the Central Election 
Commission annulled the results from the precinct. The chairman of the 
precinct was charged with election fraud on July 10 and pled guilty.
    On June 18, a precinct chairman in Sagarejo, Asan Isakhan Ogli 
Abdulaev, was charged with breach of ballot secrecy; he pled guilty. 
Also on June 18, two members of Precinct No. Three in Batumi were 
charged with illegal interference in an election using violence or 
threat of violence; they allegedly physically assaulted an election 
observer; the case continued at year's end. On June 23, Nanuli 
Chkhikvishvili was charged with election fraud for changing an election 
protocol; Chkhikvishvili pled guilty. On July 11, Bukhuti Chkhaidze, a 
police officer in Guria, was charged with illegal interference in an 
election and suspended from his position. He allegedly pressured a 
local opposition candidate to withdraw on April 7.
    The OSCE/ODIHR election observation report also noted that the 
distinction between the state and the ruling party was sometimes 
blurred and that there was not always a clear distinction between the 
official and party functions of public officials. Previous OSCE/ODIHR 
election reports also highlighted these concerns.
    NGOs reported that government employees were pressured by their 
supervisors to vote for, and donate to, the ruling party with the 
implied understanding that failure to do so might result in a loss of 
employment. The OSCE's final report noted that opposition parties made 
the same allegation. The OSCE also reported a number of allegations 
that businesses were reluctant to donate to some opposition parties due 
to fear of negative consequences.
    According to TI/Georgia's final report on the use of administrative 
resources during the municipal elections (released July 14), in the 31 
municipalities that provided information, over 1,300 employees were on 
leave in April and May, presumably to work on the Government's election 
campaign. The OSCE reported allegations that municipal offices in 
several places were understaffed during the month before the elections 
due to ``mass leave-taking.''
    Presidential and parliamentary elections were held in January 2008 
and in May 2008, respectively. The OSCE's final report on the 
presidential election concluded that authorities and other political 
stakeholders made significant efforts to conduct the 2008 parliamentary 
elections in a way that was consistent with OSCE and Council of Europe 
commitments; it noted that, while the election was consistent with most 
OSCE and Council of Europe standards and presented the first genuinely 
competitive post independence presidential election, implementation was 
uneven and incomplete. The campaign was overshadowed by allegations of 
intimidation and pressure. The distinction between state activities and 
the ruling party campaign of the ruling party incumbent candidate 
Mikheil Saakashvili was blurred. The election was marred by other 
shortcomings in the election process, most notably in the counting and 
tabulation of the results, the appeals procedures, and management of 
election complaints.
    The OSCE assessed that authorities and other political stakeholders 
made significant efforts to conduct the 2008 parliamentary elections in 
line with OSCE and Council of Europe commitments; however, according to 
the OSCE, a number of problems made this implementation uneven and 
incomplete. The OSCE report again noted shortcomings in vote counting, 
tabulation, and election complaints management. The OSCE also reported 
widespread allegations of intimidation and pressure on opposition 
activists, public-sector employees, and others, in the presidential and 
parliamentary elections. There also were credible allegations that 
businesses were pressured to contribute to the ruling party.
    The OSCE's report noted that the election campaign was conducted in 
a highly polarized environment, compounded by reports of widespread 
intimidation. The OSCE examined a series of postelection beatings and 
other violence involving masked men, who attacked a total of 13 
opposition activists, many of whom were in the process of taking legal 
action against alleged election-related irregularities. The OSCE 
visited seven of the 13 individuals and confirmed that they had been 
attacked. It noted that some opposition leaders accused the authorities 
and the ruling party of responsibility for the postelection attacks. 
The public defender also issued a statement criticizing the attacks and 
noted that a number of individuals who had been attacked refused to 
identify themselves due to fear of reprisal.
    At year's end no progress was reported, and none was expected, in 
investigating alleged attacks by unknown assailants on members of the 
political opposition before and after the 2008 presidential and 
parliamentary elections. Opposition members accused the Government of 
failing to make a genuine effort to identify, arrest, and try the 
attackers, many of whom wore masks.
    There were no government restrictions on political party formation 
beyond registration requirements. However, an individual could not run 
for office without party affiliation. According to the Ministry of 
Justice's Registration and Licensing Department, there were 206 
registered political parties during the year compared with 200 in 2009; 
however, only approximately 10 parties were regularly active. During 
the year persons and members of organizations linked to the opposition 
asserted that they were unduly singled out for prosecution (see 
sections 1.d. and 1.e.).
    There were no developments in the Ministry of Internal Affairs 
investigation into the August 2009 kidnapping and wounding of well-
known karate and wrestling champion Amiran Bitsadze by unknown 
assailants. Bitsadze, a member of the nonparliamentary opposition party 
Democratic Movement-United Georgia (DMUG), was found alive with two 
bullet-like wounds on his back, a broken leg, and a broken arm. The 
DMUG claimed that the motivation for the attack was Bitsadze's 
affiliation with the party. According to the Ministry of Internal 
Affairs, an investigation continued at year's end.
    There were eight women in the 150-seat parliament. One of the seven 
vice speakers was a woman, as was the chair of the parliament's 
procedural committee. There were three women in the cabinet and six on 
the Supreme Court.
    There were five members of ethnic minority groups in parliament: 
two ethnic Armenians and three ethnic Azeris. There were two members of 
minorities in the cabinet. There were no members of minorities in the 
Supreme Court. By law the number of seats held by ethnic minorities in 
municipal councils was commensurate with the ethnic population in each 
region of the country. Higher-level city managers included ethnic 
minority leaders among their ranks.
    According to the final OSCE/ODIHR report on the May elections, 
women were underrepresented in leadership positions in the election 
administration as well as among the candidates for and members of city 
councils. However, they were well represented in lower-level election 
commissions. The OSCE/ODIHR mission found that many parties put forward 
candidates belonging to national minorities and that election materials 
were made available in minority languages, but not in all areas 
inhabited by minorities.
    The de facto authorities in Abkhazia continued to restrict the 
rights of citizens to vote and to participate in the political process 
through a ``citizenship'' law that forced ethnic Georgians to give up 
their Georgian citizenship to vote in regional elections. Even those 
ethnic Georgians willing to apply for Abkhaz ``passports'' generally 
did not receive them because of extensive delays and were, therefore, 
unable to participate. Ethnic Georgians in South Ossetia were also 
required to accept a South Ossetian ``passport'' and ``citizenship'' to 
participate fully in political life.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption. The 
Government implemented these laws effectively against low-level 
corruption, which decreased because of high-profile reforms led by the 
president. Additionally, some internationally respected organizations 
indicated that Georgia made progress in this regard, but some NGOs 
alleged that senior-level officials engaged in corruption with 
impunity. The World Bank's worldwide governance indicators reflected 
that corruption was a problem.
    There was a general consensus among public officials and civil 
society organizations that levels of petty corruption fell after the 
2003 Rose Revolution. Observers attributed the improvement to the 
detention of corrupt public officials, increases in public servants' 
salaries, and the simplification of administrative procedures.
    Several high-ranking officials were indicted on corruption charges 
during the year.
    Police corruption was low at the patrol police level. The 
relatively high salaries for police officers provided an incentive to 
refrain from using their positions to extort money from citizens.
    High-level corruption remained a concern. Observers considered the 
official anticorruption campaign too heavily focused on prosecution as 
opposed to prevention and unstructured rather than systemic and 
participatory. Areas of concern included democratic institutions, civil 
society involvement in the planning and execution of public policy, 
property rights, and elite corruption. NGOs also raised concerns about 
the Government's connection to business and, in particular, corruption 
in the conduct of bids. There were such cases during the year.
    On June 4, the president approved a new national anticorruption 
strategy. TI/Georgia's report Monitoring Georgia's Anti-Corruption 
Commitments noted that the weakest governance link was the insufficient 
independence of the judiciary and the civil service. Judicial 
independence was rated at 71 percent, although its rating was 
significantly higher when discussing the legal framework than when 
addressing its practical enforcement and public attitudes toward the 
system. It also noted deficiencies in terms of the independence, 
accountability and transparency of civil servants, which received a low 
overall rating of 50 percent. This was mainly due to the lack of 
effective mechanisms for enhancing civil service independence and 
accountability (rated at 38 percent) and the lack of proper training of 
civil servants (rated at 50 percent).
    The Ministry of Justice took some action during the year to curb 
bribery. According to the ministry, 146 investigations of passive 
bribery were initiated, (146 persons were prosecuted and 117 convicted; 
there were 43 investigations of active bribery (87 prosecuted and 67 
convicted) and seven cases of trading in influence (three persons 
prosecuted and convicted.) This compares with 2009's convictions: 
accepting bribes, 40; giving bribes 47; and trading with influence, 
three.
    Two judges and one prosecutor were convicted during the year of 
corruption-related charges. The Inspector General's Office of the 
Ministry of Justice actively enforced internal ethics and disciplinary 
rules in the Prosecution Service.
    For the judiciary, addressing corruption and ensuring a cadre of 
independent judges involved training, salary adjustments, pensions, 
benefits, and improving basic work conditions. However, a May GYLA 
report on the judiciary noted that there were no objective, transparent 
criteria for determining bonuses for judges.
    The law requires public officials to submit yearly declarations of 
their own and family members' financial incomes and property for tax 
inspection. The Bureau of Declarations received the financial 
declarations, and the Prosecutor's Office under the Ministry of Justice 
investigated government corruption cases.
    On May 31, the Ministry of Justice's Inspector General Office 
conducted a large scale anticorruption operation and arrested a judge 
of the Tbilisi Court of Appeals, Dimitri Mchedlishvili, for allegedly 
accepting a bribe of 5,000 lari ($2,825) in exchange for assisting a 
defendant on a criminal case. During 2005-07, Mchedlishvili was the 
Chief of the Judicial Disciplinary Proceedings Department at the High 
Council of Justice. Also arrested was prosecutor Levan Bochorishvili, 
who allegedly accepted bribes in the amount of 1,000 and 1,500 lari 
($565 and $847) for entering into favorable plea agreements for 
defendants.
    On June 11, the Prosecutor General's Office arrested Elizbar 
Lominadze, the general director of JSC Energy XXI, and Teimuraz 
Zurmukhtashvili, the history archive director of the Central Archive of 
Georgia. According to the Prosecutor's Office statement, a preliminary 
investigation alleged that Lominadze accepted 180,000 lari ($101,695) 
in bribes from various companies for concluding contracts with them in 
the execution of a government-funded project. Zurmukhtashvili allegedly 
acted as the contact person in arranging the bribes.
    On September 16, Koka Pruidze, a former deputy minister of labor, 
health, and social affairs, was arrested and charged with abuse of 
official position and bribery. The Prosecutor's Office stated that in 
2009 Pruidze used his official position to influence the ministry's 
decision on a tender for the procurement of vaccine for a state-funded 
vaccination program. The prosecution stated Pruidze received 25,000 
lari ($14,124) in exchange for the tender in which the company offered 
the vaccine for three times the regular price. The trial continued at 
year's end.
    In May a court convicted a prosecutor arrested in December 2009 and 
charged with accepting a 2,000 lari ($1,130) bribe to secure a 
favorable sentence for a defendant (see section 1.e.).
    In 2007 Mikheil Kareli, the former governor of Shida Kartli region, 
was charged with bribery and illegal business practices. He fled to 
France to escape prosecution. The Government decided to try Kareli in 
his absence, and the trial continued at year's end. In 2008 French 
authorities arrested Kareli and continued reviewing the Government's 
extradition request.
    The law provides for public access to government meetings and 
documents; however, the Government sometimes did not provide access. 
Although the law states that a public agency shall release public 
information immediately or no later than 10 days after it is requested, 
the release of requested information could be delayed indefinitely, and 
requests were sometimes ignored in practice. NGOs noted that a 100 lari 
($56) fee for court information was restrictive and limited the ability 
to request information. On May 3, many regional newspapers printed 
blank front pages to raise awareness about problems in obtaining 
information from government agencies.
    On June 22, TI/Georgia reported the results of field tests of 52 
Freedom of Information requests sent to 10 public agencies by four 
different sets of volunteers between February and May. In 78.8 percent 
of cases, public agencies provided satisfactory responses. 
Unsatisfactory responses (21. 2 percent) included the absence of any 
response, oral or written refusals without an acceptable reason, 
incorrect referrals, and incomplete answers. None of the five requests 
sent to various institutions for information about public officials' 
bonuses received a satisfactory reply. The most responsive institutions 
were the Chamber of Control, the Central Election Commission, the 
Supreme Court, and parliament. The Prosecutor's Office was the least 
responsive, replying to only one of four requests. Low response rates 
were also observed at the Ministry of Defense (50 percent), Ministry of 
Internal Affairs (50 percent), and Ministry of Justice (25 percent). 
The type of requester (NGO, journalist, minority citizen, or 
unaffiliated citizen) had no significant effect on the chances of 
receiving an adequate response. There were violations of the maximum 
timeframes within which the information should be provided according to 
the law.
    On July 21, parliament passed an amendment to the freedom of 
information law restricting third-party access to information about 
cases involving the Government in international courts. NGO Human 
Rights Center reported that this was the first time the Government 
restricted the country's freedom of information legislation since the 
2003 Rose Revolution.
    In Abkhazia criminals paid bribes to de facto police, prosecutors, 
and judges to avoid prosecution.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    Domestic and international human rights groups in most cases 
operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing 
their findings on human rights cases. Some NGOs enjoyed close 
cooperation with the Government, and officials were cooperative and 
responsive to their views; others complained of not having sufficient 
access to government officials and the Government's failure to take 
into account civil society views. Some NGOs also reported instances in 
which authorities harassed their organization and staff.
    The major human rights problems that caused tensions between the 
Government and NGOs during the year were the alleged mistreatment of 
prisoners, intimidation and use of government resources during the May 
municipal elections, harassment of human rights defenders and 
journalists, the conduct of IDP evictions, and a lack of investigatory 
conclusions in reported cases against journalists, civil society 
activists, and nonparliamentary opposition members.
    In a January 15 statement, a coalition of 13 NGOs raised concerns 
about a smear campaign allegedly being conducted against human rights 
defenders. They reported that several negative stories about them were 
broadcast in December 2009, including a report by the Georgian Public 
Broadcaster about the activities of the NGO Human Rights Priority in 
relation to IDPs conflict victims; a claim broadcast on Rustavi 2 that 
the release of prisoners detained in South Ossetia was ``spoiled'' by 
the Georgian Young Lawyer's Association; and a broadcast on Real 
Television in which former ombudsman Sozar Subari was accused of 
protecting only the rights of religious minorities during his time in 
office.
    The NGO Human Rights Center reported that on February 22, the 
newspaper Versia (Version) accused the chairman of the PMMG, Arnold 
Stepanian, of working with Russian intelligence services. The tax 
inspection division of the Ministry of Finance closed Stepanian's 
father's shop twice during the year for inspections, the second time 
for more than six months. At a March 10 meeting with members of the 
diplomatic community, NGOs raised concerns that the closures were part 
of an effort to discredit and pressure human rights defenders, 
particularly those working in ethnic minority areas, in the period 
immediately prior to the May 30 municipal elections.
    NGOs continued to view the PDO as the most objective of the 
Government's human rights bodies. The constitutionally mandated office 
monitored human rights conditions and investigated allegations of 
abuse. The office generally operated without government interference 
and was considered effective. The Government funded the PDO, which 
received 1.5 million lari ($847,458) during the year.
    On July 21, parliament granted the public defender the right to 
make nonbinding recommendations to law enforcement agencies that they 
investigate particular cases. Parliament also clarified the public 
defender's obligation to submit an annual report to it on the human 
rights situation for the calendar year instead of semiannually and 
required government offices to respond to all requests for information 
from the PDO within 10 days, rather than 15. The July 21 amendments 
also permit the PDO to act as an amicus curiae, a professional person 
or organization not a party to a particular case but permitted by the 
court advise it on some matter of law that directly affects the case in 
question. However, the PDO may no longer report on torture unless the 
victim gives clear consent.
    The de facto authorities in the occupied territories did not grant 
the PDO access to those territories.
    The public defender's most recent semiannual report, which covered 
the second half of 2009, focused mainly on the mistreatment of inmates, 
poor prison conditions, and other shortcomings in the criminal justice 
system; these were problems which continued during the year. The report 
noted that judges continued to fail to provide justifications for their 
rulings and indicated that instances of police mistreatment of 
detainees increased during the year.
    During the year the PDO published several special reports, 
including the 2009 National Preventive Mechanism Report and a report on 
IDPs (see sections 1.c., 1.d., and 2.d.). The public defender also 
submitted a constitutional complaint regarding legislation governing 
freedom of assembly (see section 2.a.).
    The public defender's authority does not include the power to 
initiate prosecution or other legal actions, but he can recommend 
action, and the Government must respond. The PDO noted that the Law on 
the Public Defender does not explicitly authorize the NPM to use audio 
and video equipment. Instead the NPM follows the regulations 
established by each institution. The PDO noted that prisons and police 
stations place certain restrictions on this activity.
    In June 2009 police assaulted a representative from the PDO while 
he was monitoring a nonparliamentary opposition protest (see section 
2.b.). There were no developments in this case.
    The parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and Civil Integration, 
the Ministry of Internal Affairs' Human Rights Division, and the 
National Security Council's human rights advisor had mandates to 
investigate claims of abuse.
    By law the prosecutor general is charged with protection of human 
rights and fundamental freedoms. The Human Rights Unit at the Office of 
Chief Prosecutor monitored overall prosecution and supervision of 
compliance with national and international human rights standards. The 
unit reviewed statistical and analytical activities within the 
prosecution system and was responsible for considering and responding 
to human rights recommendations of national and international human 
rights institutions.
    De facto authorities in Abkhazia allowed some international 
organizations, including several UN agencies, to operate there on a 
limited basis, but only the ICRC had a specific human rights mandate. 
De facto authorities in South Ossetia allowed no international 
organization except the ICRC to operate there on a regular basis, but a 
few organizations, including the Council of Europe and the OSCE, gained 
extremely restricted access on an occasional basis, also without a 
human rights mandate.
    The EUMM facilitated conflict resolution (including conflicts 
involving human rights problems) among Georgian, Russian, and de facto 
authorities in the occupied regions by regularly patrolling near the 
conflict areas and facilitating informal contacts among the sides. 
However, despite the 2008 ceasefire agreement's provisions, the EUMM 
was denied access to the occupied regions. Patrols could be conducted 
only on the undisputed Georgian side of the administrative boundary 
lines.
    On October 28, South Ossetian de facto authorities participated in 
a meeting on incident prevention and response mechanisms (IPRM) for the 
first time after a one-year boycott. The Abkhazia IPRM met throughout 
the year. The Geneva Discussions, which were mandated by the 2008 
ceasefire, established one IPRM meeting for each conflict area to 
facilitate practical and depoliticized discussions of the situation on 
the ground.
Section 6 Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit discrimination based on race, 
gender, religion, disability, language, or social status; however, the 
Government did not always enforce these prohibitions effectively.

    Women.--Rape is illegal, but spousal rape is not specifically 
addressed by criminal law. Criminal cases of rape generally could be 
initiated only after a complaint by the victim. A first-time offender 
may be imprisoned for up to seven years; a repeat offender or 
perpetrator against multiple victims may receive up to 10 years' 
imprisonment. If the victim is, or becomes, pregnant, contracts HIV/
AIDS, or is subjected to extreme violence, the sentence may be 
increased to 15 years or, if the victim is a minor, up to 20 years. 
During the year investigations were initiated in 118 rape cases 
compared with 136 in the first 11 months of 2009. Observers believed 
many instances of rape were unreported due to the social stigma for 
victims and because police did not always investigate reports of rape.
    Domestic and other violence against women was a problem. Cases were 
underreported. According to statistics from the Ministry of Internal 
Affairs, 2,991 domestic violence cases were reported to the police 
during the year compared with 1,331 cases in 2009 and 2,576 in 2008.
    Domestic violence is an administrative crime legally defined as a 
violation of the constitutional rights and liberties of one member of a 
family by another through physical, psychological, economic, or sexual 
violence or coercion; however, domestic violence is not specifically 
criminalized. Authorities prosecuted perpetrators of domestic violence 
under existing criminal provisions, such as battery or rape.
    The law allows victims to seek immediate protective orders from 
courts against abusers, and it authorizes police to issue temporary 
restrictive orders against persons suspected of abusing a family 
member. However, restrictive orders were issued in only 182 cases of 
domestic violence during the year, compared with 176 cases in 2009, and 
141 in 2008. The NGO GYLA reported that police did not use restrictive 
orders during domestic violence calls. A court should approve a 
restrictive order within 24 hours of a victim's application. It 
prohibits the abuser from coming within 100 meters (310 feet) of the 
victim and forbids the perpetrator to use common property, such as a 
residence or vehicle, for six months. The victim may request an 
unlimited number of extensions of the protective order. A violation of 
a restrictive order results in an administrative fine.
    The Ministry of Internal Affairs developed a legally required form 
for police use when issuing restrictive orders; however, some NGOs 
reported that many police officials did not respond correctly to 
domestic violence calls and were poorly trained in the use of the 
national referral system for victims. During the year Tbilisi police 
patrol inspectors, regional police officers, and prosecutors received 
domestic violence-related training as did police officers in eight 
other cities.
    The law exempts the payment of state duty on court cases related to 
protection of and assistance to domestic violence victims; allows a 
court, either on its own initiative or by request of a party, to hold 
closed sessions in domestic violence cases; allows a court to consider 
separation of a child from a violent parent; and limits access to 
firearms by a domestic violence offender.
    Local NGOs and the Government jointly operated a hotline and 
shelters for abused women, although space in shelters was limited. In 
October the Government opened two new state-funded shelters and 
launched a new national, state-funded domestic violence hotline. 
Shelters also include crisis centers which also offer domestic violence 
victims psychological, medical, and legal assistance. The State Fund, 
an interagency government department that works with NGOs on gender-
based issues, reported that during the year 112 consultations were 
conducted by telephone or in person. The State Fund reported that the 
shelters hosted 18 women and 16 minor children during the year.
    During the year the Interagency Council on gender-based issues, 
including government agencies and NGOs, initiated a public awareness 
campaign, including the publicizing of the new domestic violence 
hotline; coordinated domestic violence training in partnership with the 
Prosecution Service and Police; and opened two state-run domestic 
violence shelters.
    Kidnapping of women for marriage occurred but was not widespread. 
It occurred predominantly in ethnic minority areas and communities. 
Such kidnappings reportedly often were arranged elopements. Police 
rarely took action in these cases, although the law criminalizes 
kidnapping.
    Sexual harassment and violence against women in the workplace were 
problems. NGOs stated that discrimination against women in the 
workplace existed, but instances were not reported. The law prohibits 
sexual harassment; however, the Government did not effectively enforce 
the law, and authorities rarely investigated complaints. During the 
year investigations were initiated in 25 cases related to sexual 
harassment.
    Couples and individuals have the legal right to decide freely the 
number, spacing, and timing of their children. Information was 
accessible so families and individuals could make reproductive 
decisions free from discrimination, coercion, or violence. According to 
data from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) for 2008, the latest 
available, 47 percent of women used some form of contraception.
    The maternal mortality ratio, according to UNFPA statistics, was 48 
deaths per 100,000 live births in 2008. According to data from the 
World Bank and the Population Reference Bureau, 98 percent of births 
were attended by skilled professionals. In 94 percent of cases, women 
had at least one prenatal visit. Indicators noted 16 percent of women 
reported an unmet need for family planning, but there was no further 
detail. Women and men were equally treated and diagnosed for 
transmitted infections, including HIV. However, patriarchal norms, 
based on cultural, historical, and socioeconomic factors, in some cases 
limited women's reproductive rights.
    The law provides for the equality of men and women; however, the 
law was not always implemented in practice. On March 27, parliament 
passed a Gender Equality Law that went into effect immediately. 
According to the UN Development Fund for Women, the legislation 
provides for the establishment of a national women's council, 
enhancement of women's security, equality in the labor market, and 
strengthening of women's political participation. The law also 
introduces gender-responsive planning and budgeting on the part of the 
Government. NGOs complained about the lack of implementation since the 
law's passage in March. During the year the Government released the 
law's definition guidelines.
    The speaker of parliament continued to chair a Gender Equity 
Advisory Council, which included members of parliament as well as 
representatives from the executive branch, the PDO, and NGOs. The State 
Commission on Gender Equity, chaired at the deputy state minister 
level, prepared recommendations on the implementation of international 
agreements and conventions on gender equity. The PDO monitored gender 
equality cases.
    The labor code does not protect pregnant women from being dismissed 
from work while they are on maternity leave. According to the UN 
Development Program, employers frequently withheld benefits for 
pregnancy and childbirth.
    Although some observers noted continuing improvement in women's 
access to the labor market, women remained primarily confined to low-
paying and low-skilled positions, regardless of their professional and 
academic qualifications, and salaries for women lagged behind those for 
men. According to the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 
for the year, women in the country earned 78 percent as much as men 
engaged in similar work. As a result, many women sought employment 
abroad.
    According to World Bank statistics, the ratio of female to male 
enrollment in primary, secondary, and tertiary schools was nearly 
equal. The share of women employed in the nonagricultural was almost 49 
percent.

    Children.--The law provides for acquisition of citizenship by birth 
on the country's territory. It applies to children of stateless 
individuals. According to statistics from the UN Children's Fund 
(UNICEF), 92 percent of births were registered.
    The 2002 census, the latest, put the Romani population in Georgia 
at approximately 472 (less than 1 percent of the population). Romani 
children were usually born at home, and their parents frequently did 
not register their births with the Government. Since official 
identification is required to receive medical treatment and other 
public services, the lack of identification and the reluctance of 
parents to apply for such services could deprive Romani children of 
access to medical and other services.
    Education was officially free through high school, but in practice, 
particularly in rural areas, many parents were obliged to contribute to 
the schools financially to keep them functioning. The quality of 
education fluctuated greatly between urban and rural areas and between 
Tbilisi and the regions. The quality of education in the occupied 
regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, outside of the Government's 
control, was reportedly poor. In rural areas, school facilities were 
often inadequate and lacked heating, libraries, and blackboards.
    Despite legal prohibitions, local residents and international 
organizations reported that schools in the ethnic Georgian region of 
Gali in Abkhazia were generally allowed to provide instruction in the 
Georgian language, except for certain subjects, such as history and 
geography, which had to be taught in Russian or Abkhaz. However, the de 
facto authorities did not provide funding for teachers of Georgian, and 
local communities had either to pay for teachers themselves, make 
arrangements for teachers to cross from undisputed Georgia to teach, or 
send their children from Abkhazia for Georgian-language lessons. An 
increasingly strict boundary regime imposed by Russian border guards 
made the latter two alternatives more and more difficult. There were 
reports of Russian border guards detaining children attempting to cross 
the boundary for language lessons.
    There were some reports of child abuse, particularly of street 
children, although there was no societal pattern of such abuse. 
Incidents of sexual exploitation of children, particularly girls, were 
reported. According to the Ministry of Justice, 11 cases of rape, five 
cases of sexual abuse involving violence, and one case of coercion into 
sexual acts involving minors were reported during the year.
    On May 31, the Child Referral Mechanism was initiated with the 
purpose of providing that children suffering from abuse are referred to 
the relevant community and state services by coordinating the work of 
multiple interested parties, including the police, schools, and social 
services agencies. According to the PDO, 33 cases of physical abuse of 
children, 14 cases of neglect, and 38 cases of emotional abuse were 
reported during the year.
    Commercial sexual exploitation of children and child pornography 
are punishable by up to three years' imprisonment. Street children and 
children living in orphanages were reportedly particularly vulnerable 
to exploitation. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the 
number of cases was very small.
    There is an explicit statutory rape provision that makes rape a 
criminal offense if the victim is a juvenile. Other sexual crimes carry 
increased levels of punishment if the victim is a juvenile. Another 
article in the criminal code prohibits sexual intercourse with 
juveniles under the age of 16, provided the perpetrator is shown to be 
aware of the age of the victim. In such cases the penalty is a fine 
and/or incarceration for up to three years.
    The number of street children was not considered to be high and has 
been decreasing yearly. Difficult economic conditions contributed to 
the problem. A study covering the period 2007-08 by the NGO Save the 
Children indicated that approximately 1,500 children lived and worked 
in the streets. The Ministry of Labor, Health, and Social Affairs 
operated a shelter in Tbilisi and, according to the PDO, hosted 70 
children during the year; but the Government took little other action 
to assist street children. The PDO reported a lack of information about 
street children and inadequate resources were devoted to them. The NGO 
Child and Environment operated a night center and three day centers 
during the year and provided support to 350 street children per day 
countrywide. Nevertheless, the two shelters could accommodate only a 
small number of the street children.
    There were unconfirmed reports that police harassed street 
children, but the patrol police routinely transferred street children 
to 24-hour care centers. These centers lacked resources for treatment 
and rehabilitation of children, many of whom were substance abusers or 
suffered from mental disorders.
    The conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia displaced thousands of 
children; the numbers increased further because of the 2008 conflict 
with Russia (see section 2.d.). Even before the conflict, UNICEF 
reported that health services in both regions were scant, immunization 
rates were lower than elsewhere in the country, schools were 
deteriorating, and malnutrition was a serious problem.
    Many orphanages were unable to provide adequate food, clothing, 
education, medical care, or facilities. They often lacked heat, water, 
and electricity. Staff members reportedly often diverted money and 
supplies to their personal use. The Government approved a policy of 
deinstitutionalizing children, and, according to government statistics, 
the number of institutionalized children decreased from 5,000 in 2000 
to 1,102 during the year. In February the Ministry of Labor, Health, 
and Social Affairs began rehabilitating the remaining 24 orphanages. 
During the year this process included completing assessments of staff 
and conducting staff training on proper childcare.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community did not report any acts of 
anti-Semitism during the year.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution and law prohibits 
discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, 
and mental disabilities in employment, education, access to health 
care, or the provision of other state services or other areas; however, 
the Government was not effective in enforcing these provisions. 
Enforcement was a low priority for the Government. Discrimination, 
including social discrimination, against persons with disabilities was 
a problem.
    During the year 138,614 persons with disabilities were registered 
compared with 139,354 in 2009. This number included 10,134 children, 
compared with 8,034 in 2009. These numbers included only those 
officially registered; the actual number could be higher.
    The law mandates access to buildings for persons with disabilities 
and stipulates fines for noncompliance. However, very few public 
facilities or buildings were accessible, although notably the newly 
constructed presidential residence and the Ministry of Internal Affairs 
building were. During the May 30 elections, ballots in Braille were 
available for voters with visual disabilities.
    The CPT noted in a September 21 report that at the institution for 
persons with mental and physical disabilities in Dzevri, there were no 
allegations of mistreatment of residents by staff, and that it had a 
generally positive impression of residents' living conditions.
    In the 2009 National Preventive Mechanism Report (released during 
the year), the PDO drew the same conclusions as the CPT. The PDO noted, 
however, that living conditions were poor, including poor ventilation; 
lack of heat; lack of access to hygiene products, and poor nutrition. 
Patients who were admitted voluntarily were not allowed to leave of 
their own free will.
    The Ministry of Labor, Health, and Social Affairs was the lead 
government agency responsible for policy regarding persons with 
disabilities. Other ministries were also involved, including the 
Ministry of Education and Science, which has an inclusive education 
program, and the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs, which runs the 
Special Olympics program. The PDO monitors the treatment of persons 
with disabilities through its Center for Disability Rights.
    The Government took some steps to address the needs of persons with 
disabilities. On December 3, the International Day of Persons with 
Disabilities, a forum was held in Tbilisi to raise public awareness on 
the problems and needs of persons with disabilities. In December 2009 
the Government approved a national action plan for activities for 
persons with disabilities, mandating clearly increased budgets and 
diversified activities across many ministries. The national action plan 
prioritizes disability classification, access to information, 
healthcare, access to buildings, education, habilitation and 
rehabilitation, employment, culture and sports, social protection, 
data, and legislative improvement. During the year work on the 
following elements of the action began, including revision of 
disability classification, creation of a new data system for persons 
with disabilities, and creation of an inclusive education program. 
State agencies provided protected work places for persons with 
disabilities, including the civil registry that employs dozens of 
persons with disabilities who work from home.
    There were nine major committees in the country that evaluated 
children and assisted with their inclusion, or integration, in schools; 
approximately 200 schools became inclusive during the year by providing 
access ramps and other facilities and specialized teachers with 
individual approaches to teaching and assessment. During the year 
standards for day care centers for children with disabilities were 
developed. All existing day care centers were evaluated based on these 
standards, and state vouchers were granted to individuals with 
disabilities, permitting them to be enrolled in quality daycare 
facilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The law requires that all 
government officials speak Georgian, the state language; some 
minorities claimed this excluded them from participating in government. 
Some government materials distributed to the public were only available 
in the Georgian language. Authorities asserted the Government was not 
obliged to provide all official materials in minority languages. 
However, ballots and election materials were available in minority 
languages during the May 30 municipal elections and the 2008 
presidential and parliamentary elections. According to the Ministry of 
Reintegration, it translated all major legislative acts into Armenian, 
Azeri, and Russian. The Ministry of Education reported that it provided 
textbooks translated into Armenian, Azeri, and Russian in schools in 
minority regions and Tbilisi.
    The Ministry of Education provided university textbooks in minority 
languages. Students were able to take university entrance exams in 
minority languages. Students were also able to take advantage of a new 
``one-plus-four program,'' in which the Government offered and funded 
one year of intensive Georgian language instruction and four years of 
university education to students who passed the entrance examinations 
in minority languages. A quota system required that a minimum of 10 
percent of all national university seats be allocated to Armenian and 
Azeri-speaking students who passed the entrance exams. According to 
government statistics issued during the year, 124 Armenian and 175 
Azeri speakers were admitted to the public universities through the 
quota system. This only represented 1.3 percent of the seats available.
    Ethnic Georgians living in the Gali region of Abkhazia had no legal 
access to education in the Georgian language. In practice, however, 
instruction in Georgian did occur, but with limitations (see section 
5). Teachers who did not speak Abkhaz instructed students in Georgian; 
however, such teachers were often subjected to harassment and 
prosecution by Abkhaz de facto authorities.
    On February 4, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the PDO signed 
a memorandum of cooperation under the Government's National Concept and 
Action Plan and Civil Integration. Under this memorandum on February 
11, the PDO gave a lecture at the police academy on ethnic and 
religious minorities.
    Many inhabitants of the municipalities of Akhalkalaki and 
Ninotsminda, whose populations are predominately ethnic Armenians, 
complained about government unwillingness to give provincial-language 
status to the Armenian language, since very few persons there spoke 
Georgian or were able to conduct daily affairs in Georgian. However, 
many NGOs in the region stated that they saw an improvement during the 
year in the number of opportunities for Georgian-language instruction 
and in the quality of the classes. Ethnic Azeris in the predominately 
Azeri-speaking region of Kvemo Kartli made similar complaints.
    An NGO in Armenia raised concerns that Vahagn Chakhalian and his 
relatives had been targeted for prosecution because of his political 
activity in the country's ethnic Armenian community. The NGO 
highlighted the timing of the arrest (two years after the alleged 
incident) and asserted that violations had occurred during the trial. 
There was also an allegation that Chakhalian was beaten in prison 
during the year (see section 1.c.). In 2008 Vahagn Chakhalian, Armen 
Chakhalian, and Ruben Chakhalian, at least one of whom was a member of 
United Javakh, a local NGO that called for autonomy for ethnic 
Armenians in the country, were arrested and charged with violating 
public order, resisting arrest, threatening law enforcement officers, 
and illegally possessing firearms during an alleged 2006 break-in. In 
April 2009 Vahagn Chakhalian was found guilty by the Akhalkalaki 
District Court on six of 12 charges brought by the public prosecutor. 
He was convicted of organizing a riot directed against the public 
order, hooliganism, and the illegal purchase and possession of firearms 
and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Ruben Chakhalian was convicted of 
two of four charges, organizing a riot directed against public order 
and the illegal purchase and possession of firearms. He was fined 5,000 
lari ($2,960). Armen Chakhalian was found guilty of the illegal 
purchase and possession of firearms and was fined 2,000 lari ($1,180). 
A fourth person, Aram Batoian, was charged with organizing group 
activities that violated public order and the illegal purchase and 
possession of firearms; there was no update at year's end.
    Ethnic Armenians, Azeris, Greeks, Abkhaz, Ossetians, and Russians 
usually communicate in their native languages or in Russian in the 
areas where they are the dominant ethnic groups. The law requires that 
ethnic minority students learn Georgian as a second language, and the 
Government funded more than 200 primary and secondary Russian-, Azeri-, 
and Armenian-language schools for persons whose first language was not 
Georgian. The Zurab Zhvania School of Public Administration in Kutaisi 
provided courses specifically for students from minority areas. It also 
facilitated integration of future public servants from minority areas 
into Georgian society. In Tbilisi a large majority of ethnic minority 
groups were able to communicate in Georgian in their daily interaction 
with members of other linguistic groups.
    The Government took several steps to integrate ethnic minority 
communities through Georgian-language instruction, education, 
involvement in political dialogue, and improved access to information. 
The Government continued to provide Georgian-language instruction to 
members of ethnic minorities serving in the armed forces and police, an 
effort which ECRI noted in its report on June 15.
    However, ECRI observed that the challenge persisted of integrating 
these persons while allowing them to be educated in their mother 
tongue. It also noted that the Government had developed projects to 
teach tolerance and respect for other ethnic and religious groups among 
students.
    The law permits the repatriation of the Muslim Meskhetian 
population, a national minority group that Stalin deported in 1944. The 
legislation was a response to a 1999 commitment the country made to the 
Council of Europe to provide for the resettlement of the Meskhetians by 
2011. Passage of the law allowed the Government in 2008 to begin 
accepting applications for repatriation from Meskhetians with documents 
that confirmed their deportation. Passage of the law came under heavy 
criticism from opposition members of parliament and the media, which 
pointed to the delicate ethnic and demographic balance in areas once 
inhabited by Meskhetians, but subsequently populated by a sizeable 
ethnic Armenian community. On June 15, ECRI reported that Meskhetian 
Turks still suffered from a certain level of hostility among some 
segments of the country's population, especially those living in the 
region once inhabited by the Meskhetians. More than 1,700 Meskhetians 
had filed for repatriation by 2009. More than 150 returned unofficially 
over the previous three years, quietly settling in Akhaltsikhe and 
Abastumani. As of year's end, however, there were no official 
repatriations.
    ECRI reported that Roma appeared to suffer from widespread societal 
prejudice and marginalization. While commending the CRA for registering 
some ethnic minorities, including Roma, to provide them with 
identification documents, ECRI noted that the Government needed to do 
more to integrate fully all Roma. During the year the European Center 
for Minority Issues estimated the Romani population at 1,500, with no 
more than 300 in any one location. The 2002 census, the latest, 
reported the number of Roma at 472. Roma were found principally in the 
Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Kobuleti, Kakheti, and Sukhumi regions. Large numbers 
of Roma migrated to Zugdidi and Tbilisi from Abkhazia, while additional 
Muslim Roma arrived from Armenia and Azerbaijan. Internal seasonal 
migration to the Black Sea coast was noted during the summer.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There are no laws that 
criminalize sexual orientation, male-to-male sex, or female-to-female 
sex. However, social prejudices against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 
transgender (LGBT) behavior were strong. The Georgian Orthodox Church 
strongly denounced such behavior. Cases during the year included death 
threats against an LGBT activist and the use of antihomosexual slogans 
by a candidate in the municipal elections.
    There were a few LGBT organizations. However, they could not work 
exclusively on LGBT issues or work openly as LGBT organizations because 
of the extensive societal stigma against homosexuality; instead they 
promoted tolerance more broadly.
    On April 8, threats were made against an LGBT activist by an 
anonymous administrator of a Georgian language Facebook Web page 
entitled ``Death to Homosexuals.'' The threats were of sufficient 
concern that the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor's 
Office opened an investigation. According to the Ministry of Justice, 
the investigation continued at year's end. Facebook closed the Web page 
of its own volition.
    On May 25, the GYLA filed suit to suspend the candidacy of an 
opposition candidate in the municipal elections for posting 
antihomosexual messages on his Facebook Web pages. The NGO claimed that 
the messages violated the election code which prohibits fostering 
hatred and enmity. The Tbilisi City Court ruled against GYLA.
    In August false rumors of a gay pride parade in Batumi sparked the 
condemnation of the Georgian Orthodox Church, including a statement 
from the patriarch on August 20, and led to protests in front of a 
hotel where organizers were reportedly staying on August 25 and 26.
    In December 2009 police searched the office of an NGO that promotes 
LGBT equality. Reportedly, they used antihomosexual slurs, made 
unnecessary strip searches, unnecessarily damaged organizational 
posters, and unnecessarily ransacked offices. The Ministry of Internal 
Affairs denied that any procedural violations took place and maintained 
that the profile of the organization was irrelevant in terms of the 
law. The ministry reported that its General Inspection Office gave one 
officer a reprimand at the ``severe'' level in accordance with the 
police code of ethics, as his actions were determined to be unethical 
and inappropriate for police officers. Two other officers were also 
given a reprimand at the ``severe'' level for not preventing the above-
mentioned officer from making the unethical statements.
    The public defender stated his priorities included protection of 
LGBT groups and individuals.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The law prohibits 
discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS; however, there is no 
penalty for violating this prohibition. NGOs reported that social 
stigma resulted in individuals avoiding testing and treatment. Some 
health-care providers, particularly dentists, refused to provide 
services to HIV-positive persons. Individuals often concealed their 
HIV-positive status from employers for fear of losing their jobs.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows all workers, including 
government employees, to form and join independent unions of their 
choice without previous authorization or excessive requirements, and 
they did so in practice. However, the law restricts the right of 
employees of law enforcement agencies, medical doctors, firemen, 
personnel of the Prosecutor General's Office, and the employees of 
certain ministries (for example, defense) to form and join unions and 
to strike. Between 12 and 13 percent of the employed population was 
unionized, a proportion that rose to more than 46 percent if persons 
categorized as self-employed are excluded.
    The principal association of unions is the Georgian Trade Union 
Confederation (GTUC), which represents unions in 22 sectors with more 
than 206,345 unionized workers. There were a few small unions for civil 
servants, agricultural workers, and artists, but they did not 
participate in the GTUC. Although many employees in large-scale 
enterprises were unionized, they did not exercise power commensurate 
with their large membership. Only a minority of the members were active 
in the labor movement.
    Government interference in union activity was reported in at least 
one area. Some union representatives reported instances of government 
harassment and intimidation. On June 8, according to the AFL-CIO, 
Minister of Education Dimitri Shashkini met with regional heads for 
schools and reportedly issued verbal orders that all school principals 
refrain from transferring the trade union membership dues of their 
teachers to their trade union, the Educators and Scientists Free Trade 
Union of Georgia (ESFTUG). Subsequently, ESFTUG local presidents began 
to collect trade union dues directly from union members. When the 
minister learned of this action, he reportedly stated that any school 
principal who allowed the collection of dues would be held legally 
responsible. According to a November 30 ministry statement, school 
administrations were required to have teachers' written consent, as 
well as a contract signed between schools and trade unions, to transfer 
membership fees to the union. The ESFTUG reported that it was not able 
to collect dues consistently even when they have these forms.
    The ESFTUG reported that Shashkini refused to meet and enter into 
dialogue with the ESFTUG's new president, who was elected on October 
30. The union also reported that so-called ``mandators,'' whom the 
ministry hired directly during the year ostensibly to maintain school 
security, far exceeded their stated mandate, and the ministry was using 
them to assure that union dues were not collected. The mandators, who 
were responsible only to the ministry, were reportedly filing official 
incident reports following their investigations of complaints, that 
ministry officials were then using as pretexts to dismiss teachers for 
cause.
    Labor unions asserted that certain provisions of the labor code 
limited the mechanisms available to workers for the exercise of their 
rights. At least 100 members are needed for a trade union to be 
registered, a requirement considered unreasonable by the International 
Labor Organization's Committee of Experts on the Application of 
Conventions and Recommendations.
    The AFL-CIO noted that the law permits a court to suspend the 
activity of a trade union if the union stimulates social conflict, a 
provision susceptible to being misapplied to suspend legitimate trade 
union activity.
    The law provides for the right to strike; however, according to 
trade unions, it did not establish a coherent process for undertaking 
strikes. Strikes were limited to 90 days in duration and were 
permissible only in cases of conflict of rights, not conflict of 
interests. Workers generally exercised their right to strike in 
accordance with the labor code, but strikes were rare. The GTUC 
asserted that the rarity of strikes was due to restrictive rules and 
workers' fear of losing their jobs.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Collective 
bargaining is recognized by law, and the law provides punishment for 
those who refuse to take part in negotiations; however, the Government 
did not always protect this right in practice. There were 104 
collective agreements that covered approximately 50,000 members. The 
PDO stated that one of the major deficiencies of the labor code was the 
absence of a requirement that employers provide a reason to employees 
in the event of termination of their employment.
    The practice of collective bargaining was not widespread. Employers 
are not obliged to engage in collective bargaining even if a trade 
union or a group of employees wishes to do so.
    The law prohibits employers from discriminating against union 
members or union-organizing activities, and employers may be prosecuted 
for violations and forced to reinstate employees and pay back wages. 
However, the labor code allows employers to terminate employment at 
will and without providing a reason, giving them the right to fire 
employees on discriminatory grounds (that is, gender, political 
affiliation, or other reasons) or for union activism. The GTUC and its 
national unions continued to report some cases of management warning 
staff not to organize trade unions, and the GTUC cited several 
instances during the year in which employers allegedly threatened union 
members with dismissal for union activity.
    There were continuing reports in both the private and public 
sectors of employers threatening or intimidating workers engaged in 
union organizing activities. Affected workers included teachers, 
employees of various mining, pipeline, and port facilities, and the 
Tbilisi municipal government. However, the GTUC could not identify any 
dismissals clearly tied to union affiliation during the year. One 
reason for this inability was that the duration of workers' contracts 
in most industries was so short (at times as short as one month) that 
employers could cite the expiration of a contract as the reason for 
terminating a particular worker.
    In August the management of the state-owned Georgian State Railway 
unilaterally decreed that it would terminate the collective agreement 
between the railway and the trade union. The trade union immediately 
appealed the decree to the Tbilisi City Court. Railway management 
responded by offering to negotiate and nominating five members to a 
proposed joint commission. On August 10, the union agreed to negotiate 
and nominated five union representatives. In November the court ruled 
against the railroad workers union. The union continued to exist but 
had many problems with the collection of union dues.
    According to the GTUC, none of the nine workers dismissed in 2008 
by the management of BEM Textile in Ajara for reasons apparently 
related to their participation in the creation of a trade union was 
reinstated as of year's end.
    The GTUC reported instances in which employers failed to transfer 
compulsory union dues they deducted from wages to union bank accounts. 
In one such case, the company Georgian Post systematically blocked the 
transfer to the union of dues totaling 38,000 lari ($22,485) during the 
year. However, the GTUC reported that, by year's end the Georgian Post 
had covered all but the last two months of the year's arrears.
    In 2007 port authorities in Poti fired union members and sealed 
their union office because of union activity. After negotiations the 
port authorities reinstated most workers. A court ruled against the 
union in a lawsuit filed on behalf of 11 workers who were not 
reinstated. In May 2009 the GTUC appealed to the ECHR, which accepted 
the GTUC's application but had not reviewed the case by year's end.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, and there were no reports that such 
practices occurred. However, there were reports that men and women were 
trafficked from and through, but not to, the country for labor. Also 
see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/g/tip.
    NGOs and trade unions objected to a provision in the labor code 
that permits compulsory labor in instances of emergency and natural 
disaster but does not require remuneration to persons who are 
conscripted.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There are laws and policies to protect children from exploitation in 
the workplace, although the PDO noted that one of the major 
deficiencies of the labor code was insufficient attention to the rights 
of minors. However, with high unemployment resulting in a large pool of 
adult workers willing to work for low wages, child labor was uncommon. 
Although official data were not available, a 2007 survey estimated that 
77.4 percent of working children were employed intermittently on family 
farms, while 18.4 percent worked in family enterprises. The 
International Trade Union Confederation reported that children living 
in rural areas were slightly more involved in child labor. Children in 
urban areas were susceptible to trafficking, work in the streets, 
begging, or selling small items.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.
    The most visible form of child labor was street begging in Tbilisi. 
A 2007-08 study by the NGO Save the Children indicated that the number 
of street children decreased to approximately 1,500 from 2,500 in 1999. 
Some experts reported that the number decreased further since that 
date. Many minors under the age of 16 worked and performed chores on 
small family-owned farms in rural areas. In most case this work was not 
abusive and not categorized as child labor. However, in some ethnic 
minority areas, family farm obligations were reported to disrupt the 
ability to attend school. Some observations have suggested that school 
participation of ethnic minority children was especially low. Many 
families in rural Kvemo Kartli (an ethnic Azeri region) and Kakheti 
(where there is also a significant ethnic Azeri population) worked on 
distant pastures for six to nine months a year, meaning that their 
children seldom attended school. Statistics on such situations were not 
available through the education or social protection systems.
    In most situations, the minimum legal age for employment is 16 
years old. In exceptional cases, children may work with parental 
consent at the ages of 14 and 15. Children under the age of 18 may not 
engage in unhealthy or underground work, and children between the ages 
of 16 to 18 are subject to reduced working hours and prohibited from 
working at night. The labor code permits employment agreements with 
persons under the age of 14 in sports, arts, cultural activities, and 
for performing advertising services.
    The Ministry of Labor, Health, and Social Affairs is responsible 
for enforcing laws regulating child labor. The ministry's Department of 
Social Protection is responsible for determining compliance with labor 
laws and regulations. It receives complaints and identifies labor 
violations. There is a subdepartment for Child Protection and Social 
Programs, whose 12 specialists are responsible for policy issues, 
including the protection of children from illegal child labor. The 
subdepartment forwards any information it uncovers to law enforcement 
agencies for investigation and possible prosecution. The subdepartment 
reported that during the year it received no complaints about child 
employment. The policies that are developed by the subdepartment are 
implemented by social workers in the Social Service Agency under the 
same ministry. In the event of a violation of child labor laws, the 
courts have the authority to sanction the employer.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Neither the minimum wage for 
public employees, 115 lari ($68) per month, nor the statutory minimum 
wage for private sector workers, approximately 20 lari ($12) per month, 
provided a decent standard of living for a worker and family. The 
minimum wage was below the average monthly wage in both the private and 
the Government sectors. The official minimum subsistence levels were 
149.5 lari ($88) for a single person and 265 lari ($151) for a family 
of four. Income from unreported trade activities, assistance from 
family and friends, and the sale of homegrown agricultural products 
often supplemented salaries. The Ministry of Labor, Health, and Social 
Affairs is responsible for enforcing the minimum wage. Minimum wage 
levels had not changed since 2005 (public sector) and the 1990s 
(private sector); the minimum wage was not enforced and was little 
known among the public.
    The labor code provides for a 41-hour workweek and for a weekly 24-
hour rest period unless otherwise provided by a labor contract. The PDO 
described inadequate attention to the rights of pregnant women as one 
of the major deficiencies of the labor code; it does not protect them 
from being dismissed from work while they are on maternity leave. 
According to the code, shifts must be at least 12 hours apart. Pregnant 
women, or women who have recently given birth, are prohibited from 
working overtime without their consent. Overtime is defined as work 
that exceeds the work hours addressed in the employment agreement. If 
the employment agreement does not specify business hours, then overtime 
is considered to be performance exceeding 41 work hours per week. Terms 
of overtime labor are defined by agreement between the parties. The 
employer, as a rule, is not obligated to remunerate for overtime work 
or to remunerate at an increased rate. The labor code also permits an 
employer to change the hours of work by 90 minutes without 
renegotiating the terms of any labor contact. NGOs contended that this 
provision would effectively require employees to work overtime without 
compensation, a violation of the constitutional prohibition against 
compulsory labor.
    Two explosions in mines in Tkibuli raised concerns about possible 
failures in adherence to safety standards. On March 3, four miners were 
killed and one injured; and on August 27, four miners were killed and 
six injured.
    The Government set occupational health and safety standards, but 
the PDO listed the failure to ensure safe conditions for workers as one 
of the major deficiencies of labor code implementation. The Ministry of 
Labor, Health, and Social Affairs monitors adherence to accepted labor 
standards and drafts proposals for changes as necessary. The 
parliamentary Committee on Health and Social Welfare has general 
oversight regarding labor policy and considers labor-related proposals 
submitted by the ministry.
    The Government body previously in charge of workplace monitoring, 
the State Department for Engineering Supervision, was abolished by the 
prime minister in 2009 due to alleged corruption, leaving no government 
organization in charge of this task. The Technical and Oversight 
Inspection Agency had inspection responsibility, but only for 
occupations codified as hazardous. The law permits higher wages for 
hazardous work and provides workers the right to remove themselves from 
situations that endanger health or safety without jeopardizing their 
continued employment. In practice employees rarely, if ever, took 
advantage of these protections due to fear of dismissal.

                               __________

                                GERMANY

    Germany is a constitutional, parliamentary, democracy with a 
population of approximately 82 million. Citizens choose their 
representatives periodically in free and fair multiparty elections. The 
head of the federal government, the chancellor, is elected by the 
Federal Parliament (Bundestag). The second legislative chamber, the 
Federal Council (Bundesrat), represents the 16 states at the federal 
level and is composed of members of the state governments. The 
constitution (Basic Law) sets forth the powers of the chancellor and 
the legislative branch. The most recent national elections for the 
parliament took place in 2009. Security forces reported to civilian 
authorities.
    The law provides fundamental rights for citizens; however, the 
Government limited the freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and 
association of neo-Nazi and other groups it deemed extremist. There was 
governmental and societal discrimination against some minority 
religious groups. There were instances of anti-Semitic attacks and 
vandalism; violence against women; trafficking in women, men, and 
children for sexual exploitation and forced labor; and right-wing 
extremist violence against and harassment of racial minorities, 
foreigners, and sexual minorities.
                        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 arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.
    In October the Nuremburg Higher Regional Court upheld on appeal 
lower-court findings that police officers acted in self defense in the 
2009 shooting death of Tennessee Eisenberg. On November 22, Eisenberg's 
family filed a complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court in 
Karlsruhe, which was pending at year's end. The shooting took place in 
Regensburg, Bavaria, where two police officers killed the 24-year-old 
man after he allegedly refused police demands to drop a knife. 
Eisenberg's corpse had 12 bullet wounds. Both the public prosecuting 
office and the Nuremburg higher district court had reached findings of 
self defense.
    The trial of former concentration camp guard John Demjanjuk 
continued during the year in the Munich Regional Court. Prosecutors 
accused Demjanjuk of being a guard at the Sobibor extermination camp in 
1943 in German-occupied Poland and charged him as an accessory to the 
killing of 29,000 persons. Medical officials deemed Demjanjuk fit for 
trial. Demjanjuk was deported from the United States in May 2009.

    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.
    As of year's end, the Muenster Regional Court had not initiated its 
review of the cases of three Bundeswehr staff sergeants charged with 
hazing subordinates at a training site in Coesfeld in 2004. The 
sergeants were acquitted by the regional court in 2008, but in October 
2009 the Federal Court of Justice reversed the decision and returned 
the case to the regional court for review.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards, and the 
Government permitted monitoring visits by independent human rights 
observers.
    On January 7, the Federal Court of Justice returned to the 
Magdeburg regional court for retrial the regional court's 2008 
acquittal of one of two police officers charged with causing the death 
of Oury Jalloh from Sierra Leone, who died in 2005 when his cell in a 
Dessau police station caught fire. The new trial, originally scheduled 
for October 25, was postponed due to the illness of the defendant. The 
2008 acquittal of a second police officer in the case was not appealed.
    According to the Federal Statistics Office, the country's prison 
population at the end of November was 69,385, including 3,755 women and 
10,781 pretrial detainees. Of the latter, 374 were juveniles (under 18 
years of age). The prison system had a capacity of 77,944 inmates.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and could 
engage in religious observance. Authorities permitted convicts and 
detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities without 
censorship. Authorities investigated credible allegations of inhumane 
conditions. The Government investigated and monitored prison and 
detention center conditions.
    The National Agency for the Prevention of Torture is the country's 
independent institution for preventing torture and other cruel, 
inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. Only institutions under 
federal jurisdiction, i.e., the Federal Police (Bundespolizei) and 
Federal German Defense Forces (Bundeswehr) fall under the mandate of 
this agency. It reports annually to the parliament and government. In 
the 12 months ending in April, the agency conducted four official 
inspections at Federal Police installations and two at Bundeswehr 
installations. These found no evidence of inhuman treatment of detained 
persons. In some cases, the agency proposed improvements, including the 
installation of fire detectors, improved daylight access, and the 
provision of equipment for a medical treatment room.
    Most institutions for the incarceration of detainees, including 
police stations, detention centers, and prisons, are the responsibility 
of the states (Laender). In November the federal authorities informed 
the UN high commissioner for the prevention of torture that a Joint 
Laender Commission had been established to inspect such facilities, 
including those operated by police, the judiciary, detention facilities 
in psychiatric clinics, persons held pending deportation, nursing 
homes, and youth-welfare establishments. The joint commission began its 
operations on September 24; it conducted two visits to inspect 
facilities during the year. It was too early to evaluate the 
effectiveness of the commission. Together, the National Agency for the 
Prevention of Torture and the Joint Laender Commission for the 
Prevention of Torture make up the national preventive mechanism 
required by under the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against 
Torture.
    A delegation of the Council of Europe's Committee for the 
Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment 
(CPT) visited the country from November 25 to December 7. It reviewed 
measures taken by authorities to address earlier CPT recommendations, 
in particular those concerning instituting fundamental safeguards 
against mistreatment of persons in police custody and improving 
conditions in the units in various prisons holding persons involved in 
immigration matters. The delegation also examined in detail the 
situation of persons subject to preventive detention 
(Sicherungsverwahrung) and juvenile offenders held in penitentiary 
establishments. For the first time, the delegation visited a women's 
prison. In one of the states visited, Berlin, the delegation collected 
information on the surgical castration of sexual offenders. No report 
by the delegation was available by year's end.
    There is no ombudsman for prisons or prisoner affairs.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution prohibits 
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed 
these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the police and the Federal Criminal 
Investigative Service, and the Government has effective mechanisms to 
investigate and punish abuse and corruption. There were no reports of 
impunity involving the security forces during the year.
    On July 8, Amnesty International (AI) released a report covering 
2004-08 that found investigations of police officers who killed, 
injured, or mistreated persons in custody to have been at times half-
hearted, partisan, and lacking in thoroughness. While AI found no 
evidence of sytematic, unlawful police violence, the organization 
called for the creation of an independent special commission for 
investigations of police officers. Hamburg already had such an 
institution.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Authorities 
may arrest an individual only on the basis of a warrant issued by a 
competent judicial authority unless police apprehend a suspect in the 
act of committing a crime or have strong reason to believe that the 
individual intends to commit a crime. The constitution provides that 
authorities must bring a person detained on suspicion of having 
committed a criminal offense before a judge no later than the day after 
his arrest. At that time, the judge must inform him of the reasons for 
the arrest and give him an opportunity to raise objections. The law 
entitles a detainee to prompt access to an attorney, either one of his 
choosing or, if he does not select one, one appointed by the court. 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. To 
continue holding a detainee, police must bring the detainee before a 
judge, and the court must charge the individual at the latest by the 
end of the day following the arrest. The court must then issue an 
arrest warrant stating the grounds for detention; otherwise, the court 
must order the individual's release. Authorities generally respected 
these rights in practice.
    Bail exists but is infrequently granted. Authorities usually 
released persons awaiting trial unless a court decided that there was a 
clear risk that they might flee. In such cases, authorities could hold 
detainees for the duration of the investigation and subsequent trial, 
subject to judicial review. Time spent in investigative custody applies 
towards any eventual sentence. If a court acquits a defendant who was 
incarcerated, the Government must compensate the defendant for 
financial losses as well as for ``moral prejudice'' due to the 
incarceration.
    The law does not allow courts to punish persons twice for the same 
crime; however, in cases involving rape, homicide, or manslaughter, a 
court may order an offender to spend additional time in ``subsequent 
preventive detention'' after he completes his sentence if it determines 
that the offender represents a continuing danger. Until 1998 
``subsequent preventive detention'' was limited to 10 years, but in 
that year, a new law removed the limit, permitting the imposition of 
subsequent preventive detention for an indefinite period. Legislation 
that took effect on January 1 limited this form of detention to serious 
crimes. The 1998 law has also been applied retroactively to some 
prisoners who were originally sentenced while the 10-year limit was 
still in place. In ruling on such a case, the European Court of Human 
Rights (ECHR) on May 11, reaffirmed on appeal its December 2009 
judgement that the Government must compensate a man whom it had held in 
``subsequent preventive detention'' since 1991, when he completed a 
five-year sentence for attempted murder and robbery. The ECHR held that 
the country's use of this form of detention violated the European 
Convention on Human Rights.
    On June 1, the ECHR ruled that the trial of Magnus Gaefgen on 
charges of kidnapping, and later killing, an 11-year-old boy in 
Frankfurt had been fair, and he had no justifiable claim of a human 
rights violation against the Justice Ministry or police. Gaefgen was 
found guilty but contended that he confessed only after the vice 
president of Hesse's police threatened to torture him. Gaefgen's case 
and the alleged torture threat were widely publicized, since the child 
he killed was the son of a well-known Frankfurt banker. The accused 
police officer eventually resigned over the incident. Gaefgen was 
serving a life sentence for the crime.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this 
provision in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair, public trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced 
this right. Juries are not used. Either one judge, a panel of 
professional judges, or a mixed panel of professional and lay judges 
try cases, depending on the severity of the charges. Defendants enjoy a 
presumption of innocence and have a right of appeal. The law requires 
defendants to be present at their trials. Defendants have the right to 
consult with an attorney. According to the law, before any 
interrogation begins, authorities must inform a suspect, arrested or 
not, of his or her right to consult an attorney before the interview. 
The Government provides an attorney at public expense if defendants 
demonstrate financial need. Defendants may confront and question 
witnesses against them and present witnesses and evidence on their 
behalf. Defendants and their attorneys have access to all court-held 
evidence relevant to their cases.
    For simple or less serious cases, procedures exist for an 
accelerated hearing and summary punishment at the local-court level. 
These procedures are limited to cases for which the maximum sentence is 
one year or less. Courts generally suspended one-year sentences and 
placed the convicted individuals on probation. Heavy caseloads at times 
delayed court proceedings.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Courts Decisions.--During the year three new 
suits were brought against the country in the ECHR. Also during the 
year, the ECHR issued decisions in earlier suits that found 19 
violations related to the length of court proceedings. In 2009 the ECHR 
issued judgments on 10 cases that included five violations regarding 
the length of court proceedings, one violation of the right to a fair 
trial, and one violation of the right to an effective remedy.
    On September 2, the court set a precedent by ruling in Rumpf v. 
Germany that the Government must introduce, at the latest within one 
year, an effective domestic remedy against excessively long court 
proceedings.
    There were no reports of failure of authorities to comply with ECHR 
court decisions.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--An independent and 
impartial judiciary in civil matters provides access to a court to 
bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, a human rights 
violation. Administrative remedies for alleged wrongs are available as 
well.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution prohibits such actions, and, in most 
respects, authorities respected these prohibitions in practice. 
However, members of organizations monitored by the Federal Office for 
the Protection of the Constitution (FOPC) and the various state offices 
for the protection of the constitution (OPCs) in the states charged 
that these agencies violated their privacy.
    The state OPCs in Hesse, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Lower Saxony, North 
Rhine-Westphalia, and Bavaria continued to keep the Left Party under 
observation. The State OPC in North Rhine-Westphalia publicly confirmed 
in November that it continued this practice, arguing that the party 
tolerated groups within its ranks that are extremist, and it did not 
sufficiently distance itself from left-wing extremist violence. In 
November 2009 the interior minister of Lower Saxony stated that the 
state OPC only monitored the Left Party and not individual Left Party 
members.
    In September 2009 the federal government confirmed that the FOPC 
collected information on all 53 members of the federal parliament from 
the Left Party. The Government asserted that the North Rhine-Westphalia 
Higher Administrative Court's February 2009 decision authorized 
surveillance of the party.
    On August 22, the president of the FOPC stated that continued 
observation of the Left Party was necessary because the party 
maintained contacts with communist organizations abroad and left-wing 
extremist groups in the country.
    In investigations of certain serious crimes, law enforcement 
officials may monitor the telecommunications of suspects, but only with 
court approval. In intelligence-related cases, such as suspected 
involvement in terrorism, the law permits intelligence services to 
engage in surveillance activities, for example, monitoring 
telecommunications, without court approval; however, an independent 
commission elected by a parliamentary control body has to approve such 
activities.
    On March 2, the Federal Constitional Court ruled that the law 
requiring the mass storage of telephone and Internet communications 
data (Vorratsdatenspeicherung) was unconstitutional because it violated 
telecommunications secrecy. The court called for all the information 
saved under the law to be deleted ``without delay.'' Although the court 
ruled that data storage is not in itself unconstitutional, the law was 
disproportionate and did not provide sufficient data protection 
measures. The companies that held the data in question subsequently 
announced that they had complied with the decision.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution provides for 
freedom of speech and of the press; while the Government generally 
respected these rights in practice, it imposed limits aimed at groups 
it deemed extremist. In November 2009 the Federal Constitutional Court 
limited free speech that specifically endorses neo-Nazi doctrines, 
claiming this was ``an exceptional circumstance.''
    Individuals could criticize the Government publicly or privately 
without reprisal, and an active independent media expressed a wide 
variety of views without government restriction. However, making or 
disseminating oral statements or propaganda inciting racial hatred, 
endorsing Nazism, or denying the Holocaust is prohibited. In August 
2009 the Federal Court of Justice ruled that persons can be prosecuted 
for displaying Nazi slogans only if the slogans are in the German 
language. The court argued that translations of Nazi slogans were not 
Nazi symbols, since Nazi slogans are inseparably connected with the use 
of the German language.
    During the year courts convicted persons for speech that denied the 
Holocaust or was deemed offensive to Jews (see section 6, Anti-
Semitism).
    On May 6, the municipal court of Amtsgericht, Saarbruecken, found 
Udo Pastoers, a member of the National Democratic Party of Germany 
(NPD), guilty of sedition. The court gave Pastoers a suspended, 10-
month sentence and fined him 6,000 euros ($7,980). According to the 
court, Pastoers ``went beyond the right of freedom of expression'' when 
he insulted persons of Turkish and Jewish descent in a February 2009 
speech. On October 19, Pastoers appealed to the regional court.
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views with few restrictions.
    On July 7, the Gera Administrative Court in Thuringia ruled that 
the mayor of Gera did not have the right to call for a demonstration 
against an NPD-organized neo-Nazi rock concert scheduled for July 10. 
The court ruled that the call for the demonstration violated the 
mayor's duty to be neutral. State parliament representatives from the 
Left Party criticized the decision, saying that there should not be any 
neutrality regarding Nazi ideology.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet; however, government agencies may monitor e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms in certain circumstances. Individuals and groups 
could engage in the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, 
including by e-mail. According to International Telecommunication Union 
statistics approximately 79 percent of the country's inhabitants used 
the Internet.
    Federal and state laws permitted the FOPC and state OPCs to monitor 
the private e-mails and chat room postings of individuals and groups 
under FOPC and OPC surveillance; an independent commission elected by a 
parliamentary control body was responsible for oversight of such 
activities. The law prohibits access to material such as child 
pornography and Nazi propaganda.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were few government 
restrictions on academic or cultural events; however, the law bans Nazi 
propaganda, material denying the Holocaust, and pornography.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The law provides for freedom of assembly, and the Government 
usually respected this right in practice. However, the Government 
prevented certain prohibited organizations, mainly right-wing extremist 
groups, from holding public assemblies.
    Permits must be obtained for open-air public rallies and marches, 
and state and local officials have authority to deny permits when 
public safety concerns arise or when the applicant is a prohibited 
organization. Denials were rare but did occur.
    Once a demonstration is officially registered, it is illegal to 
block it, even when it is organized by neo-Nazi groups. During the year 
the Saxony prosecuter successfully sought to have parliamentary 
immunity lifted from one of two Left Party leaders who participated in 
the February 13 blockade by anti-Nazi demonstrators of a neo-Nazi 
demonstration in Dresden. The outcome of the ensuing prosecution was 
pending at year's end.
    Police may detain known or suspected criminals, usually right- or 
left-wing extremists, for brief periods when they believe such 
individuals intend to participate in illegal or unauthorized 
demonstrations. The length of time varies from state to state and can 
range from one to 14 days.
    In April Bavaria amended its assembly law to meet the requirements 
of the Federal Constitutional Court, primarily with regard to the 
duties of organizers, police performance, and penalties. On June 1, the 
Bavarian state parliament amended the law on the right of assembly with 
the primary intention of controlling right-wing extremist 
demonstrations. The amendment was in response to a February 2009 ruling 
by the Federal Constitutional Court that the state's law was 
unconstitutional because it could be used inappropriately to restrict 
any type of public demonstration.
    In August the Schaumburg county administration in Lower Saxony 
prohibited both a neo-Nazi demonstration and a counter-demonstration by 
trade unions and left-wing groups scheduled for August 14, in Bad 
Nenndorf. The administration asserted that the demonstrations might 
result in violence, and it could not provide the required number of 
police to secure the marches. In reaction organizers of both 
demonstrations filed a suit. Initially, on August 12, the Hannover 
Administrative Court decided to permit the Nazi march but barred the 
counter demonstration, since the police could only handle one 
demonstration and the right-wing group had registered earliest. 
However, on August 13, after an appeal by the German Trade Unions 
Federation, the Lueneburg Higher Administrative Court permitted the 
left-wing demonstration as well.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
association, and the Government generally respected this right in 
practice. However, the law permits the prohibition of organizations 
whose activities have been judged illegal or opposed to the 
constitutional democratic order (see section 2.a.). While only the 
Federal Constitutional Court may prohibit political parties on these 
grounds, federal or state governments may prohibit or restrict other 
organizations, including groups that authorities classify as extremist 
or criminal in nature. Organizations have the right to appeal 
prohibition or restrictions.
    The FOPC and state OPCs responsible for examining possible threats 
to the constitutional democratic system monitored several hundred 
organizations. Monitoring generally consisted of collecting information 
from written materials and firsthand accounts; however, the FOPC and 
OPCs could also employ more intrusive methods, including the use of 
undercover agents, who were subject to legal checks. The FOPC and OPCs 
published lists of monitored organizations, including left-wing 
political parties. Although the law stipulates that OPC surveillance 
must not interfere with an organization's activities, representatives 
of monitored groups complained that the publication of the 
organizations' names contributed to prejudice against them. On June 10, 
the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court confirmed a 2009 
decision by the Berlin senator of the interior to ban the right-wing 
extremist group Frontbann 24, which had been active in Berlin since 
2008. The senator stated that the group was positioned against the 
constitutional order and had shown affinity to National Socialism. The 
police simultaneously raided apartments of the groups' members in 
Berlin.
    On September 1, the Leipzig Federal Court of Justice (as a court of 
last instance), rejected a revision and confirmed a ban on the Kiel-
based right-wing extremist group German Youth Faithful to the Homeland 
(HDJ), on the grounds that the organization was similar to the Nazi-era 
Hitler Youth and was directed against democracy and the country's 
constitution. The ban was imposed on HDJ in March 2009 by then federal 
interior minister Wolfgang Schaeuble for distributing racist and Nazi 
propaganda. Searches were carried out in Berlin, Brandenburg, Lower 
Saxony, and Saxony in an effort to confiscate the HDJ's assets.
    On December 21, police raided the homes of suspected neo-Nazis in 
five cities (Hohen Neuendorf in Brandenburg, Ludwigshafen and Bad 
Dirkheim in Rhineland-Palatinate, and Heidelberg in Baden-Wuerttemberg) 
in an effort to prevent the holding of a ``national year-end camp'' for 
children. The homes in question belonged to members of the IG Fahrt and 
Lager, the successor organization to the HDJ, an organization banned in 
2009 because the group ran camps modeled on those of the Hitler Youth, 
teaching children as young as six years old that foreigners and Jews 
were a threat to the nation. According to police, after the HDJ was 
banned, former members continued their work in the guise of the Young 
National Democrats, the NPD youth organization. The police seized 
right-wing extremist propaganda that members of the group allegedly 
planned to distribute to minors at the upcoming youth camp.
    On September 7, Rhineland Palatinate police forces searched offices 
and apartments of the neo-Nazi group Hilfsorganisation fuer nationale 
politische Gefangene (HNG). With approximately 600 members, the HNG is 
the country's largest neo-Nazi group. Police officers raided four 
apartments in Mainz, including the garden shop of Ursula Mueller, the 
chairperson and, along with her husband Curt Mueller, central figures 
of the HNG.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    The constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not 
employ it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. The 
constitution extends to foreigners persecuted on political grounds the 
right to apply for asylum in the country. The Asylum Procedure Act 
regulates the asylum procedure. The Residence Act also allows the 
granting of refugee status when the persecutors are not representatives 
of the state.
    As a rule an applicant for asylum has the right to appeal a denial 
within two weeks. Once an appeal is filed, authorities may not deport 
the applicant until and unless the court has completed its 
deliberations and upheld the denial. In that case the applicant is 
obliged to leave the country. An applicant who does not comply is 
subject to deportation.
    The Government processes the asylum applications of individuals it 
finds to have adjudicable asylum claims at an international airport 
prior to their entry into the country (individuals seeking to enter the 
country by land do so from countries already judged to be safe 
countries that bear responsibility for adjudicating their asylum 
claims). The same applies to applicants without passports or with 
invalid passports. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees must 
either make a decision on an asylum application within 48 hours or 
allow the person to enter the country. An applicant who is rejected has 
three days to appeal to an administrative court, which must rule within 
14 days or permit the individual to enter the country. Local 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) continued to criticize these 
periods of time as insufficient to allow applicants to prepare for 
hearings.
    Persons whose asylum claims are rejected may not enter the country 
but must remain in the airport reception center until their departure. 
A judicial order is required to continue to hold individuals beyond 30 
days of their arrival if authorities are unable to return them to their 
home countries within that period of time. The federal government 
claimed not to maintain statistics about detention in airport 
facilities.
    In May 2009 the human rights NGO Pro Asyl sharply criticized the 
Government's ``fast'' procedure, whereby a person can apply for asylum 
at the airport and the Federal Office for Migration makes a decision 
within two days. Based on its examination of 32 cases from 2006 and 
2007, the organization asserted that the minimum requirements for a 
fair procedure were not met, since the decision was made so rapidly. 
According to Pro Asyl's analysis, several decisions were incorrect and 
resulted in unjustified deportations. Pro Asyl also asserted that 
during the two days they were awaiting an asylum determination, asylum 
seekers were detained in the transit portion of the airport under 
``inhumane'' conditions.
    In the period 2004-09, 4,234 persons sought asylum upon their 
arrival at Frankfurt's international airport. The transit area of the 
Frankfurt airport, under the authority of the Federal Administration 
for Migration, has also been subject to criticism by human rights 
organizations, including AI in 2009 and during the year. According to 
Pro Asyl, authorities detained women with children, pregnant women, and 
children without parents in circumstances very similar to prison. 
According to the Hesse Ministry for Justice, some minors without 
parents remained more than 100 days in prison-like circumstances.
    According to the constitution, individuals who attempted to enter 
the country through a ``safe country of transit,'' i.e., a member state 
of the EU or a country adhering to the 1951 Convention relating to the 
Status of Refugees, were ineligible for asylum and could be turned back 
at the border or, if they had entered the country, be deported to that 
safe country of transit. Several NGOs questioned this regulation. 
During the year several courts in the country stopped planned 
deportations to Greece.
    On July 20, the Frankfurt administrative court ruled that the 
federal government had to allow an Iranian citizen to file his asylum 
application in the country, although he entered the country via another 
EU country. On September 8, the Federal Constitutional Court suspended, 
for similar reasons, the deportation of an Iraqi asylum seeker to 
another EU country, where he had originally filed a first asylum 
application.
    In practice the Government generally provided protection against 
the expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion. In December 2009 the Federal Ministry of Interior instructed 
the federal states to suspend the deportation of Syrians, who faced 
immediate deportation due to uncertainty about their treatment upon 
return to Syria.
    The Government processed refugee and asylum cases according to 
existing law; the approval rate was low. During the year authorities 
processed 48,187 asylum applications and granted 7,704 persons (16.0 
percent) refugee protection under the 1951 convention and its 1967 
protocol. In addition they granted 2,691 persons (5.6 percent) 
temporary suspension of expulsion due to the situation in their 
countries of origin or based on other humanitarian grounds. The country 
rejected 27,255 applications (56.5 percent) and ``resolved otherwise'' 
(for example, applications withdrawn or procedures closed) another 
10,537 (21.9 percent). All cases in which asylum was granted must be 
reviewed after three years to determine whether the grounds for asylum 
still apply.
    In December 2009 the interior ministers of the country's 16 federal 
states extended the residence permits of ``long-term'' asylum seekers 
for an additional two years for those who otherwise would have had to 
leave during the year. This ruling affected approximately 30,000 
rejected asylum seekers whom authorities could not return to their 
countries of origin. In order for these persons to remain in the 
country as residents, they are required to prove that they have ``made 
a concerted effort'' to find employment and can be expected to support 
themselves in the future. Some human rights organizations criticized 
the ministers' failure to grant the asylum seekers' residency outright.
    During the year there were more than 14,000 officially registered 
refugees from Kosovo, including approximately 10,000 Roma, living in 
the country. All of them were required by law to leave the country once 
the Government determined they would no longer face any risks of 
oppression upon return. In April 2009 the German and Kosovo Interior 
Ministries concluded an agreement that provides for the return of 
Kosovar refugees. The federal Interior Ministry pledged to repatriate a 
maximum of 2,500 persons per year to ensure that Kosovo was not 
overburdened by a sudden influx of returnees. During the year 918 
repatriation orders were issued, including 556 concerning Roma. Between 
January and April, 313 persons were deported, including 53 Roma. As an 
incentive the Government provided special support to those refugees who 
returned voluntarily to Kosovo.
    During the year human rights organizations questioned whether the 
agreement with Kosovo provided adequate safeguards for the refugees 
being repatriated there. In a report released in October, Human Rights 
Watch noted that Roma, Egyptians, and Ashkali deported from Western 
Europe to Kosovo faced numerous obstacles to enjoyment of their basic 
human rights, including lack of access to personal documents; 
statelessness; problems repossessing their property or obtaining 
housing; difficulties accessing education, health, employment, and 
social welfare; and separation from family members.

    Stateless Persons.--Citizenship is derived primarily by birth from 
one citizen parent. However, citizenship may also be granted to 
children based on their birth in the country, provided one parent has 
been living there for at least eight years or one parent has a 
permanent residence permit and has had that status for at least three 
years.
    According to UNHCR statistics, there were 8,226 stateless persons 
at the end of 2009. Data on the number of stateless persons who were 
also refugees was incomplete. The Government generally implemented laws 
and policies to provide stateless persons the opportunity to gain 
nationality on a nondiscriminatory basis. Citizenship may be acquired 
by naturalization by those with permanent residence who have lived in 
the country for eight years. However, refugees and stateless persons 
may apply after six years' residence. It can be difficult for an 
applicant to produce sufficient evidence or documentation for the 
establishment of statelessness status--the burden of proof is on the 
applicant. In general the country protected stateless persons from 
deportation to their country of origin or usual residence where they 
could be threatened with political persecution.
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 based on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In September 2009 the 
country held parliamentary elections that were considered free and 
fair. Political parties generally operated without restriction or 
outside interference unless they are deemed a threat to the federal 
constitution. Even when the federal authorities perceive such a threat, 
they have no authority to ban a party; they can only petition to the 
Federal Constitutional Court to do so.
    A total of thirty-one splinter parties were denied approval to 
participate in the 2009 federal parliamentary elections. The federal 
election supervisor based his decisions on formal mistakes made by the 
parties in the approval process and their allegedly inadequate 
``manifestations of the characteristics of a political party.'' A 
report on the parliamentary elections released in December 2009 by the 
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization 
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) criticized certain 
provisions of the law regarding the admission of new parties. The 
observers noted that the federal election committee, which decides on 
such admissions, is composed of those parties already represented in 
parliament, and this circumstance could lead to a conflict of interest. 
The report also noted that the law does not provide for judicial review 
of election administration decisions before Election Day, thus 
diminishing access of citizens to a timely remedy.
    The federal chancellor and five of the 16 cabinet members were 
women. There were 207 women in the 622-seat Federal Parliament (about 
32 percent). Four judges on the the 16-member Federal Constitutional 
Court were women.
    There were at least 16 members of ethnic minorities or members with 
an immigrant background in the parliament, one on the Federal 
Constitutional Court, and one in the cabinet. On April 27, the first 
state-level Muslim minister was appointed, in Lower Saxony.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government generally implemented these laws effectively. 
Nevertheless there continued to be reports of corruption. The 
construction sector and public contracting, where there were 
indications of inappropriate political party influence in the awarding 
of contracts, were areas of particular concern.
    Most state governments and local authorities have contact points 
for whistle-blowers and provisions for rotating personnel in areas 
prone to corruption. Government officials are forbidden to accept gifts 
linked to their jobs. There were serious penalties for bribing 
officials, for corrupt practices between companies, and for price-
fixing by companies competing for public contracts. Authorities have 
strengthened anticorruption provisions that apply to support extended 
by the official export credit agency and have tightened the rules for 
public tenders. Authorities have prosecuted domestic firms for paying 
bribes to foreign officials to secure contracts.
    Parliamentarians are subject to financial disclosure laws that 
require them to publish earnings from outside employment. State 
prosecutors generally are responsible for investigating corruption 
cases. In December 2009 the Council of Europe criticized the country's 
anticorruption efforts and recommended tightening the criminal code 
with regard to bribery of parliamentarians. In its October 26 report, 
Transparency International criticized the dearth of legal measures to 
prosecute corruption among parliamentarians. It also recommended a 
ceiling for donations to political parties.
    Federal law provides for public access to government information. 
Four federal states (Berlin, Brandenburg, Schleswig-Holstein, and North 
Rhine-Westphalia) also have freedom of information laws that provide an 
appeals process.
    A November 2009 report of the UN Group of Experts on the Democratic 
Republic of the Congo (DRC) presented information indicating that 
Cronimet Mining GmbH, which is based in Germany, directly or indirectly 
funded conflict and perpetrators of human rights abuses in the eastern 
DRC.
Section 5. 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 very cooperative and responsive to their views.
    There is no federal human rights ombudsman and no parliamentary 
committee with specific responsibilities for overseeing the country's 
human rights performance. The courts were the main resource for 
individuals seeking protection of individual human rights. Under the 
country's legal system, persons who believe that their rights have been 
violated are entitled to take their cases to court. In addition to the 
courts, the country has a wide range of governmental and 
nongovernmental bodies and organizations working to protect human 
rights. Petitions committees and commissioners for citizens' affairs 
provide individuals with contact points where they can lodge their 
complaints. Such points of contact are usually referred to as 
``ombudspersons.''
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution prohibits the denial of access to housing, health 
care, or education on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, religious 
affiliation, age, sexual orientation, disability, language, or social 
status, and the Government effectively enforced these provisions in 
practice.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape, including spousal rape, and 
provides penalties of up to 15 years in prison. The Government 
effectively enforced the law. According to national police criminal 
statistics, there were 7,314 cases of rape or serious sexual coercion 
in 2009. The federal government supported numerous projects in 
conjunction with the federal states and NGOs to deal with violence 
against women, both to prevent violence and to give victims greater 
access to medical care and legal assistance.
    The law prohibits violence against women, including spousal abuse; 
the law may temporarily deny perpetrators access to the household, put 
them under a restraining order, or in severe cases prosecute them for 
assault or rape and require them to pay damages. Penalties varied 
depending on the nature of the case. The law did not require a civil 
court decision for a temporary denial. The Government enforced the law; 
nevertheless, authorities believed that violence against women was 
widespread. Organizations that aid victims estimated that between 20 
and 25 percent of women have been victims of physical or sexual 
violence. There were about 360 women's shelters in the country with 
approximately 7,000 rooms for women and children. According to the 
Federal Ministry for Family, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth, 
approximately 400,000 women per year sought refuge from abusive 
situations. Many NGOs on the local level provided hotlines, assistance, 
advice, and shelter.
    Forced marriages are illegal and invalid and may be punished by up 
to five years' imprisonment. While there were no reliable statistics on 
the number of forced marriages, evidence indicated that the problem 
occurred more often in the immigrant Muslim community than in the 
general population. Forced marriages reportedly often led to violence. 
Victims included women and, in some cases, young men living in the 
country for whom the family brought a spouse from abroad. In addition 
some women were sent by their families to other countries to marry 
against their will.
    Honor killings were also reported. On September 20, the the Federal 
Court of Justice approved the life imprisonment of a 47-year-old father 
who killed his daughter in Schweinfurt, Bavaria, stabbing her 68 times.
    Sexual harassment of women was a recognized problem. The law 
prohibits sexual harassment and requires employers to protect employees 
from sexual harassment. A variety of disciplinary measures against 
offenders are available, including dismissal. The law considers an 
employer's failure to take measures to protect employees from sexual 
harassment to be a breach of contract, and an affected employee has the 
right to paid leave until the employer rectifies the problem. There 
were press reports of sexual harassment in the workplace and in public 
facilities, but no statistics were available. Unions, churches, 
government agencies, and NGOs operated a variety of support programs 
for women who experienced sexual harassment and sponsored seminars and 
training to prevent it. No reliable data on the extent of this problem 
was available.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children and to 
have the information and means to do so free from discrimination, 
coercion, and violence. There was easy access to contraception, skilled 
attendance during childbirth, and women and men were diagnosed and 
treated equally for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. 
According to data compiled by international organizations, there were 
approximately seven maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2008.
    Men and women enjoy equal rights under the constitution. The 
Federal Ministry for Family, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth was the 
primary federal agency responsible for protecting women's rights. The 
law provides for equal pay for equal work. Employers generally did not 
pay women less that men for equivalent work, although women were 
underrepresented in well-paid managerial positions and overrepresented 
in some lower-wage occupations. According to current information from 
the Federal Ministry for Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, 
women earn an estimated 23 percent less than men for the same work. 
This is largely because more women in the country tended to be part-
time workers.

    Children.--In most cases, citizenship is derived by birth from 
one's parents. Citizenship may also be granted to children born in the 
country provided one parent was resident for at least eight years or 
one parent has a permanent residence permit and has had that status for 
at least three years. Dual nationality is not recognized; and, upon 
reaching the age of 23, a dual national must choose one citizenship or 
the other. Civil registration offices record births.
    The law criminalizes rape and provides penalties of up to 15 years 
in prison. Consensual sex is legal from the age of 14 in most cases. An 
exception is if the older partner is over 18 years old and is 
``exploiting a coercive situation'' or offering compensation, in which 
case the younger partner must be over 16 years old. In addition it is 
illegal for someone older than 21 years old to have sex with someone 
under 16 years old if the older person ``exploits the victim's lack of 
capacity for sexual self-determination.'' According to one estimate, 3 
to 11 percent of all prostitutes were 16 years old or younger.
    Under the law, possession of child pornography is a criminal 
offense. A child is defined as a person younger than 14 years of age. 
According to the law, the mere possession of, or attempt to acquire, 
any material reflecting a true or realistic incident of child 
pornography is punishable by a prison sentence of three months to five 
years. The country's legal system also applies extraterritorial 
jurisdiction, so that any act of child pornography is prosecuted 
domestically, according to domestic law, even if it was committed 
elsewhere.
    According to the Federal Criminal Office (FCO), in 2009 there were 
11,319 reported incidents of sexual abuse of children up to 14 years of 
age compared with 12,052 incidents in 2008. Between 2008 and 2009, the 
number of cases involving the distribution of child pornography 
(photographs and videos) declined to 11,597, a decrease of 36.5 
percent. The number of reported cases of ownership and procurement of 
child pornography declined by 43.0 percent, from 6,707 cases in 2008 to 
3,823 in 2009.
    In March the community of Schiffweiler voted their mayor, Wolfgang 
Stengel, out of office after a Saarbruecken court found him guilty of 
procuring and possessing child pornography and fined him 7,500 euros 
($9,975).
    On May 28, the Karlsruhe regional court gave Joerg Tauss, the 
former secretary-general of Baden-Wuerttemberg's Social Democratic 
Party (SPD) and a member of the federal parliament, a 15 month 
suspended sentence for possessing child pornography. On August 31, the 
Federal Court of Justice rejected an appeal by Tauss as unfounded. When 
authorities first accused him in March 2009, Tauss left the SPD 
parliamentary caucus under pressure. The federal parliament lifted his 
immunity the following September, and the Karlsruhe prosecutor's office 
then filed formal charges.
    The Coalition for Street Children estimated there were as many as 
11,000 street children in the country. Authorities believed that these 
children were often subjected to violence and abuse and were frequently 
fleeing violent and abusive homes. Street children often turned to 
prostitution for income.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.htmt as well as 
country-specific information at http://travel.state.gov/adbudction/
country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish population was estimated to be more than 
200,000 persons in 2009. The 2009 FOPC report listed a total of 1,502 
right-wing, politically motivated crimes with extremist and anti-
Semitic background in 2009 compared with 1,477 in 2008 (an increase of 
1.7 percent). Federal authorities generally took action against the 
perpetrators of anti-Semitic offenses.
    While most anti-Semitic acts were attributed to neo-Nazi or other 
right-wing extremist groups or persons, a number of high-profile anti-
Semitic incidents indicated that Muslim youths were increasingly 
involved in attacks on, and harassment of, Jews. Annual statistics were 
not available; however, among the violent anti-Semitic attacks that 
occurred during the year were the following:
    On January 23, two teenage (ages 15 and 16) right-wing extremists 
committed an arson attack against the House of Democracy in Zossen, 
Brandenburg, which was hosting an exhibition on Jewish life in the 
city. Proceedings against them were ultimately dismissed on the grounds 
that they were too young to understand the gravity of their crimes. The 
24-year-old head of one of the largest right-wing extremist groups in 
Brandenburg, Freie Kraefte Teltow Flaeming, also stood trial at the 
Zossen local court, for instigating the arson attack. He confessed to 
doing so, as well as to other offenses, including the use of Nazi 
symbols and incitement of hatred. Authorities suspected his group of 
involvement in an earlier attack on the House of Democracy in 2009. No 
information was available by year's end as to the outcome of his trial.
    On March 26, a man verbally attacked two 10-year-old girls at a 
local train station in Berlin-Wannsee using anti-Semitic remarks. When 
a bystander intervened to assist the girls, the attacker grabbed a beer 
bottle and threatened the girls and the bystander. Police were called, 
and the perpetrator was charged with incitement of racial hatred. The 
case was pending at year's end.
    On March 27, a man and two women were beaten on a subway station 
platform in Berlin. The three were approached by a man who asked if 
they were Jewish. He reportedly returned with a group of youths who 
attacked the three, beating and kicking them and hitting them over the 
head with beer bottles.
    On April 16, a neo-Nazi physically attacked a 17-year-old Israeli 
in Laucha, Saxony-Anhalt. The Israeli was only slighly injured and was 
able to escape with the help of a passerby. The offender, a 20-year-old 
neo-Nazi, was sentenced to eight months in prison and a 360 euro ($479) 
fine by the Naumburg regional court on August 31.
    On June 19, a group of children and teenagers threw stones at 
members of a Jewish dance troupe and used a bullhorn to scream anti-
Semitic remarks at them, forcing them off stage during a neighborhood 
street festival in Hanover, Lower Saxony. One of the dancers was 
injured, and the dance group subsequently ended their performance. The 
assailants were reportedly of Lebanese, Palestinian, Iraqi, Iranian, 
and Turkish origin. Politicians and local associations responded in 
outrage and disbelief to the incident. The police identified nine 
suspects shortly after the incident.
    On June 27, neo-Nazis attacked a 23-year-old man in Berlin-
Oberschoeneweide and injured him seriously. On October 13, the state 
police searched four apartments in Berlin Marzahn-Hellersdorf and 
Pankow and arrested four young men suspected of having committed the 
attack. The police found clothing they wore during the attack and neo-
Nazi CDs. Arrest warrants were issued for the two suspects.
    On October 13, a group of juveniles insulted three Jewish teenagers 
using anti-Semitic slogans on a public bus in Cologne-Pesch (North 
Rhine-Westphalia). When the Jewish teenagers left the bus, they were 
spit on and kicked. Police were investigating four suspects, ages 11 to 
15.
    The most widespread anti-Semitic acts were the desecration of 
Jewish cemeteries or other monuments with graffiti that included the 
use of swastikas. Incidents during the year included the following:
    On May 2, unknown persons damaged a majority of the gravestones at 
a Jewish cemetery in Gangelt, North Rhine-Westphalia.
    On June 15, unknown persons spray-painted five gravestones and a 
wall at a Jewish cemetery in Babenhausen, Hesse, with swastikas.
    On August 29, unknown persons set fire to the door of the funeral 
hall of the Jewish cemetery in Dresden. Firefighters were able to 
extinguish the fire. The police had no suspects but did not rule out 
neo-Nazi involvement.
    On November 19, vandals damaged the historic Jewish cemetery in 
Wattenscheid (North Rhine-Westphalia). More than 25 gravestones were 
pulled down and smeared with paint, swastikas, other Nazi symbols, and 
Anti-Jewish slogans. The vandals also painted swastikas on a 
commemorative plaque of the former synagogue and on a glass stele 
commemorating the Shoa victims in other parts of the city. A police 
investigation was underway.
    Other Jewish properties were also subject to anti-Semitic vandalism 
during the year:
    On the night of May 16, unknown persons doused a synagogue in Worms 
with flammable liquid and set it on fire, leaving a blackened exterior 
but no major damage. Forensics experts later identified eight sources 
of fire at the crime scene. The perpetrators also threw a Molotov 
cocktail through the window of the synagogue's library. Police found 
eight copies of a note that stated, ``As long as you do not give the 
Palestinians peace, we are not going to give you peace.'' Rhineland-
Palatinate's Minister-President Kurt Beck condemned the attack.
    On July 28, visitors to the Web site of the Buchenwald/Mittelbau-
Dora Concentration Camp Memorial foundation were redirected to a Web 
site denying the Holocaust. Another foundation Web site was deleted. 
According to the foundation, the attackers left behind messages such as 
``brown is beautiful'' and ``We will be back.'' The Federal Office of 
Criminal Investigation began an investigation that continued at year's 
end.
    On August 29, there was an arson attack against the funeral hall of 
the Jewish cemetery in Dresden- Johannstadt (Saxony). The unknown 
perpetrators also set fire to the entrance door. An investigation was 
pending.
    On October 30, unknown perpetrators attacked the new synagogue in 
Mainz (Rhineland-Palatinate). The perpetrator threw a Molotov cocktail 
at the synagogue, but missed the building. There were no injuries and 
no damages. An investigation was pending at year's end. The synagogue 
had been inaugurated on September 3 with a ceremony that included 
numerous high-level figures, including President Christian Wulff, 
Cardinal Lehman of Mainz, and Rhineland-Palatinate Minister-President 
Beck.
    On December 7, unknown perpetrators defaced a memorial for the 
former Jewish synagogue in Magdeburg (Saxony- Anhalt) and the wall of 
the Israeli cemetery with Nazi slogans and symbols. The memorial for 
the synagogue had been subjected to a similar attack on November 14. A 
police investigation was pending at year's end.
    During the year courts convicted persons for speech that denied the 
Holocaust or was deemed offensive to Jews (see section 2.a.). On April 
16, a court in Regensburg, Bavaria, upheld a lower court's conviction 
of Richard Williamson, a bishop of the Saint Pius X Fraternity, for 
inciting racial hatred after he denied the Holocaust during a 2008 
interview with Swedish television while he was in Germany. The court 
reduced his earlier fine of 12,000 euros ($16,080) to 10,000 euros 
($13,400).
    On November 3, it was reported that police arrested 22 persons 
suspected of spreading neo-Nazi ideology in a major action against the 
far-right Internet radio station Widerstand-Radio (Resistance Radio). 
In an operation involving 270 officers, police raided 22 premises 
across 10 of the country's 16 states, confiscating numerous computers 
and telephones.
    During the year the prosecutor general in Gera, Thuringia, opened 
investigations against Karl-Heinz Hoffmann (founder of the 
Wehrsportgruppe Hoffman, which was banned in 1980) and five neo-Nazis 
in Thuringia suspected of having illegally procured explosives. On 
October 6, police searched Hoffmann's apartment and two other locations 
in Nuremberg (as well as 16 sites in Thuringia, Saxony, and Bavaria) 
and confiscated computers and other material. According to victims' 
advocacy groups, crimes committed by far-right extremists in Thuringia 
almost doubled over the five years ending in 2009. The advocacy groups 
contended that authorities appeared prepared to look the other way.
    In August 2009 then interior minister Thomas Schaeuble appointed a 
group of experts on anti-Semitism to provide a regular report on anti-
Semitism in the country, to coordinate government activities to combat 
anti-Semitism, and to submit an action plan to combat the problem. The 
group's report had not been released at year's end.
    On August 18, the city, the church, and most local social 
associations, including sports clubs, of Laucha (Saxony-Anhalt) 
countered a neo-Nazi demonstration held on the same day by organizing 
``a day of humanity.'' More than 100 persons, among them Saxony-
Anhalt's Interior Minister Holger Hovelmann (SPD), attended discussions 
and music performances in the church of Laucha. The neo-Nazi 
demonstration was held to protest the dismissal of the coach of the 
town's youth soccer team, Lutz Battke, a member of the town council and 
the NPD. Concern about the influence of Battke's views on the children 
he coached increased with the attack on an Israeli by a man who had 
trained with Battke for many years (see above).

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution prohibits 
discrimination against persons with physical, or mental disabilities in 
employment, education, access to health care, and the provision of 
other federal state services, and the Government effectively enforced 
these provisions. The relevant law, enacted in 2006, makes no specific 
mention of persons with sensory or intellectual disabilities but these 
are believed to be subsumed under the other headings. However, the 
federal states of Bavaria, Baden-Wuerttemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, 
and Saxony limited the number of children with disabilities attending 
secondary schools. For example, in Baden-Wuerttemberg 54,200 students 
with disabilities were required to go to special schools, which often 
prevented them from attending secondary school. During the year only 
15.7 percent of children with disabilities attended regular schools 
together with children without disabilities. While special schools are 
often better equipped to take special care of students with 
disabilities, critics argued that such separation prevented the full 
integration of children with disabilities into the professional world 
and society as a whole.
    The number of schools and day care facilities that accommodated 
both children with disabilities and children without disabilities 
increased from 7,789 in 1998 to 14,143 in 2008, while the number of day 
care centers and schools exclusively for children with disabilities 
decreased from 691 in 1998 to 378 by mid-2008.
    In July 2009 the Government released a report on the status of 
persons with disabilities which indicated that unemployment among 
persons with disabilities decreased by more than 14 percent between 
2005 and 2008. The proportion of employees with disabilities in the 
workforce increased from 7.3 percent in 2005 to 8.5 percent in 2006. In 
2007-08, 72 percent of all juveniles with disabilities, who were 
eligible to do so, started professional training.
    The Government promoted the employment of handicapped persons 
through a number of measures. For example, employers with a mimum of 20 
employees must hire persons with disabilities to fill at least 5 
percent of all positions, facing a fine if they do not comply.
    The federal government has developed guidelines for barrier-free 
public buildings and for modifying streets and pedestrian zones to 
accommodate persons with disabilities. All 16 federal states have 
incorporated these guidelines into their building codes. Almost all 
federal buildings (98 percent) complied with the guidelines for a 
barrier-free environment. The federal government provided payments of 
518.2 million euros ($689 million) per year through 2019 to the states 
to support barrier-free buildings. Efforts were continuing to improve 
further barrier-free access in public transportation.
    By law the federal government is required to provide barrier-free 
access to communications, especially in the field of administrative 
Internet sites and official forms and notifications.
    In 2008 there were eight violent right-wing extremist crimes 
against persons with disabilities; there were 45 such crimes between 
2001-08.
    Under the law, the federal commissioner for matters relating to 
persons with disabilities is the principal government contact in all 
matters related to persons with disabilities and has specific 
responsibility for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. 
The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs; the Ministry of Family, 
Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth; and the Ministry of Transport, 
Building, and Urban Affairs also have responsibility for addressing the 
needs of persons with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Beatings and harassment of 
foreigners and members of racial minorities remained a problem 
throughout the country.
    The FCO defined ``politically motivated crimes'' as offenses 
related to the victims' ideology, nationality, ethnicity, race, skin 
color, religion, world view, ancestry, sexual orientation, disability 
status, appearance, or social status. The FOPC report listed 156 right-
wing extremist organizations and groups. Authorities estimated that, as 
of the end of 2008, there were approximately 30,000 persons who either 
belonged to one or more of these groups or were right-wing extremists 
without an organizational affiliation.
    The FOPC report for 2009 recorded 18,750 right-wing ``politically 
motivated crimes'' by extremists (a decrease of 5.8 percent compared 
with 19,894 in 2008). These included 891 violent crimes (a decrease of 
14.5 percent compared with 1,042 in 2008). Of these crimes, 351 were 
xenophobic acts and 31 were anti-Semitic. The Federal Criminal 
Investigation Office defines politically motivated crimes as offenses 
related to the victims' ideology, nationality, ethnicity, race, skin 
color, religion, worldview, ancestry, sexual orientation, disability 
status, parents, or social status. The 2009 FOPC report included 4,734 
left-wing politically motivated crimes, 707 committed by foreigners, 
and 761 other types. The report listed 195 right-wing extremist 
organizations and groups (156 in 2008). Authorities estimated 
membership in these groups, plus right-wing extremists who remained 
unorganized, to be approximately 26,600 (30,000 in 2008). For example:
    On February 29, three neo-Nazis attacked a foreigner in Frankfurt. 
The police arrested three suspects that belong to the right-wing group 
Freie-Kreefte Schwalm-Eder, a neo-Nazi group in the north of Hesse.
    On August 7, a man from Niger was brutally beaten and kicked by two 
drunken persons in a pub in Weissenfels, Saxony Anhalt. The victim was 
treated in a hospital and released. Police suspected xenophobic 
motivations for the attack as both the victim and a woman who wanted to 
help were verbally attacked with racist remarks. A police investigation 
was pending at year's end.
    On December 9, the Islamic Cultural Center of Iranians in Berlin-
Brandenburg, located in Berlin-Tempelhof, was subject to an arson 
attack. The center's facade was damaged, but no one was injured. Berlin 
police have created a special working group to investigate a series of 
attempted arson attacks against six Muslim religious institutions, most 
of whose worshippers were immigrants or offspring of immigrants, during 
the year.
    To address right-wing extremism, authorities conducted a variety of 
educational programs to promote tolerance, many focusing on anti-
Semitism and xenophobia. The Federal Ministry of Family, Senior 
Citizens, Women, and Youth implemented three complementary federal 
programs to combat right-wing extremism: Diversity is Good, a 19-
million-euro ($25.3 million) per year program designed to train youth, 
educators, and immigrants about right-wing extremism, anti-Semitism, 
and xenophobia; Competent for Democracy, a five-million-euro ($6.7 
million) per year network to provide counseling in conflict situations; 
and Places of Diversity, a network of organizations, including 
political parties, media outlets, churches, and businesses to promote 
tolerance and democracy.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Many lesbian, gay, bisexual, 
and transvestite (LGBT) rights groups reported no impediments to their 
operation or free association. During the year several gay pride 
marches occurred around the country without hindrance. However, the 
Government reported 164 crimes motivated by a bias against sexual 
orientation, of which 45 were violent crimes, in 2009 in the OSCE's 
report, Hate Crimes in the OSCE Region, and media and other reports 
indicated that societal and job-related discrimination against LGBT 
persons occurred but was rare.
    According to a study by the Berlin antiviolence project MANEO, more 
than 35 percent of LGBT persons surveyed nationwide experienced some 
form of violence between April 2008 and April 2009 because of their 
sexual orientation. The survey indicated that only approximately 11.9 
percent of cases were registered with the police.
    The number of reported attacks against LGBT persons in Berlin 
decreased during the year to 80, compared with 98 in 2009, although the 
number of violent attacks increased from 33 to 35. Police assumed, and 
other evidence indicated that many other cases went unreported. The 
Berlin antiviolence project MANEO maintained an emergency hotline for 
victims, which was used by 186 persons in 2008 and by 225 persons in 
2009.
    On June 27, a group of four young men committed separate attacks 
against four LGBT persons in a park in Berlin-Friedrichshain. The four 
LGBT persons were asked whether they were gay, and before they could 
answer, they were slapped and kicked. All victims were slightly 
injured, but none required hospital treatment. A police investigation 
was initiated.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There was 
discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS. The Government worked 
with NGOs, religious groups, and businesses to educate the public about 
HIV/AIDS and its prevention.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The constitution provides for the 
right of employees to form and join unions of their choice without 
excessive requirements or previous authorization. During the year 
approximately 21 percent of the workforce was unionized. The 
overwhelming majority of organized workers belonged to eight unions 
largely grouped by industry or service sector and affiliated with the 
German Trade Union Federation, the country's main trade union umbrella 
organization. The constitution permits unions to conduct their 
activities without interference, and the Government generally respected 
this right in practice.
    The constitution provides for the right to strike for all workers 
except civil servants (including teachers) and staff in sensitive or 
essential positions, such as members of the armed forces. Workers not 
allowed to strike had legal recourse through the courts to protect 
their rights. The law prohibits retaliation against strikers, and the 
Government generally enforced this law.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The 
constitution protects the right to collective bargaining, and 
agreements are governed by law. The Government generally respected this 
right in practice. Collective bargaining agreements covered 
approximately 65 percent of the labor force in the western part of the 
country and approximately 51 percent in the east. Collective agreements 
are only binding for trade union members and their respective employer 
associations; however, many employers of nonunion labor also made use 
of the agreements to determine part or all employment conditions of 
their employees. Collective bargaining agreements negotiated with 
public service employees are usually extended to civil servants via 
legislation, although such extensions did not always include all of the 
provisions of those agreements.
    Antiunion discrimination and other forms of employer interference 
in union functions are prohibited by law and were not widespread. 
However, the International Trade Union Confederation reported that 
discriminatory tactics of some employers included targeted dismissals, 
demotions, transfers, and discrimination in recruitment.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The constitution and 
federal statutes prohibit forced or compulsory labor, including by 
children; however, there were reports that forced labor occurred. Also 
see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/g/tip

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Comprehensive legislation protects children from exploitation in the 
workplace, and the Government enforced these laws.
    The law prohibits the employment of children younger than 15 with a 
few exceptions: children 13 or 14 years of age may do farmwork for up 
to three hours per day or deliver newspapers for up to two hours per 
day, and children three to 14 years of age may take part in cultural 
performances under strict limits on the kinds of activity, number of 
hours, and times of the day. Exploitative child labor was not a serious 
problem, although violations did occur mainly in small, often family-
owned businesses such as bars, restaurants, and grocery stores.
    The Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs enforced the law 
effectively through its Factory Inspection Bureau.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The country does not have a 
statutory minimum wage; however, binding minimum wages have been 
established in 16 sectors of the economy, including construction, 
electrical trades, painting, postal service, waste management, large-
scale laundries, and special mining services. In August new national 
minimum wages for some 800,000 nursing care workers came into force. 
The regulation applies to all employees regardless of the country of 
origin of their employers. The minimum wages in the various sectors 
generally provided an adequate livelihood for a worker and his family. 
Minimum wage rates set by collective bargaining agreements are 
enforceable by law and covered an estimated 60 percent of all wage 
earners. Individual contracts or company-level contracts negotiated by 
worker representatives who were not necessarily members of unions 
covered the remaining 40 percent of the workforce.
    The law provides for equal treatment of foreign workers, who 
generally worked in conditions equal to those of citizens; however, 
such workers faced some wage discrimination. For example, some schools 
paid foreign teachers less than their citizen counterparts. Employers 
also often paid lower wages to seasonal workers from Eastern Europe who 
came to the country on temporary work permits. At times employers paid 
workers from other EU countries the same wages they would receive in 
their home country, even if the corresponding citizen worker would 
receive a higher wage.
    Federal regulations limit the workweek to 48 hours, but collective 
bargaining agreements may stipulate lower maximums. Contracts that 
directly or indirectly affected 80 percent of the working population 
regulated the number of hours of work per week. According to the 
European Labor Force Survey, the average full-time employee's workweek 
was 39.8 hours for women and 41.0 hours for men in 2009; rest periods 
for lunch were accepted practices. Provisions for overtime, holiday, 
and weekend pay varied depending upon the applicable collective 
bargaining agreement.
    An extensive set of laws and regulations governs occupational 
safety and health. In practice a comprehensive system of worker 
insurance carriers enforced safety requirements in the workplace. The 
Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and its counterparts in 
the federal states effectively enforced occupational safety and health 
standards through a network of government bodies, including the Federal 
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. At the local level, 
professional and trade associations--self-governing public corporations 
with delegates representing both employers and unions--oversee worker 
safety. The law provides for the right to refuse to perform dangerous 
or unhealthy work without jeopardy to continued employment.

                               __________

                                 GREECE

    Greece is a constitutional republic and multiparty parliamentary 
democracy with an estimated population of 11 million. In October 2009 
the Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) won a 10-seat majority in 
the unicameral Vouli (parliament) in elections regarded as free and 
fair, and George Papandreou became prime minister. Security forces 
reported to civilian authorities.
    Human rights problems reported during the year included: alleged 
abuse by security forces, particularly of undocumented immigrants; 
overcrowding and harsh conditions in some prisons; detention of 
undocumented migrants in squalid and overcrowded conditions; some legal 
restrictions on freedom of speech; restrictions on religious freedom; 
detention and deportation of unaccompanied or separated immigrant 
minors, including asylum seekers; inadequate reception capacity or 
legal aid for asylum seekers and refugees; domestic violence; 
trafficking in persons; discrimination against Roma and exploitation of 
Romani children; limits on the freedom of some ethnic minority groups 
to self-identify; and discrimination against and social exclusion of 
ethnic minorities, along with incidents of anti-Semitism.
    Parliament passed legislation early in the year that permits legal 
immigrants to vote in municipal elections; a relatively small 
percentage of legal immigrants took advantage of the legislation and 
voted in the November local 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 
reports that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.
    Amnesty International alleged that in April 2009, in the port of 
Igoumenitsa (western Greece), a coast guard officer severely beat a 
Kurdish Iraqi migrant, who died four months later because of his 
injuries. An investigation was ongoing at year's end.
    Amnesty International asserted that in October 2009 a Pakistani 
migrant died 14 days after being subjected to torture during his arrest 
and detention in a police station in Piraeus (port city adjoining 
Athens). The police opened a criminal investigation, which was ongoing.
    In October a Fokida (central Greece) court announced its decision 
in the trial of two police officers charged with intentional homicide 
and complicity in homicide in the 2008 killing of 15-year-old 
Alexandros Grigoropoulos in Athens. The killing had set off weeks of 
riots and demonstrations by youths and self-styled anarchists in cities 
across the country. The court sentenced one officer to life 
imprisonment and his partner to ten years in prison; both appealed the 
ruling, arguing they received an unfair trial, but the appeal date has 
not been set.
    In June an unnamed group claimed responsibility for killing a 52-
year-old police officer in a bomb attack against the Ministry of 
Citizen Protection. An investigation was ongoing at year's end.
    On May 8, a group of protestors who opposed the country's economic 
reform program firebombed a bank in central Athens and reportedly 
prevented occupants from leaving the building, resulting in the death 
of three persons--including one pregnant woman--trapped inside. A 
criminal investigation of the killings was ongoing, but there were no 
arrests by year's end.
    No minefield-related deaths were reported during the year. On 
February 4, the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights 
published a report stating that since 1995, mines had killed at least 
108 persons and severely injured 187 others attempting to cross the 
border through marked minefields in the Evros area along the Greek-
Turkish border.

    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 provides safeguards 
for criminal suspects and undocumented immigrants in detention. 
However, during the year several international organizations and 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported abuse by police personnel 
and the coast guard, particularly of undocumented immigrants, asylum 
seekers, and Roma.
    In October 2009 police guards reportedly severely beat several 
asylum seekers and immigrants, including a 17-year-old Palestinian, who 
were protesting detention conditions and length of detention in the 
Paghani (Lesvos) detention center. During the investigation, some 
witnesses reported intimidation by the police.
    In January witnesses alleged that a coast guard officer struck an 
immigrant with a club and severely injured his finger.
    On May 9, according to Amnesty International, local NGOs, and the 
media, a group of vigilantes that included members of the far-right 
group Golden Dawn attempted to storm an abandoned courthouse in the 
center of Athens occupied by illegal immigrants. Human rights activists 
were injured in the ensuing fighting.
    NGOs working to support immigrants' rights accused the police of 
physical and verbal abuse as well as the destruction of personal 
property and documents during sweeps and identity checks. The deputy 
ombudsman for human rights stated that police continued to conduct 
identity checks and body and vehicle searches based on racial 
profiling, targeting specific neighborhoods where immigrants were known 
to reside.
    In November the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of 
Torture (CPT) released a report on its September 2009 visit to the 
country's prisons and detention centers noting numerous complaints from 
detained suspected criminals of alleged police abuse, such as kicks, 
punches, and blows with batons, mainly during questioning by the police 
but also during apprehension. Many inmates complained about the lack of 
food and water, as well as bathroom facilities, during the transfer 
between prisons. The report also stated that several illegal immigrants 
complained about the physical force used by the police during 
deportations. The report noted that effective access to a lawyer or 
doctor was not consistently provided to detainees and stated that 
``insufficient effort has been made to date to effectively investigate, 
prosecute, and punish perpetrators of ill treatment.'' In particular, 
the report emphasized that the Government continued to lack systematic 
approaches to preventing abuses, such as an ``adequately resourced 
police inspectorate'' or a ``credible, independent and effective police 
complaints mechanism.'' On the other hand, the report noted the CPT 
delegation ``did not receive allegations of deliberate physical 
mistreatment of prisoners by prison staff.''
    In contrast with years past, while Romani representatives 
complained about the lack of response by the police officers to assist 
in domestic disputes, they did not report any violence perpetrated by 
police officers during the year.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Conditions in prisons and 
detention facilities did not meet international standards. According to 
the CPT's November 17 report, ``the provisions in the 1999 Prison Law, 
setting down the standards of accommodation and the norms for a safe 
environment, including health and hygiene, to be provided to each 
prisoner, were still not complied with,'' and the measures undertaken 
to improve conditions of detention were limited in scope and not 
proactive.
    In his annual report in May, the deputy ombudsman for human rights 
noted that the situation in prisons had become ``explosive'' and that 
problems of the prison system, mainly caused by overcrowding, were 
chronic, The ombudsman noted, as an example, the conditions at the 
Ioannina prison (northwestern Greece), which he described as ``inhuman 
and degrading.'' Due to the lack of space, the inmates did not have 
adequate hygienic facilities and were either isolated or slept in bunk 
beds in the hallways. The UN special rapporteur echoed the observations 
in October and stated that some prisons he visited were severely 
overcrowded, with inadequate ventilation and ``despicable'' sanitary 
conditions.
    The Ministry of Justice reported that as of June, the total prison 
population was 11,674 (an increase of 310 from June 2009), while the 
official capacity of the prison system was 9,103.
    Poor prison conditions led to multiple prison protests during the 
year at the Korydallos (Piraeus) prison hospital and at the Trikala 
(Thessaly region) and Diavata (Thessaloniki) prisons.
    The deputy ombudsman for human rights, NGOs, and media reported 
that female prisoners continued to be subjected to systematic, invasive 
body cavity searches. The CPT report stated that body cavity searches 
on women are carried out not ``based upon a proper risk assessment but 
as a routine measure.''
    During the year the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees 
(UNHCR), the UN special rapporteur, the CPT, and NGOs asserted that 
conditions in detention centers for undocumented aliens were 
unacceptable and amounted to serious violations of human rights. 
International organizations, the UN special rapporteur on torture, and 
the local deputy ombudsman for human rights cited ``asphyxiating 
``overcrowding at certain detention centers and police stations, 
unhygienic facilities, a lack of outdoor and exercise space, and the 
intermingling of unaccompanied minors with adults and female with male 
detainees. NGOs and international entities reported that certain 
smaller police and border guard stations had especially poor 
conditions.
    The CPT report further observed that the length of lawful detention 
in many facilities had increased from 2008, with the number of staff at 
the facilities visited remaining ``totally insufficient.'' For example, 
the Fylakio and (the now-closed) Paghani centers had only six police 
officers on duty during the day for 201 and 548 migrants being held at 
that time in the respective institutions.
    While a brochure on detainee rights was reportedly distributed in 
multiple languages, some authorities reportedly failed to advise 
detainees of their rights.
    In an April 2009 statement, the Ministry of Justice stated that the 
death of Katerina Goulioni, a female prisoner and prisoners' rights 
activist (who died during transportation from Thiva women's prison to 
another prison on Crete) was the consequence of a drug overdose. The 
statement was based upon toxicology analysis reports by the Coroner's 
Laboratory of the Medical University of Crete and the Patras General 
Public Hospital that found the cause of death to be abuse of illegal 
substances, specifically heroin.
    There were a number of other specific reports during the year of 
overcrowding and degrading and unhealthful conditions at detention 
centers:
    In February the Police Association of Achaia, Peloponnese, reported 
that the conditions in the Patras police detention center were inhumane 
and degrading, with up to 60 persons held in a cell intended for a 
maximum of 14.
    In July the deputy ombudsman for human rights noted in a report 
that treatment of aliens at the detention center of the Athens airport 
was inhumane and degrading and requested the authorities to take 
immediate measures to alleviate the situation. Authorities committed to 
disinfect the center, to replace filthy mattresses, and to expedite 
construction of a new detention center.
    According to a series of September press reports, overcrowding 
remained a serious problem in many police detention centers, including 
several in Athens, which held detainees beyond their capacity. In one 
case the media reported severe overcrowding in detention centers at the 
five border stations in the Evros region near the Greek-Turkish border 
that received 250-300 undocumented migrants per day. Over 600 migrants 
were held in Fylakio (capacity 300); and 400 in Venna (capacity 250). 
The deputy ombudsman for human rights made a fact-finding visit to the 
Venna detention center a month after an inmates' riot in February to 
protest detention conditions; the results of the visit had not been 
published as of year's end.
    On December 6, Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated that conditions in 
the detention centers visited in northern Greece ``clearly risk the 
health and safety of detainees, and constitute inhuman and degrading 
treatment.'' The organization alleged that the detainees could not lie 
down to sleep due to overcrowding; the women and children were held in 
the same cells with men; and the toilet facilities were so limited that 
guards sometimes escorted detainees to ``defecate and urinate in nearby 
fields.'' According to the HRW, at the beginning of December 120 
unaccompanied migrant children (nine of them girls) were held among the 
detainees in the Fylakio-Kyprinou detention facilities for periods 
ranging from weeks to months. Officials reportedly told the HRW that 
children had to be detained until a place in a reception center was 
found.
    The Government permitted monitoring of conditions at prisons and 
detention centers by local and international humanitarian 
organizations, such as the UNHCR, the CPT, Doctors without Borders, the 
International Committee of the Red Cross, the Greek Council of 
Refugees, Medical Intervention, and the deputy ombudsman for human 
rights. The ombudsman for human rights conducted frequent short-notice 
visits to prisons throughout the country. During the CPT's September 
2009 visit, it gained unfettered ``rapid access to the places of 
detention visited, was able to speak in private with those persons with 
whom it wanted to meet, and was provided with access to the information 
it required to carry out its task.''

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention. However, police continued to 
conduct large-scale sweeps and temporarily detained large numbers of 
immigrants, sometimes in crowded and squalid conditions, while 
determining their residency status.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The police are 
responsible for law enforcement and the maintenance of order within the 
country, and the coast guard is responsible for law enforcement in 
territorial waters. Both agencies are under the authority of the 
Ministry of Citizen Protection. The police and the army jointly shared 
law enforcement duties in certain border areas. Civilian authorities 
generally maintained effective control over the police and coast guard, 
but corruption and police impunity continued to be problems.
    Based on a law that prohibits expression of racist ideas, human 
rights NGOs filed in late March a protest letter with the Athens 
prosecutor regarding a coast guard special operations unit (36 members) 
that chanted racist slogans during the March 25 Independence Day parade 
in Athens.
    During the year police and coast guard personnel received training 
from government ministries, regional and international organizations, 
NGOs, and service academies. Subjects included antiracism, 
antitrafficking and victim identification, asylum seeker recognition, 
witness protection and interviewing, and crowd control.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires judicial warrants for arrests, except when made during the 
commission of a crime, and prohibits arbitrary arrest. In practice 
police did not always follow these provisions. Police are required to 
bring detainees before an examining magistrate within 24 hours. The 
magistrate has a maximum of 24 hours to issue a detention warrant or 
order the detainee's release, and these provisions were observed in 
practice. Pretrial detention may last up to 18 months, depending on the 
severity of the crime. A panel of judges may release detainees pending 
trial. Pretrial detainees made up approximately 30 percent of those 
incarcerated and contributed to prison overcrowding, according to 
figures provided by the Ministry of Justice. Some defense lawyers and 
legal activists asserted that pretrial detention was supposed to be 
reserved for exceptional cases but had become the norm. They also 
asserted that the detention period was excessively long. Bail is 
available for defendants detained on felony charges and for lesser 
charges unless a judicial officer determines that the defendant is a 
flight risk. The law provides detainees the right to contact a close 
relative or third party, consult with a lawyer, and access medical 
services. In felony cases the bar association provides lawyers to 
indigent defendants. While detainees were generally informed promptly 
of charges against them, foreign detainees on occasion did not have 
access to a court-appointed interpreter. According to the CPT's report, 
foreign detainees were given a packet informing them of their rights as 
detainees in multiple languages, although this was not always done 
promptly.
    Individuals accused of misdemeanors could be tried under expedited 
procedures that at times undermined defendants' basic rights due to the 
brevity and swiftness of the trial. Although such defendants enjoyed 
the right to counsel, 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 their 
requests. Expedited procedures were used in less than 10 percent of 
applicable cases.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this 
provision in practice; however, observers reported that the judiciary 
was inefficient and sometimes subject to influence and corruption. The 
judiciary sometimes acted more leniently toward those claiming a 
political motivation for their acts of property destruction (professed 
anarchists) than it did for others. For example, anarchists frequently 
received suspended sentences in lieu of prison time or fines.
    The ECHR has on several occasions criticized the country, including 
twice during the year, for unreasonable length of litigation and 
inefficiency of the court system.
    During the year the UN independent expert on minority issues as 
well as legal and human rights groups, including the GHM, reported that 
Roma experienced difficulty accessing justice and faced excessive 
delays in civil cases. Legal observers and NGOs reported discriminatory 
attitudes and language directed towards Roma in court.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the right to a fair trial, 
and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. Defendants 
enjoy a presumption of innocence. Trials are public in most instances, 
and juries are used in all first and second-degree felony cases. The 
law permits denial of the right to a jury trial in cases of violent 
terrorism. Defendants have the right to be present at trial and to 
consult with an attorney in a timely manner. An attorney is provided to 
indigent defendants facing serious charges. Defendants may question 
witnesses against them and present witnesses and evidence on their 
behalf. Defendants and their attorneys have access to government-held 
evidence relevant to their cases. They have the right to appeal. 
Defendants who do not speak Greek have the right to a court-appointed 
interpreter.
    Some NGOs reported during the year that the quality and 
availability of court interpreters for non-Greek speakers varied from 
trial to trial.
    The Government recognizes Sharia (Islamic law) as the law 
regulating family and civic issues of the Muslim minority in Thrace. 
Muslims married by a government-appointed mufti are subject to Sharia 
family law. Many NGO and media reports characterized Sharia as 
discriminatory against women, especially in child custody, divorce, or 
inheritance cases. Members of the Muslim minority also have the right 
to have a civil marriage and take their cases to civil court.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--In January the European 
Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found that the country had violated the 
provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights prohibiting 
torture and excessively long legal proceedings in the case of a man who 
alleged he was subjected to police violence during his arrest and 
detention in 2001. On July 22, the ECHR ruled that the country had 
violated the European convention's prohibition of inhuman or degrading 
treatment and the right to liberty in its detention of a Palestinian 
asylum seeker (see section 2.d., Refugees).
    In 2009 the ECHR issued 69 judgments that found at least one 
violation by the country of the European Convention on Human Rights. 
The largest number of violations (41) involved the length of legal 
proceedings. Other decisions involved the right to a fair trial (16 
violations); the right to liberty and security (10 violations); the 
right to an effective remedy (eight violations); the protection of 
property (six violations); inhuman or degrading treatment (five 
violations); the right to respect for private and family life (three 
violations); and right to life/deprivation of life, freedom of 
expression, and prohibition of discrimination (one violation each).
    The country paid the fines levied by the ECHR.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is a generally 
independent and impartial judiciary in civil matters. The law provides 
citizens with the ability to sue the Government for compensation for 
alleged violations of rights.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit arbitrary 
interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence; however, in 
practice these provisions were not always respected.
    According to NGOs, the police and prosecutors conducted raids and 
searches of Romani and immigrant neighborhoods, frequently entering 
homes in search of criminal suspects, drugs, and weapons without 
authorization. Local authorities allegedly threatened to evict Roma 
from camps and tent dwellings during the course of the year.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law generally 
provide for freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government 
generally respected these rights in practice. However, the law 
prohibits speech that endangers the country's foreign relations; 
spreads false information or rumors causing fear, rivalry, or division 
among citizens; or incites citizens to disturb the peace or commit acts 
of violence. In practice these legal prohibitions were seldom invoked. 
In most criminal defamation cases, defendants were released on bail 
pending trial without serving time in jail.
    Individuals could criticize the Government publicly or privately 
without reprisal, and the Government did not impede criticism.
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views without restriction.
    The law provides for the Government to exercise ``immediate 
control'' over radio and television stations in case of national 
emergency and establishes ownership limits on media frequencies. State-
operated stations emphasized the Government's views but also reported 
objectively on other parties' positions.
    The law requires that radio and television stations broadcast 
primarily in Greek and that radio stations broadcast 24 hours a day. It 
sets minimum capitalization requirements and numbers of employees. 
Members of the Muslim minority in Thrace stated that the law 
discriminated against smaller, independent, Turkish-language stations. 
In 2009 the Western Thrace Minority University Graduates Association 
reported that the Government had begun to enforce the law, with one 
Turkish-language radio station receiving a violation notice for 
broadcasting in Turkish only.
    The law allows any prosecutor to order the seizure of publications 
that insult the president, offend any religion, contain obscenity, 
advocate the violent overthrow of the political system, or disclose 
military secrets. The Government did not enforce this law during the 
year.
    The law also provides for punishment of individuals who 
``intentionally incite others to actions that could provoke 
discrimination, hatred, or violence against persons or groups of 
persons on the basis of their race or ethnic origin or who express 
ideas insulting to persons or to groups of persons because of their 
race or ethnic origin.''
    In a July 28 proclamation, the Sect of Revolutionaries cell claimed 
credit for the July killing of Sokratis Giolias, a popular blogger 
journalist.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. The 
Internet was available throughout the country and widely used. 
According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2010, 
approximately 50 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.
    There were no reports of the Government attempting to collect 
personally identifiable information on individuals from the Internet.
    The libel and defamation trial of an Internet blog administrator 
who, on one of his Web sites, allegedly called a Greek Orthodox 
televangelist ``stupid'' was rescheduled until October 2011.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--In general there were no 
government restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events. There 
were no reports of interference with cultural events of various ethnic 
groups.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly, 
and the Government generally respected this right in practice.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association; however, the Government continued to place legal 
restrictions on the names of associations of nationals who claimed to 
be of ``Macedonian'' ethnic origin or that included the term 
``Turkish'' (see section 6, National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities).
    During the year international organizations and NGOs expressed 
concern that the Government's practice with regard to association names 
violated freedom of association. The ECHR ruled in October 2008 against 
the Government's 1998 denial of registration to the organization ``Home 
of Macedonian Culture.'' However, despite this ruling the Supreme Court 
in June 2009 upheld an earlier appeals court decision that denied the 
group registration; the group had not been registered by year's end.
    In September 2009, the Appeals Court of Thrace rejected the 
application of the ``Turkish Union of Xanthi'' for legal recognition 
despite a March 2008 ECHR ruling that the country was violating the 
freedom of association of the Muslim minority by refusing to recognize 
the organization. The ECHR had also ruled against the Government's 
refusal to register the ``Cultural Association of Turkish Women of 
Rodopi.'' The ECHR upheld its decision in October 2008 following the 
Government's appeal. In December 2008 the ``Turkish Union of Xanthi'' 
returned to court to seek recognition in line with the ECHR decision. 
Upon rejecting the petition, the Appeals Court of Thrace stated that 
the ECHR's ruling was not binding, the ECHR had neglected to consider 
``political'' factors in its decision, Article 12 of the Union's 
statute, which deals with ``Monitoring of Members' National and Social 
Beliefs'' was in violation of Article 5 of the Greek constitution (an 
issue not addressed in the ECHR ruling). The case was awaiting Supreme 
Court's decision at yearend.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
free movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation for all citizens, and the Government generally respected 
these rights in practice. However, immigrants with temporary residence 
permits faced prolonged delays in renewing their permits and were, 
therefore, sometimes denied the right to return to the country, thus 
facing practical limits on their foreign travel.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.
    The law permits the Government to deprive a person of citizenship 
for committing acts contrary to the country's interests for the benefit 
of a foreign state. The historical number of such cases was reportedly 
low, and there were no reports of new cases during the year.
    Many of the estimated one million immigrants in the country were in 
a semi-legal status, holding expired residency permits while going 
through the process of renewal. Immigrants encountered difficulty 
accessing government services if they did not carry current residency 
permits. In addition, immigrants holding certain types of temporary 
residency permits were given limited periods of time during which they 
could leave the country and still return, effectively restricting their 
ability to travel outside the country. During the year NGOs reported 
multiple instances of immigrants subjected to summary deportation 
without legal due process. The law provides for legalization of 
undocumented immigrants who can prove by a visa stamp or possession of 
a tax roll number that they entered the country before 2005. However, 
the ombudsman noted that this system of legalization remained 
disorganized and that there was no database of residence permit 
holders.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum and humanitarian protection. While the Government 
has established a system for providing protection for refugees, it was 
widely seen as inadequate, given the large numbers of illegal 
immigrants entering the country.
    In November 2009 the Government announced its decision to reform 
the asylum process and create a committee of experts to propose 
recommendations for overhauling the country's asylum process and for 
setting up a new independent agency for processing asylum claims. The 
committee produced a report at the end of 2009, and new legislation on 
refugees was signed in late September. The new legislation requires 
that asylum decisions be issued within three months in an accelerated 
process, and within six months for regular applications.
    Despite the new legislation, problems persisted. In September the 
UNHCR, noting the absence of a functioning asylum system called on the 
country to accelerate the implementation of asylum reform. The UNHCR 
stated that conditions for asylum seekers in the country, which is one 
of the principal entry points to the EU, were ``notoriously 
difficult.'' Most asylum seekers were not identified as such and 
received no assistance, resorting to living on the streets. On 
September 21, the UNHCR stated that the situation for asylum seekers 
constituted ``a humanitarian crisis which should not exist in the 
European Union.''
    In September Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas 
Hammarberg stated that the country faced the challenge of dealing with 
numbers of asylum applications beyond its capacities and that asylum 
seekers continued to experience enormous difficulties in gaining access 
to the asylum procedure, without the assistance of interpretation and 
legal aid. He further observed that asylum seekers faced extremely 
harsh conditions in the country, where the asylum law and practice did 
not comply with international and European human rights standards. The 
commissioner expressed his particular concern that asylum seekers 
transferred to the country risked being returned to another country 
where their life and health would be in danger. He also stressed that 
detention facilities in the country were far from satisfactory.
    In his May report, the deputy ombudsman for human rights echoed the 
aforementioned concerns and also described the plight of unattended 
minors who did not apply for asylum or who were refused asylum and not 
granted protective status, thereby becoming subject to repeated 
detention or to deportation.
    Amnesty International, together with various NGOs, alleged in a 
July report that in some instances authorities deported asylum seekers 
without due process.
    The country adheres to the Dublin II Regulation, under which a 
signatory country--all signatories are European--may return asylum 
seekers to the initial Dublin II country of entry. In September the 
Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights called for revision of 
the Dublin II Regulation on the grounds that countries such as Greece 
were unable to provide adequate protection due to numbers of asylum 
seekers that exceeded their capacity. The commissioner stated that the 
``gravely dysfunctional asylum procedures in Greece have brought the 
Dublin system to a genuine collapse.''
    In January UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Gutierrez 
advised other European states not to return asylum seekers to the 
country under the Dublin II Regulation pending the implementation of 
asylum reforms. In September the UNHCR asked the EU to help the country 
comply with international and European obligations with respect to 
asylum.
    The UNHCR reported that from January to October, asylum seekers 
filed 6,576 first-instance applications; in the same period, the 
Government reviewed 9,195 applications and appeals and accorded refugee 
status to 24 applicants (0.26 percent) and special humanitarian status 
to 30 (0.32 percent); 2,548 applications were rejected.
    The UNHCR reported that in October the Government had a backlog of 
5,929 unprocessed initial claims for asylum and approximately 46,500 
appeals.
    In practice the Government provided only limited protection against 
the expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion. Many NGOs and international organizations reported that 
authorities summarily deported illegal immigrants, including asylum 
seekers, across Greek-Turkish land and maritime borders.
    The UNHCR, Amnesty International, the UN special rapporteur on 
torture, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), 
the deputy ombudsman for human rights, and Doctors without Borders all 
expressed concern over the country's asylum policy and practices. 
Specific problems included unacceptable living conditions; lack of 
permanent reception facilities with decent living conditions; the use 
of ad hoc facilities (primarily on islands where a boatload of refugees 
arrived); underdeveloped systems to provide for refugee welfare; 
insufficient counseling to assist in the integration of refugees and 
asylum seekers; a lack of appropriate facilities for unaccompanied 
minors who were potential asylum seekers; and deficient interpretation 
and legal counseling for asylum seekers, especially at entry points.
    Conditions for illegal immigrants and asylum seekers detained by 
authorities were generally unsatisfactory. NGOs and international 
organizations continued to criticize detention procedures and 
facilities for refugees and asylum seekers as inadequate. All new 
arrivals, without exception, were placed under a deportation order 
without having the chance to first file for asylum, and detention was 
continued even if an asylum application had been submitted.
    Conditions for undocumented immigrants and asylum-seeking children 
were particularly difficult. During the year local and international 
NGOs, including Amnesty International, Doctors without Borders and the 
UNHCR on several occasions, found unaccompanied minors incarcerated 
along with adults in detention centers in the Aegean islands under 
degrading, inhumane, and unsanitary conditions. The UNHCR reported that 
an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 unaccompanied minors arrived in the country 
each year. Unaccompanied immigrant children lacked safe accommodations 
and legal guardians and were vulnerable to homelessness and labor 
exploitation. In September 2009 the ECRI noted with concern that the 
law allows for the deportation of unaccompanied minors and that 
unaccompanied minors were served deportation orders with no specific 
date of deportation and no interim accommodation centers for housing 
them pending deportation. The deputy ombudsman for children's rights 
informed the ECRI that social workers were responsible for the 
guardianship of unaccompanied minors, but in practice this duty was not 
carried out due to a lack of funds and guidelines.
    On July 22, the ECHR unanimously held that the country had violated 
Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) of the 
European Convention on Human Rights by holding an asylum seeker in 
squalid conditions in a detention center. In 2008 the coast guard 
detained a Palestinian national and placed him in a detention center. 
He alleged that he had been mistreated by the coast guard during his 
detention and also complained about detention center conditions. He 
alleged that he had not been informed of the possibility of appeal and 
did not have the assistance of a lawyer or an interpreter. The ECHR 
based its finding of a violation of Article 3 on living conditions in 
the detention center where the applicant was held, the degrading 
treatment accorded him, and the lack of diligence on the part of the 
authorities in providing him with appropriate medical assistance. The 
court also found that the treatment of the detainee violated convention 
Article 5 (right to liberty and security).
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens 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 and Political Participation.--The country held 
parliamentary elections in October 2009; the elections were considered 
free and fair. Opposition parties functioned freely and had broad 
access to the media.
    Approximately one-third of the Roma were not registered to vote. 
Some Roma reported that local authorities deprived them of the right to 
vote by refusing to register them.
    According to the law, voting is mandatory for citizens over the age 
of 18; however, there are many conditions under which citizens may be 
exempted, and there was no penalty for not voting.
    There were 51 women in the 300-seat parliament and three women in 
the 17-member cabinet. A quota system requires 30 percent of all local 
government candidates to be women. At the three highest courts, 14 of 
61 Council of State justices, 28 of 59 Supreme Administrative Court 
justices, and three of 62 Supreme Court justices were women.
    There were two members of the Muslim minority of Thrace in the 300-
seat parliament; there were no minority members in the cabinet.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption. In the 
past the Government had not been diligent in implementing the law, and 
significant official corruption occurred with impunity. The 2009 
Transparency International (TI) annual report noted that in 2008 more 
than 13 percent of citizens bribed officials, primarily in health care, 
tax, and urban planning agencies. The 2009 World Bank governance 
indicators suggested that corruption is a serious problem.
    The current government entered office in October 2009 with the goal 
of increasing transparency and reducing official corruption. While the 
Government has taken some concrete actions, the media, international 
organizations, and NGOs continued to voice concerns about corruption. 
In September the public prosecutor's office set up a new unit to 
facilitate prosecution of economic/financial crimes in the public 
sector. The unit was designed to work closely with the Financial and 
Economic Crime Unit of the Ministry of Finance and the Internal Affairs 
Division of the State Police, which was responsible for cases of 
corruption across the public sector. The office's caseload included 
alleged tax violations by a former minister, the Vatopedi monastery 
land swap scandal, reports of financial mismanagement at a large Athens 
hospital, and reports of bribery and the issuance of suspect 
``winning'' lottery tickets.
    The Government also continued to pursue an in-depth investigation 
into judicial corruption and took steps to trace and apprehend corrupt 
government procurement officials, tax collectors, and police officers.
    Parliament conducted an investigation into the alleged land-swap-
and-sale scandal involving the ``Vatopedi'' Greek Orthodox monastery 
and government officials. The Parliament decided in November to refer 
three former ministers involved in the case to a special judicial 
council that would determine whether they should be tried by a Special 
Tribune.
    Parliament also conducted an investigation involving alleged 
malfeasance by government officials in financial dealing with the 
German company Siemens. Parliament did not release the results of the 
investigations during the year, and the cases remained open. The 
country's largest opposition party contended that these cases were 
highly politicized.
    Police corruption continued to exist. During the year the police 
Bureau of Internal Affairs took multiple disciplinary measures, 
including dismissal and suspension, against officers involved in 
corruption. The cases primarily involved forging documents, taking 
bribes, illegal actions involving arms and explosives, illegally 
releasing persons from custody, procuring, and violations related to 
alien registration.
    A number of cases were pending at year's end, including that of the 
director and chief warden of prisons in Crete, suspended from duty in 
July for alleged corruption and violations of the prison code, and an 
Aliens Division police officer arrested in June 2009 for allegedly 
taking bribes in order to accept asylum applications. Pending cases 
from 2008 included corruption investigations against several judges, a 
ring dismantled by the police's Bureau of Internal Affairs that 
included law enforcement and intelligence officials, and the appeal of 
a case involving eight Thessaloniki police officers convicted of 
beating a Cypriot student in 2006.
    There are income disclosure laws for high-ranking public officials 
and members of parliament.
    The constitution provides for the right of access to government-
held information. However, NGOs and media observers noted that access 
to information was sometimes difficult in practice due to bureaucratic 
delays.
Section 5. 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. Several NGOs reported 
harassment or threats during the year. A leader of the antitrafficking 
organization European Network of Women (ENOW) reported multiple threats 
and media harassment related to a continuing appeals court case 
involving an ENOW-supported witness and a convicted trafficker.
    The law provides for an independent ombudsman. The Office of the 
Ombudsman provided an effective means for citizens to report human 
rights and religious freedom problems. The office received adequate 
resources to perform its other functions, which included mediating 
between private individuals and public administration and defending and 
promoting children's rights.
    There were five deputy ombudsmen who dealt, respectively, with 
human rights, children's rights, citizen-state relations, health and 
social welfare, and quality of life. The deputy ombudsman for human 
rights received complaints during the year regarding the Government's 
handling of residence and work provisions for immigrants; overcrowding 
in prisons and detention centers for illegal aliens; unjustified 
procedural difficulties in acquiring citizenship; excessive and 
unjustified delays in processing applications by Muslims from Thrace to 
recover citizenship lost under pre-1998 laws; arbitrary acceptance or 
denial of asylum seekers' applications; discrimination against aliens; 
and police brutality. Personnel of the ombudsman's office gained access 
to several prisons during the year for unannounced inspections. The 
volume of such problems has remained steady in recent years.
    The Government-funded National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) 
is an autonomous human rights body. It is the Government's advisory 
body on the protection of human rights and is composed of 
representatives of the Government, labor unions, political parties, 
organizations of civil society, independent authorities, and academics. 
During the year it produced public reports (available on the Internet 
in English) on citizenship, discrimination, and employment, as well as 
camera surveillance in public areas, image and sound recording, DNA 
analysis in criminal proceedings, and the national database of DNA 
profiles. Regarding migrants and refugees, the NCHR noted progress 
towards the effective integration of regular migrants and their 
children in Greece via the new law on ``Greek Citizenship and the 
Political Participation of Aliens of Greek Origin and of Regular 
Migrants'' and stated that it would monitor the ongoing changes in the 
asylum system.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and the law prohibit discrimination based on race, 
gender, disability, language, or social status; however, the Government 
did not protect these rights consistently in practice.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is a crime. Conviction rates 
for rape were low for first-time offenders, but sentences were robust 
for repeat offenders. According to police statistics, 298 rape or 
attempted rape cases were reported in 2009, and police arrested 252 
rape suspects, 128 of whom were noncitizens. In 2008 police reported 
287 rapes and attempted rapes. Medical, psychological, social, and 
legal support was usually available to rape victims from the Government 
and NGOs.
    Domestic violence, including spousal abuse, continued to be a 
problem. The General Secretariat for Gender Equality (GSGE), an 
independent government agency, the UN Committee on the Elimination of 
Discrimination against Women, and NGOs reported that domestic violence 
was common. The law provides for prosecution by force of law, without 
the need for a victim to press charges, for all domestic violence 
crimes. Penalties range from two to 10 years' imprisonment, depending 
on the gravity of the crime. The GSGE estimated that only 6 to 10 
percent of domestic violence victims contacted the police and only a 
small fraction of those cases reached trial.
    The GSGE, in cooperation with the Ministry of Citizen Protection, 
trained police on working with domestic violence victims. Despite 
training efforts, the GSGE reported that police tended to discourage 
women from pursuing domestic violence charges, encouraging them instead 
to undertake reconciliation. NGOs reported that courts were lenient on 
male offenders in domestic violence cases. Police stations generally 
had a manual on how police should treat victims of domestic violence.
    The GSGE provided counseling and assistance to domestic violence 
victims. Two GSGE shelters for battered women and their children, in 
Athens and Piraeus, offered services including legal and psychological 
help. The GSGE operated a 24-hour emergency telephone hotline for 
abused women, and the Ministry of Health and Social Solidarity operated 
a hotline providing referrals and psychological counseling for victims 
of domestic violence. The municipality of Athens, the Greek Orthodox 
Church, and a variety of NGOs operated shelters and walk-in centers for 
victims of domestic violence.
    Government statistics on the extent of rape, domestic violence, and 
spousal abuse were either unavailable or outdated. Data on 
prosecutions, convictions, and prison sentences for rape and domestic 
violence crimes were unavailable.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment and provides for penalties 
ranging from two months to five years in prison. However, in 2009 labor 
unions reported that lawsuits for sexual harassment were very rare, 
with only five cases since 2000. Government enforcement was generally 
ineffective due to a lack of punishment for offenders.
    In its annual study, the Center for Research on Gender Equality 
Issues reported that the vast majority of women who experienced sexual 
harassment in the workplace quit their jobs and did not file charges. 
The center estimated that 30 to 50 percent of working women and 10 
percent of working men experienced sexual harassment at their 
workplaces during the year.
    The Government generally respects the reproductive rights of 
couples and individuals. Contraception was widely available in stores 
and in hospitals, and the Government respected the rights of couples 
and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, 
and timing of their children. Public hospitals provide services free of 
charge; consequently, any health issues typically surface only after a 
woman returns to her community, which may have substandard facilities. 
Both public and private hospitals provided modern skilled attendance 
during childbirth. Women and men have equal access to diagnostic 
services and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. According to 
data compiled by international organizations, the estimated maternal 
mortality rate in 2008 was two deaths per 100,000 live births.
    Muslim women in Thrace are subject to Sharia law as interpreted by 
official muftis; their rights under family law, property law, and in 
the judicial system are inferior to those of men. The Government 
recognizes Sharia as the law regulating the family and civic issues of 
the Muslim minority in Thrace, with trial courts in Thrace routinely 
ratifying the muftis' decisions. The UN independent expert on minority 
issues highlighted in February 2009 that the application of Sharia in 
some instances subjected Muslim women to norms incompatible with the 
constitution, legislation, and international standards, particularly 
with respect to underage marriages (see section 6, Children). The UN 
independent expert on minority issues noted in 2009 that the situation 
of women in Romani and Muslim communities was of particular concern. 
According to the UN report, Muslim women experienced severe 
inequalities in access to education and consequently suffered 
disproportionately high levels of illiteracy and unemployment.
    In a February 2009 case, a Muslim woman sued the local mufti of 
Xanthi for breach of duty for refusing to honor a custody agreement she 
had previously signed with her husband. The agreement stipulated that 
custody of the couple's only child would go to the mother. The woman 
claimed that the mufti arbitrarily changed the terms of the agreement 
by giving custody to the father. The case was pending at year's end.
    In an unprecedented 2008 case, a trial court in Rodopi Prefecture 
refused to ratify a mufti's decision that awarded a woman only a small 
share of her parental inheritance, instead of the one-half share 
provided by civil law. The court held that the law of the country and 
European law should prevail over Sharia. The court stated that the 
application of Sharia should not deprive the country's Muslim women of 
their rights and should not be applied if it violated the basic 
principles of the constitution regarding the equality of the sexes and 
equality before the law. A final court decision regarding the division 
of property between the woman and her brother had not been delivered by 
year's end.
    The National Commission for Human Rights advised the Government to 
limit the powers of the muftis to religious duties and to stop 
recognizing Sharia because it could restrict the civic rights of 
citizens. Muslim female activists claimed that, because all Muslim 
women in Thrace were married under Sharia, they were obliged to acquire 
mufti consent to obtain a divorce. These decisions were based on 
interpretations of Sharia that do not exist in written form and 
therefore could not be appealed. Nevertheless, the courts routinely 
ratified such mufti decisions.
    Apart from the Muslim minority in Thrace, women have rights equal 
to those of men, and the constitution stipulates gender equality.
    The law provides for equal pay for equal work; however, according 
to the European Commission, the gap between the salaries of men and 
women in the country was 22 percent in favor of men. Although 
relatively few women occupied senior private sector positions, women 
continued to enter traditionally male-dominated professions, such as 
law and medicine, in larger numbers. Women were underrepresented in 
labor union leadership.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents at birth. A 
single parent can confer citizenship to a child and Greece allows for 
dual citizenship.
    A new citizenship law passed in March gives citizenship rights to 
alien children born in the country whose parents have lived legally and 
permanently in the country for five years. Alien children born abroad 
whose parents have lived legally and permanently in the country for 
five years become citizens upon successful completion of elementary 
education (six years). Foreigners arriving in the country after the new 
law takes effect will have to fulfill a seven-year legal residency 
requirement before they can apply for citizenship, which, together with 
consideration procedures, may stretch the wait to a decade. The fee for 
applying for citizenship was recently reduced to 700 euros ($1,000) 
from 1,500 euros ($2,150).
    The law gives immigrant children born in the country the right to 
apply for long-term residence permits. NGOs estimated that of the 
200,000 foreign children living in the country, only 30,000 could meet 
the requirements of the law, which include a fee of 900 euros ($1,290), 
a certificate of completion of the mandatory nine years of education in 
the country, and two parents with legal residence permits.
    Romani children continued to face social exclusion and 
discrimination in education and lack of access to social services (see 
section 6. National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities).
    Violence against children, particularly against street children, 
Romani children, and undocumented immigrants, was a problem. The law 
prohibits corporal punishment and mistreatment of children, but 
government enforcement was generally ineffective. Welfare laws provide 
for treatment and prevention programs for abused and neglected children 
as well as alternative family care or institutional placement for those 
in need of it. However, government-run institutions were understaffed, 
and NGOs complained that they did not have places for all children who 
needed alternative placement. In 2008 the deputy ombudsman for 
children's rights reported that the system of children's welfare and 
protection was deficient overall and did not cover increasing needs. In 
particular, social services were not appropriately staffed to handle 
serious family problems, and welfare allowances and support for single 
parent families were insufficient. In addition, the deputy ombudsman 
noted that prosecutors for minors, who should by law take measures to 
protect children in difficult situations, were overloaded with other 
duties. Child protection institutions were understaffed and lacked 
certification and sufficient qualified staff to provide care to abused, 
refugee, or drug-abusing children.
    After visits to the Children's Chronic Illnesses Institution in 
Skaramangas (Attica), the Center for Care of Children of Lechaina 
(Peloponnese), the Center of Rehabilitation of Children in Voula 
(Athens suburb), the Institution for Chronic Illnesses of Children 
``Saint Andreas'' of Rhodes, and the Asylum of Chronic Illnesses of 
Children of Patras, the deputy ombudsman for children's rights reported 
that, due to a lack of staff, children were sedated, tied to their 
beds, or even confined in wooden cages to limit their movement.
    Foster care systems were not adequately implemented, and the 
process of adoption continued to take several years.
    The legal age for marriage is 18. However, child marriage was 
common within the Romani community, and there were a limited numbers of 
marriages of persons under 18 among the Muslim minority in Thrace and 
Athens, performed with the permission of the prosecutor. NGOs reported 
that Romani women typically marry and have children at a very early 
age, reportedly as young as 13. Child marriage was considered a 
tradition in the Romani community but also resulted from a lack of 
education and work opportunities. The state-appointed muftis, who may 
apply Sharia in family matters, noted that they did not allow the 
marriage of children under age of 15 and, in order to protect children, 
required a prosecutor's decision to allow marriages involving a minor 
between the ages of 16 and 18. However, in February 2009 the UN 
independent expert on minority issues reported that child marriages, 
which carried serious implications for the health, wellbeing, and life 
choices of Muslim women, regularly took place unchallenged by the 
national authorities.
    According to law, the age of consent is 15 years of age for 
heterosexual sex and 17 years for male homosexual sex. The law does not 
specify an age of consent for female homosexual sex. The country 
criminalizes sex with children under the age of 15.
    The law prohibits the possession and circulation of child 
pornography, treating this as a felony punishable by five to 10 years' 
imprisonment.
    According to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and local NGOs, the 
majority of street children (often indigenous Roma or Albanian Roma) 
were exploited by family members, who forced them to work in the 
streets, begging or selling small items. The Government took 
insufficient steps to prevent this form of child exploitation. While 
national statistics were unavailable, in June 2009 the NGO ARSIS 
reported that it had found 638 street children in Athens and 
Thessaloniki. In 2009 and 2010, according to ARSIS, there was a 
significant rise in the total number of street children, especially 
Romani children from Bulgaria and Romania. However, the number of 
street children from Albania declined.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html as well as 
country-specific information at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--Local leaders estimated the Jewish community 
numbered 5,000. Isolated expressions of anti-Semitism occurred, 
particularly in the extremist press. On December 20, the Greek Orthodox 
Church's Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus made anti-Semitic statements 
on national television; they were immediately condemned by the 
Government and other Church officials. There continued to be reports of 
incidents of vandalism of Jewish monuments. In November the police 
arrested two young men after finding Molotov bomb-making components in 
their possession, and charged them with planning an arson attack on a 
synagogue in Athens.
    In May three perpetrators set fire to a tomb and painted anti-
Semitic graffiti on a number of tombstones, on alley walls, and on the 
surrounding wall of the Jewish cemetery in Thessaloniki; the suspects 
were arrested. During the same month, unknown perpetrators damaged the 
Holocaust monument in Rhodes.
    In June a university student painted a swastika on the Jewish 
monument in Komotini (Thrace) and was subsequently arrested; his trial 
was pending at year's end.
    The Chania synagogue on Crete was destroyed after three arson 
attacks between December 2009 and January. Police filed charges against 
five suspects and arrested one, who was released in August due to lack 
of evidence. The court suspended criminal prosecution against the five 
suspects, deeming the evidence against them insufficient. The case may 
be re-opened within five years from the time the crime was committed if 
new evidence is presented.
    The Government condemned all incidents of vandalism and desecration 
and provided funds for the restoration of the Chania synagogue. The 
police routinely investigated all such instances of vandalism and 
desecration. Many ministers spoke out immediately and publicly against 
the arson attack.
    In May the Jewish community of Athens unveiled a Holocaust Monument 
in central Athens during a special ceremony organized by the city and 
the Jewish community. Government and political party representatives 
attended commemorative events throughout the country for the Holocaust 
Remembrance Day and issued public statements.
    On September 26, the municipality of Chalkida (Central Greece) 
unveiled a monument in honor of the World War II Jewish hero Colonel 
Mordechai Frizis. The country's president and representatives of 
various political parties attended the ceremony.
    In 2007 the Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) and the Central Board of 
Jewish Communities brought charges against the newspaper Eleftheros 
Kosmos and former LAOS political party candidate Kostas Plevris for 
racism and anti-Semitism. In March an appeals court vacated Plevris's 
2007 conviction for inciting hatred and racial violence with his book 
The Jews--The Whole Truth. A public prosecutor subsequently filed an 
appeal with the Supreme Court against the decision, seeking to ensure 
that it would not set a legal precedent. In April the Supreme Court 
rejected the appeal.
    In 2007 Plevris sued senior representatives of the local Jewish 
community, journalists, and NGO activists for publicly criticizing some 
of the judges who participated in the judicial proceedings against him, 
allegedly disseminating false information through the medium of the 
press, perjury, and aggravated defamation. The NGO activists were found 
not guilty in a December 6 verdict. The trial of the journalists and 
Jewish community representatives was scheduled for January 2011.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical and mental disabilities in employment, 
education, access to health care, or the provision of other government 
services; in practice government enforcement of these provisions was 
uneven. The law mandates access to buildings for persons with 
disabilities and special ramps for the sidewalks and means of public 
transportation; however, authorities enforced this law poorly. Disabled 
activists reported that, although special ramps for sidewalks were 
being constructed throughout the country, sidewalks and special ramps 
were overwhelmingly occupied by parked vehicles, thus hindering 
accessibility for disabled persons. The general lack of accessibility 
forced such persons to remain at home and led to serious social 
exclusion.
    Only 5 percent of public buildings were fully accessible to persons 
with disabilities, with the majority of these in Athens; most buildings 
with special ramps did not have accessible elevators or lavatories. The 
deputy ombudsman for social welfare handled complaints related to 
persons with disabilities, especially those related to employment, 
social security, and transportation.
    In 2009 the Ministry of Health and Social Solidarity estimated that 
there were 180,000 children with disabilities with special educational 
needs. The Teachers' Association estimated in 2009 that only 18,500 of 
these children attended primary school and of these only 10 percent 
would attend secondary school, due either to a lack of local special 
education schools or a lack of accessibility. In 2009 the National 
Confederation of Persons with Disabilities reported that the 
educational system for persons with disabilities fostered 
discrimination and social exclusion and, therefore, 90 percent of 
children with disabilities were excluded from the mandatory nine years 
of education.
    The Confederation of the Disabled reiterated during the year that 
education was not available for persons with serious disabilities and 
many such persons were forced either to leave school due to lack of 
accessibility or to accept a low quality education at the special 
education schools. The confederation stated that only two of the 10 
universities in Athens were accessible to persons with disabilities and 
that 80 percent of children in special schools for children with 
disabilities were housed in buildings unsuitable to their needs.
    The Confederation of the Disabled estimated that the unemployment 
rate of persons with disabilities was 84 percent in 2009 and 
constituted the greatest social problem they faced.
    Athens was selected to host the Special Olympics World Summer Games 
in the summer of 2011.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Roma continued to face 
widespread governmental and societal discrimination, including alleged 
police abuse, mistreatment while in police custody; regular raids and 
searches of their neighborhoods for criminal suspects, drugs, and 
weapons; limited access to education; and segregated schooling. Their 
dwellings (in many cases shacks made of cardboard, plastic sheets, and 
corrugated tin on the edge of city dumps) lacked running water, 
electricity, or waste removal and were at times demolished by municipal 
authorities. Government efforts to address these problems were 
inconsistent, especially at the municipality level.
    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 of Romani settlements from other inhabited areas 
contravened the country's commitments under the International 
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
    In his report on human rights, the deputy ombudsman for human 
rights noted that in addition to the grave housing problem, Roma faced 
very serious problems of access to education and employment. He stated 
that very few indigenous Romani children attended school, that alien 
Romani children did not go to school at all, and that government 
projects to attract Romani children to education had very limited 
success. In September the GHM stated that segregation of Romani 
children in schools was a persistent phenomenon and noted the existence 
of Roma-only schools throughout the country as well as the refusal of 
school authorities in a number of areas to allow Romani children access 
to schools.
    In September the secretary for intercultural education intervened 
in the case of two segregated schools, in Veroia and Ergochori 
(Northern Greece), resulting in the acceptance of Romani children by 
neighboring schools. The Ministry of Education acknowledged that Romani 
children's attendance in school was limited and urged school directors 
to ensure enrollment and unhindered school attendance of Romani 
children. According to the European Union Agency for Fundamental 
Rights' 2009 statistics, only 4 percent of Roma reported having 
attended school for at least 10 years, and 63 percent were living in 
segregated conditions, effectively cut off from mainstream society and 
municipal services.
    Romani children also continued to face social exclusion and lack of 
access to social services, in part because they accompany their parents 
who primarily work as wandering merchants or engage in selling scrap 
materials. According to the ombudsman, Roma live in ``extremely 
dangerous and unacceptable shacks'' in many areas, and government 
housing projects for indigenous Roma have been largely unsuccessful.
    In May the European Committee for Social Rights held that the 
country violated Article 16 of the European Social Charter because a 
significant number of Romani families continued to live in substandard 
conditions, while others were forcibly evicted from their housing and 
had insufficient access to the legal recourse generally available to 
non-Roma. A similar March 2009 report by the UN independent expert on 
minority issues offered the same criticism.
    There was no follow-up to the April 2008 complaint concerning 
Romani housing rights filed by the International Center for the Legal 
Protection of Human Rights and the GHM against the country with the 
European Committee of Social Rights.
    In late September 2009 the deputy ombudsman for human rights urged 
the Government to have local municipalities register Roma. Without 
registration, according to the deputy ombudsman, Roma lacked access to 
schools and other public services and faced severe challenges 
integrating socially. Media reports indicated that at least half of 
Roma were not registered with a municipality.
    In April 2008 an academic researcher reported that life expectancy 
for Roma was 55 years (compared to 79 for the rest of the population), 
and that 90 percent of Romani children were not vaccinated, with the 
rate of hepatitis B among Roma three times higher than among the rest 
of the population. He further noted that the rate of incarceration for 
Roma was seven times higher than that of the general population.
    Media and NGOs reported multiple attacks on immigrants by far-right 
extremist groups. NGOs and labor unions expressed deep concern over the 
rise in racist violence committed by far-right groups. Among the 
incidents and attacks reported were the following:
    In March a gang of mostly teenagers set fire to a house in Sparta 
(Peloponnese) where a group of Bangladeshi migrants slept; the youths 
were charged with an arsonist and racist attack. In June in the Aghios 
Panteleimonas neighborhood of Athens, right-wing extremists severely 
beat a Pakistani immigrant and subsequently in September attacked an 
activist for Doctors of the World. During the past two years, Aghios 
Panteleimonas became the focal point for racist attacks, as immigrants 
often fell victim to both physical and verbal attacks there. The 
municipality of Athens closed down a playground in the area as a result 
of clashes between migrants and right-wing extremists.
    In July a group of approximately 60 extremists attacked migrants in 
the neighborhood and vandalized migrant houses, two cafes, and a 
makeshift mosque; a Bangladeshi immigrant was injured during the 
attack. During the same month, a gang of 10 men reportedly beat four 
Afghan immigrants with clubs after breaking into their home in 
Areopoli, Peloponnese; the victims were hospitalized and later 
discharged. In mid-September in Aghios Panteleimonas, local residents 
held a protest march to the police station demanding that immigrants 
leave the neighborhood. In November members of a right-wing extremist 
group threw eggs and verbally insulted Muslims who were praying in a 
public space during a religious holiday.
    Immigrants, who made up approximately 10 percent of the total 
population of the country, also faced widespread societal 
discrimination and accused the police of physical, verbal, and other 
mistreatment. They reported the confiscation and destruction of 
personal documents, particularly during police sweeps to apprehend 
undocumented immigrants.
    In 2008 the ombudsman noted that delays in citizenship processing 
were excessive and unjustified. The ombudsman reported that the 
Ministry of the Interior and Public Order accepted few applications for 
citizenship and that many applications were pending for years, even 
when applicants met all requirements.
    During the year municipal governments in Athens established 
immigrant councils to foster dialogue on issues such as discrimination, 
social benefits for immigrants, legalization, employment, and security. 
Police officials met with representatives of the different immigrant 
communities to discuss ways to combat discrimination and incidents of 
police abuse. On December 12, the Athens Concert Hall and the Orthodox 
Archdiocese of Athens organized a religious music concert in an effort 
to ease anti-immigrant tensions in Aghios Panteleimonas. The President, 
Education and Religious Affairs Minister, and other dignitaries 
attended the event.
    A number of citizens identified themselves as Turks, Pomaks 
(Slavic-speaking Muslims), Vlachs (a Balkan minority group speaking a 
dialect of Romanian), Roma, Arvanites (Orthodox Christians who speak a 
dialect of Albanian), or Macedonians. Some members of these groups 
sought to be identified officially as ``minorities'' or ``linguistic 
minorities.'' The Government considers the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne as 
providing the exclusive definition of minorities in the country and 
defining their group rights. Accordingly, the Government recognizes 
only a ``Muslim minority.''
    Although the Government does not confer official status on any 
indigenous ethnic group, nor recognize ``ethnic minority'' or 
``linguistic minority'' as legal terms, it affirms an individual's 
right of self-identification. However, many 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. Associations with either term in their name were 
denied official recognition. To most ethnic Greeks, the words Tourkos 
and Tourkikos connote Turkish identity or loyalties, and many ethnic 
Greeks objected to their use by citizens of Turkish origin.
    Pomak leaders filed a lawsuit against the local newspaper Millet 
(published in Turkish) for libel, calling for the newspaper to pay a 
total of 157,000 euros ($224,500) in damages to three different 
claimants. In April 2010 the Appeals Court of Thrace ordered the 
newspaper editors to pay a Pomak journalist 30,000 euros ($42,900) and 
a Christian researcher on Pomak issues 60,000 euros ($85,800). The 
then-head of the ``Cultural Association of Pomaks'' in Xanthi also sued 
the same newspaper for libel and was awaiting a court date. The 
newspaper owner responded he could not afford the compensation, and 
some claimants were considering additional legal options. A local 
Muslim mayor sued the same newspaper for libel. The case was heard in 
2009 and the newspaper editor received a 15-month suspended sentence 
and was ordered to pay 4,000 euros ($5,720) compensation to the 
claimant. The editor appealed the decision and the appeal was pending. 
Thessaloniki media reported in 2008 that two editors of Millet received 
12-month suspended sentences for inciting hatred against the Pomak 
community.
    The Government did not recognize the existence of a Slavic dialect, 
called ``Macedonian'' by its speakers in the northwestern area of the 
country. However, a small number of Slavic speakers insisted on 
identifying themselves as ``Macedonian,'' a designation that generated 
strong opposition from other citizens. These individuals claimed that 
the Government pursued a policy designed to discourage the use of their 
language. Government officials and the courts denied requests by Slavic 
groups to identify themselves using the term ``Macedonian,'' stating 
that approximately 2.2 million ethnically (and linguistically) Greek 
citizens also use the term ``Macedonian'' to identify themselves.
    The UN independent expert on minority issues, in a March 2009 
report, urged the Government to withdraw from the dispute over whether 
there is a ``Macedonian'' or a ``Turkish'' ethnic minority in the 
country. He advised focusing instead on protecting the rights to self-
identification, freedom of expression, and freedom of association of 
those communities and on complying fully with the rulings of the ECHR 
that associations should be allowed to use the words ``Macedonian'' and 
``Turkish'' in their names and to express their ethnic identities 
freely. The independent expert found that those identifying themselves 
as ethnic Macedonians continued to report discrimination and 
harassment. Representatives of this minority claimed they were denied 
the right to freedom of association, citing unsuccessful efforts since 
1990 to register the organization ``Home of Macedonian Culture'' in 
Florina.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--According to law the age of 
consent is 15 for heterosexual sex and 17 for male homosexual sex. The 
law does not specify an age of consent for female homosexual sex. The 
NGO Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece (OLKE), stated that the 
higher age of consent for gays and the lack of any legal treatment of 
female-to-female sex, constituted gender identity discrimination. OLKE 
also criticized the country's laws against hate speech for not 
including sexual orientation or gender identity.
    The police provided adequate security for the annual Pride parade 
in central Athens in June; there were no reports of impediments to the 
march.
    During the year OLKE alleged that police often abused and harassed 
LGBTpersons and subjected them to arbitrary identity checks and body 
searches in public places.
    NGOs reported that societal discrimination based on sexual 
orientation was widespread but focused on gay male relationships. 
Transgender persons were exempt from military service on disability 
grounds.

    Other Societal Discrimination.--Observers indicated that 
individuals with HIV/AIDS suffered from high social exclusion and a 
loss of employment if they revealed their status.
    In February 2009 the Supreme Court ruled against an HIV-positive 
individual and in favor of his employer in a landmark HIV/AIDS 
discrimination case. The individual revealed his HIV-positive status in 
2005 and was subsequently fired. The Supreme Court ruled that the 
dismissal was legal because his HIV-positive status caused negative 
reactions from his coworkers and created a negative work environment. 
The General Confederation of Greek Workers protested the Supreme 
Court's decision, but there were no further developments. No such cases 
were reported during the year.
    Persons with HIV/AIDs were exempt from military service on medical 
grounds.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides that all workers, 
with the exception of members of the military services, have the right 
to form and join independent unions of their choice without any 
previous authorization or excessive requirements, and workers exercised 
this right. Approximately 30 percent of the labor force was unionized. 
Agricultural employees, most of whom were foreigners, were not 
unionized. 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 strike, and workers in the 
private sector and in public corporations exercised this right in 
practice. Police have the right to organize and demonstrate but not to 
strike. There are some legal restrictions on strikes, including a 
mandatory notice period of four days for public utility workers and 24 
hours for workers in the private sector. The law mandates minimum staff 
levels (as determined by management) 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 (of transportation workers, air traffic 
controllers, garbage collectors, dock workers, and others) illegal 
during the year for reasons such as a failure by the union to give 
adequate advance notice of the strike or the introduction of new 
demands by a union during the course of the strike, but no workers were 
prosecuted for striking. Numerous strikes took place during the year 
involving private and public sector employees, public utility 
employees, truck drivers, and garbage collectors. There were no 
apparent government impediments to the right to strike.
    In 2008 unknown persons attacked Constantina Kuneva, secretary of 
the All Attica Union of Cleaners and Domestic Workers. The perpetrators 
threw sulfuric acid in her face and forced her to swallow it. Unions 
believed that the attack was a result of Kuneva's union activism and 
her advocacy on behalf of migrant workers. The perpetrators were not 
found and the judicial and police investigation was terminated in June.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
generally provides for the right to bargain collectively and unions 
exercised this right freely. No antiunion discrimination was reported 
during the year. All workers in Greece are covered by collective 
bargaining agreements except for security and armed forces personnel, 
whose salaries are unilaterally determined by the state. Civil servants 
negotiate and conclude collective agreements with the Government on all 
issues except for salaries, for which the Government has a 
constitutionally provided prerogative. In December the Government 
passed new legislation to implement the EU-IMF austerity plan that 
allows workplace-level agreements to take precedence over sector-level 
agreements. The legislation imposes a salary cap for employees of 
public enterprises as well as a 10 percent salary cut for salaries 
reaching a certain limit. The unions argued that the reforms would 
weaken nationwide sectoral unions and diminish workers' bargaining 
strength.
    There are three export processing zones in the country. There are 
no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in export 
processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
all forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, women, 
children, and men were trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation or 
for labor exploitation in agricultural and construction sectors. For 
more information on forced labor, please see the Department of State's 
annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law protects children from exploitation in the workplace and prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor; however, the Government did not adequately 
protect children, primarily Roma, who were trafficked for commercial 
sexual exploitation, or for begging, pick-pocketing or selling 
merchandise on the street.
    The minimum age for employment in the industrial sector is 15, with 
higher limits for some activities. The minimum age is 12 in family 
businesses, theaters, and the cinema. These limits were enforced by 
occasional spot checks by the Labor Inspectorate and were generally 
observed. Families who engaged in agriculture, food service, and 
merchandising were often assisted by younger family members on at least 
a part-time basis.
    Child labor was a problem, although international and local 
observers agreed that the number of working children had decreased 
compared with previous years. A number of children begged or sold small 
items in the streets. The Government and NGOs reported that the 
majority of beggars were either indigenous Roma or Albanian Roma. Local 
advocates for children estimated that a large number of the 150,000 
children under the age of 18 who dropped out of school each year ended 
up in the labor market, often in poorly paid and arduous positions. 
Jobs for dropouts included washing cars, pumping gas, construction, and 
low-level service sector employment.
    In 2008 Human Rights Watch reported that unaccompanied immigrant 
children, working mainly in the agriculture, construction, and garment 
manufacturing sectors, were particularly vulnerable to labor 
exploitation. The situation remained largely unchanged during the year.
    There were reports that children from Albania were trafficked and 
forced to beg, although this practice was reportedly less frequent 
during the year. Some parents forced their children to beg for money or 
used their children to elicit sympathy while the parents begged for 
money.
    The Labor Inspectorate is responsible for enforcing labor 
legislation; however, trade unions alleged that enforcement was 
inadequate due to Labor Inspectorate understaffing.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum wage of 33 
euros ($47) per day and 740 euros ($1,060) per month was not enough to 
provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family in urban 
areas with higher living costs. Wages were officially the same for 
local and foreign workers, but there were numerous reports of 
exploitation of documented, and particularly of undocumented foreign 
workers, by employers who paid low wages and made no social security 
contributions. Workers in the shadow economy, estimated to comprise 
approximately 25 percent of GDP, usually received less than the minimum 
wage and had no social security coverage. The Labor Inspectorate 
estimated in September that more than 35 percent of migrants were 
getting salaries below the minimum and did not have social security 
coverage. Legislation passed during the year allows employers to pay 
workers under the age of 25 wages amounting to 84 percent of the 
national minimum wage.
    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 one month per 
year, and sets limits on the amount of overtime worked. Premium pay and 
authorization by the Ministry of Employment and Social Security is 
required by law for overtime work. The Labor Inspectorate is 
responsible for enforcement of labor legislation; however, trade unions 
alleged that enforcement was inadequate, especially in the construction 
and public works sectors, due to insufficient inspectorate staffing.
    The law provides for minimum standards of occupational health and 
safety. The General Confederation of Greek Workers 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 have the right to lodge a confidential complaint 
with the Labor Inspectorate. Inspectors can close machinery or a 
process for up to five days if they see safety or health hazards that 
they believe represent an imminent danger to workers.

                               __________

                                HUNGARY

    Hungary is a republic with a population of approximately 10 million 
and a multiparty parliamentary democracy. Legislative authority is 
vested in the unicameral parliament (National Assembly). The National 
Assembly elects the head of state, the president, every five years. The 
president appoints a prime minister from the majority party or 
coalition. The National Assembly elections on April 11 and 25 were 
assessed as free and fair, with the conservative Fidesz-Christian 
Democrat (KDNP) coalition winning enough seats in the second round to 
achieve a two-thirds majority. Fidesz's prime ministerial candidate, 
Viktor Orban, took office on May 29. Security forces reported to 
civilian authorities.
    Human rights problems included police use of excessive force 
against suspects, particularly Roma; new restrictions on due process; 
new laws that expanded restrictions on speech and the types of media 
subject to government regulation; government corruption; societal 
violence against women and children; sexual harassment of women; and 
trafficking in persons. Other problems continued, including extremist 
violence and harsh rhetoric against ethnic and religious minority 
groups and discrimination against Roma in education, housing, 
employment, and access to social services.
                        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 arbitrary or 
unlawful killings during the year.
    In December 2009 the Somogy County Military Prosecutor's Office 
pressed charges against 10 prison guards at the Kaposvar prison for 
causing the death of a pretrial detainee and physically assaulting nine 
other inmates in February 2009. Authorities fired three of the 10 and 
suspended three others in April; one retired, and three remained in 
office. The case was active at the Gyor-Moson-Sopron County Court at 
year's end.
    On September 3, the Budapest Prosecutor's Office charged a police 
officer with using his service weapon to kill a man during a December 
2009 robbery. The officer was suspended in December 2009, and the 
Budapest Investigative Prosecutors' Office indicted him in the 
Metropolitan Court on September 1. The case remained pending at year's 
end.
    During the year the Office of the Prosecutor continued its 
investigation of Sandor Kepiro, who was convicted by Hungarian courts 
in 1944 and 1946 for his role in the January 1942 Novi Sad massacre in 
Serbia, in which more than 1,200 persons were killed, most of them 
Jews. His punishment was never carried out. In 2006 the Simon 
Wiesenthal Center discovered that Kepiro was living in Budapest, and in 
2007 the Prosecutor's Office opened a new case against him. (A court 
ruled that the records related to the previous verdict had been lost, 
and thus the sentence could not be carried out.) On December 16, the 
Pest Central District Court dismissed a countersuit by Kepiro. The 
Jerusalem office of the Wiesenthal Center continued to criticize the 
country for failing to bring Kepiro to justice.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) reported that police often 
verbally and physically abused suspects of Roma origin in certain areas 
of the country, most frequently in the northeastern Borsod-Abauj-
Zemplen County.
    On June 8, the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of 
Torture (CPT) released the report on its March-April 2009 visit to the 
country. In its report the CPT delegation stated it received complaints 
from a few recent police detainees of excessive use of force (i.e., 
kicks, punches) at the time of apprehension and tight handcuffing 
during transport.
    On March 8, the Budapest Metropolitan Court acquitted five police 
officers of raping a woman in 2007. The court cited questionable 
elements of the woman's story and determined that no crime had been 
committed. The woman appealed the verdict. No further information was 
available at year's end.
    In December 2009 the prosecutor's office in Eger opened an 
investigation into an allegation by a Romani man that five police 
officers assaulted him. The case remained pending at year's end.
    Between 2006 and 2009, authorities conducted 203 criminal 
investigations of police misconduct in connection with large 
antigovernment demonstrations and riots in Budapest and other major 
cities in 2006. Prosecutors terminated their investigations in 171 
cases, mainly because they could not identify individual perpetrators; 
courts rejected the charges in eight cases; and the prosecutor pressed 
charges in 20 cases. Courts found the defendants guilty of causing 
bodily harm in 10 of these cases; the verdicts were not subject to 
appeal. Of the other cases, three remained under investigation, and 
three were transferred to the military prosecutor's office for action.
    On May 20, the National Assembly created a subcommittee of its 
Human Rights Committee charged with investigating crimes that may have 
been committed by state officials between 2002 and 2010, particularly 
during the 2006 antigovernment demonstrations. Former National Police 
Chief Laszlo Bene admitted to the subcommittee that police had made 
mistakes in their handling of the 2006 riots. On October 20, the full 
Human Rights Committee approved the subcommittee's final report. The 
report concluded that, ``between 2002 and 2010 the Government 
repeatedly took illegal actions against those exercising their 
political freedoms, banned a series of events of which police had been 
properly notified, and failed to distinguish between the peaceful 
exercise of fundamental rights and illegal forms of expression.'' 
Describing the events occurring in the autumn of 2006 as the 
``culmination of this trend,'' the report criticized the Governments of 
the period for failing to adopt policies that would permit dissent but 
keep it within lawful bounds and failing to promote police 
accountability by, for example, not requiring officers involved in 
crowd dispersion to wear identification numbers.
    On November 2, subcommittee chairman Gergely Gulyas filed his 
report with Prosecutor General Tamas Kovacs thereby initiating an 
investigation into three aspects of police behavior related to the 2006 
events: the lack of disciplinary action against the Budapest police 
chief, the absence of identification badges on police uniforms, and the 
failure of the police to protect Hungarian National Television 
employees when protestors entered their office building. The 
investigations remained pending at the end of the year.
    On September 13, the Government ordered the Ministry of Interior 
and the Ministry of the National Economy to settle all registered and 
established requests for monetary compensation related to unlawful 
police actions during the 2006 demonstrations. As of October 22, the 
Government had paid a total of 175,472,000 forint ($831,620) to 73 
persons of the 101 whose claims it accepted as valid.
    On September 21, the Supreme Court reversed an earlier decision and 
ruled that the police action to break up an anti-government 
demonstration in front of parliament in 2006 was illegal.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions fell short of international standards in some areas. 
The Government permitted visits by independent human rights observers.
    Human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and prison 
monitors repeatedly expressed concern about prison overcrowding. For 
example, in its June 8 report, the CPT reported observing severe 
overcrowding at the Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen Prison in almost all cells, 
with up to four prisoners in cells of eight square meters (86 square 
feet), 10 to 14 prisoners in cells of 25 square meters (269 square 
feet), and up to 14 prisoners in cells of 32 square meters (344 square 
feet).
    According to the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC), prison 
overcrowding increased during the year. Shortages of bed linens, 
towels, and clothing, and inadequate medical care remained problems. 
Sanitation and toilet facilities were also poor in some instances. In 
some prisons, toilets were not separate from living spaces. Many police 
holding cells did not have toilets and running water; lighting and 
ventilation were often inadequate.
    In its June 8 report, the CPT indicated that it received several 
credible accounts, supported by medical evidence, of staff mistreating 
prisoners (by punches and kicks) at the Miskolc Prison and allegations 
of mistreatment (by slaps, punches, and kicks) of prisoners at the 
Tiszalok Prison. At the Tiszalok Prison the CPT heard one allegation 
involving the unacceptable use of handcuffs (fixed behind a prisoner's 
back and raised to inflict pain) that could be considered assault.
    On November 18, a military court found a guard at the Budapest 
Maximum and Medium Security Prison guilty of mistreating an inmate in 
June 2009. The court sentenced the defendant to one year in prison but 
agreed to three years' probation in lieu of the prison sentence. Both 
prosecution and defense appealed the verdict. According to the HHC, the 
same inmate alleged that following the verdict, a prison guard in the 
Metropolitan Penitentiary Institution mistreated him while referring to 
the conviction of his colleague. The appeals of the original case and 
an investigation into the allegations of mistreatment by a second guard 
were pending at year's end.
    On May 7, the Metropolitan Court of Appeals upheld the conviction 
of two prison guards of physical abuse in an official capacity when 
they attacked an inmate in the Miskolc Prison in 2008. The court 
sentenced one guard to eight months' imprisonment, suspended him for 
two years, and demoted him in rank for one year. It fined the second 
guard 87,500 forint ($414).
    Both the HHC and the CPT noted that detainees who alleged physical 
mistreatment were usually examined only by internal medical staff. 
Further, on May 27, the national police chief ordered that medical 
examinations could be conducted in the absence of law enforcement staff 
only at the request of the detainee or the doctor, and only if 
permitted by the senior guard supervisor.
    According to the June 8 CPT report, conditions at police holding 
facilities were generally adequate; however, the committee noted that 
one prisoner in detention at the time of the visit was subjected to 
degrading treatment. He was in the Budapest police central holding 
facility in a high security ``cell'' that consisted of a barred area 
within a single cell. Both the detainee and his sanitary facilities 
were subjected to powerful round-the-clock spotlights and video 
surveillance. In May 2009 authorities reportedly installed infrared 
cameras so the spotlights could be turned off at night. However, the 
CPT noted that the unscreened sanitary facilities remained in the field 
of vision of video surveillance cameras and in full view of supervising 
staff.
    According to authorities, seven inmates had committed suicide as of 
October 19. In each case, a mandatory investigation cleared prison 
guards and other prisoners of any responsibility for the deaths.
    On March 19, a man committed suicide in his cell at the Central 
Police Holding Facility of the Budapest Police Headquarters one day 
after his arrest. The deceased's sister noticed injuries on her 
brother's body and face. On March 22, the Budapest Police Headquarters 
launched its mandatory investigation. Simultaneously, the Budapest 
Investigative Prosecutor's Office opened its own investigation into the 
alleged mistreatment. Neither investigation was completed by year's 
end.
    On March 29, a 22-year-old woman committed suicide in the central 
holding facility of the Budapest police headquarters. Authorities 
placed the woman, a registered heroin user, in a cell alone, although 
she had declared that she would rather die than go to prison. On July 
12, the HHC appealed the results of the National Police Headquarters' 
mandatory investigation that cleared prison guards of responsibility. 
On August 11, the police revoked their initial decision and reopened 
the case, which was pending at the end of the year.
    According to the Hungarian Prison Service, the prison population 
increased to 132 percent of capacity as of December 31, compared with 
129 percent in 2009. On December 31, 16,366 inmates were in prisons and 
detention centers. On July 19, the Government reopened the prison in 
Solt to reduce overcrowding, increasing the capacity of the system by 
288.
    During the year human rights NGOs did not report any cases of 
juveniles being held together with adults.
    The law provides prisoners with a minimum of one 30-minute visit 
per month. In practice, prison wardens decide the maximum length of 
visiting time, which at most facilities is one hour. The law allowed 
detainees phone calls in accordance with the technical capacity of the 
individual penitentiary. The HHC reported that phone calls are 
available in every institution, but their permitted length varies 
significantly.
    Authorities permitted prisoners and detainees to submit complaints 
to judicial authorities without censorship and to request investigation 
of alleged inhumane conditions. Human rights NGOs did not report any 
complaints about censorship.
    City and county prosecutors, under the supervision of the 
prosecutor general, are primarily responsible for overseeing the 
lawfulness of the deprivation of liberty as well as investigating 
credible allegations of inhumane conditions. The prosecutor general 
regularly monitored prison and detention center conditions. These 
reports are not available to the public; however, the Office of the 
Prosecutor General provides reports upon specific request. The 
parliamentary commissioner (or ombudsman) for civil rights Mate Szabo 
visited seven prisons during the year and published five reports on his 
office's Web site. The ombudsman is not authorized to act on behalf of 
prisoners.
    The HHC reported that it conducted one visit to a prison and met 
with prisoners without the presence of prison officials.
    NGOs reported that prisoners and detainees were permitted religious 
observance. The HHC argued that the one-hour monthly limit on visits 
could not be regarded as reasonable access to visitors, especially in 
the case of pretrial detainees.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions. According to the Prosecutor General's 
Office, in 2009 there were 65 official complaints of arbitrary 
detention. The Office of the Prosecutor General rejected 22 complaints 
and initiated indictments in three cases.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The National Police 
Headquarters (NPH), which operates under the direction of the Ministry 
of Interior, is responsible for enforcing laws and maintaining order 
nationwide. Twenty regional police departments are directly subordinate 
to the NPH; city police are subordinate to the regional police and have 
local jurisdiction.
    On September 1, the Government opened a Counterterrorism Center in 
Budapest. The new center is directly subordinate to the minister of 
interior and is responsible for protecting the prime minister and the 
president and for preventing and investigating terrorist acts including 
kidnapping and hijacking.
    The Hungarian Defense Force is subordinate to the Ministry of 
Defense and is responsible for external security as well as aspects of 
domestic security and disaster response.
    The Office of the Military Prosecutor is responsible for conducting 
proceedings involving any member of the armed forces charged with a 
criminal offense, such as the abuse of official power, the 
mistreatment, unlawful detention, or forced interrogation..
    Penalties for police officers found guilty of wrongdoing include 
reprimand, dismissal, and criminal prosecution. A legislative amendment 
that took effect on March 24 mandates the automatic dismissal of police 
officers convicted of criminal acts committed while on duty.
    Victims of lesser police abuses may complain either to the alleged 
violator's unit or to the Independent Police Complaints Board (IPCB).
    In the first 10 months of the year, authorities found 2,914 police 
officers responsible for breaches of discipline, 868 guilty of petty 
offenses, 310 guilty of criminal offenses, and eight unfit for duty.
    In the same period, courts sentenced seven police officers to 
prison terms, gave suspended sentences to 25, fined 315, demoted four, 
and dismissed 11. In the same period courts convicted 32 officers of 
corruption. No information was available on the number placed on 
probation.
    The IPCB, established in 2008, investigated violations and 
omissions by the police that affected fundamental rights. The five-
member body, appointed by a two-thirds majority of the National 
Assembly, functions independently of police authorities. As of December 
8, the board had received 285 complaints from the public. It reviewed 
501 (including some cases filed in 2009) and found legal violations in 
157. The board forwarded the 157 cases to the national police chief, 
who agreed with the findings in one case, partially accepted the 
findings in 27, and rejected the remainder. The IPCB's authority is 
limited to making recommendations to the NPH and reporting its findings 
to Parliament.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Persons may be 
subject to ``short-term arrest'' if they are caught committing a crime, 
are suspected of having committed a crime, are the subject of an arrest 
warrant, or are unable or unwilling to identify themselves. Individuals 
who cannot prove their identity with identification documents may be 
charged with a petty offense. Generally, short-term arrests may last up 
to eight hours, but could last up to 12 hours in exceptional cases. 
Police may detain suspects whom they consider security threats for 24 
hours, and police and the prosecutor's office may order the 72-hour 
detention of suspects caught in the act when their identities cannot be 
established or if the conditions for pretrial detention exist. If the 
court does not order pretrial detention within 72 hours, police must 
release the person.
    On July 22, the National Assembly amended the law effective August 
19, making petty offenses against property (including petty theft) 
punishable by imprisonment. The amendment at the same time abolished 
the prohibition against incarcerating juveniles, but did not alter the 
provision that if the juvenile does not have an income or property, he 
or she cannot be fined by way of punishment. Alternative sanctions such 
as community service or mediation also do not apply in such cases. 
Human rights NGOs were concerned that the changes leave no alternative 
to incarceration for juveniles convicted of minor offenses. Human 
rights NGOs also maintained that convicted juveniles, even if confined 
in the same prisons as adults, should be held in separate quarters. On 
July 22, the National Assembly adopted regulations giving additional 
rights to certain judicial secretaries (law school graduates employed 
by the judiciary who have taken the bar examination but have not been 
appointed as attorneys by the president), such as the right to make 
decisions in petty offense cases. Human rights NGOs strongly criticized 
this provision, arguing that judicial secretaries are not independent 
because they are appointed by the head of the respective county court.
    Police must inform suspects of the charges against them and of the 
section of the criminal code under which they are charged at the 
beginning of their first interrogation, which must be within 24 hours 
of their detention. The authorities generally respected this right.
    There is a functioning bail system.
    According to the Hungarian Penitentiary Service, on December 31, 
4,844 persons were in pretrial detention. Of these, 1,083 had been 
detained for six months to a year, and 679 had been detained for more 
than a year.
    According to the law, police must inform suspects of their right to 
counsel before questioning them. However, in its June 8 report, the CPT 
noted that the majority of persons interviewed during its 2009 visit 
stated that they had not been allowed to contact a lawyer while in the 
status of ``apprehended'' persons (i.e. during their initial 12 hours 
in police custody). Representation by defense counsel is mandatory when 
defendants are deaf, blind, or suffering from a mental disorder; are 
unfamiliar with the Hungarian language; are unable to defend themselves 
in person for any other reason; are juveniles; or are indigent and 
request the appointment of a defense counsel. When defense counsel is 
required, defendants have three days to hire an attorney; otherwise, 
the police or the prosecutor will appoint one. If defendants make clear 
their unwillingness to retain counsel, the police or the prosecutor is 
required to appoint counsel immediately. However, the police or 
prosecutor is not obligated to wait for counsel to arrive before 
interrogating the suspect. According to human rights NGOs, police 
routinely proceeded with the interrogation immediately after notifying 
a suspect of his right to counsel.
    The law permits detainees to notify relatives or others of their 
detention unless the notification would jeopardize the investigation. 
If the detainee cannot exercise this right, police must make a 
notification of where the individual has been detained within 24 hours. 
However, the IPCB as well as NGOs reported that in practice police did 
not fully comply with this requirement.
    Under the law persons who are detained and later acquitted may 
receive monetary compensation.
    According to NGO reports, Roma were detained and subjected to 
racial profiling more frequently than non-Roma. Research conducted in 
2008 by the HHC with data from the HNP and the National Police College 
indicated that Roma were three times more likely to be stopped for 
identification checks than non-Roma. However, the same data also 
indicated that Roma are no more likely to be involved in unlawful 
activities than non-Roma.
    As of year's end, there was no further information about the 
Tatabanya Municipal Court's March 2009 detention order for an 83-year-
old woman who was ill in the hospital. The order allegedly violated a 
2007 Constitutional Court ruling that the accused must be present in 
court when pretrial detention is ordered.

    Amnesty.--President Laszlo Solyom issued 20 official pardons during 
the year. President Pal Schmitt, who succeeded Solyom on August 6, 
issued three.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected 
judicial independence in practice.
    The National Assembly's subcommittee in charge of investigating 
legal violations committed by state officials in Budapest during the 
2006 demonstrations criticized judges for giving jail sentences to 150 
persons, 90 of whom later successfully appealed their sentences. The 
committee also summoned judges who were involved in these decisions for 
questioning. On September 19, Supreme Court Chief Justice Andras Baka 
stated that it was intolerable for a parliamentary investigative 
committee to review specific rulings and hold judges personally 
responsible, because this could restrict the legal system's 
independence.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution and law provide for the right 
to a fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this 
right. The law extends these rights to all defendants.
    Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. There is no 
jury system; verdicts are rendered by judges. Judicial proceedings 
generally are investigative rather than adversarial. Trials are 
generally public, but the judge can prohibit or restrict public access 
to a trial to ensure participant privacy or trial safety. Depending 
upon space available in the courtroom, a judge may limit public access 
to preregistered visitors. The prosecutor, victim, defendant, and 
defense counsel may also request that public access to proceedings be 
restricted to protect minors younger than 14, witnesses, or state or 
business secrets. The court must publically announce the final decision 
of every case.
    The HCLU repeatedly raised concerns about the lack of clear 
guidance on the recording of ongoing trials and the courts' practice of 
occasionally restricting cameras in the courtroom during public 
proceedings.
    Defendants have the right to be present and are entitled to consult 
with an attorney during all phases of criminal proceedings.
    Representation by defense counsel is mandatory for defendants 
facing a charge for which the punishment is five years or more in 
prison, as well as for those in detention. If the defendant fails to 
retain counsel within three days the police or the prosecutor will 
appoint one at public expense.
    Defendants may challenge or question witnesses and may present 
witnesses and evidence on their own behalf. Defendants have access to 
government-held evidence relevant to their cases. Defendants have the 
right of appeal.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--During the year the 
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on 10 cases lodged by 
citizens against the state. Six involved complaints that domestic court 
proceedings exceeded the ``reasonable time'' requirement of the 
European Convention on Human Rights. In all six cases, the ECHR ruled 
in favor of the plaintiffs and ordered the state to pay between 2,300 
and 14,500 euros ($3,060 and $19,300).
    On May 20, the ECHR issued a decision favoring a plaintiff who 
challenged the decision of the authorities denying him the right to 
vote because he was under partial guardianship for manic depression, a 
condition the constitution envisages as a possible basis for 
deprivation of the franchise. However, the ECHR concluded that the 
indiscriminate removal of voting rights (without an individual judicial 
evaluation and based solely on a mental disability necessitating 
partial guardianship) violated the convention and awarded the plaintiff 
3,000 euros ($4,000).
    Also on May 20, the ECHR ruled in favor of a plaintiff who claimed 
he was mistreated due to his physical disability while serving a prison 
sentence at Szeged Prison in 2005-06. The court awarded him 12,000 
euros ($16,000).
    On July 6, the ECHR ruled that a police search of the office of a 
lawyer violated her right under the convention to respect for one's 
``home.'' The ECHR awarded her 3,000 euros ($4,000).
    On December 14, the ECHR ruled in favor of a pregnant woman who 
accused the state of violating her right to privacy under the 
convention by threatening to punish midwives, thus effectively 
preventing her from choosing to give birth at home. The court decided 
that the violation resulted from the failure of the state to regulate 
the issue.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters. Under the law persons may 
seek damages for human rights violations; however, fines levied in such 
cases are payable to the state and not the victim. Generally, the fines 
were too small to deter violators.
    On November 16, the National Assembly passed a constitutional 
amendment depriving the Constitutional Court of the authority to 
express an opinion or pass a ruling on central budget, tax, or social 
contributions issues, except in cases affecting certain fundamental 
rights, such as the rights to life and human dignity; the protection of 
personal data; freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; and rights 
linked to Hungarian citizenship. However, the sanctity of ownership of 
property was not included among the fundamental rights. On the same 
day, Fidesz resubmitted legislation imposing a retroactive 98 percent 
tax on large public sector severance packages, which the Court had 
declared unconstitutional in October, before the constitutional 
amendment removed such fiscal matters from its purview. Opposition 
parties and human rights NGOs strongly criticized the amendment for 
weakening the system of checks and balances, and thus the rule of law, 
and removing any consequences for violations of some areas of the 
constitution. Transparency International and other human rights groups 
vowed to appeal to the secretary general of the Council of Europe.
    On October 27, Chief Judge of the Metropolitan Court Laszlo Gatter 
resigned from his post effective December 31, to protest the 
Government's decision to restrict the jurisdiction of the 
Constitutional Court.

    Property Restitution.--The Government continued to facilitate the 
restitution of religious properties confiscated by the state during the 
communist era and sought to ensure that all religious organizations had 
an equal opportunity to regain control over their former property.
    The Constantinople Patriarchy Hungarian Exarchy (the Hungarian 
branch of the Greek Orthodox Church) continued to demand the 
restitution of property that the Russian Orthodox Community has 
occupied since the 1950s. When Hungarian courts dismissed the Greek 
Orthodox community's claim to the property, the community turned to the 
ECHR. The case was pending at year's end.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and 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 and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally 
respected these rights in practice. The independent media were active 
and expressed a wide variety of views. However, laws enacted during the 
year broadened the range of views whose expression was illegal to 
include public denial, doubt about, or minimizing the Holocaust, 
genocide and other crimes of the National Socialist and Communist 
regimes. Laws passed in July, November, and December concentrated 
authority over the media in a single government body with wide-ranging 
authorities.
    Individuals generally could criticize the Government in public or 
private without reprisal; however, individuals could be held liable for 
their published statements or for publicizing libelous statements made 
by others. Journalists reporting on an event could be judged criminally 
responsible for making or reporting false statements. Officials 
continued to use the libel laws to claim compensation for perceived 
injuries to their character.
    The criminal code includes provisions against incitement of hatred 
and hate-inspired violence. Any person who publicly incites hatred 
against any national, ethnic, or racial group or certain other groups 
of the population is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment 
for up to three years. In addition, any person who verbally assaults 
someone because of his membership in a national, ethnic, racial, or 
religious group is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for up 
to five years. NGOs criticized courts for failing to convict persons 
for inciting hatred unless the crime was accompanied by a physical 
assault.
    On February 22, the National Assembly amended the criminal code to 
criminalize Holocaust denial. According to the new provision, anyone 
who denied the Holocaust or diminished its significance could be 
imprisoned for up to three years. On June 8, the National Assembly 
amended the law to remove specific reference to the Holocaust and to 
broaden its scope to cover public denial, expression of doubt, or the 
minimization of genocide or other acts against mankind committed by 
either National Socialist or Communist regimes. The law provides that 
such crimes carry a maximum sentence of three years in prison. On 
September 27, the HCLU filed a petition with the Constitutional Court 
to overturn the law, arguing that it imposes serious restrictions on 
freedom of speech. The case remained pending at year's end.
    The law prohibits the public display of certain symbols. They 
include the swastika, the hammer and sickle, and the arrow cross, a 
symbol associated with the country's fascist World War II-era 
government. The law prohibiting the public display of the five-pointed 
red star remained in effect despite a 2008 ECHR ruling that declared it 
to be a violation of the right to freedom of expression.
    On August 3, a member of the far-right Jobbik faction in 
parliament, Gyula Gyorgy Zagyva, allegedly harassed and threatened two 
journalists of the weekly paper Hetek during the Magyar Sziget music 
festival in Veroce. Reportedly, Zagyva, while brandishing a whip, told 
the journalists ``you should be glad that you were not beaten up.'' He 
reportedly also said it was a sign of ``Jewish arrogance'' that the 
journalists turned on their Dictaphone and that he wanted to ``stamp 
out their guts.'' Zagyva denied the reports. The Vac Municipal 
Prosecutor's Office ordered an inquiry, and the case remained pending 
at year's end.
    On January 19, the Supreme Court ruled that former national media 
watchdog, the National Television and Radio Commission (ORTT) violated 
the law in awarding licenses for the only two frequencies that 
broadcast countrywide. ORTT's decision to reject the bids of existing 
radio networks Slager and Danubius to renew their licenses for another 
seven years triggered strong criticism both domestically and 
internationally. On July 14, an arbitration board upheld the Supreme 
Court decision. Despite the court decision, ORTT and its successor, the 
National Media and Infocommunication Authority (NMHH), failed to 
terminate contracts with the winning bidders.
    On July 22, November 2, and December 21, the National Assembly 
adopted a series of laws governing media regulation, most of which were 
scheduled to enter into force on January 1, 2011. However, the law 
specifies that the Media Council may initiate proceedings against the 
providers of on-demand media services or print products only after July 
1, 2011.
    The July 22 law created the NMHH by merging the ORTT and the 
National Telecommunication Authority. The NMHH is a central government 
agency subordinated to the parliament that ``contributes to the 
execution of the Government's policy in the area of frequency 
management and telecommunications.'' The prime minister appoints the 
president of the NMHH for a nine-year term with no limit on reelection. 
The president then serves as chair of the five-member Media Council 
that parliament appoints to supervise electronic media content. The 
four additional council members are elected to nine-year terms by a 
two-thirds majority vote of members of parliament (MPs) in attendance.
    The July 22 law also transformed the public service broadcasting 
system. It converted the state-owned radio broadcaster, Hungarian 
Radio, the public television companies, MTV and Duna Television, and 
the Hungarian News Agency (MTI), into closed, not-for-profit, 
shareholder companies. The ownership and supervisory levels, as well as 
the real assets (high-end real estate, archives, and production units), 
of these companies were merged under the newly established Public 
Service Foundation. The foundation is managed by an eight-member Board 
of Trustees, six of whom are elected by a two-thirds majority vote of 
MPs in attendance, while the chair and one other member are delegated 
by the Media Council. All members serve nine-year terms. On September 
9, the opposition Hungarian Socialist Party filed a complaint with the 
Constitutional Court against the new media law, arguing that its 
sections on the supervisory structure and financing are 
unconstitutional. Later in September, the green party LMP together with 
Jobbik also challenged the media law at the Constitutional Court. The 
cases remained pending at year's end.
    These substantial legislative changes in media regulations 
generated strong criticism from national and international human rights 
organizations concerning the new framework for media regulation and 
supervision. On September 7, the Organization for Security and 
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) released a report by Dr. Karol Jakubowicz, 
commissioned by the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the 
Media, which found that the legislation introduces ``stricter 
regulation, more pervasive controls and limitations on freedom of 
expression.'' The OSCE report also expressed concern that the head of 
the Media Council will be a political appointee and that the selection 
method for the Public Service Foundation's board of trustees will lead 
to a politicized public service broadcasting system.
    Legislation passed on November 2 focused on content regulation and 
set standards for journalistic rights, ethics, and norms. It applied to 
all media, including news portals and on-line publications. Under the 
law, all citizens are entitled to be appropriately informed about 
local, national, and European public affairs, as well as other ``events 
bearing relevance'' for Hungarians. The law prohibits inciting hatred 
against persons, nations, communities, ethnic, linguistic or other 
minorities, majority groups, churches, or religious groups. The 
legislation provides exceptions to journalists' right to source 
protection in cases when unauthorised sources reveal classified 
information, and when courts or government authorities rule that such 
disclosure is ``in the interest of protecting national security and 
public order, or uncovering or preventing criminal acts.''
    The bill passed on December 21 gave the Media Council the authority 
to impose fines for violations of content regulation, including media 
services that violated prohibitions on inciting hatred or violating 
human dignity, or regulations governing the protection of minors, 
public health, public security, national security and consumers and 
investors. The council may impose fines for violations ranging from 10 
to 200 million forint ($47,000 to $948,000), depending on the type of 
publication and audience size. It may fine individual editors 2 million 
forint ($9,500). The council can also suspend media outlets' right to 
broadcast for up to a week. The council is also empowered to render 
``reprimanding judgments'' in cases of content that it considers 
``unbalanced.'' The council contended that media outlets would not have 
to pay the fines until any court proceedings have been completed. 
According to the law, decisions of the Media Council may be challenged 
in court by lodging a petition against the council, and the court may 
be requested to suspend the decision until the court challenge has been 
resolved. The postponement is not automatic according to the law; 
however, the Media Council argued that in practice the court would 
automatically defer the sanction. On December 22, the OSCE 
representative for press freedom expressed concern that the changes to 
the media law ``harm media freedom.''
    On December 21, the host and the editor of a public radio program 
were suspended from their duties by the radio's management after the 
host held a minute of silence protesting the passage of the media law. 
An internal investigation into their protest was ongoing at the station 
at year's end.
    The HCLU raised concerns that new media regulations merged the 
supervisory boards of all state-owned Public Service Broadcasting 
entities, including the state news agency, into a single foundation, 
and also placed their finances and assets under the control of the 
newly created Media Council. The HCLU also noted that all media, 
including television, radio, and Internet, are grouped under the same 
regulations despite wide variation in their uses. On December 24, 
European Commissioner for Media Affairs Neelie Kroes sent a letter to 
Deputy Prime Minister Tibor Navracsics requesting the full text of the 
act in order to assess whether it is in harmony with EU regulations on 
media freedom.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
According to the International Telecommunication Union, in 2009 
approximately 63 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.
    However, European Commissioner Kroes, NGOs, and the foreign press 
raised concerns that provisions of the new media laws requiring 
balanced reporting and registration of media outlets lacked clear 
limits and could be interpreted to include blogs. The Government and 
the NMHH argued that, in practice, blogs would be exempt from these 
requirements on the basis that they are not considered ``business 
endeavors.''
    There were no reports that the Government attempted to collect the 
personally identifiable information of a person in connection with that 
person's peaceful expression of political, religious, or ideological 
opinion or beliefs.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--On November 17, the director 
of the state-run National Theater cancelled an agreement to host a 
national day observance by the Romanian Cultural Institute of Budapest 
following objections by Fidesz, Christian Democrat, and Jobbik 
parliamentarians. The December1 national day commemorates the 1918 Alba 
Iulia National Assembly, which declared the unification of 
Transylvania, until then a Hungarian territory, with the Kingdom of 
Romania. The Fidesz caucus issued a statement that ``the loss of 
Transylvania constitutes a deep trauma to the present day for the 
majority of the Hungarian nation. While we acknowledge that this 
historical event tragic for Hungarians is a national holiday for 
Romania, we do not expect it to be celebrated in a symbolic space of 
our national culture.''

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
and law provide for freedom of assembly and association, and the 
Government generally respected these rights in practice.

    Freedom of Assembly.--Under the law, demonstrations do not require 
a police permit, but event organizers must inform police of a planned 
assembly in a public place at least three days in advance. The law 
authorizes police to prohibit any gathering if it seriously endangers 
the peaceful operation of representative bodies or courts, or if it is 
not possible to ensure alternate routes for traffic. However, police 
are not required to disband a spontaneous, unauthorized assembly that 
remains peaceful. During the year police prohibited six demonstrations, 
which represented less than 1 percent of total announced 
demonstrations.
    During the year the HHC and other human rights organizations 
repeatedly emphasized the need to modify the law on assembly to clarify 
when the police may prevent a public gathering. According to the HHC, 
the law does not permit the police to prevent a demonstration based on 
an unverified assumption that the demonstrators are highly likely to 
commit a criminal offense. According to NGOs, the shortcomings of the 
law sometimes resulted in inconsistent police practices.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and the law provide for 
freedom of association, and the Government generally respected this 
right.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice.
    The Government cooperated with the Office of the United Nations 
High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in 
providing protection and assistance to refugees, returning refugees, 
asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees.
    The Asylum Act includes definitions for the principles of ``safe 
country of origin'' and ``safe country of transit,'' including adequate 
provisions for individual consideration in exceptional cases. In 
practice, authorities decide on a case-by-case basis whether the 
country of origin may be regarded as a safe country of origin for the 
applicant.
    In law and practice, the Government generally provided protection 
against the expulsion or the return of refugees to countries where 
their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, 
religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or 
political opinion.
    During the year the Office of Immigration and Nationality (OIN) 
received 2,104 applications for refugee status and approved 74. 
According to the law, OIN shall grant ``subsidiary protection'' status 
to foreigners who do not qualify as refugees but for whom there is a 
risk of exposure to serious harm upon their return to the country of 
origin. OIN granted 115 persons ``subsidiary protection'' status. The 
law provides that OIN may authorize persons to stay in the country by 
granting them ``tolerated status'' consistent with Hungary's non-
refoulement obligations under international law. During the year, OIN 
granted 58 persons ``tolerated status.''
    On February 26, the HHC filed a complaint with the Office of the 
Prosecutor General concerning the OIN practice of detaining certain 
asylum seekers beyond the 15-day pre-assessment period. In its April 15 
response, the Office of the Prosecutor General repeated its previous 
warning to OIN, ordering the termination of the unlawful practice. OIN 
challenged this notice at the Ministry of Interior. On June 21, the 
ministry accepted OIN's argument and authorized it to continue the 
practice.
    On November 22, the National Assembly modified the Asylum Act, 
introducing several restrictive measures in immigration policing, such 
as increasing the maximum period of detention from 6 months to 12 
months, rejecting manifestly unfounded asylum claims in the 
admissibility procedure, and detaining families with minor children for 
30 days in exceptional cases. A disputed element of the legislation 
allowing for the continued detention of asylum seekers after they enter 
the ``in-merit'' procedure was eliminated. The HHC criticized the new 
regulations, arguing that the restrictions could not be justified by 
migratory trends and that certain of the new measures were contrary to 
the European Union Directive on Return.
    According to established procedures, immigration police interview 
individuals detained at the border and then ask the OIN whether the 
person's deportation would be in breach of the country's non-
refoulement obligations. The OIN issues a binding expert opinion, 
taking into account the interview as well as UN reports and other 
country-of-origin information.
    On December 16, Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report on the 
treatment of asylum seekers and migrants in Ukraine analyzing the 
readmission procedures from neighboring EU countries. HRW interviewed 
14 migrants who were returned from Hungary to Ukraine in 2008-10. 
Nearly all of them said that officials ignored their requests for 
asylum and that they were ``pressured or tricked into signing papers 
they did not understand, or told they would be driven to a reception 
center, before being deported to Ukraine.'' According to the HRW 
report, OIN had determined that it was permissible to return to Ukraine 
all 14 of the migrants HRW subsequently interviewed. OIN stated that 
there were no cases in which an asylum claim was rejected on the basis 
that Ukraine was a safe third country.
    The HHC claimed there were incidents of police failing to identify 
asylum seekers in border procedures and of forced return of asylum 
seekers who were vulnerable or in need of international protection. OIN 
stated that they did not receive any official complaints.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens 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 and Political Participation.--The OSCE election 
observation mission reported that parliamentary elections held on April 
7, with a second round on April 21, were conducted in a manner 
consistent with international standards and commitments for democratic 
elections. The elections brought a Fidesz-KDNP coalition back to power 
with a two-thirds majority. Prime Minister Viktor Orban assumed office 
on May 29. The National Assembly elected Pal Schmitt president, and he 
took office on August 6.
    During the election campaign public stations Magyar Televizio 
(Hungarian Television) and Magyar Radio (Hungarian Radio) refused to 
broadcast an anti-Roma electoral campaign advertisement by the far-
right party Jobbik because it would contravene rules forbidding the 
denigration of minority groups. The advertisement focused on ``gypsy 
crime.'' The National Election Committee said on November 27 that the 
rejection of the Jobbik advertisement violated the principal of 
equality for political parties, and that its content did not overstep 
the boundaries of freedom of speech legislation. On October 4, the 
Constitutional Court ruled that the stations erred in not broadcasting 
the advertisements.
    The newly elected National Assembly amended the constitution to 
reduce the maximum number of MPs after the 2014 general elections from 
386 to 200, cutting roughly by half the number of local 
representatives, and to extend citizenship rights to ethnic Hungarians 
living beyond the country's present borders. There were no government 
restrictions on political parties.
    The 386-seat National Assembly elected in April included 34 women, 
20 percent fewer than its predecessor. There were no women in Prime 
Minister Orban's immediate cabinet, but women were represented at the 
sub-cabinet level. There also were no women on the Constitutional 
Court. Due to privacy laws regarding ethnic data, no statistics were 
available on the number of minorities in the National Assembly, 
cabinet, or Constitutional Court.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and NGOs 
contended that officials often engaged in corrupt practices with 
impunity.
    Corruption in the executive and legislative branches reportedly 
increased during the year, and numerous cases of alleged corruption 
received significant public attention. According to the World Bank's 
Worldwide Governance Indicators, government corruption was a problem. 
Corruption within police agencies remained a problem. Penalties for 
police officers found guilty of wrongdoing include reprimand, 
dismissal, and criminal prosecution.
    On January 18, the Prosecutor General's Office accused Budapest 
Seventh District Mayor Gyorgy Hunvald of signing millions of forint 
worth of fictitious consultancy contracts. Hunvald has been in pretrial 
detention on other corruption charges since February 2009. The case 
remained pending at year's end.
    On January 26, authorities took former Budapest Public Transport 
Company director Attila Antal into custody on fraud charges. Police 
stated that Antal, while director of the company in 2007-08, seriously 
violated its asset management regulations by signing contracts for 
unnecessary services. In addition, he approved excessive severance 
payments. The company's former human resources director, Eleonora 
Szalaine Szilagyi, was arrested in early January for alleged 
embezzlement after she authorized 86 million forint ($408,000) for 
herself in severance pay. The cases were part of an investigation into 
the company that began in 2009 in connection with 1.7 billion forint 
($8.4 million) in severance payments to 100 persons during the previous 
six years.
    On March 31, former Hungarian Socialist Party politician Janos 
Zuschlag was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison by the 
county court of Bacs-Kiskun. Zuschlag, the subject of an 18-month 
police investigation, was accused of siphoning state funds, estimated 
to total about 75 million forint ($355,400), and channeling them into 
Hungarian Socialist Party youth organizations. The court sentenced 15 
of Zuschlag's associates to one to five years in prison. The prosecutor 
appealed the verdict and the case remained pending at year's end.
    On September 1, police detained the former head of the State Asset 
Management Authority Miklos Tatrai, and former State Asset Management 
Authority sales manager Zsolt Csaszy, on suspicion of misuse of funds 
and other crimes related to the Sukoro casino project. According to the 
prosecutors, state properties provided for the casino project were 
undervalued by 734 million forint ($3.5 million), while land received 
in exchange from the investors was overvalued by 593 million forint 
($2.8 million).
    On September 28, the Komarom-Esztergom County chief prosecutor 
filed charges on misuse of funds against Tatrai in a separate case, 
charging that Tatrai ordered the illegal transfer 365 million forint 
($1.7 million) to state-owned Babolna stud farm. Both cases remained 
pending at year's end.
    Members of the National Assembly, high-level government officials, 
civil and public servants, and police officials disclosed their 
financial status on a regular basis, as the law requires. NGOs 
contended that the regulation is not adequate because there is no 
effective method for auditing or sanctioning violators.
    Several government offices were responsible for combating 
corruption. The State Audit Office audited the public sector and 
campaign spending of political parties. The independent judiciary, the 
prosecutors, the police, and in certain cases the customs and finance 
guard were responsible for investigating corruption. Special agencies 
such as the competition authority and the supervisory body of financial 
institutions were responsible for ensuring fair and transparent market 
conditions.
    The constitution and law provide both citizens and foreigners the 
right to access state-held information, although the Government may 
restrict access in order to protect what it determines to be legitimate 
state interests. Requestors may appeal denials in court. Government 
offices may charge a fee to cover copying costs. Government offices are 
required to give the requestor detailed reasons for any denials.
    According to the most recent statistics published by the ombudsman, 
government offices received 123,747 requests for information in 2009 
and rejected 164 because they involved commercial secrets or the 
offices concerned lacked authority to act. The HCLU contended that the 
ombudsman's statistics underestimated the percentage of denied 
requests.
    On June 23, a Budapest court ordered the Constitutional Protection 
Office, successor to the National Security Office, to make public the 
names of companies that have exclusive rights to participate in 
national security procurement. The ruling resulted from a lawsuit filed 
by Transparency International Hungary after the National Security 
Office refused to make the names available, citing national security 
considerations.
    On September 15, the Supreme Court ruled against the HHC in its 
effort to obtain the names of and statistics about lawyers appointed to 
represent defendants in court. The HHC had sued 11 police units in 2008 
for unlawfully denying their requests for this data, which the HHC 
regarded as in the public interest. The HHC maintained that police 
chose specific public defenders who were unlikely to contest vigorously 
charges against their clients, thus facilitating convictions. The 
Supreme Court ruled that the names of state-appointed public defenders 
were not data of public interest.
Section 5. 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 cooperative and responsive to their views.
    There are parliamentary commissioners (ombudsmen) for civil rights, 
national and ethnic minority rights, data protection, and future 
generations. They examine constitutional rights violations and initiate 
individual or general proceedings to prevent further violations. 
Following appointment by the president, a two-thirds parliamentary 
majority confirms the ombudsmen for six-year terms, renewable once. The 
ombudsmen are responsible only to the parliament, which allocates their 
financial resources in the annual state budget and votes on their 
annual report. The ombudsmen operated without government or party 
interference and published several reports during the year. The public 
perception of the ombudsmen's activities was generally positive.
    The parliamentary Committee for Human Rights and Minority, Civil, 
and Religious Affairs has 21 members selected in proportion to the 
parties' seats in parliament. The committee debates and reports on 
human rights-related bills and supervises the human rights-related 
activities of the ministers.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit discrimination based on race, 
gender, disability, language, or social status; however, the Government 
failed to enforce these rights fully in practice.
    During the year the Equal Treatment Authority (ETA), an independent 
authority set up by the Government to monitor enforcement of 
antidiscrimination laws, received 1,282 complaints. The ETA issued 377 
decisions and found 40 complaints of illegal discrimination to be 
justified. In the ``justified'' cases, the ETA ordered employers to 
stop their illegal activities, refrain from further wrongdoing, and in 
20 instances, pay penalties ranging from 100,000 to five million forint 
($473 to $23,700).

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is illegal, but human rights 
observers generally considered the problem to be underreported. Under 
the law, a sexual assault is considered rape only if it involves the 
use of force or threats. Penalties for rape range from two to eight 
years in prison and can be as long as 15 years in aggravated cases.
    According to the NPH, in the first eleven months of the year the 
prosecutor's offices pressed rape charges in 126 cases.
    The law does not specifically prohibit domestic violence or spousal 
abuse. The charge of assault and battery, which carries a maximum 
prison term of eight years, was used to prosecute domestic violence 
cases. Under a 2009 law, however, police called to the scene in 
domestic violence cases may issue an emergency restraining order valid 
for three days in lieu of immediately filing charges; courts are 
authorized to issue longer-term restraining orders. According to 
women's rights NGOs, the law does not provide appropriate protection 
for the victims and does not place sufficient emphasis on the 
accountability of perpetrators. NGOs noted that no protocols or 
systematic training regarding domestic violence were available for law 
enforcement personnel.
    Expert research in the field of domestic violence indicated that 
approximately 20 percent of women have been physically assaulted or 
victimized by domestic violence. According to the NPH, during the year 
8,514 women were reported to be victims; however, most incidents of 
domestic violence went unreported, due to fear and shame on the part of 
victims. Prosecution for domestic violence was rare. Prosecuting those 
who abused women was difficult because of societal attitudes that 
tended to blame the victim. According to NGOs, police remained 
reluctant to arrest abusers, due to a lack of confidence that the 
judicial system would effectively resolve abuse cases. Women's rights 
NGOs contended that many cases of violence against women required the 
victim to make a formal complaint in order to begin the criminal 
procedure, which prevented many victims from seeking justice.
    The Ministry of National Resources (formerly the Ministry of Social 
Affairs) operated a 24-hour hotline for victims of abuse. During the 
first half of the year, the ministry financed 11 shelters for socially 
disadvantaged persons, including victims of sexual abuse; the funding 
for two of the shelters ceased at the end of June. The ministry also 
continued to operate four ``halfway houses'' around the country 
available for 16 families for up to five years. Women's rights NGOs 
contended that services for the assistance of victims of violence 
against women either operated with limited capacity or did not meet 
international standards of good practice.
    The law establishes the right to a secure workplace and makes 
sexual harassment a criminal offense; however, according to NGOs, 
sexual harassment remained widespread. NGOs contended that the law did 
not clearly define sexual harassment, leaving victims with a lack of 
legal awareness or incentive to file a complaint. Through November, the 
NPH recorded 4,431 cases of harassment against woman. In the first nine 
months of the year, the ETA rejected one case of sexual harassment and 
imposed penalties in six others. Penalties included fines ranging from 
100,000 to one million forint ($474 to $4,739) and making the ETA 
decision public for up to six months.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children and to 
have the information and means to do so free from discrimination, 
coercion, and violence. There was easy access to contraception and to 
skilled attendance during childbirth, and national family planning 
services focused on providing prenatal and postnatal care and 
counseling. However, NGOs contended that the lack of legal framework 
regulating the work of midwives limited women's access to reproductive 
health care services, as the authorities do not recognize independent 
midwives as a professional group and can charge them with a crime for 
their work. According to data from international organizations, there 
were approximately 13 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2008. 
Women and men were equally diagnosed and treated for sexually 
transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS.
    Under the constitution and the law, men and women have equal 
rights. The ETA was responsible for monitoring the implementation of 
the Equal Treatment Law and for coordinating governmental activities in 
the field of gender equality. NGOs pointed out that the law has no 
gender-specific provisions. NGOs also raised concerns about the ETA's 
lack of financial and human resources to carry out its mission, which 
decreased even further under the restructuring of government 
ministries.
    According to the Central Statistical Agency, women continued to 
earn 17 percent less than men for substantially similar work. The ETA 
found employer discrimination against women in eight of the 19 
complaints it received. There was economic discrimination against women 
in the workplace, particularly against job seekers older than 50 and 
those who were pregnant or had returned from maternity leave.

    Children.--Citizenship is acquired by birth from a parent who is a 
citizen.
    While the law provides free compulsory education for children 
through 18 years of age, a 2006 study found that more than 82 percent 
of Roma have eight years of education or less, compared with 36 percent 
of the rest of the population. Similarly, while an estimated 40 percent 
of the population had some form of secondary schooling, only 3.1 
percent of Roma received such education. NGOs claimed that the right to 
public schooling is not honored for children with severe and multiple 
disabilities because public schools are not obliged to set up classes 
for those children.
    The public education system continued to provide inadequate 
instruction for minorities in their own languages. Romani language 
schoolbooks and qualified teachers were in short supply.
    Segregation of Romani schoolchildren remained a problem. NGOs and 
government officials estimated that one-third of Romani children were 
educated in segregated classes and that 20 percent were placed without 
justification in remedial classes for children with mental 
disabilities, effectively segregating them from other students. Schools 
with a majority of Romani students employed simplified teaching 
curricula, were generally less well equipped, and were in significantly 
worse physical condition than those with non-Romani majorities.
    During the year the Chance for Children Foundation (CFCF) initiated 
a lawsuit against Heves County and the county-operated Expert 
Committee, which diagnoses and certifies children with disabilities and 
learning difficulties. The CFCF claimed that the percentage of children 
certified as having such disabilities was much higher than in other 
counties, the number of Romani children among them was 
disproportionately high, and almost all certified children attend 
segregated remedial schools with substandard curricula. The CFCF asked 
the court to rule that there was racial bias in the diagnosing and 
certifying procedure and to ban the county and its institution from the 
practice. The case was pending at year's end.
    On June 7, the Supreme Court awarded 100,000 forint ($474) in 
compensation to five Romani children for enduring segregation during 
their primary schooling in Miskolc.
    On October 25, the ETA signed an agreement with a local school in 
Taktaharkany banning the segregation of Romani pupils. In 2008 the CFCF 
referred the case to the ETA on the grounds that Romani children were 
denied access to the school cafeteria and forced to attend classes in a 
separate building from non-Romani students.
    The CFCF also won financial compensation for two Romani boys in 
Nyiregyhaza whom authorities incorrectly diagnosed and certified as 
having learning difficulties and assigned to remedial schools. The boys 
were not able to pursue normal careers as a result.
    During the year the CFCF won a lawsuit filed in 2009 against local 
authorities of Gyor. The court of first instance ruled that the Gyor 
Municipality unlawfully segregated and discriminated against Romani 
children attending the Kossuth Street primary school.
    In September 2009 the CFCF sued the Ministry of Education for 
violating the Equal Opportunity Act by failing to halt the segregation 
of Romani children in public schools. The legal successor to the 
ministry has yet to respond to the CFCF's claim, and the case was 
pending at year's end.
    In December 2009, the Somogy County Court ruled that the 
municipality of Kaposvar had unlawfully discriminated against Romani 
children by segregating them from non-Romani students in a separate 
school with a simplified curriculum. The Pecs Court of Appeals upheld 
the verdict on appeal but struck down the charge of discrimination in 
quality of education. The Supreme Court upheld this ruling but also 
struck down the appeal court's order that the municipality rectify the 
unlawful situation, arguing that a court can only order rectification 
if claimants put forward a detailed proposal for such action.
    A 2008 European Roma Rights Center report found that Romani 
children were overrepresented in the child protection system. In the 
sample of children in professional care institutions, 40 percent were 
of Roma origin and 18 percent were half-Roma, although Romani children 
only account for approximately 13 percent of the children in the 
general population. Romani children have a higher probability of being 
placed in children's homes rather than in family-like care or community 
settings.
    In the first 11 months of the year, the NPH registered 5,374 cases 
of crimes against children.
    On May 26-27, 34 officers working on youth protection and domestic 
violence at county police headquarters participated in training that 
highlighted the specific tasks required for the implementation of the 
``National Youth Strategy 2009-2024,'' aimed at enhancing the social 
integration of young persons. During the year the NPH conducted a study 
of police attitudes toward domestic violence as well as the 
difficulties officers face in the field. Based on the results of the 
study, the NPH developed a set of recommendations and a training series 
aimed at improving the effectiveness of police response to domestic 
violence. During the year 600 police officers participated in this 
training.
    Some girls under the age of 18 engaged in prostitution. Young girls 
who grew up in orphanages were highly vulnerable to internal forced 
prostitution. NGOs contended that the number of females under the age 
of 18 involved in prostitution increased in recent years. Buying sexual 
services from a child younger than 18 years old is a crime punishable 
by up to three years in prison.
    The minimum age for consensual sex is 14 years. According to the 
law, statutory rape is a felony punishable by imprisonment for two to 
eight years and for five to 10 years if the victim is under 12 years of 
age. The law prohibits child pornography, which is punishable by up to 
eight years in prison.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish population was estimated to be between 
80,000 and 100,000.
    Jewish organizations expressed serious concern over a perceived 
increase in the public's tolerance for anti-Semitic remarks in public 
discourse. On April 18, Gabor Vona, the far-right Jobbik party chair 
and National Assembly member, told an interviewer from the weekly 
magazine HVG that ``Israeli interests are trying to colonize Hungary 
because Israel's place and role in the Middle East are unstable, so 
they must seek another country if Israel's position becomes untenable. 
This is not anti-Semitism but fear for Hungarians,'' he said, adding, 
``politics rather than business interests lie behind the gaining of 
ground by Israeli capital.''
    As of November 30, there were 212 reported instances of vandalism 
or destruction of Jewish and Christian properties, 20 in houses of 
worship and 192 in cemeteries.
    On March 30, unidentified individuals threw rocks into an apartment 
on Budapest's Dohany Street where a rabbi was celebrating Passover with 
fifty participants. No one was injured. The police started an 
investigation into what they classified as a crime involving ``damage 
to property.'' The police rejected an HCLU petition to change the 
classification to ``violence against a member of a social group.'' 
Police suspended the investigation after failing to identify the 
perpetrators.
    On May 1, unidentified persons damaged a Holocaust memorial in 
Zalaegerszeg shortly after its repair from an April 6 attack. Police 
opened an investigation, which was ongoing at year's end.
    On June 16, police stopped the screening of a Nazi propaganda film, 
The Eternal Jew, and took several of the viewers and the organizers 
into custody. Deme Brothers, publishers of extreme right-wing 
literature, staged the screening in Budapest's 13th district, the same 
venue where an illegal showing of Jud Sss took place in 2009. On July 
6, unidentified persons damaged three monuments dedicated to victims of 
World War II in Szekesfehervar. The vandals poured red paint over 
separate memorials of soldiers and civilians killed during the war, 
anti-fascists, and victims of the Holocaust. The police failed to find 
the perpetrators and closed the investigation on August 28.
    The weekly magazine Magyar Demokrata, the national daily Magyar 
Hirlap, and the more radical Magyar Forum published anti-Semitic 
articles during the year; Magyar Demokrata and Magyar Hirlap 
discontinued these practices in the spring. The official publication of 
the far-right Jobbik party, Barikad, changed from a monthly to a weekly 
magazine and continued to publish openly anti-Semitic content.
    There were numerous far-right websites in the country, many of 
which were openly anti-Semitic. NGOs reported that the Government 
monitored the content of these sites to enforce the prohibition against 
public display of such symbols as the swastika, the hammer and sickle, 
the five-pointed red star, and the arrow cross.
    During the year the prime minister, other senior government 
officials, and representatives of other parties routinely criticized 
extremist movements; they initiated and participated in several 
demonstrations promoting tolerance.
    The Government gave its support to a seven-day Holocaust education 
seminar for educators conducted in November. The seminar was the first 
element of a three-year educational program aimed at revising Holocaust 
education in the schools.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, and/or intellectual 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or the 
provision of other state services; however, persons with disabilities 
frequently faced discrimination and prejudice.
    Government sources estimated there were 600,000 persons with 
disabilities, while disability organizations estimated the number to be 
approximately one million.
    NGOs expressed concern about the lack of independent oversight over 
government-run, long-term-care institutions for persons with mental 
disabilities. There were sporadic reports that employees of such 
institutions used inappropriate physical restraints on patients, a 
problem experts attributed partly to inadequate numbers of qualified 
staff. NGOs also noted that there was no legal regulation or government 
strategy for deinstitutionalization of persons.
    The international NGO Mental Disability Advocacy Center criticized 
the Government for failing in its obligation to protect the rights of 
persons with disabilities who were under the legal guardianship of 
others, particularly in their access to employment, education, and 
health care services. According to the center, one of the key problems 
was a lack of alternatives to guardianship for persons with 
disabilities who needed support in making certain decisions. According 
to NGOs, almost 80,000 adults were under guardianship. According to the 
constitution, citizens placed under guardianship by a court immediately 
lose their right to vote. In addition, NGOs contended that polling 
places were not accessible for persons with disabilities and the 
election materials were not available in easy-to-read format.
    A government decree requires all companies with more than 20 
employees to reserve 5 percent of their jobs for persons with physical 
or mental disabilities. The decree specifies fines for noncompliance. 
Employers typically paid the fines rather than employ persons with 
disabilities. In 2009 approximately 9 percent of working-age persons 
with mental disabilities were employed.
    Both the central government and municipalities continued to update 
public buildings to make them accessible to persons with disabilities. 
The law requires that buildings operated by the central government be 
accessible by 2010; those operated by the municipalities must meet this 
goal by 2013. There was no data available on the percentage of 
government buildings that were not accessible, but NGOs contended many 
public buildings remained inaccessible.
    The lead agency for protecting the rights of persons with 
disabilities is the Ministry of National Resources.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The Romani community remained 
the largest ethnic minority. According to the Central Statistics 
Office, in 2007 the Romani community accounted for 2 percent of the 
population, or approximately 200,000 persons. However, unofficial 
estimates, which vary widely, suggest the actual figure was much 
higher, ranging between 500,000 and 800,000 persons.
    Violent attacks against Roma continued, generating strong public 
concern and intense disputes as to the existence and scale of racially 
motivated crimes. Human rights NGOs complained that law enforcement 
authorities, prosecutors, and courts were reluctant to recognize racial 
motivation for many crimes.
    On March 18, Molotov cocktails were thrown at the houses of four 
Romani families in the town of Siofok, one of which suffered a serious 
fire. No one was injured. Police spokesman Gabor Biro confirmed that 
the incident had taken place, but gave no details, stating that an 
investigation was ongoing.
    On April 15, one of the deputies of the National Roma Minority 
Self-Government was attacked in the town of Elek. According to the 
victim's media statements, two ``active members of an extremist party 
and organization'' were demolishing the pub he owned and as he 
approached, they kicked and hit him. Police were not able to identify 
any perpetrators.
    On May 22, unknown persons threw several bottles filled with 
gasoline through the window of a house inhabited by Roma in Hatvan. 
Damage was estimated at 5,000 forint ($24), and no injuries were 
reported. Police were unable to identify any perpetrators.
    On July 4, unknown persons attacked a Romani house in Olaszliszka. 
They fired three shots at the house, leaving bullet holes in the front 
wall. When the attack occurred, a mother and her children were sleeping 
in the house. There were no reports of injuries. Police could not 
identify any perpetrators.
    On August 9, the National Bureau of Investigation announced the 
completion of its investigation into a series of physical attacks 
against Roma in 2008 and 2009. As a result of the investigation, the 
Pest County Prosecutor charged four suspects with the murder of six 
persons, the serious injury of five others, and threats to the safety 
of an additional 55. The case was scheduled to go to trial in 2011.
    Human rights NGOs reported that Roma were discriminated against in 
almost all fields of life, particularly in employment, education, 
housing, penal institutions, and access to public places, such as 
restaurants and bars.
    According to statistics of the Hungarian Institute for Educational 
Research and Development, Roma were significantly less educated than 
other citizens, with incomes and life expectancy well below average.
    A 2007 International Labor Organization report estimated the 
unemployment rate among Roma to be 40 percent. However, in many 
underdeveloped regions of the country, it exceeded 90 percent. 
Unemployment among Roma was estimated to be three to five times higher 
than among the non-Romani population. The HCLU expressed concern that 
new legislation requiring completion of primary school to obtain a 
driver's license could increase unemployment among Roma.
    According to the HCLU, members of the Romani community were 
regularly sentenced for minor offenses such as collecting firewood or 
minor traffic violations, which were usually ignored when committed by 
non-Roma. The HCLU asserted that police and municipalities selectively 
applied laws against the Romani community to keep Roma segregated and 
to restrict their free movement.
    Inadequate housing continued to be a problem for Roma; their 
overall living conditions remained significantly worse than those of 
the general population. According to Romani interest groups, 
municipalities used a variety of techniques to prevent Roma from living 
in more desirable urban neighborhoods. In April the HCLU and the 
European Roma Rights Center filed a motion with the ombudsman asking 
him to examine whether Roma had been disproportionately targeted for 
eviction from municipality-owned housing. According to a survey by the 
Ministry of National Resources, approximately 100,000 seriously 
disadvantaged persons, mostly Roma, lived in approximately 500 
settlements lacking basic infrastructure and often located on the 
outskirts of cities. The Government continued its program to eliminate 
these settlements and to help residents move to more desirable 
communities.
    Most ministries and county labor affairs centers had special 
officers for Romani affairs focused on the needs of the Romani 
community. The Ministry of National Resources continued to offer 
financial incentives to encourage schools to integrate Romani and non-
Romani children in the same classrooms and to reintegrate Roma 
inappropriately placed in remedial programs. The Ministry also operated 
a program to finance infrastructure development in Romani communities. 
The prime minister named Zoltan Balog as state secretary for social 
inclusion, charged with coordinating government efforts to address Roma 
issues.
    The Ministry of Public Administration and Justice (formerly the 
Ministry of Justice and Law Enforcement) operated an antidiscrimination 
legal service network that provided free legal aid to Roma in cases 
where they encountered ethnic discrimination. Human rights NGOs 
lamented that the lawyers' offices were located in the larger cities, 
rendering them inaccessible to those Roma living in deep poverty in 
small villages. HCLU received reports that the network's lawyers 
rejected some Romani cases.
    Since January 2009, in order to apply for EU and government funds 
for urban rehabilitation and public education projects, every city must 
attach to its proposal a desegregation plan outlining planned actions 
to eradicate segregation in housing and public education. The 
Government opened 200 positions in public administration for Romani 
college graduates. By year's end 165 applicants had passed the 
mandatory civil servant entry exam and 66 were placed in various 
national and county government offices.
    Roma and the other 12 official minorities are entitled to elect 
their own minority self-governments (MSG), which organize minority 
activities and handle cultural, educational, and linguistic affairs. 
The president of each MSG also has the right to attend and speak at 
local government assemblies.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Homosexual conduct is legal, 
but extremist groups continued to subject gay men and lesbians to 
physical abuse and attacks.
    On July 4, two teenagers wearing far-right party badges struck a 
man on his way home from the opening ceremony of the Rainbow Mission 
Foundation's (RMF) annual Budapest Pride festival, a week of lesbian, 
gay, bisexual ,and transgender programs.
    On July 10, the RMF organized the 15th annual Budapest Pride March, 
in which an estimated 1,000 persons participated. Organizers were 
successful in registering the march, which occurred on a shortened 
parade route with increased police protection. Authorities shortened 
the route further on the day of the march because counterdemonstrators 
along the route shouted antihomosexual slurs as well as the campaign 
slogan of the openly antigay political party Jobbik. Police prevented 
several protestors from approaching the route, but made no arrests. Two 
men followed one volunteer into the metro and attacked him following 
the march. A metro security guard briefly detained the attackers but 
then let them go.
    On July 26, the RMF reported to the police that a neo-Nazi group 
calling itself the ``Budapest Hungaristas'' desecrated one of the 
Hungarian Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community's unique 
symbolic sites, the tombstone of Karoly Kertbeny, originator of the 
terms ``heterosexual'' and ``homosexual.'' The Hungaristas reportedly 
covered the gravestone with a black veil and attached a quotation from 
the Old Testament Book of Leviticus. Police declined to pursue the case 
on December 4, stating that no crime had been committed.
    On September 4, approximately 100 participants marched in a legally 
registered Hetero Pride Parade, following the same route as the 
Budapest Pride March. The organizer stated that the organizers intended 
the march to be a ``protest against the open practice and 
popularization of homosexuality.''
    There were no reported developments in connection with two attacks 
on a gay bar and a gay bathhouse in Budapest in 2008. In April 2009 
police detained two persons in connection with these incidents.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of societal violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers to form and 
join independent unions of their choice without previous authorization 
or excessive requirements, and workers exercised these rights in 
practice.
    The law also allows unions to conduct their activities without 
interference, and the Government protected this right in practice. 
Approximately 25 percent of the workforce was unionized in 2009. With 
the exception of military personnel and police officers, workers have 
the right to strike, and workers exercised this right. The law permits 
the unions of military personnel and police officers to seek resolution 
of grievances in the courts. While employers are not allowed to hire 
temporary workers during a strike, temporary workers already hired 
before the strike were allowed to continue working.
    On December 23, the National Assembly passed a bill amending the 
strike law so that workers at companies performing activities 
fundamental to the population--such as public transport, 
telecommunications, water, power, gas, and other energy sector firms--
may not strike unless an agreement has been reached on minimum services 
during a strike. The definition of minimum services is decided by the 
courts. In addition, the bill added ``abusing the right to strike'' to 
the list of actions rendering a strike illegal. National trade unions 
opposed the law on the basis that the courts lack the expertise to 
decide on necessary minimum services, and that the term ``abusing the 
right to strike'' is too vague.
    Two national trade unions, MSZOSZ and LIGA, have reported cases of 
employers intimidating trade union members, transferring, relocating, 
or dismissing trade union officers, and hindering union officials from 
entering the workplace.
    The International Trade Union Confederation expressed concern that 
trade union registration practices are too long and cumbersome, and 
judges and prosecutors have legal authority to interfere with internal 
trade union matters. However, LIGA officials indicated the registration 
practices have not been a problem in their experience.
    Court proceedings on unfair dismissal cases could take more than a 
year to complete, and court decisions were not always properly 
enforced.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Collective 
bargaining is protected by law and was freely practiced, mainly at the 
company level. In 2008 collective bargaining agreements covered 
approximately 36 percent of the workforce.
    The labor code requires trade unions to represent 65 percent of the 
workforce (for a single employer) or 50 percent of the workforce (for a 
group of employers) to engage in collective bargaining.
    There are no export processing zones, but individual foreign 
companies frequently were granted duty-free zone status for their 
facilities. There were no exemptions from regular labor laws in the 
duty-free zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including by children. See the Department 
of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law protects children from exploitation in the workplace, and the 
Government effectively enforced these laws in practice.
    The law prohibits children younger than 16 from working except in 
such circumstances as temporary work during school vacations. Children 
under 15 are prohibited from all work. Children may not work night 
shifts or overtime or perform hard physical labor.
    The country's Labor Inspectorate reported that during 2009 six 
companies employed 136 children under 15 years old, mostly in financial 
and commercial work. The companies were fined a total of 5.2 million 
forint ($24,640). Individuals who identify children as victims of labor 
exploitation are required to report them to the Guardianship Authority.
    According to the International Organization for Migration, 
trafficking of children for sexual exploitation was a problem. The 
Government actively monitored immigration and emigration patterns for 
evidence of trafficking. See the Department of State's annual 
Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum monthly 
wage of 73,500 forint ($348) provided a decent standard of living for a 
worker and family. A special minimum monthly wage for jobs requiring 
the completion of secondary education was 89,500 forint ($424). The law 
sets the official workday at eight hours, although it may vary 
depending on the industry. A 48-hour rest period is required during any 
seven-day period. The regular workweek is 40 hours with premium pay for 
overtime. The law prohibits overtime exceeding 200 hours per year. The 
laws also apply to foreign workers with work permits; they were 
enforced effectively and consistently. Labor courts and the Labor 
Inspectorate enforced occupational safety standards set by the 
Government, but enforcement was not always effective. Workers have the 
right to remove themselves from unsafe and unhealthy situations without 
jeopardizing their continued employment, and this right was generally 
respected.
    On November 16, the National Assembly passed a law instituting a 98 
percent special tax on public sector severance packages worth more than 
3.5 million forint ($16,587), imposed retroactively on payments 
collected after January 1, 2005. The Constitutional Court had struck 
down the law in October, but Fidesz resubmitted the legislation after a 
constitutional amendment removed the tax from the court's purview.
    On December 23, the National Assembly amended the law on civil 
servants, giving employers the right to fire civil servants with two 
months notice without providing justification for the dismissal.

                               __________

                                ICELAND

    Iceland, with a population of 318,000, is a constitutional 
parliamentary republic. The president is the head of state; a prime 
minister, usually the head of the majority party, is head of 
government. There is a unicameral parliament (Althingi). In 2008 Olafur 
Ragnar Grimsson was reelected president in free and fair elections. 
After free and fair parliamentary elections in April 2009, the Social 
Democratic Alliance (SDA) and the Left-Green Movement (LG) formed a 
governing coalition led by Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir (SDA). 
Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    Reported human rights problems included the incarceration of 
juveniles and adults and of pretrial detainees and convicted prisoners 
in the same cell, societal discrimination against minorities and 
foreigners, violence against women, and trafficking of persons to and 
through 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices, and 
there were no reports that government officials employed them.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards. The Government 
permitted monitoring visits by independent human rights observers, but 
no such visits occurred during the year.
    During the year the daily average number of prisoners was 134, and 
the daily average of pretrial detainees was 18. The prison facilities 
could hold 161 prisoners. The Government maintained a separate minimum-
security prison for female inmates; however, because so few women were 
incarcerated (four on average), some men were also held there. Men 
housed in facilities with women were closely monitored and interacted 
with women only in the common areas; they did not share cellblocks. The 
Government normally held juvenile offenders in nonprison facilities run 
and supervised by the Government Agency for Child Protection. In one 
instance, however, a child was held in detention with adults, since 
there was no separate facility for juveniles in the prison system. The 
penal system held pretrial detainees together with convicted prisoners 
except in those instances when the authorities deemed it necessary to 
place such detainees in solitary confinement.
    When the main prison at Litla-Hraun or in Reykjavik's main pretrial 
detention facility were overcrowded, pretrial detainees were held in 
local police station jails. During the year there was a waiting list of 
276 persons convicted of crimes but unable to serve their sentences due 
to a lack of prison space.
    The Prison and Probation Administration (PPA) decides whether 
convicted prisoners who have received a prison sentence of less than 
six months may serve their sentence in community service rather than in 
jail. The PPA also maintains records to ensure that prisoners do not 
serve beyond the maximum sentence for the charged offense.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and 
authorities permitted religious observance.
    The parliament's ombudsman can, on his own initiative, take up a 
prison issue, and he did on several occasions. Authorities permitted 
prisoners and detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities 
and the parliament's ombudsman without censorship and to request 
investigation of credible allegations of inhumane conditions if they so 
chose. There were no allegations of inhumane conditions during the 
year. The Government investigated and monitored prison and detention 
center conditions.
    The Government permitted independent monitoring of prison 
conditions by local and international human rights groups, the media, 
and the International Committee of the Red Cross, but no such 
monitoring occurred during the year. The Government permitted visits by 
independent human rights observers during the year. Prisoners could, 
and did, request visits from Prisoners' Friends, a group of volunteers 
from the Icelandic Red Cross. The volunteers spoke with prisoners and 
provided them with second-hand clothes upon request. There were no 
prison visits by international human rights monitoring groups during 
the year.
    In May, to ease overcrowding, the Government opened a provisional 
prison with a capacity for 20 inmates at Bitra in the southern part of 
the country.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the police, and the Government has 
mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse and corruption. There were 
no reports of impunity involving the security forces during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Police may 
make arrests under a number of circumstances: when they believe a 
prosecutable offense has been committed, when they see a need to 
prevent further offenses or destruction of evidence, when they need to 
protect a suspect, or when a person refuses to obey police orders to 
move. Arrest warrants usually are not employed; the criminal code 
explicitly requires warrants only for arresting individuals who fail to 
appear at court for a hearing or a trial or at a prison to serve a 
sentence.
    Persons placed under arrest must be informed promptly of the 
charges against them, and upon arrival at the police station, those 
arrested are entitled to legal counsel, including government-provided 
counsel for the indigent. Authorities must inform persons under arrest 
of their rights and bring them before a judge within 24 hours of 
arrest. The judge determines whether a suspect must remain in custody 
during the investigation; the judge may grant conditional release, 
subject to assurances that the accused will appear for trial. There was 
no functioning bail system.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. 
Trials are generally public but may be closed by judges at the 
defendant's request or when minors are involved. Defendants are 
presumed innocent, and courts generally tried cases without delay. 
Courts do not use juries, but multijudge panels are common. Defendants 
have access to legal counsel of their own choosing. For defendants 
unable to pay attorneys' fees, the Government covers the cost; however, 
defendants who are found guilty are required to reimburse the 
Government. Defendants have the right to be present at their trial, to 
confront witnesses, to present witnesses and evidence on their behalf, 
and to participate in the proceedings. They and their attorneys have 
access to government-held evidence relevant to their cases. At the 
discretion of the courts, prosecutors may introduce evidence that 
police obtained illegally. Defendants have the right to appeal, and the 
Supreme Court handles appeals expeditiously. These rights extend to all 
citizens without prejudice.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--During the year the 
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued one decision that found a 
violation by the country of its obligations under the European 
Convention on Human Rights. In April the ECHR ruled that the country's 
law could not compel an employer in the country's building sector to 
contribute to the Federation of Icelandic Industries, a private 
organization that he was not legally obliged to join. The ECHR ordered 
the Government to pay the defendant's legal fees, and the Government 
complied.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--A single court system 
handles both criminal and civil matters. The two levels of the 
judiciary, the district courts and the Supreme Court, were considered 
independent and impartial in civil matters. Lawsuits may seek damages 
for, or cessation of, a human rights violation. Administrative remedies 
are available as well as judicial remedies for alleged wrongs.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibits such actions, and 
the Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
    Immigration law allows authorities to conduct house searches 
without a prior court order when there is a significant risk that delay 
would jeopardize an investigation of immigration fraud. Immigration law 
also allows authorities to request DNA tests without court supervision 
in cases where they suspect immigration fraud. There were no reports 
that DNA testing took place 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 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. Individuals could criticize 
the Government publicly or privately without reprisal. The independent 
media were active and expressed a wide variety of views without 
restriction.
    The law establishes fines and imprisonment for up to three months 
for persons convicted of publicly deriding or belittling the religious 
doctrines of an active religious organization registered in the 
country. The law also establishes fines and imprisonment for up to two 
years for anyone who publicly ridicules, slanders, insults, threatens, 
or in any other manner publicly assaults a person or a group on the 
basis of their nationality, skin color, race, religion, or sexual 
orientation. There were no reports that authorities invoked the law 
during the year.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. According to 
data from Statistics Iceland, during the year approximately 92 percent 
of the country's households had an Internet connection, and 95 percent 
of persons between the ages of 16 and 74 used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
provides for freedoms of assembly and association, and the Government 
generally respected these rights in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in 
providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, 
stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status and the Government has established 
a system for providing protection to refugees. Human rights advocates, 
however, complained about the ambiguous nature of the asylum system and 
the high refusal rate for asylum applications.
    The Government provided protection against the expulsion or return 
of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be 
threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership 
in a particular social group, or political opinion. The Government had 
no fixed refugee acceptance requirements.
    In September parliament amended the law to grant the minister of 
justice and human rights more leeway in postponing the deportation of 
an asylum seeker awaiting a court decision on an appeal. The initial 
request for a postponement must come from the asylum seeker. In 
previous years, human rights advocates criticized the deportation of 
several asylum applicants when their deportation dates came up although 
they were awaiting a court decision on an appeal.
    In practice the Government provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion.
    During the year the Directorate of Immigration processed 18 
applications for asylum. It gave residence permits on humanitarian 
grounds to six persons and granted refugee status to four asylum 
seekers, one of whom was a dependent. The Directorate of Immigration 
rejected seven asylum applications, one of which was on the basis of 
the Dublin Convention, which allows for the return of refugees and 
asylum seekers to the first country they entered that is also party to 
the regulation. One asylum seeker withdrew his/her application or left 
the country voluntarily.
    Asylum seekers were eligible for government-subsidized health care 
during the processing of their cases, which at times took a year or 
longer. They could enroll their children in public schools after three 
months in the country. Asylum seekers could also obtain work permits 
and attend Icelandic language classes.
    The minister of justice and human rights appoints the head of the 
Directorate of Immigration, which is also the adjudicating body of 
first instance for asylum cases. Some observers asserted that this 
hierarchy could constitute a conflict of interest because asylum 
seekers must appeal denials to the Ministry of Justice and Human 
Rights. If rejected at that level, however, they can appeal to the 
courts.
    Human rights advocates criticized the law for not specifying which 
``significant human rights reasons'' must underpin granting temporary 
residence (and eligibility for work permits) while asylum cases are 
processed, arguing that the situation created the possible appearance 
of arbitrary decisions. Observers noted that the law was ambiguous 
about the criteria for granting and denying asylum. This ambiguity, 
combined with the small number of approved asylum applications, left 
unclear what considerations were applied in adjudicating the 
applications of asylum seekers. The law allows for accelerated refusal 
of applications deemed to be ``manifestly unfounded.''
    In March the Directorate of Immigration granted a residence permit 
to a male Kenyan asylum seeker and his family on grounds of possible 
repression in Kenya. The country's authorities had deported him to 
Italy in 2008, but the minister of justice and human rights overturned 
the directorate's decision that same year and ordered it to evaluate 
the basis of his asylum claim. His family had not been deported, and 
the Government allowed the man to return to the country and remain 
during the evaluation period.
    The law permits the Government to provide temporary protection to 
individuals who may not qualify as refugees. The Government has never 
made use of this authorization. In September parliament broadened the 
definition of a refugee by granting added protection to individuals who 
are not defined as refugees under the 1951 Convention relating to the 
Status of Refugees but who are in need of protection.
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 based on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In April 2009 the country 
held parliamentary elections that were considered free and fair. In 
2008 the incumbent president was reelected unopposed. Political parties 
could operate without restriction or outside interference.
    There were 26 women in the 63-seat parliament and four women in the 
10-member cabinet. One of the nine Supreme Court members and 14 of 40 
district court judges were women. No members of minority groups held 
seats in either parliament or the cabinet.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government generally implemented these laws effectively. There were 
no reports of government corruption during the year.
    Most public officials were not subject to financial disclosure 
laws. Members of parliament are expected, but not required, to report 
their financial interests to the parliament's presidium for public 
disclosure. Every member of parliament has registered his or her 
financial interests. In September parliament passed legislation making 
the rules on the financing of political parties more transparent.
    The law provides for public access to government information, and 
the Government provided access in practice for citizens and 
noncitizens, including foreign media. On occasion the Government denied 
legal requests for information based on reasons of confidentiality. The 
Government provided the legal reasons for denials. Appeals against 
refusals by government authorities to grant access to materials may be 
referred to an information committee consisting of three persons 
appointed by the prime minister. Permanent employees of government 
ministries may not be members of the committee.
Section 5. 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 independent parliament's ombudsman elected by parliament 
monitored and reported to national and local authorities on human 
rights developments to ensure that all residents, whether or not they 
were citizens, received equal protection. Individuals could lodge 
complaints with the ombudsman about the decisions, procedures, and 
conduct of public officials and government agencies. The ombudsman may 
demand official reports, documents, and records; summon officials to 
give testimony; and access official premises. Government agencies 
generally responded to the ombudsman's requests for information and 
documents within a reasonable time. While the ombudsman's 
recommendations are not binding on authorities, the Government 
generally adopted them.
    Parliament's General Committee is responsible for legislative 
oversight of human rights in the country.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit discrimination based on race, 
gender, disability, language, and social status. Various laws implement 
these prohibitions, and the Government effectively enforced them.

    Women.--Rape carries a maximum penalty of 16 years in prison. 
Judges typically imposed sentences of one to three years. The law does 
not explicitly address spousal rape. In previous years, the Icelandic 
Counseling and Information Center for Survivors of Sexual Violence 
(Stigamot) noted that the number of reported rapes consistently rose 
faster than the number of convictions. According to national police 
statistics, there were 78 reported rapes in 2009. During that year 
prosecutors brought nine cases to trial and obtained convictions in 
two, but the courts had not ruled on six cases by the end of 2009. In 
2008 convictions were obtained in four of the 13 cases that went to 
trial.
    During the year 118 women sought temporary lodging at the country's 
shelter for women, mainly because of domestic violence. The shelter 
offered counseling to 257 clients. During the year 105 women sought 
assistance at the rape crisis center of the national hospital 
(Landspitali--The National University Hospital of Iceland). Activists 
continued to complain that the burden of proof in rape cases was too 
heavy and discouraged victims from reporting acts of rape and 
authorities from prosecuting them. The Government did not respond 
formally to these concerns.
    The law prohibits domestic violence; however, violence against 
women continued to be a problem. The penalties can range from a fine to 
16 years in prison, depending on the type of violence committed. In 
addition, the law permits judges to increase the sentences of persons 
who commit violence against persons with whom they had a domestic 
relationship or other close bond. However, there were no domestic 
violence cases in which judges actually handed down heavier sentences, 
and one respected activist expressed concern that sentences were too 
lenient.
    Police statistics indicated that the incidence of reported violence 
against women, including rape and sexual assault, was low; however, the 
number of women seeking medical and counseling assistance suggested 
that many incidents went unreported. As of December 22, law enforcement 
agencies reported 195 cases of domestic quarrelling and 284 cases of 
domestic violence to the State Prosecutor's Office. In September the 
Center for Children and Family Research, commissioned by the Ministry 
of Social Affairs and Social Security, released a study indicating that 
0.5-2.0 percent of all women above the age of 18, or between 590 and 
2,360 women, had suffered violence from their spouse or former spouse 
in 2009.
    Some local human rights monitors attributed the underreporting of 
domestic violence and sex crimes to the infrequency of convictions and 
to traditionally light sentences. In the few cases of domestic violence 
that went to court, the courts often continued to base sentences on 
precedent and rarely made full use of the more stringent sentencing 
authority available under the law. According to statistics from the 
Icelandic Counseling and Information Center for Survivors of Sexual 
Violence, in 2009, the latest year for which data was available, 12.4 
percent of its clients pressed charges.
    The Government helped finance the Icelandic Counseling and 
Information Center for Survivors of Sexual Violence, the rape crisis 
center of the national hospital, and other organizations that assisted 
victims of domestic or gender-based violence. In addition to partially 
funding such services, the Government provided help to immigrant women 
in abusive relationships, offering emergency accommodation, counseling, 
and information on legal rights.
    Two laws prohibit sexual harassment. The general penal code 
prohibits sexual harassment and stipulates that violations are 
punishable by imprisonment up to two years. The law on equal status 
defines sexual harassment more broadly as any type of unfair and/or 
offensive sexual behavior--physical, verbal, or symbolic--that is 
unwanted, affects the self-respect of the victim, and continues despite 
a clear indication that the behavior is undesired. The law requires 
employers and organization supervisors to make specific arrangements to 
prevent employees, students, and clients from becoming victims of 
gender-based or sexual harassment. Victims of harassment can report 
incidents to the Complaints Committee on Equal Status. Employers are 
only required to provide their employees with information on the legal 
prohibitions against sexual harassment in workplaces with 25 or more 
employees. Gender equality advocates reported receiving several 
complaints during the year, but there were no court cases.
    Although courts could issue restraining orders, advocates expressed 
concern that such orders were ineffective because courts granted them 
only in extreme circumstances and the court system took too long to 
issue them. Victims of sex crimes were entitled to lawyers to advise 
them of their rights and to help them pursue charges against the 
alleged assailants; however, a large majority of victims declined to 
press charges or chose to forgo trial, in part to avoid publicity.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children, and to 
have the information and means to do so free from discrimination, 
coercion, and violence. There were no restrictions on the access to 
contraceptives and maternal health services, including skilled 
attendance during childbirth. Women had easy access to prenatal care, 
essential obstetric care, and postpartum care. Women also used nurses 
and midwives for prenatal and postnatal care unless the mother or child 
suffered more serious health complications. According to UN estimates 
for 2008, the maternal mortality rate in the country was five deaths 
per 100,000 live births. Women were diagnosed and treated for sexually 
transmitted infections, including HIV, equally with men.
    Women enjoy the same legal rights as men, including under the 
family and property laws and in the judicial system. However, despite 
laws that require equal pay for equal work, a pay gap existed between 
men and women. According to a study conducted by the Social Science 
Research Institute of the University of Iceland in 2008, women working 
full time earn 77 percent of the base pay of men who also worked full 
time, noting, however, that men generally worked longer hours. When 
working hours were taken into account, women earn 84 percent of the 
base pay of men. The law states that employers and unions should work 
towards gender equality in the labor market, especially in managerial 
positions, and that employers should work towards declassifying jobs as 
primarily female- or male-oriented. According to the Center for Gender 
Equality (CGE), the Government has taken steps to attract men to 
female-oriented jobs and vice versa, but success was limited. The CGE 
affirmed that many more men than women are in managerial positions.
    The Government funded a center for promoting gender equality to 
administer the Act on Equal Status and Equal Rights of Women and Men. 
The center also provided counseling and education on gender equality to 
national and municipal authorities, institutions, companies, 
individuals, and nongovernmental organizations. The minister of social 
affairs and social security appoints members of the Complaints 
Committee on Equal Status, which adjudicates alleged violations of the 
act. The minister also appoints members of the Equal Status Council, 
drawn from national women's organizations, the University of Iceland, 
and labor and professional groups. The council makes recommendations 
for equalizing the status of men and women in the workplace.
    During the year the Complaints Committee on Equal Status decided in 
the single case brought before it that the law was not breached.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived by birth from one's parents. A 
child acquires the country's citizenship at birth if both parents are 
Icelandic citizens, if the mother is an Icelandic citizen, or if the 
father is an Icelandic citizen and is married to the child's foreign 
mother. However, if a mixed-nationality couple had obtained a judicial 
separation at the time when the child was conceived, the child acquires 
the mother's citizenship. If the child is stateless, he or she can 
become an Icelandic citizen at the age of three. In both cases, the 
child's access to social services depends on whether it has a residence 
permit in Iceland.
    In 2009 local child protection committees, whose work is 
coordinated by the Agency for Child Protection, received 1,734 reports 
of abuse, including 769 reports of emotional abuse, 534 of physical 
abuse, and 447 of sexual abuse. The agency operated three treatment 
centers and a diagnostic facility for abused and troubled minors and 
coordinated the work of 30 committees throughout the country that were 
responsible for managing child protection problems in their local 
areas. The local committees hired professionals with expertise in 
social work and child protection.
    The Government maintained a children's assessment center to 
accelerate prosecution of child sexual abuse cases and to lessen the 
trauma experienced by the child. In 2009 the center conducted 168 
investigative interviews, provided assessments and therapy for 139 
children, and performed 17 medical examinations.
    The children's ombudsman, who is appointed by the prime minister 
but acts independently of the Government, has a mandate to protect 
children's rights, interests, and welfare. When investigating 
complaints, which typically involved physical and psychological abuse 
and inadequate accommodation for children with illnesses or 
disabilities, the ombudsman had access to all public and private 
institutions that housed or otherwise cared for children. The ombudsman 
was not empowered to intervene in individual cases but could 
investigate them for indications of a general trend. The ombudsman 
could also initiate cases at personal discretion. While the ombudsman's 
recommendations are not binding on authorities, the Government 
generally adopted them.
    The law criminalizes statutory rape with incarceration for up to 12 
years. The minimum age for consensual sex is 14. The law prohibits 
child pornography, which is punishable by up to two years in prison.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual Report on Compliance with the Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction at http://
travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--
4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community numbered fewer than 100 
individuals. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities. There were no reports of official discrimination in 
employment, education, access to health care, and the provision of 
other state services. The law also provides that persons with 
disabilities receive preference for government jobs when they are at 
least as qualified as other applicants. However, disability rights 
advocates asserted that the law was not fully implemented and that 
persons with disabilities constituted a majority of the country's poor.
    The Government ensured that persons with disabilities have access 
to buildings, information, and communications. 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 sidewalks outside the 
main entrance of such buildings be kept clear of ice and snow to the 
extent possible. Violations of these regulations are punishable by a 
fine or a jail sentence of up to two years; however, the main 
association for persons with disabilities complained that authorities 
rarely, if ever, assessed penalties for noncompliance.
    The Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Security was the lead 
government body responsible for protecting the rights of persons with 
disabilities. It coordinated the work of six regional offices that 
provided services and support to persons with disabilities. It also 
maintained a diagnostic and advisory center in Reykjavik that sought to 
create conditions allowing persons with disabilities to lead normal 
lives.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Immigrants, mainly from Eastern 
Europe and the Baltic countries, suffered occasional incidents of 
harassment based on their ethnicity.
    In September a father and son of Cuban origin temporarily left the 
country following a series of allegedly racially motivated attacks on 
their family home by two men. The case received significant media 
attention, and the public was generally outraged and showed broad 
support for the father and son. Following the incident, several other 
individuals of non-Icelandic ethnicity came forward saying that they 
had witnessed racism in Icelandic society.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--In August an estimated 80,000 
to 100,000 persons attended the annual gay pride march in Reykjavik. 
The Government authorized the march and police provided sufficient 
protection to marchers.
    There were no reports of societal violence or discrimination based 
on sexual orientation in employment and occupation, housing, 
statelessness, or access to education or health care.

    Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were no reports of 
societal violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers to form and 
join independent unions of their choice without previous authorization 
or excessive requirements, and workers exercised these rights. Labor 
unions were independent of the Government and political parties. 
Approximately 80 to 85 percent of workers belonged to unions. Workers 
had the right to strike and exercised this right in practice. The 
Government has imposed mandatory mediation when strikes have threatened 
key sectors in the economy, such as in the fishing industry. In March 
parliament passed a bill prohibiting a strike by the approximately 165 
aircraft mechanics employed by Icelandair, which would have been forced 
to cancel many of its flights had the Government not taken this 
measure.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows 
unions to conduct their activities without interference and prohibits 
antiunion discrimination and employer interference in union functions, 
and the Government protected these rights in practice. The law allows 
workers, including foreign workers, to bargain collectively, and 
workers exercised this right in practice. Collective bargaining 
agreements covered approximately 100 percent of the workforce.
    There were 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 women were trafficked to the country from Eastern Europe, 
Africa, and Brazil for sexual exploitation. There were also reports of 
persons being trafficked to the country to work in the construction, 
manufacturing, and restaurant industries. See the Department of State's 
annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
Government effectively implemented laws and policies to protect 
children from exploitation in the workplace.
    The law prohibits the employment of persons younger than 16 years 
of age in factories, on ships, or in other places that are hazardous or 
require hard labor; this prohibition was enforced in practice. Children 
who are 14 or 15 years of age may work part time or during school 
vacations in light, nonhazardous jobs. Their work hours must not exceed 
the ordinary work hours of adults in the same positions. The 
Administration of Occupational Safety and Health (AOSH) enforced child 
labor regulations effectively.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The law does not establish a 
minimum wage. The minimum wages negotiated in various collective 
bargaining agreements applied automatically to all employees in those 
occupations, including foreign workers, regardless of union membership. 
While the agreements can be either industry-wide, sector-wide, or in 
some cases firm-specific, the negotiated wage levels are occupation-
specific. Labor contracts provided a decent standard of living for a 
worker and family.
    The standard legal workweek is 40 hours, including nearly three 
hours of paid breaks a week. Work exceeding eight hours per day must be 
compensated as overtime. Overtime pay does not vary significantly 
across unions, but unions determine the terms of overtime pay when 
negotiating a bargaining agreement with the employer's association. 
Workers are entitled to 11 hours of rest within each 24-hour period and 
to a day off every week. Under special defined circumstances, employers 
may reduce the 11-hour rest period to no less than eight hours, but 
they must then compensate workers with one-and-a-half hours of rest for 
every hour of reduction. They may also postpone a worker's day off, but 
the worker must receive the corresponding rest time within 14 days. 
Foreign workers are entitled to the same protections in terms of 
working time and rest periods as citizens. The AOSH effectively 
enforced these regulations.
    There were indications that undocumented foreign workers--primarily 
men in the construction and restaurant industries--were underpaid and 
required to work long hours while living in substandard housing or even 
sleeping at building sites. Most sources stressed that the men 
willingly worked illegally to earn more than they might have expected 
in their East European or Baltic home countries. The size of the 
immigrant labor force shrank drastically because of the country's 
financial and economic crisis that began in 2008.
    The law sets health and safety standards, and the Ministry of 
Social Affairs and Social Security administers and enforces them 
through the AOSH, which conducted both proactive and reactive 
inspections. The ministry can close workplaces that fail to meet safety 
and health standards. Workers have a collective, but not individual, 
right to refuse to work at a job that does not meet occupational safety 
and health criteria. It is illegal to fire workers for reporting unsafe 
or unhealthy conditions, and this law generally was observed in 
practice.

                               __________

                                IRELAND

    Ireland, with a population of approximately 4.1 million, is a 
multiparty parliamentary democracy with an executive branch headed by a 
prime minister, a bicameral parliament (Oireachtas), and a directly 
elected president. The country held free and fair parliamentary 
elections in 2007. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    During the year there were some reports of police abuse of 
authority and inadequate care for prisoners with mental disabilities. 
Domestic violence; mistreatment of children; trafficking in persons; 
and discrimination against racial minorities, immigrants, and 
Travellers 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings. The Government actively cooperated with authorities 
of the United Kingdom in Northern Ireland in efforts to solve killings 
and disappearances, and to recover and identify remains related to the 
activities of armed political dissidents on both sides of the Ireland-
Northern Ireland border.

    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. Reports by the 
ombudsman of the national police, which administers the prisons, as 
well as from the prison chaplain office found no incidents of cruel, 
inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.
    Siochana (national police) Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) alleged 
3,509 instances of incorrect behavior by the police, of which 1,178 
were deemed inadmissible. The GSOC also received 1,543 queries from the 
general public relating to the procedure for filing complaints. The 
largest number of allegations related to abuse of authority, followed 
by neglect of duty. Approximately 15 percent of the allegations were 
for nonfatal offenses against the person. The overall number of 
complaints and allegations against police officers decreased 
approximately 15-25 percent from the previous year.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--While prison conditions 
generally met international standards, there were some problems. The 
Government allegedly inappropriately held some mentally ill prisoners 
in prisons rather than in mental health care facilities. The Irish 
Prison Service investigated the case of a mentally ill, homeless woman 
who was forcibly removed from prison despite saying she had nowhere to 
go.
    Prison overcrowding was a problem. According to the 2009 Irish 
Prison Service annual report, prisons averaged a 95 percent occupancy 
rate, with several prisons exceeding their capacity.
    Mountjoy Prison was built for 489 prisoners; the Inspector of 
Prisons has stated that it cannot safely accommodate more than 540 
prisoners, but the stated ``bed capacity'' was 630. As of the end of 
July, it held 759 prisoners. There was structured activity for a 
maximum of 391 prisoners.
    Vulnerable prisoners at risk of self-harm and suicide were placed 
in safety observation cells for weeks at a time because there was no 
high-support unit at Mountjoy Prison, according to a report by the 
Mental Health Commission. The Mental Health Commission was concerned 
that observation cells were the only resources available to treat 
vulnerable prisoners at Mountjoy. The Mental Health Commission also 
criticized prison authorities for giving nursing staff the authority to 
place prisoners in cells without the standard four-hour review required 
at approved mental health facilities.
    The Irish Prison Chaplains' Annual Report criticized overcrowding 
at Limerick Prison, where, on July 23, there were 322 prisoners 
detained in a facility originally built for 185.
    At times authorities held detainees awaiting trial in the same 
facilities as convicts. Although the country maintained facilities to 
provide for separation between children and young adults, authorities 
held a small number of 17-year-olds with specific individual needs, 
including the need for higher security, with young adults.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. Authorities permitted prisoners and 
detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities without 
censorship and to request investigation of credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions. Authorities investigated allegations of inhumane 
conditions and documented the results of such investigations in a 
publicly accessible manner. The Government investigated and monitored 
prison and detention center conditions.
    Human rights groups continued to criticize understaffing and poor 
infrastructure at the Central Mental Health Hospital in Dundrum, the 
country's only secure hospital for prisoners with mental disabilities.
    The Government permitted prison visits by domestic and 
international human rights observers, including the International 
Committee of the Red Cross. From January 25 to February 5, a delegation 
from the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture 
(CPT) carried out a visit to prisons, detention centers, and 
psychiatric institutions in the county. The CPT's did not make the 
report on the visit by year's end.
    The country does not have an ombudsman who can address such matters 
as alleviating overcrowding by offering alternatives to incarceration 
for nonviolent offenders; monitoring the circumstances of confinement 
of juvenile offenders; and ensuring that prisoners do not serve beyond 
the maximum sentence for the charged offense by improving pretrial 
detention, bail, and recordkeeping procedures.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution prohibits 
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed 
these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the national police and the army, 
which was authorized to act when necessary in support of the unarmed 
police. The Government has effective mechanisms to investigate and 
punish abuse and corruption. There were no reports of impunity 
involving the security forces during the year; however, there were 
isolated problems of abusive behavior, which the Government 
investigated and punished.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--An arrest 
requires a warrant except in situations requiring immediate action for 
the protection of the public. Authorities must inform detainees 
promptly of the charges against them and, with few exceptions, cannot 
hold them longer than 24 hours without charge. For crimes involving 
firearms, explosives, or membership in an unlawful organization, a 
judge may extend detention for an additional 24 hours upon the police 
superintendent's request. The law permits detention without charge for 
up to seven days in cases involving suspicion of drug trafficking; 
however, to hold such a suspect longer than 48 hours, police must seek 
a judge's approval.
    Upon their arrest, the law permits detainees and prisoners prompt 
and unrestricted access to attorneys. If the detainee does not have an 
attorney, the court appoints one; for indigent detainees, the 
Government provides. The law allows detainees prompt access to family 
members.
    The law requires that authorities bring a detainee before a 
district court judge ``as soon as possible'' to determine bail status 
pending a hearing. The law allows a court to refuse bail to a person 
charged with a crime that carries a penalty of five years' imprisonment 
or more, or when deemed necessary to prevent the commission of another 
serious offense.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the right to a fair trial, 
and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right.
    The director of public prosecutions prosecutes criminal cases. 
Courts generally used jury trials in criminal cases, and the accused 
may choose an attorney. Indigent defendants have the right to an 
attorney at public expense. Defendants enjoy the presumption of 
innocence and have the right to present evidence, question witnesses, 
and appeal.
    The law 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 nonjury 
``special criminal court'' tries all cases the director of public 
prosecutions certifies to be beyond the capabilities of an ordinary 
court. The judicial branch selects the three judges making up the 
special court, which usually includes one high court judge, one circuit 
court judge, and one district court judge. The panel reaches its 
verdicts by majority vote. The rules of evidence are generally the same 
as in regular courts, but the court accepts a sworn statement of a 
police chief superintendent identifying the accused as a member of an 
illegal organization as prima facie evidence of such membership. 
Special criminal court proceedings are generally public, but judges may 
exclude certain persons other than journalists. Both defendants and 
prosecutors may appeal special criminal court decisions to the court of 
criminal appeal.
    The constitution allows the parliament to create tribunals, with 
limited powers, to investigate designated matters, usually cases of 
government corruption. They do not try cases; however, if warranted, 
their findings may be the basis for formal charges. In each instance, 
the legislation creating the tribunal sets out its powers and rules of 
procedure. Authorities established some tribunals to last indefinitely 
and established others only for a specific task.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--On September 10, the Grand 
Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued a judgment 
in the case of McFarland v. Ireland that found that the state had 
violated articles 6 (right to a fair trial) and 13 (right to an 
effective remedy) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The ECHR 
ordered the Government to pay the applicant, Brendan McFarlane, 5,500 
euros ($7,370) in non-pecuniary damages and 10,000 euros ($13,400) in 
court costs.
    The applicant, Brendan McFarlane, lodged the complaint on grounds 
of alleged false imprisonment related to his 1998 arrest for unlawful 
possession of firearms. McFarlane claimed that delayed proceedings and 
lack of access to certain evidence had deprived him of his right to a 
fair trial. His complaint to the European Court of Justice stated that 
because of delays, key evidence in his defense was lost.
    The Government has said that it intends to comply with the 
judgment, and has three months to pay the non-pecuniary damages.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The independent and 
impartial judicial system hears civil cases and appeals on civil 
matters, including damage claims resulting from human rights 
violations; such claims may be brought before all appropriate courts, 
including the Supreme Court.

    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 the Government generally respected this right in 
practice.
    The constitution provides for freedom of the press with the 
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'' material. The law 
provides that a person can be found guilty of blasphemy if ``he or she 
publishes or utters matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in 
relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing 
outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion.'' 
The maximum penalty for this offense is a 25,000 euro ($33,500) fine.
    The law proscribes words or behaviors that are likely to generate 
hatred against persons in the country or elsewhere because of their 
race, nationality, religion, national origins, or sexual orientation. 
There were no reports that authorities invoked these provisions during 
the year.
    The law empowers the Government to prohibit the state-owned radio 
and television network from broadcasting any material ``likely to 
promote or incite to crime or which would tend to undermine the 
authority of the state.'' Authorities did not invoke this prohibition 
during the year.
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views without government restriction.
    The Censorship of Publications Board has the authority to censor 
books and magazines it finds indecent or obscene. The board did not 
exercise this authority during the year.
    The Irish Film Classification Office (IFCO) must classify films and 
videos before they can be shown or sold; it must cut or prohibit 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 IFCO did not prohibit any films 
or videos.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
According to International Telecommunication Union statistics, during 
the year approximately 66 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the Government 
generally respected this right. The law allows the state to ``prevent 
or control meetings'' that authorities believe would breach the peace 
or to be a danger or nuisance to the general public.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and laws provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, 
stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees.
    A refugee in Irish law is someone who ``owing to a well-founded 
fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, 
membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is 
outside the country of his or her nationality and is unable or, owing 
to such fear, unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection 
of that country...'' The law provides that a social group can include 
membership of a trade union or a group of people whose defining 
characteristic is sexual orientation.
    Refugee status is granted if an applicant meets the requirements 
set out in the above definition. If granted, this status provides 
protection against return to the person's country of origin or 
residence, and includes the right to family reunification of immediate 
family members. Recognized refugees are entitled to work or operate a 
business and to access medical, social welfare and education services 
on the same basis as Irish citizens. They are also provided with a 
residence permit.
    In practice the Government provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion.
    The Government operated a resettlement program that accommodates up 
to 200 persons per year on referral from the UNHCR or identified 
through selection missions to existing UNHCR refugee operations.
    There were no reports of discrimination against refugees, 
restrictions on their ability to work, or access to education and law 
enforcement.
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 and Political Participation.--Observers reported that the 
2007 parliamentary elections were free and fair. Political parties 
could operate without restriction or outside interference.
    There were 22 women in the 166-seat house of representatives (Dail 
Eireann) and 12 women in the 60-seat senate (Seanad Eireann). The 
president of the republic was a woman, as were three of the 15 
government ministers. There were five women on the 34-member High Court 
and two on the eight-member Supreme Court.
    There were no minorities in the lower house, the senate, or the 
cabinet.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government generally implemented these laws effectively. During the 
year there were some allegations of government corruption; there were 
no confirmed reports of police corruption.
    Public officials were subject to financial disclosure laws. The 
Revenue Commission in the Department of Finance is responsible for 
identifying and combating government corruption.
    The law provides for public access to government information and 
requires government agencies to publish information on their activities 
and make such information available to citizens, noncitizens, and 
foreign media upon request. Authorities generally granted public 
information requests and did not charge prohibitive fees. There were 
mechanisms for appealing denials.
    There were no reports of any corporation based in or operating 
under the jurisdiction of Ireland that through illicit trade in natural 
resources, supported armed groups accused of committing abuses.
Section 5. 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 country has an ombudsman for the press and a human rights 
commission.
    The Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) was established under 
statute in 2000 to promote and protect those rights, liberties, and 
freedoms guaranteed under the constitution and under international 
agreements, treaties, and conventions to which the country is a party 
for all persons living or present in Ireland.
    The IHRC fulfills its statutory mandate by: Promoting awareness 
about human rights; Promoting and providing human rights education and 
training; Recommending to government how human rights standards should 
be reflected in legislation, policy, and practice; Promoting debate 
around human rights issues as part of the legislative process; 
Appearing before the High Court and Supreme Court to assist the courts 
with the interpretation of human rights standards in specific cases; 
Carrying out inquiries into human rights concerns; Publishing and 
promoting research and reports on human rights.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of 
gender, marital status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, 
age, disability, race, and membership in the Traveller community, and 
the Government sought to enforce the law; however, discrimination 
against racial and ethnic minorities, including immigrants and 
Travellers, remained a problem.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape, including rape within marriage, 
and the Government enforced it. The law provides for free legal advice 
to victims of serious sexual assault. There were 2,250 sexual offenses 
reported to authorities, including 436 rapes. The police and judicial 
authorities showed no reluctance to investigate and prosecute rape or 
sexual assaults. Most of the persons convicted received prison 
sentences of between five and 12 years.
    The law criminalizes domestic violence, but such violence continued 
to be a problem. The law authorizes prosecution of a violent family 
member and provides victims with safety orders that prohibit a person 
from engaging in violent actions or threats and orders that bar an 
offender from entering the family home for up to three years. Victims 
may apply for interim protection while courts process their cases. 
Violations of these orders are punishable by a fine of up to 1,900 
euros ($2,546).
    The police have the power to arrest and prosecute any person for 
illegal violent acts, including those committed against a family 
member. Under the law there are two main kinds of protection available: 
a safety order and a barring order.
    A safety order is an order of the court prohibiting the violent 
person from further violence or threats of violence. A barring order is 
an order requiring the violent person to leave the family home, to 
refrain from further violence or threats of violence, and not to come 
into the close proximity of the family home.
    There were over 14,000 incidents of domestic violence disclosed to 
the Women's Aid Helpline. These included 8,629 incidents of emotional 
abuse, 3,479 incidents of physical abuse, and 1,679 incidents of 
financial abuse.
    The Government funded centers throughout the country for victims of 
domestic abuse. Several NGOs complained about a lack of bed spaces in 
domestic refuge shelters.
    The law obliges employers to prevent sexual harassment and 
prohibits dismissing an employee for making a complaint of sexual 
harassment. The Equality Authority investigates claims of unfair 
dismissal and may require an employer to reinstate the employee or pay 
the employee up to 104 weeks' pay. Authorities effectively enforced the 
law in the cases of reported sexual harassment.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children, and to 
have the information and means to do so, free from discrimination, 
coercion, and violence. Women had access to contraception and skilled 
attendance during childbirth. According to information compiled by 
international organizations, the maternal mortality rate in 2009 was 
approximately three deaths per 100,000 live births. The neonatal 
mortality rate was approximately four deaths per 1,000 live births. 
Women were not subject to coercive family planning. Men and women were 
diagnosed and treated equally for sexually transmitted infections, 
including HIV. There are no legal barriers that prevent women from 
taking advantage of these services.
    Women enjoy the same legal rights as men, including rights under 
family law, property law, and in the judicial system. However, 
inequalities in pay and promotions persisted in both the public and 
private sectors. The average earnings of a woman were 78 percent of 
those of a man doing similar work. Women constituted 43 percent of the 
labor force but were underrepresented in senior management positions.

    Children.--A person born on the island of Ireland, including 
Northern Ireland, after January 1, 2005 is automatically an Irish 
citizen if at least one parent is an Irish citizen, a British citizen, 
a resident of either the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland 
entitled to reside in either without time limit, or a legal resident of 
the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland for three out of the four 
years preceding the child's birth (excluding time spent as a student or 
an asylum seeker).
    In 2009 the Dublin Rape Crisis Center reported that 52.8 percent of 
the 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 gives police the authority to remove 
children from the family if there is an immediate and serious risk to 
their health or welfare.
    Unaccompanied minors entering the country continued to be a matter 
of concern. During the year, 11 unaccompanied children seeking asylum 
in the country went missing from government care, according to figures 
released by the Health Service Executive. The missing children are all 
under 18 years old and arrived in the country without parents or 
guardians. Six of the 11 children were later found. Unaccompanied 
children who seek asylum are considered vulnerable to exploitation 
because they do not have parents or guardians in the country.
    Numerous NGOs offered support for abuse victims, as well as 
resources for parents and professionals who work with children. The 
construction of a national children's hospital in Dublin was delayed 
because of budgetary constraints.
    The Ombudsman for Children investigates complaints from children or 
persons acting on their behalf against various governmental and 
nongovernmental bodies and promotes child welfare. The ombudsman 
provides an independent complaints handling service in regard to public 
bodies, as well as promoting children's rights through participation 
and communication activities.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html as well as country-
specific information at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/country/
country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--According to the 2006 census, the Jewish community 
numbered 1,930 persons.
    There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts during the year.
    In August an anti-Semitic Facebook site was taken down by the 
company. The name of the site was ``The Invasion of Jews in Midleton'' 
and contained negative anti-Semitic stereotypes and jokes about the 
Holocaust. Representatives of the Jewish community reported being 
saddened and startled by the incident.
    There were no developments and none were expected in the cases of 
the 2008 anti-Semitic voice message left on the answering machine of 
the Dublin Hebrew Congregation or the May 2008 painting of anti-Semitic 
slogans and a swastika on the home of a Jewish couple in Tuam.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual and mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, and the 
provision of other state services or other areas; and the Government 
effectively enforced these provisions. The Government effectively 
implemented laws and programs to ensure that persons with disabilities 
have access to buildings, information, and communications. The 
Government does not restrict the right of persons with disabilities to 
vote or participate in civic affairs. The National Disability Authority 
has responsibility for setting and implementing disability standards, 
as well as directing disability policy.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The law prohibits 
discrimination based on language or social status, and the Government 
enforced the law; however, societal discrimination and violence against 
immigrants, and racial and ethnic minorities continued to be a problem.
    There were racially motivated incidents involving physical 
violence, intimidation, graffiti, and verbal slurs. NGOs reported 
problems with landlords refusing to rent property to immigrants who 
were not born in Ireland. NGOs also reported that immigrants, 
particularly Africans, suffered unemployment disproportionately during 
the economic downturn.
    According to the 2006 census, 22,369 persons identified themselves 
as members of an indigenous nomadic group called ``Travellers,'' with a 
distinct history and culture. The Government recognizes Travellers as a 
social group rather than a distinct ethnic group. Travellers faced 
societal discrimination and were denied access to premises, goods, 
facilities, and services, despite applicable antidiscrimination laws 
and longstanding government policies to redress imbalances.
    Despite national regulations, Travellers frequently experienced 
difficulties enrolling their children in school. Of the estimated 5,000 
Traveller families, approximately 1,000 lived at sites without 
electricity or sanitary facilities. Many Travellers depended on social 
welfare for survival, and their participation in the economy was 
limited by discrimination and lack of education.
    The law obliges local officials to develop accommodations for 
Travellers and to solicit Traveller input into the process. Traveller 
NGOs asserted that many communities provided Travellers with housing, 
such as government-owned apartments or townhouses, which was 
inconsistent with the nomadic Traveller lifestyle, or provided 
transient caravan-camping sites that did not include basic amenities 
such as sanitary facilities, electricity, and water.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Most cities and many towns 
celebrated gay pride with parades and festivals. The Government 
endorsed these activities and provided sufficient protection.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides workers with the 
right to form and join independent unions of their choice without 
previous authorization or excessive requirements, and these rights were 
respected in practice. Approximately 33 percent of workers in the 
private sector and 95 percent in the public sector were unionized. 
Among foreign-owned firms, an estimated 80 percent of workers did not 
belong to unions, although pay and benefits were usually more 
attractive compared with domestic firms. Police and military personnel 
may form associations, but technically not unions, to represent them in 
matters of pay, working conditions, and general welfare. The law allows 
unions to conduct their activities without government interference, and 
this right was exercised in practice. The law provides for the right to 
strike, except for police and military personnel, and workers exercised 
this right in both the public and private sectors.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Labor unions 
have the right to pursue collective bargaining and in most instances 
did so freely; however, the law did not require employers to engage in 
collective bargaining, and they did not encourage it.
    There were no reports of antiunion discrimination.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
the export processing zone at the Shannon airport.

    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. NGOs reported that men and women 
were trafficked into the country for work in the construction industry, 
commercial fishing, as domestic servants in private homes, or in 
agriculture. Trafficked women and girls were forced into prostitution. 
NGOs believed a number of Romani children have been trafficked for the 
purpose of forced begging; however, given the difficulty in 
understanding Romani family structures, they could not confirm that the 
children were not with a natural parent. Officials asserted that while 
trafficking and labor exploitation occurred, the magnitude of the 
problem was small.
    The Government partnered with the International Labor Organization 
in its antitrafficking initiative and formed a labor exploitation 
working group involving members from trade unions and employer 
organizations.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
Government implemented laws and policies to protect children from 
exploitation in the workplace, and the Government effectively enforced 
these laws. Children were trafficked for commercial sexual 
exploitation, forced begging, and work in restaurants and domestic 
service. Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in 
Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.
    Under the law, employers may not hire 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. Employers may hire children over the age of 15 on 
a part-time basis during the school year. The law establishes rest 
intervals and maximum working hours, prohibits the employment of 18-
year-olds for late night work, and requires employers to keep detailed 
records on workers under 18 years of age. The Office of the Labor 
Inspectorate at the Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment is 
responsible for enforcement and was generally effective.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum hourly 
wage, which was 8.65 euros ($11.60) for most of the reporting period, 
was reduced to7.65 euros ($10.25) in December as a budgetary austerity 
measure. Low-income families were entitled to such benefits as 
subsidized housing, medical coverage, and children's allowances to 
compensate for low wages. Legally resident foreign migrant workers are 
also eligible for this type of assistance. During the year reports 
persisted that the pay of foreign migrant workers was at times below 
the minimum wage, particularly in the rural agricultural and 
construction sectors. Laws establishing and regulating wage levels do 
not explicitly cover foreign migrant workers.
    The Government operated a labor-monitoring agency independent of 
the Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment. The agency was 
active and effective.
    The standard workweek is 39 hours. The law limits working hours in 
the industrial sector to nine hours per day and 48 hours per week. The 
law limits overtime work to two hours per day, 12 hours per week, and 
240 hours per year. The Government effectively enforced these 
standards. Although there is no statutory entitlement, premium pay for 
overtime could be arranged between employer and employee.
    The Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment is responsible 
for enforcing occupational safety laws, and these laws provided 
adequate and comprehensive protection. There were no complaints from 
either labor or management during the year regarding shortcomings in 
enforcement. 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, and authorities effectively enforced this right.

                               __________

                                 ITALY

    Italy is a multiparty parliamentary democracy with a population of 
approximately 60 million. The bicameral parliament consists of the 
Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The constitution vests executive 
authority in the Council of Ministers, headed by the president of the 
council (the prime minister). The president, who is the head of state, 
nominates the prime minister after consulting with the leaders of all 
political forces in the parliament. International observers considered 
the 2008 national parliamentary elections free and fair. Security 
forces reported to civilian authorities.
    Principal human rights problems were lengthy pretrial detention; 
excessively long court proceedings; violence against women; trafficking 
in persons; and reports of negative attitudes and harassment of gays, 
lesbians, Roma, and other minorities.
                        respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        From:

    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--The Government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings, however, 
during the year security forces were involved in several controversial 
killings.
    On February 6, police in Bergamo shot and killed a Moroccan 
immigrant, Aziz Amiri. Press reports state that the decedent's car 
rammed a military vehicle when it was subjected to a traffic stop. 
Prosecutors opened an investigation for disproportionate use of force 
by police as they attempted to arrest Amiri.
    On October 9, the parents of Federico Aldrovandi agreed to a two-
million-euro ($2.7 million) settlement with the Ministry of the 
Interior over the death of their son from a beating by four police 
officers in 2005. In July 2009 the court in Ferrara sentenced the four 
police officers to 42 months in prison for manslaughter. On March 5, 
three of the officers were found guilty of dereliction of duty and 
abetting dereliction. On December 10, the trial against the fourth 
officer began.
    On October 14, a court in Rome sentenced a police inspector, Paolo 
Morra, to 10 years in prison and three years in a psychiatric hospital 
for the killing of his neighbor, Cheikh Diouf, a Senegalese immigrant. 
The incident, which took place in Civitavecchia in January 2009, was 
the result of a minor dispute.
    On December 1, the Appeals Court of Florence sentenced a police 
officer, Luigi Spaccarotella, to nine years and four months' 
imprisonment for the murder of Gabriele Sandri during a fight between 
rival soccer fans in Arezzo in 2007. Spaccarotella had been sentenced 
to six years in jail for manslaughter in July 2009, but the appeals 
court ruled that the killing was voluntary.
    Doctors who performed the autopsy in the March 2009 case of the 
Algerian man who died in a center for identification and expulsion in 
Rome determined that his death was the result of a heart attack. Other 
detainees had claimed that police officers had beaten him. The results 
of an internal investigation by the Ministry of the Interior have not 
been released.
    In September 2009 a trial against two police officers charged with 
the murder of Giuseppe Turrisi, a man who was living in a homeless 
shelter, began in Milan. A final ruling on the case was not reported as 
of 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, there were 
reports that police occasionally used excessive force against persons, 
particularly Roma and immigrants, detained in connection with common 
criminal offenses or in the course of identity checks.
    On October 19, two police officers were indicted for having 
restrained and beaten a man who had stolen a car in Milan in August 
2009. Another officer was put on trial for aiding and abetting his two 
colleagues.
    On December 7, a trial began against eight Parma police officers 
charged with assaulting Emmanuel Bonsu Foster while arresting him in 
2008 on drug charges.
    On April 4, the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of 
Torture (CPT) published the report of its 2008 visit to the country's 
prisons and detention facilities. The CPT reported that in general 
detained persons were correctly treated and that overall conditions 
were satisfactory, but that the country's prisons and detention 
facilities nevertheless had significant problems.
    While most detained persons that the CPT interviewed reported that 
police treated them correctly in custody, the CPT did receive a number 
of allegations of physical mistreatment and excessive use of force by 
police and Carabinieri officers and, to a lesser extent, by officers of 
the financial police. The alleged mistreatment consisted in the main of 
punches, kicks, or blows with batons at the time of apprehension and, 
on occasion, during custody in a law enforcement establishment. Most of 
the allegations related to police and Carabinieri officers in the 
Brescia area. In a number of cases, the CPT found medical evidence 
consistent with the allegations.
    On June 17, the Appeals Court of Genoa sentenced Gianni De Gennaro, 
who was head of the National Police during protest demonstrations at 
the 2001 G-8 Summit, to 16 months' imprisonment for having induced 
police officers to give false testimony regarding police behavior 
toward the protesters. However, De Gennaro retained his position as the 
director of the department responsible for oversight of Italy's two 
main intelligence agencies. His lawyers planned to appeal the case to 
the Supreme Court, but a date for the final ruling on the case has not 
been set.
    On March 5, an appeals court sentenced seven police officers to 
prison terms of 12 to 38 months for the ``inhuman or degrading 
treatment,'' including assault, on some detained 2001 G-8 Summit 
protesters. Originally 44 police officers were put on trial. The other 
37 were not sentenced because the statute of limitations had run out. 
The court ordered all 44 defendants to pay compensation to the victims. 
On May 18, the Genoa Appeals Court sentenced 25 police officers to 
prison terms of 44 to 48 months for perjury, conspiracy, or assault 
stemming from their raid on a building used by the protesters.
    In its report released on April 4, the CPT noted that, in addition 
to violating the principal of refoulement, authorities carrying out 
government's policy known as ``push-back,'' which involves intercepting 
migrants at sea and returning them to non-European countries, used 
disproportionate appropriate force (see section 2.d.).
    On June 7, the Ministerial Committee of the Council of Europe 
called on Italy to avoid deportations that would violate European Court 
of Human Rights (ECHR) rulings. The Ministry of Interior expelled four 
Tunisians, including Toumi Ali Ben Sassi in 2009 and Ben Khemais in 
2008, who were suspected of terrorism. The ECHR ruled that the 
deportations violated the European Convention on Human Rights on the 
grounds that the returned men risked torture and mistreatment in their 
home country.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Many prison and detention 
centers met international standards, although some prisons were 
seriously overcrowded and antiquated. The Government permitted visits 
by independent human rights observers.
    On July 15, a Rome prosecutor requested the indictment of 13 
physicians, nurses, and agents charged with violence, perjury, abuse of 
power, and abetting in the death of Stefano Cucchi, who was under 
arrest for drug possession. While he was in custody, police transferred 
him to Rebibbia prison and then to a hospital, where he died in October 
2009. The judge's ruling was pending at year's end.
    As of November 30, according to the Ministry of Justice, 69,155 
inmates were in a prison system designed to hold 44,066; however, the 
uneven distribution of prisoners left a few institutions particularly 
overcrowded. Older facilities lacked outdoor or exercise space, and 
some prisons lacked adequate medical care. In September approximately 
54 percent of inmates were serving sentences; 43 percent were mainly 
detainees awaiting trial. Prisoners had access to visitors and 
attorneys and were allowed to submit complaints to judicial 
authorities, who generally investigate credible allegations. The 
Government and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) regularly monitored 
the prison system.
    According to an independent research center, between January and 
November, 160 prisoners died in custody, 61 of them by suicide. There 
were allegations that a small number of these deaths were the result of 
abuse or negligence on the part of prison officials.
    In its April 4 report, the CPT noted that conditions were generally 
acceptable in the country's prisons, but many prisons were seriously 
overcrowded, and in some cases prisoners lacked basic hygiene items. 
The CPT also noted that, in some cases, corrections officers used 
excessive or disproportionate force to restrain prisoners, which at 
times resulted in injuries. The CPT found that in some prisons, 
prisoners sentenced to long terms did not have sufficient access to 
family visits or telephone calls.
    In December an officer from the Via Corelli Identification Center 
was sentenced to seven years and two months in prison for the 2009 rape 
of a Brazilian transsexual inmate.
    Some groups, including the NGO Doctors without Borders, claimed 
that conditions in detention centers were poor and that there was 
evidence of overcrowding. There were reports of disturbances at 
detention centers for immigrants throughout the year. For example, on 
August 28, 30 detainees staged a protest at Gradisca d'Isonzo, while 
nine other detainees used the disturbance for an escape attempt. The 
next day detainees continued to try to escape, injuring soldiers who 
were attempting to restore order. On December 12, detainees protested 
at the Via Corelli detention center in Milan. A week later detainees 
caused additional property damage at the detention center.
    The law does not require pretrial detainees to be held separately 
from convicted prisoners; they were held together in smaller prisons.
    The Government permitted visits to detention facilities by 
independent human rights organizations, parliamentarians, and the 
media.
    Several municipalities and the NGO Antigone had permanent 
independent ombudsmen to promote the rights of detainees and facilitate 
access to health care and other services. The central government 
assigned magistrates to every prison in the country to provide for 
prisoners' rights, to apply measures to prevent infiltration of 
organized crime amongst inmates, and to examine alternatives to 
incarceration. The magistrates also made decisions on eligibility for 
parole and work release.
    The Government provided access to detention centers for 
representatives of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees 
(UNHCR), and these visits were in accordance with the UNHCR's standard 
modalities.
    On January 14, the Government adopted a prison plan designed to 
establish 18 new facilities from 2011 and to hire 2,000 additional 
prison guards. In September the Government approved a decree enabling 
citizens of other EU countries serving prison sentences in Italy to be 
transferred to, and serve out their sentences in, their countries of 
origin.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution prohibits 
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed 
these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the Carabinieri, the national police, 
the financial police, and municipal police forces. The Government has 
effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse. There were no 
reports of impunity involving the security forces during the year; 
however, long delays by prosecutors and other authorities in completing 
some investigations undercut the effectiveness of mechanisms to 
investigate and punish police abuses. Police have proven effective at 
enforcing laws, conducting investigations, and seizing assets of 
criminal organizations, taking into account the resources dedicated to 
such activities.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--To detain an 
individual, police require a warrant issued by a public prosecutor 
unless a criminal act is in progress or there is a specific and 
immediate danger to which they must respond. When authorities detain a 
person without a warrant, an examining magistrate must decide within 24 
hours of the detention whether there is enough evidence to proceed with 
an arrest. The investigating judge then has 48 hours to confirm the 
arrest and recommend whether to prosecute. In terrorism cases 
authorities may hold suspects 48 hours before bringing the case before 
a magistrate.
    Authorities generally respected the right to a prompt judicial 
determination. Although the law entitles detainees to prompt and 
regular access to lawyers of their choosing, authorities did not always 
respect that right in practice. In its April 4 report, the CPT found 
that in some cases police effectively denied detained persons the right 
to an attorney, which can be invoked only at the time of arrest, by 
engaging them in ``informal chats'' before a formal arrest was made.
    The law permits detainees access to family members. The state 
provides a lawyer to indigent persons. 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 five days to interrogate the accused before access to an 
attorney is permitted. Some NGOs and international organizations 
asserted that the terrorism law is deficient in due process and in some 
cases resulted in the deportation or return of alien suspects to 
countries where they had reason to fear persecution. The law allows 
increased surveillance and enhanced police powers in terrorism cases to 
gather evidence, for example, DNA for purposes of identification (see 
section 2.d.).
    Lengthy pretrial detention and trial delays were significant 
problems. During the first half of the year, 43 percent of all 
prisoners were either in pretrial detention or awaiting a final 
sentence. The maximum term of pretrial detention is two to six years, 
depending on the severity of the crime. According to independent 
analysts and magistrates, delays were due to the large number of 
trials, the lack of nonjudicial remedies, and insufficient and 
inadequate distribution of offices and resources, including judges and 
staff.
    There is no provision for bail; however, judges may grant 
provisional liberty to suspects awaiting trial. As a safeguard against 
unjustified detention, detainees may request that a panel of judges 
(liberty tribunal) review their cases on a regular basis and determine 
whether continued detention is warranted.
    Authorities may impose preventive detention as a last resort if 
there is evidence of a serious felony or if the crime is associated 
with the Mafia or terrorism. Except in the most extraordinary 
situations, the law prohibits preventive detention for pregnant women, 
single parents of children under age three, persons more than 70 years 
of age, and those who are seriously ill.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice; however, most court cases involved long trial 
delays.
    There were some reports of judicial corruption. On July 12, the 
Supreme Council of the Magistracy initiated a disciplinary action 
against Alfonso Marra, the president of the Milan Court of Appeals. 
Several regional politicians, a former judge, and others with possible 
links to an organized group pressured members of the council to secure 
Marra's appointment to the Milan court. After his appointment there 
were allegations that the same group pressured Marra to rule in favor 
of recertifying candidates previously barred from running in regional 
elections. In March the court had initially denied those candidates' 
petitions and other paperwork due to alleged irregularities in 
signatures.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. 
Trials are public. Although the law provides that defendants have 
access to an attorney in a timely manner, authorities did not always 
respect this right in practice. Defendants may confront and question 
witnesses against them and may present witnesses and evidence on their 
own behalf. Prosecutors must make evidence available to defendants and 
their attorneys upon request. Defendants have a presumption of 
innocence and the right to appeal verdicts.
    On July 27, an appeals court in Milan ruled that a man arrested in 
2002 and convicted of rape, but found to be innocent of the crime in 
2005 and January 2009, should receive 58,000 euros ($78,000) in 
compensation for his 247 days of incarceration, his loss of work, and 
the eight years he lived under a false accusation of pedophilia.
    Domestic and European institutions continued to criticize the slow 
pace of justice. The Court of Cassation estimated that 18,000 new cases 
were initiated at the national level during the first six months of 
2009, compared with 14,000 in the same period of 2008. Also in 2009 
courts rendered 6,800 judgments against the Government for excessively 
protracted proceedings.
    Courts could 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 and appeals.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--All citizens have the right 
to appeal their cases to the ECHR. The Government complied with the 
ECHR's final decisions on such appeals. In 2009 the ECHR found that the 
country violated the European Convention on Human Rights in 69 cases, 
compared with 83 in 2008.
    On April 13, the ECHR found that the Government violated the 
European Convention on Human Rights in expelling a Tunisian national, 
Mourad Travelsi, suspected of terrorism. The court ordered the 
authorities to pay 21,000 euros ($28,000) in damages, court costs, and 
compensation. In 2008 the Ministry of Interior deported Travelsi to 
Tunisia despite a previous court ruling that suspended his expulsion 
from Italy.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The constitution provides 
for an independent and impartial judiciary in civil matters. Civil 
remedies are determined by law. Arbitration is allowed and regulated by 
contracts. Often citizens and companies turned to arbitration because 
of trial delays.

    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 were generally permissible with judicial warrants 
and in carefully defined circumstances. The Court of Cassation's lead 
prosecutor may authorize wiretaps of terrorism suspects at the request 
of the prime minister.
    The media published leaked transcripts of government wiretaps 
authorized as part of continuing investigations. Between February and 
May, two leading national newspapers, Corriere della Sera and La 
Repubblica, published transcripts of telephone calls, including 
personal details, between various persons who were under investigation 
for their possible involvement with irregularities in the awarding of 
contracts by the Government.
    The law allows magistrates to destroy illegal wiretaps discovered 
by police.
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 
provide for freedom of speech and the press.
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views. However, disputes over partisanship continued to prompt frequent 
political debate. The two main opposition parties and NGOs contended 
that media ownership was concentrated in too few hands. Prime Minister 
Silvio Berlusconi's family holding company, Fininvest, held a 
controlling share in the country's largest private television company, 
Mediaset; its largest magazine publisher, Mondadori; and its largest 
advertising company, Publitalia. His brother owned one of the country's 
nationwide dailies, Il Giornale. Italian media organizations tended to 
reflect the point of view of their proprietors, whether a political 
party or a business entity.
    Freedom House's 2010 report noted ``increased government attempts 
to interfere with editorial policy at state-run broadcast outlets.''
    During the year, the National Federation of the Italian Press 
criticized some instances of what it described as excessive 
restrictions on freedom of expression.
    On July 14, police in Chiavari searched the newsroom of the daily 
Secolo XIX, which had published details and wiretap transcripts 
obtained from a police investigation into organized crime. The regional 
association of journalists protested the newsroom search.
    Public officials continued to bring cases against journalists under 
the country's libel laws.
    On August 2, the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Gianfranco 
Fini, announced that he had filed suit against the newspaper Il 
Giornale for publishing defamatory articles alleging that the brother 
of his girlfriend improperly acquired an apartment that was originally 
donated to the political party founded by Fini.
    On June 19, journalist Marco Travaglio was fined 16,000 euros 
($21,000) for making defamatory comments about the president of the 
senate, Renato Schifani, during a nationally broadcast RAI television 
talk show that aired in 2008.
    On October 21, Prime Minister Berlusconi filed a libel suit against 
television journalist Milena Gabatelli of the national broadcaster RAI. 
She dedicated part of her weekly show to investigating Berlusconi's 
real estate investments in Antigua. Gabatelli suggested that the prime 
minister might have been involved in money laundering.
    There was no update during the year on Prime Minister Berlusconi's 
libel suit against the daily La Repubblica for the publication of a 
list of leading questions including some that concerned matters which 
became public when Berlusconi's wife asked for a divorce.
    There was no update during the year on Prime Minister Berlusconi's 
libel suit against the daily L'Unita for printing two unfavorable 
articles on his private life in July and August. Berlusconi sought 
three million euros ($4 million) in damages.
    In the view of most observers the risk of such suits did not affect 
adversely the willingness of the press to report on politically 
sensitive subjects.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail.
    There were no reports of government attempts to collect, request, 
obtain, or disclose the personally identifiable information of a person 
in connection with that person's peaceful expression of political, 
religious, or ideological opinion or belief.
    A special unit of the police monitored Web sites for crimes 
involving child pornography online. The Government could request other 
governments to block foreign-based Internet sites if they contravened 
national laws. As an antiterrorism measure, authorities required that 
Internet cafe operators obtain licenses and that those utilizing 
wireless Internet areas register personal information before logging 
on. According to Eurostat, in 2009 approximately 53 percent of citizens 
had access to the Internet at home.
    On February 25, a Milan court convicted three Google executives for 
privacy violations, but acquitted them of criminal defamation charges, 
related to a video clip that was uploaded to Google Video in 2006 that 
showed an autistic student being bullied by other students. The three 
executives received suspended six-month sentences. Google stated that 
it was unaware of the video and removed it within two and one-half 
hours after police notified the company of the objectionable content. 
Google appealed the verdict. The case sparked considerable 
international debate over Internet freedom and the balance between 
privacy, intellectual property rights, and combating criminal behavior.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    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.--For a description of religious freedom, 
see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/
drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice.
    The Government cooperated with the Office of the UNHCR and other 
humanitarian organizations to protect and assist refugees, asylum 
seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use 
forced exile in practice.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees. The country is a party to the 
EU's Dublin II Instruction, whose partners generally transfer asylum 
applications to the first EU member country in which the applicant 
arrived. In practice the Government provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion.
    In 2009, 17,600 persons applied for asylum, compared to 30,500 in 
2008. According to the UNHCR, the dramatic decrease in asylum requests 
was the result of the country's controversial repatriation of persons 
aboard boats intercepted in the Strait of Sicily in international 
waters before they reached land. In 2009, 2,230 immigrants were granted 
asylum status. The Government issued temporary residence permits which 
had to be renewed periodically. While not a guarantee, these temporary 
permits could lead to future permanent residence. According to the 
UNHCR, the top three countries of origin of asylum seekers were 
Nigeria, Somalia, and Pakistan. Turkey and Greece often served as part 
of the transit corridor for asylum seekers from Pakistan and other 
countries of that region.
    The Government also provided temporary protection to individuals 
who may not qualify as refugees. In 2009, 5,194 persons received 
temporary protection, and 2,149 obtained humanitarian protection.
    In practice the Government provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of persons with refugee status to countries where 
their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, 
religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or 
political opinion.
    Between August 2009 and July 2010, the Ministry of the Interior 
identified 3,500 individuals who came ashore illegally from North 
Africa, compared to 29,000 in the previous 12 months. Those who were 
apprehended were sent to temporary detention centers for processing, 
and a magistrate determined whether to deport them (if their identity 
could be ascertained), issue them an order to depart (if their identity 
could not be ascertained), or accept them for asylum processing.
    According to the Government, 6,600 unaccompanied minors lived in 
the country in September 2009, 77 percent of them undocumented. Their 
top countries of origin were Morocco, Egypt, Albania, and Afghanistan. 
The Interior Ministry equipped special sections of identification 
centers to host minors.
    During the year the Government continued to implement its 2008 
agreement with Libya that included provisions for patrolling the Libyan 
coast by Italian and Libyan officers using Italian boats. The 
controversial agreement allows all immigrants departing from the Libyan 
coast, not only Libyan nationals, to be turned back before they reach 
Italy.
     Amnesty International's annual report, released in May, criticized 
Italy for ``expelling immigrants to countries that don't guarantee the 
respect of their rights''; fail to screen foreigners; and fail to 
identify refugees, unaccompanied minors, and victims of trafficking. 
The report also accused the Italian and Maltese governments of stopping 
boats in international waters without providing basic assistance to 
migrants on board. According to the Ministry of Interior, during the 
year, no boats were sent back to Libya by Italian authorities. Between 
January and March, only 52 intending immigrants made it to shore in 
Sicily compared to 4,450 during the same period in 2009. From January 
to July, an estimated 1,000 migrants coming from Turkey and Greece 
reached Puglia.
    On April 24, the director of the police department for immigration, 
Rodolfo Ronconi, and the head of the financial police, Vincenzo 
Carrarini, were indicted in Siracusa for ordering the interception and 
return to Libya of a boat carrying 75 persons (including some minors) 
in August 2009. The charges alleged that those on the boat were 
returned against their will and were not allowed access to procedures 
for the protection of refugees.
    In the report on its 2009 visit to the country that was released in 
April, the CPT described the Government's ``push-back'' policy of 
intercepting migrants seeking to reach the country by sea before they 
can reach the country's territorial waters. According to the report, 
``the policy, in its present form, of intercepting migrants at sea and 
obliging them to return to Libya or other non-European countries, 
violates the principle of nonrefoulement.'' It noted that, while 
authorities screened these migrants for serious medical conditions, 
they did not provide them the opportunity for an individual assessment 
of their possible asylum claims and did not screen them for relevant 
documentation such as documents from the UNHCR, but instead transferred 
them wholesale into Libyan custody. The report also claimed that the 
country's authorities did not provide assistance in the form of water 
and food to those aboard boats intercepted in international waters.
    The CPT report stated that the country's authorities acknowledged 
officially that they did not formally identify migrants who were 
intercepted at sea and ``pushed back'' and that the UNHCR had informed 
the CPT that, among the migrants pushed back, there were persons who 
were registered with the UNHCR and to whom it had previously issued 
temporary documents. According to the CPT, other migrants, including 
persons from Somalia and Eritrea, were later interviewed by the UNHCR 
and immediately found to be seeking, and possibly qualifying for, 
international protection. Between May and July 2009, 97 of the 632 boat 
returnees screened by the UNHCR were found to be seeking international 
protection.
    The CPT noted that the procedures in place did not appear to 
provide scope for a determination of whether the migrants included 
persons in need of international protection and that it appeared that 
Italian authorities had issued clear guidelines that migrants who were 
intercepted at sea were to be ``pushed back,'' to the extent possible, 
provided they had not reached the country's territorial waters. Between 
May and July 2009, there was only one occasion when persons intercepted 
by the country's authorities in international waters were assessed as 
requiring urgent hospital care and transferred to Italian territory to 
receive such care. All other intercepted persons were transported to 
either Libya or Algeria, including persons who, according to health-
care professionals aboard the Italian vessels, were scarcely in 
sufficiently good health to face the sea journey. The CPT report stated 
that ``there would appear to be a real risk, in the Committee's view, 
that persons detained in Libya, including migrants, may be subjected to 
severe mistreatment and/or be sent to a country where they are at risk 
of such treatment.''
    On April 28, the Government responded that migrants were 
repatriated in conformity with international treaties and in 
cooperation with Libyan authorities. Italian authorities asserted that 
all migrants intercepted at sea received water and food and were not 
improperly detained; those who were in need of medical treatment or 
intended to apply for protected status were brought to Italy. Between 
July and November 2009, the period covered by the CPT report, six 
Nigerians were hospitalized and 523 asylum seekers were brought to 
temporary shelters.
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 and Political Participation.--National and international 
experts, including observers from the Organization for Security and 
Cooperation in Europe, considered the 2008 parliamentary elections free 
and fair. In June 2009 the country held elections to the European 
Parliament that were considered free and fair.
    Numerous political parties functioned without government 
restrictions or outside interference.
    There were 59 women in the 322-seat Senate and 133 women in the 
630-seat Chamber of Deputies. Women held five of 23 positions in the 
Council of Ministers.
    The only legally defined minorities were linguistic: the French-
speaking Valdostani and the German-speaking Altoatesini/Suedtiroler. 
There were four members of these groups in the Senate and three in the 
Chamber of Deputies. In a largely monolithic society, immigrants 
represented approximately 6.5 percent of the population, and fewer than 
half of them qualified as ethnic/racial minorities. Two members of 
immigrant groups (of Moroccan and Congolese origin) were elected to the 
Chamber of Deputies.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government generally implemented these laws effectively. There 
continued to be isolated reports of government corruption during the 
year.
    According to the president of the National Audit Court (Corte dei 
Conti), 221 persons were accused of corruption, 219 of embezzlement, 
and 1,714 of abuse of power in 2009. The National Audit Court convicted 
126 persons of corruption in 2009.
    Between January and June 2009, public authorities found sufficient 
cause to refer to prosecutors 5,574 persons suspected of such crimes as 
corruption (104 cases in 2009), abuse of power (948 cases in 2009), 
graft (121 cases in 2009), fraud (435 cases between January and June 
2009), and embezzlement (133 cases between January and June 2009).
    On February 11, prosecutors opened an investigation to determine 
whether Undersecretary for Civil Protection Guido Bertolaso accepted 
bribes in exchange for awarding construction contracts for the planned 
2009 G8 Summit headquarters in La Maddalena.
    On February 19, authorities indicted Governor Ottaviano Del Turco 
and 32 other local officials in Abruzzo for corruption, embezzlement, 
fraud, and abuse of power in a case allegedly involving 12.8 million 
euros ($17.2 million) in the health care sector. The preliminary 
hearing began on June 14 and the main trial was scheduled to begin on 
April 15, 2011.
    On July 12, a court sentenced General Giampaolo Ganzer, head of an 
elite Carabinieri unit, to 14 years in jail for drug smuggling and 
embezzlement in Milan. At year's end Ganzer remained in his position, 
but, at the end of December, authorities were considering transferring 
him to a training unit.
    Members of parliament are subject to financial disclosure laws. The 
Ministry of Public Administration encouraged adherence to voluntary 
guidelines for financial disclosure on the part of the leadership of 
all ministries. The anticorruption and transparency office in the 
Ministry of Public Administration acts as the Government watchdog on 
corruption.
    The law gives citizens the right to access government documents and 
to be informed of administrative processes. With some security-related 
exceptions, the Government and local authorities respected this right 
in practice for citizens, noncitizens, and the foreign press.
Section 5. 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 cooperative and responsive to their views.
    An interministerial commission on human rights and a parliamentary 
committee on human rights focus on international and high-profile 
domestic cases.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, ethnic 
background, and political opinion. It provides some protection against 
discrimination based on disability, language, or social status. The 
Government generally enforced these prohibitions; however, some 
societal discrimination continued against women, persons with 
disabilities, immigrants, and Roma.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is illegal, and the 
Government enforced the law effectively. According to Italian National 
Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), in 2008, 4,893 cases of rape and 1,484 
cases of sexual exploitation were reported to the police.
    Violence against women, including spousal abuse, remained a 
problem. In September, ISTAT reported that almost 10.5 million women 
aged 16 to 65, or 51.8 percent of all women, had been victims of 
violence or harassment at least once in their lives. Between 2008 and 
2010, 3.9 million women were involved in situations involving violence 
or harassment. Of these 3.9 million cases, 27 percent were verbal 
assault, 22 percent were stalking, 20 percent were indecent exposure, 
and 19 percent were physical violence. Women who lived in big cities 
were more at risk; 64.9 percent of such women reported experiencing 
violence or stalking at least once over their lifetime. An estimated 
8.5 percent of women in the study reported sexual harassment at work.
    The law criminalizes the physical abuse of women, including by 
family members, allows for the prosecution of perpetrators of violence 
against women, and helps abused women avoid publicity. In July, ISTAT 
estimated that 100 women had been killed by their partners or former 
partners over the previous 12 months. Police officers and judicial 
authorities prosecuted perpetrators of violence against women, but 
victims frequently declined to press charges due to fear, shame, or 
ignorance of the law. According to the Ministry of Justice, of the five 
million assault victims, only 7.3 percent reported crimes to police.
    On March 13, in Bergamo, a Moroccan man was sentenced to three 
years' imprisonment for several episodes of violence, including death 
threats, against his Italian wife. He accused her of violating Islamic 
moral values.
    In 2009 the Ministry of Equal Opportunity established a hotline for 
victims of stalking in addition to the hotline for victims of violence 
seeking immediate assistance and temporary shelter. In 2009 the 
Ministry of Equal Opportunity hotline received 17,600 calls, 10 percent 
of them from foreigners. Between January and March police received 
1,592 stalking complaints, 79 percent of them from women, and made 293 
arrests, compared to 923 arrests between February 23 and December 2009. 
The NGO Telefono Rosa assisted 1,744 victims of violence, 287 of whom 
were foreigners. The NGO ACMID-Donna established a toll-free number for 
abused Muslim women and received 5,500 calls between November 2008 and 
August 2009. Approximately 82 percent of those cases involved violence 
or other mistreatment by husbands or relatives, including unwillingly 
participation in a polygamous marriage. No official statistics have 
been gathered on polygamous marriages in Italy, and estimates of women 
affected vary wildly from hundreds to tens of thousands.
    There were occasional reports of ``honor crimes.''
    On August 14, in Pordenone, El Ketaoui Dafani, a 45-year-old 
Moroccan man, received a sentence of life imprisonment for the 
September 2009 murder of his 18-year-old daughter, Saana Dafani, 
because of her relationship with a 31-year-old Italian man.
    On April 29, police arrested an Egyptian man on charges of 
kidnapping, domestic assault, and sexual assault in Andria. The arrest 
followed escalating tensions between the man and his wife as she 
refused to cover her face when her husband's male friends visited their 
house. The man kidnapped their son and left him in Egypt to be raised 
by his paternal grandparents. Police arrested the man after he returned 
to Italy. The child was later reunited with his mother.
    Female genital mutilation is a crime punishable by up to 10 years' 
imprisonment. The Ministry of Equal Opportunity estimated that 35,000 
immigrant women were victims of genital mutilation. The vast majority 
of the women, 1,100 of whom were age 17 and younger, were victimized in 
their countries of origin. Most of the women lived in Lombardy, Veneto, 
Emilia Romagna, and Lazio. An interagency committee of the Department 
of Equal Opportunity in charge of combating female genital mutilation 
implemented a prevention program that included an awareness campaign 
for immigrants, an analysis of risks, and training of cultural 
mediators. In November 2009 the Ministry of Equal Opportunity 
inaugurated a hotline dedicated to victims of such mutilation.
    The law permits domestic courts to try citizens and permanent 
residents who engage in sex tourism outside of the country, even if the 
offense is not a crime in the country in which it occurred. According 
to the domestic branch of End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, 
and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes, in recent years sex 
tourists from the country chose Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Czech 
Republic, northern Russia, and Brazil as preferred destinations.
    The country has a code of conduct for tourist agencies to help 
combat sex tourism.
    Sexual harassment is illegal, and the Government effectively 
enforced the law. By government decree, emotional abuse based on gender 
discrimination is a crime.
    Couples and individuals had the right to decide the number, 
spacing, and timing of their children, and had the information and 
means to do so free from discrimination, coercion, and violence. Access 
to information on contraception, and skilled attendance at delivery and 
in postpartum care were widely available. The maternal mortality rate 
was 5 per 100,000 live births in 2008. Women and men had equal access 
to diagnostic services and treatment for sexually transmitted 
infections, including HIV.
    The law gives women the same rights as men, including rights under 
family law, under property law, and in the judicial system.
    According to an independent research center, the overall gap 
between salaries for men and women was 16 percent, although a study 
released in July estimated the gap between men and women with the same 
jobs and qualifications was 2 percent. Women were underrepresented in 
many fields, including management, entrepreneurial business, and other 
professions. According to a report released by an independent research 
center in October, Italian women account for only 12 percent of all 
managers, compared to the European average of 33 percent. Only 3.2 
percent of board members of Italian companies listed on the stock 
market were women.
    On June 10, the Government enacted a decree that would eliminate 
discrimination in the minimum retirement age of men and women in the 
public sector beginning in 2012. It would end women's entitlement to 
retire at 60, five years earlier than men. The European Commission 
found the rule illegal in 2008, and the country enacted the new law to 
be in compliance.
    A number of government offices worked to promote women's rights, 
including the Ministry for Equal Opportunity and the Equal Opportunity 
Commission in the Prime Minister's Office. The Ministry of Labor and 
Welfare has a similar commission that focuses on women's rights and 
discrimination in the workplace. Many NGOs, most of them affiliated 
with labor unions or political parties, actively and effectively 
promoted women's rights.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents. Local 
authorities registered all births immediately.
    In the first six months of the year, Telefono Azzurro, an NGO that 
advocates for children's rights, received 882 requests for assistance. 
An estimated 5 percent of these involved sexual abuse, 12.5 percent 
physical violence, and 6 percent psychological abuse. In 53 percent of 
the cases, the victims were female; 62 percent of the victims were 
younger than 10. In 2006 authorities registered approximately 170 
reports of sexual intercourse with minors, 290 reports of production of 
child pornography, and 180 reports of possession of child pornography.
    According to ISTAT, in 2008, police received 474 cases of sexual 
intercourse with minors and 537 cases of pedophilia.
    NGOs estimated that 10 percent of persons engaged in prostitution 
were minors. In the regions of Sicily, Puglia, and Marche, between 
January and August, the NGO Save the Children identified 778 minors who 
had entered the country illegally. An estimated 380 of them were 
unaccompanied by adults.
    On August 6, at the Bologna airport, police arrested a Cameroonian 
man for trafficking minors. He was found with a boy and a girl, both 
between 5 and 7 years old, traveling on stolen passports. The children 
were in protective custody pending their identification.
    On May 24, the Ministry of the Interior announced the establishment 
of a new hotline run by Telefono Azzuro dedicated to helping find 
minors who disappeared and assisting those who ran away. In 2008 there 
were 1,330 runaways, of whom 998 were not citizens of the country.
    Illegal immigrant child laborers from North Africa, West Africa, 
the Philippines, and China continued to enter the country. The flow of 
children from Albania continued to drop, possibly due to improved 
economic conditions in Albania and increased police cooperation between 
the country and Albania.
    Few of the country's children engaged in prostitution for survival. 
However, the independent research center Parsec reported that thousands 
of minors from Eastern Europe engaged in prostitution for survival. 
Prostitution under the age of 18 is against the law, but no penalty is 
specified.
    Romani adults deploy Romani children of all ages for prostitution, 
begging, and theft. Such practices are common throughout the country, 
and, as a matter of practice, police do not intervene to prevent Romani 
children from being used in these activities.
    The country, which has a statutory rape law, is not a destination 
for sex tourism. The minimum age for consensual sex varies from 13 to 
16, based on the relationship between partners. The penalty for child 
pornography ranges from six to 12 years in prison, and the penalty for 
violation of the law regarding the minimum age for consensual sex 
ranges from two to 10 years in prison. A special unit of the police 
monitored 26,600 Web sites during the year; the unit investigated 1,155 
persons for crimes involving child pornography online and arrested 51 
persons. According to the NGO Telefono Arcobaleno, during the year 4.7 
percent of persons accessing pornographic materials involving minors 
worldwide were from the country. Between January and November, Telefono 
Arcobaleno received 2,580 reports of online pedophilia. These reports 
could come from Internet users who came across child pornography online 
or from persons who reported suspected activity involving exploitation 
of minors.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The country's estimated 30,000 Jews maintained 
synagogues in 21 cities.
    No violent anti-Semitic attacks were reported during the year. 
Instances of anti-Semitic graffiti occurred in a number of cities. 
Small extremist fringe groups were responsible for anti-Semitic acts.
    On March 17, a 75-year-old rabbi of Moroccan origin was insulted on 
a bus in Milan by a group of persons yelling, ``Jews go away! We will 
kill you all.'' No one on the bus, including the driver, intervened to 
defend the man.
    On January 28, anti-Semitic graffiti containing threats against the 
president of Rome's Jewish community appeared in the center of the 
city. On March 28, commemorative stone markers in Rome for a family 
deported to Auschwitz during World War II were vandalized.
    On May 21, police searched the homes of four activists of the 
fascist group Militia who were organizing a summit with other radical 
associations to create a national network. Authorities believe the 
group was responsible for anti-Semitic graffiti, hate crimes, and 
vandalism committed in Rome and other cities.
    The Government strongly criticized the acts of anti-Semitic 
vandalism. Prime Minister Berlusconi, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, 
and other politicians across the political spectrum expressed 
solidarity with the victims. The Government continued to host annual 
meetings to increase public awareness of the Holocaust and to combat 
anti-Semitism.
    On October 4, Prime Minister Berlusconi, while talking with 
supporters in front of his residence, told an anti-Semitic joke that 
was subsequently made public.
    On December 28, a Rome municipal employee and former member of a 
defunct neo-fascist terrorist group was suspended after he used his 
office computer for a social networking conversation that included an 
anti-Semitic remark.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, and the 
provision of other state services. The Government effectively enforced 
these provisions, but there was some societal discrimination. The NGO 
Antigone claimed there was a pattern of abuse in prisons and mental 
health facilities, highlighting some cases of death possibly resulting 
from poor treatment of those detained in such facilities. On June 11, a 
parliamentary committee visited the largest criminal detention center 
for those with psychiatric problems, which is in Aversa. The committee 
criticized the lack of adequate treatment for inmates, whom they 
described as neglected.
    On September 9, a woman in a wheelchair claimed that the driver of 
a water taxi in Venice refused to transport her because of her 
disability. The municipality opened an investigation.
    Although the law mandates access to government buildings for 
persons with disabilities, mechanical barriers, particularly in public 
transport, left such persons at a disadvantage. The Ministry of Labor 
and Welfare was responsible for protecting the rights of persons with 
disabilities. Many cities lacked infrastructure (such as elevators at 
subway and funicular stations and ramps on sidewalks) for persons with 
limited mobility and those in wheelchairs.
    ISTAT estimated there were 2.6 million persons with disabilities in 
2004, based on a sample survey of the population. Using a different 
methodology, an independent research center, Censis, estimated that 
during the year there were 4.1 million persons with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--There continued to be reports 
that authorities mistreated Roma. The press and NGOs reported cases of 
discrimination, particularly in access to housing, evictions, 
deportations, and government efforts to remove Romani children from 
their parents for their protection.
    On September 1, in Livorno, an estimated 200 persons threatened two 
Romanians and threw stones at them before police intervened. According 
to the press, the two men had beaten two Italians who had previously 
criticized them for leaving an old washing machine on the street.
    On June 25, a Brescia court sentenced Stefano Rizzi to 21 years' 
imprisonment for the 2008 ``hate crime'' killing of Mohamed Chamrani, a 
Moroccan who had been beaten and thrown into Lake Garda. Four minors 
also involved in the crime were placed under the supervision of the 
social services department.
    There were no accurate statistics on the number of Roma in the 
country. NGOs estimated that 140,000, including 75,000 citizens, were 
concentrated on the fringes of urban areas in the central and southern 
parts of the country. Local officials and NGOs acknowledged that Romani 
camps were characterized by poor housing, unhygienic sanitary 
conditions, limited employment prospects, inadequate educational 
facilities, inconsistent police presence, and school-age children who 
are not attending school.
    During the year the Interior Ministry continued a campaign to curb 
illegal immigration based on a 2008 emergency decree on security and 
immigration. Authorities arrested or ordered the expulsion of several 
hundred foreigners (mainly Roma) and took the names of others who lived 
in encampments near major cities. Between January and September, more 
than 9,000 foreigners were repatriated to their non-EU countries of 
origin, compared to 18,000 in 2009. An estimated 290 persons illegally 
in the country participated in a voluntary repatriation program.
    On August 27, a child died and another one was seriously injured in 
an accidental fire that occurred in an illegal Romani encampment in the 
outskirts of Rome. The incident spurred Rome Mayor Alemanno to vow that 
the city would continue its efforts to tear down all unauthorized 
Romani settlements, including more than 200 illegal shanty towns that 
he stated remained around Rome. He added that persons who have arrived 
in Rome must be able to support and house themselves adequately; 
otherwise, they would have to leave.
    The city of Rome continued efforts on its Nomad Plan through which 
the estimated 7,200 Romani inhabitants of the greater Rome area would 
be transferred out of unauthorized camps into authorized settlements 
built by the Government. In February the city closed the Casilino 900 
camp, formerly one of the largest Romani camps in Europe, and moved 
inhabitants to one of 10 authorized camps in operation during the year.
    Government officials at the national and local levels, including 
those from the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Equal 
Opportunity, met periodically with Roma and their representatives. In 
July the city of Rome appointed a Romani person to be an unofficial 
spokesperson for his community.
    The Government's Office to Combat Racial and Ethnic Discrimination 
in the Ministry of Equal Opportunity assisted victims of 
discrimination. In 2007 the office received approximately 8,000 calls 
on its national hotline. The majority of complaints related to labor 
conditions, wages, and discrimination in the provision of public 
services. The office provided legal assistance and helped mediate 
disputes.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There are no laws 
criminalizing homosexuality. The press reported several cases of 
violence against gay and lesbian couples during the year. On May 24, 
several persons assaulted a gay man in Rome in a neighborhood where 
members of the gay community often met in bars and restaurants.
    On January 24, a court sentenced Alessandro Sardelli to seven years 
in prison for assaulting a gay couple during a gay festival in Rome in 
August 2009.
    The Rome police department has created a special unit to 
investigate reports of crimes based on sexual orientation.
    The Arcigay reported two killings and 29 nonlethal attacks against 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) persons between January 
and August, compared with eight killings and 52 other attacks in 2009. 
Several of the crimes were described as domestic disputes. Some acts of 
vandalism were committed against bars and discos catering mainly to 
LGBT clientele.
    On November 4, the LGBT-rights group Arcigay criticized Prime 
Minister Berlusconi's comment that ``It's better to look at nice girls 
than to be gay,'' which was his response to allegations of improper 
involvement with a female minor. In the midst of the controversy over 
the remark, Minister for Equal Opportunity Carfagna noted that the 
Government had promoted a number of initiatives to fight discrimination 
against gays and lesbians.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDs. No 
underlying pattern of discrimination/abuse was detectable based on 
verifiable incidents.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides for the right to 
establish, join, and carry out union activities in the workplace 
without previous authorization or excessive requirements, and workers 
exercised these rights in practice. The law prohibits union 
organization in the armed forces. Unions claimed to represent between 
35 and 40 percent of the workforce.
    The law provides for the right to strike, and workers exercised 
this right by conducting legal strikes. The law restricts strikes 
affecting essential public services (such as transport, sanitation, and 
health) by requiring longer advance notification and precluding 
multiple strikes within days of each other.
    In February 2009 the Government approved a bill to restrict 
transport strikes. Only those unions representing at least half the 
workforce can call transport strikes.

    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 workers to organize and bargain collectively, and workers 
exercised this right. According to ISTAT about 8.1 million employees 
(47 percent of all employees) worked under national collective 
bargaining agreements. Trade unions estimated that 3.2 million 
employees were covered by a national collective bargaining agreement. 
These employees were also covered by a second contract negotiated at 
the company or territory-wide level.
    Antiunion discrimination is illegal, and the Government effectively 
enforced labor laws. Employees fired for union activity have the right 
to request reinstatement. There were no reported cases of 
discrimination.
    There are no export processing zones.
    The law relating to free-trade zones allows a company of any 
nationality to employ workers of the same nationality under that 
country's labor laws and social security systems.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and the Government 
enforced such laws; however, there were reports such practices 
occurred.
    Women were trafficked for sexual exploitation, Romani children for 
sexual exploitation and begging, and workers for agricultural labor or 
to work in sweatshops manufacturing counterfeit products. For 
information on forced labor, please see the Department of State's 
annual Trafficking in Persons Report at http://www.state.gov/g/tip.
    Parsec estimated that approximately 700 victims of labor 
trafficking worked outside the sex industry, mainly in domestic, 
agricultural, or service labor. Forced labor occurred primarily in the 
agricultural sector and mostly in the south where, according to Doctors 
without Borders, a large majority of the foreign seasonal workers were 
unregistered and did not hold residence permits.
    Chinese men and women were trafficked to the country for forced 
labor. On May 31, police arrested the Chinese owner of a textile 
factory and charged him with exploiting 15 Chinese illegal laborers. 
Police found the laborers working and living in poor conditions at the 
textile factory near Perugia.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
Government sought to enforce laws and policies designed to protect 
children from exploitation in the workplace; however, there were a 
number of reports of child labor.
    The law prohibits employment of children under age 15 with some 
limited exceptions, and there are specific restrictions on employment 
in hazardous or unhealthy occupations for boys under the age of 18 and 
girls under the age of 21. Enforcement was generally effective in the 
formal economy; however, enforcement was difficult in the extensive 
informal economy.
    Illegal immigrant child laborers, mostly between 15 and 18 years of 
age, continued to enter the country from North Africa, the Philippines, 
and China. They worked primarily in the manufacturing and services 
industries.
    Children were trafficked for sexual exploitation and begging. 
Please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.
    On September 30, according to the Ministry of Welfare, 6,587 
unaccompanied minors were registered, 74 percent of whom were hosted in 
protected communities.
    The Government, employers' associations, and unions continued their 
tripartite cooperation to combat child labor. The Ministry of Labor and 
Welfare, working with police and Carabinieri, is responsible for 
enforcement of child labor laws, but their efforts produced limited 
results.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Minimum wages, set on a sector-
by-sector basis, provided a decent standard of living for a worker and 
family. However, workers in the informal sector often worked for less 
than the minimum wage in the corresponding formal sector. The estimated 
2.6 million workers in the informal sector accounted for 11.3 percent 
of the total workforce in 2009 according to ISTAT.
    The legal workweek is 40 hours. Overtime work may not exceed two 
hours per day or an average of 12 hours per week. Unless modified by a 
collective bargaining agreement, the law sets maximum overtime in 
industrial sector firms at 80 hours per quarter and 250 annually. The 
law requires rest periods of one day per week and 11 hours per day. 
Premium pay is required for overtime. These standards were effectively 
enforced.
    The law sets basic health and safety standards and guidelines for 
compensation for on-the-job injuries. There were labor inspectors in 
both the public health service and the Ministry of Labor and Welfare, 
but their numbers were insufficient to provide for adequate enforcement 
of health and safety standards. The standards were not enforced in the 
informal economy. According to the Workmen's Compensation Institute, in 
2009 there were 1,050 work-related deaths. Workers have the right to 
remove themselves from dangerous work situations without jeopardizing 
their continued employment, and the Government effectively enforced 
this right.

                               __________

                                 KOSOVO

    Kosovo is a parliamentary democracy with a population of 
approximately 2.2 million. Multiparty elections on December 12 for the 
Assembly and the national legislature generally met international 
standards, but serious irregularities in some areas resulted in a 
limited revote in some municipalities. The country declared its 
independence in 2008 when it accepted the Ahtisaari plan, which 
provided for internationally sponsored mechanisms, including an 
International Civilian Office and the EU Rule of Law Mission (EULEX), 
to support the new government. Security forces reported to civilian 
authorities while being monitored by the UN-authorized North Atlantic 
Treaty Organization (NATO) Peacekeeping Force for Kosovo (KFOR).
    During the year reported problems and abuses included the 
following: government interference in security forces and the 
judiciary; lengthy pretrial detention and lack of judicial due process; 
intimidation of media by public officials and individuals; incidents of 
violence against members of religious communities and damage to 
religious properties; limited progress in returning internally 
displaced persons (IDPs) to their homes; government corruption, 
including in the police force and the judiciary; violence and 
discrimination against women; trafficking in persons, particularly 
girls and women for sexual exploitation; societal violence, abuse, and 
discrimination against minority communities; societal discrimination 
against persons with disabilities; abuse and discrimination against 
persons based on their sexual orientation; and child labor 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings during the year. There were developments in 1999-2003 
cases of suspected politically motivated killings.
    Following the November 2009 release of a video confession of a 
self-proclaimed political assassin, Nazim Bllaca, EULEX made four 
arrests during the year on suspicion of more than 20 politically 
motivated killings during the period 1999-2003. Bllaca and the three 
others arrested in the case are suspected of murder and attempted 
murder of political figures under orders from the Kosovo Information 
Service (SHIK), which served the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) until the 
end of the Kosovo conflict. SHIK reported its official disbandment in 
2008. The investigation in the case continued at year's end. On July 
13, EULEX police arrested Fahredin Gashi in connection to the 
investigation. Gashi was charged with war crime offenses committed in 
1999 in the Lipjan/Lipljan municipality. On November 30, Nazim Bllaca 
was released from pretrial detention after spending one year in 
custody. The release was statutorily mandated, as pretrial detention 
cannot extend beyond one year.
    EULEX's mandate included investigation, trial, and prosecution of 
war crimes from the 1998-99 conflict (see section 1.e., trial 
procedures).
    On July 5, an unknown assailant shot and injured Petar Miletic, a 
member of the Assembly and the permanent secretary of the Kosovo Serb 
Independent Liberal Party, in front of his apartment as he departed for 
work. Interior Minister Bajram Rexhepi told the media that Miletic was 
hit by two bullets. Miletic was treated in the hospital and released 
after one week. Police said they had a description of the shooter, and 
an investigation was ongoing at year's end.
    On December 12, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe 
(COE) released a report by COE rapporteur Dick Marty on allegations 
concerning inhuman treatment of persons and illicit trafficking in 
human organs in the country. The report stated that, from July 1999 to 
mid-2000, elements of the KLA and affiliates held scores of 
``disappeared'' persons in Albania at informally arranged locations at 
Bicaq, Burrel, Rripe, and Fushe-Kruje. The report further alleged that 
a small number of these persons became ``victims of organized crime,'' 
their kidneys extracted for use by an international organ-trafficking 
ring. The report stated that all of those held, Albanians and Serbs, 
were presumed to have been killed. According to the report, first-hand 
sources implicated five members of the so-called ``Drenica Group'' 
within the KLA--Hashim Thaci, Xhavit Haliti, Kadri Veseli, Azem Syla, 
and Fatmir Limaj--in having ordered, and in some cases personally 
overseen, assassinations, detentions, beatings, and interrogations in 
the context of KLA-led operations on the territory of Albania between 
1998 and 2000. The report also stated that the head of the alleged 
Drenica Group, current Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, reportedly operated 
with the ``support and complicity'' not only of Albania's formal 
governance structure, including the Albanian socialist government in 
power at the time, but also from Albania's Secret Service and the 
Albanian mafia.
    The Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the 
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), whose 
mandates did not extend into Albania, previously investigated the 
allegations of organ harvesting contained in the Marty report and 
concluded that there was insufficient evidence to pursue a criminal 
case. The EULEX War Crimes Unit maintains an open investigation into 
the organ trafficking allegations. The EULEX War Crimes Unit stated 
that it possessed no evidence related to the Marty report allegations 
and called on the COE and other parties to share whatever evidence they 
may have obtained. The report also calls on Serbia, Kosovo, and Albania 
to cooperate closely with EULEX in support of the investigation. Kosovo 
authorities denounced the content of the report but pledged their 
cooperation with any investigation.
    On June 11, the district court in Pristina sentenced Arben Berisha 
to the maximum prison sentence of 40 years in the 2007 killing of 
police officer Triumf Riza. The court also sentenced Fitim Avdiu to 10 
years as an accomplice, and fined Agron Emini 2,000 euros ($2,680) for 
assisting the perpetrator of a criminal offense. Three other persons 
accused in the case--Enver Sekiraca, Ilir Abdullahu, and Rrahim 
Abdullahu--remained at large.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances; however, according to the International Committee of 
the Red Cross (ICRC), as of the end of August, there were 1,822 persons 
still listed as missing as a result of the 1998-99 conflict. Of the 
missing, 70 percent were Kosovo Albanians, and 30 percent were Kosovo 
Serbs and other minorities.
    During the year the Ministry of Justice and the former Office on 
Missing Persons and Forensics, which became the Department of Forensic 
Medicine (DFM) this year pursuant to the law, continued to identify the 
remains of missing persons. From January to December the DFM and the 
International Commission for Missing Persons (ICMP) positively 
identified 56 missing persons, and transferred remains to families. 
Additionally the DFM and ICMP confirmed the identity of 47 persons 
previously identified and buried, but for whom there were concerns 
about the initial identification. In August the DFM began excavation of 
a large, complex site in Vushtrri/Vucitrn municipality with assistance 
from the Kosovo Security Force (KSF). As of mid-December, 364 
unidentified sets of remains were in DFM custody (337 from Kosovo sites 
and 27 from Serbian sites).
    During the year officials from Kosovo and Serbia met four times in 
a working group on missing persons chaired by the ICRC and under the 
auspices of the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General. Two 
meetings of its sub-working group on forensic issues were held during 
the year.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices, and 
there were no reports during the year that the Government, EULEX, or 
KFOR (which has limited arrest and detention authority) employed them.
    The December 12 COE report on inhuman treatment of persons and 
illicit trafficking in human organs (see section 1.a.) alleged that, 
from 1998 to June 1999, the KLA, with the cooperation of the Albanian 
Secret Service, detained ``prisoners of war'' from Kosovo at locations 
in Durres, Cahan, and Kukes, where they were held in makeshift 
cellblocks, left in unsanitary conditions without food and water, and 
were visited periodically by KLA soldiers to be questioned under harsh 
treatment or indiscriminately beaten.
    Some supporters of Vetevendosje (``Self-Determination'' Movement) 
leader Albin Kurti reported they were injured during his June 12 arrest 
in Pristina. Kurti, who escaped from a house arrest sentence stemming 
from a violent 2007 protest and avoided several earlier attempts to 
return him to custody, was arrested after a protest at his group's 
headquarters. More than 100 supporters tried to impede the arrest, and 
the Kosovo Police (KP) used two canisters of tear gas to control the 
crowd. Several supporters sought medical treatment following the 
interaction with police, alleging they were beaten with batons and 
sustained burns from the tear gas. Vetevendosje activists overturned 
two EULEX vehicles that were present at the scene and slashed tires of 
several KP vehicles.
    In 2009 the COE's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) 
released a report on the country based on its 2007 visit. The report 
stated that the CPT received a number of reports of mistreatment of 
detainees by KP officers, consisting mainly of punches, slaps, and 
kicks by officers attempting to obtain confessions. The report noted 
that, in a few cases, the alleged mistreatment (such as a mock 
execution and prolonged and severe beatings) could easily be described 
as torture and noted that a number of detained persons alleged that 
police officers had exerted psychological pressure on them not to file 
a complaint regarding the mistreatment.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prisons and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards, and the 
Government permitted monitoring visits by independent human rights 
observers.
    During the year there were some allegations of abuse and 
mistreatment of prisoners. In October the Kosovo Rehabilitation Center 
for Torture Victims (KRCT), a local NGO that visited and monitored 
prisons and detention centers, published a report on its 2009-10 visits 
to all prisons and detention facilities in the country. The KRCT 
reported no allegations of excessive use of force; it received few 
allegations of ill-treatment by police, mainly during arrest or 
questioning and no cases of ill-treatment in police holding cells.
    The KRCT reported an allegation of excessive use of force by a 
guard in the Peje/Pec Detention Center but noted that the inmate did 
not report any further abuses against him when interviewed again in 
April. Additionally the KRCT reported a case of physical abuse of a 
juvenile in the Lipjan/Lipljan Correctional Center in February 2009.
    The KRCT noted that some cells, mainly in the Dubrava Prison, 
lacked proper ventilation and access to natural light. The quality and 
quantity of hygiene products provided to inmates was low. The KRCT also 
raised concerns of overcrowding in the Dubrava Prison. The KRCT 
commended new initiatives to screen inmates for HIV and hepatitis and 
cited the establishment of the Forensic Psychiatry Institute, 
established with funding and assistance of the EU, for the treatment of 
mentally ill inmates. However, the KRCT raised concerns that medical 
supplies to detention and correctional centers were sometimes 
interrupted and indicated that a decrease in investments in medical 
supplies, services, and specialized health treatment have affected the 
quality of health care in the correctional system.
    The Kosovo Correctional Service (KCS) managed daily operations at 
all correctional and detention centers. EULEX retained a limited 
monitoring, mentoring, and advising role in the prisons. Additionally 
EULEX transported prisoners upon request. As of the end of December, 
there were approximately 1,320 convicted prisoners and 130 pretrial 
detainees mixed in prison and detention centers. There were 35 females 
(20 convicted prisoners and 15 pretrial detainees) and 45 juveniles (12 
detainees and 33 in juvenile imprisonment). During the year the monthly 
prison population at the main correctional center, Dubrava Prison, 
varied from 650 to 1,000 inmates, below its total capacity of 1,200. 
Three correctional facilities, six detention centers, one center for 
the protection of witnesses, and one prison hospital operated during 
the year.
    The KRCT reported that there continued to be facilities in which 
pretrial detainees mixed with convicted prisoners, including the 
detention centers in Peja/Pec, Gjilan/Gnjilane, and North Mitrovica. 
The Kosovo Correctional Service reported that there were no facilities 
that co-located pretrial detainees and convicted prisoners. The KRCT 
also reported that it had observed multiple cases of pretrial detainees 
being held for more than 12 months. The correctional service confirmed 
that a number of pretrial detainees were held for periods of longer 
than one year, which is a violation of the law.
    The KRCT reported that there are ``no major problems regarding 
inmates contact with the outside world, access to information, or right 
to practice religion,'' that inmates are provided adequate information 
about their rights and their nutrition, and that ``minority rights in 
the detention centers are still well respected.'' The KRCT raised a 
concern about the lack of teachers in the Lipjan/Lipljan Correctional 
Center for juveniles and noted that some subjects taught in the public 
school system are not available in the correctional center. Corruption 
and nepotism, especially in Dubrava Prison, remained a concern. As a 
consequence, privileges, disciplinary measures, and review of 
complaints were not always applied in a fair and transparent way.
    Authorities permitted visits and monitoring of the country's 
prisons and detention centers. The ombudsman and KRCT inspected 
correctional and detention centers during the year. The ombudsman 
reported good cooperation from the correctional service, including the 
ability to conduct private interviews with inmates during visits. 
Detainees could submit complaints and requests for investigations to 
judicial authorities, without censorship, through anonymous boxes in 
prison. The director of the KCS received 65 official requests regarding 
prison conditions from prisoners as of the end of the year, but none of 
these requests were classified as complaints by the KCS. On June 8 to 
15, the CPT visited a number of detention and correctional facilities; 
the CPT had not released its report on the visit as of year's end. The 
ICRC did not conduct any prison or detention facility inspections 
during the year.
    The KRCT's report called material conditions ``generally good'' and 
noted a number of improvements since 2008 on the basis of observer 
recommendations. ``Police holding cells keep being renovated and the 
situation continues to improve on the infrastructure level. The 
conditions in police custody are globally fine and the law generally 
respected.'' During the year the Government spent 3.39 million euros 
($4.5 million) to improve living conditions in prisons and detention 
centers and to open a new detention facility, with capacity for 200 
persons, in Smrkovnica.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government, EULEX, and 
KFOR generally observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Local security forces 
include the KP and KSF. Police function under the authority of the 
Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 2008 the EU rule of law mission in 
Kosovo, EULEX, became operational and established its mandate to 
monitor, mentor, and advise local judicial and law enforcement 
institutions. EULEX possesses limited executive authority in areas 
including organized crime, corruption, war crimes, witness protection, 
money laundering, terrorist financing, and international police 
cooperation. In July 2009 police assumed primary responsibility for 
terrorism investigations that did not have international impact. The 
KSF is a lightly armed security and civil defense force that functions 
under the civilian authority of the Ministry of Kosovo Security Force 
and is mentored by KFOR.
    In April the prime minister appointed a new acting director general 
of the KP. The minister of internal affairs and the new general 
director then signed an order creating a unified chain of command 
within the police. The acting director general, with approval of the 
minister of internal affairs, then formalized an organizational 
structure for police.
    As of December, members of ethnic minorities comprised an estimated 
15 percent of 7,291 police officers; 9.5 percent of officers were 
Kosovo Serbs. An estimated 13 percent of officers were women.
    The Government and EULEX shared executive authority over police, 
although EULEX authority is limited to the Serb-majority areas north of 
the Ibar River. The KP were responsible for day-to-day police 
operations in all areas of the country, but EULEX exercised additional 
executive authority and oversight in Serb majority northern 
municipalities of Zubin Potok, Zvecan, Leposaviq/Leposavic, and the 
northern part of Mitrovice/Mitrovica.
    Specialized police units investigating war crimes, financial 
crimes, and organized crime, and the EULEX police witness protection 
program, remained staffed by international EULEX police officers and 
operated independently of police. EULEX and the KP independently 
operated units on criminal intelligence and organized crime. EULEX's 
international police officers, prosecutors, and judges deployed in the 
country have broad discretion to intervene in any particular criminal 
matter. However, as a practical matter, most policing duties and 
responsibilities were in the hands of the local police.
    The Police Inspectorate of Kosovo (PIK) operated as an independent 
body under the Ministry of Internal Affairs and has a mandate to 
conduct investigations and inspections involving police personnel. The 
PIK law was amended on October 14 and will enter into force on June 1, 
2011, transferring the authority to conduct criminal investigations of 
police personnel from within the KP to the independent PIK.
    During the year the PIK reviewed 1,185 complaints, of which 577 
were citizen-initiated complaints, 13 were complaints from 
institutions, and 595 were initiated by police. Of those complaints, 
the PIK pursued further investigation into 408 and turned 541 cases 
over to the KP Professional Standards Unit (PSU). Court decisions for 
criminal cases were pending in 106 cases, and 100 cases were pending 
before the Senior Police Appointment and Discipline Committee. Of the 
408 cases investigated by the PIK, 20 percent were allegations of 
serious discipline violations. Of the discipline violations, 20 percent 
were for serious cases of conduct unbecoming a police officer, 13 
percent involved allegations of inappropriate use of force, 12 percent 
involved criminal offenses (and were referred to the Prosecutor's 
Office), 9 percent were for serious insubordination, 2 percent 
concerned complaints of corruption, and the remainder were various 
violations categorized as serious.
    The PSU investigated minor police violations and imposed 
administrative penalties for infractions. During the year the unit 
opened 639 cases, including instances of minor insubordination and 
damage or loss of police property. As of the end of the year, 73 cases 
remained under investigation.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Police 
generally made arrests openly using a warrant issued by a judge or 
prosecutor and based on sufficient evidence. In some cases, masked or 
undercover officers conducted arrests. By law arrests must be based on 
prosecutors' orders, and arrestees must be brought before a judge 
within 72 hours. The majority of the year's arrests were carried out by 
police. There were no reports that police abused the 72-hour rule, and 
authorities generally charged arrestees within six to eight hours or 
released them. Arrestees have the right to be informed of the reason 
for their arrest in a language they understand; to remain silent and 
not answer any questions except those concerning their identity; to 
obtain free assistance of an interpreter; to obtain defense counsel and 
to have defense counsel provided if they cannot afford one; to receive 
medical and psychiatric treatment; and to notify a family member. 
Police and EULEX police generally respected most of these rights in 
practice.
    In its 2009 report, the CPT noted that a number of detained persons 
claimed that they were not able to contact a lawyer at the outset of 
their detention, but only at the time of the initial period of 
questioning with a criminal police officer. In some cases, the right of 
access to a lawyer only became effective after the initial period of 
questioning.
    Under extraordinary circumstances, KFOR can arrest and detain 
individuals without a warrant. The KFOR commander can detain 
individuals for 72 hours, renewable for a second 72-hour period. After 
144 hours, KFOR must release the detainee. There were no reports that 
KFOR arrested persons without a warrant during the year.
    The KP and EULEX police may hold individuals for up to 72 hours 
without a court order. Following an initial ruling, a court may hold 
individuals in pretrial detention for 30 days from the day of arrest 
and can extend detention up to a total of one year if no indictment has 
been filed. After an indictment has been filed and until the conclusion 
of trial proceedings, detention on remand may be ordered or terminated 
only by the ruling of the trial panel. There is a functioning bail 
system. The law allows for house arrest, confiscation of travel 
documents, and expanded use of bail as alternatives to pretrial 
detention. Defendants can also appeal their detention on remand.
    Lengthy detentions, both before and during judicial proceedings, 
remained a problem. The law provides that a judge may impose pretrial 
detention when there is well-grounded suspicion that a person has 
committed a criminal offense and that person is likely to destroy, 
hide, or forge evidence; influence witnesses; flee; repeat the criminal 
offense or engage in another criminal offense; or when other measures 
provided by the law are insufficient to secure the defendant's presence 
during criminal proceedings. In practice, however, judges routinely 
used detention on remand without showing any evidentiary justification. 
In particular, in the Mitrovica District Court, which sits in Vushtrri/
Vucitrn, detention on remand for defendants has been continuously 
extended throughout the period that the court has operated with limited 
capacity.
    Trial delays were caused by factors including judicial inefficiency 
and corruption.

    Amnesty.--On February 17, the president granted amnesty or commuted 
the sentences of 62 individuals (approximately 5 percent of the total 
population of prisoners and pretrial detainees) in honor of the 
country's second anniversary of independence.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary; however, the local judiciary was at times 
biased, subject to outside influence, and did not always provide due 
process. There were credible reports of corruption in the local 
judiciary, and the court system was inefficient. There was no effective 
mechanism for disciplinary proceedings against judges.
    The court system included a constitutional court, a supreme court, 
five district courts, a commercial court, 25 municipal courts, 25 minor 
offense courts, and an appellate court for minor offenses. On July 22, 
the Assembly approved the law on courts, regulating the organization, 
functioning, and jurisdiction of the courts in the country. Through 
EULEX, 31 international judges and 15 international prosecutors 
supported local judges and prosecutors. There is one state public 
prosecutor's office, five district prosecutors' offices, and seven 
municipal prosecutors' offices. EULEX exercised its executive authority 
over a special prosecutor's office which included eight international 
prosecutors focused on serious crimes including human trafficking, 
money laundering, war crimes, and terrorism.
    In criminal cases in which EULEX international judges exercised 
their jurisdiction, these judges sat on mixed panels with local judges. 
EULEX judges were the majority on these panels, with one EULEX judge 
serving as the presiding judge. The president of the Assembly of EULEX 
Judges has the authority to create a panel solely or majority of which 
are local judges, or to not assign particular stages of proceedings to 
EULEX judges. For civil cases in which EULEX international judges 
exercised their jurisdiction, judicial panels were composed of three 
judges, two of which were EULEX judges.
    Under the Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC), the Office of the 
Disciplinary Commission (ODC) was responsible for investigating the 
activities of judges, prosecutors, and lay judges, and for prosecuting 
cases of misconduct before the KJC. During the year 89 new cases were 
referred to the ODC. The ODC convened hearings and ruled on 23 of the 
219 cases before it. The ODC's total caseload included 130 cases 
carried over from previous years. The Judicial Audit Unit analyzed and 
evaluated the functioning of the courts and public prosecutors' offices 
and submitted reports and recommendations to the KJC.
    The Mitrovice/Mitrovica District Court continued to function 
partially during the year. Since 2008 only EULEX judges were based at 
the court's premises in northern Mitrovica, while other operations of 
the Mitrovica district and municipal courts and the Mitrovica district 
and municipal prosecutors' offices continued to operate from the 
Vushtrri/Vucitrn Municipal Court.
    District and municipal courts in Mitrovice/Mitrovica and municipal 
courts in Leposaviq/Leposavic and Zubin Potok remained closed following 
2008 protests against the country's independence. Efforts to reopen the 
Mitrovice/Mitrovice District Court stalled in July when Kosovo Serb 
judges who were scheduled to take up positions on the court withdrew 
following intimidation from Serb parallel authorities and persons 
claiming to represent Serbian institutions. The two Kosovo Serb judges 
indicated they would they would not take their positions until 
``appropriate conditions,'' including security measures, were in place.
    The Serbian government continued to operate an unsanctioned 
parallel judicial system in Kosovo Serb enclaves and in majority Serb 
municipalities.

    Trial Procedures.--Trials are public, and defendants enjoy the 
presumption of innocence, the right to be present at their trials, to 
confront witnesses, to see evidence, and to have legal representation. 
Representation may be provided at public expense if necessary; however, 
this procedure was used rarely in practice. Defendants have the right 
of appeal. Trials are heard by panels consisting of professional and 
lay judges; there are no jury trials.
    The Legal Aid Commission, an independent government agency, 
provided free legal assistance to low-income individuals through five 
district legal aid bureaus. From January to June, the commission 
provided legal assistance to 1,479 persons.
    The Ministry of Justice operated a judicial integration section 
that continued to address judicial system problems affecting 
minorities. To that end, the ministry operated 11 court liaison offices 
to assist minority communities in Kosovo Serb majority areas by 
accompanying them to courts, filing documents with courts on their 
behalf, and providing information and legal assistance to refugees and 
IDPs.
    War crimes cases are overseen by EULEX, which in 2008 assumed 
responsibilities formerly held by UNMIK to ensure that war crimes cases 
are properly investigated and prosecuted. Under EULEX's mandate, cases 
can be investigated and adjudicated either independently by 
internationals or, where appropriate, jointly with Kosovo counterparts. 
By the end of 2009, EULEX prosecution had tried four war crimes cases. 
A May report by the Kosovo Mission of the Organization for Security and 
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) found a systematic failure to adjudicate 
war crimes cases as well as a lack of resources for this effort.
    On December 14, EULEX police, supported by the KP, arrested two 
Kosovo Albanians in the Prizren region in an ongoing investigation into 
war crimes. The charges are related to application of measures of 
intimidation, terror, dislocation, and displacement of the civilian 
population committed in 1998 in Rahovec/Orahovac and nearby villages. 
The investigation was under the supervision of a EULEX prosecutor from 
the Kosovo Special Prosecution office.
    On November 9, a mixed panel of two EULEX judges and one Kosovo 
judge found Vukmir Cvetkovic guilty of committing war crimes and 
sentenced him to seven years in prison. Cvetkovic was found guilty of 
expelling one family from the town of Hline/Klina and burning the homes 
of two families in 1999, as a member of the Serbian Police.
    On May 6, EULEX police arrested former KLA members Sabit Geci and 
Riza Aliaj on suspicion of having committed war crimes in 1999. The 
Kosovo Special Prosecutor filed indictments in the case on August 6. On 
November 25, the pretrial judge of the District Court in Mitrovica 
confirmed the indictments against Sabit Geci and Riza Aliaj. The 
defendants remain in detention on remand, and a trial has not yet been 
scheduled. A third defendant is at large.
    There were no new developments stemming from the September 2009 
arrest by EULEX police of Slobodan Martinovic, Srecko Martinovic, and 
Svetlana Stojanovic for war crimes committed in 1999. The three 
allegedly kidnapped and tortured eight persons at an informal detention 
center in the Novoberde/Novo Brdo and Gjilan/Gnjilane area. EULEX 
charged them with inhuman treatment, immense suffering or violation of 
bodily integrity or health, application of measures of intimidation and 
terror, and illegal arrest and detention. At year's end no hearing or 
trial date had been set.
    In October 2009 the Pristina District Court found Rrustem ``Remi'' 
Mustafa, Latif Gashi, and Nazif Mehmeti guilty of war crimes for the 
torture of civilian detainees at three KLA detention facilities. The 
court, composed of one local and two EULEX judges, sentenced Mustafa to 
four years in prison, Gashi to six years, and Mehmeti to three years. 
At year's end, Mustafa remained free pending a final judgment on his 
appeal. During the conflict, Mustafa had been the chief of the KLA 
operational zone of Llap, and he later became a PDK member of the 
Assembly and chairman of the Assembly's Security Committee. All three 
were arrested in 2002 on charges of war crimes for illegal detention, 
torture, and killing of suspected collaborators of the Milosevic regime 
in the 1990s. Of the 26 victims listed in the indictment, one was 
Serbian; five were killed.
    There were no developments in the war crimes case against Momcilo 
Jovanovic. In February 2009 an international EULEX prosecutor at the 
Peje/Pec District Court issued an arrest warrant for Jovanovic after he 
failed to respond to official summons to appear in court. In 2008 an 
international prosecutor indicted Jovanovic for war crimes, murder, and 
other violations of the laws of war for incidents that took place in 
1998-99 in the village of Katundi i Ri/Vitomirca.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports that the 
Government or KFOR held political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The constitution provides 
for an independent judiciary in civil matters. The local judiciary was 
at times biased and subject to outside influence and did not always 
provide due process. The media and public perceived the judiciary to be 
corrupt, secretive, and inefficient. Complaints submitted to the Office 
of Disciplinary Counsel dropped between September 2009 and August 2010.
    In November 2009 the European Commission reported that the 
country's judicial system remained weak at all levels. The commission 
cited the low public confidence in the justice system as well as the 
continuing existence of three parallel sources of legislation (former 
Yugoslav law, UNMIK regulations, and Kosovo law) as particular 
problems. The commission also noted that the backlog of court cases 
remained a serious problem. The Kosovo Judicial Council established a 
working group to develop a national backlog reduction strategy.
    According to monitoring reports released by the OSCE in 2009 and 
during the year, civil judicial procedures were plagued by delays, and 
judgments often lacked necessary reasoning. Judges often failed to 
manage their cases effectively and to discipline parties abusing 
procedural avenues to delay proceedings.
    Individuals may appeal to courts in order to seek damages for, or 
cessation of, human rights violations. In practice there were many such 
lawsuits pending. Individuals turned to the Constitutional Court for 
review of their rights to due process. More than 60 percent of cases 
filed with the Constitutional Court during the year alleged violations 
of constitutional rights by courts, prosecutors, or police.
    There were problems enforcing civil court orders. For example, 
shortly after a May 2009 settlement agreement regarding a land dispute, 
the Decan/Decani municipality publically stated that it would not amend 
the municipal property records regardless of the eventual decision of 
the Supreme Court.

    Property Restitution.--Systemic challenges to the restitution of 
property persist. A March 2009 OSCE report assessed that the legal 
system's review of property rights cases was hindered by a confusing 
mix of laws, regulations, administrative instructions, court practices, 
and directives in the field of property as well as the country's 
complex post-conflict environment.
    The Kosovo Property Agency (KPA) is responsible for the resolution 
of residential, commercial, and agricultural property claims arising 
from the Kosovo conflict. As of the end of the year, the agency 
administered 3,131 abandoned properties. Of those, 2,576 were 
administered upon the request of a successful claimant, and 515 were 
administered based on official interventions by the Housing and 
Property Claims Commission (HPCC, the predecessor adjudicating agency 
to the KPA). The KPA rented 863 properties on behalf of the legitimate 
owners who received 2.5 million euros ($3.35 million) in rent. At 
year's end, the agency had received 41,099 total claims: 36,637 for 
agricultural property, 974 for commercial property, and 3,488 for 
residential property. Kosovo Serbs in the northern part of Mitrovice/
Mitrovica continued to occupy Kosovo Albanian-owned properties and 
denied their owners access; Kosovo Albanians in the southern part of 
the municipality occupied and denied Kosovo Serbs access to their 
property. The KPA has orders for 481 evictions pending in Mitrovice/
Mitrovica, 299 of which are in north Mitrovica and 182 of which are in 
south Mitrovica. These 481 eviction orders represent 83 percent of all 
pending evictions by KPA. During the year the KPA carried out 182 
evictions Kosovo-wide.
    The KPA remained unable to enforce seven HPCC decisions for 
properties located in the northern part of Mitrovice/Mitrovica, due to 
concern by authorities that attempts to serve eviction notices would 
lead to violence.
    The KPA also examined requests for reconsideration in instances 
where the original claim had been denied. As of December one HPCC 
request for reconsideration remained pending. Additionally the Kosovo 
Property Claims Commission (KPCC), a quasi-judicial arm of the KPA 
acting under the KPA mandate, adjudicated 26,953 claims by the end of 
December. The KPCC overturned 18,637 claims based primarily on 
incorrect notification or other technical reasons. Of the overturned 
claims, the KPCC re-adjudicated 1,680. As such the number of valid 
adjudicated claims stands at 10,266. The total number of implemented 
KPCC decisions stands at 2,249.
    The backlog of property-related claims in municipal courts remained 
high with approximately 20,000 outstanding at year's end, representing 
almost exclusively monetary claims by Kosovo Serbs for war-related 
damage.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions, and 
the Government, EULEX, and KFOR generally respected these prohibitions 
in practice. KFOR forces retained the ability to assist local police 
and EULEX police in conducting searches for high-risk suspects and 
independently to search private property for weapons without court 
orders, based on UN Security Council Resolution 1244's peacekeeping 
authority. During the year KFOR did not conduct any such searches.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally 
respected these rights in practice. However, there were reports that 
media representatives were intimidated by public officials, 
politicians, and businesses. The media also encountered difficulties in 
obtaining information from the Government and public institutions. The 
law on broadcast media prohibits hate speech and speech that incites 
ethnic violence.
    Individuals generally could criticize authorities publicly or 
privately without reprisal.
    According to the Association of Professional Journalists of Kosovo 
(APJK), media outlets' financial difficulties left the editorial 
independence and journalistic professionalism of both print and 
television media vulnerable to outside influence and pressure. A few 
newspapers were financially self-sufficient and thus able to develop 
editorial policies independent of business and political interests. 
However, other newspapers relied on funding from businesses and 
political interest groups, as well as the Government, which provided 
financial support in exchange for positive coverage or absence of 
critical coverage.
    There was no direct censorship of print or broadcast media; 
however, journalists reported pressure from politicians and organized 
crime, which frequently resulted in self-censorship. Some journalists 
refrained from critical investigative reporting out of fear for their 
personal security or their jobs. Journalists were occasionally offered 
financial benefits in exchange for positive reporting or for abandoning 
an investigation, and government officials and suspected criminals 
verbally threatened some journalists for perceived negative reporting. 
According to editors, government agencies and corporations withdrew 
regular advertising from newspapers that had published critical 
coverage of them.
    Print media self-regulated through a code of conduct adopted by the 
Press Council, an organization composed of print editors and publishers 
and led by an international member elected by the council. The 
council's complaint board reviews and issues decisions on complaints 
against media outlets. The council requires media outlets found to have 
violated the group's code of conduct to publish the council's negative 
finding. Under the council's new statute, which entered into force on 
January 26, the council no longer imposes monetary fines for 
misconduct.
    The Independent Media Commission implemented regulations and 
enforced codes of conduct governing broadcast media. The commission is 
a permanent body overseen by a seven-member governing council.
    As of December the country had 104 licensed broadcasters on the 
terrestrial network (39 of which broadcast in minority languages); the 
broadcasters expressed a wide variety of views. Of the 65 broadcasters 
whose primary language was Albanian, the three entities of the publicly 
funded Radio Television Kosovo (RTK) group (RTK Television, Radio 
Kosova, and Radio Blue Sky) also broadcast daily in minority languages.
    The RTK board of directors is responsible for overseeing RTK, and 
the Ministry of Finance controlled its budget. The law provides for 
regulation of RTK program content and requires that at least 15 percent 
of RTK program time, including prime time, be dedicated to minority 
communities in their respective languages on a proportional basis.
    State broadcaster RTK operated on interim funding allocated by the 
Assembly pending amendment of the law on RTK. In October 2009 the 
Constitutional Court suspended RTK's principal funding mechanism, a 
3.50 euro ($4.70) monthly RTK fee that had been added to all 
electricity bills. The suspension of the fee caused the European 
Broadcast Union to issue a public letter noting that this decision 
endangered the broadcaster's independence.
    There were no reports of censorship or harassment of the 
publication of books, and publishing houses expressed a wide variety of 
views without restriction.
    There were no reports that the Government used libel laws, national 
or public security grounds, or publishing restrictions as vehicles to 
limit the operations of print, broadcast media, or publishing houses.
    During the year the APJK reported 33 instances of press freedom 
abuse by government officials, business interest groups, and media 
owners, including verbal threats to journalists and their agencies by 
individuals affected by negative media coverage, pressure not to 
publish certain materials and articles, and obstruction of their work. 
The APJK also reported that many journalists complained that editors 
often did not allow them to publish or broadcast stories critical of 
the Government or particular officials due to editors' or media 
outlets' connections to, or preferences for, certain senior government 
officials. In some cases, journalists reported that editors threatened 
to fire them if they continued to produce stories critical of the 
Government. Three journalists reported that editors prevented them from 
producing stories on high-level government corruption.
    On August 27, the Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organization 
(SEEMO) issued a press release on the organization's concerns about 
restrictions on the ability of journalists to travel. SEEMO reported 
that several journalists had been denied passports because they were 
under police investigation or faced court proceedings. All passport 
applicants, including journalists, are required to submit a certificate 
from a competent court certifying that the applicant is not under 
investigation or court proceedings. Since journalists are often sued 
for critical reporting and are further subject to excessive court 
delays, SEEMO called the requirement ``a clear restriction of the 
freedom of movement of journalists.''
    On November 14, Kosovapress online news agency reporter Sebahate 
Shala quit her job following a November 13 press conference in which 
she asked a EULEX official whether Minister of Transport and 
Communications Fatmir Limaj should have been included in political 
party PDK's candidate list for Assembly elections, considering that 
Limaj was the subject of an ongoing EULEX investigation. Shala reported 
receiving intimidating and insulting text messages after the press 
conference and publication of her report on the conference. Shala 
reported she was forced to quit because of disagreements with the 
agency's management over her question at, and coverage of, the press 
conference.
    During the year there were several incidents of violence or 
harassment directed at the media.
    On May 13, unknown persons placed signs on buildings on the street 
where the director of the media company Koha Group, Flaka Surroi, 
resided. The signs read ``UBD Street--Veton and Flaka Surroi.'' UBD was 
the acronym for the former Yugoslav/Serbian state security and, among 
the country's majority population, is generally perceived as synonymous 
with ``traitor.'' The placement of the signs followed publication of an 
interview in the Koha Group's top-circulation daily newspaper, Koha 
Ditore, with EULEX prosecutor, Johannes Van Vreeswijk, in which he 
revealed that Minister of Transportation Fatmir Limaj was suspected of 
involvement in organized crime and abuse of duty. Prime Minister Thaci 
publicly criticized the placement of the signs.
    On June 3, the APJK received a complaint from daily newspaper Zeri 
alleging that the president of the Pristina District Court, Anton 
Nokaj, had pressured the newspaper by threatening to press criminal 
charges (as a private citizen) against a reporter for the daily Besa 
Kalaja. Nokaj claimed that Kalaja had falsely reported that charges had 
been pressed against him with EULEX related to the employment of his 
son as an interpreter for the court. Nokaj was not reappointed to his 
post as a judge.
    On June 28, a group of participants at the Serbian anniversary 
celebration of the Battle of Kosovo in Gazimestan damaged the vehicle 
of the Kosovo branch of Tirana-based Top Channel Television and threw 
rocks at a Top Channel cameraman. The cameraman recorded the incident 
and was not injured in the attack. Police were investigating the case.
    On July 20, an explosive device was thrown in the yard of the home 
of the editor in chief of Radio Mitrovica, Caslav Milisavljevic. The 
blast damaged three parked vehicles, one of which belonged to 
Milisavljevic. Some media quoted him as calling the attack politically 
motivated due to his son's involvement with the North Mitrovica 
Municipal Preparation Team, which is working with the national 
government to establish a new Serb-majority municipality within 
Kosovo's administrative system. An investigation into the case was 
ongoing at year's end.
    There were some developments in cases of violence or harassment 
directed against the media in previous years.
    On May 5, EULEX prosecutors reported there was insufficient 
evidence to pursue the January 2009 case of a group of Kosovo Serbs who 
threw an explosive device at firefighters in the northern part of 
Mitrovice/Mitrovica and attacked a television crew from local station, 
TV Most, which was covering the fire, injuring a reporter and 
destroying a television camera.
    There were no new developments in the March 2009 case in which the 
Kosovo Serb media reported that police harassed reporters of the Kosovo 
Serb television production Glas Juga and Radio KIM after they covered a 
Kosovo Serb protest in the village of Shillove/Silovo. Reportedly, 
police officers stopped the reporters, forced cameraman Bojan Kosanin 
out of his vehicle, and kicked him. Police claimed that they did not 
receive any complaints regarding police mistreatment.
    The local newspaper Infopress, cited by the Press Council for 
publishing opinions that constituted hate speech (threats against 
television journalist Jeta Xharra), did not pay the 1,000 euros 
($13,400) fine imposed by the Press Council in June 2009. Under the 
Press Council's new statute, it no longer imposes fines on media 
outlets.
    The KP assessed that there was no police wrongdoing in the July 
2009 detention of a reporter and a technician from ``TV Iliria'' for 
allegedly provoking the crowd while they were covering a police 
operation involving the arrest of dozens of municipal employees from 
the Viti/Vitina municipal government in July 2009. The reporter and 
technician left the police station, were not interviewed there, and did 
not file any charges against police for the detention. Viti/Vitina 
police later said they filed charges against the reporter and 
technician for obstructing officials in their duties, but the 
journalists have not received notification of any charges against them.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. In 
December the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority reported that 
approximately 40 percent of households had Internet connectivity.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly, 
and the Government, EULEX, and KFOR generally respected this right in 
practice.
    The law on public gatherings requires that organizers inform police 
of protests 72 hours prior to the event. Police are required to notify 
the organizers within 48 hours if the protest will be allowed.
    On a few occasions during the year, police used force to disperse 
demonstrations and beat demonstrators while making arrests.
    There were allegations of excessive use of force by EULEX police in 
the September 11 clash between a group of Kosovo Serbs and EULEX and 
the KP, following an interethnic altercation after Serbia's loss in the 
World Basketball Championship semifinal. One EULEX officer received a 
bullet wound to the foot, and one KP officer and seven Kosovo Serbs 
were also injured in the incident. The KP was investigating the case at 
year's end.
    The PIK investigated but did not issue a conclusion in a May 2009 
case from the Kosovo Serb enclave of Ranillug/Ranilug in Kamenice/
Kamenica, where local Kosovo Serbs protested power cuts by public 
electricity provider KEK. There were credible reports that multiple KP 
special operations officers beat and kicked one of the protesters while 
he was on the ground. No officers were charged in the case.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of association, and the Government generally respected this 
right in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government and EULEX generally respected these 
rights; however, interethnic tensions and real and perceived security 
concerns restricted freedom of movement in practice.
    The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    Police continued to assess the security situation as stable but 
fragile. No crimes related to freedom of movement were reported to 
police. Nevertheless, members of all ethnic communities continued to 
remain largely within or travel between areas where their group 
comprised the majority.
    Perceived risks and sporadic incidents of violence and intimidation 
continued to limit freedom of movement for Kosovo Albanians in northern 
Kosovo and Serbs in other parts of the country. The Government enhanced 
efforts to facilitate minority travel, but real and perceived risks 
deterred many minorities from traveling outside their neighborhoods.
    There were several cases of explosive devices found along roadways 
and under one bridge in the Strpce/Shterpce area. None were detonated.
    There were no new developments since the 2009 arrests of five men 
in the 2008 case of attempted armed robbery of bus passengers on route 
that carries Kosovo Serbs to Serbia near Podujeve/Podujevo.
    There were no new developments in the 2008 incidents in which 
pedestrians discovered explosive devices along the railway in Old 
Kacanik village in Ferizaj/Urosevac and beneath a railway bridge in 
Mitrovice/Mitrovica.
    The Government regulated movement in and out of the country. The 
law provides that the central civil registry may issue travel documents 
to any person registered as a habitual resident of the country, and the 
registry routinely issued such documents in practice.
    The law prohibits forced exile and authorities did not use it.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--According to the UNHCR, at 
the end of the year, there were 18,196 displaced persons within the 
country, 54 percent of whom were Kosovo Serbs and 40 percent Kosovo 
Albanians. Of the 4,100 persons displaced by riots in 2004, 
approximately 1,000 remained IDPs.
    According to UNHCR estimates, the largest number of IDPs, 
approximately 80 percent, were concentrated in the Mitrovice/Mitrovica 
region. In Mitrovice/Mitrovica municipality, many Kosovo Serbs in the 
northern part and Kosovo Albanians in the southern part of the 
municipality remain in displacement.
    International donors completed construction of 96 homes for 96 
families in a Romani settlement in the southern part of Mitrovice/
Mitrovica that was destroyed during riots in 1999. The homes 
accommodate families that had been living in the lead-polluted Cesmin 
Lug IDP camp and the Osterode camp. Before the new construction this 
year, 484 displaced Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian inhabitants had 
returned to the neighborhood. On December 2, international donors 
funded a program for testing the blood lead levels of 78 children who 
were resettled from the lead-contaminated camps during the year. In a 
testing and treatment protocol recently approved by the Ministry of 
Health, nurses at the Romani Mahalla medical center have begun testing 
the children for lead poisoning. Testing revealed a significant drop in 
blood lead levels after the resettlement. Depending on additional 
results, follow-up treatment will be conducted by health officials.
    During the year the Ministry of Communities and Returns budgeted 
five million euros ($6.7 million) for returns of, and assistance to, 
IDPs. International community donors also provided funding directly to 
implementing partners of projects for returns in coordination with the 
Ministry of Communities and Returns. The funds were spent on housing 
reconstruction, food and nonfood assistance, income generation grants, 
and basic support infrastructure such as roads and water systems.
    The Government did not attack, target, forcibly return, or resettle 
IDPs under dangerous conditions.
    The KP reported that investigations into four cases of physical 
attacks and verbal harassment against Romani returnees living in 
Gjilan/Gnjilane in July 2009 resulted in three cases being sent to the 
municipal prosecutor's office and one case being sent to the municipal 
court for minor offenses.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is not a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or the 1967 Protocol. 
However, the law is based on and refers to the 1951 convention and 1967 
protocol to provide for the granting of asylum or refugee status, and 
the Government has established a system for providing protection to 
refugees.
    The asylum law entered into effect in 2008. Administrative 
instructions, such as procedures and standards for the reception and 
initial treatment of asylum seekers, and rights and obligations of 
asylum seekers, have been promulgated and are pending implementation. 
During the year the UNHCR continued to assist the Department of 
Borders, Asylum, and Migration in building its capacity to adjudicate 
claims; to provide training to border police in identifying and 
processing individuals who request asylum at ports of entry; and to 
prevent the return of persons to countries where their lives or freedom 
would be threatened. In addition the Government has issued a decision 
on the establishment of the national commission for refugees, and with 
the European Commission, is funding a construction of a new reception 
center for asylum seekers in Lipjan/Lipljan municipality.
    In practice the Government provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion. At year's end, the country hosted 220 refugees, mostly from 
neighboring countries.
    According to the UNHCR, from January 2009 until December 2010, 271 
asylum seekers applied for international protection in the country. The 
Department of Borders, Asylum, and Migration and the asylum center 
accommodated all asylum seekers. In January a temporary asylum center 
in Pristina was opened. The facility was filled to capacity early in 
the year. At year's end only 62 of the 272 asylum seekers remained in 
the country. Figures on stateless persons were unavailable, but the 
UNHCR reported assisting nearly 10,000 from the Roma, Ashkali, and 
Egyptian community to obtain civil status registration in recent years.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide residents 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.
    Since the country's declaration of independence in 2008, local 
officials assumed authority and responsibilities in most areas of 
governance. Under the constitution, the 120-member Assembly has the 
authority to select a president, a prime minister, and other ministers 
and government officials.

    Elections and Political Participation.--On December 12, the country 
held snap Assembly elections, following the November 2 Assembly vote of 
no-confidence in the Government. The no-confidence vote followed the 
September 27 resignation of President Fatmir Sejdiu following the 
Constitutional Court's decision that he had breached the constitution 
by maintaining his position as leader of his political party, 
Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), while serving as president.
    Domestic and international observers stated the elections generally 
met international standards but noted serious irregularities and 
electoral manipulations in some areas, including falsification of 
signatures on the voters' list and observed irregularities in counting. 
Observers also noted incidences of family voting (male heads of 
household voting on behalf of female family members) throughout the 
country. The Electoral Complaints and Appeals Panel and the Central 
Election Commission annulled results for three municipalities--
Skenderaj/Srbica, Gllogovac/Drenas, and Decan/Decani--as well as three 
polling stations in Malisheve/Malisevo and Lipjan/Lipljan as a result 
of electoral irregularities. Revoting in these three municipalities and 
the annulled polling stations in the other two municipalities was 
scheduled for January 9, 2011.
    For the December 12 Assembly elections, 14 alternative polling 
stations--mini-buses staffed by internationals and advertised to the 
public--were provided to enhance polling opportunities in Serb areas 
north of the Ibar River. Electoral authorities did not have access to 
the schools that would normally serve as polling stations, as these 
institutions are under the control of unsanctioned parallel Serbia 
government authorities. Serious intimidation generally prevented local 
persons from serving as polling station workers and suppressed voter 
turnout in the region.
    On October 29, the Assembly adopted changes to the national 
election law that clarified the election complaints and appeals process 
and provided for voters in Assembly elections to vote for one party and 
up to five candidates from that party.
    On June 20, municipal elections were held in the newly established 
Serb-majority municipality of Partes/Partesh, and the mayoral run-off 
election was held on July 18. The Partes/Partesh elections were marked 
by the highest rate of Kosovo Serb participation since the county 
became independent, with first round voter turnout exceeding 56 percent 
and runoff elections reaching 36 percent turnout. International 
observers assessed the elections as generally free and fair. On April 
11, due to the death of the mayor, extraordinary mayoral elections were 
held in the municipality of Istog/Istok.
    Serb hardliners who object to Kosovo's independence continued to 
intimidate and retaliate against Kosovo Serbs who engage with Kosovo 
government structures. On September 27, explosive devices believed to 
be hand grenades were thrown at the home of Dragan Stojkovic and the 
car of Dusan Milisavljevic, officials of the only legally registered 
political party in northern Kosovo, the Democratic Alternative Party, 
following its inaugural congress. The September 27 attack was the third 
attack on Stojkovic's property and the second on Milisavljevic's 
vehicle.
    The country had a multiparty system dominated by five Kosovo 
Albanian parties with several minority parties and coalitions. The law 
provides that individuals may nominate themselves as candidates to 
their parties, which must hold open and transparent internal elections 
to select candidate lists. Political parties could operate without 
restriction or outside interference, but party affiliation played an 
important role in access to government services and social and 
employment opportunities. Traditional social arrangements and clan 
loyalties also played an important, although unofficial, role in 
political organizations.
    Prior to its dissolution in November, there were 37 women in the 
120-seat Assembly. The electoral law requires a 30 percent quota for 
female parliamentarians. There were no women on the eight-member 
Assembly presidency. In the Government, there were two female ministers 
and four female deputy ministers. While no women were elected in the 
November mayoral elections, women represented 31 percent of elected 
municipal representatives.
    Prior to its dissolution in November, there were 24 ethnic minority 
members in the 120-seat Assembly, including 10 Kosovo Serbs and 14 
members of other groups, including ethnic Turks, Bosniaks, Gorani, 
Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians.
    The constitution requires that the Assembly reserve 10 seats for 
Kosovo Serbs and 10 for members of other ethnic groups. Although there 
are no similar quotas for municipal elections, Kosovo Serb political 
participation and representation in the southern part of the country 
continued to grow, especially in the Serb-majority municipalities newly 
established or enlarged in accordance with the Ahtisaari plan and the 
country's constitution. Serbs remain without municipal representation 
in the three northern municipalities of Leposaviq/Leposavic, Zubin 
Potok, and Zvecan, as Kosovo Serb voters responded to calls from 
Serbian authorities not to participate in the November 2009 municipal 
elections there.
    In 2008 the Government implemented an election law to create a 
single, multimember electoral district throughout the country. Under 
the law, elections are to be held with open lists according to a 
proportional representation system. A quota system provides for 
representation for women and minorities in the Assembly. A political 
party must receive 5 percent of the vote in order to enter the 
Assembly.
    The Serbian government continued to run parallel government 
structures in Kosovo Serb enclaves. In 2008 UNMIK stated that 
organizing elections for these parallel structures was a violation of 
UN Security Council Resolution 1244. In 2008 UNMIK declared that the 
parallel municipal structures arising from these elections were 
illegitimate.
    On October 14, the unsanctioned parallel government of a Serbia 
court operating in North Mitrovica issued indictments to the mayor of 
the municipality of Strpce along with nine other members of the Strpce 
Municipal Assembly and municipal employees. The indictments, stemming 
from the January 14 takeover of some of the offices in the Strpce 
Municipal building used by parallel Serbian authorities, accuse the 
mayor and municipal officials of having committed offenses under the 
Serbian criminal code. The indictments put the mayor and municipal 
officials at risk of arrest if they travel outside of Kosovo to Serbia 
or any country that has an extradition treaty with Serbia.
    On May 30, the Serbian government sponsored parallel municipal 
elections in Mitrovica/Mitrovice and Novo Brdo/Novoberde to replace 
parallel municipal governments dissolved by the Serbian government in 
December 2009. The Kosovo government and international community 
continued to emphasize that the parallel institutions were illegal and 
invalid.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials reportedly engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. 
According to Freedom House's 2010 report, Nations in Transition, 
corruption remained a serious problem.
    There was widespread public perception of corruption in the 
Government. International organizations and NGOs continued to report 
that corruption was a serious problem. A lack of effective judicial 
oversight and general weakness in the rule of law contributed to 
corruption in the Government.
    On October 15, the Kosovo Special Prosecutor's Office filed an 
indictment in the District Court of Pristina against five Kosovo 
defendants for trafficking in human organs, organized crime, unlawful 
medical activities, and abuse of official authority. Among the 
defendants are doctors and a person who previously worked at a senior-
level in the Ministry of Health. Interpol also issued arrest warrants 
for a Turkish citizen and an Israeli citizen in the case. The charges 
are related to the Medicus Clinic in Pristina, which was closed in 2008 
by KP after a months-long investigation for the international 
trafficking of organs.
    On November 10, a mixed panel of two EULEX judges and one Kosovo 
judge of the District Court of Pristina found Democratic League of 
Dardania (LDD) president Nexhat Daci and his former aide Ahmet Alishani 
guilty on charges of misusing their offices during Daci's tenure as 
speaker of the Assembly in 2003-05. The court convicted Daci on charges 
related to the misappropriation of Assembly funds to pay for his dental 
and optician bills in the total value of 1,540 euros ($2,063); he was 
acquitted on charges related to the illegal procurement of power 
generators for his personal residence. The court gave Daci a suspended 
sentence of one year and six months in prison, and he is prohibited 
from serving in public office for two years following the completion of 
the sentence; Alishani received a six-month suspended sentence. 
According to the terms of the sentences, neither will face prison time 
as long as they commit no other offenses.
    On July 13, members of the Anticorruption Task Force and EULEX 
police arrested Ilir Tolaj, political advisor to Minister of Health 
Bujar Bukoshi, on suspicion of tax evasion during the period 2004-08, 
when he was permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health. He was 
released the following day on a bail of 50,000 euros ($67,000). The 
investigation continued at year's end.
    On July 23, EULEX and KP units arrested Hashim Rexhepi, governor of 
the Central Bank, on suspicion of abuse of official position, 
corruption, bribery, tax evasion, and money laundering. The 
Anticorruption Task Force searched seven locations in the case, 
including the office of the Central Bank and the residence of the 
governor. On November 19, Rexhepi was released on 20,000 euros 
($26,800) bail.
    Corruption and government influence remained problems in the 
security forces. On December 16, EULEX and KP executed search warrants 
at the Kosovo Customs and the Ministry of Economy and Finance in 
relation to the importation of large quantities of cigarettes in 2008-
09. EULEX investigators have alleged that Customs Director Naim 
Huruglica was complicit in a scheme to deprive the Government of the 
2.5 million euros ($3.35 million) in tax revenue had the cigarettes 
been imported after a planned excise tax increase which took effect in 
2009. The case remains under investigation, and no charges had been 
filed at year's end.
    The investigation continued in the August 2009 case of police 
lieutenant Sejdi Zeqiri, who was arrested for abuse of official 
authority, bribery, and sexual harassment. At year's end, Zeqiri 
remained under house arrest.
    The Kosovo Customs Law Enforcement Unit made progress in 
investigating and prosecuting corruption in the Customs Service. During 
the year one customs officer was dismissed, one was suspended, two were 
demoted, nine were denied promotion, and 15 were issued warnings in 
various internal investigations of wrongdoing within the Customs 
Service.
    There were no developments in the June 2009 case of the arrest of 
Ardian Hasanaj, a senior official at the Government-owned national 
telecommunications provider Post and Telecom of Kosovo (PTK). Hasanaj 
allegedly took bribes from two persons to help them find jobs. 
Hasanaj's employment with PTK was terminated after he was arrested.
    On July 14, the municipal court in Prizren sentenced Elez Hoxha to 
four years in prison and fined him 10,000 euros ($1,340) for accepting 
bribes during the period 2005-07, when he was a judge in the Pristina 
District Court.
    On July 9, the district court in Pristina convicted Norwegian 
citizen Ove Johansen on corruption charges for arranging for a 
fraudulent transfer of 300,000 euros ($402,000) from a government-owned 
telecommunications provider to a phantom company in Norway. The court 
sentenced him to two years in prison and ordered him to pay damages to 
PTK in the amount of 300,000 euros ($402,000). Two other suspects in 
the case, Roger Reynolds and Ronnen Sorenson, remained at large.
    The law provides that public officials are subject to financial 
disclosure laws.
    The Kosovo Anticorruption Agency and the Office of the Auditor 
General are the two major agencies responsible for combating corruption 
in the Government. During the year the anticorruption agency received 
132 reports of corruption; 27 cases were referred for prosecution, four 
were passed to the KP, 57 were closed for lack of evidence, and 44 were 
under investigation.
    The independent Office of the Auditor General (OAG) reviewed fiscal 
management and accountability in the central government, municipal 
authorities, and publicly owned enterprises. During the year the OAG 
audited most ministries, the president's office, and the Assembly. In a 
September report, the OAG noted that government institutions continued 
to fail to respect fiscal management laws and regulations due to a lack 
of understanding of their responsibilities and of basic accounting.
    In a report released during the year, Freedom House noted that 
corruption was widespread and remained a major problem due to 
insufficient laws, a lack of political will, and the weakness of the 
judicial system. The report also noted that the anticorruption law and 
the provisional penal code define corruption differently.
    In 2009 the European Commission reported that the public sector's 
outsized role resulted in an unfriendly business environment in which 
politically connected groups and individuals have advantages in 
establishing companies and seeking public contracts.
    The law provides for public access to government information 
through a newly strengthened law on access to official documents, 
adopted on October 10, which abrogated the 2003 law. The new law 
provides for penalties for institutions and officials that do not 
provide access to information as required by the law. NGOs have 
commented favorably on the new law, indicating it clarifies procedures 
for accessing official documents.
    A test conducted by the NGO Youth Initiative for Human Rights, 
covering the period from June 2008 to July 2009, indicated that only 
approximately 25 percent of requests for access to official documents 
(sent randomly to local and central authorities) received positive 
responses. The International Exchanges and Research Board's Media 
Sustainability Index noted that the administrative instruction 
implementing the 2003 Law on Access to Official Documents extended the 
time limit beyond 15 days and was overly specific about when a document 
can be accessed, thus limiting access to official documents.
Section 5. 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 was 
occasionally cooperative and responsive to their views.
    The Government occasionally met with domestic NGO monitors, 
responded to their inquiries, or took action in response to their 
reports or recommendations. There were no reports that the Government 
harassed, targeted, or prosecuted NGOs for their activities.
    The Government cooperated with international organizations, 
including UN representatives and other international organizations 
including the ICRC and the International Organization for Migration. 
The UN maintained a large presence in the country and covered a wide 
range of issues.
    There were no developments in the 2008 case of unknown assailants 
in Mitrovice/Mitrovica throwing a Molotov cocktail at the headquarters 
of the humanitarian organization Norwegian Church Aid.
    The ombudsperson investigates allegations of human rights 
violations and abuse of government authority. The ombudsperson was 
considered moderately effective but was restricted by funding problems. 
The ombudsperson continued to assert that the courts and ministries 
were the most frequent violators of human rights in the country. The 
ombudsperson also noted that recent reforms in the judiciary were 
insufficient, and the system suffered from grave defects. While the 
ombudsperson actively issued intervention letters, reports, and 
recommendations, his recommendations were not always followed by the 
Government, local courts, or police. The ombudsperson investigated 
cases concerning property rights, abuse of official authority, 
administrative acts or omissions by public authorities, lack of proper 
investigations into criminal acts, issues involving the length of court 
proceedings and the execution of court decisions, employment-related 
disputes, and discrimination cases.
    The Assembly maintains a committee on human rights, gender 
equality, missing persons, and petitions. The committee must review all 
laws that affect human rights. The committee was controlled by 
governing coalition parties and did not issue any public reports during 
the year.
    The Government and KFOR generally cooperated with the ICTY. On July 
21, the Appeals Chamber of the ICTY ordered a partial retrial in the 
case of former prime minister Ramush Haradinaj and codefendant Idriz 
Balaj, acquitted by the ICTY in 2008, and ordered both men into 
custody. On October 28, the prosecutor for the ICTY revised its 
indictment against Haradinaj. The amended charges have replaced 
``crimes against humanity'' with ``violations of the customs of war.'' 
The appeal of Lahi Brahimaj, convicted of torture and mistreatment of 
prisoners and sentenced to six years in prison in 2008, was pending at 
year's end.''
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, 
gender, ethnic origin, disability, social status, or language. The 
Government did not effectively enforce these prohibitions.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape; however, spousal rape is not 
specifically addressed. Under the criminal code, rape is punishable by 
two to 10 years in prison; statutory rape (sexual intercourse with a 
child under 16 years old) is punishable by five to 20 years in prison. 
Rape involving homicide is punishable by imprisonment of 10 to 40 
years.
    Observers believed that rape was significantly underreported due to 
the cultural stigma attached to victims and their families. Police rape 
units around the country received 18 reports of rape during the first 
half of the year. According to the Justice Ministry, victim advocates 
provided services to victims in 40 cases of rape from January through 
November.
    Domestic violence against women, including spousal abuse, remained 
a serious and persistent problem. The law prohibits domestic violence, 
and convictions carry prison terms of six months to five years. The law 
treats domestic violence cases as civil cases unless the victim suffers 
bodily harm. Failure to comply with a civil court's judgment relating 
to a domestic violence case is a criminal offense and can be 
prosecuted. When victims did press charges, police domestic violence 
units conducted investigations and transferred cases to prosecutors. 
According to the special prosecutor's office, family loyalties, 
poverty, and the backlog of cases in both civil and criminal courts 
contributed to the low rate of prosecution.
    In November 2009 the OSCE provided an update to its 2007 report on 
domestic violence. OSCE monitors reported continued problems in the 
adjudication of domestic violence cases, including unlawful delays in 
scheduling hearings or in deciding on protection orders, failure to 
involve representatives of the Center for Social Work in civil domestic 
violence proceedings, misapplication of relevant laws by courts, and 
failure to prosecute domestic violence crimes.
    Between January and November, police reported 636 victims of 
domestic violence. Between January and December, the Centers for 
Protection of Women and Children in Pristina and Mitrovica provided 
assistance to 182 victims of domestic and sexual violence and six 
victims of trafficking. From January through June, the Justice 
Ministry's victim advocate and assistance unit was involved in 313 
domestic violence cases.
    Convictions for domestic violence were rare, and sentences ranged 
from judicial reprimands to imprisonment. Traditional social attitudes 
towards women in the male-dominated society contributed to the high-
level of domestic abuse and low number of reported cases.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare's protection for families 
section had a unit dedicated solely to dealing with family violence. 
The ministry provided some financial support to NGOs running shelters 
for domestic violence victims, which also accommodated some trafficking 
victims. The ministry also provided social services through social 
welfare centers. Several domestic and international NGOs pursued 
activities to assist women; however, they were constrained by a 
tradition of silence concerning domestic violence, sexual abuse, and 
rape.
    The police training school offered special courses on domestic 
violence and rape. There were no reports that police responded 
inappropriately to rape or domestic abuse allegations.
    There is no specific law against sexual harassment, which was a 
common problem. Women's rights organizations indicated that sexual 
harassment commonly occurred on the job but went unreported due to fear 
of expulsion or physical retaliation. Public awareness of sexual 
harassment remained low, and few cases were reported.
    The reproductive health law protects the reproductive rights of 
individuals and couples, including the right to information and access 
to reproductive services. In practice the Government generally 
respected reproductive rights. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) reported 
that access to reproductive health information and treatment was 
generally widespread and equitable, however, poor, marginalized, and 
illiterate communities often received limited access to information. 
Public health care provided limited treatment for sexually transmitted 
infections and cancers of reproductive organs.
    Women possess the same legal rights as men but traditionally have a 
lower social status, which affected their treatment within the legal 
system. The Agency for Gender Equality within the Prime Minister's 
Office has the mandate to implement and monitor the gender equality 
law.
    Relatively few women obtained upper-level management positions in 
business, police, or government. Women represented less than 30 percent 
of the Government workforce. According to the Business Registration 
Agency, women owned fewer than 5 percent of registered businesses. 
Female unemployment remained at around 80 percent, 25 to 30 percentage 
points higher than the rate for men. During the year the Agency for 
Gender Equality supported a local NGO providing training for women in 
small businesses.
    According to the OSCE, women belonging to nonmajority communities 
were at risk of suffering multiple forms of discrimination due to 
gender, ethnicity, or social origin. Traditional societal attitudes 
toward women resulted in discrimination. In rural areas, women 
frequently had little ability to make decisions involving their 
children or to exercise control over property. While the law makes no 
gender distinction in the right to inherit property, family property 
customarily passes only to men. In rare cases, Kosovo 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.

    Children.--Children acquire citizenship from their parents or by 
virtue of birth in the country. According to a 2008 UN Children's Fund 
(UNICEF) study, 14 percent of Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian children in 
Kosovo Albanian-majority areas were not registered at birth. In Kosovo 
Serb-majority areas, 5 percent of these children were not properly 
registered. UNICEF reported that, as a rule, a lack of registration did 
not affect a child's ability to receive elementary education or health 
care but could have an adverse effect on access to social assistance.
    The extent of child abuse in the country was unknown, but UNICEF 
believed it was significantly underreported due to lack of awareness, 
victim services, and limited capacity to identify, report, and refer 
cases of abuse. The Justice Ministry's unit for victim advocacy and 
assistance reported six cases of child abuse between January and 
November. Children also suffered from domestic violence. During the 
same period, police reported 60 child victims of domestic violence. Of 
those, 23 were placed in shelters; 12 were from Kosovo and 11 were from 
other countries.
    There was anecdotal evidence of child marriage, particularly in the 
Roma, Ashkali, Egyptian, and Kosovo Albanian communities. The 
Government and NGOs did not compile statistics on child marriage, so 
the extent of the problem was unclear.
    Statutory rape is a criminal offense punishable by five to 20 years 
in prison, depending on circumstances and the age of the victim.
    The law prohibits possession, production, and distribution of child 
pornography. Anyone who produces, uses, or involves a child in making 
or producing pornography is subject to one to five years' imprisonment. 
Distribution, promotion, transmission, offer, or display of child 
pornography is punishable by six months' to five years' imprisonment. 
Possession or procurement of child pornography is punishable by fine or 
imprisonment of up to three years.
    From January to June the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare 
operated 35 centers that assisted 1,435 orphans and 1,626 delinquent 
children. The ministry also managed foster homes and coordinated with 
NGOs to place children in temporary shelters. During the year 61 
children were living in foster homes and NGO-funded or government-
funded community homes under 24-hour care, including 54 children who 
were placed into protective care during the year. Two children who were 
placed under protective care were hospitalized and remained so at the 
end of the second quarter of the year.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare reported that there were 
258 abandoned children with disabilities, ranging in age from three to 
18 years, living in two government-funded community homes receiving 24-
hour care.
    The country is a not party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts during 
the year.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution and law prohibit 
discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, 
and mental disabilities in employment, education, access to health 
care, and in the provision of other state services; however, the 
Government did not effectively implement laws and programs to provide 
that persons with disabilities have access to buildings, information, 
and communications. The situation for persons with disabilities 
remained difficult. Although the law mandates access to official 
buildings, it was not enforced and such access was rarely available in 
practice. Even the Office of the Ombudsperson is not accessible for 
persons with physical disabilities. During the year the country enacted 
new laws providing for access by deaf and blind persons to all public 
institutions, but implementation of these laws was poor.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare is the Government agency 
responsible for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. By 
law protection and provision of services is offered to all citizens; 
however, there was considerable discrimination in practice, and 
ensuring the rights of persons with disabilities was not a government 
priority.
    According to local disability rights NGO HandiKos, existing laws 
and governmental action plans relating to persons with disabilities 
were not adequately implemented. As a result, children with 
disabilities were often excluded from educational opportunities, were 
not professionally evaluated, and lacked sufficient health and social 
services.
    According to the Ministry of Education, there were seven special 
residential schools for children with disabilities and 70 special needs 
classrooms attached to regular schools. The ministry reported that, at 
year's end, 1,100 pupils were receiving special education.
    There were legal protections for children with disabilities. A Law 
on Material Support for Families of Children with Permanent Disability 
entered into force in 2008, and a new Law on Material Support for 
Families of Children with Temporary Incapacity entered into force on 
January 1. The laws provide definitions of children with disabilities 
and permit their legal guardians to apply to the Ministry of Labor and 
Social Welfare for material support. However, the ministry lacked both 
the funds and personnel to implement the laws.
    According to the NGO Kosovo Mental Disability Rights International 
(K-MDRI), persons with mental disabilities continued to be detained 
without legal basis in isolated conditions. K-MDRI noted that there is 
no law to regulate the process of committing persons to psychiatric or 
social care facilities or to protect their rights within institutions. 
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there were an 
estimated 14,000 persons with mental disabilities; K-MDRI reported an 
estimated 50,000 persons with mental disabilities living outside 
institutions. According to K-MDRI, such persons lived isolated and 
stigmatized lives.
    The Government-operated Shtime/Stimlje Institute maintained a 
facility for persons with developmental or intellectual disabilities 
with 58 residents, run by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, and 
a separate psychiatric facility with 57 residents, run by the Ministry 
of Health. Citing insufficient training for staff and a lack of 
rehabilitative programming for patients and residents, K-MDRI advocated 
closing the facility, and placing its patients and residents into homes 
and apartments in urban areas, where they can be integrated with the 
community.
    During the year the Ministry of Health hired a person with special 
needs to conduct outreach to disabled persons. The ministry operated 
eight integration and community homes across the country, providing 
inpatient care for 75 persons with mental disabilities. In addition the 
Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare operated another nine community 
homes with approximately 10 to 15 residents in each facility. K-MDRI 
reported that, while these homes were intended to be transitional, most 
residents spent years there with little prospect of integration into 
the community. According to the WHO, there were not enough facilities 
to provide care for persons with mental disabilities, and employment 
opportunities for persons with mental disabilities were limited.
    The National Council on Disabled Persons, an advisory organization 
to government authorities and the Assembly, met twice during the year.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Institutional and societal 
discrimination persisted against Kosovo Serb, Roma, Ashkali, and 
Egyptian communities in employment, education, social services, 
language use, freedom of movement, the right to return, and other basic 
rights. Members of the Kosovo Bosniak and Gorani communities also 
complained of discrimination, while Kosovo Croat and Kosovo Montenegrin 
communities were nominally acknowledged through appointment of their 
representatives to the Kosovo president's Communities' Consultative 
Council. Kosovo Bosniak leaders continued to complain that many of 
their community members continued to depart the country as a result of 
discrimination and, increasingly, an absence of economic opportunities. 
Members of the Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian communities were subject to 
pervasive social and economic discrimination; often lacked access to 
basic hygiene, medical care, and education; and were heavily dependent 
on humanitarian aid for survival. Reports of violence and other crimes 
directed at minorities and their property persisted.
    There were clashes between groups of Kosovo Albanians and Kosovo 
Serbs during the year.
    On September 11, groups of Kosovo Albanians and Serbs clashed in 
Mitrovica after exchanging taunts and insults following Serbia's loss 
to Turkey in the World Basketball Championship semifinals. Both sides 
threw rocks, and the clash ended when Kosovo Albanians withdrew. EULEX 
responded to the incident, and one of its units was attacked by Kosovo 
Serbs with stones, stun grenades, Molotov cocktails, and firearms. 
Several police and protestors were injured in the incident, which 
remained under investigation by the KP.
    On July 2, a protest by Serbian government parallel structures of 
the opening of the Government's citizen services center in north 
Mitrovica turned violent, resulting in the death of a Kosovo Bosniak, 
Dr. Mesud Djekovic, and injuries to 11 others. The death and injuries 
occurred when an unidentified individual threw a hand grenade into the 
crowd of Serb protestors, who were marching toward a home in the 
ethnically mixed neighborhood of Bosniak Mahala that was flying an 
Albanian flag. EULEX and KP investigations in the case continued at 
year's end.
    During 2009 EULEX police reported 116 cases of alleged interethnic 
crime, 86 involved Kosovo Serbs as victims or suspects. Figures for 
2010 were unavailable. Investigations into such crimes yielded arrests 
of suspects in many cases.
    In June 2009 three Kosovo Serb teenagers were reportedly beaten by 
a group of Kosovo Albanians in Lipjan/Lipljan while passing a 
construction site. On June 16, police filed assault charges of against 
Atdhe Qerkini, Kosove Kelmendi, Bunjamin Jashanica, Gezim Xhemajli, 
Gazmend Bleta, and Qendrim Veseli. On June 17, the Lipjan/Lipljan 
Municipal Court ordered the six suspects to be detained for 30 days, 
with the exception of Veseli, a minor.
    There were no developments in police investigations of the six 
attacks against Roma returnees that were reported in the village of 
Abdullah Peseva in July and August 2009 or the harassment and 
intimidation of 20 Romani, Ashkali, and Egyptian families from the 
Halit Ibish neighborhood in the Ferizaj/Urosevac municipality.
    There were no developments in the 2008 case in which police charged 
Blasko Lazar Simic, Tihomir Radivoje Milosevic, Miodrag Vladimir 
Nikolic, and Bozo Zivojin Stanojevic with assaulting a public official 
and inflicting minor bodily injuries during a clash between Kosovo 
Serbs, protesting the construction of a mosque, and Kosovo Albanians in 
the ethnically mixed village of Berivojce in the Kamenice/Kamenica 
municipality. Two police officers and a number of protesters were 
injured. A trial date was pending at year's end.
    According to a draft report prepared by the prime minister's Office 
of Community Affairs, minority employment in public institutions fell 
during the year and was generally confined to lower levels of the 
Government. The report recommended that the Government more actively 
reach out to minorities and implement reporting, recruiting, training, 
equal opportunity, and language procedures.
    A 2009 OSCE study showed that minority representation in the civil 
service decreased from 12 percent in 2006 to 9 percent in 2009 and 
remained particularly low at senior levels. The highest rates of 
employment of minorities in the public sector are in the judiciary and 
police.
    In education the law requires equal conditions for schoolchildren 
regardless of mother tongue and provides the right to native-language 
public education for minority students through secondary school. 
However, the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology and 
international organizations reported that school enrollment rates were 
lowest among non-Serb minority communities (Ashkali, Bosniak, Egyptian, 
Gorani, Roma, Turkish, and others). A 2009 OSCE study showed that 
school enrollment rates for Kosovo Serb and Kosovo Albanian children 
were 99 percent and 96.5 percent respectively, while school enrollment 
rates for non-Serb communities averaged 76 percent.
    Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian children attended mixed schools with 
Kosovo Albanian and Kosovo Serb children and reportedly faced 
intimidation and bullying in some majority Albanian areas. Romani 
children tended to be disadvantaged by poverty, leading many to start 
work both at home and in the streets at an early age to contribute to 
family income.
    During the year there were occasional reports of Kosovo Albanians 
destroying private property belonging to Kosovo Serbs. Some of these 
attacks may have been attempts to force Kosovo Serbs to sell their 
property. Regulations prevent the wholesale buyout of Kosovo Serb 
communities in an effort to prevent the intimidation of minority 
property owners in certain areas; however, these were rarely enforced. 
There were numerous reports that Kosovo Serbs had difficulty accessing 
their property, which was sometimes occupied or used by Kosovo 
Albanians. The Kosovo Property Agency (KPA) reported that it faced 
frequent cases of illegal occupation and reoccupation of properties in 
its eviction activities, with many properties vandalized or destroyed. 
For example, there were such property conflicts in the village of 
Zallq/Zac in Istog/Istok, where the Government is building houses for 
Kosovo Serb and Montenegrin families who returned to Kosovo 
spontaneously from Serbia and Montenegro in May. These properties, in 
various stages of construction, were vandalized on several occasions, 
and forested land surrounding the properties set on fire. The KP made 
several arrests related to these cases. So far, all suspects were 
juveniles, between seven and14 years old.
    There were no developments in the 2008 case in which the OSCE 
reported that a Kosovo Serb man attempted to visit his property in 
Decan/Decani with members of a United Nations Development Programme 
team planning to help reconstruct his home. The Serb owner could not 
exercise his rights to the property as adjudicated by KPA, as his home 
was destroyed, and an illegally built new house on the location 
continued to be occupied by a Kosovo Albanian family.
    There were no developments in the 2008 case in Kline/Klina in which 
a Kosovo Serb reported that his property had been taken by a Kosovo 
Albanian man.
    In September Kosovo Serbs in the village of Malisheve/Malisevo 
complained that plans for construction of a mosque immediately adjacent 
to their homes created an unwelcome environment for Serbs, noting that 
other land closer to Kosovo Albanian houses was available.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The constitution and law 
prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation; however, there 
were reports of violence and discrimination directed against lesbian, 
gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals.
    The Center for Social Group Development (CSGD), a local NGO focused 
on LGBT health issues, reported that traditional societal attitudes 
about homosexuality intimidated most gays and lesbians into concealing 
their sexual orientation. LGBT individuals generally felt insecure, 
with many reporting threats to their personal safety. A 2008 study by 
the Youth Initiative for Human Rights, funded by the Swedish Helsinki 
Committee for Human Rights, found that 57 percent of LGBT persons 
surveyed were afraid for their safety.
    The print media at times reinforced negative attitudes by 
publishing articles about homosexuality that characterized LGBT persons 
as mentally ill. At least one political party, the Islamic-oriented 
Justice Party, included a condemnation of homosexuality in its 
political platform.
    The CSGD reported that, while there was little official 
discrimination against LGBT persons, there were a number of cases of 
societal discrimination against LGBT individuals during the year. 
Victims generally refused to allow the center to present their cases 
publicly out of fear of discrimination. There were no overt impediments 
to the center's operation; however, social pressure and traditional 
attitudes had the effect of limiting its activities. The CSGD reported 
that the Ministry of Internal Affairs delayed without explanation the 
renewal of a memorandum of understanding with the KP for awareness-
raising on LGBT issues.
    There was no official discrimination in employment, housing, 
statelessness, access to education or health care; however, societal 
pressure persuaded virtually all LGBT persons to conceal their sexual 
orientation.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of official discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS during the 
year; however, anecdotal reports indicated such discrimination did 
occur.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--Regulations allow workers to form and 
join independent unions of their choice without previous authorization 
or excessive requirements, but this right was sometimes impeded by 
companies that threatened their employees when they joined or 
established unions. Regulations do not recognize the right to strike; 
however, strikes were generally permitted in practice, and few strikes 
occurred during the year. The Government passed a new labor law on 
November 2. The law codifies a 40-hour work week, provides for 20 days 
of paid leave per year for employees, and also provides for 12 months 
of maternity leave.
    The largest unions were the Association of Independent Trade Unions 
of Kosovo (BSPK) and the Confederation of Free Unions (CFU). However, 
the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare reported that the influence of 
both groups was declining as former members split off to form smaller 
unions.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Government 
regulations provide for the right to organize and bargain collectively 
without interference or restriction, and the Government did not 
restrict this right in practice; however, no collective bargaining took 
place during the year. The law allows unions to conduct their 
activities without interference, and the Government protected this 
right in practice.
    Regulations prohibit antiunion discrimination; however, some union 
officials reported discrimination in practice. The BSPK and CFU 
reported that only a small number of companies respected regulations 
preventing antiunion discrimination and claimed that worker rights were 
abused in every sector, including in international organizations, where 
staff did not receive pensions.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The criminal code 
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, 
there were reports that such practices occurred. Also see the 
Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Regulations prohibit exploitation of children in the workplace, 
including a prohibition of forced or compulsory labor; however, with 
the exception of trafficking, the Government rarely challenged these 
practices. Trafficking of children, primarily for labor exploitation, 
was a problem, although a lack of statistical data made it difficult to 
estimate its magnitude. Also see the Department of State's annual 
Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.
    Regulations set the age of 16 as the minimum for employment and the 
age of 18 as the minimum for any work likely to jeopardize the health, 
safety, or morals of a young person. Regulations permit children to 
work at the age of 15, provided the employment is not harmful or 
prejudicial to school attendance. The law requires children between 
ages six and 15 to attend school.
    Child labor remained a problem. According to UNICEF, in recent 
years, the number of children begging on the streets of towns and 
cities rose, although the overall number of child beggars remained 
unknown. While most children were not their families' main wage 
earners, child labor served as a major contribution to many families' 
income.
    In rural areas, young children typically assisted their families in 
agricultural labor. Urban children often worked in a variety of 
unofficial retail jobs, such as selling newspapers, cigarettes, and 
phone cards on the street. Some children were also engaged in physical 
labor, such as transportation of goods. International NGOs active in 
the country continued to report labor violations during the year, 
including child labor.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare coordinated child 
protection policies for the Government, however, police had the lead on 
enforcing child labor laws. The ministry reported that limited progress 
had been made in reducing the number of children working on the 
streets. The ministry and local NGOs, with assistance from the 
International Labor Organization, worked to identify and remove working 
children from the streets. Since 2007 691 children were identified, of 
whom 440 returned to school.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There is no law establishing a 
minimum wage. Although not enforceable as law, the Government, chamber 
of commerce, and association of trade unions signed a memorandum of 
understanding in 2004 setting the minimum wage at 120 euros ($161) per 
month, which was generally respected, but did not provide a decent 
standard of living for a worker and family. The average monthly salary 
in the country was 230 euros ($308) in the public sector and 280 euros 
($375) in the private sector. The World Bank reported, based on 2007 
statistics, that 45 percent of the population was living below the 
national poverty line, and an estimated 17 percent was extremely poor , 
unable to meet basic nutritional needs. Regulations provide for a 
standard 40-hour workweek; require rest periods; limit the number of 
regular hours worked to 12 hours per day; limit overtime to 20 hours 
per week and 40 hours per month; require payment of a premium for 
overtime work; and prohibit excessive compulsory overtime.
    During the year employers often failed to abide by official labor 
standards due to a lack of government enforcement, particularly with 
regard to the standard workweek and compulsory and unpaid overtime. 
Employees often did not report such violations due to fear of 
reprisals. According to the BSPK, many individuals worked long hours in 
the private sector as at-will employees without employment contracts, 
regular pay, or pension contributions paid on their behalf. Employees 
reported being fired without cause in violation of existing laws and 
being denied holidays. Women's rights organizations indicated that 
sexual abuse occurred on the job but went unreported due to fear of 
expulsion or physical retaliation. According to union officials, 
workers in the public sector commonly faced similar mistreatment, 
including sexual abuse and the loss of employment due to political 
party affiliation.
    The Labor Inspectorate within the Ministry of Labor and Social 
Welfare is responsible for enforcing labor, health, and safety 
standards. However, the inspectorate primarily advised employers and, 
although it issued 3,329 site inspection citations and 360 citations 
for various labor standard violations during the first half of the 
year, many fines remained unpaid pending litigation.
    Although there is a law to protect employees' health and working 
conditions, many private and public institutions continued to violate 
it. Labor inspectorate officials reported difficulties in obtaining 
accurate information because workers rarely disclosed the problems 
themselves in spite of legal protections.

                               __________

                                 LATVIA

    The Republic of Latvia, with a population of approximately 2.2 
million, is a multiparty parliamentary democracy. Legislative authority 
is vested in the unicameral Saeima (parliament). Elections on October 2 
for the 100-seat parliament were free and fair. Security forces 
reported to civilian authorities.
    Human rights problems included police abuse of detainees and 
arrestees; poor conditions at police detention facilities; poor 
conditions and overcrowding in prisons; lack of detainees' access to 
attorneys; government corruption; violence against women; child abuse; 
trafficking in persons; and hate speech against ethnic and racial 
minorities on the Internet.
                        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 arbitrary or 
unlawful killings. Security forces in one instance killed a criminal 
suspect in a shootout. On January 2, National Police officers shot and 
killed a man with a gun who was threatening to kill the officers and 
other persons in an apartment near Jelgava. After a routine 
investigation, the Internal Security Bureau of the National Police 
determined the officers acted reasonably.
    On April 16, prominent journalist and local politician Grigorijs 
Nemcovs was shot and killed at a restaurant in Daugavpils. According to 
Reporters without Borders, a nongovernment organization (NGO), Nemcovs' 
killing appeared to be professional. Nemcovs was known for his 
investigative work on municipal government corruption and had 
previously been the subject of death threats and violence. At the end 
of the year, Nemcovs' killing remained unsolved.
    There were no developments in the investigation by the prosecutor's 
office of the death of Sergejs Danilins in 2008, possibly due to a 
severe beating by a prison guard. In 2009 the Latvian Prison 
Administration (LPA) found sufficient evidence of wrongdoing by prison 
guards to refer the case to the prosecutor's office. The guards were 
found guilty in August 2009 and were fined and suspended for one year.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
there were reports that government officials employed them.
    Independent local organizations continued to express concerns about 
police behavior, and there were reports that police severely abused 
persons in custody. During the year the Internal Security Bureau of the 
State Police received 141 complaints of alleged police violence. Of 
these reports, 94 cases were not substantiated, 18 criminal procedures 
were initiated, and 29 were still under review at the end of the year.
    As of December the ombudsman's office received four complaints 
regarding mistreatment by police and five about mistreatment by prison 
officials. Some of these involved allegations against guards at the 
male juvenile detention facility. The ombudsman's office reported that, 
after it raised the issue with the LPA, a number of corrections 
officers were terminated, including a supervisor who failed to 
investigate initial reports adequately.
    In December the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) dismissed the 
case of Edgars Gulbis, a former Presidential Security Service officer 
whom police allegedly tortured while in custody in 2007. In June 2009, 
after an internal investigation and an opinion from the ombudsman's 
office failed to produce suitable redress in his view, Gulbis filed a 
complaint with the ECHR. The court did not receive required information 
from Gulbis' representatives and dismissed the case on that basis.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Conditions in prisons and 
detention centers remained poor and did not meet international 
standards. The Government permitted monitoring visits by the ombudsman 
and other independent human rights observers, and such visits occurred 
during the year.
    During the year prison authorities opened five investigations into 
cases of the violent deaths of prison inmates. In three of these cases, 
investigators found that the victims committed suicide. Investigations 
in the other two cases continued at year's end.
    The ombudsman's office, NGOs, and prisoners continued to complain 
that prison facilities were seriously inadequate. These complaints 
echoed many of the conclusions of the 2007 report of the Council of 
Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) based on a visit 
in the same year. The CPT found that in prisons for men, 20 prisoners 
were typically held together in dormitory-style rooms. Complaints 
included inadequate privacy in living spaces and bathrooms, severely 
dilapidated physical plants, lack of heat, inadequate sanitary 
facilities, lack of hot water, inadequate places to sit, inadequate 
work and educational opportunities, and inadequate access to open space 
and fresh air.
    As of December, the ombudsman's office received 50 complaints about 
poor conditions in detention facilities, compared with 50 complaints in 
2009. The State Police received seven complaints about poor conditions 
in detention centers.
    In July the ombudsman's office found that prisoners throughout the 
system did not have adequate access to healthcare services. The report 
specifically criticized the Government's 2009 decision to reduce 
healthcare in prisons. In November the new minister of justice 
announced publicly that improvement of prison conditions would be a 
priority for his ministry.
    In 2008 a group of maximum-security prisoners brought a claim in 
the Constitutional Court alleging inadequate outdoor exercise time. The 
LPA asserted that it was not possible to give the group outdoor time 
for security reasons. The Constitutional Court agreed with the 
prisoners and ordered the Government to make changes to prison 
facilities necessary to allow the prisoners outdoor time by January 
2011. The LPA made the required changes and complied with the order by 
the end of the year.
    In 2009 a group of prisoners filed a complaint with the 
Constitutional Court, alleging that a LPA decision to cut prisoners' 
food rations violated their rights. The Constitutional Court agreed and 
ordered the prison administration to increase rations. The prison 
administration complied with the order in June.
    As of December the Ministry of Justice reported that 6,790 persons 
were held in the prison system, which had a total capacity of 7,970 
persons. Of these, 2,034 were detainees awaiting trial or the outcome 
of their appeals and 4,756 were convicted inmates. Detainees and 
convicted inmates were generally held together. Male prisoners were 
held in 10 prisons throughout the country.
    The prison population also included 91 juvenile males. Most of 
these prisoners were held at a separate juvenile facility, which was 
equipped with a school funded by the state. At the end of the year 42 
juveniles were held in regular adult prisons. Although the Ministry of 
Justice stated such cases were temporary and rare, the ombudsman's 
office expressed concern that during pretrial detention some juveniles 
were held for long periods at adult facilities, where they were 
isolated and had no access to education. Conditions, especially 
sanitary facilities, at the juvenile facility for males remained very 
poor. However, in September the prison administration broke ground on a 
new building at the juvenile prison designed to bring conditions there 
in line with international standards.
    The prison population included 417 women, held in a separate 
women's prison. The country's few juvenile female prisoners were held 
in a separate wing of the women's prison. The ombudsman's office 
considered the physical conditions at the women's prison to be better 
than at other facilities, and generally adequate.
    During the year the Ministry of Justice began several projects to 
improve conditions in prisons. These included building renovations, a 
project to digitalize prison records and modernize information 
technology systems, and a program to bring its administrative controls 
into line with international standards. The prison administration also 
began new training programs for prison employees.
    The Latvian Center on Human Rights reported poor conditions at the 
Olaine detention center for illegal immigrants in Riga.
    In general, prisoners had reasonable access to visitors. The prison 
administration allowed prisoners and detainees to observe religious 
practices with some limitations, including security-related 
restrictions on religious articles kept in cells and dorm rooms. 
However, a group of prisoners filed a claim with the Constitutional 
Court challenging these restrictions. A decision was pending at year's 
end.
    Authorities allowed prisoners and detainees to submit complaints to 
judicial authorities. Prisoners may submit complaints without 
censorship and may request investigation of credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions. The ombudsman's office raised no concerns in this 
area. Authorities generally investigated credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions and documented the results of such investigations 
in a publicly accessible manner. Ministry of Justice and other 
government officials investigated and monitored prison and detention 
center conditions.
    The Government generally permitted independent monitoring of 
prisons and detention centers by international and local human rights 
groups. In December 2009 a CPT delegation inspected prisons in 
Daugavpils, Jekabpils, and Jelgava. As of year's end, the CPT had not 
publicly released its report.
    The ombudsman's office consistently monitored conditions at prisons 
and detention facilities. Although various NGOs argued the ombudsman's 
office was not aggressive enough in this area, it effectively advocated 
better conditions in some cases, especially involving juveniles.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The State Police, 
Security Police, and State Border Guards are subordinate to the 
Ministry of the Interior. Municipal police are under local government 
control. Military forces, the Military Counterintelligence Service, the 
Protective Service, and the National Guard are subordinate to the 
Ministry of Defense. The State Police and municipal police forces 
shared responsibility for maintaining public order, but only the State 
Police were authorized to carry out criminal investigations. The 
Security Police were responsible for combating terrorism and other 
internal threats. The military and National Guard were primarily 
responsible for external security.
    Civilian authorities maintained effective control over security 
forces, and the Government had effective mechanisms to investigate and 
punish abuse. There were no reports of impunity involving the security 
forces during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires that persons be arrested openly and with warrants issued by an 
authorized judicial official, except in exceptional cases specifically 
defined by law (e.g., apprehension in the act, eyewitness 
identification of suspect, or flight risk). The Government generally 
respected this requirement in practice. The law requires the 
prosecutor's office to decide whether to charge or release an 
individual under arrest within 48 hours, and authorities generally 
respected this right in practice. Detainees were promptly informed of 
charges against them. There is a bail system; however, it was used 
infrequently and applied most often in cases of economic crimes.
    The Government provided attorneys for indigent defendants. 
Detainees have the right to have an attorney present during 
questioning; however, authorities did not always respect this right in 
practice. Investigators sometimes conducted unscheduled interrogations 
of detainees, or ``talks,'' without legal counsel. In 2008 the 
ombudsman's office criticized these ``talks'' with detainees. The 
Government did not issue a formal response, but the ombudsman reported 
having periodic discussions about this issue with police.
    Authorities permitted detainees prompt access to family members.
    The law limits pretrial detention to no more than 18 months from 
the first filing of the case for the most serious crimes and less for 
minor offenses. NGOs continued to express concern about the length of 
pretrial detentions in practice. The Government claimed that pretrial 
detention times were reduced slightly during the year but could not 
cite supporting statistics.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected 
this provision in practice; however, there were significant problems, 
including inefficiency.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution and law provide for the right 
to a fair trial, and most judges enforced this right; however, the 
fairness of individual court decisions, of judges, and of the judicial 
system in general remained a concern. As of December the ombudsman's 
office reported that it opened 26 investigations into complaints about 
the fairness of trials and courts.
    Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence. Trials are generally 
public; however, some may be closed to protect government secrets or 
the interests of minors. A single trial judge hears most cases. 
Defendants have the right to be present at their trials. In closed 
trials, defendants are subject to criminal sanction if they reveal any 
details of the case outside the courtroom. Defendants have the right to 
consult with an attorney in a timely manner, at government expense if 
they are indigent. Defendants have the right to read charges, to 
confront and question witnesses against them, and to call witnesses and 
offer evidence to support their cases. Defendants and their attorneys 
have access to government-held evidence relevant to their cases and may 
appeal to the highest levels in the judicial system.
    Information on court decisions is published on the Internet; a 
person's identity may be withheld in accordance with regulatory 
procedures.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--During the year the ECHR 
issued seven decisions in cases involving the country, finding a 
violation of the European Convention on Human Rights in two of those 
cases. In general, the country promptly complied with judgments of the 
ECHR.
    On May 17, the ECHR Grand Chamber upheld the country's 2001 
conviction of Vassili Kononov on charges of war crimes during World War 
II. In so doing, it overturned its earlier decision, which found that 
the country's prosecution of Kononov applied the law retroactively. 
Kononov was a member of a Red Partisans unit that attacked the village 
of Mazie Balti in the eastern part of the country in 1944, killing nine 
villagers.
    On October 26, the ECHR ruled that Latvia denied a claimant, 
Marina, her right to a fair hearing by failing to take her low-income 
status into account when imposing court fees. The ECHR awarded Marina 
1,000 euros ($1,340).
    On December 21, the ECHR ruled that Latvia violated the rights of a 
deaf mute man, Jasinskis, who died in police custody in 2005. 
Jasinskis, who was intoxicated at the time of the incident, fell and 
suffered a head injury during a fight. When police arrived, they took 
him into custody and placed him in a ``sobering-up room.'' While still 
in custody, Jasinskis died from his previous head trauma. The ECHR 
ruled that police negligently failed to provide Jasinskis with medical 
care, thereby violating his right to the protection of life. The ECHR 
awarded Jasinskis' family 50,000 euros ($67,000).

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The law provides for an 
independent and impartial judiciary in civil matters, including access 
to a court to bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, a 
human rights violation. The Government generally upheld the law 
concerning civil procedures and generally enforced civil court orders.

    Property Restitution.--Restitution of property confiscated or 
nationalized during the World War II period and thereafter was 
substantially completed under an expired denationalization law. 
However, some religious groups, including the Lutheran, Orthodox 
Christian, and Jewish communities, continued to claim additional 
communal and heirless properties. The status of many of these remaining 
properties was the subject of complicated legal and bureaucratic 
processes concerning ambiguous ownership, competing claims, and the 
destruction of the Jewish communities to whom properties belonged 
before World War II.
    The Jewish community has identified a number of properties for 
restitution. In 2008 the Government established a task force to study 
the Jewish community's outstanding claims and to consider solutions. 
The task force did not release its report by the end of the year, and 
members of local and international Jewish communities continued to urge 
the Government to pursue a resolution to this issue.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and 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 and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press. However, certain government 
actions caused concern among observers.
    In general individuals were free to criticize the Government and 
its policies. However, the law criminalizes incitement to racial or 
ethnic hatred and spreading false information about the financial 
system.
    Human rights groups criticized the Government for attempting to 
enforce national spirit. In April prosecutors brought charges against 
an individual for ``blasphemy against a state symbol'' after he 
disposed of a hand-held Latvian flag in a dumpster. The case resulted 
in acquittal. The law imposes fines on property owners who fail to 
display the national flag on designated holidays.
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views, usually without restriction. There were some reports of 
harassment of the media:
    In January unknown persons ransacked the offices of the daily 
newspaper Neatkariga Rita Avize. This crime remained unsolved at year's 
end.
    In May the police raided the home of television journalist Ilze 
Nagle in connection with the high-profile case of Ilmars Poikans 
(a.k.a. Neo), who was accused of hacking the State Revenue Service's 
database and publishing public employees' salary information. Nagle 
reported extensively on the Neo case. Pursuant to an ``extraordinary'' 
same-day warrant (usually reserved for cases in which the police fear 
the loss of evidence), police seized Nagle's computer and files. The 
ombudsman's office found that the police action violated the country's 
constitution. Nagle sued the police, but her complaint was dismissed.
    In September the Government's Corruption Prevention and Combating 
Bureau (KNAB), which enforces campaign laws, removed a satirical film, 
The Last Bear Slayer, from the on-demand playlist of the partially 
state-owned cable provider, Lattelecom. The KNAB stated that the film 
might have constituted election advertising. Reporters without Borders 
charged that the prohibition constituted improper censorship but noted 
it was ineffective because the film was widely available on the 
Internet.
    Independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of views 
without government restriction. All prominent newspapers were privately 
owned. Russian-language print and electronic media were also prevalent 
and active. The one government-owned newspaper mainly published 
official records of government actions and decisions. Other newspapers 
were widely believed to be associated with political or economic 
interests; complete information on media ownership was not publicly 
available.
    The country has one state-owned television station, Latvian 
National Television (LTV), and one state-owned radio station, Latvian 
National Radio. Privately owned television and radio outlets also 
operated in the country. On August 11, the Law on Electronic Mass 
Media, which requires 65 percent of all broadcast airtime to be in 
Latvian, dubbed in Latvian, or subtitled in Latvian, entered into 
force. While Latvian is the sole official state language, approximately 
one-third of the country's population (largely ethnic Russians, 
Belarusians, and Ukrainians) speak Russian as their first language. 
Many television stations in the country already employ Latvian 
subtitles or voiceover when broadcasting programs originally produced 
in another language. Despite the new law, extensive Russian-language 
programming remained available during the year.
    In February after a government appeal, the Supreme Court reduced to 
12,000 lats ($22,440) the civil award of 100,000 lats ($187,000) to LTV 
journalist Ilze Jaunalksne for the violation of her privacy by the 
State Revenue Service. Jaunalksne claimed in the case that the State 
Revenue Service targeted her for reporting on incidents of government 
corruption.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2009, 
approximately 67 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly, 
and authorities may not prohibit public gatherings except in very 
limited cases related to public safety. Organizers of demonstrations 
must provide advance notice to local authorities, who may prohibit the 
event, or change the time and place to prevent public disorder.
    During the year numerous demonstrations took place peacefully and 
in most cases without government interference. Police usually did not 
interfere with peaceful assemblies and normally offered demonstrators 
appropriate levels of protection. However, some observers continued to 
criticize the legal requirement to give 10- days' advance notification 
of a planned protest.
    In March Riga city officials initially denied the request of a 
group seeking to hold its annual event in remembrance of Latvian 
soldiers who died fighting in German Waffen SS units during World War 
II. A local court overturned the city's decision, and approximately 200 
persons participated in the March 16 event. Opposition groups 
counterdemonstrated, but police kept the two groups apart, and the 
demonstration was largely peaceful. State Police reported that in 
connection with the demonstration, officers detained one person for 
petty hooliganism, and a court later fined the individual 50 lats 
($93.50). According to press reports, between three and five additional 
persons were detained and released without charges.
    In May the organizer of a protest in support of hacker Ilmars 
Poikans (a.k.a. Neo) and reporter Ilze Nagle (see section 2.a.) was 
arrested for organizing a protest without notifying the authorities. 
Charges were later dropped.
    In June the Riga city government denied a group the right to 
demonstrate to mark the July 1 anniversary of the German army's entry 
into Riga in 1941. A court overturned the city's decision, finding that 
the marchers were not inciting violence or advocating Nazism, and 
citing the sanctity of the right to assemble. The city complied with 
the court's order and allowed the march. However, the day of the march, 
police detained the group's leader, Uldis Freimanis, for questioning on 
a suspected case of ``glorifying Nazism.'' He was later released 
without charges. Because Freimanis was in custody at the time of the 
demonstration, the group officially cancelled it. A small demonstration 
took place with no more than 30 participants. State Police detained two 
persons during the demonstration: one for violating assembly laws 
(charges were later dropped) and one for resisting police and violating 
assembly laws. A court imposed a fine of 70 lats ($131).

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of association, but bar the registration of Communist, Nazi, or 
other organizations whose activities could contravene the constitution, 
for example, by advocating the violent overthrow of the Government. 
Within these limits the Government respected these rights in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl//irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice, including with respect to its ``noncitizen resident'' 
population.
    The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to refugees, returning refugees, 
asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. Reports 
continued that authorities turned away persons attempting to enter the 
country at border checkpoints without establishing whether they might 
be refugees or asylum seekers; the Government disputed these claims.
    During the year 60 persons requested asylum; seven were granted 
asylum, and 18 were granted alternate status (``subsidiary 
protection''). In 2009, 52 sought asylum, five were granted refugee 
status, and six received subsidiary protection. In 2008, 51 persons 
requested asylum, two were granted refugee status and one received 
subsidiary protection.
    Latvia does not discriminate asylum cases based on the applicant's 
country of origin or country of transit.
    In practice the Government provided some protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to a country where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion.

    Stateless Persons.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents. The 
children of ``noncitizen residents'' may be naturalized upon 
application by their parents.
    According to UNHCR data, there were 344,263 stateless persons at 
the end of 2009, the vast majority of whom the Government considered 
``noncitizen residents.'' According to the Department of Citizenship 
and Migration, 335,918 ``noncitizen residents'' and 172 stateless 
persons lived in the country as of July. Most of the ``noncitizen 
residents'' were persons of Slavic origin, who either moved to the 
country during the Soviet occupation, or are descended from those who 
did. The Government did not give them automatic citizenship when the 
country regained sovereignty in 1991. ``Noncitizen residents'' have 
permanent residence status; consular protection abroad; the right to 
return to the country; full rights to employment, except for some 
government jobs and private sector positions deemed related to national 
security; and the right to most government social benefits. However, 
they may not vote in local or national elections and may not organize a 
political party without the participation of an equal number of 
citizens.
    The UNHCR noted that ``noncitizen residents'' have, under the 
country's laws, a transitional legal status that entitles them to 
rights and obligations beyond the minimum rights prescribed by the 1954 
Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. The UNHCR 
further noted that these rights are identical to those attached to the 
possession of nationality, with the exception of certain limited civil 
and political rights.
    The law provides naturalization procedures for granting citizenship 
to the noncitizen population. The citizenship procedure includes a test 
of Latvian language skills and knowledge of the constitution and 
history of the country. Although the UNHCR considered most of these 
``noncitizen residents'' to be ``stateless,'' the Government did not, 
because most were eligible to naturalize under the country's law. The 
Government recognized as stateless only those individuals who did not 
have a claim to foreign citizenship and were not eligible to apply for 
naturalization in the country.
    Most ``noncitizen residents'' had not applied for citizenship even 
though they were legally eligible for it. They frequently cited as 
reasons for not applying the perceived ``unfairness'' of the 
requirements, resentment at having to apply at all, and the lack of 
perceived benefits. A study by Ilze Brands Kehris of the Latvia Human 
Rights Center found that noncitizens still accounted for 15 percent of 
the country's population (down from 29 percent in 1995) and that 
naturalization applications dropped sharply from 2004 to 2009 (largely 
due to a 2004 surge upon the country's entry into the EU). In addition, 
failure rates in the citizenship examinations rose to approximately 20 
percent in 2008-09. Nils Muiznieks, a University of Latvia scholar and 
former chairperson of the European Commission against Racism and 
Intolerance, asserted that the Government made integration a lower 
priority in recent years. During the year through November, 2,974 
persons applied for naturalization, and 2,137 persons were approved. In 
2009, 3,470 persons applied and 2,080 were approved.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens with the right to change 
their government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in 
practice through periodic and generally free and fair elections based 
on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Free and fair elections for 
parliament were held on October 2; parliament elected a new president 
in 2007. Observers from the Office for Democracy and Human Rights of 
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) visited 
a limited number of polling stations on election day. It found the 
elections ``generally met OSCE commitments and other international 
standards for democratic elections, as well as domestic legislation.'' 
However, it also noted that ``321,000 noncitizen long-term residents of 
voting age'' were not able to vote, that the country needs to 
strengthen its laws regarding candidacy rights to enhance compliance 
with its OSCE commitments, and that ``hidden'' advertising illegally 
not accounted for in campaign spending reports skewed the playing field 
in the election.
    Citizens can organize political parties without restriction; 
however, the law prohibits the country's ``noncitizen residents'' from 
organizing political parties without the participation of an equal 
number of citizens in the party. The election law prohibits persons who 
remained active in the Communist Party or various other pro-Soviet 
organizations after 1991 or who worked for such institutions as the 
former Soviet Committee for State Security (KGB) from holding office.
    At year's end there were 20 women (including the speaker) in the 
100-member parliament, and three women in the 14-member Cabinet of 
Ministers. Three of seven judges at the Constitutional Court were 
women, and 23 of 44 judges of the Supreme Court were women.
    Members of minorities, including ethnic Russians and Poles, served 
in various elected bodies. The mayor of Riga, the country's largest 
city, is a member of the ethnic Russian minority.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices. There was a 
widespread perception that corruption existed at all levels of 
government. The World Bank's World Governance Indicators reflected that 
corruption was a problem in the country.
    The KNAB is primarily responsible for fighting corruption. During 
the year the KNAB initiated 30 criminal cases, and other legal 
institutions initiated 12 criminal cases against government and law 
enforcement officials. The KNAB also forwarded 14 criminal cases 
involving 45 individuals to the prosecutor's office.
    Corruption cases during the year included the following:
    In May the KNAB initiated criminal proceedings against two 
municipal officials in Jurmala for offering a bribe in exchange for a 
vote in a Jurmala city council meeting.
    In June authorities indicted Vladimirs Vaskevics, the former head 
of the criminal investigative service of the customs service, for 
failure to comply with financial disclosure laws. This indictment 
followed an extensive investigation.
    In February 2009 the Riga Regional Court sentenced two former 
district court judges, Irena Polikarpova and Beatrise Talere, to eight 
years' imprisonment for bribery. Polikarpova and Talere appealed the 
sentence to the Supreme Court. In October the Supreme Court sentenced 
Polikarpova to a prison term of three years plus fines. In the 
meantime, Talere died.
    Under the country's law, public officials are required to file 
income declarations annually, and irregularities within the 
declarations are investigated. The state auditor's office reviews the 
financial records--classified and unclassified--of all governmental 
agencies on an annual basis and documents any irregularities. These 
reports are forwarded to the prime minister.
    There was a perceived lack of fairness and transparency in the 
public procurement process. A number of foreign companies complained 
that bidding requirements were sometimes written with the assistance of 
potential contractors or couched in terms that exclude all but 
``preferred'' contractors.
    Allegations of corruption and bribery within law enforcement 
agencies continued to hurt the public's perception of police 
effectiveness. The Internal Security Office of the State Police was 
responsible for investigating and disciplining State Police officers 
who committed crimes or abuses of power, including corruption. Citizens 
could also report police corruption to the KNAB. In August the KNAB 
began criminal proceedings against two State Police inspectors accused 
of demanding a bribe from a suspect in exchange for not reporting a 
robbery.
    A regulation of the Cabinet of Ministers provides for public access 
to government information, and the Government generally provided 
citizens such access in practice. There were no reports that 
noncitizens or the foreign media were denied access.
Section 5. 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 
met with domestic NGO monitors and responded to their inquiries. 
Government officials often were cooperative and responsive to their 
views.
    The ombudsman's office has the responsibility to monitor the 
Government's performance on human rights issues. The office generally 
enjoyed the Government's cooperation and operated independent of 
government or party interference. However, at a time of across-the-
board budgetary cuts for governmental agencies, the ombudsman's office 
complained that it did not have sufficient resources to accomplish its 
mandate. Under its charter the office's primary function is to 
investigate complaints and make specific recommendations, but its 
authority is strictly advisory. Some human rights groups voiced concern 
that the ombudsman's office was reactive rather than proactive and 
called for the office to advocate more aggressively with respect to 
certain human rights problems. The office complied with a statutory 
requirement to publish an annual public report detailing its activities 
and recommendations. These included monitoring conditions and making 
recommendations regarding detention facilities and prisons, as well as 
collecting, investigating, and answering complaints related to a broad 
spectrum of human rights: civil rights, children's rights, and rights 
pertaining to property, social welfare, education, and healthcare. The 
Justice Ministry acknowledged many of the shortcomings referenced by 
the ombudsman's office--especially those pertaining to prison 
conditions--and claimed to be addressing them as resources permit. 
Notwithstanding calls for greater activism from certain human rights 
groups, the ombudsman's offices generally maintained public trust.
Section 6. 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 
prohibitions effectively.

    Women.--The law specifically criminalizes rape but does not 
recognize spousal rape as a distinct crime. Criminal penalties vary 
depending on the nature of the crime, the age of the victim, the 
criminal history of the offender, and the dependency of the victim on 
the offender. Such penalties range from probation to life imprisonment. 
During the first nine months of the year, there were 10 convictions on 
rape charges, compared with 39 convictions in 2009 and 44 in 2008. 
Several local NGOs complained that rape laws were ineffective or were 
inadequately enforced by authorities. NGOs continued to report that 
rapes were underreported due to a tendency of police to blame victims.
    In October the parliament adopted amendments to the Criminal Law 
adding domestic violence to the list of aggravating factors in criminal 
offenses connected with violence. Until these amendments there was no 
definition of domestic violence, and in practice domestic violence was 
understood very narrowly.
    NGOs and police agreed that domestic violence was a significant 
problem; however, the law was not effectively enforced. Victims were 
often 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, did not always take domestic violence 
cases seriously. Police stated they could only make arrests if either 
the victim or a witness agreed to file charges or if police caught 
someone in the act of committing the abuse. The women's advocacy NGO 
Marta Center noted that no system was in place whereby women could 
receive legal protection as soon as they arrived at a hospital for 
treatment after violence. Most abused women first went to the hospitals 
and only then turned to the police.
    During the year the Marta Center received 362 complaints of 
domestic violence, compared with 249 in 2009. Marta Center provided 
legal assistance in 208 of those cases.
    There were no shelters designed specifically for battered or abused 
women. Women who experienced violence could seek help in family crisis 
centers; however, these centers had limited capacity and gave priority 
to women with children. There were no dedicated rape or assault 
hotlines; however, NGOs managed four general crisis hotlines. The Marta 
Center operated Web sites that provided information and legal 
assistance for female victims of violence.
    Riga continued to be a destination for adult sex tourism.
    Sexual harassment is illegal; however, there was no record of 
complaints, due in part to procedures required to register incidents. 
The ombudsman's office, located in the capital, Riga, was the only 
designated location to file complaints. In addition, cultural factors 
tended to discourage women from filing sexual harassment complaints. 
Sexual harassment of women in the workplace reportedly was common. 
However, in the absence of complaints, the Government was not able to 
enforce the law. As of December the ombudsman's office had received no 
complaints regarding sexual harassment.
    The Government recognized the basic right of couples and 
individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and 
timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so 
free from discrimination, coercion, and violence. Health clinics and 
local health NGOs operated freely in disseminating information on 
family planning under the guidance of the Ministry of Health. There 
were no restrictions on the right to access contraceptives; however, 
according to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) for 2008, only 68 percent 
of the population used any kind of contraception, while 56 percent used 
modern methods, including male and female sterilization, intrauterine 
devices, the pill, injectables, hormonal implants, condoms, and female 
barrier methods. According to UNFPA data for 2008, there were 
approximately 20 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in the 
country. The Government provided free childbirth services.
    According to statistics compiled by the World Health Organization 
in 2005, men and women received equal access to diagnosis and treatment 
for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, but local health 
NGOs and clinics reported that women were more likely than men to seek 
treatment and to refer their partners for treatment.
    Women enjoy the same rights as men, including rights under family 
law, property law, and in the judicial system. The law prohibits 
employment discrimination; however, in practice women frequently faced 
hiring and pay discrimination, particularly in the private sector. The 
Marta Center noted that there had been cases of discrimination based on 
gender when applying for work.
    The law prohibits work and wage discrimination based on gender and 
requires employers to set equal pay for equal work; however, government 
regulatory agencies did not implement the law fully. According to the 
country's Central Statistics Bureau, in the first quarter of the year, 
the average female worker earned 18.5 percent less than a male worker.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents. Children of 
``noncitizen'' parents born in the country are registered immediately 
and are eligible to apply for citizenship. There were no reports of 
systematic or widespread failure to register births immediately.
    An NGO working with abused children, the Dardedze Center Against 
Violence, stated that the number of reported instances of child abuse, 
including sexual abuse, increased in the past several years. The center 
attributed this increase largely to better reporting due to increased 
awareness of the problem. Laws against child abuse were enforced 
effectively, although the center observed that coordination among 
agencies involved in the protection of children's rights was weak. 
Children from families that were unable to care for them had access to 
government-funded boarding schools that provided adequate living 
conditions; however, these schools had lower educational standards than 
regular state schools.
    Statutory rape and child pornography are illegal. The minimum age 
for consensual sex is 16 years. Statutory rape is punishable by four 
years' imprisonment, or six years if the victims are particularly 
young. The State Police can initiate proceedings against a sexual 
abuser without an application from a victim who is a minor. Purchase, 
display, reproduction, or distribution of child pornography is 
punishable by up to three years in prison. Involving a minor in the 
production of pornography is punishable by up to 12 years in prison, 
depending on the age of the child.
    A special police unit in Riga worked to prevent sexual abuse of 
minors and eradicate child sex tourism through aggressive prosecution 
of pedophiles and other child abusers. The unit also publicized the 
potential dangers posed to minors by Internet chat rooms and worked 
closely with local social networking sites to identify potential 
Internet predator cases.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community numbers approximately 10,000 
and is largely secular and Russian-speaking. There were reports of 
anti-Semitic vandalism during the year, but no reports of anti-Semitic 
attacks. Anti-Semitic sentiments persisted in some segments of society, 
manifested in hostile comments on the Internet.
    On March 16, according to press reports, authorities in Riga 
detained one person who was displaying an anti-Semitic sign at an 
annual event in remembrance of Latvian soldiers who died fighting in 
German Waffen SS units during World War II (see section 2.b.). The 
person was later released without formal charges.
    On December 7, 89 headstones in the New Jewish Cemetery of Riga 
were vandalized by painting with swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans in 
the Russian language. Government officials, including the president, 
prime minister, foreign minister, and the mayor of Riga, quickly and 
forcefully criticized the acts. The police launched an investigation 
and said they would charge the perpetrators with grave desecration and 
inciting ethnic hatred, crimes carrying up to 10-year prison terms. At 
the end of the year, police continued to investigate the case but had 
made no arrests. The city of Riga rapidly repaired the damage with city 
funds, and the mayor stepped up police presence and patrols in relevant 
areas to prevent further incidents.
    On December 13, marks of white paint were found on a monument to 
Zanis Lipke, a Latvian who rescued Jews during the Holocaust. Riga city 
authorities removed the paint on the day it was discovered, and police 
opened a criminal investigation. The president and foreign minister 
quickly and strongly condemned the act.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to healthcare, or the 
provision of other state services or other areas, and the Government 
generally enforced these provisions. The law mandates access to 
buildings for persons with disabilities; however, most buildings were 
not accessible.
    A new law which preserves the rights of handicapped children took 
effect during the year. The law grants additional assistance to 
children with disabilities, allowing them and their chaperones to use 
public transportation free of charge. The law also allows families of 
children who have been diagnosed with a disability to receive state-
funded counseling.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--According to government 
statistics for the year, Russians comprised 28 percent of the 
population, Belarusians 4 percent, Ukrainians 3 percent, Poles 2 
percent, Lithuanians 1 percent, Jews 0.4 percent, and Roma 0.4 percent.
    No attacks against minorities were reported. However, NGOs 
representing minority groups claimed that official statistics 
underreported the actual number of incidents, including physical 
assaults.
    In the first eight months of the year, the Security Police reviewed 
18 applications/complaints connected to possible incitement of ethnic 
or racial hatred. Of these, in five cases a criminal procedure was 
initiated for incitement of ethnic hatred. These complaints involved 
hate speech on the Internet. One of the five cases was dismissed due to 
lack of evidence, and in the remaining four cases, investigations 
continued at the end of the year. As of July the ombudsman's office 
received two written complaints of racial or ethnic discrimination, 
compared with 85 in 2009.
    In August, Valdis Rosans, a self-proclaimed National Socialist, was 
charged with using hate speech online and was given a two-year 
suspended sentence. Rosans had published remarks that were demeaning to 
Jews, gays, and other minorities.
    There were no developments, and none were expected, in the February 
2009 attack on two Armenians in Riga by unknown persons with apparent 
racial intent. Police classified the incident as ``hooliganism'' rather 
than a racially motivated attack.
    The Romani community has historically faced widespread societal 
discrimination and high levels of unemployment and illiteracy. As a 
result of emigration, the Romani population in the country fell from 
approximately 20,000 in the mid-1990s to approximately 8,000 persons. 
The Government had a national action plan to address problems affecting 
the Romani community with respect to employment, education, and human 
rights; however, observers criticized the plan for lacking adequate 
funding to improve conditions for Roma substantially.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--No gay pride parades or 
marches were held in the country during the year, although a Baltic 
regional pride march took place in Vilnius, Lithuania, in March. 
Latvian lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activists 
reported they received good cooperation from Latvian police who 
traveled to Vilnius to assist Lithuanian police in providing 
appropriate security for the march. LGBT representatives stated the 
attitude of the country's police toward their organizations has 
improved in recent years.
    There were no official reports of societal violence based on sexual 
orientation or gender identity; however, leaders of LGBT organizations 
complained of widespread intolerance and underreporting of physical 
attacks. As of July the ombudsman's office had received one report of 
discrimination based on sexual orientation.
    LGBT representatives also reported that the ombudsman expressed 
reluctance to assist the LGBT community in securing its rights, 
particularly LGBT persons' right of assembly.
    LGBT groups complained about the use of anti-LGBT rhetoric and 
images in the campaign of the For a Good Latvia party during the 
national parliamentary election campaign during the year.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of societal violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law entitles all workers, except 
for uniformed members of the military, to form and join independent 
unions of their choice without previous authorization or excessive 
requirements, and workers exercised this right in practice. This law 
was implemented fairly and effectively. Throughout the year union 
membership remained constant at approximately 15 percent of the 
workforce.
    The law allows unions to conduct their activities without 
interference, and the Government protected this right in practice. The 
law recognizes the right to strike, subject to limitations related to 
public safety. However, the law prohibits ``sympathy'' or 
``solidarity'' strikes by workers who are not directly involved in the 
specific work agreement between strikers and their employers. While 
most workers were free to exercise the right to strike within these 
parameters, labor regulations prohibit strikes by essential personnel, 
including judges, prosecutors, police, fire fighters, border guards, 
employees of state security institutions, prison guards, and military 
personnel. The law provides arbitration mechanisms that essential 
personnel may use in lieu of striking.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for collective bargaining, and workers exercised this right in 
practice. Approximately 18 percent of workers were covered by 
collective bargaining agreements.
    The law also prohibits antiunion discrimination and employer 
interference in union functions, and the Government effectively 
protected this right throughout the year.
    There are four export processing zones; regular labor laws applied 
in all of them.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including by children. Also, please see the 
Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/g/tip

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law and policies protect children from exploitation in the workplace, 
including policies regarding acceptable working conditions, and the 
Government generally implemented these laws and policies in practice.
    The law restricts employment of those under the age of 18 years by 
prohibiting nighttime or overtime work. The statutory minimum age for 
employment is 15 years, although children who are 13 years old or older 
may work in certain jobs outside school hours with written permission 
from a parent.
    Inspectors from the Ministry of Welfare's State Labor Inspectorate 
are responsible for enforcing the child labor laws, and they did so 
effectively.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The legally mandated monthly 
minimum wage of 180 lats ($336.60) did not provide a decent standard of 
living for a worker and his or her family. By comparison, the Latvian 
Central Statistical Bureau's ``Minimum Consumer Basket'' price index 
for November was approximately 170 lats ($317.90). In 2009 the average 
monthly wage was approximately 461 lats (approximately $862). The State 
Revenue Service is responsible for enforcing minimum wage regulations 
and did so effectively.
    The law provides for a mandatory 40-hour maximum workweek with at 
least one 42-hour rest period weekly. The maximum permitted overtime is 
144 hours in a four-month period. Employees are also not allowed to 
work more than 24 hours consecutively, 56 hours in a week, or overtime 
on more than six consecutive days. The law requires premium pay in 
compensation for overtime, unless other forms of compensation are 
agreed to in a contract. These standards were generally respected for 
both citizens and noncitizen workers.
    The law establishes minimum occupational health and safety 
standards for the workplace, which were effectively enforced. Workers 
have the legal right to remove themselves from situations that endanger 
health or safety without endangering their continued employment; 
however, authorities did not enforce this right.

                               __________

                             LIECHTENSTEIN

    The Principality of Liechtenstein, with a population of 
approximately 36,000, is a multiparty constitutional monarchy with a 
parliamentary government. The unicameral Landtag (parliament) 
nominates, and the monarch appoints, the members of the Government. A 
two-party coalition government was formed following free and fair 
parliamentary elections in February 2009. Security forces reported to 
civilian authorities.
    There were isolated reports of societal discrimination against 
minorities, violence against women, including spousal abuse, and child 
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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices, and 
there were no reported incidents.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards. In 2009 there 
were 149 persons serving time in prison or detention for a total of 
2,554 days. Nine of these were women, one was under 18 years old, and 
106 were detained due to a violation of the provisions of the law on 
foreigners, representing an increase of more than 300 percent from the 
previous year. The reason for this increase was the massive immigration 
of asylum seekers from Somalia and Eritrea who had illegally travelled 
to the country via Switzerland and were being detained prior to their 
deportation. Twenty-three persons were in prison for offenses under the 
criminal code, a decline of 36 percent, compared with 2008. Due to the 
1982 bilateral treaty between Liechtenstein and Austria whereby 
prisoners with sentences of longer than two years' imprisonment were to 
be accommodated in Austria, 13 individuals from the country were 
incarcerated in Austria. The country's only prison had a total capacity 
of 20 beds. The maximum capacity was not reached during the year. The 
Government permitted visits by independent human rights observers.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. According to law, they could submit 
complaints to the prince, the Government, parliament, and judicial 
authorities without censorship and request investigations of credible 
allegations of inhumane conditions. No such allegations were submitted 
during the year.
    In March four former asylum seekers filed a complaint with 
government officials after being detained by police while trying to 
return to the country following their deportation to Switzerland. The 
prosecutor's office ruled in favor of one of the asylum seekers and 
ordered the individual's release, while the other three remained in 
custody until their scheduled deportation. The Government opened a 
liability action against the arresting officers, charging them with 
falsely arresting the released asylum seeker.
    There is no ombudsman who can serve on behalf of prisoners and 
detainees, but the Government has an independent body, the Corrections 
Commission, to monitor prison conditions. The Corrections Commission, 
which also serves as the designated national preventive mechanism under 
the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture, organized 
at least one unannounced visit to the country's prison each quarter. 
During these visits, the commission collected documentation and spoke 
to prisoners without prison officials being present. Following four 
visits in 2009, the commission on April 26 published a report with 
recommendations for the Government.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the regular and auxiliary police, and 
the Government has effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse 
and corruption. There were no reports of impunity involving the 
security forces during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Police arrest 
a suspect based on an arrest warrant issued by the national court. 
Within 48 hours of arrest, police must bring suspects before an 
examining magistrate who must either file formal charges or order 
release; authorities respected this right in practice. Release on 
personal recognizance or bail is permitted unless the examining 
magistrate has reason to believe that the suspect is a danger to 
society or would not appear for trial. The law grants suspects the 
right to legal counsel of their own choosing during pretrial detention, 
and counsel was provided at government expense to indigent persons. 
According to the criminal procedure code, every detainee must be 
informed at the time of detention or immediately thereafter of the 
reasons for the detention. The detainee also must be advised of his 
right to contact legal counsel and a relative. During investigative 
detention, visits may be monitored to prevent tampering with evidence.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected 
judicial independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution and law provide for the right 
to a fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this 
right. Defendants are presumed innocent. A single judge hears trials 
involving minor offenses. A panel of judges hears more serious or 
complex cases, and the most serious cases, including murder, are heard 
by a public jury. The law grants defendants the right during trial to 
legal counsel of their own choosing; counsel is provided at government 
expense for indigent persons. Defendants may challenge witnesses or 
evidence and present witnesses or evidence on their own behalf. They 
have access to government-held evidence relevant to their cases. Those 
convicted have the right to appeal, ultimately to the Supreme Court.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters and access to a court to bring 
lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, a human rights 
violation.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and 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 and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally 
respected these rights in practice. However, the law prohibits public 
insult directed against a race, people, or ethnic group, with a 
possible prison sentence of up to two years. During the year no such 
charges were filed. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a 
functioning democratic political system combined to ensure freedom of 
speech and of the press.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2008, 
approximately 65 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet. These figures remained unchanged during the year.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
and law provide for freedom of assembly and association, and the 
Government generally respected these rights in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, 
stateless persons, and other persons of concern. The law does not 
prohibit forced exile, but the Government did not employ it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The laws provide for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government has a system for providing 
protection to refugees.
    According to the law, persons entering the country from another 
safe country are not eligible for asylum. In practice, the Government 
provided protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to 
countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account 
of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social 
group, or political opinion. There were 88 asylum applications from 
January to September, none of which was successful. The Government did 
not grant any residency permits to asylum seekers, who were housed 
temporarily in the country's asylum center.
    A May 25 UN Committee against Torture (CAT) report noted that the 
time limit of 24 hours within which asylum seekers ``under preventive 
expulsion'' were allowed to request a hearing before the Administrative 
Court in appeals cases was too short to ensure access to the asylum 
procedure in Switzerland or Austria in view of those countries' 
readmission agreements with Liechtenstein. The CAT recommended that the 
country increase the time limit. An April 12 report by the UNHCR 
mentioned the same concerns.
    The Government has a system for providing temporary protection to 
individuals who may not qualify as refugees. There were no reported 
cases during the year.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens the right to change their 
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice 
through periodic, free, and fair elections based on universal suffrage.
    As a hereditary monarchy, the country's line of succession is 
restricted to male descendents of the Liechtenstein dynasty. Prince 
Hans Adam II is the head of state. In 2004 hereditary Prince Alois 
assumed the duties of head of state, exercising the rights of office on 
behalf of the reigning prince. All legislation enacted by the 
parliament must have the concurrence of the monarch and the prime 
minister.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In February 2009 the 
country held parliamentary elections that were considered free and 
fair. Individuals and parties freely declared their candidacy and stood 
for election.
    There were six women in the 25-member parliament and two women in 
the five-seat cabinet. There were no known members of minorities in the 
Government.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government effectively implemented these laws. There were no 
reports of government corruption during the year.
    The law prohibits public officials from requesting or accepting 
gifts or benefits in connection with their duties and places 
restrictions on public officials engaging in private commercial 
activities. The police and the prosecutor's office, respectively, are 
responsible for investigating and prosecuting official corruption. The 
police have an organizationally independent special investigative unit 
for corruption cases. An interdepartmental working group chaired by the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs coordinated measures to prevent and combat 
corruption.
    Public officials are not subject to comprehensive financial 
disclosure laws.
    The law requires the Government to inform the public of its 
activities, and government information was freely available to all 
persons living in the country, including domestic and foreign media.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A few domestic 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.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability, 
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. The Government effectively enforced these 
prohibitions.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is a criminal offense, and 
the Government effectively prosecuted those accused of such crimes. 
Spousal rape has the same penalties as rape under other circumstances. 
It is possible to reduce sentences if the victim decides to remain with 
the abusive spouse.
    The law prohibits all forms of domestic violence and provides for 
restraining orders against violent family members. However, there were 
reports of violence against women, including spousal abuse. According 
to police records, there were 12 cases of domestic violence reported as 
of late August.
    During this same time frame, 14 women and 10 children received 
counseling and refuge at Frauenhaus, a women's shelter. Government 
centers provided single-stop financial, administrative, legal, and 
psychological assistance to victims of domestic violence.
    Stalking is a criminal offense. Sexual harassment is illegal and 
punishable by up to six months in prison or a fine, and the Government 
effectively enforced these prohibitions. Employers are required to take 
reasonable measures to prevent sexual harassment; failure to do so may 
result in compensation for victims up to 40,000 Swiss francs 
(approximately $38,000). There were three recorded complaints of sexual 
harassment during the year.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children and to 
have the information and means to do so free from discrimination, 
coercion, and violence. Contraceptives and medical services are readily 
available. There were no reports of barriers limiting access to 
maternal health services. Women and men were equally diagnosed and 
treated for sexually transmitted infections, including for HIV.
    Women enjoy the same legal rights as men, including rights under 
family law, property law, and in the judicial system. The Equal 
Opportunity Office and the Commission on Equality between Women and Men 
worked to eliminate all forms of gender discrimination. However, 
societal discrimination continued to limit opportunities for women in 
fields traditionally dominated by men. On average women earned 80 
percent of men's earnings for equal work. The labor contract law and 
the equal opportunity law contain provisions to combat gender 
discrimination in the workplace.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents at birth. 
Citizenship may be derived from a single parent. Every child born in 
the country, who otherwise would be stateless, may acquire citizenship.
    There were some reports of child abuse. The Commission for the 
Coordination of Professionals in Cases of Sexual Offenses against 
Children reported being contacted regarding five cases of suspected 
sexual abuse as of September. Possession of child pornographic material 
is a criminal offense. During the year there were three reported cases 
of suspected sexual abuse; one case was dismissed, and two were pending 
at the end of the year. According to the law, penalties for statutory 
rape are between one and ten years' imprisonment. The law sets the 
minimum age for consensual sex at 14 years.
    The Government supported programs to protect the rights of children 
and made financial contributions to three nongovernmental organizations 
that monitored children's rights. The Office for Social Services 
oversaw the implementation of government-supported programs for 
children and youth.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The small Jewish community does not have an 
organizational structure. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts 
against persons or property.

    Trafficking in Persons.--There were no confirmed cases of 
trafficking to, from, or within the country.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, or mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or the 
provision of other state services or other areas.
    The Government effectively implemented laws and programs to ensure 
that persons with disabilities have access to buildings, information, 
and communications, and disabled persons readily had access. The law 
mandates that all public kindergartens and schools as well as public 
transportation systems must be accessible to persons with disabilities 
by 2012. Recently constructed public buildings must become barrier-free 
by 2027; older public buildings, by 2019.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Police estimated violent right-
wing extremists, including skinheads, numbered no more than 30 to 40 
persons. The Government continued to monitor right-wing groups. 
Approximately 30 percent of the resident population in the country 
consisted of foreigners, mostly Swiss and Austrian. Turks accounted for 
2.2 percent of the population. Since 2009, there were reports that 
right-wing extremists attacked foreigners on several occasions:
    On February 26, an arson attack on a kebab bistro owned by a Turk 
occurred the day before its opening. Police identified the perpetrator, 
who was subsequently sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison. The 
same perpetrator from a right-wing group had thrown Molotov cocktails 
at two apartment buildings, primarily inhabited by foreigners, in 
November 2009.
    In May 2009 a group of three skinheads threatened a Turkish bistro 
owner and injured him with a large waste bin. The main offender was 
convicted and assessed a fine of 1,000 Swiss francs ($937). The other 
two were acquitted.
    On April 12, in response to these attacks, the Government launched 
a public awareness campaign against right-wing extremism and 
established a working group against such extremism.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--A government-contracted study 
published in 2007 found evidence of discrimination based on sexual 
orientation. During the year, however, there were no formal complaints 
issued by the country's gay community, nor were there any gay pride 
marches. The Government was in the process of elaborating a registered 
partnership law aimed at eliminating legal discrimination against same 
sex couples; the process was not completed by the end of the year.
    In October 2009 the Office of Equal Opportunity launched an 
awareness campaign using posters to reduce discrimination and 
stigmatization of homosexual activity. In early November 2009, unknown 
people sprayed homophobic slogans on some posters of the awareness 
campaign. Investigations were abandoned due to lack of evidence.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides that all workers, 
including foreigners, are free to form and join independent unions of 
their choice and select their own union representatives, and workers 
exercised these rights in practice. The law allows unions to conduct 
their activities without government interference, and the Government 
protected this right. There was only one trade union, which represented 
approximately 3 percent of the workforce. There is no provision in the 
constitution or labor laws explicitly banning the right to strike. The 
2008 Civil Servants Law lifted the previous ban on strikes for civil 
servants. No strikes occurred during the year.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively. 
Collective bargaining agreements covered approximately 25 percent of 
workers.
    The law does not prohibit antiunion discrimination; however, there 
were no reports of antiunion discrimination 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 
reported violations.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There are laws and policies to protect children from exploitation in 
the workplace, and the Government effectively enforced these laws. The 
law prohibits the employment of children younger than 16; exceptions 
may be made for the limited employment of children who are 14 and older 
and for those who leave school after completing nine years of 
compulsory education. Children who are 14 and older may be employed in 
light duties for not more than nine hours per week during the school 
year and 15 hours per week at other times.
    The law prohibits labor that subjects children to physical, 
psychological, moral, or sexual abuse. There were no reported cases.
    The Government devoted adequate resources and oversight to child 
labor policies, and the Department for Worker Safety of the Office of 
the National Economy effectively supervised compliance with the law.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There is no national minimum 
wage. The Liechtenstein Workers Association negotiates minimum wages 
annually with the Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber for Economic 
Affairs. The average daily wage provided a decent standard of living 
for a worker and family.
    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 other workers. The law provides for a daily mandatory one-
hour break and an 11-hour rest period for full-time workers; with few 
exceptions, Sunday work is not allowed. Pay for overtime is required to 
be at least 25 percent higher than the standard rate, and overtime is 
generally restricted to two hours per day. The average workweek, 
including overtime, may not exceed 48 hours over a period of four 
months. Thousands of workers commuted from neighboring countries daily 
and were covered by the same standards.
    The law sets occupational health and safety standards, and the 
Department for Worker Safety generally enforced these provisions 
effectively. The law provides for the right of workers to remove 
themselves from work situations that endanger their health or safety 
without jeopardy to their continued employment, and workers exercised 
this right in practice.

                               __________

                               LITHUANIA

    The Republic of Lithuania, population approximately 3.2 million, is 
a constitutional, multiparty, parliamentary democracy. Legislative 
authority is vested in the unicameral Seimas (parliament). In May 2009 
Dalia Grybauskaite was elected as the country's first female president. 
Parliamentary elections in 2008 led to the formation of a center-right 
coalition government. Both elections were free and fair. Security 
forces reported to civilian authorities.
    Conditions in prisons and detention centers were poor, and physical 
mistreatment of prisoners and overcrowding were reported. Lengthy 
detention of persons awaiting trial was a problem. Controversial 
legislation took effect that restricted the public dissemination of a 
broad range of materials deemed harmful to juveniles. There were 
reports of corruption in the police and government. Domestic violence 
and child abuse, intolerance of sexual and ethnic minorities, and 
trafficking in women and children 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.
    During the year prosecutors forwarded eight cases involving alleged 
war crimes or crimes against humanity during the periods of Soviet 
occupation to the courts for trial and opened nine new investigations. 
As of the end of December, the Prosecutor's Office was reviewing 58 
cases relating to the periods of German or Soviet occupation.

    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, there were reports that police physically 
mistreated detainees.
    During the year the Human Rights Ombudsman's Office received nine 
complaints that officials used force and psychological pressure to 
obtain evidence in an investigation. The Ombudsman's Office found eight 
complaints to be groundless and terminated the remaining one because it 
did not fall within the competence of the ombudsman.
    In June 2009 the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention 
of Torture (CPT) released a report on the 2008 visit of a CPT 
delegation. The report noted that, while the majority of individuals 
interviewed indicated they had been treated correctly, the delegation 
received a number of allegations of recent mistreatment during 
questioning by police officers, often apparently intended to produce 
confessions. It noted that juveniles appeared to be particularly at 
risk. The report described the mistreatment as mainly consisting of 
``kicks, punches, slaps, and blows with truncheons or other hard 
objects (such as wooden bats or chair legs).'' The delegation also 
heard allegations of extensive beating and asphyxiation using a plastic 
bag or gas mask. The delegation indicated that in some cases it was 
able to provide evidence consistent with the allegations. During the 
visit the delegation also received a number of allegations that 
prosecutors and judges did not act on claims of mistreatment when these 
were brought to their attention. Authorities responded that human-
rights training for police personnel was an ongoing policy.
    During the year military police opened one case related to military 
hazing, compared with six in 2009. The investigation was terminated due 
to lack of evidence. According to the national courts administration, 
no persons were convicted of hazing during the year.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions did not meet international standards. The Government 
permitted monitoring visits by independent human rights observers, and 
such visits occurred during the year. Although government measures to 
upgrade prisons brought them closer to international standards, 
domestic human rights advocates reported that conditions remained poor 
in some prisons.
    According to Prison Department data, there were 9,139 prisoners at 
year's end, including 421 women and 158 juveniles. In its June 2009 
report, the CPT delegation noted that it received several allegations 
by prisoners that staff of Lukiskes Prison mistreated them; the 
mistreatment consisted of punches, baton blows, and blows with books. 
In some cases the prison personnel inflicting the mistreatment were 
said to have been drunk. The delegation also heard inmates' allegations 
that personal at the Pravieniskes Corrections Home No. 3 and the Kaunas 
Juvenile Remand Prison and Correction Home engaged in mistreatment (see 
section 6, children).
    Three correctional institutions remained overcrowded. For example, 
on December 31, a correctional facility in Siauliai held 676 inmates, 
despite a capacity of 435. The CPT report noted that renovated cells at 
the Lukiskes Prison were overcrowded, sometimes to ``an outrageous 
degree,'' with six prisoners in a cell measuring eight square meters 
(approximately 86 square feet).
    Authorities did not respond to a 2008 judgment of the European 
Court on Human Rights (ECHR) that declared conditions at Lukiskes 
Remand Prison and the Rasu Prison to be violations of the prohibition 
of inhuman or degrading treatment as defined by European Convention on 
Human Rights.
    During the year the parliamentary ombudsman received 865 complaints 
from prisoners, compared with 267 in 2009. Most complaints involved the 
failure of administrators to give proper attention to prisoners' 
grievances about such conditions as poor hygiene in prisons' visiting 
rooms and other premises; the practice of turning off the electricity 
during half of the day to save money; mistreatment by prison personnel; 
restrictions on such prisoners' rights as access to information; and 
inappropriate investigation of complaints. The ombudsman's 
investigators found 330 of these complaints to be justified and 456 to 
be groundless, while the remainder were judged to be outside the 
ombudsman's purview. During the year the ombudsman received, and 
dismissed as groundless, one allegation that working inmates received 
less than they were supposed to be paid.
    The CPT's 2009 report noted major shortcoming in conditions of 
police detention centers visited in Jonava, Rokiskis, Kupiskis, 
Siauliai, and Trakai. In some cases conditions in these facilities 
could be considered inhuman and degrading. At Siauliai city police 
headquarters, the delegation reported, the majority of cells were 
filthy and in a poor state of repair, there was little or no access to 
natural light, the available artificial lighting was dim, and 
ventilation was poor. The delegation observed that authorities at 
Siauliai city police headquarters held a juvenile detainee in a cell 
with two adults for more than a week.
    In their September 2009 response to the CPT's report, authorities 
acknowledged that only 10 of the country's 39 police detention centers 
were in good condition and that the others did not meet international 
standards. During the year authorities closed seven detention centers 
that were in dilapidated condition and allocated 50,000 litas ($19,000) 
for renovation of detention centers in the Vilnius and Svencionys 
regions. No information on any progress they made was available at 
year's end.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. They were permitted to submit 
complaints to judicial authorities without censorship and to request 
investigation of credible allegations of inhuman conditions. 
Authorities generally investigated such allegations and documented the 
results in a publicly accessible manner.
    On April 24, in compliance with a 2006 ECHR ruling, the parliament 
amended the procedures for monitoring inmate correspondence to provide 
more specific guidelines.
    The Government permitted independent human rights observers and 
researchers to visit prisons. However, on June 30, the prosecutor 
denied a Human Rights Monitoring Institute representative's request for 
a meeting with terrorist suspect Egle Kusaite. In his response to the 
request, the prosecutor eliminated any possibility of meeting with the 
suspect and indicated that requests to meet with her ``were regarded as 
attempts to interfere with the prosecutors' professional activities and 
are directly prohibited by law.'' Representatives of the Office of the 
Parliamentary Ombudsman made six visits to prisons. Media 
representatives also visited prisons. A CPT delegation visited Kaunas 
Juvenile Remand Center and Correction Home on June 14-18. Neither the 
International Committee of the Red Cross nor other international or 
intergovernmental organizations visited the country's prisons during 
the year. The ombudsman office served prisoners by investigating their 
complaints and attempting to resolve them, usually through 
recommendations to detention institutions. The Ombudsman's Office 
reported that institutions were responsive to all of the ombudsman's 
interventions.
    During the year the Government allocated 7.0 million litas ($2.7 
million) to the renovation of the prison in Vilnius and two other 
facilities.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these 
prohibitions; however, there were complaints of illegally prolonged 
pretrial detention. Civilian authorities maintained effective control 
over the State Security Department, the police, and the military 
forces, and the Government has effective mechanisms to investigate and 
punish abuse and corruption. There were no reports of impunity 
involving the security forces during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Warrants are 
generally required for arrests and must be granted by judges upon the 
presentation of reliable evidence of criminal activity. Police may 
detain suspects for as long as 48 hours before charging them.
    Detainees have the right to be informed of the charges against 
them, and there were no complaints of failure to comply with this 
requirement. Bail was available and was widely used. Detainees were 
allowed prompt access to family members. The law provides the right to 
an attorney from the moment of detention and, if the detainee is 
indigent, to one provided at state expense; however, these rights were 
not always respected in practice. The law entitles a detained person to 
a prompt judicial determination of the legality of the detention, and 
authorities respected this right in practice.
    In its 2009 report, the CPT delegation noted that several detained 
persons it interviewed claimed they had been informed of their right to 
an attorney only when a ``protocol of apprehension'' was drawn up, i.e. 
several hours after they were detained. The CPT also found that most of 
the recipients of legal aid complained they had no contact with their 
state-appointed lawyers before their first interrogation or, at times, 
not until their first court hearing.
    The pretrial judge may order a suspect's detention for up to three 
months, but only in the case of persons suspected of a felony and only 
to prevent flight or the commission of new crimes, allow an unhindered 
investigation, or comply with extradition requests. In many cases 
detention may be extended to 18 months (12 months for juveniles), 
subject to appeal to a higher court. Such extensions were frequent. The 
law provides for civil liability for damage caused by the unlawful 
actions of investigating officials, prosecutors, judges, and courts. As 
of December the average length of pretrial detention was seven months 
and four days; approximately 10 percent of the incarcerated population 
consisted of pretrial detainees.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government respected this provision in 
practice.

    Trial Procedures.--Defendants enjoy the presumption of innocence. 
The law provides for public trials; juries are not used. While 
defendants have the right to be present, the law permits trials in 
absentia when a defendant is outside the country. The law establishes 
the right to legal counsel for defendants from the time of their 
arrest. It provides for free legal counsel for indigent persons. During 
the year the human rights ombudsman received 12 complaints that 
authorities failed to provide such counsel. Defendants have the right 
to access government evidence, present evidence and witnesses, and 
confront and question witnesses against them. Defendants have the right 
to appeal. The law extends these rights to all citizens. Local human 
rights experts criticized the practice of trying persons in absentia, 
which, they contended, denied defendants the opportunity to cross-
examine witnesses or present evidence in their own defense.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Courts Decisions.--In the first nine months 
of the year, in cases involving six defendants, the ECHR found the 
Government to be in violation of the European Convention on Human 
Rights for unlawful and excessively lengthy detention and unfair 
proceedings. In 2009 the ECHR issued nine judgments that found at least 
one violation of the convention.
    On a number of occasions, the Government did not pay damages 
awarded by the ECHR within the period stipulated in the court's final 
judgments. As of year's end, the Government had not responded to a 2008 
ECHR decision that found one violation involving inhuman or degrading 
treatment of persons. The case concerned detention conditions at the 
Lukiskes Remand Prison and in the Rasu Prison (see section 1.c.).

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters. Plaintiffs may sue for legal 
or injunctive relief based on human rights violations. Apart from 
redress within the court system, victims of human rights abuses may 
appeal to the parliamentary ombudsman for a determination regarding the 
merits of their claims. Although the ombudsman may only make 
recommendations to the offending institution, his findings are honored 
in practice.

    Property Restitution.--The law places significant restrictions on 
claims for communal property, and as a result the Jewish community has 
regained only a fraction of the communal property owned by the 
country's prewar Jewish population of more than 200,000. Fewer than 30 
properties have been returned to the Jewish community under the law, 
which applies only to the restitution of religious properties.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution prohibits arbitrary interference in 
an individual's personal correspondence or private and family life; 
however, there were reports that the Government did not respect these 
prohibitions in practice.
    The law requires authorities to obtain a judge's authorization 
before searching an individual's premises and prohibits the 
indiscriminate monitoring of citizens' correspondence or 
communications. However, domestic human rights groups alleged that the 
Government did not properly enforce the law. During the year the State 
Data Protection Inspectorate investigated 270 allegations of arbitrary 
interference with privacy by government officials and companies, 
compared with 201 in 2009. Most complaints involved individuals' 
assertions that government agencies and companies were collecting or 
using their personal data, such as personal identity numbers, without a 
legal basis or justification. For example, companies allegedly released 
e-mail information to other companies for marketing purposes or to 
enable officials of professional databases to obtain personal 
information on individuals. During the same period, the inspectorate 
conducted 80 preventive, not complaint-driven, investigations of 
enterprises and government agencies, compared with 165 such audits in 
2009.
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.
    Individuals could criticize the Government publicly or privately 
without reprisal, and the Government did not attempt to impede 
criticism. Independent media were active and expressed a wide variety 
of views. Radio and television broadcasters included a mix of 
independent and public stations. International media generally operated 
without restriction.
    During the year the Prosecutor's Office opened 168 investigations 
of incitement to hatred (most of them over the Internet). In the same 
period the Prosecutor's Office forwarded 24 cases to the courts for 
trial, of which courts completed 14 and convicted six persons, imposing 
fines of 260 to 3,250 litas ($100 to $1,248). Another 21 investigations 
(including some from previous years) were terminated during the year 
for lack of evidence. A number of investigations and court cases 
(including some from previous years) were ongoing. Most of the 
allegations of incitement to hatred involved homophobic (148 
investigations out of 168), racist, or anti-Semitic expression.
    In February four young men carried posters with swastikas during an 
Independence Day parade in Klaipeda; they were subsequently charged 
with violating laws against the display of Nazi-related symbols. The 
defendants argued in court that the swastikas were not Nazi symbols but 
representations of items found in the country prior to the rise of the 
Hitler regime in Germany. On May 19, the court ruled that, since the 
image of the swastika was the sign of the sun in ancient times, as 
evidenced by archaeological artifacts and monuments, it was not 
forbidden. The 2008 law prohibiting the distribution or display in 
public gatherings of Soviet- or Nazi-related symbols led to a 2008 
court ruling that fined a woman in Vilnius 500 litas ($192) for selling 
souvenirs containing Soviet symbols. In March 2009 the parliament 
amended the law to safeguard other salesmen from such fines in the 
future. The amended law permits the ``collection and trade of antique 
and flea market items,'' that contain Soviet and Nazi symbols, as well 
as their use in museums and for purposes of education, science, and the 
arts. There would no longer be punishment for persons using the 
official symbols of an existing state or the wearing the uniforms worn 
by participants in World War II.
    In March legislation protecting minors took effect that prohibited 
the dissemination of information promoting a broad range of activities. 
In addition to prohibiting information that promotes bad eating and bad 
hygiene, lack of physical exercise, and certain forms of hypnosis, the 
law prohibits material that is erotic, promotes sexual intercourse, 
arouses fear or horror, or encourages gambling or participation in the 
games of chance, lotteries, and other games that imply that they are 
easy to win. The law prohibits material ``detrimental'' to minors' 
bodies or thought processes, information promoting the sexual abuse and 
harassment of minors, or promoting sexual relations by minors or sexual 
relations in general. The legislation specifically stated that the 
prohibitions were to apply to motion pictures and Web sites. The 
version of the law that came into effect in March had been amended from 
an earlier version (passed but not implemented) that would have banned 
all public information that agitates for homosexual, bisexual and 
polygamous relations; the implemented legislation refers to sexual 
intercourse in general. Authorities did not use the law to prevent the 
Baltic Gay Pride March, which took place in May, nor were there any 
reports of prosecutions under the new law.
    It is illegal to disseminate information that is both untrue and 
damaging to an individual's honor and dignity. Libel is punishable by a 
fine or imprisonment of up to one year, or up to two years for libelous 
material that is disseminated through the mass media. No cases were 
reported during the year.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could generally engage in 
the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail; 
however, authorities prosecuted persons posting material deemed to be 
inciting hatred.
    According to the Department of Statistics, 60 percent of the 
country's residents between the ages of 16 and 74 had access to the 
Internet in the first quarter of the year, an increase from 58 percent 
in the same period in 2009.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The law and constitution provide for the right to assemble 
peacefully, and the Government generally respected this right in 
practice for most groups; however, in the past the Government denied 
assembly permits to certain groups. There were no reports of such 
denials during the year, but a group of professional unions was 
reportedly denied a permit to assemble in the center of the capital for 
a protest and offered alternative venues far from the city center. This 
led the organizers to abandon their planned demonstration.
    On May 8, a long-planned Baltic Pride parade by members of the 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community took place. A court 
briefly prohibited the parade at the request of the Office of the 
Prosecutor, which claimed that it might be impossible to maintain 
order. However, police maintained that they were prepared to protect 
the gay participants and a higher court overturned the prohibition just 
one day before the parade was scheduled to begin (see section 6, 
Discrimination and Acts of Violence Based on Sexual Orientation and 
Gender Identity).
    In March 2009 Vilnius officials refused to issue a permit to the 
Human Rights Monitoring Institute (HRMI) and the Center for Equality 
Advancement (CEA) to hold a rally and march in support of democracy, 
human rights, and tolerance on March 11, the country's Independence 
Day. However, municipal officials issued a certificate for a march, 
scheduled the same day, organized by the Lithuanian National Center, a 
group that espoused and demonstrated intolerance toward other racial, 
ethnic, and religious groups; claimed that human rights and antifascism 
were examples of extremism; and openly sympathized with neo-Nazi 
groups. Local human rights organizations appealed to the Vilnius First 
District Court, claiming that the denial of a rally permit to HRMI and 
CEA was discriminatory. In September 2009 the court dismissed the 
complaint on the grounds that the police would not have been able to 
preserve public order if the two events had taken place on the same 
day.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association, and the Government generally respected this right in 
practice; however, the Government continued to prohibit the Communist 
Party and other organizations associated with the Soviet period.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, 
returning refugees, stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The laws provide for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees. The Government provided 
protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries 
where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their 
race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, 
or political opinion.
    Authorities did not permit asylum seekers coming from ``safe'' 
countries of transit to enter the country; they returned them to the 
country of transit without reviewing the substantive merits of their 
applications. According to the Migration Department, authorities did 
not have a list of safe countries but defined such countries as ones in 
which the person's life or liberty would not be threatened on account 
of membership in one of the categories specified in the 1951 Convention 
relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol and from which 
the individual would not be sent to another country in contravention of 
his rights under these agreements.
    There were two additional forms of protection in addition to 
asylum. ``Temporary protection'' may be granted to groups of persons in 
the event of a mass influx of aliens, but an individual alien has no 
right to apply for this protection. No grants of temporary protection 
were issued during the year. The Government may also afford 
``subsidiary protection'' to individuals who do not qualify as refugees 
but who cannot return to their countries of origin because of fear of 
torture or because inhuman treatment, violence or military conflict, or 
systematic violations of human rights in that country would endanger 
their basic rights or fundamental freedoms. In the first six months of 
the year, the Government granted subsidiary protection to 71 persons.

    Stateless Persons.--Citizenship can be acquired either by birth on 
the country's territory or from one's parents.
    According to UNHCR statistics, there were approximately 3,902 
stateless persons in the country at the end of 2009, a decline from 
5,900 at the beginning of the year. According to the director of the 
Migration Department, virtually all stateless persons were persons who 
had been in the country at the time of the dissolution of the Soviet 
Union but did not take advantage of their right to qualify for 
citizenship.
    The law permits the naturalization of an individual who has lived 
in the country for at least 10 years, has an unlimited residence 
permit, passes an official language test and an examination on the 
basic provisions of the constitution, takes an oath of allegiance, and 
is able to defray his living costs.
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.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Presidential elections held 
in May 2009 were considered free and fair, as were parliamentary 
elections held in 2008. The 2009 elections resulted in the election of 
Dalia Grybauskaite, former European budget commissioner and former 
minister of finance, as the country's first female president.
    The Government continued to ban the Communist Party; other 
political parties could operate without restriction or outside 
interference.
    On June 30, the parliament enacted a law allowing citizens to run 
for municipal councils without being on party lists. The law was 
necessitated by a 2007 Constitutional Court ruling that a provision of 
municipal election law denying individuals the right to seek election 
in municipal elections was unconstitutional.
    At year's end the president of the republic was a woman. There were 
26 women in the 141-seat parliament and two in the 15-member cabinet of 
ministers. The speaker of the parliament was a woman. Women accounted 
for 5 percent of mayors, 21 percent of municipal council members, and 5 
percent of local administration directors.
    Three persons belonging to ethnic minorities served in parliament, 
but there were none in the cabinet of ministers.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government often did not implement the law effectively, 
and corruption was a problem. Although courts convicted and punished 
some officials for corruption, the penalties were usually light, and 
many investigations did not result in conviction. The World Bank's 
worldwide governance indicators reflected that corruption was a 
problem. Corruption in the police force remained a problem.
    During the year a number of active and former government officials 
were under investigation, facing trial, or convicted and sentenced for 
corruption. On February 5, former vice minister for health Arturas 
Skikas was sentenced to two years probation. In May the courts began to 
examine the results of a Special Investigation Service investigation of 
the mayor, deputy mayor, and head of administration of the Trakai 
municipality who were suspected of receiving bribes of 200,000 litas 
($76,800) in connection with the development of a shopping and 
entertainment center. The officials were dismissed from their posts 
pending the outcome of the investigation. The case reached court in May 
and was pending at year's end.
    An investigation continued of former parliamentary speaker Viktoras 
Muntianas, who resigned his post in 2008 amid allegations that he 
bribed a deputy governor of Kaunas County to obtain assistance with a 
relative's business.
    The law provides for public access to government information, and 
government institutions generally provided access in practice. During 
the year the parliamentary ombudsman received 78 complaints of delays 
by government offices in providing information and found 50 of them to 
be valid. The ombudsman recommended disciplinary action against the 
officials involved. Although the ombudsman's recommendations were not 
binding, the Ombudsman's Office reported that the Government offices 
concerned took disciplinary action in all of the cases forwarded to 
them by the ombudsman.
Section 5. 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 Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman is an independent 
public institution with responsibility for implementing and enforcing 
rights under the Law of Equal Treatment and for investigating 
individual complaints. A Children's Rights Ombudsman Institution 
oversees observance of children's rights and their legal interests and 
may initiate investigations of a possible violation of children's 
rights upon receipt of a complaint or on its own initiative. A 
parliamentary ombudsman investigates complaints about abuse of office 
or other violations of human rights and freedoms in the sphere of 
public administration. The ombudsmen institutions received government 
funding but maintained they could be more adequately funded (the 
Government has cut funding across the board due to a prolonged economic 
crisis). The ombudsman for children's rights resigned in April after 
receiving criticism for ineffective work related to a widely discussed 
and unsolved case of suspected pedophilia.
    The human rights committee of the parliament prepares and reviews 
draft laws and other legal acts related to civil rights and presents 
recommendations to state institutions and other organizations about 
problems related to the protection of civil rights. It also has 
oversight over the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits and penalizes discrimination based on race, 
gender, social status, ethnic background, age, sexual orientation, 
disability, and religion or beliefs. Despite government programs and 
efforts at enforcement, discrimination against women and ethnic and 
sexual minorities persisted.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape, including spousal rape. 
Convicted rapists generally received three- to-five-year prison 
sentences. During the year, 208 rapes were reported, compared with 144 
in 2009. Societal violence against women, particularly alcohol-related 
domestic violence, remained a serious problem. There is no law 
specifically prohibiting domestic violence or violence against women; 
however, authorities prosecuted domestic violence under general assault 
laws. To initiate an investigation into cases of domestic abuse, the 
victim must file a complaint. Surveys showed that 56 percent of 
divorced women and 15 percent of married women had suffered domestic 
violence. During the year, according to the Ministry of Interior, 88 
women reported abuse by their spouses and 35 by their children. Also 
during the year, police registered 992 violent acts against women and 
initiated 1,484 pretrial investigations. Fines were imposed on 1,473 
persons.
    Municipal governments and NGOs funded and operated 39 shelters that 
provided assistance to victims of domestic violence. The Government 
fully funds two shelters. One of them, the Shelter for Children and 
Mothers in Vilnius, provided assistance to more than 90 victims of 
domestic violence, forced prostitution, and human trafficking during 
the year.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment; however, according to the 
Ombudsman's Office, approximately 20 percent of women had experienced 
sexual harassment. Women remained reluctant to approach police or other 
institutions in such cases. During the year the equal opportunities 
ombudsman received two complaints of sexual harassment.
    The Government recognized the basic right of couples and 
individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and 
timing of their children. Health clinics and local NGOs are permitted 
to operate freely in disseminating information on family planning under 
the guidance of the Ministry of Public Health. There were no 
restrictions on access to contraceptives. According to United Nations 
data and the Kaunas Institute of Medicine, 47 percent of women used 
contraceptive measures. The Government provided free childbirth 
services. Women have access to regular prenatal care, essential 
obstetric care, and postpartum care. A joint study published during the 
year by the World Health Organization, the UN Population Fund, the UN 
Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the World Bank estimated the maternal 
mortality rate at 13 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2008, and the 
lifetime risk of maternal death (the risk that a woman aged 15 will die 
from maternal causes) was one in 5,800. Men and women received equal 
access to diagnosis and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, 
including HIV.
    Men and women have the same legal rights in the judicial system, 
including in family and property law. Women nevertheless continued to 
face discrimination. Government policy requires equal pay for equal 
work; however, women often earned less than their male counterparts. In 
2009 women earned an average of 83 percent of what men earned in 
comparable jobs; the figure was 81 percent in the public sector. Women 
were significantly underrepresented at the managerial level. The Office 
of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman is the Governmental institution 
that promotes the legal rights of women and men.

    Children.--Citizenship can be acquired either by birth in the 
country or from one's parents. The Government registers all births 
immediately. Child abuse, particularly in connection with parental 
alcohol abuse, continued to be a problem. According to the Department 
of Statistics, in 2009 approximately 24,200 children lived in 11,100 
abusive or dysfunctional families. Media sources reported that 
incidents of cruelty to children, including sexual abuse, intentional 
starvation, and beatings, were common. According to the Ministry of 
Interior, six deaths from child abuse were reported during the year. 
The children's rights ombudsman reported 344 complaints during the 
year, compared with 407 in 2009 and 382 in 2008; his office initiated 
84 investigations of alleged abuse during the year, compared with 297 
in 2009.
    The penalty for violence or cruelty toward minors is one to two 
years in prison. Authorities may also remove abused children from their 
families and place them in foster care. Despite efforts to combat child 
abuse and aid abused children, the ombudsman reported that insufficient 
assistance was provided. During the year the Child Line (a hotline for 
children and youth) received 95,715 calls and responded to 1,400 
letters from children concerning problems ranging from relations with 
their parents and friends to violence in their families and sexual 
abuse.
    On July 2, the parliament amended the criminal code to tighten 
penalties for child molestation and to raise the age of consent for 
consensual intercourse to 16. The amended code increased maximum prison 
terms for persons convicted of child molestation from two to five 
years.
    The law provides for up to 13 years in prison for sexual abuse of a 
child; however, sexual abuse of children remained a problem. In the 
first eight months of the year, the Interior Ministry registered 12 
cases of child sexual abuse (excluding child rape), compared with 48 
cases throughout 2009. The Government operated a children's 
rehabilitation center to provide special care for sexually abused 
children.
    Laws against child pornography were enforced. Anyone involving a 
child in pornographic events or using a child in the production of 
pornographic material can be imprisoned for up to five years. During 
the year, the children's rights ombudsman received nine complaints of, 
and initiated nine investigations into, the sexual exploitation of 
children. No data were available about convictions during the year.
    According to the ombudsman for children's rights, there were 
reports of 202 children living on the streets in 2008; 27 children were 
found begging in public areas. Street children were widely scattered 
among the country's cities. Most were runaways or from dysfunctional 
families. There were a number of free, government-sponsored programs to 
assist them. Sixty children's rights protection agencies administered 
by regional governments, other institutions, and numerous NGOs, 
routinely assisted vulnerable children.
    There were 105 orphanages and 32 foster homes. Orphanages still 
housed the vast majority of orphans and other children in need of care. 
During the year, the children's rights ombudsman initiated 15 
investigations of possible violations of children's rights in 
orphanages and one in a foster home.
    In 2008 the CPT visited the Kaunas Juvenile Remand Center and 
Correction Home. In its report on the visit, the CPT noted that as long 
ago as 2004, it had described conditions for juveniles in the remand 
prisoners area, including unsanitary and dilapidated physical 
conditions and the absence of any program of activities, as being 
``totally unacceptable'' and urgently recommended that authorities take 
remedial actions. However, despite government assurances that such 
steps were being taken, the CPT found during its 2008 visit that 
conditions under which juveniles were being held at Kaunas, ``in some 
cases for lengthy periods,'' remained unacceptable. In its 2009 
response to the report, the Government indicated that improvements in 
the Kaunas facility continued, detainees were taught in classes, and 
seven additional social workers had been hired. Funds were allocated 
and a construction schedule agreed upon for further physical 
improvements. In June the CPT made a follow-up visit to the Kaunas 
Juvenile Remand Center and Correction Home; a report on its 
observations had not been released as of year's end.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community consists of approximately 
4,000 persons. No violent anti-Semitic attacks against individuals were 
reported during the year; however, anti-Semitism was widely manifested 
on Lithuanian-origin Internet sites and foreign sites in the Lithuanian 
language. The number of reports of vandalism of Jewish and other 
cemeteries, anti-Semitic activities, and other manifestations of 
intolerance declined during the year. However, anti-Semitic and racial 
comments on the Internet remained widespread.
    In January, according to the Anti-Defamation League, a statue of 
Dr. Tsemakh Shabad, a leading Jewish political figure of the early 20th 
century, was defaced with paint. On June 22, the Avenue of Rescuers, a 
path leading to a Holocaust memorial, was vandalized in Kausenai. 
Plaques were smashed, torn off their stands, covered in mud, and 
scattered about; the stands were broken and pulled out of the ground. 
On August 23, a pig's head, adorned with a black hat and makeshift 
hasidic style earlocks, was placed at the entrance to a synagogue 
during the service in Kaunas city. An investigation was initiated, and 
a government statement described Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius as 
welcoming the investigation of ``the anti-Semitic provocation'' in 
Kaunas and hoping it would lead to the punishment of the perpetrators. 
On September 3, a sign on the Jewish community's building in Panevezys 
town was vandalized and covered in black paint. There were no reports 
that authorities had apprehended suspects in connection with these 
incidents.
    There were no reports that suspects had been apprehended in the 
August 2009 vandalism of a Jewish cemetery in the Klaipeda region or in 
the 2008 vandalizing of a Holocaust memorial near the village of 
Pluskiai in the Kelme Region.
    In November a number of foreign ambassadors sent a letter to senior 
government officials formally expressing their dissatisfaction over 
what they described as manifestations of anti-Semitism. The letter 
followed the publication in the weekly magazine Veidas of an article on 
the Nuremburg trials by a historian, Petras Stankeras, who was also an 
employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The author described the 
Holocaust as a legend without documentary substantiation of the killing 
of six million Jews during the Holocaust. The ambassadors stated the 
article amounted to Holocaust denial. Following criticism from the 
minister of internal affairs, on November 25, Stankeras resigned. 
Subsequently, the Prosecutor's office opened an investigation into 
possible violation of the country's legislation that prohibits 
deprecation of the Holocaust.
    In August local and foreign governments, together with descendents 
of Holocaust survivors, erected a new memorial and restored a site in 
Uzventis where massacres were committed in World War II. The city's 
university has begun efforts to raise awareness and recognition of 
Lithuanian-Jewish history and to improve education about the Holocaust.
    On October 20, the Vilnius city government announced that it had 
begun restoration of the historic Snipiskes Jewish cemetery site in 
central Vilnius, a source of concern since new construction began on 
and near the site in 2005. On October 25, under rabbinical supervision, 
two parking lots on the site were closed and covered with dirt to allow 
grass seed to be planted in the spring. In May 2009 the Government 
unilaterally provided protection for nearly the entire cemetery site, 
and in August 2009 it agreed with the Jewish communities and the 
developer to preserve and protect it.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The Law on Equal Treatment prohibits 
discrimination against persons with disabilities, although it does not 
specify what kind of disabilities. During the year, the equal 
opportunities ombudsman investigated 22 cases of alleged discrimination 
based on disability. The law mandates accessibility of buildings for 
persons with disabilities; however, according to 2009 data from the 
Department of Statistics, 38.2 percent of housing was inaccessible.
    Individuals involuntarily declared incapacitated have no right to 
appeal the decision in court.
    The mental health system was widely regarded as inadequate. In 2007 
the Government approved a National Strategy for Mental Health; however 
this area remained among the least reformed areas in the health sector.
    The Ministry of Social Security and Labor and the Council for the 
Affairs of the Disabled are the two primary governmental organizations 
responsible for developing equal opportunities in the labor market and 
improving government effectiveness in meeting the needs of and 
augmenting the social security net for persons with disabilities. The 
Ministry of Health is responsible for making health services equally 
accessible to all inhabitants of the country.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The law prohibits 
discrimination against ethnic or national minorities; however, 
intolerance and societal discrimination persisted. Minority ethnic 
groups, including Russians, Poles, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Tatars, and 
Karaites, constituted approximately 16.5 percent of the population.
    During the year the Prosecutor's Office initiated 20 investigations 
of alleged discrimination or incitement to racial or ethnic hatred 
(most of the instances investigated involved the Internet), compared 
with 39 during 2009 and 84 in 2008.
    There were no reports of racially motivated violence during the 
year.
    On March 2, the Supreme Court rejected Violeta Iljinych's appeal 
against her May 2009 conviction for participation in a 2008 assault on 
a South African singer of Indian descent.
    The small Romani community (approximately 3,000 persons) continued 
to experience problems, including discrimination in access to such 
services as education, housing, and health care; in employment; and in 
relations with police. However, there were no official charges of 
police abuse. The Romani unemployment rate continued to be more than 90 
percent, and fewer than 5 percent of the Romani population had 
permanent, full-time jobs. Minority advocates continued to criticize 
the Vilnius city government for focusing on law enforcement in the 
Romani community but doing little to integrate Roma into the broader 
community.
    On September 23, the Supreme Administrative Court, in response to a 
lawsuit brought by the Vilnius Roma community, ordered the Vilnius 
Municipality to pay nonmaterial damages of 55,000 litas ($21,000) in 
compensation for the destruction of their housing in 2004. The court 
ruled that Vilnius City Council was responsible for the illegal 
demolition of Roma houses.
    In September 2009 Valdemar Tomasevski, the representative in the 
European Parliament of the organization Lithuanian Polish Electoral 
Action, complained to European Commission President Barroso about 
alleged discrimination against the Polish minority. Tomasevski claimed 
that Poles were not allowed to conduct official business in Polish, 
even in settlements with as many as 80 percent Polish-speaking 
inhabitants, and could not have street signs in their language. He 
asserted that the country's laws regulating the use of language in 
public life were contradictory and conflicted with EU law and 
international conventions.
    A 2007 study by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights concluded that 
governmental responses to ethnic discrimination were ineffective and 
that insufficient attention was given to the problem. According to the 
agency's research, the law provides ways for victims to complain about 
ethnic discrimination, but penalties usually applied in such cases were 
insufficient, and victims received insufficient or no compensation. In 
April 2009 the Government approved a new National Antidiscrimination 
Program for 2009-11; no funds were allocated for it in 2009, but 33,000 
litas ($12,680) were allocated for 2010 and 103,000 litas ($39,570) for 
2011.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--While homosexual acts are not 
illegal and there was no official discrimination against lesbian, gay, 
bisexual or transgender (LGBT) persons, society's attitude towards 
homosexuality remained negative. NGOs focusing on LGBT problems faced 
no legal impediments, but the few that functioned kept a low profile 
because of public hostility to their aims. The Lithuanian Gay League 
(LGL) continued to promote an inclusive social environment for LGBT 
persons.
    During the year the Prosecutor's Office opened 148 investigations 
of incitement to hatred, most of them over the Internet, against gays 
and lesbians.
    Domestic human rights organizations and members of the LGBT 
community reported that discrimination and the persistent social 
exclusion of LGBT persons were problems. The first Gay Pride march to 
be held in Vilnius took place on May 8, with participants from all of 
the Baltic countries. It attracted approximately 600 participants. The 
event took place only after the Supreme Administrative Court overturned 
at the last minute a lower court decision to suspend the parade's 
license. In 2009 the Vilnius municipality refused NGOs that supported 
gay rights and other human rights the permission to organize a 
tolerance march on Independence Day. The NGOs appealed to a court, 
which upheld the refusal in November 2009.
    Approximately 500 police were stationed along the parade route to 
protect the marchers from a crowd of around 1,000 persons protesting 
the parade. The protesters, led by two parliamentarians, were kept at a 
distance by a wall of barriers that had been erected around the parade 
route, but that did not prevent them from shouting antigay epithets. 
Police reportedly fired teargas into protesters who attempted to jump 
the barriers; the protesters retaliated by throwing stones and 
improvised smoke bombs as well as broken street signs. Authorities 
temporarily detained 18 persons. Prosecutors sought the lifting of 
immunity from the two parliamentarians involved in the protest, but the 
parliament later voted against lifting their immunity.
    In July 2009 the Seimas adopted, over the president's veto, legal 
provisions ``protecting'' minors from exposure to certain public 
information; many human rights proponents criticized the legislation on 
the grounds that it discriminated against gays and lesbians. In 
December 2009 the law was further amended in response to those 
objections, and the amended law took effect in March 2010. However, 
some human rights activists remained skeptical of its possible use (see 
section 2.a.). Antigay activists cited the law to justify their 
(unsuccessful) effort to prevent the May 8 Baltic Pride march in 
Vilnius.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDs.
    During the year the equal opportunity ombudsman investigated 25 
cases of age discrimination, compared with 21 in 2009. Most complaints 
concerned discrimination in obtaining employment, insurance, loans, or 
leases.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers, including 
members of the police and armed forces, to form and join independent 
unions of their choice without previous authorization or excessive 
requirements, and workers exercised this right in practice.
    The law provides for the right to strike, except for government 
employees involved in law enforcement or other security-related 
activities; however, labor code procedures made it difficult for some 
to exercise this right. The law provides that only a union or a union's 
strike committee may call a strike, leaving nonunion employees unable 
to legally call a strike. However, in June 2009 the labor code was 
amended to relax strike ballot rules. A strike may be called if 
approved by half of the employees of a unit or enterprise in a secret 
ballot.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
protects collective bargaining for all workers except government 
employees involved in law enforcement and other security-related work. 
A Tripartite Council, consisting of representatives of labor, business, 
and government, estimated that between 5 and 25 percent of workers were 
covered under collective bargaining agreements.
    The law prohibits employer discrimination against union organizers 
and members; however, this prohibition was often ineffective in 
practice, and there were reports that employees were punished for 
attempting to organize. For example, in May a doctor, who was also a 
chairman of the professional unions of one of the medical polyclinics 
in Vilnius, was dismissed without warning or explanation, according to 
the Lithuanian Professional Unions. According to the International 
Trade Union Confederation, the judicial system was slow to respond to 
cases of unfair dismissal, and no employer has ever faced the penal 
sanctions foreseen by law for antiunion discrimination. There are no 
labor courts or judges who specialize in labor disputes. Some large 
retail stores hired short-term contract labor and sometimes did not 
renew the contracts of union members.
    Managers often determined wages without regard to union 
preferences, except in large factories with well-organized unions. The 
Government periodically issued guidelines for state enterprise 
management in setting wage scales.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor; however, such labor existed. Please see the 
Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits exploitation of children in the workplace, and the 
Government generally enforced these prohibitions effectively; however, 
statistics from 2009 indicated that 8 percent of children working did 
so illegally, mostly in the agricultural sector, where children 
sometimes received unlawfully low compensation. There were reports that 
children 15 to 17 years old were trafficked for commercial sexual 
exploitation. Also, see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in 
Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.
    The law sets the minimum employment age at 16 but allows the 
employment of persons as young as 14 years old for light labor with the 
written consent of the child's parents and school. The law mandates 
reduced work hours for children, allowing up to two hours per day or 12 
hours per week during the school year and up to seven hours per day or 
32 hours per week when school is not in session. Young persons under 
the age of 18 are subject to additional restrictions, including a 
prohibition on night work.
    The State Labor Inspectorate is responsible for receiving 
complaints related to employment of persons under 18. During the year 
the inspectorate identified 11 cases of illegal child labor, mainly in 
agriculture and catering sectors. Schools administered specific 
programs tied to labor safety.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The legal minimum wage of 800 
litas ($307) per month did not provide a decent standard of living for 
a worker and family. The law provides that the maximum time worked in 
any seven-day period, including overtime, may not exceed 40 hours for 
white-collar work and 48 hours for blue-collar work. Overtime is 
allowed only in cases stipulated by law, and both overtime and night 
work must be compensated by at least one-and-a-half times the hourly 
wage. The labor laws apply to both local and foreign workers.
    The State Labor Inspectorate is responsible for implementing labor 
laws. In the first six months of the year, it reported conducting 
nearly 7,000 company inspections. The most numerous abuses it found 
related to wage arrears, illegal employment, violation of labor 
contracts, faulty accounting for time off and hours worked, inadequate 
worker safety, and unsatisfactory investigation of accidents. Training 
provided by the State Labor Inspectorate helped reduce the scope of 
some of these abuses during the year. Workers dissatisfied with the 
result of an investigation could appeal to the court system.
    The law gives workers the right to safe and healthy working 
conditions, and this provision was generally enforced. During the year 
the Government recorded 51 fatal accidents at work, compared with 49 
during 2009. These occurred mostly in construction work. To address the 
problem the State Labor Inspectorate provided training, various 
prevention materials, and best practice examples to construction 
companies. Workers have the legal right to remove themselves from 
dangerous work environments without jeopardizing their continued 
employment and did so in practice.

                               __________

                               LUXEMBOURG

    The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, with a population of approximately 
500,000, is a constitutional monarchy with a democratic, parliamentary 
form of government. The role of the grand duke is mainly ceremonial and 
administrative. Legislative authority is vested in the unicameral 
Chamber of Deputies. The prime minister is the leader of the dominant 
party in the popularly elected parliament. In June 2009 the country 
held parliamentary elections that were considered free and fair. 
Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    Some overcrowding and instances of substandard prison conditions 
were reported. There were some cases of domestic violence and 
allegations of human trafficking, primarily of women 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    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 and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards, and the 
Government permitted monitoring visits by independent human rights 
observers. On October 28, the Council of Europe's Committee for the 
Prevention of Torture (CPT) released a report on the April 2009 CPT 
delegation visit to examine safeguards afforded persons deprived of 
their liberty by the police and review conditions at the Schrassig 
Prison, the State Socio-Educational Center at Dreiborn, and the 
Neuropsychiatric hospital at Ettelbruck. The CPT was critical of a 
number of issues within the police and judicial authority, namely the 
lack of mattresses in cells reserved for the intoxicated, the use of 
solitary confinement as a disciplinary measure, and the ``caging'' of 
suspects before interrogation, a process in which detainees were left 
in a room with floor-to-ceiling bars until questioned. Other CPT 
recommendations included an hour of outdoor exercise each day for 
detainees at the State Socio-Educational Center at Dreiborn, improved 
access to a dentist for all detainees, and better monitoring of cells 
at the security facilities.
    According to press reports, overcrowding in the country's Schrassig 
Prison remained a problem. Legislation adopted in 2007 appropriated 
funding for the construction of a detention center for refused asylum 
seekers to relieve prison overcrowding. The capacity of the prison is 
598, and the population is 616 detainees. Construction of the new 
facility is underway, with an estimated completion date in 2011. 
Refused asylum seekers are imprisoned if they fail to depart the 
country voluntarily within a specified time period. They may be 
imprisoned for a maximum of four months while arrangements are made to 
deport them.
    Three deaths occurred in Schrassig Prison during the year. On April 
11, a 25-year-old detainee was found dead in his bed. On June 11, a 
female detainee was found dead in her cell. On June 30, one detainee 
died a natural death after a long illness. The Government is 
investigating the first two cases.
    In an answer to a parliamentary question, Justice Minister Biltgen 
announced that 288 grams of drugs were seized in Schrassig Prison 
between March 2009 and August 2010.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the Grand Ducal Police and the 
judiciary police, and the Government has effective mechanisms to 
investigate and punish abuse and corruption. There were no reports of 
impunity involving the security forces during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Warrants 
issued by a duly authorized official are required for arrests in most 
cases. Within 24 hours of arrest, police must inform detainees of 
charges against them and bring them before a judge for determination of 
the detention's legality. There is a functioning bail system, which 
judges regularly employed. Detainees are given immediate access to an 
attorney, whose services are provided at government expense for 
indigent detainees. Detainees were allowed prompt access to family 
members.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected 
judicial independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. 
Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence. Trials are public except 
for those involving sexual or child abuse. There are no jury trials. 
Defendants have the right to be present and to consult with an attorney 
in a timely manner. Defendants may confront or question witnesses 
against them and present witnesses and evidence on their behalf. 
Defendants and their attorneys have access to government-held evidence 
relevant to their cases. Defendants have the right of appeal.
    A legal basis exists for the establishment of religious and 
military courts under special circumstances, but no such action has 
occurred in more than 60 years.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--In 2009 the European Court 
of Human Rights (ECHR) issued judgments in two separate cases that 
found that the country had violated the right to a fair trial as 
provided under the European Convention on Human Rights. The ECHR took 
formal note of the friendly settlement reached by the Government of the 
country and the applicant in one case, with the requesting state paying 
50,000 euros ($67,000) to the complainant. In the second case, the 
requesting state had to pay 10,000 euros ($13,400) to the complainant.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The magistrate courts 
serve as an independent and impartial judiciary in civil and commercial 
matters and are available to individuals who wish to bring lawsuits 
seeking damages for, or cessation of, a human rights violation.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions, and 
the Government respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
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.
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views without restriction.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. A 
majority of the population had connections to the Internet. The 
European Commission indicated that 87 percent of households were 
connected to the Internet, and 71 percent of households had broadband 
connections. Using 2009 statistics, the International Telecommunication 
Union estimated that approximately 80 percent of the country's 
inhabitants used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
and law provide for freedom of assembly and association, and the 
Government respected these rights.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in 
providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, 
stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. While 
statistics for the year were not yet available, in 2009, 505 
individuals asked for asylum; 207 of these requests were rejected. In 
practice the Government provided protection against the expulsion or 
return of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be 
threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership 
in a particular social group, or political opinion. There are no laws 
that deny asylum based on an applicant's country of origin. There is no 
``black list'' for repatriation; each dossier is examined on its 
merits. The Government applies the safe country of transit principle.
    In August the Government repatriated a Serbian family (father, 
mother, and two children, ages 20 and 30) to Belgrade.
    The law provides for the possibility of granting protection to 
individuals who may not qualify as refugees; the Government did not 
grant such protection during the year.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens the right to change their 
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right through 
periodic, free, and fair elections based on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In June 2009 the country 
held elections for the 60 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. The 
elections were considered free and fair. Also on that date, the country 
held elections to the European Parliament that were considered free and 
fair.
    Political parties operated without restrictions or outside 
interference.
    There were 12 women in the 60-member Chamber of Deputies and four 
women in the 15-member cabinet. There were 15 women in the 32-member 
Supreme Court.
    There was one parliamentarian of Portuguese descent, and one 
minister of Italian descent.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government generally implemented these laws effectively. There were 
no reports of government corruption during the year. The Ministry of 
Justice is responsible for combating government corruption. Public 
officials are not subject to financial disclosure laws.
    There is no law providing public access to government information; 
in practice the Government granted access to government information to 
members of the public and placed extensive quantities of government 
information on official Web sites.
Section 5. 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. There is an Ombudsman 
Committee for the Rights of Children.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability, 
language, or social status, and the Government effectively enforced it.

    Women.--The law prohibits rape, including spousal rape, and the 
Government enforced the law effectively. The legal penalties range from 
five to 10 years imprisonment. The law prohibits domestic violence, and 
the Government effectively enforced it. The law is gender neutral and 
provides that abusers will be removed from their residences for 10 
days; this can be extended an additional three months. Penalties may 
include fines and imprisonment. If a person approaches a 
nongovernmental organization (NGO) for assistance, the police are 
required to investigate. In 2009 there were 572 cases of police 
intervention relating to spousal abuse and 302 police expulsions of the 
abusing spouse. These figures were higher than for the previous year. 
The Government funded organizations that provided shelter, counseling, 
and hotlines. There are three hotlines for abused women. In 2009 
government-sponsored NGO shelters provided refuge to approximately 398 
women and 560 children. The Government also provided financial 
assistance to domestic violence victims.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment and requires employers to 
protect employees from sexual harassment. The law prohibits gender-
based job discrimination and harassment of subordinates by superiors. 
Disciplinary measures against offenders are available, including 
dismissal. An employer's failure to take measures to protect employees 
from sexual harassment is considered a breach of contract, and an 
affected employee has the right to paid leave until the situation is 
rectified. Sexual harassment in the workplace was not widely considered 
a problem.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children and to 
have the information and means to do so free from discrimination, 
coercion, and violence. There was easy access to contraception and 
skilled attendance during childbirth, and the rate of maternal 
mortality was low (17 deaths per 100,000 live births, according to UN 
Population Fund statistics for 2008). Women and men were equally 
diagnosed and treated for sexually transmitted infections, including 
HIV. There were no barriers that limited access to maternal health 
services.
    Women enjoy the same legal rights as men, including rights under 
family law, property law, and in the judicial system. The law mandates 
equal pay for equal work; however, according to government reports, 
women were paid 14 to 16 percent less than men for comparable work. The 
Ministry of Equal Opportunity is responsible for protecting the legal 
and social rights of women. In 2009 the Government conducted a two-
month media campaign in all of the country's high schools promoting 
equal rights for men and women. In November the ministry promoted equal 
rights at the annual student fair, with a series of roundtable 
discussions.

    Children.--Citizenship is governed by the principle of descent, 
according to which a father or mother who is a citizen of the country 
automatically conveys citizenship to their offspring at birth. The 
Government registers all births immediately.
    A special police unit is responsible for the protection of minors, 
and two call centers--one government-run, the other NGO-administered--
are available to child victims of abuse. Neither the Government nor 
NGOs compiled statistics on child abuse during the year.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance with the convention at http://
travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport 
4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts. The 
Jewish community numbered approximately 1,000 persons.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    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 or other 
areas, and the Government effectively enforced these provisions. The 
law does not require government or privately owned buildings to be 
accessible to persons with disabilities, but the Government subsidized 
the construction of ``disabled friendly'' structures. The NGO Aid for 
Handicapped Children advocated for the protection of the rights of 
persons with disabilities. The Government and Info Handicap, an NGO, 
organized a campaign entitled ``For Mobile People with Handicaps'' in 
which representatives of the national railway company met with persons 
with disabilities with the goal of improving access to public 
transportation.
    The law establishes quotas requiring businesses that employ more 
than 25 persons to hire unspecified number of workers with disabilities 
and pay them prevailing wages, but the Government acknowledged that 
these laws were not applied or enforced consistently.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There was one organization for 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons that operated without 
any impediment. An annual gay pride event took place in May. The 
Government authorized the event and police provided sufficient 
protection.
    There were no reported incidents of discrimination based on sexual 
orientation.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of official or societal discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers to form and 
join independent unions of their choice without previous authorization 
or excessive requirements, and workers exercised these rights. 
Approximately 50 percent of the workforce (including transborder 
workers who commute from neighboring countries) was unionized. 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 strike, except for government workers who provide essential 
services. Legal strikes may occur only after a lengthy conciliation 
procedure between the parties. For a strike to be legal, the 
Government's national conciliation office must certify that 
conciliation efforts have ended.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for the right to collective bargaining, and workers exercised 
this right freely. Approximately 66 percent of workers were under 
collective bargaining agreements. There were no reported examples of 
antiunion discrimination.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor; however, there were reports of trafficking 
in women for sexual exploitation.
    For information on trafficking in persons, please see the 
Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There are laws to protect children from exploitation in the workplace, 
and the Government effectively enforced these laws. There were no 
reports of child labor.
    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 enforced the child labor laws.
    The Ombuds-committee for Children's Rights (a different institution 
from the ombudsman) carries out a series of inspections including 
inspections for child labor.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum wage for a 
single worker over the age of 18 was 1,683 euros ($2,143) per month for 
unskilled workers and 2,019 euros ($2,571) 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 Ministry of Labor enforced the minimum wage 
effectively. Foreign and migrant workers are covered by minimum wage 
provisions.
    The law mandates a maximum workweek of 40 hours. Premium pay is 
required for overtime or unusual hours. Sunday employment is permitted 
in continuous-process industries (steel, glass, and chemicals) and for 
certain maintenance and security personnel; other industries must 
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. The labor inspection court and the Superior Court of Justice 
are responsible for enforcing these laws.
    The law mandates a safe working environment. An inspection system 
provided 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 usually did so expeditiously.

                               __________

                               MACEDONIA

    The Republic of Macedonia is a parliamentary democracy with a 
population of approximately 2.1 million. A popularly elected president 
is head of state and commander in chief of the armed forces. A 
unicameral parliament (Sobranie) exercises legislative authority. In 
2009 the country held presidential and municipal elections, which the 
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) assessed as 
meeting most international standards for democratic elections. Security 
forces reported to civilian authorities.
    Overcrowding, severe staff shortages, and lack of training for 
guards continued to contribute to poor conditions at some of the 
country's prisons. There were reports that authorities abused pretrial 
detention for political reasons. Judges reported that there was strong 
political pressure on the judiciary and that this pressure sometimes 
influenced their rulings. The Government criticized the media and 
attempted to influence reporting by manipulating its spending on 
advertizing. Tensions between ethnic Macedonian and ethnic Albanian 
populations continued to influence individuals' opportunities for 
education, employment, and political participation. There were reports 
of discrimination against persons with disabilities and Roma.
                        respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        From:

    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--The Government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings.
    On May 12, police attempted to arrest four men who were smuggling a 
significant number of weapons into the country near the village of 
Radusha, close to the border with Kosovo. The police shot and killed 
the four after they opened fire.

    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 
credible reports that police used excessive force during the 
apprehension of criminal suspects and abused detainees and prisoners.
    During the first nine months of the year, the Ministry of 
Interior's Sector for Internal Control and Professional Standards Unit 
(PSU) reported receiving 41 complaints against police officers for use 
of excessive force. After preliminary investigations, the PSU found 
grounds for further investigation in four cases and took disciplinary 
action in one.
    On February 2, a citizen accused a Skopje police officer of 
physically assaulting him after an argument related to a traffic 
matter. Authorities charged the officer with a misdemeanor, and the PSU 
issued a recommendation to the disciplinary commission to initiate 
disciplinary procedures. The commission determined that the police 
officer did not use excessive force.
    On May 18, in the village of Bansko, Strumica, a police officer was 
accused of using excessive force against a handcuffed civilian. The PSU 
submitted a report to the Public Prosecutor's Office and issued a 
recommendation to his supervisor to initiate disciplinary procedures to 
determine responsibility for the incident. The commission determined 
that there was no use of excessive force.
    On June 4, a police officer in Gostivar attacked a driver for not 
following directions. The PSU issued a mandatory recommendation to the 
officer's supervisor to initiate disciplinary procedures in order to 
determine responsibility for the incident. The commission reduced the 
officer's salary by 15 percent for three months.
    Also in June two individuals filed torture and mistreatment charges 
against two Skopje police officers. The individuals claimed that police 
officers physically abused them at the Prolet police station after the 
officers arrested them on May 31. As of year's end, the prosecutor's 
office had not announced whether it would prosecute the officers.
    On August 18, a Skopje police officer hit a citizen's face against 
the doorframe of his car causing injury to the citizen's face. The PSU 
issued a recommendation to the officer's supervisor to initiate 
disciplinary procedures to determine responsibility for the incident. 
The procedure was ongoing at year's end.
    In its 2009 Annual Report, the Office of the Ombudsman reported 
some improvements in the investigations of the PSU; however, it 
reported that in most cases the PSU continued to justify police 
actions. The report also noted that this ``protective attitude towards 
police officers'' is shared by the court and the public prosecutor and 
that court procedures last indefinitely and contribute to the impunity 
of police officers.
    Between November 2009 and October 31, the nongovernmental 
organization (NGO) All4Fair Trials received 38 complaints from citizens 
alleging excessive use of force by police. It referred many of these 
complaints to the PSU or ombudsman. It also noted that some alleged 
victims did not want to report the incidents to authorities for fear of 
reprisal. The NGO criticized the Prosecutor's Office for not completing 
prosecutions of police abuse cases filed in 2007 and 2008.
    The Skopje prosecutor continued the May 2009 investigation, of four 
prison guards accused of tying inmates to radiators and beating them 
until they gave statements. The accusation prompted the ombudsman to 
recommend torture charges against the guards. Authorities returned the 
guards to duty pending the outcome of the investigation. As of year's 
end, the prosecutor had filed no charges.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--On August 25, the 
ombudsman announced criminal charges against several guards at Idrizovo 
prison. The ombudsman found credible evidence that the guards beat an 
inmate who was attempting to aid the escape of two other inmates. The 
prison warden and the director of prison administration investigated 
the case and found that guards used excessive force against the inmate. 
The prison administration forwarded the case to the Prosecutor's 
Office, which determined it would not prosecute the case due to a lack 
of evidence.
    In its November progress report, the European Commission reported 
that ``the degrading conditions and the dire state of some prisons, in 
particular Idrizovo and its closed ward, remain of serious concern. `` 
It continued to state that ``most of the prisons are underfunded and 
cannot cover their basic maintenance expenses, `` and that ``the 
mechanisms for preventing and combating ill-treatment and corruption in 
prisons remain weak. ``
    The ombudsman performed regular visits to the country's prisons and 
maintained complaint boxes within the prisons. He reported in his 2009 
annual report that conditions in the prisons were unchanged and 
remained ``inhumane'' and ``overcrowded.'' It also reported that the 
opportunity for juvenile detainees to mingle with adult detainees 
remained a problem.
    On February 4, the EU special representative to Macedonia and the 
ombudsman visited the Idrizovo prison. The EU special representative 
publicly criticized living conditions in the prison as ``a disgrace,'' 
noting roofless rooms, broken windows, and inadequate bathroom 
facilities, and urged the Government to take immediate action to 
improve the situation. The ombudsman echoed these concerns, recommended 
closing the partially open section of the prison, and proposed moving 
the inmates to a different facility. Prison authorities closed, 
renovated, and reopened the section.
    Prison officials cited the lack of funding for the hiring and 
training of prison guards as major contributors to the poor conditions 
at Idrizovo. Idrizovo was severely understaffed; in some units, as few 
as three guards monitored as many as 130 prisoners, making it extremely 
difficult for the guards to control the prison population, and creating 
a situation with substantial prisoner-on-prisoner violence and abuse. 
Idrizovo guards also received little or no formal training, and 
authorities expected them to learn on the job. Prison officials stated 
that overcrowding contributed to the poor conditions. Idrizovo is the 
country's largest prison, holding about 70 percent of convicted 
detainees.
    On January 7, an inmate of Bitola Prison died of a heart attack at 
the hospital. Other inmates claimed that, despite the deceased's 
requests for urgent medical assistance, prison authorities did not take 
him to the hospital until several hours after his requests.
    Official reports indicated that two prisoners committed suicide in 
Idrizovo prison during the year.
    As of November, the ombudsman reported that the country housed a 
total of 2,329 detainees and prisoners, although the total capacity of 
all facilities was only 1,952.
    The ombudsman stated that the right to express religious beliefs 
and practice religious rites in the penitentiary and correctional 
facilities was not hindered. Visitor access was allowed, but facilities 
remained insufficient for the number of prisoners, and conditions are 
poor.
    The Government usually granted independent humanitarian 
organizations and the ombudsman access to convicted prisoners. The law 
allows family members, physicians, diplomatic representatives, and 
representatives from the European Committee for the Prevention of 
Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) and the 
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to pretrial 
detainees with the approval of the investigative judge. Judges usually 
granted permission.
    There were no reports of prisoners serving beyond the maximum 
sentence.
    During the year the Ministry of Justice refurbished several prison 
and detention facilities. This activity included renovating the 
partially open section at Idrizovo and installing new video 
surveillance and alarm systems at the Suto Orizari detention center and 
Stip Prison to improve overall security and decrease corruption among 
guards and other detention staff.
    On May 21, the Government announced that it would allocate 52 
million euros ($69 million) for prison renovations, of which the 
Council of Europe Development Bank would fund 46 million euros ($61 
million) and the EU Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance would fund 
the remainder.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention; however, arbitrary arrest and detention were 
problems.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The national police are 
a centralized force under the Ministry of the Interior, consisting of 
uniformed police, criminal (civilian) police, and border police. By 
September approximately 21 percent of force members were from minority 
groups, but this figure was short of the Government's 25 percent quota 
for minority officers. Ethnic Albanians made up approximately 25 
percent of the population and approximately 17 percent of the police 
force.
    International observers and local NGOs cited corruption, lack of 
transparency, and political pressure within the Ministry of the 
Interior as hindering efforts to fight crime, particularly organized 
crime.
    Police impunity remained a problem, although there were 
improvements with internal investigations and an active ombudsman.
    In addition to investigating alleged police mistreatment, the PSU 
conducts all internal investigations into allegations of other forms of 
police misconduct. After conducting an investigation, the PSU forwards 
its findings to either the Prosecutor's Office or a disciplinary 
commission, usually composed of the officer's peers. The PSU has 
authority to impose administrative sanctions during the course of its 
investigations, such as temporary suspension from work, but cannot 
impose disciplinary actions, which require a ruling from a disciplinary 
commission, or more serious criminal sanctions, which require court 
action. Many observers considered that the PSU, Prosecutor's Office, 
and courts did not provide an effective deterrent to police abuse, 
contributing to an atmosphere of impunity.
    The Government worked to strengthen the PSU following the CPT's 
2008 report that noted that, when it came to investigating alleged 
mistreatment by officers, the PSU ``cannot be considered as an 
independent body which is able to carry out prompt, thorough, and 
effective investigations.'' Insufficient funding and staffing hampered 
the PSU's effectiveness. The EC reported in its progress report, this 
year that ``the human resources capacity of the Sector for Internal 
Control and Professional Standards within the Ministry of Interior is 
low.'' To address these and other issues, the approved personnel 
strength of the unit was raised from 45 to 60 during the year. A PSU 
representative is now allowed to sit on disciplinary commissions as a 
nonvoting member. PSU staff participated in training conducted by 
outside experts.
    The October 17 EC progress report noted that ``control over the 
police in general, and special units in particular, was more effective, 
partly because of increased internal audits to provide for professional 
standards to be respected.'' The report further noted that 
``investigations were carried out in accordance with international 
standards.'' The report stated that, although an independent external 
mechanism was lacking, strengthening the powers of the public 
prosecutor in the investigative phase improved oversight of police 
work.
    Although unit officials showed some improvement in efficiently 
conducting internal investigations, concerns remained about the low 
number of completed investigations and the lack of charges in 
outstanding human rights cases from previous years.
    Representatives from a number of international organizations, 
including the OSCE, the EU, and foreign missions, continued to monitor 
police operations and advise the Ministry of Interior on police 
reforms.
    Citizens filed 239 complaints related to police conduct with the 
ombudsman.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires warrants issued by an investigative judge for arrest and 
detention, and police generally followed this requirement in practice.
    The law states that prosecutors must arraign a detainee within 24 
hours of arrest. An investigative judge, at the request of a 
prosecutor, may order detention of suspects for up to 72 hours. Police 
generally adhered to these procedures in practice.
    There were reports that police continued to call suspects and 
witnesses to police stations for ``informative talks'' without 
informing them of their rights. Police did not arrest the individuals 
nor hold them for extended periods of time. The law permits immediate 
family members access to detainees, and authorities generally provided 
access, although it was not always prompt. The law states that an 
investigative judge must approve access.
    The Ministry of Interior conducted inspections of the registers of 
detained persons and prepared standard procedures for their detention 
and treatment. These procedures included designating shift supervisors, 
who were responsible for the proper processing and treatment of 
detained persons.
    There is a functioning bail system. The law sets the initial length 
of pretrial detention at 30 days. This period may be extended up to 180 
days if a council of three judges orders a 60-day extension for further 
investigation and a superior court orders an additional 90-day 
extension. The law allows a 90-day extension only in cases for which 
sentencing guidelines provide that a person convicted of the crime 
under investigation serve at least five years in prison. Following 
indictment the maximum pretrial detention is two years. There was a 20 
percent drop in the number of pretrial detention cases this year, as 
judges increased the use of home confinement and bail.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and laws provide 
for an independent judiciary; however, the Government, political 
pressure, intimidation, and corruption influenced the judicial branch. 
Inadequate funding of the judiciary continued to hamper court 
operations and effectiveness. A number of judicial officials accused 
the Government of using its budgetary authority to exert control over 
the judiciary. Despite persistent underfunding, the Government again 
reduced the annual budget for the judiciary during the year.
    On October 28, parliament amended the law in order to fix the 
court's budget at a minimum of 0.8 percent of Gross Domestic Product 
(GDP), thereby addressing the need for adequate and stable funding of 
the courts. However, the new law is to be implemented gradually 
beginning in 2012 and will not reach the 0.8 percent level until 2015. 
This law does not affect funding for the Prosecutor's Office, which 
remained severely understaffed and underfunded.
    Political pressure influenced the work of the Judicial Council, the 
body responsible for the election, discipline, and removal of judges. 
There were reports that the Judicial Council gave preference to outside 
candidates for judges instead of choosing 50 percent of new judges from 
academy graduates as the law requires. Through early December, the 
Judicial Council elected 38 new first-instance judges, eight of whom 
were academy graduates.
    In January the OSCE published the results of an anonymous survey of 
judges, in which two-thirds of the country's 650 judges participated. 
The results indicated that the majority of respondents felt pressure 
from political parties and the Government in making decisions, and 43 
percent stated that this pressure influenced their rulings. The 
respondents also stated that the Judicial Council was not an 
independent body and that the minister of justice should not be a 
member of this council. The minister of justice and the president of 
the Judicial Council publicly criticized the survey as unreliable and 
denied that there were inappropriate pressures on judges.
    On February 17, the parliamentary Standing Inquiry Committee on 
Human Rights concluded that the human rights of defendants and 
witnesses in the Sopot case had been violated by the ``authorized 
bodies and institutions'' of the country. The committee found 
violations of the prohibition of torture, inhumane, or degrading 
treatment; the right to liberty and security; the right to privacy of 
home; and the right to a fair trial. In the 2003 case, two Polish NATO 
soldiers and one civilian were killed and two civilians were injured by 
an improvised explosive device along the Kumanovo-Sopot road. Eleven 
ethnic Albanians were convicted in three separate trials occurring in 
2004, 2006, and 2009, and sentenced to 10 to 14 years in prison. In 
June motions for retrial were filed by the defense in two separate 
courts based on the committee's conclusion. On June 17, one of the 
trial courts denied the defense attorney's request for retrials for 
seven defendants. On June 23, the other trial court granted the retrial 
of four defendants and released them to house arrest on June 28. On 
September 16, the appellate court reversed the decision of the first 
trial court and ordered a retrial for all 11 defendants. At year's end, 
four defendants remained under house arrest, one remained in detention 
pending retrial, and six remained at large having been convicted.
    In April the media criticized government influence on the judiciary 
after the parliament elected an affiliate of the ruling party, Branko 
Uskovski, to sit on the Judicial Council. Media alleged that the 
parliament chose Uzkovski over candidates with far more judicial 
experience as a reward for his loyalty to the ruling party. Media 
reports alleged that one basic court judge, Emilija Ilievska, was 
promoted to Supreme Court judge based on her political connections. She 
is the wife of the chief of the Organized Crime and Corruption 
Prosecution Unit and the sister-in-law of the head of the internal 
intelligence service.
    On June 10, after a seven-month disciplinary procedure initiated by 
Minister of Justice Mihajlo Manevski, the Judicial Council removed 
appellate judges Violeta Duma and Vlado Djilvidjiev for unprofessional 
and incompetent conduct in a 2008 case. The Judicial Council acquitted 
three other judges who sat on the same panel. There were reports that 
Djilvidjiev was promised a position on the parliament's Legislative 
Affairs Committee in return for not publically objecting to his 
removal. The removal of Judge Duma received significant public 
attention, and the media accused the Judicial Council of biased, 
politically motivated, and nontransparent conduct. Duma accused 
Manevski of retaliating against her because she refused to submit to 
his pressure on the appellate case of former defense minister and prime 
minister Buckovski, which stemmed from activities while he was serving 
as defense minister. Both Duma and Djilvidjiev appealed their removal 
before the Supreme Court-led appeals committee. The appeals were 
rejected on December 10.
    On September 16, the Constitutional Court struck down several 
Judicial Council rulebooks that govern the evaluation, discipline, and 
removal of judges on the grounds that the council did not have a 
mandate to create and implement the rulebooks. Legal experts 
interpreted the court ruling as calling into question the dismissals of 
several judges under the rulebooks. The council ignored the 
Constitutional Court's requests for opinions and information on the 
suspended rulebooks. To satisfy the court ruling, the Government 
amended the law on the Judicial Council to incorporate the rulebooks.
    On December 8, the appellate court ruled to release a convicted 
cigarette smuggler to house arrest pending appeal. On December 10, the 
Supreme Court reversed the decision, saying the appellate court judges 
had misinterpreted the law on detention and filed motions with the 
Judicial Council against the appellate court judge and the president of 
the appellate court for ``unprofessional conduct and malpractice.'' 
Legal experts and members of the academic law community said that 
either interpretation could be considered correct and argued that the 
motions before the Judicial Council were extreme. They questioned 
whether the Judicial Council should discipline a judge for his or her 
interpretation of the law in a ruling. The media speculated that this 
was an attempt by the Government to remove judges who did not succumb 
to executive pressure. One of the three judges involved in the 
appellate ruling resigned from the bench on December 16 for unspecified 
reasons. The president of the appellate court resigned his position 
``for health reasons,'' but said he wanted to remain a judge. The 
Judicial Council scheduled his disciplinary hearing for January 2011.
    Throughout the year the Government heavily criticized the 
Constitutional Court for overturning a number of laws related to 
government sponsored projects. In March the speaker of parliament 
demanded that President of the Constitutional Court Trendafil Ivanovski 
come to parliament to explain the court's rulings. Ivanovski refused, 
citing the independence of the court. On October 1, the lustration 
committee found Ivanovski guilty of collaboration with secret services 
under communism. Ivanovski appealed the ruling to the Administrative 
Court, which upheld the guilty verdict. Ivanovski was suspended from 
the Constitutional Court and appealed to the Supreme Court, which had 
not ruled at year's end.
    During the year the media and legal community criticized the 
Government for proposing judicial legislation with little or no input 
from the judiciary or legal experts. For example, the Government 
proposed amendments to the Law on Courts that would establish a strict 
point-based system for the evaluation of judges. NGOs, the media, and 
legal professionals criticized the system, asserting that it would not 
solve major problems with the judiciary, such as chronic underfunding, 
political pressure on judges, and inadequate working conditions.
    The efficiency of trial courts improved in the first half of the 
year. Based on unofficial reports from authorities, trial courts 
decided 536,183, or 52.3 percent, of the 1,023,924 cases on their 
dockets versus only 29.9 percent for the same period during the 
previous year. The efficiency of other courts varied. The appellate 
courts completed 67.7 percent of their caseload and the Supreme Court 
completed 58.1 percent. The Administrative Court completed only 39.6 
percent of its cases. There were 466,315 backlogged cases involving the 
enforcement of civil judgments, including such cases as failure to pay 
utility bills, which were supposed to be transferred to a private 
bailiff system. However, on July 2, parliament moved the date for the 
transfer of enforcement cases to July 1, 2011, and the cases remained 
on the docket of the trial courts.

    Trial Procedures.--The law presumes defendants innocent until 
proven guilty. Trials are generally open to the public. The country 
does not use juries. A single judge hears less serious cases, and a 
panel of one or two professional judges and two to three lay judges 
hear more serious cases. The judicial panels determine guilt and impose 
sentences. The panel usually follows the recommendations of the 
presiding judge. Defendants have the right to an attorney in pretrial 
and trial proceedings. The law requires that courts provide indigent 
defendants an attorney at public expense, and authorities generally 
respected this requirement in practice. Defendants may question 
witnesses and present evidence on their own behalf. The law entitles 
defendants and their attorneys to have access to government-held 
evidence. In practice defendants were not always given access. Both the 
prosecution and defendants have the right to appeal verdicts.
    The law provides that courts may try defendants in their absence as 
long as they repeat the trials if convicted individuals later become 
accessible to justice officials.
    The courts published civil and criminal judgments online, but 
public access to judgments and court decisions remained limited. Most 
of these electronically published judgments lacked an indexing function 
and were difficult to search due to the large amount of deleted data. 
Officials cited privacy and data protection concerns as reasons why the 
courts did not publish more information on judgments.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--During the year there were 
claims that authorities detained persons for political reasons.
    On July 16, the prosecutor indicted 36 of 40 medical doctors and 
officials of the Health Fund whom police arrested in April on bribery 
and fraud charges related to disability pensions. The family of one of 
the doctors, Ljube Gligorovski, claimed that authorities mistreated him 
in detention and were holding him for personal and political purposes. 
Gligorovski's attorney stated that the court denied repeated petitions 
for his release on bail or transfer to house arrest. On September 13, 
the day before the trial began, the court renewed Gligorovski's 
detention order for another 90 days, based on the risk that he would 
commit further crimes, although he was no longer in his position and 
had been suspended from practicing medicine. In mid-October the court 
placed Gligorovski under house arrest. At year's end, the court had set 
no hearing date.
    There were claims that officials used pretrial detention as a 
punitive measure in the case of former manager of the Health Fund, 
Georgi Trenkoski. Trenkoski was initially arrested and sent to pretrial 
detention on more serious charges than those for which he was indicted. 
Authorities justified pretrial detention as necessary to prevent 
Trenkoski from tampering with evidence; however, he had resigned from 
his position as manager of the Health Fund three months earlier and had 
no access to the files. Supporters claimed that the media were notified 
ahead of Trenkoski's arrest to ensure a ``perp walk.'' Media coverage 
of his case has been derogatory, implying guilt prior to conviction. 
The trial was ongoing at year's end.
    Dusko Ilievski, a leader of antigovernment protests related to the 
bankruptcy of the dairy company ``Swedmilk'' claimed that he, his 
father, and brother were unlawfully detained for 12 days for political 
reasons. In July police charged Ilievski of raising marijuana on family 
owned land. Ilievski claimed the charges were politically motivated, 
aimed at silencing his criticism of the Government. At year's end, the 
trial against Ilievski was pending before the Bitola court.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--During the year the 
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued 15 decisions that found 
violations by the state of the European Convention on Human Rights, 
including violations of the right to liberty and security, the right to 
a fair trial, the right to court access, and the right to due process. 
In 2009 the Government enacted an ECHR Orders Enforcement Law; however, 
inadequate implementation has resulted in the timely compliance of only 
a small number of the ECHR orders.
    On October 28, the ECHR issued a judgment against the country in 
the Snake Eye case. The court found violations of the right of liberty 
and security of 38 defendants in both the pretrial and trial detention 
periods.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Citizens had access to 
courts to bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, human 
rights violations. Individuals may file human rights cases in the 
criminal, civil, or administrative courts, depending upon the type of 
human rights violation in question and the perpetrator of the alleged 
violation. Individuals may also appeal adverse decisions. The law 
provides the right to timely adjudication of cases and a legal basis 
for raising excessive judicial delays to the Supreme Court.
    On February 10, the Constitutional Court ruled for the first time 
on an individual human rights petition involving a violation of the 
right to stand for public office. The court ruled that the Zajas 
municipal administration violated the plaintiff's political rights 
during his 2009 attempt to campaign for mayor by prohibiting his 
candidacy. The court annulled the original decision of the lower court, 
allowing the plaintiff to file a civil suit for damages against the 
municipality.
    In December 2009 parliament passed a law that provides for free 
legal aid to citizens seeking legal assistance. The law designates 
those who qualify for assistance including recipients of social or 
disability welfare, single parents, certain pension recipients, and 
asylum seekers. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees 
(UNHCR) reported that in practice there has been no access to state-
funded free legal aid for asylum seekers due to the manner in which the 
provisions of the law were interpreted.

    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, the Government did not 
always respect these rights in practice, and government pressure on the 
media was a problem. The law prohibits speech that incites national, 
religious, or ethnic hatred, and the law provides penalties for 
broadcasters who violate these laws.
    Individuals could criticize the Government publicly or privately; 
however, there were reports that the Government attempted to impede 
criticism, pressured the media, and forced journalists to practice 
self-censorship. The Government was one of the largest purchasers of 
advertising in the country and favored outlets and journalists it 
perceived as friendly. In an open letter dated August 5, the former 
spokesperson for the National Health Fund, Dejan Gacov, claimed that 
the Government controlled the media through its spending on 
advertising.
    During the year journalists worked to strengthen the 
professionalism and independence of the media through the Association 
of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM). On September 21, the AJM, which had 
been criticized as biased in the past, adopted a new statute that 
provides for a more democratic and transparent association, and on 
December 11, elected new leadership in line with the new statute. On 
November 12, the first labor union for journalists, the Independent 
Trade Union of Journalists, was established.
    The ruling party, VMRO-DPMNE, issued statements expressing 
disappointment with reporting by some media outlets, including A1 
television and the daily newspaper Vest. President Gjorge Ivanov also 
criticized the media for allegedly misinterpreting his statements. In 
reaction the AJM accused the president of trying to ``discipline the 
country's journalism.''
    On February 1, the owner of the national radio station Kanal 77, 
Goran Gavrilov, appealed the acquittal of three defendants accused of 
attempting to murder him in 2008 to the European Court of Human Rights 
(ECHR) in Strasbourg. The ECHR accepted the case on May 4.
    On March 17, an appellate court reversed the slander conviction of 
opposition SDSM Member of Parliament and former prime minister Vlado 
Buckovski and returned the case to the trial court for retrial. The 
court fined Buckovski 11,600 euros ($15,372) in 2009 for slandering 
VMRO-DPMNE Member of Parliament Silvana Boneva during the 2006 election 
campaign.
    On March 22, the amended criminal code went into effect; the code 
decriminalized slander based on the reporting of statements by third 
parties.
    Media institutions and reporting were divided along ethnic and 
political lines, with the most striking divisions visible in reporting 
on controversial political issues.
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views without restriction. However, there were some condemnations of 
hate speech. On May 14, the AJM announced that during the previous year 
and a half, holders of public office had filed 150 defamation, libel, 
and slander charges against journalists. The AJM stated it had 
collected the information directly from journalists because the courts 
did not respond to its inquiries. On May 19 supported the European 
Federation of Journalists the AJM's criticism of the Government for 
neglecting the safety of journalists. The authorities failed to act 
after the AJM lodged an official complaint against a commentator on 
Kanal 5 television for using hate speech against journalists he 
believed to be traitors. The National Broadcasting Council determined 
there was no hate speech broadcast but rather ``elements that 
occasionally harm program standards and professional journalism.''
    In August a court acquitted a journalist in a retrial of his 2008 
conviction for publishing a report on a judge whom police fined for 
driving under the influence of alcohol.
    On November 25, backed by heavy police presence, financial and tax 
inspectors carried out an investigation on the premises of A1, the 
country's most popular, and opposition-oriented, television station. 
The station shares premises with three independent newspapers and 
various other businesses, all with ties to the owner of A1, Velija 
Ramkovksi. The widely publicized operation was conducted late in the 
evening and broadcast live on A1.
    Late at night on December 23, special police forces arrested 
Ramkovski, his daughter, and 17 other managers and employees of the 
businesses on charges of tax evasion and conspiracy. Four, including 
Ramkovski's son, remained at large; however, 16 of the 19 arrested were 
ordered to 30 days pretrial detention. While there were no technical 
procedural violations during the arrest, concerns were raised about the 
timing of the arrests (11:00 p.m.), the length of the judicial 
investigation process (12 hours held in police custody and 10 more 
hours in front of an investigative judge), access to attorneys during 
the questioning process, and the use of a blanket pretrial detention 
order for the majority of the accused. The arrest of Ramkovksi and the 
other defendants raised concerns about media freedom and selective 
prosecution of government critics. There were reports that A1 
television reporters and corporate sponsors were threatened, although 
the television station continued to operate.
    There were seven major, private, daily newspapers in Macedonian and 
four in Albanian. International newspapers and magazines were available 
throughout the country. Macedonian Radio and Television, which 
generally favored the Government's views on political issues, was the 
country's sole public broadcaster.
    There were five private television broadcasters with national 
coverage, 16 national television stations broadcasting via satellite, 
and 57 private local and regional television stations. Most of the 
stations broadcast news programs and reflected a variety of viewpoints. 
There were 71 independent radio stations. All major broadcast and print 
media offered up-to-date Web editions. Blogs and Internet-based social 
networks were also available.
    As of year's end, the ECHR had not issued a decision in the case of 
Ljubomar Frckoski, who was convicted in 2008 of slandering Prime 
Minister Nikola Gruevski in a 2007 column and ordered to pay Gruevski 
30,000 euros ($39,754) in damages. Frckoski's conviction became 
effective in December 2009, and he was reportedly paying Gruevski in 
installments. The NGO Reporters without Borders criticized the decision 
as harmful to freedom of the press.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. The 
Government tried to increase Internet use and operated Internet cafes 
throughout the country that provided free Internet access to persons 
under the age of 26, women over the age of 62, and men over the age of 
64. As of June there were an estimated 1,057,000 Internet users in the 
country, approximately 50 percent of the population.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The law provides for freedom of assembly, and the Government 
generally respected this right in practice. In order to hold public 
gatherings of any kind, organizers must notify the Ministry of Interior 
so the venue can be made secure.
    On February 16, a trial court acquitted three persons of failing to 
provide proper security arrangements in connection with the March 2009 
protests over the Government's plans to construct an Orthodox Church in 
Skopje that turned violent. In addition the Ministry of Interior 
charged 15 other participants, seven anticonstruction protesters and 
eight proconstruction protesters, mainly for violating public order. 
This group of 15 was tried in a separate trial by the court of 
misdemeanors. On November 26, the court acquitted all 15 defendants.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association, and the Government generally respected this right in 
practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not use 
forced exile, internal or external.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--The Government reported 611 
persons remained displaced from the 2001 internal conflict. Of these, 
251 persons lived in collective centers, and 360 were lodged with host 
families.
    IDPs received basic assistance, mostly from the Ministry of Labor 
and Social Policy, but had few opportunities for work due to the 
country's high unemployment rate. The UNHCR assisted 12 IDPs to 
regulate their civil status and identity documents.
    During the year the Government encouraged IDPs to return to their 
homes of origin in areas the authorities considered safe. Some IDPs 
continued to assert that the Government did not provide adequate 
support for the return process. Romani IDPs faced additional challenges 
due to lack of documentation of tenancy for properties where they 
previously resided.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provides for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status both to those individuals meeting 
the criteria for refugee status and those meeting the criteria for 
subsidiary protection. The Government has established a system for 
providing protection to refugees.
    The law meets most international and EU standards; however, it 
contains exclusionary provisions for persons under subsidiary 
protection which are not in compliance with the 1951 Refugee 
Convention. The UNHCR submitted friend of the court brief to the 
Administrative Court in two cases in which the Section for Asylum 
ceased subsidiary protection on exclusion grounds, alleging that the 
two refugees involved constituted a danger to national security. The 
case involves two Roma from Kosovo who have lived in the country since 
1999.
    The law provides for protection of refugees and persons under 
subsidiary protection in accordance with EU standards. During the year 
the Government transformed the status of protection for persons 
formerly granted ``asylum for humanitarian protection'' to ``asylum for 
subsidiary protection'' in line with EU directives. UNHCR assessed that 
there was no improvement in the refugee status determination mechanism. 
During the year no asylum seekers were granted refugee status or 
subsidiary protection.
    The Government reaffirmed its commitment that it would not deport 
failed asylum seekers from Kosovo and no such deportations took place. 
The Ministry of Interior issued identification documents and temporary 
residence permits to those whose applications for asylum the Government 
rejected. The temporary residence permits were subject to extension as 
individual circumstances warranted. The Administrative Court accepted 
the appeals of 14 individuals and returned the cases for re-
adjudication. It rejected appeals in 24 cases. Although 17 appeals of 
Administrative Court verdicts were submitted to the Supreme Court as 
the second instance judicial body, it issued only two verdicts, 
rejecting the appeals.
    In December 2009 amendments to the law on asylum and temporary 
protection came into force that significantly improved the quality of 
national asylum legislation.
    Delays in the identification and referral of new asylum seekers 
persisted. The mechanism for appointing guardians to the asylum seekers 
who were unaccompanied minors was a problem. The country continued to 
experience an increase in arrivals of new asylum seekers from outside 
the region, including 70 Afghans, 28 Palestinians, 22 Pakistanis, five 
Eritreans, and 15 Somalis. There were no qualified interpreters in 
Pashtun, Dari, or Arabic, which made identification and conducting 
interviews very difficult. Most of these persons departed to unknown 
destinations after applying for asylum. By the end of November, the 
number of registered asylum seekers increased from 89 at the beginning 
of the year to 162. Of these individuals, 67 were accommodated at the 
Reception Center for Asylum Seekers in Vizbegovo.
    The Government issued identity documents to all asylum seekers, 
recognized refugees, and other persons under humanitarian protection. 
There were some delays noted issuing identity documents to new asylum 
seekers.
    Through November seven rejected asylum seekers, refugees, or other 
persons of concern from Kosovo obtained Macedonian citizenship.
    In practice the Government provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion, or in which they would be subjected to torture or inhuman or 
degrading treatment or punishment. However, one Nigerian asylum-seeker 
was deported to a third country before the deadline for submitting an 
appeal had expired. The UNHCR representation in Skopje ascertained that 
his deportation, likely followed by an immediate deportation to his 
country of origin, may have amounted to indirect refoulement.
    By the end of November, 1,534 asylum seekers, refugees, persons 
under subsidiary protection, and other persons of concern remained in 
the country, most of them Roma from the 1999 conflict in Kosovo. UNHCR 
continued to note progress in the return process of Roma to Kosovo, 
which it facilitated on the basis of individual voluntary requests. As 
of the end of November, 115 individuals returned to Kosovo. The 
reconstruction of 13 houses in Kosovo was ongoing with the support of 
local authorities and the international community.
    In 2009 the country adopted the National Plan for Integration of 
Refugees and Foreigners that focused on housing, education, health, 
social protection, employment, and community development. In March the 
Ministry of Labor and Social Policy assumed responsibility for social 
protection of persons granted asylum. Rejected asylum seekers from 
Kosovo continued to be assisted by UNHCR. An integration center that 
provided vocational training to persons granted asylum operated with 
the support of UNHCR. The funding for the housing component of 
integration strategy remained a key concern.

    Stateless Persons.--At the end of November, according to UNHCR 
statistics, there were 426 effectively stateless long-term habitual 
residents. There were 1,232 persons with documentation gaps who were 
considered at risk of statelessness, the vast majority of whom were 
Roma.
    Progress was achieved in the reduction of persons effectively 
stateless and at risk of statelessness. A total of 35 long-term 
habitual residents were granted citizenship during the year, while 62 
long-term habitual residents had applications pending. According to 
UNHCR, 5,030 effectively stateless long-term habitual residents 
acquired citizenship since 2004.
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, generally free and fair, elections held on the basis 
of universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In March and April 2009, 
the country held national presidential and municipal elections. The 
OSCE characterized the elections as meeting most commitments and other 
international standards but noted that intimidation of voters, 
especially public sector employees, was a problem. In October 2009 the 
Ministry of Justice began a pilot project in two municipalities, 
Gostivar and Vinica, aimed at updating the voters' lists. An NGO which 
participated in the project complained that the methodology that was 
used was not defined, and the results were not presented to the working 
group for discussion. At year's end, plans to examine the lists of the 
remaining municipalities were announced.
    Political parties could operate without restriction or outside 
interference.
    There were 41 women in the 120-seat parliament and two women in the 
22-member Council of Ministers. The law requires gender diversity in 
each political party's candidate list; at least one in every three 
candidates must be of the gender opposite of the majority gender on the 
list. None of the country's 85 mayors were women.
    There were 29 ethnic Albanians, four ethnic Serbs, two ethnic 
Vlachs, one ethnic Turk, one ethnic Rom, one ethnic Bosniak, and one 
person formally declared as being of ``other'' nationality in the 
parliament. There were eight members of minorities in the 22-member 
Council of Ministers.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials often engaged in corruption with impunity.
    There were several claims during the year of government 
interference in high profile cases of ``abuse of office'' or ``misuse 
of official position'' in order to threaten noncompliant government 
officials or party members or to intimidate key opposition leaders. A 
number of current and former government officials faced charges of 
misuse of position or abuse of office, while other officials and 
opposition leaders reported threats that they would face such charges.
    Police and judicial corruption were problems. During the year the 
Judicial Council removed four judges for unprofessional and unethical 
conduct and initiated disciplinary action against 12 others.
    On January 21, the Supreme Court reversed the 2008 embezzlement 
conviction of the former governor of the National Bank of Macedonia, 
Ljube Trpeski, and ordered a retrial. Authorities released Trpeski, who 
was serving a sentence of four-and-a-half years, pending his retrial, 
which authorities had not scheduled at year's end.
    On January 29, the trial court acquitted three judges from Struga 
who, along with 10 other persons, went on trial for embezzlement and 
defrauding investors. The court convicted seven defendants and dropped 
the charges against the remaining three. At year's end, the case 
remained on defense appeal.
    In April and September 58 individuals were convicted of bribery in 
two separate trials. The court also convicted 40 of criminal conspiracy 
related to the 2009 investigation into corruption of police and customs 
officials by the Ministry of Interior. The court acquitted six 
additional defendants of all charges. Prison sentences ranged from six 
months to two years. The defendants were awaiting the decision of the 
appellate court at year's end.
    During the year retrials began for Vasil Tupurkovski, a former 
deputy prime minister and director of the Agency for Reconstruction and 
Development, who was convicted of corruption, and for former prime 
minister and former minister of defense Vlado Buckovski, who was 
convicted of abuse of office. Buckovski's retrial was ongoing at year's 
end. Tupurkovski's retrial was scheduled to begin in early 2011.
    On April 1, the trial began for one of four criminal cases returned 
in 2008 by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former 
Yugoslavia (ICTY) to be tried in the country. for alleged war crimes 
during the 2001 conflict. The prosecution charged 22 defendants, most 
of them ethnic Albanians, with humanitarian crimes against a group of 
civilian road workers from the municipality of Mavrovo. The case is the 
only one of the returned ICTY cases that has gone to trial. The trial 
was ongoing at year's end.
    On June 11, the spokesperson of the Health Fund, Dejan Gacov, 
resigned and stated that he was ``unwilling to continue the corrupt 
policies of the Government'' which have ``bankrupted the Health Fund.'' 
Afterwards, pictures of Gacov in women's clothing appeared repeatedly 
on the front page of a progovernment daily newspaper, presumably in an 
effort to discredit his allegations.
    Members of parliament and high-ranking public officials were 
subject to financial disclosure and conflict of interest laws.
    On June 24, the Anticorruption Commission filed misdemeanor charges 
against 40 public officials for failing to submit financial and 
conflict of interest statements. If convicted the officials could be 
subject to fines ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 euros ($1,325 to $3,975).
    The State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption 
(Anticorruption Commission) was responsible for investigating charges 
of corruption and complaints submitted by citizens. During the year the 
commission received 457 complaints under the Law on Corruption 
Prevention and the Law on Conflict of Interest Prevention and reviewed 
a total of 1,342 complaints, which included some from the previous 
year. The commission dismissed 675 complaints for lack of jurisdiction 
and 250 complaints as unfounded. The commission also determined that 
67complaints were duplicates, transferred 34 complaints to state organs 
for further investigation, recommended criminal prosecution in 14 
cases, and recommended disciplinary action in three cases.
    On July 20, the director of the Money Laundering Prevention Unit, 
Vane Cvetanov, resigned after the Anticorruption Commission alleged 
that he had hired staff without the permission of the Government and 
that he had misused funds. Cvetanov denied the allegations and accused 
the prime minister and his closest associates of pressure, hypocrisy, 
and unwillingness to fight serious corruption. No official charges have 
been brought against Cvetanov to date.
    On October 28, the parliament passed a Law on Prevention of 
Corruption which will cut the term of office of the members of the 
commission from five to four years and will make the members full-time 
government employees instead of part-time employees. The commission 
members opposed this law, claiming that making the members full-time 
government employees would damage the independence of the commission. 
The head of the commission said publicly that the Government wanted to 
take control of the commission to prevent his continued investigations 
into ministers and other members of the Government for corrupt or 
unethical conduct. The Government denied these allegations and 
maintained that the proposed law is in line with the country's 2009 EU 
progress report, which recommended the commission members work full-
time.
    During the year the chairman of the anticorruption commission 
requested that the public prosecutor charge five current and two former 
mayors with violating the law on public procurement. Each mayor was 
involved in separate events in which public money was allegedly spent 
without proper tendering and open calls for bids. At year's end, the 
cases were under review by the prosecutor's office.
    At year's end, the trial of the former director general of the 
electric company, Pande Lazarov, whom authorities accused of taking 
kickbacks and of money laundering, was ongoing. Lazarov was released on 
bond pending the outcome of the trial.
    In April 2009 an appeals court upheld the trial court's conviction 
of the former director of the Public Revenue Office, Petra Miteva, for 
abuse of official position and confirmed her sentence of three years in 
prison. The Supreme Court overturned Miteva's original conviction in 
January and returned the case to the appellate court for retrial. In 
March the appellate court upheld the original conviction. A second 
appeal to the Supreme Court was pending at year's end.
    The law provides for public access to government information. 
Implementation lagged, especially in respect to citizens' access to 
court judgments and other court decisions.
Section 5. 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. Government officials were cooperative and 
responsive to their views.
    The Government cooperated with international governmental 
organizations and permitted visits by representatives of the UN and 
other organizations.
    The ombudsman worked to protect citizens against infringement of 
their rights by public institutions, to reduce discrimination against 
minority communities and persons with special needs, to promote their 
equitable representation in public life, and to address problems of 
children's rights. The ombudsman has the right to visit all detained 
persons and to report findings to the UN. Most complaints that the 
ombudsman received concerned violations of judicial procedures; police 
abuse; prisons; and labor, consumer, or property rights. The ombudsman 
reported good cooperation and communication with the Government but 
noted that, while government responses to its inquiries were usually 
timely, they were often not substantive and at times lacked requested 
information.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit discrimination based on gender, 
race, disability, , religion, or national, social, or political 
affiliation, and the Government generally enforced these prohibitions. 
In April parliament passed a new antidiscrimination law, scheduled to 
be implemented at the beginning of 2011 that protects against most 
forms of discrimination. The new law provides for a seven-member 
commission to review discrimination complaints, to issue 
recommendations, and to promote the implementation of the law; however, 
the commission has no power to punish offenders. The law provides for 
fines ranging from 400 to 1,000 euros ($530 to $1,325), which courts 
can issue against individuals or legal entities found guilty of 
discrimination.

    Women.--The law specifically prohibits rape, including spousal 
rape; however, legal sanctions were not a significant deterrent. The 
penalties for rape or forcible sexual assault range from one to 15 
years imprisonment, but due to poor enforcement of the law, the 
penalties, although sufficient, did not serve as a significant 
deterrent. As with domestic violence, police and judicial officials 
were reluctant to prosecute spousal rape, and many victims did not come 
forward due to social stigma.
    Domestic and other violence against women was a persistent and 
common problem. Cultural norms, including victims' concerns over 
possible shame to the family, discouraged the reporting of violence 
against women and the filing of criminal charges. Domestic violence is 
illegal, but authorities rarely enforced the law in practice.
    There were three NGO-operated and seven limited-capacity government 
shelters for women at risk, a national NGO-operated hotline, and two 
crisis centers for temporary (24- to 48-hour) shelter for victims of 
domestic violence. Local NGOs combating domestic violence relied 
largely on international donors. The Government sponsored a public 
campaign against domestic violence that uses well known women from 
throughout society to raise public awareness of the issue.
    A program implemented by the UN Development Program with the 
Ministry of Labor and Social Policy that provides training to improve 
professional skills and opportunities for self-employment for victims 
of domestic violence was initiated. The program also provided payments 
for a period of six months to companies that employed women who were 
victims of domestic violence.
    Sexual harassment of women in the workplace was a problem, 
particularly in the private sector. The law prohibits sexual harassment 
in the workplace. The criminal code provides a sentencing guideline of 
three months to three years for sexual harassment. Authorities could 
prosecute sexual harassment under the law, but victims have generally 
not brought cases forward due to fear of publicity and possible loss of 
employment. Although women remained underrepresented in the higher 
levels of government and the private sector, there were several 
prominent professional women in the public sector, including the 
interior and culture ministers.
    Couples had the right to decide freely and responsibly the number, 
spacing, and timing of their children and means to do so free from 
discrimination, coercion, and violence. Contraceptives were widely 
available and affordable. Obstetric and postpartum care was available 
at hospitals throughout the country and was accessible to expectant and 
new mothers either through medical coverage provided to employed 
persons through their employers or to unemployed persons through the 
national welfare systems. According to recent UN estimates, the 
maternal mortality rate in the country is nine deaths per 100,000 live 
births. Women and men were equally diagnosed and treated for sexually 
transmitted infections including HIV.
    The Department of Gender Equality in the Ministry of Labor and 
Social Policy was responsible for ensuring the legal rights of women. 
There were gender commissions at the municipal council level.
    Women from ethnic Albanian and Romani communities did not have 
equal opportunities for employment and education due to traditional or 
religious restrictions on their education and role in society. In some 
Albanian communities, the practice of men directing voting (or voting 
on behalf of female family members) disenfranchised women.

    Children.--The law determines citizenship primarily by citizenship 
of parents, but the law allows for acquisition of citizenship by birth 
in the country's territory for a child found in the territory of 
Macedonia with unknown parents, if authorities do not discover that the 
parents are foreigners before the child reaches the age of 18. Births 
of all children in hospitals and medical institutions are registered 
automatically, and the law requires that all children, including those 
born at home or elsewhere, be registered at magistrate offices within 
15 days of birth. Some Romani families delayed registration of 
newborns, making it difficult for these individuals to access 
educational, medical, and other benefits later in life because they 
lacked proper identity documents.
    The country's schools suffered from chronic underfunding and 
insufficient classroom space. Many schools offered classes in shifts, 
usually divided along ethnic lines. Boys and girls generally had equal 
access to education, although there were isolated instances of 
discrimination against girls in educational institutions in some ethnic 
Albanian areas.
    Child abuse was a problem in some areas. The Center for Social Work 
of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and the Department for 
Juvenile Delinquency of the Ministry of Interior were responsible for 
addressing child abuse. NGOs were also active in this area. There were 
reports that Roma often organized their children into groups to beg for 
money in public places.
    An NGO operated a helpline and e-mail address for battered or 
abused children. It conducted advertizing campaigns aimed at children 
to promote the helpline.
    Child marriage occurred in the Romani community and, to a lesser 
extent, in the ethnic Albanian community, but it was difficult to 
estimate numbers because child marriages were rarely registered.
    According to 2008 data from the UN Children's Fund, there were 
between 500 and 1,000 street children in the country; most of them 
Roma. With international support, the Ministry of Labor and Social 
Policy operated four day centers for street children.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.htm

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community estimated that 250 to 300 Jews 
lived in the country. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts. 
Please see www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report 
at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--Persons with disabilities faced 
discrimination in employment, education, and access to health care and 
other state services. The law requires persons with physical or mental 
disabilities to obtain approval from a medical commission of the 
Government to serve in supervisory positions in both the private sector 
and the Government. The law does offer incentives to certain ``shelter 
companies'' to provide employment for persons with disabilities, but 
NGOs reported that restrictions on which companies qualified limited 
employment opportunities for persons with disabilities. The new 
antidiscrimination law, which passed in April, allows for those who 
allege discrimination to submit their complaints to the Commission for 
Protection Against Discrimination.
    The law requires only that new buildings be made accessible to 
persons with disabilities. Many public buildings remained inaccessible. 
Inconsistent inspection resulted in construction of new facilities that 
were not accessible for persons with disabilities.
    Advocates stated that employers were reluctant to hire persons with 
disabilities and that the difficulty of accessing educational and other 
opportunities prevented the full integration into society of persons 
with disabilities.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy is responsible for 
integrating persons with disabilities into economic life and for the 
payment of benefits. In practice disability benefits did not cover the 
cost of living. Advocates indicated that employment and life-skills 
training programs for persons with mental and physical disabilities 
were very limited and did not contribute significantly to economic 
integration.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--According to the 2002 census, 
the population was 64.2 percent ethnic Macedonian, 25.2 percent ethnic 
Albanian, 3.9 percent ethnic Turkish, 2.7 percent ethnic Roma, 1.8 
percent ethnic Serbian, 0.8 percent ethnic Bosniak, and 0.5 percent 
ethnic Vlach.
    Relations between the ethnic Macedonian majority and the ethnic 
Albanian minority were strained.
    On April 28, security forces confiscated a large cache of weapons 
after intercepting a group of militants along the border with Kosovo. A 
group claiming to represent the ``National Liberation Army,'' the 
ethnic Albanian militant organization which operated during the 2001 
conflict, claimed responsibility. In a separate incident, on May 12, 
security forces shot and killed four ethnic Albanian militants, three 
from Macedonia and one from Kosovo, who were transporting explosives 
and other weapons near the border with Kosovo (see section 1.a.). 
Reports indicated that the actions of the security forces were 
justified; however, interethnic tensions increased after these two 
incidents.
    Students from different ethnic groups usually studied in separate 
classrooms, separate school shifts, or at separate facilities, either 
due to linguistic differences or at their parents' request.
    Ethnic Albanians continued to complain of unequal representation in 
government ministries. Ethnic Macedonians often claimed that employers 
targeted them for reverse discrimination in downsizing, regardless of 
performance. Some ethnic Albanians claimed that discrimination in 
citizenship decisions by the Ministry of Interior, which has authority 
to grant, revoke, interrupt, or confirm a person's citizenship, 
effectively disenfranchised them.
    The law provides for protection of minority rights and integration 
of all sectors of society. The Government has a secretariat to hold 
accountable those state institutions that do not comply with the 
strategy for equitable minority representation. According to the 
secretariat, there were 800 new public administration jobs advertised 
and 360 new jobs offered to ethnic minorities during the year. Data 
from September showed that ethnic minorities accounted for 
approximately 24 percent of employees of state institutions.
    Minorities remained underrepresented in the military, despite 
efforts to recruit qualified minority candidates. Minorities 
represented 26 percent of the army while ethnic Albanians accounted for 
18 percent.
    The law provides for primary and secondary education in the 
Macedonian, Albanian, Turkish, and Serbian languages. The number of 
minority students who received secondary education in their native 
languages continued to increase, especially after secondary education 
became mandatory.
    Ethnic Turks complained of discrimination. Their main concerns were 
slow progress in achieving equitable representation in government 
institutions, the absence of ethnic Turkish majority municipalities, 
and the inadequacy of Turkish-language education and media.
    Roma complained of widespread societal discrimination. NGOs and 
international experts reported that employers often denied Roma job 
opportunities, and some Roma complained of lack of access to public 
welfare funds. Romani NGOs also reported that proprietors occasionally 
denied Roma entrance to their establishments.
    The Government funded implementation of the national strategy for 
the Romani decade, including assistance with education, housing, 
employment, and infrastructure development. The Government also 
continued to fund Romani information centers that directed Roma to 
educational, health care, and social welfare resources. Increased NGO 
and government funding to eliminate barriers to education for Romani 
students resulted in continued increases in school attendance rates. 
For the 2009-10 school year, there were 13 percent more Romani students 
enrolled in primary education and 26 percent more in secondary 
education than during the previous school year.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There were two registered NGOs 
addressing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) issues. 
Activists representing the rights of LGBT individuals reported 
incidents of societal prejudice, including harassment and use of 
derogatory language, including in the media.
    The Government removed sexual orientation as a protected category 
from the antidiscrimination law just before it was submitted to 
parliament for a vote. NGOs, the media, and the international community 
criticized the Government for the law's exclusion of sexual 
orientation--a provision required for membership into the EU.
    NGOs condemned the use of text books at the university and high 
school levels that treated homosexuality as a disease and sexual 
disorder. They complained that this increased societal discrimination 
against members of the LGBT community.
    On November 16, LGBT activists participated in a march in central 
Skopje to mark the International Day for Tolerance. Two representatives 
of the LGBT community addressed the crowd and reporters.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of societal violence and isolated reports of discrimination, in the 
form of employment discrimination and impeded access to health care, 
against persons with HIV or AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides for the right to 
form and join independent unions without previous authorization or 
excessive requirements and workers did so in practice.
    Unions may freely register with the Central Registry of Macedonia. 
More than 50 percent of the legal workforce belonged to labor unions, 
and unions were particularly well represented in the public sector. 
There were two major union federations, the Confederation of Trade 
Unions of Macedonia (SSM) and the Confederation of Free Trade Unions 
(KSS). Several unions were not affiliated with either of the two 
confederations, including unions of journalists, police officers, 
farmers, financial sector workers, and health care workers.
    The law provides for the right to strike, and workers, including 
civil servants, exercised this right in practice. The law grants 
members of the military and police a restricted right to strike. During 
a strike, the law allows employers to ``exclude'' or temporarily 
release up to 2 percent of workers whom they believe are potentially 
violent or engaged in ``undemocratic activity'' and are obstructing the 
negotiations between the workers and the employer. The law requires 
employers to pay the workers' benefits during the exclusion period and 
to rehire them after the strike. The unions maintained that this 
provision allows employers to exclude union leaders from negotiations 
during a strike. If authorities declare a strike illegal, employers may 
dismiss participants or sue them for damages.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows 
unions to operate without interference; however, the Government did not 
always enforce these laws in practice. The law protects the right to 
bargain collectively, and most unions had collective bargaining 
agreements. The law, however, requires that trade unions represent 20 
percent of workers in either the public or private sector, and 10 
percent of employers in order to negotiate these agreements. Collective 
bargaining agreements covered all legally employed workers for the 
public or private sectors. Studies indicate that a significant number 
of employees are not part of the legal workforce. Estimates of the size 
of the gray economy fall between 15 percent and 40 percent of GDP.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination; however, it existed in 
practice. Employers were rumored at times to have interfered in the 
internal affairs of unions by attempting to influence union election 
campaigns or running their own candidates in the elections.
    There is one export processing zone where two foreign-owned 
companies operated and where several other companies were in the 
process of building factories. There are no special laws or exemptions 
from regular labor laws in the zone.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, forced 
labor still occurred. Women and children were trafficked for commercial 
sexual exploitation and forced labor in the service sector. Romani 
children were especially vulnerable to trafficking for forced begging, 
usually by family members, which often took place at busy 
intersections, on street corners, and in restaurants.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There are laws to protect children from exploitation in the workplace, 
including a prohibition of forced or compulsory labor, and the 
Government effectively enforced these laws in practice. The law 
mandates a prison sentence of at least eight years for anyone who buys, 
sells, keeps, or takes children or minors for the purpose of 
exploitation.
    The minimum age for employment is 15 years old. Children 14 years 
of age can work as apprentices or as part of an official education 
program. The law prohibits employing minors under the age of 18 years 
old in work that is detrimental to their physical or psychological 
health and morality. The law also prohibits minors from working nights 
or more than 40 hours per week.
    There were no official reports of illegal child labor during the 
year; however, there was evidence that individuals used such labor in 
the gray economy, primarily involving children who begged and sold 
cigarettes and other small items at open markets, in the streets, in 
bars, or in restaurants, sometimes at night. The children involved in 
these activities were primarily Roma and most often worked for their 
parents. Officials did not punish such violations, and children 
remained vulnerable to exploitation.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy is responsible for 
enforcing laws regulating the employment of children. Government 
efforts to eliminate forced begging by children have been largely 
ineffective; although the necessary laws were in place, there was 
little practical implementation.
    During the year the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy funded 
three centers that provided education, medical, and psychological 
services to children who beg on the street. NGOs funded two additional 
centers for children in Skopje with support from the Government. 
International donors supported programs to prevent children from 
begging on the street and to increase school enrollment of children at 
risk for such work.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The country does not have a 
national minimum wage established by law. According to official 
statistics, the average monthly net wage in June was 20,424 denars 
($433), which did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker 
and family. The Government statistics office estimated that 
approximately 29 percent of the population lived below the poverty line 
in 2008, the most recent year for which data were available.
    The law establishes a 40-hour workweek with a minimum 24-hour- rest 
period, and vacation and sick leave benefits. Employees may not legally 
work more than 10 hours of overtime per week, 20 hours per month, or 
190 hours per year. According to the collective agreement between the 
Government and the unions, employees in both the public and private 
sector have a right to overtime pay at 135 percent of regular pay. By 
law collective agreements apply to all workers whether union members or 
not. In addition the law entitles employees who work more than 150 
hours of overtime per year to a bonus of one month's salary. However, 
many employers hired workers without complying with the law. In 
particular small retail businesses often required employees to work 
well beyond the legal limits. During the year the Labor Inspectorate of 
the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy filed complaints against 
several private businesses for forcing employees to work long hours 
without the breaks required by law and for not legally registering all 
employees. In the case of such violations, labor inspectors have the 
legal authority to close an establishment until the employer corrects 
the violations. In cases of repeated violations, the owners can be 
fined. During the year authorities temporarily closed more than 1,000 
companies due to labor violations such as the employment of 
nonregistered workers. No record of the number of employers fined was 
available.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy did not strictly enforce 
laws and regulations on worker safety. While workers have the legal 
right to remove themselves from situations that endanger their health 
or safety without jeopardy to their future employment, employers did 
not always respect this right in practice.

                               __________

                                 MALTA

    Malta is a constitutional republic and parliamentary democracy with 
a population of approximately 400,000. The president is the head of 
state and is appointed by the unicameral parliament (House of 
Representatives). The president appoints as prime minister the leader 
of the party that gains a majority of seats in parliamentary elections. 
General elections held in 2008 were judged free and fair. Security 
forces reported to civilian authorities.
    The Government reportedly detained irregular migrants under harsh 
conditions. Lengthy delays in the judicial system sometimes diminished 
individuals' due process guarantees, and there were some restrictions 
on free speech. Societal problems included child abuse, trafficking in 
persons, and substandard work conditions for irregular migrants.
                        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 arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
authorities detained irregular immigrants under harsh conditions for up 
to 18 months during the review of their protected status. During the 
year only 27 new migrants were received in the country and the vast 
majority of irregular migrants previously held in detention centers 
were released as their cases ``aged out.'' At year's end there were 78 
persons held in detention. During the year the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) continued to provide training for 
authorities in handling detainees.
    In 2008 authorities charged four prison wardens with assaulting and 
seriously injuring a prisoner following his attempt to escape from a 
government correctional facility. The case continued at year's end, 
with no change in status.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards, and the 
Government permitted visits by independent human rights observers; 
however, there continued to be reports of poor conditions in 
government-run detention centers for irregular migrants.
    As of July the prison population of 589 inmates consisted of 510 
men, 39 women, and 40 juveniles (36 men and four women). Of the adult 
prison population, 234 were foreigners, representing nearly 40 percent 
of the total prison population. Approximately 61 percent of these 
foreigners were of African descent.
    Men and women were held separately. Juveniles were separated from 
adults in most cases; however, first-time offenders were housed in the 
same building as juveniles. Pretrial detainees were held together with 
convicted prisoners, albeit with those incarcerated for lesser crimes 
and shorter sentences. Due to a decrease in the number of detainees, 
Lyster Barracks, one of the two migrant detention centers, was closed 
during the year, leaving Safi as the only functioning closed center. 
The reduced population also produced the result that issues associated 
with overcrowding, such as poor ventilation and insufficient sanitary 
facilities no longer represented significant problems.
    Authorities permitted prisoners and detainees to submit uncensored 
complaints to judicial authorities and to request investigation of 
credible allegations of inhumane conditions. There are no political 
prisoners held in the country.
    The situation improved in many of the ``closed'' detention centers 
as a result of the significant decrease in the number of migrants 
entering the country. Toilet and kitchen facilities were also renovated 
or built in some of the centers over the course of the year. As of 
December the population in the closed centers had been reduced to the 
point where only one remained open, housing approximately 75 migrants; 
the population in the open centers dropped to 2,000.
    The Government permitted occasional visits to its detention centers 
by independent human rights observers, including foreign diplomats. In 
January 2009 a mission of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention 
visited the country at the Government's request. Authorities granted 
the mission access to the Safi and Lyster Barracks closed centers, the 
Corradino Correctional Facility, the closed wards at Mount Carmel 
Hospital, and to detention facilities at the Police General 
Headquarters, the Valletta Police Station, and the Armed Forces of 
Malta (AFM). The UN report, released in January, noted a number of 
positive features of the institutions and laws in place to prevent 
arbitrary detention; however, the delegation also suggested that the 
detention regime imposed on irregular migrants arriving by sea was not 
in line with international human rights law. The report noted that such 
detainees remained for long periods in substandard conditions which, 
particularly in the cases of the Safi and Lyster Barracks, were 
described as adversely affecting the health, including the mental 
health, of some detainees. It expressed particular concern over the 
detention of migrants deemed vulnerable (e.g., minors, pregnant women, 
and families with children).
    During the year the Refugee Commissioner's Office expanded the 
number of asylum determination officers to 10, which reduced to fewer 
than 60 days the time migrants were required to wait for a 
determination of status. Migrants who were found not eligible for 
asylum or subsidiary protected status, or who were not otherwise deemed 
to be vulnerable as a result of age, sex, health, or mental condition 
or otherwise, were still required to remain in detention for 18 months. 
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has thus far declined to rule 
such detention improper. Vulnerable migrants were moved to other 
centers and provided with care appropriate to their conditions. 
Migrants determined to be minors were placed under ``care orders'' that 
resulted in their being moved to residential facilities and provided 
with needed services, including education or training.
    In March 2009 the NGO Doctors without Borders (MSF) suspended 
activities at three detention centers for migrants on the grounds that 
it could not ``offer adequate medical care'' in what were referred to 
as ``appalling'' living conditions. Following MSF's departure, 
authorities removed tent housing from the camps mentioned in the MSF 
report and replaced them with trailer-type living facilities. They 
rehabilitated the facilities at Lyster Barracks to include upgraded 
toilet and kitchen facilities. The Government was also receptive to 
donations of clothing and other materials, and to the continued 
provision of educational assistance by outside groups, including NGOs 
and a foreign embassy. In July 2009 MSF resumed its activities at the 
Ta'Kandja closed center after discussions with authorities. By year's 
end, however, MSF did not appear to be working in country, and 
theTa'Kandja closed center was no longer in operation.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the police force, the security 
service, and the armed forces, and the Government has effective 
mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse and corruption. There were 
no reported problems related to impunity within the police force or 
security service.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--With the 
exception of irregular migrants, whom authorities almost always 
detained for six to 18 months pending adjudication of any asylum 
requests, an arrest warrant issued by a magistrate is generally 
necessary to detain a person for questioning and may be issued on the 
basis of reasonable suspicion. According to the constitution, police 
must either file charges or release a suspect within 48 hours; in all 
cases authorities must inform detainees of the grounds for their 
arrest. Police generally respected these requirements in practice. As 
of February, procedures related to the right of access to counsel prior 
to interrogation changed. Accordingly during the 48-hour detention 
period, generally including initial interrogation by police, arrested 
persons were entitled to access to legal counsel prior to 
interrogation, but not to family members. Once authorities filed 
charges, pretrial detainees were entitled to access to counsel and 
family. Authorities adjudicated applications for bail on a case-by-case 
basis and normally granted them in the case of citizens. The UN Working 
Group on Arbitrary Detention noted that ``the rules of release on bail 
are not applied equally to Maltese citizens and foreigners alike.'' 
Foreign criminal defendants who insist on their right to a trial by 
jury have in some instances been confined for more than two years 
awaiting arraignment and trial.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair and public jury trial, and an independent judiciary generally 
enforced this right. Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence. 
Trials are public and juries are used if requested by the defendant. 
Defendants have the right to counsel of their choice or, if they cannot 
afford counsel, to court-appointed counsel at public expense. 
Defendants and their lawyers have access to government-held evidence 
relevant to their cases. Defendants may confront witnesses and present 
evidence; defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence and have the 
right to appeal. All citizens enjoy these rights.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--During the year the ECHR 
issued a total of four judgments that found a violation by the state of 
obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights (the 
convention). The judgments found two violations for lawful arrest or 
detention and the right to a prompt trial, one violation for respect 
for family life/privacy, and one violation involving protection of 
property. The country complied only partially with ECHR decisions.
    In one case, the ECHR ruled on July 20 that a wait of 28 months to 
register a marriage performed in Russia violated the convention.
    On July 27, in a case involving a detained migrant, the ECHR ruled 
that the applicant had no effective remedy to challenge the legitimacy 
of his detention within the legal framework supplied by the Government. 
The ECHR awarded the applicant 12,000 euros ($16,080); the migrant was 
still slated to be deported despite the ECHR recommendation of an 
extension of his stay. By year's end the migrant had been deported to 
Tunisia, and the Government had not yet made the payment ordered by the 
ECHR.
    In a case involving the rights to bail and a speedy trial, the ECHR 
ruled that the Government was in violation of Article 5 of the 
convention by failing to strike a balance between the administrative 
regulations regarding conditional release on bail and the importance of 
the right to liberty. Notwithstanding the ECHR ruling, the individual 
involved was not yet released from prison at the end of the year.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The constitution provides 
for an independent and impartial court in civil matters, including for 
the determination of civil rights or obligations, and for access to a 
court to bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, a human 
rights violation. Persons who have exhausted their right to appeal in 
the national court system could apply to bring an alleged breach of 
human rights covered by the European Convention on Human Rights before 
the ECHR. Civil and judicial procedures for the exercise of this right 
exist, and citizens regularly made use of them.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution prohibits such actions, and the 
Government generally respected this prohibition in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law generally 
provide for freedom of speech and of the press; however, there are 
restrictions on ``vilification'' of or ``giving offense'' to the Roman 
Catholic Apostolic Religion, the country's official church. Also 
illegal, but carrying a lesser punishment, is vilification of or giving 
offense to any ``cult tolerated by law.'' It is an offense to utter 
publicly any obscene or indecent words or make obscene acts or gestures 
or in any other way offend public morality, propriety, or decency. 
According to the newspaper Times of Malta, the home affairs minister 
told parliament in October that, in the first three months of the year, 
authorities initiated criminal proceedings against 162 persons for 
public blasphemy; they began similar proceedings against 621 persons 
during 2008.
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views without restriction. International media operated freely, and 
there was no indication of reprisals against individuals for either 
public or private criticism of the Government.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail.
    Internet use was widespread; an estimated 59 percent of households, 
90 percent of schools (state, church, and private) had Internet access, 
and another 90 percent of businesses had a broadband connection. 
Numerous Internet cafes and many blogs operated freely throughout the 
islands. According to International Telecommunication Union statistics 
for June, approximately 59 percent of the country's inhabitants used 
the Internet. A 2009 Eurostat study showed that 64 percent of 
households had Internet access, up from 54 percent in 2007. There were 
no government attempts to request, obtain or disclose the personally 
identifiable information of a person in connection with that person's 
peaceful expression of political, religious, or ideological opinion or 
belief.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom.
    The law restricts cultural activities that publicly vilify the 
Catholic Church and other religions tolerated by law.
    In February 2009 the Board of Film and Stage Classification 
prohibited production of the Anthony Neilson play, Stitching, on the 
basis that it was blasphemous and obscene. The production company, 
Unifaun Theater Company, instituted legal proceedings against the 
prohibition. In June the Constitutional Court upheld the banning of the 
play as lawful and in accordance with Maltese and European law. The 
production company stated that it would appeal the verdict, but there 
was no change in status at year's end.
    In March 2009 authorities arrested, tried, and gave a suspended 
one-month prison sentence to a man convicted of giving offense to the 
Roman Catholic Apostolic Religion by dressing as Jesus Christ during 
February carnival festivities in the village of Nadur. In July 
exhibition organizers at the Gozo Arts Festival in Gozo, the second 
largest of the Maltese islands, prohibited the exhibition of some 
paintings by Macedonian painter Aleksandar Stankovski for being too 
lewd and disrespectful. The incident was followed by a peaceful march 
in the capital city by the Front Against Censorship later on in the 
month. There were no reported incidents.
    In October 2009 the University of Malta authorities deemed an 
article in a student publication on campus, Il-Realta, ``vulgar.'' In 
January the police filed criminal charges both against the 
publication's editor and the author. At year's end the case had not yet 
come to trial.

    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.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl//irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government generally cooperated with the UNHCR and other 
humanitarian organizations in providing protection and assistance to 
refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of 
concern. However, irregular migrants were subject to mandatory 
incarceration while their immigration status was under review.
    The constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not 
employ it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees.
    In practice the Government consistently provided some protection 
against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their 
lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, 
religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or 
political opinion. In addition migrants not qualifying for refugee 
status, but from countries to which their return would be unsafe as a 
result of war or other conditions, were granted subsidiary protected 
status, which permitted their stay in the country on a year-to-year, 
renewable basis.
    In July Maltese and Libyan patrol boats responded to a distress 
call from a vessel of Somali migrants; 28 of the rescued migrants were 
taken to the country and the remaining 27 were believed to be returned 
to Libya. This was reportedly the first time Libyans and Maltese 
vessels cooperated in a rescue operation. The Government announced that 
the 27 migrants who returned to Libya did so voluntarily. Both the 
UNHCR and a local NGO, the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), questioned 
official government assertions that the migrants who returned to Libya 
did so voluntarily, and the case produced considerable controversy. The 
migrants who were brought to the country consisted of 22 men, five 
women and a baby. The baby and his mother were initially taken to a 
hospital before being transferred to an ``open center'' where they 
could come and go freely once medical clearance was granted. All other 
migrants were held at the Safi Barracks ``closed center,'' where they 
could be held for up to 18 months, unless granted asylum or some other 
protected status earlier.
    The issue of how the migrants were divided between Libya and Malta 
remained controversial, with one rescued migrant claiming his wife was 
one of those returned to Libya while the AFM denied the claim. Senior 
AFM officials maintained that all efforts were made to take potential 
humanitarian cases, claiming that in three instances when individuals 
indicated that family members were aboard the Libyan boat, these 
relatives were reportedly transferred to the AFM boat. Meanwhile, NGOs 
expressed their ``grave concern'' about the fate of the migrants who 
were returned to Libya and whether half the migrants had in fact 
volunteered to return.
    The country, as an EU Member State and a member of the Schengen 
Zone, followed laws and policies established by those bodies related to 
safe country of origin and transit.
    Authorities detained irregular migrants for up to 18 months after 
they arrived in the country, generally in closed detention centers. The 
length of the procedure was reportedly related to the need to establish 
the migrant's identity, country of origin, etc., since migrants nearly 
always arrived without identity documents. Such migrants could file 
asylum claims within two months of their detention; however, they 
remained in detention while their cases were processed.
    According to the UNHCR, migrants spent an average of six months in 
detention in 2009. Due to a decrease in traffic, this dropped to two 
months during the year. Detainees also included persons who did not 
apply for asylum and those whose asylum applications and appeals were 
rejected or were under review. Individuals awaiting decisions on their 
cases occasionally protested their detention or attempted to escape 
from detention centers. Within days to weeks of their initial 
detention, authorities usually moved ``vulnerable individuals,'' such 
as children, pregnant women, elderly persons, and parents with infants, 
to ``open centers,'' where they were free to come and go. The armed 
forces are responsible for the management of the closed detention 
centers and report directly to the Ministry of Justice and Home 
Affairs, while the Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers (AWAS), a 
part of the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs, has responsibility 
for the welfare and accommodation of persons transferred from detention 
centers to open centers. Individuals were not required to stay in open 
centers if they could find other accommodations.
    Authorities released all detainees whose cases were not resolved 
within 18 months, whether or not police had arranged to repatriate 
them. They were permitted to remain in the country, allowed to stay in 
``open centers,'' and given work permits. EU law prohibited them from 
travelling to other EU countries, and they were not eligible to bring 
family members to the EU. They were eligible for voluntary repatriation 
programs, but most did not choose to participate. There were no 
significant changes to this general pattern, although there was a 
drastic drop in migrant arrivals during the year. As of year's end, 
there were approximately 2,000 migrants living in three open centers.
    Overcrowding continued to persist at the country's largest migrant 
housing center in Marsa. Friable asbestos was present in one of the 
common areas. In other centers, high temperatures in the summer months 
and inadequate ventilation in tent housing and prefabricated housing 
units contributed to uncomfortable living conditions. In the winter 
months, tent housing had limited heating and rain could penetrate the 
not fully waterproof fabric.
    Detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were permitted 
religious observance. The Government prevented Muslim detainees at the 
Hal-Far migrant center from using a megaphone to gather the faithful 
for the call to prayer, indicating that community religious facilities 
were available and the establishment of a de facto religious facility 
inside the center was inconsistent with its policy. While the call to 
prayer was not prohibited, use of a megaphone at a particular location 
in order to assemble individuals for prayers was.
    The Government improved the ``open center'' facilities, where the 
majority of migrants found themselves at year's end. With EU funding, 
the Government built new kitchen and hygienic facilities at the Hal-Far 
center. All migrants have moved out of the hangars and into portable 
homes.
    The Government provided asylum to 41 applicants as of October. In 
addition 157 individuals were granted subsidiary protection; 321 were 
granted temporary humanitarian protection, 314 of whom had had their 
applications rejected earlier, had exhausted all asylum request 
possibilities, but had been in the country for a number of years 
because they could not be returned to their countries of origin. From 
2004 onward, most asylum seekers were from Ethiopia (28); in 2009, most 
were from Syria (7). In every year most of those granted subsidiary 
protected status or other humanitarian protected status have been from 
Somalia--3,743 overall and 1,445 in 2009. From January through June, 
the Government provided ``subsidiary protection'' to 128 persons not 
legally entitled to asylum.
    Beneficiaries of subsidiary protection, introduced in 2008 with the 
implementation into domestic law of an EU Council directive, were 
entitled to remain in the country; move freely; be granted personal 
identification documents, including a one-year renewable residence 
permit; and obtain travel documents in emergency situations. They could 
be employed, subject to labor market considerations; receive core 
social welfare benefits; seek appropriate accommodations; and benefit 
from integration programs, public education and training, and essential 
medical care, especially in the case of vulnerable persons. Their 
dependents, if in the country when the status was conferred, enjoyed 
the same rights and benefits. However this status does not provide 
family reunification, a path to citizenship, or other benefits of 
refugee status under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of 
Refugees.
    The Government also provides ``temporary humanitarian protection'' 
as an administrative procedure in special and extraordinary cases in 
which applicants are found not to be eligible for asylum or subsidiary 
protection but are considered to be in need of protection for special 
humanitarian reasons. This protection was provided to seven persons 
from January through June.
    Protected persons can access the labor market, free state health 
care, and public schooling. If they reside in an open center, they are 
also entitled to free accommodation, the services offered by staff 
within the centers and, if unemployed, an allowance of 130.48 euros 
($174.84) every four weeks to cover daily expenses.
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 and Political Participation.--In 2008 the country held 
parliamentary elections that observers considered to be free and fair. 
In June 2009 the country held elections to the European Parliament that 
were considered free and fair.
    Political parties operated without restriction or outside 
interference.
    There were six women in the 65-seat parliament and two in the 14-
member Cabinet of Ministers. Approximately 13 percent of senior 
government officials were women, and three women held ambassadorial 
rank. There were two female judges and six female magistrates. None of 
the country's six members of the European Parliament was a woman.
    There were no members of minorities in the Government.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government generally implemented these laws effectively. There were 
isolated reports of government corruption during the year.
    In June a woman was sentenced to one year's imprisonment suspended 
for two years (whereby the sentence would not be imposed if the 
individual did not violate the law during the following two years). 
Charges included corrupting a public official in a case related to 
social benefits recipients.
    In August there were reports that police officers of the 
Administrative Law Enforcement Division accepted bribes to tip off 
hunters of impending police action to enforce hunting laws. This report 
was under investigation by the Police Commissioner, and one police 
officer was charged officially with accepting a bribe. The case 
continued at year's end.
    There were regular allegations in the press that the contract for 
the extension of the Delimara power plant was awarded to one of the 
competitors in a manner contrary to normal competitive bidding 
processes. The European Commission (EC) engaged the Government on the 
allegation and requested an explanation of the bidding process. The 
Government provided its explanation to the EC in July, and the outcome 
of the EC's review was pending at year's end.
    In November 2009 a court found former chief justice Noel Arrigo 
guilty of accepting money to reduce the sentence of a drug trafficker, 
of trading in influence, and of revealing official secrets. He received 
a prison sentence of two years and nine months. Arrigo indicated he 
would appeal the verdict and the sentence.
    Government officials are subject to financial disclosure laws; the 
court has the right to order financial disclosure, depending on its 
judgment of the circumstances. The police and the Permanent Commission 
against Corruption were responsible for combating official corruption.
    According to the Press Act, the Government is to establish 
procedures to give representatives of the press information to help 
them ``fulfill their public tasks.'' However, the scope of this mandate 
has not been defined and no implementing legislation (regulation) has 
been enacted. Access to government information in certain specified 
areas, generally dealing with matters of public interest, security or 
ongoing court proceedings, was excluded from this requirement. For 
government activities in areas not subject to disclosure under the 
Press Act, there was no legal entitlement to government-held 
information; however, authorities generally provided access. A freedom 
of information law enacted in 2008 is gradually entering into force. A 
newly established Information and Data Protections Commission, the 
regulatory agency responsible for implementing the act, began issuing 
initial directives establishing the scope of its jurisdiction.
Section 5. 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 human 
rights cases. Government officials were cooperative and generally 
responsive to their views. The Government cooperated with UN and other 
international bodies.
    The country has an ombudsman who is empowered to investigate 
complaints about the activities of governmental bodies, including 
activities that affect human rights and issues that concern prisoners/
detainees. The ombudsman only investigates complaints when 
administrative or judicial remedies are not available. When the 
ombudsman concludes that a complaint is wholly or partly justified, he 
submits recommendations to the public entity responsible for undoing 
the harm the complainant suffered. The ombudsman has no power to force 
acceptance of any recommended remedy; however, most of his 
recommendations were accepted. The president appoints the ombudsman 
with the consent of two-thirds of the members of parliament.
    The House of Representatives' Standing Committee on Foreign and 
European Affairs and Standing Committee on Social Affairs have 
responsibilities for human rights issues. Both committees are made up 
of members from both sides of the House of Representatives who 
collaborate closely on issues related to the committees' respective 
responsibilities. The committees generally held open hearings and their 
deliberations were normally a matter of public record unless a hearing 
was closed for security reasons. There was generally full debate on 
issues before the committees. The committees generally had a reputation 
of integrity and credibility, with legislation enacted in the areas 
under their purview enjoying widespread public support.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, 
disability, language, or social status, and the Government generally 
enforced these prohibitions effectively.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is a criminal offense, and 
the Government effectively prosecuted such crimes. The crimes of rape, 
spousal rape, and indecent assault carry sentences of up to 10 years in 
prison. Rape was not perceived to be a widespread problem. However, 
there were convictions for rape during the year.
    From January through June 2009 the police domestic violence unit 
received 208 reports of domestic violence. The law makes domestic 
violence a criminal offense, and the Government effectively enforced 
the laws prohibiting it. Penalties ranged from three months to 20 years 
in prison. Some NGOs and victims' assistance advocates asserted that 
domestic violence was underreported, primarily because of concerns by 
women that they would not be believed or protected by law enforcement 
personnel.
    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 shelter referrals. The 
Government also supported victims through the Ministry for Social 
Policy. A government-supported shelter for women and children was in 
operation throughout the year; the Government also provided financial 
support to other shelters, including one operated by the Catholic 
Church.
    Sexual harassment is unlawful and punishable by a 2,329-euro 
($3,121) fine, six months' imprisonment, or both.
    The Government recognized the basic right of couples and 
individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and 
timing of their children. Health clinics and local health NGOs operated 
freely in disseminating information on family planning. There were no 
restrictions on access to contraceptives. There was a free and 
effective government health program that provided for prenatal and 
postnatal care and delivery, as well as other related medical services. 
The maternal mortality rate was low; a UN interagency group estimated 
the 2008 maternal mortality rate to be eight deaths per 100,000 women. 
Men and women received equal access to diagnosis and treatment for 
sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
    Women have the same legal rights as men, including, but not limited 
to, family and property law. Redress in the courts for sexual 
discrimination was available. The Ministry for Social Policy and the 
National Commission for the Promotion of Equality were responsible for 
gender equality and focused on broader integration of women into 
society and advising the Government on the implementation of policies 
promoting equality of women and men.
    The constitution prohibits discrimination based on gender. This 
prohibition was generally enforced in practice.
    Women constituted a growing proportion of graduates of higher 
education and of the workforce. However, they were underrepresented in 
management and generally earned less than their male counterparts. 
According to second quarter statistics for the year, the unemployment 
rate for women was 8.1 percent compared with 6.2 percent for men. 
Figures on the wage disparity between women and men differed 
moderately: the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality 
indicated that for 2008, men were paid 17 percent more than women in 
comparable jobs. The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living 
and Working Conditions (Eurofound) reported in March that the hourly 
pay gap was 2.4 percent. According to Eurostat, between the end of 2008 
and the end of 2009, the latest period for which statistics were 
available, the female employment rate rose from 36.3 percent to 37.2 
percent, while the male employment rate decreased from 73.5 percent to 
71.5 percent.

    Children.--Citizenship generally is derived from one's parents, 
although some specific applications of the law can be complex. While 
specific data on access to health care and education for stateless 
children was not available, according to the local UNHCR 
representative, there were no reports that education and healthcare 
were denied to children.
    In 2009 the Child Protection Service of Appogg, the social welfare 
services arm of the Ministry for Social Policy, received 1,053 
referrals of possibly abused children, up from 854 in 2008. The 
service's total case turnover for 2009 was 1,194, down from 1,256 the 
previous year. There were 697 new and reopened cases, up from 464 in 
2008. In 2009 courts convicted a number of persons for the sexual abuse 
of minors. During the year 60 persons were charged, and 20 were 
convicted for such offenses. Some observers speculated that an increase 
in the legal drinking age from 16 to 17 resulted in significantly fewer 
minors' being in potentially predatory situations.
    Several individuals claiming to have been abused by clerics 
consistently claimed that authorities did not pursue cases of alleged 
sexual abuse of children by Catholic clerics unless a parent or adult 
filed a formal complaint. They alleged authorities instead allowed the 
church to handle the matter internally. Once a complaint was filed, 
however, authorities followed the same police investigative and 
judicial procedures as for other such complaints.
    Statutory rape is punishable by three to six years in prison. The 
minimum age of consent is 18. Rape committed by violence carries a 
penalty of imprisonment for three to nine years, with or without 
solitary confinement. Creation of child pornography is prohibited and 
punishable by imprisonment from one to five years (up to eight years in 
special circumstances). Possession of child pornography is also 
prohibited and punishable by imprisonment not exceeding three years.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were isolated reports of anti-Semitic acts 
during the year. The Jewish community numbered approximately 120 
persons. No specific incidents were observed or reported, apart from 
unspecified insults yelled at the Israeli Foreign Minister during a 
June visit. Police protected the Foreign Minister, but no demonstrators 
were arrested.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits both the public and 
private sectors from discriminating against persons with disabilities 
in employment, education, health care, access to goods and services, 
housing, and insurance, and the Government effectively enforced these 
provisions. As of the end of September, the National Commission for 
Persons with Disabilities (NCPD), the agency responsible for 
enforcement of this law, was working on 113 discrimination complaints 
pending from previous years. During the year ending in September 2009, 
the NCPD opened investigations into 130 new cases and satisfactorily 
concluded 137.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The population included more 
than 10,000 persons of Arab, African, and East European origin. There 
continued to be reports that owners of some bars and discos 
periodically discouraged or prohibited darker-skinned persons, 
particularly of African or Arab origin, from entering their 
establishments. The Government took no specific action to discourage 
these problems.
    In June 2009 authorities charged a bouncer at a popular 
entertainment area with causing a serious injury followed by death 
after a Sudanese migrant whom he allegedly hit in the face died of head 
trauma. The case was ongoing at year's end.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--In June the Malta Gay Rights 
Movement staged a weeklong series of events during Gay Pride Week with 
no reported interference or harassment. The events culminated in a gay 
pride march supporting the adoption of antidiscrimination measures, 
including better access to goods and services and extending to lesbian, 
gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) couples the same rights as other 
family units. The country's antidiscrimination laws regarding sexual 
orientation only extend to the area of employment. Same sex couples do 
not have legal recognition or parenting or adoption rights.
    In October 2009 the Malta Gay Rights Movement hosted the 
International Lesbian and Gay Association-Europe Conference with an 
estimated 300 participants from 48 countries. It also freely carried 
out other public activities.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The constitution allows workers to 
form and join unions of their choice without previous authorization or 
excessive requirements, and workers did so in practice. The law does 
not allow uniformed military and police personnel to join unions. 
Approximately 55 percent of the workforce was unionized. The law allows 
unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the 
Government protected this right in practice. Workers, with the 
exception of uniformed military and police personnel, have the right to 
strike, and during the year they exercised this right by conducting 
legal strikes. The labor law provides for compulsory arbitration; 
however, this provision was not employed during the year.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for collective bargaining, and it was freely practiced. 
Employees without the right to strike or join unions participated in 
associations, such as the police association, through which they sought 
to protect their interests. According to the European Industrial 
Relations Observatory (EIRO) online, as of 2008, all 40,600 public 
sector employees were covered by collective bargaining agreements 
together with 26.7 percent of the 103,055 private sector employees.
    During the year there were no reports of antiunion discrimination 
or other forms of employer interference in union activities.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
the country's one export processing zone.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The constitution 
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, 
there were reports that women were trafficked, primarily from abroad, 
for purposes of forced commercial sexual exploitation.
    For information on trafficking in persons, please see the 
Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There are laws and policies to protect children from exploitation in 
the workplace, and the Government generally implemented these laws 
effectively; however, there were unverified reports that underage 
children worked as domestic laborers, restaurant kitchen help, or 
vendors, and during the summer in family-owned businesses.
    The law prohibits the employment of children younger than 16. The 
director general of the directorate for educational services may grant 
an exemption for employment only after determining that it would not 
harm the health or normal development of the minor. Such exemptions 
were granted in practice. No legal work was specifically restricted; 
however, any work to be performed could not be regarded as harmful, 
damaging, or dangerous to a young person.
    The Employment Training Corporation (ETC), a government entity 
under the Ministry for Social Policy, is responsible for labor and 
employment issues. It generally enforced the law effectively in most 
formal sectors of the economy but allowed summer employment of underage 
youth in businesses operated by their families.
    No assessment was available of the effectiveness with which the ETC 
monitored the often unregistered employment of children as domestic 
employees, restaurant workers, and street vendors.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national weekly minimum wage 
of 152.59 euros ($204), combined with an annual mandatory bonus of 270 
euros ($362) and the latest cost-of-living increase of 242 euros ($324) 
(automatically adjusted annually), provided a decent standard of living 
for a worker and family. Following consultations with workers and 
employers, the Government established the minimum wage, which it 
revises annually based on changes in the cost of living.
    Irregular migrant workers from Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan, and other 
sub-Saharan African countries, who comprised a small but unquantifiable 
percentage of the workforce, sometimes worked under conditions that did 
not meet the Government's minimum standards for employment. In 2008 the 
General Workers' Union (GWU) issued a report documenting what it termed 
the ``exploitation'' of migrant workers. The general secretary of the 
GWU told a press conference that such workers were often employed in 
the most hazardous occupations, such as road construction and highway 
refuse cleanup, where traffic and environmental conditions posed a 
danger, and in the building construction trades, where accidents such 
as collapses might occur. In many cases migrants received less than the 
minimum wage. In 2008, AWAS (then called the Organization for the 
Integration and Welfare of Asylum Seekers), in coordination with the 
ETC, established informational programs to help individuals understand 
how to pursue employment and obtain work permits. The GWU and AWAS 
believed that the programs were beneficial, but there was no data to 
validate this assessment.
    In 2009 the Government ended an assisted voluntary return program 
called ``Dar'' (Maltese and Arabic for ``Home''), through which 
irregular migrants who volunteered to leave the country could receive 
free rail or air fare to their country of origin, plus 5,000 euros 
($6,700). The program successfully repatriated 112 immigrants, the 
majority from Ghana, Nigeria, and Sudan. The Dar program was replaced 
by an 80-percent EU-funded program called ``Restart I,'' administered 
for the Government by the International Office of Migration (IOM). 
Restart provided 200 euros ($268) cash, and up to 2,000 euros ($2,680) 
toward education or business start-up costs, as well as additional 
educational preparation toward a migrant's return. Restart I 
repatriated 29 migrants to their countries of origin. ``Restart II'' 
was launched at the beginning of the year and was scheduled to last 
until June 2011. As of year's end, 19 returnees had benefited from the 
program. The IOM set a goal of 100 returnees by the middle of 2011.
    The standard workweek was 40 hours, but in certain occupations, 
such as health care providers, airport workers, and civil protection 
services, 43 or 45 hours was the norm. Government regulations provided 
for a daily rest period, which is normally one hour, and one day of 
rest per week. Premium pay is required for overtime. Excessive 
compulsory overtime is prohibited, and workers cannot be obligated to 
work more than 48 hours, inclusive of overtime. The Ministry of Social 
Policy generally enforced these requirements effectively in the formal 
economy.
    The Occupational Health and Safety Authority (OHSA), a government 
entity composed of representatives of the Government, unions, and 
employers, conducted regular inspections at work sites and cited a 
number of offenders. Enforcement of health and safety standards 
continued to be uneven; industrial accidents remained frequent, 
particularly in the manufacturing, and building and construction 
sectors. Workers have the right to remove themselves from situations 
that endangered health or safety without jeopardizing their employment, 
and OHSA generally enforced this right.

                               __________

                                MOLDOVA

    Moldova\1\ is a republic with a form of parliamentary democracy. 
The country has an estimated population of 3.56 million, including an 
estimated 600,000 to one million citizens living outside of the 
country. The constitution provides for a multiparty democracy with 
legislative and executive branches, as well as an independent judiciary 
and a clear separation of powers between them; however, under the 
previous government led by the Party of Communists (PCRM), which was in 
power until September 2009, the president heavily influenced the three 
branches of government. In July 2009 parliamentary elections, four 
opposition parties won enough seats to establish a governing coalition, 
known as the Alliance for European Integration (AEI), which entered 
office in September 2009. On November 28, the country held 
parliamentary elections that international observers stated met most 
Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Council 
of Europe (COE) commitments. On December 30, the Liberal Party (PL), 
Democratic Party of Moldova and the Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova 
(PLDM) announced the formation of a second AEI coalition government. 
Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ Unless otherwise noted, all references in this report exclude 
the secessionist region of Transnistria.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    There were reports of police beatings, arbitrary detention by 
police, and occasional illegal searches. Corruption within the police 
and judiciary remained endemic. The Government unduly influenced the 
media, intimidated journalists, restricted freedom of assembly, and 
refused official registration to some religious groups. There were also 
reports of persistent societal violence; discrimination against women; 
trafficking in persons; discrimination against Roma; harassment and 
abuse of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) individuals; 
limits on workers' rights, and child labor. In contrast to the previous 
year, there were no reports of killings by security forces. During the 
year reports of government exercising undue influence over the media 
substantially decreased.
    In 1990, fearing a newly independent Moldova would unite with 
Romania and that the Russian-speaking population would suffer political 
and economic discrimination, separatists supported by Soviet military 
forces declared a ``Transdniester Moldovan Republic'' (Transnistria) in 
the area along the eastern border with Ukraine. The central government 
lacked ability to exercise its authority in the region, and 
Transnistrian authorities governed through parallel administrative 
structures. A 1992 ceasefire agreement established a tripartite 
peacekeeping force comprising Moldovan, Russian, and Transnistrian 
units. In Transnistria, authorities restricted the ability of residents 
to freely change their government and interfered with the ability of 
Moldovan citizens living in Transnistria to vote in Moldovan elections. 
Torture, arbitrary arrests, and unlawful detentions were regularly 
reported. Transnistrian authorities continued to harass independent 
media and opposition lawmakers; restrict freedom of association, 
movement, and religion; and discriminate 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.--In contrast with the 
previous year, there were no reports that the Government or its agents 
committed arbitrary or unlawful killings.
    On May 10, a parliamentary commission concluded that police were 
likely involved in the deaths of Valeriu Boboc, Ion Tibuleac, and Eugen 
Tapu, all of whom died during the postelection demonstrations in April 
2009.
    On March 23, Chisinau mayor Dorin Chirtoaca stated that a source at 
the Ministry of Interior had provided him with new information on the 
April 2009 violence. According to this source, on the night of April 6-
7, 2009, deputy police commissioner Serghei Cociorva ordered 
approximately 60 plainclothes officers to arrest all persons who were 
in the area of the demonstrations. On April 1, Chirtoaca released 
videotaped footage of the April 6-7, 2009 demonstrations, taken from 
closed circuit television cameras mounted in the area. The tape showed 
former deputy police commissioner Iacob Gumenita and inspector Ion 
Perju kicking protestors lying on the pavement in front of the main 
government building. Based on the new evidence, police arrested Perju 
on April 6 and charged him with the murder of Boboc. At year's end, 
Perju remained under house arrest, and criminal charges remained 
pending.
    On April 20, prosecutors charged former interior minister Gheorghe 
Papuc and former police commissioner Vladimir Botnari with criminal 
negligence related to handling the protests and subsequent abuse during 
interrogation of those detained; both men pleaded not guilty, and the 
case was ongoing at year's end. On April 30, police arrested Gumenita 
on charges of misuse of power; at year's end, he remained under house 
arrest.
    In April prosecutors announced a criminal investigation into the 
death of Ion Tibuleac, an anticommunist protester allegedly killed by 
police during the postelection demonstrations. The investigation 
remained pending at year's end.
    In April, after reassessment of the medical forensic examination 
materials, prosecutors concluded that Tapu's death was not linked to 
the April 2009 events. According to the examination report, Tapu died 
two to three weeks before the discovery of his body on April 15. The 
parliamentary commission's contradictory finding on May 15 did not 
prompt prosecutors to reopen their investigation.
    In the separatist region of Transnistria, there was at least one 
report of an alleged killing during the year. According to local 
authorities, on May 22, Alexandru Stomati, a Ukrainian citizen and 
member of the Transnistrian armed forces, committed suicide. After 
conducting its own investigation, local nongovernmental organization 
(NGO) Promo-Lex filed a claim with the European Court of Human Rights 
(ECHR), noting that Stomati had suffered premortem injuries to both his 
head and his upper back, which were inconsistent with authorities' 
account of the suicide.

    b. Disappearance.--There was one allegation of a politically 
motivated disappearance during the year. On the morning of November 23, 
former intelligence service head Artur Resetnikov appeared at a 
hospital with PCRM leader and former president Voronin, two other PCRM 
leaders, and a film crew. Resetnikov alleged that he had been kidnapped 
from downtown Chisinau, that his captors injected him with psychotropic 
substances, and that they demanded information designed to discredit 
Voronin. According to a local police station, officers received a 
report at 1:45 a.m. on November 23 that Resetnikov had been attacked 
just over an hour earlier on a suburban street. Resetnikov publicly 
claimed, however, that he had been kidnapped at 4:00 p.m. on November 
22 from a downtown Chisinau bar, although no witnesses came forward to 
confirm Resetnikov's version of events. Resetnikov declined to meet 
with criminal investigators for an additional six hours, while he slept 
and spoke to the press, and refused examination by doctors or to 
identify the place on his body where he allegedly was injected with 
psychotropic drugs. The documents that Resetnikov claimed that he was 
forced to sign compromising Voronin did not surface, and Resetnikov 
declined to reveal what subjects the documents covered. Prosecutors 
announced an investigation into the incident, which was proceeding at 
year's end.
    A previously reported case of a possible politically motivated 
disappearance was resolved during the year. In February 2009 police 
arrested Gheorghe Ionel, mayor of Vorniceni village and a member of the 
then opposition party, Our Moldova Alliance (AMN), on charges of 
abusing his authority; the Straseni District Court subsequently 
acquitted him. While the judge was reading the acquittal, police 
surrounded the courthouse and forced their way into the courtroom. 
During the commotion, Ionel disappeared, and his whereabouts remained 
unknown until March when he reappeared and resumed his duties as mayor.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices; however, police used 
cruel and degrading arrest and interrogation methods and guards beat 
prison inmates. According to a Soros Foundation study released in 
December, approximately 27,000 persons over the past five years (or 
15percent of total inmates) reported beatings by police. According to 
the parliamentary ombudsman, the frequency and severity of such acts 
decreased compared with previous years. Under the law, inhuman 
treatment carries a sentence of eight to 15 years' imprisonment, and 
torture carries a sentence of 16 to 25 years in prison. Coercing an 
individual to testify is punishable by up to three years' imprisonment; 
if such coercion involves cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, it is 
punishable by three to eight years' imprisonment. Torture inflicted by 
an official to punish, intimidate, or obtain information from a person 
is punishable by two to five years' imprisonment.
    NGOs reported that while courts were somewhat more open to hearing 
allegations of torture, victims still frequently lacked access to 
effective judicial remedies. At times courts declined to hear their 
complaints, and long delays in the legal process caused some 
petitioners to abandon their claims. Victims carried the burden of 
proving that they had been mistreated, which was difficult, since 
prisoners often remained in detention for months before having access 
to courts. By the time they were able to appear in court, the physical 
evidence of abuse had disappeared.
    NGOs reported that prosecutors were more active during the year in 
investigating complaints of police torture, although the number of 
complaints dismissed by prosecutors remained high. In January 
prosecutors reported that of 131 complaints of police torture or 
degrading treatments in 2009 (not connected with the April 7 to 8 
violence), 45 were dismissed, 24 led to criminal investigations, and 
two cases were sent to court. In November, the Prosecutor General 
established a specialized antitorture prosecutor in each region. During 
the year the Prosecutor General's Office established hotlines for 
victims of torture, which provided legal counseling over the telephone.
    Local and international NGOs reported widespread incidents of abuse 
and torture of persons detained after the April 2009 demonstrations. 
During the year a commission charged with investigating the events of 
April 7 held hearings, interviewed witnesses, and reviewed over 200 
hours of videotape before presenting its report to parliament. On July 
8, parliament officially took note of the report and instructed 
government institutions to act on the report's recommendations. 
Parliament recommended that the Prosecutor General's Office: verify 
allegations of electoral fraud in April 2009; determine whether the 
actions of state security officials to withdraw from their assigned 
locations at and around the parliament building were legal; review 
allegations of cyber attacks and take action against persons found 
responsible; verify the lawfulness of Ministry of Interior transfers of 
administratively sanctioned persons to temporary detention facilities 
in regional police directorates; and investigate all cases of torture, 
degrading, and inhumane punishment against arrested and detained 
persons.
    Based on the commission's recommendations, parliament further 
recommended that authorities ensure the rehabilitation of protest 
victims--including both police and civilians--and implement the COE's 
Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) recommendations regarding 
the transfer of temporary detention facilities from Interior Ministry 
to Ministry of Justice authority.
    In January an unidentified officer in Balti ordered a drunken man 
brought to the police station. Upon his arrival, the officer punched 
and kicked the man, causing minor injuries. In July a court found the 
officer guilty of using violence and torture, sentenced him to three 
years' probation, and prohibited him from holding any positions in the 
Interior Ministry.
    In March 2009 police arrested Ivan Orlioglo, Ivan Caracet, Dmitrii 
Covic, and Vitalii Orlioglo for armed robbery and assault. All four men 
reported that after their arrest, police subjected them to repeated 
beatings, and two of the men alleged that police beat them with plastic 
bottles filled with water. The Orlioglo brothers also stated that they 
were suffocated; Ivan Orlioglo said that investigating officers taped 
his mouth and then repeatedly plugged his nose. Both Caracet and Ivan 
Orlioglo claim that they had guns put to their temples and were 
threatened with execution to coerce a confession. This information 
became part of the official court transcript. On June 30, a court 
convicted the four men of all charges against them, with sentences 
ranging from 10 to 13 years. The judge admitted into evidence the 
testimony of all four defendants without addressing their allegations 
of physical abuse. However, the judge called attention to multiple 
serious ``infractions'' by investigating officers which, ``although 
they did not affect the outcome of the case, demand adequate 
compensation.'' Because of these violations, the judge reduced the 
sentence of each defendant by three years. According to Amnesty 
International (AI), authorities took no action to investigate further 
the torture allegations.
    According to the CPT, during its late-April 2009 visit, authorities 
were investigating 99 cases of alleged police abuse related to the 
April 2009 demonstrations. At the time of the CPT's return visit in 
July, prosecutors had not initiated criminal charges against any 
members of the police. After the Government came to power, prosecutors 
initiated 106 investigations of alleged police torture and other 
abuses. Through these investigations, prosecutors pursued 46 criminal 
cases against police officers, including 26 cases involving torture; 12 
cases of abuse of power; and other cases involving charges of murder, 
attempted murder, and attempted kidnapping. Through August authorities 
had charged 40 police officers in 24 separate criminal cases with 
crimes related to the April demonstrations; two were convicted during 
the year. During the year an additional 25 investigations were 
suspended and six were closed.
    On December 14, a court in Chisinau convicted police officers 
Gheorghe Vutcariov and Alexandru Mocanu of physically abusing and 
unlawfully arresting a young man in connection with their actions 
during the April 2009 protests. Vutcariov, of the Chisinau General 
Police Directorate, was sentenced to five years in prison, with a five-
year suspension and deprivation of the right to hold office for two 
years for ``abuse of power'' and ``false statements in public 
documents.'' Mocanu, a member of the ``Scut'' Regiment, was sentenced 
to two years in jail, with a five-year suspension and deprivation of 
the right to hold offices for ``abuse of power.''
    In 2008 the UN special rapporteur on torture stated that police 
abuses remained common, and prosecutors, judges, medical staff, and 
staff at penitentiaries failed to investigate allegations of 
mistreatment and torture promptly. Alleged torture methods included 
severe beatings, electroshock, asphyxiation through oxygen deprivation 
while wearing gas masks, and putting needles under fingernails. In his 
February 2009 report, the rapporteur acknowledged some improvements by 
the Government but also noted the widespread prevalence of mistreatment 
of prisoners in preventive detention and the continued use of torture 
by some police. The rapporteur also noted that complaint mechanisms 
were inefficient, that a statute of limitations impedes justice in 
torture cases, and that in a majority of cases prosecutors refused to 
allow independent medical examinations.
    In January 2009 the Chisinau Court of Appeals reinstated charges 
against Sergiu Perdeleanu, chief of security at the Cricova 
penitentiary, for allegedly torturing inmates in 2008, but downgraded 
those charges from a criminal to an administrative offense. The 
military prosecutor disagreed with the decision and appealed it to the 
Supreme Court. In May 2009 the Supreme Court annulled the appeals 
court's decision and ordered the case retried by a different judge in 
the same court. In September 2009 prosecutors ordered the initiation of 
criminal proceedings against Perdeleanu. In December 2009 the Court of 
Appeals found Perdeleanu guilty and sentenced him to three years in 
prison. On June 15, the Supreme Court upheld the appeals court's 
judgment and sentence.
    According to an ombudsman's report released in March, authorities 
received 6,027 complaints of torture or inhumane and degrading 
treatment allegedly committed by government officials in 2009, 
representing a significant increase over previous years (1,075 
complaints in 2008 and 1,289 in 2007). In 693 cases, authorities 
initiated criminal investigations: 208 cases alleging acts of torture, 
438 alleging acts of violence and exceeding authority, and 47 alleging 
acts of inhumane and degrading treatment. Of the number of cases under 
investigation, 383 defendants were convicted. The prosecutor's office 
failed to begin an investigation in 5,334 cases, citing a lack of 
evidence. Prosecutors completed the investigation and issued 
indictments on 293 criminal cases. At year's end, 400 cases remained 
pending.
    The report also noted that authorities with the power to 
investigate allegations of police abuse frequently failed to do so. For 
example, in October 2009 a person identified as C.S. was transferred to 
Prison No. 13 with a concussion and lesions on his face. He explained 
that an officer at the Straseni detention facility, identified as 
Lieutenant-Major C.M., had struck him in the face. Authorities delayed 
the prisoner's petition against the officer who allegedly struck him; 
they only investigated the incident and charged the officer with 
torture after the intervention of the ombudsman. Those charges remained 
pending at year's end.
    In September 2009 during a visit to Prison No. 13, the ombudsman 
reported that detainees complained of psychological pressure from other 
detainees and intimidation from prison authorities, including the 
imposition of unjustified disciplinary sanctions to force them to 
withdraw their testimony in the criminal case against Perdeleanu. The 
ombudsman requested that the Ministry of Justice and prosecutors take 
all legal measures necessary to protect the witnesses.
    During the year the Ministry of Justice allotted 400,000 lei 
($33,380) to renovate five cells (occupied by 19 minors) and a 
gymnasium at Prison No. 13 in Chisinau, in accordance with EU 
standards. In response to recommendations from the EU, on April 26, 
authorities closed all solitary confinement cells in which minors had 
previously been held for breaching internal regulations.
    On November 29, a military court in Chisinau acquitted former 
Contract Lieutenant Alexandru Botezatu of the Ministry of Defense Guard 
Battalion of charges of abuse of power and use of excessive force 
against soldiers in his charge but fined him 3,000 lei ($250). On 
December 3, prosecutors appealed against the sentence as too lenient. 
That appeal was pending at year's end.
    During the year the ECHR issued judgments that found violations by 
the state of the prohibition against torture and protections against 
inhuman or degrading treatment as provided by the European Convention 
on Human Rights (see section 1.c.).
    In the separatist region of Transnistria, former detainees alleged 
they had been subject to torture and mistreatment in detention centers. 
According to the NGO Promo-Lex, approximately 90 detainees in a 
Tiraspol pretrial detention center began a hunger strike on October 10 
to protest ``cruel, degrading, and inhuman treatment'' that included 
arbitrary detention, torture, and denial of medical care and legal 
assistance. Promo-Lex reported the holding of many of the detainees for 
more than six months without a court hearing, and some relatives 
claimed that they had not been able to visit detainees or deliver food 
packages.
    During the year prisoners in Transnistria undertook hunger strikes 
but gained no concessions from authorities. One such prisoner, Iurie 
Matcenco, was arrested in September 2009 on suspicion of fraud and was 
beaten while in custody. He filed a complaint with the ECHR on February 
19; on March 15, the court admitted his case. Matcenco alleged that the 
Transnistrian intelligence agency forced him to undergo a mock 
execution, and that both police and intelligence officers beat him 
during his detention.
    On April 1, the ECHR accepted the case of Boris Mozer, who was 
arrested in March 2009 for allegedly damaging telephone company 
property. Told of his plans to raise his case with the ECHR, prison 
authorities told Mozer that ``it will be worse for you if you 
complain.'' On July 1, Mozer was released on parole.
    In Transnistria the closed military court system regularly ignored 
reports of alleged hazing and abuse of conscripts in the Transnistrian 
``army.'' There were unconfirmed reports that Transnistrian authorities 
drafted men who had already completed mandatory military service in the 
Moldovan armed forces. According to NGOs, the treatment of conscripts 
improved slightly during the year: food was reported to be better and 
parents were allowed to visit their conscripted sons. In contrast with 
previous years, there were no reports of conscripts being forced to 
march and run in boots that were several sizes too small. However, 
reports of hazing continued, and officers warned conscripts not to harm 
the army's reputation by reporting it.
    Transnistrian military authorities continued to restrict 
information on deaths of conscripts, although there were reports of at 
least two such deaths during the year. One conscript allegedly killed 
himself by jumping from a third-floor window. On January 21, Serghei 
Verbitskii was found dead in a trailer used by Transnistrian soldiers 
working in the kitchen facilities of a military unit. Verbitskii died 
due to a fire reportedly caused by a short circuit. On January 30, the 
Transnistrian Military Prosecutor's Office stated that military 
commanders violated local legislation that forbids housing soldiers in 
facilities other than barracks. The Military Prosecutor's Office 
mentioned that similar violations occurred very often in Transnistria. 
No further developments in this case were reported by year's end.
    The law provides for four parliamentary ombudsmen who make up the 
independent Moldovan Human Rights Center (MHRC). Parliament appoints 
the ombudsmen to examine claims of human rights violations, advise 
parliament on human rights problems, submit legislation to the 
Constitutional Court for review, and oversee MHRC operations. MHRC 
personnel also provided training for lawyers and journalists, visited 
prisons, made recommendations on legislation, and organized roundtable 
discussions. Between January 1 and December 16, the MHRC registered 
1,686 complaints of human rights violations: 389 concerned personal 
security and dignity, 403 concerned social assistance and protection, 
139 concerned free access to information, and 70 involved the right to 
work. The MHRC provided assistance from its own resources, if possible, 
and referred other cases to authorities.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prisons and pretrial 
detention facilities around the country continued to fall far short of 
meeting international standards. While conditions in most prisons, 
including those in Transnistria, remained harsh, authorities reduced 
overcrowding and improved nutrition in prisons under the control of 
central authorities in Chisinau. According to the ombudsman, the number 
of persons imprisoned decreased during the year, primarily because of 
increasing use of alternatives such as house arrest and fines. 
Conditions were particularly harsh in pretrial and presentencing 
facilities, but, in contrast with previous years, suspects were 
generally held for fewer than 10 to 20 days.
    According to the 2009 ombudsman's report, conditions in the 38 
pretrial detention facilities did not improve significantly. Pretrial 
facilities, located mostly in the basement of the police stations, 
generally lacked access to natural light; artificial light was 
described as being mediocre or poor. In some facilities, ventilation 
systems were nonexistent. A number of pretrial facilities also lacked 
toilets and sewage systems. At the Chisinau General Police Station, 
inmates generally were allowed to shower once a week but were not 
provided soap. According to the ombudsman, sleeping conditions were 
inadequate; for example, detainees were offered wooden bunks, but 
pillows or bed sheets were not provided.
    Prisons did not provide for recreational activities. Cell sizes did 
not conform to local law or international standards. The incidence of 
malnutrition and disease, particularly tuberculosis, was high in all 
prisons.
    In October the total number of prisoners and pretrial detainees was 
10,415, with 4,111 inmates in prisons and 6,304 persons in pretrial 
detention centers. The country maintained a maxim prison capacity of 
5,860 and a maximum detention center capacity of 8,580. There were 320 
women and 87 juvenile prisoners serving terms in Moldovan 
penitentiaries.
    Of the country's 18 penitentiaries, two were recently renovated, 
and conditions in those prisons were significantly improved compared 
with the 16 facilities that had not been renovated. The ombudsman 
reported that overcrowding in unventilated spaces, lack of timely 
access to healthcare, and poor sanitation continued to be the norm in 
the other 16 penitentiaries. In all penitentiaries, the ombudsman noted 
poor relations between prison authorities and prisoners.
    The UN special rapporteur on torture visited the country during the 
year, but was denied access to individual detainees. In a February 2009 
report detailing his previous visit, the rapporteur noted that police 
kept most detainees in custody for several weeks or months; they often 
returned to pretrial detention facilities only when physical signs of 
torture were no longer visible. In the Transnistrian region, prisoners 
transferred by police were packed in poorly ventilated vans and were 
often held in such conditions for hours. Prisoners with diseases, such 
as tuberculosis, were routinely held with healthy prisoners.
    The commissioner's medical expert observed that the records of 
injuries kept in the detention facility at the General Police 
Directorate in Chisinau were extremely cursory and superficial, in 
contrast to the prison and hospital medical records. A CPT delegation 
also noted deficiencies in the recording of injuries at police 
establishments in a report on its 2007 visit to the country.
    According to the Center for Human Rights and the Moldovan Institute 
for Human Rights, complaints received from prisoners and detainees did 
not show evidence of censorship by prison authorities.
    Generally, detainees were permitted religious observance.
    Official discrimination based on an inmate's health condition was a 
common problem, and at least one HIV-positive inmate was the victim of 
such discrimination during the year (see section 6).
    The ombudsman monitored the observance of human rights and 
fundamental freedoms in public institutions, including prisons. The 
ombudsman has the right to inspect, publicize, and recommend actions; 
and publish results of investigations.
    The Government permitted independent monitoring of prison 
conditions by local and international human rights observers, and 
prison officials generally allowed observers to interview inmates in 
private. Representatives of international organizations and embassies 
were allowed to visit detainees that had been arrested after the April 
2009 demonstrations, but they were able to do so only several days 
after the arrests. The Government cooperated with the International 
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and permitted visits to prisoners in 
accordance with the ICRC's standard practices.
    In July 2009 a CPT delegation visited the country. The delegation 
visited the temporary detention facility of the General Police 
Directorate, as well as the Centru and Ciocana district police stations 
in Chisinau. It also had a series of interviews, including at Prison 
No. 13, with alleged victims and potential witnesses of police abuses; 
it examined in detail a number of relevant investigation files.
    During its 2009 visit, the CPT noted that the practice of holding 
remand prisoners in police temporary detention facilities continued 
unabated. The CPT found that detention cells did not offer suitable 
conditions for holding persons remanded in custody. While the CPT noted 
that cells in the Chisinau General Police Directorate had been fitted 
with beds and that some repair works carried out a few months before 
the visit, it found that overall conditions in the facility were still 
not suitable for the prolonged periods that prisoners and 
administrative detainees were being held. These conditions included 
high official occupancy levels in the cells (for example, four places 
in a 10 square yards cell), poor lighting in cells, and access to 
outdoor exercise limited to 15 minutes.
    Although there were no juveniles being held at the time of the 
visit, police staff working at the General Police Directorate informed 
the delegation that juveniles may be detained together with a carefully 
chosen adult (for example, a first offender or former police officer).
    Transnistrian civil society representatives complained that it was 
extremely difficult to gain access to Transnistrian detention 
facilities. Moldovan lawyers were denied access to clients in 
Transnistrian prisons unless accompanied by a local Transnistrian 
attorney. Conditions in those facilities were grave, particularly in 
the Tiraspol prison. Sick and contagious prisoners shared quarters with 
healthy prisoners.
    In July a CPT delegation visited the Transnistria region. On July 
22, as the delegation was preparing to visit Prison Colony No. 3 in 
Tiraspol, Transnistrian authorities informed the delegation that the 
CPT would not be allowed to interview remand prisoners in private. The 
delegation ended its visit in protest of this restriction.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--While the law prohibits 
arbitrary arrest and detention, authorities did not observe these 
prohibitions in practice.
    A parliamentary ombudsman employed by the Government regularly 
visited various places of detention, including police stations and 
detention rooms at psychiatric hospitals, railway stations, and the 
Chisinau airport. The ombudsman found that many arrestees were not 
registered in logbooks, and railway police arbitrarily arrested 
citizens before their trains departed and released them after their 
trains left the station. Police at the airport often detained travelers 
for document checks and then released them without explanation. Most of 
the persons placed in detention at police stations were arrested for 
petty crimes, insulting police, or for document checks, although they 
were carrying valid documents. During the year the ombudsman reported 
some improvements in registration of prisoners; however, the practice 
continued.
    On April 20, the ECHR ruled in favor of Oleg Brega, a local 
Chisinau journalist, who in 2008 staged a silent protest outside the 
main government building in connection with his brother's arrest and 
detention a few days earlier. Police officers approached Brega and 
arrested him for disturbing public order, while he filmed the 
encounter. A local court subsequently acquitted him on the basis that 
Brega was arrested and detained on false grounds, as it could be seen 
from his video that he had neither resisted arrest nor insulted the 
police officers. Brega alleged that the verbal and physical abuse to 
which he was subjected before and during his arrest, and the poor 
conditions of his subsequent detention, including lack of access to 
medical care, constituted inhuman and degrading treatment. He also 
alleged that his detention for 48 hours without legal basis further 
violated his rights. The court agreed, and ordered authorities to pay 
Brega 8,000 euros (approximately $11,200) in nonpecuniary damages.
    On April 7, Transnistrian authorities arrested local journalist 
Ernest Vardanean and Transnistrian tax official Ilie Cazac and charged 
them with espionage. On June 25, and on subsequent occasions during the 
year, the OSCE expressed concern that the two were deprived of the 
right to choose their own legal counsel, the right to be represented by 
counsel of their own choice at pretrial detention hearings, and the 
right to contact their families. In addition, the OSCE criticized the 
televised airing of an alleged confession by Vardanean and noted that 
the confession was made in the presence of security officers. On 
November 3, the Transnistrian newspaper Novaya Gazeta carried a report 
quoting a letter from Stella Surkichan, Cazac's mother, who wrote that 
during the arrest, officers planted some papers and a flash drive on 
her son and that he was severely beaten and forced to sign papers 
afterwards. ``He was questioned for 10 to 15 hours in a row with no 
food, water, or toilet. He was threatened by long jail terms and 
reprisals against his family.'' She quoted her son as saying that, 
during a visit by the head of the OSCE mission to Moldova, he was 
instructed to lie on behalf of the State Security Ministry. On December 
16, Vardanean was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment for ``high 
treason'' by Transnistrian authorities.
    The ombudsman reported instances during the year in which police 
rearrested previously acquitted individuals and detained them for 
unspecified short periods.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The national police 
force is the primary law enforcement body. It is subdivided into 
regional and city police commissariats, which are subordinated to the 
Ministry of Interior.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law allows 
judges to issue arrest warrants based on evidence from prosecutors. 
Authorities must promptly inform detainees why they were arrested and 
describe the charges against them. Suspects may be detained without 
charge for 72 hours. The ombudsman noted several cases during the year 
in which police records contained no mention of the arrest of prisoners 
who were in jail, thereby allowing authorities to extend detentions 
beyond the 72-hour limit.
    Once charged, a detainee may be released pending trial. The law 
provides for bail, but it was rarely utilized and the system did not 
function well. Authorities generally did not authorize bail for 
detainees accused of violent or serious crimes.
    Detainees have the right to a defense attorney, but at times, this 
right was restricted. Authorities generally did not grant detainees 
access to a lawyer until 24 hours after being detained. Police often 
told persons that they were witnesses in a case, questioned them 
without a lawyer present, and subsequently detained them as suspects. 
Detainees were often informed of the charges against them without a 
lawyer being present. The Government required the local bar association 
to provide representation to indigent defendants, but did not reimburse 
lawyers for legal fees. Consequently, poor defendants often did not 
have adequate counsel.
    The law permits pretrial detention for up to 30 days. The courts 
may extend pretrial detention for up to 12 months, depending on the 
severity of the charges. Pretrial detentions lasting several months 
were common.

    Amnesty.--The Government generally granted amnesty to persons 
sentenced to less than four years in prison; as a result, such persons 
often served no jail time for their offenses.
    On July 1, acting president Mihai Ghimpu pardoned a group of 
convicts condemned for various offences, including two with 
disabilities. When examining the pardon requests, the reviewers and 
pardoning officials took into consideration the character and extent of 
the social threat of committed crimes; the offender's behavior and 
attitude towards work in prison, as well as participation in social 
activities within detention facilities; family status; and the term of 
punishment.
    On March 23, Transnistrian leader Igor Smirnov signed a decree 
granting a mass pardon, commutation, or amnesty to hundreds of inmates. 
More than 900 persons benefitted from the amnesty, including those who 
had served in the 1990-92 conflict with Moldova, persons convicted of 
lesser crimes, disabled and ill inmates (including those suffering from 
tuberculosis, HIV, and cancer), mothers, and single parents.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary; however, there were reported instances of 
government officials failing to respect judicial independence in 
practice. Official pressure on judges and corruption remained problems. 
There continued to be credible reports that local prosecutors and 
judges asked for bribes in return for reducing charges or sentences, 
and observers asserted that judges sometimes faced political influence. 
Political factors also played a role in the reappointment of judges. 
According to Freedom House, judges were appointed and promoted based on 
subjective and nontransparent factors. Younger judges, who held initial 
five-year appointments, were particularly vulnerable to influence by 
the executive branch. According to the 2009 EU progress report, the 
Government continued to fall short in its implementation of judicial 
system reforms.
    In 2007 the Government instituted a judicial code of ethics and 
created the new position of inspector judges, who are responsible for 
investigating and reporting cases of judicial misconduct or ethics 
breaches to the Supreme Council of Magistrates. Inspector judges 
referred 15 cases against 17 judges in 2008 and 25 cases against 27 
judges in 2009. In 2009 the council issued warnings to eight judges, 
issued ``severe warnings'' to three, and dismissed one; the council 
dismissed the complaints against the remaining 13 judges.
    According to the American Bar Association's (ABA) 2009 Judicial 
Reform Index, the establishment of a judicial administration department 
within the Ministry of Justice constituted an attempt by the executive 
branch to exert control over the judiciary's finances. The ABA also 
described the Judicial Administration Department as understaffed, 
ineffective, and lacking the capacity to oversee adequately the 
administration of the judiciary. While the department was responsible 
for developing the annual draft budget after consultations with the 
courts, in 2009 the Superior Council of Magistracy presented the 
proposed judiciary budget directly to parliament without consultation.
    The judiciary consists of lower courts, courts of appeal, and the 
Supreme Court of Justice. A separate Constitutional Court has exclusive 
authority in cases relating to the constitutionality of draft and final 
legislation, decrees, and other governmental acts. Most outside 
observers have assessed the Constitutional Court as the only court that 
was reasonably fair and objective. By law the Prosecutor General's 
Office is autonomous and answers to parliament. It is responsible for 
overseeing criminal investigations, filing charges, and protecting the 
rule of law and civil freedoms. Prosecutors have discretion to close 
cases before they reach trial for lack of sufficient evidence, but the 
injured party can appeal this decision to an investigative judge. This 
discretion gives prosecutors considerable influence over the judicial 
process, and NGOs asserted that political influence continued to play a 
role in some prosecutions.
    The military court system, which operated independently of the 
civilian courts, also suffered problems with corruption and 
inefficiency similar to those of the civilian courts. The jurisdiction 
of military courts extends to crimes committed by active duty, reserve, 
and retired military personnel. Military courts can also try civilians 
for crimes committed against military personnel.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides that defendants in criminal 
cases are presumed innocent; however, in practice, this presumption had 
little effect. On some occasions, judges' remarks jeopardized the 
presumption of innocence. NGOs expressed concern that the practice of 
keeping defendants in handcuffs and metal cages during court 
proceedings went beyond what was necessary to secure public order and 
failed to ensure the presumption of innocence.
    Cases are presented to a judge or to a panel of judges. 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 indigent defendants. The practice 
of appointing temporary defense lawyers without allowing them to 
prepare adequately was common and infringed upon the right to legal 
assistance. Prosecutors occasionally used bureaucratic maneuvers to 
restrict lawyers' access to clients but they generally allowed defense 
attorneys access to the evidence. The law provides a right to appeal 
convictions to a higher court.
    According to a 2008 OSCE report, based on a six-month project that 
monitored thousands of hearings in hundreds of criminal cases at all 
levels of the justice system, legal guarantees of a fair trial 
functioned only partially. Although the law provides for defendants to 
have an interpreter, the OSCE observed a shortage of interpreters, a 
lack of knowledge of legal terminology, and a tendency to mix Romanian 
and Russian terms. Nearly 40 percent of court interpreters did not 
translate in a fully satisfactory manner. The OSCE also noted that 
judges at times ordered proceedings to be conducted in Russian, 
although some participants complained they could not understand the 
language.
    The OSCE noted that proceedings were often not open to the public; 
court facilities were inadequate; and a large number of judges, 
prosecutors, and defense lawyers failed to treat victims and witnesses 
with respect.
    Implementation of the witness protection law was inconsistent. 
During the year AI reported several cases of Transnistrian authorities 
disregarding trial procedures, and noted that, in practice, defendants 
in Transnistria were denied access to a fair trial.
    In 2007 Transnistrian security services arrested Alexandr Alimpiev, 
former Transnistrian justice minister and former president of Tiraspol 
municipal court, and charged him with accepting a bribe, insulting a 
law enforcement officer, and resisting a search warrant. He remained in 
detention until his 2008 conviction, at which time he was sentenced to 
seven years' imprisonment. In 2009 authorities released Alimpiev 
without a formal review of this sentence. AI noted that authorities 
infringed his right to a fair trial on several occasions, censored his 
correspondence with his attorney, and subjected him to ``precarious'' 
conditions of imprisonment, despite being ill.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--In contrast with the previous 
year, there were no reports of political prisoners.
    According to AI, since the change of government in September 2009, 
national authorities had discontinued the practice of fabricating 
criminal cases for political ends.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--During the year the 
Government paid 14.2 million euros ($19 million) in damages for cases 
lost at the ECHR. In 2009 individuals and advocacy groups lodged 3,400 
complaints against the Government. The most common complaints concerned 
alleged violations of due process.
    On January 5, the ECHR ruled in favor of a local company, Bucuria, 
which alleged that the judiciary failed to notify the company of a 
lawsuit brought against Bucuria by a former employee, nor did it notify 
the company of subsequent proceedings in the case. The court awarded 
Bucuria 1,000 euros ($1,340) in nonpecuniary damages.
    On May 18, the ECHR ruled in favor of Liuba Anusca, whose son was 
performing military service in 2004 when he was found dead under a tree 
with a broken cord around his neck, the other end of which was tied to 
a branch. Military prosecutors investigated and ruled the death a 
suicide. Prosecutors subsequently reopened and closed the investigation 
several times before concluding in 2008 that no crime had been 
committed. While the ECHR found no reason to doubt the finding of 
suicide, it expressed concern that civilian prosecutors had considered 
it necessary to intervene three times, ordering the military prosecutor 
on each occasion to reopen the investigation and conduct further 
inquiries into significant issues. The total time of three years and 
seven months until the investigation finally concluded could not be 
justified by its complexity or any objective difficulties, and the 
court awarded Anusca 8,000 euros ($10,700) in damages.
    On July 13, the ECHR found in favor of Vladimir Parnov, who claimed 
that he was subjected to police brutality in 2005 when he was arrested 
and detained on charges of possession and sale of marijuana. Parnov was 
acquitted of the charges in 2007. The court agreed that the 
investigation into his abuse allegations was inadequate, and awarded 
him 9,000 euros ($12,000) in nonpecuniary damages and 800 euros 
($1,070) in costs.
    On September 14, the ECHR ruled in favor of the NGO Hyde Park, 
ruling that arrests and fines for demonstrations in 2007 constituted 
unlawful interference with their right of peaceful assembly.
    According to the local NGO Lawyers for Human Rights, during the 
year national authorities became significantly more likely to execute 
the decisions of the ECHR, resulting in payment of applicable penalties 
to victims. Court decisions against district level governments and 
municipalities frequently remained unexecuted, because these entities 
lacked the funds to pay judgments levied against them. In the past, 
judgments against private parties were nearly impossible to execute, 
given widespread corruption and the lack of resources and oversight in 
the country's bailiff system. To improve the situation, beginning on 
September 10, the Government began issuing licenses to private bailiffs 
who would operate on retainer. According to the Justice Ministry, the 
situation had not been in place long enough for an assessment of its 
effectiveness by year's end.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The law provides for 
citizens to seek damages in civil courts for human rights violations. 
Under the constitution, the Government is liable when authorities 
violate a person's rights by administrative means, fail to reply in a 
timely manner to an application for relief, or commit misconduct during 
prosecution. Judgments awarded in such cases were often small and not 
enforced.
    The mediation law establishes an alternative mechanism for 
resolving civil and criminal cases voluntarily between parties and 
establishes rules for the status of professional mediators. However, 
the country still lacked an implementation mechanism. Observers noted 
that a lack of financial resources and institutional capacity were the 
main impediments to implementing the law.

    Property Restitution.--While the law provides for the restitution 
of property and compensation for victims of political repression, the 
Government often failed to provide funds to the commissions established 
to receive these petitions; as a result, the commissions lacked funds 
to provide payments to victims. In Chisinau, where authorities 
allocated approximately six million lei ($575,000) for compensation, no 
commission existed to make payments. Applicants must prove a direct 
causal connection between political repression and the seizure of their 
properties to receive restitution.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions; however, the 
Government did not respect these prohibitions in practice.
    It was widely believed that law enforcement authorities, including 
the Interior Ministry, prosecutors, the Prosecutor General's Office, 
and the Security and Intelligence Service, continued to conduct illegal 
searches and wiretaps. Under the law, the Security and Intelligence 
Service is the only institution that can legally conduct wiretaps, 
including those made at the request of prosecutors or police. Judges 
may authorize legal wiretaps only in the course of investigating a 
serious crime. In February 2009 the ECHR ruled that the country's 
criminal procedure law fails to provide a clear and detailed 
interpretation of reasonable suspicion required to authorize a wiretap. 
The ECHR also noted that the law does not contain safeguards against 
the overuse of wiretaps and does not provide adequate protection 
against the abuse of power by the Government because of wiretapping. 
Courts continued to accept illegally obtained evidence.
    According to a Justice Ministry report, examining magistrates 
ordered 3,803 wiretaps in 2009, an increase of 1,448 over the previous 
year.
    In July prosecutors acknowledged that the Security and Intelligence 
Service had illegally wiretapped Minister of Justice Alexandru Tanase 
in 2009. During hearings, two intelligence officers admitted they 
received orders to intercept Tanase's calls but refused to divulge who 
gave the orders. A criminal investigation into the illegal conduct 
remained ongoing at year's end. On October 22, in a separate case, 
prosecutors charged the head of the Interior Ministry's Operative-
Technical Unit with privacy violations and abuse of authority in 
another illegal wiretapping case. The unit head had been suspended 
temporarily from his position in July. On December 13, prosecutors 
announced that they had completed their investigation into the Ministry 
of Interior's unauthorized wiretapping of European Action Movement 
leader Veaceslav Untila, AMN leader Serafim Urechean, and seven other 
persons; charges were pending 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 the press; however, these rights were not always respected 
in practice. Individuals could criticize the Government publicly and 
privately without reprisal. According to Reporters without Borders, 
press freedom improved significantly since 2009.In contrast with 
previous years, individuals and organizations critical of the 
Government no longer risked monitoring and subjection to abusive tax 
and registration inspections.
    On July 13, the ECHR awarded damages to nine employees and former 
employees of the public broadcaster Teleradio Moldova, who alleged in 
2002 that they were victims of undue political influence over editorial 
policy; the court agreed and held that the Government had violated 
their freedom of expression. The court noted that authorities had 
failed to enact legislation which would offer safeguards against 
government officials' abusive interference in free speech and which 
would clearly indicate the scope and the limits of the discretion 
enjoyed by those authorities in controlling editorial content.
    The print media expressed diverse political views and commentary. 
There were approximately 260 newspapers and magazines in the country. A 
number of the newspapers were owned or subsidized by political figures 
and expressed well-defined political views. The Government owned the 
Moldpress News Agency, and local and city governments subsidized 
approximately 25 newspapers. Political parties and professional 
organizations also published newspapers.
    Formerly government owned newspapers, Moldova Suverana and 
Nezavisimaia Moldova, continued to favor the PCRM in their coverage. 
These papers often used inflammatory language and photo-edited 
portrayals of opponents as Nazis in articles criticizing the 
opposition. In February prosecutors began investigations of the 
legality of the privatization of these two newspapers, a process that 
started in 2005. According to the authorities, the former communist 
government initiated the liquidation process of these papers, but did 
not finish it and illegally transferred over one million lei ($83,000) 
from the State Reserve Fund to cover debts of these two papers.
    The Government did not restrict foreign publications, but most were 
not widely circulated because of high cost. Newspapers from Russia were 
available, and some of these papers published special weekly local 
editions.
    According to the Audiovisual Coordinating Council (ACC), 47 radio 
stations, 63 television channels, and about 140 cable providers 
operated in the country. Most stations rebroadcast programs from 
Romania, Russia, and Ukraine and offered limited, locally produced 
programming. Other foreign programs, including a range of international 
news broadcasts, were available by subscription from private cable 
television operators. Some local governments, including that of 
Gagauzia, operated television and radio stations and newspapers.
    In April two major foreign-financed news channels, Jurnal TV and 
Publika TV, began local broadcasting.
    Observers noted that the public broadcaster, which under the 
previous government had heavily skewed coverage in favor of the 
communist authorities, became increasingly balanced in its news 
coverage since the AEI government assumed power in September 2009.
    In 2008 the ACC announced that it would not automatically extend 
the expiring license of the private television channel PRO TV, along 
with those of other broadcasters, although the law provides for 
automatic extension if no major violations have occurred. Media 
observers criticized the ACC decision, while noting that ambiguities in 
the law allowed for such political actions, and PRO TV initiated a 
court challenge of the ruling. In November 2009 the Supreme Court of 
Justice ruled that the ACC should automatically extend PRO TV's license 
and those of other broadcasters; the ACC then extended PRO TV's license 
for another seven years.
    In 2008 the ACC distributed 40 provincial television frequencies to 
two progovernment stations, significantly expanding their coverage, and 
did not consider other applications for the frequencies. After the 
Government assumed power in September 2009, complaints that the ACC's 
decisions were politically motivated decreased.
    Owners of the private, procommunist television station NIT accused 
the AEI government of trying to shut down the channel. NIT alleged that 
the new government refused to extend a lease for space in a government-
owned building that NIT had been renting for 12 years. The Government 
responded that it needed the space for use by government agencies, and 
NIT could continue to use other offices in the same, earlier 
privatized, building.. Later in the year, NIT vacated the Government-
owned offices and moved into the smaller privatized offices in the same 
building.
    A July monitoring report by the NGO Access Info Center indicated 
that there were continuing problems in the implementation of the law on 
access to information and the law on transparency in government 
decision making. Only 34.5 percent of 943 public institutions asked to 
provide data on their implementation of the transparency law responded 
to the data request.
    On April 21, prosecutors closed the criminal case initiated against 
Vocea Basarabiei radio station by the communist government in 2007. 
Authorities at the time alleged that the station had aired calls to 
overthrow the Government during a radio program. Prosecutors concluded 
that the alleged actions did not constitute a crime.
    On January 19, the ACC ordered the Ploaia de Argint (Silver Rain) 
radio station to suspend broadcasting pending an appeals court ruling 
on the station's complaint against the ACC. The station had sued the 
ACC for its refusal to automatically extend its expired license as 
required by the 2006 audiovisual law. The ACC claimed in response that 
internal regulations required broadcasters that received licenses under 
the old law to compete again for frequencies. The station continued to 
transmit programming on the same frequency.
    On June 18, the parliament approved modifications to ACC 
regulations on license issuance to provide for automatic licence 
extensions.
    In 2008 opposition members of the Balti municipal council 
criticized the nontransparent manner in which the public broadcaster, 
Teleradio Balti, was undergoing privatization, noting that the 
privatization commission was staffed exclusively by councilors 
belonging to the majority PCRM. In November 2009 Teleradio Balti was 
forced to suspend broadcasting after the ACC ruled that the station did 
not have the right to broadcast until it was fully privatized. However, 
at the end of November, at the request of Balti authorities, the ACC 
revised its earlier decision and allowed Teleradio Balti to resume 
broadcasting under the condition that it completes its privatization by 
February 1. Since then, Balti authorities have made four unsuccessful 
attempts to privatize the station. Lack of interest from investors 
resulted in the suspension of privatization at year's end.
    There were continued reports that authorities denied independent 
media access to official events. In May and August 2009, the Ministry 
of Interior prevented journalists from the Internet-based Jurnal TV 
from covering its press conferences. In July a television crew from TV-
Prim was prevented from covering a public meeting of the prime minister 
in Glodeni. On July 14, police in Donduseni expelled two journalists 
from the Moldavskie Vedomosti newspaper from a hall where the prime 
minister had been meeting with local residents.
    During and after the protests that followed the April 2009 
parliamentary elections, government harassment and aggression against 
journalists dramatically increased. The PCRM government frequently 
denied access to its public events to media representatives it 
considered disloyal. On occasion journalists were intimidated into 
practicing self-censorship.
    Libel is not a criminal offense, and the law limits the amount of 
fines for slander. Nevertheless, some newspapers continued to practice 
self-censorship and avoided controversial issues out of concern that 
government officials and other public figures could use civil 
defamation laws to retaliate against critical news coverage. On October 
9, a new law on freedom of expression entered into force, which 
provided that protection of honor, dignity, and business reputation'' 
would not outweigh the right of the public to obtain information 
relevant to the public interest. The law also provides that ``no one 
shall be prosecuted for disclosure of information on the private or 
family life of a person if the public interest in its dissemination 
overweighs the interest of the particular person in its 
nondisclosure.''
    The law prohibits the editing and publication of literature that 
contains ``denial and defamation of the state and the people; calls for 
war or aggression, calls to ethnic, racial, or religious hatred; 
incitement of discrimination, territorial separatism, or public 
violence.'' Several private publishing houses opposed these provisions, 
claiming that they impose censorship.
    On July 28, an employee of the Center for Combating Economic Crimes 
and Corruption (CCECC) verbally and physically assaulted Jurnal TV 
reporter Victor Ciobanu while he was filming outside the Appeals Court. 
The employee allegedly grabbed the reporter's camera during the 
incident and removed the digital memory card. A group of major media 
NGOs, as well as international media organizations, strongly criticized 
the incident, calling upon the authorities to observe the media's 
rights. The center claimed that it had launched an internal 
investigation into the incident and, if the allegations were proved, 
there would be monetary compensation to the victim and discipline the 
employee.
    During the year the parliamentary mass media committee began an 
initiative to amend the law to allow broadcasters to possess up to five 
broadcasting licenses in each of the county's administrative zones. In 
June a group of media NGOs expressed public concern over the 
initiative, which they claimed could lead to the monopolization of 
media by a small number of actors.
    In Transnistria authorities greatly limited freedom of speech and 
of the press. Alternative viewpoints were subject to widespread 
censorship, and residents were wary of voicing alternative opinions and 
engaging in meaningful debate over key issues affecting the separatist 
region.
    It was difficult to register, maintain, and finance independent 
newspapers, radio stations, or television stations in Transnistria, 
although several continued to exist. Most newspapers from central 
government-controlled areas did not circulate widely in Transnistria, 
although they were available in Tiraspol. Foreign publications, 
including publications edited in Chisinau, were difficult to obtain, as 
separatist authorities imposed a 100 percent customs duty.
    On April 7, Transnistrian authorities arrested local journalist 
Ernest Vardanean on charges of high treason against the separatist 
government and spying for Moldova. On May 11, Transnistrian television 
aired a video recording with Vardanean confessing that in 2001, while 
he was studying at the Moldova State University, he collaborated with 
Moldova's Security and Information Service. Vardanean's lawyer, as well 
as his family, stated that Vardanean made this statement under 
psychological pressure. On November 3, the OSCE reported that 
Transnistrian soldiers prevented OSCE representatives from observing 
Vardanean's trial. On December 16, a Transnistrian court convicted 
Vardanean of treason and sentenced him to 15 years in prison.
    Both of Transnistria's major newspapers, Pridnestrovie and 
Dnestrovskaya Pravda, were official publications of the separatist 
administration. Separatist authorities harassed other, independent 
newspapers for publishing reports critical of the regime. Independent 
daily newspapers such as Novaia Gazeta and Chelovek i yevo Prava were 
published, but each had a circulation of only about 3,000. Other small-
circulation papers expressing views critical of Transnistrian 
authorities were published on a weekly or monthly basis. Authorities 
controlled all printing houses and, at times, threatened to stop the 
printing of independent newspapers, including one based in Bender and 
another in the northern city of Ribnita.
    Transnistrian authorities controlled the majority of television and 
radio stations in the region and largely dictated editorial policies 
and financial operations. Transnistria's largest commercial entity, 
Sheriff Enterprises, owned some broadcast networks, such as the TSV 
television station and the INTER-FM radio station. The company also 
effectively controlled the Obnovlenie (Renewal) Party, which held a 
majority of seats in the region's legislature. Transnistrian 
authorities also operated the other major television station, 
Transnistrian Moldovan Republic Television. While these outlets on 
occasion expressed alternative views on social and economic policy, 
Transnistrian authorities sharply criticized any mention of compromise 
with the central government or any questioning of the Transnistrian 
goal of ``independence.''

    Internet Freedom.--In contrast with previous years, the Government 
did not issue any letters threatening to suspend domain names for 
expression of political views.
    There were approximately 50 Internet service providers (ISPs) in 
the country. While most citizens could not afford computers and private 
access to the Internet, public access at cafes in major cities was 
readily available. In 2009 a local ISP created public Wi-Fi hot spots 
in several public parks in Chisinau. According to the report of the 
National Agency for Regulations in Telecommunications and Information 
Technologies, there were 203,500 Internet users in the country in 2009, 
a 30.6 percent increase over 2008. Between the end of 2009 and April, 
the number of broadband Internet users increased from 187,000 to 
203,000. The number of dial-up users decreased from 17,000 to 12,000 
during that same period.
    There were no reports that the Government attempted to collect 
personally identifiable information in connection with individuals' 
peaceful expression of political, religious, or ideological opinion. 
However, the opposition PCRM complained that the PLDM, led by Prime 
Minister Vlad Filat, used personally identifiable data to send 
personalized electoral campaigning materials to voters.
    In Transnistria Internet connections were available in most parts 
of the region, and most residents accessed the Internet through 
publicly available computers at cafes. One company, Sherriff 
Enterprises, was the sole ISP in the region.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The law provides for freedom of assembly; however, at times 
authorities limited this right in practice. Authorities denied LGBT 
activists a permit for a pride parade, and, in response to the December 
2009 anti-Menorah demonstration at which police did not intervene, the 
Jewish community celebrated Hanukkah and the Menorah lighting on 
private property.
    NGOs reported that rights of freedom of assembly have improved 
under the new government. While the previous PCRM government at times 
prevented opposition parties and activists from traveling to Chisinau 
for rallies, on May 1, authorities allowed over 15,000 supporters of 
the opposition PCRM to march in downtown Chisinau and converge in front 
of the main government building for a peaceful rally.
    According to a study commissioned by NGOs Promo-Lex and the 
Resource Center of Moldovan NGOs for Human Rights, an average of 82 
assemblies took place per month between February and June 2009. There 
were 85 in February, 141 in March, 65 in April, 53 in May, and 79 in 
June--all in connection with parliamentary elections.
    According to a June UNHCR report, Transnistrian authorities 
severely restricted freedom of assembly and rarely issued required 
permits for public protests. On those occasions when they did issue 
permits for demonstrations, authorities often harassed organizers and 
participants and ordered that the demonstrations take place in obscure 
locations away from city centers. Permits for demonstrations and public 
meetings were issued predominantly to organizations and groups loyal to 
the authorities.

    Freedom of Association.--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 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.
    In Transnistria authorities severely restricted freedom of 
association. Separatist authorities granted the legal right of 
association only to those they recognized as citizens of Transnistria. 
All nongovernmental activities must be coordinated with local 
authorities, and groups that did not comply faced harassment, including 
visits from security officials. Any organizations favoring 
reintegration with the rest of Moldova were strictly prohibited.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    Transnistrian authorities at times restricted travel of 
Transnistrian residents and other Moldovans to and from the separatist 
region.
    Transnistrian authorities often stopped and searched vehicles 
traveling between the region and the central government-controlled 
area. According to the local Helsinki Committee, waits of up to two 
hours at Transnistrian checkpoints occasionally occurred, as did 
arbitrary fines and seizures of goods from persons entering or exiting 
the region.
    Short-term visitors from government-controlled areas to 
Transnistria were permitted to remain for 10 hours. A longer stay 
required an official letter of invitation and registration at a local 
passport office. Transnistrian authorities allowed farmers from 
government-controlled villages in the Dubasari region of Transnistria 
to travel to areas outside Transnistria to sell their produce. On a 
number of occasions during the year, Transnistrian authorities denied 
Western diplomats stationed in Chisinau entry into the region for 
routine visits but at other times allowed them entry.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it. There were no reports that Transnistrian authorities exiled persons 
from their territory during the year.
    Although citizens generally were able to depart from and return to 
the country freely, there were some limitations on emigration. Before 
persons are allowed to emigrate, the law requires that they satisfy all 
outstanding financial obligations to other persons or legal entities. 
This requirement was not strictly enforced in practice. The law also 
provides that close relatives who are financially dependent on a 
potential emigrant must give their concurrence before the emigrant is 
allowed to depart the country; this law was also not enforced in 
practice.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees.
    In practice the Government provided protection against the return 
of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be 
threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership 
in a particular social group, or political opinion.

    Stateless Persons.--Citizenship can be acquired by birth in the 
country, inheritance from parents, adoption, recovery, naturalization, 
or on the basis of certain international agreements. On July 1, 
parliament amended the law on citizenship and granted citizenship to 
persons who resided in the historical regions of Bessarabia, Northern 
Bucovina, the Herta region, and in the territory of the Moldovan 
Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic prior to June 28, 1940, as well as 
their descendants.
    According to UNHCR statistics, there were 2,036 stateless persons 
in the country on September 30, an increase from 1,805 at the beginning 
of 2009. The largest numbers were Russians, Ukrainians, and ethnic 
Moldovans born outside the country. Of this total, 1,547 resided in 
Transnistria. According to the UNHCR, stateless persons enjoyed equal 
rights in terms of employment and education but frequently were 
prevented from applying for citizenship because they lacked 
certificates showing that they had no criminal records.
    During the year the UNHCR assisted several refugees in gaining 
citizenship by court order. However, despite legal provisions that 
allow a stateless person who resides legally in the country for eight 
years to seek citizenship, the UNHCR was unsuccessful in assisting such 
persons in obtaining citizenship.
    On July 1, authorities reduced the time for completing a 
provisional residence permit for foreign nationals and stateless 
persons from 30 to five days. Residence permits for a period of up to 
one year are issued to foreign citizens and stateless persons 
temporarily residing in Moldova; they cost approximately 640 lei ($53).
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 in most of 
the country through periodic elections based on universal suffrage. 
Unlike the previous year, there were no reports that authorities 
harassed or intimidated the political opposition, misused 
administrative resources in favor of government-supported candidates, 
or restricted opposition access to public media.
    In Transnistria authorities restricted the right of residents to 
vote in elections and interfered with the right of Moldovan citizens to 
vote in Moldovan elections.
    The constitution provides for a form of parliamentary government. 
The parliament is elected by popular vote and it then elects the 
president by a three-fifths majority vote, or 61 out of 101 members of 
parliament. If the parliament repeatedly fails to elect a president, it 
is dissolved and new elections are required, although the law states 
that parliament can only be dissolved once per year. In 2009 parliament 
failed on four occasions to elect a president. To resolve the impasse, 
the Government held a referendum on September 5, which asked voters to 
approve direct popular voting for president. Political parties 
campaigned freely and without harassment to support or reject the 
proposition. The PCRM boycotted the referendum. In the final results, 
87.8 percent of voters supported the referendum's call for direct 
popular voting for president, but the turnout (30.29 percent of 
registered voters) was insufficient to validate the referendum, for 
which a one-third turnout of registered voters was required. As a 
result, election of the president remains a function of parliament.

    Elections and Political Participation.--On April 27, the ECHR ruled 
in favor of Justice Minister Alexandru Tanase (a dual Romanian-Moldovan 
citizen), who in 2007 preemptively challenged a law that required dual 
nationals to renounce their other nationality before being allowed to 
take a seat parliament. In the April 2009 elections, Tanase was elected 
to parliament. He wrote a letter to the Romanian Embassy in Chisinau, 
announcing being forced to initiate the renunciation of his Romanian 
nationality, but indicating that he reserved his right to withdraw the 
letter after the ECHR judgment. On April 27, the court ruled that the 
law was discriminatory of dual nationals and, therefore, violated the 
European Convention on Human Rights.
    International and local observers noted positive developments 
during the July 2009 parliamentary election campaign and the September 
5 referendum, including greater Central Election Commission (CEC) 
openness and the ability of party representatives to be present during 
polling. However, CEC performance has remained inconsistent, and voter 
registration has yet to be centralized, making it harder to identify 
those who vote multiple times. Voter lists, maintained by the CEC, were 
largely outdated and subject to manipulation. Political parties cited 
these lists as a major concern by leading to the November elections.
    International observers concluded that the November 29 
parliamentary elections met most international commitments, and the 
elections administered in a transparent and impartial manner, with a 
diverse field of candidates that provided voters with genuine choice. 
According to the observers, authorities respected civil and political 
rights during the election campaign, and media outlets covered the 
campaign actively and provided voters with diverse information. 
International observers provided a generally positive assessment of 
election day, despite some procedural errors. The OSCE election 
observation mission noted that authorities should make further efforts 
to strengthen public confidence in the democratic process.
    On December 12, first-round elections occurred for governor of the 
autonomous region of Gagauzia. A monitoring effort sponsored by the 
East European Foundation judged that the election met international 
standards despite minor violations, including advertisements near 
polling stations, multiple voters sharing a booth, and a lack of 
heating or electricity in some polling stations. Confusion arose from 
the fact that some voting procedures in the governor's election 
differed from those used in the November 28 parliamentary elections.
    There were 19 women in the 101-seat parliament elected on November 
28. Members of ethnic Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Azeri, Jewish, and 
Gagauz communities had representation in parliament alongside members 
of the majority Moldovan/ethnic Romanian community.
    In Transnistria authorities held legislative elections on December 
12, in which the Renewal Party, the main party in opposition to 
``president'' Igor Smirnov, won a majority of 23 seats in the 43-seat 
Transnistrian Supreme Soviet.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement these laws effectively, and 
NGOs and international organizations reported that corruption was 
pervasive throughout the Government and society. A Transparency 
International preliminary survey revealed that only 75 percent of 
public officials could define the concept of a ``conflict of 
interest.''
    Police corruption remained a serious problem. According to 
prosecutors, the Interior Ministry ignored, or only superficially 
examined, reports of police corruption. The prosecutor in charge of the 
Ministry of Interior's anticorruption activities noted that corruption 
was endemic and took place at all levels--from low-level functionaries 
to government ministers.
    On August 24, Justice Minister Tanase noted that many judges 
illegally gave lenient sentences to persons convicted of trafficking-
related offenses. He cited the case of Cahul Court judge Vasile Vulpe 
who in 2008 issued a five-year suspended sentence for human trafficking 
when the penalty prescribed by law is 10 to 25 years in prison. Judge 
Vulpe's immunity from prosecution was subsequently was lifted, and a 
Chisinau court tried Vulpe of purposefully issuing an illegal judicial 
decision. He was acquitted in June 2009. On November 11, in a 
subsequent lawsuit brought by Vulpe challenging his dismissal as a 
judge, the Supreme Court upheld the legality of Vulpe's dismissal upon 
the expiration of his judicial appointment.
    A Transparency International survey conducted in 2009 reported that 
51 percent of those interviewed said they had paid bribes to the 
police. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, between January 
and November, prosecutors initiated 103 criminal investigations against 
police, including in 43 cases of alleged torture. The CCECC initiated 
31 criminal investigations, mainly on charges of corruption. Of these, 
the prosecutors sent 62 cases to court, and the CCECC sent 21cases.
    Corruption in the educational system was widespread. The law 
provides for punishing university rectors, deans, and chairs for 
corrupt acts, including grade buying and extortion, with fines or 
imprisonment of two to seven years. The law does not apply, however, to 
professors and lecturers. Ministry of Education regulations do not 
address corruption explicitly, and the bylaws of the major universities 
do not provide sanctions for cheating or bribery. There were reports 
that some university officials offered falsified documents for sale to 
assist students in obtaining work and travel visas.
    The Government acknowledged that corruption was a major problem. 
NGOs and political party representatives asserted that authorities at 
times failed to act in an impartial manner.
    The law provides free public access to official information; 
however, the Government did not fully implement the law. NGOs 
complained that gaining access to information required repeated, often 
unsuccessful, requests to authorities. Court decisions ordering release 
of information were not implemented fully or in a timely manner. 
According to the NGO Access-Info Center, between January and August, 
public officials frequently denied the media access to information in 
violation of law and procedures. Since coming into office, the 
Government made some improvements; however, the Access-Info Center 
noted that full responses to information access requests remained low, 
averaging 24 percent, because of a lack of information management 
policies.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    Domestic and international human rights groups generally operated 
in the country without government restriction, investigating and 
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government agencies 
were frequently cooperative and responsive to their views.
    In Transnistria authorities continued to impede activities of human 
rights groups. For example, ``immigration'' officials frequently 
blocked entry into the region by representatives of Moldovan NGOs 
attempting to meet local human rights counterparts and contacts. 
Moldovan NGOs also reported that in 2009 Transnistrian officials 
contacted local organizations and advised them not to attend events and 
seminars organized by Moldovan NGOs.
    On several occasions in 2009, representatives of a Moldovan NGO 
arrived in the region to hold capacity-building seminars for local 
groups. In advance of their visits, Transnistrian officials warned the 
NGO not to come. When they arrived, they found that attendees to these 
workshops included camera operators--ostensibly from local television 
stations--who filmed the proceedings, as well as representatives of 
progovernment veterans' organizations, and a representative of the 
public affairs office of the Russian peacekeeping force in 
Transnistria. On at least one occasion, in December 2009, Transnistrian 
cameramen followed the participants and filmed them as they exited 
buses rented for the occasion. Transnistrian television subsequently 
broadcast this footage as part of an anti-NGO expose. Following these 
events, the organization chose to hold its seminars outside 
Transnistria.
    Transnistrian authorities also continued to control and intimidate 
NGOs by inviting their representatives to meetings where security 
officials were present and pressuring landlords not to renew leases for 
office space. Authorities restricted NGOs from providing legal advice 
and other assistance on political programs, such as domestic disputes, 
access for persons with disabilities, and property and pension rights. 
Transnistrian authorities encouraged NGOs operating in the region to 
cooperate with Russian, Abkhazian, and South Ossetian organizations 
rather than Western NGOs and those that operated in Moldova proper. 
Transnistrian authorities also required representatives of Moldovan 
NGOs wishing to operate in Transnistria to register locally as separate 
organizations.
    Transnistrian authorities frequently limited OSCE access to the 
separatist region, including to the four- to eight-mile security zone 
dividing Transnistria from the rest of the country.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability, 
ethnicity, or social status; however, the Government did not always 
enforce these prohibitions effectively.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape or forcible sexual assault and 
penalties range from three years to life in prison. The law also 
criminalizes spousal rape.
    Rape remained a problem, and there were no specific government 
activities to combat rape. In the first 11 months of the year, 
prosecutors opened 311 criminal cases of rape. Of these cases, 78 were 
dismissed and 138 were forwarded to courts for trial. These figures 
were close to the totals for 2009 with 260 cases opened, 66 dismissed, 
and 105 forwarded to courts for trial. Prosecutors were unsure if the 
increased numbers reflected higher crime rates or better reporting. 
NGOs believed that many rapes remained unreported.
    The law defines domestic violence as a criminal offense, provides 
for the punishment of perpetrators, defines mechanisms for obtaining 
restraining orders against abusive individuals, and extends protection 
to unmarried individuals and children of unmarried individuals. The law 
also provides for cooperation between government and civil society 
organizations, establishes the protection of the victim as a human 
rights principle, and allows third parties to file complaints on behalf 
of victims. According to a 2009 report by the local NGO La Strada, 
there were no government standards regarding the quality of victim 
support services or for the identification, assessment, or monitoring 
of domestic violence cases.
    According to NGOs, domestic violence and spousal abuse remained 
widespread. A 2008 survey indicated that at least 40 percent of women 
in the country had been the victim of at least one violent act in their 
life. Domestic violence was closely linked to human trafficking. 
According to local NGOs, at least 80 percent of trafficking victims had 
previously been victims of domestic violence. A study released during 
the year by the Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS found that 51.3 percent of 
women who had a sexual partner had experienced psychological violence 
in their lifetime and that 26.8 percent experienced such violence in 
the previous 12 months. A total of 24.2 percent had experienced 
physical violence in their lifetime, and 10.3 percent had experienced 
it in the previous 12 months. Slightly more than 12 percent had 
experienced sexual violence in their lifetime and 7.1 percent in the 
past 12 months. Rural women experienced all forms of violence in 
significantly higher proportions than urban women did, and younger 
women experienced more emotional and sexual violence compared with 
older women.
    Victims of domestic violence generally suffered in silence, as the 
problem received little recognition from government, society, or other 
women. Unless such violence resulted in serious injuries, most citizens 
accepted it as a normal aspect of private life by both men and women, 
and not a problem warranting legal intervention. Surveys indicated that 
only 11.2 percent of domestic violence victims sought medical 
assistance, only 12.2 percent reported the abuse to the police, 6.3 
percent pursued claims through the justice system, and 5.1 percent 
reported their abuse to other municipal authorities.
    NGOs noted that one of the reasons women rarely reported domestic 
violence to authorities was because of the general weakness of 
available legal remedies, which commonly consisted of fines and brief 
detentions for convicted abusers. After their release from detention, 
abusers commonly returned to their homes and continued the abuse. Fines 
often had the effect of significantly reducing the overall household 
budget, which further harmed the wives and children of abusers.
    Women's groups continued to assert that incidents of spousal abuse 
were significantly underreported. According to the Ministry of 
Interior, between January and November authorities registered 1,997 
cases of domestic violence. The actual numbers were believed to be much 
higher.
    The Government supported education efforts, usually undertaken with 
foreign assistance, to increase public awareness of domestic violence 
and to instruct the public and law enforcement officials on how to 
address the problem. The city of Chisinau operated a women's shelter 
for domestic violence victims. Private organizations operated services 
for abused spouses, including a hotline for battered women. Access to 
such assistance remained difficult for some.
    The NGO La Strada operated a hotline for reporting domestic 
violence, offered victims psychological and legal aid, and provided 
victims with options for follow-up assistance. During the first nine 
months of the year, the hotline received 623 calls from victims of 
domestic violence requesting assistance. Despite the success of the 
hotline, La Strada representatives noted that few victims requested 
follow-up assistance.
    In July parliament approved criminal code amendments designed to 
better promote the safety and well-being of victims, their children, 
and their property. The amendments require the abuser to leave lodgings 
shared with the victim, regardless of who owns the property. The 
amendments also provide for psychiatric evaluation and counseling, 
forbid the aggressor from approaching the victim either at home or at a 
place of business, and forbid visitation of children pending a criminal 
investigation. Courts may apply such protective measures for a period 
of three months, and can extend them upon the victim's request or 
following repeated acts of violence.
    In Transnistria there is no law prohibiting violence against women. 
Domestic violence against women in Transnistria was a serious problem, 
although, given the lack of laws against domestic violence the extent 
was difficult to estimate. According to a 2009 study conducted by the 
NGO Rezonans, one in four women in Transnistria experienced domestic 
violence in the form of physical abuse, economic manipulation, or 
psychological violence.
    Sexual harassment remained a common problem. In July parliament 
approved amendments to the criminal code that criminalize sexual 
harassment and provide for penalties ranging from a fine to a maximum 
of two years imprisonment. The new law prohibits sexual advances that 
affect a person's dignity or create an unpleasant, hostile, degrading, 
or humiliating environment in a workplace or educational institution.
    In January the parliamentary ombudsman received complaints from 
parents claiming that their children at a high school in the Chisinau 
suburb of Riscani were being sexually harassed. The ombudsman's 
investigation revealed that a number of girls had been sexually 
molested by a teacher. The Riscani prosecutor's office refused to 
launch a criminal investigation, stating that the acts took place 
before the criminalization of sexual harassment in July. Authorities 
argued that the law in force at the time prohibited only the use of 
force to make another person commit a sexual act. The school board 
subsequently dismissed the teacher, but a court later reinstated him 
because the school board had failed to follow proper legal procedures. 
Appeals remained pending at year's end, and the ombudsman responsible 
for children continued to monitor the case.
    Couples and individuals could decide freely and responsibly the 
number, spacing, and timing of their children and had the information 
and means to do so free from discrimination, coercion, and violence. 
The Government adopted laws and implemented policies to increase the 
birthrate by ensuring free obstetric and postpartum care to all 
citizens and by paying child benefits of 1,700 lei ($140) for the first 
child in a family, and 2,000 lei ($165) for each subsequent child. 
Applying to receive child benefits was sometimes difficult because of 
excessive bureaucracy, but there were no reported cases of denial of 
payment. Mandatory government medical insurance covered all expenses 
related to pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care. During pregnancy, the 
Government provided essential medicines free of charge.
    Most medical institutions, both state and private, had free 
booklets and leaflets about family planning and contraception. There 
were no reports of women discriminated against when diagnosed with or 
treated for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. There were 
reports that some employers failed to provide women with paid maternity 
leave or threatened pregnant women with termination of employment.
    There were no reports of Romani women denied obstetrical, 
childbirth, or postpartum care. However, many Romani women failed to 
take advantage of free government-administered medical care during 
pregnancy. There was no reliable information on Romani access to 
contraception.
    The law provides for full gender equality. The National Bureau of 
Statistics reported that women experienced higher levels of employment 
than men did. Women, however, earned approximately 85 percent of what 
men earned for equal work. According to an EU report released in 2008, 
the country's implementation of the 2006 law on equal opportunities for 
men and women was slow. In some cases, especially in rural areas, women 
encountered attitudes and stereotypes that served to perpetuate the 
subordinate position of women in the family and in society.
    The law provides for 70 days of paid leave for pregnant women, and 
an additional 56 days of postpartum maternity leave (70 days in case of 
complicated or multiple births). Once this officially authorized leave 
period is exhausted, men and women have the option of taking partially 
paid paternity or maternity leave for up to three years (counting 
towards an employee's seniority). Women are also entitled to unpaid 
maternity leave of up to six years from the child's birth, while 
retaining the right to their job. This period is also included in 
seniority. While government-owned companies generally followed these 
regulations, private firms often ignored the law by restricting 
maternity leave periods through individual work contracts.

    Children.--Citizenship can be acquired by birth in the country, 
inheritance from parents, adoption, recovery, naturalization, or on the 
basis of certain international agreements. Registration of birth is 
free of charge for all citizens. Civil registration offices within 
maternity hospitals issued birth certificates before the mother and 
newborn were discharged from the hospital.
    Primary education was free and compulsory until the ninth grade, 
although many inadequately funded schools, particularly in rural areas, 
charged parents for school supplies and textbooks. Although not 
illegal, such fees contradicted the Government's policies and resulted 
in some parents keeping their children home. Government and local 
authorities provided 300 lei ($29) for school supplies annually to 
children from vulnerable families.
    Romani NGO Vocea Romilor reported that 2,800 Romani children were 
unable to attend school because of poverty. According to Romani NGO 
Ograda Noastra, approximately 50 percent of Romani children attended 
school, but the group acknowledged that such estimates were often 
unreliable.
    The law prohibits child neglect and specific forms of abuse, such 
as forced begging; however, child abuse was believed to be widespread. 
In December 2009 law enforcement agencies had opened 405 cases for 
crimes against children, including 97 cases of sexual abuse, 20 cases 
of serious bodily injuries to children, and 10 cases of premeditated 
murder. The Ministry of Interior is responsible for investigating and 
prosecuting child sexual abuse cases, but declined to release 
statistics on the scope of the problem.
    According to the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection, and Family, 
inadequate victims' services, lack of reliable methods to track cases, 
and insufficient legal mechanisms to prevent such abuse or to provide 
special protection to victims, hampered efforts to protect children 
from abuse. According to the ministry, more than 25 percent of minors 
admitted to being beaten by their parents, 20 percent said they 
experienced parental verbal abuse, and 15 percent said they lacked food 
and care. Approximately 10 percent of parents admitted to abusing their 
children, emotionally or physically.
    During the year there were reports of cases of child prostitution. 
Commercial sex with minors is punished as statutory rape. The minimum 
age for consensual sex is 16 years. The law prohibits production, 
distribution, broadcasting, import, export, sale, exchange, use, or 
possession of child pornography, and violators face one to three years' 
imprisonment.
    According to the Center for Combating Trafficking in Persons, in 
the first 11 months of the year, authorities opened 19 investigations 
into allegations of child trafficking, approximately the same number as 
during the same period in 2009. Prosecutors filed formal criminal 
charges in eight of these cases, and courts convicted three persons on 
criminal charges related to trafficking of children, sentencing two 
persons to prison and giving the third person a suspended sentence.
    Conditions for children in orphanages and other institutions 
remained generally very poor. Underfunding caused major problems such 
as inadequate food, ``warehousing'' of children, lack of heat in 
winter, and disease. NGOs estimated that approximately 25 percent of 
the children in orphanages had one or two living parents but were 
abandoned when their parents left the country in search of employment. 
Observers estimated that approximately one-third of children lived in 
households where one or both parents had left the country in search of 
work. Such children often lived in poverty, and were particularly 
vulnerable to trafficking and labor exploitation.
    Various government ministries ran their own orphanages and boarding 
schools. The Ministry of Labor, Social Protection, and Family 
maintained two boarding schools with a population of 675 children with 
disabilities and three asylums providing temporary shelter (for up to 
one year), counseling, and other assistance to up to 110 children from 
socially vulnerable families. The Ministry of Education oversaw 19 
boarding schools with 5,932 students, and two orphanages with 137 
children. The ministry reported that 35 percent of the children in its 
care were orphans or abandoned. The other 65 percent came from socially 
vulnerable families in which parents were unable to maintain even basic 
living conditions. The ministry also supervised 42 institutions for 
children with disabilities, housing up to 5,487 children.
    On August 13, Minister of Education Leonid Bujor announced that the 
number of children placed in residential institutions had dropped by 
32.6 percent since 2007, following implementation of a National Action 
Plan for the Reform of the Residential Care System for Children. 
According to Bujor, 7,087 children lived in 56 institutions run by the 
Residential Care System for Children and, of those, 17 percent were 
orphans. He also noted the existence of 76 family homes for children, 
87 professional foster parents, 102 daycare centers, two social-medical 
rehabilitation centers, and 31 temporary placement centers for families 
with children facing difficulties.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community had approximately 25,000 
members, including 2,600 living in Transnistria.
    On the night of September 11, unknown individuals painted Nazi 
swastikas and SS symbols on the facade of the synagogue in Chisinau. 
According to the chief rabbi, Zalman Abeliskii, several other minor 
incidents occurred during the year. The investigation is ongoing. 
Parliament speaker and acting president Mihai Ghimpu described the 
profanation of the synagogue as ``a provocation.''
    In December 2009 the Chisinau Jewish community organized the 
dedication of a five-foot-high menorah in the city's central park. A 
crowd led by Moldovan Orthodox priest Anatolie Cibric gathered, engaged 
in anti-Semitic speech, dismantled and removed the menorah from its 
base, and placed it upside down at the feet of a nearby statue of 
Stephen the Great, the medieval Moldovan king who is also a Moldovan 
Orthodox saint. Authorities condemned the incident and fined Cibric for 
his role in it.
    On November 10, in Chisinau, several hundred Orthodox Christians 
marched to warn local authorities against allowing the Jewish community 
to place a menorah in downtown Chisinau during the upcoming Hanukah 
celebration. A leader of the Orthodox Youth Association told media that 
placing the menorah near the statue of Stephen the Great was offensive 
and constituted a form of oppression of Christians by non-Christians. 
Chisinau mayor Chirtoaca responded by telling the Jewish community to 
proceed with plans to place the menorah downtown. Seeking to avoid 
further desecration of the menorah, Jewish community leaders instead 
decided to place the menorah on private property in the courtyard of 
the Chisinau Jewish Community Center. On December 1, the Jewish 
community dedicated the menorah, and it remained there during the 
holiday without incident.
    In March 2009, after one of Chisinau's synagogues received a 
shipment of kosher food from abroad for the upcoming Passover holiday, 
police officers made several visits to the synagogue to search the food 
parcels.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to public facilities, 
healthcare, or the provision of other state services, but the law was 
rarely enforced. Local NGO Gaudeamus reported continued widespread 
discrimination against students with disabilities.
    On August 25, shortly after the country's ratification of the UN 
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Ministry of 
Education issued an order ensuring the inclusion of orphans and 
children with disabilities and special educational needs into the 
educational system.
    During the year there were over 170,000 persons with disabilities 
in the country. While national strategies for reforming the residential 
childcare system and rehabilitating and integrating persons with 
disabilities existed, the Government did not provide funding to 
implement them. Persons with disabilities faced discrimination, social 
exclusion, poverty, unemployment, low quality education, and lack of 
access to social protection. The director of the Center for Services 
for Students with Disabilities noted that the structure of educational 
institutions and the lack of materials for teaching persons who are 
deaf or blind were illustrative of the Government's general failure to 
meet the needs of persons with disabilities.
    Official regulations mandate access to buildings for persons with 
disabilities, and most government buildings provided such access. While 
most newly built or reconstructed private buildings were accessible, 
older buildings often were not. The Government provided few resources 
to training persons with disabilities. The Social Assistance Division 
in the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection, and Family and the 
National Labor Force Agency are responsible for protecting the rights 
of persons with disabilities.
    On October 6, authorities approved a framework regulation on 
organization, operation, and quality standards of ``community houses'' 
for persons with mental disabilities. Such community houses were 
designed to take the place of boarding facilities for children with 
mental disabilities.
    According to the Association of the Blind, there were 9,000 persons 
nationwide with visual impairment, of which 3,500 were fully blind. The 
2009 ombudsman report noted problems involving persons with visual 
impairment exercising their right to vote. According to the election 
law, voters unable to complete a ballot on their own have the right to 
invite another person to help them vote. However, this procedure 
jeopardizes the voter's right to a secret ballot. The ombudsman urged 
the Government to make ballots available in Braille.
    During the November 28 parliamentary election, at one polling 
station in Chisinau, authorities piloted a new method of direct, secret 
voting for persons with visual impairments.
    In Transnistria children with disabilities and special educational 
requirements rarely attended school and lacked access to specialized 
resources.
    Although the law provides for equal employment opportunities and 
prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities (with the 
exception of jobs where certain health conditions are required), in 
practice many employers failed to provide accommodation to persons with 
disabilities and avoided employing persons with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--There were continued reports 
that Roma experienced violence, harassment, and discrimination. NGOs 
reported instances in which Roma were denied medical services, told 
that promised jobs were already filled when they reported to employment 
centers, and were subjected to arbitrary arrests and harassment. Roma 
were the country's poorest minority group and many continued to live in 
unsanitary conditions in segregated communities lacking basic 
infrastructure. These conditions often led to segregated education and 
schools with even fewer resources than existed elsewhere in the 
country.
    Official statistics put the number of Roma in the country at 
11,600. However, some Romani NGOs estimated it to be as high as 
250,000, including 100,000 persons of voting age. NGOs asserted that 
government census forms allowed persons to identify with only one 
ethnic group, and that many Roma declined to identify themselves as 
Roma.
    A 2009 report by the NGO National Center for Roma noted several 
specific cases of police harassment of Roma, including illegal searches 
and detention, at times accompanied by verbal intimidation, racial 
slurs, beatings, and extortion demands.
    Many Romani children did not attend school, very few received a 
secondary or higher education, and the Government did not provide 
education in the Romani language. Romani NGOs estimated that 80 percent 
of Romani children were illiterate. According to a 2007 UN Development 
Program (UNDP) report, 43 percent of Romani children between the ages 
of seven to 15 did not attend school, compared with approximately 6 
percent of non-Romani children.
    According to both the Bureau for Interethnic Relations and UNDP, 
the reasons for school nonattendance for Romani children were both 
objective and subjective. Objective barriers included a lack of 
financial capacity for parents to support their children's education, 
as well as health problems and deficiencies related to school 
infrastructure. Subjective barriers included experiences of 
discrimination in schools, lack of parental support for their 
children's education, and early marriages.
    The 2009 National Center report mentioned two cases of Romani 
children denied equal access to education. In one case, officials of a 
technical college denied a Romani high school graduate free admission, 
despite the existence of a budget allocation specifically available for 
Romani students. In another case, officials at a secondary school 
advised an applicant's father to find ``another school because the 
program was too challenging for his children.'' Furthermore, they 
accused the applicants' grandmother of showing up at school and 
``staging a Gypsy bazaar.'' The report further noted that as a result, 
at the time of writing, the children were not enrolled in any school.
    The report also noted a case of hazing and the beating of a Romani 
child by other children. The head of the local child protection office 
overseeing the case told the center's investigators informally the 
victim was ``nasty, not attending school, does not learn anything, and 
runs away from the classes.'' The official also expressed doubt that 
the incident had ever occurred.
    During the year officials at times used language insensitive to 
Roma when discussing the community. For example, in an official 
statement issued in July, the Ministry of Education used the term 
``tsigan'' (which has a negative connotation in Romanian) to identify 
Roma as part of the 15 percent of children in special categories 
eligible for government scholarships. NGOs including the National 
Center for Roma criticized this press release and urged authorities to 
use the term ``Roma'' when referring to the community.
    In August the United Roma Alliance, an NGO to combat 
discrimination, withdrew its membership from the Government-supported 
Bureau of Interethnic Relations, which provides office space and 
financial support for ethnic groups to promote their identities. The 
alliance announced that it was taking the step because the 2006 Action 
Plan for Roma aimed at combating discrimination and improving access to 
education and employment remained unimplemented.
    Nicolae Radita of the National Center for Roma noted that the 
presence of Romani candidates and a Romani political party on the 
ballot for the early parliamentary elections in November were hopeful 
signs regarding the overall situation of Roma, although none of these 
individuals obtained seats in parliament.
    In Transnistria authorities continued to discriminate against 
Romanian speakers. Use of the Latin alphabet is forbidden by the 
Transnistrian ``constitution,'' which provides for fines of 
approximately $40.50 for those who read or write in Latin script. 
However, as part of the 1992 ceasefire agreement, the Transnistrian 
authorities allowed eight Latin-script Romanian-language schools (five 
high schools and three elementary schools) under the Moldovan Ministry 
of Education to operate in Transnistria. School employees expressed 
concern that authorities could rescind this arrangement. Approximately 
7,700 children in the region attended these eight Latin-script schools. 
The situation was more difficult for approximately 26 ``Moldovan 
language'' Cyrillic-script schools that operated under the 
Transnistrian Ministry of Education. Authorities failed to provide 
sufficient funding to those schools. Although lacking books and other 
supplies, school principals declined to accept donations of books from 
the Moldovan government because of pressure and threats from 
Transnistrian authorities.
    In 2008 a local NGO initiated a fundraising drive to help repair 
the Romanian-language Latin-script Harmatca School and prepare it for 
the upcoming school year. Transnistrian police summoned the school 
director and interrogated him about the fundraising event. They 
prohibited him from participating in the campaign and also threatened 
and intimidated other school officials. Due to the intimidation and 
threats, school authorities refused further contacts with NGOs.
    At year's end, negotiations between the central government and 
local Transnistrian educational authorities on the operation of 
Romanian-language schools had not resumed nor was there progress on 
returning the confiscated school buildings of the Evrica high school in 
Ribnita and the Stefan cel Mare high school in Grigoriopol. The Evrica 
high school continued to meet in temporary rented quarters after 
Transnistrian authorities confiscated its building in 2004. Since that 
time, Transnistrian authorities pressured the schools to reregister 
under their jurisdiction. During the year three parents complained of 
intimidation and threats that they would be dismissed from their jobs 
if they sent their children to the Evrica school. Classes often were 
interrupted by unknown persons who broke windows, and Transnistrian 
authorities and police repeatedly failed to identify the perpetrators. 
The central government provided Grigoriopol students with 
transportation and facilities in the Government-controlled town of 
Dorotcaia, approximately 10 miles away.
    In July the ECHR agreed to hear a case involving the right of 170 
Transnistrian children to study in the Romanian language, using the 
Latin alphabet. The case remained pending before the court at year's 
end. In November the ECHR admitted a second case brought by the 
parents, students, and teachers at three Romanian-language schools; 
court proceedings were pending at year's end.
    On August 31, just prior to the start of the school year, 
Transnistrian police raided the high school in the town of Corjova, 
claiming they were responding to a bomb threat. During their visit, 
police threatened the school director for displaying the Moldovan 
national flag and playing the national anthem.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There were reports of 
governmental and societal discrimination based on sexual orientation. 
According to the gay rights NGO GenderDoc-M, lack of community 
recognition, negative media portrayals, and condemnation by the 
Orthodox Church, often led to public ostracism of LGBT persons and 
their families.
    In recent years, public officials made a series of negative 
comments regarding homosexuality. In 2007, in response to an inquiry on 
the treatment of LGBT individuals by a member of the European 
Parliament, Nicholae Esanu, who at the time was deputy minister of 
interior, responded, ``I have more important issues to solve than your 
gays and lesbians.The situation of sexual minorities in our country is 
not a priority issue for the Government.''
    In 2008, at a meeting with Balti students, Marian Lupu, speaker of 
parliament, expressed his opinion about public demonstrations of gays 
and lesbians, saying, ``Everyone is free to do whatever they want in 
private, but public parades of homosexuals are inadmissible.'' 
Similarly, in a press conference on October 18, Acting President Mihai 
Ghimpu noted that his PL party's position on LGBT rights was that 
persons could invoke such rights in private, but that, as Christians, 
``we should not popularize these kinds of rights.''
    On April 28, the Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Chisinau 
city government, which had denied a permit by organizers of an LGBT 
pride parade scheduled for May 2 in Chisinau's central square. The city 
mayor's office had denied the permit, noting its concern over 
counterdemonstrations planned by Christian groups and NGOs. Mayor Dorin 
Chirtoaca proposed an alternative location away from the center of the 
city, but parade organizers rejected that alternative. During the only 
previous pride parade, held in 2008, police failed to intervene as 
counterdemonstrators physically attacked parade participants.
    On December 6, a 27-year-old gay man took his life following an 
incident of homophobic harassment by the Moldovan police during the 
day. The incident started when a police car arrived at a known 
``cruising area'' in Chisinau. The police asked two men to go with them 
to the police car, where police officers proceeded to abuse verbally 
and intimidate the two men with homophobic and derogatory remarks. As a 
witness to the incident, a male staff member from the local LGBT rights 
organization Gender Doc-M, attempted to intervene on their behalf. The 
outreach worker contacted the president of Gender-Doc-M whose 
intervention resulted in the men's release but not before the police 
had taken their personal details including their work addresses. Only 
one of the police officers, Sergiu Gaina, presented his identity; his 
anonymous colleague was armed. After the incident, the young man went 
home, called his mother and apologized to her for being gay. Later that 
night, the man hanged himself.
    Gender Doc-M issued a press release, stating that while the exact 
reasons for the suicide may never be known, this incident, as witnessed 
by one of their outreach workers, was consistent with a pattern of 
police abuse of power towards the LGBT community, which included 
blackmailing or threatening and detaining LGBT individuals at police 
stations. Authorities failed to launch any investigation into this 
incident, and subsequent appeals by Gender Doc-M officials to the 
Interior Ministry and the police received no reply.
    In Transnistria homosexual activity is illegal, and LGBT persons 
were subject to governmental and societal discrimination.
    In recent years, over 30 citizens were forced to travel abroad to 
undertake gender-reassignment surgeries, since no such services were 
available in the country. While authorities allowed individuals to 
change their names (for example, from a male name to a female name), 
the Government did not allow persons to change the gender listed on 
their identity cards or passports.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--NGOs including the 
League of People living with HIV, the Regional Centre for Community 
Policies, and ``New Life'' reported that persons living with HIV faced 
frequent societal and official discrimination, particularly by medical 
workers. While various laws enshrine patient confidentiality as an 
inherent right and prohibit the unauthorized disclosure of personal 
medical information, NGOs reported numerous cases of an individual's 
HIV status disclosed by physicians or nurses. Such instances occurred 
primarily in rural areas and smaller communities with a relatively low 
number of patients. No measures were taken to prevent such abuses.
    Following disclosure of the HIV status of a person, their children 
were often ostracized in kindergartens and schools, and employers found 
reasons to discharge the HIV-positive individuals. Such patients avoid 
taking action against the medical workers from fear of further 
discrimination. Authorities were investigating a case of medical 
misconduct in Ungheni, in which a healthcare worker disclosed a 
patient's HIV status. With the help of local social workers, the victim 
presented a formal complaint to the local prosecutor's office.
    In December 2009 an HIV positive prisoner identified as S.V. was 
refused access to prison gym facilities. When he complained to the 
district prosecutor's office about the refusal, the prosecutor replied 
that it was appropriate to deny this individual access to the 
facilities because of his HIV status. The Moldovan Institute for Human 
Rights submitted a complaint to the Prosecutor General's Office 
requesting disciplinary action against the district prosecutor. The 
office replied that the nature of HIV is such that S.V. should be in a 
``certain degree of isolation from the rest of the detainees.'' As the 
institute was preparing to file a formal complaint to the Ministry of 
Justice, the Penitentiary Department decided to permit S.V. access to 
some gym equipment.
    One of the conditions for immigration to the country is that 
prospective immigrants obtain a medical certificate containing the 
results of an HIV test. In three cases during the year, the Interior 
Ministry's Bureau of Asylum and Migration refused to issue immigration 
certificates to HIV-positive individuals because such persons suffered 
diseases presenting a danger to public health. The applicants appealed 
these rulings, and the cases remained pending before the courts at 
year's end. In one of these cases, the Supreme Court posted a decision 
on its website, which disclosed the identity and HIV status of the 
applicant.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides workers with the 
right to form and join independent unions and conduct their activities 
without government interference; however, this right was not always 
respected in practice. Unions may only acquire legal status if they are 
members of national, sectoral, or intersectoral organizations. 
Approximately 46 percent of the workforce was unionized. The law 
forbids police and members of the armed forces from joining unions.
    The law does not provide sanctions for violations of freedom of 
association, and labor organizations reported that labor inspectorates 
and prosecutors' offices failed to monitor and enforce the right to 
organize effectively.
    The law provides for the right to strike, except for government 
workers and workers in essential services such as law enforcement. 
Healthcare providers and public utility employees are not allowed to 
strike during duty hours. Political strikes are prohibited. Compulsory 
arbitration may be imposed at the request of only one party to the 
conflict. Workers exercised the right to strike by conducting legal 
strikes during the year.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for collective bargaining and the right to organize; however, 
this right was not always respected in practice.
    The law does not stipulate penalties for violating trade union 
rights, although it does prohibit antiunion discrimination. As a 
result, prosecutors may reject appeals by trade unions alleging 
antiunion behavior and during the year, violations of the trade union 
law remained unpunished. According to the Prosecutor General's Office 
activity report, released early in the year, there were no cases of 
criminal investigations initiated by the prosecutors on infringement of 
right to organize and bargain collectively.
    In 2008 the Government ignored a request by the Education and 
Science Trade Union (ESTU) to enter into collective bargaining for a 
salary increase. ESTU subsequently organized a picket line in front of 
government buildings in protest. Upon assuming office, the AEI 
government announced that teachers would be the only government 
employees to receive a scheduled annual salary increase. In September 
2009 the Government increased salaries for teachers by 24 percent.
    In February the formerly government-controlled National Trade 
Confederation (CNSM), which represented 450,000 workers across almost 
all economic sectors, joined the International Trade Union 
Confederation as part of an internal democratization process. The CNSM 
is a member of commissions on which it can discuss labor-related issues 
with employers and government representatives.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, with exceptions. The law and a government 
decision allow central and local authorities, as well as military 
bodies, to mobilize the adult population under certain conditions, such 
as military service and national calamities, and employ such labor to 
develop the national economy. The Government did not invoke this 
provision during the year.
    Men, women, and children were trafficked for commercial sexual 
exploitation and forced labor, although the numbers of reported cases 
have declined in recent years. Also, see the Department of State's 
annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.
    The NGO Pacifists without Borders accused military centers and 
conscription commissions of violating the rights of persons who have 
reached the age of conscription for military service (18 years). The 
NGO stated that to reach conscription targets, military centers and 
conscription commissions declared some men fit, both physically and 
mentally, for conscription without medical examinations and without 
taking into account their beliefs and values.
    The law prohibits forced or compulsory child labor.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law sets standards for child labor, including the minimum age for 
employment, hours of work, and working conditions, and prohibits the 
worst forms of child labor. However, these protections were not 
effectively enforced, and child labor was a problem. Parents who owned 
or worked on farms often sent children to work in fields or to find 
other work.
    According to the estimates of the Children's Activities Survey, 
conducted in 2009 by the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection, and 
Family, 177,872 children, who represent 29.8 percent of 15 to 17-year-
olds, were economically active. The employment rate was as high as 17.6 
percent among boys between the ages of five and 11. Approximately half 
of boys between the ages of 15 to 17 were employed. Among girls this 
figure was approximately 35 percent. Despite the high employment rate 
among children, the average number of work hours for children was an 
estimated nine hours per week. Oleg Budza, chair of the Confederation 
of Trade Unions, acknowledged the prevalence of child labor, especially 
in agricultural and sales sectors (markets) as well as the service 
economy.
    There were reports that farms and agricultural cooperatives signed 
contracts with school directors to have students work during the 
harvest high season; children were paid for the work but were pressured 
to participate. On several occasions during the autumn harvest, the 
ombudsman responsible for children investigated reports of children 
working in fields and vineyards and returned the children to their 
schools, threatening school authorities with fines. During inspections 
conducted between June and October, the Labor Inspectorate Office (LIO) 
found 405 persons under the age of 18 working for 14 agricultural 
farms, including 245 children under the age of 16. As a result of LIO 
inspections, 40 children were removed from the worst forms of child 
labor, including five children under 15 years old working in the 
agricultural sector.
    The minimum age for unrestricted employment is 18 years. Persons 
between the ages of 16 and 18 are permitted to work under special 
conditions, including shorter workdays. Individuals falling within this 
age range are prohibited from night, weekend, or holiday shifts and are 
not permitted to work overtime. Fifteen-year-old children may work only 
with written permission from a parent or guardian. The most common 
labor violations involving persons under the age of 18 were failure to 
issue work contracts, illegal overtime, scheduling work during school 
hours, and underpayment or nonpayment of wages.
    Children worked illegally picking apples, sewing in factories, 
working as waiters, and in construction. Children also regularly worked 
in theaters, car washes, markets, and transportation. During 
inspections, one of the most commonly identified violations involving 
child labor was a lack of legally required labor contracts. In addition 
to illegal child labor, the inspections uncovered other violations 
involving children, such as lack of proper safety equipment and 
education, the participation of children in heavy labor or work with 
dangerous chemicals, as well as violations in the areas of compensation 
and vacation calculation.
    Efforts by the LIO to enforce child labor laws did not effectively 
prevent violations. Between January and October, the LIO uncovered 50 
cases involving the employment of individuals younger than 18 years, 
and 51 cases of children working illegally without a work record card 
or signed work agreement. Of these 101 child labor violations, the LIO 
referred eight to courts for further action. While the LIO could stop 
ongoing child labor activities, it lacked the authority to punish 
violators.
    Through September, the LIO reported 454 violations against economic 
agents for breaching labor legislation, and forwarded the documentation 
to the courts. There were 32 contraventions impeding the activity of 
the public officers forwarded to CCECC for farther investigations and 
subsequent action.
    There were reports that children, including those in state-run 
orphanages, were trafficked within and to points outside the country 
for commercial sexual exploitation, labor, and begging. The law 
provides for 10 to 15 years' imprisonment for persons involving 
children in the worst forms of child labor, and under aggravated 
circumstances, the sentence could be life imprisonment.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum monthly wage for the 
private sector of the economy was amended on February 1, and set at 
1,100 lei ($91) per month. The Ministry of Labor, Social Protection, 
and Family announced that all economic agents had four months--until 
May 1--to adjust their internal policies and salary calculations to the 
new minimum wage. The amount was established after lengthy negotiations 
with unions and company owners. The minimum monthly wage for the public 
sector is established by the Government and was set in January 2009 at 
600 lei ($50) per month. In October the National Bureau of Statistics 
reported that the average monthly salary was 2,957 lei ($238).
    The law sets the maximum workweek at 40 hours with extra 
compensation for overtime and provides for at least one day off per 
week. LIO field visits led to the sanctioning of violators when 
discovered, but staff and funding deficiencies limited the frequency of 
such visits. While the country had few foreign or migrant workers, the 
law gives them equal status to domestic workers.
    A thriving informal economy and black market accounted for a 
significant portion of the country's economic activity. Union 
representatives believed that the shadow economy employed approximately 
30 to 40 percent of the workforce.
    Under the labor code, work contracts are required for all 
employment, even on private farms. Registration of contracts with local 
officials is required, and the copies sent to the local labor 
inspectorate. The 2009 LIO report noted that joint inspection teams 
comprised of the LIO, tax inspectorate, and Interior Ministry, 
operating in April and May 2009, identified approximately 900 persons 
employed at about 250 enterprises without such contracts, a further 
indication of the shadow economy. There were also no reports of such 
contracts offered in the agricultural sector, and the central 
government did not have a mechanism to monitor compliance with the 
requirement.
    The Government is required to establish and monitor safety 
standards in the workplace, and the LIO was responsible for enforcing 
health and safety standards. During the first nine months of the year, 
the LIO performed 5,112 inspections, 2,578 of which were health and 
safety inspections, in which the LIO documented 34,165 health and 
safety infringements. During the same period, the LIO inspected 3,253 
companies employing 198,000 persons, and uncovered 100 companies 
employing 560 persons without proper documentation.
    The law provides workers the right to refuse work if conditions 
represent a serious health or safety threat, but there were no reports 
that workers exercised this right in practice. Poor economic conditions 
led enterprises to economize on safety equipment and provide inadequate 
attention to worker safety. LIO representatives noted severe financial 
and legal constraints on inspectors' activities, ranging from lack of 
Internet access, training, and fuel for inspectors, to a system of 
incentives that drives employers to pay minimal fines for violations 
rather than address underlying problems.

                               __________

                                 MONACO

    The Principality of Monaco has an estimated resident population of 
35,000, of whom approximately 7,000 have Monegasque citizenship. It is 
a constitutional monarchy in which the sovereign prince plays the 
leading governmental role. The prince appoints the Government 
consisting of a minister of state and five counselors responsible for 
finance and economy, internal affairs, health and social affairs, 
environment and city planning, and external affairs. The prince shares 
the country's legislative power with the popularly elected 24-member 
National Council. In 2008 the country held multiparty elections for the 
National Council that were considered free and fair. The National 
Council meets at least twice a year to consider bills proposed by the 
prince's government. The prince may dissolve the National Council at 
any time, provided that new elections are held within three months. The 
Crown Council has seven members, three chosen directly by the prince 
and four chosen by the prince from nominees put forward by the National 
Council. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    The electoral system allows citizens to change many aspects of 
their government, but there is no constitutional provision to allow the 
citizens to change the monarchical nature of 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices, and 
there were no reports that government officials employed them.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--The country has one 
detention center/penitentiary, which generally met international 
standards, and the Government permitted monitoring by independent human 
rights observers. Non-Monegasque convicted persons sentenced to long 
prison terms are generally sent to France to serve their term while 
citizens of Monaco remain incarcerated in Monaco.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the national police and the 
Carbiniers du Prince, the ceremonial military unit which guards the 
prince's palace. The Government has effective mechanisms to investigate 
and punish abuse and corruption. There were no reports of impunity 
involving the security forces during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Arrest 
warrants are required, except when a suspect is arrested while 
committing an offense. The police must bring a detainee before an 
investigating magistrate within 24 hours to inform the detainee of the 
charges against him and of his rights under the law. Most detainees 
were released without bail, but the investigating magistrate may order 
detention on grounds that the suspect might flee or interfere with the 
investigation of the case. Monaco and France work cooperatively to 
return any fugitive who flees Monaco into France. The investigating 
magistrate may extend the initial two-month detention for additional 
two-month periods indefinitely. Detainees generally have prompt access 
to a lawyer. The investigating magistrate customarily permits family 
members to see detainees.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected 
judicial independence in practice. Under the law the prince delegates 
his judicial powers to the judiciary.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution and the law provide the right 
to a fair, public trial, and an independent judiciary generally 
enforced this right. The defendant enjoys a presumption of innocence. 
Trials are public, unless one of the following conditions exists: the 
trial involves a person less than 18 years of age, either the 
prosecutor or defendant requests a closed trial, publicity would cause 
public unrest, or the public trial would be morally prejudicial. In 
criminal cases a three-judge tribunal considers the evidence collected 
by the investigating magistrate and hears the arguments made by 
prosecuting attorney/s and defense attorney/s. Juries are not used. The 
defendant has the right to be present and the right to counsel, at 
public expense if necessary. Defendants have the right to question 
witnesses against them and to present their own witnesses. Defendants 
and their attorneys have access to government-held evidence relevant to 
their cases. Defendants enjoy the right of appeal. After being found 
guilty and receiving a definitive sentence, foreign convicts are 
transferred to a French prison to serve out their terms. All citizens 
enjoy these rights.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--The country is subject to 
the European Court of Human Rights. During the year the court issued no 
judgments or decisions in which the country was involved.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The country has an 
independent and impartial judiciary in civil matters, and residents 
have access to a court to bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or 
cessation of, a human rights violation. Plaintiffs regularly use 
available administrative remedies to seek redress for alleged wrongs.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and 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 and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally 
respected these rights in practice. However, articles 58 and 60 of the 
Penal Code prohibit public denunciations of the ruling family, 
provisions that the media followed in practice. The law provides for 
punishment of six months' to five years' imprisonment for violation of 
articles 58 and 60. No one was charged with violating these statutes 
during the year.
    As limited by the provisions of articles 58 and 60, an independent 
press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic political 
system combined to ensure freedom of speech and of the press.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2009, 
approximately 70 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
and law provide for freedoms of assembly and association, and the 
Government generally respected these rights in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The country is a party to the 1951 Convention relating to the 
Status of Refugees, and on June 16 signed the1967 Protocol relating to 
the Status of Refugees. On June 18, the Government also signed a 
cooperation agreement with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for 
Refugees.

    Protection of Refugees.--In theory the Government is committed to 
following international norms regarding protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion. In practice the country depends on bilateral arrangements with 
France in all matters relating to refugees and asylum. During the year 
there were no reported cases of the Government granting refugee status 
or political asylum. Illegal residents are referred to the French 
authorities and taken out of the country. The Government refers refugee 
requests to the French government.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The authority to change the Government and to initiate laws rests 
solely with the prince. The constitution can be revised by common 
agreement between the prince and the elected National Council.

    Elections and Political Participation.--As head of state, the 
prince names the minister of state, in effect the prime minister, 
frequently a French citizen chosen in coordination with the Government 
of France. The prince also names the five other counselors who make up 
the Government.
    Only the prince may formally initiate legislation, but the 24-
member National Council may propose legislation to the Government. All 
legislation and the adoption of the budget require the National 
Council's assent.
    Elections for the National Council are held every five years and 
are based on universal adult suffrage and a secret ballot. The 2008 
National Council elections were considered free and fair. Several 
political parties exist, operate freely, and are active on both the 
national and municipal level.
    There were six women in the 24-member National Council, and two 
women in the seven-member Crown Council.
    There were no members of minorities in the Government.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government generally implemented these laws effectively. There were 
isolated reports of governmental corruption alleged during the year, 
but no formal proceedings against government officials for corruption. 
Public officials are not subject to financial disclosure laws.
    The law provides for public access to government information, and 
the Government provided access in practice for citizens and 
noncitizens, including foreign media.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    While the Government did not restrict the establishment or 
operation of groups devoted to monitoring human rights, none existed in 
the country during the year, nor did the country have an ombudsman for 
human rights problems. The country's legislature (the National Council) 
did not have a committee charged with oversight of human rights. The 
Government is committed to full cooperation with any UN or other 
international human rights organization, but no monitoring visits by 
international human rights organizations took place during the year.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution provides that all nationals are equal before the 
law. It differentiates between rights accorded to nationals (including 
preference in employment, free education, and assistance to the ill or 
unemployed) and those accorded to all residents (including 
inviolability of the home). The law prohibits discrimination based on 
race, gender, disability, language, or social status, and the 
Government generally enforced it.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is a criminal offense. There 
were no arrests or prosecutions for any form of rape during the year.
    Instances of violence against women were rarely reported. Spousal 
abuse is prohibited by law, and victims may bring criminal charges 
against their spouses.
    Sexual harassment is illegal, and the Government effectively 
enforced the law. There were no reports of sexual harassment this year.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children, and to 
have the information and means to do so free from discrimination, 
coercion, and violence. There was easy access to contraception, skilled 
attendance during childbirth, and women were diagnosed and treated for 
sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, equally with men.
    Although the law provides for the equality of men and women, there 
is no institution with a mandate to monitor gender inequalities. The 
law governing transmission of citizenship provides for equality of 
treatment between men and women. Women were well represented in 
professions, but less well in business and financial professions. While 
no data was available, observers believed that there was a small and 
gradually diminishing gender pay discrepancy.

    Children.--Citizenship may be transmitted through either parent. 
Citizenship is not derived from birth within the territory. The 
Government registers all births immediately.
    Child abuse was generally believed not to be a serious problem. The 
Government sponsors public service programs against child abuse, and 
the country's helpline service provides a means of reporting and 
addressing child abuse.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international child abduction, please see the Department of State's 
annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no reports of societal violence, 
harassment, or discrimination against members of any religious group. 
The Jewish community numbered approximately 1,000 persons. There were 
no reports of anti-Semitic incidents or attacks.

    Trafficking in Persons.--In 2009 there were no confirmed reports 
that persons were trafficked to, from, or within the country.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution and the law prohibit 
discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, 
and mental disabilities in employment, education, access to health 
care, and the provision of other state services. The Government 
effectively enforced these provisions. There was no reported 
governmental or societal discrimination against persons with 
disabilities. The Government through the Ministry of Health and Social 
Affairs has largely fulfilled the legal requirement to provide access 
to public buildings for persons with disabilities. According to 
government statistics, approximately 2 percent of minors (persons under 
18) were considered either to have disabilities or to be in danger and 
therefore in need of assistance from the Social Welfare Services.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--No specific laws protect 
lesbians, gays, bisexual, or transgender persons from discrimination. 
The law imposes a punishment of five years' imprisonment ``for those 
who harbor hatred or violence towards a person or group of persons. 
based on their sexual orientation, real or supposed.'' However, under 
the law, a racial or sexual discrimination infraction is not seen as an 
aggravating circumstance, as it is in France. In July the first-ever 
case of gay discrimination was reported to the court.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--By law, workers are free to form and 
join independent unions of their choice, but fewer than 5 percent of 
workers were unionized. Non-Monegasque workers, who constitute 
approximately 97 percent of the work force, have the right to join 
unions. Of the larger foreign work force, nearly 70 percent are French 
or Italian citizens. Unions were independent of both the Government and 
political parties.
    The constitution and law provide for the right to strike, but 
government workers may not strike. The law protects the right of 
workers to belong to a trade union. Failure to respect this right is 
punishable by a fine or imprisonment from three months to a year.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for the free exercise of union activity, and workers exercise 
this right in practice. In reality, strike actions are infrequent. 
Employer organizations and trade unions negotiate agreements on working 
conditions. Collective bargaining is protected by law; however, it was 
rarely used because of the widespread use of individual contracts. 
Labor contracts are negotiated between employers and each worker 
individually and are subject to work law and regulations.
    Antiunion discrimination is prohibited. Union representatives may 
be fired only with the agreement of a commission that includes two 
members from the employers' association and two from the labor 
movement. During the year no cases were brought before this commission. 
Allegations of dismissal for union activity may be brought before the 
labor court, which can order redress, such as the payment of damages 
with interest.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The constitution and 
law prohibit 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 is 16 years old; those employing children 
under that age may be subject to a fine under criminal law. Workers 
between the ages of 16 and 18 may not perform nighttime work. The 
counselor of government for the interior is responsible for enforcing 
the child labor laws and regulations, and they were effectively 
enforced.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The legal minimum wage for full-
time work is the French minimum wage, 8.86 euros per hour ($11.87) plus 
a 5-percent adjustment to compensate for the travel costs of the three-
quarters of the workforce who commute daily. The minimum wage provided 
a decent standard of living for a worker and family. Most workers 
received more than the minimum wage.
    The legal workweek is 39 hours. The Government allows companies to 
reduce the workweek to 35 hours if they so choose. Regulations provide 
for a minimum number of rest periods and premium pay for overtime. Law 
and government decree fix health and safety standards, which health and 
safety committees in the workplace and the Government labor inspector 
enforced.
    Workers have the right to remove themselves from dangerous work 
situations without jeopardy to their employment, and authorities 
effectively enforced this right.

                               __________

                               MONTENEGRO

    Montenegro is a mixed parliamentary and presidential republic with 
a population of 670,000. Both the parliament and the president are 
elected by popular vote. The president nominates the prime minister, 
who must win parliamentary approval. International observers reported 
that parliamentary elections held in March 2009 met almost all 
international standards but were marked by frequent allegations of 
electoral fraud and a blurring of state and party structures.
    Principal human rights problems included police mistreatment of 
suspects in detention; substandard prison conditions; police impunity; 
lengthy pretrial detention; inefficient trials; intimidation of 
journalists; mistreatment of refugees; widespread reports of government 
corruption; denial of public access to information; discrimination 
against women; trafficking in persons; discrimination against persons 
with disabilities; discrimination against ethnic minorities, 
particularly Roma; intolerance based on sexual identity; and 
infringement on the rights of 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.
    On June 29, the High Court convicted police officer Rade Popovic of 
the June 2009 killing of Danijel Dedejic and sentenced him to six years 
in prison. The officer, who was off duty at the time, punched the 
victim in the face, and the victim died six days later.
    During the year authorities continued to pursue several cases 
involving charges of war crimes committed during 1991-99. The trial of 
eight officers and soldiers of the Podgorica Corps of the former 
Federal Republic Yugoslav Army, who were accused of the 1999 killing of 
23 Albanian civilians in Kaludjerski Laz near Rozaje, continued at 
year's end. One defendant was being tried in absentia; the others 
remained in detention. The families of two of the alleged victims filed 
civil suits claiming compensation of 15,000 euros ($19,950) and 20,000 
euros ($26,600), respectively, for mental anguish.
    On April 22, the special prosecutor for the suppression of 
organized crime, corruption, terrorism, and war crimes, detained seven 
former military and police personnel and charged them with war crimes 
against Muslims in 1992-93 in the Bukovica region. The trial began on 
June 28. On December 31, the Bijelo Polje Superior Court acquitted the 
accused for lack of evidence.
    Some nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), media, and opposition 
figures alleged that authorities manipulated the processing of the war 
crimes cases ahead of the May local elections. Twenty families whose 
members were victims of the alleged crimes filed civil suits with the 
Podgorica Basic Court. The court decided the civil case of Saban and 
Arifa Rizvanovic and ordered the Government to pay each 10,000 euros 
($13,300) for physical and mental anguish. The Belgrade Fund for 
Humanitarian Law, the Rizvanovic court representative, voiced 
dissatisfaction with the level of compensation.
    The trial continued of nine defendants charged with the deportation 
to Bosnia and Herzegovina of Muslims and Serbs who fled to Montenegro 
from Bosnia in 1992. The deported Bosnians were reportedly killed by 
Republika Srpska forces, and the deported Serbs, mostly deserters from 
the Republika Srpska army, were turned over to that army. While four 
defendants remained in custody; another four were arrested in Belgrade 
on October 29, in accordance with the new bilateral extradition 
agreement between Serbia and Montenegro. One defendant (Dusko Bakrac) 
remained at large. On November 23, unknown persons vandalized the 
vehicle of Slobodan Pejovic, a former colleague of those being charged, 
who testified in the case on October 20. This was the fifth incident 
involving vandalism against Pejovic. The perpetrators were never found, 
although police have maintained surveillance over the building in which 
Pejovic lived with his family. Pejovic told media that these instances 
of vandalism represented a continuation of pressure on him and an 
attempt to destabilize him as a person because of his testimony. 
Several hours after his car was demolished, his daughter was fired from 
the Ministry of Tourism. The ministry stated that she was fired not for 
political reasons but because she had completed her internship. Pejovic 
claimed that the secret service was behind the measures against him. 
Referring to the statements by some witnesses heard during the trial, 
the Association of Families of Deported Bosnian Citizens announced that 
they would file legal charges accusing Pejovic for being an accomplice 
in the crime.
    On December 6, the Court of Appeals revoked a May decision of the 
Podgorica Superior Court that found six former Yugoslav People's Army 
soldiers and reservists guilty of war crimes in 1991 and 1992 in the 
Morinj prisoner of war camp and sentenced them to prison terms ranging 
from one and one-half to four years. The Court of Appeals ordered the 
Superior Court to repeat the trial. The five accused who had been 
apprehended were released, while one, convicted in absentia, remained 
at large at year's end.
    In July authorities undertook a search for a suspected mass grave 
containing the bodies of Kosovo Albanians killed on the territory of 
Montenegro during the 1990s; no evidence of the graves was found.
    On February 17, authorities extradited Stanko Kovacevic to Croatia. 
They arrested him in November 2009, based on a 2001 Interpol arrest 
warrant issued in Zagreb alleging that he committed war crimes in 
Croatia during the 1990s.
    On March 24, police arrested Nikola Munjes, a refugee from 
Benkovac, Croatia, on a Croatian war crimes warrant. They held him in 
detention after his arrest, pending possible extradition.
    On August 24, authorities extradited Marin Krivosic to Croatia 
where he was wanted for war crimes allegedly committed in 1991. On 
December 28, in Pljevlja, police arrested Milojko Nikolic, a member of 
the former Serbian paramilitary group ``Jackals,'' who was suspected of 
involvement in war crimes against Albanian civilians during the war in 
Kosovo. The recent agreement on extradition between Montenegro and 
Serbia would require authorities to extradite him to Serbia, where 
former ``Jackals'' were on trial on the charge that in1999, in the 
village Cuska,in Kosovo, they killed 44 Albanian civilians and 
destroyed or set fire to more than 40 houses.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
police at times beat and harassed suspects while arresting them or 
detaining them for questioning.
    In June the NGO Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR) asserted 
that the number of cases of police misconduct decreased during the 
first six months of the year. However, the NGO also noted that citizens 
reporting misdeeds of police officers faced difficulties: 
investigations of such cases were slow, evidence was difficult to 
obtain, and officers often remained on duty while they were being 
investigated.
    In a report on its 2008 mission to the country that was released in 
March, the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture 
(CPT) noted that the CPT mission members heard many accusations of 
police mistreatment of persons in their custody, primarily in the first 
hours of detention in an effort to extract confessions. Both men and 
women complained of ``slaps, punches, and kicks and blows with 
truncheons, gun butts, or other hard objects.'' The report stated that 
in several instances, the delegation noted evidence consistent with the 
charges in the medical documentation at prison establishments. 
Authorities responded by describing a number of measures they have 
taken to discourage such practices.
    During the year the Department for Internal Control of Police 
Operations received 95 complaints concerning police conduct, compared 
with 112 during 2009. The department found 14 cases justified and 81 
unjustified. Police stated that they took disciplinary actions in 
response to those complaints they considered justified.
    Although there is a legally mandated agency, the Council for 
Civilian Control of Police Operations, to which citizens could address 
complaints of abuse, it is only empowered to make recommendations. 
Since its establishment in 2004, the council has reviewed and forwarded 
approximately 400 citizen complaints. In some cases, police failed to 
respond to these recommendations. The council publicly invited police 
officers to inform the Police Directorate and prosecutors about 
possible police mistreatment of citizens and other irregularities.
    Aleksandar Zekovic, a member of the council, accused the Police 
Directorate of failing to punish adequately some officers found to have 
abused their office. The police rejected those claims as unfounded. A 
group of NGOs protested against the Parliament's failure to confirm the 
renomination procedure of the NGO representative in that body (Mr. 
Zekovic), while it endorsed the nominations of other four members.
    Observers noted that during the year, police filed fewer 
countercharges against individuals who reported police abuse than in 
the past. It was widely believed that the practice of filing such 
charges contributed to the reported reluctance of citizens to report 
police mistreatment.
    Delays in processing some allegations of police abuse at times led 
to their dismissal by the courts because they had not been filed in a 
timely manner. For example, in September 2009 the Basic Court in 
Podgorica cited this reason when it shelved the indictments of police 
officers Darko Delic, Darko Knezevic, Dragan Krstovic, Velimir 
Rajkovic, and Slavko Minic, who had been accused of mistreating Milovan 
Jovanovic.
    During the year there were a number of incidents in which 
authorities were charged with, or convicted of, mistreating persons in 
their custody. For example, authorities in Herceg Novi charged police 
officer Bozidar Jaukovic with mistreating Milos Konjevic after Jaukovic 
arrived on the scene of an altercation on July 21. Konjevic claimed to 
have been severely beaten by Jaukovic.
    The High Court in Bijelo Polje opened an investigation against 
police officer Dejan Radevic. Radevic was being investigated for 
excessive use of force while arresting Asmir Dacic on December 13 in 
Rozaje.
    No new information was available regarding the May 2009 case of 
police officer Kenan Osmankadic, who wounded mental patient Batric 
Knezevic while escorting him to the mental hospital in Kotor. 
Authorities acknowledged that Osmankadic made some professional 
mistakes and pressed charges against him.
    In August the Danilovgrad Basic Court sentenced police officer 
Dragan Djukic to three months in prison for the 2008 mistreatment of 
Prelja Djokic in the Konik district police station in Podgorica.
    On June 11, the Podgorica Basic Court sentenced police officers 
Milan Kljajevic and Milanko Lekovic to five months in prison and Ivica 
Paunovic to three months for complicity in the mistreatment of 
Aleksandar Pejanovic while he was in custody in 2008. The court 
acquitted three other police officers: Bojan Radunovic, Dobrivoje 
Djurisic, and Goran Stankovic. The convicted police officers appealed. 
In response to statements made by Stankovic, the prosecutor's office 
started and then stopped a new trial of Kljajevic, Lekovic, Paunovic, 
Radunovic, and Djurisic. Aleksandar Pejanovic then filed a legal case 
against Radunovic and Djurisic. In December 2009, during the trial, 
Stankovic alleged that several of his colleagues, mostly supervising 
and higher ranking officers, committed a series of offenses related to 
ordering, enabling, and covering up the torture of Pejanovic, including 
forging official records.
    A trial was underway in the Basic Court of Bar in a case involving 
earlier alleged police misconduct, including five Bar police officers 
(Nesko Jaredic, Veselin Buskovic, Rifat Ramusovic, Ivica Raicevic, and 
Jagos Pivljanin) charged with beating Predrag Djukic and Ivan Abramovic 
in a police station in 2007. There were no reported developments in the 
case of two former police officers charged with abuse of power, 
extortion, and mistreatment of a flower vendor in Herceg Novi.
    During the year the Berane Basic Court charged police officers Ivan 
Bojovic, Nebojsa Veljic, and Zeljko Devic with abusing four Kosovo 
Albanians detained in 2007. The trial was pending with the court at 
year's end.
    On June 10, the Basic Court in Bar sentenced police officer Mirko 
Banovic to three months in prison and issued suspended sentences to 
Vuksan Damjanovic, Jugoslav Raicevic, and Nenad Krstajic for the 2005 
beating of Milika Bukilic in Bar.
    No new information was available concerning the investigation of 
former Podgorica police chief Milan Vujanovic, who reportedly ordered 
the beating of prisoners during a raid on Spuz Prison in 2005. In their 
report for the second quarter, the domestic NGO YIHR reported that the 
number of cases in which police and other security officers were 
involved in torture was lower than in the previous period, but the 
number of cases of politically motivated violence was at a ``level to 
cause concern.''
    On June 25, a group of young men attacked the teenage son of the 
opposition Movement for Change party leader Nebojsa Medojevic, 
inflicting minor injuries. Three men were arrested. The attack followed 
a physical assault on Medojevic himself outside his home earlier in the 
year, shortly after he had given a high-profile interview during which 
he publicly named a suspected criminal figure. Medojevic asserted the 
attack was politically motivated. The Police Directorate strongly 
denied the claim; however, the Council for Civilian Control of Police 
Operations concluded that police exceeded their authority by expressing 
a view about the lack of political motivation for the incident.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prisons and facilities for 
holding pretrial detainees did not meet international standards and 
were generally dilapidated, overcrowded, and poorly maintained, 
although there were some improvements over previous years.
    In the report of its 2008 visit, released in March, the CPT was 
especially critical of conditions in pretrial detention centers. In 
particular, it noted an ``alarming'' level of overcrowding in the 
remand prison in Podgorica; at the time of the CPT visit, 512 prisoners 
were in a facility whose official capacity was 320. According to the 
report, in many cells prisoners had only mattresses or blankets on the 
floor on which to sleep. Prisoners ate their meals in their cells, but 
there were not enough places for all of them to sit. There was little 
opportunity for exercise.
    The press reported that inmates in Spuz and Bijelo Polje prisons 
went on hunger strikes several times during the year after claims of 
beatings, overcrowding, poor medical conditions, and bans on 
extraordinary visits. Prison administrators categorically denied those 
accusations.
    YIHR claimed that the ombudsman did not receive all letters sent by 
inmates, many requests for access to free information remained 
unanswered, food and water in prison were of poor quality, and prison 
management banned many furloughs normally granted to prisoners.
    In contrast with the previous year, there were no fatalities or 
attempts to commit suicide or self-inflicted injuries by prisoners or 
detainees. During the year there were five hunger strikes against 
lengthy criminal proceedings, severe punishment, and refusals to grant 
pardons. Disciplinary procedures were initiated against four prison 
staff.
    In October the total prison population was 1,438 persons, of whom 
780 were convicts and 658 were detainees. The maximum national prison 
capacity is 1,130 inmates. Approximately 1,000 convicted persons were 
waiting to serve their prison sentence. To reduce overcrowding, the 
Assembly approved an amnesty law on July 27.
    In contrast with previous years, there were no reports of juveniles 
held in the same cells with adult prisoners.
    Although the Spuz Prison hospital contains a department for 
treating alcoholics and drug addicts, it was overcrowded, and such 
prisoners, along with mentally ill prisoners, were often treated in the 
Kotor psychiatric hospital, which lacks facilities and personnel to 
house mentally ill patients together with dangerous convicts.
    There were a number of cases in which prison officials were accused 
of, charged with, or convicted of, mistreating inmates. The family of 
Zeljko Mrvaljevic called on authorities to punish the officials who, 
they alleged, ordered his beating in prison on January 16. Prison 
personnel were alleged to have beaten Mrvaljevic in the belief that he 
smuggled 11 mobile telephones into Spuz Prison. After the beating, 
officials transferred Mrvaljevic to Bijelo Polje Prison in order, his 
parents alleged, to distance themselves from his injuries.
    On February 12, the State Prosecutor's Office rejected as unfounded 
civil cases against Spuz Prison wardens filed by the families of 
inmates Dalibor Nikezic and Igor Milic, who claimed that in October 
2009 wardens severely beat them. Earlier, after analyzing security 
camera footage and documents related to the reported attacks, ombudsman 
Sucko Bakovic declared that there had been no reason for the use of 
force in the case, especially not to the extent shown in the video. The 
footage in question was posted online and shows uniformed staff hitting 
prisoners who were being held down on the floor by prison guards. 
Following the ombudsman's intervention, prison officials initiated 
disciplinary proceedings against three wardens. However, the chief 
state prosecutor, the Ministry of Justice, and prison management 
concluded that the inmates were ``resisting,'' and that the guards Igor 
Markovic and Radovan Todorovic did not overstep their authority. Some 
NGOs believed that the prosecutor's office should have investigated the 
case or provided an explanation for not doing so and more generally 
they criticized the prosecutor's office and prison authorities for 
their apparent unwillingness to confront prison torture. On November 2, 
the prison director informed the media that four wardens were demoted 
and the prison management removed in connection with this incident.
    There were no new developments in the case of two female prison 
guards accused of beating and injuring detainee Vladana Kljajic in 2008 
in the women's detention unit in Spuz Prison. Prison authorities 
claimed that Kljajic broke prison rules and was appropriately 
disciplined but not beaten. Prison authorities filed charges against 
Kljajic for assaulting an official, while Kljajic's mother filed 
charges against the prison wardens.
    On October 5, the Podgorica High Court imposed sentences of two and 
a half to six years on four persons for distributing heroin inside Spuz 
Prison to inmate Alen Harovic, who was found dead in his cell in 
October 2009.
    On March 17, the Basic Court in Danilovgrad determined that 
authorities overseeing Spuz Prison were responsible for the 2007 death 
of prisoner Dragan Kastratovic by electric shock and ordered the prison 
to pay financial compensation to his family.
    Prisoners had reasonable access to visitors and were permitted 
religious observance. Authorities permitted visitors and detainees to 
submit complaints to judicial authorities and ombudsman without 
censorship and to request that authorities investigate credible 
allegations of inhumane conditions. There was a special complaints box 
in Spuz Prison in which the inmates could file grievances directly with 
the ombudsman. However, several families of imprisoned or detained 
persons claimed that serious violations of those rights occurred. 
Authorities investigated credible allegations of inhumane conditions, 
but some investigations took place only after media campaigns or the 
ombudsman's recommendation. NGOs and human rights activists often 
criticized the results of those investigations. The Ministry of 
Justice, responsible for operating the national prisons, monitored 
prison and detention conditions.
    The Government permitted monitoring visits by independent human 
rights observers, and they occurred during the year, including visits 
undertaken on short notice. Human rights observers, including the 
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and domestic NGOs, were 
allowed to visit prisons and detention units and to speak with the 
prisoners without the presence of a guard. The ICRC and the Helsinki 
Committee of Montenegro made several visits during the year. Their 
visits took place in accordance with the ICRC's standard modalities. 
Representatives of the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman routinely 
visited prisons without prior notice, meeting with detainees and 
inmates.
    The ombudsman may consider cases involving violations of human 
rights and freedoms committed by government authorities, whether by 
their actions or their inaction, and can undertake activities to remedy 
such violations. The ombudsman can also deal with general issues that 
are important for the protection and promotion of human rights and 
freedoms and can cooperate with appropriate organizations and 
institutions dealing with human rights and freedoms. However, the 
ombudsman may act upon complaints about ongoing judicial proceedings 
only in cases of delay, if an obvious abuse of procedural powers 
occurred, or if court decisions have not been executed. The ombudsman 
may, without prior notification, undertake an inspection of all spaces 
in prisons and other premises in which individuals deprived of their 
liberty are held. The ombudsman may provide an opinion on the 
protection and promotion of human rights and freedoms, upon the request 
of the authorities deciding on such rights.
    The law permits inmates to serve their sentences through voluntary 
service in a state institution or agency, but this alternative, which 
observers noted could reduce overcrowding, was used only in a few 
cases.
    Authorities continued to make improvements in the prison system. 
New spaces were built in prisons in Spuz (8,300 square feet) and Bijelo 
Polje (2,150 square feet). A new unit for prisoners serving shorter 
sentences was established in Spuz. Repairs were made on the electric 
and water supplies and sewage facilities in both prisons and existing 
facilities were renovated. The CPT's March report acknowledged a number 
of improvements made in the years before its 2008 visit.
    To improve the general qualifications of prison staff, on March 11, 
Spuz Prison and the Police Academy signed a memorandum of understanding 
on the training and education of prison staff. During the year 
approximately 82 percent of prison staff had at least a secondary 
education. The memorandum described the planning, organization, and 
administration of a two-year program for training guards and other 
employees working within the prison.
    In its 2008 report, which was released in March, the CPT pointed 
out many shortcomings in prison and detention centers. In their 
response, also released in March, the authorities, who had been aware 
of the CPT's concerns since its 2008 visit, described measures 
undertaken to correct some of the abuses it observed. The response 
described measures authorities had taken to improve the hygienic and 
technical conditions (potable water, daily light, ventilation, wooden 
beds, and separate bathrooms) in police detention centers. They 
reported they had acquired and installed video surveillance equipment 
in a number of police facilities. Authorities reported that that they 
had developed information forms in Montenegrin and other languages 
informing detainees of the reasons for their detention, their right not 
to make a statement, to have a defense attorney, and to inform someone 
close to them about their detention. Authorities reported to the CPT 
that they had introduced a hotline for complaints about police 
behavior; they had taken organizational measures to improve the timely 
provision of meals for detainees; and a police code of ethics was 
adopted. The Government response described other concrete measures they 
had taken to reduce the mistreatment of prisoners, improve detainees' 
contacts with the outside world, improve their medical treatment, and 
improve conditions in the Komanski Most Children and Youth Center and 
the Ljubovic Children's Correction Center. No independent reports were 
available to confirm or evaluate these improvements.
    Authorities completed a project to equip detention units in all 
police stations with video surveillance equipment in an effort to 
reduce police abuse. The main prison in Spuz opened a new extradition 
pavilion that, on November 1, had seven detainees, and a new pavilion 
to house 144 minors, women, foreigners, and inmates serving sentences 
of less than six months. The Government renovated existing facilities 
and installed a permanent water supply to the prison; however, adequate 
facilities for treating mentally ill prisoners or those with special 
needs were lacking.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The national and border 
police were responsible for law and order. They worked under the 
supervision of the Ministry of Interior and Public Administration and 
were generally effective. In 2009 internal control responsibility was 
moved from the Police Directorate to the Ministry of Interior and 
Public Administration in an effort to improve control of the police 
force. The Agency for National Security, a separate entity within the 
Ministry of Interior and Public Administration, has responsibility for 
intelligence and counterintelligence. The Ministry of Defense is 
responsible for military and security matters. There is a military 
security department within the Ministry of Defense.
    The Assembly's Committee for Defense and Security held regular 
meetings with the directors of the national police and the Agency for 
National Security as well as the minister of defense. The Assembly is 
responsible for overseeing the democratic and civilian control of the 
army, police and security services in accordance with the Law on 
Parliamentary Oversight of the Security Services adopted on December 
22. Pursuant to the amendments to the Law on Secrecy of Information, 
Assembly members sitting on the Committee for Defense and Security had 
access to classified documents without prior approval or security 
clearances.
    A report by the European Commission indicated that there was ``some 
progress'' in policing and police reform over the 12 months that ended 
in August and that a ``track record'' was being established in this 
regard. The commission reported that disciplinary measures were imposed 
on 124 police officers in this period, while from February to July, 
criminal charges were brought against 27.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Arrests 
require a judicial warrant or a ``strong suspicion that the suspect 
committed an offense.'' Police generally made arrests with warrants 
based on sufficient evidence. The law provides that police must inform 
arrested persons immediately of their rights, and authorities respected 
this right in practice. The police have a maximum of 24 hours to inform 
the family, common law partner, or a social institution of an arrest. 
Authorities may detain suspects for up to 48 hours before bringing them 
before a judge and charging them. At arraignment the judge makes an 
initial determination about the legality of the detention. In practice, 
arraignment generally occurred within the prescribed period. The law 
permits a detainee to have an attorney present during police and court 
proceedings. Detainees generally had prompt access to family members. 
There is a system of bail; however, it was not widely used because 
citizens could rarely raise money for bail. The law sets the initial 
length of pretrial detention at 30 days but provides for the 
possibility of an extension to five more months and allows a defendant 
to be detained for up to three years before a first-instance verdict is 
issued.
    Police continued to summon suspects and witnesses to police 
stations for ``informative talks,'' usually without holding them for 
extended periods. In principle those who have been summoned have the 
right not to respond.
    The law forbids use of force, threats, and coercion by police to 
obtain evidence; however, during the year there were a few allegations 
that police sometimes used those methods to obtain evidence. NGOs and 
human rights observers noted that the incidence of such practices had 
greatly declined in the previous two years.
    Long trial delays frequently led to lengthy pretrial detention. The 
law prohibits excessive delays by authorities in filing formal charges 
against suspects and in opening investigations; however, such delays 
occurred regularly. The law on the right to trial within a reasonable 
time was not implemented effectively; almost all complaints about 
delays were rejected on procedural grounds. Trials themselves were 
subject to frequent interruptions. Pretrial detainees, on average, 
accounted for 50 percent of the prison population. The average length 
of pretrial detention was approximately six months and 10 days.
    On August 26, those portions of a new Criminal Procedure Code 
relating to war crimes and organized crime and corruption entered into 
force. The Ministry of Justice had earlier stated that the judiciary 
was prepared to apply the entire code during the year; however, 
implementation of the remaining elements was postponed by one year.

    Amnesty.--On July 27, the Assembly adopted an amnesty law that 
allows for a 20 percent reduction of some prison sentences. The law 
applies to persons who were serving sentences as of the day the law 
came into force, to persons convicted by foreign courts but serving 
their sentences within the country, and to persons convicted of 
sentences up to three months who had not yet started to serve their 
sentences. The amnesty did not include persons convicted of human 
trafficking, war crimes, crimes against humanity, rape, and those 
pardoned in accordance with previous laws. According to the law, 
sentences of three months or less should be suspended.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary; however, some observers asserted that the 
judiciary was not always independent and that government officials at 
times influenced prosecutors for political and personal reasons. Some 
observers contended that the executive and legislative branches, 
through the process of proposing and adopting the budget for the 
courts, could influence the independence of the judiciary, as well as 
through the legal framework, which leaves space for political 
influence. Many observers asserted that the system of appointing 
judicial and prosecutorial officials contained inadequate protection 
against the exertion of political influence on the judiciary and that 
the absence of a merit-based career system, together with the system of 
random allocation of cases, undermined its quality. A large backlog of 
cases, frequently primitive courtroom facilities, lack of sufficient 
administrative support for judges and prosecutors, shortage of skills, 
cumbersome procedures, and judicial corruption also remained problems.
    Although many cases took years to resolve, courts continued to make 
progress in reducing the backlog of civil and criminal cases. They 
accomplished this by establishing deadlines for solving priority cases, 
using greater flexibility in reassigning judges from one court to other 
as needed, and equipping courtrooms with modern technology. However, 
many suggested that these measures may have had an adverse effect on 
quality. Priority was given to the cases involving corruption, 
organized crime, war crimes, drugs, illegal construction, money 
laundering, human trafficking, and family violence.
    The Judicial Council is responsible for the election, discipline, 
and removal of judges. Since the existing Judicial Council was 
established in 2008, several judges have been fired, suspended, or 
sanctioned for unprofessional behavior. Beginning in June 2009, the 
Judicial Council prohibited judges from sitting on various government 
commissions due to the incompatibility of such service with their 
primary judicial function.
    On December 28, President Filip Vujanovic nominated outgoing 
Minister of Justice Miras Radovicas to be a Constitutional Court judge. 
Parliament appointed Radovic judge a day later. Many questioned the 
Government's intention to depoliticize the judiciary, given Radovic's 
former involvement in the Government. Radovic, who served as a judge 
prior to his appointment as Justice Minister in the previous 
government, resigned as a member of the ruling Democratic Party of 
Socialists on December 29. He stressed that he would do his job without 
political influence. The Constitutional Court consists of seven judges 
appointed for nine-year terms. They in turn appoint one of their number 
as president of the court for a period of three years.
    The anticorruption watchdog Network for Affirmation of the NGO 
Sector (MANS) claimed that Chief State Prosecutor Ranka Carapic 
violated conflict of interest laws by serving as president of the 
Prosecutor's Council. MANS called on the Assembly to remove her from 
that position. MANS accused Carapic of receiving significant financial 
compensation from her council position.
    Generally accepted rules of international law are an integral part 
of the internal legal order and have supremacy over national 
legislation. The extradition agreements with neighboring Serbia and 
Croatia helped bring some suspects in the country and abroad to 
justice.
    Authorities claimed that courts completed 75 percent of their cases 
in 2009, processing 14,038 more cases than the previous year. They 
stressed that this was accomplished despite the financial difficulties 
faced by the court. Financial problems were also cited as the reason 
for postponing the full implementation of the newly adopted criminal 
procedure code. Authorities justified courts' lenient penal policies 
(one-third of judgments resulted in prison sentences, approximately 10-
15 percent in fines, and more than 50 percent in probationary 
sentences) by pointing to the problem of overcrowded prisons and the 
large number of convicts, all but the most serious offenders, at 
liberty, waiting to serve their prison sentences.
    The implementation of civil and criminal court decisions frequently 
remained weak. A law on free legal aid is still pending. The salaries 
of judges and public prosecutors were improved.
    On April 22, Judge Ljiljana Simonovic of the Kolasin Basic Court 
accused Vesna Medenica, president of the Supreme Court, of removing her 
from office for political reasons. Medenica told the press that 
Simonovic was dismissed for poor performance unrelated to any political 
influence.
    On December 4, the Court of Appeals confirmed a June ruling of the 
Podgorica Superior Court that sentenced Vaselj Dedvukaj in absentia to 
six years and six months in prison. Dedvukaj was one of 17 persons 
convicted in 2008 of planning a rebellion in order to create by force 
an autonomous region for ethnic Albanians, contrary to the 
constitution.
    On July 5, Arif Spahic, a former judge of Bijelo Polje Superior 
Court, was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of corruption. 
On December 30, the Court of Appeals confirmed the decision of the 
Superior Court. Spahic was found guilty of taking bribes to reduce the 
sentence and ensure the release of a man convicted of causing a death 
in a car accident. Dzemal Ljuca, an employee of the municipality of 
Bijelo Polje, was sentenced to two years in prison for brokering the 
deal.

    Trial Procedures.--Criminal trials are generally public, but 
sessions may be closed during the testimony of state-protected 
witnesses. Juries are not used. Professional judges preside over 
trials. Lay judges assist them in determining verdicts but the judges 
generally determine the sentences. Defendants have the right to be 
present at their trials and to consult with an attorney in a timely 
manner in pretrial and trial proceedings. Defendants have a right to an 
attorney; an attorney is generally provided at public expense when a 
defendant is destitute or following indictment on a charge carrying a 
possible sentence greater than 10 years in prison. Defendants and their 
attorneys have the right to access government held evidence relevant to 
their cases. Defendants enjoy a legal presumption of innocence. Courts 
may try defendants in absentia as long as they repeat the trials if the 
convicted individuals are later apprehended. Both the defense and the 
prosecution have the right of appeal. The Government at times 
influenced the judiciary--for example, in some trials for slander or 
corruption involving prominent persons or senior officials--and such 
influence contributed to continued public distrust of the judiciary. 
However, defendants' rights were generally respected and extended to 
all citizens.
    A two-year trial-monitoring project sponsored by the Organization 
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), completed in June 2009, 
indicated that progress was made in prosecuting cases but noted 
problems with the duration of trials, their fairness, and the 
insufficient capacity of the judiciary. A report issued by the Council 
of Europe in September 2009 described the country's progress in 
reducing backlogs court cases as ``impressive.''

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--Once national remedies are 
exhausted, citizens may appeal violations of their human rights to the 
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). At year's end, 700 cases 
involving the country were pending before the ECHR. Most related to 
property restitution, property rights, length of pretrial detention, 
media freedom, treatment of citizens by police, the right to a timely 
trial, and slander. Since 2004, ECHR rejected 250 appeals as 
inadmissible and has issued three rulings against the Government for 
violations of the European Convention on Human Rights. Authorities 
immediately implemented the first ruling, handed down in April 2009. 
The other two, issued on September 21, became binding on December 21.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The constitution and law 
provide for an independent judiciary in civil matters, and citizens had 
access to courts to bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation 
of, human rights violations. Although parties have brought suits 
alleging human rights violations and at times prevailed, there was high 
public distrust in the independence of the judiciary. The sensitivity 
of law enforcement and the judiciary when it comes to human rights 
remained insufficient. Legal aid is provided by the Bar Association and 
NGOs.
    Citizens may appeal violations of their human rights to the 
Constitutional Court. However, this legal remedy as the supreme form of 
appeal before the domestic judiciary turned out to be practically 
unavailable to citizens.
    In July 2009 an attorney filed a claim for 1.1 million euros ($1.5 
million) in damages covering eight cases involving 46 plaintiffs and 
one claim on May 26, for 40,000 euros ($53,200) involving four 
plaintiffs related to the 1992 deportation of Muslims and Bosniaks to 
the Republika Srpska in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where they subsequently 
were killed or disappeared. These cases were in addition to earlier 
ones in which 196 plaintiffs were awarded 4.1 million euros ($5.5 
million). Two cases were completed in which the plaintiffs were awarded 
370,000 euros ($492,000), while other cases were pending at year's end.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions, and 
the Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice. The 
law requires the Agency for National Security (ANB) to obtain court 
authorization for wiretaps; however, some observers believed that 
authorities selectively used wiretapping and surveillance against 
opposition parties and other groups without court authorization. Many 
individuals and organizations operated on the assumption that they 
were, or could be, under surveillance.
    There was no response during the year by the Constitutional Court 
to a complaint filed in 2008 by MANS challenging the laws and the 
memorandum of understanding between police and the telephone company M-
Tel giving police direct access to the databases of mobile telephone 
service providers, without judicial oversight, for the purpose of 
monitoring potential criminal activity. M-Tel is one of the country's 
three mobile phone service providers. MANS asserted that this violated 
citizens' right to privacy. Police responded that all communications 
monitoring had to be approved by the competent prosecutor's office.
    On July 26, 24 journalists, 10 representatives of opposition 
political parties (including four Assembly members), and seven 
employees of MANS filed requests with the ANB for access to any files 
being kept on them. On August 24, the ANB replied that they were not 
keeping any such files. During an October 6 session of the Assembly's 
Committee for Defense and Security, the ANB informed parliamentarians 
that it was not conducting surveillance of opposition politicians, NGO 
representatives, or journalists.
    During the first nine months of the year, four citizens requested 
permission to inspect secret files kept by security services between 
the years 1945 to 1989. Two requests related to the persons directly, 
while two requests related to third persons. The ANB responded that 
there was no information concerning any of those persons.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press; however, there were some 
restrictions of freedom of the press in practice.
    Individuals could criticize the Government publicly or privately 
without reprisal, and there were no reports that the authorities 
monitored political meetings or otherwise attempted to impede 
criticism.
    The print media included private newspapers and a state-owned 
newspaper with a national circulation. The independent media were 
active and generally expressed a wide variety of political and social 
views without government restriction. The Government did not restrict 
the distribution of foreign publications.
    Authorities made no further attempts to sell the Government's 51 
percent stake in the public company that publishes the daily newspaper 
Pobjeda, following the failure of efforts to do so in 2007 and 2008. 
The failure to privatize the state-owned newspaper as required by the 
2002 parliamentary legislation remains unfulfilled at year's end. 
Instead, the company received 12.77 million euros ($17 million) from 
the Government in the form of tax concessions and loan guarantees made 
in 2009. On July 7, the Ministry of Finance informed the media that the 
aim of these actions was to avoid Pobjeda's bankruptcy and help the 
paper survive. The Government's actions increased its share in the 
company to 86 percent.
    Opposition politicians criticized the Government's 2009 decision to 
appoint Predrag Sekulic, the political director of the ruling 
Democratic Party of Socialists, as president of the board of directors 
of Pobjeda and to appoint an advisor to former prime minister Milo 
Djukanovic as the paper's editor in chief. They asserted that the 
newspaper clearly favored the Government in its reporting. Some 
observers claimed that the newspaper was used to discredit the 
Government opponents, including opposition politicians, some private 
media owners, and NGOs. On December 29, Sekulic became a minister in 
the newly formed government and subsequently stepped down from the 
board.
    A wide variety of public and private broadcast media included a 
national public radio and a television broadcaster, 14 local public 
radio and four local public television stations, and 41 private radio 
and 19 private television stations. On January 27, the Agency for 
Electronic Communication and Postal Activity (AECPA) allocated a series 
of 20 terrestrial broadcasting frequencies to broadcasters that 
responded to a tender issued by the AECPA in November 2009. The private 
television network TV Vijesti, which had attempted for two years to get 
licenses to broadcast in Podgorica, was also granted frequencies. TV 
Vijesti, often seen as a strong critic of the Government and former 
Prime Minister Djukanovic, had previously accused the Government of 
blocking its access to a wider market for political reasons by delaying 
the tender process.
    The Council of Europe, the OSCE, and the European Commission, as 
well as domestic NGOs, criticized the Law on Electronic Communications 
which provided for the Government's major role in selecting members of 
the AECPA's governing council. In response to these criticisms and in 
order to align with international standards on the independence of 
media regulators, the Assembly on July 27 adopted the Law on Electronic 
Media which took the responsibility for issuing broadcasting licenses 
away from the AECPA and transferred it to the Agency for Electronic 
Media, which is legally an independent regulator.
    Government opponents--and even the ruling party's junior coalition 
partner, the Social Democratic Party--continued to criticize the 
functioning of the country's public radio and television broadcaster, 
Radio and Television of Montenegro (RTCG). They alleged that changes 
made in 2008 to the law governing the funding of the public 
broadcaster, which substituted government subsidies for user fees, made 
RTCG more dependent on the Government. They also criticized changes in 
the method of selecting members of the governing board of the public 
outlets, which increased the role of the Assembly at the expense of 
civil society. In 2009 the Assembly elected all nine members of the 
RTCG council. Some observers noted that a majority of the nine entities 
authorized to nominate candidates for the RTCG council are state-funded 
institutions or organizations and that the public broadcaster clearly 
favored the Government in its programming and reporting.
    There were no reports during the year of physical attacks on 
journalists, but threats against them and unsolved attacks on them from 
previous years, as well as police investigations and court procedures 
related to those attacks, remained in public focus. At year's end, 
despite much legal wrangling, pretrial proceedings were not completed 
in the well-known case of the alleged attack in August 2009 by 
Podgorica Mayor Miomir Mugosa and his son on deputy editor in chief 
Mihailo Jovovic and photo reporter Boris Pejovic of Podgorica-based 
daily Vijesti. The incident reportedly began while Pejovic was 
photographing the mayor's official car, which allegedly was parked 
illegally. On January 25, in a separate procedure, the Podgorica Court 
for Offences fined Mugosa 400 euros ($532) for insulting Jovovic and 
Pejovic in connection with the incident.
    There were no developments in the investigations of several earlier 
physical attacks on journalists, including a 2008 attack on Mladen 
Stojovic, a journalist of the Serbian daily Danas and former stringer 
for Podgorica-based daily Vijesti.
    On July 12, the Supreme Court confirmed the Court of Appeals' 2009 
sentence of Damir Mandic to 18 years in prison as an accessory in the 
2004 murder of Dan newspaper editor Dusko Jovanovic. Other 
participants, as well as those who actually planned the murder, 
remained at large at year's end.
    On June 25, police interrogated Monitor journalist Petar Komnenic 
and NGO activist Veselin Bajceta about a video that appeared on the 
Internet of alleged drug trafficker Safet Kalic's 2001 wedding. The 
video showed several ANB officials attending the wedding ceremony and 
in close contact with Kalic. Komnenic and Bajceta publicly questioned 
why authorities were investigating the placement of the footage on the 
Internet. They expressed concern that the investigators were not taking 
action against the intelligence officers observed in the video.
    Officials continued to bring or threaten libel and defamation suits 
against media organizations or journalists that accused them of 
wrongdoing directly or by implication. In many cases, media observers 
regarded the fines levied upon those convicted as disproportionate, and 
some NGOs warned that the prospect of criminal libel charges could 
deter journalists from reporting candidly on events. On April 22, the 
Assembly amended the Criminal Code by introducing the publishing of 
court judgments in libel cases as an alternative to imposing fines. The 
NGO Human Rights Action called on the authorities during the year to 
decriminalize libel completely or, alternatively, to reduce fines 
significantly in keeping with ECHR case law. Conviction of criminal 
libel could lead to fines of up to 14,000 euros ($18,620).
    On February 8, the Podgorica Superior Court fined the daily 
newspaper Dan 14,000 euros ($18,620) for libel following former Prime 
Minister Djukanovic's 2003 lawsuit. The prime minister sued the paper's 
deputy editor in chief, Danilo Vukovic, for publishing articles in 2003 
related to Djukanovic's alleged involvement in the well-known human 
trafficking case of a Moldovan woman.
    On July 9, the Podgorica Superior Court overruled the May acquittal 
in a libel case involving Monitor magazine journalist Sead Sadikovic. 
The Superior Court's ruling directs the journalist to pay ANB official 
Zoran Lazovic one euro ($1.33) for ``emotional distress'' caused by an 
article that Monitor published in April 2007. The article contained 
information about Lazovic's purported connections with alleged drug 
trafficker Safet Kalic. Sadikovic was quoted as saying that ``the 
Superior Court's decision is a clear message that journalists should 
not mention state officials, especially police officials.''
    On October 19, Podgorica's Superior Court upheld a lower court's 
imposition of a 3,000-euro ($4,000) fine on Petar Komnenic, a Monitor 
journalist, for libeling Ivica Stankoivic, who was then president of 
the Podgorica Superior Court, in a 2007 article implying that he had 
criminal connections. On November 5, the Podgorica Superior Court 
overruled the basic court's November 2009 imposition of a 2,000 euro 
($2,660) fine against Komnenic, who was found guilty of libeling 
alleged drug trafficker Safet Kalic. The superior court ordered the 
lower court to retry Komnenic. The journalist was sued for an article 
published by the Monitor in 2008. Komnenic assessed his acquittal as a 
consequence of the country's process of integration with the EU and 
asserted that ``the Government, which was instructing the courts, or 
the courts, under government influence, became aware'' that libel 
verdicts with large fines would not be allowed anymore. On Novemer 15, 
in a separate civil lawsuit, the Podgorica Basic Court acquitted the 
Monitor of libel charges filed by Kalic for a series of articles 
published by the weekly in 2007 and 2008.
    The slander trial of author Ibrahim Cikic was delayed several times 
during the year, as police claimed they could not find Cikic at his 
home address in Bijelo Polje to serve a summons on him. Eleven persons 
sued him because of allegations he made in a book that, as former 
prison employees, they tortured him when he was serving a sentence 
following what he considered to be a politically motivated prosecution. 
Cikic and 20 leaders of the Party of Democratic Action of Montenegro 
went to prison in 1994, convicted of plotting an armed conflict in the 
northern Sandzak region.
    Lower courts acquitted journalists and NGO activists in several 
defamation suits during the year. The Podgorica Basic Court acquitted 
Vijesti journalist Jasmina Muminovic of the defamation charges filed 
against her by alleged drug trafficker Safet Kalic. The same court 
acquitted Vijesti journalist Samir Adrovic of defamation charges filed 
against him by the former head of police in the city of Ulcinj. Vijesti 
journalist Komnen Radevic was also acquitted of libel by the Podgorica 
Basic Court.
    On November 8, Podgorica's Basic Court acquitted Vanja Calovic, 
executive director of anticorruption watchdog MANS, of defamation 
charges brought by MNSS BV, the company that owned the Niksic 
Steelworks. On February 15, Dejan Milovac, a MANS activist, was 
acquitted in a defamation suit against him brought by Cetinje Mayor 
Milo Jankovic.
    On April 30, the Podgorica Basic Court announced that the then 
president of the Podgorica Superior Court, Ivica Stankovic, withdrew a 
defamation lawsuit against the Vijesti editor in chief. Stankovic had 
sued over an article alleging that, in a closed session of the 
Assembly's Security Committee, the director of police named Stankovic 
as one of the judges who had obstructed several police investigations.
    On May 18, the Superior Court overruled a September 2009 Podgorica 
Basic Court decision to fine Vijesti, along with Nebojsa Medojevic, 
leader of opposition political party Movement for Change, 33,000 euros 
($43,890) for tarnishing the reputation of the firm MNSS BV, owner of 
the Niksic Steelworks. The case involved a 2008 opinion piece, written 
by then presidential candidate Medojevic, which warned of the potential 
for money laundering following MNSS BV's purchase of the steelworks.
    On August 11, Milutin Sekulovic, a correspondent for Serbian daily 
Vecernje Novosti, informed police that he was threatened over the phone 
by Milan Golubovic, a municipal official in Berane. An article written 
by Sekulovic that same day about Golubovic's decision to order the 
removal of a billboard protesting a waste disposal decision was 
believed to be the reason Golubovic threatened him. The prosecutor's 
office concluded that there were no elements of a criminal act in 
Golubovic's behavior. On September 10, Jovan Loncar, a citizen of 
Berane whose billboards were removed by local authorities, sued the 
municipality and the companies managing the billboards for violating 
his freedom of expression. The lawsuit was pending before Berane's 
basic court at year's end.
    On September 24, five individuals employed by Vijesti and known to 
be strong critics of the Government--diirector Zeljko Ivanovic, editor 
in chief Ljubisa Mitrovic, cultural affairs editor Balsa Brkovic, 
director of TV Vijesti Slavoljub Scekic, and Vijesti columnist Milan 
Popovic--received anonymous letters containing the threatening message, 
``it is over, you are next.'' Popovic had been previously interrogated 
by supreme state prosecutor Ranka Carapic about a January 2009 opinion 
piece he published in Vijesti, in which he cited corruption, conflicts 
of interest, and organized crime as major national problems and wrote 
that there were indications of the prime minister being involved in 
such activities. Popovic claimed that Carapic asked him for evidence to 
support the allegations. A group of intellectuals protested against the 
prosecutor's action, calling it a violation of Popovic's right to 
freedom of speech. On October 5, the group again publicly protested 
disciplinary action initiated against Popovic the previous day by the 
University of Montenegro law faculty dean Ranko Mujovic for having 
criticized him (Mujovic) and high-ranking state officials at a 
September 30 faculty meeting.
    On October 14, on the eve of a municipal election in Ulcinj, the 
owner of local television station Teuta, Dino Ramovic, informed police 
that he received telephone threats from Ulcinj Mayor Gzim Hajdinaga, 
who led the Democratic Union of Albanians and the Party of Democratic 
Prosperity coalition in the election. Unsatisfied with the timing and 
order of presentation of his coalition's preelection activities by 
Teuta, Hajdinaga warned Ramovic that 200 of his supporters would come 
to the station to force him fulfill his demands. Upon Ramovic's 
denouncement, the police provided an overnight patrol to safeguard the 
television station.
    Despite these developments, observers noted an increase in the 
willingness of the media to criticize the Government, although a 
profound division between progovernment and opposition media remained. 
The prominence of articles and television programs critical of the 
authorities during the year suggested that self-censorship was not a 
major problem; however, observers noted that some journalists were 
susceptible to political and business influence due to their lack of 
expertise and their political affiliations.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet Web sites or chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage 
in the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-
mail and social media websites. According to the Agency for 
Telecommunication and Postal Activity, the total number of broadband 
connections was 63,155 in October, which corresponds to an Internet 
household penetration of 34.4 percent. According to data published by 
the International Telecommunication Union, there were 294,000 Internet 
users in the country in 2008; government data showed 44 percent of the 
population used the Internet in December 2009, up from 36 percent in 
October 2008.
    There were no reports that the Government collected or disclosed 
personally identifiable information of a person based on that person's 
peaceful expression of political, religious, or ideological opinion or 
belief. However, MANS criticized police authorities for finalizing an 
agreement in 2007 with a local telecommunication service provider M-Tel 
under which the provider agreed to give authorities direct access to 
the company's data. In 2008 MANS, citing the Free Access to Information 
Law, requested information from the police about the content of the 
agreement. On May 28, after an administrative court overruled the 
initial police denial of the request, the Ministry of Interior complied 
by ordering the Police Administration to reveal the details of the 
agreement, and on October 11, the ministry gave a copy of it to MANS. 
The agreement gave police round-the-clock access to all forms of 
communication provided by M-Tel. On September 13, the Constitutional 
Court rejected MANS' 2008 complaint that the agreement concluded 
between the police and the operator violates the plaintiffs' right to 
privacy. However, the Constitutional Court did not act during the year 
upon MANS' 2008 request for a decision on the constitutionality of 
provisions of the Criminal Code and the Government action plan for the 
fight against corruption and organized crime concerning police 
authorities having access to telecommunication providers' data.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
and law provide for freedom of assembly and association, and the 
Government generally respected these rights in practice. A wide range 
of social, cultural, and political organizations functioned without 
interference. Citing the organizers' noncompliance with a legal 
requirement to announce public gatherings in advance, police in May 
2009 banned a series of assemblies of workers of the Aluminum Plant of 
Podgorica who wanted to demonstrate against the company's management 
for failing to pay salaries. The workers complained to the Ministry of 
Interior and Public Administration, asserting that this requirement 
violated the constitution, but there were no indications that the 
Government responded.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/
drl//irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice.
    For the most part, the Government cooperated with the Office of the 
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian 
organizations in providing protection and assistance to displaced 
persons, refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless 
persons, and other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced or arbitrary exile, and the Government did 
not employ it.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--The Government maintains an 
official estimate of 10,948 persons who fled Kosovo during the 1999 
conflict there, and whom it recognizes as IDPs (both the present 
territories of Montenegro and Kosovo having been part of the State 
Union of Serbia and Montenegro). However, for an additional 5,415 
persons, mostly ethnic Serbs who fled in 1991-95 from Bosnia and 
Herzegovina and from Croatia during the conflict that attended the 
breakup of Yugoslavia, it created the category of ``displaced persons'' 
(DPs). The UNHCR, on the other hand, regards all of these persons to 
have been `` refugees'' at the time of their arrival.
    The treatment of DPs and IDPs was not equal. The law recognizes DPs 
as lawful residents, a designation that could lead to citizenship 
through residence or through marriage with a citizen. However, the law 
omits IDPs, whose numbers included mainly Roma, Ashkali, Balkan 
Egyptians, Muslims, Bosniaks, ethnic Serbs, Albanians, and 
Montenegrins, from the description of persons meeting the required 
criteria for lawful residence.
    Many of the displaced, both DPs and IDPs, continued to live in 
deplorable conditions in unofficial collective centers and other 
accommodations. However, authorities permitted them access to domestic 
and international humanitarian organizations and permitted them to 
accept assistance provided by these groups.
    The Government did not attack or target displaced persons or 
forcibly return or resettle them under dangerous conditions.
    Restricted access to employment has pushed many DPs and IDPs to 
provide for themselves and their families through gray-market 
activities. Romani, Ashkali, and Egyptian IDPs from Kosovo were 
particularly affected and continued to form the most marginalized and 
vulnerable segment of the displaced/refugee population. A law governing 
the employment of aliens, which entered into force in January 2009, 
removed the right of IDPs or DPs to work. After UNHCR's intervention 
with the prime minister, the possibility of engagement at seasonal work 
was opened, but only until the end of 2009. In July the Government 
passed the Decree on the Manner of Exercising Rights by DPs and IDPs, 
which enabled these persons to register with the Employment Bureau and 
have the same health care as Montenegrin nationals. However, the 
prerequisite for registration is having a unique citizen identification 
number (JMBG), which requires birth and citizenship documentation, 
which many, particularly Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian IDPs, do not have.
    Between April and July 2009, the Government completed a program of 
registration of DPs from Bosnia and Croatia and reported that 5,769 of 
the initial 7,820 had successfully reregistered. Between September 2009 
and February 2010, the Government completed the registration of IDPs 
from Kosovo, and their numbers decreased from 16,197 to 10,979. The 
registration, closely monitored by the UNHCR, was intended to help 
authorities decide on the future status of these persons. Those who did 
not reregister or were not entitled to reregister would not be eligible 
for the status of ``foreigner with permanent residence,'' and their 
present status would be terminated.
    However, those persons not able or willing to apply for the status 
of foreigner with permanent residence, as well as those unable to 
access Montenegrin citizenship, would have the possibility to apply for 
asylum if they are still in need of international protection. The 
deadline for submitting applications for foreigner with permanent 
residence status is scheduled to expire on November 7, 2011. Those who 
miss the deadline will be considered as illegal residents.
    In September 2009 the Government adopted an action plan for 
resolving the status of displaced persons from the former Yugoslav 
republics and IDPs from Kosovo and in October 2009 amended the Law on 
Aliens in order to meet the benchmarks for visa liberalization set by 
the EU. The new provisions give such persons the opportunity to seek 
the status of foreigners with permanent residence while exempting them 
from the minimum income standard and other usual requirements for that 
status. A foreigner with permanent residence has the same rights as a 
citizen, save the right to vote. In UNHCR's view, however, this 
mechanism involved many difficult hurdles. Persons would be required to 
provide valid travel documents from their countries of origin and 
should have no criminal records. The requirement to present valid 
travel documents was of particular concern to the Romani, Ashkali, and 
Egyptian communities, many of whom had no birth records, either because 
their births were never registered or because their records were 
destroyed during conflict. However, related legislation permits DPs/
IDPs unable to present valid travel documents to obtain the status of 
``temporary'' foreign resident, with all the rights accorded to 
foreigners with permanent residence, and gives those three years to 
obtain valid travel documents and have their status made permanent.
    The UNHCR observed that limited progress was made in the 
implementation of the action plan since its introduction, despite the 
Government's stated commitment to it. The number of applications for 
the new status by DPs and IDPs remained low, and by the end of the year 
only 529 DPs and 351 IDPs applied for the status of foreigner with 
permanent residence. In addition, only 40 DPs and one IDP applied for 
the status of foreigner with temporary residence. As of year's end, 373 
persons (238 DPs and 135 IDPs) were granted the status of foreigner 
with permanent residence, while no decisions were made on the 
applications for temporary residence.
    During the year the Government continued to encourage IDPs to 
return to their places of origin. Some continued to assert that the 
Government did not provide adequate support to make it possible for 
them to do so. However, after many years in the country, the number 
participating in voluntary repatriation has declined. At the time of 
the 2009 reregistration, 9,953 IDPs (or 90.1 percent) expressed their 
desire to remain in the country, while 244 (or 2.2 percent) declared 
themselves as willing to return to Kosovo. Some 1,600 IDPs, mostly 
Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians, have returned to Kosovo since 2001; 177 
returned during the year. Among DPs, only 35 refugees returned to 
Bosnia and Herzegovina and to Croatia in 2006, nine returned in 2007, 
five in 2008, 10 in 2009, and 12 during the year.
    While a considerable number of DPs have returned to their places of 
origin since 1996, the repatriation of those who remained slowed to a 
trickle. Only 10 persons returned to Bosnia and Herzegovina or to 
Croatia in 2009 and just another 12 during the year. By contrast, more 
than 600 Bosnian and Croatian refugees acquired Montenegrin citizenship 
between May 2008 and June 2010, in many cases through marriage with 
Montenegrin citizens.
    During October and November, the UNHCR conducted an outreach and 
media campaign for DPs and IDPs to inform them about the possibility of 
acquiring permanent residence as a foreigner and the November 7 
deadline for applications.
    The July 22 reduction of applicable administrative taxes removed an 
important obstacle and facilitated DP and IDP access to the new status. 
The UNHCR observed that progress in implementing the action plan was 
limited, despite the Government's commitment to expeditious completion 
of numerous measures, such as harmonizing the revisions in the law with 
the Law on Aliens.
    On November 9, the European Commission recommended that the 
European Council grant Montenegro EU candidate country status but 
condition the opening of accession negotiations upon, inter alia, the 
Government guaranteeing the legal status of displaced persons, and 
adopting and implementing a sustainable strategy for closure of the 
Konik camp.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. A path to 
citizenship was effectively accessible to recognized refugees.
    In practice, the Government provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion. At the beginning of 2008, the Government assumed 
responsibility for refugee status determination, and the UNHCR, which 
previously exercised this responsibility, continued to provide 
technical support.
    Conditions for refugees varied; those with relatives or property in 
the country were able to find housing and, in some cases, to rejoin 
family members. However, between 2,000 and 3,000 refugees holding DP 
status remained in barely habitable facilities (mainly on the Adriatic 
Coast) that had been privatized. On November 11, the Kotor Basic Court 
ruled that 30 IDPs from Kosovo must move from a holiday resort in 
Kamenovo owned by the company Recreatours.
    Although the 2007 law that governs asylum affords a number of 
protections, the failure of the Government to harmonize other 
legislation with this law deprived asylum seekers of the right to 
identity documents, employment, and health care. On May 27, authorities 
adopted the Regulation on Access to Health Care for Asylum Seekers, 
Refugees, and Persons Granted Subsidiary and Temporary Protection to 
address some of these problems. However, these persons still faced 
obstacles to obtaining health care, since the regulation was not fully 
implemented during the year.
    During the year authorities processed asylum applications involving 
nine persons; none were granted asylum. Although the country remained 
primarily a point of transit for asylum seekers, authorities 
anticipating that the number of asylum seekers would increase as the 
country moved closer toward EU accession, continued construction of a 
reception center designed to house approximately 65 asylum seekers.

    Stateless Persons.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents. 
According to the UNHCR, there were no legally stateless persons in the 
country; however, there were individuals who were de facto stateless. 
The biggest problem related to statelessness was the lack of personal 
documentation for many inhabitants, primarily in the Romani, Ashkali, 
and Egyptian communities, both those of local origin and those who 
entered the country from Kosovo. Government data published in May 2009 
reported a total of 9,934 Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians, of whom 4,400 
were refugees from Kosovo. The 2009 registration of Kosovo IDPs 
indicated that this population numbered approximately 3,100 persons. 
The UNHCR estimated that approximately 1,300 local Roma and 1,600 
Kosovo-born Romani, Ashkali, and Egyptian refugees were at risk of 
statelessness due to lack of personal documentation, as they were 
either never registered at birth or lacked proof of registration. As of 
year's end, the Government had not developed a procedure for 
systematically identifying, documenting, and registering stateless 
persons or persons at risk of statelessness, although UNHCR experience 
indicated that lack of documentation was the most significant factor 
leading to statelessness or the loss of effective citizenship.
    While the country is party to several conventions dealing with 
statelessness, the Government holds that it is not bound to grant 
citizenship to persons who became stateless as a result of the 
dissolution of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, since Serbia, 
as the ``succeeding state,'' was obligated to award citizenship to 
these persons.
    The UNHCR continued a regional project, in cooperation with partner 
NGOs, to register Romani, Ashkali, and Egyptian community members and 
assist them to obtain personal identity documents. During the year the 
UNHCR and the Legal Center provided legal advice to approximately 5,600 
displaced persons from Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo and to some 200 
local Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians at risk of statelessness, providing 
help in obtaining personal documents for submission to various 
administrative and judicial entities in an effort to obtain access to 
basic rights. In addition, the Legal Center assisted nine asylum 
seekers in the refugee status determination procedure.
    A further 1,300 persons were at risk of statelessness because they 
faced difficulties proving citizenship. These were mostly Roma, 
Ashkali, and Egyptians who originated from Montenegro or Kosovo and 
were either never registered at birth or lacked acceptable proof of 
registration.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide 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.

    Elections and Political Participation.--According to the OSCE 
election observation mission, the March 2009 parliamentary elections 
met almost all OSCE and Council of Europe commitments. The mission's 
statement noted frequent allegations of electoral fraud and a blurring 
of state and party structures that created a negative atmosphere among 
many voters. As in previous elections, most opposition parties raised 
concerns regarding campaign and party financing, and the overlap of 
state and political party structures. Allegations of pressure on voters 
and the purchase of voter identification documents were again reported 
by some opposition parties, the media, and certain individuals.
    On May 23, local elections were held in 14 of the country's 21 
municipalities. The elections were not monitored by either 
international or domestic observers. While individuals and parties 
could freely nominate their candidates and run for local elections, the 
press reported several instances of politically motivated incidents.
    On December 29, the parliament failed for the fifth time to reach 
the two-thirds majority required to pass an election law designed to 
bring electoral procedures in line with the 2007 constitution.
    Political parties generally operated without restrictions or 
outside interference.
    Parliamentary control of the executive branch of government 
remained weak.
    There were 10 women in the 81-seat Assembly and one in the cabinet. 
There was one female mayor in the country's 21 municipalities. Four of 
the 11 parties in the Assembly had female members in their caucuses. 
There were no women in six out of nine standing parliamentary 
committees. The president of the Supreme Court and the chief state 
prosecutor were women.
    There were 19 members of ethnic minorities in the Assembly and 
three members of ethnic minorities in the cabinet. The law reserves 
five Assembly seats for ethnic Albanians. No Roma ran for or held a 
seat in the Assembly.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials at times engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. The 
perception of the public sector as corrupt, particularly in the 
executive and judicial branches, was widespread. Observers noted that 
corruption was most evident in the areas of spatial planning, the 
judiciary, customs, police, local government, health care, and 
education.
    While many of the legal prerequisites for effective anticorruption 
policies were in place, implementation lagged. The World Bank's 
worldwide governance indicators reflected that corruption was a serious 
problem. In the first six months of 2009, police forwarded 887 
corruption cases involving 1,420 persons to prosecutors. In the same 
period, courts convicted 206 defendants in 151 cases. Local NGOs, 
media, and opposition political parties frequently accused the 
Government of not taking sufficient measures against corruption and 
organized crime. The results of investigations, prosecutions, and 
convictions for corruption at all levels remained weak. Citizens rarely 
reported corruption. Internal controls carried out within institutions 
or by responsible agencies seldom resulted in efficient prosecution of 
the perpetrators. State functionaries often had several functions and 
were permitted to be presidents or members of managing boards in more 
than one public company or state institution.
    On December 24, the mayor of the city of Budva, Rajko Kuljaca, and 
nine of his associates, were arrested on charges of abuse of office. 
Among those arrested was deputy mayor Dragan Marovic, brother of 
outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Svetozar Marovic. According to a police 
press release, Kuljaca and Marovic were suspected of having secured 
``substantial unlawful gain'' for the Zavala Invest Company through 
abuse of their official positions. On December 26, Radomir Ivanovic, 
investigative judge of the Podgorica Superior Court, ordered a 30-day 
detention of the suspects, who were believed to have committed crimes 
carrying penalties of up to ten years' imprisonment.
    Police corruption and inappropriate government influence on police 
behavior remained problems; the small, close-knit nature of Montenegrin 
society discouraged the reporting of corruption and made criminals' 
access to law enforcement officers easy. In February the Government 
formed an interagency joint investigative team designed to work 
exclusively on fighting organized crime and corruption and enhancing 
the ability of law enforcement agencies to work together.
    Acting on a June 2 request by the deputy special prosecutor for 
organized crime and corruption, police arrested 22 persons, including 
three police officers and 11 customs officers and one agricultural 
sanitary inspector from the towns of Rozaje and Berane. Police 
suspected that these individuals received and gave bribes, abused their 
offices, and smuggled goods across the border with Serbia. They were 
charged in Superior Court on August 23.
    According to the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights, 
who visited the country in 2008, there were few criminal proceedings 
against law enforcement officers for extortion of evidence, 
mistreatment, torture, or abuse of office, and the few that occurred 
were not efficiently conducted. Courts rendered verdicts only in a 
small number of reported cases but sentences were limited to 
admonitions, suspended sentences, and fines. During the first eight 
months of the year, authorities dismissed one officer and fined eight 
for abuse of office and exceeding authority. During the year the 
Interior and Public Administration Ministry's Internal Affairs Unit 
took disciplinary measures to address those problems. These internal 
investigations, combined with the work of the Council for the Civilian 
Control of Police Operations, the ombudsman, and human rights 
activists, reduced impunity. However, NGOs noted that police officers 
found responsible for violating rules of service, as well as senior 
officers implicated in cases of torture, remained on duty. The OSCE and 
local diplomatic missions provided training for police, security, and 
border and customs officers on combating terrorism, corruption, and 
financial crimes.
    Public officials were subject to financial disclosure under a 2008 
conflict of interest law that requires state officials, including 
members of the legislature, to disclose their salaries and property. 
During the first eight months of the year, the Commission for 
Preventing Conflicts of Interest, charged with carrying out that law, 
initiated legal proceedings against 248 state officials and proposed 
the dismissal of 15, for failing to comply with disclosure 
requirements. The commission initiated legal proceedings against 313 
state officials who failed to comply in 2008 and 52 who failed to 
comply in 2009. During the year 92 persons were fined and 156 others 
warned. While the law provides for fines ranging from 825 to 1,100 
euros ($1,097 to $1,463), the highest fine imposed by a court was 500 
euros ($665). The commission did not perform an adequate supervisory 
role, as it does not have the authority to check disclosures by public 
officials and has weak sanctioning powers. Many observers noted that 
the law had significant loopholes and was weakly implemented in 
practice.
    Protection for whistleblowers who reported corruption was 
inadequate. However, in July the Administrative Court revoked the 
September 2009 dismissal of Mirjana Draskovic, a veterinary inspector 
with 28 years of experience. She was fired by the Veterinarian 
Directorate after she made public statements about irregularities in 
the work of the Veterinarian Directorate and Ministry of Agriculture. 
The State Prosecutor's Office took no action on Draskovic's reports 
about the irregularities.
    On July 29, the Government adopted its 2010-14 Strategy for the 
Fight against Corruption and Organized Crime, together with an action 
plan for its implementation over the following two years. The strategy 
laid down the main guidelines, principles, and goals for the fight 
against corruption and organized crime. NGOs claimed that the plan was 
developed without their involvement by unknown individuals or groups 
and adopted without any public consultation, even though a team 
composed of representatives of public institutions and NGOs had been 
working on a similar document for four months and had presented it at a 
public debate to all interested stakeholders.
    A law on financing political parties was enacted in 2008, but 
according to the NGO Center for Democratic Transition, did not 
significantly improve the transparency and accountability of political 
party finances.
    There were allegations that authorities failed to act on reports of 
suspected corruption at high political levels. Many citizens continued 
to believe that state officials misappropriated public funds and 
pocketed significant revenue from the privatization of formerly state-
owned companies. In spite of the existing institutional framework to 
curb corruption, the overall number of investigations, prosecutions and 
convictions remained low.
    While open bidding was the most commonly used procedure for public 
procurement, many auditing reports identified inconsistent or irregular 
application of legal provisions or circumvention of the law in 
practice. The Commission for the Control of Public Procurement 
Procedures received 290 complaints during the first 10 months of the 
year alleging violations of procurement procedures. The commission 
found 98 complaints to be valid and rejected 192.
    The constitution and law provide for public access to government 
information; however, implementation of the law was weak and 
inconsistent, in particular in relation to some parts of privatization 
agreements. Some ministries were supportive of information requests, 
while others at times publicly criticized them. The level of access did 
not differ for noncitizens or the foreign or domestic press.
    On April 12, in response to a ruling by the Administrative Court, 
the Government reversed its earlier position and published its answers 
to a questionnaire required of countries seeking admission to the EU. 
The questionnaire contained responses to detailed questions about 
reforms being made on the country's road to EU integration. The 
Government previously refused to provide the information, on the 
grounds that publishing it would jeopardize national political and 
economic interests. Two NGOs took the matter to the Administrative 
Court.
    On November 25, the Ministry of Justice revoked the decision of the 
chief state prosecutor to deny the Youth Initiative for Human Right's 
request for information about actions taken by the chief state 
prosecutor in 12 cases of allegations of official misbehavior: the 
torture of prisoners in Spuz Prison in 2005; threats against Aleksandar 
Zekovic in 2007; the beating of Vladana Kljajic in Spuz Prison in 2007; 
the torture of members of the Party of Democratic Action in 1994; 
illegal surveillance of several judges of the Superior Court in 
Podgorica; the beating of journalist Tufik Softic and former boxer 
Aleksandar Pejanovic; the beating of detainees in the ``Eagle's 
Flight'' police operation; statements of veterinarian inspector Mirjana 
Draskovic about corruption at high levels regarding the issuance of 
licenses for food imports; the existence of a ``football mafia'' in the 
country; and the killing of Dusko Jovanovic and Srdjan Vojicic. The 
Ministry of Justice stated that the chief state prosecutor failed to 
give clear reasons for denying the request for information and ordered 
the chief state prosecutor to review the matter and issue a new 
decision.
    The NGO Youth Initiative for Human Rights noted in its report for 
the second quarter that political party allegiance was the key to 
employment in public service and that the ethnic composition of the 
public sector workforce did not correspond to that of the general 
population.
    NGOs reported that their requests for government-held information 
frequently went unanswered. Public awareness of a right to access 
government information remained at low level, and citizens themselves 
seldom turned to state institutions for information. Anticorruption NGO 
MANS reported that the competent authorities provided timely responses 
to approximately 38 percent of its requests for information. MANS noted 
that agencies usually refused to give information that could reveal 
corruption or lawbreaking, particularly involving the privatization 
process. MANS reported that citizens preferred to submit requests 
through NGOs rather than do so themselves. Authorities usually provided 
reasons for denials (such as threats to state interests or to the 
business interests of the contracting parties), and these could be 
appealed to the higher-level state bodies or courts. While the courts 
usually supported access to information, their orders to the ministries 
to comply with specific requests were often ambiguous and, 
consequently, sometimes ignored. The administrative court ruled 
favorably on 77 percent of the 4,879 complaints filed by MANS since 
2005.
Section 5. 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 the views of international 
groups, but some of the many domestic NGOs regarded cooperation as only 
nominal.
    In March the Government published the report of the Council of 
Europe's CPT on its 2008 visit to the country. However, a translation 
into Montenegrin was only published after the NGO Human Rights Action 
filed a lawsuit with the administrative court to require it to do so.
    Almost 4,500 domestic registered NGOs operated in the country, 
including those specializing in human and minority rights and women's 
rights. According to NGOs, authorities provided nominal, rather than 
substantive, cooperation. The OSCE- and EU-led international community 
efforts to engage the Government on human rights issues.
    Several NGOs and international organizations investigated human 
rights cases. According to its 2009 report, the UN Human Rights Council 
Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance and Missing 
Persons forwarded 15 cases involving disappearances that took place in 
1992 and 1993 to the Government for its response; the Government 
provided an explanation in one case; 14 cases remained outstanding. The 
working group decided to discontinue consideration of those 14 cases.
    The Government cooperated with international human rights and 
humanitarian NGOs and on February 17-21 hosted a visit by the European 
Commission for Human Rights. Amnesty International visited the country 
in November 2009.
    There is an ombudsman for human rights, who operated without 
government or party interference but received inadequate resources. 
Public awareness of the ombudsman's role remained insufficient. The 
Office of the Ombudsman had a staff of 23 persons; its annual budget 
was 431,400 euros ($573,762). Upon finding a violation of human rights 
or freedoms by any state agency or institution, the ombudsman could 
initiate disciplinary procedures, including dismissal, against the 
violator. In addition to 77 unresolved cases from earlier years, the 
office received 525 new complaints in 2009, or 10 percent more than in 
2008. The largest number of complaints involved the work of the courts 
(168), followed by public administration (152), public services (48), 
local governments (37), and the prosecutor's offices (nine); 69 
complaints related to the work of companies and other organizations. 
During the year the ombudsman's office met with 845 citizens and 
communicated with 1,850 citizens by telephone. The majority of 
complaints concerned lengthy trials and the lack of implementation of 
court decisions. The Government and the courts generally implemented 
the ombudsman's recommendations.
    Failure to comply with the ombudsman's request for access to 
official data, documents, or premises, or with the ombudsman's request 
to testify at a hearing, is punishable by fines of 10 to 20 times the 
minimum monthly wage, or between 550 and 1,100 euros ($731 and $1,463).
    The Assembly's Standing Committee for Human Rights and Freedoms met 
several times during the year, but its contribution was perceived by 
many observers as insignificant.
    Authorities cooperated with the International Criminal Tribunal for 
the Former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Court, of which 
the country is a member.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and laws prohibit discrimination based on race, 
gender, disability, language, or social status; however, the Government 
did not effectively enforce these prohibitions in practice. On July 27, 
the Assembly adopted an antidiscrimination statute containing 
comprehensive prohibitions of discrimination on the basis of race, 
religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, and other grounds. 
However, the Office of the Ombudsman, which is responsible for the 
law's implementation, lacked the human, technical, and financial 
resources for its enforcement.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is illegal; however, 
enforcement remained a serious problem. Instances of rape were 
significantly underreported due to the cultural stigma that attaches to 
victims and even their families. Deeply ingrained societal attitudes 
hampered prosecutions; judges frequently allowed aspersions on a 
victim's character to be entered into court proceedings. As a result 
victims were reluctant to report rape. Punishment for rape, including 
spousal rape, is one to10 years in prison; however, authorities can 
only prosecute the crime if the victim brings charges. There were no 
arrests or convictions for spousal rape during the year. According to 
police and judiciary statistics during 2009, there were 13 cases of 
rape reported and 16 persons were sentenced to prison.
    Domestic and other violence against women was a persistent and 
common problem. NGO sources working with abused women make strong 
claims that significant number of incidents remain unreported due to 
fear of reprisals from their attackers or lack of measures to prevent 
reoccurrence. According to government authorities, the number of 
reported incidents of domestic violence tripled between 2006 and 2009. 
The press reported that during 2009, police investigated 519 cases of 
possible domestic violence, 9 percent fewer than 2008; 85 persons were 
sentenced. According to NGO estimates, one out of four women has been a 
victim of some form of domestic violence. The NGO SOS, which operated a 
hotline for victims of domestic violence, reported that during the 
first four months of the year, it worked with 137 persons, far more 
than in past years. SOS noted an increase in the number of children and 
elderly among the victims and an increase in the use of physical 
violence. SOS also reported that health institutions charged the 
victims of family violence for medical aid, claiming that the injuries 
occurred as the result of ``fights.''
    On July 27, the Assembly approved the Law on Protection against 
Family Violence. The law was not fully implemented by year's end, as 
regulations and an action plan for its implementation had not been put 
in place. Since adoption of the law, police filed charges against 92 
perpetrators.
    Domestic violence is a crime punishable by fine or prison sentence, 
depending on the seriousness of the offense. Perpetrators are mainly 
fined; the rare prison sentences imposed were lenient. Due to lengthy 
trials, economic dependence or lack of other places to go, victims and 
perpetrators often lived together in the same place, which frequently 
resulted in new, more aggressive assaults that discouraged victims were 
usually hesitant to report. Local NGOs working to combat domestic 
violence relied to a large extent on international donor assistance. 
During the year official agencies, including the police and, to some 
extent, the judiciary improved their response to domestic violence; 
however, efforts remained inadequate. According to NGOs, many female 
victims of domestic violence complained about the inadequate response 
of social welfare centers to their appeals for help.
    On May 27, the Judicial Council terminated the assignment of 
Podgorica Superior Court judge Milorad Marotic at his own request due 
to personal reasons. He had been indicted for domestic violence in 2008 
and temporarily suspended by the Judicial Council, but the 
Administrative Court revoked the suspension in September 2009.
    NGOs operated two shelters for victims of domestic violence. 
Women's advocacy groups worked to combat domestic violence through 
awareness campaigns and sought to improve women's access to legal 
services and workshops.
    Sexual harassment is prohibited by law; however, it remained a 
problem and society generally tolerated it. Victims were hesitant to 
report harassment, although police were usually effective in 
intervening when asked to do so. According to surveys conducted by the 
Damar polling agency in March, 20 percent of employed persons stated 
that they were victims of workplace harassment.
    The Government recognized the basic right of couples and 
individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and 
timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so 
free from discrimination, coercion, and violence. Health clinics and 
local health NGOs operated freely in disseminating information on 
family planning under the guidance of the Ministry of Health. There was 
free access to contraceptives and to skilled attendance during 
childbirth, including essential obstetric and postpartum care. The 
Government guaranteed free childbirth services. According to statistics 
developed by intergovernmental organizations, the estimated maternal 
mortality rate in 2008 was 15 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
    Men and women received equal access to diagnosis and treatment for 
sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Women were equally 
diagnosed and treated for sexually transmitted infections, including 
HIV.
    Women have the same rights as men in property law, family law, and 
the judicial system; however, in practice women did not enjoy equal 
social status with men. NGOs pointed out that it was difficult for 
women to defend their property rights in divorce suits. One emerging 
trend involved husbands in divorce proceedings titling their property 
in the name of other family members or friends rather than their wives. 
Traditional patriarchal ideas of gender, which maintain that women 
should be subservient to male members of their families, persisted and 
resulted in continued discrimination against women in the home. For 
example, 84 percent of illiterate persons were women. In rural areas, 
women could not always exercise their right to control property, and 
husbands occasionally directed their wives' voting.
    Women constituted 6.3 percent of central government employees, 11.4 
percent of employees of local governments, and 12.3 percent of members 
of the national parliament.
    There were no official statistics about women in managerial 
positions. Some job announcements openly advertised discriminatory 
criteria, such as age and physical appearance, for female applicants. 
Few women held senior management positions in government, military, or 
commerce. There were, however, some signs of improvement; an increasing 
number of women served as judges, and there were many women in 
professional fields such as law, science, and medicine. Women from 
Romani communities did not have equal opportunities for education due 
to traditional values and restrictions on their participation in 
society. Due to low education and harsh living conditions, Romani women 
seldom visited gynecologists, with negative consequences for their 
health and for infant mortality rates.
    Women constituted 50.7 percent of the population and 46.3 percent 
of the unemployed population. Media reports indicate that 44.9 percent 
of the holders of bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees were women.
    Although the law incorporates the general principle of 
nondiscrimination against women, it does not explicitly address the 
principle of equal pay for equal work; in practice, women's wages were 
lower than those of men for comparable work. According to an August 
report of the Statistical Office of Montenegro (Monstat), working women 
have lower salaries than their male colleagues. According to Monstat, 
women in 2009 earned, on average, 13 percent less than men. The average 
monthly salary with taxes and contributions for women amounted to 581 
euros ($773) at the end of September 2009, while men received an 
average of 674 euros ($896). Of 15 industries surveyed, women had 
higher salaries in only transport and warehousing.
    There remained a deeply rooted division between male and female 
professions. In April 2009 the Government transformed its Office for 
Gender Equality into a department within the Ministry for Protection of 
Human and Minority Rights.
    Gender equality is provided for in the constitution. It is 
regulated by the Law on Gender Equality (2007) and promoted by an 
action plan (2008). Although implementation of the action plan is 
monitored by parliament, the Government, and the ombudsman, it has not 
been properly implemented. In addition, the Law on Gender Equality 
includes only limited sanctions and does not clearly address the 
principle of equal pay. The protection of women against their economic 
dependency remains insufficient.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents by birth in 
the country's territory, by marriage to a Montenegrin citizen, or as 
specified by international treaties governing the acquisition of 
citizenship. Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians continued to experience 
difficulties registering the births of their children, mostly due to 
the lack of awareness of the importance of civil registration and a 
lack of documentation of parents' identities. Romani children are not 
well integrated into the broader community, and discrimination against 
them remained widespread.
    There is a law on child and social protection. However, 
implementation of the national plan for children has been inadequate, 
as the Council for Children's Rights, which is the main body for 
coordinating implementation of the national plan, is not operational.
    By law, education was compulsory and free; however, according to 
Romani community leaders, nearly one-half of Romani children never 
enrolled in primary school. According to the national statistics in 
May, only 47 percent of the 2,587 Romani children between the ages of 
six and 15 attended primary school. Romani children continued to face 
difficulties in continuing their education, including lack of knowledge 
of the local language, poverty, and tradition. Many Romani parents did 
not want their children, particularly girls, to go to school, but 
preferred them to stay at home and marry at an early age.
    Of the comparatively small number of Roma who completed primary 
school, a much smaller proportion continued to secondary and higher 
education compared with non-Romani children. Human rights observers 
reported that the Government did not undertake adequate efforts to 
monitor or encourage Roma to continue to attend school. In the Konik 
refugee camp in Podgorica, there was a remote campus of the Bozidar 
Vukovic primary school, which was attended exclusively by 247 Romani, 
Ashkali, and Egyptian students. Romani NGO leaders described this as 
discrimination and during the year asked that this type of school 
division be abolished. There was some progress; the proportion of 
Romani, Ashkali, and Egyptian children enrolled in the first year of 
secondary school increased from 50 percent in the 2008-09 school years 
to 55 percent in 2009-10. Sixty Romani students continued to secondary 
education and 12 attended university in 2010-11.
    Some ethnic Albanians continued to criticize the Government for not 
providing textbooks on history, music, and visual arts oriented to 
Albanian primary school children. The first privately funded Muslim 
religious secondary school opened in Malesija, near Podgorica, in 2007; 
as of year's end, however, authorities had not given it full 
accreditation. There was one fully accredited Albanian-language private 
school.
    While tuition for primary education was free, students, except for 
families who benefited from social welfare programs had to provide 
their own books and school supplies. NGO programs and grants helped 
provide books and other school resources for Romani students. The 
Government provided books for children without parents, the disabled, 
special social cases, and Romani children.
    In an effort to reduce dropouts among Romani children, the UNHCR, 
the EU, and the Foundation for Providing Scholarships to Roma, a local 
NGO continued a pilot project for 15 students in the sixth and seventh 
grades of the school in the Konik refugee camp.
    A deputy ombudsman investigated complaints of violations of 
children's rights. His office received 32 complaints during the first 
nine months of the year, mainly involving contact with parents after 
divorce, protection from violence, the rights of children with 
disabilities, children's right to education, and access to social 
benefits.
    The NGO Center for Children's Rights, in cooperation with 19 other 
NGOs, reported an increase of juvenile delinquency, drug use, begging, 
and violence against minors. Romani children still remained a 
vulnerable group, while many issues relating to refugee children were 
not resolved.
    Child abuse was an underreported problem that the Government took 
little action to address. The country lacked proper facilities for 
children who suffered from family violence. 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 incest or other 
child abuse to authorities. In 2007 police reported four cases of child 
sexual abuse. During the first nine months of the year, social welfare 
centers received complaints about the mistreatment of 72 children from 
27 families. Seventeen children were accommodated in the shelter for 
victims of family violence run by the NGO Safe Woman's House.
    Child marriage was a problem, particularly in Romani communities, 
where boys and girls generally married around age 14. It was difficult 
to estimate the extent of underage marriage in the Romani community 
because the Roma frequently did not register such marriages. Romani 
children were disadvantaged by poverty, leading many to start work both 
at home and in the streets at an early age, typically around age seven, 
in order to contribute to the family income. Romani children were also 
disadvantaged by having to attend school in a nonnative language, since 
many spoke Romani at home. The Government generally ignored the 
problem.
    The age of consent is 18. There is a statutory rape law. The 
penalties for rape are higher if the victim was a minor. Child 
pornography s illegal, with penalties ranging from six months in prison 
for displays of child pornography, to a maximum of five years' 
imprisonment for using a child in the production of pornography.
    Street children, most of them Roma, were organized into groups to 
beg at busy intersections, on street corners, and in restaurants and 
cafes. During the first nine months of the year, police charged 13 
persons with organizing the begging and removed 10 children from the 
streets; the children were temporarily accommodated in the Center for 
Children and Youth, and then sent back to their places of origin in 
Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro.
    Children with disabilities faced numerous obstacles in education 
and other social services. Some children with mental disabilities were 
confined in institutions under substandard conditions. In its March 9 
report on its 2008 visit to the country, the CPT described the 
treatment of 15 children in the Komanski Most Institution for Persons 
with Special Needs, where mentally disabled children were held together 
with adults in unsanitary circumstances and without sufficient 
supervision to prevent their mistreatment by adults.
    The Government adopted an action plan to carry out the CPT's 
recommendations and sought to improve the living conditions and 
treatment of patients in the Komanski Most Institution for Persons with 
Special Needs. The facilities were reconstructed and properly equipped. 
The children were separated from adults, and males were separated from 
females. The size of the staff has increased. Individual daily activity 
plans, in line with the inmates' physical and mental characteristics, 
were revised. The isolation room is no longer used, while leather 
restraints were used strictly according to need, and a log of their use 
was maintained. However, conditions remained inadequate, especially the 
shortage of trained staff and continued substandard facilities.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international child abduction, please see the Department of State's 
annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The country's Jewish population was small and 
widely distributed across the country. A 2004 survey by the Government 
statistics office concluded that there was no organized Jewish 
community; an international Jewish NGO reached a similar conclusion. 
There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report 
at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution and law prohibit 
discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, 
and mental disabilities in employment, education, access to health 
care, pensions, allowances, family care and support, buildings, 
information and communication. The constitution also provides persons 
with mental disabilities with the right to be placed in an adequate 
residential institution and the right to foster care and support or 
other state services; however, societal discrimination against persons 
with disabilities effectively limited their access to these benefits, 
and authorities did not actively prosecute infractions. While laws 
mandating that new public buildings have access for persons with 
disabilities were generally enforced, lack of access to older public 
buildings, hospitals, and public transportation was a problem. A 2008 
Law on Spatial Planning and Construction regulates the accessibility of 
public facilities and mandates that all public facilities must be made 
accessible to persons with disabilities by 2013. Facilities at polling 
stations were inadequate for persons with disabilities, although 
authorities provided mobile voting for voters who could not come to 
polling stations because of illness or disability.
    Education for children with disabilities, including the 
implementation of the strategy for inclusive education, was 
insufficient.
    Society often stigmatized persons with disabilities, and such 
persons depended greatly on government disability allowances, which 
were not adequate.
    The Ministries of Health, Labor and Social Welfare, Education and 
Sports, Science, Culture, and Human and Minority rights were 
responsible for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.
    Unemployment remained a serious problem for persons with 
disabilities. While the law provides incentives and tax breaks to 
employers who hired them, employers rarely chose to hire persons with 
disabilities. Only 2 percent of the approximately 63,000 persons with 
disabilities in the country had employment during the year. In August 
the Employment Agency reported that 2,297 persons with disabilities 
were registered. To enhance the employment prospects of persons with 
disabilities, the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, the Employment 
Agency, trade unions, local governments, and associations of persons 
with disabilities signed a memorandum of understanding to monitor and 
evaluate the employment process and create a data base.
    Mid-2009 estimates of the number of children with special needs 
ranged between 6,000 and 7,000. NGOs stated that the ambitious 
government action plan for implementing its strategy for integration of 
persons with disabilities for 2008-16 was significantly behind 
schedule. A study conducted in 2008 by the UN Development Program 
(UNDP) and the Strategic Studies and Prognosis Institute cited 
estimates of the number of persons with disabilities in the education 
system that varied from 2 to 10 percent. Although they were entitled to 
receive healthcare from the state, the numerous obstacles they faced, 
including the physical inaccessibility of most health institutions, 
unequal access to various medical treatment, and the limited 
availability of prosthetics, blocked full access.
    Mental health care was inadequate in terms of service and capacity. 
Facilities for treating persons with mental disorders were out of date 
and underfunded. Institutional isolation perpetuated stigmatization and 
discrimination against the mentally ill. Institutionalized persons 
often became wards of the state and often lived in isolation.
    On March 9, the CPT released a report on its 2008 visit to the 
country that characterized as ``appalling'' conditions for disabled 
persons deprived of their liberty in the Kaminski Most Institution for 
Persons with Special Needs. In describing Ward B of the institution, 
the CPT took note of ``totally bare and malodorous rooms'' and 
residents (some of whom were physically handicapped or blind, as well 
as mentally disabled)'' were seen to lie alone, occasionally with their 
heads covered with a blanket, some naked, with flies crawling on them. 
In a locked ``baby room,'' the delegation saw five bedridden residents, 
aged between three and 19, lying in cots. There was also a locked 
dayroom where approximately 25 residents (men, women and children 
together) were left wandering alone. In an unstaffed and locked part of 
the ward, where residents appeared to be left alone, the delegation 
found a dayroom in which seven residents were physically attached to 
furniture. The CPT report emphasized the importance of safeguards when 
committing persons to institutions, particularly when these decisions 
are made by committees of officials.
    The Law on Social and Child Protection provides for the right of 
accommodation and education of persons with physical, mental, and 
sensual deficiencies in an institution for persons with special needs. 
The law provides that the initial decision on whether a particular 
individual needs this type of accommodation is made by the social 
welfare center commission, while the Ministry of Education is 
responsible for deciding on the applicant's special educational needs. 
The decisions of these bodies can be appealed to the Ministry of Labor 
and Social Welfare Center and then to the Administrative Court. Family 
Law regulates the area of guardianship.
    On September 17, the Podgorica Basic Court fined the Podgorica 
municipal government 500 euros ($665) for failing to implement its July 
2009 decision, that city employee Marijana Mugosa was entitled to come 
to her office with a guide dog. The Podgorica government appealed, and 
the superior court, on October 22, delayed the execution of the basic 
court's decision. While the ombudsman criticized the Podgorica mayor 
for failing to implement the court decision, the mayor blamed the 
ombudsman for overstepping his authority by meddling in the court 
decision. The city of Podgorica accepted Mugosa's return to work but 
assigned her to an isolated location, explaining that the presence of 
her guide dog in the office harmed the health of her two colleagues. 
The basic court initiated an investigation of the adequacy of the new 
office location.
    On September 22, Andrija Samardzic and his guide dog were expelled 
from the Carine restaurant in Podgorica where he was having dinner. 
Following a meeting with the Association of Handicapped Youth, the 
owner of the restaurant apologized and said that persons with 
disabilities who use guide dogs would be welcome in his restaurants; 
however, on November 5, Andrija Samardzic was expelled from the 
restaurant. The NGO Antidiscrimination Center Equista filed charges 
with the Podgorica basic court against the owner of the restaurant.
    Local residents in the Gorica district near Danilovgrad protested 
against the construction of a day care center for children with special 
needs and signed a petition against it. The NGO YIHR criticized the 
petition and called on the competent authorities to ignore the protests 
and proceed with the construction.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The constitution provides both 
individual and collective rights for minorities, and for most groups 
these rights were generally observed in practice; however, Roma were 
disadvantaged in access to social services and experienced societal 
discrimination.
    Unlike in some previous years, there were no reports of physical 
attacks against persons during the year for what appeared to be ethnic 
reasons.
    The leaders of ethnic Serbian, Albanian, and Bosniaks communities, 
as well as Muslim leaders, continued to complain of their 
underrepresentation in government, the judiciary, and state-owned 
economic enterprises. According to a study conducted by YIHR between 
December 2009 and May, there was a huge imbalance in the employment of 
some ethnic groups in public service, with Roma being at the bottom.
    Three members of the national cabinet were members of national 
minorities. Although members of the national parliament included almost 
all minority groups except Roma, the right to authentic political 
representation of minorities as provided for in the constitution was 
not implemented.
    A survey by the NGO Human Rights Initiative indicated that, despite 
the existence of a satisfactory legal framework, the availability of 
information in minority languages and the protection of minority 
cultures and tradition needed improvement. Human rights activists 
raised the issue of insufficient usage of the Romani language in 
government notices and publications.
    On July 24, the Assembly amended the Law on General Education to 
provide that classes throughout the country would be taught in the 
Montenegrin language, resulting in protests by parents who threatened 
to withdraw their children from schools. Many Serb political 
representatives stated that ethnic Serbs living in the country were 
being treated in a discriminatory manner. Opposition parties filed the 
case with the Constitutional Court. Authorities delayed the 
implementation of the law until the next academic year to create 
conditions in the National Educational Council for General Education 
for the Montenegrin language to be introduced as a subject, namely more 
teachers, better text books, and a more thorough curriculum. On 
December 24, the National Council for General Education adopted a 
curriculum for the study of Montenegrin language and literature for 
primary and secondary education.
    According to a joint survey conducted in 2008 by the National 
Statistics Office, the Roma National Council, and the local NGO Roma 
Circle, there were approximately 11,000 Roma in the country, of whom 
4,500 were IDPs or DPs and 6,500 were long-term residents. Many Roma, 
including IDPs from Kosovo, lived illegally in squatter settlements, 
often far apart from each other and lacking such basic services as 
public utilities, medical care, and sewage facilities.
    Prejudice against Roma, who comprised 0.42 percent of the 
population, was widespread, and local authorities often ignored or 
tacitly condoned their intimidation or mistreatment. Negative 
stereotypes strongly impacted the Romani, Ashkali, and Egyptian 
populations. They did not have political representatives and generally 
stayed out of politics. They often lacked identity documents and 
therefore did not have access to basic social services. Some 
settlements were located on property whose owners wanted to reassume 
control or on the premises of companies due to be privatized, and their 
residents were at risk of eviction; however, no evictions were reported 
during the year. The Romani, Ashkali, and Egyptian population faced 
many challenges related to social inclusion, including access to 
secondary medical protection (such as surgeons and specialist doctors) 
afforded to other residents.
    A well-known human rights researcher, Aleksandar Zekovic, alleged 
that the relevant social and health institutions failed to prevent and 
report the death of two Romani children in Niksic in 2008 and 2009.
    According to 2009 UN data, approximately 40 percent of the Romani, 
Ashkali, and Egyptian population in the country lacked birth or 
citizenship certificates. The Law on Citizenship and its accompanying 
regulations posed numerous obstacles for Romani, Ashkali, and Egyptian 
residents in obtaining citizenship, as many lacked personal identity 
documents (see section 2.d.).
    According to the UNDP, approximately 70 percent of Roma were 
illiterate, 50 percent were unemployed, and 36 percent lived below the 
poverty level.
    On November 22, the ombudsman asked the police directorate about 
the alleged mistreatment of two Romani men, Vahid Adzovic and Mentor 
Idrizaj, by police after they were caught stealing car batteries. The 
two men claimed that they were beaten and otherwise mistreated by the 
residents of the village Botun near Podgorica who caught them and 
turned them over to police.
    Six officers of the border police from Rozaje who were dismissed 
accused the head of the Border Police Branch in Berane, Veselin 
Krgovic, and the Police Directorate of discrimination against Bosniaks, 
Muslims, and Albanians on national grounds, claiming that to be the 
reason for their dismissal. Authorities rejected those allegations and 
attributed the dismissals to downsizing of the police force.
    On November 27, the Podgorica Superior Court sentenced Milos Kovac, 
from Serbia, to four months in prison for spreading national 
intolerance and hatred. According to the indictment, Kovac and Sonja 
Stojanovic, also from Serbia, insulted, swore at, and physically 
attacked a tourist guide during their visit to the museum of King 
Nikola in Cetinje in 2007. Stojanovic was acquitted.
    During the year authorities appropriated approximately 400,000 
euros ($532,000) to improve conditions for Roma under the Strategy for 
Improvement of the Roma Position in Montenegro 2008-12. Priorities 
included the integration of the Romani, Ashkali, and Egyptian 
population into society. NGOs alleged, however, that the appropriated 
funds were not spent. Despite the appointment in 2009 of a new national 
coordinator, the establishment of a commission for monitoring the 
implementation of the strategy (including representatives of Roma and 
NGOs), and the establishment of a center for the preservation and 
protection of minorities' culture, government efforts did not result in 
significant improvements during the year. Minister for Human and 
Minority Rights Ferhat Dinosa publicly stated that the abbreviated name 
RAE, for Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians, should be avoided, and he 
invited the public to use the correct names for each Romani ethnic 
group.
    During the year the Government continued to fund the operating 
costs of national councils, those elected bodies established in 2007 
and 2008 to represent the interests of minority groups. It provided an 
additional 850,000 euros ($1.13 million) to the councils during the 
year for the implementation of 126 projects, apportioned according to 
the size of each group. There were national councils for Serbs, 
Bosniaks, Albanians, Muslims, Croats, and Roma. Some members of the 
councils and human rights activists voiced suspicions that their funds 
had been misappropriated. The Fund for Minorities decided to allocate 
funds just a few days before parliament adopted amendments to the Law 
on Minority rights, on December 9, that established new criteria for 
appropriation of funds. A group of Romani activists voiced their 
dissatisfaction with the excessive amount of government assistance 
provided to Vaselj Beganaj, president of the NGO coalition Roma Circle. 
NGOs asserted that his projects were given preferential treatment and 
that some funds were used for personal expenditures.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The constitution calls for 
respect for human rights on all grounds and prohibits the instigation 
of hatred or intolerance on any grounds. Nevertheless, antipathy and 
stigmatization toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) 
persons existed.
    A number of NGOs and human rights activists continued to sharply 
criticize and unsuccessfully demand the removal from office of the 
minority and Human Rights Minister Ferhat Dinosa for ``his incompetent, 
intolerant and homophobic statements.''
    The Ombudsman's Office stated that since adoption of an 
antidiscrimination law in July, their office received two complaints 
against discrimination on sexual orientation.
    NGOs Juventas and Safe Woman's House, along with individual members 
of the LGBT population, filed a complaint with ombudsman's office 
claiming a program aired on Atlas TV called ``Glamour Noir'' contained 
hate speech. The Slobodan Skerovic secondary school in Podgorica 
sanctioned a psychology teacher who was a guest on the program because 
of her statements about LGBT persons on that program. Following the 
ombudsman's recommendation, the Broadcasting Agency urged Atlas TV and 
other electronic media outlets ``to avoid promoting or instigating 
intolerance or hate speech.''
    There were infrequent reports of violence and discrimination 
directed against gay men; there were no reports that the Government 
condoned such actions. In July two cases of violence against gay men 
were reported to the NGO Juventas. Neither case was reported to the 
police, as the victims reportedly feared disclosure of their sexual 
orientation during the investigation and possible court trial. There 
were no reports that persons were denied equal opportunities in 
education and employment on the basis of sexual orientation. Societal 
antipathy towards gays and lesbians led most of them to conceal their 
orientation. No person publicly declared their gay or lesbian affinity 
during the year. Juventas reported two cases in which media carried 
insulting remarks against LGBT persons.
    During the year the NGO Juventas and the Coalition for LGBT 
conducted an awareness campaign through the EU-funded project, 
``Montenegro Bright Spot on the Gay Map,'' a hopeful response to the 
Dutch NGO that had once labeled the country ``the dark spot on the gay 
map.''
    In July, as part of efforts to provide protection to sexual 
minorities in the country, six Montenegrin police officers took part in 
training programs in Los Angeles and Toronto on the protection of LGBT 
rights.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of violence against persons with AIDS; however, the NGO Juventas stated 
that persons with HIV/AIDS were stigmatized and experienced 
discrimination. Observers believed that fear of discrimination 
prevented many persons from seeking HIV testing, and the rate of 
testing was only 33 persons per 1,000 inhabitants. The NGO Cazas runs 
the only center for psychological support and assistance to persons 
infected by HIV and AIDS.
    Although knowledge about transmission of HIV was generally 
widespread, changes in behavior lagged behind. Since persons are not 
accustomed to HIV testing, HIV infection is often discovered only in 
the later stages, often when the person being tested has already 
developed AIDS. Most of this population lives at subsistence level.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law entitles workers, except for 
uniformed military and police personnel, to form and join independent 
unions of their choice without previous authorization or excessive 
requirements, and authorities effectively enforced these laws. 
Approximately 60 percent of the workforce in the formal economy was 
unionized. The most prominent trade union organizations were the 
Confederation of Trade Unions of Montenegro and the Union of Free Trade 
Unions of Montenegro.
    In May the legislature adopted a new law on trade union 
representativeness to ease restrictions on trade union pluralism.
    The law allows unions to conduct their activities without 
government interference, and the Government protected this right in 
practice. The law provides for the right to strike, with the exception 
of military and police personnel and public servants. During the year 
workers in the private sector exercised this right by conducting 
frequent legal strikes. Worker participation in an unlawful strike is 
sufficient grounds for dismissal or for the union to be held 
responsible for damages.
    Unpaid wages and factory closures led to large-scale strikes. In 
September strikers took possession of the management buildings in the 
Podgorica Aluminum Plant (KAP) and the steel works and bauxite mine in 
Niksic. Workers held a hunger strike in the bauxite mine pit. On 
September 30, police interrogated 17 members of the trade union of the 
steel works in Niksic. The trade union stated that it considered the 
police action a pressure tactic.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for the right to bargain collectively; however, collective 
bargaining remained at a rudimentary level and was hampered by the fact 
that only the most representative unions, i.e. unions with the largest 
membership in a given plant, can be the parties to the collective 
agreements. Under a 2004 law, collective bargaining agreements cover 
the registered workforce. On November 3, representatives of the 
Government's Social Council, the Union of Employers, and the 
Confederation of Trade Unions of Montenegro signed amendments to the 
general collective agreement to align the agreement with the labor law. 
The Union of Free Trade Unions of Montenegro, which did not sign the 
amendments, described them as detrimental to workers and filed a case 
with the Constitutional Court.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination and employer 
interference in union activities, but there were some reports that it 
occurred during the year. Trade union activists reported that there 
were cases of dismissal, demotion, and suspension for suspected union 
activity.
    On April 28, the Trade Union of the Podgorica Aluminum Plant stated 
that company management exerted various kinds of pressures on workers 
to prevent their participation in an announced strike. The Union of 
Free Trade Unions and several NGOs urged the minister of labor and 
social welfare to stop antiunion discrimination at the company and 
criticized the Labor Inspectorate for inaction.
    Workers dismissed for union activity had the right to 
reinstatement. However, because of delays in the court system, it could 
take a worker who claimed to have been unjustly fired several years to 
regain employment through legal action. There is a law providing for 
out-of-court settlement of labor disputes, and the Agency for Amicable 
Labor Dispute Resolution, which became operational in August, exists to 
implement the law. Between August and November, the agency reviewed 46 
cases involving 465 parties.
    On March 12, following a 24-day strike at the bauxite mine in 
Niksic, company management agreed to reinstate eight miners who had 
been dismissed. Management also agreed that miners with more than 20 
years of service could retire with pensions based on length of service.
    On April 30, the Government brokered a deal between KAP management 
and its trade union, reversing the dismissal of trade union leader 
Sandra Obradovic and a few other workers. After management had 
previously refused to withdraw the dismissals and meet the union's 
requests, the strike escalated and workers occupied the management 
building, forcing the management to leave the premises. The trade union 
called on the authorities to intervene.
    The Confederation of Trade Unions of Montenegro reported instances 
of employers bullying trade union members. When the trade union at the 
Mikro firm in Bijelo Polje organized a strike to protest unpaid 
salaries and allowances--in full compliance with national procedures--
the employer threatened to sue the union for 100,000 euros ($133,000) 
in damages. A similar situation led to a strike by the local branch of 
the construction workers' union at the Prvoborac Kamen i Beton firm in 
Herceg Novi. Following the strike, management issued the local trade 
union leader an official warning.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
all forms of forced or compulsory labor; however, there were reports 
that individuals were trafficked from abroad and within the country for 
labor, particularly in construction. There was also forced begging, 
mostly by Romani children (see section 7.d.). See also the State 
Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/
tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There are laws and policies to protect children from exploitation in 
the workplace, including those prohibiting forced or compulsory labor 
and those establishing acceptable working conditions. The Government 
generally enforced these laws and regulations effectively in the formal 
economy. The official minimum age for employment is 15 years; however, 
in farming communities it was common to find younger children assisting 
their families. Romani children also worked in a variety of unofficial 
retail jobs, typically washing car windows, collecting items such as 
scrap metal, or selling old newspapers.
    Many Romani children also engaged in begging. In Podgorica and the 
coastal areas, police continued an initiative aimed at suppressing 
begging. They arrested and charged several adults with organizing and 
forcing their relatives, mostly young Romani children, to beg. Most of 
these children were temporarily accommodated in the Center for Children 
and Youth. Police asserted that the practice constituted isolated 
family begging rather than organized begging. Police pressed charges 
against the perpetrators while the children were sent to their 
families. See also the State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.
    Inspectors from the State Labor Inspector's Office were responsible 
for enforcing the child labor laws within the formal economy. 
Inspectors reported no violations of child labor laws during the year. 
The ministry has 40 inspectors covering labor issues divided in eight 
branch offices, although there were no resources devoted exclusively to 
investigating child labor. The Government has provided two general 
awareness training courses for officials charged with enforcing child 
labor laws.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum wage of 55 
euros ($73) per month did not provide a decent standard of living for a 
worker and family. According to statistics released at the end of 
August, the average salary was approximately 504 euros ($670) per month 
and was not adequate for a worker and family to live comfortably. The 
Government statistics office estimated that approximately 5 percent of 
the population lived below the poverty line in 2008. Significant 
portions of the workforce, particularly in rural areas and the informal 
sector, earned less than the minimum wage. The Ministry of Labor and 
Social Welfare enforced the minimum wage; there were no reports during 
the year of employers in the formal economy failing to pay it.
    The law limits hours worked to 40 per week (except in specified 
unusual circumstances), sets a 30-minute daily rest period, and 
requires an unspecified premium for work in excess of 40 hours per 
week. Overtime work is limited to 10 hours per week; however, seasonal 
workers often worked much longer hours.
    Many workers from privatized or bankrupt companies had outstanding 
claims for back payment of salaries and severance pay. The law provides 
some recourse, and parties have reached settlements involving some 
compensation in the past; however, these were the exception. The law 
requires employers to make substantial contributions to pension and 
health care funds. To avoid these payments, employers often did not 
officially register their employees.
    During the first nine months of the year, the Employment Agency 
granted licenses for the employment of 10,062 foreigners, most of them 
seasonal workers in the fields of tourism, catering, and construction. 
The quota for nonresident employees for the year was 39,450. Labor law 
provisions governing temporary employment place no limitation on 
extending the temporary employment of a worker, putting employers in a 
position of considerable leverage over workers, particularly women, 
older workers, and those with disabilities.
    The Government establishes mandatory health and safety regulations, 
and it increased inspections and preventative measures during the year.
    The law governing workplace health and safety covers both the 
public and private sectors. Employers are obliged to provide and ensure 
the use of safety equipment at work and report any serious injury or 
death at work within 24 hours; however, authorities did not strictly 
enforce laws and regulations on worker safety. In practice, workers 
often lacked safety equipment, especially in the construction and wood-
processing industries. During the first nine months of the year, there 
were 45 injuries and four deaths from injuries at work. The most 
frequent reasons cited for injuries were lack of work-related training, 
inadequate medical care for workers, and old workplace equipment.
    During the first nine months of the year, authorities conducted 
11,405 inspections and found 8,171 violations of labor standards. Labor 
inspectors have legal authority to close an establishment until 
violations are corrected. In cases of repeated violations, the owners 
can be fined. Infractions included violations related to labor permits 
and contracts, payment for work, annual leave, and unpaid and 
unreported overtime. Inspectors shut down workplaces in 356 cases, 
levied 2,515 on-the-spot fines for lesser violations, and filed 
criminal charges in three severe cases.
    Workers did not have the right to remove themselves from situations 
that endanger health and safety without jeopardy to their employment. 
As a part of the agreement with the European Agency for Protection and 
Health at Work, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Welfare 
distributed 18,000 fliers during 2009 to raise awareness about 
potential hazards. The law requires employers to make a risk assessment 
of workplaces that includes measures to prevent and reduce risks.

                               __________

                              NETHERLANDS

    The Kingdom of the Netherlands includes the Netherlands (population 
approximately 16.6 million), Aruba (103,000), Curacao (141,000), and 
St. Maarten (41,000).\1\ The Netherlands (the term used to designate 
the European part of the kingdom) is a constitutional monarchy with a 
bicameral parliamentary legislative system. The country's 12 provincial 
councils elect a First Chamber; citizens directly elect a Second 
Chamber. The most recent general elections, held in June, were 
considered free and fair. A prime minister and a cabinet representing 
the governing political parties (traditionally a coalition of at least 
two major parties) exercise executive authority. Security forces 
reported to civilian authorities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ With the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles on October 10, 
Curacao and St. Maarten became separate, largely autonomous, entities 
within the Kingdom of the Netherlands; three smaller islands, Bonaire 
(12,800), St. Eustatius (2,700), and Saba (1,600) became special 
entities with direct ties to the Netherlands.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Aruba, Curacao, and St. Maarten have unicameral parliamentary 
systems. They are largely autonomous, except for foreign policy and 
defense. The Kingdom of the Netherlands is required, according to its 
charter, to safeguard fundamental human rights and freedoms, good 
governance, legal certainty, and the soundness of administration in all 
of its territories..
    In the Netherlands, individuals were prosecuted during the year for 
violations of a law prohibiting public speech that incites hatred or 
discrimination. There were reports of anti-Semitic incidents, societal 
discrimination, and violence against some religious and ethnic 
minorities, violence against women and children, and trafficking in 
persons for sexual exploitation. In Aruba, Curacao, and St.Maarten, 
prison conditions remained substandard in some respects.
                        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 arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    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.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--In the Netherlands, prison 
and detention conditions generally met international standards, and the 
Government permitted visits by independent human rights observers. No 
visits occurred in the course of the year. In Aruba, Curacao, and St. 
Maarten, prison conditions remained substandard in some respects.
    In all kingdom territories, authorities permitted prisoners and 
detainees to maintain regular contact with the outside world and 
receive visitors. Prisoners were permitted religious observance. They 
could submit complaints to a supervisory committee, the penitentiary 
institution's selection official, the prison system's complaint 
commission, and in many cases had the option to appeal. Complaints were 
addressed adequately with respect for due process of law. The 
Government monitored prison and detention center conditions.
    In the Netherlands, 11,682 persons were held in detention as of 
September 2009, approximately 7 percent of them women. The total 
included about 5,500 persons awaiting judicial disposition, about 4,200 
serving prison sentences, approximately 500 in detention for not paying 
a fine, and approximately 500 in detention for failing to meet their 
community-service obligations.
    In Curacao and St. Maarten, authorities have not increased prison 
capacity sufficiently to allow separate facilities for juvenile 
offenders, and judges may sentence juveniles under the age of 16 who 
have committed serious offenses to prisons where they serve time 
together with adults. A project begun in 2007 that replaced prison with 
house arrest for selected inmates continued but involved very few 
individuals. During the year only one inmate was selected for 
electronic monitoring.
    At Bon Futuro Prison in Curacao, renamed Curacao Detention and 
Correction Center in September, there were several altercations between 
inmates, and one brief inmate strike by inmates in May, which resulted 
in some property damage. Prison guards went on strike in September in 
Curacao over newly implemented prison regulations. In St. Maarten, 
inmates struck briefly in April over a Public Prosecutor's Office 
decision to send two inmates to prison in Bonaire.
    In July 2009 the UN Human Rights Committee described reports that 
prison conditions in Bon Futuro Prison and Bonaire Remand Prison 
remained ``extremely harsh.'' However, improvements were under way as a 
result of a 2008 allocation of eight million euros ($10.7 million) by 
the Netherlands government. The Council of Europe's Committee for the 
Prevention of Torture (CPT) based the improvements on recommendations. 
The CPT's 2009 report cited improvements in the prisons in Curacao and 
St. Maarten, including the opening of a youth section in St. Maarten. 
Authorities completed the renovation of the Bonaire detention center in 
2009 in accordance with CPT standards. The renovation of Bon Futuro 
Prison was under way. Work continued on a construction and renovation 
project for separate holding facilities for undocumented foreign 
nationals in Curacao, including that section's specific perimeter 
security. Also in Curacao, construction of new entry and exit 
facilities and a workshop for prisoner activities continued. No new 
construction or renovation took place during the year in St. Maarten. 
The prison director stated that prison staffing was sufficient. 
Training for six new guards was scheduled for January 2011.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these 
prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the regional police forces, and the 
Government had effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse and 
corruption. There were no reports of impunity involving the security 
forces during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Police 
officers, acting under the authority of the public prosecutor, conduct 
criminal investigations. A prosecutor or senior police officer must 
order any arrests. Authorities must promptly inform detainees of the 
charges against them. Police may question suspects for a maximum of 12 
hours (six hours in Aruba, Curacao, and St. Maarten) and detain them 
for up to three days (two days in Aruba, Curacao, and St. Maarten), 
with the possibility of an additional three-day extension in cases of 
``urgent necessity,'' by order of the public prosecutor without the 
permission of a magistrate. However, by the fourth day (the third day 
in Aruba, Curacao, and St Maarten), the prosecutor must bring detainees 
before an examining magistrate for questioning and a decision whether 
to extend detention for another 14 days. The court subsequently reviews 
the validity of continued detention every 90 days. Extensions depend on 
progress in the preliminary investigation.
    In the Netherlands, in terrorism-related cases, the examining 
magistrate may order detention for the first 14 days on the lesser 
charge of ``reasonable suspicion'' rather than ``serious suspicion'' 
required for other crimes.
    By law defendants have the right to access to an attorney during 
questioning; however, after a 2007 visit, the CPT expressed concern 
that authorities in the Netherlands did not always permit attorneys to 
be present during the initial period of detention, which may last up to 
12 hours. In April the College of Prosecutors-General issued 
instructions on ``giving effect to the right of a detained defendant to 
consult an attorney prior to substantive questioning.'' Minors are also 
entitled to counsel during questioning. The Justice Department has 
established pilot projects to test the practice of having an attorney 
present during the initial detention and questioning of an adult 
suspect.
    Authorities in Aruba indicated that if a detainee requested a 
lawyer, no interrogation would take place without one unless the 
severity of the case dictated otherwise. A legal aid system existed to 
provide indigent detainees with legal aid, but such lawyers did not 
always appear before questioning began. In the Netherlands Antilles, 
beginning in mid-November 2009 authorities reportedly instituted 
procedures requiring that police inform defendants of their right to 
have a family member or other person informed of their arrest and that 
police document this procedure.
    There is no provision for bail, but in the Netherlands authorities 
avoided lengthy detention before trial unless there were compelling 
reasons to keep a person in custody.
    In 2007 the UN Committee Against Torture criticized the excessive 
length of pretrial detention and the high number of detainees not 
convicted of a crime in Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles. The 
Governments of the two territories sought to correct this problem by 
reducing the number of crimes requiring pretrial detention and 
implementing other policies aimed at reducing the case backlog, 
particularly more expeditious processing of cases involving illegal 
drugs. The backlog of detainees awaiting trial has been significantly 
reduced.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the right to a fair trial, 
and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. Trials are 
public. Juries are not used. The law requires that authorities fully 
inform defendants about the proceedings at every stage. In criminal 
trials the law provides for prompt access to counsel (inexpensively for 
persons with low incomes), the presumption of innocence, and the right 
to appeal. The accused is not present when the examining magistrate 
examines witnesses, but his attorney has the right to question them. In 
most instances defendants and their attorneys have access to 
government-held evidence relevant to their cases; however, in certain 
cases involving national security, special procedures permit an 
examining judge to assess the reliability of official intelligence 
reports without exposing the identities of intelligence officers or 
releasing confidential intelligence information to the public or the 
defendant. In such cases the defense has the right to submit written 
questions to these witnesses through the examining judge. The law 
extends the above rights to all citizens.
    On July 27, the UN Human Rights Committee took the position that 
the Netherlands violated the UN International Covenant on Civil and 
Political Rights by enacting legislation in 2007 that restricts a 
defendant's right to appeal fines of less than 500 euros ($665) for 
minor offenses. The legislation provided that an appellate court must 
first grant permission to the defendant in such a case to file an 
appeal ``in the interest of proper administration of justice.'' The 
committee found, however, that the new procedures denied the defendant 
the right to challenge his conviction effectively. The Government did 
not respond by year's end.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--The Government was 
responsive to rulings by the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR). On 
August 24, the foreign minister issued his annual report on the 
previous year's ECHR decisions affecting the country. He noted that of 
the four cases in which the court issued judgments in 2009, no 
violation of the European Convention on Human Rights had been found in 
two, while the other two cases were settled on friendly terms. In 
response to earlier court judgments, the Government consolidated the 
legal basis for wiretapping.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters. Individuals may bring 
lawsuits for damages related to a possible human rights violation 
before the regular court system or specific appeal boards, and once 
individuals exhaust national remedies, they may appeal to the ECHR.

    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 
freedoms in practice.
    Individuals could criticize the Government publicly or privately 
without reprisals.
    Disputes occasionally arose over a journalist's right to protect 
their sources. On September 14, the ECHR ruled in a Dutch case that the 
right to protect journalistic sources should include a guarantee of 
review by a judge or other independent and impartial decision-making 
authority before the police or the public prosecutor gained access to 
information that would reveal these sources. The case concerned a 
police seizure of photographs of an illegal automobile race. The 
photographs had been taken by a journalist of the publication Autoweek 
who assured the participants in the race that their anonymity would be 
respected. The police believed the photographs would help them track 
down participants in a series of major robberies. The public prosecutor 
held that the interests of its investigation outweighed the reporter's 
asserted right to protect his sources. However, the ECHR ruling found 
that the right of journalists to protect their sources was sufficiently 
critical to freedom of the press to require greater protection. 
Legislation being drafted by the Government to bring the country's law 
into compliance with the court's ruling had not been enacted as of 
year's end.
    It is a crime to engage in public speech that incites hatred, 
discrimination, or violence against persons because of their race, 
religion, convictions, gender, sexual orientation, or disability. 
During the year the Government successfully prosecuted several such 
cases, notably cases in which judges considered the language in 
question to be ``unnecessarily offensive.'' The Government urged 
prosecutors and police to give proper attention to incidents of 
``discrimination,'' which in the country's jurisprudence includes 
racially offensive speech. Convictions for these offenses were rare 
because courts were reluctant to restrict freedom of expression, 
especially when it took place within the context of a public debate.
    In October Geert Wilders stood trial before the Amsterdam District 
Court on charges of offending, inciting hatred toward, and 
discriminating against, Muslims. However, due to a number of incidents 
that raised doubt about the impartiality of the judges, a mistrial was 
declared, and the case was rescheduled for 2011. Wilders was a member 
of parliament and a leader of the Party for Freedom. In a number of 
public statements and in his movie, Fitna, Wilders characterized Islam 
as a violent political ideology that is incompatible with western 
values. The prosecutor initially declined requests from Muslim and 
other groups to prosecute Wilders, asserting that his opinions were 
expressed in the context of a legitimate public debate. However, in 
January 2009 the Amsterdam Appellate Court ordered the prosecutor to 
initiate criminal proceedings. In the October trial, the prosecutor 
requested Wilders' acquittal.
    On August 19, an appellate court fined the Arabic European League 
(AEL) for placing a cartoon on its Web site that expressed the idea 
that Jews deliberately invented or exaggerated the Holocaust. AEL had 
stated that they published the cartoon in reaction to earlier Danish 
cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed in a negative way, with the 
stated intention of demonstrating double standards in the media and 
public debate. A district court ruled in favor of the AEL on the 
grounds that the organization's stated objective had nullified its 
offensive, punishable character. The appeals court, however, disagreed, 
asserting that the context was not sufficiently clear. In its ruling 
the court stated that despite the AEL disclaimer, the cartoon was 
``unnecessarily offensive.'' It agreed with the ECHR that freedom of 
expression must be protected, even if it shocks or offends, but noted 
that the ECHR makes an exception for denying or trivializing the 
Holocaust. The court concluded that ``the Jewish community. must be 
able to deal with critical statements to a certain degree, even if they 
could be perceived as offensive, but it is entitled to be spared 
serious offense based on the Holocaust.''
    On September 21, the Amsterdam Prosecutor's Office decided not to 
prosecute the cartoonist Gregorius Nekschot (``Deathblow'' in Dutch) 
for some of his cartoons, even though, in the prosecutor's stated view, 
the cartoons violated the law on intentional discrimination and 
incitement to hatred. In announcing his decision, the prosecutor noted 
that the cartoonist had removed the cartoons from his Web site and that 
the complaint dated from five years earlier. The cartoonist and the 
Netherlands Association of Journalists expressed regret that a judge 
had no opportunity to rule on the alleged breach of freedom of 
expression.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no governmental restrictions on 
access to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail 
or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
More than 90 percent of the population had access to the Internet.
    During the year authorities continued to pursue policies to counter 
incitement to discrimination on the Internet. There were a number of 
convictions in 2009 and during the year.
    The police maintained a list of Web sites they have judged to be 
purveyors of child pornography and reviewed the list periodically. All 
major Internet service providers in the Netherlands have agreed not to 
permit access to those sites.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    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.--For a description of religious freedom, 
see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/
drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The laws provide for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to refugees, returning refugees, 
asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.

    Protection of Refugees.--Laws provide for the granting of asylum or 
refugee status, and the Government has established a system for 
providing protection to refugees.
    Authorities denied asylum to persons who came from so-called safe 
countries of origin or who resided for some time in safe countries of 
transit. They used EU guidelines to define such countries. Asylum 
seekers are granted adequate opportunity to present their cases.
    In practice authorities generally provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of asylum seekers to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion. In response to criticism that some of the Government's 
procedures were inadequate to avoid this risk, the asylum procedures 
were revised on July 1 to ensure expedited and more scrupulous 
processing of asylum applications. Authorities provided economic 
assistance to persons who were denied asylum and who chose to return 
home voluntarily.
    During the year the Government ended its policy of automatically 
granting temporary protection to certain categories of asylum seekers 
based on country of origin or other established criteria, a policy 
favored by the UNHCR and many nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). 
Instead, it adopted a policy of investigating individual asylum 
applications and determining on a case-by-case basis whether the 
individuals concerned would face mistreatment if returned to their 
countries of origin. The UNHCR and NGOs, including Amnesty 
International (AI), challenged the Government when it considered 
returning persons to countries where they might be at risk. For 
example, AI asserted that authorities planned to return persons to 
territory in and near Mogadishu that was controlled by the Transitional 
Federal Government of Somalia based on an agreement with that 
government. However, in AI's view, no part of central or southern 
Somalia was a safe destination. These and similar charges resulted in 
pressure to return to the practice of not deporting persons in certain 
categories, including asylum seekers from such areas as Somalia, Iraq, 
and Sudan or those meeting other criteria, such as gays and lesbians, 
and Christian converts from Iran.
    Several organizations, including AI and the Council for the 
Administration of Criminal Law, criticized the manner of detention of 
aliens prior to deportation. They maintained that since the aliens were 
not criminals, authorities should not subject them to a criminal regime 
or keep them in detention for extended periods of time, especially if 
there was little or no prospect of actual deportation. Courts have 
ordered the release of aliens if there was no prospect of actual 
deportation. The state secretary for justice noted that there was no 
evidence of structural abuse in the treatment of aliens in detention 
centers. Some NGOs continued to argue that the Government did not 
always keep deportable children out of detention. The state secretary 
countered that it was at times unfair and inhumane to separate families 
awaiting deportation. The Council of Europe's European Committee of 
Social Rights, NGOs, and Dutch courts criticized the Government for 
violating the rights of children by failing to give basic assistance to 
children whose adult family members had been denied asylum. The 
Government reviewed the situation and decided during the year not to 
terminate care for children of rejected asylum seekers.
    According to the UNHCR, there were slightly fewer than 100,000 
asylum seekers and refugees in the country. Official data from 
Statistics Netherlands (CBS) indicated that at the beginning of 2008 
more than 70,000 refugees were living in the country with residence 
status. Refugees received government assistance in finding housing and 
they are entitled to social welfare and other social services.
    An average of approximately 17,000 persons per year apply for 
asylum. They are usually housed in asylum centers until a decision has 
been made on their applications. Rejected asylum seekers, once they 
have exhausted all possible appeals, are denied further assistance. 
Several thousand rejected asylum seekers and illegal immigrants were in 
detention during the year awaiting deportation.
    Rejected asylum seekers and those still awaiting decisions on their 
applications were not permitted to work and they were denied many 
social services; however, they were given basic sustenance and health 
care and permitted to attend school.

    Stateless Persons.--Citizenship is based primarily on the mother's 
citizenship. According to UNHCR statistics, there were 5,034 stateless 
persons in the country at the end of 2009.
    Parliament has revised the law governing citizenship repeatedly to 
counter and prevent statelessness, including by providing the 
opportunity to gain Dutch citizenship. Immigrants may naturalize after 
five years of legal residence, or after three years if they are married 
to a citizen. Migrants who are not naturalized are allowed to work, 
including in the civil service but not the police force or the army. 
After five years of legal residence, nonnationals have the right to 
vote in local elections. To become citizen, they must complete a 
written naturalization examination that tests both their proficiency in 
the Dutch language and their knowledge of the country's culture and 
society.
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. These rights also apply to the Aruba, Curacao, and St. 
Maarten.

    Elections and Political Participation.--During the year, 
parliamentary elections in the Netherlands were considered free and 
fair.
    Political parties generally operated without restriction or outside 
interference. On April 9, the Supreme Court, upholding a 2007 appeals 
court decision, ruled that the Government was obliged to ensure that 
the Protestant Political Reformed Party (SGP) grants women the right to 
run for office. The SGP maintained that the decision constituted 
interference with religious freedom and freedom of association, and 
that the party's female members were not seeking to run for office. The 
party had already agreed to permit women to become party members 
following an earlier court decision that would have cost it its subsidy 
for not doing so. The Government did not respond to the Supreme Court 
ruling by year's end. The SGP, however, has filed an appeal with the 
ECHR.
    There were 61 women in the 150-seat Second Chamber of parliament 
(``House of Representatives''). Of the 20 Dutch cabinet members four 
were women. Women also held positions in the parliaments and cabinets 
of the former Netherlands Antilles, Curacao, St. Maarten, and Aruba, 
including the position of prime minister of St. Maarten and the prime 
minister of the Netherlands Antilles prior to its dissolution in 
October.
    In the Netherlands, 17 members of the Second Chamber of parliament 
were of immigrant descent, including six of Turkish and five of 
Moroccan descent.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government generally implemented the law effectively. There were 
isolated reports of government corruption during the year.
    In 2009, the most recent year for which information was available, 
authorities imposed disciplinary sanctions on 295 central government 
employees for abusing their positions.
    There are no laws requiring officials to make financial 
disclosures. The Government pursued an active anticorruption policy 
coordinated by the Internal Affairs Ministry's Bureau for Promotion of 
Integrity of the Public Sector. The National Criminal Investigation 
Service coordinated investigations under the supervision of the 
national prosecutor for corruption.
    The law provides for public access to government information, and 
authorities generally respected that right for both citizens and 
noncitizens, including foreign media. Whenever authorities denied 
requests for information, they provided reasons based on the law. Those 
seeking information could appeal any refusal to the regular courts. 
Disputes occasionally arose in court over the scope of the Government's 
right to withhold information based on the public interest.
Section 5. 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 
cooperative and responsive to their views.
    In the Netherlands, there are no ombudsmen or parliamentary 
committees dealing exclusively with human rights. However, a citizen 
may bring any complaint before the Equal Opportunity Commission (CGB), 
the national ombudsman, the Commercial Code Council, or the Council of 
Journalism, depending on the circumstances.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on age, race, gender, 
disability, language, political preference, sexual orientation, and 
social status, and the Government generally enforced these 
prohibitions.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is a crime, and the 
Government effectively prosecuted such crimes. The penalty for rape is 
imprisonment not exceeding 15 years or a fine. The maximum sentence for 
marital rape is eight years in prison. According to a 2008 report on 
crime and law enforcement published by the Justice Ministry's 
Scientific Research and Documentation Center and the CBS, in 2007 there 
were 3,459 registered cases of rape and sexual assault involving 2,118 
suspects.
    Domestic violence was the most prevalent form of violence in 
society. A factsheet issued by the Ministry of Justice in May 2009 
indicated that there were approximately 500,000 incidents of household 
violence annually. Approximately 40 percent of the population 
experienced some form of domestic violence during their lives; 10 
percent of these reported experiencing some form of physical, sexual, 
or mental abuse at least weekly, and 4 percent had been raped. 
According to police records, approximately 85 percent of victims were 
women. Police estimated that victims reported approximately 12 percent 
of all cases. The Government continued to implement a 2008-11 national 
action plan to intensify the fight against household violence that 
included a national survey on its scope. In June the College of 
Prosecutors-General, which supervises the operation of the national and 
regional prosecutors' offices, issued new instructions for 
investigating and prosecuting cases of domestic violence and so-called 
honor violence.
    In Aruba, the criminal code specifies additional penalties for 
violent offenses when committed against family members.
    In the Netherlands, spousal abuse carries a penalty that is one-
third more severe than ordinary battery. Police records indicated that 
approximately 3 percent of spousal abuse cases reported to police 
resulted in arrests. The Government provided support to the national 
organization Movisie (formerly TransAct), which assisted victims of 
domestic and sexual violence and trained police and prosecutors in 
investigating and prosecuting related crimes. The Government subsidized 
shelters for battered women. Mayors may impose temporary restraining 
orders on perpetrators of household violence; police figures indicated 
that 2,150 restraining orders were issued nationwide in 2009. In 
October the Government repeated a public information campaign against 
domestic violence.
    In May the Justice Ministry, together with several NGOs, repeated 
the annual national information campaign to combat forced marriages and 
the abandonment by immigrants of their spouses in their country of 
origin. The campaign was intended to generate awareness among certain 
groups of young immigrants regarding the risks which they might be 
running in this regard and inform them about precautionary measures 
they could take to prevent forced marriage or being left behind during 
vacations in their parents' country of origin.
    According to a report published in August, the National Expertise 
Center on Honor-Related Violence (LEC-EGG) received of 445 reports of 
possible honor violence in 2009, compared to 553 in 2008 and 493 in 
2007. Of the 445 reports received in 2009, 54 percent involved threats, 
31 percent physical violence, 3 percent allegations of murder, 3 
percent attempted murder, and 2 percent rape. The Government has 
addressed the problem vigorously and continued a five-year program 
started in 2006 to combat honor violence that focused on prevention, 
protection, and criminal prosecution. In 2008 the Government set up 
LEC-EGG within the regional police department in The Hague. The center, 
accessible seven days a week and 24 hours a day, developed a checklist 
to help the police and other professionals identify honor violence 
cases.
    Female genital mutilation (FGM) was practiced on both women and 
young girls (see section 6, Children).
    The law requires employers to take measures to protect workers from 
sexual harassment; however, sexual harassment was a problem. In June 
the CBS published a study on sexual harassment which estimated that in 
2009 one in 40 women was subject to unwelcome sexual advances. The 
study indicated that 20 percent of the unwanted advances occurred in 
the workplace and that only 10 percent were reported to the police. The 
Government continued a public-awareness campaign and took measures to 
counter harassment among civil servants; no information was available 
on their effectiveness. The Working Conditions Act commits employers to 
protect employees against aggression, violence, and sexual 
intimidation. Complaints against employers who fail to provide 
sufficient protection can be submitted to the CGB. Victims of sexual 
assault or rape in the workplace must report the incidents to the 
police since they are criminal offenses.
    The Government recognized the basic right of couples and 
individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and 
timing of their children, and to have the information and means to do 
so free from discrimination, coercion, and violence. There were no 
restrictions on the right to access contraceptives. The Government 
provided skilled attendance during childbirth, including obstetric and 
postpartum care. Men and women received equal access to diagnosis and 
treatment for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. According 
to 2008 estimates published by the World Health Organization, the 
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN Food Program, and the 
World Bank, the maternal mortality rate was nine deaths per 100,000 
live births.
    Under the law women have the same rights as men, including rights 
in family law, property law, and the judicial system.
    In the Netherlands, approximately 68 percent of women were employed 
in 2009, nearly 75 percent of them part time. Female and male 
unemployment rates were 5.3 and 4.5 percent, respectively. The Ministry 
of Social Affairs and Employment reported that the higher rate of 
unemployment among women, their reduced chances for promotion, and 
their generally lower-ranking positions compared with men resulted 
primarily from their higher level of part-time employment status. 
According to EU statistics, the disparity between men's and women's 
earnings in the country's private sector was 23.6 percent in 2008; 
adjusted for level of experience and expertise required for the jobs, 
the differential was 7 percent.
    The Government provided affirmative action programs for women, and 
collective labor agreements usually included provisions to strengthen 
the position of women. In 2009 the CGB received 473 complaints of 
discrimination, 16 percent of which related to gender.

    Children.--Children obtain citizenship through their parents. 
Registration of all births is mandatory.
    Child abuse was a problem. The Ministry for Youth and Family 
reported in September that an estimated 107,000 children were abused 
annually, of whom fewer than 50 percent were known to professional 
organizations. Experts estimated that approximately 50 to 80 children 
died each year from some form of abuse. In 2009 the Child Abuse 
Reporting Center received almost 60,000 reports of possible child 
abuse, 12 percent more than in 2008. In March 2009 the Government 
launched a two-year publicity campaign to encourage the public to 
report signs of possible child abuse. In 2008 the Government began to 
require physicians to report child abuse, overriding professional 
confidentiality. Despite increased government funding for the Council 
for the Protection of Children, there still were long waiting lists for 
assistance.
    The law prohibits FGM. The maximum penalty is 12 years in prison. 
In May 2009 the Ministry of Health published an FGM prevalence study 
which indicated that, of the 1,200 pregnant women and girls from high-
risk countries (Somalia, Ethiopia, and Egypt) examined by midwives in 
2008, a total of 470 had undergone FGM. In 2007 the Government's 
National Public Health Council estimated that at least 50 girls a year 
underwent FGM, probably in the native countries of their parents; the 
FGM committee established by the Ministry of Health estimated that 
16,000 girls and 32,000 women had been subjected to the procedure. The 
Government continued a long-term program to combat FGM through primary 
prevention and early identification, and the Health Ministry committed 
more than one million euros (approximately $1.3 million) annually to 
combat FGM. The funds were used for information campaigns for at-risk 
groups and among professionals whose occupations bring them into 
contact with immigrant girls. They were also used for projects designed 
to engage key individuals in communities where FGM occurred. In August 
2009 the College of Prosecutors-General issued new instructions for 
investigating and prosecuting cases of child abuse, including a chapter 
devoted to FGM.
    Prostitution under the age of 18 is illegal. Anyone who forces a 
minor to engage in prostitution is liable to a sentence of up to eight 
years, or up to 12 years if the victim is under 16. Because there were 
no reliable statistics on the number of underage prostitutes, the 
Government in 2009 asked Comensha, the national human trafficking 
victim registration center, to set up a national registration system 
for underage prostitution. During the year the system became 
operational.
    The Netherlands and the Caribbean parts of the kingdom were not 
destinations for child sex tourism. The law provides penalties for 
nationals and legal residents of the country who abuse minors abroad, 
even if the offense is not a crime in the country where the abuse 
occurs. In November 2009 the Government installed the Taskforce on 
Child Pornography and Child Sex Tourism to intensify the fight against 
these crimes. The country has a statutory rape law. The penalty for 
rape is imprisonment not exceeding 15 years, a fine, or both. The 
minimum age for consensual sex is 16. The law prohibits production, 
possession, and distribution of child pornography for which there is a 
maximum penalty of eight years' imprisonment. In January legislation 
came into force that makes gaining access to child pornography on the 
Internet a crime with a maximum penalty of four years in prison. In 
Aruba, Curacao, and St. Maarten, this awaited ratification.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see http://
travel.state.gov/abduction/country/country--3781.html

    Anti-Semitism.--According to the Jewish Social Work organization, 
approximately 45,000 Jews resided in the Netherlands.
    Anti-Semitic incidents, including threats, verbal abuse, and 
desecration of monuments and cemeteries, continued to occur. The Center 
for Information and Documentation on Israel (CIDI) reported a 
significant rise in the number of reported incidents in 2009 and 2010. 
CIDI stated, however, that ``serious incidents'' remained rare. The 
frequency of incidents appeared to be correlated with the political 
situation in the Middle East. For example, incidents sharply increased 
in June following the Israeli action against the Gaza Flotilla. They 
included spraying red paint on the front doors of synagogues in the 
towns of Amersfoort and Utrecht and an incident on June 6, during which 
passers-by shouted ``Heil Hitler'' when Chief Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs was 
speaking at a memorial ceremony at the former concentration camp in 
Vught. CIDI pushed for more action against anti-Semitic Internet sites, 
which it characterized as one of the main means of disseminating anti-
Semitic and racist ideologies. It also sought tougher action against 
Holocaust denial, better registration of anti-Semitic incidents, and 
more attention to Holocaust education. Explicitly anti-Semitic 
sentiments were widespread among certain segments of the Muslim 
community, pro-Palestinian groups, and fringe nationalist and neo-Nazi 
groups.
    In its most recent report, the Registration Center for 
Discrimination on the Internet (MDI) in 2009 reported a sharp increase 
in anti-Semitic statements. During that year it received 399 reports of 
anti-Semitism, of which it considered 258 to be punishable, including 
41 denials of the Holocaust. Whereas the Web sites of right-wing 
extremists traditionally accounted for most of the anti-Semitic 
expressions on the Internet, the MDI found that such expressions were 
increasingly present on mainstream interactive websites.
    On August 19, the Arnhem Appellate Court fined the AEL for a 
cartoon on the AEL Web site that expressed the idea that Jews 
deliberately invented or exaggerated the Holocaust (see Section 2.a.).
    In September the Government initiated an updated action plan to 
combat discrimination in general and anti-Semitism in particular. The 
plan underlined the importance of a local approach through cooperation 
between local authorities and Jewish and non-Jewish organizations to 
include the reporting and filing of complaints, improved tracking down 
and prosecution of offenders, and education and the dissemination of 
information on discrimination. For example, the Government sponsored 
special training courses for teachers, peer education projects, and 
education programs that focused specifically on anti-Semitism and 
Holocaust denial. It also sponsored the Jewish Moroccan Network, which 
sought to reduce tensions between Jews and Moroccans.
    In early December, Dutch politician and former EU commissioner 
Frits Bolkstein advised Dutch Jews, particularly those that stand out 
due to their dress, to leave the country because of what he described 
as increasing anti-Semitism, especially amongst Dutch Moroccans. After 
he was criticized for this statement, Bolkstein stated that his 
intentions were to urge the Dutch ``not look away'' from the realities 
and denied that he ever called on Jews to leave the country.
    The Government-funded Article 1 National Association Against 
Discrimination set up several projects at elementary, secondary, and 
vocational training schools to counter racism and discrimination.
    There were no reports of anti-Semitic incidents in Curacao, St. 
Maarten, or Aruba.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip

    Persons With Disabilities.--Discrimination against persons with 
disabilities is illegal in all parts of the kingdom, but government 
enforcement was inadequate, and there were some reports that such 
discrimination occurred. The penal code provides penalties for 
discrimination in employment, education, access to health care, and the 
provision of state services. In 2009 the CGB received 473 complaints of 
discrimination, 17 percent of which related to persons with 
disabilities. Although CGB rulings are not binding, they usually were 
implemented. The law requires that persons with disabilities have 
access to public buildings, information, and communications, but public 
buildings and public transport often were not easily accessible in 
practice.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The kingdom's constitution 
prohibits racial, national, or ethnic discrimination in all kingdom 
territories.
    In the Netherlands, incidents of physical assault against 
minorities were rare, but members of minority groups experienced verbal 
abuse and intimidation, and were at times denied access to public 
venues, such as discotheques.
    A Muslim community of approximately 850,000 persons faced frequent 
discrimination. Members of immigrant groups also faced discrimination 
in housing and employment. According to the CBS, in 2009 the minority 
unemployment rate (11 percent) remained roughly three times that of the 
ethnic Dutch workforce (4 percent), while the unemployment rate among 
minority youth was 25.3 percent compared to 11.6 percent for native 
Dutch youth.
    The Government pursued an active campaign to increase public 
awareness of racism and discrimination. The Government initiated a 
national campaign to counter discrimination and to improve the 
reporting of hate crimes, including hate speech, by using a special Web 
site.
    Within the police, the National Discrimination Expertise Center 
(LECD) worked to optimize the criminal processing of discrimination 
cases. The LECD cooperated closely with the prosecutor's offices, local 
antidiscrimination units, and the MDI. These organizations also 
registered incidents and issued reports. Data from the LECD, the CGB, 
and the Racism and Extremism Monitor of the Anne Frank Foundation 
provided insights into the extent of incidents of discrimination. These 
organizations voiced concern about the reluctance of victims to report 
incidents.
    In each region a discrimination consultation body, which included 
police, the prosecutor's office, and antidiscrimination units, 
evaluated incidents of discrimination. In 2009 the LECD registered 160 
reported offenses of discrimination. This number was lower than the 
annual average over the previous decade, but the apparent decline could 
have been the result of a new method of registering such offenses. The 
offenses were discrimination based on race (51 percent) and religion 
(anti-Semitism, 35 percent; and anti-Islam, 5 percent). Also in 2009 
officials prosecuted 194 offenses, brought 137 indictments, obtained 
135 convictions, and entered into 20 out-of-court settlements.
    In 2009 the MDI registered 577 instances of Internet discrimination 
that it asserted were punishable, a significant decrease from 2008. 
Half of these instances were anti-Semitic. Those responsible removed 
most (86 percent) of offending sites voluntarily when the MDI asked 
them to do so. The MDI reported six cases to the prosecutor's office; 
cases brought before a court produced several convictions.
    Most defamation cases filed in criminal courts concerned racial 
defamation. Civil lawsuits often alleged discrimination against persons 
who were not ethnically Dutch in the supply of such services as cell 
phones and access to clubs. The CGB focused on discrimination in the 
labor market, including discrimination in the workplace, unequal pay, 
termination of labor contracts, and preferential treatment of 
ethnically Dutch employees.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--In the Netherlands, there are 
no government impediments to the organization of gay events. The gay 
rights organization COC called for government policies to increase 
societal acceptance of homosexuality, for example, through mandatory 
information at schools on homosexuality and the transgender community. 
There were several gay pride marches during the year. During the year 
the Justice Ministry reported a rise in harassment due to homosexual 
activity. Most incidents consisted of verbal epithets and abuse. Police 
placed a high priority on combating antigay violence.
    Caribbean society remained much less accepting of homosexuality and 
the transgender community; however, there were no known cases of abuse 
or violence against individuals in this community in Aruba or the 
former Netherlands Antilles during the year. There were no gay pride 
marches.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no specific 
reports of societal violence against persons with HIV/AIDS. However, 
the Government sponsored a national campaign against societal 
stigmatization of persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers to form or 
join independent unions of their own choosing without prior government 
authorization or excessive requirements, and workers exercised this 
right in practice. Approximately 25 percent of the legally employed 
workers were unionized. The law allows unions to conduct their 
activities without interference, and the Government protected this 
right in practice. The right to strike is based on the European Social 
Charter, and workers exercised this right by conducting legal strikes. 
Requirements for conducting a legal strike were not excessively lengthy 
or cumbersome. Regulations prohibit retaliation against legal strikers. 
Public-sector workers generally have the right to strike, but a 
magistrate may forbid a strike that threatens the public welfare or 
safety. For example, magistrates have often prohibited police actions 
because of the essential services police perform.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for the right to organize, and specific laws provide for the 
right to collective bargaining; workers exercised these rights in 
practice. According to the Christian Trade Union Federation, collective 
bargaining agreements covered approximately 85 percent of the 
workforce.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination.
    There were no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor; however, there were reports that such 
practices occurred. See the Department of State's annual Trafficking in 
Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip
    According to the national rapporteur for trafficking in persons, 
the highest risk sectors for labor exploitation included domestic 
employment, temporary employment agencies, agriculture and 
horticulture, restaurants, hotels, and construction. In 2009 the Labor 
Inspectorate conducted approximately 11,000 inspections at many of 
these high-risk workplaces.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
Government effectively enforced laws and policies to protect children 
from exploitation in the workplace; however, children were trafficked 
for commercial sexual exploitation. See the Department of State's 
annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip
    The minimum age for employment is 16 years. Special rules apply to 
schoolchildren 16 and 17 years of age. For example, the law prohibits 
persons under the age of 18 from working overtime, at night, or in 
activities dangerous to their physical or mental well-being. A 
tripartite labor commission composed of representatives from the 
Government, enterprises, and unions monitored hiring practices and 
conducted inspections. The commission enforced the laws effectively.
    Holiday work and after-school employment are subject to very strict 
rules set by law. The Ministry of Labor's inspection office, which is 
responsible for enforcement, found that during the year 70 percent of 
companies employing holiday workers and children younger than 18 
complied with regulations.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--In the Netherlands, the minimum 
wage for adults is 1,416 euros ($1,883) per month, which provides an 
adequate standard of living for a worker and family. The Labor Ministry 
establishes the minimum wage. The minimum wage in Curacao and St. 
Maarten was 7.30 Netherlands Antillean Guilders ($4.10) per hour.
    Dutch law establishes a 40-hour workweek. The average workweek in 
the Netherlands was 38.7 hours for full-time workers and 20 hours for 
part-time workers. Persons who work more than five hours per day are 
entitled to a 30-minute rest period. Overtime is regulated. The Labor 
Inspectorate effectively enforced the labor laws.
    A tripartite labor commission actively monitored and effectively 
enforced working conditions, including comprehensive occupational 
safety and health standards set by law. The Ministry of Labor and 
Social Affairs also monitored standards. Workers could remove 
themselves from dangerous working conditions without jeopardizing their 
continued employment, and they exercised this right in practice.
    Workers in the significant underground economy enjoyed neither the 
minimum wage nor any of the other legal, administrative, or safety 
protections available to other workers.

                               __________

                                 NORWAY

    Norway is a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy. 
The population is approximately 4.9 million. The country is governed by 
a prime minister, a cabinet, and a 169-seat parliament (Storting) that 
is elected every four years and cannot be dissolved. Free and fair 
elections to the multiparty parliament were held in September 2009. 
Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    During the year extensive use of holding cells, violence against 
women, and trafficking of men, women, and children were continuing 
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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices, and 
there were no reports that government officials employed them.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions mostly 
met international standards, and the Government permitted visits by 
independent human rights observers; however, there were reports of 
juveniles being held with adults in holding cells and prison. In 
November the bar association reported that nearly half of all those 
arrested during the year were kept in holding cells for longer than 48 
hours. In September 2009, the latest date for which government figures 
were available, police disclosed that due to long waiting lists for 
prison cells and geographical factors, they had detained approximately 
1,500 arrestees during the year in temporary holding cells for longer 
than the 48 hours allowed by law. Police holding cells were austere and 
designed for short stays and a transient inmate population. During the 
year Oslo police reportedly expressed alarm over what they described as 
some suicidal detainees in holding cells. Media reported that on March 
30, a 48-year-old male committed suicide in police custody in Hamar 
after having spent nearly five days in a holding cell. The Bureau for 
the Investigation of Police Affairs reportedly concluded in December 
that the case involved serious misconduct in the use of police arrest 
and that police significantly exceeded the deadline for a pretrial 
detention hearing. Authorities fined the Hedmark Police District 50,000 
kroner ($8,400); a final decision on possible additional penalties was 
pending in anticipation of further depositions. Trandum, the country's 
only detention center dedicated solely to foreign nationals awaiting 
deportation, was understaffed, but the problem was rectified during the 
year according to the parliamentary ombudsman's office (see section 
2.d.).
    On December 31, there were 3,433 prisoners in the country. There 
were fewer inmates at the end of the year, because some prisoners were 
released early for Christmas and others had not been called in to start 
their sentences. During the latter half of the year, after the 
country's total prison capacity increased from 3,500 to 3,826, the 
prison population was usually between 3,700 and 3,800. A total of 1,173 
women and 62 juveniles were imprisoned during the year; on average, 
there were 108 women and 10 juveniles in prison in the country at any 
given time during the year. The country has three separate prisons for 
women: Bredtveit (64 places), Sandefjord (14) and Ravneberget (53). In 
addition, seven other prisons have women's departments with a total of 
57 places. A number of other prisons in the country can accommodate 
women as needed.
    Other than Trandum detention center, the country has no separate 
detention facilities apart from police station holding cells. 
Nationwide there are 45 prisons, most of which contain separate cells 
for pretrial detainees. According to government officials, the Trandum 
detention center can house150 alien detainees, but usually holds no 
more than 70. In March the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority (NLIA) 
placed a cap of 45 detainees in Trandum due to concerns about 
employees' safety due to understaffing. According to the Police 
Officers' Union, the decision required the moving of 20 detainees; of 
these, almost half were ordered deported, and the rest were released 
after specific assessment of the status and progress in their cases. To 
assess the need for concrete measures to address capacity problems, the 
Government introduced an improved tool for recording statistics on the 
use of police custody.
    The Government also initiated measures to provide individually 
adapted follow-up of young offenders, including projects based on the 
principles of restorative justice. To avoid juveniles' serving their 
sentences with adults or in total isolation, the Government established 
two separate prison units for young offenders. The Government also 
supported alternatives to prison, such as serving a sentence in a child 
welfare institution or through other means developed on a case-by-case 
basis by mediation boards. Authorities also escalated the frequency of 
community service sentences for juveniles.
    The prison system was considered transparent; prisoners were 
represented by an ombudsman who could visit at a prisoner's request or 
at the ombudsman's own initiative. The ombudsman does not act on behalf 
of prisoners and detainees to consider such matters as alternatives to 
incarceration for nonviolent offenders to alleviate overcrowding; only 
the courts handle sentencing. The ombudsman may conduct investigations, 
however, and may express a legal, nonbinding opinion on whether public 
authorities have erred or committed any injustice. The ombudsman also 
may serve on behalf of prisoners and detainees concerning the status 
and circumstances of confinement of juvenile offenders but received few 
complaints on this issue. The ombudsman reportedly received no reports 
of prisoners serving beyond the maximum sentence for the charged 
offense. The Government permitted monitoring visits by independent 
human rights groups, the media, and the International Committee of the 
Red Cross; however, no such visits took place during the year. 
Authorities permitted prisoners and detainees to submit complaints to 
judicial authorities without censorship and to request investigation of 
credible allegations of inhumane conditions; there were no such 
complaints or allegations during the year.
    Representatives from the national Police Directorate, the relevant 
state prosecutor's office, and the ombudsman's office carried out 
inspection visits to ensure prisons and detention facilities were 
equipped and operated in accordance with all relevant regulations, 
particularly concerning the prisoner's health conditions. Each police 
district had its own mechanism or entity for informing prisoners of 
their rights. Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors 
and were permitted religious observance.
    To help reduce the waiting list for the country's prisons, in 2008 
the Government began a two-year pilot project testing electronic 
monitoring as an alternative to imprisonment for offenders sentenced to 
less than four months in prison or those with fewer than four months 
left of a longer sentence for a nonviolent crime. Juvenile offenders 
and ``first-time'' offenders were a priority target group. The 
electronically monitored offenders had to participate in a motivational 
and crime prevention program and other activities individually matched 
to each offender's rehabilitation needs. The stated goal was to 
maintain and advance offenders' social and economic capabilities and to 
prevent recidivism. By February 2009, the latest date for which figures 
were available, authorities had tagged 192 offenders, only eight of 
whom were returned to prison due to misconduct. On average, 
approximately 70 offenders were under electronic monitoring at any 
given time during the year.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The national police 
have primary responsibility for internal security; the police may call 
on the armed forces for assistance in crises. In such circumstances the 
armed forces are under police authority. The Ministry of Justice and 
Police oversees the police force.
    Civilian authorities maintained effective control over the national 
police, and the Government has effective mechanisms to investigate and 
punish abuse and corruption. There were no reports of impunity 
involving the security forces during the year.
    The Organization against Public Discrimination (OMOD) and the 
Norwegian Center against Racism received some complaints that public 
security officials used discriminatory racial profiling techniques to 
stop and search members of ethnic minorities. Evidence of racial 
profiling was anecdotal because police did not keep records of stop and 
search activities.
    During the year the Government continued to support measures to 
improve the level of trust between police and adolescents from ethnic 
minorities. The Ministry of Justice and Police, the Police Directorate, 
and local police districts had regular dialogues with minority and 
immigrant organizations. A continuing project in several police 
districts focused on policing in a multiethnic environment, the results 
of which may be used as a basis for further police training.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires warrants authorized by a prosecutor for arrests except when 
the perpetrator is caught in the act of committing a crime, and police 
usually arrested a person based on a warrant. Police are required to 
file a justification to hold detained persons in custody within four 
hours of their arrest and must inform detainees of the charges against 
them within three days. Authorities must arraign an arrested suspect 
within 24 hours (not including Saturday and Sunday), at which time the 
arraigning judge determines whether the accused should be held in 
custody or released pending trial. There is no bail system. Nonresident 
foreigners were not released pending trial. Defendants accused of minor 
crimes were routinely released pending trial. Defendants accused of 
serious or violent crimes usually remained in custody until trial. 
Arrested persons were allowed access to a lawyer of their choosing 
before interrogation or, if they could not afford one, to an attorney 
appointed by the Government. Authorities usually allowed arrested 
persons access to family members. The law mandates that detainees be 
transferred from a temporary police-holding cell to a regular prison 
cell within 48 hours.
    The law permits detention of aliens to establish identity or to 
effect their removal from the country, if it is most likely they will 
evade an order to leave. The Police Officers' Union expressed concern 
about conditions at the Trandum Detention Center for foreign nationals, 
which the Police Immigration Unit (PUI) administered. According to the 
Police Officers' Union, authorities released ten detainees from Trandum 
in March due to ``intolerable conditions'' stemming from a ratio of 16 
detainees to one employee. During the year understaffing at the center 
led detainees to set fires and nearly to riot. The employee protection 
ombudsman shut down the center for a few days in April, partly due to 
concerns over air quality following a fire. The NLIA determined the 
conditions were good enough to reopen shortly thereafter. As of 
November the parliamentary ombudsman's office reported that the PUI 
hired additional staff for Trandum and rectified the problems.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected 
judicial independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence. 
Trials are public. In criminal cases involving a maximum prison 
sentence of at least six years, a court of appeal sits with a jury of 
10 civilian members; there is no right to a jury trial in other 
instances. Defendants have the right to be present at their trial, to 
have counsel, at public expense if necessary, to confront and question 
witnesses, to present evidence and witnesses, and to appeal. Defendants 
and their attorneys have access to government-held evidence relevant to 
their cases. The law extends these rights to all citizens.
    The constitution and law provide for the right to a fair trial, and 
an independent judiciary generally enforced this right.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--There are no barriers to 
access to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) by citizens. During 
the year through October, the ECHR found for the Government in its two 
cases involving the country. In 2009 the ECHR issued one judgment 
against the state which found the country had violated the right to 
respect for private and family life as provided under the European 
Convention on Human Rights. The Government complied with the ECHR 
judgment by paying the damages assessed.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters that can adjudicate cases 
involving human rights violations.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and 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 and law provide 
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.
    The law prohibits ``discriminatory or hateful expressions,'' 
defined as ``threatening or insulting anyone, or inciting hatred or 
persecution of or contempt for anyone because of his or her: a) skin 
color or national or ethnic origin, b) religion or life stance, or c) 
homosexuality, lifestyle, or orientation.'' Violators are subject to a 
fine or imprisonment not to exceed three years. There were no reported 
charges or convictions for violating the hate speech law during the 
year.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms or attempted to collect personally identifiable 
information. Individuals and groups could engage in the peaceful 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. As of the 
second quarter of the year, according to Statistics Norway, 
approximately 90 percent of households had Internet access, and 
81percent of the population used the Internet daily.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
and law provide for freedom of assembly and association, and the 
Government generally respected these rights in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl//irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, 
stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government established a system for 
providing protection to refugees.
    The country is party to the Dublin II regulation, which allows the 
Government to return refugees and asylum seekers to the first country 
they entered that is also a party to the regulation. As of October the 
country returned 255 refugees and asylum seekers to Greece, which is a 
Dublin II regulation country, only on a case-by-case basis. Following a 
written request by the ECHR in October, the Immigration Appeals Board 
issued a press release, stating that it would suspend the deportation 
of asylum seekers to Greece under the Dublin II regulation until the 
ECHR ruled on the issue in a pending case involving another European 
country.
    In practice the Government provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion. The Government granted refugee status or asylum and accepted 
refugees for resettlement. NGOs expressed concern, however, regarding 
the Government's increasing tendency to return persons to areas the 
UNHCR deemed unsafe, against UNHCR advice. The media reported that, as 
of the second quarter of the year, authorities had returned 207 
refugees to Greece, Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka, 
reportedly against UNHCR advice. The Government responded that it met 
regularly with the UNHCR and followed most guidelines, but it reviewed 
each case individually and, following careful research, in some 
instances did not follow UNHCR advice.
    According to the Norwegian Directorate for Immigration (UDI), the 
Government also provided temporary protection to individuals who might 
not qualify as refugees and provided it to 2,060 persons.
    As a general rule asylum seekers in the country were not taken into 
custody pending assessment of their applications or following final 
rejection; they were admitted to open reception centers located across 
the country, where they had freedom of movement. There were 132 such 
reception centers, 17 of which were reserved for unaccompanied minors. 
As of November the reception centers housed approximately 17,000 
persons, including those who received a final rejection, and had a 
total capacity of 19,000 persons.
    The Government provided legal guardians to unaccompanied minor 
asylum seekers. NGOs reported great variation in the recruitment and 
training of legal guardians, resulting in arbitrary differences in 
representation. Child Welfare Services took over legal care for 
unaccompanied minor asylum seekers under 15 years of age, including the 
responsibility to find legal guardians. Due to logistical difficulties 
following a steep rise in the number of unaccompanied minors arriving 
in the country in recent years (from 403 in 2007 to 1,647 by the end of 
September 2009), immigration authorities remained responsible for older 
children (ages 15-18). According to the ombudsman for children, this 
division of responsibility resulted in unequal treatment, as the Child 
Welfare Service was better equipped to provide follow-up services and 
find competent guardians. The Government responded that the 15-18 year 
olds were accommodated in reception centers particularly adjusted for 
this group, and that their living conditions had improved in the last 
two years, both with regard to care and availability of leisure 
activities.
    Unaccompanied minor asylum seekers who are at least 15+ years of 
age at the time of arrival were given a temporary residence permit. The 
permit expires when they reach 18 years of age, at which time they must 
return to their country of origin. As of October authorities gave a 
temporary permit to 38 unaccompanied minors, mostly from Afghanistan 
(15), Iraq (six), and Ethiopia (three). Some NGOs and local government 
leaders objected to the practice, expressing concern about its possible 
psychological impact on children from war-torn countries.
    In early July rejected asylum seekers rioted and set fires at the 
Lier and Fagerli asylum transit centers outside of Oslo. The centers, 
which burned to the ground during the unrest, had provided housing and 
food for 250 foreign nationals whose applications for asylum had been 
rejected and who were expected to leave the country voluntarily or by 
compulsion if necessary. The Norwegian Center against Racism maintained 
that the incidents should not have been a surprise; prior to the 
incidents, residents had expressed dissatisfaction with the centers' 
conditions and anguish over their own status. Following the fires, the 
Government decided not to rebuild the two transit centers and instead 
to establish ``return'' centers. The new centers would focus on 
reducing waiting time to a minimum and on preparing the center 
residents for return to their home countries or countries of first 
asylum.
    In late July six Palestinian asylum seekers at a reception center 
in Svolvaer and one Palestinian at a center in Finnmark, both above the 
Arctic Circle, began a hunger strike in protest over the length of time 
authorities were taking to process their asylum applications. The 
spokesman for the Svolvaer group told the media he had been waiting 18 
months for the UDI to process his application. The Police Immigration 
Unit escorted the Finnmark hunger striker to Oslo, en route to his 
country of first asylum, reportedly based on a decision made before his 
strike began.

    Stateless Persons.--According to UNHCR statistics, there were 2,860 
stateless persons in the country as of the end of 2009. Citizenship is 
derived from one's parents; children born in the country do not 
automatically become citizens. According to government authorities, 95 
percent of stateless persons in the country were of Palestinian origin. 
Others are mostly from the Baltic countries, where there are unresolved 
nationality issues for some residents. The law authorizes revocation of 
Norwegian citizenship granted on the basis of false identity 
information. Since the law requires applicants for Norwegian 
citizenship to renounce their original citizenship, revoking Norwegian 
citizenship can result in statelessness if the person's original 
citizenship is not reinstated. The Government effectively implemented 
laws and policies to provide stateless persons the opportunity to gain 
nationality on a nondiscriminatory basis.
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 based on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In September 2009 the 
country held parliamentary elections that were considered free and 
fair. The elections resulted in a second term for a coalition 
government of the Labor, Socialist Left, and Center parties.
    Political parties operated without restriction or outside 
interference.
    Following the September 2009 elections, there were 67 women in the 
169-seat parliament (nearly 40 percent). There were nine women among 
the 19 Supreme Court justices, and women headed half of the 20 
government ministries. Women led five of the seven political parties 
represented in parliament. There was one member of parliament from a 
minority group and one alternate member, both Pakistani-Norwegians. 
There were no minority ministers or Supreme Court justices. Most major 
political parties in the country voluntarily apply a gender quota 
system for purposes of nominations and the composition of party-
governing bodies at all levels.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government generally implemented these laws effectively. There were 
no confirmed reports of government or police corruption during the 
year.
    Public officials are subject to financial disclosure laws. The 
Ministry of Justice and Police and the Ministry of Finance are 
responsible for combating corruption.
    The law provides for public access to government information, and 
the Government provided access in practice to both citizens and 
noncitizens, including foreign media.
Section 5. 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.
    The country has parliamentary ombudsmen for public administration, 
for children, and for equality and antidiscrimination. All of the 
ombudsmen enjoyed the Government's cooperation and operated without 
government interference. The ombudsmen hear complaints on actions by 
government officials, but their offices did not issue any reports 
specifically on human rights problems. Although the ombudsmen's 
recommendations are not legally binding, in practice government 
authorities usually complied with those from the ombudsmen for children 
and public administration.
    Parliament's Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional 
Affairs reviews the reports of the parliamentary ombudsmen. Its 
Standing Committee on Justice is responsible for matters relating to 
the judicial system, police, the penal code, and the civil and criminal 
code.
    In August the Equality and Antidiscrimination Tribunal confirmed 
the assessment of the Ombudsman for Equality and Antidiscrimination 
(LDO) that the banning of religious headscarves (hijabs) in police 
uniform regulations was discriminatory. The minister of justice and the 
Police Officers' Union responded that the decision to forbid hijabs 
would stand based on a thorough political and judicial evaluation of 
the regulations concerning police uniforms. The Government's decision 
led some commentators and NGOs to question the LDO's purpose.
Section 6. 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 this 
prohibition in practice, although racial profiling, violence against 
women, and trafficking in persons were problems.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape, including spousal rape, and the 
Government generally enforced the law. According to police, 1,126 rapes 
and attempted rapes were reported during 2009 and 489 rapes and 
attempted rapes reported through the second quarter of the year, the 
latest date for which figures were available.
    The penalty for rape is generally one to 10 years in prison, 
depending on the severity of the assault, the age of the victim, and 
the circumstances under which the crime occurred. Very few cases, 
however, resulted in a maximum sentence. During the year 84 percent of 
rape cases reported to police never reached the courts; authorities 
believe this was usually due to the victim's reluctance to press 
charges, while Amnesty International believed systemic inadequacies 
were largely to blame. Approximately 36 percent of rape trials during 
the year ended in acquittal.
    In 2008 a government-appointed public committee concluded that a 
structural failure in the police to prioritize rape cases led to the 
low percentage of cases prosecuted and offenders convicted. As of the 
third quarter of the year, the Government had not implemented many of 
the recommendations in the report, including the suggestion that police 
set up an independent sexual violence unit.
    Violence against women, including spousal abuse, was a problem. The 
law provides higher penalties for domestic violence than for simple 
assault, generally one to three years in prison, with an increased term 
of up to six years in more severe cases. The Government generally 
enforced the law in practice. In 2009, the latest period for which data 
were available, 2,144 cases of domestic violence were registered, a 47 
percent increase over 2008.
    The Government generally and police agencies in particular had 
programs to prevent rape and domestic violence and to counsel victims. 
Each of the country's 27 police districts had a domestic violence 
coordinator to assist victims. Public and private organizations 
operated 50 government-funded shelters and managed five 24-hour crisis 
hotlines. The shelters provided support and counseling for victims and 
helped them gain access to social services, doctors, lawyers, and 
housing authorities. Victims of domestic violence have a right to 
consult a lawyer free of charge before deciding whether to make a 
formal complaint. If criminal proceedings are instituted, the victim is 
entitled to free assistance from a victim's advocate. This also applies 
to children who have been subjected to violence, sexual abuse, or 
genital mutilation.
    The law provides that ``employees shall not be subjected to 
harassment or other unseemly behavior,'' and the Government effectively 
enforced this provision. Employers who violate this law are subject to 
fines or prison sentences of up to two years, depending on the 
seriousness of the offense.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children, and to 
have the information and means to do so free from discrimination, 
coercion, and violence. There was easy access to contraception, and 88 
percent of women used some form of contraception according to 2008 data 
from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). There was skilled attendance 
during childbirth and essential prenatal and postpartum care; in 2008 
the UNFPA, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the UN Children's 
Fund estimated the maternal mortality rate to be seven per 100,000 
births. Women were diagnosed and treated for sexually transmitted 
infections, including HIV, equally with men.
    Women have the same legal status as men and enjoy identical rights 
under family and property laws and in the judicial system. The LDO was 
generally effective in processing and investigating complaints of 
gender discrimination. In 2009 the office received 65 complaints and 
addressed 510 information requests related to alleged sexual 
discrimination. Of the 65 complaints, 21 were processed by year's end. 
The LDO issued an official statement in ten of the cases, finding an 
illegal practice in eight. As of September, the latest date for which 
figures were available, the LDO had received 287 information requests 
and 36 complaints, eight of which resulted in a finding of illegal 
gender discrimination.
    The law provides that women and men engaged in the same activity 
shall receive equal wages for work of equal value. According to 
Statistics Norway, women received largely the same pay and benefits as 
men for equal work but earned on average 85 percent of what men earned 
per month. The Government attributed this to differences in the 
professions chosen and the predominance of women in part-time or public 
sector work.
    The law mandates that 40 percent of the boards of directors of 
publicly listed companies be women; virtually all public companies 
complied with the law.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents; children born 
in the country do not automatically become citizens. All birth clinics 
in the country reported childbirths to a central birth register, which 
included names, birth certificates, and social security numbers, 
including those of the parents.
    In 2009 childcare services initiated 30,100 investigations of 
alleged abuse, 8.2 percent more than in the previous year and a record 
high. Childcare services completed 29,900 investigations in 2009 and 
offered intervention or services in approximately half the cases. An 
independent children's ombudsman office within the Ministry of 
Children, Equality and Social Inclusion (MCESI) is responsible for the 
protection of children under the law. The directorate for children, 
youth, and family affairs provides assistance and support services. 
With five regional offices and 26 professional teams, the directorate 
is the Government's principal agency for the welfare and protection of 
children and families.
    Female genital mutilation (FGM) is illegal. Since 2004 police have 
received 15 reports of FGM involving families originally from countries 
where the practice is customary. Of these, one report was still under 
police investigation, while the others were dropped. None of the cases 
involved FGM performed in the country.
    In what officials described as an effort to prevent FGM, the 
national government initiated a pilot project in 2008 that offered 
counseling and voluntary genital examination to all girls and women who 
came from areas where, according to the WHO, the incidence of female 
genital mutilation was 30 percent or more. According to the Government, 
the offer was part of the municipal health examination which qualified 
doctors carried out. Counseling and genital examination were offered to 
all relevant groups of girls (immigrants and those born in the country 
of immigrant parents) before starting school (five to six years old), 
in the fifth grade (10-11 years old), and 10th grade (15-16 years old). 
The genital examination would only be carried out with valid consent of 
the patient, parent, or guardian in compliance with the law. There were 
unconfirmed reports that some parents were told that, if they did not 
acquiesce to the exam or counseling, they might be referred to the 
Department of Child Protective Services. OMOD expressed privacy 
concerns on behalf of the targeted girls and reported that parents of 
African ancestry felt stigmatized by the project.
    Forced marriage and aiding and abetting a forced marriage are 
punishable under the law. In the first half of the year, authorities 
were advised of 49 forced marriages, a 50 percent increase from 2009. 
As of July an NGO hotline also received 71 calls for help in averting 
or annulling a forced marriage. During the year the Directorate for 
Integration and Diversity assumed responsibility for managing emergency 
housing for children fleeing a forced marriage. Two NGOs that 
previously managed emergency housing reported that during the year 
children fleeing a forced marriage often ended up in shelters for drug 
addicts due to slow case processing.
    An estimated 10,000 to 18,000 persons were illegally resident in 
the country, including an unknown number of children. Children have the 
right to basic health services regardless of their residence status and 
are entitled to primary and lower secondary education. NGOs expressed 
concern that many children without legal residence are not receiving 
health services or attending school because they and their families 
live in hiding to avoid expulsion. Juss Buss, a student legal aid 
organization, reported that case workers at the Labor and Welfare 
Administration were unaware illegal residents were entitled to these 
rights, leading them to reject some illegal residents' requests for 
emergency assistance.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html as well as 
country-specific information at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish population is relatively small, 
consisting of approximately 1,100 persons.
    In March a state-owned broadcasting company televised a news 
feature, highlighting anecdotal reports of bullying against Jewish 
students, particularly by Muslim youth. Four teachers interviewed 
anonymously on the news program stated that anti-Semitism had become 
acceptable among some students, with some denying the Holocaust openly 
in the classroom and claiming Jews were responsible for the 9/11 
attacks.
    Shortly after the newscast, Oslo's governing mayor invited 
representatives from the Jewish community, the Islamic Council, the 
Christian Council, the Center for Studies of Holocaust and Religious 
Minorities (Holocaust Center), and Oslo's Department of Cultural 
Affairs and Education to discuss how to eradicate harassment of 
religious minorities. The city's stated goal was to determine the scope 
of the problem and to introduce targeted measures. In May the Ministry 
of Education inaugurated a working group to analyze ways to counter 
racism and anti-Semitism in the country's primary and secondary 
schools. The Holocaust Center in Oslo was the secretariat for the 
group.
    NGO representatives and leaders of the Jewish and Muslim 
communities applauded the Government's prompt response to the problem 
identified in the March news program. Some expressed concern, however, 
that the news feature identified Muslim youth as the main instigators, 
noting that the problem was more nuanced. The concern led to a debate 
regarding the existence of anti-Semitism and the line between criticism 
of Israeli policy and anti-Semitism.
    In October one of the country's leading newspapers published on its 
front page a painting by a prominent Norwegian artist, under the 
headline ``This painting did not get to be hung.'' The painting, which 
portrayed a blood-spattered Israeli flag and faceless soldiers over a 
pile of skulls and body parts, was one of two works removed a few days 
earlier by French authorities from the artist's traveling exhibit at 
the French Cultural Center in Damascus. The exhibit had been billed as 
an homage to the children of Gaza. In an editorial, the rabbi of the 
Oslo Jewish Community wrote that the painting crossed the line from 
legitimate anti-Israel criticism to anti-Semitism. The rabbi called on 
the Government to distance itself from the messages in the artwork, 
which he said could promote hatred and dehumanization of Jews. He also 
questioned the newspaper editors' decision to publish the painting, 
which he said steps on ``my symbols, my faith, and my cultural 
identity,'' without additional context from the Israeli Gaza war that 
would show the suffering of both sides in the conflict. The editors 
responded that their decision to publish the painting was not anti-
Semitic but was a protest directed at the State of Israel.
    A survey conducted during the year in conjunction with the 
International Civic and Citizenship Education Study, concluded that the 
vast majority of ninth graders in the country had a high level of 
awareness about the Holocaust, Nazism, and racism. Ninety-one percent 
of the 14- and 15-year-olds surveyed knew that six million Jews were 
killed during the Holocaust, while 9 percent did not. The survey 
evidenced no discernible pattern of responses among particular ethnic 
or religious groups.
    The Government continued to support organizations working to combat 
racism, discrimination, and anti-Semitism, including organizations such 
as the White Buses foundation, which took students from the country to 
Auschwitz and other World War II-era concentration camps to educate 
them about the Holocaust. In March the country completed a one-year 
rotating chairmanship of the International Task Force for Holocaust 
Education, Remembrance, and Research.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution and law prohibit 
discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, 
education, access to health care, and the provision of other state 
services, and the Government effectively enforced these provisions. The 
law applies generally to all persons with disabilities without 
enumerating specific types of disabilities. It mandates access to 
public buildings, information, and communications for persons with 
disabilities, and the Government generally enforced this provision in 
practice. The MCESI and the State Council on Disability divide the 
responsibility to protect the rights of persons with disabilities. The 
State Council served as an advisory body for the MCESI, which 
coordinated national policy and managed the social benefits system for 
persons with disabilities. All educational institutions are required to 
have an appointed contact person for disabled students as well as a 
plan of action to include this group of students.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--On January 3, a 63-year-old 
immigrant woman died of a heart attack after her family members made 
nine emergency calls to the ambulance service. The family subsequently 
sued, contending the operators refused to acknowledge the emergency 
call due to discrimination. The operators stated they perceived the 
caller's language as threatening and thus waited for police to arrive 
before entering the building. On September 14, the Bureau for the 
Investigation of Police Affairs acquitted the operators of gross 
misconduct and breach of the Health Personnel Act, but criticized two 
of the operators for their actions. The Board of Health Supervision had 
not concluded its investigation of the incident at year's end.
    In February the Center against Racism found what it perceived as 
evidence of ethnic discrimination following a test of five nightclubs 
in Oslo. According to the same NGO, groups of youths who did not appear 
to be ethnic Norwegian were rejected in three of five clubs, while 
groups of ethnic Norwegian youths in the same lines were admitted 
without question. The claim received media attention, and some of the 
youth involved started their own initiative to gather a larger sampling 
of information. In response, the minister of children, equality and 
social inclusion publicly condemned racism in nightclubs, and the LDO 
investigated the issue. In October the LDO concluded its investigation, 
finding six nightclubs in Oslo had engaged in ethnic discrimination and 
recommending the nightclubs lose their liquor license and improve 
training. The law provides for the withdrawal of a license to serve 
food and beverages for breach of the Antidiscrimination Act. There were 
no reports of licenses withdrawn during the year.
    Immigrants and their children sometimes had more difficulty finding 
employment than equally qualified ethnic Norwegians. There were also 
stark differences in the overall unemployment rate. As of May the 
unemployment rate among immigrants was 7.3 percent, compared with 2.2 
percent among nonimmigrants, according to government statistics. 
African immigrants had the highest unemployment rate at 13.5 percent, 
followed by immigrants from eastern EU countries at 9.3 percent and 
Asians at 8.2 percent.

    Indigenous People.--The Sami are Norway's indigenous people; there 
are approximately 50,000 Sami living in the northern part of the 
country. In addition to participating freely in the national political 
process, the country's Sami elect their own parliament, the Samediggi. 
The law establishing the Sami parliament stipulates that this 39-seat 
consultative group meet regularly to deal with ``all matters, which in 
[its] opinion are of special importance to the Sami people.''

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Gay pride marches were 
authorized and registered; police provided sufficient protection to 
marchers. On June 26, the main march of the year took place peacefully 
in Oslo through a neighborhood where gays and lesbians had previously 
been harassed.
    In August 2009 an unknown assailant attacked two gay men who were 
holding hands while walking in a majority Muslim neighborhood of Oslo. 
Police were unable to identify a suspect during the year.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no media 
reports of societal violence against persons with HIV/AIDS. However, an 
NGO reported that persons with HIV/AIDS continued to face 
discrimination by some dentists and medical personnel but did not 
provide information on specific incidents. An NGO criticized as 
insufficiently funded the Government's five-year national HIV strategy 
to increase acceptance and knowledge of the disease, both to limit new 
infections and to provide persons living with HIV better opportunities 
for social inclusion.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers to form and 
join independent unions of their choice without previous authorization 
or excessive requirements, and workers exercised these rights in 
practice. Approximately 53 percent of the workforce belonged to a 
union. The law allows unions to conduct their activities without 
government interference, and workers exercised this right in practice.
    The law provides for the right to strike, except for military 
forces and senior civil servants, and workers exercised this right in 
practice. However, with the approval of parliament, the Government may 
compel arbitration in all industrial sectors under certain 
circumstances, such as when a strike threatens the quality of health 
care or endangers public safety. The Government invoked compulsory 
arbitration during the year to end a two-week hospital strike.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--All workers, 
including government employees and military personnel, have the right 
to organize and to bargain collectively, and they exercised this right 
in practice. Approximately 50 percent of workers were covered by 
collective bargaining agreements.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination and there were no 
reports that it occurred during the year.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and the Government 
enforced these provisions in practice. However, there were reports that 
persons were trafficked for labor. For further information, see the 
Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There are laws to protect children from exploitation in the workplace, 
and the Government effectively enforced these laws; however, children 
were trafficked for forced labor. For further information, see the 
Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/g/tip.
    Children 13 to 15 years of age may be employed up to 12 hours per 
week in light work that does not adversely affect their health, 
development, or schooling. Between the ages of 15 and 18, persons not 
in school may work up to 40 hours per week, while persons who remain in 
school may only work a number of hours that does not adversely affect 
their schooling, in fact substantially less than 40 hours. Minimum age 
rules were observed in practice and enforced by the NLIA.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There is no legislated or 
specified minimum wage, although in practice there was a minimum wage 
in certain sectors. Wages are set in collective bargaining agreements 
negotiated by labor unions, employers, and the Government. The 
agreements may include minimum wage levels for specific sectors on a 
biennial basis. The average daily wage provided a decent standard of 
living for a worker and family.
    The law limits the normal workweek to 37.5 hours and provides for 
25 working days of paid leave per year (31 days for workers over age 
60). The law mandates a 28-hour rest period on weekends and holidays. 
The law provides for premium pay of 40 percent of salary for overtime 
and prohibits compulsory overtime in excess of 10 hours per week. 
Although the law provides the same benefits for citizens and foreign or 
migrant workers, there were reports, especially in the construction 
industry, of foreign workers being underpaid or overworked beyond 
legally permissible limits.
    The law provides for safe and physically acceptable working 
conditions for all employed persons. The NLIA, in consultation with 
nongovernment experts, set specific standards. Under the law, 
enterprises with 50 or more workers must establish environment 
committees composed of management, workers, and health personnel. All 
enterprises with 10 or more workers must have safety delegates, who are 
elected by the employees. Workers have the right to remove themselves 
from situations that endanger their health, but no data was available 
on whether they exercised this right in practice. The NLIA effectively 
monitored compliance with labor legislation and standards.

                               __________

                                 POLAND

    Poland is a republic with a multiparty democracy and a population 
of approximately 38.5 million. The bicameral National Assembly consists 
of an upper house, the Senate (Senat), and a lower house (Sejm). The 
president, the prime minister, the Council of Ministers, and the Sejm 
share executive power. The July special presidential election and the 
2007 preterm National Assembly elections were considered free and fair. 
Both President Bronislaw Komorowski and Prime Minister Donald Tusk were 
members of the ruling Civic Platform party. The prime minister governed 
in a coalition with a smaller political party. Security forces reported 
to civilian authorities.
    Among the country's principal human rights problems were police 
misconduct; lengthy pretrial detention resulting from an inefficient 
judicial system; laws that restricted free speech, although rarely 
enforced; and corruption in the Government and society. Other problems 
were discrimination against women in the labor market; sexual 
exploitation of children; occasional nonviolent incidents of anti-
Semitism; trafficking in persons; and societal discrimination and 
violence against ethnic minorities, gays, and lesbians. Violations of 
workers' rights and antiunion discrimination also occurred.
                        respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        From:

    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--The Government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings; however, 
police shot and killed two persons during the year.
    On May 23, police shot and killed a Nigerian market vendor during a 
routine document check. The vendor reportedly fled when police 
approached, causing them to pursue. After the police caught the man, 
bystanders formed a mob and attacked the police, at which time police 
fired a shot. According to police, they were unable to administer first 
aid to the victim because the mob was still attacking them. Prosecutors 
charged 26 persons with assaulting a police officer and resisting 
arrest. At year's end, the investigation into whether the police used 
excessive force or caused wrongful death was ongoing.
    On December 3, an off-duty police officer in Lodz shot a man, who 
died of his wounds two days later. According to press accounts, the 
officer and a colleague were returning home when two men with a dog 
attacked them. Press reports indicated that the police officer drew his 
gun to protect himself from the dog, which was attacking him with the 
owner's encouragement. During the struggle with the dog's owner, who 
tried to grab the weapon, the police officer fired the gun, wounding 
the man in the abdomen. Reports indicated that both the off-duty 
officers and their attackers may have been inebriated. Both prosecutors 
and the internal affairs authorities in the police force initiated 
investigations, which were ongoing at year's end.
    On February 5, the Warsaw District Court began a new trial of 12 
communist-era police officers found guilty in 2007 of firing on 
striking coal miners in 1981. Nine persons were killed and 25 others 
wounded in the incident at the Wujek coal mine.
    A trial begun in 2008 continued against eight communist-era 
officials who imposed martial law in 1981, including generals Wojciech 
Jaruzelski and Czeslaw Kiszczak. If convicted on charges of violating 
the constitution, abuse of power, and leading an organized criminal 
group, the defendants could face up to 10 years in prison.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices, and the 
Government generally respected these provisions. There were problems, 
however, with police misconduct and abuse of prisoners. The criminal 
code lacks a clear, legal definition of torture, which is not reported 
as a separate crime.
    On November 12, an individual filed a complaint with the Warsaw 
prosecutor's office claiming police beat him during November 11 
Independence Day demonstrations and counterdemonstrations. A second 
person, who participated in counterdemonstrations, submitted a 
complaint alleging police brutality. Both individuals were among 33 
persons arrested by police during the demonstrations. Authorities filed 
charges against nine of the 33, including the two individuals who filed 
complaints alleging police brutality. Eight were charged with violating 
the physical inviolability of police officers and one with using 
violence or the threat of violence to prevent a police officer from 
performing his/her duties.
    On November 5, after a two-year investigation conducted by Gdansk 
district prosecutors, the regional court in Kwidzyn began a trial 
against six police officers and one civilian employee of the police 
station in Prabuty for using excessive force and failure to fulfill 
their duties by not reporting the actions of their colleagues. In 
November 2009 prosecutors filed charges for offenses that took place in 
2008, including beating and subsequently abandoning intoxicated persons 
in a forest, as well as beating two teenagers at a police station. If 
convicted, the officers could face three to five years' imprisonment. 
An internal investigation led to the dismissal of the regional police 
commander and deputy commander. The six officers were suspended from 
their official duties with half pay.
    In 2008 the country's human rights ombudsman issued a formal 
statement of concern to the chief of the national police about the 
excessive use of force by police, such as beatings that resulted in 
injuries and unauthorized arrest in some cases. The ombudsman requested 
information on a plan to address the problem; however, as of year's 
end, police had not responded.
    The law on police misconduct outlines disciplinary actions, which 
include reprimands, demotion in rank, and dismissal.
    On June 8, a revision of the criminal code took effect that allows 
forced chemical castration of convicted pedophiles. Under the law, 
courts are to decide whether the offender should undergo such treatment 
six months before their expected parole. In the case of the rape of a 
person less than 15 years of age or incest, chemical castration would 
be obligatory. There were no reports that judges administered this 
punishment during the year.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards; however, 
prison medical staff vacancies and access to specialized treatment 
continued to be a problem. The Government permitted monitoring visits 
by independent human rights observers.
    At year's end there were 80,734 persons in prisons and detention 
facilities, according to government statistics. The capacity of these 
facilities declined by approximately 2,900 during the year. Occupancy 
was approximately 95 percent of capacity.
    As of October 31, approximately 2,656 prisoners (3 percent of the 
prison population) were women. Women prisoners were held either in 
dedicated detention facilities or in separate parts of joint 
facilities. While authorities generally separated juveniles from 
adults, in exceptional cases the law allows them to share housing in 
prisons and detention centers. Authorities usually sent juveniles (17- 
to 21-year-olds) accused of serious crimes to pretrial detention.
    Pretrial detainees were often held in prisons pending trial but in 
separate areas from convicts. Conditions for pretrial detainees were 
generally similar to those for prisoners but, on occasion, were worse 
due to overcrowding and poorer facilities resulting from court-mandated 
restrictions on where a prisoner should be located while awaiting 
trial.
    Under the country's criminal code, the minimum cell size is three 
square meters (32 square feet) per person, but prisoners may occupy 
smaller cells for a limited time. At year's end, 49 detainees were in 
cells smaller than the legally mandated minimum, according to 
government statistics.
    In December 2009 a new criminal code provision took effect that 
provides mechanisms designed to prevent prison overcrowding, including 
deferring sentences if the total number of prisoners would exceed 
prison capacity. In an effort to meet occupancy requirements, prison 
officials converted many common areas, such as activity rooms and 
libraries, into cells.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and could 
participate in religious observance. Authorities permitted prisoners 
and detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities without 
censorship and to request investigation of credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions. Prisoners exercised this right either directly 
with prison officials and the Justice Ministry or indirectly through 
local nongovernmental organizations or the human rights ombudsman.
    During the year the human rights ombudsman received 7,233 
complaints, compared with 7,158 in 2009, mainly regarding abuse by 
prison authorities, inadequate living conditions, inadequate medical 
care, and violations of mail and visiting rights.
    Authorities investigated credible allegations of inhumane 
conditions and documented the results of such investigations in a 
publicly accessible manner. At the request of the Justice Ministry, the 
human rights ombudsman administers the National Preventive Mechanism to 
investigate and monitor prison and detention center conditions. The 
office of the ombudsman publishes its findings and a summary of the 
recommendations it made to relevant authorities in an annual report.
    The Government allowed independent monitoring of prison conditions 
and detention centers on a regular basis by the human rights ombudsman. 
The ombudsman can join proceedings in civil and administrative courts 
on behalf of prisoners and detainees, either when they have filed a 
complaint or when information otherwise leads to an allegation of 
inhumane conditions. During the year the ombudsman visited 80 prison 
and detention facilities, including pretrial and juvenile detention 
centers, as well as guarded centers for refugees. As of year's end, the 
Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture had not 
released the findings from its fourth periodic visit to the country in 
December 2009.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these 
prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The police force is a 
national law enforcement body with regional and municipal units 
overseen by the minister of interior. The Internal Security Agency 
(Agencja Bezpieczenstwa Wewnetrznego, ABW) has responsibility for 
investigating and combating organized crime, terrorist threats, and 
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The Central 
Anticorruption Bureau (Centralne Biuro Antykorupcyjne, CBA) is 
responsible for combating governmental, business, and financial 
corruption. Both agencies report directly to the prime minister.
    Civilian authorities maintained effective control over the security 
forces, and the Government had effective mechanisms to investigate and 
punish abuse and corruption. There were no reports of impunity 
involving the security forces during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--In most cases 
the law requires authorities to obtain a court warrant based on 
evidence to make an arrest, and authorities generally complied with the 
law in practice.
    Lengthy pretrial detention remained a problem that contributed to 
overcrowding and deterioration of detention facilities; however, 
according to media reports, the number of prosecution motions for 
pretrial detention declined during the year. The law allows 48-hour 
detention before authorities must file charges and an additional 24 
hours for the court to decide whether to order pretrial detention. 
Authorities must promptly inform detainees of the charges against them. 
There was a functioning bail system, and most detainees were released 
on bail. Detainees have the right to counsel; the Government provided 
free counsel to the indigent. Defendants and detainees have the right 
to consult an attorney at any time.
    The law permits authorities to detain persons charged with a crime 
for up to three months. Detained persons may appeal the legality of 
their arrest. A court may extend pretrial detention every six to 12 
months, but the law specifies that the total time in detention may not 
exceed two years (in certain complex cases, the court may petition the 
Supreme Court for an extension beyond two years); however, in practice 
detention frequently extended beyond two years.
    As of November 30, according to the Central Prison Authority, there 
were 8,945 pretrial detainees, a decrease of 900 in comparison to 
November 2009.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice; however, the judiciary remained inefficient 
and did not enjoy public confidence.
    Military courts, supervised by the minister of justice and the 
prosecutor general, have jurisdiction over crimes committed by military 
personnel while on duty. Military defendants enjoy the same rights as 
civilians.
    The court system remained cumbersome, poorly administered, and 
inadequately staffed. Although according to the General Prosecutor's 
Office, the overall number of prosecutors was large (5,668), but the 
number of prosecutors dealing with criminal offenses was inadequate. 
Some progress was reported in the computerization of the court system, 
but a continuing backlog of cases and the high cost of legal action 
deterred many citizens from using the justice system.
    On January 4, the Justice Ministry established the country's first 
``e-court,'' designed to adjudicate approximately 600,000 routine civil 
cases per year.
    In 2007 the country implemented a system of ``24-hour courts'' to 
expedite trials for minor offenses and petty crimes. Under this system, 
the accused must be tried and a decision reached within 72 hours of 
arrest. Police and prosecutors have 48 hours to collect evidence and 
file a case; courts must issue a decision within 24 hours. On June 8, 
in response to criticism of the cost and questions about the 
effectiveness of this system, a law took effect that gives accused 
persons the option of voluntarily accepting prescribed penalties while 
the case is under investigation and allows the state to release accused 
offenders on their own recognizance if they agreed to appear in court. 
The new law also eliminated the state's obligation to provide a defense 
attorney and provides that 24-hour courts may try individuals in 
absentia. According to media reports, the 24-hour court procedure was 
rarely used.

    Trial Procedures.--Defendants must be present during trial; they 
enjoy a presumption of innocence. Trials are usually public; however, 
the courts reserve the right to close a trial in some circumstances, 
including divorce proceedings, cases involving state secrets, and cases 
whose content may offend public morality. The law provides for juries, 
usually composed of two or three individuals appointed by local 
officials. In regional and provincial courts, a panel of one judge and 
two lay assessors try cases. Defendants may consult an attorney, 
confront and question witnesses, have access to government-held 
evidence, and present evidence and witnesses. Prosecutors can grant 
witnesses anonymity if they express fear of retribution from 
defendants.
    After a court issues a verdict, a defendant has seven days to 
request a written statement of the judgment; courts must respond within 
seven days. A defendant has the right to appeal a verdict within 14 
days of the response. A two-level appeal process is available in most 
civil and criminal matters.
    Individuals continued to file complaints against the Government 
with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) regarding trial delays, 
the right to a fair trial, and the lack of due process.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--In 2009, the most recent 
year for which data was available, the ECHR issued 123 judgments that 
found at least one violation of the European Convention on Human 
Rights. Of that total, 71 judgments found the country violated the 
convention's provisions for a fair and expeditious trial. Of these 
decisions, 35 involved violations of the right to liberty and security, 
including lengthy pretrial detention, 14 related to inhuman or 
degrading treatment and ineffective investigations, and 12 involved 
respect for private and family life. At the end of 2009, 4,750 cases 
involving the country were pending before the court.
    The country generally complied with ECHR judgments. In May 2007 the 
Government adopted a special action plan to improve the effectiveness 
of the implementation of the ECHR judgments. Included in the action 
plan were recommendations for changes in legislation (only partially 
enacted by year's end), improvement of legal practices, human rights 
training, and distribution of information about ECHR judgments to 
courts and the National School for Prosecutors and Judges. An 
interagency team at the Justice Ministry's Human Rights Department 
monitors the implementation of ECHR judgments.
    According to the Helsinki Human Rights Foundation, the Government 
was most successful in complying with ECHR judgments in cases that 
affected a large number of persons and cases of particular legal 
importance, specifically cases where systematic or legislative changes 
were required. The foundation claimed the Government was less 
successful in complying with less prominent, individual cases that 
attracted less media attention.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The judiciary system is 
generally independent and impartial in civil cases, and there is access 
to courts to bring lawsuits seeking damages for or cessation of human 
rights violations. The constitution and law provide for the sovereignty 
of, and public access to, the courts. However, implementation of court 
orders, particularly for payment of damages, remained slow, cumbersome, 
and ineffective. Changes to civil procedures placed speed and 
efficiency ahead of individual rights, and the limited number of 
attorneys made it expensive to exercise the right to legal counsel.
    In November 2009 the Justice Ministry created a Human Rights 
Department with the primary objective of promoting the human rights 
standards throughout the justice system. The department also responds 
to identified cases of human rights violations, including overlong 
trials, excessive use of pretrial detention, and prison overcrowding. 
According to Warsaw-based Helsinki Human Rights Foundation, the 
department was particularly successful in promoting knowledge about 
ECHR verdicts by translating them into Polish, posting them on the 
ministry's Web site, and distributing them to domestic courts.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law prohibits most such actions; however, the 
Government did not always respect these prohibitions in practice.
    The law allows electronic surveillance for crime prevention and 
investigation. There was neither independent judicial review of 
surveillance activities nor any control over the use of information 
obtained by monitoring private communications. A number of government 
agencies had access to wiretap information.
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 there were 
laws that restricted these freedoms. Since the collapse of the 
Communist government in 1989, the Government and courts have either 
upheld or instituted laws that criminalize defamation by individuals 
and the media and limit editorial independence.
    Defamation includes publicly insulting, defaming, or libeling 
members of parliament, government ministers, or other public officials, 
as well as private entities and persons. Defamation, carried out 
through the mass media, is punishable by imprisonment of up to one 
year. Defamation outside the media is punishable by a fine and 
community service. For publicly insulting the president, the maximum 
sentence is three years' imprisonment. Maximum penalties are rarely 
applied; persons found guilty of defamation generally only faced fines.
    On January 5, the Lublin prosecutor's office again discontinued the 
case against Sejm deputy Janusz Palikot, who in his Internet blog 
referred to the president as a ``runt.'' In September 2009 the Lublin 
Regional Court overturned the prosecutor's earlier decision not to 
pursue charges against Palikot in response to the president's call for 
the charges to be pursued.
    The law prohibits hate speech, including dissemination of anti-
Semitic literature and the public promotion of fascist or other 
totalitarian systems. On June 8, a revision to the criminal code took 
effect, adding public promotion of communist systems to the prohibited 
list. On December 14, the Wroclaw District Court gave prison sentences 
of from 13 to 18 months to three persons for promoting neofascist ideas 
and inciting hatred on the basis of national, ethnic, racial, and 
religious differences on their Web sites, RedWatch.info, and 
BHPoland.org. The Web sites published names and personal information of 
persons from minority groups, human rights NGOs, and local media, 
resulting in threats and harassment to at least 385 persons.
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views.
    The National Radio and Television Broadcasting Council, a five-
member body appointed by the National Assembly and the president, is 
responsible for protecting freedom of speech and has broad power to 
monitor and regulate programming, allocate broadcasting frequencies and 
licenses, apportion subscription revenues to public media, and impose 
financial penalties on broadcasters. While council members were 
required to suspend their membership in political parties and public 
associations, critics asserted that the council remained politicized. 
The president and the Sejm each select two members, and the Senate 
selects one member.
    Content restrictions on the media include a law that prohibits the 
promotion of activities that are against government 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.'' In practice the Government rarely 
enforced this provision, which allows for levying fines on programs 
deemed offensive. The press code also places some limits on editorial 
independence, for example, by specifying that journalists must verify 
quotes and statements with the person who made them before publication.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail.
    According to International Telecommunication Union statistics, 
approximately 58 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The law provides 
for freedoms of assembly and association, and the Government generally 
respected these rights in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a description of religious freedom, 
please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees.
    The law on protecting aliens permits denial of refugee status based 
on safe country of origin or safe country of transit; however, the law 
also includes provisions to consider the protection needs of 
individuals with exceptional cases.
    In practice the Government provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion. During the year the Government granted refugee status to 84 
persons compared with 133 persons in 2009. The Government denied 
refugee status in 3,967 cases.
    Persons granted asylum or refugee status had the right to work, to 
receive social assistance and education, and to have access to a state 
integration program for 12 months. The program provides participants 
with contacts in the local community, assistance with accommodations, 
and help with job searches. Refugees received monetary assistance for 
living expenses and language training and were registered in the 
national health-care system.
    According to Amnesty International, asylum seekers and recognized 
refugees continued to face difficulties finding jobs and obtaining 
health care due in part to poor integration program conditions. Persons 
with temporary status also had the right to work, received social 
assistance, and participated in the Government's integration programs.
    There were occasional reports of problems in the country's 19 
refugee detention centers, which were located in the Warsaw, Bialystok, 
and Lublin areas and had a capacity of 4,000 persons. Refugees 
experienced language and cultural barriers; they had limited access to 
higher education. There was discrimination against refugee children by 
their peers.
    The Government also provided temporary protection to individuals 
who may not qualify as refugees and provided it to 439 persons during 
the year, compared with 2,458 persons in 2009.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The law provides citizens 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 and Political Participation.--The June 20 (first round) 
and July 4 (second round run-off) special presidential election and the 
2007 preterm parliamentary elections were considered free and fair.
    Multiple candidates from various political parties freely declared 
their candidacy to stand for election and had access to the media.
    There were 91 women in the 460-seat Sejm and seven in the 100-seat 
Senat. There were five women in the 20-member Council of Ministers. An 
additional 24 women held ministerial-level positions. Eleven of the 
country's 50 members of the European Parliament were women. In local 
government elections held on November 21, women won 24 percent of the 
seats in local councils, a 4 percent increase over the previous 
election.
    On October 27, the UN Human Rights Council published its concluding 
observations following its review of the country's sixth periodic 
report, in which it noted that the Government should intensify efforts 
to achieve equitable representation of women in parliament and at the 
highest levels of the Government, judiciary, civil service, police 
force, and prison service. The council called on the Government to 
ensure that women receive equal pay for work of equal value and 
reinstitute the Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for Equality 
of Men and Women as an independent body.
    There were two minority members in the Sejm (one representing the 
German minority in Silesia) and no minorities in the upper house. On 
December 14, John Godson was sworn in as the first black member of 
parliament. There were no members of minorities in the cabinet. The law 
exempts ethnic minority parties from the requirement that they must 
receive 5 percent of the vote nationwide to qualify for seats in 
individual districts.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not always implement these laws 
effectively, and officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices.
    According to World Bank governance indicators for 2008, corruption 
was a problem in the country. There was a widespread public perception 
of corruption throughout the Government. Citizens continued to believe 
that political parties and members of the legislative branch, the 
health care system, and the judiciary were the most corrupt.
    On December 10, the District Prosecutor's Office in Swidnica 
initiated an investigation into ``political'' corruption in connection 
with the first and the second round of the local government elections 
in Walbrzych. The investigation was based on evidence gathered by the 
CBA, which indicated that some voters might have been given money to 
vote for particular candidates. On December 2, Senator Roman Ludwiczuk 
of the ruling Civic Platform (PO) party resigned his party membership 
after admitting to political corruption. On a tape recording released 
by the press, Ludwiczuk was heard offering a member of his opponent's 
campaign staff a high-ranking local government position in exchange for 
resigning his campaign position. On December 3 and 7, three candidates 
for mayor of Walbrzych filed a motion to the court to annul the 
election results on the grounds of possible corruption.
    On September 21, Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister 
Waldemar Pawlak dismissed the presidents of two state-owned coal mining 
companies, Kompania Weglowa and Katowicki Holding Weglowy, after the 
Katowice Prosecutor's Office charged them on September 16 with 
accepting bribes ranging from 16,000 to 600,000 zloty ($5,400 to 
$203,000). As of year's end, the prosecutorial investigation was 
ongoing.
    The investigation continued of Sylwester Rypinski, the president of 
the state-owned Social Insurance Agency and six other employees. They 
were arrested in September 2009 by ABW on corruption charges. If 
convicted, Rypinski would face up to 10 years' imprisonment.
    On August 5, a parliamentary special investigative committee 
concluded that prominent representatives of the ruling Civic Platform 
party did not conspire with businessmen who were allegedly lobbying for 
a revision of a draft law on gambling. The Government's chief 
anticorruption official published a separate report on July 29 that 
noted irregularities in the drafting of the new law and criticized the 
Ministries of Economy, Finance, and Sport for confusing the legislative 
process. In October 2009 the national daily Rzeczpospolita published 
transcripts that the CBA obtained through wiretaps of conversations 
between leading politicians and gambling industry representatives. The 
so-called gamble-gate scandal led to a major government reorganization 
later that month, in which six ministerial-level officials, including 
Sports Minister Miroslaw Drzewiecki, resigned. The chairman of the 
ruling party's parliamentary caucus, Zbigniew Chlebowski, also 
resigned.
    The CBA has broad powers to audit the financial holdings of public 
officials and to fight corruption in public procurement. It is also 
authorized to conduct searches and secret videotaping, wiretap 
telephone conversations, and make arrests.
    During the year the CBA continued to examine numerous high-profile 
and controversial investigations begun earlier:
    The trial of billionaire Henryk Stoklosa continued in the Poznan 
District Court. Stoklosa was indicted in 2008 on 21 charges in 
connection with a major finance ministry corruption case. Three 
ministry officials were also arrested as part of the CBA investigation. 
According to the prosecutor, the officials canceled fiscal liabilities 
and issued tax exemptions over a 10-year period in exchange for bribes 
from organized criminals and businessmen. Stoklosa was also charged 
with bribing a Poznan judge. If convicted, he could face up to 10 
years' imprisonment.
    On October 5, the Warsaw District Court began the trial of Beata 
Sawicka, a former member of the parliament, and Miroslaw Wadolowski, 
the mayor of Hel, on corruption charges related to a real estate 
scandal. The CBA accused Sawicka of corruption for accepting a bribe to 
influence a public tender in Hel in the period preceding the 2007 
parliamentary elections. In her defense Sawicka said that a CBA officer 
seduced and manipulated her into accepting the bribe. A few months 
earlier, on April 23, the Warsaw Prosecutor's Office discontinued its 
investigation into CBA's involvement in the case, deciding that the CBA 
officers had not acted illegally.
    On May 24, an appeals court overturned the August 2009 Warsaw 
Circuit Court conviction of two persons for attempting to bribe former 
agricultural minister and Deputy Prime Minister Andrzej Lepper. The CBA 
detained the two in 2007 based on reports that they had connections 
with persons in the Agriculture Ministry who could issue favorable 
land-use decisions in exchange for a bribe of three million zloty ($1 
million). Lepper was subsequently dismissed as minister. The appeals 
court ordered a new trial in the case.
    The Government continued to take steps to address corruption within 
the 100,000-member police force by instituting harsher penalties and 
eliminating collection of fines in cash by police officers. Instead, it 
became necessary to pay fines at post offices or via electronic fund 
transfers. The National Police's Internal Affairs Office investigated 
instances of corruption and serious criminal misconduct.
    On January 17, a special prosecutor's office in Bialystok concluded 
a major corruption investigation of senior officials for malfeasance in 
public tenders in 2004. As a result of the investigation, 23 persons, 
including several senior employees at national police headquarters, 
were indicted in a Warsaw court on charges of abuse of power, failure 
to fulfill duties, accepting bribes, and perjury.
    The law provides for public access to government information and, 
in practice the Government generally provided access to citizens and 
noncitizens, including foreign media. By law government refusal of 
information requests must be based on exceptional circumstances related 
to government secrets, personal privacy, and proprietary business data. 
Refusals may be appealed.
Section 5. 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 country's human rights ombudsman presents an annual report to 
the Sejm on the state of human rights and civic freedom in the country. 
The ombudsman generally had adequate resources, enjoyed the 
Government's cooperation, and was considered effective. In 2009 the 
human rights ombudsman reported that 65,208 cases were filed with the 
office, an increase of 3,686 from 2008.
    The office of the ombudsman is independent; however, the ombudsman 
is selected by the parliament and, at times in the past, was criticized 
by the media for being influenced by party politics.
    Both chambers of parliament have committees on human rights and the 
rule of law. The committees serve a primarily legislative function and 
are composed of representatives from multiple political parties.
Section 6. 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 
prohibitions.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is illegal and punishable by 
up to 12 years in prison. According to national police statistics, 
during the first half of the year, there were 885 reported cases of 
rape. However, NGOs estimated that the actual number of rapes was much 
higher because women often were unwilling to report rape due to social 
stigma. During the same period, police forwarded 464 possible rape 
cases to prosecutors and 278 to family court (for underage offenders) 
for indictment.
    Domestic violence against women continued to be a serious problem. 
The number of reported cases was attributed to heightened police 
awareness, particularly in urban areas, as a result of media campaigns 
and NGO efforts. While courts can sentence a person convicted of 
domestic violence to a maximum of five years in prison, most 
convictions resulted in suspended sentences. The law provides for 
restraining orders on spouses to protect against abuse. On August 1, a 
revised law on domestic violence took effect that gives prosecutors the 
authority to issue restraining orders without requiring a court's 
approval, but police did not have the authority to issue immediate 
restraining orders at the scene of an incident.
    During the year police identified 18,659 domestic violence offenses 
compared with 20,505 in 2009. Of the cases identified during the year, 
16,463 were forwarded for prosecution, in comparison to 17,999 in 2009. 
During the first six months of the year, police reported that officers 
conducted 40,497 interventions related to domestic violence. According 
to prison authorities, at the end of the third quarter of the year, 
5,024 individuals were serving prison sentences for domestic violence 
crimes.
    According to some women's organizations, the number of women 
affected by domestic abuse was underreported, particularly in small 
towns and villages. The Women's Rights Center reported that police were 
occasionally reluctant to intervene in domestic violence incidents if 
the perpetrator was a member of the police or if victims were unwilling 
to cooperate.
    NGO-operated centers for domestic violence victims provided 
counseling for offenders and training for personnel who worked with 
victims. The Government also provided victims and families with legal 
and psychological assistance and operated 266 crisis centers and 12 
shelters for pregnant women and mothers with small children. In 
addition 36 specialized centers were operated by local governments and 
funded by the Government's National Program for Combating Domestic 
Violence. The centers provided social, medical, psychological, and 
legal assistance to victims and ``corrective education'' programs for 
abusers. In 2009, the last year for which statistics were available, 
the Government allocated approximately 12.1 million zloty ($4 million) 
for the centers' operating costs. The Government also spent 4.4 million 
zloty ($1.5 million) during the year on programs to counteract domestic 
violence. They were primarily corrective-education programs for abusers 
and training for social workers, police officers, and specialists who 
are the first contact for victims of domestic violence.
    The Council for Victims of Crime, established in 2009, met 
periodically during the year to review proposed policy changes and 
legislative initiatives to support victims. On January 14, the Justice 
Ministry launched a national public awareness campaign on crime 
victims' rights.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment. Persons convicted of sexual 
harassment may be sentenced to up to three years in prison. The labor 
code defines sexual harassment as discriminatory behavior in the 
workplace, including physical, verbal, and nonverbal acts, violating an 
employee's dignity.
    According to the Women's Rights Center, sexual harassment was a 
serious and underreported problem. Many victims do not report abuse or 
withdraw harassment claims in the course of police investigations out 
of shame or fear of losing their job. However, social awareness of the 
problem continued to increase due in part to reporting by the media. 
During the first six months of the year, police reported 52 cases of 
sexual harassment, compared with 58 cases during 2009.
    On February 11, a court in Piotrkow Trybunalski convicted two 
former members of parliament of extorting sex from female employees. 
Former Samoobrona Party member Stanislaw Lyzwinski was sentenced to 
five years' imprisonment for rape, repeatedly forcing four women to 
have sex, abetting a kidnapping, and extortion. Andrzej Lepper, another 
Samoobrona member and former deputy prime minister and agricultural 
minister, was sentenced to two years and three months' imprisonment for 
extorting sex from a female party worker and using force to obtain sex 
from another. Both Lepper and Lyzwinski, who was released from pretrial 
detention after two and a half years, were free on bail pending 
resolution of their appeals.
    On January 27, the Olsztyn court overturned the Olsztyn 
Prosecutor's Office December 2009 decision to suspend the investigation 
of former Olsztyn mayor Czeslaw Malkowski, who was charged in 2008 with 
the sexual harassment of two female employees and the rape of a third 
who was pregnant. At year's end, the investigation against Malkowski 
continued.
    Although the Government generally recognized the basic right of 
couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, 
spacing, and timing of their children, some restrictions existed. While 
there were no restrictions on the right to obtain contraceptives, 
social and economic factors limited their use, according to a local 
NGO, the Federation for Women and Family Planning. Prescription 
contraceptives were not included on the Government list of subsidized 
medicines, which made them cost-prohibitive relative to average 
household income. The law does not permit voluntary sterilization. 
Health clinics and local health NGOs were permitted to provide 
information on family planning, including information about 
contraception, under the guidance of the Ministry of Health.
    On June 4, UN Special Rapporteur on Health Issues Anand Grover 
presented a report to the Human Rights Council summarizing his 2009 
visit to the country to assess sexual and reproductive health rights. 
Among his findings, he cited serious impediments to women's access to 
certain reproductive health services, such as contraception and 
prenatal testing. Grover called for providing unbiased sexual education 
and better funding for contraceptives.
    The Government provided free childbirth services, and there were 
sufficient doctors. Women also used nurses and midwives for prenatal 
and postnatal care unless the mother or child suffered more serious 
health complications. According to statistics compiled by international 
organizations, there were approximately six maternal deaths per 100,000 
live births in the country in 2008. Men and women received equal access 
to diagnosis and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, 
including HIV.
    The constitution provides for equal rights for men and women in 
family law, property law, and in the judicial system; however, in 
practice there were few laws to implementing this provision. Women held 
lower-level positions and frequently received lower pay than men for 
equivalent work, were fired more readily, and were less likely to be 
promoted.
    On March 18, the European Commission sent a warning to the 
Government after its failure to pass national legislation implementing 
EU directives against gender discrimination in the workplace. The 
warning is the final stage before the commission refers a case to the 
European Court of Justice. In a separate May 2009 action, the 
commission referred the country to the European Court of Justice for 
not codifying EU directives prohibiting gender discrimination in access 
to and supply of goods and services. In February 2009 32 NGOs that 
promote women's rights complained to the European Commission about a 
lack of government action to combat discrimination against women.
    On March 5, the independent research company, Wynagrodzenia.pl, 
published a survey reporting a large discrepancy in the average 
salaries of men and women. The survey found that women's salaries were 
on average approximately 30 percent lower than men's salaries in the 
insurance, banking, and health professions.
    In August 2009 the private Center for Economic Information reported 
that the number of women working in senior positions in small- to 
medium-sized businesses had doubled over the preceding three years. 
Women were on the boards of approximately 70,000 companies, 
representing 30 percent of all companies in the country.
    In 2008 the prime minister appointed a senior government official 
as ``equality minister'' with a mandate to promote equal treatment. 
However, some women's rights groups complained that the position was 
neither sufficiently resourced nor sufficiently independent from 
government influence to fulfill its mandate. Women and lesbian, gay, 
bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) groups criticized the incumbent for 
making controversial statements about these issues and for not doing 
enough to combat discrimination against women as well as LGBT persons.
    On January 1, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy dissolved its 
Department of Women, Family, and Antidiscrimination. The department was 
responsible for combating gender discrimination, incorporating gender 
equality into governmental policy, and monitoring implementation of 
government programs to promote gender equality. Many of these functions 
were reassigned to the Government's equality minister. The Ministry of 
Labor and Social Policy continued to promote gender mainstreaming in 
the labor market, including providing support for the Polish Women's 
Congress and funding public awareness campaigns.
    In its November 2009 report, the UN Committee on Economic, Social, 
and Cultural Rights expressed concern that, despite the existence of a 
ministerial-level position for equal treatment within the Prime 
Minister's Chancellery, discrimination continued against women and 
minorities, including ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities, and 
LGBT persons.

    Children.--Citizenship is acquired by birth if at least one parent 
is a citizen regardless of where the birth took place. Children born or 
found in the country with parents of unknown origin are also citizens. 
The Government has in place a system of universal birth registration, 
implemented immediately after birth.
    Incidents of child abuse were reported; however, convictions for 
abuse were rare. The law prohibits violence against children and 
provides for prison sentences ranging from three months to five years.
    A government ombudsman for children's rights issued periodic 
reports on problems affecting children, such as pedophilia on the 
Internet, improving access to public schools for children with 
disabilities, and providing better medical care for children with 
chronic diseases. The ombudsman's office also operated a 24-hour 
hotline for abused children. In 2009, the last year for which 
statistics were available, the ombudsman received 14,460 complaints of 
infringements of children's rights under the country's laws, an 
increase of 3,882 in comparison with 2008. Of that number, 40 percent 
related to the right to be brought up in a family, citing factors such 
as limitation of parental rights because of a divorce and the need for 
better support for foster families; 20 percent to the right to 
protection against abuse and exploitation; 11 percent to the right to 
education; and 7 percent to the right to adequate social conditions.
    In February 2009 the Warsaw-based Helsinki Human Rights Foundation 
published a report that asserted that child prostitution was a problem 
although its extent was difficult to measure due to a lack of data.
    According to the Government and the Nobody's Children Foundation, a 
leading NGO dealing with trafficking in children, child sex tourism was 
not significant in the country, although trafficking in children for 
sexual exploitation remained a problem.
    The law prohibits sexual intercourse with minors younger than 15 
years of age. The penalty for a conviction of statutory rape ranges 
from two to 12 years' imprisonment. Child pornography is also illegal. 
The production, possession, storage, or importation of child 
pornography is punishable by imprisonment for a period of three months 
to 10 years. According to the Ministry of Justice, 742 persons were 
convicted in 2008 of sexual intercourse with persons younger than 15 
years old, and 26 persons were convicted of pimping with the 
involvement of a minor.
    During the year police conducted operations against child 
pornography and pedophiles that led to the arrest of 473 persons. 
However, difficulty in meeting legal evidentiary standards led to few 
convictions in these cases.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html as well as 
country-specific information at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Union of Jewish Communities estimated that the 
Jewish population numbered approximately 20,000. There were reports of 
occasional, nonviolent anti-Semitic incidents and occasional 
desecrations of Jewish cemeteries.
    On March 13, vandals defaced the Holocaust memorial in Krakow on 
the eve of the commemoration of the 67th anniversary of the liquidation 
of the Krakow ghetto. The vandals spray-painted anti-Semitic slogans 
and Nazi symbols on the monument. Authorities removed the graffiti 
before the beginning of the commemoration ceremony, during which the 
archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, apologized to Jews on 
behalf of all Christians for the incident. On August 19, the 
prosecution discontinued its investigation into the incident on the 
grounds that police had been unable to identify the perpetrators.
    On March 18, a Krakow court sentenced three persons to two-and-a-
half years' imprisonment for the December 2009 theft of the ``Arbeit 
Macht Frei'' sign that hung above the main entrance to the Nazi death 
camp at Auschwitz. The sign was found cut into three pieces and buried 
in the woods two days after the theft. Prosecutors charged a Swedish 
man, who had ties to a neo-Nazi organization, with orchestrating the 
theft. On December 30, the Krakow Court sentenced the man, who was 
extradited from Sweden, to two years and eight months imprisonment. The 
court sentenced two additional persons, who recruited the three 
thieves, to two years and six months, and two years and four months 
imprisonment.
    On February 23, a Bialystok court convicted five persons of 
disseminating anti-Semitic literature and inciting hatred and gave each 
a suspended sentence. The case, which began in 2005, was connected to 
an ongoing case against Leszek Bubel, a self-proclaimed anti-Semite and 
leader of a far-right political party. There were no developments in 
the case against Bubel, who was charged in 2008 with posting a video on 
a popular Internet site in which he boasted about his anti-Semitism and 
urged Jews to leave the country. Bubel has repeatedly claimed he is 
unable to stand trial because of failing health. He previously served 
six months in jail for inciting racial hostility and defaming Jews.
    Unlike in earlier years, there were no reports during the year that 
the Catholic nationalist radio station, Radio Maryja, broadcast anti-
Semitic or racist statements by its viewers during call-in shows.
    The Government publicly criticized anti-Semitic acts, prosecuted 
offenders, and supported tolerance education.
    The country has made considerable progress in relations with its 
Jewish communities. The Government consistently supported efforts to 
promote interfaith dialogue and tolerance, as well as initiatives to 
combat anti-Semitism. However, members of marginal populist and 
nationalist parties and organizations continued to make some extremist, 
intolerant, and anti-Semitic statements.
    In March 2009 the Education Ministry, in cooperation with the 
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, introduced a 
curriculum for middle school students aimed at combating anti-Semitism. 
In particular the materials promoted tolerance by addressing problems 
of stereotypes and prejudice.
    On June 15, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance 
(ECRI) criticized the country for making insufficient progress in 
fighting anti-Semitism, noting the lack of comprehensive 
antidiscrimination legislation.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--Article 32 of the constitution and the 
1997 Charter of Persons with Disabilities prohibit discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care or the 
provision of other state services. The Government effectively enforced 
these provisions; however, there were reports of some societal 
discrimination against persons with disabilities. The Government 
restricts the right of persons with certain mental disabilities to vote 
or participate in civic affairs.
    The law states that buildings should be accessible for persons with 
disabilities, and at least three laws require retrofitting of existing 
buildings to provide accessibility. Public buildings and transportation 
generally were accessible.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy is responsible for 
disability-related matters. During the year the Government 
plenipotentiary for persons with disabilities organized training 
sessions for central and local government officials to encourage them 
to hire persons with disabilities. The state fund for rehabilitation of 
persons with disabilities continued a nationwide campaign encouraging 
companies to employ them. The fund granted money to NGOs to organize 
media campaigns on the rights of disabled persons.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The constitution gives ethnic 
and national minorities the right to preserve their own language, 
customs, and culture. The law contains several provisions against hate 
crimes and incitement to violence based on ethnic origin; however, 
government enforcement efforts were sometimes ineffective.
    On June 15, ECRI noted the continuation of public racist discourse 
and the vulnerable situation of Roma as a continuing source of concern, 
along with anti-Semitism (see section 3).
    During the year there were isolated incidents of racially motivated 
violence and verbal and physical abuse directed at Roma and persons of 
African, Asian, or Arab descent. The Ukrainian and Belarusian 
minorities also continued to experience petty harassment and 
discrimination.
    On September 23, the Wroclaw District Court sentenced a man to an 
18-month suspended sentence (to include five years' probation), and a 
1,000 zloty ($338) fine for racially motivated violence. The man was 
convicted of physically and verbally assaulting a Ghanaian in Wroclaw 
on January 4.
    During the year developments were reported in a number of court 
cases stemming from racially motivated assaults in previous years:
    On March 18, the Bialystok District Court upheld a lower court's 
conviction of two persons for physically and verbally assaulting a 
dark-skinned female student of Cuban origin in March 2009. The accused 
received six- and nine-months suspended sentences respectively (to 
include five years' probation).
    The trial continued in Bialystok of four persons charged with 
physically and verbally assaulting a dark-skinned French citizen in 
April 2009.
    On January 10, the Wroclaw Prosecutor's Office indicted two Wroclaw 
University students for a racially motivated physical assault on a 
Nigerian student in July 2009.
    On September 1, the Warsaw Prosecutor's Office discontinued its 
investigation into the National-Radical Camp's November 2009 march 
through Warsaw, during which demonstrators chanted neo-Nazi and anti-
Semitic slogans and used Nazi gestures. The prosecutor cited an 
inability to identify those responsible as the reason for closing the 
case.
    On December 15, the Wroclaw Appeals Court found six members of the 
National Rebirth of Poland and the neopagan association Zadruga not 
guilty of promoting fascism and inciting to hatred on racial grounds. 
Four individuals had appealed the June 1 ruling of a Wroclaw court, 
which sentenced six members of the two organizations to five to seven 
months of community service and a 1,000 zloty ($338) fine, to be paid 
to Helpful Hand, a local NGO that protects children and youth from 
psychological manipulation by cults and gangs. The charges stemmed from 
a 2007 demonstration in Wroclaw, during which the organizations' 
members shouted and carried banners with racist slogans.
    In October 2009 the Opole District Court banned the Brzeg branch of 
the National Radical Camp, a neo-Nazi organization, from operating 
after determining that its ideology and behavior promoted racial 
hatred. This was the first prohibition of a neo-Nazi group. The 
decision stemmed from the 2008 conviction of three members of the 
National-Radical Camp for making Nazi gestures during the group's 
gatherings in 2006 and 2007.
    During the year there were displays of racist behavior at sporting 
events. The Sports Ministry and the soccer union announced a number of 
projects underway to fight racism, including educational and awareness 
raising campaigns. In March the Never Again association--an NGO that 
combats racism and xenophobia--created a booklet in cooperation with 
the Union of European Football Associations and Soccer against Racism 
in Europe on combating racism in soccer clubs. In 2008 the human rights 
ombudsman sent a letter to the president of the Polish Soccer Union 
expressing concern about racist and anti-Semitic incidents at soccer 
matches. He suggested assessing penalties and initiating tolerance 
programs to educate soccer fans about cultural or racial differences.
    On May 8, Rzeszow soccer fans held up a large banner with a Jewish 
caricature and anti-Semitic slogan during a match. The banner initially 
elicited no reaction from soccer officials or local authorities, but 
after intense media scrutiny, prosecutors opened an investigation. On 
May 13 and 14, police arrested the six soccer fans who held up the 
banner and charged them with the use of violence or threats against 
groups of persons based on their national, ethnic, racial, political, 
or religious affiliation. In November prosecutors downgraded charges 
against two of the six perpetrators to publicly insulting a person 
based on their national, ethnic, racial, political, or religious 
affiliation. Charges against the other four persons were dropped. In 
December the prosecutor general asked the Rzeszow appeals prosecutor to 
review the decision to discontinue the investigation.
    In August the Krakow Prosecutor's Office discontinued for a second 
time its investigation into racist and anti-Semitic incidents during a 
2008 soccer match, on the grounds that the perpetrators could not be 
identified and the anti-Semitic content was a case of soccer fan 
rivalry. The prosecutor had closed his initial investigation for 
similar reasons in December 2009, but a Krakow court upheld a request 
by a deputy justice minister that it be reopened. During the match, 
fans of the Cracovia team allegedly imitated monkey noises and shouted 
anti-Semitic slogans when African players came on the field.
    Societal discrimination against Roma continued. There were reports 
that some local officials discriminated against Roma by not providing 
adequate social services. Romani leaders complained of widespread 
discrimination in employment, housing, banking, the justice system, the 
media, and education. In a November 2009 report, the UN Committee on 
Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights expressed concern about continued 
widespread discrimination against Roma in the country in such areas as 
employment, education, land tenure, access to welfare benefits, 
housing, and health care.
    On July 30, a large group of persons converged on a housing complex 
in Limanowa where a Romani family lived. According to media reports, 
the incident was triggered when a dog owned by the family attacked a 
pregnant woman on the street nearby. Police turned the group back and 
made no arrests. Local government and Roma community representatives 
indicated that this particular family was associated with a history of 
altercations in the area.
    The Roma Association reported that despite government assistance 
programs, many Romani children did not attend public school either 
because of financial constraints or due to fear that teachers would 
encourage assimilation and discourage traditional practices. However, 
according to the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, 2,762 of 
the 3,297 Romani children between the ages of six and 16 were enrolled 
in school in 2009.
    The Roma Association stated that inadequacies in Romani children's 
education made it impossible for Roma to end their poverty. 
Approximately 80 percent of Roma were unemployed. A 2002 national 
census recorded approximately 12,700 Roma. According to the Ministry of 
Education, the number of segregated classes for Romani children has 
been substantially reduced. In 2008 the news daily Dziennik reported 
that in six cities with a large Roma population, Romani children were 
taught in segregated classes, ostensibly because they did not speak 
fluent Polish. The education level in such classes was reportedly lower 
than in mainstream classes. Following the reports, the education 
minister inspected all district offices with oversight of separate 
classes for Roma and ordered that Romani children be fully integrated 
with other children.
    The Government allocated approximately 10 million zloty ($3.4 
million) annually to a special program for Roma. It included 
educational and other projects to improve health and living conditions 
and reduce unemployment. The program also focused on civic education 
and provided grants for university and high school students.
    In October 2009 a separate class for Romani children was started in 
a Poznan preschool. The idea originated with a local Roma foundation to 
improve education for Romani children and to ease their transition to 
public schools. Opponents of the project asserted that any type of 
segregation of Romani children would be detrimental; however, 
proponents claimed that many Romani children did not feel comfortable 
attending integrated schools.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The constitution provides all 
persons the right to equal treatment and prohibits all forms of 
discrimination in the political, social, and economic spheres. There 
are no laws that criminalize sexual orientation or behavior.
    Organizations representing LGBT persons reported that 
discrimination was common in schools, the workplace, hospitals, and 
clinics. For example, LGBT persons were sometimes prevented from 
donating blood due to the perception that HIV/AIDS is prevalent in the 
LGBT community. During the year there were some reports of skinhead 
violence and societal discrimination against LGBT persons. There are 
several LGBT organizations operating in the country, with a focus on 
preventing discrimination against LGBT persons and promoting tolerance.
    The EU Fundamental Rights Agency's November report about the rights 
of LGBT persons in EU states recognized the country's progress in 
improving the situation of LGBT persons. The report also identified 
areas for further improvement, including the issuance of certificates 
that would allow LGBT persons to register their relationships in other 
EU member states and creation of an office to deal with issues 
regarding equal treatment on the basis of sexual orientation.
    In May 2009 the NGO Campaign against Homophobia reported that the 
level of hate speech against persons based on their sexual orientation 
was still high.
    On May 15, an estimated 500 persons took part in Krakow's sixth 
annual March for Tolerance to call for an end to prejudice against gays 
and lesbians. The event took place without major incident, due in part 
to the presence of more than 200 police officers and city guards. The 
All Poland Youth association organized a small counterdemonstration. 
Some counterdemonstrators threw eggs at police officers protecting the 
marchers.
    On July 17, Warsaw hosted the EuroPride parade, an annual event 
drawing participants from around Europe to promote LGBT rights. 
Approximately 8,000 local and international activists participated in 
the parade without serious incident. A group of 300 
counterdemonstrators from the National Radical Camp and All Poland 
Youth association attempted to interrupt the event by throwing eggs, 
bottles, and stones at the participants. Police stopped 236 persons and 
arrested nine.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were few reports 
of discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS. According to the 
Government's AIDS Center, one incident of discrimination was reported 
during the first seven months of the year. The case involved 
discrimination against a person with HIV/AIDS in the workplace.
    On March 10, an administrative court in Gdansk overturned a 2007 
decision to dismiss a police officer for being HIV positive. The 
judgment followed a November 2009 Constitutional Court ruling that a 
1991 Interior Ministry regulation requiring immediate dismissal of an 
HIV positive police officer was unconstitutional.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides that all workers, 
including civilian employees of the armed forces, police, and border 
guard, have the right to establish and join independent trade unions 
without previous authorization or excessive requirements. Foreign and 
migrant workers also have the right to unionize.
    While many workers exercised this right, in practice many small and 
medium-sized firms discriminated against those who attempted to 
organize. Newly established small- and medium-sized firms were 
generally nonunion, while privatized, formerly state-owned enterprises 
frequently continued union activity. Approximately 15 percent of the 
workforce belonged to unions.
    All workers have the right to strike except those deemed to be in 
essential services, such as security forces, the Supreme Chamber of 
Audit, police, border guard, and fire brigades. These workers had the 
right to protest and seek resolution of their grievances through 
mediation and the court system. Cumbersome procedures made it difficult 
to meet all of the legal technical requirements for strikes in many 
cases.
    Labor courts acted slowly in deciding the legality of strikes, 
while sanctions against unions for calling illegal strikes and against 
employers for provoking them were minimal. Unions alleged that laws 
prohibiting retribution against strikers were not enforced consistently 
and that the small fines imposed as punishment were ineffective 
deterrents to employers.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows 
unions to conduct their activities without interference; however, in 
practice the Government failed to protect this right at small- and 
medium-sized companies. The law provides for and protects enterprise-
level collective bargaining over wages and working conditions. A 
tripartite commission composed of unions, employers, and government 
representatives was the main forum that determined minimum national 
wage and benefit increases in areas such as the social services sector. 
Approximately 14 percent of the workforce was covered by collective 
bargaining agreements.
    Key public sector employers could not negotiate with labor without 
the extensive involvement of the ministries to which they were 
subordinate. The law provides for parties to take group disputes to 
formal mediation, then to the Board of Social Arbitration in either the 
district court or Supreme Court depending on the number of employers 
involved, and, as a last resort, to strike. By law employers are 
obligated to notify a district inspection office in the region about a 
group dispute in the workplace. During 2009 the State Inspection Office 
registered 433 disputes, compared with 5,433 disputes in 2008. 
Authorities attributed the sharp reduction to a drop off in the number 
of disputes involving teachers, as well as anxiety over job security 
during a time of economic instability.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination; however, labor leaders 
reported that employers frequently discriminated against workers who 
attempted to organize or join unions, particularly in the private 
sector.
    In December 2009 a labor court in Pabianice ruled in favor of the 
Officina Labor Company in a wrongful termination dispute. A local trade 
union claimed that Officina Labor illegally fired representatives of 
the newly formed union's board. The company argued that they received 
notification of the union's formation after the firings had taken 
place. The court ruled that the company was not required to rehire the 
employees, but suggested the employees could claim compensation for 
discrimination. A related case addressing the termination of the trade 
union chairperson was ongoing.
    Discrimination typically took the forms of intimidation, 
termination of work contracts without notice, and closing the 
workplace. The law did not prevent employer harassment of union members 
for trade union activity; there were unconfirmed reports that some 
employers sanctioned employees who tried to organize unions. Managers 
also asked workers in the presence of a notary public to declare 
whether they were union members.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
export processing zones.
    In April 2009 a labor court in Ciechanow issued its first ruling in 
the case of union employees who claimed they were harassed and 
wrongfully terminated from Dong Yang Electronics. The court ordered the 
company to rehire one employee and pay compensation for court costs and 
one month's salary. Workers claimed company officials intimidated them 
during a 2008 strike ballot and then refused to acknowledge the 
validity of a second, secret, ballot, in which employees unanimously 
approved the strike. Dong Yang subsequently gave a raise to employees 
who did not strike and dismissed 200 other employees, including three 
unionists, replacing them with fixed-contract workers. There were an 
additional 180 cases pending before the court.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were 
reports that women and children were trafficked to the country for 
commercial sexual exploitation and that men and boys were increasingly 
trafficked for labor in the agricultural sector. Also see the 
Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law protects children from exploitation in the workplace, including 
forced or compulsory labor, and the Government generally enforced the 
law in practice. Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.
    The law prohibits the employment of children under the age of 16, 
with exceptions in the cultural, artistic, sporting, and advertising 
fields when parents or guardians and the local labor inspector give 
their permission. Persons between the ages of 16 and 18 may work only 
if they have completed middle school, the proposed employment 
constitutes vocational training, and the work is not harmful to their 
health.
    The State Labor Inspectorate reported that increasing numbers of 
minors worked, and many employers underpaid them or paid them late. 
During the first half of the year, the inspectorate conducted 325 
investigations involving 2,222 underage employees (16 to 18 years of 
age), compared with 514 inspections involving 2,581 underage employees 
during the same period in 2009. Fines totaling 104,750 zloty ($35,513) 
were levied in 91 cases.
    The majority of the 2,222 employees found to be underage worked in 
commercial enterprises, restaurants, and the construction, repair, and 
processing industries.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national monthly minimum 
wage of 1,317 zloty (approximately $444), which took effect in January 
did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. 
The large size of the informal economy and the low number of government 
labor inspectors made enforcement of the minimum wage difficult. A 
large percentage of construction workers and seasonal agricultural 
laborers from Ukraine and Belarus earned less than the minimum wage.
    The law provides for a standard workweek of 40 hours, with an upper 
limit of 48 hours including overtime. The law requires premium pay for 
overtime hours, but there were reports that this requirement was often 
ignored. The law provided for workers to receive at least 11 hours of 
uninterrupted rest per day and 35 hours of uninterrupted rest per week.
    The law defines strict and extensive minimum conditions to protect 
worker health and safety. It empowers the State Labor Inspectorate to 
supervise and monitor implementation of worker health and safety laws 
and to close workplaces with unsafe conditions. However, the 
inspectorate was unable to monitor workplace safety adequately. In 2009 
the Government Statistics Office reported less than 90,000 victims of 
workplace accidents, a decrease of 17,000 from 2008. The inspectorate 
investigated 2,354 accidents in which there were 2,951 injuries, 
including 505 workers killed and 969 persons seriously injured. 
Employers routinely exceeded standards for exposure to chemicals, dust, 
and noise. According to the inspectorate, lack of professional 
experience, necessary safety precautions, and organization were the 
leading causes of workplace accidents. The majority of accidents occur 
in mining, trade, and services.
    The law permits workers to remove themselves from dangerous working 
conditions without losing their jobs; however, they were unable to do 
so in practice without jeopardizing their employment.

                               __________

                                PORTUGAL

    Portugal , including the Azores and Madeira islands, has a 
population of 10.7 million and is a constitutional democracy with a 
president, a prime minister, and a parliament elected in multiparty 
elections. National parliamentary elections in September 2009 were free 
and fair. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    There were human rights problems in some areas. Police and prison 
guards occasionally beat or otherwise abused detainees and prisoners, 
incarcerated minors were not held separately from adults, pretrial 
detainees were held with convicted criminals, and prison conditions 
were poor. Other problems included violence against women and children, 
discrimination against women, and trafficking in persons for sexual 
exploitation 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.--The Government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings; however, 
according to media reports security forces shot and killed at least 
four persons during the year. The Government investigated all cases of 
killings by security forces. In one case, a rapper, Nuno ``Snake'' 
Rodrigues, died during a car chase. After the investigation, the police 
officer involved was accused of manslaughter and was awaiting trial at 
the end of 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 and law prohibit such practices; however, 
there were credible reports of excessive use of force by police and of 
mistreatment and other forms of abuse of detainees by prison guards.
    In March 2009 the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention 
of Torture (CPT) released a report on the 2008 visit to a number of 
prisons and detention centers in the country. During the visit the 
delegation received numerous allegations of physical and verbal 
mistreatment of detainees by law enforcement officials and expressed 
concern over the large number of nonstandard objects (baseball bats, a 
plastic pistol, telescopic batons, and cudgels) it found in rooms used 
by police for interrogations.
    There were credible reports, including in the media, of excessive 
use of force by members of the security forces. During the year the 
Inspectorate General of Internal Administration (IGAI) investigated 
reports of mistreatment and abuse by police and prison guards. 
Complaints included physical abuse, threatening use of firearms, 
excessive use of force, illegal detention, and abuse of power. The 
majority of the complaints were against the Public Security Police 
(PSP) and the Republican National Guard (GNR)--314 and 207 complaints, 
respectively, in 2009, the most recent year for which statistics were 
available. The IGAI investigated each complaint, and punishments for 
officers found to have committed abuses ranged from temporary 
suspension to prison sentences. During 2009, 562 investigations against 
all security forces took place. Types of punishment handed down 
included letters of reprimand, temporary suspension of duties, prison 
sentences, mandatory retirement with wage cuts, and discharge from the 
security forces.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--There were reports that 
guards mistreated prisoners at some prisons. Other problems included 
overcrowding, inadequate facilities, poor health conditions, and 
violence among inmates. There were high rates of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis 
C in the country's prisons.
    In 2009, the latest year for which data are available, there were 
56 deaths in the country's prisons. According to the Directorate-
General of Prison Services, 40 were caused by illness and the other 16 
by suicide. The majority of deaths due to illness were caused by 
infectious diseases associated with drug abuse; approximately 10 
percent of the prison population has HIV/AIDS, and more than half of 
these (57 percent) are also infected with hepatitis C. A 2008 report by 
the office of the Ombudsman for Justice considered the country's prison 
death rate generally high compared to European standards.
    In its 2009 report the CPT stated it received a number of 
allegations of physical mistreatment of prisoners by custodial staff at 
the Monsanto high security and Coimbra central prisons, as well as, to 
a lesser extent, the Oporto Central Prison. The allegations involved 
punches, kicks, and blows with batons to prisoners after they had been 
brought under control, in some cases apparently requiring medical 
treatment for the prisoner.
    According to the Directorate-General of Prison Services, on October 
15, there were 11,573 prisoners and detainees in the country's prisons 
(94.7 percent men and 5.3 percent women), 95 of whom were youths 
between 16 and 18 years old (94 men and one woman). The maximum number 
of prisoners facilities can accommodate is 11,921. During the year the 
prison system operated at 95.8 percent of capacity. There was a youth 
prison in Leiria, but elsewhere in the prison system juveniles were 
sometimes held with adults. Pretrial detainees were held with convicted 
criminals.
    Under the Government's ``open regime'' system, prisoners may earn 
the right to work outside of the prison and to see their families on a 
regular basis.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. Authorities permitted prisoners and 
detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities without 
censorship and to request investigation of credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions. Authorities investigated credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions and documented the results of such investigations 
in a publicly accessible manner. The Government investigated and 
monitored prison and detention center conditions.
    An ombudsman can serve on behalf of prisoners and detainees to 
consider such matters as alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent 
offenders to alleviate overcrowding; addressing the status and 
circumstances of confinement of juvenile offenders; and improving 
pretrial detention, bail, and recordkeeping procedures to provide 
assurance that prisoners do not serve beyond the maximum sentence for 
the charged offense.
    The Government permitted visits by independent human rights 
observers, and prisons were visited during the year by university 
researchers and news media.
    Most of the guidelines and legislative proposals the Government 
adopted in 2004 to reform the prison system were not applied in 
practice. However, some improvements were made during the year, 
including the implementation of a revised plan for the prevention and 
control of circulation of drugs, the approval and implementation of an 
improved health-care manual, an increase in the number of volunteer 
programs, and an increase in professional training courses.
    Due to a considerable increase in predicted total costs, the 
Government cut back on the five-year prison reform plan adopted in 
2008. Only four of the 10 new prisons originally projected will be 
built, and two rather than three will be renovated. The goal of the 
reform was to increase security, improve detainee conditions, 
rationalize financial and human resources, and improve working 
conditions of prison staff.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--There were 
approximately 50,000 law enforcement officials, including police and 
prison guards. The Ministries of Internal Administration and Justice 
are primarily responsible for internal security. The Ministry of 
Internal Administration oversees the GNR, the Foreigners and Borders 
Service (SEF), and the PSP. The SEF has jurisdiction over immigration 
and border problems. The PSP has jurisdiction in cities, and the GNR 
has jurisdiction outside cities. The Judiciary Police are responsible 
for criminal investigations and report to the Ministry of Justice.
    An independent ombudsman chosen by parliament and the IGAI 
investigate complaints of abuse or mistreatment by police. However, 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) criticized the slow pace of 
investigations and the lack of an independent oversight agency to 
monitor the IGAI and the Ministry of Internal Administration.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The 
constitution and law provide detailed guidelines covering all aspects 
of arrest and custody, and the authorities generally followed the 
guidelines. Persons can be arrested only on a judicial warrant, except 
that law enforcement officials and citizens may make warrantless 
arrests when there is probable cause that a crime has just been or is 
being committed, or that the person to be arrested is an escaped 
convict or a suspect who escaped from police custody.
    In the country's legal system, the investigating, or examining, 
judge is a central figure. Investigating judges direct inquiries into 
severe crimes or complex inquiries. As members of the judiciary, they 
are independent and outside the domain of the executive branch. They 
are separate from the prosecutors of the Public Prosecutors Office, who 
are supervised by the Ministry of Justice. Under the law an 
investigating judge determines whether an arrested person should be 
detained, released on bail, or released outright.
    Bail exists, but detainees are not released on their own 
recognizance. Depending on the severity of the crime, a detainee's 
release may be subject to various legal conditions.
    Detainees have the right to legal counsel from the time of arrest, 
but police did not always inform detainees of their rights. The 
Government assumed legal costs for indigent detainees.
    A suspect may not be held for more than 48 hours without appearing 
before an investigating judge. Investigative detention for most crimes 
is a maximum of four months; if a formal charge is not filed within 
that period, the detainee must be released. In cases of serious crimes, 
such as murder, armed robbery, terrorism, violent or organized crime, 
and of crimes involving more than one suspect, the investigating judge 
may decide to hold a suspect in detention while the investigation is 
underway for up to 18 months and up to three years in extraordinary 
circumstances.
    A suspect in investigative detention must be brought to trial 
within 14 months of being charged formally. If a suspect is not in 
detention, there is no specified deadline for going to trial.
    In its 2009 report the CPT noted that few detained persons had an 
effective right of access to legal counsel during police custody. While 
police registers indicated that detainees were informed of their right 
to an attorney, a considerable number of detained persons complained 
that, in fact, they had not been informed of their rights. In some 
police stations there was a ``striking discrepancy'' between the number 
of detainees who were recorded as having been informed of their rights 
and the number who actually exercised their rights.
    Lengthy pretrial detention remained a problem. As of October 15, 
2,289 individuals (20 percent of the prison population) were in 
preventive detention, an increase from the previous year. The average 
detention time was eight months; approximately 20 percent of preventive 
detainees spent more than one year in incarceration. Lengthy pretrial 
detention is usually due to lengthy investigations and legal 
procedures, judicial inefficiency, or staff shortages. If a detainee is 
convicted, pretrial detention counts against a prison sentence. If 
found innocent, a detainee has the right to request compensation.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected 
judicial independence in practice.
    Observers, including the media, business corporations, and legal 
observers, estimated the backlog of cases awaiting trial to be at least 
a year.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right 
in practice. All defendants are presumed innocent. Jury trials are rare 
in criminal cases. When the crime in question is punishable by a prison 
sentence whose maximum limit is more than eight years, either the 
public prosecutor or the defendant may request a jury trial. Juries 
consist of three judges and four public members.
    Trials are public. Defendants have the right to be present at their 
trial and to consult with an attorney upon arrest, at government 
expense if necessary. They can confront and question witnesses against 
them, present evidence on their own behalf, and have access to 
government-held evidence. Those convicted have the right of appeal. The 
law extends these rights to all citizens and foreign residents.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--During the year the 
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found against the Government in 
15 cases. Some cases involved multiple violations of the Government's 
obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights. Eight 
involved the length of proceedings, six the right to own property, five 
the right to effective legal recourse, and two the freedom of 
expression. In 2009 the ECHR issued 17 judgments that found at least 
one violation by the Government. The judgments found 10 violations 
involving protection of property, three violations involving length of 
legal proceedings, and two violations each of the right to a fair trial 
and freedom of expression. The Government complied with the court's 
decisions.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters. All persons, both citizens 
and foreign residents, have access to a court to bring lawsuits seeking 
damages for, or cessation of, a human rights violation. Civil cases do 
not have jury trials. There are administrative as well as judicial 
remedies for alleged wrongs.

    f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and 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 and law provide 
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. According to the European 
Federation of Journalists, the law requires journalists to surrender 
confidential information and to disclose sources in criminal cases. 
Thus far, however, the statute has been neither invoked nor tested.

    Internet Freedom.--There were neither government restrictions on 
access to the Internet nor reports that the Government monitored e-mail 
or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2009, 
approximately 48 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
and law provide for freedoms of assembly and association, and the 
Government generally respected these rights in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in 
providing protection and assistance to refugees, returning refugees, 
asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status. The Government has established a 
system for providing protection to refugees, and it is active and 
accessible.
    The Government considers other EU countries to be safe countries of 
origin. In accordance with EU law, it returned applicants for asylum to 
their country of entry into the EU for adjudication of their requests.
    In practice the Government provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion.
    In addition to refugees and applicants for political asylum, the 
Government also provided temporary protection to individuals who may 
not qualify as refugees. The country granted humanitarian protection to 
45 persons in 2009 and to 18 persons in the first six months of the 
year. In 2009 the country granted asylum to 14 persons and, during the 
first six months of 2009, to three persons.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide 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 and Political Participation.--In September 2009 the 
country held national parliamentary elections that were considered free 
and fair. The Office for Democracy and Human Rights of the Organization 
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) assessed the conduct of 
the elections positively but noted that independent candidates were 
barred from the contest in contravention of the country's OSCE 
commitments and that there were some problems with voters' lists. 
Political parties operated without restriction or outside interference.
    Madeira last held elections in 2007. The most recent elections in 
the Azores were in 2008. Both were considered free and fair.
    The law reserves to each gender a minimum of one-third of the 
places on electoral lists in national, local, and European 
parliamentary elections. There were 68 women in the 230-member 
parliament and five women in the 17-seat cabinet. There was one member 
of a minority group in the parliament; there were none in the cabinet.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government generally implemented these laws effectively. There were 
no reports of corruption in the executive or legislative branches of 
the central government during the year. However, there were media 
reports of corruption involving local government officials.
    The highest profile corruption cases involved two city mayors, 
Valentim Loureiro and Isaltino Morais. In July 2009 Loureiro, the 
Social Democratic Party mayor of Gondomar and chairman of the board of 
the country's professional soccer league, was given a suspended prison 
sentence of three years and two months for corruption and influencing 
soccer referees. After Loureiro appealed, the higher court replaced the 
sentence with a fine of 30,000 euros ($40,000). In August 2009 Morais 
(Independent), the mayor of Oeiras, was sentenced to seven years in 
prison for tax evasion, abuse of power, corruption, and money 
laundering and was fined 463,000 euros ($620,000). His appeal resulted 
in a reduction of the prison sentence to two years, an acquittal of the 
charge of abuse of power, and a reduction of the fine to 197,266 euros 
($264,336).
    Public officials were subject to financial disclosure laws. The 
Central Directorate for Combating Corruption, Fraud, and Economic and 
Financial Crime is the Government agency responsible for combating 
corruption.
    The constitution and law provide for public access to government 
information, and the Government provided access in practice for 
citizens and noncitizens, including foreign media.
Section 5. 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 country has an independent human rights ombudsman appointed by 
parliament who is responsible for defending the human rights, freedom, 
and legal rights of all citizens. The ombudsman's office operated 
independently and with the cooperation of the Government.
    The ombudsman had adequate resources and published mandatory annual 
reports as well as special reports on such problems as women's rights, 
prisons, health, and the rights of children and senior citizens.
    The parliament's First Committee for Constitutional Issues, Rights, 
Liberties, and Privileges exercises oversight over human rights 
problems. It drafts and submits bills and petitions for parliamentary 
approval. During the year new laws went into effect in areas including 
protection of common-law marriages, enforcement of prison sentences, 
and regulation of immigrant workers and minors born in the country to 
immigrant parents.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit discrimination based on race, 
gender, disability, language, and social status, and the Government 
effectively enforced these prohibitions.

    Women.--The law makes rape, including spousal rape, illegal, and 
the Government generally enforced the law when the victim chose to 
press charges and the cases were not settled out of court through 
mediation by both parties' lawyers. During 2009, the latest year for 
which data is available, 188 cases of rape were reported to the 
Association for Victim Support (APAV), a nonprofit organization that 
provides confidential and free services nationwide to victims of any 
type of crime; 139 of the cases were linked to domestic violence. In 
2008, 193 such cases were reported (132 linked to domestic violence).
    Violence against women, including domestic violence, continued to 
be a problem. Penalties for violence against women range up to 10 
years' imprisonment.
    During 2009, 15,904 domestic violence crimes were reported to the 
APAV, for a total of 6,682 cases; 88 percent of the victims were women. 
According to NGOs and media reports, there were 41 deaths related to 
domestic violence during the year.
    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 discouraged many abused 
women from using the judicial system. According to data from the 
Ministry of Justice, in 2008, the last year for which data was 
available, 1,157 individuals were convicted of domestic violence 
crimes, of a total of 2,430 domestic violence court cases.
    The Government encouraged abused women to file complaints with the 
appropriate authorities and offered the victim protection against the 
abuser. In addition legislation allows third parties to file domestic 
violence reports. The Government's Commission for Equality and Women's 
Rights operated 14 safe houses for victims of domestic violence and 
maintained an around-the-clock telephone service. Safe house services 
included food, shelter, and health and legal assistance. The 
Government-sponsored Mission Against Domestic Violence conducted an 
awareness campaign against domestic violence, trained health 
professionals, proposed legislation to improve legal assistance to 
victims, increased the number of safe houses for victims of domestic 
violence, and signed protocols with local authorities to assist 
victims.
    Sexual harassment is a crime. Penalties for sexual harassment range 
from one to eight years in prison. If perpetrated by a superior in the 
workplace, the penalty is up to two years in prison, or more in cases 
of aggravated coercion.
    The Commission on Equality in the Workplace and in Employment, 
composed of representatives of the Government, employers' 
organizations, and labor unions, examines, but does not adjudicate, 
complaints of sexual harassment. During the year reporting of sexual 
harassment rose. In 2007 more than 300 cases of sexual harassment were 
reported to the Authority for Labor Conditions (ACT) of the Ministry of 
Labor and Social Solidarity; three of these resulted in the dismissal 
of the perpetrator.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children, and to 
have the information and means to do so free from discrimination, 
coercion, and violence. There was easy access to contraception. 
According to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), 67 percent of women used 
some kind of contraception. UNFPA statistics stated that skilled 
attendants assisted all childbirths in the country in 2009, the last 
year for which data is available, and that there were seven maternal 
deaths per 100,000 live births in the country in the same year. Women 
were diagnosed and treated for sexually transmitted infections, 
including HIV, equally with men.
    The civil code provides women full legal equality with men; 
however, in practice women experienced economic and other forms of 
discrimination. According to 2009 National Statistics Institute data, 
women made up 47 percent of the working population and were 
increasingly represented in business, science, academia, and the 
professions, but their average salaries were approximately 23 percent 
lower than men's.
    The State Secretary for Equality addresses, among other topics, 
problems such as economic discrimination and the integration of women 
into the mainstream of society.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived by birth within the country's 
territory and from one's parents.
    Child abuse was a problem. The APAV reported 611 crimes against 
children under the age of 18 during 2009, the latest year for which 
data was available. Approximately 90 percent of the cases involved 
domestic violence.
    On September 3, a Lisbon court convicted six of seven defendants 
charged in a high-profile, child sexual abuse case involving a 
pedophilia ring at the state-run Casa Pia children's home. The 
convicted defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from five 
to 18 years. Long-time Casa Pia driver Carlos Silvino, the primary 
defendant, was convicted on 126 counts (including sexual abuse, 
procuring children for abuse, and pornography), sentenced to 18 years 
in prison, and ordered to pay each of his 20 victims 15,000 euros 
($20,100). Television personality Carlos Cruz was convicted of three 
counts of sexual abuse against two children, sentenced to seven years 
in prison, and ordered to pay each of his victims 28,000 euros 
($37,500). Former ambassador Jorge Ritto was convicted of three crimes, 
was sentenced to more than six years in prison, and was ordered to pay 
his one victim 25,000 euros ($33,500). The other three defendants were 
convicted of two to four crimes each and sentenced to between five and 
seven years in prison. All six of the convicted defendants announced 
that they would appeal. The seventh defendant, Gertrudes Nunes, who 
allegedly allowed her home to be used for abuse, was acquitted. The 
country's longest-ever criminal trial had more than 900 witnesses, 
including 32 victims, and lasted more than eight years.
    There were reports that Romani parents used minor children for 
street begging.
    Statutory rape is a crime. Minimum age for legal consensual sex is 
16 years of age. Penalties for statutory rape range up to 10 years in 
prison. The law prohibits child pornography; penalties range to eight 
years in prison.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community in the country was estimated 
at 3,000. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts during the year. 
The Government does not collect such statistics, and none was reported 
to the ombudsman.
    There were no reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on 
religious affiliation, belief, or practice.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution and law prohibit 
discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, 
and mental disabilities in employment, education, access to health 
care, and the provision of other state services or other areas. The 
Government effectively enforced the law. The law also mandates access 
to public buildings for persons with disabilities, and the Government 
implemented these provisions in practice; however, no such legislation 
covers private businesses or other facilities.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Solidarity oversees the National 
Bureau for the Rehabilitation and Integration of Persons with 
Disabilities, which is responsible for the protection, professional 
training, rehabilitation, and social integration of persons with 
disabilities, as well as for the enforcement of related legislation.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The Government estimated the 
Romani population of the country to be between 40,000 and 50,000 
persons.
    On April 29, the European Committee of Social Rights accepted a 
complaint from the European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) which alleged 
violations of the European Social Charter by the Government. The ERRC 
claimed that the Government's resettlement programs for Roma excluded 
persons not included in the original census of informal Romani 
encampments, provided inadequate financing of rehousing projects, 
failed to be implemented by local authorities, and perpetuated spatial 
and social segregation of Roma because resettlement areas were located 
on the outskirts of cities, with poor infrastructure, limited or no 
access to public services, and often inadequately sized dwellings. In 
addition the complaint accused the Government of failing to improve the 
``deplorable'' living conditions in informal Romani encampments, which 
frequently lacked access to potable water, electricity, sewage removal, 
and sanitary facilities. On November 30, the Government submitted its 
official response to the case.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--During the year a number of 
gay pride parades took place in the country with no reported incidents.
    There was no official or societal discrimination based on sexual 
orientation in employment, housing, statelessness, or access to 
education or health care. On August 4, according to the NGO ILGA-
Portugal, the state secretary for equality called on the Portuguese 
Blood Institute to remove questions about sexual orientation from 
questionnaires filled out by blood donors.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of societal violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law recognizes workers' right to 
form and join independent unions of their choice without previous 
authorization or excessive requirements, and workers exercised this 
right in practice; members of the armed forces are excluded from this 
provision. Approximately 35 percent of the workforce was unionized. 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 strike, and workers exercised 
this right in practice. If a long strike occurs in an essential sector 
such as justice, health, energy, or transportation, the Government may 
order strikers back to work for a specified period. The Government has 
rarely invoked this power. Police may join unions and have recourse 
within the legal system, but they may not strike.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The 
constitution and the labor code recognize and protect the right to 
bargain collectively, and these laws were effectively enforced. 
Collective bargaining was freely practiced. Collective bargaining 
agreements covered approximately 90 percent of the workforce.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination, and there were few 
reports that it occurred.
    There are two foreign trade zones in the island autonomous regions 
of Madeira and the Azores. There are no special laws or exemptions from 
regular labor laws in 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. Women, men, and children were 
trafficked for forced labor. Men from Eastern Europe (typically from 
Ukraine, Moldova, Russia, and Romania) and African Portuguese speaking 
countries were, through fraud, coercion, and debt bondage, subjected to 
conditions of forced labor in the farming and construction industries. 
Police and NGOs have also reported that family networks brought 
approximately 50 to 100 Romani children to the country and forced them 
to work as street beggars. Also see the Department of State's annual 
Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
Government effectively enforced laws and policies to protect children 
from exploitation in the workplace.
    The minimum working age is 16 years old. The ACT of the Ministry of 
Labor and Social Solidarity registered four cases of child labor during 
the first six months of 2009. In recent years there has been a greater 
social consciousness of child labor problems, increased awareness 
through government campaigns, and a reinforcement of investigations. 
However, there were reports that Romani parents used minor children for 
street begging.
    The Government's principal entity to investigate and respond to 
reports of illegal child labor is the ACT. The ACT sponsors and 
finances the Integrated Program for Education and Professional 
Training, which attempts to return minors who are victims or at risk of 
child labor to school. During the year the program worked with 2,500 
students, 70 percent of whom were boys; approximately 51 percent of the 
students were in the 16- to 17-year age group and 46 percent were in 
the 13- to 15-year age group. The Ministry of Labor and Social 
Solidarity is responsible for enforcing child labor laws, and generally 
did so effectively.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage, which covers 
full-time workers, rural workers, and domestic employees who are 18 
years of age and older, was 475 euros (approximately $637) per month 
and did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and 
family. According to the European Working Conditions Observatory, 10 
percent of employed persons were at risk of poverty. However, 
widespread rent controls and subsidies on basic food and utilities 
raised the standard of living. Most workers received higher wages; in 
2008 the Ministry of Labor and Social Solidarity calculated the average 
monthly salary of workers, excluding public servants, to be 1,072 euros 
(approximately $1,436).
    The legal workday may not exceed 10 hours, and the maximum workweek 
is 40 hours. There is a maximum of two hours of paid overtime per day 
and 200 hours of overtime per year, with a minimum of 12 hours' rest 
between workdays. Premium pay for overtime worked on a rest day or 
public holiday is 100 percent; overtime performed on a normal working 
day is paid at a premium of 50 percent for the first hour and 75 
percent for subsequent time worked. The Ministry of Labor and Social 
Solidarity effectively monitored compliance through its regional 
inspectors.
    Employers are legally responsible for accidents at work and are 
required by law to carry accident insurance. The ACT develops safety 
standards and is responsible for their enforcement. The ACT's 
inspectors sufficiently and regularly monitored these standards both 
proactively according to regulations and advanced scheduling, and 
reactively in response to complaints filed. Inspection findings were 
generally effectively enforced. According to the ACT there were 115 
deaths from work-related accidents in 2009. Workers injured on the job 
rarely initiated lawsuits, as insurance policies covering medical and 
compensation costs covered the majority of workers. Workers have the 
right to remove themselves from situations that endanger health or 
safety without jeopardy to their employment, and authorities 
effectively enforced this right.

                               __________

                                ROMANIA

    Romania is a constitutional democracy with a multiparty, 
parliamentary system and a population of approximately 22.2 million. 
The bicameral Parliament (Parlament) consists of the Senate (Senat) and 
the Chamber of Deputies (Camera Deputatilor); both are elected by 
popular vote. The November-December 2009 presidential elections were 
judged generally free and fair. Security forces reported to civilian 
authorities.
    There were reports that police and gendarmes mistreated and 
harassed detainees and Roma. Prison conditions remained poor. The 
judiciary lacked impartiality and was sometimes subject to political 
influence. Property restitution remained extremely slow, and the 
Government failed to take effective action to return Greek Catholic 
churches confiscated by the former Communist government in 1948. A 
restrictive religion law remained in effect. Government corruption 
remained a widespread problem. There were continued reports of violence 
and discrimination against women as well as child abuse. Occasional 
anti-Semitic incidents involving the desecration of religious property 
occurred, along with some lightly attended events hosted by extremist 
organizations. Persons were trafficked for labor, sexual exploitation, 
and forced begging. Government agencies provided inadequate assistance 
to persons with disabilities and neglected persons with disabilities 
who were institutionalized. Societal discrimination against Roma; gay, 
lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons; and persons with HIV/AIDS, 
particularly 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.--The Government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings; however, 
there were reports that police officers shot and killed at least one 
man.
    On April 6, a police officer fired his weapon in an attempt to stop 
a car with three suspects during an attempted theft in the locality of 
Glodeanu Silistea, Buzau County. The suspects did not stop the car and 
one of them, a 20-year-old person, was shot and died at a hospital 
later the same day. Police, coordinated by a prosecutor, opened an 
investigation into the manner in which the officer used his weapon. The 
officer was under criminal investigation for murder at the year's end.
    In April a court in Galati sentenced a police officer who shot a 
28-year-old man, Ciprian Musat, in the village of Oancea, Galati 
County, in August 2009 to an eight-year term in prison and ordered the 
payment of 37,000 lei (approximately $11,500) to the victim's family. 
In November, following separate appeals from the prosecutor's office 
and the defendant, the Court of Appeal in Galati increased the jail 
term to 10 years and the compensation to 55,000 lei (approximately 
$17,000). The case was before the High Court of Cassation and Justice 
at year's end.
    In September 2009 a Bucharest police officer shot a 31-year-old 
man, Sorin Parvu, in Braila, having mistaken him for an individual who 
had committed a killing. Parvu died the following day. The Prosecutor's 
Office to the Court of Appeal in Galati initiated a criminal 
investigation into Parvu's death. In April, Parvu's wife complained to 
the Association for the Defense of Human Rights in Romania-Helsinki 
Committee (APADOR-CH) about the pace of the investigation. After she 
repeatedly requested information about the progress of the 
investigation, the Prosecutor's Office informed her on May 12 that the 
case had been sent to the Prosecutor's Office to the High Court of 
Cassation and Justice. APADOR-CH urged the Prosecutor's Office to speed 
up the investigation. In June the Prosecutor's Office to the High Court 
of Cassation and Justice started the criminal prosecution of the police 
officer for murder.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
there were reports from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and the 
media that police mistreated and abused detainees and Roma, primarily 
through excessive force and beatings. There were also reports that some 
personnel in state institutions mistreated abandoned children with 
physical disabilities and subjected children in state orphanages to 
lengthy incarceration as punishment for misbehavior (see section 6, 
Persons with Disabilities).
    Pretrial detainees complained to human rights NGOs that police beat 
them during pretrial investigations.
    There were no developments in the alleged beating of Emil Baboi by 
police in January 2009, or in the July 2009 case the use of tear gas by 
police following a raid in a Romani neighborhood in Piatra Neamt.
    There were no developments in the 2008 cases in which police 
allegedly beat an individual in Campulung Muscel, a group of Roma in 
Satu Mare, and an individual in Bucharest.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions remained 
harsh and at times did not meet international standards. The Government 
permitted monitoring visits by independent human rights observers, and 
such visits occurred during the year. During the year authorities 
improved conditions in some prisons.
    As of December 28, according to the National Administration of 
Penitentiaries of the Ministry of Justice, there were 28,218 persons, 
including 463 minors, in prison or juvenile detention facilities in a 
system with a stated capacity of 34,896 beds. Although, according to 
the official figures, overcrowding did not represent a serious problem 
overall, there were prisons where the standard of 43 square feet per 
prisoner recommended by the Council of Europe's Committee for the 
Prevention of Torture (CPT) was not observed.
    The media and human rights organizations reported that the abuse of 
prisoners by authorities and other prisoners continued to be a problem. 
According to media and NGO reports, prisoners frequently assaulted and 
abused their fellow inmates, and prison authorities tried to cover up 
such incidents. During the year the media reported that one prisoner, 
Constantin Sandu, died on June 4 in Galati penitentiary after being 
restrained by the prison guards. An internal investigation by the 
National Administration of Penitentiaries revealed that 16 members of 
the prison staff had treated prisoners poorly and that those in higher 
positions tolerated their subordinates' abuse of office. On August 5, 
two prison guards who allegedly beat the prisoner were arrested for 
manslaughter. Their superior, who did not report the incident, was 
arrested for complicity.
    According to human rights NGOs, there was some progress with regard 
to the implementation of the four detention regimes: closed, 
semiclosed, semiopen, and open. Prisoners assigned to semiopen and open 
regimes reportedly began to benefit from placement in the type of 
prison appropriate to their sentence. However, APADOR-CH criticized the 
placement of some prisoners in prisons far from their hometowns because 
prisoners were not allowed to receive packages by mail.
    Other NGOs stated that detention conditions did not improve during 
the year, a situation that prison authorities attributed to a shortage 
of funds.
    The Government continued efforts, including through partnerships 
with NGOs, to alleviate harsh conditions; to improve the condition of 
detention rooms; to provide more daily activities, training courses, 
and educational programs to prisoners; and to deter the spread of HIV 
and tuberculosis.
    In September 2009 the country's representative in the World Health 
Organization declared that the tuberculosis control program was 
successfully implemented in penitentiaries and that the proportion of 
prisoners suffering from tuberculosis had fallen to 2 percent.
    In 2009 APADOR-CH reported that prison meals did not provide the 
minimum necessary calories, that water at some prisons was unsuitable 
for drinking, and that the kitchens in many facilities were infested 
with mold. In addition, according to APADOR-CH, the practice of 
labeling certain prisoners as ``dangerous'' remained a problem in the 
absence of clear standards for such classification. Prisoners labeled 
dangerous were subjected to a variety of restrictions beyond those 
experienced by the general prison population and had no right to appeal 
that determination. NGOs also criticized the practice of subjecting 
prisoners to multiple punishments for a single act of misbehavior.
    APADOR-CH continued to criticize the conditions in police detention 
facilities, noting poor sanitation conditions, the lack of health care 
and medication, the presence of surveillance equipment in detention 
rooms, the lack of natural light, and the absence of activities for 
those detained. Some prisons did not provide for the confidentiality of 
discussions between prisoners or detainees and their lawyers in person 
or via telephone.
    The Government permitted prison visits by human rights observers, 
foreign government officials, and media representatives, and such 
visits took place during the year. A CPT delegation carried out a 
periodic visit to the country on September 5-16. The report of the 
delegation's visit was not released as of year's end. However, in 
October the CPT sent the Government a document stating that in general 
detention conditions met CPT requirements and that the detainees' 
rights were respected. There were allegations of mistreatment in some 
prisons, and some prisoners complained about restrictions of the right 
to visits and about violence among detainees. Following the CPT 
delegation's visit, according to the Ministry of Justice, the National 
Administration of Penitentiaries took measures to improve the poor 
conditions in the juvenile detention unit at Rahova Prison. It moved 
the minors to other prisons and performed extensive repair work during 
the last two months of the year.
    The regulations allow all religious groups unrestricted access to 
prisoners.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
respected these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Ministry of the 
Administration and Interior is responsible for the national police, the 
gendarmerie, the border police, the Office for Immigration, the General 
Directorate of Information and Internal Protection (which oversees the 
collection of intelligence on organized crime and corruption), and the 
General Anticorruption Directorate. The national police agency is the 
Inspectorate General of Police, which is divided into specialized 
directorates and has 42 regional directorates for the counties and the 
city of Bucharest. The internal intelligence service also collects 
information on major organized crime, major economic crimes, and 
corruption.
    While police usually followed the law and internal procedures, 
police impunity remained a problem. Complaints of police misconduct 
were handled by the internal disciplinary councils of the units where 
the reported officers worked.
    Police reform continued during the year, and the police increased 
the hiring of women and minorities. According to police statistics, at 
the end of the year 12 percent of the 54,786-person police force were 
women and 1.2 percent, including 104 Roma, represented members of 
ethnic minorities. A project to promote equal opportunities for 
national minorities for a career in the police structures was 
implemented in Cluj during the year. Police also used Romani mediators 
to facilitate communication between Roma and the authorities and to 
assist in crises. A handbook, Police and Roma/Sinti Population: Good 
Practices in Building Trust and Understanding, was published during the 
year as a tool for the implementation of the Action Plan for Roma and 
Sinti of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe 
(OSCE).

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
provides that only judges may issue detention and search warrants, and 
the Government mostly respected this provision in practice. The law 
requires authorities to inform detainees at the time of arrest 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. Detainees must be brought before a court within 
24 hours of arrest. The law provides for pretrial release at the 
discretion of the court. A bail system also exists; however, it was 
seldom used in practice. Every detainee has the right to counsel and in 
most cases had prompt access to a lawyer of their choice. Indigent 
detainees were provided legal counsel at public expense. Under proper 
procedure, the police officer should inform the detainee upon detention 
or arrest that he has the right not to declare anything before a lawyer 
is present. The same police officer contacts the detainee's lawyer or 
the local bar association to arrange for a lawyer. The detainee meets 
with the lawyer before the first interview, and they have the right to 
discuss in private. The lawyer is present during the interview or 
interrogation. Detainees also had prompt access to their families.
    The law allows police to take any person who endangers the public, 
other persons, or the social order to a police station. There were 
allegations that police often used this provision to hold persons for 
up to 24 hours. Since the person was not formally detained or arrested, 
the right to counsel was not observed. APADOR-CH criticized this 
provision, stating that it leaves room for abuse. Human rights NGOs 
complained that the authorities were frequently able to listen to 
discussions between detainees and their attorneys in police detention 
facilities.
    A judge may order pretrial detention for periods of up to 30 days, 
depending upon the status of the case. The court may extend these time 
periods; however, pretrial detention may not exceed 180 days. Courts 
and prosecutors may be held liable for unjustifiable, illegal, or 
abusive measures.
    In October police signed protocols of cooperation with five human 
rights NGOs that will have access to detention facilities and will be 
entitled to have confidential discussions with detainees.

    Amnesty.--During the year President Basescu pardoned one 26-year-
old woman on humanitarian grounds.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government technically respected 
judicial independence in practice. However, the judiciary lacked the 
public's trust that judges were accountable and did not serve political 
or financial interests. There was a widespread public perception that 
the judiciary was corrupt, slow, and often unfair.
    The court of original jurisdiction in a case is determined by the 
nature of the offense and by the position a defendant may hold in 
public service. According to a report by the European Commission 
released in July, the country ``did not show sufficient political 
commitment to support and provide direction to the reform process and 
demonstrated a degree of unwillingness within the leadership of the 
judiciary to cooperate and take responsibility.'' The report also 
stated that ``only limited progress has been achieved since the 
Commission's last report in terms of improving the efficiency of the 
judicial process and the consistency of judicial decisions.'' The 
report noted there was some progress during the year, such as the 
adoption of civil and criminal procedure codes as well as a multiyear 
strategy for reforming the judiciary.
    NGOs and public officials frequently criticized the judicial system 
during the year. The judiciary's oversight body, the Superior Council 
of Magistrates (CSM), failed to create procedures for addressing 
potential conflicts of interest among its members. It also failed to 
identify and discipline misconduct consistently--a significant part of 
its mandate. The CSM's practice of assigning magistrates to nonjudicial 
positions within the judiciary and appointing them to various 
government agencies also contributed to depleting the already 
understaffed courts and prosecutors' offices. The return by the High 
Court of Cassation and Justice of case files to prosecutors for 
additional investigation contributed to frequent delays in court 
procedures and increased the chances of political interference in the 
judicial process. Observers also expressed concern over a lack of 
judicial impartiality, noting that some members of the parliament 
continued to practice as defense attorneys, mostly through their law 
firm associates. In December the Senate validated the election of 11 
members to the CSM. Four of the 11 members were reelected even though 
the law prohibits reelection, and two members (representing civil 
society) were deemed to have conflicts of interest. The Senate's action 
was challenged in the Constitutional Court.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution and the law provide a 
presumption of innocence until a final judgment by a court. Trials are 
open to the public. The law does not provide for trial by jury. 
Defendants have the right to be present at trial. The law provides for 
the right to counsel and to consult with the attorney in a timely 
manner. The law requires that the Government provide an attorney to 
juveniles in criminal cases; in practice local bar associations 
provided attorneys to indigents and were compensated by the Ministry of 
Justice. Defendants may confront or question witnesses against them, 
present witnesses and evidence on their behalf, and have a court-
appointed interpreter. Defendants and their attorneys have access to 
government-held evidence relevant to their cases. Both prosecutors and 
defendants have a right of appeal.
    The law provides that civilian prosecutors should investigate 
crimes by national police and prison employees. Military prosecutors 
continued to try cases involving military personnel. Civilian 
prosecutors try other cases involving ``state security'' but not 
military personnel; military courts may not try civilians according to 
the law. Crimes by the gendarmerie continued to fall under military 
jurisdiction. In previous years local and international human rights 
groups criticized the handling of cases by military courts, claiming 
that military prosecutors' investigations were unnecessarily lengthy, 
biased, and often inconclusive. Some lawyers claimed that these 
investigations only served to discredit the reputations of their 
clients rather than hold them accountable for any actual wrongdoing.
    In October the parliament adopted a law to accelerate judicial 
procedures.
    The law extends the rights to a fair trial to all citizens.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--During the year the 
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued 136 judgments that found a 
government violation of one or more rights under the European 
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. 
Of these, 72 judgments referred to the right to a fair trial; 61 to the 
right to property; 21 to the right not to be subjected to torture, 
inhuman or degrading treatment (16 of them referred to inadequate 
prison conditions); and 15 judgments involved the right to freedom and 
safety. The judgments ordered the Government to pay plaintiffs a total 
of approximately 3.6 million euros ($4.8 million).
    On January 12, the ECHR ruled that a Greek Catholic parish in 
Sambata (Bihor County) had suffered discrimination on religious grounds 
and ordered the Government to pay 15,000 euros ($20,100) in 
compensation. The ECHR ruled that the parish had not enjoyed effective 
access to a court because of its affiliation with the Greek Catholic 
Church.
    On October 12, the ECHR ruled on the first case against the 
Government regarding property restitution. The ECHR ruled that the 
country's property restitution system violated two articles of the 
European Convention on Human Rights. The ruling suspended all similar 
Romanian cases before the ECHR during the year and required the 
Government to take measures to remedy the restitution problem within 18 
months, i.e., to establish an effective mechanism of restitution and 
compensation. The ruling did not identify consequences if the 
Government failed to fix the problem.
    During the year the ECHR issued judgments against the Government in 
three cases involving freedom of the press (see Section 2.a.).

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Civil courts functioned in 
every jurisdiction and operated with the same degree of judicial 
independence as criminal courts. Administrative and judicial remedies 
were available for violations of human rights by government agencies.
    Litigants sometimes encountered difficulties enforcing civil 
verdicts because the procedures for enforcement of judgment orders were 
impractical and caused delays.

    Property Restitution.--Under the law claims for property seized by 
the Communist-era government had to be filed with the National 
Restitution Agency in 2001-2003. Of the 202, 267 claims filed for 
restitution of buildings, 120,739 were resolved by the end of the year. 
Of the resolved claims, 44,066 claims were rejected; 51,114 claims 
qualified for restitution with equivalent property; 5,455 claims were 
resolved by restitution in kind and compensation; 277 claims qualified 
for combined measures (i.e., restitution in kind plus compensation with 
other assets); 973 claims qualified for allocation of other assets and 
compensation; 1,848 claims qualified for compensation with other assets 
or services; and 17,006 claims were resolved by return of the 
properties in kind. A February 2009 amendment to the nationalized 
houses law bars the restitution in kind of houses that were bought by 
tenants in good faith. Under the law rightful owners would receive only 
compensation for their property.
    On December 3, the prime minister set up an interministerial 
committee tasked with simplifying the restitution process and making it 
more effective. This followed an ECHR judgment in October in a case 
against the country (see Section 1.e., Regional Human Rights Court 
Decisions).
    Organizations representing former owners continued to assert that 
inertia at the local level hindered property restitution. In many cases 
local government officials continued to delay or to refuse to provide 
necessary documents to former owners filing claims. They also refused 
to return properties in which county or municipal governments had an 
interest.
    In June the Government enacted an emergency ordinance, which 
suspended cash payments to claimants for two years. Recipients were 
still able to receive stock in a property fund.
    There were numerous disputes over many churches that the Orthodox 
Church did not return to the Greek Catholic Church despite court orders 
to do so.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution prohibits such actions, and the 
Government for the most part respected these prohibitions in practice. 
Nevertheless, there was a widespread perception that illegal 
surveillance still occurred, and there were credible media reports that 
authorities engaged in electronic eavesdropping in circumstances that 
violated these prohibitions.
    The law permits the use of electronic eavesdropping both in 
criminal cases and for national security purposes, but the 
investigating prosecutor must first obtain a warrant from a judge. In 
exceptional circumstances, when delays in getting the warrant would 
seriously affect a criminal investigation, prosecutors may begin 
interception without a judicial warrant. However, they must submit a 
request for retroactive authorization within 48 hours. Under the 
national security law, a prosecutor may authorize the issuance of a 
warrant for an initial period of six months, which can be extended 
indefinitely in three-month increments without judicial approval. Some 
human rights NGOs noted the contradictions between the two sets of laws 
in the requirement to obtain judicial approval for wiretaps.
    The lawsuit filed by businessman Dinu Patriciu against the Romanian 
Intelligence Service (SRI) for illegally tapping his telephones 
continued. On November 4, the Constitutional Court rejected the claim 
of unconstitutionality filed by the High Court of Cassation and Justice 
on March 26 while it was hearing the SRI's appeal regarding three 
articles of the law on the protection of classified information.
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. Journalists and private citizens 
could criticize government authorities, including those at senior 
levels. There were isolated instances when authorities intimidated or 
censored the press or verbally attacked journalists.
    Laws restricting freedom of speech continued to cause concern among 
the media and NGOs. Insulting the state insignia (the coat of arms, 
national flag, or national anthem) is an offense punishable by 
imprisonment. The religion law includes a provision that forbids acts 
of ``religious defamation'' and ``public offense to religious 
symbols.'' The law also prohibits public denial of the Holocaust. There 
were no prosecutions or convictions under any of these statutes during 
the year.
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views without overt restriction. However, politicians and others with 
close ties to various politicians and political groups either owned or 
indirectly controlled numerous media outlets outside of the capital, 
and the news and editorial tone of these outlets frequently reflected 
the views of the owners. The tendency towards the concentration of 
national news outlets in the hands of a few wealthy individuals 
continued.
    During the year there were a number of instances when public 
officials and politicians insulted or harassed journalists.
    On March 10, Romanian EU parliamentarian George Becali made vulgar 
comments about Cornelia Popescu of the online newspaper ZIUA Veche. 
Popescu had asked Becali about statements he had made to the press 
about his financial assets that contradicted the declaration of assets 
Becali had submitted to the European Parliament. Becali or his 
bodyguards reportedly made insulting or threatening statements to 
journalists on other occasions.
    In April an unknown group made death threats to journalist Catalin 
Docea of Ziarul Vaii Jiului after Docea conducted several 
investigations into connections between police, local administration, 
and members of criminal organizations. Docea provided evidence to 
prosecutors about the threats, but at year's end no one had been 
charged. On December 13, Docea wrote in an article that the police had 
not conducted any investigation based on the threat evidence he 
submitted.
    In May the Convention of Media Organizations protested as an 
infringement on the freedom of expression and a violation of ECHR 
jurisprudence a court decision that forced newspaper Evenimentul Zilei 
and three other national newspapers to print a nine-page court ruling 
in their pages. The ruling referred to two articles printed in 2005 in 
which Evenimentul Zilei criticized a journalist's practices as 
unprofessional.
    During the year the ECHR found violations by the country of freedom 
of expression as provided under the European Convention on Human Rights 
in three cases. By the end of the year the Government paid compensation 
to the plaintiffs in two of the cases; the status of the third was 
unknown.
    In March the ECHR ruled that the Government should compensate 
journalist Dan Florian Papaianopol in the amount of 7,213 euros 
($9,665) for a violation of his freedom of speech. In 2000 a domestic 
court sentenced Papaianopol to pay compensation to a school director 
who was the subject of an article he authored in the Scoala Romaneasca 
magazine.
    Also in March the ECHR overturned a domestic court ruling involving 
photojournalist Andrei Antica of Romania Libera. In January 1999 that 
newspaper published an article implicating several politicians and 
senior officials in the bankruptcy of an American company to which the 
Government had made financial contributions. A local court ordered 
Antica to pay damages to a businessman related to the case. The ECHR 
stated in its decision that Antica's right to freedom of expression had 
been violated because the disputed article concerned a subject of 
general interest.
    In June the ECHR ruled that the Government should pay 10,000 euros 
($13,400) to writer, journalist, and NGO activist Gabriel Andreescu. In 
2001 Andreescu spoke at a news conference about the connections between 
the Communist-era secret police, known as the Securitate, and Andrei 
Plesu, a member of a government team investigating the Securitate files 
after the fall of Communism. Plesu filed a complaint in a domestic 
court, which forced Andreescu to pay damages to Plesu. In its decision 
the ECHR stated that Andreescu, who writes for 22 magazine, did not 
have a fair trial and that his right to freedom of expression had been 
violated.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no reported government restrictions 
on access to the Internet or substantiated reports that the Government 
monitored e-mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could 
engage in the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including 
by e-mail.
    The Internet was widely available in the country, and costs 
decreased due to competition. Internet cafes were widely available 
nationwide. According to International Telecommunication Union 
statistics for 2009, approximately 37 percent of the country's 
inhabitants used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events; however, there 
were reports that a few local officials interfered with these 
activities.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and the law provide for freedom of 
assembly, and the Government generally respected this right in 
practice. The law provides that unarmed citizens may assemble 
peacefully but also stipulates that meetings must not interfere with 
other economic or social activities and may not be held near such 
locations as hospitals, airports, or military installations. Organizers 
of public assemblies must request permits in writing three days in 
advance from the mayor's office of the locality where the gathering 
would occur. The permits were generally approved. Delays or changes of 
location of the assembly sometimes occurred. Whether the reasons for 
these delays or changes were political was often impossible to 
determine.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and the law provide for 
freedom of association, and the Government generally respected this 
right in practice. However, the law prohibits fascist, communist, 
racist, or xenophobic ideologies, organizations, and symbols (such as 
statues of war criminals on public land). Political parties are 
required to have at least 25,000 members to have legal status, a number 
some NGOs criticized as excessively high.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and the law provide 
for freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, 
and repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights 
in practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, 
stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees. The law on asylum, based on EU 
legislation, prohibits the expulsion, extradition, or forced return of 
any asylum-seeker at the country's border or from within the country's 
territory but does not extend these protections to aliens and stateless 
persons who planned, facilitated, or participated in terrorist 
activities as defined by international instruments to which the country 
is a party.
    The law provides for the concept of safe countries of origin, and 
aliens coming from such countries have their asylum applications 
processed in an accelerated procedure. EU member states are considered 
safe countries of origin as are other countries specified by an order 
of the Minister of Administration and Interior at the proposal of the 
National Office for Refugees. Criteria defining safe countries of 
origin are the number of asylum applicants granted protection; 
observance of human rights; observance of democratic principles, 
political pluralism, and free elections; and the existence of 
operational democratic institutions to monitor human rights.
    The Government's Emergency Transit Center in the city of Timisoara 
received refugees while they awaited processing and final transit to a 
receiving country. During the year 139 refugees arrived at the center 
and 290 departed (many of them arrivals from 2009). According to the 
UNHCR, conditions fully met international standards.
    In practice the Government provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened based on their race, religion, nationality, 
membership in a particular social group or political opinion. There 
were still concerns that the law does not give rejected applicants 
enough time to prepare appeals and pursue them through the courts.
    During the year the Government started to implement several 
programs for refugees, such as an EU-funded effort to strengthen the 
capacity of authorities to manage issues related to asylum, and a 
project sponsored by the UNHCR and the European Refugee Fund to improve 
the quality of the asylum system.
    The UNHCR's ``quality initiative'' program, begun in 2008 and aimed 
at improving the quality of the country's decision-making on asylum 
matters, continued during the year. While conditions have improved 
somewhat from prior years, asylum seekers still faced difficulties with 
access to specialized health care, partially because of the lack of 
interpreters. Social assistance in reception centers, including spare-
time activities, was not always sufficient; and some asylum seekers 
felt they did not receive enough information or legal assistance.
    In 2009 the Romanian National Council for Refugees (CNRR) began to 
implement a project funded by the European Refugee Fund to improve the 
quality of counseling, legal assistance and interpreting services for 
asylum applicants. The CNRR employed and trained legal advisers in 
regional centers, provided additional interpreters, revised 
informational materials for asylum seekers, and translated the 
information into 14 languages to make the leaflets more accessible.
    The Government implemented an EU directive that provides for 
``subsidiary protection,'' or protection to persons who do not qualify 
as refugees but are nevertheless granted protection because they cannot 
return to their countries for fear of serious risks to their lives. 
Under the law refugees and those granted subsidiary protection enjoy 
access to employment, basic services, education, the courts and police 
protection equal to that of citizens. However, the law requires those 
receiving subsidiary protection to wait for a longer period of time 
than refugees to acquire citizenship, a provision viewed as 
discriminatory by the former. The Government may also extend 
``temporary protection'' to persons arriving from conflict areas. 
Finally, the law provides for the status of a ``tolerated person,'' an 
alien who no longer has the right to stay in the country but cannot 
leave for ``objective reasons'' such as unclear nationality or the lack 
of flight connections. Tolerated persons have no social or economic 
rights. The Government also has a voluntary repatriation program for 
refugees and rejected asylum seekers.
    According to the Immigration Office, by the end of November 830 
foreigners applied for asylum. Of these, 81 received refugee status and 
25 subsidiary protection. During the same period, 61 foreigners 
received ``tolerated person'' status and 443 foreigners were taken into 
public custody. There were no cases of temporary protection being 
extended during the year to individuals who may not qualify as 
refugees.
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.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In November and December 
2009 the country held national elections for president. Despite 
irregularities, including numerous allegations of vote buying and of 
multiple voting, the elections were judged free and fair. The OSCE 
report on the November election found it to be ``generally conducted in 
conformity with OSCE commitments and international standards for 
democratic elections, as well as with national law.'' These 
irregularities did not appear to favor one political party over 
another. In the second round, incumbent Traian Basescu won the election 
with 50.3 percent of votes cast.
    Parliamentary elections, last held in 2008, are based on a complex 
single-representative-district voting system for both the Senate and 
the Chamber of Deputies. The media, NGOs, and government officials 
criticized the voting system, which assigns parliamentary seats to 
party members based on a complicated formula, for being too difficult 
for most voters to understand and for awarding seats to party members 
who finished second or third in their district.
    Political parties can operate without restriction or outside 
interference. The law requires political parties to register with the 
Bucharest Tribunal and to submit their statutes, program, and a roster 
of at least 25,000 signatures. Among these 25,000 ``founding members'' 
there must be individuals from at least 18 counties, including 
Bucharest, with a minimum of 700 persons from each county. The party 
statutes and program must not include ideas that incite war, 
discrimination, hatred of a national, racist, or religious nature, or 
territorial separatism.
    Organizations representing ethnic minorities may also field 
candidates in elections. If the minorities in question are ``national 
minorities,'' defined as those ethnic groups represented in the Council 
of National Minorities, their organizations must meet requirements 
similar to those for political parties. For organizations representing 
minorities not represented in the parliament, the law sets more 
stringent requirements than those for minority groups already 
represented in the parliament; they must provide the Central Electoral 
Bureau with a list of members equal to at least 15 percent of the total 
number of persons belonging to that ethnic group as determined by the 
most recent census. If 15 percent of the ethnic group amounts to more 
than 20,000 persons, the organization must submit a list with at least 
20,000 names distributed among at least 15 counties plus the city of 
Bucharest, with no fewer than 300 persons from each county.
    While the law does not restrict women's participation in government 
or politics, societal attitudes presented a significant barrier. There 
were 38 women in the 334-seat Chamber of Deputies and eight women in 
the 137-seat Senate. At year's end there were only two women in the 17-
member cabinet and no women among the prefects (governors appointed by 
the central government) of the 42 counties.
    According to the constitution each recognized ethnic minority is 
entitled to have one representative in the Chamber of Deputies even if 
the minority's organization cannot obtain the 5 percent of the vote 
needed to elect a deputy outright, but only if the organization 
received votes equal to 10 percent of the average number of votes 
nationwide necessary for a deputy to be elected. Organizations 
representing 18 minority groups received deputies under this provision. 
There were 49 members of minorities in the 471-seat parliament, nine in 
the Senate and 40 in the Chamber of Deputies. At the end of the year, 
there were four members of minorities (all ethnic Hungarians) in the 
17-member cabinet. Ethnicity data was not available for members of the 
Supreme Court.
    Ethnic Hungarians, represented by the Democratic Union of 
Hungarians in Romania, an umbrella party, were the sole ethnic minority 
to gain parliamentary representation by passing the 5 percent 
threshold. Only one Romani organization, the Roma Party-Pro Europe, was 
represented in the parliament, by one member of parliament. Low Romani 
voter turnout likely resulted from a lack of awareness, inability to 
demonstrate an established domicile, and absence of identity documents.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. The 
World Bank's corruption indicators suggested corruption was a problem. 
In 2007, as part of the country's agreement on accession to the 
European Union, the European Commission established a Cooperation and 
Verification Mechanism (CVM) to monitor the country's progress in 
reforming the judicial branch and fighting corruption.
    The National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) investigates and 
prosecutes high-level corruption, including cases involving members of 
the parliament and government officials. Both the head of the DNA and 
the general prosecutor (attorney general) were considered effective. 
The DNA head was appointed to a second three-year term in February 
2009. The general prosecutor was appointed to a second three-year term 
in October 2009.
    A simple majority of the parliament must approve investigations of 
ministers who are sitting members of the parliament, while the 
president must approve investigations of ministers who are not serving 
in the parliament. The CSM has to approve searches, detention, and 
preventive arrests of judges and prosecutors.
    In March the Senate approved the preventive arrest of one of its 
members on charges of influence peddling. In April the CSM approved the 
preventive arrest of a Supreme Court justice involved in the same case. 
In December the Chamber of Deputies rejected the DNA's two requests for 
approval of investigations against one former minister, the first for 
the search of his official computer, and the second to extend the 
investigation in the same case. As of year's end the Chamber of 
Deputies had not approved a request from the DNA for the preventive 
arrest of a deputy on charges of blackmail and other corruption 
offenses.
    Authorities' ineffective response to corruption remained a focus of 
intense public criticism, political debate, and media scrutiny 
throughout the year. NGOs and the media continued to assert that no 
major case of high-level corruption had yet resulted in judgments 
involving prison sentences. However, the number of verdicts involving 
corruption offenses, including sentences to time in prison, increased 
significantly during the year. During the year courts sentenced a 
member of the Senate, five mayors, one vice mayor, one senior 
prosecutor, and 22 police officers and noncommissioned officers to 
prison.
    The DNA continued its coordination with antifraud units in various 
ministries. The General Directorate for Anticorruption (DGA) of the 
Ministry of Administration and Interior, which investigates alleged 
corruption within the ministry, maintained a telephone hotline to 
receive tips from the general public regarding corrupt officers. In 
December cooperation between the DNA, the DGA, and the Ministry of 
National Defense resulted in the DNA's prosecution of two high-ranking 
officers of the Ministry of National Defense and three other persons on 
charges of abuse of office, bribery, and influence peddling. The 
Antifraud Department attached to the Prime Minister's Office continued 
to investigate cases involving the misuse of EU funds. The Ministry of 
National Defense also maintained its own antifraud section. However, 
according to the CVM report, ``within institutions few steps appear to 
have been taken to strengthen practical implementation and awareness of 
whistle-blowing policies.''
    Little progress was made in 30 cases filed by the DNA in earlier 
years against former government ministers, deputy ministers, and 
members of the parliament. The lack of progress was due in one instance 
to a legislative decision to block the investigation; the High Court of 
Cassation and Justice dismissed some other cases; and others were 
delayed while defendants' claims of unconstitutionality or violations 
of legal procedures (called ``claims of illegality'') were adjudicated. 
Of the 30 cases, one was initiated in 2005, nine in 2006, six in 2007, 
nine in 2008, and five in 2009.
    In the first 10 months of the year, the DNA sent 155 cases 
involving 698 defendants to the courts. The persons charged were one 
former prime minister, two members of the Senate, six judges including 
a Supreme Court justice, three senior prosecutors, two subprefects, 18 
mayors, five vice mayors, 28 police officers and non-commissioned 
officers, 15 commissioners of the Financial Guard, four commissioners 
of the Environmental Guard, and six managers of state-owned companies. 
In the same period, in response to cases brought by the DNA, the courts 
issued 103 nonfinal verdicts involving 291 defendants, 67 final 
verdicts involving 128 defendants, and 18 final verdicts of acquittal 
involving 32 defendants.
    In August the parliament amended the law governing the 
Constitutional Court to end the practice of automatically suspending 
trials while constitutional challenges were under consideration 
(interlocutory appeals). In November a law designed to accelerate 
judicial processes and trials came into effect, banning the suspension 
of trials when challenges of illegality were filed in criminal cases. 
The law also restricted the use of challenges on procedural grounds.
    Police corruption contributed to citizens' lack of respect for the 
police and led to a corresponding disregard for police authority. Low 
salaries and the absence of incentives and bonuses led to personnel 
shortages and contributed to the susceptibility of individual law 
enforcement officials to bribery. Instances of high-level corruption 
were referred to the DGA, which continued to publicize its 
anticorruption telephone hotline to generate prosecutorial leads for 
corruption within the police force; however, some of the local police 
departments (``inspectorates'') did not adequately publicize the 
anticorruption hotline.
    The law empowers the National Integrity Agency (ANI) to administer 
and audit financial disclosure statements for all public officials and 
monitor conflicts of interest. The ANI law stipulates that the ANI can 
identify ``significant discrepancies'' (more than 10,000 euros, or 
$13,400) between an official's income and his assets.
    In April the Constitutional Court declared significant portions of 
the ANI statutes to be unconstitutional. The parliament failed to 
restore ANI's powers immediately. After the CVM report singled out the 
weakening of ANI as a violation of commitments the country made during 
its EU accession process, the Government made a concerted effort to 
restore the agency's powers. In late August the parliament reinstated 
the requirement for comprehensive, public financial disclosure 
statements but also made more cumbersome the procedure by which ANI can 
initiate seizure of assets when significant discrepancies are found.
    The law provides for public access to government information 
related to official decision making; however, human rights NGOs and the 
media reported that the law was inadequately and unevenly applied. 
Procedures for releasing information were arduous and varied greatly by 
public institution. Many agencies did not make public the annual 
performance reports that the law requires. NGOs and journalists 
continued to file requests regularly in court to gain access to 
official government information.
    In May the Romanian Academic Society won a case against the state-
controlled EXIM Bank for the declassification of a public procurement 
contract, and against the Privatization Agency for the declassification 
of the contract to privatize a local carmaker. In August the Institute 
for Public Policy won a court case against the parliament for the 
release of information on members' expenditures on their constituent 
offices. In October the Center for Legal Resources (CRJ), a human 
rights NGO, won two cases regarding access to public information: one 
against the Presidency, which refused to hand over to the NGO copies of 
financial disclosure statements and conflict of interest statements for 
2008; and the other case against the Rovinari Energy Complex, which 
refused to give the NGO copies of decisions from the company's board of 
administration for the period 2004-2008.
    Although the Government ordered the intelligence services to 
release the files of the Communist-era Securitate intelligence service, 
the powers of the National College for the Study of Securitate Archives 
(CNSAS) remained limited because the law governing the CNSAS law does 
not permit it to issue verdicts that identify individuals as Securitate 
collaborators. In June the Constitutional Court ruled that the 
lustration, or ``de-Communization'' law that the parliament passed in 
May was unconstitutional. The president asked all government ministries 
to make their employees' incomes public on-line. Of 15 ministries, 
eight responded to the president's call by year's end.
Section 5. 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 Government cooperated during the year with international 
governmental organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives 
and other organizations. During the year there were visits by the UN 
special rapporteur on human rights of migrants and EU Commission 
representatives to assess the situation of the judiciary. The latter 
released two reports (see section 1.e.).
    The Office of the Ombudsman had limited power and no authority to 
protect citizens' constitutional rights in cases requiring judicial 
action. The office handled 7,016 complaints during the first nine 
months of the year. The NGO Romani CRISS criticized the Office of the 
Ombudsman for failing to address the cases the NGO brought to its 
attention.
    The National Council for Combating Discrimination (CNCD) is an 
independent governmental agency under parliamentary control. During the 
year the CNCD received 478 public complaints of discrimination. It 
resolved 117 of these complaints by the year's end. Of the complaints, 
97 involved alleged discrimination on the basis of nationality, 
ethnicity, and race, and six involved discrimination on religious 
grounds. The CNCD received 54 complaints regarding discrimination 
against Roma.
    The Ombudsman's Office and CNCD operated with the Government's 
cooperation and for the most part without government or party 
interference. After the CNCD's activity was blocked for almost eight 
months due to staffing shortages, the parliament on April 20 appointed 
six new members to CNCD's board, allowing the CNCD to resume its 
activity. Neither agency received adequate resources, although both 
enjoyed public trust. The CNCD was generally regarded as effective, 
while most observers regarded the Office of the Ombudsman as much less 
effective. Both the CNCD and the Ombudsman's Office issue yearly 
activity reports.
    Romani CRISS criticized the appointment of CNCD board members 
proposed by political parties, arguing that this violated the principle 
of the body's independence and that some of the appointees lacked 
expertise in the human rights area. Romani CRISS also criticized the 
CNCD's delays in ruling on some of its complaints.
    Each chamber of the parliament has a human rights committee. Their 
task is to draft reports on bills that pertain to human rights-related 
issues. Their members, however, are members of the parliament who 
usually express the views of their political parties.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law forbids discrimination based on race, gender, disability, 
ethnicity, language, or social status, among other categories. However, 
the Government did not enforce these prohibitions effectively, and 
women as well as Roma and other minorities were often subjected to 
discrimination and violence.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is illegal. The prosecution 
of rape cases was difficult because the law requires a medical 
certificate and a witness, and a rapist could avoid punishment if the 
victim withdrew the complaint. The successful prosecution of spousal 
rape cases was more difficult because the law requires the victim 
personally to file a criminal complaint against the abusive spouse and 
does not permit other parties, such as police, relatives or support 
organizations, to file a complaint on the victim's behalf. The law 
provides for three to 10 years' imprisonment for rape; the sentence 
increases to five to 18 years if there are aggravated circumstances. 
According to police statistics, during the year perpetrators were sent 
to court in 886 rape cases; there was no information on the number of 
resulting convictions.
    Violence against women, including spousal abuse, continued to be a 
serious problem, according to NGOs and other sources. The Government 
did not effectively address it. The law prohibits domestic violence and 
allows police intervention in such cases. However, the law on domestic 
violence was difficult to apply because it contradicts the criminal 
procedures code and does not provide for the issuance of restraining 
orders. According to the General Directorate for Child Protection 
(DGPC), in 2009, 4,185 women and 816 men were victims of domestic 
violence. During the same period 35 women and 27 men died as a result 
of domestic violence. In a nationwide survey conducted by the Center 
for Urban and Rural Sociology in 2008, 21.5 percent of women reported 
having been subjected to domestic violence at least once in their 
lives, and 11.1 percent reported experiencing domestic violence during 
the year prior to the survey.
    While the criminal code imposes stronger sanctions for violent 
offenses committed against family members than for similar offenses 
committed against others, the courts prosecuted very few cases of 
domestic abuse. Many cases were resolved before or during trial when 
alleged victims dropped their charges or reconciled with the accused 
abuser. In cases with strong evidence of physical abuse, the court can 
prohibit the abusive spouse from returning home. The law also permits 
police to penalize spouses with fines of 100 lei to 3,000 lei ($31 to 
$936) for various abusive acts.
    In July the National Authority for the Protection of Family and 
Children's Rights, established in December 2009 under the Ministry of 
Labor, Family, and Social Protection, was downgraded to a general 
directorate within the ministry under the name of the DGPC. The DGPC is 
in charge of children's issues and domestic violence.
    At the end of 2009, 50 government- and privately-run shelters for 
victims of abuse provided free accommodation and food for periods of 
between seven days and three months, and 27 centers provided legal and 
psychological counseling. There were also two rehabilitation centers, 
two centers to inform and sensitize the population, and six counseling 
centers for perpetrators. However, the centers were insufficient and 
unevenly distributed, and some parts of the country lacked any kind of 
assistance.
    The law prohibits any act of gender discrimination, including 
sexual harassment. Penalties vary significantly depending on whether 
the act is criminal or not and range from fines--between 400 lei and 
8,000 lei ($125 and $2,500)--to imprisonment for three months to two 
years. Although the problem exists, public awareness of it continued to 
be low. No effective programs existed to educate the public about 
sexual harassment.
    In February university professor and criminal expert Tudorel Butoi 
stated that most of the women assaulted in streets, parks, and 
elevators had a provocative attitude. Several NGOs filed a complaint 
against Butoi with the CNCD, which decided in October that Butoi's 
statement was discriminatory and sanctioned him with an admonition.
    The law provides for the right to information, education, and 
services for reproductive health without any discrimination, as well as 
the right to access modern family planning methods. Nevertheless, 
Romani women had a difficult time accessing reproductive health 
services. The Ministry of Health provided free contraceptives to rural 
residents, students, the unemployed, and women who had an abortion in a 
public hospital. NGOs noted the absence of a national strategy 
regarding reproductive rights, the lack of sexual education in schools, 
and the country's high number of teen pregnancies.
    The number of HIV-positive mothers who gave birth to live infants 
increased to 207 births in 2009, the last year for which data was 
available, from 68 in 2007 and 161 in 2008, according to the National 
Institute for Infectious Diseases Matei Bals.
    HIV-positive women reported to the Euroregional Center for Public 
Initiatives (ECPI) that they had difficulty accessing maternal health 
care in maternity hospitals due to discrimination by medical personnel. 
They asserted that they experienced degrading treatment, breaches of 
confidentiality, segregation, and denial of cesarean sections. ECPI 
noted that the medical staffs of obstetrics and gynecology units did 
not appear to understand and apply the clinical guidelines for the 
management of pregnancy in HIV-positive women that the Ministry of 
Health adopted in 2009.
    According to UN Population Fund statistics, the maternal mortality 
rate was 27 per 100,000 births in 2008.
    The ECPI criticized the fact that the results of Health Ministry 
investigations of maternal deaths are not made public.
    A journalist's investigation conducted in the fall revealed a 
series of shortcomings in the maternal health care available in public 
hospitals. The report revealed unsanitary conditions, lack of equipment 
(e.g. incubators for newborns), high neonatal mortality rates, a high 
number of premature births, a small number of obstetricians, shortages 
of medicine, and mistreatment of women giving birth. The ECPI received 
information that in some hospitals pregnant women were automatically 
tested for HIV prior to giving birth without informed consent and 
without prior counseling, although HIV testing is voluntary under the 
law.
    In August six newborn babies died in Giulesti hospital following a 
fire in the maternal ward that was reportedly caused by a defective air 
conditioning system, inattentive staff, and locked doors.
    The law provides female employees reentering the workforce after 
maternity leave the right to return to their previous or a similar job. 
Government grants helped support mothers with 24 months of paid leave 
at 85 percent of the mother's average income during the previous 12 
months and a monthly allowance for children. A report released in 
September 2009 by the Society of Contraception and Sexual Education 
indicated, however, that pregnant women might still suffer 
unacknowledged discrimination in the labor market.
    Under the law women and men enjoy equal rights, including under 
family law, property law, and in the judicial system. In practice the 
Government did not enforce these provisions, and authorities did not 
devote significant attention or resources to women's problems. In July 
the Government's Agency for the Equality of Opportunities was 
downgraded to a directorate in the Ministry of Labor, Family, and 
Social Protection. Women occupied few influential positions in the 
private sector, and differences between the salaries of women and men 
continued to exist in most sectors of the economy. According to several 
surveys including one from the National Statistics Institute, women 
were paid approximately 10-15 percent less than men doing the same 
work. According to the Ministry of Labor, Family, and Social 
Protection, women faced disadvantages in education; access to the labor 
market, social, political, and cultural life; and participation in 
decision-making. According to the ministry many of these difference 
stemmed from segregation of labor (i.e. women work mostly in fields 
where salaries are lower), traditions, and stereotypes.
    During the year the DGPC, in partnership with NGOs, implemented 
programs to prevent and curb domestic violence and to provide better 
conditions for domestic violence victims.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived by birth from at least one 
Romanian citizen parent. Birth registration was not universal, and some 
children were denied public services as a result. The most common 
reason that children were not registered at birth was that parents did 
not declare the child's birth to authorities, sometimes because the 
parents lacked identity documents or residence papers, or because the 
birth took place abroad in countries where parents were present 
illegally. Most such children had access to schools, and authorities 
assisted in obtaining birth documents for unregistered children. 
However, the education of unregistered children depended on the 
decision of school authorities. Undocumented children also faced 
difficulties in getting access to health care.
    There were reports that Romani children were effectively segregated 
from non-Romani students and subject to discriminatory treatment (see 
section 6, National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities).
    Child abuse and neglect continued to be serious problems, and 
public awareness of them remained poor. The media reported several 
severe cases of abuse or neglect in family homes, foster care, and 
child welfare institutions. According to the DGPC, during the first 
nine months of the year, child welfare services identified 8,142 cases 
of child abuse, neglect, and exploitation. These findings resulted in 
the provision of rehabilitation services in 5,103 cases, medical 
services in 331, educational services in 529, and legal assistance in 
3,164. Of the 2,281 children who were identified as abused during this 
period, authorities separated 323 from the abusive families. During the 
year the Ministry of Labor, Family, and Social Protection started to 
implement a project costing 14.3 million euros (approximately $19 
million), jointly funded by the Government and the Development Bank of 
the Council of Europe. The project's goal is to develop a community-
based services network at local levels to prevent the separation of 
children from their families and to reintegrate children already 
separated from their families.
    In the first nine months of the year, according to official 
statistics, parents abandoned 1,015 children in maternity hospitals. 
NGOs claimed that the official statistics did not accurately account 
for many abandoned children and that many children living in state 
institutions were never officially recognized as abandoned.
    According to DGPC, at the end of September there were 808 homeless 
children nationwide. NGOs working with homeless children believed there 
were two or three times that number. NGOs noted that the number of 
homeless children declined but only because many of the children 
reached adulthood--they remained on the streets.
    In most cases the legal age of marriage is 18, although girls as 
young as 15 may legally marry in certain circumstances. Illegal child 
marriage was common within certain social groups, particularly the 
Roma. There was no estimate regarding the extent of the practice, and 
information about individual cases surfaced only from time to time in 
the media. In September the Pro Europa League, a human rights NGO 
working on a project on early or forced marriages financed by the 
Ministry of Health, reported that while such marriages continued to 
take place in some Romani communities, they declined in number.
    Trafficking in girls remained a problem. According to the Ministry 
of Administration and Interior, 99 of the 379 victims of trafficking 
reported during the first half of the year were girls. There also were 
isolated cases of children who prostituted themselves for money without 
third-party involvement.
    The criminal code stipulates 3- to 10-year jail sentences for 
sexual acts with minors under 15 years of age, the age of consent. The 
display, selling, dissemination, renting, distribution, and production 
of child pornography is punishable by five to 10 years in jail and, if 
coercion is used, by 15 to 20 years in jail.
    While the law prohibits the abuse and neglect of children, the 
Government has not established a mechanism to identify and treat abused 
and neglected children and their families.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.
    According to Hope and Homes for Children Romania, the country's 
branch of a British NGO, which works in partnership with the Government 
to close orphanages, 256 orphanages in the country housed 11,000 
children. The NGO noted that conditions in the orphanages improved with 
the support of EU funding and assistance from NGOs working in the field 
of child protection. However, staffing in orphanages remained 
insufficient, and the self-financing of such institutions was limited. 
In October a group of British journalists visited an orphanage in 
Bistrita and noted improper living conditions, malnourished children 
who were sedated or tied to their beds, and the absence of sufficient 
activity for the children. Media reported instances in which children 
from orphanages were reportedly kidnapped and sold to human traffickers 
who then forced them to steal and beg in Italy.

    Anti-Semitism.--According to the 2002 census, the Jewish population 
numbered 5,785. Acts of anti-Semitism, including vandalism against 
Jewish sites, continued during the year with no appreciable change in 
the range of 10-12 per year of previous years. In most cases the 
Federation of Jewish Communities notified authorities, but perpetrators 
were often not identified.
    The NGO Center for Monitoring Anti-Semitism in Romania (MCA 
Romania) continued to criticize authorities for playing down anti-
Semitic vandalism, usually attributing the acts to children, drunks, or 
persons with mental disorders. MCA Romania noted that Jewish 
establishments appeared to be targets of choice for vandals and 
asserted that police investigations of such acts were not thorough. MCA 
Romania also criticized the lack of prosecutions that might deter 
future acts. During the year independent observers reported the 
existence of swastikas on the elevator doors and walls of some blocs of 
apartments as well as on the fence of a school in Bucharest.
    On April 13, unidentified individuals stole property from the 
administrative building of a Jewish cemetery in Bucharest. On April 16, 
unidentified individuals broke into the chapel of the stone-carving 
workshop of a different Jewish cemetery in Bucharest. In both cases the 
Jewish Communities Federation filed complaints with Bucharest police. 
There were no developments in these cases by year's end.
    In April local media reported that unidentified individuals drew 
swastikas on the walls of several buildings and a memorial in Galati 
and that the local authorities attributed the vandalism to rebellious 
teenagers, not pro-Nazi individuals.
    During the night of May 3, a group of young persons threw stones at 
the house of the guard of the Jewish cemetery in Craiova. A member of 
the Jewish community called police, who took steps to restore order in 
the area. There were no reports of arrests.
    In July the National Bank of Romania (BNR) issued a commemorative 
coin depicting late Patriarch Miron Cristea, who led the Romanian 
Orthodox Church between 1925 and 1939 and was prime minister from 1938 
to 1939. During the latter period Cristea was responsible for revising 
the citizenship law, stripping approximately 225,000 Jews of their 
Romanian citizenship. Many of these persons subsequently died during 
the Holocaust. MCA Romania, the National Institute to Study the 
Romanian Holocaust Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust Memorial Museum of 
Washington, the Anti-Defamation League, and other organizations 
unsuccessfully urged the BNR to withdraw the coin. Both the BNR and the 
Orthodox Church argued that the coin was part of a collectors' series 
of five coins (featuring five late patriarchs) celebrating the Orthodox 
Church's 125th anniversary. The BNR established a commission to study 
the issue. On August 19, the commission decided not to withdraw the 
coin on the grounds that the coin ``should not be related to Patriarch 
Cristea's short activity as prime minister.''
    In October and November, MCA Romania addressed letters to the 
Gendarmerie units in Galati and Constanta, requesting that their local 
troop regiments, which bore the names of two generals who were war 
criminals involved in the deportation of Jews during the World War II, 
be changed. In November the Gendarmerie units in both localities 
responded that they had started the procedures necessary to change the 
names.
    On October 25, the prosecutor's office of the Constanta Court of 
Appeals decided not to prosecute Constanta Mayor Radu Mazare for 
marching onto a public stage dressed as a Nazi officer, accompanied by 
his 15-year-old son dressed as a Nazi soldier. The incident occurred in 
July 2009 at a fashion show at the beach resort of Mamaia. During the 
year before the decision, authorities closed the case and then reopened 
it and referred it to the Constanta branch of the Division in Charge of 
Organized Crime and Terrorism (a specialized department of the 
Prosecutor General's Office). The investigating prosecutor's decision 
to close the case definitively after concluding that Mazare's gesture 
was not a crime since it was committed in the interest of art.
    There were no reported developments in the 2008 desecration of 131 
gravestones in a Jewish cemetery in Bucharest, in which the police 
named as suspects four students ages 13 to 15, or in the April 2009 
desecration of 20 gravestones in a Jewish cemetery in Botosani, in 
which police suspected four 14- to 16-year-old students.
    Extremist organizations occasionally held high-profile public 
events with anti-Semitic themes. The New Right Organization, the 
Professor George Manu Foundation, and the Party for the Nation 
continued to sponsor events, including religious services, symposia, 
and marches, commemorating leaders of the pre-World War II era 
Legionnaire Movement. Such events took place during the year in Sibiu 
on January 13 and May 25, Braila on March 14, Ramnicu Sarat on 
September 22, and Tancabesti on November 28. They attracted small 
numbers of persons.
    On May 13, four Greek Catholic priests in Dragomiresti, Maramures 
County, dedicated a memorial cross commemorating heroes of both world 
wars and anticommunist fighters, many of them pro-Nazi and anti-Semitic 
legionnaires. The family of an anticommunist fighter erected the cross.
    On June 15, the 121st anniversary of the death of national poet 
Mihai Eminescu, Greater Romania Party (PRM) Secretary General Gheorghe 
Funar stated that Eminescu was killed by Jews who did not like his 
political writing and poems. He added that a Jewish doctor poisoned the 
poet with mercury. The executive director of the National Institute to 
Study the Romanian Holocaust Elie Wiesel labeled the statement anti-
Semitic and underscored that Funar did not offer any evidence to 
support his allegations.
    MCA Romania and the National Institute to Study the Romanian 
Holocaust Elie Wiesel criticized a Romanian documentary film entitled 
The Portrait of the Fighter as a Young Man, which was produced with 
state funding and shown at several international festivals. The film 
presented the activity of an anti-Communist group led by Ion Gavrila 
Ogoranu, a member of the right-wing, fascist Legionnaire Movement.
    MCA Romania repeatedly warned that anti-Semitic, racist, 
xenophobic, and nationalistic views continued to be distributed via the 
Internet.
    During the year the extremist press continued to publish anti-
Semitic articles. The New Right movement and similar organizations and 
associations continued to promote the ideas of the Iron Guard (an 
extreme nationalist, anti-Semitic, pro-Nazi group that existed in the 
country in the interwar period) in the media and on the Internet. 
Organizations with extreme right-wing views also republished 
inflammatory books from the interwar period.
    During the year the publications of the extreme nationalist PRM 
headed by Corneliu Vadim Tudor continued to carry statements and 
articles containing strong anti-Semitic attacks.
    The law prohibits denial of the Holocaust in public; however, there 
were no prosecutions under this statute during the year.
    During the year public and private television stations broadcast 
talks shows that expressed anti-Semitic views and attitudes. On 
November 13, during a talk show televised nationally, well known 
journalist Ion Cristoiu spoke about Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, the 
founder of the Legionnaire Movement, who was widely known for harsh 
anti-Semitism and violence. Cristoiu stated that Codreanu had been 
``the most honest and honorable Romanian politician from the interwar 
period'' and called him a ``Romantic hero.'' MCA Romania criticized the 
show and its producer. Several dozen intellectuals and public figures 
encouraged the president of the national television station, Alexandru 
Lazescu, to dissociate the station from Cristoiu's statements. In his 
reply Lazescu regretted that Cristoiu's statements hurt the feelings of 
those who had been affected by the violence, anti-Semitism, and crimes 
against mankind of that ``black period'' of the country's history, 
``for which the Legionnaire Movement is considered responsible.'' 
Lazescu noted that the television's Ethics and Arbitration Commission 
would consider this issue. On December 9, the National Audiovisual 
Council publically admonished the national network for having violated 
the principle of maintaining the balance by providing a plurality of 
opinions.
    Extremists such as Ion Coja, a professor at the University of 
Bucharest, continued to deny publicly and on the Internet that the 
Holocaust occurred in the country and that the country's leader during 
World War II, Marshal Ion Antonescu, participated in Holocaust 
atrocities in territory administered by the country.
    The Government continued to make progress in its effort to expand 
education on the history of the Holocaust in Romania. The study of the 
Holocaust is included in history courses in the seventh, ninth, 11th, 
and 12th grades. On various occasions throughout the year, high-level 
officials continued to make public statements against extremism, anti-
Semitism, xenophobia, and Holocaust denial.
    The law to combat anti-Semitism and to prohibit fascist, racist, 
and xenophobic organizations includes the oppression of the Roma as 
well as the Jews in its definition of the Holocaust.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against all persons in employment, education, access to health care, or 
the provision of other services. However, the Government did not fully 
implement the law, and discrimination against persons with disabilities 
remained a problem.
    The law mandates accessibility for persons with disabilities to 
buildings and public transportation. In practice the country had few 
facilities specifically designed to accommodate persons with 
disabilities, and persons with disabilities could have extreme 
difficulty navigating city streets or gaining access to public 
buildings. However, the number of buildings with facilities for persons 
with disabilities did increase during the year.
    According to reports by human rights NGOs, the procedures for 
commitment, the living conditions, and the treatment of patients in 
many psychiatric wards and hospitals did not meet international human 
rights standards and were below professional norms.
    In August the CPT issued a report on its follow-up visit to the 
Nucet Social-Medical Center and Oradea Psychiatric Hospital. At Nucet 
the delegation found a lower death rate among patients than in 2006 
during their last visit, but also continuing indications of neglect 
such as apparently underweight patients and the lack of inquests into 
the deaths of some of them. It recommended that patients be given more 
private space for their possessions and more opportunity to walk around 
outside. At Oradea the CPT delegation found significant improvements in 
the juveniles' section but continued poor maintenance, poor sanitary 
conditions, and understaffing in the adult section.
    In October the CRJ expressed concern about the Government's failure 
to consult with the representatives of persons with disabilities on 
matters that could have an impact on their right to life and dignity. 
The CRJ urged the prime minister to consult on draft legislation 
involving persons with disabilities.
    Twice during 2009 the CRJ visited 16 state institutions for persons 
with mental disabilities (psychiatric wards and hospitals) to assess 
whether human rights were being observed. In most such institutions the 
CRJ found overcrowding; underqualified staff; inadequate staff 
knowledge of the legal requirements regarding such institutions; 
shortages of staff and medicines; insufficient food; violation of 
patient privacy; patient neglect; failure to observe patients' human 
dignity; failure to implement the procedures to resolve the patient 
complaints; failure to implement regulations regarding involuntary 
institutionalization and informed consent; patients unaware of their 
rights; disregard for the legal regulations governing the detention and 
isolation of patients (for example, patients were tied to their beds 
for long periods of time); excessive sedation of patients; poor 
hygienic conditions; and lack of activities and recreational programs. 
There was no information regarding the Government's response to these 
findings.
    In September 2009 the media reported that a patient in the 
psychiatric ward in Poiana Mare died following the alleged ingestion of 
a disinfectant. The hospital was known for its particularly poor 
conditions and the fact that more than 150 patients died there in 2002-
2004. In May, after repeated complaints by 13 psychiatric doctors at 
the institution who accused its director of poor management of the 
hospital's funds, lack of interest in procuring equipment and 
medication, and failure to punish the auxiliary staff for inadequately 
treating patients, the hospital fired the director. The facility 
continued to operate at full capacity at the end of the year.
    During the year there were no reports that the Government took 
action to close or to improve the situation of patients in several 
state institutions for persons with disabilities where harsh conditions 
were the subject of a BBC documentary in December 2009.
    During the year the Government, through the DGPC, started a project 
to implement good practices to assist children and young persons with 
special needs in state institutions.
    Some minors were sent to psychiatric hospitals without the consent 
of their legal guardians. According to human rights NGOs, there was no 
system to ensure that government-run care institutions observed the 
rights of children with mental disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Observers estimated that there 
were between 1.8 and 2.5 million Roma in the country, approximately 10 
percent of the total population. However, the most recent official 
census, taken in 2002, reported 535,000 Roma, or 3 percent of the 
population. An August 2008 government survey estimated that Roma 
numbered approximately 1.2 million, or 5.7 percent of the population. 
According to NGOs, earlier government figures were low because many 
Roma either did not reveal their ethnicity or lacked any form of 
identification.
    Discrimination against Roma continued to be a major concern. Romani 
groups complained that police brutality, including beatings and 
harassment, was routine. Both domestic and international media and 
observers widely reported societal discrimination against Roma.
    On October 24, some villagers set a Romani family's house on fire 
in the village of Rares (Harghita County). The fire started at a 
stable, killing a horse and 10 poultry, with material damages amounting 
to 40,000 lei ($12,500). Villagers complained that they had filed 
complaints about the Romani family repeatedly, and the police did not 
resolve them. The Romani family fled the house after the incident. At 
the end of the year three villagers were under investigation by the 
police for violation of domicile and destruction of property.
    Stereotypes and use of discriminatory language against Roma were 
widespread; journalists and several senior government officials made 
statements that were viewed as discriminatory by members of the Romani 
community. In February a press release by the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs stated that, during a meeting with a French state secretary, 
Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi mentioned the ``natural, 
physiological crime problems in some Romanian communities, in 
particular, within the communities of Romanian citizens of Romani 
origin.'' Several NGOs labeled the speech racist due to the association 
of Roma with crime, demanded Baconschi's resignation or dismissal, and 
filed a complaint with the CNCD. Several days later, during a meeting 
with representatives of the Roma, Baconschi reportedly mentioned a 
meeting he had with Romani intellectuals several years earlier and 
stated ``you can say anything about them, but not that they are 
imbeciles.'' In November the CNCD decided that Baconschi's statement 
was discriminatory, admonished him, and recommended that he speak more 
carefully in the future.
    On March 9 and September 28, Member of the European Parliament Gigi 
Becali, leader of the right-wing New Generation Party and owner of the 
Bucharest soccer team Steaua, called George Copos, the owner of a rival 
team, Rapid, a ``Gypsy.'' On March 15, Becali stated that without Rapid 
the ``national soccer championship would be whiter,'' an allusion to 
the fact that the Rapid Soccer club is located in a Romani 
neighborhood. The management of Rapid urged the CNCD to punish Becali's 
statements. The CNCD had fined Becali for calling Rapid's fans 
``Gypsies'' in November 2009; Becali challenged the fine in court, and 
the hearing, which began in June, did not conclude by year's end. 
Racist slogans were frequently displayed during soccer games across the 
country.
    In June the CNCD admonished Iulian Urban, the vice president of the 
Senate's Legal Committee, for discrimination against the Roma for 
posting anti-Romani messages on his blog in 2009. Upon hearing about 
the CNCD admonition, Urban stated, ``The Gypsies have defeated me,'' 
and stated that he would challenge the decision in court.
    On September 8 and 9, in interviews on national television and 
radio, President Basescu stated that the decision to change the name of 
``Gypsy'' to ``Roma'' was wrong because it generates confusion among 
Europeans. Magdalena Matache, the director of Romani CRISS, stated that 
the president's statements could contribute to negative attitudes 
toward Roma.
    In an interview with B1 television in September, President Basescu, 
speaking of France's expulsion of Roma, insinuated that the country's 
Roma allowed their children to beg while the parents were often 
stealing, ``What they do here, they wanted to do in France as well.'' 
He also was quoted as saying, ``It seems that there are Gypsies who 
believe that moving from one place to another means to work.''
    In September a member of the Chamber of Deputies, Silviu Prigoana, 
submitted to the Senate a legislative initiative proposing to use the 
word ``Gypsy'' instead of ``Roma'' in the official documents. While the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Roma Agency, the Ministry of 
Culture, the Interethnic Relations Department, the Government's 
Secretariat General, and the CNCD opposed the bill, the Romanian 
Academy voiced its support, arguing that the term ``Gypsy'' represents 
the ``correct name of this transnational population.'' On November 30, 
approximately 200 persons participated in a protest organized by six 
Romani NGOs in front of cabinet headquarters. The media reported on 
December 5 that the Government would back the legislation.
    On September 22, during a debate in the Senate on a draft law 
regarding the commemoration of the Roma's emancipation from slavery, 
lawmaker Puiu Hasotti stated that the Roma themselves asked to be 
enslaved when they were no longer able to pay their taxes. He denied 
that the term Gypsy was pejorative, adding that well known artists have 
used the term in their songs and paintings, and that many European 
nations continue to use the term.
    In October former professional tennis player Ilie Nastase stated 
publicly that he supported the French president's policy of sending 
Roma back to their home countries, adding that he would send Romania's 
Roma to the ethnic-Hungarian-majority county of Harghita ``to change 
the ethnic configuration of this region.'' In December the CNCD fined 
Nastase 600 lei ($187) for his discriminatory statements.
    During an official visit to Slovenia on November 3, President 
Basescu stated that the country had failed to integrate nomadic Roma, 
which was difficult since ``very few of them want to work.'' He added 
that ``many of them traditionally live on what they steal.'' David 
Mark, executive director of Roma Civil Alliance, an umbrella 
organization of Romani NGOs, stated that Basescu's statement was ``full 
of racial prejudices.'' The CRJ criticized the president's statements, 
which it stated harmed the dignity of Roma and were profoundly 
discriminatory.
    There were no developments in the criminal complaint filed with the 
prosecutor's office by Romani CRISS regarding an incident in April 2009 
when fans of the Dinamo soccer team shouted anti-Romani slogans and 
displayed anti-Romani banners during a game against the rival team 
Rapid.
    In the November 2009 complaint against First Vice President Ludovic 
Orban of the National Liberal Party, who publicly referred to Roma as 
Gypsies, the CNCD ruled in December that his statement was 
discriminatory and sanctioned him with an admonition.
    According to media reports, evictions of members of the Romani 
community continued to occur in Bucharest, Timisoara, Resita, and other 
localities during the year. In January, Amnesty International alleged 
that, because of forced evictions, Roma had no option but to live next 
to garbage dumps, sewage treatment plants, or industrial areas on the 
outskirts of cities. In the evictions and resettlements they lost their 
possessions, social networks, and access to work and state services. In 
July, Amnesty International urged the local authorities of Baia Mare to 
stop their planned eviction of the approximately 1,100 Roma from the 
settlement of Craica, where the Roma had built illegal houses and 
cardboard huts on public land. In November the vice mayor of Baia Mare 
stated that the Roma from Craica would be moved next spring to a newly 
built area.
    NGOs reported that Roma were denied access to, or refused service 
in, many public places. Roma also experienced persistent poverty, poor 
access to government services, a shortage of employment opportunities, 
high rates of school attrition, inadequate health care, and pervasive 
discrimination. According to the year's Social Inclusion Barometer, 45 
percent of Roma who work did not have a stable job. NGOs and the media 
reported that discrimination by teachers and other students against 
Romani students served as an additional disincentive for Romani 
children to complete their studies.
    Despite a March order by the Ministry of Education forbidding 
segregation of Romani students, there were reports of Romani children's 
being placed in the back of classrooms, of teachers ignoring Romani 
students, and of unimpeded bullying of Romani students by other 
schoolchildren. In some communities authorities placed Romani students 
in separate classrooms or even in separate schools. During 2009 Romani 
CRISS identified school segregation cases in Albeni, Corabia, Cugir, 
and Polovraci. The NGO also filed complaints with the CNCD regarding a 
case in Magheru, identified in 2009, in which a kindergarten teacher 
refused to enroll twin Romani children for several years. In December 
2009 Romani CRISS began a project, planned for 90 schools, through 
which Romani and non-Romani students, parents, and the teaching staff 
would participate in intercultural activities. The NGO Ovidiu Rom 
worked to assist and encourage Romani children in the school enrollment 
process. The NGO also continued its national public awareness campaign 
``scoala te face mare'' (``school makes you great''), which it started 
in June 2009, to promote the importance of school enrollment to 
families and children. During the year the main goal of ``Scoala te 
face mare'' was to encourage early education and convince parents to 
send their children to kindergarten.
    A research project by the Impreuna Agency for Community Development 
conducted in April and May in 100 schools revealed that Romani children 
received lower quality education, experienced discrimination from both 
non-Romani colleagues and the teaching staff, were segregated, and had 
a higher dropout rate than non-Romani students (6.7 percent of Romani 
children, compared to 4.3 percent of non-Romani students). The main 
reasons for dropping out of school were material shortages such as lack 
of school supplies and clothes (44 percent), poor grades (16 percent), 
lack of the parental interest in sending their children to school (9 
percent), and early marriage (4 percent).
    Roma also experienced difficulty accessing health care. In 2009 
Romani CRISS filed a complaint with the CNCD against a family doctor in 
the village of Vartop, who allegedly refused to treat Romani patients 
or treated them superficially. In 2009 Romani CRISS reported that, in 
the maternity wards in Cluj and Galati, there were instances of 
hospital employees' entering ``Gypsy'' in a child's birth certificate 
under ``nationality of the mother,'' even though these individuals were 
Romanian citizens. Romani CRISS filed complaints with the CNCD.
    In May, July, and September 2009, the Romani Center for Health 
Policies SASTIPEN (SASTIPEN) filed complaints against a gynecologist at 
the hospital in Targu Neamt, Neamt County, for allegedly denying access 
to medical services to three Romani women. Based on the October 2009 
decisions of an investigative commission and the ethics council of the 
hospital (which considered only one of the three cases), the county's 
Doctors' Council initially decided in October 2009 not to investigate 
the cases and in April exonerated the doctor of any responsibility. On 
August 30, SASTIPEN challenged the Doctors' Council's decision, and on 
November 2, the case was sent to the higher Commission of Discipline of 
the National Doctors' Council, where it remained at year's end. In 2009 
SASTIPEN also filed a separate complaint with the CNCD. On July 7, the 
CNCD resolved one of the September 2009 complaints, deciding that the 
doctor's behavior was discriminatory and sanctioning him with an 
admonition.
    A project to assess the access of Roma to public health care, 
developed by SASTIPEN and the Bucharest-based Institute for Public 
Health, revealed that, although 87 percent of the respondents declared 
they have a family doctor, access to medical services remained low due 
to lack of financial resources, discrimination on the part of medical 
personnel, and the Roma's own lack of awareness about access to public 
health care services. The project studied 45 Romani communities between 
November 2009 and November 2010.
    A Romani CRISS survey of 935 doctors conducted in the spring 
indicated that about 70 percent of Roma go to family doctors only in 
the case of an acute disease and only 9.2 percent have medical check-
ups.
    Romani communities were largely excluded from the administrative 
and legal systems. According to Open Society Institute (OSI) research 
conducted in 2007, 4.9 percent of Roma lacked birth certificates. Among 
non-Romani citizens, fewer than 1 percent lacked birth certificates. 
Similarly, surveys in 2007 and 2008 indicated that between 1.9 and 6 
percent of Roma lacked identity cards, compared to 1.5 percent of non-
Roma. During 2009 the Ministry of the Administration and Interior 
issued identity cards and civil status documents to 16,470 persons, of 
whom 1,752 were Roma. The lack of identity documents excluded Roma from 
participating in elections, receiving social benefits, accessing health 
insurance, securing property documents, and participating in the labor 
market. Roma were disproportionately unemployed or underemployed. 
According to the Barometer for Social Inclusion 2010, 60 percent of 
Romani households lived on less than the minimum wage. The average 
monthly income of Romani households was 657 lei ($205).
    NGO observers noted Romani women faced both gender and ethnic 
discrimination. Romani women often lacked the training, marketable 
skills, or relevant work experience to participate in the formal 
economy. According to a 2006 OSI report, only 26 percent of Romani 
women interviewed were part of the workforce. The average monthly 
income of Romani women surveyed was 106 lei ($33).
    Romani CRISS and the Impreuna Agency for Community Development 
criticized the ineffectiveness of the Government's 2001-2010 national 
strategy for the improvement of the situation of Roma.
    According to government reports, 88 projects subsidized by the 
European Social Fund and aimed mostly at the social integration of the 
Romani persons were in progress at the end of the year. A total of 
216,358,433 euros ($290 million) was allocated to these projects.
    The National Agency for Roma is tasked with coordinating public 
policies for Roma. Romani NGOs, however, criticized the scope of this 
agency's responsibilities, noting that they are too broad and often 
overlap with the activities of other government bodies.
    According to the most recent census, from 2002, ethnic Hungarians 
are the country's largest ethnic minority with a population of 1.4 
million.
    In the Moldavia region, where the Roman Catholic, Hungarian-
speaking Csango minority resides, the community continued to operate 
government-funded Hungarian-language classes. According to the 
Association of Csango Hungarians in Romania (AMCM), 986 students in 16 
localities received Hungarian-language classes during the 2010-11 
academic year. In 24 localities the AMCM sponsored daily educational 
activities in the Hungarian language. In some other localities, such as 
Luizi Calugara and Tuta, requests for Hungarian language classes were 
denied. The AMCM complained that there was no Hungarian-speaking school 
inspector at the School Inspectorate of Bacau County.
    Internet discussion forums continued to include discrimination and 
hate speech most frequently targeting Jews, ethnic Hungarians, Roma, 
and LGBT individuals in discussion forums during the year.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law prohibits 
discrimination based on sexual orientation; however, NGOs reported that 
police abuse and societal discrimination against lesbian, gay, 
bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons was common and that open 
hostility prevented the reporting of some harassment and 
discrimination. Members of the gay and lesbian community continued to 
voice concerns about discrimination in public education and the health 
care system. During the year the NGO ACCEPT provided legal and health 
counseling dealing with transgender issues to 12 persons. The NGO 
reported that the number of complaints by members of its community 
about harassment of gay men by authorities increased during the year. 
Several members reported that police and gendarmerie raids took place 
in public places known to be meeting areas for gay men, and that police 
behavior was abusive. These raids mostly occurred in public parks, with 
police or gendarmes asking all men to show their identification, 
questioning them about the reason for their presence, making offensive 
comments regarding homosexuality, and threatening to arrest them.
    During the year several individuals complained to ACCEPT that 
police raided the Bucharest North Railway Station and the surrounding 
neighborhood and abused persons they suspected of being gay. 
Complainants stated police used offensive language regarding their 
sexual orientation, handcuffed them, threatened or used physical 
violence such as beatings, forced them to clean toilets, and fined them 
for disturbing public order. According to one individual who requested 
legal assistance from ACCEPT, police did not show their identification 
badges.
    After a four-year-long lawsuit, a court ruled in November that the 
National Administration of Penitentiaries should pay moral compensation 
amounting to 50,000 euros ($67,000) for discrimination based on sexual 
orientation. An individual represented by ACCEPT filed a lawsuit 
against the National Administration of Penitentiaries in 2006 
complaining that the institution had failed to protect him from acts of 
sexual violence, harassment, threats, and discrimination committed by 
fellow prisoners while he was in jail in 2004-05.
    No developments were reported in the February 2009 beating and 
assault on a transgender person in Bucharest or the reported verbal 
abuse of the same person by taxi drivers in March 2009.
    There were two officially registered LGBT organizations, ACCEPT and 
LGBTeam. Other LGBT groups lacked legal status and generally kept a low 
public profile.
    On May 22, between 200 and 300 persons participated in the annual 
``march of diversity'' gay pride parade in Bucharest. Local authorities 
mobilized approximately 400 police to protect the participants, and the 
parade ended without violent incidents. There were some claims that 
individuals who wanted to participate in or watch the parade were 
discouraged from doing so because of the police barricades. The New 
Right, an extreme-right nationalistic group opposed to homosexuality 
and claiming a Christian orientation, sponsored a ``march for 
normalcy'' antigay rally on the same day as the march for diversity, 
but at a different time and location. They chanted virulently antigay 
slogans. Prior to May 22, a group of NGOs called for a ban on the gay 
parade. Some of these NGOs, including the Alliance of Families from 
Romania and the Christian Orthodox Forum, sponsored a ``march for the 
family,'' which gathered approximately 150 participants. The Orthodox 
Church criticized both the gay parade and the New Right march, saying 
that both organizations sought publicity and did not have the church's 
blessing. A senator, Iulian Urban, called the gay pride parade a 
``direct threat to the Romanian family.''
    In February, EU Parliamentarian Gigi Becali, the owner of the 
Steaua soccer team, stated that he would not accept the transfer of a 
soccer player to Steaua because he was allegedly gay. ACCEPT filed a 
complaint with the CNCD. In April during a press conference, Becali 
tore up the notification received from the CNCD regarding this 
complaint and declared, ``There will never be any homosexual player at 
Steaua.'' In December the CNCD admonished Becali for statements 
defaming the gay community.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Under the law HIV-
infected persons have the right to confidentiality and to adequate 
treatment. However, discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS 
impeded access to routine medical and dental care, and authorities 
rarely enforced laws prohibiting this form of discrimination. Breaches 
of confidentiality involving individuals' HIV status were common and 
rarely punished.
    Observers noted widespread discrimination faced by children with 
HIV/AIDS and authorities' failure to protect them from discrimination, 
abuse, and neglect.
    Doctors reportedly refused to treat children and youths with HIV/
AIDS. Medical personnel, school officials, and government employees did 
not maintain confidentiality of information about the children.
    More than half of HIV-infected adolescents were sexually active; 
they frequently experienced reduced access to facilities for 
reproductive health care and the prevention of HIV and sexually 
transmitted infections. The Government provided access to 
antiretroviral therapy; however, stigma and discrimination against 
persons with HIV/AIDS frequently impeded their access to education, 
other medical care, government services, and employment. Fewer than 60 
percent of HIV-positive children and adolescents attended some form of 
schooling.
    According to the National Commission Fighting against AIDS, at the 
end of the year 10,924 persons had HIV/AIDS. During the year 275 new 
cases were identified. According to the National Union of Organizations 
of Persons with HIV/AIDS (UNOPA), of the 10,000 HIV-positive persons in 
the country, more than 7,000 were between the age of 18 and 22. Many of 
them were targets of social discrimination. Many of these individuals 
were believed to have a low level of formal education because they 
dropped out of school due to stigmatization, discrimination, or 
disease. UNOPA carried out a project aimed at giving vocational 
training to HIV-positive young persons in order to help them find jobs.
    In a report published in June that assessed the situation of HIV-
positive persons, UNOPA concluded that many of these persons had to 
discontinue treatment because of the insufficient funds for HIV 
medications from the National Health Insurance House. The report also 
revealed difficulties in accessing dental and gynecology services. 
According to UNOPA only a small number of HIV-positive persons had jobs 
because of their fear of applying for work and their belief that 
coworkers might find out about their disease or that they were not up 
to the challenges of regular work.
    In September 2009 an NGO filed a complaint with the Iasi Doctors' 
Council and the CNCD against a doctor who refused to issue a document 
required to assign a place in a student hostel to an HIV-positive 
student, arguing the risk of contamination. Although the Doctors' 
Council ruled the doctor's action did not constitute an unethical or 
discriminatory act, the CNCD decided in November 2009 that the act in 
question was discriminatory and sanctioned the doctor with an 
admonition.

    Incitement to Acts of Discrimination.--There were no reports of 
propaganda in government or government-controlled media that attempted 
to justify or promote ethnic hatred or violence. However, various 
government officials made statements throughout the year that 
contributed to ethnic stereotyping of Roma (see section 6, National/
Racial/Ethnic Minorities).
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The constitution allows workers to 
form and join independent labor unions without prior authorization, and 
workers freely exercised this right. However, employees of the Ministry 
of National Defense, most employees of the Ministry of Administration 
and Interior, most employees of the Ministry of Justice, prison 
personnel, and intelligence personnel did not have the right to 
unionize. Approximately 40 percent of the workforce was unionized; 
however, that number continued to decline. The majority of unionized 
workers belonged to one of the five main national trade union 
confederations. Only a small percentage of agricultural workers 
belonged to unions.
    The right to form unions was generally respected in practice. Union 
officials stated that registration requirements stipulated by law were 
complicated but generally reasonable. However, unions objected to the 
requirement that they submit lists of prospective union members with 
their registration application. Since employers also had access to this 
list, union officials feared that this could lead to reprisals against 
individual unionized employees, hindering the formation of new unions.
    The law allows unions to conduct their activities without 
interference, and the Government protected this right in practice. 
However, unions complained about excessive political influence at 
workplaces in public institutions. The alleged interference included 
appointment of managers for political reasons and instances where 
politically connected managers received prior information about 
supposedly unannounced labor inspections.
    Although the law permits strikes by most workers, lengthy and 
cumbersome requirements made it difficult to hold strikes legally. 
Unions may strike only if all arbitration efforts have failed and 
employers are given 48 hours' notice. Unions complained that they must 
submit their grievances to government-sponsored arbitration before 
initiating a strike and that the courts had a propensity to declare 
strikes illegal. Companies may claim damages from strike organizers if 
a court deems a strike illegal. Judges, prosecutors, some justice 
ministry staff, and employees of the intelligence service and the 
Ministries of National Defense, and Administration and Internal Affairs 
do not have the right to strike.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides workers the right to bargain collectively, but government 
control of many industrial enterprises and the absence of independent 
management representatives hindered collective bargaining. Only 
enterprises employing more than 21 persons may negotiate collective 
agreements. Collective labor contracts covered approximately 80 percent 
of the workforce at the branch and unit levels. National collective 
labor contracts are negotiated every four years. The main employers' 
associations, trade unions, and the Government last negotiated a 
national collective labor contract for 2007-2010. However, contracts 
resulting from collective bargaining were not consistently enforced.
    The law has specific provisions against antiunion discrimination, 
which were generally respected. However, the International Trade Union 
Confederation reported that some companies, including foreign 
companies, employed tactics such as spreading antiunion propaganda, 
intimidating trade union members, and making employment conditional on 
a workers' agreement not to join a union. Public sector employees of 
one union federation informed the union that management had threatened 
them not to join street protests. Unions stated that many public and 
private sector employees were afraid to pursue disputes in court for 
fear of losing their jobs.
    There are no exemptions from regular labor laws in the country's 
six free trade zones and 31 disadvantaged 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. Persons, primarily local women 
and children, and women and children from Moldova, Colombia, and 
France, were trafficked within and to the country for begging, and 
petty theft. Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in 
Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There are laws to protect children from exploitation in the workplace; 
however, the Government did not consistently enforce these laws in 
practice, and child labor occurred.
    The minimum age for most forms of employment is 16 years, but 
children may work with the consent of parents or guardians at age 15. 
The law prohibits minors from working in hazardous conditions. The law 
provides a basis for the elimination of hazardous work for children and 
includes a list of dangerous work and sanctions for offenders. Parents 
whose children carry out hazardous activities are required to attend 
parental education programs or counseling and can be fined between 100 
and 1,000 lei ($32 to $320) for failure to do so. Persons who employ 
children for hazardous tasks can be fined 500 to 1,500 lei ($156 to 
$468).
    Minors over the age of 15 who are enrolled in school are also 
prohibited from performing activities that might endanger their health, 
morality, or safety. The activities are included on a list approved in 
2007 pursuant to an EU directive. Children under the age of 16 who work 
have the right to continue their education, and the law obliges 
employers to assist in this regard. Children aged 15 to 18 may only 
work six hours per day and up to 30 hours per week, provided their 
school attendance is not affected. In practice, however, reports 
indicated that many children did not attend school while working. 
Minors cannot work overtime or during the night, and they have the 
right to an additional three days of annual leave.
    Child labor, including begging, selling trinkets on the street, and 
washing windshields, remained widespread in Romani communities, 
especially in urban areas. Children as young as five engaged in such 
activities.
    The DGPC in the Ministry of Labor, Family, and Social Protection is 
mandated with monitoring and coordinating all programs for the 
prevention and elimination of the worst forms of child labor.
    Of the 964 confirmed cases of child labor reported in 2009, 604 
(62.7 percent) were in urban areas and 360 (37.3 percent) in rural 
areas; 434 of the victims were girls (45 percent) and 530 were boys (54 
percent); 749 victims (77.7 percent) were under 14 years of age and 215 
(22.3 percent) were between 15 and 18. The confirmed cases involved 
bonded labor (65 cases), begging (642 cases), victims of domestic 
trafficking (42 cases), external trafficking (29 cases), working 
without a labor contract (44 cases), forced labor (45 cases), 
prostitution (23 cases), working in the street (41 cases), and other 
illicit activities (22 cases). See also the Department of State's 
annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.
    The Ministry of Labor, Family, and Social Protection can impose 
fines and close factories for child labor exploitation. However, 
enforcement of all but extreme violations tended to be lax. Employers 
who violated child labor laws were generally fined by the Labor 
Inspectorate but were not prosecuted in court. There were no reports 
during the year of anyone being charged in court with violating child 
labor laws; in practice judges did not consider violations of the child 
labor law to be criminal offenses.
    The law requires schools to notify social services immediately if 
children miss class to work. Social services have the responsibility to 
reintegrate such children into the educational system. The Government 
conducted information campaigns to raise awareness of child labor and 
children's rights among children, potential employers, school 
officials, and the general public.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Beginning in January 2009 the 
gross minimum wage was 600 lei (approximately $187) for a full-time 
schedule of 170 hours per month, or approximately 3.75 lei ($1.17) per 
hour. The minimum wage for skilled workers was 20 percent higher. 
During the year the minimum wage was briefly raised to 705 lei ($220 a 
month), then reduced to the previous level of 600 lei ($187) in order 
to comply with the country's agreement with the International Monetary 
Fund (IMF).
    In the first six months of the year, based on a new Unitary Salary 
Law that came into force on January 1, the minimum wage for public 
sector employees was 705 lei ($220) per month. Following the country's 
agreement with the IMF, the Government invoked a constitutional 
provision for enacting special temporary measures under extraordinary 
circumstances to cut salaries of public sector employees by 25 percent 
as of July 1.
    The minimum monthly wage did not provide a decent standard of 
living for a worker and family. The Ministry of Labor, Family, and 
Social Protection successfully enforced minimum wage rates. In practice 
many employers paid supplemental salaries under the table to reduce 
both the employees' and employers' tax burdens. However, this practice 
negatively affected employees' future pensions and their ability to 
obtain commercial credit.
    The law provides for a standard workweek of 40 hours or five days. 
Workers are entitled to overtime pay for weekend or holiday work or 
work in excess of 40 hours, which may not exceed 48 hours per week 
averaged over one month. The law requires a 24-hour rest period in the 
workweek, although most workers received two days off per week. The 
Ministry of Labor, Family, and Social Protection effectively enforced 
these standards. Union leaders complained that overtime violations were 
the main problem facing their members, since employees were often 
required to work more than the legal maximum number of hours and the 
overtime compensation required by law was not always paid. This 
practice was especially prevalent in the textile, banking and finance, 
and construction sectors. Union officials alleged that a majority of 
on-the-job accidents occurred during such compulsory, uncompensated 
overtime.
    The law provides penalties for work performed without a labor 
contract in either the formal or informal sectors of the economy. 
Employers who use illegal labor may be jailed or fined up to 100,000 
lei ($31,200). During the year enforcement was lax, due not only to 
corruption within the Labor Inspectorate but also because both 
employers and employees could benefit from lower taxes by working 
without a labor contract or by receiving a supplemental salary under 
the table.
    The Ministry of Labor, Family, and Social Protection is responsible 
for establishing and enforcing safety standards for most industries but 
lacked trained personnel to do so effectively. Employers often ignored 
the ministry's recommendations, which were usually implemented only 
after an accident occurred. Workers had the right to refuse dangerous 
work but seldom invoked it in practice.

                               __________

                                 RUSSIA

    The Russian Federation has a centralized political system, with 
power concentrated in a president and a prime minister, a weak 
multiparty political system dominated by the ruling United Russia 
party, and a bicameral legislature (Federal Assembly). The Federal 
Assembly consists of a lower house (State Duma) and an upper house 
(Federation Council). The country has an estimated population of 142 
million. Security forces generally reported to civilian authorities; 
however, in some areas of the Northern Caucasus, there were serious 
problems with civilian control of security forces.
    There were numerous reports of governmental and societal human 
rights problems and abuses during the year. The restrictions on 
political competition and interference in local and regional elections 
in ways that restricted citizens' right to change their government 
continued. There were reports of: attacks on and killings of 
journalists by unidentified persons for reasons apparently related to 
their activities; physical abuse by law enforcement officers, 
particularly in the North Caucasus region; and harsh and often life-
threatening prison conditions. Arbitrary detention and politically 
motivated imprisonments were problems. The Government controlled many 
media outlets and infringed on freedoms of speech and expression, 
pressured major independent media outlets to abstain from critical 
coverage, and harassed and intimidated some journalists into practicing 
self-censorship. The Internet remained by and large free and provided 
citizens access to an increased amount of information that was not 
available on state-controlled media. The Government limited freedom of 
assembly, and police at times used violence to prevent groups from 
engaging in peaceful protest. Rule of law and due process violations 
remained a problem.
    Corruption was widespread throughout the executive, legislative, 
and judicial branches, and officials often engaged in corrupt 
practices. Corruption in law enforcement remained a serious problem. 
Political and executive influence on the judicial system was observed 
in some high-profile cases. The Government made it difficult for some 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to carry out their work. 
Unidentified assailants physically attacked NGO leaders who took 
positions opposed to government policies or private interests. Security 
services and local authorities at times fabricated grounds for legal 
justification for searches and raids on civil society groups. Violence 
against women and children, including domestic violence, remained a 
significant problem. Trafficking in persons continued to be a 
significant problem. During the year xenophobic, racial, anti-Semitic, 
and ethnic attacks and hate crimes, particularly by skinheads, 
nationalists, and right-wing extremists, continued to be significant 
problems. There were instances of societal discrimination, harassment, 
and violence against religious and ethnic minorities. There continued 
to be some governmental and widespread social discrimination against 
persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities, and dark-skinned 
immigrants. Worker rights were limited. Labor activists reported police 
used intimidation techniques against union supporters, including 
detention, interrogations, and provocation of physical confrontation.
    The conflict between the Government and insurgents, Islamist 
militants, and criminal forces in the North Caucasus led to numerous 
human rights violations by all parties, who reportedly engaged in 
killing, torture, abuse, violence, and politically motivated 
abductions, often with impunity. In Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkariya, 
the number of attacks on law enforcement personnel increased markedly. 
Violence generally decreased in Chechnya and Ingushetiya in comparison 
with 2009, but there were some high-profile attacks on regional 
government targets. The number of persons killed in the region declined 
slightly from 2009; however, the number of injured, especially among 
civilians, increased significantly. Thousands of internally displaced 
persons (IDPs) in the region lived in temporary centers that failed to 
meet international standards.
                        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 
the Government or its agents committed politically motivated killings 
and other arbitrary killings, particularly in the Caucasus region (see 
section 1.g.). In many cases the Government did not punish the 
perpetrators.
    In the Caucasus areas of conflict, there were numerous killings 
during the year by both authorities and militants (see section 1.g.).
    On January 20, Tomsk resident Konstantin Popov, who was arrested 
for public intoxication, died in police custody after policeman Alexey 
Mitayev beat him and shot him in the genitals. Authorities arrested 
Mitayev and charged him with assault and abuse of authority. Mitayev 
faced 10 years in prison on charges of ``intentional infliction of a 
grave injury leading to death by negligence'' and ``exceeding official 
powers with the use of force.'' On January 22, the Kremlin fired the 
chief of the Tomsk police force, General Viktor Grechman, in reaction 
to the killing. First Deputy Prosecutor Aleksander Buksman called for 
the control of holding cells for drunks to be transferred to the health 
and social development ministry.
    The Ministry of Defense reported 14 deaths as a direct result of 
hazing during the year (see section 1.c.). However, the Committee of 
Soldiers' Mothers estimated the actual number of deaths during the year 
due to violence among soldiers, including those who died in hospitals, 
upon discharge or because of lack of medical care, to be approximately 
2,000. As in past years, human rights observers noted that few of the 
persons accused in such incidents were prosecuted or otherwise held 
accountable.
    According to the publication Kommersant, in May, Roman Suslov, a 
21-year-old draftee, was found hanged on a train bound for his military 
posting. Although the army claimed he committed suicide, Suslov's body 
showed clear signs of violent death and no signs of hanging. Suslov had 
sent a text message to his parents on the day of his death warning of 
the brutal conditions in the military, writing ``they will either kill 
me or make me disabled.'' The authorities opened an investigation only 
after repeated demands by his parents.
    On May 31, Albert Kiyamov fell to his death out of a fourth story 
barracks window, five days after reporting for military duty. Although 
the death was ruled a suicide, Kiyamov had endured days of beating and 
humiliation at the hands of his sergeant, Sergey Lugovets, against whom 
criminal charges were filed.
    There was a report of a death during the year related to denial of 
medical care in a pretrial detention center. On April 30, Vera 
Trifonova died after awaiting trial for more than four months in the 
Matrosskaya Tishina pretrial detention center. The lead investigator in 
the criminal case against her was charged with criminal negligence. 
Human rights observers charged that she was denied treatment for her 
worsening condition in order to force her to make a false confession 
(see section 1.c.).
    No charges resulted from an investigation into the 2009 death in a 
Moscow pretrial detention prison of lawyer Sergei Magnitskiy (see 
section 1.c.).
    On April 12, Moscow judge Eduard Chuvashov was shot and killed in 
the stairwell of his apartment in central Moscow. In February he had 
imposed stiff sentences on several members of the White Wolves fascist 
organization, finding nine of them responsible for 11 killings. This 
group was reportedly linked with the nationalist group Combat 18. 
Chuvashov had earlier convicted members of another nationalist group of 
killing 20 persons and attempting to kill 12 others. At year's end no 
suspects were apprehended in the case.
    According to the Glasnost Defense Foundation, a number of 
journalists were killed during the year, possibly for reasons related 
to their professional activities. The Government officially reopened 
investigations into the killings of several journalists from previous 
years (see section 2.a.), although by year's end there were arrests 
only in one case, that of the lawyer Stanislav Markelov and Novaya 
Gazeta reporter Anastasiya Baburova. Many of the killings were related 
to the conflict in the North Caucasus (see section 1.g.).
    On December 23, the Moscow city prosecutor's office filed a 
criminal case against Nikita Tikhonov and Yevgenia Khasis, who were 
arrested in November 2009 and charged with the January 2009 shooting 
death of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist 
Anastasiya Baburova. The attack occurred shortly after Markelov held a 
press conference to criticize the early parole of Colonel Yuriy 
Budanov, who in 2000 raped and strangled an 18-year-old Chechen girl. 
The prosecutor's office charged the pair with murder. Both individuals 
were reportedly closely associated with the Russian nationalist group 
Russian Way.
    There were no developments in the January 2009 fatal beating of 20-
year-old activist Anton Stradymov in Moscow. Stradymov was a member of 
the National Bolshevik group. He had also participated in a number of 
``dissenters marches,'' a form of political opposition protest begun in 
2006.
    There were no developments in the shooting death in November 2009 
by unknown persons of antifascist activist Ivan Khutorskoy.
    There were no developments in the October 2009 killing of prominent 
Ingush human rights activist Maksharip Aushev or the December 2009 
killing of several of his relatives. Despite the promise of 
Ingushetiya's president, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov Yevkurov, that there would 
be a vigorous investigation of Aushev's killing, no arrests were 
reported.
    There were no developments in the December 2009 killing of Gennadiy 
Prudetskiy director of the charity Social Defense for Victims of 
Repression. Investigators believed his shooting death could be related 
to his work with the charity.
    There were no developments in the cases of Muslim religious 
scholars Saihadji Saihadjiev, Nustap Abdurakhmanov, and Akhmed 
Hadjimagomedov, who were abducted and killed in 2008 in Dagestan.
    Rebel forces committed extrajudicial killings in the conflicts in 
the North Caucasus area (see section 1.g.).

    b. Disappearance.--Reports of politically motivated disappearances 
in connection with the conflicts in the Northern Caucasus continued. 
According to Caucasian Knot, an online Russian news agency specializing 
in reporting on the Caucasus, there were 52 cases of kidnappings or 
illegal detentions in the region, and only 16 of those persons were 
confirmed to have returned home (see section 1.g.).

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution prohibits such practices; however, there 
were numerous, credible reports that law enforcement personnel engaged 
in torture, abuse, and violence to coerce confessions from suspects, 
and there were allegations authorities did not consistently hold 
officials accountable for such actions. There is no law defining 
torture, and prosecutors are only able to bring charges of simple 
assault or exceeding authority against police suspected of engaging in 
torture.
    Physical abuse of suspects by police officers usually occurred 
within the first few hours or days after arrest. Some of the methods 
reportedly used included beatings with fists, batons, or other objects. 
A February 2009 report by the commissioner for human rights (ombudsman) 
noted that one-third of the complaints submitted to his office involved 
human rights violations by law enforcement authorities.
    On February 11, police in Bashkortostan detained Dmitry Apanin, a 
fifth-year university student. News reports indicated officers mistook 
Apanin's severe stutter for evidence of intoxication and took him to a 
detoxification center. There, he was allegedly beaten, which resulted 
in breaking one of his spinal vertebrae.
    On June 17, police in Dagestan beat human rights lawyer Sapiyat 
Magomedova at a police precinct after she tried to gain access to a 
client.
    On August 31, Kstovo police allegedly beat 17-year-old Nikita 
Kaftasev, after detaining him on suspicion of committing an unspecified 
crime. The boy was dropped off at a city hospital the next morning, 
where he underwent emergency surgery; he reportedly sustained permanent 
damage to his genitals.
    Security forces at times beat journalists and protesters (see 
sections 2.a. and 2.b.).
    During the year, reports by refugees, NGOs, and the press suggested 
a pattern of police beatings, arrests, and extortion when dealing with 
persons who appeared to be of Caucasus, Central Asian, African, or 
Romani ethnicity.
    In June a Moscow court dismissed the case against former Yukos Oil 
Company vice president Vasiliy Aleksanyan due to an expiration of the 
statute of limitations. Aleksanyan, who was charged with assisting 
Yukos in tax evasion in 2006 but never tried, was HIV positive and had 
been diagnosed with lymphatic cancer and tuberculosis. He initially was 
held in a prison, rather than a hospital, but was released in 2009.
    On February 11, the chair of the Investigative Committee--a federal 
autonomous investigative body--Aleksandr Bastrykin ordered the 
reopening of a 2008 police beating case of several young men near 
Moscow's Sokolniki Metro Station. Police reportedly used billy clubs 
and electric shock in the beating. According to the Web site 
avtonom.org, a case had been opened against the police but later closed 
due to a lack of evidence.
    There continued to be instances of attacks on political and human 
rights activists, critics of government policies, and persons whom the 
Government considered supportive of the opposition. For example, 
government forces engaged in the conflict in the North Caucasus 
reportedly tortured and otherwise mistreated civilians, as well as 
participants in the conflict (see section 1.g.).
    In March Amnesty International reported an attack on Vadim 
Karastelev, a member of the Novorossisk Human Rights Committee. He was 
severely beaten by two men outside his home. The attack occurred a day 
after his release from police detention, where he had been under arrest 
for seven days for an administrative offense--organizing a 
demonstration and allegedly disobeying police orders. Karastelev had 
earlier distributed leaflets calling for public support for police 
reform and support for former policeman Aleksey Dymovskiy, who is 
widely known for his Youtube video calling on President Medvedev to 
reform the police. According to police in Novorossisk, one person was 
detained in connection with the attack, which police investigators 
described as an act of ``hooliganism.'' (see section 1.d.).
    On October 25, unknown assailants beat Sochi activist Mikhail 
Vinyukov with metal rods. He was treated for a concussion, stab wounds, 
severe lacerations, and bruises, among other injuries. Observers linked 
the attack to Vinyukov's work on anticorruption issues. Vinyukov is the 
head of a branch of the NGO White Tape, whose manifesto is to protect 
citizen rights and interests. According to the Other Russia Web site, 
Vinyukov's life was threatened after he released a recording of a 
conversation between the head of the Sochi Resort Service and Tourism 
Department, Vladimir Shiroky, and the director of the Lagarevsky Rest 
Tourism Company, Galina Panaetova, which lead to Panaetova's arrest for 
bribery.
    On November 4, unknown assailants attacked environmental activist 
Konstantin Fetisov with baseball bats outside his apartment building, 
fracturing his skull. Observers linked the attack to Fetisov's 
participation in the campaign to preserve the Khimki forest. According 
to the Moscow Times, on December 27, police detained Andrei Chernyshev, 
Andrei Kashirin, and Vyacheslav Kovalyov in connection with the 
beating. Chernyshev, who is a department head of the property 
management committee in the Khimki City Hall, is suspected by the 
authorities of hiring the other two unemployed men to commit the 
beating.
    There was no indication the authorities were investigating the 
attack on human rights activist and former parliamentarian Lev 
Ponomaryov in April 2009.
    There was no indication authorities were investigating the April 
2009 attack on Stanoslav Yakovlev, a member of the Solidarity 
opposition party, or the July 2009 shooting assault on Albert 
Pchelintsev, a local anticorruption activist and freelance journalist 
from the Khimki region.
    In December 2009 police arrested the deputy head of the 
Khabarovskiy Kray Prosecutor's Office, Viktor Basov, for allegedly 
raping three juvenile girls. An investigator opened a criminal case 
against Basov, but the Khabarovsk Kray chief prosecutor refused to 
proceed. A federal prosecutor reopened the case, and Basov began his 
trial for rape in October.
    Reported abuses against military servicemen, particularly 
``dedovshchina,'' and the violent hazing of junior recruits in the 
military and other security services increased in the first half of the 
year. According to military officials, from January through May, such 
incidents increased by 150 percent compared with the same period in 
2009. The newspaper Vedimosti reported that during the same period, 
approximately 1,167 conscripts were hazed. Earlier in the year, the 
commander of the Siberian Military District told reporters that there 
was no dramatic decrease in such offenses as had been expected by 
military officials following the reduction in the period of mandatory 
military service to 12 months. Soldiers serving on contracts reportedly 
replaced senior soldiers as the main perpetrators of hazing. Such 
mistreatment often included beatings and extortion. According to the 
chief military prosecutor of the Russian Federation, Sergey Fridinskiy, 
more than 2,000 servicemen were convicted during the year of hazing 
recruits.
    In an interview with Argumenty I Fakty, Chief Military Prosecutor 
Sergey Fridinskiy said the number of hazing cases in the armed forces 
in 2010 increased by 18 percent over 2009. He believes the increase is 
related to a more than double increase in the number of conscripts. 
Supervising officers are also to blame, he noted. In 2009 Committee of 
Soldiers' Mothers regional committees reported receiving 9,523 
complaints of hazing mistreatment of servicemen from 20 regions of the 
country, similar to previous years. The complaints mostly concerned 
beatings, but also included sexual abuse, torture, and enslavement. 
Soldiers often did not report hazing to unit officers or military 
prosecutors due to fear of reprisals, since in some cases officers 
allegedly tolerated or even encouraged hazing as a means of controlling 
their units. Such cases were usually investigated only following 
pressure from family members, NGOs, or the media.
    Several deaths occurred as a direct or indirect result of military 
hazing during the year (see section 1.a.).
    On September 16, a young recruit, Andrei Starkov, was found dead in 
a military unit in Khabarovsk Krai. Starkov began his military service 
in June but was found hanging with no visible injuries. Investigators 
stated they had no evidence his death was caused by hazing, but his 
girlfriend and parents reported he had shown no signs of suicidal or 
abnormal behavior.
    During the previous year, seven soldiers had been found hung in 
military units in Khabarovsk Krai, and in only one of these cases did 
the military accept responsibility for the recruit's death.
    There were no developments in the investigation of the October 2009 
hanging death of 19-year-old private Denis Kostenko of Volgograd in 
Khabarovskiy Kray.
    The human rights ombudsman, as well as the Committee of Soldiers' 
Mothers, stated there was a growing problem with young men being forced 
to sign contracts to serve in the military forces. According to the 
Committee of Soldiers' Mothers, 10 soldiers had filed complaints with 
their organization regarding being forced to sign military service 
contracts.
    According to the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers, there were 
approximately 2,000 criminal cases related to violence amongst soldiers 
filed with the Ministry of Defense during the year. As in the past, 
hazing problems were reported to be particularly common in units that 
had previously served in areas of military conflict.
    Rebel forces engaged in the conflict in the North Caucasus region 
reportedly tortured and otherwise mistreated civilians, as well as 
participants in the conflict (see section 1.g.).

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions in many 
facilities remained extremely harsh and at times life threatening. 
Authorities permitted some monitoring by independent nongovernmental 
observers. Refusal by authorities to provide needed medical attention 
resulted in at least one death during the year (see section 1.a.). The 
Ministry of Justice's Federal Service for the Execution of Sentences 
(FSIN) administered most of the penitentiary system from Moscow. 
According to an official FSIN prison survey conducted in February, 
862,300 persons were in custody, including 8,500 juveniles and 55,300 
women. Of these, 734,300 were held in labor colonies and 129,800 in 
pretrial detention centers. Detainees were held in five basic forms of 
custody: temporary police detention centers, pretrial detention 
facilities (SIZOs), correctional labor colonies (ITKs), prisons 
designated for those who violate ITK rules, and educational labor 
colonies (VTKs) for juveniles.
    Conditions in SIZO pretrial facilities varied considerably, but 
many remained extremely harsh and posed a serious threat to health and 
life. In past years official statistics generally recorded several 
thousand prisoner deaths per year in SIZOs. Health, nutrition, 
ventilation, and sanitation standards remained low. Overcrowding was 
common, but the Federal Prison Service reported that by February, 
approximately 129,800 suspects were being held in pretrial detention 
facilities, a significant reduction from the previous year.
    Sergey Pysin, the lead investigator in the criminal case against 
Vera Trifonova who died on April 30 after awaiting trial for more than 
four months in Moscow's Matrosskaya Tishina pretrial detention center, 
was charged with criminal negligence. Trifonova, a businesswoman, 
suffered from severe diabetes, chronic kidney failure, was nearly 
blind, and required a wheelchair. Human rights observers claimed she 
was denied treatment for her worsening condition to force her to 
provide false testimony. President Medvedev ordered an investigation 
and the deputy head of the investigative committee for the Moscow 
Oblast reportedly was fired.
    Russian-born Latvian national Grigoris Spektors, who was accused of 
an economic crime, was denied critically needed medical treatment for 
diabetes and gangrene in a prison medical facility during the year and 
instead was incarcerated in Pretrial Detention Center Number Four. When 
Spektors was able to pay five million rubles ($161,000) for bail, the 
bail was increased to 18 million rubles ($582,000). Spektors was 
subsequently released and was undergoing treatment in Riga, Latvia, at 
year's end.
    The case of Sergey Magnitskiy, a pretrial detainee who died while 
in police custody in November 2009, continued. In July Investigative 
Committee Head Aleksandr Bastrykin opened a criminal case against 
Interior Ministry (MVD) personnel who had initially overseen the 
Magnitskiy case. Authorities were purportedly moving slowly because 
important persons were implicated (see section 4).
    In January eight prison employees of the IK-1 (penal colony number 
1) in Kopeysk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, were charged with brutality for the 
beating deaths of four inmates in 2008 while trying to end a riot. In 
October 2009 investigators in Chelyabinsk charged the head of the 
Oblast's FSIN, Vladimir Zhidkov, and 17 subordinates with deliberately 
covering up the killing. Zhidkov faced either a fine of 200,000 rubles 
($6,613) or a prison term of two years. A trial began on June 30 and 
continued at year's end.
    Most convicted prisoners were imprisoned in correctional labor 
colonies, which provided greater freedom of movement than SIZOs; 
however, at times guards humiliated and beat prisoners, according to 
Amnesty International. The country's prisons, distinct from 
correctional colonies, are penitentiary institutions for those who 
repeatedly violate the rules in ITKs.
    Federal standards call for a minimum of approximately 43 square 
feet per inmate, which is less than the 75-square-feet standard set by 
the European Convention on Human Rights. Widespread overcrowding 
remained a problem; however, the NGO Penal Reform International 
reported some progress in meeting this standard. President Medvedev 
moved to reduce the prison system's chronic overcrowding problem by 
issuing more pardons than his predecessor, and in August the Government 
implemented a broader use of punishment short of prison for persons 
convicted of lesser crimes.
    As of July, according to FSIN data, approximately 41 percent of 
persons incarcerated in the federal prison system had some type of 
illness. However, in August the General Prosecutor's Office stated that 
90 percent of inmates have health problems, and there were 1.2 million 
cases of illness. Approximately 67,000 inmates had mental disorders, 
40,000 had active tuberculosis, and 55,000 had HIV. Statistics for the 
number of drug and alcohol addicts in prison were not available for 
2010. Tuberculosis infection rates were far higher in detention 
facilities than in the population at large. Some defense attorneys 
reported the risk of contracting a disease in prison is very high and 
that some lawyers feared meeting with their clients for fear of 
contracting illness, such as tuberculosis. The European Court of Human 
Rights (ECHR) has entered various judgments against the country for 
failing to provide adequate medical care and not providing humane 
conditions and adequate space per prisoner.
    Abuse of prisoners by other prisoners continued to be a problem. 
Violence among inmates, including beating and rape, was common. There 
were elaborate inmate-enforced caste systems in which certain groups, 
including informers, homosexuals, rapists, prison rape victims, and 
child molesters were considered ``untouchables'' (the lowest caste) and 
treated harshly. Prison authorities provided little or no protection.
    As of June 2009, 62 VTKs held 8,500 juvenile prisoners. Conditions 
in the VTKs were significantly better than in the ITKs, but some 
juveniles in the VTKs and juvenile SIZO cells reportedly were beaten or 
raped. While juveniles were generally held separately from adults, 
there were two prisons in Moscow and one in St. Petersburg where 
children and adults were not separated.
    The law regulating public oversight of detention centers allows 
public oversight commission representatives to visit the facilities and 
has been operational in at least 70 regions since the fall of 2009. 
Regional NGOs are active in the commission's work. Additionally, since 
the April 2009 signing of a decree by Interior Minister Rashid 
Nurgaliyev, human rights groups have been allowed to monitor conditions 
of arrest and detention for pretrial detainees.
    However, the decree lacked firm instructions on its implementation, 
leaving the discretion to cooperate to authorities. The decree also 
required that officials be present during any discussions of conditions 
with prisoners. The liberal newspaper Noviye Izvestiye reported in 
October 2009 that the law had achieved mixed results, with some prison 
officials highly cooperative and others obstructionist, although in the 
latter case human rights advocates attributed the problem to lack of 
education among prison officials about the new law.
    Human rights observers were able to visit most of the country's 765 
prison and detention facilities. Since 2004 authorities have refused to 
grant the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access under 
its standard criteria to persons detained as part of the conflict in 
Chechnya, and the ICRC as of year's end still did not have any access 
to these detention facilities.
    According to the NGO Memorial, during the year the human rights 
group Committee of Societal Observers visited detention centers in the 
North Caucasus, where they documented continuing abuses.
    According to observers, persons convicted for minor offenses may 
often spend six months in prison before having a chance for parole.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention; however, in practice they remained problems.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Ministry of 
Interior, the Federal Security Service (FSB), and the office of the 
prosecutor general (Procuracy) are responsible for law enforcement at 
all levels of government. The FSB is responsible for security, 
counterintelligence, and counterterrorism, but it also has broader law 
enforcement functions, including fighting crime and corruption. The 
Procuracy has authority over the FSB, and the Investigative Committee, 
an independent body, has the authority to investigate crimes of 
individuals in the FSB. The national police force, under the Ministry 
of Interior, is organized at the federal, regional, and local levels.
    In February the magazine New Times published accusations that the 
special purpose police detachments (OMON) employed slave labor and had 
permission to use excessive force when disbanding unauthorized 
demonstrations (see section 2.a.).
    On March 10, legislators from the state Duma security committee 
sent an official request to Prosecutor General Yuriy Chayka to provide 
an explanation for an incident in which the Moscow traffic police used 
civilians' vehicles with persons inside as a human roadblock to stop a 
car carrying suspected armed criminals. Stanislav Sutyagin, one of the 
men whose car was damaged, told his story on Youtube. Sutyagin noted 
the traffic police later informed the car owners that since the 
criminal vehicle got away, they would not be compensated for their car 
damages.
    A new law empowered the FSB to issue warnings to individuals whom 
they believe to be creating the conditions for a criminal act ``against 
the country's security.'' The new law imposes fines and detention of up 
to 15 days for individuals judged to have hindered the work of an FSB 
employee.
    According to the Ministry of Interior Web site, MVD officials 
committed 125,000 offenses during the year (21 percent more than in 
2009). Of this number, an estimated 63,000 involved misconduct or 
disciplinary violations, and 4,171 criminal cases against police 
officers were initiated.
    On January 22, Aleksey Dymovskiy, a former police officer who 
gained notoriety for his Youtube video in which he accused the 
Novorossiysk police force of corruption, was arrested and charged with 
defrauding the police department of 24,000 rubles ($775). He was held 
in pretrial detention for two months, and then released (see section 
4).
    On July 1, authorities released Tatyana Kazakova, mayor of the 
Siberian village of Listvyanka, whom the FSB had arrested in 2008, 
accused of abuse of office and election irregularities, and held for 
more than two years in pretrial detention. Observers alleged her arrest 
may have been ordered in retaliation for her request for a criminal 
inquiry into an FSB-owned resort. The federal children's ombudsman, 
Pavel Astakhov, called the Government's refusal to allow Kazakova's 
children to visit her during detention a ``major injustice'' and 
declared she was being persecuted, a charge echoed by the Siberian 
human rights ombudsman. Kazakova was found guilty of a felony, but her 
six-year sentence was suspended in September.
    On August 2, police in Tatarstan detained human rights lawyer 
Rustem Vliullin for two days. Vliullin claimed one officer from the 
counterextremism department beat him and another officer threatened to 
kill him. He was arrested after videotaping police when they stopped 
his client for a traffic violation. He was never charged with a crime, 
and he filed a suit against the police.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--By law an 
individual may be taken into custody for up to 48 hours without court 
approval if arrested at the scene of a crime, provided there is 
evidence of the crime or a witness. Otherwise a court-approved arrest 
warrant is required. After their arrest, detainees are typically taken 
to the nearest police station, where they are informed of their rights. 
Police are required to document in writing the grounds for the 
detention. This document is to be signed by the detainee and the police 
officer within three hours of detention. Police must interrogate the 
detainee within the first 24 hours of detention. Prior to interrogation 
the detainee has the right to meet with an attorney for two hours. No 
later than 12 hours after detention, police must notify the prosecutor. 
They must also notify the detainee's relatives unless a prosecutor 
issues a warrant to keep the detention secret.
    Police are required to release a detainee after 48 hours, subject 
to bail conditions, unless a court decides to prolong custody in 
response to a motion filed by police no later than eight hours before 
the expiration of the 48-hour detention period. The defendant and 
attorney must be present at the court hearing. By law police must 
complete their investigation and transfer the case file to a prosecutor 
for arraignment within two months of a suspect's arrest, although a 
court may extend a criminal investigation for up to six months in cases 
classified as complex. With the personal approval of the prosecutor 
general, a judge may extend that period up to 18 months. According to 
some defense lawyers, these time limits were frequently evaded by 
formally sending the case to court for adjudication. This action 
effectively extends the 18-month time limit.
    Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code adopted in April imposed 
new limits on pretrial detention in cases involving ``entrepreneurial'' 
(i.e., white-collar) crimes. The amendment also widened the definition 
of economic crimes and allowed bail to be offered at any time through 
real property, rather than cash or securities. While it is difficult to 
accurately measure the amendment's impact, available information seems 
to indicate a significant decrease in pretrial detention. According to 
Russian Supreme Court Justice Lebedev, in the first six weeks after the 
passage of the amendment, courts approved less than 50 percent of 
detention applications, in contrast to the 90 percent approval rate 
prior to the law. According to an editorial in the newspaper Vedimosti, 
the total number of accused persons held in pretrial detention dropped 
by 10 percent--from 131,400 to 120,100, in the first nine months of the 
year. However, some lower courts appeared to disregard the amendments 
by simply defining the charged crimes as ``nonentrepreneurial,'' 
thereby exempting them from the scope of the new law. This disregard 
was possibly due to illicit pressure on judges by corrupt business 
parties who initially ``commissioned'' the cases.
    Legal limitations on detention were generally respected outside of 
the North Caucasus; however, there were exceptions. There were reports 
of occasional violations of the 48-hour limit for holding an arrestee. 
At times authorities failed to write the official detention protocol 
within the required three hours after the actual detention and held 
suspects longer than the legal detention limits. In April legislation 
was adopted to provide remedies in domestic courts for persons with 
grievances over prolonged detention (see section 1.e.).
    There were reports that police, in obtaining defense counsel for 
detainees, obtained defense counsel friendly to the prosecution. These 
``pocket'' defense attorneys agreed to the interrogation of their 
clients in their presence while making no effort to defend their 
clients' legal rights. The general ignorance of legal rights on the 
part of both defendants and their legal counsel contributed to the 
persistence of these violations. In many cases, especially in more 
remote regions, defense counsel was not available for indigent 
defendants.
    Judges occasionally suppressed confessions of suspects if they were 
taken without a lawyer present. They also at times freed suspects who 
were held in excess of detention limits, although they usually granted 
prosecutors' motions to extend the detention period for good cause. The 
Supreme Court overturned a number of cases in which lower court judges 
permitted prolonged detention on what the Supreme Court deemed 
inadequate grounds.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary; however, the judicial branch did not 
consistently act as an effective counterweight to other branches of the 
Government. Judges remained subject to influence from the executive, 
military, and security forces, particularly in high profile or 
politically sensitive cases, such as the Khodorkovskiy case.
    The law requires judicial approval of arrest warrants, searches, 
seizures, and detentions. This approval requirement was generally 
honored, although the process of obtaining the judicial warrants was 
occasionally subverted by bribery or political pressure.
    The Investigation Committee, formerly located within the Office of 
the Prosecutor General, is now an independent agency, overseeing the 
investigation of many serious cases. The Investigation Committee chief 
is appointed directly by the president.
    Despite recent increases in judges' salaries, reports of judges 
accepting bribes continued. For the first half of the year, the Supreme 
Qualifying Collegium of Judges removed one judge from office for a 
disciplinary offense and warned another. This collegium is charged with 
certifying appointments to the judiciary and judges' promotions. 
Regional qualifying collegia during this period disciplined 163 judges 
for disciplinary violations, including 155 judges of the courts of 
general jurisdiction and eight arbitrazh (commercial court) judges. In 
addition, a considerable number of judges each year are allowed to 
leave office on their own initiative without any question of discipline 
being raised formally.
    The Supreme Court stated in April that 40 percent of criminal cases 
presented to the upper court in 2009 suffered from judicial errors. The 
reported main sources of these errors were poor qualifications of 
judges in the lower courts and improper classification of crimes as 
criminal rather than administrative. The head of the Supreme Court, 
Vyacheslav Lebedev, called for stricter selection of future judges, 
noting that 60 to 70 judges each year are dismissed.
    Authorities did not provide adequate protection for witnesses and 
victims from intimidation or threats from powerful criminal defendants. 
In May 2009 the Ministry of Interior estimated nearly half of the 
approximately 10 million witnesses in criminal cases suffered threats 
or violence from criminal elements; they noted the existence of the 
witness protection program was little known among the population.
    In February 2009 a Moscow judge, Olga Kudeshkina, publicly 
criticized Moscow's judicial system, alleging widespread improper 
influence on rulings and calling it an ``instrument for settling 
political, commercial, or personal scores.'' She was subsequently 
dismissed from her position. She appealed her case to the European 
Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which in August awarded her 10,000 euros 
($13,400).
    In June 2009 the Council of Europe issued a report, based on 
interviews with judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, and defendants, 
which asserted that judges routinely received intimidating telephone 
calls from superiors instructing them how to rule in specific cases, 
with particular emphasis placed on delivering convictions at any cost. 
The report stated defense attorneys were frequently threatened and 
corporations were at the mercy of corrupt law enforcement officials. 
Among the cases detailed in the report was one of a Moscow region judge 
who was dismissed and told publicly by a United Russia Duma deputy that 
she ``ought to be shot'' after voiding the results of a local election.

    Trial Procedures.--Trials typically are conducted before a judge 
without a jury (bench trials). The defendant is presumed innocent. The 
defense is not required to present evidence and is given an opportunity 
to cross-examine witnesses and call defense witnesses. Defendants who 
are in custody during the trial are confined to a caged area in the 
courtroom and must consult with their attorneys through the bars. 
Defendants have the right of appeal.
    The law provides for the use of jury trials for a limited category 
of crimes in higher-level regional courts.
    During the year the ECHR on multiple occasions found the country in 
violation of provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights 
related to trial procedures. The court found 84 violations by the 
country involving the right to a fair trial and 29 violations involving 
proceedings that exceeded a ``reasonable'' length of time.
    According to the Novosti Web site, in December Prime Minister Putin 
opined jury trials are ``ineffective'' and can be influenced by clan or 
ethnic interests. In 2008 the State Duma enacted, and the president 
signed, a law providing that certain crimes, including terrorism, 
espionage, hostage taking, and mass disorder, would be heard by panels 
of three judges rather than by juries.
    In July 2009 the Government began using plea bargaining in criminal 
cases. Plea bargains reduced defendants' time in pretrial detention, 
reduced the average prison sentence by one third, and allowed courts 
and prosecutors to devote their resources to other cases.
    Prior to trial defendants are provided a copy of their indictment, 
which describes the charges in detail. They are also given an 
opportunity to review their criminal file following the completion of 
the criminal investigation. Defense attorneys are allowed to visit 
their clients in detention, although sometimes conditions reportedly 
make it difficult for attorneys to conduct meaningful and confidential 
consultations with their clients. Some defense lawyers claimed their 
conversations were monitored electronically by informants, and that 
sometimes prison authorities didn't provide them with access to their 
clients. They also claimed that investigators hired ``pocket 
attorneys'' who simply advised defendants to confess, thereby 
preventing the defendant from obtaining real legal representation.
    The law provides for the appointment of an attorney free of charge 
if a suspect cannot afford one; however, this provision was often 
ignored in practice. The high cost of competent legal service means 
lower-income defendants often lacked competent representation. There 
were few defense attorneys in remote areas of the country. Public 
centers, staffed on a part-time basis by lawyers, continue to offer 
free advice on legal rights and recourse under the law; however, they 
are not permitted to handle individual cases. The federal government 
funded a limited experimental system of legal assistance for indigent 
persons in 10 regions.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--Authorities selectively 
detained and prosecuted members of the political opposition. On 
December 31, during a Strategy 31 demonstration for the right of 
freedom of assembly, authorities arrested opposition figures Boris 
Nemtsov, Ilya Yashin Eduard Limonov, Vladimir Tor, and Konstantin 
Kosyakin. Charges ranged from failure to comply with a police directive 
to hooliganism.
    Human rights organizations and activists also identified the 
following individuals during the year as political prisoners: Aleksey 
Sokolov, Igor Sutyagin, Zara Murtazaliyeva, Valentin Danilov, Mikhail 
Khodorkovskiy, and Platon Lebedev. Igor Sutyagin was released during 
the year.
    In August, in what his lawyers described as a serious human rights 
violation, authorities transferred Aleksey Sokolov, the head of 
Sverdlovsk-based NGO Legal Basis, which highlights corruption and abuse 
in prisons, to an unspecified Krasnoyarsk Krai penitentiary by order of 
the FSIN. On September 5, Sokolov reported that while in transit, the 
head of the Novosibirsk detention center beat him. Sokolov stated he 
was ordered to put in writing he had initiated the fight. Despite his 
injuries, Sokolov did not receive medical attention for eight days. 
Sokolov was arrested in May 2009 and convicted on charges of having 
committed a burglary five years earlier. Sokolov had received warnings 
local authorities would ``find a reason'' to imprison him if he 
continued his human rights work (see section 5).
    According to his legal representatives, Sokolov had little or no 
access to his family and legal representation. Sokolov's case was filed 
in the ECHR in December 2009 and was awarded priority status in April. 
On December 14, the Sosnovoborsk city court rejected Sokolov's motion 
for conditional early release. Despite letters supporting his motion 
from the Russian Human Rights Ombudsman, the Helsinki Group, Amnesty 
International, and the Russian Public Chamber, the judge reportedly 
based her decision on two disciplinary infractions: Sokolov's reading a 
book at the wrong time of day and his drinking tea with a cellmate in 
remembrance of Sokolov's recently deceased father.
    Valentin Danilov continued serving a 13-year prison sentence for 
allegedly transferring classified technology to China, although 
colleagues and supporters asserted the information in question was 
declassified more than a decade before his arrest.
    Former Yukos owners Mikhail Khodorkovskiy and Platon Lebedev 
continued to serve eight-year prison sentences following their initial 
2005 convictions for fraud and tax evasion. Although a number of high-
profile witnesses had testified that the new charges against 
Khodorkovsky and Lebedev were baseless, both men were found guilty on 
December 30 and subsequently given the maximum possible sentence by the 
court. They will be eligible for release in 2017. The ECHR heard 
arguments in claims by Yukos against its expropriation by the 
Government in March.
    The arrest, conviction, and subsequent treatment of Khodorkovskiy 
and Lebedev raised concerns about due process and the rule of law, 
including the independence of courts. Some observers believed that, 
while the original charges against Khodorkovskiy may have had some 
merit, he was selectively targeted for prosecution because of his 
politics. Others have speculated that he was targeted to strip his 
assets and those of Yukos and acquire them on behalf of government and 
business interests. A week before the court reached the verdict, Prime 
Minister Putin commented about the case that ``a thief belongs in 
jail,'' which some observers called pressure on the court.
    In March the ECHR agreed to hear Khodorkovskiy's approximately 
three trillion-ruble ($98 billion) claim against the Government that 
his rights were violated. The damage claimed is the estimated amount 
that Yukos would have been worth if its properties had not been 
stripped away in 2007.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--By law any person in the 
country may bring allegations to the ECHR concerning human rights 
violations covered by the European Convention on Human Rights that 
occurred after 1998, provided they have exhausted ``effective and 
ordinary'' appeals in the country's courts. This condition was usually 
satisfied by two appeals (first and cassation) in courts of ordinary 
jurisdiction or three (first, appeal, and cassation) in the commercial 
court system. The ECHR received more than 40,000 complaints involving 
the country. During the year the ECHR ruled against the state in 217 of 
415 cases. The Demos Center reported in January 2009 that state 
agencies enforced ECHR rulings approximately 60 percent of the time. 
When they did, the Government generally paid financial judgments 
ordered by the ECHR in a timely fashion; however, it rarely carried out 
judicial orders from the ECHR or made corresponding changes in domestic 
legislation and practice required by ECHR decisions. The Government 
also issued blanket refusals in response to ECHR requests for 
disclosure of the domestic case files relating to alleged gross 
violations in Chechnya. The ECHR criticized this failure of disclosure. 
In March the Government ratified Protocol 14 of the European Convention 
on Human Rights, designed to streamline the process by which the ECHR 
examines cases and thus reduce its backlog of six to nine years. The 
protocol entered into force on June 1.
    In May and June, the ECHR ruled that the Government must provide 
financial compensation to victims' family members for its complicity in 
the 2000 and 2002 killings and disappearances of a number of Chechens 
(see section 1.g.).
    A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released in September 2009 
concluded that the central government had failed to act on any of the 
ECHR rulings that called on it to investigate the 115 rulings on human 
rights violations in Chechnya, almost all of which found the country 
responsible for serious human rights violations and failure to 
investigate the crimes. HRW researched 33 of the cases and found that 
the Government had not brought a single perpetrator to justice. 
According to HRW, the number of rulings on human rights violations in 
Chechnya increased to 150 this year, and in almost all cases, the 
authorities refused to investigate.
    Persons considering applying to the ECHR for redress of grievances 
could be intimidated by a past pattern of harassment toward applicants. 
Amnesty International and other human rights groups reported past 
reprisals against applicants to the court, including killings, 
disappearances, and intimidation. According to press reports and human 
rights NGOs, as of September 2009 at least six applicants to the ECHR 
had been killed or abducted.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The legislation on 
Compensation to Citizens Whose Right to a Fair Trial and Right to 
Enforcement of a Judgment within a Reasonable Time Have Been Violated 
became law on May 4. The law was expected to reduce the substantial 
number of cases brought to the ECHR from Russia, since 30 percent of 
these concern the right to a fair trial. The law allows petitioners to 
request ``reasonable'' financial compensation for violation of 
``reasonable'' time limits in the consideration of criminal and civil 
cases, including the enforcement of judgments.
    Although the law provides mechanisms for filing lawsuits against 
authorities for violations of civil rights, these mechanisms often do 
not work well in practice. For example, the law provides that a 
defendant who has been acquitted after trial has the right to 
compensation from the Government. In reality, however, human rights 
activists claimed compensation is avoided through procedural means, 
such as leaving cases in pending status, without closing them. As a 
result, Russians who believe their civil rights have been violated 
typically seek redress in the ECHR, after a Russian court finds against 
them.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and it forbids 
officials from entering a private residence except in cases prescribed 
by federal law or on the basis of a judicial decision. The law also 
prohibits government monitoring of correspondence, telephone 
conversations, and other means of communication without a warrant and 
prohibits the collection, storage, utilization, and dissemination of 
information about a person's private life without his or her consent. 
While these provisions were generally followed, there were allegations 
that government officials and others engaged in electronic surveillance 
without judicial permission and entered residences and other premises 
without warrants.
    Law enforcement agencies have legal access to telephone records, 
including personal information of cell phone owners, and require 
providers to grant the Ministry of Interior and the FSB 24-hour remote 
access to their client databases. In past years, some experts asserted 
this access was unconstitutional; however, the practice has not been 
challenged in court. Authorities are able to monitor telephone calls in 
real time through the Law on Operational Search Activity.
    The Government requires Internet service providers to provide 
dedicated lines to the security establishment, enabling police to track 
private e-mail communications and monitor Internet activity. In January 
2009, the Ministry of Information and Communication officially required 
telecommunications companies and Internet service providers to allow 
the FSB to tap telephones and monitor information over the Internet. 
The ministry maintained that no information would be accessed without a 
court order. There were no new wiretapping cases during the year.

    g. Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts.--
Violence continued to spread in the North Caucasus republics, driven by 
separatism, interethnic conflict, jihadist movements, vendettas, 
criminality, and excesses by security forces. Dagestan, Kabardino-
Balkaria, and North Ossetia witnessed a significant increase in 
violence, while Ingushetiya, Chechnya, and Karachayevo-Cherkessia saw a 
decrease from the previous year. The Government used security forces to 
try to impose order, created a regional public council, and allocated 
50 billion rubles ($1.5 billion) for social and economic assistance 
projects.
    Rebels also continued to commit human rights abuses, including 
major acts of terrorism.

    Killings.--There were numerous killings during the year by both 
government forces and militants.
    Russian government officials often provided contradictory data on 
such casualties, while nongovernmental sources were inconsistent as 
well. Russian Federation Deputy Prosecutor General Sydoruk, for 
example, stated that as of December, 300 militants had been killed, 
including 16 rebel leaders; additionally, the deputy prosecutor stated 
that 218 law enforcement and military personnel had been killed and 536 
injured in the unrest. This was an 11 percent increase over 2009. 
According to other public media reports, there were 918 killings during 
the year by both authorities and militants, and nearly 800 civilians 
were killed or wounded as well--a 30 percent increase from 2009.
    Caucasian Knot, an online Russian news agency specializing in 
reporting on the Caucasus, reported that during the year, fighting in 
the North Caucasus resulted in 1,710 casualties, the majority of which 
occurred in Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetiya. A total of 754 persons 
were killed and 956 were wounded; 349 of those killed were alleged 
militants, 225 were security service personnel, and the remaining 180 
were civilians. Dagestan was the deadliest region in the North 
Caucasus. Almost 700 persons were killed or wounded there, and nearly 
150 isolated clashes involving security forces and militants took 
place, as did more than 100 bombings or explosions.
    Among the attacks, on January 6, in Makhachkala, a car carrying 220 
pounds of TNT exploded at the gates of a military field camp killing 
five policemen and wounding 19. In Chechnya, 37 rebel bombings, 12 
suicide bombings, and 62 armed clashes killed 127 persons, including 44 
security personnel, 80 rebel insurgents, and three civilians, and 
wounded 123 persons, including 93 security officials and 30 civilians. 
On October 19, three suicide bombers attacked the Chechen parliament 
building, killing two policemen and one watchman.
    In North Ossetia, three rebel attacks killed 24 persons, including 
two security personnel, two rebels, and 20 civilians, and injured 202 
persons, including 35 law enforcement personnel and 167 civilians. On 
September 9, a suicide bomber drove a car into the central Vladikavkaz 
market and detonated it, killing 19 persons and injuring 160. In 
Ingushetiya there were 40 bombings, two suicide attacks, and 103 
firefights, which killed 31 security personnel, 63 rebels, and 40 
civilians, and wounded 133 government officials and 59 civilians. In 
Kabardino-Balkaria, there were 41 bomb attacks and one suicide bombing, 
which killed 23 government personnel, 25 rebels, and 31 civilians. 
Approximately 16 security personnel and 47 civilians were injured. In 
Stavropol three attacks killed two rebels and eight civilians and 
injured 79 persons.
    Deputy Chechen Interior Minister Roman Edilov reported 87 rebels 
were killed in Chechnya, including three rebel military commanders, and 
220 had been arrested during the year. On December 20, the Ministry of 
Interior estimated 80 rebels had been killed and 180 arrested in the 
first 11 months of the year in Chechnya. Both estimates indicated a 
decrease in violence from 2009, when 177 rebels were killed and 213 
arrested.
    Civilians suffered as a result of actions by both rebels and 
security personnel. In Dagestan, nine children were killed by stray 
gunfire during a counterterrorist operation in the village of Kirovaul 
in the Kizilyurt District on December 6.
    There continued to be reports of indiscriminate use of force by 
security personnel resulting in numerous deaths. Security forces 
generally conducted their activities without regard for due process or 
civilian casualties and with apparent impunity from investigation or 
prosecution for their conduct.
    For example, on February 11-12, according to NGO Memorial, security 
forces killed at least four civilians in Ingushetiya in the course of 
an operation against rebels. The authorities claimed the inhabitants of 
the area had been warned in advance of the operation and the four had 
been caught in cross fire with terrorists. Memorial cited local 
residents as saying they had not been warned and describing the killing 
of the victims as separate actions not related to firing on terrorists. 
Chechen ombudsman Nurdi Nukhazhhiyev supported the Government's claim 
but doubted the objectivity of a government investigation. He alleged 
that ``hundreds of crimes committed by the Russian military against 
Chechen civilians have not been investigated.''
    There were also killings by rebels. For example, on May 13, in 
Dagestan, five persons were killed when a vehicle carrying 
telecommunications workers was attacked with two bombs and gunfire from 
unknown persons, according to a press account. The personnel were on 
their way to repair a cell phone tower damaged in a fire the day 
before. The gunmen reportedly declared at the end of the attack that as 
soon as the communications center was repaired, they would attack it 
again.
    According to NGO Interfax, on June 8, an official of a madrassa in 
Dagestan was shot and killed. Authorities detained a suspect identified 
as ``an active supporter of radical Islamism.'' On the same day also in 
Dagestan, Interfax reported a judge, Abdurakhyman Gamzatov, was fatally 
shot in his home.
    On September 7, unknown gunmen in Kabardino-Balkaria ambushed and 
killed district judge Dzhulber Bykov in his car. Political observers 
tied the killing to Bykov's professional activities.
    According to the Glasnost Defense Fund, 12 journalists were killed 
during the year. The Web site Journalists-in-Russia.org listed 11 
journalists killed, seven of them possibly for reasons associated with 
their work (see section 1.a.). Reporters Without Borders listed only 
one killing of a journalist.
    On May 11, according to the Glasnost Defense Foundation, Shamil 
Aliyev, founder and head manager of Priboi and Vatan radio stations and 
director of the TNT-Makhachkala television network, was shot and killed 
in Makhachkala. Unknown assailants attacked his car with submachine 
guns, leaving Aliyev and his bodyguard dead and his driver wounded. No 
arrests were made by year's end.
    On August 11, according to the Glasnost Defense Foundation, Magomed 
Sultanmagomedov, editor in chief of Makhachkala TV, was shot and killed 
in Makhachkala, when unknown assailants attacked his car with 
submachine guns. No arrests were made in connection with the case.
    In November a trial began in Vienna of three persons, Otto 
Kaltenbrunner (formerly known as Ramzan Edilov), Suleiman Dadayev, and 
Turpal-Ali Yesherkayev, who were alleged to have been accomplices in 
the shooting death in Vienna in January 2009 of Umar Israilov. 
Israilov, a former bodyguard of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, 
became a critic of Kadyrov's rule and filed a complaint with the ECHR 
stating he had witnessed Kadyrov torturing prisoners and that Chechen 
authorities and Kadyrov had also beaten and tortured him and his 
family. According to the European Center for Constitutional and Human 
Rights, an expert witness testified at the Vienna trial that Israilov's 
alleged killer, Letscha Bogatirov, was promoted by the Kadyrov 
government following the assassination as a reward for his actions. The 
trial was scheduled to continue in 2011.
    There were no arrests or indications of continuing investigation in 
the August 2009 abduction and killing in Chechnya of Zarema Sadulayeva 
and Alik Dzhabrailov, charity workers who ran the Grozniy-based NGO 
Save the Generation.
    There were no arrests or indications of a continuing investigation 
into the 2008 killing of three Chechen brothers, Zurab, Akhdan, and 
Alvi Ilaev, nor was there any indication authorities were investigating 
the 2008 killing in Makhachkala of Telman Alishayev, a journalist from 
the Islam-focused television station TV Chirkey.
    On May 12, the ECHR ruled the Russian government must pay 225,000 
euros ($301,500) in compensation for its complicity in the killing of 
four Chechens and the disappearance of another.
    On June 17, Caucasian Knot reported the ECHR concluded security 
authorities were responsible for the disappearances and deaths of seven 
Chechens in 2002. The ECHR ordered the Government to pay 470,000 euros 
($630,000). Hasan Batayev, Zaur Ibragimov, Magomed Temurkayev, Rizvan 
Ismailov, Said-Ali, and Haron Musayevi were taken from their homes in 
Grozny by armed masked men. Usman Mavlyueva was kidnapped at a 
checkpoint.
    There were no reports of further developments in the following 2009 
killings of civilians, police, and government officials by rebels or 
unknown persons: the March shootout between police and insurgents in 
Dagestan in which five officers and 12 rebels were killed; the March 
abduction and killing of a police officer in the Vedeno Region of 
Chechnya; the April grenade attack on the home of Criminal Police Chief 
Alikhan Geroyev of Sunzhenskiy District, Ingushetiya, which killed both 
Geroyev and his sister; the June killing of Adilgirey Magomedtagirov, 
the chief of the Dagestan Ministry of Interior; the July killing in 
Nazran of Magomed Gadaborshev, head of the Ingush Republic's criminal 
investigation department; the July shooting death of Isapil Ozdoeyev, 
the head of a city-level Ministry of Interior department; the July 
abduction, torture, and killing of Batyr Albakov in Ingushetiya; the 
August shooting death of Ingush construction minister Ruslan 
Amerkhanov; the August killing of 25 persons and wounding of 280 at an 
Ingush police station in Nazran; and the August attack in which 10 men 
shot and killed four officers in Buinaksk, Dagestan, and then shot and 
killed seven women in a nearby sauna.
    Federal forces and their opponents in Chechnya made extensive use 
of antipersonnel mines in Chechnya. During the year the estimated area 
in Chechnya covered with mines ranged from 34,600 to 59,300 acres, 
according to Kommersant and Nezavisimaya Gazeta.

    Abductions.--Government personnel, rebels, and criminal elements 
continued to engage in abductions in the North Caucasus. Officials and 
observers disagreed on the numbers of victims. Human rights groups 
believed the numbers of abductions were underreported due to the 
reluctance of victims' relatives to complain to authorities due to fear 
of reprisal. According to a report on the Web site Caucasian Knot, 
during the year approximately 50 persons were kidnapped or unlawfully 
detained by armed parties in the North Caucasus, and only 16 were 
freed. Allegedly, there was no accountability for government forces 
involved in abductions. There were continued reports abductions were 
followed by beatings or torture to extract confessions and that 
abductions were conducted for political reasons. Criminal groups in the 
region, possibly with links to rebel forces, frequently resorted to 
kidnapping for ransom.
    On March 3, according to the Investigation Committee, a special 
unit for missing persons was set up in Chechnya and received reports 
regarding the kidnapping of more than 200 persons by military and MVD 
personnel between 1999 and 2003.
    At the same time, security forces under the command of Chechen 
President Kadyrov allegedly played a significant role in abductions, 
either on their own initiative or in joint operations with federal 
forces. Human rights groups reported these forces were frequently 
suspected of being responsible for disappearances and abductions, 
including those of family members of rebel commanders and fighters.
    Security forces in Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetiya frequently 
abducted or detained individuals for several days without immediate 
explanation or charge, according to human rights groups. Caucasian Knot 
reported that rather than issuing a summons for criminal offenses, 
security forces preferred to seize suspects at home or while traveling.
    On May 13, according to the NGO Memorial, police in Ingushetiya 
arrested Magomed Garbakov after security forces partially destroyed his 
home during a search in which approximately 217,000 rubles ($7,000) and 
personal items were reportedly stolen. Garbakov has not been seen 
since, and his family has not been informed of the charges against him.
    On August 8, Russian and Ingush security forces raided the home of 
the Mutsolgov family and abducted 15-year-old Magomed Mutsolgov, 
beating his father in the process. The child was held for two days and 
reportedly tortured with electric shocks. Caucasian Knot noted the case 
might be related to Magomed's older brother, who was killed by the FSB 
in July.
    In October 2009 a procurement and logistics assistant for the 
Danish Refugee Council, Zarema Gaisanova, was abducted from her home in 
Grozniy. Amnesty International asserted that law enforcement officials 
carried out the abduction. Her whereabouts remained unknown at year's 
end. The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) reported that eye-witnesses and 
other human rights organizations stated that a special security 
operation involving either Chechen leader Ramzon Kadyrov or a security 
unit named after him took place, in which Zarema Gaisanova was taken 
away in a military vehicle. The NGO Memorial criticized the criminal 
investigation into the matter as poorly executed and incomplete. The 
DRC met in April with the Russian Ombudsman for Chechnya, who stated 
that he would look into the disappearance, but there was no further 
information on his efforts.
    An investigation continued into the abduction in St. Petersburg in 
December 2009 of two brothers and two uncles of slain activist 
Maksharip Aushev.
    There were no developments in the 2008 abduction case of 
Mokhmadsalakh Masaev, a Muslim preacher accused of ``salafism.''

    Physical Abuse, Punishment, and Torture.--Armed forces and police 
units reportedly frequently abused and tortured persons in holding 
facilities where federal authorities sorted out rebels and persons 
suspected of aiding them from civilians.
    In Chechnya and Ingushetiya, there continued to be reports of 
torture by government forces.
    For example, on April 27, police in Ingushetiya detained 20-year-
old Zelimkhan Chitigov. He was held for two days before being charged 
with weapons possession, for a grenade found in his room, which his 
family maintained was planted by police. According to NGO Memorial, 
Chitigov was brutally beaten while in custody and subjected to electric 
shocks and other forms of torture. Chitigov remained in police custody 
but in a hospital, where he was being treated for brain and spinal cord 
injury, burns, and other serious injuries.
    There was a report of a continued arson campaign. The Chechen arson 
campaign began in 2008 following explicit threats by Chechen President 
Kadyrov and by Grozniy Mayor Muslim Khuchiyev of burning down houses 
belonging to families whose sons were suspected of joining the 
insurgency. Human rights activist Natalya Estemirova was working on a 
documentary on the arson campaign when she was killed in July 2009 (see 
section 1.a.). According to the testimony of Human Rights Watch 
representative Tanya Lokshina, the latest incident in the arson 
campaign occurred in Shali on March 16.
    The Independent Commission on Human Rights in the Northern 
Caucasus, headed by the chairman of the State Duma Committee on 
Legislation, continued to hear hundreds of complaints, ranging from 
destruction or theft of property to rape and killing; however, the 
commission was not empowered to investigate or prosecute alleged 
offenders and referred complaints to military or civil prosecutors. 
Almost all complainants alleged violations of military discipline and 
other crimes by federal and Chechen Republic forces.
    Chechnya Human Rights Ombudsman Nurdi Nukhazhiyev continued the 
practice of his predecessor in not cooperating with the area's leading 
NGO, Memorial.

    Other Conflict-Related Abuses.--Throughout 2009 security forces 
conducted security sweeps and passport checks at temporary settlements 
in Ingushetiya housing IDPs from Chechnya (see section 2.d.). At times 
these sweeps reportedly led to human rights abuses or disappearances. 
In February 2009 the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees 
(UNCHR) reported that Chechen authorities had begun visiting 
approximately 2,500 Chechen IDPs in 22 temporary shelters in 
Ingushetiya and urging them to return to Chechnya, sometimes with 
verbal threats. The UNHCR reported different forms of pressure on IDPs 
continued during the year.
    Human rights groups visited illegal detention centers for 
internally displaced persons in Chechnya and other locations in the 
North Caucasus where they documented continuing abuses. Chechen 
Republic security forces reportedly maintained secret prisons in 
Tsentoroi, Gudermes, and other locations. HRW reported that it had 
detailed descriptions of at least 10 unlawful detention facilities. 
Human rights groups reported that officers of the federal Ministry of 
Interior's Second Operational Investigative Bureau illegally detained 
and tortured persons in its Grozniy offices.
    Authorities this year continued to refuse to grant the Red Cross 
access, under its standard criteria, to persons detained as part of the 
conflict in Chechnya. This denial has been in effect since 2004.
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 government 
pressure on some media persisted in coverage of select controversial 
issues, resulting in numerous infringements of these rights.
    While the Government generally respected citizens' right to freedom 
of speech, state-controlled media frequently ignores critical voices 
with regard to the conduct of federal forces in the North Caucasus, 
human rights, high-level corruption, and opposition political views. 
Some regional and local authorities took advantage of the judicial 
system's procedural weaknesses and overly broad laws to detain persons 
for expressing views critical of the Government.
    On July 7, authorities formally charged Oleg Orlov of the NGO 
Memorial with ``slander'' for accusing Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov 
of complicity in the 2009 killing of human rights activist and 
journalist Natalya Estemirova. Human rights advocates and international 
observers criticized the case against Orlov as an infringement of free 
speech. On September 13, Orlov went on trial in the Khamovnicheskiy 
Court in Moscow; Orlov's trial was scheduled to continue in 2011.
    With some exceptions, judges appeared unwilling to challenge 
federal and local officials who sought to prosecute critics. These 
proceedings on occasion resulted in large fines.
    On September 16, the state-owned news agency RIA Novosti refused to 
allow the members of the newly established opposition coalition, For 
Russia without Tyranny and Arbitrariness, to hold a press conference on 
the agency's premises. While the agency had previously agreed to lend 
its premises, it cancelled the event an hour and a half before its 
scheduled time. Opposition figures claimed the cancellation was 
politically motivated.
    In some cases the Government used direct ownership, or ownership by 
large private companies with government links, to control or influence 
some major national media and regional media outlets, especially 
television. During the year the Government reportedly used its leverage 
to restrict dissemination of information about issues deemed sensitive, 
including coverage of opposition political parties and official 
corruption. Several times during the year, there were reports on Ekho 
Moskvy and other independent media outlets about self-censorship in the 
television media, particularly on issues critical of the Government. 
Print, Internet and radio media were more free and independent in 
comparison. Russian television journalist Leonid Parfyonov decried 
self-censorship in the media, stating in a November speech that 
``journalists are not journalists at all, but bureaucrats, following 
the logic of service and submission.''
    International observers criticized the unbalanced access to the 
media, particularly television, for candidates in local elections in 
March and October, noting that, as in previous elections, United Russia 
candidates were given favored media access. Observers also noted 
numerous press freedom abuses, including harassment of media outlets, 
legislative limitations, lack of equal access to information, and 
arbitrary application of rules.
    More than 60 percent of the country's 45,000 registered local 
newspapers and periodicals were owned directly by the Government or by 
state-owned/state-controlled companies. The largest daily newspaper was 
independently owned, but several other influential national newspapers 
were owned by the Government, by persons with ties to the Government, 
or by state-owned companies. Many publications without government 
connections maintained editorial independence and resisted selective 
attempts by the Government to influence their reporting.
    The federal government owned one of the six national television 
stations and had a controlling interest in one other; state-owned or 
state-affiliated companies owned controlling interests in three others; 
and the Moscow city administration owned the sixth. Approximately two-
thirds of the other 2,500 television stations in the country were 
completely or partially owned by the federal and local governments. As 
a result, the television media often offered constrained editorial 
content, in particular, avoiding any content critical of the 
Government.
    International media continued to face some impediments to their 
ability to operate freely. Since 2007 authorities have curtailed 
stations broadcasting Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and 
Voice of America (VOA) news programs, except for stations in Moscow and 
St. Petersburg, which continued to broadcast RFE/RL and VOA programs.
    Government-controlled media consistently provided one-sided 
coverage of President Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
    The Government maintained ownership of the largest radio stations, 
Radio Mayak and Radio Rossiya, both of which adhered to government 
positions in their news reporting. Ekho Moskvy radio, despite being 
majority-owned by the state-controlled corporation Gazprom, provided 
broader coverage and independent editorial comment, often sharply 
critical of the Government, and a platform to members of the 
opposition. The Government also owned the national news agencies ITAR-
TASS and RIA-Novosti.
    According to the media freedom NGO Glasnost Defense Foundation 
(GDF) there were 58 attacks against journalists during the year, 
approximately the same level as in 2009. In most cases, according to 
the GDF, the mistreatment appeared to have been at the initiative of 
local officials.
    A number of journalists were assaulted and several were killed 
during the year; frequently the attacks were directly related to the 
journalists' professional activities, although it was not always clear 
whether this was the case. According to the GDF, this year 12 
journalists were killed, although other sources listed fewer. Most 
cases of high-profile killing and kidnapping of journalists were 
unresolved. In March 2009 the Center for Journalism in Extreme 
Situations reported 40 cases of unresolved killings of journalists 
since 2003. NGOs supporting independent media 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.
    For example, on May 31, police in Moscow detained and allegedly 
beat Gazeta.ru correspondent Aleksandr Artemyev for attending an 
opposition rally in support of freedom of assembly. The rally had been 
prohibited by Moscow city authorities. Police broke Artemyev's arm in 
two places. His attempts to seek criminal prosecution of the police 
were not successful.
    On April 26, unidentified assailants in Sochi severely beat Arkadiy 
Lander, editor in chief of the local newspaper Mestnaya. He suffered 
severe head injuries and was hospitalized. Lander's colleagues believed 
that the attack was in response to the newspaper's frequent criticism 
of city authorities and corruption. The police investigation into the 
attack produced no results by year's end.
    On May 18, an unknown attacker in Tomsk fired several shots from a 
nonlethal weapon at Mark Minin, director of a local television station, 
without attempting to rob him. According to Minin, the attack could 
have been ordered by individuals he featured on his television 
programs.
    On November 6, journalist and blogger Oleg Kashin was severely 
beaten outside his Moscow home by two attackers. It is possible that 
the attack was connected to his work, as he had reported on the 
controversial Khimki Forest road construction project and Kremlin-
sponsored political youth movements and had engaged in a public dispute 
with Pskov Governor Andrei Turchak. He also exposed Russian Youth 
Agency Head Vasiliy Yakemenko's alleged indiscretions with an underage 
girl. The Young Guard, a Kremlin-based youth group, had publically 
threatened Kashin on its Web site, citing the journalist in a column 
headlined ``Journalist-Betrayers Should Be Punished.'' President 
Medvedev ordered the Prosecutor General's Office and the Interior 
Ministry to investigate. There were no arrests by year's end.
    On November 4, Khimki Forest opposition activist Konstantin Fetisov 
was attacked with a bat and suffered a skull fracture after leaving a 
police station following questioning by the police regarding Khimki 
Forest protests. Fetisov remained in a coma, and three persons were 
arrested in connection with the attack.
    On November 5, the editor of the Saratov Journal, Sergey 
Mikhayilov, was attacked. According to the Guardian newspaper, 
following a critical news story, Mikhayilov stated that a member of the 
Duma texted him: ``Your activity will not be without consequences.'' 
Police stated that they do not believe the attack was related to 
Mikhayilov's work.
    On November 8, two men attacked Zhukovsky Vesti reporter Anatoly 
Adamchuk outside his newspaper's offices. He was hospitalized with a 
head injury, and his thumb drive was stolen. According to Adamchuk's 
colleagues, he stated that the attackers repeatedly stated the name of 
his newspaper while beating him. Adamchuk had written about the felling 
of local forests prior to an on air show. Moscow police claimed that 
Adamchuk faked this attack and hired two persons to stage it.
    The Murmansk Interior Criminal Investigation Department announced 
they believed that the January 2009 shooting death in Murmansk of 
Shafiq Amrakhov, editor of the online news site RIA-5151, was connected 
to his business activities and not his work as a journalist. Amrakhov 
was shot in the stairwell of his home.
    There were no developments in the investigation into the March 2009 
death of Sergey Protazanov, journalist for the newspaper Grazhdanskoye 
Soglasie (Civic Agreement), who was attacked by unknown assailants in 
the Moscow suburb of Khimki. His colleagues indicated that he had been 
working on a story about the local administration's alleged violations 
of electoral law.
    There were no developments in the investigation into the April 2009 
attack on Vyacheslav Yaroshenko, editor in chief of the Rostov-on-Don 
newspaper Korruptsiya I Prestupnost (Corruption and Crime). Yaroshenko 
died of his injuries in June 2009. His colleagues believed he was 
killed in revenge for his investigative reporting on corruption among 
local authorities.
    On February 26, the lead investigator of the abduction and killing 
in July 2009 of prominent journalist and human rights activist Natalia 
Estemirova announced that authorities knew who had killed her but were 
unable to make an arrest.
    There were no developments in the investigation into the August 
2009 shooting death of Dagestani journalist Abdulmalik Akhmedilov in 
Makhachkala by unknown assailants. Akhmedilov had criticized federal 
forces and local law enforcement officers for suppressing religious and 
political dissent; he was also known for his investigative reporting 
into assassinations of Dagestan officials.
    There were no developments in the investigation into the November 
2009 death Olga Kotovskaya of Kaskad TV in Kaliningrad, who fell from 
the 14th floor of a building. Kotovskaya had just won a court case to 
regain control of her television station, which had a reputation for 
objective news reporting. Officials initially claimed that her death 
was suicide but a week later opened a criminal investigation for 
killing.
    In May two men went on trial in Dagestan charged with the 2008 
killing of Gadzhi Abashilov, head of the local branch of the Russian 
State Television and Radio Company in Makhachkala. In June the Dagestan 
Supreme Court ordered further investigation into the case, citing legal 
violations by the investigators. In August investigators released both 
suspects from custody, stating that the maximum allowable term of 
pretrial detention had expired. Law enforcement authorities and 
Abashilov's colleagues believed that his killing was related to his 
journalistic work, including his reporting on the situation in 
Dagestan.
    There were no reports of progress in the following cases: the 2008 
attack on Miloslav Bitokov, editor in chief of the Gazeta Yuga 
newspaper in the North Caucasus Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria; the 
2008 beating of independent Khimki journalist Mikhail Beketov, 
publisher of the weekly Khimkiskaya Pravda; the 2008 beating of several 
journalists during a series of protests over planned increases in 
tariffs on imported cars; and the 2008 attack on Zhanna Akbasheva, a 
correspondent for the Regnum News Agency in Karachay-Cherkessia, who 
wrote about corruption and press freedom issues.
    In June the Investigative Committee, formerly under the 
Prosecutor's Office extended the term of the investigation into the 
2006 killing of prominent investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya 
until February 2011. The Investigative Committee announced that it had 
identified more suspects in the case, and asked a number of EU 
countries for help apprehending them. In October the Investigative 
Committee charged Sergey Khadzhikurbanov, a former police officer who 
is serving a prison term for extortion, with organizing the killing of 
Politkovskaya. Khadzhikurbanov was among the three defendants acquitted 
of the same charges in 2009. In June 2009 the Supreme Court overturned 
a February 2009 lower court decision to acquit four suspects, including 
former FSB officer Pavel Ryaguzov in Politkovskaya's killing.
    In April the Investigative Committee maintained that the suspected 
perpetrator of the 2004 killing of Paul Klebnikov, the former editor in 
chief of Forbes Russia, remained at large. The Prosecutor's Office 
reactivated the formerly frozen investigation into the journalist's 
death. Suspects Musa Vakhayev and Kazbek Dukuzov were found not guilty 
of the killing in 2006. Marat Valeyev, another defendant in the case, 
was cleared of the charges and released from custody in December 2009.
    On September 16, the Investigative Committee resumed its 
investigation into the 2003 death of Yuriy Shchekochikhin, a member of 
the State Duma and deputy editor of the newspaper Novaya Gazeta. 
Investigators exhumed Shchekochikhin's body and unsuccessfully tested 
tissue samples to detect any signs of poisoning. Investigators 
initially had endorsed official findings that Shchekochikhin died of an 
allergic reaction to an unknown substance. At the time of his death, 
Shchekochikhin was investigating allegations of FSB responsibility for 
a series of 1999 apartment building bombings and the purported 
involvement of senior security officials and the prosecutor general's 
office in smuggling goods through FSB storage facilities.
    Government officials occasionally responded to negative coverage by 
taking legal action against journalists and media outlets. Although the 
law prohibits courts from imposing damages in libel and defamation 
cases that would bankrupt a media organization, one NGO reported that 
local courts did not always respect the law in practice.
    On March 29, a court in Tula ordered the local newspaper Rubezh to 
pay 500 thousand rubles ($16,100) to settle a libel case filed by Tula 
Region Governor Vyacheslav Dudka in connection with a story the 
newspaper published about corruption in the local government.
    On September 2, police conducted the latest of several raids on the 
offices of New Times magazine that were connected with an article, 
entitled ``Slaves of the OMON,'' alleging abuses and corruption within 
the OMON (special purpose police units). The article included 
interviews with unnamed sources within OMON; police demanded that the 
magazine turn over documents and recordings that would identify the 
sources. On May 12, the Moscow City Court, concurring with an earlier 
Tverskoy District Court decision, ordered the seizure of the documents 
and recordings as evidence in a libel case authorities brought against 
the magazine. The New Times' editor provided a transcript of the 
interviews to the police during the raid, but refused to name the 
sources or surrender the recordings, citing laws providing for 
protection of journalists' sources.
    On September 8, Sergey Mikhaylov, editor in chief of the Altai 
region newspaper Listok, which is often critical of regional 
authorities, went on trial on charges of libel and inciting ethnic 
hatred based on two articles that contained phrases that local 
authorities deemed offensive. Investigators searched Mikhaylov's 
apartment and confiscated his computer. Mikhaylov's colleagues argued 
that the case against him was politically motivated.
    On September 9, the Supreme Court of Dagestan rejected a lawsuit 
filed by local authorities in June 2009 seeking to shut down the 
independent Dagestan weekly Chernovik because of its alleged support 
for extremist views. In April, a court rejected a suit by the former 
chairman of the Presidential Council for Human Rights, Ella Pamfilova, 
against the newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta, claiming that the paper had 
insulted her honor, dignity, and reputation. The court's decision 
reaffirmed the right of the press to criticize the Government and the 
manner in which members of the Government perform their duties.
    In January the Moscow prosecutor's office reversed the Moscow city 
police directorate's refusal to open a libel case filed by Chechen 
leader Ramzan Kadyrov against Novaya Gazeta editor in chief Dmitriy 
Muratov and three other journalists of the newspaper for publishing an 
investigative article in February 2009 about the killing in Vienna of 
Kadyrov's former bodyguard, Umar Israilov (see section 1.a.). Kadyrov 
dropped his case in February after the first court session.
    On January 19, prosecutors in Samara closed a criminal case against 
Sergey Kurt-Adzhiyev, the editor of the local edition of Novaya Gazeta, 
who was fined 15,000 rubles ($496) in 2008 for using unlicensed 
software on his office computer. Kurt-Adzhiyev appealed the sentence, 
and further examination of the case ordered by the court revealed 
prosecutorial violations, as well as new exculpatory evidence. However, 
the Samara edition of Novaya Gazeta continued to be unable to publish; 
investigators confiscated all of its computers in 2007.
    Officials at all levels used their authority, sometimes publicly, 
to restrict or limit the effectiveness of journalists who criticized 
them. One method was to deny the media access to events and 
information, including denying filming opportunities and statistics 
theoretically available to the public. On May 16, police prevented a 
correspondent of the GTRK Kuban television station from covering a 
public rally in Krasnodar. The correspondent was taken to a police 
station and released after several hours. On May 31, police in Moscow 
detained several journalists, including correspondents of New Times, 
Radio France Internationale, Novaya Gazeta, and ITAR-TASS, who 
attempted to cover a rally in support of freedom of assembly that had 
been prohibited by city authorities.
    There were no known cases of reporters being detained in Chechnya. 
Journalists in Chechnya, however, continued to face pressure and 
restrictions. There were minor instances of journalists being briefly 
detained in other North Caucasus republics. The editor of the Dosh 
journal, Israpil Shovkhalov, was briefly detained on March 9 by the 
authorities in Ingushetiya. A correspondent of the weekly publication 
New Business was detained on March 2 for a short time while covering a 
protest in Makhachkala. The Government continued to use legislation and 
decrees to curtail media freedom. The law provides an expansive 
definition of extremism and gives law enforcement officials broad 
authority to suspend media outlets that do not comply with the law's 
restrictions. Media freedom advocates asserted that officials used the 
law to restrict criticism and label independent reporters as 
extremists. Authorities may close any organization deemed extremist by 
submitting charges to a court, which the organization concerned cannot 
challenge.
    As in previous years, the antiextremism law was applied to media 
outlets and activists. Novaya Gazeta was warned for an article 
examining Russia's right-wing radical groups, and Vedemosti was warned 
for an article on female suicide bombers. These warnings discouraged 
coverage of these controversial topics by other news outlets.
    The Justice Ministry continued to expand its list of ``extremist'' 
materials during the year to include more than 700 items, up from 467 
in 2009. The list included materials produced by Jehovah's Witnesses 
and Scientologists; the works of Muslim scholar Said Nursi; a picture 
of Winnie the Pooh wearing a swastika; a flag with a cross; and the Web 
site Samizdat, which was similar to Wikipedia and which had more than 
500,000 subscribers. Some analysts asserted that the vague definitions 
of ``extremism'' were expanding the list to the point of discrediting 
the concept altogether.
    Officials or unidentified individuals sometimes used force or took 
extreme measures to prevent the circulation of publications not favored 
by the Government. For example, on March 10, police in Vladimir seized 
copies of the newspaper Vechernaya Ryazan, which carried campaign 
advertising by the local branch of the Russian Liberal Democratic 
Party. The police claimed that the publication of advertising involved 
legal violations. On March 17, prosecutors in Vladivostok seized copies 
of the local opposition newspaper Protestnoye Dvizheniye, which 
published an open letter to the local prosecutor. On May 28, police in 
Kemerovo stopped a vehicle carrying copies of the local newspaper 
Sovetskiy Kuzbass and seized all the copies, claiming that the 
newspaper's issue included articles with extremist content. On 
September 7, police in Korolev seized copies of the newspaper 
Khimkinskaya Pravda, stating that the newspaper had to be ``checked for 
extremist material.''
    Copies of the report Putin. Results. 10 Years, written by former 
deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov and former deputy energy minister 
Vladimir Milov, were confiscated on several occasions. On August 25, 
local police from Murmansk detained two activists from the Solidarity 
opposition movement when they attempted to transfer the publication 
from a train to their vehicle. Approximately a thousand copies 
reportedly were confiscated by the Murmansk police for analysis for the 
presence of ``extremist literature.'' Police in St. Petersburg 
confiscated 200,000 copies of the publication on June 15 and 17 but 
later released them after determining that the literature was not 
extremist.
    According to the GDF and other media NGOs, authorities continued to 
engage in selective investigations into intellectual property rights 
violations (i.e., use of pirated software) to confiscate computers and 
pressure opposition media across the country. On September 13, 
Microsoft announced that it would create a unilateral software license 
for NGOs and independent media in a number of countries, including 
Russia, to prevent authorities from using antipiracy enforcement as a 
pretext to pressure NGOs.
    A 2006 warning to the media against referring to the National 
Bolshevik Party without indicating that it was banned remained in 
place. The media were informed that omitting to mention the party's 
illegality could be considered dissemination of false information and 
lead to the ``application of restrictive, precautionary, and preventive 
measures.''
    According to the GDF and media NGOs, some authorities used the 
media's widespread dependence on the Government for transmission 
facilities, access to property, and printing and distribution services 
to discourage critical reporting. 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 the price of printing at state-controlled 
publishing houses to apply pressure on private media rivals. It noted 
that this practice was more common outside the Moscow area.

    Internet Freedom.--The Government did not restrict access to the 
Internet. Internet use in Russia grew exponentially during the year to 
between 40-50 million users. There was a growing use of social 
networking, blogs, and increasing reliance on the Internet as an 
alternative news source. Individuals and groups could generally engage 
in the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-
mail, but traffic reportedly was monitored by the Government. The 
Government continued to employ a ``system for operational investigative 
measures,'' which required Internet service providers to install, at 
their own expense, a device that routes all customer traffic to an FSB 
terminal. The system enabled police to track private e-mail 
communications, identify Internet users personally, and monitor their 
Internet activity. Although legislation formally protects individual 
privacy, prohibiting wiretapping of any kind without a court order, 
there appeared to be no mechanism to prevent FSB access to e-mail 
traffic or private information. Authorities were not required to give 
telecommunications companies or individuals documentation on targets of 
interest prior to accessing information.
    There was widespread and growing access to the Internet through 
home, work, and public venues. Approximately 35 to 40 percent of adults 
had Internet access with a far larger percentage in Moscow and St. 
Petersburg. In contrast to other forms of media, the law does not 
require sites to register as mass media, and unregistered sites were 
not subject to administrative sanctions. Internet forums, including 
blogging services, increasingly served as the most open media vehicles 
in the country for expressing political views. Nonetheless, some 
bloggers were investigated or charged for their Internet postings based 
on extremely broad definitions of prohibited activities, such as 
``extremism'' or inciting hatred, as well as libel. In addition the law 
allows authorities to hold bloggers liable for comments that others 
post on their blogs. In April 2009 authorities issued warnings to mass-
information Internet sites against negative coverage of government 
news.
    On August 10, police in Ufa arrested bloggers Nikolay Shvetsov, 
Sergey Orlov, Konstantin Nesterov, and Igor Kuchumov on charges of 
extremism and fomenting ethnic hatred in their blogs for quoting a book 
criticizing Bashkortostan President Murtaza Rakhimov.
    On July 28, a court in Komsomolsk-na-Amure ordered the local 
Internet service provider Rosnet to block access to five popular Web 
sites, including You Tube and web.archive.org, which authorities stated 
contained extremist video materials and Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf. 
Rosnet appealed the verdict, and in September the higher court altered 
the controversial ruling and listed particular pages with ``extremist 
materials'' that have to be blocked instead of the whole resource.
    On June 15, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that allows 
authorities to demand that media organizations remove from their Web 
sites material posted by users that authorities deem extremist, 
slanderous, or liable to incite hatred. At least four bloggers were 
investigated or prosecuted during the year, according to Reporters 
Without Borders.
    On May 15, authorities shut down a discussion community on the 
popular social network VKontakte that discussed the consequences of the 
deadly accident at the Raspadskaya coal mine. According to the GDF, law 
enforcement officers demanded that popular blogger Marina Litvinovich, 
who managed the community, provide them with the site password, which 
they used to make the community unavailable for access.
    On March 19, authorities ordered the Web site March 20 to close 
down for publishing ``extremist'' content. The Web site published 
information about plans for Day of Wrath protest rallies in various 
cities held by opposition movement activists. According to RiaNovosti, 
Solidarity movement member Olga Kumosova claimed that the site was used 
for the purpose of planning protest slogans and the closure was 
illegal.
    On January 15, the Tatarstan Supreme Court confirmed the sentence 
issued to Tatar writer and journalist Irek Murtazin. In November 2009 a 
court in Kazan sentenced Murtazin to 21 months in prison on charges 
brought by Tatarstan President Mintimer Shaimiev that included 
``disseminating false information'' about the president and ``violating 
his privacy'' by suggesting in a 2008 blog that Shaimiev had died while 
vacationing in Turkey.
    According to the Global Voice Online Web site, there were multiple 
instances of Internet censorship during the year. In July the 
Ingushetiyan authorities were able to block the popular blogging site 
LiveJournal on a local Internet server, and in August the local 
authorities blocked the Tulksiye Pryaniki Web site that was critical of 
the authorities. After the December 11 ethnic riots in Manezh Square in 
Moscow, the popular Vkontakte Web site removed what it characterized as 
dangerous content in cooperation with the police and FSB.
    In May 2009 Sverdlovsk authorities brought a criminal libel case 
against a LiveJournal blogger with the pen name ``Father Christmas,'' 
who was critical of the Sverdlovsk police and the security cadre of the 
mayor. In June 2009 a court in Ufa, Bashkortostan, ordered local 
Internet service providers to block access to the revinform blog on 
LiveJournal because of its allegedly extremist content. The court cited 
as an example of extremist content an article from a local opposition 
newspaper posted on the blog, which reported on top-level corruption in 
the local government.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The Government generally did 
not restrict academic freedom; however, human rights and academic 
organizations believed that the continued imprisonment of physicist 
Valentin Danilov and others inhibited academic freedom and contact with 
foreigners on subjects that authorities might deem sensitive.
    There were reports of pressure on teachers, academics, and 
scholars.
    On December 29, Kabardin ethnographer Aslan Tsipinov was shot and 
killed outside his home near Nalchik, Kabardino Balkaria. North 
Caucasian insurgents later claimed responsibility for the killing, 
explaining that they killed Tsipinov because he sought to corrupt young 
Muslims by reviving ancient pagan rituals.
    On July 12, according to press reports, Yuriy Samadurov, former 
director of the Sakharov Center, was fined 200,000 rubles ($6,500) on 
charges of inciting ethnic and racial hatred in a 2007 exhibit held at 
the center that displayed works banned by Russian museums. The curator 
of the exhibition, Andrei Yerofevev, was fined 150,000 rubles ($4,800). 
The prosecution had originally asked for prison sentences.
    On March 16, according to NGO and media reports, authorities 
arrested Svyatoslav Bobyshev and Yevgeny Afanasyev, two professors at 
Baltic State Technical University in St. Petersburg, and accused them 
of spying and passing state secrets to Chinese citizens. The two 
professors reportedly remained in detention at the Lefortovo maximum-
security prison in Moscow. A court agreed in September to extend their 
detention for a further four months.
    On November 13, historian Igor Pykhalov was attacked outside his 
home by unknown assailants. Reports suggest that Pykhalov was targeted 
because of his controversial pro-Stalinist views and his writings on 
Stalin's deportation of persons indigenous to the North Caucasus.
    In May 2009 President Medvedev announced the formation of a 
Committee against the Falsification of History, which was dedicated to 
countering statements denigrating the role of the Soviet Union in the 
victory over Nazism. In connection with this initiative, a small number 
of professors in Moscow universities reported receiving instructions to 
submit their teaching materials to the university administration for 
examination as to whether they were violating the proposed law. At 
year's end, no further pressure on teachers was reported.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The law provides for freedom of assembly, but local 
authorities continued to restrict this right in practice. According to 
the human rights NGO AGORA, more than 3,160 civil activists were 
arrested following public events during the year.
    In December 2009 the Duma passed a law increasing the severity of 
punishment for anyone found guilty of illegally interfering with the 
flow of traffic. The law increased the fine from 2,500 rubles ($83) to 
100,000 rubles ($3,300) or two years in prison. Human rights activists 
viewed this as a move to restrict freedom of assembly. However, human 
rights advocates generally welcomed President Medvedev's veto of the 
proposed legislation ``On Amendments to the Federal Law On Gatherings, 
Meetings, Demonstrations, Marches, and Pickets'' that would have 
prevented those who received minor administrative fines from 
registering and participating in rallies. The president declared that 
the provisions would infringe on the right of assembly provided in the 
constitution.
    On November 10, President Medvedev signed into law a modified bill, 
which requires that requests for permission to demonstrate be filed no 
less than three days before the proposed event. Such types of protest 
actions involve a smaller group of activists voicing disapproval of one 
specific issue and picketing in the vicinity of the offices of the 
Government authority with which the activists take issue. The law also 
regulates the use of major streets, highways, and railroads as venues 
for public protests.
    The law requires notification for public meetings, demonstrations, 
or marches by more than one person, but in practice municipal 
government treated this as a permitting process which must be requested 
between five and 10 days before the event. During this type of protest, 
many speakers take part and the size of the protest group is much 
larger than that for a picket. Local elected and administrative 
officials selectively denied some groups permission to assemble or 
offered alternate venues that were inconveniently located.
    Demonstrations that took place without official permission were 
often broken up by police, who frequently detained demonstrators. In an 
August interview, Prime Minister Putin called these unsanctioned 
demonstrations ``provocations'' and stated that those who participate 
in them should expect to ``take a cudgel to the head.''
    On January 15, members of the Moscow Oblast Duma rejected an 
amendment to legislation on demonstrations and public gatherings that 
would have required government permission to hold a solitary protest. 
Representatives of the Yabloko Party conducted pickets in front of the 
Moscow Oblast Duma against this initiative.
    In July and August, police dispersed several demonstrations in 
connection with the movement to protect the Khimki forest near Moscow 
from destruction to make way for a proposed highway. On July 28, police 
detained nine environmental activists who had been camping in the 
forest after construction began on the project. On August 2, police 
detained 50 persons at an unsanctioned protest in the forest, including 
Yabloko Party leader Sergey Mitrokhin. Another protest was dispersed on 
August 10 outside of the Moscow Oblast administration building. 
Authorities granted permission to hold a much larger protest on August 
22.
    In connection with these rallies, Human Rights Ombudsman Vladimir 
Lukin expressed disagreement with the Government's position that the 
authorities have the legal right to deny groups permission to 
demonstrate, countering that, in his view of the constitution, 
activists should only have to notify the authorities of their 
activities beforehand. Sergey Mironov, the speaker of the upper house 
of the State Duma and leader of minority party Just Russia, supported 
the right of activists to demonstrate peacefully and called the police 
actions toward participants ``cruel.''
    On August 22, political activist Lev Ponomaryov and Solidarity 
opposition coalition leaders Boris Nemtsov and Mikhail Shneyder were 
detained for more than 12 hours in Moscow on the charge that they 
conducted an unsanctioned march. Local authorities had agreed to permit 
the opposition to hold a ``rally'' to mark National Flag Day, but 
refused to permit a ``march.'' When the participants began to move down 
the street with a Russian flag, police arrested them. On August 26, 
Ponomaryov and Shneyder were sentenced to three days of administrative 
arrest.
    On September 7, a Moscow court convicted Lev Ponomaryov of 
``insubordination'' to a police officer and sentenced him to four days 
of administrative arrest in connection with his participation in an 
unsanctioned protest on August 12 at which demonstrators demanded the 
resignation of Moscow's then mayor, Yuriy Luzhkov.
    On October 31, authorities in Moscow for the first time allowed 
human rights proponents to hold a ``Strategy 31'' rally on Triumfalnaya 
Square to demonstrate support for Article 31 of the constitution, which 
provides for freedom of assembly. This was the first time the Strategy 
31 opposition movement's protests were allowed. More than 1,500 persons 
attended, nearly double the number authorized by authorities; security 
forces were generally restrained. For most of the year and throughout 
2009, authorities in Moscow employed various pretexts to deny human 
rights activists permission to hold Strategy 31 demonstrations on the 
last day of each 31-day month. On several occasions, police detained 
persons who gathered to protest the denials. According to a Vedomosti 
press report, the deputy head of the Moscow Interior Office stated that 
the mere presence of a sign displaying the number ``31'' was grounds 
for arrest. After detaining dozens of individuals at January and March 
rallies, state security forces were especially violent in their 
suppression of the May 31 peaceful protest, arresting at least 152 
persons and reportedly beating many in jail. In response to the police 
actions, Human Rights Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin characterized the 
actions of the security personnel as ``disproportionate'' and 
``unreasonably brutal'' and the detention of the protesters as 
``illegal.''
    Many observers noted a selective and consistent pattern of 
encouraging rallies friendly to the Government--while preventing 
politically sensitive demonstrations. On the same day as the January 
Strategy 31 rally, United Russia organized progovernment rallies, which 
were the only demonstrations to receive coverage on state-run 
television news channels. Some demonstrators at the progovernment 
rallies told news media that they had been pressured to attend, and one 
student stated that he would receive class credit for his attendance.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association, and the Government respected this right with a number of 
significant exceptions.
    Public organizations must register their bylaws and the names of 
their leaders with the Ministry of Justice. Several organizations have 
been forced in the past to suspend activities while registration was 
pending. Restrictions were applied in a discriminatory and selective 
manner to some NGOs, particularly those receiving foreign funding or 
involved in issues of political opposition or in human rights 
monitoring.
    The finances of registered organizations are subject to 
investigation by the tax authorities, and foreign grants must be 
registered. A 2008 prime ministerial decree reduced the number of 
foreign organizations whose grants were exempt from taxation from 101 
to 12 and imposed an annual registration process on those that met the 
proposed requirements. Many NGOs interpreted the decree as a further 
step to restrict foreign funding of NGOs. Authorities subjected some 
NGOs with foreign funding to lengthy financial audits or delayed the 
registration of their foreign-financed programs. The financial 
investigations were particularly burdensome, and some NGOs, 
particularly smaller NGOs with limited organizational capacity, stated 
that it restricted their activities.
    Between September 13 and 16, prosecutors conducted an extensive 
inspection campaign of approximately 40 NGOs, in what many observers 
called an attempt to intimidate and disrupt these groups (see section 
5). Just as suddenly as the inspections began, they ended, with no 
further action.
    The law provides a basis for government oversight of NGO 
activities, including ensuring their compliance with stringent 
registration requirements, a particular problem for the branch offices 
of foreign NGOs. The law also provides a basis for the oversight of 
extensive reporting requirements for NGOs concerning their programs and 
activities, as well as for government enforcement of limitations on the 
participation of foreign citizens. Authorities selectively used the 
regulations to harass certain NGOs.
    In July 2009 following complaints by NGOs about the burdensome 
nature of requirements imposed upon them, the law was amended to revoke 
the Justice Ministry's authority to arbitrarily demand documents from 
domestic NGOs; it further provides that flaws in documentation would 
not be grounds to annul, but only to suspend, a domestic organization's 
registration and removes ``threats to national unity and identity'' 
from the list of reasons for denying registration. The amendment also 
simplified reporting forms for domestic NGOs and required them to be 
inspected by the Government once every three years, rather than 
annually. None of these amendments applied to foreign NGOs.
    There were no reports during the year that political parties had 
their registration revoked or denied.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the Department of State's 2010 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation; however, the Government placed restrictions on freedom of 
movement within the country and on migration. The Government generally 
cooperated, with some exceptions, with the UNHCR and other humanitarian 
organizations in providing protection and assistance to internally 
displaced persons, refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, 
stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    All adult citizens must carry government-issued internal passports 
while traveling domestically and must register with the local 
authorities within a specified time of their arrival at a new location. 
Authorities often refused to provide governmental services to 
individuals without internal passports or proper registration. The 
official grace period for registration given to an individual arriving 
in a new location is 90 days. Darker-skinned persons from the Caucasus 
or of African or Asian origin were often singled out for document 
checks. There were credible reports that police arbitrarily imposed 
fines on unregistered persons in excess of legal requirements or 
demanded bribes from them.
    Although the law gives citizens the right to choose their place of 
residence freely, many regional governments continued to restrict this 
right through residential registration rules that closely resembled 
Soviet-era regulations. Citizens moving permanently must register 
within seven days in order to reside, work, or obtain government 
services and benefits or education for their children in a specific 
area. Citizens changing residence within the country, migrants, and 
persons with a legal claim to Russian citizenship who moved to the 
country from other former-Soviet republics often faced great 
difficulties or simply were not permitted to register in some cities. 
The registration process in local police precincts was often corrupt. 
There were frequent reports of police expecting bribes to process 
registration applications and demanding them during spot checks for 
registration documentation.
    In the aftermath of the December race-fueled Manezh riots in 
Moscow, Prime Minister Putin met with soccer fans and suggested that 
rules for internal migration and registration should be tightened.
    The law provides for freedom to travel abroad, and citizens 
generally did so without restriction. Citizens with access to 
classified material, however, needed to obtain police and FSB 
clearances to receive a passport for international travel.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it. The law provides all citizens with the right to emigrate, and this 
right was respected.

    Internally Displaced Persons.--The UNHCR reported that there were 
75,323 IDPs in the country as of December 31, mainly in the North 
Caucasus. At year's end, 16,518 IDPs remained displaced to Ingushetiya 
by Chechnya's second conflict, according to the UNHCR. Of these, 13,852 
persons lived in private quarters, while 2,666 resided in temporary 
settlements. The UNHCR reported that Ingushetiya was also home to 
10,047 IDPs from Prigorodny, North Ossetia. As of July, 2,578 Chechen 
IDPs were living in Dagestan, with an estimated 188 living in temporary 
settlements and temporary accommodation centers within Chechnya proper 
and 2,390 in private settlements. Also as of July, nearly 22,193 forced 
migrants from South Ossetia, Georgia, remained in North Ossetia; 
another 20,193 were from the conflict in the early 1990s, and 2,000 
were displaced as a result of the August 2008 conflict, according to 
the UNHCR.
    Although sources differed on the exact figures, approximately 
46,000 IDPs returned from Chechnya to Ingushetiya and Dagestan in the 
last six and a half years. Authorities discontinued use of negative 
incentives--including deregistration from IDP rolls, cancellation of 
food assistance, and utility cuts to temporary settlements-- used in 
2009 to induce often-unwilling IDPs in Ingushetiya to return to 
Chechnya; however, the Ingushetiya office of the Federal Migration 
Service refused to accept any claims for reinstatement on its 
registration lists. Authorities maintained a policy of compensating 
persons who lost housing in military operations; however, compensation 
was typically inadequate to insure long-term shelter for beneficiaries.

    Protection of Refugees.--The laws provide for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees.
    In practice the Government provided some protection against the 
expulsion or return of persons to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion; however, the responsible agency, the Federal Migration 
Service, did not maintain a presence at airports orother border points. 
Asylum seekers thus had to rely on the good will of border guards and 
airline personnel to call immigration officials to the scene or else 
face immediate return to their countries of origin, including in some 
cases to countries where a well-founded fear of persecution could be 
demonstrated.
    Sixteen self-identified Somali asylum seekers, who in March 2009 
attempted to transit Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport without documents, 
spent several months living in the airport's transit zone, at times 
compelled to beg for food from airline passengers. The group's men, 
women, and children had difficulty accessing the system for applying 
for asylum and obtained basic social services only through the UNHCR's 
intervention. At the end of the year, six of these asylum seekers 
remained at Sheremyetevo Airport. All of the applicants were rejected 
for asylum; some were appealing, while several returned to Somalia.
    By law the decision of a Migration Service official could be 
appealed to a higher-ranking authority or to a court. During the appeal 
process, the applicant received the rights of a person whose 
application for refugee status was being considered. A person who did 
not satisfy the criteria for refugee status, but could not be expelled 
or deported for humanitarian reasons, could be granted temporary asylum 
after submitting a separate application.
    The Government rarely granted convention status to those who 
managed to present their asylum applications to the migration service. 
The UNHCR and NGOs stated that asylum seekers at times faced detention, 
deportation, fines by police, and racially motivated assaults.
    The UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration, and NGOs 
assisted the Government in trying to develop a more humane migration 
management system. The Federal Migration Service cooperated well with 
international organizations to provide training for its officers 
throughout the country to insure they understood refugee law.
    For asylum seekers who were allowed into the country to pursue 
their claims, the refugee law provides the right to temporary 
accommodations. However, there was only one facility with such 
accommodations in the country, located in Ocher, in Perm Region, far 
from major cities where asylum seekers concentrated. There were no 
reception centers at border points. The Federal Migration Service and 
its territorial branches are obliged by law to cover travel expenses to 
centers for holders and seekers of refugee or temporary asylum status. 
However, the law was not respected in practice, and the trip to the 
center was usually funded by the UNHCR or the individual involved.
    While federal law provides for education for all children, regional 
authorities occasionally denied access to schools to children of asylum 
seekers if they lacked residential registration. However, when parents 
encountered difficulties enrolling their children in schools, 
authorities generally cooperated with the UNHCR to resolve the problem. 
Authorities frequently denied migrants the right to work if they did 
not have residential registration. Refugees also may not legally work 
if they are not registered and cannot obtain registration unless they 
have an employer or landlord willing to register them.
    Human rights groups continued to allege that authorities made 
improper use of international agreements that permitted them to 
temporarily detain persons with outstanding arrest warrants from other 
former-Soviet states. This system, enforced by informal ties among 
senior law enforcement officials of the countries concerned, permitted 
detention for up to one month while the prosecutor general investigated 
the nature of the warrants. Human rights groups asserted that these 
arrangements were employed to detain, and possibly repatriate, 
opponents of the Governments of other former Soviet republics without 
legal grounds.
    In June the ``Ivanovo Uzbeks,'' a group of 13 persons arrested in 
2005, received permission to depart the country to take up offers of 
asylum in Sweden. In 2008 the ECHR had ordered authorities not to 
return the 13 to Uzbekistan and to pay each 15,000 euros ($20,100) in 
restitution for two years spent in detention for alleged involvement in 
violent unrest in Andijan, Uzbekistan. According to the UNHCR, six men 
and their families have departed for Sweden, and seven men and their 
family members, altogether consisting of 26 persons, were expected to 
depart in early 2011. Two other Uzbek families included in the 
departure list to third countries were resettled in Sweden in September 
and November.

    Stateless Persons.--Citizenship is derived both by birth within the 
country's territory within certain restrictions and from one's parents. 
A child becomes a citizen at birth if both parents are citizens; if one 
parent is a citizen and the other one is stateless; if one parent is a 
citizen and the other is a foreigner and the child was born on the 
territory of the country; or if both parents are foreigners or 
stateless and the child was born on the territory of the country and 
there is concern the child might become stateless. At year's end the 
UNHCR preliminarily estimated that there were 44,000 stateless persons, 
based on data from local authorities and NGOs. Federal Migration 
Service statistics indicated at the end of 2008 that 21,443 stateless 
persons were registered in the country.
    In Krasnodar Kray, at least several hundred (with some estimates as 
high as 5,000) Meskhetian Turks, Batumi Kurds, Hemshils, and Yezidis, 
both political and environmental refugees, and their descendants, 
remained without Russian passports and were denied the right to 
register as residents, which deprived them of all rights of citizenship 
and prevented them from working legally, leasing land, or selling 
goods. The law in Krasnodar Kray that defines illegal migrants includes 
stateless persons.
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 in regularly scheduled national and regional elections; 
however, citizens could not exercise this right in practice, as the 
Government limited the ability of opposition parties to organize, 
register candidates for public office, access the media, or conduct 
political campaigns.

    Elections and Political Participation.--On March 14, regional and 
local elections were held in 76 of the federation's 83 regions and were 
marked by irregularities, including the misuse of absentee ballots, 
vote buying, and busing in of voters, according to the election 
monitoring NGO, GOLOS. The Communist Party also claimed that in the 
Krasnodar Region, United Russia bused police cadets to vote for their 
candidate in the mayoral elections where they were not registered.
    In the October 10 regional and municipal elections, opposition 
parties continued to complain of a variety of electoral violations, 
including denial of candidate registration and ballot box manipulation. 
Regional and municipal elections held in March and October 2009 were 
also marred by violations, including interference with election 
monitors, intimidation of voters, and ballot box stuffing.
    In 2008 the country held presidential elections in which Dmitriy 
Medvedev, the candidate of the ruling United Russia Party, received 70 
percent of the vote. Observers from the Parliamentary Assembly of the 
Council of Europe stated that the elections were not free or fair. 
GOLOS reported massive, widespread violations, as with the Duma 
elections held in 2007. The Organization for Security and Cooperation 
in Europe (OSCE) representative on freedom of the media reported 
numerous media freedom violations during the parliamentary and 
presidential elections. Electoral violations and problems observed by 
GOLOS included an ``unprecedented'' number of absentee ballots, 
collective voting under pressure, multiple voting, and vote-counting 
irregularities. GOLOS observers, however, reported that voting 
procedures were well-organized and that the secrecy of voting was 
mostly respected. In both the presidential and parliamentary elections, 
official delays in issuing visas and restrictions on the activities of 
the mission led the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human 
Rights to decline to send observation missions.
    The law gives the president significant indirect influence over the 
Federation Council, since regional leaders selected by the president in 
turn appoint half of its members. Political parties that win elections 
to regional parliaments may propose candidates for the head of a 
region, but the selection is still subject to the president's and the 
regional legislature's approval.
    Since 2004 the president has had the authority to nominate regional 
governors, subject to confirmation by regional legislatures. If a 
regional legislature fails to confirm the president's nominee three 
times, the president may dissolve the legislature. The federal 
president also has the power to remove regional leaders in whom he 
loses confidence, including those who were popularly elected. In 
September President Medvedev exercised this power in removing Yury 
Luzhkov, the long-serving and three times popularly elected mayor of 
Moscow (the positions of mayor in Moscow and St. Petersburg have a 
status similar to that of governor). On October 21, the Moscow City 
Duma confirmed Medvedev's pick, Sergey Sobyanin, as the new mayor.
    In 2009 legislation was enacted to allow city legislatures and 
governors to remove popularly elected mayors (as of 2006 approximately 
one-third of the country's municipalities were headed by elected 
mayors, according to a government Web site). In June the Murmansk City 
Council removed Mayor Sergey Subbotin from office, and mayors of 
several small cities have been removed in similar fashion. Smolensk 
Mayor Eduard Kachanovskiy was removed from office due to charges of 
extortion, and possibly influenced by his refusal to obey an earlier 
United Russia request to withdraw from elections for the party's 
preferred candidate. In February Smolensk Governor Sergey Antufyev 
called for the abolishment of the Smolensk direct mayoral elections, 
stating that ``popular elections are a risk.''
    A March 2009 law requires that to obtain legal status, a political 
party must have at least 45,000 members with at least 450 in each of 
half of the country's regions and 250 members in each of the remaining 
regions. This is proven by gathering signatures. The law slightly 
relaxed earlier minimum membership requirements that made it difficult 
for smaller parties to register. The law envisions a further reduction 
in the requirement (to 40,000 members overall and 400 in each of half 
of the regions) by 2012. An additional law passed in June allows a 
political party to avoid the requirement for signatures altogether if 
it enjoyed political support in at least one-third of the country's 
regions.
    While parties represented in the Duma may nominate a presidential 
candidate without having to collect and submit signatures, prospective 
presidential candidates from political parties without Duma 
representation must collect two million signatures from supporters 
throughout the country to register to run for president. These must be 
submitted to the Central Election Commission (CEC) for certification. 
An independent candidate is ineligible to run if the CEC finds more 
than 5 percent of the signatures to be invalid.
    Political parties receiving 5 percent of the national vote are 
entitled to representation in the Duma. The election law provides for a 
party list system and prohibits electoral blocs. There is no minimum 
voter turnout requirement. The election law prohibits the observation 
of federal elections by nonpartisan domestic groups, making it 
difficult for NGOs to observe elections. In April 2009 the Duma passed 
a law described as giving equal broadcast time on electronic media to 
all political parties represented in the Duma. Observers noted that the 
law would limit broadcast time for the United Russia Party's leaders 
when they spoke in their party capacity, not as government officials, 
and that the broadcast time in question related to discussion of party 
affairs rather than policy issues.
    The law prohibits early voting and negative campaigning and 
provides a number of criteria for removing candidates from the ballot, 
including for vaguely defined ``extremist'' behavior. The executive 
branch and the prosecutor general have broad powers to regulate, 
investigate, and disqualify political parties. Other provisions limit 
campaign spending, set specific campaign periods, and provide for 
restrictions on campaign materials.
    There were 63 women in the 450-member State Duma and nine women in 
the 166-member Federation Council. There were three female ministers. 
Two of the 83 regional leaders were women. Three of the 19 judges on 
the Constitutional Court were women. None of the political parties was 
led by a woman.
    Information on the ethnic composition of the State Duma and the 
Federation Council was not available. National minorities took an 
active part in political life; however, ethnic Russians, who constitute 
approximately 80 percent of the population, dominated the political and 
administrative system, particularly at the federal level.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government acknowledged that it had not enforced the law 
effectively, and many officials continued to engage in corrupt 
practices. Corruption was widespread throughout the executive, 
legislative, and judicial branches at all levels of government. 
Manifestations included bribery of officials, misuse of budgetary 
resources, theft of government property, kickbacks in the procurement 
process, extortion, and improper use of official position to secure 
personal profits. The NGO Information Science for Democracy (INDEM) 
continued to assert that corruption was also widespread in other 
official institutions, such as the higher education system, health 
care, the military draft system, and the municipal apartment 
distribution system. INDEM also estimated in a 2009 report, and 
asserted during the year, that bribes and corruption cost the country 
the equivalent of 33 percent of the country's gross domestic product.
    Legislation enacted in December 2008 defined corruption and set 
forth key principles for combating it. It requires government officials 
to submit financial statements, restricts their employment at entities 
where they had prior connections, and requires reporting of actual or 
possible corrupt activity. Implementation of the legislation, however, 
was still incomplete. Although some agencies, such as the Ministry of 
Justice, issued implementing regulations defining conflict of interest 
in certain situations, not all agencies issued implementing 
regulations. On February 26, the Office of the Prosecutor General 
established principles and procedures for evaluating the anticorruption 
aspects of draft laws and regulations in order to avoid inconsistencies 
and eliminate loopholes. Beginning on April 30, judges were required to 
submit income and asset declarations to their courts. During the year 
the Government instituted mandatory anticorruption training for public 
officials through the Academy of State Service. Russia has been a state 
party to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) since 2006 and is 
a member of the Group of Countries against Corruption. Due to its UNCAC 
obligations, the Government has altered domestic legislation.
    The law makes giving and receiving bribes punishable by up to 12 
years of incarceration; a person who pays a bribe is relieved of 
criminal liability if the bribe was extorted or if the individual 
voluntarily informs law enforcement authorities about it. While there 
were prosecutions for bribery, a general lack of enforcement remained a 
problem. Investigations of bribery and other corrupt practices are 
conducted by the Ministry of Interior and the FSB, both of which were 
themselves widely perceived as corrupt.
    The Global Competitiveness Report 2010-11, compiled by the World 
Economic Forum, cited corruption as the country's most problematic 
factor for doing business. The country's score in Transparency 
International's Corruption Perception Index worsened. The country 
scored poorly on other measurements of transparency and corruption as 
well, including judicial independence, fairness in the decisions of 
government officials, the transparency of government policymaking, and 
the influence of organized crime.
    In a statement issued on October 27, the Interior Ministry reported 
that bribery increased by 17.5 percent from January to September, 
compared with the same period of 2009 and the average bribe increased 
1.5 times to more than 42,500 rubles ($1,400). The statement cited 
alleged corruption by many officials at the federal, regional, and 
local level, including four serving and former deputy governors and 
five regional ministers.
    Prosecutors charged some high-level officials with corruption 
during the year; however, most government anticorruption campaigns were 
limited in scope and focused on lower-level officials. Allegations of 
corruption were also used as a political tactic.
    According to Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin, 
corruption charges were brought against 120 investigators and 12 
prosecutors during the year. Corruption charges were also brought 
against 48 lawyers, eight members of election commissions, 214 deputies 
of municipal councils, 310 municipal officials, 11 deputies of regional 
parliaments, one State Duma deputy, and three judges. Ten department 
heads and 26 deputy department heads reportedly faced administrative 
charges for unacceptable investigative work, and three were dismissed 
for violation of authority.
    On July 1, a new federal law came into force requiring courts of 
general jurisdiction to disclose information on the activity of judges. 
In August the Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information 
released the results of a survey on preliminary implementation of the 
law, based on several types of basic information about court operations 
and the availability of such information on court Internet sites or by 
telephone. According to the survey results, which were reported widely 
in the press, basic data such as the working hours of court offices, 
names and contact information of court officials and staff, and court 
addresses were still in many cases unavailable or difficult to obtain.
    In November 2009 Sergey Magnitsky, who was a lawyer for the firm 
that represented Hermitage Capital, died in a Moscow prison, where he 
was being held on tax evasion charges. It was widely believed that the 
charges were fabricated and that his imprisonment was a result of his 
testimony that Interior Ministry officials Artyom Kuznetsov and Pavel 
Karpov stole 5.50 billion rubles ($179 million) in a tax fraud scheme 
(see section 1.a.). In October Oleg Silchenko, the Interior Ministry 
investigator who was responsible for the investigation, was promoted to 
lieutenant colonel. In November the Interior Ministry presented an 
award to officers connected to the initial investigation of the tax 
evasion charges against Magnitskiy. Police officials also leveled new 
accusations--that Magnitskiy himself had been guilty of the tax fraud.
    In June Interior Ministry investigator Oleg Silchenko, who 
reportedly played a key role in the jailing of lawyer Sergey 
Magnitskiy, sought to disbar Alexander Antipov, a lawyer who replaced 
Magnitskiy at Hermitage Capital. According to a 2009 report in 
Bloomburg BusinessWeek, lawyers at three separate firms hired by 
Hermitage Capital were subject to criminal investigations in 2009, and 
their offices were raided by police.
    Corruption also exacerbated illegal logging and hunting, further 
complicating the country's efforts to enforce environmental standards. 
On May 27, Pyotr Diyuk, the Vladivostok-based director of the Primorye 
Regional Forestry Department, was placed on temporary administrative 
leave after a nationally televised investigative report showed him 
discussing rampant corruption in his region's forestry sector with an 
undercover journalist on a hidden camera. In the interview, Diyuk 
corroborated independent reports of widespread illegal logging 
facilitated by bribes to forestry and customs officials. The televised 
report showed video footage of what presenters claimed to be customs 
and forestry officers accepting bribes in exchange for falsified export 
permits. First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov announced in June 
that the Government planned to send a special investigative commission 
to the Primorye Region to examine the substance of Diyuk's allegations. 
By year's end the Government had not released the results.
    There were reports that corrupt officials largely controlled 
illegal hunting and trafficking in endangered and protected species 
through the issuance of licenses and other permits in return for bribes 
and other illegal benefits. On June 22, the Prosecutor General's Office 
announced charges in an investigation that followed the January 2009 
crash of an Mi-171 helicopter in the Altai. Evidence at the crash site 
revealed the involvement of senior officials in hunting endangered 
argali sheep. Three passengers who participated in the illegal hunting 
expedition were charged with illegal hunting. However, authorities did 
not announce corruption charges in the case.
    According to the press, a June report by the Audit Chamber found 
evidence of corruption in the preparations for the country's 
participation in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, which cost more 
than 6.2 billion rubles ($200 million). In a statement introducing its 
report, the Audit Chamber indicated that Olympic preparations were 
``inefficient, imperfect, and involved corruption.''
    Police corruption was pervasive. There were credible reports that 
police imposed fines on, and demanded bribes from unregistered persons 
(see section 2.d.). It was widely believed that they received bribes 
from persons involved in prostitution.
    In November 2009 Novorossiysk Ministry of Interior Major Aleksey 
Dymovskiy made a video request to Prime Minister Putin to address 
widespread corruption among law enforcement officers. Although the 
video attracted nationwide attention, authorities did not investigate 
Dymovskiy's allegations. Instead, in January they charged him with 
abuse of office and fraud. His wife alleged that investigators tried to 
plant drugs in his home during a raid. He was subsequently released but 
lost a suit for slander filed by the chief of police of Novorossiysk 
and was ordered to pay 108,000 rubles ($3,500) in damages. In an 
interview with the New York Times, Dymovskiy acknowledged taking bribes 
himself. He asserted that authorities were aware that police had to 
augment their low salaries from other sources. He described a practice 
considered common: at the end of a shift officers must turn over a 
portion of their bribes, 700-3,000 rubles ($25 to $100) a day to the 
``cashier,'' a senior member of the department. Dymovskiy asserted that 
if officers did not pay up, they were disciplined.
    In February Vadim Karastelyov, a Novorossiysk human rights activist 
who assisted in Dymovskiy's defense, was arrested as he was 
distributing pamphlets asking residents to attend a rally for Dymovskiy 
and was jailed for a week for promoting an unauthorized demonstration. 
Immediately after his release, two strangers beat him, causing a skull 
fracture, but did not try to rob him. Although after his apprehension 
one of Karastelyov's attackers stated that he acted out of personal 
animosity, many human rights observers believed that Karastelyov was 
attacked because of his support for Dymovskiy.
    The law authorizes public access to all government information 
unless it is confidential or classified as a state secret. Refusal by 
authorities to provide access to open information, or to classify 
information as a state secret without cause, has been successfully 
contested in court in a few cases. However, access to information often 
remained difficult and subject to prolonged bureaucratic procedures. 
Under a law signed in February 2009, officials are required to disclose 
within 30 days of a citizen's request any information controlled by the 
Government that is not considered a state secret. Those seeking 
information must file their requests via the Internet. Officials who do 
not comply may be fined or imprisoned for up to five years if the 
withholding of information causes serious bodily harm, as was the case 
in the Chernobyl disaster. Although the law was billed as comparable to 
freedom of information laws in other countries, observers expressed 
concern that officials would use the ``state secrets'' provision to 
deny citizens access to information arbitrarily. There were no reports 
of court cases implementing this law during the year. INDEM reported 
that journalists were generally granted access to such information upon 
request.
    Bloggers, such as Aleksey Navalniy, have increasingly become 
sources for revealing corruption. Navalniy published a series of 
detailed reports and materials outlining corruption in the construction 
of major energy pipelines in Russia. As a result of his efforts, 
authorities opened an investigation into the allegations.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    Domestic and international human rights groups operated in the 
country, investigating and publicly commenting on human rights 
problems, but official harassment continued, and the operating 
environment for these groups remains restricted. Authorities 
increasingly harassed NGOs that focused on politically sensitive areas. 
Other official actions and statements indicated a lack of tolerance for 
unfettered NGO activity, particularly by those NGOs that received 
foreign funding or reported on human rights violations. NGOs operating 
in the Northern Caucasus were severely restricted. However, at times 
government and legislative officials recognized and consulted with some 
NGOs, primarily those focused on social issues, and some NGOs 
participated, with varying degrees of success, in drafting legislation 
and decrees. Some officials, including Human Rights Ombudsman Vladimir 
Lukin and the former and current chairs of the Presidential Council for 
Promoting the Development of Institutions of Civil Society and Human 
Rights (Human Rights Council), Ella Pamfilova and Mikhail Fedotov, 
regularly interacted and cooperated with NGOs.
    According to the NGO Agora, there has been a five-fold increase in 
the cases of harassment of civil activists between 2006 and 2010. 
During the year 603 cases of persecution of activists were counted in 
50 regions of the country, up from 308 in 2009. In 2006 there were 118 
such cases.
    During the year some senior officials made critical statements that 
contributed to, and reflected, increased suspicion of NGO activity. In 
July Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov referred to human rights 
activists and NGO Memorial as ``enemies of the people, enemies of the 
law, enemies of the state.'' The president's first deputy chief of 
staff, Vladislav Surkov, has questioned the loyalty of some human 
rights NGOs that covered human rights issues or received foreign 
funding.
    On May 19, President Medvedev met with human rights activists, and 
listened to their criticisms of Kadyrov's government. On June 23, a 
Russian delegation to the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly 
approved a draft resolution on Russia's actions in the North Caucasus, 
which stated that ``human rights violations and the climate of complete 
impunity were bound to foster the rise of extremist movements.''
    There were several dozen large NGO umbrella organizations, as well 
as thousands of small grassroots NGOs. In the regions, NGO coalitions 
continued to focus their advocacy on such causes as the rights of the 
disabled and entrepreneurs, environmental degradation, violations by 
law enforcement authorities, local corruption, and the conflict in the 
North Caucasus.
    The law regulating NGOs requires them to register with the Ministry 
of Justice. They are required to submit periodic reports to the 
Government that disclose potentially sensitive information, including 
sources of foreign funding and detailed information as to how they used 
their funds. Since foreign funding remained a sensitive issue for the 
security services, NGOs indicated that they were increasingly cautious 
about accepting this support, and in many cases those that continued to 
do so either restricted their activities to less sensitive issues or 
suffered harassment by the FSB. Many NGOs rely on foreign funding due 
to insufficient financial support from within the country. In June 2009 
the measures recommended by a working group convened by President 
Medvedev resulted in a decrease in the registration requirements for 
NGOs.
    Observers believed that the Government selectively applied the NGO 
law to target certain NGOs, such as human rights organizations, whose 
activities they regarded as hostile to the authorities. The law on 
extremism was also employed to restrict the activities of NGOs and 
criticism of the Government. The law defines extremist activity to 
include public libel of a government official or his family, as well as 
public statements that could be construed as justifying or excusing 
terrorism. During the year officials applied the libel law against NGOs 
and individuals. Since 2008, amendments to this law have enabled 
authorities to act upon an accusation of extremism without evidence or 
a court order; however, in practice, outside of the North Caucasus, 
this generally did not lead to detention without court proceedings.
    The local affiliates of foreign NGOs faced more stringent 
registration requirements than purely domestic ones. Most NGOs with 
foreign ties that met the requirements for continuing operation in the 
country were subject to a 2009 prime ministerial decree that removed 
their tax-exempt status, making their grants taxable.
    Officials are authorized to scrutinize NGOs intrusively, and the 
law gives NGOs only limited procedural protections. Under the law the 
Ministry of Justice has discretion to deny registration or to request 
that the courts close organizations, based on vague and subjective 
criteria.
    Authorities continued to apply a number of indirect tactics to 
suppress or close domestic NGOs, including creative application of 
various laws and harassment in the form of investigations and raids. 
One tactic was selective investigations of alleged use of pirated 
software as a pretext for confiscating computers and pressuring NGOs 
and media (see section 2.a.). For example, on January 7, according to 
media reports, four plainclothes police officers raided the offices of 
Baikal Environmental Wave, an NGO opposing the Government's decision to 
reopen an old paper mill on Lake Baikal. Stating that they had received 
a complaint about unlicensed software on its computers, police seized 
all 12 of the group's computers and its Web server, making it difficult 
for them to operate for a period of time. Baikal Wave's leaders told 
one newspaper that they had known that the authorities used such raids 
to pressure advocacy groups, so they had made certain that all their 
software was legal. They showed the raiding officers receipts and other 
evidence that the software was not pirated. However, a supervising 
police officer issued a report on the spot, stating that illegal 
software had been uncovered. According to the environmentalists, they 
had attached certificates of authenticity onto their machines, but 
noticed, as the machines were being removed, that the stickers were 
gone. In July the equipment was returned.
    Between September 13 and 16, the Moscow prosecutor's offices 
carried out a series of coordinated inspections of approximately 40 
NGOs. Many NGOs received faxes demanding that documents be submitted in 
an unrealistically short period of time. These documents included 
registration papers, minutes of meetings, accounting information, and 
tax and reporting documents. In some cases the NGOs were given until 
the following morning to supply the required documents. However, 
following foreign and domestic criticism, the Government appeared to 
call off its inquiry.
    At times authorities refused to cooperate with NGOs that were 
critical of their activities. Chechen Human Rights Ombudsman Nurdi 
Nukhazhiyev continued his predecessor's practice of not cooperating 
with the area's leading human rights NGO, Memorial. He and Chechen 
President Kadyrov spoke out publicly against the NGO. Smaller Memorial 
centers throughout the country reported that city administration 
officials frequently instructed landlords not to rent them office 
space.
    Official pressure continued against the Novorossiisk local human 
rights organization Committee for Human Rights. In March Amnesty 
International reported an attack on one of its members, Vadim 
Karastelev, who was beaten and suffered a concussion, reportedly for 
supporting a police officer, who had spoken out against police 
corruption (see sections 1.c. and 4).
    As of year's end, the ECHR had not ruled on Stanislav 
Dmitriyevskiy's appeal of his 2006 conviction in a domestic court for 
inciting racial and ethnic hatred. At the time of his conviction, 
Dmitriyevskiy was head of the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society, which 
advocated negotiations between the Government and Chechen rebels to 
settle the Chechen conflict. The incitement charge was based on 
Dmitriyevskiy's publishing statements by Chechen rebel leaders.
    In the Jewish Autonomous Republic and some areas in Primorskiy 
Krai, local governments worked with NGOs to encourage citizen 
participation in local self-governance. In Astrakhan government 
officials worked closely with local NGOs devoted to building civil 
society.
    Some international NGOs maintained small branch offices within 
Chechnya staffed by local employees. Following the 2009 killing of 
Natalya Estemirova (see section 1.a.), almost all NGOs left Chechnya or 
temporarily closed their operations there due to fear for their safety 
and ability to operate.
    Government human rights institutions continued to promote the 
concept of human rights, to challenge the activities of some local 
governments that violated human rights, and to intervene in selected 
abuse complaints. Ombudsman Lukin commented on a range of human rights 
problems, such as police violence, prison conditions, the treatment of 
children, and hazing in the military. During the year Lukin criticized 
intolerance and the growing wave of ethnic and religious hatred.
    In his 2009 annual report, Ombudsman Lukin stated that his 
effectiveness was limited because he was not empowered to propose human 
rights legislation. He also noted the difficulty of getting some 
government officials to respond to inquiries from his office. Lukin's 
office has used its influence to draw attention to human rights 
problems in prisons. Many leaders of human rights NGOs continued to 
note that Lukin was generally effective as an official advocate for 
many of their concerns, despite the legal constraints on his position.
    The Ombudsman's Office includes several specialized sections 
responsible for investigating complaints. As of September 2009, 47 of 
the country's 83 regions had regional human rights ombudsmen with 
responsibilities similar to Lukin's; their effectiveness varied 
significantly.
    The Human Rights Council continued to include prominent human 
rights advocates strongly critical of the Government's human rights 
record. In May the council met with President Medvedev, Federal 
District Representatives for the North Caucasus Aleksandr Khloponin, 
and Deputy Chief of Staff Vladislav Surkov to discuss human rights in 
the Northern Caucasus. Medvedev urged the region's leaders to work 
closely with civil society. Mikhail Fedotov succeeded Ella Pamfilova as 
head of the council in October.
    Despite a 2008 law apparently intended to increase its authority, 
many observers did not consider the 126-member Public Chamber of the 
Russian Federation to be an effective check on the Government. Some 
prominent human rights groups declined to participate in the chamber 
from the beginning due to concern that the Government would use it to 
increase control over civil society.
    In January the State Duma ratified Protocol 14 to the European 
Convention on Human Rights, permitting the ECHR to streamline the pace 
of its work in the face of a seven-year backlog of cases. The 
Government had previously blocked passage of this protocol due to the 
ECHR's numerous rulings criticizing violations of basic human rights in 
the country. The Government had ignored more than 100 court rulings 
that found the Government responsible for killings, abductions, and 
torture in Chechnya, according to Human Rights Watch.
    In April 2009 Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev signed a decree 
allowing rights groups to monitor conditions of arrest and detention 
for those being held in pretrial detention. According to some 
observers, there has been some success associated with the decree. In 
Moscow a committee comprising civil society members has generally been 
permitted to observe some detentions. However, increasingly members of 
such committees consisted of police personnel rather than human rights 
activists, reducing its usefulness as an accountability tool. According 
to other activists, there has not been as much compliance with this 
decree outside of Moscow, and there has been a level of unsatisfactory 
compliance for those not yet serving a criminal sentence. The decree 
also lacked firm instructions on a mechanism to implement the plan, 
effectively giving law enforcement authorities discretion as to whether 
to cooperate. The decree also required that law enforcement authorities 
be present during any discussions of conditions with detainees (see 
section 1.c.).
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, language, 
social status, or other circumstances; however, the Government did not 
effectively enforce these prohibitions.

    Women.--Rape is illegal, and the law makes no distinctions based on 
the relationship between the rapist and the victim. Spousal or 
acquaintance rape was not widely perceived as a problem by society or 
law enforcement authorities. Women were unlikely to report cases of 
rape by persons they knew. According to NGOs, many women did not report 
rape or other violence due to social stigma and lack of government 
support. Rape victims may act as full legal parties in criminal cases 
brought against alleged assailants and may seek compensation as part of 
a court verdict without initiating a separate civil action. While 
members of the medical profession assisted assault victims and 
sometimes helped identify an assault or rape case, doctors were often 
reluctant to provide testimony in court. According to the MVD, 4,624 
rapes or attempted rapes were committed in the first 11 months of the 
year, a 6.1percent decrease from 2009.
    The penalty for rape is three to six years' imprisonment for a 
single offender, and four to 10 years if the crime is committed by a 
group of persons. The perpetrator receives eight to 15 years if a 
victim is underage, and 12 to 20 years if a victim died or was under 14 
years of age. According to NGOs, law enforcement personnel and 
prosecutors did not consider spousal or acquaintance rape a priority 
and did not encourage reporting or prosecuting such cases. NGOs 
reported that local police officers sometimes refused to respond to 
rape or domestic violence calls until the victim's life was directly 
threatened.
    Domestic violence remained a major problem. As of March 2009, the 
Ministry of Interior maintained records on more than four million 
perpetrators of domestic violence. The Duma's Committee on Social 
Defense reported that there were 21,400 murders during the year, two-
thirds of which were of women who died in domestic disputes, up 50 
percent since 2002. The Interior Ministry reported that at least 34,000 
women were domestic violence victims each year, meaning a woman died 
every 40 minutes at the hands of a husband, boyfriend, or other family 
member. However, the reluctance of victims to report domestic violence 
meant that reliable statistical information on its scope was impossible 
to obtain. Official telephone directories contained no information on 
crisis centers or shelters. There are only about 25 women's shelters 
across Russia, with beds for a total of about 200 women, according to 
Moscow's Anna National Center for the Prevention of Violence.
    There is no legal definition of domestic violence. Federal law 
prohibits battery, assault, threats, and killing, but most acts of 
domestic violence did not fall within the jurisdiction of the 
Prosecutor's Office. According to a March 2009 study by the Smolensk-
based Center for Women's Support, police often provided lackluster and 
inadequate responses to calls reporting domestic violence, at times 
suggesting that cases wait until morning. According to NGOs, police 
were often unwilling to register complaints of domestic violence and 
frequently discouraged victims from submitting them. A majority of 
cases filed were either dismissed on technical grounds or transferred 
to a reconciliation process conducted by a justice of the peace, whose 
focus was on preserving the family rather than punishing the 
perpetrator. Civil remedies for domestic violence included 
administrative fines and divorce. The Center for Women's Support 
asserted that many perpetrators of domestic violence themselves 
belonged to law enforcement agencies.
    Female inmates in the prison system faced particular challenges. 
According to the NGO Penal Reform International (PRI), as of April 
there were approximately 864,000 female inmates in 45 special prison 
colonies and detention centers. Although these inmates faced the same 
poor living conditions as male prisoners, the PRI reported that in 
prison women had much less access to health care programs for 
tuberculosis or substance abuse treatment.
    Human Rights Watch reports that ``honor killings'' were a 
continuing problem in some areas, such as the Caucasus, although it was 
difficult to estimate an exact number of victims.
    Some observers noted that the country was a destination for sex 
tourism. Police worked closely with at least one foreign government to 
ensure the prosecution of sex tourists.
    The law does not prohibit sexual harassment, which remained a 
widespread problem. NGOs operating hotlines reported that women 
routinely sought advice on the problem. The lack of legal remedies and 
limited economic opportunities caused many women to tolerate 
harassment. Authorities have successfully prosecuted only two sexual 
harassment cases since 1992.
    The Government officially recognized the basic right of couples and 
individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and 
timing of their children. While there are no legal restrictions on 
access to contraceptives, some reproductive rights advocates reported 
that the atmosphere for their work was difficult. International family 
planning organizations were unable to operate in the face of opposition 
from the Government and from the Orthodox Church, making access to 
family planning limited, especially outside of big cities. The 
Government explicitly encourages women to have as many children as 
possible to counteract the country's demographic problems (the 
country's population has declined by six million since the end of the 
Soviet Union). According to UN estimates, the maternal mortality ratio 
in the country was 39 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2008. Men and 
women received equal access to diagnosis and treatment for sexually 
transmitted infections, including HIV.
    Although the constitution states that men and women have equal 
rights and opportunities to pursue those rights, women encountered 
discrimination in employment. Job advertisements often specified gender 
and age groups. Some even specified desired physical appearance and 
preference for applicants who were open to intimate relations with 
their prospective supervisors. Employers often preferred to hire men to 
save on maternity and childcare costs and avoid the perceived 
unreliability associated with women with small children. The labor 
market was characterized by gender discrimination in compensation, 
professional training, hiring and dismissal, and career promotion. 
However, such discrimination was often very difficult to prove. 
According to both RosStat, the federal state statistics service, and 
the Center for Labor Studies (of the Higher School of Economics), in 
2007 women earned 35 percent less than men, although some more recent 
studies have provided a lower estimate. There is no government office 
devoted to women's legal rights. The women's rights NGO Peterburgskaya 
Egida reported that instances of pregnant women or those with children 
under three years of age being fired by their employers and denied 
social allowances increased in recent years.
    The 2002 census indicated that 62 percent of women in the country 
had higher education, compared to 50 percent of men, and that women 
made up more than 50 percent of university tutors and professors. Women 
ran approximately 30 percent of medium-sized businesses and 10 percent 
of big businesses in the country. A March 2009 study by Price-
Waterhouse-Coopers (PWC) found that the number of women taking 
managerial positions had grown from 30 to 40 percent since the onset of 
the economic crisis. Another PWC poll revealed that 90 percent of chief 
accountants, 70 percent of human resources senior managers, and 50 
percent of chief financial officers were women. In May 2009 the Supreme 
Court rejected a St. Petersburg woman's appeal to drive metro trains; 
she had filed a discrimination suit after being turned down for the job 
because of her gender. Article 253 of the labor code specifies that 
female workers should not perform ``hard physical jobs and jobs with 
harmful or dangerous labor conditions, or work underground except in 
nonphysical jobs or sanitary and consumer services.'' According to the 
NGO Peterburgskaya Egida, this article had resulted in a list of 456 
professions that legally exclude women, including diver, gas rescue 
worker, paratrooper, and firefighter. Women made up approximately 10 
percent of the workforce of the federal and regional governments.
    Although polygamy is illegal, the Chechen government has encouraged 
men to take more than one wife, has encouraged women and girls to wear 
headscarves when in public (schools, universities, and government 
offices), and threatened the jobs of some unmarried women, should they 
choose to stay single. According to NGOs, bride kidnapping was another 
prevalent practice in the North Caucasus. Backed by local ancient 
tradition, it had reportedly grown as an acceptable reason to abduct 
and rape young women, whether they were returned to their families 
married or not. Often in these cases, the young women are forever 
``sullied'' as they are no longer virgins and cannot enter a legitimate 
marriage.
    In June HRW received credible reports of individuals, including law 
enforcement agents, pelting uncovered women on the streets of Grozniy 
with paintball guns and threatening future brutality should they not 
cover themselves. At least one of the women had to be hospitalized as a 
result. In an interview with the television station Grozny on July 3, 
Chechen President Kadyrov expressed unambiguous approval of this 
practice by professing his readiness to ``award a commendation'' to the 
men who engaged in these activities. In August HRW reported receiving 
numerous accounts of the harassment of women in the streets of the 
capital by groups of men claiming to represent the Islamic High Council 
(muftiat) of the republic. They reportedly were joined by young men who 
pulled on the women's sleeves, skirts, and hair and accused them of 
being dressed like harlots. In two instances reported to HRW, members 
of Chechen law enforcement bodies were among the perpetrators.

    Children.--By law citizenship is derived from parents at birth or 
from birth within the country's territory if the parents are unknown or 
if the child cannot claim the parents' citizenship. As a rule all newly 
born babies are registered at the local civil registry office where 
parents live. One of the parents must apply for registration within a 
month of the birth date, and on the basis of the medical certificate of 
the hospital where the baby was born, a birth certificate is issued.
    Although education was free to grade 11 and compulsory until age 15 
or 16, regional authorities frequently denied school access to the 
children of persons not registered as residents of the locality, 
including Roma, asylum seekers, and migrants.
    Child abuse was a widespread problem. In June 2009 the Duma passed 
a law that increased the maximum sentence for rape of a minor to 20 
years. It also increased the penalties for child molestation and the 
distribution of child pornography. The law specifies that the maximum 
penalty for child molestation, if certain aggravating factors are 
present, is 20 years and for the distribution of child pornography, up 
to 10 years if aggravating factors are present.
    Children, particularly the homeless and orphans, were exploited for 
child pornography. While authorities working on the issue viewed child 
pornography as a serious problem, the law prohibiting it lacked 
important details, and authorities seldom invoked it. The law does not 
define child pornography, criminalize its possession, or provide for 
effective investigation and prosecution of cases of child pornography. 
Courts often dismissed criminal cases because of the lack of clear 
standards. When a court convicted a suspect, it frequently imposed the 
minimum sentence, often probation. Authorities investigated and 
prosecuted relatively few cases involving child pornography, creating 
an environment in which it proliferated.
    In 2008, the latest year for which figures were available, 
authorities registered 356 cases of the distribution of child 
pornography, opened preliminary investigations into 159 (an increase of 
17.6 percent over the previous year), and brought indictments in 157. 
In 2009 the number of investigations increased to 259. However, an MVD 
official noted that, while the performance of MVD officers 
investigating pornography had improved, the trade in child pornography 
remained strong. In March an MVD spokesman stated that a hotline for 
reporting instances of child pornography received 10,000 calls in 2009, 
leading to the shutdown of 3,000 distribution channels, including 300 
shut down outside the country by cooperating foreign law enforcement 
agencies.
    The Government has created two federal resources to respond to the 
threat of child pornography through the Internet: the Russian Safer 
Internet Center, established in 2008 with a hotline to receive 
information on illegal content sources, and the Friendly Runet 
Foundation created in 2009 with the direct participation of the 
Interior Ministry, which also has a hotline for reporting Internet 
sources with illegal content.
    In 2009 NGOs began a project entitled, Prevention of Sexual 
Exploitation of Children in the Russian Federation, with support from 
the European Commission. The three-year project is a joint initiative 
led by the Syostry call center in Moscow, the Perm Center for Violence 
Prevention, and the Far Eastern Center in Support of Social Initiatives 
in the Russian Far East, which intended to put in place a system for 
training social workers, police, and educators in their regions on the 
prevention of violence against children, the provision of support for 
victims, and the early identification of sexual violence.
    Citing MVD statistics, a Public Chamber representative said in May 
that each year nearly 120,000 children were orphaned, and each day, 
200-220 were taken away from neglectful parents. The representative 
estimated that 600,000 children were located in different types of 
institutional and foster care. In a 2008 report, the NGO Children's 
Rights estimated that approximately 40,000 children ran away from home 
annually to escape abuse and neglect and that 20,000 orphans fled 
similar conditions in orphanages. The report, as updated in February 
2009, corroborated the MVD statistics of approximately 120,000 new 
orphans every year.
    The NGO Children's Rights estimated that 2 percent of the country's 
children were neglected or lived on the streets. Police attempted to 
return approximately 70 percent of them to a home or institution. 
According to Rossiskaya Gazeta, a government publication, the number of 
children living in extreme poverty fell from 3.1 percent in November 
2008 to 1.4 percent in November of 2009. According to Investigative 
Committee head Alexander Bastrykin, during the year 100,000 children 
were the victims of serious crimes, a decrease from 126,000 child 
victims in 2008. An estimated 20,000 minors were missing at the end of 
the year, including 5,000 small children.
    Homeless children often engaged in criminal activities, received no 
education, and were vulnerable to drug and alcohol abuse. Some children 
on the streets turned to, or were forced into, prostitution, often to 
survive. According to a 2010 report by the Foundation for Assistance to 
Children in Difficult Life Situations, juveniles in 2009 committed 
94,700 crimes, a decrease from 116,100 committed in 2008.
    Although there was no nationwide telephone hotline for reporting 
child abuse, the Presidential Administration, in conjunction with 
foreign governments, provided grants through the National Charity 
Foundation to local NGOs, such as the National Foundation for the 
Prevention of Cruelty to Children, to train staff on and strengthen 
local hotlines for child abuse across the country.
    In March 2007 the Government implemented its flagship child welfare 
program, Children of Russia. During the year this program continued the 
construction and renovation of orphanages and centers for disabled 
children and detention centers for juvenile offenders. The program also 
focused on the comprehensive rehabilitation and social integration of 
disabled children in a family environment and supplied children's 
rehabilitation centers with equipment.
    The Foundation for Assistance to Children in Difficult Life 
Situations was established in 2008 by presidential order. The program 
has provided more than 1.7 billion rubles ($56.3 million) to cofinance 
109 programs in 50 regions and to finance 307 projects in 63 regions.
    In September 2009 President Medvedev established the post of 
Ombudsman for the Rights of Children and appointed Aleksey Golovan, a 
well-known human rights activist, to the post. In December the 
president replaced Golovan with lawyer and Public Chamber member Pavel 
Astakhov. According to the Moscow Times, authorities dismissed Golovan 
at the behest of Russian Orthodox groups who objected to his support 
for a juvenile justice system separate from the one for adults. The 
responsibilities of the children's ombudsman include following the 
activities of state agencies at the federal level, ensuring the 
observance of the rights of children, and writing an annual report 
similar to that of Ombudsman Lukin.
    Regional ombudsmen for children operated in 25 regions with the 
authority to conduct independent investigations relating to the 
violation of children's rights, inspect any institutions and executive 
offices dealing with minors, establish councils of public experts, and 
conduct an independent evaluation of legislation affecting children. In 
a number of schools in the Moscow and Volgograd Oblasts, there were 
school ombudsmen dealing with children and families and identifying 
potential conflicts and violations of the rights of children.
    According to 2007 data from the Moscow Department of Social 
Security, 12 percent of street children in shelters had run away from 
orphanages or residential facilities. Law enforcement officials 
reportedly abused street children, blamed them for unsolved crimes, and 
committed illegal acts against them, including extortion, illegal 
detention, and psychological and sexual violence.
    Then children's ombudsman noted in a September 2009 interview with 
Vremya Novostei that approximately 160,000 of the country's orphans 
lived in orphanages and suffered from ``psychological and emotional 
neglect.''
    Russia is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international child abduction, please see the Department of State's 
annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html as well as country-
specific information at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/country/
country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--An estimated 250,000 Jews lived in the country, 
constituting less than 0.25 percent of the population, according to 
government sources and various Jewish groups. Some researchers believed 
that the number was underreported due to the hesitation of some Jews to 
publicly identify their background.
    Although Jewish leaders reported improvements in official attitudes 
towards Jews, anti-Semitism remained a problem at the societal level. 
Violent attacks against Jews were infrequent, with only a few episodes 
occurring during the year.
    According to a May 24 report from Jewish.ru, soccer fans from St. 
Petersburg angry about their team's loss in a game held in Rostov-on-
Don beat up Roman Kosarev, a Jew, and shouted anti-Semitic epithets. 
Authorities began an investigation and promised to bring those 
responsible to justice. There were no further developments by year's 
end.
    There continued to be reports across the country of vandals 
desecrating Jewish synagogues and cemeteries and defacing Jewish 
religious and cultural facilities, sometimes combined with threats to 
the Jewish community, although the amount of vandalism is generally 
decreasing. The SOVA Center, an NGO that seeks to combat extremism and 
nationalism, registered six acts of anti-Semitic vandalism. There has 
been a reduction in vandalism due to a decrease in the activities of 
nationalist groups Russian Way and Resistance, which had been very 
active in these crimes.
    On March 12, anti-Semitic slogans were written in graffiti on the 
walls of a synagogue in Izhevsk. Two minors were charged in the 
incident. On April 20, Adolf Hitler's birthday, anti-Semitic graffiti 
appeared in several parts of Ulyanovsk, according to the Federation of 
Jewish Communities of Russia. Anti-Semitic graffiti and leaflets 
appeared frequently in many regions, including at a Communist Party 
meeting in Ulyanovsk on May 1.
    The SOVA Center also reported desecrations of graves in Jewish 
cemeteries in Nizhny Novgorod, Makhachkala, and Kaliningrad in 2009. 
Officials often classified these crimes as ``hooliganism.'' In many 
cases in which local authorities prosecuted cases, courts imposed 
suspended sentences. In some cases, however, the hate crime motive was 
taken into consideration. According to the Moscow Bureau for Human 
Rights, law enforcement officials were investigating vandalism in 
Voronezh, where 20 gravestones in a local Jewish cemetery were knocked 
down on July 27. On October 7, anti-Semitic inscriptions appeared on a 
Jewish synagogue in Barnaul. At year's end the local police were 
investigating the incident.
    On June 22, an explosion next to a synagogue in Tver took place in 
the middle of the night, damaging the exterior of the building but 
causing no casualties. The governor of the Tver Region announced that 
he would take the investigation of the attack under his personal 
control. As of the end of the reporting period, there was no further 
information on the attack.
    On October 28, a Moscow Court sentenced a 22-year old neo-fascist 
with links to the Nationalist Socialist Society to life imprisonment 
for killing 15 persons, some of whom were Jewish. According to the head 
of the Ministry of Interior' Scientific Research Institute, there are 
more than 150 neo-Nazi groups in Russia, and the number was rising.
    In September 2009 skinheads in Khabarovsk threw Molotov cocktails 
into a synagogue and into the house of a policeman who had been 
investigating cases of extremism. Khabarovsk Anti-extremist Department 
police detained the group, and criminal proceedings were opened against 
two of the suspects. They faced up to five years' imprisonment for the 
synagogue attack and up to life imprisonment for the attack on the 
police officer.
    Anti-Semitism on television or in other mainstream media was 
infrequent and was more likely to appear in low-circulation newspapers 
or in pamphlets. However, according to the Moscow Bureau of Human 
Rights (MBHR), anti-Semitic material on Russian-language Internet sites 
increased during the year.
    There were several instances in which the Government successfully 
prosecuted individuals for anti-Semitic statements or publications. On 
March 12, a court in Izhevsk gave a one-year suspended sentence to neo-
Nazi Russian National Unity member Andrey Mokrushin for painting 
swastikas and anti-Semitic threats on the walls of a local Jewish 
community center, according to the Union of Councils for Jews in the 
Former Soviet Union. On February 3, a court sentenced the editor of the 
anti-Semitic newspaper Orthodox Rus to three years in a prison colony 
for inciting ethnic and religious hatred for distributing an anti-
Semitic film, Russia with a Knife in the Back.
    On May 27, a court fined a Novosibirsk man 1,000 rubles ($33) for 
distributing the Nazi propaganda film Eternal Jew. On July 9, a Tyumen 
court dismissed incitement charges against college professor Svetlana 
Shestakova for a series of lectures in which she claimed that Jews 
ritually kill Christian children. The court dropped the charges due to 
the expiration of a statute of limitation, according to the Union of 
Councils of Former Soviet Jews.
    On June 30, the editor of the newspaper Russian Truth was fined 
450,000 rubles ($14,720) for inciting ethnic hatred in a 2006 
publication entitled Why don't people like the Jewish mafia?
    The Government has publicly criticized nationalist ideology and 
expressed support for legal action in response to anti-Semitic acts. 
However, the Liberal Democratic Party organized a July 10 Duma 
roundtable called ``On the Question of Recognizing the Genocide of the 
Russian People,'' which resulted in a declaration blaming the 
``international Zionist financial mafia for genocide against the 
Russian people.''
    Federal authorities, and in many cases regional and local 
authorities, facilitated the establishment of new Jewish institutions. 
Vladimir Putin, both as president in 2008 and subsequently as prime 
minister, publicly criticized anti-Semitism and supported the 
establishment of the Museum of Tolerance by the Federation of Jewish 
Communities of Russia. Work continued on a 2.7 billion ruble ($89 
million) complex on land donated by the Moscow city government to house 
the museum as well as Jewish community institutions, including a school 
and a hospital.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--Several laws prohibit discrimination 
against persons with disabilities or mandate their equal treatment; 
however, the Government generally did not enforce these laws. Citizens 
with disabilities continued to face discrimination and denial of equal 
access to education, employment, and social institutions. The situation 
for persons with disabilities reportedly worsened following the 
replacement of government in-kind subsidies for such items as 
transportation and medicine with cash payments in 2004. Some affluent 
regions, such as Moscow, preserved benefits for persons with 
disabilities at preexisting levels, while most other regions provided a 
limited number of benefits, such as free transportation. According to 
information provided by a leading NGO working on disability rights, 
persons with mental disabilities were severely discriminated against in 
both education and employment. In addition, the conditions of 
guardianship imposed upon them by courts deprived them of practically 
all personal rights.
    In May 2009, the daily Moskovskiy Komsomolets reported that there 
were 13 million persons with disabilities. In 2006 the human rights 
ombudsman stated that in the previous 10 years more than 120,000 
persons have become disabled as a result of military actions and war 
injuries, and according to the NGO Perspektiva, the number continued to 
grow as a result of new conflicts. Persons with disabilities generally 
were excluded from the social and political life of their communities 
and isolated from mainstream society. However, there were several Duma 
deputies with disabilities, and lobbying in favor of persons with 
disabilities to improve legislation occurred. A joint study released in 
May 2009 by the Public Chamber and EU representatives found that 20 
percent of respondents considered persons with disabilities to be 
burdens on society. Forty percent of the disabled surveyed reported 
that they experienced social problems, in particular insults and 
hostility. At the same time, disability rights activists believe that 
some attitudes were changing for the better. An August 27 rally in 
Moscow, in which many wheelchair users and celebrities participated, 
attracted three times as many participants as the same rally did in 
2009; the rally was supported by many officials and was covered by all 
major television and radio stations, newspapers, and blogs.
    Conditions in institutions for adults with disabilities were often 
poor, with unqualified staff and overcrowding. The residents were 
mainly ``graduates'' of similar institutions for children. Institutions 
rarely attempted to develop the abilities of residents, who were 
frequently confined to the institutions and sometimes restricted in 
their movement within the institutions themselves.
    Federal law on the protection of persons with disabilities requires 
that buildings be made accessible to persons with disabilities, but 
authorities did not enforce the law, and in practice most buildings 
were not accessible. A reporter for Noviye Izvestiye estimated in a 
September 2009 article that 10 to 30 percent of Moscow's buildings were 
inaccessible to persons with disabilities. Likewise, only 8 percent of 
the city's 36,000 street crossings were completely equipped for the 
disabled. Although accessibility requirements were imposed in 1995, 
efforts to realize them have been undertaken in earnest only in the 
last three to five years.
    There are laws establishing employment quotas for persons with 
disabilities at the federal and local levels; however, some local 
authorities and private employers continued to discourage such persons 
from working, and there was no penalty for failure to honor quotas. 
Human rights NGOs made some progress in persuading foreign companies in 
larger cities, including Moscow, to consider persons with disabilities 
as potential employees, and the Moscow city government reportedly 
encouraged employers to hire persons with disabilities. In September 
the NGO Perspektiva reported that the onset of the economic crisis had 
worsened employment prospects for persons with disabilities; however, 
Perspektiva had no statistics on the scope of the problem.
    In 2008 the ombudsman's office reported that approximately 640,000 
of the country's persons with disabilities were children. Authorities 
generally segregated such children from mainstream society through a 
system that institutionalized them until adulthood. Observers concluded 
that issues of children's welfare often were ignored, and there were 
few means of addressing systemic problems of abuse. Human rights groups 
alleged that children with disabilities in state institutions were 
poorly provided for and, in some cases, physically abused by staff 
members. ``Graduates'' of state institutions also often lacked the 
necessary social, educational, and vocational skills to function in 
society. According to a 2006 report by the Prosecutor General's Office, 
half of the more than 600,000 children with disabilities in state care 
lacked medicines, hearing aids, and wheelchairs. The NGO Children's 
Rights confirmed in September 2009 that this situation had not changed. 
There appeared to be no legal mechanism by which individuals could 
contest their commitment to a facility for persons with disabilities. 
The assignment of categories of disability to children with mental 
disabilities often followed them through their lives. The labels 
``imbecile'' and ``idiot,'' which were assigned by a commission that 
assesses children with developmental problems at the age of three and 
signifies that a child is uneducable, were almost always irrevocable. 
Even the label ``debil'' (slightly retarded) followed an individual 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 individual 
caregivers, but there were few advocates for the rights of 
institutionalized children.
    Youths with disabilities not in institutions faced significant 
barriers to education, including a lack of access to schools. According 
to the May 2009 Public Chamber study, only 3 percent of children 
studied under conditions analogous to mainstream students, and 87 
percent of higher education institutions did not accept students with 
disabilities. Education authorities often tried to keep youths with 
disabilities out of school due to lack of special programs. Parents of 
children without disabilities often were averse to their children 
studying with children with disabilities. Rights activists stated, 
however, that attitudes toward including disabled children in 
mainstream schools were changing, with such children being admitted to 
schools in many places around the country, although the numbers are 
still small.
    There have been mixed results in attempts to accommodate children 
with disabilities in educational facilities. According to Perspektiva, 
part of the problem is due to the absence of a formal federal-level 
definition of inclusive education for persons with disabilities and the 
fact that the law does not contain a clear mechanism to ensure 
inclusiveness in education. On April 28, the Moscow City Duma passed a 
law on The Education of Persons with Disabilities in Moscow, which 
observers contended created some improvements in education for persons 
with disabilities.
    Perspektiva noted that rather than provide special equipment that 
would allow a visually impaired child to attend class, the school 
administration in Stavropol recommended that the child receive 
education at home. In response to a complaint filed by lawyers on 
behalf of the student's family, the school revoked its initial 
recommendation and provided the needed equipment as well as a staff 
member to escort the child to classes.
    The mother of a student wheelchair user appealed to the education 
department in Nizhny Novgorod to provide a wheelchair-accessible 
environment at the State University. After being denied her request, 
during the following two years, the parent unsuccessfully petitioned 
the governor, the Nizhny Novgorod Department of Education, and the 
regional ministry of education for wheel-chair access at the university 
before abandoning her efforts, reportedly for fear of attracting harm 
to her son.
    The mother of an 11-year-old wheelchair user was initially 
unsuccessful in her campaign in Butovo to have the student's new school 
accommodate his special mobility needs for his classes on the third and 
fourth floor of the school. It was primarily due to the public appeal 
and rally organized by the NGO Perspektiva and coverage by the media 
that authorities eventually built a chair lift in the school.
    According to government reports, of approximately 450,000 school-
age children with disabilities, an estimated 200,000 did not receive 
any education. Of the 250,000 who received an education, 140,000 
attended regular schools, 40,000 studied at home, and 70,000 attended 
special education schools. Because special education schools 
constituted only 3 percent of all schools, most children with 
disabilities could not study in the communities where they lived and 
were isolated from other members of the community.
    The election laws contain no special provisions concerning the 
accessibility of polling places, and the majority of polling places 
were not accessible to persons with disabilities. However, the law 
provides for mobile ballot boxes to be brought to the homes of the 
disabled.
    The mandates of government bodies charged with protecting human 
rights included the protection of persons with disabilities. These 
bodies carried out a number of inspections in response to complaints 
from disability organizations and, in some cases, appealed to the 
responsible agencies to remedy individual situations. Inspections by 
the Ombudsman's Office of Homes for Children with Mental Disabilities 
continued to disclose severe violations of children's rights and 
substandard conditions. According to the Moscow Department of 
Education, there are approximately 26,000 children with disabilities in 
Moscow, but only the special needs of 100 children with disabilities in 
secondary level education have been accommodated. According to 
Perspektiva, federal funding for social support of the disabled from 
2006-10 was 310 million rubles ($10 million), and a subprogram for 
rehabilitation of those disabled due to violent conflict was 9.58 
million rubles ($333,000). Federal grants to non-governmental 
organizations serving the disabled in 2010 alone totaled 800 million 
rubles ($27.8 million), and the Moscow government reportedly spent 36.5 
billion rubles ($1.27 billion) between 2007 and 2009 on its Social 
Integration of Disabled Persons and Other Persons with Disabilities 
program. The federal government plans to spend 46 billion rubles ($1.6 
billion) over five years through its Accessible Environment program to 
improve access for the disabled.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The law prohibits 
discrimination based on nationality; however, government officials at 
times subjected minorities to discrimination. Recent years saw a steady 
rise in societal violence and discrimination against minorities, 
particularly Roma, persons from the Caucasus and Central Asia, dark-
skinned persons, and foreigners. The number of reported hate crimes 
increased during the year, and skinhead groups and other extreme 
nationalist organizations fomented racially motivated violence. Racist 
propaganda remained a problem during the year, although courts 
continued to convict individuals of inciting ethnic hatred by means of 
propaganda. In December, in the wake of the death of an ethnic Russian 
after a street brawl involving ethnic Russians and persons of Caucasus 
origin, Moscow experienced widespread racial rioting by thousands of 
participants that the authorities were often unable to control. Several 
dozen individuals of Central Asian and Caucasus appearance were 
attacked and severely beaten in the capital. President Medvedev 
condemned the nationalist violence. Some high-level government 
officials initially failed to do so, and some appeared to give 
legitimacy to the demands of the nationalists, placing the blame on 
foreign migrants.
    A number of studies released in March 2009 by independent NGOs and 
advocacy groups, such as the Tajik Migrant Workers Union, found 
widespread problems of unpaid laborers with no legal recourse.
    Persons of color complained of unequal treatment at the hands of 
authorities. In Moscow authorities subjected persons of color, 
especially those of Central Asian and Caucasus appearance, to far more 
frequent document checks than others and frequently demanded bribes 
from those lacking documents.
    According to the Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy's Task Force on 
Racial Violence and Harassment, police in Moscow consistently failed to 
record the abuse of African minorities, and did not charge the alleged 
attackers with any crime or issue copies of police reports to the 
alleged victims. In one case this year, a policeman refused to record 
an attack on a Congolese student in Moscow because the event took place 
on a Friday, the day in question was a holiday and ``this is Russia.'' 
On another occasion, the police allegedly told a Cameroonian victim 
that it was too late in the evening to make a police report and to come 
back the next day. When the victim returned the following day, the 
police attempted to twist the events and claim that the victim was 
actually the attacker.
    Twenty-four racially motivated attacks on Africans were reported 
this year in Moscow, according to the SOVA Center. In one March attack, 
two unknown men attacked a man from Cameroon with knives, hospitalizing 
him for three weeks.
    In Bashkortostan, authorities required applicants for new identity 
documents to state their ethnic origins, contrary to the constitution, 
which states that ``no one shall be forced to identify and state their 
ethnicity.'' Some officials appeared to stoke societal antipathy toward 
migrant workers from Central Asia by making statements imputing greater 
criminality to migrants than to citizens. In May 2009 Federal 
Investigative Committee head Aleksandr Bastrykin commented to an 
interviewer that migrants were to blame for the majority of crimes in 
society. In December hundreds of members of the Young Guard, a youth 
wing of the United Russia Party, rallied in Moscow to demand the 
expulsion of millions of nonethnic Russian labor migrants.
    Skinhead violence continued to be a serious problem. Skinheads 
primarily targeted foreigners, particularly Asians and individuals from 
the Northern Caucasus, although they also expressed anti-Muslim and 
anti-Semitic sentiments. According to the Ministry of Interior, neo-
fascist movements had approximately 15,000 to 20,000 members, more than 
5,000 of whom were estimated to live in Moscow. However, the ministry 
stated that if the category were expanded to include ``extremist youth 
groups'' in general, the number was closer to 200,000 countrywide. In 
February 2009 the MBHR estimated that there were as many as 70,000 
skinhead and radical nationalist organizations, compared with a few 
thousand in the early 1990s. Skinhead groups were most numerous in 
Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhniy Novgorod, Yaroslavl, and Voronezh. The 
three most prominent ultranationalist groups--the Great Russia Party, 
the Slavic Union Movement, and the Movement against Illegal Immigration 
--claimed, respectively, 80,000, 10,000, and 20,000 members. However, 
membership claims by these underground organizations were difficult to 
verify.
    Police investigation of cases that appeared to be racially or 
ethnically motivated was frequently ineffective. Authorities were at 
times reluctant to acknowledge the racial or nationalist element in the 
crimes, often calling attacks ``hooliganism.'' Many victims met with 
police indifference, and immigrants and asylum seekers who lacked 
residence documents recognized by police often chose not to report 
attacks. According to the SOVA Center, willingness to recognize crimes 
as hate crimes varied widely depending on the personal views of the 
local prosecutor; the center noted that the number of hate crimes 
prosecuted in Moscow increased significantly after a new prosecutor 
took office in 2008.
    The SOVA Center reported a general increase in the amount of 
racially motivated violence. According to SOVA data, there were 400 
racially motivated attacks during the year, resulting in 37 deaths and 
363 injuries, an increase from 19 persons killed and 167 injured in 
2009. The SOVA Center stated that during the year, 273 persons were 
convicted for crimes motivated by ``aggressive xenophobia,'' of whom 
154 were imprisoned. In most cases the attackers wore skinhead attire 
or proclaimed nationalist slogans.
    According to the SOVA Center, on February 3, Konstantin Dushenov, 
editor of an ultranationalist newspaper, Rus Pravoslavnaya, was found 
guilty of inflaming racial hatred and sentenced to three years in jail.
    A June 2009 report by SOVA noted that, in addition to their more 
traditional targets, neo-Nazis were increasing their attacks on law-
enforcement personnel. For example, on April 12, Moscow judge Eduard 
Chuvashov was shot to death in his central Moscow apartment complex. He 
had presided over high-profile trials of fascists, including the 
ultranationalist White Wolves gang and the Ryno-Skachevsky group. The 
White Wolves had been charged with killing non-white victims and the 
Ryno group with killing 20 persons and targeting migrants.
    On April 30, a Moscow city court outlawed the neo-Nazi Slavic Union 
group, declaring it extremist.
    On May 14, a grenade was thrown into a Muslim-owned store in St. 
Petersburg. It is suspected that the crime was racially motivated. On 
May17, a popular ethnically Brazilian Soviet-era actor, Tito Romalio, 
was attacked and later died. It was suspected that the crime was 
racially motivated as well.
    On July 27, the Tver city court sentenced neo-Nazi Russian National 
Unity group member Dmitry Orlov to life in jail for four killings and 
multiple assaults stemming from hate crimes committed between 2005 and 
2006.
    On July 29, four teenagers in St. Petersburg were found guilty by 
the Vyborgskiy District Court of St. Petersburg of inflaming ethnic 
hatred and attacking a group of Asians. One victim died from the 
attack, and the killer was sentenced to a seven and one-half years in 
prison. The other three perpetrators received suspended sentences of 
three to four years.
    In August 2009 FSB officers arrested Anton Mukhachev, one of the 
suspected cofounders of the extreme nationalist organization Northern 
Brotherhood and its Internet-based game Bolshaya Igra, and charged him 
with incitement to ethnic hatred. Mukhachev remained in detention at 
year's end. An investigation into his alleged crimes was completed in 
the summer, but a trial has not yet been scheduled. The group's 
Internet-based game is no longer online. Many online nationalists 
expressed support for Mukhachev, with some threatening revenge against 
authorities.
    On June 17, 10 members of an extremist youth group were arrested in 
connection with the December 2009 killing of a Ghanaian citizen.
    There were no reports of further developments in several 2009 
attacks that appeared to be racially motivated, including: the February 
attack by three youths in St. Petersburg on an African student at the 
Bonch-Bruyevich Telecommunications University, the May skinhead attack 
on an Indian restaurant in Moscow, and the October killing of a young 
Kyrgyz man on Bolshoy Cherkizovsky Street in Moscow.
    There were no reports of arrests or prosecutions related to the 
following 2008 cases: the skinhead attack on Kyrgyz and Vietnamese 
students at a Ufa university, the incendiary attacks by masked 
perpetrators on a group of Tajik guest workers in Moscow, the attack on 
a Turkmen embassy official by 10 neo-Nazis, and the attack near Moscow 
against two Tajik workers, one of whom was beheaded.
    There were developments in some ethnically motivated killings from 
previous years. In February 2009 the trial began of the Borovikov gang, 
whose members were charged with seven killings motivated by ethnic 
hatred between 2003 and 2006. Fourteen skinheads were involved, and 
nine were arrested. Of the two leaders of the gang, only Aleksey 
Voevodin is on trial; the other, Dmitriy Borovikov, was shot and killed 
by militiamen while resisting arrest in 2006. The case consists of 13 
episodes of criminal activities of the gang. Due to extensive delays in 
the investigation and trial, the Government was forced to release 
several of the accused. The trial for the remaining accused continued 
at year's end; several witnesses and victims have been threatened 
according to SOVA.
    Six persons of North Caucasus origin were convicted and sentenced 
in connection with the 2006 ethnic rioting in Kondopoga, Karelia. Their 
sentences ranged from three to 22 years' imprisonment.
    There were indications that the Government took ultranationalism 
seriously as a potential threat to the social order. However, in a 
March 20 interview with Interfax, Federal Migration Service deputy head 
of the International and Public Relations Directorate Konstantin 
Poltoranin dismissed the idea that xenophobia and ethnic intolerance 
had reached a dangerous level. According to Poltoranin, ``To say that 
in Russia foreign citizens are being victimized en masse is stupid. 
These are isolated incidents.'' During the Manezh square riots, on 
multiple occasions, police effectively protected members of ethnic 
minorities who had been targeted for attack by neo-nationalist groups.
    Human rights organizations expressed concern that Romani children 
in the education system experienced discrimination. According to the 
NGO Anti-Discrimination Center Memorial, a number of schools refused to 
register Romani students on the grounds that they lacked documents, 
while others segregated Romani students or placed them in classes 
designed for children with learning disabilities because of their 
ethnicity.

    Indigenous People.--The law provides for support of indigenous 
ethnic communities, permits them to create self-governing bodies, and 
allows them to seek compensation if economic development threatens 
their lands. Groups such as the Buryats in Siberia and ethnic groups in 
the far north (including the Enver, Tafarli, Chukchi, and others) 
continued to work actively to preserve and defend their cultures as 
well as their right to benefit from the economic resources of their 
regions. Most asserted that they received the same treatment as ethnic 
Russians, although some groups claimed that they were not represented, 
or were underrepresented, in regional governments.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Homosexuality was 
decriminalized in 1993; however, the gay and lesbian communities 
continued to suffer from societal stigma and discrimination. Gay rights 
activists asserted that the majority of gays hide their orientation due 
to fear of losing their jobs or their homes, as well as the threat of 
violence. However, there are active gay communities in Moscow and St. 
Petersburg. Medical practitioners reportedly continued to limit or deny 
gay and lesbian persons health services due to intolerance and 
prejudice. According to recent studies, gay men faced discrimination in 
workplace hiring practices. Openly gay men were targets for skinhead 
aggression; police often failed to respond out of indifference. A few 
gay rights organizations operated but did so out of public view.
    In Moscow authorities banned permits for a gay pride parade for the 
fifth year. Moscow's then mayor Yury Luzhkov, described gay pride 
marches as ``satanic.'' However, on May 29, rights activists in Moscow, 
employing stealth tactics, managed to hold a rally in the center of 
Moscow despite a ban imposed by the city's authorities. The protesters 
walked for approximately six-tenths of a mile and left when they saw 
police. There were no reports of attempts to stop the activists. A few 
hours later another march took place in northwest Moscow. On the same 
day, representatives of the Russian Orthodox, Protestant, Muslim, and 
Buddhist communities made statements in support of then mayor Luzhkov's 
position and against public actions by sexual minorities.
    Five participants in a gay rights rally at the Hermitage Museum in 
St. Petersburg were arrested for taking part in an unauthorized event 
on June 26. The police also arrested 20 men who reportedly planned to 
attack the demonstrators. All were released the next day.
    According to Nikolay Alekseyev, a leader of Moscow's gay community, 
in September he was kidnapped from an airport by persons he believed to 
be security personnel and held for two days outside Moscow where he was 
threatened and verbally abused by plainclothes officers. Alekseyev 
expressed the belief that this was an effort to get him to drop 
lawsuits against Russia filed with the ECHR (see section 1.b.).
    Societal animosity toward gays remained strong. In 2008 two youths 
killed a man they perceived to be gay. Police arrested both 
individuals, and at year's end they remained under investigation. On 
October 30, an estimated 1,000 protesters staged a rally in Moscow 
against gay parades, the legalization of same-sex marriages, and 
immorality. According to press reports, the rally was organized by a 
number of Orthodox organizations; many participants carried signs, 
among them ones that read: ``A gay parade will never be held in 
Moscow.'' The protest followed a ruling earlier in the month by the 
ECHR that found the city's ban on gay pride parades to be in violation 
of the European Convention on Human Rights.
    The city of St. Petersburg gave permission to hold a gay rights 
parade/demonstration on November 20. According to the human rights Web 
site GayRussia.ru, this was the first legally sanctioned gay 
demonstration in the country's history. There was a large turnout by 
antigay demonstrators, who threw eggs and shouted insults, and the 
demonstration was broken off after 40 minutes due to violence.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Persons with HIV/AIDS 
often encountered discrimination. A federal AIDS law includes 
antidiscrimination provisions but frequently was not enforced. HRW 
reported that HIV-positive mothers and their children faced 
discrimination in accessing health care, employment, and education. 
Persons with HIV/AIDS found themselves alienated from their families, 
employers, and medical service providers. According to the NGO 
GayRussia.ru, the Government no longer requires HIV tests for visitors 
who apply for short term tourist visas or business visas for one year 
or longer, so long as the total stay in Russia is not greater than 
three months per year.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides workers the right to 
form and join unions, but government policy limited its exercise in 
practice. For example, by law, the Federal Registration Service should 
consider a union officially registered once it has submitted the 
requisite documents. In practice, however, labor experts asserted that 
the documents a union must submit vary among regional offices of the 
service, and the offices often find fault with the papers provided for 
minor, bureaucratic reasons.
    The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FNPR)--the 
largest union organization in the country--reported that approximately 
45 percent of the workforce was unionized, a decline from approximately 
55 percent in 2006. As of June, its membership of 24.7 million (35 
percent of the workforce), constituted a majority of unionized workers.
    By law labor unions are independent of government bodies, 
employers, political parties, and NGOs. Interference by government 
authorities in union activities is prohibited. However, labor activists 
reported that police regularly used widespread intimidation techniques 
against union supporters, including detention, extensive 
interrogations, and provocation of physical confrontation.
    Police and prosecutors often questioned union activists based on 
written orders from the regional office of the FSB. Union activists 
also alleged that police pressured them to become informants.
    On July 13, Ministry of Interior Senior Police Lieutenant 
Mikhailova met with Denis Litvin, the chair of the Interregional Union 
of Autoworkers' affiliate, at his workplace, Tagro, which produces food 
processing equipment. During the meeting Mikhailova accused Litvin of 
falsifying union documents and demanded a list of union members and 
information on his friends and labor activists, which he refused to 
supply. On July 30, Tagro security staff detained Litvin and threatened 
him with physical violence if he did not stop distributing union 
information and ``stirring up people.'' In September, after Litvin won 
a court case against management for antiunion discrimination, 
management fired him instead of implementing the court ruling.
    In January the Labor Confederation of Russia and All-Russia 
Confederation of Labor filed a joint complaint against the Government 
with the International Labor Organization's Freedom of Association 
Committee. The complaint, later joined by leading unions, documents 
violations that took place from 2006 to 2009, including: violations of 
trade union rights and civil liberties, violations of workers' right to 
establish organizations without prior authorization, discrimination 
based on union membership and union activities, refusal by employers to 
recognize newly formed unions, denial of union leaders' access to 
members' workplaces, violations of the right to bargain collectively, 
government interference in trade union activities, and absence of an 
established system to defend trade union rights.
    In February 2009 unidentified assailants attacked Yevgeniy Ivanov, 
chair of the independent Interregional Union of Autoworkers' General 
Motors (GM), near his home in a suburb of St. Petersburg. In November 
2009 GM terminated Ivanov. In December 2009 Ivanov filed a request with 
the district court for the restoration of his position and monetary 
compensation. In March the court ruled in favor of Ivanov, restored him 
to his position, and ordered GM authorities to pay him 106,000 rubles 
($3,500) in compensation.
    The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) continued to seek the 
release of Valentin Urusov, a miner allegedly framed and imprisoned in 
2008 after recruiting employees of the Alrosa Diamond Mining Company to 
join a union. According to NUM, Urusov was sentenced to six years of 
hard labor on a fabricated charge of drug possession. In May 2009 the 
Yakut Supreme Court initially released Urusov and ordered another 
investigation; but the court subsequently upheld the conviction with a 
reduced sentence of five years. Despite a continuing review of the case 
by the prosecutor general at the request of the Public Chamber, 
Urusov's status remained unchanged at year's end.
    The law establishes the right to strike, but that right was 
difficult to exercise. The majority of strikes were considered 
technically illegal because they violated one or more of a complex set 
of procedures governing disputes. The law requires the provision of a 
minimum level of essential services if a strike could affect the safety 
or health of citizens. The labor code prohibits strikes in the military 
and emergency response services. In addition, it prohibits strikes in 
essential public service sectors, including utilities and 
transportation, or strikes that would threaten the country's defense 
and safety or the life and health of its workers. According to the 
FNPR, the legal preparation for a strike takes at least 40 days.
    As of November the State Statistics Service had not registered any 
strikes. Independent commentators, on the other hand, noted a 
significant number of protest actions. The Center for Social and Labor 
Rights (Moscow) registered 102 protests in the first half of the year, 
which included 44 protest actions that involved the complete or partial 
cessation of work. The majority of labor disputes occurred in the 
manufacturing sector, particularly in machine-building enterprises. In 
2009 the primary causes of labor disputes were wage arrears (more than 
50 percent), layoffs (21 percent), and company reorganization or 
closure (18 percent).
    The law prohibits reprisals against strikers; however, employers 
frequently engaged in reprisals, including threats of night shifts, 
denial of benefits, blacklisting, and termination. Courts may 
confiscate union property to cover employers' losses in the event that 
a declared strike continued after it was ruled illegal. Solidarity 
strikes and strikes on issues related to state policies also are 
prohibited. The courts have upheld most employers' requests to declare 
a strike illegal.
    In June 2009 approximately 700 employees of the Bogdanovich 
Porcelain Factory in Sverdlovsk Oblast participated in a spontaneous 
demonstration in protest of the termination of plant operations 
resulting from a cutoff of gas supplies. The two leaders of the 
factory's trade union, who were elected after the demonstration, 
initiated a counterclaim in the Bogdanovich District Court to combat 
administrative cases that had been filed against them for the ``illegal 
initiation of a strike.'' Although the demonstration did not disrupt 
public order, regional law enforcement forces were brought in just in 
case. The 99,000 ruble ($3,200) cost of the militia forces was billed 
to the trade union leaders. The case was not resolved by year's end.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for collective bargaining but favors larger, established 
unions over newer, smaller unions or professional ``craft'' unions. 
Employers were slow to recognize newly formed unions. In addition, they 
often accepted union requests for collective bargaining reluctantly and 
failed to provide union representatives with financial reports. In 2009 
the FNPR reported that 87 percent of its enterprises had collective 
bargaining agreements. Some companies tried to use the excuse of 
financial difficulties to avoid concluding new agreements or 
disregarded the existing ones in violation of labor legislation norms.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination, but management 
continued to harass union leaders and employees at the local level. 
State agencies with responsibility for overseeing the observance of 
labor legislation frequently failed to fulfill their responsibilities. 
Although unions were occasionally successful in courts, in most cases 
the management of companies that engaged in antiunion activities was 
not penalized.
    On June 15, workers at St. Petersburg Faurecia, a French producer 
of plastic parts for Ford, Renault, Volkswagen, and other auto 
manufacturers, formed a union. On the morning of June 18, they notified 
the management that the union had been established; by the evening of 
the same day, the union leader, Alexei Lyaushko, was fired. The local 
union filed a court case for Lyaushko's reinstatement.
    Union members at the Progress aircraft plant in Arsenyev complained 
to the plant's administration that salary levels had not been reviewed 
in three years. Wages at the plant were lower than the regional average 
and approximately half that of workers in similar companies. When 
negotiations with the administration were unsuccessful, the union 
appealed to the Arsenyev City Court, which denied the trade union's 
appeal in February. The Primorskiy Kray Court, however, ruled in July 
that the union was justified in its demand for higher wages in 
accordance with labor code salary regulations. As a result, the plant's 
administration had to increase wages according to the appropriate 
indexation level. According to the union, the raise had to be more than 
60 percent. On August 17, the union issued a statement, asserting that 
its members were ``under pressure and discrimination in wage payment, 
organized by the plant's administration.'' One worker stated that those 
who complained about wages no longer received bonus payments, as had 
been the case prior to the court case, and that the administration did 
not allow them to work overtime.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor; however, there were reports that such 
practices occurred. Men, women, and children from Russia are subjected 
to conditions of forced labor in Russia, including work in the 
construction industry, in textile shops, and in agriculture, according 
to the National Foundation for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children 
and UNICEF's Russia Office.
    For additional information, see the Department of State's annual 
Trafficking in Persons Report at http://www.state.gov/g/tip.
    Military personnel have been investigated in the past for the labor 
exploitation of military conscripts under their command. Men from the 
Far Eastern part of the country were subjected to conditions of debt 
bondage and forced labor, including in the agricultural and fishing 
sectors. Men, women, and children, including those from foreign 
countries, including Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, 
Ukraine, and Moldova, were subjected to conditions of forced labor, 
including work in the construction industry, in textile shops, and in 
agriculture.
    According to different estimates from BBC News and the Vneshmarket 
Web site, between 1,500 and 21,000 men and women from North Korea were 
subjected to conditions of forced labor, specifically in the 
construction, agriculture, and logging sectors.
    The law prohibits forced or bonded labor by children; however, such 
practices reportedly occurred.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There are laws to protect children from exploitation in the workplace, 
including laws against compulsory labor; however, authorities did not 
effectively implement laws and policies that would protect children, 
nor did the Government appear to consider child labor to be a problem. 
In urban areas the employment of children occurred primarily in the 
informal sector--retail services, selling goods on the street, washing 
cars, and making deliveries. In rural areas children worked in the 
agriculture sector.
    The law prohibits the employment of children under the age of 16 in 
most cases and regulates the working conditions of children under the 
age of 18, including prohibiting dangerous nighttime and overtime work. 
The law permits children, under certain conditions and with the 
approval of a parent or guardian, to work at the age of 14. Such work 
must not threaten the child's health or welfare.
    The Federal Labor and Employment Service (FLES) is responsible for 
inspecting enterprises and organizations to identify violations of 
labor and occupational health standards for minors. Local police only 
investigated in response to complaints. FLES reported 10,000 violations 
of child labor laws in 2008 (the latest statistics available), noting 
that the victims often received little pay and suffered from unsafe 
working conditions. FLES noted that most of the abuses it discovered 
occurred in the industrial, trade, and agricultural sectors. According 
to FLES, employers paid 1.5 million rubles ($49,600) in fines for 
violating child labor laws in 2008.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The legal minimum wage was 4,330 
rubles ($143) per month. The minimum wage was not sufficient to provide 
a decent standard of living for a worker and family.
    According to official statistics (Federal Statistics Service), in 
the first three quarters of the year, 13.5 percent of the population 
(18.9 million persons) had incomes below the minimum subsistence level. 
This was a decrease from the first three quarters of 2009, when the 
figure was 14.0 percent of the population or 19.7 million people. The 
subsistence level set by the Government is 5,707 rubles ($195) a month.
    In March and April, employees of the Kushva Mechanical Shop Ltd. 
and Amur Machine Building Plant in Sverdlovsk Oblast filed criminal 
cases against their employers. Under pressure due to economic 
instability and significant wage arrears, the management of both 
enterprises had demanded that employees take out personal loans and 
lend the borrowed money to their employers ``for factory needs.'' 
Threatened with dismissal, the employees had complied. To date, the 
borrowers (employers) have not paid the employees back. Challenged with 
increasing salary debts and growing bank interest, the employees 
appealed to the ombudsman and the general prosecutor of Sverdlovsk 
Oblast. The conflicts have proven difficult to resolve, however, due to 
scant factual evidence of employer pressure other than employees' 
testimony.
    In March construction workers on projects related to the 2014 
Olympic Games in Sochi began a hunger strike to protest unsanitary 
living conditions and months of unpaid wages. The back wages were paid 
within two weeks.
    In August a group of workers in Kirov conducted a hunger strike to 
protest poor living conditions in a workers' dormitory run by a tire 
factory.
    In November hundreds of autoworkers in Taganrog went on 
unregistered strike to protest two months of unpaid wages.
    The law provides for a standard workweek of 40 hours with at least 
one 24-hour rest period and requires premium pay for overtime or work 
on holidays. Information was insufficient to determine the extent to 
which employers observed these standards in practice.
    The law establishes minimum conditions for workplace safety and 
worker health. The FLES is responsible for enforcement. However, the 
Government did not allocate sufficient resources to enforce these 
standards effectively. In many cases factory workers did not have 
adequate protective equipment and clothing, enterprises stored 
hazardous materials in open areas, emergency exits were locked, and 
smoking was permitted near flammable substances. The FLES reported that 
occupational incidents caused more than 3,190 deaths, including those 
of 278 women and two minors in 2009, and that unsatisfactory working 
conditions directly or indirectly caused up to 40 percent of all 
diseases among workers. In 2008 the Health Ministry initiated a two-
year program to improve working conditions and worker safety in an 
attempt to transition from a reactive policy to one of proactive 
management of hazards to workers' health.
    The law gives workers the right to remove themselves from hazardous 
or life-threatening work situations without jeopardizing their 
continued employment; however, the Government did not effectively 
enforce this right. Many companies employing workers in hazardous 
conditions awarded bonuses based on worker productivity, which could 
encourage workers to jeopardize their safety for higher salaries.
    In May two explosions caused by the accumulation of methane gas and 
a concealed underground fire at the Raspadskaya coal mine in Kemerovo 
Oblast claimed the lives of 68 miners and rescue workers. Poor 
compliance with safety regulations reportedly led to the explosions. 
Following the incident, government officials blamed Raspadskaya 
management for basing wages on output and offering productivity bonuses 
that encouraged the suppression of methane detection systems. 
Prosecutors initiated a criminal case against the mine's director on 
the grounds that he violated safety regulations.
    The law entitles foreigners working legally in the country to the 
same rights and protections as citizens. However, Human Rights Watch 
noted in a May 2009 report that many employers in the construction 
sector, in which migrant laborers often worked, did not enforce safety 
standards, nor did they provide migrant workers with mandatory 
insurance or medical treatment. For example, press reports during the 
year cited multiple claims by workers of poor housing and nutrition, as 
well as long, 13-hour workdays on construction sites associated with 
the 2012 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in Vladivostok.

                               __________

                               SAN MARINO

    The Republic of San Marino, with a population of approximately 
30,000, is a multiparty democracy. The popularly elected unicameral 
Great and General Council (parliament) selects two of its members to 
serve as captains regent (cochiefs of state). They preside over 
meetings of the Council and the Congress of State (cabinet), which has 
no more than 10 other members (secretaries of state) selected by the 
council. Parliamentary elections, last held in 2008, were considered 
free and fair. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    There were some reports of violence 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    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 and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards, and the 
Government permitted visits by independent human rights observers. The 
country does not have an ombudsman for detained persons.
    Prisoners and detainees have reasonable access to visitors and are 
permitted religious observance practices. During the year prisoners and 
detainees submitted no complaints concerning treatment or conditions to 
officials. The Government monitors prison conditions and there were no 
media reports criticizing prison authorities.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these 
prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the civil police, the Gendarmerie, 
and the National Guard, and the Government had effective mechanisms to 
investigate and punish abuse and corruption. There were no reports of 
impunity involving the security forces during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Suspects were 
apprehended openly with warrants based on sufficient evidence and 
issued by a duly authorized official. The law provides a detainee with 
the right to a prompt judicial determination of the legality of the 
detention, and the authorities generally respected this right in 
practice. There is a well-functioning bail system. Detainees are 
allowed prompt access to family members and to a lawyer of their 
choice; the state provides legal assistance to indigent persons.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the right to a fair trial, 
and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. Trials are 
public and are presided over by a single judge. There are no provisions 
for a jury trial. Defendants have the right to be present and to 
consult with an attorney even during preliminary investigations. 
Defendants can confront or question witnesses against them and present 
witnesses and evidence on their behalf. They have access to government-
held evidence relevant to their cases. They enjoy a presumption of 
innocence and have the right to two levels of appeal.
    In case of legal actions against military personnel, a civil judge 
is temporarily given a military grade and assigned to an ad hoc 
military tribunal.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Judges act independently 
and impartially on civil matters, and administrative as well as 
judicial remedies exist for alleged wrongs, including human rights 
violations.

    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. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a 
functioning democratic political system combined to ensure freedom of 
speech and of the press.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. As 
of January the country had 17,000 Internet users.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The law provides 
for these rights, and the Government generally respected them in 
practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government was committed to cooperating with the Office 
of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian 
organizations in providing protection and assistance to refugees, 
asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.

    Protection of Refugees.--While the law does not provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status in accordance with the 1951 UN 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 protocol, 
the Government has a system for providing protection to refugees. In 
practice, the Government provided protection against the expulsion or 
return of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be 
threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership 
in a particular social group, or political opinion. The Government may 
grant refugee status or asylum by an act of the cabinet. There were no 
requests for asylum during the year.
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 based on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Parliamentary elections, 
held in 2008, were considered generally free and fair. The Pact for San 
Marino, a Center-Right coalition led by the Christian Democratic Party, 
won 35 of the 60 seats in the Great and General Council.
    Political parties could operate without restriction or outside 
interference.
    Nine women were elected to the Great and General Council in the 
November elections, and two women were in the 10-member Congress of 
State, including the head of government (secretary of state for foreign 
affairs.)
    There were no members of minorities in the Government.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption. 
However, there were no reports of corruption by public officials during 
the year. Public officials are subject to financial disclosure 
requirements.
    The law provides for public access to government information, and 
the Government provided access for citizens and noncitizens through the 
Great and General Council's Web site.
    There were no known cases of corruption involving public officials.
Section 5. 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 restrict their formation. The Government declared 
itself open to investigations by international nongovernmental 
organizations (NGOs) of alleged human rights abuses; there were no 
known complaints or requests for investigations during the year.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability, 
language, or social status, and the Government effectively enforced it.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is a criminal offense, and 
the Government effectively prosecuted persons accused of such crimes. 
The penalty for rape is two to six years' imprisonment. In the case of 
aggravating circumstances, the penalty is four to 10 years' 
imprisonment. There were no reports of rape during the year.
    The law prohibits violence against women, and the Government 
effectively enforced it. The penalty for spousal abuse is two to six 
years' imprisonment. In the case of aggravating circumstances, the 
penalty is four to 10 years' imprisonment. According to official 
sources, there were 24 pending cases of violence against women during 
the year.
    Sexual harassment is prohibited, and the Government effectively 
enforced the law. There were no reports of sexual harassment during the 
year.
    Women enjoy the same rights as men, including rights under family 
law, property law, and in the judicial system. There was no reported 
economic discrimination against women in pay, employment, or working 
conditions.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide the number, 
spacing, and timing of their children and had the information and means 
to do so free from discrimination, coercion, and violence. Access to 
information on contraception and skilled attendance at delivery and in 
postpartum care were widely available. Women and men had equal access 
to diagnostic services and treatment for sexually transmitted 
infections.

    Children.--Violence against or abuse of children was uncommon. 
According to government sources, there were three pending cases of 
violence against minors.
    The minimum age of consent is 18 years, and the penalty for sexual 
acts with a minor is imprisonment from six months to three years. The 
penalty increases to two to six years if the act involves a child under 
14 years of age or a child under 18 with physical or mental 
disabilities. The law punishes not only child pornography performances, 
works, or material, but also anyone trading in or providing or in any 
way distributing child pornography material. The law punishes anyone 
distributing information aimed at enticing or sexually exploiting 
children under the age of 18. The penalty for this type of crime is 
imprisonment from two to six years, which is increased to four to 10 
years if the act involves sexual intercourse or if it has been 
committed to the detriment of a child under 14 years of age or a child 
under 18 with physical or mental disabilities.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Trafficking in Persons.--In 2009 there were no confirmed reports 
that persons were trafficked to, from, or within San Marino.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to 
health care, and in the provision of other state services, and the 
Government effectively enforced these provisions. There were no reports 
of societal discrimination against persons with disabilities. The 
Ministry for Territory has not fully implemented a law that mandates 
easier access to public buildings by persons with disabilities, and 
many buildings were inaccessible.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There were no reports of 
discrimination based on sexual orientation.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--By law all workers (except those in 
the Gendarmerie and National Guard) are free to form and join 
independent unions of their choice, and workers exercised this right. 
The law sets the conditions to establish labor unions. Union members 
constituted an estimated 50 percent of the workforce, which numbered 
approximately 15,000 citizens plus 6,000 workers who resided in Italy. 
The law allows all civilian workers, including the civil police, the 
right to strike, and workers exercised this right. A ``conciliatory 
committee'' composed of representatives from labor, business, and 
government generally resolved complaints of antiunion discrimination 
amicably.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
prohibits antiunion discrimination and allows unions to conduct their 
activities without interference, and the Government protected this 
right in practice. Collective bargaining agreements have the force of 
law and are applicable to all workers, whether unionized or not. 
Negotiations were conducted freely, often in the presence of government 
officials by invitation from both unions and employer associations.
    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 
Government effectively enforced laws and policies to protect children 
from exploitation in the workplace. The minimum age for employment is 
16, and the Ministry of Labor and Cooperation granted no exceptions. 
The law does not limit children between the ages of 16 and 18 from any 
type of legal work activity. According to the labor unions there are no 
specific provisions for minors. However, the labor unions are presently 
negotiating with the Government to increase the minimum age for 
employment to 18 years old. The Government devoted adequate resources 
and oversight to child labor policies, and the Ministry of Labor and 
Cooperation effectively enforced compliance with the law.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum wage (i.e., 
the lowest wage applicable to an 18-year-old worker) is 9.69 euros 
(approximately $12.98 per hour). According to NGOs, this amount did not 
provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family who did not 
own their own home. However, 90 percent of citizens owned their own 
homes, and wages generally were higher than the minimum provided by 
law.
    The law sets the workweek at 36 hours in the public sector and 37.5 
hours for industry and private businesses, with 24 consecutive hours of 
rest per week mandated for workers in both categories. The law requires 
a premium payment for overtime and allows a maximum of two hours of 
overtime per day. The Department of Labor conducted 3,223 inspections 
in 2007 (latest publicized data) of laws and industry contracts that 
prohibit excessive compulsory overtime.
    The Government set safety and health standards, and the judicial 
system effectively enforced these standards. Most workplaces complied 
with the standards. However, there were exceptions, especially in the 
construction industry, where some employers did not consistently abide 
by safety regulations, such as work hour limitations and use of 
personal safety devices. There was one serious on-the-job injury in 
August, resulting in the death of a worker on the premises of a company 
that offers cleaning services. Workers have the right to remove 
themselves from situations that endanger health or safety without 
jeopardy to their employment. However, according to press reports, 
enforcement was lacking in the informal sector, which employed a 
growing number of foreign workers.

                               __________

                                 SERBIA

    The Republic of Serbia is a multiparty parliamentary democracy with 
approximately 7.5 million inhabitants. Boris Tadic was reelected 
president in February 2008. In May 2008 voters elected a new parliament 
in which some minority ethnic parties won seats. Observers considered 
both elections to be mostly in line with international standards. 
Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    During the year the following human rights problems were reported: 
physical mistreatment of detainees by police; inefficient and lengthy 
trials; harassment of journalists, human rights advocates, and others 
critical of the Government; limitations on freedom of speech and 
religion; lack of durable solutions for large numbers of internally 
displaced persons (IDPs); corruption in legislative, executive, and 
judicial branches of government including police; government failure to 
apprehend the two remaining fugitive war crimes suspects under 
indictment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former 
Yugoslavia (ICTY); societal violence against women and children; 
societal violence and discrimination against minorities, particularly 
Roma and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) population; and 
trafficking in persons.
    One significant human rights achievement was marked at the October 
10 Pride Parade, when the Government affirmed the freedom of assembly 
of the LGBT community. Unlike previous years, the Government worked 
closely with planners to prepare for the event, and police successfully 
protected the marchers despite widespread violent protests by extremist 
groups.
                        respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        From:

    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--The Government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings; however, 
because the police did not maintain a centralized record of police 
shootings, it was unclear exactly how many fatalities occurred through 
police shootings.
    On May 26, Ivan Stojadinovic was acquitted of charges in connection 
with the 2008 death of Knjazevac municipal court president Dragisa 
Cvejic due to lack of evidence. Police suspected that Cvejic's killing 
was politically motivated, due to his work as a judge.
    No developments were reported in the investigation into the 2008 
death of Ranko Panic, who died after police allegedly beat him at a 
protest demonstration against the arrest and transfer of Radovan 
Karadzic to the ICTY. There were no reports that authorities completed 
disciplinary proceedings opened against six officers from Belgrade, 
Nis, and Novi Sad, including a senior commander, for exceeding their 
authority during the demonstration.
    There were no developments during the year in the 2008 request by 
the Special Prosecutor's Office for further investigation into the 1999 
killing of prominent independent journalist Slavko Curuvija, owner of 
the Dnevni Telegraf newspaper and Evropljanin magazine.
    The special war crimes chamber of the Belgrade District Court 
continued to try cases arising from crimes committed during the 1991-99 
conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and two cases from World War II.
    On September 12, the war crimes prosecutor indicted Toplica 
Miladinovic, Srecko Popovic, Slavisa Kastratovic, Boban Bogicevic, 
Zvonimir Cvetkovic, Radoslav Brnovic, Vidoje Koricanin, Veljko 
Koricanin, and Abdulah Sokic for killing 41 civilians during the 1999 
war in Kosovo. The nine were suspected of committing war crimes against 
ethnic Albanian civilians in the western Kosovo village of Cuska to 
drive them from their homes.
    In December the Council of Europe released a report written by 
human rights rapporteur Dick Marty which alleged that members of the 
Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) organized the murder and subsequent organ 
trafficking of Serbian and Kosovo Albanian prisoners both during and 
after the conflict in Kosovo in 1999. The report called on Serbia, 
Kosovo, and Albania to cooperate closely with the EU Rule of Law 
Mission (EULEX) in support of the investigation, and the country's 
authorities pledged their cooperation with any investigation.
    In March 2009 the war crimes prosecutor filed a request for an 
investigation against five former members of the 37th Squad of the 
Special Police Unit on the suspicion that they committed war crimes 
against civilians and prisoners of war in Kosovo in 1999. Those named 
in the request included Zoran Nikolic, Dragan Milenkovic, Zoran 
Markovic, Nenad Stojkovic, as well as Radoslav Mitrovic, who was 
acquitted in the Suva Reka war crimes trial. War crimes spokesman Bruno 
Vekaric announced that information related to the case was gathered in 
the course of a police investigation and from a request filed in March 
2009 by the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Humanitarian Law Center 
(HLC) to bring charges against 15 members of the 37th Squad.
    On December 15, the trial chamber of the War Crimes Department of 
the Higher Court in Belgrade confirmed a previous judgment, sentencing 
Radojko Repanovic to 20 years in prison for his participation in the 
1999 killing of 48 ethnic Albanians in Suva Reka, Kosovo. The court had 
previously upheld sentences of Sladjan Cukaric to 20 years in prison, 
Miroslav Petkovic to 15 years, and Milorad Nisavic to 13 years. The 
principal defendant, former commander of the 37th Squad of the Special 
Police Unit, Radoslav Mitrovic, as well as Nenad Jovanovic, and Zoran 
Petkovic were acquitted. The war crimes prosecutor dismissed charges 
against the eighth defendant, Ramiz Papic.
    On June 16, the War Crimes Chamber of the Belgrade Appellate Court 
affirmed the convictions and sentences of three members of the 
Scorpions, a Serbian paramilitary unit. Dragan Medic, Dragan Borojevic, 
and Miodrag Solaja were found guilty of violating the rules of 
international law when they killed 14 ethnic Albanians, including seven 
minors, in the town of Podujevo in 1999. The verdict against a fourth 
defendant, Zelko Djukic, was reversed and the case returned to a lower 
court for a retrial.
    On November 29, the Appeals Court of the War Crimes Chamber 
overturned the acquittal of Sreten Popovic and Milos Stojanovic, two 
former members of the police unit accused of involvement in the 
disappearance and subsequent killing of three U.S. citizen brothers, 
Ylli, Mehmet, and Agron Bytyqi, in 1999. The court ordered that the two 
receive a new trial at a lower level.
    The trial of 17 members of the so-called Gnjilane group of the KLA 
that began in September 2009 continued in the War Crimes Chamber. In 
June 2009 the war crimes prosecutor filed an indictment charging them 
with crimes related to the deaths of at least 80 Serbs, Roma, and 
Albanians, as well as rape, in the region near Gnjilane, Kosovo, in 
1999.
    There were no developments in the December 2009 indictment against 
Dusko Kesar on charges that he participated in the killing of three 
Muslim civilians in Prijedor, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1994. The 
indictment stated that Kesar, as a member of a Republika Srpska 
Ministry of Internal Affairs reserve unit, killed Faruk Rizvic, Refik 
Rizvic, and Fadila Mahmuljin.
    The trial of Sasa Djilerdzica and Goran Savic for war crimes 
against civilians in Zvornik, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1992 was still 
underway at year's end.
    The trial of Branko Popovic, leader of the self-proclaimed 
``interim government of the Serbian municipality of Zvornik,'' and 
Branko Grujic on charges including the 1992 imprisonment, inhumane 
treatment, and death of more than 700 persons, 270 of whom have been 
exhumed from mass graves in Crni Vrh and Grbavci, continued at year's 
end.
    On July 27, a court in London denied Serbia's request to extradite 
Ejup Ganic for war crimes related to a 1992 attack on Yugoslav People's 
Army forces in Dobrovoljacka Street in Sarajevo that led to the deaths 
of at least 18 persons. The allegations included war crimes against 
prisoners of war and the use of illegal means of warfare. The presiding 
judge found that the extradition request represented either 
``incompetence by the country's prosecutors or a motive for prosecuting 
that is based upon politics, race, or religion.'' The Ministry of 
Internal Affairs maintained an arrest warrant for Ganic and the other 
18 persons suspected of the crime.
    The investigation announced in November 2009 regarding five 
individuals suspected of committing war crimes in Bosnia and 
Herzegovina in July 1992 continued with separate financial 
investigations. The charges alleged that the suspects imprisoned, 
mistreated, and killed at least 23 Romani civilians in Skocic, Malesic, 
Petkovci, and Drinjaca villages in the Zvornik municipality.
    On November 1, the War Crimes Department of the Higher Court in 
Belgrade sentenced Stanko Vujanovic to nine years in prison for 
committing war crimes against the civilian population in Vukovar, 
Croatia, in 1991. The prosecutor alleged that Vujanovic, as a member of 
the Vukovar Territorial Defense Unit, killed four persons and seriously 
injured another. On March 12, the war crimes chamber sentenced 
Vujanovic to 20 years' imprisonment in the separate Ovcara case (see 
below).
    On June 23, the war crimes chamber sentenced former member of the 
Vukovar Territorial Defense Unit, Damir Sireta, to the maximum prison 
term of 20 years for participation in the killing of more than 200 
Croatian prisoners of war at the Ovcara farm near Vukovar, Croatia, in 
1991. On September 20, the Appellate Court's War Crimes Chamber upheld 
the conviction but reduced the sentence to 15 years.
    On June 23, the Belgrade Higher Court's War Crimes Department 
sentenced Milorad Lazic and Nikola Konjevic to three years in prison 
and Mirko Marunic to two years on charges that they inhumanely treated 
Mirko Medunic, a Croatian police officer who had surrendered in Medak, 
Croatia, in 1991. A fourth defendant, Perico Djakovic, was acquitted of 
the charges.
    In April authorities issued an arrest warrant for U.S. citizen and 
alleged former Gestapo member Peter Egner who was accused of crimes, 
including genocide, related to the killing of 17,000 Serb civilians at 
the Staro Sajmiste concentration camp between 1941 and 1943. Egner 
subsequently died.
    There were no developments concerning the 2008 extradition request 
from Hungary of Sandor Kepiro for war crimes allegedly committed in 
Novi Sad in 1942.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.
    In cooperation with neighboring countries, the International 
Commission on Missing Persons, and other international organizations, 
the Government continued to make modest progress in identifying missing 
persons from the Kosovo conflict.
    During the year the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) 
chaired four meetings of the Working Group on Persons Unaccounted for 
in Connection with Events in Kosovo, which included government 
representatives from both Serbia and Kosovo. The total number of 
persons still unaccounted for from the Kosovo conflict stood at 1,822 
at year's end. During the year only 54 cases were closed. Of these, 52 
remains were identified and handed over to families in Kosovo and 
Serbia.
    According to the ICRC, families in Serbia claimed that almost 1,300 
relatives were still missing at year's end in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 
Croatia, and Kosovo stemming from regional conflicts.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution prohibits such practices; however, police 
at times beat detainees and harassed persons, usually during arrest or 
initial detention for petty crimes.
    On July 10, a plainclothes police officer beat Borko Burmazovic in 
a gambling parlor in Zemun. Burmazovic was hospitalized with nonlife-
threatening injuries. No charges were filed in the incident, which was 
captured on security camera video; prosecutors stated they were 
awaiting the results of an internal control investigation.
    The 2008 case against Police Inspector Miljan Komnenovic, the 
subject of three brutality complaints filed by the Committees for Human 
Rights in Serbia, was discontinued without the issuance of an 
indictment.
    There were no developments in the investigation into the 2008 
incident in which unidentified plainclothes police officers in Brus 
allegedly beat three youths detained on suspicion of robbing a gas 
station.
    There were no developments in the 2008 case in which four Valjevo 
police officers allegedly beat and abused Goran Z., Aleksandar S., and 
Zarko Dj. at the Valjevo police station or in the 2008 case in which 
three police officers in Arandjelovac allegedly beat college student 
Nemanja Mijaljevic after he failed to obey a command to stop his 
vehicle at a checkpoint.
    The trial of Milan Zivanovic on charges of grave offenses against 
general safety and aggravated larceny in connection with the 2008 
attacks on foreign embassies was put on hold in November 2009 while a 
court expert determined whether Zivanovic was too intoxicated to be 
culpable. Zivanovic was released on bail.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions varied 
greatly between facilities.
    Prison overcrowding remained a problem which the Government 
recognized. On March 26, Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic told parliament's 
Justice and Administration Committee that the country's prisons, which 
were built for a capacity of 7,000, held 12,000 inmates, with prisoners 
sleeping on the floor. On June 9, Deputy Ombudsman Milos Jankovic said 
prison living conditions were ``humiliating, and, as such, contain 
elements of torture.'' He recommended expanding prison capacities, 
improving health care, and enhancing prisons' cooperation with the 
social services with a view to prisoners' reintegration in society.
    Sanitation varied between and within facilities but was generally 
poor. Higher-security ``closed'' wards sometimes lacked natural light 
and proper ventilation. In one prison that lacked dining facilities, 
inmates ate in their cells, resulting in unsanitary conditions.
    In some prisons inmates continued to complain of dirty and inhumane 
conditions. The quality of food varied from poor to minimally 
acceptable, and health care was often inadequate.
    Women made up approximately 3 percent of the prison population, and 
juveniles made up 1 percent. While there was no evidence of mixing male 
and female populations, youth and adult populations lacked proper 
separation at the juvenile reformatory in Valjevo. There were no 
reports of different treatment for women or gender-based violence.
    In April a report by the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in 
Serbia (HCS) which focused on a juvenile detention facility in Valjevo 
and a district prison in Leskovac found markedly different conditions 
in the prisons' food and kitchens. While the reformatory's kitchen was 
clean and followed health standards, the Leskovac kitchen was unclean 
and the staff did not prepare the food in a sanitary manner. The HCS 
report noted that food at the Leskovac prison was of low quality and 
insufficient quantity.
    Both prisons in the HCS report had sufficient medical personnel. 
The Leskovac facility had arrangements with local healthcare facilities 
when there was not around-the-clock care. However, the prisons were not 
adequately prepared to treat the large number of drug addicts in their 
populations. Supplies of medicines were sometimes insufficient. 
Prisoners in the reformatory also complained that they did not receive 
local anesthetic during dental care.
    There was no new evidence of abuse by prison guards, although 
statistics on injuries were not well kept. Guards were poorly trained 
in the proper handling of prisoners.
    Although the length of phone calls was sometime limited, prisoners 
had ample opportunity to contact their families. There was no evidence 
that government and prison authorities restricted NGO access to 
prisons. However, inmates in the Leskovac facility alleged that prison 
authorities censored letters sent to NGOs or legal authorities.
    Permission for religious observance varied among facilities. The 
Valjevo facility prepared special meals for Muslims and Orthodox 
Christians and allowed them to fast in accordance with their faiths. 
Deputy Ombudsman Milos Jankovic noted ``self-censorship'' among Muslim 
prisoners with regard to practicing their faith openly. Prisons 
sometimes segregated minorities, particularly Roma.
    The Government permitted the ICRC and local independent human 
rights monitors, including the HCS, to visit prisons and to speak with 
prisoners without the presence of a warden. The ombudsman has the right 
to visit prisoners and make recommendations concerning prison 
conditions. The authority of the ombudsman does not extend to the 
judiciary, and he cannot represent prisoners or detainees to consider 
alternate punishment.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution prohibits 
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government mostly observed 
these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The country's 
approximately 43,000 police officers are under the authority of the 
Ministry of Internal Affairs. The police are divided into four main 
departments that supervise 27 regional secretariats (and a Coordination 
Department for Kosovo and Metohija) reporting to the national 
government. The effectiveness of the police force was uneven.
    While most police officers were Serbs, the force included Bosniaks 
(Slavic Muslims), ethnic Hungarians, ethnic Montenegrins, a small 
number of ethnic Albanians, and other minorities. The police force in 
southern Serbia was composed primarily of Serbs, although there were a 
small number of ethnic Albanian officers.
    There was a widespread belief that impunity was a problem among 
police. The police internal control unit has 21 investigators who 
examine complaints against the police, and many observers noted that 
the quality of police internal investigation seemed to be improving. 
From January through August, 307 criminal charges and 2,600 
administrative proceedings were brought against police, compared with 
only 262 and 103, respectively, brought during the five years from 
2003-08. The Government generally did not provide training to the 
police on corruption or human rights issues, but it facilitated 
training from various international actors.
    During the year there were reports that police failed to respond to 
societal attacks against minority groups (see section 6).

    Arrest and Detention.--Arrests were generally based on warrants, 
although police were authorized to make warrantless arrests in limited 
circumstances, including well founded suspicion of a serious crime. The 
law requires an investigating judge to approve any detention lasting 
longer than 48 hours, and authorities respected this requirement in 
practice. Bail was allowed but rarely used; detainees facing charges 
that carried possible sentences of less than five years were often 
released on personal recognizance.
    Articles 27, 29, and 33 of the constitution provide that police 
must inform arrested persons immediately of their rights, and 
authorities respected this requirement in practice.
    The law provides access for detainees to counsel, at government 
expense if necessary, and authorities often respected this right in 
practice. Family members were normally allowed to visit detainees. 
Suspects detained in connection with serious crimes can be held for up 
to six months without being charged. The law prohibits excessive delays 
by authorities in filing formal charges against suspects and in opening 
investigations; however, such delays occurred regularly. Due to 
administrative backlogs, authorities frequently held such persons for 
the full six-month period allowed before charging them.
    The law prohibits police use of force, threats, deception, and 
coercion to obtain evidence, and such evidence is not permissible in 
court; however, police sometimes used these means to obtain statements.
    The law limits the length of pretrial detention from indictment to 
the conclusion of a trial to two years for most cases, but allows 
detention for up to four years for crimes that carry up to the maximum 
penalty (40 years in prison). The law sets two years as the maximum 
detention permitted after an appellate court vacates the judgment of a 
trial court. Nonetheless, prolonged pretrial detention was a problem. 
Due to inefficient court procedures, some of which were required by 
law, cases often took extended periods to come to trial; once begun 
trials often took a long time to complete.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary; however, the courts remained susceptible to 
corruption and political influence. Observers believed that judicial 
reform, particularly the replacement of judges appointed during the 
Milosevic era, was essential to eliminate corruption. The country 
passed five reform laws in 2008, the most controversial of which came 
into effect during the year. The new laws effectively require every 
judge to be reselected, allowing the High Court Council (HCC) to 
reappoint the most effective judges. While most observers lauded the 
goals of the law, the process was widely criticized for lack of 
transparency.
    Judges and prosecutors, particularly those handling organized crime 
and war crimes, continued to receive death threats.
    War crimes prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic and his associates in the 
Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor continued to receive death threats 
from within the country and abroad; on April 10, his office reported 
receiving 69 threats. Also in April, Justice Minister Snezana Malovic 
and Special Prosecutor for Organized Crime Miljko Radisavljevic 
received death threats believed to have come from associates of accused 
organized crime figure Darko Saric. The threats were made after the 
special organized crime prosecutor indicted Saric and his group on 
suspicion of cocaine smuggling.
    In August the press reported that Vladana Vukcevic-Jovanovic 
received death threats from soccer hooligans following her decision to 
sentence Partizan fan group leader Milos Radisavljevic to 16 months in 
prison for endangering the safety of B92 reporter Brankica Stankovic.
    There were no developments in the October 2009 report by Belgrade 
district court Judge Velimir Lazovic that an unidentified Belgrade 
lawyer had threatened that he would not be reelected as a judge if he 
``was not careful.'' Lazovic was the presiding judge in the trial of 
Uros Misic, a soccer fan charged with attempted murder for an attack on 
a police officer during a 2007 match. In October 2009 the Office of the 
State Prosecutor announced that it would investigate the threat, which 
it equated to an attempt to obstruct justice.
    The courts were inefficient. Although the system of recordkeeping 
made it difficult to assess accurately case backlogs or court 
efficiency nationwide, cases could take years to be resolved.
    Causes of delay and backlog in the courts included an insufficient 
number of judges in the main courts, failure of postal workers to serve 
subpoenas and other court documents, failure of police to execute 
arrest warrants, failure of prisons to bring prisoners to court for 
scheduled hearings, issuing indictments or scheduling hearings without 
complete and thorough investigations, excessive continuances of court 
hearings, a lack of professional court administration, and failure to 
invest in professional personnel and modern infrastructure. In many 
cases, unwieldy procedures required by the law contributed to delays.
    Beginning in January, trials were further delayed by the 
implementation of judicial reform, during which the judicial system was 
restructured and judges were reselected. Courts spent January and 
February moving files, staff, and judges to new locations and 
introducing judges to new roles. In May inmates at a prison in Novi Sad 
led a daylong protest against lengthy court proceedings resulting from 
judicial reform.
    On January 1, the HCC took supervisory authority over almost all 
aspects of court operations based on the package of reform laws passed 
in 2008. In 2009 the HCC's only responsibility was the selection of all 
judges in the country's judiciary. Approximately one-third of sitting 
judges were not reappointed. After the HCC announced its selections in 
December 2009, a number of judges and the Judges' Association 
criticized the HCC for a lack of transparency, in particular regarding 
the selection criteria, and called for the HCC to provide a 
justification to those judges not chosen. Hundreds of the judges who 
were not appointed filed complaints with the Constitutional Court. On 
July 16, in response to these complaints, the Constitutional Court 
ordered the HCC to draft individualized responses to applicants who 
were not selected. In one case the Constitutional Court ordered the HCC 
to reconsider the application. In August the Judges' Association 
announced that several former judges would file complaints with the 
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) because the Constitutional Court 
was unable to protect the rights of judges who were not reselected. On 
December 7, Justice Minister Snezana Malovic announced that every judge 
would be interviewed and each decision reexamined.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair trial. Trials are usually public, but they can be closed if the 
trial judge determines it is warranted for the protection of morale, 
public order, national security, the interest of a minor, or privacy of 
a participant. The testimony of a state-protected witness may also be 
grounds for closing a trial to the public. There are no juries. The law 
stipulates that defendants are presumed innocent, have the right to 
have an attorney represent them at public expense, and have the right 
to be present at their trials. Defendants have the right to access 
government evidence and to question witnesses. Both the defense and the 
prosecution have the right to appeal a verdict. The Government 
generally respected these rights in practice.
    The special war crimes chamber continued trying war crimes cases 
(see section 1.a.). According to the law, evidence gathered by special 
investigative techniques is admissible.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--During the year the ECHR 
found nine violations by the state of the European Convention on Human 
Rights. Most of the cases involved procedural delays and length of 
court proceedings. The majority of cases settled out of court also 
dealt with judicial delays. In 2009 the ECHR issued 16 judgments that 
found at least one violation of the convention by the state. The 
Government generally paid compensation ordered by ECHR decisions.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The constitution 
establishes an independent and impartial judiciary in civil matters, 
and citizens can bring lawsuits seeking damages for or cessation of a 
human rights violation. Remedies usually involved monetary awards.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution prohibits such actions; however, the 
Government interfered with privacy and correspondence. While the law 
requires the Ministry of Internal Affairs to obtain a court order 
before monitoring potential criminal activity and police to obtain a 
warrant before entering property except to save persons or possessions, 
police occasionally failed to respect these laws.
    On June 29, parliament adopted the Law on Electronic Communication. 
Under the new law, telecommunications operators are obliged to retain 
for one year data about the source and destination of a communication; 
beginning, duration, and end of a communication; type of communication; 
and terminal equipment identification and location of the customer's 
mobile terminal equipment. This retained data can be accessed by 
intelligence agencies without court permission. A court order is still 
required to access the contents of these communications. Both the 
ombudsman and the commissioner for information of public importance and 
personal data protection opposed the new law.
    Most observers believed authorities selectively monitored 
communications, eavesdropped on conversations, read mail and e-mail, 
and tapped telephones. Human rights leaders also believed that their 
communications were monitored.
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 constitution 
specifically allows restrictions on speech ``to protect rights and 
reputation of others, to uphold the authority and objectivity of the 
court, and to protect public health, morals of a democratic society, 
and national security of the Republic of Serbia.'' There were reports 
of government interference with freedom of speech and press, mostly at 
the municipal level. In most cases, individuals could criticize the 
Government publicly or privately without reprisal.
    Parliament approves the budget of the independent Republic 
Broadcast Agency (RBA), which has broad authority to revoke radio and 
television station licenses without the right of appeal. However, the 
RBA did not revoke any national broadcasting licenses during the year.
    Most print and broadcast media were independent and privately 
owned, although the state maintained extensive media resources, and the 
privatization of municipally owned media was not yet completed. Some 
newspapers did not make their ownership public, leading observers to 
question their independence. Radio-Television Serbia (RTS), a public 
media outlet funded by mandatory subscription, was a major presence, 
operating two television channels as well as Radio Belgrade. The RTS's 
coverage was usually objective, although the Government had 
considerable influence over the RTS and the public service Radio 
Television of Vojvodina. In addition many television stations relied on 
the state-owned agency Tanjug for news. The independent news agencies 
BETA and FONET complained that state financing gave Tanjug an unfair 
commercial advantage.
    Binding RBA instructions required the RTS to broadcast 
parliamentary sessions live, despite the RTS's complaints that it 
suffered financial and advertising losses as a result. The RTS managing 
board stated that the order directly interfered with its editorial 
policy. Parliament occasionally cancelled or postponed its sessions 
when the RTS was not able to broadcast them due to conflicting 
contractual commitments. In 2008 the mission of the Organization for 
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to Serbia expressed concern 
that the RBA's decision was not in accordance with European standards 
of media freedom.
    Independent media organizations were generally active and expressed 
a wide range of views; however, some media organizations experienced 
threats or reprisals for publishing views critical of the Government.
    During the year some reporters and media organizations were victims 
of vandalism, intimidation, and physical attacks for coverage and 
portrayal of views unpopular with the Government and right-wing 
elements of society, such as the capture and extradition of war crimes 
fugitives.
    There were no developments in the case of Dejan M. from Pancevo, 
who was arrested and released in February 2009 for sending threatening 
e-mails to independent radio B92's Kaziprst show host Danica Vucenic, 
her family, and other employees of B92 and their families.
    The trial in Belgrade of Milan Savatric, Nikola Lazic, and Stefan 
Milicevic in connection with the July 2008 attack on B92 cameraman 
Bosko Brankovic continued at year's end.
    On August 5, Milos Radisavljevic, leader of one of the Partizan 
soccer team's fan clubs, was sentenced to 16 months in prison for 
threatening B92 journalist Branka (Brankica) Stankovic at a soccer game 
in December 2009. Stankovic, the host of B-92's investigative 
journalism program Insider, received anonymous threats in response to 
an expose examining the ties between violent hooligans and sports fans' 
clubs. The trial court in Belgrade dismissed charges against other 
soccer hooligans on April 22, but on August 4, the court of appeal 
overturned the decision and returned the case to the trial court for 
further proceedings.
    Police investigations and judicial processes involving assaults on 
journalists were often long and inefficient. One local assessment of 
the country's laws determined that, although the legal framework was 
mostly harmonized with international standards, local courts in 
practice often diverged from the ECHR in application of article 10 of 
the European Convention on Human Rights, which provides for freedom of 
expression.
    On July 24, Teofil Pancic, a journalist for the independent weekly 
Vreme and Radio Free Europe and an outspoken critic of extremist 
nationalism and sports hooliganism, was beaten with a metal bar on a 
crowded bus. Danilo Zuza and Milos Mladenovic, who are believed to be 
associated with extremist nationalist groups, were arrested and 
sentenced to three months incarceration. Prosecutors announced that 
they would appeal the sentence, as the legally proscribed penalty for 
the crime is six months to five years.
    Human rights activists charged that they were subjects of smear 
campaigns in the majority of media for expressing criticism of the 
Government or challenging the popular narrative about the country's 
role in the wars of the 1990s.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet, e-mail, or Internet chat rooms; however, as in 
previous years, there were some isolated reports that the Government 
monitored e-mail. Individuals and groups could engage in the peaceful 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. According to 
an Ispsos Strategic Marketing report in May, 51 percent of households 
had access to the Internet.
    On June 29, parliament adopted the Law on Electronic Communication, 
which obliges telecommunications operators to retain for one year data 
on the source and destination of communication for use by government 
agencies (see section 1.f.).

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
provides for freedoms of assembly and association, and the Government 
usually respected these rights in practice.
    In contrast to 2009, organizers from the LGBT community were 
permitted to hold a pride parade, which had extensive security 
protection from the Government.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--According to official 
statistics of the Serbian Commissariat for Refugees (SCR), 210,146 
displaced persons from Kosovo resided in the country, mainly Serbs, 
Montenegrins, Roma, Ashkali (an Albanian-speaking ethnic group 
considered by outsiders as similar to Roma but self-identifying as a 
separate group with cultural distinctions from Roma), Gorani, and 
Bosniaks who left Kosovo as a result of the 1998-99 conflict. As of the 
end of August, according to the SCR, approximately 3,164 displaced 
persons from Kosovo remained in 41 official collective centers in 
Serbia. Those not in collective centers were generally settled in 
private accommodations. Many IDPs did not have access to government 
services due to a lack of identification documents, which could be 
difficult to acquire if adequate paperwork was not available when a 
child was born. The country's laws and policies generally protect IDPs 
in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. 
Although the Government continued to close collective centers, many 
displaced persons remained in minimally habitable facilities originally 
constructed for temporary accommodation rather than for long-term 
occupancy.
    Without an official identification card from the Government, 
displaced individuals were not able to access services, but the 
Government did allow displaced persons access to assistance from NGOs 
and international organizations.
    The law requires all residents of the country to record changes of 
residency and to appear in person at the place of their prior 
registration to remove themselves from the registry. In order to meet 
this requirement, many IDPs were required to travel to former Kosovo 
civil registries that are currently scattered throughout Serbia to 
deregister. According to the UNHCR, some IDPs of Roma, Ashkali, 
Egyptian, and Gorani ethnicity were arbitrarily prevented from 
deregistering their Kosovo address and reregistering a new address in 
the country, despite meeting legal requirements. Without an authorized 
local address in the country, individuals were ineligible for health 
insurance, social welfare, and public schooling. NGOs provided legal 
assistance to displaced persons from Kosovo to register residency 
successfully.
    The Government continued to pay minimum wage salaries, including 
social and pension contributions, to displaced persons who were in the 
Kosovo government and state-owned enterprises before mid-1999 and who 
were not employed during the year. Displaced persons who found a job 
permanently lost eligibility for government assistance. The 
Government's investigation into the eligibility of displaced persons 
who were recipients of such payments continued at year's end. There 
were approximately 22,000 officially registered displaced Roma in the 
country. However, the UNHCR estimated that 40,000 to 45,000 displaced 
Roma, many of whom presumably lacked personal documents necessary to 
register their status, were living in the country. While some displaced 
Roma lived in government-supported collective centers, living 
conditions for Roma (both local and displaced) were generally extremely 
poor. Local municipalities often were reluctant to accommodate them. If 
Roma did stay, they often lived in unauthorized, isolated, informal 
settlements without electricity, water, sanitation, or other public 
services near major cities or towns.
    While government officials continued to make public statements that 
displaced persons from Kosovo should return to Kosovo, senior 
government officials also claimed that it was unsafe for many to do so. 
Many Roma believe they may be at risk if they return, claiming that 
Kosovo Albanians and the Government assumed that many Roma displaced 
from Kosovo were Serb collaborators during the Kosovo conflict. 
Approximately 600 individuals who had been living in displacement 
centers in the country returned to Kosovo during the year.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government established a system for 
providing protection to refugees. The country was a transit country for 
a mixed flow of migration toward Western Europe. The majority of 
registered asylum-seekers disappeared before an initial decision was 
made on their applications and sometimes before interviews were 
conducted.
    The Government in law and practice provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion.
    Asylum-seekers had freedom of movement in the country after 
establishing their identity and filing an application for asylum. They 
were eligible for public assistance, including accommodation and food, 
but they did not have the right to employment until recognized as 
refugees through the country's refugee status determination process.
    The SCR controlled the country's sole asylum center, which had 
capacity for approximately 80 persons. At the end of August, there were 
34 asylum-seekers in the asylum center.
    The SCR is also responsible for status determination and care of 
refugees from the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. During the 
year the SCR provided 680 construction kits and 495 income-generation 
grants to secure durable solutions for refugees and IDPs that were 
valued at 2.24 million euros ($3 million) and intended to provide 3,676 
refugee and IDP families in 139 municipalities with durable solutions 
for housing. According to official SCR statistics, 86,155 refugees from 
Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina resided in the country, while the 
Government estimated that approximately 200,000 to 400,000 former 
refugees were naturalized but not socially and economically integrated 
into the country. Approximately 900 refugees lived in collective 
centers throughout the country.
    The Government also provided temporary protection (refugee status 
on a prima facie basis) to individuals from former Yugoslav republics 
who may not qualify as refugees. The refugee status of individuals from 
the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia continued to be regulated 
under the 1992 Decree on Refugees.

    Stateless Persons.--The country's law states that citizenship is 
derived from one's parents. According to the local UNHCR office, 146 
stateless persons were granted permanent residence in the country 
during the year. The UNHCR also reported 16,700 actual stateless 
persons due to existing legislative gaps in the process of civil 
registration and lack of documentation. Lack of information, 
administrative fees, cumbersome and lengthy procedures, difficulty of 
obtaining documents, the lack of an official recognized residence, and 
sometimes the need to go to court to prove origin and identity 
prevented effective enjoyment of citizenship rights for these persons. 
These problems disproportionately affected the Romani, Ashkali, and 
Egyptian communities, particularly displaced persons from Kosovo, 
although they also affected others who were destitute and living in 
isolated areas.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide 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 and Political Participation.--The country held two rounds 
of presidential elections in January and February 2008 and 
parliamentary elections in May 2008, resulting in the creation of a 
pro-EU government. The OSCE and other election observers, including 
domestic organizations, judged these elections to have been mostly free 
and fair.
    Political parties mostly operated without restrictions or outside 
interference. However, in its final report on the 2008 parliamentary 
elections, the OSCE Limited Election Observation Mission noted that 
some aspects of the campaign went beyond the acceptable limits for a 
democratic society, in particular when death threats to senior 
officials were reported. The mission reported the display of a large 
number of posters in Belgrade that could be interpreted as advocating 
the assassination of top state officials.
    There were 56 women in the 250-seat parliament. The speaker and 
three of six parliamentary vice presidents were women. There were five 
women in the 27-member cabinet. The law on elections of members of 
parliament requires parties' election lists to include at least 30 
percent women, and political parties participating in the 2008 
elections observed this provision.
    The law exempts ethnically based parties from the 5 percent 
threshold required for a political party to enter parliament. Seven 
members of national minorities, including ethnic Hungarians, Bosniaks, 
and Albanians, were elected to parliament. Two members of ethnic 
minorities, both Bosniaks, were in the 27-member cabinet.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. There 
was a widespread public perception of government corruption at all 
levels. According to World Bank governance indices and surveys by the 
UN Development Program, corruption was a problem in 2009.
    The private sector considered corruption in the commercial courts 
to be widespread. Land transfers often were difficult to conclude, 
leading many in the private sector to allege administrative corruption. 
It was unclear, however, to what extent these problems were due to 
corruption rather than bureaucratic inefficiency.
    On January 10, the Anticorruption Agency began operating. The 
agency is an independent state body that reports to the parliament and 
is responsible for implementing the national anticorruption strategy 
and overseeing issues related to conflict of interest and financial 
disclosure. The agency replaced the Republic Board for Resolving 
Conflicts of Interest and has no independent enforcement capacity. On 
June 11, the agency published asset declarations of 700 government 
officials; however, due to the low figures that many leading 
politicians reported, there was widespread public doubt about the 
accuracy of the declarations.
    One provision of the Anticorruption Agency's mandate requires 
officials who hold multiple government positions to decide which one of 
these they would perform. After a prolonged debate, on July 28, the 
parliament passed amendments to the Anticorruption Law that allow 
officials to hold multiple, directly elected state functions for a two-
year transition period. The Anticorruption Agency and the Council of 
Europe's Group of States against Corruption opposed the amendments.
    On June 1, prosecutors indicted former minister of defense Prvoslav 
Davinic for abuse of office in connection with his allegedly signing a 
contract worth 4.6 billion dinars ($55.9 million) in 2005, thereby 
exceeding his authority. On September 16, prosecutors indicted Davinic 
again for abuse of office for having given a ship worth 4.1 million 
dinars ($50,000) to the Regional Center for Underwater Demining in 
Montenegro. Davinic resigned as minister of defense in 2005 due to his 
implication in a scandal involving purchases of body armor.
    On June 29, police arrested four doctors, including Nenad 
Borojevic, the director of the Oncology and Radiology Institute in 
Belgrade, and three representatives of foreign pharmaceutical companies 
in connection with a bribery scandal. The four doctors were accused of 
having received one million euros ($1.3 million) in bribes from the 
country's representatives of Roche, PharmaSwiss, and AstraZeneca in 
exchange for ordering the purchase of cytostatic cancer drugs from the 
companies. Press also reported that doctors overprescribed the drugs to 
increase the amount of drugs purchased. In November police arrested 
seven additional suspects as part of the same investigation. The new 
suspects included doctors in Sremska Kamenica, Kragujevac, Nis, and 
Belgrade, as well as two additional representatives of Merck 
Pharmaceuticals. The proceedings against all suspects were still in the 
investigative phase at the end of the year.
    There were reports of authorities' failing to act in response to 
detailed reports of suspected corruption. There were isolated reports 
of high-profile politically motivated investigations. During the year 
authorities made some arrests for corruption and continued the 
prosecution of high-profile cases from previous years.
    There were no reports of developments in the following corruption 
cases: the cases of the 19 persons attached to the army and arrested in 
February and March 2009 for giving and receiving bribes and committing 
fraud related to obtaining state-owned apartments and medical and 
social security benefits; the cases of the eight persons arrested in 
February 2009 in Belgrade, Valjevo, and Vrhpolje for corruption related 
to misappropriation of National Investment Plan funds; the case of the 
35 persons, including 18 police officers, arrested in March 2009 in 
Novi Pazar, Raska, and Kraljevo for giving and receiving bribes, 
smuggling oil, meat, alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, and other 
goods across the border between the country and Kosovo, and illegal 
possession of weapons and narcotics; the June 2009 case of Vesna 
Stevanovic, a Nis Municipal Department registrar, accused of accepting 
bribes in exchange for issuing expedited or false citizenship, birth, 
death, and marriage certificates; and the case of 13 police officers 
and six customs officers who were arrested in December 2009 on bribery 
and abuse of power charges.
    The trial of former Zrenjanin mayor Goran Knezevic and 21 other 
defendants that began in October 2009 on charges of criminal 
association, abuse of office, and accepting and offering bribes 
continued throughout the year.
    In June 2009 the Republic Board for Resolving Conflicts of Interest 
recommended that the deputy mayor of Belgrade, Milan Krkobabic, resign 
for failing to submit mandatory financial disclosure; at the end of the 
year, Krkobabic remained in his position.
    The Government has not fully implemented the access to information 
law and generally did not provide access in practice. The law provides 
for public access to information of ``legitimate public importance'' 
(with many exceptions) and establishes an independent commissioner for 
information of public importance selected by parliament to handle 
appeals when government agencies reject requests for information.
    At the end of the year, the Commissioner for Information of Public 
Importance and Personal Data Protection began to receive public 
information reports from the 3,000 government offices and institutions 
that are required to file them annually. Of the 698 offices that 
submitted reports by the end of the year, 51 percent produced and 
posted Information Booklets on their Web sites, 56 percent organized 
training for employees on implementation of the Law on Free Access to 
Information of Public Importance, and 73 percent provided and 
maintained Web sites.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A 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 were generally cooperative and responsive to their views. 
However, these groups were sometimes subjects of criticism, harassment, 
and threats by nongovernmental actors for expressing views critical of 
the Government or contrary to nationalist views regarding Kosovo, the 
ICTY, and the wars of the 1990s. Prominent independent human rights 
groups included the HCS, the HLC, the Lawyers' Committee for Human 
Rights, the Fund for an Open Society, the Youth Initiative for Human 
Rights, and the Belgrade Center for Human Rights.
    There were no further developments, and none were expected, in the 
2008 incident in which two persons accosted and threatened HCS head 
Sonja Biserko.
    The Government cooperated with international governmental 
organizations and during the year hosted visits by OSCE High 
Commissioner on National Minorities Knut Vollebaek, a delegation of the 
OSCE ambassadors, ICTY Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz, and others.
    The Office of the National Ombudsman continued to operate without 
government or party interference. Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic reported that 
his office had more cases of human rights violations than it could 
follow, and governmental institutions followed his recommendations in 
approximately 70 percent of cases. The ombudsman issues an annual 
report on his activities and special reports on issues of concern. 
Vojvodina Province had its own ombudsman who operated independently 
during the year. According to the Ministry of Human and Minority 
Rights, 14 of the country's 169 municipalities had ombudsmen. The 
national ombudsman opened branch offices in two municipalities with 
majority Albanian populations.
    On July 28, parliament passed rules of procedure that established 
the Committee on Interethnic Relations and the Committee on Gender 
Equality. The Working Group for Children's Rights was transformed into 
a special working body, the Standing Committee for Children's Rights. 
Most observers believe the policy significance and value of the 
committees are limited.
    The Government continued to make progress on its cooperation with 
the ICTY. In December ICTY Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz stated in 
his semiannual report to the UN Security Council that the country has 
continued to respond adequately to the tribunal's requests for 
assistance and provided access to documents, archives, and witnesses. 
However, two ICTY suspects, Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic, remained at 
large, and the ICTY continued to insist on their arrest. Brammertz 
reported that decisive and intensified action by the operational 
services and political authorities was critical for obtaining the 
arrest of the two fugitives.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, 
disability, language, or social status, and the Government made efforts 
to enforce these prohibitions effectively. However, discrimination 
against women and ethnic and sexual minorities, trafficking in persons, 
and violence against women and children were problems. On May 5, 
parliament elected the first commissioner for equality, Nevena 
Petrusic.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is punishable by up to 40 
years in prison. Advocates believed that only a small percentage of 
rape victims reported their attacks due to fear of reprisals from their 
attackers or humiliation in court. Few spousal rape victims filed 
complaints with authorities. Women's groups believed that sentences 
were often too lenient in practice. Out of 78 cases of rape tried 
during the year, 63 resulted in convictions.
    Violence against women was a problem. While high levels of domestic 
violence were generally understood to persist, there were no reliable 
statistics on the extent of the problem. Research by NGOs concluded 
that domestic violence was widespread; every second woman suffered from 
some form of psychological violence, and every third from physical 
abuse by a family member. In 92 percent of these cases, the perpetrator 
was the victim's husband or partner. The Autonomous Women's Center 
reported that on average 1,000 women per year turned to it for help. 
According to Women against Violence Network, 24 women (two of them 
minors) were killed in the first seven months of the year and, in 
almost 80 percent of the cases, the suspects were the victim's husband, 
partner, father, or son.
    Domestic violence is punishable by up to 10 years' imprisonment. 
The law provides women the right to obtain a restraining order against 
abusers. Such cases were difficult to prosecute due to the lack of 
witnesses and evidence, and the unwillingness of witnesses or victims 
to testify. The few official agencies dedicated to coping with family 
violence had inadequate resources. The NGO community played the primary 
role in combating violence against women. NGOs operated shelters for 
female victims of violence, and the Government continued to provide 
financial support to safe houses for victims of family violence 
throughout the country. The national broadcasting service RTS ran a 
media campaign to prevent domestic violence. Osvit, a Nis-based NGO, 
operated a Romani-language telephone hotline for female victims of 
domestic violence or abuse.
    Sexual harassment was a common problem. The law makes sexual 
harassment a crime punishable by up to six months imprisonment for a 
simple case and up to one year's imprisonment for abuse of a 
subordinate or dependent. Public awareness remained low, and few 
complaints were filed during the year.
    The Government recognized the basic right of couples and 
individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and 
timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so 
free from discrimination, coercion, and violence. Health clinics and 
local health NGOs were permitted to operate freely in disseminating 
information on family planning under the guidance of the Ministry of 
Health. There was a National Center for Family Planning, and local 
health centers frequently also had family planning centers. There are 
no restrictions on the right to access contraceptives. On April 6, 
Katarina Sedlecki, the head of the National Center for Family Planning, 
told the media that youths lacked adequate information on the 
importance of the use of contraceptives. The Government provided free 
childbirth services. Women used nurses and midwives for prenatal and 
postnatal care unless the mother or child suffered more serious health 
complications. According to 2008 UN estimates, the rate of maternal 
deaths in maternity wards in the country was eight per 100,000 live 
births. Men and women received equal access to diagnosis and treatment 
for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
    Women have the same legal rights as men, including under family 
law, property law, and in the judicial system. These rights were to a 
great degree enforced in practice. During the year the Government's 
Council for Gender Equality, the parliamentary Committee for Gender 
Equality, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy's Directorate for 
Gender Equality, gender equality mechanisms and institutions in 
Vojvodina, local committees for gender equality, and the deputy 
ombudsman worked with NGOs to raise public awareness of gender equality 
problems. On August 26, the Government adopted an Action Plan for 
Implementation of the National Strategy for Improvement of Status of 
Women and Gender Equality 2010-15. The law on gender equality provides 
equal opportunities and treatment for men and women in employment and 
requires state bodies to provide that the less-represented gender 
occupy at least 30 percent of the positions in each organizational 
unit, including management. Research by the employment Web site found 
that women earned 8.5 percent less than men, but also noted sectors 
such as marketing, business administration, and accounting in which 
women earned more than men.
    Traditional views of gender roles, particularly in rural areas, 
resulted in discrimination against women. In remote rural areas, 
particularly among some minority communities, women could not 
effectively exercise their right to control property.
    The social status of women was generally considered inferior to 
that of men, and women were not well represented in the business world. 
Women over 50 years of age who lost their jobs due to the economic 
crisis had more difficulty finding work than men of a similar age, and 
more women than men became unemployed as a consequence of economic 
crisis. According to a survey by the Bureau of Statistics, the 
unemployment rate for women was 20.4 percent, as compared to 18.3 
percent for men. Thirty percent of managers and 20 percent of chief 
executive officers were women. Only 12 women sat on the administrative 
boards of companies. Maternity leave is provided by law; however, there 
were reports that private companies did not always meet legal 
obligations. NGOs reported that some childless women felt discriminated 
against during the hiring process because employers feared they would 
take maternity leave in the future.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents. The law on 
birth records regulates universal birth registration, but according to 
the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), 5 percent of Romani children were not 
registered at birth. Subsequent birth registration remains unregulated. 
Children who are not registered do not have access to public services 
such as health care.
    Education was free through secondary school but compulsory only 
through primary school. There was no difference in the treatment of 
girls and boys at the primary, secondary, and postsecondary levels; 
however, cultural norms and economic hardship discouraged some children 
from attending school.
    While the law provides that government clinics offer free medical 
care, including free medicines from a limited list of covered drugs, 
there were reports that corruption resulted in restricted access to 
medication for some. Romani children often faced difficulties in 
accessing health care.
    Child abuse was a problem. Children were often victims of family 
violence, and peer violence among children was on the rise. Girls were 
victims of sexual violence. According to available data, child abuse, 
including sexual violence, was also on the rise. Children in the 
country were exposed to verbal or physical abuse on a daily basis, and 
many children were exposed to alcohol, drugs, and violence.
    While teachers were instructed to report suspected child abuse 
cases, they often did not do so. Police usually responded to 
complaints, and authorities prosecuted child abuse cases during the 
year. In several court cases, defendants were found guilty of child 
abuse and sentenced to imprisonment. Psychological and legal assistance 
was available for victims. Children also were accommodated in safe 
houses for victims of family violence.
    Child marriage was a problem in some communities, particularly 
among Roma and in rural areas of southern and eastern Serbia. In the 
Romani community, boys and girls generally married between the ages of 
14 and 18, with 16 years old as the average age. Boys generally married 
a few years later than girls, and some girls married as early as 12 
years of age. Recent information indicated that the number of Romani 
child marriages was declining while the number of child marriages in 
the general population was growing. Child marriages occurred among 
individuals from all economic and social backgrounds.
    The minimum age for consensual sex is 14 years old. The criminal 
code sets penalties for statutory rape ranging from three to 12 years 
in prison. If the statutory rape is qualified as particularly severe, 
punishment ranges from five to 15 years' imprisonment. If the rape 
results in the victim's death, the perpetrator is sentenced to a 
minimum of 10 years in prison.
    The law prohibits child pornography. Using a child to produce 
pornographic materials or for a pornographic show is punishable by six 
months to five years in prison. Selling, showing, exhibiting, or 
otherwise making child pornography available publicly or electronically 
is punishable by up to two years' imprisonment.
    Children in orphanages and institutions were sometimes victims of 
physical and emotional abuse by caretakers and guardians and suffered 
sexual abuse by peers.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--While the law bans hate speech, translations of 
anti-Semitic literature were available from ultranationalist groups. 
Approximately 100 different anti-Semitic books were sold in bookshops. 
Right-wing youth groups and Internet forums continued to promote anti-
Semitism and use hate speech against the Jewish community.
    Holocaust education continued to be a part of the school curriculum 
at the direction of the Ministry of Education, and the role of the 
collaborationist National Salvation government run by Milan Nedic 
during the Holocaust was also debated as part of the secondary school 
curriculum. There was a tendency among some commentators to minimize 
and reinterpret the role of national collaborators' movements during 
World War II and their contribution to the Holocaust in the country.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution prohibits 
discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, 
education, access to health care, and the provision of other state 
services. The Government generally enforced the law. However, lack of 
access to older public buildings and public transportation was a 
problem. The law mandates access for persons with disabilities to new 
public buildings, and the Government generally enforced this provision 
in practice.
    The law prohibits physical, emotional, and verbal abuse in all 
schools, and there were no reports of abuse in special education 
facilities.
    The Center for Independent Living (CIL), a disability rights NGO, 
reported that most persons with disabilities lived isolated from their 
communities and that facilities for their education and care were 
nonexistent or inadequate.
    Unemployment remained a serious problem for persons with 
disabilities; in April it was reported to be 87 percent. A lack of 
workplace accommodations combined with overall high unemployment made 
it difficult for persons with disabilities to obtain work. While there 
were no reports of overt discrimination against persons with mental or 
physical disabilities, the CIL reported that it was difficult to detect 
discrimination because employers usually gave other reasons for not 
hiring persons with disabilities.
    On May 23, the Law on Employment of Persons with Disabilities went 
into effect, requiring companies with more than 20 employees to hire 
persons with disabilities.
    The Ministries of Labor and Social Policy, Education, and Health 
all had sections with responsibilities to protect persons with 
disabilities. The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy had a broad 
mandate to conduct liaison with NGOs, distribute social assistance, and 
monitor laws to provide that the rights of disabilities were protected 
in new legislation. The Ministries of Health and Education offered 
assistance and protection in their respective spheres.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--A report on the country by the 
European Commission against Racism and Intolerance in 2008 noted the 
existence of a climate of hostility toward national and ethnic 
minorities, who constituted 25 to 30 percent of the country's 
population and included ethnic Hungarians, Bosniaks, Roma, Slovaks, 
Romanians, Vlachs, Bulgarians, Croats, Albanians, and others. Sixty-
eight out of 169 municipalities in Serbia are multiethnic.
    Roma, who constituted 1.4 percent of the population in the 2002 
census but whose actual number was estimated at 5.4 percent according 
to the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights, continued to be the most 
vulnerable minority community. Roma were the targets of verbal and 
physical harassment from ordinary citizens, police violence, and 
societal discrimination.
    On October 7, the city of Belgrade evicted 36 Roma from an informal 
settlement on Vojvodjanska Street to clear land for construction. 
According to NGO reports, the Government did not provide alternative 
accommodation or legal assistance.
    During the year there were reports of violence against members of 
minority groups. In January in Temerin in Vojvodina, there were two 
separate attacks on two Hungarians, who were beaten after they told 
assailants they were Hungarians. Police identified assailants in the 
first incident.
    On June 11, following the killing of a Serbian teenager by a Romani 
resident, violent protests against Roma broke out in the Jabuka village 
in Vojvodina. For several days, Serbs from the village demonstrated in 
front of Romani homes, throwing rocks and chanting anti-Romani slogans. 
The gendarmerie only reacted to protect Roma after four days of 
protest. Police arrested six individuals for incitement of racial and 
national hatred and intolerance. Five were being tried at the end of 
the year.
    There were also numerous reports of vandalism and graffiti against 
minorities. For example, on April 16, unknown assailants in Backi 
Monostor in Vojvodina sprayed the Democratic Association of Croats in 
Vojvodina with chauvinistic anti-Croatian graffiti.
    There were no developments and none were expected in the March 2009 
incidents in which unidentified individuals speaking Serbian attacked 
Eliot Balog, a Hungarian, in Sombor and approximately 15 youths 
attacked Congor Ka, also a Hungarian, in Temerin.
    The investigation continued into an April 2009 series of attacks on 
Roma in the town of Cacak.
    There were no further developments, and none were expected, in the 
2009 cases of League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina leader Nenad 
Canak and his deputy, Bojan Kostres, who received threatening letters 
from an unidentified source warning them to withdraw from politics 
within a month or be killed. The party reported the threats to the 
police and demanded a thorough investigation.
    In September 2009 the state prosecutor, Slobodan Radovanovic, 
submitted a request to the Constitutional Court to prohibit the right-
wing group Obraz and the nationalist movement ``1389'' from actions 
that were intended to undermine the constitutional order violently, 
violate human and minority rights, and incite racial, ethnic, or 
religious hatred. The case was pending at year's end.
    Many Roma continued to live illegally in squatter settlements 
lacking basic services such as schools, medical care, water, and sewage 
facilities. According to UNICEF, Romani children were one-third as 
likely to live to their first birthday as other children. While the 
educational system provided nine years of free, mandatory schooling, 
including a year before elementary school, ethnic prejudice, cultural 
norms, and economic hardship discouraged some Romani children from 
attending school. In August the Ministry of Education hired Romani 
teaching assistants for 26 schools across the country.
    Ethnic Albanian leaders in the southern municipalities of Presevo, 
Bujanovac, and Medvedja continued to complain that ethnic Albanians 
were underrepresented in state institutions at the local level.
    The Government took some steps to counter violence and 
discrimination against minorities. It operated a hotline for minorities 
and others concerned about human rights problems. Civic education 
classes offered by the Government as an alternative to religion courses 
in secondary schools included information on minority cultures and 
multiethnic tolerance. The law allows official use of the native 
language and alphabet of any national minority that constitutes 15 
percent of the population in a given area, but representatives of the 
Albanian and Czech communities complained that the software used to 
produce identity documents would not accept characters not contained in 
the Serbian alphabet.
    On June 6, elections for National Minority Councils (NMC) were 
held. Nineteen minority communities voted in direct elections. Three 
minority communities chose their NMC representatives through indirect 
elections. Following several unsuccessful attempts to form the Bosniak 
minority council, on December 8, Minister for Human and Minority Rights 
Svetozar Ciplic announced that new elections for that council would be 
held in early 2011.The NMCs have broad competencies over education, 
mass media, culture, and the use of minority languages.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Violence and discrimination 
against members of the LGBT community were serious problems. While 
attacks happened frequently, few were reported publicly because victims 
feared further harassment.
    On August 12, police arrested Christian Zivanovic for stabbing and 
robbing two German citizens, Dominic Miller and a minor. Zivanovic told 
police he attacked them because they were ``acting like members of the 
gay population.''
    During the October 10 Pride Parade in Belgrade, approximately 6,000 
rioters (mostly soccer hooligans and nationalist extremists) attempted 
to attack and disrupt the parade, injuring 147 police and inflicting 
approximately $1.4 million in property damage. When police prevented 
them from reaching the parade, they attacked several buildings, 
including foreign embassies and political party headquarters.
    Societal perceptions of homosexual conduct and attitudes towards 
the LGBT population continued to be negative. According to a survey 
done in March by the Center for Free Elections and Democracy and the 
Gay Straight Alliance (GSA), 56 percent of the population believed 
homosexuality posed a threat to society, 67 percent believed it to be a 
disease, 20 percent supported or justified violence against LGBT 
persons, and 5 percent were ready to use violence to combat 
homosexuality. Several neo-Nazi Web sites, nationalist Web forums, and 
Facebook pages based in the country hosted anti-LGBT forums and groups.
    Members of the LGBT community continued to be targets of attacks. 
LGBT organizations reported that many violent attacks against the LGBT 
community were not reported to police because the victims did not 
believe their case would be addressed properly and wanted to avoid 
further victimization from the police or publicity generated by their 
complaint.
    In March 2009 a group of approximately five masked individuals 
broke windows and attempted to enter the Student Cultural Center in 
Kragujevac during a press conference held by the GSA to present its 
annual report on gay rights in the country. The GSA alleged that the 
attackers had been emboldened by the Government's decision to withdraw 
a draft law against discrimination from parliamentary procedure in 
response to pressure from the Serbian Orthodox Church and right-wing 
groups. On March 14, police arrested three individuals in connection 
with the incident, but there was no additional information available at 
year's end.
    In May 2009 the district prosecutor in Belgrade declined to file 
criminal charges in connection with the 2008 attack by a group of 
approximately 20 youths wearing surgical masks and hoods on 
participants in a gay rights festival in Belgrade. In July the NGO 
Labris initiated a civil suit on behalf of one of the victims; the case 
was pending at year's end.
    Although the broadcasting law prohibits discrimination on the 
grounds of sexual orientation, some media carried slurs against LGBT 
persons. The tabloid press continued to publish articles with hate 
speech against the LGBT population and interviews with homophobic 
right-wing groups.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There are 2,440 persons 
registered as infected with the HIV virus. NGOs reported acts of 
discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS, including job loss and 
harassment by neighbors. NGOs and some health workers also reported 
that some medical workers discriminated against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The constitution provides for the 
right of workers to join or form unions of their choosing. This right 
is subject to restrictions, including approval by the Ministry of Labor 
and Social Policy and a statement from the employer that the union 
leader is a full-time employee, which reportedly was tantamount to a 
requirement of employer approval. The state-affiliated Confederation of 
Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia (CATUS), a federation of unions 
formed during the country's socialist period and supported by the 
Milosevic regime, outnumbered independent labor unions in the public 
sector. However, independent trade unions were able to organize and 
address management in state-owned companies on behalf of their members. 
In the state-owned sector, 55 to 60 percent of workers were unionized, 
while in the private sector, 13 to 15 percent were unionized. In newly 
privatized companies, up to 35 percent of workers belonged to unions.
    The constitution and law allow unions to conduct their activities 
without interference, and the Government protected this right in 
practice.
    The constitution provides for the right to strike except by persons 
delivering essential services, such as public utilities, radio and 
television broadcasting, food production, healthcare, education, social 
services, military and intelligence services, work in the chemical, 
steel, and metals industries, and the postal service. Employees in 
essential services constituted more than 50 percent of the workforce 
and had to announce planned strikes at least 10 days in advance and to 
ensure that a ``minimum level of work'' was provided. Workers 
frequently exercised the right to strike, especially in the first part 
of the year. According to some estimates, a total of 40,000 to 50,000 
workers throughout the country were on strike at some point during the 
year.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The 
constitution guarantees the right to work, to unionize, and to strike, 
and the labor law protects the right to bargain collectively. This law 
was effectively enforced and collective bargaining was freely 
practiced. The law requires collective bargaining agreements for any 
company with more than 10 employees. However, in order to negotiate 
with a private employer, a union must represent 15 percent of company 
employees. In order to negotiate with the Government, a union must 
represent 10 percent of all workforce employees. Collective bargaining 
agreements covered approximately 40 percent of employed workers.
    The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of trade union 
membership but does not expressly prohibit discrimination for trade 
union activities and establishes no specific sanctions for antiunion 
harassment. During the year the independent trade union Nezavisnost 
continued to allege discrimination against trade unions and violations 
of workers' rights. There were no updates in the 2008 trade union 
discrimination case that Nezavisnost initiated at the Trayal Tire 
Factory in Krusevac, when the management of the company and CATUS 
refused to recognize that Nezavisnost represented a portion of the 
workforce and excluded it from collective bargaining negotiations. 
Nezavisnost alleged that similar situations existed in all large state-
owned companies where CATUS had special ties with politically appointed 
management teams, citing as an example the state power company EPS, 
where Nezavisnost had not been able to establish a presence, despite 
repeated efforts since 2004.
    According to the NGOs Felicitas and Center for Democracy, the most 
common worker's rights violations were work performed without an 
employment contract; nonpayment of salary, overtime, and benefits; 
employers' withholding maternity leave allowances; discrimination based 
on sex and age; discrimination against persons with disabilities; 
unsafe working conditions; and general harassment. Workers fired for 
union activity have a legal right to reinstatement. According to 
Nezavisnost, with the help of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy's 
Labor Inspectorate, the trade union continued to gain reinstatement of 
several of its members who had been previously fired for union 
activities.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
the country's three export-processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The constitution 
prohibits forced and compulsory labor, including by children; however, 
children, primarily from the Romani community, were forced to beg and 
commit petty theft. Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in 
Persons Report at.www.state.gov/g/tip.
    Children were forced, often by their families, to beg and commit 
petty crime. Many of these children lived in substandard housing 
conditions without access to education. The law penalizes with prison 
terms of three months to five years parents or guardians who force a 
minor to engage in begging, excessive labor, or labor incompatible with 
his or her age. The Family Care and Social Welfare Department within 
the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy also addressed the social 
problems in the Romani community that led to forced labor.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
Government effectively enforced laws protecting children from 
exploitation in the workforce in industries but did not have authority 
to check informal workplaces or individual households. In urban areas, 
children, primarily Roma, worked in the informal sector as street 
vendors and car washers. In villages and farming communities, underage 
children commonly worked in family businesses. In Romani communities, 
families sometimes forced their children into manual labor or begging.
    For information on trafficking in persons, including persons 
trafficked for forced labor and slavery, also see the Department of 
State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.
    The minimum age for employment is 15 years old, and youths under 18 
years old require written parental or guardian permission for 
employment. The labor law stipulates very specific working conditions 
for youths and limits their workweek to 35 hours. Penalties include 
fines of up to 780,000 dinars (approximately $9,534).
    According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy's Labor 
Inspectorate, which is responsible for enforcing the child labor laws, 
during the year inspectors did not register any violations involving 
employment of youths under the age of 18 without parental permission.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage for the period 
between January and June was set at 15,840 dinars (approximately $194) 
per month. The minimum wage did not provide a decent standard of living 
for a worker and family. In companies with a trade union presence, the 
union generally monitored effective enforcement of the minimum wage. 
This was not the case in smaller private companies where employers were 
either unwilling or unable to pay minimum wages and mandatory social 
benefits. These companies often employed unregistered workers, that is, 
workers ``off the books,'' for whom the employer did not pay social and 
pension contributions and to whom the employer paid a cash salary 
directly without recording the transaction. Most unregistered workers 
did not report labor violations because they feared losing their jobs. 
The Labor Inspectorate is responsible for enforcing the minimum wage.
    The average monthly net salary in November was approximately 
34,591dinars (approximately $422).
    Unlike in previous years, wage arrears were no longer reported to 
be substantial and widespread.
    The standard workweek of 40 hours prescribed by the labor law was 
generally observed in state-owned enterprises but not in private 
companies. The law provides that an employee may not work overtime for 
more than four hours a day or for more than 240 hours in a calendar 
year. For an eight-hour workday, one 30-minute break is required. At 
least 12 hours of break are required between shifts during a workweek, 
and at least 24 hours of break are required over a weekend.
    Collective agreements were the primary means of providing premium 
pay for overtime. However, the labor law requires that the premium for 
overtime work be at least 26 percent of the salary base, as defined by 
the relevant collective bargaining agreement. Trade unions within a 
company are the primary agents for enforcing overtime pay; however, the 
labor inspectorate also has enforcement responsibilities. The 
inspectorate did not always enforce labor regulations.
    The law requires companies to establish a safety and security unit 
to monitor observance of 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. Workers did not have the right to remove 
themselves from situations that endangered their health or safety 
without jeopardy to their employment. The Labor Inspectorate was 
responsible for worker safety and health, and it increased inspections 
and preventative measures during the year.

                               __________

                                SLOVAKIA

    The Slovak Republic, with a population of approximately 5.4 
million, is a multiparty parliamentary democracy led by a prime 
minister and a 150-member Narodna Rada (National Council). Voters 
elected the head of government, Prime Minister Iveta Radicova of the 
Slovak Democratic and Christian Union, to a four-year term in 2010. 
President Ivan Gasparovic, the head of state, was reelected for a five-
year term in 2009. Both elections were considered free and fair. Six 
political parties, four of which form the governing coalition, 
participate in the National Council. Security forces reported to 
civilian authorities.
    Notable human rights problems included some continuing reports of 
police mistreatment of Romani suspects and lengthy pretrial detention; 
concerns about the integrity of the judiciary, corruption in national 
government, local government, and government health services; violence 
against women and children; trafficking in women and children; and 
societal discrimination and violence against 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and the law prohibit torture and other 
cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment, and the 
Government generally respected these provisions in practice.
    Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and members of the Romani 
community cited a continuing trend of mistreatment of Romani suspects 
by police officers during arrests and while in custody. The Council of 
Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) conducted a 
monitoring visit in 2009. The CPT noted that the situation in the 
country had improved from that observed on previous visits, despite 
recurring complaints from detainees about excessive force. The CPT also 
urged the Government to investigate all allegations of involuntary 
sterilization of Romani women promptly and thoroughly, and educate 
doctors about their criminal liability for performing sterilization 
without consent.
    According to reports by NGOs, in July police officers in Senec beat 
and injured a Roma man who refused to sign what he claimed was a false 
confession to robbery charges.
    The district court in Kosice accepted prosecution charges against 
10 police officers accused of abusing six Romani boys (ranging in age 
from 11 to 16) in Kosice following the alleged theft of a purse. 
Videotapes of the incident, leaked to the media in April 2009, showed 
the officers forcing the boys to strip naked, kiss, and hit each other. 
The trial started in November, and was pending at year's end. The 
representative of the boys, Poradna lawyer Vanda Durbakova, has asked 
the court for non-pecuniary damages of 30,000 euros ($40,200) for each 
victim's family. She says the boys were exposed to humiliation and 
cruel and inhumane treatment. Seven of the 10 policemen have been 
suspended from duty.
    Police continued to provide special training on Romani culture and 
language to officers working in districts with Romani communities in 
the Kosice and Presov regions. The Bratislava branch of postsecondary 
schooling for police also offered an elective course in Romani language 
and culture.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions met most international standards; however, 
overcrowding continued to be a problem. There were on average 8,844 
persons in prison in 2009. There are five minimum security prisons in 
the country that, according to the Ministry of Justice, operated at 
between 101 and 124 percent capacity in 2009.
    Prisoners were able to express complaints without censorship, and a 
public defender of rights, or ombudsman, is available for their legal 
aid. The ombudsman is elected by parliament and does not report 
receiving political interference in his work.
    On February 11, the CPT released a report on its March-April 2009 
visit to the country. The findings of the 2009 visit indicated that 
``in general, there has been an improvement in the treatment of persons 
deprived of their liberty by law enforcement officials, as compared to 
previous visits to Slovakia by the CPT.'' Specifically, there were 
fewer allegations of ill-treatment; nevertheless, there were several 
allegations of physical ill-treatment of detained persons by police 
officers, related to ``the excessive use of force during apprehension, 
and the infliction of slaps and kicks immediately after the person had 
been brought under control.''
    The Government permitted visits by independent human rights 
observers. Observers expressed concern that no independent group or NGO 
regularly monitored prison conditions.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and the law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The national police has 
sole responsibility for internal and border security and reports to the 
Ministry of Interior. The head of the police force reports directly to 
the interior minister, who has the authority to recall any member of 
the police. Human rights observers believed police were occasionally 
reluctant to accept the testimony of certain witnesses, particularly 
Roma, women, and homeless persons, and often failed to investigate 
cases involving Roma and other minorities promptly and thoroughly.
    In June 2009 authorities arrested six police officers following an 
investigation that indicated they had been working as security guards 
in a brothel in Senec. The officers involved were removed from the 
police force.
    The most common charge authorities brought against police officers 
was abuse of power; other charges included battery, assault and 
battery, and illegal intrusion into private homes. In 2009 authorities 
charged 171 police officers with crimes; in 61 of these cases, the 
crime was abuse of power. Disciplinary action ranged from fines to 
expulsion from the police force.
    During a June 2009 visit of the Chinese president to Bratislava, 
the police refrained from intervening when violent clashes between 
Slovak protesters and supporters of the Chinese president erupted. NGOs 
subsequently filed a complaint against the Ministry of Interior for 
failing to protect the rights of the protesters. Then Prime Minister 
Fico publicly supported the police, and the ministry dismissed the 
complaint.
    Human rights training remained on the curriculum at police training 
facilities.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The 
constitution and the law stipulate that a person can only be taken into 
custody for explicit reasons and must be informed immediately of the 
reasons for detainment. A written court warrant is required for arrest. 
The court must grant a hearing to a person accused of a crime within 48 
hours (or a maximum of 72 hours for ``serious cases,'' defined as 
violent crimes, treason, or other crimes with a sentence of at least 
eight years) and either release or remand the individual. There was a 
bail system in place that functioned effectively. Detainees have the 
right to consult with an attorney immediately and must be notified of 
this right. The Government provides free counsel to indigent detainees. 
Attorney visits were allowed as frequently as necessary. The law allows 
monthly family visits upon request.
    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.
    Criminal court procedures mandate that the total time of detention 
(pretrial plus trial) cannot exceed 12 months in the case of minor 
offenses, 24 months for regular crimes, 36 months for severe crimes, 
and five years for crimes in which the expected sentence is 25 years or 
a life sentence. In addition, pretrial detention cannot account for 
more than half of the total detention time. In cases with extenuating 
circumstances, the Supreme Court may extend pretrial detention to four 
years. Delays in court procedures and investigations frequently led to 
lengthy detentions during both the pretrial and trial periods. 
According to 2009 statistics, pretrial detainees accounted for 
approximately one-quarter of the total prison population; detainees 
were held on the average for 123 days at the district court level and 
299 days at the regional court level. From January to July 2010 
authorities held 1,091 individuals in pretrial detention.
    The law allows plea bargaining, which reduced the backlog of court 
cases. During 2009 plea bargaining resolved 6,856 cases, compared with 
5,741 cases in 2008. During the first half of the year, plea bargaining 
was used to resolve 4,120 cases.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary; however, in practice problems with corruption, 
official intimidation of judges, inefficiency, and a lack of integrity 
and accountability continued to undermine judicial independence. In 
some cases the judiciary was subject to high-level influence and 
pressure by the judicial hierarchy. In some cases, judges felt they 
faced attempts to influence decision making as well as intimidation via 
disciplinary actions from the Judicial Council. Military courts were 
abolished in 2009.
    In May the Constitutional Court ruled seven to six that the Special 
Court, designed to hear cases of official corruption and those related 
to high-ranking government and political figures and organized crime, 
was unconstitutional. In June the parliament passed a bill to create a 
new specialized court to hear corruption cases. Under the new law, 
judges' salaries were reduced, and judges were no longer required to 
have security clearances. These changes addressed the Constitutional 
Court's reasoning for declaring the Special Court unconstitutional. 
Some judges stated that they felt pressure to rule against the Special 
Court.
    There were also reports of inconsistent decision making and 
substitution of judges to influence court decisions.
    In June 2009 former Justice Minister Stefan Harabin was elected 
president of the Supreme Court. Several NGOs mounted a campaign against 
his election, citing his personal contacts with a person suspected of 
organized drug-related criminal activity. They also criticized his 
misuse of disciplinary actions as tools to intimidate and harass 
judges. More than 12,000 persons signed the petition. Several judges 
also filed a Constitutional Court claim against his election, which 
remained pending at year's end.
    There were reports that higher levels of judicial hierarchy misused 
their power and issued instructions to individual judges on how they 
should decide specific cases.
    In 2009 Bratislava district court judge Marta Laukova filed a 
criminal complaint against her superior in which she claimed that her 
superior ordered her to release a criminal from pretrial detention, a 
clear constraint on her judicial independence. Laukova did not follow 
the order and was subsequently transferred from the criminal law 
department and subjected to other forms of intimidation, including 
frequent workplace inspections. Laukova's health condition declined 
sharply, and while she was in the hospital, the Judicial Council 
decided, for the first time in the country's history, that her medical 
insurance payments would be suspended. The Judicial Council stated that 
her sickness was ``purposeful.'' In September Judge Laukova died in the 
hospital. The Judicial Council posthumously awarded Laukova medical 
compensation.
    Disciplinary actions taken against judicial delays appeared to be 
highly inconsistent. In some cases judges faced suspension for delaying 
cases, while in other, similar cases there was no action taken. 
Suspension was considered a severe action, as suspended judges are 
prohibited from entering the court building, receive only one-third of 
their salary, and their cases are assigned to other judges.
    District court judge Juraj Babjak, former judge of Slovak 
Constitutional Court and author of several critical articles about the 
state of the judiciary, faced disciplinary action for alleged delays 
during the year. Although he had communicated to the president of his 
district court that it was impossible to deal with cases he was 
assigned because of their number and complexity, the court's president 
filed disciplinary action against him proposing demotion to a lower 
court. The case was pending with the disciplinary court.
    In April former Supreme Court Senate chairman and judiciary critic 
Jozef Kandera resigned from his post, reportedly due to pressure he 
faced from disciplinary proceedings against him. Kandera presided over 
the case against the so-called ``acid gang'' that dissolved the corpses 
of its victims in acid. Supreme Court president Stefan Harabin 
initiated disciplinary proceedings against Kandera for court delays. In 
his defense, Kandera noted that that the cases he dealt with were 
complex, containing tens of thousands of pages. The law does not 
specify the period of time that would constitute a court delay; critics 
asserted that Harabin did not apply such a strict standard evenly to 
all judges, but rather only against critics of the judiciary. A 
disciplinary hearing on March 17 found Kandera guilty of 
procrastination in court proceedings and decided to decrease his wage.
    Other judges faced disciplinary and criminal actions after having 
openly criticized Supreme Court president Harabin. Judge Katarina 
Javorcikova, a spokesperson of the Society for Open Judiciary (ZOJ), 
which publicizes cases of judicial intimidation, faced a criminal 
investigation initiated by former Justice Minister Viera Petrikova. 
However, the police investigation did not find sufficient evidence to 
prosecute Javorcikova.
    The Judicial Council initiated disciplinary proceedings against 
district court judge Stanislav Sojka for a letter he wrote to President 
Ivan Gasparovic voicing concern over the integrity of the judicial 
system and of Supreme Court judge Peter Paluda. Sojka was also 
suspended from duty after he filed a criminal complaint against Harabin 
for misuse of power.
    With the exception of the Constitutional Court, courts employed a 
computerized system for random case assignment to increase 
transparency. There were reports that this system was subject to 
manipulation. The watchdog NGO Fair Play Alliance filed a criminal and 
disciplinary motion against the president and the vice president of the 
Supreme Court for allegedly manipulating the electronic assignment 
system. Supreme Court president Harabin subsequently filed a criminal 
motion against Fair Play Alliance Director Zuzana Wienk for false 
accusation, which remained pending at year's end.
    In 2008-09 more than 500 judges (out of a total of 1,400) submitted 
claims of ``wage discrimination.'' The mass court claims submitted by 
the judges raised serious concerns about the ethics of some members of 
the country's judiciary as well as the potential impact on the state 
budget. The disgruntled judges asserted that they had been 
discriminated against because judges sitting on former Special Court to 
combat corruption and organized crime had higher salaries. Many members 
of the public perceived the claims as illegitimate and driven by the 
judges' envy and greed. According to media reports, the judges' claims 
had been organized by senior officials in the judiciary. Justice 
Minister Viera Petrikova and the Supreme Court president Harabin openly 
supported the judges' claims. Justice Minister Viera Petrikova had also 
filed a claim for wage discrimination, even though she was also a 
defendant in the case. Petrikova was replaced by Lucia Zitnanska in 
July when the new government took office.
    In some of the wage discrimination cases, district courts awarded 
judges compensation up to 90,000 euros ($120,000). Critics and members 
of the public noted that individual judges' wage discrimination 
complaints were being decided by colleagues who had filed similar 
complaints, suggesting serious conflicts of interest and calling into 
question the impartiality of court proceedings.
    In June 2010 a judicial disciplinary senate ruled that veteran 
judge Anna Benesova be demoted for allegedly prohibiting the recording 
of court proceedings in one of her cases. Consequently, the Judicial 
Council, presided over by Stefan Harabin, decided that judge Benesova 
will be demoted not to a lower court in her home city Bratislava, but 
to a district court in Levice more than 60 miles away. Instead of 
working there, Benesova decided to retire.
    Benesova asserted that the real motive for her demotion was her 
unwillingness to decide in favor of Supreme Court president Harabin in 
a libel case against daily newspaper SME. Following Benesova's 
suspension from the Bratislava Regional Court in 2008, the judge who 
replaced her in the Harabin v. SME case ruled in Harabin's favor and 
ordered SME to pay him 33,134 euros (approximately $44,400). Witnesses 
at her disciplinary hearings testified that Benesova did not prohibit 
the recording; normally in such cases judges received only minor or no 
sanctions.
    In September 2009, 105 judges sent a letter to the president, prime 
minister, the chairman of the National Council, the justice minister, 
and the Judicial Council protesting the improper use of disciplinary 
panels against independent judges, particularly for critics of Harabin. 
The judges did not receive a response. In an open statement in October 
2009, signed by the same 105 judges, they wrote about ``an atmosphere 
of fear'' in conducting their work within the judiciary.

    Trial Procedures.--Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence. 
They are also presumed innocent during the appeals process, meaning 
that a person found guilty by a court does not serve his imposed 
sentence nor pay any fine until the final decision on his appeal is 
reached. Persons charged with criminal offenses are entitled to fair 
and public trials and have the right to be informed of the charges 
against them. The law does not provide for jury trials. A panel of 
three judges is obligatory in criminal cases and in civil cases at the 
regional court and Supreme Court levels. However, NGO observers stated 
that judicial corruption often resulted in lengthy court delays and 
improper handling of police investigations. Defendants have the right 
to be present, consult in a timely manner with an attorney (at 
government expense if indigent), access government-held evidence, 
confront witnesses against them, and present witnesses and evidence on 
their own behalf. Defendants have the right to refuse self-
incrimination, and may appeal adverse judgments.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--There were 569 complaints 
filed against the state before the European Court of Human Rights 
(ECHR) in 2009, up from 488 in 2008. The ECHR ruled on 69 cases in 
2009. In 38 rulings, the court found a violation of the European 
Convention on Human Rights; of these, 29 violations concerned 
``reasonable time'' requirement for civil and criminal proceedings. 
Out-of-court settlements were reached in another 10 cases. In total, 
the Government paid 512,000 euros ($686,000) to applicants as 
compensation in 2009. Approximately 1,300 complaints filed against 
state remain unresolved. The court issued 12 rulings against the state 
during the year.
    Three forced-sterilization civil suits that predated the 2005 law 
prohibiting such sterilizations were filed with the ECHR in 2004. Two 
were still pending at year's end.
    In April 2009 the ECHR ruled in favor of eight Romani women who 
suspected they had been sterilized without their knowledge. The 
hospitals where the procedures had been performed allegedly denied the 
women access to their medical records, and the ECHR ruled that this 
denial of access was a violation of privacy; the allegation of 
uninformed sterilization was not at issue. Four of the women 
subsequently received access to their medical files; at least one of 
them discovered she had been sterilized. The remaining four women 
continued to be denied access to their medical records. In 2007 the 
Ministry of Health informed the NGO Poradna, which had assisted the 
women in preparing their legal case, that the women's medical records 
were lost. After numerous unsuccessful civil proceedings, the 
plaintiffs were each awarded 3,500 euros ($4,690) in damages.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Citizens have unrestricted 
access to an independent judiciary to bring lawsuits in civil matters 
including human rights violations. Courts that hear civil cases were 
subject to the same delays as criminal courts and were often perceived 
by the public as corrupt. Administrative remedies are available in 
certain cases. The National Center for Human Rights has the authority 
to provide mediation for cases of discrimination and to represent 
claimants in court.
    The Office of the Public Protector of Rights (ombudsman) determined 
that 157 of the approximately 2,528 complaints received in 2008 
constituted violations of the rights of the claimants, most of which 
involved delays in court proceedings. The ombudsman's office continued 
providing free legal services throughout the country by holding 
traveling legal clinics in cooperation with individual municipalities.

    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.
    Police must present a warrant before conducting a search or within 
24 hours afterwards.
    Romani advocacy groups pressured the Government to acknowledge and 
compensate victims for past involuntary sterilization practices on 
Romani women in public health facilities. Patients legally are required 
to submit written requests at least 30 days before sterilizations are 
performed; however, criminal charges cannot be filed for offenses that 
took place prior to 2005, when the law took effect. No victims of 
involuntary sterilization or sterilization without informed consent 
received financial redress for sterilization in the country's court 
system.
    According to the NGO Poradna (Center for Civil and Human Rights), 
which helped alleged victims prepare cases, several civil court cases 
had been filed. In one case, three Romani women claimed that they were 
sterilized without informed consent. In 2006 the Constitutional Court 
ruled that regional-level prosecutors had violated the constitution and 
the European Convention on Human Rights by improperly closing the 
investigation of the original claim and awarded each of the claimants 
50,000 koruna (approximately $2,380). The court instructed the 
prosecution to reopen its investigation in 2007, but the investigation 
did not yield any new results. Poradna filed another appeal with the 
Constitutional Court, which was pending at year's end. Two additional 
cases were pending at regional courts following appeals, and four cases 
were pending before appeal courts.
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; while the Government 
generally respected these rights in practice, in some instances the 
Government limited these rights, including attempts by government 
officials to impede criticism and to limit actions of extremist groups.
    The law prohibits the defamation of nationalities, punishable by up 
to three years in prison, and denying the Holocaust, which carries a 
sentence of six months to three years in prison.
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views, although media, especially state-owned television, were subject 
to political influence. The three public media outlets, STV 
(television), Radio SRo, and TASR news agency, received state funding 
and were headed by political appointees. There were reports that 
directors of Slovak Public Television exerted pressure in the news 
department to provide favorable coverage of governing coalition events 
and activities. In October 2009 the director of state-supported STV 
intervened to halt the broadcast of an investigative report critical of 
a social enterprise project subsidized by the Ministry of Labor. While 
the report ultimately aired following a decision by the governing body, 
the STV council did not renew the contract of the journalist who 
prepared the report that the director had challenged.
    Both the 2008 act on broadcast fees and the 2007 audiovisual law 
increased broadcast media's dependence on state funding and the 
perceived schism between print and broadcast media.
    In October a study by the Slovak Syndicate of Journalists and the 
Pan-European University School of Mass Media indicated that the number 
of journalists who reported feeling pressure from media owners and 
managers that infringed on their freedom of expression had decreased 
from 55.5 percent in 1997 to 47.7 percent during the year.
    In 2008 a media law went into effect that required publishers to 
print responses to any ``statement of fact that impinges on the honor, 
dignity, or privacy of a natural person, or the name or good reputation 
of a legal entity.'' The law required publishers to print replies on 
the same page and space as the original article, regardless of whether 
the original statement was factually correct. Journalists and 
publishers opposed the law because it could force them to print 
official government responses without the opportunity for a counter 
response. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's 
representative on freedom of the media stated that, instead of 
complying with established standards in such cases, the Government was 
forcing the media to become subject to ``political give and take'' that 
violated the country's international commitments to protect the freedom 
of its media. Members of government took several actions that observers 
believed were intended to pressure the media to curtail reporting 
critical of the Government.
    In November 2009 former Prime Minister Fico used the right of reply 
provisions in the media law to respond to a commentary from the daily 
SME, which alleged that he had been part of a privileged group during 
the communist era in the country. SME printed Fico's reply on its 
opinion page. Media analysts and publishers noted that, when the media 
law passed, Fico said that he would not use it, as it was designed to 
protect ordinary citizens from the press.
    Criminal penalties for defamation exist under the penal code, but 
these provisions were rarely used.
    Members of the Government, judiciary, and political elites targeted 
the press in a number of civil defamation lawsuits, which often 
required the press to pay large sums of money. The International Press 
Institute and other observers expressed concern that this financial 
risk could lead to media self-censorship. Courts made multiple 
decisions in favor of political elites, despite compelling evidence of 
the veracity of the reports for which media outlets were being sued.
    In May the Supreme Court filed a suit seeking 200,000 euros 
($268,000) in nonpecuniary damages from the private radio station Radio 
Express for its report concerning the renovation costs for a bathroom 
at the Supreme Court. The court's president, Stefan Harabin, filed the 
complaint on behalf of the Supreme Court at the First Bratislava 
District Court. The complaint asserted that the reconstruction of the 
bathroom next to the office of the Supreme Court president did not cost 
32,700 euros ($43,800) as news reports claimed, but 2,279 euros 
($3,053). The sum of 32,700 euros ($42,500) figure applied to the 
overall cost of reconstructing the Supreme Court president's offices.
    The radio obtained the story from the daily newspaper Pravda, whose 
publishing house Perex was also sued for damages of 200,000 euros 
($268,000) by the Supreme Court. The journalists claimed that the 
Supreme Court did not respond clearly to their requests for 
information, which were filed according to the law. Pavol Mudry, the 
director of the International Press Institute (IPI) Slovakia, was 
reported as saying that the Supreme Court was not guarding against 
damages to its reputation but was aiming to eliminate media outlets 
that make the court uncomfortable.
    In May 2009 then-justice minister and current President of the 
Supreme Court Stefan Harabin sent letters to three publishers and one 
radio station requesting out-of-court settlements of 200,000 euros 
($268,000) from each of them to compensate for articles and statements 
published in 2008-09 that allegedly damaged his reputation. He did not 
seek an apology or printed corrections. Harabin had previously won 
several libel lawsuits against the media, a fact he highlighted in the 
letters to the media outlets. Observers expressed concern that the 
former minister's objective was to intimidate and extort the media 
rather than to restore his reputation. The Association of Publishers of 
the Periodical Press in Slovakia issued a statement claiming Harabin 
was ``demanding exorbitant sums... higher than those awarded by courts 
in the cases of the gravest health injuries or deaths.''
    In July the Bratislava District Court ruled against former Prime 
Minister Fico in his case against Petit Press, the parent company of 
leading daily SME, for damages allegedly incurred by publication of a 
cartoon on its opinion page. The cartoon depicted the former prime 
minister in a doctor's office, with the doctor examining an X-ray of 
his neck and implying he was spineless. In his lawsuit, Fico stated 
that, while he was suffering unbearable physical pain from an injury, 
SME was misusing his image and mocking his suffering, which harmed his 
dignity and reputation. Fico's appeal of the verdict remained pending 
at year's end.
    In December 2009 former Prime Minister Fico held a press conference 
in which he accused the media of conspiring against him, attacking his 
family, and ``operating like the mafia.'' The publishers of the 
country's leading dailies responded with a joint article refuting 
Fico's claims of conspiring against him. The article stated ``what is 
equally offensive are the continuing and escalating attacks against 
journalists . . . The media and journalists are doing nothing other 
than what is customary in a democracy. The prime minister naturally has 
the right to use all legal means for his defense. . . . However, he 
does not have the right to incite an atmosphere of aggressiveness 
toward the media and journalists in society.''

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mails or 
Internet chat rooms; however, police monitored Web sites hosting hate 
speech and attempted to arrest or fine the authors. The law defines 
hate speech as speech that publicly threatens an individual or group 
based on nationality, ethnicity, race, skin color, or that publicly 
incites the restriction of rights and freedoms of such an individual or 
group. Individuals and groups could otherwise engage in the peaceful 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. Internet 
access was generally available across the country.
    According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 
2010, approximately 74 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and the law provide for freedom of 
assembly, and the Government generally respected this right in 
practice. However, there were complaints against the interior ministry 
that police officers did not intervene adequately to address violence 
at demonstrations, as was the case during May's inaugural gay pride 
parade in Bratislava.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and the law provide for 
freedom of association, and the Government generally respected this 
right in practice. However, the law requires organizations to pay a 
nominal registration fee and stipulates that those registering as 
foundations have ``substantial'' financial resources of 6,000 euros 
(approximately $8,040) to operate.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and the law provide 
for freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, 
and repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights 
in practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, 
stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government has an established system 
for providing some protection to refugees. The Government granted 14 
asylum seekers refugee status out of 822 applicants in 2009, in 
contrast with 2008, when 909 asylum seekers applied and the Government 
granted refugee status to 22 applicants. While the asylum law gives 
officials broad authority to reject applicants based on technical 
errors in their applications, in practice this was not a problem.
    Consistent with EU legislation, the country does employ the concept 
of a safe country of origin and transit, but is still required to 
ensure that an asylum seeker's individual well-being is not threatened 
in a non-EU ``safe third country.''
    In practice, the Government provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion. In April, however, the Government extradited an Algerian 
national and alleged terrorist, Mustafa Labsi, back to Algeria despite 
an interim measure issued by the ECHR that specifically stated that 
Labsi should not be expelled to Algeria until he exhausted all legal 
avenues for his asylum claim, including the Constitutional Court. Labsi 
was extradited before he had time to appeal to the Constitutional 
Court. Referring to the ECHR interim measure, then- Interior Minister 
Robert Kalinak stated that even if Slovakia were to be fined, it would 
only amount to a ``couple thousand euros.''
    The Government accepted refugees from third countries and provided 
basic facilities and services to encourage integration. Language 
training and work permits were available for refugees and asylum 
applicants with extended stays.
    In July 2009 the Government, UNHCR, and the International 
Organization for Migration signed an agreement to temporarily house 98 
Palestinian refugees from Iraq. The refugees arrived in August 2009 and 
were expected to stay for six months in an asylum facility in Humenne 
and be provided with accommodation, food, and medical care while their 
applications for permanent asylum elsewhere were processed. By 
February, all 98 refugees had been relocated to a third country.
    The Government also provided temporary protection to individuals 
who may not qualify as refugees. 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. In 2009, 97 individuals were granted subsidiary 
protection, up from 65 persons in 2008.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and the law provide citizens 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 and Political Participation.--On June 12, citizens voted 
six political parties into the National Council in free and fair 
elections. Four of the six parties then formed the governing coalition, 
led by the country's first female prime minister, Iveta Radicova. Voter 
turnout was over 50 percent.
    In April 2009 President Ivan Gasparovic, the head of state, was 
reelected for a five-year term in the second round of voting in an 
election that was also considered to be free and fair.
    Political parties operated without restriction or outside 
interference. A political party must receive at least 5 percent of the 
ballots cast to enter the National Council. In the 2010 elections, 
voters had the option of marking a preferential vote for an individual 
candidate on a political party list in addition to voting for a party.
    There were 24 women in the 150-seat National Council, 41 women on 
the 79-seat Supreme Court, and two women in the 13-member cabinet, 
including the prime minister.
    The law prohibits collecting information on ethnicity, and it was 
not possible to determine the precise number of members of minority 
groups in government. The party Most-Hid (``bridge'') holds 14 seats in 
the National Council, of which seven are ethnic Hungarians. Some ethnic 
Romani individuals and parties were successful at winning 
representation at the local and regional levels; however, Roma were 
consistently underrepresented in government service, and no Roma were 
in the National Council.
    In November 2009 the country held elections for the chairmanships 
and parliamentarian seats in the eight regional governments. Voter 
turnout was 22.9 percent. For the first time in the country's history, 
two ethnic Romani candidates were elected to the regional parliaments.
    In the eastern part of the country, there were often allegations of 
vote buying, particularly in Romani settlements, during all elections.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not always implement the law effectively, 
and some officials engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. There 
were also concerns, particularly in the business sector, about the 
privatization of justice. Some NGO governance experts reported that 
court proceedings have become a contest of vested interests and 
connections to the judicial powers. While the country has financial 
disclosure laws, compliance was the exception rather than the rule. The 
World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators also reflected that 
corruption remained a problem.
    Instances of police corruption and misconduct were also reported, 
primarily the extortion of bribes during traffic stops. Headed by a 
director who reports directly to the interior minister, the Bureau for 
the Inspection Service of the Police Corps is responsible for 
investigating police abuses. Cases may be initiated by the inspection 
service, the police corps, the police department's organized crime 
unit, and individual citizens, among others.
    The most grievous cases of corruption involved the Ministry of 
Environment and the Ministry of Construction and Regional Development, 
which were both headed by the ultra-nationalist Slovak National Party 
(SNS), a coalition partner of the ruling SMER (``direction'') party 
until July 2010. Former Prime Minister Fico closed the Ministry of 
Environment because he considered the situation irreparable, and the 
Ministry of Agriculture took over its functions, until the new 
government reestablished the ministry in September.
    International companies reported multimillion dollar losses that 
they settled out of court simply because of lack of a credible legal 
remedy, and cronyism was cited as the country's primary competitive 
disadvantage.
    Following its formation in July, the new government launched its 
reform agenda by requiring disclosure of all contracts, invoices, and 
financial transactions relating to the public on the Internet and 
introducing electronic auctions as a mandatory form of procurement. 
However, the Government had not prosecuted most of the egregious 
corruption scandals that had emerged under the previous government.
    In April the European Commission (EC) formally questioned whether 
the winner of the National Highway Company's (NDS) tender to build an 
electronic toll-collection system had enjoyed an ``unfair advantage.'' 
The NDS had awarded the tender to the highest bidder, SanToll-Ibertax, 
a Slovak entity, for 852.1 million euros ($1.1 billion). The system was 
plagued by glitches when it began operating in January.
    According to a report submitted by EC auditors in March the 
``presence of indicators of serious fraud was identified'' in some of 
the social enterprises created by former Labor Minister Viera Tomanova. 
The eight regional social enterprises received 95 percent of their 
funding from the state to provide training and employment for persons 
in regions with high unemployment. However, according to the Slovak 
Governance Institute, the social enterprises were established ``in 
direct contradiction with the existing EU legislation on state aid.'' 
As of January, the social enterprises had received 11.3 million euros 
($15.1 million) in public funds. The new government abolished the 
projects due to the perceived lack of transparency and corruption 
allegations.
    In May Slovak investigators met their foreign counterparts to 
discuss new findings in the investigation of the sale of Slovak surplus 
carbon dioxide emission quotas. The country was believed to have lost 
at least 40 million euros ($53.6 million) in a deal in which the 
environment ministry, then under the political control of Slovak 
National Party, sold rights to emit 15 million tons of carbon dioxide 
at approximately half the market price.
    The Ministry of Interior is responsible for developing the 
Government's overall strategy for combating corruption, with a specific 
focus on investigation and enforcement. The Special Court is 
responsible for most prosecution efforts (see section 1.e.). The 
general prosecutor, who is appointed by parliament and independent of 
the executive and judicial branches, also plays a leading role in 
prosecuting corruption. The Government Office of the Slovak Republic, 
which answers to the prime minister, also plays a role in developing 
anticorruption legislation and regulations.
    The law provides for public access to government information; 
however, NGOs cited a need for greater public awareness of the 
responsibility of government to provide information. During the year 
both the Constitutional Court and the Judicial Council restricted 
access to information. The Government often declined to provide 
information, reacted with extreme delays to requests, or released only 
heavily redacted information. In one case, the Government released a 
contract for the sale of carbon dioxide emission quotas with the names 
of the buyers, the quantity of quota units, and the price redacted. The 
reason given was that the information was protected by confidentiality 
clauses in the contracts. In several such cases, authorities released 
the information after widespread critical media coverage.
Section 5. 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. Most NGOs were 
independent, although the Slovak National Center for Human Rights 
receives its budget from the parliament, and was thus semi-independent. 
Government officials were generally cooperative, although NGOs reported 
that at times government officials seemed to view their activities with 
suspicion or mistrust.
    The country has an 11-member parliamentary Human Rights Committee, 
which was not particularly active during most of 2010. It did, however, 
have a public hearing on what some members of the committee determined 
to be inadequate government action on the 2006 case of an alleged 
attack on ethnic Hungarian university student Hedviga Malinova. In 
July, Anna Belousovova, of the SNS took over the chairmanship of the 
committee, the only committee in parliament chaired by the SNS, which 
many interpreted as ironic, due to SNS Chairman Jan Slota's infamous 
verbal slurs against minorities.
    The office of the ombudsman is headed by Pavel Kandrac, who submits 
an annual report on human rights problems to the president. In 
submitting the 2009 annual report in April, Kandrac reportedly asked 
for expanded powers. In general, Kandrac's work has not been the 
subject of executive interference, but on the other hand, human rights 
activists do not consider his office to be very effective. Kandrac 
focuses primarily on the issue of court delays and, to a lesser extent, 
children's rights. During the year his office did not comment on Roma 
issues, serious problems in the judiciary, or other human rights 
violations.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and the law prohibit discrimination based on race, 
gender, disability, language, or social status; the Government made 
efforts to enforce these prohibitions in practice. All government 
agencies are required to create special favorable conditions for groups 
who are victims of discrimination, including but not limited to, 
employment, education, and vocational training.

    Women.--The law prohibits rape, including spousal rape. Although 
the Government enforced the law effectively, rape was an underreported 
problem according to NGOs and academics. In 2009 there were reports of 
142 rapes, and 396 cases of sexual abuse. There were 37 convictions for 
rape in 2009, and 16 convictions in the first six months of 2010. Rape 
victims had access to shelters and counseling offered by NGOs and 
government-funded programs.
    Domestic violence against women continued to be a problem. The law 
prohibits domestic violence; however, it was widespread, and activists 
claimed that the Government did not enforce the law effectively. A 
joint study performed by the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, and 
Family and the Public Policy Institute concluded that one of every five 
women was a victim of domestic violence. In 2008 parliament passed a 
law providing police with greater tools to combat domestic violence; 
the law allows police to prohibit suspected offenders from reentering 
the domicile where the victim resides for 48 hours after an incident 
was reported. In 2009 there were 1,028 convictions for crimes that 
involved domestic violence. During the same period, there were 192 
convictions for abuse of a member of household. In the first six months 
of 2010, there were 508 convictions for crimes that involved domestic 
violence, and 95 convictions for abuse of a member of household. The 
law provides stricter sentences for violence directed toward members of 
the same household and allows for continued criminal prosecution even 
when a spouse drops charges. Domestic violence is punishable by two to 
12 years' imprisonment. Domestic violence often was underreported due 
to the social stigma associated with being a victim; crime statistics 
did not adequately reflect the extent of the problem.
    Under a national action plan to combat violence against women for 
2009-12, government ministries and local governments were tasked with 
increasing awareness about domestic violence through public media 
campaigns and training of health practitioners on identification of 
domestic violence victims.
    The law defines sexual harassment as unlawful discrimination. There 
were few statistics available to measure the frequency or severity of 
the problem. The National Center for Human Rights received 
approximately 18 reports of sexual harassment in the workplace in 2009. 
During the first nine months of the year, the center received seven 
reports of sexual harassment.
    The Government recognized the basic right of couples and 
individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and 
timing of their children. Contraception is widely available, however, 
the costs must be covered by the individual; they are not covered by 
the public health services. According to NGOs, the high cost of oral 
contraception in the country and the lack of public subsidization 
constitutes a significant barrier to access. According to the Ministry 
of Health, use of oral contraception is increasing (from 2 percent in 
1988 to 20.5 percent in 2005). According to the Population Reference 
Bureau (PRB), 66 percent of married women between the ages of 15 and 49 
use modern methods of contraception. Between the ages of 15 to18, women 
must have the approval of their parents and gynecologist to obtain a 
prescription for oral contraception; they must pay the costs privately.
    Child mortality rates were very low. According to the PRB, 100 
percent of births are attended by skilled attendants. The law on public 
health care coverage provides comprehensive reproductive health 
services for women. According to estimates compiled by international 
organizations, there were approximately six maternal deaths per 100,000 
live births in the country in 2008.
    Sexual education is offered at all levels of schools, and the 
Government's goal is to reduce unwanted youth pregnancies by 50 
percent. However, NGOs noted that the quality of sexual education is 
very low, and is not mandatory. The country has a low incidence of HIV/
AIDS infection and women and men are treated equally for sexually 
transmitted infections, including HIV.
    Women and men are equal under the law, including family law, 
property law, and in the judicial system; however, discrimination 
against women remained a problem in practice. Although women are 
legally protected from discrimination in the labor market, NGOs 
reported that many women had been dismissed from their jobs upon 
becoming pregnant. The equal opportunity office in the Ministry of 
Labor, Social Affairs, and Family worked in an advisory capacity to 
ensure the legal rights of women. The Council of the Slovak Republic 
for Gender Equality, established at the end of 2008, approved a 
National Gender Equality Strategy for 2009-13.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs reported that women's 2009 
wages were an average of 21 percent lower than those of men. According 
to outside experts and the Ministry of Labor, the reported wage 
differences were due to low participation of women in higher-paid 
management positions and large numbers of women working in low-paid 
occupations such as education, healthcare, social work, and light 
industry. The Ministry of Labor also noted that the wage gap was the 
result not of differences in base wages, but in bonuses which were 
provided in a less transparent manner.
    NGOs continued to advocate increased opportunities for the 
political participation of women, who were underrepresented in almost 
all spheres of public power. In 2008 women accounted for 6.2 percent of 
senior government officials, 20 percent of the National Council, and 
equally low numbers in regional authorities.

    Children.--Citizenship is acquired by birth to at least one citizen 
parent, regardless of where the child is born. Each domestic birth is 
recorded at the local vital statistics office. If the child is born in 
a foreign country, the foreign birth certificate must be notarized, 
translated, and recorded with a special vital records office 
administered by the Ministry of Interior.
    While education is universal, free through the postsecondary level 
and compulsory until the age of 15, Romani children exhibited a lower 
attendance rate than other children. Although Romani children comprised 
only 15 percent of the total number of children under the age of 16, 
they were disproportionately enrolled in ``special'' schools for 
children with mental disabilities, despite diagnostic scores that were 
often within the average range of intellectual capacity. In many 
special schools, the registered student body was nearly 100 percent 
Roma, according to NGO reports.
    The Government did not provide data on the percentage of these 
students who were from Romani households, as it does not collect ethnic 
data. In the 2009-10 school year, there were 24,920 students enrolled 
in special schools and 10,529 enrolled in special classes within 
regular schools. The Government reported that 36 percent of students in 
special schools were from socially disadvantaged, primarily Roma, 
households. According to a September 2010 report by Amnesty 
International, Romani children comprised 85 percent of the students in 
special schools. Regular schools in the same communities had very few 
Romani students, especially at the secondary school level. A special 
school education did not provide Romani children the knowledge or 
certification necessary to continue to higher education institutions.
    In September Amnesty International (AI) released an update to its 
2008 report on school segregation. In the 2008 report, AI featured the 
town of Pavlovce nad Uhom, where 99.5 percent of the special school 
students were Roma, some of whom previously functioned at an acceptable 
level in the mainstream elementary school prior to their transfer. AI 
also found that Romani parents were offered cultural and financial 
incentives regardless of the presence of a mental disability to send 
their children to what was locally known as the ``gypsy'' school. AI's 
investigation found that authorities lacked proper assessment 
procedures for enrolling students in special schools. Following 
publication of the 2008 report, the Government's School Inspection 
Service reportedly conducted an audit of 10 percent of all special 
schools to determine if proper enrollment procedures were followed; no 
irregularities were found. During the year AI found that, although the 
school's pupils were still 99.5 percent Romani, the overall enrollment 
of the school had dropped.
    In August the Government adopted a program calling for an end to 
segregation of Romani children in special schools. In 2008 the 
Government had passed a law that addressed some of the problems through 
reform and new programs, specifically eliminating motivational 
scholarships based on performance and replacing them with attendance-
based financial incentives. It also provided for the creation of ``zero 
year'' classes, which offer one year of state-funded prekindergarten 
education to children from socially disadvantaged families. During the 
2009-10 school year, 3,134 children participated in the ``zero year'' 
program, an increase of 25 percent over the previous year. NGO 
observers expressed the view that the program was a successful model 
but that it needed to be expanded further to be effective.
    Child abuse remained an underreported problem according to child 
advocates. The Government continued to increase training programs to 
reduce the instance of child abuse and implemented a publicity campaign 
to raise awareness of the issue. A number of children's foundations 
operated programs for abused or disabled children (or both).
    The Government's National Action Plan for Children for 2009-12, 
funded through the Government budget, focused on training of social 
workers and other professionals dealing with children, as well as 
public education campaigns against corporal punishment and sexual abuse 
of children.
    Child prostitution is prohibited; however, according to the UN, it 
remained a problem in Romani settlements with the worst living 
conditions. Most of the perpetrators were other Roma.
    According to the criminal code, 15 is the minimum age for 
consensual sex. Rape and sexual violence carry penalties of five to 25 
years' imprisonment, depending upon the injury or harm caused the 
victim and the motive.
    The production, distribution, or possession of child pornography is 
also a crime; the penalties for breaking the law range from two to 20 
years' imprisonment.
    As of June there were approximately 5,000 children in institutional 
care, the majority of whom were Roma. Of the 4,100 children in long-
term care, nearly 800 were with foster families, a proportion that had 
increased steadily over the previous decade. According to law, children 
under the age of three must be cared for by foster families rather than 
being placed in orphanages. For the remainder of children, orphanages 
served as long-term care facilities rather than short-term residences. 
Activists claimed that orphans had difficulty integrating into society 
at age 18 and faced an elevated risk of falling victim to trafficking. 
The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs operated small-group homes for 
young adults aging out of foster care.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--Jewish community leaders and 2001 census data 
estimated the size of the Jewish community at approximately 3,000 
persons.
    Organized neo-Nazi groups, estimated to have 500 active members and 
several thousand additional sympathizers, promoted anti-Semitism and 
harassed and attacked other minorities. Jewish community leaders 
expressed concern that some media coverage in the country exhibited 
anti-Semitic undertones.
    In November 2008 the cabinet approved a penal code amendment that 
would toughen penalties for extremist acts. President Gasparovic vetoed 
the amendment, stating that it did not sufficiently define extremism 
and extremist acts. NGOs also expressed concern that the amendment's 
ambiguity could be misinterpreted or misused to repress perceived 
enemies of government including NGOs or media. In June parliament 
overrode the veto, and the amendment took effect in September. The 
amendment provides penalties of two to six years' imprisonment for 
individuals convicted of membership in an extremist group and three to 
eight years' imprisonment for production of extremist materials.
    There were numerous reported acts of anti-Semitism. Police arrested 
individuals in Roznava, Nitra, Kolinany, Dolne Obdokovca, and other 
towns for painting swastikas on public buildings or propagating fascist 
ideology.
    In 2007 two young men were arrested and charged with defamation 
against an ethnic group; the men shouted Nazi slogans at the Bratislava 
rabbi and his son as they were leaving a synagogue. The case was 
pending trial at year's end.
    While direct denial of the Holocaust was uncommon, expressions of 
support for the World War II-era Slovak fascist state, which deported 
tens of thousands of Slovak Jews, Roma, and others to their deaths in 
German concentration camps, occurred during the year.
    In March approximately 250 persons gathered in front of the 
presidential palace in Bratislava to commemorate the 71st anniversary 
of the founding of the wartime fascist Slovak state in 1939 and pay 
respect to its president, Jozef Tiso, who was executed for treason 
after World War II. Immediately before the extremists commemorated 
Tiso, human rights activists organized a march to promote tolerance, 
also in front of the presidential palace.
    The Nation's Memory Institute (UPN) provided access to previously 
undisclosed records of the Slovak regimes from 1939-89, and in past 
years politicians such as the Slovak National Party Chairman Jan Slota 
made efforts to abolish it. In April 2009 parliament elected Arpad 
Tarnoczy, former chairman of the Union of Anti-Communist Resistance 
(ZPKO) and known for his pro-Tiso sentiments, to the UPN supervisory 
board. The ZPKO published a newsletter, Svedectvo (Testimony), that 
Jewish community officials criticized for advocating the wartime 
fascist state. Tarnoczy previously unveiled a monument to Jozef 
Kirchbaum, a leader of the war time fascist Hlinka Guard.
    The Ministry of Interior pursued violent extremist groups, and 
police monitored Web sites hosting hate speech and attempted to arrest 
or fine the authors. The Government also continued implementing its 
action plan to fight discrimination, racism, xenophobia, and anti-
Semitism. During the year the Government organized educational programs 
on minority and human rights issues. High school and university 
curricula promoted tolerance, and students could also compete in annual 
essay contests that focused on human rights issues.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or the 
provision of other state services. Persons with disabilities were able 
to vote and participate in civic affairs. In practice, however, experts 
reported that access to buildings and higher education remained a 
problem, and laws to provide assistance to students with disabilities 
have not been implemented with regard to school facilities or 
educational materials. There were reports that persons with severe 
physical disabilities received less than the minimum wage in some 
instances.
    NGOs reported limited resources for psychiatric care outside of 
Bratislava, a lack of community-based psychiatric care, and mechanisms 
to monitor human rights violations against persons with such 
disabilities. Psychiatric institutions and hospitals, which fall under 
the purview of the Ministry of Health, continued to use cage beds to 
restrain patients. The law prohibits both physical and nonphysical 
restraints in social care homes, managed by the Ministry of Labor, 
Social Affairs, and Family. Several NGOs conducted public education 
campaigns on mental illness and worked cooperatively with the health 
ministry.
    NGOs have operated a project on patient advocacy in selected 
psychiatric wards throughout The country since 2007. They have reported 
no complaints from patients regarding the use of cage beds in the 
facilities.
    A patient in a psychiatric facility in Pezinok was reportedly 
chained to his bed from February to July 2009. The Ministry of Health 
believed the physical restraint was lawful and necessary to protect 
facility staff, although several international NGOs expressed concern 
and dissatisfaction with this treatment.
    While the Government enacted legislation in 2007 requiring 
television stations to provide ``voiceover broadcasting'' for blind 
viewers, this provision has not been implemented by any Slovak 
broadcaster. While the law defines mandatory standards for access to 
buildings, NGOs noted that they had not been fully implemented, 
although access to privately owned buildings improved more rapidly than 
access to state buildings.
    The Council for Citizens with Disabilities, cochaired by the deputy 
prime minister and the minister of labor, social affairs, and family, 
served as a governmental advisory body regarding persons with 
disabilities. NGO representatives also participate in the council.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Government and societal 
discrimination against Roma and individuals of non-European ethnicity 
was a common problem. Roma were the second largest ethnic minority with 
a population of 90,000 according to the 2001 census. Experts estimated 
that the Romani population was actually between 350,000 and 500,000. 
The discrepancy was attributed to Roma identifying themselves as 
Hungarians or Slovaks.
    Racially motivated attacks on minorities (Roma and others) were 
widely reported throughout the year, but investigation of attacks and 
law enforcement varied by jurisdiction. During 2009 there were 24 
convictions for racially motivated violence. During the first half of 
the year, there were 14 convictions for racially motivated violence.
    Roma were particularly singled out for violence, and police 
detained numerous individuals for attacks against Roma motivated by 
racial hatred. There were also reports that police mistreated Roma. In 
March 2009 police officers in Kosice abused six Romani boys in 
detention (see section 1.c.).
    Skinhead and neo-Nazi violence against Roma and other minorities 
continued to be a serious problem. The League of Human Rights Activists 
(LPR) reported that although police were increasingly responsive in 
their efforts to monitor and control the skinhead movement, the problem 
persisted. The LPR also reported receiving e-mail and telephone threats 
from skinheads.
    Several non-Romani minorities as well as foreigners were also 
victims of racially motivated attacks.
    In June, four neo-Nazis attacked an African-American man on a tram 
in Bratislava. The police responded quickly and detained the attackers.
    Extreme right, nationalist, and neo-Nazi groups continued to hold 
events designed to intimidate minority groups. Dressed in uniforms 
similar to those of the Hlinka Guards (the fascist wartime militia), 
the groups' members held marches and rallies to commemorate the wartime 
fascist state and to spread messages of intolerance against ethnic and 
religious minorities.
    An alleged 2006 attack and subsequent perjury charges against 
Hedviga Malinova, an ethnic Hungarian university student in Nitra, 
continued to draw media attention. Two young men allegedly physically 
assaulted Malinova after hearing her speak Hungarian. The district 
prosecutor discontinued the investigation after two weeks, concluding 
that Malinova had lied. Amid media and NGO criticism, the 
Constitutional Court rejected Malinova's multiple appeals, and in 2007 
police formally charged Malinova with perjury. In September 2009 Peter 
Labas, the dean of the Comenius University Medical Faculty, issued a 
report stating that Malinova's injuries were self-inflicted; several 
doctors listed as expert witnesses on the report subsequently 
contradicted the evaluation and asked to have their names removed from 
it, casting doubts on the report's integrity. In November 2009 
Prosecutor General Dobroslav Trnka asked Labas to supplement the report 
with additional information to assuage doubts raised over its accuracy. 
In October 2010 the Human Rights Committee of parliament convened a 
hearing to question the prosecutor general about delays in the case 
that had already been pending for four years. Trnka responded that 
Labas' response was still incomplete; thus his office took no 
additional action on what Trnka referred to as a ``banal'' case during 
the year. The case remained pending at year's end.
    The Slovak National Center for Human Rights reported receiving 987 
complaints of discrimination from January to September; in 2009, the 
Center received 1,571 complaints. In most of these cases, the claims 
involved labor-related discrimination, especially concerning hiring 
processes. Other discrimination complaints concerned the provision of 
goods and services, social and health care, and education. One NGO 
criticized the length of time it took for the center to issue required 
legal opinions on claims of discrimination.
    Widespread discrimination against Roma continued in employment, 
education, health services, housing, and loan practices. Activists 
frequently alleged that employers refused to hire Roma, whose 
unemployment rate was estimated to be between 80 and 90 percent.
    A case of alleged employment discrimination involving two Romani 
women received widespread media attention during the year. The pair, 
sisters who had higher education degrees, had attempted to find work as 
teachers but were reportedly refused by numerous schools due to their 
ethnicity. In September at least in part because of this extensive 
coverage, the media reported the women had received employment offers 
at a private college.
    NGOs reported numerous cases of social discrimination against Roma 
during the year, including restaurants and other businesses refusing to 
serve Romani customers.
    Local authorities and groups forced evictions of Romani inhabitants 
or blocked them from obtaining construction permits or purchasing land. 
Many Romani settlements lacked normal infrastructure, access to clean 
water, and proper sewage systems.
    In August apartment owners in Michalovce built a 25-meter-long wall 
to connect with walls built earlier by the local municipality and which 
representatives claimed would be used for sports and to prevent noise. 
However, some criticized the wall as an attempt to divide local Roma 
from non-Roma. In September another wall was erected in Presov to 
separate the Stara Tehelna settlements inhabited by mostly Romani 
citizens from the area of the city inhabited primarily by non-Roma.
    The law prohibits defamation of nationalities in public discourse; 
however, authorities enforced this law only when other offenses, such 
as assault or destruction of property, were also committed. There were 
instances of public officials at every level defaming minorities and 
making derogatory comments about Roma. Inflammatory speech by 
government officials continued to increase tensions between ethnic 
Hungarians and ethnic Slovaks.
    In June 2009 parliament amended the State Language Act to allow the 
Government to impose fines on government institutions, civil servants, 
and legal persons who did not provide information required by law in 
Slovak. The amendment included a provision permitting the Ministry of 
Culture to levy fines of up to 5,000 euros (approximately $6,700) on 
institutions for noncompliance. Members of the ethnic-Hungarian 
minority criticized the amendment as discriminatory and a restriction 
on their right to free speech, which the culture minister defended as 
an effort to extend and promote the use of the Slovak language. In 
response to criticism, the new government made changing the law a 
priority, and parliament passed an amendment in December that 
drastically reduced the instances in which an institution can be fined.
    The Government made efforts to address violence and discrimination 
against Roma and other minorities, although some critics worried that 
judges lacked sufficient training in the relevant laws. The Government 
continued to implement its action plan against xenophobia and 
intolerance, which included a special police unit to monitor extremist 
activities. A commission consisting of NGOs, police, and government 
officials advised police on minority issues.
    In August the Government appointed Miroslav Pollak, a non-Roma with 
extensive NGO experience in social field work, the plenipotentiary for 
Romani affairs. His appointment drew criticism from some Romani NGOs. 
The Government made only limited progress on its national minority 
strategy, which incorporated a wide range of education, employment, 
housing, and social integration policy recommendations from the Romani 
advocacy community. While the Government allocated approximately 200 
million euros (approximately $268 million) of EU structural funds to 
projects that specifically addressed the needs of the Romani community, 
NGOs complained that none of the funds had been spent and that the 
Government lacked a comprehensive approach to Romani integration.
    The plenipotentiary maintained five regional offices to supervise 
the implementation of governmental policy on Romani issues, support 
infrastructure development, and cooperate with municipalities and 
villages to improve interaction between Roma and non-Roma. The Ministry 
of Labor, Social Affairs, and Family assigned specially trained social 
workers to Romani settlements to assist with government paperwork and 
to advocate the importance of education and preventive health care. The 
Ministry of Health trained Romani-speaking health care assistants to 
improve the community's access to health services.
    During the year the Government had a national antidiscrimination 
plan. The office of the deputy prime minister for human rights served 
as the secretariat for the Council of National Minorities and the 
Government Council for NGOs.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--According to gay rights 
advocates, prejudice and official and societal discrimination 
persisted, although no official cases were available for citation.
    On May 22, there was a well-attended gay pride parade in 
Bratislava, which was in part supported by the international community. 
Shortly after the event began, a group of approximately 50 skinheads 
marched to within 20 feet of where introductory speeches were 
occurring. The neo-Nazis chanted slogans and tossed a smoke bomb into 
the crowd near a group of foreign dignitaries. In response, parade 
organizers altered the route. In the press scrutiny that followed, 
Interior Minister Robert Kalinak attributed the problems with the pride 
parade to its organizers, who ``failed to provide appropriate 
protection against extremists, ``such as by hiring their own private 
security guards.'' The only thing the organizers achieved, Kalinak 
asserted, was good advertising for neo-Nazis. The organizers refuted 
the assertion, noting they had discussed security with the police 
months in advance.
    Officials at times expressed discriminatory views. In December 2009 
Jan Slota, the chairman of the Slovak National Party and then governing 
coalition member, stated: ``We're strictly against any promotion of 
these sick (referring to same-sex) relationships. when I see those 
transvestites having their parades, strutting down the street naked and 
presenting this as a fashion.I consider this to be outrageous and 
sick.''
    Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons organizations 
existed and operated without impediments and lobbied for legal rights.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides workers with the 
right to form and join independent unions of their choice except in the 
armed forces, and workers exercised this right in practice. Labor 
unions estimated that 17 percent of the work force was unionized; 
business associations believed the actual figure was less than 10 
percent. The law provides unions the right to strike with advance 
notice 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. The law prohibits dismissing workers legally 
participating in strikes; however, strikers were not ensured protection 
if a strike was considered illegal or unofficial. Civil servants in 
essential services and members of the military may not strike.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for unions to conduct their activities without interference, 
and the Government generally protected this right in practice. The law 
provides for the right to organize and bargain collectively, and 
workers exercised these rights in practice.
    According to an Employment Ministry survey conducted in 2008, 24.47 
percent of all employees were organized in unions.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
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. For more information, see the 
Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/g/tip.
    Police have responsibility for investigating forced labor and 
trafficking.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law provides for the protection of children from exploitation in the 
workplace; however, there were reports that Romani children in some 
settlements were exploited for commercial sex. NGOs reported that most 
Romani victims, including children with disabilities, were exploited by 
family members or other Roma.
    The minimum age for employment is 15, although children under that 
age may perform light work in cultural or artistic performances, sports 
events, or advertising activities if it does not affect their health, 
safety, or schooling. The National Labor Inspectorate and Public Health 
Office must approve, determine the maximum hours for, and set 
conditions for child labor under the age of 15. Children younger than 
16 may not work more than 30 hours per week; children who are 16 and 17 
are limited to 37.5 hours per week. Children under the age of 18 are 
not allowed to work underground, work overtime, or perform work that is 
inappropriate for their age or health.
    District inspection units received and investigated child labor 
complaints. If a unit determined that a child labor law or regulation 
had been broken, it turned the case over to the national inspection 
unit of the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, and Family. Enforcement 
was consistent across all communities.
    Child labor in the form of begging was a problem in some 
communities; there were also isolated reports of children forced into 
prostitution, often by family members.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage, of 307.7 euros 
($ 412) per month, provided a decent standard of living for a worker 
and family in rural areas of the country, but not in urban areas.
    The law mandates a maximum workweek of 48 hours including overtime, 
with 30-minute breaks after six hours of work or after four hours for 
employees younger than 18, and rest periods of at least 12 hours 
between shifts. Trade unions, local employment offices, and the 
Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, and Family monitored observance of 
these laws, and authorities effectively enforced them.
    The law establishes health and safety standards that the office of 
labor safety generally enforced. Workers have the right to refuse to 
work in situations that endanger their health and safety and may file 
complaints against employers in such situations. In August, 20 miners 
died in an underground explosion in Handlova; a methane gas explosion 
caused the disaster. The leadership of the mines remained unchanged, 
and three separate teams, one from the district mining authority in 
Prievidza, the second from the economy ministry and the third from the 
police, had not released the results of their investigations by year's 
end.
    Workers have the right to refuse work that endangers their life or 
health without risking the loss of their employment, and they exercised 
this right in practice. Employees who work under conditions that 
endanger their health and safety are entitled to ``relaxation'' leave 
in addition to standard leave.

                               __________

                                SLOVENIA

    Slovenia is a parliamentary democracy and constitutional republic 
with a population of approximately two million. 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 10, the country held free and fair multiparty local elections. 
Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    There were reports of trial delays and cursory procedures for 
review of asylum applications. Societal violence against women, 
trafficking in women and girls, discrimination against Roma, violence 
against gays and lesbians, and discrimination against former Yugoslav 
residents without legal status were also 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 that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices, and 
there were no reports that government officials employed them.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions 
generally met international standards. The Government permitted 
independent human rights observers to perform monitoring visits, and 
such visits occurred monthly during the year.
    The total number of prisoners as of November was 1,336, of whom 943 
were convicted persons and 344 were detainees. There were 59 female and 
12 juvenile prisoners.
    Out of the 13 prisons in the country, only four have a capacity for 
holding more than 100 inmates. New facilities at Dob Prison increased 
its capacity by 174 places. The country has also adopted a ``weekend 
prison'' program for convicted persons serving sentences of up to three 
years, who are not convicted of sexual offenses, and who maintain 
regular employment during the week. No abuses of the weekend prison 
system were reported during the year.
    The ombudsman reported that prison overcrowding was most severe at 
Dob Prison (at 175 percent of its capacity) but that the new facility 
relieved this problem. The second-most overcrowded facility is 
Ljubljana Prison, which held 240 inmates while having a capacity for 
128.
    In July the ombudsman investigated a complaint that an inmate in 
Maribor prison filed about the use of force against him. The ombudsman 
concluded that unnecessary force had resulted in minor injuries to the 
prisoner.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. Authorities permitted prisoners and 
detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities without 
censorship and to request investigation of credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions. Authorities investigated credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions and documented the results of such investigations 
in a publicly accessible manner. The Government investigated and 
monitored prison and detention center conditions.
    There is an ombudsman who can serve on behalf of prisoners and 
detainees to consider such matters as alternatives to incarceration for 
nonviolent offenders to alleviate overcrowding, address the status and 
circumstances of confinement of juvenile offenders, and improve 
pretrial detention, bail, and recordkeeping procedures to ensure that 
prisoners do not serve beyond the maximum sentence for the offense with 
which they were charged.
    The Government permitted local and international human rights 
groups, the media, or the International Committee of the Red Cross to 
monitor prison conditions independently. No such monitoring occurred 
during the year.
    During the year the Government continued work to increase the 
capacity of a prison located in Dob, which during the year held 496 
inmates, 183 more than its capacity.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Police are centrally 
organized under the supervision of the Ministry of Interior. The 
ministry oversees the drafting of basic guidelines, security policy, 
and regulations governing the work of the police. It monitors police 
performance, with an emphasis on protecting human rights and 
fundamental freedoms. The police provided effective law enforcement.
    The law provides for a three-person government committee that 
includes two representatives of civil society organizations to review 
allegations of police abuse. The committee does not have authority to 
conduct independent investigations, and it relies on information that 
the Ministry of Interior or police investigators provided. The 
committee usually forwarded its findings to the State Prosecutor's 
Office.
    As of September the police internal investigation division 
investigated 55 allegations of police, prosecutorial, and judicial 
misconduct.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Police 
generally apprehended persons taken into custody openly with warrants 
that either a prosecutor or judge issued. Authorities can detain 
persons for 48 hours before charging them. Authorities must also advise 
detainees in writing within 48 hours of the reasons for their arrest. 
Upon arrest, detainees have the right to contact legal counsel of their 
choice, and authorities generally respected this right in practice. The 
Government provided indigent detainees with free counsel and generally 
allowed them prompt access to family members. The law also provides 
safeguards against self-incrimination.
    Once authorities charge a suspect, pretrial detention may last for 
up to four months, depending on the severity of the alleged criminal 
act. An investigative judge must certify the charges. Once trial 
procedures have begun, authorities may extend the total period of 
detention for up to two years. Authorities must release persons 
detained more than two years while awaiting trial or while their trial 
is ongoing pending conclusion of their trial. Lengthy pretrial 
detention was not a widespread problem, and authorities generally 
released defendants on bail except in the most serious criminal cases.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected 
judicial independence in practice. The law provides the right to a 
trial without undue delay; however court backlogs continued at times to 
result in lengthy trial delays. As of June, there was a backlog of 
266,221 cases. The Government's ``Lukenda'' project continued to boost 
the efficiency of the judiciary, reducing court backlogs and lowering 
the average processing time from 14.1 months to 6.1 months. The 
Government extended the Lukenda project until 2012.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution and law provide for the right 
to a fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this 
right. The judicial system was overburdened and lacked administrative 
support; resulting in frequent delays in the judicial process. In many 
cases ongoing criminal trials took from two to five years.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Courts Decisions.--On July 13, the European 
Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued a judgment that found against the 
country for one violation of Article 8 (right to a private and family 
life) and one violation of Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) of 
the European Convention on Human Rights. The decision in the case of 
Kuric v. Slovenia concerned the applicants' complaint that authorities 
prevented them from the possibility of acquiring Slovenian citizenship, 
and/or from preserving their status as permanent residents, as a result 
of which they have faced almost 20 years of extreme hardship. The 
applicants belonged to a group of citizens of the former Yugoslavia 
whose permanent residency status in Slovenia was erased in 1992. The 
ECHR concluded that it was necessary to legislate and regulate 
adequately the situation of the individual applicants by issuing them 
with retroactive permanent residence permits.
    These individuals, the ``erased,'' began acquiring Slovenian 
permanent residency. The erased were frequently identified as stateless 
persons who lacked citizenship; however, most of the erased always had 
citizenship, but lacked permanent residency.
    During the year the parliament adopted the Law on Settling the 
status of citizens of other countries, successor states of the former 
Yugoslavia in the Republic of Slovenia, on the basis of which the 
Ministry of Interior began issuing decrees on recognition of the status 
of permanent residency to persons whose status was erased in 1992. 
During the year the ministry issued decrees to several dozen 
individuals.
    In 2009 the ECHR issued seven judgments that found at least one 
violation of the European convention by the state.
    The Government complied with ECHR judgments from 2009 during the 
year. All of them were related to the period in Slovenia before the 
adoption of the Act Regulating the Protection of the Right to a Fair 
Trial without Undue Delay (in 2006).

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The constitution and law 
provide for an independent and impartial judiciary in civil matters, 
including damages for, or cessation of, human rights. As with criminal 
matters, court backlogs sometimes resulted in lengthy or delayed 
trials.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and 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 and law provide 
for freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally 
respected these rights in practice. Reports of indirect government 
influence on the media decreased during the year.
    The penal code criminalizes the promotion of ``national, race, or 
religious discord or intolerance or the promotion of superiority of one 
race over others.'' There were no reports that authorities charged any 
individuals or publications under this provision during the year.
    Individuals could criticize the Government publicly or privately 
without reprisal, and the Government did not attempt to impede 
criticism.
    The independent media were active and expressed a variety of views, 
and international media operated freely. Private investment and 
advertising supported the major print media; however, the Government 
owned substantial stock in many companies that were shareholders in the 
major media houses.
    The Government operated a ``media pluralization'' fund intended to 
ensure that media reflected a diversity of viewpoints. The Commission 
for Pluralization of Media (under the Ministry of Culture) publishes 
tenders for co-financing different media projects through the Fund for 
Pluralization.
    The law provides criminal penalties for defamation that harms a 
person's honor or name; there were no reports of any prosecutions for 
defamation during the year. In March there was one conviction issued by 
the Court of Ljubljana for defamation and the penalty was a fine of 
5,000 euros ($6,700). During the year the police investigated several 
cases of suspicion of defamation.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by electronic 
mail. Internet access was widely available. According to International 
Telecommunication Union statistics for 2009, approximately 65 percent 
of the country's inhabitants used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
and law provide for freedom of assembly and association, and the 
Government generally respected these rights in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the Government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees.
    Border police who apprehend persons who then seek asylum have the 
duty to process applications and transfer the person to an asylum home. 
There were some reports during the year that border police refused to 
perform this task.
    The law permits asylum seekers to change their asylum applications 
if there are considerable changes in their circumstances; however, as 
of year's end, this provision had not been implemented.
    The law provides asylum seekers with the right to appeal decisions 
on their applications, but authorities did not inform many asylum 
seekers of this right.
    To expedite asylum cases and terminate quickly those asylum cases 
that applicants themselves abandon, asylum seekers must sign a 
statement renouncing their asylum claim during the 24 hours when they 
are in the ``pre-reception'' area of the asylum home, awaiting the 
filing of their asylum application. This precautionary document is only 
to allow officials to close cases when asylum seekers do not pursue 
their asylum claims--claims that would otherwise create a backlog of 
paperwork and procedure to close down. This precaution is not part of 
asylum law, but has been observed in practice by the Peace Institute of 
Ljubljana, which specializes in asylum cases.
    If asylum seekers leave the pre-reception area before the 
application is filed, they are not considered asylum seekers and can be 
deported or detained in the Aliens Center. After an asylum application 
is filed, asylum seekers are free to go, but are expected to return to 
the asylum home every evening. If they are absent for more than three 
days, their asylum claim is deemed withdrawn, and the authorities 
consider the asylum seeker to have left Slovenia. If the claimant 
returns to the asylum home after the three-day period, his/her status 
changes to that of a nonresident alien, and he/she is subject to 
deportation.
    Amnesty International (AI) and the UNHCR expressed concern that the 
law provides for accelerated asylum procedures with few safeguards and 
that its exclusion clauses and broad detention powers could lower the 
country's asylum standards.
    There are no policies or laws that deny asylum based on country of 
origin.
    In practice the Government provided some protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion.
    During the year the Government did not provide temporary protection 
to persons who did not qualify as refugees.

    Stateless Persons.--Citizenship is derived from the parents with 
certain limitations when the child is born outside Slovenian territory. 
Naturalization is also possible. There were no reports of problems with 
immediate birth registration.
    According to UNHCR data, there were 4,090 stateless persons in the 
country at the end of 2009. However, this number consisted entirely of 
nonethnic Slovenes (Bosnians, Croatians, Macedonians, Montenegrins, and 
Serbs), who were Yugoslav citizens living in the country at the time of 
its independence from Yugoslavia and whose residency status in Slovenia 
was ``erased'' in 1992 after they failed to apply for residency bythe 
administrative deadline. Since they or their parents were born in other 
former Yugoslav republics, the Government considered most of these 
``erased'' persons to be citizens of other countries rather than 
stateless. As ``illegal aliens,'' the Government annulled their 
identity documents, and they had no rights to education, health care, 
housing, work permits, pensions, or other government benefits and 
programs.
    In the second half of the year, the Government began retroactively 
recognizing the residency status of the ``erased'' inhabitants of 
Slovenia on the basis of the Law on Settling of the Status of Citizens 
of Other Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Successor States. The 
Government determined that ``erased'' persons who had left the country 
or were expelled while their status was undecided had forfeited their 
ability to prove continued ties to Slovenia and thus their ability to 
establish residency under the law. The law does not address the 
citizenship status of the ``erased.''
    There were no reports of violence or discrimination against 
stateless persons.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide 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 and Political Participation.--On October 10, the country 
held free and fair local elections.
    Political parties operated without restriction or outside 
interference.
    There were 12 women in the 90-seat National Assembly and one woman 
in the 40-seat National Council. There were five women in the 18-member 
cabinet.
    There were two members of minority groups in the National Assembly 
and none in the National Council or in the cabinet. The constitution 
provides the indigenous Italian and Hungarian minorities the right, as 
communities, to have at least one representative in the National 
Assembly. However, the law does not provide such rights to any other 
minority group.
    Twenty distinct Romani communities, each designated indigenous at 
the local level, are entitled to a seat on their local municipal 
council. After four years of noncompliance, in January, Grosuplje 
became the final municipality in the country to comply with the law, 
electing a Roma to the city council.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government generally implemented these laws effectively; however, 
officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices.
    The public perceived corruption to be a widespread problem. Only 
the highest-level government officials--approximately 5,000 of the 
country's 80,000 public employees--were subject to financial disclosure 
laws. During the year the Independent Commission for the Prevention of 
Corruption received 1,271 cases of suspected corruption and found 266 
out of the 824 cases they reviewed during the year to be credible (some 
of the 824 will likely have been cases from earlier years).
    At year's end the investigation continued of several officials, 
including former prime minister Janez Jansa, former minister of defense 
Karl Erjavec, former chief of the military staff Albin Gutman, and 
private individuals in Finland and Slovenia for corruption related to 
the 2007 Ministry of Defense purchase of armored vehicles from a 
Finnish defense contractor.
    The commission played an active role in educating the public and 
civil servants about corruption; however, it claimed it had neither 
adequate staff nor funding to fulfill its mandate and assess all cases 
of suspected corruption that it received during the year. Over the past 
year the commission forwarded 211suspected cases of corruption to 
police and 38 to prosecutors and 79 cases to other state institutions, 
including cases received in 2009 but not processed until during the 
year.
    During the year the Independent Commission for the Prevention of 
Corruption referred five credible reports of police corruption or 
corruption-related criminal acts to police and the state prosecutor for 
further investigation. Three of them were found to be without 
sufficient grounds, one was forwarded to the Supreme State Prosecutor, 
and one remained under investigation by police. There were allegations 
of prosecutorial corruption relating to the investigation into bribery 
in an arms procurement case.
    The law provides for free public access to all government 
information, and the Government provided access for citizens and 
noncitizens alike, including foreign media. The Government may deny 
public access only to classified information, personal data protected 
by privacy laws, and other narrowly defined exceptions.
    The Office of the Government Information Commissioner reported an 
increase in complaints that state institutions were unresponsive. 
During the year the office received 231 complaints against decisions of 
state institutions and 360 complaints under the Law on Access to Public 
Information.
Section 5. 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 constitution provides for an independent human rights ombudsman 
to monitor violations of human rights, especially when perpetrated by 
persons in positions of public authority. The ombudsman prepares an 
annual report on the human rights situation and provides the Government 
with recommendations. Individuals can file complaints with the 
ombudsman as a means of seeking nonjudicial aid in the case of a human 
rights violation. In July the ombudsman presented the 2009 report to 
the president and prime minister.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit discrimination based on race, 
gender, disability, language, or social status, and the Government 
generally enforced these prohibitions effectively.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is illegal. During the year 
SOS Helpline, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) that provided 
anonymous emergency counseling and services to domestic violence 
victims, estimated that one in seven women was raped during her 
lifetime but that only 5 percent sought assistance or counseling. In 
particular, victims rarely reported spousal rape to authorities. Police 
actively investigated reports of rape and prosecuted offenders. The 
penalty for rape was one to 10 years in prison. There were 35 reported 
criminal acts of rape in the first half of the year, 40 reported 
criminal acts of sexual violence, 14 reported criminal acts of sexual 
abuse of the weak, and 149 criminal acts of sexual attack on a minor 
under the age of 15.
    Although no accurate statistics were available, violence against 
women, including spousal abuse, occurred and was generally 
underreported. In the first half of the year, the police processed 
3,422 cases of criminal acts against a spouse, a family member, and 
children (170 cases of kidnapping of minors, 1,337 cases of domestic 
violence, and 390 cases of parental negligence and child abuse). Police 
reported an increase in criminal acts of domestic violence, parental 
negligence, and child abuse, mainly due to changes in the law and 
improved expertise in responsible institutions. There were no laws 
specifically prohibiting domestic violence, however, and authorities 
prosecuted the crime using assault statutes, which provide for 
penalties of up to 10 years' imprisonment in the case of aggravated and 
grievous bodily harm.
    SOS Helpline estimated that 25 percent of women had experienced 
domestic violence. The NGOs SOS Helpline and Kljuc provided support 
hotlines, and SOS Helpline reported receiving 3,417 calls during the 
year. The Government fully funded eight crisis centers for children and 
adolescents with a total of 68 beds, with one of those centers 
specializing in children who were six years old or less. The Government 
also partially funded 29 shelters, safe houses, and maternity homes 
that offered 397 beds. Shelters, safe houses, and crisis centers 
specifically for women and children provided 258 beds in 19 locations, 
and maternity homes provided 139 beds in 10 locations. The Government 
worked with NGOs on domestic violence cases, including providing 
shelters and social work centers. When police received reports of 
spousal abuse or violence, they generally intervened and prosecuted 
offenders. The police academy offered training on domestic violence.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment in the entire workforce; 
however, it remained a widespread problem. Until the end of September, 
16 criminal acts of sexual harassment were reported.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children. They 
also have the information and means to do so free from discrimination, 
coercion, and violence. There was access at no cost to contraception 
and to skilled attendance during childbirth, including essential 
obstetric and postpartum care. The UN Population Fund estimated the 
2008 maternal mortality rate at 18 deaths per 100,000 live births. 
Women were equally diagnosed and treated for sexually transmitted 
infections, including HIV.
    The law provides for equal rights for women, and there is no 
official discrimination against women in family law, property law, or 
the judicial system. The Office of Equal Opportunities protected the 
legal rights of women. While the average length of unemployment was the 
same for men and women, women frequently held lower paying jobs. 
Women's earnings averaged 93 percent of those of men.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from the parents with certain 
limitations. A child is granted Republic of Slovenia citizenship by 
birth provided that, upon birth, the child's mother and father are 
Slovenian citizens, upon birth, one of the child's parents is a 
Slovenian citizen and the child is born on the territory of the 
Republic of Slovenia, or upon birth, one of the child's parents is a 
Slovenian citizen while the other parent is unknown and/or of unknown 
citizenship, and the child is born in a foreign country. Naturalization 
is also possible. There were no reports of problems with immediate 
birth registration.
    While education for children is compulsory through grade nine, 
school attendance and completion rates by Romani children remained low. 
Poverty, discrimination, lack of parental and familial permission or 
support, and language problems continued to be the main barriers to the 
participation of Romani children in education programs. AI reported 
that the Romani literacy rate was 10 percent. A number of Roma reported 
that their children attended segregated classes and that authorities 
selected them in disproportionate numbers to attend classes for 
students with special needs. The European Social Fund, working through 
the Ministry of Education, continued a program to fund 26 Romani 
educators to work with teachers and parents.
    During the year the Government implemented a bilingual primary 
school curriculum for Romani children developed in 2008. The Government 
continued funding efforts to codify the Romani language.
    Child abuse was a problem. During the year 201 criminal acts of 
sexual abuse of a child under the age of 15 were reported to 
authorities.
    Child marriage occurred within the Romani community; however, it 
was not a widespread problem.
    Trafficking in children, mainly teenage girls transiting the 
country, was a problem. The law provides special protection for 
children from exploitation and mistreatment, and the Government 
generally enforced the law in practice.
    The law penalizes the possession, sale, purchase, or propagation of 
child pornography. The law criminalizes statutory rape with a sentence 
of six months to five years, and sets the minimum age of consent for 
sexual relations at 15. If the victim is determined to be especially 
vulnerable, the sentence is set at a minimum of three years with no 
maximum. If the perpetrator is a teacher, the penalty is from one to 
eight years in prison.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There are approximately 300 Jews in the country. 
Jewish community representatives reported some prejudice, ignorance, 
and false stereotypes of Jews propagated within society, largely 
through public discourse. There were no reports of anti-Semitic 
violence or overt discrimination.
    The Government promoted antibias and tolerance education in the 
primary and secondary schools, and the Holocaust is a mandatory topic 
in the contemporary history curriculum. On January 27, Prime Minister 
Pahor attended ``Shoah-We Remember,'' a memorial held in the country's 
only synagogue, which is located in Maribor. On September 5, the Jewish 
community, with the support of local government officials, held the 
fifth annual European Day of Jewish Culture festival. President Turk 
was the honorary patron for the celebrations held in Ljubljana, 
Maribor, and Lendava.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or the 
provision of other government services, and the Government generally 
enforced these provisions in practice. The law mandates access to 
buildings for persons with disabilities. The Government implemented 
laws and programs to ensure that persons with disabilities have access 
to buildings, information, and communications, but modification of 
public and private structures to improve access continued at a slow 
pace, and many buildings were not accessible in practice. The Ministry 
of Labor, Family, and Social Affairs has primary responsibility for 
protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The law provides special rights 
and protections to indigenous Italian and Hungarian minorities, 
including the right to use their own national symbols and access to 
bilingual education. Each minority has the right for each to be 
represented as a community in parliament. Other minorities do not have 
comparable special rights and protections.
    The Government considered ethnic Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Kosovo 
Albanians, and Roma from Kosovo and Albania to be ``new'' minorities, 
and the special constitutional provisions for ``autochthonous'' 
(indigenous) minorities did not apply to them. The new minorities faced 
varying degrees of governmental and societal discrimination with 
respect to employment, housing, and education.
    Many Roma lived apart from other communities in settlements that 
lacked such basic utilities as electricity, running water, sanitation, 
and access to transportation. According to Roma Association officials, 
68 percent of Romani settlements were illegal. Organizations monitoring 
conditions in the Romani community have noted in recent years that Roma 
exclusion from the housing market was a problem and that the 
unemployment rate among Roma reached 98 percent, and that illiteracy 
rates among Roma remain at 90 percent.
    In March the Government enacted a five-year national program of 
measures to improve educational opportunities, employment, and housing 
for the Roma. NGOs and community group representatives reported some 
prejudice, ignorance, and false stereotypes of Roma propagated within 
society, largely through public discourse. AI and the Roma Council 
reported that public school officials in Novo Mesto required Romani 
students to shower, using school facilities before classes, subjecting 
them to ridicule and humiliation.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law prohibits 
discrimination based on sexual orientation; however, societal 
discrimination was widespread, and isolated cases of violence against 
homosexual persons occurred. Recent data on the problem's scope was not 
available. The NGO Society for the Integration of Homosexuals also 
reported that the police did not specify whether crimes were directed 
at homosexual persons, so hate crime data was unavailable.
    On July 3, the 10th annual gay pride parade in Ljubljana took place 
with the support of local government officials, although there were 
reports that bystanders shouted homophobic slurs at participants and 
antigay graffiti and stickers were seen in various locations around the 
city. Organizers reported satisfactory police presence during the 
parade. One individual was assaulted prior to last year's gay pride 
parade, and in March three individuals were sentenced to 18 months in 
prison for the attack. At that sentencing, about 100 people in black 
masks gathered in front of the Ljubljana District Court to protest the 
``excessive punishment'' of the attackers. The victim of the assault 
stated that the protesters were not friends of the accused, but rather 
associates of the extreme right.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of societal violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. 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 this right in practice.
    All workers, including police and military personnel, are eligible 
to form and join labor organizations. Approximately 30 percent of the 
workforce was unionized.
    The law provides for the right to strike without government 
interference, and workers exercised this right in practice. The law 
prohibits retaliation against strikers, and the Government effectively 
enforced this provision in practice.
    The law restricts the right of some public sector employees to 
strike, primarily the police and members of the military services, and 
provides for arbitration to ensure due process and protection of these 
workers' rights.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows 
unions and workers 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. Both general collective bargaining agreements 
and collective bargaining agreements that focused on a specific 
business segment covered all workers.
    There were few reports of antiunion discrimination. During the year 
workers from the company Salonit Anhovo who became disabled from on-
the-job contact with asbestos established a union, and the company 
immediately fired the union's first president, Stojko Simcic.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
the country's eight export economic zones and the one free customs zone 
at the port of Koper.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor; however, there were reports that such 
practices occurred. Women were trafficked for forced prostitution. 
Please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There are laws to protect children from exploitation in the workplace; 
the Government effectively enforced these laws.
    The minimum age for employment is 15; however, younger rural 
children often worked during the harvest season and performed other 
farm chores. The law limits working hours and sets occupational health 
and safety standards for children; the Government effectively enforced 
these provisions in practice. Urban employers generally respected the 
age limits.
    The Ministry of Labor, Family, and Social Affairs is responsible 
for monitoring labor practices and has inspection authority; police are 
responsible for investigating violations of the law. Enforcement 
practices were generally effective.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national monthly gross 
minimum wage of approximately 734 euros ($984) provided a decent 
standard of living for a worker and family. From September 27 to 
October 13, public employees, including police, held a strike to 
protest the salary freeze that the Government introduced.
    The law limits the workweek to 40 hours and provides for minimum 
annual leave of 20 days and a mandatory rest period of at least one day 
per week. Collective agreements regulated premium pay for overtime and 
were not standardized. The law limits maximum overtime to eight hours 
per week, 20 hours per month, and 170 hours per year. The Ministry of 
Labor, Family, and Social Affairs is responsible for monitoring labor 
practices and has inspection authority; police are responsible for 
investigating violations of the law. Authorities enforced the laws 
effectively, except in some cases involving migrant workers.
    According to a complaint filed by the Association of Free Trade 
Unions of Slovenia (AFTUS) with the International Labor Organization 
(ILO) Committee of Experts, migrant workers were often orally notified 
to perform forced and excessive overtime in violation of labor law 
provisions limiting overtime and specifying methods to formally request 
it. The AFTUS also noted that foreign nationals in the country on 
employment permits were made more vulnerable to exploitation in terms 
of overtime, wages, rest periods, and annual leave by virtue of being 
tied to the employer who provided the permit.
    According to the ILO's 2010 Report, inspectors also found numerous 
violations of the law with respect to migrant workers, especially in 
the construction industry, which employed approximately 50 percent of 
such workers. These workers came primarily from Bosnia and Herzegovina, 
Serbia, and Montenegro. Violations included the practice of employers' 
illegally trading foreign workers who were in the country on the basis 
of employment permits. The ILO and AFTUS also raised concerns that some 
migrant workers, especially seasonal laborers, lived in substandard 
housing conditions segregated from the national population and lacking 
minimum standards, in violation of the 2007 Principle of Equal 
Treatment Act.
    The law requires employers to provide social security payments for 
all workers. The Legal Aid Society reported that employers of migrant 
workers sometimes did not deduct social security from paychecks, 
leaving unknowing workers without a future pension or access to social 
services.
    Special commissions under the Ministry of Health and the Ministry 
of Labor, Family, and Social Affairs set standards for occupational 
health and safety for all workers. The ministry's Inspector General 
Department conducted more than 18,053 inspections in 2009, with 9,690 
enforcement actions, including fines, prosecutions, and resolution of 
conditions resulting from those inspections. Workers had the legal 
right to remove themselves from dangerous work situations without 
jeopardy to their continued employment, and authorities effectively 
enforced this right.

                               __________

                                 SPAIN

    The Kingdom of Spain, with a population of approximately 47 
million, is a parliamentary democracy headed by a constitutional 
monarch. The country has a bicameral parliament: the General Courts or 
National Assembly, consisting of the Congress of Deputies (lower 
house), and the Senate (upper house). The head of the largest political 
party or coalition was usually named to head the Government as 
president of the Council of Ministers, the equivalent of a prime 
minister. The national election held in 2008 was free and fair. The 
Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) won the multiparty election, and 
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was reelected president. Security forces 
reported to civilian authorities.
    There were some reports that security forces abused suspects and 
mistreated migrant children in detention centers. Prisons were 
overcrowded, and authorities delayed legal assistance and the 
arraignment of arrested persons before a judge. Government corruption 
occurred, particularly at the provincial and municipal levels. Domestic 
violence, trafficking in persons, and societal discrimination against 
Muslim groups were reported. Jewish groups reported isolated acts of 
vandalism and anti-Semitism, and there were incidents of societal 
violence against other minorities.
                        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 arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.
    On March 16, the Basque separatist terrorist group ETA killed one 
person in an attack in a small town outside Paris, France. During the 
year authorities arrested 58 ETA members as well as seven persons 
allegedly involved in ETA's street violence campaign. In addition, 22 
members were arrested in France and eight in other countries. The 
Office of the General Prosecutor reported that during 2009 there were 
49 trials of persons directly or indirectly related to ETA. Courts 
handed down 49 sentences that affected 113 persons, 86 of whom were 
convicted and 27 acquitted.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and laws prohibit such practices, and the 
Government generally respected this prohibition; however, there were 
reports of police mistreatment and impunity.
    The Coordinator for the Prevention of Torture (a group of Spanish 
human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), universities, and 
bar associations) reported that in 2009 there were 242 reports of 
torture or mistreatment involving 624 complainants, up from 520 
complainants in 2008. According to the group, 64 of the complaints 
involved cases against local police authorities; 43 against the 
national Guardia Civil; 197 against the national police authorities; 
190 against the Catalonia local police, the Mossos d'Esquadra; 46 
against the Ertzaintza (Basque authorities); and 65 against prison 
staff. The autonomous regions with the highest number of complaints 
were Catalonia (215), Basque Country (104), Madrid (103), Andaluc!a 
(81), Galicia (47), and Valencia (34). The number of reports involving 
the Mossos d'Esquadra increased from 45 in 2008 to 190 in 2009.The 
majority of these complaints were related to student demonstrations in 
Barcelona in May 2009, when police clashed with students and others 
over plans to increase tuition and enact new higher education 
legislation. The 215 complaints in Catalonia relate to 36 cases.
    In February 2009 the Prosecutors' Office initiated an investigation 
into allegations of mistreatment brought by 85 persons detained in 
Madrid's internment center for foreigners. The detainees complained 
that authorities forced them to undress, beat them, and threatened 
them. They also claimed that the food served contained sedatives. A 
Ministry of Interior spokesman rejected the accusation, stating that 
international institutions that had inspected the facilities (including 
a delegation of the European Parliament) had approved of the living 
conditions.
    There were new developments in the case of 15 members of the 
Guardia Civil accused of torturing ETA members Igor Portu Juanean and 
Martin Sarasola Yarzabal during their arrest in 2008. On December 30, 
the San Sebastian Court sentenced four of the Civil Guards--Sargent 
Juan Jesus Casas, Corporal Jose Manuel Escamilla, Corporal Sergio 
Martinez, and agent Sergio Garcia--to a total of 11 years in prison 
between them and prohibited them from serving in a public position for 
40 years. The court acquitted the other 11 defendants. The court 
ordered the Civil Guard to pay 18,000 euros (approximately $24,120) in 
compensation to Portu and 6,000 euros ($8,040) to Sarasola.
    On July 26, the Supreme Court annulled the original sentence 
against four Catalan police officers who allegedly assaulted a detainee 
in 2007. In 2009 the Barcelona court found that the officers had not 
mistreated the complainant or perjured themselves, as the prosecutor 
claimed, but did find them guilty of using excessive force. Three of 
the officers were fined 600 euros each (approximately $800) and ordered 
to compensate the complainant 1,610 euros ($2,160). The Supreme Court 
accepted the appeal by the Proscecutor's Office and issued a new 
sentence that maintained both the 600-euro fine and 1,610-euro 
compensation but absolved one of the officers of mistreatment. The 
Supreme Court also absolved all four police officers of committing 
crimes of moral integrity, torture, and falsifying documents.
    According to the 2009 report by the Coordinator for the Prevention 
of Torture, there were 624 complaints against security forces and jail 
functionaries for abuse of authority, 45 more than in 2008. The report 
indicated that in 2009 a total of 11 persons died while in police 
custody, 28 died in jail, and two minors died while in detention 
centers for youth.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions met most international standards, and the Government 
permitted visits by independent human rights observers.
    Prisons were overcrowded, with an overall inmate-per-cell ratio of 
approximately 1.7 for cells that were designed for one inmate. During 
the year there were six new prison facilities under construction. 
According to the 2010 UN Universal Periodic Review of Spain, the 
Government budget for renovating and expanding prison facilities 
through 2012--involving the construction of 18,000 new cells of 
different types in 46 new centers--was 1.6 billion euros ($2.2 
billion).
    As of October there were a total of 75,503 inmates in prison, of 
which 14,751 were in custody while awaiting trial. Approximately eight 
percent of the prison population was female. There were four facilities 
exclusively for female prisoners. Juveniles (those under the age of 18) 
were sent to separate detention centers.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. Authorities permitted prisoners and 
detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities without 
censorship and request investigation of credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions. In addition, authorities investigated credible 
allegations of inhumane conditions and documented the results of such 
investigations in a publicly accessible manner. The Government 
generally investigated and monitored prison and detention center 
conditions.
    Between March 3 and May 7, the National Mechanism for the 
Prevention of Torture made 54 unannounced inspections to detention 
centers throughout the country and reported no irregularities or signs 
of mistreatment. Prisoners can file complaints regarding mistreatment 
with the national ombudsman, who will investigate complaints but does 
not have authority to take corrective measures directly.
    On September 24, the minister of interior reported that 5,000 
volunteers and 500 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) were assisting 
prison inmates and that 17,500 inmates were enrolled in education 
programs, of whom 700 had obtained a university degree.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the armed forces and civil guard, and 
the Government has effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse 
and corruption. There were no reports of impunity involving the 
security forces during the year. Police forces include the national 
police and the Guardia Civil, both under the authority of the central 
government, as well as municipal police and police forces under the 
authority of Catalonia and the Basque Country regional governments. All 
police forces operated effectively, with isolated reports of 
corruption.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
provides that police may apprehend suspects with probable cause or with 
a warrant based on sufficient evidence as determined by a judge. With 
certain exceptions, police may not hold a suspect for more than 72 
hours without a hearing.
    Detainees generally were promptly informed of the charges against 
them, and the courts released defendants on bail unless they believed 
the defendants might flee or be a threat to public safety. The law 
provides detainees the right to consult a lawyer. However, there were 
often lengthy delays between the time a detained person first requested 
a lawyer and the time the lawyer arrived at the place of detention. The 
state provided legal counsel to indigent detainees.
    In certain rare instances involving acts of terrorism, the law 
allows authorities to detain persons for up to five days prior to 
arraignment with the authorization of a judge. In these cases a judge 
also may order incommunicado detention for the entire duration of 
police custody.
    The law stipulates that suspects held incommunicado have the right 
to an attorney and medical care, but they are neither allowed to choose 
an attorney nor see a physician of their choice. The court-appointed 
lawyer is present during police and judicial proceedings, but detainees 
do not have the right to confer in private with the lawyer.
    In March 2009 the UN special rapporteur on the promotion and 
protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering 
terrorism expressed concern about incommunicado detention wherein 
certain terrorist suspects can be held for up to 13 days prior to 
arraignment without the right to confer privately with their attorney 
of choice.
    During the year the Government continued to implement preventive 
measures to safeguard the rights of detainees held incommunicado, 
including the application of protocols and continuous video 
surveillance in the detention facilities and interrogation rooms.
    Lengthy pretrial detention was a problem. As of October 
approximately 20.5 percent of the 75,503 persons in prison were 
pretrial detainees. Under the law, authorities may not detain suspects 
for more than two years before putting them on trial unless a judge 
authorizes a further delay, which may extend to four years. In practice 
pretrial detention was usually less than one year.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution and law provide for the right 
to a fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this 
right. Trials are public, and there is a nine-person jury system. 
Defendants have the right to be represented by an attorney (at 
government expense if indigent), confront witnesses, present witnesses 
on their behalf, and have access to government-held evidence. 
Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence and the right to appeal.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Courts Decisions.--In 2009 the European Court 
of Human Rights (ECHR) issued 11 judgments that found at least one 
violation by the state of the European Convention on Human Rights. The 
violations involved the right to a fair trial (five violations), length 
of judicial proceedings (three violations), inhuman or degrading 
treatment (one violation), no punishment without law (one violation), 
right to respect for private and family life (one violation), and 
discrimination (one violation).
    On September 28, the ECHR ordered the Government to pay 23,000 
euros ($30,800) to ETA member Mikel San Argimiro Isasa for not having 
undertaken an ``effective investigation'' of the alleged torture he 
suffered when arrested in Madrid in 2002 for placing a bomb under a 
police car. The court indicated that the state violated article 3 
(prohibition of torture) of the European Convention on Human Rights 
from a procedural point of view because of the lack of an effective 
investigation. The decision also held that the state did not violate 
the article from a substantive point of view (i.e., through 
mistreatment of San Argimiro) because the court could not establish 
that San Argimiro was tortured.
    The Government complied with ECHR decisions and paid compensation 
ordered by the court. Spanish case law also makes repeated references 
to ECHR's case law, and in some instances the Government implemented 
new procedures or legislation following an ECHR decision. In response 
to an ECHR decision against the Government for unduly lengthy criminal 
proceedings, the Government enacted a law in December that allows the 
undue length of a criminal proceeding to be cited as a mitigating 
circumstance that may reduce a sentence.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--An independent and 
impartial judiciary exists for civil matters, and there is access to a 
court to bring lawsuits seeking damages for a human rights violation. 
Violations of human rights can be pursued either criminally or, if 
committed by the administration in other than a criminal offense, 
administratively. The national ombudsman serves to protect and defend 
basic rights and public freedom on behalf of citizens.

    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.
    The independent media remained active and expressed a wide variety 
of views without restriction. Individuals could criticize the 
Government publicly or privately without reprisal, and the Government 
did not attempt to impede such criticism.
    The law provides that persons who provoke discrimination, hatred, 
or violence against groups or associations for racist, anti-Semitic, or 
other references to ideology, religion or belief, family status, 
membership within an ethnic group or race, national origin, sex, sexual 
orientation, illness, or disability, may be punished with imprisonment 
of one to three years.
    The law prohibits, subject to judicial oversight, actions including 
public speeches and the publication of documents that the Government 
interprets as glorifying or supporting terrorism. During the year the 
Office of the General Prosecutor filed eight cases in the courts under 
this law.
    Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of new ETA threats 
against journalists. However, previous ETA threats against journalists 
have not been publicly recanted.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. Authorities 
monitored Web sites for material containing hate speech and advocating 
anti-Semitism. In November National Police officers arrested three 
members of an extreme right-wing group in Barcelona who used the 
Internet to spread Nazi ideology. The police seized flags, books, and 
clothing related to the ideology, as well as several weapons.
    At year's end, the Barcelona court had several open investigations 
involving hate crimes on the Internet and one case against a rock group 
spreading neo-Nazi messages through their music. On June 16, Aitor 
R.E.was sentenced to two years in prison for promoting genocide through 
the Internet. This was the first time a sentence was issued for 
promoting hatred on the Internet.
    There were no reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms.
    According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 
2009, approximately 63 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    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.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl//irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations, 
including the Spanish Committee for Assistance to Refugees, in 
providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. Potential 
asylum seekers were effectively able to exercise their right to 
petition authorities. In a 2009 report, however, the national ombudsman 
noted that complaints related to irregularities in the handling and 
reporting of some deportation cases had not declined significantly.
    Asylum seekers are not automatically rejected solely because of 
their country of origin. All asylum petitions are reviewed 
individually, and there is an established appeals process available to 
petitioners.
    In practice the Government provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion.
    The Asylum and Subsidiary Protection Law provides protection for up 
to three years for persons who do not meet the criteria for refugee 
status but face dangers such as torture or the death penalty if 
returned to their countries of origin. The law includes gender and 
sexual orientation as conditions for granting asylum; makes free legal 
assistance available to asylum seekers; provides a single process for 
both asylum and subsidiary protection (if asylum is denied, subsidiary 
protection will be automatically considered); contemplates family 
reunification for asylum seekers; allows asylum requests to be accepted 
at an embassy or consulate; and provides for the resettlement of 
refugees in neighboring countries in some cases.
    In 2009 there were 2,999 asylum applications in the country. 
According to the Spanish Commission for Refugee Assistance, this figure 
represented a 33.6 percent decline from 2008 and was the lowest number 
of applications since 1989.
    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs runs the Program for Assistance and 
Protection of Human Rights Defenders at Risk. Under this program, human 
rights defenders who face persecution and death threats can move to the 
country for a time period ranging from six months to two years, 
depending on the circumstances. During the year the country accepted 22 
persons from a variety of countries into the program; for the first 
time, two individuals gained entry into the program on account of 
defending lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual (LGBT) rights.
    There were no reports of restrictions on refugees' access to 
employment, health care, housing, education, law enforcement, or 
judicial redress. The country does accept refugees for resettlement 
from third countries and provides protections with the assistance of 
NGOs such as the Spanish Commission for the Assistance to Refugees.
    On January 29, the Council of Ministers approved a 2.9 million 
euros ($3.9 million) program for 2010-2012 for the resettlement of 75 
refugees in Spain. The selection of the refugees for this program will 
be handled by the General Directorate of Interior Policy and the 
General Directorate for the Integration of Immigrants.
    During the year the country received 3,632 undocumented migrants by 
boat. This reflected a steady decline in undocumented migrants arriving 
in the country, from 13,000 in 2008 and 7,299 in 2009. The number of 
illegal immigrants who were deported to their home countries or denied 
entry at borders during the year was 30,163, a 20.9 percent decrease 
from 2009.
    There were problems with the treatment of unaccompanied migrant and 
refugee children. On October 1, the UN Committee on the Rights of the 
Child released a report asking the Government to improve the conditions 
under which unaccompanied minors are either admitted into the country 
or deported. With regard to the October 2009 Asylum Law that addresses 
special circumstances for the protection of unaccompanied minors, the 
committee noted that those circumstances only apply to non-EU minors 
and recommended that the Government extend such protection to all 
minors, following international standards.
    The Government has three emergency centers--La Esperanza, Tegueste, 
and Arinaga--on the Canary Islands which housed approximately 276 
children. According to a June 2010 Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, 
these centers put children at an increased risk of violence and limited 
their opportunities for integration into local communities. HRW 
identified systemic factors that increase the risk for children in 
these three emergency centers: the absence of an occupancy limit for 
emergency centers, the lack of confidential complaints mechanisms, and 
insufficient monitoring and oversight. The report also noted, however, 
that the children in these centers now generally enjoyed access to 
education and vocational training opportunities outside the centers and 
that emergency centers facilitated children's rapid insertion into 
training programs through language classes starting right after their 
arrival.
    In 2009 there were no unaccompanied children deported to their home 
country. In 2008 the Constitutional Court recognized children's right 
to defend themselves in court, irrespective of their guardians' 
decision.
    The Government also provided temporary protection to individuals 
who may not qualify as refugees. According to UNHCR statistics for 
2009, the country granted refugee status to 179 persons. An additional 
162 persons received subsidiary protection.
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 based on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In 2008 the Socialist Party 
won national elections that were considered free and fair; Jose Luis 
Rodriguez Zapatero was elected president of the Council of Ministers. 
Governmental power was shared between the central government and 17 
regional governments.
    Political parties operated without restriction or outside 
interference, and linguistic and cultural minorities had representation 
and participated in both local and national political parties.
    There were 129 women in the 350-seat Congress of Deputies, 83 women 
in the 263-seat Senate, and nine women in the 17-member Council of 
Ministers.
    The Government did not keep statistics on the ethnic composition of 
the parliament, but linguistic and cultural minorities were 
represented. The Catalan parliament included a member of Moroccan 
origin. There were Muslim political parties in the city enclaves of 
Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa. Roma had little representation in 
government.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government generally implemented these laws effectively. There were 
isolated reports of government corruption during the year.
    On July 6, the president of the Popular Party in Alicante, Jose 
Joaquin Ripoll, and 10 other persons were arrested for extortion, 
influence peddling, fraud, bribery, breach of trust, and concealment. 
The trial had not begun by year's end.
    On September 27, the trial began for nearly 100 former Marbella 
city officials, businessmen, real estate agents, and other defendants 
arrested in 2005 on charges of granting illegal building and 
construction permits in exchange for bribes. This was the largest 
corruption case ever brought to court involving city hall officials.
    The constitution provides for an ombudsman who investigates claims 
of police abuse. In 2009 the national ombudsman filed 269 ex officio 
judicial complaints, up from 253 complaints in 2008. During 2009 the 
ombudsman network processed 22,276 complaints, 4,461 of which were 
related to matters of justice, defense, and internal affairs.
    There were no developments reported during the year in the 2009 
case involving a member of the Civil Guard who was charged with money-
laundering activities and involvement with Galician drug-traffickers. 
The accused was also suspected of having provided documents from his 
post at the Spanish embassy in Morocco to third parties in an attempt 
to discredit a criminal judge in A Coruna. While the case was pending, 
the Government transferred the officer to the financial department.
    In December a counternarcotics and organized crime lieutenant of 
the Civil Guard in Malaga was arrested in a counternarcotics operation 
conducted by the Civil Guard's Department of Internal Affairs.
    Public officials are subject to financial disclosure laws. The 
Ministry of Public Administration is responsible for managing and 
enforcing the Law of Conflicts of Interest. The Government also has a 
code of good governance that applies to all senior government 
officials.
    The law mandates public access to government information, and the 
Government generally granted access to citizens and noncitizens, 
including foreign media.
Section 5. 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 national ombudsman serves to protect and defend basic rights 
and public freedom on behalf of citizens. In 2009 the Ministry of 
Equality established the Council for the Promotion of Equal Treatment 
and Nondiscrimination due to Racial or Ethnic Origin.
Section 6. 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 it 
effectively.

    Women.--The law prohibits rape, including spousal rape, and the 
Government effectively enforced the law. It also prohibits violence 
against women, and independent media and government agencies paid close 
attention to gender violence.
    According to judicial statistics, during the second quarter of the 
year, women filed 34,256 complaints of abuse against their husbands, 
male partners, or former partners, an increase of 5.4 percent from the 
first quarter. Immigrant women remained the group most vulnerable to 
gender violence: although they constituted 11.4 percent of the female 
population in the country, they applied for 34 percent of the 9,890 
protection orders during the second quarter of the year.
    During the year 71 women were murdered as a result of domestic 
violence, an increase from 55 in 2009.
    The law establishes prison sentences of six months to a year for 
domestic violence, threats of violence, or violations of restraining 
orders, with longer sentences if serious injuries result. According to 
2009 statistics from the General Counsel of the Judicial Power, 80 
percent of gender-related cases resulted in a conviction.
    More than 50 offices provided legal assistance to victims of 
domestic violence, and there were 454 shelters for battered women. A 
24-hour toll-free national hotline advised battered women on finding 
shelter and other local assistance. As of October the hotline took 
calls in Spanish, French, German, Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese, 
Portuguese, Romanian, and Russian. During the first six months of the 
year, the hotline received 32,612 calls.
    As of October there were 103 specialized courts dealing exclusively 
with domestic violence cases, an increase from 83 in 2008.
    Female genital mutilation (FGM) is prohibited. In Catalonia the law 
requires that a doctor examine immigrants considered to be in danger of 
FGM when they travel to and from their countries of origin. Parents 
whose children were determined to have been subjected to FGM risked 
losing custody. Catalan regional police had procedures to prevent FGM 
through the early detection of potential victims, immediate reporting 
of possible cases to appropriate authorities, and, when possible, 
preventing the travel of potential victims. Catalan regional police 
prevented the genital mutilation of 55 girls in 2009 and of additional 
21 girls between January and September 2010.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace; however, 
harassment was reported to be a problem.
    Couples and individuals decide freely and responsibly the number, 
spacing, and timing of their children and enjoy the information and 
means to do so free from discrimination, coercion, and violence. 
Obstetric and postpartum care is provided under the national health 
plan. According to statistics compiled by the World Health Organization 
in 2009, there were approximately six maternal deaths per 100,000 live 
births in the country. Contraception is easily accessed, including 
emergency contraception, which is available without a doctor's 
prescription.
    Under the law women enjoy the same rights as men, including rights 
under family law, property law, and in the judicial system. The Women's 
Institute worked to ensure the legal rights of women, combat economic 
discrimination, and integrate women into the professional workplace. 
The unemployment rate for women (20.6 percent) continued to be higher 
than for men (19.7 percent). Discriminatory wage differentials 
continued to exist, and women held fewer senior management positions 
than men. According to a June 2010 report from the National Statistics 
Institute, women in the country earned 21.9 percent less than men. 
Access to health care is a fundamental right under the constitution 
regardless of gender, and women had equal access to diagnosis and 
treatment of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parent. In rare cases 
when a child born within the country does not acquire his or her 
parents' nationality, the country will grant nationality.
    There were reports of child abuse. According to the Ministry of 
Equality, approximately 800,000 children were victims of domestic 
violence, either as witnesses or as direct victims. During the year 15 
children were murdered, four of them as a result of gender-related 
violence.
    In February 2009 the national ombudsman issued a report on the 
mistreatment of children in protection centers for migrant children. 
Although there is no unified registry on the mistreatment of children 
in the country, data provided by the autonomous regions suggested that 
between 15 percent and 18.5 percent of children had been mistreated in 
the various centers. The ombudsman asserted that many of these centers 
violated children's rights and reported incidents of tying up children 
and prohibiting their attendance at school or recreation. The report 
indicated that many institutions practiced isolation measures and that 
75 percent of the institutions administered drugs to minors to 
alleviate agitation. There were reports of children being forced to 
undress for authorities without sufficient justification. Children in 
detention centers complained that they were not allowed sufficient 
visits from family members and that calls they received were not 
private. After visiting 27 of the 58 centers in the country, the 
ombudsman pointed to a lack of staff training and insufficient salary 
as key factors contributing to the alleged mistreatment.
    Following the ombudsman's report, the Ministry of Education 
announced that it would work with the autonomous regions throughout the 
country to draft a common set of regulations for the centers, since 
enforcement is the responsibility of the regional government.
    Trafficking of teenage girls for commercial sexual exploitation 
remained a problem. The minimum age for consensual sex in the country 
is 13. If deceit is used in gaining the consent of a minor under the 
age of 16, an individual can be charged upon parental complaint. The 
law specifically provides that an individual who, by use of deceit, 
commits sexual abuse against a person over the age of 13 but under 16 
will be punished with imprisonment for one to two years or an 
equivalent fine. Nonconsensual sexual abuse is defined as sexual acts 
committed against persons under 13 years, unconscious persons, or 
mentally ill persons.
    The law prohibits child pornography. The penal code criminalizes 
both using a minor ``to prepare any type of pornography material'' and 
producing, selling, distributing, displaying, or facilitating the 
production, sale, dissemination, or exhibition, of ``any type'' of 
child pornography by ``any means.'' Knowingly possessing child 
pornography is also penalized, carrying a potential prison sentence of 
up to one year. The penalty for the production, sale, or distribution 
of pornography in which a child under 18 years of age has been involved 
is imprisonment from one to four years, or up to eight years if the 
child is under 13. During the year approximately 320 persons were 
arrested for crimes related to child pornography through the Internet 
and cell phones.
    Penalties for recruiting children or persons with disabilities into 
prostitution is imprisonment from one to five years (previously it was 
one to four years); if the child is under the age of 13, the term of 
imprisonment is four to six years. The same sentence applies to those 
who seek child prostitutes. The penalty for pimping children or persons 
with disabilities into prostitution is imprisonment from four to six 
years and, if the minor is under 13, the term of imprisonment is five 
to 10 years. The penalty for recruiting children or persons with 
disabilities for child pornography is one to five years' imprisonment; 
if the child is under the age of 13, imprisonment is five to nine 
years. In addition, individuals who contact children under the age of 
13 through the Internet for the purpose of sexual exploitation face 
imprisonment of one to three years.
    The penal code criminalizes the ``abuse and sexual attack of 
minors'' under the age of 13. The penalty for sexual abuse and assault 
of children under the age of 13 is imprisonment from two to 15 years, 
depending on the nature of the crime.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html as well as country-
specific information at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/country/
country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--According to Jewish community leaders, while 
violence against members of the approximately 48,000-member Jewish 
community was rare, anti-Semitic incidents, including graffiti against 
Jewish institutions, continued.
    On March 1, the media reported that the Israeli Embassy in Madrid 
had received letters from elementary school children from various 
public schools in Madrid accusing Israel of killing children. Israeli 
media accused Spanish schools of inculcating anti-Semitism.
    In March a Barcelona court sentenced Pedro Varela to a 33-month 
prison sentence for distributing materials that justified genocide. He 
was also fined 2,880 euros ($3,860) and ordered to destroy all books 
and objects seized in his bookstore. These included items such as a 
bust of Hitler, a swastika, military hats, pictures, and national 
socialist posters. His store sold books that justified political 
regimes which sought to destroy a racial group and which despised 
Jewish and other minorities.
    On June 9, 19 members of the neo-Nazi group Blood and Honor were 
found guilty of illicit possession of arms and for inciting hate for 
racist and anti-Semitic reasons. As of year's end, they were awaiting 
sentencing and the prosecutor was seeking sentences that ranged from 
two to five years in prison.
    On September 9, as part of an initiative to raise awareness and 
promote tolerance, the Government released its first official report on 
anti-Semitism in the country. The report outlined findings from its 
survey research and highlighted the Government's commitment to combat 
anti-Semitism.
    On November 22-25, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Casa 
Sefarad-Israel, in cooperation with Holocaust memorial institutions in 
Germany and France and the Spanish General Counsel of Advocates, 
organized a seminar for 25 leading Spanish jurists concerning the legal 
dimensions of the Holocaust and their implications for the treatment of 
legal issues in the present day. The seminar included meetings with 
German and French experts as well as Spanish diplomats.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, access to 
information technology and communication, including social media, and 
the provision of other state services, and the Government effectively 
enforced these provisions. The law mandates access to buildings for 
persons with disabilities, and the Government generally enforced these 
provisions; however, levels of assistance and accessibility differed 
between regions. The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs is 
responsible for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.
    The law provides for fines for discrimination against disabled 
persons of up to one million euros ($1.3 million). In July 2009 the 
Government adopted its third plan of action for persons with 
disabilities. The program has a 2.5 billion euro ($3.4 billion) budget, 
and the funds are used to provide tax-free pensions and job training 
for disabled persons, as well as to maintain services and build centers 
for the disabled. The plan was intended to further promote the autonomy 
of persons with disabilities and supplement the plan of action for 
women with disabilities (2005-2008) and the first national 
accessibility plan (2004-2012).

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--There were instances of 
societal violence and discrimination against members of racial and 
ethnic minorities, and the Government undertook efforts to combat the 
problem.
    During the year the Government-sponsored Network of Centers for 
Assisting Victims of Discrimination received 235 complaints of 
discrimination, of which 39 percent were from the African community, 20 
percent from the Romani community, and 17 percent from the Latin 
American community; 24 percent of the complaints were related to 
discrimination based on unequal access to goods and services in both 
the public and private sector, 22 percent were against security forces, 
and 17 percent were related to discrimination in the workplace. The 
2010 Raxen Report of the Movement against Intolerance estimated that 
there were approximately 4,000 racially motivated crimes in the country 
each year and over 200 xenophobic Web sites.
    Groups continued to call for the justice system to adequately 
address the racial component of crimes. The 2010 European Commission 
against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) report on the country recommended 
that the Government improve its monitoring systems by collecting, 
tracking, and publishing data on acts of racism and racial 
discrimination.
    In October the Barcelona prosecutor for hate crimes and 
discrimination opened a case against the Popular Party's leader in 
Badalona for distributing campaign materials linking ethnic Romani 
immigrants to crime and insecurity. The prosecutor opened a similar 
investigation against the leader of the anti-immigrant Platform for 
Catalonia political party for calling for the expulsion of all Muslims 
from the country.
    In July the Madrid Court sentenced Roberto Alonso de la Varga to 10 
years in prison for a 2007 attack on Miwa Buene, a Congolese citizen, 
that left him a paraplegic. The court deemed that racism was an 
aggravating circumstance.
    Although the Romani population continued to face various forms of 
discrimination, there have been improvements.
    According to the domestic NGO Fundacion Secretariado Gitano (FSG), 
Roma continued to face discrimination in access to employment, housing, 
and education. The Romani community, which the FSG estimated to have a 
population of 650,000, experienced substantially higher rates of 
unemployment, poverty, and illiteracy than the general population. 
During the first six months of the year, the Network of Centers 
received 47 complaints of discrimination from the Romani population. In 
2009 the FSG received 111 complaints of social discrimination from the 
Romani population.
    According to the 2010 ECRI report, some immigrant and Romani 
children experienced discrimination in equal access to education and 
the ECRI had received consistent reports of ``ghetto'' schools of 
immigrant or Romani children and discriminatory practices in admissions 
procedures that enabled publicly funded private schools to pick and 
choose students. The report noted that the Government had taken 
positive steps to address such discrimination by enacting laws to 
regulate and monitor student admissions to public and publicly funded 
private schools.
    The ECRI's 2010 report on the country stated that 85 percent of 
Roma did not complete high school. The FSG annual report in 2009 found 
that 70 percent of Roma over the age of 16 were illiterate and only 30 
percent of Romani children regularly attended school. To counter this, 
the Government agreed on 126 measures to prevent early dropouts.
    According to the 2010 ECRI report on Spain, the Government has 
addressed the social exclusion of Roma in a largely successful manner, 
and Romani organizations reported to the ECRI that the situation of 
Roma had improved considerably over the previous 10 years.
    Acceder, a program aimed at expanding social inclusion through 
labor market integration, promoted equal opportunity for the Romani 
population. The program promoted labor-contract employment as an 
alternative to self-employment and as a vehicle for building social 
inclusion. Approximately 65.5 percent of the 51,173 persons served at 
the program's 48 employment centers since 2000 were Roma, and 50 
percent were women. More than 36,047 work contracts had been signed.
    According to the ECRI's 2010 report, the Government's 2010-12 Plan 
for Roma Development, which was aimed at promoting social inclusion, 
nondiscrimination, and equal treatment, has an annual budget of 6.5 
million euros ($8.7 million).
    During the year the Government sponsored the Network of Centers for 
Assisting Victims of Discrimination, an initiative that consisted of 
eight NGOs representing a wide spectrum of racial and ethnic minorities 
in the country. The network provided support services to victims of 
discrimination in areas such as education, housing, health, and 
employment. Services included access to professionals for legal advice, 
filing police reports and lawsuits, mediation, and conciliation.
    In 2008 the Government adopted a law creating a human rights plan 
of action with 172 measures, many of which related to the abolition of 
racism and intolerance. Specific measures called for the adoption and 
implementation of a strategy to fight racism and xenophobia, 
educational programs for media to combat hostile or discriminatory 
perceptions and stereotypes, and collaboration with public and private 
media on sensitization to and promotion of human rights. The Government 
has completed several of the measures, including the release of a 
comprehensive report that is updated yearly, Evolution of Racism and 
Xenophobia in Spain, and the publication of the Practical Guide for 
Media Professionals: Media Treatment of Immigration Issues.
    According to the ECRI's 2010 report, the country continued to 
develop initiatives based on the 172 measures adopted in 2008, 
including the creation of support resources for victims of 
discriminatory, racist, or xenophobic aggression, analysis of citizens' 
attitudes toward immigration, public awareness campaigns at regional 
and local levels, and training and awareness programs for police. 
Abdelhamid Beyuki, the Spanish member of the ECRI, stated that the 
Government had taken significant steps to combat racism and xenophobia 
and to promote the integration of immigrants. During 2009-2010, the 
Government enacted its transnational project, Living Together: European 
Citizenship against Racism and Xenophobia.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The lesbian, gay, bisexual, 
and transgender (LGBT) community was widely accepted throughout the 
country. LGBT organizations were numerous, and there were no reported 
impediments to their operation.
    From June 25 through July 4, Madrid celebrated Gay Pride, 
culminating in a July 3 parade in which more than one million persons 
participated in a secure celebration. The parade was authorized by 
authorities, and police provided sufficient protection to marchers.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of major societal violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/
AIDS.
    The controversy regarding official language policies continued, 
with some persons complaining that policies in Catalonia interfered 
with receiving an education in the country's majority language, 
Castilian Spanish. Likewise, there were instances of Catalan speakers 
raising concerns that the Catalan language was not equally favored.
    On December 22, the Supreme Court ruled that Castilian Spanish must 
become a ``vehicular language'' or lingua franca in Catalonia's 
educational system. The decision involved three separate cases of 
Spanish-speaking parents pursuing legal action against the Catalan 
education system. The ruling came during the transition to the new 
Catalan government. Both the outgoing and incoming administrations 
defended the existing education model and maintained that the decision 
pertained to three individual cases and that no changes were needed in 
Catalan language policies. Catalan leaders in favor of the existing 
language-immersion model claimed that students could become equally 
proficient in Catalan and Spanish.
    On September 14, the Catalan parliament approved a decree that will 
require new full-time professors at public and private universities to 
take a language examination before they are hired to prove that they 
have ``C-level'' (medium-high oral and writing communication level) 
proficiency in Catalan. The decree permits universities to exempt full-
time research staff or professors teaching in a foreign language from 
the requirement. To prevent the loss of talented professors, 
universities can, in some cases, delay the test for up to two years 
after the actual date of hire. Some universities and educators 
criticized the decree as discriminatory, especially if the language of 
instruction is not Catalan.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers, including 
foreign and migrant workers, to form and join independent unions of 
their choice without previous authorization or excessive requirements, 
and workers did so in practice. However, military personnel and 
national police forces do not have the right to join unions, and 
judges, magistrates, and prosecutors are not free to join the union of 
their choice.
    Approximately 17.4 percent of the workforce was unionized. 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 strike, and workers exercised this right by conducting legal 
strikes. Any striking union must respect minimum service requirements 
negotiated with the respective employer.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for collective bargaining, including for all workers in the 
public sector except military personnel, and it was freely practiced. 
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, covering approximately 70 
percent of the workforce.
    Employers frequently hired new employees under temporary work 
contracts. The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) stated 
that although in theory workers on temporary contracts were covered by 
collective bargaining agreements, in practice more and more workers 
were individually negotiating directly with employers and managers and 
undermining the collective bargaining process. The ITUC further noted 
that 63 percent of temporary workers were immigrants.
    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.
    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 children were trafficked for forced begging. Men were also 
trafficked for forced labor, mainly in agriculture and construction. 
Migrant women and children from Romania and Bulgaria remained 
particularly vulnerable to labor exploitation in agriculture and forced 
begging. Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in 
Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There are laws and policies to protect children from exploitation in 
the workplace, and these laws were generally enforced. However, there 
were reports that children were trafficked for forced begging. Also see 
the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/g/tip.
    The statutory minimum age for the employment of children is 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 has primary responsibility for 
enforcement of the minimum age law and enforced it effectively in major 
industries and the service sector. The ministry had difficulty 
enforcing the law on small farms and in family-owned businesses, where 
some child labor persisted. Laws prohibiting child labor were enforced 
effectively in the special economic zones.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum wage of 
633.30 euros ($849) per month generally did not provide a decent 
standard of living for a worker and family. The Ministry of Labor and 
Social Affairs effectively enforced the minimum wage.
    The law provides for a 40-hour workweek, with an unbroken rest 
period of 36 hours after each 40 hours worked. By law overtime is 
restricted to 80 hours per year unless collective bargaining 
establishes a different level. Premium pay is required for overtime.
    The National Institute of Safety and Health in the Ministry of 
Labor and Social Affairs has technical responsibility for developing 
labor standards, and the Inspectorate of Labor has responsibility for 
enforcing the law through inspections and judicial action when 
infractions are found. Unions criticized the Government for devoting 
insufficient resources to inspection and enforcement. Workers have the 
right to remove themselves from situations that endanger health or 
safety without jeopardy to their employment, and authorities 
effectively enforced this right; however, employees with short-term 
labor contracts generally did not understand that they had such legal 
protections.

                               __________

                                 SWEDEN

    The Kingdom of Sweden is a constitutional monarchy with a 
multiparty parliamentary form of government. The population is 
approximately 9.4 million. Legislative authority rests in the 
unicameral parliament (Riksdag). In national elections in September, 
voters reelected the center-right coalition led by the Moderate Party 
as a minority government. The elections were free and fair. The king is 
the largely symbolic head of state. The prime minister is the head of 
government and exercises executive authority. Security forces reported 
to civilian authorities.
    Reported human rights problems included incidents of use of 
excessive force by police, extended isolation and restricted exercise 
for persons in pretrial detention, government surveillance and 
interference, abuse of women and children, incidents of anti-Semitism, 
trafficking in persons, and anti-Islamic or xenophobic discrimination 
and crimes.
                        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 arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
there were reports that police used excessive force.
    The national prosecutor's office for police cases received 4,824 
reports of misconduct during the year. The reports covered all police 
employees, both officers and civilians, and involved incidents that 
occurred on active service and outside of work. The majority of the 
incidents took place while the police employee was on duty, and 15 
percent of the reported cases were accusations that on-duty officers 
had used more violence than the situation required.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions 
generally met international standards, and the Government permitted 
visits by independent human rights observers. However, lengthy pretrial 
detention was a problem.
    Three persons committed suicide while in prison or detention during 
the year. In April the Prison and Probation Service opened an internal 
investigation into the suicide of an Afghan man in the Gavle detention 
center in May 2009. The Council of Europe's Committee for the 
Prevention of Torture (CPT) visited the detention center after the 
incident and questioned why the person had not been admitted to a 
psychiatric clinic.
    According to the Prison and Probation Services, prison and 
detention centers were meant to hold a maximum of 6,990 prisoners and 
detainees. On November 1, the total number of prisoners and detainees 
was 6,567, including juvenile and female prisoners.
    Restrictive conditions for prisoners held in pretrial custody 
remained a problem. According to the Swedish Prison and Probation 
Service, in July approximately 45 percent of pretrial detainees were 
subject to extended isolation or to restrictions on mail delivery or 
exercise. According to authorities they took this step when detainees' 
contact with persons outside the detention center could risk destroying 
evidence or changing statements, thereby imperiling the ongoing 
investigation.
    In December the CPT published the report of its visit to the 
country in June 2009. During the visit the CPT delegation monitored 
conditions in the country's police establishments, prisons, the Swedish 
Migration Board, and psychiatric and juvenile establishments. The 
report expressed concern about the impact of prolonged periods of 
isolation and segregation on the mental health of inmates. For example, 
it noted that 62 of the 136 remand prisoners at the Gothenburg Remand 
Prison were liable to restrictions, some being subjected to periods of 
isolation ranging from six to 18 months. The report stated that the 
overwhelming majority of remand prisoners met by the delegation during 
its visit had been given no explanation of the reasons for the 
restrictions and that many considered the only reason they were 
prohibited from contact with their family members was to ``break'' 
them.
    The CPT report also noted that immigration detainees were still 
sometimes held in remand prisons, on occasion for lengthy periods of 
time, after having been removed from centers operated by the Swedish 
Migration Board because of the heightened security risk they presented 
to themselves and others. The CPT believed that a prison is, by 
definition, not an appropriate place to hold persons who are neither 
suspected nor convicted of a crime.
    In January the Government's official response to the report stated 
that the imposition of restrictions on prisoners is an exceptional 
measure rather than the rule.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. Authorities permitted prisoners and 
detainees to submit complaints to several judicial authorities without 
censorship and to request investigation of credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions. Authorities investigated credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions and documented the results of such investigations 
in a publicly accessible manner. The Government investigated and 
monitored prison and detention center conditions.
    The justice ombudsman, who worked independently from the 
Government, performed 11 prison inspections during the first nine 
months of the year. The national Red Cross and church associations may 
also visit prisoners, but may not monitor or inspect the prisons. The 
justice ombudsman can serve on behalf of prisoners and detainees to 
consider such matters as alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent 
offenders to alleviate overcrowding; addressing the status and 
circumstances of confinement of juvenile offenders; and improving 
pretrial detention, bail, and recordkeeping procedures to ensure that 
prisoners do not serve beyond the maximum sentence for the charged 
offense.
    The construction of 500 new detention and prison cells during the 
year helped mitigate overcrowding.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally 
observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The national police and 
the national criminal police are responsible in practice for law 
enforcement and general order within the country. The Security Service 
is responsible for national security related to terrorism, extremism, 
and espionage. The armed forces are responsible for external security. 
The Ministry of Justice provides the funding and the letters of 
instruction for police activities, but it does not control how they 
perform their work. According to the constitution all branches of the 
police are independent authorities. The chancellor of justice, who is a 
nonpolitical civil servant appointed by the Government, acts as the 
Government's ombudsman in the supervision of the police, and takes 
action in cases where the chancellor suspects abuse. In addition, the 
Security and Integrity Commission can review the work of the Security 
Service upon an individual's request and initiate its own 
investigations if the commission suspects that the Security Service has 
collected and used personal data wrongfully.
    The chancellor of justice decided that the National Police Board 
should pay 2,144 kronor and 26,343 kronor (approximately $318 and 
$3,899) respectively, based on verdicts regarding wrongful treatment of 
personal data and wrongful procedures when sequestering a person's 
apartment.
    Civilian authorities maintained effective control over the national 
police and the Security Service, and government authorities had 
effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse and corruption. 
There were no reports of impunity involving the security forces during 
the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires warrants issued by duly authorized officials for arrests, and 
the Government generally respected this requirement in practice. 
Persons can be and are arrested without a warrant if they are caught 
committing a crime or if they are suspected of having committed a crime 
that is being investigated. A person who is believed to be drunk or 
under the influence of drugs and intends to drive any vehicle may be 
arrested without a warrant. Police must file charges within six 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 six hours or up to a 
maximum of 12 hours if necessary for the investigation. After 
questioning, the level of suspicion determines whether the individual 
will be arrested or released. A court order is not needed to hold a 
person for as long as 12 hours. If a suspect is arrested, the 
prosecutor has 24 hours (or three days in exceptional circumstances) to 
request continued detention. An arrested suspect must be arraigned 
within 48 hours, and initial prosecution must begin within two weeks, 
unless extenuating circumstances exist. Authorities generally respected 
these requirements.
    There is no system of bail; however, courts routinely released 
defendants pending trial unless they were considered dangerous or there 
was a risk that the suspect would leave the country. Detainees may 
retain a lawyer of their choice; in criminal cases, the Government is 
obligated to provide an attorney, regardless of the defendant's 
financial situation. Detainees are afforded prompt access to lawyers 
and to family members. A suspect has a right to legal representation 
when the prosecutor requests his detention beyond 24 hours (or three 
days in exceptional circumstances). Prompt access to family members can 
be influenced by the type of crime that the suspect is accused of 
committing. Sometimes a suspect is not allowed any contact with family 
members if it could jeopardize the investigation.
    Following its visit to the country in June 2009, the CPT delegation 
noted that the right of notification of custody was often delayed ``in 
the interests of the investigation'' until a person has been remanded 
to custody by a court. In its January response, the Government stated 
that, under the law, police should notify the close relatives of 
persons whom police have apprehended as soon as possible without 
detriment to the investigation and with the wishes of the apprehended 
person. However, such notice may not be given against the wishes of the 
apprehended person without extraordinary reason.
    The CPT's report also expressed concern about the situation of 
juveniles in police custody, ``who apparently may be questioned without 
the presence of their parents or social welfare representatives.'' In 
its response, the Government stated that the parent or guardian of a 
person less than 18 years of age suspected of an offense for which the 
minimum punishment is imprisonment for at least six months is to be 
immediately informed and invited to police questioning, unless this 
would be detrimental to the inquiry or there are otherwise special 
reasons not to do so. According to the National Police Board, there are 
few exceptions to this rule.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected 
judicial independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. 
Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence. Trials are generally 
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. Cases of a 
sensitive nature, including those involving children, child 
molestation, rape, and national security, may be closed to the public. 
The court system distinguishes between civil and criminal cases. 
Defendants have the right to be present at their trials and to consult 
an attorney in a timely manner. In criminal cases the Government is 
obligated to provide a defense attorney. A ``free evidence'' system 
allows parties to present in court any evidence, regardless of how it 
was acquired. Defendants can confront or question witnesses against 
them and present witnesses and evidence on their behalf, and defendants 
and their attorneys have access to government-held evidence relevant to 
their cases. If convicted, defendants have the right of appeal.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--During the year the 
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found four violations by the 
Government of its obligations under the European Convention on Human 
Rights. Of these, two involved the deportation of asylum seekers to 
their native countries, and one dealt with due process. In 2009 the 
ECHR found one violation, involving denial of the right to a fair 
trial, by the Government. According to statistics from the Council of 
Europe for 2009, the latest year for which data is available, the 
Government complied with one judgment of the ECHR within the six-month 
deadline, two after the deadline, and one was late by less than six 
months.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters. There is no specific court 
for human rights violations, and human rights cases are tried in the 
general court system. Citizens can appeal to the ECHR in matters 
related to the state.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions, and 
the Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
    The National Defense Radio Establishment (FRA) may monitor 
international cable traffic with the prior approval of a special court. 
Under this law, only government ministries and the armed forces may 
commission surveillance from the FRA. During the year courts issued 
2,216 permits for wiretapping and camera surveillance, an increase of 
44 percent from 2009. The courts denied 11 permit applications.
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.
    The law criminalizes expression considered to be hate speech and 
prohibits threats or expressions of contempt for a group or member of a 
group based on race, color, national or ethnic origin, religious 
belief, or sexual orientation. Penalties for hate speech range from 
fines to a maximum of four years in prison.
    The Sweden Democrats launched a television commercial as part of 
their election campaign that multiple persons reported to the 
chancellor of justice as violating hate speech laws. On October 1, the 
chancellor ruled the case did not involve racial agitation, and no 
further investigation was conducted. The television commercial was 
never aired in its original version, as the television station decided 
it violated its own hate speech rules. In a separate incident, charges 
were filed against the publisher of a Web site affiliated with a 
Swedish neo-Nazi magazine for allowing a reader comment with racial 
slurs to remain on the site. The chancellor of justice concluded that 
the comment amounts to agitation against ethnic groups and filed 
charges against the site's publisher for violating press freedom laws. 
The case was not concluded by the end of the reporting period.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in peaceful 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. According to 
statistics from the Swedish Post and Telecom Agency, approximately 91 
percent of the country's inhabitants had access to the Internet in 
their homes.
    In the early part of the year, the European Commission filed a 
complaint against the Government for not implementing a directive 
requiring communications providers to retain data specified in the 
directive for a period of between six months and two years. The center-
right governing coalition has agreed to retain the data for six months, 
but a vote has not yet occurred.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    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.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, 
stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The constitution and law prohibit forced exile, and the Government 
did not employ it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees.
    During the year the UNHCR continued to criticize the Government's 
lengthy turnaround times for asylum applications and its deportation of 
Iraqi refugees.
    The Government denied asylum to persons who had transited other 
European Union (EU) countries or countries with which it maintained 
reciprocal return agreements before arriving in Sweden. It deported 
such persons to those countries. In most instances the persons who were 
deported had passed through, or had asylum determinations pending in, 
other EU countries and were returned in accordance with EU law. The 
Government authorized financial repatriation support for asylum seekers 
who had been denied residence in the country in the amount of 30,000 
kronor ($4,440) per adult and 15,000 kronor ($2,220) per child, with a 
maximum of 75,000 kronor ($11,100) per family. During the year the 
Government provided repatriation support to 1,422 persons, most of them 
of Iraqi origin.
    In 2008 the country established a repatriation agreement with Iraq. 
During the first nine months of the year, the Government forcibly 
repatriated 493 Iraqis. The UN (through the UNHCR) and nongovernmental 
organizations such as Amnesty International criticized the country and 
the migration minister in connection with the forced repatriations.
    In practice, the Government provided some protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion. Asylum seekers can appeal rulings of the Migration Board to 
two special migration appeals courts. Unsuccessful asylum seekers could 
and did appeal their cases to the ECHR.
    During the year the ECHR issued two decisions against the 
Government involving its treatment of asylum seekers.
    The Migration Board provided temporary protection to 57 individuals 
who did not qualify as refugees.

    Stateless Persons.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents. 
According to UNHCR data, there were 7,758 stateless persons in the 
country in 2009, the last year for which data was available. The large 
number related to the influx of immigrants and the birth of children to 
stateless parents, who remained stateless until one parent acquired 
citizenship. The majority of the stateless population came from the 
Middle East (the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq) 
and Somalia.
    Once stateless persons are granted permanent residence, they may 
obtain citizenship through the same naturalization process as other 
permanent residents. The timeframe for gaining citizenship is generally 
four to eight years, depending on the individual's grounds for 
residency, ability to establish identity, and lack of a criminal 
record.
    There is no legal discrimination against stateless persons in 
employment, education, housing, health services, marriage or birth 
registration, access to courts and judicial procedures, or owning land 
or property.
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 based on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In the national elections 
in September, citizens elected for a second term the center-right 
coalition led by the Moderate Party. The coalition did not gain a full 
parliamentary majority and is a minority government. The Sweden 
Democrats, a political party advocating strict immigration rules, 
entered into parliament for the first time, having received 5.7 percent 
of the votes and won 20 out of the 349 seats in parliament.
    Political parties operated without restrictions or outside 
interference.
    After the elections in September the number of women in parliament 
decreased for the first time since 1991, from 165 to 157. There were 11 
women in the 24-member cabinet.
    No official statistics on minority representation in government 
were available because the law prohibits the Government from holding 
information about the racial or ethnic background of its citizens. 
However, media reports stated that the number of immigrant 
parliamentarians increased in the September elections.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government generally implemented these laws effectively. A special 
unit in the prosecutor's office worked on cases involving corruption. 
In September an additional prosecutor was added to the unit, which 
initiated 30 investigations during the year, resulting in 28 persons 
being prosecuted. Public officials and political parties are subject to 
financial disclosure laws.
    The constitution and law provide for public access to government 
information, and the Government generally granted access in practice to 
citizens and noncitizens, including foreign media. The public has the 
right of access to government documents unless they are subject to 
secrecy laws, according to which information may be withheld if its 
release poses a threat to national security or to individual or 
corporate privacy.
Section 5. 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. At the national level, 
the country has seven ombudsmen: four justice ombudsmen; the chancellor 
of justice; the children's ombudsman; and the discrimination ombudsman 
with responsibility for ethnicity, gender, transsexual identity, 
religion, age, sexual orientation, and disabilities. There are normally 
ombudsmen down to the municipal level as well. The ombudsmen enjoyed 
the Government's cooperation and operated without government or party 
interference. They had adequate resources and were generally considered 
effective. The children's ombudsman published a report on the 
conditions at the country's special child and youth care institutions. 
The discrimination ombudsman published three reports, on indicators for 
human rights, discrimination in the housing market, and experiences 
from discriminations. Government officials often were cooperative and 
responsive to the views of the ombudsmen.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibits discrimination based on race, 
gender, age, disability, language, social status, or sexual 
orientation.
    On September 30, after the Government amended the country's 
antidiscrimination laws, the European Commission ended legal 
proceedings against the country for incorrectly implementing EU rules 
on equal treatment in employment on the basis of religion, belief, 
disability, age, and sexual orientation. The new law against 
discrimination merges a scattered number of discrimination laws into 
one. It also establishes new grounds for financial compensation.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is illegal, and the 
Government enforced the law effectively. The law stipulates more severe 
penalties for repeated crimes and for cases in which the perpetrator 
had a close relationship to the victim. Penalties range from two to 10 
years in prison. The National Council for Crime Prevention (NCCP) 
reported 5,860 rapes during the year, compared with 6,084 in 2009.
    The NCCP reported approximately 27,200 cases of assault against 
women during the year. During the same period, 333 lethal crimes were 
reported, but figures confirming how many of these were homicides, 
accidents, or natural deaths were not available at the end of the 
reporting period. Authorities apprehended and prosecuted abusers in 
most cases.
    The law provides victims with protection from contact with their 
abusers. When necessary, authorities helped victims to protect their 
identities or obtain new identities and homes. According to official 
statistics, approximately 1,000 persons, mostly women, received such 
services. Both national and local governments helped fund volunteer 
groups that provided shelter and other assistance for abused women. 
Both private and public organizations ran shelters and operated 
hotlines.
    Official figures showed that 27 percent of girls and women with a 
non-Swedish background faced restrictions at home that could be seen as 
honor related. In real numbers, this represented approximately 100,000 
girls and women. The NCCP determined that the Government's strategy to 
deal with men's violence against women overall improved the quality of 
the Government's services. Honor-related violence exclusively involved 
immigrants from Muslim countries; police concentrated on educating 
police officers and prosecutors to increase awareness of the problem 
and improve its detection and prevention. During the year county 
administration boards used a grant of 36 million kronor ($5.3 million) 
from the Ministry for Integration and Gender Equality to work against 
honor-related oppression. At year's end there were no reports of the 
results of these programs.
    The Ministry for Foreign Affairs continued to encourage citizens to 
report suspicions of sex tourism to the country's diplomatic missions 
abroad. A police criminal investigator was stationed in Bangkok to 
provide liaison between Nordic authorities, and police in Laos, 
Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Philippines.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment, and the Government generally 
enforced this law in practice. Employers who do not investigate and 
intervene against harassment at work may be liable for damages to the 
victim. There are no criminal penalties for this crime.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children and to 
have the information and means to do so free from discrimination, 
coercion, and violence. There was easy access to contraception. 
According to data from the UN Population Fund for 2008, the latest year 
for which data is available, 75 percent of the country's women used 
some method of birth control, of which 65 percent used modern methods, 
including male and female sterilization, IUD, the pill, injectables, 
hormonal implants, condoms, and female barrier methods. The maternal 
mortality rate was estimated to be five per 100,000 live births. Access 
to prenatal care, maternal health services, including skilled 
attendance during childbirth, was widely available, as was access to 
essential obstetric and postpartum care and family planning practices. 
Women were diagnosed and treated for sexually transmitted infections, 
including HIV, equally with men.
    Women enjoy the same legal rights as men, including rights under 
family law, property law, and in the judicial system. Some sectors of 
the labor market, including the financial sector and high-ranking 
positions in both the public and private sectors, still showed 
significant gender disparities in terms of salaries, especially in 
male-dominated occupations. Women's salaries averaged approximately 85 
percent of men's, adjusting for age, education, and occupational 
differences.
    The discrimination ombudsman investigated complaints of gender 
discrimination in the labor market. Complaints could also be filed with 
the courts or with the employer. Labor unions generally mediated in 
cases filed with the employer. There were 39 discrimination complaints 
related to pregnancy during the year.
    In 2009 the Government appointed a committee to promote gender 
equality in higher education. With a budget of 60 million kronor ($8.9 
million) until the end of the year, the committee focused on combating 
gender-based subject choices and reversing the trend toward fewer male 
students in higher education. It also addressed gender differences in 
terms of study rates, dropout rates, propensity to complete a degree, 
career opportunities in research, and representation at executive 
levels in higher education. The committee funded 37 projects at 
educational institutions in the country. The committee found that 
providing educational institutions with qualitative goals for the most 
part increased gender equality. Suggestions included a yearly equality 
bonus to institutions that demonstrate gender equality and a more 
supportive role by the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education in 
the field of equality.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents. Children born 
in the country are registered in the tax authority's population 
register.
    Child abuse was a problem. The NCCP reported 11,530 cases of abuse 
of children under the age of 15 during the year, an increase of 4 
percent compared with 2009. The NCCP reported 2,530 cases of child rape 
of children under the age of 18 during the year, compared with 1,911 
reported cases in 2009.
    The law prohibits parents or other caretakers from abusing children 
mentally or physically. 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 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. On December 1, the 
parliament approved a strategy aimed at strengthening the rights of 
children.
    The law criminalizes ``contact with children for sexual purposes,'' 
including Internet contact intended to lead to sexual assault. It 
covers children under 15; penalties range from fines to one year in 
prison. The minimum age for consensual sex is 15. The law prohibits 
child pornography; penalties range from fines to six years in prison.
    The law prohibits the repatriation of foreign children if they lack 
proper documents to prove their identity and national origin. The 
migration board turned children arriving in the country alone over to 
social services in their municipality of residence, where a legal 
guardian was appointed to assist them. In June the UN Committee on the 
Rights of the Child expressed concern over the authorities' failure to 
sufficiently consider the best interests of children seeking asylum and 
the large number of unaccompanied children disappearing from reception 
centers. In November the Government announced it would form a 
commission to review the system for dealing with unaccompanied asylum-
seeking children and their housing needs.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html, as well 
as country-specific information at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--Leaders of the Jewish community estimated that 
there were 20,000 Jews in the country. Several anti-Semitic incidents 
were reported in Malmo and Stockholm, including rocks thrown at a 
Jewish community center and two bomb threats. In conjunction with the 
Gaza flotilla incident on May 31, leaders of the Jewish community 
reported that several of its members received threats via e-mail, text 
messages, and telephone calls. Anti-Semitic statements increased in 
blogs and Internet forums.
    In January the regional newspaper, Skanska Dagbladet, ran a series 
of articles on the Jewish community in Malmo. In response, Mayor Ilmar 
Reepalu reportedly asserted that Malmo's Jews bore part of the 
responsibility for the attacks against the community since they failed 
to criticize Israel's action in Gaza in 2009 and added, ``We accept 
neither anti-Semitism nor Zionism.'' Reepalu subsequently claimed he 
was deliberately misquoted. However, on February 21, the British Sunday 
Telegraph quoted Reepalu as saying, ``There have been no attacks on 
Jews and, if Jews here [in Malmo] want to move to Israel, they are free 
to do so.'' Reepalu faced heavy criticism. After meeting with the 
Jewish community, Reepalu stated he realized the seriousness of the 
situation with hate crimes against Jews in Malmo.
    During the year the newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported that 
``furious'' Swedish climbers were demanding changes to the names of 
rock-climbing routes in the Jarfalla area, some of which bore names 
related to Nazis and the Holocaust, such as ``Himmler,'' 
``Kristallnacht,'' ``Third Reich,'' ``Crematorium,'' and ``Swastika.'' 
Most of these nicknames were given between 1987 and 2001, but the press 
only picked up the story during the year. One of the climbers involved 
in the original naming told the press that he picked the name because 
he thought the route was ``horrible'' and had to be ``defeated.'' 
Despite general agreement--including from the Swedish climbing 
community--that the names were offensive, the private publishers of the 
climbing guide have not yet changed them. By custom, climbers who blaze 
routes name them, sometimes leading to highly insensitive monikers 
across the world, including in North America.
    The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency cooperated with religious 
communities on a national level to promote dialogue and to prevent 
conflicts leading to anti-Semitic incidents. In June the NCCP presented 
its annual study on hate crimes in 2009, including anti-Semitic, anti-
Islamic, and other religion-related hate crimes. In 2009 there were 591 
reports of hate crimes involving religion, of which 250 were anti-
Semitic crimes (42 percent of religion-related hate crimes), up from 
159 in 2008. Of the hate crimes involving religion in 2009, 15 percent 
reportedly had a white-supremacist motive, an increase of 3percent from 
2008.
    The NCCP's report stated that crimes against persons and damage of 
property/graffiti were the most common offenses related to religion. 
The most frequent anti-Semitic crimes were against persons with 130 
reported incidents in 2009. According to the report, 28 percent of 
anti-Semitic crimes were ideologically motivated. Religious hate crimes 
more frequently occurred in religious places or at home. The victim 
rarely knew the perpetrator, and the majority of both suspects and 
victims were men. By March police completed investigation of 50 percent 
of the hate crimes involving religion that were reported during 2008. 
Approximately 2percent of these hate crimes were still under 
investigation, and police dropped 48 percent for lack of evidence or 
failure to meet the standards of a hate crime.
    Representatives from the national unit to train police officers to 
detect hate crimes visited high schools to raise awareness of hate 
crimes and encourage more victims to report abuses. Information for 
victims of hate crimes was available in several languages, and 
interpreters were provided to facilitate reporting. In March the Skane 
police appointed a special investigator for hate crimes in each of the 
five subregions within the Skane police district.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits employers from 
discriminating against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, 
and mental disabilities in hiring decisions and prohibits universities 
from discriminating against students with disabilities in making 
admissions decisions. No other specific law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with disabilities. The discrimination ombudsman is 
responsible for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.
    The law on discrimination does not cover accessibility. Regulations 
for new buildings require full accessibility. Similar requirements 
exist for some, but not all, public facilities; many buildings and some 
means of public transportation remained inaccessible.
    The number of reports of discrimination against persons with 
disabilities increased during the year. There were 965 reports of 
governmental discrimination against persons with disabilities in 
employment, education, access to health care, or the provision of other 
state services; most of the cases involved lack of access to public 
buildings. Difficulty in accessing apartments, restaurants, and bars 
generated the most frequent reports of societal discrimination against 
persons with disabilities. Many cases were handled by mediation 
procedures rather than through formal court hearings.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Approximately 1.3 million 
persons in the country were foreign-born, with the largest groups 
originating from Finland, the former Yugoslavia, Iraq, and Iran. 
According to figures from Statistics Sweden, 98,801 persons immigrated 
to the country during the year.
    In October 2009 the chancellor of justice decided to prosecute a 
man for incitement to racial hatred for distributing stickers that 
stated, ``Swedish women are being raped. What are you doing about it?'' 
and portrayed a rapist of foreign origin with a rope around his neck. 
On April 13, the chancellor decided not to initiate a pre-
investigation.
    Police registered reports of xenophobic crimes, some of which were 
related to neo-Nazi or white-power ideology. Police investigated and 
the district attorney prosecuted race-related crimes. Official 
estimates placed the number of active neo-Nazis and white supremacists 
at approximately 1,500. 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 inflammatory symbols 
at rallies, since the law prohibits incitement of hatred against ethnic 
groups.
    Anti-Islamic behavior is a growing problem that affects both Arab 
and Somali immigrants. Although nationwide statistics for 2010 were not 
yet available, police from Skane, the region in southern Sweden where 
many of the anti-Islamic incidents occurred, reported anti-Islamic hate 
crimes increased more than 500 percent, from seven in 2009 to 45 in 
2010. In 2009, 194 of the hate crimes committed were anti-Islamic 
crimes (33 percent of religion-related hate crimes), down from 272 in 
2008.
    The most frequent anti-Islamic crimes were crimes against persons, 
with 129 reported incidents in 2009, and 31 reported cases of agitation 
against an ethnic group. According to the report, 1 percent of anti-
Islamic crimes were ideologically motivated.
    During the year there were reported shootings of mosques throughout 
the country. The Muslim community has reported several of its members 
have been verbally harassed, and derogatory graffiti has been found on 
mosque walls.
    The discrimination ombudsman received 760 complaints regarding 
discrimination due to ethnicity during the year.
    The Government estimated the Romani population at approximately 
50,000. There is a special delegation for Romani problems consisting of 
representatives of Romani origin, experts on Romani problems, and 
representatives from Romani associations. The delegation worked to 
improve the situation of Roma in society and addressed such problems as 
social, political, and economic discrimination. In July the delegation 
reported that a majority of Roma lived as outcasts, unemployment 
reached 80 percent, elementary education was rare, and average life 
expectancy was significantly lower than the country's average.
    The discrimination ombudsman handled 12 mediation and court cases 
involving Roma during the year. On June 14, the discrimination 
ombudsman reached a conciliated settlement in a case in which a Romani 
woman accused a property owner for ``not wanting Roma to buy apartments 
among his properties.'' The woman received 25,000 kronor ($3,700) in 
compensation. As of September, authorities had deported at least 38 
Roma from the Stockholm region. Civil rights defenders and Council of 
Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg, referring to 
the poor conditions to which they were forced to return, criticized the 
Government and the Migration Board for deporting Roma to Romania and, 
in particular, to Kosovo.
    The law recognizes Sami (formerly known as Lapps), Swedish Finns, 
Tornedal-Finns, Roma, and Jews as national minorities. The Government 
supported and protected minority languages by law.

    Indigenous People.--The approximately 20,000 Sami in the country 
were represented by a 31-member Sami-elected administrative authority 
called the Sami parliament. Sami are not represented as a group in the 
country's parliament, but as full citizens, they have the right to vote 
in the country's elections and to participate in the Government, 
including the country's parliament if elected or appointed. The Sami 
parliament acts as an advisory body to the Government and has limited 
decision-making powers in matters related to preserving the Sami 
culture, language, and schooling. The national parliament and 
government regulations govern the Sami body's operations.
    Longstanding tensions between Sami and the Government over land and 
natural resources persisted, as did tensions between Sami and private 
landowners over reindeer grazing rights. Certain Sami have grazing and 
fishing rights, depending on their tribal history. Sami continued to 
press the Government for exclusive access to grazing and fishing, 
although the Sami parliament focused more on the preservation of the 
Sami culture than on exploitation of natural resources.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--During the year there were 
isolated incidents of societal violence and discrimination against 
homosexual conduct. For 2009 the NCCP reported 1,090 hate crimes based 
on sexual orientation, 1,060 with a homophobic, biphobic, or 
heterophobic motive, and 30 with a transphobic motive.
    In July the annual weeklong Gay Pride Festival took place in 
Stockholm. A government working group promotes equal rights for 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law entitles all workers, 
including armed forces and police, to form and join independent unions 
of their choice without previous authorization or excessive 
requirements, and workers exercised this right in practice. An 
estimated 75 percent of the five million-person workforce belonged to 
trade unions. The law allows unions to conduct their activities without 
interference, and the Government protected this right in practice.
    The law also provides for the right to strike as well as for 
employers to organize and conduct lockouts; workers and employers 
exercised these rights in practice. Public sector employees enjoy the 
right to strike, subject to limitations in the collective agreements 
protecting the public's immediate health and security.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for collective bargaining, and workers exercised this right in 
practice. Approximately 80 percent of the workforce was covered by 
collective bargaining agreements. The law prohibits antiunion 
discrimination, and there were few reports that it occurred during the 
year.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
the country's foreign 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. Children were in some cases 
forced to beg or commit petty theft. Also see the Department of State's 
annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There are laws and policies (including those on acceptable working 
conditions) to protect children from exploitation in the workplace, and 
the Government effectively implemented these laws and policies in 
practice. The law permits full-time employment from the age of 16 under 
the supervision of local authorities. Employees under the age of 18 may 
work only during the daytime and under supervision. Children as young 
as 13 may work part time or perform light work with parental 
permission. Union representatives, police, and public prosecutors 
effectively enforced these restrictions.
    Children continued to be trafficked for forced begging and petty 
theft. Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There is no national minimum 
wage law. Wages were set by annual collective bargaining agreements. 
Nonunion establishments generally observed these contracts as well. 
Substantial benefits (for example, childcare) provided by social 
welfare entitlement programs assured even the lowest-paid workers and 
their families a decent standard of living.
    In 2009, following a poor berry season, approximately 200 Thai 
seasonal berry pickers returned home with work-related debts incurred 
in Thailand. As a result, in January berry pickers were given the same 
visa status as other temporary workers, and the regulations surrounding 
their employment in Sweden improved. Under the new regulations, the 
employer--whether foreign or domestic--must offer conditions of 
employment that are on par with the country's collective agreements and 
the work must be on such a scale that the workers earn a minimum wage 
of 16,372 kronor ($2,423) a month. However, even with the new 
regulations, several problems occurred during the year, mostly due to 
the failure of foreign companies that provided foreign workers to 
Swedish companies on contract to respect the conditions of employment. 
In one case involving a domestic employer, a group of Vietnamese 
workers locked up five managers in protest of not receiving pay 
according to the contract, partly due to a lower supply of berries than 
promised by the employer. The Vietnamese workers were not arrested and 
were allowed to leave Sweden. In September, due to another poor berry 
harvest, many foreign workers allegedly did not earn the money promised 
by foreign companies and faced difficulties returning home. The Swedish 
Red Cross and other local charities helped some pay for their return 
airfare.
    The legal standard workweek is 40 hours or less. Both the law and 
collective bargaining agreements regulate overtime and rest periods. 
The maximum allowable overtime per year is 200 hours. The amount of 
overtime compensation was normally regulated by the collective 
agreement; it varied by workplace and could also depend on whether the 
overtime occurred during the regular workweek, during a weekend, or on 
a bank holiday. Payment for overtime could take the form of money or 
time. The law requires a minimum period of 36 consecutive hours of 
rest, preferably on weekends, during a period of seven days. The law 
also provides employees with a minimum of five weeks' paid annual 
leave. The Government effectively enforced these standards.
    The Work Environment Authority, a government-appointed board, 
issued occupational health and safety regulations, and trained union 
stewards and safety ombudsmen. Government inspectors monitored them. 
Safety ombudsmen have the authority to stop unsafe activity immediately 
and call in an inspector. These rules were effectively enforced. In law 
and practice, workers can remove themselves from situations that 
endangered their health or safety without jeopardizing their 
employment.

                               __________

                              SWITZERLAND

    The Swiss Confederation, population 7.9 million, is a 
constitutional republic with a federal structure. Legislative authority 
resides in a bicameral parliament (Federal Assembly), consisting of the 
Council of States and the National Council. Free and fair elections to 
parliament took place in 2007. Parliament chooses the executive 
leadership (the Federal Council), which during the year consisted of a 
coalition of five parties. Security forces reported to civilian 
authorities.
    There were reports that police at times used excessive force, 
occasionally with impunity. Other human rights problems were lengthy 
pretrial detention, instances of societal discrimination against 
Muslims, anti-Semitic incidents, violence against women, trafficking in 
persons, and discrimination against minorities.
                        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 any politically 
motivated killings; however, security forces shot and killed one person 
during the year.
    On the night of April 18, a group of young men from France stole 
three cars in the canton of Fribourg. When the stolen vehicle 
approached a police roadblock at high speed, one officer fired seven 
shots. Five bullets hit the car killing an 18-year-old passenger. The 
investigative judge from Fribourg opened a criminal investigation for 
homicide but left open the possibility that the charge might be reduced 
to involuntary manslaughter depending on the information developed. The 
case was 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 constitution prohibits such practices; however, there 
were reports that individual police officers occasionally used 
excessive force.
    A report published on May 25, by the UN Committee Against Torture 
(UNCAT) referred to allegations of police misconduct involving the use 
of excessive force against foreigners, especially in asylum detention 
centers and during deportation operations. The committee noted that 
only a minority of complaints of violence or mistreatment by the police 
resulted in prosecutions or charges, and few resulted in compensation 
being offered to victims or their families. The UNCAT recommended the 
Government ensure that each canton create an independent mechanism 
empowered to investigate allegations of police violence.
    The UNCAT also noted that the law regulating the use of force by 
federal and cantonal police performing duties on behalf of the federal 
government does not provide for the presence of human rights observers 
or independent physicians during deportation flights. An amendment to 
the Foreign National Act to include the creation of an effective forced 
return monitoring system as required by the European Community's Return 
Directive was scheduled to enter into force on January 1, 2011. 
Authorities investigated and prosecuted a number of cases of alleged 
mistreatment by police officers.
    On October 12, the Federal Court confirmed the verdict of the 
cantonal Court of Neuchatel against a police officer for negligent 
injury during an August 2007 incident. While arresting a suspect, the 
police officer involved applied handcuffs too tightly, causing nerve 
damage in the individual's hands. The court fined the police officer 
and required him to pay court costs of 4,000 Swiss francs ($4,269).
    On October 15, three police officers from Lausanne were acquitted 
of charges of abuse of authority, assault, and causing bodily harm by 
negligence during a 2008 interrogation of two young men suspected of 
having set fire to a police van. One of the men alleged he was 
physically accosted, while the second stated he was bitten on the arm 
by a police dog and sprayed with pepper spray by a police officer. The 
president of the court determined that the police had acted 
appropriately and exercised proportionate use of force in the context 
of the inquiry. The president stated that the second individual had 
created a dangerous situation by not keeping his distance from the 
police dog despite clear orders from the police.
    In a second trial on December 12, the Lausanne District Court 
dropped all charges against five police officers accused of assaulting 
and abusing a 16-year-old Eritrean youth in 2006 due to the 
complainant's lack of credibility. The court's finding confirmed an 
initial January 2009 court decision. The boy charged that police had 
originally arrested him for insulting a police officer and later 
released him in a wooded area, where one of the officers allegedly 
sprayed him with pepper spray.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards, and the 
Government permitted visits by independent human rights observers.
    On March 10, a Nigerian asylum applicant who had been denied asylum 
died at the Zurich airport while awaiting forcible repatriation to 
Nigeria. An ensuing official report concluded that the death was the 
result of an existing heart condition and revealed that the asylum 
seeker had been on hunger strike for 45 days prior to the deportation. 
Following the incident, the Federal Office for Migration suspended all 
deportation flights and paid the individual's family 50,000 Swiss 
francs ($53,362). Zurich's general prosecutor was investigating the 
case at year's end.
    On March 11, Skander Vogt, a detainee in the Bochuz Prison in the 
canton of Vaud, died of smoke inhalation after setting fire to his 
mattress. Transcripts of phone conversations between prison officials, 
police, and rescue services published by the media showed that prison 
staff delayed intervening until the arrival of special police units. By 
the time the special unit opened the door to his cell, Vogt had died. 
At the end of the year, an investigative judge closed the independent 
investigation due to lack of sufficient evidence of any wrongdoing by 
the medical staff, the supervisors, or the prison's director. In 
addition to this case, there were isolated suicides in prisons and 
detention centers.
    During the year 6,181 persons were in prison or detention centers 
(31 percent were remanded for custody, 61 percent for convicted crimes, 
6percent under compulsory measures in accordance with the federal law 
on foreigners, and 2 percent for other reasons). Of the total, 347 were 
women (5.6 percent) and 39 were juveniles (0.6 percent).
    The occupancy rate of detention facilities was 92.5 percent during 
the year; however, prison overcrowding continued to be a serious 
problem in such major urban areas as Zurich, Bern, and Geneva. Geneva's 
Champ-Dollon Prison was the country's most crowded; designed for a 
maximum of 270 occupants, the prison housed 600 during the year.
    According to statistics released in 2009 by the Federal Department 
of Justice, the number of minors in preventive detention increased by 
20 percent between 2005 and 2008. Of the minors in preventive 
detention, 998 were males between the ages 15 to 18 years, and 165 were 
females. There were also 48 minors under 15.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted to observe and practice their respective religions. They were 
allowed to submit complaints to judicial authorities without censorship 
and to request investigation of credible allegations of inhumane 
conditions. Authorities investigated such allegations.
    The penal code states that police authorities may only detain young 
offenders for a minimal period but does not explicitly state the 
length. It also requires that juvenile offenders be held in reform 
schools or separate wings of prisons where they can receive educational 
support; however, a study by the Justice Ministry published in 2007 
found that during investigative detention juveniles often were held 
with adults and kept in prisons rather than reform schools.
    In October 2009 the Federal Council appointed an independent 12-
person National Commission for the Prevention of Torture with a mandate 
to undertake regular visits and inspections of conditions in prisons 
and detention facilities. The commission visited detention centers in 
the canton of Valais on May 27 and 28 and the Hindelbank Women's 
Detention Center in the canton of Bern on June 11 and 12.
    The Government permitted independent monitoring of prison 
conditions by local and international human rights groups, the media, 
and the International Committee of the Red Cross. There was no 
ombudsman at the national level, but a number of cantons instituted 
cantonal ombudsmen and mediation bodies, which served on behalf of 
prisoners and detainees to address the conditions and circumstances of 
their detention.
    At the end of August, authorities inaugurated a new wing with 40 
cells at the Bellechasse Prison in Fribourg. The canton of Geneva, 
whose prisons were the most crowded, began construction of a new penal 
institution for the treatment of mental disorders and for confinement 
in November 2009. Other projects in Geneva included extension of the 
existing Champ-Dollon Prison, which started on November 29, and La 
Brenaz Prison. On February 2, the canton of Vaud selected the project 
for the construction of a new juvenile prison center in Palezieux, 
designed to accommodate offenders from the French-speaking part of the 
country, with a scheduled completion date of 2013. Authorities in the 
canton of Zurich constructed new prisons for juveniles during the year.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution prohibits 
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed 
these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over police forces, which the cantons 
primarily organized and administered with federal coordination. The 
Federal Office of Police, in addition to performing coordination and 
analytical functions, can pursue its own investigations under the 
supervision of the attorney general in cases of organized crime, money 
laundering, and corruption. The Government has effective mechanisms to 
investigate and punish abuse; however, in past years there have been 
some allegations of impunity.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--By law 
criminal suspects must be apprehended on the basis of warrants issued 
by a duly authorized official unless police are responding to a 
specific and immediate danger. In most cases authorities may not hold a 
suspect longer than 24 hours before presenting him to a prosecutor or 
investigating magistrate who must either bring formal charges or order 
the detainee's release; however, asylum seekers and other foreigners 
without valid documents may be detained up to 96 hours without an 
arrest warrant. There is a functioning bail system, and courts granted 
release on personal recognizance or bail unless the magistrate believed 
the person charged to be dangerous or a flight risk. A suspect may be 
denied legal counsel at the time of detention and initial questioning 
but has the right to choose and contact an attorney before charges are 
brought. The state provides free legal assistance for indigents charged 
with crimes for which imprisonment would be a possible punishment. 
Access to family members may be restricted to prevent tampering with 
evidence, but law enforcement authorities are required to inform close 
relatives promptly of the detention.
    In some cases, lengthy pretrial detention was a problem. In 2009 
approximately one-third of all prisoners were in pretrial detention, 
and the average length of such detention was approximately 50 days. All 
cases of prolonged pretrial detention are subject to review by higher 
judicial authorities. The country's highest court has ruled that 
pretrial detention must not exceed the length of the expected sentence 
for the crime for which a suspect is charged.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair trial, and the judiciary generally enforced this right.
    Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence. Trials are public. 
Juries are used only in the most serious cases, including murder. 
Defendants have the right to be present and to consult with an attorney 
in a timely manner, and an attorney is provided at public expense if 
defendants face serious criminal charges. Defendants have the right to 
confront or question witnesses and to present witnesses and evidence. 
They have the right to appeal, ultimately to the highest court, the 
Federal Tribunal. Authorities generally respected these rights in 
practice and extended them to all citizens.
    The military penal code requires that war crimes and violations of 
the Geneva Conventions be prosecuted only when defendants have close 
ties with the country. Normal civilian rules of evidence and procedure 
apply in military trials. The military penal code allows the appeal of 
any case, ultimately to the Military Supreme Court. Any licensed 
attorney may serve as a military defense counsel, but in most cases, 
defendants used attorneys assigned by the courts. Under military law, 
the Government pays for defense costs. Civilians charged with revealing 
military secrets, such as classified military documents or classified 
military locations and installations, may be tried in military courts.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--On June 10, the European 
Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that the state had violated Article 
5 of the European Convention on Human Rights in the case Borer v. 
Switzerland. In 1997 the applicant was sentenced to 11 years in prison 
for murder and theft and was ordered to undergo psychotherapeutic 
treatment. During his incarceration he demonstrated severe mental 
problems and refused psychotherapy. Upon completion of his sentence in 
2006, the applicant was kept in detention because of the high risk of 
his becoming a repeat offender. The ECHR ruled that the provisional 
detention after completion of the applicant's sentence had no specific 
legal basis and that authorities had violated the applicant's right to 
liberty and security under the European convention.
    On June 10, in the case Schwizgebel v. Switzerland, the ECHR ruled 
that the refusal to authorize adoption mainly on account of the 
applicant's age was not discriminatory. After adopting a first child in 
2002, the applicant complained that the authorities prevented her from 
adopting a second child because of her age. She claimed that at the age 
of 47 she had been subject to discrimination as compared with other 
women who were able to give birth. The ECHR ruled that authorities had 
considerable discretion to decide on such matters, and that both 
domestic legislation and decisions taken seemed to comply with 
applicable international law.
    On July 7, the ECHR ruled in the case Neulinger and Shuruk v. 
Switzerland that the Federal Court violated Article 8 of the European 
Convention on Human Rights in ordering the Swiss mother of an abducted 
child to return her child to the father in Israel. The court considered 
that it was not in the interest of the child to return to Israel, since 
the child was well settled in the country.
    On July 27, the ECHR ruled that the state had violated the right to 
respect for private and family life under the European Convention on 
Human Rights in the case of Mengesha Kimfe v. Switzerland. Swiss 
authorities refused to assign two rejected female asylum seekers from 
Ethiopia to the same cantonal reception center as their husbands so 
that the couples could live together until their deportation. Since 
Ethiopian authorities denied their return, the couples had been 
officially prevented from living together for five years. The court 
ordered the country to pay one applicant 846 euros ($1,134) for 
pecuniary damages and 5,000 euros ($6,700) for nonpecuniary damages, 
and the second applicant 2,330 euros ($3,122) for pecuniary damages, 
5,000 euros ($6,700) for nonpecuniary damage, and 526 euros ($705) for 
costs and expenses.
    On October 28, in the case Schaller-Bossert v. Switzerland, the 
ECHR ruled that the applicant was not given the right to a fair hearing 
(Article 6) after contesting her termination as a teacher. The court 
ordered the country to pay 5,000 euros ($6,700) for nonpecuniary damage 
and 8,537 euros ($11,440) to cover costs and expenses of the applicant.
    On November 9, the ECHR ruled in the case Losonci Rose and Rose v. 
Switzerland that the country had violated Article 14 in conjunction 
with Article 8 in refusing to allow the two applicants to keep their 
own surnames after their marriage. The court concluded that the rules 
in force in the country gave rise to discrimination between binational 
couples according to whether the man or the woman had Swiss nationality 
and ordered the country to pay the applicants 10,000 euros ($13,400) 
for nonpecuniary damage and 4,415 euros ($5,916) for costs and 
expenses.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters. Citizens have access to a 
court to bring lawsuits seeking damages for or cessation of a human 
rights violation. Persons who have exhausted domestic courts may also 
apply to the ECHR.

    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.
    The law penalizes public incitement to racial hatred or 
discrimination, spreading racist ideology, and denying crimes against 
humanity. There was at least one conviction during the year under this 
law. On September 29, the Federal Court upheld a conviction against the 
Europe-based representative of the Turkish Workers' Party and two of 
his colleagues for having denied the Armenian genocide at a public 
event in 2007. They were found guilty of violating the law on 
preventing racism.
    According to federal law, it is a crime to publish information 
based on leaked ``secret official discussions.'' A number of cases of 
violation of secrecy by the press were being investigated during the 
year; however, there no sentences were handed down for such offenses by 
year's end.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the Government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
Internet access was widely available. According to statistics compiled 
by the International Telecommunications Union, 77 percent of the 
population used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--Authorities generally did 
not restrict academic freedom or cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
provides for freedoms of assembly and association, and the Government 
generally respected these rights in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern.
    The constitution prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not 
employ it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees.
    In practice the Government provided protection against expulsion or 
return of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be 
threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership 
in a particular social group, or political opinion. The Federal Office 
for Migration relied on a list of ``safe countries,'' and would-be 
refugees who originated in, or transited, these countries generally 
were ineligible to apply for asylum.
    Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) criticized the inclusion in 
the ``safe countries'' list of some countries in Eastern Europe and 
Africa that they considered not sufficiently stable to justify 
automatic rejection. During the year the Government received asylum 
requests involving 15,567 persons. Authorities adjudicated 20,690 cases 
and granted refugee status or asylum to 3,449 persons.
    The Government required asylum applicants to present documentation 
verifying their identity within 48 hours of completing their 
applications, and authorities refused to process the applications of 
asylum seekers who were unable to provide a credible justification for 
their lack of acceptable documents or show evidence of persecution. 
Authorities could detain uncooperative asylum seekers, subject to 
judicial review, for up to six months while adjudicating their 
applications. They could detain rejected applicants for up to three 
months to ensure their departure or up to 18 months if repatriation 
posed special obstacles. They could detain minors between15 and 18 
years of age for up to 12 months pending repatriation; however, 
rejected asylum seekers generally were not detained, nor were they 
removed from the country. They were instructed to leave voluntarily. If 
they refused to return voluntarily, they could be forcibly repatriated.
    Amnesty International and other NGOs working with refugees 
continued to complain that detained asylum seekers often were 
effectively denied proper legal representation in deportation cases 
because they lacked the financial means to obtain an attorney. 
Authorities provided free legal assistance only in cases of serious 
criminal offenses. The deportation of asylum seekers is an 
administrative, rather than judicial, process.
    On November 28, Swiss voters adopted a referendum on the automatic 
expulsion of foreigners convicted of serious crimes, including 
premeditated homicide, rape, other serious sexual offenses, violence 
such as armed robbery, human trafficking, drug trafficking, burglary, 
or welfare fraud. Both the federal government and the parliament 
recommended that voters reject the initiative. The Justice Ministry 
convened a working group that has five years to bring the initiative 
into effect in compliance with bilateral agreements with the European 
Union and Swiss national and international laws. The Government also 
provided temporary protection to individuals who may not qualify as 
refugees under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees 
and its 1967 protocol and provided it to 4,796 persons during the year; 
23,471 individuals enjoyed temporary protection status in the country 
at the end of the year.
    On September 14, the Council of States decided, following the March 
3 approval of the National Council, that juvenile undocumented 
immigrants would in the future have the right to an apprenticeship in 
the country. In March the city of Lausanne opened its job training 
programs to four young undocumented migrants who grew up 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, and citizens exercised this right in practice 
through periodic, free, and fair elections based on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In 2007 citizens chose a 
new Federal Assembly in free and fair elections. Political parties 
operated without restriction or outside interference.
    At the end of the year, there were 69 women in the 246-seat Federal 
Assembly and four women in the seven-seat Federal Council (cabinet). 
The proportion of female representatives in cantonal legislatures 
remained 24 percent. Women held approximately one-fifth of the seats in 
cantonal executive bodies.
    There was one member of an ethnic minority, who was originally from 
Angola, in the 200-seat National Council.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government generally implemented these laws effectively. There were 
isolated reports of government corruption during the year.
    On October 12, the press reported that the Federal Prosecutor's 
Office was investigating several officials of the Federal Office for 
the Environment for corruption and malfeasance. The case allegedly 
involved two information technology companies that received contracts 
valued at over two million Swiss francs ($2.1 million) in the past 
three years.
    Members of the Federal Assembly must disclose their financial 
interests, professional activities, supervisory board or executive body 
memberships, and expert or consulting activities every year. 
Investigating and prosecuting government corruption is a federal 
responsibility. A majority of cantons also require members of cantonal 
parliaments to disclose their financial interests. A joint working 
group consisting of representatives of various federal government 
agencies operated under the leadership of the federal Department of 
Foreign Affairs to combat corruption.
    The constitution requires the Government to inform the public about 
its activities, and government information was available to all persons 
living in the country, including foreign media. A transparency law 
provides for public access to government documents.
    The November 2009 report of the UN Group of Experts on the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) presented information indicating 
that Cronimet Central Africa AG, which was based in Switzerland, 
indirectly funded conflict and perpetrators of human rights abuses in 
the eastern DRC.
Section 5. 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 cooperative and responsive to their views.
    The Government cooperated with international governmental 
organizations and permitted visits by UN and other international 
representatives.
    There is no national ombudsman. Following the October 2009 
recommendation of the UN Human Rights Council, the federal departments 
of foreign affairs and justice and police moved on September 3 to 
create a Swiss Competence Center for Human Rights. Based on a proposal 
submitted by a number of local universities in association with the 
Graduate Institute Kurt Boesch, the center was scheduled to begin work 
on January 1, 2011, with a mission to strengthen the country's 
capacities for implementing human rights by providing information, 
advice, tools, and forums for players in the field of human rights.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, 
disability, language, or social status. The Government generally 
enforced these prohibitions effectively.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is a statutory offense, and 
the Government effectively prosecuted those accused of such crimes. In 
2009 police recorded 666 instances of rape (compared with 612 in 2008) 
and 470 prosecutions (compared with 429 in 2008).
    Violence against women was a problem. The Federal Office of Public 
Health published a survey in 2008 showing that 80 percent of victims of 
domestic violence had suffered previous assaults. Domestic violence is 
a statutory offense. A court may order an abusive spouse to leave the 
family home as a temporary measure. Stalking is also an offense. 
Victims of domestic violence could obtain help, counseling, and legal 
assistance from specialized government agencies and NGOs or from nearly 
a dozen hotlines sponsored privately or by local, cantonal, and 
national authorities. Although women's shelters experienced an average 
of 70 percent occupancy, in the cantons of Basel, Bern, and Zurich half 
of the applicants for shelter reportedly were turned away, mostly due 
to a lack of space or adequate staff for dealing with severely 
traumatized individuals. The Interior Ministry's Federal Office for 
Equality between Women and Men had a special unit that focuses on 
domestic violence. Most cantonal police forces had specially trained 
domestic violence units. A majority of cantons also had special 
administrative units that coordinated the activities of law enforcement 
agencies, prosecutors, and victim assistance groups.
    Forced marriage is illegal, but reportedly occurred, mainly in less 
integrated immigrant families, making detection and prosecution 
difficult. Its extent was unknown.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment and facilitates access to legal 
remedies for those who claim discrimination or harassment in the 
workplace; however, special legal protection against the dismissal of a 
claimant is only temporary. Employers failing to take reasonable 
measures to prevent sexual harassment are liable for damages equal to 
as much as six months' salary.
    The Government recognized the basic right of couples and 
individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and 
timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so 
free from discrimination, coercion, and violence. Health clinics and 
local health NGOs operated freely in disseminating information on 
family planning. There were no restrictions on access to 
contraceptives, and these measures were used widely. Compulsory basic 
health insurance covers the cost of routine examination during 
pregnancy and the costs related to childbirth. According to estimates 
compiled by international organizations, there were approximately 10 
maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in the country in 2008. Men and 
women received equal access to diagnosis and treatment for sexually 
transmitted infections, including HIV. There were no legal, social, 
cultural, or other barriers limiting access to such services.
    Women enjoy the same rights as men under the constitution, 
including in family law, property law, and in the judicial system; 
however, independent observers claimed that some laws, as interpreted 
by the courts, were discriminatory. For example, the Federal Tribunal 
ruled that the primary wage earner in a divorce must retain sufficient 
income to remain above the poverty level. Since men are the primary 
wage earner in most marriages, a household income too low to support 
both parties could force the wife and children to resort to public 
assistance.
    The Federal Office for Equality between Women and Men and the 
Federal Commission on Women worked to eliminate both direct and 
indirect gender discrimination. Many cantons and some large cities had 
equality offices to handle gender issues.
    Discrimination against women in the workplace is illegal, but women 
disproportionately held jobs with lower levels of responsibility. Women 
were promoted less frequently than men were and were less likely to own 
or manage businesses.
    Under the constitution women and men are entitled to equal pay for 
equal work; however, a study published by the Federal Statistics Office 
in October showed that in 2008 women's gross salaries in the private 
sector were on average more than 19 percent lower than salaries for 
men. In the public sector women earned on average 15.5 percent less 
than men for the same job. In March 2009 the Government initiated a 
five-year project urging companies to review their salary structures to 
eliminate the pay gap between men and women.

    Children.--Citizenship derives from one's parents, and citizenship 
may be derived from a single parent. Child abuse was a problem. In 2009 
there were 1,526 reported cases of sexual assault against children, 
compared with 3,504 in 2008. Most of the victims were girls younger 
than 18 years old, and most abuse took place in the family or the 
immediate social environment.
    The production, possession, distribution, or downloading from the 
Internet of pornography involving children is illegal and carries heavy 
fines or a maximum sentence of one year in prison.
    With limited exceptions, the law designates 16 years old as the 
minimum age of consensual sex. The maximum penalty for statutory rape 
is imprisonment for 10 years.
    The law does not expressly prohibit prostitution by 16- and 17- 
year-old minors under all circumstances, leaving these children 
potentially vulnerable to trafficking for commercial sexual 
exploitation.
    Female genital mutilation (FGM) is illegal but, according to NGOs, 
there were reports that the practice occurred in limited numbers. The 
UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimated that there were nearly 7,000 
circumcised women and girls in the country as a result of immigration 
from areas where FGM was practiced. During the year UNICEF continued 
its efforts to raise awareness of FGM. On December 16, parliament voted 
to add a paragraph banning FGM to the criminal code. On November 2, the 
State Secretariat for Economic Affairs and the NGO ECPAT Switzerland 
launched, in conjunction with private companies and NGOs in Germany and 
Austria, a trilateral public awareness campaign for the protection of 
children from sexual exploitation in the tourism industry.
    A report issued in September 2009 by the NGO Swiss Monitoring Body 
for the Rights of Asylum and Alien Law alleged that authorities often 
overlooked the needs and well-being of children when implementing the 
law. For example, the report indicated that, upon the expulsion of 
their parents, some children who had been raised in the country and 
were integrated fully into its way of life were forced to move to 
countries where they had no connections. The Federal Office of 
Migration rejected the assertion, maintaining that government officials 
gave careful consideration to cases involving children between the age 
of 14 and 17 years who were well integrated into society.
    During the year several NGOs expressed concern about reports of 
hundreds of unaccompanied foreign minors entering the country annually, 
claiming many have disappeared from state care after arrival. Officials 
asserted that there had been only a few isolated cases of missing 
unaccompanied minors during the year.
    For information on international parental child abduction, please 
see the Department of State's annual Report on Compliance with the 
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction 
at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/congressreport/
congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--According to the 2000 census (the most recent 
official data available), there were 17,914 members of the Jewish 
community, constituting 0.24 percent of the population.
    The Geneva-based Intercommunity Center for Coordination Against 
anti-Semitism and Defamation recorded 153 anti-Semitic incidents in the 
western, French-speaking part of the country in 2009 compared with 96 
in 2008. They ranged from verbal and written assaults to offensive 
graffiti and acts of vandalism against Jewish property. The Swiss 
Federation of Jewish Communities recorded 28 anti-Semitic incidents in 
the German-speaking part of the country, compared to 21 incidents in 
2008. The federation noted in its annual report that serious incidents 
such as violent attacks against Jews and denials of the Holocaust were 
very rare in the country.
    The law penalizes public incitement to racial hatred or 
discrimination, spreading racist ideology, and denying crimes against 
humanity. On October 21, a farmer from Sigriswil was fined 3,600 Swiss 
francs ($3,842) for having published anti-Semitic conspiracy theories 
in a local newspaper.
    The country is a member of the Task Force for International 
Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution and federal law 
prohibit discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, 
intellectual, and mental disabilities in employment, education, access 
to health care, or the provision of other state services or other 
areas, and the Government generally enforced the prohibition. The law 
mandates access to public buildings and government services for persons 
with disabilities, and the Government generally enforced these 
provisions in practice.
    The Federal Equal Opportunity Office for Persons with Disabilities 
promoted awareness of the law and respect for the rights of the 
disabled through counseling and financial support for projects to 
facilitate their integration in society and the labor market. The 
Government continued a pilot project to empower persons with severe 
disabilities to live on their own by providing them with additional 
funding to pay for assistance in their daily lives.
    On the fifth anniversary of the country's Disability Discrimination 
Law in December 2009, Egalite Handicap, a local NGO acting on behalf of 
persons with disabilities, published a report noting that important 
steps toward equality for persons with disabilities had been taken 
since the entry into force of the law. At the same time, the report 
criticized a number of defects in the fields of construction, 
transport, school, professional training, and state services; in 
particular, it criticized cantonal differences in access to inclusive 
education for children with disabilities.
    On September 8, Egalite Handicap filed a complaint against the low-
cost air carrier Easyjet at the Federal Office of Civil Aviation and 
the Geneva Civil Court for refusing to transport a man in a wheelchair 
without an escort on a flight from Geneva to Berlin in late 2009.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Right-wing extremists, 
including skinheads, who expressed hostility toward foreigners, ethnic 
and religious minorities, and immigrants continued to be publicly 
active. Police estimated that the number of extremists remained steady 
at approximately 1,200. Statistics gathered by the Foundation against 
Racism and anti-Semitism indicated that the total number of reported 
incidents against foreigners or minorities was 112 in 2009, compared 
with 93 incidents recorded in 2008. These figures included instances of 
verbal and written attacks, which were much more frequent than physical 
assaults. Many of the violent incidents were clashes between right- and 
left-wing extremist groups. Following the November 28 adoption of the 
referendum on the automatic expulsion of foreigners convicted of 
serious crimes, left-wing protesters caused property damage at 
locations used by the conservative Swiss People's Party (SVP).
    On August 16, the Federal Commission against Racism released a 
report analyzing 2009 feedback from the Consulting Network for Victims 
of Racism. According to the report, a significant number of cases of 
racism were linked to sociopolitical events, such as the antiminaret 
initiative or tensions in the relationship between Switzerland and 
Germany. Most victims of racial discrimination were from Central 
Europe, but a significant proportion were Swiss citizens. In 2009 the 
Consulting Network for Victims of Racism assisted 162 victims of racial 
discrimination, compared with 87 victims in 2008.
    On June 19, a Swiss soldier showed his friend from Angola his army 
rifle in his car in Zurich. After an unknown person reported having 
seen two black men with a gun, the police sent an antiterror detachment 
and dragged the two men from their car. One police officer reportedly 
racially insulted the Angolan man and threatened to beat him. Police 
authorities were investigating the incident.
    On November 26, a truck driver harassed, threatened, and physically 
attacked a woman wearing a headscarf at a gas station in the canton of 
Glarus. According to newspaper reports, a similar incident had happened 
a year earlier in a local supermarket.
    According to the Party of Nationally Oriented Swiss (PNOS), about 
100 right-wing extremists participated in the PNOS's annual meeting on 
November 13 in Morgarten to celebrate the historical battle of 
Morgarten in 1315. After the meeting, most participants attended a 
concert of a right-wing extremist band.
    The Jenisch are recognized by the Government as a minority group. 
While the large majority of the 30,000 to 35,000 Jenisch in the country 
lived settled lives, the Roma European Rights Center reported that 
representatives of the several thousand who continued to pursue an 
itinerant lifestyle had urged the Government to carry out its promises 
to create new campsites and parking areas for them in recent years. A 
lack of proper camping facilities and transit areas reportedly forced 
many Jenisch to occupy land illegally. The federal government allocated 
750,000 Swiss francs ($800,000) for measures and projects between 2007 
and 2011 to improve living conditions for the Jenisch.
    On June 24, the Federal Commission against Racism expressed concern 
about the increase in hostile attitudes against Roma and urged the 
cantons and municipalities to create new campsites and parking areas to 
eliminate any systemic discrimination against them.
    On June 6, a group of Roma attempted to set up a camp with about 60 
cars near a highway exit in the canton of Fribourg. The landowner, who 
was also president of the municipality and a member of the canton's 
grand council, claimed the Roma were harassing citizens and causing 
damage to the fields. The son of the landowner spread manure on the 
field, up to a few meters from the caravan. The Roma chased the man 
away threatening him with axes and metal bars.
    On June 19, an unidentified person fired two shots at a car 
belonging to a Rom in Ticino, destroying its rear window. A few days 
later, the president of the local right-wing party Lega dei Ticinesi 
stated that Roma should be prohibited from camping in Ticino. The 
Federal Commission against Racism, the Foundation against Racism and 
anti-Semitism, and the Society for Minorities in Switzerland expressed 
concern about the incident and condemned the reaction of the Lega 
representative.
    During the year the Department of the Interior's Federal Service 
for Combating Racism sponsored a variety of educational and awareness-
building projects to combat racism, xenophobia, and anti-Semitism.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There were occasional reports 
of societal violence or discrimination based on sexual orientation.
    On the occasion of International Day against Homophobia held on May 
17, the Swiss gay organization, Pink Cross, reported that homosexual 
children from immigrant families, particularly from the Balkans, 
Turkey, and the Middle East, suffered heavy reprisals by their 
families.
    Throughout the year, representatives of the Young Social Democratic 
Party and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) organizations 
complained that gay men suffered discrimination, as they were not 
allowed to donate blood.
    On March 2, the Swiss section of Amnesty International filed a 
petition to the parliament calling for the gender-based persecution of 
LGBT persons to be incorporated into federal law as a category of 
persecution qualifying an applicant for asylum in the country.
    On June 9, Zurich Pride, a festival for LGBT persons, took place in 
Zurich with the same level of security and police presence as many 
other large public events in the country.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were occasional 
reports of discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law permits all workers, 
including foreigners, to form and join independent unions of their 
choice without previous authorization or excessive requirements, and 
workers exercised these rights in practice. Approximately 25 percent of 
the workforce was unionized.
    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 strike, and workers exercised this right 
by conducting legal strikes. However, collective bargaining agreements 
commit the social partners to maintain labor peace, limiting the right 
to strike for the duration of the agreement, which is generally several 
years. The Government may curtail the right of federal public servants 
to strike, but only for reasons of national security or safeguarding 
foreign policy interests. Public servants in some cantons and many 
municipalities are prohibited from going on strike. There was an 
ombudsperson in some cantons.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Authorities 
effectively enforced the laws protecting collective bargaining. 
Collective bargaining agreements covered approximately 50 percent of 
the work force.
    There were no specific laws against antiunion discrimination and 
employer interference. The law does not require employers to offer 
reinstatement to an employee who is found to have been dismissed 
unjustly. The law provides that a worker found to have been illegally 
dismissed is entitled to maximum compensation of up to six months' 
wages. Trade union leaders complained that this penalty was 
insufficient to deter abusive dismissals of union activists.
    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. Women were trafficked for sexual 
exploitation and domestic labor; there were isolated reports of 
trafficking in children. Trafficked women often were forced into 
prostitution; in many cases, they were subjected to physical and sexual 
violence, encouraged toward drug addiction, and incarcerated. Many 
victims were forced to work in salons or clubs. For information on 
trafficking in persons, please see the Department of State's annual 
Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
Government effectively enforced laws and policies to protect children 
from exploitation in the workplace; however, there were isolated 
reports of trafficking of children to beg and commit theft. For 
information on trafficking in persons, please see the Department of 
State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.
    The minimum age for fulltime employment is 15 years of age. 
Children 13 and 14 years of age may be employed in light duties for not 
more than nine hours per week during the school year and 15 hours at 
other times. The employment of youths between the ages of 15 and 18 
years old is also restricted; cantonal inspectorates strictly regulated 
these provisions. Children are not permitted to work at night, on 
Sundays, or in hazardous conditions.
    The Economics Ministry monitored the implementation of child-labor 
laws and policies, and cantonal labor inspectorates were responsible 
for enforcement. Cantonal labor inspectors effectively inspected 
companies to determine whether there were violations of the child labor 
laws.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There is no national minimum 
wage, which resulted in relatively low average wages for workers and 
employees in the clothing, hospitality, and retail industries. A 
majority of the voluntary collective bargaining agreements, reached on 
a sector-by-sector basis, contained clauses on minimum compensation, 
ranging from 2,200 to 4,200 Swiss francs ($2,348 to $4,482) per month 
for unskilled workers and 2,800 to 5,300 Swiss francs ($2,988 to 
$5,656) per month for skilled employees. These wages generally provided 
a decent standard of living for a worker and family. According to 
government statistics published in April 2009, 92 percent of nearly 
15,000 employers inspected, including both those participating in 
collective agreements and those who reached wage agreements in other 
ways, complied with their obligations concerning wages.
    The wage differences between local and foreign workers varied 
significantly according to their level of skills and their residence 
status. Skilled short-term resident foreigners earned approximately 
1,235 Swiss francs ($1,318) more per month, and skilled resident 
foreigners were paid approximately 2,256 Swiss francs ($2,408) more per 
month than their Swiss equivalents. The only exceptions were skilled 
cross-border commuters, who earned nearly as much as comparable Swiss 
workers. In contrast unskilled resident foreigners earned on a monthly 
basis approximately 616 Swiss francs ($657) less, short-term resident 
foreigners approximately 1,045 Swiss francs ($1,115) less, and cross-
border commuters approximately 279 Swiss francs (approximately $298) 
less than unskilled local employees.
    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. Premium pay for 
overtime must be at least 25 percent; overtime is generally restricted 
to two hours per day. Annual overtime is limited by law to 170 hours 
for those working 45 hours a week and to 140 hours for those working 50 
hours a week. The Government effectively enforced these regulations.
    The law contains extensive provisions to protect worker health and 
safety. The Economics Ministry and cantonal labor inspectorates 
effectively enforced the law. Workers have the right to remove 
themselves from work situations that endanger their health or safety 
without jeopardy to their continued employment, and the authorities 
effectively enforced this right.

                               __________

                                 TURKEY

    Turkey, with a population of approximately 74 million, is a 
constitutional republic with a multiparty parliamentary system and a 
president with limited powers. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) 
formed a parliamentary majority in 2007 under Prime Minister Recep 
Tayyip Erdogan. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective 
control of the security forces.
    There were reports of a number of human rights problems and abuses 
in the country. Security forces committed unlawful killings; the number 
of arrests and prosecutions in these cases was low compared to the 
number of incidents, and convictions remained rare. During the year 
human rights organizations reported cases of torture, beatings, and 
abuse by security forces. Prison conditions improved but remained poor, 
with overcrowding and insufficient staff training. Law enforcement 
officials did not always provide detainees immediate access to 
attorneys as required by law. There were reports that some officials in 
the elected government and state bureaucracy at times made statements 
that some observers believed influenced the independence of the 
judiciary. The overly close relationship between judges and prosecutors 
continued to hinder the right to a fair trial. Excessively long trials 
were a problem. The Government limited freedom of expression through 
the use of constitutional restrictions and numerous laws. Press freedom 
declined during the year. There were limitations on Internet freedom. 
Courts and an independent board ordered telecommunications providers to 
block access to Web sites on numerous occasions. Violence against 
women, including honor killings and rape, remained a widespread 
problem. Child marriage persisted, despite laws prohibiting it.
    During the year there were some positive developments. On April 11, 
the political parties law was amended to allow campaigning in languages 
other than Turkish, including Kurdish. On July 25, the Government 
amended the antiterror laws to prohibit prosecution of minors under the 
laws, reduce punishments for illegal demonstrations and meetings, and 
allow for the release of minors who had been previously convicted under 
the laws, resulting in the release of hundreds of children from prison. 
On September 12, a package of constitutional reforms was passed by a 
referendum; it included provisions that changed the composition of the 
Constitutional Court and the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors; 
allowed appeal of decisions of the Supreme Military Council in civilian 
courts; established an ombudsman; and allowed positive discrimination 
in favor of women, children, veterans, persons with disabilities, and 
the elderly.
                        respect for human rights
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        From:

    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--The Government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings; however, 
security forces killed some persons during the year.
    The domestic nongovernmental organization (NGO) Human Rights 
Foundation (HRF) reported that security forces caused the deaths of 
several persons during demonstrations.
    On May 11, police officer Gultekin Sahin allegedly shot Serzan Kurt 
during a demonstration at Mugla University. On May 17, the police 
officer was arrested. Kurt died from the wounds on May 19 at a hospital 
in Izmir. On August 10, a Mugla court transferred the case to a court 
in Eskisehir. The case continued at year's end.
    On May 28, the Diyarbakir prosecutor terminated the investigation 
into the 2009 death of Aydin Erdem after declaring he was killed by the 
terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
    There were no developments in the 2009 deaths of demonstrators 
Sinan Aydin, Mahsum Karaoglan, or Mustafa Dag during the year.
    There were continuing reports that security forces shot and killed 
civilians who refused to obey a warning to stop at checkpoints. The HRF 
reported that 29 persons died during the year specifically for refusing 
to stop, a decrease from the previous year. However, the Jandarma 
reported that there were no such deaths at checkpoints during the year.
    On February 7, the HRF said the Jandarma opened fire on a minibus 
that failed to obey the warning to stop in Sirnak, killing Hecer Uslu. 
No investigation had begun at year's end.
    Human rights organizations continued to state that the Government's 
failure to clearly delineate in the law appropriate situations for the 
use of lethal force contributed to cases of disproportionate use of 
force. The Jandarma, however, reported that various laws and 
regulations define proportionate use and escalation of force and that 
security forces followed those rules when reacting to a situation.
    Yahya Menekse died after being run over by an armored police 
vehicle during a demonstration in Cizre, Sirnak, in 2008. On July 29, 
the first session of the court case for negligence began against the 
police officer who was driving the vehicle. The case continued at 
year's end.
    As of year's end, a criminal case had not been filed in the police 
shooting and killing of Zeki Erinc during Nevruz (Kurdish New Year) 
celebrations in 2008.
    On June 1, a Bakirkoy court convicted 21 of the 60 suspects in the 
death of Engin Ceber, who died of a brain hemorrhage in 2008, 
reportedly as a result of a beating by security forces during his 
detention and later by officials in prison. Four of the officials 
received life imprisonment.
    The appeal of the Istanbul prosecutor's decision to close the 
investigation of seven police officers suspected in the death of 
Mustafa Kurkcu in Umraniye prison in 2007 continued at year's end. The 
prosecutor requested acquittal for the police officers on July 26. The 
investigation also continued at year's end.
    Approximate numbers based on reports from the security forces 
(military, Jandarma, and Turkish National Police (TNP)) indicated that 
25 civilians were killed and 50 were injured in armed clashes related 
to the struggle against the terrorist PKK during the year. 
Approximately 108 members of the security forces were killed and 244 
were injured, and 149 terrorists were killed and five were injured. 
Most of the clashes between terrorists and security forces occurred in 
the southeast. The number of civilian deaths and injuries decreased 
from 2009, while deaths of security forces increased.
    According to the Jandarma, land mines killed 13 civilians and 
injured 17 during the year. The HRF, however, claimed that land mines 
and unattended explosives killed five civilians and injured 31 during 
the year.
    On several occasions throughout the year, the Turkish government 
used military aircraft to attack areas where the PKK, a terrorist 
organization, was active in northern Iraq. According to press reports, 
one civilian was killed and two others were injured in Iraq by 
artillery fire on June 18.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances during the year.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
there were reports that some government officials employed them.
    Human rights organizations continued to report cases of torture and 
abuse in detention centers and prisons during the year. They alleged 
that torture and abuse largely occurred outside of detention centers in 
more informal venues where it was harder to document. In its report for 
the year, Amnesty International (AI) noted that investigations into 
human rights violations by police were largely ineffective and that 
instances of bringing officials to justice were rare. The UN Committee 
against Torture (UNCAT) stated in its November report that it was 
``gravely concerned about numerous, ongoing, and consistent allegations 
concerning the use of torture, particularly in unofficial places of 
detention.''
    The HRF reported that courts investigated allegations of abuse and 
torture by security forces during the year. However, they rarely 
convicted or punished offenders. Authorities typically allowed officers 
accused of abuse to remain on duty during their trials. UNCAT reported 
in November that it was ``concerned at the continuing failure of 
authorities to conduct effective, prompt and independent investigations 
into allegations of torture and ill-treatment.''
    In its November progress report, the European Commission (EC) 
reported that security forces frequently initiated countercases for 
resisting arrest against persons who alleged torture or abuse and that 
such cases were often given priority in courts. Domestic human rights 
organizations agreed and claimed that this practice had a deterrent 
effect on the filing of abuse complaints.
    The Prime Ministry's Human Rights Presidency (HRP) received a total 
of 3,475 applications based on human rights violations, including 
torture, during the year. The HRP attributed the increase in numbers of 
applications to a higher level of awareness of HRP's provincial and 
subprovincial offices.
    According to the domestic NGO Human Rights Association (HRA), there 
were 202 reports of torture in the first 11 months of the year, a 
substantial decrease from the previous year. The HRF received 319 new 
allegations of torture. A number of human rights observers claimed that 
only a small percentage of detainees reported torture and abuse because 
most feared retaliation or believed that complaining was futile. There 
was no data available at year's end from the TNP on alleged torture 
cases.
    The Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture 
(CPT) and domestic human rights observers reported in 2008 that 
security officials mainly used methods of torture and abuse that did 
not leave physical signs, including repeated slapping, cold exposure, 
stripping and blindfolding, food or sleep deprivation, threats against 
detainees or their family members, dripping water on detainees' heads, 
isolation, and mock executions. Human rights activists, attorneys, and 
physicians who treated victims stated that because of increased 
punishments for torture and abuse, police who engaged in these 
practices often did so outside of police detention centers to avoid 
detection.
    Human rights activists maintained that those arrested for ordinary 
crimes were as likely to suffer torture and mistreatment in detention 
as those arrested for political offenses such as speaking out against 
the Government, although they were less likely to report abuse. 
According to a number of human rights groups and press reports, 
authorities allegedly tortured some suspects to obtain confessions, 
while others, such as transvestites, were regularly subject to abuse by 
police on ``moral'' grounds.
    On March 5, police officer Gazi Ozuak was acquitted on charges of 
torturing theft suspect Zeki Simsek in 2008. Authorities ruled that 
videotapes of the incident indicated that police did not bear 
responsibility.
    On May 8 and December 24, a Bakirkoy court continued the case 
against seven police officers for the 2007 shooting and paralysis of 
Ferhat Gercek while he was selling Yuruyus, a leftist newspaper. 
Gercek's trial for resisting arrest, which carried a possible 
punishment of up to 15 years and four months' imprisonment, also 
continued at year's end.
    Human rights organizations documented cases of prison guards 
beating inmates during the year. On January 5, a group of parents of 32 
children being held in an Adana prison on terror charges made a press 
statement claiming that prison officials beat the children and rubbed 
salt in their wounds.
    On June 21, according to the HRF, prison officials beat three 
inmates at the Tekirdag prison for singing ``Human dignity will 
overcome torture.'' One of the inmates filed a criminal complaint 
against prison officials on August 24. As of year's end, an 
investigation had not begun. After filing the complaint, the three 
inmates were each allegedly given more than a month of solitary 
confinement.
    As of year's end, no action had been taken in the 2008 case of 
Derya Bakir, who suffered fractures in both legs due to alleged cruel 
treatment by 20 guards when she visited her brother in prison.
    As of year's end, no official action had been taken against 
officials in Bolu prison for the 2008 beating of Muzaffer Akengin, 
Deniz Guzel, and Naif Bal.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison facilities remained 
inadequate, although conditions generally improved during the year. 
Underfunding and overcrowding were the major problems.
    The HRF reported 32 deaths of prison inmates and five deaths in 
detention through October 10. According to the TNP, two inmates 
committed suicide during the year. The Turkish General Staff (TGS) 
reported there were no deaths of detainees or convicts in military 
prisons during the year.
    As of October 27, the Ministry of Justice reported the country had 
371 prisons with a designed capacity of 114,220 holding a total of 
121,102 inmates, 56,988 of whom were arrestees with ongoing trials. The 
TGS reported 25 military prisons with a capacity of 5,300 holding a 
total of 767 prisoners, 556 of whom were arrestees with trials in 
progress.
    According to the Turkish Medical Doctors' Association, prisons were 
not adequately staffed with doctors, and psychologists were available 
only at some of the largest prisons. Several inmates claimed they were 
denied appropriate medical treatment for serious illness. The HRF 
reported that 355 arrestees or convicts were denied access to proper 
health services during the year.
    Foreigners who claimed asylum after being detained by security 
forces were held in ``guest houses for foreigners'' operated by the 
Foreigners' Department of the TNP. According to the Office of the UN 
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), detained asylum seekers 
reported insufficient food and medical attention and overcrowded 
conditions.
    Detainees and convicts occasionally were held together. Inmates 
convicted for nonviolent, speech-related offenses were sometimes held 
in high-security prisons.
    Juveniles were generally held in separate wards from adults. On 
July 25, the Government amended the antiterror laws to prohibit 
prosecution of minors under the laws, reduce punishments for illegal 
demonstrations and meetings, and allow for the release of minors who 
had previously been tried and convicted under the laws. These 
amendments resulted in the release during the year of more than 200 
minors and persons who had been convicted previously as juveniles. No 
data was provided by the Ministry of Justice at year's end as to the 
number of juveniles imprisoned in the country.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. Authorities permitted prisoners and 
detainees to see a judge once a month. Authorities at times 
investigated credible allegations of inhumane conditions but generally 
did not document the results of such investigations in a publicly 
accessible manner.
    In late February and March, members of parliament's Human Rights 
Investigation Commission (HRIC) were allowed to visit and observe 
military prisons for the first time. The HRIC produced two reports 
during the year that found conditions in those prisons satisfactory. 
The Government permitted prison visits by representatives of some 
international organizations. Domestic human rights organizations and 
activists reported that they were not allowed to visit prisons during 
the year and that prison-monitoring boards composed of government 
officials and private persons were ineffective.
    The CPT visited PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in Imrali prison on 
January 26-27. Its report published on July 9 stated that the 
conditions of imprisonment for Ocalan had improved compared with 2007. 
It also noted improved access to the prison for Ocalan's lawyers and 
family members.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention; however, the Government at times did not observe 
these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The TNP, under the 
control of the Ministry of Interior, is responsible for security in 
large urban areas. The Jandarma, a paramilitary force under the joint 
control of the Ministry of Interior and the military, is responsible 
for policing rural areas. The Jandarma is also responsible for specific 
border sectors where smuggling is common; however, the military had 
overall responsibility for border control. In November the EC noted the 
Government's February annulment of the secret protocol on Security, 
Public Order and Assistance Units (commonly called EMASYA), which 
allowed military operations to be carried out without the consent of 
civilian authorities.
    A civil defense force known as the village guards, concentrated in 
the southeast, was less professional and disciplined than other 
security forces. The village guards have been accused repeatedly in 
past years of drug trafficking, corruption, theft, rape, and other 
abuses. Impunity remained a serious problem. During the year the 
Government reduced the number of village guards to 45,877 from 47,854 
in 2009.
    On April 26, a Corum court convicted six persons who were employed 
as village guards and reportedly used state-supplied weapons to kill 44 
persons at a wedding ceremony in Mardin in May 2009. They received 44 
consecutive life sentences. Three other persons received lesser 
sentences. Appeals of the convictions continued at year's end.
    The TNP and Jandarma received specialized training in a number of 
areas, including human rights and counterterrorism. Thousands of 
security personnel received human rights training as part of their 
ongoing training during the year. According to the Government, the 
military emphasized human rights in training for officers and 
noncommissioned officers. A total of 32 hours of human rights training 
is given to Jandarma officers, noncommissioned officers, and cadets.
    The Jandarma reported that three personnel were investigated for 
excessive use of force during the year. The investigations were ongoing 
at year's end. A total of 68 Jandarma personnel were expelled for 
various reasons during the year.
    The TNP reported that, as of November, 71 judicial or 
administrative investigations were opened against TNP personnel for 
excessive use of force or mistreatment. One investigation resulted in a 
reprimand, and five resulted in a short-term block on promotions. 
Investigations were dropped in 32 incidents because there was ``no need 
to punish.'' Investigations continued in 33 incidents at year's end.

    Arrest and Detention.--Warrants issued by a prosecutor are required 
for arrests unless the suspect is caught in the commission of a crime. 
A suspect may be detained for 24 hours, with prosecutorial discretion 
to extend the period to 48 hours, excluding transportation time, before 
being arraigned by a judge. Suspects must be told of the charges 
against them within 24 hours. A suspect cannot, under the law, be held 
arbitrarily or secretly. There is a functioning bail system. After 
arraignment, the judge may release the accused upon receipt of an 
appropriate assurance, such as bail, or order detention if the judge 
determines that the accused is likely to flee the jurisdiction or 
destroy evidence. The law provides that detainees are entitled to 
immediate access to an attorney and to meet and confer with an attorney 
at any time. The law requires that the Government provide indigent 
detainees with a public attorney in criminal cases where the defendant 
requests an attorney. In cases where the potential sentence is greater 
than five years, or where the defendant is a child or is disabled, a 
defense attorney is appointed even without the defense request. 
Detainees were generally allowed prompt access to family members. 
However, human rights organizations reported difficulties in helping 
families find out whether a relative had been detained because the 
Government refused to release such information to the organizations or 
the families.
    Private attorneys and human rights monitors reported irregular 
implementation of these laws, particularly with respect to attorney 
access. According to a number of local bar associations, attorney 
access for detainees continued to vary widely across the country. In 
rural areas, particularly in the southeast, there were more reports of 
defendants not having immediate access to an attorney.
    Human rights observers noted that in most cases where a defendant 
could not afford an attorney, one was provided. However, in terrorism-
related cases an attorney was frequently not provided until after the 
suspect had been detained and interrogated by security forces. The HRA 
claimed that police often intimidated detainees who asked for 
attorneys, for example by telling them a court would assume they were 
guilty if they consulted an attorney during detention. Provincial bar 
associations continued to face difficulties providing attorneys because 
the Government was behind on compensation payments for such work.
    By law, police and Jandarma may compel citizens to declare their 
identities without any cause.
    During the year police routinely detained demonstrators for a few 
hours at a time. Police detained more than 1,000 members of the pro-
Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) on various occasions. Police 
continued to detain and harass members of human rights organizations, 
media personnel, and human rights monitors. Police continued to detain 
persons on suspicion of ``membership in an illegal organization'' and 
for ``promoting terrorist propaganda.''
    On October 10, the first session of a case against 151 suspects, 
including several elected mayors, political party officials, and human 
rights activists, began in Diyarbakir. The suspects were charged in a 
7,578-page indictment with disrupting the integrity of the state; being 
members and/or administrators of the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), 
the political branch of the terrorist PKK; and assisting and sheltering 
a terrorist organization, among other charges. Human Rights Watch 
stated that the case raised concerns about the right of individuals to 
participate in political activities. The case continued at year's end.
    Lengthy arrest periods before a verdict were generally a problem. 
The law does not set a time limit for holding suspects in custody or 
for completion of their trial. Judges have ordered that some suspects 
be held for long periods or even indefinitely without trial but with 
the right to come before a judge each month. The Ministry of Justice 
reported that the average length of time between arrest and the 
completion of trial was 580 days. In November the EC stated that close 
to half of all detainees were either awaiting trial or awaiting a final 
verdict on their cases. Of juveniles in detention, 88 percent were 
awaiting trial.
    Throughout the year, prosecutors in Istanbul continued to arrest 
and indict prominent military, business, and media personalities on 
charges of plotting to foment unrest and topple the elected government 
as members of an alleged network known as ``Ergenekon.'' More than 250 
persons were indicted by year's end. Some opposition politicians, 
members of the press, human rights groups, and critics of the 
Government considered many of the indictments to be politically 
motivated. Others, including human rights groups and some supporters of 
the Government, claimed that the arrests had reduced pressure on 
journalists and human rights activists across the country. Dozens of 
defendants have been held for long periods, a common practice in the 
country, although some were released pending trial during the year.
    On December 16, the first session of a trial of 195 suspects in the 
alleged ``Sledgehammer'' coup plan began. The suspects, who include 
active-duty military generals and civilians, were accused of 
obstructing the Government and plotting to overthrow it. The trial 
continued at year's end. Many observers saw this trial as politically 
motivated, similar to the Ergenekon case, while others saw it as 
bringing to justice those who attempted to overthrow the Government.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary; however, the judiciary was occasionally subject 
to outside influence. The law prohibits the Government from issuing 
orders or recommendations concerning the exercise of judicial power. In 
November the EC's progress report on the country noted that senior 
members of the armed forces in particular continued to make statements 
on judicial matters.
    The High Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) selects judges 
and prosecutors for the country's courts and is responsible for court 
oversight. The constitution provides tenure for judges, but the HSYK 
controls the careers of judges and prosecutors through appointments, 
transfers, promotions, expulsions, and reprimands. The September 12 
constitutional amendments expanded the number of permanent members of 
the HSYK from seven to 22. The amendments also called for 10 members to 
be directly elected by the approximately 12,000 judges and prosecutors 
throughout the country, while the 10 other members are appointed by the 
president, the Court of Appeals, the Council of State, and the Justice 
Academy. The remaining two members are the minister and under secretary 
of justice. Supporters of the changes hailed the development as a step 
toward an independent judiciary. Opponents, however, argued that the 
Government would use influence among judges and prosecutors to ensure 
the election of handpicked candidates to the HSYK and contended that 
the president would be likely to select progovernment candidates as 
well. The minister of justice presides over the HSYK, and at least once 
in the past year the minister prevented the HSYK from convening, 
accusing the HSYK of attempting to intervene in ongoing trials.
    The close connection between public prosecutors and judges gave the 
appearance of impropriety and unfairness in criminal cases. Prosecutors 
and judges study together before being assigned by the HSYK. Once 
appointed, they were often housed together, frequently shared the same 
office space, and often worked in the same courtroom for more than five 
years.
    According to several regional bar associations, the Government 
devoted insufficient resources to public defense. The associations also 
noted that public defense attorneys undergo less rigorous training than 
their prosecutorial counterparts and are not required to take an 
examination to demonstrate a minimum level of expertise.
    Constitutional amendments adopted on September 12 allow individuals 
to apply directly to the Constitutional Court for redress. Previously, 
only the lower courts, the president, and members of parliament under 
certain conditions could apply to the court.
    On January 21, the Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional 
the provision of the law allowing military personnel to be tried in 
civilian courts. However, the September 12 constitutional amendments 
contain a provision for trial of military personnel in civilian courts 
if the crime is committed against the state, constitutional order, or 
the functioning of constitutional order. The amendments provide for 
civilian judicial review of decisions of the Supreme Military Council. 
The amendments also annulled the constitutional provision that 
prevented the trials of persons involved in the 1980 coup, including 
former military generals.
    According to an AI report during the year, criminal defendants 
faced protracted and unfair trials, especially for violations of 
antiterror laws. The report also asserted that convictions under 
antiterror laws were often based on unsubstantiated or unreliable 
evidence.

    Trial Procedures.--Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence. 
Courtroom proceedings are public for all cases except those involving 
minors as defendants. Court files, which contain charging documents, 
case summaries, judgments, and other court pleadings, are closed to 
everyone other than the parties to a case. This makes it difficult to 
obtain information on the progress or results of court cases except 
through formal channels. There is no jury system; a judge or a panel of 
judges decides all cases. Defendants have the right to be present at 
trial and to consult with an attorney in a timely manner. Defendants or 
their attorneys can question witnesses for the prosecution and, within 
limits, present witnesses and evidence on their behalf. Defendants and 
their attorneys have access to government-held evidence relevant to 
their cases. Defendants enjoy the right to appeal, although appeals 
generally took several years to conclude.
    International human rights organizations and the EU stated that the 
courtroom structure and rules of criminal procedure gave an unfair 
advantage to the prosecution. During a trial, the prosecutor could call 
any witness desired, whereas the defense had to request that the judge 
call a witness. Judges decided whether to ask and how to phrase defense 
counsel's questions but asked all of the prosecution's questions in the 
exact form presented. Prosecutors entered the courtroom through the 
same door as the judge; defense attorneys entered through a separate 
door. Prosecutors sat at an elevated desk at the same level as that of 
the judge; the defense sat at floor level.
    Defendants sometimes wait several years for their trials to begin. 
Subsequently, trials often last several years. Proceedings against 
security officials often were delayed because officials did not submit 
statements promptly or attend trials.
    In 2009 the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found 95 
violations of the European Convention on Human Rights by the country 
involving length of proceedings.
    The law prohibits the use in court of evidence obtained by torture; 
however, prosecutors in some instances failed to pursue torture 
allegations, forcing defendants to initiate a separate legal case to 
determine whether the exclusion of evidence was lawful. Human rights 
organizations reported that, in such instances, the primary case 
frequently was concluded before the secondary case was decided, leading 
to unjust convictions.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--The HRA asserted that several 
thousand political prisoners from all parts of the political spectrum 
existed, although the Government does not distinguish them as such. The 
Government claimed that alleged political prisoners were in fact 
charged with being members of, or assisting, terrorist organizations.
    According to the Ministry of Justice, from January to June, 7,217 
suspects were detained on terrorism-related charges. During the same 
period 1,553 terrorism cases were opened against 3,333 suspects.
    International humanitarian organizations were allowed access to 
alleged political prisoners, provided they could obtain permission from 
the Ministry of Justice. In practice, organizations rarely received 
permission.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--Article 90 of the 
constitution states that ``in the case of a conflict between 
international agreements in the area of fundamental rights and 
freedoms...the provisions of international agreements shall prevail.'' 
The country is signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights. 
Due to this provision, the country's courts are subject to the 
jurisdiction of the ECHR. Decisions of the ECHR bear the force of law 
in the country and take precedence over case decisions from the Court 
of Appeals or Constitutional Court.
    As of November 30, there were 16,100 cases involving the country 
outstanding at the ECHR. As of November 22, there were 330 ECHR 
decisions involving the country. According to the EU's November 
progress report, a high number of alleged violations continued to be 
submitted to the ECHR.
    On September 14, the ECHR ruled in a high-profile case that the 
country was liable for failing to protect the life and freedom of 
expression of Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink in 2007. The ECHR 
ruled that the Government failed to prevent the murder of the 
journalist after threats were made against him and did not carry out an 
effective investigation afterwards.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters. The law provides that all 
citizens have the right to file a civil case for compensation for 
physical or psychological harm suffered, including for alleged human 
rights violations. The September 12 constitutional amendments allow 
individuals to bring a case directly to the Constitutional Court. The 
amendments also establish the creation of an independent human rights 
commission and an ombudsman's office. Neither institution had been 
established by year's end.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The September 12 constitutional amendments protect the 
``secrecy of private life.'' The amendments state that persons have the 
right to demand protection and correction of their personal information 
and data.
    The law allows for telephone tapping with a court order. Only the 
country's telecommunication agency is authorized to tap telephones, and 
only when presented with a court order directed against alleged drug 
traffickers, organized crime members, and terrorists. There were 
occasional complaints by individuals and public figures, including 
higher court members and politicians, that their telephones were 
illegally tapped without a court order.
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 continued to limit 
these freedoms in significant numbers of cases. The EC stated in its 
November progress report that the law does not sufficiently guarantee 
freedom of expression and noted as particular concerns the high number 
of cases initiated against journalists, undue political pressure on the 
media, legal uncertainties, and frequent Web site bans.
    Article 301 of the penal code criminalizes insults to the Turkish 
nation. The minister of justice must give permission for a case 
concerning article 301 to proceed. A separate legal provision forbids 
insulting the country's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Prosecutors 
continued to conduct ideologically motivated investigations under both 
the constitution and the law. Other laws, such as antiterror laws and 
laws governing the press and elections, also restricted speech.
    According to the Ministry of Justice, the minister received 352 
complaints concerning article 301 during the year and rejected 342 of 
them. The minister gave permission for the remaining 10 cases to 
proceed.
    Individuals in many cases could not criticize the state or 
government publicly without risk of criminal suits or investigation, 
and the Government continued to restrict expression by persons 
sympathetic to some religious, political, and Kurdish nationalist or 
cultural viewpoints. Active debates on human rights and government 
policies continued in the public sphere, particularly on problems 
relating to the role of the military, Islam, political Islam, Kurds, 
Alevis, and the history of the Turkish-Armenian conflict at the end of 
the Ottoman Empire. However, many who wrote or spoke on such topics, 
particularly those who criticized the military, the Kurdish problem, or 
the Armenian problem, risked investigation, albeit fewer than in 
previous years. The Turkish Publishers' Association (TPA) reported that 
serious restrictions on freedom of expression continued despite legal 
reforms related to the country's EU candidacy.
    During the year authorities continued to file numerous cases 
against publications under antiterror laws. The HRF reported that the 
laws contain an overly broad definition of offenses that allows 
ideologically and politically motivated prosecutions. There were at 
least 550 cases against the pro-Kurdish daily newspaper Ozgur Gundem 
under antiterror laws. There were some convictions, but most cases 
remained open at year's end.
    Throughout the year, police and the judiciary increased pressure on 
members of the BDP. Human rights activists and party officials claimed 
that more than 1,700 cases continued against BDP members by year's end. 
Most members were investigated and prosecuted for speaking in the 
Kurdish language or for making statements critical of the Government or 
in support of the PKK or its leader, Abdullah Ocalan. Many were also 
arrested for alleged ties with the KCK.
    At the first session in October of the trial against 151 alleged 
members of the KCK, the suspects asked to defend themselves in the 
Kurdish language instead of Turkish. The court denied the request, 
calling Kurdish an ``unknown language.''
    In December a Diyarbakir court rejected a request by 17 defendants 
to defend themselves in Kurdish in a trial for support of terrorism 
after returning from Iraq in October 2009. However, also in December a 
Sanliurfa court allowed defendants to defend themselves using the 
Kurdish language. This kind of inconsistency in court decisions on the 
use of languages other than Turkish was prevalent throughout the 
country.
    Diyarbakir mayor Osman Baydemir continued to face more than 100 
charges and investigations for use of the Kurdish language, spreading 
terrorist propaganda, and promoting terrorism or a criminal. Most of 
these cases were for Baydemir's expression of his political views or 
speaking in Kurdish in public events. During the year there were at 
least 20 acquittals and three convictions in cases against Baydemir, 
but he remained in his position as mayor. Many cases and appeals were 
pending at year's end. For example, in December Prime Minister Erdogan 
opened a civil case against Mayor Baydemir for ``emotional damage'' for 
a speech that Baydemir made in December 2009 to protest police 
operations against KCK suspects. Baydemir cursed in the speech. There 
had been no movement on the case at year's end.
    In February, BDP member of parliament Emine Ayna sued deputy prime 
minister Bulent Arinc for calling her a ``creature.'' She demanded 
10,000 lira ($6,666) compensation. The case continued at year's end.
    On May 21, a Diyarbakir court indicted singer Ferhat Tunc for 
``spreading propaganda for the PKK'' and ``acting on behalf of an 
illegal organization'' for a speech he gave at a festival in Eruh in 
August 2009 on the 25th anniversary of the first PKK attack. The singer 
faced up to 15 years' imprisonment. The case continued at year's end.
    During the year the prosecutor ceased the investigation of 
suspected violations of article 301 against the National Police Academy 
for a workshop conducted in August 2009 on the Government's ``Kurdish 
Opening'' initiative aimed at addressing some concerns of the country's 
Kurdish citizens.
    The Government owned and operated the Turkish Radio and Television 
Corporation (TRT). According to the High Board of Radio and Television 
(RTUK), as of November there were 210 local, 15 regional, and 25 
national television stations and 944 local, 99 regional, and 35 
national radio stations officially registered in the country. In 
addition, 77 television channels operated on cable networks, and the 
RTUK granted seven television and two radio enterprises satellite 
licenses and broadcast permits necessary for operation. 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 owned by large, private 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. Observers noted that some media 
conglomerates used the media as a tool to build pressure for or against 
government policies.
    The RTUK reported that radio and television stations were allowed 
to broadcast in the following languages besides Turkish during the 
year: Arabic, Bosnian, Circassian, and Kurdish (both Kurmanci and Zaza 
dialects).
    The country had active privately owned print media. Hundreds of 
private newspapers spanning the political spectrum appeared in numerous 
languages, including Kurdish, Armenian, Arabic, English, and Farsi. 
However, authorities routinely censored media with pro-Kurdish or 
leftist content, particularly in the southeast, by confiscating 
materials or temporarily closing down the media source. According to 
the TNP, 21 issues of newspapers, 32 issues of magazines, and 10 books 
were confiscated during the year.
    Prosecutors harassed writers, journalists, and political figures by 
bringing dozens of cases to court under various laws that restrict 
media freedom. However, judges dismissed many of these charges. 
Authorities at times ordered raids of newspaper offices, closed 
newspapers temporarily, issued fines, or confiscated newspapers for 
violating speech codes. Despite government restrictions, the media 
criticized government leaders and policies daily and in many cases 
adopted an adversarial role with respect to the Government. On October 
20, Reporters without Borders cited a ``frenzied proliferation of 
lawsuits, incarcerations, and court sentencing targeting journalists.'' 
The Solidarity Platform of Imprisoned Journalists reported that, at the 
end of the year, there were 43 journalists in prison, 10 of these 
editors in chief. Most of these journalists were being charged under 
antiterror laws.
    On February 26, Prime Minister Erdogan made statements that many 
observers believed implied media owners should fire columnists whom 
Erdogan accused of hurting the economy with their negative reporting. 
These statements were seen by many as an attempt to censor the media's 
critical reporting on government activities. Observers reported that 
government officials and state bureaucrats made other statements 
throughout the year that were interpreted as influencing the 
independence of the media.
    The media reported that, by year's end, more than 5,000 cases were 
filed against journalists covering the Ergenekon trial. Of those, more 
than 20 journalists were convicted. The remaining cases continued at 
the end of the year.
    On December 2, the country's top administrative court suspended a 
large portion of the 2009 tax fine against the Dogan Media Group. Some 
observers were concerned that the Government was using the large tax 
fine to punish the media group because its editorial line had been 
considered critical of the Government and prime minister. They 
described the fine as having a chilling effect on journalists, which 
continued during the year, and reported that the Government was using 
it to silence opposition. Although the fine was suspended, a case 
regarding the validity of the fine continued at year's end.
    National publications could be denied access to government 
officials because of their reporting. During the year a journalist from 
the daily newspaper Evrensel, Sultan Ozer, and at least five other 
journalists did not receive accreditation to the Prime Ministry after 
being denied in 2009 as well. The TGS did not admit to its media 
briefings representatives of publications which it perceived as 
espousing views contrary to the TGS.
    There were complaints during the year against authors and 
publishers filed by ideologically motivated attorneys and prosecutors. 
Dozens of authors, writers, and publishers were on trial at year's end.
    On January 11, the Court of Appeals decided that the 2008 ``I 
apologize to the Armenians'' campaign did not constitute a crime and 
dropped the case against the organizers.
    On February 18, an Istanbul court convicted attorneys Irfan Dundar 
and Firat Aydinkaya to 10 months' imprisonment for a 2004 article in 
the Ozgur Gundem daily newspaper that reported Ocalan's comments to his 
attorneys. They were convicted of ``making propaganda for a terrorist 
organization.''
    In April a court convicted Samil Tayyar of the daily newspaper Star 
and gave him a suspended term of 15 months in prison for writing about 
the continuing trial of the alleged Ergenekon organization. Tayyar was 
convicted of violating individual confidentiality, influencing the 
independence of the judiciary, and violating the confidentiality of 
preliminary investigations.
    On May 13, a local court convicted Vedat Kursun, former editor in 
chief of the Kurdish-language newspaper Azadiya Welat for membership in 
a terrorist organization and violating antiterror laws in connection 
with 102 articles he had written in 2007 and 2008. Kursun was sentenced 
to 166 years in prison. In another case in December, Kursun was 
sentenced to another 138 years for articles he published in the same 
newspaper. Both cases were under appeal at year's end.
    On June 4, an Istanbul court convicted Express magazine writer 
Irfan Aktan and editor Merve Erol under antiterror laws for spreading 
propaganda for a terrorist organization in a 2009 article that Aktan 
wrote on the Kurdish problem. Aktan was sentenced to one year and three 
months in prison, and Erol received a 16,600 lira ($11,066) fine.
    Several cases remained outstanding at year's end against publisher 
Ragip Zarakolu for publishing books deemed offensive or ``dangerous'' 
or for ``spreading propaganda of a terrorist organization.''
    On June 10, an Istanbul court convicted author N. Mehmet Guler to 
one year and three months in prison for ``spreading propaganda of a 
terrorist organization'' for his book More Difficult than Death. 
Publisher Zarakolu was acquitted in the same case. On September 30, a 
separate case was opened against Zarakolu for publishing another book 
about the Kurdish issue. The case continued at year's end.
    On October 26, the trial of Ogun Samast, accused of killing 
prominent human rights activist Hrant Dink in 2007, was transferred to 
Istanbul Juvenile Court under the amendments that prohibit trying 
juveniles under the antiterror laws. Samast was 17 when the killing 
occurred. The case continued at year's end.
    On October 27 and December 30, an Ankara court continued the case 
against publisher and writer Temel Demirer for allegedly violating 
article 301. Demirer had been charged for a statement he made after the 
2007 Dink killing that ``Hrant Dink was not killed for being Armenian 
but for recognizing the genocide.'' The case continued at year's end.
    On June 4, an Istanbul court acquitted Nedim Sener, who was charged 
with ``publicizing confidential information'' and ``insulting 
government officials'' in a book he published, Dink Murder and 
Intelligence Lies.
    Printing houses were required to submit books and periodicals to 
prosecutors at the time they were published. The TPA reported that 
publishers often avoided works with controversial content in order to 
stay out of court. It also reported that the prohibition and recall of 
books remained a concern, although there were fewer such cases than in 
2009. Several publications were recalled pending a final court decision 
during the year. Writers and publishers were still prosecuted on 
grounds of defamation, denigration, obscenity, separatism, terrorism, 
subversion, fundamentalism, and insulting religious values. According 
to the TPA, authorities investigated or opened court cases against 
dozens of publications and publishers during the year. The 
International Publishing Association stated that, at year's end, 70 
persons from the literary world were on trial in the country.
    On May 21, the RTUK approved an application from a private TV 
station in Diyarbakir to change its name to AMED-TV. ``Amed'' is the 
Kurdish name for Diyarbakir. AMED-TV began broadcasting in the Kurmanci 
and Zaza dialects of Kurdish, along with Turkish, Farsi, and Arabic, on 
May 23.

    Internet Freedom.--The Internet was widely available in the 
country. It was used in schools, libraries, cafes, and other public 
locations, and the Government encouraged its use. There were some 
restrictions on Internet access. According to TurkStat, the country's 
national statistics authority, individuals in approximately 41.6 
percent of homes in the country used the Internet during the year.
    The Internet law allows the Government to prohibit a Web site if 
there is suspicion that the site is committing any of eight crimes: 
insulting Ataturk, obscenity, prostitution, gambling, or encouraging 
suicide, sexual abuse of children, drug abuse, or dangerous substances 
for health care. Upon receiving a complaint or as a result of personal 
observations, a prosecutor may request that a judge prohibit access to 
the offending site or, in an urgent situation, the Telecommunication 
Presidency (TP) may prohibit access. In either case, a judge must rule 
on the matter within 24 hours. Following a judicial order, the Internet 
service provider (ISP) must block access within 24 hours. If the judge 
does not approve the block, the prosecutor must ensure access is 
restored. The ISP administrators may face a penalty ranging from six 
months' to two years' imprisonment for failing to comply with a 
judicial order. The law also allows persons who believe a Web site 
violates their personal rights to request the TP to order the ISP to 
remove the offensive content. No official figures on the number of 
blocked Web sites were available at year's end. However, Engelliweb, an 
NGO working on internet freedom issues, reported that by October 31, 
6,457 sites had been blocked in the country, a substantial increase 
over the reported numbers in 2009.
    On June 7, the Ministry of Transport asked the TP to block access 
to certain Web sites associated with Google services and demanded that 
YouTube register as a taxpayer in the country. Other services, 
including Google Translate, Google Docs, and Google Books, were blocked 
because they tried to ``circumvent Turkey's laws'' to allow access to 
YouTube. Access to these services was restored at year's end.
    On October 31, the TP removed the 2008 prohibition on the YouTube 
Web site because a video that lampooned Ataturk had been removed from 
the site. The site remained accessible at year's end.
    On November 2, an Ankara court ordered YouTube blocked again for 
publishing a secretly taped video allegedly showing then head of the 
opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Deniz Baykal with a woman in 
a hotel room. The court ordered the Web site blocked because of 
``obscene and immoral images.'' As of year's end, the TP had not acted 
on the court order, and the Web site remained accessible.
    On August 6, the TP banned Playboy magazine's Web site without a 
court order, based on ``a legal evaluation'' of the Internet law on 
obscenity. The ban remained in force at year's end.
    On September 17, a court ordered the TP to block the social 
networking site Facebook because videos posted on the site insulted 
Turks and Ataturk. However, the TP decided not to block the site 
because the offending material was removed. The site remained 
accessible at year's end.
    Government authorities on rare occasions accessed Internet user 
records 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 and generally did so in practice.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were generally no 
government restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events during 
the year; however, there was some self-censorship on sensitive topics. 
Restrictions on freedom of speech at times were used to limit academic 
freedom and cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The law provides for freedom of assembly; however, the 
Government restricted this right in practice. Significant prior 
notification to authorities is required for a gathering, and 
authorities may restrict meetings to designated sites.
    The HRF reported that security forces killed two persons during 
demonstrations and injured 143, a substantial decrease from the 
previous year. There were reports that police beat, abused, or harassed 
demonstrators during the year. The HRF reported that police detained 
1,716 and arrested 152 persons involved in demonstrations during the 
year. The detentions varied in length from several hours to several 
days.
    Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that many demonstrators were 
punished during the year ``even if their offense was making a victory 
sign, clapping, shouting a PKK slogan, throwing a stone, or burning a 
tire.'' The HRW report criticized heavily the use of antiterror laws to 
punish persons who were exercising their right to demonstrate 
peacefully.
    AI reported that on June 17, Halil Savda, Gokce Otlu Sevimli, 
Zarife Ferda Cakmak, and Volkan Sevinc were convicted of ``alienating 
the public from military service.'' The case stemmed from their 
attendance at a public demonstration on January 6 and a press release 
in support of conscientious objector Enver Aydemir. Savda, Sevimli, and 
Cakmak each received prison sentences of six months; Sevimli's and 
Cakmak's sentences were suspended. Sevinc was also convicted of 
insulting a police officer and sentenced to one year and six months in 
prison, suspended.
    Public events around the country celebrating the Nevruz holiday in 
March were generally peaceful. However, violence continued to mar 
demonstrations related to the Kurdish problem during the rest of the 
year in the southeast of the country.
    A number of symbolic public events took place on April 24 to 
commemorate events relating to the Armenian issue and the tragic events 
of 1915. The gatherings were peaceful and received police protection 
where necessary.
    Labor Day celebrations on May 1 were generally peaceful. For the 
first time in 33 years, celebrations were officially allowed in Taksim 
Square in Istanbul, which in the past was a traditional location for 
such celebrations.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association; however, several restrictions on this right continued in 
practice.
    Under the law, persons organizing an association do not need to 
notify authorities beforehand, but an association must provide 
notification before interacting with international organizations or 
receiving financial support from abroad and must provide detailed 
documents on such activities. Representatives of associations stated 
this placed an undue burden on their operations.
    According to the Third Sector Foundation of Turkey, an advocacy 
NGO, the criteria for NGOs to obtain public benefit status that 
entitles them to certain tax exemptions were restrictive and 
complicated. Applications for public benefit status must be approved by 
the Council of Ministers. The law does not allow applicants to appeal 
if their petitions are rejected.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation; however, at times the Government limited these rights in 
practice. The September 12 constitutional amendments state that only a 
judge may limit the freedom to travel and only in connection with a 
criminal investigation or prosecution. The Government reduced 
substantially the number of roadway checkpoints in the southeast, where 
it maintained a heavy security presence. The Government generally 
cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations to 
provide protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees (recognized as such with certain geographical limitations on 
country of origin), returning refugees, asylum seekers awaiting 
resettlement to third countries, stateless persons, and other persons 
of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--Fighting between the security 
forces and the terrorist PKK, which began in 1984 and continued during 
the year, resulted in hundreds of thousands of citizens living as IDPs 
in the country. Many IDPs settled permanently in cities in the west, 
especially around Izmir and Istanbul. According to the TNP, a total of 
187,861 citizens returned voluntarily to their villages in the 
southeast by October.
    The law to compensate IDPs allowed persons who suffered material 
losses during the conflict with the PKK to apply for compensation 
through May 2009. The EC's November progress report stated that the 
Government had made continued progress on compensating losses due to 
terrorism and the fight against terrorism since 2004. Rejected 
applicants have launched numerous cases in administrative courts. 
Several of them applied to the ECHR. Local NGOs and regional bar 
associations maintained that the law included unreasonable 
documentation requirements and awarded levels of compensation far below 
standards established by the ECHR. The Government denied these claims.
    Voluntary and assisted resettlements continued. In a few cases, 
persons could return to their former homes; in other cases centralized 
villages were constructed. The TNP reported it had provided 
compensation totaling 1.95 billion lira (approximately $1.3 billion) by 
October related to losses stemming from the fight against PKK 
terrorists.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country accepts its obligations under 
the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees only with respect 
to refugees from Europe. An administrative regulation provides for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status. During the year the Ministry of 
Interior conducted a parallel refugee status determination process 
subsequent to the UNHCR's determinations, affirming the latter's 
decisions in nearly all cases.
    The Government requires that refugees who have no durable solution 
in the country obtain exit permission before departing for resettlement 
in other countries. In the past, such permission was withheld until the 
person paid a residence fee and any back fees and fines. In March the 
Ministry of Interior released guidance that the municipality where an 
asylum seeker resides may waive the residence permit fee for persons 
who are unable to pay. No data was available at year's end regarding 
the number of waivers granted.
    In most cases, the Government provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political 
opinion. In the first nine months of the year, 62 persons of interest 
to the UNHCR were deported from the country. This was a significant 
decrease from the previous year, when the number deported was 214. The 
UNHCR sometimes had difficulty gaining access to interview potential 
refugees if they had already been detained or arrested by security 
forces for illegal entry into the country.
    The Government detained refugees and asylum seekers who entered the 
country illegally, a practice that was criticized by AI during the 
year. A total of 1,014 persons were detained in the first nine months 
of the year; 310 were registered with the UNHCR. Detainees could be 
held indefinitely. According to UNHCR, the majority of those detained 
were from Afghanistan (646) and Iran (177).
    Iraqi citizens were generally able to obtain tourist visas upon 
arrival at airports in the country. However, some foreigners transiting 
the country on their way to Europe, including Iraqis, were returned to 
their countries of origin when immigration authorities determined they 
might seek asylum in Europe.
    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 a lack of interpreters to 
assist security officials.
    The law does not have a strict time limit for asylum seekers or 
require them to present a valid identity document. The law also 
provides for a waiver of residence permit fees for asylum seekers in 
``humanitarian situations.'' After the issuance of a government 
circular in March ordering the end to fines for late registration, 
there were no reports of fines being imposed or enforced.
    The UNHCR reported successful interventions in most cases where 
asylum seekers arrived lawfully in the country after transiting one or 
more other countries. It also reported improved access to persons in 
detention who wished to apply for asylum, ship stowaways who wished to 
apply for asylum, and persons seeking asylum while they were in the 
international areas of the country's airports during the year.
    The Government provided temporary protection to persons who may not 
qualify as refugees, including persons of non-European origin. Refugees 
needed permission from local authorities to travel to Istanbul or 
Ankara, including for meetings with the UNHCR or resettlement agencies.
    Human rights groups reported that nearly 200 lesbian, gay, 
bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) refugees from Iran were living in the 
country at year's end. The group reported that these refugees faced 
numerous problems in the country in addition to their refugee status 
due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide 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. However, the Government restricted the activities of some 
political parties and leaders.

    Elections and Political Parties.--In October 2009 the law on the 
election of parliamentarians was amended so that parliamentary 
elections are to be held every four years instead of every five.
    The 2007 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. The law requires a party receive at least 10 
percent of the valid votes cast nationwide to enter parliament. Some 
political parties and human rights groups criticized the 10 percent 
threshold as unduly high. Three parties of the 21 eligible to run 
crossed the threshold in the 2007 elections. Candidates who ran as 
independents were able to bypass the threshold.
    In its observation report following the 2007 elections, the OSCE 
noted that despite a comprehensive legal framework for elections, a 
number of laws creating the potential for uncertainty and arbitrary 
interpretation constrained political campaigning and freedom of 
expression in a broader context. The OSCE also noted the positive 
efforts made to enhance the participation of citizens of Kurdish origin 
in political life.
    On April 11, the political parties law and the election law were 
amended to allow the use of languages other than Turkish during an 
election campaign. While Turkish is still the primary language for 
election campaigns, other languages, such as Kurdish, may be used.
    The military's political influence via formal and informal 
mechanisms declined during the year. In December the military published 
a statement on its Web site reminding the country that the official 
language was Turkish as a reaction to statements by some political 
leaders that they would use Kurdish in parliament and during official 
business. However, the president and other government officials 
immediately attempted to give official context to the military's 
statement by stating that Turkish is the official language of the 
country.
    Political parties and candidates could freely declare their 
candidacy and run for election. However, the chief prosecutor of the 
Court of Appeals could seek to close political parties for 
unconstitutional activities by bringing a case before the 
Constitutional Court.
    The September 12 constitutional amendments repealed the 
constitutional provision that allowed removal of a person from 
parliament if he or she was involved in acts that caused a political 
party to be closed. However, in November the EC noted in its progress 
report that a majority of the former Democratic Society Party and BDP 
members of parliament had been taken to court and that the country 
``still needs to align its legislation as regards procedure and grounds 
for closures of political parties with European standards'' on freedom 
of association.
    During the year police raided dozens of BDP offices, particularly 
in the southeast, and detained more than 1,000 BDP officials and 
members. Prosecutors also opened numerous investigations and trials 
against BDP members, mostly for alleged membership or support of the 
KCK. Jandarma and police regularly harassed BDP members through verbal 
threats, arbitrary detentions at rallies, and detention at checkpoints. 
Security forces also regularly harassed villagers they believed were 
sympathetic to the BDP. Although security forces released some 
detainees within a short period, many faced trials, usually for 
supporting an illegal organization or inciting separatism.
    There were 48 women in the 550-seat parliament and two female 
ministers in the 27-member cabinet. More than 100 members of parliament 
and at least three ministers were of Kurdish origin.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the Government did not implement the law effectively, and some 
officials engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. The EC noted in 
its November report that the ``scope of parliamentary immunities'' in 
cases of corruption was ``too wide'' and that there were incomplete 
measures to ensure transparency in areas such as political party 
financing and election campaigns.
    The Ministry of Interior suspended the Adana mayor from duty in 
March because of corruption allegations. Administrative and judicial 
investigations continued at year's end.
    The law requires government officials to provide a full financial 
disclosure, including listing physical property, every five years; this 
requirement was generally fulfilled. The Prime Ministry's Inspection 
Board, which advises the Corruption Investigations Committee, is 
responsible for investigating major corruption cases. Nearly every 
state agency has its own inspector corps responsible for investigating 
internal corruption. Parliament can establish investigative commissions 
to examine corruption allegations concerning cabinet ministers or the 
prime minister. A majority vote is needed to send these cases to the 
courts for further action.
    The law provides for public access to government information. 
However, the Government occasionally rejected applications on national 
security and other grounds, and there were no opportunities to appeal.
Section 5. 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. Government 
officials were generally uncooperative and unresponsive to their views, 
although cooperation increased during the year. 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 closure orders for their 
activities. Human rights organizations reported that official human 
rights mechanisms did not function consistently and failed to address 
grave violations. During the year AI reported that some human rights 
defenders were prosecuted for monitoring and reporting human rights 
violations.
    The HRA had 28 branches nationwide and claimed a membership of 
approximately 11,000. The independent HRF, established by the HRA, 
operated torture rehabilitation centers in Ankara, Izmir, Istanbul, 
Diyarbakir, and Adana, as well as a ``mobile office'' in the 
southeastern region. It also served as a clearinghouse for human rights 
information. Other domestic NGOs included the Helsinki Citizens 
Assembly, the Human Rights Research Association, the Turkish Medical 
Association, the Civil Society Development Center, and human rights 
centers at a number of universities, among others.
    The first session of the trial against Muharrem Erbey, president of 
the HRA in Diyarbakir and vice president of the national HRA, began on 
October 20 along with the other suspects in the KCK trial in 
Diyarbakir. The HRA and many international human rights organizations 
continued to claim that Erbey was arrested for his work at the HRA and 
as a human rights lawyer. The trial continued at year's end.
    During the year the 2008 trial in an Adana court against HRA Adana 
secretary general Ethem Acikalin continued; he faced two years in 
prison for making propaganda of an illegal organization. Acikalin was 
charged after chanting slogans during a 2007 press meeting 
commemorating the death of 28 inmates during a military operation in 
2000. On October 9, in another case, Acikalin was sentenced to three 
years in prison for statements he made regarding children who had been 
tried under antiterror laws. Numerous other court cases were 
outstanding against Acikalin at year's end. Media reports indicated 
that Acikalin took refuge in Switzerland in March and remained out of 
the country at year's end.
    On June 12, a court convicted four members of HRA's Canakkale 
branch, including its chairman, to 18 months' imprisonment each for 
organizing an unauthorized ``World Peace Day'' gathering in 2007. An 
appeal remained pending at year's end.
    The Government generally cooperated with international 
organizations such as the CPT, UNHCR, and the International 
Organization for Migration; however, some international human rights 
workers reported that the Government purposefully harassed them or 
raised artificial bureaucratic obstacles to prevent their work during 
the year.
    The HRP was authorized to monitor the implementation of legislation 
relating to human rights and to coordinate the work of various 
government agencies in the field of human rights. Despite lacking a 
budget and sufficient resources, the HRP carried out a number of 
projects with the EC and Council of Europe.
    During the year the HRP promoted human rights by showing short 
films on topics such as freedom of expression, discrimination, 
children's rights, and torture. The HRP maintained a no-cost emergency 
hotline for persons to report information on human rights violations 
for transmission to the appropriate government body. The HRP reported 
increased awareness of its activities during the year.
    There were provincial human rights councils under the HRP in all 81 
provinces and their constituent subprovinces. These bodies served as a 
forum for human rights consultations among NGOs, professional 
organizations, and the Government. They had the authority to 
investigate complaints and to refer them to the prosecutor's office. 
However, many councils failed to hold regular meetings or effectively 
fulfill their mandates. The HRA generally refused to participate on the 
councils, maintaining that they lacked authority and independence.
    The September 12 constitutional amendments called for the 
establishment of an ombudsman's office and an independent human rights 
commission. At year's end, parliament had taken no legal steps to 
establish either institution.
    The parliamentary HRIC received 3,200 petitions and published 15 
reports from October 2009 to October 2010. These covered various 
complaints, such as sexual harassment in universities, the situation in 
state-run orphanages, and conditions in military and civilian prisons. 
For the first time, the HRIC was allowed to visit and evaluate military 
prisons during the year. The EC noted in its November report that the 
HRIC focused on policymaking and the legislative process during the 
year as well.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, religion, 
disability, language, or social status; however, the Government did not 
enforce these prohibitions effectively. The September 12 constitutional 
amendments allow measures to be taken to advance gender equality, as 
well as measures to benefit children, seniors, persons with 
disabilities, widows, and veterans without violating the constitutional 
prohibition against discrimination. The Government maintained hotlines 
to prevent the exploitation of women, children, persons with 
disabilities, and senior citizens, although some human rights groups 
questioned their effectiveness.

    Women.--The law prohibits rape, including spousal rape, with prison 
terms of two to seven years for sexual assault. However, the Government 
did not effectively enforce the law. Victims often waited days or weeks 
to report incidents due to embarrassment or reprisals; these delays 
hindered effective prosecution of assailants. Human rights 
organizations claimed that cases of rape were heavily underreported.
    Violence against women, including spousal abuse, was a serious and 
widespread problem both in rural and urban areas. Women's NGOs reported 
that more than 150,000 women were victims of domestic violence between 
2001 and 2005, the latest period for which statistics were available. 
The law prohibits violence against women, including spousal abuse, but 
the Government did not effectively enforce it. The criminal code does 
not specifically forbid ``spousal abuse'' but provides punishment based 
on the underlying crime, such as assault, wrongful imprisonment, or 
threats. The civil code states that spousal abuse is a reason for 
granting divorce. Restraining orders were regularly issued by courts 
during the year to protect abused women, but human rights organizations 
reported that police rarely effectively enforced them. Domestic human 
rights organizations reported these laws were partially but 
increasingly effective; more women called the police emergency hotline 
to report domestic violence and went to police stations to file abuse 
reports. Some organizations reported that societal acceptance of 
domestic abuse in some cases contributed to underreporting.
    Through October 27, the Government's hotline received 19,377 calls: 
8,704 were from women, 1,658 from children, 5,807 from disabled 
individuals, and 512 from the elderly. The Institution for Social 
Services and Orphanages operated 29 women's shelters with a total 
capacity of 650 persons for female victims of domestic violence and 
rape. The municipalities operated 19 women's shelters with a capacity 
of 609 persons. The Government reported that provincial government 
offices, municipalities, and NGOs operated 54 shelters. Regulations 
call for women's shelters in any town with a population of more than 
50,000 persons. Observers noted that there were an inadequate number of 
shelters, or no shelters at all, in many towns with populations of more 
than 50,000 persons.
    Persons convicted of honor killings may receive life imprisonment. 
The Ministry of Justice reported that 10 cases involving 25 suspects 
and 18 victims of honor killings began during the year. Of these, eight 
cases involving 11 victims were finalized during the year, and 10 
individuals were convicted. Most honor killings occurred in 
conservative families in the rural southeast or among migrants from the 
southeast living in large cities. Because of sentence reductions for 
juvenile offenders, observers noted that young male relatives often 
were designated to perform such killings.
    Due to penalties for honor killings, family members sometimes 
pressured girls to commit suicide in order to preserve the family's 
honor. Government officials worked with advocacy groups to hold town 
hall meetings and set up rescue teams and hotlines for endangered women 
and girls.
    KA-MER, the leading women's organization in the southeast, stated 
that 62 women from the eastern and southeastern regions contacted it to 
report that their families had threatened them with honor killings. The 
father or husband decided the fate of the woman in the vast majority of 
the cases. KA-MER complained that, while in the past police had shared 
statistics on suicides in such situations, they did not share such 
information during the year.
    On February 4, the father and grandfather of Medine Mimi, a teenage 
girl, were arrested after allegedly killing her for talking to boys. 
Her body was found in a hole outside a chicken pen near the family's 
home in Adiyaman. Mimi had been buried alive. The case continued at 
year's end.
    On July 22, a 15-year-old boy allegedly killed his 17-year-old 
sister, Seyma G., in Diyarbakir after she left a women's shelter where 
she had been staying to escape violence at home. Her body was found 
half-buried in the ground after she had been strangled to death. Police 
arrested the brother on July 16. The case continued at year's end.
    No information was available on the investigation of Sukru Batuhan 
for the April 2009 honor killing of Leyla Gok in Siirt.
    An appeal continued at year's end for the 2009 conviction of Muslum 
Bakir for the 2008 murder of his wife, whom he married in an unofficial 
religious ceremony.
    The law provides different penalties for the crimes of sexual 
harassment and sexual assault, requiring two to seven years' 
imprisonment for sexual assault and three months' to two years' 
imprisonment plus a fine for sexual harassment. Women's rights 
activists maintained both laws were rarely enforced.
    On July 23, the Court of Appeals overturned on procedural grounds 
the conviction of Huseyin Uzmez for sexually harassing a 14-year-old 
girl and disturbing her mental health. A retrial began on November 25 
and continued at year's end.
    Couples and individuals in most cases have the right to decide the 
number, spacing, and timing of children and have the information and 
means to do so free from discrimination. However, on March 6, the 
Ministry of Health promulgated regulations that made women impregnated 
through sperm banks liable for prosecution for giving birth to children 
whose lineage was unknown. Women and men were given equal access to 
diagnostic services and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.
    In 2008 the UN Population Fund estimated the maternal mortality 
ratio in the country to be 23 deaths per 100,000 live births. Skilled 
attendants assisted an estimated 83 percent of all births; 71 percent 
of the country's population used some method of birth control, and 43 
percent used modern methods of contraception, including male and female 
sterilization, IUDs, oral and injected contraceptives, hormonal 
implants, condoms, and female barrier methods.
    The September 12 constitutional amendments allow measures, 
including positive discrimination, to be taken to advance gender 
equality and declared that such measures would not violate the 
constitutional prohibition against discrimination. Under the law, women 
enjoy the same rights as men; however, societal and official 
discrimination were widespread. The Directorate General on the Status 
and Problems of Women under the minister of state in charge of family 
affairs is responsible for promoting equal rights and raising awareness 
of discrimination against women.
    Women continued to face discrimination in employment and were 
generally underrepresented in managerial-level positions in business 
and government. According to a November report by the EC, the levels of 
women's employment and their political participation nationally and 
regionally were low. A large percentage of women employed in 
agriculture and in the retail, restaurant, and hotel sectors worked as 
unpaid family labor. The World Economic Forum reported during the year 
that women earned 57 percent of what their male counterparts earned for 
similar work. The Government reported that men and women were offered 
equal opportunities in work and received equal pay for equal work.

    Children.--There is universal birth registration in the country. 
Citizenship in the country is passed through blood from a child's 
parents. Some parents were allowed to give their children names derived 
from the Kurdish language during the year. However, on February 2, the 
ECHR upheld the country's prohibition on the use of the letters W, X, 
and Q, which do not exist in the Turkish alphabet, on birth 
certificates.
    The September 12 constitutional amendments permit positive 
discrimination for children. The amendments also provide that the state 
shall take measures to protect children against exploitation. The 
amendments commit the Government to furthering children's welfare and 
to work to expand opportunities in education and health.
    Education through age 14 or the eighth grade is free, universal, 
and compulsory.
    Child abuse was a problem. There were honor killings of girls by 
immediate family members, sometimes by juvenile male relatives.
    Child marriage occurred, particularly in poor, rural regions; 
however, women's rights activists claimed that underage marriage became 
less common in the country in recent years. The law defines 17 as the 
minimum age for marriage, although children as young as 12 were at 
times married in unofficial religious ceremonies.
    On December 13, police arrested a 22-year-old man in Sanliurfa who 
married a 13-year-old girl. Another adult man who married a 14-year-old 
girl was detained in the same action. A case had not begun at year's 
end.
    There were reports that children were subject to commercial sexual 
exploitation. The law criminalizes sexual exploitation of children and 
mandates a minimum sentence of eight years in prison. A person 
convicted of encouraging or facilitating children into prostitution can 
receive a sentence between four and 10 years; if violence or pressure 
is involved, the sentence can be doubled.
    The minimum age of consent in the country is 15. The law provides 
for imprisonment of six months to two years for statutory rape; the 
sentence is doubled if the offender is more than five years older than 
the victim. The law prohibits producing or disseminating child 
pornography and provides for a sentence of six months to two years as 
well as a fine.
    The country is a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects 
of International Child Abduction. For information on international 
parental child abduction, please see the Department of State's annual 
report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/
congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were some reports of anti-Semitic incidents 
against members of the Jewish community, which numbered approximately 
23,000. Jewish leaders in the country believed that occurrences of 
anti-Semitism were directly related to events in the Middle East; 
however, Jewish community members reported that they did not feel they 
were held responsible for these events by most of the public. After the 
``Free Gaza'' flotilla incident on May 31, government leaders at all 
levels emphasized through public speeches that Turkish Jews were 
distinct from both Israeli citizens and the Israeli government, and 
they asserted that the country's Jews should be protected. Jewish 
community leaders noted that after the event they received extra police 
protection, which prevented a few acts of vandalism against community 
property. Nonetheless, they expressed concerns about the rising anti-
Semitism in the country.
    In June an individual was arrested on charges of planning the 
assassination of rabbis. Although he stated that he ``hated Jews'' 
personally, he denied the accusation of planning the killings.
    A variety of newspapers and television shows continued to feature 
anti-Christian and anti-Jewish messages, and anti-Semitic literature 
was common in bookstores.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The September 12 constitutional 
amendments allow positive discrimination based on disability status. 
The law prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in 
employment, education, access to health care, and in the provision of 
other state services; the Government generally enforced the law 
effectively. The law does not mandate access to buildings and public 
transportation for persons with disabilities, and access in most cities 
was extremely limited. The Administration for Disabled People under the 
Prime Ministry was responsible for protecting the rights of persons 
with disabilities.
    The Ministry of Transport and Communication announced in May that 
38,192 persons with disabilities would be employed by the state by 
year's end.
    There was no movement on the investigation into Duchess of York 
Sarah Ferguson's documentary about the abuse of children with 
disabilities in two care centers. Prosecutors accused Ferguson of 
breaking privacy laws, and according to press reports, the Government's 
request to the United Kingdom to extradite Ferguson to stand trial 
remained pending at year's end.
    According to the EC, mental health hospitals and rehabilitation 
centers did not provide sufficient medical care or treatment. In 
November 2009 the Initiative for Human Rights in Mental Health reported 
a need to increase the number of professional care staff, improve 
hygienic conditions, vary treatment beyond only antipsychotic drugs and 
antidepressants, and allow for greater freedom of movement.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The law provides a single 
nationality designation for all citizens and does not recognize 
national, racial, or ethnic minorities. In November the EC's progress 
report observed the country's approach to respecting and protecting 
minority and cultural rights remained restrictive.
    Citizens of Kurdish origin constituted a large ethnic and 
linguistic group. Millions of the country's citizens identified 
themselves as Kurds and spoke Kurdish dialects. Kurds who publicly or 
politically asserted their Kurdish identity or promoted using Kurdish 
in the public domain risked censure, harassment, or prosecution. In 
practice, children whose first language is Kurdish could not be taught 
in Kurdish in either private or public schools.
    On April 11, the political parties law was amended to allow 
campaigning in languages other than Turkish, including Kurdish. Several 
private television and radio stations were allowed to broadcast in 
languages other than Turkish, including Kurdish, Arabic, and Armenian, 
and newspapers published in Kurdish, Armenian, and Farsi were allowed 
to function without administrative obstacles.
    On October 11, Mardin Artuklu University began a three-month 
Kurdish literature and culture course for 50 graduate students under 
its ``Living Languages Institute.''
    The country's law is interpreted to recognize only three religious 
minorities--Armenian Orthodox Christians, Jews, and Greek Orthodox 
Christians--and no other ethnic and religious minorities, such as 
Alevis, Yezidis, Assyrians, Catholics, Protestants, Kurds, Jafaris, 
Circassians, Laz, or Roma. These other groups were prohibited from 
fully exercising their linguistic, religious, and cultural rights and 
continued to face intense pressure to assimilate.
    There is no firm estimate of the number of Roma in the country. 
Roma continued to face persistent discrimination and problems with 
access to education, health care, and housing. In March the prime 
minister and cabinet held an unprecedented public meeting with 
approximately 12,000 Roma citizens in Istanbul. At the meeting, the 
Government discussed planned steps to improve the housing and economic 
situation of Roma in the country. In June the Ministry of Interior 
asked all governors about the housing needs of the Roma population in 
each province. The EC stated in its November progress report that the 
``Roma population continues to face socioeconomic problems, such as 
poverty, displacement, and lack of social services in the aftermath of 
the demolition of Roma districts under urban renewal programs in 
various cities.''
    The European Roma Rights Center, the Helsinki Citizens Assembly, 
and the Edirne Roma Culture Research and Solidarity Association 
conducted a program during the year to train the Roma community on 
civil society organization and activism. Literacy courses for Roma 
women offered by the Roma Culture and Solidarity Association of Izmir 
continued. Numerous associations celebrated International Roma Day in 
Ankara.
    In the Sulukule neighborhood of Istanbul, redeveloped housing lots 
began to sell for four to five times what the original mostly Roma 
occupants received as compensation for leaving the area. Most former 
residents did not choose to accept the Government's offer of new 
housing outside the city. In Edirne, the Government offered Roma 
citizens new apartment-style housing that was rejected by many in the 
Roma community because they considered that it did not meet their 
needs.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--While the law does not 
explicitly discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender 
(LGBT) individuals, organizations working with LGBT persons stated that 
references in the law relating to ``the morals of society,'' 
``protection of the family,'' and ``unnatural sexual behavior'' were 
sometimes used as a basis for abuse by police and discrimination by 
employers. The law also states that ``no association may be founded for 
purposes against law and morality.'' This article was applied in 
attempts to shut down or limit the activities of NGOs working on LGBT 
matters, a fact the EC criticized in its progress report in November.
    In October 2009 the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) 
under the authority of the Prime Ministry released a decision declaring 
that homosexuality is ``a behavior disorder and has been spreading in a 
scary way within society. . . . [H]omosexuality cannot be accepted.'' 
The decision went on to state that homosexuality ``is against human 
nature, and it should be corrected without targeting homosexuals.''
    The state minister in charge of women and family affairs, Aliye 
Kavaf, stated on March 7 that she believed homosexuality was a 
``biological disorder, a disease...that needs to be treated.'' The EC 
said in its progress report in November that this sort of ``negative 
stereotyping by political figures'' could provoke further 
discrimination against LGBT individuals.
    In December the RTUK issued a fine to Haberturk TV for broadcasting 
a discussion of homosexuality. The RTUK also issued a warning to ATV 
for a series that showed two men in bed together as a couple. The RTUK 
president said that because both programs presented homosexuality as 
``normal,'' the RTUK assessed that they harmed the Turkish family 
structure. He claimed the programs ``constituted a breach of the 
society's national and moral values.''
    On May 16, nearly 300 persons marched in an antihomophobia parade 
in the heart of Ankara. On June 27, a LGBT pride parade and celebration 
in Istanbul drew more than 5,000 persons, with heavy participation and 
coverage by foreign observers. Smaller pride celebrations occurred in 
other cities. Police provided protection to some of the celebrations, 
and no incidents of violence were reported. According to human rights 
organizations, LGBT events with foreign participation generally 
occurred without incident while those without foreigners had much 
higher levels of police interference.
    There were active LGBT organizations in at least seven cities in 
the country: Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Bursa, Adana, Eskisehir, and 
Diyarbakir. Other unofficial groups existed in smaller cities and on 
university campuses. All groups complained of harassment by police and 
government authorities. Most had problems registering as an official 
organization or maintaining their registration once granted. While some 
university LGBT clubs were granted permission to form during the year, 
many groups complained that they had tried to form but had been denied 
permission by the university's rector.
    In the fall, an LGBT group at the Middle East Technical University 
in Ankara applied to the university administration for status as a 
club. The university administration rejected their application, stating 
that ``it is not sufficient reason to establish a club to raise 
consciousness and sensitivity.'' The group had been denied several 
times in the past as well.
    On April 30, an Izmir court dismissed the closure case against 
Black Pink Triangle, an LGBT rights association in Izmir. The court 
declared in its ruling that LGBT persons have the same right to freedom 
of association as other citizens. The association was functioning 
normally at year's end.
    LGBT groups claimed that transgender persons were significantly 
persecuted during the year. Although police arrested many for 
unauthorized prostitution, human rights organizations reported that 
during the year there was a significant rise in prosecutions for 
``offending public morals.'' Several groups reported that many 
transgender persons were fined for frequenting stores or walking on 
city streets, officially for ``disturbing the environment'' or 
``disrupting traffic.'' Police claimed they were acting on complaints 
they had received. LGBT organizations reported thousands of fines 
against transgender individuals during the year.
    The HRF and LGBT organizations reported that police in many cities, 
especially Istanbul, Izmir, and Ankara, continued to use a ``point 
system'' whereby officers were rewarded for fining transgender persons. 
Many observers noted that this practice had contributed to a 
substantial increase in the levels of abuse of transgender persons by 
security forces. There was no government response to these allegations 
by year's end.
    On May 17, uniformed police officers pulled from a vehicle and beat 
and arrested five transgender activists while they were driving in 
Ankara; one of the women was beaten unconscious. Human rights groups 
witnessed the bruised and bloody activists when they were released the 
following day. Following the attack, the police and the activists filed 
complaints against each other in court, the activists for mistreatment, 
and the police for ``resisting the police.'' An Ankara court dropped 
the charges against the five activists on October 20 for lack of 
evidence. The investigation against the police continued at year's end.
    On June 19, police assaulted and arrested three transgender persons 
after stopping their car Ankara. The transgender persons were 
subsequently charged with ``damaging public property, resisting police, 
and preventing police from performing their duty,'' but they denied the 
charges. On December 29, one police officer did not attend the first 
hearing, and the case continued at year's end. The three filed 
complaints against the police officers for mistreatment, but there had 
been no public investigation at year's end.
    Halil Ibrahim Dincdag, a soccer referee who lost his job in May 
2009 because of his self-identification as a gay man, filed a complaint 
early in the year against the Turkish Soccer Federation for wrongful 
termination. The first hearing had not begun at year's end.
    The criminal case against Birol Can Korkmaz for the March 2009 
murder of transgender activist Ebru Soykan continued at year's end.
    There was no movement on the October 2009 case against police in 
Istanbul for harassment of transgender individuals.
    The trial of Yahya Yildiz, accused of killing his son, Ahmet 
Yildiz, in 2008 in Istanbul in a case described as a gay ``honor 
killing,'' continued at year's end.
    Openly gay men were not allowed to perform military service for 
``health reasons'' due to their sexual orientation; those requesting 
military exemption for reasons of sexual orientation had to undergo an 
invasive burden of proof and many times were denied even after 
proclaiming their sexual orientation and undergoing treatment and 
examination at several military medical facilities. LGBT groups 
complained that gay men were required to show photos of themselves in 
overtly sexual positions and to undergo thorough medical evaluations to 
prove their homosexuality to military officials. The groups further 
complained that military officials ``outed'' gay men to their families 
and communities.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--NGOs complained that 
the National AIDS Commission did not have adequate funding or staffing 
to deal with HIV/AIDS during the year. The Positive Life Association 
(PLA) and other NGOs complained that the media and medical 
professionals often did not respect the privacy of persons with HIV/
AIDS and often reported their names in the media. Many people living 
with HIV/AIDS reported discrimination in housing, public services and 
benefits, and health care. The PLA and the Human Resources Development 
Foundation conducted programs during the year for people living with 
HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    The September 12 constitutional amendments provided for the 
recognition of many new labor and workers' rights. However, at year's 
end no legislation had been passed to legally implement these changes.

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides most but not all 
workers with the right to associate and to form unions; most workers 
exercised this right in practice. Certain vital public employees, such 
as military and police, cannot form unions. The Government maintained a 
number of restrictions on the right of association. The September 12 
constitutional amendments provide for a person to become a member of 
more than one union in the same branch of work at the same time. Some 
viewed this amendment as being in compliance with freedom of 
association, while others complained that it was an effort to divide 
the power of organized labor.
    A minimum of seven workers are required to establish a new trade 
union without prior approval. There are no restrictions on membership 
or participation of persons or unions in regional, national, or 
international labor organizations, but such participation must be 
reported to the Government. Labor law prohibits union leaders from 
becoming officers of or otherwise performing duties for political 
parties, from working for or being involved in the operation of any 
profit-making enterprise, and from displaying any political party logos 
or symbols in any union or confederation publications. Unions are 
required to notify government officials prior to holding meetings or 
rallies (which must be held in officially designated areas) and to 
allow government representatives to attend their conventions and to 
record the proceedings; these requirements were usually enforced.
    Official government statistics reported the employment rate in the 
country as 43.6 percent. Although 58.9 percent of the labor force was 
unionized, union officials noted that privatization of public industry 
had lowered that figure substantially. Credible observers reported that 
the actual number of unionized workers was only 600,000.
    The September 12 constitutional amendments provide for the right to 
strike and to engage in secondary (solidarity), political, or general 
(involving multiple unions over a large geographical area) strikes or 
in work slowdowns. The law prohibits strikes by civil servants; public 
workers engaged in safeguarding life and property; and workers in the 
coal mining and petroleum industries, sanitation services, national 
defense, banking, and education. Labor disputes in these sectors were 
resolved through binding arbitration. However, many workers in these 
sectors conducted strikes in violation of these restrictions with 
general impunity. The majority of strikes during the year were illegal 
according to law; while some illegal strikers were dismissed, in most 
cases employers did not retaliate. Unions sought to compel the 
Government to enforce a 2008 ECHR decision that civil servants have the 
right to strike.
    The Ministry of Labor reported that, through September 30, there 
were 12 strikes involving 38 workplaces.
    At year's end, an investigation continued into the alleged 2009 
beating of Tekgida-Is union member Ali Can Aykel.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The September 
12 constitutional amendments provided for the right to collective 
bargaining for public employees. However, diverse government 
restrictions and interference limited the ability of unions to conduct 
their activities, including collective bargaining. Approximately 1.3 
million workers, or 5.4 percent of the workforce, were under collective 
bargaining agreements. 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. 
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) claimed that the law 
resulted in workers in many sectors not being covered by collective 
agreements.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination; however, such 
discrimination occurred occasionally in practice. If a court ruled that 
a worker was unfairly dismissed and should either be reinstated or 
compensated, the employer generally paid compensation to the employee 
along with a fine. ITUC reported that private-sector employers 
sometimes ignored the law and dismissed workers to discourage union 
activity.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
the country's 19 free trade and 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 women, men, and minors were trafficked for commercial 
sexual exploitation. Internal trafficking of citizens for both legal 
and illegal prostitution was reported. Also see the Department of 
State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There are laws to protect children from exploitation in the workplace; 
however, the Government did not effectively implement them. The use of 
child labor was particularly notable in agriculture, carpentry, the 
shoemaking and leather goods industry, the auto repair industry, small-
scale manufacturing, and street sales. Some parents forced their 
children to work on the streets selling tissues or food, shining shoes, 
or begging.
    The law prohibits the employment of children younger than 15 and 
prohibits children under 16 from working more than eight hours a day. 
At age 15, children may engage in light work, provided they remain in 
school. The law provides that no person shall be required to perform 
work unsuitable for their age, gender, or capabilities, and the 
Government prohibits children from working at night or in areas such as 
underground mining. The law prohibits school-age children from working 
more than two hours per day or 10 hours per week.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Security 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 are not covered by the law, including 
agricultural enterprises employing 50 or fewer workers, maritime and 
air transportation, family handicraft businesses, and small shops 
employing up to three persons.
    Notwithstanding government enforcement of the law, child labor was 
widespread. In a child labor survey conducted in the fourth quarter of 
2006 and released in 2007, the State Statistical Institute reported 
that there were 960,000 child laborers between the ages of six and 17. 
This figure represented a decrease over previous years. The study found 
that 84.7 percent of children between the ages of six to 17 attended 
school and that the 31.5 percent of children in that age group who were 
employed were also attending school at least part-time.
    An informal system provided work for young boys at low wages, for 
example, in auto repair shops. Girls were rarely seen working in 
public, but many were kept out of school to work in handicrafts, 
particularly in rural areas. According to the 2006 child labor survey, 
40.9 percent of child labor occurred in the agricultural sector, with 
52.4 percent of employed children working in rural areas, compared with 
47.7 percent working in urban areas. Many children worked in areas not 
covered by labor laws, such as agricultural workplaces with fewer than 
50 workers or the informal economy. To combat this problem, the 
Ministry of Education conducted a program in cooperation with the UN 
Children's Fund designed to provide primary education for at-risk 
girls. An educators union reported that one out of every 10 primary 
school students in some regions of the country work in the agricultural 
sector.
    Children legally employed at small enterprises registered with a 
Ministry of Education training center were required to go to the center 
once a week for training, and the centers were obligated by law to 
inspect their workplaces. According to data provided by the ministry, 
there were 317 centers located in 81 cities; these centers provided 
apprenticeship training in 153 occupations.
    There were reports that children were trafficked for sexual 
exploitation.
    According to the U.S. Department of Labor's 2008 report on the 
worst forms of child labor, approximately 50,000 children worked on the 
street in 10 provinces. The Government identified the worst forms of 
child labor as working in the streets, in industrial sectors where 
their health and safety were at risk, and as agricultural migrant 
workers.
    The Social Services and Child Protection Institution operated 37 
centers in 29 provinces to assist such children. The TNP operates a 
hotline for reporting child exploitation and negligence. The TNP 
initiated a project during the year to spot street children at risk and 
direct them to education. In Ankara, the program provided vocational 
training to 70 street children between the ages of 15 and 18.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum wage of 
760.5 lira ($507) per month did not provide a decent standard of living 
for a worker and family of four. All workers covered by the labor law 
are also covered by the law establishing a national minimum wage. This 
law was effectively enforced by the Ministry of Labor Inspection Board. 
The Turk-Is labor confederation reported that the minimum wage was 
insufficient, determining that a monthly minimum of 2,826 lira ($1,884) 
per household was needed to stay out of poverty and to meet a family's 
minimum basic needs. The OECD, on the other hand, indicated that the 
national minimum wage takes insufficient account of regional variations 
in productivity and living costs, and in any case it is among the 
highest in the OECD when measured against the average wage, a fact the 
OECD claims works against job creation in the official sector.
    The law establishes a 45-hour workweek with a weekly rest day and 
limits overtime to three hours per day for up to 270 hours a year. 
Premium pay for overtime is mandated, but the law allows for employers 
and employees to agree to a flexible time schedule. 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. Workers in 
other sectors had difficulty receiving overtime pay, although by law 
they were entitled to it.
    The law mandates occupational health and safety regulations; 
however, in practice the Ministry of Labor Inspection Board did not 
carry out effective inspection and enforcement programs.
    There were seven mining accidents during the year that caused the 
deaths of 51 persons. A total of 15 workers were killed in shipyard 
accidents during the year.
    Workers have the right to remove themselves from situations that 
endanger health or safety without jeopardy to their employment, 
although reports of them doing so were rare. Authorities effectively 
enforced this right.

                               __________

                                UKRAINE

    Ukraine, with a population of 45.4 million, is a multiparty, 
democratic republic with a presidential-parliamentary system of 
government. The country is governed by a directly elected president, a 
prime minister who heads the Cabinet of Ministers, and a unicameral 
parliament (Verkhovna Rada). Two rounds of presidential elections held 
in January and February were assessed by international and domestic 
observers as having met most standards for openness and fairness. The 
winner, former prime minister Viktor Yanukovych, was inaugurated on 
February 25. On October 1, the Constitutional Court reinstated the 1996 
constitution, a ruling that considerably strengthened the powers of the 
president, including authority to dismiss unilaterally the prime 
minister and other government ministers. In its ruling the court stated 
that amendments to the 1996 constitution, which were passed in 2004 as 
part of a compromise to end the mass protests of the Orange Revolution, 
were unconstitutional because they were improperly adopted. Security 
forces generally reported to civilian authorities.
    Human rights problems included reports of serious police abuse and 
deaths in custody, beatings, and torture of detainees and prisoners, 
harsh conditions in prisons and detention facilities, arbitrary and 
lengthy pretrial detention, and an inefficient and corrupt judicial 
system. During the year there were reports of increased government 
pressure on independent media outlets, limitations on freedom of 
assembly, and the appearance of politically motivated prosecution of 
opposition politicians. Corruption in government and society was 
widespread. There were reports that the Government's security service 
harassed and intimidated civil society organizations. There was some 
violence and discrimination against women and children, and reports of 
nonviolent incidents of anti-Semitism. Trafficking in persons continued 
to be a serious problem. Societal discrimination and violence against 
Roma, Crimean Tatars, and persons of non-Slavic appearance were 
reported. There were reports of police harassment of the gay community. 
Workers faced limitations on organizing and joining unions and on their 
ability to 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 
reports that the Government or its agents committed any politically 
motivated killings; however, two persons died in police custody after 
allegedly being abused.
    On May 18, college student Ihor Indylo died in police custody at 
the Shevchenkivsky District police station in Kyiv. Police 
representatives claimed that Indylo fell on the floor and sustained 
lethal head injuries because he was drunk. Indylo's relatives claimed 
that he was beaten by police. In October prosecutors charged officers 
Serhiy Prykhodko and Serhiy Kovalenko with negligence and abuse of 
office, including failure to determine if Indylo's detention was legal 
and to arrange surveillance while in custody. According to Idylo's 
mother and attorney, the charges against the police officers do not 
address how Ihor sustained the injuries which they claim led to his 
death. The case continued at year's end.
    On September 10, the media reported that detainee Mykhaylo Stadnyk 
died at a district police department in Lviv. Stadnyk's relatives 
described multiple bruises on his body, which they asserted were a 
clear sign that he was tortured by police. Police representatives 
denied the claim, suggesting that Stadnyk was drunk and injured himself 
prior to his detention. The Lviv Oblast Prosecutor's Office ordered an 
additional forensic examination of the body to ascertain the cause of 
his death. The results of the investigation were pending at year's end.
    On December 23, the trial of Viktor Lozynskiy began at Dniprovsky 
District Court in Kyiv. Lozynskiy, a former member of parliament, was 
charged in connection with the June 2009 death of Valeriy Oliynyk of 
Kirovohrad Oblast. According to police reports at the time, Lozynskiy 
and two other local officials pursued Oliynyk into a wooded area where 
they assaulted him, broke his leg, and shot him multiple times. The two 
officials were arrested and dismissed from their posts.
    There were few developments in the Government's ongoing 
investigation of the 2004 dioxin poisoning of then opposition 
presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko. In a December 10 interview 
with the Segodnya newspaper, Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka stated 
that his office had requested new blood samples from Yushchenko because 
the original ones were improperly secured prior to expert examination 
and could not be used as credible evidence. Pshonka claimed he could 
not rule out that there was no poisoning. On April 13, parliament 
terminated the authority of a commission investigating the poisoning 
for failing to meet reporting deadlines. Yushchenko's spokeswoman 
described the move as a ``natural step,'' adding that the commission, 
chaired by Party of Regions member of parliament Volodymyr Sivkovych, 
had spread false information about the poisoning. On April 15, then 
prosecutor general Oleksandr Medvedko told the Kommersant-Ukrayina 
newspaper that, without identifying those who poisoned Yushchenko, one 
could not determine whether the poisoning was deliberate or not.
    On September 13, the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) announced 
its finding that the killing of investigative journalist Heorhiy 
Gongadze in 2000 was ordered by Yuriy Kravchenko, the late interior 
minister who died in 2005 under suspicious circumstances from two 
gunshots to the head. Kravchenko's death was labeled a suicide. In July 
2009 authorities arrested Oleksiy Pukach, a former senior ministry of 
internal affairs official, in connection with the Gongadze killing. 
Prosecutors alleged that Pukach led a group of police officers who 
abducted and killed Gongadze. At year's end prosecutors stated they had 
completed a pretrial investigation of the charges against Pukach and 
would deliver their findings to a court. Valentyna Telychenko, an 
attorney for Myroslava Gongadze, the widow of the slain journalist, 
stated the PGO had not allowed her to review the Pukach case files 
before they were sent to court. The PGO denied the claim, stating that 
Telychenko had ignored an invitation to review the materials. Pukach's 
trial had not started at year's end.
    In 2008 three police officers were convicted and sentenced to long 
prison terms for Gongadze's killing. However, members of his family and 
journalists who investigated the killing continued to maintain that 
Kravchenko and Pukach acted on orders from senior government officials 
in the administration of former president Kuchma who wanted to silence 
the outspoken journalist.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and the law prohibit such practices; 
however, there were reports that police continued to abuse and torture 
persons in custody.
    For example, the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union (UHHRU), a 
nonprofit coalition of human rights organizations, reported that during 
the year it had received 172 complaints of torture and abuse. Of that 
number, 90 complaints pertained to torture and abuse committed by 
police.
    On August 16, Yakov Strogan was arrested by police in Kharkiv 
following an argument with his neighbor. He was detained for four days 
during which he alleged he was tortured. He appealed his detention to 
the prosecutor's office, held a press conference, and participated in 
hearings on his allegations. On December 9, Strogan was summoned to the 
Prosecutor's Office and arrested again. According to the local Kharkiv 
Human Rights Group, Strogan was brought to court the following day with 
signs that he had been beaten. The judge ruled to remand Strogan to 
custody, where he remains. Human rights groups and Strogan's wife 
called for his immediate release and an investigation into his 
treatment while in custody.
    On December 16, Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report stating 
that asylum seekers and migrants in the country ``risk abusive 
treatment and arbitrary detention.'' Although torture was ``not 
systemic,'' the testimonies of refugees, migrants and asylum seekers 
indicated that it did sporadically occur. While conditions in some 
migration detention facilities improved, detainees alleged that inhuman 
or degrading treatment, including beatings, kicking, and food 
deprivation occurred. ``All of these abuses took place in a climate of 
impunity, with victims fearful of reporting the abuse and perpetrators 
not held to account,'' the report stated.
    Police officers were often poorly trained or equipped to gather 
evidence through investigations and depended on confessions to solve 
cases. The law does not clearly prohibit confessions or other 
statements made under duress from being introduced as evidence in court 
proceedings. Efforts to check these practices were made more difficult 
by an ineffective system for investigating allegations of abuse and by 
detainees' lack of access to defense lawyers and doctors.
    In a February 2009 report, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary 
Detention cited multiple concerns based on a monitoring visit in 2008 
to 21 facilities in eight cities. Among them were ``numerous, 
consistent, and often credible allegations from various sources...of 
confessions obtained under torture from detainees of the militsia, the 
Ukrainian police force.'' The working group also noted that there was a 
low acquittal rate by the PGO when it was presented with well-founded 
accusations that incriminating evidence was obtained by methods that 
violated proper criminal procedures. For example, of some 100,000 such 
complaints registered in 2008, the prosecutor general considered 30 to 
be violations. According to the working group, ``impunity for 
perpetrators of ill-treatment largely prevails.''
    During the year the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued 11 
decisions against the country for violation of Article 3 (inhuman or 
degrading treatment) of the European Convention of Human Rights. This 
compared with nine violations in 2009 and four in 2008.
    During the year the media reported several cases of police abuse. 
For example, on April 1, UNIAN reported that the Odesa Oblast 
Prosecutor's Office and the State Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) 
detained five police officers in the Rozdilna District after examining 
a complaint that two local residents had been detained on suspicion of 
theft and tortured. According to the report, the prosecutor established 
that the victims had been beaten and electrocuted and opened a criminal 
case to investigate the torture allegations.
    On December 21, UNIAN reported that the Lviv Oblast Prosecutor's 
Office completed its investigation and forwarded to court a criminal 
case against two police officers of the Sambir District police 
department who beat three detainees in an attempt to extract 
confessions from them.
    During the year authorities prosecuted police officers who had 
allegedly abused persons in detention.
    According to the Prosecutor's General Office, during the first nine 
months of the year, 39 criminal cases of police torture or inhuman and 
degrading treatment and were opened, and 28 cases involving 68 law 
enforcement officers were sent to court.
    According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, during the first 
nine months of the year, 520 criminal cases were opened against police 
officers. Of them, 418 were linked to abuse of office, of which 91 
involved abuse of power. The other charges included 98 cases of 
exceeding authority, 101 cases of forgery, 16 cases of negligence, and 
112 cases of bribery. According to the PGO, 26 law enforcement 
personnel were convicted of torture or inhuman treatment during the 
first nine months of the year.
    According to Semen Gluzman of the Ukrainian Psychiatric Association 
(UAHRB), patients in mental health facilities remained at risk for 
abuse, and many psychiatric hospitals continued to use outdated methods 
and medicines. According to the UAHRB, insufficient funding, the 
absence of public watchdog councils at psychiatric hospitals, patients' 
lack of access to legal counsel, and poor enforcement of legal 
protections deprived patients with disabilities of their right to 
adequate medical care.
    In April, Andriy Fedosov reported that an investigation by his 
group, Uzer (Ukrainian Organization of Users of Psychiatric Care), had 
uncovered poor living conditions and physical abuse in psychiatric 
hospitals in Crimea. Following the release of his findings, Fedosov 
received threatening phone calls and was beaten. According to human 
rights groups, police failed to investigate the threats and attack on 
Fedosov.
    In December, Amnesty International highlighted the case of trade 
unionist Andriy Bondarenko, who was ordered to undergo a psychiatric 
examination despite no history of mental illness. Human rights groups 
claimed that Bondarenko was targeted for his trade union and human 
rights work. Investigators closed the case against Bondarenko without 
bringing charges but the court order to undergo an examination had not 
been rescinded at year's end.
    There were reports of military hazing violence against conscripts 
in the armed forces. On January 28, a military court in Sevastopol 
handed down suspended prison sentences to two soldiers who beat a 
conscript in December 2009. According to the State Judicial 
Administration, 76 hazing-related guilty verdicts were issued in the 
first six months of the year. The PGO confirmed that in the first nine 
months of the year, 151 servicemen were convicted of hazing, and 115 
hazing-related criminal cases involving 127 servicemen were forwarded 
to the courts.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions remained poor and generally did not meet 
international standards. Overcrowding; abuse; inadequate sanitation; 
and lack of light, food, water, and medical care were persistent 
problems. The Government permitted monitoring visits by independent 
human rights observers, and such visits occurred during the year.
    During the year human rights groups continued to call for full 
civilian oversight of the State Penitentiary Directorate by 
subordinating it to the Ministry of Justice. According to the UHHRU, 
the absence of rigorous and impartial public oversight in facilities 
controlled by the penitentiary directorate allowed for abuse of 
prisoners and poor conditions.
    On January 21, the parliament amended the penal code, prohibiting 
racial, ethnic, religious, and other types of discrimination against 
inmates at penitentiary institutions. It added additional groups to a 
list of individuals authorized to visit penitentiary institutions 
without special permission, including the justice minister, members of 
the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), 
and members of civic commissions monitoring prison conditions. The 
legislation also eased restrictions for prisoners serving life sentence 
and inmates of correctional centers. According to the amendments, which 
are scheduled to go into effect in 2012, the minimum living area per 
inmate at penitentiary facilities shall be increased from 32 square 
feet to 43 square feet.
    As of October 1, according to the latest available statistics from 
the State Penitentiary Directorate, 152,315 persons were being held in 
facilities under its control; of these 39,137 were in pretrial 
detention facilities. During the first nine months of the year, 584 
individuals died in custody, of which 33 were suicides and one a 
homicide.
    According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, approximately 
198,400 persons were held in police-controlled temporary holding 
facilities during the first nine months of the year. The ministry 
confirmed 14 deaths in these facilities; 10 were reported to be by 
suicide and four due to illness.
    On May 20, the Government's human rights ombudsman, Nina 
Karpachopva, expressed concern over the increasing number of detainees 
in pretrial detention facilities controlled by the State Penitentiary 
Directorate in Kyiv, Simferopol, Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Odesa. For 
example, 3,900 persons were held at Kyiv's Lukyanivsky detention 
center, which has capacity for 2,850. As a result, 2,100 detainees were 
forced to rotate their sleeping places with cellmates. Karpachova 
emphasized the need to amend government regulations to comply with the 
penal code by increasing the minimum living area per inmate at 
penitentiary facilities from 32 square feet to 43 square feet. Average 
space for a detainee at pretrial detention facilities was 27 square 
feet. Karpachopva cited a number of additional problems including old 
facilities that lacked ventilation, insufficient water supply, adequate 
lighting, and proper sewage and sanitary systems. These facilities 
frequently violated regulations limiting the length of detention and 
did not guard against the spread of tuberculosis and other infectious 
diseases.
    On December 16, the PGO published a report about overcrowding of 
pretrial detention facilities of the State Penitentiary Service. 
According to the report, the situations at detention facilities in the 
Crimea, Donets, Luhansk, Kharkiv, and Kherson Oblasts, and in Kyiv, 
were described as ``especially difficult.''
    According to the State Penitentiary Directorate (SPD), an estimated 
659 persons in custody had HIV-associated tuberculosis. In tuberculosis 
hospitals controlled by the prison department, 42 percent of patients 
were terminally ill with tuberculosis, and 44 percent were terminally 
ill with AIDS. The State Penitentiary Directorate acknowledged that 
tuberculosis was a major communicable disease in its facilities because 
of poor conditions and inadequate medical resources for examining and 
treating tuberculosis-infected persons in pretrial detention 
facilities.
    During the period from January to September, the number of prison 
inmates with tuberculosis declined by 5 percent compared to the same 
period in 2009 (from 747.6 per 100,000 inmates in 2009 to 709.7 in 
2010). However, during the same time period, the number of such inmates 
at SPD pretrial detention facilities grew by 8 percent compared to the 
January-September period in 2009 (from 730.2 per 100,000 inmates in 
2009 to 789.3)
    Authorities stated that mandatory screening of all new inmates for 
tuberculosis helped to reduce infection rates; human rights 
organizations stated the presence of X-ray machines in several prison 
facilities was a positive development.
    Conditions in police temporary holding facilities and SPD pretrial 
detention facilities were harsher than in low- and medium-security 
prisons. The former were often overcrowded and lacked adequate 
sanitation and medical facilities. As of October 1, according to the 
SPD, more than 309 individuals serving life sentences were held in 
pretrial detention facilities.
    There were occasional media reports of self-inflicted injuries and 
violent incidents in prisons and detention centers to protest poor 
conditions. For example, on May 11, the Vinnytsya Human Rights Group 
reported that five inmates at the Kuryazh correctional institution for 
minors in the Kharkiv Oblast cut their veins to protest abuse by 
administration of the facility.
    Prisoners generally had access to visitors and were permitted 
religious observance, although those facing disciplinary actions were 
barred from receiving visitors. Prisoners and detainees were also 
allowed to file complaints with the ombudsman about conditions in 
custody, but human rights organizations noted that prison officials 
continued to censor or discourage complaints. By law the prosecutor and 
ombudsman were obliged to disclose the names of inmates who filed 
complaints to prison and police authorities.
    The Government allowed independent monitoring of prison conditions 
and detention centers by local and international human rights groups. 
However, according to local human rights activists, mobile monitoring 
groups made only a few visits during first three months of the year 
because newly appointed police chiefs impeded their work by refusing to 
grant permissions for site visits.
    In September 2009 a delegation of the CPT carried out a two-week 
visit to the country. It was the CPT's fifth visit since 1998. At 
year's end, the CPT did not yet release a report of its findings during 
the 2009 visit.
    On March 18, the new minister of internal affairs, Anatoliy 
Mohylyov, reduced the ministry's Human Rights Monitoring Department 
from 31 positions to five. On March 29, President Yanukovych called the 
reduction ``ill-considered'' and called on Mohylyov to rescind it. On 
June 17, in a letter to UHHRU, Mohylyov described his decision as 
internal restructuring to improve police response to human rights 
violations and stated the move would reduce government expenditures and 
avoid a duplication of efforts. Monitoring would be conducted by 
freelance advisers and consultants who would assume some of the duties 
of dismissed personnel. However, according to UHHRU, none of its 29 
member nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) were invited to consult 
with the new minister on the restructuring, and the minister of 
internal affair's civic advisory council did not meet during the year, 
despite numerous calls by its members to do so. All 26 regional human 
rights assistants that conducted mobile monitoring of human rights 
conditions were fired.
    On December 9, the president issued a decree to reorganize the 
State Penitentiary Service within the State Penal Department. However, 
as of year's end, it was too early to assess whether the reorganization 
would have any impact on conditions in prison and detention centers.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and the law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, in practice problems 
remained.
    There was a sharp increase in charges brought against opposition 
politicians after the appointment of a new prosecutor general on 
November 4, giving rise to the appearance of selective and politically 
motivated prosecution by the Yanukovych government. Between November 1 
and December 31, prosecutors brought charges against former prime 
minister Yulia Tymoshenko and more than eight high-level members of her 
government for abuse of office and/or misuse of state funds during 
their tenure. The questioning of accused individuals by government 
prosecutors, which often lasted for hours at a time over a period of 
several days, and the denial of bail in certain cases further 
exacerbated the perception of politically motivated prosecution (see 
section 4). The Government contended that the prosecutions were not 
targeting the opposition, and that there were many ongoing 
investigations of members of the governing party; however, with only a 
few exceptions these were low-level, career officials.
    On December 12, the UHHRU and the Kharkiv Human Rights Group issued 
a statement that the Government's criminal prosecutions were only aimed 
at members of the opposition. As a result, the Government's actions 
``spell the effective use of criminal court proceedings for political 
ends. and run counter to democratic values based on equality of all 
before the law and undermines the foundations of criminal justice,'' 
the statement said.
    On December 26, police detained former interior minister Yuriy 
Lutsenko in Kyiv on allegations of embezzlement, abuse of office, and 
forgery. The appeals court denied his petition for bail and approved 
the prosecutor general's request for a two-month detention. Local human 
rights observers and opposition commentators described Lutsenko's 
arrest as politically motivated, given the administrative nature of his 
alleged offenses. Lutsenko alleged that the prosecutor's office ignored 
his constitutional rights throughout the investigation, in particular, 
delaying access to and denying time to review case materials and 
creating other ``artificial barriers'' to his right to become 
acquainted with the case. Lutsenko remained in jail at year's end, and 
his attorney filed a case with the ECHR.
    Police also questioned several civil society activists following 
the tax protests in November in Kyiv in which small-business owners 
protested outside the parliament against tax reforms proposed by the 
Government. At year's end at least three protesters remained in custody 
on charges of damaging public property on Independence Square, where 
the demonstrators had erected tents. Other protest leaders remained 
free but were subject to travel restrictions (see section 2.b).

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Ministry of 
Internal Affairs is responsible for maintaining internal security and 
order; it oversees the police (militsia) and its own armed troops. The 
SBU, which is responsible for internal intelligence and protecting 
state security, reports directly to the president. The State Tax 
Administration, which exercises law enforcement powers through the tax 
police, is accountable to both the president and the cabinet.
    The law provides for civilian control of the army and law 
enforcement agencies and authorizes members of parliament to conduct 
investigations and public hearings into national security and defense 
issues. The human rights ombudsman is also authorized to initiate 
investigations into the relevant activities of security forces.
    On September 24, the NGO Democratic Alliance issued a statement 
chronicling what it described as ``pressure and intimidation'' at its 
district branches by the SBU and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. On 
June 12, an SBU officer approached the chairman of the organization's 
Mykolayiv Oblast branch, Yuliya Hrechka, seeking information about its 
activities. Three days later, SBU and Ministry of Internal Affairs 
representatives met with Tayisiya Plakhuta, the head of the Democratic 
Alliance's Cherkasy Oblast branch, to ask about the organization's 
future plans, its national leaders, and implied that she should cancel 
future activities. In late July the leader of the Democratic Alliance 
in Chernihiv, Ihor Andriychenko, received a telephone call from a 
person who introduced himself as an SBU officer and asked about the 
activities of the local Democratic Alliance branch, including the 
number of its registered members.
    On October 4, following a visit to the country, corapporteurs 
Renate Wohlwend and Mailis Reps of the Parliamentary Assembly of the 
Council of Europe (PACE) expressed concern about the role of the SBU in 
monitoring civil society. In an addendum to a September 9 PACE report 
on the functioning of democratic institutions in the country, they 
wrote: ``The role of the Security Services of Ukraine and its apparent 
involvement in the domestic political environment has become 
increasingly problematic and a matter of concern. We have received 
numerous, often substantiated and credible, reports of pressure by the 
SBU on journalists, politicians, and civil society activists or on 
people or businesses close to them. This is not acceptable in a 
democratic society.''
    On December 23, the coordinator of the Vinnytsya Human Rights Group 
(VHRG), Dmytro Groisman, was charged with desecration of state symbols 
and disseminating pornography. Human rights groups labeled the charges 
as politically motivated and harassment of Groisman for his group's 
work to protect refugees. The charges followed the October search of 
the VHRG's offices, during which police confiscated financial documents 
and other material relating to refugees the group was assisting. The 
police also confiscated correspondence between the group and the ECHR.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--By law 
authorities may detain a suspect for three 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 and 
thereafter grant extensions for a maximum of 18 months. The law permits 
citizens to contest an arrest in court or appeal it to the prosecutor. 
The law requires that detained persons be informed of their rights and 
that officials notify family members immediately concerning an arrest; 
however, in practice police did not follow the procedures required by 
law.
    Lengthy pretrial detention was a serious a problem. Individuals 
often remained in pretrial detention for months or, in some cases, 
years. There were unsanctioned arrests, and investigative police at 
times failed to keep records or register detained suspects. According 
to domestic human rights organizations, the investigation process took 
four to five months on average.
    Human rights organizations reported that police continued to use 
detention arbitrarily to extract evidence that could be used against 
detainees. Courts often extended detention to 10 days or more to allow 
police more time to obtain confessions. In October 2009, in a speech at 
a conference on police violence sponsored by the Kharkiv Human Rights 
Group (KHRG), Denys Kobzin, director of the Kharkiv Institute of 
Sociological research, reported that approximately 40 percent of 
detainees were held longer than the legally allowed three days.
    The February 2009 report by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary 
Detention noted the following problems: the continued practice of 
detaining until trial persons suspected of minor crimes; a perceived 
lack of independent and effective control by the judiciary over the 
detention process; and unlawful restrictions on pretrial detainees, 
such as denying them contact with their families before court trials.
    The law stipulates that a defense attorney must be provided without 
charge to indigent detainees from either the time of detention or the 
filing of charges. However, in practice this often did not occur. There 
were insufficient defense attorneys to protect suspects from unlawful 
and lengthy detention. Attorneys often refused to defend indigents for 
the low payment the Government provided.
    The law provides for bail, but it was rarely used. Many defendants 
could not pay imposed bail amounts. Courts sometimes imposed travel 
restrictions as an alternative to pretrial confinement. However, they 
generally opted to place individuals in detention.

    Amnesty.--Before leaving office in February former president 
Yushchenko pardoned 130 persons. There was no information about amnesty 
or pardons that President Yanukovych may have granted during the year.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary; however, in practice the judiciary 
remained subject to political pressure, suffered from corruption and 
inefficiency, and lacked public confidence.
    The right to a fair trial was limited by lengthy court proceedings, 
particularly in administrative courts, and by political pressure on 
judges, inadequate court funding, a shortage of qualified legal 
assistance for defendants, and the inability of courts to enforce their 
rulings. Judges also continued to complain about pressure from high-
ranking politicians seeking improper resolution of cases.
    The president has the authority, with the agreement of the Minister 
of Justice and the chair of a corresponding higher court, to establish 
and abolish courts of general jurisdiction, and establishes appellate 
commercial and appellate administrative courts. Until August, the 
president also determined the number of judges in the court system, and 
appointed and removed chairpersons and deputy chairpersons of courts.
    During the year the ECHR issued 15 judgments that found the country 
in violation of Article 6 (right to a fair trial) of the European 
Convention on Human Rights. This compared with 69 judgments issued 
during 2009 and 61 judgments in 2008. In addition, the ECHR issued 
judgments that found 60 violations regarding length of proceedings and 
43 violations regarding the right to liberty and personal security, 
compared with 35 and 27 judgments, respectively, in 2009, and 32 and 14 
in 2008.
    All courts, except for the Supreme Court, were funded through the 
State Judicial Administration, which was also responsible for staffing. 
The Ministries of Justice and Education were responsible for training 
judges. The judiciary's lack of adequate staff and funds contributed to 
inefficiency and corruption and increased its dependence on the 
executive branch.
    On May 31, President Yanukovych issued a decree appointing SBU 
Chief Valeriy Khoroshkovsky as a member of the High Council of Justice, 
a move that was widely criticized by legal experts and civil society 
leaders. On December 16, following months of criticism about the 
apparent conflict of interest, the president issued a follow-up decree 
dismissing Khoroshkovsky from the council, stating that he did so at 
Khoroshkovsky's request.
    On July 7, parliament adopted a new Law on the Judicial System and 
Status of Judges. Under the law a new High Specialized Court for 
Examination of Civil and Criminal cases was established, which greatly 
reducing the powers of the Supreme Court and the number of Supreme 
Court justices. The legislation also gave the 20-member High Council of 
Justice a more prominent role in nominating and dismissing judges, 
chairpersons and deputy chairpersons of courts except for the Supreme 
Court. Under the law the number of judges in a court is determined by 
the Minister of Justice upon the proposal of the State Judicial 
Administration.
    In their addendum to the PACE report on October 4, corapporteurs 
Wohlwend and Reps highlighted concerns expressed by the opposition and 
other interlocutors over the enlarged powers of the High Council of 
Justice. They noted the Venice Commission's statement that the 
legislation creates ``an evident danger of politically motivated 
nominations to the High Council of Justice guided by political 
considerations.''
    Human rights activists and legal experts criticized the legislation 
for undermining the independence of the judiciary. On July 12, in an 
open letter to the president, Supreme Court Chairman Vasyl Onopenko 
warned that the new legislation would increase political pressure on 
judges.
    On September 14, the president signed a decree abolishing appellate 
military courts and local military courts. Legal experts welcomed the 
abolition.
    On September 21, four new justices appointed by President 
Yanukovych to the 18-member Constitutional Court were sworn in to begin 
nine-year terms, a move that legal observers noted gave the president a 
majority of loyal judges who would be more sympathetic to his 
proposals. The appointments followed the resignation of four 
Constitutional Court justices days earlier, at least one of whom stated 
that he was put under pressure to resign.
    On October 1, the Constitutional Court in a closed-door ruling 
announced that amendments adopted during the 2004 Orange Revolution to 
the 1996 constitution were unconstitutional because procedures used to 
adopt them violated the constitution. The court reinstated the 1996 
constitution, which granted greater powers to the presidency.
    In their October 4 report addendum, PACE corapporteurs Wohlwend and 
Reps stated: ``The fact that these four newly appointed judges 
reportedly tipped the decision in favor of Mr. Yanukovych will only add 
to the controversy surrounding this (Constitutional Court) decision and 
allegations that the current authorities intend at all cost to 
monopolize power in the country. ``

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution includes provisions for a fair 
trial, including the right of suspects or witnesses to refuse to 
testify against themselves or their relatives; however, these rights 
were limited by the absence of implementing legislation, which left a 
largely Soviet-era criminal justice system in place. Defendants are 
presumed innocent; however, high conviction rates called that 
assumption into question.
    The constitution provides for juries, but a jury system has not 
been implemented. Most cases are decided by judges who sit alone, 
although trials on charges carrying a maximum sentence of life 
imprisonment, the highest penalty in the criminal justice system, were 
heard by two judges and three public assessors who have some legal 
training.
    By law a trial must begin no later than three weeks after criminal 
charges are filed with the court; however, this requirement was rarely 
met by the overburdened court system. Months could pass before a 
defendant was brought to trial. Complicated cases could take years to 
go to trial.
    The law specifies that a defendant may consult a lawyer in private; 
however, human rights groups reported that officials occasionally 
denied this attorney-client privilege. The law also requires free legal 
counsel for all defendants, but free counsel was often unavailable.
    To protect defendants, investigative files must contain signed 
documents attesting that defendants were informed of the charges 
against them, of their right to an attorney at public expense, and of 
their right not to give evidence against themselves or their relatives. 
Appeals courts may dismiss convictions or order new trials if these 
signed documents are missing; however, officials sometimes verbally and 
physically abused defendants to obtain their signatures.
    By law trials are held in public, and defendants have the right to 
confront witnesses. However, courtroom space was often limited, and 
media personnel were at times not able to attend and report on court 
proceedings.
    The law permits the names and addresses of victims and witnesses to 
be kept confidential if they were at risk of being intimidated into 
withdrawing or changing their testimony. The law requires that a 
special police unit protect judges, witnesses, defendants, and their 
relatives, but human rights organizations claimed that this system 
continued to be ineffective.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--Once they have exhausted 
domestic legal remedies, citizens may apply to the ECHR for the redress 
of grievances involving an alleged infringement of rights under the 
European Convention on Human Rights.
    During the year the ECHR handed down 107 judgments against the 
country, and a reported 10,800 applications from the country remained 
pending before the court at year's end. Most of the judgments involved 
violations of the right to a fair trial, violation of property rights, 
and unduly lengthy proceedings. In 2009 the ECHR issued 126 decisions 
against the country, all of which found at least one violation of the 
European Convention on Human Rights.
    According to the Government's ECHR commissioner, Yuriy Zaitsev, 
during the first 11 months of year, the ECHR issued 68 rulings in cases 
involving the country. The Government enforced 76 of the rulings 
involving prohibition of torture, the right to liberty and security of 
person, the right to a fair trial, the right to respect for private and 
family life, and the right to an effective remedy. Some of the enforced 
rulings covered 2009 court decisions.
    Independent observers noted that, while the Government paid damages 
to those who won ECHR cases involving financial issues, it failed to 
institute reforms to address the root causes of many of the cases 
brought before the court.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The constitution and laws 
give citizens the right to challenge any decisions, actions, or 
omissions of national and local government officials that violate their 
human rights. However, the right of redress was limited by an 
inefficient and corrupt judicial system.
    Potential victims may also file a collective legal challenge to 
legislation that they believe may violate basic rights and freedoms. 
Citizens may appeal to the human rights ombudsman and may take cases to 
international bodies, such as the ECHR.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution prohibits such actions; however, in 
practice authorities generally did not respect these prohibitions.
    By law the SBU may not conduct surveillance and searches without a 
court-issued warrant. The PGO has the constitutional responsibility to 
ensure that all law enforcement agencies observe the law. Citizens have 
the legal right to examine any dossier concerning them in the 
possession of the SBU and the legal right to recover losses resulting 
from an investigation. However, authorities generally did not respect 
these rights in practice because implementing legislation had not been 
enacted, and many citizens were not aware of their rights or that their 
privacy had been violated by authorities.
    On March 13, UNIAN reported that, during a meeting of the 
interagency coordinating council to combat corruption and organized 
crime, SBU chief Valeriy Khoroshkovsky requested the Supreme Court to 
allow courts to sanction with one approval the monitoring of all 
telephone numbers rather than one telephone number of a suspect. The 
Supreme Court approved the request on June 4. Supreme Court Chairman 
Vasyl Onopenko stated that, on average, courts issue 20,000 such 
approvals every year. However, despite increased surveillance activity, 
he stated there was no discernible improvement in the number of solved 
criminal cases or their quality. Human rights groups expressed concern 
that the SBU may abuse such court approvals to intercept telephone 
conversations of the Government's critics.
    On July 5, the Lviv-based newspaper Vysokyi Zamok quoted its 
sources as stating that district state administrations in the Lviv 
Oblast were gathering information about political affiliation of local 
business managers and self-government representatives, the ``degree of 
their influence on voters, `` and their preferred candidate in the 
recent presidential election.
    In 2009 there were some media reports of allegations of privacy 
interference and illegal surveillance by government authorities. For 
example, the weekly newspaper Dzerkalo Tyznia reported in April 2009 
that appeals courts reviewed 25,086 requests by law enforcement 
agencies (mostly by the SBU, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and tax 
police) for permission to intercept information, seize correspondence, 
or use other technical means to obtain information. According to 
newspaper, these types of requests amounted to restrictions of the 
constitutional rights of citizens.
    During the year the ECHR issued six judgments that found violations 
by the country of the right to respect for family and private life 
under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, compared 
with four in 2009, and one in 2008.
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 in practice government 
pressure on the media intimidated journalists and media owners in some 
cases into practicing self-censorship. Following changes in government 
leadership after the presidential elections, there were numerous 
reports that central authorities attempted to direct media content. 
There were also reports of intimidation and violence against 
journalists by national and local officials.
    Individuals could criticize the Government publicly and privately, 
and independent and international media were active and expressed a 
wide variety of opinions.
    Private media outlets generally operated free of direct state 
control or interference; however, both independent and state-owned 
media increasingly demonstrated a tendency toward self-censorship on 
matters that the Government deemed sensitive. Although private 
newspapers operated on a commercial basis, they often depended on their 
owners (political patrons or wealthy businessmen with government 
connections) for revenue and did not enjoy editorial independence.
    According to the Ukrainian Association of Press Publications, in 
2009 approximately 4,200 print publications were regularly published in 
the country. Among them were 2,400 newspapers (including 52 dailies) 
and 1,700 magazines, with 1,550 having primarily nationwide 
distribution.
    On March 11, President Yanukovych appointed Valeriy Khoroshkovsky 
as head of the SBU. Khoroshkovsky was also the de facto owner of Inter 
Media Group, the parent company of Inter TV, the most popular news and 
entertainment channel in the country. According to Khoroshkovsky, his 
wife controlled the company and its operations.
    On April 2, President Yanukovych disbanded the national free speech 
commission that had been an official part of the Office of the 
President. On April 20, the commission decided to continue as a self-
governed and independent expert body with the purpose of implementing 
European media standards in the country.
    Beginning in April, international observers and media watchdog 
groups issued a range of statements expressing concern about the 
deterioration of media freedom. For example, on April 15, Reporters 
without Borders expressed ``dismay and alarm'' over the status of press 
freedom since the January-February presidential elections. On April 29, 
the EU released a statement on media freedom in the country that voiced 
concern over cases of harassment and violence against journalists.
    According to the Institute for Mass Information (IMI), a local, 
nonprofit media-watchdog, at least 33 journalists and publications were 
subjected to physical attacks or intimidation during the first nine 
months of the year, compared with 31 incidents reported in 2009. As in 
the previous year most cases occurred at the local level and were often 
attributed to individual politicians, businessmen, or organized 
criminal groups.
    On March 23, unknown assailants severely beat Vasyl Demyaniv, chief 
editor of the Kolomyiskyi Visnyk newspaper in Kolomyia. Demyaniv stated 
he believed the attack was related to his media activities.
    On April 8, police officers ejected television reporter Serhiy 
Kutrakov of Novyi Kanal from an exhibition at the Ukraine House in 
Kyiv. Kutrakov filed a legal complaint, but a Kyiv court on July 12 
rejected it. Kutrakov appealed the court decision, which was pending at 
year's end.
    On April 12, an unidentified man beat Boris Braginskyi, a reporter 
for 9 Telekanal in Dnipropetrovsk, outside of his apartment. Braginskyi 
stated he believed the attack was related to his work because the 
assailant did not take any of his belongings.
    On June 15, there was a scuffle between STB television journalist 
Serhiy Andrushko and President Yanukovych's security detail at the Agro 
2010 exhibition. The guards did not admit Andrushko to the exhibition. 
When he asked for their names, and stated he would record them with his 
mobile phone, the guards twisted his hands behind his back and threw 
him onto the ground. The State Guard Directorate later apologized to 
Andrushko for unwarranted use of force. He filed a complaint over the 
incident, but it was denied.
    On August 11, Vasyl Klymentyev editor in chief of the newspaper 
Novy Styl, disappeared in Kharkiv and was presumed dead. The paper had 
written about corruption among law enforcement officers and others in 
the Kharkiv region. On August 20, President Yanukovych took personal 
control of the case and ordered top law enforcement officials to make 
every effort to find him. However, at year's end little progress on the 
case was reported.
    There also were numerous expressions of concern and public protests 
by local activists, journalists, and NGOs against what they 
characterized as a return to censorship.
    On May 21, over 200 media representatives and community activists 
meeting in Kyiv launched the ``Stop Censorship!'' movement to resist 
all efforts at censorship, including self-censorship, by media owners. 
In the weeks leading up to ``Stop Censorship!'' protests, journalists 
at two popular television stations, 1+1 and STB, released letters 
protesting censorship by station management, claiming that management 
either blocked or interfered with reports about the political 
opposition as well as news critical of the Yanukovych administration.
    On May 27, the news Web site Forum proUA reported that 41 percent 
of newspaper publishers interviewed by the Association of Independent 
Regional Publishers stated the publishing business had become more 
difficult in April due to government interference, pressure on 
journalists and editors, and vendors refusing to disseminate 
publications critical of the authorities.
    On June 4, visiting PACE Monitoring Committee corapporteurs 
Wohlwend and Reps stated that they had received reports of an 
increasing number of violations of human rights and the right of 
freedom of speech.
    On June 8, a Kyiv court ruled in a case brought by the Inter Media 
Group that broadcast licenses had been improperly awarded in January to 
independent stations TVi and Channel 5. The channels accused SBU Chief 
Khoroshkovsky, the de facto owner of Inter Media Group and Inter TV, of 
using his position to influence the court's decision. There were 
counter allegations that TVi and Channel 5 had paid bribes to receive 
the additional licenses. On August 30, an appeals court upheld the 
decision and went beyond the original ruling by stripping TVi of all 
its broadcast licenses, which it had renewed along with the new 
licenses in January.
    On July 27, Walid Arfush, the deputy head of UT-1, the national 
state television company, stated in an interview that the channel had a 
duty to report on the activities of the Government in a positive light. 
``There is a lot of talk about creating a public television station, 
and some say that UT-1 should not be connected with the authorities. 
But I think UT-1 should be partisan in favor of the authorities,'' 
Arfush was quoted as telling UNIAN.
    On August 18, the state tax administration in Crimea froze the bank 
accounts of Chernomorskaya TV for alleged financial violations 
involving barter deals. Chernomorskaya TV is an independent, 
opposition-owned station known for its criticism of local and national 
authorities. The station was previously in conflict with local 
authorities in 2006 and 1999.
    On September 1, Reporters without Borders released a report based 
on a three-day fact-finding mission to the country in July. The report, 
Temptation to Control, described numerous incidents of violence and 
harassment against journalists and media companies. The report also 
emphasized the conflict of interest between Khoroshkhovsky's status as 
both SBU chief and media owner.
    On September 9, the Council of Europe's PACE report on the 
Functioning of Democratic Institutions in Ukraine also expressed 
concern about developments that could undermine media freedom and 
pluralism and called on authorities to ``refrain from any attempts to 
control directly or indirectly the content of reporting in national 
media.''
    On October 13, following a two-day visit to the country, Dunja 
Mijatovic, the media freedom representative of the Organization for 
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), noted public assurances by 
the authorities to preserve media freedom, but cautioned that results 
were lacking. She stated that recent cases of violence and intimidation 
of journalists, including the August 11 disappearance of Novy Styl 
reporter Vasyl Klymentyev and physical attacks against journalists had 
a ``chilling effect on the media climate.''
    According to local media NGO IMI, private agreements exist between 
the authorities and media owners to restrict media content. For 
example, to preserve their business assets owners instruct their 
television channels and publications to avoid criticism of the 
president and his administration. The IMI also stated that communal and 
municipal state-funded media are under huge pressure. Print materials 
have to praise local governors, and often the articles must be approved 
by the corresponding local headquarters of the ruling Party of Regions.
    The IMI also emphasized that political parties frequently ordered 
placement of stories in regional print media while law enforcement 
agencies did not investigate this breach of law. Some journalists 
maintained that low salaries encouraged some reporters to supplement 
their incomes with undocumented payments from benefactors seeking to 
influence news reporting.
    Inadequate media access to government-held information was a 
problem, particularly outside of the capital. The IMI, the UHHRU, and 
the Committee for Monitoring Freedom of Press in Crimea asserted that 
most government agencies regularly denied requests by journalists and 
NGOs for basic public interest information.
    Libel is considered a civil offense, and the law limits the amount 
of damages that may be claimed in libel lawsuits; the press can publish 
inoffensive, nonfactual judgments, including criticism, without 
penalty. In February 2009, the Supreme Court adopted a resolution on 
judicial practice in defamation cases, reiterating that public 
officials enjoy less protection from criticism than average 
individuals, emphasizing the importance of distinguishing between 
factual information and value judgments, and encouraging courts to 
refer to the ECHR's practices.
    On June 26, the president signed a privacy law, scheduled to enter 
into force in January 2011, which could significantly complicate the 
work of journalists and expose them to criminal prosecution. According 
to the IMI, the law would require journalists to request permission 
before publishing virtually any information about a person other than 
his or her name. High-level politicians and officials are exempted, but 
other public figures are not.
    Local media observers continued to express concern over high 
monetary damages that were demanded, and sometimes awarded, for alleged 
libel. Government entities and public figures in particular continued 
to use the threat of civil suits based on alleged damage to a 
``person's honor and integrity'' to influence or intimidate the press 
and investigative journalists.
    For example, on October 5, the Kyiv Circuit Court of Appeals upheld 
a lower-court ruling that Olha Snitsarchuk and Channel 5 should pay 
member of parliament Yuriy But 20,000 hryvnias ($2,500) for pain and 
suffering. But had sued Snitsarchuk for 100,000 hryvnias ($12,500), 
claiming he suffered severe psychological shock and had been in 
treatment because Snitsarchuk referred to him as a deserter or renegade 
in a December 2009 report. But was one of the first members of 
parliament to quit Tymoshenko's party in 2008. However, But declined to 
accept the court ruling for damages after widespread criticism and 
ridicule of his claim.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet. Individuals and groups could engage in the peaceful 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail; however, law 
enforcement bodies engaged in Internet monitoring.
    On March 27, police in Kyiv questioned blogger Olena Bilozerska 
about her coverage of demonstrations by opposition activists the 
previous month. Police searched her apartment and computer. Bilozerska 
asserted that she was a registered journalist and therefore the search 
was illegal; her attempt to file a legal complaint was denied.
    On July 30, the SBU summoned blogger Oleg Shynkarenko to discuss 
statements on his blog that could be interpreted as a threat to the 
life of President Yanukovych. Shynkarenko apologized on his blog and 
stated he had not meant to issue a ``call to kill the president.'' The 
SBU compelled Shynkarenko to sign a pledge that he would not write 
similar statements in the future.
    According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 
the year, 34 percent of the country's inhabitants had access to the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There was at least one case 
of government restrictions on academic freedom.
    On September 8 in Lviv, the SBU detained the head of the museum 
``Prison at Lontskoho Street,'' Ruslan Zabily, alleging that he 
intended to give away state secrets. The museum is dedicated to victims 
of Soviet and Nazi rule. According to Zabily, his laptop and two hard 
discs were confiscated, he was questioned about his contacts with 
foreign academics, and he was advised to find new employment. Zabily, 
who is a historian, stated the confiscated data included declassified 
information about activities of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, a 
partisan militia that fought against both Soviet and German forces in 
World War II, and about the Soviet-era dissident movement. The status 
of the case against Zabily was pending at year's end due in part to 
national and international criticism about the SBU's handling of the 
incident.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution provides for freedom of assembly, but in 
some instances regional governments infringed on these rights. Since 
there is no national law governing freedom of assembly, the Code of 
Administrative Justice and case law prevailed. Local authorities 
sometimes invoked a Soviet-era decree on freedom of assembly that was 
more restrictive than the constitution.
    The constitution requires that organizers inform authorities in 
advance of planned demonstrations. In compliance with the Soviet-era 
decree, authorities at times stipulated that organizations must apply 
for permission at least 10 days beforehand. In most cases permits were 
granted, and in practice unlicensed demonstrations were common and 
generally occurred without police interference, fines, or detention, 
although there were several notable exceptions.
    On May 19, the rector of the Lviv-based Ukrainian Catholic 
University, Borys Gudziak, publicized a meeting with an SBU officer. 
According to Gudziak, the security official recommended that the 
university warn students that they would be prosecuted for involvement 
in any ``illegal activities.'' According to the rector, such illegal 
activities included ``not only violent acts but also, for example, 
pickets blocking access to the work place of government officials or 
any protests not sanctioned by authorities.''
    On May 28, Kharkiv police detained 10 to 12 environmental activists 
who were protesting the city's decision to cut down trees in a central 
park. Two of the activists, Andrei Yevarnitsky and Denis Chernega, were 
sentenced to 15 days of detention for disobeying police orders. The 
sentence was subsequently reduced to nine days. Amnesty International 
declared the two activists to be ``prisoners of conscience,'' asserting 
that their rights to freedom of expression and assembly were curtailed.
    On August 2, the KHRG stated that there had been more violations of 
freedom of peaceful assembly during the year under the Yanukovych 
administration than during the entire 2007-09 period. The KHRG 
estimated that during the first 100 days of the new government the 
oblast-level and national media alone released more than 350 reports 
criticizing police for such violations that occurred during that 
period.
    On October 14, Oleksiy Verentsov and Ihor Tanichkevych were 
detained after taking part in an approved protest rally near the Lviv 
Oblast Prosecutor's Office. The two were released after several days of 
detention. The prosecutor subsequently filed charges against 
Tanichkevych, which carry a prison sentence, after he challenged the 
legality of the detention. The case was pending at year's end.
    In December two organizers of huge demonstrations against the 
Government's proposed changes to the tax code, Oleksandr Danylyuk and 
Serhiy Melnychenko, were questioned by police about their role in the 
protests. Media reports quoted Danylyuk as stating that law enforcement 
bodies, through their investigations and questioning, were attempting 
to ``terrorize'' activists and society at large.
    Investigators questioned at least four additional protesters, two 
of whom remained subject to travel bans at the year's end. At least 
three protesters remained in custody on charges of damaging public 
property on Independence Square, where the demonstrators had erected 
tents. In addition, employees of the Pact Office in Simferopol, a local 
civil society organization, were questioned as to whether their civic 
engagement activities were training participants to organize protests.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and the law provide for 
freedom of association; while the Government generally respected this 
right in practice, some restrictions remained. There were extensive 
registration requirements for organizations; however, there were no 
reports that the Government used them during the year to disband 
existing organizations or to prevent new ones from being formed.
    The law places restrictions on organizations that advocate violence 
or racial and religious hatred or that threaten public order or health. 
In January 2009 SBU spokesperson Maryna Ostapenko confirmed that the 
security service had completed a pretrial investigation in the criminal 
case against a separatist organization, the Popular Front Sevastopol-
Crimea-Russia, and forwarded it to the court. In December 2009 the 
Crimean Appellate Court handed down a four-year suspended prison 
sentence to Semen Klyuyev, a Popular Front member. On March 4, the 
Supreme Court overturned the December ruling, returning the case to the 
Appellate Court for review.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl//irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and the law provide 
for freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, 
and repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights. 
The Government worked with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for 
Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations to provide 
protection to asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of 
concern.
    Citizens who wished to travel abroad were able to do so freely. 
Exit visas were not required. The Government could deny passports to 
individuals in possession of state secrets, but denials were rare and 
could be appealed.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The laws provide for granting of asylum or 
refugee status, and the Government has established a system for 
providing protection to refugees; however, in practice authorities 
failed to provide effective protection for refugees.
    The constitution provides for asylum; however, there were no laws 
to implement the granting of asylum. Refugees residing in the country 
for three years may apply for citizenship. In 2009, 52 refugees 
acquired citizenship.
    On July 7, the Government abolished the State Migration Service 
(SMS). It was established in June 2009 on the basis of the Ministry of 
Internal Affairs' Citizenship and Immigration Department and the State 
Committee on Nationalities and Religions (SCNR).
    The SCNR retained authority for citizenship, immigration, asylum, 
and refugee procedures, while the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the 
State Border Guard Service (SBGS) continued to combat illegal 
migration. However, on December 9, the president abolished the SCNR and 
re-instated the SMS as part of wide-ranging administrative reforms to 
reduce the size of government.
    Before it was abolished in July, the SMS received 524 asylum claims 
during the first seven months of the year; however, no asylum decisions 
were issued from mid-2009 through July. Some human rights activists had 
welcomed the decision to close the SMS, stating that it could help 
revitalize procedures to review more than 1,000 pending refugee cases.
    In December, Human Rights Watch described the country's asylum 
system as ``dysfunctional.'' Administrative courts responsible for 
reviewing appeals of denied asylum applications were overwhelmed by a 
backlog of cases, while the Kyiv Administrative Court of Appeal 
postponed its review of deportation appeals until 2012. According to 
HRW, 5,397 asylum applications were filed between 2007 and 2009. Of 
that number, only 284 were granted asylum.
    The Government provided some protection against the expulsion or 
return of refugees to a country where there is reason to believe their 
lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, 
religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group and 
political opinion. However, there were some exceptions.
    In May an Afghan family requesting asylum in the country was denied 
entry at Boryspil Airport. In June and July, following a request by the 
Uzbek government, the authorities detained Uzbek citizens Umid 
Khamroyev, Kosim Dadakhanov, Shodilbek Soibzhonov, and Utkir Akramov, 
who were seeking political asylum. On July 26, the ECHR ordered the 
Government not to return the four asylum seekers. The Government 
complied with the order.
    In 2009 the UNHCR recorded 16 incidents of refugee expulsion, 
compared to 12 in 2008. Incidents included cases in which individuals 
were denied access to the territory of the country.
    In August 2009 new regulations initiated by the SBGS took effect 
that require foreign nationals transiting the country to Western Europe 
and stateless persons to have in their possession no less than ``70 
subsistence levels'' (12,620 hryvnia or $1,570) to sustain their stay 
in the country. On September 2, the UNHCR stated that this change 
``should not affect access to the asylum procedure and undermine the 
nonrefoulement principle.''
    Human rights groups noted that the current law on refugees does not 
provide protection for war refugees, victims of indiscriminate 
violence, or failed asylum seekers who could face the threat of torture 
or loss of life or freedom if deported. According to informed 
observers, several allegedly failed Chechen asylum seekers were kept in 
pretrial detention facilities, at least two were recognized as refugees 
under the UNHCR's mandate. In one case the individual had been accepted 
for resettlement in an EU member state. Despite numerous demarches by 
the resettlement country and the UNHCR, the individual has remained in 
detention for more than two years.
    According to the UNHCR and local human rights groups, the 
complicated and burdensome registration system often left asylum 
seekers without documents during the protracted review of their cases 
and the appeal process. This left them vulnerable to frequent police 
stops, detention, and fines. Refugees and asylum seekers, who 
frequently came from Africa and Asia, were at times victims of 
xenophobic attacks. Asylum seekers in detention centers were sometimes 
unable to apply for refugee status within prescribed time limits and 
had limited access to legal and other assistance. The problem was 
further complicated by the lack of access to qualified interpreters to 
complete registration documents.
    During the year the UNHCR and local NGOs worked with approximately 
100 unaccompanied children seeking asylum. The majority were not 
registered with asylum authorities and were unable to access 
appropriate services and care, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation 
and abuse.
    According to the UNHCR, there were 2,334 refugees in the country as 
of July 1. Of these, 53 percent were from Afghanistan, 27 percent from 
the former Soviet Union, and 11percent from African countries.
    The country remained a destination and transit country for 
migrants. According to the SBGS, 15,667 irregular migrants were 
identified in the first nine months of the year, an 18 percent drop 
compared with the same period in 2009. Of that number, 13,576 were not 
allowed into the country, and 1,260 were apprehended when illegally 
crossing the border. According to the SBGS, 13 Chechens, 16 Uzbeks, and 
two Belarusians were also apprehended in the first nine months of the 
year.
    According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 350 detained 
irregular migrants were held in two new facilities in Chernihiv and 
Volyn oblasts, compared with 751 in 2009. According to the SCNR, two 
temporary holding facilities for refugees, in Odesa and Zakarpattia 
oblast, were not sufficient for providing temporary housing to 
refugees.
    There are no legal provisions for voluntary return. However, the 
local office of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in 
cooperation with the SBGS and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 
continued to operate a Program on Assisted Voluntary Return to help 
stranded migrants and failed asylum seekers to repatriate to their 
countries of origin. Five local NGOs in the Mukachevo, Chernihiv, 
Odesa, Kharkiv, and Volyn oblasts participated in the voluntary return 
program. In 2009, 11 persons of concern to the UNHCR voluntarily 
departed the country.

    Stateless Persons.--According to the law citizenship is derived by 
birth, territorial origin, naturalization, restored citizenship, and 
adoption. Dual citizenship is not allowed.
    According to UNHCR estimates, there were approximately 52,000 
stateless persons in the country. In addition, there were an estimated 
4,500 formerly deported Crimean Tatars who returned to Crimea but had 
not registered as citizens, as well as smaller numbers from the 
separatist region of Abkhazia and Georgia.
    Stateless persons also included an unknown number of persons who 
either lived in the country for decades but failed to clarify their 
citizenship status after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 or 
who arrived in the country as students or visitors both before and 
after 1991. Many did not obtain residency documents or take other steps 
to register according to the regulations of their country of origin.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and the law provide citizens 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 and Political Participation.--On January 17, the first 
round of presidential elections took place. International and domestic 
observers assessed the vote as having met most international standards. 
As no candidate received 50 percent of the vote, the two candidates 
with the most votes--Viktor Yanukovych and Prime Minister Yulia 
Tymoshenko--faced each other in a runoff election on February 7. 
Observers again assessed the run-off election as largely free and fair. 
Yanukovych was inaugurated president on February 25.
    On March 11, the president's Party of Regions, together with two 
other parties and 16 nonaligned members of parliament (MPs) established 
the ``Stability and Reform'' governing coalition composed of 235 MPs to 
replace the coalition led by Tymoshenko. Opposition MPs and independent 
observers asserted that the new majority had been formed illegally in 
violation of established rules and procedures because a coalition could 
only be composed of factions, not individuals.
    On April 8, the Constitutional Court ruled that the procedures used 
to form the Party of Regions-led coalition was constitutional, stating 
that individual MPs have the right to take part in forming 
parliamentary coalitions.
    On October 1, the Constitutional Court ruled that the changes to 
the constitution enacted following the Orange Revolution violated the 
procedures for amending the constitution, thereby reinstating the 1996 
constitution, which granted greater powers to the presidency (see 
section 1.e).
    On July 10, parliament adopted a new law for the conduct of the 
elections on October 31 for local councils and mayors of cities, towns, 
and villages. Election observers and international experts cited the 
law as a source of problems on election day. In September President 
Yanukovych ordered revisions to the law that lessened or eliminated 
some of the problems such as, blocking the participation of new 
parties, were lessened or eliminated by the revisions ordered by 
President Yanukovych in September. However, other aspects of the 
election law and regulations challenged the placement of names of some 
candidates on ballots, allowed for reported cases of improper use of 
administrative resources during the electoral campaign, established an 
unbalanced membership in the electoral commission, and created 
complicated registration and voting procedures.
    While international and local election observers recognized some 
improvements in the conduct of the October 31 local elections compared 
to previous local elections, they concluded that overall it did not 
meet standards for openness and fairness set by the presidential 
elections earlier in the year.
    Observers noted shortcomings such as, insufficient training for 
electoral commission members, which contributed to procedural 
violations and organizational problems. In particular, the registration 
of fraudulent Batkivshchyna Party candidate lists led to the 
disqualification of all Batkivshchyna Party candidates in the Kyiv and 
Lviv oblast council elections, preventing the main opposition party 
from running for election in regions where it had considerable support. 
Election observers also reported incidences of law enforcement 
authorities' pressuring monitors and candidates, and election officials 
selectively barring or removing candidates from ballots.
    There were 36 female members of the 450-seat parliament, and a 
woman held the post of secretary of the National Security and Defense 
Council. The 18-member Constitutional Court included one female 
justice.
    The exact number of minorities in parliament and the cabinet was 
not available due to privacy laws.
    Crimean Tatar leaders continued to call for changes in the 
electoral law that would give them greater representation in the 
Crimean and national parliaments. The law does not allow for the 
creation of regional political parties, and Crimean Tatars had to join 
national political parties or blocs. Only one Crimean Tatar was a 
member of the national parliament.
    According to Refat Chubarov, the deputy leader of the Crimean Tatar 
Mejlis (governing body), Crimean Tatars, who make up 13 percent of the 
population of Crimea, occupied eight seats in the 100-member Crimean 
Mejlis, and had approximately 1,000 members in city, district, and 
rural councils in Crimea. The Mejlis was not legally recognized by 
national authorities.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, corruption was ineffectively prosecuted, and penalties were 
rarely imposed. Corruption remained a pervasive problem and was 
widespread in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of 
government and in society.
    Officials, including high-ranking officials, often engaged in 
corrupt practices with impunity. On October 5, at a meeting with 
foreign investors in Kyiv, Drago Kos, the president of the Group of 
States against Corruption (GRECO), stated he saw no improvements in the 
country's anticorruption efforts since the Yanukovych government took 
office.
    On April 22, the president announced that the PGO had opened more 
than 30 criminal cases on charges of embezzlement of state funds by 
members of the previous government. Opposition politicians claimed the 
charges were politically motivated.
    On June 24, the SBU detained the former head of the Customs 
Service, Anatoliy Makarenko, as a suspect in a criminal case related to 
damages allegedly caused to the country in connection with the seizure 
of 11 billion cubic meters of gas by former prime minister Tymoshenko's 
government from gas intermediary RosUkrEnergo in 2009.
    On July 12, the Interfax Ukraine news agency reported that the 
Pechersk District Court in Kyiv had approved the arrest of Ihor 
Didenko, the former first deputy head of national oil and gas company 
Naftohaz Ukrayiny, on suspicion of misappropriation or embezzlement 
through abuse of office also related to the seizure of 11 billion cubic 
meters of gas by former prime minister Tymoshenko's government from gas 
intermediary RosUkrEnergo in 2009.
    On October 18, former economy minister Bohdan Danylyshyn was 
detained in the Czech Republic after the country's prosecutor general 
opened a case against him for abuse of office in connection with 
procurement procedures at Boryspil Airport. As of year's end, Czech 
authorities had not made a determination on whether to deport 
Danylyshyn.
    In December prosecutors arrested a number of former senior 
government officials with ties to opposition leader and former prime 
minister Tymoshenko, including Georgy Filipchuk, Yevhen Korniychuk, 
Mykola Petrenko, and Yuriy Lutsenko (see section 1.d.).
    Tymoshenko herself was called in for questioning by authorities on 
at least nine occasions in December over charges that she misused funds 
from the sale of carbon credits and that there were irregularities in 
the her government's purchase of vehicles subsequently used for her 
presidential campaign. Former First Deputy Prime Oleksandr Turchynov 
was also called in for questioning at least six times in the last four 
months of the year.
    Numerous domestic and international observers also raised concerns 
that, while the Government had a right and a duty to investigate 
corruption, prosecution should not be selective or politically 
motivated. These observers noted that the Government's targeting, with 
few exceptions, of senior officials connected with the previous 
government gave the appearance of politically motivated prosecution of 
political opponents.
    In response the Government noted that Bohdan Presner, a former 
deputy environment minister in the Azarov government, was also under 
arrest for bribery. His case remained ongoing at year's end.
    On April 14, the Kyiv Appeals Court upheld a March ruling by a 
lower court to close criminal corruption cases against Ihor Bakai, 
former head of the State Management of Affairs Department and Naftohaz, 
the state gas and oil company. The cases were opened in 1998 and 2000. 
Observers attributed the dismissal of the cases to Bakai's political 
connections with the new administration.
    Police corruption remained a problem. The PGO reported that in the 
first nine months of the year 609 criminal cases of corruption were 
opened against law enforcement officers. Criminal cases involving 10 
prosecutors and 318 police officers were forwarded to court.
    According to the PGO, in the first nine months of the year, 71 
appointed and elected officials and civil servants at all levels of 
government were found guilty of criminal offenses related to corruption 
and bribery.
    Judges are immune from prosecution and may not be detained or 
arrested unless parliament rescinds their immunity. During the first 
nine months of the year, the PGO confirmed that it had initiated 22 
corruption cases against judges, and forwarded 25 corruption cases 
against judges to court. During the year 14 judges were found guilty of 
wrongdoing; eight were convicted of bribery; three of knowingly issuing 
an unjust decision; and three of abuse of power or office. Of these, 
four were sentenced to prison and seven were placed on probation.
    During the first nine months of the year, military prosecutors 
opened 119 criminal cases for corruption, of which 21 involved law 
enforcement personnel and 98 involved other officials.
    A June 2009 survey by the PACE project, ``Promoting Active Citizen 
Engagement to Combat Corruption in Ukraine,'' found that almost 63 
percent of respondents stated they had been involved in corrupt 
transactions with government officials in the previous 12 months. The 
survey also found increased public support for more active 
anticorruption programs and increasing criminal charges for corrupt 
government employees.
    On June 21, the PGO approved an indictment of Ihor Zvarych, the 
former head of the Lviv Administrative Court of Appeals. The ruling was 
forwarded to the Supreme Court to determine jurisdiction for a trial. 
Parliament stripped Zvarych of immunity in 2008 after an investigation 
found evidence that he accepted a bribe of 800,000 hryvnia ($100,000) 
and discovered eight million hryvnias ($1 million) at his home. He was 
arrested in March 2009 on charges of abuse of office, bribery and 
fraud, and remains in pretrial detention.
    The constitution and the law authorize public access to government 
information unless it pertains to national security. Government bodies 
are required to respond to requests within 10 days and to provide 
information within 30 days. Denials can be appealed to a higher level 
at the agency concerned and then to a court. However, it remained 
difficult to gain access to official information. Government officials 
often did not understand the law and at times created bureaucratic 
procedures to withhold information.
Section 5. 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; however, unlike in 
previous years, there were numerous complaints of government pressure 
and intimidation. Government officials were not uniformly cooperative 
or responsive to their views.
    During the year the SBU discontinued meetings of its advisory 
council consisting of political leaders, NGO activists, and independent 
experts which had aimed to provide civilian oversight and increase the 
transparency of SBU activities. While the council continued to exist in 
principle, as of the end of the year, it had not met since February.
    On June 26, Niko Lange, the local representative of the Konrad 
Adenauer Foundation, was detained at Boryspil airport upon his arrival 
in the country and held without explanation for 10 hours before being 
allowed entry. On July 30, UNIAN reported that the PGO had announced 
that the State Border Guard Service had detained Lange on SBU 
instructions because of his alleged interference in the country's 
internal affairs.
    On September 6, the International Renaissance Foundation (IRF) 
issued a statement that several NGOs it supported had received requests 
for information from the SBU. The foundation appealed to the 
authorities, emphasizing that it did not support any political party or 
political activities, only initiatives aimed at electoral processes to 
ensure fairness. On September 8, the head of the Presidential 
Administration, Sergiy Lyovochkin, told the media that the SBU's 
interest in IRF's activities was not part of a large-scale 
investigation into NGOs, but a one-time inquiry. However, despite 
increased attention by the SBU, domestic NGOs continued to criticize 
openly the Government's human rights performance.
    The Government generally cooperated with international 
organizations, including the UN, the OSCE, and the Parliamentary 
Assembly of the Council of Europe. For example, PACE rappporteurs 
visited the country several times during the year, as did the OSCE's 
representative on media freedom, among others.
    The constitution provides for a human rights ombudsman, officially 
designated as the parliamentary commissioner on human rights. On June 
29, the parliament amended the ombudsman's term in office from five to 
seven years. However, the change did not apply to term of the current 
ombudsman. In June 2009 Commissioner Nina Karpachova presented a 
constitutionally mandated report to parliament on the human rights 
situation in the country in 2006 and 2007. The report is required 
annually but has only been produced five times since the office was 
established in 1998.
    Human rights groups criticized the report for being outdated, and 
the ombudsman for poor cooperation with human rights organizations and 
for not opening regional offices. They also expressed concern that 
government bodies failed to provide proper responses to the ombudsman's 
requests. Nevertheless, they also noted that the ombudsman's office 
became more transparent by increasing media coverage of its activities 
and by updating information on its Web site on a more regular basis.
    According to the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman, 75,386 
persons filed 32,884 complaints with the office in the first 11 months 
of the year. Of that number, approximately 45 percent related to civil 
rights, in particular the right to a fair trial, abuse by law 
enforcement personnel, and timely implementation of court rulings. The 
remainder involved social rights (13.2 percent); economic rights (23.9 
percent); individual rights (10.8 percent) including right to life, 
respect for personal integrity, and prohibition of torture in 
detention; and religious rights (10.9 percent).
    A parliamentary committee on human rights, national minorities, and 
interethnic relations continued to operate during the year, but its 
activities were not publicized. The committee's subcommittees work on 
issues such as interethnic relations, gender policy, indigenous 
peoples, national minorities and ethnic groups, deported persons, 
victims of political repression, ethnic policy, prevention of domestic 
conflict, refugees, and migration.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, language, 
social status, or other circumstances; however, both governmental and 
societal discrimination persisted, and the Government did not 
effectively enforce the prohibitions.

    Women.--The law prohibits rape but does not explicitly address 
spousal rape. A law against ``forced sex with a materially dependent 
person'' may allow prosecution for spousal rape. According to the 
Ministry of Internal Affairs, during the first nine months of the year, 
police recorded 516 incidents of rape or attempted rape, a decrease of 
13.7 percent compared with the same period in 2009.
    Domestic violence against women remained a serious problem. Spousal 
abuse is illegal but was common. Advocacy groups asserted that the 
percentage of women subjected to physical violence or psychological 
abuse at home remained high. According to Donetsk Regional League of 
Business and Professional Women, domestic violence annually resulted in 
100,000 days of care at in-patient hospital facilities, 30,000 trauma 
unit cases, and 40,000 doctor visits; up to 40 percent of calls to 
police involved complaints about domestic violence.
    The law permits the administrative arrest of a person for up to 
five days for--offenses related to domestic violence. On December 2, 
parliament adopted amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses 
introducing community work of 40-60 hours as a possible punishment for 
domestic violence.
    According to women's NGO La Strada-Ukraine, the Ministry for 
Family, Youth, and Sports continued to work with NGOs and civil 
society. However, on December 9 the president merged the Ministry for 
Family, Youth, and Sports with the Ministry of Science and Education to 
form a new Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports. It was unclear at 
year's end what impact the reorganization would have on women's issues.
    Persistent gender stereotypes continued. For example, on March 19, 
replying to a question about the lack of women in new Cabinet of 
Ministers, Prime Minister Azarov stated that ``carrying out reforms in 
Ukraine is not a women's business.'' On March 22, leaders of six 
women's and gender rights advocacy groups sent a letter to Human Rights 
Commissioner Karpachova expressing concern over Prime Minister Azarov's 
comments. The women asserted that the statement was discriminatory 
under the Law on Equal Opportunities of Men and Women and ran counter 
to article 38 of the constitution because it restricted the right of 
women to participate in politics and governance.
    On March 9, Kateryna Levchenko of La Strada-Ukraine and Olena 
Suslova of Women's Information Center filed a lawsuit against the prime 
minister at the Pechersky District Court in Kyiv accusing him of making 
a statement that violated gender equality. In June the court rejected 
the case, stating that the prime minister's comments were protected 
under freedom of speech. Levchenko filed an appeal in December.
    During the first six months of the year, the Ministry of Family, 
Youth, and Sports, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and their regional 
offices recorded 53,785 complaints of domestic violence, including 
48,097 allegations of violence against women, and 5,265 reported 
incidents of violence against men.
    As of July 1, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the 
Ministry for Family, Youth, and Sports, 70,473 persons were under 
police supervision for domestic violence, compared with 65,684 in 2009.
    Police issued 2,085 warnings and 3,724 injunctions for protection 
related to domestic violence in the first six months of the year. The 
Ministry of Internal Affairs also reported that in the first eight 
months of the year 4,622 families were put under supervision for 
domestic violence. During the same period of time, administrative 
charges were brought against 2,555 individuals for domestic violence 
and for disobeying injunctions of protection.
    The law requires the Government to operate a shelter in every major 
city, but in practice it did not, in part due to the lack of municipal 
funding.
    According to the Ministry for Family, Youth and Sports there were 
21 centers for social-psychological assistance and nine centers for 
medical and social rehabilitation in 19 oblasts, Crimea, and the cities 
of Kyiv and Sevastopol, which had capacity for 342 persons. During the 
first nine months of the year, these centers provided assistance to 
1,194 persons, of whom 91 adults and 96 children had been victims of 
domestic violence. NGOs operated additional centers for domestic 
violence victims in Vinnytsia, Donetsk, Zhytomyr, Odesa, Chernihiv, 
Poltava, Sumy and Khmelnytskiy oblasts.
    According to women's advocacy groups, private and municipally 
funded shelters were not always accessible. Some did not function 
throughout the year, and shelters in Kyiv did not admit women who were 
not registered as Kyiv residents. Government centers offered only 
limited legal and psychological assistance to victims of domestic 
violence.
    Sex tourism remained a problem; however, there were no official 
statistics on its extent. During the year a local feminist group, 
FEMEN, held demonstrations against the increase of sex tourism in the 
country. In February 2009 then interior minister Yuriy Lutsenko stated 
in an interview with Segodnya that ``Ukraine is becoming a paradise for 
sex tourism.''
    The law on equal rights and opportunities qualifies sexual 
harassment as discrimination; however, women's rights groups asserted 
that it does not contain an effective mechanism to protect against 
sexual harassment. Women's groups reported that there was continuing, 
widespread sexual harassment in the workplace, including coerced sex.
    While the law prohibits forced sex with a ``materially dependent 
person,'' which includes employees, legal experts regarded the 
safeguards against harassment as inadequate. La Strada-Ukraine operated 
a national hotline for victims of violence and sexual harassment.
    The Government recognized the basic right of couples and 
individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and 
timing of their children. Health clinics and local health NGOs were 
permitted to operate freely in disseminating information on family 
planning under the guidance of the Ministry of Health. There are no 
restrictions on the right to access contraceptives.
    Quality prenatal and postnatal care remained inaccessible to many 
women because state-funded clinics were underfunded and lacked quality 
equipment, and services in private clinics were expensive. However, 
according to data from the Population Reference Bureau (PRB), 99 
percent of births occurred in the presence of skilled personnel. PRB's 
data indicated that the maternal mortality rate was 19 per 100,000 
births. Some of the reproductive health concerns affecting the system 
included rapidly growing rates of sexually transmitted infections 
including HIV/AIDS, poor quality sexual and reproductive health 
services in state-funded hospitals, low awareness of modern 
contraceptives, and the expense of high-priced medical services in 
private clinics that made them inaccessible to large groups of local 
residents.
    Romani rights groups reported that Romani women experienced racial 
discrimination in standards of medical care and lacked access to 
information on health matters.
    Men and women received equal access to diagnosis and treatment for 
sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, but local health NGOs 
and clinics reported that women were more likely than men to seek 
treatment and refer their partners.
    Under the law women enjoyed the same rights as men, including equal 
pay for equal work, a principle that generally was observed. However, 
industries dominated by female workers had the lowest relative wages. 
The labor code sets the retirement age for women at 55 and for men at 
60. Women received lower salaries due to limited opportunities for 
advancement and the types of industries in which women were employed.

    Children.--Citizenship is determined by birthplace or by parentage. 
A child born on the territory of the country in a family of stateless 
persons residing permanently in the country is a citizen. The law 
requires that parents register a child within a month of birth.
    While education was free, universal, and compulsory until age 15, 
the public education system continued to suffer from chronic 
underfunding, and children from poor families continued to drop out of 
school before turning 15.
    More than 20,000 children did not attend school, according to a 
2009 report by a coalition of 14 children's rights NGOs. The report, 
which covered the period 2002-08, was presented to the UN Committee on 
the Rights of the Child. Many children were employed in agriculture and 
illegal coalmines or, in some cases, forced by their parents to beg. 
NGOs reported that a lack of schooling remained a significant problem 
among the rural population and within the Romani community. In some 
cases rural schools were closed due to the small number of school-age 
children, forcing children to travel long distances, often at personal 
expense, to attend schools in other villages.
    Children continued to be victims of violence and abuse. According 
to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in the first eight months of the 
year, 8,156 minors were victims of crime, including 45 of intentionally 
inflicted bodily injury. The PGO confirmed that, in the first nine 
months of the year, 52 crimes involving child rape and attempted rape 
were recorded; 87 minors were raped, compared with 110 during the same 
period in 2009.
    In January 2009 the parliament adopted amendments to the criminal 
and criminal procedural codes that established criminal liability of up 
to three years in custody for forcing children into begging.
    Romani rights groups reported that early marriages involving girls 
under 18 were common within the Romani community.
    Commercial sexual exploitation of children remained a serious 
problem. Domestic and foreign law enforcement officials reported that a 
significant portion of Internet child pornography continued to 
originate in the country.
    On January 20, parliament adopted amendments to prevent the spread 
of child pornography. The amendments introduced an internationally 
recognized definition of child pornography, which allowed law 
enforcement agencies to identify relevant evidence. In addition, the 
amendments allowed courts to limit access to Web sites that disseminate 
child pornography and increased financial penalties and prison 
sentences for offenders.
    On June 1, the parliament amended the Criminal Code to increase 
from eight to 10 years the minimum imprisonment term for child rape. 
The amendment also increased to 15 years the maximum prison term for 
persons ``satisfying sexual passion in perverted forms.'' Molesting 
children under 16 is punishable by imprisonment for up to five years. 
The same offense committed against a child under 14 is punishable by 
imprisonment for a term of five to eight years.
    According to the Ministry for Family, Youth and Sports, the number 
of street children dropped from 42,000 in 2005 to approximately 22,000 
in 2009 and 14,720 during the first nine months of this year as a 
result of government efforts. The ministry reported that as of 
September there were 88 children shelters across the country in all 
oblasts and the cities of Kyiv and Sevastopol. The shelters have a 
capacity for 3,370 children; during the first six months of the year, 
6,977 children came to these shelters.
    The country is party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--An estimated 103,600 Jews lived in the country, 
comprising approximately 0.2 percent of the population, according to 
government census data and international Jewish groups. Local Jewish 
leaders estimated the number of persons with an ethnic Jewish heritage 
to be as high as 370,000.
    There were a number of acts of anti-Semitism, some involving 
vandalism of Jewish property. According to the Association of Jewish 
Organizations and Communities of Ukraine's (VAAD) there were nine 
incidents of vandalism during the year compared with 19 incidents in 
2009, and 13 in 2008. There were no reports of violent incidents of 
anti-Semitism.
    In April a Jewish cemetery in Ternopil was desecrated. Other 
vandalism included the August 12 desecration of a Jewish cemetery in 
Pavlohrad, paint thrown on a Jewish community building in Sumy on 
October 12, the November 17 and November 19 desecrations of Holocaust 
monuments in Kirovograd and in Sevastopol, and paint thrown on the 
walls of a synagogue on December 9 in Sumy.
    As of year's end there were no reports that authorities had 
identified suspects or made arrests in cases of vandalism against 
Jewish property in 2009, including swastikas on the walls of Jewish 
Charity Center in Melitopol, Nazi symbols on the front door of the Kyiv 
office of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, and paint splashed on the 
monument marking the birthplace of Rabbi Menachem Schneerson in 
Mykolayiv.
    During the year members of marginal populist and nationalist 
parties and organizations continued to make occasional extremist, 
intolerant, and anti-Semitic statements.
    In January unidentified individuals in Sudak, Crimea were reported 
to have passed out leaflets calling for genocide against Jews in the 
country. As of the end of the year, there had been no further 
developments in the incident.
    On September 10, the Prosecutor's Office in Zakarpattia closed an 
investigation into charges of hate speech against Serhiy Ratushnyak, 
the former mayor of Uzhhorod. Citing findings by legal and linguistic 
experts, the prosecutor stated Ratushnyak's comments made in 2009 
reflected his opinion about Jews and could not be described as hate 
speech. Ratushnyak was charged in August 2009 with inciting ethnic 
hatred, hooliganism, and abuse of office after he allegedly used anti-
Semitic rhetoric and attacked a campaign worker for a rival 
presidential candidate. Ratushnyak, who was known for making racist and 
intolerant comments, ran as a marginal candidate in the presidential 
elections.
    On November 10, the National Television and Radio Broadcasting 
Council issued a warning to the Kherson Television and Radio Company 
about racist and anti-Semitic remarks made by former city councilman 
Serhiy Kyrychenko in 2009 on a local radio show, Vik. In frequent 
appearances on the program Kyrychenko accused Jews of robbing the 
country's people and plotting to enslave Ukrainians and exterminate 
Slavs. The Kherson Oblast Prosecutor's Office also opened a criminal 
case against Kyrychenko on charges of inciting interethnic hatred. In 
December the prosecutor completed a pretrial investigation and sent the 
case to court.
    Anti-Semitic articles continued to appear in small publications, 
although their number and circulation continued to decline. According 
to VAAD, 46 anti-Semitic articles were published in major print media 
outlets in 2009, compared with 54 in 2008 and 542 in 2007.
    VAAD said the sharp decrease in anti-Semitic publications was due 
primarily to concerted political and social pressure by NGOs, the 
Government and the Jewish community on the Academy of Personnel 
Management (MAUP). In previous years, MAUP, a private higher-education 
institution, accounted for nearly 90 percent of all anti-Semitic 
material, but has now ceased the publications.
    In November 2009 according to media reports, self-described 
``writer and philosopher'' Vyacheslav Gudin told a group of 300 persons 
that 15 Ukrainian children who had been adopted in Israel were taken to 
Israeli medical centers and used for ``spare parts.'' He further 
asserted that 25,000 Ukrainian children had been taken to Israel over 
the previous two years to harvest their organs. His allegations, which 
mirrored past anti-Semitic ``blood libel'' claims, were circulated on 
the Internet by radical right-wing groups. Members of the Odesa Jewish 
community called on the prosecutor's office to investigate the ZaZUBR 
group, which had published Gudin's materials in its newspaper, 
ZaZUBRina, and on its Web site. Prosecutors opened a case but did not 
bring charges against anyone involved. In addition, the Government 
reportedly opened an investigation into the validity of Gudin's 
remarks; however, at year's end no further information was available 
about the details of the investigation.
    Senior government officials and politicians from various political 
parties continued efforts to combat anti-Semitism by speaking out 
against extremism and social intolerance, and by criticizing anti-
Semitic acts.
    The SCNR, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry 
of Internal Affairs, State Border Guard Committee, State Customs 
Service, State Committee for Tourism, and other agencies, cooperated to 
support Jewish pilgrimages to the burial site in Uman of Rabbi Nakhman, 
founder of the Bratslav Hasidic movement. According to Jewish leaders 
approximately 23,000 pilgrims traveled to Uman in September. Growing 
numbers of Jewish pilgrims have been visiting burial sites of prominent 
spiritual leaders in Medzhybizh, Berdychiv, and Hadyach.
    According to the Government the SBU acted to prevent at least six 
hate crimes in 2009 and 2010, including illegal activities by skinhead 
groups in Cherkassy and Dnepropetrovsk and an attack on the cultural 
center Hesed Haim in Sumy.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, and other 
state services; however, the Government generally did not enforce these 
laws.
    The Government estimated the number of persons with disabilities at 
between 2.4 and 2.7 million; however, NGOs working on disability rights 
asserted that the real number of disabled was twice the Government's 
estimate. The Government did not track the number of children with 
disabilities. NGOs complained that the lack official data limited their 
ability to lobby for more government assistance to children with 
disabilities.
    According to the law employers must allocate 4 percent of 
employment opportunities to persons with disabilities. NGOs noted that 
many of those employed to fill these positions received a nominal 
salary to meet the requirement but did not really work at their 
companies. During the first six months of the year, 4,233 persons with 
disabilities received jobs through government employment-placement 
services, according to the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy. The 
Ministry of Education confirmed that there were 398 specialized 
secondary schools and boarding schools with a total of 46,480 children, 
including 54 specialized secondary schools in which 5,608 children with 
disabilities studied while staying with their families. In addition the 
Ministry of Education confirmed that there were 484 classes for 
children with disabilities in general secondary schools. These classes 
served 5,652 children.
    Advocacy groups maintained that, despite existing legal guarantees, 
most public buildings remained inaccessible to persons with 
disabilities. As a result, access to essential services and activities 
such as employment, education, health care, transportation, and 
financial services remained difficult. NGOs expressed concern over the 
lack of programs to promote the integration of students with 
disabilities into the general student population and noted that the 
lack of needs assessment programs by state-funded employment centers 
led to the placement of graduates with disabilities in inappropriate 
jobs.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The constitution and law 
prohibit discrimination based on race, skin color, and ethnic and 
social origin. Mistreatment of minority groups and harassment of 
foreigners of non-Slavic appearance remained a problem, although NGO 
monitors reported that hate crime incidents continued to decrease.
    Incitement to ethnic or religious hatred is a criminal offense; 
however, human rights organizations stated the requirement to prove 
actual intent, including proof of premeditation and intent to incite 
hatred, made its legal application difficult. Police and prosecutors 
generally prosecuted racially motivated crimes under legal provisions 
dealing with hooliganism or related offenses. Article 161 of the 
criminal code criminalizes deliberate actions to incite hatred or 
discrimination based on nationality, race, or religion, including 
insulting the national honor or dignity of citizens in connection with 
their religious and political beliefs, race, or skin color.
    The Government acknowledged that racism and ethnically motivated 
attacks were a problem; however, some officials continued to minimize 
its seriousness, maintaining that xenophobia was not a problem and that 
violent attacks were isolated incidents.
    No official statistics were available on the number of racially 
motivated attacks. However, the Diversity Initiative monitoring group, 
a coalition of international and local NGOs headed by the IOM mission 
in Kyiv, reported four attacks involving four victims during the first 
nine months of the year. This number compared with 26 attacks during 
2009 and 63 in 2008. The attacks involved a Kuwaiti and three African 
asylum seekers and foreign students. The attacks occurred in Kyiv, 
Simferopol, and Odesa; none was fatal.
    According to the Diversity Initiative, police did not initiate 
criminal cases in any of the four attacks they documented during the 
year.
    According to the PGO, during the year prosecutors forwarded to 
court two criminal cases based on Article 161. SBU investigators 
continued pretrial investigation in one case. During the first nine 
months of the year, two persons were found guilty of violating Article 
161, compared with four in 2009 and three in 2008.
    In December 2009 then president Yushchenko signed into law 
amendments to the criminal code that increased penalties for hate 
crimes. Accordingly, premeditated killing on grounds of racial, ethnic, 
or religious hatred carries a 10- to 15-year prison sentence. 
Parliament also established a fine from 3,400 to 8,500 hryvnias ($425 
to $1,060) or up to five years in prison for hate crimes.
    Advocacy groups asserted that police occasionally detained dark-
skinned persons and subjected them to far more frequent and arbitrary 
document checks; at times victims of xenophobic attacks were prosecuted 
for acting in self-defense.
    On December 13, the media reported that Berkut police officers 
detained journalist Mustafa Nayem on suspicion that he was a Caucasus 
national. According to the reports, police confiscated Nayem's mobile 
phone and took him to a local precinct. He was released with an apology 
from the head of the precinct. Two investigations into the incident 
continued at year's end.
    Some of the most active xenophobic groups were the unregistered 
Ukrainian National-Labor Party, the Patriot of Ukraine organization, 
the Ukrainian Movement against Illegal Immigration, White Power-
Skinhead Spektrum, the country's branch of Blood and Honor, and the 
World Church of the Creator Ruthenia. Such groups appeared to be 
marginal and poorly organized.
    Roma continued to face governmental and societal discrimination. 
Romani rights groups estimated the country's Romani population to be 
between 200,000 and 400,000; however, official census data placed the 
number at 47,600. The discrepancy was due in part by lack of legal 
documentation and poor record keeping in the Romani community. 
According to SCNR, there were 88 Romani NGOs, of which three were 
national.
    A 2008 study by Chirikli Roma Women Foundation indicated that 
almost 70 percent of Roma had experienced a violation of their rights 
and that the majority did not know how to defend their rights or with 
whom to lodge complaints. According to Romani rights groups, two-thirds 
of Roma were illiterate, 15 percent were infected with tuberculosis, 
and 60 percent of Romani children in Zakarpattia were infected with 
tuberculosis. One-third of Roma had no funds to pay for medicine and 
doctors' services.
    Representatives of Romani and other minority groups claimed that 
police officials routinely ignored and sometimes abetted violence 
against them and referred to Romani ethnicity in crime reports. 
However, the Roma Congress of Ukraine noted diminished ethnic profiling 
by police as a result of involvement of Romani rights groups.
    There were fewer reports of government cooperation with the Romani 
community than in 2009. The chairman of the Roma Congress of Ukraine, 
Petro Hryhorychenko, was formerly a member of the presidential council 
on ethnic-national policy and a member of the NGO advisory council with 
the State Committee on Nationalities and Religions (SCNR). On April 2, 
President Yanukovych abolished the council as part of his effort to cut 
bureaucracy. On December 9, the president also abolished the SCNR as 
part of broad administrative reforms and reassigned its duties to the 
Ministry of Culture.
    The constitution provides for the free development, use, and 
protection of Russian and other minority languages. According to the 
Ministry of Education, 2,217 educational facilities used Russian as the 
main language of instruction, serving nearly one million 
schoolchildren. According to ministry figures, 1.3 million students 
studied Russian as a separate subject in secondary schools, and more 
than 165,000 secondary school students studied Russian as an 
extracurricular course.
    Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar minorities in Crimea continued to 
complain of discrimination by the ethnic Russian majority on the 
peninsula and in Sevastopol. They urged that the Ukrainian and the 
Crimean Tatar languages be given a status equal to Russian. In 2009 the 
head of the Crimean Republican Committee for Nationalities and Deported 
Citizens reported approximately 264,500 registered Crimean Tatars in 
the country. The SCNR reported 260,873 Tatars living in Crimea, Kherson 
Oblast, and Sevastopol.
    In November 2009 the SCNR reported that the Government had 
allocated 28,276 million hryvnias (approximately $3.5 million) for the 
resettlement and integration of Crimean Tatars, including housing 
construction. According to Crimean Tatar Mejlis, Crimean Tatars resided 
in 300 settlements on the Crimean peninsula, and authorities allocated 
53 million hryvnias ($6.6 million) for their integration. According to 
the Ministry of Education, 439 children studied the Crimean Tatar 
language in separate groups in preschool facilities. There were 15 
secondary schools with Crimean Tatar as the main language of 
instruction; 17,725 students studied Crimean Tatar as a separate 
subject in secondary schools; 5,153 secondary school students studied 
Crimean Tatar as an extracurricular course.
    Crimean Tatars asserted that discrimination by local officials 
deprived them of equal opportunities for employment in local 
administrations and that propaganda campaigns, particularly by pro-
Russian groups, promoted hostility against them. On August 28, in a 
speech to the Qurultai (a Crimean Tatar national convention) Mustafa 
Jemilev, the chairman of the Crimean Tatar Mejlis, claimed there had 
been a significant increase in discrimination against Crimean Tatars 
since the presidential election.
    In December, Radio Liberty reported that the Crimean Prosecutor's 
Office accused the head of Mejlis's Secretariat, Zair Smedlyaev, of 
organizing mass disorders and refusing to comply with police orders. 
The case was initiated in 2006 but only sent to court in December. 
Smedlyaev claimed that the prosecutor's actions were ``an attempt to 
intimidate the Crimean Tatar people.''
    On December 25, the Spiritual Directorate of Muslims in Crimea 
stated that a fire at a mosque under construction in Myrne village in 
Crimea may have been attempted arson. According to the group the fire 
was ``a deliberate attempt to destabilize interfaith peace in Crimea.'' 
The local fire department opened an investigation in the incident.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The lesbian, gay, bisexual, 
and transgender (LGBT) community continued to suffer societal stigma 
and discrimination. Those who openly declared their sexual orientation 
experienced discrimination in education, the workplace, and access to 
medical treatment and to information on the prevention of HIV/AIDS.
    According to the registered LGBT rights group Nash Mir (Our World), 
law-enforcement representatives were involved in 35 of 79 identified 
instances of discrimination against gays during the year. The group 
also maintained that police mistreated and collected personal data on 
gays, while the Ministry of Internal Affairs ignored homophobic 
attitudes among its personnel.
    Among the incidents documented by Nash Mir was the illegal 
detention by police of a man in Chernivtsi who was accused of 
frequenting a gay meeting place. Police photographed the man and took 
his fingerprints.
    In another incident police in Mykolayiv interrogated a gay man as 
part of an investigation into the killing of a gay man. The police 
insulted him and threatened to expose his sexual orientation if he did 
not provide contact information of other homosexual persons he knew.
    On November 20, according to the LGBT group Insight, approximately 
10 men broke into a movie screening organized by the group on the 
Transgender Day of Remembrance and attacked the audience with teargas. 
One of the organizers who attempted to block the attackers was beaten. 
Police investigated the incident as hooliganism, while members of the 
LGBT community urged the police to open a hate-crime investigation. The 
case remained open at year's end.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Persons with HIV/AIDS 
faced discrimination and at times lacked access to treatment. In a 2008 
study, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS estimated that 1.6 
percent of Ukrainians between the ages of 15 and 49 were HIV positive. 
The Ministry of Health estimated the number of HIV-positive persons to 
be approximately 156,000, of whom 30,000 were diagnosed with AIDS.
    According to a country report by HRW, the Ukrainian National AIDS 
Center reported 13,039 newly registered cases of HIV infection in the 
first eight months of 2009, nearly half among intravenous-drug users.
    The All-Ukrainian Network of Persons Living with HIV continued to 
note that persons with HIV/AIDS faced discrimination in the workplace, 
job loss without legal recourse, harassment by law enforcement 
officials and prosecutors, social isolation, and stigmatization.
    In July an HRW researcher published an op-ed in the British 
newspaper The Guardian in which he reported that under President 
Yanukovych there had been ``an increasing number of law enforcement 
attacks on [drug] substitution treatment programs'' that jeopardized 
the country's progress to limit the spread of HIV among the intravenous 
drug-user population. Local NGOs echoed these complaints and asserted 
that law enforcement officials were illegally collecting information on 
drug treatment patients to determine their HIV status.
Section 7. Worker Rights

    a. The Right of Association.--The law provides workers with the 
right to form and join unions without previous authorization or 
excessive requirements, and this right was generally respected in 
practice. There were no reliable estimates of the percentage of the 
workforce that belonged to a trade union.
    To function, a union must be registered by the Government. Unions 
reported that the registration process was extremely burdensome, 
entailing visits to as many as 10 different offices and payments of 
fees. The International Trade Union Confederation characterized the 
registration requirement as ``a restriction unacceptable by 
international labor standards.''
    While by law the registration process did not change, unions 
reported an increasingly restrictive implementation of the process. 
Unions reported that during the year authorities denied the 
registration of several regional confederations without merit and 
questioned the legitimacy of another regional confederation that had 
successfully registered three years previously.
    By law all trade unions have equal status, and the establishment of 
a trade union does not require government permission. However, unions 
affiliated with the Federation of Trade Unions (FPU), which inherited 
assets from Soviet-era unions, have enjoyed an advantage in organizing 
workers.
    Unions not affiliated with the FPU, including the Confederation of 
Free Trade Unions of Ukraine (CFTU), continued to be denied a share of 
the former Soviet trade unions' real estate and financial holdings. 
These included social insurance benefit funds, which gave the FPU a 
benefit that independent unions could not offer. Leaders of non-FPU 
trade unions and some government officials claimed that the FPU 
improperly sold some Soviet-era assets to thwart their future 
distribution. While a 2007 parliamentary moratorium on the FPU's sale 
of property remained in place, a commission formed during the previous 
administration to inventory union assets was dissolved by the current 
government in June.
    In August police arrested four union leaders of the Ilyich Iron and 
Steel Works of Mariupol, seized union materials, and locked the union's 
office, charging them with fraud and other offenses. Union 
representatives claimed that the company's management orchestrated the 
arrests to block a planned rally by the union.
    In March 2009 the administration of the Sumy customs office seized 
the offices of the independent trade union Spravedlyvist, which 
represented customs personnel, and illegally took possession of their 
stamp, seal, and official documents. The administration claimed that 
the local trade union office was illegally located in the Sumy customs 
offices. The union leader was fired following this incident. Following 
her appeal, a court ruled that she should be reinstated; however, the 
decision reportedly has not been enforced.
    In 2009 the FPU and the regional department of the Ministry of 
Health withheld bonuses and used tactics such as increased scrutiny by 
tax and labor inspectors to pressure members of a new trade union at a 
clinic in Chernihiv to join the FPU instead. Although the union leader 
was reinstated after being fired, the deputy leader's case for 
reinstatement after dismissal was still pending in court.
    The law provides for the right of workers to strike on condition 
that a strike does not jeopardize national security, public health, or 
the rights and liberties of others. The right was generally respected 
in practice. The right to strike does not apply to personnel of the 
PGO, the judiciary, the armed forces, the security services, law 
enforcement agencies, the transportation sector, or public servants. 
Personnel from these entities may seek redress through the judicial 
system. Federations and confederations are not entitled to strike. A 
strike may be organized only if two-thirds of the workers of an 
enterprise vote for it, which trade unions considered to be an unfairly 
high threshold.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law permits 
trade unions to organize and participate in collective bargaining, but 
these rights were not always respected in practice.
    There were no reliable statistics on the percentage of workers 
covered by collective agreements.
    Union representatives reported that an independent health care 
union attempted to join a branch collective bargaining agreement 
concluded with an FPU affiliate but in June was denied without 
justification.
    Members of CFTU-affiliated unions claimed that management sometimes 
forced them to carry out additional assignments without compensation or 
threatened them with dismissal if they refused to leave their unions. 
There were continuing complaints that FPU-affiliated unions deducted 
union dues from the salaries of workers who had chosen to join a 
different union.
    During the year unions reported that Epicenter, a home improvement 
chain, harassed persons attempting to engage in union activities. 
According to representatives, the head of the union was arrested under 
false pretenses. When the police dropped the case for lack of evidence, 
the union leader tried to return to work but was told that he had been 
fired. While he subsequently won his court case against dismissal, 
Epicenter ignored the decision. Although the union continued to exist, 
representatives reported that Epicenter management refused to recognize 
the union or agree to begin collective bargaining.
    The law calls for joint worker-management commissions to resolve 
differences over wages, working conditions, and the rights and duties 
of management at the enterprise level. However, the commissions were 
not always effective in practice and sometimes were dominated by 
management and union representatives co-opted by management. Although 
the law provides the right to collective bargaining, the manner in 
which the law was applied prejudiced the bargaining process against 
newer unions and favored FPU-affiliated unions.
    Renouncing membership in an FPU-affiliated union and joining a new 
union was bureaucratically onerous and typically discouraged by 
management.
    In 2009 an employer reportedly refused to recognize a newly 
established trade union at an agricultural company. Reports indicated 
that the company continued to refuse to begin collective bargaining and 
that the union's leader suffered harassment, including lawsuits filed 
by the company against him and visits from police demanding to examine 
the union's financial and other documents.
    The law provides for the National Mediation and Reconciliation 
Service to mediate labor disputes.
    There were no exemptions from labor laws in export processing 
zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
all forms of forced or compulsory labor, including by children; 
however, there were reports that women, men, and children were 
trafficked for labor. Also see the Department of State's annual 
Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.
    Trafficked women were used as housekeepers, seamstresses, 
dishwashers, or workers at small and large manufacturing plants. Some 
women with small children and persons with disabilities were trafficked 
abroad for begging. The International Organization for Migration 
identified 442 cases of men and women exploited for their labor during 
the first nine months of the year.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law protects children from exploitation in the workplace, but the 
Government did not always effectively enforce the law.
    The labor code sets 16 as the minimum age for most employment. 
Children 15 years of age may with a parent's consent perform ``light 
work,'' but the law does not clearly define the term. Children can 
legally do some forms of work beginning at age 14 as part of an 
apprenticeship in the context of vocational educational training.
    The Child Labor Division of the State Labor Inspectorate under the 
Ministry of Labor and Social Policy is responsible for enforcing child 
labor laws. The Department of Children's Affairs in the Ministry of 
Family, Youth, and Sport, and the Police Department for Children's 
Affairs in the Ministry of Internal Affairs have the responsibility of 
identifying children in the informal sector involved in the worst forms 
of child labor. The ministry's Antitrafficking Department is 
responsible for the enforcement of laws against child trafficking.
    The worst forms of child labor were found primarily in the informal 
sectors, including on family farms and at open-air markets.
    Children also were used for commercial sexual exploitation, 
including production of pornography. Also see the Department of State's 
annual Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip
    Enforcement remained inadequate to deter violations. The State 
Labor Inspectorate reported it monitored 447 enterprises in August and 
September. During the inspections it identified 140 working children 
who were 14 or 15 years of age and 39 who were under 14. Almost all 
cases of labor involving children under the age of 14 were in the 
agricultural sector. The inspectorate found approximately the same 
number of children under the age of 14 involved in child labor as in 
2009.
    On August 13, the newspaper Novosti reported that police arrested a 
resident from the Odesa Oblast for organizing the production of 
charcoal using child labor. Police found three children, age 13 to 17 
years, working in an indoor plant. Police opened a criminal case.
    Police brought trafficking charges (as opposed to less severe child 
labor charges) in the February 2009 case of a man from Kherson Oblast 
who forced nine teenagers from Zakarpattia to work on his farm 10 to 16 
hours a day without pay while housing them in a poultry barn. NGOs 
successfully lobbied to have the case tried in Zakarpattia so that the 
children could testify, despite efforts of the defendant to keep the 
case in Kherson.
    There were no reported developments regarding labor violations 
discovered by inspectors in Chernivtsi Oblast or regarding cases noted 
in 2008. One NGO reported is the difficulty for persons not party to a 
criminal or administrative case to find information regarding its 
disposition.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--On December 1, the Government 
increased the monthly minimum wage to 992 hryvnias ($124). The minimum 
wage did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and 
family. The State Labor Inspectorate is responsible for enforcing the 
minimum wage but was unable to monitor all employers. Many workers, 
particularly in the informal sector, received wages far below the 
established minimum.
    During the year wage arrears increased in the first half of the 
year but decreased in July. According to the State Statistics 
Committee, arrears stood at 1.8 billion hryvnias ($228 million) at the 
end of June but had decreased to 1.34 billion hryvnias ($169 million) 
by December. Most arrears accumulated in industry, but also 
significantly accrued in construction, transport, communications, and 
agricultural enterprises.
    The law 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. The 
law provides for double pay for overtime work and regulates the number 
of overtime hours allowed. However, regulations covering rest periods, 
maximum hours, and overtime were not always effectively enforced.
    Although the law contains occupational safety and health standards, 
the standards were frequently ignored in practice. Lax safety standards 
and aging equipment caused many injuries on the job. During the year 
11,698 workplace injuries were reported, as compared with 12,370 in 
2009; these included 644 job-related fatalities, compared with 675 in 
2009.
    There were 131 mining fatalities during the year, compared with 151 
in 2009. There were 4,888 coalminers reported injured during the year, 
compared with 5,251 during the same period in 2009.
    The law provides workers the right to remove themselves from 
dangerous work without jeopardizing their continued employment; 
however, trade unions reported that in practice asserting this right 
would result in retaliation or perhaps dismissal. Some unions reported 
good cooperation with government labor inspectors.
    For example, the CFTU signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) 
with the Labor Inspectorate to cooperate more closely. The MOU gave 
local union leaders and health and safety specialists the right to 
inspect places of work jointly with labor inspectors. Unions report 
that these joint inspections have proved especially important in the 
mining sector.

                               __________

                             UNITED KINGDOM

    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the UK), 
with a population of 62.3 million, is a constitutional monarchy with a 
multiparty, parliamentary form of government. Citizens elect 
representatives to the House of Commons, the lower chamber of a 
bicameral legislature. They last did so in free and fair elections on 
May 6. Members of the upper chamber, the House of Lords, occupy 
hereditary or appointed seats. Security forces reported to civilian 
authorities.
    There were some reports of police misconduct and that police, 
military personnel, and employees of government contractors 
occasionally abused detainees and other persons. There were also 
reports of overcrowded prisons and inadequate prison infrastructure. 
Societal problems included discrimination against religious minorities 
and mistreatment of women, children, ethnic minorities, lesbian, gay, 
bisexual, and transgender persons, and persons with disabilities. 
Trafficking of persons was also reported.
    Bermuda is a UK overseas territory with a population of 62,000. A 
governor represents the queen on the island; Bermuda's constitution 
provides for internal self-government, while the British government 
retains responsibility for external affairs, defense, and security. 
Citizens elect representatives to the House of Assembly, most recently 
in free and fair elections in 2007. The governor, the premier, and the 
opposition appoint members to the Senate. The premier is head of 
government and is chosen from among the elected members of the 
governing party. The constitution and the Human Rights Act of 1981, as 
amended, protect the human rights of inhabitants of Bermuda, with the 
exception of protection against discrimination based on sexual 
orientation.
                        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 any politically 
motivated killings; however, the nongovernmental organization (NGO) 
Inquest reported three deaths of persons in police custody during the 
year, one fewer than in 2009.
    In September in Northern Ireland, the International Monitoring 
Commission (IMC) released a report on its inquiry into the killing of 
Loyalist Volunteer Force leader Billy Wright, whom republican prisoners 
in the Maze Prison shot and killed in 1997. The report concluded that 
there was no state collusion in the killing, but the Government 
acknowledged that failings within the prison regime had ``facilitated'' 
its occurrence.
    Proceedings continued in cases involving allegations of government 
involvement, collusion, or culpability in killings during the conflict 
in Northern Ireland between the 1970s and 1990s. In June Lord Saville 
published the report of his independent inquiry into the 1972 deaths of 
14 civil rights protesters shot by the British Army in Londonderry, 
also known as ``Bloody Sunday.'' Lord Saville's inquiry found that the 
deaths and injuries were ``unjustifiable.''
    The public inquiry begun in 2008 into the death in 2003 of Iraqi 
civilian Baha Mousa, who suffered 93 injuries while in the custody of 
British troops in Iraq, finished taking oral evidence on October 14. 
Drafting of the final report continued at the end of the year.

    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 authorities did not 
usually engage in them; however, there were allegations that members of 
the military services were at least complicit, if not participants, in 
the mistreatment of detainees overseas; that individual police officers 
occasionally abused detainees; and that guards under contract to 
immigration authorities abused deportees while returning them to their 
home countries. Police are subject to oversight by the Independent 
Police Complaints Commission, which investigates charges of abuse and 
has the power to punish police officers if abuse is found.
    A July 2009 report by a consortium of NGOs documented the claims of 
more than 300 persons who accused the private contractors of physical 
and sexual assault and racial abuse. Dame Nuala O'Loan, former police 
ombudsman for Northern Ireland, was instructed to reopen 50 cases that 
the Government previously classified as unsubstantiated to address the 
appropriateness of using private contractors and whether the use of 
``reasonable force'' was appropriate in dealing with failed asylum 
seekers. The Guardian stated that the official inquiry report released 
in March determined that the UK Border Agency (UKBA) did not have 
``proper processes in place to investigate claims of mistreatment of 
failed asylum seekers.'' The inquiry also concluded that private 
contractors did not engage in systematic abuse of deportees.
    There were a number of allegations that the intelligence services 
colluded in the abuse of citizens or residents overseas. On July 6, 
Prime Minister Cameron announced a formal inquiry into the allegations, 
with the proceedings set to last for 12 months.
    In September 2009, the latest date for which data is available, the 
Independent Police Complaints Commission issued statistics for 2008-09 
indicating that approximately 7,679 complaints of sexual assault, 
serious nonsexual assault, and ``other assault'' were made against 
police, which represented an increase of approximately 4 percent from 
the previous year. Investigations were initiated in 57 percent of the 
serious nonsexual assault complaints, 47 percent of the sexual assault 
complaints, and 37 percent of the other assault complaints in 2008-09. 
Of the investigations that were resolved in 2008-09, the complaints 
were found to be substantiated in 10 cases of serious nonsexual 
assault, six cases of sexual assault, and 108 cases of other assault.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions mostly 
met international standards, and the Government permitted visits by 
independent human rights observers; however, overcrowding remained a 
problem. The NGO Inquest indicated that 52 persons committed suicide in 
prison during the year, as did 24 detainees on remand.
    On June 20-21, a delegation from the Council of Europe's Committee 
for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) visited Radislav Krstic, convicted 
by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and 
serving his sentence in the UK, after he was reportedly attacked in his 
cell in Wakefield Prison by other inmates.
    According to the Ministry of Justice, the prison population in 
England and Wales on August 31 was 85,200 in facilities designed to 
accommodate 85,986. The Prison Reform Trust released a report, based on 
government statistics, stating that 88 out of 140 prisons held more 
than the ``certified normal accommodation.'' The Scottish Prison 
Service announced that the prison population reached a daily average of 
7,835 inmates in prisons designed for approximately 6,600. The Northern 
Ireland Prison Service reported that the prison population on December 
27 was 1,412, housed in three prison facilities with a total capacity 
of 1,513. The Bermuda Department of Corrections reported on October 12 
that the prison population on the island was 277 in facilities with a 
capacity of 373. England, Wales, and Scotland continued early release 
programs for nonviolent offenders in an effort to reduce overcrowding.
    At times juveniles, including some under the age of 16, were held 
together with adult prisoners. Although rare, there were instances when 
pretrial detainees were lodged with convicted prisoners due primarily 
to overcrowding.
    In Northern Ireland the governor of the high-security Maghaberry 
Prison, who had been in that position for five months, resigned in 
December 2009 in the wake of a series of critical reports regarding the 
prison's operations and investigations into the 2008 suicide of inmate 
Colin Bell. The head of the Northern Ireland Prison Service, Robin 
Masefield, resigned on November 30, after the Prison Officer's 
Association in Northern Ireland called for Masefield and two other 
prison officials to resign over their handling of staff disciplinary 
actions following the Colin Bell suicide. Maghaberry prisoners tied to 
republican paramilitary organizations staged ``dirty protests'' (a 
protest in which excrement and other unhygienic material is thrown 
around) against conditions in the prison, specifically related to 
restrictions of movement, body searches, and restrictions placed on 
outside visitation rights. Northern Ireland prisoner ombudsman Pauline 
McCabe stated in her 2009-10 annual report that ``there is general 
recognition that change is needed across Northern Ireland's prisons.''
    Prisoners had reasonable access to report allegations of inhumane 
conditions and were permitted religious observance.
    The Prisons and Probations Ombudsman (PPO) for England and Wales 
investigates complaints from prisoners and detainees held in 
immigration detention centers. All deaths that occur in prison, 
immigration centers, and probation hostels fall under the PPO's purview 
and are investigated. The PPO received 4,641 complaints from July 2009 
to July 2010, an 8 percent increase from the previous year.
    In February more than 50 female detainees went on a hunger strike 
for three weeks in the Yarl's Wood detention center alleging 
mistreatment by guards and prolonged detention.
    The media reported that in September an army inspector found 
British military detention facilities to ``be in compliance with 
international law,'' although some soldiers lacked proper training on 
the treatment of prisoners.
    The Government permitted independent monitoring of prison 
conditions by local and international human rights groups, the media, 
the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the independent 
International Center for Prison Studies based at Kings College London.
    On March 15-26, a CPT delegation visited prisons, detention 
centers, and other facilities on the Channel Islands for the first 
time. On Jersey, the delegation noted that access to an attorney was 
immediate only for very serious crimes, such as rape or murder, and 
that some detention cells had inadequate natural light, ventilation, 
and access to drinking water. On Guernsey, the delegation noted 
allegations of the use of excessive force by police during arrest, and 
that 17-year-olds were treated as adults.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the Government generally observed these 
prohibitions; however, critics charged that some procedures justified 
by the Government as necessary to combat terrorism constituted 
precharge detention. Currently, the Government can hold terrorism 
suspects in precharge detention for up to 28 days.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the regional police forces, and the 
Government has effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse and 
corruption. There were no reports of impunity involving the security 
forces during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--In most cases 
police may make an arrest only if they have reasonable grounds for 
suspecting a person has committed or is about to commit one or more 
listed ``arrestable offenses,'' or if a police officer believes an 
arrest is necessary to prevent physical injury or damage to property.
    The law allows police chiefs to grant auxiliary nonpolice officers 
``enforcement powers,'' including the right to issue citations and 
fines for minor violations of public order, and to request the names 
and addresses of persons stopped in the street. Participants in this 
program wear police uniforms and carry identification while on duty. As 
of 2008, the most recent date for which data are available, 23 police 
forces granted enforcement powers to 1,600 civilians in community 
safety programs. Human rights groups and opposition politicians called 
the practice a civil rights violation and a move towards excessive 
surveillance.
    Police may detain an ordinary criminal suspect for 96 hours without 
charges. Detention for more than 24 hours must be authorized by a 
senior police official, and detention of more than 60 hours requires 
the approval of a magistrate. Only terrorism suspects may be detained 
without charge for longer than 96 hours. Authorities may hold terrorism 
suspects for up to 28 days before formally charging them with a crime. 
All detainees are entitled to counsel during this period. The law 
permits the extended detention of foreigners suspected of being 
terrorists but who cannot be deported immediately because of the risk 
they would be tortured or executed in their countries of destination. 
The Government continued to hold a number of detainees deemed dangerous 
but not deported due to concerns about torture in their home countries. 
Such individuals may appeal their designation as terror suspects.
    To combat the rise in gang and gun crime in Bermuda, the Government 
enacted the Police and Criminal Evidence Amendment (No. 2) Act in 
August (effective in the summer of 2011), increasing to 66 hours the 
length of time suspects can be held in police custody without being 
charged. A senior police officer reviews the case at 42 and 54 hours 
and in each review must be satisfied that the investigation is being 
conducted expeditiously and diligently. A magistrate may order a 
further 30 hours of detention to give police time to complete their 
investigation. Under the new legislation police may also deny bail to 
suspects as young as 16 years of age, a change from the previous age 
designation of 18. For those arrested on firearms or ammunition 
offenses, the Firearms Amendment Act of 2010 passed in July authorizes 
police to apply for a warrant of detention to hold suspects without 
charge for 14 days and also allows police to apply for a second 14-day 
warrant. Police may use the time to gather evidence or obtain forensic 
results from overseas, but not to question suspects.
    In July Bermuda enacted the Court of Appeal Amendment Act, allowing 
prosecutors to take previously tried cases to the Court of Appeal when 
new and compelling evidence, such as DNA, comes to light. The law 
applies to defendants acquitted of murder, found guilty on a lesser 
charge, or whose cases were discharged.
    In the UK the law gives defendants awaiting trial the right to 
bail, except for those judged to be flight risks, likely to commit 
another offense, suspected terrorists, or in other limited 
circumstances. Detainees may make telephone calls and have legal 
representation, including government-provided counsel if they are 
indigent.
    The law permits a judge (or the home secretary, with a judge's 
permission) to impose ``control orders,'' which include a range of 
restrictions up to house arrest on individuals suspected of involvement 
in terrorism-related activities, regardless of nationality or perceived 
terrorist cause. Control orders may be renewed on an annual basis. The 
Government used control orders to keep terrorism suspects under arrest 
without allowing suspects to know the charges against them or to see 
the Government's evidence. The Law Lords ruled in June 2009 that the 
Government's refusal to allow two defendants to know the charges 
against them was a violation of the Human Rights Act. In February 
Parliament's Human Rights Joint Committee noted the need for changes in 
the control orders regime to make it ``human rights compatible'' and 
stressed that the cost of lengthy litigation and infringement on 
individuals' right to liberty was too great to be sustainable. Like 
other aspects of the Government's antiterror legislation, the control 
order system was under government review during the year.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the right to a fair trial, 
and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right.
    Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence. Criminal proceedings 
must be public except cases in juvenile court or 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.
    The law generally allows for jury trials. In England and Wales the 
law provides for judge-only trials when there is a ``real and present 
danger that jury tampering would take place.'' In Northern Ireland 
trials by jury are the norm. However, as in the case of England and 
Wales, nonjury trials may be held in cases involving possible 
intimidation of juries. Scotland allows jury trials in criminal and 
civil cases. Bermudian law provides for jury trials in criminal cases 
and for trial by judge in civil cases.
    Defendants have the right to be present at their trials and to 
consult with an attorney in a timely manner. Indigent defendants have 
the right to free counsel of their choice, with some exceptions. 
Defendants may question witnesses against them. Defendants have access 
to government-held evidence relevant to their cases, with some 
exceptions, including instances in which information pertaining to a 
suspect relates to national security. The NGO Justice claims this 
practice has increased during the past decade.
    ``Intercept evidence''--evidence collected by electronic 
interception--is not admissible in a court of law. The police claimed 
that divulging their methods and sources would hamper their 
effectiveness. Human rights organizations and prominent politicians 
asserted that the inadmissibility of intercept evidence led the 
Government to use administrative or nonjudicial means to detain 
criminal suspects who could not otherwise be prosecuted. Defendants 
have the right to appeal to successively higher courts.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--The Government was involved 
in 44 decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) from 
January to November. In 2009 the ECHR issued 14 judgments, each of 
which found one or more violations by the state of the European 
Convention on Human Rights, including seven violations of the 
prohibition of discrimination, three violations of the right to liberty 
and security, four violations involving the length of legal proceedings 
and the right to respect for family and private life, and two 
violations involving the right to a fair trial and freedom of 
expression.
    In January the ECHR determined that the police power to ``stop and 
search'' violated two defendants' right to a private and family life 
and that the ``discriminatory use'' of the power was a ``real 
consideration'' when determining the outcome of the case. In July the 
Government ceased using the stop and search power as originally defined 
under antiterror legislation.
    In 2008 the ECHR ruled that indiscriminate retention of DNA and 
fingerprint data of 850,000 persons who were arrested but never charged 
was not in line with article 8 of the Human Rights Convention. In 
November the home secretary announced a new DNA retention system that 
permits the destruction of DNA from persons never charged with a crime.
    In October the Scottish Supreme Court ruled that allowing suspects 
to be held and questioned for six hours without access to a lawyer 
breached the European Convention on Human Rights. The Scottish 
Parliament passed legislation requiring suspects to have immediate 
access to legal counsel, but extended the time a suspect can be 
detained from six to 12 hours with the possibility of a 12-hour 
extension.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters, including access to a court 
to bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, a human rights 
violation. Administrative remedies were also available.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and the Government 
generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
    The use of electronic surveillance requires the approval of the 
home secretary, who authorizes an ``interception warrant,'' which must 
name or describe either a person or a single set of premises where the 
interception is to take place. However, in limited circumstances the 
home secretary may issue a ``certified'' interception warrant, 
eliminating the requirement to specify a person or premises. Certified 
warrants are intended only for communications with overseas parties. 
They include communications channeled through a foreign Internet 
service provider (ISP). An independent ``interception of communications 
commissioner'' oversaw interception warrants, and the Investigatory 
Powers Tribunal investigated public complaints of surveillance abuses. 
In July one case was decided in favor of the complainant.
    The law requires service providers to retain records of all users' 
landline, cellular telephone calls, and Internet activity for one year. 
Intelligence and law enforcement agencies, emergency services, and a 
number of other governmental bodies may request the data but must 
demonstrate a legitimate need for the information to protect public 
safety and ensure compliance with the law. Critics claimed that in 
practice agencies may self-authorize warrants and that the ability to 
intercept communications was too broad.
    In April the Government announced that it would not create a 
centralized database that would store all communications data collected 
by communications service providers. Human rights groups had been 
critical of plans to do so.
    Bermuda enacted the Telecommunications Amendment Act in July 
requiring telecommunications companies to install equipment enabling 
police to monitor, pursuant to a warrant, landlines, mobile telephones, 
and the Internet and provide police with a database of customer names, 
addresses, and phone numbers. Police officers already had the power to 
intercept landline messages if the police commissioner and the governor 
ruled it in the public interest to do so. The new law provides the 
additional capacity to fine carriers up to $10,000 per day for 
noncompliance.
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 respected these rights in 
almost all cases. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a 
functioning democratic political system combined to ensure freedom of 
speech and of the press. Individuals could criticize the Government 
publicly or privately without reprisal. The independent media were 
active and expressed a wide variety of views without restriction. 
However, the law also prohibits the use of ``threatening words or 
behavior'' toward a religious, ethnic, or racial group. The prohibition 
applies specifically to words, behavior, or displays of written 
material; publishing or distributing written material; the public 
performance of a play; distributing, showing, or playing a recording; 
broadcasting or including a program in a program service; or the 
possession of written materials or recordings with intent to display, 
publish, distribute, or include such materials in a program service.
    Judges may issue media suppression orders to prevent the 
publication of information about trial proceedings or other topics.
    Court decisions have established that the Government may legally 
prohibit possession of materials providing practical assistance to 
terrorists, such as the al-Qa'ida Manual, the Terrorist's Handbook, the 
Mujahideen Poisons Handbook, and a number of military manuals.
    In June Anthony Bamber was cleared of all charges in connection 
with his arrest, along with three other persons, for distributing 
leaflets blaming Muslims for the heroin trade in Ireland and the 
country in 2008. The Crown Prosecution Service advised police that 
while racist (most UK Muslims are of South Asian or African descent), 
the leaflets were protected speech. The three other persons did not 
face charges.
    In Bermuda, local newspapers, television stations, and a radio 
station created a voluntary Media Council to raise journalistic 
standards, elevate accountability, and provide an effective forum for 
grievances against the media. The effort sought to forestall creation 
of a legislatively mandated media review group that they believed could 
have imposed censorship.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet. Individuals and groups could engage in the peaceful 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. There were 
no reports that authorities routinely monitored e-mail or Internet chat 
rooms. However, the law permits communications data surveillance, 
including of Internet usage, in the interests of national security, to 
prevent or detect a crime or in the interests of public safety. 
Authorities did not publicly discuss details of their monitoring 
activities. By law all ISPs must retain records of Internet usage for 
one year.
    The Internet was widely available throughout the country and 
available at no cost in public libraries. Approximately 84 percent of 
the population used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.

    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.--For a complete description of religious 
freedom, see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the Government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
to provide protection and assistance to refugees, asylum-seekers, 
stateless persons, and other persons of concern.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the Government did not employ 
it in practice.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country's laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the Government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees.
    Based in part on the EU's ``Dublin procedure,'' the Government 
placed the burden of proof on asylum seekers who arrived from ``safe 
countries'' of origin, based on a list promulgated by the home 
secretary, who passed through a country where they were not considered 
to be at risk, or who remained in the country for a period of time 
before seeking asylum. The law permits authorities to remove an asylum 
applicant to another country that is deemed responsible for 
adjudicating an applicant's claim.
    In practice the Government provided protection against the return 
of persons to a country where their lives or freedom would be 
threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership 
in a particular social group, or political opinion. However, on 
November 10, Amnesty International called on European governments not 
to return asylum seekers to Iraq because of the allegedly dangerous 
security situation there. The group claimed that on September 22 the 
British, Swedish, and Norwegian governments ``forcibly returned'' over 
50 Iraqis to their home country.
    The Government may also provide temporary protection to individuals 
who may not qualify as refugees under the categories of humanitarian 
protection and discretionary leave. However, at the end of 2009, the 
most recent year for which figures were available, the Government 
provided protection to no such persons according to UNHCR.
    On February 23, Human Rights Watch alleged that the country's 
``fast track'' system for handling asylum requests ``is not rigorous 
enough to meet basic standards of fairness,'' especially for women. The 
group stated that the system did not give women sufficient time to 
gather evidence to support their claims of fleeing mistreatment and 
called for the abolition of the system.
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.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Free and fair elections to 
the House of Commons took place on May 6. Political parties operated 
without restriction or outside interference. After observing the 
national election, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human 
Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe 
concluded that the election ``was administered in a transparent and 
professional manner and demonstrated an open, pluralistic, and highly 
competitive process.''
    There were 143 women in the 650-seat House of Commons and 164 women 
in the 777-seat House of Lords. There were four women in the prime 
minister's cabinet. An additional 15 women held other ministerial 
posts. There was one woman among the 11 justices of the Supreme Court.
    There were 27 members of ethnic minorities in the House of Commons. 
The number of members of ethnic minorities in the House of Lords was 
not available; there was one member of an ethnic minority in the 
Cabinet.
    Bermuda held free and fair elections in 2007. There were seven 
women in the 36-seat House of Assembly and six women in the 11-member 
Senate. Five women served in the 13-member Cabinet.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the Government generally implemented these laws effectively. There were 
reports of government corruption during the year; however, there were 
no reports of police corruption during the year.
    Following a parliamentary allowances scandal more than a dozen 
members of Parliament declared they would not run for reelection in 
May. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, which began 
operation in September 2009, imposed clear rules on what members of 
Parliament can claim as an expense and publishes expense claims of 
members.
    In February the Serious Fraud Office reached an agreement with the 
country's largest defense contractor, BAE Systems, which included a 
guilty plea by BAE for violating the law and a payment of 30 million 
pounds (approximately $45 million) to benefit the people of Tanzania.
    The law provides for public access to information, and authorities 
generally granted access to citizens and noncitizens, including foreign 
media. There are exceptions to the availability of government 
information, including those relating to national security and defense, 
personal privacy, and possible risks to health and safety. In some 
instances authorities are not obliged to indicate whether relevant 
information exists; however, according to authorities, they are obliged 
to state the reason for refusing a request. There are no fees for 
requesting information; however, there may be a bill for materials and 
postal fees. Government agencies may refuse a request if the cost to 
the Government will exceed 450 or 600 pounds (approximately $730 or 
$955), depending on the agency. There was a mechanism to appeal 
denials.
    In July Bermuda enacted the Public Access to Information Act 
(PATI), which establishes a mechanism through which the public may 
access information. The Government appointed three individuals to make 
PATI operational.
    The November 2009 and 2008 reports of the UN Group of Experts on 
the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) presented information 
indicating that Afrimex and Amalgamated Metals Corporation (AMC), which 
were registered in the UK, directly or indirectly funded conflict and 
perpetrators of human rights abuses in the eastern DRC. AMC announced 
in September 2009 that it had ceased purchasing minerals from the DRC.
Section 5. 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 cooperative and responsive to their views.
    The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), an independent 
body funded by the Government to protect and promote human rights in 
the country, enjoyed the Government's cooperation and operated without 
government interference. It had adequate resources and functioned 
effectively. The EHRC produced numerous reports on various human rights 
matters. In October the EHRC's first-ever triennial review (How Fair is 
Britain?) concluded that England and Wales were a more diverse and 
``fair place'' than 20 years earlier. However, some groups, including 
Roma, Travellers, and other migrants, were still likely to experience 
prejudice and much more likely than others to fare poorly in education, 
work, and public life.
    Parliament has a Joint Committee on Human Rights, composed of 12 
members selected from the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The 
committee undertook inquiries into human rights matters in the country 
and scrutinized legislation affecting human rights. The committee 
produced reports on the Government's control order policy, the EHRC, 
children's rights, and human rights in the private sector.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, nationality, 
gender, sexual orientation, or disability, and the Government generally 
enforced the law effectively. The EHRC has a mandate to combat 
discrimination based on race, sex, religion and belief, sexual 
orientation, and age.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, carries a maximum penalty of 
life imprisonment. According to the British Crime Survey (BCS), in 
2009-10 police recorded 43,579 sexual crimes. The large majority of 
these crimes were perpetrated against women. Of the most serious cases 
where the gender of the victim was identified, women were victims of 
13, 991 cases of rape, an increase of 13 percent from the previous 
year, and 19,873 cases of indecent or sexual assault. The Government 
acknowledged that its 6 percent conviction rate in rape cases was low. 
The Government estimated that one in 20 women in the country had been 
raped.
    The law prohibits domestic violence, including spousal abuse, and 
authorities strictly enforced the law in cases reported to them. The 
courts imposed punishment ranging up to life imprisonment; however, 
violence against women continued to be a problem. The law provides for 
injunctive relief, personal protection orders, and protective exclusion 
orders (similar to restraining orders) for female victims of violence.
    According to the 2009-10 BCS, 7 percent of women (and 4 percent of 
men) were victims of domestic abuse during the year. The BCS estimated 
that in 2009-10 approximately 14 percent of all violent crime in 
England and Wales was domestic and that 30 percent of all violent 
incidents against women were domestic. Scotland police recorded 51,926 
incidents of domestic violence in 2009-10, a 4-percent decrease from 
the previous year.
    NGOs raised concerns that some police officers were not adequately 
trained to identify and respond when women sought protection.
    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 dependent on their abusers. The Government 
operated 29 sexual assault resource centers.
    In Bermuda, aggravated sexual assault is a felony carrying a 
maximum penalty of life imprisonment, and serious sexual assault has a 
maximum penalty of 30 years' imprisonment. Sexual assault by a person 
with AIDS, HIV, Hepatitis B, or other sexually transmitted diseases 
also carries a maximum penalty of 30 years' imprisonment. Police 
reported two serious sexual assaults (rapes) against women during the 
year, but both complaints were withdrawn. Police estimated 20-30 
reported incidents of domestic abuse per month, approximately five of 
which involved physical violence. Of these, only two or three were 
official complaints moving forward to prosecution. Several NGOs 
provided assistance to abuse victims.
    On October 18, the Bermudian government appointed a new Women's 
Council to empower women and improve the quality of life for women, 
families, and society.
    Police and NGOs estimated that approximately a dozen honor killings 
occurred during the year, although there were no formal statistics. 
Many observers regarded honor killings as the extreme end of a spectrum 
of violations of human rights that included abductions, forced 
abortions, imprisonment, mental and physical abuse, and rape. Honor 
killing was generally considered an ``imported crime,'' since a 
majority of the incidents involved families from Asia, Turkey, Algeria, 
and Nigeria. Many of the crimes involved hiring outside ``hit men''; in 
other instances the perpetrator was the youngest member of the family, 
whom older family members supervised.
    In September police in Scotland announced a public campaign to 
address honor-based crimes, including abduction, assault, threats, 
killing, and forced marriage.
    Forced marriages continued to be a problem, although their extent 
remained unknown. In 2009, the last year for which data was available, 
the Forced Marriage Unit's helpline received 770 calls or e-mails, a 16 
percent increase over the previous year. The law criminalizes forced 
marriage and makes taking individuals out of the country on false 
pretenses roughly equivalent to kidnapping. The law provides for the 
annulment of marriages made outside of the country against the will of 
one partner. A person must be at least 21 years of age to sponsor a 
spouse for a marriage visa, and intending sponsors of such visas must 
register their intent to seek the visa before traveling abroad. 
Authorities believed that young adults often traveled on what they 
expected to be a vacation to the home country and were subsequently 
pressured into marriage and applying for the spouse's visa. The law 
requires schools, social services, and police to receive training about 
this problem and to take steps to combat it, ranging from increased 
truancy monitoring to assisting young persons who seek their help 
without parental input.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment and provides penalties of up to 
five years' imprisonment; authorities followed up on the isolated 
complaints that were filed.
    Couples and individuals enjoy the basic right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children and to 
have the information and means to do so free from discrimination, 
coercion, and violence. According to data from the 2009 UN Population 
Fund report, the maternal mortality rate was 12 per 100,000 live 
births. Skilled attendants assisted in 99 percent of births in the 
country. The percentage of women using contraception was 84 percent. 
Women have access to prenatal, obstetric, and postpartum care through 
the National Health System and can freely choose to have a midwife 
present during childbirth. The Department of Health had a National 
Support Team for Sexual Health, which worked to provide universal 
access to contraception to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and 
unwanted pregnancies. There was also an Infant Mortality Support Team 
to improve the health of infants and mothers after birth.
    Women enjoy the same legal rights as men, including rights under 
family and property law and in the judicial system; however, in 
practice women experienced some discrimination. The World Economic 
Forum estimated that women in the UK earn 67 percent of what men earn. 
The Government passed the Equality Act in April, containing measures to 
address the gender pay gap and other equality problems.
    There was a cabinet-level Minister for Women and Equalities. The 
EHRC supported women by enforcing equality legislation and actively 
promoting gender equality.

    Children.--All births must be registered within 42 days in the 
district where the baby was born, and unregistered births were 
uncommon. Local authorities have procedures for the late registration 
of babies whose births were not registered within 42 days. A child born 
in the UK receives the country's citizenship at birth if one of the 
parents is a British citizen or legally settled resident.
    Child abuse remained a problem, although there were no reliable 
figures on its prevalence. In Northern Ireland it is a criminal offense 
to fail to report most offenses against children. England, Wales, and 
Scotland do not have such laws; however, civil servants charged with 
the care, education, and welfare of children are ``responsible'' for 
their protection. The minister of state for children and families 
coordinated government policy concerning children and young persons in 
England and Wales. In Northern Ireland the Commissioner for Children 
and Young People performed the same function. In Scotland the 
Ministries of Education, Children and Early Years, and Housing and 
Communities supervised similar programs designed to protect and assist 
minors.
    Female genital mutilation (FGM) is illegal. The maximum penalty for 
aiding, abetting, counseling, procuring, or carrying out this practice 
is 14 years' imprisonment. FGM was most often practiced by immigrant or 
refugee groups on girls aged seven to nine from Eritrea, Ethiopia, 
Somalia, West Africa, and Yemen. The BCS estimated that 141 cases of 
FGM and FGM-related blood poisoning occurred in 2009-10.
    The statutory rape law makes it illegal for a person over the age 
of 18 to have sex with a person under 16 years old, unless the younger 
person is over 13 and the adult reasonably thought the younger person 
to be over 16. Penalties range from fines to 14 years' imprisonment. 
The law prohibits child pornography and provides for a maximum sentence 
of 10 years' imprisonment.
    The law prohibits child sex tourism and allows authorities to 
prosecute citizens or residents for offenses committed abroad. 
Individuals were arrested outside the country and in some cases jailed 
on such charges, but, according to the charity End Child Prostitution, 
Child Pornography, and Trafficking Children for Sexual Purposes, there 
were only a few cases of prosecution in the country since the early 
1990s, and there were no reports of prosecutions during the year.
    Penal reformers and children's groups continued to criticize the 
Government's reliance on antisocial behavior orders (ASBOs), civil 
``warnings'' that may limit children's access to a geographic area or 
impose tailored curfews and fines. ASBOs were introduced to prevent 
youths from interacting with the courts and youth services as a result 
of minor infractions. However, youth who subsequently violate ASBOs 
could be arrested and enter the criminal system. Opponents contended 
that the ASBOs led to criminal records for youth whose behavior in the 
past would have been seen as ``kids being kids.'' According to one 
expert, more than 1,000 youths had been incarcerated for violating the 
ASBOs since their inception in 2000. Critics claimed that police were 
too quick to issue the orders for such minor infractions as excessive 
loudness or congregating in large numbers, violations that some 
children's advocates described as inevitable. Some experts contended 
that a third of youths receiving the orders had mental or behavioral 
problems that did not permit them to understand the orders.
    In July the prison service manual on restraint techniques to use on 
children as young as 12 years old was made public after a five-year 
legal battle. The Ministry of Justice stressed that restraint by force 
was a last resort for prison staff.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information on 
international parental child abduction, please see the Department of 
State's annual report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html, as well 
as country-specific information at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish population numbered approximately 
300,000. There was a small spike in anti-Semitic incidents after the 
Gaza flotilla incident on May 31. The Community Security Trust, a group 
that tracked anti-Semitic activity, reported 74 anti-Semitic incidents 
in June alone with 28 occurring in the first week of the month. Anti-
Semitic acts from January to June were fewer than during the same 
period in 2009 (the year of the conflict in the Gaza Strip) but 
continued to be slightly higher than in 2008. The incidents included 
property damage, threats, abusive behavior, and mass-produced or mass-
mailed anti-Semitic literature.
    In September researchers from the Simon Wiesenthal Center 
discovered dozens of anti-Jewish Facebook pages from the UK and other 
countries. The group said that Facebook officials were ``very 
cooperative'' in disabling the sites.
    According to the BBC, in October vandals sprayed ``Nazi graffiti'' 
on the doorstep of the UK Holocaust Center.
    In November, BBC Panorama determined that about 5,000 pupils were 
being taught the official Saudi national curriculum in UK schools. 
Education Secretary Michael Gove said that there was no place for anti-
Semitic or homophobic lessons in British schools.

    Trafficking in Persons.--For information on trafficking in persons, 
please see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at www.state.gov/g/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to 
health care, or the provision of other state services or areas. It 
mandates access to buildings for persons with disabilities, and the 
Government effectively enforced this requirement in practice.
    The law requires that all public service providers (except in the 
transportation sector) make ``reasonable adjustments'' to ensure their 
services are available to persons with disabilities. The law forbids 
employers from harassing or discriminating against job applicants or 
employees with disabilities.
    The mandate of the EHRC included work on behalf of persons with 
disabilities to stop discrimination and promote equality of 
opportunity. The commission provided legal advice and support for 
individuals, a hotline for persons with disabilities and employers, and 
policy advice to the Government. It may also 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.
    A briefing paper produced by the UK Learning Disabilities 
Observatory suggested that persons with learning disabilities face many 
health inequalities and have a disproportionately higher risk of health 
disorders. The group noted the need for promoting ``health literacy'' 
among persons with learning disabilities by increasing access to 
information, appointment times, and the number of regular health 
checks.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The law prohibits racial 
discrimination, but Travellers (a distinct nomadic ethnic group with 
its own history and culture), as well as persons of African, Afro-
Caribbean, South Asian, and Middle Eastern origin, at times experienced 
mistreatment on racial or ethnic grounds.
    The law authorizes police to order Travellers' caravans to move on 
from any rest area or other roadside location. Travellers' 
organizations also reported that local governments across the country 
sought to evict them from so-called ``illegal encampments.'' In a high-
profile case that has continued for more than five years, Travellers 
fought an eviction order by the town council of Basildon (Essex) to 
remove them from the Dale Farm Traveller Settlement. As of the end of 
the year, the eviction did not take place.
    During the year the British Crime Survey recorded 10,221 racially 
or religiously aggravated crimes and 23,235 incidents of racially or 
religiously aggravated harassment, public fear, alarm, or distress.
    During 2009-10 the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) 
reported a15-percent increase in sectarian incidents, from 1,595 in 
2008-09 to 1,840 in 2009-10. These included vandalism of Protestant 
Orange Order halls, Roman Catholic churches, and Gaelic Athletic 
Association sports facilities.
    In Northern Ireland, the trial of the persons charged in the 
killing of Kevin McDaid in May 2009 was still pending, as was the trial 
of McDaid's sons, who were arrested on charges of assaulting one of 
those accused of killing their father. In July two men were arrested in 
connection with the unresolved McDaid case for intimidation and making 
threats to kill witnesses.
    The PSNI also noted a 5 percent increase in racially motivated 
incidents, from 990 to 1,038 over the year prior to March 31. Families 
of Indian, Filipino, and eastern European descent were targeted in 
racially motivated attacks in the greater Belfast area. In June vandals 
burned vehicles belonging to Indian and Filipino residents in the 
Whiteabbey area of Belfast. Physical assaults against Asian immigrants 
in the area were also reported.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--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. Dozens of 
gay pride marches and other activities took place in locations 
throughout the country legally and with no interference by the 
authorities. During the year 20 Bermudians took part in the London 
Pride parade, protesting Bermuda's failure to outlaw discrimination 
based on sexual orientation.
    According to the Crown Prosecution Service, 1,373 homophobic crimes 
were referred to it in 2009-10, of which 66 percent resulted in charges 
being pressed. The service prosecuted 1,152 homophobic cases, 81 
percent of which resulted in a conviction. In Northern Ireland, the 
PSNI noted a 2 percent decrease in homophobic incidents in the past 
year.
    According to the BBC, the Forced Marriage Unit reported an increase 
in the number of cases of forced marriage among lesbian, gay, bisexual, 
and transgendered teenagers.
    A report published during the year by the NGO Stonewall stated that 
lesbian, gay, and bisexual asylum seekers experienced ``significant 
disadvantages'' because of their sexual orientation. Stonewall claimed 
that, by ``fast tracking'' these more complex cases and denying them 
quickly, UKBA staff did not give applicants time to talk openly about 
their sexual orientation.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of violence against persons with HIV infection during the year. In 
September in Wales, the chair of the Equality and Opportunity Committee 
hosted a debate on the committee's report on discrimination against HIV 
patients by healthcare providers and professionals. The report called 
for better training for healthcare professionals who treat HIV patients 
and for an HIV public awareness campaign.
Section 7. 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, police forces, and freelance or agency work, to form and join 
independent unions without previous authorization or excessive 
requirements, and workers exercised this right in practice. 
Approximately 26 percent of the workforce was unionized. Coverage was 
most widespread in the public sector, where almost 60 percent of 
workers were unionized. In contrast, 17 percent of private sector 
workers in manufacturing, transport, and distribution trades were 
unionized. The law allows unions to conduct their activities without 
interference, and the Government protected this right in practice. 
Workers have the right to strike and freely exercised it during the 
year.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Collective 
bargaining is protected in law and was freely practiced. Unions and 
management typically negotiate collective ``agreements,'' which are 
less formal than collective bargaining contracts. Collective agreements 
are considered ``implied'' individual work contracts and are legally 
enforceable as such. They covered approximately 35 percent of the 
workforce. In 2009 an investigation by the Information Commissioner's 
Office (ICO) revealed evidence of trade union ``blacklisting'' in the 
construction industry. The ICO successfully prosecuted and effectively 
closed down the company involved in the blacklisting. There were no 
reported instances of antiunion discrimination during the year.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The Government 
prohibits forced and compulsory labor, including by children; however, 
there were reports of forced labor by men, women, and children. Women, 
men, and children were trafficked to and within the country for labor 
exploitation and worked as domestic servants in private homes, beggars, 
pickpockets, and drug couriers, and in sweatshops, restaurants, 
agricultural and rural settings, construction, and catering. See the 
Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/g/tip.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law protects children from exploitation in the workplace, and the 
Government generally enforced these laws effectively; however, there 
were some reports that unaccompanied foreign children, including girls 
from China, were subjected to sexual exploitation and forced labor. 
Vietnamese organized-crime gangs subjected hundreds of young children, 
many from Vietnam and China, to debt bondage and forced them to work on 
cannabis farms. (See the Department of State's annual Trafficking in 
Persons Report at www.state.gov/g/tip).
    The law prohibits the employment in any capacity of children under 
13. Those under 16 are not permitted to work in an industrial 
enterprise, including transportation or street trading; their work 
hours are strictly limited and may not interfere with school 
attendance. Children under 16 may work as part of an educational 
course. Children aged 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. 
Authorities effectively enforced these laws. The Departments of Health, 
Trade, and Industry, and Education and Skills also have regulatory 
responsibilities related to child labor. However, anecdotal evidence 
from social workers and NGOs made clear that many children work longer 
or later hours than the law allows and many do not have the proper work 
permits. In many cases, this was voluntary, and the children's parents 
agreed to or encouraged the child's working. In other cases, children 
were found working illegally in restaurants, farms, factories, the sex 
industry, and in cleaning and other low-paid service-sector jobs with 
long hours and low pay. Many of these children did not attend school. 
These problems affected migrant children disproportionately, but 
legally resident children were affected as well.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum wage, which 
ranged from 3.57 to 5.93 pounds (approximately $5.65 to $9.37) per 
hour, depending on the age of the employee, did not provide a decent 
standard of living for a worker and family; however, government 
benefits, including complete free universal access to the National 
Health Service, filled the gap. Tax authorities may issue compliance 
orders against employers who are not paying the minimum wage, but 
employment tribunals handle disputes. 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' awareness of their rights.
    The law limits the workweek to 48 hours when averaged over a 17- to 
26-week period; however, the regulations do not apply to senior 
managers and others who can exercise control over their own hours of 
work. There are also exceptions for the armed forces, emergency 
services, police, domestic workers, sea and air transportation workers, 
and fishermen. Workers can opt out of the 48-hour limit. The law 
provides for one day of rest per week, 11 hours of daily rest, and a 
20-minute rest break when the working day exceeds six hours. The law 
also mandates a minimum of four weeks of paid annual leave, including 
eight national holidays. However, the average worker received five 
weeks of paid annual leave plus eight bank holidays as part of 
collective agreements. An individual employee may agree through a 
contract to work overtime for premium pay. The law does not prohibit 
compulsory overtime, but overtime is limited by the 48-hour workweek 
restriction.
    The law stipulates that the health and safety of employees not be 
placed at risk, and it was effectively enforced by the Health and 
Safety Executive (an arm of the Department of Work and Pensions), which 
could initiate criminal proceedings in appropriate cases. Workers' 
representatives also actively monitored enforcement of the law. Workers 
may legally remove themselves from dangerous work conditions without 
jeopardy to their continued employment.
    The Independent reported in November that factory workers in 
Leicester making clothing for large retailers were working in ``cramped 
and over-heated conditions with unsanitary toilets and at least one 
blocked fire exit.'' One of the retailers mentioned in the report 
decided to launch its own investigation into the allegations.
    In April the courts ordered a fruit farmer to pay two Polish 
workers 26,000 pounds (approximately $41,000 ) for wages he withheld 
and for stress caused by work conditions. The two fruit pickers lived 
with 200 other workers in metal cabins with no running water and worked 
10 to 11 hours a day for 0.90 to 4.75 pounds (approximately $1.50 to 
$7.50 an hour), according to media reports.


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